* * * * * +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | transcriber's note: | | | | inconsistent hyphenation in the original document has | | been preserved. | | | | obvious typographical errors have been corrected in this | | text. for a complete list, please see the end of this | | document. | | | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ * * * * * german culture past and present by ernest belfort bax author of "jean paul marat," "the religion of socialism," "the ethics of socialism," "the roots of reality," etc., etc. london: george allen & unwin, ltd. ruskin house museum street, w.c. _first published in _ [_all rights reserved_] contents chapter page introductory:--situation in the sixteenth century i. the reformation movement ii. popular literature of the time iii. the folklore of reformation germany iv. the sixteenth-century german town v. country and town at the end of the middle ages vi. the revolt of the knighthood vii. general signs of religious and social revolt viii. the great rising of the peasants and the anabaptist movement ix. post-mediÆval germany x. modern german culture preface the following pages aim at giving a general view of the social and intellectual life of germany from the end of the mediæval period to modern times. in the earlier portion of the book, the first half of the sixteenth century in germany is dealt with at much greater length and in greater detail than the later period, a sketch of which forms the subject of the last two chapters. the reason for this is to be found in the fact that while the roots of the later german character and culture are to be sought for in the life of this period, it is comparatively little known to the average educated english reader. in the early fifteenth century, during the reformation era, german life and culture in its widest sense began to consolidate themselves, and at the same time to take on an originality which differentiated them from the general life and culture of western europe as it was during the middle ages. to those who would fully appreciate the later developments, therefore, it is essential thoroughly to understand the details of the social and intellectual history of the time in question. for the later period there are many more works of a generally popular character available for the student and general reader. the chief aim of the sketch given in chapters ix and x is to bring into sharp relief those events which, in the author's view, represent more or less crucial stages in the development of modern germany. for the earlier portion of the present volume an older work of the author's, now out of print, entitled _german society at the close of the middle ages_, has been largely drawn upon. reference, as will be seen, has also been made in the course of the present work to two other writings from the same pen which are still to be had for those desirous of fuller information on their respective subjects, viz. _the peasants' war_ and _the rise and fall of the anabaptists_ (messrs. george allen & unwin). german culture past and present introductory the close of the fifteenth century had left the whole structure of mediæval europe to all appearance intact. statesmen and writers like philip de commines had apparently as little suspicion that the state of things they saw around them, in which they had grown up and of which they were representatives, was ever destined to pass away, as others in their turn have since had. society was organized on the feudal hierarchy of status. in the first place, a noble class, spiritual and temporal, was opposed to a peasantry either wholly servile or but nominally free. in addition to this opposition of noble and peasant there was that of the township, which, in its corporate capacity, stood in the relation of lord to the surrounding peasantry. the township in germany was of two kinds--first of all, there was the township that was "free of the empire," that is, that held nominally from the emperor himself (_reichstadt_), and secondly, there was the township that was under the domination of an intermediate lord. the economic basis of the whole was still land; the status of a man or of a corporation was determined by the mode in which they held their land. "no land without a lord" was the principle of mediæval polity; just as "money has no master" is the basis of the modern world with its self-made men. every distinction of rank in the feudal system was still denoted for the most part by a special costume. it was a world of knights in armour, of ecclesiastics in vestments and stoles, of lawyers in robes, of princes in silk and velvet and cloth of gold, and of peasants in laced shoe, brown cloak, and cloth hat. but although the whole feudal organization was outwardly intact, the thinker who was watching the signs of the times would not have been long in arriving at the conclusion that feudalism was "played out," that the whole fabric of mediæval civilization was becoming dry and withered, and had either already begun to disintegrate or was on the eve of doing so. causes of change had within the past half-century been working underneath the surface of social life, and were rapidly undermining the whole structure. the growing use of firearms in war; the rapid multiplication of printed books; the spread of the new learning after the taking of constantinople in , and the subsequent diffusion of greek teachers throughout europe; the surely and steadily increasing communication with the new world, and the consequent increase of the precious metals; and, last but not least, vasco da gama's discovery of the new trade route from the east by way of the cape--all these were indications of the fact that the death-knell of the old order of things had struck. notwithstanding the apparent outward integrity of the system based on land tenures, land was ceasing to be the only form of productive wealth. hence it was losing the exclusive importance attaching to it in the earlier period of the middle ages. the first form of modern capitalism had already arisen. large aggregations of capital in the hands of trading companies were becoming common. the roman law was establishing itself in the place of the old customary tribal law which had hitherto prevailed in the manorial courts, serving in some sort as a bulwark against the caprice of the territorial lord; and this change facilitated the development of the bourgeois principle of private, as opposed to communal, property. in intellectual matters, though theology still maintained its supremacy as the chief subject of human interest, other interests were rapidly growing up alongside of it, the most prominent being the study of classical literature. besides these things, there was the dawning interest in nature, which took on, as a matter of course, a magical form in accordance with traditional and contemporary modes of thought. in fact, like the flicker of a dying candle in its socket, the middle ages seemed at the beginning of the sixteenth century to exhibit all their own salient characteristics in an exaggerated and distorted form. the old feudal relations had degenerated into a blood-sucking oppression; the old rough brutality, into excogitated and elaborated cruelty (aptly illustrated in the collection of ingenious instruments preserved in the torture-tower at nürnberg); the old crude superstition, into a systematized magical theory of natural causes and effects; the old love of pageantry, into a lavish luxury and magnificence of which we have in the "field of the cloth of gold" the stock historical example; the old chivalry, into the mercenary bravery of the soldier, whose trade it was to fight, and who recognized only one virtue--to wit, animal courage. again, all these exaggerated characteristics were mixed with new elements, which distorted them further, and which foreshadowed a coming change, the ultimate issue of which would be their extinction and that of the life of which they were the signs. the growing tendency towards centralization and the consequent suppression or curtailment of the local autonomies of the middle ages in the interests of some kind of national government, of which the political careers of louis xi in france, of edward iv in england, and of ferdinand and isabella in spain were such conspicuous instances, did not fail to affect in a lesser degree that loosely connected political system of german states known as the holy roman empire. maximilian's first reichstag in caused to be issued an imperial edict suppressing the right of private warfare claimed and exercised by the whole noble class from the princes of the empire down to the meanest knight. in the same year the imperial chamber (_reichskammer_) was established, and in the imperial aulic council. maximilian also organized a standing army of mercenary troops, called _landesknechte_. shortly afterwards germany was divided into imperial districts called circles (_kreise_), ultimately ten in number, all of which were under an imperial government (_reichsregiment_), which had at its disposal a military force for the punishment of disturbers of the peace. but the public opinion of the age, conjoined with the particular circumstances, political and economic, of central europe, robbed the enactment in a great measure of its immediate effect. highway plundering and even private war were still going on, to a considerable extent, far into the sixteenth century. charles v pursued the same line of policy as his predecessor; but it was not until after the suppression of the lower nobility in , and finally of the peasants in , that any material change took place; and then the centralization, such as it was, was in favour of the princes, rather than of the imperial power, which, after charles v's time, grew weaker and weaker. the speciality about the history of germany is, that it has not known till our own day centralization on a national or racial scale like england or france. at the opening of the sixteenth century public opinion not merely sanctioned open plunder by the wearer of spurs and by the possessor of a stronghold, but regarded it as his special prerogative, the exercise of which was honourable rather than disgraceful. the cities certainly resented their burghers being waylaid and robbed, and hanged the knights wherever they could; and something like a perpetual feud always existed between the wealthier cities and the knights who infested the trade routes leading to and from them. still, these belligerent relations were taken as a matter of course; and no disgrace, in the modern sense, attached to the occupation of highway robbery. in consequence of the impoverishment of the knights at this period, owing to causes with which we shall deal later, the trade or profession had recently received an accession of vigour, and at the same time was carried on more brutally and mercilessly than ever before. we will give some instances of the sort of occurrence which was by no means unusual. in the immediate neighbourhood of nürnberg, which was _bien entendu_ one of the chief seats of the imperial power, a robber-knight leader, named hans thomas von absberg, was a standing menace. it was the custom of this ruffian, who had a large following, to plunder even the poorest who came from the city, and, not content with this, to mutilate his victims. in june he fell upon a wretched craftsman, and with his own sword hacked off the poor fellow's right hand, notwithstanding that the man begged him upon his knees to take the left, and not destroy his means of earning his livelihood. the following august he, with his band, attacked a nürnberg tanner, whose hand was similarly treated, one of his associates remarking that he was glad to set to work again, as it was "a long time since they had done any business in hands." on the same occasion a cutler was dealt with after a similar fashion. the hands in these cases were collected and sent to the bürgermeister of nürnberg, with some such phrase as that the sender (hans thomas) would treat all so who came from the city. the princes themselves, when it suited their purpose, did not hesitate to offer an asylum to these knightly robbers. with absberg were associated georg von giech and hans georg von aufsess. among other notable robber-knights of the time may be mentioned the lord of brandenstein and the lord of rosenberg. as illustrating the strictly professional character of the pursuit, and the brutally callous nature of the society practising it, we may narrate that margaretha von brandenstein was accustomed, it is recorded, to give the advice to the choice guests round her board that when a merchant failed to keep his promise to them, they should never hesitate to cut off _both_ his hands. even franz von sickingen, known sometimes as the "last flower of german chivalry," boasted of having among the intimate associates of his enterprise for the rehabilitation of the knighthood many gentlemen who had been accustomed to "let their horses on the high road bite off the purses of wayfarers." so strong was the public opinion of the noble class as to the inviolability of the privilege of highway plunder that a monk, preaching one day in a cathedral and happening to attack it as unjustifiable, narrowly escaped death at the hands of some knights present amongst his congregation, who asserted that he had insulted the prerogatives of their order. whenever this form of knight-errantry was criticized, there were never wanting scholarly pens to defend it as a legitimate means of aristocratic livelihood; since a knight must live in suitable style, and this was often his only resource for obtaining the means thereto. the free cities, which were subject only to imperial jurisdiction, were practically independent republics. their organization was a microcosm of that of the entire empire. at the apex of the municipal society was the bürgermeister and the so-called "honorability" (_ehrbarkeit_), which consisted of the patrician clans or _gentes_ (in most cases), those families which were supposed to be descended from the original chartered freemen of the town, the old mark-brethren. they comprised generally the richest families, and had monopolized the entire government of the city, together with the right to administer its various sources of income and to consume its revenue at their pleasure. by the time, however, of which we are writing, the trade-guilds had also attained to a separate power of their own, and were in some cases ousting the burgher-aristocracy, though they were very generally susceptible of being manipulated by the members of the patrician class, who, as a rule, could alone sit in the council (_rath_). the latter body stood, in fact, as regards the town, much in the relation of the feudal lord to his manor. strong in their wealth and in their aristocratic privileges, the patricians lorded it alike over the townspeople and over the neighbouring peasantry, who were subject to the municipality. they forestalled and regrated with impunity. they assumed the chief rights in the municipal lands, in many cases imposed duties at their own caprice, and turned guild privileges and rights of citizenship into a source of profit for themselves. their bailiffs in the country districts forming part of their territory were often more voracious in their treatment of the peasants than even the nobles themselves. the accounts of income and expenditure were kept in the loosest manner, and embezzlement clumsily concealed was the rule rather than the exception. the opposition of the non-privileged citizens, usually led by the wealthier guildsmen not belonging to the aristocratic class, operated through the guilds and through the open assembly of the citizens. it had already frequently succeeded in establishing a representation of the general body of the guildsmen in a so-called great council (_grosser rath_), and in addition, as already said, in ousting the "honorables" from some of the public functions. altogether the patrician party, though still powerful enough, was at the opening of the sixteenth century already on the decline, the wealthy and unprivileged opposition beginning in its turn to constitute itself into a quasi-aristocratic body as against the mass of the poorer citizens and those outside the pale of municipal rights. the latter class was now becoming an important and turbulent factor in the life of the larger cities. the craft-guilds, consisting of the body of non-patrician citizens, were naturally in general dominated by their most wealthy section. we may here observe that the development of the mediæval township from its earliest beginnings up to the period of its decay in the sixteenth century was almost uniformly as follows:[ ] at first the township, or rather what later became the township, was represented entirely by the circle of _gentes_ or group-families originally settled within the mark or district on which the town subsequently stood. these constituted the original aristocracy from which the tradition of the _ehrbarkeit_ dated. in those towns founded by the romans, such as trier, aachen, and others, the case was of course a little different. there the origin of the _ehrbarkeit_ may possibly be sought for in the leading families of the roman provincials who were in occupation of the town at the coming of the barbarians in the fifth century. round the original nucleus there gradually accreted from the earliest period of the middle ages the freed men of the surrounding districts, fugitive serfs, and others who sought that protection and means of livelihood in a community under the immediate domination of a powerful lord, which they could not otherwise obtain when their native village-community had perchance been raided by some marauding noble and his retainers. circumstances, amongst others the fact that the community to which they attached themselves had already adopted commerce and thus become a guild of merchants, led to the differentiation of industrial functions amongst the new-comers, and thus to the establishment of craft-guilds. another origin of the townsfolk, which must not be overlooked, is to be found in the attendants on the palace-fortress of some great overlord. in the early middle ages all such magnates kept up an extensive establishment, the greater ecclesiastical lords no less than the secular often having several castles. in germany this origin of the township was furthered by charles the great, who established schools and other civil institutions, with a magistrate at their head, round many of the palace-castles that he founded. "a new epoch," says von maurer, "begins with the villa-foundations of charles the great and his ordinances respecting them, for that his celebrated capitularies in this connection were intended for his newly established villas is self-evident. in that proceeding he obviously had the roman villa in his mind, and on the model of this he rather further developed the previously existing court and villa constitution than completely reorganized it. hence one finds even in his new creations the old foundation again, albeit on a far more extended plan, the economical side of such villa-colonies being especially more completely and effectively ordered."[ ] the expression "palatine," as applied to certain districts, bears testimony to the fact here referred to. as above said, the development of the township was everywhere on the same lines. the aim of the civic community was always to remove as far as possible the power which controlled them. their worst condition was when they were immediately overshadowed by a territorial magnate. when their immediate lord was a prince, the area of whose feudal jurisdiction was more extensive, his rule was less oppressively felt, and their condition was therefore considerably improved. it was only, however, when cities were "free of the empire" (_reichsfrei_) that they attained the ideal of mediæval civic freedom. it follows naturally from the conditions described that there was, in the first place, a conflict between the primitive inhabitants as embodied in their corporate society and the territorial lord, whoever he might be. no sooner had the township acquired a charter of freedom or certain immunities than a new antagonism showed itself between the ancient corporation of the city and the trade-guilds, these representing the later accretions. the territorial lord (if any) now sided, usually though not always, with the patrician party. but the guilds, nevertheless, succeeded in ultimately wresting many of the leading public offices from the exclusive possession of the patrician families. meanwhile the leading men of the guilds had become _hommes arrivés_. they had acquired wealth, and influence which was in many cases hereditary in their family, and by the beginning of the sixteenth century they were confronted with the more or less veiled and more or less open opposition of the smaller guildsmen and of the newest comers into the city, the shiftless proletariat of serfs and free peasants, whom economic pressure was fast driving within the walls, owing to the changed conditions of the times. the peasant of the period was of three kinds: the _leibeigener_ or serf, who was little better than a slave, who cultivated his lord's domain, upon whom unlimited burdens might be fixed, and who was in all respects amenable to the will of his lord; the _höriger_ or villein, whose services were limited alike in kind and amount; and the _freier_ or free peasant, who merely paid what was virtually a quit-rent in kind or in money for being allowed to retain his holding or status in the rural community under the protection of the manorial lord. the last was practically the counterpart of the mediæval english copyholder. the germans had undergone essentially the same transformations in social organization as the other populations of europe. the barbarian nations at the time of their great migration in the fifth century were organized on a tribal and village basis. the head man was simply _primus inter pares_. in the course of their wanderings the successful military leader acquired powers and assumed a position that was unknown to the previous times, when war, such as it was, was merely inter-tribal and inter-clannish, and did not involve the movements of peoples and federations of tribes, and when, in consequence, the need of permanent military leaders or for the semblance of a military hierarchy had not arisen. the military leader now placed himself at the head of the older social organization, and associated with his immediate followers on terms approaching equality. a well-known illustration of this is the incident of the vase taken from the cathedral of rheims, and of chlodowig's efforts to rescue it from his independent comrade-in-arms. the process of the development of the feudal polity of the middle ages is, of course, a very complicated one, owing to the various strands that go to compose it. in addition to the german tribes themselves, who moved _en masse_, carrying with them their tribal and village organization, under the overlordship of the various military leaders, were the indigenous inhabitants amongst whom they settled. the latter in the country districts, even in many of the territories within the roman empire, still largely retained the primitive communal organization. the new-comers, therefore, found in the rural communities a social system already in existence into which they naturally fitted, but as an aristocratic body over against the conquered inhabitants. the latter, though not all reduced to a servile condition, nevertheless held their land from the conquering body under conditions which constituted them an order of freemen inferior to the new-comers. to put the matter briefly, the military leaders developed into barons and princes, and in some cases the nominal centralization culminated, as in france and england, in the kingly office; while, in germany and italy, it took the form of the revived imperial office, the spiritual overlord of the whole of christendom being the pope, who had his vassals in the prince-prelates and subordinate ecclesiastical holders. in addition to the princes sprung originally from the military leaders of the migratory nations, there were their free followers, who developed ultimately into the knighthood or inferior nobility; the inhabitants of the conquered districts forming a distinct class of inferior freemen or of serfs. but the essentially personal relation with which the whole process started soon degenerated into one based on property. the most primitive form of property--land--was at the outset what was termed _allodial_, at least among the conquering race, from every social group having the possession, under the trusteeship of his head man, of the land on which it settled. now, owing to the necessities of the time, owing to the need of protection, to violence, and to religious motives, it passed into the hands of the overlord, temporal or spiritual, as his possession; and the inhabitants, even in the case of populations which had not been actually conquered, became his vassals, villeins, or serfs, as the case might be. the process by means of which this was accomplished was more or less gradual; indeed, the entire extinction of communal rights, whereby the notion of private ownership is fully realized, was not universally effected even in the west of europe till within a measurable distance of our own time.[ ] from the foregoing it will be understood that the oppression of the peasant, under the feudalism of the middle ages, and especially of the later middle ages, was viewed by him as an infringement of his rights. during the period of time constituting mediæval history, the peasant, though he often slumbered, yet often started up to a sudden consciousness of his position. the memory of primitive communism was never quite extinguished, and the continual peasant-revolts of the middle ages, though immediately occasioned, probably, by some fresh invasion, by which it was sought to tear from the "common man" yet another shred of his surviving rights, always had in the background the ideal, vague though it may have been, of his ancient freedom. such, undoubtedly, was the meaning of the jacquerie in france, with its wild and apparently senseless vengeance; of the wat tyler revolt in england, with its systematic attempt to envisage the vague tradition of the primitive village community in the legends of the current ecclesiastical creed; of the numerous revolts in flanders and north germany; to a large extent of the hussite movement in bohemia, under ziska; of the rebellion led by george doza in hungary; and, as we shall see in the body of the present work, of the social movements of reformation germany, in which, with the partial exception of ket's rebellion in england a few years later, we may consider them as virtually coming to an end. for the movements in question were distinctly the last of their kind. the civil wars of religion in france, and the great rebellion in england against charles i, which also assumed a religious colouring, open a new era in popular revolts. in the latter, particularly, we have clearly before us the attempt of the new middle class of town and country, the independent citizen, and the now independent yeoman, to assert supremacy over the old feudal estates or orders. the new conditions had swept away the special revolutionary tradition of the mediæval period, whose golden age lay in the past with its communal-holding and free men with equal rights on the basis of the village organization--rights which with every century the peasant felt more and more slipping away from him. the place of this tradition was now taken by an ideal of individual freedom, apart from any social bond, and on a basis merely political, the way for which had been prepared by that very conception of individual proprietorship on the part of the landlord, against which the older revolutionary sentiment had protested. a most powerful instrument in accommodating men's minds to this change of view, in other words, to the establishment of the new individualistic principle, was the roman or civil law, which, at the period dealt with in the present book, had become the basis whereon disputed points were settled in the imperial courts. in this respect also, though to a lesser extent, may be mentioned the canon or ecclesiastical law--consisting of papal decretals on various points which were founded partially on the roman or civil law--a juridical system which also fully and indeed almost exclusively recognized the individual holding of property as the basis of civil society (albeit not without a recognition of social duties on the part of the owner). learning was now beginning to differentiate itself from the ecclesiastical profession, and to become a definite vocation in its various branches. crowds of students flocked to the seats of learning, and, as travelling scholars, earned a precarious living by begging or "professing" medicine, assisting the illiterate for a small fee, or working wonders, such as casting horoscopes, or performing thaumaturgic tricks. the professors of law were now the most influential members of the imperial council and of the various imperial courts. in central europe, as elsewhere, notably in france, the civil lawyers were always on the side of the centralizing power, alike against the local jurisdictions and against the peasantry. the effects of the conquest of constantinople in , and the consequent dispersion of the accumulated greek learning of the byzantine empire, had, by the end of the fifteenth century, begun to show themselves in a notable modification of european culture. the circle of the seven sciences, the quadrivium, and the trivium, in other words, the mediæval system of learning, began to be antiquated. scholastic philosophy, that is to say, the controversy of the scotists and the thomists, was now growing out of date. plato was extolled at the expense of aristotle. greek, and even hebrew, was eagerly sought after. latin itself was assuming another aspect; the renaissance latin is classical latin, whilst mediæval latin is dog-latin. the physical universe now began to be inquired into with a perfectly fresh interest, but the inquiries were still conducted under the ægis of the old habits of thought. the universe was still a system of mysterious affinities and magical powers to the investigator of the renaissance period, as it had been before. there was this difference, however; it was now attempted to _systematize_ the magical theory of the universe. while the common man held a store of traditional magical beliefs respecting the natural world, the learned man deduced these beliefs from the neo-platonists, from the kabbala, from hermes trismegistos, and from a variety of other sources, and attempted to arrange this somewhat heterogeneous mass of erudite lore into a system of organized thought. the humanistic movement, so called, the movement, that is, of revived classical scholarship, had already begun in germany before what may be termed the _sturm und drang_ of the renaissance proper. foremost among the exponents of this older humanism, which dates from the middle of the fifteenth century, were nicholas of cusa and his disciples, rudolph agricola, alexander hegius, and jacob wimpheling. but the new humanism and the new renaissance movement generally throughout northern europe centred chiefly in two personalities, johannes reuchlin and desiderius erasmus. reuchlin was the founder of the new hebrew learning, which up till then had been exclusively confined to the synagogue. it was he who unlocked the mysteries of the kabbala to the gentile world. but though it is for his introduction of hebrew study that reuchlin is best known to posterity, yet his services in the diffusion and popularization of classical culture were enormous. the dispute of reuchlin with the ecclesiastical authorities at cologne excited literary germany from end to end. it was the first general skirmish of the new and the old spirit in central and northern europe. but the man who was destined to become the personification of the humanist movement, us the new learning was called, was erasmus. the illegitimate son of the daughter of a rotterdam burgher, he early became famous on account of his erudition, in spite of the adverse circumstances of his youth. like all the scholars of his time, he passed rapidly from one country to another, settling finally in basel, then at the height of its reputation as a literary and typographical centre. the whole intellectual movement of the time centres round erasmus, as is particularly noticeable in the career of ulrich von hutten, dealt with in the course of this history. as instances of the classicism of the period, we may note the uniform change of the patronymic into the classical equivalent, or some classicism supposed to be the equivalent. thus the name erasmus itself was a classicism of his father's name gerhard, the german name muth became mutianus, trittheim became trithemius, schwarzerd became melanchthon, and so on. we have spoken of the other side of the intellectual movement of the period. this other side showed itself in mystical attempts at reducing nature to law in the light of the traditional problems which had been set, to wit, those of alchemy and astrology: the discovery of the philosopher's stone, of the transmutation of metals, of the elixir of life, and of the correspondences between the planets and terrestrial bodies. among the most prominent exponents of these investigations may be mentioned philippus von hohenheim or paracelsus, and cornelius agrippa of nettesheim, in germany, nostrodamus in france, and cardanus in italy. these men represent a tendency which was pursued by thousands in the learned world. it was a tendency which had the honour of being the last in history to embody itself in a distinct mythical cycle. "doctor faustus" may probably have had an historical germ; but in any case "doctor faustus," as known to legend and to literature, is merely a personification of the practical side of the new learning. the minds of men were waking up to interest in nature. there was one man, copernicus, who, at least partially, struck through the traditionary atmosphere in which nature was enveloped, and to his insight we owe the foundation of astronomical science; but otherwise the whole intellectual atmosphere was charged with occult views. in fact, the learned world of the sixteenth century would have found itself quite at home in the pretensions and fancies of our modern theosophist and psychical researchers, with their notions of making erstwhile miracles non-miraculous, of reducing the marvellous to being merely the result of penetration on the part of certain seers and investigators of the secret powers of nature. every wonder-worker was received with open arms by learned and unlearned alike. the possibility of producing that which was out of the ordinary range of natural occurrences was not seriously doubted by any. spells and enchantments, conjurations, calculations of nativities, were matters earnestly investigated at universities and courts. there were, of course, persons who were eager to detect impostors: and amongst them some of the most zealous votaries of the occult arts--for example, trittheim and the learned humanist, conrad muth or mutianus, both of whom professed to have regarded faust as a fraudulent person. but this did not imply any disbelief in the possibility of the alleged pretensions. in the faust-myth is embodied, moreover, the opposition between the new learning on its physical side and the old religious faith. the theory that the investigation of the mysteries of nature had in it something sinister and diabolical which had been latent throughout the middle ages, was brought into especial prominence by the new religious movements. the popular feeling that the line between natural magic and the black art was somewhat doubtful, that the one had a tendency to shade off into the other, now received fresh stimulus. the notion of compacts with the devil was a familiar one, and that they should be resorted to for the purpose of acquiring an acquaintance with hidden lore and magical powers seemed quite natural. it will have already been seen from what we have said that the religious revolt was largely economical in its causes. the intense hatred, common alike to the smaller nobility, the burghers, and the peasants, of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, was obviously due to its ever-increasing exactions. the chief of these were the _pallium_ or price paid to the pope for an ecclesiastical investiture; the _annates_ or first year's revenues of a church fief; and the _tithes_ which were of two kinds, the great tithe paid in agricultural produce, and the small tithe consisting in a head of cattle. the latter seems to have been especially obnoxious to the peasant. the sudden increase in the sale of indulgences, like the proverbial last straw, broke down the whole system; but any other incident might have served the purpose equally well. the prince-prelates were in some instances, at the outset, not averse to the movement; they would not have been indisposed to have converted their territories into secular fiefs of the empire. it was only after this hope had been abandoned that they definitely took sides with the papal authority. the opening of the sixteenth century thus presents to us mediæval society, social, political, and religious, in germany as elsewhere, "run to seed." the feudal organization was outwardly intact; the peasant, free and bond, formed the foundation; above him came the knighthood or inferior nobility; parallel with them was the _ehrbarkeit_ of the less important towns, holding from mediate lordship; above these towns came the free cities, which held immediately from the empire, organized into three bodies, a governing council in which the _ehrbarkeit_ usually predominated, where they did not entirely compose it, a common council composed of the masters of the various guilds, and the general council of the free citizens. those journeymen, whose condition was fixed from their being outside the guild-organizations, usually had guilds of their own. above the free cities in the social pyramid stood the princes of the empire, lay and ecclesiastic, with the electoral college, or the seven electoral princes, forming their head. these constituted the feudal "estates" of the empire. then came the "king of the romans"; and, as the apex of the whole, the pope in one function and the emperor in another, crowned the edifice. the supremacy, not merely of the pope but of the complementary temporal head of the mediæval polity, the emperor, was acknowledged in a shadowy way, even in countries such as france and england, which had no direct practical connection with the empire. for, as the spiritual power was also temporal, so the temporal political power had, like everything else in the middle ages, a quasi-religious significance. the minds of men in speculative matters, in theology, in philosophy, and in jurisprudence, were outgrowing the old doctrines, at least in their old forms. in theology the notion of salvation by the faith of the individual, and not through the fact of belonging to a corporate organization, which was the mediæval conception, was latent in the minds of multitudes of religious persons before expression was given to it by luther. the aversion to scholasticism, bred by the revived knowledge of the older greek philosophies in the original, produced a curious amalgam; but scholastic habits of thought were still dominant through it all. the new theories of nature amounted to little more than old superstitions, systematized and reduced to rule, though here and there the later physical science, based on observation and experiment, peeped through. in jurisprudence the epoch is marked by the final conquest of the roman civil law, in its spirit, where not in its forms, over the old customs, pre-feudal and feudal. the subject of germany during that closing period of the middle ages, characterized by what is known as the revival of learning and the reformation, is so important for an understanding of later german history and the especial characteristics of the german culture of later times, that we propose, even at the risk of wearying some readers, to recapitulate in as short a space as possible, compatible with clearness, the leading conditions of the times--conditions which, directly or indirectly, have moulded the whole subsequent course of german development. owing to the geographical situation of germany and to the political configuration of its peoples and other causes, mediæval conditions of life as we find them in the early sixteenth century left more abiding traces on the german mind and on german culture than was the case with some other nations. the time was out of joint in a very literal sense of that somewhat hackneyed phrase. at the opening of the sixteenth century every established institution--political, social, and religious--was shaken and showed the rents and fissures caused by time and by the growth of a new life underneath it. the empire--the holy roman--was in a parlous way as regarded its cohesion. the power of the princes, the representatives of local centralized authority, was proving itself too strong for the power of the emperor, the recognized representative of centralized authority for the whole german-speaking world. this meant the undermining and eventual disruption of the smaller social and political unities,[ ] the knightly manors with the privileges attached to the knightly class generally. the knighthood, or lower nobility, had acted as a sort of buffer between the princes of the empire and the imperial power, to which they often looked for protection against their immediate overlord or their powerful neighbour--the prince. the imperial power, in consequence, found the lower nobility a bulwark against its princely vassals. economic changes, the suddenly increased demand for money owing to the rise of the "world-market," new inventions in the art of war, new methods of fighting, the rapidly growing importance of artillery, and the increase of the mercenary soldier, had rendered the lower nobility, as an institution, a factor in the political situation which was fast becoming negligible. the abortive campaign of franz von sickingen in only showed its hopeless weakness. the _reichsregiment_, or imperial governing council, a body instituted by maximilian, had lamentably failed to effect anything towards cementing together the various parts of the unwieldy fabric. finally, at the reichstag held in nürnberg, in december , at which all the estates were represented, the _reichsregiment_, to all intents and purposes, collapsed. the reichstag in question was summoned ostensibly for the purpose of raising a subsidy for the hungarians in their struggle against the advancing power of the turks. the turkish movement westward was, of course, throughout this period, the most important question of what in modern phraseology would be called "foreign politics." the princes voted the proposal of the subsidy without consulting the representatives of the cities, who knew the heaviest part of the burden was to fall upon themselves. the urgency of the situation, however, weighed with them, with the result that they submitted after considerable remonstrance. the princes, in conjunction with their rivals, the lower nobility, next proceeded to attack the commercial monopolies, the first fruits of the rising capitalism, the appanage mainly of the trading companies and the merchant magnates of the towns. this was too much for civic patience. the city representatives, who, of course, belonged to the civic aristocracy, waxed indignant. the feudal orders went on to claim the right to set up vexatious tariffs in their respective territories, whereby to hinder artificially the free development of the new commercial capitalist. this filled up the cup of endurance of the magnates of the city. the city representatives refused their consent to the turkish subsidy and withdrew. the next step was the sending of a deputation to the young emperor karl, who was in spain, and whose sanction to the decrees of the reichstag was necessary before their promulgation. the result of the conference held on this occasion was a decision to undermine the _reichsregiment_ and weaken the power of the princes, by whom and by whose tools it was manned, as a factor in the imperial constitution. as for the princes, while some of their number were positively opposed to it, others cared little one way or the other. their chief aim was to strengthen and consolidate their power within the limits of their own territories, and a weak empire was perhaps better adapted for effecting this purpose than a stronger one, even though certain of their own order had a controlling voice in its administration. as already hinted, the collapse of the rebellious knighthood under sickingen, a few weeks later, clearly showed the political drift of the situation in the _haute politique_ of the empire. the rising capitalists of the city, the monopolists, merchant princes, and syndicates, are the theme of universal invective throughout this period. to them the rapid and enormous rise in prices during the early years of the sixteenth century, the scarcity of money consequent on the increased demand for it, and the impoverishment of large sections of the population, were attributed by noble and peasant alike. the whole trend of public opinion, in short, outside the wealthier burghers of the larger cities--the class immediately interested--was adverse to the condition of things created by the new world-market, and by the new class embodying it. at present it was a small class, the only one that gained by it, and that gained at the expense of all the other classes. some idea of the class-antagonisms of the period may be gathered from the statement of ulrich von hutten about the robber-knights already spoken of, in his dialogue entitled "predones," to the effect that there were four orders of robbers in germany--the _knights_, the _lawyers_, the _priests_, and the _merchants_ (meaning especially the new capitalist merchant-traders or syndicates). of these, he declares the robber-knights to be the least harmful. this is naturally only to be expected from so gallant a champion of his order, the friend and abettor of sickingen. nevertheless, the seriousness of the robber-knight evil, the toleration of which in principle was so deeply ingrained in the public opinion of large sections of the population, may be judged from the abortive attempts made to stop it, at the instance alike of princes and of cities, who on this point, if on no other, had a common interest. in , for example, at the reichstag held in gelnhausen in that year, certain of the highest princes of the empire made a representation that, at least, the knights should permit the gathering in of the harvest and the vintage in peace. but even this modest demand was found to be impracticable. the knights had to live in the style required by their status, as they declared, and where other means were more and more failing them, their ancient right or privilege of plunder was indispensable to their order. still, hutten was right so far in declaring the knight the most harmless kind of robber, inasmuch as, direct as were his methods, his sun was obviously setting, while as much could not be said of the other classes named; the merchant and the lawyer were on the rise, and the priest, although about to receive a check, was not destined speedily to disappear, or to change fundamentally the character of his activity. the feudal orders saw their own position seriously threatened by the new development of things economic in the cities. the guilds were becoming crystallized into close corporations of wealthy families, constituting a kind of second _ehrbarkeit_ or town patriciate; the numbers of the landless and unprivileged, with at most a bare footing in the town constitution, were increasing in an alarming proportion; the journeyman workman was no longer a stage between apprentice and master craftsman, but a permanent condition embodied in a large and growing class. all these symptoms indicated an extraordinary economic revolution, which was making itself at first directly felt only in the larger cities, but the results of which were dislocating the social relations of the middle ages throughout the whole empire. perhaps the most striking feature in this dislocation was the transition from direct barter to exchange through the medium of money, and the consequent suddenly increased importance of the rôle played by usury in the social life of the time. the scarcity of money is a perennial theme of complaint for which the new large capitalist-monopolists are made responsible. but the class in question was itself only a symptom of the general economic change. the seeming scarcity of money, though but the consequence of the increased demand for a circulating medium, was explained, to the disadvantage of the hated monopolists, by a crude form of the "mercantile" theory. the new merchant, in contradistinction to the master craftsman working _en famille_ with his apprentices and assistants, now often stood entirely outside the processes of production, as speculator or middleman; and he, and still more the syndicate who fulfilled the like functions on a larger scale (especially with reference to foreign trade), came to be regarded as particularly obnoxious robbers, because interlopers to boot. unlike the knights, they were robbers with a new face. the lawyers were detested for much the same reason (cf. _german society at the close of the middle ages_, pp. - ). the professional lawyer class, since its final differentiation from the clerk class in general, had made the roman or civil law its speciality, and had done its utmost everywhere to establish the principles of the latter in place of the old feudal law of earlier mediæval europe. the roman law was especially favourable to the pretensions of the princes, and, from an economic point of view, of the nobility in general, inasmuch as land was on the new legal principles treated as the private property of the lord; over which he had full power of ownership, and not, as under feudal and canon law, as a _trust_ involving duties as well as rights. the class of jurists was itself of comparatively recent growth in central europe, and its rapid increase in every portion of the empire dated from less than half a century back. it may be well understood, therefore, why these interlopers, who ignored the ancient customary law of the country, and who by means of an alien code deprived the poor freeholder or copyholder of his land, or justified new and unheard-of exactions on the part of his lord on the plea that the latter might do what he liked with his own, were regarded by the peasant and humble man as robbers whose depredations were, if anything, even more resented than those of their old and tried enemy--the plundering knight. the priest, especially of the regular orders, was indeed an old foe, but his offence had now become very rank. from the middle of the fifteenth century onwards the stream of anti-clerical literature waxes alike in volume and intensity. the "monk" had become the object of hatred and scorn throughout the whole lay world. this view of the "regular" was shared, moreover, by not a few of the secular clergy themselves. humanists, who were subsequently ardent champions of the church against luther and the protestant reformation--men such as murner and erasmus--had been previously the bitterest satirists of the "friar" and the "monk." amongst the great body of the laity, however, though the religious orders came in perhaps for the greater share of animosity, the secular priesthood was not much better off in popular favour, whilst the upper members of the hierarchy were naturally regarded as the chief blood-suckers of the german people in the interests of rome. the vast revenues which both directly in the shape of _pallium_ (the price of "investiture"), _annates_ (first year's revenues of appointments), _peter's-pence_, and recently of _indulgences_--the latter the by no means most onerous exaction, since it was voluntary--all these things, taken together with what was indirectly obtained from germany, through the expenditure of german ecclesiastics on their visits to rome and by the crowd of parasitics, nominal holders of german benefices merely, but real recipients of german substance, who danced attendance at the vatican--obviously constituted an enormous drain on the resources of the country from all the lay classes alike, of which wealth the papal chair could be plainly seen to be the receptacle. if we add to these causes of discontent the vastness in number of the regular clergy, the "friars" and "monks" already referred to, who consumed, but were only too obviously unproductive, it will be sufficiently plain that the protestant reformation had something very much more than a purely speculative basis to work upon. religious reformers there had been in germany throughout the middle ages, but their preachings had taken no deep root. the powerful personality of the monk of wittenberg found an economic soil ready to hand in which his teachings could fructify, and hence the world-historic result. the peasant revolts, sporadic the middle ages through, had for the half-century preceding the reformation been growing in frequency and importance, but it needed nevertheless the sudden impulse, the powerful jar given by a luther in , and the series of blows with which it was followed during the years immediately succeeding, to crystallize the mass of fluid discontent and social unrest in its various forms and give it definite direction. the blow which was primarily struck in the region of speculative thought and ecclesiastical relations did not stop there in its effects. the attack on the dominant theological system--at first merely on certain comparatively unessential outworks of that system--necessarily of its own force developed into an attack on the organization representing it, and on the economic basis of the latter. the battle against ecclesiastical abuses, again, in its turn, focussed the ever-smouldering discontent with abuses in general; and this time, not in one district only, but simultaneously over the whole of germany. the movement inaugurated by luther gave to the peasant groaning under the weight of baronial oppression, and the small handicraftsman suffering under his _ehrbarkeit_, a rallying-point and a rallying cry. in history there is no movement which starts up full grown from the brain of any one man, or even from the mind of any one generation of men, like athene from the head of zeus. the historical epoch which marks the crisis of the given change is, after all, little beyond a prominent landmark--a parting of the ways--led up to by a long preparatory development. this is nowhere more clearly illustrated than in the reformation and its accompanying movements. the ideas and aspirations animating the social, political, and intellectual revolt of the sixteenth century can each be traced back to, at least, the beginning of the fifteenth century, and in many cases farther still. the way the german of luther's time looked at the burning questions of the hour was not essentially different from the way the english wyclifites and lollards, or the bohemian hussites and taborites viewed them. there was obviously a difference born of the later time, but this difference was not, i repeat, essential. the changes which, a century previously, were only just beginning, had, meanwhile, made enormous progress. the disintegration of the material conditions of mediæval social life was now approaching its completion, forced on by the inventions and discoveries of the previous half-century. but the ideals of the mass of men, learned and simple, were still in the main the ideals that had been prevalent throughout the whole of the later middle ages. men still looked at the world and at social progress through mediæval spectacles. the chief difference was that now ideas which had previously been confined to special localities, or had only had a sporadic existence among the people at large, had become general throughout large portions of the population. the invention of the art of printing was, of course, largely instrumental in effecting this change. the comparatively sudden popularization of doctrines previously confined to special circles was the distinguishing feature of the intellectual life of the first half of the sixteenth century. among the many illustrations of the foregoing which might be given, we are specially concerned here to note the sudden popularity during this period of two imaginary constitutions dating from early in the previous century. from the fourteenth century we find traces, perhaps suggested by the prester john legend, of a deliverer in the shape of an emperor who should come from the east, who should be the last of his name; should right all wrongs; should establish the empire in universal justice and peace; and, in short, should be the forerunner of the kingdom of christ on earth. this notion or mystical hope took increasing root during the fifteenth century, and is to be found in many respects embodied in the spurious constitutions mentioned, which bore respectively the names of the emperors sigismund and friedrich. it was in this form that the hussite theories were absorbed by the german mind. the hopes of the messianists of the "holy roman empire" were centred at one time in the emperor sigismund. later on the rôle of messiah was carried over to his successor, friedrich iii, upon whom the hopes of the german people were cast. _the reformation of kaiser sigismund_, originally written about , went through several editions before the end of the century, and was as many times reprinted during the opening years of luther's movement. like its successor, that of friedrich, the scheme attributed to sigismund proposed the abolition of the recent abuses of feudalism, of the new lawyer class, and of the symptoms already making themselves felt of the change from barter to money payments. it proposed, in short, a return to primitive conditions. it was a scheme of reform on a biblical basis, embracing many elements of a distinctly communistic character, as communism was then understood. it was pervaded with the idea of equality in the spirit of the taborite literature of the age, from which it took its origin. the so-called _reformation of kaiser sigismund_ dealt especially with the peasantry--the serfs and villeins of the time; that attributed to friedrich was mainly concerned with the rising population of the towns. all towns and communes were to undergo a constitutional transformation. handicraftsmen should receive just wages; all roads should be free; taxes, dues, and levies should be abolished; trading capital was to be limited to a maximum of , _gulden_; all surplus capital should fall to the imperial authorities, who should lend it in case of need to poor handicraftsmen at per cent.; uniformity of coinage and of weights and measures was to be decreed, together with the abolition of the roman and canon law. legists, priests, and princes were to be severely dealt with. but, curiously enough, the middle and lower nobility, especially the knighthood, were more tenderly handled, being treated as themselves victims of their feudal superiors, lay and ecclesiastic, especially the latter. in this connection the secularization of ecclesiastical fiefs was strongly insisted on. as men found, however, that neither the emperor sigismund, nor the emperor friedrich iii, nor the emperor maximilian, upon each of whom successively their hopes had been cast as the possible realization of the german messiah of earlier dreams, fulfilled their expectations, nay, as each in succession implicitly belied these hopes, showing no disposition whatever to act up to the views promulgated in their names, the tradition of the imperial deliverer gradually lost its force and popularity. by the opening of the lutheran reformation the opinion had become general that a change would not come from above, but that the initiative must rest with the people themselves--with the classes specially oppressed by existing conditions, political, economic, and ecclesiastical--to effect by their own exertions such a transformation as was shadowed forth in the spurious constitutions. these, and similar ideas, were now everywhere taken up and elaborated, often in a still more radical sense than the original; and they everywhere found hearers and adherents. the "true inwardness" of the change, of which the protestant reformation represented the ideological side, meant the transformation of society from a basis mainly corporative and co-operative to one individualistic in its essential character. the whole polity of the middle ages industrial, social, political, ecclesiastical, was based on the principle of the group or the community--ranging in hierarchical order from the trade-guild to the town corporation; from the town corporation through the feudal orders to the imperial throne itself; from the single monastery to the order as a whole; and from the order as a whole to the complete hierarchy of the church as represented by the papal chair. the principle of this social organization was now breaking down. the modern and bourgeois conception of the autonomy of the individual in all spheres of life was beginning to affirm itself. the most definite expression of this new principle asserted itself in the religious sphere. the individualism which was inherent in early christianity, but which was present as a speculative content merely, had not been strong enough to counteract even the remains of corporate tendencies on the material side of things, in the decadent roman empire; and infinitely less so the vigorous group-organization and sentiment of the northern nations, with their tribal society and communistic traditions still mainly intact. and these were the elements out of which mediæval society arose. naturally enough the new religious tendencies in revolt against the mediæval corporate christianity of the catholic church seized upon this individualistic element in christianity, declaring the chief end of religion to be a personal salvation, for the attainment of which the individual himself was sufficing, apart from church organization and church tradition. this served as a valuable destructive weapon for the iconoclasts in their attack on ecclesiastical privilege; consequently, in religion, this doctrine of individualism rapidly made headway. but in more material matters the old corporative instinct was still too strong and the conditions were as yet too imperfectly ripe for the speedy triumph of individualism. the conflict of the two tendencies is curiously exhibited in the popular movements of the reformation-time. as enemies of the decaying and obstructive forms of feudalism and church organization, the peasant and handicraftsman were necessarily on the side of the new individualism. so far as negation and destruction were concerned, they were working apparently for the new order of things--that new order of things which _longo intervallo_ has finally landed us in the developed capitalistic individualism of the twentieth century. yet when we come to consider their constructive programmes we find the positive demands put forward are based either on ideal conceptions derived from reminiscences of primitive communism, or else that they distinctly postulate a return to a state of things--the old mark-organisation--upon which the later feudalism had in various ways encroached, and finally superseded. hence they were, in these respects, not merely not in the trend of contemporary progress, but in actual opposition to it; and therefore, as lassalle has justly remarked, they were necessarily and in any case doomed to failure in the long run. this point should not be lost sight of in considering the various popular movements of the earlier half of the sixteenth century. the world was still essentially mediæval; men were still dominated by mediæval ways of looking at things and still immersed in mediæval conditions of life. it is true that out of this mediæval soil the new individualistic society was beginning to grow, but its manifestations were as yet not so universally apparent as to force a recognition of their real meaning. it was still possible to regard the various symptoms of change, numerous as they were, and far-reaching as we now see them to have been, as sporadic phenomena, as rank but unessential overgrowths on the old society, which it was possible by pruning and the application of other suitable remedies to get rid of, and thereby to restore a state of pristine health in the body political and social. biblical phrases and the notion of divine justice now took the place in the popular mind formerly occupied by church and emperor. all the then oppressed classes of society--the small peasant, half villein, half free-man; the landless journeyman and town-proletarian; the beggar by the wayside; the small master, crushed by usury or tyrannized over by his wealthier colleague in the guild, or by the town-patriciate; even the impoverished knight, or the soldier of fortune defrauded of his pay; in short, all with whom times were bad, found consolation for their wants and troubles, and at the same time an incentive to action, in the notion of a divine justice which should restore all things, and the advent of which was approaching. all had biblical phrases tending in the direction of their immediate aspirations in their mouths. as bearing on the development and propaganda of the new ideas, the existence of a new intellectual class, rendered possible by the new method of exchange through money (as opposed to that of barter), which for a generation past had been in full swing in the larger towns, must not be forgotten. formerly land had been the essential condition of livelihood; now it was no longer so. the "universal equivalent," money, conjoined with the printing press, was rendering a literary class proper, for the first time, possible. in the same way the teacher, physician, and the small lawyer were enabled to subsist as followers of independent professions, apart from the special service of the church or as part of the court-retinue of some feudal potentate. to these we must add a fresh and very important section of the intellectual class which also now for the first time acquired an independent existence--to wit, that of the public official or functionary. this change, although only one of many, is itself specially striking as indicating the transition from the barbaric civilization of the middle ages to the beginnings of the civilization of the modern world. we have, in short, before us, as already remarked, a period in which the middle ages, whilst still dominant, have their force visibly sapped by the growth of a new life. to sum up the chief features of this new life: industrially, we have the decline of the old system of production in the countryside in which each manor or, at least, each district, was for the most part self-sufficing and self-supporting, where production was almost entirely for immediate use, and only the surplus was exchanged, and where such exchange as existed took place exclusively under the form of barter. in place of this, we find now something more than the beginnings of a national-market and distinct traces of that of a world-market. in the towns the change was even still more marked. here we have a sudden and hothouse-like development of the influence of money. the guild-system, originally designed for associations of craftsmen, for which the chief object was the man and the work, and not the mere acquirement of profit, was changing its character. the guilds were becoming close corporations of privileged capitalists, while a commercial capitalism, as already indicated, was raising its head in all the larger centres. in consequence of this state of things, the rapid development of the towns and of commerce, national and international, and the economic backwardness of the country-side, a landless proletariat was being formed, which meant on the one hand an enormous increase in mendicancy of all kinds, and on the other the creation of a permanent class of only casually-employed persons, whom the towns absorbed indeed, but for the most part with a new form of citizenship involving only the bare right of residence within the walls. similar social phenomena were, of course, manifesting themselves contemporaneously in other parts of europe; but in germany the change was more sudden than elsewhere, and was complicated by special political circumstances. the political and military functions of that for the mediæval polity of germany, so important class, the knighthood, or lower nobility, had by this time become practically obsolete, mainly owing to the changed conditions of warfare. but yet the class itself was numerous, and still, nominally at least, possessed of most of its old privileges and authority. the extent of its real power depended, however, upon the absence or weakness of a central power, whether imperial or state-territorial. the attempt to reconstitute the centralized power of the empire under maximilian, of which the _reichsregiment_ was the outcome, had, as we have seen, not proved successful. its means of carrying into effect its own decisions were hopelessly inadequate. in it was already weakened, and became little more than a "survival" after the reichstag held at nürnberg in . thus this body, which had been called into existence at the instance of the most powerful estates of the empire, was "shelved" with the practically unanimous consent of those who had been instrumental in creating it. but if the attempt at imperial centralization had failed, the force of circumstances tended partly for this very reason to favour state-territorial centralization. the aim of all the territorial magnates, the higher members of the imperial system, was to consolidate their own princely power within the territories owing them allegiance. this desire played a not unimportant part in the establishment of the reformation in certain parts of the country--for example, in würtemberg, and in the northern lands of east prussia which were subject to the grand master of the teutonic knights. the time was at hand for the transformation of the mediæval feudal territory, with its local jurisdictions and its ties of service, into the modern bureaucratic state, with its centralized administration and organized system of salaried functionaries subject to a central authority. the religious movement inaugurated by luther met and was absorbed by all these elements of change. it furnished them with a religious _flag_, under cover of which they could work themselves out. this was necessary in an age when the christian theology was unquestioningly accepted in one or another form by wellnigh all men, and hence entered as a practical belief into their daily thoughts and lives. the lutheran reformation, from its inception in down to the peasants' war of , at once absorbed, and was absorbed by, all the revolutionary elements of the time. up to the last-mentioned date it gathered revolutionary force year by year. but this was the turning point. with the crushing of the peasants' revolt and the decisively anti-popular attitude taken up by luther, the religious movement associated with him ceased any longer to have a revolutionary character. it henceforth became definitely subservient to the new interests of the wealthy and privileged classes, and as such completely severed itself from the more extreme popular reforming sects. up to this time, though by no means always approved by luther himself or his immediate followers, and in some cases even combated by them, the latter were nevertheless not looked upon with disfavour by large numbers of the rank and file of those who regarded martin luther as their leader. nothing could exceed the violence of language with which luther himself attacked all who stood in his way. not only the ecclesiastical, but also the secular heads of christendom came in for the coarsest abuse; "swine" and "water-bladder" are not the strongest epithets employed. but this was not all; in his _treatise on temporal authority and how far it should be obeyed_ (published in ), whilst professedly maintaining the thesis that the secular authority is a divine ordinance, luther none the less expressly justifies resistance to all human authority where its mandates are contrary to "the word of god." at the same time, he denounces in his customary energetic language the existing powers generally. "thou shouldst know," he says, "that since the beginning of the world a wise prince is truly a rare bird, but a pious prince is still more rare." "they" (princes) "are mostly the greatest fools or the greatest rogues on earth; therefore must we at all times expect from them the worst, and little good." farther on, he proceeds: "the common man begetteth understanding, and the plague of the princes worketh powerfully among the people and the common man. he will not, he cannot, he purposeth not, longer to suffer your tyranny and oppression. dear princes and lords, know ye what to do, for god will no longer endure it? the world is no more as of old time, when ye hunted and drove the people as your quarry. but think ye to carry on with much drawing of sword, look to it that one do not come who shall bid ye sheath it, and that not in god's name!" again, in a pamphlet published the following year, , relative to the reichstag of that year, luther proclaims that the judgment of god already awaits "the drunken and mad princes." he quotes the phrase: "deposuit potentes de sede" (luke i. ), and adds "that is your case, dear lords, even now when ye see it not!" after an admonition to subjects to refuse to go forth to war against the turks, or to pay taxes towards resisting them, who were ten times wiser and more godly than german princes, the pamphlet concludes with the prayer: "may god deliver us from ye all, and of his grace give us other rulers!" against such utterances as the above, the conventional exhortations to christian humility, non-resistance, and obedience to those in authority, would naturally not weigh in a time of popular ferment. so, until the momentous year , it was not unnatural that, notwithstanding his quarrel with münzer and the zwickau enthusiasts, and with others whom he deemed to be going "too far," luther should have been regarded as in some sort the central figure of the revolutionary movement, political and social, no less than religious. but the great literary and agitatory forces during the period referred to were of course either outside the lutheran movement proper or at most only on the fringe of it. a mass of broadsheets and pamphlets, specimens of some of which have been given in a former volume (_german society at the close of the middle ages_, pp. - ), poured from the press during these years, all with the refrain that things had gone on long enough, that the common man, be he peasant or townsman, could no longer bear it. but even more than the revolutionary literature were the wandering preachers effective in working up the agitation which culminated in the peasants' war of . the latter comprised men of all classes, from the impoverished knight, the poor priest, the escaped monk, or the travelling scholar, to the peasant, the mercenary soldier out of employment, the poor handicraftsman, of even the beggar. learned and simple, they wandered about from place to place, in the market place of the town, in the common field of the village, from one territory to another, preaching the gospel of discontent. their harangues were, as a rule, as much political as religious, and the ground tone of them all was the social or economic misery of the time, and the urgency of immediate action to bring about a change. as in the literature, so in the discourses, biblical phrases designed to give force to the new teaching abounded. the more thorough-going of these itinerant apostles openly aimed at nothing less than the establishment of a new christian commonwealth, or, as they termed it, "the kingdom of god on earth." footnotes: [ ] we are here, of course, dealing more especially with germany; but substantially the same course was followed in the development of municipalities in other parts of europe. [ ] _einleitung_, pp. , . [ ] cf. von maurer's _einleitung zur geschichte der mark-verfassung_; gomme's _village communities_; laveleye, _la propriété primitive_; stubbs's _constitutional history_; also maine's works. [ ] it should be remembered that germany at this time was cut up into feudal territorial divisions of all sizes, from the principality, or the prince-bishopric, to the knightly manor. every few miles, and sometimes less, there was a fresh territory, a fresh lord, and a fresh jurisdiction. chapter i the reformation movement the "great man" theory of history, formerly everywhere prevalent, and even now common among non-historical persons, has long regarded the reformation as the purely personal work of the augustine monk who was its central figure. the fallacy of this conception is particularly striking in the case of the reformation. not only was it preceded by numerous sporadic outbursts of religious revivalism which sometimes took the shape of opposition to the dominant form of christianity, though it is true they generally shaded off into mere movements of independent catholicism within the church; but there were in addition at least two distinct religious movements which led up to it, while much which, under the reformers of the sixteenth century, appears as a distinct and separate theology, is traceable in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in the mystical movement connected with the names of meister eckhart and tauler. meister eckhart, whose free treatment of christian doctrines, in order to bring them into consonance with his mystical theology, had drawn him into conflict with the papacy, undoubtedly influenced luther through his disciple, tauler, and especially through the book which proceeded from the latter's school, the _deutsche theologie_. it is, however, in the much more important movement, which originated with wyclif and extended to central europe through huss, that we must look for the more obvious influences determining the course of religious development in germany. the wyclifite movement in england was less a doctrinal heterodoxy than a revolt against the papacy and the priestly hierarchy. mere theoretical speculations were seldom interfered with, but anything which touched their material interests at once aroused the vigilance of the clergy. it is noticeable that the diffusion of lollardism, that is of the ideas of wyclif, if not the cause of, was at least followed by the peasant rising under the leadership of john ball, a connection which is also visible in the tziska revolt following the hussite movement, and the peasants' war in germany which came on the heels of the lutheran reformation. how much huss was directly influenced by the teachings of wyclif is clear. the works of the latter were widely circulated throughout europe; for one of the advantages of the custom of writing in latin, which was universal during the middle ages, was that books of an important character were immediately current amongst all scholars without having, as now, to wait upon the caprice and ability of translators. huss read wyclif's works as the preparation for his theological degree, and subsequently made them his text-books when teaching at the university of prague. after his treacherous execution at constance, and the events which followed thereupon in bohemia, a number of hussite fugitives settled in southern germany, carrying with them the seeds of the new doctrines. an anonymous contemporary writer states that "to john huss and his followers are to be traced almost all those false principles concerning the power of the spiritual and temporal authorities and the possession of earthly goods and rights which before in bohemia, and now with us, have called forth revolt and rebellion, plunder, arson, and murder, and have shaken to its foundations the whole commonwealth. the poison of these false doctrines has been long flowing from bohemia into germany, and will produce the same desolating consequences wherever it spreads." the condition of the catholic church, against which the reformation movement generally was a protest, needs here to be made clear to the reader. the beginning of clerical disintegration is distinctly visible in the first half of the fourteenth century. the interdicts, as an institution, had ceased to be respected, and the priesthood itself began openly to sink itself in debauchery and to play fast and loose with the rites of the church. indulgences for a hundred years were readily granted for a consideration. the manufacture of relics became an organized branch of industry; and festivals of fools and festivals of asses were invented by the jovial priests themselves in travesty of sacred mysteries, as a welcome relaxation from the monotony of prescribed ecclesiastical ceremony. pilgrimages increased in number and frequency; new saints were created by the dozen; and the disbelief of the clergy in the doctrines they professed was manifest even to the most illiterate, whilst contempt for the ceremonies they practised was openly displayed in the performance of their clerical functions. an illustration of this is the joke of the priests related by luther, who were wont during the celebration of the mass, when the worshippers fondly imagined that the sacred formula of transubstantiation was being repeated, to replace the words _panis es et carnem fiebis_, "bread thou art and flesh thou shalt become," by _panis es et panis manebis_, "bread thou art and bread thou shalt remain." the scandals as regards clerical manners, growing, as they had been, for many generations, reached their climax in the early part of the sixteenth century. it was a common thing for priests to drive a roaring trade as moneylenders, landlords of alehouses and gambling dens, and even in some cases, brothel-keepers. papal ukases had proved ineffective to stem the current of clerical abuses. the regular clergy evoked even more indignation than the secular. "stinking cowls" was a favourite epithet for the monks. begging, cheating, shameless ignorance, drunkenness, and debauchery, are alleged as being their noted characteristics. one of the princes of the empire addresses a prior of a convent largely patronized by aristocratic ladies as "thou, our common brother-in-law!" in some of the convents of friesland, promiscuous intercourse between the sexes was, it is said, quite openly practised, the offspring being reared as monks and nuns. the different orders competed with each other for the fame and wealth to be obtained out of the public credulity. a fraud attempted by the dominicans at bern, in , _with the concurrence of the heads of the order throughout germany_, was one of the main causes of that city adopting the reformation. in addition to the increasing burdens of investitures, annates, and other papal dues, the brunt of which the german people had directly or indirectly to bear, special offence was given at the beginning of the sixteenth century by the excessive exploitation of the practice of indulgences by leo x for the purpose of completing the cathedral of st. peter's at rome. it was this, coming on the top of the exactions already rendered necessary by the increasing luxury and debauchery of the papal court and those of the other ecclesiastical dignitaries, that directly led to the dramatic incidents with which the lutheran reformation opened. the remarkable personality with which the religious side of the reformation is pre-eminently associated was a child of his time, who had passed through a variety of mental struggles, and had already broken through the bonds of the old ecclesiasticism before that turning-point in his career which is usually reckoned the opening of the reformation, to wit--the nailing of the theses on to the door of the schloss-kirche in wittenberg on the st of october, . martin luther, we must always bear in mind, however, was no protestant in the english puritan sense of the word. it was not merely that he retained much of what would be deemed by the old-fashioned english protestant "romish error" in his doctrine, but his practical view of life showed a reaction from the ascetic pretensions which he had seen bred nothing but hypocrisy and the worst forms of sensual excess. it is, indeed, doubtful if the man who sang the praises of "wine, women, and song" would have been deemed a fit representative in parliament or elsewhere by the british nonconformist conscience of our day; or would be acceptable in any capacity to the grocer-deacon of our provincial towns, who, not content with being allowed to sand his sugar and adulterate his tea unrebuked, would socially ostracise every one whose conduct did not square with his conventional shibboleths. martin luther was a child of his time also as a boon companion. the freedom of his living in the years following his rupture with rome was the subject of severe animadversions on the part of the noble, but in this respect narrow-minded, thomas münzer, who, in his open letter addressed to the "soft-living flesh of wittenberg," scathingly denounces what he deems his debauchery. it does not enter into our province here to discuss at length the religious aspects of the reformation; but it is interesting to note in passing the more than modern liberality of luther's views with respect to the marriage question and the celibacy of the clergy, contrasted with the strong mediæval flavour of his belief in witchcraft and sorcery. in his _de captivitate babylonica ecclesiæ_ ( ) he expresses the view that if, for any cause, husband or wife are prevented from having sexual intercourse they are justified, the woman equally with the man, in seeking it elsewhere. he was opposed to divorce, though he did not forbid it, and recommended that a man should rather have a plurality of wives than that he should put away any of them. luther held strenuously the view that marriage was a purely external contract for the purpose of sexual satisfaction, and in no way entered into the spiritual life of the man. on this ground he sees no objection in the so-called mixed marriages, which were, of course, frowned upon by the catholic church. in his sermon on "married life" he says: "know therefore that marriage is an outward thing, like any other worldly business. just as i may eat, drink, sleep, walk, ride, buy, speak, and bargain with a heathen, a jew, a turk, or a heretic, so may i also be and remain married to such an one, and i care not one jot for the fool's laws which forbid it.... a heathen is just as much man or woman, well and shapely made by god, as st. peter, st. paul, or st. lucia." nor did he shrink from applying his views to particular cases, as is instanced by his correspondence with philip von hessen, whose constitution appears to have required more than one wife. he here lays down explicitly the doctrine that polygamy and concubinage are not forbidden to christians, though, in his advice to philip, he adds the _caveat_ that he should keep the matter dark to the end that offence might not be given. "for," says he, "it matters not, provided one's conscience is right, what others say." in one of his sermons on the pentateuch[ ] we find the words: "it is not forbidden that a man have more than one wife. i would not forbid it to-day, albeit i would not advise it.... yet neither would i condemn it." other opinions on the nature of the sexual relation were equally broad; for in one of his writings on monastic celibacy his words plainly indicate his belief that chastity, no more than other fleshly mortifications, was to be considered a divine ordinance for all men or women. in an address to the clergy he says: "a woman not possessed of high and rare grace can no more abstain from a man than from eating, drinking, sleeping, or other natural function. likewise a man cannot abstain from a woman. the reason is that it is as deeply implanted in our nature to breed children as it is to eat and drink."[ ] the worthy janssen observes in a scandalized tone that luther, as regards certain matters relating to married life, "gave expression to principles before unheard of in christian europe";[ ] and the british nonconformist of to-day, if he reads these "immoral" opinions of the hero of the reformation, will be disposed to echo the sentiments of the ultramontane historian. the relation of the reformation to the "new learning" was in germany not unlike that which existed in the other northern countries of europe, and notably in england. whilst the hostility of the latter to the mediæval church was very marked, and it was hence disposed to regard the religious reformation as an ally, this had not proceeded very far before the tendency of the renaissance spirit was to side with catholicism against the new theology and dogma, as merely destructive and hostile to culture. the men of the humanist movement were for the most part free-thinkers, and it was with them that free-thought first appeared in modern europe. they therefore had little sympathy with the narrow bigotry of religious reformers, and preferred to remain in touch with the church, whose then loose and tolerant catholicism gave freer play to intellectual speculations, provided they steered clear of overt theological heterodoxy, than the newer systems, which, taking theology _au grand sérieux_, tended to regard profane art and learning as more or less superfluous, and spent their whole time in theological wrangles. nevertheless, there were not wanting men who, influenced at first by the revival of learning, ended by throwing themselves entirely into the reformation movement, though in these cases they were usually actuated rather by their hatred of the catholic hierarchy than by any positive religious sentiment. of such men ulrich von hutten, the descendant of an ancient and influential knightly family, was a noteworthy example. after having already acquired fame as the author of a series of skits in the new latin and other works of classical scholarship, being also well known as the ardent supporter of reuchlin in his dispute with the church, and as the friend and correspondent of the central humanist figure of the time, erasmus, he watched with absorbing interest the movement which luther had inaugurated. six months after the nailing of the theses at wittenberg, he writes enthusiastically to a friend respecting the growing ferment in ecclesiastical matters, evidently regarding the new movement as a kilkenny-cat fight. "the leaders," he says, "are bold and hot, full of courage and zeal. now they shout and cheer, now they lament and bewail, as loud as they can. they have lately set themselves to write; the printers are getting enough to do. propositions, corollaries, conclusions, and articles are being sold. for this alone i hope they will mutually destroy each other." "a few days ago a monk was telling me what was going on in saxony, to which i replied: 'devour each other in order that ye in turn may be devoured (_sic_).' pray heaven that our enemies may fight each other to the bitter end, and by their obstinacy extinguish each other." thus it will be seen that hutten regarded the reformation in its earlier stages as merely a monkish squabble, and failed to see the tremendous upheaval of all the old landmarks of ecclesiastical domination which was immanent in it. so soon, however, as he perceived its real significance, he threw himself wholly into the movement. it must not be forgotten, moreover, that, although hutten's zeal for humanism made him welcome any attempt to overthrow the power of the clergy and the monks, he had also an eminently political motive for his action in what was, in some respects, the main object of his life, viz. to rescue the "knighthood," or smaller nobility, from having their independence crushed out by the growing powers of the princes of the empire. probably more than one-third of the manors were held by ecclesiastical dignitaries, so that anything which threatened their possessions and privileges seemed to strike a blow at the very foundations of the imperial system. hutten hoped that the new doctrines would set the princes by the ears all round; and that then, by allying themselves with the reforming party, the knighthood might succeed in retaining the privileges which still remained to them, but were rapidly slipping away, and might even regain some of those which had been already lost. it was not till later, however, that hutten saw matters in this light. he was, at the time the above letter was written, in the service of the archbishop albrecht of mainz, the leading favourer of the new learning amongst the prince-prelates, and it was mainly from the humanist standpoint that he regarded the beginnings of the reformation. after leaving the service of the archbishop he struck up a personal friendship with luther, instigated thereto by his political chief, franz von sickingen, the leader of the knighthood, from whom he probably received the first intimation of the importance of the new movement to their common cause. when, in , the young emperor, charles v, was crowned at aachen, luther's party, as well as the knighthood, expected that considerable changes would result in a sense favourable to their position from the presumed pliability of the new head of the empire. his youth, it was supposed, would make him more sympathetic to the newer spirit which was rapidly developing itself; and it is true that about the time of his election charles had shown a transient favour to the "recalcitrant monk." it would appear, however, that this was only for the purpose of frightening the pope into abandoning his declared intention of abolishing the inquisition in spain, then regarded as one of the mainstays of the royal power, and still more to exercise pressure upon him, in order that he should facilitate charles's designs on the milanese territory. once these objects were attained, he was just as ready to oblige the pope by suppressing the new anti-papal movement as he might possibly otherwise have been to have favoured it with a view to humbling the only serious rival to his dominion in the empire. immediately after his coronation he proceeded to cologne, and convoked by imperial edict a reichstag at worms for the following th of january, . the proceedings of this famous reichstag have been unfortunately so identified with the edict against luther that the other important matters which were there discussed have almost fallen into oblivion. at least two other questions were dealt with, however, which are significant of the changes that were then taking place. the first was the rehabilitation and strengthening of the imperial governing council (_reichsregiment_), whose functions under maximilian had been little more than nominal. there was at first a feeling amongst the states in favour of transferring all authority to it, even during the residence of the emperor in the empire; and in the end, while having granted to it complete power during his absence, it practically retained very much of this power when he was present. in constitution it was very similar to the french "parliaments," and, like them, was principally composed of learned jurists, four being elected by the emperor and the remainder by the estates. the character and the great powers of this council, extending even to ecclesiastical matters during the ensuing years, undoubtedly did much to hasten on the substitution of the civil law for the older customary or common law, a matter which we shall consider more in detail later on. the financial condition of the empire was also considered; and it here first became evident that the dislocation of economic conditions, which had begun with the century, would render an enormously increased taxation necessary to maintain the imperial authority, amounting to five times as much as had previously been required. it was only after these secular affairs of the empire had been disposed of that the deliberations of the reichstag on ecclesiastical matters were opened by the indictment of luther in a long speech by aleander, one of the papal nuncios, in introducing the pope's letter. in spite of the efforts of his friends, luther was not permitted to be present at the beginning of the proceedings; but subsequently he was sent for by the emperor, in order that he might state his case. his journey to worms was one long triumph, especially at erfurt, where he was received with enthusiasm by the humanists as the enemy of the papacy. but his presence in the reichstag was unavailing, and the proceedings resulted in his being placed under the ban of the empire. the safe-conduct of the emperor was, however, in his case respected; and in spite of the fears of his friends that a like fate might befall him as had befallen huss after the council of constance, he was allowed to depart unmolested. on his way to wittenberg luther was seized, by arrangement with his supporter, the kurfürst of saxony, and conveyed in safety to the castle of wartburg, in thüringen, a report in the meantime being industriously circulated by certain of his adherents, with a view of arousing popular feeling, that he had been arrested by order of the emperor and was being tortured. in this way he was secured from all danger for the time being, and it was during his subsequent stay that he laid the foundations of the literary language of germany. says a contemporary writer,[ ] an eye-witness of what went on at worms during the sitting of the reichstag: "all is disorder and confusion. seldom a night doth pass but that three or four persons be slain. the emperor hath installed a provost, who hath drowned, hanged, and murdered over a hundred men." he proceeds: "stabbing, whoring, flesh-eating (it was in lent) ... altogether there is an orgie worthy of the venusberg." he further states that many gentlemen and other visitors had drunk themselves to death on the strong rhenish wine. aleander was in danger of being murdered by the lutheran populace, instigated thereto by hutten's inflammatory letters from the neighbouring castle of ebernburg, in which franz von sickingen had given him a refuge. the fiery humanist wrote to aleander himself, saying that he would leave no stone unturned "till thou who earnest hither full of wrath, madness, crime, and treachery shalt be carried hence a lifeless corpse." aleander naturally felt exceedingly uncomfortable, and other supporters of the papal party were not less disturbed at the threats which seemed in a fair way of being carried out. the emperor himself was without adequate means of withstanding a popular revolt should it occur. he had never been so low in cash or in men as at that moment. on the other hand, sickingen, to whom he owed money, and who was the only man who could have saved the situation under the circumstances, had matters come to blows, was almost overtly on the side of the lutherans; while the whole body of the impoverished knighthood were only awaiting a favourable opportunity to overthrow the power of the magnates, secular and ecclesiastic, with sickingen as a leader. such was the state of affairs at the beginning of the year . the ban placed upon luther by the reichstag marks the date of the complete rupture between the reforming party and the old church. henceforward, many humanist and humanistically influenced persons who had supported him withdrew from the movement and swelled the ranks of the conservatives. foremost amongst these were pirckheimer, the wealthy merchant and scholar of nürnberg, and many others, who dreaded lest the attack on ecclesiastical property and authority should, as indeed was the case, issue in a general attack on all property and authority. thomas murner, also, who was the type of the "moderate" of the situation, while professing to disapprove of the abuses of the church, declared that luther's manner of agitation could only lead to the destruction of all order, civil no less than ecclesiastical. the two parties were now clearly defined, and the points at issue were plainly irreconcilable with one another or involved irreconcilable details. the printing-press now for the first time appeared as the vehicle for popular literature; the art of the bard gave place to the art of the typographer, and the art of the preacher saw confronting it a formidable rival in that of the pamphleteer. similarly in the french revolution, modern journalism, till then unimportant and sporadic, received its first great development, and began seriously to displace alike the preacher, the pamphlet, and the broadside. the flood of theological disquisitions, satires, dialogues, sermons, which now poured from every press in germany, overflowed into all classes of society. these writings are so characteristic of the time that it is worth while devoting a few pages to their consideration, the more especially because it will afford us the opportunity for considering other changes in that spirit of the age, partly diseased growths of decaying mediævalism and partly the beginnings of the modern critical spirit, which also find expression in the literature of the reformation period. footnotes: [ ] _sämmtliche werke_, vol. xxxiii. pp. - . [ ] quoted in janssen, _ein zweites wort an meine kritiker_ , p. . [ ] _geschichte des deutschen volkes_, vol. ii. p. . [ ] quoted in janssen, bk. ii. . chapter ii popular literature of the time in accordance with the conventional view the reichstag at worms was a landmark in the history of the reformation. this is, however, only true as regards the political side of the movement. the popular feeling was really quite continuous, at least from to . with the latter year and the collapse of the peasant revolt a change is noticeable. in the reformation, as a great upstirring of the popular mind of central europe, in contradistinction to its character as an academic and purely political movement, reached high-water mark, and may almost be said to have exhausted itself. until the latter year it was purely a revolutionary movement, attracting to itself all the disruptive elements of its time. later, the reactionary possibilities within it declared themselves. the emancipation from the thraldom of the catholic hierarchy and its papal head, it was soon found, meant not emancipation from the arbitrary tyranny of the new political and centralizing authorities then springing up, but, on the contrary, rather their consecration. the ultimate outcome, in fact, of the whole business was, as we shall see later on, the inculcation of the non-resistance theory as regards the civil power, and the clearing of the way for its extremest expression in the doctrine of the divine right of kings, a theory utterly alien to the belief and practice of the mediæval church. the reichstag of worms, by cutting off all possibility of reconciliation, rather gave further edge to the popular revolutionary side of the movement than otherwise. the whole progress of the change in public feeling is plainly traceable in the mass of ephemeral literature that has come down to us from this period, broadsides, pamphlets, satires, folk-songs, and the rest. the anonymous literature to which we more especially refer is distinguished by its coarse brutality and humour, even in the writings of the reformers, which were themselves in no case remarkable for the suavity of their polemic. hutten, in some of his later vernacular poems, approaches the character of the less-cultured broadside literature. to the critical mind it is somewhat amusing to note the enthusiasm with which the modern dissenting and puritan class contemplates the period of which we are writing--an enthusiasm that would probably be effectively damped if the laudators of the reformation knew the real character of the movement and of its principal actors. the first attacks made by the broadside literature were naturally directed against the simony and benefice-grabbing of the clergy, a characteristic of the priestly office that has always powerfully appealed to the popular mind. thus the "courtisan and benefice-eater" attacks the parasite of the roman court, who absorbs ecclesiastical revenues wholesale, putting in perfunctory _locum tenens_ on the cheap, and begins:-- i'm fairly called a simonist and eke a courtisan, and here to every peasant and every common man my knavery will very well appear. i called and cried to all who'd give me ear, to nobleman and knight and all above me: "behold me! and ye'll find i'll truly love ye." in another we read:-- the paternoster teaches well how one for another his prayers should tell, thro' brotherly love and not for gold, and good those same prayers god doth hold. so too saith holy paul right clearly, each shall his brother's load bear dearly. but now, it declares, all that is changed. now we are being taught just the opposite of god's teachings:-- such doctrine hath the priests increased, whom men as masters now must feast, 'fore all the crowd of simonists, whose waxing number no man wists, the towns and thorps seem full of them, and in all lands they're seen with shame. their violence and knavery leave not a church or living free. a prose pamphlet, apparently published about the summer of , shortly after luther's ex-communication, was the so-called "wolf song" (_wolf-gesang_), which paints the enemies of luther as wolves. it begins with a screed on the creation and fall of adam, and a dissertation on the dogma of the redemption; and then proceeds: "as one might say, dear brother, instruct me, for there is now in our times so great commotion in faith come upon us. there is one in saxony who is called luther, of whom many pious and honest folk tell how that he doth write so consolingly the good evangelical (_evangelische_) truth. but again i hear that the pope and the cardinals at rome have put him under the ban as a heretic; and certain of our own preachers, too, scold him from their pulpits as a knave, a misleader, and a heretic. i am utterly confounded, and know not where to turn; albeit my reason and heart do speak to me even as luther writeth. but yet again it bethinks me that when the pope, the cardinal, the bishop, the doctor, the monk, and the priest, for the greater part are against him, and so that all save the common men and a few gentlemen, doctors, councillors, and knights, are his adversaries, what shall i do?" "for answer, dear friend, get thee back and search the scriptures, and thou shalt find that so it hath gone with all the holy prophets even as it now fareth with doctor martin luther, who is in truth a godly christian and manly heart and only true pope and apostle, when he the true office of the apostles publicly fulfilleth.... if the godly man luther were pleasing to the world, that were indeed a true sign that his doctrine were not from god; for the word of god is a fiery sword, a hammer that breaketh in pieces the rocks, and not a fox's tail or a reed that may be bent according to our pleasure." seventeen noxious qualities of the wolf are adduced--his ravenousness, his cunning, his falseness, his cowardice, his thirst for robbery, amongst others. the popes, the cardinals, and the bishops are compared to the wolves in all their attributes: "the greater his pomp and splendour, the more shouldst thou beware of such an one; for he is a wolf that cometh in the shape of a good shepherd's dog. beware! it is against the custom of christ and his apostles." it is again but the song of the wolves when they claim to mix themselves with worldly affairs and maintain the temporal supremacy. the greediness of the wolf is discernible in the means adopted to get money for the building of st. peter's. the interlocutor is warned against giving to mendicant priests and monks. we have given this as a specimen of the almost purely theological pamphlet; although, as will have been evident, even this is directly connected with the material abuses from which the people were suffering. another pamphlet of about the same date deals with usury, the burden of which had been greatly increased by the growth of the new commercial combinations already referred to in the introduction, which combinations dr. eck had been defending at bologna on theological grounds, in order to curry favour with the augsburg merchant-prince, fuggerschwatz.[ ] it is called "concerning dues. hither comes a poor peasant to a rich citizen. a priest comes also thereby, and then a monk. full pleasant to read." a peasant visits a burgher when he is counting money, and asks him where he gets it all from. "my dear peasant," says the townsman, "thou askest me who gave me this money. i will tell thee. there cometh hither a peasant, and beggeth me to lend him ten or twenty gulden. thereupon i ask him an he possesseth not a goodly meadow or corn-field. 'yea! good sir!' saith he, 'i have indeed a good meadow and a good corn-field. the twain are worth a hundred gulden.' then say i to him: 'good, my friend, wilt thou pledge me thy holding? and an thou givest me one gulden of thy money every year i will lend thee twenty gulden now.' then is the peasant right glad, and saith he: 'willingly will i pledge it thee.' 'i will warn thee,' say i, 'that an thou furnishest not the one gulden of money each year, i will take thy holding for my own having.' therewith is the peasant well content, and writeth him down accordingly. i lend him the money; he payeth me one year, or may be twain, the due; thereafter can he no longer furnish it, and thereupon i take the holding, and drive away the peasant therefrom. thus i get the holding and the money. the same things do i with handicraftsmen. hath he a good house? he pledgeth that house until i bring it behind me. therewith gain i much in goods and money, and thus do i pass my days." "i thought," rejoined the peasant, "that 'twere only the jew who did usury, but i hear that ye also ply that trade." the burgher answers that interest is not usury, to which the peasant replies that interest (_gült_) is only a "subtle name." the burgher then quotes scripture, as commanding men to help one another. the peasant readily answers that in doing this they have no right to get advantage from the assistance they proffer. "thou art a good fellow!" says the townsman. "if i take no money for the money that i lend, how shall i then increase my hoard?" the peasant then reproaches him that he sees well that his object in life is to wax fat on the substance of others; "but i tell thee, indeed," he says, "that it is a great and heavy sin." whereupon his opponent waxes wroth, and will have nothing more to do with him, threatening to kick him out in the name of a thousand devils; but the peasant returns to the charge, and expresses his opinion that rich men do not willingly hear the truth. a priest now enters, and to him the townsman explains the dispute. "dear peasant," says the priest, "wherefore camest thou hither, that thou shouldst make of a due[ ] usury? may not a man buy with his money what he will?" but the peasant stands by his previous assertion, demanding how anything can be considered as bought which is only a pledge. "we priests," replies the ecclesiastic, "must perforce lend moneys for dues, since thereby we get our living"; to which, after sundry ejaculations of surprise, the peasant retorts: "who gave to you the power? i well hear ye have another god than we poor people. we have our lord jesus christ, who hath forbidden such money-lending for gain." hence it comes, he goes on, that land is no longer free; to attempt to whitewash usury under the name of due or interest, he says, is just the same as if one were to call a child christened friedrich or hansel, fritz or hans, and then maintain it was no longer the same child. they require no more jews, he says, since the christians have taken their business in hand. the townsman is once more about to turn the peasant out of his house when a monk enters. he then lays the matter before the new-comer, who promises to talk the peasant over with soft words; for, says he, there is nothing accomplished with vainglory. he thereupon takes him aside and explains it to him by the illustration of a merchant whose gain on the wares he sells is not called usury, and argues that therefore other forms of gain in business should not be described by this odious name. but the peasant will have none of this comparison; for the merchant, he says, needs to incur much risk in order to gain and traffic with his wares; while money-lending on security is, on the other hand, without risk or labour, and is a treacherous mode of cheating. finding that they can make nothing of the obstinate countryman, the others leave him; but he, as a parting shot, exclaims: "ah, well-a-day! i would to have talked with thee at first, but it is now ended. farewell, gracious sir, and my other kind sirs. i, poor little peasant, i go my way. farewell, farewell, due remains usury for ever more. yea, yea! due, indeed!" the above specimens of the popular writing of the time must suffice. but for the reader who wishes to further study this literature we give the titles, which sufficiently indicate their contents, of a selection of other similar pamphlets and broadsheets: "a new epistle from the evil clergy sent to their righteous lord, with an answer from their lord. most merry to read" ( ). "a great prize which the prince of hell, hight lucifer, now offereth to the clergy, to the pope, bishops, cardinals, and their like" ( ). "a written call, made by the prince of hell to his dear devoted, of all and every condition in his kingdom" ( ). "dialogue or converse of the apostolicum, angelica, and other spices of the druggist, anent dr. martin luther and his disciples" ( ). "a very pleasant dialogue and remonstrance from the sheriff of gaissdorf and his pupil against the pastor of the same and his assistant" ( ). the popularity of "karsthans," an anonymous tract, amongst the people is illustrated by the publication and wide distribution of a new "karsthans" a few months later, in which it is sought to show that the knighthood should make common cause with the peasants, the _dramatis personæ_ being karsthans and franz von sickingen. referring to the same subject we find a "dialogue which franciscus von sickingen held fore heaven's gate with st. peter and the knights of st. george before he was let in." this was published in , almost immediately after the death of sickingen. "a talk between a nobleman, a monk, and a courtier" ( ). "a talk between a fox and a wolf" ( ). "a pleasant dialogue between dr. martin luther and the cunning messenger from hell" ( ). "a conversation of the pope with his cardinals of how it goeth with him, and how he may destroy the word of god. let every man very well note" ( ). "a christian and merry talk, that it is more pleasing to god and more wholesome for men to come out of the monasteries and to marry, than to tarry therein and to burn; which talk is not with human folly and the false teachings thereof, but is founded alone in the holy, divine, biblical, and evangelical scripture" ( ). "a pleasant dialogue of a peasant with a monk that he should cast his cowl from him. merry and fair to read" ( ). the above is only a selection taken haphazard from the mass of fugitive literature which the early years of the reformation brought forth. in spite of a certain rough but not unattractive directness of diction, a prolonged reading of them is very tedious, as will have been sufficiently seen from the extracts we have given. their humour is of a particularly juvenile and obvious character, and consists almost entirely in the childish device of clothing the personages with ridiculous but non-essential attributes, or in placing them in grotesque but pointless situations. of the more subtle humour, which consists in the discovery of real but hidden incongruities, and the perception of what is innately absurd, there is no trace. the obvious abuses of the time are satirized in this way _ad nauseam_. the rapacity of the clergy in general, the idleness and lasciviousness of the monks, the pomp and luxury of the prince-prelates, the inconsistencies of church traditions and practices with scripture, with which they could now be compared, since it was everywhere circulated in the vulgar tongue, form their never-ending theme. they reveal to the reader a state of things that strikes one none the less in english literature of the period--the intense interest of all classes in theological matters. it shows us how they looked at all things through a theological lens. although we have left this phase of popular thought so recently behind us, we can even now scarcely imagine ourselves back into it. the idea of ordinary men, or of the vast majority, holding their religion as anything else than a very pious opinion absolutely unconnected with their daily life, public or private, has already become almost inconceivable to us. in all the writings of the time, the theological interest is in the forefront. the economic and social groundwork only casually reveals itself. this it is that makes the reading of the sixteenth-century polemics so insufferably jejune and dreary. they bring before us the ghosts of controversies in which most men have ceased to take any part, albeit they have not been dead and forgotten long enough to have acquired a revived antiquarian interest. the great bombshell which luther cast forth on june , , in his address to the german nobility,[ ] indeed, contains strong appeals to the economical and political necessities of germany, and therein we see the veil torn from the half-unconscious motives that lay behind the theological mask; but, as already said, in the popular literature, with a few exceptions, the theological controversy rules undisputed. the noticeable feature of all this irruption of the _cacoethes scribendi_ was the direct appeal to the bible for the settlement not only of strictly theological controversies but of points of social and political ethics also. this practice, which even to the modern protestant seems insipid and played out after three centuries and a half of wear, had at that time the to us inconceivable charm of novelty; and the perusal of the literature and controversies of the time shows that men used it with all the delight of a child with a new toy, and seemed never tired of the game of searching out texts to justify their position. the diffusion of the whole bible in the vernacular, itself a consequence of the rebellion against priestly tradition and the authority of the fathers, intensified the revolt by making the pastime possible to all ranks of society. footnotes: [ ] see appendix c. [ ] we use the word "due" here for the german word _gült_. the corresponding english of the time does not make any distinction between _gült_ or interest, and _wucher_ or usury. [ ] _an der christlichen adel deutscher nation._ chapter iii the folklore of reformation germany now in the hands of all men, the bible was not made the basis of doctrinal opinions alone. it lent its support to many of the popular superstitions of the time, and in addition it served as the starting-point for new superstitions and for new developments of the older ones. the pan-dæmonism of the new testament, with its wonder-workings by devilish agencies, its exorcisms of evil spirits and the like, could not fail to have a deep effect on the popular mind. the authority that the book believed to be divinely inspired necessarily lent to such beliefs gave a vividness to the popular conception of the devil and his angels, which is apparent throughout the whole movement of the reformation, and not least in the utterances of the great luther himself. indeed, with the reformation there comes a complete change over the popular conception of the devil and diabolical influences. it is true that the judicial pursuit of witches and witchcraft, in the earlier middle ages only a sporadic incident, received a great impulse from the bull of pope innocent viii (dec. , ), entitled _summis desideruntes_, to which has been given the title of _malleus maleficorum_, or _the hammer of sorcerers_, directed against the practice of witchcraft; but it was especially amongst the men of the new spirit that the belief in the prevalence of compacts with the devil, and the necessity for suppressing them, took root, and led to the horrible persecutions that distinguished the "reformed" churches on the whole even more than the catholic. luther himself had a vivid belief, tinging all his views and actions, in the ubiquity of the devil and his myrmidons. "the devils," says he, "are near us, and do cunningly contrive every moment without ceasing against our life, our salvation, and our blessedness.... in woods, waters, and wastes, and in damp, marshy places, there are many devils that seek to harm men. in the black and thick clouds, too, there are some that make storms, hail, lightning, and thunder, that poison the air and the pastures. when such things happen, the philosophers and the physicians ascribe them to the stars, and show i know not what causes for such misfortunes and plagues." luther relates numerous instances of personal encounters that he himself had had with the devil. a nobleman invited him, with other learned men from the university of wittenberg, to take part in a hare hunt. a large, fine hare and a fox crossed the path. the nobleman, mounted on a strong, healthy steed, dashed after them, when, suddenly, his horse fell dead beneath him, and the fox and the hare flew up in the air and vanished. "for," says luther, "they were devilish spectres." again, on another occasion, he was at eisleben on the occasion of another hare-hunt, when the nobleman succeeded in killing eight hares, which were, on their return home, duly hung up for the next day's meal. on the following morning, horses' heads were found in their place. "in mines," says luther, "the devil oftentimes deceives men with a false appearance of gold." all disease and all misfortune were the direct work of the devil; god, who was all good, could not produce either. luther gives a long history of how he was called to a parish priest, who complained of the devil's having created a disturbance in his house by throwing the pots and pans about, and so forth, and of how he advised the priest to exorcise the fiend by invoking his own authority as a pastor of the church. at the wartburg, luther complained of having been very much troubled by the satanic arts. when he was at work upon his translation of the bible, or upon his sermons, or engaged in his devotions, the devil was always making disturbances on the stairs or in the room. one day, after a hard spell of study, he lay down to sleep in his bed, when the devil began pelting him with hazel-nuts, a sack of which had been brought to him a few hours before by an attendant. he invoked, however, the name of christ, and lay down again in bed. there were other more curious and more doubtful recipes for driving away satan and his emissaries. luther is never tired of urging that contemptuous treatment and rude chaff are among the most efficacious methods. there was, he relates, a poor soothsayer, to whom the devil came in visible form, and offered great wealth provided that he would deny christ and never more do penance. the devil provided him with a crystal, by which he could foretell events, and thus become rich. this he did; but nemesis awaited him, for the devil deceived him one day, and caused him to denounce certain innocent persons as thieves. in consequence, he was thrown into prison, where he revealed the compact that he had made, and called for a confessor. the two chief forms in which the devil appeared were, according to luther, those of a snake and a sheep. he further goes into the question of the population of devils in different countries. on the top of the pilatus at luzern, he says, is a black pond, which is one of the devil's favourite abodes. in luther's own country there is also a high mountain, the poltersberg, with a similar pond. when a stone is thrown into this pond, a great tempest arises, which often devastates the whole neighbourhood. he also alleges prussia to be full of evil spirits (!!). devilish changelings, luther said, were often placed by satan in the cradles of human children. "some maids he often plunges into the water, and keeps them with him until they have borne a child." these children are placed in the beds of mortals, and the true children are taken out and hurried away. "but," he adds, "such changelings are said not to live more than to the eighteenth or nineteenth year." as a practical application of this, it may be mentioned that luther advised the drowning of a certain child of twelve years old, on the ground of its being a devil's changeling. somnambulism is, with luther, the result of diabolical agency. "formerly," says he, "the papists, being superstitious people, alleged that persons thus afflicted had not been properly baptized, or had been baptized by a drunken priest." the irony of the reference to superstition, considering the "great reformer's" own position, will not be lost upon the reader. thus, not only is the devil the cause of pestilence, but he is also the immediate agent of nightmare and of nightsweats. at mölburg in thüringen, near erfurt, a piper, who was accustomed to pipe at weddings, complained to his priest that the devil had threatened to carry him away and destroy him, on the ground of a practical joke played upon some companions, to wit, for having mixed horse-dung with their wine at a drinking bout. the priest consoled him with many passages of scripture anent the devil and his ways, with the result that the piper expressed himself satisfied as regarded the welfare of his soul, but apprehensive as regarded that of his body, which was, he asserted, hopelessly the prey of the devil. in consequence of this, he insisted on partaking of the sacrament. the devil had indicated to him when he was going to be fetched, and watchers were accordingly placed in his room, who sat in their armour and with their weapons, and read the bible to him. finally, one saturday at midnight, a violent storm arose, that blew out the lights in the room, and hurled the luckless victim out of a narrow window into the street. the sound of fighting and of armed men was heard, but the piper had disappeared. the next morning he was found in a neighbouring ditch, with his arms stretched out in the form of a cross, dead and coal-black. luther vouches for the truth of this story, which he alleges to have been told him by a parish priest of gotha, who had himself heard it from the parish priest of mölburg, where the event was said to have taken place. amongst the numerous anecdotes of a supernatural character told by "dr. martin" is one of a "poltergeist," or "robin goodfellow," who was exorcised by two monks from the guest-chamber of an inn, and who offered his services to them in the monastery. they gave him a corner in the kitchen. the serving-boy used to torment him by throwing dirty water over him. after unavailing protests, the spirit hung the boy up to a beam, but let him down again before serious harm resulted. luther states that this "brownie" was well known by sight in the neighbouring town (the name of which he does not give). but by far the larger number of his stories, which, be it observed, are warranted as ordinary occurrences, as to the possibility of which there was no question, are coloured by that more sinister side of supernaturalism so much emphasised by the new theology. the mediæval devil was, for the most part, himself little more than a prankish rübezahl, or robin goodfellow; the new satan of the reformers was, in very deed, an arch-fiend, the enemy of the human race, with whom no truce or parley might be held. the old folklore belief in _incubi_ and _succubi_ as the parents of changelings is brought into connection with the theory of direct diabolic begettal. thus luther relates how friedrich, the elector of saxony, told him of a noble family that had sprung from a _succubus_: "just," says he, "as the melusina at luxembourg was also such a _succubus_, or devil." in the case referred to, the _succubus_ assumed the shape of the man's dead wife, and lived with him and bore him children, until, one day, he swore at her, when she vanished, leaving only her clothes behind. after giving it as his opinion that all such beings and their offspring are wiles of the devil, he proceeds: "it is truly a grievous thing that the devil can so plague men that he begetteth children in their likeness. it is even so with the nixies in the water, that lure a man therein, in the shape of wife or maid, with whom he doth dally and begetteth offspring of them." the change whereby the beings of the old naïve folklore are transformed into the devil or his agents is significant of that darker side of the new theology, which was destined to issue in those horrors of the witchcraft-mania that reached their height at the beginning of the following century. one more story of a "changeling" before we leave the subject. luther gives us the following as having come to his knowledge near halberstadt, in saxony. a peasant had a baby, who sucked out its mother and five nurses, besides eating a great deal. concluding that it was a changeling, the peasant sought the advice of his neighbours, who suggested that he should take it on a pilgrimage to a neighbouring shrine of the mother of god. while he was crossing a brook on the way an impish voice from under the water called out to the infant, whom he was carrying in a basket. the brat answered from within the basket, "ho, ho!" and the peasant was unspeakably shocked. when the voice from the water proceeded to ask the child what it was after, and received the answer from the hitherto inarticulate babe that it was going to be laid on the shrine of the mother of god, to the end that it might prosper, the peasant could stand it no longer, and flung basket and baby into the brook. the changeling and the little devil played for a few moments with each other, rolling over and over, and crying, "ho, ho, ho!" and then they disappeared together. luther says that these devilish brats may be generally known by their eating and drinking too much, and especially by their exhausting their mother's milk, but they may not develop any certain signs of their true parentage until eighteen or nineteen years old. the princess of anhalt had a child which luther imagined to be a changeling, and he therefore advised its being drowned, alleging that such creatures were only lumps of flesh animated by the devil or his angels. some one spoke of a monster which infested the netherlands, and which went about smelling at people like a dog, and whoever it smelt died. but those that were smelt did not see it, albeit the bystanders did. the people had recourse to vigils and masses. luther improved the occasion to protest against the "superstition" of masses for the dead, and to insist upon his favourite dogma of faith as the true defence against assaults of the devil. among the numerous stories of satanic compacts, we are told of a monk who ate up a load of hay, of a debtor who bit off the leg of his hebrew creditor and ran off to avoid payment, and of a woman who bewitched her husband so that he vomited lizards. luther observes, with especial reference to this last case, that lawyers and judges were far too pedantic with their witnesses and with their evidence; that the devil hardens his clients against torture, and that the refusal to confess under torture ought to be of itself sufficient proof of dealings with the prince of darkness. "towards such," says he, "we would show no mercy; i would burn them myself." black magic or witchcraft he proceeds to characterize as the greatest sin a human being can be guilty of, as, in fact, high treason against god himself--_crimen læsæ majestatis divinæ_. the conversation closes with a story of how maximilian's father, the emperor friedrich, who seems to have obtained a reputation for magic arts, invited a well-known magician to a banquet, and on his arrival fixed claws on his hands and hoofs on his feet by his cunning. his guest, being ashamed, tried to hide the claws under the table as long as he could, but finally he had to show them, to his great discomfiture. but he determined to have his revenge, and asked his host whether he would permit him to give proofs of his own skill. the emperor assenting, there at once arose a great noise outside the window. friedrich sprang up from the table, and leaned out of the casement to see what was the matter. immediately an enormous pair of stag's horns appeared on his head, so that he could not draw it back. finding the state of the case, the emperor exclaimed: "rid me of them again! thou hast won!" luther's comment on this was that he was always glad to see one devil getting the better of another, as it showed that some were stronger than others. all this belongs, roughly speaking, to the side of the matter which regards popular theology; but there is another side which is connected more especially with the new learning. this other school, which sought to bring the somewhat elastic elements of the magical theory of the universe into the semblance of a systematic whole, is associated with such names as those of paracelsus, cornelius agrippa, and the abbot von trittenheim. the fame of the first-named was so great throughout germany that when he visited any town the occasion was looked upon as an event of exceeding importance.[ ] paracelsus fully shared in the beliefs of his age, in spite of his brilliant insights on certain occasions. what his science was like may be imagined when we learn that he seriously speaks of animals who conceive through the mouth of basilisks whose glance is deadly, of petrified storks changed into snakes, of the stillborn young of the lion which are afterwards brought to life by the roar of their sire, of frogs falling in a shower of rain, of ducks transformed into frogs, and of men born from beasts; the menstruation of women he regarded as a venom whence proceeded flies, spiders, earwigs, and all sorts of loathsome vermin; night was caused, not by the absence of the sun, but by the presence of the stars, which were the positive cause of the darkness. he relates having seen a magnet capable of attracting the eyeball from its socket as far as the tip of the nose; he knows of salves to close the mouth so effectually that it has to be broken open again by mechanical means, and he writes learnedly on the infallible signs of witchcraft. by mixing horse-dung with human semen he believed he was able to produce a medium from which, by chemical treatment in a retort, a diminutive human being, or _homunculus_, as he called it, could be produced. the spirits of the elements, the sylphs of the air, the gnomes of the earth, the salamanders of the fire, and the undines of the water, were to him real and undoubted existences in nature. strange as all these beliefs seem to us now, they were a very real factor in the intellectual conceptions of the renaissance period, no less than of the middle ages, and amidst them there is to be found at times a foreshadowing of more modern knowledge. many other persons were also more or less associated with the magical school, amongst them franz von sickingen. reuchlin himself, by his hebrew studies, and especially by his introduction of the kabbala to gentile readers, also contributed a not unimportant influence in determining the course of the movement. the line between the so-called black magic, or operations conducted through the direct agency of evil spirits, and white magic, which sought to subject nature to the human will by the discovery of her mystical and secret laws, or the character of the quasi-personified intelligent principles under whose form nature presented herself to their minds, had never throughout the middle ages been very clearly defined. the one always had a tendency to shade off into the other, so that even roger bacon's practices were, although not condemned, at least looked upon somewhat doubtfully by the church. at the time of which we treat, however, the interest in such matters had become universal amongst all intelligent persons. the scientific imagination at the close of the middle ages and during the renaissance period was mainly occupied with three questions: the discovery of the means of transmuting the baser metals into gold, or otherwise of producing that object of universal desire; to discover the elixir vitæ, by which was generally understood the invention of a drug which would have the effect of curing all diseases, restoring man to perennial youth, and, in short, prolonging human life indefinitely; and, finally, the search for the philosopher's stone, the happy possessor of which would not only be able to achieve the first two, but also, since it was supposed to contain the quintessence of all the metals, and therefore of all the planetary influences to which the metals corresponded, would have at his command all the forces which mould the destinies of men. in especial connection with the latter object of research may be noted the universal interest in astrology, whose practitioners were to be found at every court, from that of the emperor himself to that of the most insignificant prince or princelet, and whose advice was sought and carefully heeded on all important occasions. alchemy and astrology were thus the recognized physical sciences of the age, under the auspices of which a copernicus and a tycho brahe were born and educated. footnotes: [ ] cf. sebastian franck, _chronica_, for an account of a visit of paracelsus to nürnberg. chapter iv the sixteenth-century german town from what has been said the reader may form for himself an idea of the intellectual and social life of the german town of the period. the wealthy patrician class, whose mainstay politically was the _rath_, gave the social tone to the whole. in spite of the sharp and sometimes brutal fashion in which class distinctions asserted themselves then, as throughout the middle ages, there was none of that aloofness between class and class which characterizes the bourgeois society of the present day. each town, were it great or small, was a little world in itself, so that every citizen knew every other citizen more or less. the schools attached to its ecclesiastical institutions were practically free of access to all the children whose parents could find the means to maintain them during their studies; and consequently the intellectual differences between the different classes were by no means necessarily proportionate to the difference in social position. so far as culture and material prosperity were concerned, the towns of bavaria and franconia, munich, augsburg, regensburg, and perhaps, above all, nürnberg, represented the high-water mark of mediæval civilization as regards town life. on entering the burg, should it have happened to be in time of peace and in daylight, the stranger would clear the drawbridge and the portcullis without much challenge; passing along streets lined with the houses and shops of the burghers, in whose open frontages the master and his apprentices and _gesellen_ plied their trades, discussing eagerly over their work the politics of the town, and at this period probably the theological questions which were uppermost in men's minds, our visitor would make his way to some hostelry, in whose courtyard he would dismount from his horse, and, entering the common room, or _stube_, with its rough but artistic furniture of carved oak, partake of his flagon of wine or beer, according to the district in which he was travelling, whilst the host cracked a rough and possibly coarse jest with the other guests, or narrated to them the latest gossip of the city. the stranger would probably find himself before long the object of interrogatories respecting his native place and the object of his journey (although his dress would doubtless have given general evidence of this), whether he were a merchant or a travelling scholar or a practiser of medicine; for into one of those categories it might be presumed the humble but not servile traveller would fall. were he on a diplomatic mission from some potentate he would be travelling at the least as a knight or a noble, with spurs and armour, and, moreover, would be little likely to lodge in a public house of entertainment. in the _stube_ he would probably see, drinking heavily, representatives of the ubiquitous _landsknechte_, the mercenary troops enrolled for imperial purposes by the emperor maximilian towards the end of the previous century, who in the intervals of war were disbanded and wandered about spending their pay, and thus constituted an excessively disintegrative element in the life of the time. a contemporary writer[ ] describes them as the curse of germany, and stigmatizes them as "unchristian, god-forsaken folk, whose hand is ever ready in striking, stabbing, robbing, burning, slaying, gaming, who delight in wine-bibbing, whoring, blaspheming, and in the making of widows and orphans." presently, perhaps, a noise without indicates the arrival of a new guest. all hurry forth into the courtyard, and their curiosity is more keenly whetted when they perceive by the yellow knitted scarf round the neck of the new-comer that he is an _itinerans scholasticus_, or travelling scholar, who brings with him not only the possibility of news from the outer world, so important in an age when journals were non-existent and communications irregular and deficient, but also a chance of beholding wonder-workings, as well as of being cured of the ailments which local skill had treated in vain. already surrounded by a crowd of admirers waiting for the words of wisdom to fall from his lips, he would start on that exordium which bore no little resemblance to the patter of the modern quack, albeit interlarded with many a latin quotation and great display of mediæval learning. "good people and worthy citizens of this town," he might say, "behold in me the great master ... prince of necromancers, astrologer, second mage, chiromancer, agromancer, pyromancer, hydromancer. my learning is so profound that were all the works of plato and aristotle lost to the world i could from memory restore them with more elegance than before. the miracles of christ were not so great as those which i can perform wherever and as often as i will. of all alchemists i am the first, and my powers are such that i can obtain all things that man desires. my shoe-buckles contain more learning than the heads of galen and avicenna, and my beard has more experience than all your high schools. i am monarch of all learning. i can heal you of all diseases. by my secret arts i can procure you wealth. i am the philosopher of philosophers. i can provide you with spells to bind the most potent of the devils in hell. i can cast your nativities and foretell all that shall befall you, since i have that which can unlock the secrets of all things that have been, that are, and that are to come."[ ] bringing forth strange-looking phials, covered with cabalistic signs, a crystal globe and an astro-labe, followed by an imposing scroll of parchment inscribed with mysterious hebraic-looking characters, the travelling student would probably drive a roaring trade amongst the assembled townsmen in love-philtres, cures for the ague and the plague, and amulets against them, horoscopes, predictions of fate, and the rest of his stock-in-trade. as evening approaches, our traveller strolls forth into the streets and narrow lanes of the town, lined with overhanging gables that almost meet overhead and shut out the light of the afternoon sun, so that twilight seems already to have fallen. observing that the burghers, with their wives and children, the work of the day being done, are all wending toward the western gate, he goes along with the stream till, passing underneath the heavy portcullis and through the outer rampart, he finds himself in the plain outside, across which a rugged bridle-path leads to a large quadrangular meadow, rough and more or less worn, where a considerable crowd has already assembled. this is the _allerwiese_, or public pleasure-ground of the town. here there are not only high festivities on sundays and holidays, but every fine evening in summer numbers of citizens gather together to watch the apprentices exercising their strength in athletic feats, and competing with one another in various sports, such as running, wrestling, spear-throwing, sword-play, and the like, wherein the inferior rank sought to imitate and even emulate the knighthood, whilst the daughters of the city watched their progress with keen interest and applauding laughter. as the shadows deepen and darkness falls upon the plain, our visitor joins the groups which are now fast leaving the meadow, and re-passes the great embrasure just as the rushlights begin to twinkle in the windows and a swinging oil-lamp to cast a dim light here and there in the streets. but as his company passes out of a narrow lane debouching on to the chief market-place, their progress is stopped by the sudden rush of a mingled crowd of unruly apprentices and journeymen returning from their sports, with hot heads well beliquored. then from another side-street there is a sudden flare of torches, borne aloft by guildsmen come out to quell the tumult and to send off the apprentices to their dwellings, whilst the watch also bears down and carries off some of the more turbulent of the journeymen to pass the night in one of the towers which guard the city wall. at last, however, the visitor reaches his inn by the aid of a friendly guildsman and his torch; and retiring to his chamber, with its straw-covered floor, rough oaken bedstead, hard mattress, and coverings not much better than horse-cloths, he falls asleep as the bell of the minster tolls out ten o'clock over the now dark and silent city. such approximately would have been the view of a german city in the sixteenth century as presented to a traveller in a time of peace. more stirring times, however, were as frequent--times when the tocsin rang out from the steeple all night long, calling the citizens to arms. by such scenes, needless to say, the year of the peasants' war was more than usually characterized. in the days when every man carried arms and knew how to use them, when the fighting instinct was imbibed with the mother's milk, when every week saw some street brawl, often attended by loss of life, and that by no means always among the most worthless and dissolute of the inhabitants, every dissatisfaction immediately turned itself into an armed revolt, whether it were of the apprentices or the journeymen against the guild-masters, the body of the townsmen against the patriciate, the town itself against its feudal superior, where it had one, or of the knighthood against the princes. the extremity to which disputes can at present be carried without resulting in a breach of the peace, as evinced in modern political and trade conflicts, exacerbated though some of them are, was a thing unknown in the middle ages, and indeed to any considerable extent until comparatively recent times. the sacred right of insurrection was then a recognized fact of life, and but very little straining of a dispute led to a resort to arms. in the subsequent chapters we have to deal with the more important of those outbursts to which the ferment due to the dissolution of the mediæval system of things, then beginning throughout central europe, gave rise, of which the religious side is represented by what is known as the reformation. footnotes: [ ] sebastian franck, _chronica_, ccxvii. [ ] cf. trittheim's letter to wirdung of hasfurt regarding faust. _j. tritthemii epistolarum familiarum_, , bk. ii. ep. ; also the works of paracelsus. chapter v country and town at the end of the middle ages for the complete understanding of the events which follow it must be borne in mind that the early sixteenth century represents the end of a distinct historical period; and, as we have pointed out in the introduction, the expiring effort, half-conscious and half-unconscious, of the people to revert to the conditions of an earlier age. nor can the significance be properly gauged unless a clear conception is obtained of the differences between country and town life at the beginning of the sixteenth century. from the earliest periods of the middle ages of which we have any historical record, the _markgenossenschaft_, or primitive village community of the germanic race, was overlaid by a territorial domination, imposed upon it either directly by conquest or voluntarily accepted for the sake of the protection indispensable in that rude period. the conflict of these two elements, the mark organization and the territorial lordship, constitutes the marrow of the social history of the middle ages. in the earliest times the pressure of the overlord, whoever he might be, seems to have been comparatively slight, but its inevitable tendency was for the territorial power to extend itself at the expense of the rural community. it was thus that in the tenth and eleventh centuries the feudal oppression had become thoroughly settled, and had reached its greatest intensity all over europe. it continued thus with little intermission until the thirteenth century, when from various causes, economic and otherwise, matters began to improve in the interests of the common man, till in the fifteenth century the condition of the peasant was better than it has ever been, either before or since within historical times, in northern and western europe. but with all this, the oppressive power of the lord of the soil was by no means dead. it was merely dormant, and was destined to spring into renewed activity the moment the lord's necessities supplied a sufficient incentive. from this time forward the element of territorial power, supported in its claims by the roman law, with its basis of private property, continued to eat into it until it had finally devoured the old rights and possessions of the village community. the executive power always tended to be transferred from its legitimate holder, the village in its corporate capacity, to the lord; and this was alone sufficient to place the villager at his mercy. at the time of the reformation, owing to the new conditions which had arisen and had brought about in a few decades the hitherto unparalleled rise in prices, combined with the unprecedented ostentation and extravagance more than once referred to in these pages, the lord was supplied with the requisite incentive to the exercise of the power which his feudal system gave him. consequently, the position of the peasant rapidly changed for the worse; and although at the outbreak of the movement not absolutely _in extremis_, according to our notions, yet it was so bad comparatively to his previous condition and that less than half a century before, and tended as evidently to become more intolerable, that discontent became everywhere rife, and only awaited the torch of the new doctrines to set it ablaze. the whole course of the movement shows a peasantry, not downtrodden and starved but proud and robust, driven to take up arms not so much by misery and despair as by the deliberate will to maintain the advantages which were rapidly slipping away from them. serfdom was not by any means universal. many free peasant villages were to be found scattered amongst the manors of the territorial lords, though it was but too evidently the settled policy of the latter at this time to sweep everything into their net, and to compel such peasant communes to accept a feudal overlordship. nor were they at all scrupulous in the means adopted for attaining their ends. the ecclesiastical foundations, as before said, were especially expert in forging documents for the purpose of proving that these free villages were lapsed feudatories of their own. old rights of pasture were being curtailed, and others, notably those of hunting and fishing, had in most manors been completely filched away. it is noticeable, however, that although the immediate causes of the peasant rising were the new burdens which had been laid upon the common people during the last few years, once the spirit of discontent was aroused it extended also in many cases to the traditional feudal dues to which, until then, the peasant had submitted with little murmuring, and an attempt was made by the country-side to reconquer the ancient complete freedom of which a dim remembrance had been handed down to them. the condition of the peasant up to the beginning of the sixteenth century--that is to say, up to the time when it began to so rapidly change for the worse--may be gathered from what we are told by contemporary writers, such as wimpfeling, sebastian brandt, wittenweiler, the satires in the _nürnberger fastnachtspielen_, and numberless other sources, as also from the sumptuary laws of the end of the fifteenth century. all these indicate an ease and profuseness of living which little accord with our notions of the word "peasant". wimpfeling writes: "the peasants in our district and in many parts of germany have become, through their riches, stiff-necked and ease-loving. i know peasants who at the weddings of their sons or daughters, or the baptism of their children, make so much display that a house and field might be bought therewith, and a small vineyard to boot. through their riches, they are oftentimes spendthrift in food and in vestments, and they drink wines of price." a chronicler relates of the austrian peasants, under the date of , that "they wore better garments and drank better wine than their lords"; and a sumptuary law passed at the reichstag held at lindau, in , provides that the common peasant man and the labourer in the towns or in the field "shall neither make nor wear cloth that costs more than half a gulden the ell, neither shall they wear gold, pearls, velvet, silk, nor embroidered clothes, nor shall they permit their wives or their children to wear such." respecting the food of the peasant, it is stated that he ate his full in flesh of every kind, in fish, in bread, in fruit, drinking wine often to excess. the swabian, heinrich müller, writes in the year , nearly two generations after the change had begun to take place: "in the memory of my father, who was a peasant man, the peasant did eat much better than now. meat and food in plenty was there every day, and at fairs and other junketings the tables did wellnigh break with what they bore. then drank they wine as it were water, then did a man fill his belly and carry away withal as much as he could; then was wealth and plenty. otherwise is it now. a costly and a bad time hath arisen since many a year, and the food and drink of the best peasant is much worse than of yore that of the day labourer and the serving man." we may well imagine the vivid recollections which a peasant in the year had of the golden days of a few years before. the day labourers and serving men were equally tantalized by the remembrance of high wages and cheap living at the beginning of the century. a day labourer could then earn, with his keep, nine, and without keep, sixteen groschen[ ] a week. what this would buy may be judged from the following prices current in saxony during the second half of the fifteenth century. a pair of good working-shoes cost three groschen; a whole sheep, four groschen; a good fat hen, half a groschen; twenty-five cod-fish, four groschen; a wagon-load of firewood, together with carriage, five groschen; an ell of the best homespun cloth, five groschen; a scheffel (about a bushel) of rye, six or seven groschen. the duke of saxony wore grey hats which cost him four groschen. in northern rhineland about the same time a day labourer could, in addition to his keep, earn in a week a quarter of rye, ten pounds of pork, six large cans of milk, and two bundles of firewood, and in the course of five weeks be able to buy six ells of linen, a pair of shoes, and a bag for his tools. in augsburg the daily wages of an ordinary labourer represented the value of six pounds of the best meat, or one pound of meat, seven eggs, a peck of peas, about a quart of wine, in addition to such bread as he required, with enough over for lodging, clothing, and minor expenses. in bavaria he could earn daily eighteen pfennige, or one and a half groschen, whilst a pound of sausage cost one pfennig, and a pound of the best beef two pfennige, and similarly throughout the whole of the states of central europe. a document of the year , from ehrbach in the swabian odenwald, describes for us the treatment of servants by their masters. "all journeymen," it declares, "that are hired, and likewise bondsmen (serfs), also the serving men and maids, shall each day be given twice meat and what thereto longith, with half a small measure of wine, save on fast days, when they shall have fish or other food that nourisheth. whoso in the week hath toiled shall also on sundays and feast days make merry after mass and preaching. they shall have bread and meat enough, and half a great measure of wine. on feast days also roasted meat enough. moreover, they shall be given, to take home with them, a great loaf of bread and so much of flesh as two at one meal may eat." again, in a bill of fare of the household of count joachim von oettingen in bavaria, the journeymen and villeins are accorded in the morning, soup and vegetables; at midday, soup and meat, with vegetables, and a bowl of broth or a plate of salted or pickled meat; at night, soup and meat, carrots, and preserved meat. even the women who brought fowls or eggs from the neighbouring villages to the castle were given for their trouble--if from the immediate vicinity, a plate of soup with two pieces of bread; if from a greater distance, a complete meal and a cruse of wine. in saxony, similarly, the agricultural journeymen received two meals a day, of four courses each, besides frequently cheese and bread at other times should they require it. not to have eaten meat for a week was the sign of the direst famine in any district. warnings are not wanting against the evils accruing to the common man from his excessive indulgence in eating and drinking. such was the condition of the proletariat in its first inception, that is, when the mediæval system of villeinage had begun to loosen and to allow a proportion of free labourers to insinuate themselves into its working. how grievous, then, were the complaints when, while wages had risen either not at all or at most from half a groschen to a groschen, the price of rye rose from six or seven groschen a bushel to about five-and-twenty groschen, that of a sheep from four to eighteen groschen, and all other articles of necessary consumption in a like proportion![ ] in the middle ages, necessaries and such ordinary comforts as were to be had at all were dirt cheap; while non-necessaries and luxuries, that is, such articles as had to be imported from afar, were for the most part at prohibitive prices. with the opening up of the world-market during the first half of the sixteenth century, this state of things rapidly changed. most luxuries in a short time fell heavily in price, while necessaries rose in a still greater proportion. this latter change in the economic conditions of the world exercised its most powerful effect, however, on the character of the mediæval town, which had remained substantially unchanged since the first great expansion at the end of the thirteenth and the beginning of the fourteenth centuries. with the extension of commerce and the opening up of communications, there began that evolution of the town whose ultimate outcome was to entirely change the central idea on which the urban organization was based. the first requisite for a town, according to modern notions, is facility of communication with the rest of the world by means of railways, telegraphs, postal system, and the like. so far has this gone now that in a new country, for instance, america, the railway, telegraph lines, etc., are made first, and the towns are then strung upon them, like beads upon a cord. in the mediæval town, on the contrary, communication was quite a secondary matter, and more of a luxury than a necessity. each town was really a self-sufficing entity, both materially and intellectually. the modern idea of a town is that of a mere local aggregate of individuals, each pursuing a trade or calling with a view to the world-market at large. their own locality or town is no more to them economically than any other part of the world-market, and very little more in any other respect. the mediæval idea of a town, on the contrary, was that of an organization of groups into one organic whole. just as the village community was a somewhat extended family organization, so was, _mutatis mutandis_, the larger unit, the township or city. each member of the town organization owed allegiance and distinct duties primarily to his guild, or immediate social group, and through this to the larger social group which constituted the civic society. consequently, every townsman felt a kind of _esprit de corps_ with his fellow-citizens, akin to that, say, which is alleged of the soldiers of the old french "foreign legion" who, being brothers-in-arms, were brothers also in all other relations. but if every citizen owed duty and allegiance to the town in its corporate capacity, the town no less owed protection and assistance, in every department of life, to its individual members. as in ancient rome in its earlier history, and as in all other early urban communities, agriculture necessarily played a considerable part in the life of most mediæval towns. like the villages, they possessed each its own mark, with its common fields, pastures, and woods. these were demarcated by various landmarks, crosses, holy images, etc.; and "the bounds" were beaten every year. the wealthier citizens usually possessed gardens and orchards within the town walls, while each inhabitant had his share in the communal holding without. the use of this latter was regulated by the rath or council. in fact, the town life of the middle ages was not by any means so sharply differentiated from rural life as is implied in our modern idea of a town. even in the larger commercial towns, such as frankfurt, nürnberg, or augsburg, it was common to keep cows, pigs, and sheep, and, as a matter of course, fowls and geese, in large numbers within the precincts of the town itself. in frankfurt in the pigsties in the town had become such a nuisance that the rath had to forbid them _in the front_ of the houses by a formal decree. in ulm there was a regulation of the bakers' guild to the effect that no single member should keep more than twenty-four pigs, and that cows should be confined to their stalls at night. in nürnberg in again, the rath had to interfere with the intolerable nuisance of pigs and other farm-yard stock running about loose in the streets. even in a town like münchen we are informed that agriculture formed one of the staple occupations of the inhabitants, while in almost every city the gardeners' or the wine-growers' guild appears as one of the largest and most influential. it is evident that such conditions of life would be impossible with town-populations even approaching only distantly those of to-day; and, in fact, when we come to inquire into the size and populousness of mediæval german cities, as into those of the classical world of antiquity, we are at first sight staggered by the smallness of their proportions. the largest and most populous free imperial cities in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, nürnberg and strassburg, numbered little more than , resident inhabitants within the walls, a population rather less than that of (say) many an english country town at the present time. such an important place as frankfurt-am-main is stated at the middle of the fifteenth century to have had less than , inhabitants. at the end of the fifteenth century dresden could only boast of about , . rothenburg on the tauber is to-day a dead city to all intents and purposes, affording us a magnificent example of what a mediæval town was like, as the bulk of its architecture, including the circuit of its walls, which remain intact, dates approximately from the sixteenth century. at present a single line of railway branching off from the main line with about two trains a day is amply sufficient to convey the few antiquaries and artists who are now its sole visitors, and who have to content themselves with country-inn accommodation. yet this old free city has actually a larger population at the present day than it had at the time of which we are writing, when it was at the height of its prosperity as an important centre of activity. the figures of its population are now between , and , . at the beginning of the sixteenth century they were between , and , . a work written and circulated in manuscript during the first decade of the sixteenth century, "a christian exhortation" (_ein christliche mahnung_), after referring to the frightful pestilences recently raging as a punishment from god, observes, in the spirit of true malthusianism, and as a justification of the ways of providence, that "an there were not so many that died there were too much folk in the land, and it were not good that such should be lest there were not food enough for all." great population as constituting importance in a city is comparatively a modern notion. in other ages towns became famous on account of their superior civic organization, their more advantageous situation, or the greater activity, intellectual, political, or commercial, of their citizens. what this civic organization of mediæval towns was, demands a few words of explanation, since the conflict between the two main elements in their composition plays an important part in the events which follow. something has already been said on this head in the introduction. we have there pointed out that the rath or town council, that is, the supreme governing body of the municipality, was in all cases mainly, and often entirely, composed of the heads of the town aristocracy, the patrician class or "honorability" (_ehrbarkeit_), as they were termed, who on the ground of their antiquity and wealth laid claim to every post of power and privilege. on the other hand were the body of the citizens enrolled in the various guilds, seeking, as their position and wealth improved, to wrest the control of the town's resources from the patricians. it must be remembered that the towns stood in the position of feudal over-lords to the peasants who held land on the city territory, which often extended for many square miles outside the walls. a small town like rothenburg, for instance, which we have described above, had on its lands as many as , peasants. the feudal dues and contributions of these tenants constituted the staple revenue of the town, and the management of them was one of the chief bones of contention. nowhere was the guild system brought to a greater perfection than in the free imperial towns of germany. indeed, it was carried further in them, in one respect, than in any other part of europe, for the guilds of journeymen (_cesellenverbände_), which in other places never attained any strength or importance, were in germany developed to the fullest extent, and of course supported the craft-guilds in their conflict with the patriciate. although there were naturally numerous frictions between the two classes of guilds respecting wages, working days, hours, and the like, it must not be supposed that there was that irreconcilable hostility between them which would exist at the present time between a trade-union and a syndicate of employers. each recognized the right to existence of the other. in one case, that of the strike of bakers towards the close of the fifteenth century, at colmar in elsass, the craft-guilds supported the journeymen in their protest against a certain action of the patrician rath, which they considered to be a derogation from their dignity. like the masters, the journeymen had their own guild-house, and their own solemn functions and social gatherings. there were, indeed, two kinds of journeymen-guilds: one whose chief purpose was a religious one, and the other concerning itself in the first instance with the secular concerns of the body. however, both classes of journeymen-guilds worked into one another's hand. on coming into a strange town a travelling member of such a guild was certain of a friendly reception, of maintenance until he procured work, and of assistance in finding it as soon as possible. interesting details concerning the wages paid to journeymen and their contributions to the guilds are to be found in the original documents relating exclusively to the journeymen-guilds, collected by georg schanz.[ ] from these and other sources it is clear that the position of the artisan in the towns was in proportion much better than even that of the peasants at that time, and therefore immeasurably superior to anything he has enjoyed since. in south germany at this period the average price of beef was about two denarii[ ] a pound, while the daily wages of the masons and carpenters, in addition to their keep and lodging, amounted in the summer to about twenty, and in the winter to about sixteen of these denarii. in saxony the same journeymen-craftsmen earned on the average, besides their maintenance, two groschen four pfennige a day, or about one-third the value of a bushel of corn. in addition to this, in some cases the workmen had weekly gratuities under the name of "bathing money"; and in this connection it may be noticed that a holiday for the purpose of bathing once a fortnight, once a week, or even oftener, as the case might be, was stipulated for by the guilds, and generally recognized as a legitimate demand. the common notion of the uniform uncleanliness of the mediæval man requires to be considerably modified when one closely investigates the condition of town life, and finds everywhere facilities for bathing in winter and summer alike. untidiness and uncleanliness, according to our notions, there may have been in the streets and in the dwellings in many cases, owing to inadequate provisions for the disposal of refuse and the like; but we must not therefore extend this idea to the person, and imagine that the mediæval craftsman or even peasant was as unwholesome as, say, the east european peasant of to-day. when the wages received by the journeymen artisans are compared with the prices of commodities previously given, it will be seen how relatively easy were their circumstances; and the extent of their well-being may be further judged from the wealth of their guilds, which, although varying in different places, at all times formed a considerable proportion of the wealth of the town. the guild system was based upon the notion that the individual master and workman was working as much in the interest of the guild as for his own advantage. each member of the guild was alike under the obligation to labour, and to labour in accordance with the rules laid down by his guild, and at the same time had the right of equal enjoyment with his fellow-guildsmen of all advantages pertaining to the particular branch of industry covered by the guild. every guildsman had to work himself _in propriâ personâ_; no contractor was tolerated who himself "in ease and sloth doth live on the sweat of others, and puffeth himself up in lustful pride." were a guild-master ill and unable to manage the affairs of his workshop, it was the council of the guild, and not himself or his relatives, who installed a representative for him and generally looked after his affairs. it was the guild again which procured the raw material, and distributed it in relatively equal proportions amongst its members; or where this was not the case, the time and place were indicated at which the guildsman might buy at a fixed maximum price. every master had equal right to the use of the common property and institutions of the guild, which in some industries included the essentials of production, as, for example, in the case of the woollen manufacturers, where wool-kitchens, carding-rooms, bleaching-houses and the like were common to the whole guild. needless to say, the relations between master and apprentices and master and journeymen were rigidly fixed down to the minutest detail. the system was thoroughly patriarchal in its character. in the hey-day of the guilds, every apprentice and most of the journeymen regarded their actual condition as a period of preparation which would end in the glories of mastership. for this dear hope they were ready on occasion to undergo cheerfully the most arduous duties. the education in handicraft, and, we may add, the supervision of the morals of the blossoming members of the guild, was a department which greatly exercised its administration. on the other hand, the guild in its corporate capacity was bound to maintain sick or incapacitated apprentices and journeymen, though after the journeymen had developed into a distinct class, and the consequent rise of the journeymen-guilds, the latter function was probably in most cases taken over by the latter. the guild laws against adulteration, scamped work, and the like, were sometimes ferocious in their severity. for example, in some towns the baker who misconducted himself in the matter of the composition of his bread was condemned to be shut up in a basket which was fixed at the end of a long pole, and let down so many times to the bottom of a pool of dirty water. in the year two grocers, together with a female assistant, were burnt alive at nürnberg for adulterating saffron and spices, and a similar instance happened at augsburg in . from what we have said it will be seen that guild life, like the life of the town as a whole, was essentially a social life. it was a larger family, into which various blood families were merged. the interest of each was felt to be the interest of all, and the interest of all no less the interest of each. but in many towns, outside the town population properly speaking, outside the patrician families who generally governed the rath, outside the guilds, outside the city organization altogether, there were other bodies dwelling within the walls and forming _imperia in imperiis_. these were the religious corporations, whose possessions were often extensive, and who, dwelling within their own walls, shut out from the rest of the town, were subject only to their own ordinances. the quasi-religious, quasi-military order of the teutonic knights (_deutscher orden_), founded at the time of the crusades, was the wealthiest and largest of these corporations. in addition to the extensive territories which it held in various parts of the empire, it had establishments in a large number of cities. besides this there were, of course, the orders of the augustinians and carthusians, and a number of less important foundations, who had their cloisters in various towns. at the beginning of the sixteenth century, the pomp, pride, and licentiousness of the teutonic order drew upon it the especial hatred of the townsfolk; and amid the general wreck of religious houses none were more ferociously despoiled than those belonging to this order. there were, moreover, in some towns, the establishments of princely families, which were regarded by the citizens with little less hostility than that accorded to the religious orders. such were the explosive elements of town life when changing conditions were tending to dislocate the whole structure of mediæval existence. the capture of constantinople by the turks in had struck a heavy blow at the commerce of the bavarian cities which had come by way of constantinople and venice. this latter city lost one by one its trading centres in the east, and all oriental traffic by way of the black sea was practically stopped. it was the dutch cities which inherited the wealth and influence of the german towns when vasco da gama's discovery of the cape route to the east began to have its influence on the trade of the world. this diversion of oriental traffic from the old overland route was the starting-point of the modern merchant navy, and it must be placed amongst the most potent causes of the break-up of mediæval civilization. the above change, although immediately felt by the german towns, was not realized by them in its full importance either as to its causes or its consequences for more than a century; but the decline of their prosperity was nevertheless sensible, even now, and contributed directly to the coming upheaval. the impatience of the prince, the prelate, the noble, and the wealthy burgher at the restraints which the system of the middle ages placed upon his activity as an individual in the acquisition for his own behoof, and the disposal at his own pleasure, of wealth, regardless of the consequences to his neighbour, found expression, and a powerful lever, in the introduction from italy of the roman law in place of the old canon and customary law of europe. the latter never regarded the individual as an independent and autonomous entity, but invariably treated him with reference to a group or social body, of which he might be the head or merely a subordinate member; but in any case the filaments of custom and religious duty attached him to a certain humanity outside himself, whether it were a village community, a guild, a township, a province, or the empire. the idea of a right to individual autonomy in his dealings with men never entered into the mediæval man's conception. hence the mere possession of property was not recognized by mediæval law as conferring any absolute rights in its holder to its unregulated use, and the basis of the mediæval notions of property was the association of responsibility and duty with ownership. in other words, the notion of _trust_ was never completely divorced from that of _possession_. the roman law rested on a totally different basis. it represented the legal ethics of a society on most of its sides brutally and crassly individualistic. that that society had come to an end instead of evolving to its natural conclusion--a developed capitalistic individualism such as exists to-day--was due to the weakness of its economic basis, owing to the limitation at that time of man's power over nature, which deprived it of recuperative and defensive force, thereby leaving it a prey not only to internal influences of decay but also to violent destructive forces from without. nevertheless, it left a legacy of a ready-made legal system to serve as an implement for the first occasion when economic conditions should be once more ready for progress to resume the course of individualistic development, abruptly brought to an end by the fall of ancient civilization as crystallized in the roman empire. the popular courts of the village, of the mark, and of the town, which had existed up to the beginning of the sixteenth century with all their ancient functions, were extremely democratic in character. cases were decided on their merits, in accordance with local custom, by a body of jurymen chosen from among the freemen of the district, to whom the presiding functionaries, most of whom were also of popular selection, were little more than assessors. the technicalities of a cut-and-dried system were unknown. the catholic-germanic theory of the middle ages proper, as regards the civil power in all its functions, from the highest downward, was that of the mere administrator of justice as such; whereas the roman law regarded the magistrate as the vicegerent of the _princeps_ or _imperator_, in whose person was absolutely vested as its supreme embodiment the whole power of the state. the divinity of the emperors was a recognition of this fact; and the influence of the roman law revived the theory as far as possible under the changed conditions, in the form of the doctrine of the divine right of kings--a doctrine which was totally alien to the catholic feudal conception of the middle ages. this doctrine, moreover, received added force from the oriental conception of the position of the ruler found in the old testament, from which protestantism drew so much of its inspiration. but apart from this aspect of the question, the new juridical conception involved that of a system of rules as the crystallized embodiment of the abstract "state," given through its representatives, which could under no circumstances be departed from, and which could only be modified in their operation by legal quibbles that left to them their nominal integrity. the new law could therefore only be administered by a class of men trained specially for the purpose, of which the plastic customary law borne down the stream of history from primitive times, and insensibly adapting itself to new conditions but understood in its broader aspects by all those who might be called to administer it, had little need. the roman law, the study of which was started at bologna in the twelfth century, as might naturally be expected, early attracted the attention of the german emperors as a suitable instrument for use on emergencies. but it made little real headway in germany itself as against the early institutions until the fifteenth century, when the provincial power of the princes of the empire was beginning to overshadow the central authority of the titular chief of the holy roman empire. the former, while strenuously resisting the results of its application from above, found in it a powerful auxiliary in their courts in riveting their power over the estates subject to them. as opposed to the delicately adjusted hierarchical notions of feudalism, which did not recognize any absoluteness of dominion either over persons or things, in short for which neither the head of the state had any inviolate authority as such, nor private property any inviolable rights or sanctity as such, the new jurisprudence made corner-stones of both these conceptions. even the canon law, consisting in a mass of papal decretals dating from the early middle ages, and which, while undoubtedly containing considerable traces of the influence of roman law, was nevertheless largely customary in its character, with an infusion of christian ethics, had to yield to the new jurisprudence, and that too in countries where the reformation had been unable to replace the old ecclesiastical dogma and organization. the principles and practice of the roman law were sedulously inculcated by the tribe of civilian lawyers who by the beginning of the sixteenth century infested every court throughout europe. every potentate, great and small, little as he might like its application by his feudal overlord to himself, was yet only too ready and willing to invoke its aid for the oppression of his own vassals or peasants. thus the civil law everywhere triumphed. it became the juridical expression of the political, economical, and religious change which marks the close of the middle ages and the beginnings of the modern commercial world. it must not be supposed, however, that no resistance was made to it. everywhere in contemporary literature, side by side with denunciations of the new mercenary troops, the _landsknechte_, we find uncomplimentary allusions to the race of advocates, notaries, and procurators who, as one writer has it, "are increasing like grasshoppers in town and in country year by year." whenever they appeared, we are told, countless litigious disputes sprang up. he who had but the money in hand might readily defraud his poorer neighbour in the name of law and right. "woe is me!" exclaims one author, "in my home there is but one procurator, and yet is the whole country round about brought into confusion by his wiles. what a misery will this horde bring upon us!" everywhere was complaint and in many places resistance. as early as we find the bavarian estates vigorously complaining that all the courts were in the hands of doctors. they demanded that the rights of the land and the ancient custom should not be cast aside; but that the courts as of old should be served by reasonable and honest judges, who should be men of the same feudal livery and of the same country as those whom they tried. again in , when the evil had become still more crying, we find the estates of würtemberg petitioning duke ulrich that the supreme court "shall be composed of honourable, worthy, and understanding men of the nobles and of the towns, who shall not be doctors, to the intent that the ancient usages and customs should abide, and that it should be judged according to them in such wise that the poor man might no longer be brought to confusion." in many covenants of the end of the fifteenth century, express stipulation is made that they should not be interpreted by a doctor or licentiate, and also in some cases that no such doctor or licentiate should be permitted to reside or to exercise his profession within certain districts. great as was the economical influence of the new jurists in the tribunals, their political influence in the various courts of the empire, from the _reichskammergericht_ downwards, was, if anything, greater. says wimpfeling, the first writer on the art of education in the modern world: "according to the loathsome doctrines of the new jurisconsults, the prince shall be everything in the land and the people naught. the people shall only obey, pay tax, and do service. moreover, they shall not alone obey the prince but also them that he has placed in authority, who begin to puff themselves up as the proper lords of the land, and to order matters so that the princes themselves do as little as may be reign." from this passage it will be seen that the modern bureaucratic state, in which government is as nearly as possible reduced to mechanism and the personal relation abolished, was ushered in under the auspices of the civil law. how easy it was for the civilian to effect the abolition of feudal institutions may be readily imagined by those cognizant of the principles of roman law. for example, the roman law, of course, making no mention of the right of the mediæval "estates" to be consulted in the levying of taxes or in other questions, the jurist would explain this right to his too willing master, the prince, as an abuse which had no legal justification, and which, the sooner it were abolished in the interest of good government the better it would be. all feudal rights as against the power of an overlord were explained away by the civil jurist, either as pernicious abuses, or, at best, as favours granted in the past by the predecessors of the reigning monarch, which it was within his right to truncate or to abrogate at his will. from the preceding survey will be clearly perceived the important rôle which the new jurisprudence played on the continent of europe in the gestation of the new phase which history was entering upon in the sixteenth century. even the short sketch given will be sufficient to show that it was not in one department only that it operated; but that, in addition to its own domain of law proper, its influence was felt in modifying economical, political, and indirectly even ethical and religious conditions. from this time forth feudalism slowly but surely gave place to the newer order, all that remained being certain of its features, which, crystallized into bureaucratic forms, were doubly veneered with a last trace of mediæval ideas and a denser coating of civilian conceptions. this transitional europe, and not mediæval europe, was the europe which lasted on until the eighteenth century, and which practically came to an end with the french revolution. footnotes: [ ] one silver groschen = - / d. [ ] the authorities for the above data may be found in janssen, i., vol. i., bk. iii., especially pp. - . [ ] _zur geschichte der deutschen gesellenverbände._ leipzig, . [ ] c. / d. the denarius was the south german equivalent of the north german pfennig, of which twelve went to the groschen. chapter vi the revolt of the knighthood we have already pointed out in more than one place the position to which the smaller nobility, or the knighthood, had been reduced by the concatenation of causes which was bringing about the dissolution of the old mediæval order of things, and, as a consequence, ruining the knights both economically and politically--economically by the rise of capitalism as represented by the commercial syndicates of the cities; by the unprecedented power and wealth of the city confederations, especially of the hanseatic league; by the rising importance of the newly developed world-market; by the growing luxury and the enormous rise in the prices of commodities concurrently with the reduction in value of the feudal land-tenures; and by the limitation of the possibilities of acquiring wealth by highway robbery, owing to imperial constitutions, on the one hand, and increased powers of defence on the part of the trading community, on the other--politically, by the new modes of warfare in which artillery and infantry, composed of comparatively well-drilled mercenaries (_landsknechte_), were rapidly making inroads into the omnipotence of the ancient feudal chivalry, and reducing the importance of individual skill or prowess in the handling of weapons, and by the development of the power of the princes or higher nobility, partly due to the influence which the roman civil law now began to exercise over the older customary constitution of the empire, and partly to the budding centralism of authority--which in france and england became a national centralization, but in germany, in spite of the temporary ascendancy of charles v, finally issued in a provincial centralization in which the princes were _de facto_ independent monarchs. the imperial constitution of , forbidding private war, applied, it must be remembered, only to the lesser nobility and not to the higher, thereby placing the former in a decidedly ignominious position as regards their feudal superiors. and though this particular enactment had little immediate result, yet it was none the less resented as a blow struck at the old knightly privilege. the mental attitude of the knighthood in the face of this progressing change in their position was naturally an ambiguous one, composed partly of a desire to hark back to the haughty independence of feudalism, and partly of sympathy with the growing discontent among other classes and with the new spirit generally. in order that the knights might succeed in recovering their old or even in maintaining their actual position against the higher nobility, the princes, backed as these now largely were by the imperial power, the co-operation of the cities was absolutely essential to them, but the obstacles in the way of such a co-operation proved insurmountable. the towns hated the knights for their lawless practices, which rendered trade unsafe and not infrequently cost the lives of the citizens. the knights for the most part, with true feudal hauteur, scorned and despised the artisans and traders who had no territorial family name and were unexercised in the higher chivalric arts. the grievances of the two parties were, moreover, not identical, although they had their origin in the same causes. the cities were in the main solely concerned to maintain their old independent position, and especially to curb the growing disposition at this time of the other estates to use them as milch cows from which to draw the taxation necessary to the maintenance of the empire. for example, at the reichstag opened at nürnberg on november , --to discuss the questions of the establishment of perpetual peace within the empire, of organizing an energetic resistance to the inroads of the turks, and of placing on a firm foundation the imperial privy council (_kammergericht_) and the supreme council (_reichsregiment_)--at which were represented twenty-six imperial towns, thirty-eight high prelates, eighteen princes, and twenty-nine counts and barons--the representatives of the cities complained grievously that their attendance was reduced to a farce, since they were always out-voted, and hence obliged to accept the decisions of the other estates. they stated that their position was no longer bearable, and for the first time drew up an act of protest, which further complained of the delay in the decisions of the imperial courts; of their sufferings from the right of private war, which was still allowed to subsist in defiance of the constitution; of the increase of customs-stations on the part of the princes and prince-prelates; and, finally, of the debasement of the coinage due to the unscrupulous practices of these notables and of the jews. the only sympathy the other estates vouchsafed to the plaints of the cities was with regard to the right of private war, which the higher nobles were also anxious to suppress amongst the lower, though without prejudice, of course, to their own privileges in this line. all the other articles of the act of protest were coolly waived aside. from all this it will be seen that not much co-operation was to be expected between such heterogeneous bodies as the knighthood and the free towns, in spite of their common interest in checking the threateningly advancing power of the princes and the central imperial authority in so far as it was manned and manipulated by the princes. amid the decaying knighthood there was, as we have already intimated, one figure which stood out head and shoulders above every other noble of the time, whether prince or knight, and that was franz von sickingen. he has been termed, not without truth, "the last flower of german chivalry," since in him the old knightly qualities flashed up in conjunction with the old knightly power and splendour with a brightness hardly known even in the palmiest days of mediæval life. it was, however, the last flicker of the light of german chivalry. with the death of sickingen and the collapse of his revolt the knighthood of central europe ceased any longer to play an independent part in history. sickingen, although technically only one of the lower nobility, was deemed about the time of luther's appearance to hold the immediate destinies of the empire in his hand. wealthy, inspiring confidence and enthusiasm as a leader, possessed of more than one powerful and strategically situated stronghold, he held court at his favourite residence, the castle of the landstuhl, in the rhenish palatinate, in a style which many a prince of the empire might have envied. as honoured guests were to be found attending on him humanists, poets, minstrels, partisans of the new theology, astrologers, alchemists, and men of letters generally--in short, the whole intelligence and culture of the period. foremost amongst these, and chief confidant of sickingen, was the knight, courtier, poet, essayist, and pamphleteer, ulrich von hutten, whose pen was ever ready to champion with unstinted enthusiasm the cause of the progressive ideas of his age. he first took up the cudgels against the obscurantists on behalf of humanism as represented by erasmus and reuchlin, the latter of whom he bravely defended in his dispute with the inquisition and the monks of cologne, and in his contributions to the _epistolæ obscurorum virorum_ we see the youthful ardour of the renaissance in full blast in its onslaught on the forces of mediæval obstruction. unlike most of those with whom he was first associated, hutten passed from being the upholder of the new learning to the rôle of champion of the reformation; and it was largely through his influence that sickingen took up the cause of luther and his movement. sickingen had been induced by charles v to assist him in an abortive attempt to invade france in , from which campaign he had returned without much benefit either material or moral, save that charles was left heavily in his debt. the accumulated hatred of generations for the priesthood had made sickingen a willing instrument in the hands of the reforming party, and believing that charles now lay to some extent in his power, he considered the moment opportune for putting his long-cherished scheme into operation for reforming the constitution of the empire. this reformation consisted, as was to be expected, in placing his own order on a firm footing, and of effectually curbing the power of the other estates, especially that of the prelates. sickingen wished to make the emperor and the lower nobility the decisive factors in his new scheme of things political. the emperor, it so happened, was for the moment away in spain, and sickingen's colleagues of the knightly order were becoming clamorous at the unworthy position into which they found themselves rapidly being driven. the feudal exactions of their princely lieges had reached a point which passed all endurance, and since they were practically powerless in the reichstags, no outlet was left for their discontent save by open revolt. impelled not less by his own inclinations than by the pressure of his companions, foremost among whom was hutten, sickingen decided at once to open the campaign. hutten, it would appear, attempted to enter into negotiations for the co-operation of the towns and of the peasants. so far as can be seen, strassburg and one or two other imperial cities returned favourable answers; but the precise measure of hutten's success cannot be ascertained, owing to the fact that all the documents relating to the matter perished in the destruction of sickingen's castle of ebernburg. it should be premised that on august th, previous to this declaration of war, a "brotherly convention" had been signed by a number of the knights, by which sickingen was appointed their captain, and they bound themselves to submit to no jurisdiction save their own, and pledged themselves to mutual aid in war in case of hostilities against any one of their number. through this "treaty of landau," sickingen had it in his power to assemble a considerable force at a moment's notice. consequently, a few days after the issue of the above manifesto, on august , , sickingen was able to start from the castle of ebernburg with an army of , foot and , knights, besides artillery, in the full confidence that he was about to destroy the position of the palatine prince-prelate and raise himself without delay to the chief power on the rhine. by an effective piece of audacity, that of sporting the imperial flag and the burgundian cross, franz spread abroad the idea that he was acting on behalf of the emperor, then absent in spain; and this largely contributed to the result that his army speedily rose to , knights and , footmen. the imperial diet at nürnberg now intervened, and ordered sickingen to cease the operations he had already begun, threatening him with the ban of the empire and a fine of , marks if he did not obey. to this summons franz sent a characteristically impudent reply, and light-heartedly continued the campaign, regardless of the warning which an astrologer had given him some time previously, that the year or would probably be fatal to him. it is evident that this campaign, begun so late in the year, was regarded by sickingen and the other leaders as merely a preliminary canter to a larger and more widespread movement the following spring, since on this occasion the swabian and franconian knighthood do not appear to have been even invited to take part in it. after an easy progress, during which several trifling places, the most important being st. wendel, were taken, franz with his army arrived on september th before the gates of trier. he had hoped to capture the town by surprise, and was indeed not without some expectation of co-operation and help from the citizens themselves. on his arrival he shot letters within the walls summoning the inhabitants to take his part against their tyrant; but either through the unwillingness of the burghers to act with knights, or through the vigilance of the archbishop, they were without effect. the gates remained closed; and in answer to sickingen's summons to surrender, richard replied that he would find him in the city if he could get inside. in the meantime sickingen's friends had signally failed in their attempts to obtain supplies and reinforcements for him, in the main owing to the energetic action of some of the higher nobles. the archbishop of trier showed himself as much a soldier as a churchman; and after a week's siege, during which sickingen made five assaults on the city, his powder ran out, and he was forced to retire. he at once made his way back to ebernburg, where he intended to pass the winter, since he saw that it was useless to continue the campaign, with his own army diminishing and the hoped-for supplies not appearing, whilst the forces of his antagonists augmented daily. in his stronghold of ebernburg he could rely on being secure from all attack until he was able to again take the field on the offensive, as he anticipated doing in the spring. in spite of the obvious failure of the autumnal campaign, the cause of the knighthood did not by any means look irretrievably desperate, since there was always the possibility of successful recruitments the following spring. ulrich von hutten was doing his utmost in würtemberg and switzerland to scrape together men and money, though up to this time without much success, while other emissaries of sickingen were working with the same object in breisgau and other parts of southern germany. relying on these expected reinforcements, franz was confident of victory when he should again take the field, and in the meantime he felt himself quite secure in one or other of his strong places, which had recently undergone extensive repairs and seemed to be impregnable. in this anticipation he was deceived, for he had not reckoned with the new and more potent weapons of attack which were replacing the battering-ram and other mediæval besieging appliances. franz retired to his strong castle of the landstuhl to await the onslaught of the princes which followed in the spring. after heavy bombardment sickingen was mortally wounded on may th, and the place was immediately surrendered. the next day the princes entered the castle, where, in an underground chamber, their enemy lay dying. he was so near his end that he could scarcely distinguish his three arch-enemies one from the other. "my dear lord," he said to the count palatine, his feudal superior, "i had not thought that i should end thus," taking off his cap and giving him his hand. "what has impelled thee, franz," asked the archbishop of trier, "that thou hast so laid waste and harmed me and my poor people?" "of that it were too long to speak," answered sickingen, "but i have done nought without cause. i go now to stand before a greater lord." here it is worthy of remark that the princes treated franz with all the knightliness and courtesy which were customary between social equals in the days of chivalry, addressing him at most rather as a rebellious child than as an insurgent subject. the prince of hesse was about to give utterance to a reproach, but he was interrupted by the count palatine, who told him that he must not quarrel with a dying man. the count's chamberlain said some sympathetic words to franz, who replied to him: "my dear chamberlain, it matters little about me. it is not i who am the cock round which they are dancing." when the princes had withdrawn, his chaplain asked him if he would confess; but franz replied: "i have confessed to god in my heart," whereupon the chaplain gave him absolution; and as he went to fetch the host "the last of the knights" passed quietly away, alone and abandoned. it is related by spalatin that after his death some peasants and domestics placed his body in an old armour-chest, in which they had to double the head on to the knees. the chest was then let down by a rope from the rocky eminence on which stands the now ruined castle, and was buried beneath a small chapel in the village below. the scene we have just described in the castle vault meant not merely the tragedy of a hero's death, nor merely the destruction of a faction or party, it meant the end of an epoch. with sickingen's death one of the most salient and picturesque elements in the mediæval life of central europe received its death-blow. the knighthood as a distinct factor in the polity of europe henceforth existed no more. spalatin relates that on the death of sickingen the princely party anticipated as easy a victory over the religious revolt as they had achieved over the knighthood. "the mock emperor is dead," so the phrase went, "and the mock pope will soon be dead also." hutten, already an exile in switzerland, did not many months survive his patron and leader, sickingen. the rôle which erasmus played in this miserable tragedy was only what was to be expected from the moral cowardice which seemed ingrained in the character of the great humanist leader. erasmus had already begun to fight shy of the reformation movement, from which he was about to separate himself definitely. he seized the present opportunity to quarrel with hutten; and to hutten's somewhat bitter attacks on him in consequence he replied with ferocity in his _spongia erasmi adversus aspergines hutteni_. hutten had had to fly from basel to mülhausen and thence to zürich, in the last stages of syphilitic disease. he was kindly received by the reformer, zwingli of zürich, who advised him to try the waters of pfeffers, and gave him letters of recommendation to the abbot of that place. he returned, in no wise benefited, to zürich, when zwingli again befriended the sick knight, and sent him to a friend of his, the "reformed" pastor of the little island of "ufenau," at the other end of the lake, where after a few weeks' suffering he died in abject destitution, leaving, it is said, nothing behind him but his pen. the disease from which hutten suffered the greater part of his life, at that time a comparatively new importation and much more formidable even than nowadays, may well have contributed to an irascibility of temper and to a certain recklessness which the typical free-lance of the reformation in its early period exhibited. hutten was never a theologian, and the reformation seems to have attracted him mainly from its political side as implying the assertion of the dawning feeling of german nationality as against the hated enemies of freedom of thought and the new light, the clerical satellites of the roman see. he was a true son of his time, in his vices no less than in his virtues; and no one will deny his partiality for "wine, women, and play." there is reason, indeed, to believe that the latter at times during his later career provided his sole means of subsistence. the hero of the reformation, luther, with whom melanchthon may be associated in this matter, could be no less pusillanimous on occasion than the hero of the new learning, erasmus. luther undoubtedly saw in sickingen's revolt a means of weakening the catholic powers against which he had to fight, and at its inception he avowedly favoured the enterprise. in some of the reforming writings luther is represented as the incarnation of christian resignation and mildness, and as talking of twelve legions of angels and deprecating any appeal to force as unbefitting the character of an evangelical apostle. that such, however, was not his habitual attitude is evident to all who are in the least degree acquainted with his real conduct and utterances. on one occasion he wrote: "if they (the priests) continue their mad ravings it seems to me that there would be no better method and medicine to stay them than that kings and princes did so with force, armed themselves and attacked these pernicious people who do poison all the world, and once for all did make an end of their doings with weapons, not with words. for even as we punish thieves with the sword, murderers with the rope, and heretics with fire, wherefore do we not lay hands on these pernicious teachers of damnation, on popes, on cardinals, bishops, and the swarm of the roman sodom--yea, with every weapon which lieth within our reach, _and wherefore do we not wash our hands in their blood?_"[ ] it is, however, in a manifesto published in july , just before sickingen's attack on the archbishop of trier, for which enterprise it was doubtless intended as a justification, that luther expresses himself in unmeasured terms against the "biggest wolves," the bishops, and calls upon "all dear children of god and all true christians" to drive them out by force from the "sheep-stalls." in this pamphlet, entitled _against the falsely called spiritual order of the pope and the bishops_, he says: "it were better that every bishop were murdered, every foundation or cloister rooted out, than that one soul should be destroyed, let alone that all souls should be lost for the sake of their worthless trumpery and idolatry. of what use are they who thus live in lust, nourished by the sweat and labour of others, and are a stumbling-block to the word of god? they fear bodily uproar and despise spiritual destruction. are they wise and honest people? if they accepted god's word and sought the life of the soul, god would be with them, for he is a god of peace, and they need fear no uprising; but if they will not hear god's word, but rage and rave with bannings, burnings, killings, and every evil, what do they better deserve than a strong uprising which shall sweep them from the earth? _and we would smile did it happen._[ ] as the heavenly wisdom saith: 'ye have hated my chastisement and despised my doctrine; behold, i will also laugh at ye in your distress, and will mock ye when misfortune shall fall upon your heads.'" in the same document he denounces the bishops as an accursed race, as "thieves, robbers, and usurers." swine, horses, stones, and wood were not so destitute of understanding as the german people under the sway of them and their pope. the religious houses are similarly described as "brothels, low taverns, and murder dens," he winds up this document, which he calls his "bull," by proclaiming that "all who contribute body, goods, and honour that the rule of the bishops may be destroyed are god's dear children and true christians, obeying god's command and fighting against the devil's order"; and, on the other hand, that "all who give the bishops a willing obedience are the devil's own servants, and fight against god's order and law."[ ] no sooner, however, did things begin to look bad with sickingen than luther promptly sought to disengage himself from all complicity or even sympathy with him and his losing cause. so early as december , , he writes to his friend wenzel link: "franz von sickingen has begun war against the palatine. it will be a very bad business." (_franciscus sickingen palatino bellum indixit, res pessima futura est._) his colleague, melanchthon, a few days later, hastened to deprecate the insinuation that luther had had any part or lot in initiating the revolt. "franz von sickingen," he wrote, "by his great ill-will injures the cause of luther; and notwithstanding that he be entirely dissevered from him, nevertheless whenever he undertaketh war he wisheth to seem to act for the public benefit, and not for his own. he doth even now pursue a most infamous course of plunder on the rhine." in another letter he says: "i know how this tumult grieveth him (luther),"[ ] and this respecting the man who had shortly before written of the princes that their tyranny and haughtiness were no longer to be borne, alleging that god would not longer endure it, and that the common man even was becoming intelligent enough to deal with them by force if they did not mend their manners. a more telling example of the "don't-put-him-in-the-horse-pond" attitude could scarcely be desired. that it was characteristic of the "great reformer" will be seen later on when we find him pursuing a similar policy anent the revolt of the peasants. after the fall of the landstuhl all sickingen's castles and most of those of his immediate allies and friends were of course taken, and the greater part of them destroyed. the knighthood was now to all intents and purposes politically helpless and economically at the door of bankruptcy, owing to the suddenly changed conditions of which we have spoken in the introduction and elsewhere as supervening since the beginning of the century: the unparalleled rise in prices, concurrently with the growing extravagance, the decline of agriculture in many places, and the increasing burdens put upon the knights by their feudal superiors, and last, but not least, the increasing obstacles in the way of the successful pursuit of the profession of highway robbery. the majority of them, therefore, clung with relentless severity to the feudal dues of the peasants, which now constituted their main, and in many cases their only, source of revenue; and hence, abandoning the hope of independence, they threw in their lot with the authorities, the princes, lay and ecclesiastic, in the common object of both, that of reducing the insurgent peasants to complete subjection. footnotes: [ ] italics the present author's. [ ] italics the present author's. [ ] _sämmtliche werke_ vol. xxviii. pp. - . [ ] _corpus reformatorum_, vol. i. pp. - . chapter vii general signs of religious and social revolt peasant revolts of a sporadic character are to be met with throughout the middle ages even in their halcyon days. some of these, like the jacquerie in france and the revolt associated with the name of wat tyler in england, were of a serious and more or less extended character. but most of them were purely local and of no significance, apart from temporary and passing circumstances. by the last quarter of the fifteenth century, however, peasant risings had become increasingly numerous and their avowed aims much more definite and far-reaching than, as a rule, were those of an earlier date. in saying this we are referring to those revolts which were directly initiated by the peasantry, the serfs, and the villeins of the time, and which had as their main object the direct amelioration of the peasant's lot. movements of a primarily religious character were, of course, of a somewhat different nature, but the tendency was increasingly, as we approach the period of the reformation, for the two currents to merge one in the other. the echoes of the hussite movement in bavaria at the beginning of the century spread far and wide throughout central europe, and had by no means spent their force as the century drew towards its close. from this time forward recurrent indications of social revolt with a strong religious colouring, or a religious revolt with a strong social colouring, became chronic in the germanic lands and those adjacent thereto. as an example may be taken the movement of hans boheim, of niklashausen, in the diocese of würzburg, in franconia, in , and which is regarded by some historians as the first of the movements leading directly up to those of the lutheran reformation. hans claimed a divine mission for preaching the gospel to the common man. hans preached asceticism and claimed niklashausen as a place of pilgrimage for a new worship of the virgin. there was little in this to alarm the authorities till hans announced that the queen of heaven had revealed to him that there was to be no lay or spiritual authority, but that all men should be brothers, earning their bread by the sweat of their brows, paying no more imposts or dues, holding land in common, and sharing alike in all things. the movement went on for some months, spreading rapidly in the neighbouring territories. at last hans was seized by armed men while asleep and hurried to würzburg. the affair caused immense commotion, and by the sunday following, it is stated, , armed peasants assembled at niklashausen. led by a decayed knight and his son, , of them marched to würzburg, demanding their prophet at the gate of the bishop's castle. by promises and cajolery, they were induced to disperse by the prince-bishop, who, as soon as he saw they were returning home in straggling parties, treacherously sent a body of his knights after them, killing some and taking others prisoners. two of the ringleaders were beheaded outside the castle, and at the same time the prophet hans boheim was burnt to ashes. thus ended a typical religio-social peasant revolt of the half-century preceding the great reformation movement. in the oppressed and plundered villeins of kempten revolted, but the movement was quelled by the emperor himself after a compromise. a great rising took place in elsass (alsace) in among the feudatories of the bishop of strassburg, with the usual object of freedom for the "common man," abolition of feudal exactions, church reformation, etc. this movement is interesting, as having first received the name of the _bundschuh_. it was decided that as the knight was distinguished by his spurs, so the peasant should have as his device the common shoe of his class, laced from the ankle through to the knee by leathern thongs, and the banner whereon this emblem was depicted was accordingly made. the movement was, however, betrayed and mercilessly crushed by the neighbouring knighthood. a few years later a similar movement, also having the _bundschuh_ for its device, took place in the regions of the upper and middle rhine. this movement created a panic among all the privileged classes, from the emperor down to the knight. the situation was discussed in no less than three separate assemblies of the states. it was, however, eventually suppressed for the time being. a few years later, in , it again burst forth under the leadership of an active adherent of the former movement, one joss fritz, in baden, at the village of lehen, near the town of freiburg. the organization in this case, besides being widespread, was exceedingly good, and the movement was nearly successful when at the last moment it was betrayed. even in switzerland there were peasant risings in the early years of the sixteenth century. about the same time the duchy of würtemberg was convulsed by a movement which took the name of the "poor conrad." its object was the freeing of the "common man" from feudal services and dues and the abolition of seignorial rights over the land, etc. but here again the movement was suppressed by duke ulrich and his knights. another rising took place in baden in . three years previously, in , occurred the great hungarian peasant rebellion under george daze. under the able leadership of the latter the peasants had some not inconsiderable initial successes, but this movement also, after some weeks, was cruelly suppressed. about the same time, too, occurred various insurrectionary peasant movements in the styrian and carinthian alpine districts. similar movements to those referred to were also going on during those early years of the fifteenth century in other parts of europe, but these, of course, do not concern us. the deep-reaching importance and effective spread of such movements was infinitely greater in the middle ages than in modern times. the same phenomenon presents itself to-day in backward and semi-barbaric communities. at first sight one is inclined to think that there has been no period in the world's history when it was so easy to stir up a population as the present, with our newspapers, our telegraphs, our aeroplane, our postal arrangements, and our railways. but this is just one of those superficial notions that are not confirmed by history. we are similarly apt to think that there was no age in which travel was so widespread and formed so great a part of the education of mankind as at present. there could be no greater mistake. the true age of travelling was the close of the middle ages, or what is known as the renaissance period. the man of learning, then just differentiated from the ecclesiastic, spent the greater part of his life in earning his intellectual wares from court to court and from university to university, just as the merchant personally carried his goods from city to city in an age in which commercial correspondence, bill-brokers, and the varied forms of modern business were but in embryo. it was then that travel really meant education, the acquirement of thorough and intimate knowledge of diverse manners and customs. travel was then not a pastime, but a serious element in life. in the same way the spread of a political or social movement was at least as rapid then as now, and far more penetrating. the methods were, of course, vastly different from the present; but the human material to be dealt with was far easier to mould, and kept its shape much more readily when moulded, than is the case nowadays. the appearance of a religious or political teacher in a village or small town of the middle ages was an event which keenly excited the interest of the inhabitants. it struck across the path of their daily life, leaving behind it a track hardly conceivable to-day. for one of the salient symptoms of the change which has taken place since that time is the disappearance of local centres of activity and the transference of the intensity of life to a few large towns. in the middle ages every town, small no less than large, was a more or less self-sufficing organism, intellectually and industrially, and was not essentially dependent on the outside world for its social sustenance. this was especially the case in central europe, where communication was much more imperfect and dangerous than in italy, france, or england. in a society without newspapers, without easy communication with the rest of the world, where the vast majority could neither read nor write, where books were rare and costly, and accessible only to the privileged few, a new idea bursting upon one of these communities was eagerly welcomed, discussed in the council chamber of the town, in the hall of the castle, in the refectory of the monastery, at the social board of the burgess, in the workroom, and, did it but touch his interests, in the hut of the peasant. it was canvassed, too, at church festivals (_kirchweihe_), the only regular occasion on which the inhabitants of various localities came together. in the absence of all other distraction, men thought it out in all the bearings which their limited intellectual horizon permitted. if calculated in any way to appeal to them it soon struck root, and became a part of their very nature, a matter for which, if occasion were, they were prepared to sacrifice goods, liberty, and even life itself. in the present day a new idea is comparatively slow in taking root. amid the myriad distractions of modern life, perpetually chasing one another, there is no time for any one thought, however wide-reaching in its bearings, to take a firm hold. in order that it should do so in the _modern mind_, it must be again and again borne in upon this not always too receptive intellectual substance. people require to read of it day after day in their newspapers, or to hear it preached from countless platforms, before any serious effect is created. in the simple life of former ages it was not so. the mode of transmitting intelligence, especially such as was connected with the stirring up of political and religious movements, was in those days of a nature of which we have now little conception. the sort of thing in vogue then may be compared to the methods adopted in india to prepare the mutiny of , when the mysterious cake was passed from village to village, signifying that the moment had come for the outbreak. the sense of _esprit de corps_ and of that kind of honour most intimately associated with it, it must also be remembered, was infinitely keener in ruder states of society than under a high civilization. the growth of civilization, as implying the disruption of the groups in which the individual is merged under more primitive conditions, and his isolation as an autonomous unit having vague and very elastic moral duties to his "country" or to mankind at large, but none towards any definite and proximate social whole, necessarily destroys that communal spirit which prevails in the former case. this is one of the striking truths which the history of these peasant risings illustrates in various ways and brings vividly home to us. chapter viii the great rising of the peasants and the anabaptist movement[ ] the year following the collapse of franz sickingen's rebellion saw the first mutterings of the great movement known as the peasants' war, the most extensive and important of all the popular insurrections of the middle ages, which, as we have seen in a previous chapter, had been led up to during the previous half-century by numerous sporadic movements throughout central europe having like aims. the first actual outbreak of the peasants' war took place in august , in the black forest, in the village of stühlingen, from an apparently trivial cause. it spread rapidly throughout the surrounding districts, having found a leader in a former soldier of fortune, hans müller by name. the so-called evangelical brotherhood sprang into existence. on the new movement becoming threatening it was opposed by the swabian league, a body in the interests of the germanic federation, its princes, and cities, whose function it was to preserve public tranquillity and enforce the imperial decrees. the peasant army was armed with the rudest weapons, including pitchforks, scythes, and axes; but nothing decisive of a military character took place this year. meanwhile the work of agitation was carried on far and wide throughout the south german territories. preachers of discontent among the peasantry and the former towns were everywhere agitating and organizing with a view to a general rising in the ensuing spring. negotiations were carried on throughout the winter with nobles and the authorities without important results. a diversion in favour of the peasants was caused by duke ulrich of würtemberg favouring the peasants' cause, which he hoped to use as a shoeing-horn to his own plans for recovering his ancestral domains, from which he had been driven on the grounds of a family quarrel under the ban of the empire in . he now established himself in his stronghold of hohentwiel, in würtemberg, on the swiss frontier. by february or the beginning of march peasant bands were organizing throughout southern germany. early in march a so-called peasants' parliament was held at memmingen, a small swabian town, at which the principal charter of the movement, the so-called "twelve articles," was adopted. this important document has a strong religious colouring, the political and economic demands of the peasants being led up to and justified by biblical quotations. they all turn on the customary grievances of the time. the "twelve articles" remain throughout the chief bill of rights of the south german peasantry, though there were other versions of the latter current in certain districts. what was said before concerning the local sporadic movements which had been going en for a generation previously applies equally to the great uprising of . the rapidity with which the ideas represented by the movement, and in consequence the movement itself, spread, is marvellous. by the middle of april it was computed that no less than , peasants, besides necessitous townsfolk, were armed and in open rebellion. on the side of the nobles no adequate force was ready to meet the emergency. in every direction were to be seen flaming castles and monasteries. on all sides were bodies of armed countryfolk, organized in military fashion, dictating their will to the countryside and the small towns, whilst disaffection was beginning to show itself in a threatening manner among the popular elements of not a few important cities. a slight success gained by the swabian league at the upper swabian village of leipheim in the second week of april did not improve matters. in easter week, , it looked indeed as if the "twelve articles" at least would become realized, if not the christian commonwealth dreamed of by the religious sectaries established throughout the length and breadth of germany. princes, lords, and ecclesiastical dignitaries were being compelled far and wide to save their lives, after their property was probably already confiscated, by swearing allegiance to the christian league or brotherhood of the peasants and by countersigning the "twelve articles" and other demands of their refractory villeins and serfs. so threatening was the situation that the archduke ferdinand began himself to yield, in so far as to enter into negotiations with the insurgents. in many cases the leaders and chief men of the bands were got up in brilliant costume. we read of purple mantles and scarlet birettas with ostrich plumes as the costume of the leaders, of a suite of men in scarlet dress, of a vanguard of ten heralds, gorgeously attired. as lamprecht justly observes (_deutsche geschichte_, vol. v. p. ): "the peasant revolts were, in general, less in the nature of campaigns, or even of an uninterrupted series of minor military operations, than of a slow process of mobilization, interrupted and accompanied by continual negotiations with lords and princes--a mobilization which was rendered possible by the standing right of assembly and of carrying arms possessed by the peasants." the smaller towns everywhere opened their gates without resistance to the peasants, between whom and the poorer inhabitants an understanding commonly existed. the bands waxed fat with plunder of castles and religious houses, and did full justice to the contents of the rich monastic wine-cellars. early in april occurred one of the most notable incidents. it was at the little town of weinsberg, near the free town of heilbronn, in würtemberg. the town, which was occupied by a body of knights and men-at-arms, was attacked on easter sunday by the peasant bands, foremost among them being the "black troop" of that knightly champion of the peasant cause, florian geyer. it was followed by a peasant contingent, led by one jäcklein rohrbach, whose consuming passion was hatred of the ruling classes. the knights within the town were under the leadership of count von helfenstein. the entry of rohrbach's company into weinsberg was the signal for a massacre of the knightly host. some were taken prisoners for the moment, including helfenstein himself, but these were massacred next morning in the meadow outside the town by "jäcklein," as he was called. the events at weinsberg produced in the first instance a horror and consternation which was speedily followed by a lust for vengeance on the part of the privileged orders. in franconia and middle germany the peasant movement went on apace. in franconia one of its chief seats was the considerable town of rothenburg, on the tauber. the episcopal city of würzburg was also entered and occupied by the peasant bands in coalition with the discontented elements of the town. the sacking of churches and throwing open of religious houses characterized proceedings here as elsewhere. the locking up of a large peasant host in würzburg was undoubtedly a source of great weakness to the movement. in the east, in the tyrol and salzburg, there were similar risings to those farther west. in the latter case the prince-bishop was the obnoxious oppressor. the most interesting of the local movements was, however, in many respects that of thomas münzer in the town of mülhausen, in thuringia. thomas münzer is, perhaps, the best known of all the names in the peasants' revolt. in addition to the ultra-protestantism of his theological views, münzer had as his object the establishment of a communistic christian commonwealth. he started a practical exemplification of this among his own followers in the town itself. up to the beginning of may the insurrection had carried everything before it. truchsess and his men of the swabian league had proved themselves unable to cope with it. matters now changed. knights, men-at-arms, and free-lances were returning from the italian campaign of charles v after the battle of pavia. everywhere the revolt met with disaster. the mülhausen insurgents were destroyed at frankenhausen by forces of the count of hesse, of the duke of brunswick, and of the duke of saxony. this was on may th. three days before the defeat at frankenhausen, on may th, a decisive defeat was inflicted on the peasants by the forces of the swabian league, under truchsess, at böblingen, in würtemberg. savage ferocity signalized the treatment of the defeated peasants by the soldiery of the nobles. jäcklein rohrbach was roasted alive. truchsess with his soldiery then hurried north and inflicted a heavy defeat on the franconian peasant contingents at königshaven, on the tauber. these three defeats, following one another in little more than a fortnight, broke the back of the whole movement in germany proper. in elsass and lorraine the insurrection was crushed by the hired troops and the duke of lorraine; eastward, on the little river luibas. in the austrian territories, under the able leadership of michael gaismayr, one of the lesser nobility, it continued for some months longer, and the fear of gaismayr, who, it should be said, was the only man of really constructive genius the movement had produced, maintained itself with the privileged classes till his murder in the autumn of , at the instance of the bishop of brixen. the great peasant insurrection in germany failed through want of a well-thought-out plan and tactics, and, above all, through a want of cohesion among the various peasant forces operating in different sections of the country, between which no regular communications were kept up. the attitude of martin luther towards the peasants and their cause was base in the extreme. his action was mainly embodied in two documents, of which the first was issued about the middle of april, and the second a month later. the difference in tone between them is sufficiently striking. in the first, which bore the title, "an exhortation to peace on the twelve articles of the peasantry in swabia," luther sits on the fence, admonishing both parties of what he deemed their shortcomings. he was naturally pleased with those articles that demanded the free preaching of the gospel and abused the catholic clergy, and was not indisposed to assent to many of the economic demands. in fact, the document strikes one as distinctly more favourable to the insurgents than to their opponents. "we have," he wrote, "no one to thank for this mischief and sedition, save ye princes and lords, in especial ye blind bishops and mad priests and monks, who up to this day remain obstinate and do not cease to rage and rave against the holy gospel, albeit ye know that it is righteous, and that ye may not gainsay it. moreover, in your worldly regiment, ye do naught otherwise than flay and extort tribute, that ye may satisfy your pomp and vanity, till the poor, common man cannot, and may not, bear with it longer. the sword is on your neck. ye think ye sit so strongly in your seats, that none may cast you from them. such presumption and obstinate pride will twist your necks, as ye will see." and again: "god hath made it thus that they cannot, and will not, longer bear with your raging. if ye do it not of your free will, so shall ye be made to do it by way of violence and undoing." once more: "it is not peasants, my dear lords, who have set themselves up against you. god himself it is who setteth himself against you to chastise your evil-doing." he counsels the princes and lords to make peace with their peasants, observing with reference to the "twelve articles" that some of them are so just and righteous that before god and the world their worthiness is manifested, making good the words of the psalm that they heap contempt upon the heads of the princes. whilst he warns the peasants against sedition and rebellion, and criticizes some of the articles as going beyond the justification of holy writ, and whilst he makes side-hits at "the prophets of murder and the spirits of confusion which had found their way among them," the general impression given by the pamphlet is, as already said, one of unmistakable friendliness to the peasants and hostility to the lords. the manifesto may be summed up in the following terms: both sides are, strictly speaking, in the wrong, but the princes and lords have provoked the "common man" by their unjust exactions and oppressions; the peasants, on their side, have gone too far in many of their demands, notably in the refusal to pay tithes, and most of all in the notion of abolishing villeinage, which luther declares to be "straightway contrary to the gospel and thievish." the great sin of the princes remains, however, that of having thrown stumbling-blocks in the way of the gospel--_bien entendu_ the gospel according to luther--and the main virtue of the peasants was their claim to have this gospel preached. it can scarcely be doubted that the ambiguous tone of luther's rescript was interpreted by the rebellious peasants to their advantage and served to stimulate, rather than to check, the insurrection. meanwhile, the movement rose higher and higher, and reached thuringia, the district with which luther personally was most associated. his patron, and what is more, the only friend of toleration in high places, the noble-minded elector friedrich of saxony, fell ill and died on may th, and was succeeded by his younger brother johann, the same who afterwards assisted in the suppression of the thuringian revolt. almost immediately thereupon luther, who had been visiting his native town of eisleben, travelled through the revolted districts on his way back to wittenberg. he everywhere encountered black looks and jeers. when he preached, the münzerites would drown his voice by the ringing of bells. the signs of rebellion greeted him on all sides. the "twelve articles" were constantly thrown at his head. as the reports of violence towards the property and persons of some of his own noble friends reached him his rage broke all bounds. he seems, however, to have prudently waited a few days, until the cause of the peasants was obviously hopeless, before publicly taking his stand on the side of the authorities. on his arrival in wittenberg, he wrote a second pronouncement on the contemporary events, in which no uncertainty was left as to his attitude. it is entitled, "against the murderous and thievish bands of peasants."[ ] here he lets himself loose on the side of the oppressors with a bestial ferocity. "crush them" (the peasants), he writes, "strangle them and pierce them, in secret places and in sight of men, he who can, even as one would strike dead a mad dog!" all having authority who hesitated to extirpate the insurgents to the uttermost were committing a sin against god. "findest thou thy death therein," he writes, addressing the reader, "happy art thou: a more blessed death can never overtake thee, for thou diest in obedience to the divine word and the command of romans xiii. , and in the service of love, to save thy neighbour from the bonds of hell and the devil." never had there been such an infamous exhortation to the most dastardly murder on a wholesale scale since the albigensian crusade with its "strike them all: god will know his own"--a sentiment indeed that luther almost literally reproduces in one passage. the attitude of the official lutheran party towards the poor countryfolk continued as infamous after the war as it had been on the first sign that fortune was forsaking their cause. like master, like man. luther's jackal, the "gentle" melanchthon, specially signalized himself by urging on the feudal barons with scriptural arguments to the blood-sucking and oppression of their villeins. a humane and honourable nobleman, heinrich von einsiedel, was touched in conscience at the _corvées_ and heavy dues to which he found himself entitled. he sent to luther for advice upon the subject. luther replied that the existing exactions which had been handed down to him from his parents need not trouble his conscience, adding that it would not be good for _corvées_ to be given up, since the "common man" ought to have burdens imposed upon him, as otherwise he would become overbearing. he further remarked that a severe treatment in material things was pleasing to god, even though it might seem to be too harsh. spalatin writes in a like strain that the burdens in germany were, if anything, too light. subjects, according to melanchthon, ought to know that they are serving god in the burdens they bear for their superiors, whether it were journeying, paying tribute, or otherwise, and as pleasing to god as though they raised the dead at god's own behest. subjects should look up to their lords as wise and just men, and hence be thankful to them. however unjust, tyrannical, and cruel the lord might be, there was never any justification for rebellion. a friend and follower of luther and melanchthon--martin butzer by name--went still farther. according to this "reforming" worthy a subject was to obey his lord in everything. this was all that concerned him. it was not for him to consider whether what was enjoined was, or was not, contrary to the will of god. that was a matter for his feudal superior and god to settle between them. referring to the doctrines of the revolutionary sects, butzer urges the authorities to extirpate all those professing a false religion. such men, he says, deserve a heavier punishment than thieves, robbers, and murderers. even their wives and innocent children and cattle should be destroyed (_ap. janssen_, vol. i. p. ). luther himself quotes, in a sermon on "genesis," the instances of abraham and abimelech and other old testament worthies, as justifying slavery and the treatment of a slave as a beast of burden. "sheep, cattle, men-servants and maid-servants, they were all possessions," says luther, "to be sold as it pleased them like other beasts. it were even a good thing were it still so. for else no man may compel nor tame the servile folk" (_sämmtliche werke_, vol. xv. p. ). in other discourses he enforces the same doctrine, observing that if the world is to last for any time, and is to be kept going, it will be necessary to restore the patriarchal condition. capito, the strassburg preacher, in a letter to a colleague, writes lamenting that the pamphlets and discourses of luther had contributed not a little to give edge to the bloodthirsty vengeance of the princes and nobles after the insurrection. the total number of the peasants and their allies who fell either in fighting or at the hands of the executioners is estimated by anselm in his _berner chronik_ at , . it was certainly not less than , . for months after the executioner was active in many of the affected districts. spalatin says: "of hanging and beheading there is no end." another writer has it: "it was all so that even a stone had been moved to pity, for the chastisement and vengeance of the conquering lords was great." the executions within the jurisdiction of the swabian league alone are stated at , . truchsess's provost boasted of having hanged or beheaded , with his own hand. more than , fugitives were recorded. these, according to a swabian league order, were all outlawed in such wise that any one who found them might slay them without fear of consequences. the sentences and executions were conducted with true mediæval levity. it is narrated in a contemporary chronicle that in one village in the henneberg territory all the inhabitants had fled on the approach of the count and his men-at-arms save two tilers. the two were being led to execution when one appeared to weep bitterly, and his reply to interrogatories was that he bewailed the dwellings of the aristocracy thereabouts, for henceforth there would be no one to supply them with durable tiles. thereupon his companion burst out laughing, because, said he, it had just occurred to him that he would not know where to place his hat after his head had been taken off. these mildly humorous remarks obtained for both of them a free pardon. the aspect of those parts of the country where the war had most heavily raged was deplorable in the extreme. in addition to the many hundreds of castles and monasteries destroyed, almost as many villages and small towns had been levelled with the ground by one side or the other, especially by the swabian league and the various princely forces. many places were annihilated for having taken part with the peasants, even when they had been compelled by force to do so. fields in these districts were everywhere laid waste or left uncultivated. enormous sums were exacted as indemnity. in many of the villages peasants previously well-to-do were ruined. there seemed no limit to the bleeding of the "common man," under the pretence of compensation for damage done by the insurrection. the condition of the families of the dead and of the fugitives was appalling. numbers perished from starvation. the wives and children of the insurgents were in some cases forcibly driven from their homesteads and even from their native territory. in one of the pamphlets published in anent the events of that year we read: "houses are burned; fields and vineyards lie fallow; clothes and household goods are robbed or burned; cattle and sheep are taken away; the same as to horses and trappings. the prince, the gentleman, or the nobleman will have his rent and due. eternal god, whither shall the widows and poor children go forth to seek it?" referring to the lutheran campaign against friars and poor scholars, beggars, and pilgrims, the writer observes: "think ye now that because of god's anger for the sake of one beggar, ye must even for a season bear with twenty, thirty, nay, still more?" the courts of arbitration, which were established in various districts to adjudicate on the relations between lords and villeins, were naturally not given to favour the latter, whilst the fact that large numbers of deeds and charters had been burnt or otherwise destroyed in the course of the insurrection left open an extensive field for the imposition of fresh burdens. the record of the proceedings of one of the most important of these courts--that of the swabian league's jurisdiction, which sat at memmingen--in the dispute between the prince-abbot of kempten and his villeins is given in full in baumann's _akten_, pp. - . here, however, the peasants did not come off so badly as in some other places. meanwhile, all the other evils of the time, the monopolies of the merchant-princes of the cities and of the trading-syndicates, the dearness of living, the scarcity of money, etc., did not abate, but rather increased from year to year. the catholic church maintained itself especially in the south of germany, and the official reformation took on a definitely aristocratic character. according to baumann (_akten, vorwort_, v, vi), the true soul of the movement of consisted in the notion of "divine justice," the principle "that all relations, whether of political, social, or religious nature, have got to be ordered according to the directions of the 'gospel' as the sole and exclusive source and standard of all justice." the same writer maintains that there are three phases in the development of this idea, according to which he would have the scheme of historical investigation subdivided. in upper swabia, says he, "divine justice" found expression in the well-known "twelve articles," but here the notion of a political reformation was as good as absent. in the second phase, the "divine justice" idea began to be applied to political conditions. in tyrol and the austrian dominions, he observes, this political side manifested itself in local or, at best, territorial patriotism. it was only in franconia that all territorial patriotism or "particularism" was shaken off and the idea of the unity of the german peoples received as a political goal. the franconian influence gained over the würtembergers to a large extent, and the plan of reform elaborated by weigand and hipler for the heilbronn parliament was the most complete expression of this second phase of the movement. the third phase is represented by the rising in thuringia, and especially in its intellectual head, thomas münzer. here we have the doctrine of "divine justice" taking precedence of all else and assuming the form of a thoroughgoing theocratic scheme, to be realized by the german people. this division baumann is led to make with a view to the formulation of a convenient scheme for a "codex" of documents relating to the peasants' war. it may be taken as, in the main, the best general division that can be put forward, although, as we have seen, there are places where, and times when, the practical demands of the movement seem to have asserted themselves directly and spontaneously apart from any theory whatever. of the fate of many of the most active leaders of the revolt we know nothing. several heads of the movement, according to a contemporary writer, wandered about for a long time in misery, some of them indeed seeking refuge with the turks, who were still a standing menace to imperial christendom. the popular preachers vanished also on the suppression of the movement. the disastrous result of the peasants' war was prejudicial even to luther's cause in south germany. the catholic party reaped the advantage everywhere, evangelical preachers, even, where not insurrectionists, being persecuted. little distinction, in fact, was made in most districts between an opponent of the catholic church from luther's standpoint and one from karlstadt's or hubmayer's. amongst seventy-one heretics arraigned before the austrian court at ensisheim, only one was acquitted. the others were broken on the wheel, burnt, or drowned. there were some who were arrested ten or fifteen years later on charges connected with the revolt. treachery, of course, played a large part, as it has done in all defeated movements, in ensuring the fate of many of those who had been at all prominent. in fairness to luther, who otherwise played such a villainous rôle in connection with the peasants' movement, the fact should be recorded that he sheltered his old colleague, karlstadt, for a short time in the augustine monastery at wittenberg, after the latter's escape from rothenburg. wendel hipler continued for some time at liberty, and might probably have escaped altogether had he not entered a protest against the counts of hohenlohe for having seized a portion of his private fortune that lay within their power. the result of his action might have been foreseen. the counts, on hearing of it, revenged themselves by accusing him of having been a chief pillar of the rebellion. he had to flee immediately, and, after wandering about for some time in a disguise, one of the features of which is stated to have been a false nose, he was seized on his way to the reichstag which was being held at speier in . tenacious of his property to the last, he had hoped to obtain restitution of his rights from the assembled estates of the empire. some months later he died in prison at neustadt. of the victors, truchsess and frundsberg considered themselves badly treated by the authorities whom they had served so well, and frundsberg even composed a lament on his neglect. this he loved to hear sung to the accompaniment of the harp as he swilled down his red wine. the cruel markgraf kasimir met a miserable death not long after from dysentery, whilst cardinal matthaus lang, the archbishop of salzburg, ended his days insane. of the fate of other prominent men connected with the events described, we have spoken in the course of the narrative. the castles and religious houses, which were destroyed, as already said, to the number of many hundreds, were in most cases not built up again. the ruins of not a few of them are visible to this day. their owners often spent the sums relentlessly wrung out of the "common man" as indemnity in the extravagances of a gay life in the free towns or in dancing attendance at the courts of the princes and the higher nobles. the collapse of the revolt was indeed an important link in the particular chain of events that was so rapidly destroying the independent existence of the lower nobility as a separate status with a definite political position, and transforming the face of society generally. life in the smaller castle, the knight's _burg_ or tower, was already tending to become an anachronism. the court of the prince, lay or ecclesiastic, was attracting to itself all the elements of nobility below it in the social hierarchy. the revolt of gave a further edge to this development, the first act of which closed with the collapse of the knights' rebellion and death of sickingen in . the knight was becoming superfluous in the economy of the body politic. the rise of capitalism, the sudden development of the world-market, the substitution of a money medium of exchange for direct barter--all these new factors were doing their work. obviously the great gainers by the events of the momentous year were the representatives of the centralizing principle. but the effective centralizing principle was not represented by the emperor, for he stood for what was after all largely a sham centralism, because it was a centralism on a scale for which the germanic world was not ripe. princes and margraves were destined to be bearers of the _territorial_ centralization, the only real one to which the german peoples were to attain for a long time to come. accordingly, just as the provincial _grand seigneur_ of france became the courtier of the king at paris or versailles, so the previously quasi-independent german knight or baron became the courtier or hanger-on of the prince within or near whose territory his hereditary manor was situate. the eventful year was truly a landmark in german history in many ways--the year of one of the most accredited exploits of doctor faustus, the last mythical hero the progressive races have created; the year in which martin luther, the ex-monk, capped his repudiation of catholicism and all its ways by marrying an ex-nun; the year of the definite victory of charles v. the german emperor, over francis i. the french king, which meant the final assertion of the "holy roman empire" as being a national german institution; and last, but not least, the year of the greatest and the most widespread popular movement central europe had yet seen, and the last of the mediæval peasant risings on a large scale. the movement of the eventful year did not, however, as many hoped and many feared, within any short time rise up again from its ashes, after discomfiture had overtaken it. in , it is true, the genius of gaismayr succeeded in resuscitating it, not without prospect of ultimate success, in the tyrol and other of the austrian territories. in this year, moreover, in other outlying districts, even outside german-speaking populations, the movement flickered. thus the traveller between the town of bellinzona, in the swiss canton of ticino, and the bernardino pass, in canton graubünden, may see to-day an imposing ruin, situated on an eminence in the narrow valley just above the small italian-speaking town of misox. this was one of the ancestral strongholds of the family, well known in italian history, of the trefuzios or trevulzir, and was sacked by the inhabitants of misox and the neighbouring peasants in the summer of , contemporaneously with gaismayr's rising in the tyrol. a connection between the two events would be difficult to trace, but the destruction of the castle of misox, if not a purely spontaneous local effervescence, looks like an afterglow of the great movement, such as may well have happened in other secluded mountain valleys. the peasants' war in germany we have been considering is the last great mediæval uprising of the agrarian classes in europe. its result was, with some few exceptions, a riveting of the peasant's chains and an increase of his burdens. more than , castles and religious houses were destroyed in germany alone during . many priceless works of mediæval art of all kinds perished. but we must not allow our regret at such vandalism to blind us in any way to the intrinsic righteousness of the popular demands. the elements of revolution now became absorbed by the anabaptist movement, a continuation primarily in the religious sphere of the doctrines of the zwickau enthusiasts and also in many respects of thomas münzer. at first northern switzerland, especially the towns of basel and zürich, were the headquarters of the new sect, which, however, spread rapidly on all sides. persecution of the direst description did not destroy it. on the contrary, it seemed only to have the effect of evoking those social and revolutionary elements latent within it which were at first overshadowed by more purely theological interests. as it was, the hopes and aspirations of the "common man" revived this time in a form indissolubly associated with the theocratic commonwealth, the most prominent representative of which during the earlier movement had been thomas münzer. but, notwithstanding resemblances, it is utterly incorrect, as has sometimes been done, to describe any of the leaders of the great peasant rebellion of as anabaptists. the anabaptist sect, it is true, originated in switzerland during the rising, but it was then confined to a small coterie of unknown enthusiasts, holding semi-private meetings in zürich. it was from these small beginnings that the great anabaptist movement of ten years later arose. it is directly from them that the anabaptist movement of history dates its origin. movements of a similar character, possessing a strong family likeness, belong to the mental atmosphere of the time in germany. the so-called zwickau prophets, for example, nicholas storch and his colleagues, seem in their general attitude to have approached very closely to the principles of the anabaptist sectaries. but even here it is incorrect to regard them, as has often been done, as directly connected with the latter; still more as themselves the germ of the anabaptist party of the following years. thomas münzer, the only leader of the movement of who seems to have been acquainted with the zürich enthusiasts, was by no means at one with them on many points, notably refusing to attach any importance to their special sign, rebaptism. chief among the zürich coterie may be mentioned konrad grebel, at whose house the sect first of all assembled. at first the anabaptist movement at zürich was regarded as an extreme wing of the party of the church reformer, zwingli, in that city, but it was not long before it broke off entirely from the latter, and hostilities, ensuing in persecution for the new party, broke out. to understand the true inwardness of the anabaptist and similar movements, it is necessary to endeavour to think oneself back into the intellectual conditions of the period. the biblical text itself, now everywhere read and re-read in the german language, was pondered and discussed in the house of the handicraftsman and in the hut of the peasant, with as much confidence of interpretation as in the study of the professional theologian. but there were also not a few of the latter order, as we have seen, who were becoming disgusted with the trend of the official reformation and its leading representatives. the bible thus afforded a _point d'appui_ for the mystical tendencies now becoming universally prominent--a _point d'appui_ lacking to the earlier movements of the same kind that were so constantly arising during the middle ages proper. seen in the dim religious light of a continuous reading of the bible and of very little else, the world began to appear in a new aspect to the simple soul who practised it. all things seemed filled with the immediate presence of deity. he who felt a call pictured himself as playing the part of the hebrew prophet. he gathered together a small congregation of followers, who felt themselves as the children of god in the midst of a heathen world. did not the fall of the old church mean that the day was at hand when the elect should govern the world? it was not so much positive doctrines as an attitude of mind that was the ruling spirit in anabaptism and like movements. similarly, it was undoubtedly such a sensitive impressionism rather than any positive dogma that dominated the first generation of the christian church itself. how this acted in the case of the earlier anabaptists we shall presently see. the new zürich sect, by one of those seemingly inscrutable chances in similar cases of which history is full, not only prospered greatly but went forth conquering and to conquer. it spread rapidly northward, eastward, and westward. in the course of its victorious career it absorbed into itself all similar tendencies and local groups and movements having like aims to itself. as was natural under such circumstances, we find many different strains in the developed anabaptist movement. the theologian bullinger wrote a book on the subject, in which he enumerates thirteen distinct sects, as he terms them, in the anabaptist body. the general tenets of the organization, as given by bullinger, may be summarized as follows: they regard themselves as the true church of christ well pleasing to god; they believe that by rebaptism a man is received into the church; they refuse to hold intercourse with other churches or to recognize their ministers; they say that the preachings of these are different from their works, that no man is the better for their preaching, that their ministers follow not the teaching of paul, that they take payment from their benefices, but do not work by their hands; that the sacraments are improperly served, and that every man, who feels the call, has the right to preach; they maintain that the literal text of the scriptures shall be accepted without comment or the additions of theologians; they protest against the lutheran doctrine of justification by faith alone; they maintain that true christian love makes it inconsistent for any christian to be rich, but that among the brethren all things should be in common, or, at least, all available for the assistance of needy brethren and for the common cause; that the attitude of the christian towards authority should be that of submission and endurance only; that no christian ought to take office of any kind, or to take part in any form of military service; that secular authority has no concern with religious belief; that the christian resists no evil and therefore needs no law courts nor should ever make use of their tribunals; that christians do not kill or punish with imprisonment or the sword, but only with exclusion from the body of believers; that no man should be compelled by force to believe, nor should any be slain on account of his faith; that infant baptism is sinful and that adult baptism is the only christian baptism--baptism being a sacrament which should be reserved for the elect alone. such seem to represent the doctrines forming the common ground of the anabaptist groups as they existed at the end of the second decade of the fifteenth century. there were, however, as heinrich bullinger and his contemporary, sebastian franck, point out, numerous divergencies between the various sections of the party. many of these recalled other mediæval heretic sects, e.g. the cathari, the brothers and sisters of the spirit, the bohemian brethren, etc. for the first few years of its existence anabaptism remained true to its original theologico-ethical principles. the doctrine of non-resistance was strictly adhered to. the brethren believed in themselves as the elect, and that they had only to wait in prayer and humility for the "advent of christ and his saints," the "restitution of all things," the "establishment of the kingdom of god upon earth," or by whatever other phrase the dominant idea of the coming change was expressed. during the earlier years of the movement the anabaptists were peaceable and harmless fanatics and visionaries. in some cases, as in moravia, they formed separate communities of their own, some of which survived as religious sects long after the extinction of the main movement. in the earlier years of the fourth decade of the century, however, a change came over a considerable section of the movement. in central and south-eastern germany, notably in the moravian territories, barring isolated individuals here and there, the anabaptist party continued to maintain its attitude of non-resistance and the voluntariness of association which characterized it at first. the fearful waves of persecution, however, which successively swept over it were successful at last in partially checking its progress. at length the only places in this part of the empire where it succeeded in retaining any effective organization was in the moravian territories, where persecution was less strong and the communities more closely knit together than elsewhere. otherwise persecution had played sad havoc with the original anabaptist groups throughout central europe. meanwhile a movement had sprung up in western and northern germany, following the course of the rhine valley, that effectually threw the older movement of southern and eastern germany into the background. these earlier movements remained essentially religious and theological, owing, as cornelius points out (_münsterische aufruhr_, vol. ii. p. ), to the fact that they came immediately after the overthrow of the great political movement of . but although the older anabaptism did not itself take political shape, it succeeded in keeping alive the tendencies and the enthusiasm out of which, under favourable circumstances, a political movement inevitably grows. the result was, as cornelius further observes, an agitation of such a sweeping character that the fourth decade of the sixteenth century seemed destined to realize the ideals which the third decade had striven for in vain. the new direction in anabaptism began in the rich and powerful imperial city of strassburg, where peculiar circumstances afforded the brethren a considerable amount of toleration. it was in the year that anabaptism first made its appearance in strassburg. it was anabaptism of the original type and conducted on the old theologico-ethical lines. but early in the year there arrived in strassburg a much-travelled man, a skinner by trade, by name melchior hoffmann. he had been an enthusiastic adherent of the reformation, and it was not long before he joined the strassburg anabaptists and made his mark in their community. owing to his personal magnetism and oratorical gifts, melchior soon came to be regarded as a specially ordained prophet and to have acquired corresponding influence. after a few months hoffmann seems to have left strassburg for a propagandist tour along the rhine. the tour, apparently, had great success, the baptist communities being founded in all important towns as far as holland, in which latter country the doctrines spread rapidly. the anabaptism, however, taught by melchior and his disciples did not include the precept of patient submission to wrong which was such a prominent characteristic of its earlier phase. some time after his reception into the anabaptist body at strassburg, hoffmann, while in most other points accepting the prevalent doctrines of the brethren, broke entirely loose from the doctrine of non-resistance, maintaining, in theory at least, the right of the elect to employ the sword against the worldly authorities, "the godless," "the enemies of the saints." it was predicted, he maintained, that a two-edged sword should be given into the hands of the saints to destroy the "mystery of iniquity," the existing principalities and powers, and the time was now at hand when this prophecy should be fulfilled. the new movement in the north-west, in the lower rhenish districts, and the adjacent westphalia sprang up and extended itself, therefore, under the domination of this idea of the reign of the saints in the approaching millennium and of the notion that passive non-resistance, whilst for the time being a duty, only remained so until the coming of the lord should give the signal for the saints to rise and join in the destruction of the kingdoms of this world and the inauguration of the kingdom of god on earth. hoffmann's whole learning seems to have been limited to the bible, but this he knew from cover to cover. a diffusion of luther's translation of the bible had produced a revolution. the poorer classes, who were able to read at all, pored over the bible, together with such popular tracts or pamphlets commenting thereon, or treating current social questions in the light of biblical story and teaching, as came into their hands. the followers of the new movement in question acquired the name of melchiorites. hoffmann now published a book explanatory of his ideas, called _the ordinance of god_, which had an enormous popularity. it was followed up by other writings, amplifying and defending the main thesis it contained. outwardly the melchiorite communities of the north-west had the same peaceful character as those of south germany and moravia, holding as they did in the main the same doctrines. it was ominous, however, that melchior hoffmann was proclaimed as the prophet elijah returned according to promise. up to strassburg continued to be regarded as the chief seat of anabaptism, especially by melchior and his disciples. it was, they declared, to be the new jerusalem, from which the saints should march out to conquer the world. melchior, on his return journey to strassburg from his journey northwards, proclaimed the end of as the date of the second advent and the inauguration of the reign of the saints. owing to the excitement among the poorer population of the town consequent upon hoffmann's preaching, the prophet was arrested and imprisoned in one of the towers of the city wall. but came and went without the lord or his saints appearing, while poor hoffmann remained confined in the tower of the city wall. meanwhile the new anabaptism spread and fermented along the rhine, and especially in holland. in the latter country its chief exponent was a master baker at harleem, by name jan matthys, who seems to have been a born leader of men. while preaching essentially the same doctrines as hoffmann, with matthys a holy war, in a literal sense, was placed in the forefront of his teaching. with him there was to be no delay. it was the duty of all the brethren to show their zeal by at once seizing the sword of sharpness and mowing down the godless therewith. in this sense matthys completed the transformation begun by hoffmann. melchior had indeed rejected the non-resistance doctrine in its absolute form, but he does not appear in his teaching to have uniformly emphasized the point, and certainly did not urge the destruction of the godless as an immediate duty to be fulfilled without delay. with him was always the suggestion, expressed or implied, of waiting for the signal from heaven, the coming of the lord, before proceeding to action. with matthys there was no need for waiting, even for a day; the time was not merely at hand, it had already come. his influence among the brethren was immense. if melchior hoffmann had been elijah, jan matthys was elisha, who should bring his work to a conclusion. among matthys' most intimate followers was jan bockelson, from leyden. bockelson was a handsome and striking figure. he was the illegitimate son of one bockel, a merchant and bürgermeister of saevenhagen, by a peasant woman from the neighbourhood of münster, who was in his service. after jan's birth bockel married the woman and bought her her freedom from the villein status that was hers by heredity. jan was taught the tailoring handicraft at leyden, but seems to have received little schooling. his natural abilities, however, were considerable, and he eagerly devoured the religious and propagandist literature of the time. amongst other writings the pamphlets of thomas münzer especially fascinated him. he travelled a good deal, visiting mechlin and working at his trade for four years in london. returning home, he threw himself into the anabaptist agitation, and, scarcely twenty-five years old, he was won over to the doctrines of jan matthys. the latter with his younger colleague welded the anabaptist communities in holland and the adjacent german territories into a well-organized federation. they were more homogeneous in theory than those of southern and eastern germany, being practically all united on the basis of the hoffmann-matthys propaganda. the episcopal town of münster, in westphalia, like other places in the third decade of the sixteenth century, became strongly affected by the reformation. but that the ferment of the time was by no means wholly the outcome of religious zeal, as subsequent historians have persisted in representing it, was recognized by the contemporary heads of the official reformation. thus, writing to luther under date august , , his satellite, melanchthon, has the candour to admit that the imperial cities "care not for religion, for their endeavour is only toward domination and freedom." as the principal town of westphalia at this time may be reckoned the chief city of the bishopric of münster, this important ecclesiastical principality was held "immediately of the empire." it had as its neighbours ost-friesland, oldenburg, the bishopric of osnabrück, the county of marck, and the duchies of berg and cleves. its territory was half the size of the present province of westphalia, and was divided into the upper and lower diocese, which were separated by the territory of fecklenburg. the bishop was a prince of the empire and one of the most important magnates of north-western germany, but in ecclesiastical matters he was under the archbishop of köln. the diocese had been founded by charles the great. owing to a succession of events, beginning in , which for those interested we may mention may be found discussed in full detail in _the rise and fall of the anabaptists_ ( - ), by the present writer, the extreme wing of the reformation party had early gained the upper hand in the city, and subsequently became fused with the native anabaptists, who were soon reinforced by their co-religionists from the country round, as well as from the not far distant holland; for it should be said that the dutch followers of hoffmann and matthys had been energetic in carrying their faith into the towns of westphalia as elsewhere. without entering in detail into the events leading up to it, it is sufficient for our purpose to state that by a perfectly lawful election, held on february , , the government of münster was reconstituted and the anabaptists obtained supreme political power. hearing of the way things were going in münster, matthys and his followers had already taken up their abode in the city a little time before. the cathedral and other churches were stormed and sacked during the following days, while all official documents and charters dealing with the feudal relations of the town were given to the flames during the ensuing month. both the moderate protestant (lutheran) and the catholic burghers who had remained were indignant at the acts of destruction committed, and openly expressed their opposition. the result was their expulsion from the city; the condition of being allowed to remain became now the consent to rebaptism and the formal adoption of anabaptist principles. münster now took the place strassburg had previously held as the rallying point of the anabaptist faithful, whence a crusade against the powers of the world was to issue forth. the government of münster, though it officially consisted of the two bürgermeisters and the new council, to a man all zealous anabaptists, left the real power and initiative in all measures in the hands of jan matthys and of his disciple, jan bockelson, of leyden. the reign of the saints was now fairly begun. various attempts at an organized communism were made, but these appear to have been only partially successful. one day jan matthys with twenty companions, in an access of fanatical devotion, made a sortie from the town towards the bishop's camp. needless to say, the party were all killed. the great leader dead, jan bockelson became naturally the chief of the city and head of the movement. bockelson proved in every way a capable successor to matthys. a new constitution was now given by bockelson and the dutchmen, acting as his prophets and preachers. it was embodied in thirty-nine articles, and one of its chief features was the transference of power to twelve elders, the number being suggested by the twelve tribes of israel. the idea of reliving the life of the "chosen people," as depicted in the old testament, showed itself in various ways, amongst others by the notorious edict establishing polygamy. this measure, however, as karl kautsky has shown, there is good reason for thinking was probably induced by the economic necessity of the time, and especially by the enormous excess of the female over the male population of the city. otherwise the münsterites, like the anabaptists generally, gave evidence of favouring asceticism in sexual matters. considerations of space prevent us from going into further detail of the inner life of münster under the anabaptist regime during the siege at the hands of its overlord, the prince-bishop. this will be found given at length in the work already mentioned. as time went on famine began to attack the city. it is sufficient for our purpose to state that on the night of june , , the city was betrayed and that in a few hours the free-lances of the bishop were streaming in through all the gates. the street fighting was desperate; the anabaptists showed a desperate courage, even women joining in the struggle, hurling missiles from the windows upon their foes beneath. by midday on the th the city of münster, the new zion, passed over once more into the power of its feudal lord, franz von waldeck, and the reign of the saints had come to an end. the vengeance of the conquerors was terrible; all alike, irrespective of age or sex, were involved in an indiscriminate butchery. the three leaders, bockelson, krechting, and knipperdollinck, after being carried round captives as an exhibition through the surrounding country, were, some months afterwards, on january , , executed, after being most horribly tortured. their bodies were subsequently suspended in three cages from the top of the tower of the lamberti church. the three cages were left undisturbed until a few years ago, when the old tower, having become structurally unsafe, was pulled down and replaced, with questionable taste, by an ordinary modern steeple, on which, however, the original cages may still be seen. a papal legate, sent on a mission to münster shortly after the events in question, relates that as he and his retinue neared the latter town "more and more gibbets and wheels did we see on the highways and in the villages, where the false prophets and anabaptists had suffered for their sins." the münster incident was the culmination of the anabaptist movement. after the catastrophe the militant section rapidly declined. it did not die out, however, until towards the end of the century. the last we hear of it was in , when a formidable insurrection took place again in westphalia, under the leadership of one wilhelmson, the son of one of the escaped anabaptist preachers of münster. the movement lasted for five years. it was finally suppressed and wilhelmson burned alive at cleves on march , . meanwhile, soon after the fall of münster, the party split asunder, a moderate section forming, which shortly after came under the leadership of menno simon. this section, which soon became the majority of the party, under the name of mennonites, settled down into a mere religious sect. in fact, towards the end of the sixteenth century the anabaptist communities on the continent of europe, from moravia on the one hand to the extreme north-west of germany on the other, showed a tendency to develop into law-abiding and prosperous religious organizations, in many cases being officially recognized by the authorities. the anabaptist revolt of the fourth decade of the sixteenth century, though it may be regarded partly as a continuation or recrudescence, showed some differences from the peasant revolt of some years previously. the peasant rebellion, which reached its zenith in , was predominantly an agrarian movement, notwithstanding that it had had its echo among the poorer classes of the towns. the anabaptist movement proper, which culminated in the münster "reign of the saints" in - , was predominantly a townsman's movement, notwithstanding that it had a considerable support from among the peasantry. the anabaptists' leaders were not, as in the case of the peasants' war, in the main drawn from the class of the "man that wields the hoe" (to paraphrase the phraseology of the time); they were tailors, smiths, bakers, shoemakers, or carpenters. they belonged, in short, to the class of the organized handicraftsmen and journeymen who worked within city walls. a prominent figure in both movements was, however, the ex-priest or teacher. the ideal, or, if you will, the utopian, element in the movement of melchior hoffmann, jan matthys, and jan bockelson--the element which expressed the social discontent of the time in the guise of its prevalent theological conceptions--now occupied the first place, while in the earlier movement it was merely sporadic. after the close of the sixteenth century anabaptism lost all political importance on the continent of europe. it had, however, a certain afterglow in this country during the following century, which lasted over the times of the civil war and the commonwealth, and may be traced in the movements of the "levellers," the "fifth monarchy men," and even among the earlier quakers. footnotes: [ ] those interested will find the events briefly sketched in the present chapter exhaustively treated, with full elaboration of detail, in the two previous volumes of mine, _the peasant's war in germany_ and _the rise and fall of the anabaptists_ (messrs. george allen & unwin). [ ] amongst the curiosities of literature may be included the translation of the title of this manifesto by prof. t.m. lindsay, d.d., in the _encyclopædia britannica_, th edition (article, "luther"). the german title is "wider die morderischen und rauberischen rotten der bauern." prof. lindsay's translation is "_against the murdering, robbing rats [sic] of peasants_"! chapter ix post-mediÆval germany we have in the preceding chapters sought to give a general view of the social life, together with the inner political and economic movements, of germany during that closing period of the middle ages which is generally known as the era of the reformation. with the definite establishment of the reformation and of the new political and economic conditions that came with it in many of the rising states of germany, the middle ages may be considered as definitely coming to an end, notwithstanding that, of course, a considerable body of mediæval conditions of social, political, and economic life continued to survive all over europe, and certainly not least in germany. we have now to take a general and, so to say, panoramic view embracing three centuries and a half, dating from approximately the middle of the sixteenth century to the present time. our presentation, owing to exigencies of space, will necessarily take the form of a mere sketch of events and general tendencies, but a sketch that will, we hope, be sufficient to connect periods and to enable the reader to understand better than before the forces that have built up modern germany and have moulded the national character. in this long period of more than three centuries there are two world-historic events, or rather series of events, which stand out in bold relief as the causes which have moulded germany directly, and the whole of europe indirectly, up to the present day. these two epoch-making historical factors are ( ) the thirty years' war and ( ) the rise of the prussian monarchy. owing to the success of protestantism, with its two forms of lutheranism and calvinism in various german territories, the friction became chronic between catholic and protestant interests throughout the length and breadth of central europe. the emperor himself was chosen, as we know, by three ecclesiastical electors, the archbishops of köln, trier, and mainz, and by four princes, the pfalzgraf, called in english the elector palatine, the markgraves of saxony and brandenburg, and the king of bohemia. the princes and other potentates, owing immediate allegiance to the empire alone, were practically independent sovereigns. the reichstag, instituted in the fifteenth century, attendance at which was strictly limited to these immediate vassals of the empire, had proved of little effect. this was shown when in the middle of the sixteenth century protestantism had established itself in the favour of the mass of the german peoples. it was vetoed by the reichstag, with its powerful contingent of ecclesiastical members. of course here the economic side of the question played a great part. the ecclesiastical potentates and those favourable to them dreaded the spread of protestantism in view of the secularization of religious domains and fiefs. this, notwithstanding that there were not wanting bishops and abbots themselves who were not indisposed, as princes of the empire, to appropriate the church lands, of which they were the trustees, for their own personal possessions. after a short civil war an arrangement was come to at the treaty of passau in , which was in the main ratified by the reichstag held at augsburg in (the so-called peace of augsburg); but the arrangement was artificial and proved itself untenable as a permanent instrument of peace. during the latter part of the sixteenth century two magnates of the empire, the duke of bavaria on the catholic side and the calvinist, christian of anhalt, on the protestant, played the chief rôle, the lutheran markgrave of saxony taking up a moderate position as mediator. of the reichstag of augsburg it should be said that it had ignored the calvinist section of the protestant party altogether, only recognizing the lutheran. in the protestant union, which embraced lutherans and calvinists alike, was founded under the leadership of christian of anhalt. it was most powerful in southern germany. this was countered immediately by the foundation under maximilian, duke of bavaria, of a catholic league. the friction, which was now becoming acute, went on increasing till the actual outbreak of the thirty years' war in . the signal for the latter was given by the bohemian revolution in the spring of that year. the thirty years' war, as it is termed, which was really a series of wars, naturally falls into five distinct periods, each representing in many respects a separate war in itself. the first two years of the war ( - ) is occupied with the bohemian revolt against the attempt of the emperor to force catholicism upon the bohemian people and with its immediate consequences. it was accentuated by the attempt of the emperor matthias to compel them to accept the archduke ferdinand as king. this attempt was countered through the election by the bohemians of the pfalzgraf, friedrich v (the son-in-law of james i of england), who was called the winter king from the fact that his reign lasted only during the winter months; for though the protestant union, led by count thurn, had won several victories in and even threatened vienna, the austrian power was saved by tilly and the catholic league which came to its rescue. many of the protestant states, moreover, were averse to the palatine friedrich's acceptance of the bohemian crown. the bohemian movement was ultimately crushed by a force sent from spain, under the spanish general spinola. the final defeat took place at the battle of the white hill, near prague, november , . the second period of the war was concerned with the attempt of the catholic powers to deprive friedrich of his palatine dominions. here count mansfeld, with his mercenary army of free-lances, aided by christian of brunswick and others on the side of friedrich and the protestants, defeated tilly in . but later on tilly and the imperialists by a series of victories conquered the palatinate, which was bestowed upon maximilian of bavaria. mansfeld, notwithstanding that he had some successes later in the year , could not effectually redeem the situation, brunswick's army being entirely routed by tilly in the following year at the battle of stadtlohn, which virtually ended this particular campaign. the third period of the war, from to , is characterized by the intervention of the powers outside the immediate sphere of german or imperial interests. france, under richelieu, became concerned at the growing power of the hapsburgs, while james i of england began to show anxiety at his son-in-law's adverse fortunes, though without achieving any successful intervention. the chief feature of this campaign was the entry into the field of christian iv of denmark with a powerful army to join mansfeld and christian of brunswick in invading the imperial and austrian territories. but the savageries and excesses of mansfeld's troops had disgusted and alienated all sides. it was at this time that wallenstein, duke of friedland, was appointed general of the imperial troops, and soon after succeeded in completely routing mansfeld at the battle of dessau bridge in . four months later tilly completely defeated christian iv and his danes at lutter. wallenstein, on his side, followed up his success, driving mansfeld into hungary. mansfeld, in spite of some fugitive successes in the austrian dominions in the course of his retreat, was compelled by wallenstein to evacuate hungary, shortly after which he died. the campaign ended with the peace of lubeck in . the action of the emperor ferdinand in attempting to enforce the restitution of church lands in north germany was the proximate cause of the next great campaign, which constitutes the fourth period of the thirty years' war ( - ). the immediate occasion was, however, wallenstein's seizure of certain towns in mecklenburg, over which he claimed rights by imperial grant two years before. this, which may be regarded as the greatest period of the thirty years' war, was characterized by the appearance on the scene of gustavus adolphus, the swedish king. he was not in time, however, to prevent the sacking of magdeburg by the troops of tilly and poppenheim. the former, nevertheless, was defeated by the swedes at the important battle of breitenfeld in . the following year the imperial army was again defeated on the lach. thereupon gustavus occupied münchen, though he was subsequently compelled by wallenstein to evacuate the city. the last great victory of gustavus was at lützen in , at which battle the great leader met his death. wallenstein, who was now in favour of a policy of peace and political reconstruction, was assassinated in with the connivance of the emperor. on september th of the same year the protestant army, under bernhard of saxe-weimar, sustained an overwhelming defeat at nördlingen, and the peace of prague the following year ended the campaign. the fifth period, from to , has, as its central interest, the active intervention of france in the central european struggle. the swedes, notwithstanding the death of their king, continued to have some notable successes, and even approached to within striking distance of vienna. but richelieu now became the chief arbiter of events. the french generals condé and turenne invaded germany and the netherlands. victories were won by the new armies at rocroi, thionville, and at nördlingen, but vienna was not captured. the imperial troops were, however, again defeated at zumarshauen by condé, who also repelled an attempted diversion in the shape of a spanish invasion of france at the battle of lens in the spring of . the thirty years' war was finally ended in october of the same year at münster, by the celebrated treaty of westphalia. the above is a skeleton sketch in a few words of the chief features of that long and complicated series of diplomatic and military events known to history as the thirty years' war.[ ] the thirty years' war had far-reaching and untold consequences on germany itself and indirectly on the course of modern civilization generally. for close upon a generation central europe had been ravaged from end to end by hostile and plundering armies. rapine and destruction were, for near upon a third of the century, the common lot of the germanic peoples from north to south and from east to west. populations were as helpless as sheep before the brutal, criminal soldiery, recruited in many cases from the worst elements of every european country. the excesses of mansfeld's mercenary army in the earlier stages of the war created widespread horror. but the defeat and death of mansfeld brought no alleviation. the troops of wallenstein proved no better in this respect than those of mansfeld. on the contrary, with every year the war went on its horrors increased, while every trace of principle in the struggle fell more and more into the background. everywhere was ruin. the population became by the time the war had ended a mere fraction of what it was at the opening of the seventeenth century. some idea of the state of things may be gathered from the instance of augsburg, which during its siege by the imperialists was reduced from , to , inhabitants. what happened to the great commercial city of the fuggers was taking place on a scale greater or less, according to the district, all over german territory. we read of towns and villages that were pillaged more than a dozen times in a year. this terrific depopulation of the country, the reader may well understand, had vast results on its civilization. the whole great structure of mediæval and renaissance germany--its literature, art, and social life--was in ruins. at the close of the seventeenth century the old german culture had gone and the new had not yet arisen. but of this we shall have more to say in the next chapter. for the present we are chiefly concerned to give a brief sketch of the second great epoch-making event, or rather train of events, which conditioned the foundation and development of modern germany. we refer, of course, to the rise of the prussian monarchy. we should premise that the prussians are the least german of all the populations of what constitutes modern germany. they are more than half slavs. in the early middle ages the mark of brandenburg, the centre and chief province of the modern prussian state, was an outlying offshoot of the mediæval holy roman empire of the german nation, surrounded by barbaric tribes, slav and teuton. the chief slav people were the borussians, from which the name "prussian" was a corruption. the first outstanding historic fact concerning these baltic lands is that a certain adalbert, bishop of prague, at the end of the tenth century went north on a mission of enterprise for converting the prussian heathen. the neighbouring christian prince, the duke of poland, who had presumably suffered much from incursions of these pagan slavs, offered him every encouragement. the adventure ended, however, before long in the death of adalbert at the hands of these same pagan slavs. the first indication of the existence of a mark of brandenburg with its markgraves is in the eleventh century. there is, however, little definite historical information concerning them. the first of these markgraves to attract attention was albrecht the bear, one of the so-called ascanian line, the family hailing from the harz mountains. albrecht was a remarkable man for his time in every way. under him the markgravate of brandenburg was raised to be an electorate of the empire. the markgrave thus became a prince of the empire. it was albrecht the bear who first introduced a limited measure of peace and order into the hitherto anarchic condition of the mark and its adjacent territories. the ascanian line continued till , and was followed by a period of political anarchy and disturbance, until finally friedrich, count of hohenzollern, acquired the electorate, and became known as the elector friedrich i. meanwhile the order of the teutonic knights, who earlier began their famous crusade against the borussian heathens, had established themselves on the territories now known as east and west prussia. in spite of this fact and of the for long time dominant power of their polish neighbours, the hohenzollern rulers continued to acquire increased power and fresh territories. at the reformation albrecht, a scion of the hohenzollern family, who had been elected grand master of the teutonic order, adopted protestantism and assumed the title of duke of prussia. finally, in , the then elector of brandenburg, john sigismund, through his marriage with ann, daughter and heiress of albrecht friedrich, duke of prussia, came into possession of the whole of prussia proper, together with other adjacent territories. the prussian lands suffered much through the thirty years' war during the reign of john sigismund's successor, george wilhelm. but the latter's son, friedrich wilhelm, the so-called great elector, succeeded by his ability in repairing the ravages the war had made and raising the electorate immensely in political importance. he left at his death, in , the financial condition of the country in a sound state, with an effective army of , men. friedrich i, who followed him, held matters together and got prussia promoted to the rank of a kingdom in . his son, friedrich wilhelm i, by rigid economies succeeded in raising the financial condition of the kingdom to a still higher level. the military power of the monarchy he also developed considerably, and is famous in history for his mania for tall soldiers. we now come to the real founder of the prussian monarchy as a great european power, friedrich wilhelm i's son, who succeeded his father in as friedrich ii, and who is known to history as friedrich the great. friedrich no sooner came to the throne than he started on an aggressive expansionist policy for prussia. the opportunity presented itself a few months after his accession by the dispute as to the pragmatic sanction and maria theresa's right to the throne of austria. in the two wars which immediately followed, the prussian army overran the whole of silesia, and the peace of left the prussian king in possession of the entire country. east friesland had already been absorbed the year before on the death of the last duke without issue. in spite of the exhaustion of men and money in the two silesian wars, friedrich found himself ready with both men and money eleven years later, in , to embark upon what is known as the seven years' war. though without acquiring fresh territory by this war, the gain in prestige was so great that the prussian monarchy virtually assumed the hegemony of north germany, becoming the rival of austria for the domination of central europe, the position in which it remained for more than a century afterwards. nevertheless, after this succession of wars the condition of the country was deplorable. it was obvious that the first thing to do was the work of internal resuscitation. the extraordinary ability and energy of the king saved the internal situation. agriculture, industry, and commerce were re-established and reorganized. it was now that the cast-iron system of bureaucratic administration, where not actually created, was placed on a firm foundation. but in external affairs prussia continued to earn its character as the robber state of europe _par excellence_. in friedrich joined with austria in the first partition of poland, acquiring the whole of west prussia as his share. a few years later friedrich formed an anti-austrian league of german princes, under prussian leadership, which was the first overt sign of the conflict for supremacy in germany between prussia and austria, which lasted for wellnigh a century. by the time of his death--august , --friedrich had increased prussian territory to nearly , square miles and between five and six millions of population. under friedrich's nephew, friedrich wilhelm ii, while the rigour of bureaucratic administration, controlled by a monarchical absolutism, continued and was even accentuated, the absence of the able hand of friedrich the great soon made itself apparent. as regards external policy, however, prussia, while allowing territories on the left bank of the rhine to go to france, eagerly saw to the increase of her own dominions in the east to the extent of nearly doubling her superficial area by her participation in the second and third partitions of poland, which took place in and respectively. these external successes, or rather acts of spoliation, were, notwithstanding, counter-balanced at home by a degeneracy alike of the civil bureaucracy and of the army. the country internally, both as regards morale and effectiveness, had sunk far below its level under friedrich the great. this showed itself during the great napoleonic wars, when prussia had to undergo more than one humiliation at the hands of buonaparte, culminating in october with the collapse of the prussian armies at jena and auerstädt. the entry of napoleon in triumph into berlin followed. at the peace of tilsit, in , friedrich-wilhelm had to sign away half his kingdom and to consent to the payment of a heavy war indemnity, pending which the french troops occupied the most important fortresses in the country. following upon this moment of deepest national humiliation comes the period of the ministers stein and hardenberg, of the enthusiastic adjurations to patriotism of fischer and others, and of the activity of the "league of virtue" (_tugendbund_). it is difficult to understand the enthusiasm that could be aroused for the rehabilitation of an absolutist, bureaucratic, and militarist state, such as prussia was--a state in which civil and political liberty was conspicuous by its absence. but the fact undoubtedly remains that the men in question did succeed in pumping up a strong patriotic feeling and desire to free the country from the yoke of the foreigner, even if that only meant increased domestic tyranny. it must be admitted, however, that as a matter of fact not inconsiderable internal reforms were owing to the leading men of this time. stein abolished serfdom, and in some respects did away with the legal distinction of classes, thereby paving the way for the rise of the middle class, which at that time meant a progressive step. he also conferred rights of self-government upon municipalities. hardenberg inaugurated measures intended to ameliorate the condition of the peasants, while wilhelm von humboldt established the thorough if somewhat mechanical education system which was subsequently extended throughout germany. he also helped to found the university of berlin in . but at the same time the curse of prussia--militarism--was riveted on the people through the reorganization of the prussian army by those two able military bureaucrats, scharnhorst and gneisenau. in prussia concluded at kalicsh an alliance with russia, which austria joined. in the war which followed prussia was severely strained by losses in men and money. but at the congress of vienna the prussian kingdom received back nearly, but not quite, all it lost in . the acquirement, however, of new and valuable territories in westphalia and along the rhine, besides thuringia and the province of saxony, more than compensated for the loss of certain slav districts in the east, as thereby the way was prepared for the ultimate despotism of the prussian king over all germany. the success of prussian diplomacy in enslaving these erstwhile independent german lands in was crucial for the subsequent direction of prussian policy. it is time now to return once more to the internal conditions in the prussian state now dominant over a large part of northern germany. a constitution had been more than once talked of, but the despotism with its bureaucratic machinery had remained. now, after the conclusion of the napoleonic wars and the re-drawing of the prussian frontier lines by the peace of , the matter assumed an urgency it had not had before. following upon proclamations and promises, a patent was addressed to the new saxon provinces granting a national _landtag_, or diet, for the whole country. the drawing up of the constitution thus proclaimed in principle gave rise to heated conflicts. there was, as yet, no proletariat proper in prussia, and for that matter hardly any in the rest of germany. the handicraft system of production, and even the mediæval guild system, slightly modified, prevailed throughout the country. the middle class proper was small and unimportant, and hence liberalism, the theoretical expression of that class, only found articulate utterance through men of the professions. the new prussian territories in the west were largely tinctured with progressive ideas originating in the french revolution, while the east was dominated by reactionary feudal landowners, the notorious junker class--a class special to east prussian territories, including the eastern portion of the mark of brandenburg--whom the moderate conservative minister stein himself characterized as "heartless, wooden, half-educated people, only good to turn into corporals or calculating-machines." this class then, as ever since, opposed an increase of popular control and the progress of free institutions with might and main. friction arose between the government and liberal gymnastic societies and students' clubs. this culminated in the festival on the wartburg in october , when a bonfire was made of a book of police laws and uhlan stays and a corporal's stick. it was followed the next year by the assassination of the dramatist and political spy kotzebue by the student sand. panic seized the reactionists, and the austrian minister metternich, one of the chief pillars of absolutist principles in europe, induced the king to commit himself to the austrian system of repression. in the reactionary party succeeded in getting the projected constitution abandoned and the bureaucratic system of provincial estates established by royal warrant two years later ( ). the prussian police with their spies then became omnipotent, and a remorseless persecution of all holding liberal or democratic views ensued, the best-known writers on the popular side no less than the rank and file being arbitrarily arrested and kept in prison on any or no pretext. the amalgamation of the new districts into the prussian bureaucratic system was not accomplished without resistance. the rhine provinces especially, accustomed to easy-going government and light taxation under the old ecclesiastical princes, kicked vigorously against the prussian jack-boot. the discontent was so widespread indeed that some concessions had to be made, such as the retention of the code napoléon. what created most resentment, however, was the enactment of , which enforced compulsory universal military service throughout the monarchy. friedrich wilhelm also undertook to dragoon his subjects in the matter of religion, amalgamating the lutherans with other reformed bodies, under the name of the "evangelical church." in foreign politics, in the earlier part of the nineteenth century, during the napoleonic wars, prussia, as yet hardly recovered from her defeats under buonaparte, almost entirely followed the lead of austria. but perhaps the most important measure of the prussian government at this time was the foundation of the famous zollverein or customs union of various north german states in . the far-reaching character of this measure was only shown later, being, in fact, the means and basis by and on which the political and military ascendancy of prussia over all germany was assured. friedrich wilhelm iii, who died on june , , was succeeded by his son, friedrich wilhelm iv. the new reign began with an appearance of liberalism by a general amnesty for political offences. reaction, however, soon raised its head again, and friedrich wilhelm iv, in spite of his varnish of philosophical and literary tastes, was soon seen to be _au fond_ as reactionary as his predecessors. the conflict between the reaction of the government and the now widely spread liberal and democratic aspirations of the people resulted in prussia (as it did under similar circumstances in other countries) in the outbreak of the revolution of . it is necessary at this stage to take a brief survey of the political history of the germanic states of europe generally from the time of the peace of vienna, in , onwards, in order to understand fully the rôle played by the prussian monarchy in german history since ; for from this time the history of prussia becomes more and more bound up with that of the german peoples as a whole. during the napoleonic wars germany, as every one knows, was, generally speaking, in the grip of the french imperial power. to follow the vicissitudes and fluctuations of fortune throughout central europe during these years lies outside our present purpose. we are here chiefly concerned with the political development from the treaty of vienna, as signed on june , , onward. the treaty of vienna completed the work begun by napoleon--represented by the extinction of the mediæval "holy roman empire of the german nation" in --in making an end of the political configuration of the german peoples which had grown up during the middle ages and survived, in a more or less decayed condition, since the peace of westphalia, which concluded the thirty years' war. the three hundred separate states of which germany had originally consisted were now reduced to thirty-nine, a number which, by the extinction of sundry minor governing lines, was before long further reduced to thirty-five. these states constituted themselves into a new german confederation, with a federal assembly, meeting at frankfurt-on-the-main. the new federal council, or assembly, however, soon revealed itself as but the tool of the princes and a bulwark of reaction. the revolution of was throughout germany an expression of popular discontent and of democratic and even, to a large extent, of republican aspirations. the princely authorities endeavoured to stem the wave of popular indignation and revolutionary enthusiasm by recognizing a provisional self-constituted body, and sanctioning the election of a national representative parliament at frankfurt in place of the effete federal council. the archduke of austria, who was elected head of the new, hastily organized national government, was not slow to use his newly acquired power in the interests of reaction, thereby exciting the hostility of all the progressive elements in the parliament of frankfurt. when after some months it became obvious that the anti-progressive parties had gained the upper hand alike in austria and prussia, the friction between the democratic and constitutional parties became increasingly bitter. the prussian government meanwhile took advantage of the state of affairs to stir up the schleswig-holstein question, so-called, driving the danes out of schleswig, an insurrectionary movement in holstein having been already suppressed by the danish king. prussia, alarmed by the attitude of the powers, agreed to withdraw her troops from the occupied territories without consulting the frankfurt parliament, an act which involved friedrich wilhelm in conflict with the latter. the issues arising out of this dispute made it plain to every one that the parliament of all germany was impotent to enforce its decrees against one of the german powers possessed of a preponderating military strength. by the end of the revolution in vienna was completely crushed and a strongly reactionary government appointed by the new emperor. meanwhile in berlin the junkers and the reactionaries generally had already again come into power, a crisis having been caused by the attempt of the democratic section of the prussian national assembly, convened by the king in march, to reorganize the army on a popular democratic basis. we need scarcely say the prussian army has been the tool of junkerdom and reaction ever since. the last despairing attempt of the frankfurt parliament to give effect to the national germanic unity, which all patriotic germans professed to be eager for, was the offer of the imperial crown to the king of prussia. against this act, however, nearly half the members--i.e. all the advanced parties in the assembly--protested by refusing to take any part in it they had also declined to be associated with a previous motion for the exclusion of german austria from the new national unity, in the interest of prussian ascendancy. both these reactionary proposals, as we all know, at a later date became the corner-stones of the new prusso-german unity of bismark's creation. on this occasion, however, the prussian king refused to accept the office at the hands of the impotent frankfurt assembly, which latter soon afterwards broke up and eventually "petered out." meanwhile prussian troops, led by the reactionary military caste, were employed in the congenial task of suppressing popular movements with the sword in baden, saxony, and prussia itself. the two rival bulwarks of reaction, prussia and austria, were now so alarmed at the revolutionary dangers they had passed through that, for the nonce forgetting their rivalry, they cordially joined together in reviving, in the interests of the counter-revolution, the old reactionary federal assembly, which had never been formally dissolved, as it ought to have been on the election of the frankfurt parliament. reaction now went on apace. liberties were curtailed and rights gained in were abolished in most of the smaller states. henceforth the federal assembly became the theatre of the two great rival powers of the germanic confederation. both alike strove desperately for the hegemony of germany. the strength of prussia, of course, lay generally in the north, that of austria in the south. austria had the advantage of prussia in the matter of prestige. prussia, on the other hand, had the pull of austria in the possession of the machinery of the customs union. in general, however, the dual control of the germanic confederation was grudgingly recognized by either party, and on occasion they acted together. this was notably the case in the schleswig-holstein question, which had been smouldering ever since , and which came to a crisis in the danish war of , in which austria and prussia jointly took part. among the most reactionary of the junker party in the prussian parliament of was one count otto bismarck von schönhausen, subsequently known to history as prince bismarck ( - ). this man strenuously opposed the acceptance of the imperial dignity by the king of prussia at the hands of the frankfurt parliament in , on the ground that it was unworthy of the king of prussia to accept any office at the hands of the people rather than at those of his peers, the princes of germany. in count von bismarck was appointed a prussian representative in the revived princely and aristocratic federal assembly. here he energetically fought the hegemony hitherto exercised by austria. he continued some years in this capacity, and subsequently served as prussian minister in st. petersburg and again in paris. in the autumn of the new king of prussia, wilhelm i, who had succeeded to the throne the previous year, called him back to take over the portfolio of foreign affairs and the leadership of the cabinet. shortly after his accession to power he arbitrarily closed the chambers for refusing to sanction his army bill. his army scheme was then forced through by the royal fiat alone. on the reopening of the schleswig-holstein question, owing to the death of the king of denmark, german nationalist sentiment was aroused, which bismarck knew how to use for the aggrandisement of prussia. the danish war, in which the two leading german states collaborated and which ended in their favour, had as its result a disagreement of a serious nature between these rival, though mutually victorious, powers. in all these events the hand of bismarck was to be seen. he it was who dominated completely prussian policy from onwards. full of his schemes for the aggrandisement of prussia at the expense of austria, he stirred up and worked this quarrel for all it was worth, the upshot being the prusso-austrian war (the so-called seven weeks' war) of the summer of . the war was brought about by the arbitrary dissolution of the german confederation--i.e. the federal assembly--in which, owing to the alarm created by prussian insolence and aggression, austria had the backing of the majority of the states. this step was followed by bismarck's dispatching an ultimatum to hanover, saxony, and hesse cassel respectively, all of which had voted against prussia in the federal assembly, followed, on its non-acceptance, by the dispatch of prussian troops to occupy the states in question. hard on this act of brutal violence came the declaration of war with austria. at königgratz the prussian army was victorious over the austrians, and henceforth the hegemony of central europe was decided in favour of prussia. austria, under the treaty of prague (august , ), was completely excluded from the new organization of german states, in which prussia--i.e. bismarck--was to have a free hand. the result was the foundation of the north german confederation, under the leadership of prussia. it was to have a common parliament, elected by universal suffrage and meeting in berlin. the army, the diplomatic representation, the control of the postal and telegraphic services, were to be under the sole control of the prussian government. the north german confederation comprised the northern and central states of germany. the southern states--bavaria, baden, würtemberg, etc.--although not included, had been forced into a practical alliance with prussia by treaties. the customs union was extended until it embraced nearly the whole of germany. prussian aggression in luxemburg produced a crisis with france in , though the growing tension between prussia and france was tided over on this occasion. but bismarck only bided his time. the occasion was furnished him by the question of the succession to the spanish throne, in july . by means of a falsified telegram bismarck precipitated war, in which prussia was joined by all the states of germany. the subsequent course of events is matter of recent history. the establishment of the new prusso-german empire by the crowning of wilhelm i at versailles, with the empire made hereditary in the hohenzollern family, completed the work of bismarck and the setting of the prussian jack-boot on the necks of the german peoples. the prussian military and bureaucratic systems were now extended to all germany--in other words, the rest of the german peoples were made virtually the vassals and slaves of the prussian monarch. this time the king of prussia received the imperial crown at the hands of the kings, princes, and other hereditary rulers of the various german states. bismarck was graciously pleased to bestow unity and internal peace--a prussian peace--upon germany on condition of its abasement before the prussian corporal's stick and police-truncheon. such was the united germany of bismarck. germany meant for bismarck and his followers prussia, and prussia meant their own junker and military caste, under the titular headship of the hohenzollern. yet, strange to say, the peoples of germany willingly consented, under the influence of the intoxication of a successful war, to have their independence bartered away to prussia by their rulers. in this united germany of bismarck--a germany united under prussian despotism--they naïvely saw the realization of the dream of their thinkers and poets since the time of the napoleonic wars--which had become more than ever an inspiration from onwards--of an ideal unity of all german-speaking peoples as a national whole. it is unquestionable that many of these thinkers and poets would have been horrified at the prusso-bismarckian "unity" of "blood and iron," it was not for this, they would have said, that they had laboured and suffered. as a conclusion to the present chapter i venture to give a short summary of the internal, and especially of the economic, development of prussia since the franco-german war from an article which appeared in the _english review_ for december , by mr. h.m. hyndman and the present writer:-- "from onwards prussianized germany, by far the best-educated, and industrially and commercially the most progressive, country in europe, with the enormous advantage of her central position, was, consciously and unconsciously, making ready for her next advance. the policy of a good understanding with russia, maintained for many years, to such an extent that, in foreign affairs, berlin and st. petersburg were almost one city, enabled germany to feel secure against france, while she was devoting herself to the extension of her rural and urban powers of production. never at any time did she neglect to keep her army in a posture of offence. all can now see the meaning of this. "militarism is in no sense necessarily economic. but the strength of germany for war was rapidly increased by her success in peace. from the date of the great financial crisis of , and the consequent reorganization of her entire banking system, germany entered upon that determined and well-thought-out attempt to attain pre-eminence in the trade and commerce of the world of which we have not yet seen the end. from , when the german high commissioner, von rouleaux, stigmatized the exhibits of his countrymen as 'cheap and nasty,' special efforts were made to use the excellent education and admirable powers of organization of germany in this field. the government rendered official and financial help in both agriculture and manufacture. scientific training, good and cheap before, was made cheaper and better each year. railways were used not to foster foreign competition, as in great britain, by excessive rates of home freight, but to give the greatest possible advantage to german industry in every department. in more than one rural district the railways were worked at an apparent loss in order to foster home production, from which the nation derived far greater advantage than such apparent sacrifice entailed. the same system of state help was extended to shipping until the great german liners, one of which, indeed, was actually subsidized by england, were more than holding their own with the oldest and most celebrated british companies. "protection, alike in agriculture and in manufacture, bound the whole empire together in essentially imperial bonds. right or wrong in theory--which it is not here necessary to discuss--there can be no doubt whatever that this policy entirely changed the face of germany, and rendered her our most formidable competitor in every market. emigration, which had been proceeding on a vast scale, almost entirely ceased. the savings banks were overflowing with deposits. the position of the workers was greatly improved. not only were german colonies secured in africa and asia, which were more trouble than they were worth, but very profitable commerce with our own colonies and dependencies was growing by leaps and bounds, at the expense of the out-of-date but self-satisfied commercialists of old england. hence arose a trade rivalry, against which we could not hope to contend successfully in the long run, except by a complete revolution in our methods of education and business, to which neither the government nor the dominant class would consent. "this remarkable advance in germany, also, was accompanied by the establishment of a system of banking, specially directed to the expansion of national industry and commerce, a system which was clever enough to use french accumulations, borrowed at a low rate of interest, through the german jews who so largely controlled french financial institutions, in order still further to extend their own trade. it was an admirably organized attempt to conquer the world-market for commodities, in which the government, the banks, the manufacturers and the shipowners all worked for the common cause. meanwhile, both french and english financiers carefully played the game of their business opponents, and the great english banks devoted their attention chiefly to fostering speculation on the stock exchange--a policy of which the germans took advantage, just before the outbreak of war, to an extent not by any means as yet fully understood. "thus, at the beginning of the present year, in spite of the withdrawal, since the agadir affair, of very large amounts of french capital from the german market, germany had attained to such a position that only the united states stood on a higher plane in regard to its future in the world of competitive commerce. and this great and increasing economic strength was, for war purposes, at the disposal of the prussian militarists, if they succeeded in getting the upper hand in politics and foreign affairs." footnotes: [ ] works on the thirty years' war are numerous. many scholarly and exhaustive treatises on various aspects of the subject are, as might be expected, to be found in german. for general popular reading schiller's excellent piece of literary hack work (translated in bonn's library) may still be consulted, but perhaps the best short general history of the war with its entanglement of events is that by the late professor s.r. gardiner, of oxford, which forms one of the volumes of messrs. longman, green & co.'s series entitled "epochs of modern history." chapter x modern german culture it is important to distinguish between the meaning of the german term "kultur" and that commonly expressed in english by the word "culture." the word "kultur" in modern german is simply equivalent to our word "civilization," whereas the word "culture" in english has a special meaning, to wit, that of intellectual attainments. in this chapter we are chiefly concerned with the latter sense of the word. germany had a rich popular literature during the middle ages from the redaction of the _nibelungenlied_ under charles the great onwards. prominent among this popular literature were the love-songs of the minnesingers, the epics drawn from mediæval traditionary versions of the legend of troy, of the career of _alexander the great_, and, to come to more recent times, to legends of _charles the great and his court_, of _arthur and the holy grail_, the _nibelungenlied_ in its present form, and _gudrun_. the "beast-epic," as it was called, was also a favourite theme, especially in the form of _reynard the fox_. in another branch of literature we have collections of laws dating from the thirteenth century and known respectively from the country of their origin as the _sachsenspiegel_ and the _schwabenspiegel_. again, at a later date, followed the productions of the meistersingers, and especially of hans sachs, of nürnberg. then, again, we have the prose literature of the mystics, eckhart, tauler, and their followers. towards the close of the mediæval period we find an immense number of national ballads, of chap-books, not to mention the passion plays or the polemical theological writings of the time leading up to the reformation. luther's works, more especially his translation of the bible, powerfully helped to fix german as a literary language. the reformation period, as we have seen in an earlier chapter, was rich in prose literature of every description--in fact, the output of serious german writing continued unabated until well into the seventeenth century. but the thirty years' war, which devastated germany from end to end, completely swept away the earlier literary culture of the nation. in fact, the event in question forms a dividing line between the earlier and the modern culture of germany. in prose literature, the latter half of the seventeenth century, germany has only one work to show, though that is indeed a remarkable one--namely, grimmelshausen's _simplicissimus_, a romantic fiction under the guise of an autobiography of wild and weird adventure for the most part concerned with the thirty years' war. the rebirth of german literature in its modern form began early in the eighteenth century. leibnitz wrote in latin and french, and his culture was mainly french. his follower, christian wolf, however, first used the german language for philosophical writing. but in poetry, klopstock and wieland, and, in serious prose, lessing and herder, led the way to the great period of german literature. in this period the name of goethe holds the field, alike in prose and poetry. goethe was born in , and hence it was the last quarter of the century which saw him reach his zenith. next to goethe comes his younger contemporary, schiller. it is impossible here to go even briefly into the achievements of the bearers of these great names. they may be truly regarded in many important respects as the founders of modern german culture. around them sprang up a whole galaxy of smaller men, and the close of the eighteenth century showed a literary activity in germany exceeding any that had gone before. turning to philosophy, it is enough to mention the immortal name of immanuel kant as the founder of modern german philosophic thought and the first of a line of eminent thinkers extending to wellnigh the middle of the nineteenth century. the names of fichte, schelling, hegel, schopenhauer and others will at once occur to the reader. contemporaneously with the great rise of modern german literature there was a unique development in music, beginning with sebastian bach and continuing through the great classical school, the leading names in which are glück, haydn, mozart, beethoven, mendelssohn, schubert, etc. the middle period of the nineteenth century showed a further development in prose literature, producing some of the greatest historians and critics the world has seen. at this time, too, germany began to take the lead in science. the names of virchow, helmholtz, häckel, out of a score of others, all of the first rank, are familiar to every person of education in the present and past generation. the same period has been signalized by the great post-classical development in music, as illustrated by the works of schumann, brahms, and, above all, by the towering fame of richard wagner. from the last quarter of the eighteenth century onwards it may truly be said of germany that education is not only more generally diffused than in any other country of europe, but (as a recent writer has expressed it) "is cultivated with an earnest and systematic devotion not met with to an equal extent among other nations." the present writer can well remember some years ago, when at the railway station at breisach (baden) waiting one evening for the last train to take him to colmar, he seated himself at the table of the small station restaurant at which three tradesmen, "the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick-maker" of the place were drinking their beer. broaching to them the subject of the history of the town, he found the butcher quite prepared to discuss with the baker and the candlestick-maker the policy of charles the bold and louis xi as regards the possession of the district, as though it might have been a matter of last night's debate in the house or of the latest horse-race. where would you find this popular culture in any other country? germany possesses universities, polytechnic educational institutes, about higher schools (gymnasia), and nearly , elementary schools. every town of any importance throughout the german states is liberally provided in the matter of libraries, museums, and art collections, while its special institutions, music schools, etc., are famous throughout the world. the german theatre is well known for its thoroughness. every, even moderately sized, german town has its theatre, which includes also opera, in which a high scale of all-round artistic excellence is attained, hardly equalled in any other country. in fact, it is not too much to say that for long germany was foremost in the vanguard of educational, intellectual, and artistic progress. that the above is an over-coloured statement as regards the importance of germany for wellnigh a century and a half past in the history of human culture, in the sense of intellectual progress in its widest meaning, i venture to think that no one competent to judge will allege. is then, it may be asked, the railing of public opinion and the press of great britain and other countries outside germany and austria, against the germany of the present day, and the jeers at the term "german culture" wholly unjustified and the result of national or anti-german prejudice? that there has been much foolish vituperative abuse of the whole german nation and of everything german indiscriminately in the press of this and some other countries is undoubtedly true. but, however, our acknowledgment of this fact will not justify us in refusing to recognize the truth which finds expression in what very often looks like mere foolish vilification. the truth in question will be apparent on a consideration of the change that has come over the german people and german culture since the war of and the foundation of the modern german empire. the material and economic side of this change has been already indicated in a short summary in the quotation which closes the last chapter. but these changes, or advances if you will, on the material side, have been accompanied by a moral and material degeneration which has been only very partially counteracted at present by a movement which, though initiated before the period named, has only attained its great development, and hence influenced the national character, since the date in question. it is a striking fact that in the last forty-four years--the period of the new german empire--there has been a dearth of originality in all directions. in the earlier part of the period in question the survivors from the pre-imperial time continued their work in their several departments, but no new men of the same rank as themselves have arisen, either alongside of them or later to take their places. the one or two that might be adduced as partial exceptions to what has been above said only prove the rule. we have had, it is true, a multitude of men, more or less clever _epigoni_, but little else. again, it is, i think, impossible to deny that a mechanical hardness and brutality have come over the national character which entirely belie its former traits. it is a matter of common observation that in the last generation the german middle class has become noticeably coarsened, vulgarized, and blatant. again, although i am very far from wishing to attribute the crimes and horrors committed by the german army during the present war to the whole german nation, or even to the _rank and file_ of those composing the army, yet there is no doubt that some blame must be apportioned at least to the latter. the contrast is striking between the conduct of the german troops during the present war and that of , when they could declare that they were out "to fight french soldiers and not french citizens." such were the military ethics of bygone generations of german soldiers. they certainly do not apply to the german army of to-day. the popularity of such writers as von treitschke and bernhardi, respecting which so much has been written, is indeed significant of a vast change in german moral conceptions. the practical influence of nietzsche, who--with his corybantic whirl of criticism on all things in heaven above and on the earth beneath, a criticism not always coherent with itself--can hardly be termed a german chauvinist in any intelligible sense, has, i think, been much exaggerated. the importance of his theories, considered as an ingredient in modern german chauvinism, is not so considerable, i should imagine, as is sometimes thought. we come now to the movement already alluded to as a set-off and, within certain boundaries at least, a counteractive of the degeneracy exhibited in the german character since the foundation of the present imperial system. the rise and rapid growth of the social democratic movement is perhaps the most striking fact in the recent history of germany. the same may be said, of course, of the growth of socialism everywhere during the same period. but in germany it has for a generation past, or even more, occupied an exceptional position, alike as regards the rapidity of its increase, its direct influence on the masses, and its party organization. modern socialism, as a party doctrine, is, moreover, a product of the best period of nineteenth-century german thought and literature. its three great theoretical protagonists, marx, engels, and their younger contemporary, lassalle, all issued from the great hegelian movement of the first half of the nineteenth century. their propagandist activity, literary and otherwise, was in the german language. the analysis of the present capitalist system, forming the foundation of the demand for the communization of the means of production, distribution, and exchange, as resulting in a _human_ society as opposed to a _class_ society, and ultimately in the extinction of national barriers in a world-federation of socialized humanity--these principles were first appreciated, as a world-ideal, by the proletariat of germany, and they have unquestionably raised that proletariat to an intellectual rank as yet equalled by no other working-class in the world. it must be admitted, however, that with the colossal growth of the social democratic party in germany in numbers and the introduction into it of elements from various quarters, a certain deterioration, one may hope and believe only temporary, has become apparent in its quality. this applies, at least, to certain sections of the party. a sordid practicalism has made itself felt, due to a feverish desire to play an important rôle in the detail of current politics. personal ambition and the mechanical working of the party system have also had their evil influence in the movement in recent years. nevertheless, we have reason to believe that the core of the party is as sound and as true to principle as ever it was, and that on the restoration of international peace this will be seen to be the case. what interests us, however, specially, at the moment of writing, is the lamentable, yet undeniable, fact that german social democracy has, on this occasion, disastrously failed to prevent the outbreak of war, notwithstanding the vigour of its efforts to do so during the last week of july; and still more that it has failed up to date to stem the rising flood of militarism and jingoism in the german people. that before many months are over the scales will fall from the eyes of the masses of germany i am convinced, and not less that a revolutionary movement in germany will be one of the signs that will herald the dawn of a better day for germany and for europe. but meanwhile we must hold our countenances in patience. if we inquire the cause of the degeneracy we have been considering in the german character since the war of and the creation of the new empire--apart from those economic causes of change common to all countries in modern civilization--the answer of those who have followed the history of the period can hardly fail to be--bismarck and prussia. we have already seen in the short historical sketch given in the last chapter how the robber hand of prussia, in violation of all national treaty rights, had gradually succeeded in annexing wellnigh all the neighbouring german territories. but, notwithstanding this, the greater part of germany still remained outside the prussian monarchy. the policy of bismarck was first of all to cripple the rival claimant for the hegemony of central europe, austria. her complete subjugation being unfeasible, she had to be shut up rigorously to her immediate dominions on the eastern side of central europe, in order to leave the path clear for bismarck, by war or subterfuge, to absorb, under a system of nominally vassal states, the whole of the rest of germany into the system of the prussian monarchy. now, as we know, from its very foundation the hohenzollern-prussian monarchy has always been a more or less veiled despotism, based on working through a military and bureaucratic oligarchy. the army has been the dominant factor of the prussian state from the beginning of the eighteenth century onwards. prussia has been from the beginning of its monarchy the land of the drill-sergeant and the barracks. it is this system which the junker bismarck has riveted on the whole german people, with what results we now see. badenese, würtembergers, franconians, hanoverians, the citizens of the former free cities no less than the already absorbed westphalians, thuringians, silesians, mecklenburgers, were speedily all reduced to being the slaves of the prussian military system and of the prussian military caste. the naïve german peoples, as already pointed out, accepted this prussian domination as the realization of their time-honoured patriotic ideal of german unity. the fact of their subservience was emphasized in every way. the law of _lèse-majesté_ (_majestätsbeleidigung_), by which all criticism of the despotic head of the state or his actions is made a heinous criminal offence, to which severe penalties are attached, it is not too much to say is a law which brands the ruler who accepts it as a coward and a cur, and the legislature which passes it as a house, not of representative citizens, or even subjects for that matter, but of representative _slaves_. it must not be forgotten that the law in question strikes not only at public expressions of opinion in the press or on the platform, but at the most private criticism made in the presence of a friend in one's own room. the depths of undignified and craven meanness to which a monarch is reduced by being thus protected from criticism by the police-truncheon and the gaoler struck me especially as illustrated by the following incident which happened some years ago: shortly after the accession of the present kaiser, a conjurer was giving his entertainment in a swiss town. for one of the tricks he was going to exhibit he had occasion to ask the audience to send him up the names of a few public men on folded pieces of paper. his reception of the names written down was accompanied by the "patter" proper to his profession. on coming to the name of kaiser wilhelm ii he ventured the remark, "ah! i'd rather it had been the poor man just dead" (meaning the emperor frederick), "for i'm afraid this one's not much good." will it be believed that the whole diplomatic machinery was set on foot to induce the swiss government to prosecute the unfortunate entertainer, abortively of course, since it could not have been legally done? surely the head of a state who could allow his government to descend to such contemptible pettiness must be devoid of all sense of common self-respect, not to say personal dignity. and this is the fellow who claims to be hardly second in importance to his "dear old god"! in this connection it is only fair to recall the very different behaviour of king edward vii when an irish paper published not a mere criticism but an unquestionably libellous article reflecting on his private character. the police seized the copies of the paper and were prepared to take steps to prosecute, when the late king interfered and stopped even the confiscation of the paper. the least monarchical of us must, i think, admit that here we have a good illustration of the distinction between a man sure of his reputation and a cur nervously alarmed for his. this severe law of _lèse-majesté_ in bismarck's prusso-german empire is only an illustration of the way in which the german people have been made to grovel before the prussian jack-boot. the prussification of germany in matters military and in matters bureaucratic has gone on apace since . prussia, it is not too much to say, has hitherto consisted in a nation of slaves and tyrants and nothing else. it is the prussian governing class which has everywhere and in all departments "set the pace" since the empire was established. no man known to hold opinions divergent from those agreeable to the interests of the prussian governing class can hope for employment, be it the most humble, in any department of the public service. this is particularly noticeable in its effects in the matter of education. the inculcation of the brutal and blatant jingoism of von treitschke at the universities by professors eager for approval in high places has already been sufficiently animadverted upon in more than one work on modern germany. the defeat of prusso-german militarism will be an even greater gain to all that is best in germany herself than it will be to europe as a whole. _delenda est prussia_, understanding thereby not, of course, the inhabitants of prussian territory as such, but prussia as a state-system and as an independent power in europe, must be the watchword in the present crisis of every well-wisher of humanity, germany included. a united germany, if that be insisted upon, by all means let there be--a federation of all the german peoples with its capital, for that matter, as of old, at frankfurt-on-the-main, but with no dominant state and, if possible, excluding prussia altogether, but certainly as constituted at present. who knows but that a united states of germany may then prove the first step towards a united states of europe? but it is not alone to the political reconstruction of germany or of europe that those who take an optimistic view of the issue of the present european war look hopefully. the whole economic system of modern capitalism will have received a shock from which the beginnings of vast changes may date. apart from this, however, the avowed aim of the war, the destruction of prussian militarism and, indirectly, the weakening of military power throughout the world, should have immediate and important consequences. the brutalities and crimes committed in belgium and the north of france at the instigation of the military heads of this prusso-german army do but indicate exaggerations of the military spirit and attitude generally. von hindenburg is not the first who has given utterance to the devilish excuse for military crime and brutality that it is "more humane in the end, since it shortens war." to refute this transparent fallacy is scarcely necessary, since every historical student knows that military excesses and inhumanity do not shorten but prolong war by raising indignation and inflaming passions. the longest connected war known to history--the thirty years' war--is generally acknowledged to have been signalized by the greatest and most continuous inhumanity of any on record. but whether military crime has the effect claimed for it or not, we may fain hope that public opinion in europe will insist upon giving the "humane" commanders who "mercifully" endeavour to "shorten" war by drastic methods of this sort a severe lesson. a few such treated to the utmost penalties the ordinary criminal law prescribes to the crimes of arson, murder, and robbery would teach them and their like that war, if waged at all nowadays, must be waged decently and not "shortened" by such devices as those in question. if the present war with all its horrible carnage issues, even if only in the beginning of those changes which some of us believe must necessarily result from it--changes economical, political, and moral--then indeed it will not have been waged in vain. with the great intellectual powers of the germanic people devoted, not to the organization of military power and of national domination, but to furthering the realization of a higher human society; with the determination on the part of the best elements among every european people to work together internationally with each other, and not least with the new germany, to this end, and the great european war of will be looked back upon by future generations as the greatest world-historic example of the proverbial evil out of which good, and a lasting and inestimable good, has come for europe and the world. unwin brothers limited the gresham press woking and london. * * * * * +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | typographical errors corrected in text: | | | | page : distrtict replaced with district | | page : therin replaced with therein | | | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ * * * * * germany and the germans from an american point of view germany and the germans from an american point of view by price collier charles scribner's sons new york copyright, , by charles scribner's sons published may, to my wife katharine whose deserving far outstrips my giving contents chapter introduction i. the cradle of modern germany ii. frederick the great to bismarck iii. the indiscreet iv. german political parties and the press v. berlin vi. "a land of damned professors" vii. the distaff side viii. "ohne armee kein deutschland" ix. german problems x. "from envy, hatred, and malice" xi. conclusion introduction the first printed suggestion that america should be called america came from a german. martin waldseemüller, of freiburg, in his cosmographiae introductio, published in , wrote: "i do not see why any one may justly forbid it to be named after americus, its discoverer, a man of sagacious mind, amerige, that is the land of americus or america, since both europe and asia derived their names from women." the first complete ship-load of germans left gravesend july the th, , and arrived in philadelphia october the th, . they settled in germantown, or, as it was then called, on account of the poverty of the settlers, armentown. up to within the last few years the majority of our settlers have been teutonic in blood and protestant in religion. the english, dutch, swedes, germans, scotch-irish, who settled in america, were all, less than two thousand years ago, one germanic race from the country surrounding the north sea. since more than , , germans have settled in america. this immigration of germans has practically ceased, and it is a serious loss to america, for it has been replaced by a much less desirable type of settler. in western europe sent us , settlers, or per cent., while southern and eastern europe and asiatic turkey sent , , or per cent. in western europe sent , , or . per cent., and southern and eastern europe and asiatic turkey, , , or . per cent. of our new population. in there were , , white persons of german origin in the united states; , , were born in germany; , , were born in the united states, both of whose parents were born in germany; , , were born in the united states, one parent born in the united states and one in germany. not only have we been enriched by this mass of sober and industrious people in the past, but peter mühlenberg, christopher ludwig, steuben, john kalb, george herkimer, and later francis lieber, carl schurz, sigel, osterhaus, abraham jacobi, herman ridder, oswald ottendorfer, adolphus busch, isidor, nathan, and oscar straus, jacob schiff, otto kahn, frederick weyerheuser, charles p. steinmetz, claus spreckels, hugo münsterberg, and a catalogue of others, have been leaders in finance, in industry, in war, in politics, in educational and philanthropic enterprises, and in patriotism. the framework of our republican institutions, as i have tried to outline in this volume, came from the "woods of germany." professor h. a. l. fisher, of oxford, writes: "european republicanism, which ever since the french revolution has been in the main a phenomenon of the latin races, was a creature of teutonic civilization in the age of the sea-beggars and the roundheads. the half-latin city of geneva was the source of that stream of democratic opinion in church and state, which, flowing to england under queen elizabeth, was repelled by persecution to holland, and thence directed to the continent of north america." in these later days goethe, in a letter to eckermann, prophesied the building of the panama canal by the americans, and also the prodigious growth of the united states toward the west. in a private collection in new york, is an autograph letter of george washington to frederick the great, asking that frederick should use his influence to protect that french friend of america, lafayette. in schiller's house in weimar there still hangs an engraving of the battle of bunker hill, by müller, a german, and a friend of the poet. bismarck's intimate friend as a student at göttingen, and the man of whom he spoke with warm affection all his life, was the american historian motley. the german soldiers in our civil war were numbered by the thousands. we have many ties with germany, quite enough, indeed, to make a bare enumeration of them a sufficient introduction to this volume. on more than one occasion of late i have been introduced in places, and to persons where a slight picture of what i was to meet when the doors were thrown open was of great help to me. i was told beforehand something of the history, traditions, the forms and ceremonies, and even something of the weaknesses and peculiarities of the society, the persons, and the personages. i am not so wise a guide as some of my sponsors have been, but it is something of the kind that i have wished and planned to do for my countrymen. i have tried to make this book, not a guidebook, certainly not a history; rather, in the words of bacon, "grains of salt, which will rather give an appetite than offend with satiety," a sketch, in short, of what is on the other side of the great doors when the announcer speaks your name and you enter germany. germany and the germans from an american point of view germany and the germans from an american point of view i the cradle of modern germany eighty-one years before the discovery of america, seventy-two years before luther was born, and forty-one years before the discovery of printing, in the year , the emperor sigismund, the betrayer of huss, transferred the mark of brandenburg to his faithful vassal and cousin, frederick, sixth burgrave of nuremberg. nuremberg was at one time one of the great trading towns between germany, venice, and the east, and the home later of hans sachs. frederick was the lineal descendant of conrad of hohenzollern, the first burgrave of nuremberg, who lived in the days of frederick barbarossa ( - ); and this conrad is the twenty-fifth lineal ancestor of emperor william ii of germany. it is interesting to remember in this connection that when we count back our progenitors to the twenty-first generation they number something over two millions. when we trace an ancestry so far, therefore, we must know something of the multitude from which the individual is descended, if we are to gather anything of value concerning his racial characteristics. the solace of all genealogical investigation is the infallible discovery, that the greatest among us began in a small way. if you paddle up the elbe and the havel from hamburg to potsdam, you will find yourself in the territory conquered from the heathen wends in the days of henry i, the fowler ( - ), which was the cradle of what is now the german empire. the emperor sigismund, who was often embarrassed financially by reason of his wars and journeyings had borrowed some four hundred thousand gold florins from frederick, and it was in settlement of this debt that he mortgaged the territory of brandenburg, and on the th of april, , the ceremony of enfeoffment was performed at constance, by which the house of hohenzollern became possessed of this territory, and was thereafter included among the great electorates having a vote in the election of the emperor of the holy roman empire. it was henricus auceps, or henry the fowler, (so called because the envoys sent to offer him the crown, found him on his estates in the hartz mountains among his falcons), who fought off the danes in the northwest, and the slavonians, or wends, in the northeast, and the hungarians in the southeast, and established frontier posts or marks for permanent protection against their ravages. these marks, or marches, which were boundary lines, were governed by markgrafs or marquises, and finally gave the name of marks to the territory itself. the word is historically familiar from its still later use in noting the old boundaries between england and scotland, and england and wales, which are still called marks. henry the fowler was also called henry "the city builder." after the death of the last of the charlemagne line of rulers, the franks elected conrad, duke of franconia, to succeed to the throne, and he on his death-bed advised his people to choose henry of saxony to succeed, for the times were stormy and the country needed a strong ruler. the hungarians in the southeast, and the wends, the old slavonic population of poland, were pillaging and harrying more and more successfully, and the more successfully the more impudently. henry began the building of strong-walled, deep-moated cities along his frontier, and made one, drawn by lot, out of every ten families of the countryside, go to live in these fortified towns. their rulers were burgraves, or city counts. titles now so largely ornamental were then descriptive of duties and responsibilities. in the light of their future greatness, it is well to take note of these two frontier counties, or marches. the first, called the northern march, or march of brandenburg, was the religious centre of the slays, and was situated in the midst of forests and marshes just beyond the elbe. this march of brandenburg was won from the slays in the first instance by the saxons and franks of the saxon plain. when the burgrave, frederick of hohenzollern, came to take possession of his new territory he was received with the jesting remark: "were it to rain burgraves for a whole year, we should not allow them to grow in the march." but frederick's soldiers and money, and his nuremberg jewels, as his cannon were called, ended by gaining complete control, a control in more powerful hands to-day than ever before. the second, called the eastern or austrian march, was situated in the basin of the danube. these two great states were formed in lands that had ceased to be german and had become slav or finnish territory. the fighting appetite of the german tribes, and the spirit of chivalry later, which had drawn men in other days in france to the east, in spain against the moors, in normandy against england, were offered an opportunity and an outlet in germany, by forays and fighting against the finns and slays. out of the conquest and settlement of these territories grew, what we know to-day, as the german empire and the austrian empire. out of their margraves, who were at first sentinel officers guarding the outer boundaries of the empire, and mere nominees of the emperor, have developed the emperor of germany and the emperor of austria, the one ruling over the most powerful nation, the other the head of the most exclusive court, in europe. when a man becomes a power in the world, these days, our first impulse is to ask about his ancestry. who were his father and his mother; what and who were his grandfathers and grandmothers, and who were their forebears. where did they come from, what was the climate; did they live by the sea, or in the mountains, or in the plains. we are at once hot on the trail of his success. be he an american, we wish to know whether his people came from holland, from france, from england, or from belgium; where did they settle, in new england, in new york, or in the south. we no longer accept ability as a miracle, but investigate it as an evolution. if the man be great enough, cities vie with each other to claim him as their child; he acquires an homeric versatility in cradles. whatever one may think of william ii of germany, he is just now the predominating figure in europe, if not in the world. this must be our excuse for a word or two concerning the race from which came his twenty-fifth lineal ancestor. it is exactly five hundred years since his present empire was founded in the sandy plains about the elbe, and a thousand years before that brings us to the dim dawn of any historical knowledge whatever about the germans. when the cimbrians and teutonians came into contact with the romans, in b. c., is the beginning of all things for these people. in that year the inhabitants of the north of italy awoke one morning to find a swarm of blue-eyed, light-haired, long-limbed strangers coming down from the alps upon them. the younger and more light-hearted warriors came tobogganing down the snow-covered mountain-sides on their shields. they had been crowded out of what is now switzerland, and called themselves, though they were much alike in appearance, the cimbri and the teutones. they defeated the roman armies sent against them, and, turning to the south and west, went on their way along the north shores of the mediterranean into what is now france. they had no history of their own. tacitus writes that they could neither read nor write: "literarum secreta viri pariter ac feminae ignorant." very little is to be found concerning them in the roman writers. the books of pliny which treated of this time are lost. it was toward the middle of the century before christ that caesar advanced to the frontier of what may be called germany. he met and conquered there these men of the blood who were to conquer rome, and to carry on the name under the title of the holy roman empire. caesar met the ancestors of those who were to be caesars, and with an eye on roman politics, wrote the "commentaries," which were really autobiographical messages, with the germans as a text and an excuse. tacitus, born just about one hundred years after the death of caesar, and who had access to the lost works of pliny, was a moralist historian and a warm friend of the germans. over their shoulders he rapped the manners and morals of his own countrymen. "vice is not treated by the germans" (german, the etymologists say, is composed of ger, meaning spear or lance, and man, meaning chief or lord; deutsch, or teutsch, comes from the gothic word thiudu, meaning nation, and a deutscher, or teutscher, meant one belonging to the nation), he tells his countrymen, "as a subject of raillery, nor is the profligacy of corrupting and being corrupted called the fashion of the age." with rooseveltian enthusiasm he writes that the germans consider it a crime "to set limits to population, by rearing up only a certain number of children and destroying the rest." the republicanism of europe and america had its roots in this teutonic civilization. "no man dictates to the assembly; he may persuade but cannot command. when anything is advanced not agreeable to the people, they reject it with a general murmur. if the proposition pleases, they brandish their javelins. this is their highest and most honorable mark of applause; they assent in a military manner, and praise by the sound of their arms," continues our author. the great historian of the roman historians, and of rome, gibbon, lends his authority to this praise of tacitus in the sentence: "the most civilized nations of modern europe issued from the woods of germany; and in the rude institutions of those barbarians we may still distinguish the original principles of our present laws and manners." rome, which was not only a city, a nation, an empire, but a religion; rome, which replied to a suggestion that the people of latium should be admitted to citizenship, "thou hast heard, o jupiter, the impious words that have come from this man's mouth. canst thou tolerate, o jupiter, that a foreigner should come to sit in the sacred temple as a senator, as a consul?" rome welcomed later the barbarians from the woods of germany not only as citizens and consuls, but as emperors; and their descendants rule the world. it was no capuan training that finally distilled itself in a charlemagne, an otho, a luther, a frederick the great, and a bismarck; in an alfred, a william the conqueror, a cromwell, a clive, a rhodes, or a gordon; in a washington, a lincoln, a grant, a jackson, and a lee. beyond the certified beyond, we see dimly through the mists of history, hosts of men marching, ever marching from the east, spreading some toward norway and sweden, some skirting the baltic sea to the south; driving their cattle before them, and learning the arts of peace and war, and self-government, from the harsh school-masters of pressing needs and tyrannical circumstances, the only teachers that confer degrees of permanent value. they become fishermen and small landholders in sweden, norway, and denmark. "jeudi," or jupiter's day, becomes their god thor's day, or thursday; "mardi," or mars's day, is their tiu's day, or tuesday; "mercredi," or mercury's day, is odin's or woden's day, or wednesday. these men trained to solitude in small bands, owing to the geographical exigencies of their northern country, become the founders of the particularist or individualistic nations, great britain and the united states among others. those who had gone south, driven by pressure from behind, follow the danube to the north and west, find the rhine, and push on into what is now southwestern europe. it is worth noting that the rhine and the danube have their sources near together, and form a line of water from the north sea to the black sea, a significant line in europe from the beginning down to this day. this line of water divides not only lands but nations, manners, customs, and even speech, and what we call the north, and what we call the south, may be said to be, with negligible exceptions, what is north and what is south of those two rivers. it is and always has been the mason and dixon's line of europe. all of these peoples mould their institutions, from the habits and customs forced upon them by their surroundings. the members of the tribe of the suevi, now swabians, were not allowed to hold fixed landed possessions, but were forced to exchange with each other from time to time, so that no one should become wedded to the soil and grow rich thereby. readers of history will remember, that lycurgus attempted similar legislation among the spartans, hoping thus to keep them simple and hardy, and fit for war. how many hundreds of years, these various tribes were working out their rude political and domestic laws, no man knows. the imaginative historian pushes his way through the mists, and sees that the tribes who lived in the scandinavian peninsula were forced by their cramped territory to become fishermen and sailors, and cultivators of small areas of land, accustomed therefore to rule themselves in small groups, and hence independent and markedly individualist. such historians divide even these rude tribes sharply between the patriarchal and the particularist. the particularist commune developed from the estate which was self-sufficient, isolated, and independent. when they were associated together it was for special and limited purposes, so that independence might be infringed upon to the least possible extent. the patriarchal commune, on the other hand, proceeded from the communal family which provided everything for everybody. it was a general and compulsory partnership, monopolizing every kind of business that might arise. the particularist group then, and their moral and political descendants now, strive to organize public authority, and public life in such a way, that they are distinctly subordinate to private and individual independence. in the one the emperor is the father of the family--the russian emperor is still called "little father"--the independence of each member of the family is swallowed up in the complete authority of the head of the national family; in the other the president, or constitutional king, is the executive servant of independent citizens, to whom he owes as much allegiance as they owe to him. in saxony, to-day, more than ninety per cent. of the agricultural population are independent peasant proprietors, and the most admirable and successful agriculturists in the world. it is said indeed that the curia regis, which is the latinized form of the witenagemote, or assembly of wise men, of the norman and angevin kings, is the foundation of the common law of england, and the common law of england is the law of more than half of the civilized world. whatever the varieties and distinctions of government anywhere in the world, these two differences are the fundamental and basic differences, upon which all forms of government have been built up and developed. in the one, everything so far as possible is begun and carried on by individual initiative; in the other the state gradually takes control of all enterprise. the philosophy of the one is based upon the saying: love one another; the political philosophy of the other is based upon the assumption that men are not brethren, but beasts and mechanical toys, who can only be governed by legislation and the police. the ideal of the one is the good samaritan, the ideal of the other is the tax-collector. the one depends upon the wine and oil of sympathy and human brotherhood; the other claims that the right to an iron bed in a hospital, and the services of a state-paid and indifferent physician, are "refreshing fruit," as though sympathy and consideration, which are what our weaker brethren most need, could be distilled from taxes! it is claimed for these teutonic tribes, that those of them which drifted down from the scandinavian peninsula, are the blood and moral ancestors of the particularist nations now in the ascendant in the world. the love of independent self-government, born of the geographical necessities of the situation, stamped itself upon these people so indelibly, that englishmen and americans bear the seal to this day. this change from the patriarchal to the particularist family took place in this german race, and took place not in those who came from the baltic plain, but in those who came from the saxon plain. the tribes from the baltic plain, the goths, for example, merely overran the roman civilization, spread over it; drowned it in superior numbers, and with superior valor; but it was the germans from the scandinavian peninsula who conquered rome, and conquered her not by force alone, but by offering to the world a superior social and political organization. it was to this branch of the german race that varus lost his legions, at the place where the ems has its source, at the foot of the teutoburger wald. charlemagne was of these, and his name karl, or kerl, or peasant, and the fact that his title is the only one in the world compounded of greatness and the people in equal measure, is the pith of what the germans brought to leaven the whole political world. he made the common man so great, that the world has consented to his unique and superlative baptismal title of karl the great, or carolus magnus, or charlemagne. the pivotal fact to be remembered is that these german tribes saved europe by their love of liberty, and by their virility, from the decadence of an orientalized rome. rome, and all rome meant, was not destroyed by these ancestors of ours; on the contrary, they saved what was best worth saving from the decline and fall of rome, and made out of it with their own vigorous laws a new world, the modern western world. great britain, germany, and the united states are not descended from egypt, greece, or rome, but from "those barbarians who issued from the woods of germany." every school-boy should be taught that rome died of a disease contracted from contact with the oriental, the syrian, the jew, the greek, the riffraff of the eastern and southern shores of the mediterranean; who, by the way, make up the bulk of the immigration into america at this time. rome was an incurable invalid long before the germans took control of the western world and saved it. when the roman emperor augustus died, in a. d., to be succeeded by tiberius, the roman empire was bounded on the north and east by the rhine, the danube, the black sea and its southern territory, and syria; by all the known country from the red sea to the atlantic ocean in northern africa on the south; and by the atlantic ocean as far north as the river elbe on the west. five hundred years later, about a. d., the barbarians, as they were called, had thrust aside the roman empire. the saxons controlled the southern and eastern coasts of england; the franks were rulers in the whole country from the loire to the elbe; south of them the visigoths ruled spain; italy and all the country to the north and east of the adriatic, as far as the danube, were in the hands of the ostrogoths. the roman empire had been pushed to the eastern end of the mediterranean, with its capital at constantinople. in another three hundred years, or in a. d., the king of one of these german tribes revived the title of roman emperor, was crowned by the pope, leo iii, and governed europe as charlemagne. his banner with the double-headed eagle, representing the two empires of germany and rome, is the standard of germany to-day. charles martel, who led the west against the east, defeating the arabs in the country between what is now tours and poitiers, was charlemagne's grandfather. what is now western europe, became the home and the consolidated kingdom of the german tribes who had drifted down from the west of the baltic, and into the saxon plain. they had become masters in this territory: after victories over the mongolian tribes, and the huns under attila, who had conquered and plundered as far as strasburg, worms, and treves, and were finally defeated near what is now chalons; after driving off the arabs under charles the hammer ( ); after imposing their rule upon the roman empire, the remains of which cowered in constantinople, where the ottoman turk took even that from it in , which date may well be taken as marking the beginning of modern history, and became themselves thereafter one of the first powers in christian europe; a power which is now, in , the quarrel ground of the western powers. these are brobdingnagian strides through history, to reach the days of dante, petrarch, boccaccio, chaucer, froissart, and the first translation of the bible into a vulgar tongue by wickliffe, to the days when lorenzo de medici breathed greece into europe, and the feeling for beauty changed from invalidism to convalescence; to the days when cannon were first used, printing invented, america discovered, and the man luther, who gave the germans their present language by his translation of the bible, and who delivered us from papal tyranny, born; and agincourt, and joan of arc, are picturesque and poignant features of the historical landscape. these rude german tribes had been welded by hardship and warfare, into compact and self-governing bodies. these loosely bound masses of men, women, and children, straggling down to find room and food, are now, in a. d., france, england, austria, germany, scotland, and spain. the same spirit and vigor that roamed the coasts all the way from sweden and norway to the mouth of the thames, and to the rhine, the seine, and to the straits of gibraltar, are abroad again, landing on the shores of america, circumnavigating africa, and bringing home tales of indians in the west, and indians in the east. this virile stock that had been hammered and hewn was now to be polished; and in italy, france, england, and germany grew up a passion for translating the rough mythology, and the fierce fancy of the north, into painting, building, poetry, and music. france, germany, england, spain, holland, belgium, italy, too, grew out of these german tribes, who poured down from the territory roughly included between the rhine, the north sea, the oder, and the danube. as we know these countries to-day, the definite thing about them is their difference. you cross the channel in fifty minutes from dover to calais, you cross the rhine in five minutes, and the peoples seem thousands of miles apart. "how did it happen," asks voltaire, "that, setting out from the same point of departure, the governments of england and of france arrived at nearly the same time, at results as dissimilar as the constitution of venice is unlike that of morocco?" one might ask as well how it happened, that the speech of one german invasion mixing itself with latin became french, of another spanish, of another portuguese, of another italian, of another english. these are interesting inquiries, and in regard to the former it is not difficult to see, that men grew to be governed differently, according as the geographical exigencies of their homes were different, and as they occupied themselves differently. the observant traveller in the united states, may see for himself what differences even a few years of differing climate, and circumstances, and custom will produce. the inhabitants of charleston, south carolina, are evidently and visibly different from those in davenport, iowa. two towns of similar size and wealth, salisbury, maryland, and hingham, massachusetts, are almost as different, except in speech, and even in speech the accent is perceptibly different even to the careless listener, as though salisbury were in the south of france, and hingham in the north of germany. these changes and differences are only inexplicable, to those who will not see the ethnographical miracles taking place under their noses. look at the mongrel crowd on fifth avenue at midday, and remember what was there only fifty years ago, and the differentiation which has taken place in europe due to climate, intermarriage, laws, and customs seems easy to trace and to explain. the fishermen and tillers of the soil in the scandinavian peninsula, afterward the settlers in the saxon plain and in england, recognized him who ruled over their settled place of abode as king; while roaming bands of fighting men would naturally attach themselves to the head of the tribe, as the leader in war, and recognize him as king. as late as the death of charlemagne, when his powerful grip relaxed, the tribes of germans, for they were little more even then, fell apart again. another family like that of pepin arose under robert the strong, and under hugue capet ( ) acquired the title of kings of france. the monarchy grew out of the weakening of feudalism, and feudalism had been the gradual setting, in law and custom, of a way of living together, of these detached tribes and clans, and their chiefs. a powerful warrior was rewarded with a horse, a spear; later, when territory was conquered and the tribe settled down, land was given as a reward. land, however, does not die like a horse, or wear out and get broken like a spear, and the problem arises after the death of the owner, as to who is his rightful heir. does it revert to the giver, the chief of the tribe, or does it go to the children of the owner? some men are strong enough to keep their land, to add to it, to control those living upon it, and such a one becomes a feudal ruler in a small way himself. he becomes a duke, a dux or leader, a count, a margrave, a baron, and a few such powerful men stand by one another against the king. a charlemagne, a william the conqueror, a louis xiv is strong enough to rule them and keep them in order for a time. out of these conditions grow limited monarchies or absolute monarchies and national nobilities. more than any other one factor, the crusades broke up feudalism. the great noble, impelled by a sense of religious duty, or by a love of adventure, arms himself and his followers, and starts on years of journeyings to the holy land. ready money is needed above all else. lands are mortgaged, and the money-lender and the merchant buy lands, houses, and eventually power, and buy them cheap. the returning nobles find their affairs in disarray, their fields cultivated by new owners, towns and cities grow up that are as strong or stronger than the castle. before the crusades no roturier, or mere tiller of the soil, could hold a fief, but the demand for money was so great that fiefs were bought and sold, and philippe auguste ( ) solved the problem by a law, declaring that when the king invested a man with a sufficient holding of land or fief, he became ipso facto a noble. this is the same common-sense policy which led sir robert peel to declare, that any man with an income of $ , a year had a right to a peerage. there can be no aristocracy except of the powerful, which lasts. the difference to-day is seen in the puppet nobility of austria, italy, spain, and germany as compared with the nobility of england, which is not a nobility of birth or of tradition, but of the powerful: brewers and bankers, and statesmen and lawyers, and leaders of public opinion, covering their humble past with ermine, and crowning their achievements with coronets. the crusades brought about as great a shifting of the balance of power, as did later the rise of the rich merchants, industrials, and nabobs in england. as the power of the nobles decreased, the central power or the power of the kings increased; increased indeed, and lasted, down to the greatest crusade of all, when democracy organized itself, and marched to the redemption of the rights of man as man, without regard to his previous condition of servitude. during the thousand years between the time when we first hear of the german tribes, in b. c., and the year , which marks the beginnings of what is now the prussian monarchy, customs were becoming habits, and habits were becoming laws, and the political and social origins of the life of our day were being beaten into shape, by the exigencies of living together of these tribes in the woods of germany. there it was that the essence of democracy was distilled. democracy, demos, the crowd, the people, the nation, were already, in the woods of germany, the court of last resort. they growled dissent, and they gave assent with the brandishing of their weapons, javelins, or ballots. they were called together but seldom, and between the meetings of the assembly, the executive work, the judicial work, the punishing of offenders, was left to a chosen few; left to those who by their control over themselves, their control over their families, their control over their neighbors, seemed best qualified to exercise the delegated control of all. the chief aim of their organized government, such as it was, seems to have been to leave themselves free to go about their private business, with as little interference from the demands of public business as possible. the chief concern of each one was to secure his right to mind his own business, under certain safeguards provided by all. if those delegated to govern became autocratic, or evil-doers, or used their power for self-advancement or self-enrichment, they were speedily brought to book. the philosophy of government, then, was to make men free to go about their private business. that the time might come when politics would be the absorbing business of all, dictating the hours and wages of men under the earth, and reaching up to the institution of a recall for the angel gabriel, and a referendum for the day of judgment, was undreamed of. the chiefs of the clans, the chiefs of the tribes, the kings of the germans, and finally the emperors were all elective. the divine right of kings is a purely modern development. the descendants of these german tribes in england, elected their king in the days of william the conqueror even, and as late as the commons of england voted that king james had abdicated, and that the throne was vacant! the so-called mayors of the palace, who became kings, were in their day representatives of the landholders, delegates of the people, who advised the king and aided in commanding the armies. these hereditary mayors of the palace drifted into ever greater and greater control, until they became hereditary kings. the title was only hereditary, however, because it was convenient that one man of experience in an office should be succeeded by another educated to, and familiar with, the same experiences and duties, and this system of heredity continues down to this day in business, and in many professions and so long as there is freedom to oust the incompetent, it is a good system. there can never be any real progress until the sons take over the accumulated wisdom and experience of the fathers; if this is not done, then each one must begin for himself all over again. the hereditary principle is sound enough, so long as there is freedom of decapitation in cases of tyranny or folly. there has continued all through the history of those of the blood of the german tribes, whether in germany, england, america, norway, sweden, or denmark, the sound doctrine that ability may at any time take the place of the rights of birth. power, or command, or leadership by heredity is looked upon as a convenience, not as an unimpeachable right. charlemagne ( - ), a descendant of a mayor of the palace who had become king by virtue of ability, swept all europe under his sway by reason of his transcendent powers as a warrior and administrator. he did for the first time for europe what akbar did in his day for india. in forty-five years he headed fifty-three campaigns against all sorts of enemies. he fought the saxons, the danes, the slays, the arabs, the greeks, and the bretons. what is now france, germany, belgium, holland, switzerland, spain, and most of italy were under his kingship. he was a student, an architect, a bridge-builder, though he could neither read nor write, and even began a canal which was to connect the danube and the rhine, and thus the german ocean, with the black sea. he is one of many monuments to the futility of technical education and mere book-learning. the pope, roughly handled, because negligently protected, by the roman emperors, turns to charlemagne, and on christmas day ( ) places a crown upon his head, and proclaims him "caesar augustus" and "christianissimus rex." the empire of rome is to be born again with this virile german warrior at its head. just a thousand years later, another insists that he has succeeded to the title by right of conquest, and gives his baby son the title of "king of rome," and just a thousand years after the death of charlemagne, in , napoleon retires to elba. there is a witchery about rome even to-day, and an emperor still sits imprisoned there, claiming for himself the right to rule the spiritual and intellectual world: "sedet, eternumque sedebit infelix theseus." louis, called "the pious," because the latter part of his life was spent in mourning his outrageous betrayal, mutilation, and murder of his own nephew, whose rivalry he feared, succeeded his father, charlemagne. he was succeeded again by his three sons, lothair, pepin, and louis by his first wife, and charles, who was his favorite son, by his second wife. he had already divided the great heritage left him by charlemagne between his three sons lothair, pepin, and louis; but now he wished to make another division into four parts, to make room for, and to give a kingdom to, his son charles by his second wife. the three elder sons revolt against their father, and his last years are spent in vain attempts to reconcile his quarrelsome children. at his death war breaks out. pepin dies, leaving, however, a son pepin to inherit his kingdom of aquitaine. louis and charles attempt to take his kingdom from him, his uncle lothair defends him, and at the great battle of fontenay ( ) louis and charles defeat lothair. lothair gains the adherence of the saxons, and charles and louis at the head of their armies confirm their alliance, and at strasburg the two armies take the oath of allegiance: the followers of louis took the oath in german, the followers of charles in french, and this oath, the words of which are still preserved, is the earliest specimen of the french language in existence. in another treaty signed at verdun, between the two brothers lothair and louis and their half-brother charles, separated for the first time the netherlands, the rhine country, burgundy, and italy, which became the portion of lothair; all germany east of this territory, which went to louis; and all the territory to the west of it, which went to charles. germany and france, therefore, by the treaty of verdun in , became distinct kingdoms, and modern geography in europe is born. from the death of henry the fowler, in , down to the nomination of frederick i of bavaria, sixth burgrave of nuremberg, to be margrave of brandenburg, in , the history of the particular germany we are studying is swallowed up in the history of these german tribes of central europe and of the holy roman empire. it is in these years of the seven crusades, from to the last in ; of frederick barbarossa; of the centuries-long quarrel between the welfs, or guelphs, and the waiblingers, or ghibellines, which were for years in italy, and are still in germany, political parties; of the hanseatic league of the cities to protect commerce from the piracies of a disordered and unruled country; of the dane and the norman descents upon the coasts of france, germany, and england, and of their burning, killing, and carrying into captivity; of the saracens scouring the mediterranean coasts and sacking rome itself; of the wends and czechs, hungarian bands who dashed in upon the eastern frontiers of the now helpless and amorphous empire of charlemagne, all the way from the baltic to the danube; of the quarrel between henry iv and that jupiter ecclesiasticus, hildebrand, or gregory vii, who has left us his biography in the single phrase, "to go to canossa"; of genghis khan and his mongol hordes; of the long fight between popes and emperors over the right of investiture; of rudolph of hapsburg; of the throwing off of their allegiance to the empire of the kings of burgundy, poland, hungary, and denmark; of the settlement of the question of the legal right to elect the emperor by charles iv, who fixed the power in the persons of seven rulers: the king of bohemia, the count palatine of the rhine, the duke of saxony, the margraf of brandenburg, and the three archbishops of mayence, treves, and cologne; of the independence of the great cities of northern italy; of otto the great, whose first wife was a granddaughter of alfred the great, and who was the real founder of the holy roman empire, in the sense that a german prince rules over both germany and italy with the approval of the pope, and in the sense that he, a duke of saxony, appropriates the western empire ( ), goes to rome, delivers the pope, subdues italy, and fixes the imperial crown in the name and nation of germany; of the beginning of that hope of a world-church and a world-state, of a universal church and a universal kingdom, which took form in what is known as the holy roman empire; of that greatest of all forgeries, the donation of constantine by the monk isidor, discovered and revealed by cardinal nicolaus, of cura, in which it is pretended that constantine handed over rome to the pope and his successors forever, with all the power and privileges of the caesars, and of the effects of this, the most successful lie ever told in the world, during the seven hundred years it was believed: it is in these years of turbulence and change that one must trace the threads of history, from the first appearance of the germans, down to the time when what is now prussia became a frontier post of the empire under the rule of a hohenzollern. it is, perhaps, of all periods in history, the most interesting to americans, for then and there our civilization was born. writing of the conquest of the british isles by the germans, j. r. green says: "what strikes us at once in the new england is this, that it was the one purely german nation that rose upon the wreck of rome. in other lands, in spain or gaul or italy, though they were equally conquered by german peoples, religion, social life, administrative order, still remained roman." the roots of our civilization, are to be dug for in those days when the german peoples met the imperialism and the christianity of rome, and absorbed and renewed them. the roman empire, tottering on a foundation of, it is said, as many as fifty million slaves--even a poor man would have ten slaves, a rich man ten or twenty thousand--and overrun with the mongrel races from syria, greece, and africa, and hiding away the remnants of its power in the orient, became in a few centuries an easy prey to our ancestors "of the stern blue eyes, the ruddy hair, the large and robust bodies." "caerula quis stupuit lumina? flavam caesariem, et madido torquentem cornua cirro? nempe quod haec illis natura est omnibus una," writes juvenal of their resemblance to one another. by the year long strides had been made toward other forms of social, political, religious, and commercial life, due to the german grip upon europe. dante, whose grandmother was a goth, was not only a poet but a fighter for freedom, taking a leading part in the struggle of the bianchi against the neri and pope boniface, was born in and died in ; francis of assisi, born in , not only represented a democratic influence in the church, but led the earliest revolt against the despotism of money; the movement to found cities and to league cities together for the furtherance of trade and industry, and thus to give rights to whole classes of people hitherto browbeaten by church or state or both, began in italy; and the alliance of the cities of the rhine, and the hansa league, date from the beginning of the thirteenth century; the discovery of how to make paper dates from this time, and printing followed; the revolt of the albigenses against priestly dominance which drenched the south of france in blood began in the twelfth century; slavery disappeared except in spain; wycliffe, born in , translated the gospels, threw off his allegiance to the papacy, and suffered the cheap vengeance of having his body exhumed and its ashes scattered in the river swift; aquinas and duns scotus delivered philosophy from the tyranny of theology; roger bacon ( ) practically introduced the study of natural science; magna charta was signed in ; marco polo, whose statue i have seen among those of the gods, in a certain chinese temple, began his travels in the thirteenth century; the university of bologna was founded before for the untrammelled study of medicine and philosophy; abelard, who died in , represented, to put it pithily, the spirit of free inquiry in matters theological, and lectured to thousands in paris. what do these men and movements mean? i am wofully wrong in my ethnographical calculations if these things do not mean, that the people of whom tacitus wrote, "no man dictates to the assembly; he may persuade but cannot command," were shaping and moulding the life of europe, with their passionate love of individual liberty, with their sturdy insistence upon the right of men to think and work without arbitrary interference. out of this furnace came constitutional government in england, and republican government in america. we owe the origins of our political life to the influence of these german tribes, with their love of individual freedom and their stern hatred of meddlesome rulers, or a meddlesome state or legislature. germany had no literature at this time. when froissart was writing french history, and joinville his delightful chronicles; when chaucer and wycliffe were gayly and gravely making play with the monks and priests, the only names known in germany were those of the mystics, eckhart and tauler. when the time came, however, germany was defiantly individualist in luther, and protestantism was thoroughly german. it was not from tales of the great, not from knighthood, chivalry, or their roving singer champions, that german literature came; but from the fables and satires of the people, from hans sachs and from the luther translation of the bible. this is roughly the setting of civilization, in which the first hohenzollerns found themselves when they took over the mark of brandenburg, in the early years of the fifteenth century. here is a list of them, of no great interest in themselves, but showing the direct descent down to the present time; for from the peace of westphalia ( ) to the french revolution the german states were without either men or measures, except frederick the great, that call for other than dreary comment: frederick i of nuremberg, frederick ii, albert iii, johann iii, joachim i, joachim ii, johann george, joachim frederick, johann sigismund of poland (first duke of prussia), george william, frederick william (the great elector), frederick iii, frederick i of prussia (crowned first king of prussia in ), - frederick william i (son of frederick i of prussia), - frederick ii (the great) (son of frederick william i), - frederick william ii (son of augustus william, brother of frederick the great), - frederick william iii (son of frederick william ii), - frederick william iv (son of frederick william iii, - ), reigned, - william i (son of frederick william iii, brother of frederick william iv, - ), reigned, - frederick iii (son of william i, - ), reigned from march to june , . william ii (son of frederick iii and princess victoria of england), born jan. , , succeeded frederick iii in . these incidents, names, and dates are mere whisps of history. it is only necessary to indicate that to articulate this skeleton of history, clothe it with flesh, and give it its appropriate arms and costumes would entail the putting of all mediaeval european history upon a screen, to deliver oneself without apology from any such task. it may be for this reason that there is no history of germany in the english tongue, that ranks above the elementary and the mediocre. there is a masterly and scholarly history of the holy roman empire by an englishman, which no student of germany may neglect, but he who would trace the beginnings of germany from b. c. down to the time of the great elector, , must be his own guide through the trackless deserts, of the formation into separate nations, of modern europe. it is even with misgivings that the student picks his way from the time of the great elector to bismarck, and to modern germany. the peace of westphalia, , marks the end of the thirty years' war, and finds germany with a population reduced from sixteen millions to four millions. famine which drove men and women to cannibalism, bands of them being caught cooking human bodies in a caldron for food; slaughter that drove men to make laws authorizing every man to have two wives, and punishing men and women who became monks and nuns; lawlessness that bred roving bands of murderers, who killed, robbed, and even ate their victims, demanded a ruler of no little vigor to lead his people back to civic, moral, and material health. the great elector wrested east prussia from poland, he defeated and drove off the swedes, whom louis xiv had drawn into an alliance against him, he travelled from end to end of his country, seeking out the problems of distress and remedying them by inducing immigration from holland, switzerland, and the north, by building roads, bridges, schools, and churches, and by encouraging planting, trade, and commerce. he built the frederick william canal connecting the oder and the spree, and introduced the potato to his countrymen. germany now produces in normal years fifteen hundred million bushels of potatoes. the splendid equestrian statue of the great elector on the long bridge at berlin, is a worthy monument to the first great hohenzollern. when charles ii of spain died, louis xiv, the emperor leopold i of the holy roman empire, and the elector of bavaria, all three claimed the right to name his successor. in the war that followed and which lasted a dozen years, the emperor, holland, england, portugal, the elector of hanover, and the elector frederick iii of brandenburg, the son of the great elector, were allied against france. frederick, the elector of brandenburg, was permitted by the emperor, in return for his services at this time, to assume the title of king, and he crowned himself and his wife sophia elizabeth, at königsberg, king and queen of prussia, taking the title of frederick i of prussia, january th, . this novus homo among sovereigns was now a fellow king with the rulers of england, france, denmark, and sweden, and the only crowned head in the empire, except the emperor himself, and the elector of saxony, who had been chosen king of poland in . by persistent sycophancy he had pushed his way into the inner circle of the crowned. those who have picked social locks these latter days by similar sycophancies, by losses at bridge in the proper quarter, by suffering sly familiarities to their women folk, and by wearing their personal and family dignity in sole leather, may know something of the humiliating experiences of this new monarch. he was a feeble fellow, but his son and successor, frederick william i, "a shrewd but brutal boor," so lord rosebery calls him, and there could not be a better judge, amazed europe by his taste for collecting tall soldiers, by his parsimony, his kennel manners in the treatment of his family and his subjects, and leaves a name in history as the first, greatest, and the unique collector of human beings on a barnumesque scale. all known collectors of birds, beetles, butterflies, and beasts accord him an easy supremacy, for his aggregation of colossal grenadiers. it is temptingly easy to be epigrammatic, perhaps witty, at the expense of frederick william i of prussia. the man, however, who freed the serfs; who readjusted the taxes; who insisted upon industry and honesty among his officials; who proclaimed liberty of conscience and of thought; who first put on, to wear for the rest of his life, the uniform of his army, and thus made every officer proud to wear the uniform himself; and who left his son an army of eighty thousand men, thoroughly equipped and trained, and an overflowing treasury, may not be dismissed merely with anecdotes of his eccentric brutality. only the ignorant and the envious, nibble at the successes of other men, with vermin teeth and venomous tongue. those people who can never praise anything whole-heartedly come by their cautious censure from an uneasy doubt of their own deserving. the contempt of frederick william i for learning and learned men, left him leisure for matters of far more importance to his kingdom at the time. his habitual roughness to his son was due, perhaps, to the fact that there was a curious strain of effeminate culture in the man who deified voltaire. poor voltaire, who called shakespeare "le sauvage ivre," or to quote him exactly: "on croirait que cet ouvrage (hamlet) est le fruit de l'imagination d'un sauvage ivre," who said that dante would never be read, and that the comedies of aristophanes were unworthy of presentation in a country tavern! one is tempted to believe that the father was a man of robuster judgment in such matters than the son, whose own rather mediocre literary equipment, made him the easy prey of that acidulous vestal of literature, voltaire. however that may be, he left a useful and unexpected legacy to his son, provided, indeed, the sinews for the making of a powerful prussian kingdom. march the st, , this eccentric miser died, to be succeeded by his son, frederick ii, "the great," then twenty-eight years old. here was a surprise indeed. of these german kings and princes in their small dominions it has been written: "and these magnates all aped louis xiv as their model. they built huge palaces, as like versailles as their means would permit, and generally beyond those limits, with fountains and avenues and dismally wide paths. even in our own day a german monarch has left, fortunately unfinished, an accurate versailles on a damp island in a bavarian lake. in those grandiose structures they cherished a blighting etiquette, and led lives as dull as those of the aged and torpid carp in their own stew-ponds. then, at the proper season, they would break away into the forest and kill game. moreover, still in imitation of their model, they held, as a necessary feature in the dreary drama of their existence, ponderous dalliances with unattractive mistresses, in whom they fondly tried to discern the charms of a montespan or a la vallière. this monotonous programme, sometimes varied by a violent contest whether they should occupy a seat with or without a back, or with or without arms, represented the even tenor of their lives." this good stock was evidently lying fallow, and humanity is neither dignified nor pleasant in the part of fertilizer. frederick the great, it should be remembered, was a prussian and for prussia only. he cared no more about a united germany than we care for a united america to include canada, mexico, and the argentine. he cared no more for bavarians and saxons than for swedes and frenchmen, and, as we know, he was utterly contemptuous of german literature or the german language. he redeemed the shallowness and the torpidity of those other mediocre rulers by resisting, and resisting successfully, for what must have been to him seven very long years, the whole force of austria and some of the lesser german powers, with the armies of russia and france back of them. he had a turbulent home life; his father on one occasion even attempted to hang him with his own hands with the cords of the window curtains, and when he fled from home he captured him and proposed to put him to death as a deserter, and only the intervention of the kings of poland and sweden and the emperor of germany prevented it. his accomplice, however, was summarily and mercilessly put to death before his eyes. there is no illustration in all history, of such a successful outcome of the rod theory in education, as this of frederick the great. the father put into practice what wesley preached: "break their wills betimes, whatever it costs; break the will if you would not damn the child. let a child from a year old be taught to fear the rod and to cry softly." the meanness and cruelty, the parsimony and the eccentricities, of the father left the son an army of eighty thousand troops, troops as superior to other troops in europe as are the japanese infantry to-day, to the manchu guards that pick the weeds in the court-yards of the palace at mukden; and he left him, too, a kingdom with no debts and an overflowing treasury. it is seldom that such insane vanities leave such a fair estate and an heir with such unique abilities for its skilful exploitation. of frederick's wars against austria, against france, russia, saxony, sweden, and poland; of his victories at prague, leuthen, rossbach, and zorndorf; of his addition of siberia and polish prussia to his kingdom; of his comical literary love affair with voltaire; of his brutal comments upon the reigning ladies of russia and france, which brought upon him their bitter hatred; of his restoration and improvement of his country; of his strict personal economy and loyalty to his own people, scores of volumes have been written. the hero-worshipper, carlyle, and the jove of reviewers, macaulay, have described him, and many minor scribes besides. it is said of his victory of rossbach, in , that then and there began the recreation of germany, the revival of her political and intellectual life, and union under prussia and prussian kings. frederick the great deserves this particular encomium; for as luther freed germany, and all christendom indeed, from the tyranny of tradition, as lessing freed us from the tyranny of the letter, from the second-hand and half-baked hellenism of a racine and a corneille, so frederick the great freed his countrymen at last from the puerile slavery to french fashions and traditions, which had made them self- conscious at home and ridiculous abroad. he first made a prussian proud to be a prussian. this last quarter of the eighteenth century in germany saw the death of lessing in , the publication of kant's "kritik der reinen vernunft" in the same year, and the death of the great frederick in . these names mark the physical and intellectual coming of age of germany. lessing died misunderstood and feared by the card-board literary leaders of his day, men who still wrote and thought with the geometrical instruments handed them from france; kant attempted to push philosophical inquiry beyond the bounds of human experience, and frederick left prussia at last not ashamed to be prussia. napoleon was eighteen years old when frederick died, and he, next to bismarck, did more to bring about german unity than any other single force. unsuccessful charlemagne though he was, he without knowing it blazed the political path which led to the crowning of a german emperor in the palace at versailles, less than a hundred years after the death of frederick the great. in at montebello, napoleon said: "if the germanic system did not exist, it would be necessary to create it expressly for the convenience of france." ii frederick the great to bismarck frederick the great died in , leaving prussia the most formidable military power on the continent. in financial, law, and educational matters he had made his influence felt for good. he distributed work-horses and seed to his impoverished nobles; he encouraged silk, cotton, and porcelain industries; he built the finow, the planesche, and bromberger canals; he placed a tariff on meat, except pork, the habitual food of the poor, and spirits and tobacco and coffee were added to the salt monopoly; he codified the laws, which we shall mention later; he aided the common schools, and in his day were built the opera-house, library, and university in berlin, and the new palace of sans souci at potsdam. almost exactly one hundred years after the death of frederick the great, there ended practically, at the death of the emperor william i, in , the political career of the man, who with his personally manufactured cement of blood and iron, bound germany together into a nation. the middle of the seventeenth, the middle of the eighteenth, and the middle of the nineteenth centuries, with the great elector, frederick the great, and bismarck as the central figures, mark the features of the historical landscape of germany as with mile-stones. how difficult was the task to bring at last an emperor of all germany to his crowning at versailles, january , , and how mighty the artificer who accomplished the work, may be learned from a glance at the political, geographical, and patriotic incoherence of the land that is now the german empire. germany had no definite national policy from the death of frederick the great till the reign of bismarck began in . hazy discussions of a confederation of princes, of a prussian empire, of lines of demarcation, of acquisitions of german territory, were the phantoms of a policy, and even these were due to the pressure of prussia. the general political torpidity is surprisingly displayed, when one remembers that goethe ( - ), who lived through the french revolution, who was thirty-seven years old when frederick the great died, and who lived through the whole flaming life of napoleon, was scarcely more stirred by the political features of the time than though he had lived in seringapatam. he was a superlatively great man, but he was as parochial in his politics as he was amateurish in his science, as he was a mixture of the coxcomb and the boor, in his love affairs. lessing, who died in , klopstock, who died in , schiller, who died in , kant, who died in , hegel, who died in , fichte, who died in , wolf, who died in , "jean paul" friedrich richter, who died in , voss, who died in , schelling, who died in , the two schlegels, august wilhelm and frederick, who died in and in , jacob grimm, who died in , herder, wieland, kotzebue, what a list of names! what a blossoming of literary activity! but no one of them, these the leaders of thought in germany, at the time when the world was approaching the birthday of democracy through pain and blood, no one of these was especially interested in politics. there was theoretical writing about freedom. heine mocked at his countrymen and at the world in general, and deified napoleon, from his french mattress, on which he died, in , only fifty-seven years old. fichte ended a course of lectures on duty, with the words: "this course of lectures is suspended till the end of the campaign. we shall resume if our country become free, or we shall have died to regain our liberty." but fichte neither resumed nor died! herder criticised his countrymen for their slavish following of french forms and models in their literature, as in their art and social life. and well he might thus criticise, when one remembers how cramped was the literary vision even of such men as voltaire and heine. we have already mentioned some of voltaire's literary judgments in the preceding chapter, and heine ventured to compare racine to euripides! no wonder that germany needed schooling in taste, if such were the opinions of her advisers. such literary canons as these could only be accepted by minds long inured to provincial, literary, and social slavery. just as every little princeling of those days in germany took louis xiv for his model, so every literary fledgling looked upon voltaire as a god, and modelled his style upon the stiff and pompous verses of the french literary men of that time. not even to-day has germany escaped from this bondage. in baden three words out of ten that you hear are french, and the german wherever he lives in germany still invites you to mittagessen at eight p. m. because he has no word in his own language for diner, and must still say anständiger or gebildeter mensch for gentleman. to make the german even a german in speech and ideals and in independence has been a colossal task. one wonders, as one pokes about in odd corners of germany even now, whether herder's caustic contempt, and bismarck's cavalry boots, have made every german proud to be a german, as now he surely ought to be. the tribal feeling still exists there. fichte's lectures on nationality were suppressed and fichte himself looked upon askance. the schlegels spent a lifetime in giving germany a translation of shakespeare. hegel wrote the last words of his philosophy to the sound of the guns at the battle of jena. goethe writes a paragraph about his meeting with napoleon. metternich, born three years before the american revolution, and who died a year before the battle of bull run, declared: "the cause of all the trouble is the attempt of a small faction to introduce the sovereignty of the people under the guise of a representative system." if this was the attitude of the intellectual nobility of the time, what are we to suppose that messrs. muller and schultze and fischer and kruger, the small shop-keepers and others of their ilk, and their friends thought? even forty years later friedrich hebbel, in , paid a visit to the industrial exposition in paris. he writes in his diary: "alle diese dinge sind mir nicht allein gleichgültig; sic sind mir widerwärtig." germany had not awakened even then to any wide popular interest in the world that was doing things. as voltaire phrased it, france ruled the land, england the sea, and germany the clouds, even as late as the middle of the nineteenth century. this is the more worth noting, as giving a peg upon which to hang germany's astounding progress since that time. even as late as bismarck's day he complained of the german: "it is as a prussian, a hanoverian, a würtemberger, a bavarian, or a hessian, rather than as a german, that he is disposed to give unequivocal proof of patriotism." the present ambitious german emperor said, in , at hamburg: "the sluggishness shown by the german people in interesting themselves in the great questions moving the world, and in arriving at a political understanding of those questions, has caused me deep anxiety." what kind of material had the nation-makers to work with! what a long, disappointing task it must have been to light these people into a blaze of patriotism! in those days america, though the population of the american colonies was only eleven hundred and sixty thousand in , talked, wrote, and fought politics. the outstanding personalities of the time were patriots, soldiers, politicians, not a dreamer among them. england was so nonchalantly free already, that the betting-book at white's club records that, "lord glengall bets lord yarmouth one hundred guineas to five that buonaparte returns to paris before beau brummel returns to london!" burke and pitt, and fox and north, and canning might look after politics; hargreaves and crompton would take care to keep english industries to the fore, and watt, and the great canal-builder brindley, would solve the problem of distributing coal; their lordships cracked their plovers' eggs, unable to pronounce even the name of a single german town or philosopher, and showed their impartial interest, much as now they do, in contemporary history, by backing their opinions with guineas, with the odds on caesar against the "beau." weimar was a sunny little corner where poetry and philosophy and literature were hatched, well out of reach of the political storms of the time. the grand duke of sachsen-weimar-eisenach with his tiny court, his falstaffian army, his mint and his customs-houses, with his well-conducted theatre and his suite of littérateurs, was one of three hundred rulers in the germany of that time. the holy roman empire, consisting, in napoleon's time, of austria, prussia, and a mass of minor states, these last grouped together under the name of the confederation of the rhine, and wholly under french influence, lasted one thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight years, or from caesar's victory of pharsalia down to august the st, , when napoleon announced to the diet that he no longer recognized it. this institution had no political power, was merely a theoretical political ring for the theoretical political conflicts of german agitators and dreamers, and was composed of the representatives of this tangle of powerless, but vain and self-conscious little states. this holy roman empire, with an austrian at its head, and aided by france, strove to prevent the development of a strong german state under the leadership of prussia. after napoleon's day it became a struggle between prussia and austria. austria had only eight out of thirty-six million german population, while prussia was practically entirely german, and prussia used her army, politics, and commerce to gain control in germany. even to-day austria-hungary contains the most varied conglomeration of races of any nation in the world. austria has , , inhabitants, of whom , , are germans, , , italians and rumanians, , , bohemians and slovacs, , , poles and ruthenians, , , slovenes and croatians. of the , , of hungary there are , , magyars, , , germans, , , slovacs and ruthenians, , , rumanians, and nearly , , southern slays. weimar was one of the three hundred capitals of this limp empire, with tariffs, stamps, coins, uniforms, customs, gossip, interests, and a sovereign of its own. when bismarck undertook the unifying of the customs tariffs of germany, there were even then fifteen hundred different tariffs in existence! weimar had its salon, its notables: goethe, schiller, wieland, frau von stein, dr. zimmermann as a valued correspondent; its grand duke karl august and his consort; herder, who jealous of the renown of goethe, and piqued at the insufficient consideration he received, soon departed, to return only when the grand duchess took him under her wing and thus satisfied his morbid pride; its love affair, for did not the beautiful frau von werthern leave her husband, carry out a mock funeral, and, heralded as dead, elope to africa with herr von einsiedel? but weimar was as far away from what we now agree to look upon as the great events of the day, as were lords glengall and yarmouth at white's, in saint james's. it requires imagination to put goethe and schiller and wieland in the bow window at white's, and to place lords glengall and yarmouth in frau von stein's drawing-room in weimar; but the discerning eye which can see this picture, knows at a glance why england misunderstands germany and germany misunderstands england. for white's is white's and weimar is weimar, and one is british and one is german as much now as then! in the one the winner of the derby is of more importance than any philosopher; in the other, philosophers, poets, professors, and playwrights are almost as well known, as the pedigrees of the yearlings to be sold at newmarket, are known at white's. they still have plover's eggs early in the season at white's, and they still recognize the subtle distinction there between "port wine" and "port"; while in weimar nobody, unless it be the duke, even boils his sauerkraut in white wine! one could easily write a chapter on weimar and its self-satisfied social and literary activities. there were three hundred or more capitals of like complexion and isolation: some larger, some smaller, none perhaps with such a splendid literary setting, but all indifferent with the indifference of distant relatives who seldom see one another, when the french revolution exploded its bomb at the gates of the world's habits of thought. no intelligent man ever objected to the french revolution because it stood for human rights, but because it led straight to human wrongs. the dream was angelic, but the nightmare in which it ended was devilish. the french revolution was the most colossal disappointment that humanity has ever had to bear. more than the demagogue gives us credit for, are the great majority of us eager to help our neighbors. the trouble is that the demagogue thinks this, the most difficult of all things, an easy task. god and nature are harsh when they are training men, and we, alas, are soft, hence most of our failures. correction must be given with a rod, not with a sop. there lies all the trouble. the political and philanthropic wise men were setting out for the manger and the babe, their eyes on the star, laden with gifts, when they were met by a whiff of grape-shot from the guns commanded by a young corsican genius. the french revolution found us all sympathetic, but making men of equal height by lopping off their heads; making them free by giving no one a chance to be free; making them fraternal by insisting that all should be addressed by the same title of, "citizen," was soon seen to be the method of a political nursery. it was no fault of the french revolution that it was no revolution at all, in any political sense. men maddened by oppression hit, kick, bite, and burn. they are satisfied to shake the burden of the moment off their backs, even though the burden they take on be of much the same character. "it is perfectly possible, to revive even in our own day the fiscal tyranny which once left even european populations in doubt whether it was worth while preserving life by thrift and toil. you have only to tempt a portion of the population into temporary idleness, by promising them a share in a fictitious hoard lying in an imaginary strong-box which is supposed to contain all human wealth. you have only to take the heart out of those who would willingly labor and save, by taxing them ad misericordiam for the most laudable philanthropic objects. for it makes not the smallest difference to the motives of the thrifty and industrious part of mankind whether their fiscal oppressor be an eastern despot, or a feudal baron, or a democratic legislature, and whether they are taxed for the benefit of a corporation called society or for the advantage of an individual styled king or lord," writes sir henry maine. in short it matters not in the least what you baptize oppression, so long as it is oppression, or whether you call your tyrant "jim" or "my lord," so long as he is a tyrant. many people are slowly awakening to the fact in england and in america, that plain citizen "jim" can be a most merciless tyrant in spite of his unpretentious name and title. no royal tyrant ever dared to attempt to gain his ends by dynamiting innocent people, as did the trades-unionists at los angeles, or to starve a whole population as did the trades-unionists in london. we have not escaped tyranny by changing its name. the idea of the contrat social and of all its dilutions since, has been that individuals go to make up society, and that society under the name of the state must take charge of those individuals. the french revolution was a failure because it fell back upon that tiresome and futile philosophy of government which had been that of louis xiv. louis xiv took care of the individual units of the state by exploiting them. he was a sound enough socialist in theory. france gained nothing of much value along the lines of political philosophy. whether it is louis xiv who says "l'état c'est moi" or the citizens banded together in a state, who claim that the functions of the state are to meddle with the business of every man, matters little. it is the same socialistic philosophy at bottom, and it has produced to-day a france of thirty-eight millions of people pledged to sterility, one million of whom are state officials superintending the affairs of the others at a cost, in salaries alone, of upward of five hundred million dollars a year. in no political or philosophical sense was the french revolution a revolution at all. it was a change of administration and leaders, but not a change of political theory. the french revolution put the state in impartial supremacy over all classes by destroying exemptions claimed by the nobility and the clergy, and thus extended the power of the state. the english revolution without bloodshed reduced the power of the state, not for the advantage of any class, but for individual liberty and local self-government. we americans are the political heirs of the latter, not of the former, revolution. germany was stirred slightly to hope for freedom, but stirred mightily to protest against anarchy later. these were the two influences from the french revolution that affected germany, and they were so contradictory that germany herself was for nearly a hundred years in a mixed mood. one influence enlivened the theoretical democrat, and the other sent the armies of all europe post-haste to save what was left of orderly government in france. but prussia was not what she had been under frederick the great. frederick was more louis xiv than louis xiv himself. the economic and political errors of the french revolution found their best practical exponent in frederick the great. in the introduction to his code of laws we have already mentioned are the words: "the head of the state, to whom is intrusted the duty of securing public welfare, which is the whole aim of society, is authorized to direct and control all the actions of individuals toward this end." further on the same code reads: "it is incumbent upon the state to see to the feeding, employment, and payment of all those who cannot support themselves, and who have no claim to the help of the lord of the manor, or to the help of the commune: it is necessary to provide such persons with work which is suitable to their strength and their capacity." when frederick died he left prussia in the grip of this enervating pontifical socialism, which always everywhere ends by palsying the individual, and through the individual the state, with the blight of demagogical and theoretical legislation. the fine army grew pallid and without spirit, the citizens lost their individual pride, the nation as a whole lost its vigor, and when napoleon marched into berlin, he remarked that the country hardly seemed worth conquering. the century from the death of frederick the great, in , to the death of william the first, in , includes, in a convenient period to remember: the downfall of frederick's patriotic edifice; the apathy and impotency that followed upon the breaking up of the bureaucracy he had welded into efficiency; the shuffling of the german states by napoleon as though they were the pack of cards in a great political game; a revival of patriotism in prussia after floggings and insults that were past bearing; the jealousies and enmities of the various states, the betrayal of one by the other, and finally the struggle between austria and prussia to decide upon a leader for all germany; and at last the war against france, - , which was to make it clear to the world that germany had been prussianized into an empire. frederick william ii, the nephew of frederick the great, who succeeded him, was king of prussia from to . frederick william iii, his son, and the husband of the beautiful and patriotic queen louisa, was king of prussia from to . frederick william iv, a loquacious, indiscreet, loose-lipped sovereign, of moist intellect and mythical delusions, was king of prussia from to , when his mental condition made his retirement necessary, and he was succeeded by his brother, frederick william ludwig, first as regent, then as king in , known to us as that admirable king and emperor, william i, who died in . perhaps the most remarkable characteristic of these sovereigns, to those of us who look upon germany to-day as autocratically governed in fact and by tradition, is their willing surrender to the people, on every occasion when the demand has been, even as little insistent as the german demand has been. in the case of frederick william iv, his claim, at least in words, upon his divine rights as a sovereign was the mark of a wavering confidence in himself. he was not satisfied with a rational sanction for his authority, but was forever assuring his subjects that god had pronounced for him; much as men of low intelligence attempt to add vigor to their statements by an oath. "i hold my crown," he said, "by the favor of god, and i am responsible to him for every hour of my government." much under the influence of the two scholars niebuhr and ranke, he hated the ideas of the french revolution, and dreamed of an ideal christian state like that of the middle ages. he was caricatured by the journals of the day, and laughed at by the wits, including heine, and pictured as a king with "order" on one hand, "counter-order" on the other, and "disorder" on his forehead. though frederick william ii marched into france in , to support the french monarchy, neither his army nor his people were prepared or fit for this enterprise, and he soon retired. in , prussia joined russia in a second partition of poland, but in , angry with what was considered the double dealing of austria and russia, prussia concluded a peace with france, the treaty of basle was signed in , and for ten years prussia practically took no part in the napoleonic wars. napoleon took over the lands on the left bank of the rhine, took away the freedom of forty-eight towns, leaving only hamburg, bremen, frankfort, augsburg, and nuremberg, and in he took hanover. later, in , bavaria, würtemberg, and baden aided napoleon to fight the alliance against him of austria, england, russia, and sweden. in that same year the electors of würtemberg and bavaria were made kings by napoleon. in bavaria, baden, würtemberg, and hessen seceded from the german empire, formed themselves into the confederation of the rhine, and acknowledged napoleon as their protector. in francis ii, emperor of the holy roman empire, resigned, and there was neither an empire nor an emperor of germany, nor was there a germany of united interests. in frederick william iii, driven by the grossest insults to his country and to his wife, finally declared war against france; there followed the battle of jena, in which the germans were routed, and in that same year napoleon marched into berlin unopposed. in the russian emperor was persuaded to make peace, and prussia without her ally was helpless. the peace of tilsit, in july, , deprived prussia of the whole of the territory between the elbe and the rhine, and this with brunswick, hessen-cassel, and part of hanover was dubbed the kingdom of westphalia, and napoleon's youngest brother jerome was made king. the polish territory of prussia was given to the elector of saxony, who was also rewarded for having deserted prussia after the battle of jena by being made a king. prussia was further required to reduce her army to forty-two thousand men. it is neither a pretty nor an inspiriting story, this of the mangling of germany by napoleon; of the german princes bribed by kingly crowns from the hands of an ancestorless corsican; but it all goes to show how far from any sense of common aims and duties, how far from the united vaterland of to-day, was the germany of a hundred years ago. it adds, too, immeasurably to the laurels of the man who produced the present german empire out of his own pocket, and stood as chief sponsor at its christening at versailles in . this prussia that sent twenty thousand troops to aid napoleon against russia, and which during the retreat from moscow went over bodily to the enemy; this prussia whose vacillating king simpered with delight at a kind word from napoleon, and shivered with dismay at a harsh one; this army with its officers as haughty as they were incapable, and its men only prevented from wholesale desertion by severe punishment, an army rotten at the core, with a coat of varnish over its worm-eaten fabric; this prussia humiliated and disgraced after the battle of jena, in , in seven years' time came into its own again. vom stein, scharnhorst, the son of a hanoverian peasant, and hardenberg put new life into the state. at waterloo the pummelled squares of red-coats were relieved by these prussians, and blücher, or "old marschall vorwärts" as he was called, redeemed his countrymen's years of effeminate lassitude and vacillation. "such was vorwärts, such a fighter, such a lunging, plunging smiter, always stanch and always straight, strong as death for love or hate, always first in foulest weather, neck or nothing, hell for leather, through or over, sink or swim, such was vorwärts�here's to him!" napoleon goes to saint helena and dies in . what he did for germany was to prove to her how impossible was a cluster of jealous, malicious provincial little state governments in the heart of europe, protecting themselves from falling apart by the ancient legislative scaffolding of the holy roman empire. he squeezed three hundred states into thirty-eight, and the very year of waterloo, on april the st, a german napoleon was born who was to further squeeze these states into what is known to-day as the german empire. the congress of vienna was a meeting of the european powers to redistribute the possessions, that napoleon had scattered as bribes and rewards among his friends, relatives, and enemies, so far as possible, among their rightful owners. from the island of elba, off the coast of tuscany, napoleon looked on while the allies quarrelled at this congress of vienna. prussia claimed the right to annex saxony; russia demanded poland, and against them were leagued england, austria, and france, france represented by the mephistophelian talleyrand, who strove merely to stir the discord into another war. in the midst of their deliberations word came that the wolf was in the fold again. napoleon was riding to paris, through hysterical crowds of french men and women, eager for another throw against the world, if their little corporal were there to shake the dice for them. he had another throw and lost. the french revolution in , followed by the insurrection of all europe against that strange gypsy child of the revolution, napoleon, from - , ended at last at waterloo. this lover, who won whole nations as other men win a maid or two; this ruler, who had popes for handmaidens and gave kingdoms as tips, who dictated to kings preferably from the palaces of their own capitals; this fortunate demon of a man, who had escaped even mlle. montausier, was safely disposed of at saint helena, and the ordinary ways of mortals had their place in the world again. the congress of vienna reassembled, and the readjustment of the map of europe began over again. prussia is given back what had been taken away from her. a german confederation was formed in to resist encroachments, but with no definite political idea, and its diet, to which prussia, austria, and the other smaller states sent representatives, became the laughing-stock of europe. jealous bickerings and insistence upon silly formalities paralyzed legislation. lawyers and others who presented their claims before this assembly from - were paid in ! the liquidation of the debts of the thirty years' war was made after two hundred years, in ! the laws for the military forces were finally agreed upon in , and put in force in ! there were three principal forms of government among these states: first, absolutist, where the ruler and his officials governed without reference to the people, as in prussia and austria; second, those who organized assemblies (landslände), where no promises were made to the people, but where the nobles and notables were called together for consultation; and third, a sort of constitutional monarchy with a written constitution and elected representatives, but with the ruler none the less supreme. one of the first rulers to grant such a constitution to his people was the grand duke who presided over the little court at weimar. the mass of the people were wholly indifferent. the intellectuals were divided among themselves. the schools and universities after form associations and societies, the burschenschaft, for example, and in a hazy professorial fashion talk and shout of freedom. they were of those passionate lovers of liberty, more intent on the dower than on the bride; willing to talk and sing and to tell the world of their own deserts, but with little iron in their blood. when a real man wants to be free he fights, he does not talk; he takes what he wants and asks for it afterward; he spends himself first and affords it afterward. these dreamy gentlemen could never make the connection between their assertions and their actions. they were as inconsistent, as a man who sees nothing unreasonable in circulating ascetic opinions and a perambulator at the same time. they were dreary and technical advocates of liberty. at a great festival at the wartburg, in , the students got out of hand, burned the works of those conservatives, haller and kotzebue, and the code napoleon. this youthful folly was purposely exaggerated throughout germany, and was used by the party of autocracy to frighten the people, and also as a reason for passing even severer laws against the ebullitions of liberty. at a conference at carlsbad in the representatives of the states there assembled passed severe laws against the student societies, the press, the universities, and the liberal professors. from - the opinions of the more enlightened changed. the fear of napoleon was gradually forgotten, and the hatred of the absolutism of prussia and austria grew. in constitutions were demanded and were guardedly granted in brunswick, saxony, hanover, and hesse-cassel. in things had gone so far that at a great student festival the black, red, and gold flag of the burschenschaft was hoisted, toasts were drunk to the sovereignty of the people, to the united states of germany, and to europe republican! this was followed by further prosecutions. prussia condemned thirty-nine students to death, but confined them in a fortress. the prison-cell of the famous fritz reuter may be seen in berlin to-day. in hesse, the chief of the liberal party, jordan, was condemned to six years in prison; in bavaria a journalist was imprisoned for four years, and other like punishments followed elsewhere. it was in , when queen victoria came to the throne, that hanover was cut off from the succession, as hanover could not descend to a woman. the duke of cumberland became the ruler of hanover, and england ceased to hold any territory in europe. from - there was comparative quiet in the political world. the rulers of the various states succeeded in keeping the liberal professorial rhetoric too damp to be valuable as an explosive. interwoven with this party in germany, demanding for the people something more of representation in the government, was a movement for the binding together of the various states in a closer union. in when the first stone was laid for the completion of the cologne cathedral, at a banquet of the german princes presided over by the king of prussia, the king of würtemberg proposed a toast to "our common country!" that toast probably marks the first tangible proof of the existence of any important feeling upon the subject of german unity. at a congress of germanists at frankfort, in , professors and students, jurists and historians, talked and discussed the questions of a german parliament and of national unity more perhaps than matters of scholarship. in professor gervinus founded at heidelberg the deutsche zeitung, which was to be liberal, national, and for all germany. i should be sorry to give the impression that i have not given proper value to the work of the german professor and student in bringing about a more liberal constitution for the states of germany. liebig of munich, ranke of berlin, sybel of bonn, ewald of göttingen, mommsen in berlin, döllinger in munich, and such men as schiemann in berlin to-day, were and are, not only scholars, but they have been and are political teachers; some of them violently reactionary, if you please, but all of them stirring men to think. no such feeling existed then, or exists now, in germany, as animated oxford some fifty years ago when the greatest sanscrit scholar then living was rejected by a vote of that body, one voter declaring: "i have always voted against damned intellect, and i trust i always may!" a state of mind that has not altogether disappeared in england even now. indeed i am not sure, that the most notable feature of political life in england to-day, is not a growing revolt against legislation by tired lawyers, and an increasing demand for common-sense governing again, even if the governing be done by those with small respect for "damned intellect." the third french revolution of set fire to all this, not only in germany but in austria, hungary, roumania, and elsewhere. we must go rapidly through this period of seething and of political teething. the parliament at frankfort with nothing but moral authority discussed and declaimed, and finally elected archduke john of austria as "administrator" of the empire. there followed discussions as to whether austria should even become a member of the new confederation. two parties, the "little germanists" and the "pan germanists," those in favor of including, and those opposed to the inclusion of austria, fought one another, with prussia leading the one and austria, with the prestige of having been head of the former holy roman empire, the other. in austria withdrew altogether and the king of prussia was elected emperor of germany, but refused the honor on the ground that he could not accept the title from the people, but only from his equals. there followed riots and uprisings of the people in prussia, saxony, baden, and elsewhere throughout germany. the prussian guards were sent to dresden to quell the rioting there and took the city after two days' fighting. the parliament itself was dispersed and moved to stuttgart, but there again they were dispersed, and the end was a flight of the liberals to switzerland, france, and the united states. we in america profited by the coming of such valuable citizens as carl schurz and many others. there were driven from germany, they and their descendants, many among our most valuable citizens. the descendant of one of the worthiest of them, admiral osterhaus, is one of the most respected officers in our navy, and will one day command it, and we could not be in safer hands. in the german federal fleet was sold at auction as useless; austria was again in the ascendant and german subjects in schleswig were handed over to the danes. in both the king of prussia and the emperor of austria called congresses, but prussia finally gave up hers, and the ancient confederation as of before met as a diet at frankfort and from - bismarck was the prussian delegate and austria presided over the deliberations. a factor that made for unity among the german states was the zollverein. from - under the leadership of prussia the various states were persuaded to join in equalizing their tariffs. between - prussia, bavaria, würtemberg, saxony, baden, hesse-nassau, thuringia, and frankfort agreed upon a common standard for customs duties, and a few years later they were joined by brunswick, hanover, and the mecklenburgs. german industry and commerce had their beginnings in these agreements. the hundreds of different customs duties became so exasperating that even jealous little governments agreed to conform to simpler laws, and probably this commercial necessity did more to bring about the unity of germany than the king, or politics, or the army. with the struggles of the various states to obtain constitutions we cannot deal, nor would it add to the understanding of the present political condition of the german empire. prussia, after riots in berlin, after promises and delays from the vacillating king, who one day orders his own troops out of the capital and his brother, later william i, to england to appease the anger of the mob, and parades the streets with the colors of the citizens in revolt wrapped about him; and the next day, surly, obstinate, but ever orating, holds back from his pledges, finally accepts a constitution which is probably as little democratic as any in the world. of the sixty-five million inhabitants of the german empire, prussia has over forty millions. the landtag of prussia is composed of two chambers, the first called the herrenhaus, or house of lords, and the second the abgeordnetenhaus, or chamber of deputies. this upper house is made up of the princes of the royal family who are of age; the descendants of the formerly sovereign families of hohenzollern- hechingen and hohenzollern-sigmaringen; chiefs of the princely houses recognized by the congress of vienna; heads of the territorial nobility formed by the king; representatives of the universities; burgomasters of towns with more than fifty thousand inhabitants, and an unlimited number of persons nominated by the king for life or for a limited period. this upper chamber is a mere drawing-room of the sovereign's courtiers, though there may be, and as a matter of fact there are at the present time, representatives even of labor in this chamber, but in a minority so complete that their actual influence upon legislation, except in a feeble advisory capacity, amounts to nothing. in this herrenhaus, or upper chamber, of prussia there are at this writing among the members bankers, representatives of the industrial and merchant class, and mechanic; in all, or not even four per cent., to represent the industrial, financial, commercial, and working classes. even in the lower chamber, or abgeordnetenhaus, there are only merchants, manufacturers, labor representatives, and bank director, or members who represent the commercial, manufacturing, and industrial interests in a total membership of . in the other states of germany much the same conditions exist. in bavaria, in the upper house, or kammer der reichsräte, there is no representative, and in the lower house of members only representatives of the industrial world. in saxony, the most socialistic state in germany, the upper chamber with members has industrials; the lower chamber with members has representatives of commercial, industrial, and financial affairs. in würtemberg, in the upper chamber with members there are industrials; and in the second chamber with members there are industrials. in baden, of the members of the upper house there are industrials; of the members of the lower house there are representatives of commerce and industry. this condition of political inequality is the result of the maintenance of the old political divisions, despite the fact that in the last thirty years the whole complexion of the country has changed radically, due to the rapid increase of the city populations representing the industrial and commercial progress of a nation that is now the rival of both the united states and great britain. in more than one instance a town with over , inhabitants will be represented in the legislature in the same proportion as a country population of , . stettin, for example, with a population of , , which is a seventh of the total population of pomerania, has only of the provincial representatives. further, the three-class system of voting in prussia and in the german cities, is a unique arrangement for giving men the suffrage without either power or privilege. according to this system every male inhabitant of prussia aged twenty-five is entitled to vote in the election of members of the lower house. the voters, however, are divided into three classes. this division is made by taking the total amount of the state taxes paid in each electoral district and dividing it into three equal amounts. the first third is paid by the highest tax-payers; the second third by the next highest tax-payers, and the last third by the rest. the first class consists of a comparatively few wealthy people; it may even happen that a single individual pays a third of the taxes in a given district. these three classes then elect the members of an electoral college, who then elect the member of the house. in prussia it may be said roughly that , wealthy tax-payers elect one-third; , tax-payers elect one-third, and the other , , voters elect one-third of the members of the electoral college, with the consequence that the , , are not represented at all in the lower house of prussia. in order to make this three-class system of voting quite clear, let us take the case of a city where the same principle may be seen at work on a smaller scale. in , in the city of berlin, there were: voters of the first class paying , , marks of the total tax. , voters of the second class paying , , marks of the total tax. , voters of the third class paying , , marks of the total tax. roughly the voters in the first class each paid $ , ; those in the second class $ ; those in the third class $ . the voters elected one-third, , voters elected one-third, and , elected one-third of the town councillors. in this same year in berlin there were: persons with incomes between $ , and $ , . persons with incomes between $ , and $ , . persons with incomes between $ , and $ , . persons with incomes between $ , and $ , . persons with incomes of $ , or more. or persons in berlin in with incomes of over $ , a year, and they are practically the governors of the city. as a result of these divisions according to taxes paid, of the town councillors elected, only were social-democrats, though berlin is overwhelmingly social-democratic, and consequently the affairs of this city of more than , , inhabitants are in the hands of , persons who elect two-thirds of the town councillors. in the city of düsseldorf there were, excluding the suburbs, , voters at the election for town councillors in . the first class was composed of voters paying from , to , marks of taxes; , voters paying from to , marks; and , voters paying marks or less. these , voters of the first and second classes were in complete control of the city government by a clear majority of two-thirds. it is this three-class system of voting that makes prussia, and the prussian cities as well, impregnable against any assault from the democratically inclined. in addition to this system, the old electoral divisions of forty years ago remain unchanged, and consequently the agricultural east of prussia, including east and west prussia, brandenburg, pomerania, posen, and silesia, with their large landholders, return more members to the prussian lower house than the much greater population of western industrial prussia, which includes sachsen, hanover, westphalia, schleswig-holstein, hohenzollern, hessen-nassau, and the rhine. further, the executive government of prussia is conducted by a ministry of state, the members of which are appointed by the king, and hold office at his pleasure, without control from the landtag. how little the people succeeded in extorting from king frederick william iv in the way of a constitution may be gathered from this glimpse of the present political conditions of prussia. the local government of prussia is practically as centralized in a few hands as the executive government of the state itself. the largest areas are the provinces, whose chiefs or presidents also are appointed by the sovereign, and who represent the central government. there are twelve such provinces in prussia, ranging in size from the rhineland and brandenburg, with , , and , , inhabitants respectively, to schleswig-holstein, with , , . each province is divided into two or more government districts, of which there are thirty-five in all. at the head of each of these districts is the district president, also appointed by the crown. in addition there is the kreis, or circle, of which there are some , with populations varying from , to , . these circles are, for all practical purposes, governed by the landrath, who is appointed for life by the crown, and who is so fully recognized as the agent of the central government and not as the servant of the locality in which he rules, that on one occasion several landräthe were summarily dismissed for voting against the government and in conformity to the wishes of the inhabitants of the circle in which they lived! though the landrath is nominated by the circle assembly for appointment by the crown, he can be dismissed by his superiors of the central hierarchy. as his promotion, and his career in fact, is dependent upon these superiors, he naturally sides with the central government in all cases of dispute or friction. further, and this is important, all officials in germany are legally privileged persons. all disputes between individuals and public authorities in germany are decided by tribunals quite distinct from the ordinary courts. these courts are specially constituted, and they aim at protecting the officials from any personal responsibility for acts done by them in their official capacity. in america, and i presume in great britain also, any disputes between public authorities and private individuals are settled in the ordinary courts of justice, under the rules of the ordinary law of the land. this super-common-law position of the prussian official is a fatal incentive to the aggravating exaggeration of his importance, and to the indifference of his behavior to the private citizen. there may be officials who are uninfluenced by this sheltered position, indeed i know personally many who are, but there is equally no doubt that many succumb to arrogance and lethargy as a consequence. how thoroughly prussia is covered by a network of officialdom, is further discovered when it is known, that the entire area of prussia is some twenty thousand square miles less than that of the state of california. the whole prussian doctrine of local self-government, too, is entirely different from ours. their idea is that self-government is the performance by locally elected bodies of the will of the state, not necessarily of the locality which elects them. local authorities, whether elected or not, are supposed to be primarily the agents of the state, and only secondarily the agents of the particular locality they serve. in prussia, all provincial and circle assemblies and communal councils, may be dissolved by royal decree, hence even these elected assemblies may only serve their constituencies at the will and pleasure of the central authority. it would avail little to go into minute details in describing the government of prussia; this slight sketch of the electoral system, and of the centralization of the government, suffices to show two things that it is particularly my purpose to make clear. one is the preponderating influence of prussia in the empire, due to the maintenance of power in a single person; and the other is to show how ridiculously futile it is to refer to prussia as an example of the success of social legislation. the state ownership of railroads, old-age pensions, accident and sickness insurance, and the like are one thing in prussia which is a close corporation, and quite another in any community or country under democratic government. what takes place in prussia would certainly not take place in america or in england. to draw inferences from a state governed as is prussia, for application to such democratic communities as america or england, is as valuable as to argue from the habits of birds, that such and such a treatment would succeed with fish. it was with this autocratic prussia at his back, that the greatest man germany has produced, succeeded in bringing about german unity and the foundation of the german empire. as the representative of prussia in the diet, as her ambassador to russia, and to france, he gained the insight into the european situation which led him to hold as his political creed, that only by blood and iron, and not by declamations and resolutions, could germany be united. "during the time i was in office," he writes, "i advised three wars, the danish, the bohemian, and the french; but every time i have first made clear to myself whether the war, if successful, would bring a prize of victory worth the sacrifices which every war requires, and which now are so much greater than in the last century. i have never looked at international quarrels which can only be settled by a national war from the point of view of the göttingen student code; but i have always considered simply their reaction on the claim of the german people, in equality with the other great states and powers of europe, to lead an autonomous political life, so far as is possible on the basis of our peculiar national capacity." in he writes to von der goltz, then german ambassador in paris: "the question is whether we are a great power or a state in the german federation, and whether we are conformably to the former quality to be governed by a monarch, or, as in the latter case would be at any rate admissible, by professors, district judges, and the gossips of the small towns. the pursuit of the phantom of popularity in germany which we have been carrying on for the last forty years has cost us our position in germany and in europe; and we shall not win this back again by allowing ourselves to be carried away by the stream in the persuasion that we are directing its course, but only by standing firmly on our legs and being, first of all, a great power and a german federal state afterward." after napoleon and the interminable elocutionary squabbles of the german states, first, for constitutional rights, and, second, for some basis of unity among themselves, which were the two main streams of political activity, there were three main steps in the formation of the now existing empire: first, in , the north german confederation under the presidency of prussia and excluding austria; second, the conclusion of treaties, - , between the north german confederation and the south german states; third, the formal union of the north and south german states as an empire in . although the holy roman empire ceased to exist legally in , it is to be remembered that as a fiction weighing still upon the imagination of german politicians, it did not wholly disappear until the war between prussia and austria, for then prussia fought not only austria but bavaria, würtemberg, saxony, hanover, nassau, baden, and the two hesse states, and at sadowa in bohemia the war was settled by the defeat of the austrians before they could be joined by these allies, who were disposed of in detail. frankfort was so harshly treated that the mayor hanged himself, and the prussianizing of hanover has never been entirely forgiven, and the claimants to the throne in exile are still the centre of a political party antagonistic to prussia. the taking over of north schleswig, of hanover, hesse-cassel, and nassau by prussia after the austrian war was according to the rough arbitrament of conquest. "our right," replied bismarck to the just criticism of this spoliation, "is the right of the german nation to exist, to breathe, to be united; it is the right and the duty of prussia to give the german nation the foundation necessary for its existence." in taking alsace-lorraine from france, bismarck insisted that this was a necessary barrier against france and that germany's possession of metz and strassburg were necessities of the situation also. the history of german unity is the biography of bismarck. otto eduard leopold von bismarck was born in schönhausen, in that mark of brandenburg which was the cradle of the prussian monarchy, on the first of april, . his grandfather fought at rossbach under the great frederick. he was confirmed in berlin in by the famous pastor and theologian, schleiermacher, and maintained all his life that without his belief in god he would have found no reason for his patriotism or for any serious work in life. he matriculated as a student of law and science at göttingen in may, , and later at berlin in . he was a tall, large-limbed, blue-eyed young giant, the boldest rider, the best swordsman, and the heartiest drinker of his day. he is still looked upon in germany as the typical hero of corps student life, and his pipe, or his schläger, or his cap, or his kneipe jacket is preserved as the relic of a saint. his was not the tepid virtue born of lack of vitality. one has but to remember augustine and origen and ignatius loyola, to recall the fact that the preachers of salvation, the best of them, have generally had themselves to tame before they mastered the world. this youth bismarck must have had some vigorous battles with bismarck before he married johanna friederika charlotte dorothea eleanore von puttkamer, july , , much against the wishes of her parents, and settled down to his life-work. as was said of john pym, "he thought it part of a man's religion to see that his country was well governed," and his country became his passion. like most men of intense feeling, he loved few people and loyally hated many. more men feared and envied him than liked him. his wife, his sister, his king, a student friend, keyserling, and the american, motley, shared with his country his affection. germany might well take it to heart that it was motley the american who was of all men dearest to her giant creator. the same type of american would serve her better to-day than any other, did she only know it! in he was elected to the prussian chamber. in a whiff of the old dare-devil got loose, and he fought a duel with freiherr von vincke. in he is sent on his first responsible mission to vienna, and found there the traditions of the metternich diplomacy still ruling. what napoleon had said of metternich he no doubt remembered: "il ment trop. il faut mentir quelquefois, mais mentir tout le temps c'est trop!" for he adopted quite the opposite policy in his own diplomatic dealings. in he became a member of the upper house of prussia, and in is sent as minister to st. petersburg. in may, , he is sent as minister to paris, and learns to know, and not greatly to admire, the third napoleon and his court. on the d of september, , he is appointed staats-minister, and a week later thunders out his famous blood-and-iron speech. on october the th, , he is definitely named minister president and minister for foreign affairs. william i had succeeded his brother as king. he was a soldier and a believer in the army, and wished to spend more on it, and to lengthen the time of service with the colors to three years. the legislature opposed these measures. a minister was needed who could bully the legislature, and bismarck was chosen for the task. he spent the necessary money despite the legislative opposition, pleading that a legislature that refused to vote necessary supplies had ipso facto laid down its proper functions, and the king must take over the responsibilities of government that they declined to exercise. the cavalry boots were beginning to trample their way to paris, and to the crowning of an emperor. in february, , prussia and austria together declare war upon denmark over the schleswig-holstein succession. they agree to govern the spoils between them, but fall out over the question of their respective jurisdiction, and the prussian army being ready, and the moltke plan of campaign worked out, war is declared, and in seven weeks the treaty of prague is signed, in , by which austria gives up all her rights in schleswig-holstein, and abandons her claim to take part in the reorganization of germany. the north german confederation is formed to include all lands north of the main; schleswig-holstein, hanover, the hesse states, nassau, and frankfurt-am- main become part of prussia; and the south german states agree to remain neutral, but allies of prussia in war. on the th of march, , a month after the formation of the confederation of the north german states, bismarck proclaims with pride in the new reichstag: "setzen win deutschland, so zu sagen, in den sattel! reiten wird es schon können!" october th, , leopold von sigmaringen, a german prince of the house of hohenzollern, is named for the first time as a candidate for the spanish throne. nobody in germany, or anywhere else, was much more interested in this candidature, than we are now interested in the woman's suffrage or the prohibition candidate at home. but france had looked on with jealous eyes at the vigorous growth and martial successes of prussia. it was thought well to attack her and humiliate her before she became stronger. all france was convinced, too, that the southern german states would revert to their old love in case of actual war, and side with the nephew of their former friend, the great napoleon. the french ambassador is instructed to force the pace. not only must the prussian king disavow all intention to support the candidacy of the german prince, but he must be asked to humiliate himself by binding himself never in the future to push such claims. william i is at ems, and benedetti, the french ambassador, reluctantly presses the insulting demand of his country upon the royal gentleman as he is walking. the king declines to see benedetti again, and telegraphs to bismarck the gist of the interview. lord acton writes: "he [bismarck] drew his long pencil and altered the text, showing only that benedetti had presented an offensive demand, and that the king had refused to see him. that there might be no mistake he made this official by sending it to all the embassies and legations. moltke exclaimed, 'you have converted surrender into defiance.'" the altered telegram was also sent to the norddeutscher allgemeine zeitung and to officials. it is not perhaps generally known that general lebrun went to vienna in june, , to discuss an alliance with austria for an attack on the north german confederation in the following spring. bismarck knew this. this was on the th of july, ; on the th the order was given to mobilize the army, on the st followed the proclamation of the king to his people: "zur errettung des vaterlandes." on august the d, king william took command of the german armies, and on september st, napoleon handed over his sword, and on january the th, , king william of prussia was proclaimed german emperor in the hall of the mirrors in the palace at versailles. "it sounds so lovely what our fathers did, and what we do is, as it was to them, toilsome and incomplete." it is easy to forget in such a rapid survey of events that bismarck could have had any serious opposition to face as he tramped through those eight years, from to , with a kingdom on his back. it is easy to forget that king william himself wished to abdicate in those dark hours, when his people refused him their confidence, and called a halt upon his endeavors to strengthen the absolutely essential instrument for prussia's development, the army; it is easy to forget that even the silent and seemingly imperturbable moltke hesitated and wavered a little at the audacity of his comrade; it is easy to forget the conspiracy of opposition of the three women of the court, the crown princess, frau von blumenthal, and frau von gottberg, all of english birth, and all using needles against this man accustomed to the schläger and the sword; it is easy to forget that even queen victoria's influence was used against him to prevent the reaping of the justifiable fruits of victory in ; it is easy to forget what a bold throw it was to go to war with austria, and to array prussia against the very german states she must later bind to herself; it is easy to forget the dour patience of this irascible giant with the petulant and often petty legislature with which he had to deal. i cannot understand how any german can criticise bismarck, but there are official prigs who do; little decorated bureaucrats who live their lives out poring over papers, with an eye out for a "von" before their bourgeois names, and as void of audacity as a sheep; men who creep up the stairway to promotion and recognition, clinging with cautious grip to the banisters. one sees them, their coats covered with the ceramic insignia of their placid servitude, decorations tossed to them by the careless hand of a master who is satisfied if they but sign his decrees, with the i's properly dotted, and the t's unexceptionably crossed. they are the crumply officials who melted into defencelessness and moral decrepitude after frederick the great, and again at the glance of napoleon, and who owe the little stiffness they have to the fact that bismarck lived. it is one of the things a full-blooded man is least able to bear in germany, to hear the querulous questioning of the great deeds of this man, whose boot-legs were stiffer than the backbones of those who decry him. what a splendid fellow he was! "give me the spirit that, on this life's rough sea, loves to have his sails filled with a lusty wind, even till his sail-yards tremble and his masts do crack, and his rapt ship run on her side so low that she drinks water and her keel ploughs air. there is no danger to a man that knows what life and death is--there's not any law exceeds his knowledge; neither is it lawful that he should stoop to any other law." he was no worshipper of that flimsy culture which is, and has been for a hundred years, an obsession of the german. he knew, none knew better indeed, that the choicest knowledge is only mitigated ignorance. he surprised disraeli with his mastery of english, and napoleon with his fluency in french, both of which he had learned from his huguenot professors. the popular man, the popular book, the popular music, picture, or play, were none of them a golden calf to him. he mastered what he needed for his work, and pretended to no enthusiasm for intellectualism as such. he knew that there is no real culture without character, and that the mere aptitude for knowing and doing without character is merely the simian cleverness that often dazzles but never does anything of importance. "culture!" writes henry morley, "the aim of culture is to bring forth in their due season the fruits of the earth." any learning, any accomplishments, that do not serve a man to bring forth the fruits of the earth in their due season are merely mental gimcracks, flimsy toys, to admire perhaps, to play with, and to be thrown aside as useless when duty makes its sovereign demands. much as germany has done for the development of the intellectual life of the world, she has suffered not a little from the superficial belief still widely held that instruction, that learning, are culture. their great elector, their frederick the great, and their bismarck, should have taught them the contrary by now. the newly crowned german emperor left versailles on march th for berlin, and on march st the first diet of the new empire was opened, and began the task of adapting the constitution to the altered circumstances of the new empire. the german empire now consists of four kingdoms: prussia, bavaria, saxony, and würtemberg; of six grand duchies: baden, hesse-darmstadt, saxe-weimar, oldenburg, meeklenburg-strelitz, and mecklenburg-schwerin; of five duchies: saxe-meinigen, saxe-altenburg saxe-coburg-gotha, brunswick, and anhalt; of seven principalities: schwartzburg-sondershausen, schwartzburg-rudolstadt, waldeck, reuss (older line), reuss (younger line), lippe, and schaumburg-lippe; of three free towns: hamburg, bremen, and lübeck; and of one imperial province: alsace lorraine. the new empire is in a sense a continuation of the north german confederation. there are states, the largest, prussia, with a population of over , , ; the smallest, schaumburg-lippe, with a population of a little more than , and an area of square miles. the central or federal authority controls the army, navy, foreign relations, railways, main roads, canals, post and telegraph, coinage, weights and measures, copyrights, patents, and legislation over nearly the whole field of civil and criminal law, regulation of press and associations, imperial finance and customs tariffs, which are now the same throughout germany. bavaria still manages her own railways, and saxony and würtemberg have certain privileges and exemptions. administration is still almost entirely in the hands of the separate states. the law is imperial, but the judges are appointed by the states, and are under its authority. the supreme court of appeal (reichsgericht) sits at leipsic. the head of the executive government is the emperor, no longer elective but hereditary, and attached to the office of the king of prussia. outside of prussia he has little power in civil matters and no veto on legislation. he is commander-in-chief of the army and of the navy; foreign affairs are in his hands, and in the federal council, or bundesrath, he exercises a mighty influence due to prussia's preponderating influence and voting power. there is no cabinet, just as there is no cabinet in great britain, that modern institution being merely a legislative fiction down to this day. the chancellor of the empire, who is also prime minister of prussia, with several secretaries of state, is chief minister for all imperial affairs. the chancellor presides in the bundesrath, and has the right to speak in the reichstag, and frequently does speak there. indeed, all his more important pronouncements are made there. the chancellor is responsible to the emperor alone, by whom he is nominated, and not to the representatives of the people. the federal council, or bundesrath, or upper chamber of the empire, consists of delegates appointed by and representing the rulers of the various states. there are members. prussia has , bavaria , saxony , würtemberg , baden , hessen , mecklenburg-schwerin , brunswick , and each of the other states . this body meets in berlin, sits in secret, and the delegates have no discretion, but vote as directed by their state governments. here it is that prussia, and through prussia the emperor, dominates. this bundesrath is the most powerful upper chamber in the world. with respect to all laws concerning the army and navy, and taxation for imperial purposes, the vote of prussia shall decide disputes, if such vote be cast in favor of maintaining existing arrangements. in other words, prussia is armed in the bundesrath with a conservative veto! in declaring war and making treaties, the consent of the bundesrath is required. the following articles also give the bundesrath a very complete control of the reichstag. article reads: "the bundesrath shall take action upon ( ) the measures to be proposed to the reichstag and the resolutions passed by the same; ( ) the general administrative provisions and arrangements necessary for the execution of the imperial laws, so far as no other provision is made by law; ( ) the defects which may be discovered in the execution of the imperial laws or of the provisions and arrangements heretofore mentioned." the reichstag, or lower house, is elected by universal suffrage in electoral districts which were originally equal, but as we have noted are far from equal now. this house has three hundred and ninety-seven members, of whom two hundred and thirty-five are from prussia. it sits for five years, but may be dissolved by the bundesrath with the consent of the emperor. all members of the bundesrath, as well as the chancellor, may speak in the reichstag. nor the chancellor, nor any other executive officer, is responsible to the reichstag, nor can be removed by its vote, and the ministers of the emperor are seldom or never chosen from this body. this reichstag is really only nominally a portion of the governing body. it has the right to refuse to pass a bill presented by the government, but if it does so it may be summarily dismissed, as has happened several times, and another election usually provides a more amenable body. of the various political parties in the reichstag we have written elsewhere. it is, perhaps, fair to say that such powerful parties as the socialists and the centrum must be reckoned with by the chancellor. he cannot actually trample upon them, nor can he disregard wholly their wishes in framing and in carrying through legislation. it would be going much too far in characterizing the weakness of the reichstag to leave that impression upon the reader. none the less it remains true that it is the executive who rules and has the whip-hand, and who in a grave crisis can override the representatives of the people assembled in the reichstag, and on more than one occasion this has been done. it seems highly unnecessary to announce after this description of the imperial constitution that there is no such thing in germany as democratic or representative government. but this fact cannot be proclaimed too often since in other countries it is continually assumed that this is the case. all sorts of deductions are made, all sorts of illustrations used, all sorts of legislative and social lessons taught from the example of germany, without the smallest knowledge apparently on the part of those who make them, that germany to-day is no more democratic than was turkey twenty years ago. what can be done and what is done in germany has no possible bearing upon what can be done in america or in england. all analogies are false, all illustrations futile, all examples valueless, for the one reason that the empire of germany is governed by one man, who declaims his independence of the people and admits his responsibility to god alone. this may be either a good or a bad thing. certainly in many matters of economical and comfortable government for the people� witness more particularly the development and wise control of their municipalities�they are a century ahead of us, but this is not the question under discussion. the point is, that a compact nation under strict centralized control, served by a trained horde of officials with no wish for a change, and backed by a standing army of over seven hundred thousand men, who are not only a defence against the foreigner, but a powerful police against internal revolution, cannot serve as a model in either its successes or failures for a democratic country like ours. where in germany legislative schemes succeed easily when this huge bureaucratic machine is behind them, they would fail ignominiously in a country lacking this machinery, and lacking these pitiably tame people accustomed to submission. in france, for example, that thrifty and individualistic folk made a complete failure of the attempt to foist contributory old-age pensions upon them, and i doubt whether such sumptuary legislation can succeed with us. that, however, is neither here nor there. the gist of the matter is, that because such things succeed in germany, gives not the slightest reason for supposing that they will succeed with us. if this outline of their history and this sketch of their government have done nothing else, it must have made this clear. it may also help to show how vapid is the talk about what the german people will or will not do; whether they will or will not have war, for example. we shall have war when the german kaiser touches a button and gives an order, and the german people will have no more to say in the matter than you and i. iii the indiscreet the casual observer of life in england would find himself forced to write of sport, even as in india he would write of caste, as in america he would note the undue emphasis laid upon politics. in germany, wherever he turns, whether it be to look at the army, to inquire about the navy, to study the constitution, or to disentangle the web of present-day political strife; to read the figures of commercial and industrial progress, or the results of social legislation; to look on at the germans at play during their yachting week at kiel, or their rowing contests at frankfort, he finds himself face to face with the emperor. the student visits berlin, or potsdam, or wilhelmshöhe; or with a long stride finds himself on the docks at hamburg or bremen, or beside the kiel canal, or in kiel harbor facing a fleet of war-ships; or he lifts his eyes into the air to see a dirigible balloon returning from a voyage of two hundred and fifty miles toward london over the north sea, and the emperor is there. is it the palace hidden in its shrubbery in the country; is it the clean, broad streets and decorations of the capital; is it a discussion of domestic politics, or a question of foreign politics, the emperor's hand is there. his opinion, his influence, what he has said or has not said, are inextricably interwoven with the woof and web of german life. we may like him or dislike him, approve or disapprove, rejoice in autocracy or abominate it, admire the far-reaching discipline, or regret the iron mould in which much of german life is encased, but for the moment all this is beside the mark. here is a man who in a quarter of a century has so grown into the life of a nation, the most powerful on the continent, and one of the three most powerful in the world, that when you touch it anywhere you touch him, and when you think of it from any angle of thought, or describe it from any point of view, you find yourself including him. personally, i should have been glad to leave this chapter unwritten. i have no taste for the discussion and analysis of living persons, even when they are of such historic and social importance, and of such magnitude, that i am thus given the proverbial license of the cat. but to write about germany without writing about the emperor is as impossible as to jump away from one's own shadow. when the sun is behind any phase or department of german life, the shadow cast is that of germany's emperor. this is not said because it is pleasing to whomsoever it may be, for in germany, and in much of the world outside germany, this situation is looked upon as unfavorable, and even deplorable; and certainly no american can look upon it with equanimity, for it is of the essence of his americanism to distrust it. it is, however, so much a fact that to neglect a discussion of this personality would be to leave even so slight a sketch of germany as this, hopelessly lop-sided. he so pervades german life that to write of the germany of the last twenty-five years without attempting to describe william the second, german emperor, would be to leave every question, institution, and problem of the country without its master-key. in other chapters dealing more particularly with the political development of germany, and with the salient characteristics, mental and moral, of the people, we shall see how it has come about, that one man can thus impregnate a whole nation of sixty-five millions with his own aims and ambitions, to such an extent, that they may be said, so to speak, to live their political, social, martial, religious, and even their industrial, life in him. it is a phenomenon of personality that exists nowhere else in the world to-day, and on so large a scale and among so enlightened a people, perhaps never before in history. nothing has made scientific accuracy in dealing with the most interesting and most important factors in the world, so utterly inaccurate and misleading, as those infallibly accurate and impersonal agents, electricity and the sun. if one were to judge a man by his photographs, and the gossip of the press, one would be sure to know nothing more valuable about him than that his mustache is brushed up, and that his brows are permanently lowering. personality is so evasive that one may count upon it that when a machine says "there it is!" then there it is not! you will have everything that is patent and nothing that is pertinent. we are forever talking and writing about the smallness of the world, of how much better we know one another, and of how much more we should love one another, now that we flash photographs and messages to and fro, at a speed of leagues a second. nothing could be more futile and foolish. these things have emphasized our differences, they have done nothing to realize our likeness to one another. we are as far from one another as in the days, late in the tenth century, when they complained in england that men learned fierceness from the saxon of germany, effeminacy from the fleming, and drunkenness from the dane. as probably the outstanding figure and best-known, superficially known, man in the world, the german emperor has escaped the notice of very few people who notice anything. his likeness is everywhere, and gossip about him is on every tongue. he is as familiar to the american as roosevelt, to the englishman as lloyd-george, to the frenchman as dreyfus, to the russian as his czar, and to the chinese and japanese as their most prominent political figure. and yet i should say that he is comparatively little known, either externally or internally, as he is. it is perhaps the fate of those of most influence to be misunderstood. of this, i fancy, the emperor does not complain. indeed, those feeble folk who complain of being misunderstood, ought to console themselves with the thought that practically all our imperishable monuments, are erected to the glory of those whom we condemned and criticised; starved and stoned; burned and crucified, when we had them with us. william ii, german emperor and king of prussia, was born january , , and became german emperor june , . he is, therefore, in the prime of life, and looks it. his complexion and eyes are as clear as those of an athlete, and his eyes, and his movements, and his talk are vibrating with energy. he stands, i should guess, about five feet eight or nine, has the figure and activity of an athletic youth of thirty, and in his hours of friendliness is as careless in speech, as unaffected in manner, as lacking in any suspicion of self- consciousness, or of any desire to impress you with his importance, as the simplest gentleman in the land. alas, how often this courageous and gentlemanly attitude has been taken advantage of! i have headed this chapter the indiscreet, and i propose to examine these so-called indiscretions in some detail, but for the moment i must ask: is there any excuse for, or any social punishment too severe for, the man who, introduced into a gentleman's house in the guise of a gentleman, often by his own ambassador, leaves it, to blab every detail of the conversation of his host, with the gesticulations and exclamation points added by himself? to add a little to his own importance, he will steal out with the conversational forks and spoons in his pockets, and rush to a newspaper office to tell the world that he has kept his soiled napkin as a souvenir. the only indiscretion in such a case is when the host, or his advisers, or gentlemen anywhere, heed the lunatic laughter of such a social jackal. to count one's words, to tie up one's phrases in caution, to dip each sentence in a diplomatic antiseptic, in the company of those to whom one has conceded hospitality, what a feeble policy! better be brayed to the world every day as indiscreet than that! it is a fine quality in a man to be in love with his job. even though you have little sympathy with savonarola's fierceness or wesley's hardness, they were burning up all the time with their allegiance to their ideals of salvation. they served their lord as lovers. many men, even kings and princes and other potentates, give the impression that they would enjoy a holiday from their task. they seem to be harnessed to their duties rather than possessed by them; they appear like disillusioned husbands rather than as radiant lovers. the german emperor is not of that class. he loves his job. in his first proclamation to his people he declared that he had taken over the government "in the presence of the king of kings, promising god to be a just and merciful prince, cultivating piety and the fear of god." he has proclaimed himself to be, as did frederick the great and his grandfather before him, the servant of his people. certainly no one in the german empire works harder, and what is far more difficult and far more self-denying, no one keeps himself fitter for his duties than he. he eats no red meat, drinks almost no alcohol, smokes very little, takes a very light meal at night, goes to bed early and gets up early. he rides, walks, shoots, plays tennis, and is as much in the open air as his duties permit. it is not easy for the american to put side by side the attitudes of a man, who is the autocratic master and at the same time declares himself to be the first servant of his people. perhaps if it is phrased differently it will not seem so contradictory. what this emperor means, and what all princes who have believed in their right to rule meant, was not that they were the servants of their people, but the servants of their own obligations to their people, and of the duties that followed therefrom. if in addition to this the claim is made by the sovereign, that his right to rule is of divine origin, then his service to his obligations becomes of the highest and most sacred importance. we should not allow our democratic prejudices to stifle our understanding in such matters. we are trying to get clearly in perspective a ruler, who claims to rule in obedience to no mandates from the people, but in obedience to god. we could not be ruled by such a one in america; and in england such a ruler would be deemed unconstitutional. it is elementary, but necessary to repeat, that we are writing of germany and the germans, and of their history, traditions, and political methods. we are making no defence of either the german emperor or the german people; neither are we occupying an american pulpit to preach to them the superiority of other methods than their own. my sole task is to make clear the german situation, and not by any means to set up my own or my countrymen's standards for their adoption. i am not searching for that paltry and ephemeral profit that comes from finding opportunities to laugh or to sneer. i am seeking for the german successes, and they are many, and for the reasons for them, and for the lessons that we may learn from them. any other aim in writing of another people is ignoble. this attitude of the ruler will be as incomprehensible to the democratic citizen as alchemy, but, in order to draw anything like true inferences or useful deductions, in order to understand the situation and to get a true likeness of the ruler, one must take this utterly unfamiliar and to us incomprehensible claim into consideration, and acknowledge its existence whether we admit the claim as justifiable or not. the relation of such a ruler to his people is like that of a catholic bishop to his flock. the contract is not one made with hands, but is an inalienable right on the one hand, and an undisseverable tie upon the other. bismarck wrote on this subject: "für mich sind die worte, 'von gottes gnaden,' welche christliche herrscher ihrem namen beifügen, kein leerer schall, sondern ich sehe darin das bekenntniss, des fürsten das scepter was ihnen gott verliehen hat, nur nach gottes willen auf erden führen wollen." on several occasions the german emperor has made it unmistakably clear that this is his view of the origin and sanctity of his responsibilities. "if we have been able to accomplish what has been accomplished, it is due above all things to the fact that our house possesses a tradition by virtue of which we consider that we have been appointed by god to preserve and direct, for their own welfare, the people over whom he has given us power." these words are from a speech made in at bremen. in , at königsberg, he declares: "it was in this spot that my grandfather in his own right placed the royal crown of prussia upon his head, insisting once again that it was bestowed upon him by the grace of god alone, and not by parliaments and meetings and decisions of the people. he thus regarded himself as the chosen instrument of heaven, and as such carried out his duties as a ruler and lord. i consider myself such an instrument of heaven, and shall go my way without regard to the views and opinions of the day." prince henry of prussia, the popular, and deservedly popular, sailor brother of the emperor, has signified his entire allegiance to this doctrine by saying that he was actuated by one single motive: "a desire to proclaim to the nations the gospel of your majesty's sacred person, and to preach that gospel alike to those who will listen and to those who will not." this language has a strange and far-away sound to us. it is as though one should come into the market-place with the bannered pomp of milton's prose upon his lips. the vicious would think it a trick, the idle would look upon it as a heavy form of joking, the intelligent would see in it a superstition, or a dream of knighthood that has faded into unrecognizable dimness. some men, on the other hand, might wish that all rulers and governors whatsoever were equally touched with the sanctity of their obligations. it is somewhat strange in this connection to remember, that we all wish to have our wives and daughters believers; that we all wish to bind to us those whom we love with more sacred bonds than those which we ourselves can supply. we are none of us loath to have those who keep our treasures, believe in some code higher than that of "honesty is the best policy." as archbishop whately said: "honesty is the best policy, but he who is honest for that reason is not an honest man." far be it from me to appear as an advocate of the divine right of kings; but i am no fit person for this particular task if i have only a sniff, or a guffaw, as an explanation of another's beliefs. history sparkles with the lives of men and women, who proclaimed themselves messengers and servants of god, obedient to him first, and utterly and courageously negligent of that feline commodity, public opinion. every man, even to-day, "who each for the joy of the working, and each in his separate star, shall draw the thing as he sees it for the god of things as they are," has a grain of this salt of divine independence in him. to-day, even as in the days of pericles: "it is ever from the greatest hazards that the greatest honors are gained," and the greatest hazard of all is to shut your visor and couch your lance and have at your task with a whispered: god and my right! it is well to remember that under no government, whether democratic or aristocratic, has the individual ever been given any rights. he has always everywhere been pointed to his duties; his rights he must conquer for himself. the liberal in theology, as the liberal in politics, has perhaps leaned too far toward softness. the democratization of religion has gone on with the rest, and in our rebound from calvin, and john knox, and jonathan edwards, we have left all discipline and authority out of account. we have preached so persistently of the fatherhood of god, of his nearness to us, of his profound pity for us, that we have lost sight of his justice and his power. this nearness has become a sort of innocuous neighborliness, and god is looked upon not as a ruler, but as a vaporish good fellow whose chief business it is to forgive. we have substituted a feverish-handed charity for a sinewy faith, and are excusing our divorce from divinely imposed duties, by a cheerful but illicit intercourse with chance acquaintances, all of whom are dubbed social service. this cashmere-shawl theology is as idle an interpretation of man's relation to the universe, and far more debilitating, than any that has gone before. when we come to measure rulers who make divine claims for their duties, from any such coign of flabbiness as this, no wonder we stand dumb. i am willing to concede that perhaps even an emperor has been baptized with the blood of the martyrs, and feels himself to be in all sincerity the instrument of god; if we are to understand this one, we must admit so much. in certain departments of life, we not only grant, but we demand, that our wives and mothers should look upon their special duties and peculiar functions as divinely imparted, and as beyond argument, and as above coercion. this assumption, therefore, of inalienable rights is not so strange to us; on the contrary, it is an every-day affair in most of our lives. this particular manifestation of it is all that is new or surprising. we americans and english look upon it as dangerous, but the germans, more mystical and far more lethargic about liberty than are we, are not greatly disturbed by it. the secular press, largely in jewish hands, and the new socialist members of the reichstag, jealous of their prerogatives but unable to assert them, criticise and even scream their abhorrence and unbelief; but i am much mistaken, if the mass of the germans are at heart much disturbed by their emperor's assertions of his divine right to rule. a conservative member of the reichstag speaks of, "a parliament which will maintain the monarch in his strong position as the wearer of the german imperial crown, not the semblance of a monarch but one that is dependent upon something higher than party and parliament--one dependent upon the king of all kings." to a thoroughbred american, with two and more centuries of the traditions of independence behind him, this question of the divine right of kings is a commonplace. he is a king himself, he holds his own rights to be divine, and his influence and his power to be limited only by his character and his abilities, like that of any other sovereign. he may rule over few or many, he may control the destiny of only one or of many subjects, he may be well known or little known, but that he is a sovereign individual by the grace of god, it never occurs to him to doubt. it is perhaps for this reason that the real american is placid and unself-conscious before this claim. it is those who admit and suffer from the exactions and tyrannies of such a claim that he pities, not the man who makes it, whom he distrusts. i carry my sovereignty under my hat, says the american; if any man or men can knock off the hat and take away the sovereignty, there is a fair field and no favor; for those who whimper and complain of tyranny he has long since ceased to have a high regard. that william the second is the chief figure of interest in the world to-day is due, not alone to this assumption of a divine relation to the state, or to his own vigorous and electric personality, but to the freedom to develop and to express that personality. men in politics have dwindled in importance and in power, as the voters have increased in numbers and in influence. genius must be true to itself to bloom luxuriantly. it is impossible to be seeking the suffrage of a constituency and at the same time to be wholly one's self. the german emperor is unhampered, as is no other ruler, by considerations of popular favor; and at the same time he directs and influences not russian peasants, nor turkish slaves, but an instructed, enlightened, and ambitious people. this environment is unique in the world to-day, and the germans as a whole seem to consider their ruler a valuable asset, despite occasional vagaries that bring down their own and foreign criticism upon him. here we have a versatile and vigorous personality with no shadow of a stain upon his character, and with no question upon the part of his bitterest enemy of the honesty of his intentions, or of his devotion to his country's interests. so far as he has been assailed abroad, it is on the score that he has made his country so powerful in the last twenty-five years that germany is a menace to other powers; so far as he has been criticised at home it is on the score of his indiscretions. it is of prime importance, therefore, both to glance at the progress of germany and to examine these so-called indiscretions. throughout these chapters will be found facts and figures dealing with the fairy-like change which has taken place in germany since my own student days. i can remember when a chimney was a rare sight. now there are almost as many manufacturing towns as then there were chimneys. leipzig was a big country town, pforzheim, chemnitz, oschatz, elberfeld, riessa, kiel, essen, rheinhausen, and their armies of laborers, and their millions of output, were mere shadows of what they are now. in , when bismarck began his attempts at railway legislation, germany was divided into sixty-three "railway provinces," and there were fifteen hundred different tariffs, and it is to be remembered that it was only as late as that the state system of railways at last triumphed in prussia. in only ten years the railway trackage has increased from , to , miles; the number of locomotives from , to , ; freight-cars from , to , ; the passengers carried from , , to , , , ; and the tons of freight carried from , , tons to , , tons. in prussia alone there are , , more horses, , , more beef cattle, and , , more pigs. the total production of beet sugar in the world approximates , , tons; of this amount germany produces , , tons. great britain consumes more sugar per head of the population than any other country, and of her consumption of , , tons of beet sugar all of it is produced from beets grown on the continent. between and the population increased from , , to , , . the expenditure on the navy has increased in the last ten years from $ , , to $ , , , and the number of men from , to , , with another increase in both money and men, voted at the moment of this writing in the summer of . the debt of germany, exclusive of paper money, in was , , marks; in it stood at , , , . in the funded debt of the empire was , , , marks, and the funded debt of the states , , , ; and the floating debt amounts to , , , of which prussia alone bears , , and the empire , , . between the years and a debt of $ , , was incurred, bearing an average interest charge of / per cent. in the year the combined expenditures of the states and of the empire reached the enormous total of $ , , , . the debt of the city of berlin alone in had reached $ , , and has increased in the last two years. for purposes of comparison one may note that our own later national budgets run roughly to $ , , , . the british budget for was $ , , . after the french war, speculation on a large scale ensued. the payment of the $ , , , indemnity had a bad effect. as has often happened in america, money, or the mere means of exchange, was taken for wealth. the earth will be as cold as the moon before men learn that the only real wealth is health. many schemes and companies were floated and after there was a prolonged financial crisis in germany. it is said that bankruptcy and the liquidation of bubble companies entailed a loss of a round $ , , . it was in - , when germany was thus suffering, that the policy of protection was mooted and finally put into operation by bismarck in . ten years later the laws for accident, old age, and sickness insurance were passed, at the instigation and under the direct influence of the present emperor. the tonnage of steam vessels under , tons in great britain (net tons) was, some five years ago, , , ; in germany (gross tons), , ; but the tonnage of steam vessels of , tons and over was in great britain , , , in germany , , ! it should be added that no small part of great britain's big ships belong to the american shipping trust, sailing under the british flag. albert ballin became a director of the hamburg-american line in , and was made general director in . during his directorship the capital of the line has been increased from , , to , , of marks, and the number of steamers from to . germany's combined export and import trade in was $ , , , ; in , $ , , , ; and in it was $ , , , ; in , $ , , , . the german production of coal and coal products in was the highest in its history, amounting to , , metric tons. it would be easy enough to chronicle the commercial and industrial strides of germany during the last quarter of a century by the compilation of a catalogue of figures. it is not my intention to persuade the reader to believe in any such fantastic theory as that the present kaiser is entirely responsible for this progress. i am no pygmalion that i can make an emperor by breathing prayers before pages of statistics. it is only fair, however, in any sketch of the emperor to give this skeleton outline of what has taken place in the empire over which he rules, and which, in certain quarters, it is said, he menaces by his predilection for war. these few figures spell peace, they do not spell war, and the ruler who has some , armed men at his back, and a navy the second in strength in the world guarding his shores, and a mercantile marine carrying his trade which is hard on the heels of great britain as a rival, but who has none the less kept his country at peace with the world for twenty-five years, may be credited at least with good intentions. it may be said in answer to this same argument that this building and training and enriching of a nation are a threat in themselves. true, a strong man is more dangerous than a weak one; but it is equally true that a strong man is a greater safeguard than a weak one where the question of peace is at stake. it is also true that a rich and powerful man must needs take more precautions against attack and robbery than a tramp. a tramp seldom carries even a bunch of keys, and pays no premium on fire, accident, or burglary insurance. william the second knows his history as well as any of his people, and incomparably better than his english, french, or american critics. he knows that only twenty years after the death of frederick the great, the prussian power went down before napoleon like a house of cards, and that the country's humiliation was stamped in bold outlines when napoleon was received in berlin with the ringing of bells, the firing of cannons, and he himself greeted as a savior and a benefactor. that was only a hundred years ago. is it an indiscretion, then, when the present ruler, speaking at brandenburg the th of march, , says: "i look upon the people and nation handed on to me as a responsibility conferred upon me by god, and that it is, as is written in the bible, my duty to increase this heritage, for which one day i shall be called upon to give an account; those who try to interfere with my task, i shall crush"? on his accession to the throne his first two proclamations were to the army and the navy, his third to the people. on the th of july, , he reviewed the fleet at kiel, and for the first time an emperor of germany and king of prussia appeared there in the uniform of an admiral. in april, , queen victoria celebrated the sixtieth year of her reign, and prince henry represented germany, appearing as admiral of the fleet in an old battle-ship, the king william. on the th of april the emperor telegraphed to his brother: "i regret exceedingly that i cannot put at your disposition for this celebration a better ship, especially when all other countries are appearing with their finest ships of war. it is a sad consequence of the manoeuvring of those unpatriotic persons who have obstructed the construction of even the most necessary war-ships. but i shall know no rest till i have placed our navy on a par for strength with our army." from that day to this he has gone steadily forward demanding of his people a strong army and a powerful fleet. he now has both. he has pulled germany out of danger and beyond the reach, for the moment at least, of any repetition of the catastrophe and humiliation of a hundred years ago. this is a solid fact, and for this situation the emperor is largely, one might almost say wholly, responsible. one hears and one reads criticisms of the emperor's habit of speaking and writing of "my navy." it is said that the other states of germany have borne taxation to build the fleet, and that it is no more the emperor's than that of the king of bavaria, or of würtemberg, or of saxony. this is the petty, pin-pricking babble of boarding-school girls, or of those official supernumeraries who have turned sour in their retirement. even the honest democrat is made indignant. if the german navy is not the work of william the second, then its parentage is far to seek; and if the german navy is not proud to be called "my navy," it is wofully lacking in gratitude to its creator. no man who looks back over his own career, say of twenty-five years, but is both chastened and amused. he is chastened by the unforeseen dangers that he has escaped; he is amused by the certificates of failure, and the prophecies of disaster, that always everywhere accompany the man who takes part in the game in preference to sitting in the reserved seats, or peeking through a hole in the fence. i have not been honored with any such intimate association with the german emperor as would enable me to say whether he has a highly developed sense of humor or not. i can only say for myself, that if i had lived through his majesty's last twenty-five years, i should need no other fillip to digestion than my chuckles over the prophecies of my enemies. it has been said of him that he is volatile; that he flies from one task to another, finishing nothing; that his artistic tastes are the extravagant dreams of a nero; that he loves publicity as a worn and obese soprano loves the centre of the stage; that his indiscretions would bring about the discharge of the most inconspicuous petty official. others speak and write of him as a hero of mythology, as a mystic and a dreamer, looking for guidance to the traditions of mediaeval knighthood; while others, again, dub him a modernist, insist that he is a commercial traveller, hawking the wares of his country wherever he goes, and with an eye ever to the interests of bremen and hamburg and essen and pforzheim. again, you hear that he is a prussian junker, or that he is a cavalry officer, with all the prejudices and limitations of such a one; while, on the other hand, he is chided for enlisting the financial help of rich jews and industrials. he is versatile, but versatility is a virtue so long as it does not extend to one's principles. every man who has profoundly influenced the life of the world, from moses to lincoln, has been versatile. carlyle goes so far as to say: "i confess, i have no notion of a truly great man that could not be all sorts of men." he speaks french well enough to address the académie; he speaks english as well as a cultivated american, and no one speaks it more distinctly, more crisply, more trippingly upon the tongue, these days; he preaches a capital sermon; he is an accomplished binder of books; he is a successful and enthusiastic farmer, and he is frankly audacious in his loves and hatreds, his ambitions and his beliefs. he has, in short, no vermin blood in him at any rate. if you do not like him, you know why; and if you do, you know why as easily. he even knows what he believes about woman's suffrage and about god, a rare conciseness of thinking in these troublous times. there stands before you a man apparently as sound in mind and in body as any man who treads german soil; a man of great vivacity of mind and manner, and of wholesome delight in living; who bears huge responsibilities with good humor, and that most unwholesome of all things, undisputed power, with humility. at a banquet in brandenburg the th of march, , speaking of his many voyages, he said: "he who, alone at sea, standing on the bridge, with nothing over him but god's heaven, has communed with himself will not mistake the value of such voyages. i could wish for many of my countrymen that they might live through similar hours of self-contemplation, where a man takes stock of what he has tried to do, and of what he has accomplished. then it is that a man is cured of vanity, and we have all of us need of that." it is obvious that a man cannot be modest, as the above quotation would indicate, and at the same time preening with vanity; a sir philip sidney and a jew peddler; a careless, dashing cavalry officer or proud prussian squire, and at the same time a wary and astute insurance agent for the empire; a preacher of duty and honor, and belief in god, and at the same time a political comedian deceiving his rivals abroad, and hoodwinking his subjects at home. not a few men, even of slight powers of observation and of meagre experience, have noted the strange fact that a blank and direct statement of the truth is very apt to be put down as a lie; and that a man who frankly expresses his beliefs and ambitions, and openly goes about his business and his pleasures with no thought of concealment, is often regarded as machiavellian and deceitful, because a timid and cautious world finds it hard to believe that he is really as audacious as he appears. even those with the most limited list, of the great names of history at their disposal, cannot fail to remember that simplicity and directness have in the persons of their highest exemplars been misunderstood; hunted down like wild beasts, burned, crucified, and then, when they were well out of the way, crowned and held up to humanity as the saviors of the race. we will have none of them when authority, faith, truth, courage, show us our distorted images in the mirror of their lives. crucify him, crucify him! has always been the cry when such a one asserts his moral kingship, or his sonship to god, or his audacious intention to live his own life; and in less tragic fashion, but none the less along the same lines, the world tends to pick at, and to fray the moral garments of, its leaders still to-day. when such a one succeeds through sheer simplicity, then that last feeble epitaph of mediocrity is applied to him: "he is lucky," because so few people realize that "luck," is merely not to be dependent upon luck. it is apparent from the quotations i have given, and many more of the same tenor are at our disposal, that the personality we are studying has a very definite image of his place in the world, of the duties he is called upon to perform, of his rights according to his own conception of his authority and responsibilities, and of his intentions. it is equally apparent that he looks upon history in quite another way than that usually accepted by the modern scientific historian. taine and green may explain everything, even kings and emperors, by the forces of climate, environment, and the slow-heaving influence of the people. this school of historians will tell you how charlemagne, and luther, and cromwell, and napoleon are to be accounted for by purely material explanations. the german emperor apparently believes that the history of the world and the development of mankind are due to a series of mighty factors, mysteriously endowed from on high and bearing the names of men, and not infrequently the names of emperors and kings. he is continually recalling his ancestors, the great elector, frederick the great, and william i, his grandfather. these men made prussia and prussia made the german empire, he declares. to the brandenburg parliament he says: "it is the great merit of my ancestors that they have always stood aloof from and above all parties, and that they have always succeeded in making political parties combine for the welfare of the whole people." due to a quality in the german character that need not be discussed here, it is true that they have been led, and driven, and welded by powerful individuals. no magna charta, no cromwell, no declaration of independence is to be found in german history. no vigorous demand from the people themselves marks their progress. you can read all there is of german history in the biographies of the great elector, of frederick william the first, of frederick the great, of york, of von stein, hardenberg, sharnhorst, and blücher, of bismarck, william i, and the present emperor. what the kaiser believes of history is true of german history. if he asserts himself as he does in germany, it is because two hundred and fifty years of german history put him wholly and entirely in the right. it is to be presumed that what every student of german history may see for himself, has not escaped the flexible intelligence of the present emperor, and that is, that only the autocratic kings of prussia succeeded, and that only an autocratic statesman succeeded, in bringing the whole country into line, by the acknowledgment of the king of prussia, and his heirs forever, as german emperors. the first so-called indiscretion of the present emperor was magnificent. he dismissed bismarck two years after he came to the throne. if you have ever been the owner of a yacht and your sailing-master has grown to be a tyrant, and you have taken your courage in your hand and bundled him over the side, you have had in a microcosmic way the sensations of such an experience. it is said that bismarck, then seventy-five years old, and since accustomed to undisputed power, demurred to the wish of the emperor that the other ministers should have access to him directly, and not as heretofore only through the chancellor. it is said too that the matter-of-fact and somewhat cynical bismarck, had but scanty respect for the mystical view of his grandfather as a saint, that the emperor everywhere proclaimed. in , the th of february, in speaking of his grandfather, he refers to him as: "the emperor william, that personality which has become for us in some sort that of a saint." bismarck, too, objected to the emperor's policy as regards the treatment of, and the legislation for, the workingmen. on february the th, , he writes to bismarck: "it is the duty of the state to regulate the duration and conditions of work in such manner that the health and the morality of the workingman may be preserved, and that his needs may be satisfied and his desire for equality before the law assured." "now this is the tale of the council the german kaiser decreed, "and the young king said:�'i have found it, the road to the rest ye seek: the strong shall wait for the weary, and the hale shall halt for the weak; with the even tramp of an army where no man breaks from the line, ye shall march to peace and plenty, in the bond of brotherhood�sign!'" whatever the reasons, the criticisms, or the causes, the man whom we have been describing was as certain to dismiss bismarck from office, as a bird is certain to fly and not to swim. the ruler who at a banquet may the th, , proclaimed: "there is only one master of the nation: and that is i, and i will not abide any other"; and later, on the th of november, in an address to recruits said: "i need christian soldiers, soldiers who say their pater noster. the soldier should not have a will of his own, but you should all have but one will and that is my will; there is but one law for you and that is mine." again, in addressing the recruits for the navy on the th of march, , he said to them: "just as i, as emperor and ruler, consecrate my life and my strength to the service of the nation, so you are pledged to give your lives to me." such a man could not share his rule with bismarck. bismarck left berlin amid groans and tears. a prop had been rudely pushed from beneath the empire. the young emperor would stumble and sway, and fall without this strong guide beside him. men said this was the first sign of an imperious will and temper. there is an arab proverb which runs: "when god wishes to destroy an ant he gives it wings." the kaiser was to be given power for his own destruction. but what has happened? absolutely nothing of these evil prophecies. in bismarck was saying to gerhard rohlfs, the african explorer: "the main thing is, we neither can nor really want to colonize. we shall never have a fleet like france. our artisans and lawyers and time-expired soldiers are no good as colonists." if the ideas of william the second were to prevail, it was time that bismarck went over the side as pilot of the ship of state. the kaiser in appropriate terms regretted the loss of this tried public servant and said: "however, the course remains the same� full steam ahead!" three days after the jameson raid, on the d of january, , the kaiser telegraphed to president krüger: "i beg to express to you my sincere congratulations that, without help from foreign powers, you have succeeded with your own people and by your own strength in driving out the armed bands which attempted to disturb the peace of your country, and in reestablishing order and in defending the independence of your people from attacks from outside." on the th of october, , the daily telegraph of london published a long interview with the emperor, the gist of which was that the british press and people continued to distrust him, while all the time he was and had been the friend of great britain. the emperor cited instances of his friendship, declared the english were as mad as march hares not to believe in him; insisted that by reason of germany's increasing foreign commerce, and on account of the growing menace to peace in the pacific ocean, germany was determined to have an adequate fleet, which perhaps one day even england might be glad to have alongside of her own. in addition to these two incidents, the emperor had written a letter to lord tweedmouth, who was already then a sick man, and probably not wholly responsible, in which it was said he had offered advice as to the increase of the british navy. i have described these furious indiscretions, as they were called at the time, together, though they were years apart; for these utterances, and the constant repetition of his sense of responsibility to god, and not to the people he governs, are the heart of this whole contention that the german emperor is indiscreet, is indiscreet even to the point of damaging his own prestige, and injuring his country's interests abroad. of all these so-called indiscretions there is the question to ask: should these things have been said? should these things have been written? there are several things to be said in answer to these questions. i shall treat each one in turn, but all these statements told the truth and cleared the air. the krüger telegram was not written by the emperor, and when the worst construction is put upon it, it expressed what? it was merely the condemnation of freebooting methods, a condemnation, be it said, that it received from many right- minded and sincerely patriotic englishmen, a condemnation too that was re-echoed from america. only the honorable and winning personality of one of the most patriotic and charming men in england, sir starr jameson, saved the raid from looking like piracy. a brave man spoke his mind about it, and he happened to be in a position so conspicuous that the rumble of his words was heard afar. so far as the daily telegraph interview is concerned, the secret history of the incident has never been fully divulged. one may say, however, without fear of contradiction that the importance of the matter was unduly magnified, by those, both at home and abroad, who had something to gain by exaggeration. it is admitted on all sides by those best informed that at any rate the emperor was neither responsible for the publication, a point to be kept in mind, nor for the choice of expressions used in the interview. the letter to lord tweedmouth was a friendly communication dealing with the conditions of the british and german fleets in the past and present, and without a word in it that might not have been published in the times. it was quite innocent of the sinister significance placed upon it by those who had not seen it; and the british ministry declined to publish it for entirely different reasons, reasons in no way connected with the german emperor. as we read the daily telegraph interview to-day, it is a plain document. every word of it is true. the moment one looks at it from the point of view, that the emperor of germany is sincerely desirous of an amiable understanding with england, and that he is, for the peace and quiet of the world, working toward that end, there is no adverse criticism to be passed upon it. the english are thoroughly and completely mistaken about the attitude of the german emperor toward them. he is far and away the best and most powerful friend they have in europe, and i, for one, would be willing to forgive him were he irritated at their misunderstanding of him. personally, i have not the shadow of a doubt that had france or russia treated the german emperor with the cool distrust shown him by the british, the german army and fleet would have moved ere this. to those who know the britisher he is forgiven for those luxuries of insular stupidity which punctuate his history. i know what a fine fellow he is, and i pass them by. mr. churchill speaks of the german fleet as a "luxury"; but this is only one of those cold-storage impromptus that a reputation for cleverness must keep on hand, and when lord haldane in a clumsy attempt to praise the german emperor speaks of him as "half english" i laugh, as one laughs at the story of fat gibbon kneeling to propose to a lady and requiring a servant to get him on his legs again. british courting often needs a lackey to keep it on its legs. could anything be more burningly irritable to the germans than those two unnecessary statements? for the moment i am dealing with the attitude of the emperor alone. of the tirades of chamberlain and woltmann, schmoller, treitschke, delbrück, zorn, and other under-exercised professors, one may speak elsewhere. they are as unpardonable as the yokel rhetoric of our british friends. of the emperor's insistence upon his friendliness, of his outspoken betrayal of his real feelings, of his audacious policy of telling the blunt truth, i am, alas, no fair judge, for i am too entirely the advocate of keeping as few cats in the bag as possible. if these things had not been said and written, it is true that there would have been no tumult; having been said and written, i fail to see the slightest indication in the political life of either germany or england to-day that they did harm. certainly, from his own point of view of what his position entails, they can hardly, as the radicals in germany claim, be considered as unconstitutional or beyond his prerogative. when the german emperor says: "i," he refers to the authority and responsibility and dignity of the german imperial crown. he is not magnifying his personal importance; he is emphasizing the dignity and importance of every german citizen. let us try to understand the situation before we pass judgment! both german radicalism and german socialism are peculiar to germany, and everywhere misunderstood abroad. they both demand things of the government for the easement of their position, they both demand certain privileges, but they do not seek or want either authority or responsibility. look at the figures of their proportionate increase and compare this with their actual influence in the reichstag to-day. from to , here is the percentage of votes cast by the five representative political parties: the national liberals........... . . . the freisinnige and south german volkspartei..................... . . . the conservatives, including the deutsche and freikonservative... . . . the centrum (catholic party).... . . . the social democrats............ . . . if it were thought for a moment in germany that the socialists could come into real power, their vote and the number of their representatives in the reichstag would dwindle away in one single election. the average german is no leader of men, no lover of an emergency, no social or political colonist, and he would shrink from the initiative and daring and endurance demanded by a real political revolution and a real change of authority, as a hen from water. the very quality in his ruler that we take for granted he must dislike is the quality that at the bottom of his heart he adores, and he reposes upon it as the very foundation of his sense of security, and as the very bulwark behind which he makes grimaces and shakes his fist at his enemies. such men as the present chancellor, von bethmann-hollweg, a very calm spectator of his country's doings, and the emperor himself, both know this. as he looks at history and at life, it follows that he must be interested in everything that concerns his people, and not infrequently take a hand in settling questions, or in pushing enterprises, that seem too widely apart to be dealt with by one man, and too far afield for his constitutional obligations to profit by his interference. certainly german progress shows that the germans can have no ground to quote: "quicquid delirant reges, plectuntur achivi," of their emperor. in the discussion of this question, i may remind my american readers, although the german constitution is dealt with elsewhere, that there is one difference between germany and america politically, that must never be left out of our calculations. such constitution and such rights as the german citizens have, were granted them by their rulers. the people of prussia, or of bavaria, or of würtemberg, have not given certain powers to, and placed certain limitations upon, their rulers; on the contrary, their rulers have given the people certain of their own prerogatives and political privileges, and granted to the people as a favor, a certain share in government and certain powers, that only so long as seventy years ago belonged to the sovereign alone. it is not what the people have won and then shared with the ruler, but it is what the ruler has inherited or won and shared with the people, that makes the groundwork of the constitutions of the various states, and of the empire of germany. nothing has been taken away from the people of prussia or from any other state in germany that they once had; but certain rights and privileges have been granted by the rulers that were once wholly theirs. bear this in mind, that it is william ii and his ancestors who made prussia prussia, and voluntarily gave prussians certain political rights, and not the citizens of prussia who stormed the battlements of equal rights and made a treaty with their sovereign. the king of prussia is the largest landholder and the richest citizen of prussia. we have seen what he expects of his navy and of his army. speaking on the th of september, , he says: "gentlemen, opposition on the part of the prussian nobility to their king is a monstrosity." but arid details are not history, and in this connection let us have done with them. i have documented this chapter with dates and quotations because the situation politically, is so far away from the experience or knowledge of the american, that he must be given certain facts to assist his imagination in making a true picture. i have done this, too, that the kaiser may have his real background when we undertake to place him understandingly in the modern world. here we have patriarchal rule still strong and still undoubting, coupled with the most successful social legislation, the most successful state control of railways, mines, and other enterprises; and a progress commercial and industrial during the last quarter of a century, second to none. this ruler believes it to be essentially a part of his business to be a lorenzo de medici to his people in art; their high priest in religion; their envoy extraordinary to foreign peoples; their watchful father and friend in legislation dealing with their daily lives; their war-lord, and their best example in all that concerns domestic happiness and patriotic citizenship. he fulfils the words of the old german chronicle which reads: "merito a nobis nostrisque posteris pater patriae appelatur quia erat egregius defensor et fortissimus propugnator nihili pendens vitam suam contra omnia adversa propter justitiam opponere." if history is not altogether valueless in its description of symptoms, the germans are of a softer mould than some of us, more malleable, rather tempted to imitate than led by self-confidence to trust to their own ideals, and less hard in confronting the demands of other peoples, that they should accept absorption by them. spurned and disdained by louis xiv, they fawned upon him, built palaces like his, dressed like his courtiers, wrote and spoke his language, copied his literary models, and even bored themselves with mistresses because this was the fashion at versailles. he stole from them, only to be thrown the kisses of flattery in return. he sneered at them, only to be begged for his favors in return. he took their cities in time of peace, and they acknowledged the theft by a smirking adulation that he allowed one of their number to be crowned a king. as for napoleon, he performed a prolonged autopsy upon the germans. they were dismembered or joined together as suited his plans. at his beck they fought against one another, or against russia, or against england. he tossed them crowns, that they still wear proudly, as a master tosses biscuits to obedient spaniels. he put his poor relatives to rule over them, here and there, and they were grateful. he marched into their present capital, took away their monuments, and the sword of frederick the great, and they hailed him with tears and rejoicing as their benefactor, while their wittiest poet and sweetest singer, lauded him to the skies. it is unpleasant to recall, but quite unfair to forget, these happenings of the last two hundred years in the history of the german people. what would any man say, after this, was their greatest need, if not self-confidence; if not twenty-five years of peace to enable them to recover from their beatings and humiliation; if not a powerful army and navy to give them the sense of security, by which alone prosperity and pride in their accomplishments and in themselves can be fostered; if not a ruler who holds ever before their eyes their ideals and the unfaltering energy required of them to attain them! what nation would not be self-conscious after such dire experiences? what nation would not be tenderly sensitive as to its treatment by neighboring powers? what nation would not be even unduly keen to resent any appearance of an attempt to jostle it from its hard-won place in the sun? their self-consciousness and sensitiveness and vanity are patent, but they are pardonable. as the leader of the conservative party in the reichstag, doctor von heydebrandt, speaking at breslau in october, , anent the morocco controversy, said, after, alluding to the "bellicose impudence" of lloyd-george: "the [british] ministry thrusts its fist under our nose, and declares, i alone command the world. it is bitterly hard for us who have behind us." they feel that they should no longer be treated to such bumptiousness. i trust that i am no swashbuckler, but i have the greatest sympathy with the present emperor in his capacity as war-lord, and in his insistent stiffening of germany's martial backbone. when shall we all recover from a certain international sickliness that keeps us all feverish? the continual talk and writing about international friendships, being of the same family, or the same race, the cousin propagandism in short, is irritating, not helpful. i do not go to germany to discover how american is germany, nor to england to discover how american is england; but to germany to discover how german is germany, to england to see how english is england. i much prefer americans to either germans or englishmen, and they prefer germans or englishmen, as the case may be, to americans. what spurious and milksoppy puppets we should be if it were not so. so long as there are praters going about insisting that germany, with a flaxen pig-tail down her back, and england, in pumps instead of boots, and a poodle instead of a bulldog, shall sit forever in the moonlight hand in hand; or that america shall become a dandy, shave the chin-whisker, wear a latin quarter butterfly tie of red, white, and blue, and thrum a banjo to a little brown lady with oblique eyes and a fan, all day long; just so long will the bulldog snarl, the flaxen-haired maiden look sulky, the chin-whisker become stiffer and more provocative, and the fluttering fan seem to threaten blows. we have been surfeited with peace talk till we are all irritable. one hundredth part of an ounce of the same quality of peace powders that we are using internationally would, if prescribed to a happy family in this or any other land, lead to dissensions, disobedience, domestic disaster, and divorce. mr. carnegie will have lived long enough to see more wars and international disturbances, and more discontent born of superficial reading, than any man in history who was at the same time so closely connected with their origin. perhaps it were better after all if our millionaires were educated! the peace party need war just as the atheists need god, otherwise they have nothing to deny, nothing to attack. peace is a negative thing that no one really wants, certainly not the kind of peace of which there is so much talking to-day, which is a kind of castrated patriotism. peace is not that. peace can never be born of such impotency. when german statesmen declare roundly that they will not discuss the question of disarmament, they are merely saying that they will not be traitors to their country. if the emperor rattles the sabre occasionally, it is because the time has not come yet, when this german people can be allowed to forget what they have suffered from foreign conquerors, and what they must do to protect themselves from such a repetition of history. when the final judgment is passed upon the emperor, we must recall his deep religious feeling that he is inevitably an instrument of god; his ingrained and ineradicable method of reading history as though it were a series of the ipse dixits of kings; his complacent neglect of how the work of the world is done by patient labor; of how works of art are only born of travail and tears: his obsession by that curious psychology of kings that leads them to believe that they are somehow different, and under other laws, as though they lived in another dimension of space. in addition, he is a man of unusually rapid mental machinery, of overpowering self-confidence, of great versatility, of many advantages of training and experience, and, above all, he is unhampered. he is answerable directly to no one, to no parliament, to no minister, to no people. he is father, guardian, guide, school- master, and priest, but in no sense a servant responsible to any master save one of his own choosing. the only wonder is that he is not insupportable. those who have come under the spell of his personality declare him to be the most delightful of companions; what germany has grown to be under his reign of twenty-five years all the world knows, much of the world envies, some of the world fears; what his own people think of him can best be expressed by the statement that his supremacy was never more assured than to-day. i agree that no one man can be credited with the astonishing expansion of germany in all directions in the last thirty years; but so interwoven are the advice and influence, the ambitions and plans, of the german emperor with the progress of the german people, that this one personality shares his country's successes as no single individual in any other country can be said to do. whether he likes americans or not one can hardly know. no doubt he has made many of them think so; and, alas, we suffer from a national hallucination that we are liked abroad, when as a matter of fact we are no more liked than others; and in cultured centres we are in addition, laughed at by the careless and sneered at by the sour. that the kaiser is liked by americans, both by those who have met him and by those who have not, is, i think, indisputable. he is of the stuff that would have made a first-rate american. he would have been a sovereign there as he is a sovereign here. he would have enjoyed the risks, and turmoil, and competition; he would have enjoyed the fine, free field of endeavor, and he would have jousted with the best of us in our tournament of life, which has trained as many knights sans peur et sans reproche as any country in the world. i believe in a man who takes what he thinks belongs to him, and holds it against the world; in the man who so loves life that he keeps a hearty appetite for it and takes long draughts of it; who is ever ready to come back smiling for another round with the world, no matter how hard he has been punished. i believe that god believes in the man who believes in him, and therefore in himself. why should i debar a man from my sympathy because he is a king or an emperor? i admire your courage, sir; i love your indiscretions; i applaud your faith in your god, and your confidence in yourself, and your splendid service to your country. without you germany would have remained a second-rate power. had you been what your critics pretend that they would like you to be, germany would have been still ruling the clouds. here's long life to your power, sir, and to your possessions, and to you! and as an anglo-saxon, i thank god, that all your countrymen are not like you! iv german political parties and the press in the days when bismarck was welding the german states into a federal organization and finally into an empire, he used the press to spray his opinions, wishes, and suspicions over those he wished to instruct or to influence. he used it, too, to threaten or to mislead his enemies at home and abroad. the hamburger nachrichten was the newspaper for which he wrote at one time, and which remained his confidential organ, though as his power grew he used other journals and journalists as well. as germany has few traditions of freedom, having rarely won liberty as a united people, but having been beaten into national unity by her political giants, or her robuster sovereigns, so the press before and during bismarck's long reign, from to , was kept well in hand by those who ruled. it is only lately that caricature, criticism, and opposition have had freer play. that a journalist like maximilian harden (a friend and confidant of bismarck, by the way) should be permitted to write without rebuke and without punishment that the present kaiser "has all the gifts except one, that of politics," marks a new license in journalistic debate. that this same person was able, single-handed, to bring about the exposure and downfall of a cabal of decadent courtiers whose influence with the emperor was deplored, proves again how completely the german press has escaped from certain leading-strings. a sharp criticism of the emperor in die post, even as lately as , excited great interest, and was looked upon as a very daring performance. there are some four thousand daily and more than three thousand weekly and monthly publications in germany to-day; but neither the press as a whole, nor the journalists, with a few exceptions, exert the influence in either society or politics of the press in america and in england. as compared with germany, one is at once impressed with the greater number of journals and their more effective distribution at home. in america there are , daily papers; , weeklies; and , monthlies. tri-weekly and quarterly publications added bring the total to , . one group of daily papers claim a circulation of , , , while five magazines have a total circulation of , , . it is calculated that there is a daily, a weekly, and a monthly magazine circulated for every single family in america. not an unmixed blessing, by any means, when one remembers that thousands, untrained to think and uninterested, are thus dusted with the widely blown comments of undigested news. editorial comment of any serious value is, of course, impossible, and the readers are given a strange variety of unwholesome intellectual food to gulp down, with mental dyspepsia sure to follow, a disease which is already the curse of the times in america, where superficiality and insincerity are leading the social and political dance. to carry the comparison further, there are , newspapers published in america; , in england; , in germany; and , in france: or for every , of the population in america; for every , in great britain; for every , in germany, and for every , in france. that a prime minister should have been a contributor to the press, as was lord salisbury; that a correspondent or editorial writer of a newspaper should find his way into cabinet circles, into diplomacy, or into high office in the colonies; that the editor and owner of a great newspaper should become an ambassador to england, as in the case of mr. reid, is impossible in germany. the character of the men who take up the profession of journalism suffers from the lack of distinction and influence of their task. raymond, greeley, dana, laffan, godkin, in america, and delane, hutton, lawson, and their successors, garvin, strachey, robinson, in england, are impossible products of the german journalistic soil at present. there have been great changes, and the place of the newspaper and the power of the journalist is increasing rapidly, but the stale atmosphere of censordom hangs about the press even to-day. freedom is too new to have bred many powerful pens or personalities, and the inconclusive results of political arguments, written for a people who are comparatively apathetic, lessen the enthusiasm of the political journalist. there are not three editors in germany who receive as much as six thousand dollars a year, and the majority are paid from twelve hundred to three thousand a year. this does not make for independence. i am no believer in great wealth as an incentive to activity, but certainly solvency makes for emancipation from the more debasing forms of tyranny. several of the more popular newspapers are owned and controlled by the jews, and to the american, with no inborn or traditional prejudice against the jews as a race, it is somewhat difficult to understand the outspoken and unconcealed suspicion and dislike of them in germany. there is no need to mince matters in stating that this suspicion and dislike exist. a comedy called "the five frankfurters" has been given in all the principal cities during the last year and has had a long run in berlin. it is a scathing caricature of certain jewish peculiarities of temperament and ambition. there is even an anti-semitic party, small though it be, in the reichstag, while the party of the centre, of the conservatives and the agrarians, is frankly anti-semitic as well. no jew can become an officer in the army, no jew is admitted to one of the german corps in the universities, no jew can hold office of importance in the state, and i presume that no unbaptized jew is received at court. i am bound to record my personal preference for the english and american treatment of the jew. in england they have made a jew their prime minister, and in america we offer him equal opportunities with other men, and applaud him whole-heartedly when he succeeds, and thump him soundly with our criticism when he misbehaves. the german fears him; we do not. we have made jews ambassadors, they have served in our army and navy, and not a few of them rank among our sanest and most generous philanthropists. to a certain extent society of the higher and official class shuts its doors against him. one of the well-known restaurants in berlin, until the death of its founder, not long ago, refused admission to jews. i venture to say that no intelligent american stops to think whether the speyer brothers, or kahn, or schiff, or the members of the house of rothschild, are jews or not, in estimating their political, social, and philanthropic worth. even as long ago as the close of the fourteenth century the great strife between the princes of germany and the free cities ceased, in order that both might unite to plunder the jews. luther preached: "burn their synagogues and schools; what will not burn bury with earth that neither stone nor rubbish remain." "in like manner break into and burn their houses." "forbid their rabbis to teach on pain of life and limb." "take away all their prayer-books and talmuds, in which are nothing but godlessness, lies, cursing, and swearing." in the chronicles of the time occurs frequently "judaei occisi, combusti." the german comes by his dislike of the jew through centuries of traditional conflict, plunder, and hatred, and the very moulder of the present german speech, luther, was a furious offender. the jews have been materialists through all ages, claim the germans: "the jews require a sign, and the greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach christ crucified, unto the jews a stumbling-block, and unto the greeks foolishness." it is to be in our day the battle of battles, they claim, whether we are to be socially, morally, and politically orientalized by this advance guard of the orient, the jews, or whether we are to preserve our occidental ideals and traditions. many more men see the conflict, they maintain, than care to take part in it. the money-markets of the world are ramparts that few men care to storm, but, if the independent and the intelligent do not withstand this semitization of our institutions, the ignorant and the degraded will one day take the matter into their own hands, as they have done before, and as they do to this day in some parts of russia. there are , jews in germany, , of them in prussia and , of these in berlin. in new york city alone there are more than , . they are always strangers in our midst. they are of another race. they have other standards and other allegiances. perhaps we are all of us, the most enlightened of us, provincial at bottom, we like to know who and what our neighbors are, and whence they came; and we dislike those who are outside our racial and social experiences, and our moral and religious habits, and the jew is always, everywhere, a foreigner. at any rate, so the german maintains. strange as it may sound in these days, the germans are not at heart business men. there are more eyes with dreams in them in germany than in all the world besides. they work hard, they increase their factories, their commerce, but their hearts are not in it. the jew has amassed an enormous part of the wealth of germany, considering his small proportion of the total population. the german, because he is not at heart a trader, is an easy prey for him. these things trouble us in america very little, and we smile cynically at the not altogether untruthful portraits of "potash and pearlmutter," and their vermin-like business methods. there is an undercurrent of feeling in america, that the virile blood is still there which will stop at nothing to throw off oppression, whether from the jew or from any one else. if we are pinched too hard financially, if confiscation by the government or by individuals goes too far, no laws even will restrain the violence which will break out for liberty. so we are at peace with ourselves and with others, trusting in that quiet might which will take governing into its own hands, at all hazards, if the state of affairs demands it. with the germans it is different. no people of modern times has been so harried and harrowed as these germans. the thirty years' war left them in such fear and poverty that even cannibalism existed, and this was years after massachusetts and maryland were settled. but nothing has tarnished their idealism. whether as followers of charlemagne, or as hordes of dreamers seeking to save christ's tomb and cradle in the crusades, or as intoxicated barbarians insisting that their emperor must be crowned at rome, or as the real torch-bearers of the reformation, or even now as dreamers, philosophers, musicians, and only industrial and commercial by force of circumstances, they are, least of all the peoples, materialists. they have given the world lyric poetry, music, mythology, philosophy, and these are still their souls' darlings. they entered the modern world just as science began to marry with commerce and industry, and so their unworn, fresh, and youthful intellectual vigor found expression in industry. renan writes that he owes his pleasure in intellectual things to a long ancestry of non-thinkers, and he claims to have inherited their stored-up mental forces. germany is not unlike that. her recent industrial and intellectual activity may be the release from bondage, of the centuries of stored-up intellectual energy from the ''woods of germany.'' it is true that they are easily governed and amenable, but this is due not wholly to the fact that they have been so long under the yoke of rulers, or because they are of cow-like disposition, but because their ideals are spiritual, not material. the american seeks wealth, the englishman power, the frenchman notoriety, the german is satisfied with peaceful enjoyment of music, poetry, art, and friendly and very simple intercourse with his fellows. certainly i am not the man to say he is wrong, when i see how spiritual things in my own country are cut out of the social body as though they were annoying and dangerous appendices. the german of this type looks down upon the spiritual and intellectual development of other countries as far inferior to his own. such an one in talking to an englishman feels that he is conversing with a high-spirited, thoroughbred horse; to a frenchman, as though he were a cynical monkey; to an american, as though he were a bright youth of sixteen. the german considers his dealings with the intangible things of life to be a higher form, indeed the highest form, of intellectual employment. he is therefore racially, historically, and by temperament jealous or contemptuous, according to his station in life, of the cosmopolitan exchanger of the world, the jew. he denies to him either patriotism or originality, and looks upon him as merely a distributer, whether in art, literature, or commerce, as an exchanger who amasses wealth by taking toll of other men's labor, industry, and intellect. it has not escaped the german of this temper, that the whirling gossip and innuendoes that have lately annoyed the present party in power in england, have had to do with three names: isaacs, samuels, and montagu, all jews and members of the government. german politics, german social life, and the german press cannot be understood without this explanation. the german sees a danger to his hardly won national life in the cosmopolitanism of the jew; he sees a danger to his duty-doing, simple-living, and hard-working governing aristocracy in the tempting luxury of the recently rich jew; and besides these objective reasons, he is instinctively antagonistic, as though he were born of the clouds of heaven and the jew of the clods of earth. this does not mean that the german is a believer, in the orthodox sense of the word, for that he is not. he loves the things of the mind not because he thinks of them as of divine creation, and as showing an allegiance to a divine creator, but because they are the playthings of his own manufacture that amuse him most. his superiority to other nations is that he claims to enjoy maturer toys. not even france is so entirely unencumbered by orthodox restraints in matters of belief. so far, therefore, as the german press is jew-controlled, it is suspected as being not german politically, domestically, or spiritually; as not being representative, in short. it should be added that, though this is the attitude of the great majority in germany, there is a small class who recognize the pioneer work that the jew has done. few men are more respected there, and few have more influence than such men as ballin and rathenau and others. for the very reason that the german is an idealist the jew has been of incomparable value to him in the development of his industrial, commercial, and financial affairs. not only as a scientific financier has he helped, not only has he provided ammunition when german industrial undertakings were weak and stumbling, but along the lines of scientific research, as chemists, physicists, artists--perhaps no one stands higher than the jew liebermann as a painter--the jew has done yeoman service to the country in return for the high wages that he has taken. there are germans who recognize this, and there are in the jewish world not a few men to whom the doors of enlightened society are always open. whatever one may feel of instinctive dislike, the open-minded observers of the historical progress of germany, all recognize that germany would not be in the foremost place she now occupies in the competitive markets of the world, if she had not had the patriotic, intelligent, and skilful backing of her better-class jewish citizens. printing was born in germany, and the town of augsburg had a newspaper as early as , while berlin had a newspaper in and hamburg in . every foreigner who knows germany at all, knows the names of the kölnische zeitung, the lokal anzeiger and der tag, hamburger nachrichten, berliner tageblatt, frankfurter zeitung, and the norddeutsche allgemeine zeitung, this last the official organ of the foreign office. the neue preussische zeitung, better known by its briefer title of kreuz zeitung, is a stanch conservative organ, and for years has published the scholarly comments once a week of professor shiemann, who is a political historian of distinction, and a trusted friend of the emperor. the deutsche tageszeitung is the organ of the agrarian league. the reichsbote is a conservative journal and the organ of the orthodox party in the state church. vorwärts is the organ of the socialists and, whatever one may think of its politics, one of the best-edited, as it is one of the best-written, newspapers in germany. the zukunft, a weekly publication, is the personal organ of harden, is harden, in fact. the zukunft in normal years sells some , copies at marks, giving an income of , marks; this with the advertisements gives an income of say , marks. the expenses are about , marks, leaving a net income to this daring and accomplished journalist of , marks a year. in germany such an income is great wealth. the zukunft and its success is a commentary of value upon the appreciation of, as well as the rarity of, independent journalism in germany. the vossische zeitung, or "aunty voss" as it is nicknamed, is a solid, bourgeois sheet and moderately radical in tone. it is proper, wipes its feet before entering the house, and may be safely left in the servants' hall or in the school-room. die post represents the conservative party politically, is welcome in rich industrial circles, and is rather liberal in religious matters, though hostile to the government in matters of foreign politics, and of less influence at home than the frequent quotations from it in the british press would lead one to suppose. the two official organs of the catholics are the germania and the volks zeitung, of cologne, whose editor is the well-known julius bachern. the lokal anzeiger and the tageblatt of berlin attempt, with no small degree of success, american methods, and give out several editions a day with particular reference to the latest news. leipsic, hamburg, munich, cologne, strasburg, dresden, königsberg, breslau, with its schlessische zeitung, and the rhine provinces and the steel and iron industries represented by the rheinisch- westfälischer zeitung, and other cities and towns have local newspapers. a good example of such little-known provincial newspapers is the augsburger abendzeitung, with its first-rate reports of the parliamentary proceedings in bavaria and its well-edited columns. the circulation of these journals is, from our point of view, small. the berliner tageblatt in a recent issue declares its paid circulation to have been , in ; , in ; , in ; and , in . the custom in germany of eating in restaurants, of taking coffee in the cafés, of writing one's letters and reading the newspapers there, no doubt has much to do with the small subscription lists of german journals of all kinds, whether daily, weekly, or monthly. the german economizes even in these small matters. a german family, or small café or restaurant, may, for a small sum, have half a dozen or more weekly and monthly journals left, and changed each week; thus they are circulated in a dozen places at the expense of only one copy. where a family of similar standing in america takes in regularly two morning papers and an evening paper, several weekly and monthly, and perhaps one or two foreign journals, the german family may take one morning paper. the custom of having half a dozen newspapers served with the morning meal, as is done in the larger houses in america and in england, is practically unknown. economy is one reason, indifference is another, provincial and circumscribed interests are others. the german has not our keen appetite for what we call news, which is often merely surmises in bigger type. only the very small number who have travelled and made interests and friends for themselves out of their own country, have any feeling of curiosity even, about the political and social tides and currents elsewhere. an astounding number of germans know sophocles, aeschylus, and shakespeare better than we do, but they know nothing, and care nothing, for the sizzling, crackling stream of purposeless incident, and sterile comment, that pours in upon the readers of american newspapers, and which has had its part in making us the largest consumers of nerve-quieting drugs in the world. all too many of the pens that supply our press are without education, without experience, without responsibility or restraint. what mommsen writes of cicero applies to them: "cicero was a journalist in the worst sense of the term, over-rich in words as he himself confesses, and beyond all imagination poor in thought." no one of these journals pretends to such power or such influence as certain great dailies in america and in england. they have not the means at their command to buy much cable or telegraphic news, and lacking a press tariff for telegrams, they are the more hampered. the german temperament, and the civil-service and political close-corporation methods, make it difficult for the journalist to go far, either socially or politically. the german has been trained in a severe school to seek knowledge, not to look for news, and he does not make the same demands, therefore, upon his newspaper. german relations with the outside world are of an industrial and commercial kind, and until very lately the german has not been a traveller, and is not now an explorer, and their colonies are unimportant; consequently there is no very keen interest on the part of the bulk of the people in foreign affairs. even sir edward grey's answering speech on the morocco question did not appear in full in berlin until the following day, though germany had roused itself to an unusual pitch of excitement and expectancy. as the germans are not yet political animals, so their newspapers reflect an artificial political enthusiasm. society, too, is as little organized as politics. there are no great figures in their social world. a beau brummel, a d'orsay, a lady palmerston, a lady londonderry, a duke of devonshire, a gladstone, a disraeli, a rosebery, would be impossible in germany, especially if they were in opposition to the party in power. when a chancellor or other minister is dismissed by the kaiser, he simply disappears. he does not add to the weight of the opposition, but ceases to exist politically. this has two bad results: it does not strengthen the criticism of the administration, and it makes the office-holder very loath to leave office, and to surrender his power. an ex-cabinet officer in america or in england remains a valuable critic, but an ex-chancellor in germany becomes a social recluse, a political trappist. even the leading political figures are after all merely shadowy servants of the emperor. they represent neither themselves nor the people, and such subserviency kills independence and leaves us with mediocrities gesticulating in the dark, and making phrases in a vacuum. there are, it is true, charming hostesses in berlin, and ladies who gather in their drawing-rooms all that is most interesting in the intellectual and political life of the day; but they are almost without exception obedient to the traditional officialdom, leaning upon a favor that is at times erratic, and without the daring of independence which is the salt of all real personality. there are, too, country-houses. one castle in bavaria, how well i remember it, and the accomplished charm of its owner, who had made its grandeur cosey, a feat, indeed! but all this is detached from the real life of the nation, which is forever taking its cue from the court, leaving any independent or imposing social and political life benumbed and without vitality. there is no free and stalwart opposition, no centres of power; and much as one tires of the incessant and feverish strife political and social at home, one returns to it taking a long breath of the free air after this hot-house atmosphere, where the thermometer is regulated by the wishes of an autocrat. the press necessarily reflects these conditions. the social democrats, divided into many small parties, and the agrarians and ultramontanes, divided as well, give the press no single point of leverage. these political parties wrangle among themselves over the dish of votes, but what is put into the dish comes from a master over whom they have no control. if they upset the dish they are turned out as they were in , , , and , and when they return they are better behaved. the parties themselves are not real, since thousands of voters lean to the left merely to express their discontent; but they would desert the social democrats at once did they think there was a chance of real governing power for them. a small industrial was warned of the awful things that would happen did the socialists come into power. "ah," he replied, "but the government would not permit that!" what has the press to chronicle with insistence and with dignity of such flabby political and social conditions? the press may be, and often is, annoying, as mosquitoes are annoying, but its campaigns are dangerous to nobody. as i write, it is hard to believe that within a few days the members of a new reichstag are to be elected. there are political meetings, it is true, there are articles and editorials in the newspapers, there is some languid discussion at dinner-tables and in society, but there is a sense of unreality about it all, as though men were thinking: nothing of grave importance can happen in any case! we shall have something to say farther on of political germany; here it suffices to say that the press of germany betrays in its political writing that it is dealing with shadows, not with realities. "they have been at a great feast of language, and stolen the scraps," that's all. the snarling panther that was sent to agadir, teeth and claws showing, came back looking like an adventurous tomcat that wished only to hide itself meekly in its accustomed haunts; and its unobtrusive bearing seemed to say, the less said about the matter the better. what a storm of obloquy would have burst upon such inept diplomacy in america, or in england, or even in france. not so here. everybody was sore and sorry, but the newspapers and the journalists could raise no protest that counted. it is all explained by the fact that the people do not govern, have nothing to do with the whip or the reins, nor have they any constitutional way of changing coachmen, or of getting possession of whip and reins; and hooting at the driver, and jeering at the tangled whip-lash and awkwardly held reins, is poor-spirited business. only one political writer, harden, does it with any effect, and his pen is said to have upset the caprivi government. as one reads the newspapers day by day, and the weekly and monthly journals, it becomes apparent that the german imagines he has done something when he has had an idea; just as the frenchman imagines he has done something when he has made an epigram. we are less given either to thinking or phrasing, and far less gifted in these directions than either germans or frenchmen, and perhaps that is the reason we have actually done so much more politically. we do things for lack of something better to do, while our neighbors find real pleasure in their dreams, and take great pride in their epigrams. as all great writing, from that of xenophon and caesar till now, is born of action or the love of it, or as a spiritual incitement to action, so a people with little opportunity for political action, and no centres of social life with a real sway or sovereignty, cannot create or offer substance for the making of a powerful and independent press. there is no new york, no paris, no london, no vienna even, in germany. berlin is the capital, but it is not a capital by political or social evolution, but by force of circumstances. germany has many centres which are not only not interested in berlin, but even antagonistic. munich, hamburg, bremen, leipsic, frankfort, dresden, breslau, and besides these, twenty-six separate states with their capitals, their rulers, courts, and parliaments, go to make up germany, and perhaps you are least of all in germany when you are in berlin. it is true that we have many states, many capitals, and many governors in america, but they have all grown from one, and not, as in germany, been beaten into one, and held together more from a sense of danger from the outside than from any interest, sympathy, and liking for one another. with us each state, too, has a powerful representation both in the senate and in the house of representatives, which keeps the interest alive, while in germany prussia is overwhelmingly preponderant. in the upper house, or bundesrat, prussia has representatives; next comes bavaria with ; and the other states with or less, out of a total of members. in the reichstag, out of a total of representatives, prussia has . political society is not all centred in berlin, as it is in london, paris, or washington, nor is social life there representative of all germany. berlin's stamp of approval is not necessary to play, or opera, or book, or picture, or statue, or personality. indeed, berlin often takes a lead in such matters from other cities in germany where the artistic life and history are more fully developed, as, for instance, in other days, weimar, and now munich, dresden, and, in literary matters, leipsic. a recent example of this, though of small consequence in itself, is the case of the opera, the "rosen kavalier," which was given repeatedly in dresden and leipsic, whither many berlin people went to hear it, before the authorities in berlin could be persuaded to produce it. the nobility, the society heavy artillery, come to berlin only for three or four weeks, from the middle of january to the middle of february, to pay their respects to their sovereign at the various court functions given during that time. they live in the country and only visit in berlin. it is complained, that the double taxation incident to the up-keep of an establishment both in town and in the country, makes it impossible for them to be much in berlin. they stay in hotels and in apartments, and are mere passing visitors in their own capital. they have, therefore, practically no influence upon social life, and berlin is merely the centre of the industrial, military, official, and political society of prussia. it is the clearing-house of germany, but by no means the literary, artistic, social, or even the political capital of germany, as london is the english, or paris the french, or as washington is fast growing to be the american, capital. there is no training-ground for an accomplished or man-of-the-world journalist, and the views and opinions of a journalist who is more or less of a social pariah, and he still is that with less than half a dozen exceptions, and of a man who begs for crumbs from the press officials at the foreign or other government offices, are neither written with the grip of the independent and dignified chronicler, nor received with confidence and respect by the reader. it may be a reaction from this negligence with which they are treated that produces a quality, both in the writing and in the illustrations of the german newspapers, which is unknown in america. many of the illustrated papers indulge in pictorial flings which may be compared only to the scribbling and coarse drawings, in out-of-the-way places, of dirty-minded boys. with the exception of the well-known fliegende blätter, kladderadatsch, and one or two less representative, there is nothing to compare with the artistic excellence and restrained good taste of life or punch, for example. there is one illustrated paper published in munich, simplicissimus, which deserves more than negligent and passing comment. it has two artists of whom i know nothing except what i have learned from their work, th. th. heine and gulbransson. these men are aristophanic in their ability as draughtsmen and as censors, in striking at the weaknesses, political, military, and official, of their countrymen. their work is something quite new in germany, and worthy of comparison with the best in any country. it is not elegant, it is rabelaisian; and though i have nothing to retract in regard to coarseness, and no wish to commend the attitude taken toward german political and social life, in fairness one is bound to call attention to the pictorial work in this particular paper as of a very high order, and to recognize its power. if heine could have turned his wit into the drawings of hogarth, we should have had something not unlike simplicissimus, and any german annoyed at the criticisms of his national life from the pen of a foreigner, may well turn to his own simplicissimus, and be humbly grateful that no foreign pen-point can possibly pierce more deeply, than this domestic pencil, at work in his own country. the danger for the critic and the wit, which few avoid, is that with incomparable advantages over his opponent he will not play fair. in spite of the awful reputation of our so-called "yellow press," which is often boisterously impudent, and sometimes inclined to indulge in comments and revelations of the private affairs of individuals which can only be dubbed coarse and cowardly, there is seldom a descent to the indescribably indecent caricatures which one finds every week in the illustrated papers in germany. as we have noted elsewhere, just as the citizens of berlin, as one sees them in the streets and in public places, give one the impression that they are not house-trained, so many of the pens and pencils which serve the german press, leave one with the feeling that their possessors would not know how to behave in a cultivated and well-regulated household. every gentleman in germany must have been ashamed of the writing in the german press after the sinking of the titanic. there was a blaze of brutal pharisaism that put a bar-sinister across any claim to gentlemanliness on the part of the majority. when every brave man in the world was lamenting the death of scott, the english arctic explorer, one german paper intimated that he had committed suicide to avoid the bankruptcy forced upon him by england's lack of generosity toward his expedition. it is almost unbelievable that such a cur should have escaped unthrashed, even among the german journalists. these two examples of lack of fine feeling mark them for what they are. among gentlemen no comment is necessary. the mark of breeding is more often discovered in what one does not say, does not write, does not do, than in positive action. there was much, at that time, when fifteen hundred people had been buried in icy water, and scores of american and english gentlemen had gone down to death, just in answer to: "ladies first, gentlemen!" that should have been left unsaid and unwritten. the quality of the german journalist, with half a dozen exceptions, was betrayed to the full in those few days, and many a german cheek mantled with shame. however, a man may eat with his knife and still be an authority on bridge-building; he may tuck his napkin under his chin preparatory to, and as an armor against, the well-known vagaries of liquids, before he takes his soup or his soft-boiled eggs, and still be an authority on soap-making; he may wear a knitted waistcoat with a frock-coat to luncheon, and be deeply versed in russian history. he may have no inkling of the traditions of fair play, or of the reticences of courtesy, no shred of knightliness, and yet be a scholar in his way. indeed, in none of the other cultured countries does one find so many men of trained minds, but with such untrained manners and morals. in their hack of sensation-mongering, in their indifference to social gossip, in their trustworthy and learned comments upon things scientific, musical, theatrical, literary, and historical, they are as men to school-boys compared to the american press. they have the utter contempt for mere smartness that only comes with severe educational training. they have the scholar's impatience with trivialities. they skate, not to cut their names on the ice, but to get somewhere, and the whole industrial and scientific world knows how quickly they have arrived. our newspapers make a business of training their readers in that worst of all habits, mental dissipation. the german press is not thus guilty. despite all i have written, i am quite sure that if i were banished from the active world and could see only half a dozen journals on my lonely island, one of them would be a german newspaper. it may be that i have a perverted literary taste, for i can get more humor, more keen enjoyment, out of a census report or an etymological dictionary than from a novel. my favorite literary dissipation is to read the works of that distinguished statistician at washington, mr. o. p. austin, the poet-laureate of industrial america, or the toilsome and exciting verbal journeys of the rev. mr. skeat. the classic humorists do not compare with them, in my humble opinion, as sources of fantastic surprises. this, perhaps, accounts for my sincere admiration for that quality of scholarship, learning, and accuracy in the german press. nor does the possession of these qualities in the least controvert the impression given by the german press of political powerlessness, of social ignorance and incompetence, and of boorish ignorance of the laws of common decency in international comment and controversy. a great scholar may be a booby in a drawing-room, and a lamentable failure as an adviser in matters political and social. "as a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place." germany has put some astonishing failures to her credit through her belief that learning can take the place of common-sense, and scholarship do the tasks of that intelligent and experienced observation to which the abused word, worldliness, is given. perhaps it is as well that the german press declines to keep a social diary; well, too, that it has no candidates for the office of society haruspex, whose ghoulish business it is to find omens and prophecies in the entrails of his victims. in that respect, at any rate, both society and the press in germany are as is the salon to the scullery, compared with ours. as for that little knot of illustrated weekly papers in england, with their nauseating letter-press for snobs inside, and their advertisements of patent complexion remedies and corsets outside, there is nothing like them in germany or anywhere else, so far as i know. you may advertise your shooting-party, your dance, or your dinner-party, and thus keep yourself before the world as though you were a whiskey, a soap, or a superfluous-hair-destroyer, if you please, and, alas, many there are who do so. at least germany knows nothing of this weekly auction of privacy, this nauseating snobbery which is a fungus-growth seen at its strongest in british soil. i am bound, both by tradition and experience as an american, to discover the reason for such conditions in the lack of fluidity in social and political life in germany. the industrials, the military, the nobility, the civil servants, and to some extent the jews, are all in separate social compartments; and the political parties as well keep much to themselves and without the personal give and take outside of their purely official life which obtains in america and in england. it is an impossible suggestion, i know, but if the upper and lower houses of the empire, or of prussia, could meet in a match at base-ball, or golf, or cricket; if the army could play the civil service; if the newspaper correspondents could play the under-secretaries; if they could all be induced occasionally, to throw off their mental and moral uniforms, and to meet merely as men, a current of fresh air would blow through germany, that she would never after permit to be shut out. personal dignity is refreshed, not lost, by a romp. who has not seen distinguished americans and distinguished englishmen, in their own or in their friends' houses, or at one or another of our innumerable games, behaving like boys out of school, crawling about beneath improvised skins and growling and roaring in charades; indulging in flying chaff of one another; in the skirts of their wives and sisters playing cricket, or base-ball, or tennis with the one hand only; caricaturing good-humoredly some of their own official business, or arranging a match of some kind where their own servants join in to make up a side; or, and well i remember it, half a dozen youths of about fifty playing cricket with one stump and a broom-handle for an hour one hot afternoon, amid tumbles and shouts of laughter, and a shower of impromptu nicknames, and one or two of them bore names known all over the english-speaking world. nobody loses any dignity, any importance; but there is an unconquerable stiffness in germany that makes me laugh almost as i make this suggestion. we have only a certain reserve of serious work in us. to attempt to be serious all the time is never to be at rest. this worried busyness, which is a characteristic of the more mediocre of my own countrymen also, is really a symptom of deficient vitality. things are in the saddle and you are the mule and not the man, if you are such an one. the stiffness and self-consciousness of the germans is really a sign of their lack of confidence in themselves. youth is always more serious than middle age, for the same reason. a man who is at home in the world laughs and is gay; he who is shy and doubtful scowls. it is the god-fearing who are not afraid, it is the man-fearing who are awkward and uncomfortable. the first thing to be afraid of is oneself, but after oneself is conquered why be afraid to let him loose! it would be quite untrue to give the impression that there is no fun, no harking, no chaff, in germany, although i am bound to say that there is little of this last. i can bear witness to a healthy love of fun, and to an exuberant exploitation of youthful vitality in many directions among the students and younger officers, for example. better companions for a romp exist nowhere. having been blessed with an undue surplus of vitality, which for many years kept me fully occupied in directing its expenditure, alas, not always with success, i can only add that i found as many youthful companions in a similar predicament in germany, as anywhere else. but with the englishman and the american, both temperament and environment permit youthfulness to last longer. the german must soon get into the mill and grind and be ground, and he is by temperament more easily caught and put into the uniform of a constantly correct behavior. as for us, we are all boys still at thirty, many of us at fifty, and some of us die ere the school-boy exuberance has all been squeezed or dried out of us. not so in germany. one sees more men in germany who give the impression that they could not by any possibility ever have been boys than with us. they begin to look cramped at thirty, and they are stiff at fifty, as though they had been fed on a diet of circumspection, caution, and obedience. they are drilled early and they soon become amenable, and then even indulgent, toward the drill-master. this german people have not developed into a nation, they have been squeezed into the mould of a nation. the nation is not for the people, the people are for the nation. "by the word constitution," writes lord bolingbroke, "we mean, whenever we speak with propriety and exactness, the assemblage of laws, institutions, and customs derived from certain fixed principles of reason, directed to certain fixed objects of public good, that compose the general system by which the community hath agreed to be governed." the germans have no such constitution, for the community was scarcely consulted, much less hath it agreed to the general system by which it is governed. of course, in every nation its affairs are, and must be, conducted by officials. that is as true of america as of germany. the fundamental difference is that with us these official persons are executive officers only, the real captain is the people; while in germany these official persons are the real governors of the people, subject to the commands of one who repeatedly and publicly asserts that his commission is from god and not from the people. this puts whole classes of the community permanently into uniform, and the wearers of these uniforms are almost afraid to laugh, and would consider it sacrilege to romp. caution is a very puny form of morality. "he that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap." it is as true politically as of other spheres of life that "he or she who lets the world or his own portion of it choose his plan of life for him has no need of any other faculty than the ape-like one of imitation." thus writes john stuart mill, and what else can be said of the political activities of the germans? what journalist or what patriot indeed can take seriously a majority that has no power? what people can call itself free to whom its rulers are not responsible? the social democrats, at the moment of writing, have won one hundred and ten seats in the reichstag, but the army and navy estimates are beyond their reach, the taxes are fixtures, a constitution is a dream, and if they are cantankerous or truculent the reichstag will be dismissed by a wave of the hand. say what one will, they are a mammillary people politically, and the strongest party in the reichstag is merely an energetic political mangonel. their leaders moult opinions, they do not mould them, and could not translate them into action if they did. not since has there been a reichstag so strongly radical, but nothing will come of it. the reichskanzler, doctor von bethmann-hollweg, did not hesitate to take an early opportunity, after the opening of the new reichstag, to state boldly that the issue was authority versus democratization, and that he had no fear of the result. it is customary for the newly elected praesidium, the president and two vice-presidents of the reichstag, to be received in audience by the emperor. on this occasion the socialists forbade their representative to go, and the emperor, therefore, refused to receive any of them. as usual, they played into his hands. hans bleibt immer hans, and on this occasion his vulgar hack of good manners only brought contumely upon the whole reichstag, and left the emperor as the outstanding dignified figure in the controversy. such behavior is not calculated to invite confidence, and not likely to induce this enemy-surrounded nation to put its destinies in such hands, not at any rate for some time to come. "though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him." intellectually germany is a republic, and we americans perhaps beyond all other peoples have profited by her literature, her philosophy, her music, her scientific and economic teaching. we have kneaded these things into our political as well as into our intellectual life. "intellectual emancipation, if it does not give us at the same time control over ourselves, is poisonous." and who writes thus? goethe! but the intellectual freedom of germany has done next to nothing to bring about political or, in the realm of journalism, personal self-control. it is a strange state of affairs. intelligent men and women in germany do not realize it. not once, but many times, i have been told: "you foreigners are forever commenting upon our bureaucracy, our officialdom, but it is not as all-powerful as you think. we have plenty of freedom!" these people are often themselves officials, nearly always related to, or of the society, of the ruling class. the rulers and the ruling class have naturally no sense of oppression, no feeling that they are unduly subject to others, since the others are themselves. i am quite willing to believe of my own and of other people's personal opinions that they are not dogmas merely because they are baptized in intolerance. i must leave it to the reader to judge from the facts, whether or no the germans have a political autonomy, which permits the exercise and development of political power. a glance at the political parties themselves will make this perhaps the more clear. the official organization of the conservative party, may be said to date back to the founding of the neue preussische zeitung in , and the organization of the party in many parts of germany. earlier still, burke was the hero of the pioneers of this party, whose first newspaper had for editor, no less a person than heinrich von kleist, and whose first endeavors were to support god and the king, and to throw off the yoke of foreign domination. in was formed the deutsch-konservativ party supporting bismarck. "königthum von gottes gnaden" is still their watchword, with opposition to social democracy, support of imperialism, agrarian and industrial protection, and christian teaching in the schools, as the planks of their platform. they also combat jewish influence everywhere, particularly in the schools. allied to this party is the bund der landwirte and the deutscher bauernbund. in the election of they elected forty-five representatives to the reichstag, a serious falling off from the sixty-three seats held previous to that election. the free conservative portion of the conservative party, is composed of the less autocratic members of the landed nobility, but there is little difference in their point of view. the centrum, or catholic party, is in theory not a religious party; in practice it is, though it does not bar out protestant members who hold similar views to their own. its political activity began in , and the first call for the formation of the party came from reichensperger in the kölnischer volkszeitung. the famous leader of the party, and a politician who even held his own against bismarck, was the hanoverian justizminister, doctor ludwig windthorst. the stormy time of the party was from to , when bismarck attempted to oppose the growing power of the catholic church, and more particularly of the jesuits. the so-called may laws of that year forbade roman catholic intervention in civil affairs; obliged all ministers of religion to pass the higher-schools examinations and to study theology three years at a university; made all seminaries subject to state inspection; and gave fuller protection to those of other creeds. in bismarck needed the support of the centrum party to carry through the new tariff, and the may laws, except that regarding civil marriage, were repealed. the party stands for religious teaching in the primary schools, christian marriage, federal character of empire, protection, and independence of the state. more than any other party it has kept its representation in the reichstag at about the same number. in they cast , , votes and had members. in they had members, and in the last election of they won seats. even this catholic party is now divided. count oppersdorff leads the "only-catholic" party, against the more liberal section which has its head-quarters at cologne, where the late cardinal fisher was the leader. at the session of the reichstag in , when the question of the readmission of the jesuits was raised, the centrum party even sided with the socialists in the matter of the expropriation law for posen, in order to annoy the chancellor for his opposition to themselves. such political miscegenation as this does not show a high level of faith or of policy. it may be of interest to the reader to know that in the population of germany was , , , and the number qualified to vote , , ; in the population was , , , and the number qualified to vote, , , ; in the population was , , , and the qualified voters numbered over , , , of whom , , voted. in there were , , votes cast; in , , , . the german reichstag has members, or representative to every , inhabitants; the united states house of representatives has members, or for every , inhabitants; england, members, or for every , ; france, , or for every , ; italy, , or for every , ; austria, , or for every , . despite the fact that the conservative and the catholic parties have much in common, and are the parties of the right and centre: these names are given the political parties in the reichstag according to their grouping on the right, centre, and left of the house, looking from the tribune or speaker's platform, from which all set speeches are delivered, they are often at odds among themselves, and bismarck and bülow brought about tactical differences among them for their own purposes. their programme may be summed up as "as you were," which is not inspiring either as an incentive or as a command. the liberal parties are the national liberale; fortschrittspartei, or progressives; and the freisinnige volkspartei, or liberal democratic party. the national liberal party was strongest during the days when prussia's efforts were directed mainly toward a federation and a strengthening of the bonds which hold the states together; "unter dem donner der kanonen von königgratz ist der nationalliberale gedanke geboren." loyalty to emperor and empire, country above party, a fleet competent to protect the country and its overseas interests, are watchwords of the party. the party is protectionist, and in matters of school and church administration in accord with the free conservatives. the liberal democratic party demands electoral reform, no duties on foodstuffs, and imperial insurance laws for the workingmen. the fortschrittspartei finds its intellectual beginnings, in the condensing of the hazy clouds of revolution in , in the persons of wilhelm von humboldt and freiherr von stein. politically, the party came into being in , and waldeck, von hoverbeck, and virchow are familiar names to students of german political history; later eugen richter was the leader of the party in the reichstag. this party is still for free-trade, in opposition to military and bureaucratic government, favorable to parliamentary government. of the grouping and regrouping of these parties; of their divisions for and against bismarck's policies; of their splits on the questions of free-trade and protection; of their leanings now to the right, now to the left; of their differences over details of taxation for purposes of defence; of their attitudes toward a powerful fleet, and toward the jesuits, it would require a volume, and a large one, to describe. though it is dangerous to characterize them, they may be said without inaccuracy to represent the democratic movement in germany both in thought and political action, and to hold a wavering place between the conservatives and the social democrats. the social democratic party, the party of the wage-earners only assumed recognizable outlines after the appeal of ferdinand lassalle for a workingman's congress at leipsic in . in they mustered , voters. bismarck and the monarchy looked askance at their growing power. it was attempted to pass a law, punishing with fine and imprisonment: "wer in einer den öffentlichen frieden gefährdenden weise verschiedene klassen der bevölkerung gegeneinander öffentlich aufreizt oder wer in gleicher weise die institute der ehe, der familie und des eigentums öffentlich durch rede oder schrift angreift." this was a direct attack upon the socialists, but the reichstag refused to pass the law. in may, , and shortly after in june, two attempts were made upon the life of the kaiser. bismarck then easily and quickly forced through the new law against the socialists. under this law newspapers were suppressed, organizations dissolved, meetings forbidden, and certain leaders banished. for twelve years the party was kept under the watchful restraint of the police, and their propaganda made difficult and in many places impossible. after the repeal of this law, and for the last twenty years, the party has increased with surprising rapidity. in the social democrats cast , , votes; in , , , ; in , more than , , ; and in the last election, , , , ; and they have just returned delegates to the reichstag out of a total of members. it is noteworthy that in america there is one socialist member of the house of representatives; while in germany, which combines autocratic methods of government, with something more nearly approaching state ownership and control, than any other country in the world, the most numerous party in the present reichstag is that of the social democrats. freedom is the only medicine for discontent. there is no rope for the hanging of a demagogue like free speech; no such disastrous gift for the socialist as freedom of action. imagine what would have happened in america if we had attempted to suppress bryan! the result of giving him free play and a fair hearing, the result of allowing the people to judge for themselves, has been a prolonged spectacle of political hari-kiri which has had a wholesome though negative educational influence. the most accomplished oratorical pierrot of our day, who changes his political philosophy as easily as he changes his costume, has seen one hundred and sixty cities and towns in america turn to government by commission, and has kept the heraldic donkey always just out of reach of the political carrots, until the republican party itself fairly pushed the donkey into the carrot-field, but even then with another leader. no autocrat could have done so much. as early as auer, bebel, and liebknecht outlined the programme of the party, and this programme, again revised at erfurt in , stands as the expression of their demands. they claim that: "die arbeiterklasse kann ihre ökonomischen kämpfe nicht führen und ihre ökonomische organisation nicht entwickeln ohne politisehe rechte." roughly they demand: the right to form unions and to hold public meetings; separation of church and state; education free and secular, and the feeding of school-children; state expenditure to be met exclusively by taxes on incomes, property, and inheritance; people to decide on peace and war; direct system of voting, one adult one vote; citizen army for defence; referendum; international court of arbitration. their leader in the reichstag to-day is bebel, and from what i have heard of the debates in that assembly i should judge that they have not only a majority over any other party in numbers, but also in speaking ability. the members of the socialist party always leave the house in a body, at the end of each session, just before the cheers are called for, for the emperor. they have become more and more daring of late in their outspoken criticism of both the emperor and his ministers. in consequence, they are replied to with ever-increasing dislike and bitterness by their opponents. at a recent banquet of old university students in berlin, freiherr von zedlitz, presiding, quoted barth and richter: "the victory of social democracy means the destruction of german civilization, and a social democratic state would be nothing more than a gigantic house of correction." in addition to the four important political divisions in the reichstag, the conservative, liberal, clerical, and socialist, there are many subdivisions of these. since there have been some forty different parties represented, eleven conservative, fourteen liberal, two clerical, nine national-particularist, and five socialist. to-day, besides four small groups and certain representatives acknowledging no party, there are some eleven different factions. right, or conservative. , , , , , , , , , liberal................ , , , , , , , , , , clerical............... , , , , , , , , , social democrats....... , , , , , , , , so far as one may so divide them, the voters have aligned themselves as follows: in the last elections, in , the conservatives and their allies elected members; the clericals, ; the poles, ; and the guelphs, ; and these come roughly under the heading of the party of the right. under the heading left, the national liberals and progressive party elected , and the social democrats members to the reichstag. the parties stand therefore roughly divided at the moment of writing as conservative, and radical, with members unaccounted for. the poles with seats, the alsatians with , the guelphs and lorrainers and danes with seats, and the no-party with seats, are also represented, but are here placed with the party of the right. to divide the parties into two camps gives the result that, roughly, four and a half millions voted that they were satisfied, and seven and a half millions that they were not. no doubt any chancellor, including doctor von bethmann-hollweg, would be glad to divide the reichstag as definitely and easily as i have done. theoretically these divisions may be useful to the reader, but practically to the leader they are useless. bebel, the leader of the social democrats, declares himself ready to shoulder a musket to defend the country; heydebrandt, the leader of the conservatives, and possibly the most effective speaker in the reichstag, has spoken warmly in favor of social reform laws; the clericals are for peace, almost at any price; the agrarians or junkers for a tariff on foodstuffs and cattle, and one might continue analyzing the parties until one would be left bewildered at their refining of the political issues at stake. back to god and the emperor; and forward to a constitutional monarchy with the chancellor responsible to the reichstag, and perhaps later a republic, represent the two extremes. between the two everything and anything. it is hard to put together a team out of these diverse elements that a chancellor can drive with safety, and with the confidence that he will finally arrive with his load at his destination. in addition to these parties there are the frankly disaffected representatives of conquered poland, of conquered holstein, of conquered alsace-lorraine, and of conquered hanover, this last known as the guelph party; all of them anti-prussian. it is not to be wondered at that the comments, deductions, and prophecies of foreigners are wildly astray when dealing with german politics. in america, religious differences and racial differences play a small rôle at washington; but the protestants, the catholics, the jews, the free-thinkers, and so on, in the last reichstag are in a way parties as well. in that same assembly members were over , over , between and , under , and under years of age. one hundred and six members were landed proprietors; were of the liberal professions, including authors, judges or magistrates, clericals, doctors, and artist; merchants; manufacturers; and shopkeepers and laborers. seventy-two members were of the nobility, a decided falling off from , when they numbered . two hundred and fifty members were educated at a university, and practically all may be said to have had an education equal if not superior to that given in our smaller colleges. in the american congress, in the house of representatives, we have lawyers, though there are only , lawyers in our population of , , . we have in that same assembly business men, representing the , , of our people engaged in trade and industry. perhaps the german reichstag is as fairly representative as our own house of representatives, though both assemblies show the babyhood of civilization which still votes for flashing eyes, thumping fists, hollering patriotism, and smooth phrases. the surprising feature of elective assemblies is that here and there messrs. self-control, ability, dignity, and independence find seats at all. the members are paid, since , a salary of , marks, with a deduction of marks for each day's absence. they have free passes over german railways during the session. the reichstag is elected every five years. the appearance of the reichstag to the stranger is notable for the presence of military, naval, and clerical uniforms. it is, as one looks down upon them, an assembly where at least one-fourth are bald or thin-haired, and together they give the impression of being big in the waist, careless in costume, slovenly in carriage, and lacking proper feeding, grooming, and exercise. it is clearly an assemblage, not of men of action, but of men of theories. not only their appearance betrays this, but their debates as well, and what one knows of their individual training and preferences goes to substantiate this judgment of them. there are no soldiers, sailors, explorers, governors of alien people; no men, in short, who have solved practical problems dealing with men, but only theorists. such men as götzen, solf, and others, who have had actual experience of dealing with men, are rare exceptions. probably the best men in germany wish, and wish heartily, that there were more such men; indeed, i betray no secret when i declare that the most intelligent and patriotic criticism in germany coincides with my own. the electoral divisions of germany, as we have noted elsewhere, have not been changed for forty years, with a consequent disproportionate representation from the rural, as over against the enormously increased population, of the urban and industrial districts. the conservatives, for example, in gained seat for every , votes; the clericals or centrum, seat for every , votes; the national liberals, for every , votes; and the social democrats, for every , votes. it may be seen from this, how overwhelming must be the majority of votes cast by the social democrats, in order to gain a majority representation in the reichstag itself. in they cast more than one-third of the votes, and are represented by members out of the total of . for the student of german politics it is important to remember, that the social democrats are not all representatives of socialism or of democracy. their demands at this present time are far from the radical theory that all sources of production should be in the hands of the people. only a small number of very red radicals demand that. their successes have been, and they are real successes, along the lines of greater protection and more political liberty for the workingman. the number of their votes is swelled by thousands of voters who express their general discontent in that way. the state in germany owns railroads, telegraph and telephone lines; operates mines and certain industries, and both controls and directly helps certain large manufactories which are either of benefit to the state, or which, if they were entirely independent, might prove a danger to the state. the state enforces insurance against sickness, accident, and old age, and the three million office-holders are dependent upon the state for their livelihood and their pensions. it is a striking thing in germany to see human nature cropping out, even under these ideal conditions; for it is difficult to see how the state could be more grandmotherly in her officious care of her own. but this is not enough. physical safety is not enough, the demand is for political freedom, and for a government answerable to the people and the people's representatives. rich men, powerful men, representative men by the thousands, men whom one meets of all sorts and conditions, and who are neither radical nor socialistic, vote the social democrat ticket. the social democrats are by no means all democrats nor all socialists. as a body of voters they are united only in the expression of their discontent with a government of officials, practically chosen and kept in power over their heads, and with whose tenure of office they have nothing to do. the fact that the members of the reichstag are not in the saddle, but are used unwillingly and often contemptuously as a necessary and often stubborn and unruly pack-animal by the kaiser-appointed ministers; the fact that they are pricked forward, or induced to move by a tempting feed held just beyond the nose, has something to do, no doubt, with the lack of unanimity which exists. the diverse elements debate with one another, and waste their energy in rebukes and recriminations which lead nowhere and result in nothing. i have listened to many debates in the reichstag where the one aim of the speeches seemed to be merely to unburden the soul of the speaker. he had no plan, no proposal, no solution, merely a confession to make. after forty-odd years the germans, in many ways the most cultivated nation in the world, are still without real representative government. why should the press or society take this assembly very seriously, when, as the most important measure of which they are capable, they can vote to have themselves dismissed by declining to pass supply bills; and when, as has happened four times in their history, they return chastened, tamed, and amenable to the wishes of their master? no wonder the political writing in the press seems to us vaporish and without definite aims. it is perhaps due to this weakness that the writing in the german journals upon other subjects is very good indeed. the best energies of the writers are devoted to what may be called educational and literary expositions. in the field of foreign politics the german press is less well-informed, less instructive, and consequently irritating. the poverty of material resources makes such writing as that of sir valentine chirrol, and in former days that of mr. g. w. smalley, beyond the reach of the german journalist, and their press is painfully narrow, frequently unfair, and often purposely insulting to foreign countries. they are not only anti- english, but anti-french, anti-american, and at times bitter. if the american people read the german newspapers there would be little love lost between us. v berlin he is a fortunate traveller who enters berlin from the west, and toward the end of his journey rolls along over the twelve or fifteen miles of new streets, glides under the brandenburger tor, and finds himself in unter den linden. the kaiserdamm, bismarck strasse, berliner strasse, charlottenburgerchaussee, unter den linden, give the most splendid street entrance into a city in the world. the pavement is without a hole, without a crack, and as clear of rubbish of any kind as a well-kept kitchen floor. the cleanliness is so noticeable that one looks searchingly for even a scrap of paper, for some trace of negligence, to modify this superiority over the streets of our american cities. but there is no consolation; the superiority is so incontestable that no comparison is possible. for the whole twelve or fifteen miles the streets are lined with trees, or shrubs, or flowers, with well-kept grass, and with separate roads on each side for horsemen or foot-passengers. in the spring and summer the streets are a veritable garden. broadway is feet wide; fifth avenue is feet wide; the champs elysées is feet wide; and unter den linden is feet wide, and has feet of roadway. for every square yard of wood pavement in berlin there are square yards of asphalt and square yards of stone. the total length of streets cleaned in berlin, which has an area of square miles, according to a report of some few years ago, was miles; there are streets and some open places, and the area cleaned daily was , , square yards. the cost of the care of the berlin streets has risen with the growth of the city from , , marks, [ ] in , to , , marks, in . the total cost of the street-cleaning in new york, in , was $ , , , and in manhattan, the bronx, and brooklyn , men were employed; while the working force in berlin, in , was , . it should be said also that in new york an enormous amount of scavenging is paid for privately besides. in new york the street-sweepers are paid $ . a day; in berlin the foremen receive . marks the first three years, and thereafter marks; the men . marks the first three years, then marks, and after nine years' service . marks. the boy assistants receive marks, after two years . marks, and after four years service marks. the whole force is paid every fourteen days. the street-cleaning department is divided into thirty-three districts, these districts into four groups, each with an inspector, and all under a head-inspector. attached to each district are depots with yards for storage of vehicles, apparatus, brooms, shovels, uniforms, with machine shops, where on more than one occasion i have seen enthusiastic workmen trying experiments with new machinery to facilitate their work. [ ] the mark is equal to a little less than twenty-five cents. over this whole force presides, a politician? far from it; a technically educated man of wide experience, and, of the official of my visit i may add, of great courtesy and singular enthusiasm both for his task and for the men under him. what his politics are concerns nobody, what the politics of the party in power are concerns him not at all. that an individual, or a group of individuals, powerful financially or politically, should influence him in his choice or in his placing of the men under him is unthinkable. that a political boss in this or in that district, should dictate who should and who should not, be employed in the street-cleaning department, even down to the meanest remover of dung with a dust-pan, as was done for years in new york and every other city in america, would be looked upon here as a farce of topsy-turvydom, with alice in wonderland in the title-rôle. the streets are cleaned for the benefit of the people, and not for the benefit of the pockets of a political aristocracy. the public service is a guardian, not a predatory organization. in our country when a man can do nothing else he becomes a public servant; in germany he can only become a public servant after severe examinations and ample proofs of fitness. the superiority of one service over the other is moral, not merely mechanical. the street-cleaning department is recruited from soldiers who have served their time, not over thirty-five years of age, and who must pass a doctor's examination, and be passed also by the police. the rules as to their conduct, their uniforms, their rights, and their duties, down to such minute carefulness as that they may not smoke on duty "except when engaged in peculiarly dirty and offensive labor," are here, as in all official matters in germany, outlined in labyrinthine detail. sickness, death, accident, are all provided for with a pension, and there are also certain gifts of money for long service. the police and the street-cleaning department co-operate to enforce the law, where private companies or the city-owned street-railways are negligent in making repairs, or in replacing pavement that has been disturbed or destroyed. there is no escape. if the work is not done promptly and satisfactorily, it is done by the city, charged against the delinquent, and collected! one need go into no further details as to why and wherefore berlin, hamburg, even cologne in these days, leipsic, düsseldorf, dresden, munich, keep their streets in such fashion, that they are as corridors to the outside of irish hovels, as compared to the city streets of america; for the definite and all-including answer and explanation are contained in the two words: no politics. berlin is governed by a town council, under a chief burgomaster and a burgomaster, and the civic magistracy, and the police, these last, however, under state control. the chief burgomaster and the burgomaster are chosen from trained and experienced candidates, and are always men of wide experience and severe technical training, who have won a reputation in other towns as successful municipal administrators. in may, , wermuth, the son of the blind king of hanover's right-hand man, and he himself the recently resigned imperial secretary of the treasury, was elected oberburgomaster of berlin. such is the standing of the men named to govern the german cities. it is as though elihu root should be elected mayor of new york, with colonel john biddle as police commissioner, and colonel goethals as commissioner of street-cleaning. may the day come when we can avail ourselves of the services of such men to govern our cities! the magistracy numbers , of whom receive salaries. the town council consists of members, half of whom must be householders. they are elected for six years, and one-third of them retire every two years, but are eligible for re-election. they are elected by the three-class system of voting, which is described in another chapter. this three-class system of voting results in certain inequalities. in prussia, for example, fifteen per cent. of the voters have two-thirds of the electoral power, and relatively the same may be said of berlin. unlike the municipal elections in american cities, the voters have only a simple ballot to put in the ballot-box. national and state politics play no part, and the voter is not confused by issues that have nothing to do with his city government. the government of their cities is arranged for on the basis that officials will be honest, and work for the city and not for themselves. our city organizations often give the air of living under laws framed to prevent thievery, bribery, blackmailing, and surreptitious murder. we make our municipal laws as though we were in the stone age. these german cities are also, unlike american cities, autonomous. they have no state-made charters to interpret and to obey; they are not restricted as to debt or expenditure; and they are not in the grip of corporations that have bought or leased water, gas, electricity, or street-railway franchises, and these, represented by the wealthiest and most intelligent citizens, become, through the financial undertakings and interests of these very same citizens, often the worst enemies of their own city. the german cities are spared also the confusion, which is injected into our politics by a fortunately small class of reformers, with the prudish peculiarities of morbid vestals; men who cannot work with other men, and who bring the virile virtues, the sound charities, and wholesome morality into contempt. we all know him, the smug snob of virtue. you may find him a professor at the university; you may find him leading prayer-meetings and preaching pure politics; you may find him the bloodless philanthropist; you may find him a rank atheist, with his patents for the bringing in of his own kingdom of heaven. these are the men above all others who make the tammanyizing of our politics possible. honest men cannot abide the hot-house atmosphere of their self-conscious virtue. nothing is more discouraging to robust virtue than the criticisms of teachers of ethics, who live in coddled comfort, upon private means, and other people's ideas. germany is just now suffering from the spasms of moral colic, due to overeating. all luxury is in one form or another overeating. berlin itself has grown too rapidly into the vicious ways of a metropolis, where spenders and wasters congregate. in the betting-machines at the berlin race-tracks took in $ , , , of which the state took for its license, / per cent. there were days of racing, while in england they have days' racing in the year! in , , , strangers visited berlin, of whom , , were germans, , russians, , austrians, , americans, and , english. berlin killed , , beasts for food, including , horses; she takes care of , nightly in her night-shelters, puts away $ , , in savings-banks, and has deposits therein of $ , , . on the other hand, she has built a palace of vice costing $ , , , in which on many nights between p. m. and a. m. they sell $ , worth of champagne. no one knows his berlin, who has not partaken of a "kalte ente," or a "landwehrtopp," a "schlummerpunsch," or "eine weisse mit einer strippe." there is still a boyish notion about dissipation, and they have their own great classic to quote from, who in "faust" pours forth this rather raw advice for gayety: "greift nur hinein ins volle menschenleben! ein jeder lebt's, nicht vielen ist's bekannt, und wo ihr's packt, da ist es interessant!" berlin is still in the throes of that sophomorical philosophy of life which believes that it is, from the point of view of sophistication, of age, when it is free to be befuddled with wine and befooled by women. but the german mind has no sympathy with hypocrisy. they may be brutal in their rather material views of morals, but they are frank. there may be mental prigs among them, but there are no moral prigs. in both england and america we suffer from a certain morbid ethical daintiness. there is a ripeness of moral fastidiousness that is often difficult to distinguish from rottenness. it is part of the feminism of america, born of our prosperity, for not one of these fastidious moralists is not a rich man, and germany escapes this difficulty. the government of a german city is so simple in its machinery that every voter can easily understand it. no doubt seth low and george l. rives could explain to an intelligent man the charter under which new york city is governed, but they are very, very rare exceptions. our city government is bad, not because democracy is a failure, not because americans are inherently dishonest, but because we are a superficially educated people, untrained to think, and, therefore, still worshipping the jeffersonian fetich of divided responsibility between the three branches of the government. the judicial, the legislative, and the executive are, with minute care, forced to check and to impede one another, and we even carry this antiquated superstition, born of a suspicious and timid republicanism, into the government of our cities. with the exception of those cities in america which are governed by commissions, our cities are slaves as compared with the german cities. they are slaves of the predatory politicians, and they, on the other hand, are the bribed taskmasters of the rich corporations. the german asks in bewilderment why our men of wealth, of leisure, and of intelligence are not devoting themselves to the service of the state and the city. alas, the answer is the pitiable one that the electoral machinery is so complicated that the voters can be and are, continually humbugged; and worse, many of the wealthy and intelligent, through their stake in valuable city franchises, are incompetent to deal fairly with the municipal affairs of their own city. both in england and in america, the man in the street is quite sound in his judgment, when he declines to trust those who dabble in securities with which their own department has dealings. the british caesar's wife official, caught with a handkerchief on her person, woven on the looms of a company whose directors are dealing with the british government, can hardly claim exemption from suspicion, because she bought the handkerchief in america. we all know that when london sniffles the value of handkerchiefs goes up in new york. caesar's wife finds it difficult to persuade honorable men that she merely had a financial cold, but not the smallest interest in a corner in handkerchiefs. in the great majority of german cities public-utility services, gas, water, electricity, street-railways, slaughter-houses, and even canals, docks, and pawn-shops are owned and controlled by the cities themselves. there is no loop-hole for private plunder, and there is, on the contrary, every incentive to all citizens, and to the rich in particular, to enforce the strictest economy and the most expert efficiency. what theatres, opera-houses, orchestras, museums, what well-paved and clean streets, what parks philadelphia, new york, chicago, and san francisco might have, had these cities only a part of the money, of which in the last twenty-five years they have been robbed! it is true that the older cities of germany have traditions behind them that we lack. art treasures, old buildings, and an intelligent population demanding the best in music and the drama we cannot hope to supply, but good house-keeping is another matter. berlin, for example, is a new city as compared with new york, boston, philadelphia, and detroit, and its growth has been very rapid. it cannot be said for us alone that we have grown so fast that we have had no time to keep pace with the needs of our population. berlin, all germany indeed, has been growing at a prodigious rate. the population of berlin in was , ; in only , ; hardly half a million in ; while the population now is over , , , and over , , if one includes the suburbs, which are for all practical purposes part and parcel of berlin. charlottenburg, for example, with a population of , in , now has a population of , , and the vicinage of berlin has grown in every direction in like proportions. there were no towns in germany till the eighth century, except those of the romans on the rhine and the danube. in there were only towns in germany with more than , inhabitants, and in only ; in , ; in , ; in , ; in , ; and nearly the whole increase of population is now massed in the middle-sized and large cities. the same may be said of the drift of population in america. "a thrifty but rather unprogressive provincial town of , inhabitants," writes mr. j. h. harper, of new york, in . between and the proportion of urban to rural population in the united states more than doubled. in the last ten years the percentage of people living in cities, or other incorporated places of more than , inhabitants, increased from . to . per cent. of the total; while twenty years ago only . per cent. of the population lived in such incorporated places. as late as the thirteenth century the christian chivalry of the time was spending itself in the task of converting the heathen of what is now prussia; and it was well on into the nineteenth century before serfdom was entirely abolished in this region. it is the newness and rawness of the population, in the streets of the great german and prussian capital which surprise and puzzle the american, almost more than the cleanliness and orderliness of the streets themselves. it is as though a powerful monarch had built a fine palace and then, for lack of company, had invited the people from the fields and farm-yards to be his companions therein. "jamais un lourdaud, quoi qu'il fasse ne saurait passer pour galaud." one should read hazlitt's "essay on the cockney" to find phrases for these berliners. it is a gazing, gaping crowd that straggles along over the broad sidewalks. half a dozen to a dozen will stop and stare at people entering or leaving vehicles, at a shop, or hotel door. i have seen a knot of men stop and stare at the ladies entering a motor-car, and on one occasion one of them wiped off the glass with his hand that he might see the better. it is not impertinence, it is merely bucolic naïveté. the city in the evening is like a country fair, with its awkward gallantries, its brute curiosity, its unabashed expressions of affection by hands and lips, its ogling, coughing, and other peasant forms of flirtation. it should be remembered that this people as a race show somewhat less of reticence in matters amatory than we are accustomed to. in the foyer of the theatre you may see a young officer walking round and round, his arm under that of his fiancée or bride, and her hand fondly clasped in his. it is a commentary, not a criticism, on international manners that the german royal princess, a particularly sweet and simple maiden, just engaged to marry the heir of the house of cumberland, is photographed walking in the streets of berlin, her hand clasped in that of her betrothed, and both he, and her brother who accompanies them, smoking! gentlemen do not smoke when walking or driving with ladies, with us, though i am not claiming that it is a moral disaster to do so. it is a difference in the gradations of respect worth noting, but nothing more. i have even seen kissing, as a couple walked up the stairs from one part of the theatre to another. in the spring and summer the paths of the tiergarten of a morning are strewn with hair-pins, a curious, but none the less accurate, indication of the rather fumbling affection of the night before. to live in a fashionable hotel, in a land whose people you wish to study, is as valueless an experience as to go to a zoölogical garden to learn to track a mountain sheep or to ride down a wild boar. you must go about among the people themselves, to their restaurants, to their houses, if they are good enough to ask you, and to the resorts of all kinds that they frequent. the manners are better than in my student days, but there is still a deal of improvised eating and drinking. there is much tucking of napkins under chins that the person may be shielded from misdirected food-offerings. there is not a little use of the knife where the fork or spoon is called for; but this last i always look upon as a remnant of courage, of the virility remaining in the race from a not distant time when the knife served to clear the forest, to build the hut, to kill the deer, and to defend the family from the wolf; and the traditions of such a weapon still give it predominance over the more epicene fork, as a link with a stirring past. mere daintiness in feeding is characteristic of the lapdog and other over-protected animals. unthinking courage in the matter of victuals is rather a relief from the strained and anxious hygienic watchfulness of the overcivilized and the overrich. the body should be, and is, regarded by wholesome-minded people, not as an idol, but as an instrument. the german no doubt sees something ignominious in counting as one chews a chop, in the careful measuring of one's liquids, in the restricting of oneself to the diet of the squirrel and the cow. he would perhaps prefer to lose a year or two of life rather than to nut and spinach himself to longevity. the wholesome body ought of course to be unerring and automatic in its choice of the quantity and quality of its fuel. a well-dressed man in berlin is almost as conspicuous as a dancing bear. this comparison may lead the stranger to infer, in spite of what has been said of the orderliness of berlin, that dancing bears are permitted in the streets. it is only fair to berlin's admirable police president, von jagow, to say that they are not. if one leaves the officers, who are a fine, upstanding, well-groomed lot, out of the account, the inhabitants of berlin are almost grotesque in their dowdiness. this is the more remarkable for the reason that the citizens of berlin, wherever you see them, not only in the west-end, but in the tenement districts, in the public markets, going to or coming from the suburban trains, in the trains and underground railway, in the cheaper restaurants and pleasure resorts, taking their sunday outing, or in the fourth-class carriages of the railway trains, or their children in the schools, show a high level of comfort in their clothing. there is poverty and wretchedness in berlin, of which later, but in no great city even in america, does the mass of the people give such an air of being comfortably clothed and fed. we have been deluged of late years with figures in regard to the cost of living in this country and in that, and never are statistics such "damned lies" as in this connection. there is better and cheaper food in berlin, and in the other cities of germany, than anywhere else in our white man's world. having for the moment no free-trade, or protectionist, or tariff-reform axe to grind, and having tested the pudding not by my prejudices but my palate, and having eaten a fifteen-pfennig luncheon in the street, and climbed step by step the gastronomical stairway in germany all the way up to a supper at the court, where eight hundred odd people were served with a care and celerity, and with hot viands and irreproachable potables, that made one think of the "arabian nights," i offer my experience and my opinion with some confidence. you can get enough to stave off hunger for a few pfennigs, you can get a meal for something under twenty-five cents, and the whole twenty-five cents will include a glass of the best beer in the world outside of munich. if you care to spend fifty cents there are countless restaurants where you can have a square meal and a glass of beer for that price; and for a dollar i will give you as good a luncheon with wine as any man with undamaged taste and unspoiled digestion ought to have. there is one restaurant in berlin which feeds as many as five thousand people on a sunday, where you can dine or sup, and listen to good music, and enjoy your beer and tobacco for an hour afterward, and all for something under fifty cents if you are careful in your ordering. during my walks in the country around berlin, i have often had an omelette followed by meat and vegetables, and cheese, and compote, and rhine wine, with all the bread i wanted, and paid a bill for two persons of a little over a dollar. the brödchen, or rolls, seem to be everywhere of uniform size and quality, and the butter always good. paris is fast losing its place as the home of good all-round eating as compared with berlin. of course, new york for geographical reasons, and also because the modern maecenas lives there, is nowadays the place where lucullus would invite his emperor to dine if he came back to earth; but i am not discussing the nectar and ambrosia classes, but the beer, bread, and pork classes, and certainly berlin has no rival as a provider for them. after all our study of statistics, of figures, of contrasts, i am not sure that we arrive at any very valuable conclusions. american working-classes work ever shorter hours, gain higher wages, but they are indubitably less happy, less rich in experience, less serene than the germans. this measuring things by dollars, by hours, by pounds and yard-sticks, measures everything accurately enough except the one thing we wish to measure, which is a man's soul. we are producing the material things of life faster, more cheaply, more shoddily, but it is open to question whether we are producing happier men and women, and that is what we are striving to do as the end of it all. nothing is of any value in the world that cannot be translated into the terms of man-making, or its value measured by what it does to produce a man, a woman, and children living happily together. wealth does not do this; indeed, wealth beyond a certain limit is almost certain to destroy the foundation of all peace, a contented family. a shady beer-garden, capital music, and happy fathers and mothers and children, what arithmetic, or algebra, or census tells you anything of that? the infallible recipe for making a child unhappy, is to give it everything it cries for of material things, and never to thwart its will. we throw wages and shorter hours of work at people, but that is only turning them out of prison into a desert. no statistics can deal competently with the comparative well-being of nations, and nothing is more ludicrous than the results arrived at where germany is discussed by the british or american politician. whatever figures say, and whatever else they may lack, they are better clothed, better fed and cared for, and have far more opportunities for rational enjoyment, and a thousand-fold more for aesthetic enjoyment, than either the english or the americans. that they lack freedom, in our sense, is true, but freedom is for the few. the worldwide complaint of the hardship of constant work is rather silly, for most of us would die of monotony if we were not forced to work to keep alive, and to make a living. the city, with its broad, clean streets, its beautiful race-course, shaded walks, its forests and lakes, toward potsdam, or at tegel, or werder, when the blossoms are out, with its well-kept gardens, its profusion of flowers and shrubs and trees, is physically the most wholesome great city in the world; but hans bleibt immer hans! goethe, after a visit to berlin, wrote: "there are no more ungodly communities than in berlin." [ ] [ ] "est giebt keine gottlosere völker als in berlin." no one knows his berlin better than that prince of german literary bohemians, paul lindau, and he makes a character in one of his novels say of it: "untidy and orderly, so boisterous and so regulated, so boorish and so kindly, so indescribable�so berlinish�just that!" [ ] [ ] "staubig und ordentlich, so taut und geregelt, so grob und gemütlich, so unbeschreiblich, so berlinerisch, gerade so!" in another place the same author writes: "berlin as the capital of the german empire! there are many respects in which it nevertheless hasn't yet succeeded in taking on the character of a cosmopolitan city." [ ] not even literature finds material for a city novel. there is no balzac, no thackeray. germany is still dominated by the village and the town. goethe, auerbach, spielhagen, heyse, gottfried keller, freytag, my unread favorite "fritz" reuter, deal not with the life of cities. there is as yet no drama, no novel, no art, no politics born of the city. there is no domineering paris or london or new york as yet. [ ] "berlin als haupstadt des deutchen reiches: in mancher beziehung hatte es sich dem weltstädtischen charakter doch noch nicht aneignen können." after some years of acquaintance with germany as school-boy, as student at the universities, and lately as a most hospitably received guest by all sorts and conditions of men, i do not remember meeting a fop. a german beau brummel is as impossible as a french luther, an american goethe, or an english wagner. we have had attempts at foppery in america, but no real fops. a genuine fop, whether in art, in literature, or in costumes, must have brains, ours have been merely effigies, foppery taking the dull commercial form of a great variety of raiment. it is a strange contradiction in german life that while they are as a people governed minutely and in detail, forbidden personal freedom along certain lines to which we should find it hard to submit, they are freer morally, freer in their literature, their art, their music, their social life, and in their unself-conscious expression of them than other people. there is a curious combination of legal and governmental slavery, and of spiritual and intellectual freedom; of innumerable restrictions, and great liberty of personal enjoyment, and that enjoyment of the most naïf kind. they seem to have done less to destroy life's palate with the condiments of civilization, and therefore, still find plain things savorous. i am not sure that the ecumenical sophistication, known as world-etiquette, marks a very high degree of knowledge or usefulness anywhere. to know which hat goes with which boots, and what collar and tie with what coat and waistcoat, and what costume is appropriate at a. m., and what at p. m., and to know the names of the head-waiters of the principal restaurants, are minor matters. these are the conveniences of the gentleman, but the characteristic burdens of the ass. such a mental equipment is not the stuff of which soldiers, sailors, statesmen, explorers, or governors are made. we must not overrate the value of this feminine worldliness in judging the germans. this effeminate categorical imperative of etiquette has not influenced them greatly as yet. but on the other hand, one must claim for the amenities of life that they have their value, that they are, after all, the external decorations of an inward discipline. it is not necessarily a fine disdain of material things, but rather a keen sense of moral and physical efficiency, which pays due heed to wherewithal ye shall be clothed, at any rate outside of palestine. those who dream and discuss may wear anything or nothing. it mattered not what socrates wore. but men of action must wear the easy armor that fits them best for their particular task. men who toil either at their pleasure or at their work must change their raiment, if only for the sake of rest and health. now that government is in the hands of the vociferators rather than the meditaters, even politicians must look to their costumes, merely out of regard to cleanliness. evening clothes with a knitted tie dribbling down the shirt front; a frock-coat as a frame for a colored waistcoat, such as at shooting, or riding, or golf, we permit ourselves to break forth in, as a weak surrender to the tailor, or to the ingenuity of our womenfolk who are not "unbred to spinning, in the loom unskilled"; the extraordinary indulgence in personal fancies in the choice of colored ties, as though the male citizens of berlin had been to an auction of the bastards of a rainbow; the little melon-shaped hats with a band of thick velvet around them; the awkward slouching gait, as of men physically untrained; the enormous proportion of men over forty, who follow behind their stomachs and turn their toes out at an angle of more than forty-five degrees, whose necks lie in folds over their collars, and whose whole appearance denotes an uncared-for person and a negligence of domestic hygiene: these things are significant. no man who walks with his toes pointing southwest by south, and southeast by south, when he is going south, will ever get into france on his own feet, carrying a knapsack and a rifle. cranach's painting of duke henry the pious, in the dresden gallery, gives an accurate picture of the way many germans still stand and walk; while every athlete knows that runners and walkers put their feet down straight, or with a tendency to turn them in rather than out. the indians of northwest india, and the indians of our own west are good examples of this. it is evident that the orderliness of berlin is enforced orderliness and not voluntary orderliness. both pedestrians and drivers of all sorts of vehicles, take all that is theirs and as much more as possible. there is none of the give and take, and innate love of fair play and instinctive wish to give the other fellow a chance, so noticeable in london streets, whether on the sidewalks or in the roadway. there is a general chip-on-the-shoulder attitude in prussia, which may be said, i think not unfairly, to be evident in all ranks, from their recent foreign diplomacy, down to the pedestrians and drivers. many people whom i have met, not only foreigners but germans from other parts of germany, are loud in their denunciations of the berliners. "frech" and "roh" are words often used about them. there is a surly malice of speech and manner among the working classes, that seems to indicate a wish to atone for political impotence, by braggart impudence to those whom they regard as superior. when we played horse as children, we champed the wooden bit, shied, and balked and kicked, and the worse we behaved the more spirited horses we thought ourselves. there is a certain social and political radicalism verging upon anarchy, which plays at life in much the same way, with no better reason, and with little better result. shying, balking, and kicking, and champing the political bit, are only spirited to the childish. their awkward and annoying attentions to women alone on the streets; their staring and gaping; their rudeness in pushing and shoving; the general underbred look, the slouching gait, the country-store clothes, hats, and boots; the fearful and wonderful combinations of raiment; the sweetbread complexions, as of men under-exercised and not sufficiently aired and scrubbed; their stiff courtesy to one another when they recognize acquaintances with hat-sweeping bows; their fierce gobbling in the restaurants; their lack of small services and attentions to their own women when they go about in public with them; their selfish disregard of others in public places, their giving and taking of hats, coats, sticks, and umbrellas at the garde-robes of the theatres, for example; their habit of straggling about in the middle of the streets, like the chickens and geese on a country road: all these things i have noted too, but i must admit the surprising personal conclusion that i have grown to like the people. a good pair of shoulders and an engaging smile go far to mitigate these nuisances. it makes for good sense in this matter of criticism always to bear in mind that delicious piece of humor of the psalmist: "let the righteous rather smite me friendly; and reprove me. but let not their precious balms break my head." the "precious balms" of the lofty and righteous critic are not of much value when they merely break heads. i have been all over berlin, and in all sorts of places, by day and by night. i have found myself seated beside all sorts of people in restaurants and public places, and i have yet to chronicle any rudeness to me or mine. i like their innocent curiosity, their unsophisticated ways, their bumpkin love-making in public; and many a time i have found entertainment from odd companions who seated themselves near me, when i have strayed into the cheaper restaurants, to hear and to see something of the berliner in his native wilds. their malice and rudeness and apparent impertinences are due to lack of experience, to the fact that their manners are still untilled, i believe, rather than to intentional insult. they are not house-broken to their new capital, that is all, and that will come in time. their malicious jealousy peeps out in all sorts of ways. in the lower house of the prussian diet, recently, a member protested vigorously against the employment of an american singer in the opera house! chauvinism carried to this extreme becomes comic, and is noted here only to indicate to what depths of farm-yard provinciality some of the citizens of this great city can descend. they are dreamers and sentimentalists too. there are more kissing, more fondling, more exuberance of affection, more displays of friendliness in germany in a week than in england and america in six months. i confess without shame that i like to see it, and when it comes my way, as beyond my deserts it has, i like to feel it. how lasting is this friendliness i have no means of knowing till the years to come tell me, but that it is a pleasant atmosphere to live in there can be no doubt. the driving is of the very worst. a man behind a horse, or horses, who knows even the elements of handling the reins and the whip and the brake, would be a curiosity indeed. i have not seen a dozen coachmen, private or public, to whom my youngest child could not have given invaluable suggestions as to the bitting, harnessing, and handling of his cattle. on the other hand, i one day saw a street sign twisted out of its place. i was fascinated by this unexampled mark of negligence. i determined to watch that sign; alas, within forty-eight hours it was put right again. let it not be understood that there are no fine horses to be seen in berlin. you will go far to find a better lot of horse-flesh, or better-looking men on the horses, than you will see when the kaiser rides by to the castle after his morning exercise; and he sits his horse and manages him with the easy skill of the real horseman, and looks every inch a king besides. it is told of daniel webster, walking in london, that a navvy turned to his companion and remarked: "that bloke must be a king!" you would say the same of the kaiser if you saw him on horseback. at horse shows and in the tiergarten, and in riding-places in other cities, i have looked at hundreds of horses, and, if i mistake not, germany is both buying and breeding the very best in the way of mounts, though their civilian riders are often of the scissors variety. there are comparatively few harness horses, and in berlin scarcely a dozen well-turned-out private carriages, outside the imperial equipages, which are always superbly horsed and beautifully turned out; so my eyes tell me at least, and i have watched the streets carefully for months. the minor details of a properly turned-out carriage (bits, chains, liveries, saddle-cloths, and so on) are still unknown here. i have had the privilege of driving and riding some of the horses in the imperial stables; and i have seen all of them at one time or another being exercised in harness and under the saddle. i have never driven a better-mannered four, or ridden more perfectly broken saddle-horses. there are three hundred and twenty-six horses in his majesty's stables, and for a private stable of its size it has no equal in the world. i may add, too, that there is probably no better "whip" in the world to-day, whether with two horses, four horses, or six horses, than the gentleman who trains the harness horses in the imperial stables. this german coachman would be a revelation at a horse show in either new york or london. if the citizens of berlin were as well-mannered as the horses in the imperial stables, this would be the most elegant capital in the world. it is to be regretted that his majesty's very accomplished master of the horse cannot also hold the position of censor morum to the citizens of berlin. individual prowess in the details of cosmopolitan etiquette has not reached a high level, but in all matters of mere house-keeping there are no better municipal housewives than these german cities and towns. as a further example, the statues of berlin are carefully cleaned in the spring, but what statues! with the exception of the lessing, the goethe, and the great elector statues, the statue of frederick the great, and the reclining statues of the late emperor and empress, by begas, and one or two others, one sees at once that these citizens are no more capable of ornamenting their city than of dressing themselves. poor bismarck! grotesque figures (men, women, animals) surround the base of his statue in berlin, in leipsic; and in hamburg, clad in a corrugated golf costume, with a colossal two-handed sword in front of him, he is a melancholy figure, gazing out over a tumble-down beer-garden. at wannsee, near berlin, there is, i must admit, a really fine bust of bismarck. on a solid square pedestal of granite, covered with ivy and surrounded by the whispering, or sighing, or creaking and cracking trees that he loved, and facing the setting sun, and alone in a secluded corner, just the place he would have chosen, there are the head and shoulders of the real bismarck. here for once he has escaped the fussy attentions of the artistry that he detested. lehnbach, who painted bismarck so many scores of times, never gave him the color that his face kept all through life, and with the exception of this bust, of the scores of bismarck memorials one sees all commiserate the lack of artist ability; they do not commemorate bismarck. if this is what they do to the greatest man in their history, what is to be expected elsewhere? what has poor joachim friedrich done that he should pose forever in the sieges allee as an intoxicated hitching-post? what, indeed, have his companions done that they should stand in two rows there, studies in contortion, with a gilded russian dancer with wings at one end of their line, and a woodeny roland at the other? but there they are, simpering a paltry patriotism, insipid as history and ridiculous as art. what has become of lessing, and winckelmann, and goethe, and their teachings? is this the price that a nation must pay for its industrial progress? the german, with all his boasting about the "centre of culture," has not discovered that the beauty of antiquity is the expression of those virtues which were useful at the time of theseus, as stendhal rightly tells us. individual force, which was everything of old, amounts to almost nothing in our modern civilization. the monk who invented gunpowder modified sculpture; strength is only necessary now among subalterns. no one thinks of asking whether frederick the great and napoleon were good swordsmen. the strength we admire, is the strength of napoleon advancing alone upon the first battalion of the royal troops near lake loffrey in march, ; that is strength of soul. the moral qualities with which we are concerned are no longer the same as in the days of the greeks. before this cockney sculpture was planned, there should have been a closer study of the history and philosophy of art in berlin. it is true that we in america are living in a glass house to some extent in these matters, but where in all germany is there any modern sculpture to compare with our nathan hale, our minute man, and that most spirited bit of modern plastic art in all the world, the shaw monument in boston? you cannot stand in front of it without keeping time, and here lips of bronze sing the song of patriotism till your heart thumps, and you are ready to throw up your hat as the splendid young figure and his negro soldiers march by--and they do march by! it is almost a consolation for what boston has done to that gallant soldier and humble servant of god, that modest gentleman, phillips brooks. in a statue to him they have travestied the virtues he expounded, slain the ideal of the christ he preached, theatricalized the least theatrical of men, and placed this piece of mortifying misunderstanding in bronze under the very eaves of the house that grew out of his simple eloquence. there is in leipsic a similar misdemeanor in a statue of beethoven. he sits, naked to the waist, in a bronze chair, with a sort of bath-towel drapery of colored marble about his legs, and an eagle in front of him. he has a chauffeurish expression of anxious futility, as though he were about to run over the eagle. men are without great dreams in these days, and art is elaborate and fussy and self-conscious. the technical part of the work is predominant. one sees the artist holding up a mirror to himself as he works. pygmalion congratulates the statue upon the fact that he carved it, instead of being lost in the love of creating. it is as though a lover should sing of himself instead of singing of his lady. the subtle poison of self-advertisement has crept in, and peers like a satyr from the picture and from the statue. even the most prominent name in german music at this writing is that of a man who is notorious as an expert salesman of symphonic sensationalism. though the streets are so well kept, the buildings in these miles of new streets are flimsy-looking, and evidently the work of the speculative builder. the more pretentious buildings ape a kind of nuremberg renaissance style, and are as effective as a castle made of cardboard. this does not imply that there are not simple and solid buildings in berlin and, in the case of the new library and a score of other buildings, worthy architecture; but the general impression is one of haste multiplied by plaster. the whole city blossoms with statuary, like a cosmopolitan 'arriet who cannot get enough flowers and feathers on her sunday hat. a certain comic anthropomorphism is to be seen, even on the balustrades of the castle, where the good emperor william is posed as jupiter, the empress augusta as juno, emperor frederick as mars, and his wife as minerva! on the façades of houses, on the bridges, on the roofs of apartment houses, on the hotels even, and scattered throughout the public gardens, are scores of statues, and they are for the most part what hastily ordered, swiftly completed art, born of the dollar instead of the pain and travail of love and imagination, must always be. a certain literary snob taken to task by doctor parr for pronouncing the one-time capital of egypt "alexandria," with the accent on the long i, quoted the authority of doctor bentley. "doctor bentley and i," replied doctor parr, "may call it 'alexandria,' but i should advise you to call it 'alexandria.'" it was all very well for the medici, to ornament their cities and their homes with the fruit of the great artistic springtime of the world, but i should strongly advise the berliners to pronounce it "alexandria" for some years to come. no matter how fervid the lover, nor how possessed he may be by his mistress, he cannot turn out every day, even, "a halting sonnet of his own poor brain, fashion'd to beatrice." all this pretentious over-ornamentation is cosmeticism, the powder and paint of the vulgarian striving to conceal by a futile advertisement her lack of refinement. paris was teaching the world when there was no capital in germany; london has been a commercial centre for a thousand years, and oxford was a hundred years old before even the university of prague, the first in germany, was founded by charles iv in . you may like or dislike these cities, but, at any rate, they have a bouquet; berlin has none. when germany deals with the inanimate and amenable factors of life, she brings the machinery of modern civilization well-nigh to the point of perfection. as a municipal and national housewife she has no equal, none. but art has nothing to do with brooms and dust-pans, and human nature is woven of surprises and emergencies, and what then? an interesting example in the streets of berlin is the difference between the perfection of the street-cleaning, which deals with the inanimate and with accurately calculable factors, and the governing of the street traffic. horses and men and motor-driven vehicles are not as dependable as blocks of pavement. when the traffic in the berlin streets grows to the proportions of london, paris, and new york, one wonders what will happen. nowhere are there such broad, well-kept streets in which the traffic is so awkwardly handled. the police are all, and must be, indeed, noncommissioned officers of the army, of nine years service, and not over thirty-five years of age. they are armed with swords and pistols by night, and in the rougher parts of the town with the same weapons by day as well. after ten years service they are entitled to a pension of twenty-sixtieths of their pay, with an increase of one-sixtieth for each further year of service. they are not under the city, but under state control, and the chief of police is a man of distinction, nearly always a nobleman, and nominated by, and in every case approved by, the emperor. in berlin he is appointed by the king of prussia. he is a man of such standing that he may be promoted to cabinet rank. the men are well-turned out, of heavy build, very courteous to strangers, so far as my experience can speak for them, and quiet and self-controlled. under the police president are one colonel of police, receiving from , to , marks, according to his length of service; majors, receiving from , to , marks; captains, receiving from , to , marks; lieutenants, receiving from , to , marks; sergeants, receiving from , to , marks; and , patrolmen, receiving from , to , marks. there are also some mounted police, receiving from , to , marks. the colonel, majors, and captains receive , marks additional, and the lieutenants marks additional, for house rent. the mounted police are well-horsed, but it is no slight to them to say, however, that their horses are not so well trained and well mannered, nor the men such skilful horsemen, as those of our mounted squad in new york, who, man for man and horse for horse, are probably unequalled anywhere else in the world. the demand for these non-commissioned officers of nine years of army discipline, who cannot be called upon to serve in the army again, has grown with the growth of the great city, with its need of porters, watchmen, and the like, and so valuable are their services deemed that the present police force of berlin is short of its proper number by some seven hundred men. the examination of those about to become policemen extends over four weeks, and includes every detail of the multiplicity of duties, which ranges from the protection of the public from crime, down to tracking down truants from school, and the regulation of the books of the maid-servant class. the policeman who aspires to the rank of sergeant undergoes a still more rigorous examination, extending over twenty weeks of preparation, during which time he studies--note this list, ye "young barbarians all at play," german, rhetoric, writing, arithmetic, common fractions, geography, history, especially the history of the house of hohenzollern from the time of the margraves to the present time (!), political divisions of the earth, especially of prussia and germany, the essential features of the constitution of the prussian kingdom and german empire, the organization and working of the various state authorities in prussia and germany, elementary methods of disinfection, common veterinary remedies, the police law as applicable to innumerable matters from the treatment of the drunk, blind, and lame, to evidences of murder, and the press law. the man who passes such an examination would be more than qualified to take a degree, at one of our minor colleges, if he knew english and the classics were not required, and could well afford to sniff disdainfully at the pelting shower of honorary degrees of doctor of divinity, which descend from the commencement platforms of our more girlish intellectual factories of orthodoxy. the cost of the police in berlin in was , , marks; in , , , marks; in , , , marks; and in , , , marks. i fancy that after an accident has taken place the literary, legal, and hygienic details are cared for by the berlin police as nowhere else. in their management of the traffic they are distinctly lacking in decision and watchfulness. on the western side of the brandenburger tor there is seldom an hour, without a tangle of traffic which is entirely unnecessary if the police knew their business. on the tiergarten strasse, a rather narrow and much used thoroughfare in the fashionable part of the town, trucks, cabs, and other vehicles are not kept close to the curbs, often they drive along in pairs, slowing up all the traffic, and at the east end of the street is a corner which could easily be remedied by the building of a "refuge," and an authoritative policeman to guard the three approaches. not once, but scores of times, at the very important corner of unter den linden and wilhelm strasse i have seen the policeman talking to friends on the curb, quite oblivious to a scramble of cabs, wagons, and motors at cross purposes in the street. potsdamer platz presents a difficult problem at all times of the day, especially when the crowds are coming from or going toward home, but a few ropes and iron standards, and four alert irish policemen, would make it far plainer sailing than now it is. it is to be remembered, too, that the traffic is a mere dribble as compared to a torrent, when one remembers paris, new york, and london. in the street accidents in paris numbered , , and there was one summons for every motor taxicabs, but paris is now without a rival as the dirtiest, worst-paved capital in europe, and the home of social anarchy; a place where adventurous spirits will go soon rather than to africa, or to the rocky mountains, for excitement in affrays with revolvers, vitriol, and chloroform. in london, in , there were , accidents. in berlin there was a total of , accidents in ; , in ; and , in . one hundred persons were killed in ; in ; and in . in this connection it is to be said, that berlin has fewer and much less adventurous inhabitants, very much less complicated traffic, much broader and better streets, and far fewer problems than the older cities. if the citizens of berlin were anything like as capable of taking care of themselves in the streets, as they should be, there would be hardly any accidents at all. the new police regulation of the traffic has been only some four or five years in existence in its more rigid form, and perhaps neither people nor police are accustomed to it. even then, out of the total of , accidents in , , of them were caused by the street-railway cars. this shows of itself how light the traffic must be, for worse driving and more awkward pedestrians one would go far to find. the cost of berlin housekeeping increases by leaps and bounds. the total city expenses were: , , marks in ; , , in ; , , in ; and , , in . the debt of berlin has risen from , , marks in , and , , in , to , , in , with a very considerable addition voted for . in the ten years alone between and the debt of german cities including only those with a population of more than , , increased by $ , , , . municipal expenditure in paris has risen in the last ten years from $ , , to $ , , . the budget expenditure of france has reached $ , , , . in it was only $ , , . it cannot be expected that the best-kept, cleanest, and most orderly cities in the world, and there need be no hesitation in saying this of the german cities, should not spend much money, and the states in which they are situated much money as well. the various states of the empire spent, according to a report of four years ago, $ , , , ; and the empire itself $ , , , or a total of $ , , , . from the various state or empire controlled enterprises, such as railways, forests, mines, post and telegraph, imperial printing-office, and so on, the states and empire received a net income of $ , , , and the balance was, of course, raised by direct and indirect taxation. one may put appropriately enough under this heading, the invaluable and unpaid services of a host of honorary officials, who render expert service both in the state and city governments. there are over ten thousand honorary officials in the city of berlin alone, more than three thousand of whom serve under the school authorities. they are chosen from citizens of standing, education, wealth, and ability, and assist in all the departments with advice and expert knowledge, and sit upon the various committees. the german citizen has not only his pocket taxed, but his patriotism also, and a capital philosophy of government this implies. a friend, a large landholder in saxony, gives, between his services as a reserve officer in the army and his magisterial and other duties, something over nine weeks of his time to the state every year, and he is by no means an exception, he tells me. a certain amount of this is required of him by the state, with a heavy fine for nonperformance of these duties. the same is true of the many members of the various standing committees in the cities. each citizen is compelled to contribute a certain proportion of his mental and moral prowess to the service of his state and city, but he receives a return for it in his beautifully kept city, in the educational advantages, in the theatres, concerts, opera, and in the peaceful orderliness, the value of which only the foreigner can fully appreciate. almost all the court theatres, for example, throughout germany are under a director who works in harmony with the reigning prince. the king of prussia gives for his theatres in berlin, wiesbaden, hanover, and cassel, more than $ , a year from his private purse; the duke of anhalt, $ , a year to the dessauer theatre. the players have a sure position under responsible and intelligent government, and feel themselves to be not mere puppets, but educational factors with a certain pride and dignity in their work. there are more shakespeare plays given in germany in a week than in all the english-speaking countries together in a year. this is by no means an exaggeration. the theatre is looked upon as a school. fathers and mothers arrange that their older children as well as themselves shall attend the theatre all through the winter, and subscribe for seats as we would subscribe to a lending library. during the last year in germany, the plays of schiller were given , times, of shakespeare , times, the music-dramas of wagner , times, the plays of goethe times, and of hauptmann times. there is no spectacular gorgeousness, as when an irving, a booth, or a beerbohm tree sugarcoats shakespeare to induce us barbarians to go, in the belief that we are after all not wasting our time, since the performance tastes a little of the more gorgeous music halls. the scenery and costumes are sufficient, and the performance always worth intelligent attention, for the reason that both the director and his players have given time and scholarship to its interpretation. the acting is often indifferent as compared to the french stage, but it is at least always in earnest and intelligent. the theatre prices in berlin are high, even as compared with new york prices, but in other cities and towns of germany cheaper than in england, france, or america. pericles passed a law in athens by which each citizen was granted two oboli, one to pay for his seat at the theatre, the other to provide himself with refreshment. in athens the play began at or a. m., and during the morning three tragedies and a satirical drama were played, followed in the afternoon by a comedy. the theatre of dionysius seated , people, who brought their cushions, food, and drink, and occasionally used them to express their dislike of the performance or the performers. at one of the larger industrial towns in germany, during a sunday of my visit, there were three performances; one at a. m., of a patriotic melodrama, "glaube und heimat"; another, at . p. m., of "der freischütz"; and another, at . p. m., of sudermann's play, "die ehre." the prices of seats for the morning performance ranged from eight cents to forty-five cents; a little more in the afternoon; and from seventeen cents to $ . in the evening. at the performance i attended the house was crowded and attentive. i was not enough of an athenian to attend all three. even at the music hall in berlin, where, as in other cities, the thinly covered salacious is ladled out to the animal man, there was a capital stage caricature of oedipus, which atoned for the customary ewig legliche, which now rules in these resorts. if for some untoward reason women ceased to have legs, what would the british and american theatrical trust managers do! the german takes his theatre and his music, as from the beginnings of these it was intended we all should do. they are not a distraction merely, but an education, an education of the senses, and through the senses of the whole man. there are music-lovers and serious playgoers in america; but for the most part our theatres cater to, and are filled by, a public seeking a soothing and condimented mental atmosphere, in which to finish digestion. theatrical salmagundi is served everywhere, and seems to be the dish best suited to the american aesthetic palate as thus far educated. we cannot complain, since other wares would be quickly provided did we but ask for them. america has suffered because she was overtaken by a great material prosperity before she had a sufficient spiritual and intellectual development, and up to now the material side of life has had the upper hand. we buy the best pictures, the rare books and manuscripts, armor and silver and porcelain, and it must be said that there is a fine idealism here, because they are bought almost without exception by uncultured, often almost unlettered, rich men, who know nothing and care very little for these things, but who are providing rare educational opportunities for another generation. in objects of art to the value of $ , , were imported, in $ , , worth, and in sixty per cent. more than in . in the same way we hire the best musicians and singers, but our surroundings and the powerful circumambient ambitions, have not tempted us as yet to live contentedly and understandingly in any such atmosphere as the germans do. it is a striking contrast, perhaps of all the contrasts the most interesting to the student, this of america growing from industrialism toward idealism, of germany growing out of idealism into industrialism. germany floats in music; in america a few, a very few, float on it. in germany everybody sings, almost everybody plays some instrument, and from the youngest to the oldest everybody understands music; at least that is the impression you carry away with you from the land of bach, handel, haydn, mozart, and brahms, and beethoven, and wagner, and i might fill the page with the others. you are at least on the ramparts of paradise, in the thomas kirche in leipsic at the weekly saturday concert of the scholars of the thomas schule. the worldliness is melted out of you, as you sit in the cool, quiet church with the sunlight slanting in upon you, and the atmosphere alive with sweet sounds. and this is only one of hundreds of such experiences all over germany. at the kreuz kirche in dresden, at the great dom church in berlin at easter time, for the asking you may have the oil and wine of music's good samaritan poured upon the wounds of those sore-pressed travellers, your hopes and ideals, your dreams and ambitions, that have fallen among thieves, on the long, long way from jericho to jerusalem. it is, i must admit, a drab and dreary crowd to look at, these germans at the theatre, at the opera, in the concert halls. they do not dress, or if they are women undress, for their music as do we; their music dresses for them. they come, most of them, in the clothes that they have worn all day, each quidlibet induitus. they have many of them a meal of meat, bread, and beer during the long pause between two of the acts, always provided for this purpose. some of them bring little bags with their own provisions, and only buy a glass of beer. they are solemnly attentive, an educated and experienced audience there for a purpose, and not to be trifled with, the most competently critical audience in the world. i wonder as i look at them whether the fact that they have no backs to their heads, emphasized nowadays by the fact that many men wear their hair clipped close to the head, and no chins (the lack of chins in germany is almost a national peculiarity) has any physiological or psychological relation to their prowess in, and love of, and critical appreciation of, the more nebulous arts: music, poetry, philosophy, and the serious drama. they are as adamant in their observance of the rules in such matters. more than once i arrived at the opera a few minutes late, once four minutes late, the doors are closed and guarded, and i listen to the overture from the outside. at a concert led by the famous von bülow half a dozen women come in after the music has begun, rustling, sibilant, and excited. the music stops, the great conductor turns to glare at them, and, referring to the geese which are said to have saved rome by their hissing, thunders: "hier ist kein capitol zu retten!" there are some forty thousand professional musicians in germany. the town council of berlin is now discussing gravely the sum to be allotted to the support of the symphony orchestra, and charlottenburg is building an opera house of its own, and spandau a theatre; and there has just been formed in berlin a "society of the german artistes' theatre," with a capital of $ , , which is a project along the general lines of the comédie française. the discussions and arguments relating to these municipal expenditures, as i read them in the newspapers, are all based upon the assumption that the people have a right to good and cheap music, just as they have a right to good and cheap beer and bread. at düsseldorf one of the theatres, managed by a woman, and supported by the best people in the town, is not only a playhouse, but a school for actors, and a proving-ground for the drama. it is a treat indeed to attend the performances there. we have tried similar things in america, but with sad results. fifty millionaires, no one of whom had ever read the text of a serious play in his life, build a temple for the drama, but there are no plays, no actors, no audience, nothing is accomplished. there is no critical body of real lovers of the drama, and there are no cheap seats, and there is still that fatuous notion that exclusiveness, except in the trifling matter of physical propinquity, can be bought with dollars. the only impenetrably exclusive thing in the world is intellect, he is the only aristocrat left in these democratic days, and we are not devoting much attention as yet to his breeding. we do not realize that the only valuable democrat must be an aristocrat. "culture seeks to do away with classes and sects; to make the best that has been thought and known in the world current everywhere; to make all men live in an atmosphere of sweetness and light, where they may use ideas, as it uses them itself, freely; nourished and not bound by them. this is the social idea; and the men of culture are the true apostles of equality." in germany there are more men of culture per thousand of the population than in any other land, but they rule the country not by "sweetness and light," but by force. this seems at first a contradiction. it is not. religion, life, and love are all savage things. because we have known men who preach but do not believe; men who breathe and walk who have not lived; men who protest but who have not loved, we are prone to think of religion, life, and love as soft. we have conquered and chastened so much of nature: the air, the water, the bowels of the earth that we fool ourselves with thinking that culture also is tame, that religion, life, and love are tame too. savage things they are! you may know them by that! if you find them nice, vivacious, amusing, amenable, be sure that they are forgeries. this is the profound fallacy underlying the present-day economic peace propagandism, whose heaviest underwriter, mr. carnegie, is, by the way, an agnostic. while there is faith there will be fighting. do away with either and society would crumble. what the puritans did for us, the prussians have done for germany. they have fought, are fighting, and will fight for their faith. though they have many unpleasant characteristics, this is their most admirable quality. they believe in an aristocracy of culture with a right to rule. goethe said of luther that he threw back the intellectual progress of mankind by centuries, by calling in the passions of the multitude to decide on subjects that ought to have been left to the learned. this is a good example of imitation culture. this is very much the view that mr. balfour holds in regard to cromwell. but luther and bismarck made germany. the one taught germany to bark, the other taught germany to bite. the great deliverers of the world came, not to bring peace, but a sword. when you leave the drab crowd in the streets, and enter the houses of the real rulers of germany, the contrast between the aristocrat and the plebeian is nowhere so outstanding. i have seen no finer-looking specimens of mankind in face and figure and manner than the best of these men. if you stroll though the halls of the krieges academie, where the pick of the young officers of the german army, are preparing themselves for the examinations which admit a very small proportion of them, to appointments on the general staff, you will be delighted with the faces and figures, and the air of alertness and intelligence there. and you will find as fine a type of gentlemen, in face, manners, and figure, at their head as exists anywhere. there are complaints that this prussian aristocracy is socially exclusive, is given office both in the army and in civil life too readily; but what an aristocracy it is! these are the men whose families gave, often their all, to make prussia, and then to make germany. service of king and country is in their blood. they get small remuneration for their service. there is no luxury. they spurn the temptations of money. hundreds and hundreds of them have never been inside the house of a rich parvenu, nor have their women. they work as no other servants work, they live on little, they and their women and children; and you may count yourself happily privileged if they permit you the intimacy of their home life. officers and gentlemen there are, living on two thousand five hundred dollars a year, and most of them on much less, and their wives, as well born as themselves, darning their socks and counting the pfennigs with scrupulous care. these are the women whose ancestors flung themselves against the roman foe, beside their husbands and brothers; these are the women who gave their jewels to save prussia; these are the women, with the glint of steel and the light of summer skies braided in their eyes, who have taken their hard, self-denying part in making prussia, and the german empire. no wonder they despise the mere money-maker, no wonder they will have none of his softness for themselves, and hate what milton calls "lewdly pampered luxury," as a danger to their children. they know well the moral weapons that won for this starved, and tormented, and poverty-stricken land its present place in the world as a great power. "and as the fervent smith of yore beat out the glowing blade, nor wielded in the front of war the weapons that he made, but in the tower at home still plied his ringing trade; "so like a sword the son shall roam on nobler missions sent; and as the smith remained at home in peaceful turret pent, so sits the while at home the mother well content." i, convinced democrat that i am, know very well that there are, and always have been, and always will be aristocrats, for there is no national salvation without them anywhere in the world. the aristocrats are the same everywhere, no matter what their distinctions of title, or whether they have none. they are those who believe that they owe their best to god and to men, and they serve. likewise the plebeians are the same all over the world; whatever their presumptions or denials, they believe that they are here to get what they can out of god and men, and they take far more than they give. perhaps no feature of german life is so little known, so little understood, as this simple-living, proud, and exclusive caste, who have made, and still protect and guard, prussia and germany. they say: "we made prussia and germany, and we intend to guard them, both from enemies at home and from enemies abroad!" my admiration for these men and women is so unbounded, that i would no more carry criticism with me into their homes, than i would carry mud into a sanctuary. they have done much for germany, but the best, perhaps, of all is that they have made economy and simple living feasible and even fashionable; they have made talent aristocratic; they have insisted that social life shall be founded on service and breeding and ability. they will have no dealings with herr muller, the rich shopkeeper, but whatever name the distinguished artist, or public servant, or man of science, or young giant in any field of intellectual prowess may bear, he is welcomed. in general this welcome given by german society to talent holds good. there is, however, a society composed of the great landed proprietors, who live in the country, who come to berlin rarely, and whose horizon is limited severely to their own small interests, their restricted circle, and by their provincial pride. they recognize nobody but themselves, for the reason that they know nobody and nothing else. there is an exclusiveness born of stupidity, just as there is an exclusiveness born of a sense of duty to one's position and traditions in the world. one must recognize that this side of social life exists in germany just as it exists in england, and france, and austria, but it is fast losing its importance and its power. one hears it lamented that society is changing, that the rich jew and the rich gentile are received where twenty-five years ago the social portals were shut against them, and that many go to their houses who would not have gone not many years ago. my experience is too slender to weigh these matters in years; my contention is only that, from an american or english stand-point, their social life is notably simple, and still largely founded on merit and service, rather than upon the means to provide luxury. though there are thousands of people received at court each year, this does not mean that they are invited to the more intimate parties of those in court control. they are tolerated, not welcomed. such people are invited to the court ball, but never thought of, even, as guests at the small supper party of, say, a court official later in the evening. prussia and germany are still ruled socially and politically by a small group of, roughly, fifty thousand men, eight thousand of them in the frock-coat of the civilian official, and the rest in military uniforms. added to this must be named a few great financiers, shipping and mining and industrial magnates, and great land-owners, and less than half a dozen journalists, and as many professors. according to the census there are in all only persons in berlin with incomes of more than $ , a year, and of these have between $ , and $ , a year, leaving a very small number, indeed, with incomes adequate, from an american point of view, for extravagant social expenditure. of these , probably not are figures in the social life of the capital. it may be seen at once, therefore, that entertaining cannot be on a lavish or spectacular scale. the minister of foreign affairs and the imperial minister of the interior receive salaries of , marks, with , marks additional for expenses. the prussian ministers have the same. other ministers receive , marks and , additional for expenses. the chancellor of the empire receives , marks and , additional for expenses. the highest receivable pension is three-fourths of the salary�not counting the additional sum for expenses, or, as it is named, repräsentationsaufwand--after forty years of service. the foreign ambassadors to the more expensive capitals, london, paris, washington, saint petersburg, receive , marks a year. where one has seen something of the innumerable demands upon the income of a foreign ambassador, one is the more amazed that a great democracy like ours should so restrict the salaries of its representatives abroad that only rich men dare undertake the duty. what could be more undemocratic! germany is a rich, very rich, country in the sense that it has the most intelligent, hardest-working, most fiercely economical, and the most rationally and most easily contented population of any of the great powers. but germany is not rich in surplus and liquid capital as compared with england, france, or america. it is the more to her credit that her capital is all hard at work. there is just so much less for luxury. the people in the streets; the shop-windows; the scale of charges at places of public resort and amusement; the very small number of well-turned-out private vehicles; the comparatively few people who live in houses and not in apartments; the simplicity of the gowns of the women, and their inexpensive jewelry and other ornaments; the fewer servants; the salaries and wages of all classes, point decisively to plain living on the part of practically everybody. let me say very emphatically, however, that this economy means no lack of generosity. i doubt if there are people anywhere so restricted as to means, and so delightfully hospitable at the same time. berlin is not as yet under that cloud that covers the new, uncultivated, and rich society in america, that tyranny of money which makes men and women fearful of being without it. such people shiver at the bare thought of losing what money will buy, for the shameful reason that then there would be nothing left to them; and they are driven, many of them, both in london and in new york, to any humiliation, often to any degradation, to avoid it. they grossly overrate the value of money, and they exaggerate the terrors of being without it. professor william james, who succeeded in analyzing what is at the back of men's brains as well as anybody, writes: "we have grown literally afraid to be poor. we despise any one who elects to be poor in order to simplify and save his inner life. we have lost the power of even imagining what the ancient idealization of poverty could have meant: the liberation from material attachments, the unbribed soul, the manlier indifference, the paying our way by what we are or do, and not by what we have, the right to fling away our life at any moment irresponsibly--the more athletic trim, in short, the moral fighting shape. it is certain that the prevalent fear of poverty among the educated classes is the worst moral disease from which our civilization suffers." they suffer from this malady less in germany than in america or in england. i should like to introduce such people into dozens of households in berlin; alas, they could not speak or understand the moral or mental language there, where there is everything that makes a home's heart beat proudly and peaceably, except money. "la prospérité découvre les vices, et l'adversité les vertus." these people need no tribute from me, and for their hospitality and friendliness i can make no adequate return. i sigh to think that we in america know so little of them. germany would not be where she is without them; and i offer them as an example to my countrymen, and to my countrywomen especially, as showing what self-sacrifice and simplicity, and loyal service can do for a nation in times of stress; and what high ideals and sturdy independence and contempt for luxury can do in the dangerous days of prosperity. unadvertised, unheralded, keeping without murmuring or envy to their own traditions, they are here, as everywhere, the saviors of the world. in this great city of berlin it may seem that i have over-emphasized their part in the drama of the city's life. not so! they are the backbone of the municipal as of the national body corporate. it is no easy industrial progress, no increasing wealth and population, no military prowess, no isolated great leader that makes a nation or a city. it is the men and women giving the high and unpurchasable gift of service to the state; giving the fine example of self-sacrificing and simple living; giving the prowess won by years of hard mental and moral training; giving the gentle courtesy and kindly welcome of the patrician to the stranger, who lift a nation or a city to a worthy place in the world. seek not for germany's strength first in her fleet, her army, her hordes of workers, nay, not even in her philosophers, teachers, and musicians, though they glisten in the eyes of all the world, for you will not find it there. it is in these quiet and simple homes, that so few americans and englishmen ever enter, that you will find the sweetness and the sternness, the indomitable pride of service, and the self-sacrificing loyalty that won, and that keep for germany her place in the world. vi "a land of damned professors" it can hardly be doubted that could lord palmerston have seen what i have seen of the changes in germany, he would at least have placed the "damned," in another part of his famous sentence. these professors have turned their prowess into channels which have given germany, in this scientific industrial age, a mighty grip upon something more than theories. it may be dull reading to tell the tale of damned professordom, but it is to germany that we must all go to school in these matters. the american chooses his university or college because it is in the neighborhood; because his father or other relatives went there; because his school friends are going there; on account of the prestige of the place; sometimes, too, because one is considered more democratic than another; sometimes, and perhaps more often than we think, on account of the athletics; because it is large or small; or on account of the cost. the german youth, owing to widely different customs and ideals, chooses his university for other reasons. if he be of the well-to-do classes, and his father before him was a corps student, he is likely to go first to the university, where his father's corps will receive him and discipline him in the ways of a corps student's life, and rigorous ways they are, as we shall see. young men of small means, and who can afford to waste little time in the amusements of university life, go at once where the more celebrated professors in their particular line of work are lecturing. few students in germany reside during their whole course of study at one university. the student year is divided into two so-called semesters. the student remains, say, in heidelberg two years or perhaps less, and then moves on, let us say, to berlin, or göttingen, or leipsic, or kiel, to hear lectures by other professors, and to get and to see something of the best work in law, theology, medicine, history, or belles-lettres, along the lines of his chosen work. one can hardly say too much in praise of this system. many a medical, or law, or theological, or philosophical student, or one who is going in for a scientific course in engineering or mining, would profit enormously could he go from harvard to yale, or to johns hopkins, or to princeton, or to columbia, and attend the lectures of the best men at these and other universities. many a man would have gone eagerly to harvard to hear james in philosophy, peirce in mathematics, abbot in exegesis, or to read greek with palmer; or to yale to have heard whitney in philology in my day; or now, to name but a few, van dyke at princeton, sloane at columbia, wheeler at the university of california, paul shorey at chicago, and many others are men whom not to know and to hear in one's student days is a loss. the german student is at a distinct advantage in this privilege of hearing the best men at whatever university they may be. the number of students, indeed, at particular german universities rises and falls in a large measure according to the fame and ability of the professors who may be lecturing there. one can readily imagine how such men as hegel, or ranke, or mommsen, who lectured at berlin; or liebig or döllinger, at munich; or ewald, at göttingen; or sybel, at bonn; or leibnitz or schlegel, in their day, or kuno fischer, in my day, at heidelberg, must have drawn students from all parts of germany; just as do harnack, and schmidt, and lamprecht, and adolph wagner, schmoller, or gierke, or schiemann, or wach, haeckel, list, deitsch, hering, or verworm, in these days. though the german professors are somewhat hampered by the fact that they are servants of the state, and their opinions therefore on theological, political, and economic matters restricted to the state's views, they are free as no other teachers in the world to exploit their intellectual prowess for the benefit of their purses. each student pays each professor whose lectures he attends, and as a result there are certain professors in germany whose incomes are as high as $ , a year. even in intellectual matters state control produces the inevitable state laziness and indifference. one could tell many a tale of professors who arrive late at their lecture-rooms, who read slowly, who give just as little matter as they can, in order to make their prepared work go as far as possible. some of them, too, read the same lectures over and over again, year after year, quite content that they have made a reputation, gained a fixed tenure of their positions, and are sure of a pension. there are twenty-one universities in germany, with another already provided for this year in frankfort, and practically the equivalent of a university in hamburg. the total number of students is , , an increase since of , . geographically speaking, one has the choice between kiel, königsberg, and berlin in the north, munich in the south, strassburg on the boundaries of france, or breslau in silesia. at the present writing berlin has , students, and some , more authorized to attend lectures, over half of them grouped under the general heading "philosophy"; next comes munich with , , nearly , of them grouped under the headings "jurisprudence" and "philosophy"; then leipsic with , ; then bonn with , ; and last in point of numbers rostock with students. there are now some , women students at the german universities, but a total of , who attend lectures, and doctor marie linden at the beginning of was appointed one of the professors of the medical faculty at bonn, but the appointment was vetoed by the prussian ministry. in addition to the universities is the modern development of the technical high-schools, of which there are now eleven, one each in berlin, dresden, braunschweig, darmstadt, hanover, karlsruhe, munich, stuttgart, danzig, aix, and breslau. these schools have faculties of architecture, building construction, mechanical engineering, chemistry, and general science, including mathematics and natural science. they confer the degree of doctor of engineering, and admit those students holding the certificate of the gymnasium, realgymnasium, and oberrealschule. they rank now with the universities, and their , students may fairly be added to the grand total number of german students, making , in all, and if to this be added the , unmatriculated students, we have , . while the population of germany has increased . per cent. in the last year, the number of students has increased . per cent. and of the total number . per cent. are women. since the founding of the empire the population has increased from , , to , , , but the number of students has increased from , to , . the teaching staffs in the universities number , , and in the technical high-schools , or, roughly, there are, in the higher-education department of germany, nearly , persons engaged; as these figures do not include officials and many unattached teachers and students indirectly connected with the universities. there are in addition agricultural high-schools, agricultural institutes, and technical schools such as veterinary high-schools, schools of mining, forestry, architecture and building, commercial schools, schools of art and industry; a naval school at kiel; a colonial institute at hamburg, with sixty professors and tutors, where men are trained for colonial careers, and which serves also the purpose of distributing information of all kinds regarding the colonies; there are schools which prepare for a business career, with , pupils, and the socialists in berlin maintain an academy for the instruction of their paid secretaries and organizers in the rudiments and controversial points of socialism, military academies at berlin and munich, besides some schools of navigation, and military and cadet institutions. there are also courses of lectures, given under the auspices of the german foreign office, to instruct candidates for the consular service in the commercial and industrial affairs of germany. at several of the universities evening extension lectures are given, an innovation first tried at leipsic, where more than seven thousand persons paid small fees to attend the lectures in a recent year. if one considers the range of instruction from the volkschulen and fortbildungsschulen up through the skeleton list i have mentioned to the universities, and then on beyond that to the thousands still engaged as students in the commerce and industry of germany, as, for example, the technically employed men in the krupp works at essen, or the color works at elberfeld, to mention two of hundreds, it is seen that germany is gone over with a veritable fine-tooth comb of education. there is not only nothing like it, there is nothing comparable to it in the world. if training the minds of a population were the solution of the problems of civilization, they are on the way to such solution in germany. unfortunately there is no such easy way out of our troubles for germany or for any other nation. some of us will live to see this fetich of regimental instruction of everybody disappear as astrology has disappeared. there is a japanese proverb which runs, "the bottom of lighthouses is very dark." as early as frederick william i in an edict commanded parents to send their children to school, daily in summer, twice a week in winter. frederick the great at the close of the seven years' war, , insisted again upon compulsory school attendance, and prescribed books, studies, and discipline. at the beginning of the nineteenth century began a great change in the primary schools due to the influence of pestalozzi, and in the secondary schools owing to the efforts of herder, frederic august wolf, william humboldt, and sünern. humboldt was the prussian minister of education for sixteen months. in he sent a memorial to the king, urging the establishment and endowment of a university in berlin. he used his authority and his great influence to further higher and secondary education, and fixed the main lines of action which were followed for a century. he hoped that a liberal education of his countrymen would make for both an intellectual and moral regeneration, and emancipate the people from their sluggish obedience to conventionality. the schools then were part of the ecclesiastical organization and have never ceased to be so wholly, and until recently the title of the prussian minister has been: "minister of ecclesiastical affairs, instruction, and medical affairs." that part of the minister's title, "medical affairs," has within the last few months been eliminated. the french revolution, and the dismemberment of prussia at tilsit, put a stop to orderly progress. stein and his colleagues, however, started anew; students were sent to switzerland to study pedagogical methods; provincial school-boards were established, and about all public-school teachers were declared to be civil servants; and later, in , during bismarck's campaign against the jesuits, all private schools were made subject to state inspection. in prussia to-day no man or woman may give instruction even as a governess or private tutor, without the certificate of the state. this control of education and teaching by a central authority is an unmixed blessing. in prussia, at any rate, the officials are hard-working, conscientious, and enthusiastic, and the system, whether one gives one's full allegiance to it or not, is admirably worked out. above all, it completely does away with sham physicians, sham doctors of divinity, sham engineers, and mining and chemical experts, sham dentists and veterinary surgeons, who abound in our country, where shoddy schools do a business of selling degrees and certificates of proficiency in everything from exegesis to obstetrics. these fakir academies are not only a disgrace but a danger in america, and here, as in other matters, germany has a right to smile grimly at certain of our hobbledehoy methods of government. the elementary schools, or volkschulen, are free, and attendance is compulsory from six to fourteen; in addition, the fortbildungsschulen, or continuation schools, can also be made compulsory up to eighteen years of age. there are some , free public elementary schools with over , , pupils, and over private elementary schools with , pupils who pay fees. under a regulation of the department of trade and industry, towns with more than twenty thousand inhabitants are empowered to make their own rules compelling commercial employees under eighteen to attend the continuation schools a certain number of hours monthly, and fining employers who interfere with such attendance. it has even been suggested that this law be extended to include girls. in berlin this has already been put into operation, and this year some , girls will be compelled to attend continuation schools, where they will be taught cooking, dress-making, laundry work, house-keeping economy, and for those who wish it, office work. it will require some training even to pronounce the name of this new institution, which requires something more than the number of letters in the alphabet to spell it, for it has this terrifying title: mädchenpflicht-fortbildungsschule. the work in these pflichtfortbildungsschulen, or compulsory continuation schools, is practical and thorough. the boys are from fourteen to eighteen years of age, and are obliged to attend three hours twice a week. shopkeepers and others, employing lads coming under the provisions of the law, are obliged by threat of heavy fines to send them. the boys pay nothing. there are some , of such pupils under one jurisdiction in berlin, and the cost to the city is $ , annually. the curriculum includes letter-writing, book- keeping, exchange, bank-credits, checks and bills, the duty of the business man to his home, to the city, and to his fellow business men, his legal rights and duties, and, in great detail, all questions of citizenship. methods of the banks, stock exchange, and insurance companies are explained. the business man's relations in detail to the post-office, the railways, the customs, canals, shipping agencies are dealt with. the investigation of credits and the general management from cellar to attic of what we call a "store" are taught, and lectures are given upon business ethics and family relations and morals. in towns where factories are more common than shops there are schools similar in kind, as at dortmund, for example, where you may begin with horse-shoeing in the cellar, and go up through the work of carpenter, mason, plumber, sign-painter, poster-designer, to the designing of stained-glass windows and the modelling of animals and men. in the strictly agricultural districts of prussia the number of courses open to those who work upon the land has steadily increased. in there were courses of instruction and , pupils; in , , such courses and , pupils; and in , , courses and , pupils. about five per cent. of the cost of such instruction, which cost the state , marks in , is paid by the fees of the pupils themselves. to those interested in ways and means it may serve a purpose to say that the total cost of these elementary schools amounts to $ , , a year, of which the various state governments pay $ , , and local authorities the rest. in the city of berlin spent $ , , on its schools. the average cost per pupil is $ . . in some of the towns of different classes of population that i have visited the number of pupils per inhabitants stands as follows: berlin, . ; essen, . ; dortmund, ; düsseldorf, . ; charlottenburg, ; duisburg, . ; oberhausen, . ; bielefeld, . ; bonn, . ; cologne, . . there are , teachers in these elementary schools, of whom , are women. they begin with $ a year, which is raised to $ when they are given a fixed position. by a graduated scale of increase a teacher at the age of forty-eight (when he may retire) may receive a maximum of $ . a woman teacher's salary would vary from $ to $ as the maximum. these figures are for prussia. in other states of the empire, in bavaria and saxony, for example, the scale of salaries is somewhat higher. the secondary schools are the well-known gymnasien and progymnasien, the realgymnasien, and the realschulen. roughly the gymnasien prepare for the universities, and the realschulen for the technical schools. admission to the universities and to any form of employment under the civil service demands a certificate from one or another of these secondary schools. in , two years after the present emperor came to the throne, he called together a conference of teachers and in an able speech suggested that these secondary schools devote more time and attention to technical training. as a result of this, the certificates of the realgymnasien and realschulen are now received as equivalent to those conferred by the gymnasien, where latin and greek are, as they were then, still paramount. of these secondary schools some are state schools; others are municipal or trade-supported schools; some are private institutions; but all are amenable to the rules, organization, and curricula approved by the state. all secondary and elementary teachers must meet the examinational requirements of the state, which fixes a minimum salary and contributes thereto. in the universities and technical high- schools all professors are appointed by the state, and largely paid by the state as well. in the year the german empire expended under the general heading of elementary instruction $ , , . prussia alone spent $ , , ; bavaria, $ , , (though nearly $ , of this total went for building and repairs for both churches and schools); baden, $ , , ; saxony, $ , , ; the free city of hamburg, $ , , . the total expenditures of the empire and of the states of the empire combined in amounted to $ , , , ; of this, as we have seen, more than $ , , went for instruction and allied uses; $ , , was the cost of the army; and $ , , the cost of the navy, not counting the extraordinary expenditures for these two arms of the service, which amounted to $ , , for the army, and $ , , for the navy. the total expenditure of the fatherland for schools, army, and navy amounted, therefore, to one- fifth of the total, or $ , , . i have grouped these expenditures together for the reason, that i am still one of those who remain distrustful and disdainful of the carnegie holy water, and a firm believer that the two best schools in germany, or anywhere else where they are as well conducted as there, are the army and the navy. even if they were not schools of war, they would be an inestimable loss to the country were they no longer in existence as manhood-training schools. this is the more clear when it is remembered that, according to the army standard, both the german peasant and the urban dweller are steadily deteriorating. in ten years the percentage of physically efficient men in the rural districts decreased from . to . per cent., and this decrease is even more marked in particular provinces. infant mortality, despite better hygienic conditions and more education, has not decreased, and in some districts has increased; while the birth-rate, especially in prussia and thuringia, has fallen off as well. for the whole of germany, the births to every thousand of the inhabitants were, in , . ; in , . ; in , ; and in , . . in berlin the births per thousand in were . and in only . . the observer who cares nothing for statistics, who rambles about in the district of leipsic, chemnitz, riesa, oschatz, and in the mountainous district of southeast saxony, may see for himself a population lacking in size, vigor, and health, noticeably so indeed. education at one end turning out an unwholesome, "white-collared, black-coated proletariat," as the socialists call them; and industry and commerce, which even tempt the farmer to sell what he should keep to eat, at the other, are making serious inroads upon the health and well-being of the population. the chancellor, von bethmann-hollweg, speaking in the reichstag february , , said: "the fear that we may not be working along the right lines in the education of our youth is a cause of great anxiety to many people in germany. we shall not solve this problem by shunning it!" many social economists hold that higher education is unfitting numbers of young men from following the humbler pursuits, while at the same time it is not making them as efficient as are their ambitions; and such men are recognized as the most potent chemical in making the milk of human kindness to turn sour. at a meeting of the goethebund this year, advocating school reform, it was evident that many intelligent men in germany were not satisfied with present methods of education, which were characterized as wasting energy in mechanical methods of teaching, and so robbing youth of its youth. it is beginning to be understood in germany, as it has been understood by wise men in all ages, that "to spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules is the humour of the scholar." this commentary of bacon should be on the walls of every school and university in germany. an education can do nothing more for a man than to make him less fearful of what he does not know, and to save him from the vulgarity of being pre-empted wholly by the present, because he knows something of the past. you cannot educate a man to be a poet or a preacher or a pianist; that we know. we are only just discovering that the much-lauded technical education will not make him an engineer or a shipbuilder or an architect. you may give him the tools and the elementary rules, but the rest he must do himself. nine-tenths of the technically educated men to-day are working for men who were liberally educated, or who educated themselves. germany is producing a race of first-rate clerks and skilled mechanics, who are working hard to enrich the jews. in america, it is true, we have gone ahead along educational lines. in , it is said, the average adult american had days of school attendance; in , days. in the last quarter of a century our secondary schools have increased in number from , to , ; and during the last eighteen years the proportion of our youth receiving high-school instruction has doubled, and attendance at american colleges has increased per cent. while the population increased by per cent. but education is by no means so strenuous as in germany. the hours are shorter, holidays longer, standards lower, and the emphasis far less insistent. a boy who has not the mental energy to pass the entrance examinations at harvard, for instance, and proceed to a degree there, ought to be drowned, or to drown himself. i would not say as much of the requirements in germany, for they are far more severe. prince von hohenlohe in his memoirs gives an account of a conversation between the emperor, the emperor's tutor, and himself. the emperor was regretting the severity of the examinations in the secondary schools, and it was replied to him that this was the only way to prevent a flood of candidates for the civil service! there is another all-important factor in germany bearing upon this point. a boy must have passed into the upper section of the class before the last, "secunda," as it is called, or have passed an equivalent examination, in order to serve one year instead of three in the army. to be an einjähriger is, therefore, in a way the mark of an educated gentleman. the tales of suicide and despair of school-boys in germany are, alas, too many of them true; and it is to be remembered that not to reach a certain standard here means that a man's way is barred from the army and navy, civil service, diplomatic or consular service, from social life, in short. the uneducated man of position in germany does not exist, cannot exist. this is, therefore, no phantom, but a real terror. the man of twenty-five who has not won an education and a degree faces a blank wall barring his entrance anywhere; and even when, weaponed with the necessary academic passport, he is permitted to enter, he meets with an appalling competition, which has peopled germany with educated inefficients who must work for next to nothing, and who keep down the level of the earnings of the rest because there is an army of candidates for every vacant position. on the other hand, the industries of germany have bounded ahead, because the army of chemists and physicists of patience, training, and ability, who work for small salaries provide them with new and better weapons than their rivals. there are two sides to this question of fine-tooth-comb education. its advantages both america and england are seeing every day in these stout rivals of ours; but its disadvantages are not to be concealed, and are perhaps doing an undermining work that will be more apparent in the future than now it is. the very fact that an alien, an oriental race, the jews, have taken so disproportionate a share of the cream of german prosperity, and have turned this technical prowess to purposes of their own, is, in and of itself, a sure sign that there may be an educated proletariat working slavishly for masters whom, with all their learning and all their mental discipline, they cannot force to abdicate. strange to say, the federal constitution of , which gave germany its emperor, did not include the schools, and each state has its own school system, but in an imperial school commission was formed which has done much to make the system of all the states uniform. the three classes of schools recognized as leading later to a university career are the gymnasium, in which latin and greek are still the fundamental requirements; the realgymnasium, in which latin but no greek is required; the oberrealschule, in which the classics are not taught at all, but emphasis is laid upon modern languages and natural science. in addition to these there are the so-called reformschulen, of very recent growth, which are an attempt to put less emphasis upon the classics, but without excluding them entirely from the course, and to pay more attention proportionately to modern languages, french in particular. there are in addition some four hundred public and one thousand or more private higher girls' schools, with an attendance of a quarter of a million, all subject to state supervision. if one were to make a genealogical tree of the german schools which educate the children from the age of six up to the age of entrance to the university, it might be described as follows: first are the volkschulen, which every child must attend from six to fourteen. in the smaller country schools the children of all ages may be in one school-room and under one teacher; in another, divided into two classes; in another, into three or four classes; up to the large city schools, in which they are divided on account of their number into as many as eight classes. next would come the mittelschulen, where the pupils are carried on a year farther, and where the last year corresponds to the first year of the so-called lehrerbildungsanstalten, or training schools for teachers. these again are divided into two, one called praeparanda, the other seminar, the former carrying the pupil on to his sixteenth year, the latter to the nineteenth year and turning him out a full-fledged volkschule teacher, and giving him the right to serve only one year in the army. if boy or girl goes on from the fourteenth year, the höhere knabenschulen and the höhere mädchenschulen take them on to the eighteenth or nineteenth year. many boys go on till they have passed from the lower secunda, next to the last class, which is divided into upper and lower secunda, into the upper secunda, when their certificate entitles them to serve one year only in the army, when they quit school. many boys, too, intending to become officers, leave school at sixteen or seventeen and go to regular cramming institutions, where they do their work more quickly and devote themselves to the special subjects required. for boys intending to go on through the higher schools, there are schools taking them on from the age of nine, with a curriculum better adapted than that of the volkschulen to that end. in all these higher schools there is less attention paid to mere examinations, and more attention paid to the general grip the pupils have on the work in hand; and of the teaching, as mentioned elsewhere, too much cannot be said in its praise. for those boys who finish their public schooling at the age of fourteen and then turn to earning their living, there are the continuation schools, which are in many parts of the country compulsory, and which are nicely adapted, according to their situation in shopkeeping cities, in factory towns, or in the country, to give the pupils the drilling and instruction necessary for their particular employment. the average amount of expenditure for these continuation schools is $ , , . in prussia there are some , of these schools, with an average attendance of , pupils. according to the last census the proportion of illiterates among the recruits for the army was . per cent. the number of those who could neither read nor write in germany was, in , . per cent.; in , . per cent. if one were to name all the agricultural schools; technical schools; schools of architecture and building; commercial schools, for textile, wood, metal, and ceramic industries; art schools; schools for naval architecture and engineering and navigation; and the public music schools, it would be seen that it is no exaggeration to speak of fine-tooth-comb education. i have visited scores of all sorts of schools all over germany, from a peasant common school in posen up to that last touch in education, the schools in charlottenburg, the schulpforta academy, and such a private boys' school as die schülerheim-kolonie des arndt-gymnasiums in the grünewald near berlin, and the training schools for the military cadets. through the courtesy of the authorities i was permitted, when i wished it, to sit in the class-rooms, and even to put questions to the boys and girls in the classes. from the small boys and girls making their first efforts at spelling to the young woman of seventeen who translated a paragraph of the "germania" of tacitus, not into german but into french, for me (a problem i offered as a good test of whether i was merely assisting at a prepared exhibition of the prowess of the class or whether the minds had been trained to independence), i have looked over a wide field of teaching and learning in germany. if that young person was typical of the pupils of this upper girls' school, there is no doubt of their ability to meet an intellectual emergency of that kind. of one feature of german education one can write without reservation, and that is the teaching. everywhere it is good, often superlatively good, and half a dozen times i have listened to the teaching of a class in history, in latin, in german literature, in french literature, where it was a treat to be a listener. i remember in particular a class in physical geography, another reading ovid, another reading shakespeare, and another reading goethe's "hermann and dorothea," where i enjoyed my half-hour, as though i had been listening to a distinguished lecturer on his darling subject. we know how little these men and women teachers are paid, but there is such a flood of intellectual output in germany that the competition is ferocious in these callings, and the schools can pick and choose only from those who have borne the severest tests with the greatest success. the teaching is so good that it explains in part the amount of work these poor children are enabled to get through. school begins at seven in summer, at eight in winter. the course for those intending to go to the university is nine years; the recitation hours alone range from twenty-five to thirty-two hours a week; to which must be added two hours a week of singing and three hours a week of gymnastics, and this for forty-two weeks in the year. the preparation for class-work requires from two and a half to four hours more. it foots up to something like fifty hours a week! at eton, in england, the boys grumble because they only have a half-holiday every other day, and four months of the year vacation. it will be interesting to see which educational method is to produce the men who are to win the next waterloo. no wonder that nearly seventy per cent. of those who reach the standard required of those who need serve only one year instead of three in the army are near-sighted, and that more than forty-five per cent. are put on one side as physically unfit. the increase in population in germany is so great, however, and the candidates for the army so numerous, that the authorities are far more strict in those they accept than in france, for example. there is more manhood material for the german army and navy every year than is needed. in the first year of the nine-years' course in a gymnasium the hours a week are divided: religion, hours; german, hours; latin, hours; geography, hours; mathematics, hours; natural science, hours; writing, hours. in the last year: religion, hours; german, hours; latin, hours; greek, hours--greek is begun in the fourth year; french, hours--french is begun in the third year; history, hours; mathematics, hours; natural science, hours. in the first year in a realgymnasium: religion, hours; german, hours; latin, hours; geography, hours; mathematics, hours; natural science, hours; writing, hours. in the last year of the course: religion, hours; german, hours; latin, hours; french � begun in third year-- hours; english--begun in fourth year-- hours; mathematics, hours; natural science, hours; drawing, hours. in the first year in an oberrealschule: religion, hours; german, hours; french, hours; geography, hours; mathematics, hours; natural science, hours; writing, hours. in the last year: religion, hours; german, hours; french, hours; english--begun in the fourth year-- hours; history, hours; geography, hour; mathematics, hours; natural science, hours; free-hand drawing � begun in the second year-- hours. it may be seen from these schedules where the emphasis is laid in each of these schools. so far as results are concerned, the pupils about to leave for the universities seemed to me to know their latin, greek, french, german, and english, and their local and european history well. their knowledge of latin and of either french or english, sometimes of both, is far superior to anything required of a student entering any college or university in america. i have asked many pupils to read passages at sight in latin, french and english in schools in various parts of germany and there is no question of the grip they have upon what they have been taught. i am, alas, not a scholar, and can only judge of the requirements and of the training and its results in subjects where i am at home; and i must take it for granted that these boys and girls are as well trained in other subjects where i am incapable of passing judgment. it is improbable, however, that the same thoroughness does not characterize their work throughout the whole curriculum. the examination at the end of the secondary-school period, called abiturienten-examen, is more thorough and covers a wider range than any similar examination in america. it is a test of intellectual maturity. it permits no gaps, covers a wide ground, leaves no subject dropped on the way, and sends a man or woman to the university, with an equipment entirely adequate for such special work as the individual proposes to undertake. it seemed to me that in many class-rooms the ventilation was distinctly bad, but here too i must admit an exaggerated love for fresh air, born of my own love of out-door exercise. there are practically no schools in germany like the public schools for boys in england, and our own private schools for boys, like saint paul's, groton, saint mark's, and others, where the training of character and physique are emphasized. here again i admit my prejudice in favor of such education. i should be made pulp, indeed, did i try to run through the boys of a fifth or sixth form at home, but, from the look of them, i would have undertaken it for a wager in germany. it is not their fault, poor boys. practically the whole emphasis is laid upon drilling the mind. moral and physical matters are left to the home, and in the home there are no fathers and brothers interested in games or sport, and in this busy, competitive strife, and with the small means at the disposal of the majority, there is no time and no opportunity. boys and girls seldom leave home for distant boarding-schools. they go from home to school and from school home every day, and have none of the advantages to be gained from intercourse with men outside their own circles. it shows itself in a deplorable lack of orientation as compared with our lads of the same relative standing. in dress and bearing, in at-homeness in the world, in ability to take care of themselves under strange conditions or in an emergency, and in domestic hygiene they are inferior, and yet they are so competent to push the national military, industrial, and commercial ball along as men, that one wonders whether bagehot's gibe at certain well-to-do classes of the saxons, that "they spend half their time washing their whole persons," may not have a grain of truth in it. another feature of the school life which is prominent, especially in prussia, is the incessant and insistent emphasis laid upon patriotism. in every school, almost in every class-room, is a picture of the emperor; in many, pictures also of his father and grandfather. even in a municipal lodging-house, where i found some tiny waifs and strays being taught, there were pictures of the sovereign, and brightly colored pictures of the war of - , generally with german personalities on horseback, and the french as prisoners with bandages and dishevelled clothing. this war, which began with the first movement of the german army on august , and on the d of september next napoleon was a prisoner; this war, in which the german army at the beginning of operations consisted of , officers and men and which had grown during the truce to , on march ; lost in killed and those who died from wounds , , of whom , were officers; this war is flaunted at the population of germany continually, and from every possible angle. we hear very little of our war of - , that cost us $ , , , with killed and wounded numbering some , . we do not find it necessary to feed our patriotism with a nursing-bottle. at a kindergarten two tots, a boy and a girl, stood at the top of some steps while the rest marched by and saluted; they later descended and went through the motions of reviewing the others. they were playing they were kaiser and kaiserin! two small boys in a school-yard discussing their relative prowess as jumpers end the discussion when one says as a final word: "oh, i can jump as high as the kaiser!" we have noted in another article how even police sergeants must be familiar with the history of the house of hohenzollern. i am an admirer of germany and her emperor, with a distinct love of discipline and a bias in favor of military training, and with an experience of actual warfare such as only a score or so of german officers of my generation have had; but i am bound to say i found this pounding in of patriotism on every side distinctly nauseating. boys and girls, and men and women, ought not to need to be pestered with patriotism. we had a controversy in america some ten years before the franco-german war, where in one battle more men were killed and wounded than in all the battles prussia, and later germany, has fought since . in the south, at any rate, we bear the scars and the mourning of those days still, but nobody would be thanked for pummelling us with patriotism. in the skirmish with spain our military authorities were pestered with candidates for the front. germany itself is not more a nation in arms than america would be at the smallest threat of insult or aggression. but we take those things for granted. if we have the honor to possess a medal or a decoration, the gentlemen among us wear it only when asked to do so, or perhaps on the fourth of july. germany is even now somewhat loosely cemented together. their leaders may feel that it is necessary to keep ever in the minds even of the children, that germany is a nation with an emperor and a victory over france, france in political rags and patches at the time, behind them. they even carry this teaching of patriotism beyond the boundaries of germany. the allgemeiner deutscher schulverein zur erhaltung des deutschtums im auslande, is a society with headquarters in berlin devoting itself to the advancement of german education all over the world. the society was started privately in , and is now partly supported by the state. it controls some sixteen hundred centres for the teaching of german and german patriotism, and german learning. there are such centres in china, south america, the united states, spain, and elsewhere. they number in europe, in asia, in africa, in brazil, in argentina, and in australia and canada. the society is instrumental in having german taught in , schools and academies in the united states to , pupils. the work is not advertised, rather it is concealed so far as possible, but it is looked upon as a valuable force for the advancement of german interests throughout the world. in the schools, too, there is an enemy of which we know nothing, and that is the active propagandism of socialism, which is anti-military, anti-monarchical, and anti-status quo. leaflets and books and pamphlets are widely distributed among the school children; many of the teachers are in sympathy with these obstructionist methods; and the authorities may feel that they must do what they can to combat this teaching. in prussia, on every side, and in the industrial towns of saxony, one sees the evidence of this impotent discontent expressing itself either openly or in surly malice of speech and manner. the streets of berlin, and of the industrial towns, show this condition at every turn, and when the reichstag closes with cheers for the emperor, the socialist members leave in a body before that loyal ceremony takes place. we in america are brought up to believe that the best cure for such maladies is to open the wound, to give freedom of speech, to let every boy and girl and man and woman find out for himself his citizen's path to walk in. we have no policemen on our public platforms, no gags in the mouths of our professors or preachers, no lurid pictures of battles, no plastering of the walls of our schools and seminaries with pictures of our rulers, and withal our german immigrants are perhaps our best and most patriotic citizens. in america they think less and do more, and for most men this is the better way. it makes life very complicated to think too much about it. self-consciousness is the prince of mental and social diseases, as vanity is the princess, and even self-conscious patriotism seems a little unwholesome, not quite manly, and often even grotesque. it is easy to say: "dic mihi si fueris tu leo, qualis eris?" and if one is a person of no great importance, it is an embarrassing question to answer. in this connection i can only say that i should assume that my lionhood was taken for granted without so much roaring, bristling of the mane, and switching of the tail. it irritates those who are discontented, it positively infuriates the redder democrats, and it bores the children, and, worst of all, proclaims to everybody that the lion is not quite comfortable and at his ease. the german lion is a fine, big fellow now, with fangs, and teeth, and claws as serviceable as need be, and it only makes him appear undignified to be forever looking at himself in the looking-glass. whatever may be the right or wrong of these comparative methods of training, germans trained in the investigation of such matters agree in telling me that the boys who come up to the universities, especially in the large cities and towns, are somewhat lax in their moral standards as regards matters upon which the puritan still lays great stress. in berlin particularly, where there are some thirty-five hundred registered and nearly fifty thousand unregistered women devoting themselves to the seemingly incompatible ends of rapidly accumulating gold while frantically pursuing pleasure, there is an amount of immorality unequalled in any capital in europe. in the whole german empire the average of illegitimacy is ten per cent. but in berlin the average for the last few years is twenty per cent. out of every five children born in berlin each year one is illegitimate! it is questionable whether the increasing demands of the army and navy require such laxity of moral methods in providing therefor. there is, however, a state church in germany with its head in berlin, and no doubt we may safely leave this matter in these better hands than ours. i beg to say that in mentioning this subject i am quoting unprejudiced scientific investigators, who, i may say, agree, without a dissenting voice of importance, that berlin has become the classical problem along such lines. in the endeavor to compete with the gayeties elsewhere, a laxity has been encouraged and permitted that has won for berlin in the last ten years, an unrivalled position as a purveyor of after-dark pleasures. berlin not only produces a disproportionate number of such people as diotrephes, in manners, but also a veritable horde of those who are like unto the son of bosor. after the sheltered home life and the severe discipline of the higher schools, a german youth is permitted a freedom unknown to us at the university. there is no record kept of how or where he spends his time. he matriculates at one or another of the universities, and for three, four, or, in the case of medical students, five years, he is free to work or not to work, as he pleases. there are, however, three factors that serve as bit and reins to keep him in order. the final examination is severe, thorough, and cannot be passed successfully by mere cramming; very few of the students have incomes which permit of a great range of dissipation; and not to pass the examination is a terrible defeat in life, which cuts a man off from further progress and leaves him disgraced. these are forces that count, and which prevail to keep all but the least serious within bounds. german life as a whole is so disciplined, so fitted together, so impossible to break into except through the recognized channels, that few men have the optimistic elasticity of mind and spirits, the demonic confidence in themselves, that overrides such considerations. we in america suffer from a superabundance of men of aleatory dispositions, men who love to play cards with the devil, who rejoice to wager their future, their reputation, their lives, against the world. i admit a sneaking fondness for them. they are a great asset, and a new country needs them, but if we have too many, germany has too few. they are forever crying out in germany for another bismarck. whenever in political matters, in foreign affairs, even in their religious controversies, things go wrong, men lift their hands and eyes to heaven and say, "how different if bismarck were here!" bismarck and two of his predecessors as nation-builders were not afraid to throw dice with the world, and what "the land of damned professors" could not do, they did. when the young men from the gymnasium come into the freedom of university life, they toss their heads a bit, kick up their heels, laugh long and loud at the philistine, but just as every german climax is incomplete without tears, so they too are soon singing: "ich weiss nicht was soll es bedeuten dass ich so traurig bin!" the gloom of the teutoburger wald settles down on them, and they buckle to and work with an enduring patience such as few other men in the world display, and join the great army here who, bitted and harnessed, are pulling the vaterland to the front. the british empire between and grew from , , square miles to , , square miles, and its trade from $ , , to $ , , , ; not to mention the united states of america, now considered to be of noticeable importance, though we are universally sneered at by the germans, to an extent that no american dreams of who has not lived among them, as a land of dollars, and, from the point of view of book-learning, dullards. but it is this, none the less, that germany envies, and has set out to rival and if possible to surpass. no wonder the training must be severe for the athletes who propose to themselves such a task. for a semester or two, perhaps for three, the german student gives himself up to the rollicking freedom of the corps student's life. that life is so completely misunderstood by the foreigner that it deserves a few words of explanation. i am not yet old enough to envy youth, nor sourly sophisticated enough to deal sarcastically or even lightly with their worship and their creeds, that once i shared, and with which lately i have been, under the most hospitable circumstances, invited to renew my acquaintance at the commers and the mensur. one may be no longer a constant worshipper at the shrine of blue eyes, pink cheeks, flaxen hair, and the enshrouding mystery of skirts, which make for curiosity and reverence in youth; one may have learned, however, the far more valuable lesson that the best women are so much nobler than the best men, that the best men may still kneel to the best women; just as the worst women surpass the worst men in consciencelessness, brutal selfishness, disloyalty, and degradation. the female bandit in society, or frankly on the war-path outside, takes her weapons from an armory of foulness and cruelty unknown to men; just as the heroines and angels among women fortify themselves in sanctuaries to which few, if any, men have the key. one returns, therefore, to the playground of one's youth with not less but with more sympathy and understanding. far from being "brutalizing guilds," far from being mere unions for swilling and slashing, the german corps, by their codes, and discipline, and standards of manners and honor, are, from the chivalrous point of view, the leaven of german student life. in these days many of them have club-houses of their own, where they take their meals in some cases and where they meet for their beer-drinking ceremonies. there is of course a wide range of expenditure by students at the german universities, whether they are members of the corps or not. at one of the smaller universities in a country town like marburg, for example, a poor student, with a little tutoring and the system of frei tisch--money left for the purpose of giving a free midday meal to poor students--may scrape along with an expenditure of as little as twenty dollars a month. a member of a good corps at this same university is well content with, and can do himself well on, seventy dollars a month. i have seen numbers of students' rooms, with bed, writing-table, and simple furniture, perhaps with a balcony where for many months in the year one may write and read, which rent for sixty dollars a year. one may say roughly that at the universities outside the large towns, and not including the fashionable universities, such as bonn or heidelberg, the student gets on comfortably with fifty dollars a month. they have their coffee and rolls in the morning, their midday meal which they take together at a restaurant, and their supper of cold meats, preserves, cheese, and beer where they will. for seventy-five cents a day a student can feed himself. the hours are aristotelian, for it was aristotle in his "economics," and not a nursery rhymer, who wrote: "it is likewise well to rise before daybreak, for this contributes to health, wealth, and wisdom." "early to bed and early to rise" is a classic. at bonn, a member of one of the three more fashionable corps spends far more than these sums, and his habits may be less spartan. the ridiculous expenditure of some of our mamma-bred undergraduates, who go to college primarily to cultivate social relations, are unknown anywhere in germany, for a student would make himself unpopularly conspicuous by extravagance. two to three thousand dollars a year, even at bonn, as a member of the best corps, would be amply sufficient and is considered an extravagant expenditure. when the earl of essex was sent to cambridge in queen elizabeth's time, he was provided with a deal table covered with baize, a truckle-bed, half a dozen chairs, and a wash-hand basin. the cost of all this was about $ . when students from all over europe tramped to paris to hear abelard lecture, they begged their way. they were given special licenses as scholars to beg. learning then, as it is still in germany, alone of all the nations, was considered to be a pious profession deserving well of the world. we do not even know the names of our scholars in america. how many americans have heard of gibbs, the authority on the fundamental laws regulating the trend of transformation in chemical and physical processes, or of hill and his theory of the moon, or of hale who explains the mystery of sun spots and measures the magnetic forces that play around the sun? how many frenchmen know pierron's translation of aeschylus, or patin's studies in greek tragedies, or charles maguin, or maurice croiset, or paul magou or leconte de lisle? while in england the mass of the people not only do not know the names of their scholars, but distrust all mental processes that are super-canine. the origin of the landmannschaften, burschenschaften, and the corps among the students dates back to the days when the students aligned themselves with more rigidity than now, according to the various german states from which they came. the names of the corps still bear this suggestion, though nowadays the alignment is rather social than geographical. the burschenschaften societies of students had their origin in political opposition to this separation of the students into communities from the various states. the originators of the burschenschaften movement, for example, were eleven students at jena. sobriety and chastity were conditions of entrance, and "honor, liberty, fatherland" were their watchwords. it was deemed a point of honor that a member breaking his vows should confess and retire from the society. the societies of the burschenschaften are still considered to have a political complexion and the corps proper have no dealings with them. in any given semester the number of students in one of these corps varies from as few as ten, to as many as twenty-five, depending, much as do our greek-letter societies and college clubs, upon the number of available men coming up to the university. certain corps are composed almost exclusively of noblemen, but none is distinctly a rich man's club. an active member of a corps during his first two semesters may do a certain amount of serious work, but as a rule it is looked upon as a time "to loaf and invite one's soul," and little attempt is made to do more. not a few men whom i have known, have not even entered a class-room during the two or three semesters of this blossoming period. i have spent many days and nights with these young gentlemen, at heidelberg, at leipsic, at marburg, at bonn, and been made one of them in their jollity and good-fellowship, and i have agreed, and still agree, that "wir sind die könige der welt, wir sind's durch unsere freude." they are by no means the swashbuckling, bullying, dissolute companions painted by those who know nothing about them. they may drink more beer than we deem necessary for health, or even for comfort; and they may take their exercise with a form of sword practice that we do not esteem, they may be proud of the scars of these imitation duels, but these are all matters of tradition and taste. when one writes of eating and drinking, it is hardly fair to make comparisons from a personal stand-point. an adult of average weight requires each day grams of proteid or building material, grams of carbohydrates, grams of fat. this equals, in common parlance, one pound of bread, one-half pound of meat, one-quarter pound of fat, one pound of potatoes, one-half pint of milk, one-quarter pound of eggs, assuming that one egg equals two ounces, and one-eighth pound of cheese. divided into three meals, this means: for breakfast, two slices of bread and butter and two eggs; for dinner: one plateful potato soup, large helping of meat with fat, four moderate-sized potatoes, one slice bread and butter; for tea: one glass of milk and two slices of bread and butter; for supper: two slices of bread and butter and two ounces of cheese. plain white bread supplies more caloric, or energy, for the price than any other one food, and, with one or two exceptions, more proteid, or building material, than any other one food. one to one and a half fluid ounces of alcohol is about the amount which can be completely oxidized in the body in a day. this quantity is contained in two fluid ounces of brandy or whiskey, five fluid ounces of port or sherry, ten of claret or champagne or other light wines, and twenty of bottled beer. all this means that a pint of claret, or two glasses of champagne, or a bottle of beer, or a glass of whiskey with some aerated water during the day will not hurt a man, and adds perhaps to the "agreeableness of life," as matthew arnold phrases it. at any rate, this table of contents is a much safer standard of comparison, in judging the eating and drinking habits of other people, than either your habits or mine. the german student probably drinks too much, and it is said by safe authorities in germany that his heart, liver, and kidneys suffer; but he has been at it a long time, and in certain fields of intellectual prowess he is still supreme, and as we only drink with him now occasionally when he is our host, perhaps he had best be left to settle these questions without our criticism. in general terms, i have always considered, as a test of myself and others, that a healthy man is one who lies down at night without fear, rises in the morning cheerfully, goes to a day's serious work of some kind rejoicing in the prospect, meets his friends gayly, and loves his loves better than himself. it is folly to maintain, that it does not require pluck and courage to stand up to a swinging schläger, and take your punishment without flinching, and then to sit without a murmur while your wounds are sewn up and bandaged. i cannot help my preference for foot-ball, or baseball, or rowing, or a cross-country run with the hounds, or grouse or pheasant shooting, or the shooting of bigger game, or the driving of four horses, or the handling of a boat in a breeze of wind, but the "world is so full of a number of things" that he has more audacity than i who proposes to weigh them all in the scales of his personal experience, and then to mark them with their relative values. first of all, it is to be remembered that these schläger contests between students are in no sense duels; a duel being the setting by one man of his chance of life against another's chance, both with deadly weapons in their hands. these contests with the schläger at the german universities, wrongly called duels, are so conducted that there is no possibility of permanent or even very serious injury to the combatants. the attendants who put them into their fighting harness, the doctors who look after them during the contest and who care for them afterward, are old hands at the game, and no mistakes are made. there is no feeling of animosity between the swordsmen as a rule. they are merely candidates for promotion in their own corps who meet candidates from other corps, and prove their skill and courage auf die mensur, or fighting-ground. when a youth joins a corps he chooses a counsellor and friend, a leibbursch, as he is called, from among the older men, whose special care it is, to see to it that he behaves himself properly in his new environment; he pledges himself to respect the traditions and standards of the corps, and to keep himself worthy of respect among his fellows, and among those whom he meets outside. a companionship and guardianship not unlike this, used to exist in the greek-letter society to which i once belonged. he of course abides by the rules and regulations of the order. it is a time of freedom in one sense, but it is a freedom closely guarded, and there is rigid discipline here as in practically all other departments of life in germany. the young students, or füchse, as they are called, are instructed in the way they should go by the older students, or burschen, whose authority is absolute. this authority extends even to the people whom they may know and consort with, either in the university or in the town, and to all questions of personal behavior, debts, dissipation, manners, and general bearing. in many of the corps there are high standards and old traditions as regards these matters, and every member must abide by them. every corps student is a patriot, ready to sing or fight for kaiser and vaterland, and socialism, even criticism of his country or its rulers, are as out of place among them as in the army or navy. they are particular as to the men whom they admit, and a man's lineage and bearing and relations with older members of the corps are carefully canvassed before he is admitted to membership. both the present emperor and one of his sons have been members of a corps. let us spend a day with them. it is saturday. we get up rather late, having turned in late after the commers of friday, when the men who are to fight the next day were drunk to, sung to, and wished good fortune on the morrow, and sent home early. the trees are turning green at bonn, the shrubs are feeling the air with hesitating blossoms, you walk out into the sunshine as gay as a lark, for the champagne and the beer of the night before were good, and you sang away the fumes of alcohol before you went to bed. there was much laughter, and a speech or two of welcome for the guest, responded to at a. m. in german, french, english, and gestures with a beer-mug, and punctuated with the appreciative comments of the company. it was a time to slough off twenty years or so and let adam have his chance, and the company was of gentlemen who sympathize with and understand the "alter herr," and are only too delighted if he will let the springs of youth bubble and sparkle for them, and glad to encourage him to return to reminiscences of his prowess in love and war, and ready to pledge him in bumper after bumper success in the days to come. you might think it a carouse. far from it. the ceremony is presided over by a stern young gentleman, who never for a moment allows any member of the company to get out of hand, and who, when a speech is to be made, makes it with grace and complete ease of manner. indeed, these young fellows surprise one with their easy mastery of the art of speech-making. even the spokesman for the füchse, or younger students, at the lower end of the table, rises and pledges himself and his companions in a few graceful words, with certain sly references to the possibility that the guest may not have lost his appreciation of the charms of german womankind, which the guest in question here and now, and frankly admits; but not a word of coarseness, not a hint that totters on the brink of an indiscretion, and what higher praise can one give to speech-making on such an occasion! my particular host and introducer to his old corps is youngest of all, and though seemingly as lavish in his potations as any one, sings his way home with me, head as clear, legs as steady, eyes as bright, as though it were a. m. and not a. m., and as though i had not seemed to see his face during most of the evening through the bottom of a beer-mug. that was the night before. the next morning we stroll over to the room where the schläger contests are to take place. it is packed with students in their different-colored caps. beer there is, of course, but no smoking allowed till the bouts are over. i go down to see the men dressing for the fray. they strip to the waist, put on a loose half-shirt half-jacket of cotton stuff, then a heavily padded half-jerkin that covers them completely from chin to knee. the throat is wrapped round and round with heavy silk bandages. the right arm and hand are guarded with a glove and a heavily padded leather sleeve; all these impervious to any sword blow. the eyes are guarded with steel spectacle frames fitted with thick glass. nothing is exposed but the face and the top of the head. the exposed parts are washed with antiseptics, as are also the swords, repeatedly during the bout. the sword, hilt and blade together, measures one hundred and five centimetres. there is a heavy, well-guarded hilt, and a pliable blade with a square end, sharp as a razor on both edges for some six inches from the end. the position in the sword-play is to face squarely one's opponent, the sword hand well over the head with the blade held down over the left shoulder. the distance between the combatants is measured by placing the swords between them lengthwise, each one with his chest against the hilt of his own weapon, and this marks the proper distance between them. when they are brought in and face one another, the umpire, with a bow, explains the situation. the two seconds with swords crouch each beside his man, ready to throw up the swords and stop the fighting between each bout. two other men stand ready to hold the rather heavily weighted sword arm of their comrade on the shoulder during the pauses. two others with cotton dipped in an antiseptic preparation keep the points of the swords clean. still another official keeps a record in a book, of each cut or scratch, the length of time, the number of bouts, and the result. the doctor decides when a wound is bad enough to close the contest. at the word "los!" the blades sing and whistle in the air, the work being done almost wholly with the wrist, some four blows are exchanged, there is a pause, then at it again, till the allotted number of bouts are over, or one or the other has been cut to the point where the doctor decides that there shall be no more. we follow them downstairs again, where, after being carefully washed, the combatants are seated in a chair one after the other, their friends crowd around and count the stitches as the surgeon works, and comment upon what particular twist of the wrist produced such and such a gash. i have seen scores of these contests, and during the last year as many as a dozen or more. there is no record of any one ever having been seriously injured; indeed, i doubt if there are not more men injured by too much beer than too much sword-play. it is perhaps expected that the foot-ball player should sneer at bull- fighting; the boxer at fencing; the rider to hounds at these schläger bouts; and that we game-players should say contemptuous things of the contests of our neighbors. personally, if one could eliminate the horse from the contest, i go so far as to believe that even bull-fighting is better than no game at all. as for these schläger contests, they seem to me no more brutal than our own foot-ball, which is only brutal to the shivering crowd of the too tender who have never played it, and not so dangerous as polo or pig-sticking, and a thousand times better than no contest at all. i am not of those who believe that the human body and that human life are the most precious and valuable things in the world. they are only servants of the courageous hearts and pure souls that ought to be their masters. without training, without obedience, without the instant willingness to sacrifice themselves for their masters, the human body and human life are contemptible and unworthy. i claim that it braces the mind to expose the body; that an education in the prepared emergencies of games and sport, is the best training for the unprepared emergencies with which life is strewn. the most cruel people i have ever known were gentle enough physically, but they were hard and sour in their social relations, and often enough called "good" by their fellows. the disappointments, losses, sorrows, defeats, of each one of us, trouble, even though imperceptibly, the waters of life that we all must drink of; and to ignore or to rejoice at these misfortunes is only muddying what we ourselves must drink. i believe the hardening of the body goes some way toward softening the heart and cleansing the soul, and toward fitting a man with that cheerful charity that supplies the oil of intercourse in a creaking world of rival interests. to see a youth swinging a sword at his fellow's face with delighted energy; to see a man riding off vigorously at polo; to see a man hard at it with the gloves on; to see another flinging himself and his horse over a wall or across a ditch; to see a man taking his nerves in hand, to make a two-yard put for a half, when he is one down and two to play; to see these things without seeing that--perhaps often enough in a muddy sort of way--the soul is making a slave of the body, that courage is mastering cowardice, that in an elementary way the youth is learning how to give himself generously when some great emergency calls upon him to give his life for an ideal, a tradition, a duty, is to see nothing but brutality, i admit. who does not know that the carthaginians at cannae were one thing, the carthaginians at capua another! i have therefore no acidulous effeminacy to pour upon these german schläger bouts. i prefer other forms of exercise, but i am a hardened believer in the manhood bred of contests, and though their ways are not my ways, i prefer a world of slashed faces to a world of soft ones. prosit, gentlemen! better your world than the world of semitic haggling and exchange; of caution and smoothness; of the disasters born of daintiness; of sliding over the ship's side in women's clothes to live, when it was a moral duty to be drowned. better your world than any such worlds as those, for "if one should dream that such a world began in some slow devil's heart that hated man, who should deny it?" milton held that "a complete and generous education fits a man to perform justly, skilfully, and magnanimously all the offices, both private and public, of peace and war." it is my opinion that the schläger has its part to play in this matter of education. a mind trained to the keenness of a razor's edge, but without a sound body controlled by a steel will, is of small account in the world. the whole aim of education is, after all, to make a man independent, to make the intelligence reach out in keen quest of its object, and at its own and not at another's bidding. an education is intended to make a man his own master, and so far as any man is not his own master, in just so far is he uneducated. what he knows, or does not know, of books does not alter the fact. much of the pharisaism and priggishness on the subject of education arises from the fact that the world is divided into two camps as regards knowledge: those who believe that the astronomer alone knows the stars, and those who believe that he knows them best who sleeps in the open beneath them. in reality, neither type of mind is complete without the other. to turn from any theoretical discussion of the subject, it remains to be said that germany has trained her whole population into the best working team in the world. without the natural advantages of either england or america she has become the rival of both. her superior mental training has enabled her to wrest wealth from by-products, and she saves and grows rich on what america wastes. whether germany has succeeded in giving the ply of character to her youth, as she folds them in her educational factories, i sometimes doubt. that she has not made them independent and ready to grapple with new situations, and strange peoples, and swift emergencies, their own past and present history shows. it is a very strenuous and economical existence, however, for everybody, and it requires a politically tame population to be thus driven. the dangerous geographical situation of germany, ringed round by enemies, has made submission to hard work, and to an iron autocratic government necessary. to be a nation at all it was necessary to obey and to submit, to sacrifice and to save. these things they have been taught as have no other european people. greater wealth, increased power, a larger rôle in the world, are bringing new problems. education thus far has been in the direction of fitting each one into his place in a great machine, and less attention has been paid to the development of that elasticity of mind which makes for independence; but men educate themselves into independence, and that time is coming swiftly for germany. "also he hath set the world in their heart," and one wonders what this population, hitherto so amenable, so economical, and so little worldly, will do with this new world. the temptations of wealth, the sirens of luxury, the opportunities for amusement and dissipation, are all to the fore in the germany of to-day as they were certainly not twenty-five years ago. ulysses, alas, does not bind himself to the mast very tightly as he passes these enchanted isles of modern luxury. "the land of damned professors" has learned its lessons from those same professors so well, that it is now ready to take a postgraduate course in world politics; and as i said in the beginning, some of our friends are putting the word "damned" in other parts of this, and other sentences, when they describe the rival prowess and progress of the germans. vii the distaff side madame necker writes of women: "les femmes tiennent la place de ces lagers duvets qu'on introduit dans les caisses de porcelaine; on n'y fait point d'attention, mais si on les retire, tout se brise." when one sees women and dogs harnessed together dragging carts about the streets; when one sees women doing the lighter work of sweeping up leaves and collecting rubbish in the forests and on the larger estates; doing the gardening work in saxony and other places; when one sees them by the hundreds working bare-legged in the beet-fields in silesia and elsewhere throughout germany; when one reads "viele weiber sind gut weil sie nicht wissen wie man es machen muss um böse zu sein," and "der mann nach freiheit strebt, das weib nach sitte," two phrases from the german classics, lessing and goethe; when one recalls the shameless carelessness of goethe's treatment of all women; of how his love-poems were sometimes sent by the same mail to the lady and to the press; and the unrestrained worship of goethe by the german women of his day; when one sees time and time again all over germany the women shouldered into the street while the men keep to the sidewalk; when one sees in the streets, railway carriages, and other public conveyances, the insulting staring to which every woman is subjected if she have a trace of good looks, one realizes that at any rate madame necker was not writing of german women. let me add that so far as the great goethe is concerned, it is by no puritan yard-stick that i am measuring him, but by the german's own high standard which despises any mating of true sentiment with commercialism. "beatus ille qui procul negotiis," certainly applies to one's affairs of the heart. in the gallery at dresden, where the loveliest mother's face in all the world shines down upon you from raphael's canvas like a benediction, there is a small picture by rubens, "the judgment of paris." the three goddesses�induitur formosa est; exuitur ipsa forma est �have taken literally the compliment paid to a certain beautiful customer by a renowned french dressmaker: "un rien et madame est habillée!" they are coquettishly revealing their claims to the eve-bitten fruit which paris holds in his hand. paris and his friend are in the most nonchalant of attitudes. they could not be more indifferent, or more superior in appearance, were they dandies judging the class for costermonger's donkeys at a provincial horse-show. the three most beautiful women in the world are squirming and posturing for praise, and a decision, before two as sophisticated and self-satisfied men as one will ever see on canvas or off it. the same subject is treated by a man of the same breed, but of a later day, named feuerbach, and his picture hangs, i think, in breslau. here again the supersuperiority of the male is portrayed. in the church of saint sebaldus at nuremberg, there is a delightful mural painting which makes one merry even to recall it. the subject is the garden of eden. adam and eve are being lectured by an elderly man in flowing robes with a long white beard. his beard alone would more than supply adam and eve with the covering they lack. in an easy attitude, with neither haste nor anxiety, he is pointing out to them the error of their ways. he is as detached in manner as though he were professor wundt, lecturing to us at leipsic on the fourth dimension of space. adam is somewhat dejected and reclines upon the ground. eve, unabashed, with nothing on but the apple which she is munching, is evidently in a reckless mood. she looks like a child of fifteen, with her hair down her back; the defiance of her attitude is that of a naughty little girl. the world-old problem is under discussion, but with an air of good humor and cheerfulness on the part of the lecturer, as though there were still time in the world, as though hurry were an undiscovered human attribute, as though possibly the world would still go on even if the problem were left unsolved, and this first leafy parliament adjourned sine die. they were so much wiser than are we! they knew then that there would be other sessions of congress, and that it was not necessary to decide everything on that spring day of the year one. but here again in this picture it is the male attitude toward the woman that is of chief interest. adam is plainly bored. what if the woman has broken into the sanctuary of knowledge, she will only be the bigger fool, he seems to say. as for the professor in the red robes, his easy, patronizing manner is indicative enough of his mental top-loftiness toward the woman question. you can almost hear him say as he strokes his beard: "küche, kinder, kirche!" from the fields of silesia, where the beet industry is possible only because there are hundreds of bare-legged girls and women to single the beets, a process not possible by machinery, at a wage of from twenty-five to thirty cents a day, to these german paintings with their illustrations of the spiritual and moral attitude of the german man toward the german woman, one sees everywhere and among practically all classes an attitude of condescension toward women among the polite and polished; an attitude of carelessness bordering on contempt among the rude. their attitude is like that of the jews who cry in their synagogues, "thank god for not having made me a woman!" one can judge, not incorrectly, of the status of women in a country by the manners and habits of the men, entirely dissociated from their relations to women. when one sees men equipped with small mirrors and small brushes and combs, which they use in all sorts of public places, even in the streets, in the street-cars, in omnibuses, and in the theatres; when one opens the door to a knock to find a gentleman, a small mirror in one hand and a tiny brush in the other, preparing himself for his entrance into your hotel sitting-room; you are bound to think that these persons are in the childhood days of personal hygiene, as it cannot be denied that they are, but also that their women folk must be still in the eryops age of social sophistication, not to put a stop to such bucolic methods of grooming. even though the eryops is a gigantic tadpole, a hundred times older than the oldest remains of man, this is hardly an exaggeration. in no other country in the cultured group of nations is the animal man so naïvely vain, so deliciously self-conscious, so untrained in the ways of the polite world, so serenely oblivious, not merely of the rights of women but of the simple courtesy of the strong to the weak. it is the only country i have visited where the hands of the men are better cared for than the hands of the women; and this is not a pleasant commentary upon the question of who does the rough work, and who has the vanity and who the leisure for a meticulous toilet. one must not forget that regular and systematic cleansing of the person is a very modern fashion. as late as the early part of the nineteenth century, tooth-brushes were not allowed in certain french convents, being looked upon as a luxury. cleanliness was not very common a century and a half ago in any country. in the publication of monsieur perrel's "pogonotomie, ou 'art d'apprendre à se raser soi-même," created a sensation among fashionable people, and enthusiasts studied self-shaving. the author of "lois de la galanterie" in writes: "every day one should take pains to wash one's hands, and one should also wash one's face almost as often!" the copious streams of hot and cold water, turned into a porcelain tub at any time of the day or night; the brushes, and soaps, and towels, and toilet waters, and powders of our day were quite unknown to our not far-off ancestors. the oft-repeated and minute ablutions of our day are almost as modern as bicycles, and not as ancient as the railways. the germans are only a little behind the rest of us in this soap and water cult, that is all. in the streets and public conveyances of the cities, in the beer-gardens and restaurants in the country, in the summer and winter resorts from the baltic to the black forest, from the rhine to bohemia, it is ever the same. they seat themselves at table first, and have their napkins hanging below their adam's apples before their women are in their chairs; hundreds of times have i seen their women arrive at table after they were seated, not a dozen times have i seen their masters rise to receive them; their preference for the inside of the sidewalk is practically universal; even officers in uniform, but this is of rare occurrence, will take their places in a railway carriage, all of them smoking, where two ladies are sitting, and wait till requested before throwing their cigars away, and what cigars! and then by smiles and innuendoes make the ladies so uncomfortable that they are driven from the carriage. even eleven hundred years ago the german woman had rather a rough time of it. charlemagne had nine wives, but he seems to have been unduly uxorious or unwearying in his infatuations. he made the wife travel with him, and all nine of them died, worn out by travel and hardship. there is a constancy of companionship which is deadly. the inconveniences and discomfort of going about alone, for ladies in germany, i have heard not from a dozen, but in a chorus from german ladies themselves. i am reciting no grievances of my compatriots, for i have seen next to nothing of americans for a year or more, and i have no personal complaints, for these soft adventurers scent danger quickly, and give the masters of the world, whether male or female, a wide berth. these gross manners are the result of two factors in german life that it is well to keep in mind. they are a poor people, only just emerging from poverty, slavery, and disaster; poor not only in possessions, but poor in the experience of how to use them. they do not know how to use their new freedom. they are as awkward in this new world of theirs, of greater wealth and opportunity, as unyoked oxen that have strayed into city streets. the abject deference of the women, who know nothing better than these parochial masters, adds to their sense of their own importance. it is largely the women themselves who make their men insupportable. the other factor is the rigid caste system of their social habits. there is no association between the officers, the nobility, the officials, the cultured classes, and the middle and lower classes. the public schools and universities are learning shops; they do not train youths in character, manners, or in the ways of the world. they do not play together, or work together, or amuse themselves together. the creeds and codes, habits and manners of the better classes are, therefore, not allowed to percolate and permeate those less experienced. there is no word for gentleman in german. the words gebildeter and anständiger are used, and it is significant to notice that the stress is thus laid on mental development or upon obedience to formal rules. a man may be a very great gentleman and a true gentleman and not be a scholar. the late duke of devonshire cared more for horses than for books and pictures, and abraham lincoln was one of the greatest gentlemen of all time. in homburg one day i saw a tall, fine-looking, elderly man step aside and off the sidewalk to let two ladies pass. it was for germany a noticeable act. he turned out to be a famous general then in waiting upon the emperor. there are not a few such courtly gentlemen in germany, not a few whose knightliness compares with that of any gentleman in the world. alas for the great bulk of the germans, they never come into contact with them, their example is lost, their leaven of high breeding and courtesy does not lighten the bourgeois loaf! in america and in england we are all threading our way in and out among all classes. we are much more democratic. men of every class are in contact with men of every other, we play together and work together, and consequently the level of manners and habits is higher. this state of things is less marked in south germany than in prussia, but is more or less true everywhere. but how can this be possible, i hear it replied, in that land where every officer clacks his heels together with a report like an exploding torpedo, ducks his head from his rigid vertebrae, and then bends to kiss the lady's hand; and where every civilian of any standing does the same? i am not writing of the nobility and of the corps of officers in this connection. no doubt there are black sheep among them, though i have not met them. of the many scores of them whom i have met, whom i have ridden with, dined with, romped with, drunk with, travelled with, i have only to say that they are as courteous, as unwilling to offend or to take advantage, as are brave men in other countries i know. i am writing of the average man and woman, of those who make up the bulk of every population, of those upon whom it depends whether a national life is healthy or otherwise. the very stiffness of these mannerisms, the clacking of heels, the ducking of heads, the kissing of hands, the countless grave formalities among the men themselves, are all indicative of social weakness. they are afraid to walk without the crutches of certain formulae, of certain hard-and-fast rules, of certain laws that they worship and fall down before. slavery is still upon them. escaped from a bodily master they fly to the refuge of a moral and spiritual one. these formalities are prescribed forms which they wear as they wear uniforms; they are not the result of innate consideration. uniform-wearing is a passion among the germans, and may be included as still another indication of the universal desire to take refuge behind forms, and laws, and fixed customs, the universal desire to shrink from depending upon their own judgment and initiative. they will not even bow or kiss a lady's hand, without a prescription from a social physician whom they trust. the german officials are always officials, always addressed and addressing others punctiliously by their titles. they do not throw off officialdom outside their duties and their offices as we do, but they glory in it. we throw off our uniforms as soon as may be; we feel hampered by them. this leads to a feeling on the part of the germans that we are too free and easy, and not respectful enough toward our own dignity or toward theirs. we feel, on the other hand, that it is a farce to go to the every-day markets of life, whether for daily food or for daily social intercourse, with the bullion and certified checks of our official dignity; we go rather with the small change that jingles in all pockets alike, and is ready to be handed out for the frequent and unimportant buying and selling of the day and hour. we look upon this grallatory attitude toward life as artificial and hampering, and prefer to walk among our neighbors as much as possible upon our own feet. i am not pretending to fix standards of etiquette. i can quite understand that when we grab the hand of the german's wife and shake it like a pump-handle instead of bowing over it; that when we nod cheerfully to him in the street with a wave of the hand or a lifting of a cane or umbrella instead of taking off our hat; that when we fail to address both him and his lady with the title belonging to them, no matter how commonplace that title, we shock his prejudices and his code of good manners. if there is a stranger, a lady, in the drawing-room before dinner the german men line up in single file and ask to be presented to her. if the lady is tall and handsome and the party a large one, it looks almost like an ovation. if you go to dine at an officers' mess the men think it their duty to come up and ask to be presented to you. they wear their mourning bands on the forearm instead of the upperarm; they wear their wedding-rings on the fourth finger of the right hand; many of them wear rather more conspicuous jewelry than we consider to be in good taste. the sofa, too, plays a rôle in german households and offices for which i have sought in vain for an explanation. not even german archaeology supplies a historical ancestry for this sofa cult. it is the place of honor. if you go to tea you are enthroned on the sofa. even if you go to an office, say of the police, or of the manager of the city slaughter-house, or of the hospital superintendent, you are manoeuvred about till they get you on the sofa, generally behind a table. i soon discovered that this was the seat of honor. sofas have their place in life, i admit. there are sofas that we all remember with tears, with tenderness, with reverence. they have been the boards upon which we first appeared in the rôle of lover perhaps; or where we have fondled and comforted a discouraged child; or where we have pumped new ambitions and larger life into a weaker brother; or where we have tossed in the agony of grief or disappointment; or where we have waited drearily and alone the result of a consultation of moral or physical life and death in the next room. indeed, this all reminds me that i could write an essay on sofas that would be poignant, touching, autobiographical, luminous, as could most other men, but this would not explain the position of the sofa in germany in the least. "travels on a sofa"--i must do it one day, and perhaps, with more serious study of the subject, light may be thrown upon this question of the sofa in germany. even at large and rather formal dinner-parties the host bows and drinks to his guests, first one and then another. at the end of the meal, in many households, it is the custom to bow and kiss your hostess's hand and say "mahlzeit," a shortened form of "may the meal be blessed to you." you also shake hands with the other guests and say "mahlzeit." in some smarter houses this is looked upon as old- fashioned and is not done. i look upon it as a charming custom, and think it a pity that it should be done away with. young unmarried girls and women courtesy to the elder women and kiss their hands, also a custom i approve. on the other hand, where a stalwart officer appears in a small drawing-room and seats himself at the slender tea-table for a cup of afternoon tea, holding his sword by his side or between his legs, that seems to me an unnecessary precaution, even when americans are present, for many of us nowadays go about unarmed. except on official or formal occasions it seems a matter of questionable good taste to appear, say in a hotel restaurant, with one's breast hung with medals or with orders on one's coat or in the button-hole. let 'em find out what a big boy am i without help from self-imposed placards seems to me to be perhaps the more modest way. the method in vogue in japanese temples, where the worshippers jangle a bell to call the attention of the gods to their prayers or offerings, seems out of place where the god is merely the casual man in the street, in a berlin restaurant. at more than one dinner the soup is followed by a meat course, after which comes the fish. this does not mean that the dinners are not good. i fondly recall a dish of sauerkraut boiled in white wine and served in a pineapple. i may not give names, but the dinners of mr. and mrs. fourth of december, of mrs. twenty-first of january, of mr. and mrs. thirtieth of january, and of mr. and mrs. february first, and others rank very high in my gastronomic calendar. do not imagine from what i have written that lucullus has left no disciples in germany. i could easily add a page to the list i have mentioned, and because we look upon some of these customs of the german as absurd is no reason for forgetting that he often, and from his stand-point rightly, looks upon us as boors. i like the germans and i pretend to have learned very much from them. to sneer at superficial differences is to lose all profit from intercourse with other peoples. goethe is right, "uberall lernt man nur von dem, den man liebt!" the argument is only all on our side when we are impervious to impressions and to other standards of manners and morals than our own. "am ende hangen wir doch ab von kreaturen die wir machten" are two lines at least from the second part of "faust" that we can all understand. it is sometimes thrown at us americans that we love a title, and that we are not averse to the ornamentation of our names with pseudo and attenuated "honorables" and "colonels" and "judge" and so on; and i am bound to admit the impeachment, for i blush at some of my be-colonelled and becaptained friends, and wonder at their rejoicing over such effeminate honorifics, especially those colonelcies born of clattering behind a civilian governor, on a badly ridden horse, a title which may be compared with that most attenuated title of all, that of a texan, who when asked why he was called "colonel" replied, that he had married the widow of a colonel! i prefer "esqr." to "mr." merely because it makes it easier to assort the daily mail; "mr.," "mrs.," and "miss" are so easily taken for one another on an envelope, and particularly at christmas time this more distinctly legible title avoids, the deplorable misdirection of the secrets of santa claus; aside from that i am happy to be addressed merely by my name, like any other sovereign. we are, too, somewhat overexcited when foreign royalties appear among us. "what wud ye do if ye were a king an' come to this counthry?" asked mr. hennessy. "well," said mr. dooley, "there's wan thing i wuddent do. i wuddent r-read th' declaration iv independence. i'd be afraid i'd die laughin'." in germany not only are titles showered upon the populace, but it is distinctly and officially stated by what title the office-holder shall be addressed. in a case i know, a certain lady failed to sign herself to one of the small officials working upon her estate as, let us say, "i remain very sincerely yours," or its german equivalent; whereupon the person addressed wrote and demanded that communications addressed to him should be signed in the regulation manner. a lawyer was consulted, and it was found that a similar case had been taken to the courts and decided in favor of the recipient of wounded vanity. in hearty and manly opposition to this attitude toward life is the example of admiral x. he had served long and gallantly, and just before he retired a friend said to him: "i hear that they're going to knight you." "by god, sir, not without a court-martial!" was the prompt reply. indeed, things have come to such a pass in england that the offer of a knighthood to a gentleman of lineage, breeding, and real distinction, has been for years looked upon as either a joke or an insult. not so among my german friends; they have a ravenous appetite for these flimsy tickets of passing commendation. at many, many hospitable boards in berlin i have been present where no left breast was barren of a medal, and where the only medal won by participation in actual warfare, belonging to one of the guests, was safely packed away in his house. and as for the titles, there is no room in a small volume like this to enumerate them all; and the women folk all carry the titles of the husband, from frau ober-postassistent, frau regierungs assessor, up to the chancellor's lady, who, by the way, wears a title in her mere face and bearing. not long ago i saw in a provincial sheet the notice of the death of a woman of eighty, who was gravely dignified by her bereaved relatives with the title, and as the relict of, a veterinary. upon a certain funicular at a mountain resort, where the cars pass one another up and down every twenty minutes, the conductors salute one another stiffly each time they pass. of the army of people with titles of ober-regierungsrat, geheimer regierungsrat, wirklicher geheimer regierungsrat, wirklicher geheimer ober-regierungsrat, wirklicher geheimerat, who also carries the additional title of "excellenz" with his title; referendar, assessor, justizrat, geheimer justizrat, gerichts-assessor, amtsrichter, amtsgerichtrat, oberamtsrichter, landgerichtsdirector, amtsgerichtspräsident, geheimer finanzrat, wirklicher geheimer ober finanzrat, legationsrat, wirklicher geheimer legationsrat, vice konsul, konsul, general konsul, commercienrat, wirklichercommercienrat, staatsanwalt, staatsanwaltschaftsrat, herr erster staatsanwalt, where the "herr" is a legal part of the title; of those who must be addressed as "excellenz," and in addition military and naval titles, and the horde of handles to names of those in the railway, postal, telegraph, street- cleaning, forestry, and other departments, one must merely throw up one's hands in despair, and bow to the inevitable disgrace of being quite unable to name this noah's-ark procession of petty dignitaries. in the department of post and telegraph a new order has gone forth, issued during the last few months, by which, after passing certain examinations, the employees may take the title of ober-postschaffner and ober-leitungsaufseher. after thirty years' service the postman is dignified with the title of ober-briefträger. it is difficult to understand the type of mind which is flattered by such infantile honors. at any rate, it is a cheap system of rewards, and so long as men will work for such trumpery ends the state profits by playing upon their childish vanity. during the year more than , decorations were distributed, and some , of these were of the three classes of the order of the red eagle. on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the reign of the present emperor, in , still another medal is to be struck, to be given to worthy officials and officers. all the professions and all the trades, too, have their pharmacopoeia of tags and titles, and you will go far afield to find a german woman who is not frau something-or-other schmidt, or fischer, or miller. every day one hears women greeting one another as frau oberforstmeister, frau superintendent, frau medicinalrat, frau oberbergrat, frau apothekar, frau stadt-musikdirektor, frau doktor rechtsanwalt, frau geschäftsführer, and the like. all these titles, too, appear in the hotel registers and in all announcements in the newspapers. even when a man dies, his title follows him to the grave, and even beyond it, in the speech of those left behind. these uniforms and titles and small formalities do make, i admit, for orderliness and rigidity, and perhaps for contentment; since every man and woman feels that though they are below some one else on the ladder they are above others; and every day and in every company their vanity is lightly tickled by hearing their importance, small though it be, proclaimed by the mention of their titles. it pleases the foreigners to laugh and sometimes to jeer at the universal sign of "verboten" (forbidden) seen all over germany. they look upon it as the seal of an autocratic and bureaucratic government. it is nothing of the kind. the army, the bureaucracy, the autocratic kaiser at the helm, and the landscape bestrewn with "verboten" and "nicht gestattet" (not allowed), these are necessities in the case of these people. they do not know instinctively, or by training or experience, where to expectorate and where not to; where to smoke and where not to; what to put their feet on and what not to; where to walk and where not to; when to stare and when not to; when to be dignified and when to laugh; and, least of all, how to take a joke; how, when, or how much to eat, drink, or bathe, or how to dress properly or appropriately. the emperor is almost the only man in germany who knows what chaff is and when to use it. the more you know them, the longer you live among them, the less you laugh at "verboten." the trouble is not that there are too many of these warnings, but that there are not enough! when you see in flaring letters in the street-cars, "in alighting the left hand on the left-hand rail," when you read on the bill of fare in the dining-car brief instructions underlined, as to how to pour out your wine so that you will not spill it on the table-cloth; when you see the list of from ten to fifteen rules for passengers in railway carriages; when you see everywhere where crowds go and come, "keep to the right"; when you see hanging on the railings of the canals that flow through berlin a life-buoy, and hanging over it full instructions with diagrams for the rescue of the drowning; when you see over a post-box, "aufschrift und marke nicht vergessen" (do not forget to stamp and address your envelope); when you see in the church entrances a tray with water and sal volatile, and the countless other directions and remedies and preventives on every hand, you shrug your saxon shoulders and smile pityingly, if you do not stand and stare and then laugh outright, as i was fool enough to do at first. but you soon recover from this superficial view of matters teutonic. in one cab i rode in i was cautioned not to expectorate, not to put my feet on the cushions, not to tap on the glass with stick or umbrella, not to open the windows, but to ask the driver to do it, and not to open the door till the auto-taxi stopped; one hardly has time to learn the rules before the journey is over. in april, , more laws are to come into effect for the street traffic. people may not walk more than three abreast; they may not swing their canes and umbrellas as they walk; they may not drag their garments in the street; they may not sing, whistle, or talk loudly in the street, nor congregate for conversation; there will follow, of course, a regulation as to the length of women's dresses to be worn in the street, and no doubt the police commissioner, an amiable bachelor, will decree that the shorter the better. all these fussy regulations are ridiculous to us, but in reality they are horrible and give one a feeling of suffocation when living in germany. in the days when everybody rode a bicycle, each rider was obliged to pass an examination in proficiency, paid a small tax, and was given a number and a license. women who persisted in wearing dangerous hat-pins have been ejected from public vehicles. after april , , no shop in berlin can advertise or hold a bargain sale without permission of the police. the changed prices must be affixed to the goods four days before the sale for inspection by the police, and only two such sales are permitted a year, and these must take place either before february , or between june and august st. all particulars of the sale must be handed to the police a week in advance. in a carriage on the bavarian railroad, a husband who kissed and petted his tired wife was complained of by a fellow- passenger. the husband was tried, judged guilty, and fined. there was no question but that the woman was his wife; thus there is no loop-hole left for the legally curious, and thousands of male germans hug and kiss one another on railway-station platforms who surely ought to be fined and imprisoned or deported or hanged! all this may be a relic of roman law. cato dismissed marilius from the senate because he kissed his own wife by daylight in the presence of their own daughter. shortly after leaving germany, i returned from a few weeks' shooting in scotland. we bundled out of the train onto the station platform in london. dogs, gun-cases, cartridge-boxes, men and maid servants, trunks, bags, baskets, bunches of grouse, and the passengers seemed in a chaotic huddle of confusion. in germany at least twenty policemen would have been needed to disentangle us. i was so torpid from having been long teutonically cared for, that i looked on momentarily paralyzed. there was no shouting, not a harsh word that i heard; and as i was almost the last to get away, i can vouch for it that in ten minutes each had his own and was off. i had forgotten that such things could be done. i had been so long steeped in enforced orderliness, that i had forgotten that real orderliness is only born of individual self-control. i forgot that i was back among the free spirits who govern a quarter of the habitable globe and whose descendants are making america; and even if here and there one or more, and they are often recently arrived immigrants, are intoxicated by freedom and shoot or steal like drunken men; i realized that i am still an occidental barbarian, thank god, preferring liberty, even though it is punctuated now and then with shots and screams and thefts, to official guardianship, even though i am thus saved the shooting, the screaming, and the thieving. in the nine years ending , our fourth of july celebrations cost america in killed, , ; in wounded, , ; but even that is better than the civic throttling of the german method. it seems to be forgotten that the men who keep the world fresh with their saline vigor, love risks as they love fresh air. they should be curbed, but not strangled! you read their history, you watch closely their manners, you prowl about among them, in their streets, their shops, their houses, their theatres; you accompany the crowds on a holiday in the trains, in the forests, in the summer resorts, at their concerts or their picnics, in their beer-gardens and restaurants, and you soon see that the orderliness is all forced upon them from without, and not due to their own knowledge of how to take care of themselves. in a recent volume by a distinguished german prison official he writes that, after a careful study of the figures from to , he has discovered that one person now living in every twelve in germany has been convicted of some offence. doctor finkelnburg shows that the number of "criminals" in germany is , , , of whom , , are males, and , females. every d boy and every th girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen has been punished by fine or imprisonment. this does not mean that the germans are criminal or disorderly, but, on the contrary, it shows how absurdly petty are the violations of the law punished by fine or imprisonment. their whole history, from charlemagne down until the last fifty years, is a series of going to pieces the moment the strong hand of authority is taken away from them. the german, and especially the prussian policeman, has become the greatest official busybody in the world. no german's house is his castle. the policeman enters at will and, backed by the authorities, questions the householder about his religion, his servants, the attendance of his children at school, the status of the guests staying in his house, and about many other matters besides. if one of his children by reason of ill health is taught at home, the authorities demand the right to send an inspector every six months to examine him or her, to be sure that the child is properly taught. the policeman is in attendance on the platform at every public meeting, armed with authority to close the meeting if either speeches or discussion seem to him unpatriotic, unlawful, or strife-breeding. professors, pastors, teachers are all muzzled by the state, and must preach and teach the state orthodoxy or go! a young professor of political economy in berlin only lately was warned, and has become strangely silent since. the de-germanizing of the german abroad is in line with this, and a constant source of annoyance to the powers that be. buda-pesth was founded by germans in , and now not one-tenth of the population is german. as the franks became french, as the long beards became italians, so the germans become americans in america, english in england, austrian and bohemian in austria and bohemia. it has been a problem to prevent their becoming poles where the state has settled germans for the distinct purpose of ousting the poles. in china, in south america, and even in sumatra i have heard german officials tell with indignation of how their compatriots rapidly take the local color, and lose their german habits and customs and point of view. one of the half dozen best-known bankers in berlin has lamented to me that he must change his people in south america every few years, as they soon go to pieces there. army officers came home from china indignant to find their compatriots there speaking english and unwilling even to speak german. even as long ago as the time of the thirty years' war a forgotten chronicler, adam junghaus von der ohritz, writes: "further, it is a misfortune to the germans that they take to imitating like monkeys and fools. as soon as they come among other soldiers, they must have spanish or other outlandish clothes. if they could babble foreign languages a little, they would associate themselves with spaniards and italians." wilhelm von polentz, in his "das land der zukunft," writes: "die deutsch-amerikaner sind für die alte heimat dauernd verloren, politisch ganz und kulturell beinahe vollständig." bismarck knew these people and the present emperor knows these people, better than do you and i! bismarck even insisted upon using the german text, and once returned a letter of congratulation from an official body because it was written in the latin text. even the great elector must have recognized this weakness when he said: "gedenke dass du bist em deutscher!" the present kaiser lends his whole social influence to keep the germans german. he will have the bill of fare in german, he prefers the dreadful word mundtuch to napkin. his officers very often demand that the bill of fare in a german hotel shall be presented to them in german and not in french. and they are quite right to do so, and quite right to hang the german world with the sign "verboten"; quite right to distribute titles and medals and orders, for the more they are uniformed and decorated and ticketed and drilled, and taken care of, the better they like it, and the more contented these people are. overorganization has brought this about. their theories have hardened into a veritable imprisonment of the will. they have drifted away from goethe's wise saying: "that man alone attains to life and freedom who daily has to conquer them anew." let me refer again just here to the socialist propaganda, which seems to the outsider so strong here in germany. even this is far flabbier than it looks, as i have attempted to explain elsewhere. in such strong and out-and-out industrial centres as essen, duisburg-mühlheim, saarbrücken, and bochum, where a vigorous fight has been made against socialism, the following are the figures of the last election in when the socialists largely increased their vote throughout other parts of germany: nationalliberal zentrum socialdemokrat essen............ , , , duisburg-mühlheim , , , saarbrücken...... , , , bochum........... , , , i cite this example because it seems as though the growth of socialism in germany were in direct contradiction to my argument that they are a soft, an impressionable, an amenable, and easily led and governed people. state socialism as thus far put into practice in germany is, in a nutshell, the decision on the part of the state or the rulers that the individual is not competent to spend his own money, to choose his own calling, to use his own time as he will, or to provide himself for his own future and for the various emergencies of life. and by the minute state control, they are rapidly bringing the whole population to an enfeebled social and political condition, where they can do nothing for themselves. they have been knocked about and dragooned by their own rulers and, be it said and emphasized, they have received certain compensations and gained certain advantages, if nothing else an orderliness, safety, and care for the people by the state unequalled elsewhere in the world. but there is no gainsaying, on the other hand, that they have lost the fruits that are plucked by the nations of more individualistic training. they have clean streets, cheap music and drama, and a veritable mesh of national education with interstices so small that no one can escape, and they are coddled in every direction; but they have no stuff for colonizers, and they have been not infrequently wofully lacking in stalwart statesmen, and leaders. to deprive the worker of his choice of expenditure, by taking all but a pittance of it in taxation, is a dangerous deprivation of moral exercise. to be able to choose for oneself is a vitally necessary appliance in the moral gymnasium, even if here and there one chooses wrong. it is a curious trend of thought of the day, which proposes to cure social evils always by weakening, rather than by strengthening the individual. socialism is merely a moral form of putting a sharper bit in humanity's mouth; when of course the highest aim, the optimistic view, is to train people to go as fast and straight and far as possible, with the least possible hampering of their natural powers by legislation. "some men are by nature free, others slaves," writes aristotle, but whether this axiom can be accepted fully or not, it is undoubtedly true that you can first dragoon and then coddle a whole people, into a lack of independence and a shrinking from the responsibilities of freedom. we are drugging the people ourselves just now with legislation as a cure for the evils of industrialism, but such legislation will only do what soporifics can do, they numb the pain, but they never bring health. what a forlorn philosophy it is! men take advantage, rob and steal, we say, and to do away with this we give up the fight for fair play and orderliness and propose sweeping away all the prizes of life, hoping thus to do away with the highwaymen of commerce and finance. if there is no booty, there will be no bandit, we say, forgetting altogether the corollary that if there are no prizes there will be no prizemen! neither god nor nature gives anything to those who do not struggle, and both god and nature appoint the stern task-master, necessity, to see to it that we do struggle. now come the ignorant and the socialists, demanding that the state step in and roll back the very laws of creation by supplying what is not earned from the surplus of the strong. who cannot see anarchy looming ahead of this programme, for it is surely a lunatic negation of all the laws of god and nature? they do not seem to see either in america or in england that state supervision carried too far leads straight to the sanction of all the demands of socialism and syndicalism. legislation was never intended to be the father of a people, but their policeman. overlegislation, whether by an autocrat or a democratic state, leads straight to revolution, to caesarism, or to slavery. in germany the state by giving much has gained an appalling control over the minute details of human intercourse. i am no philosophic adviser to the rich; it is as the champion of the poor man that i detest socialism and all its works, for in the end it only leads backward to slavery. every vote the workingman gives to a policy of wider state control is another link for the chains that are meant for his ankles, his wrists, and his neck. if the state is to take care of me when i am sick or old or unemployed, it must necessarily deprive me of my liberty when i am well and young and busy, and thus make my very health a kind of sickness. a year in germany ought to cure any sensible workingman of the notion that the state is a better guardian of his purse and his powers than he is himself. a distinguished german publicist, criticising this overpowering interference of the state, writes: "mir ist wohl bewusst dass diese gedanken einst weilen fromme wünsche bleiben werden: die schatten lähmender müdigkeit die fiber unserer politik lagern, lassen wenig hoffnung auf fröhliche initiative. allein immer kann und wird es nicht so bleiben." and he ends with the ominous words: "reform oder revolution!" one often hears the apostles of a certain kittenish humanitarianism, talking of the great good that would result if we in america would provide light wines and beer and music, and parks and gardens, for our people. they see the crowds of men and women and children flocking by thousands to such resorts in germany, where they eat tons of cakes and brödchens and jam, and where they drink gallons of beer and wine, and where they sit hour after hour apparently quite content. why, lord love you, ladies and gentlemen, our populace would never be content with such mild amusements! fancy "silver dollar" sullivan or "bath-house" john attempting to cajole their cohorts in such fashion! it may be a pity that our people are not thus easily amused, but, on the other hand, it means simply that our energy, our vitality, our national nervousness if you like, will not be so easily satisfied. our disorderly nervousness, or nervous disorderliness, though it has been a tremendous asset in keeping us bounding along industrially and commercially, and though it gives an exhilarating, champagne-like flavor to our atmosphere, has cost us dear. if you will have freedom, you will have those who are ruined by it; just as, if you will have social and political servitude, you will have a stodgy, unindependent populace. only one out of sixty perpetrators of homicidal crime suffers the extreme penalty attaching to such crimes in america, and these figures, i admit, are a shocking revelation of supine justice and sentimental executive, as when politics can even bend our president to grant silly pardons, with baleful results upon the doings of other wealthy criminals. we use as large an amount of habit-forming drugs per capita as is used in the chinese empire, so says dr. wright, who was commissioned by the state department to gather facts on this subject. we import and consume , pounds of opium yearly, when , pounds, including its derivatives and preparations, should suffice for our medical needs. in the year no less than , ounces of cocaine were imported, manufactured, and consumed, although , ounces would supply every legitimate need. america collected $ , , from tariff taxes in , and $ , , of this from tobacco and alcoholics. my readers may look back to the title of this chapter and ask: what has all this to do with the status of women in germany? i have told you in these few pages the whole secret. the men are not independent; what can you expect of the women! the men have, until very lately, had no surplus wealth or leisure, and have now, to all appearance, little surplus vitality or energy. germany is getting to be a very tired-looking nation. one hears almost as little laughter in germany as in india. gayety and laughter are the bubbles and foam on the glass of life, proving that it is charged with energy. do not believe me, although i have carefully watched many thousands of germans in all parts of germany taking their pleasure and their ease; come over and see for yourself! these thousands at their simple recreations are not gay. i grant the dangers we run by the opposite policy, but these are the results we have to fear from the german methods. it is the men who must supply the leisure, the independence, the setting, the background for the women. all europe says that our women are spoiled, that they are tyrants, that they treat us men badly, that they flout us, do not do their duty by us, and finally divorce us. we can afford to let them say it! we have given our women an independence that many of them abuse, it is true. we perhaps give them more than their share to spend, and more of luxury than is good for them; and all too many of the underbred among them paint and bejewel and begown themselves to imitate the lecherous barbarism of the too free. but one of the greatest ladies in germany tells me, "i am never so flattered as when i am taken for an american!" i can pay her no handsomer compliment than to reply that she is worthy of the mistake. our women revive the drooping dukedoms of england, and few will maintain that some of them at least are unsuited to the position. i have seen them in germany as frau gräfin this or that, and not only their appearance but their house-keeping machinery, running noiselessly and accurately, proves that there is something more than dollars behind them. one of the rare human beings whom i have known, who has at the same time the characteristics of the generous comrade, the good fellow, and the fine gentleman; who in moral courage in time of terrible strain, or in physical courage when one's back is to the wall, never quailed, is an american woman; and thousands of my countrymen will say the same. you cannot produce this type without freedom, without giving them opportunity, and taking the risks that are inherent in giving free scope to personal prowess. but they are not the women whom our blatant newspapers exploit, nor the women who buy the british aristocracy to launch them socially, nor the women who pervade the continental hotels and restaurants, nor the women whom as a rule the foreigner has the opportunity to meet. they are the women who have helped us to absorb the , , aliens who have entered america since the civil war; the women who stood behind us when we fought out that war for four years, leaving a million men on the fields of battle; the women who in the realm of housekeeping, to come down to practical levels, have revolutionized these duties and turned a drudgery into an art as have no other women in the world. the best answer the american can make to the luxurious lawlessness of some of our women, is to point to the house-keeping and home-making of his compatriots, not only at home but right here in germany. fifty years ago it could not have been said, but to-day there is no doubt in my mind that american house-keeping is the best in the world. in comfort, in the smooth running of the household machinery, in good food and drink, perhaps in too lavish and too luxurious hospitality, we are nowadays almost in a class by ourselves in matters of housewifery. the english attitude of women toward men is somewhat that of comradeship, and once married the man's comfort is looked after with some care; the american attitude of women toward men, in the more luxurious circles, is often, i admit, that of a spoiled child toward a gift-bringing uncle, and she permits him to worship her along the lines of a restricted rubric; but in germany the subordination, the unquestioning and unthinking adulation, the blind acceptance of inferiority have not only softened the men but robbed the women of even sufficient independence to make them the helpmates that they try to be. there have been women of social and even political influence: bettina von arnim, caroline schlegel, charlotte stieglitz, rahel varnhagen, and lately frau lebin, who seems to have been a soothing adjunct of the foreign office. it is rather as admirers than as executives that they shine. their attitude toward the great goethe, and his nonchalant polygamy toward them, is difficult for us to understand and approve. "the gentle henrietta then, and a third mary next did reign, and joan and jane and andria; and then a pretty thomasine, and then another katherine, and then a long et cetera." no real man is a misogynist, for not to like women is not to be a man. there are, however, many men, both in germany and out of it, who greatly dislike sham women; that is, women who shirk their functional responsibilities. this form of dislike is a healthy instinct. women are given the greatest and most inspiring of all tasks: to make men; and a woman who cannot make a man, by giving birth to one, or by developing one as son or husband, has failed more deplorably even than a man who cannot make a living. this task of theirs constitutes a superiority impossible to deny or to overcome. a woman, therefore, who craves man's activities and standards is as foolish as though a wheat-field should long to be a bakery. most healthy-minded men hold this view, though some of us may think that german men overemphasize it. the coarse sentimentality of the lower classes has been noted, but it is not confined to them. the premarital relations of all but the most cultured and experienced, are marked by a mawkish sweetness which is all the more noticeable in contrast with the dull routine of saving and slaving which follows. she begins by being photographed sitting in her hero's lap, and ends by sitting on the less comfortable chair to darn his socks and to tend his babies. there are women enthroned, and who deserve to be, in germany as in other countries; but taken in the mass, speaking in hundreds of thousands, it is not an inaccurate picture to say that the women are not taken seriously in germany except as mothers and servants. the census of shows that there are , , men in germany and , , women, or , more women than men. the number of men in proportion to the number of women is steadily increasing in germany, showing that the habits of the men are more and more feminine, that the state provides for them and protects them, and that the women take good care of them. in a virile state, where the men take risks, where they play hazardous games, where they travel and seek adventure, where they emigrate to seek new opportunities, the women will greatly outnumber the men. the excess of females in england and wales in was , ; in , , ; in , , ; in , , , . the united kingdom has the largest surplus of women of leisure in the world, and just now they are taking advantage of their numerical superiority in the most delightful and comical feminine fashion. they are proving their right to assist in coercing others to obey the laws, by disobeying the laws themselves. by pouring vitriol on golf-greens, by pinning their defiance to these dishevelled greens with hair-pins, they propose to provoke the recalcitrant to recognition of their right to pin their names to seats in the house of commons. it is all so sweetly feminine, that the stranger is astonished to hear such women dubbed unwomanly. pray, what could be more womanly in england, than to pin a protest to a golf-green with a hair-pin! the german army, which is in itself a school of hygiene for the man, where the death-rate is the lowest of any army in europe, and the many provisions for the state care of the population, all go to coddle the men and protect them. the various forms of labor insurance alone in germany cost the state over $ , a day, and if we include the amount expended in compensation in all its forms, the yearly bill of the state for the care of its sick, injured and aged, amounts to nearly $ , , . no wonder that between the care of a grandmotherly state, and the attentions of a subservient womankind, the male population increases. i sometimes question whether there is not something of the hot-house culture about this male crop. certainly consumption and other diseases are very wide-spread. a very detailed and careful investigation of certain forms of weakness is being made by our rockefeller institute at this time, and if i am not mistaken in the results of what these investigations have thus far disclosed, it will be found that germany has her full share of rottenness to deal with. to those who care to corroborate these hints with facts i recommend the reading of certain recent numbers of the hygienic rundschau, a german technical magazine of repute. there is a lack of vitality and elasticity, a stodgy, plodding way of working, much indulgence in gregarious eating and drinking, and very mild forms of exercise and holiday-making, comparatively little sport, almost no game-playing where boys and men hustle one another about as in foot-ball and polo, and very long hours of application, from the school-boy to the ministers of state, all of which tend to and do produce a physical lack of alertness, vivacity, and audacity in the men of practically all classes. the way to see the people of a country is to stand by the hour in the large industrial towns and watch them as they go to and from their work; to watch them flocking in and out of railway stations, and at work in large numbers in the fields of saxony, silesia, and other parts of prussia; to spend hours, and i admit that they are tedious hours, strolling through factories, ship-yards, mines, and offices, paying no attention to the talk of your guide, but studying the faces and physique of the men and women. having done this, an impartial observer is bound to remark that industrial and commercial germany is taking a tremendous toll for the rapid progress she has made. it may be no worse here than elsewhere, but neither has the problem of a healthy, happy, toiling population been satisfactorily solved here, though perhaps better here than elsewhere. i have heard the women and girls in factories singing at their work, but the bird is no less caged because it sings. men who ought to know better set an example of long hours of confinement at their work which is quite unnecessary. they tell you with pride that they are at it from eight or nine in the morning till seven and often till later at night. that is something that no sane man ought to be proud of. on investigation you find that in industrial and commercial circles, and in the offices of the state, men take two hours for luncheon and then return to work till nightfall. two hours in the open air at the end of the day could be managed easily, but they do not want it. there is no vitality left for a game, for exercise, for a bath, and a change. they drug themselves with work, and slip away to the theatre, to a concert, to a verein or circle, unwashed, ungroomed, and physically torpid, and the great mass of the population, high and low alike, outside the army officers, look it. the army officer's career is dependent upon his mental and physical vigor. the cylinder is quickly handed him and the helmet taken away if he grows too fat and too slow physically and mentally. there is no nepotism, no favoritism, and on reaching a certain rank he goes, if he falls below the standard required, and consequently he keeps himself fit. but a huge bureaucracy, with its stupid promotions by years and not by ability, with its government stroke, and its dangling pensions, positively breeds lassitude, laziness, and dulness. you may see it on every hand in government offices, in the railway and postal services, where men are evidently kept on not for their fitness but by the tyranny of the system. high officials admit as much. in the little state of prussia the railways pay well and are well managed, but they are clogged to a certain extent by inefficient and unnecessary employees, and were the system spread over the united states the chaos in a dozen years would be almost irreparable, and even here the complaints are many and vigorous. probably one male over twenty-five years of age out of every four is in government employ. this alone would account for the general air of lassitude which is one of the most noticeable features of german life. the germans as a whole are beginning to look tired. it is a german, not an italian or a frenchman, the philosopher nietzsche, who writes: "seit es menschen giebt, hat der mensch sich zu wenig gefreut; das allein ist unsere erbsünde." there has been a great change in the status of women in the last twenty-five years. the apophthegm of pericles, or rather of thucydides, "that woman is best who is least spoken of among men, either for good or evil," is not so rigidly enforced. increased wealth throughout germany has left the german woman more leisure from the drudgery of the home. she is not so wholly absorbed by the duties of nurse, cook, and house-maid as she once was. but even to-day her economies and her ability to keep her house with little outside assistance are amazing. some of the most delightful meals i have taken, have been in professional households, where small incomes made it necessary that wife and daughters should do most of the work. the german professor has his faults, but in his own simple home, the work of the day behind him, his family about him at his well-filled but not luxurious board, with some member of the family not unlikely to be an accomplished musician and with his own unrivalled store of learning at your service, when he raises his glass to you, filled with his best, with a smile and a hearty "prosit," he is hard to beat as a host, to my thinking. perhaps there is nothing like overindulgence to make one crave simplicity, and no doubt this accounts for the fact that the really great ones of earth are satisfied and happy with enough, and abhor too much. they tell me that the dienstmädchen is no longer what she used to be, but to my untutored eye her duties still seem to be as comprehensive as those of a sioux squaw, and her performances unrivalled. as is to be expected, germany is not blessed with trained servants. they are helpers rather than professional servants. in the scores of houses, public and private, where i have been a guest, only in one or two had the servants more than an alphabetical knowledge of what was due to one's clothes and shoes. the servants are rigidly protected by the state: they must have so much time off, they cannot be dismissed without weeks of warning, and they themselves carry books with their moral and professional biographies therein, which are always open to the inspection of the police; and they must all be insured. in many towns, and cities too, there are hospitals and bands of nurses who for a small annual payment undertake to take over and care for a sick servant. if the doctor prescribes a "cure" for your servant, away she goes at the expense of the state to be taken care of. wages are very small as compared with ours. ten dollars a month for a cook, five for a house-maid, ten for a man-servant, forty to fifty for a chauffeur, and of course more in the larger and more luxurious establishments; though a chef who serves dinners for forty and fifty in an official household i know is content with twenty dollars a month. a nursery governess can be had for twelve, and a well-educated english governess for twenty dollars a month. even these wages are higher than ten years ago. to be more explicit, in a small household where three servants are kept the cook receives marks, the maid-servant marks, and the nursery governess marks a month. in the household of an official of some means the man-servant receives marks, the cook marks, and the maid-servant marks a month. when dinners or other entertainments are given, outside help is called in. in the household of a rich industrial, whose family consists of himself, wife, and four children, the man-servant receives marks, the chauffeur , the cook , the lady's maid , the house-maid , kitchen-maid , and the governess marks a month. i carry away with me delightful pictures of german households, big, little, and medium; and though it does not fit in nicely with my main argument, households whose mistresses were patterns of what a châtelaine should be. but i must leave that loop-hole for the critics, for i am trying only to tell the truth and to be fair, and not to be scientific or to bolster up a thesis. i can see the big castle, centuries old, with its rambling buildings winging away from it on every side, and in the court-yard its regal-looking mistress positively garlanded with her dozen children. there is no sign of the decadence of the aristocracy here. we sit down twenty or more every day at the family luncheon. tutors and governesses are at every turn. a french abbé, as silken in manner and speech as his own soutane, bowls over all my prejudices of creed and custom, as i watch him rule with the lightest of hands and the softest of voices a brood of termagant small boys; to turn from this to a game of billiards, and from that to the merry widow waltz on the piano, that we may dance. an aide-de-camp trained in india and a french abbé, i am convinced that these are the apotheosis of luxury in a large household. my protestant brethren would, i am sure, throw their prejudices to the winds could they spend an evening with my friend, monsieur l'abbé! nor erasmus, nor luther, nor calvin would have had the heart to burn him. he is just as good a fellow as we are, knows far more, can turn his hand to anything from photography to the driving of a stubborn pony, knows his world as few know it, and yet is inviolably not of it. i have chatted with jesuit priests teaching our western indians; i have travelled with a preaching friar in italy on his round of sermonizing; i have seen them in south america, in india, china, and japan, and i recognize and acclaim their self-denying prowess, but no one of them was a more dangerous missionary than my last-named friend among them, monsieur l'abbe! "for ever through life the curé goes with a smile on his kind old face-- with his coat worn bare, and his straggling hair, and his green umbrella-case." there was a profusion at this castle, a heartiness of welcome, a patriarchal attitude toward the countless servants and satellites, an acreage of roaming space in the buildings, that smacked of the feudalism back to which both the castle and the family dated. how many englishmen or americans who sniff at german civilization ever see anything of the inside of german homes? very few, i should judge, from the lame talk and writing on the subject. let us go from this mediaeval setting for modern comfort to a smaller establishment. here a miniature germania, with blue eyes and golden hair, presides, looking like a shaft of sunlight in front of you as she leads the way about the paths of her gloomy forest. in these, and in not a few other houses, there is little luxury, no waste, a certain spartan air of training, but abundance of what is necessary and a cheery and frank welcome. i sometimes think the germans themselves lose much by their rather overdeveloped tendency to meet not so often in one another's homes as in a neutral place: a restaurant, a garden, a verein or circle, of which there is an interminable number. you certainly get to know a man best and at his best in his own home, and you never get to know a wife and a mother out of that environment; for a woman is even more dependent than a man upon the sympathetic atmosphere that frames her. i should be, after my experience, and i am, the last person in the world to say that the germans are not hospitable; but there is much less visiting even among themselves, and much less of constant reception of strangers in their homes, than with us. habit, lack of wealth, lack of trained servants, and a certain proud shyness, and in some cases indifference and a lack of vitality which welcomes the trouble of being host, account for this. no doubt, too, the old habit of economy remains even when there is no longer the same necessity for it, and saving and gayety do not go well together. in geldsachen hurt die gemüthlichkeit auf. i should be sorry to spoil my picture by the overemphasis of details. the reader will not see what i have intended to paint, if he gets only an impression of caution, of economy, of sordidness and fatigue. no nation that gives birth to an untranslatable word like gemüthlichkeit can be without that characteristic. the english words "home" and "comfort," the french word "esprit," and the german word gemüthlichkeit have no exact equivalents in other languages. this in itself is a sure sign of a quality in the nation which bred the word. the difficulty lies in the fact that another language is another life. the germans are not cheerful as we are cheerful; they are not happy as we are happy; they are not free as we are free; they are not polite as we are polite; they are not contented as we are contented; and no one for a moment who is even an amateur observer and an amateur philologist combined would claim that the three words, love and amour and liebe mean the same thing. no word in the english language is used so often from the pulpit as the word love, but this cannot be said of the use of amour in france or of liebe in germany. nations pour themselves into the tiny moulds of words and give us statuettes of themselves. the anglo-saxon, the latin, and the teuton have filled these three words with a certain vague philosophy of themselves, a hazy composite photograph of themselves. no one writer or painter, no one incident, no one tragedy, no one day or year of history has done this. to us, love is the coldest, cleanest, as it is perhaps the most loyal of the three. l'amour sounds to us seductive, enticing, often indeed little more than lust embroidered to make a cloak for ennui. liebe is to us friendly, soft, childlike. the nations of the earth, close as they are together in these days, are worlds apart in thought. each builds its life in words, and the words are as little alike as in the days of babel; and thus it comes about that we misunderstand one another. we translate one another only into our own language, and understand one another as little as before, because we only know one another in translations, and the best of the life of each nation remains and always will remain untranslatable. no one has ever really translated the greek lyrics or the choruses of aeschylus, or the incomparable songs of heine. who could dream of putting the best of robert louis stevenson into german, or kipling's rollicking ballads of soldier life into spanish, or walter pater into dutch, or edgar allan poe into russian! the one language common to us all, music, tells as many tales as there are men to hear. each melody melts into the blackness or the brightness of the listener's soul and becomes a thousand melodies instead of one. what does the moaning monotony of a korean love-song mean to the westerner, or what does the swan song mean to the korean? only god knows. we can never translate one nation into the language of another; our best is only an interpretation, and we must always meet the criticism that we have failed with the reply that we had never hoped to succeed. we are forever explaining ourselves even in our own small circles; how can we dare to suggest even, that we have made one people to speak clearly in the language of another? the best we can do is to give a kindly, a good-humored, and, at all times and above all things, a charitable interpretation. information, facts, are merely the raw material of culture; sympathy is its subtlest essence. there is a world of good humor, of cheerfulness, of contentment, of domestic peace and happiness in germany. there are courtesy, politeness, even grand manners here and there. but these words mean one thing to them, another thing to us, and it is that i am striving, feebly enough to be sure, to make clear. may i beg the reader and the student to follow me with this point clearly in mind? while i am outlining with these painful details that their ways are not as our ways, i am not denouncing their ways, but merely offering matter for consideration and comparison. a nation is most often punished for its faults by the exaggeration of its qualities, and if, as it seems to me, germany suffers like the rest of us in this respect, it is none of my doing. it will be my failure and the reader's failure, if we do not profit by watching these qualities in ourselves, and in others festering into faults. woman's position and ambitions, the home, the amusements, and the satisfactions of life, are very different in germany from ours. i note these as facts, not as inferiorities. i note, too, that in germany, as elsewhere, hegel was profoundly right in his dictum, that everything earned to its extreme becomes its contrary. too much caution may become a positive menace to safety; too much orderliness may result in individual incapacity for sell-control; just as liberty rots into license, and demos descends to a crown and sceptre and tyranny. i am merely calling attention to this great law of national development, that the exaggeration of even fine qualities is the road to the punishment of our faults, in germany, as in every other nation under the sun. it is only when you have had a peep into a small farmer's house in saxony, into the artisans' houses in the busy rhine and westphalia country; spent a night in a peasant's house and stable, for they are under the same roof, in the mountains of the south; and visited the greater establishments of the large land-holder and the less pretentious houses of the gentleman farmer, and the country houses, big and little, in all parts of germany, that you get anything of the real flavor of germany. if, as burke says, it is impossible to indict a whole nation, it is even more difficult to fit a people with a few discriminating and really enlightening adjectives. one word i dare to apply to them all, though i know well how different they are in the north and south and east and west, as diversified indeed as any nation in the world, and that is the word patient. they can stand longer, sit longer, eat longer, drink longer, work longer hours, and dream longer, and dawdle longer than any people except the orientals. this custom may date back to far distant times. sitting, in the greek view, was a posture of supplication (odyssey, xiv, - ). the emperor himself sets the example. he is an indefatigable stander, if i may coin the word, and on horseback he can apparently spend the day and night without inconvenience. their patient quarry work in archeology and in comparative philology laid the foundations for the new history-writing of heeren and mommsen; and their scholarship to-day is still of the digging kind. they seldom produce a jebb, a jowett, a verrall, and never that type of scholar, wit and poet combined, a lowell or an arthur hugh clough. indeed, with a suspicious self-consciousness the german professional mind inclines to be contemptuous of any learning that is not unpalatably dry. what men can read with enjoyment cannot be learning, they maintain. i have visited half a dozen hospitals, and on one or two occasions been present at an operation by a famous surgeon. it is evident from the bearing of patients, nurses, and students that they are dealing with a less highly strung population than ours. indeed, the surgeons who know both countries tell me that here in germany they have more endurance of this phlegmatic kind. they suffer more like animals. their patience reaches down to the very roots of their being. on that delightful big fountain, in that paradise of fountains, nuremberg, the statues of the electors and citizens picture men who were untroubled and cheerful, slow-moving, contented, patient; while the little figures on the guns are positively jolly. the only mournful figure on the whole fountain is a man with a book on his knees teaching a child. he is pallid, even in bronze, and his face is lined as he muses over the problem that has stumped the wisest of us: how to make a man by stuffing a child with books! it cannot be done, but we follow this will-o'-the wisp through the swamps of experience with the pitiable enthusiasm of despair. only liberty can make a man, and she is such a costly mistress that with our increasing hordes of candidates for independence we cannot afford her; so we go on fooling the people with mechanical education. but even this figure is patient! the germans are patient even with their food. what would become of them without the goose, the pig, the calf, and the duck, that meagre alimentary quartette? the country is white with home-raised geese, and yet they imported , , in , and , , in . one of their most charming bits of classic art is the famous miniature statue of the gooseman; and the real name of the great gutenberg, who, by his invention of printing, did more than any other mortal to make it easy for the human race to acquire the anserine mental habits, and the anserine moral characteristics, was gänsfleisch! the goose is really the national bird of the german people. you eat tons of goose, and then you sleep beneath the feathers. the goose first nourishes you and then protects your digestion. the extraordinary make-up of the german bed must be laid to the door of the guilty goose. the pillows are so soft that your head is ever sinking, never at rest. instead of easily applied blankets, that you can adapt to the temperature, you are given a great cloud of feathers, sewn in a balloon-like bag, which floats upon you according to your degree of restlessness, and leaves you for the floor, when in stupid sleepiness you endeavor to protect your whole person at once with its flimsy and wanton formlessness. as a rule the bed is built up at the head so that you are continually sliding down, down under the goose feathers, your nose and mouth are soon covered, and who can breathe with his toes! they accumulate comfort very slowly. the wages are small and the satisfactions are small. on the street-cars the conductor is grateful for a tip of five pfennigs, and his daily customers are handed from the car-steps and respectfully saluted in return for this tiny douceur. when you dine or lunch at a friend's house you are expected to leave something in the expectant palm of his servant who sees you out. women carry small parcels of food to the theatre, to the tea and beer gardens, and thus save the small additional expense. many a time have i seen these thrifty housewives pocket the sugar and the zwiebacks and brödchen left over. in the hotels, soap, paper, and common conveniences of the kind are taken, so i am told, not, i maintain, as a theft, but as an economy. we are in the habit of carrying our small change loose in a trousers pocket, but the german almost without exception carries even his ten and five pfennig pieces carefully in a purse. outside many of the big shops is placed a row of niches where you may leave your unfinished cigar till you return. the economy thus illustrated shows a certain disregard, of a not altogether agreeable chance of interchangeability, that might even be dangerous to health. on the other hand, it is a wise precaution that marks beer-glasses and beer-jugs with a line, to show just how much beer you are entitled to. this puts the foam-stealing vendor at your mercy. the entertainments, dinners, luncheons, teas, except among the small cosmopolitan companies who do not count as examples of german manners and customs, are very prolonged affairs. there is much standing about. at ten o'clock, having dined at half-past seven, beer, tea, coffee, sandwiches are brought in, and you begin the gastronomics over again on a smaller scale. there is no occasion when eating and drinking are not part of the programme. if you go to the play or the opera you may eat and drink there; if you go for a walk the goal is not a bath and a rub-down, but beer or chocolate and cakes. i am not sure that there is not something in the theory that their soil has less iron in it, being so intensively cultivated, and that our food is consequently stronger than theirs; at all events, they eat more frequently and more copiously than we do. it seems to me that both the men and the women show it in their faces and figures. they are a heavy, puffy, tumbling lot after forty; and with my prepossessions on the subject i am inclined to put it down to irregular eating, to too much eating of soft and sweet food, too much drinking of fattening beverages, and much, much too little regular exercise, and to the fact that they are still infants in the matter of personal hygiene. dressing-gowns, slippers, proper care of the teeth and hair, regular ablutions, changing of clothes, all these dozens of helps to health are patiently neglected. it is just as troublesome to take care of yourself, to groom your person, to be regular in your habits, and restrained and careful in your diet as to take proper care of a horse or a dog. it shows a rather high grade of persistent prowess in a man just to keep himself fit, to keep himself in working or playing health. without the drilling they receive in the army in these matters, one wonders where this population would be. the doggedness, the patience of the german is notable, but the alertness, vivacity, the energy easily on tap, these are lacking both among the men and the women, and, as it seems to me, for these easily apparent reasons. there are more rest-cures, rheumatism, heart, liver, kidney, anaemic cures in germany, and to suit all purses, than in all anglo-saxondom combined, even if subject territories are included. in saxony alone, which is not renowned for its cures, the number of visitors at augustus bad, bad elester, hermanus bad, schandau, and some seven others has increased from , ten years ago to , in . between and , while the population of germany increased per cent., the days of sickness in the insurance funds increased per cent. and the expenditure per cent. some alterations were made in the law between those years permitting a certain extension of the days of sickness, but an accurate percentage may be taken between the years and . during those years the population increased by per cent., the days of sickness by per cent., and the expenditure out of the sick-funds by per cent. the total cost of sickness insurance in was $ , , and in $ , , . what will happen in great britain when sickness insurance comes into thorough working order is worthy of caricature. the way my irish friends will play that game fills me with joy. it is an abominable harness to put on the anglo-saxon, and he has my very best wishes if he refuses to wear it tamely. it is only another piece of tired legislation that solves nothing. even germany would be a thousand times better off without it. this attempting to make pills and powders take the place of love one another, is merely the politician sneaking away from his problem. of course, it is impossible to tell how many people are sick by being paid for it, probably not a small number. we all have mornings when we would turn over and stick to our pillows if we were sure of payment for doing so. the german apparently is the only person in the world who is happy, aegrescit medendo. the germans keep going, we must all admit that, but at a slower pace, with less energy to spare, and with far less robust love of life. if the men are patient, the women must be more so, and they are. the marriage service still reads: "he shall be your ruler, and you shall be his vassal." the women are not only patient with all that requires patience of the men, but they are patient with the men besides, a heavy additional burden from the american point of view. beethoven writes: "resignation! welch' elendes hülfsmittel! und doch bleibt es mir das einzige übrige." they take resignation for granted as we never do. some ten years ago only, was formed the women's suffrage league in germany. it was necessary to organize in the free city of hamburg, because women were not allowed either to form or to join political unions in prussia! it is only within a very few years that the girls' higher schools have been increased and cared for in due proportion to the schools provided for the higher education of the boys. the first girls' rowing club was organized at cassel in . even now as i write there are protests and petitions from the male masters against women teachers in the higher positions of even these schools. in the discussions as to the proper subjects to be taught to the girls, who in began attending the newly constituted continuation schools for girls in berlin, there is a strong party who argue that all of them should be taught only house-keeping and the duties pertaining thereto. to the great majority of german men, children and the kitchen are and ought to be the sole preoccupations of women, with occasional church attendance thrown in. there have been enormous changes in the place women hold in the german world in the last thirty years. the red cross organization of the women throughout germany is admirable and as complete and efficient as the army that it is intended to help; one can hardly say more. there are many private charities in berlin and other cities, managed entirely by women, and doing excellent and sensible work; such as the kindergartens, the pestalozzi-froebelhaus for example, where four hundred children are taken care of daily and fifteen thousand ten-pfennig meals provided, besides classes for the young women students under the supervision of the berliner verein für volkserziehung, with courses in the elements of law and politics and other matters likely to concern them in their activities as teachers, nurses, or charity helpers; the invalid-kitchens; the societies for looking after young girls; the work in the temperance league; the lette-verein, one of the most sane and sensible institutions in the world for the training of girls and young women, where they turn out some two thousand girls a year trained in house-wifely economy; the wonderful and pitiful colony at bielefeld, founded by one of germany's greatest organizers and saints, pastor bodelschwing, and now carried on by his equally able son, and aided largely by the sympathy and resources of women. only another saint francis could have imagined, and produced, and loved into usefulness such an institution. the summer colonies, called gartenlauben colonies, where the outlying and unused land on the outskirts of the cities is divided up into small parcels and rented for a nominal sum to the poorer working people of the city, constitute a most sensible form of philanthropy. you see them, each named by its proprietor, with a flag flying, with the light barriers dividing them, and with the small huts erected as a shelter, where flowers and fruits and vegetables are grown, often adding no small amount to income, and in every case offering the soundest kind of work and recreation. these colonies were started by a woman in france, and the idea worked its way through belgium to germany, and they are now supported and helped by the direct interest of the empress. the woman who put this scheme into operation ought to have a monument! at charlottenburg, a suburb of berlin, on a plot lent by the city, there are thirteen of these colonies divided into over a thousand plots. there are three-quarters of a million women in germany who are independent owners and heads of establishments of different kinds, and some ten million who are bread-winners. of the increase in the number of women students i have written in another chapter, and of their increasing participation in the political, economical, literary, and scholarly life of the nation there are many examples. once or twice i have even heard them speak in public, and speak well, while if my memory serves me, this was practically unknown in my university days here. the problem of domestic apprenticeship is also being worked out by the women of germany. in munich, in frankfurt-am-main and elsewhere this most difficult and delicate question is being partially answered at least. girls are apprenticed to families needing them, under the supervision of a committee of women. the girls and their families agree to certain terms, and the families agree also to teach them household duties, give them proper food, eight hours' sleep, their sunday out, and so on. the german women's societies who have thus boldly tackled this problem are plucky indeed, and prove easily enough that there is a large and growing body of women in germany, who have minds and wills of their own and great executive ability. let me suggest to some of our idle women that they pay a visit to the hausfrauenbund at frankfort and the frauenverein-arbeitererinnenheim at munich, before they pass judgment upon this chapter. for i should be sorry to leave the impression that all the women of germany are listless, oppressed, and without any feeling of civic responsibility. all these things have been accomplished by women in germany with far less sympathy from the men than they receive in america or in england. cato wrote of women's suffrage: "pray what will they not assail, if they carry their point? call to mind all the principles governing them by which your ancestors have held the presumption of women in check, and made them subject to their husbands. as soon as they have begun to be your equals they will be your superiors." it is an older story than the unread realize, this of the rights of women. the bulk of germany's male population still hold to cato's view. it is not so much that they are antagonistic, except in the case of the teachers, where the women have become active competitors; they are in their patient way impervious. nor can it be said that any very large number of the women themselves are eager for more rights; rather are they becoming restless because they receive so little consideration. their pleasures are simple and restricted, regular attendance at the theatre, at concerts, an occasional dinner at a restaurant to celebrate an anniversary, excursions with the whole family to a beer restaurant of a sunday, and the endless meeting together for reading, sewing, and gossip--no german woman apparently but what belongs to a verein or circle, meeting, say, once a week. the women and the men are gregarious. vae soli is the motto of the race. they love to take their pleasures in crowds, and i am not sure that this does not dull the enthusiasm for personal rights and gratifications, and for individual supremacy and dignity. it is rare to find a german who would subscribe to andrew marvell's misogynist lines: "two paradises are in one to live in paradise alone." it is typical of this love of being together that an independent member of the reichstag, owing allegiance to no party, is called a wilde, and this same word wilde, or wild man, is applied to the student at the university who belongs to no corps or association of students. this love of being together, of touching elbows on all occasions, makes them more easily led and ruled. they hate the isolation necessary for independence and revolt. of the relations between men and women i long ago came to the conclusion that this is a subject best left to the scientific explorer. it is, however, open to the casual observer to comment upon the monstrous percentage of illegitimacy in berlin, per cent. or one child out of every five, born out of wedlock; per cent. in bavaria; and per cent. for the whole empire. this alone tells a sad tale of the attitude of the men and women toward one another. there is a long journey ahead of the women who propose to lift their sisters on to a plane above the animals in this respect. in the matter of divorce prussia comes fourth in the list of european nations. norway, with the cheapest and easiest, and at the same time the wisest, divorce law in the world, has almost the lowest percentage of divorce. in there were divorces out of , existing marriages, of which , had taken place that year. the percentage is thus only about / per year. the total per , of the population in switzerland is ; in france ; in denmark ; and in prussia . in industrial saxony there are and in catholic bavaria . the number of married people in germany according to the last census shows an increase, the number of bachelors and widowed persons a decrease. since the number of married persons has increased by per cent. the birth rate shows a proportional decline. the problem that bothers all social economists is to the fore in germany as elsewhere, for the people between sixty and seventy years of age number . per cent. of the population, while the young people under ten number only . , and those between twenty and thirty . per cent. the birth rate therefore shows the same tendency as in france, england, and america. a recent investigation on a small scale seems to show that bureaucracy has a certain influence here. of officials questioned, only , or per thousand, had more than two children. it is not an impossible, but certainly a laughable, outcome of state interference carried too far, should it result, in the state's becoming an incubator for the unfit, in a country where the pensions for officers and employees of the state have risen from , , marks in to , , marks in . even in higher circles in germany there is a gushing idealism about the relations of the sexes. in their songs and sayings, as well as in their mythology, there is a laudation of love that is overstimulating. the lines of that inconsequential philosopher, that irresponsible moralist, that dreamy puritan, emerson, "give all to love; obey thy heart; friends, kindred, days, estate, good fame, plans, credit and the muse-- nothing refuse" would be warmly praised in germany. "i could not love thee, dear, so much loved i not honour more" are lines more to our taste. even love should have a deal of toughness of fibre in it to be worth much. i must leave it to my readers to guess what i think of the german woman; indeed, it is of little consequence what any individual opinion is, if matter is given for the formation of an opinion by others. truth cannot afford to be either gallant or merciless. there are women in germany whom no man can know without respect, without admiration, without affection. there are the blue eyes, sunny hair, peach-bloom complexions of the north; there are the dark-eyed, black-haired, heavy-browed women of the black forest; there is often a quakerish elegance of figure and apparel to be seen on the streets of the cities, and from time to time one sees a real germania, big of frame, bold of brow, fearless of glance--patet dea! but we can none of us be quite sure of the impartiality of our taste in such matters. our baby fingers and our baby lips were taught to love a certain type of beauty. our mothers wove a web of admiration and devotion from which no real man ever escapes; our maturer passions lashed themselves to an image from which we can never wholly break away; our sins and sorrows and adventures have been drenched in the tears of eyes that are like no other eyes; and consequently the man who could pretend to cold neutrality would be a reprobate. the german looks to germany, the englishman to england, the frenchman to france, as do you and i to america, for "the face that launched a thousand ships and burnt the topless towers of ilium." viii "ohne armee kein deutschland" of every one hundred inhabitants of germany, including men, women, and children, one is a soldier. there are, roughly, , , inhabitants and , soldiers. the american army is about equal in numbers to the corps of officers of germany's army and navy. to the american, as to almost every other foreigner, the german army means only one thing: war. we all hear one thing: "and 'mid this tumult kubla heard from far ancestral voices prophesying war." i believe this is a half-truth, and dangerous accordingly. this army has been in existence for over forty years, and has done far more to keep the peace than any other one factor in europe, except, perhaps, the british navy. the german army protects the german people not only from external foes, but from internal diseases. it is the greatest school of hygiene in the world, on account of its sound teaching, the devotion, skill, and industry of its officers, the number of its pupils, and its widely distributed lessons and influence. culture taken by itself is livery business, and when combined with much beer and wine drinking, irregular eating and a disinclination for regular exercise, culture becomes a positive menace to health. of this danger to the german, their own great man bismarck spoke in the abgeordnetenhaus in : "bei uns deutschen wird mit wenigem so viel zeit totgeschlagen wie mit biertrinken. wer beim frühschoppen sitzt oder beim abendschoppen und gar noch dazu raucht und zeitungen liest, hält sich voll ausreichend beschäftigt und geht mit gutem gewissen nach haus in dem bewusstsein, das seinige geleistet zu haben." ("the germans waste more time drinking beer than in any other way. the man who sits with his morning or his afternoon glass of beer beside him, and who, in addition, smokes and reads the newspapers, considers that he is much occupied, and goes home with a good conscience, feeling that he has fully done his duty.") "jeden feind besiegt der deutsche: nur den durst besiegt er nicht." which i permit myself to translate into these two lines: "the german conquers every foe, except his thirst, that lays him low." even if the german army were not necessary as a policeman, it could not be spared as a physician by the german people. it is to be forever kept in mind that the german is brought up on rules; the american and the englishman on emergencies. emergencies provide a certain discipline of themselves, and our philosophy of civilization leaves it to the individual to get his own discipline from his own emergencies. we call it the formation of character. the german thinks this method a hap-hazard method, and burdens men with rules, and the army is germany's greatest school-master along those lines. we are inclined to think that it results in a machine-made citizen. there are three classes of men who pick up the bill of fare of life and look it over: civilization's paralyzed ones, with no appetite, who can choose what they will without regard to the prices; the cautious, those with appetite but who are hampered in their choice by the prices; the bold, those with appetite and audacity, who rely upon their courage to satisfy the landlord. the germans are only just beginning to look over the world's bill of fare in this last lordly fashion, to which some of us have long been accustomed. i see no reason why they should not do so, though i see clearly enough the suspicion and jealousy it creates. they have been swathed in "forbidden" so long that their taste for daring was late in coming. our colonies, small wars, punitive expeditions, and control over neighboring territories are not planned for far ahead; but the exigencies of the situations are met by the remedies and solutions of men fitted by their training in school, in sport, in social and political life for just such work, and who are the more efficient the more they do of it. we are inclined to do things, and to think them out the day after; while the german thinks them out the week before, and then sometimes hesitates to do them at all. the german goes more slowly, perhaps more successfully, in commercial and industrial undertakings, but always with a chart in front of him, a pair of spectacles on his nose, and with no desire to take chances. in the rough-and-tumble world, the american and the englishman went ahead the faster; in a more orderly world, and commerce, industry, and war are all far more scientific or orderly than of yore, the german has come into his own and goes ahead very fast. he has not made friends and supporters as have the other two: first, because he is a new-comer; and also, i believe, because human nature, even when it is not adventurous itself, loves adventure, and has a liking for the man who is a law unto himself. indeed, the germans themselves have a sneaking fondness for such a one. at any rate there is far more imitation of american and english ways in germany, than of german manners, customs, and methods in america or in england. "experiment is not sufficient," writes theophrastus von hohenheim, called paracelsus; "experience must verify what can be accepted or not accepted; knowledge is experience." for the moment, but it is probably not for long, we have the advantage in the knowledge bred of experience. the german comes from the forest, loves the forest. "kein yolk ist so innig mit seinem wald erwachsen wie das deutsche, keines liebt den wald so sehr." ("no nation has grown up so at one with its forests as have the germans; no other nation loves its forests as do they.") he walks, and meditates, and sings in the forest, and nowadays goes to the forest with his skis, his snow-shoes, and his sled. our great games are, many of them, personal conflicts, and attended by some personal risk, and demanding both discipline in preparing for them and severe discipline in the playing. our love of the aleatory, of betting our belongings, our powers, our persons even, against life, is not commonly alive in germany. the germans are only just emerging into safety and confidence in themselves, and beginning cautiously to agree with us that "he either fears his fate too much, or his deserts are small, that dares not put it to the touch to gain or lose it all." from these sombre forests came a race who still find it lonely to be alone, and they herd together still for safety as of old, and have no love of physical speculation. they are daring in thought and theory, but cautious in physical and personal matters. an office stool followed by a pension contents all too many men in germany. "reden, handeln, tun und wandeln zeigt der menschen wesen nicht. was im herzen sie im stillen fest verschliessen, stumm verhüllen, ist ihr richtigs angesicht." an overwhelming majority of germans believe that this is man's real portrait; an overwhelming majority of americans would not even understand it. the german army is the antidote to this lack of physical discipline, this lack of strenuous physical life. the army takes the place of our west, of our games, of our sports; just as it takes the place of england's colonies and public schools and games and sports. when looked at in this way, when its double duty is recognized, the enormous cost of it is not so material. the expense of the german army is not greater than our armies, plus what we spend for games and sport and colonial adventure. germany has , miles of frontier to guard, to begin with, and her total area is , square miles, or an area one fourth less than that of our state of texas, with a population per square mile of . . of this population , , , roughly, are subjects of foreign powers. five hundred thousand are from austria-hungary, , each from finland and russia, nearly , from italy, some , americans, and so on. in the population speaking german numbered , , . this compact little country is the very heart of europe, surrounded by russia, austria-hungary, italy, switzerland, france, belgium, holland, denmark, and, across the north sea, england. in the case of trouble in europe, germany is the centre. nothing can happen that does not concern her, that must not indeed concern her vitally. she has fought at one time or another in the last hundred years with russia, austria- hungary, italy, switzerland, france, belgium, holland, denmark, and england, and the various german states among themselves; or her soldiers have fought against their soldiers, whether or not the various countries named were geographically and politically then what they are now. russia's population in was , , , and including the finnish provinces, , , . since the population of russia has increased at the annual rate of , , . the boundaries between russia and germany are mere sand dunes, and by rail the russian outposts are only a few hours from berlin. france is only across the rhine, and it is no secret that some months ago great britain had worked out a plan by which she could put , troops on the frontiers of germany, at the service of france, in thirteen days. germany's ocean commerce must pass through the straits of dover, down the english channel, within striking distance of plymouth, portsmouth, dover, brest, and cherbourg. france, which has been looked upon as a somewhat negligible quantity, has taken on a new lease of life. when napoleon died, in , he left france swept clean of her fighting men, whose bones were bleaching all the way from madrid to moscow. france has recuperated and is almost another nation to-day from the stand-point of virility. she far surpasses germany in literature, art, and science, and is taking her old place in the world. she led the way in motor construction, in field-artillery, in aviation, and now she is producing a champion middle-weight sparrer, and, marvel of marvels, has actually beaten scotland at foot-ball! she has always had brains, and now her stability and virility are reviving. this has not passed unnoticed in germany. no wonder germany looks upon her navy as something more than a winstonchurchillian luxury! one may understand at once from this situation, and from her past history, that germany has the sound good sense not to be influenced by the latest school of sentimentalists, who pretend to believe that the world is a polyglot sunday-school, with converted millionaires as teachers therein; or, if not that, a counting-house, where all questions of honor, race, religion, love, pride, all the questions which bubble their answers in our blood, are to be settled by weighing their comparative cost in dollars. we do not realize how new is this word sentimental. john wesley, writing of this word "sentimental" as used in sterne's "sentimental journey," says: "sentimental, what is that? it is not english, it is not sense, it conveys no determinate idea. yet one fool makes many, and this nonsensical word (who would believe it) is become a fashionable one." germany has been taught by bitter experiences, and harsh masters, that the ultimate power to command must rest with that authority which, if necessary, can compel people to obey. they recognize, too, the mawkish mental foolery of any plan of living together which ignores the part which physical force must necessarily play in any political or social life which is complete. they agree, too, as does every intelligent man in christendom, that the appeal to reason is far preferable to an appeal to war. but, pray, what is to be done where there is no reason to appeal to? are reasonable men to strip themselves of all armor, and suffer unreason to prevail? an army or a fleet is no more an incitement to war among reasonable men, than a policeman is an incentive to burglary or homicide. an army is not a contemptuous protest against christianity; it is a sad commentary on christianity's failure and inefficiency. an army and a fleet are merely a reasonable precaution which every nation must take, while awaiting the conversion of mankind from the predatory to the polite. as yet the germans have not been overtaken by the tepid wave of feminism, which for the moment is bathing the prosperity-softened culture of america and england. it is a harsh remedy, but both america and england would gain something of virility if they were shot over. we are all apt enough to become womanish, agitated, or acidulous, according to age and condition, when we are reaping in security the fields cleared, enriched, and planted by a hardy ancestry of pioneers. there were no self-conscious peace-makers; no worshippers of those two epicene idols: a god too much man, and a man too much god; no devotees of third-sexism, in the days of waterloo and gettysburg, when we had men's tasks to occupy us. we are playing with our dolls just now, driving our coaches over the roads, sailing our yachts in the waters, eating the fruits of the fields that have been won for us by the sweat and blood of those gone before. germany has no leisure for that, no doll's house as yet to play in, and she is perhaps more fortunate than she knows. one can understand, too, that germany has little patience with the confused thinking which maintains that military training only makes soldiers and only incites to martial ambitions; when, on the contrary, she sees every day that it makes youths better and stronger citizens, and produces that self-respect, self-control, and cosmopolitan sympathy which more than aught else lessen the chances of conflict. i can vouch for it that there are fewer personal jealousies, bickerings, quarrels in the mess-room or below decks of a war-ship, or in a soldiers' camp or barracks, than in many church and sunday-school assemblies, in many club smoking-rooms, in many ladies' sewing or reading circles. nothing does away more surely with quarrelsomeness than the training of men to get on together comfortably, each giving way a little in the narrow lanes of life, so that each may pass without moral shoving. there are no such successful schools for the teaching of this fundamental diplomacy as the sister services, the army and the navy. my latest visit to germany has converted me completely to the wisdom of compulsory service. nor am i merely an academic disciple. i have had a course in it myself, and were it possible in america i should give any boy of mine the benefit of the same training. in germany, at any rate, no student of the situation there would deny that, barring bismarck, the army has done more for the nation than any other one factor that can be named. soldiers and sailors train themselves, and train others, first of all to self-control, not to war. it is a pity that "compulsory service" has come to mean merely training to fight. in germany, at any rate, it means far more than that. two generations of germans have been taught to take care of themselves physically without drawing a sword. it is rather a puzzling commentary upon the growth of democracy, that in america and in england, where most has been conceded to the majority, there is least inclination on their part to accept the necessary personal burden of keeping themselves fit, not necessarily for war, but for peace, by accepting universal and compulsory training. the only fair law would be one demanding that no one should be admitted to look on at a game of cricket, foot-ball, or base-ball who could not pass a mild examination in these games, or give proof of an equivalent training. that would be honorable democracy in the realm of sport. there formerly existed in bavaria a supplementary tax on estates left by persons who had not served in the active army. it was done away with at the formation of the empire. there is a proposal now to vote such an additional tax for all germany, and a very fair tax it would be. i am not discussing here the question of compulsory service in england. it is not difficult to see that part of england's army must of necessity be a professional army, which can be sent here and there and everywhere, and that conscription would not answer the purpose, for compulsory conscription could hardly demand of its recruits that they should serve in india, in canada, or in bermuda or egypt, for the length of time necessary to make their service of value. conscription, too, on a scale to make an army serviceable against the trained troops of the continent is out of the question. therefore, so far as compulsory service for military duty only is concerned, i see no hope for it in england. but in a land of free men such as is, or used to be, england, and in america, compulsory service ought to be undertaken with pride and with pleasure, as a moral, not as a military, duty for the salvation of the country from internal foes, and as a nucleus around which could rally the nation as a whole in case of attack from external foes. patriotism among us has come to a pretty pass indeed when the nation is divided into two classes: those growling against the taxation of their surplus; and those with their tongues hanging out in anticipation of, and their hands clutching for, unearned doles. and now, the more shame to us, must be added a third class who use public office for private profit. what if we all turned to and gave something without being forced to do so? where would the "yellow peril" and the "german menace" be then? we should have much less exciting and inciting talk and writing if our nerves and digestions were in better order. nothing calms the nerves, increases confidence, and lessens the chance of promiscuous quarrelling better than hard work. even if what the german army has accomplished along these lines were not true, there can be no freedom of political speculation or experiment, no time to make mistakes and to retrieve the situation, when one is surrounded on all sides by overt or potential enemies. germany must have a powerful army and fleet, must have a strong and autocratic government, or she is lost. "ohne armee kein deutschland." she can permit no silly, no stupid, no excited majority to imperil her safety as a nation. if germany were governed as is france, where they have had nine new governments since the beginning of the twentieth century, and forty-four since the republic replaced the empire forty-one years ago--not counting six dismissals of the cabinet when the prime minister remained--or fifty changes of government in less than that number of years, germany would have lost her place on the map. france remains only because, so far as defence is concerned, france is france plus the british fleet. political geography is the sufficient reason for germany's army and navy. let us be fair in these judgments and admit at once, that if japan were where mexico is, and russia where canada is, and germany separated from us by a few hours' steaming, certain peace-mongers would have been hanged long ago, and our cooing doves of peace would have had molten tar mixed with their feathers. an italian proverb runs, "it is easy to scoff at a bull from a window," and we indulge in not a little of such babyish effrontery from our safe place in the world. germany, on the other hand, looks out upon the world from no such safe window-seat; she is down in the ring, and must be prepared at all hazards to take care of herself. that is a reason, too, why germany offers little resistance to the ruling of an autocratic militarism. the sailors and the stokers would rather obey captain and officers, however they may have been chosen for them, than to be sunk at sea; and nowadays germany is ever on the high seas, battling hard to protect and to increase her commerce abroad, and to protect her huge industrial population at home. germany can take no chances for the moment, for only "wer sich regiert, der ist mit zufall fertig." one wishes often that one's lips were not sealed, one's pen not stayed by the imperious demands of honor, to abstain from all mention of discoveries or conversations made under the roof of hospitality, for nothing could well be more enlightening than a description of a chat between the great war-lord of germany and a leading pacifist: the one completely equipped with knowledge of the history, temper, and temperament of his people; the other obsessed by a fantastic exaggeration of the power and influence of money, even in the world of culture and international politics, and preaching his panacea in the land, of all others, where even now mere money has the least influence, all honor to that land! spinoza, the greatest of modern jews, and the father of modern philosophy, writes: "it is not enough to point out what ought to be; we must also point out what can be, so that every one may receive his due without depriving others of what is due to them." and in another place: "things should not be the subject of ridicule or complaint, but should be understood." those who know little of the history of the development of germany, and particularly of prussia, cannot possibly understand another reason for the political apathy of the germans and their pleased support of their army. it is this: they have been trained in everything except self-government, in everything except politics. perhaps their governors know them better than we do. their progress has come from direction from above, not from assertion from below. the art or arts of self-government, throughout their development as a nation, have been forcibly omitted from their curriculum. every step in our national progress, on the contrary, has been taken by the people, shoulder to shoulder, breaking their way up and out into light and freedom. there is little or no trace of any such movement of the people in germany, and there is little taste for it, and no experience to make such effort successful. we, who have profited by the teaching of this political experience, do not realize in the least how handicapped are the people who have not had it. one hundred years ago half the inhabitants of prussia were practically in the toils of serfdom. it was only by an edict of , to take effect in , that personal serfdom with its consequences, especially the oppressive obligation of menial service, was abolished in the prussian monarchy. caste extended actually to land. all land had a certain status, from which the owners and their retainers took their political position and rights. the edict of was in reality a land reform bill, and gave for the first time free trade in land in prussia. it was vom stein, a bismarck born too soon, who induced frederick william ii, king of prussia, and grandson of the great elector, to abolish serfdom, to open the civil service to all classes, and to concede certain municipal rights to the towns. but vom stein was dismissed from the service of his weak-kneed sovereign on the ground that he was an enemy of france, and was obliged to take refuge in russia. like other martyrs, his efforts watered the political earth for a fruitful harvest. it is well to know where we are in the world's culture and striving when we speak of other nations. what were we doing, what was the rest of the world doing, in those days when the hanoverian peasant's son, scharnhorst, and clausewitz were about to lay the foundations of this german army, now the most perfect machine of its kind in the world? these were the days prepared for by jonathan edwards, benjamin franklin, voltaire, rousseau; by pitt and louis xv, and george iii; the days of near memories of wolfe, montcalm, and clive; days when hogarth was caricaturing london; days when the petticoats of the pompadour swept both india and canada into the possession of england. these names and the atmosphere they produce, show by comparison how rough a fellow was this prussia of only a hundred years ago. he had not come into the circle of the polite or of the political world. he was tumbling about, un-licked, untaught, inexperienced, already forgetful of the training of the greatest school-master of the previous century, frederick the great, who had made a man of him. we were already politicians to a man in those days, and the englishman pitt was map-maker, by special warrant, to all europe. when the prussians were serfs politically, our house of representatives, in , debated whether to insert in their reply to the president's speech the remark that "this nation is the freest and most enlightened in the world." it is true that this was at the time when europe was producing lessing, goethe, schiller, kant, hegel, fichte, mozart, haydn, herschel, and about ready to introduce walter scott, wordsworth, shelley, heine, balzac, beethoven, and cuvier; when turner was painting, watt building the steam-engine, napoleon in command of the french armies, and nelson of the british fleet; but this bombastic babble of ours harmed nobody then, and only serves to show what a number of intellectual serfs must have been members of that particular house of representatives. we have not overcome this habit of slapdash comparative criticism, for only the other day a distinguished american inventor left berlin with these words as his final message: "we have nothing to learn from germany." but in the nineteenth century, where does the american of sober intelligence, if lincoln be omitted, find a match for bismarck as a statesman, heine as a wit and song-writer, wagner, brahms, and beethoven as musicians, goethe as a man of letters and poet, the still living influence of lessing and winckelmann as critics, fichte as a scholarly patriot, hegel and kant as philosophers, von humboldt, liebig, helmholtz, bunsen, and haeckel as scientists, moltke and roon as soldiers, ranke and mommsen as historians, auerbach, spielhagen, sudermann, freytag, "fritz" reuter, and hauptmann as novelists and dramatists, krupp and borsig as manufacturers, and the rothschilds as bankers? lincoln, lee, sherman, jackson, and grant may equal these men in their own departments, but aside from them our only superiority, and a very questionable superiority it is, lies in our trust-and-tariff- incubated millionaires. let us try to see straight, if only that we may learn and profit by the superiority of others. these explanations that i have given, historical, political, external, and internal, offer reasons worth pondering both why we do not understand germany's huge armament and why germany looks upon it as a necessity. however much the expenditure on fleet and army may be disguised, the burden is colossal. in the year the net expenditure, ordinary and extraordinary, for purposes of defence, for army and navy and all other military purposes whatsoever including pensions, amounted to , , marks; in , to , , marks; in , to , , marks; and in , to , , , marks. the total expenses, net, of the empire in were , , , marks, showing that only , , marks out of the grand total of , , , were spent for other than military purposes. as the army and navy now stand at a peace strength of some , men, and as these men are all in the prime of their working power, the loss in wages and in productive work may be put very conservatively at , , marks, which brings the cost of the support of the military establishment of germany up to , , , marks and more per annum, or $ , , . many americans were dismayed when our total national expenditure reached the $ , , , point, and the congress voting this expenditure was nicknamed the "billion-dollar congress." what would we say of an expenditure of half a billion dollars for defence alone! with what admiration, too, must we regard , , people, living in an area one quarter smaller than texas, on a by-no-means rich or fertile soil, who can bear cheerfully the burden, each year, of half our total national expenditure, merely on the military and naval barricade which enables them to toil in peace and security. humanity has, indeed, made but a poor zigzag progress from the gorilla; christianity, just now engaged in blessing the rival banners of warriors setting out for one another's throats, has failed ignominiously to bring the wolf in man to baptism, when the central state of christian europe must arm to the teeth one in every eighteen of her adult male inhabitants, and spend half a billion dollars a year, to protect herself from assault and plunder. if the hairy, skin-clad cave-dwellers, or the man who left us the neanderthal skull, could have a look at us now, here in berlin, in many ways the centre of the most enlightened people in the world, they would undoubtedly go mad trying to understand what we mean by the word ''progress.'' and yet we smile indulgently at the poor farmers in afghanistan who till their fields with a rifle slung across their shoulders. what is germany doing but that! and an enormously heavy rifle it is, costing just seven times as much as all other national expenditures together; in short, it costs seven marks of soldier to protect every one mark of plough. i admit frankly the horror and the absurdity of all this; but as an argument for disarmament, "it does not lie," as the lawyers phrase it. it is a criticism, and an unanswerable one, of our failure as human beings to enthrone reason and to tame our passions; but it is a veritable call to arms to protect ourselves, not a reason for not doing so. let the international gluttons overeat themselves till they are seriously ill; but it would be madness to starve ourselves in the meantime, and yet that is the grotesque logic of certain of our preachers of disarmament. at the moment of writing there are , , men at each other's throats in the balkans, there is a revolution in mexico, and incipient anarchy in central america; as an emollient to this, great britain is about to present a bust of the late king edward to the peace palace at the hague! i can imagine myself saying "pretty pussy, nice pussy," to the wild-cats i have shot in nebraska and dakota, but i should not be here if i had; and however small my value to the world i live in, i estimate it as worth at least a ton of wild-cats. i am bound, however, in fairness to call the attention of the unwary dabbler in statistics to a point of grave importance in dealing with german finances. the german empire, so far as expenditure and income are concerned, is merely an office, a clearing-house so to speak, for the states which together make up the empire. the expenses of the empire, for example, in were $ , , and of the army and navy, including extraordinary expenditures, $ , , ; this does not include pensions, clerical expenses, interest, sinking-fund, and loss of productive labor, as did the figures on a preceding page. to the ignorant or to the malicious, who quote these figures to bolster up a socialist or pacifist preachment, this looks as though germany had spent one half of her grand total on the army and navy. but this is quite wrong. in addition to the expenditures of this imperial clearing-house called the german empire, there was spent by the states $ , , , : the so-called clearinghouse bearing the whole burden of expenses for army and navy, the separate states nothing except the per capita tax, called the matriculation tax, of some pfennigs. to make this matter still more clear, as it is a constant source of error not only to the foreigner but to the germans themselves, the income of the empire for was $ , , , the income of all the states $ , , , , or of the empire and the states combined $ , , , . in the same way the debt of the empire in stood at $ , , , , and the debt of the states of the empire at $ , , , , or a grand total outstanding indebtedness of all germany of $ , , , . of late years the imperial expenditure of great britain, for example, has amounted to some $ , , a year; but various local bodies spend also some $ , , a year. some of this is cross-spending, but the grand total amounts to some $ , , , a year. before writing or speaking of germany it is well to know at least what germany is. to pick up a hand-book and to quote therefrom the figures relating to the german empire, as though these covered germany, as is often done, is as accurate and helpful to the inquirer, as though one should take the figures of the new york clearing-house as accurate descriptions of the total and detailed business of all the new york banks and trust companies. a clearing-house is merely a piece of machinery for the adjustment of differences between a host of debtors and creditors. the comparative cost of the german army and navy can only be figured properly against the income and expenditure of the total wealth of all germany. and all germany is something more than the german empire, which in certain respects is only a book-keeper, an adjuster of differences. "was ist des deutschen vaterland? ist's preussenland? ist's schwabenland? ist's wo am rhein die rebe blüht? ist's wo am belt die möve zieht? o nein! o nein! o nein! sein vaterland muss grösser sein. "des ganze deutschland soil es sein! o gott vom himmel, sieh' darein, und gib uns rechten deutschen muth; dass wir es lieben treu und gut! des soil es sein! des soil es sein! des ganze deutschland soll es sein!" the official title of the sovereign is not emperor of germany, or emperor of the germans, but german emperor. thus the territorial rights of other heads of states are safeguarded. even the popularity of the first emperor, who wished to be named emperor of germany and who disputed with bismarck for hours over the question, could not bring this about, and he was proclaimed at versailles merely german emperor. however heavy the burden of armament may be, we must be careful to put such expenditure in its proper perspective and in its proper relations, not only to the german empire, which for official, clerical, and statistical matters is quite a different entity, but to "das ganze deutschland." the german empire is the clearinghouse, the adjutant, the executive officer, the official clerk, the representative in many social, financial, military, and diplomatic capacities of germany; but it is not, and never for a moment should be confused with, what all germans love, and what it has cost them blood and tears and great sacrifices to bring into the circle of the nations, the german fatherland! in the total funded debt of the empire amounted to , , , marks, and the debt in had risen to , , , marks. in the six years ending march, , germany's debt increased by $ , , . in the funded debt of germany (empire and states) was $ , , , ; of france $ , , , ; of england $ , , , , and of russia $ , , , . it is a curious psychical and social phenomenon that, though we are as suspicious as criminals of one another's good faith in keeping the peace, we are veritable angels of innocence in trusting one another financially, for back of these huge debts we keep in ready money, that is, gold, to pay them: germany at the present writing $ , , in the reichsbank; france $ , , in the bank of france; england a paltry $ , , in the bank of england; and russia $ , , in the bank of russia. we all live upon credit, an elastic moral tie which seems to be illimitably stretchable, and both a nation's and an individual's wealth is measured not by what he has, but by what he is, that is to say, by his character or credit. it is startling to find how we distrust one another along certain lines and how we trust one another along others. the total amount of gold in these four countries would just about pay the interest at four per cent. for two years on their total indebtedness! from what we have seen of the proportion of expenditure that goes to military purposes, it cannot be denied that germany is increasing her liabilities at an extraordinary rate, and largely for purposes of protection. in the last two years the interest on her increased debt alone, at four per cent., amounts to $ , , ; while the interest at four per cent. upon military expenditures of all kinds amounts to the tidy sum of $ , , per annum. the german, however, faces these facts and figures, not as a matter of choice, not as a matter of insurance wholly, but as a hard necessity. it is what the delayed conversion of the world is costing him, not to speak of what it costs the rest of us. he is surrounded by enemies; he is not by nature a fighting man; his whole industrial and commercial progress and his amassed wealth have come from training, training, training; and he sees no alternative, and i am bound to say that i see none either, but a nation trained also to defence, cost what it may. the last german estimates ( ) balance with a revenue and expenditure of $ , , . the naval expenditure is put at $ , , ; the army expenditure is put at $ , , . both the army and navy are being largely increased. in the year the strength of the navy is expected to be about , men, and of the army and navy combined , . in the last ten years two nations have almost doubled their naval personnel: germany has increased hers from , to , , and austria-hungary from , to , . in great britain the increase has been about one seventh, and this one seventh is about equal to the present strength of austria. the gross naval expenditure, estimated, of the united states for amounts to $ , , , and the number of men , . the gross naval expenditure of great britain, estimated, for the same year is put at $ , , , and the number of men , . the gross naval expenditure of germany is put at $ , , , which includes $ , for air-ships and experiments therewith, the number of men , . france proposes to spend, plus an addition due to operations in morocco, $ , , , number of men , ; and japan $ , , , number of men , . two new corps have been voted for the german army, to be numbered and ; one is for the russian frontier, with head-quarters at allenstein, and the other for the french frontier, with head-quarters at sarrebourg or mulhouse. a german army corps on a war footing comprises about , men, with guns and , horses. the reader should notice, as a reminder of the still latent jealousies of the different states of the german empire, that the three army corps raised in bavaria are not numbered consecutively, twenty-one, twenty-two, and twenty-three, but one, two, and three! to the american the pay of the german troops, officers and men, is ludicrously small. it is evident that men do not undertake to fit themselves to be officers, and to struggle through frequent and severe examinations to remain officers, for the pay they receive. a lieutenant receives for the first three years $ a year, from the fourth to the sixth year $ , from the seventh to the ninth year $ , from the tenth to the twelfth year $ , and after the twelfth year $ a year. a captain receives from the first to the fourth year $ , from the fifth to the eighth year $ , , and the ninth year and after $ , a year. of one hundred officers who join, only an average of eight ever attain to the command of a regiment. in bavaria and würtemberg, promotion is quicker by from one to three years than in prussia. in prussia promotion to oberleutnant averages years, to captain or rittmeister years, to major years, to colonel years, and to general years. it would not be altogether inhuman if these gentlemen occasionally drank a toast to war and pestilence! a commanding general, or general inspector of cavalry or field artillery, receives $ , ; a division commander, or inspector of cavalry, field and heavy artillery, $ , ; a brigade commander, $ , ; commander of a regiment, or officer of the general staff of the same rank, $ , . there are various additions to these sums for travelling, keep of horses, house-rent, and the like. all soldiers and officers travel at reduced rates on the railways, and are allowed a certain amount of luggage free. it is a commentary upon the three nations, that in germany the soldier receives a reduced rate when travelling, in england the golfer pays a reduced rate, and in america, until lately, the politicians were given free passes. one could almost produce the three countries from that limited knowledge. at the cadet school at gross lichterfelde there are a thousand pupils. they are taught riding, swimming, dancing, french, english, mathematics, and of course receive technical military instruction. the fee is $ , but for the sons of officers, and according to their means, the fees are reduced to $ , $ , and even as low as $ , and in some deserving cases no fee at all is charged. there is no professional army in germany, as in england and in america. every german who is physically fit must serve practically from the age of seventeen to forty-five. those in the infantry serve two years; those in the cavalry and horse artillery and mounted rifles, three years. about forty-eight per cent. who are examined are rejected as unfit, not necessarily because they are incapable of service, but because the expense of training all is too great. these men receive pfennigs a day, pfennigs being deducted for their food. there are some , men who join the army voluntarily for a term of two or three years, and who re-enlist and become non-commissioned officers, and if they remain twelve years they are entitled to $ on leaving the service, and head the lists of candidates for the railway, postal, police, street-cleaning, and other civil services. some , men who have passed a certain examination serve only one year and are entitled to certain privileges. each man in the infantry serves years in the active army, years in the active reserve, years in the first division of the landwehr, years in the second division of the landwehr, and years in the landsturm. colonel gädke calculates that germany has now under arms not less than , soldiers and sailors, and that , , can be put into the field if wanted out of the , , who have done service with the colors. out of this enormous total, practically none, according to the last census, is illiterate. our american census of gives the number of men of militia age in new england as , , , and in the whole country , , . promotion from the ranks, as we understand it, is practically unknown. the german officers pass through the ranks, it is true, as part of their education at the beginning of their military career, but those who do so join in the beginning as candidates for commissions, and have been provisionally accepted by the commander and officers of the regiment they propose to join, as must every candidate for a commission in the german army. if the candidate is not wanted, it is hinted to him that this is the case, and he must go elsewhere, as this decision is final. every german regiment's officers' mess is thus in some sort a club. officers are supplied from the cadet corps, and from those who join the ranks as candidates for commissions. all cadets must pass through a war-school before obtaining a commission. of these there are in prussia, würtemberg, and saxony, and at munich in bavaria. they there receive their commissions as second lieutenants. there are prussian schools, the hauptkadettenanstalt at gross lichterfelde, and kadetten-häuser; and at dresden and at munich. some of these i have visited, and been made at home with the greatest courtesy and hospitality. these german cadet schools are to a great extent charitable institutions for the sons of officers and civilian officials. the charges range, as i have indicated above, from $ a year to nothing at all. there are in addition schools of musketry, a school for instruction in machine-gun practice, instruction in infantry battalion practice, a school of military gymnastics, of military equitation, officers' riding-schools, a military technical academy at charlottenburg, where officers may study the technical engineering and communication services, an artillery and engineer school at munich, a field-artillery school of gunnery, a foot-artillery school of gunnery, a cavalry telegraph school, and the staff colleges. of technical military matters i know nothing. i have some experience in handling horses in harness and under saddle, and on subjects with which i am familiar i venture to pass judgments in the class-room. i have visited many of these class-rooms, and listened to the teaching and lectures in french, english, strategy, and political geography, and kindred topics, and if the rest of the instruction is on a par with what i heard there is no criticism to be made. i may not say where, but one of the instructors in french was a real pleasure to listen to. the courses and examinations which lead up, in the kriegesakademie, or staff college, to the grade of fitness for the general staff, or the technical division of the general staff, or administrative staff work, or employment as instructors, are of the very stiffest. an officer who succeeds in reaching such proficiency, that he is sent up to the general staff must be a very blue ribbon of a scholar in his own field. the quarters, the food, the training, are spartan indeed at the cadet schools, but how valuable that is, is shown in the faces, manners, physique, and general bearing of the picked youths one sees at the kriegesakademie in berlin. no one after seeing these fellows would deny for a moment the value of a sound, hard discipline. the same may be seen at our own west point, where the transformation of many a country bumpkin, into an officer and a gentleman, in four years is almost unbelievable. the truth is that most of us suffer from lack of discipline, and the intelligent men of every nation will one day insist that, if the state is to meddle in insurance and other matters, it must logically, and for its own salvation, demand compulsory service; not necessarily for war, but for social and economic peace within its own boundaries. it is a political absurdity that you may tax individuals to provide against accident and sickness to themselves, but that you may not tax individuals by compulsory service to provide against accident and sickness to the state. there can be nothing but ultimate confusion where the state pays a man if he is ill, pays him if he is hurt, pays him when he is old, and yet does not force him to keep well, and thus avoid accident and a pauper's old age by obliging him to submit to two or three years' sound physical training. whether the training is done with a gun or without it matters little. most men of our breed like to know how to kill things, so that a gun would probably be an inducement. the more one knows of the severe demands upon the officers of the german army and of their small pay, the more one realizes that if they are not angels there must be some further explanation of their willingness to undertake the profession. first of all, the emperor is a soldier and wears at all times the soldier's uniform. further, he gives from his private purse a small allowance monthly to the poorer officers of the guard regiments. a german officer receives consideration on all sides, whether it be in a shop, a railway-carriage, a drawing-room, or at court. to a certain extent his uniform is a dowry; he expects and often gets a good marriage portion in return for his shoulder-straps and brass buttons; and in every case it gives him a recognized social position, in a country where the social lines are drawn far more strictly than in any other country outside of austria and india. this constant wearing of the sword is no new thing. tacitus, who would have been an uncompromising advocate of compulsory service had he lived in our time, writes: "a german transacts no business, public or private, without being completely armed. the right of carrying arms is assumed by no person whatever till the state has declared him duly qualified." it is the recognized occupation of the nobility, and, in very many families, a tradition. in the army of saxony, on january , , out of every hundred officers of the war ministry, of the general commands, and of the higher staff, . per cent. were noblemen; of the officers of the infantry, . were noblemen; of the cavalry, . were noblemen; and of the officers of the entire army, all arms, . were noblemen. it is worth chronicling in this connection, for the benefit of those who wish a real insight into german social life, that few people discriminate between the old nobility, or men who take their titles from the possession of land and their descendants, and the new and morbidly disliked nobility, who have bought or gained their patents of nobility, as is done often enough in england, by profuse contributions to charity or to semi-political and cultural undertakings favored by the court, or by direct contributions to party funds, by valuable services rendered, or by mere length of service. this new nobility, anxious about their status, satisfied to have arrived, jealous of rivals, are the dead weight which ties germany fast to bureaucratic government and to a policy of no change. they represent, even in educated germany, a complacent mediocrity; indignant at rebuke, indifferent to progress, heedless of experience, impatient of criticism, haters of haste, and jealous of superiority. even bismarck, the creator of this bureaucracy, lamented the insolence and bad manners of the state servants. the essential and ever-present quality of the real aristocrat and of a real aristocracy is, of course, courage. it may dislike change, but it is not afraid of it. the real gentleman, of course, does not care whether he is a gentleman or not. the characteristic of an artificial, tailor-made aristocracy is timidity and a shrinking from change. this new nobility, created because it is carefully charitable, or serviceable, or long in office, is not only in possession of the civil service, but occupies high posts in the army and navy. while not minimizing its value, it is everywhere maintained in germany that it acts as a bulwark against progress. they are a nobility of office-holders, and they partake of the qualities and characteristics of the office-holder everywhere. they sometimes forget the country in the office; while the older nobility, which made germany, despises the office except as an instrument or weapon to be used for the welfare of the country. the political pessimism in germany to-day is caused by, and comes from, this army of the new nobility. americans and english both write of germany, and speak of it, as being in the grip of a small group of aristocrats. not at all; it is in the shaky and self-conscious control of men whose patents of nobility were given them with their office, a titled bureaucracy, in short. let us prove this statement by running through the list of the chief officers of the state. of the officials of the german empire: the chancellor's grandfather, bethmann-hollweg, was a professor, and afterward minister of education; the secretary of state's father was plain herr kiderlein-wächter; the under-secretary of state is herr zimmermann; the secretary of the interior is herr delbrück; of finance, herr wermuth; of justice, herr lisco; of the navy, von tirpitz, who was recently ennobled; the postmaster is herr kraetke. not one of these officials of the empire is of the old nobility! of the ministers of the kingdom of prussia, the minister for agriculture, von schorlemer; for war, von heeringen; for education, von trott zu solz; and for the interior, von dallwitz, are of the old nobility; but the other ministers are not. of the oberpräsidenten, men who rule the provinces, are noblemen; of the regierungspräsidenten, are of the nobility, are not. this should dispose finally of the frequently heard assertion that germany and prussia are ruled by a small group of the landed nobility and that there is no way open to the talents. it is fair to say that a very small and intimate court group do have a certain influence in naming the candidates for these posts, but they are too wily to keep these positions for themselves. i suppose we all like, in a childish way, to wear placards of our prowess in the form of orders and decorations, but the evening attire of this bureaucratic nobility often looks as though there had been a ceramic eruption, a sort of measles of decorations. men's breasts are covered with medals, stars, porcelain plaques, and their necks are hung with ribbons with a dangling medallion, all distributed from the patriarchal imperial christmas-tree for every conceivable service from cleaning the streets to preaching properly on the imperial yacht. men collect them as they would stamps or butterflies, and some of them must be very expert. the officers and the officials who are recognized as giving their services as a family tradition, as a patriotic service, or out of sheer love of the profession of arms, are rather liked than disliked, and give a tone and set a standard for all the rest. both these officers and their men are respected. of no german soldier could it be written: "i went into a theatre as sober as could be, they gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me; they sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls, but when it comes to fightin', lord! they'll shove me in the stalls." on the contrary, every effort is made to keep the army pleased with itself and proud of itself. the chancellor of the empire is always given military rank; officers are not allowed to marry unless they have, or acquire by marriage, a suitable income; the dignity of the officer is upheld and his pride catered to; officers are made to feel that they are the darlings of the fatherland by everybody from the emperor down. this artificial stimulant goes far to keep them contented, and the fact that the scale of comfortable living in germany was twenty years ago far below, and is even now not equal to, that of the equivalent classes with us makes the task easier. they have not been taught to want the things we want, and are still satisfied with less. and back of and behind it all is the feeling among the leaders, that the army furnishes no small amount of the patriotic cement necessary to hold germany together. ulysses lashed himself to the mast as he passed the sirens of luxury and leisure, and for the german ulysses the army supplies the cords. it is not the foreign student of german life alone who notices that the germans, even now, seem to be tribal rather than national. the best friends of germany in germany also recognize this weakness, comment upon it, and favor every possible expedient to overcome it. i admit frankly my admiration for this spartan three quarters of a million of soldiers and sailors, and their officers. it offers a splendid example of patriotism, of disregard for the weakening comforts, luxuries, and fussy pleasures that absorb too much of our vitality; and of disdain for the material successes, which in their selfish rivalry, breed the very industrial distresses which are now our problems. at least here is a large professional body whose aims, whose way of living, and whose earnings prove that there can be a social hierarchy not dependent upon money. it is one of the finest lessons germany has to teach, and long may she teach it. that is distinctly the side of the army that i know and approve without reserve. of its value as a fighting force it would be ridiculous, in my case, to write. i have read and heard scores of criticisms and comments from many sources, and they range from those who claim that the german army is unbeatable, even if attacked from all sides, to those who maintain that it is already stale and mechanical. the war of , when prussia represented germany, lasted thirty-five days; the war against denmark lasted six months and twelve days; the war against france lasted six months and nine days. thirty-six german cavalry regiments did not lose a man during the whole campaign of - ; and the sixth army corps was hardly under fire. there has been no long, practical, and therefore decisive test of the army. of the transport and commissary services during the french war, when germany toward the end of it had , men in the field, certainly we, with the deplorable mismanagement and scandal of our spanish war, and the british with the investigations after the egyptian campaign fresh in memory, have nothing to say, except that it was wholly admirable and beyond the breath of suspicion of greed, thievery, or political chicanery. there was no rotten leather, and no poisoned beef. officers, too, in the french war, were called upon to do their duty and to obey, and no individual brilliancy which interfered with the general plan was condoned or pardoned, no matter how highly placed the relatives or how influential the connections of the offender. a distinguished general, after a successful and heroic victory, who had been tempted into a bloody battle against orders, was called before his superiors, told that the first lesson the soldier had to learn was obedience, and sent home! a brother of the chief of staff went into the war a captain and came back a captain! i am wondering what our underpaid, unnoticed regulars in the army and navy would have to say, were they free to speak, of the conduct of our last martial escapade with spain, by our press and by our politicians. there would be no stories of the german kind, i am sure, and no single record of an influential civilian who did not get all the glory that he deserved. my impulsive countrymen are always manufacturing heroes and saviors, but fortunately the crosses upon which they crucify them are erected almost as fast as the crowns are nicely fitted and comfortable, so that there is little danger of permanent tyranny. what richelieu said of the french applies to some extent to ourselves: "le propre du caractère français c'est que, ne se tenant pas fermement au bien, il ne s'attache non plus longtemps au mal." during and after the franco-german war there was no cheap heroism, no feminine excitability producing litters of heroes; no slobbering, osculatory advertising; no press undertaking the duties of a general staff, which in our spanish war almost completely clouded the real heroism and patriotism that were in evidence. there were no newspaper-made heroes, hastening back to exchange cheap military glory for votes and delicious notoriety. for all of which, gentlemen, let us thank god, and give praise where it is due. the army, too, is an interesting commentary upon the changes that are so rapidly taking place in germany, from an agricultural to a manufacturing nation. of every recruits that presented themselves there were passed as fit, in , for the first army corps, of those from the country . ; of those from the towns . ; in these figures had fallen to . and . . in the second army corps the recruits passed as fit, from the towns, had fallen from . in to . in . in the fifth army corps, of recruits from the towns the percentage of those passed fell from . to . . in the sixth army corps the percentage fell from . to . . in the sixteenth army corps from . to . . in the eighteenth army corps the recruits from the towns passed as fit had fallen from . in to . in . the average for the whole empire, of those from the towns passed as fit, had fallen from . in to . in . the first army corps has its head-quarters at königsberg, and recruits from that neighborhood; the second army corps has its head-quarters at stettin, and recruits from pomerania; the fifth army corps has its headquarters at posen, and recruits from posen and lower silesia; the sixth army corps has its head-quarters at breslau, and recruits from silesia; the sixteenth army corps has its headquarters at metz, and recruits from lorraine; the eighteenth army corps has its head-quarters at frankfurt-am-main, and recruits from that neighborhood. these figures are enough to make my point, without giving the statistics for all the twenty-three corps, which is, that in spite of the precautions taken, the german recruit, especially from the towns, in whatever part of the country, is losing vigor and stamina. even this hard-and-fast arrangement of a bureaucratic government with a military backbone does not solve all the problems. when one sees, however, the german school-boy, and the german recruit during the first weeks of his training, in the barracks and out, and i have watched thousands of them, and then looks over this same material after two or three years of training, it is hard to believe that they are the same, and that even these hard-working officers have been able to bring about such a change. of the charges of brutality and severity i only know what the statistics tell me, that in an army of over , men there were some cases brought to the notice of the superior officers last year. in there were , convictions for crimes and misdemeanors and desertions. of the , common soldiers in the saxon army in , committed suicide; in , ; in , ; in , ; that is to say, roughly, one man per thousand. of the why and wherefore i cannot say, but saxony is a peculiarly overpopulated section of germany, and the population is overdriven; and the german everywhere is a dreamy creature compared with us, of less toughness of fibre either morally or physically, and no doubt, here and there, under-exercising and over-thinking make the world seem to be a mad place and impossible to live in. indeed, it is no place to live in for the best of us if we take it, or ourselves, too seriously. the german army is an educated army, as is no other army in the world, and there are the diseases peculiar to education to combat. a mediocre ability to think, and a limited intellectual experience, coupled with a craving for miscellaneous reading, breed new microbes almost as fast as science discovers remedies for the old ones. bismarck's words, "ohne armee kein deutschland," meant to him, and mean to-day, far more than that the army is necessary for defence. it is the best all-round democratic university in the world; it is a necessary antidote for the physical lethargy of the german race; it is essential to discipline; it is a cement for holding germany together; it gives a much-worried and many-times-beaten people confidence; the poverty of the great bulk of its officers keeps the level of social expenditure on a sensible scale; it offers a brilliant example, in a material age, of men scorning ease for the service of their country; it keeps the peace in europe; and until there is a second coming, of a christ of pity, and patience, and peace, it is as good a substitute for that far-off divine event as puzzled man has to offer. it is silly and superficial to look upon the german army only as a menace, only as a cloud of provocations in glittering uniforms, only as a helmeted frown with a turned-up moustache. it is not, and i make no such claim for it, an army or an officers' corps of puritans or of self-sacrificing saints, but it does partake of the dreamy, idealistic german nature, as does every other institution in germany. though, as a whole, it is a fighting machine, the various parts of it are not imbued with that spirit alone. the uneasy pessimism of the dreamer, which distrusts the comfortable solutions of the business-like politicians, and leaders, in their own and in other countries, is as noticeable in the army as in all other departments of german life. "and all through life i see a cross, where sons of god yield up their breath; there is no gain except by loss, there is no life except by death, there is no vision but by faith; nor glory but by bearing shame, nor justice but by taking blame." there have been many, and there are still, soldiers who hold that creed. there are not a few of them in germany. ix german problems a great nation like germany must have characteristics, anxieties, problems, and responsibilities, some of which are peculiar to itself. the individual must be of small importance who has not problems and burdens of his own arising from his environment, position, work, and his personal relations with other men; as well as problems of temper, temperament, health, education, and traditions peculiar to himself. wise men recognize two things about every other man: that he has his own problems, and that no one else thoroughly understands either another man's handicaps or his advantages; and that the only way to judge him is not to go behind the returns, but to note how he lives with these same problems. they are there, there is no doubt about that; the question is, does he smile or scowl? does he work away toward a solution, or allow himself to be swamped by them? do they dominate him, or he them? has he that sun of life, vitality, sufficient to burn away the fog, or does he live and die in a moist, semi-impenetrable fog, in which he flounders timidly and rather aimlessly about, always rather discouraged, rather in the dark, and lamentably damp in person and in spirits? the only fair test of a man's life is his living of it, and the same is true of a nation. of germany's history, traditions, and temperament i have written. no one can fail to note the chief characteristics: their gregariousness, their melancholic and subjective way of looking at life, their passion for music. it is more what they think, than what they do or see, that gives them pleasure. they agree with erasmus, that "it is a foolish error to believe that happiness is dependent upon things; it is dependent entirely upon one's opinion of them." the indefinite has no terrors for them, they delight indeed in the indefinable. they have done little in great sculpture and architecture, or the founding and ruling of colonies, as compared with their supreme achievements in music, in philosophy, in lyric poetry. the art of music, which moves one greatly toward nothing in particular; which supplies sounds but not a language for the mysteries of feeling; which easily carries a sensitive soul away from its sorrows or drowns it in tears, and all without offering a semblance of a practical solution; which orchestrates a greater fury, a more poignant jealousy, a sweeter note of bird, a harsher clang of weapons, than any human energy can even imagine to exist; this art with which marching soldiers sing away their fatigue, but not really; with which disconsolate lovers wing their hopes, but not really; with which the pious pipe themselves to heaven, but not really; with which, by strings and beaten skins, organ-pipes and blowing brass, an anaesthesia of ecstasy is produced, leaving one only the weaker against the dourness and doggedness of the devil; with which men and women hymn themselves home to god, only to lose him when they leave the threshold of his house; which choruses from a thousand throats patriotism, defiance, self-confidence, but arms none of them with any useful weapon; which with drums and brass can send any lout to heroism without his knowing why; this art which burns up the manhood of its devotees--who ever heard of a great tenor who was a great man, or even of a great musician for more than half of whose life one must needs not apologize?--this art flourishes in germany not without reason, and not for nothing. in a ragged school in the neighborhood of posen where the children could hardly speak german they could sing; in a public school in charlottenburg fifty boys, aged between eight and fifteen, sang the part-song known to every college man in america, "on a bank two roses grew," as well as a college glee club; those who know bayreuth, or have attended a musical festival, or listened to one of the great clubs of male voices, or heard the orchestras and military bands, will not deny the delights of music in germany. in berlin there is not a hall suitable for a musical recital that is not engaged a year, sometimes more, in advance. in the beautiful golden hall of the castle of the grand duke of mecklenburg-schwerin, at schwerin, i have attended a concert given by the grand duke's own orchestra, where the selections were all compositions of former leaders or members of the orchestra, dating back over a period of two hundred years. for centuries in this particular grand duchy music and the theatre, supported and guided by the sovereign, have offered a school of entertainment and instruction to the people. at this present writing, special trains are run to schwerin from the surrounding country districts, and the people for miles around subscribe for their seats for the whole winter, and attend the theatre and certain concerts as regularly as children go to school. it sounds oddly to the ears of an american to hear criticism to the effect, that there are more high-class music and more classical plays than the people have either time or money for. here is a population which is actually overindulging in culture. we complain of too little; here they complain of too much. it makes one wonder whether any of the problems of social life are satisfactorily soluble; whether indeed it be not true that even the virtues carried to an extreme do not become vices. philanthropy in more than one city in america is spending time, money, and energy to bring about this very enthusiasm for music and the more intellectual arts which, it is maintained, here in schwerin at least, has gone too far. these problems are not so easy of solution as the ignorant and the inexperienced think. imagine the inhabitants of hoboken, new jersey; of lynn, massachusetts; of kalamazoo, michigan; of bloody gulch, idaho, spending too much time and money listening to the music of palestrina and bach, or to the plays of shakespeare; and yet what money and energy would not be spent by certain enthusiasts for the arts did they think such a result possible! and, after all, it might prove not a blessing, but a danger. whenever or wherever you are in the company of germans you notice their pleasure and their keen interest in the subjective, rather than in the objective side of life. it is from within out that they are stirred, not as we are, by outside things working upon us. they are still the dreaming, drinking, singing, impulsive germans of tacitus. titus livius, plutarch, and machiavelli, all maintained that the successive invasions of the germans into italy were for the sake of the wine to be found there. plutarch writes that "the gauls were introduced to the italian wine by a tuscan named arron, and so excited were they by the desire for more that, taking their wives and children with them, they journeyed across the alps to conquer the land of such good vintages, looking upon other countries as sterile and savage by comparison. even if this be not history, it is an impression; and at any rate, from that day to this the germans have agreed with the dictum of aulus gellius: "prandium autem abstemium, in quo nihil vini potatur, canium dicitur: quoniam canis vino caret." when the roman historian first came into contact with them he notes, that their bread was lighter than other bread, because "they use the foam from their beer as yeast." tacitus writes of them: "the germans abound with rude strains of verse, the reciters of which, in the language of the country, are called 'bards.'" i visited a private stable in bavaria, as well ordered and as well kept as any private stable in america or in england, and the head coachman was a reader of poetry; and though he had received numerous offers of higher wages in the city, declined them, giving as one reason that the view from the window of his room could not be equalled elsewhere! where can one find a stable-man in our country who reads shelley or edgar allan poe, or who ever heard of william james and pragmatism? i may be doing an injustice to the stable-men of boston, but i doubt it. there are scores of pages of notes to my hand, recounting similar if not such startling examples of the german temperament among high and low. musical, melancholic, gregarious, subjective, these are their true characteristics, but the superficial among us do not see these things because they are hidden behind the great army, the new navy and mercantile marine, the factories, the increased commercial values, the strenuous agricultural and industrial pushing ahead of the last thirty years. but they are there, they represent the german temperament, they are the internal character of germania, always to be taken into account in judging her, or in wondering why she does this or that, or why she does it in this or that way. "as imagination bodies forth the forms of things unknown, the poet's pen turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing a local habitation and a name." this is what the purely subjective mind is ever doing, and when it is carried too far it is insanity. the individual no longer sees things as they are, but he sees others and himself in strange, horrible, or ludicrous shapes. barring japan, i suppose germany yields more easily to the temptation of the subjective malady of suicide than any other country. in saxony, for example, the rate was lately . per , of the population, in england and wales . . during the five years ending with there were for every suicides among males in the united states in germany, and for every suicides of females in germany. in vienna, and for racial purposes this is germany, , persons killed themselves in . children committing suicide because they have failed in their examinations is not uncommon in germany; in america and in england the teachers are more likely to succumb than the children. we do not commit suicide in america from any sense of shame at our intellectual shortcomings--what a decimating of the population there would be if we did!--it is more apt to be caused by ill health consequent upon a straining chase for dollars. in prussia during the five years, - , divorce increased from . to . per , inhabitants, and suicide from to . . if the observer does not take this difference of temperament into account, he does not realize how new and strange it is to find germany these days, making its first and strongest impression upon the outsider by its industrial progress. the more intelligent men in germany are beginning to see the dangers to real progress in such feverish devotion to industry, and to recognize that the life of the population is absorbed too largely by science, finance, and commerce. to see so much of the intelligence of the nation exercising itself in material researches, to see such undue fervor in calculations of self- interest, does not leave an enlivening impression. such an ideal of life is paltry in itself and involves grave dangers in the future. it is a long stride in the wrong direction since hegel wrote of germany as "the guardian of the sacred fire of intellect." out of this temperament has grown the self-consciousness, the uneasy vanity, the "touchiness" which has made germany of late years the despair of the diplomats all over the world. she has become a chameleon-like menace to peace everywhere in the world. what she wants, what will offend her dignity, when she will feel hurt, what amount of consideration will suffice, when she will change color to match a changed situation, and in what color she will choose to hide her plans or to make manifest her demands, no man knows. she will not see things as they are, but always as an exhalation from her own mind. as one of her own poets has written: "deutschland ist hamlet." at this present moment she does not see either england or america as they are, quite peaceably disposed toward her but she sees them, and persists in seeing them, as they would be were germany in their place. she is forever looking into a mirror instead of through the open window. "the mailed fist," "the rattling of the sabre," "the friend in shining armor," "querelle allemande," are all phrases born in germany in the last thirty years. she even sees herself a little out of focus, and though i admit her precarious position in the heart of europe, she exaggerates the necessity for her autocratic military government to meet the situation. that philosophical and literary radical lord morley, now wearing a coronet, in the land where logic is a foundling and compromise a darling, writes: "a weak government throws power to something which usurps the name of public opinion, and public opinion as expressed by the ventriloquists of the newspapers is at once more capricious and more vociferous than it ever was." this, strange to say, is exactly the opinion of the german autocrats, who maintain that no democracy can be a strong military power. it remains for england, and perhaps later america, to prove her wrong. the sovereign lady germania, being of this temper and disposition, of this psychological make-up, let us look at her dealings with certain embarrassing problems in her own household. the over-stimulation of ill-regulated mental activity as the result of regimental education is one of the minor problems. some fourteen million dollars worth of cheap and nasty literature is peddled by the agents of certain publishing houses, and sold all over germany to those recently taught to read but not trained to think; and this, it is to be remembered, is still a land of low wages, of strict economies, and of small expenditures on books. for germany that is an enormous sum and represents a very wide-spread evil. i recognize that it is not only in germany, but in france, england, and america, that the ethically hysterical have assumed that modesty and health and common-sense are characteristics of the intellectually mediocre. that the neglect of all, and the breaking of some, of the ten commandments is essential to the creation of art or literature, or necessary to a courageous freedom of living, is a contention with which i agree less and less the more i know of art, literature, and life. but, as i have remarked elsewhere in this volume, the strindbergs and wildes and gorkis are having their day in germany just now, and beneath this again is this large distribution of the lawless and sooty literature, frankly intended as a debauch for the gutter-snipe and his consort. even the coarse, and in no line squeamish, rabelais wrote that, "science sans conscience n'est que ruine de l'âme." there is but a puny barrier against this, for the statistical year-book of german cities gives the number of public libraries in forty-two cities as . twenty-seven of these cities gave an annual support to of these libraries of only $ , ! according to the figures of herr ernest schultze, in the forty largest german cities, with a population of , , , had public libraries containing a sum total of , volumes. in the year - , , , volumes were taken out and , , persons frequented the public reading-rooms, and in these forty-two cities $ , were contributed from private sources for such library purposes. in germany had in some cities, each of more than , inhabitants, about public libraries and reading-rooms, with together about , , volumes. berlin has thirty public libraries with , volumes; the number of books taken out in was , , . hamburg has one public library with , volumes, of which , , were taken out. breslau has libraries and reading-rooms, with , volumes. leipzig has libraries and reading-rooms, with , volumes. munich has libraries and , volumes. cologne has libraries and reading- rooms, with , volumes. the smallest library is in the village community of dudweiler, in the rhine province, which contains volumes for the , inhabitants. there were , books published in germany in , , in , , in , and , in . there were , books published in america in , , of them by american authors. there were , books published in england in , of which , were new editions. of this number , , which includes new editions and translations, were fiction; religion, ; sociology, ; science, ; geography, ; biography, ; history, ; technology, . in , there were only novels published in england. of the , books published in germany in , , dealt with education and juvenile literature; , , belles-lettres; , , law and political economy; , , theology; , , commerce and industry; , , medicine; , , philology and literary history; , , geography, including maps; , military science and equestry; , , agriculture and forestry; , , natural science and mathematics; , , engineering and construction; , , history and biography; , art; and on philosophy and theosophy. there were some , writers of books in america in , or one author in , of the population, already more than enough; there were some , in great britain, or one author in about , of the population; while in germany there are over , writers, or one author in every , of the population, including men, women, and children of all ages, an unreasonable and disastrous proportion. if we estimate the number of adult males of germany at , , , the number who voted at the last election, then there was one author to every , a most unhealthy proportion, and bearing out exactly what has been said of the german temperament and constitutional bias. furthermore, this accounts for the fact that germany imports some , agricultural laborers each year to garner the food harvests, for which she has not sufficient recruits, and who, by the way, take out of the country each year some $ , , in wages. twenty per cent. of the miners in westphalia are foreigners, eight per cent. of them italians, and there are nearly half a million foreigners employed as common laborers in the various industries of germany. wherever one travels now in the world, he finds that most courageous and self-sacrificing of all the pioneers, the missionary: american, british, french, italian. the best of them, on the plains of north america, in the destructive climate of india, in china, in all the islands of all the seas, are, whatever their creed, soldiers of whom we are all proud; for they fight not only against the overwhelming prejudice of those whom they seek to save, but against the widespread prejudice of their own people, and against the well-founded suspicion and contempt aroused by their own black sheep. i have found them, here a jesuit, there a presbyterian, winning my friendship and my admiration, despite fundamental differences of belief about many things. there are few germans among them! even in this field germany produces theological controversialists whom we have all studied, orthodox and destructive, but few pioneers, and practically no augustines or loyolas, wesleys or booths, livingstones or stanleys. columba, an irish refugee, founded on the island of iona, off the west coast of scotland, a mission station, whence went missionaries and preachers to the conversion not only of england, but of the tribes of germany. it was only in the sixth century that the franks, only in the ninth century that the saxons, and only in the tenth century that the danes became christians. neither at home nor abroad are her successes those which deal with men by winning their allegiance, their submission, their loyalty, or their respectful regard. she is pre-eminent in the things of the mind, in subjective matters, and in her regimental dealings with, and arrangements for, the inanimate side of life. as an example on the credit side of her governing is the very complete and successful system of land-banks, introduced by frederick the great and since modelled somewhat upon the french methods, which have protected the farmer from usury, insured him money at low rates for improvements, for the purchase of tools, cattle, and fertilizers, and enabled him to do, by sensible co-operation, what would have been impossible for him as an individual. so successful has been this co-operation between the banks and the united farming communities that it were well worth a chapter of description were it not that, through the initiative of president taft and the able and industrious assistance of our officials in europe, among whom our ambassador in paris, mr. herrick, may be mentioned as untiring, there will shortly appear a complete exposition and explanation of the scheme, available for those of my countrymen interested in the matter. or if they will journey to ireland they may see there what sir horace plunkett has done to revolutionize, and against tremendous odds, agriculture. and, be it noted, it has been done, with emphatic warnings against the modern fallacy of leaning upon state aid. it is estimated that our farmers would be saved between $ , , and $ , , a year in interest alone were we to adopt similar methods of loaning to the land-owners. the preussische centralgenossenschaftskasse, or central bank of co-operative associations, has revolutionized, one may here use the word without exaggeration, agricultural methods, throughout prussia and germany. in kansas, missouri, and iowa there are , , acres of land in wheat, which is practically the size of germany's wheat acreage, but germany produces , , bushels of wheat off her parcel of land; while the wheat raised on the same area in these three states is only , , bushels. france and minnesota each plant , , acres in wheat, but france produces , , bushels and minnesota , , bushels. in round numbers we support , , people on , , square miles of land, and we could support per square mile just as easily as , and even then there would be not even a fraction of the density of population of denmark, ; the netherlands, ; france, ; saxony, ; england and wales, . . the average wheat yield of our country is about bushels per acre in good years, it might just as well be ; the average cotton yield is about four-tenths of a bale per acre, and four times that amount could be raised as easily. in , , , people were engaged in agriculture in america, or . per cent. of the population; as over against . in and . in . of these , , , , , were owners, renters, or overseers, or per cent., and only , , were actual farm laborers; and more than half of these, or , , , were members of the family, leaving only some , , actual agricultural wage-earners, or employable agricultural laborers. five-eighths of these were under twenty-five years of age, and of the white regular workers only one-tenth were over thirty-five years of age. this shows how unstable is the foundation of our agricultural prosperity, the chief asset of plenty and contentment of our country. mr. get-rich-quick has moved on to the shifting and more exciting opportunities of the cities, where poor human nature, aided and abetted by weak philanthropy, and demagogic fishing for votes by eleemosynary legislation, provides him with a mild form of riotous living, and a fatted calf of doles in case of accident, sickness, penury, or old age. in our american cities of over , inhabitants the increase in population from to has been from . per cent. to per cent. in cities of , and over the increase from to has been from . per cent. to . per cent. in the state of new york the farming population is smaller than ever before, and in parts of new england it is smaller than one hundred years ago. in there were , deserted farms with a total of , , acres. the average size of farms in the united states in was acres; in , acres. wages in the reaping season on fruit, grain, and cotton farms are enormous, running to four and five dollars a day. we are behind every country in europe except russia, in our agricultural methods. some day the american people will discover, may it not be too late, that the tall talk and highfalutin boastings of the politicians and alien journalists in their midst do nothing to make two blades of grass grow where one grew before. germany may not have solved this problem, indeed no nation which offers undue legislative alleviation for human frailty will ever solve it, but at least she has not shirked the problem, and presents for our enlightenment a scheme in full and smooth working order. in dealing with german problems it is fair to give examples where her methods have been wholly and entirely successful. the man who does not know one tree or shrub from another cannot travel in trains, motor-cars, or afoot without remarking the neatness, symmetry, and the flourishing condition of the forests. in these matters germany so far surpasses us that we may be said to be merely in a kindergarten stage of development. as early as a german traveller, johann david schoepf, was distressed to see the waste of valuable wood in america. he tells of a furnace in new jersey which exhausted a forest of nearly , acres in twelve to fifteen years, and goes on to prophesy the grave danger to america unless coal is discovered and used instead of wood. the public forests in america contain about nine per cent. of the total land area and about twenty-five per cent. of the forest area of the country. in germany the state owns about per cent. of the forests, and nearly per cent. of the forest area is under state control. the total forest area of the empire is , , acres, and two-thirds bear pine, larch, and red and white fir. in a recent year the federal states made a net profit of $ , , from public lands and forests, and the entire profit from the german forests was estimated at $ , , . when one remembers that germany is less than the size of texas, and that from her forests alone, in one year, she received an income equal to more than one-tenth of our total national expenditure for that same year, the fact of our childish wastefulness is brought home to us, and makes a patriot feel that a gifford pinchot should be given a free hand. i can only write of the subject as one technically entirely ignorant, but that germany is a university of forestry is not only attested by the demand for her teachers in india, and in america, and elsewhere in the world, but by the condition of the forests themselves all over germany, which no traveller, from america at any rate, can fail to notice without surprise and delight. germany, like the rest of us, has been obliged to face the various social problems that arise from original sin, but which vote-getters are pleased to ascribe to industrial progress. in our country, with a population of some thirty to the square mile, while in the kingdom of saxony the density of the population is . to the square mile, it is hard to believe that we suffer from overcrowding so much as from overindulgence, wastefulness, and fussy legislation. none the less, we have institutions for the feeble-minded, schools and homes for the deaf and blind, hospitals for the insane, , refuge houses, , prisons, , hospitals, and , almshouses. we have , , annually who are cared for in homes and hospitals, , insane and feeble-minded, , blind or deaf, , prisoners, and , paupers in almshouses and out, and we spend each year about $ , , in taking care of them. we are as wasteful and careless in these matters as we have been until very lately in our forestry methods. in the early days of the empire germany undertook to deal with these social problems. the german empire took over some of the principles of socialism, but retained, and retains absolutely, the power of applying those principles. bismarck himself admitted that his advocacy of the industrial insurance laws was selfish. "my idea was to bribe the working classes, or shall i say to win them over, to regard the state as a social institution existing for their sake and interested in their welfare." whatever else may have resulted, discontent, whether well-founded or not, is not now under discussion, has not been lessened. in more than one-half of the electors voted "discontented" as over against the less than one-half who voted "contented." the mass of the people may be better clothed, better fed, better housed, better cared for in sickness and in old age, than formerly, but they are not satisfied. no state can go much further than germany has gone along the lines of state interference, guidance, and control of the personal affairs of its people, and nothing is more surprising about the whole matter than the general acceptance in america and in england of such legislation as having proved altogether successful. i doubt if any intelligent german considers these various pension schemes as altogether successful. i can vouch for it that many german statesmen make no such claims in private, whatever they may say in public. some of the barren figures, needing no comment, are of interest in this connection. the cost of insurance in germany has risen to over $ , a day, the total cost of state insurance exceeding $ , , a year at the present time, a fairly heavy tax upon small employers. in , of , decisions by the industrial unions, , were appealed against, and of the , arbitration judgments, , were appealed against. so difficult is it to settle to the claimant's satisfaction the amount of salve necessary for his particular wound when, as is true in these cases, the salve is a grant of money for a longer or shorter period! in there were, roughly, , accidents reported and , compensated, but as they became more thoroughly acquainted with the game, the figures rose in to , accidents and , compensations. the vast increase of the claims for trifling injuries is shown by the fact that in twenty years from to , despite the increase of the total compensation from $ , , to $ , , , the average compensation per accident fell from $ . to $ . . in the two years to the number of members of those state-insured increased by , , while the days of sickness increased by , , ! the cost of sickness insurance alone rose from $ , , in to $ , , in . the workmen's compensation act in england costs, for management, commission, legal and medical fees, $ , , a year, while the compensation paid out was $ , , . the insurance companies calculate that for every $ of compensation, the employers have paid $ ! it is becoming increasingly evident that the logical result of state charity, or call it state insurance to avoid controversy, over a large field, and including millions of beneficiaries and claimants, is that the army of officials, the expenses of administration, and the payments themselves must sooner or later break the back of the state morally, politically, and financially. it rapidly increases parasitism among the receivers; makes a powerful though indifferent army of state servants of the distributers; and loses financially to the state far more in expense of administration, and loss of useful labor of the army of civil servants, than it gains by the loss to the state of individual incapacity resulting in pauperism and invalidism, which must be cared for. to put it briefly, it is far more dangerous to the state to tell the individual that he shall be taken care of than to tell him that he must shift for himself. as for the effect upon the individual, it is a lowering medicine, making the patient gradually dependent upon the drug, and bringing him finally to the incurable invalidism of surly apathy. to change patrick henry's fiery peroration slightly: give me liberty or in the end you give me moral and political death. students of the various forms of this modern political nostrum, of getting rid of the fools who are rich by deceiving the fools who are poor, will remember the decree of the provisional government of the french republic in : "this government undertakes to guarantee the existence of the workman by work. it undertakes to guarantee work to every citizen." on march public works were started and , men employed. march saw , on the pay-rolls, most of them unoccupied because there was no suitable work. those not working received "inactivity pay" of a franc a day. the end of april saw , on the pay-rolls. in may a minister ventured to suggest that it was the workman's duty to work! there were murmurs of disapproval, but the public treasury was nearing bankruptcy, and on june an order was promulgated, that all of these workmen between the ages of seventeen and twenty-five were to enlist in the army. an insurrection followed this order that workmen should work, and , citizens were shot down in the streets, and another , were sent to penal colonies in algeria. the french are a logical people. the state promised suitable work; that always means, from the point of view of the worker, agreeable work, and not too fatiguing at that. of course, no such thing is possible, and the end was riot, murder, and penal servitude. the state can no more provide suitable and agreeable methods of livelihood for its citizens, than it can provide them with a duty-loving, unenvious, and honest disposition. as i have remarked elsewhere, the only thing that stands between state socialism and the instant solution of all our social problems is human nature! this mongrel demand for an artificial equality, is worse, because more degrading than any tyranny of church or state even. every man wants superiority and distinction for himself, he only wants equality, invisibility, and inarticulateness for others. when some such system as this is put to work in ireland, i shall envy every physician in ireland, for he will live in a joyous round of farces such as the world has never provided before for the lovers of the humorous. already ireland, with only , electors, out of a total of , , in the united kingdom, is represented in the house of commons by members out of the total of ; and out of the , old-age pensioners on the lists at the beginning of , ireland had , , and was drawing $ , , out of the total paid of $ , , , while the total population of ireland was , , , and of the rest of the united kingdom , , ! further, as an example of the slight value of education in the game of politics, out of the , illiterate voters in the united kingdom, ireland has , . long life to ireland for her gallant attack upon humbuggery with humbuggery! and this is, too, the little island that sent the wellesleys, the pallisers, the moores, the eyres, the cootes, the napiers, the wolseleys, and roberts to fight england's battles, and half the officers and privates who conquered india; which in the seven years' war furnished austria with her best generals (brown, lacy, o'donnell), and whose exiles, called the "wild geese," flocked to the standard of washington in . this is proof positive that they are not naturally a parasitic race. even in germany, where there is not a tithe of the impish humour that exists in ireland, the socialists have so misused the immense bureaucracy that must carry on the mere clerical work of insurance, that a new law passed the reichstag in june, , containing several hundred amendments. employers must now pay one-half instead of one-third of the sickness insurance premiums, which gives them one-half instead of one-third of the management authority. the management had degenerated into a mere game of politics, with the socialists in such disproportionate control that they were rapidly turning the insurance machinery into a well-organized body for the exploitation of their own political doctrines; and the employer and the state were helpless. it is, therefore, amusing to the man on the spot to find certain english writers offering as proof of the success of the insurance laws the fact that the socialists, who once opposed, are now satisfied with them. of course they are satisfied with them. they have had a war-chest and weapons put into their hands such as they have never had before. nor have these detailed parchment solutions of social questions done away with all the tramps, poor, sick, and destitute. over a million persons passed through the municipal night shelters in berlin during the last year; and there are still admittedly some , tramps in germany. the vicious circle is in evidence in germany as elsewhere. it might be possible to regulate men's earning power by legislation, but even when this colossal task is done, there must follow the regulation of the spending power to make it complete. what conceivable legislative regulation can efface the difference between what a, b, and c will get out of five dollars once they have them! that is the real problem, but no one proposes a solution of it. a will use his five dollars to make him more powerful, b will use his in dissipation, and c will lose his. how is that to be regulated? and without that regulation you will have rich men and tramps all over again. in urban and rural districts containing over , inhabitants, some $ , , was expended for sick and poor relief, and this does not include the hundreds of districts with fewer than , inhabitants for which there are no figures. even the wholly admirable elberfeld system of charity, known all over the world to charity-workers, which is, briefly, investigation of cases by voluntary workers personally and privately, and each dealing with a small number, has not solved the problem. there were , strikes in germany in , and , in . in , , industrial plants were affected, in which , persons were employed, and , plants were obliged to shut down entirely. there were as many as , persons on strike at the same time. in there were also , lock-outs, affecting , plants and , persons. here again, as in the case of the temperament of the german people, one must look deeper than the average traveller has the time or the necessary experience back of him to do, in order to see and to sift the facts. scores of travellers have told me: "i have never seen a tramp, a beggar, a drunken man in germany." i can only reply that i have seen tramps at large, and colonies of them besides; that i have seen hundreds of the poverty-stricken and diseased; that there are more than thirty drunkards' homes in germany; and that between and the number of persons under treatment for alcoholism had increased from , to , , an increase of per cent.; the cases of heart disease and rheumatism increased by per cent.; while the total population had increased per cent. there are , patients admitted to the public and private lunatic asylums of germany, and there are accommodations in public and private hospitals for , , in-patients passing through them in the year; in , , persons were tried before the courts of first instance and convicted, of whom , were between twelve and eighteen years of age; and in the same year there were , illegitimate births and , suicides, or . per , of the population. the poor law authorities state that the cost to the empire of alcoholism in all its forms of poverty, crime, and disease amounts to some $ , , a year. in germany consumed , million gallons of malt liquors, the united states, , million gallons; of beer we consumed . gallons and germany . gallons per capita. germany's drink bill even ten years ago was $ , , for beer, $ , , for spirits, and $ , , for wine. there is a wine, beer, or spirit dealer in berlin for every of the inhabitants, men, women, and children. it has always been the avowed policy of autocracies to atone for the lack of political freedom by lax regulations in regard to moral matters. the citizen is imprisoned for insulting the state, but he may insult his own person by dissipation up to any limit, this side of disorderliness in public. drinking, gambling, and other forms of vice are provided for the citizens of berlin comfortably and, comparatively speaking, cheaply. lotteries are sanctioned by all the states, and they use this incentive to the worst form of gambling for all sorts of purposes, from repairing churches to building patriotic monuments, and replenishing the treasury. this is by no means an attack upon germany or upon german methods in these matters; probably both in america and in england we are worse off in these respects than are they, but unprejudiced people will agree that it is high time to learn that not even german methods have solved these complicated and heatedly argued questions of social reform. germany, due to its compactness and well-drilled and subservient population, should succeed if any nation can, for social legislation has never been in stronger or wiser hands or more admirably and honestly administered. in america such opportunities offered to the on-politics-living big and little bosses would lead swiftly to anarchy. we have laws enough now, but the baser politicians protect our city tramps, our gunmen, our decadents, our incendiaries against our elected magistrates, in order that they may keep ready to hand, and increase, the raw material of a purchasable vote, by the domination and protection of which they keep themselves in power. that is the whole secret of our municipal misgovernment wherever it exists, and also the reason for our barbarous crimes. we have a cowed magistracy seeking re-election from the manipulators of the purchasable voters. the truth is that the sacculina method of social reform is nowhere a success, certainly not in germany. the sacculina is a crustacean. it attaches itself in the form of a simple sac to the crab, into which its blood-vessels extend. it loses its power of locomotion and its limbs disappear. it lives at the expense of the crab; activity is not necessary, and it becomes the highest type of parasite, with no organs except ovaries and blood-vessels. it can propagate, but has lost all power or desire to do anything else. we have succeeded in producing no small number of people of the sacculina type by playing social and political crab for them, and we are on the way to produce more, until the crab is exhausted and the sacculina is shaken into the water to sink or swim for himself. "charity causes half the suffering she relieves, but she can never relieve half the suffering she causes. compulsory insurance was tried in the practical and economical swiss city of basle and given up, because it was found that each year it was the same small class who reaped the benefit of the insurance. the crab gained nothing and the sacculina became rapidly impotent. basle, if i mistake not, will have imitators, inclined to the philosophy of frederick the great, who was surely no enemy to rational progress, but who once said: "depuis bien longtemps je suis convaincu qu'un mal qui reste vaut mieux qu'un bien qui change." a good deal of modern legislation is due to fatigue, and some of the rest to ill-founded apprehension, that unless there is a change of some kind the masters of the legislators will discharge them, because they do not furnish enough novelties. in the meantime nobody is bold enough to proclaim to the restless ones, seeking ever some new thing, that there is nothing original except what has been forgotten. the originality of such students of history, and panderers to majorities, as the leaders of the discontented in england, germany and in america, dates back to about the time of the fall of pericles and the athenian republic. the cry of "discontent" has become a fetich among unthinking politicians. we are all, thank god, discontented, and a poor lot we should be if we were not. the workingman's discontent has been over-emphasized, for the reason that what he demands is material, ponderable, for sale, easy to see, and not far out of the reach of one's hand. he wants more rooms, more meat, more tobacco, more beer, more leisure. i am glad he does want them, and let me say just once, in answer to my detractors along these lines, that the workingman has no heartier champion than am i. i applaud his discontent just as i cherish my own, for "it is precisely this that keeps us all alive!" it is just because i wish him well that every ounce of my influence and experience are his, to open his eyes to the demagogues who fatten upon him, fool him, rope him, throw him and brand him, as they have done in germany, as they are attempting to do in england, and as they will shortly begin to do in america. state socialism means slavery for him, with an army of officials living on him. he will be given so much bread, and beer, and meat, and tobacco; so much music, theatre, and literature; and there will grow up an army whose business it will be to keep him in order, and to cut him down if he revolts, as was done by the police in one of the suburbs of berlin not long ago. the german workman is already so entangled in the ropes of insurance, so harried by petty officials, so branded by the police, and he has permitted to increase such a host of guardians, that revolt or revolution is practically impossible. counting the army, navy, and officials, there are said to be three million officials, great and small in germany; and there are fourteen million electors, or, roughly, one policeman to every five adults. and those three million policemen, armed with lethal and legal weapons, are inflexibly and unalterably for no change. does the workingman ever stop to think that those officials draw salaries amounting to something like $ , , , a year, and is he still fool enough to think that he does not pay those salaries to these slave-drivers! i have said that the population is well fed, well clothed, and well looked after. of course they are. no slave-owner so maltreats his slaves that they cannot work for him! but is man fed by bread alone, even in the sugared form of music and theatricals? if the socialist pygmalion ever succeeds in bringing his statue to life, how she will scorn him, hate his suffocating environment, wish for the wealth and softness he cannot give, desert him, begging to return to her marble tomb again. long life to discontent, say i; but is the workingman such a fool that his eyes are not opened when a man of bismarck's way of thinking, when an autocrat like the emperor have favored state socialism! does he not see that socialism is the neatest hangman of them all to strangle his discontent! does he not see the demagogue gradually assuming the features and the powers of the tyrant! tyranny is not alone the prerogative of an aristocracy. "it is the place of a court to make its servants insignificant. if the people should fall into the same humor, and should choose their servants on the same principles of mere obsequiousness and flexibility, and total vacancy and indifference of opinion in all public matters, then no party of the state will be sound, and it will be vain to think of saving it." thus writes burke, the champion of our american revolt against his own country. the electors, now so flattered by the smooth phrases of their tyrants disguised as liberators, will one day be aghast to find themselves in a veritable house of correction paid for from their own savings. they will have learnt then, at last, that you cannot get rid of the fools who are rich by deceiving the fools who are poor; and corporalism will be found to be a harsher, fussier, a more meddlesome and a more indifferent tyrant than even feudalism. even at the krupp works at essen, and the various branches elsewhere, where there is the most elaborate combination of lady bountiful and successful business anywhere in the world, men are not satisfied. if they are not contented there, then nowhere in this world will the workingman be contented. the krupp business employs some , persons. in the particular essen works, for a hundred years, there has never been a strike, though others of their employees elsewhere have used the strike. though the cadburys and levers and taylors, in england, the armours, the united states steel corporation, the national cash register company, the procter and gamble company, the general electric company, and others in america, and the famous and successful adoption of co-operation in monsieur godin's iron foundry at guise, in france, have worked along the lines of recognition of their workmen's right to participate in the profits, there is nothing on such an elaborate scale as at essen, under the regime of the krupps. from to the krupps spent, for beneficial institutions of all kinds, $ , , , or per cent. of the dividends during that time. i have passed many hours at essen, and seen thoroughly, from cellar to attic, this truly noble institution for the comfortable and safe guardianship of men, women, and children who are at the same time factors in a huge and successful industrial enterprise. there are schools, technical schools, hospitals, convalescent homes, a library with , volumes, theatre, orchestra, band, lectures, concerts, pension and insurance funds, lodgings for bachelors, tenements and dwellings for married people, separate cottages for widows and widowers too old for work, and every opportunity, with a high rate of interest, for saving. there is in existence a co-operative store, as well managed as the co-operative stores at tuxedo park, and with much the same system of rebates. there are bathing facilities, gymnasium, a boat club, a system of providing hot meals from a central kitchen, reading-rooms and smoking-rooms. there is invested, not including the value of the land, which has risen enormously in value, over $ , , in houses for the working-people, the return on the money being about / per cent. it would require volumes--indeed, two bulky volumes were issued last year by the company to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the foundation of the krupp works--to describe merely the machinery for making the people comfortable. in the krupps exhibited at the exposition in london the first cannon made of cast steel; now they turn out more shells and shrapnel in a week than were used at the whole battle of königgrätz (sadowa), which lasted from eight o'clock in the morning till four o'clock in the afternoon on july , . the queen of this, the greatest factory of destructive agencies in the world, is a gentle madonna-faced lady who might well pose for a statue of peace, and whose loveliness is a mirror of the countless and untiring benefactions with which the people who work here are surrounded. both the powers and the people of germany may well be proud of the krupps, for if sane beneficence were to be raised to the rank of statehood this great colony would well deserve the honor. the gross profits for the last year were $ , , , half of which was written off and the rest devoted to the reserve, to dividends, and to contributions to the invalid and pension funds of the employees, which now amount to $ , , . the employees also have on deposit with the management $ , , . the contribution of the krupps to the workmen's state-insurance fund amounted, in , to $ , , . the krupp family is rich, but what would their wealth have been had they practised the gobbling and juggling financial methods of ----; but i will not pillory my own countrymen by name, for, after all, our political methods have made them, and not they themselves. the german manufacturer has been at a disadvantage, too, for several reasons, and this may well be noted as one of germany's problems. she has not the deposits of coal that have made england rich, nor the wonderful soil of america, from which alone we take $ , , , every year, nor france's population, now at a standstill, and which can feed itself off its own soil. she has been a large borrower of capital to finance her enormous expansion of industry and commerce, and, above all, the gold supply of the world, which in the last resort is the foundation of credit, is not in her hands, nor can it be so long as british and american fleets keep the ocean highways over which that gold travels. the world's gold output in was $ , , ; of this $ , , came from the transvaal; $ , , from the united states; $ , , from australia; $ , , from russia; $ , , from mexico; $ , , from rhodesia, india, and canada; and $ , , from central and south america, or $ , , , of the total output of $ , , , from countries which in time of war would be unlikely to ship gold to germany. more than one half the output comes from the british empire alone. to those who are satisfied with the easy answer to the reason for the increased cost of living, that the output of gold has increased, it must be puzzling to learn that of the total output, in round numbers, of $ , , , $ , , is used in the arts and manufactures and $ , , goes to india, where it is buried and hoarded, and $ , , is retained in the united states for currency and other purposes. in spite of the fact that the gold output of the world doubled between and , and nearly doubled again between and , money is dear, and is likely to be so long as present conditions last. the reason for the higher cost of living is to be found in the movement of the population, from the dulness of the plough to the sprightliness of the cinematograph. this choice every freeman has a right to make for himself, but the trouble arises when the politician comes forward and pays his admission to the cinematograph entertainment, out of the public funds, in order to get his vote. the man who does not leave the plough under those conditions is either a fool or a saint, and the percentage of the growth of cities is a fair measure of their relative numbers. the increased cost of living is the result, not of too much gold, but of too little labor on the land, and this is due, in turn, to the voluptuous rhetoric of the political street-walkers, whose promises of pleasure are as illegitimate as they are impossible of fulfilment. a debtor nation like germany is highly sensitive to these conditions, and just as she is overcoming, by her splendid success as a manufacturing nation this problem, she is met by increased and ever-increasing rivalry. america, in , exported $ , , of manufactures; in only $ , , ; but in , $ , , ; and in , $ , , , . we now have in america , manufacturing plants employing , , people, with an annual pay-roll of $ , , , and producing every twelve months $ , , , worth of goods. the total value of exports and imports of japan thirty years ago was $ , , , or cents per capita; in the figures were $ , , , or $ per capita. england during the years and surpassed all previous figures both for exports and imports. germany's rivals, it is thus seen, have not been idle. the agricultural population of germany in was in the ; it is now less than one third. in , after a bad year for the farmers, germany was obliged to pay out some $ , , more than usual for food. the total loans of the german banks on industrial securities rose from $ , , in to $ , , in , and bankers themselves admit that germany has fallen into the error of seeking and accepting credit far beyond the value of the capital that they have to work with. still more dangerous is the fact that per cent. of the savings-bank moneys of germany is locked up in mortgages. in , new companies were formed in germany, issuing $ , , in securities; in , new companies issued $ , , of securities; in , new companies issued $ , , of securities. in , companies increased their capital by $ , , . in there were , companies in germany with a nominal capital of $ , , , . it is estimated that since there has been invested in industrial companies in germany $ , , , . it is to be said also that since german agricultural production has doubled, german industrial production increased sevenfold, and germany is said to have $ , , , in her savings-banks. the value of imports for home consumption, exclusive of the precious metals, in was $ , , , ; the value of the exports of home produce, exclusive of the precious metals, was $ , , , . it is a quaint result of her temperament and her good forestry, that germany sells $ , , worth of toys a year; she is veritably the workshop of santa claus, and many more than , , children would bless her did they know. german financiers affirm that she can stand alone financially, while others assert that one sixth of her capital, i have heard it placed at one third, is borrowed from france and england. it is certain at least that the american panic of , and the recent war in the near east, have seriously embarrassed germany financially. as germany can only feed, even in good harvest years, forty-eight or forty-nine millions of her people, a large proportion of her profits from industry must necessarily go to the purchase of food for the other sixteen or seventeen millions. the consumption of meat has increased among all classes in germany, and both the demands of the individual and of the state have increased with the increased wealth of the country. in prussia alone the number of those subject to income tax has increased from , , in to , , in ; but the taxes have increased as well, or from $ , , to $ , , , . in the endeavor to increase the manufacturing output and to find new markets german credit has been stretched to a dangerous tenuity. while the war feeling was at its height the kölnische zeitung, a conservative and able journal, wrote: "in case of war both france and germany will be obliged to borrow; but it is certain that the credit of germany cannot as yet be compared with the credit of france: this is a strong guarantee of peace." wermuth, said by impartial judges to be the ablest secretary of the treasury the german empire has had in a quarter of a century, resigned in , on the general ground that he would not be responsible for the finances of the empire, if it was proposed to continue the constant increase of national expenditure, by a constant increase of borrowing, and an ever-increasing amount of interest-bearing liabilities. he must have smiled to himself when an imperial issue at four per cent. put out in february, , was not only not over-subscribed but not even all taken. unlike the french, who invest their savings small and large in national loans, the germans neglect even their own national loans, preferring the higher returns for their investments from the innumerable industries launched in modern germany; so pronounced is this form of investment, that a director of the deutsche bank has warned his countrymen, that every month's profits are no sooner gained than they are put out again in new enterprises, either by the individuals themselves, or by the banks in which they are deposited. as a result, the liquid capital at the disposal of germany is dangerously out of proportion to her borrowings and her working capital. it shows a fine confidence in the future, and it proves what needs no proof: the immense industrial and commercial progress, and the immense sea-carrying trade of germany. germany is like a man with $ , in the bank to check upon, but doing business with $ , of borrowed capital, upon which he must pay interest, and out of which he must take his running expenses. such a one has no provision for a bad year, and must depend upon more credit in case of trouble; and in the case of germany, it may be added, his personal and family expenses have largely increased. the german imperial debt had increased during the first twenty-two years of the present emperor's reign, or from to , by $ , , , , and of that sum some $ , , were added in the ten years from to , when germany was building her fleet. between the years and the total export trade of germany increased by $ , , , but the whole of the increase was due to the heavier forms of manufactures: machinery, iron ware, coal-tar dyes, iron wire, steel rails, and raw iron. the increasing competition is shown by the fact that during those same years her exports of the finer manufactures, such as cotton and woollen goods, clothing, gold and silver ware, porcelain, maps, prints, and the like, actually decreased by $ , , ! i am not maintaining for a moment that these problems are peculiar to germany, but merely that, owing to the rapid progress, they are aggravated, and that to point out germany as a model of successful achievement, along these and other lines, in order to bolster up political cure-alls at home, is a betrayal of crass ignorance of the general internal situation of the country, and once such prejudiced pleaders are found out, the rebound will go too far the other way. that were a pity, too, for we have much to learn from germany. the $ , , in gold in the julius tower at spandau, called the war-chest, and the income from railroads, forests, and mines, are to be put down on the other side of the ledger, but as a year's war, it is calculated, would cost france, england, or germany some $ , , , each, these sums are of negligible importance. the prussian railways cost $ , , , , and are now valued at twice that sum, and pay an average of seven per cent. on the invested capital. maintenance costs are included in the total annual expenses, and there is no, so it is claimed, actual depreciation. of the net revenue of $ , , in , about $ , , are transferred to the state revenue, out of which all charges of the state, including interest on bonds, are paid. the rest is used for new construction, sinking funds, reserve funds, and so on. the report of the interstate commerce commission of - states that there are nearly $ , , , of railway capital outstanding in america. there are , miles of single track in the united states; , locomotives, , for freight, and a total of , , cars of all kinds; and the railways carried in one year , , passengers and , , , tons of freight. in , persons were killed, but, what is often forgotten, more than one half the total accidents were due to stealing rides and trespassing on the tracks. the railways in the united states are our largest purchasers by far, and for every dollar they earn cents is spent in wages, cents for material, raw or manufactured, before anything is given out for interest on loans or dividends. a first-class ticket in germany is taxed per cent. on the price of the ticket; a second-class ticket, per cent.; a third-class ticket, per cent.; the fourth-class ticket, nothing. crowded and uncomfortable travelling in germany is cheap; comfortable travelling in germany is very dear indeed. the herding of people in the fourth- class carriages in germany resembles our cattle-cars rather than transportation for human beings. such conditions would not be tolerated in america, but against these state-owned railways there is no redress. no luggage, except hand luggage, is carried free. not once, but many times in germany, my first-class ticket found me no accommodation, and often in changing from the main line to a branch line not even a first-class compartment. shippers in the coal and iron districts, when i was there, complained bitterly that there were not enough freight-cars, that their complaints were smothered in bureaucratic portfolios, and that private enterprise in the shape of proposals to build new lines was disregarded. the tyranny of prussia extends even into the railway field. the oderberg-wien line was built to avoid using the saxon state railway lines, was a spite railway in fact. here again there was no redress, no one to appeal to against the autocrat. in a debate in the reichstag, in january, , there was much complaint that the prussian government was conducting the railways with the least possible outlay, thus saving money for the state, but hampering the industrial interests of the country. it was stated that there were not enough engines or freight-cars, there was an inadequate staff, and that as a consequence, the loss to the coal industry had been $ , , and to the coal-miners $ , , . on the state-owned railways of the west of france the break-down is ludicrously complete, and the people are staggered by the official estimates that it will require at least $ , , to put them in decent running order. in twenty years the american railways have practically been rebuilt, with heavier rails, better bridges, more permanent stations, and so on; while twenty years ago it cost a passenger . cents to travel a mile, to-day it costs him . cents. we need a lot of bustling about abroad before we realize how much we have to be grateful for at home! probably the most costly and the most troublesome of germany's problems is her conquered provinces: hanover, schleswig-holstein, alsace-lorraine, and poland. hanover, which was taken by prussia and her king deposed, is nowadays a minor matter of the relations between courts, individuals, and families, which may be said to be settled by the arranged marriage between the kaiser's charming daughter and the heir to the duke of cumberland, whose ancestors were kings of hanover. the danes, on the other hand, in the northern part of these provinces, still resist prussianization. they keep to themselves and their language, send their children to school in denmark, and resist all attempts at social and racial incorporation. they are troublesome, as an independent and surly daughter-in-law might be troublesome. alsace-lorraine and posen, on the contrary, are outspoken and potentially dangerous foes in germany's own household. in bismarck said: "alsace-lorraine will be placed on an equality with the other german states, so that the people may be induced to forget, in a comparatively short time, the trouble and distress of the war and of annexation." in , a loyal alsatian german writes: "das elsass, dies jungstgeborene kind der deutschen völkerfamilie, braucht etwas mehr liebe." forty years of prussian rule have not fulfilled the promise of bismarck. this same alsatian writer continues: "in short, we are approaching ever nearer to the condition of the citizens of all the other german states, as baden, saxony, bavaria, where they are also not always of one mind with the higher ruling powers." it is difficult for the american, who, no matter what particular state he lives in, is first of all a citizen of the united states, to understand this jealousy and, in some quarters, bitter dislike of prussia. if the state of new york had sixty million of our ninety million population, and if the governor of new york were also perpetual president of the united states, commanded the army and navy, controlled the foreign policy, and appointed the cabinet ministers, who were responsible to him alone, we could get an approximate idea of how the people of virginia, massachusetts, illinois, and california would feel toward new york. this is a rough-drawn comparison with the situation in germany. if, in addition, we had the philippine islands where maine is, and cuba where texas is, it is easy to recognize the consequent complications. we should remember this picture in dealing with this german problem, which, at any rate, from the point of view of kindly feeling and successful adoption of these foreign peoples into the german family, has been a dire failure. the miserable failure of the germans in southwest africa, their inconclusive war with the herreros, and the absolute break-down of prussian methods with the natives, is scarcely more typical than the failure in alsace-lorraine and poland. the prussian belief in sand-paper as an emollient must be by now rudely shaken. at last a constitution has been given the two conquered provinces. the governor is to be advised by a parliament, but the government is not responsible to the parliament, which is composed of two houses. the upper house has thirty-six members, eighteen of whom are nominees of the emperor and eighteen from the churches, universities, and principal cities. the lower house is to be elected by popular franchise. three years' residence in the same place entitles a man to a vote, but every voter over thirty-five years of age has two votes, and every voter over forty-five has three votes. this, as an american can appreciate, has not been received with enthusiasm, and their conduct has been so provoking that the emperor, during a recent visit, scolded the people, in an interview with the mayor of a certain town, and, what caused great amusement among the enemies of prussia, threatened to incorporate them into prussia, as had been done with hanover, if they were not better behaved. this, of course, was seized upon as an admission that to be taken into the prussian family was of all the hardships the most dreadful. the socialist journal vorwärts spoke of prussia as "that brutal country which thus openly confesses its dishonor to all the world." herr scheidemann asked in the reichstag, if prussia then acknowledged herself to be a sort of house of correction, and "has prussia, then, become the german siberia?" in the reichstag gave the provinces three votes in the federal council. metz, it is said, is more french than ever, and thousands troop across the boundaries on the anniversary of the french national holiday, to celebrate it on french soil. the conquered provinces are kept in order, but the french language, french customs, french culture, are still to the fore, and so far as loyalty, affection, or a change of mind and heart is concerned the conversion is still incomplete. the inhabitants have been baptized germans, but very few of them have taken voluntarily, their first communion of nationalization. "on changerait plutôt le coeur de place, que de changer la vieille alsace." the german, karl lamprecht, in his valuable history of contemporary germany, is more hopeful of the situation than are other writers and observers. professor werner wittich maintains that the best of the intellectual side of life in alsace is impregnated with french culture and traditions; and even german officers long stationed in the two conquered provinces admit the stubborn allegiance of the people to french customs, habits, beliefs, and traditions. but however that may be, and it is admittedly a question that different prejudices and hopes will answer differently, there is no denial on the part of any one, high or low, that the prussian bureaucratic mandarins have made no progress in winning the affection or the voluntary loyalty of the people. the prussian has had recourse to the advice given by prince billow, "if you cannot be loved, then you must be feared." a friend who is only a friend, an ally who is only an ally, a servant who only serves you because he is afraid of you, is not only an uncomfortable but a dangerous factor in any establishment, whether domestic or national. corporalism, begun by frederick the great and fastened upon germany by bismarck, has had its successes. i recognized them, indeed, on returning to germany after twenty-five years, as astounding successes, but they have their weak side too. a barracks can never be the ideal of a home, nor a corporal the ideal of a guide, philosopher, and friend. their own philosopher nietzsche writes: "the state is the coldest of all cold monsters." joseph de maistre, writing of the slav temperament, says: "si on enterrait un désir slave sous une forteresse, il la ferait sauter." germany has some reason to believe that this is true. in the northeast of germany live some , , poles under prussian supervision and laws, and ruled by a prussian governor. there are some , , or , , poles divided between russia, austria-hungary, and prussia, and behind these are , , russians. the boundary between this mass and germany is one of sand; and the railway journey from posen to berlin, is a matter of only four hours. if we were in germany's shoes, we should probably take some pains to be well guarded in that quarter. we should, however, do it in quite another fashion. we should, if possible, turn over the inhabitants to their own governing, as england has done in south africa, as we have tried to do in cuba, and as we would do gladly in the philippines, if every intelligent man who knows the situation there, were not assured that robbery, murder, and license would follow on the heels of our departure; and that instead of doing a magnanimous thing we should be shirking our responsibilities in the most cowardly fashion. it is bad enough to know, that we have such cynical political sophists in congress, that they would even suffer that catastrophe to innocent people in the philippines, if they thought it would make them votes at home. prussia does not recognize such methods of ruling. corporalism is their only way, and, where the people are fit to govern themselves, a very bad and humiliating way, for the eden of the bureaucrat is the hell of the governed. if the germans approve it for themselves, it is not our business to comment; but where these methods are applied to foreign peoples, we both anticipate and applaud their failure. the insurrections in russian and austrian poland, had their echoes in posen, and since prussia has tried in every way to substitute germans for poles, in the country, and to make the german language predominant in the churches, schools, and in the administration. the poles have resisted, emphasizing their resistance in , when they were included in the north german federation, and again in , when they were included in the new german empire. the emperor william i, in , said: "the increasing predominance of the polish over the german element in certain provinces of the east makes it a duty of the government to guarantee the existence and the development of the german population." since the poles have increased so much faster than the germans that there is danger of complete extermination of the german population. in the grandson of william i, the present emperor, said at marienburg: "polish arrogance is unbearable, and i am obliged to appeal to my people to defend themselves against it, for the preservation of their national well-being. it is a question of the defence of the civilization and the culture of germany. to-day and to-morrow, as in the past, we must fight against the common enemy." this speech of the emperor was made at marienburg, a fine old town, once very prosperous, and in the days of the wars of the roses playing a conspicuous part with the other hanseatic towns. this town was also the head and seat of the teutonic order, and it was this teutonic order which, in , began the work of converting the then heathen prussians, along lines not unlike those of the prussian ansiedlungskommission of to-day. prussia has attempted to solve this question by establishing a government in the province, pledged to the introduction of the german language, and so far as possible of german manners and customs. this has been met with fierce opposition, and never have i heard in the colonies of other countries, except in korea, under the present japanese administration, such fanatical hatred, expressed in words, as i have heard in posen. if you dislike prussia, do not attempt to revile her yourself; rather go to posen and hear it done in a far more satisfying way. the religious question enters largely into the matter, and the ignorant poles are even taught that the virgin mary, or the "polish queen," will not understand their intercessions if they are not made in the polish language. in there was one polish newspaper in germany, to-day there are . from to the ansiedlungskommission or committee of colonization, have spent $ , , , and have received $ , , , leaving a net expenditure of $ , , . this large expenditure has resulted in the settlement upon the land of , families, or about , persons. the total number settled is now , persons. each male adult german settler has cost the state something over $ , ! this is probably the most extravagant colonization scheme ever attempted in the world. but even this expenditure has not brought success, and for a very interesting reason. again the germans have been remarkably successful in their dealings with the inanimate, but the arcana imperii are still hidden from them. they have redeemed the land, taught the poles, as well as the german settlers, how to farm successfully; largely increased the output of grain, fruit, pigs, calves, chickens, geese, and eggs, for which germany spends several hundred millions a year abroad; and seen to it that the breed of cows, pigs, horses, chickens, and geese is kept at a high standard. but now the poles will sell no more land. they have profited, not been ruined, by what has come out of the belly of the trojan horse! the commission is at a standstill, and it is now proposed to enforce the prussian law of for the expropriation of polish estates. this law was overwhelmingly defeated in the reichstag in february, , but the chancellor von bethmann-hollweg declared that it was an affair of prussia, with which the reichstag has nothing to do, and the sand-paper of the prussian bureaucracy will probably be rubbed upon the polish wound anew. this attempt to build a line of moral and intellectual forts, supplemented by german settlers, on the land between russia and prussia, and to stop the inrush of the slavic population, has ample excuse behind it. it is undoubtedly in case of war a serious danger to germany to leave herself unguarded there. as to what will come of the social and racial questions, prophecy alone can answer, and i have far too much imagination to venture upon prophecy. the care and thoroughness with which the work is done is beyond all praise, but it is as difficult to make your brother love you by taking thought thereon, as it is to add a cubit to one's stature by the same method. professor ludwig bernhard, while regretting that this attempt at germanization has not succeeded, admits that prussian methods are hopeless in such matters. they have, on the contrary, awakened national feeling, encouraged the forming of agricultural societies, and strengthened the bank of posen, which has become the financial citadel of opposition. professor bernhard goes so far as to say that he doubts if even the putting into force of the expropriation law of will bring about any better results. to an american this lack of unity seems to be perhaps of exaggerated importance. wir brauchen nicht diese nordlichter (we do not need these northern luminaries), is a phrase of a certain bavarian official, and in lower or louder tones one hears the phrase all over germany outside of prussia, and loudest of all in these conquered provinces. to legislate men into mechanical relations with one another may keep the peace temporarily, but it is not a final solution of the intricate problem of living together in our huddled civilization. the day has gone by when we could rule men without gaining at least their respect, and if possible their affection. prussia's stiffness and newness as a governing power; her lack of a high moral or religious tone, for there is a rapidly increasing tendency there to agree with the writer during the french revolution: la question de dieu man que d'actualité; her hard and inflexible methods, make her a churlish neighbor and an arrogant master. in forty years prussia has accomplished great things despite these disadvantages of temperament, of tradition, and despite these external dangers and problems. she is learning now that there are not only individuals but whole peoples who say, as william the conqueror said to the pope: "never have i taken an oath of fealty, nor shall i ever do so." x "from envy, hatred, and malice" it has always been considered sound doctrine among christians that they should love one another. vigorous exponents of the doctrine, however, have ever been few in numbers. as the world gets more crowded, and we find it more and more difficult to make room for ourselves, and to get a living, we find antagonisms and defensive tactics, occupying so much of our time and energy that loving one another is almost lost sight of. it has been found necessary even among those of the same nation to legislate for love. we call such laws, with dull contempt for irony, social legislation. in germany, and now in england, the modern sacrament of loving one another consists in licking stamps; these stamps are then stuck on cards, which bind the brethren together in mutual and adhesive helpfulness. with nations the problem is not so easily and superficially solved; because no one body of legislators and police has jurisdiction over all the parties concerned. as a result of this just now in europe, wisdom is not the arbiter; on the contrary, prejudices, passions, indiscretions, and follies on the part of all the antagonists preserve a certain dangerous equipoise. after you have seen something and heard a great deal of these antagonisms between nations; read their newspapers; talked with the protagonists and with their rulers, and with the responsible servants of the state; discussed with professors and legislators these questions; and listened to the warriors on both sides, you are somewhat bewildered. there are so many reasons why this one should distrust that one, so many rather unnatural alliances for protection against one another, so much friendship of the sort expressed by the phrase, "on aime toujours quelqu'un contre quelqu'un," so much suspicious watching the movements of one another, that one is reminded of the jingle of one's youth: "there's a cat in the garden laying for a rat, there's a boy with a catapult a-laying for the cat, the cat's name is susan, the boy's name is jim. and his father round the corner is a-laying for him." even to the youngest of us, and to the most inexperienced, this betokens a strained situation. the first and most natural result is that each nation's "watchmen who sit above in an high tower," whether they be the professionals selected by the people or merely amateur patriots, are forever crying out for greater armaments. at the time of the boxer troubles in china, when germany sent some ships to demand reparation for the murder of her ambassador in peking, she had only two ships left at home to guard her own shores. when all england was exasperated by the boer telegram sent by the kaiser, or, if the truth is to be told, by his advisers, the late baron marshal von bieberstein and prince hohenlohe, to president kruger, official germany lamented publicly that she lacked a powerful navy. only a week after the boers declared war the kaiser is reported to have said: "bitter is our need of a strong navy." germany has noticed, too, not without suspicion, that-- in england had , tons of warships in the mediterranean and none in the north sea. in england had , tons of warships in the mediterranean and , tons in the north sea. in england had , tons of warships in the mediterranean and , tons in the north sea. in england had , tons of warships in the mediterranean and , tons in the north sea. at last accounts england had , tons of war-ships in the mediterranean and , tons in the north sea. there has been a steady increase of the navy in germany. in the tonnage of war-ships and large cruisers over , tons was , ; in it was , . the number of heavy guns in was ; in it was . the horse-power of engines in was , ; in it was , , . the naval crews in numbered , ; in , , ; and in the german naval personnel will consist of , officers and , men. between and the tonnage of the british fleet increased from , to , , ; of the german fleet from , to , . in ten years british naval expenditure has increased from $ , , to $ , , ; in germany the expenditure has jumped from $ , , to $ , , ; in america the increase is from $ , , to $ , , . out of these total sums great britain spends one third, america one fifth, and germany one half on new construction. germany has a navy league numbering over one million active and honorary members; a periodical, die flotte, published by the league with a circulation of over , . this league not only educates but excites the whole nation by a vigorous campaign which never ceases. it takes its members on excursions to seaports to see the ships; it holds exhibitions throughout the country with pictures and lecturers; it supports seamen's homes, and helps to equip boys wishing to enter the navy; it lends its encouragement to the two school-ships which are partly supported from public funds; it sees to it that war-ships are named after provinces and cities, creating a friendly rivalry among them; and lately, out of its surplus funds, it has presented a gun-boat to the nation. the leading spirit of this organization is admiral von tirpitz, at present the german secretary of the navy and probably the most dangerous mischief-maker in europe. in addition to this work a campaign is waged in the press for the increase of the navy, in which a number of experts are engaged. i have been told by germans who ought to know, but who deprecate this exciting campaigning, that the press is so largely influenced by admiral von tirpitz and his corps of press-agents and writers, that it is even difficult to procure the publication of a protest or a reply. indeed, were it my habit to go into personal matters, i could offer ample proof of this contention, that the opponents of naval expansion are cleverly shut out of the press altogether. wilhelmshafen, the naval station on the north sea, has been fortified till it is said to be impregnable; the same has been done for heligoland, and the mouths of the elbe and the weser have also been strongly fortified. at kiel are the naval technical school, an arsenal, and dry and floating docks, and the canal itself is being widened and deepened to meet the needs of the largest ships of war. when it is remembered that the beginnings of all this date back only to , when the first navy bill was passed through the reichstag with much difficulty, and only after the emperor and his ministers had brought every influence to bear upon the members, germany is certainly to be congratulated upon her success. nor is she to be blamed for remembering, and regretting, that the two most important harbors used by her trade are antwerp and rotterdam, the one in belgium, the other in holland. the kielerwoche, or kiel regatta, has grown from the sailing-matches of a few small yachts into one of the best-managed, most picturesque, and gayest yachting weeks in the world. indeed, from the stand-point of hospitality, orderliness, imposing array of shipping, and good racing and friendliness to the stranger, i am not sure that it is equalled at either newport or cowes. were i writing merely from my personal experience, i should declare unhesitatingly that it is the most splendid and best-managed picnic on the water that one can attend, and lovers of yachts and yachting should not fail to see it. this kielerwoche, too, has, and is intended to have, an influence in teaching the germans to aid and abet their emperor and his ministers in making germany a great sea power. when a nation for more than a hundred years has been quite comfortably safe from any fear of attack because she has been easily first in commerce, wealth, industry, and in sea power, it comes as a shock, even to a phlegmatic people, to learn that they are being rapidly overhauled commercially, financially, industrially, and as a fighting force on the sea; and all this within a few years. england with her money subsidies, with her troops, and with her navy has heretofore provided against continental aggression by the diplomatic philosophy of a balance of power. she has arranged her alliances with continental powers so that no one of them could become a menace to herself. she did so against the spain of charles v, the france of louis xiv, the france of napoleon, the russia of the late czar, and now against the germany of william ii. the france of the great napoleon, in attempting to complete the commercial isolation of england by compelling russia to close her ports to her, buried herself in snow and ice on the way back from moscow, and delivered herself up completely a little later at waterloo. that was the nearest to success of any attempt to break through the doctrine of the balance of power. in the year a. d. the catholic church, which took over the roman supremacy to translate it into a spiritual empire, accepted a german emperor, charlemagne, as her man-at-arms. one hundred and fifty years later she accepted still another, otto i. this partnership was called the holy roman empire. it has been noted, but is still misunderstood, that the difference between the catholic church before and after the reformation was very marked. the catholic church claimed to be not only a system of belief but a system of government. infallibility was to include secular as well as religious matters, and the church strove to rule as a secular emperor and as a spiritual tyrant. to-day roman catholicism is a sect, one among many; roman catholics themselves would be the last to consent to any temporal universal power. the protestants, too, were at first inclined to the methods of rome. luther teaches intolerance, and calvin burns a heretic and writes in favor of the doctrine: jure gladii coercendos esse hereticos. the real reformation only came when we had reformed the reformers, but it was that spiritual and political legacy from rome that the teuton world, including ourselves, fought to nullify. there was no successful revolt against this curious spiritual caesarism until the son of a saxon miner named luther married out of monkdom, burnt the pope's commands on a bonfire, and plunged all europe first into a peasants' war, followed by a dividing of europe between a protestant union and a catholic league, and then a thirty years' war, which destroyed two thirds of the population of what is now germany. after three hundred years of disunion and hatreds, prussia united their country by a cement of blood and iron, and in the last forty years has made out of her the most powerful nation on the continent of europe. it is only very lately that any of us have realized what has happened. so little attention has been paid to the matter that there is no sufficient and worthy history of germany in english. more than we realize, germany is a new factor in politics, a new rival in commerce, a new knight in the tournament lists. this accounts, in no small degree, for the uneasiness germany causes in the world. forty years ago germany was known to a few students as having supplied us with music, mythology, and a certain amount of enchanting literature; scholarship along certain lines; and work in philosophy that a few in america and in england were studying. as a knight in shining armor, demanding a place at the council-board of nations, and ready to resent any passing over of her claims to recognition in the discussion and settlement of international politics, she is a newcomer. one of the chief causes for the restlessness, particularly in england, the heart of the greatest empire in the world, is that this new-comer must be made room for at the table, received with courtesy, and consulted. another individual has married into the family, and must gradually find her place there. of all nations in the world, england is the slowest to make new friends and acquaintances, and easily the most awkward in doing so. she is a good friend when you know her, but with the most abominable manners to strangers. the englishman, for example, pops into his club to escape the world, not to seek it there. the english club and the english home are primarily for seclusion, not for companionship, and this characteristic alone is wofully hard for the stranger to understand. to the gregarious german, priding himself upon gemüthlichkeit, loving reunions, restaurants, his stammtisch, formal and punctilious in his politeness, unused to the ways of the world, but yet convinced that he is now a great man politically and commercially, the englishman is not only an enigma but an insult. i am criticising neither. i have received unbounded hospitality and friendliness from both. i have ridden, fought, drunk, travelled, and lived with both, but for that very reason i understand how horribly and continually they rub one another the wrong way. in the fundamental matter of morals the german looks upon the englishman as a hypocrite, and the englishman looks upon the german as rather unpolished and undignified. berlin is open all night, london closes at half-past twelve. the british sunday is a gloomy suppression of vitality, touched up here and there with preaching and hymn-singing, and fringed with surreptitious golf; the german sunday is a national fair, with a blossoming of all kinds of amusements, deluged with beer, and attended by whole families as their only relaxation during the week. the german licenses vice, lotteries, and gambling; the englishman refuses to recognize the existence of any of the three. the german does not understand the englishman's point of view in these matters, which is that, though he knows these things to exist, and that he is no better in actual practice than other men, he refuses to accept these as his ideal. he denounces and passes judgment upon, and punishes men and women, who go too far in their appreciation and practice of apolausticism as a philosophy of life. he might have run away from danger himself, but he none the less scorns the man who did so. the shipwreck, the fire, the test of moral courage and endurance, may have found him a coward, or weak, or a deserter, but he holds that he must none the less measure the coward, the weakling, and the deserter, not by his own possible weakness if put to the same tests, but by his ideal of a courageous and straightforward englishman. i agree with him wholly and heartily. if our sympathy is to go out on every occasion, to the man who failed to come up to the mark of noble manhood, just because we feel that we might under like circumstances have failed too, then we give up the code of honor altogether, and our ideals droop to the level from which we fight and pray to be preserved. we pass judgment upon the coward, upon the failure, upon the man who has not mastered his life and life itself, unhesitatingly. it is hard to do, it looks as though one were without pity and without sympathy. not so; it is because we have great sympathy, and i hope unending pity, and a growing charity, and constant willingness to lend a hand; but to condone failure is to commit the selfish and unpardonable cowardice of not judging another that you may not be forced to judge yourself too harshly. that is far from being hypocrisy. indeed, in these days it is one of the hardest things to do, so fast are we levelling down socially and politically and even morally. it looks like an assumption of superiority when, god knows, it is only a timorous attempt on our part not to lose our grip on the ideals that help to keep us out of the dust and the mud. but he who lets others off lightly in order that he may not be thought to have too high a standard himself, or because he fears that he may one day fail himself, such a one is the coward of cowards, the candidate for the lowest place in hell; and well he deserves it, for he helps to lower the standard of manhood, and he tarnishes the shield of honor of the whole race. let them call us hypocrites till they strangle doing so, for when we lower our standards because we fear that we cannot live up to them ourselves, all will be lost. to be mild with other men, because we distrust ourselves, is a poisonous sympathy that rots away the life of him who receives it, and of him who gives it, and ends in a slobbering charity which must finally protect itself by tyranny and cruelty. not infrequently in dealing with individuals and with subject nations it is senseless cruelty to be over-kind. this sneer of saxon hypocrisy, of "perfide albion," is seldom explained to other people by men of our race, and we americans and englishmen have taken little pains to make it clear. we should not be surprised, therefore, if we are misunderstood. we have been easily first so long that we have neglected the explanation or the defence of ourselves to others. the germans, too, have something of the same indifference. a most sympathetic observer of german manners and customs, and a man for whose honesty and gentleness i have the highest esteem, père didon, remarked of the germans: "j'ai essayé maintes fois de découvrir chez l'allemand une sympathie quelconque pour d'autres nations; je n'y ai pas réussi." i call attention again to the important point, that it has been difficult to manufacture an all-round german patriotism. as a consequence patriotism in germany is more than a sentiment, it is a theory, a doctrine, a theme to which statesmen, philosophers and poets, and rulers devote their energies. the german looks upon his nation not only as a people, but as a race, almost as a formal religion; hence perhaps his hatred of the jew and the slav, and his difficulties with all foreign peoples within his borders. in order to build up his patriotism the german has been taught systematically to dislike first the austrians, then the french, now the english; and let not the american suppose that he likes him any better, for he does not. this patriotism, once developed, was drawn on for funds for an army, then for a navy. at the present time there must be some explanation offered, and the explanation is fear of england, dislike of british arrogance. in one of his latest speeches the kaiser said: "we need this fleet to protect ourselves from arrogance"; that, of course, means, always means, british arrogance. from the moment a child goes to school, by pictures on the walls, by an indirect teaching of history and geography, he is led on discreetly to find england in germany's way. at the present writing german school children, and german students, and german recruits are imbued with the idea that germany's relations with england are in some sort an armistice. this poisonous teaching of patriotism has produced wide-spread enmity of feeling among the innocent, but this enmity has built the navy. and now that in certain quarters it is found desirable to soothe and calm this feeling, it proves to be more difficult to subdue than it was to arouse. the monster that frankenstein called up devours its own creator. now that england can no longer be the enemy, because germany's greatest present and future danger is from the slav races, there are evidences that the german state is teaching the dog not to bark at england any more. germany has not neglected england, but of late she has paid her the wrong kind of attention. erasmus, the scholar-rapier, as luther was the hammer, of the reformation, visits england and writes: "above all, speak no evil of england to them. they are proud of their country above all nations in the world, as they have good reason to be." kant, the german philosopher, on his clock-like rounds in königsberg, knew something of england and writes of her: "die englische nation, als volk betrachtet, ist das schätzbarste ganze von menschen im verhältniss unter einander; aber als staat gegen fremde staaten der verderblichste, gewaltsamste, herrschsüchtigste und kriegerregendste von allen." ("the english, as a people, in their relations to one another are a most estimable body of men, but as a nation in their relations with other nations they are of all people the most pernicious, the most violent, the most domineering, and the most strife-provoking.") another german, something of a scholar, something of a philosopher, but a wit and a singer, heine, visited england, and, as he handed a fee to the verger who had shown him around westminster abbey, said: "i would willingly give you twice as much if the collection were complete!" to him napoleon defeated was a greater man than the "starched, stiff" wellington; and the "potatoes boiled in water and put on the table as god made them" and the "country with three hundred religions and only one sauce were a constant source of amused annoyance. the german professors and students, who in the early part of the nineteenth century lauded english constitutional liberty to the skies and made a god of burke, have soured toward england since. "what does germany want?" asked thiers of the german historian ranke. "to destroy the work of louis xiv," was the reply. professor treitschke and his successor in the chair of history at berlin, professor delbrück, have been outspoken in their denunciation of england. mommsen, schmoller, schiemann, zorn of bonn, and his colleague there, von dirksen, professor dietrich schaefer, professor adolph wagner, and many other scholars have been, and are, politicians in germany, and none of them friendly to england, to france, or to america. bismarck himself remarked of these gentlemen: "die politik ist keine wissenschaft, wie viele der herren professoren sich einbilden, sie ist eben eine kunst" ("politics is not a science as many professorial gentlemen fancy; it is an art"); and again: "die arbeit des diplomaten, seine aufgabe, besteht in dem praktischen verkehr mit menschen, in der richtigen beurtheilung von dem, was andere leute unter gewissen umständen wahrscheinlich thun werden, in der richtigen erkennung der absichten anderer; in der richtigen darstellung der seinigen" ("the work of the diplomat, his chief task, indeed, consists in the practical dealing with men, in his sound judgment of what other people would probably do under certain circumstances, in his correct interpretation of the intentions and purposes of other people, and in the accurate presentation of his own"). he began his political life in with the phrase: "die grossen fragen können durch reden und majoritätsbeschlüsse nicht entschie den werden, sondern durch eisen und blut" ("the great questions cannot be decided by speeches and the decisions of majorities, but by iron and blood"). it is a well-known professor who writes: "denn die einzige gefahr, die den frieden in europa und damit den weltfrieden droht, liegt in den krankhaften Übertreibungen des englischen imperialismus" ("the only danger to the peace of europe, and that includes the peace of the world, lies in the morbid excesses of british imperialism"). another quotation from the same pen reads: "so far as other perils to the british empire are concerned, they are of much the same character, but the empire suffers too from the selfish policy of english business, which, in order to create big business, does not hesitate to interfere with the declared policy of the state." then follows the statement that english traders have smuggled guns to the persian gulf. professor zorn writes: "the possibility that while our emperor was seeking rest and refreshment in norwegian waters and enjoying the beauties of the norwegian landscape, english ships were lying in readiness to annihilate german ships." it is hard to believe that such lunatic lies can come from the pen of a professor in good standing. "ohne zu übertreiben kann man sagen dass heute nur der allerkleinste teil der deutschen presse geneigt ist, den engländern gerechtigkeit widerfahren zu lassen, bei behandlung allgemeiner fragen sich auch einmal auf den englischen standpunkt der betrachtung wenigstens zeitweise zu versetzen. england ist fur viele 'der' feind an sich, und em feind dem man keine rücksichten schuldet." ("it is no exaggeration to say that nowadays only the tiniest minority of the german press is inclined to do justice to the english by at least occasionally looking at questions from the british point of view. england is for many the enemy of enemies and an enemy to whom no consideration is due.") thus writes one of the cooler heads in the kölnische zeitung. doctor herbert von dirksen, of bonn, writing of the monroe doctrine, says: "by what right does america attempt to check the strongest expansion policy of all other nations of the earth?" during the boer war germany was showered with post-cards and caricatures of the english. british soldiers with donkey heads marched past queen victoria and the prince of wales; the venerable queen victoria is pictured plucking the tail feathers from an ostrich which she holds across her knees; the three generals, methuen, buller, and gatacre, take off their faces to discover the heads of an ass, a sheep, and a cow; chamberlain is depicted as the instigator of the war, with his pockets and hands full of african shares; a parade of the stock-exchange volunteers depicts them as all jews, with the prince of wales as a jew reviewing them; the prince of wales is pictured surrounded by vulgar women, who ask, "say, fatty, you are not going to south africa?" to which the prince replies, "no, i must stay here to take care of the widows and orphans!" english soldiers are depicted in the act of hitting and kicking women and children. in the war with denmark in the austrian navy met with a disaster at sea. a german publicist even then wrote: "i was grieved at the demonstrations of joy about this in the english parliament. it was not sympathy with the danes but petty spite and malice at the defeat of a foreign fleet. but at the same time it is a consolatory proof that the english are afraid of the future german navy." this quotation is interesting as showing how far back the quarrel dates. it would be merely a question of how much time one cares to devote to scissors and paste to multiply these examples of germany's journalistic and professorial state of mind. it is unfortunate that some of this writing in the press is done by those who are often in consultation with the emperor, and on some political subjects his advisers. i have suggested in another chapter that germany suffers far more from the theoretical and book-learned gentlemen who surround the emperor than from his indiscretions. in more than one instance his indiscretions were due to their blundering. their knowledge of books far surpasses their knowledge of men, and nothing can be more dangerous to any nation than to be counselled and guided by pedants rather than by men of the world. this projecting a world from the gaseous elements of one's own cranium and dealing with that world, instead of the world that exists, is a danger to everybody concerned. "bedauernswert sei es allerdings, dass wir in unserem politischen leben nicht mit gentlemen zu thun haben, dies sei aber em begriff der uns überhaupt abgehe," writes prince hohenlohe in his memoirs. ("it is of all things most to be regretted that in our political life we do not have gentlemen to deal with, but this is a conception of which we are totally deficient.") a daring colonial secretary, speaking in the reichstag of certain scandals in the german colonies, said bluntly: "a reprehensible caste feeling has grown up in our colonies, the conception of a gentleman being in england different from that in germany." when lord haldane came to berlin, on his mission to discover if possible a working basis for more friendly relations between the two countries, his eyes were greeted in the windows of every book-shop with books and pamphlets with such titles as "krieg oder frieden mit england," "das perfide albion," "deutschland und der islam," "ist england kriegslustig," "deutschland sei wach," "england's weltherrschaft und die deutsche luxusflotte," "john bull und wir," and a long list of others, all written and advertised to keep alive in the german people a sense of their natural antagonism to england. during the last year the "letters of bergmann" brought up again the controversy, that should have been left to die, over the treatment of the emperor friedrich by an english surgeon. in discussing senator lodge's resolution before the united states senate, on the monroe doctrine, the german press spoke of us as "hirnverbrannte yankees," "bornierte yankeegehirne" ("crazy yankees," "provincial yankee intellects"); and the words "dollarika," "dollarei," and "dollarman" are further malicious expressions of their envy, frequently used. the germans are persistently taught that there are neither scholars nor students in america or in england. one worthy writes: "die engländer lernen nichts. der sport lässt ihnen keine zeit dazu. man ist hinterher auch zu müde." i am always very glad, when i happen to be in europe, that i belong to a nation that can afford to take these flings with the greatest good-humor. as the burly soldier replied when questioned in court as to why he allowed his small wife to beat him: "it pleases her and it don't hurt i." this struggle for recognition as a great nation, to be received on equal terms by the rest of us, has upset the nerves of certain classes in germany, and among them the untravelled and small-town-dwelling professor. i am a craftsman in letters myself, in a small way, but i am no believer that books are the only key to life, or the only way to find a solution for its riddles and problems. life is language, and books only the dictionaries; men are the text, books only the commentaries. books are only good as a filter for actual experiences. a man must have a rich and varied experience of men and women before he can use books to advantage. life is varied, men and women many, while the individual life is short; wise men read books, therefore, to enrich their experience, not merely as the pedant does, to garner facts. "j'étudie les livres en attendant que j'étudie les hommes," writes voltaire. "books are good enough in their own way, but they are a mighty bloodless substitute for life," writes stevenson. montgolfier sees a woman's skirt drying and notices that the hot air fills it and lifts it, and this gives him the idea for a balloon. denis papin sees the cover lifted from a pot by the steam, and there follow the myriad inventions in which steam is the driving power. newton, dozing under an apple-tree, is hit on the head by a falling apple, and there follows the law of gravitation. franklin flies a kite, and a shock of electricity starts him upon the road to his discoveries. archimedes in his bath notices that his body seems to grow lighter, and there follows the great law which bears his name. these are the foundation-stones upon which the whole house of science is built, and no one of them was dug out of a book. charlemagne could not read, and napoleon, when he left school for paris, carried the recommendation from his master that he might possibly become a fair officer of marines, but nothing more! a capital example of the ability of the man of books to measure the abilities of the man of the world. reading and writing are modern accomplishments, and we grossly exaggerate their importance as man-makers. that, it has always been my contention, is the fatal fallacy of modern education, and you may see it carried to its extreme in germany, for men who have not lived broadly are merely hampered by books. it is as though one studied a primer with an etymological dictionary at his side. germans are renowned writers of commentaries, but you cannot deal with men and with life by the aid of commentaries. exegesis solves no international quarrels, and the mastery of men is not gained with dictionaries and grammars. we are all prone to forget the end in the means, for the end is far away and the means right under our noses. we all recognize, when we are pulled up short and made to think, that, after all, the arts and letters, religion and philosophy and statecraft, are for one ultimate purpose, which is to develop the complete man. everything must be measured by its man-making power. ideas that do not grow men are sterile seed. men who do not move other men to action and to growth are not to be excused because they stir men to the merely pleasant tickling of thinking lazily and feeling softly. thus lincoln was a greater man than emerson; bismarck a greater than lessing; cromwell a greater than bunyan; napoleon a greater than corneille and racine; pericles greater than plato; and caesar greater than virgil. the man who only makes maps for the mind is only half a man, until his thinking, his influence, his dreams and enthusiasms take on the potency of a man and come into action. even if men of action do evil, as some of those i mention have done, they have translated theories into palpable things that permit men to judge whether they be good or bad; and the really great artists, thinkers, and saints are as fertile as though they were female, and gave birth, to living things. their thinking is a form of action. the real test of successful organization is the thoroughness of the thinking behind it; on the other hand, the only test of thinking is the success of the thought in actual execution, and the germans often take this too much for granted. we really know and hold as an inalienable intellectual possession only what we have gained by our own effort, and with a certain degree of actual exertion. people who have never worked out their own salvation always join, at last, that large class in the body politic who don't know what they want, and who will never be happy till they get it. when it comes to dealing with inanimate things, books of rules are invaluable. hence, in chemistry, physics, archaeology, philology, exegesis, the germans have forged ahead; their intellectual street-cleaning is unsurpassed; but the ship of state needs not only men to take observations and to read charts, but men to trim the sails to the fitful breezes, the blustering winds, the tempests and the changing currents of life. they must know, too, the methods, the manners, the habits of other men who sail the seas of life. it is just here that the german fails; he lacks the confidence of experience, and bursts into bluster and bravado. he is a believer in vicarious experience, and is as little likely to be saved by it, in this world at least, as he is by vicarious sacrifice. his imagination does not make allowances for either england or america. he does not see, for example, that the monroe doctrine is not open for discussion for the simple reason that america has announced it as american policy; just as prussia took part three times in the dismemberment of poland; just as prussia pounced upon silesia; just as germany took alsace-lorraine, schleswig-holstein and frankfort, and held the ring while austria-hungary bagged bosnia and herzegovina, and by the word of her emperor, promised to do the same thing for russia, when japan declared war against her. we have decided that we will have no european sovereignty in south america, and this side war, that is the end of the matter, call it the monroe doctrine or what you will. it only makes for uneasiness and bad temper to discuss it. it is the national american policy. it may be right or wrong theoretically, but international law has nothing to do with it. the german professors who discuss it from that stand-point, are beating the air and raising a dust in the world's international drawing-room. this german mania for translating facts back into philosophy and then dancing through a discussion of theories is not understood, much less appreciated, by the rest of the world. we can never get on if we are to introduce the discussion of the lines of every new battle-ship by arguments as to the sea-worthiness of the ark. those of us who control a quarter of the habitable globe, and the inhabitants thereof, are much too busy to discuss the legal aspects of the land-grabbing of the pharaohs. geography is not metaphysics, but it is wofully hard for the professorial mind to grasp this. "given a mouse's tail, and he will guess with metaphysic quickness at the mouse." in much the same way german statesmen and the german press do not understand, or do not care to understand, that british statesmen when they speak in the house of commons, or when they go to the country asking increased appropriations for the navy, must give some reason for their request. there is only one reason, and that is that there is a growing navy across the north sea, which, whether now it is or is not a menace, may be a menace to their ship-fed island, and they must have ships and men and guns enough to guard the sea-lanes which their food-laden ships must sail through. they may be awkward sometimes in their expression of this self-evident fact, they may call their own fleet a necessity and the other fleet a luxury, but that is a negligible question of verbal manners; the fact remains that their fleet is, and all the world knows it is, and it is laughable to discuss it, the prime necessity of their existence. as long as we christians have given up any shred of belief in christian ethics, as applicable to international disputes, we must live by the law of the strongest. we do not bless the poor in spirit, but the self-confident; we do not bless the meek, but the proud; we do not bless the peace-makers, but those who urge us to prepare for war; we do not bless the reviled and the persecuted and the slandered, but those who revolt against injustice and tyranny; we do not approve the cutting off of the right hand, but admire the mailed fist; and it is only adding to the confusion to raise millions for war ourselves, and then to present a handsomely bound copy of the beatitudes to our rivals. i shall be wantonly misunderstood if these reflections be taken as a criticism of germany. this situation involves germany in censure no more than other nations. it is only that germany shows herself to be somewhat childish and peevishly provincial, in girding at an unchangeable situation, either in south america or in the north sea. this is not altogether germany's fault. she is suffering from growing pains, and from grave internal unrest. she is only just of age as a nation, and her constitution is so inflexible that it is a constant source of irritation. she is governed by an autocracy, and the two strongest parties numerically in her reichstag are the party of the catholics and the party of the socialists. she has built up a tremendous trade on borrowed capital, and every gust of wind in the money market makes her fidgety. her population increases at the rate of some , a year, but her educational system produces such a surplus of laborers who wish to work in uniforms, or in black coats and stiff collars, that there is a dearth of agricultural laborers, and she imports , hungarians, poles, slays, and italians every year to harvest her crops. this same system of education has taught youths to think for themselves before either the mental or moral muscles are tough enough, with the result that she is the agnostic and materialistic nation of europe, and her capital the most licentious and immoral in europe. this is the result of secular education everywhere. freedom of thought, yes, but not freedom of thought any more than freedom of morals, or freedom of manners, or political freedom, in extreme youth; that only makes for anarchy political, mental, and moral. there is much undigested, not to say indigestible, republicanism about just now in china and in portugal, for example; just as there are materialism and agnosticism in germany and in france, not due to super-intellectualism but to juvenile thinking. the chinese are just as fit for a republic--an actual republic is still a long way off � as are callow german youths, and notoriety-loving french students, for freedom to disbelieve and to destroy. no country can long survive a majority of women teachers in the public schools, together with no bible and no religious teaching there. i have no prejudices favoring orthodoxy, but i have a fairly wide experience which has given me one article of a creed that i would go to the stake for, and that is that it is of all crimes the worst to give freedom political, moral, or religious to those who are unprepared for it. germany's taste in literature, once so natural and healthy, has become morbid, and sudermann and gorky and oscar wilde, and the rest of the unhealthy crew who swarm about the morgues, the dissecting-rooms, and the houses of assignation of life, the internuntiata libidinum, the leering conciliatrices of the dark streets, are her favorites now. there is no surer sign of mental ill-health than a taste for lowering literature, an appetite for this self-dissecting, this complacent, self-contemplating form of intellectual exercise. this is no heated assault on german culture. it is a natural phase of development. youthful candidates for worldliness all go through this pornocratic stage. "the impudence of the bawd is modesty, compared with that of the convert," writes the marquis of halifax. the german professor and the german bourgeois in their rake's progress are only a little more awkward, a little more heavy-handed, a little coarser in speech, than others, that is all. the period of twenty-five years during which i have known germany has developed before my eyes the concomitants of vast and rapid industrial and commercial progress, and they are: a love of luxury, a great increase in gambling, a materialistic tone of mind, a wide-spread increase of immorality, and a tendency to send culture to the mint, and to the market-place to be stamped, so that it may be readily exchanged for the means of soft living. these internal changes account to some extent for her restless external policy. a man's digestion has a good deal to do with the color of the world when he looks at it. there is more yellow in life from biliousness, than from the state of the atmosphere. aside from these domestic causes there is no reason why germany should take a sentimental or pious view of these questions of international amity. her own history is development by war. "any war is a good war when it is undertaken to increase the power of the state," said frederick the great. "nur das volk wird eine gesicherte stellung in der welt haben, das von kriegerischen geiste erfüllt ist" ("only that nation will hold a safe place in the world which is imbued with a warlike spirit") writes germany's great military philosopher clausewitz. we took cuba and the philippines; england took india, hong kong, and egypt; japan took korea and southern manchuria; italy took tripoli; france took fez; russia took finland and northern manchuria; austria-hungary took bosnia and herzegovina; and prussia and germany have a long list, including silesia, poland, hanover, and alsace-lorraine. austria-hungary tears up the berlin treaty; france, germany, and spain tear up the algeciras treaty; italy tears up the treaty of paris; and it is part of the game that we should all hold up our hands, avert our faces, and thank god that we are not as other men are, when these things are done. the justifications of these actions are all of the most pious and penitent description. we were forced to do so, we say, in order to hasten the bringing in of our own specially patented and exclusive style of the kingdom of heaven, but outside of perhaps india and egypt, and the philippines, it would be hard to find to-day any trace of the promised kingdom. germany, for example, had nine per cent. of moroccan trade, the total of moroccan trade with all countries only amounted to $ , , a year, and she was compelled to interfere for the protection of her traders, forsooth! the outcome of the business, after an exciting situation lasting for months, was that germany got a slice of territory from france, mostly swamps, which reaches from the congo to the atlantic ocean, and reported to be, by her own engineers, uninhabitable. it is the pleasant formula of polite statesmen and politicians to say, that it is a pity that germany came into the world competition a hundred years too late, when the best colonies had been parcelled out among the other powers. this is a superficial view of the case, and misses the real point of the present envy, hatred, malice, and uncharitableness. germany does not want colonies, and has no ability of the proper kind, and no willing and adventurous population to settle them, if she had. prussia's dealing with aborigines is a subject for comic opera. germany came into the modern world as a dreamer, as a maker of melodies, as a singer of songs, as a sort of post-graduate student in philosophy and in theoretical, and later applied science. she introduced us to classical philology, to modern methods of historical research, to the comparative study of ethnic religions, to daring and scholarly exegesis, to the study of the science of language. she discovered shakespeare to the english; eduard mätzner and eduard müller, and german scholars in the study of phonetics, have written our english grammars and etymological dictionaries for us, and helped to lay the foundations for knowledge of our own language. spinoza, kant, hegel, one need not mention more, attempted to pass beyond the bounds of human experience and to formulate laws for the process; schleiermacher, maintaining that christian faith is a condition of devout feeling, a fact of inward experience, an object which may be observed and described, had an unbounded influence in america, and many are the ethical discourses i have listened to which owed more to schleiermacher than to their authors. humboldt, liebig, bunsen, helmholtz, johannes müller, von baer, virchow, koch, diesel, even the british and american man in the street, with little interest in such matters, knows some of these names; while schopenhauer and nietzsche are symbols of revolt, whose names are flung into an argument by many who only know their names, but who fondly suppose that the one stands for despair and suicide, and the other for the joy and unbridled license of the strong man. reckoning by epochs, it was only yesterday that germany said to the world: "no more of this!" "hang up philosophy! unless philosophy can make a juliet, displant a town, reverse a prince's doom, it helps not, it prevails not: talk no more!" of a sudden our scholar threw off his gown and cap, and said: "i propose to play base-ball and foot-ball with you, i propose to have a hand in the material spoils of life, i propose to have a seat at the banquet and to propose toasts and to be toasted!" faust of a sudden left his gloomy, cobwebby laboratory, flung a fine cloak over his shoulders, stuck a dandy feather in his cap, buckled on a rapier, and began roistering with the best of us. we sneered and smiled at first, let us be frank and admit it. we did not think much of this new buck. we had little fear that the professor, even if he took off his spectacles and slippers and dressing-gown, and exchanged his pipe for a cigarette, would cut much of a figure as a lover. he was new to the game, we were old hands at it, but the first thing we knew he had given the world's mistress, france, a scolding, and flung her into a corner, a cowering heap of outraged finery; and she has only been safe ever since in the rôle of a sort of mistress of england on board-wages. a new cock in the barn-yard is never received with great cordiality. he must win his place and his power with his beak and his spurs. we all of us had enough to do before this fellow came along. we are a little jealous of him, we are all uneasier because he is about, and he has done so well at our games, now that he has indeed hung up philosophy, that we are not even sure that it is safe to take him on in a serious match. we have endeavored, therefore, to keep him occupied with his own neighbors, to whom we have extended our best wishes and our moral backing, which is known as keeping the balance of power in europe. but a new germany has come into the world. germany nowadays has a large class, as have the rest of us, who belong to that increasing number of extraordinary people who want money without even knowing how to get on without it. the only satisfactory test of the right to wealth is the ability to get on without it. one of modern civilization's most dangerous pitfalls is the subversive doctrine that all men shall have wealth, even before they have proved their ability to do without it. germany is gradually arriving at this puny stage of culture, whose beginnings may be said to date from that ominous year for culture, , when lorenzo di medici died and columbus discovered america! during all this time statesmen have insisted that there is no good reason why germany and england should not be on good terms; gentlemen of various trades and professions from both countries, speaking halting english or embarrassed german, as the case may be, cross each other's boundaries, comment upon the beauties of the respective countries, and overeat themselves in ponderous endeavors to appear cordial and appreciative. mayors and aldermen swap stories and compliments over turtle and sherry, or over sauerkraut and johannisberger; bands of students visit oxford or heidelberg, and there is a chorus of praise of goethe from one side, of shakespeare from the other; and all the while there is an unceasing antiphonal of grimaces and abuse in the press. not even when germany exports her latest stage novelties to london, and pantomimic platitudes are dandled under colored lights, does the turmoil of martial talk cease. not even teutonic lechery, in the guise of reinhartian art, dressed in nothing but silence, and making faces at the british censor on the boards of the music-halls, avails anything. of course all this is nuts to the irresponsible journalists, to the manufacturers of powder, guns, and ships, and to politicians and diplomats out of employment; but it is hard on the taxpayer, who has no dividends from manufacturers of lethal weapons and ships, nor from newspapers, and no notoriety from the self-imposed jobs of the unofficial diplomats. perhaps of all these factors the press, in its wild gamble to make money out of sensationalism, is most to blame. the press, for the sake of gain, has soiled and soured the milk of human kindness by exposing it, carelessly and unceasingly, to the pathogenic dangers of the dust of the street and the gutter. it is wholly unfitting and always demoralizing when the priest, the politician, and the journalist turn their attention to private gain. any one of these three who makes a great fortune out of his profession is damned by that fact alone. the only payment, beyond a living, that these three should look to is, respect, consideration, and the honor of serving the state unselfishly and wisely. the world will be all the happier when there are no more shylocks permitted in any of these professions. germany is autocratic, philosophical, and continental; england is democratic, political, and insular. it is hopeless to suppose that the great mass of the people of one country will understand the other, and, for this is the important point, it is wholly unnecessary. we get on best and with least friction with people whom we do not understand in the least. a man may have known and liked people with whose aims, opinions, employment, creeds he has the smallest sympathy. one may mention such diverse personalities as john l. sullivan, the prize-fighter, cardinal rampolla, mr. roosevelt, doctor jameson, the kaiser, president diaz of mexico, numerous jew financiers, lord haldane the scholar-statesman, and a long list of professors, pious priests, sportsmen, and idlers, not to speak of hindus and mohammedans, japanese and chinese, and half a dozen sioux chiefs. with these gentlemen, a few of many with whom one may have been upon such pleasant terms that they have even confided in him and trusted him with their secrets, one may have passed many pleasant hours. it probably never entered such a man's head to wonder whether they liked him, and he never discussed with them the question of his liking for them. we get on by keeping our own personalities, prejudices, and creeds intact. there is no other way. other men will give even a more diverse list of friends and acquaintances, and never for a moment dream that there is any mystery in being friends with all. nothing is ever gained by flattery. to the serious man flattery in the form of sincere praise makes him more responsible and only sadder, because he knows how much he falls below what is expected of him, and what he expects of himself. lip-flattery makes a real man feel as though his sex had been mistaken, he feels as though he had been given curling-tongs instead of a razor for his morning toilet. these pompous flatteries that pass between germany and england to-day, make both sides self-conscious and a little ashamed to write and to speak them, and to hear and applaud them. america and england are shortly to celebrate the signing of the treaty of ghent, which marks a hundred years of peace between the two nations. we have not been without opportunities to quarrel. we have whole classes of people in america who detest england, and in england there are not a few who do not conceal successfully their contempt for america, but we have had peace, and since england, at the time of our war with spain, said "hands off!" to the powers that wished to interfere, there has been a great increase of friendly feeling. but there has been little or no flattery passing back and forth. we have sent ambassador after ambassador to england who were almost more american than the americans. phelps and lowell and hay and choate and reid were all american in name, in tradition, in their successes, and in their way of looking at life. by their learning, their wit, and their criticisms, by their writing and speaking, by their presentation of the claims to greatness of our great men, by their unhesitating avowal in public and in private of their allegiance to the ideals of the republic they served, they have made clear the american point of view. above all, they have shown their pride in their own country by acknowledging and praising the great qualities of england and the english. there has been no fulsome flattery, no bowing the knee to foreign idols, and what has been the result? the american ambassador for years has been the most popular diplomatic figure in great britain. an increasing number of englishmen even, nowadays, know who washington and jefferson and lincoln were, and our understanding of one another has grown rapidly out of this frank and manly attitude. we were jealous and suspicious a hundred years ago, as are england and germany to-day, but we have changed all that by our attitude of good-humored independence, and by eliminating altogether from our intercourse the tainted delicacy of compliment, and the canting endearments of the diplomatic cocotte. we have emphasized our differences to the great benefit of the fine qualities that we have and cherish in common. the individual protestant does not dislike the individual papist, half so much as he dislikes his neighbor in the next pew, who refuses sunday after sunday to repeat the service and the creed at the same pace as the others, and hence to "descend into hell" with the rest of the congregation. the sioux chief was far more annoyed by his neighbor of the same tribe in the next-door reservation than he was by me. the pugilist scorned "tug" wilson, a brother fisticuffs sovereign, but had no feeling against his parish priest. theological protagonists are notoriously bitter against one another, but we have all found many of them amiable companions ourselves. it is the fellow next door, who wears purple socks, or who parts his hair in the middle, or who wears his coat-sleeves longer than our tailor cuts ours, or who eats his soup with a noise, or who has damp hands, or talks through his nose, who irritates us and makes us wish occasionally for the unlimited club-using freedom of the stone age. it is your first cousin with incurable catarrh, and a slender income who is too much with you, and who spoils your temper, not the anarchist orator who threatens your property and almost your life. "what do these germans want?" asked a distinguished cabinet minister of me. "they want consideration," i replied, "which is the most difficult thing in the world for the englishman to offer anybody." "but, you don't mean to say," he continued, "that they really want to cut our throats on account of our bad manners?" i cannot phrase it better, nor can i give a more illuminating illustration of the misunderstanding. that is exactly the reason, and the paramount reason, why nations and why individuals attempt to cut one another's throats. whatever the fundamental differences may have been that have led to war between nations, the tiny spark that started the explosion has always been some phase of rudeness or bad manners. counting my school-days, i can remember about a dozen personal conflicts in which i have engaged, with pardonable pleasure. not one of them was a question of territory, or religious difference, or of racial hatred; indeed, the last one was due to being shouldered in the street when my equanimity was already disturbed by a lingering recovery from a feverish cold. it is, after all, the little differences that count. if politically and socially germany were a little more sure of herself, if she were not ever omnia tuta timens dido; and if england were not as ever quite so sure of herself, i believe intercourse between them would be less strained. "the little gnat-like buzzings shrill, the hurdy-gurdies of the street. the common curses of the will� these wrap the cerements round our feet." the smothered voice, the tepid manner, the affected and hesitating under-statement, of a certain middlish class of english men and women, and, alas, their american imitators, who are striving toward their comical interpretation of the vere de vere manner, are the promoters of guffaws in private, and uneasiness in public, between nations, to a far greater extent than the bold individualist, whose voice and manners, good or bad, are all his own. it is these small attritions that wear us down, and produce a sub-acid dislike between nations as between individuals. it is these that prepare the ground for a fine crop of misunderstandings. but are we not to know our neighbors the english, the germans, the french? i for one consider that not to know german and germany, for example, is nowadays not to be fully educated. most of us, however, have had our nerves unstrung by the speeding-up process that has gone on all over the world of late. we have lost somewhat the power to know people and to let them alone at the same time. goethe, one of the coolest and wisest of men, maintains: "certain defects are necessary for the existence of individuality. one would not be pleased if old friends were to lay aside certain peculiarities." we should at least give every man as fair a chance to receive our good opinion as we give a picture. we should put him in a good light before we criticise him. we should take time enough to do that to other nations, as well as to individuals. i have always had much sympathy for a certain roman general. he was blind, and a painter who painted him with two large eyes, he rebuked; another painter, who painted him in profile, he rewarded. it is, after all, something of an art to know people, so that the knowledge is serviceable, so that you can depict them to yourself and to others, not as they are as opposed to you, but as they are as a complement and help to you. "no human quality is so well wove in warp and woof, but there's some flaw in it; i've known a brave man fly a shepherd's cur, a wise man so demean himself, drivelling idiocy had wellnigh been ashamed on't. for your crafty, your worldly-wise man, he, above the rest, weaves his own snares so fine, he's often caught in them." he who does not make allowances for weaknesses and differences in his study of human affairs is still in the infant class. it is a grave danger to every state that critics, smart or shallow, with their tu quoque weapons, their silly ridicule, their emphasis upon differences as though they were disasters, their constant failure to recognize the value of certain weaknesses, their stupidity in not painting great men who happen to be blind, in profile, and their harping upon the flaws, and their neglect of the fine texture of human qualities that are strange to them, that these critics are not muzzled, or, if that is impossible, disregarded. they make it appear that amicable relations between nations are next to impossible. if you escape one danger of offending, you are sure to give offence in some other way, they seem to say. they are hysterical in their self-consciousness, "as if a man did flee from a lion and a bear met him, or went in the house and leaned his hand on the wall and a serpent bit him." sir edward grey writes on this subject: "i sometimes think that half the difficulties of foreign policy arise from the exceeding ingenuity of different countries in attributing motives and intentions to the governments of each other. as far as i can observe, the press of various countries is much more fertile in inventing motives and intentions for the governments of the different countries than the foreign ministers of these countries are themselves. foreign governments and our own government live from hand to mouth and have fewer deep plans than people might suppose. there is an old warning that you should not spend too much time in looking at the dark cupboard for the black cat that is not there, and i think if sometimes we were a little less suspicious of deep design or motive that the affairs of the world would progress more smoothly." the trouble lies in our undertaking the impossible, to the neglect of the obvious and the possible. the basic fact of nationality is a preference for our own ways, customs, and habits over those of other people. if the chinese and japanese, the servians and albanians, the english and the germans liked one another as well as they like their own, there would be no nationalism to protect or to preserve. such racial and traditional liking of nation for nation is impossible of achievement. no journeyings, speechifyings, banquets, or compliments will bring it about. on the contrary, i am not sure that it is not these very differences which cheer us and give us a new flavor in our pleasure in living, when we cross the atlantic, the channel, or the rhine. what we should strive for is not social and racial absorption, but social and racial difference and distinction, with that pride in our own which makes for patience in the understanding of others. it is the petty, self-conscious american who hates the english, the provincial englishman who hates the german, the socially insecure german who hates the frenchman, the englishman, and the american. those of us who are poised, secure, satisfied, and at bottom proud of our race, our breeding, and our country, are neither irritable nor irritating in the matter of international relations. we have enough to do, and let others alone. let us dine one another, criticise one another in the effort to improve ourselves, praise one another where the praise serves to establish our own ideals; but let us give up this forced and awkward courting by banquets, deputations, and conferences. let us study the great art of leaving one another alone. this is a time-hallowed doctrine. the greatest of all satirists and critics of manners knew this secret of successful intercourse with one another. one of the characters in the "frogs" of aristophanes is made to say: "don't come trespassing upon my mind; you have a house of your own." propinquity does not necessarily entail intimacy; as the world grows smaller, more and more people think so, perhaps often enough only to escape from themselves, a favorite form of elopement these days. some men are fed by solitude and starved by too much companionship, and the same is true of nations. you cannot control others till you have learned to control yourself, or save another till you yourself are saved, and most of us had better be about that business. it is england's business to know just now, and to some extent ours, how many ships germany is building and how many men she has in training to man them; but it is not in the least anybody's business to question her motives or to attempt to dictate her policy. it is our business to shut up, and to build ships and to train men according to our notions of what is necessary for safety in case of an explosion. we should be about our father's business, not about our brother's business. it is shallow thinking and lack of knowledge of the men and women of stranger countries, and above all that terrible itching to be doing something, which lead to these futile excursions and this silly talk. can anything be more maudlin than to suppose that international sensitiveness, that commercial rivalries, that tariff discriminations, that territorial misunderstandings, are to be soothed and smoothed away, by dissertations upon how much we owe to one another in matters of culture? think what we owe to goethe and lessing, to spinoza and kant, to heine and mozart and wagner and beethoven, reiterates the englishman; think what we owe to shakespeare and milton, to byron and shelley and scott, to lister and newton, answers the german! who can go to war with the countrymen of racine and molière and pascal and montesquieu and descartes? repeats the friend of france; and by others are trumpeted the fraternal relations that we ought to cultivate with the countrymen of dante, or of euripides, aeschylus, and sophocles. this is phantom friendship, and we all know in our heart of hearts, that we would fight any or all of them at the drop of a handkerchief, if they hurt our feelings, ruffled our national pride, or maltreated in a foreign land the meanest of our racial brothers. straining after such artificial bonds of union is as irritating as it is unreal. germany has few heartier admirers of bismarck than am i; england has few franker friends of her great gentlemen in peace and war than am i; i have read and profited by french literature far more than from anything america has produced; if i can write so that here and there a brother has profited therefrom, i owe it to the frenchmen i have studied; but these are all nothing as compared with my heart's real allegiances. there is a gulp in my throat when i dream of that weary, misunderstood, but patient and humble peace-maker, who held the scales between the millions of my own countrymen, shooting and stabbing one another to death fifty years ago. no other man can be quite like him to me; he remains my master of men, as is lee my ideal of the happy warrior. i understand the grim humor in his sad eyes, i love that lined face, cut from the granite of self-control, that tamed volcano face, seamed and scarred by the lava of his trials and his tears; i can see how the illuminating and conciliatory anecdotes were his relief from the pain of an aching heart; my muscles harden and my nerves tingle as i recall the puppet politicians and fancy self-advertising warriors who crucified him slowly. the country and the people that lincoln believed in, i must believe in and fight for too. washington was an englishman and baptized us, but lincoln was an american who officiated at our first communion as a united people. i ask no englishman, no german, no frenchman to agree with me, but i ask them to leave me alone with my dead, to leave me in peace with my living problems, to force no artificial friendships upon me, and thus to let our respect for one another increase naturally. has the englishman, has the german, no sanctuaries to be left undisturbed; no heart-strings that are not to be fumbled at by busy fingers; no personal dignities to be shrouded from investigations; no sweet silences of sorrow that are barred to foreign mourners? if he have not, then all this clamor at the doors of national privacy is well enough; but let them remember that when nations lose their dignity and their racial pride, there is sure to follow the squabbling and the jealousy, the rough speech and vulgar manners, of the domestic circle, in the same plight of spiritual shamelessness. the best that any of us learn is to be a little more patient, a little more charitable, a little more careful of the dignity of others in our own homes, or abroad, and then the light goes out! xi conclusion criticism is temptingly easy when it consists, as it so often does, in merely noting what is different, or what is not there. helpful criticism i take to be the discovery of what is there, and its revelation, with an examination of its history, its truth, and its value. that kind of criticism is close to creation itself, and few there are sufficiently self-sacrificing to endow and to train themselves to undertake it. it makes life very complicated to think too much about it, but to take a step further, and to attempt to apply logic to life, that way madness lies. it is of the very essence of life that things are never as they ought to be, but only as they can be for the time being. we may be optimistic enough to believe that this is a good world, but it is none the less true that unbending virtue seldom receives the temporal rewards for which most of us are striving, and with which alone most of us are content. we are forced to doubt, therefore, the goodness which finds life easy and comfortable, and since we must still at all hazards be charitable in our judgments of one another, we become, most of us, opportunists in morals. in dealing with the men, manners, affairs, and the soul of a stranger people, therefore, one must use what experience, knowledge, good-humor, and impartiality one has, without assumption of superiority, without making high demands, and without ceasing to be at least as opportunist as we are at home. because things are different, they are not necessarily better or worse, and if certain things are not there, it is perhaps because they do not belong there. above all, we should refrain from applying a stern logic to the life of another country which we never use in measuring our own. the whole north of germany is a flat, barren plain, with the elbe, the oder, the weser flowing west and north. the north of germany on a raised map looks like a vast sea-shore, and so it is. to the south a great river, the rhine, pierces its way from frankfort through a beautiful gorge in the mountains, and has its source near that of the danube. barbarossa called this river, "that royal street." this sea-shore is cultivated and populous; this river has been made a great commercial highway. cologne, one hundred and fifty miles from the sea, is now a seaport; strasburg, three hundred miles inland, can receive boats of six hundred tons; and the tributary river, the main, has been deepened so that now frankfort receives steamers from the rhine. three quarters of the through trade of holland is german water-borne trade. now the dortmund-ems canal, which is one hundred and sixty-eight miles long, and can be used by ships of a thousand tons, gives an outlet, via the rhine, at emden. all this is the work of a patient, persistent, and economical people working under great natural disadvantages. as compared with america this is an unfruitful land, and, as i have noted, surrounded on all sides by powerful enemies. in traugott müller estimated the value of germany's production of wheat, potatoes, vegetables�the products of the gardens and the fields, in short�at $ , , ; the production of beef, mutton, pork at $ , , ; of the dairies at $ , , ; of cotton, sugar, alcohol, wine, and wood at $ , , ; or a total of $ , , , . the united states is seventeen times as large, but by no means seventeen times as productive. germany, again, is divided into a number of states, all, with the exception of prussia, with its population of , , out of the total of , , , comparatively small. these states are not merely divided by legal and geographical lines, but by traditions, different ruling families, religion, tastes, habits, and manners, and even geologically. bernhard cotta, writing of germany, says: "geologically there is a spain, an england, a sweden, a russia, a france, but no germany." they are different individuals, not different members of the same family. they have been cemented together by coercion. over this whole country for three hundred years have swept all the fighting men of europe. until it was a tournament ground for the swedes, russians, french, dutch, belgians, italians, hungarians, english, and the various german states. it was shot over, till it is a wonder that there are any young birds, not to speak of old cocks and hens left, to begin with over again. a feature of the political situation, which scarcely enters into political calculations in america, is the sharp division between protestants and catholics, with a political party of catholics numbering one fourth of the total members, in the reichstag. in there were , , protestants and , , catholics in germany, the roman catholics being in a majority in baden, bavaria, and alsace-lorraine. in the past these religious differences have entailed all the most repulsive features of war, waged to the point of extermination. "lieber rom als liberal," is still a punning war-cry marking the dislike of rome and the fear of socialism. with us religion has become largely an organized attempt, using charity as patronage, to reconcile piety and plenty, with the result that with the exception of the catholic church dealing with the lately arrived immigrants, and the methodists and baptists dealing with the ignorant masses, black and white, in the south, religion in the sense of an organized church has little hold upon the people, especially in the large cities. in america the indifference to religion is the result of suspicion. the congregations are too largely black-coated and white-collared, and the lay officers of the churches much too solemnly sleek and serenely solvent to attract the weak, the unfortunate, the sorrowing, and the sinner. the mere appearance of the congregation in a prosperous protestant church in an american city is a mockery of christianity. any man who preaches to men who can own a seat in god's house is a craven opportunist. until the doors of the churches are open all the week, and the seats in the churches free, to claim that the christ is there is little short of blasphemy. it is no wonder that those who need him most, never dream of seeking for him in these ecclesiastical clubs. in germany half-baked thinking, following upon, and as the result of, the barracks and corporal methods of education, have turned the protestant population from the churches. the slovenly and patchy omniscience of the partly educated, leads them to believe that they know enough not to believe. renan, though a doubter himself, saw the weakness of this form of disbelief when he wrote: "there are in reality but few people who have a right not to believe in christianity." the people living upon this ethnographical chess-board have been for centuries rather tribal than national, and are still rather philosophical than political, rather idealistic than practical, rather dreamy than adventurous. to organize this population for self-support and self-defence, to ignore differences, racial and religious, to stamp out the jealousies of small rulers, required severe measures, and we are all learning to-day that democracies are seldom severe with themselves. a tyrannical autocracy, led by the great elector, frederick the great, and bismarck, produced from this welter of discord the astonishing results of to-day. we have to-day, in an area of , square miles, , square miles representing the lately conquered territory of alsace-lorraine, a population of , , , of whom , , are subjects of foreign powers. to defend this area there are to be, according to figures estimated even as this volume goes to press, a million men under arms in the army and navy. their enormous progress in trade, in industry, in shipbuilding, is set out in full in every year-book, for the curious to ponder. in so short a time, on so poor a soil, in such a restricted space, with such a past of distress and disaster, and dealing with such conflicting interests, a like success in nation-building is unparalleled. industrial and martial beehive though it would seem to be, there are provided for the native and the foreigner feasts of music, of art, and of study that cost little. there are quiet streams, lovely, lonely walks, and quaint towns that are nests of archaeological interest. in weimar, in stuttgart, in schwerin, in düsseldorf, in karlsruhe, not to mention munich, leipsic, dresden, berlin, frankfort, hamburg, there are centres of culture. the best that the mind of man creates is still spread out there as of yore for whomsoever will to partake, but ever in less abundance and with less enthusiasm. and these names are a mere fraction of the number of such places. the rivalries between the states is now to a large extent an elevating rivalry of culture, dotting the map of germany with resting-places for the curious, the scholarly, or the sentimental traveller. you may have plain living and high thinking in scores of the cities and towns of germany, and you will be considered neither an outcast nor an eccentric; indeed, you will find no small part of the population your companions. you may stroll for miles on the banks of that tiny stream the zschopau, and expect to see sprites and nymphs, so hidden are its windings; and where in all the world will a handkerchief cover an ulm, an augsburg, a rothenburg, ansbach, nuremberg, würzburg, with their wealth of associations? the fugger family, of augsburg, tell us again that there is nothing new in the world. five hundred years ago they were millionaires. one of these fuggers had a voice even in the election of charles v, and we are still hard at it trying to keep our fuggers from meddling in politics. another fugger, marcus by name, wrote a capital book on the horse in the sixteenth century, and at the last horse-show at olympia, in , a fugger came over from germany and took away the first prize for officers' chargers. so far flung was their fame as money-lenders that usury was called "fuggerei"! heirs of great houses got out of hand then as now, and duke albert iii of bavaria married agnes bernauer, the barber's daughter, and even the archduke ferdinand of austria ran off with fräulein welser. one citizen of augsburg fitted out a squadron to take possession of venezuela, which had been given him by the emperor charles v. for some reason the squadron did not sail; lord salisbury and president cleveland could have told this adventurous augsburger that he was better off at home! bishop boniface, of würzburg, was an englishman, and his father was a wheelwright. he put cart-wheels in his coat-of-arms, and they have remained to this day in the arms of the town, a fine reminder to snobbery that ancestry only explains, it cannot exalt. "pigmies are pigmies still, though perch'd on alps, and pyramids are pyramids in vales." the atmosphere in these towns is one of repose. they are still wise enough to know that the miraculous improvements in speed brought about by steam and electricity have not shortened the journey of the soul to heaven by one second. they know that socrates on a donkey really goes faster than solly goldberg in his sixty-horse-power motor-car. they are suspicious of the new cosmopolitan creed, that successful advertising endows a man with eternal life. countless political quacks have been caricatured, advertised, and cinematographed into familiarity, but wise men still read plato and aristotle. the penny press has not convinced them that popularity is immortality; they recognize popularity as merely glory paid in pennies. they partake to some extent of the patience of the oriental. they suspect, as most men of wide intellectual experience do, that the man who cannot wait must be a coward at bottom, afraid of himself, or of the world, or of god. this is wholly true of many germans, despite the clang of arms, the noise of steam-hammers, the shrieking locomotives, the puffing steamers, the clinking of their gold, and the shouting of their pedlers, now scattered all over the world. it is this combination, in the same small area, of noise and repose; of political subserviency at home and sabre-rattling abroad; of close organization at home and colonizing inefficiency abroad; of moral and intellectual freedom, one might almost call it moral and intellectual anarchy these days, and at the same time submission to a domestic and social tyranny unknown to us, that makes even a timid author feel that he is discovering the germans to his countrymen, so little do they know of this side of german life. they are not at all what the americans and the english think they are. they want peace, and we think they want war. the huge armaments are intended to frighten us, just as were the grotesquely ugly masks of the chinese warriors. they intend to frighten us all with their , soldiers, their great fleet, their air-ships and aeroplanes, and when they go to agadir again they hope to be able to stay there till their demands are granted. they are the last comers into the society of nations and they mean to insist upon recognition. but this demand is an artificial one so far as the great mass of germans is concerned. it is the prussian conqueror, and the small class, officer, official and royal, representing that conqueror, who are determined upon this course. they have unified germany, they have made the laws and forced obedience to them; and the heavily taxed, hard-driven, politically powerless people are helpless. nowhere has socialistic legislation been so cunningly and skilfully used for the enslavement of the people. no small part of every man's wages is paid to him in insurance; insurance for unemployment, for accident, sickness, and old age. there is but faint hope of saving enough to buy one's freedom, and if the slave runs away he leaves, of course, all the premiums he has paid in the hands of his master. a general uprising is guarded against by a redoubtable force of officials, officers, and soldiers, whose very existence depends upon their defence of and upholding of the state under its present laws and rulers. our grandfathers and fathers, some of them, talked and read of saint-simon, of fourier, robert owen, maurice kingsley, and the brook farm experiment, and believed, no doubt, that the dawn of the twentieth century would have extracted at least some balm from these theories for the healing of our social woes. they would rub their eyes in amazement were they to awake in to find more armed men, more ships of war, more fighting, more strikes and trade disputes, than ever before. above all, they would be puzzled to find the nation which is most advanced in the application of the theory of state socialism with the largest army, the heaviest taxation, and the second most formidable fleet. the library in which, as a small boy, i was permitted to browse, where i read those wonderful black forest stories and my first serious novel, on the heights, contained a bust of goethe, and on the shelves were fichte, freytag, spielhagen, strauss, and a miscellaneous collection of german authors grave and gay, or perhaps melancholy were a better word, for even now i should find it hard to point to a german author who is distinctively gay. no visitor to that library, and they numbered many distinguished visitors, american and foreign, from emerson and alcott and george macdonald to others less well known, dreamed that the serene marble features of goethe would be replaced by the granite fissures of the face of bismarck; and that auerbach's black forest stories would be less known than albert ballin's fleet of mercantile ships. as i dream myself back to that big chair wherein i could curl up my whole person, and still leave room for at least two fair-sized dogs, i see as in no other way the almost unbelievable change that has come over germany. the black forest stories, hammer and anvil, the lost manuscript, werther, fichte, kant, hegel, schopenhauer, strauss, heine were germany then; bismarck, ballin, and krupp are germany now. germany was hamlet then; germany is shylock, shylock armed to the teeth, now. no nation can change in one generation, as has germany, by the natural development of its innate characteristics; such a change must be forced and artificial to take place in so short a time. this is not only the internal danger to germany itself, but the danger to all those superficial observers who point to germany as having solved certain social and economic problems. she has not solved them by healthy growth into better ways; she has suppressed them, strangled them, suffocated them. the heroes and heroines of my black forest stories have been rudely stuffed into the uniforms of officials, soldiers, factory hands, and red cross nurses. the toy-shops have been developed, on borrowed capital, into ship-building yards and factories for guns and ammunition. the dreamer in dressing-gown and slippers has been forced into the cap and apron of the workman. the small sovereigns have been frightened into allegiance to the war lord, whose shadow falls upon every corner of germany. in this new scheme of things it soon became evident, that the individual was incompetent to take care of himself along lines best suited to the plans of his new conqueror, therefore part of his earnings were taken from all alike to provide against accident, sickness, unemployment, and old age, and thus bind him fast to the chariot of his warrior lord. germany, having given up the belief that the salvation of her own soul was of prime importance, became suspiciously concerned about the souls and bodies of the people. we are all to some extent following her example. the wise among us are sad, the capitalist and his ally the demagogue are seen everywhere all smiles, rubbing their hands, for the more people are made to believe that they can be, and ought to be, taken care of, the more the machinery is put into their hands, the more plunder comes their way, the more indispensable they are. the great majority of people who write or speak of germany applaud this situation; let me frankly say, what everybody will be saying in twenty-five years, i deplore it. it is a purely artificial, incompetent, and dreary solution. even hamlet were better than shylock. fortunately there is also a large and increasing class in germany who distrust the situation. they point to the fact that technical education is producing an army of dingy artisans, who turn out the cheap and nasty by the million, an education which chokes idealism and increases the growing flippancy in matters of faith and morals; they sneer, and well they may, at the manufactured art, the carpenter's gothic architecture, the sickly literature, the decaying interest in scholarship; they find fewer and fewer candidates for exploration and colonization; they rankle under the series of diplomatic ineptitudes since bismarck; they see france, russia, and england antagonized and leagued against them, and their own allies, austria-hungary and italy, in a confused state of squabble with their neighbors; they are nervous and disquieted by the financial and industrial conditions; they condemn whole-heartedly the political caste system by which much of the best material in germany is barred from the councils and the diplomatic and executive activities of the nation; there are not a few who would welcome an inconclusive war that would, they think, put an end to this system, and make the ruler and the officials responsible to the people; they wish to open the doors of this governmental, legislative, educational, industrial hot-house, and give the nation a chance to grow naturally in the open air. the policy of making other people afraid of you must have an end, the policy of making others respect and like you can have no end. there is no question which is the natural law of national development. neither for the individual nor for a nation is it wholesome to increase antagonisms and to lessen the conciliatory points of contact with the world. many of the weaknesses, much of the strength of germany are artificial. they have not grown, they have been forced. the very barrenness of the soil, the ring of enemies, the soft moral and social texture of the population, have, so their little knot of rulers think, made necessary these harsh, artificial forcing methods. the outstanding proof of the artificiality of this civilization is its powerlessness to propagate. germans transplanted from their hothouse civilization to other countries cease to be germans; and nowhere in the world outside germany is german civilization imitated, liked, or adopted. the german is nonplussed to find the pole in the east, the frenchman in the west, the dane in the north, scoffing at his alte kultur, as he calls it, and he is irritated beyond measure by the german from america, who returns to the vaterland to criticise, to sneer, and to thank god that he is an american, not a german citizen. germans become english citizens, no englishmen become germans; millions of germans have become americans, no americans become germans. no other population would be amenable to the prussian methods that have made germany, nor is there anywhere in the world a people demanding prussian methods, while there are millions under the prussian yoke who hate it. the german rhetoric to the effect that germany is to save the world by teutonizing the world, is laughable. prussia is the ventriloquist behind this half-hearted boast. werther, and faust, and lohengrin, are far more real than those scarecrows autocracy, bureaucracy, and militarism, triplets of straw, premature births, not destined to live, of which germany boasts to-day as the most precocious children in the world. they are just that, precocious children, teaching the pallid religion of dependence upon the state and enforcing the anarchical morality of man's despair of himself. our descendants will have werther and faust and lohengrin, as the companions of their dreams at least, when that autocracy shall have been blown to the winds, when that bureaucracy shall have dried up and wasted away, when that exaggerated militarism shall be but bleaching bones and dust. who has not lived in germany as a house of dreams, seen the valkyrie race by, heard the swan song, wept with werther and with marguerite, smiled cynically with mephistopheles, languished with the palm tree and the pine of heine; who has not sat at the feet of germany as a philosopher, and traced the very fissures of his own brain in following thinking into thought; but who in all the world longs for this new germany of the barracks, the corporal and the pedler? germania as a malicious vestal clad in horrid armor and making mischief in the world is a very present danger; germania with a torch lighting the world to salvation is a phantom, a ghost, seen by hasty and nervous observers, who rush out to proclaim an adventure that may excite a passing interest in themselves. her methods to-day are solution by suffocation; no wonder those of us who loved her in our youth see in her a ghost to-day. i am thankful that i was her pupil when she had other things to teach, when she wore other robes, when she was modest, and not snatching at the trident of neptune, nor clutching at the casque of mars. "wir wissen zu viel, wir wollen zu wenig," became the national complaint, and germany has attempted to transform herself. she has succeeded in the transformation, but the transformation is not a success. even that learned english friend of germany, lord haldane, does not see, or will not see, that a people thinking themselves into action, instead of developing into action naturally, through action, must suffer from the artificiality of the process. lord haldane applauds their thought-out organization in industrial, commercial, and military matters, but he fails to mention the squandering of individual capacity and energy that has resulted in germany's growing dependence upon a wooden bureaucracy. organization is only good as a means; it is stupefying as an end. germany has organized herself into an organization, and is the most over-governed country in the world. what every democracy of free men wants is not as much, but as little, organization as possible compatible with economical administration of industry, the army, the navy, and the affairs of the state. you can think out a game of chess, but you cannot think out life ahead of the living of it without cramping it and finally killing it. life is to live, not to think, after all. neither a nation nor an individual has ever thought out the way to power. this is where the metaphysician invariably fails when he mistakes thinking for living, when he mistakes organization, which can never be more than a mould for life, for life itself. to plan an army is not to produce one, however good the plan; even to plan a campaign, once you have an army, is to court disaster unless there is a living man to thrust the plan aside when the emergencies arise that make up the whole of life, but have nothing to do with organization. if all men were tailors, or lawyers, or farmers, or miners, then we could think out an organization into which they would fit, but unfortunately for the metaphysician, all men are not categories; all men are men! in like manner, if all men were cases, then government by lawyers would be successful, but men and women are neither categories nor cases. it is purely fantastic, the mere reasoned confusion of the philosopher, to point to spinoza, kant, and hegel and their successors as the originators of germany's progress. if germany had developed along those lines, she would be something quite different from what she is. the great elector, frederick the great, napoleon, and bismarck made germany, and her philosophers and pedants are only responsible for the softness that made it possible. metaphysicians and lawyers have their place, but they will inevitably ruin any people whom they are permitted to govern. the reader will perhaps look back through these pages to discover a contradiction. he will seem to find evidence that germany's position in the world called for just this present germany, which is a factory town with a garden attached, surrounded by an armed camp. i deny the contradiction. i have tried to analyze and to give the reasons for germany's development along these meretricious and disappointing lines, but i am the last to admit that the outcome is satisfactory, or that the rest of the world should look to germany to point out the way of salvation. a steaming orchid-house is not the place to go to learn to grow the fruits of the earth in their due season for the nourishment of a free people. you will find some brilliantly colored flowers there, in the gay uniforms of the artificial tropics, but they shrink and shrivel in the open air. they have been trained to grow luxuriantly in this stifling atmosphere, but they feed no one, please no one, who will not consent to live in a glass house with them. because a people is blindfolded, its preachers and pedagogues gagged, its officials subservient, is all the more reason why they should be easily led, but no reason at all for supposing that they will lead anybody else. i have said here and there that i have learned much, and that we all have much to learn from germany. i permit myself to repeat it. she has shown us that the short-cut to the governing of a people by suppression and strangulation results in a dreary development of mediocrity. she has proved again that the only safety in the world for either an individual or a nation is to be loved and respected, and in these days no one respects slavery or loves threats. from an american point of view, any sacrifice, any war, were better than the domination of the prussian methods of nation-making. no nation should be by its traditions and its ideals more ready to arm itself, and to keep itself armed if necessary for years, against the possibility of the transference of such methods to the american continent than the united states of north america. "theuer ist mir der freund, doch auch den feind kann ich nützen, zeigt mir der freund, was ich kann, lehrt mir der feind was ich soll," writes schiller. we americans have much to learn from both our friends and our enemies. we have both in germany, and we should cultivate the temper of mind which profits by the encouragement of our friends and the criticism of our foes. blood and iron _origin of german empire as revealed by character of its founder, bismarck_ by john hubert greusel the shakespeare press - e. th st. new york copyright, , john hubert greusel _dedicated to stella my wife_ contents book the first: bismarck's human essence chapter i--the man himself . the giant's ponderous hammer . grossly human is our bismarck . despite political bogs . genius combined with foibles chapter ii--blood will tell . iron-headed ancestry . animal basis of rise to power . "the wooden donkey dies today!" chapter iii--the gothic cradle . the child of destiny . soft carl, spartan louise chapter iv--sunshine and shadow . amazing powers of hereditary traits . the wolf's breed . twenty-eight duels! . fizzle of first official service book the second: the german national problem chapter v--the great sorrow . the german crazy quilt . the diamond necklace chapter vi--prussia's de profundis . the lash and the kiss . the prussian downfall . prussia becomes germany . kingcraft comes upon evil days . the star of hope . the king keeps reading his bible . the deluge book the third: bismarck supports his king chapter vii--fighting fire with fire . voice in the wilderness . the young giant . speechless for one whole month . bellowing his defiance chapter viii--bismarck suffers a great shock . bismarck scorns french political millennium . militarism as national salvation . king marches with mob! chapter ix--so much the worse for zeitgeist . not politics--human nature . setting back the century clock . the master at work . bismarck nudges his king . mystical high-flown speeches book the fourth: blood is thicker than water chapter x--socrates in politics . the frankfort school of intrigue . preparing for german unity . tyrants are necessary . bismarck, in naked realism chapter xi--the mailed fist . democracy stems from aristocracy . parallel elements of power chapter xii--by blood and iron! . the man of the hour . rough and tumble . on comes the storm . bismarck decides to rule alone chapter xiii--the dream of empire . bismarck tricks them all . prussian domination essential . by faith ye shall conquer . was bismarck a beast? book the fifth: the german people are one and united chapter xiv--windrows of corpses . devil or saint, which? . sleeping beside the dead . the rejected stone . his ikon? . "the dying warrior" . sadowa summed up . manure chapter xv--the great year, . "these poor times" . the bugle blast . bismarck's ironical revenge . the weaver's hut . zenith! chapter xvi--the versailles masterpiece . the kaiser's crown . divine-right, a politico-military fact book the sixth: once a man and twice a child chapter xvii--the downfall . bismarck's secret discontent . "who made united germany?" . the irony of fate . last illusion dispelled . binding up the old man's wounds . awaiting the call . refuses to pass under the yoke . glory turns to ashes chapter xviii--hail and farewell . his final and most glorious decoration . "as one asleep" book the first bismarck's human essence chapter i the man himself hark, hark! the giant's ponderous hammer rings on the anvil of destiny. enter, thou massive figure, bismarck, and in deadly earnest take thy place before time's forge. ¶ it is, it must be, a large story--big with destiny! the details often bore with their monotony; they do not at all times march on; they drag, but they do indeed never halt permanently; ahead always is the great german glory. ¶ forward march, under prince bismarck. he is our grim blacksmith, looming through the encircling dark, massive figure before time's forge. the sparks fly, the air rings with the rain of blows: he is in deadly earnest, this half-naked, brawny prussian giant; magnificent in his olympian mien; his bellows cracking, his shop aglow with cheery-colored sparks as the heavy hammer falls on the unshapen ores on the big black anvil. ¶ thus, toiling hour after hour in the heat and sweat, our pomeranian smith with ponderous hammer beats and batters the stubborn german iron into a noble plan--for a great nation! * * * * * ¶ from a human point, we do not always see the ultimate glory. for that is obscured by dark clouds of party strife, extending over years, the caprices of men and the interplay of ambitions both within and without the distracted german lands. russia, austria, italy, great britain, france, spain, have their spies engaged in all the under-play of political intrigue; there are a thousand enemies at home and abroad, in camp, court and peasant's cottage. ¶ and at times, weary of it all, we throw down the book convinced that, in a welter of sordid ends, the cause is lost in shame. but, somehow, some way, germany does in truth ultimately emerge triumphant, in spite of her amazing errors and the endless plots of enemies. she does indeed justify her manhood--and thus the bismarck story is of imperishable glory. * * * * * ¶ we say that bismarck had to re-inspire the germans to be a fighting nation. what we mean is that the spirit of the ancient teutons had to be aroused; for though it slumbered for centuries, it never died. rome found that out when she was still in her infancy; the germans burnt the town by the tiber; and the fearsome struggle between the romans and the germanic tribesmen lasted almost unbroken for nearly five centuries. ¶ the romans regarded the germans as the bravest people in the world. the migrations of the cimbri and teutones, and the frightful struggles in which after superhuman endeavors the roman marius destroyed his german enemies is one of the heroic pages of all history. it was a hand-to-hand contest, and torrents of human blood ran that day. menzel tells us, (germany, p. ), that the place of battle enriched by a deluge of blood and ultimately fertilized by heaps of the slain, became in after years the site of vineyards whose wines were eagerly sought by connoisseurs. ¶ the cimbri were drawn up in a solid square, each side of which measured , paces. the foremost ranks were fastened together with chains, that the enemy might not readily break through. even the german dogs that guarded the baggage train fought with animal ferocity. the battle went against the germans and the slaughter was frightful. when all was lost, the germans killed their women and children, rather than see them fall into the hands of the romans. german courage inspired terror and created foreboding throughout the roman world. it is a heroic story and sustains the german tradition that germans born free under their ancient oaks never will be slaves, though the whole world is against them. the success varied, but the germans conquered, even in death, becoming lineal descendants of the empire. and on the ruins were builded the german nation, as the successor of the old holy roman empire. * * * * * ¶ we picture to you these shadowy glimpses of remote battle-scenes to show you that germans were ever fighting men, who preferred death to loss of liberty. on the ruins of roman imperial glory, teutonic conquerors founded an empire that defied time and chance for upwards of , years; then there crept in a peculiar dry rot. the ancient german oak died at the top. along came napoleon, hacking away the limbs and scarring the gnarled trunk with fire and sword. the ruin seemed complete. dead at the top, dead at the root, men said. and what men say is true. there is no longer a germany, except as a mere geographical designation; when you speak of the german empire you recall merely the echo of a once mighty name. it now becomes bismarck's solemn duty, fortified by a noble appreciation of the ancient legend, to make the german oak green again in its immortal youth. and he watered the roots with blood. ¶ we cannot tell you the great story in a few baby-sentences; you must read and grasp the broad spirit as it gradually unfolds. bismarck in the crudity of his early inspiration scarcely finds himself for years. but all the while he is holding fast to the idea that the fatherland should under god be free and united, sustained by the ancient teutonic brotherhood in arms. we present him in part as a tyrant, a wild, intolerant spirit, working his own plans to be sure, but those plans in the end are to redound to the good of the nation he long and unselfishly serves. we ask you to see him in his weakness and we hope with some of his strength, always with his high purpose. we ask you to behold him as a man with all a strong man's frailties and faults. we do not spare him. we paint him black, now and then, deliberately, that you may know how very small ofttimes are the very great; also to realize that if we are to wait for perfect human beings to front our reforms then those reforms will never be made. bismarck is too great a man to be belittled by the glamour of spurious praise for spurious virtues. it was not necessary for him to cease to be a human being in order to carry out his work. he remained, to the end, grossly human, for which the gods be praised. grossly human is our bismarck, whose lust for control is idiomatic; let us get this clearly, first of all. ¶ did you ever see a bulldog battle with one of his kind? the startling fact is this: the dog suddenly develops magnificent reserve force, making his battling blood leap; is transformed into a catapult, bearing down his adversary or by him borne down--it matters not which!--for the joy of battle. to fight is the realization of his utmost being. ¶ a peculiar fact known to all admirers of a fighting bulldog is this: the dog during the fight, looks now and then at his master near-by, as much as to say, "see how well i fight!" ¶ thus bismarck looked at his king. * * * * * ¶ the nature of the pit bulldog is seen in bismarck's head. his surly face inspires a sense of dread. there is that in his physiognomy that shows his ugly disposition, when aroused. if you saw that moody face in the crowd, one glance would be sufficient to make you feel how vituperative, short, sharp, murderous the unknown man could be, on occasion. ¶ yet the fear stirred by the sight of a pit bulldog is ofttimes largely illusionary. the dog at heart is genial in a brute way, and never a more loyal servant than the bulldog to his friends--devoted even to death, to his master. ¶ it is the sense of dread in the bulldog's head that strikes home! so with bismarck's physiognomy. the iron chancellor had but to come into the room to make his onlookers experience uneasiness. there was an ever-present suggestion of pent-up power, that could in an instant be turned upon men's lives, to their destruction! ¶ it is true that bismarck had his genial side, but it cannot be said that he drew and held men to him. he had thousands of admirers to one friend. during the greater part of his life he was either hated or feared--at best, misunderstood. like the pit bulldog, bismarck was born to rule other lives--and he fulfilled his mission. ¶ the element of absolutism in the man, his uncompromising severity, his command of the situation regardless of cost, sorrow or suffering to other men, is seen in his realistic physiognomy. we study these facts more and more, as we go along. * * * * * ¶ there was always something imperious about this great man. he brooked no interference. his excessive dignity compelled respect. he never allowed familiarities; you could not safely presume on his good nature. he never permitted you to get too near. this abnormal self-confidence conveyed the idea that this giant in physique and in intellectual power was truly cut out for greatness. one of his favorite pranks, as a boy, was to amuse himself making faces at his sister; he could frighten her by his queer grimaces. from early youth, he was accustomed to take himself very seriously, and by his offensive manners conveyed an immediate impression of the ironical indifference in which he held humanity, in the mass. ¶ he was a born aristocrat, in a sense of high, offensive partisanship. ¶ men shrank from him, cursed him, reviled his name; but they respected his intellect, even in the early days when he used his power in an undisciplined way; yes, was painfully learning the business of mastering human lives. ¶ the brute in the man loomed large; the unreasoning but magnificent audacity of the bulldog expressed itself in scars, wounds, deep-drinking bouts, fisticuffs, and in twenty-eight duels. ¶ but he had another kind of courage, greater in import than that expressed by physical combat. * * * * * ¶ when we say bismarck's work is a revelation of his will to power, we emphasize again how unnecessary it is to make him either less or more than a human being. there is a school of writers that never mentions his name except with upturned eyes, as though he were a demigod. the tendency of human nature is to idealize such as bismarck out of all semblance to the original, creating wax figures where once were men of flesh and blood. ¶ men rise to power largely in uniform ways; that psychic foundation on which they draw is always grossly human, rather dull when you understand it, always conventional;--and the great bismarck himself is no exception. ¶ in doing his work, bismarck is following the psychic necessities of his character; is acting in a very personal way, upheld always by the soldier's virtue, ambition. there is also a large element of self-love. his idiomatic lust for control is to be accepted as a root-fact of his peculiar type of being. and while on the whole his ambition is exercised for the good of his country, herein he is acting, in addition, under the ardent appetite, in his case a passion, to dominate millions of lives; urged not perhaps so much from a preconceived desire to dominate as from an inherent call to exercise his innate capacity for leadership. ¶ making allowance for the idea that bismarck is a devoted servant of the king of prussia, it is not necessary to believe that bismarck poses as the savior of his country. in fact, he distinctly disavows this sacrifice, has too much sense to regard himself from this absurd point of view. ¶ the words carved on bismarck's tomb at his own request, "a faithful german servant of emperor william i," show that however much other men were unable to comprehend the baffling bismarckian character, the iron chancellor himself had no vain illusions. ¶ when he was and about to die, the old man taking a final sweep of his long and turbulent life, asked himself solemnly: "how will i be known in time to come?" ¶ fame replied: "you have been a great prince; an invincible maker of empire, you have held in your hand the globe of this earth; call yourself what you will, and i will write a sermon in brass on your tomb." ¶ but the iron chancellor, after mature reflection, decided that his entire career, with all its high lights and its deep shadows, could be expressed in four simple words, "a faithful german servant." he knew exactly what he was, and how he would ultimately be represented in history. ¶ think what this means. on those supreme questions of life and time involving the interpretation of destiny--a problem hopelessly obscure to the average man--bismarck brought a massive mind charged with a peculiar clairvoyance; often, his fore-knowledge seemed well-nigh uncanny in its exact realism; and if you doubt this assertion, all we ask is that you withhold your verdict till you have read bismarck's story, herein set forth in intimate detail. ¶ how clear the old man's vision to discern behind all his bismarckian pomp and majesty, in camp, court and combat, only the rôle of faithful servant. ¶ the phrase on his tomb proclaims the man's great mind. his overbrooding silence, as it were, is more eloquent than sermons in brass. * * * * * ¶ in studying bismarck, the man, we merge his identity in the events of his time; but we must sharply differentiate between the events and the man. we incline to the belief that hereditary tendencies explain him more than does environment. it is bismarck as a human being, and not the tremendous panorama of incidents leading to german sovereignty that always holds our interest. life is life, and is intensely interesting, for its own sake. thus, we are at once freed from a common fallacy of biographical writing--that vicious mental attitude, as vain as it is egotistical on part of the over-partial historian, who would warp some manifest destiny on human life. ¶ bismarck needs no historical explanation, no reference to hackneyed categories in the card-index of time. whether his plan was dedicated to this world or to the glory of some invisible god, you may debate as you will, but bismarck will be neither greater nor less because of flights of your imagination. ¶ he is a great man in the sense that he did large things, but this does not make him other than he is, nor does his story lose because we know him to be grossly human in his aims. his life does not borrow anything because a certain type of mind professes to see behind bismarck's history, as indeed behind the careers of all great men, some mysterious purpose apart and beyond human nature's daily needs. it was not necessary for bismarck to cease to be a human being, to accomplish what he accomplished. * * * * * ¶ also, for the reason that bismarck was a genius, he is an exception to conventional rules covering the limitations of little men. ¶ bismarck was a born revolutionist. look at his terrible jaw, which, like the jaws of the bulldog, when once shut down never lets go till that object is in shreds. ¶ he was a true bulldog in this that, like the thoroughbred bulldog, bismarck favored one feed a day. he took a light breakfast, no second breakfast, but at night would eat one enormous meal. the bulldog follows a similar practice, when eating never looks from the plate, and the water fairly runs from his eyes, with animal satisfaction. ¶ bismarck compelled men to do his bidding--as the wind drives the clouds and asks not when or why. it is enough to know that that is the wind's way! he knew the coward, the thief, the soldier, the priest, the citizen, the king, and the peasant. he knew how to betray an enemy with a judas kiss; how to smite him when he was down; how to dig pitfalls for his feet; how to ply him with champagne and learn his secrets; how to permit him to win money at cards, and then get him to sign papers; how to remember old obligations or to forget new favors; how to read a document in more than one way; how to turn historical parallels upside down; how to urge today what he refused to entertain a year ago; how to put the best face on a losing situation; and how to shuffle, cut and stack the cards, or at times how to play in the open. ¶ he was not a humanitarian with conceptions of world peace or world benevolences. he was for himself and his own ends, which were tied to his political conception of a new germany. ¶ and all the time he was helped out by his extraordinary vital powers, his ability to work all night like a horse week after week; go to bed at dawn and sleep till afternoon; then drive a staff of secretaries frantic with his insistent demands. ¶ likewise, he was helped out by his remarkable personality. actor that he was, he sometimes gained his point by his frankness, knowing that when he told the exact truth he would not be believed. ¶ also, he could bluff and swagger, or he could speak in the polite accents of the distinguished gentleman; he could gulp a quart of champagne without taking the silver tankard from his lips; in younger years he used to eat from four to eleven eggs at a meal, besides vegetables, cakes, beer, game and three or four kinds of meats; his favorite drink was a mixture of champagne and porter. * * * * * ¶ he was a chain-smoker, lighted one cigar with another, often smoked ten or twelve hours at a stretch. his huge pipes, in the drawing room; his beer, in the salons of berlin; his irritability, his bilious streaks, his flashes of temper; his superstition about the number ; his strange mixing of god with all his despotic conduct; his fondness for mastiffs; his attacks of jaundice; his volcanic outbursts; his belief in ghosts, in the influence of the moon to make the hair grow; his mystical something about seven and combinations of seven; his incessant repetition of the formula that he was obeying his god--were but human weaknesses that showed he had a side like an everyday common man. ¶ on top of it all he was great, because he knew how to manage men either with or without their consent; but he always studied to place himself in a strategic position from which he could insist on his demand for his pound of flesh. ¶ sometimes, it took years before he could lull to sleep, buy, bribe or win over the men he needed; again when the game was short and sharp, he kicked some men out of his path contemptuously, others he parleyed with, still others he thundered against and defied; but always at the right time, won his own way. ¶ yes, even bismarck's card-playing is subordinated to the shrewd ends of diplomacy. dr. busch, the press-agent of bismarck during the franco-prussian war, tells us that bismarck once made this frank confession: ¶ "in the summer of when i concluded the convention of gastein with blome (the austrian), i went in for quinze so madly that the rest could not help wondering at me. but i knew what i was about. blome had heard that this game gave the best possible opportunity for discovering a man's real nature, and wanted to try it on with me. so i thought to myself, here's for you then, and away went a few hundred thalers, which i really might have charged as spent in his majesty's service. but at least i thus put blome off the scent, so he thought me a reckless fellow and gave way." despite vast areas of political bogs, quaking under foot, that one must traverse, our otto is not inaccessible! ¶ for many years they hate him like hell-fire itself, this otto von bismarck. the prussians hate him, the austrians, the bavarians, to say nothing of the intervening rabble; but our tyrant is strong enough, in the end, to win foreign wars, and then the haters veer about, almost in a night, come up on bended knees and kiss the hand that smites--that hand of bismarck, at once the best-beloved and the most-hated hand of his time. what more pray do you ask of human nature? ¶ now here is a strange reality: if you look at the general outlines of the german map in , you will see that the frontiers trace in a startling way the scowling outlines of frederick the great, "old fritz," who first dreamed this german unity idea. but mighty frederick is in the royal tomb these many years; and a new frederick in spirit is rapidly learning the business of king-maker and empire-builder. * * * * * ¶ behind the name bismarck is a story extraordinary, compounded of the intrigues, blood and passions of austria, russia, italy, france, belgium, bavaria, spain, and england. volumes would not suffice to give you the bewildering details; mountains of diplomatic letters, orders, telegrams, truths, half-truths, shuffling, cutting and stacking; you go confusedly from palace to people, prince to pauper, university to prison pen--all the way from waterloo to versailles, where william i received at last his great glory, german emperor. ¶ bismarck's story is best told in flashes of lightning--as you try to picture a bolt from the black skies. by the patience of the methodical historian who laboriously examines each document in the national archives, one fills soon enough a ten-volume account--with a swamp of cross-references, footnotes to each paragraph, and with notes to the footnotes. ¶ yet this bismarck is not inaccessible if we get at his inner side, grasp the man's essence. strong arm and tireless brain time asked;--a man who could neither be bent, broken nor brow-beaten; a man who would for years follow a plan by no means clear; often had to go out in the dark and find his way, all old landmarks lost, and no pole-star in sight. ¶ i dwell on one outstanding fact, all down through his career: i mean bismarck's power to conceal pain. hurricanes of insulting criticisms swept around his head, year after year, but on the whole otto's attitude was that of the mountain that defies the storm. he would never give in that, as it seemed to onlookers, a shaft of disagreeable truth had struck home; that a soft-nosed bullet, well aimed, had torn his flesh or broken a bone; or that a dagger-thrust, going directly through his coat of the white cuirassier had pierced his heart. ¶ even in his bitter defeats, he had a peculiar idiomatic way of making out that the result was exactly what he desired. it was of course only an adroit explanation to protect his pride; the brazen invention of a nature that would not acknowledge itself in error. here is bismarck, to the core. ¶ for a long and turbulent life-time bismarck's soul was tried by the very tortures of the damned! wherein it is set forth that otto von bismarck's massive political genius, combined with his personal foibles, mark him as a heroic figure, side by side with frederick the great. ¶ in attempting to depict a consistent bismarck, we find that his life has been as much misinterpreted through the carping need of envious political critics as through the bad art of historically well-disposed friends. the perplexing problem is to blend his massive mental grasp, side by side with his strange fits of irritability, his turbulence, his deep-drinking, his gluttony, his wild pranks. about him at all times, whether expressed or concealed, there floated an ironic derision of the littleness of the average man, whom at heart bismarck despised. while the eyes of detractors are everywhere, the voice of hero-worship has likewise conspired to make an impossible idol of a man with very human and ofttimes crying frailties; the biographic truth is to be found somewhere between these two extremes; but even with this clear clue in mind, it is often difficult to reconcile amazing personal and diplomatic inconsistencies with which his career abounds. ¶ then, too, there is something that strikes like the irony of socrates, only bitter instead of light; and bismarck reveals now and then a touch remindful of that rabelaisian hero whose enormous capacity could only be quenched by draining the river dry. to tell bismarck's inner life-story, in a large way, one must often deal with a series of pictures akin to the gods and devils in dore's delineations for dante's "inferno." it often seems as though every important act of this great man's life was charged with the significance of destiny, stands forth vividly against a background of intrigue, superstition, personal follies, the smoke and flame of battle--a heroic figure side by side with such master-spirits as frederick the great. like frederick the severe, this bismarck is very human indeed, and has his crying weaknesses, and his enemies, god knows, tried for forty years to get rid of him by intrigue, often by assassination; yet until his great duty is done he must hold firmly to his place, must do the work which brings him no peace, or rest, only trouble year after year. * * * * * ¶ throughout the amazing story, no matter which way we travel, we always return to a profound sense of this giant's will and his massive knowledge of human life, expressed in his ability to force the shrewdest men in europe to do his bidding. his sense of power is so supreme that sometimes it really seems that, as bismarck himself often sets forth, his authority fell from heaven. here, there is a direct harking back to the ancient days in the alt mark, to the circle of stendal with its little town of bismarck, on the biese, where stands the ancient masonry dating from , and known as the "bismarck louse." ¶ the strange legend of the bismarck louse tells worlds of the ancient bismarck power, in those far-off times, helps us in the year to grasp certain obscure phases of the bismarck racial strength, inherited by otto von bismarck. ¶ this medieval bismarck tower received its name from a gigantic louse which inhabited this place, and had to be fed and appeased; therefore, every day the superstitious peasants of the district brought huge quantities of meat and drink, for the monster's food. it is needless to add that these visits were encouraged by the bismarck lord of the soil, in alt mark;--and here you see already the cunning in managing human nature so characteristic of the bismarck genius. ¶ the purely social application of this gossip may, however, be eyed with suspicion, as a french canard. it was so easy for "figaro" to libel the bismarck of , whereupon the whole french press followed and barked at the iron chancellor's heels. he was caricatured, spit at, reviled, depicted as the beast-man in europe. ¶ for one thing, bismarck knew france was the richest nation in europe, also that she had ambition for the left bank of the rhine; and to general sheridan, who chanced to be at sedan and gravelotte on official business, bismarck said, "the only way to keep france from waging war in the near future is to empty her pockets." ¶ french newspaper editors lashed themselves into insanity trying to invent new names for the man who had brought the downfall of the empire, at sedan; the man who at versailles was arranging the hardest terms of peace ever conceived by a diplomatic shylock, bent on having his pound of flesh. ¶ paris journalists called him "the incarnation of the evil spirit," "the antichrist," "the shrewd barbarian," "crime-stained ogre, who was always thrashing his wife with a dog-whip," "he kept a harem, from which no berlin shopkeeper's daughter was safe;" "once he became enamored of a nun and hired ruffians to kidnap her and bear her away to his castle;" "he is the father of many illegitimate children, in berlin some say as many as fifty;" "he once lashed one of his russian mistresses over the bare shoulders because he suspected her of looking at another admirer;" "he uses his confidential diplomatic knowledge to add to his huge private fortune by gambling on every bourse in europe." ¶ how magnificent--if it were indeed only true! what a relief that would be over the tame details of average human life, and what a boon to biographers this grand wickedness! alas, the tales are only important as specimens of french drawing room gossip of ! ¶ the fables never bothered bismarck a moment. when he was ready, he repaid them in his own splendid coin; and certainly he was past-master of the gentle art of putting a razor-edge on an insult! ¶ bismarck had his vituperative side. egged on by his wife and his son, bismarck became at times verbally ferocious. his wife, a descendant of those terrible frankish women-warriors, stemming from barbarian times, could under stress exercise a barbarian's stark freedom of speech; and when bismarck, furious at some insult, was replying with a political cannonade, she would infuriate him to still greater exertions by suggesting: ¶ "bismarck, hiss a little! hiss a little!" * * * * * ¶ and after seven hundred years, the bismarck psychology behind the old tower's superstitious appeal remains substantially the same. we shall see at times as we sketch for you the life portrait of otto von bismarck a mysterious atavism; the self-same mental astuteness that stood his ancestors in such good stead, enabling them to frighten the peasants into providing the corn. ¶ yes, blood will tell--and the bismarck blood is rare juice! chapter ii blood will tell battle-born, bismarck's genius springs from the very fire and sword of human nature--resembling definitely his iron-headed barbarian ancestry, whose freedom remained unconquered through the centuries. ¶ we cannot hope to trace bismarck to any complete legal basis--any more than we can defend the complete legitimacy of france, belgium, or the united states, countries avowedly harking back to revolutionary origin. bismarck's life, likewise, presents unquestioned elements of anarchistic root. inherited from battle-born bismarcks are forces peculiar to himself, free, and individualistic, profoundly expressive wherein mother nature summoning her ultimate powers endows a colossal courage in a colossal mind and body. ¶ as far as the thirteenth century, the name bismarck, then styled bishofsmarck or biscopesmarck, is associated with the little river biese; but whence the original stock is for antiquarians to debate. believe the bismarcks to be of bohemian, of frankish or of jewish origin, or of slavic if you will, you find bespectacled, scholastic authorities who will open the musty pages and display to you the truth. ¶ herbort of biese became in due course herbort von bismarck. the "von" was unquestionably a mark of geographical origin, rather than a sign of nobility. the name is borne by other families from biese; but the important part is not the name but the men behind that name, what that name stood for. ¶ herbort von bismarck's name is enrolled in the guild papers as master of the merchant tailors of stendal, in the old mark of brandenburg; a "mark" being somewhat equivalent to an english "shire." ¶ but this fact about the tailor-ancestor must not be pressed too far. some antiquarian of the year a. d., let us say, might argue that president taft was a steam-shoveler, because the name is found recorded among the laborers who helped dig the panama canal; whereas, the fact is that the president was enrolled as an honorary member of one of the labor unions. also, after waterloo, when the british nation was running wild trying to imagine some distinction that as yet had not been bestowed on wellington, the london tailors in a moment of inspiration added the iron duke's name to the great roll of scissor-snippers! * * * * * ¶ beginning with herbort's son, four bismarcks, in three generations, were social lepers. * * * * * ¶ klaus von bismarck died about the year , outside the holy favor of the church--as his father had died before him, and as did two sons, in their turn. but klaus, ever shrewd in a worldly way, recommended himself as a king's fighting man; led the robber gang off with the loot in the name of his merry monarch, the margrave of bavaria. ¶ for this most excellent service as a professional man-killer, klaus was rewarded with a knight's fee of forest land, at burgstal, an estate that remained in the family for two hundred years. there were deer, wild boar, wolves and bear in the bismarck forest, and one day conrad of hohenzollern came that way on a royal hunting expedition. ¶ conrad could have stolen the bismarck petty title outright, but while he confiscated burgstal forest, he offered schoenhausen, on the elbe, in exchange. however, schoenhausen did not compare with the estate that the envious monarch took by force. the burgstal forest is to this day one of the great game preserves of the german emperor. ¶ the bismarcks also received in the exchange farming land known as crevisse, lately confiscated by the hohenzollerns from the nuns; and one of the conditions of the transfer to the bismarcks was that these nuns should be supported. strong animal basis of bismarck's rise to power--the story is always the same, "fight, or die like a dog!" ¶ thus, from time immemorial, the fighting bismarcks wrote their title to a share of this earth with the sword, which in spite of all hague conferences remains the best sort of title man has been able to devise. as time sped and what is called civilization grew somewhat, men took on chicken-hearted ways; and in every pinch appealed to courts for decisions formerly decided by individual brawn; till finally, as in these latter degenerate days, if a fight becomes necessary, society hires policemen to stop the row. ¶ klaus von bismarck preferred to do his own murdering, and consequently, klaus stood first in the eyes of honest men of his own generation; but in this twentieth century, instead of putting incompetents to the test of the sword, society, committed to the soft doctrine that all life is sacred, burdens itself with lengthening the days of the daft. a far cry that from the ideals of the early bismarcks! it is well to keep these facts in mind, in contemplating the extraordinary career of the great otto von bismarck, king-maker and unifier of germany. * * * * * ¶ modern timid-hearted folk, reading of the desperate makeshifts of the old bismarcks to get on in the world, would say off-hand, "there must be a strain of madness in the bismarck brain?" ¶ unquestionably! this fighting family in each generation had its born revolutionists, its enormous egotists, its men who lived what orthodox opinion calls "godless lives"--although in their own philosophy the bismarcks are always preaching that god is on their side. when the elector decided to steal burgstal forest, the bismarcks set up this pious plea: "we wish to remain in the pleasant place assigned to us by the almighty." four hundred years later we find otto von bismarck using again and again this peculiar reasoning, to justify, at least to explain, his own career: "if i were not a christian, i would not continue to serve the king another moment. did i not obey my god and count on him, i should certainly take no account of earthly masters." ¶ in three great wars of ambition in which , perished, he repeated this solemn formula about god; he repeated it on the blood-drenched field of koeniggraetz; he repeated it in the holstein war, and he repeated it again at sedan and at gravelotte. ¶ bismarck persisted in this peculiar conception of life, down to the last. while in retirement, after his downfall, one day the bloody past rose before him like a dream, and he exclaimed to dr. busch: "politics has brought me vexation, anxiety and trouble; made no one happy, me, my family nor anyone else, but many unhappy. had it not been for me, there would have been three great wars less; the lives of , would not have been sacrificed; and many parents, brothers, sisters and wives would not now be mourners. that, however, i have settled with my maker!" now, once and for all, what we understand this to mean is merely this: a super-abundance of faith. many great leaders have had it--david, cromwell, bismarck. * * * * * ¶ in seeking biographic clues, through hereditary influences, we are impressed with the astounding animal-basis of strength behind the bismarcks, from earliest recorded history. they were a deep-drinking, prolific gormandizing race, and every mother's son had to do battle by brawn backed by the sword, or die like a dog! this bred high tempers, turbulent manners and contempt for the weak. ¶ soldiers, diplomatists, brow-beaters, characterized the bismarck clan down through centuries. stormy and adventurous bismarcks fought for the sheer delight of doing battle;--it mattered not, whether against the turks or against some near-by king whose lands the german robber-knights lusted for and wished to annex by appeal to the sword. ¶ there is a story of a garrison brawl in which a bismarck slew his companion in drink, then fled to russia, then on to siberia; soldier of fortune, he fights under any flag that promises a gay life and plenty of loot. three hundred years later--how the wheel turns round!--otto von bismarck, as russian ambassador to the king of prussia, engaged in intrigues for the same old lust of land, the same old nefarious business, but this time sprayed over by the high-sounding name, diplomacy. ¶ dr. busch, the saxon press-agent for prince bismarck, repeats the old tale of the winning of alsace by the french king, through the aid of otto von bismarck's great-great-grandfather, a mercenary soldier; adding that while one bismarck helped take alsace away, another of that redoubtable family brought it back many years later, with the added joy of the prodigious money-fine of five billions of francs! boisterous col. bismarck, of the dragoons; "the wooden donkey dies today!" french cavalier bismarck and his mushy prose-poems. ¶ burly strength and horse-play, rather than diplomacy, were always distinctive traits of that part of the bismarck family immediately surrounding otto von bismarck; and in otto's case, although the years gradually taught him that there are more ways of stopping a man's mouth than by cutting off his head, on the whole we seek in vain, among ancestral bismarcks, for any striking characteristics in which the point does not turn either on gluttony or on deep-drinking. ¶ they were enormous eaters. bread and meat were not enough. they must have game, fish, cake, wines, and plenty of each. hunger put them in a rage. they were iron men, with stomachs of pigs. ¶ they were unbrooked master spirits, followed the hounds, fought duels, had noisy tongues, and gloried in personal independence. when they loved they loved madly; when they hated it was the same. they drank all night and were out again at dawn. ¶ yet in their way, they were high-minded gentlemen, devoted themselves industriously to their duties; and it may be that the turbulence of their lives borrowed something from the rude clash of opinion that often divided the best friends, during the stormy periods of history in which they fought as soldiers of fortune. ¶ otto von bismarck's great-grandfather, augustus, calling his cronies of the barracks around him, was wont to add zest to the carousal by introducing the trumpet call after each toast; to heighten the infernal racket, the boisterous colonel of dragoons ordered a volley fired in the drink-hall. ¶ this terrible dragoon, master of the hounds, guzzler, companion and leader in all revels, was generally voted one of the amiable men in army circles. he was a noted shot. in one year of record his score was red deer and stag. ¶ at the ihna bridge was a ducking stool, for army punishments; it took the amusing style of a wooden donkey, and was so called by the dragoons as a rude joke. after one of his hard drinking bouts, it was often the colonel's amusing habit to order his men to march to the bridge; on arriving the band struck up and the wooden donkey was thrown into the stream. "all offenders of my regiment are forgiven," bismarck would bawl, "the donkey dies today!" then with all manner of opera bouffe the offending donkey would be put overboard--only to be brought out next morning, ready for official business. * * * * * ¶ but our fun-loving colonel's good times were now over. as commander of the gallant anspach-bayreuth dragoons, augustus fought for frederick the great and was severely wounded at czaslau. austrian hussars surprised the transport wagons carrying the wounded to the rear, and with brutality common to the soldier-business of that rude day killed the defenseless prussians, among whom was our colonel von bismarck. * * * * * ¶ bismarck's grandfather, karl alexander, leaned toward the namby-pamby intellectual rather than to the social and convivial. he is remembered for his affected poetical style. karl, brave soldier, attracted the eye of no less a judge of valor than the great frederick, who appointed this karl alexander von bismarck an attache of the prussian embassy at vienna. ¶ karl, like other germans of the sentimental period, aped the french poets; but when a german is sentimental, the mush-pots boil over. karl's writings show that peculiar over-inflated quality, "sentimentality," so much admired in the rococo period. * * * * * ¶ karl william ferd., otto's father, and louise wilhelmina, otto's mother, born mencken, lived at schoenhausen in troublous french times. oct. th, , the terrible defeat at jena put prussia in the hands of the enemy. fortresses surrendered without firing a shot, and the panic-stricken king fled to the far eastern side of his domains, near russia. all this took place within three months after the marriage of karl and louise, who had now set up housekeeping at schoenhausen. ¶ the bismarcks tried to escape in a coach, but the french unexpectedly appeared and ordered karl back to the house. the french ransacked every room; louise fled to the library and locked the massive oak door; to this day it bears the marks of french bayonets; the bismarcks then hid in the forest where they remained all night with panic-stricken neighbors; at dawn karl and louise ventured out, to find schoenhausen a scene of destruction. ¶ the one galling fact that karl could not overlook, in marshal soult's raid, was the desecration of the genealogical tree. this huge painting with its shields of the bismarck descent was slashed from end to end, with bayonets! ¶ oh, otto von bismarck remembered this many, many years later, in making terms with the french after sedan--do not for a moment forget that! such is the amazing power of hereditary loves and hates;--and certainly the bismarcks had no reason to admire the french. chapter iii the gothic cradle idyl of the child otto, in his huge gothic cradle at schoenhausen; wonders that gather 'round his destiny, a forecast and a reality. ¶ otto edward leopold von bismarck, the great central figure in our story, was the fourth of six children, three dying in infancy. he was born april , , but a few months before the crowning defeat at waterloo--that year big with the hammer-blows of destiny! ¶ in lonesome schoenhausen on the elbe, the village lately devastated by marshal soult and his plundering soldiers, the infant otto sleeps peacefully in his oak-carved gothic cradle. a century later, we still see that huge cradle as one of the souvenirs in the famous bismarck museum at schoenhausen. ¶ schoenhausen house is one of those thick-walled monuments of mediæval masonry. there is, to be sure, something out of drawing about the antiquated three-story house; and we survey with respect for the past the queer courtyard, leaded panes, park with the artificial island, wooded byways, and old forest, and not far away is the village church with the square stone tower; hard by, also, the kattenwinkel, or katte's corner, at the confluence of the havel and the elbe; and on the house is the katte's coat-of-arms, a cat watching a mouse, the mark of the sturdy th century builder, katte, who to honor his wife, dorothea sophia katte, added her name to his builder's sign over the lintel. ¶ in this historical , seed-time and harvest strangely blend, yet are years apart. for, while the child sleeps in his gothic cradle, the congress of vienna meets to redistribute among the hungry kings the old domains stolen as prizes in the long napoleonic wars; and in turn, after incredible political adventures, running over years, the child before us, grown to be a man, will smash the rulings of vienna and will build an empire stronger far than that of imperial france, now dying at waterloo. ¶ all these wonders gather 'round the destiny of the child in the big gothic cradle, before which we now tiptoe at schoenhausen, lest we awaken the baby and he cry. * * * * * ¶ when the french overrun prussian territory the old land-owning military aristocracy was reduced to bankruptcy. mortgages falling due could not be paid; the king extended credit for four years; and in the interim prussians were forced to use depreciated rag-money; all the gold and silver had been confiscated by the french invaders. ¶ great dissatisfaction followed. the farms had been tilled by feudal-laborers, practically slaves; these oppressed peasants now flew to arms. schoenhausen was a dreary place indeed; while the bismarcks were better off than their neighbors, still the times were out of joint and ruin fell over the broad acres. ¶ then came an unexpected change. along about , karl inherited kneiphof, kuelz and jarchelin estates from his cousin, moved to kneiphof, just east of the hamlet of naugard. the house was exceeding modest; a brook, the zampel, ran near by; and there was a carp pond. karl was fond of hunting in the old beech forest. such were the unsettled conditions in the bismarck family, up to otto's sixth year. soft-hearted karl and spartan mother louise; her rigid character, its good and its bad side; her extreme punctilio and her pistol-shooting, to steady her sight. ¶ otto von bismarck inherited his tall form from his father, karl william. this unusual type of cavalry captain subscribed for french journals and ate off silver plate. karl's regiment was known as the "white and blue," and one of his duties was to get up at in the morning and measure corn for horses. at one time the captain lived in berlin, but he soon tired of the capital and gladly returned to the country where he passed his days as squire. to the end of his life, he was fond of horseback riding and hunting; and he brought his sons up to ride like centaurs. ¶ bismarck's mother, louise wilhelmina mencken, married at the age of sixteen; her husband karl was nineteen years her senior. ¶ in the family circle, the father was known as the heart, the mother as the brains; but in louise's case it might well read "ambition." she wished to see otto von bismarck, her youngest son, become a diplomatist--a judgment that in the light of after years seems almost uncanny. later, at the full tide of the chancellor's great glory, frequently his earliest friends used to say, "bismarck, had your mother only survived to see this day!" * * * * * ¶ the wife's leading trait was her inflexible resolution, the will to rulership;--and rule she certainly did, always. for one thing, she steadied her nerves and schooled her sharp eyes by practising pistol shooting. there was spartan courage about her decisions! frau bismarck's irritability had been growing of late; karl was too soft with otto. she was angered to think that her husband might spoil otto, by too much coddling. the domestic climax came. ¶ that day at table, otto with childish impatience, began swinging his legs like a pendulum. the good-natured karl hadn't it in his heart to correct the child, but instead began making excuses for otto's conduct. this aroused louise's ire. to smooth matters karl said, "see, minchen, how the boy is sitting there dangling his little legs!" ¶ louise then and there read her ultimatum. she would not have her son spoiled by the foolishness of his soft father--not at all! she would send her beloved son away, first. at the time, otto was only six years old. and she thereupon proceeded to keep her decision--acting with all the aggressiveness for which in later life otto von bismarck was himself celebrated. chapter iv sunshine and shadow wherein is shown the amazing power of hereditary traits; history repeats itself. ¶ it was from his mother that prince bismarck, the future ruler of germany, received his endowment of dauntless audacity, his gift of trenchant argument, his bursts of ironical laughter, his power of instant decisions, his scolding, and his bitter wrath. all these qualities shone in the parliamentary fight before the austrian war, when for three years he defied the country, and raised the prussian war-funds by extortion! ¶ in one sense, he was always stacking the cards! and what chance has the fellow-player against the dealer with the marked deck? bismarck's life abounds with episodes showing this astonishing readiness. in love, in laughter and in intrigue, it was ever the same. bismarck's use of human nature, constructively, at the precise psychological moment, redounding to his self-interest, is supreme. * * * * * ¶ at the wedding of his friend blankenburg to fraulein thadden-triglaff, the bridesmaid was fraulein johanna von puttkammer. bismarck saw, admired and decided. soon after in a hartz journey, with the blankenburgs, otto had a brief opportunity to favor energetic measures. he wasted no time, johanna must become his wife! he wrote direct to the young lady's parents, with whom he was not acquainted. a flying visit followed to the home of his intended father-in-law. the puttkammers were surprised at the suitor's impetuous love-making, also were shocked by the reputation bismarck had for fast living. the moment he saw parents and daughter he forced the situation. throwing his arms around his sweetheart, bismarck embraced her, vigorously. and thus he won his bride even before an unwilling father and mother; for bismarck carried them off their feet by the very audacity of his wooing. * * * * * ¶ during the franco-prussian war, coming to the rothschild château, bismarck found , bottles of wines in the cellar, under lock and key; and the keeper was determined that bismarck should not use the master's champagnes. it took bismarck only a few minutes to change all that. soon he was comfortably settled in the baron's private chambers, reached by a grand winding staircase; here the chancellor proceeded to make himself at home in dressing gown and slippers. ¶ he rang for the butler, ordered wine for himself and suite. the keeper of the cellar still refused--and bismarck's black ire rose. in a voice of thunder he cried, "if you do not open that cellar door by the time i count five, you will be trussed on a spit, like a fowl!" ¶ after that, the prussians had what they wanted, made merry on the rare wines of baron rothschild, who was known as a hater of prussia and an admirer of austria. ¶ bismarck now decided to try various gastronomic oddities; ordered his staff to shoot pheasants from the baron's preserves, and commanded the cook to stew the birds in champagne! * * * * * ¶ when napoleon wrote his famous note, at sedan, "not having been able to die in the midst of my troops, there is nothing left for me but to place my troops in your majesty's hands," bismarck saw the human nature side at a glance! he urged peace, then and there, with the prince imperial on the throne, and "under german influence," which would thus give to prussia the whip hand. general sheridan tells the story. it was an instantaneous look into the far future, and although it did not prevail, for certain important reasons, the chancellor caught the human side of the combination, with the clarity of a dramatist constructing a plot. ¶ on his mother's side, otto von bismarck comes of hunting, fighting and farming stock. shrewd, wise, ambitious, and haughty--with these traits she richly endowed her son. his father was handsome, bright, solid, emphatic-looking, but with a yielding disposition; the iron will and sharp tongue of the wife overawed the husband. the shrewish frau had things largely her own way, was able to read a lecture like the wrath of god. however, on the whole, the couple got along passably well--for karl never took louise too seriously! when frau louise's efforts to make a lackey of him got on his nerves, karl called his cronies and away they went fox-hunting. at the tender age of six, already is otto forced out of the family circle; the wolf's breed shows its teeth. ¶ well, the incensed louise, weary of the softness of karl, and fearing lest karl would spoil otto by too much petting, packed the child off to plamann institute, berlin, a school of the squeers type. otto remained in this spartan school-prison for nearly six years, and to the end of his life carried unpleasant memories. plamann institute idea was to harden lads, but instead of hardening the practices there embittered. ¶ the half-starved boys were up at ; breakfast of bread and milk; religious exercises at ; at , luncheon of bread and salt; then, a run in the garden; at noon, dinner from the hands of frau plamann; and if a lad wanted a second plate, and couldn't eat it all, he was punished by being sent to the garden, there to remain till he had gulped down the last morsel, even though he fairly choked; at teatime, bread and salt, or warm beer and slices of bread; all day, studies of interminable length and dullness;--but, best of all, fencing exercises wound up the day. ¶ in the school yard was a lone lime-tree, and here the boys came running as a goal for their sports. using this lime-tree as a pulpit, otto used to read to his companions chapters from becker's stories about giants. ¶ there was a pond near schoenberg where the pupils used to go bathing. otto's chum was ernest kriger. ¶ after six years of this life on salt and potatoes, otto was transferred to dr. bonnell's frdk-wm. gymnasium, berlin, and in another year to grey friars' gymnasium. soon after dr. schleiermacher confirmed otto, at trinity protestant church. in the light of subsequent history, it is significant, almost uncanny, to recall the life-text offered to otto at this solemn moment by his pastor: "and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the lord, and not unto men." many years later--just before his death--bismarck ordered the motto to be carved on his tomb; all his life he had followed the text. ¶ the lad was two years at grey friars' school. while there otto's deep-seated hatred of the french is again visible for a decisive moment. in marshal soult had slashed the genealogical tree of the bismarck family; and young otto, who often heard the story, grew up with the idea that the french were ogres. the school schedule, among other studies, called for french, or english as an optional selection; although all otto's chums decided for french, the lad flatly refused to follow and instead stood almost alone in the english class. ¶ he is no longer a child when he says good-bye to grey friars; he is a young man of --and life is opening before him. life! the joyous care-free life of youth and inexperience; with the world and its cares still seemingly far away! at goettingen, he joined the hannovera corps and his record is twenty-eight duels; his face bore many scars, among them a long cut from left jaw to corner of his mouth. ¶ otto's mother, who had strong social aspirations and held to the rigid exclusiveness of the upper classes, wished to send her son to an aristocratic university. so she selected goettingen. her ideas were to make her son a man of dignity and solid social qualities. alas, he became but an indifferent student, excelling principally in dueling, beer-bouts in college taverns, dog-fighting, flirting, and general deviltries unnumbered, for which he spent considerable time in the college dungeon. listen to this: ¶ many years ago, in his roaring student days, long before otto von bismarck was famous, he received an invitation to a ball, and went to the shoemaker to be measured for high-topped military boots, affected by the beaux of that day. calling some days later, he was told that it would be impossible to get them finished in time; and he would therefore have to wear his old boots to the ball. ¶ bismarck scowled and going back to his rooms, whistled for his two ferocious dogs with which he was wont to trail around town; returning to the cobbler's the daring rascal said in a loud voice: "mister bootmaker, at a signal from me the dogs will tear you to pieces! i am here to tell you, in the most friendly way in the world, that it is absolutely necessary to have my boots on time." ¶ bismarck then went away, but he hired a man to parade up and down in the vicinity of the shop with the two mastiffs; and now and then this man dropped in, and in a voice of sorrow, said to the cobbler: "my master has a terrible temper and i am sorry for you." at that, the shoemaker told his wife: "frau, i am going to work all night, to get herr bismarck's boots finished in time for that ball!" ¶ it is needless to add that young bismarck had his boots on time. * * * * * ¶ in discussing bismarck's life and personality many writers will tell you that the man is inconsistency itself; advocating now what in a year he will recant; that for this and other reasons it is baffling to try to make a picture many-sided enough to portray adequately his complex life. ¶ on the contrary, bismarck, once you get the biographic clue, is as open, free and direct as the light of the noonday sun. and the story of the poor cobbler and the boots is all there is to it! repeat this story in a hundred and one forms, and the same man is always behind. ¶ among his cronies, he early gained the name "the mad bismarck." at goettingen university, otto fought duels and his face bore his fighting scars. ¶ to scare the girls and to make them shriek and lift their skirts, a sight that the rascal otto enjoyed, one night at a dance he let loose a small fox in the ball room! and he had ridden like the devil, some -odd miles to be at this dance. ¶ as for drinking, no man could put him under the table. later in life, he invented his own special draught, a combination of champagne and porter; ordinary men dropped under the deadly compound as from a dose of cyanide of potassium, but otto could drain his quart without taking the tankard from his lips. he soon had all the company under the chairs, like dead soldiers. ¶ often, at country houses, he fired pistols to awaken guests in the morning. ¶ his groom fell into the canal, the young giant bismarck leaped in and dragged the drowning man to safety; for this heroic deed, bismarck won his first medal. * * * * * ¶ bismarck's student life was tempestuous. he was indeed full of the very devil. his every-day get-up comprised top boots, long hair flowing over the collar of his velveteen jacket; a big brass ring on the first finger of his left hand; two fierce mastiffs trotted sullenly at his side. he trailed around, smoking a long pipe. ¶ the young man's high animal spirits broke all restraints; he smoked, he drank, he sang, he flirted, and he fought; but as for books, he did as little studying as he could. he was sent many times to the university "carcer" or prison; an interesting souvenir is still to be seen at goettingen, the student-prison door, on which bismarck carved his name in , when he was "doing" ten days for acting as second in a pistol duel. ¶ with a mecklenburg student, otto's great chum, a trip was made through the hartz mountains, and on returning a wine dinner was offered to other students. all the fellows drank too much brandy. bismarck made an inflammatory speech, at table, ending by showing his derision of scholasticism by hurling ink bottles out of the window. for this breach of the rules, he was hauled before the university court. here, he appeared in outlandish get-up, jack boots, tall hat, long pipe, dressing gown--and coolly asked the proctor what 'twas all about. bismarck's huge dogs, with which he was always accompanied, frightened the proctor half to death! bismarck was promptly fined five thalers for his absurdities; he paid the fine and began studying up more deviltry. ¶ joining the hannovera corps of fighting men, otto was soon known as "achilles," leading the fellows in all sword-play. he fought duel after duel, and finally under the influence of morley, an american student, decided to switch over from the hannovera to the brunswick corps--whereon every jack in the hannovera sent otto a challenge. * * * * * ¶ on a trip to jena, the fellows decided on a riot, and were deep in their cups when the goettingen proctor arrived to bring the runaway bismarck back, and put him in the "carcer" till he cooled off. the jena fellows carried on at a great rate to think that the beloved "achilles" had to leave so unceremoniously, but at the last moment hitched up six horses and paraded bismarck around town, as a demonstrative fare thee well! * * * * * ¶ the scene of many of his drinking bouts was "crown" tavern, an ancient goettingen resort, where the fellows sat on wooden benches in front of a long bar and drank till they felt like fighting cocks. by the way, it is a bit strange that otto had such amazing capacity; for he was as thin as a knitting needle. among the men bismarck met at this bar was albrecht von roon, who many years later was to become the great prussian military drill-master. ¶ bismarck finally left goettingen in august, ' ; his last duel was with an englishman who had made fun of the german peasant, describing that worthy as "a dunce in a night cap, whose night-dress is made of rags." the rags was an allusion to the petty german states. bismarck was already becoming imbued with the "national german faith," as it was called, and could not let the insult go by. ¶ as a rule, bismarck was lucky in his sword play. the biggest slash he received was made by biedenweg, whose sword broke and cut otto from jaw to lip, on the left cheek--a scar that bismarck carried to his grave. ¶ giesseler, the proctor, gave bismarck a very doubtful letter of recommendation; the duelist and beer-drinker had asked for a transfer to berlin university. otto wanted to hear law lectures by savigny. ¶ he began his berlin course in a mocking way. there was an unserved jail sentence hanging over bismarck's head at goettingen; and with sham seriousness, as though he were going to turn over a new leaf, otto humbly set up that, to be strictly honest with the professors, to jail otto must go and to jail they sent him! but no sooner was he out than he forgot all his good resolutions, and began his mad existence again. ¶ finally, in may, , he passed his examination in law, or "advocate assistant," but not without hiring a professional "crammer" to drill him hours and hours--to make up for wasted weeks in beer cellars and with the pretty girls. deficient in discipline, young otto makes a fizzle of his first office-holding; his shocking conduct against his superior officer; back to the old estates, he looks after the cattle, dogs and horses. ¶ harum-scarum days are over--and now for the serious business of life. years later, in the days of his great renown, bismarck, thinking of his early preparation, always regretted, he said, that he did not join the army. as a matter of fact, he had no serious plans for years to come--and it would appear that, on the whole, his career was decided by accident. of this more, at the right time, later. * * * * * ¶ when bismarck was , he served several months at aix-la-chapelle, in court work, then was transferred to potsdam, to the administrative side. he soon showed himself deficient in discipline. an over-officer kept him waiting, and bismarck took personal offense. at last bismarck was admitted. the over-officer was sitting there, calmly killing time smoking a cigar. bismarck leaned over and in his gruff way asked, "give me a match!" this in itself was highly insolent, a violation of prussian ideas of discipline. but the astonished over-officer complied. the young clerk thereupon sprawled in a chair and lighted his cigar. it was, you see, merely to show his independence. also, it meant that he had to get out of the service. ¶ bismarck was glad to go; he hated intensely the clock-like regularity of the prussian bureaucracy. ¶ his mother died in , at which time otto was ; and on the young chap now fell the management of the pomeranian estates. ¶ in , otto went to live with his father at schoenhausen; here, otto and his brother looked after the farms. otto was later appointed dyke-captain of the elbe. ¶ along about this time, a religious revival swept through prussia and otto was carried away on the flood; also, he began showing himself a strong monarchical man. always religious and always a king's man, at heart, otto now seriously studied religion and state affairs. when the call came, he was not found wanting! * * * * * ¶ we hasten along. in , otto's naturally deep religious convictions were strengthened by his wife's uncompromising orthodoxy. ¶ it was in this year, also, that he made his entry into prussian politics--to the study of which he was to devote his long life and his surprising genius. however, to present a clear idea of the work bismarck was to do, it is necessary to return, briefly, to an earlier day, and to trace a complex historical movement through the past. we shall summarize, on broad lines, the problem presented by the question of german national unity. the german problem comprised a political, sociological and racial situation toward whose solution hundreds, if not thousands, of notable men and women, for several generations past, had sought in vain. ¶ "nothing," says wilhelm gorlach, "can more clearly prove bismarck's historical importance than the fact that we are obliged to go back several centuries to understand the connection of his actions." book the second the german national problem chapter v the great sorrow the german crazy-quilt, of many hues and colors, and how this blanket was patched and mended through the years. ¶ from the th century, and indeed before that time, to say nothing of years to come as late as , there was in fact no germany. the term was a mere geographical "designation." we shall hear more of this, as bismarck assumes the stupendous task of german unity, in a real sense of the word; but we will never understand what bismarck and other statesmen who hoped for german unity had to deal with, unless we take a broad survey of conditions in germany from the year ; not only from the political but also from the social and domestic side, as represented in -odd german principalities that like a crazy-quilt were thrown helter-skelter from hamburg on the north to vienna on the south. ¶ many of the holdings were gained through musty papers from rulers of the ancient holy roman empire, a nation voltaire declared "neither holy, nor empire, nor roman." ¶ there were free cities, great landlords, and there were great robber-barons--thieves of high or low degree. ¶ at cologne, treves and mayence archbishops held the lower valley of the moselle, also some of finest parts of the rhein valley. ¶ next, came dukes, landgraves, margraves, cities of the empire, and then still smaller, duchies in duodecimo, down through some minor landlords who as the owners of some borough or village walked this earth genuine game cocks on their own dunghills. political conditions were distressing; old feuds, old hates prevailed. there were restrictions on commerce, statute labor, barbarous penal laws, religious persecution and jew-baiting. * * * * * ¶ in short, to make -odd jealous princelings join hands in national brotherhood is the complex problem that goes down through the years; generation after generation; till at last the one strong man appears, otto von bismarck, who in his supreme rise to power sees clearly that the only hope for germany is in a complete social and political revolution, in which the changes in the german mind concerning political unity in governmental affairs must be as unusual as the transformations in the german mode of life. * * * * * ¶ during the early part of the th century, of which we are now writing, a certain bold political doctrine still stood unchallenged. it had come out of the dim and hoary past, and in effect it proclaimed the power of the fist. for centuries unnumbered the idea prevailed that a state defends itself against foreign foes, and otherwise conserves its existence through the direct will of a strong ruler, preferably a king brought up in arms. thus the "genius of the people" meant in effect the wisdom or the ignorance of the line of kings. under this theory, prussia by slow degrees and through many sacrifices of blood and treasure, had become a great power. ¶ fred: wm. i., ( - ), who was indeed a miser and a scoffer, freed little prussia from debt and rebuilt cities ruined by the wars. he likewise established a system of compulsory education, made schoolmasters state officers, and contributed mightily to a higher standard. and he went further still: he welcomed religious exiles from other parts of germany; he settled thousands of immigrants on the raw lands; he saved his money, economized to the last pfennig, was prudent in a worldly sense, and to the end of his life remained intolerable foe of idleness. ¶ it was from this severe master that the great frederick ( - ) learned the trick of laying his cane over the backs of peasants and crying out in rage: "get to work!" ¶ old fritz continued his line of battle from to , in various unequal contests with the allies. he fought austria, france, russia, sweden, saxony, and poland, and for a while he fought their allied strength. the upshot was that prussian enemies at home and abroad were defeated and prussia won first rank as a military and political power. this idea of military discipline, united with large worldly sagacity in the management of state affairs, marks and explains prussia's rise to power. ¶ but the decline was equally manifest under fr: wm. ii, the great frederick's nephew. although he inherited a domain of six millions of people, banded under an excellent administrative system, sustained by the disciplined army of "old dessauer" (prince leopold), and although fr: wm. ii found the huge sum of , , thalers in his fighting uncle's treasure chest, yet within a few years all these splendid advantages were frittered away in idle dalliance and the weak king found himself twenty millions in debt. by the time he died, , prussia was riding to a fall; and disregarding plain measures for her own safety, she had reached the sad place where the sturdy old prussian spirit of prudence and independence had become so compromised that prussia almost deemed it unessential to preserve her own political life! ¶ thus, within three generations, prussia repeated the old story of human life, wherein the weak descendant eats up the strong sire's goods. frederick the great died aug. th, . within three years, france struck at the german lands; and within years the old constitution of the empire was scoffed at by encircling enemies along the frontiers, led by france, while at home political disputants destroyed national spirit by exciting revolution after revolution. "everywhere," says zimmermann, (germany, p. ), "one felt the morning breeze of the new dispensation." the cry of the people had to be answered, and the common man wanted to know not only "why!" but "when!" ¶ for the ensuing years clamor, disruption and disunion continue often accompanied by bloodshed; till through bismarck's great work over which he toiled for -odd years, came the final answer of the imperial democracy, . * * * * * ¶ it is to be the labor of years with confusion worse confounded, as we go along. the feudal system, with which germany has been for centuries petrified, must be thrown off; the peasant laborers freed in some sort, whether social or political, the absurd restrictions of countless customs houses walling-in each petty principality, must be destroyed. before a new germany may emerge, if germany is to emerge at all, a national faith must be stimulated, fighting blood stirred, wars waged. then, and then only, may this idea of german unity, long the puzzling mental preoccupation of the fathers, become a geographical actuality and a political fact. ¶ the german peasants' sense of respect for vested authority, even when held by hated kings, made the common people of the various german states almost ox-like in their patience under harsh political conditions. between the power of petty tyrants and of foreign despots, there was no freedom worthy of the name. the german lived for himself, aloof, suspicious, not caring particularly to change his condition. compromise after compromise, failure after failure, sorrow after sorrow must be recorded in the great story; but do not despair. in amazing manner, through blood and iron, otto von bismarck, our blond pomeranian giant, will face, fight and finally conquer the bewildering cross-forces of his time--till "german national faith" is supreme. * * * * * ¶ paying no attention to its neighbor, each german state stood off by itself; each princeling had his army, in some instances only men; each ruler had his castle, in imitation of versailles; each state its custom house, its distinct court and rural costumes. to go ten miles north or south was to find yourself in a new world; you could scarcely understand the mush-talk of the peasants, whereas the various liliputian courts chattered in mongrel french, aped from versailles. ¶ the minor courts of germany imitated the excesses of versailles; had dancing teachers from paris, french barbers, french governesses, and french prostitutes. every young man of wealth was sent to paris to acquire what was called "bon ton," that is to say, familiarity with the vices of the day; the etiquette of the fan and the study of new ways to spend money wrung from over-taxed peasants of german provinces was also regarded as very important. even to speak german was held a mark of vulgarity; and what more despicable than to be ashamed of one's ancestry? ¶ unmoved by the sufferings of the peasants, augustus iii of saxony applied himself to grand operas, written by queens of french society. while the peasants were living like beasts, frederick augustus, the successor, spent his time hunting red deer. the dukes of coburg and hildburghausen were miserable bankrupts. as a result of social excesses, charles vii of bavaria left a debt of forty millions. charles theodore, in some respects an enlightened monarch, is particularly remembered for three strange facts: that he once gave an opera in german and not in french; that he tried to sell off bavaria, his inheritance, and move to a more congenial locality; and third, that he hired rumford, the great chemist, to invent a soup, at low cost, to feed the poor, whose miseries had been growing on account of the bad government. ¶ nor should we overlook the monarch at zweibrucken, the pfalzgraf charles. his mania took the form of collecting pipes and toys, of which he had innumerable specimens from the ends of the earth. he kept also one thousand five hundred horses and a thousand dogs and cats. every traveler had to take off his hat and bow at sight of the spire, on pain of being beaten by the count's constable. ¶ charles eugene, of wuertemberg, slave to luxury, played pranks when he was not indulging in vices. he liked to alarm peasants at night with wild cries; and when a woman stuck her head out of the window, the monarch would throw a hoop and try to drag her outside. in a deep forest he built his castle "solitude." ¶ on his th birthday, he wrote to his subjects, promising to mend his life; the letter was read in all the churches. the people decided that he was in earnest, promised him more money, of which he was in sore need. his first step was to contract a left-handed marriage with francisca von bernedin, whom he raised to the rank of countess. ¶ his next step was to build a queer bird-cage for his new mate. menzel says of this episode: "records of every clime and of every age were here collected. a turkish mosque contrasted its splendid dome with the pillared roman temple and the steepled gothic church. the castled turret rose by the massive roman tower; the low picturesque hut of the modern peasant stood beneath the shelter of the gigantesque remains of antiquity; and imitations of the pyramids of cestius, of the baths of diocletian, a roman senate-house and roman dungeons, met the astonished eye." * * * * * ¶ another amiable peculiarity of french-mongering german princelings in their petty monarchies, was man-stealing. hard-pressed for funds, the practice was to kidnap peasants and sell them into foreign military service. the vile trade was dignified by court authority; followers of the game were known as "man merchants." ¶ the wuertemberg monarch in order to raise funds to complete the absurd castle for his mistress, took it into his head to sell , peasants to the dutch, for the war in the indies; and so deep lay the curse of tyranny that no public protest was raised. it is true that schiller, the noble poet, who at this time was a student at charles college, fled in disgust, but schaubert, another poet, was not so fortunate; he was seized and imprisoned for ten years. ¶ the vile practice of man-stealing from the wretched peasantry long continued as a monarchical privilege. the landgrave frederick of hesse-cassel, on one occasion sent , hessians to the british, to fight in america. english commissioners came over and inspected the captive men as though picking out stock at a cattle show. should a parent protest, a son, a wife or a widow, the answer was the lash. hanau furnished of these slave-soldiers, waldeck several hundred. seume, who was himself a victim to the system, deported to america, tells us in his memoirs: "no one was safe; every means was resorted to, fraud, cunning, trickery, violence. foreigners were thrown into prison, and sold." "there is a hessian prince of high distinction," says huergelmer. "he has magnificent palaces, pheasant-preserves, at wilhelmsbad, operas, mistresses, etc. these things cost money. he has, moreover, a hoard of debts, the result of the luxury of his sainted forefathers. what does the prince do in this dilemma? he seizes an unlucky fellow in the street, expends fifty dollars on his equipment, sends him out of the country, and gets a hundred dollars for him in exchange." * * * * * ¶ frederick of bayreuth expended all his revenues in building a grand opera house, for giving balls, parties, receptions and official functions to aristocrats. his successor alexander fell under the sway of lady craven, a british adventuress, who led the peasants a merry chase for the cash; man-stealing was the old game; and one order alone from the british government called for , peasants. * * * * * ¶ but why continue the recital of man's inhumanities? charles of brunswick, a spendthrift, who sold subjects into captivity, paid his ballet-master , a year. frederick of brunswick on one occasion sold , peasants to britain, for the army. ¶ the terrible famine of - added to the discontent of the common man, throughout germany; he began to feel that it was the duty of kings to feed the hungry; bark, grass, leaves, carrion were eaten; disease spread; emigrations depopulated the rheinlands; , left bavaria alone; while upwards of , bavarians died of hunger; in saxony, the number that starved to death is placed at , . other kingdoms suffered heavily. ¶ in many of the provinces were laws to prevent immigration; those who tried to get bavarians to leave the country were guilty of a crime, punishable by hanging. a similar punishment was exacted for marrying out of one's native province. ¶ also, the wretched condition of the roads added to the isolation of the various german provinces. exacting customs' duties, military espionages, a weak postal system, contributed to keep germans unacquainted, except with near neighbors. he, indeed, was a bold man who had gone over the mountains or beyond his native valley. even a journey of two days caused grave anxieties; the carriage was almost certain to be overturned in some deep rut and the travelers injured or killed; robbers lay in wait in the mountains; protection was almost unheard of; life and property were insecure; every traveler had to be his own policeman, and never issued forth on a journey without dagger, pistol and sword. * * * * * ¶ thus, princelings, great or small, were determined to rule in their individual capacities; there was no germany in fact, and that much of the german empire that had outlived the gradual ruin of the old holy roman empire, the great-ancestor of germany, was now approaching complete dissolution. the power lay no more in states, but in -odd local political bureaus, scattered everywhere, dominated often enough by an ambitious french prostitute, or by some lucky ballet-master. ¶ then, there was august of saxony, who is said to have been the father of children. this foolish fellow's fetes cost thalers by the wagon-load; one set of chinese porcelains ran into the millions, and it cost , thalers to gild the gondolas for a night in june, to say nothing of the fancy ball. ¶ the baden monarch, charles william, built carlsruhe in the deep forest, the better that his orgies be kept from prying eyes. ¶ eberhardt of wuertemberg gave the whole conduct of his government over to women and jews--and by the way the jews were the only saving force. as for the graevenitz woman, she was king in petticoats. she mortgaged crown lands and raised hell generally. one day in church she made a fuss about not being mentioned among royal rulers, and the pastor immediately replied: "madam, we mention you daily in our prayers when we say: 'o lord, deliver us from all evil!'" once, in time of famine, charles william scattered loaves of bread; the rabble maddened by hunger fought to the death for the dole! ¶ also, there were ernest of hanover and tony of brunswick, two precious rascals, with all their retinue of mistresses, mistresses' maids, mothers, hangers-on, and pimps. carl magnus had his grehweiler palace costing , guelden. he grew so desperate that the emperor sent him to a fortress for ten years' imprisonment, for forging documents to raise the wind. count limburg-styrum was a princeling whose army consisted of one colonel, six officers and two privates! count william of bueckeburg had a fort with guns, defending a cabbage patch. count frederick of salm-kyrburg swindled the churches; and in tiny schwarzburg-sondershausen, only miles square, was a royal palace of rooms with clocks of all sizes, great and small, in each apartment. this count went mad over clocks, but was popular with the working class; often he would take a man off a job in order to laugh and joke. also, frederick had original taste in military affairs; his army comprised soldiers, with guards on horseback. the prince prided himself on being a wrestler, and one day when a yokel threw the prince, the prince set up a great cry, "i slipped on a cherry stone!"--and this regardless of the fact that it was not the time of the year for cherries. ¶ there was another local ruler, ludwig guenther, who was fond of painting horses, and on his death -odd horse pictures adorned the walls of his palace. * * * * * ¶ "show a german a door and tell him to go through, and he will try to break a hole in the wall." ¶ "here, every one lives apart in his own narrow corner, with his own opinions; his wife and children round him; ever suspicious of the government, as of his neighbor; judging everything from his personal point of view, and never from general grounds." ¶ "the sentiment of individualism and the necessity for contradiction are developed to an inconceivable degree in the german." ¶ the problem of directing this intense individualism is the problem of german unity. * * * * * ¶ with rough manners, blunders, extravagances, absurdities, the hereditary princes continued to sponge on the peasants, generation after generation, till wretchedness spread far over the german lands. they had their châteaux, their dancing girls, their dogs, horses, cats, mistresses and their royal armies. ¶ the misery of centuries of oppression existed; petty monarchs exercised powers of life and death. ¶ the south german mocked the north german's pronunciation. one set vowed that the "g" in "goose" is hard, the other proclaimed that the "g" is soft. one side went about mumbling with hard "g's," "a well-baked goose is a gracious gift of god," whereupon the other side replied that all the "g's" are "j's," that the "gute ganz" is really "jute janz," and "gottes" "jottes." and duels were fought over it. ¶ nor was this all. an intense local pride expressed itself in grotesque dialects, unsoftened by intercourse with the outer world; also, there were outlandish fashions in dress and other domestic affairs. ¶ in brunswick the women wore green aprons, curious black caps, the men buff coats, red vests with four rows of buttons, caps with crazy pompons, buckled slippers and gay ribbon garters. ¶ in lower saxony the women wore flat straw hats, like a dinner plate, hair plastered down, head-dresses of gigantic black ribbons, aprons of gay stripes, and ten petticoats coming only a little below the knee. the men wore farce-comedy costumes, not unlike coachmen. ¶ in pomerania-rugen the women admired scarlet petticoats, knee-length, capes like turko-rugs, black veils, green garters and blue stockings. the men wore aprons like butchers, caps and long-tailed coats. ¶ the hessian women preferred turbans of red, vestees of gay stuffs, blue, green or yellow knee-length skirts. * * * * * ¶ the baden men folk liked reds, greens and yellows, vests adorned with many ribbons, top boots, high white collars and funny-looking black coats. the women had their green aprons, puffed sleeves, and ten short petticoats. ¶ in east prussia men wore double and triple vests. as for the women, they looked like animals in the zoo. ¶ in wuertemberg, a typical landlord wore a blue peajacket with two rows of large silver buttons, two vests of high contrasting colors, a black sash, salmon-colored trousers, polished boots;--and carried a meerschaum pipe. ¶ in bavaria one saw green vests, yodlers' hats with tiny feathers, green leggings, or military boots; and among the women gay vestees, bright shawls and white kerchiefs. * * * * * ¶ thus, the dead-weight of centuries still lay like a mountain on the various german states. ¶ this dead-weight of olden times kept the german states bickering among themselves. for long years past, the people were divided by political brawls, altercations, affrays, squabbles, feuds, often with the loss of life. the general disposition was choleric, pugnacious, litigious. there was bad blood over principles and procedure, policies and plans. to transform aloofness to neighborliness, tumult to conciliation, quarreling to friendliness, hostility to good will, dissent must give way to assent, distrust to faith, denial to admission, misgiving to conviction, political atheism to political revelation. such are some of the peculiarities of the human animal; and in political life human animals are prone to fight for self-interest, like dogs over a bone. * * * * * ¶ we are not going to try to tell you of the many efforts by rash reformers, in the half-century of the dead-weight, leading to the rise of prussia. again and again, far-sighted germans, sick unto death at the way things were going, urged equality for all men before the law, equal taxation, restriction of the power of the nobles. strange as it may seem, the peasants themselves stood in the way. they did not care to change their condition, miserable as it was. they dreaded the future, preferred present miseries than to risk new ills. for example, on one occasion, a certain political idealist excited the peasants in revolt, assassinated nobles, destroyed castles. this was in the time of joseph ii, of austria, the ruler filled with amazing ideas of equality. the peasants themselves were the first to protest, much as they detested the nobles; and the unsupported leaders died on the wheel, while miserable followers were buried alive. and yet, at that very moment, the idealistic joseph, who with an excess of zeal, tried for political equality, made enemies of his nobles, enemies of his peasants, likewise. the great reformer was held a fanatic, intent on destroying government. too far ahead of his time, his plans for political semi-equality failed. ¶ this monarch, thinking to make a lesson, had swindling nobles placed in the stocks, like common thieves. joseph was one of the first great democrats, in the modern sense. to him, the cause of the common man was sacred. he believed in genuine equality, but alas, he did not know how to bring about the political millennium. ¶ he threw open the parks to the people; he proclaimed free speech and free thought; he abolished serfdom; he labored to construct a state-machine with one system of justice and one national plan. joseph, though overbrimming with emotions for the common man's political salvation, failed to allow for the ignorance of his people, their stubborn avowal of local self-interests. ¶ and it fell out that his people thought that joseph was trying to enslave them the more; ingratitude and misapprehensions followed, destroying the liberal reformer's most cherished plans for his beloved austria-germany. the word was passed alone that joseph was a tyrant. you see, as frequently happens, the people preferred old abuses to new ways. the general population hugged their chains and refused to be delivered. this singular belief in the past, rather than in the future, is indeed a human weakness and has checked and restrained the rise of intellectual freedom since the world began. * * * * * ¶ it might all have been a good lesson to republicans, but the nobility assumed a threatening attitude and the peasants did not understand a monarch like joseph. their idea of a king was a man going upstairs on horseback and eating spiders. a king must have powers of life and death and bags of gold. a citizen king was absurd. the peasantry, on whom joseph had endeavored to bestow many large democratic privileges, rose against him. he died feb. , , "a century too early," says jellenz, and as remer adds, "misunderstood by a people unworthy of such a sovereign." * * * * * ¶ germany, in the sad period between and had long been a european political jest; these are hard words, but it is the language of truth. she had sunk so low that she saw no degradation in going off to fight french or british wars, while at home remaining a mere political nonentity. she had sunk so low, under french influences, and through her own lack of self-control, that she forgot her great ancestors and her noble traditions. she had sunk so low that her very children were brought up to despise the language of the fatherland; the children scoffing at the parents, aped foreign ways rather than support german originality, strength and national genius; young men coming of age preferred to leave the land of their birth, mocked the simple german virtues, and occupied themselves in idle dalliance in paris, or failing in this, set up imitations of french courts in the petty german monarchies. thus, finally germany became insensible, indifferent and debased by stupid and selfish ideals from beyond the vosges; till at last germany became, literally, a land without a people, a people without a land. ¶ worse still, the time came when, under these false teachings, a sense of shame no longer lived, to arouse great national interests and to recall degenerate sons to their solemn duties to their fatherland. hundreds of noble germans, at one time or another, during these dark years, tried in vain by voice or pen to restore national consciousness, but failed. the problem of german liberty seemed incapable of solution; and as for the still larger problem of german unity--that became a mere dream. * * * * * ¶ we glorify here and now, the genius and the manhood of bismarck as the one man who had the strength of purpose to recall to germans the heroic tale of a free and united fatherland. it took him thirty years or more, through well-nigh superhuman striving; he preached, he cursed, he vilified, he used the iron rod. he would have absolutely nothing to do with the political ideas from over the vosges; he knew too well the curse of olden times, and his one great central emotion was to end that condition--as he hoped forever. you are to read of the battles of a giant, filled with immense compassion for the follies and weaknesses of his misled countrymen, filled, too, with fanatical zeal to punish, that good might come of it at last. bismarck used the strong military arm, the hell fires and the lightnings. his nature scorned any further mere palliation of the weaknesses of human nature. like all supermen, bismarck struck straight from the shoulder; in turn to be misunderstood, cursed and reviled by the very people he would serve; but in the end aroused german manhood to a just comprehension of the power and dignity of a free and united fatherland. * * * * * ¶ for upwards of years before bismarck's great hour, the french had been accustomed to exploit germany. to fill the pocketbook, to provide soldiers for wars, or to afford opportunities for buccaneering expeditions, were all the same. we do not say this to bring up any "moral" issue, but we make the statement merely as one uses the word dung or manure. that is to say, certain historical facts stink to heaven. annexations, concessions, raids, riots at the hands of the french conspired to keep germany disunited, belligerent and mutinous; and as the years passed germany, to a large extent, seduced by french ways, lost a sense of her dignity. france had looked to germany to furnish allies to help fight prussia, austria or england; then england turned the trick against france. it is discouraging to add that even the great goethe was so seduced by the glamour of napoleon's genius that he wrote these strange words in praise of the french tyrant: doubts that have baffled thousands, he has solved: ideas o'er which centuries have brooded, his giant mind intuitively compressed. ¶ thus, you have before you this spectacle: germany's greatest poetical genius forgets the sad reality of his broken, dispirited and disrupted country and leaves her to her wretched fate; passing his time as a sentimental voluptuary in the splendor of the weimar court, where he concerns himself with such works as "elective affinities," a frank endorsement of adultery. ¶ on the other side, the noble schiller, poet of the people, recalled to his fellow countrymen the faded glory of germany. "schiller stands forth," says menzel, "as the champion of liberty, justice and his country." in a word, it took germany years to learn by suffering that if she is ever to regain her fallen prestige as a nation, she must fight her enemies at home and abroad; she must restore the military ideal of ancient times. and here, in a nutshell, is the very root of all this cry about militarism: the man who will not fight for what he regards as his political rights, remains a slave his whole life long; for it is the essential nature of man to exercise tyrannous power over human lives, whenever such practice holds out promise of advantage. therefore, bismarck again trained germany to be a fighting nation; and if an ideal of a free and united people is no justification, then words have no meaning. the french peasant's son, returning from the wars brings his wife a diamond necklace. ¶ the cross-angles of politics, for years, lead as far as one cares to go, in this german family fight. each petty state has its intrigues and its grievances; you become befuddled; it is all weariness of the flesh. ¶ however, behind all the political jargon, mighty forces are taking form; and little by little, certain outstanding facts come to view, involving every king, knight, bishop, prince and pauper on the german map, from the north sea to the black sea. after , the german was down with that new disease, french constitutionalism; liberty, fraternity and equality. no human being knew exactly what it meant. it was a political fever that had to be gone through with; and blood-letting was the only cure. monarchs seemingly secure on their thrones from the days of old, now shivered like ghosts as the mobs marched the streets of vienna and berlin, waiving new flags and crying "liberty!" ¶ the word "liberty" went to the crook-backed german peasant's brain like wine; he grew mad with the idea of an impossible world, in which he could decree as he desired and all would bow to him, though he in return would bow to nobody; in short, liberty for him, but death to the others; and were it possible to confiscate the property of the princes and redistribute the loot among the peasants, so much the better. ¶ before we go into this thing, let us remember that as the french armies marched over europe, the doom of kings had been cracking and rumbling. the soldiers carried everywhere the idea of french equality, that is to say, to the popular mind an opportunity to share the loot. napoleon himself, reflecting on his own career and on the follies of the french revolution, said: "let us now turn ourselves to something practical; the bombastic ideas of the revolution have exhausted themselves in grotesque efforts at self-government. all the revolution means is an opportunity for a man of talents to show what he can do." ¶ and the french soldiers, returning from the wars, brought their wives and daughters gold rings, bracelets and diamond necklaces, the loot of the capitals of europe. ¶ as for napoleon, he, of course, took the lion's share; but a diamond necklace to a soldier's wife is indeed a powerful argument on the importance of the new democratic era, in which peasants' sons wear gold lace and their womankind ride in carriages. also, many of the generals of france were sons of peasants; and an account of napoleon's marshals would show the humble origin of men of the hour, sons of soap boilers, tavern keepers, stable-bosses. ¶ one may imagine the result of such surprising overturnings of caste, in old-world conditions. henceforth the peasants of all lands will naturally regard their respective kings as so many dogs, to be shot to death at the first splendid opportunity! and germany is no exception. ¶ forward march, ye sons of the soil, there are stormy days ahead for you, through your "new" ideas. chapter vi prussia's de profundis humiliations heaped upon her by france; the strange combination, the lash and the kiss! ¶ first, let us quote from bismarck, who looking backward after his amazing politico-military triumph at koeniggraetz, ( ), tells a french interviewer for "le siecle" this root-fact about germans, their weakness and their power: ¶ "no government, however it may act, will be popular in prussia; the majority in the country will always be opposed to it; simply from its being the government;--and holding authority over the individual, the central authority is always doomed to be constantly opposed by the moderates, and decried and despised by the ultras. this has been the common fate of all successive governments since the beginning of the dynasty. neither liberal ministers, nor reactionary ministers have found favor with our prussian politicians. ¶ "frederick william iii, surnamed the just, had succeeded as little as frederick william iv in satisfying the prussian nation. ¶ "they shouted themselves hoarse at the victories of frederick the great, but at his death they rubbed their hands at the thought of being delivered from the tyrant! despite this antagonism, there exists a deep attachment to the royal house. no sovereign or minister, no government, can win the favor of prussian individualism. yet all cry from the depths of their hearts, 'god save the king!' and they obey when the king commands." * * * * * ¶ with this clue from the master before us, the thing to do is, clearly, to reach out after this german unity idea in a broad way. ¶ napoleon's armies had marched everywhere, during all those victorious years, and each soldier had been a living exemplar of the power of national glory. this national spirit in his armies had helped napoleon amazingly, despite his genius as a soldier. the great prussian patriot, stein, one of the leading men of his time and an early believer in the high destiny of his country, began studying some of the more obscure but vital forces behind napoleon's career of glory. stein finally read the secret and urged that as napoleon had won by national spirit, so napoleon could in the end be defeated by a similar national spirit when properly opposed to him; and napoleon with one terrifying black look saw that von stein had divined the real force of french solidarity, a proclamation was out for von stein's head, and the patriot who dreamed of his confederation of germany, against the french, or any other foreign foe, was obliged to make his escape to the heart of the bohemian mountains. * * * * * ¶ fr: wm. ii ( - ), child of the revolution, to his dying day remained untouched by the new political principles that had their origin beyond the rhine. compound of dreams and realities, william had led a repressed life; for one thing, he did not fight for his opinions; indeed his opinions were literary and artistic; a peculiar pietism bound him; he believed too much in man's natural goodness; being an honest man himself, he did not readily suspect others. ¶ this frederick was always thinking of a germany built on the traditional order, with all intervening social grades, from peasant to king upon his throne, each bowing and scraping to the other; and frederick, as the father of his kingdom, exercising a despotic paternalism. ¶ nor did he see that the french revolution had been fought and napoleon's armies had carried afar if not the seeds of political equality, at least the glorious conception that "revolution means opportunity for men of talents, everywhere." ¶ the pressure on the king was found in this: that under duress he had promised a written constitution. ¶ and behold frederick in these troublous times! for eleven long years, off and on, he tries to find a common ground of religious formulas for the united lutheran and reformed churches. he even attacks rome on the question of mixed marriages. of course, he failed utterly, this noble-minded hohenzollern who believed too implicitly in the inherent goodness of mankind. ¶ repair then to your church windows and read your blackletter bible, you dreaming frederick; such is your story, in a few words. gabble about your gothic restorations as you will, and your correct revisions of the liturgy, frederick, it remains for your louise to do a man's work against french foes, and thus hasten the slow-coming of united germany. * * * * * ¶ in the meantime, prussia is falling to pieces for lack of the mailed fist. everything is going to rack and ruin; beloved prussia repeatedly humiliated by french invaders; and had it not been for noble queen louise there might well be no prussian glory at this hour to record. ¶ her lovely countenance, wreathed in smiles, is immortalized for us through the art of joseph grassi; and is to be seen in the hohenzollern museum. the artist depicts her with youthful charm, her fair brow adorned by her slender crown, whose weight, alas, although slight, gave her no rest till death. her eyes are gentle, and about her face and form is the indefinable touch of ever-present girlishness, never to fade, even in the woman-grown. ¶ it were nearer the truth to say louise personifies prussia's ambition to power. ¶ this beautiful woman bore indeed a heavy burden; well she knew the dread and fear of kings and kingly office. ¶ on the one side was the tyrant napoleon, on the other fr: wilhelm, her kingly husband, without an idea outside of cathedral architecture and bishoprics in jerusalem; yet louise willed that prussia should seize the reins of power, shake off the french yoke, and mount the heights of glory. * * * * * ¶ as a foil to the ferocious bismarck--himself a majestic king-maker--here we reveal to you a true creator of national honor, in the form of a frail, fair woman; showing thus how far the pendulum of time and chance often rocks in bringing about political changes. though poles apart, the brutal bismarck stands side by side with the lovely louise; the blood and iron of the man were of no avail without the finesse of the woman. thus this singular cross-fertilization, compounded of smiles and frowns--the kiss and the lash--the white jeweled hand and the mailed fist in the end makes it possible for humiliated prussia to rise again--the late harvest of the years bringing the reality of our united germany. ¶ bismarck's amazing story we spread before you in detail, but beside that frowning rock we stoop for a moment to pluck the modest violets clinging all unobserved in a gloomy place where the sun seldom comes; these flowers are louise and their subtle perfume symbolizes the penetrating yet delicate incense of her pathetic life. ¶ without louise, our story were soon ended. otherwise bismarck himself could not have come into the illustrious pages of history. noble prussian queen, heroine of prussian glory, mother-consoler in the twilight, your gentle spirit hovers like some evening-star, luminous with hope. napoleon's hated continental system of domination causes prussian downfall--the queen decides to fight back. ¶ the treaty of luneville, february, , now seemed to lend color to napoleon's greatest delusion of grandeur; he would restore the ancient domain of charlemagne, comprising france, germany and italy! signing with prussia and bavaria, napoleon confiscated broad papal domains along the rhine, lands that had been in possession of the church since roman times. with this bribe for secular princes, as the price of the readjustment, exactly teutonic domains, petty in size but all-powerful with the prestige of centuries, vanished from the map. the holy electors of treves and cologne, those empire-makers of ancient days, were stripped of their worldly possessions, and expelled from the papal lands. ¶ there were even rumors of a french-supported emperor of prussia--think of that! francis of austria, for reasons of policy, gave up the high-swelling title, "holy roman emperor," and more modestly contented himself with "emperor of austria." ¶ and now, when napoleon's delusion--charlemagne--seemed on the very point of realization, there came the third coalition against him; prussia joined against france; but napoleon soon gained the most noted of his victories, austerlitz; , prisoners, , dead on the field, represented austria's loss alone, but this was not all. the victorious french pressed on to vienna. by the treaty of pressburg, austria was excluded from germany; wuertemberg, bavaria and the rhinelands went over to the french, napoleon setting himself up as protector of the rhine country, with his representative president karl von dalberg, former archbishop of mainz. * * * * * ¶ louise was high-spirited, impulsive, courageous, imaginative--the very foil of her slow-going frederick, with his church restorations forevermore. the queen, always for an aggressive policy, by her sympathy encouraged the prussian war party; patriots, restive under the indecision of frederick, were eager to shake off french domination. the appeal was to militarism, but what would you? the hun was not only "at the gate," but was inside the walls; and if a man will not fight for his fireside, then he must remain a slave. it was a virtuous cause. ¶ the cabal at the prussian court, secretly in opposition to the easy-going king, was aided by louise. there were the king's brothers, the ambitious hardenburg, the king's cousin, ferdinand, the gifted rahel levin--and many others. these plots within the palace gave to louise's life strange political aspects. ¶ the queen desired to strike. ¶ by austria, russia and great britain were united, but russia still wavered. ¶ louise's secret influence became a watchword for prussian patriots, who despised french rule. * * * * * ¶ after austerlitz, napoleon read prussia his ultimatum: shall it be war or peace? peace and hanover, or war with me? ¶ a treaty was drawn giving to napoleon control over prussia; and this document fr: william weakly signed. after that napoleon simply ignored prussia; made it so hot for prussian ministers that they resigned when paris frowned, or danced when paris smiled. napoleon set up his new rhein confederation without consulting prussia; and prussian patriots felt themselves mortified beyond endurance. ¶ young men in berlin, by way of protest, made a demonstration. going to the doorsteps of the french minister, they there sharpened their swords! napoleon was furious; he sought out the bookseller circulating an anti-french pamphlet, "the deepest humiliation of prussia," lured him across the frontier, and had him assassinated. ¶ the prussian patriotic party, begun as a court cabal secretly headed by louise, decided on war. ¶ the troops were drilled night and day in preparation for the great war of liberation. never before had a downtrodden nation worked harder to win liberty through liberation from the french yoke. however, the immediate results were to be disastrous. ¶ the queen's dragoons went to the front; the queen rode near by in her carriage; she wore a smart military coat, colors of her crack regiment; and general kalkreuth, in a burst of enthusiasm, vowed that the queen could herself win the war should she remain with the troops. ¶ yes, louise was actually going out to fight napoleon's veterans, napoleon's famous marshals, berthier, murat and the others; and even the great napoleon himself. the decisive struggle took place at jena, october , ; prussian forces were annihilated. ¶ napoleon came on to berlin and housed himself in the prussian palace. from here he now issued bulletins denouncing louise as the cause of the war; he attacked her character, accusing her of a liaison with the handsome alexander of russia, and of still other intrigues with high army officers; he presented her as a compound of shameless camp-follower and dangerous woman, plotting against her own husband, thus bringing ruin to her native land. napoleon even had louise's apartments broken into and the queen's papers seized, to see if incriminating evidence could not be uncovered. ah, he knew all the tricks of love as well as of war! * * * * * ¶ but napoleon went too far. his cruel persecution caused prussians to sympathize with their queen, instead of reviling her. years before the great question is settled prussia indeed becomes germany--in moody thoughtfulness--in stubborn determination--in unflinching courage. ¶ louise now reveals herself a glorious national heroine. in spite of her animosity toward napoleon for his atrocious slanders, the queen decided to arrange an interview with the conqueror and beg favorable terms for her beloved prussia. ¶ the meeting took place july , . napoleon sent his coach, drawn by six white horses, to bring the queen to the miller's house, where the interview was staged in an upper room. louise had on her finest court robe, white crepe embroidered with silver, and wore her famous crown of pearls; her loveliness and her woman's wit were to be used in behalf of prostrate prussia. ¶ napoleon rode up in great style, surrounded by his brilliant staff--berthier, murat and the others. louise awaited him at the head of the rickety stairs. as he went up in the semi-darkness, he stumbled and fell. the queen apologized that she was forced to meet the emperor in so mean a place; but he immediately replied that to see so lovely a woman was well worth a few minor obstacles. ¶ louise now began pleading with napoleon for leniency toward prussia. what an interview that was! how eloquently she set forth her people's sufferings in the great french wars; she pictured the sorrows of prussia so vividly that at last napoleon became mightily interested. finally he said: ¶ "ah, your majesty asks very much indeed, but i am dreaming!" by this he meant, "i do not hear a word you say; i am looking at your beautiful eyes." ¶ the clever louise saw that she was progressing with her arguments, and undoubtedly had the emperor under the spell of her fatal beauty; to oblige a grand lady in distress, he would be willing to concede much indeed, in his famous rôle of lady-killer and protector of feminine loveliness. but at that precise moment, who should enter the room but fr: wilhelm himself, the queen's blundering husband! ¶ always in the way--mentally clumsy--he spoiled everything! the interview ended abruptly. ¶ louise, heartbroken, retired in utter despair. she had believed that the justice of her cause, her eloquence, her loyalty to her people would go far to soften napoleon's wrath, but in all this she was cruelly disappointed. next day the french tyrant announced his terms: indemnity of , , marks; one-third cash; one-third payable in lands; the final third "on time," in the interim he would garrison in five fortified towns , french troops and , french cavalry, whose support was at the expense of prussia, till the debt was paid. ¶ this great queen, after life's fever, sleeps enshrined in her snowy marble tomb at charlottenburg. one day you will stand with uncovered head beside her royal grave, and recall her noble life. she deserves well of her country! * * * * * ¶ but mark this well: out of prussia's humiliations came her ultimate strength; the vanquished, as is often the story of human life, was strengthened more than the victors. prussia, chastened by her severe lessons, henceforth proceeded to build herself up slowly till at last she was ready, many, many years later, to strike for german unity that final blow at the palace of the french kings at versailles. ¶ in the wearisome stretch of time till that distant day of german glory, prussia henceforth becomes germany--in spirit--in moody thoughtfulness--in stubborn determination--yes, under god, by blood and iron! there float before us many noble names, poets, prophets, soldiers who aid in stimulating "german national faith"--fichte, arndt, kleist, roon, moltke, scharnhorst, humboldt--and in the historical twilight big with mutterings and rumblings of the new time to come with all its glory, taking the place of the prussian ruin between and , is queen louise, her gentle spirit a veritable evening-star, luminous with hope. * * * * * ¶ by , fr: william iii had been induced by the pressure of public opinion to join russia to fight off the french. may , , william's famous decree, "to my people!" called for help to expel invaders, thereby to recover prussian independence; and napoleon was totally defeated in the tremendous battle of leipzig, october - , or "battle of the nations," as the germans call prussia's return to power and glory. ¶ it was this patriotic appeal "to my people," that made william's troubles; the prussian liberals felt that the government owed the people a liberal political constitution, in return for leipzig. ¶ his majesty grabbed on it, twice, and was at his wit's end to know how to keep his crown and his declaration of friendship for the people. in the meantime, twenty-three minor german states having adopted constitutions, more or less liberal, the growing demands of the common people for a share in prussian government could be no longer denied. kingcraft comes upon evil days--in the rising tide of liberal ideas, monarchies of old are all but swept away. ¶ when the napoleonic dynasty collapsed, after waterloo, there were petty principalities in the german-speaking area grouped about rhein, the main, neckar, elbe; these knights' holdings, ecclesiastical strongholds, and domains of various descriptions became merged by cross-fighting throughout the napoleonic era. ¶ the congress of vienna ( ) deeming it advisable to set up a loose confederacy of the multitude of petty powers, founded a german confederation, but whether it was geographical, racial or political no human being could say. the local german princes kept full sovereign powers, but gradually, as a matter of expediency, the various states grouped themselves around prussia and austria. as for the nation, there was no german sovereign, no supreme court, no commercial or political relationship worthy of the name. instead, on every hand was intense local hatred, aloofness and suspicion. this condition continued for very many years. ¶ the plain fact was that the various princes did not want german national unity; for the reason that it is not human nature for men to give up an advantage for an uncertainty. also, at this time, neither prussia nor austria was strong enough to impose her hegemony upon germany. austria's policy was for delay; and in prussia the general belief existed for many years that austrian domination was really essential to put down the rising spirit of democracy. ¶ the authority of the congress set up a bond of confederation, ruled by a diet or bundestag, sitting at frankfort-on-the-main. ¶ in the hurly-burly, certain centres, such as saxony, bavaria and wuertemberg, were raised in rank from duchies to kingdoms, while still others, such as westphalia, grand duchy of warsaw, were dissolved. the free cities were reduced to four; caste declined in political importance. the confederation of the rhine was set aside. thus the close of the napoleonic period found german territory without political unity. * * * * * ¶ the last stand of kingly ultra-conservatism is the one great political feature of europe, from the downfall of napoleon, , to the popular outbreaks of . during this dark period the cause of constitutional liberty in prussia made little progress. old forms as well as new were under suspicion. on the one side were ultra-conservative conceptions of divine-right, upheld by metternich, and on the other side was the idea that sovereignty came not from heaven but from earth, making the will of the people the voice of god. ¶ prussia and austria, as the representatives of divine-right, closely watched these revolutionary tendencies, suppressed uprisings, muzzled the press, in an attempt to check the surging tide of liberalism. however much the kings had feared the wars of napoleon, kingcraft was now confronted by an enemy more deadly. the babble of the bondsmen about to break their chains portended far greater disaster to dynasties than ever did bullets on the battlefield of waterloo. * * * * * ¶ with might and main, the monarchs, resisting the demands of the people for constitutional government, stamped out everything that looked like the first signs of national sentiment. ¶ nor was germany alone in this reactionary attitude. the kingly side of all europe stood shoulder to shoulder against new political experiments. in italy, greece, spain, sovereigns applied the lash the harder, in an endeavor to suppress this new evil against kingcraft; nevertheless, among the common people there continued to grow consciousness of political rights. ¶ "napoleon in many of the lands he conquered," says ffyfe, "set up many revolutionary ideas that sounded the death knell of the feudal system. it was part of his administrative genius to take the lands from barons and their class, and turn them over to peasants; it happened in france with the lands of the ecclesiastical barons of the church; it happened in north germany, in , when the decree of administrative following the annexation of the north german coast swept away with a few strokes of the pen, thirty-six forms of feudal privileges." ¶ and these could never be restored, even after the congress of vienna spent seven or eight months, after waterloo, dividing the loot among the old royal houses. ¶ the system of monarchical absolutism maintained itself in one way or another for years, but the old-line conception of the political legitimacy of despotic rulers had been rudely shattered. ¶ in spite of a brave show of gold cloth, diamonds, laces, jewels, swords, silk stockings, lackeys, grooms, guards and crowns, kingcraft was now placed on the defensive. the cry of the people, "liberty!" filled many a market-place. ¶ forces of democracy were working everywhere, ill-directed to be sure, but never despairing of ultimate victory over kingcraft, which indeed had now come upon evil days. it is an undeniable fact that bonaparte had purged the political ideas of french revolution of many excesses, and had turned to practical account certain forms of liberty, for example, ridding captured lands, as ffyfe tells us, of offensive special privileges, on part of irresponsible rulers of petty degree; but the danger was found in this: that a mere "desire" for political expediency, however surrounded by the halo of popular rights, avails nothing unless ultimately sustained by strong central authority; and it requires no profound knowledge of men's way to know that at no time in the history of the world has collective rulership been other than a theory. the excesses of the french revolution were not readily overlooked by the conservative elements in germany. german hope of national union gleams like a star. ¶ there gradually grew throughout germany a spirit of intense longing for country, and many a noble spirit had in a vision seen from afar the common fatherland. especially in the universities, the feeling was strong. the german universities were hotbeds of political excitement. for many years after napoleon's downfall all manner of theories of government were strenuously debated, to the accompaniment of duels, beer-drinking, private feuds, and popular agitation, often ending in blood. the burschenschaft, as the student brothers were called, finally formed themselves into a league comprising sixty schools; and held a famous meeting at wartburg, . ¶ the patriots took holy communion, made impassioned speeches, built bonfires and cast into the flames hated books supporting metternich's system of kingcraft. also the patriots consigned to the fire an illiberal pamphlet by king fr: wilhelm iii of prussia. ¶ metternich became alarmed. kotzebue, hated as a spy of russia in germany, was stabbed to the heart by karl sand. this gave to metternich the desired opportunity, and he proceeded forthwith to impress on fr: wilhelm and the czar the absurdity of toying longer with "democratic ideas and paper constitutions." then and there the biblical phrases of democrat-mongering kings, under the holy alliance, ceased in the high courts of russia and prussia. metternich got hold of fr: wilhelm, also the other political tools of the frankfort diet, and at carlsbad decrees were issued sounding the doom of liberalism and the return to power of the old-line kings. by gag-law and intimidation metternich rushed the decrees through the diet;--and for a generation "carlsbad" signified the suppression of democratic sentiments throughout germany. ¶ metternich fought free speech, free parliaments and a free press. his iron laws were aimed to stifle democratic mutterings. austrian spies were everywhere, searching out revolutionary societies. ¶ the hope that prussia might be the leader in the new german spirit of nationality now vanished. william iii definitely withdrew his promise of a written constitution, made in , and reiterated in . persecutions continued north and south; prussia hounded jahn for five long years, this jahn whose gymnastic societies had been so helpful in hardening young men to prussian army services; and the poet arndt, whose impassioned verse intensified the national spirit of germany, was shamefully treated, his papers scattered and the man driven from his university. ¶ for many a long year the gloomy spirit of "carlsbad" decrees hung over germany. * * * * * ¶ however, the germans have an intensely practical side as well as a dreamy poetical side. it is not surprising, therefore, that the earliest steps in the direction of german unity ( ) came through prussian customs house reforms under the patriot, maassen. ¶ there had been, as we explained heretofore, no freedom of trade throughout germany; each of the petty thirty-nine states was surrounded by chinese walls; for example, to send goods from hamburg to vienna, the shipper had to pay ten separate tolls. ¶ under the old prussian system there were in vogue at one and the same time no less than sixty-seven conflicting tariff systems. all this tax oppression meant a harvest for smugglers. but maassen, at a stroke, established a common tariff in prussia; made the tax so low that smuggling became unprofitable. the other states protested vehemently at first, but one by one entered this new customs union. ¶ and we may understand now certain sarcastic remarks sometimes made about germany by her historical enemies: "paper, cheese, sauerkraut, ham, and matches, served to unite german hearts more than political ties!" ¶ this slur is ill-deserved; at best, it simply means that the advantages of the "zollverein" were economic as well as political; and, in later years, the necessity for a common system of doing business played a deservedly important part in helping along bismarck's plans. ¶ the customs league, called the "zollverein," is generally held to be the very beginning of practical unity for germany. * * * * * ¶ on the poetical side of german character, earliest appeals for the fatherland--one and united!--were expressed down through the years; long indeed before actual political union was possible, germany's bards, in their impassioned, semi-religious songs awakened in german hearts the spirit of intense longing for the common fatherland, based on blood-brotherhood and language. ¶ one of the famous types of this patriot-poet was arndt, son of an emancipated slave. arndt was a noble democrat; his history of slavery in pomerania inspired adolphus to abolish that evil, ; the prussian aristocrats held arndt a life-long grudge. "spirit of the times," his patriotic trumpet-call aroused prussians to fight france. napoleon tracked the lyric poet out; arndt fled to sweden; but continued to write for the cause. he returned to germany, . ¶ "was ist des deutschen vaterland?" remains one of the great semi-religious songs of nations. arndt asks what comprises the fatherland? surely not prussia, not swabia, nor this nor that, but all side by side comprise the german brotherhood of race and language. where is the german fatherland? is't swabia? is't prussia's land? is't where the grape glows on the rhine, where sea-gulls skim the baltic's brine? oh, no! more great, more grand must be the german fatherland! ¶ here is a spirited verse from "the god that lets the iron grow": the god who made earth's iron hoard scorned to create a slave hence, unto man the spear and sword in his right hand he gave! hence him with courage he imbued lent wrath to freedom's voice-- that death or victory in the feud might be his only choice! ¶ "der gott, der eisen wachsen liess," "was blasen die trompeten," were on all patriotic lips; at this, william iii, mightily offended, had arndt arrested and sent him into retirement for twenty years. ¶ the old man lived to become a great national hero. he died january , , aged . it is pleasant to record that on his ninetieth birthday germany united in good wishes for their national poet of the dark hours. the people built him a monument at the place of his birth, schoritz, and another at bonn, where for many years he had been professor of history. it is not time, o william, to go to church but to go to war; yet you and your son keep on reading your gothic bible. ¶ now comes the year ; william iii goes to the tomb of his ancestors, and is succeeded by fr: william iv, with whom began anew the long battle between the principle of divine-right of kings and political democracy exercised by the masses. william iv, intensely addicted to divine-right theories of government, was in the course of a turbulent reign forced to face great political agitators. however, the king had behind his throne, always, that conservative class (found in every country) that clings tenaciously to the past and dreads the future. the watchword of all william's enemies was "liberty!" the cry, visionary as it was, served as a rallying point for those who favored some form of french constitutionalism; and while, as a whole, the so-called friends of liberty were very impracticable, had no definite plan for relief, we find among the political agitators foremost in their discontent many of the brightest minds in germany, college graduates, professional men, the clergy, and solid middle class merchants. all were zealous for immediate political reforms. * * * * * ¶ consider the position of our fr: william iv. he was a peculiar man, to begin with--and an irresolute man, to end with. he was not built for times of war. yet he had to face cannon! early in life, in impressionable years, through a court blunder, young william had had a tutor, delbrueck, who poisoned his charge's mind against the prussian military and bureaucratic system. the attitude of delbrueck was certainly heresy as vile as though your own child's nurse should bring your boy up to fear and despise his own father. surely, you would not like that? ¶ delbrueck was quickly given the sack; and it was well that he got off without a broken head! he was succeeded by a preacher, ancillon, of renown in church affairs. this ancillon started young william off on another track; antiques, church history, bible study, architecture, the brotherhood of man, and the fatherhood of god. ¶ then william studied art under rausen, and under schinkel; and also the future king became absorbed in landscape gardening and in architecture. ¶ william was presumed to be "liberal" in his views, that is to say, he was, in a sense, supposed to be a "democrat." ¶ of course, the radicals at this hour knew nothing of bismarck, who was to be the power behind the throne. they saw instead only a weak king; and history tells over and over again, down through time, what becomes of weak kings when the people are throwing up barricades in the streets and are tossing up their caps and crying "liberty!" * * * * * ¶ under his royal nose the liberals kept sticking his father's pledge of the glorious year, . how about that long-promised constitution, your majesty? thousands of deluded prussians now believed that they could accurately define the peculiar word "liberty!" it looked as though the people were bent on casting out a king. as yet there were in prussia no organized party lines; the general situation was summed up in the growing hopes that the common people placed in french constitutionalism--wherever that might lead. ¶ at any rate, the old régime must go. bad business, this promising a written constitution--the deluge breaks. ¶ the prussian nobility, always bound to the king by feelings of ardent loyalty, formed a military caste; the peasantry was industrious, thrifty and hard-working; the state officials were devoted to a spirit of discipline at once thorough and pedantic; the prussian school-system was first in square-headed masters, who ruled with rods of iron. thus, the prussian national ideal was based on discipline military in its severity, self-sacrifice and energy. "throughout prussia was a spirit of affirmation, expressive of the vigorous national egotism. as time passed, the machine men of olden prussia were gradually replaced by free-willed, self-conscious citizens taking an enlightened interest in their country; the old-time tutelage headed by the monarchs underwent a transformation; and the trend was toward enlightened self-government; but many years were to pass before this ideal was reached." ¶ william did indeed cherish, in a way, an idea of german unity, and in this respect he was a democrat or a radical, whatever you wish to term him. here, we must make one fact plain. it will make you smile at william's simplicity, will show you how utterly he was out of touch with the tendencies of the times; how good-natured he was; how honest he was. he believed that german unity, if ever it came, should historically be an extension of the old holy roman empire, through the illustrious house of hapsburg! which is equivalent to saying that your own family should advance by humbling itself before your own greatest rival; that you should bow to your political enemy and submit to being effaced, to heighten your rival's glory. strauss calls william "a romanticist on the throne of the cæsars!" this fr: william iv wished to be an absolute monarch, after the traditional hohenzollern style, yet he had so few soldierly instincts that the army hated him. ¶ this political attitude with william was not a form of romantic idealism bordering on lunacy; it was instead a token of his blundering stupidity; also in a sense his four-square frankness in owning that prussia was playing second fiddle to austria, at this interesting moment. and, in truth, all that william thought was logical; the stream was tending that way; few denied it, except politicians interested in advancing their own fortunes by setting austria back in the great game of grab. however, william, instead of loading cannon and turning them on the radicals, now swarming around his palace, was much pleased to send a bishop to jerusalem. ¶ nicholas of russia warned william to beware of democrats, and to stand up for divine-right of kings, but what is the use of advising a coward to be a hero, a fool to be a wise man? in the end, a man must go through life with the sort of head he has--round, square, flat, or mushy--is it not true? you are no exception, yourself; and our church-building william, in turn, was true to his own æsthetic nature, regardless of bayonets poked under his nose. ¶ bad business this promising the people a written constitution; ominous for the breed of kings; a situation, in short, not unlike that forced on the grand monarch at an earlier day, that is to say, no money without the states' general. ¶ after , liberal opinions were directed against the king, personally, charging him with political reactionary tendencies. the course of popular liberty was taken by noted men, among them arnold ruge, karl marx, feuerbach, strauss, bauer, fallersleben, dingelstedt, meissner, beck, kinkel, and others. also, when ischech attempted to assassinate william iv, the dastardly act found supporters who gloried in the "patriot's" effort to rid the country of a "tyrant," even through cold-blooded murder. ¶ also, the very memory of the frightful excesses of the french revolution still shocked the conservative political element of europe. the land-owning classes of prussia, backed by the prussian army, stood shoulder to shoulder for their old titles. the new call of political liberalism was, therefore, in the view of prussian conservatives, to be put down at all hazards. the position was, of course, largely selfish, but it was very human. * * * * * ¶ matters came to a crisis in ' ; king william iv needed money for a little railroad project in east prussia. in his dilemma, he called his baby parliament, or diet, april , , and "deigned" to permit therein the right of petition; there were in truth no privileges of political significance, no real powers; it was a side-show, so far as the "people" were concerned--and for eleven weeks volleys of oratory crackled and thundered. * * * * * ¶ here, we meet bismarck face to face; and you should now be prepared, from what you have read, to understand the gigantic problem bismarck was called upon to face--single-handed! ¶ furthermore, bismarck's attitude was not, as has often been recorded, a case of "might is right." the french revolution had proven conclusively that there can be no political "right" without a political "might." we should not forget this fact throughout the bismarck story of prussia's rise to power. book the third bismarck supports his king chapter vii fighting fire with fire the voice in the wilderness proclaims the god-given glory of kings, vicegerents of christ on this earth. ¶ the french revolution brought to paris adventurers and patriots from every part of europe. among these was a young corsican who, with his mother and sisters, had been driven out of his native island. this man, napoleon bonaparte, was in the course of a few years to become emperor of france and master of europe. ¶ there is a classical picture of young napoleon, at the time of the early riots in paris. standing on a curbstone, to one side, he watches the passing of liberty-crazed mobs, armed with pikes--the self-same common people on whose shoulders napoleon himself was later to ride into amazing power. ¶ thus, likewise, in another time of political crisis, ( - ) men were flocking to berlin to debate anew the well-worn theme, "the rights of man." quietly looking on was another man of destiny, otto von bismarck, burly dyke-captain of the elbe, up to that time a farmer on his ancestral estates in pomerania. what this young blond giant saw before him was somewhat of this extraordinary order: ¶ the universal theme was once more "liberty," and the din not only in berlin but throughout german states, was ear-splitting. of course, there were patriots who stood on broad national grounds, but the purely personal point of view was still very much in evidence. every man had his say, often accompanied by brandishing of fists or the laying on of canes; all dignified by the name "patriotism," but in truth it exhibited the old struggle of human nature for supremacy. the masses were fighting to unseat kings, whose dogma of "divine-right" had by the french revolution been shown to be only insidious political quackery, in the past sustained largely by the sword. the common people were wrestling to grasp this monarchic sword away, and here and there had already seized the hilt or the blade--it mattered not which!--and the dynasties of hohenzollern, hapsburg, wittelsbach, and all the lesser swarm, were suddenly put on the defensive. hotly pursued sovereigns kept their heads only by some concession to popular fury; again, by flight. the people were intoxicated with the wine of their newly found power! ¶ and what would they do with their new bauble, liberty, fraternity and equality? the centre of the stage was occupied by a struggling mass of kings, fighting not only for their crowns but for the very clothes on their backs! there were poets in fine frenzy declaiming; grenadiers firing muzzle-loaders; priests invoking the wrath of god; kings shouting out that they were the only accredited earthly representatives of heaven; historians hotly insisting that all were in error, and that the scroll showed this or that; law-givers pleading for the old forms; lunatics laughing in demoniacal glee; peasants armed with pitchforks jabbing right and left; demagogues calling on heaven to witness their lofty and disinterested leadership; while around the edges of the scene mountebanks, camp-followers, renegades, whores and political blacklegs, were waiting for their share of the plunder, let victory fall where it may. ¶ what a magnificent scramble for place, pelf and power! it were blasphemy to call this riot the desire for progress for the masses. it were equal blasphemy to call it stupidity and reaction, on the part of the contending monarchs, as against crushing with iron heel the hopes of the people for political and intellectual life. either one of these diagonally opposed interpretations of the time is too extreme. the truth is in neither view. as a matter of fact, behind the seething mass of human forms was the age-old motive of human selfishness; and while here and there some lofty soul may have glimpsed in his fervid imagination a united germany, based on a "german national faith," in which the rights of each citizen should be no more or no less than the rights of all others, with each man working for all men and all men for each man, this poetical idea was only another evidence of how the noblest minds place the illusion and the dream before the appalling fact of human selfishness in the universal struggle for personal aggrandizement. ¶ the merging of the various german states, or the transference of land from one german monarch to another, in the ensuing political struggle for power, is, after all, as nothing compared with the change in ideas, now close at hand; what may be called the "mind" of germany was about to undergo a veritable french revolution! however, it was not to be a french revolution in the sense of mob-rule. we shall make this clear as we come more especially to tell you, in details, of a certain political millennium which bismarck scorned, although courageously pressed upon him by leaders of the party of the people. ¶ on the whole, however, the drift of events was toward "german national faith," bringing in turn some form of representative government, as against the doctrine of divine-right of kings. the monarchs were placed more and more on the defensive; it was to be their last stand, not only for their crowns but for their very lives! * * * * * ¶ and now face to face with the gigantic problem of a united germany, again we study our last hope of kings--our prussian strafford von bismarck. in some respects he is the historical foil of strafford of charles i, whose money-needs compelled the calling of the long parliament; and the help strafford had given to the king in ruling without a parliament had mortally offended the commons; strafford was declared guilty of high treason--and despite charles' efforts, strafford went to the block! ¶ will bismarck come to a similar end on the scaffold of the prussian liberals? * * * * * ¶ we see before us a giant in form and in mental strength; a monster of will-power, with the iron ambition to compel men to do his individual bidding; a political superman. ¶ he had spent his time more with cattle, horses and dogs than he had with men. ¶ his spirit was high, untrammelled, rebellious. he ironically despised the common people; the burden-bearers in all forms of government were in this giant's opinion not good enough to sit beside kings. ¶ morose, obstinate, self-opinionated, with an enormous capacity for liquor, bismarck was an intellectual as well as physical glutton. ¶ most of all, this strange man, half-beast, half-seer, was to turn out to be the very voice of the old decaying kingcraft. he had an immovable belief in the feudal right of royalty to rule over its subjects as it pleased; and by his amazing power of intrigue supported by supreme abilities exercised during the ensuing thirty years, bismarck at last rose to a height that overshadowed the monarchs whom he served--and ruled! we wish to emphasize, again, that bismarck's conception of kingcraft was no mere despotic thing. to him, a king was truly a man of great practical as well as moral responsibilities, akin to father, hence should be obeyed. our young blond giant appears at third estates' assembly--the king's predicament--bismarck's opportunity. ¶ behold otto edward leopold von bismarck, the country squire, straight from his cow-sheds and his hunting dogs; a young blond german giant, years old, in the very prime of his massive strength and endurance; plentiful hair cropped short, ruddy face, blond beard, bright blue eyes, big fists; high, shrill voice, strangely out of keeping with his physical bulk. for years afterward, this peculiar voice became the stock in trade of newspaper writers. however, it was what the giant said! ¶ bismarck wore a broad-brimmed slouch hat, military boots and his dykeman's overcoat. this rough, yellow-colored garment, for which he afterwards became famous, was long, baggy and loose. he used to wear it when floods were high along the river elbe. in berlin, at the time were only three notables who wore these yellow overcoats: the first, bismarck; the second, the immortal baron von herteford, the last of his race, hereditary grand huntsman at cleve, and the third was worn by geo. hesekiel, the german historian. ¶ bismarck, who was now to receive his first experience in handling men in political alignments, had inherited a country estate from the old family domains and was living the life of a squire; hunting foxes, with dogs and gay companions, passing nights in taverns, drinking heavily, eating like a glutton, amusing himself as he pleased; a giant in intellect and in stomach; turbulent, tempestuous, rough, a bad man to cross, believe me, but among his cronies voted a prince of good fellows. such is our german hero as he comes upon the great stage of affairs. ¶ when this burly bismarck made his first entrance at the diet, or assembly of the three estates, held in the "white saloon" of the royal palace at coelin on the spree, our future empire-maker and throne-overturner knew by practical experience absolutely nothing about the diagonal of political cross-purposes. however, he was now taking up his great life-study, entering all unknowingly upon a magnificent career leading in after years to his fair renown as father of the german empire. * * * * * ¶ he had, as we have seen, thus far passed the time as a practical farmer; hale fellow well met, with upper-class leanings. after taking his doctor's degree at goettingen, he had made a few journeys, one to italy, another to the island of heligoland, on a shooting trip; had crossed the english channel, and had brought back with him a smattering of shakespeare, which he afterwards improved by considerable study; and by the way throughout the crises in his career, bismarck often found refuge in apt shakespearian quotations. then he had done a little governmental clerical work in the lower courts of his country, but his peculiar ideas of independence and his abruptness in speaking his mind unfitted him for this work. glad to be rid of his job, he returned to the country. he knew nothing of administrative or executive life, and aside from the fact that he was a student of history, with a penchant for making historical parallels, there was nothing to show the bent of his powerful mind. ¶ yet, there is a great man before us! and since it is not based on his training, then it must come inherently from his natural endowment. his master-mind was to unseat and seat princes, kings and emperors, in the fullness of time, rearranging the map of germany to suit himself; engaging in three wars of ambition, signally victorious in each; and winning for himself imperishable fame during his active career of forty years. * * * * * ¶ by a singular turn, bismarck knew or cared so little for politics, at this time, that his very entry into the "white saloon," in which the liberals decided to settle with this stubborn king fr: wm. iv, was wholly by accident. the saxon provincial diet at meresburg had chosen dyke captain von brauchitsch of scharteuke, in the circle of jerichow, as deputy at the united diet, and had selected dyke captain von bismarck of schoenhausen as his proxy. as herr von brauchitsch was very ill, his substitute was summoned. ¶ bismarck appeared as representative of the knight's estate of jerichow, and vassal and chivalric servitor of the king. how go the fates! if the eminent von brauchitsch had not had the toothache, that day, there might not have been a united germany--is it not true? ¶ in the group that gathered in the "white saloon" at coelin on the spree, bismarck met many men whose opinions were well known to him; his brother, the landrath, his cousins, the counts von bismarck-bohlen and von bismarck-briest; his future father-in-law, herr von puttkammer; von thadden, von wedell, and many others. says hesekiel: ¶ "unfortunately these gentlemen in general, as herr von thadden once bluntly said of himself, were not even bad orators, but no orators at all. nor could the two freiherrs von manteuffel contend in eloquence with the brilliant rhetorics of the liberals, such as freiherr von vincke, camphausen, mevissen, beckerath, and others. ¶ "few persons today can read those speeches of the first united diet, once so celebrated, without a melancholy or satirical smile. those were the blossom-days of liberal phraseology, causing an enthusiasm of which we cannot now form any adequate idea!" * * * * * ¶ troublous times indeed; and the king an autocrat of autocrats, forced by the liberal ideas of the hour, breaking everywhere. we can imagine william saying angrily: "confound the impudence of the liberals with their crazy liberty, fraternity and equality. we supposed that all this nonsense was blown to bits by the guns at waterloo!" ¶ the bedeviled king began to show a streak of prussian stubbornness; in these angry words he incautiously addressed those delegates who had dared to ask for a constitution: ¶ "i refuse to allow to come between almighty god in heaven and this prussian land so much as a blotted piece of parchment to rule us with paragraphs, and to replace thereby the sacred bond of ancient loyalty!" ¶ the widening gulf between monarchy and french constitutionalism was now manifest to almost any thoughtful prussian, but, like the ostrich, our timid william continued to hide his head under the sand and believed himself safe. for one whole month, burly bismarck sits with his mouth shut, seemingly stricken dumb at the sacrilegious ideas of the democrats. ¶ now this giant dyke-captain, this lover of dogs, horses and cattle, sat for one whole month, stricken dumb it seemed by the political heresies that he heard. for one solid month, he never opened his mouth! then he could stand it no longer. he pleaded vigorously for the middle ages feudal system, and for the right of his own aristocratic class! in truth, without knowing it, he was expressing the king's sentiments, was a genuine king's man. ¶ the future prince's first speech swept like a hurricane over a garden in june--withering, blasting, uprooting. he began by denying, absolutely, that the great victory of which expelled for prussia the french invaders was based on so low a consideration as the promise of a paper constitution. not at all! it was an exhibition of pure patriotism. in his historical reference, bismarck, in this instance, was in error. in no sense was "the people" to be credited with the great prussian victory of ; it came about largely through military tactics, training and general preparedness, in which "the people" had no part except to do their plain duty. ¶ for his remarkable utterance, bismarck was promptly hissed down by the liberal side. undaunted, bismarck loaded his heaviest guns against this thing called "liberalism," with all its mock-heroics of liberty, fraternity and equality. would it not endanger our king's sacred throne? that was enough for herr bismarck. ¶ thus the doughty dyke-captain from the elbe endeavored to perform a political miracle--new wine in old bottles--and as fast as the bottles popped, he put the wine in still other old bottles. was there ever more folly? did a young champion of the crown ever make greater fool of himself? ¶ and with all europe bawling for liberty, fraternity and equality; with thrones tottering in every direction; with of the german states already joyously exhibiting their new constitutions? here was a voice in the wilderness crying for monarchy and the divine-right of kings! and what's more, gentlemen, he has before him a -years' fight, but in the end will ram it down your throats. ¶ his cry at this moment is that ancient prussian slogan, "mitt gott fuer koenig und vaterland!" the question on the proposed constitution--the right of petition and certain specified control over state finance by the people--simple as all this seems today, created a terrible storm! the nobility, led by the dyke-captain, felt uneasy; a parliament of the people was indeed a needless concession. and were the people prepared by education for this great change? was it not hasty? ¶ meantime, the king was in truth a sort of broken reed, stirred by every blast that swept from the "white saloon." ¶ fr: wm. iv was a "hamlet-hesitating monarch," who had it not been for the burly giant bismarck would have been swept into oblivion by the first whiff of gunpowder. a stickler for religious dogma, the pietists adored him, but the classes despised him; he was one of those men who discuss trifles with elegant ease, but who have no conception of what is behind this present widespread demand for a constitution. this king fr.: wm. iv lived in a mystic mediæval dreamland; he restored the cathedral of cologne; sent a missionary band to spread his beloved lutheran doctrines to the chinese, and established a protestant bishop at jerusalem. the political literature of the time is overwhelmingly against william. he did not understand the drift of events. without bismarck, the king's head would soon have rolled into the basket! bellowing his defiance, though the liberals bring the rope--the new man explains his novel position, not as a politician but as a prussian in deadly earnest--the jew, and time's revenge. ¶ there were three sessions of the baby parliament, and bismarck was soon looked upon as the conservative leader. perhaps conservative is not the word; reactionary would be closer. there was no conservative party, nor a liberal party for that matter. the obstinate fight with bismarck was not because he wished to prevent the common people from having a share in their prussian government, but because the change, if ever it came, would set up a peculiar type of prussian government; a state-government, as it were, as against the old-time liege-lord master-and-servant conception of hohenzollern "divine-right" policy. ¶ the very word "people" threw herr bismarck into hysterical frenzy! he determined upon resisting the heresy with all the virile courage of his colossal bulk. it had been his duty, as elbe dyke-captain, to protect his country against torrential waters; now he would do similar service against the rising floods of revolution. he set up the historical agreement that the edifice of prussia, under an aristocratic form of rulership, was firmer toward foreign foes, firmer than was possible under the leader rule of the people. ¶ a conservative deputy from pomerania, addressing the administration member for west havelland, said: "we have conquered!" ¶ "not so!" replied bismarck, coolly. "we have not conquered, but we have made an attack, which is the principal thing. victory is yet to come, but it will take years!" ¶ these words accurately convey the nature of the situation. bismarck was master of short phrases in which complex situations are summed up. * * * * * ¶ he had dog-like love for his master, the king: "no word," he exclaimed, "has been more wrongly used in the past year than the word 'people.' each man has held it to mean just what suits his individual view." ¶ "we are prussians," was his eternal keynote, "and prussia is all-sufficient. our hosts follow the prussian flag and not the tricolor; under the black and white they joyfully die for their country. the tricolor has been, since the march riots, recognized as the color of their opponents. the accents of the prussian national anthem, the strains of the dessau and hohenfriedberg march are well known and beloved among them; but i have never yet heard a prussian soldier sing, 'what is the german fatherland?' the nation whence this army has sprung, and of which the army is the truest representative in the happy and accurate words of the president of the first chamber, rudolph von auerswald, does not need to see the prussian monarchy melt away in the filthy ferment of south german immorality. we are prussians, and prussians we desire to remain! i know that in these words i utter the creed of the prussian army, the creed of the majority of my fellow-countrymen, and i hope to god that we shall continue prussians, when this bit of paper is forgotten like the withered leaf of autumn!" ¶ yes, bismarck, any day the mob may bring the rope; but you still bellow your defiance, your face of brass unabashed. man among men--wrong though you be, bismarck, you will have your say though the heavens fall. ¶ "i am proud to be a prussian junker, and feel honored by the appellation. whigs and tories were terms which once also had a very mean signification; and be assured, gentlemen, that we shall on our part bring junkerdom to be regarded with honor and respect." * * * * * ¶ aristocrats were delighted; von thadden exclaimed: "i am enthusiastic over this man bismarck!" geo. v. wincke, the westphalian high official, short, fat, red-headed, never admired the burly giant bismarck, smelling of the cow-sheds. ¶ for twenty years, off and on, the testy v. wincke indulged in invective, his theme ever being "the rule of law." this george v. wincke in spite of his medals and his family tree was on the liberal side, bag and baggage. ¶ there was a strain of bitter eloquence about this red-headed champion of the people's rights. he had read guizot and talked much of hampden, the long parliament, and all that. george had the legal side of the argument, especially since the french revolution had set liberty bells a-ringing everywhere, even in solemn old prussia; but the doughty bismarck would come thundering back with his "unlimited crown" and rulership over the people "by the grace of god," royal prerogative and general disdain for the masses;--as in the régime of louis the magnificent at versailles, when the convicts worked to build the $ , , palace to shelter art, wit and pretty women, while the people starved. how out of tune, bismarck; how hopelessly reactionary! * * * * * ¶ bismarck voted against every new privilege. his speeches read like reports of personal rows! he was frank, fearless and frenzied, and in turn his volleys excited groans and hisses. ¶ was ever mortal so utterly out of touch with the prevailing french conception of liberty, equality and fraternity? here is the way he summed up political equality: ¶ "the goosequill arguments of newspaper writers!" "relics of pot-houses!" "the emancipation of the people does not mean progress!" "a royal word is more than volumes of law!" "the prussian sovereigns are in possession of a crown by god's grace!" "the king has said he did not wish to be coerced or driven!" "let there be a period of four years, at least, before another such stupid meeting as this is held." ¶ it was a curious situation. bismarck was both rude and crude! his style of delivery was lame, his voice improperly placed, his mannerisms grotesque. despite his hobbling oratory, however, bismarck was soon a marked man; he held his audience by his sensational ideas and his dogged courage! * * * * * ¶ why did bismarck vote against every new privilege? this may not be decently answered in a word; you must read on in detail; there was a great principle behind bismarck's political attitude. true, it was crudely conceived and expressed, at this period; but he will improve with time. ¶ bismarck well remembered the excesses of german jacobins, in the southwest, during the turbulent years of the french revolution. alsace and lorraine had welcomed massacres as signs of political equality; mob leaders destroyed castles and monasteries; jew-baiters went mad; schneider, the tyrant of strassburg, took charge of the guillotine, but not making enough blood flow, was soon aided by professional executioners, straight from paris. ¶ there was also the lunatic "feast of reason." stark-mad germans paraded with marat's statue, attacked churches, wrecked altars, heaped up images of saints, crosses, pews, pulpits, and priests' garments, touched the match, and danced around the fire;--while schneider harangued the mob on the joys of reason, as against revealed religion; solemnly assuring his thousands of listeners that christianity was now a thing of the past. ¶ thus the mad war of liberty burst forth, accompanied by many extraordinary episodes. nor were the followers confined exclusively to the rabble; we find many noted teachers, scholars and politicians endorsing the french guillotine as a remedy for all political ills--men like blau, wedekind, hoffmann, foster, stamm, dorsch, not overlooking the spectacular john mueller, who in the cause of the people committed unheard-of follies with his pen, as a necessary support for the sword. ¶ there was also a stark-mad leader named cloots, who usually signed his bulletins "cloots, personal enemy of jesus of nazareth." his object was the union of all mankind, literally speaking; no halfway measures for him, no long delays; he wanted his political salvation here and now. ¶ so inflamed were the people that the discharge of a tailor's apprentice, in breslau, precipitated a riot and the artillery was brought into play. ¶ in saxony, , peasants demanded a democratic constitution; but the authorities replied by sending the messenger to a mad-house. ¶ thus, in various directions, the crack-brained revolutionists played their parts; nor should history overlook the contribution of the learned dr. faust, of buckelburg, whose profound treatise, "origin of trousers," was read in paris as a sort of historical endorsement of the great democratic party that gloried in the equality, not to say liberty, exhibited by casting trousers aside. * * * * * ¶ now what do you think? this king's man, sprung up of a sudden, coming from his fox-hunting and his cow-sheds, hits right and left at the jews! yes, as against his "beloved christians." here is a new note indeed--old yet new. we had not supposed jew-baiting a thing of the past; but in these tempestuous times it did seem that race-prejudice had no place in a plain attempt to keep a king's crown. ¶ "i will pass," bismarck thundered, "to the question itself. i am no enemy of jews, and if they are enemies to me, i will forgive them. under certain circumstances, i even love them. i would grant them every right--save that of holding superior office posts in a christian country. ¶ "i admit i am full of prejudices, sucked in with my mother's milk. if i think of a jew, face to face with me as a representative of the king's sacred majesty, and have to obey him, i must confess that i should feel myself deeply broken and depressed. the sincere self-respect with which i now attempt to fulfil my duties toward the state would leave me! i share these feelings with the mass of large strata of people, and i am not ashamed of their society." * * * * * ¶ thus, now at this supreme moment, when with voice of brass our bismarck is making his entry into the world of affairs with his sharp words on christians and jews, and more especially with his uncompromising conception that kings are indeed the personal representatives of god on this earth, we do see that bismarck stems from a fighting race. all his years, this bismarck was a frightful hater. ¶ with the sorry figure of the world-oppressed jew in our eyes and the malignancy of this new jew-baiter, it is well that at the very outset this be made clear: that whatever bismarck was or was not, at least he was no hypocrite. his words always fall like the wrath of god. it is a solemn fact that he changed his point of view many, many times--even as you and i--but there is always the ring of sincerity about it that even the acid test of long time is unable to dissolve. * * * * * ¶ it was this tremendous earnestness--this sincerity--that made bismarck feared, hated and despised. against your will, you are forced to believe what this giant says, no matter how mocking, how insolent, how absurd his charges! some tell us that bismarck's ancestry stems from bohemia, others trace the bismarcks to russia, still others assert jewish origin. this much is a fact: from a geographical point, the family name comes from the little river biese, near stendal. ¶ bismarck's passion and prejudice against jews was proverbial. it did indeed often turn him, for the time being, into a mad dog! near the close of life, in retirement at friedrichsruh, some candid friend desecrated the great man's retirement by sending him a copy of a book by an anonymous writer, "bismarck, the jew." ordinarily, bismarck paid no attention to social lampoons, but on this day as he read the book aloud to guests, his anger became black and terrifying! ¶ "i am determined to have the law on the audacious writer!" bismarck's guests saw the old man in one of his moods of frightful rage. but next day something intervened--and bismarck never brought suit for damages. * * * * * ¶ here is one thing that you must never forget in studying great men: that it is possible, nay inevitable, for a man to be at once very great and very small. at the very beginning of his career, we find bismarck ringing the solemn changes on "christian," and we behold him in a characteristically unamiable mood over "jews." yet all the time he was endeavoring to lay down the dogma that the proper aim of the state is the realization of the christian ideal! ¶ if now you can understand this mental contradiction, you are in a position to grasp one of the strange paradoxes with which bismarck's life is literally filled. you see here, at once, why he has been so often accused of double-dealing, of stacking the cards, of changing his mind, of going ahead by going backwards, winning ultimately by fair means or by foul. * * * * * ¶ and now for the sequel. many years later, bismarck was exceedingly glad to be guided by the advice of jews, more especially the jewish banker bleichroder. on one side of the table sits bismarck, the pomeranian junker, and on the other side the sallow-faced, undersized jew, bleichroder. great friends they are today, to be sure; and between them is a mound of treasury reports, telling in minute detail the financial resources of louis the little, now a helpless prisoner of war. france is at the prussian's mercy, and a jew is called in--a despised jew! bleichroder and bismarck coolly examined the balance sheets of france, the present state of her debts. the money cost turns out to be the stupendous sum of five thousand millions of francs. * * * * * ¶ literary and journalistic france, in book, editorial and oration made a great outcry at the moment, declaring dramatically that prussian barbarians had decided "to bleed france white"--attributing to bismarck a figure of speech borrowed from the butcher's block! well and good, but france paid the indemnity in surprisingly short time; and had many millions left to go on her way rejoicing, had it not been for the miserable obsession, "ravanche!" that kept her in hot water for years. ¶ bismarck was correctly quoted in this respect: that gold is as necessary in war as gunpowder; and the best way to keep a quarrelsome would-be napoleon out of war is to empty his pockets. ¶ the jewish feature, however, shows bismarck, through and through; and we could not present him without this surprising scene. make the most of it. * * * * * ¶ "i do not much like the piety that proclaims itself," said louis xiii. a similar remark may be made concerning bismarck's life-long belief that the lord was on bismarck's side--jew-baiter and all. ¶ "the longer i work in politics," he once remarked, summing up his many political difficulties, "the smaller my belief in human calculation. i look at the affair according to my human understanding, but gratitude for god's assistance so far raises in me the confidence that the lord is able to turn our errors to our own good; that i experience daily, to my wholesale humiliation." chapter viii bismarck suffers a great shock wherein it is shown that bismarck's protest against disrespect for constituted authority was based on certain tragic historical instances he would not repeat. ¶ it is freely granted that ideas of "liberty!" that many german patriots desired to see come to pass, in , were not those of ; but elements of lawlessness, of mob-rule, of marchings to "ca ira!" of absurd glorification of the common man, and of snarlings at kings as kings, were largely in the spirit laid down by robespierre, danton, marat and that crew, with their chosen gangsters of the guillotine. bismarck would have none of it! true, many of the old-line excesses were no longer used for political purposes, but bismarck was too well-balanced, had too much common sense, in short was too strongly aligned with landed interests to endorse "popular" government on the old type from over the vosges. his protests were all in support of authority, discipline, duty, devotion to a deliberately chosen monarch, who ruled by the will of god. ¶ in ' the talk of the "rights of man" really meant the rights of individual men--the tailor, the barber, the shoemaker--each of whom felt that the time had now come to overturn the political system of kings and to bring on the rule of the common people. old-line hatred of napoleon had passed away. the french military despot of the early part of the century was now figured as a "great democrat," whose wars had "all" been in the interest of the people. could anything have been more absurd? the literary speculations of rousseau, as to the status of a new society (such, for example, as running naked in the grove and rolling on the grass) were now replaced by loud discussions not on the rights of man, as a form of idealism, but the rights of all manner of men, each of whom felt that, under the new dispensation, hastened if necessary by bomb, dagger and poison-cup, the human race was to rise to nobler political ideals. it is not difficult to see that political theories of this sort have been indulged, in one way or other, by every generation in revolt against the settled ways of the fathers. ¶ let us, therefore, go back to original sources and see for ourselves just what account the common people had given of themselves, in a political way, in france at the time of her so-called political millennium. we shall then be able to grasp bismarck's position clearly and be able at least to understand, if we do not support, his attitude of uncompromising severity toward popular rule, as understood at this moment in the political evolution of germany. * * * * * ¶ if it be a mark of progress to call god a superstitious idol and to endeavor by the guillotine to enforce political rights, then the precious french key to the door of destiny for this human race should be duplicated and placed in the possession of nations, far and wide, as the final expression of man's best idea of himself, his wife, his child and his country. this - return to national paganism, both political and social, is the mockery that bismarck decided with all his almighty strength, nay his supreme rage, to set aside; and for him prussian militarism, which he so jealously set his heart on, against the rising tides of french constitutionalism, otherwise mob-rule, was at once to prove the sharp cure and the dreadful counter-blow. * * * * * ¶ it was only after st. helena that the napoleonic legend, presenting napoleon as the great democrat, was brought forward, to wit, that the emperor's many brutal campaigns were in the interest of the "common people" instead of gratification of his obsession for wars. the transition came about in a simple way. the emperor was dead and gone; his fate on a distant black rock added romantic interest to his lost cause; and the return of the old-line french kings after waterloo, under the bayonets of britain and the allies, had proved a keen disappointment, politically, to france. it is conceded that napoleon had promised and in many cases had applied liberal principles in his conquered domains; but now that the man was dead, agitators of many lands, including the distracted german states, began to take literally what the emperor had said in a sort of huge politico-military satire, to wit, that his blood-letting was truly in the interest of the masses. * * * * * ¶ hence, between and , agitators of germany began ringing the changes on the glories of the french revolution. true, the emperor had been dead some -odd years; a new generation found surprising merits in his military plans, forgetful of the lure of loot that had been the foundation of it all; yes, for one thing the hungry desire of the landless for the lands of the catholic church. ¶ the exaggerated fact has been falsely set forth again and again that the french peasant of was down in the very mire of political despond, without a sou to his name; the cock called him to work at dawn, and all for the good of the aristocrats; he was penniless, he was an absurd figure, he was not a man but a beast;--hence his righteous revolt in the sacred name of liberty. ¶ the fact is that at this time the french peasant was in no worse condition than the working classes of other lands, including britain, italy and germany. that the revolution first broke out in france and not in the other countries named is to be traced to journalistic and oratorical agitators of the ward-politician type. ¶ the special taxes of which the peasantry complained did not exceed two per cent of the products of the soil; and it is also a fact that france had a large and profitable foreign trade; but french political and journalistic agitators were afield, and the plain truth is that the landless desired to confiscate, and did confiscate, the titles of those in possession. no sooner was the gigantic confiscation of catholic church lands, amounting to about one-third of the soil of france, or two billion five hundred million of francs in nominal value, ordered by mirabeau, backed up by the revolutionary tribunals, than the supposedly impecunious french peasants came forward and purchased to the extent of millions of francs; and it is a fact today ( ) that one of the secret dreads of the french peasantry is that some sensational political change may come in the stability of the french government, a change that will forfeit these old land titles, based on confiscation in revolutionary days. ¶ the french peasantry wants no great national military hero to emerge from the war of ; and it is not unthinkable that should a very strong french general suddenly come forward, he would be removed by assassination; a thing that has happened at least once before, in latter-day french politics. this confession of politico-social fears on the part of the french peasantry explains why in france, take them as a group, the candidates invested with the honors of the presidency are timid men, without ambitious political bias, and why, on the whole, the modern french national instinct lives in dread of a military hero, who with a turn of his wrist might on the vote of his soldiers declare himself, let us say, emperor. * * * * * ¶ loaded down with debts incurred for various reasons, the french of were on the verge of national bankruptcy. this condition has usually been charged up against the excesses of the french kings, such, for example, as expending some , , francs for pleasure-palaces, for the pretty women around louis xiv; but this charge will not bear the light of modern research. it is also a fact, on the practical side, that the much-boasted support given to america by the french in america's revolutionary war, in a degree helped to bankrupt the french government; but americans have forgotten or wink at this plain financial obligation. ¶ also, the french revolution had promised in its every utterance the dawn of the political millennium, whereas instead it brought an era of blood, idol-worship and free-love. we are not discussing here those poetical french surveys of the rights of man. every ward-politician in paris had the list at his tongue's end. there was some truth, much truth, in many of these expressions, no doubt, as mere expressions of humane sentiments. that, however, is another story. * * * * * ¶ one has but to read the memoirs of president bailly of the revolutionary assembly to find that mob-rule predominated from the first day of the supposed "dawn of the political millennium." the mob in the gallery hissed or applauded each speech, and deputies were intimidated. ¶ bismarck in his united germany wanted no jacobin clubs, largely composed of ward-politicians, and bismarck wanted no marat with his vile newspaper, "friend of the people," setting class against class. ¶ he wanted no guillotine as the german symbol of political liberty. this political method of the guillotine was at best only a cowardly form of assassination, ineffectual, barbarous. first one side used it, then the other; then still another group; each set of french political assassins prating of liberty had recourse to the guillotine to be well rid of rivals much as in cæsar's time the women of cæsar's family, that their own might be exalted, in turn proceeded to poison prospective collateral heirs to the imperial throne. * * * * * ¶ bismarck knew all about this dirty french mess, parading itself as the "voice of the people." he was a strong man himself and he was guilty of gross ambitions in his rise to power, but on the whole bismarck stood for self-possession and for manly audacity, certainly not the french revolution type of audacity. it is a fact that bismarck, as a human being, was a vast egotist, and had his own, ofttimes unscrupulous, way of gaining his ends, but his conception of militarism, the force he did eventually use, was at bottom a virtuous effort to support, liberate and unify the fatherland, not drag it into the mire of idolatry and bestiality. * * * * * ¶ we shall frequently say harsh things about bismarck, in this book; we do not wish to follow french methods and endeavor to make an impossible hero of a man of clay. bismarck, as a man and in the methods of his rise to great glory, had his gross faults, and we fearlessly point them out. ¶ but here are some of the facts that bismarck can never stand accused of, in the light of this much-boasted french political "millennium" of - , and here, likewise we find the real reasons why he did struggle with all his might against a reluctant people to enforce militarism throughout the jealous clashing german states; and if bismarck's exercise of the strong hand, in the bosom of the german family was a fault, then at least it did not include these french conditions, set up to cause the world to gasp in admiration. ¶ the bull-necked danton, the parisian ward-heeler, in control of public opinion, came on with his guillotine; and closed the city's gates against any man that had a dollar to pay his debts or buy a dinner. ¶ the so-called "will of the people" was in short a spurious affair, unnaturally created by a political morphine that gave glorious dreams; and this wretched drug was supplied by the mob-leaders. all the blood-letting was represented as a harmless affair, tending toward liberty and equality; all the confiscations of church-lands and redistribution among the peasants was declared a "great" political triumph. throughout even the loneliest country districts the word was passed that the political millennium was about to break. ¶ the king was represented as a "monster fattening on crime." his wife was called an austrian "panthress," and vile pamphlets were secretly passed around reflecting on her character. god was represented as judging the king, and the guillotine was awaiting louis, by heaven's decree. ¶ the , priests who refused to take the oath of allegiance to the monstrous political farce were visited with all manner of persecutions; one section of revolutionary opinion decreed that death was the just due of all offending pastors. ¶ the assertion of kept-historians that there was "political justification" is at once spurious and an insult to common sense. ¶ in justice to the better french element it is granted freely that the dreadful september massacres did not express the real beliefs of the great decent body of the french people; but the nation was dragged through the mire and the nation has for years been endeavoring to explain this political millennium of riots, murders, midnight assassinations, despoilings of land titles. * * * * * ¶ bismarck would have drained the poison cup rather than stand for such french constitutional nonsense in his beloved germany, the germany of his dreams, the germany for which he labored so many years, the germany which he would save from itself, so to speak. he purposed to build up german political opinion, not through blatherskite ward-heelers, in berlin, frankfort or hamburg, but by a manly appeal to german common sense and german sense of respect for authority; and if bismarck overworked his idea of divine-right of kings, then at least this may be said: that he issued no appeal to the german people "who laughs on friday, weeps on sunday!" (the massacres had come between!) and as to danton, who glories in being the immediate instigator of the massacres we have these, danton's own words: "it was i who caused them. rivers of blood had to flow between me and our enemies!" finally, after these rivers of blood, the word was passed, "that the entire nation will hasten to adopt this (guillotine) most-necessary means of public salvation." viewing at closer range the work of the legislators of the great republic of liberty and equality; these facts bismarck well knew, explaining his belief in militarism. ¶ after reading five hundred pamphlets on the revolution (as she testified at her trial) charlotte corday struck down marat with a dagger; and her act has been generally condoned by men with a sense of fair-play. it was indeed a bloody murder; but when a mad-dog is running wild, a beast fattening on human blood, one passion feeds on another--and corday is no exception. (henderson, symbol and satire of the french revolution). heroine or monster, take your choice; at least in her time such was the frenzy of the alleged political millennium that marat was soon worshipped as a martyr. this atrocious political quack, with all his daggers and his blackjacks, was likened to jesus christ; and among the sentiments of the hour we read, "a perfidious hand has snatched him away from his beloved people"; "to the immortal glory of marat, the people's friend"; "unable to corrupt me, they have assassinated me!" "marat, rare and sublime soul, we will imitate thee; we swear it on thy bloody corpse." such are some of the expressions of liberty, equality and fraternity that followers of french constitutionalism had years later decreed to re-enact in germany; but bismarck stood as a master with a rod of iron to lay over the backs of fanatical german radicals, who would come on with their drunken calls of "liberty!" * * * * * ¶ all this, however, is only the mild opening chapter of this much glorified french constitutionalism. the french prisons soon held about all there was of french intelligence and moderation; the brains, the blood and the beauty. it is not necessary to mention names. if you wish to become hysterical, read your fill of this drunken era of french constitutionalism. at the height of the terror, there were , political prisoners in french dungeons; and the mobs still came on with their cries for fresh blood. one day, this expression was made: "the town of lyons shall be destroyed; the name lyons shall be effaced," etc. all this meant that lyons, weary of blood, had decided on raising an army to beat back the sons of spurious liberty. * * * * * ¶ any man who, in the terror, dared disagree with the mob-rulers was called a "conspirator." in a letter from herbois, we find this plain evidence of political lunacy masquerading as inspiration: "there are , individuals here who will never make good republicans; we must have them sent away. i have new measures in mind, weighty and effectual,* * * heads, more heads, heads every day! * * * how you would have enjoyed seeing national justice meted out to two hundred and nine rogues. what cement for the republic! i say fete, yes, citizen president, fete is the right word. the guillotining and fusillading are not going badly!" * * * * * ¶ the queen, now in her dungeon, was treated with wretched dishonor. even the petty expenses of bread and salt were begrudged: francs a day for food; three francs and sous for trimming a skirt, sous for a ribbon and shoe-strings; three francs for a tooth wash;--all this was kept track of. yet in years gone by france had allowed her four million francs of pin money, and the royal allowance was twenty-five millions of francs per annum. ¶ "through a small window in her cell comes the light of day. * * * she is accused of being a leech, a scourge, a harpy and a free-lover; she is condemned to death." * * * * * ¶ the political assassins, known as the mountain, and that known as the girondists, now began destroying each other; every patriotic action of the girondists was set forth as having been instigated by love of vulgar applause. after some days, the jacobin club petitioned for freer trials, less hindered by legal formalities. ¶ "long live the republic!" was the cry. "perish all traitors!" executions continued, day by day. ¶ the poor king was long since dead and gone, yet his memory was detested. on a certain day of horrors, the tombs of his ancestors were broken open by the mob, and the bones scattered. one corpse (or what remained of it) was stood up against a wall and the beard hacked off by a patriot of the new regime. * * * * * ¶ all authority was now overthrown; and as one writer adds, "the most daring enterprise of the revolution remains to be chronicled: the storming of heaven!" (henderson.) ¶ the leaders decided next to attack god on his throne; god was officially declared a superstitious myth. the altars of france were hurled over; the christian era was abolished by political decree; the sabbath day was officially proclaimed done away with; christ was to be henceforth banished, officially; churches closed, pagan rites substituted. * * * * * ¶ bismarck, the thinker, bismarck, the builder, with his dream of political responsibility, of vested authority, stood for no such facts in his protests against the rising tide of radicalism, in the german states. he knew his history too well; he knew the satire of the french revolution, the folly of meeting it in any way except by the sword. ¶ yes, bismarck believed strongly in what has since been called militarism; but his idea was that power was needed for the liberation and the unification of his country; and he hated french constitutionalism and fought by fair means and by foul all efforts to warp upon germans the political ideals of the french revolution. so you must here and now make up your mind whether or not bismarck was a great statesman or a great fool. * * * * * ¶ the french convention, weary of blood-letting, began maundering in the psychology of religion. it was officially set forth by one of the deputies that, after all, the idea was to invent some new form of religion, without which the proposed political millennium had fallen short. marat was turned to, that choice spirit of the height of the era; though in his tomb, he was called upon in this strange language, despite his bringing in the terror: ¶ "o, heart of jesus, o heart of marat, you have an equal right to our homage!" ¶ a new era was now decreed, taken in the main from the paganism of early france. the four seasons were symbolized by the hunt of the man for his mate: he is afield in autumn, on horseback; in winter, he first finds his new mate; in the spring, the maid watches her sheep feeding on the hills; and in summertime, the man is seen leading his mate to a couch, his arms already around her waist. ¶ one of the leading symbols was reason, presented as a lady petting a lion; saints' days were replaced by days for animals, one for the cat, the dog, the sheep, and what you will; but no longer st. john's, st. james, st. louis. certain other days, dedicated to the "spirit of the revolution," were termed "sans culotte," or without trousers, to wit, the french version of that great idol of the american yellow editor, who cries for justice in behalf of the man with the seat out of his trousers. ¶ on a certain day, the cathedral of notre dame was used as a background for the great french political drama; a mountain was erected, a figure known as truth was present. the goddess reason was also carried to the tuileries; and later as a report written at the time says, "the president of the convention gave the goddess a fraternal kiss, whereupon his secretaries asked and obtained a similar privilege." ¶ at rochefort the orator of the hour began, "citizens, there is no future life!" ¶ the images of saints were replaced by men of the stripe of marat, brutus and other tyrants. ¶also, an ass was dressed in pontifical robes at a sort of national fete, and a few days later at a public masquerade, the president replying to praises of the new era explained himself as follows: "in one single instant you make vanish into nothingness the errors of eighteen centuries"; by which he meant to honor the paganism of the new french political millennium. * * * * * ¶ now comes that dangerous man, king of political charlatans, robespierre, who offers a private religion of his own. ¶ the queer thing about this robespierre, the new dictator, is his belief that he and he alone is the fountain of all political virtues. one must be willing to sacrifice brothers, mother, sister, father to the guillotine--for the good of one's country. the robespierre idea is that the supreme duty of a nation is to repress "crime," as well as to uphold "virtue" and "crime" consists largely in not agreeing with the great central authority. he has had many followers since that day. ¶ robespierre was really a great man gone wrong; he had in many respects a brilliant mind; he was a profound orator; a born leader; but he was unsound at the core, like a rotten apple; taught bloodshed and violence, as expressions of national honor. ¶ in one picture of the hour, he is represented as the sun, rising over the mountain, and giving light to the universe. * * * * * ¶ the day dawns when robespierre has his old friend and rival danton on the scaffold. this was to be expected. then followed many executions of dantonists. ¶ robespierre now came on with his "new" religion; he boldly announced a supreme being and belief in immortality! ¶ he applied the torch to the wooden images set up by his political predecessors. he made a speech that is unintelligible, all wind, sound and bombast, but was cheered to the echo. * * * * * ¶ are you not growing weary of all these absurdities? perhaps you think the details taken from the records of bloomingdale asylum? no; french constitutionalism of - , the sort that the radicals of germany had in mind, (with some variations), and often extolled in fiery speeches of the german liberal party that bismarck decided to crush down, with a rod of iron. true, the old offensive historical details were kept out of sight and were not fresh in men's minds;--except reading men and thinking men, like bismarck; men bold enough to stand out against mob-violence, called by whatever soft name you please. ¶ a french cartoon of the robespierre regime made at the time by an admirer shows the earth around the guillotine heaped with heads, and at last the over-weary executioner, failing to find further victims, decides to execute himself! he is therefore seen lying under the axe, his head rolling on the floor. ¶ robespierre in the end went the way of all the other political fanatics; the day came when he was spat upon, struck, beaten by mobs, pricked with knives. according to his own theory, he needed no trial (said his new rivals and enemies in their lust for power), for he has by his acts shown himself to be an enemy of his country. they carried him down the great staircase; he fought back savagely, like the frightful animal that he was. ¶ eighty-two of his followers died that day, on the guillotine. ¶ "long live the republic! long live liberty!" was the loud cry of the rabble. * * * * * ¶ such is some of the work of the great legislators of the republic of equality as set forth by the various authors of the new french "political millennium," during those terrible years - ; we have seen their ideas on a grand scale; and it is for you to judge whether in setting himself squarely in favor of discipline and respect for constituted authority, as exemplified by the line of prussian kings, and the prussian system of education, bismarck was to show himself a man or a mouse. ¶ bismarck, who was a deep reader on politics, knew well the frightful excesses of french mob-rule. he may also have recognized certain general excellent principles, but he would have nothing to do with the fungous growth. and as we follow his career, we see the virtue in his strong reliance on militarism, as an arm to keep in check the turbulent german masses, also, later, this same militarism to be used to do battle for the german empire. * * * * * ¶ for many years, all manner of rosy democratic plans had been voiced by the liberals. the thing had been done to death. every manner of political utopia had been planned by theorists, but bismarck met them all with his ironical speeches, and bided his time. ¶ bismarck's idea was that the only hope for german unity came through accepting the king of prussia as ordained of heaven. in his arguments, he ignored the masses, the villagers, the workers, the busy-bees, the regard for individual rights. his whole programme seemed to the masses to be anti-christ in conception, that is to say, it harked back to political paganism. ¶ it is very difficult for an american to comprehend this prussian conception of divine-right, as a political principle--but it should not be difficult from the point of human experience. bismarck had no illusions concerning the power of the average man, and he held that the phrase "the people" was used by every political quack in europe for any one of a thousand selfish motives. bismarck had absolutely no faith in the power of the average man to govern himself--much less to govern others!--or faith in the average man doing anything above the average, outside his own small trade or craft. * * * * * ¶ americans are accustomed to make much of an alleged saying of lincoln: "no man is good enough to govern another without that man's consent." it is all a beautiful dream, false in theory and false in fact, belied by every record since the lord drove adam and eve out of the garden of eden. beginning with that stupendous episode, certain it is that this act of government was not carried out with, but against the will of the ruled; and the point at issue was not the supreme goodness of the ruler, but the power to station an angel with a flaming sword at the gates, toward which adam ever after looked backward with longing eyes--but looked in vain! ¶ in the innumerable dynasties of babylon, nineveh, egypt, greece, arabia, armenia, what man ruled who did not force his leadership? it is not in the nature of human beings to accept new ideas without hostile objection. this holds true also in the evolution of governments, for all life is founded on struggle, and the man who would rule must force his leadership or remain unknown. ¶ lincoln is absolutely in error, and his much-quoted words are folly. it is not a question of goodness, or badness, or fitness, on part of the man who has the ambition to rule, but it is very much a question of his courage, his craft or his cunning in compelling others to do his bidding. julius cæsar was not selected to rule, but he selected himself; and so did charlemagne, and bismarck--and so lincoln, himself. ¶ if some concession to the democratic system is sought on the ground that the voice of the people loudly "called" lincoln, then it is to be set up that lincoln on his part was one of the shrewdest political log-rollers this nation has ever seen; and if he did not originate the canvass that busies itself kissing the babies, congratulating the wives and shaking hands with the farmers, then at least lincoln was an apt pupil. it is inconceivable that, without his own high ambition, his long and painstaking endeavors to trim sail to every favoring gale (for example his shifting positions on the slavery question), he would have been nominated for president of these united states. * * * * * ¶ it is an amiable conceit of human nature, looking backward, to profess to see what it blindly ignored, looking forward; and go to any penitentiary in america, ask the convicts, and you will find that, according to the stories, there are no guilty men behind the bars; invariably a peculiar complication of circumstances enabled the guilty man to escape, and justice was thereupon avenged by a human sacrifice; likewise in the united states senate or in the house of representatives, ask whom you please, "how came you to hold your seat?" and you will find no ambitious man. some were forced to stand against their protests; others were away traveling when word was received, by telegraph, "you have been elected!" still others appealed to the nominating committee, "for the love of god desist!"--but in vain. thus, without raising a finger to direct the movement of events, our leaders were selected by an omnipotent democracy to occupy the seats of the mighty. ¶ truly, no man is good enough to rule another without that other man's consent! recast in terms of human experience, it would mean that we would go unruled; for no man yet has willingly selected his ruler, but has had dominion over him thrust upon him--even as bismarck expressed his right to rule, backed by blood and iron. such is human nature since the world began; otherwise why was christ, the gentlest ruler of all time, brought to the tree; socrates forced to drink the hemlock by the very wise justice of his day; and columbus called a madman because he wished to rule men's minds with a new truth, showing clearly that the world is not square or flat, but round like a ball? ¶ bismarck had the real clue--and forced his purpose through the power of his commanding personality. in spite of the dyke-captain's denunciation of french constitutionalism, king fr: wm. iv marches with the democrats! ¶ the uprising of ' was primarily a students' demonstration; the hot-bloods of the universities, aided by various political enthusiasts, were intent on doing something--and doing it right away. there had been a preliminary meeting at heidelberg, and this led to the frankfort convention; disputatious delegates were going to build a liberal german constitution--at last! ¶ thus, between and german unity had been stimulated by a dozen causes, religious, commercial, literary, social--but the political lagged, for the fact is that about the last thing a man learns is to govern himself. there was a rising sense of national faith, as predicted by arndt, the poet of german brotherhood; also the call of blood, based on language; likewise a deep yearning, as yet unsatisfied, for a constitutional form of government, as against the warring, insolent states. ¶ by there were constitutions in of the states; many of these documents illiberal to be sure; but nevertheless a step in representative government. ¶ but the germans are a peculiar people. they wish to refer everything to ultimate philosophical causes; hence the fruitless debates of the frankfort convention, in which all manner of prospective constitutions were tried by the formal rules of philosophy and ethics. such questions as "what is a federal state?" were angrily debated, and the changes rung on "federation of states." * * * * * ¶ after worlds of talking, unseen hands decided to offer to some powerful prince the german crown. how is that for democrats? william iv was the man selected. ¶ prodded by bismarck, who was always explosive and satirical about democratic crowns, william spunkily refused to "pick a crown out of the gutter!" his dignity, as a hohenzollern was offended; but bismarck was playing for larger stakes. william now went about canvassing the german princes for a crown; twenty-eight replied, one way or another; others, sticking to selfish interests, made no acknowledgment. ¶ now bismarck, bellowing like a mastiff, set up the cry that if william accepted that democratic crown out of the frankfort gutter, prussia would become involved in civil war. and it was a fact! the old-line prussian military aristocracy wanted no "democratic gold, from the gutter, melted down with their old aristocratic gold of frederick the great"--and as a matter of fact, could you blame them? were you there, at the time, and of the land-holding privileged class, you too would have been up in arms. ¶ get this straight: william's idea of "united germany" simply meant that there should be a united germany compounded of the thirty-nine clashing states, provided william's beloved prussia and not the detested austria could front the movement. ¶ despite all the noble souls who write poetry on brotherhood (and germany has her patriots, god knows!), the irony of fate is such that all human alignments of a political nature must at some stage be spattered with mud. ¶ you see, henceforth for a quarter of a century, the realization of this much-prized but elusive and seemingly impossible unity was to become more and more a game of politics in which the stakes were kingdoms, principalities, riches and honors unnumbered. in all card-games the result is not known till the last card is played; and in the present case the game was to be protracted twenty-four years. chips were flung about in huge stacks, now piled on the austrian side, now on the prussian; and finally, it was to break up in a fight, in which prussia had to tip over the table, violently seize the spoils, batter heads right and left, and beat off rival players with needle-guns. ¶ come, come, there is no need of claiming too much for human nature. the grand prize was to be gained, ultimately, by seizure! even the sober, common-sense william i, to whom it finally fell to be crowned german emperor, saw the true situation early, after the church-building william iv had been gathered to his fathers. you will hear more of that as we go along. when all intriguing, all card-stacking, all smiling, all smooth speeches no longer serve to conceal the real end of this amazing game of international politics, as between prussia and austria, then the thing to do is to bring on "blood and iron." the very human end that bismarck always had in mind was german liberation and unity, by driving the nation's enemies beyond the borders. ¶ the best title to lands, the surest, the most incontrovertible--let purists and pietists rage as they may--is the sharp edge of the sword. we shall see all that more clearly as the bloody years go by. * * * * * ¶ in the critical year ' , democratic mobs chased that old aristocrat and king-maker metternich out of vienna. hungary, bohemia and other intervening principalities went mad with excitement about "liberty!" south germany was in a turmoil. william iv had again practically promised a constitution, and had ordered the troops from berlin; he placed a sign on his castle "national property." at this time the king let slip these fateful words, "prussia is to be dissolved in germany!" bismarck, pained beyond expression, sent a letter to the king, full of expressions of loyalty. the king kept the letter on his desk all summer. ¶ the giant continued to protest. he now first used a subsidized press, called well-known men to write for the "north prussian gazette." for all this, he was dubbed "junker," "hot head," "reactionary," but he thundered away like a battleship in action. * * * * * ¶ the king was in the hands of the liberals. bismarck regarded this as a frightful situation. bismarck, of the old regime, stood by the landlords and the titled folk. he had prodigious pride of station, hated to see the king make a fool of himself about paper constitutions. ¶ in berlin, along in march, there were amazing scenes. the democrats were crazy for blood; william shrank with horror against fighting his beloved berliners. but this son, the future william i, who twenty-four years later was to gain the imperial german crown, was not so squeamish. the young prince gained the popular title "cartridge-box prince," equivalent to saying that he was willing to blaze away at "beloved berliners," or at any other citizens insane with political excitements hazardous to "divine-right." ¶ it is true that on march th this romantic william iv did indeed enter into negotiations with the insurgents; and--think of the mortification to one of bismarck's upper-class leanings!--did indeed do no less than wrap the german tricolor around his body and heading a democratic procession march around the streets, even going so far as to make a foolish speech in which he extolled the glories of the german democratic revolution. ¶ here we might as well close the book, were it not for bismarck. the surly dog of a king's man flatly refused to vote "aye!" in the diet, where the hot-heads were intent on passing resolutions "commending the king for his loyalty to democratic principles," in marching 'round town with the mob. bismarck for the time being stood like a great mastiff at bay before wolves. his terrific speech upholding royal prerogative made his early and sudden fame. * * * * * ¶ it is a fact that with all their political ambitions, and their solemn belief that germany's political future was an open book, the radicals in prussia never guessed the way events were to turn out; nor for that matter the radicals never desired the conquest of germany by prussia; therefore the subsequent astonishing rise of german imperialism through prussian domination, would have proved a most surprising revelation had the patriots of to returned from the other world, say in , to view prussia's rise to glory. * * * * * ¶ the political uprisings of had parallels in italy, france, spain, and germany; and the excesses cleared the way for wiser action, in years to come. ¶ "the frenzy was a sort of tottering bridge between the french - idea of democracy (that has to do with bloodshed and violence) and the purified conception expressed in modern constitutional democracy." ¶ the german democratic uprisings of , ' and ' were planned to win a certain type of civil liberty. they failed. the question was "equality," as well as popular "machinery" of representation. how was it to be brought about? modern "parliamentarism" had not as yet been involved. ¶ the patriots of ' had their jacobin clubs in mild imitation of the french revolution. baden alone had , with a membership of , . "every tavern and brewery, (dahlinger, german revolution of ' , p. ), became a seat of democratic propaganda." see, there stands the mighty hecker, a feather in his hat, there stands the friend of the people, yearning for the tyrants' blood; big boots with thick soles, sword and pistol by his side. ¶ copied from french models was the word "citizen." we hear of citizen brentano, citizen franz sigel, citizen ostenhaus, citizen schimmelpfennig; some of these leaders were extremely radical; but brentano endeavored to keep the revolution from becoming a record of lawlessness after the french revolution type. (dahlinger, p. ). we cannot go into the various battles fought and lost. many of the leaders were exiled, others shot. the patriots were as a rule young collegians, ambitious to rise in life, but sincerely holding to modified conceptions of french constitutionalism. there were a large number of journalists in the thick of the struggle, also professors in high schools. these chosen leaders, by various oratorical tricks, drew political and social malcontents from every walk of life. ¶ in the end, prussian troops put down the patriots. * * * * * ¶ in ' , all kings were under suspicion; it made no difference whether the king was a good king or a bad king; a king was a king, and all kings were bad. the younger generation, especially became morbid over the word "liberty!" what it really meant, in ' , was that human nature should restrain itself, in order that all men might, immediately, enter into so-called god-given political rights. the situation was somewhat analogous to that created after the civil war, in the united states. certain political fanatics, weeping over the negroes, now demanded universal suffrage, literally, for the slaves, and in secret saw that by controlling the south, a "black republic" might be set up, side by side with our "white republic." ¶ fraternity and equality--that was the cry in ' --glossed over by politico-religious glamour, expressed in the idea that men "ought" do thus and so, and therefore "a people's king" was in order. the people were to crown themselves. for a thousand years the accepted political doctrine had been that kings held office by divine-right, but now orators of the day harangued mobs proclaiming the literal belief that the voice of the people is the voice of god. while, thus, the new apostles ridiculed the old idea of divine-right, as attached to the acts of monarch, leaders of the people saw no inconsistency in asserting attributes of political divinity in the doings of the common people. thus, a species of nebulous politico-religious humanism was pictured as the highest expression of political philosophy. the individual wished to come into his own and the quicker the better. reformers shocked landed proprietors, titled folk and office-holders under kings, by demanding unconditional surrender of the machinery of government; zealots urged revolts against all manner of constituted authority. the point was to gain for the barber, the tailor, the shoemaker and the blacksmith more life, more political experience, more freedom of choice--and right on the next tick of the clock! ¶ there is this about it: that the frankfort convention offered to william iv the "people's crown" as a direct symbol of belief in political idealism, not necessarily, however, the political idealism that tolerates a king but instead uses him as a popular signboard. the convention held that german unity "ought by right" to be established; therefore "once the grand idea was set afloat" the cause "must by moral right come to pass." ¶ probably never before in the world was there formulated an outright, widespread expression of greater political idealism by men who called themselves patriots. there is a noble side to the sentiment, heightened the more as we realize the inevitable delusion of it all, translated into terms of human selfishness. germany, so the zealots proclaimed, should by blood and language be united; and in this respect orators of the hour were correct. germany had a manifest destiny, the speakers continued, but in this respect they were guided by faith rather than by experience. at least, the momentary end of "manifest destiny" was clearly the political function; to be one and united. ¶ so far good. * * * * * ¶ then why "should not" this noble german idea be "accepted"? the word idea was usually presented with a capital letter, in form of personification, so real had the thing become to german political orators. certainly every german was ready to testify that national unity had been the one political dream of generations past and gone. had not the old wandering minstrels sung of the fatherland, alas, too long delayed by miserable human selfishness! german bull-headedness insisted on insularity, on individualism, on particularism, on standing each petty monarch in his corner, with farce-comedy courtiers bowing and scraping while the rights of the peasant were forgotten. assuredly, the day had come for this folly to cease. then in heaven's name, why not a united germany--here and now? * * * * * ¶ the petty passions of rival princes acted as a bar to the acceptance of the glorious national idea, spelled with the big "i." intense particularisms preferred loyalty to local princes, fashions, customs, dialects rather than to lose the old ways in the larger life of the german nation. ¶ but bismarck did not lose heart. chapter ix so much the worse for zeitgeist we will never get at bismarck through a study of the interplay of politics; suppose we state his case in terms of human nature? ¶ from this time on, the shelves are freighted with volume after volume of german political jargon, forming a bewildering diagonal of forces crossing and recrossing in thousands the tangled threads. bismarck's presence runs throughout, but it is a long and complex story, hard to comprehend and difficult to compress without sacrificing important details. ¶ we find "grand germans" against "petty germans"; grimm, the philologist, has his say against simson, the jurist; arndt, the poet, against welcker, the publicist; the frankfort parliament offering its paper crown to the king of prussia, imploring him to become a democratic liberator and unifier; and on the other hand we hear bismarck in the berlin diet, urging the king to stand firm for the old regime; arks of free-speech from polish insurgents, also ill-advised youth waving banners of blood; mobs in the berlin streets, whiffs of grapeshot here and there to clear the air; john of austria urging something and the prince consort of england advising, post-haste, the kings of prussia, bavaria, saxony and wuertemberg; the assembly manufacturing magna chartas, after noisy clashes of opinion. ¶ "there is not enough practical sense behind all," says bismarck, "to build a political chicken-coop, to say nothing of an empire." then, the patriots, so-called, leave for america, worn out with waiting for some new freedom set down on paper; and of the motley crew, not one is sufficiently wise, or strong enough to make head or tail of the complex situation. barricades are thrown up, artillery plays upon the mobs, and general blood-letting follows; thousands of lives are snuffed out, to be charged up as advance sacrifices for political cohesion. hapsburger against hohenzollern, protestant against catholic, ultramontanes beholding the reign of anti-christ; guelphs and wittelsbachs, protesting their own peculiar and ancient lineage against self-seeking latter-day upstart aristocrats! ¶ and the problem grew darker as the months went by. * * * * * ¶ you may read till you are dizzy and then stand back and try to get a bird's-eye view of the complicated quarrels of the diet; the vagaries of frankfort or berlin; the brawls of this poet, that student, editor, publicist, or princeling; with soldiers of fortune hovering around waiting, like vultures that have already a whiff of the carrion, from afar. instead of a bird's-eye, the incoherent mass of details comes piecemeal, and you get the toad's-eye view;--till we apply the simple idea that behind it all is elemental human nature, with politics as a mere frame to the picture. ¶ look on bismarck at this moment as one dealing with forces of human nature, the clash of many minds, ending by dominating over one and all, years hence, through his own inherent sagacity as a human being against other and weaker members of his kind--and we get at once a significant conception of the greatness of bismarck's mentality, also of his innate craft, enabling him to triumph over a thousand oblique forces, many of them firmly entrenched, and from a logical point fully as defensible as were his own peculiar conceptions. ¶ it was not, after all, what this man or that prince or some other ruler thought, but what bismarck thought, that turned the balance. a hundred instances could be offered to show that the men bismarck was fighting had the better part of the argument, as mere argument; but between opinion and making that opinion stick is a wide gulf--however logical may be the argument. ¶ bismarck was for the ensuing twenty years pictured as a noisy disturber, but he was shrewd, very shrewd. he could call a man "liar," "thief," "scoundrel," "impostor," in virile speechmaking, or could pass him up with a shrug, all the while keeping a cold eye on the main chance, and in the end getting his own way because he was strong enough to get his way--and that is all the logic there is in the situation. this miracle he did indeed perform; he turned back the political clock to feudal days and gloriously set up "divine-right," in the face of the intensely modern cry, "let the people rule!" ¶ bismarck's amazing career affords a classical instance of what a strong man can do, even against the very spirit of his time! so much the worse for that zeitgeist! the jade had to come to him, at last, completely subdued, as in the "taming of the shrew." ¶ as king's man, bismarck now preached "divine-right" in an age of democratic ideas. thrones were falling everywhere; the inflammatory ideas of the french revolution had wrested from monarchs the form, if not the substance, of constitutional liberties for the masses. the people were clamoring for they knew not what; at any rate for some new experiment in the quest for happiness, which they believed could be attained through new forms of government. bismarck fought the new order, and as late as a. d. , restated the seemingly worn-out doctrine of "divine-right." how did he accomplish this political miracle? ¶ a strong leader, by tireless repetition of some idea, finally brings about faith in that idea. it does not follow that this leader must necessarily be wiser than the masses. it is always his will to power, rather than the inherent validity of his ideas. ¶ first, he stands alone with his idea, whatever it may be. finally, one person is convinced? this is the beginning. well, if one, why not two, then ten, then a hundred, or a thousand, or ten thousand? ¶ and so the wonder grows. ¶ at last, our stubborn man with the idea is believed! he now has his long-awaited day to prove the force of his contribution to human welfare. ¶ there is a species of religious glamour over the old man's basic conception of respect for kings. the word king, for bismarck, spells faith in discipline, obedience, loyalty to chosen leader--as against excesses sure to follow in turning over the government to the rabble, according to the idea of the french revolution. there is this condition to be made here: that bismarck undoubtedly leaned as far in one direction as the old-line french revolutionists did in another; bismarck was an extremist no less than danton, marat, robespierre. but there is also this distinction, in bismarck's favor: he was a great constructive statesman and the french agitators turned out to be but assassins and political fools. ¶ we spare no one in this analysis, neither bismarck nor robespierre. therefore, we boldly, here and now, call your attention to a certain strange fallacy in all political ideals. ¶ the people expect some new form, or change of government, to make them happy and free. the machinery of legislation is the thing. it is proclaimed the great leveler. ¶ thus men eagerly try all manner of political enterprises, believing that ultimately in some plan of government, social equality will result. in the light of the anomaly that in spite of our efforts, we persist in reverence for "the good old" days, as against the iniquities of the moment, it is clear that either we deceive ourselves, or are forever wandering about in a fool's paradise. * * * * * ¶ bismarck at least does not justify cynical damnation. he was intensely human, and so was the king of prussia. it is playing with race prejudice to call prussia, after the french fashion, "that robber prussia." ¶ nations act as do men individually, are swayed by forms of pride, passion and prejudice. if every nation that robbed or stole should return its loot of land, to whom would it ultimately go? ¶ the united states would not, at least, now be in possession of california. but for that matter, the spaniards stole her from the indians, and the indians from the aztecs, and the aztecs from we know not whom. always then, history justifies herself with the will to power--as manifested by the strongest! ¶ take it by and large, this miracle he did indeed perform: he turned back the political clock of time to feudal days, and gloriously set up "divine-right," in the face of the intensely modern cry, "let the people rule!" secret chamber in this strange man's heart; the master at work for united germany. ¶ the great bismarck, during his long and turbulent career, as a rule refused to remain loyal to party affiliations. the moment a party-theory no longer seemed expedient, the prussian junker reckoned neither on political friendship nor on political antipathy. his whole life, he was engaged in endeavoring to persuade others to adopt his policies, regardless of the fact that opposed policies might be supported by as much if not even by more logic. bismarck always justified his opportunism by saying that his sense of duty was superior to his private feelings of love or hate; however, his attitude was uniformly directed for or against conditions in proportion as, to his mind, they were charged with good or evil for his beloved prussia. although one of the world's greatest among amiable despots, bismarck always held himself to be at once free from prejudice and under the hand of god. even on this high ground, it would still be easy to show (by many startling episodes in bismarck's career) well-nigh innumerable changes of front that, to the average mind, must pass as inconsistencies. ¶ get clearly in mind, then, this giant's political attitudes of gross contradiction, as between promise and performance--otherwise we will miss the essence of bismarck's genius as a statesman and his peculiar glory as a man large enough to stand beside cæsar. ¶ now here is the master-key, unlocking every door in the secret chambers of his heart: bismarck, all his long life, kept himself in power by his consummate knowledge of human nature. shakespeare dealt with men, on paper, making them march this way or that at the behest of his immortal genius. bismarck dealt with men in the open arena of life, had no way of controlling their actions except by the inspiration of his own practical, constructive genius. it is one thing to control a man's actions, on paper; wholly another--and a greater triumph, is it not?--to master man's ways in the market place, making those around you do not necessarily what they think they ought, but do what you wish. thus in some senses bismarck appears in the figure of the superman; for there is absolutely no question that on many occasions he forced strong men to do his bidding, squarely against their individual preferences! ¶ this huge bulk, this deep-drinking, gluttonous bismarck, this world-defying voice, raged and stormed through his eighty-three years of life--making little men's souls shrink in fear--and ever the essence of his genius was for alignments with men, or against them, using this human clay ultimately for his own peculiar ends, as the potter molds the mud. he knew too that despite the old german family and tribal feuds, the germans are brothers; standing apart it is true at this hour, fighting each other; yet the day is to come when bismarck will triumph in his germany, one and united. it mattered not, he would make friends with his deadly enemy, if such a step seemed advisable to carry out that cherished plan for a free and united germany. if he could not bend men to his will by logic, he tried flattery, and if that failed he threatened war, and the war came, too, but not till bismarck was good and ready. he took his own time, made preparations that defied disaster, then moved forward and swept his enemies off the face of the earth. ¶ thus, there was always evidences of peculiar precaution, even in bismarck's boldest strokes. he never forgot himself, never did things by halves. it might take a week or a year, or ten years, that mattered not to bismarck; in the end, he would bring his wishes to pass. he never courted failure by hastening with some incomplete plan; but with the certainty of fate, bismarck abided his time. obliged to surmount tremendous obstacles, often set back, in the end he carried everything by force before him. ¶ we are here reminded of those vast fields of snow seemingly in a state of dead rest, in the higher alps, through many winters still secretly gaining bulk and encroaching inch by inch all unobserved upon the doomed valley below; then, at the dropping of a mere pebble, the ice begins to slide, nor does the dread avalanche pause for the sobs of the dying. so behind bismarck's amazing preparedness his ofttimes long deferred but inevitable destruction of his enemies seems to be something that he borrows from the avalanche. it is at once massive and inexorable, the power given to but few master-spirits in the history of the world. ¶ in political acumen, in administrative and executive capacity bismarck measures up with cæsar. the smallest facts about such as bismarck are of more than ordinary interest. too much time cannot be spent on this great character, in an endeavor to understand the secret springs of his mighty powers. aside from the mere biographic outlines of his career, the man presents, in himself, a study that deserves all the thought that can be put on it--in an effort to set forth the realism of his mighty life. bismarck shows himself master at quelling a meeting, checking a mob, stamping out a rebellion, and heading off a king. ¶ and after the frankfort radicals found themselves unable to make bismarck pick the german crown "out of the gutter," they turned and tried to establish--what do you think?--a republic! by autumn, the forces of revolution spent themselves and metternich drove the rebels before him, as the hurricane blows chaff. order was re-established in vienna and in the italian states. the uncompromising metternich restored the "old diet," originally ordered by the congress of vienna, , as the one authentic source of political legitimacy for the clashing german states. it was a clever austrian by-play. * * * * * ¶ we now return to berlin. in may, the blood-letting was over, but no prospect of political reform seemed immediately possible. bismarck began using what might be called underground methods to head off the demand for that long-promised democratic constitution. ¶ already the king began to see more clearly. it struck him that this brazen-faced giant might be useful, later on. had not bismarck said in his now widely quoted speech: "soon or late, the god who directs the battle will cast his iron dice!" it gave his majesty courage! ¶ the king looked to right and left, dissolved one diet after the other, till he had one to suit him. otto nudged his king. that momentary weakness of marching with the democrats was something his majesty wished to forget! ¶ bismarck's position must be clearly set forth. he was no mere reactionary, brandishing his fists at new leaders, who favored the common people. he knew all about this liberty, equality and fraternity business, from across the vosges--and he despised the cure-all. here is the idea in a few words: bismarck was not fighting political liberalism, as an end; instead, he protested with his giant's strength at the implied destruction of the old regime. ¶ he laid the revolt largely to the bureaucratic system, which he characterized as "the animal with the pen!" he stood fast by his good old prussian dogma, as outlined in "i am a prussian!" paralleling "rule britannia," and other national hymns. the song is sung with wild martial vigor, akin to the furious appeal of ancient polish melodies: i am a prussian! see my colors gleaming-- the black-white standard floats before me free; for freedom's rights, my fathers' heart-blood streaming, such, mark ye, mean the black and white to me! shall i then prove a coward? i'll e'er be marching forward! though day be dull, though sun shine bright on me, i am a prussian, will a prussian be! sixteen years later, when endeavoring with all his strength to bring about german national unity, his "prussians we are and prussians we will remain" was used against him with mocking effect. * * * * * ¶ by october, nerves were steadied. the king sent gen. wangrel to occupy berlin and disperse the radicals--with cannon, if necessary. that speech has the right sound; but william has before this veered around many times, like a weather-vane, and may he not shift again? for the instant, he stood for the old regime and divine-right. ¶ the following month william appointed brandenberg, an old-line prussian aristocrat, prime minister. the siege of berlin was declared; the assembly protested but finally gave in. along in december, without consulting the assembly, william invited the states to send delegates to berlin and made an alliance of three kings--prussia, saxony and hanover. ¶ what is going to happen next? at last the people have a share in their government, but bismarck sees to it that the radicals are not favored. ¶ william's "tri-regal alliance" failed as fail it must on account of jealousies. then wuertemberg replied with a "quadruple" affair, composed of herself, hanover, bavaria and saxony, side by side, under a constitution acceptable to austria. quite a stroke, that. in turn, william set up his erfurt parliament, march , . bismarck was fast becoming a "practical politician." through deft stacking of the cards, the radical delegates drew only the low cards, and the kreuz-zeitung crowd and other ultra-conservatives were well supplied with aces and kings. bismarck naturally urged more concessions to the prussian spirit; he tried also to muzzle the press gallery, calling newspapers "fire-bellows of democracy." later, he even started newspapers for his political purposes. in this he was not inconsistent, merely logical; his attitude was based on the fact that, at this particular time, he felt called on to fight hostile editors; but made terms wherever it seemed worth while. such was the man's discriminating glance. ¶ the erfurt "tongue tournament" bismarck called the whole affair. he did not oppose the king's position in this matter, because, as bismarck said, "it makes no difference." he spoke contemptuously of the mystical high-flown speeches. its "constitution" was quickly forgotten! ¶ bismarck's course would have been made somewhat easier had he not openly refused to sit with president simpson, at the erfurt convention, denouncing the president as "a converted jew!" ¶ the convention broke up, to meet again in berlin, where a prussian constitution was drawn up. ¶ events moved rapidly. austria now stood forth for resumption of authority by the old diet, established by the congress of vienna, while from berlin one heard of a plan for a "restricted union." talk, talk, talk. finally, in september, , austria invited prussia to a seat in the old diet. prussia refused, and the cat was out of the bag. it meant that german unity must come through prussian supremacy and austrian humiliation--otherwise all might well be forgotten. but austria was by no means so easily disposed of. there was much life and fighting blood in her yet! ¶ bismarck's opinions during his years of preparation were, on the whole, unchanging, though often presented in different dress. in , he bitterly objected to the king's softness in recalling his troops from berlin, instead of definitely crushing the march rebellions; in ' , he stood steadily beside the king in refusing the people's crown, from frankfort; in , he deplored the prussian diplomatic defeat at olmuetz, but swallowed his mortification because he saw that prussia was not ready to strike; "and he thereon assisted in reconciling his party to a policy which he deplored." this situation convinced bismarck that the first duty of a prussian statesman is to strengthen the army, "that the king's opinions can be upheld at home; likewise backed by the mailed fist, prussian authority will be respected abroad." ¶ "my idea," he says in his memoirs, "was that we ought to prepare for war, but at the same time to send an ultimatum to austria, either to accept our conditions in the german question, or to look out for our attack." * * * * * ¶ thus out of the revolution of , prussia emerged with a written constitution, establishing a legislative assembly and giving the people a share in their government. ¶ bismarck's inconsistencies? yes, by the score, but he was playing a deep game of politics, for his king, and for his beloved german unity. always, you must understand that bismarck scorned the political millennium alleged to have been brought in by the french revolution; with the political ideas from over the vosges bismarck would have nothing to do. that old war-cry "the people" made him sick! he believed in discipline and not in mob-rule. but he would not rush unprepared into the war. ¶ it is a fact that, in , prussia had cause for war far more just than that on which she seized in . but bismarck made his famous anti-war speech! ¶ "woe to the statesman who does not look about for a reason for the war that will be valid, when the war is over!" were his astonishing sentiments. ¶ what he really meant was that prussia was not just then ready to fight; hence, he painted war as detestable; later on, however, we shall see how he looks upon war, when prussia is ready! ¶ prussia, through her political endorsement of the people ( ) did not suddenly become a parliamentary state, despite william's new constitution. broad privileges were granted, but prussia remained an absolute monarchy. while there was henceforth to be a certain restricted cooperation between crown and crowd, the divine-right theory that had come down through the ages was not weakened or its authority compromised; in short, by conciliating certain hostile popular elements, led by fire-breathing first-cousins of the french revolutionists, a large part of the hated liberal programme was done away with, in turn consolidating the power of the prussian kings. ¶ this situation also defines the political evolution essential before germany could become a nation. despite various historians, germany could not at this hour have proclaimed herself a republic. ¶ bismarck realized more and more, as he grew in experience and power, that the germans were sick unto death of political experiments; they wanted unity, as a matter of course, but by unity they really meant a head to the national house; a strong father, to advise, protect and punish his children. the parallel extends to the german idea of national rule; thoroughness, efficiency, discipline take the place of political expediency, job-holding for the mere sake of job-holding; in church, in state and in family life the idea of a great central authority alone satisfies the german mind. ¶ thus, the german conception of a nation is intensely practical; the state is not merely an aggregation of office-holders, but the state is primarily a vast institution, efficiently administered by the best minds, and these servants of the people are instantly responsible to the great central authority, whose power of removal for cause may be exercised as the father corrects his children, for the good of the family. * * * * * ¶ to these fundamental ideas, based on the soul of the german people, bismarck now addressed himself for many years to come. he knew what the german race demands; his analysis was psychologically correct, although few patriots of ' could see it that way. * * * * * ¶ as his years of apprenticeship pass, bismarck carries on his mission in a new way: is decided to lead prussia to the conquest of germany; is done with political platform-making except in so far as the alignments of politics lend themselves to his final purpose. ¶ with political instinct for gigantic projects carried out with realism, the king's man now determined the bold outlines of his national policy. he did not worry about details: these he would fill in, as time passed; but he would on one side hold fast to german national unity and on the other side would sustain prussian kingcraft as the very voice of god for germany; one of bismarck's strongest ideas was that the king of prussia was the vicegerent of christ on this earth. in short, germany must come through prussian supremacy, and incidentally exalt prussian supremacy, otherwise it might not come at all. * * * * * ¶ to clear william's divine-right once for all, so far as our story goes, let it be known that german historians have always laid stress on the respect of teutonic tribesmen, from ancient days, for the leadership of a strong fighting man. tacitus, the earliest writer of importance, detailing the lives of teutonic tribes, sets forth that it was the custom of the german warriors in times of crises to select their strong man and endow him with the power of rulership; looking to him in turn to lead the tribe to war against the common enemy. this reliance upon kings who were also powerful war lords continuing through the centuries, satisfied the fundamental aspirations of the germans in their will to military power; but as the generations passed the old story of human nature was proved anew, that is to say, what begins as a "privilege" ends as a "demanded right." on the side of the kings, was now proclaimed more loftily than ever that monarchy is the voice of god. book the fourth blood is thicker than water chapter x socrates in politics perfecting himself in political intrigue and in vituperative debating, also in caustic letter-writing; all is necessary grist for the bismarck mill. ¶ we come now to the year . ¶ the entrance of emperor francis joseph, at this time, on the politico-military stage of austria was followed by still another era of political reaction; the liberal austrian constitution, wrested during the riots, was revoked; as were also those democratic constitutions pledged for almost every german state. ¶ the germanic confederation, with political legitimacy vested in the curious frankfort parliament, again took the field. it was an austrian plan to get the advantage of prussia. ¶ "if i do not do well, you can recall me," bismarck told william. the king decided in his extremity to hazard the appointment of the unknown bismarck, as prussian delegate to frankfort. william remembered those bold "white saloon" speeches. ¶ now get this straight: bismarck was a land-owner of ancient days; estates won by the sword had been in the bismarck family for years; nay, the bismarcks traced their knighthood to the far-distant year . the force of this appeal in the blood was at once profound and irresistible. ¶ bismarck to the day he died was always an alt mark vassal to his liege lord and master, the margrave of brandenburg, the king of prussia. so much is clear. bismarck was also much more than this. we repeat, he was a leader of men. the king of prussia could command old families in scores if not in hundreds, to support the ancient regime, socially and politically, but where find that rare man, a born leader for the cause? ¶ duty and self-interest prompted bismarck to hold up the royal hand, but after all is said, the vital force of bismarck's endorsement was found in the man's genius for leadership. it was not so much the cause as it was the man. for had bismarck gone over to the other side the history of germany would have been vastly different. ¶ this frankfort parliament, a hydra-headed political creation dedicated to liberty, was in secret doing the purposes of austrian plutocracy and reaction; it was to be the last stand of the old regime, against democracy. but it was necessary to move with cautious foot. the sappers were at work under the thrones, and at any instant the mines might be touched off. ¶ bismarck thus, quite by accident, finds himself the representative of william iv, in frankfort diet or bundestag, the political punch and judy show originally set up by metternich, in , to rule the quarreling thirty-nine german states. their intense individualism was such that metternich, who dominated at the congress of vienna, after the downfall of napoleon, did not know what was best. all other parts of europe, and even the islands of the seas had been reassigned, but no human being could tell what to do with the turbulent thirty-nine german states. ¶ "here, then, was a mysterious 'court of chance,' where things dragged on for years, a political circumlocution office, hopelessly bound by its own interminable seals, parchments and red tape." the secret object was to do nothing that would not favor austria; with the idea that, in the end, the devious course of politics would bring austria final control of the german lands, everywhere. ¶ it was in this absurd parliament that bismarck was to perfect himself in political intrigue. frankfort made no organic laws; these were mysteriously settled at vienna; the meetings of the diet were held in secret; at best, the voting was along lines that gave to austria and not to prussia the deciding voice. * * * * * ¶ it did not take bismarck long to find that at frankfort the king of prussia was but a cipher. furthermore, what raised bismarck's ire was the impotence of the parliament. frankfort had been unable to put down the blood-letting of ' , and bismarck detested weakness of any kind, mental, physical or spiritual. he was, and always remained, a profound extremist; but his position was tempered by massive common sense. ¶ the world dearly loves a flunkey--and flunkeyism was universal at frankfort. the many members fluttered about in gay military dress, wore stars of sham authority, gold crosses, medals dangling from bright ribbons. names prefixed by count, duke, margrave--crests on the coach door and latin mottoes--hyphenated family names, indicated all manner of political marriages de convenience. bestarred gentlemen, one and all, if you please! ¶ bismarck wrote home soon enough, for he was choking with anger, not on account of the aristocratic airs of frankfort (for bismarck dearly loved a title), but choking with anger because his beloved king of prussia was a nobody in this crazy parliament. "i find them a drowsy, insipid set of creatures, only endurable when i appear among them as so much pepper," are his sarcastic words. * * * * * ¶ had bismarck not been a diplomat, he might have made his mark as a radical writer. his letters very often show almost anarchistic dissent. at vulgar characterization, no man could outsnarl bismarck. also this pomeranian giant's correspondence at times fairly stinks with frightful smells. when in these black moods, he released nasty fumes around the heads of rivals. we are surprised, likewise, to find growing in the mire of his thoughts, here and there, violets worthy of the poet freiligrath. the man's power to be poetical or insulting, as he willed, is indeed as strange as it is rare. ¶ bismarck's pen pictures of fellow ambassadors--how they flirted, danced, drank to excess, their maudlin ideas of government, although regarding themselves as veritable political seers--show the powerful satirical and analytical side of bismarck's brain. and although bismarck mocked with sardonic immensity his colleagues, yet with an under-play worthy of the devil, our otto proceeded to make these owlish and absurd gentlemen puppets in the hands of prussia. ¶ alas, time does not permit us to set forth the charming letters bismarck writes home. there is that moonlight swim in the danube; the interview with metternich, the old war-horse of kings; the gypsy ball and the weird fiddling gypsies; his visits to robber-infested parts of hungary, making the trip in part in a peasant's cart, "loaded pistols in the straw at our feet, and near by a company of lanciers carrying cocked carbines, against the imminent visits of robber bands." he describes how he visited ostend, going sea-bathing at that famous resort; rambling on through holland, smoking a long clay pipe; then on to sweden for the shooting; next to russia for wild boars. ¶ his letters often have a lyrical quality, telling of waterfalls of the pyrenees, the fascinating fairyland of mendelssohn, dark-eyed spanish beauties, open-air concerts, london garroters, old musty houses with peculiar smells, or what you will. bismarck dwells often on eating and drinking; and in one letter from paris speaks of a dinner at which he drank st. julien, lafitte branne, mouton, pichon, larose, latour, margaux, and arneillac! ¶ these, and hundreds of other letters comprise charming interludes between black moods of political intrigue, wherein he used his vitriolic pen to lampoon his beribboned, bejeweled farce-comedy fellow-ambassadors. ¶ "germany is tied together with red tape," writes bismarck at this stage of his political apprenticeship, at frankfort; and he hit the nail on the head. ¶ promise yourself a delightful month reading bismarck's four octavo volumes telling of his change of heart toward austria, as shown little by little in frankfort dispatches, documents and proceedings, interspersed with satirical stories in bismarck's extremely individualistic style. throughout, you receive glimpses of the man's great mind. no less an authority than the herr prof. von sybel tells us of these bismarck writings, bearing on the formation of the german empire: "they possess a classic worth, unsurpassed by the best german prose writers of any age." applying socratic methods to game of politics; bismarck's bold and masterful preparations for german unity. ¶ now then, during these years -' , bismarck was doing two things: perfecting himself in the dastardly art of political intrigue; likewise, he was going about like a modern socrates, talking with men of high or low degree everywhere; studying what might be called the human nature side of the german problem of unity and nationality; studying it, not in an aimless way, but to mould men to his own gigantic political ends, when the right time arrived. ¶ thus, with the stiff wind of adverse political affairs straight in his teeth, remember that bismarck's great strength was always his knowledge of men. during the years of which we now write he made it his business to visit the various petty german courts, to gaze on princelings who would be kings; busied himself with court gossip till he found out the inner political jealousies. thus fortified, bismarck knew the one man or woman to touch in the various parts of germany, to help along prussian ambition--when the supreme moment to strike had come at last. ¶ this supreme moment he awaited with diabolical patience through the slow-going years. no human being could hasten or retard bismarck's ultimate victory; for he remained the one truly masterful man in europe. he sat at gambling tables, he wheedled secrets from the prostitutes of princes; he stood by and egged on human dog-fights; he took part in church-rows about doctrines; he had inside glimpses of the venality of austrian kept-press-writers, "the scum of the earth," he calls them, "who sell opinions as the petty merchant sells butter and eggs." bismarck seemed to be the only man in europe who really was able to grasp the solution of the german problem. ¶ also, the granite soil of his heart is shown again and again. what a hater he was! for example, refusing to go to mass for the repose of schwarzenberg's soul, bismarck gave the reason: "he is the man who said: 'i will abuse prussia and then abolish her.'" * * * * * ¶ you see, our otto is one of those uncomfortable germans who in his own amazing personality expresses the national ideal of earnestness; otto is frightfully in earnest in his cups, or over his half dozen eggs for breakfast--as you please. he frightens timid souls. ¶ his temper few men could curb, much less sit calmly by and receive without retiring in bad order. incident after incident at frankfort might be cited, but what is the use? ¶ with fiendish earnestness bismarck plotted to break the bones of two democratic editors whose writings threw the prussian mastiff into periodical black rages. bismarck justified his cruelty by insisting that "bounds must be set for these infamous press scribblings." he means that attacks on the divine-right of kings must at all hazards be choked off. he always hated journalists, called the press "a poisoned well," and as for himself he is on record to this effect: "i always approached the ink-bottle with great caution." ¶ but mark this well: our otto, in his turn, craftily used the press to present the smooth side of his own political intriguing; indeed he had his very valuable prussian press bureau; and we have authority for the statement that the bismarckian idea of journalism was to have "hireling scribes well in hand, men who stabbed like masked assassins and mined like mobs." ¶ during the decade we call bismarck's apprenticeship, -' , he was thus engaged: , envoy at frankfort diet; , prussian ambassador at vienna, during the illness of count arnim; st. petersburg, ; paris, . thus, he had an opportunity to get acquainted with all the leading diplomatists on the european chessboard, to study them in their own haunts, and to perfect himself in playing with pitch without blackening his hands. ¶ bismarck told francis joseph, "i am firm to put an end to the attacks on prussia in the austrian press!" this boldness won the emperor, and in confidence he remarked to a friend: "ah, that i had a man of bismarck's audacity." ¶ also, he told joseph, "prussia will never yield in the matter of the commercial union, with austria." the emperor remarked on bismarck's youth-- years--and was much impressed. "bismarck had the wisdom of a man of !" was joseph's comment. * * * * * ¶ you begin to get a clearer idea of what this thing called patriotism means? nay, do not scoff at our otto; he is only carrying on the old, old game called reaching out after place and power; is doing exactly what you would do yourself, if you had the will to rise to the mountain-tops where live the bismarcks and the cæsars. mask after mask bismarck used to cover his real intent, from to , the long years he was scheming to establish a german empire; and he did his work well; more than that cannot be said of any man. therefore, his fame is secure in the valhalla of mankind. * * * * * ¶ here is an amusing bit, showing the craft and cunning of our master: when napoleon the little, through his coup d'etat made himself emperor of france, december , , and while frankfort's parliament was trying to decide "what" to say about it, officially, a french journal in frankfort printed an enthusiastic endorsement of the new emperor. bismarck suspected that it came straight from prussia's hated rival. seeking out the proprietor of the newspaper bismarck congratulated him "on close relations with napoleon." the owner, taken off his guard, replied: "you are wrong; it came from vienna!" this was exactly what bismarck wished to ascertain, and his suspicions were verified. to make assurance doubly sure, bismarck leaving the journalist, did a little detective work. in the garden, from a secret place, he could see the french minister's house. in half an hour, he spied the journalist ringing the french minister's doorbell. "ah, ha!" was bismarck's comment. * * * * * ¶ what did this giant not do to help his beloved prussia, and to humiliate his detested austria? one day, he found a fiery anti-prussian review in an austrian member's desk. he thought nothing of ransacking a desk. richelieu had a system of espionage unrivaled in history. bismarck in this respect is the cardinal's close second. each man regarded himself as a patriot. bismarck was obstinately loyal to prussia. her aggrandizement became henceforth his life's passion. nay, bismarck did not ask that the member be dismissed! that would be punishment too coarse. instead, bismarck decided that the best revenge would be to print the address piecemeal and thus keep the member in suspense;--something like twisting the cords a little each day till the victim meets strangulation in frightful form. ¶ during the eight years that bismarck was a member of the freakish frankfort diet set up by austria to "rule" the quarreling thirty-nine german states, bismarck, the prussian giant, came to see the necessity of controlling the press. ¶ frankfort stupidities decided bismarck to appeal directly to the common people (whom also he politically despised!) and hence we find that he now meets austria's hired journalists by urging the utmost press-freedom. "in this," says lowe, "bismarck was an opportunist," as he often was. "i learned something," he used to say when his enemies accused him of shifting ground. ¶ bismarck now demanded "open discussion" of german policies; saw that hired press agents vigorously set forth the prussian side. in this connection it is interesting to draw a parallel between bismarck's ideas of journalism, in , and the american conception ( ). ¶ "in the press, truth will not come to light through the mists conjured into life by the mendacity of subsidized newspapers, until the material wherewith to oppose all the mysteries of the bund (frankfort) shall be supplied to the prussian press, with unrestricted liberty to use it." ¶ this idea is precisely what extremists like roosevelt set up ( ), battling against "trusts," endeavoring to make them audit their books on the curbstone! so, what is new under the sun? ox-like patience of prussian peasantry sorely tried--the incessant call for the strong man to end political miseries. ¶ as the result of all this deep study, bismarck came to the conclusion that prussia in the great moral idea of a united germany could win, only by fighting austria. we might as well get at the core of this thing, in short order. the complications are amazing; but the more we probe into bismarck's gigantic problem, the larger grows the stature of our modern german giant. ¶ from this time till the hour of his death, many years later, bismarck remains the one great central will power of germany, the source of political legitimacy, dealing out with his brawny hands favors where they would do the most good, setting men up or casting them down; and in the end, through a series of profound political combinations the inner currents of which to this hour no human being has been able to chart and classify, our strong man at last is to set up his united germany, placing the imperial crown on william's head in the palace of the french kings, at versailles. ¶ oh, how unforgivable all this is to the french. not only that defeat should come in ' , but that the palace of the bourbons, costing some $ , , , should be used in solemn mockery by the super-man bismarck, as the stage-setting whereby to complete the imperial german holiday! centuries must pass before this, the profound mortification to french feelings, is forgotten. that is to say, the worst thing you can do to a man is to hurt his pride. had the german empire come to pass without wounding french pride (not to add the french pocketbook) the french would long since have gone on their way in peace, rejoicing in german prosperity. why not? the french are christians, not the slightest doubt of that; and as christians do not envy the german ox, ass or maid-servant. indeed, that is as it should be in a christian world. * * * * * ¶ at home, up in prussia, bismarck's sullen glances surveyed europe afar, and in the ' 's, of which we are writing, this is his problem: he sees germany still a mere crazy-quilt of clashing states. there are warring ecclesiastical barons, free cities, petty princelings; catholic bavaria against protestant prussia; nobles against the people; the people against themselves, divided by god knows what controversies, sane or insane; poets writing their hymns of liberty then dying unheroically by a brickbat flung wildly in some street brawl; jurists trying to hammer together some constitution that will not be blown to pieces by the first explosion of gunpowder;--and all failing! with pugnacious prussia on the north, with rapacious austria on the south, with insolent bavaria hanging off on the southwest, and the others fighting tooth and nail for the land, that will eventually fall to the strongest--the german problem became an exhibition over many years of the noblest, likewise of the darkest, passions of the human breast. three dreadful wars were to be fought, , lives were to be sacrificed, during twenty years of turbulence; and in the blood-drenched interim various monarchs are to make a plaything of the thirty-nine disunited german states. ¶ but the thing had to be gone through with. the historical evolution could not be hastened, although it was often set back. sick germany had many a hideous nightmare before the fever passed. convention after convention, diet after diet, contending monarchs using any plea that will give the upper hand to prussia or to austria, or over princes and whimsical knights, from the one who holds his sovereignty because his ancestor had been a king's barber, to another who in a lucky moment had found the queen's lace handkerchief, and after that lived like a parasite on the land;--all these high contracting parties must be sent to the dump heap and the soil sprinkled with precious german brothers' blood, mingling freely with vile blood, before the new political crop can grow. ¶ between and the german problem had been settled over and over again, but was not finally settled till by bismarck's blood and iron. this means in frederick the great's own obstinate way! ¶ we have heard from political fanatics, poets, lawyers, kings, thieves, church-people; all manner of men and not a few women have babbled and cackled; and there has been blood-letting, generation after generation, all up and down the rhine, the main, the spree and the elbe; then there would follow a lull brought about by some great charter of liberty framed by the liberals, at their latest conference; and when it all went up in smoke, we would hear again that the prussian government had its own plan, which, quite naturally austria would never consent to advance. ¶ indeed, the ox-like patience of the german people, with their great moral dream of "german national faith," was strongly tried. ¶ it remained for the obstinate spirit of frederick, through bismarck, to find the only way, by blood and iron. sentimentalists should not shed tears. it is no less an authority than marshal davout, the great french soldier who had for his watchword, "the world belongs to the obstinate." was not the great frederick, in his youth, an idealist, and did he not write a touching essay on the evils of absolutism? but he ended by embracing the tyranny of kings--even as you and i, if we have the power. * * * * * ¶ at the very outset, then, let it be made clear that it is short-sighted to call bismarck prussian tyrant. what would you, please? cakes for the child, when the child cries? that has often been tried, and always in vain. next time, the child wants two cakes instead of one. it will not do. frederick was dubbed the "last of the tyrants." we are sorry if this were true. tyrants are exceedingly useful. nay, we are glad to report that frederick is not the last. they still exist in every family, village, city, state, and nation. for the most part, they exercise their tyranny in petty exactions, with no big plan such as distinguishes the dominating man from the little fellow with the mean temper and his childish ambition to rule, let us say, his dog or his wife. ¶ there is something pathetic in the incessant call this earth has for a strong man. it was so in germany, and bismarck was that man. cæsar was assassinated because he was said to be a tyrant, yet after his death for years rome sought in vain for a man strong enough to hold the empire from going to pieces. ¶ is there not something puzzling in the devotion of a people to their amiable oppressor? they may rebel against absolutism, as bavarian hates prussian, but if the political despot is strong enough to win against foreign foes, as bismarck did at koeniggraetz, sedan and gravelotte, the people kiss the hand that smites. what greater tests of loyalty do you ask of human nature? ¶ before , he was without doubt the "best-hated" man in europe, lampooned, ridiculed, even the victim of attempted assassinations. at frankfort mothers sang their children to sleep by the following ditty: sleep, darling, sleep, be always gentle and good, or vogel von falkenstein will come and carry you away in a sack; bismarck too will come after him, and he eats up little children. ¶ yet within a few years, in his character as prussian prime minister, who against the will of the people achieved the greatness of prussia, and thereby made possible united germany, no adulation was too great for our self-same bismarck, formerly sneered at, despised, vilified, and stoned. so much for the value of public opinion. what then does it all mean? bismarck made his -years' battle against the people and won; and the people, strange to say, turned a mental somersault and now saw no inconsistency in cheering bismarck, as liberator. ¶ how strange this sounds! here is the man of the hour, depicted in all his naked realism. ¶ this amazing german problem called for a wise despot, to confront and overawe weak men, gathered in german parliaments in which there were worlds of cackling, but no wisdom. the curse of germany had been too much speechmaking, too much poetry, too much dreaming. the babble went on from to , at least--fifty years! ¶ the times called for a hard-headed, dogmatic, tyrannical man with a plan large enough to subdue the thirty-nine warring parts, and weld the whole into a mighty empire. this meant a tyrant of the massive frederick the great type. it called for a man erect and proud, keen of speech, with absolute self-confidence, who in a pinch was master at underhand dealing, and who could deliberately use harshness and malice. the man had to understand the delicate art of flattery, and at other times be blustering and outspoken. the roar of cannon should make him as cold as ice, but underneath his frozen exterior he should have a fiery nature, full of craft and guile, like a gascon. he should have a torrent of cutting words, his eyes should flash and his blood should boil, yet he should be able to wage a secret war, masked under compliments, or draw his dagger and strike for the heart. he should have thousands of enemies and prevail over them all. he should have boundless ambition; action should be the zest of his life, and at crucial times he should display an uncontrollable temper. he should seek the path of glory; a man of fiery enthusiasm, who never forgives an enemy; has fits of rage; is jealous; a great swordsman, fights duels; a master horseman, able to ride day and night without fatigue. he should be at once cautious and headlong, realizing that in the end it is the bold play that wins. he should be able to live down public utterances that would cause other men years of disgrace. he should be able to quell a mutiny, check a mob or stamp out a rebellion. and, above all, whether admired or detested, he should justify his career by succeeding in what he started to do. ¶ in other words, he must be bismarck, the greatest empire-builder since cæsar's day--yes, not even barring napoleon, for napoleon's empire crumbled to dust, yet bismarck's, fresh with youth, still lives on! chapter xi the mailed fist supporting bismarck's idea of the mailed fist; democracy stems from and is supported by aristocracy. ¶ why is it that, in the american republic, there is aversion to acknowledging the services of men sprung from aristocracy, like bismarck? are the facts unrecognized, or is the silence only another form of political quackery? ¶ to bring the matter home, let us ask, "how is it in the united states?" washington was an aristocrat of fortune, one of the richest men of his time, dispassionate, cold, aloof; hamilton, an aristocrat of breeding, contributing his quota to democracy, as he saw it; lafayette, an aristocrat of birth, helped us gain our liberty; and certainly jefferson, an aristocrat of intellect as well as of fortune, the owner of slaves, and the gifted author of the declaration of independence, offered inestimable services to the common people. ¶ off-hand, the average biographer records this: "bismarck had no confidence in the common people. he fought a written constitution. he did not wish to see his king yield an inch to the masses. it was the crown against the crowd. violently reactionary, he blocked progress--for there can be no progress without change. he was trying to force the stream of time backward, instead of going with the tide." * * * * * ¶ an american who for the first time follows the history of the unifier of germany begins very early in the investigation to have a feeling of apprehension. he is sure that bismarck is a reactionary; his ideas are so out of "harmony" with the spirit of the times, the air full of the "liberty, equality and fraternity." bismarck's attempt to sustain the monarchial system, especially the idiotic conception of "divine-right" of kings, as against the rising tide of "confidence in the people," has about as much chance for success as that the slavery system could be re-introduced into the united states, after that question had been settled by five years' war. thus you conclude, from the american view! ¶ as you read on and on, you feel that on the very next page, bismarck will surely go to the scaffold, or will fall by the dagger of some "friend of the people," a thug ever after regarded as the veritable savior of his country for the assassination of the enemy of the common people. * * * * * ¶ the much ridiculed "divine-right" of kings is cognizable as a right based on the survival of the fittest, backed by the sword; filled with human weaknesses and shortcomings, but defensible as a system, withal; just as the real intent of the words "captain of industry" should mean one whose fatherly care over his laborers, his judgment, his risk of capital, his foresight in weathering bad times--redounds to the immediate prosperity of the workers with whom he can have no quarrel. ¶ to those who make light of bismarck's theory of blood and iron, in government, it should be pointed out that all governments that endure, regardless of what theory you may work under, in the end fall to the strongest;--just as in a family fight the estate goes to the strongest, or in a partnership fight, or in religion, science, social affairs, love or war, the strong man has his way over the weak; and it is still to be proven that the american democracy, which at best is only another of manifold experiments in self-government, is to survive as long as have in the past royalist ideas--already that have persisted for thousands of years. ¶ so, we have invented democracy out of a thousand costly expenditures of blood and treasure. we protest that this latest experiment in government is to endure forever more, but not one man in a thousand has any real conception of the democracy in which all men shall work for a common national end. thus, democracy is fully as large an experiment as any other in the halls of time; and today we are still nursing childish ideals, attempting to level men by legislation, and incidentally taking satisfaction in stoning our public servants, decrying wealth, and robbing the individual of any broad conception of responsibility. parallel elements that make for power in america and germany. ¶ it is difficult for a certain type of american mind to get bismarck's point of view. this is because of the failure to recognize that in whatever respect absolutism and republicanism may differ, as forms of government, the fact remains that it is society, and not human nature, that has been transformed. the old motives, ambition, love, war, marriage, pride, prejudice, still sum up underlying conditions, however firmly any government may seem to be established, called by whatever name, and led by crown or crowd. in addition, all history forecasts the ultimate ruin of any régime founded on human nature. ¶ as between the share which belongs to each man, and the share which does not belong to him but to the body politic, expressed in a reciprocal concession, upon each side, for the good of the state--that dream of governmental idealism has never yet been attained, even in free america, to say nothing of germany, france, england or russia, and men will continue to annex the spoils to their private estates as long as men are what they are, at heart. ¶ the elements that make for a desire to grasp power, in free america, are essentially the same, though in a different dress, as they were in prussia, in bismarck's day. we are wont to dismiss this matter with a shrug and charge all the turmoil up to a senseless desire on the part of the king of prussia to force, for his own aggrandizement, his rule on an unwilling people, and we therefore call bismarck a tyrant, as though in this conclusion we thus elevated our own virtues by a shuddering "may-god-forbid!" sort of recognition of bismarck's political vices. * * * * * ¶ the old man had a grand idea just the same; he devoted his life to building up a free and united germany. his intense belief in german virtues made his task sacred. he met the desire for a national cause and for greater freedom. he had to carry men by storm. ¶ however offensive, politically speaking, may seem in democratic america prussia's "divine-right" theory, it is a fact that we, also, appeal to the god of battles just as bismarck did. we open our congress with prayers often couched in conceited belief that god is on our side; while our historians have repeatedly dwelt on the fact that america has a "manifest destiny," a phrase reiterated by editors the land over till it has sunk deep into the public conscience. therefore, in democratic america, we avow that we are in the hands of the lord; an idea secretly nourished by millions of americans who would publicly deny that any such feudal conception as divine-right of kings could possibly exist in related form, in the united states. surely we cannot mean that divinity has anything to do with the majorities in an american election? ¶ then this "manifest destiny" must refer to the ultimate fact that, however we may blunder along, in times of crisis the lord comes forth, to lead us out of the wilderness. it is a familiar line of thought to find grant, sherman, and lincoln and others, deified in the american press, as men "miraculously risen" in storm and stress to preserve the "manifest destiny" of our nation. if there be any logical distinction between this hope on the part of millions of loyal americans, expressing their patriotism in terms of heaven's protective policy, and the attitude of bismarck in regard to his king, as ordained of god, to rule over the prussian people, then it would require a high-power microscope to detect any essential variation. ¶ meantime, we go on building dreadnaughts and inscribe on our coins, "in god we trust." king william in bismarck's day refused the people's paper crown of the frankfort assembly, but plotted to have one offered to him by the princes of germany. was he, logically, any more inconsistent than is our own "manifest destiny" conception of america? * * * * * ¶ for it is ever the way with strong men to believe themselves the lord's anointed, likewise with strong nations--and democratic america is no exception. "chinese" gordon carried with him wood of the real cross, as he believed, and read his bible day by day, up to the last, confident that he was in the charge of some unseen power for good, as against the destroying african tribes around khartum. henry m. stanley's books are honeycombed with appeals to god as his guide and protector; he believed that god was with him in "darkest africa," would see him through at the price of how many negro murders it mattered not, warding off fever, discouragement, starvation, and standing ever on the white man's side. in america, where the "divine-right" of kings is a subject of political ridicule, it is a fact that in the courts we raise our right hand and swear to tell the whole truth; our marriage ceremonies are consecrated; and the last word at the grave is that god is our refuge; we have our chaplains who speak of god on our battleships, and in our armies; in the autumn the president of the united states invokes a blessing for bountiful crops, and returns the nation's thanks to god for these favors. ¶ all this is no more illogical than that bismarck should insist that the hohenzollerns, his masters, obtained their right to rule as a direct dispensation from high heaven, as against the hapsburgs, who were prussia's rivals. bismarck preached his theological-political dogma with intense earnestness during his long life; and at last the people must have been impressed with his arguments--or was it that he forced them to his way of thinking? chapter xii by blood and iron william i writes his abdication, and is about to quit in disgust; bismarck says, "tear that letter up!" ¶ along about , our poor william iv lost his mind; for four years he continued a nervous wreck; his brother, william i, was the sick man's representative as prussian king; and in ' , when william iv died, william i became sovereign ruler of pugnacious prussia. ¶ the common people welcomed william i with open arms, that is to say, adoring a fighting man, and long disappointed by the timidity and vacillation of kind-hearted william iv, with his church-building plans and his jerusalem bishoprics, it seemed as though the reactionary character of prussian political life might now come to an end. frederick's many-sidedness was in sharp contrast to william's one-sidedness; frederick's unfixed decision is now expressed by william's unvarying will. where frederick had been brilliant and imaginative, william was cold and solid. ¶ william was now over sixty, at which age men's lives, as a rule, are in eclipse. yet this man of destiny had still in store the making of a modern cæsar. he was to become king of kings, ruler of an empire whose individual units were commanded not by democrats trying new ambitions; but instead, many monarchs were to proclaim, "william, emperor of united germany!" ¶ this son of queen louise, mother of prussia, was now to justify the sacrifices of the great german foster-mother; for as she had labored with scharnhorst to perfect the prussian military, and in the hour of prussia's extremity dared to confront even the great napoleon himself, likewise her son william was now to complete, years later, the mother's ideals. where she scattered seed on fallow ground, the son was to reap his abundant harvest of prussian glory. ¶ "whoever wishes to rule germany must conquer it; and that cannot be done with phrases," wrote william, years before he was crowned at versailles. * * * * * ¶ we have seen all manner of hohenzollerns--robber-knight hohenzollerns--landscape-gardening hohenzollerns--church-building hohenzollerns--and hohenzollerns tied to a woman's apron string. a brave, practical, common-sense hohenzollern is now head of the distinguished prussian house. william i is flatly opposed to liberalism, but is shrewd enough to have a moderate liberal among his kingly advisers; for william realizes the political weakness of further constitution-tinkering. ¶ finally, we have before us a man as obstinate as bismarck, but without bismarck's creative imagination; a prussian king reared in the army, who loved the army, who understood the army;--even as bismarck understood political intrigue. the combination was unique! also, we have here a william of enormous ambition, little suspected under his rather conventional innocent-appearing german mask. * * * * * ¶ we come now to a place where furious political torrents begin beating down the ancestral forests of germany; torn by flashes of lightning and the ominous roll of thunders, the air is filled with broken boughs, flying leaves and clouds of dust. bismarck, god of thunder, rides upon the furious storm. let us closely follow the general track of the hurricane now raging in prussia, more especially in the prussian chamber. ¶ in ' , william had appointed von roon minister of war; the people objected, declaring it another evidence of william's reactionary principles. the plan was to increase the army from , in peace and , in war to , in peace and , in war. it really meant universal military service for prussia, with , recruits each year, practically doubling the service, making it possible within a decade to call possibly , , soldiers! ¶ the chamber of deputies opposed the plan, vigorously. however, the chamber in a patriotic moment had voted army money on condition that the increase was only incidental, but william while saying little of his plans acted as though his army appropriations were to be permanent, henceforth. ¶ over this question, a bitter controversy! the king took the ground that it was the duty of the deputies to raise the cash in such sums as were required for state purposes--whatever these might be, in the opinion of the king. it was conceded that, in military matters, william's judgment was good, but the liberals did not much like these great military expenses. william even thought of breaking the deadlock by abolishing parliament and ruling alone, or abdicating his throne! he had already written out his abdication, so the story goes, and it was lying on his desk, all signed, awaiting the moment of proclamation. ¶ at the eleventh hour, william bethought himself of an invincible fighting man, otto von bismarck, widely known for boldness and independence. ¶ "i am willing to carry out your policy, whether parliament is agreed or not! i will rather perish with my king than forsake your majesty in the contest with parliamentary government!" ¶ and william tore up the abdication paper and replied, "let's get down to business!" the four years' conflict era--here bismarck is at last revealed in his true character--king's man supreme! ¶ ten years of rough-and-tumble fighting in the blind alleys of political intrigue have now prepared otto von bismarck for great things. in the solemn years to come, all is yet to be dignified by the formation of an empire, through blood and iron. ¶ the king's ambition grew on what it fed upon--a desire for prussian aggrandizement, at all hazards, and the ultimate solution of the german problem through prussian power of arms. he made up his mind, accordingly, that he ought to reorganize the army; for this purpose he had asked the chamber for , , thalers. the cat slipped out of the bag, in spite of precautions. this , , thalers was to be used to buy needle-guns and powder, in the oncoming war of the brothers. ¶ our william i, whatever he might be, was at least no namby-pamby sentimentalist. that honest german face, those kindly blue eyes, his high complexion, made him look as guileless as a happy school boy; but he had his deep desire for place and power, side by side with bismarck. ¶ it was a most fortunate day for this hard-headed unimaginative william that otto von bismarck, in the autumn of , accepted the portfolio of prussian minister. william wanted a strong man to fight the hostile radical deputies for that , , thalers, for the war-chest. there is no use casting about for fair words to butter parsnips. the long-deferred irrepressible war of the brothers was determined upon; and the prussian dynasty was to wade through seas of blood to the heights of glory; and the purpose was ever to end this age-old german family strife. ¶ william i is deservedly a great german national hero. he is the true father of his country. ¶ we see nothing to criticise. the situation is very human; and the leading actors play their difficult parts with discrimination. in your own life's conquests, do you do any more, and often do you not do less? is it not true in your own life that you have to fight for what you achieve? truly, the world belongs to him who seizes it. william knew this; bismarck certainly knew it; and in this respect the two great men were agreed. so far, good. in broad outline the plan was to make the prussian dynastic government rule over territorial united germany; but it must come with the consent of the rulers of the independent german states and not through decrees of people's parliaments or the howlings of mobs. ¶ as for bismarck, he was the one man of the hour for black situations. his schooling in human nature had progressed amazingly. for the past ten years, at frankfort, at st. petersburg, at paris, at vienna, bismarck had fallen afoul of all leading political strategists of europe, men gloating over the problem of annexing to their private estates the divided german thirty-nine states: bismarck had studied the individual line of battle of frenchman, russian, italian, dane, briton, to say nothing of the ambitions of princelings, counts, deputies, margraves, prelates, poets, and political hen-coop makers;--knew too, how at the critical moment to block their individual games and just when to give his own deadly knockout--either above or below the belt! ¶ during his period of preparation, as we have seen, for twenty years bismarck had consistently preached "divine-right," stood for what he called "christian monarchy." for years, also, it appeared that the thing was for prussia to enter into a close political union with austria, but now bismarck was convinced that he must fight austria. fight or shake hands were the same to the giant otto; the thing was to win, if not in one way then in another! otto, after his frankfort experiences saw clearly austria's under-play to dominate the political situation; and in turn felt himself called upon to check austrian ambition in favor of his liege lord, the margrave of brandenburg, the king of prussia. ¶ finally, bismarck's great chance came. william asked bismarck to force the army bill. now indeed will the giant rage, snapping his teeth in the face of the hurricane,--yes, four long years he is to rule without color of law. on comes the storm--not by speechmaking but by blood and iron are the great questions to be decided, says bismarck! ¶ at least, we admit that william i was a thoroughbred hohenzollern in innate admiration of the iron fist! now this was the situation: the secret war-chest against austria had to be filled in one way or another; but the difficulty was found in the fact that the common people, acting under a mysterious instinct not to be explained but very real withal, had already begun to show unrest about an approaching war of the brothers, as the sentimentalists called the irrepressible conflict between austria and prussia. the upshot was that bismarck's political secrets while not definitely understood in detail, were quite generally divined by close students of the german problem. the liberals were intent on their own interests, in prussia, and believed that their political solution depended on hampering the king, regardless of his cause. hence the liberal deputies of the chamber spunkily stood out against william's heavy demands for cannon and gunpowder. ¶ bismarck, as king's minister, had to face the political storm. he did not dare to say that he wanted the money for war; he wanted the money--was not that enough? thereupon, bismarck proceeded to domineer over the delegates. the chamber was willing to do something, but how about the rumor that these huge appropriations are to be hereafter a permanent item in the budget? bismarck would not make the delegates' minds easy; he wanted money, much money, , , thalers in fact, for the army--and the least the delegates could do was to vote the funds. if they did not give the cash gracefully, why he would coerce the deputies--that was all! ¶ "it is not by speechifying and majorities," he thundered, "that the great questions of the time will be decided--that was the great mistake in ' and in ' ,--but by blood and iron." ¶ members of the chamber shrank in horror. there were extremely powerful and learned men there, to combat bismarck's point of view, and our political conspirator on his emperor-hunt had to listen to some of the most merciless rebukes he was ever to hear, during his long and highly exciting career. but he took them all, without a whimper. ¶ "we have too many catalines existing among us that have an interest in social uprisings," bismarck thundered. "germany considers not the liberalists of prussia, but her own power. bavaria, wuertemberg and baden may flirt with liberalism, but no german would think on that account of asking them to assume the rôle of prussia. prussia must brace herself, for the fitter moment. prussia's borders are not favorable to the development of a healthy state." * * * * * ¶ the giant pomeranian king's man with his turbulent support of his monarch, now advanced reasons to show his side, and concluded by mocking his hearers to do their worst. ¶ "what matter if they hang me, provided the rope binds this new germany more firmly to the throne?" ¶ a few days after this sensational defiance of democratic leaders, bismarck announced his decision: "we shall carry on the finances of the state without the conditions provided for in the constitution." ¶ bismarck was not surprised at the storms of protest. "some progressive journals hope to see me picking oakum for the benefit of the state." the comic newspapers pictured bismarck as a ballet dancer, pirouetting over eggs marked right, law, order, reform, constitution. ¶ the king became alarmed. ¶ "i see how this will end," said the king. "over there, near the opera house, in front of my windows, they will cut off your head, and mine a little afterwards." ¶ "and after that, sire?" asked bismarck spunkily. ¶ "after that, why we shall be dead!" ¶ "oh, well, all must die," cut in bismarck indifferently, "and the question is can a man die more honorably than for his country? i am fighting for your cause, and you are sealing with your own blood your rights as king, by the grace of god. ¶ "your majesty is bound to fight! you cannot capitulate! you must, even at the risk of bodily danger, go forth to meet any attempt at coercion!" ¶ as bismarck spoke, the king grew more and more animated. "he began to assume the part of one fighting for kingdom and fatherland," wrote bismarck, in explaining the situation. * * * * * ¶ the giant's very soul glowed with fiery indignation. it was not in his nature to hesitate, as to means. he wanted these , , thalers for the army--and was not that enough? true, he could not say in the open that he wished to expel austria--but must an elephant step on your foot? ¶ he had no scruples, moral or material; such are for lesser men. hamlet-questioning princes, if you please, may soliloquize on life and its inner meaning; but not your otto von bismarck, with his clear view of the little lives of men and with his correct conviction that if the intervening thirty-nine german states are to be made a unit in a german empire, then under heaven or under hell, the thirty-nine states must be seized, even in a hurricane of bullets if necessary. could anything be simpler? had not the "german problem," as it was called, been talked to death generation after generation, and had not lawyers, poets, preachers, philosophers and petty princes unnumbered come and gone with their impossible enterprises looking to national glory and political legitimacy? ¶ bismarck was, as usual, everlastingly correct in his political instincts; and furthermore he had the iron will to power to support him in this great prussian conflict; yes, and the wizardry in manipulating human nature that, in the end, would cause even obstinate, opposed political leaders to do our giant's bidding. ¶ what he demanded was absolute, blind, unquestioning obedience from this assembly; then, the prussian army must fight like fiends; and lastly, he would take personal responsibility for the issue. mahommet himself never urged war on christian dogs with more zeal than did this fiery bismarck, battling with his own german kind. to shame them, to beat them over their backs with hot irons if necessary--anything would he do to force prussia to fight austria, and arouse thus with a sense of blood-brotherhood the thirty-nine states, for germany's great glory. this was his religion--and do you now get the man behind it? ¶ of course, it was all cleverly masked under the plea of prussian army reforms, pure and simple, and in general the fight between bismarck and the chamber seemed to turn on the right of a minister to force appropriations for the support of the government, regardless of parliamentary unwillingness. bismarck held to his general principle that the deputies had no authority to refuse the king funds to enlarge the army. the deputies were pledged to support the government, not to starve or ignore it, was bismarck's contention. ¶ the liberals raged and stormed, called him "demented bismarck," "napoleon worshiper," "hollow braggart," "a country gentleman of moderate political training, inconsistent, nonchalant, insolent to a degree;--pray when did bismarck ever express a political thought?" king william's choice was exceedingly unpopular, but between von roon and bismarck there was now to be set up the most efficient military instrument known to history; that is to say, an all-powerful prussian army of gigantic proportions, armed with the newly-invented needle-guns. such was to be von roon's contribution. bismarck's was to arouse at home the slumbering great "german national sentiment" that made failure impossible, at the front. under god, bismarck believed in the justness of his cause. ¶ in the interim, before the first cannon was to roar, bismarck, the political wizard, was to tie the hands of every other european monarch--either by bribes, idle promises or what you will--that the war might be fought to a finish without hazard of allies coming to the rescue of the emperor on the south. * * * * * ¶ the parliamentary debaters who thundered against bismarck came on with all manner of attacks. the learned v. sybel, the great authority on the french revolution, cried out his many historical warnings; dr. virchow, known for his work on skeletons of the mammoth, battled along other historical lines; dr. gneist, the very learned member, exclaimed in a burst of moral indignation, "this army reorganization of yours has the marks of cain on its brow!" and to this insulting speech, von roon immediately replied, "that speech of yours bears the stamp of arrogance and impudence!" virchow challenged bismarck to a duel, for defamatory remarks on the doctor's scientific attainments. to this bismarck replied: ¶ "i am past the time of life when one takes advice from flesh and blood, in such things as now confront us. when i stake my life for a matter, i do so in that faith which i have strengthened by long and severe struggling--but also in honest and humble prayer to god, a faith which no word of man, even that of friend in christ and servant of his church, can overthrow!" ¶ magnificent, magnificent you are, at this supreme moment, you big bull-dog bismarck, and you can whip them three to one, when the great day comes. ¶ bismarck gained in power as he exercised his strength. he kept prussia steady during the perilous times of the crimean war; even urged an alliance with the french--think of that!--to gain secret ends for prussia; but the prussian king, who hated rulers of revolutionary origin, was opposed to bismarck's master-scheme; that is to say, william held in contempt napoleon iii, hero of the trick, known as the coup d'etat, which won a crown. but bismarck had no such scruples. at st. petersburg, bismarck won the czar--for which the liberals hated otto the more. his arts of diplomacy were expanding in all directions. foreshadowing the war with austria, bismarck planned to keep italy, france, russia, england and belgium quiet by various intrigues of politics--and how well he succeeded we shall learn later on. the storm increases--bismarck decides to defy the chamber and rule alone! ¶ in the general turmoil, along comes a fanatic named cohen, who attempts to kill bismarck. this was in may, . the war broke within thirty days! cohen fired point-blank three shots, and there was a personal struggle. the giant coolly handed the would-be murderer over to the guards, then went home. his greeting to his wife was characteristic. "they have tried even to kill me, my dear, but do not mind, no harm has been done. let us go out to dinner." it was a time of assassins and their plots follow. struck down by the police, ferd cohen, step-son of karl blind, meets in the eyes of the democrats a martyr's death; his body is crowned with flowers, as though the corpse were a consecration of prussian liberalism on the altar of liberty. the frenzy takes still other forms; suicide cults become notorious; here and there, we read that some lunatic patriot "seeks voluntary death, for the sacred cause of the people." ¶ and as for cohen, ladies of high degree bring flowers, soldiers of the common cause wear on their coats his picture crowned with oak leaves. the cult of murder, with bismarck as the arch enemy in the centre of the picture, was indulged to prevent what was termed the war of the brothers. ¶ "i believe," rumbled the granite rock bismarck, with frowning clouds around his brow, "i do solemnly believe in victory--whether or not i shall live to see it!" this speech was regarded as little short of blasphemy! ¶ bismarck now spoke more than ever of god, and of high german convictions. there was always grave danger of ingratitude, of insufficiency of time and place, but he certainly thought god on his side. ¶ what lashed bismarck into fury was the contention that the crown and the two chambers were equal, in political legitimacy. ¶ "all constitutional life," roared bismarck, "is based on constitutional compromises." * * * * * ¶ day after day, bismarck, the prussian bull-dog, and von roon, the terrifying drill-master, would appear at the chamber, on the oak bench in full view of the angry deputies. time and again, through political jugglery, angry members attempted to oust the minister, but bismarck was equal to every occasion. he actually ruled for four years without a legal budget. he conceded that point, too. he set up that it was his solemn sworn duty to support his king, and since the chamber refused to vote the , , thalers, why, it became the minister's duty to get the money, by fair means or by foul. ¶ and get it, he did! it was all wretchedly unconstitutional--of this there is no doubt. bismarck never made any pretenses on that score. after the austrian war, an act of "immunity" was passed, in his behalf. ¶ from quarreling about the secret war-chest, the disputants next began a mighty wrangling about rules. bismarck's points were always ingenious. he averred that, as king's minister, he was "in" the parliament but not "of" it. "ministers must always be listened to with respect," he contended. thus, he forced the unwilling radicals to listen to his bellowing, in behalf of the brothers' war. ¶ bismarck construed in his own favor every blessed rule brought up to oust him. the minister was exempt from the chamber's dominations, he insisted in a hundred ways. violent scenes followed. the king sent long messages endorsing his fighting man; the liberal press took up the cry, in support of parliament; and thereupon bismarck promptly muzzled the press. ¶ our otto is now becoming the best-hated man not only in prussia but in all europe. the deputies were brow-beaten, legislative officials intimidated with threats. ¶ the climax came on that day of hubbub when angry members, swarming around bismarck and von roon, were sent back by von roon's thunderous defiance. pointing to the gangway before his bench, he hissed, "thus far and no farther!" ¶ the real reason why bismarck fought the chamber for four long years so desperately for the , , thalers, to be used against austria, was this: on one hand he wished to nullify the importance of the prussian parliament, and especially in the matter of dictation to the king, either under the constitution or not; also, to thrust at the same time, austria out of the german body of the nation. ¶ he became a fanatic on the subject of expelling austria from germany! he had no scruples, stopped at nothing, paused at nothing; and at the right moment defied the chamber, smashed the prussian constitution that would restrain the king's action in peace or war--and ruled alone! ¶ there are few parallels in history of a stronger man. ¶ looked at in a large way, we are forced to conclude that the german masses were not ready to believe, at this moment, in bismarck's old testament faith in a god of battles. to fulfil the bismarckian political ideal, there was essential an implied humility on part of the people; and this attitude of submission and renunciation was a sin against the spirit of ' . bismarck's idea of political efficiency was also by no means worked out in detail; it had yet to find a place for the tailor, the shoemaker and the barber, side by side with the king of prussia; even that miracle was ultimately accomplished, but at the present hour the street-bred people felt it their solemn duty to get up and howl, and to profess to know nothing of political efficiency, wherever kings were concerned. ¶ at all times, the speeches of the crowd in the market-place were blatant enough, but there was also an unrecognized undercurrent of courage and patriotism passing with the flood that was to mean much to germany, in days to come. the cause of the crowd was really an early form of our vital modernist democratic movement, not to be put down nor yet shut out; all political life was to be revalued, also all new ideas of political happiness were to be henceforth tested by their virility and actuality, cutting away completely bookish ideals. ¶ the part that lagged was this: leaders of the people were soon over-engaged, so to say, with the many-sided aspects and problems of the new political leadership; the german compatriots failed at this time to realize their obligations to a german empire, to be; the people's politicians were still insular with little or no consciousness of the great german national destiny just around the bend of the road. thus, bismarck's function was to force the people to join the national movement--do so as it were in spite of themselves; and when bismarck fought back and called the people fools, he did not pause there, but stopped at nothing to lead a hitherto indifferent people to warlike patriotism over the austrian question--over which they had gabbled and slept for years. bismarck's unity of purpose for the fatherland deftly combined sordid as well as exalted motives. ¶ and the demands bismarck finally made on german character were not in vain. for years, however, he was looked upon as an ogre in the eyes of the masses, who misread his patriotism for jingoism in behalf of the king of prussia. chapter xiii the dream of empire bismarck tricks them all--and by under-play matches king against king. ¶ von roon had the soldiers up at o'clock in the morning, incessantly drilling for the oncoming war of the brothers. the deadly needle-guns--von roon's secret--were relied on to do superior work in the impending great crisis. ¶ blood and iron--yes, that is the thing! ¶ about this time, bismarck executes another master-stroke. he decides to intervene in poland, in favor of russia; and certainly he has now to face a "word of wrath." england sets up a cry, "stop thief!" exeter hall statesmen, "brotherhood of man" type, begin tearful whinings. ¶ louis napoleon tries to form an alliance between england and austria, and england offers gold for a copy of the russo-prussian agreement, affecting poland. spies were everywhere. ¶ well, , poles perish in the sacred cause of liberty, but mark: that in helping russia bismarck is laying the foundation for russia's neutrality in the coming master-stroke against austria. what do the lives of , poles weigh in the balance beside the great strategic necessities to encompass bismarck's idea of a united germany? we do believe that bismarck has the only practical solution, let nominal christians say what they will. ¶ the next step, to bribe france, is brought about craftily, through a customs' arrangement; and when some of the german states object, bismarck replies: "you go my way or go your own way, alone!" also, italy has to be quieted by soothing promises! ¶ austria now sets up more wind-baggery and gold lace, in the form of a new parliament, but bismarck counters with a "proposed german parliament"--a spurious affair to be sure, but the scare has its weight. ¶ dark and intricate diplomacy here passes before the eyes. austria fails in her congress of sovereigns, and is anxious likewise to retrieve her losses in the italian war. bismarck at least knows that austria henceforth is powerless to inflame german states against prussia, also that the growth of liberalism, within austria's own domains, is again keeping her very busy. ¶ cast your eyes toward paris. louis the little is secretly plotting with both sides--bismarck's spies tell all to the old man up in berlin! secretly, louis feels that prussia will be defeated; the french emperor aims at what he calls the balance of power--by which he means that while the two big dogs are fighting, he will slip in and steal the bone? exactly that! ¶ many years later, bismarck writing of this period, makes this confession: ¶ "napoleon secretly thought that if austria and prussia clashed, austria would win and then france would step in and 'protect' prussia; later on, in return for the price of her french favor, napoleon iii believed he could make such terms as he wished with our prussia." ¶ thus, up to the decisive battle of sadowa, or koeniggraetz, france remains politely bowing and scraping to both sides--while having her understanding with each side. napoleon feels that he will in time be asked to intervene, and for his help he will take a slice of the rhineland. bismarck did not undeceive france--mark that well! later in life, the man of blood and iron, taunted with the charge of attempting to give away german territory, made a strong "diplomatic" defense. he fearlessly produced the draft of a proposed treaty showing that france was conniving to acquire belgium, through the under-play of politics, aided by bismarck. the amusing part was bismarck's solemn reply, "the treaty was drawn up by napoleon himself, and was offered to me for signature!" also, to show that he is disinterested, napoleon now proposes that the "differences" between prussia and austria be settled by a european congress. austria hangs back, although england and russia join to ask for the congress of settlement. - --prussian domination essential in all bismarck's plans--consistent in his inconsistencies. ¶ the difficulties of bismarck's position are not to be ascribed to the fact that, first and foremost, he desired to re-establish confidence in the feudal theory of divine-right of kings. his life-long plans had to do with increasing the power of prussia and he preached the legitimacy of his loyal master's house as an american politician is wont to eulogize the services of the "grand old republican party," or "the great principles of jefferson," or boasts that he is "progressive and independent," whatever that may mean. in each case, the appeal is to a given audience, with the hope of adding to the following. ¶ the logic of hereditary influences placed bismarck squarely in line as king's man; and to his credit be it said that he consistently preached one gospel throughout his long political life. but his alignment with kings was more than mere opportunism, as too often is the case in america, among the "people's" leaders. bismarck honestly believed that the logic of events precluded any change in rulership over the prussian people; and in his larger view prussian domination must eventually spread over the german states, uniting them in one country--as they were already united by blood and by languages. ¶ that he battled with austria, the rival for the good will of the german states, is easily explained. it is not human nature for any man to yield what to him promises to turn out an advantage. that the sovereigns of prussia held their crown upon the principle of divine-right, was construed also to impose obligations; and it was part of the theory that the king and his advisers must see to it that the land is used for the common good. the king of prussia swore to "divine-right to the soil; swore to defend it; swore to improve it, for the benefit of all." ¶ furthermore, the old-time german political idealism in which brother was supposed to shake hands with brother, sung by the poet arndt, in his romantic semi-religious lyrics of liberty, was through the recent german revolution ( ) replaced by a new type of positivist german, intent on money-success, business affairs, economic achievements. the century-long dreams of national unity based on idealistic speeches, poetry, romantic phrase-mongering, was now slowly to yield to a new spirit; and believers in german unity came to see that prussian supremacy held all there was, in a practical way, of possible german centralization. bismarck certainly saw it very clearly and acted accordingly in his future political appeals and alignments. ¶ prussia had early led in the practical business of clearing the chinese-walls that had bound many of the petty states; the zollverein or customs' union, begun in , as heretofore explained, grew in power with the extension of prussian railroads and telegraphs; the prussian capitalistic middle-classes, intent on building up the family fortunes, had prospered in proportion as the customs' union had been extended, under prussian domination; and accordingly in bismarck, as soon as prussia had been placed herself at the head of this business union, began scheming as never before to win german unity through economic as well as patriotic arguments. for one thing, bismarck henceforth studied to put himself on even terms with the commercial interests in the jealous states. the leaders of liberalism were, as a rule, men of theoretical rather than practical ideas; essentially a cultured élite, as it were, engaged in babbling about german constitutions, german fraternal alignments and impossible german peace-parliaments. ¶ true, the good faith of patriots opposed to bismarck is undisputed; but the king's man was a man with an exceedingly strong will and with immense practical common sense to support his own ideas; a man who to bring about his beneficent plan of german unity followed his flag even through three great wars. this will of iron was exercised for the national good; and on the whole exercised wisely. he went on with his schemings for many years, from day to day making the best use of the material at hand; with well-nigh infallible instinct seizing on the very forces that were essential in years to come to the realization of his ultimate dream. ¶ little by little he set aside the professorial class, and the cultured élite politicians, and the theoretical constitution-makers; in their places he brought forward hard-headed middle-class capitalists, on one side, and the supreme military and landed prussian aristocracy, on the other side; and after overcoming gigantic obstacles made clear to the average german peasant that both wealth and authority were to be properly sustained in the old thorough-going german fashion only by having no more to do with semi-spiritual, politico-idealistic aims and purposes; also, that through bismarck's proposed new type of unity the peasant on one side and the king on the other could rise to even higher worldly positions without setting aside safe old lines of respect for authority through a divine-right king, at the same time sharing the royal power with a great and essentially democratic public opinion. thus, bismarck's german national enterprise, although not thoroughly understood for many years, was found at last to support in every particular the ancient german tradition of a strong fighting man, as leader of a free people. * * * * * ¶ that bismarck was proud and old-fashioned he made his boast, his joy, his strength. opponents held him up to obloquy, picturing his ideas as prehistoric, even antediluvian; but bismarck stood the prick of honor; as king's man he insisted in numberless arguments, far and wide, that behind the divine-right idea was not only a sentimental but a practical side. at any rate, the king's man was everlastingly against any movement that looked like french mob-rule. ¶ as time passed, bismarck learned gradually that he need not hesitate to throw himself fearlessly forward, with this divine-right as a leverage, to express the legitimacy of the royal house for which he battled. in the final analysis he was secretly fortified by his instinctive knowledge of the peculiar political idiosyncrasies of prussians; how dog-like in the final analysis is their submission to the political conception of the over-man who rules by divine-right. * * * * * ¶ it was to this national faith that bismarck was constantly addressing himself--this loyalty to a paternalistic idea--and his attitude was much the same as that of the chinese in their worship of ancestors, or of an american who preserves his family record. bismarck was urging family unity among quarreling german sons and daughters; and as is the case in all family feuds, the intrinsic merits of the controversy were often overlooked and the time taken in an endeavor to inflict personal humiliations. ¶ bismarck was essentially appealing to national honor, which he placed higher than absolutism or republicanism, tyranny or democracy. by national honor, he meant the german conception of an over-lord for a ruler, preferably one with a strong military record. herein, we touch the core of bismarck's strength, the measure of his greatness. when a man fights, on honor, for institutions which his forefathers slowly fostered and sustained through six hundred years of strife, the question of his rights or his wrongs is merged into the larger question of chivalry. ¶ if there were no other gift which might be set up to justify for bismarck a commanding position among the world's great figures, his conception of national honor, based on powerful personal convictions, his inheritance, bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh--utterly apart from the french mob-rule idea of liberty expressed in license--bismarck's plea for the national honor of prussia, as the custodian of ancient german traditions, suffices to stamp bismarck as the true custodian of german political tradition of his age. ¶ to this might reasonably be added another claim which in our broad view of bismarck's character we here demand for him as one of the world's great men--courage of the bull-dog type, not altogether unselfish, but courage and remarkable consistency; standing the acid test of self-sacrifice during thirty-odd years' vexatious delays in attaining his goal; a period of probation certainly long enough to try the stoutest heart. ¶ with qualities of this supreme order, far outside average human nature, bismarck at last prepared himself to win his surprising fight for a united germany; incidentally stamping himself, his power and his purpose high among the great germans of all time, from charlemagne down. * * * * * ¶ to understand these ideas, let us for the moment look forward as well as backward. let us speak in general terms, along the lines of the realistic politics, that bismarck was maturing, as against the old-time german sentimental idealism, once the political hope of unity. bismarck's whole message turns on the urgency of faith among the german people; his idea, that united germany must be achieved by faith, alone! ¶ bismarck had the well-nigh impossible task of organizing and inspiring a common political faith in , , people, divided by religious, climatic and personal differences. that at times he utterly failed to meet the situation except by political hypocrisy, is merely to say that in addition to being a warrior and ultimately the conqueror of a continent, he always kept within hailing distance of human nature; for when he could not win his way with a kiss, he gained it with a curse. ¶ in the final analysis he won, largely because of stirring faith in the german states. with faith, what can a nation not do: if the united states, today, had deathless belief in the destiny of the republic that americans emphasize in their worship of the golden calf, a bloodless revolution for a higher standard of political thought would take place over night. the difficulty is that with the average american national faith is dead. he has come to the conclusion that he has no stake in the government, that in short he is a victim to the machinations of plutocrats. to read the american point of view, ( ) we, today, no less than the prussians and the austrians, in bismarck's time, are also about to spring at each other's throats! there is little sentiment for national unity; it is the east against the west, in congress, and in the newspapers it is the people against the plutocrats. * * * * * ¶ bismarck's career affords a classical instance, in these poor times, of what a strong man, with faith in himself and his cause, can do against all manner of obstacles. faith in himself was the essence of his power. over and over, he made clear that he regarded himself in god's hands, doing god's work, but on what specific evidence he based this profound conclusion no human being knows beyond bismarck's own assertion. however, that power urged him on. naturally, in turn, the fire kindled by faith in himself at last stimulated faith in a people, numbering some twenty-five millions; a people who in the main had up to this time been political atheists to bismarck's dogma of a united germany. this idea of faith is a fact of such vast import that we dare not pass it lightly by. * * * * * ¶ by an almighty wave of faith in themselves the german people ceased playing the political craven; came out boldly for what they hold to be their too long deferred birthright! here, the mental attitude of the german people passes beyond the dogmas of politics or social intercourse whatsoever; it merges into a mysterious world of reality, close and near yet baffling to describe; expressing itself in an invincible national faith, now about to burst forth, at last, and sweep all before it! ¶ this mental phenomenon exists in various forms, but the animating impulse is ever the same. the hymn-singing of charles and john wesley, whose appeals to religious emotionalism filled the fields of england with tens of thousands of weeping, shouting men and women, vastly excited as to the state of their souls, is a type of faith beginning in a small way and attaining national proportions. no historian could write adequately the history of england without crediting great changes to the work of the wesley psalm-singers; women tearing off their jewels; men rising in the multitude and calling on god to witness that henceforth their lives would be pure and unsullied by sin; while under the excitement murderers came forward and confessed crimes known only to themselves. ¶ oh, this german national faith that frederick the great so gloriously began; that louise fostered and sustained; that the poet arndt set to hymns; that the great von humboldt in his own peculiar way saw from afar; that the german students apostrophied; that william iii figured to himself in his church-building; that von stein discerned vaguely; that william i emphasized in his cold-blooded, clear-eyed manner of the soldier; that von sybel fought for; that scores, nay, hundreds and thousands of noble men and women, utterly apart from political chicanery, did indeed long for with all the fervor of their earnest god-fearing german nature; bismarck stands in the centre, here and now! ¶ it is true that he is not as yet accepted, but he is biding his time; he is looked on with suspicion, but he fronts the scorn of the rabble, in the end to beat the doubters into submission, against their own will. ¶ this newly awakened german national faith was really a very old german faith that had never died, although for years forgotten; the longing for the fatherland was always there. ¶ through love of home, through worship of ancestry and through respect for constituted authority in church and state, that is by "german national faith," bismarck touched the chord that made his life-work possible. the stimulus of three great wars, presented by bismarck as sanctified by god, finally did the business. ¶ he knew that in all germans is a certain generosity of character which when appealed to in the right way made them eager to take the chance of death on the battlefield. ¶ bismarck played the positive as well as the negative side of this psychological fact. on the negative side, he stirred men with the idea that social ostracism rests on the man who in times of national danger tries to avoid the draft. ¶ bismarck's work thus shows him to be the great constructive poet of his time. he placed war before his fellow man in such a way that it was held a sweet privilege to die for one's land, which interpreted means bismarck's idea of a new territorial arrangement of the map of europe. ¶ there was race prejudice behind his deeper plans. he made much of the fact that within a given area the german language was spoken, whereas while there were millions of german-speaking people in austria there were also slavs, czechs, bohemians and mongrel races. ¶ the idea of brotherhood based on blood and language finally prevailed over the idea of the confraternity of races. make as much out of this as you will, but the basic fact is incontestible. ¶ some , men perished to sustain bismarck's peculiar conception of united germany. through the turmoil and misery of these three wars he had his way, and being at last successful, he suddenly became the most popular man in europe, idolized by the millions who a little while before had reviled his name as the enemy of the democrats. ¶ such is human nature. * * * * * ¶ perhaps, after all, german national faith is only another name for the tremendous earnestness that set the whole land ablaze with singleness of purpose, consecrated to a high cause. bismarck in a very real sense because of faith in himself and in his ultimate cause, directed this national faith in the fatherland and won thereby a magnificent united germany. if we do not grasp the significance of this unseen but gigantic national german faith, as expressed in the increasing unity of will of the whole people, harked on by prussia, we might as well close the book on bismarck--and know him not. * * * * * ¶ to comprehend, somewhat, the firm roots of racial strength, as expressed by german national faith, let us for the moment pass from the 's, ' 's and ' 's, which we are now endeavoring to present with their psychological message of faith, and turn our eyes to the year , when germany and austria, no longer enemies, now battle side by side, against armed forces of the world--british, russian, italian, servian, french, australian, east indian, african, belgian, canadian, and japanese! the sustaining spirit in this life-and-death struggle, as in the wars that made germany an empire, is bulwarked on german national faith. ¶ for germans are no longer soft-hearted heroes of lyrical poetry, as depicted by arndt! they are men of blood and iron. ¶ bismarck's mother threw her wedding ring into the public melting pot for the benefit of the war fund of and received in exchange a ring of iron; and thousands of german women did the same; and bismarck's wife exchanged her gold ring for one of iron, for the war fund of ' . tens of thousands of german women did likewise, not only in germany, but in foreign lands, wherever hearts beat for the fatherland. they did it in , and in , and in , and in ;--and again in ! ¶ for example, in the great war of , baroness von ropp, granddaughter of geo. ebers, germany's most foremost woman novelist, cries out for her country in the accents of true german nationality, the self-same spirit which arndt stimulated in days of french and austrian domination. and since it is this elusive spirit that we are endeavoring to bring home to you, in grasping the higher significance of bismarck's work, and its true inner meaning, we quote freely from a private letter penned by the baroness, from magdeburg, august, . ilse hahn-ropp did not write for publication, and therefore her words have the more weight. ¶ "on the first day of mobilization i traveled to magdeburg to say farewell to my husband, who was leaving for france. i had three hours; then i had to take the last train out of town. from that time only military trains were running. shall i ever forget that ride? it was as though we were living in another world. people were standing in the cars closely packed together; but not a word of complaint. each one felt he was no longer an individual--but a german! rich and poor, nobles and peasants, talked together as brothers. each had the deep conviction that this war had been forced upon us, and that every one must throw his whole strength into the scales, for victory. ¶ "ceaselessly, military trains roll by, crowded with soldiers in gala uniforms, burning to reach the enemy. i hear them all night long from my parents' home--those wheels rolling, rolling westward; no hurry, no confusion; the mighty machine moves majestically on its way. show us another nation which could duplicate that spectacle! ¶ "and then, from a thousand throats, rose 'die wacht am rhein.' it was overpowering--irresistible. this mighty anthem, from the lips of soldiers going out to battle! ¶ "it was thus that both my brothers left us. i shall never, never forget. every one gives his all gladly. i could not keep my husband with me, although exempt through his profession from military duty. he went as a volunteer, and i would not have held him if i could, though you can guess the cost of that parting! ¶ "one hears not a single complaint from the women of the fatherland. we are all too thoroughly roused over the insults offered our loved country. working each waiting moment for our wounded--for our soldiers--we have no time for tears. ¶ "we will not give in until all are defeated, even though we women should have to take up the sword to defend the fatherland. were it not for my baby daughter i should be with my husband, as a nurse. ¶ "you cannot picture how great, how noble, how grave this time is. human nature is transfigured. individual fate is lost, in the fate of the nation. ¶ "i am at home with my parents. scarcely a year has passed since my happy, peaceful wedding day. and now my home is bare and desolate, and i am again the daughter of my father--i can write no more. my feelings are stifling me. the bells are ringing a new victory. unfurl the black-white-red banner. always lovingly yours, ilse." a postscript reads: "oct. .--for six weeks i have been trying to send this letter--in vain. in the meantime both my brothers have died fighting for the fatherland. my husband still lives, but--we must, we shall and must win!" bismarck balances between tempestuous outbursts and inscrutable silence; biding his time in the great game of german unity. ¶ in the gigantic project of creating an empire for a king who solemnly protested that he was directly accountable to god for the throne, "and would never consent to have so much as a sheet of paper (constitution) between my people and my maker." bismarck was under tremendous nervous pressure for years; and he meant that his political secrets for united germany should not become too early known. not only were the people as yet unwilling to help, but austria was watching with jealous eyes the possibility of plunder for herself;--for where the carrion is there will the vultures wheel. ¶ bismarck's ambition bit him by day and by night, and there was for him no rest; he required a continent to turn 'round in, and nothing less would suffice. it was now only a question of waiting for the psychological moment to electrify the inert mass of the people to rally to his cause. ¶ naturally you ask, "was this bismarck then a beast?" not at all. he was merely a human being who wanted a continent to turn around in. in the gigantic project, bismarck was exercising his own peculiar gifts in his own way--for none stood ready to give him what he wanted, without fighting for it--even as you or i lay out lesser plans to beg, or coax, or force the world to give us not what we think we need but what we are strong enough to obtain. ¶ in this attitude, bismarck needs neither apology nor defense--for, after all, he is bismarck. through thirty-odd years of din and roar and battle largely of his own making bismarck knew neither rest nor peace; returning again and again to the attack and wearing down his enemies by the sheer brute force of courage. his idea was united germany, through prussian military power; at the same time, prussia must hold her dynastic over-lordship, and must yield it finally only in a territorial german empire. * * * * * ¶ unquestionably there was, incidentally, a large element of injustice in his plans and purposes, but what of it? is there not such in your own life, and do you know any man whose career is not based on injustice either in some coarse, obvious or in some subtle way? the world belongs only to those who do battle, and there is absolutely no chance for the man who will not fight! all government is based on some form of injustice, all land tenure is stained with the sword, all "putting up" of one family, or individual, is based on "taking" something from some other family or individual. nor am i excepting the conquests of love itself, from time immemorial presented as a token of man's romantic, softer side. for, if the hero does not "save" the heroine from the villain, to take her for himself, then for whom does he save her? ¶ the bismarck struggle and the bismarck triumph are as old as history--and as new as the career of the man of today who has achieved his heart's desire. the empire-maker bismarck had his way because he was strong enough to have his way, and while cruelties in various forms, for the ends of statecraft, coexisted in him with many fine qualities, after all that simply means that he was a human being with impulses of various kinds--good and less good--in one heart. it is also an undeniable fact that as late as bismarck was by the common crowd in prussia hated and feared, regarded as germany's ogre of disaster. * * * * * ¶ here then is the whole thing in a nutshell: his strong conservative, not to say reactionary, sentiments did not blind him to the fact that he could do nothing without the "people," whom politically he ignored in so far as their fitness for constructive government was concerned; but it was the "people," and the "people" only, who could bring united germany. he realized the present impracticability of such a union as he had in mind for his master, the king of prussia; that to urge it too soon would simply bring a new revolution, and god knows there had been enough blood-letting for the sake of power in and around prussia for lo! these one hundred years gone by. * * * * * ¶ the only thing for him to do, then, was to keep his ambition to himself and his own crowd, and to bide his time to strike--for time makes all things right for him who can wait. and at waiting and at concealing bismarck was past master. while usually figured as a blunt, bold, tyrannical man, there was also a side of inscrutable reticence. ¶ thus finally between outbursts of temper in which he attacked his enemies with the power of a battleship in action, followed by periods of silence after the storm, bismarck remained master of the diplomatic situation, playing his waiting game. ¶ and did his stern face never break into an ironical smile? did he never betray himself? it was impossible to preserve his great political secret from the intuitions of other and lesser minds. * * * * * ¶ you see, men have various ways of getting their will. some fight, others play, still others threaten suicide if the money is not forthcoming. it is all a matter of temperament and peculiar style of doing battle. with some, a curse will bring what a kiss will not; with others a club is more useful than a loving word. with bismarck, the first instinct was to do battle by fire and sword, and this explains why his career is filled with broken wine bottles, fist cuffs, sword thrusts, and his "sic 'em!" to the big dogs that trailed around with him. ¶ once, during the crisis of which we now write, on going into a saloon for a glass of beer, some table talk on politics offended him. he ordered the man to stop, then and there, "or i will smash a beer glass over your head!" the man went on talking; bismarck drank, turned around and said, "that for you!" smashed the tankard on the offending head, and coolly walked out! book the fifth the german people are one and united chapter xiv windrows of corpses he is no longer the roaring delegate of the "white saloon," but has developed the astuteness of the devil, the open sincerity of a saint. ¶ fight, fight, fight! nothing but fight! and all this trying time, bismarck suffered excruciating pains from his old rheumatic complaint. he was irritable, melancholy and jaundiced; sat up all night half-buried in his mounds of state papers; dictating telegrams, quarreling with callers, denouncing, adjusting, scheming; four o'clock found him in bed; he tossed about till seven, when he managed to get to sleep; and was not seen again till late in the afternoon. the situation was getting on the master's nerves. ¶ enemies in the house of his friends spied on bismarck, endeavored to poison the king against the doughty minister. the crown prince, especially, who always had an aversion to bismarck, despite the war-dog's inestimable services to the house of hohenzollern, now tried to pull the pomeranian giant down. to this end, the prince dissassociated himself from bismarck's policy, avoided the great man at court. the situation passed rapidly from political to social objections on part of the prince, who spread before the king the ruin of hohenzollern if bismarckian policies were longer pursued. ¶ but the king would not give bismarck up. in this regard, william was as cold as ice. he saw that should bismarck be asked to go, at that time, the liberals would be irresistibly strengthened. the recoil of the mighty wave against kingcraft might even end by forcing abdication for the prussian monarch. ¶ instead of fearing the liberal leaders, bismarck despised their plots. the master knew enough of human nature to see clearly one great central fact. the fire-breathing democrats would, at the hour of prussia's peril, join with the hated system of bismarck and march to glory. in defense of prussia, liberals, socialists and political nonconformists of every description, would be carried off their feet. then, bismarck would be able to call on his very enemies to come forward and help him win the day. ¶ and the old man, as usual, was absolutely correct. in the hour of danger how the prussian liberals fought! like fiends they stood, took the murderous fire and went to their death singing, "i am a prussian, will a prussian be!" * * * * * ¶ the opportunity to test german national faith first came through the holstein war, precipitated by bismarck's clever manipulation of events. ¶ as well ask from what quarters of the globe the hurricane came which last night tore up the old oak tree. you can read a dozen fat volumes on the holstein problem, and still you will not be convinced. schleswig-holsteiners in their rock-grit lands on the north sea had their political troubles about the right of succession, and that sort of thing; the spit of land up there was aflame with war talk. ¶ the germans, as a people, wished schleswig attached as a principality of the german confederation, but bismarck's secret plan was to seize the territory for the gain of prussia, a clean political theft of a huge estate. by pushing the danes out of the frankfort diet--that antiquated political stuffed-club of austria--the emperor of the south would also be forced out of german affairs. in a few words, that was the play. ¶ opposition? why, bismarck lived by opposition, grew fat on opposition. he is no longer the old roaring delegate of the "white saloon," in his blossom time. he has developed the astuteness of the devil, the open sincerity of a saint. as a matter of fact, he now invited austria "to co-operate," in settling the complex danish question; and the unsuspecting emperor of the south, who was also playing a deep game of his own, decided to take a hand. ¶ throughout his long career, bismarck was everlastingly trading in political advantages. often there was a large element of imagination in his promises to pay, but he gained his point in the holstein problem. he had to face: dissension between the prussian chamber and the government; the feeling in rival german states; the general distrust of prussia and the hostility of austria; finally, the jealousy of other powers. ¶ volumes have been written, learned decisions handed down on the complex rights of the warring houses of schleswig-holstein. there were mountains of precedents on this side or that, as you pleased. bismarck's plan was to annex the domain to prussia and seize the harbor of kiel, with all the accrued advantages to the prussian monarch; and while the talk went on bismarck manoeuvered to enlist his old enemy, austria, to make common cause in a clear way of plunder, if ever there was one. then, they swept the country with fire and sword, took it by the "divine right" of the strongest; and it fell out that bismarck stacked the cards against austria, as a gambler stacks them against the man on the other side of the table who is supposed to be his friend, in a gentleman's game. bismarck at a stroke thus won away austria's share. ¶ after the conquest of the holstein duchies, king william became more ambitious; henceforth the object of his life was the aggrandizement of prussia, in germany. bismarck had given the king the taste of blood. the iron chancellor admits the fact. here are bismarck's exact words, from his interviews with dr. busch: "the king's frame of mind underwent a psychological change; he developed a taste for conquest." ¶ bismarck laid the foundation in this way: he reminded the reluctant william of the glories of hohenzollern; how each hohenzollern had added to the common family fortunes, ever-widening estates and power. he told william how king fr: wm. iv had acquired hohenzollern and the jande district; fr: wm. iii, the rhine province; fr: wm. ii, poland; fr: ii, silesia; fr: wm. i, old hinter pomerania; the great elector, further pomerania, etc.; "and i encouraged the king to do likewise." ¶ is it too much to say that in this great national crisis, bismarck was more than servant of the king? in many respects bismarck was the king's master. "if you only knew how i had to struggle to make the king go to war with austria!" is a significant comment bismarck once made in a moment of confidence. it is a question whether he loved the king more, or himself less. * * * * * ¶ "my party consisted solely of the king and myself," wrote bismarck many years later, "and my only aim was the restoration and aggrandizement of the german empire and the defense of monarchial authority." ¶ he always had a contempt for parliaments and for parties. this fact is so clear that we pass it without further comment. in short, bismarck measures up to these lines in tennyson: "ah, god! for a man with heart, head, hand like some of the simple great ones gone forever and ever by; one still strong man in a blatant land, whatever they call him, what care i, aristocrat, democrat, autocrat--" ¶ however, in this world all things are relative; the finest coat has its reverse side, where the ugly seams show; and bismarck is no exception. he has all the strong man's virtues, and vices. make the most of it. it is a solemn fact that, in his unfailing loyalty to his country, bismarck showed little consideration for men who chanced to oppose his own principles--but what would you, pray? man at best is a curious animal; he indulges in great wars and he is capable of great mercies; he is all things by turn and nothing long; on the same day he loves and he hates, he commits crimes and he goes to church; he has his way and having it, is still dissatisfied. ¶ and bismarck was no exception. * * * * * ¶ he always expected absolute obedience. "my ambassadors," he once said to one of them, "must wheel round like non-commissioned officers, at a word of command, without knowing why." * * * * * ¶ "there are indeed," says sir spencer walpole, "few things more remarkable in modern history than bismarck's determined disregard, from to of the decisions of parliament and his readiness to stake his own life and that of his sovereign on the issue of the contest." * * * * * ¶ this holstein raid was justified as "statecraft," but the gambler's nerve and the gambler's methods were behind it, from end to end; and bismarck shuffled and cut and stacked, and if now and then some shrewd player caught the sleight of hand and protested, bismarck coolly banged him over the head with a chair or flung a wine bottle at his head and threw him into the street to make off as best he might, smarting for revenge but not daring to raise a hand; for in his heart the defeated player realized that in a game of this kind the only thing to do is to take one's medicine, "put up, pay up and shut up"--like the lesser known but equally discerning gamblers of old mississippi steamboat days. ¶ what were they fighting about in holstein? alas, who knows, except that bismarck had his great german enterprise well under way. it was said, at the time, that disraeli was "the only man in europe who really understood the holstein question," but disraeli was a british cynic on all things german, and his explanations must be taken with a grain of salt. however, disraeli used bismarck as "count ferroll" in "endymion." bismarck sleeps surrounded by windrows of the dead; it was the moment he had awaited, all these years. ¶ one fact should never be overlooked. whether bismarck talks to his countrymen of patriotism or of religious duties, through it all and behind it all, while framing constitutions and putting the ballot in every man's hand, bismarck always had something to draw to--and this something was the invincible prussian army. this prussian army, together with prussian dog-like discipline, made bismarck's plans possible. ¶ also, he everlastingly kept the substance of power for himself and his king; for, however much bismarck from time to time made concessions to the liberal side, bismarck always nourished sentiments of royalty, in the end deftly substituted the mailed fist for his talks on religious faith. ¶ his war-dramas are always rich in strife; but somehow, he makes them conclude in joy. * * * * * ¶ realizing that the austrian war could not much longer be put off, bismarck's great care was that there should be no powerful coalitions against prussia. ¶ we have spoken before of his closeness to russia, and the means whereby bismarck secured the czar's neutrality in the oncoming austrian war. the king's man next settled with italy, behind the screen. he knew that she longed to come into possession of venetian powers, held by austria; bismarck got after the italian minister, lamarmora; the bargain was this: a secret treaty promising venetia to italy; no separate peace to be made with austria; the treaty not to be binding unless prussia declared war within three months. ¶ then bismarck crossed over and proposed to austria that frankfort "reform" the confederation. the lure to the liberals was the promise of a national convention elected by the people, to decide on a new constitution; the solution carried the holstein question, bismarck averred, "not as a piece of monarchial greed but as a national affair." ¶ bavaria agreed provided austria and prussia would not attack each other. ¶ at this, bismarck promised to give to italy the venetian provinces, by peaceful arrangement--war or no war. but italy wavered; she was afraid of bismarck's behind-the-screen policies. austria decided to increase her venetian armaments, and bismarck, quick as a cat, seized on this move of his old enemy as an act of "insincerity" in regard to peace. ¶ austria now replied by urging that the holstein question be left to the diet, despite the fact that prussia had expressly denied the competency of frankfort to settle questions affecting prussia. ¶ from this point events moved with rapidity toward war. troops under manteuffel marched into holstein, alleging the gastein treaty broken; austrians retired, but under protest, alleging that prussia had violated section of the acts of confederation, which provided that members could not make war against each other; and austria moved that the confederation be mobilized, except prussia. bismarck thereupon played his trump card. "the confederation is dissolved!" he thundered, and submitted a new draft of articles, leaving austria out. ¶ germany was now in two hostile camps; on came the war. * * * * * ¶ thus stood matters on the fateful june st, , when the critical situation in the danish country offered the match to touch off the powder magazines against austria; startled austria immediately called upon her beribboned, bejeweled frankfort parliament to declare war on prussia for insolence; and this is exactly what bismarck wished to bring to pass; it was the moment he had awaited all these long years. ¶ hanover and two other states were asked by telegraph to declare their intentions. the replies being unsatisfactory, bismarck, with supreme daring worthy of frederick the great, orders von roon and moltke's iron men forward. they poured like fiends into the surprised territories, overran them in a night, compelling the flight or capture of three kings. ¶ "with god for king and fatherland!" that old cry is again heard throughout the prussian north country. austria reckoned stupidly; she had thought bismarck's internal political dissensions would make it impossible for prussia to rally her iron men in good order; but bismarck knew that while liberal leaders quarreled like dogs and cats over prussian policies, still when beloved prussia was in danger, all differences would be forgotten--and prussia in a night would become an armed camp. ¶ bismarck, that memorable thursday night, june th, , spent the long hours pacing up and down under the oaks in the beautiful garden of the minister of foreign affairs; in deep thought, he awaited the mobilization order from the king. von moltke, old roon and bismarck hold whispered consultations in which bismarck is so sure of himself that his mind at times wanders off war to chatty anecdotes. "this afternoon, in the antechamber of the king," says bismarck, "i was so weary i fell asleep on the sofa. is not this garden fine? suppose we take a look at the old trees in the park, behind the palace?" * * * * * ¶ berlin rang with the patriotic "i am a prussian, know'st thou not my colors?" and in unnumbered thousands the multitudes pressed around the palace. on the night of the th came the news by telegraph--"first blood for prussia!" berlin goes fairly insane with patriotic joy. bismarck leaves the palace at two in the morning; his stern expression contrasts strangely with the frenzied faces in the crowd; never did the great man's inherent poise show more clearly, by contrast. the crowds are singing luther's hymn, "ein feste burg ist unser gott"--"a fortress firm in our god." the king comes out on the balcony and returns thanks. never-ending cries of triumph force bismarck to say a few words from the window of his hotel in the wilhelms-strasse. it is a squally, rain-bespattered night, with the tempest near at hand, but the mobs will not go home. suddenly, bismarck raises his hand, shouts congratulations, ends by inviting a salute for the king and prussia. that very instant a peal of thunder rumbles over the city, and a trail of forked lightning splits the midnight skies. "the very heavens salute prussia!" cries bismarck--and the mobs go wild again. * * * * * ¶ bismarck and his king are off to the front. at sichrow they see the corpse-strewn field of glory; , bodies in all the agonizing attitudes of sudden death are there before the master. william and otto pass to the field hospital. the wounded beg for cigars, and bismarck writes his wife, "send cigars by the thousand, by each courier; also forward copies of the 'kreutzzeitung.'" this is the official bismarckian political organ. so you see, he spreads his political propaganda, even in the face of death. ¶ otto winds up his letter with this surprising request, under date, july , jitschen, "send me a french novel to read, but only one at a time." ¶ then came sadowa, july d. the "red" prince charles assigns his troops to battle line at dawn, amidst fog and rain. at , the king and bismarck appear on the bloody field. bismarck rides his tall roan mare "verada," rechristened "sadowa." in thunder and smoke the battle goes burning on. for hours the result is in doubt. all depends on the second battle line, but where is the crown prince? will he arrive in time? ¶ the vast artillery duel began early and lasted many hours. at the height of the battle, old king william asked for a cigar, and when the box was brought took a long time to select one, to his fancy. bismarck regarded it as a good sign! "if he can bother about the best cigar, the battle cannot be lost," was bismarck's mental comment. ¶ at last, the austrians began giving way. ¶ in joy, the king took from his neck his own iron cross and hung it on bismarck's neck. ¶ moltke came up, bright and happy, with these words: "your majesty has not only won the battle, but the whole campaign." ¶ it was true; the great austrian war was practically now won, and in three short weeks! ¶ sadowa, or koeniggraetz as the germans call it, is one of the great battles of history. there were , men engaged; austria lost , and , officers. ¶ bismarck, on his tall roan, was eighteen hours in the saddle; neither man nor faithful beast had food or drink, except that the horse, standing now and again among the windrows of corpses, ate corn-tops and nibbled at leaves. that night, bismarck slept by the roadside, without straw, a carriage cushion under his head. the rain beat down in a drizzle, and for miles the smoke hung like a pall. bismarck's rheumatic pains, his weakness from loss of food, wore him down. ¶ at last, the course of nature can no farther go; and the master falls into a deep sleep--surrounded by windrows of the dead. ¶ at dawn, as he stood up, half-dead from exhaustion, against the lowering skies he saw the vultures ready to pick the bones that glory had provided in this phase of the terrifying story of german unity. ¶ the hour of victory again proved bismarck's astuteness. the fire-breathers around the king urged that the prussians march on vienna and lay the city in waste; austria could not prevent; she was prostrate; but bismarck said no; and as usual, he had an object. part of his far-seeing plan was to take advantage of this psychological moment to conclude secret treaties with the smaller states, as allies of prussia, in case of future wars. it was the forerunner of his last great work, many years later, the triple alliance. alas, poor human nature! the rejected stone now becomes the foundation of the palace wall! otto von bismarck is justified at last. ¶ it goes to show that the right man can bring about any idea, whether to do it makes it necessary to turn time's clock backward or forward. bismarck is magnificent because his extraordinary political work inspired and carried a new national faith that forced men to bow, often against their will, to the logic of his own gigantic mind. bismarck is magnificent because, too, when the tiger strife was ended, he who had been despised as the arch tyrant of his time, was now seen to be the one strong man of his land, who had brought an unwilling people peace, happiness and prosperity. ¶ after the austrian war the deputies whom bismarck had fought granted immunity to bismarck for those four turbulent years of unconstitutional rule; the overjoyed people readily forgave him for exacting , , thalers for the secret war chest. * * * * * ¶ the millions who had looked on him as a madman now hailed him as little under the stature of a demigod, loaded him with estates, gold, diamonds, medals, stocked his cellars with the choicest vintages, sent him train-loads of presents, thousands of felicitations on parchments done up with blue ribbons, threw up their hats in frenzy only to see his rattling old coach pass along the streets of berlin; and in the national excitement to do something or say something that nobody had ever thought of, became as children to the extent of offering presents to bismarck's dogs. also, in the grand distribution of austrian prize money, bismarck was awarded $ , . with this unexpected good fortune he bought varzin estate in pomerania. ¶ of late years, his unpopularity has been made clear in a thousand ways, some harmless, others bloodthirsty; his very life was demanded more than once, by assassins. but now all had changed. ¶ it is related that a german professor, in greece, caught out after dark was beset by bandits. ¶ "who are you?" they inquired menacingly. ¶ "i am a german." ¶ "who is your king?" ¶ "the king of prussia!" ¶ "ah! then you are bismarck!" ¶ and the robbers pulled off their hats and ran headlong in the night. * * * * * ¶ in america, shops sold bismarck pipes, bismarck cravats, bismarck hairbrushes, and one came across such advertisements as this: "what is the difference between jones' paste and prince bismarck? answer, there is no difference, because each sticks so fast that once either gets a hold it is impossible to get away from it." ¶ after koeniggraetz, the growing sense of german nationality impressed itself in a thousand joyful ways. in spain, lucifer matches bore on the boxes this doggerel: als wilhelm wirkt und bismarck span gott hatte seine freude dran. or, "as william worked and bismarck spun, god had his joy thereon." the fashionable world dressed in bismarck brown; ironclads bore his name; in paraguay the "citizen bismarck" ran up and down the river; bismarck, south dakota; bismarck and von moltke streets; huge bismarck strawberries--and what more you please. ¶ the brandenburg cuirassiers made him drink out of a silver tankard, holding a level quart of champagne; bismarck, at the officers' revel, put the goblet to his lips and drained the draught in a few long gulps. ¶ "another!" cried the national hero. ¶ "alas," sighed a dyspeptic frenchman, who heard of it, "champagne and smoke agree with him--happy man!" ¶ whenever the chancellor was out, on foot or on horseback, the news ran like wildfire through berlin! offices were emptied, clerks stood in windows, the public uncovered and cheered. ¶ the german colony of constantinople sent him a sword of honor; thousands begged his photograph, autograph, or lock of his hair; brewer george pschorr, at great cost, sent thirty-three gallons of beer in a carved cask weighing pounds, with solid silver tankards--veritable gems of art. ¶ carried away by the general excitement, an inmate of the almshouse put his name down for $ , on a public list, and when confronted with his utter inability to pay, replied: ¶ "when the time comes for paying i shall ask them to let me off with so many days in jail! so many marks, so many days!" ¶ a little town in the black forest offered a huge patriotic scroll composed of bottles of raspberry brandy, with handsome labels, bordered with the german colors, red, white and black; a bavarian organ builder forwarded a huge organ; the inhabitants of stanaitschen, a gigantic whip; plovers' eggs came from the people of jever; the king of prussia made bismarck a count, presented him with a rich domain; and in the general excitement, the chancellor's famous dog tyras was honored with a magnificent blanket with his initials worked in gold, in the four corners, costly collars to match--and a sofa;--also this explanatory poem: "tyras, sei huebsch, artig und gut, sei es by tag, sei es by nacht! bewache unsern kanzler gut: dan wird als praeset dir dies kanapé gebracht." or, "tyras, be good, gentle and kind; all day long and through the night watch over our chancellor faithfully;--and this gift of a sofa you'll receive." * * * * * ¶ but this was only the beginning. at the universal exposition in the jewelers' section, one day a tall stranger was inspecting the beautiful display, and one of the exhibitors, bowing politely, asked the stranger to accept a magnificent diamond ring. "your highness knows very well that he cannot deceive me! i respect your highness' desire to remain incognito, but your fame has preceded you!" in vain the stranger protested. the ring was passed, the exhibitor was highly pleased, the stranger offered a card, "alexander schnabel, bavaria." the exhibitor still smiled, saying, "i respect your highness' incognito!" the stranger then quickly disappeared in the crowd. what is that shouting over yonder? "hurrah for count bismarck! he comes! he comes!" in a moment, the diamond merchant saw it all. he had been cruelly deceived, and furthermore had deceived himself! strange superstition ingrained in this bismarck mind; what ikon do you believe in, as you urge to duty and glory? ¶ in this life, each man has, secretly or openly, some ikon against which to charge, by way of explanation, his personal history. in the story of bismarck many ikons have been used by many writers, to account for the puzzle of this great man's complex career. some call it ambition; others will power; others destiny. certainly, in his long and adventurous career bismarck was often close to death. ¶ now bismarck himself always had his own peculiar ikon. he called it god. his speeches for many years before sadowa, his protests in behalf of his king, as against the rising tide of liberalism, always contained amidst thunders of political consequence, the name god as the one explanation of bismarck's history and bismarck's ultimate victory. ¶ if that be true--and it is not for us to say yes or no, for we are reporting the man as he is and not the way we think he should be--then god was at the bloody field of sadowa, on the side of the , germans, armed with needle-guns, and not on the side of the , austrians, armed with old-fashioned muzzle-loaders;--and the clash of , men with tens of thousands left dead on the field, was the final expression of the will of god. ¶ thus reasoned bismarck, and surely he should be the best authority on the conclusions of his own mind? as a matter of fact, bismarck's profound belief that god was on his side but shows bismarck's excess of faith--the faith that moves mountains. * * * * * ¶ it has been said by eminent historians that bismarck as the unifier of germany had in his mind's eye, for many years, the dream of empire; and the statement is either true or false. ¶ these writers call bismarck the man with the vision, the seer, the german patriot who saw in an early dream the stirring plan to which he was to devote his long and arduous life. ¶ you are familiar with the painting by lafarge, depicting the boy napoleon, in the school yard at brien, walking to one side, by himself? on his youthful brow is already an air of strange preoccupation, that cloud of ambition, as an outward sign that the boy's imagination is bodying forth the heroic deeds of the man, many years hence. ¶ do not believe it! it is only a poetic fancy, not human life. plans such as bismarck met and carried forth, empires such as napoleon founded are not placed constructively before one in a vision, nor are the complex ramifications attendant upon their ultimate achievement a matter of pre-vision. it is only the small mind that plans down to the hair's breadth. your truly great man, like bismarck or napoleon, takes up life as he finds it, and little by little learns the business of compelling other men to do his bidding; and always in this there is a large element left to the hazard of the die; or to use bismarck's own phrase just before sadowa, "now we shall see how the god of battle rolls the iron dice!" your great man rides forth to the battle, prepared to take instant advantage of circumstances as they may rise. ¶ bismarck's idea of united germany, at least the idea he always gave to the public, was that the thing might be done, with and through the power of god. the word god appears and reappears in connection with his plan; in his messages, speeches, dispatches, and in his private letters, he calls on god. i am not here to say that bismarck had religious visions. i take it that he never heard mysterious voices or saw ghostly forms, but instead was an intensely human man who fought out his life even as you fight out yours--with the powers with which you are endowed, and for such ends as seem worth the price, to you. the religious faith learned at his mother's knee, made bismarck's life-work a sacred vocation. he believed that he was chosen by god to educate, guide and discipline the german people. "my dear professor, whoever has once looked into the breaking eye of a dying warrior on the battlefield, will pause ere he begins war." ¶ and now we meet bismarck back in berlin wearing his koeniggraetz military cross, suspended by a ribbon around the collar of his plain blue prussian uniform. but the great strain of the years is beginning to show. for one thing bismarck's eyes are failing; he uses a glass as he muses over his mounds of state papers; his face is lined with deep marks; care has done its work; our otto is now bald, obese and stiff-jointed, much more so than his years might seem to call for. in making speeches he does not speak as boldly, as directly as in days of yore. he stops, hesitates, stammers, but manages to hold the crowd. ¶ you see he has a world of things on his mind; the under-play of the great political game absorbs his very life. what, pray, about this subconscious impression, that everybody has about an impending war with france? bismarck, as deep as the sea, is still seemingly as open as a child. one day, a famous professor made the fateful inquiry as had hundreds of journalists--and this time bismarck replied, "my dear professor, whoever has once looked into the breaking eye of a dying warrior on the battlefield, will pause ere he begins a war." ¶ so much for the astuteness of the man with the iron cross. he is indeed no longer learning the game. ¶ already bismarck was thinking of great armaments against france; for she was now demanding territorial compensations, as between prussia and austria. we find in the "revue modern," august, , this striking interview with bismarck, by the french writer, vilbort: ¶ "about p. m. we were in the study of the premier, when m. benedette, the french ambassador, is announced. 'will you take a cup of tea in the salon?' m. de bismarck said to me, 'i will be yours in a moment.' two hours passed away; midnight struck; one o'clock. some twenty persons, his family and intimate friends, awaited their host. ¶ "the tiny cloud on the horizon as yet had no name, but this cloud hung to the west across the rhine. ¶ "at last he appeared, with a cheerful face and a smile upon his lips. tea was taken; there was smoking and beer, in german fashion. conversation turned, pleasantly or seriously, on germany, italy and france. rumors of a war with france were then current for the tenth time in berlin. at the moment of my departure, i said: 'm. le ministre, will you pardon me a very indiscreet question? do i take war or peace with me back to paris?' m. de bismarck replied, with animation: 'friendship, a lasting friendship with france! i entertain the firmest hope that france and prussia, in the future, will represent the dualism of intelligence and progress.' nevertheless, it seemed to us that at these words we surprised a singular smile on the lips of a man who is destined to play a distinguished part in prussian politics, the privy councillor baron von ----. we visited him the next morning, and admitted to him how much reflection this smile had caused us. 'you leave for france tonight,' he replied; 'well, give me your word of honor to preserve the secret i am about to confide to you until you reach paris? ere a fortnight is past we shall have war on the rhine, if france insists upon her territorial demands. she asks of us what we neither will nor can give. prussia will not cede an inch of german soil; we cannot do so without raising the whole of germany against us, and, if it be necessary, let it rise against france rather than ourselves.'" ¶ the treasonable speech of the baron did not, however, bear fruit "in a fortnight," but bismarck knew the great political game well, and everything served him in his german undertakings. we shall see. the curtain falls in triumph on another spirited act in the great drama "germania." ¶ the political fruits of sadowa may be summed up in a few sentences. we clear the air for the grand finale, at the palace of the french kings at versailles, four years later. ¶ by the prague treaty, august , , austria consented to the reconstruction of the federation and retired from the scene. bismarck saw that the large states beyond the river main,--bavaria, wuertemberg, baden and south-hesse, were not yet ready for his new north german confederation; but he would bring them in--somehow--later! as for hanover, hesse-cassel, frankfort, and schleswig-holstein, they were now mapped with prussia, their crime being this, that they had opposed prussia in a half-hearted way, before sadowa. ¶ bismarck now set up his popular prussian constitution. wonder of wonders! really, it differed not in essentials from the hated liberal constitution that he had assailed so vigorously in . also, up to , the unifier of germany had as we have seen always appeared as an opponent of the national german party. when, however, he had become its leader, through the great politico-military struggle, he brought about the results vainly fought for by the patriots in the revolution of . the distinction was that in the revolutionary days, the king would have been obliged to stoop to the gutter for a "people's crown," whereas now he need do no such humiliating thing. the two wars had proven william monarch "by divine right." ¶ however, a blaze of aristocratic honors at the hands of king william pleased bismarck more than he was willing to admit. count bismarck, one night, when the people came with the torchlights, sounded the old german keynote in a new way, as follows: ¶ "we have always belonged to each other as germans--we have ever been brothers--but we were unconscious of it. in this country, too, there were different races: schleswigers, holsteiners, and lauenburgers; as, also, mecklenburgers, hanoverians, luebeckers, and hamburgers exist, and they are free to remain what they are, in the knowledge that they are germans--that they are brothers. and here in the north we should be doubly aware of it, with our platt deutsch, which stretches from holland to the polish frontier; we were also conscious of it, but have not proclaimed it until now. but that we have again so joyfully and vividly been able to recognize our german descent and solidarity--for that we must thank the man whose wisdom and energy have rendered this consciousness a truth and a fact, in bringing our king and lord a hearty cheer. long live his majesty, our most gracious king and sovereign, william the first!" ¶ a cheer resounded throughout the castle-yard. ¶ the new constitution gave to the people manhood suffrage and a popular assembly. the king of prussia was made president of the new federation, but not its sovereign. prussia ruled in her own way, henceforth, but the fiction of the king, as president, served to steady the minor disgruntled german princelings, who were led to believe that their councils were still reckoned with in great affairs. however, the voting was so arranged that prussia controlled, off-hand, out of units in the new political confederation--and in a pinch bismarck could rely on having the desired majority. ¶ some say that bismarck was influenced by the socialist lasalle to make concessions to the people, of a piece with the concessions which in ' bismarck had fought because they sprang from revolutionists; but the liberal aspects of the new constitution served to place the great dream of german unity on a firmer basis than would otherwise have been possible. bismarck was learning this: to try to choke the current of public opinion is folly; the wise man, instead, aims to direct the waters to his own advantage. ¶ the north german confederation comprised states and bismarck was made chancellor. the constitution was adopted february th, . for all practical purposes, the german empire was now a fact. ¶ but more work was still to be done, by way of bloody gravelotte, metz, mar-la-tour, st. privat, woerth, spichern heights, sedan, and the siege of paris. ¶ corpses, corpses everywhere, lying in windrows miles long! the master uses the masses as the gardener utilizes manure--fertilizing the soil with blood and bones! ¶ bismarck knows that to demand in an emphatic way is the surest way of receiving. he is always studying men, looking ahead to the time of the inevitable french war. he is asking himself, concerning various monarchs of adjacent nations, opposed to prussia: "on which side will he be?" "is he weak?" "can he be relied on to stand on my side?" "is he dangerous?" "will he take a bribe?" "at any rate, give him what he wants--but let me do it in such a way that he thinks he is forcing us to do what he wants, whereas we know how to make him actually demand our own terms!" ¶ thus bismarck without histronic talent, with his piping voice and his prohibitory bulk for heroic theater-roles, is at heart the great actor-manager of his time. instead of creating parts, he deals them out. ¶ he goes through this world during these trying times finding the best men to do his own bidding in the coming war. and when he is hissed down by those who will not acknowledge his right he breaks their power by defying them--as the hurricane scatters the clouds, nor asks permission. ¶ they say that had he lost the austrian war, he would have gone to the gallows. can a man of destiny lose? ¶ a new era is dawning. the old worn-out system for a disunited germany of jealous states is to be swept away. ¶ for thirty years he dreamed of the inevitable german union, had his visions of that glory. he was greater than himself in those black hours before the parliament, for four long years thundering for his side;--with public opinion flat against him, and with mutterings on part of angry mobs that would bring the rope and hang bismarck to the highest tree. * * * * * ¶ throughout germany, distressed as her people had been for years past by political and social miseries, a growing consciousness of brotherhood, blood and language was at last about to be politically realized. even napoleon the little, political fool that he was in many respects, at least had one idea that showed his common sense. however, in his day he was laughed out of court for his "theory of nationality," that is to say, he believed that people speaking a common language and living in contiguous territory, have an inalienable right to a common flag. ¶ now that is precisely what german poets had in mind, in their romantic way, when for well-nigh years past they had been dreaming of a united fatherland-- fuer heim und herd, fuer weib und kind fuer jedes treue gut-- or, in other words, a man's house is his castle and if men will not fight for their hearthstones, then they will soon have no hearthstones. for home and hearth, for wife and child-- these things we prize the most; and fight to keep them undefiled by foreign ruffian host. for german right, for german speech, for german household ways, for german homesteads, all and each strike men, through battle's blaze! hurrah! hurrah! hurrah, germania! ¶ the words, "auf, deutschland, auf, und gott mit dir!"--"to arms, germany, and god be with thee!" is a national hymn breathing the solemn thought that germans are not slaves-- old feuds, old hates are dashed aside all germany is one! ¶ bismarck's work, raw as it may seem in many respects, was consecrated to the great central idea that the german race is one, or as the poet freiligrath puts it in one of his stirring lines, "das deutsche volk ist eins!" ¶ the whole thing comes down to the inner meaning of the word "patriotism." tolstoi calls patriotism a frightful vice; washington regarded patriotism as a virtue of virtues. ¶ take your choice. ¶ he is even now brooding over the element necessary for the perpetuation of a free and united germany. he reads his bible and prepares for the french war. ¶ bismarck used the masses as the gardener uses manure. the blood of the peasantry manured the ground, out of which was to grow the harvest. chapter xv the great year, bismarck and von moltke, over a bowl of sherry punch, discuss "these poor times"--the emperor-hunt begins. ¶ volumes have been written to explain the origin of the franco-prussian war, and the intricate and inter-related facts are gone over again and again, now with emphasis here, again on the other side. * * * * * ¶ it is trite to say that bismarck foresaw that a war with france was inevitable. behind this simple statement is a world of intrigue and ambition. the french still hold that the annexation of alsace-lorraine was the price not of war but of bismarck's brigandage. the french also believe that the candidacy of prince leopold hohenzollern for the spanish throne was a prussian intrigue against france. the controversy on these points will never be settled, till the doomsday book is opened. ¶ when bismarck sees that his work of unifying germany cannot be completed without another war, the war comes! his amazing insight into complex political, military and historical situations, in which with a few words he is able to divert public opinion to his own peculiar view, has been shown never with more diabolical cunning than at the time of the breaking out of the franco-prussian war. we refer here to the "ems dispatch," that played a startling part in bringing on the war; but the telegram, in itself, was really a simple thing. ¶ for four years, germany had been increasing her military power by ten-fold. the greatest military martinet of all time, von roon, had the men up at three and four in the morning drilling them as human beings were never drilled before. von moltke, "with the battle pictures in his brain," was planning every detail against france. ¶ the preparations were now complete. the germans were thoroughly organized, led by generals guided by a single brain, von moltke, master of tactics and strategy. ¶ just the day the war broke out von moltke, who was always as taciturn as the sphinx, "and in times of peace ugly and crabbed," was sitting in his garden moodily declaiming against these poor times--with no war in sight! bismarck greeted his compatriot, bravely. von moltke ordered sherry punch and the two cronies began drinking each other's health. ¶ "you are not looking well, chief?" began bismarck. ¶ "no, i have not been well, lately!" ¶ "but you must cheer up. war is your business and you will now quickly mend. i remember when the spanish war was the burning question you looked at least ten years younger. when i told you that the hohenzollern prince gave the thing up, you became at once ten years older. this time, the french have made difficulties, and you look fresh and younger by ten years." ¶ in this light-hearted way bismarck spoke of the oncoming strife--up to the year the bloodiest in the history of the world. the bugle blast "for god and fatherland!" again resounds throughout germany--the great host crosses the rhine. ¶ up to , there never was such a disciplined army since the world began! neither napoleon, cæsar nor alexander ever had a power like the united german swarm, now numbering , , men, counting advance and reserve; however, the total strength was never called, as the war was practically over in seven weeks. the hosts of germany, , strong, helmeted, machine-like, moved silently and swiftly toward the rhine, carrying their trusty needle-guns which had done such destruction at koeniggraetz. as they marched they sang the war songs of their race, and swore to guard the rhine. zum rhine, zum rhine, zum deutchen rhine, wir alle wollen hueter sein; lieb vaterland magst ruhig sein, fest steht und treu die wacht am rhine! ¶ the king immediately left for the seat of war, mayennce being the first headquarters of the royal party. bismarck was always close to the king. ¶ bismarck had been only a few days in the field when his health began to improve. like von moltke, bismarck looked ten years younger. the old-time biliousness and vein-swelling from which he suffered, now passed away; the irritability vanished; he was cool and collected. ¶ he was attended throughout the war by a corps of cipherers, decipherers, cooks, privy counsellors, secretaries, and couriers. faithful dr. busch, head of the bismarck press-agency, was one of the busiest men of the hour. bismarck, who learned the power of the press in shaping public opinion, kept busch constantly employed sending out telegrams, giving the german side of the war. * * * * * ¶ the chancellor wore the white uniform of heavy landwehr cavalry, with white cap and top boots. ¶ bismarck and his staff camped along the line of advance, wherever night fell--sometimes in the château of a french nobleman, again in the hut of a french peasant. the company ate at a common table, and had the same fare. bismarck was called "chief." ¶ often the table was made by taking doors off their hinges and placing them on barrels or boxes; then waiters spread the cloth and brought out pewter plates and huge tumblers of a silver-like metal, lined with gilt. candles were stuck in empty wine bottles. thus the great man worked during the war, week after week. dr. busch, although a very busy man, managed to gather two volumes of table talk, minute details of what bismarck said, ate, drank, preached, the whole set forth in spirited style, affording an intimate picture of the iron chancellor to which all historians are henceforth under obligations. ¶ firing was going on around the royal party, often dangerously near by, and now and then a battle would take place close to where the king was encamped, with his faithful minister. they would ride out, to see the fight. bismarck read dispatches, made notes, talked to his majesty, gave instructions on state matters, counseled with von moltke on military matters, received visits, and studied maps. this continued all day and sometimes all night. germans drink , , bottles of champagne at rheims--bismarck's ironical revenge! ¶ the high tension of war was relieved by amusing episodes, from day to day. in the evening of the arrival at rheims, bismarck humored himself trying various brands of champagne. word was brought that the day before a squadron of prussian hussars had been fired on from a leading hotel. bismarck ordered that the house should at once be torn down and the landlord sent to prison; but when it was explained that none had been injured, bismarck waggishly decided to let the landlord off if he would give , bottles of champagne to the squadron--an obligation which the man quickly proceeded to settle. ¶ the prussians drank, in and around rheims, some , , bottles of champagne; and, for that matter, the highways all the way to paris were marked with long lines of empty bottles! * * * * * ¶ thus bismarck had his ironical revenge on france; took his cherry brandy or his champagne as he pleased, while the great war waged. * * * * * ¶ "verily, in all history," wrote carlyle to the london times, "there is no instance of an insolent unjust neighbor that ever got so complete, instantaneous and ignominious a smashing down, as france now got from germany." the whole civilized world looked on in amazement. ¶ france had declared war july th, and the crushing defeat at sedan came september . however, it took seven months before bismarck was satisfied that the final papers were drawn to his satisfaction. louis napoleon being a prisoner of war, had lost his throne; and consequently bismarck insisted that any peace made with france would have to be ratified by some central authority. it is a long, interesting story, but bismarck finally won his point. sedan and the belgian weaver's hut; the highways to paris are strewn with wine bottles; death drinks a toast to "german unity." ¶ as it had been the iron chancellor's fortune to be present at the crowning victory of koeniggraetz, in the austrian war, likewise it was now his destiny to be a spectator at the two battles that decided the issue of the french war, gravelotte and sedan. the spoils were immense, the glory set germany in flames. bismarck, von roon and von moltke were held to be the greatest men of all time. ¶ gravelotte, the bloodiest battle of the campaign, engaged , men and , cannon. the king commanded in person, on the right, and bismarck was with him. the carnage was frightful. bismarck busied himself carrying water to the wounded. when the sun went down, german victory was complete, at the loss of every tenth man! ¶ that night, bismarck bivouacked on the battlefield, amidst serried ranks of the dead. says one who saw the terrifying scene: "anon, the watchfires of the prussians blazed round about; and worn out by incredible exertions at last bismarck fell asleep, among the living and the dead. he was now to have evidence of the result of his life-long ambition; he had plunged his country into three great wars, with all their dreadful toll of human life; but he slept that night the sleep of the just--because he saw, in the complex blending of his ideas, no inconsistency in paying any price for the glory of his country." * * * * * ¶ the whole bloody day at gravelotte bismarck had nothing to eat. finally, he found a hen's nest with five eggs; giving three to half-starving soldiers near by, bismarck with his sword broke the shells of the two remaining and sucked the eggs. next morning he had some sausage soup, the first warm food that had passed his lips for hours. ¶ while he was standing dismounted, a concealed french battery began a tremendous cannonade; the shells dropping all around, exploded, and plowed up the ground. ¶ night again. nothing to eat. a sutler had some miserable rum and wine. bismarck took that, at once, but there was not a morsel to eat. in the village, a few cutlets were found after a hard search, just enough for the king. his majesty decided not to bivouac among the dead again, but took shelter at a little public house. ¶ bismarck with general sheridan set off to find a sleeping place. house after house was filled with the wounded. finally they found three empty beds with straw mattresses. here bismarck and general sheridan took up their quarters and slept capitally. sheridan was present as official observer for the united states army. in his life, he had seen many great battles, including gettysburg and sedan. ¶ bismarck talked to sheridan in english; and at dinner they drank champagne and porter, bismarck's favorite beverage. * * * * * ¶ with tens of thousands of cuirassiers as companions the king and bismarck rode down the broad highways, toward paris; bismarck wore his famous big top-boots. what a picture the king, bismarck and von moltke marching down the highways of france, at their back their almighty army, up to the greatest in all history, its fighting strength , men, perfectly drilled and armed with deadly needle-guns. in puffs of smoke the reign of napoleon the little was ending; and it is now curious to recall that, years before, as a young lieutenant, the present king of prussia had traversed almost the identical route with the allies, to help defeat napoleon the great! * * * * * ¶ the iron heel of war was grinding men's lives into the dust, setting fire to the country, and leaving a trail of destruction. france looked along the german route as though a cyclone had devastated the face of nature. ¶ past cities, towns, vineyards, châteaux, the tramp, tramp, tramp; the roll of the war drums; the rumbling of wheels--so the terrible prussians marched on! ¶ "summer was passing," says lowe, "autumn was coming fast; france had turned from the sap green of the vineyards to the golden hues of the harvest; but it was the harvest of death." * * * * * ¶ now came a gigantic cavalry movement, to the right, a prodigious wheel, to round-up the french macmahon, who had dodged and doubled in the basin of the meuse. "the chase," said bismarck, "reminds me of a wolf hunt in the ardennes, but when we arrived, the wolf had vanished!" to make common ground with bazaine, macmahon concentrated his troops, with the idea of breaking the siege of metz, where , french soldiers were undergoing the horrors of starvation. the germans outwitted macmahon, who finally decided to make a last stand around the frontier fortress of sedan. ¶ on the night of august , the germans closed in on him, in what proved to be one of the momentous battles in the world's history. von roon and moltke had , infantry and cannon, the french , of all arms, cannon and mitrailleuses. on the slopes of frenois, the prussian king, bismarck and a brilliant retinue witnessed for ten hours the dreadful carnage reddening the fields. ¶ "more artillery!" cried the king, surprised that the french would not yield. in the king's retinue stood bismarck, a crowd of princes, dukes, aide-de-camps, marshals, besides army attaches of russia, england and america. ¶ on the king's order, german guns began drawing the most terrific artillery fire in the history of battles, concentrating an ever-narrowing circle of flame and shell around the doomed place. it was too much for flesh and blood; a white flag was hoisted. the prussian flag of truce to inquire for the commander, was led into the presence of napoleon, trapped at sedan! ¶ moltke's terms were short; the whole french army was to surrender as prisoners of war. the french regarded this as too severe after their heroism, but the prussians were inexorable; an armistice left the final decision till daylight. * * * * * ¶ bismarck passed the night at the house of dr. jeanpot, at donchery, a few miles from the bloody field of sedan. along about daybreak, a servant awakened bismarck, telling him a french general was at the door. it was reille, napoleon's messenger, saying "napoleon is on the way over to see the king of prussia!" ¶ what a moment! how bismarck's pride must have risen; how he must have gritted his wolf's teeth and felt his gorge rise as he realized that the hour of his life-long revenge was at hand, against his old enemy. ¶ and yet, that night, he had been reading in his room after the dreadful sedan carnage--what do you think? human inconsistency! "daily refreshment for believing christians," by the moravian brotherhood. ¶ unwashed, breakfastless, bismarck immediately set out, his revolver in his belt; down the road napoleon's carriage, "evidently a hired one," said bismarck afterwards, recounting the scene, "came into view; the emperor was escorted by a handful of officers; napoleon had on his military uniform, wore white kid gloves, and was smoking a cigarette!" ¶ bowing and asking his majesty's pleasure, napoleon asks bismarck, "i wish to meet the king of prussia." bismarck replies, "unfortunately impossible; the king is quartered some fifteen miles away." however, it is only a trick to gain time. bismarck has certain powerful reasons why he does not desire, just then, that napoleon and william should meet. we shall see, presently. ¶ napoleon drives slowly onward, but nearing donchery hesitates on account of the crowd; and spying a solitary cottage near by, asks if he could not remain there. ¶ it is the hut of a weaver of donchery--a mean, dirty place--and stands about fifteen paces from the high-road, which is lined with poplars; the house is one-story, yellow, with four windows, and has a slate roof. ¶ bismarck and napoleon ascend a rickety, narrow staircase giving entrance to a gloomy chamber, in which are a deal table and two rush-bottomed chairs. here the two men sit alone for an hour. what a moment in history! * * * * * ¶ only a few years before, that is to say, in october, , bismarck had sought out napoleon iii, or "napoleon the little," and had held a famous political interview; the meeting at biarritz found napoleon filled with ambitions to emulate the illustrious career of his uncle, napoleon bonaparte; but the secret although well kept did not escape the vision of bismarck. ¶ the iron chancellor came as a friend, on a pleasant exchange of diplomatic courtesies, but in secret he was sounding napoleon's possible attitude in the oncoming prussian war, against austria. the emperor was completely tricked. bismarck talked frankly of the necessity of "reform" in the german confederation, and napoleon, whose hobby was that peoples speaking the same language should be under one rule, fell in quite naturally with the plan to "reform" prussia. the emperor thought that bismarck had in mind only certain constitutional changes in prussia, not dynastic changes, destroying the european balance of power and preparing the way for german unity. ¶ bismarck made clear to the emperor that, in return for keeping out of any impending austrian clash, france would be rewarded by enlarged boundaries. as an enlightened egotist, bismarck felt that it was "only fair" to acknowledge french help with the left bank of the rhine. it was all a bluff. but napoleon, with his hunger to enlarge french territory, and to appear before france as a sort of second napoleon the great, fell in with the conspiracy. herein, the bismarckian skill at stacking the cards reaches its height. ¶ and now to think that the next meeting of the french lamb and the prussian wolf should take place in a weaver's hut, napoleon stripped of glory and power by the man who was to "give" great lands to france. ¶ the emperor had been caught in his own trap; his armies had been crushed; his government destroyed by bismarck's genius for political intrigue. the rise to power of prussia over austria, against which napoleon had been tricked not to protest, was a turning point in the history of modern europe. hence we say that these two contrasted interviews, the one of glory, the other of the downfall, biarritz and the weaver's hut, show our otto von bismarck as the supreme politico-military genius of his time. ¶ a curious sidelight on the famous interview at biarritz is supplied by bismarck's writings. "napoleon said things could not go on as they had been doing, in prussia," wrote bismarck, "otherwise there would soon be an uprising in berlin and a revolution in the whole country. i told him that the people of our country were not barricade-builders, and that in prussia revolutions were made only by the kings. if the king could stand the strain on him for three or four years he would certainly win the game. unless he got tired and left me, i would not fail him. the emperor at that time said of me, 'ce n'est pas un homme serieux,' (bismarck is not a serious man), a mot of which i did not think myself at liberty to remind him, in the weaver's hut, at donchery." * * * * * ¶ bismarck exercised all his mighty ingenuity to keep napoleon from urging too far that the king of prussia be brought forward. bismarck knew that king william was tender-hearted, and, tempted by the disaster that had come to napoleon, would in consequence be inclined to deal leniently with the emperor. ¶ bismarck, setting his iron jaws hard, determined then and there to keep the prussian king out of it till the terms of peace had been arranged. ¶ come, come, are we not justified in our character study of bismarck? who now is master, who now servant? who now is shown to be the real power behind the throne? and if bismarck did not actually bring on this awful war, then he well knew the art of making other nations declare war. oh, he has learned a thing or two in his long and eventful life; and he is now about to create his diplomatic masterpiece--in the belgian weaver's hut. * * * * * ¶ sedan surrendered generals, , various other officers, , prisoners of war, pieces of artillery, field guns, mitrailleuses, , horses, and enormous quantities of military stores. ¶ the broken-hearted emperor was sent away to the castle at wilhelmshoehe, near cassel. and the king of prussia opened the champagne at his royal headquarters at vendresse, and toasted von roon, moltke and bismarck: "you, general von roon, whetted our sword; you general von moltke, wielded it; and you, count bismarck, have brought prussia to its present prominence by the way in which you have directed its policy for several years." in which bismarck reaches the zenith of his stupendous career; diplomatist, ministerial cæsar, unifier of his country. ¶ the iron chancellor held firmly to his plan to strip france of her last franc. the siege of paris continued, with bismarck and the king of prussia installed at versailles, within the shadow of the stately palace of the kings of france. * * * * * ¶ it is a long, vivid story leading to the , , , francs indemnity, and the cessation of alsace-lorraine. m. thiers treated in vain to get softer terms; but bismarck kept the king out of it and stuck to his hard bargaining. ¶ "this is not war, it is confiscation!" thiers exclaimed one day in terrible anger, and eloquently he parleyed to have the amount reduced. ¶ bismarck thereupon began to talk in german! ¶ "i have not enough french to answer such a charge as you have just made!" he thundered. "henceforth, we carry on our affairs in german." ¶ m. thiers threatened to appeal to europe to intervene, but at this bismarck broke into a hoarse laugh. he knew that he had in his pocket a secret quit-claim from russia and italy, denmark and belgium were tied in another way, spain was hostile to the french, and as for england--he snapped his fingers! ¶ "defy me, and i tell you what i will do! we have in germany about , excellent french troops, captured at metz, who are still wholly devoted to the old imperial cause. i will release them and bring back the bonapartists! i care not who is in power so long as the proper sovereign government of france signs our peace demands for indemnity. napoleon cannot do it, as his throne is in ruins; and even if he did, the next party in power would probably set it aside. so part of my duty is not only to demand for my king the just rewards of our victory, but to start france again with some new form of government." ¶ going behind this stern diplomatic language, what bismarck really meant was this: "the longer the french assembly hesitates to call an election the more we will starve the city into submission. live on horseflesh, stale bread, cats and dogs!--die of fever and pestilence!--the sooner it is over! our siege guns will continue to bark night and day, paris will be reduced to ashes, crumble to ruins, but the demands of the prussian king must be obeyed. no power on this earth can turn me from my project. i am resolved to wage a war of extermination--and i have spoken!" ¶ "very well, then!" exclaimed m. thiers, "m. le comte, as you will! rob us of our homes!--provinces!--burn down our homes!--strangle our peaceful inhabitants!--in a word, complete your work! we shall fight you as long as our breath remains. perhaps we shall die--but we shall never be dishonored." ¶ bismarck seemed touched, but said all he had to do was to obey the orders of the king. meantime he went out and was closeted again with moltke and his majesty. ¶ "i do not believe," said m. favre, "that any criminal ever waited for the judgment with more feverish anxiety. motionless, we followed with bewildered gaze the hands of the clock. ¶ "the door opened; bismarck stood on the threshold, announcing that he would not insist on the german troops entering paris--provided we gave up belfort! ¶ "there was a moment of inexpressible agony, but an exchange of glances sufficed. 'we should be wanting in patriotism if we accepted!' exclaimed m. thiers. the door closed and bismarck disappeared again. ¶ "at eight o'clock, m. thiers had reaped the reward of his heroic endeavors. he had saved belfort, but in all other respects he had absolutely failed to move the man of blood and iron. for five fearful days they had wrestled with the problem of the , , , --and had lost! bismarck had his own banker, the jew bleichroder, to show that after all the indemnity would be adding 'only about one-fourth' to france's national debt." ¶ on sunday, february , the preliminaries of peace were signed. as thiers signed, bismarck took him by the hand, saying, "you are the last who ought to have been burdened by france with this sorrow--for of all frenchmen you have the least deserved it!" ¶ bismarck, radiant with joy, signed the papers with a new golden pen sent him for this express purpose by the ladies of the german town of pforsheim. * * * * * ¶ said m. favre: "the countenance of m. de bismarck was most happy. with theatrical pomp, he sent for a golden pen.... m. thiers approached the little table on which lay the documents; he wrote his name without betraying the feelings that tortured him. i tried to imitate him, and we withdrew. the sacrifice was accomplished. ¶ "as a special understanding, it was agreed that the siege should be lifted that morning at four o'clock and that france should fire the last shot. ¶ "what sentiment in this, for paris! along then, in the deep night that precedes the dawn, with the sky illuminated by occasional flashes of the siege guns, at last the fire lessened, slackened gradually, and then solemn silence fell. suddenly, through the night, a loud report was heard from the paris ramparts, followed by a path of fire through the sky; this immediately died away, and deep silence, now unbroken, continued. ¶ "the long siege was over!" ¶ on the third day after signing the hard conditions, , german troops made their triumphal entry into paris, after being reviewed on the plain of longchamps. with the victorious prussians, bismarck rode as far as the arc de triomphe. ¶ it was one of the greatest incidents of his eventful life. * * * * * we have transposed to the last an episode that took place january th, , the anniversary of the day on which the first king of prussia had himself crowned at koenigsberg, . in the hall of mirrors, at versailles, king william i of prussia was crowned german emperor, amidst a clash of arms, martial music, hymns of praise, and the felicitations of a brilliant throng. in the semi-circle stood princes, grand dukes, dukes, crown princes, hereditary princes, generals, ministers, military and political figures, against a background of prussian hussars. ¶ the hall of mirrors at versailles had seen many astonishing sights in the centuries gone by; and doubtless that night the shades of richelieu, louis xiv, napoleon, marie antoinette, marie theresa, madam pompadour, looked down on one of the strangest incidents in all history, a german emperor receiving his crown in the very palace of the old french kings, who in their turn, had waged some twenty hard wars upon germany, and more than once had placed some part of german soil in pawn. who read the proclamation to the assembled company expressing the new dignity of the sovereign over united germany? ¶ the man of blood and iron, otto von bismarck, at last had demonstrated the dream of his life, that is to say, he had in truth not only long been king's man, but also long had upheld the king his master; had unified germany;--and now had made his master more than king, as william i, german emperor. ¶ bismarck's life work was now practically over; however, he was a busy man for twenty years to come, trying to settle germany's perplexing internal problems; but in the hall of mirrors at versailles he reached the zenith of his stupendous career as unifier of his country. ¶ in this magnificent state apartment of louis xiv are seventeen arcades of looking-glass, corresponding to the seventeen large windows; the ceiling by lebrun shows thirty incidents in the life of louis the magnificent, each painting bordered by rich gilded sculptures. the entire gallery is decorated with marbles and grand trophies of gilded copper, by coysevox. in louis's time, the gallery was hung in white damask brocaded with gold; there were orange trees in rare boxes; the great central chandelier of gilded silver was by famous smiths; priceless savonnerie carpets muffled the lightest foot-fall; round about were silver stools, with green velvet coverings surrounded by bands of gold brocade. later, the silver was melted down, on louis's order, and the money squandered. ¶ these great artists worked in the hall of mirrors and neighboring apartments: berain, monsart, lebrun, lenotre, grissey, vigarani, audran, baptiste, coustau, coypel, van cleve, taffieri, taupin, tempore, temporiti, numbering among them painters, sculptors, designers, architects, wood carvers, silversmiths and lockmakers extraordinary. ¶ here, louis, surrounded by some , flatterers of all degree, high and low, kept his court of pleasure bestowing ribbons, favors, dinners, golden swords for the men, diamond necklaces for the women. ¶ however, ended all that; the mob stormed into imperial chambers and through the apartments of the old aristocratic french courtesans; and with clubs, axes and fires laid in ruin art treasures that stood unmatched through centuries. ¶ to this versailles come now the prussian soldiers to proclaim their german emperor; in this palace, where the bourbons had expended some , , francs, as money is reckoned today; to say nothing of the free labor of thousands of convicts. no record tells what louis spent on the place, but in august, , , horses and , convicts were working there, and in at one time as many as , convicts, in charge of soldiers, added their vast free labor to heighten the peculiar glory of the great french monarchs, as the sublime representatives of kingcraft--in its splendor and in its downfall. * * * * * ¶ all hail, william i, german emperor! all hail, bismarck! all hail, united germany! chapter xvi the versailles masterpiece the kaiser's crown at last, and how and why; herein, we sum up the very flower of our great man's genius; and mark it well! ¶ the very name "kaiser" brings up memories of the middle ages, thence backward to the days of imperial cæsar. kaiser, at best, is but cæsar, rewritten. yet bismarck was at great pains to make clear that the substitution of kaiser for king of prussia involved no restoration of ancient imperial institutions. ¶ the use of kaiser, as the title for the new monarch, had behind it a deep, almost religious purpose, in conformity with the sense of nationality and brotherhood to which through long and painful development the german states had at last attained. bismarck calls the return of the title "a political necessity, making for unity and centralization." ¶ "i was convinced," he says, "that the pressure solidifying our imperial institutions would be more permanent the more the prussian wearer of the imperial title should himself avoid that dangerous striving on the part of our dynasty to flaunt its own pre-eminence in the face of other dynasties. king william i was not free from this inclination ... to call forth a recognition of the superior prestige of prussia's crown, over the kaiser's title." ¶ the kaiser idea is simple: he is the sworn servant "of" the people, but his terms are his own, viz., all is "for" the people, but not "through" the people. such in a few words is the bismarckian conception of a strong ruler. * * * * * ¶ it was not, then, to be "an expanded prussia," but a german empire. and the kaiser's powers are hence the legal functions of an imperial organ, attached by the organic law of the empire to the prussian crown. thus germany is a true state, but not a monarchy; sovereignty does not rest with the kaiser, but with the totality of the allied governments. and in turn the old states became provinces of the empire; and the kaiser exercises his powers in the name of the empire. * * * * * ¶ however, it must be recalled that bismarck always detested political and social conformity, trampled conformity under foot, and with wild voice ridiculed conformity--especially when conformity meant to yield to the peasants a constructive share in the governments of the thirty-nine clashing german states. that is to say, his idea of freedom was to make the state paramount, guiding, directing and if need be disciplining the people. ¶ memories fasten themselves on us, at this moment, memories of the old days of struggle for nationality. it was on bismarck's advice that, although frederick william iv was bitten by the ambition to become ruler of united germany, yet when the democratic frankfort diet offered him the crown, he did indignantly refuse; and many years later, his successor--that old man with the wonderful history!--william i, after the victories of sedan and gravelotte, was mightily afraid that the berlin parliament, representing democratic conformity, would offer him the honor of emperor before that gift could be bestowed by the princes themselves. ¶ ludwig of bavaria in his letter to william, urging the imperial title, kaiser, or german emperor, uses these words: "i have proposed to the german princes to join me in urging your majesty to assume the title, german emperor, in connection with the exercise of the prædial rights of the federation." but it was bismarck's masterpiece of politics, equal to his stroke of holstein, that sent to the king of bavaria the proper diplomatic advices, to be acted upon by the south german princes and returned to the supposedly surprised william, urging on him to become german emperor. * * * * * ¶ in spite of bismarck's fine hand, bavaria at first refused to accept the iron chancellor's advices. there is light on this topic in herr ottokar lorenz's "foundation of the german empire," making clear among other facts that "the german eagle had a narrow escape from dying in the egg." twice negotiations were broken off; finally, when the king of bavaria tried to get his countrymen behind him in the plan to proclaim william of prussia, german emperor, at versailles, "it was only after some hesitation and much regret." it took the bavarian landtag a month to make up its mind! to read the heated discussions is to destroy the legend that the proclamation of the kaiser was by spontaneous demand. ¶ but we must not press these things too far. the fact that king william had to fight for the magnificent honor he had won for himself and his country, is merely to say that men are men; nor should we ever forget that nothing creates so much jealousy as prosperity. ¶ herr bismarck had the cleverness to win, at last, and after that there is little to be added. for that matter, the much-lauded revolt of the american colonists against britain was originally not endorsed by over one-third of the inhabitants. yet, with the final victory, like a pack the colonists went over to the winning side, saying, "we told you so." ¶ we have nothing but praise for the way in which bismarck created his versailles masterpiece. that there was a political squabble behind the curtain, in bavaria, was to be expected. ¶ tell me, did you ever achieve any success that you did not have to go out and fight for? it is an amiable fiction that men "recognize" each other's work, in politics, and "urge" on them rulership over nations. they, too, have to get out and fight for it! * * * * * ¶ this necessity for turbulent striving to carry out political ideas was especially true of germany during the period of which we write. complex conditions long made national unity a profound problem, not only in politics but in human nature. ¶ all manner of blacklegs were at work with here and there an honest man; national oratory was at once visionary, ludicrous and tragical; fanatics of the bomb, the knife and the poison-cup for years were abroad in the land. these situations, growing from times past, compel you to hold with bismarck that ultimate appeal to the sword was after all the only hope for a new germany. ¶ bismarck did it grossly, but at least he went through with it--call it militarism or what you please. ¶ for that matter, neither britain, france, belgium, (nor the united states with her -odd variants of christianity in her -odd religious sects), grew out of political cynicism, least of all out of some aloof system of esoteric idealism. ¶ the king of britain owes his crown to the sword; the president of france his high office to the sword; the belgian king traces his legitimacy to revolution; likewise, to revolution the president of the united states owes his right to rule during his brief hour of official authority. ¶ but what would you in this imperfect world? german unity sprang from the needs of human hearts--fighting bravely for what they hold important!--even as you fight for your rights, or consent to remain a slave. and germans never will be slaves. ¶ therefore, know it now and be done with it, or make the most of it if you are inclined to snarl at realities: the kaiser's crown came by the sword. surely, you did not expect that it fell from heaven? as long as men are men, they must fight for what they achieve; and the german empire is no exception;--nor is there any good reason to expect that history can possibly be other than the record of human nature, in action. ¶ up to his downfall in , bismarck was an uncompromising royalist, scoffed at the common people as a source of political sovereignty. ¶ no man knows what is, ultimately, for the glory of god; but when in bitter retirement, thrown off by the grandson of william i, bismarck, replying to the old dispute about the interior causes of the franco-prussian war, to which william owes his title german emperor, it is a fact that bismarck proceeded to weaken the royalist tradition by forcing the government to produce the ems dispatch; and it was then made clear to the common people that there was behind it all the under-play of politics, thus dispelling the religious and patriotic glamour that the war had been entered upon to protect the fatherland against the land-lust of napoleon the little. had now the military right been used not to express the will of god, but the ends of human expediency? ¶ bismarck certainly knew all this before the great war, but for reasons of political expediency suppressed the facts till in a moment of indignation he dropped the mask and called on all honest men to know the truth. bismarck, twenty years before, had with equal indignation set up before the prussians that their king had been grossly insulted, and that napoleon wanted the left bank of the rhine. ¶ but let us forget all this, in a broad acknowledgment of the fact that human beings at various times, for their own ends, do indeed wear various masks; and let us not keep up the fight forevermore;--but here and now let us grant to bismarck final absolution, not claiming for him the perfection of the demigod. ¶ after all is said, history is not the record of some far-off manifest destiny, but instead is merely the sordid story of human nature in action, reciting at best the littleness that appertains to men's ways, with now and then the unrealized expression of some fleeting larger hope. his versailles masterpiece reduced to its final analysis, in terms of human nature; wherein it is made clear that bismarck knew his german peasant as well as his prussian king. ¶ the core of human interest around which bismarck shaped his stupendous politico-military drama, in order that, in the end, william might become german emperor, was neither an appeal to parliaments nor to armies, but a reply to a peculiar psychological something in the teuton character that makes respect for the strong hand. it is only in the largest way that this fact may be made clear. it escapes categorical statement;--and can best be glimpsed behind the history of events, from the psychological rather than the physical side. ¶ bismarck manipulated an invisible but very real human force, made it the breath of life for his plans! ¶ that he warped on the nineteenth century the old holy roman empire conception of divine-right is an amazing politico-military fact. it was only after many brilliant achievements that, at the height of his power, cæsar linked himself with the gods. cæsar's earlier life knew no such pretensions, but as he climbed the dizzy heights of fame, at last the day came when his kinship with the immortal gods themselves alone satisfied his inordinate ambitions; and from that time forth divine-right became an established fact in the theological-political code of kings; and thus on, down through the middle ages, until the french revolution destroyed confidence in the old-line absolute monarch, as vicegerent of christ on this earth. * * * * * ¶ however, that otto von bismarck, the blond pomeranian giant, warped on the nineteenth century the imperial cæsarian idea of the divine-right of kings is not the final fact of his work. the inner fact is that he urged the king's authority as a foil against the mob-idea of the french revolution. the liberty-crazed masses needed a strong hand at this time. ¶ what made possible the coming of the empire was not, after all, traceable entirely to the political side of bismarck's hotly contested struggles. the innate craving of the german people for a strong ruler has a subtle inner meaning, too easily overlooked. ¶ in the final analysis, bismarck's position expresses prussian sense of national security in a powerful war lord, rather than supports the conception of master and man. his was not the position of lord and servant; rather it means a manly, intelligent admission of the necessity of a strong central authority in the nation. ¶ by the force of years of tedious repetitions, building on the plain laws of mental suggestion, bismarck at last created certain dominating ideas; but the germ of these ideas already existed in prussia's consciousness. the prussian character supporting divine-right represents a singular compound of cadet, blind confidence in aristocratic leadership, religious radicalism, worship of ancestors approximating the chinese sentiment, and finally, a racial psychology of rulership, based on the rattan of frederick the great. on this total combination, the astute bismarck played for thirty long years, warring for his lord and master, the hohenzollerns. a careful reading of bismarck's speeches, letters, dispatches, will show that whatever political expediency he may at various times have followed, and however often he may have changed front, there is still in his great labor a tireless repetition of ideas commanding respect for vested authority, for ancestry, for a ruling class as against the ruled, and always for absolute dog-like obedience to some central commanding power. * * * * * ¶ the psychological something on which bismarck builded his german empire is bismarck's recognition of the peculiarities of his german peasant, as well as of his prussian king. we come now to some great central racial facts. bismarck's unending eulogies of military glory, now extolled in the high language of a victorious commander-in-chief, again as a drill-sergeant sharply criticising the squad, are not to be dismissed as the expressions of one in large authority, speaking from the steps of the throne. bismarck's work would have failed had he not linked it to some secret craving of the teutonic heart, far deeper than conquering the jealousies, intrigues and selfishness that compose the long story of the rise of the german empire. ¶ historians may talk as much as they please about bismarck's executive and administrative genius, but these, great as they are, are overshadowed by his power of political spirit-healing, as it were; through practice of his peculiar psychotherapy he cured sick germany of many of her ills; at the same time bringing about german brotherhood in a way that added to the great glory of prussia. ¶ appealing to the solemn religious side of prussian character that expresses itself in upholding authority, in church or state, bismarck incessantly lauds the descendants of noble families, and sets up that prussian military aristocracy alone reared up prussian political legitimacy. he presents likewise the idea that the supreme quality of german manhood is courage; and to bismarck's mind the sovereign german virtue is revealed in strong-willed eager soldiers. while in these lofty moods, bismarck displays enormous family pride for his beloved aristocrats of brandenburg, is never weary of telling of their military prowess. he avows on many occasions his life-long regret that he did not enter the army as a career, instead of taking up the civil service; he digs into his family records and proudly numbers each bismarck who carried arms, even down to distant cousins, and is never so happy as when telling of bismarcks on many blood-drenched fields. above all else, he everlastingly insists that behind his demands for his king is the direct will of god. ¶ there is not the slightest doubt that as time passed and bismarck kept telling over and over for years that the king represented god's will on this earth, true prussians came at last to believe it more and more; for the reason that it was in their blood to believe, as it is the nature of a bull-dog to fight, a glutton to eat, a thief to steal, the sun to shine. * * * * * ¶ bismarck called on heaven to send its avenging lightnings on the heads of those who deserted their monarch, to their perpetual dishonor; could think of no crime more monstrous than ingratitude to his king, especially to a king by the grace of god. and bismarck declared again and again, as his deepest conviction, that the prussian crown was encircled by a heavenly aureole. in short, bismarck revived in its purest and most uncompromising form the doctrine of divine-right. ¶ in an age seemingly out of touch with this iron-bound mold of the feudal past, bismarck would have failed miserably were it not that he touched a responsive side of prussian character--dog-like loyalty to authority, compounded of military glory and a pale shimmering ghost of religious aspiration. the governing fact of the whole situation was psychological rather than physical; and all this stupendous cannonading at gravelotte, sedan, koeniggraetz, and the magnificent drama in the hall of mirrors, were after all merely so many evidences that bismarck better than all the tribe of his objectors knew the psychological core of prussian character. ¶ bismarck brought down the wrath of god on those rival leaders who dared to be disloyal to his divine-right king, and flew into frenzy at the very thought that a genuine prussian should expect wisdom from the common people. behind all this, was always the solid appeal to prussian military-cadet idea of loyalty and strong politico-religious instincts. ¶ manipulating this psychological side, invisible yet very real, bismarck shows his genius as a constructive statesman. without this intuitive touch of prussian consciousness, all the lustre that bismarck ultimately shed on the imperial crown would have been impossible. ¶ thus, we behold otto von bismarck, the rude, blond, pomeranian giant--in spite of his coarse speeches, his brawls, his political card-stacking, his enormous egotism, his passionate seeking after power--play with shakespearian subtlety on the strings of human passion. there is no larger character-side to our bismarck; so study it well and reflect on its wide meaning. * * * * * ¶ we are not here to say what bismarck should or should not have done, but we make up our mind about him by what he did do. ¶ he had peculiar ideas of religion, pleasure, duty, and certainly he had his own idea of what was best for prussia, and finally for germany. ¶ he bartered his immortal time for a king's crown and an emperor's glory, guns, swords, forts, marchings up and down the land. ¶ he bartered his time in angry disputes with his fellow-man, for prisons, broken homes, murders, tears for , widows and orphans. ¶ he bartered his time for magnificent spectacles such as the coronation of william i in the hall of mirrors at versailles, a palace outrivaling any creation of man since the days of nebuchadnezzar. ¶ he bartered his time for grand balls for aristocrats in silk coats and ladies in diamonds and satin gowns. ¶ he bartered his time that a certain space in europe be made over to his own liking. other kings and emperors with equal logic wished to have this space made over in a way that seemed as good as the one bismarck had in mind, but bismarck regarding it as a calamity that other plans should come to pass, fought bitterly with sword and cannon to back his individual opinion against all who disputed with him. ¶ he bartered his time that a certain part of the map be marked with one name instead of thirty-nine names, as had been the case when he came to power as a young man in the politics of prussia. ¶ and finally he bartered his immortal time in a thirty-years' gladiatorial fight that in the end millions of germans might feel the tingle of blood-brotherhood. how he faced the long, heart-breaking battle, therein we find the true measure of our great bismarck! thus his work, as an individual, is absorbed in the larger life of the german empire. these national services make bismarck one of the immortals; and his name will be remembered affectionately by germans for thousands of years. * * * * * ¶ the present review of german origins, through bismarckian genius, is concerned largely with the form of government established. the collective efficiency of the bismarckian idea, as worked out in the german constitution, promptly ascertains the will of the people, and carries out that will. ¶ the kaiser, through the chancellor, has the selection of all important public officials, and as king of prussia appoints prussian administrative officials; and in turn, the various kings choose the various public servants in their respective kingdoms. all hold office during good behavior, or for life; instantly responsive to the will of the kaiser, or to the bundesrath. the state officials are thus "the fingers of the kaiser," working the duties of the empire, free from the petty molestations that assail even the most trustworthy and patriotic american office-holders. ¶ in simple terms of parallel, the much-lauded american commission system, for the government of cities, was borrowed from the kaiser. the commission system delegates the power to a committee of five, who pass and execute the laws. this is precisely the principle laid down by the bundesrath, in which body is united executive, legislative and judicial functions. it is a fact that the cities most efficiently managed, in the united states ( ), are under the commission system, that is to say, the german conception of responsible politico-civic authority. ¶ german thoroughness, as well as german discipline, unite to make the german system a brilliant success; but in america the german collective idea is politically offensive because of our superstition that the way of liberty lies through incessant political changes. the american has confidence in the wisdom of large numbers, believes that by dividing the functions of government the people may be saved from themselves. one-man power is (theoretically) greatly feared, in america. despite the fact that in all great industrial undertakings americans appreciate the part played by personal responsibility, they are loath to admit that the principle makes for national political efficiency. * * * * * ¶ one final word: revolution means change; and in this sense the french revolution is important. in some respects, it is still going forward. however, in the practical side of the revolution was not understood, was therefore decried by conservative thinkers who saw in the excesses of the commune little that heralded a better day. ¶ in france, thousands of men misinterpreted emotional zeal for human brotherhood for fitness to govern. it is the old, old story. to come at once to the point: you must judge a nation as you do a man, not by what that man says, but by what he does. hence, from bismarck's point of view, it was time to be done with the bursting of blood vessels in a frenzy about equality, and to come down to the essential facts of human nature; or if you like the words better, human ways. it is not necessarily a mark of wisdom to issue "manifestoes against special privileges" and to set up that "all" the people are fit to rule an empire. the very reverse is the proof of history; few men indeed there are who have the patience, the discretion and the prudence to rule over other lives. also, the german race asks no upstart rulers; the idea of father and child, duty, discipline and personal responsibility is deeply grounded in the german conception of an adequate state. * * * * * ¶ there is small profit in using precious time denouncing bismarck's protest against french constitutionalism. let us, instead, try to understand why the old ways were cherished. and always bear in mind that the past holds mankind in a tighter grip than the radicals are willing to concede! there is no such thing as wiping off the slate and starting with a "new" set of ideas. the wisest man in the world cannot do that. at best, he recognizes the past, with here and there a slight variation. such, in short, was bismarck's broad and true idea of human necessity. and he planned his german empire accordingly. * * * * * ¶ bismarck was faced by these facts: the idiomatic ways in which german people thought and acted; their tastes and ideals, not only in politics but in society, law, religion;--nay, their very dreams. throughout, there is always a profound sense of personal responsibility to the state. the state is not to be forgotten for some spurious personal individuality. and mark this: that for generations "events" in germany all gave expression to certain racial habits of thought, against which all manner of communistic uprisings were anathema. german sense of discipline, duty and personal responsibility, in state affairs, is grounded on a high consciousness that is not satisfied with half-measures, bungling, waste, cheap politicians, and freakish legislation. the german takes himself too seriously to permit a bunko-politician to come on with faking, as a substitute for the national ideal of government. ¶ hence, bismarck's imperial democracy, with the kaiser at its head. * * * * * ¶ as between the inevitable contest between the crowd and the crown, springing from the inflammatory ideas of french constitutionalism, bismarck did not shrink; but fought it out in his own way. our man of blood and iron desired the blessings of liberty for germany with all the strength of his powerful being; but he could not stultify his common sense by meekly conceding no essential distinction between men, in their capacity for leadership. he was, then, intent on bringing out of the german political chaos a type of democracy that may be termed imperial as well as representative, in which the people are accorded their share, as he saw it, but always under the guidance of a strong central authority. ¶ and after all said in glorification of any special type of government, the stubborn fact remains that absolute equality, from a representative point of view, is a fiction unsupported by fact. the notorious incapacity and apathy of the masses is always, in the end, directed by central powers, exercised insidiously or openly as you please, but exercised nevertheless. in every political party we find a coterie, men of little wisdom it may be but leaders of the crowd; in every city commission is always one masterful man to whom the other members defer; in every banking house, one deciding voice; every religious organization must have a head, regardless of the number of counsellors; every ship a captain; every army a general; and, finally, in every family there should be the guidance and direction of a strong father. ¶ is there not a ring of sincerity in bismarck's manly acknowledgment of the inevitable equalities in the human stuff of which governments are composed? he saw only common sense in openly protesting that in any german government big enough and enduring enough to satisfy the german conception of responsibility, in a word german thoroughness, there must be, somewhere, a master-mind. ¶ for many years, and even today, bismarck is in some quarters regarded as the arch-enemy of the common people, but his great work has stood the acid test of time. the german empire, builded under bismarck's broad ideas may be likened unto a wonderful watch, in which each part does its peculiar work without even a gambler's chance of going wrong. book the sixth once a man and twice a child chapter xvii the downfall the secret discontent of the man who believed himself sole founder of the german empire. ¶ when the kaiser, on that eventful day in march, , turned and told the old man to go, bismarck received the heart-breaking sentence without a sign of protest. ¶ to a friend who called he told the news in a calm voice, a smile on his lips, congratulating himself on being able to resume his country life, of which he was so fond, of visiting again the forests on his estates, and "belonging to himself" in the few years that were yet left. ¶ "i'll soon be gone," he said, "and it is time i should take a rest." ¶ the story is long and complex, but we will give you the large details, only. the day comes when bismarck's old friend, emperor william i, passes from this earthly scene; his son, frederick iii, reigns three months and is carried off by cancer of the throat. the doom of bismarck is now sealed! emperor william i was the firm foundation of bismarck's strength, but the son did not like the iron chancellor, and within the three brief months of power before death called, frederick iii let it be known that bismarck was marked for retirement. frederick's one act leveled against the bismarck family-dynasty was to dismiss von puttkammer, minister of the interior. ¶ now enters william ii, aged , a mighty man in the making, a sleepless man, one who in his time was to become the standard by which henceforth all german institutions are to be measured. his first address to the army; his second, to the navy; his third, three days later, to the citizens. ¶ did he not ask old von moltke to resign? yes, and others. it was not, as many historians set up, that emperor william ii was jealous of bismarck, nor was it a case of "crabbed age and youth cannot live together." ¶ the emperor, with firm feeling in his will to imperial power, wishes to develop germany along lines of world-wide importance. bismarck was of the past; william of the future. the blow fell march th, . ¶ the world gave a gasp of astonishment; it seemed impossible that bismarck, the master-mind of united germany, should be unceremoniously shuffled out of sight. political writers the world around become involved in spirited controversies, on the whole supporting the old man and denouncing what seemed like ingratitude on the part of the new emperor. it was pointed out that bismarck himself, speaking to the czar, had only a short time before declared, "i hope to die in office, always a good friend of russia." also that william ii had on new year's telegraphed to bismarck, "that i may long be permitted to work with you, for the welfare and greatness of the fatherland!" * * * * * ¶ if bismarck was not made by a king's breath, at least a breath destroyed bismarck's control of the situation. bismarck had long ruled the lives of millions; but when wm. ii snapped his fingers and said "finis!" the old chancellor had to go. the loss of bismarck's influence was as complete as though instead of being the foremost man of his time in the diplomatic world, he was instead only a clerk discharged by his superior. * * * * * ¶ in listing the elements on which bismarck builded there is always one often overlooked, yet at the very foundation, the bottom stone in the wall. that one was the favorable attitude of king william i. without the king's consent, bismarck's career would have been impossible! herein, we find a classic illustration of how interdependent are men's lives; what small causes sustain or defeat great careers. * * * * * ¶ but first we wish to tell you something of his honors during the past few years, also of the munificent patronage of the kaiser, going far to refute the libel that the kaiser was ungrateful. the patient kaiser in truth dealt nobly with the moody old man. on the old man's th birthday ( ), the people of germany offered a gift of $ , , , one-half of which bismarck used to repurchase the ancestral estate, schoenhausen, which he had sold in his impecunious years; and now, thanks to the gratitude of the german nation, the old place, mightily enlarged and improved, passed again into bismarck's hands. the other half of the $ , , bismarck set aside as an endowment fund for school teachers. ¶ even victor hugo added his hero-worship, in this curious letter: "the giant salutes the giant! the enemy salutes the enemy! the friend sends the greeting of a friend! ¶ "i hate you, cruelly, for you have humiliated france; i love you because i am greater than you. ¶ "you kept silence when my eighty years sounded from the belfry of my glory; but i speak now because the stolen clock which stands upon your desk, refuses to announce to you that your th birthday has come. ¶ "if you and i were united in one person, the history of the world would have been ended.... but you are great because you know not what fear is. therefore, i, the poet, offer my hand to you, the great man." ¶ the prince, thunderstruck, wrote in reply two words, "otto--adieu!" * * * * * ¶ nor was this all. the pope bestowed upon bismarck the order of christ, for ameliorating the last of certain hard conditions against the church, dating from the culture-struggle of years gone by. ¶ in , emperor william i had invested bismarck with the hereditary dignity of prince, and william ii conferred on bismarck, at the time of dismissal ( ), the title duke of lauenburg, together with a larger share of the duchy of lauenburg, an estate on which the emperor expended $ , , . ¶ the old man's income was now said to be in excess of $ , a year; in addition he received unnumbered gifts of a princely nature, as well as priceless tokens of sentimental esteem, from patriotic germans the world around. ¶ it was a relief to bismarck, in his old age, to know that his family would be rich and famous. he had been deeply engrossed in politics for years, and all his ambitions had been exhausted on his beloved germany; he not only had no time to make money, but was heavily in debt; his interest account, for loans, was said to have been, for many years, $ , per annum. how he managed to keep his head above water (with all the distractions of statesmanship, to say nothing of the burdens of three great wars, and the embarrassments of his private finances) shows the man's iron constitution as well as his sagacity in practical affairs. ¶ in all, bismarck received forty-eight orders of distinction, at the hands of monarchs; also a long list of university degrees, medals and golden keys bestowing the freedom of german cities. * * * * * ¶ the immediate cause of bismarck's dismissal had to do with an old "order in council," , to the effect that the prime minister, as head of the prussian cabinet, had autocratic powers. this order the kaiser now abruptly countermanded. the decision was made following an interview between bismarck and dr. windhorst, at bismarck's house. william ii did not much like this political jockeying on the part of bismarck; windhorst was an enemy of the established order; therefore, that the prussian chancellor should hold a secret caucus with a politician objectionable to the emperor created a crisis. the kaiser, who lived in a wire-hung whispering gallery, knew at once that bismarck and windhorst had been in conference; and early on the day following, william abruptly appeared at bismarck's and asked to see the chancellor. bismarck came down in morning gown and slippers, for he had been summoned from his bed! ¶ "what is the meaning of this windhorst interview?" inquired the kaiser sharply. bismarck replied with spirit. the breach widened. bismarck took the ground that it was none of the kaiser's business who called at the bismarck house. ¶ the kaiser then insisted that in the future he should be notified in advance of prospective political interviews, that, if he so desired, he might send a personal representative, to report the drift of the talk. this made bismarck furious; the old man rebelled, flatly! ¶ it was a sharp, short, painful scene; by no means a ceremonious discussion of constitutional prerogatives, or the amicable rearrangement of methods of transacting state business. instead, it was the parting of the ways, the breaking of old ties;--and after all these long years! ¶ "then i understand, your majesty, that i am in your way?" ¶ "yes!" ¶ "enough!" ¶ "haste!" rejoined the kaiser; and thus, in few words, the celebrated interview came to an end. ¶ in parting with the chancellor, the kaiser made bismarck prince of lauenburg and gave him a very valuable country estate, and added also the rank of field marshal. the princes of germany joined in good wishes for the old man's peace and happiness, for his declining days. ¶ peace and happiness--what a satire! and bismarck was intensely human! "who made united germany?" is his question. ¶ the women of his household did not take the news quietly. ¶ the imperial messenger arrived with the kaiser's portrait, as a farewell souvenir to prince bismarck. his wife exclaimed: "take it to friedrichsruh and let it be placed in the stable!" * * * * * ¶ at the depot, a great crowd came to see the old man depart for the country, but the kaiser was not there. bismarck's hoary age, his great dignity, his known services to germany, were now dear to the heart of germans; thousands gathered, in spontaneous farewell, crowding around the old man and kissing his hand. ¶ now let us face the facts. to a man of bismarck's iron mold, the exercise of power is the breath of life; this made it a tragedy for the aged bismarck to withdraw. it was but natural for him, as time passed and his ambition grew, that he should believe himself the sole founder of the german empire. his constant utterances after his downfall bear out this idea. the composite victory of scores of minds merged in his imagination and now crystallized in his own soul victory. such is human nature, and so we say "wellington won the battle of waterloo," but is this strictly true? true or false, such is human habit of thought, and bismarck was also now shown to be human enough to claim it all for himself. * * * * * ¶ the story of wolsey over again; our old counsellor of state thrown off in his declining years; and we can almost hear bismarck in his great bitterness repeat the tragic words: had i but serv'd my god with half the zeal i serv'd my king, he would not in my age have left me naked to mine enemies! ¶ bismarck's further official presence was irksome to the new master. with the iron decision characteristic of hohenzollern, william ii ended the situation, with a stroke of his imperial will. in this attitude william not only acted wisely, but showed himself every inch a kaiser. ¶ besides, bismarck was plotting in a very human way to support and advance the rising fortunes of the bismarck family. would you not have done as much, or even more? in his princely office, bismarck thought to found a diplomatic dynasty of his own, wherein the servant becomes the master; he made his son, young count herbert, minister of foreign affairs, a rise in life prodigiously fast for one who used to fill the function of holding his father's dispatch bag in the parliament, when the old man made speeches, supported by incessant drinking of brandy. bismarck, himself, was chancellor, minister-president, foreign minister; his cousin, minister of the interior; and there were many other bismarcks in state service, trained to know the old man's policy. constructive governmental work was all in bismarck's power;--and he meant to keep it there. ¶ these many acts of family favoritism, arousing the indignation of the new emperor, played an important part in determining the old man's dismissal. the king was offended by bismarck's many acts of nepotism, "the greatest," he secretly declared, "which politics have ever recorded." * * * * * ¶ a high official said to bismarck after koeniggraetz: "you should be well satisfied;--it made you a prince!" ¶ "it made me a prince," mused bismarck, with a sudden and unaccountable show of irony. then, pointing to the map of united germany, he replied with deep-rooted conviction that revealed how the fires of ambition were consuming his very soul: "a prince, did you say? yes, there is my principality!" ¶ from that hour, the suspicious and irrascible side of bismarck's mind continued to expand. some of us quarrel with our family, our partners, or our political party, asking who was responsible for the disaster, but the most deadly disputes are those called forth by ambition to decide not who was responsible for the loss, but who made the success. ¶ small cause; great effect. ¶ and bismarck was intensely human! the elements of his greatness number three--here read two, but the third and greatest is yet to come. ¶ now you ought to begin to understand the man in his naked reality; his elements of greatness compounded with crying frailties--but his very faults endear him to us the more, because they show him brother to the weak. ¶ threefold a great man, great in ambition and courage; greater in compelling victory through years of patient and moody planning; but greatest of all in his downfall, when turning his back upon the blaze of glory, he retires to the country to view the mighty forests, and to take long walks with his dogs over the fields, communing with himself, the winds of heaven, and the immortal stars. ¶ his time is now very short; the sands have all but run out of the glass. for the first time in many, many years, he now belongs to himself once more--on the very edge of the tomb--before the sun is to go out forever--and the long night settles down. ¶ does he still believe in his old ikon? in the secret chamber of his heart does he still believe that god was behind it all, on the side of the needle-guns of sadowa? ¶ the justifications of earth ofttimes betray themselves in strange superstitions, and there always was a large strain of superstition compounded in the great mind of this great man; not unlike the superstitions of a brother conqueror, julius cæsar, who was wont to crawl on his belly to the temple, there to return thanks to the immortal gods for success in battle. ¶ to his dying day, otto von bismarck held fast that he was the instrument of god, and that god did it all, through him. flesh and blood needs some explanation for its ways--and it may be that one interpretation is on the whole as good as another. with bismarck the ikon was god. * * * * * ¶ on his part, as a human being, for many years bismarck nursed his seemingly impossible dream of expelling austria from the german states and binding up thirty-nine principalities in one grand empire. this ambition he pursued incessantly, and ultimately succeeded in reaching by his genius in manipulating the human nature side of the men around him. he worked for himself, for his king and for his ideal of a united germany. he gave to the seemingly hopeless cause all his time, strength, nay, his very soul. ¶ his was also now the secret discontent of a man who thought himself the sole founder of the german empire. it was so understood by kaiser william. for the time being, then, the patient kaiser, averse to wounding the pride of a true german servant of the empire, permitted the overleaping ambition of his great minister of state to have sway; but william knew that, soon or late, the break must come; and in his own mind had already decided on the man who was to take bismarck's place. ¶ little by little threats came; men in high office secretly inveighed against bismarck's new ambitions; it did not escape the attention of the emperor's intriguers, who now worked against the old man's family aspirations; then came more resolute attitudes on bismarck's part, egged on by his wife and by his son, who each had grown prodigiously ambitious. * * * * * ¶ enter general caprivi! * * * * * ¶ before the will of the kaiser, bismarck must bow; and now behold how the mighty has fallen! we must henceforth seek him not in the splendid halls of state, but among simple rural scenes in schoenhausen, where he was born, where he lived as a child; and to these quiet shades under the oaks and elms he now returns at the last remove of life; a broken, world-weary man, full of honors it is true, but by the irony of fate come back to die stripped of worldly grandeur, and to ponder the vanity of all earthly ambitions. bismarck inveighs against the ingratitude of kings--a fighter to the end. ¶ did he take kindly to his enforced retirement? far from it. with all the querulous impatience of an octogenarian, full of whims, sick in soul and body, suspicious, irritable, dying inch by inch, a prey to insomnia, his neuralgic pains, his swollen veins, in short, a crabbed old man, awaiting the call--behold now our great otto von bismarck, and mark well to what narrow limits his power has shrunk. ¶ on one occasion he moodily replied to a question: "who are the hohenzollerns? my family is as good as theirs!" and the old man meant it, every word of it. ¶ he began bombarding the newspapers with bitter reviews, criticising the government, the affairs of the day. the african treaty he dissected, to caprivi's disadvantage. "i never would have signed it!" wrote bismarck, and the press took up the cry. any utterance from the old political sage was welcomed, the more caustic the criticism the better it read, all to the disadvantage of the emperor and the new advisers. ¶ many newspaper reporters called at bismarck's country retreat; the old man would tell them strong truths against the government. here and there, a newspaper came out as bismarck's official spokesman! ¶ it did seem as though nothing caprivi did ever pleased the old man. the curious fact was this: that bismarck in his own time had always held as an inviolable principle, "no criticism of the government in foreign affairs," but now he claimed a privilege he had never granted to another. ¶ one of his many startling confessions of state secrets was that the franco-prussian war never would have taken place but for the garbled ems dispatch. instead of being a "holy war," to support the very life of the fatherland, it was now made clear that the old divine-right idea had been but the stage-play of a political minister, for his imperial sovereign's march to glory. ¶ the last illusion was now dispelled. caprivi was obliged to issue a circular-letter to germany's diplomatic corps, everywhere, "do not mind bismarck's utterances; take no stock in them!" ¶ even when bismarck's old friend, von moltke, died, the man of iron refused to go to the funeral; he did not care to take a chance of meeting the emperor, there! ¶ querulous, iron-willed--such he is to remain. no giving up, no softening, no forgiveness; but blood and iron to the end. we must present him thus, our sad-hearted, irritable old master, proclaiming against the vanity of earthly glories, and like wolsey wondering on the frailties and ingratitude of kings, whose memories are indeed no longer than the going down of the sun. ¶ thus for two long weary years the bitter fight went on. * * * * * ¶ the old man now went on a trip to vienna, to see his son herbert married, but ahead of him the government had telegraphed, "no official welcome for bismarck!" the german ambassador, under instructions from berlin, did not dare attend the wedding, refused to notice bismarck's presence in vienna, officially. ¶ this was the last straw; it worked revulsion of popular feeling; the common people of germany, the self-same people that bismarck had so long doubted, now took up arms for fair play for the old man; and caprivi, made the scapegoat, was forced to resign. he was succeeded by hohenlohe, bismarck's friend, and leader in the bavarian national party. ¶ on bismarck's eightieth birthday, the emperor came in person, and with military honors presented the old man with a magnificent sword; but on bismarck's part the reconciliation was not sincere, you may well imagine that. wherein, at last, abandoned by his king, the plain people, whom the great bismarck so long politically ignored, now do indeed bind up the old man's wounds. ¶ bismarck's mighty nature never softened, but remained bitter to the day of his death, with fire and sword pursuing his enemies; broken by fate, his power gone, bismarck still continued consistent to the last; true to his iron nature, he returned the hatred of enemies with his own arrogant contempt. ¶ as the years of his downfall passed and men came to comprehend somewhat his extraordinary combination of overshadowing political genius in administrative and executive life, side by side with his strange superstitions and his many weaknesses of a grand order, this awe-inspiring man became beloved for his frailties by the very common people whom all his life long he had held under suspicion. the people rallied to his defense when kings quitted his side; they took up his cause because the old man had been outraged in his sensibilities, rather than because he was right; they sent him thousands of sympathetic letters, telegrams, presents; thousands of students, business men, women and children, visited him in his retirement; and by that touch of human nature that proves the world kin, took the embittered old man to their hearts in the name of the united germany that he had created with toil so infinite and battlings so long and blood-stained;--and they disarmed bismarck by honoring the name of their old enemy. ¶ it is a wonderful story of human nature, this story of how the german people rallied to bismarck's side; a story that reaffirms how slender after all is the space between the pomp of kings and the obscure destiny of the shepherd on the hills. the proud figure of the grand old man who was not too high to fall from power stands side by side with marius at the ruins of carthage. ¶ finally, as between the kings whom bismarck served so faithfully and who abandoned him at last, and the people whom he despised but who rallied to his side and bound up his wounds, this courageous giant, who during the long years in which he fronted the seemingly forlorn struggle for united germany, had been so conscientious in the discharge of his unpleasant duties, came at last to his peculiar eminence as one of the world's greatest characters. ¶ when he came to die, full of years and honors, although he had no national funeral like the magnificent outpouring that marked the return of napoleon's body to the banks of the river seine, yet in the hearts of the german people otto von bismarck was accorded the grandest funeral of modern times, if not of all time. that was many years ago; but his unapproachable memory still lives, as father of united germany--and his fame goes marching on. the old man's strange fancies as he passes the time awaiting his final call. ¶ behold our old master in retirement, as obscure as a simple country squire; and he reads again--what do you think? the book of job, bismarck's last reading, reminds him of the evanescence of all earthly glory, which passes away like the grass that is cut down by the mower. ¶ brave old fighter, with your show of dauntless spirit, down to the very end, we know that you are grown weary of it all, and in truth, in silent moments of self-communion, you do not care when the end may come, nor may it come too soon for you. ¶ he is worried all the time, now; worried about his son's health; worried about the death of his brother; broken over the death of his wife; distressed by the death of favorite dogs and horses. also, he recalls a gypsy saying having to do with the end of the bismarck family, under strange conditions, in these mystical words: dem grafen von bismarck soll es verleiber so lang sie vom horste die reiher nicht trieben-- or, "the counts bismarck shall reign at varzin as long as the herons are not driven from their ancient haunts"; in rude rhyme: "the bismarcks shall hold their domain till the day when they from their haunts drive the herons away." ¶ you see, the old man's mind was wandering, and now and then he saw the future, as in a strange dream. ¶ he watched the crows and jackdaws gather over the fields and at the rookeries, and he said one day, "they have their joys and sorrows like human beings." ¶ he recited shakespeare, thinking of the olden times when he went roaring up and down the land! "let me play the lion, too! i will roar that it will do any man's heart good to hear me. i will that i can make the duke say, 'let him roar again, let him roar again!'" * * * * * ¶ trifles annoyed the aged bismarck, as might be expected; such things as changing the clocks to introduce "standard time," as it is called. "i do not like this 'standard time'; here i get up half an hour too early and go to bed half an hour too soon," was the octogenarian's crabbed comment. ¶ day by day, crowds came to see him--children, students, laborers, artists, musicians, politicians, writers--all visited the sage in his retirement. levi, the wagnerian kappelmeister, journeyed from munich to friedrichsruh to beg the honor of owning, as a souvenir, one of bismarck's old hats. ¶ lenbach, the renowned artist, came to paint bismarck's picture; and noted the curious fact that although mecklenburgers have the largest german skulls, "bismarck's is larger still." ¶ bad nights, neuralgia, insomnia became his companions; but still ambition, the one supreme infirmity of his majestic mind, gives him no peace. what would future generations say of bismarck's work? and of the immediate present, has caprivi helped it any? was the repeal of my iron laws against socialism wise? why did not caprivi follow my plan of making the government the arbiter of german conscience? why did not caprivi carry the army bill? i fought for four years, once, to get army money for king william--and won over all obstacles! ¶ schaffer came to make the bismarck bust; it shows the chancellor with high-cut nostrils, heavy jaws, scowling brows. the old man likes it, because it presents him as a soldier; he is proud that he is a field marshal, prouder still of the bismarcks in the old wars, proud also that he is a prussian general of cavalry. ¶ then he scolds again about caprivi's treaty with austria, says it will cost fifty million marks a year and nothing gained. ¶ often in deep fits of melancholy, bismarck thinks that germany is ungrateful. for one thing, the government ought to recognize my son herbert; why, england saw in pitt the son of his father, a chip of the old block; and why not one bismarck after another, eh? * * * * * ¶ maybe dr. schweninger could do me some good, what do you think? this doctor is from south germany--and a very determined fellow with a jet black, piratical beard; he gives orders like a military man, is a believer in diet, and all that sort of thing. twenty years before, when bismarck's weight was , this south german dr. schweninger put bismarck through a course of "banting," and the chancellor rewarded the doctor with a chair in berlin, against the united protests of the faculty! why, yes, bring up dr. schweninger; he can make me well, i am sure. ¶ "i can make you live to be ninety, prince!" ¶ "then get to work; spare no time; i am in bad shape!" * * * * * ¶ letters, telegrams, felicitations in the form of magnificently embossed diplomas, continue to come, day after day; bismarck is given the freedom of cities; he is enrolled among engineers, carpenters, brewers, ship-masters, tailors; each guild demands that the iron chancellor's name head the list of honorary officers of the grand lodge. in one year the record shows , letters and , telegrams; and among these are begging letters asking a total of $ , , ! ¶ bismarck often grows tired of seeing visitors; he has built himself a secret spiral staircase, hidden in an unexpected place; and uses it against unwelcome callers. now and then, when his health permits, he is at his editorial work again, laboriously issuing his proclamations to the german people; he writes with a quill pen, and for a blotter prefers the old-time box of blue sand. for scribbling hasty notes, he prefers huge lead pencils, such as he favored in parliamentary days; pencils inches long, similar to those used by german carpenters. he sits at an immense oak table, and his chair seems uncomfortable; it has no back. at his side is his porcelain tobacco jar, two feet tall, and on the stand are innumerable pipes, which in turn are filled and smoked, all day long. he holds a sort of tobacco parliament every day. visitors must smoke a pipe or cigars, drink wine, meet the dogs, and hear the old man inveigh against these degenerate times. ¶ those big ulmar dogs are always around him. at meal times, no matter how fashionable the company, bismarck pauses at the end of the dinner to throw "sultana" or "cyrus" a biscuit! sometimes he wears his cuirassier's uniform, this broad-shouldered giant with the thick neck and the grizzled mustache; his eyes glower under his thick white brows, and in the depths of his faded blue eyes is the old look of determination. the old man's face is ashen grey, but he still has the stamp of immense dignity, a colossal personality, unquestionably representing the first public man of his time. folks bow to him, and he is master to the end; men are his servants, not his companions. ¶ he is always very deliberate; he has a peculiar way of stopping in the middle of a sentence to seek out in a moment of silence the exact word he needs. ¶ in the morning, he usually takes a stroll with his big dogs. it was a shock when "old william" died, and the emperor then gave bismarck "cyrus"; the prince also had "rebecca" and "sultana." the ulmar dogs, following the old giant, resemble tigers in their powerful slouching gait. at night they sleep in his bedroom. bismarck refuses to pass under the yoke--the octogenarian's last struggle of ambition. ¶ he has his superstitions to the end; about the number , about the number ; and he believes that the moon has power to make human hair grow. "it is best," he says, "not to make scoff of such matters." ¶ sometimes he goes over his orders of honor, forty-eight in all, and of great distinction; also, his learned degrees. university of halle made him doctor of philosophy; erlangen, doctor of law; tuebingen, doctor of political science; giessen, doctor of theology, and jena, six-fold doctor, that is to say doctor of medicine; and goettingen, doctor of law. * * * * * ¶ they bring him a joint of wild boar, shot in varzin forest, and he has a feast. his fondness for game he never gives up. also, to the last he has his champagne. after the franco-prussian war bismarck refused to drink german champagne, and told the emperor, quite plainly, "your majesty, my patriotism stops with my stomach; i simply must stick to french champagnes." ¶ he tells how he used to drink affenthaler and merkgraefler, years before at frankfort; these were first-rate, at one florin a bottle, or wholesale, the old man explains; by the liters, only kreutzers ( cents) a bottle. ¶ "red wine is for children, champagne for ladies, and schnapps for generals," is one of his drinking mottoes, but he tells that he himself prefers his old-line invention, the bismarck champagne and porter, a most powerful decoction, putting ordinary mortals under the table very early in the evening--but not the iron chancellor, not at all! ¶ he recalls amusing stories of his ancestors. "one ancestor put pigs' ears in pea soup and made a gastronomic hit." ¶ bismarck's eyes water one day and he explains, "the wine my ancestors drank to excess comes back in punishment for their sins." * * * * * ¶ what do you think? bismarck's old enemy, herr von sybel, the eminent author of the ponderous "history of prussia," called today, and bismarck was glad to see sybel, and they chatted a long time. as he and sybel talked of history, bismarck had moments when he held himself the one authentic builder of the german empire. ¶ gradually, he came to think that he alone of his own unaided might did the work. ¶ last scene of all in this great drama of bismarck! the octogenarian, in his downfall, is bitterly storming against his enemies. consistent to the end, he never weakened. he did not pass under the yoke of defeat by revealing any of those soft virtues that writers who make a wax doll of this mighty man would have us believe. he raged and stormed impotently in his retirement at friedrichsruh, and by every loud and insulting means in his power--by voice, pen, by special interviews, in his private letters, in his telegraphic dispatches, in his talks with the old friends or new callers, and to the last scratch of his memoirs--bismarck remains unrepentant, turbulent, to the end fighting bitterly against the fate to which he could not and would not submit. temperamentally and psychologically, it was impossible for him to act in any way other than that in which he did act--even as you, in your own life, are true to yourself in storm and sunshine, following some unformulated but idiomatic law of your being. bismarck believed himself a chosen instrument in the hands of god and tenaciously clung to the dominant idea that the bismarck work comprised all the raw materials of german history, affecting the german empire. his face is ashen, his grizzled mustache, eyebrows and hair white as the driven snow. ¶ on the whole, the old man is interested in events not in persons; he does not keep track of individuals; but he studies their work and its effects. so, in his retirement he talks of big events, mostly; all the while suffers from fits of depression and exhibits a growing moroseness, a peculiar characteristic of highly developed german character. he calls for kant, hegel, christ; and reads them, deeply. he likes hegel's idea that the history of the world shows "rational order," conceals a "manifest destiny." ¶ but the old man's one consolation is the book of job. he lays awake o' nights, unable to sleep, he says, "and it seems as though there were a mountain on my chest." ¶ he does not think much of gladstone's "home rule" ideas; this "let the people" rule is bad business, is the old man's comment. ¶ he is invited out a great deal, but always makes the same excuse, "i do not sleep well anywhere except in my own four-post bed. my traveling days are over, thank you." ¶ one day in the park, the ladies kissed his hand, but he replied by kissing their cheeks, and he made a little speech as though he were in parliament. ¶ he studies the thick walls of schoenhausen mansion and examines the old french cannon of ' scattered around the yard, as souvenirs. ¶ he superintends the planting of trees; and rules over his estate with all the old family dignity and unshaken firmness of soul. he asks his secretary to count the telegrams that came this past year and in round numbers there are , . the old man takes a notion to send each inquirer after his health a bismarck autograph. so each day, from april to august, he spends part of his time writing over and over in great scrawling letters, at the bottom of a printed card of thanks, the huge signature, "bismarck." * * * * * ¶ little things are beginning to bother the old man. he comes in today from a short walk and says he hates crows, because they are the enemy of the singing birds. ¶ neuralgia is tormenting him, day and night, and he is very irritable. school children come with teachers and after the children sing the old man bows and says, "children, i thank you." ¶ and this dr. schweninger, who promised bismarck ninety years of life, is always hovering about, like a military doctor, giving express orders to eat this, to get up at such an hour, to go to bed at such an hour, and to take a nap at such an hour. the old man obeys like a child. ¶ strangers wait at the village bridge to see bismarck and his dogs pass by; week after week delegations of working-men, lawyers, students, come to the house. schweninger orders him to take longer naps, not worry about politics and not to meet strangers. the old saying, "once a man and twice a child" is coming to pass; otto von bismarck is no longer the stubborn, dogmatic fellow that he was, even a few years ago. but he still scolds, fights and has his way with all--except the doctor. * * * * * ¶ tomorrow, april , , bismarck will be ; however, he does not seem to be failing much; but his face is ashen, his grizzled mustache, eyebrows and hair are as white as the driven snow. ¶ gardeners write to him that they have named their choicest new variety of rose, the bismarck; and cigarmakers have the bismarck shape, cutlers the bismarck dinner knife, a thick, sharp blade that will carve a duck's neck in a twinkling. ¶ however, the old man is growing weary of it all; and he hears with no great show of interest that the people are planning monuments everywhere. there is going to be an equestrian, helmeted statue in the market place at leipzig; at weringrode, a heroic-sized bismarck will lean upon a sword; there will be a column in hartzburg, victory with a lyre and another victory with a wreath; there is to be a statue at kissingen; a helmeted-heroic figure at freiberg; a column at charlotte-springs; a column at meiszen; at cologne, a heroic figure with a sword; a heroic "tyras and bismarck," dog and man, at leipzig; allegorical figures, "glory and war," for berlin; at wiesbaden, a statue symbolizing the bismarck national victory; a bust at heidelberg; at kreuznach; a heroic figure with helmet and sword, with "glory" at his feet; at zwickau, an allegorical memorial of noble proportions; a tower in the black forest; and still another at altona. ¶ no; it is no use! as we said before, the old man is growing very weary of it all; and now along comes arthur mendell, who paints for posterity that remarkable bismarck in which you see only the blazing eyes and the shining silver helmet--the bismarck of the brave days of ' and ' , when the german hosts carrying their deadly needle-guns, marched over the rhine--at bismarck's word! ¶ dear old bismarck, these wreaths of immortelles come to you in your retirement, but you have reached the time when the grasshopper has become a burden, and when you have but one wish left in this world--and that wish is to go in peace to your long sleep. ¶ coming, bismarck--coming very soon now, old soldier; and we know well how courageously you will answer up, when the invisible skeleton in armor calls your imperial name! chapter xviii hail and farewell prince otto v. bismarck receives his final and his one glorious decoration; and here we leave him, his fame secure among germany's immortals. ¶ the game is now all but played out. the last phase is to be the noblest expression. in his prime, bismarck was of massive proportions in mind and body; but of his moral nature both friends and enemies had often been in doubt for many years. now, even that was revealed to be in concord with his herculean bulk. ¶ the old glory passed from him, like a dream. he committed his soul to his god; and he heard again voices of nature that had been inaudible to him, during his many years of intriguing diplomacy. these voices spoke to him of the vanity and emptiness of human life, of the worthless baubles for which men exchange all they have, that is to say, their immortal gift of time, which soon passes away and is no more. the musings of the prince on the follies, inconsistencies and ambitions of life conspire to create a heroic figure like king solomon. all is vanity! the conqueror of a continent has so declared. he had held the world in his hand, and had found that the sphere is hollow. so go the fates of men. ¶ the great prince bismarck has now become as a beggar at the city's gates. * * * * * ¶ over his grand spectacle of human pomp and power, contrasted with his final self-abnegation, shining forth we see the heights and depths of human life; but in this case the end was greater than the beginning; the defeat than the victory; the downfall than the glory; and the disillusion than the dream. ¶ prince bismarck in his long career as friend and confidant of the kings of this earth, had been honored with forty-eight orders of distinction. it is needless to mention them all, but they included the iron cross and the order of merit, the one entitling him to sit with kings, the other to command an army corps. ¶ but the greatest decoration of all was the one he now wore, his high tide of glory gone. it is the decoration of the order of the disillusioned, bestowed upon himself by his own soul. soon or late, prince or pauper, and you and i, wear this order as at last we sit and wonder at the years gone by. ¶ let us silently pass on, leaving bismarck here, in the one solemn moment of his life; when he attains to real grandeur, stamps himself as greater than when he sat before kings. for now he possesses his own soul, in peace. and in this last picture, the end is greater than the beginning; the defeat than the victory; the downfall than the glory; and the disillusion than the dream. ¶ his final consolation was the book of job; and he read therein these strange and solemn words: ¶ what is my strength, that i should hope? and what is mine end, that i should prolong my life? is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh of brass? ¶ so am i made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me. when i lie down, i say, when shall i arise, and the night be gone? and i am full of tossings to and fro, unto the dawning of the day. my days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope. ¶ yea, man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward. i would seek unto god and unto god would i commit my cause; which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvelous things without number; who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields; to set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety. he disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise. ¶ behold happy is the man whom god correcteth; therefore despise not thou the chastening of the almighty; for he maketh sore and bindeth up; he woundeth and his hands make whole. he shall deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven there shall be no evil touch thee. in famine, he shall redeem thee from death; and in war from the power of the sword ... neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh. "as one asleep" ¶ on july , , just before midnight, otto edward leopold von bismarck, prince of lauenburg and former imperial chancellor of the german empire, died peacefully in the old homestead of his ancestors. the immediate cause of death was congestion of the lungs. ¶ "ich danke dir, mein kind," were his last words, addressed to his daughter, who had stooped to wipe the moisture from his pale brow. ¶ as late as the day he died, he had read the newspapers and talked politics. his final remarks were on the relations of germany and russia, at all times a subject of deep concern to him. ¶ dr. schweninger had promised to bring him to --and was seven years short. but the bismarck of retirement was not unhappy in the taking off; he had grown tired of it all; and it is pleasant to record that his last hours were without pain. ¶ a few days before, he had had his champagne, and had smoked five pipes in succession; also the day before he died, he had asked an attendant to "color" two new meerschaums, gifts of friends. toward the last, he had used an invalid's chair for breakfast, but otherwise he seemed as well as could be expected. * * * * * ¶ the windows looking upon the garden were opened, early next morning, and the servants of the household gathered there to look at the master, at rest. he was seemingly asleep in his four-poster bed, his head slightly inclined to the left; his expression was that of one gently dreaming; his arms were resting over the coverlet, and in his left hand he held one white and three red roses, a last love-token from an austrian lady. ¶ the expression of his features was, at the end, proud and noble; but the face was as grey as ashes; for the fire of life was out at last! * * * * * ¶ later, came two cuirassiers, in white, with drawn swords; and these massive figures stood there by the bedside, and by and by kept solemn guard beside the coffin; also, near by were two foresters, in green. ¶ books, papers, telegrams and a laurel wreath were in the death chamber, where the master had worked to the end. not far away was his favorite chessboard, also, within touch the emperor's last present, a fac-simile of frederick the great's great crook-headed gold cane; a step the other way the globe of the earth that bismarck used to roll over with his big hand, when he studied his endless foreign political combinations. ¶ later, came the magnificent funeral with the high military, and all the rest; but we think we shall take leave of him in his old room with these simple objects around him, his tools of work, his big oak desk, his mounds of state papers, his writings, his quill pens, his box of blue sand, his pipes, steins and champagne glasses, his letters, his telegrams, his great heaps of books, his immense correspondence on the affairs of nations, his diplomas from universities, his degrees of law, philosophy and letters, and finally, his big ulmar dogs. ¶ here we leave him as one asleep, reminded of his final words, uttered when the master was breaking fast with the infirmities of his eighty-three years: ¶ "there is only one happy day left for me. it is the one on which i shall not wake again." * * * * * ¶ his son refused the request that a death-mask be made of the noble old face, but lenbach's famous painting will recall the stern head for years to come. ¶ bismarck's coffin was of polished dark oak, with eight silver handles in the shape of lion's paws; candles burned around his coffin, the pale lights softened by veils of black and silver gauze that ornamented the silver candelabra. the floor was literally covered with wreaths, many bearing cards of sympathy in gold letters, from various eminent personages throughout the world. ¶ the kaiser heard the funeral services. * * * * * ¶ bismarck's mausoleum rests on a spot bismarck selected for himself; a plain romanesque house of death against a background of trees; and to the right still may be seen his favorite bench where he used to sit, under the shade of spreading oaks. the sarcophagus of yellow marble bears this inscription, selected by bismarck himself: here lies prince bismarck a faithful german servant of emperor william i. ¶ hostile critics of germany, brought forth by the great war of , profess to believe that this inscription on bismarck's tomb shows that bismarck did not wish his work to be associated with the future of the empire, but with its past. instead, it really proclaims the man's great mind, his clairvoyant historical vision. he could have said many things about himself, touching the great part he played in sustaining the pomp and majesty of kings; but his simple acknowledgment of the rôle of faithful servant, is more eloquent than sermons in brass. ¶ finally, a small altar to the right of the porch carries this text from colossians iii: , the motto given to bismarck many, many years before by rev. schliermacher, the pastor who confirmed the boy otto; and that motto became indeed bismarck's guiding star through life, as now well you do know, balancing his record with the solemn biblical injunction you read here beside the master's tomb: ¶ "and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the lord, and not unto men." the end * * * * * +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | transcriber's note: | | | | inconsistent hyphenation in the original document has | | been preserved. | | | | superscripted text is marked with ^{} for example: s^{ce} | | | | obvious typographical errors have been corrected. for | | a complete list, please see the end of this document. | | | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ * * * * * home life in germany by mrs. alfred sidgwick the chautauqua press chautauqua, new york mcmxii _first published may _ _second edition june _ _third edition _ contents chap. page i. introductory ii. children iii. schools iv. the education of the poor v. the backfisch vi. the student vii. riehl on women viii. the old and the new ix. girlhood x. marriages xi. the householder xii. housewives xiii. housewives (_continued_) xiv. servants xv. food xvi. shops and markets xvii. expenses of life xviii. hospitality xix. german sundays xx. sports and games xxi. inns and restaurants xxii. life in lodgings xxiii. summer resorts xxiv. peasant life xxv. how the poor live xxvi. berlin xxvii. odds and ends translations of foreign words and phrases in this book will be found in the appendix at the back of the volume. home life in germany chapter i introductory i was once greatly impressed by a story of an officer in the german army, who told his english hostess that he knew the position of every blacksmith's forge in yorkshire. i wondered at the time how many officers in the english army had learned where to find the blacksmiths' forges in pomerania. but those are bygone days. most of us know more about germany now than we do about our own country.[ ] we go over there singly and in batches, we see their admirable public institutions, we visit their factories, we examine their poor laws, we walk their hospitals, we look on at their drill and their manoeuvres, we follow each twist and turn of their politics, we watch their birth-rate, we write reams about their navy, and we can explain to any one according to our bias exactly what their system of protection does for them. we are often sufficiently ignorant to compare them with the japanese, and about once a month we publish a weighty book concerning various aspects of their flourishing empire. some of these books i have read with ardent and respectful interest; and always as i read, my own little venture seemed to wither and vanish in the light of a profounder knowledge and a wider judgment than i shall ever attain. for i have not visited workhouses and factories, i know little more about german taxes than about english ones, and i have no statistics for the instruction and entertainment of the intelligent reader. i can take him inside a german home, but i can give him no information about german building laws. i know how german women spend their days, but i know as little about the exact function of a bürgermeister as about the functions of a mayor. in short, my knowledge of germany, like my knowledge of england, is based on a series of life-long, unclassified, more or less inchoate impressions, and the only excuse i have for writing about either country i find in my own and some other people's trivial minds. when i read of a country unknown or only slightly known, i like to be told all the insignificant trifles that make the common round of life. it is assuredly desirable that the great movements should be watched and described for us; but we want pictures of the people in their homes, pictures of them at rest and at play, as well as engaged in those public works that make their public history. for no reason in the world i happen to be interested in china, but i am still waiting for just the gossip i want about private life there. we have pierre loti's exquisite dream pictures of his deserted palace at pekin, and we have many useful and expert accounts of the roads, mines, railways, factories, laws, politics, and creeds of the celestial empire. but the book i ask for could not be written by anyone who was not of chinese birth, and it would probably be written by a woman. it might not have much literary form or value, but it would enter into those minutiæ of life that the masculine traveller either does not see or does not think worth notice. the author of such a small-beer chronicle must have been intimate from childhood with the chinese point of view, though her home and her friends were in a foreign land. she would probably not know much about her ancestral laws and politics, but she would have known ever since she could hear and speak just what chinese people said to each other when none but chinese were by, what they ate, what they wore, how they governed their homes, the relationship between husband and wife, parents and children, master and servant; in what way they fought the battle of life, how they feasted and how they mourned. if circumstances took her over and over again to different parts of china for long stretches of time, she would add to her traditions and her early atmosphere some experience of her race on their own soil and under their own sun. what she could tell us would be of such small importance that she would often hesitate to set it down; and again, she would hesitate lest what she had to say should be well known already to those amongst her readers who had sojourned in her father's country. she would do well, i think, to make some picture for herself of the audience she could hope to entertain, and to fix her mind on these people while she wrote her book. she would know that in the country of her adoption there were some who never crossed their own seas, and others who travelled here and there in the world but did not visit china or know much about its people. she would write for the ignorant ones, and not for any others; and she would of necessity leave aside all great issues and all vexed questions. her picture would be chiefly, too, a picture of the nation's women; for though they have on the whole no share in political history, they reckon with the men in any history of domestic life and habit. germans often maintain that their country is more diverse than any other, and on that account more difficult to describe: a country of many races and various rules held loosely together by language and more tightly of late years by the bond of empire. but the truth probably is, that in our country we see and understand varieties, while in a foreign one we chiefly perceive what is unlike ourselves and common to the people we are observing. for from the flux and welter of qualities that form a modern nation certain traits survive peculiar to that nation: specialities of feature, character, and habit, some seen at first sight, others only discovered after long and intimate acquaintance. it is undoubtedly true that no one person can be at home in every corner of the german empire, or of any other empire. there are many germanys. the one we hear most of in england nowadays is armed to the teeth, set wholly on material advancement, in a dangerously warlike mood, hustling us without scruple from our place in the world's markets, a model of municipal government and enterprise, a land where vice, poverty, idleness, and dirt are all unknown. we hear so much of this praiseworthy but most unamiable _wunderkind_ amongst nations, that we generally forget the germany we know, the germany still there for our affection and delight, the dear country of quaint fancies, of music and of poetry. that germany has vanished, the wiseacres say, the dreamy unworldly german is no more with us, it is sheer sentimental folly to believe in him and to waste your time looking for him. but how if you know him everywhere, in the music and poetry that he could not have given us if they had not burned within him, and in the men and women who have accompanied you as friends throughout life,--how if you still find him whenever you go to germany? not, to be sure, in the shape of the wholly unpractical fool who preceded the modern english myth; but, for instance, in some of the mystical plays that hold his stage, in many of his toys and pictures, and above all in the kindly, lovable, clever people it is your pleasure to meet there. you may perhaps speak with all the more conviction of this attractive germany if you have never shut your eyes and ears to the germany that does not love us, and if you have often been vexed and offended by the anglophobia that undoubtedly exists. this germany makes more noise than the friendly element, and it is called into existence by a variety of causes not all important or political. it flourished long before the transvaal war was seized as a convenient stick to beat us with. in some measure the anglicised germans who love us too well are responsible, for they do not always love wisely. they deny their descent and their country, and that justly offends their compatriots. i do not believe that the englishman breathes who would ever wish to call himself anything but english; while it is quite rare for germans in england, america, or france to take any pride in their blood. the second generation constantly denies it, changes its name, assures you it knows nothing of germany. they have not the spirit of a touchstone, and in so far they do their country a wrong. in another more material sense, too, there are many germanys, so that when you write of one corner you may easily write of ways and food and regulations that do not obtain in some other corner, and it is obviously impossible to remind the reader in every case that the part is not the whole. wine is dear in the north, but it has sometimes been so plentiful in the south that barrels to contain it ran short, and anyone who possessed an empty one could get the measure of wine it would hold in exchange. every town and district has its special ways of cooking. there is great variety in manner of life, in entertainments, and in local law. there are protestant and catholic areas, and there are areas where protestants, catholics, and jews live side by side. the peasant proprietor of baden is on a higher level of prosperity and habit than the peasant serf of eastern prussia; and the jews on the russian frontier, those strange oriental figures in a special dress and wearing earlocks and long beards, have as little in common with the jews of mannheim or frankfort as with the jews of the london stock exchange. it would, in fact, be impossible for any one person to enter into every shade and variety of german life. you can only describe the side you know, and comment on the things you have seen. so you bring your mite to the store of knowledge which many have increased before you, and which many will add to again. footnotes: [ ] throughout the book, although i am of german parentage, i have spoken of england as my country and of the english as my country-people. i was born and bred in england, and i found it more convenient for purposes of expression to belong to one country than to both. chapter ii children in germany the storks bring the children. "i know the pond in which all the little children lie waiting till the storks come to take them to their parents," says the mother stork in andersen's story. "the stork has visited the house," people say to each other when a child is born; and if you go to a christening party you will find that the stork has come too: in sugar on a cake, perhaps, or to be handed round in the form of ice cream. most of the kindly intimate little jests about babies have a stork in them, and a stranger might easily blunder by presenting an emblem of the bird where it would not be welcome. the house on which storks build is a lucky one, and people regret the disappearance of their nests from the large towns. when the baby has come it is not allowed out of doors for weeks. air and sunlight are considered dangerous at first, and so is soap and even an immoderate use of water. for eight weeks it lies day and night in the _steckkissen_, a long bag that confines its legs and body but not its arms. the bag is lined with wadding, and a german nurse, who was showing me one with great pride, assured me that while a child's bones were soft it was not safe to lift it in any other way. these bags are comparatively modern, and have succeeded the swaddling clothes still used in some parts of germany. they are bandages wrapping the child round like a mummy, and imprisoning its arms as well as its legs. a german doctor told me that as these _wickelkinder_ had never known freedom they did not miss it; but he seemed to approve of the modern compromise that leaves the upper limbs some power of movement. well-to-do german mothers rarely nurse their children. when you ask why, you hear of nerves and anæmia, and are told that at any rate in cities women find it impossible. i have seen it stated in a popular book about germany that mothers there are little more than "aunts" to their children; and the _steckkissen_ and the foster-mother were about equally blamed for this unnatural state of affairs. from our point of view there is not a word to be said in favour of the _steckkissen_, but it really is impossible to believe that a bag lined with wadding can undermine a mother's affection for her child. your german friends will often show you a photograph of a young mother holding her baby in her arms, and the baby, if it is young enough, will probably be in its bag. but unless you look closely you will take the bag for a long robe, it hangs so softly and seems so little in the mother's way. it will be as dainty as a robe too, and when people have the means as costly; for you can deck out your bag with ribbons and laces as easily as your robe. the objection to foster-mothers has reality behind it, but the evils of the system are well understood, and have been much discussed of late. formerly every mother who could afford it hired one for her child, and peasant women still come to town to make money in this way. but the practice is on the wane, now that doctors order sterilised milk. the real ruler of a german nursery is the family doctor. he keeps his eye on an inexperienced mother, calls when he sees fit, watches the baby's weight, orders its food, and sees that its feet are kept warm. a day nursery in the english sense of the word is hardly known in germany. people who can afford it give up two rooms to the small fry, but where the flat system prevails, and rents are high, this is seldom possible. one room is usually known as the _kinderstube_, and here the children sleep and play. but it must be remembered that rooms are big, light, and high in germany, and that such a _kinderstube_ will not be like a night nursery in a small english home. besides, directly children can walk they are not as much shut up in the nursery as they are in england. the rooms of a german flat communicate with each other, and this in itself makes the segregation to which we are used difficult to carry out. during the first few days of a sojourn with german friends, you are constantly reminded of a pantomime rally in which people run in and out of doors on all sides of the stage; and if they have several lively children you sometimes wish for an english room with one door only, and that door kept shut. even when you pay a call you generally see the children, and possibly the nurse or the _mamsell_ with them. but a typical middle-class german family recognises no such foreign body as a nurse. it employs one maid of all work, who helps the housewife wherever help is needed, whether it is in the kitchen or the nursery. the mother spends her time with her children, playing with them when she has leisure, cooking and ironing and saving for them, and for her husband all through her busy day. modern germans like to tell you that young women no longer devote themselves to these simple duties, but if you use your eyes you will see that most women do their work as faithfully as ever. there is an idle, pleasure-loving, money-spending element in germany as there is in other countries, and it makes more noise than the steady bulk of the nation, and is an attractive target there as here for the darts of popular preachers and playwrights. but it is no more preponderant in germany than in england. on the whole, the german mother leaves her children less to servants than the english mother does, and in some way works harder for them. that is to say, a german woman will do cooking and ironing when an englishwoman of the same class would delegate all such work to servants. this is partly because german servants are less efficient and partly because fewer servants are employed. the fashionable nurses in germany are either english or peasant girls in costume. it is considered smart to send out your baby with a young woman from the spreewald if you live in berlin, or from one of the black forest valleys if you live in the duchy of baden. in some quarters of berlin you see the elaborate skirts and caps of the spreewald beside every other baby-carriage, but it is said that these girls are chiefly employed by the rich jews, and you certainly need to be as rich as a jew to pay their laundry bills. the young children of the poor are provided for in berlin, as they are in other cities, by crêches, where the working mother can leave them for the day. several of these institutions are open to the public at certain times, and those i have seen were well kept and well arranged. the women of germany have not thrown away their knitting needles yet, though they no longer take them to the concert or the play as they did in a less sophisticated age. children still learn to knit either at school or at home, and if their mother teaches them she probably makes them a marvellous ball. she does this by winding the wool round little toys and small coins, until it hides as many surprises as a christmas stocking, and is as much out of shape; but the child who wants the treasures in the stocking has to knit for them, and the faster she secures them the faster she is learning her lesson. the mother, however, who troubles about knitting is not quite abreast of her times. the truly modern woman flies at higher game; with the solemnity and devotion of a mrs. cimabue brown she cherishes in her children a love of art. her watchword is _die kunst im leben des kindes_, or art in the nursery, and she is assisted by men who are doing for german children of this generation what walter crane and others did for english nurseries twenty-five years ago. you can get enchanting nursery pictures, toys, and decorations in germany to-day, and each big city has its own school of artists who produce them: friezes where the birds and beasts beloved of children solemnly pursue each other; grotesque wooden manikins painted in motley; mysterious landscapes where the fairy-tales of the world might any day come true. dream pictures these are of snow and moonlight, marsh and forest, the real germany lying everywhere outside the cities for those who have eyes to see. even the toy department in an ordinary shop abounds in treasures that never seem to reach england: queer cheap toys made of wood, and not mechanical. it must be a dull child who is content with a mechanical toy, and it is consoling to observe that most children break the mechanism as quickly as possible and then play sensibly with the remains. many of the toys known to generations of children seemed to be as popular as ever, and quite unchanged. you still find the old toy towns, for instance, with their red roofed coloured houses and green curly trees, toys that would tell an imaginative child a story every time they were set up. it is to be hoped they never will change, but in this sense i have no faith in germany. the nation is so desperately intent on improvement that some dreadful day it will improve its toys. indeed, i have seen a trade circular threatening some such vandalism; and in the last noah's ark i bought noah and his family had changed the cut of their clothes. so the whole ark had lost some of its charm. everyone who is interested in children and their education, and who happens to be in berlin, goes to see the _pestalozzi fröbel haus_, the great model kindergarten where children of the working classes are received for fees varying from sixpence to three shillings a month, according to the means of the parents. there are large halls in which the children drill and sing, and there are classrooms in which twelve to sixteen children are taught at a time. every room has some live birds or other animals and some plants that the children are trained to tend; the walls are decorated with pictures and processions of animals, many painted and cut out by the children themselves, and every room has an impressive little rod tied with blue ribbons. but the little ones do not look as if they needed a rod much. they are cheerful, tidy little people, although many of them come from poor homes. in the middle of the morning they have a slice of rye bread, which they eat decorously at table on wooden platters. they can buy milk to drink with the bread for pf., and they dine in school for pf. they play the usual kindergarten games in the usual systematised mechanical fashion, and they study nature in a real back garden, where there are real dejected-looking cocks and hens, a real cow, and a lamb. what happens to the lamb when he becomes a sheep no one tells you. perhaps he supplies mutton to the school of cookery in connection with the kindergarten. some of the children have their own little gardens, in which they learn to raise small salads and hardy flowers. there are carpentering rooms for the boys, and both boys and girls are allowed in the miniature laundry, where they learn how to wash, starch, and iron doll's clothes. you may frequently see them engaged in this business, apparently without a teacher; but, as a matter of fact, the children are always under a teacher's eye, even when they are only digging in a sand heap or weeding their plots of ground. each child has a bath at school once a week, and at first the mothers are uneasy about this part of the programme, lest it should give their child cold. but they soon learn to approve it, and however poor they are they do their utmost to send a child to school neatly shod and clad. as a rule german children of all classes are treated as children, and taught the elementary virtue of obedience. _das recht des kindes_ is a new cry with some of the new people, but nevertheless germany is one of the few remaining civilised countries where the elders still have rights and privileges. i heard of an englishwoman the other day who said that she had never eaten the wing of a chicken, because when she was young it was always given to the older people, and now that she was old it was saved for the children. if she lived in germany she would still have a chance, provided she kept away from a small loud set, who in all matters of education and morality would like to turn the world upside down. in most german homes the noisy, spoilt american child would not be endured for a moment, and the little tyrant of a french family would be taught its place, to the comfort and advantage of all concerned. i have dined with a large family where eight young ones of various ages sat at an overflow table, and did not disturb their elders by a sound. it was not because the elders were harsh or the young folk repressed, but because germany teaches its youth to behave. the little girls still drop you a pretty old-fashioned curtsey when they greet you; just such a curtsey as miss austen's heroines must have made to their friends. the little boys, if you are staying in the house with them, come and shake hands at unexpected times,--when they arrive from school, for instance, and before they go out for a walk. at first they take you by surprise, but you soon learn to be ready for them. they play many of the same games as english children, and i need hardly say that they are brought up on the same fairy stories, because many of our favourites come from germany. the little boys wear sensible carpenters' aprons indoors, made of leather or american cloth; and the little girls still wear bib aprons of black alpaca. their elders do not play games with them as much as english people do with their children. they are expected to entertain and employ themselves; and the immense educational value of games, the training they are in temper, skill, and manners, is not understood or admitted in germany as it is here. the kindergarten exercises are not competitive, and do not teach a child to play a losing game with effort and good grace. chapter iii schools german children go to day schools. this is not to say that there are no boarding schools in germany; but the prevailing system throughout the empire is a system of day schools. the german mother does not get rid of her boys and girls for months together, and look forward to the holidays as a time of uproar and enjoyment. she does not wonder anxiously what changes she will see in them when they come back to her. they are with her all the year round,--the boys till they go to a university, the girls till they marry. any day in the streets of a german city you may see troops of children going to school, not with a maid at their heels as in paris, but unattended as in england. they have long tin satchels in which they carry their books and lunch, the boys wear peaked caps, and many children of both sexes wear spectacles. except at the kindergarten, boys and girls are educated separately and differently in germany. in some rare cases lately some few girls have been admitted to a boys' _gymnasium_, but this is experimental and at present unusual. it may be found that the presence of a small number in a large boys' school does not work well. in addition to the elementary schools, there are four kinds of public day school for boys in germany, and they are all under state supervision. there is the _gymnasium_, the _real-gymnasium_, the _ober-real-schule_, and the _real-schule_. until the gymnasiums were the only schools that could send their scholars to the universities; a system that had serious disadvantages. it meant that in choosing a child's school, parents had to decide whether at the end of his school life he was to have a university education. children with no aptitude for scholarship were sent to these schools to receive a scholar's training; while boys who would have done well in one of the learned professions could not be admitted to a university, except for science or modern languages, because they had not attended a gymnasium. a boy who has passed through one of these higher schools has had twelve years' education. he began latin at the age of ten, and greek at thirteen. he has learned some french and mathematics, but no english unless he paid for it as an extra. his school years have been chiefly a preparation for the university. if he never reaches the higher classes he leaves the gymnasium with a stigma upon him, a record of failure that will hamper him in his career. the higher official posts and the professions will be closed to him; and he will be unfitted by his education for business. this at least is what many thoughtful germans say of their classical schools; and they lament over the unsuitable boys who are sent to them because their parents want a professor or a high official in the family. it is considered more sensible to send an average boy to a _real-gymnasium_ or to an _ober-real schule_, because nowadays these schools prepare for the university, and any boy with a turn for scholarship can get the training he needs. the _ober-real schule_ professedly pays most attention to modern languages; and it is, in fact, only since that their boys are received at a university on the classical side. they still prepare largely for technical schools and for a commercial career. at a _real-schule_, the fourth grade of higher school, the course only lasts six years. they do not prepare for the abiturienten examination, and their scholars cannot go from them to a university. they prepare for practical life, and they admit promising boys from the elementary schools. a boy who has been through any one of these higher schools successfully need only serve in the army for one year; and that in itself is a great incentive to parents to send their children. a _real-schule_ in prussia only costs a hundred marks a year, and a _gymnasium_ a hundred and thirty-five marks. in some parts of germany the fees are rather higher, in some still lower. the headmasters of these schools are all university men, and are themselves under state supervision. in an entertaining play called _flachsmann als erzieher_ the headmaster had not been doing his duty, and has allowed the school to get into a bad way. the subordinates are either slack or righteously rebellious, and the children are unruly. the state official pays a surprise visit, discovers the state of things, and reads the riot act all round. the wicked headmaster is dismissed, the eager young reformer is put in his place, the slackers are warned and given another chance.... blessed be st. bureaukrazius ... says the genial old god out of a machine, when by virtue of his office he has righted every man's wrongs. the school in the play must be an elementary one, for children and teachers are of both sexes, but a master at a _gymnasium_ told me that the picture of the official visit was not exaggerated in its importance and effect. there was considerable excitement in germany over the picture of the evil headmaster, his incompetent staff, and the neglected children; and i was warned before i saw the play that i must not think such a state of affairs prevailed in german schools. the warning was quite unnecessary. an immoral, idle, and ignorant class of men could not carry on the education of a people as it is carried on throughout the german empire to-day. i have before me the annual report of a _gymnasium_ in berlin, and it may interest english people to see how many lessons the teachers in each subject gave every week. there were thirty teachers in the school. lessons subject per week religion german latin greek french history and geography mathematics and arithmetic natural history physics hebrew law writing drawing singing gymnasium swimming -½ handfertigkeit ---- -½ lessons the headmaster took latin for seven hours every week, and greek for three hours. a professor who came solely for religious teaching came for ten hours every week. but most of the masters taught from sixteen to twenty-four hours, while one who is down for reading, writing, arithmetic, gymnastics, german, singing, and _natur_ could not get through all he had to do in less than thirty hours. on looking into the hours devoted to each subject by the various classes, you find that the lowest class had three hours religious instruction every week, and the other classes two hours. there were boys in the school described as _evangelisch_, jews, and catholics; but in germany parents can withdraw their children from religious instruction in school, provided they satisfy the authorities that it is given elsewhere. the two highest classes had lessons on eight chapters of st. paul's epistle to the romans, on the epistle to the philippians, and on the confessions of st. augustine. some classes were instructed in the gospel according to st. john, and the little boys learned bible history. so germans are not without orthodox theological teaching in their early years, whatever opinions they arrive at in their adolescence. every boy in the school spent two or three hours each week on german composition, and, like boys in other countries, handled themes they could assuredly not understand, probably, like other boys, without a scruple or a hesitation. "why does the ghost of banquo appear to macbeth, and not the ghost of duncan?" "how are the unities of time, place, and action treated in schiller's ballads?" "discuss the antitheses in lessing's laokoon." "what can you say about the representation of concrete objects in goethe's _hermann and dorothea_?" these examples are taken at random from a list too long to quote completely; but no one need be impressed by them. boys perform wonderful feats of this kind in england too. however, i once heard a german professor say that the english boy outdid the german in _gesunder menschenverstand_ (sound common sense), but that the german wins in the race when it comes to the abstract knowledge (_wissen_) that he and his countryfolk prize above all the treasures of the earth. no one who knows both countries can doubt for a single moment that the professor was right, and that he stated the case as fairly as it can be stated. in an emergency or in trying circumstances the english boy would be readier and more self-reliant: but when you meet him where entertainment is wanted rather than resource, his ignorance will make you open your eyes. this, at any rate, is the kind of story told and believed of englishmen in germany. a student who was working at science in a german university had been there the whole winter, and though the city possessed many fine theatres he had only visited a variety show. at last his friends told him that it was his duty to go to the _schauspielhaus_ and see a play by goethe or schiller. "goethe! schiller!" said my englishman, "_was ist das?_" the education of girls in germany is in a transition state at present. important changes have been made of late years, and still greater ones, so the reformers say, are pending. formerly, if a girl was to be educated at all she went to a _höhere töchterschule_, or to a private school conducted on the same lines, and, like the official establishment, under state supervision. when she had finished with school she had finished with education, and began to work at the useful arts of life, more especially at the art of cooking. what she had learned at school she had learned thoroughly, and it was considered in those days quite as much as was good for her. the officials who watched and regulated the education of boys had nothing to do with girls' schools. these were left to the staff that managed elementary schools, and kept on much the same level. girls learned history, geography, elementary arithmetic, two modern languages, and a great deal of mythology. the scandalous ignorance of mythology displayed by englishwomen still shocks the right-minded german. if a woman asked for more than this because she was going to earn her bread, she spent three years in reading for an examination that qualified her for one of the lower posts in the school. the higher posts were all in the hands of men. of late years women have been able to prepare for a teacher's career at one of the teachers' seminaries, most of which were opened in . more than forty years ago the english princess in berlin was not satisfied with what was done in germany for the education of women; and one of the many monuments to her memory is the victoria lyceum. this institution was founded at her suggestion by miss archer, an english lady who had been teaching in berlin for some years, and who was greatly liked and respected there. at first it only aimed at giving some further education to girls who had left school, and it was not easy to get men of standing to teach them. but as it was the outcome of a movement with life in it the early difficulties were surmounted, and its scope and usefulness have grown since its foundation thirty-eight years ago. it is not a residential college, and it has no laboratories. during the winter it still holds courses of lectures for women who are not training for a definite career; but under its present head, fräulein von cotta, the chief work of the victoria lyceum has become the preparation of women for the _ober lehrerin_ examination. this is a state examination that can only be passed five years after a girl has qualified as _lehrerin_, and two of these five years must have been spent in teaching at a german school. to qualify as _lehrerin_, a girl must have spent three years at a seminary for teachers after she leaves school, and she usually gets through this stage of her training between the ages of fifteen and eighteen. therefore a woman must have three years special preparation for a subordinate post and eight years for a higher post in a german girls' school. the whole question of women's education is in a ferment in germany at present, and though everyone interested is ready to talk of it, everyone tells you that it is impossible to foresee exactly what reforms are coming. there are to be new schools established, _lyceen_ and _ober-lyceen_, and _ober-lyceen_ will prepare for matriculation. when girls have matriculated from one of these schools they will be ready for the university, and will work for the same examinations as men. baden was the first german state that allowed women to matriculate at its universities. it did so in , and in bavaria followed suit. in there were eighty-five women at the universities who had matriculated in germany; but there are hundreds working at the universities without matriculating first. at present the professors are free to admit women or to exclude them from their classes; but the right of exclusion is rarely exercised. before long it will presumably be a thing of the past. an englishwoman residing at berlin, and engaged in education, told me that in her opinion no german woman living had done as much for her countrywomen as helene lange, the president of the _allgemeine deutsche frauenverein_. nineteen years ago she began the struggle that is by no means over, the struggle to secure a better education for women and a greater share in its control. in english ears her aim will sound a modest one, but english girls' schools are not entirely in the hands of men, with men for principals and men to teach the higher classes. she began in by publishing a pamphlet that made a great sensation, because it demanded, what after a mighty tussle was conceded, women teachers for the higher classes in girls' schools, and for these women an academic education. in she founded, together with auguste schmidt and marie loeper-housselle, the _allgemeine deutsche lehrerinnen-verein_, which now has branches and , members. but the pluckiest thing she did was to fight prussian officialdom and win. in she opened _real-kurse für mädchen und frauen_, classes where women could work at subjects not taught in girls' schools, latin for instance, and advanced mathematics; for the state in germany has always decided how much as well as how little women may learn. it would not allow people as ignorant as squeers to keep a school because it offered an easy livelihood. it organised women's education carefully and thoroughly in the admirable german way; but it laid down the law from a to z, which is also the german way. when, therefore, helene lange opened her classes for women, the officials came to her and said that she was doing an illegal thing. she replied that her students were not schoolgirls under the german school laws, but grown-up women free to learn what they needed and desired. the officials said that an old law of would empower them to close the classes by force if helene lange did not do so of her own accord. after some reflection and in some anxiety she decided to go on with them. by this time public opinion was on her side and came to her assistance; for public opinion does count in germany even with the officials. the classes went on, and were changed in to _gymnasialkurse_. in the first german women passed the abiturienten examination, the difficult examination young men of eighteen pass at the end of a nine years' course in one of the classical schools. even to-day you may hear german men argue that women should not be admitted to universities because they have had no classical training. helene lange was the first to prove that even without early training women can prepare themselves for an academic career. her experiment led to the establishment of _gymnasialkurse_ in many german cities; and even to the admission of girls in some few cases to boys' gymnasium schools. to-day helene lange and her associates are contending with the schoolmasters, who desire to keep the management of girls' schools in their own hands. she calls the _höhere töchterschule_ the failure of german school organisation, and she says that the difference of view taken by men and women teachers as to the proper work of girls' schools makes it most difficult to come to an understanding. consciously or not, men form an ideal of what they want and expect of women, and try to educate them up to it; while women think of the claims life may make on a girl, and desire the full development of her powers. "the higher daughter," she says, "must vanish, and her place must be taken by the girl who has been thoroughly prepared for life, who can stand on her own feet if circumstances require it, or who brings with her as housewife the foundations of further self-development, instead of the pretentiousness of the half educated." in one of her many articles on the subject of school reform she points to three directions where reform is needed. what she says about the teaching of history is so characteristic of her views and of the modern movement in germany, that i think the whole passage is worth translation:-- "all those subjects that help to make a woman a better citizen must be taken more seriously," she says. "it can no longer be the proper aim of history teaching to foster and strengthen in women a sentimental attachment to her country and its national character: its aim must be to give her the insight that will enable her to understand the forces at work, and ultimately play an active part in them. many branches of our social life await the work of women, civic philanthropy to begin with; and as our public life becomes more and more constitutional, it demands from the individual both a ripe insight into the good of the community and a living sense of duty in regard to its destiny; and, on the other hand, the foundations of this insight and sense of duty must be in our times more and more laid by the mother, since the father is often entirely prevented by his work from sharing in the education of his children. therefore, both on her own account and in consideration of the task before her, a woman just as much as a man should understand and take a practical interest in public life, and it is the business of the school to see that she does so. over and over again those who are trying to reform girls' schools insist that history teaching should lead the student to understand the present time; that it should recognise those economic conditions on which the history of the world, especially in our day, depends in so great a measure; that it should pay attention not only to dates and events, but also to the living process of civilisation, since it is only from the latter inquiry that we can arrive at the principles of individual effort in forwarding social life." nowadays in germany helene lange is considered one of the "moderates," but it will be seen from the above quotation that she has travelled far from the old ideals which invested women with many beautiful qualities, but not with the sense and knowledge required of useful public citizens. she proceeds in the same article to say that scientific and mathematical teaching should reach a higher standard in girls' schools; and thirdly, that certain branches of psychology, physiology, and hygiene should receive greater attention, because a woman is a better wife and mother when she fulfils her duties with understanding instead of by mere instinct. nor will education on this higher plane deprive women of any valuable feminine virtues if it is carried out in the right way. but to this end women must direct it, and in great measure take it into their own hands. she would not shut men out of girls' schools, but she would place women in supreme authority there, and give them the lion's share of the work. it seems to the english onlooker that this contest can only end in one way, and that if the women of germany mean to have the control of girls' schools they are bound to get it. some of the evils of the present system lie on the surface. "it is a fact," said a schoolmaster, speaking lately at a conference,--"it is a fact that a more intimate, spiritual, and personal relationship is developed between a schoolgirl and her master than between a schoolgirl and her mistress." this remark, evidently made in good faith, was received with hilarity by a large mixed audience of teachers; and when one reflects on the unbridled sentiment of some "higher daughters" one sees where it must inevitably find food under the present anomalous state of things. but the schoolmaster's argument is the argument brought forward by many men against the reforms desired by helene lange and her party. they insist that girls would deteriorate if they were withdrawn throughout their youth from masculine scholarship and masculine authority in school. they talk of the emasculation of the staff as a future danger. they do not seem to talk of their natural reluctance to cede important posts to women, but this must, of course, strengthen their pugnacity and in some cases colour their views. meanwhile many parents prefer to send their daughters to one of the private schools that have a woman at the head, and where most of the teaching is done by women; or to a _stift_, a residential school of the conventual type, which may be either protestant or catholic. a girl who had spent some years at a well-known protestant _stift_ described her school life to me as minutely as possible, and it sounded so like the life in a good english boarding-school thirty years ago that it is difficult to pick out points of differences. that only means, of course, that the differences were subtle and not apparent in rules and time-tables. the girls wore a school uniform, were well fed and taught, strictly looked after, taken out for walks and excursions, allowed a private correspondence, shown how to mend their clothes, made to keep their rooms tidy, encouraged in piety and decorum. in these strenuous times it sounds a little old-fashioned, and as a matter of fact a school of this kind fits a girl for a sheltered home but not for the open road. for everyone concerned about the education of women the interesting spectacle in germany to-day is the campaign being carried on by helene lange and her party, the support they receive from the official as well as from the unofficial world, and the progress they make year by year to gain their ends. chapter iv the education of the poor there are no people in the world who need driving to school less than the germans. there are no people in the world who set so high a value on knowledge. in the old days, when they lived with jove in the clouds, they valued knowledge solely for its own sake, and did not trouble much about its practical use in the world. it is absurd to say, as people often do now, that this spirit is dead in the nation. you cannot be long in the society of germans without recognising that it survives wherever the stress of modern life leaves room for it. you see that when a german makes money his sons constantly enter the learned and the artistic professions with his full approval, though they are most unlikely to make a big income in this way. you are told by people who work amongst the poor, that parents will make any sacrifices year after year in order to send a boy to one of the higher schools. you know that the scotsmen who live on oatmeal while they acquire learning have their counterparts in the german universities, where many a student would not dine at all if private or organised charity did not give him a dinner so many days a week. sometimes you have heard it said of such and such a great german, that he was so poor when he was young that he had to accept these free dinners given in every german university town to penniless students. the fact would be remembered, but it would never count against a man in germany. the dollar is not almighty there. to say, therefore, that education is compulsory throughout the empire is not to say that it is unpopular. a teacher in an elementary school was once telling me how particular the authorities were that every child, even the poorest, should come to school properly clothed and shod. "for instance," she said, "if a child comes to school in house-shoes he is sent straight home again." "but do the parents mind that?" i asked from my english point of view, for the teacher was speaking of people who in england would live in slums and care little whether their children were educated or not. but in germany even the poorest of the poor do care, and to refuse a child admission to school is an effective punishment. at any rate, you may say this of the majority. no doubt if school was not compulsory the dregs of the nation would slip out of the net, especially in those parts of the empire where the prevalent character is shiftless and easy going. "when you english think that we hold the reins too tight, it is because you do not understand what a mixed team we have to drive," a north german said to me. "we should not get on, we should not hold together long, if our rule was slack and our attention careless." at the last census only one in , could not read or write, and these dunces were all slavs. but how even a slav born under the eye of the eagle can remain illiterate is a mystery. in there were , elementary schools in the empire, and their organisation is as elaborate and well planned as the organisation of the army. in berlin alone there are . all the teachers at these schools have been trained to teach at special seminaries, and have passed state examinations that qualify them for their work. in germany many men and women, entitled both by class and training to teach in the higher grade schools, have taken up work in the elementary ones from choice. i know one lady whose certificates qualify her to teach in a _höhere töchterschule_ and who elects to teach a large class of backward children in a _volkschule_. her ambition is to teach those children described in germany as _nicht völlig normal_: children we should describe as "wanting." she says that her backward children repay her for any extra trouble they give by their affection and gratitude. she knows the circumstances of every child in her class, and where there is real need she can get help from official sources or from philanthropic organisations, because a teacher's recommendation carries great weight in germany. this lady gets up every day in summer at a quarter past five, in order to be in school by seven. her school hours are from seven to eleven in summer, and from eight till twelve in winter; but she has a great deal of work to prepare and correct after school. her salary is raised with every year of service, and when she is past work she will be entitled to a state pension of thirty pounds. children have to attend school from the age of six and to stay till they are fourteen; and in their school years they are not allowed to work at a trade without permission. they do not learn foreign languages, but they are thoroughly grounded in german, and they receive religious instruction. of course, they learn history, geography, and arithmetic. in the new schools every child is obliged to have a warm bath every week, but it is not part of a teacher's duties to superintend it. probably the women who clean the school buildings do so. in the old schools, where there are no bathrooms, the children are given tickets for the public bathing establishments. the state does not supply free food, but there are philanthropic societies that supply those children who need it with a breakfast of bread and milk in winter. everyone connected with german schools says that no child would apply for this if his parents were not destitute, and one teacher told me a story of the headmaster's boy being found, to his father's horror and indignation, seated with the starving children and sharing their free lunch. he had brought his own lunch with him, but it was his first week at school, and he thought that a dispensation of bread and milk in the middle of the morning was part of the curriculum. school books are supplied to children too poor to buy them, and it seems that no trouble is given by applications for this kind of relief by people not entitled to it. gymnastics are compulsory for both boys and girls in the lower classes, and choral singing is taught in every school. teachers must all be qualified to accompany singing on the violin. most of the elementary schools in prussia are free. some few charge sixpence a month. a child can even have free teaching in its own home if it is able to receive instruction, but not to attend school. medical inspection is rigorously carried out in german elementary schools. the doctor not only watches the general health of the school, but he registers the height, weight, carriage, state of nourishment, and vaccination marks of each child on admission; the condition of the eyes and ears and any marked constitutional tendency he can discover. every child is examined once a month, when necessary once a fortnight. in this way weak or wanting children are weeded out, and removed to other surroundings, the short-sighted and the deaf are given places in the schoolroom to suit them. the system protects the child and helps the teacher, and has had the best results since it was introduced into prussia in . attendance at continuation schools is now compulsory on boys and girls for three years after leaving the elementary school, where they have had eight years steady education. they must attend from four to six hours weekly; instruction is free, and is given in the evening, when the working day is over. certain classes of the community are free, but about , students attend these schools in berlin. the subjects taught are too many to enumerate. they comprise modern languages, history, law, painting, music, mathematics, and various domestic arts, such as ironing and cooking. more boys than girls attend these schools, as girls are more easily exempt. it is presumably not considered so necessary for them as for their brothers to continue their education after the age of fourteen. one of the most interesting experiments being made in germany at present is the "open air" school, established for sickly children during the summer months. the first one was set up by the city of charlottenberg at the suggestion of their _schulrat_ and their school doctor, and it is now being imitated in other parts of germany. from charlottenberg the electric cars take you right into the pine forest, far beyond the last houses of the growing city. the soil here is loose and sandy, and the air in summer so soft that it wants strength and freshness. but as far out as this it is pure, and the medical men must deem it healing, for they have set up three separate ventures close together amongst the pine trees. one belongs to the society of the red cross, and here sick and consumptive women come with their children for the day, and are waited on by the red cross sisters. we saw some of them lying about on reclining chairs, and some, less sickly, were playing croquet. the second establishment is for children who are not able to do any lessons, children who have been weeded out by the school doctor because they are backward and sickly. there are a hundred and forty children in this school, and there is a crêche with twenty beds attached to it for babies and very young children. one airy room with two rows of neat beds was for rickety children. the third and largest of the settlements was the _waldschule_, open every day, sundays included, from the end of april to the middle of october, and educating two hundred and forty delicate children chosen from the elementary schools of charlottenberg. we arrived there just as the children were going to sit down to their afternoon meal of bread and milk, and each child was fetching its own mug hanging on a numbered hook. the meals in fine weather are taken at long tables in the open air. when it rains they are served in big shelters closed on three sides. dotted about the forest there were mushroom-shaped shelters with seats and tables beneath them, sufficient cover in slight showers; and there were well lighted, well aired class-rooms, where the children are taught for twenty-five minutes at a time. all the buildings are on the doecker system, and were manufactured by messrs. christoph & unmark of niesky. this firm makes a speciality of schools and hospitals, built in what we should call the bungalow style. of course, this style exactly suits the needs of the school in the forest. there is not a staircase in the place, there is no danger of fire, no want of ventilation, and very little work for housemaids or charwomen. the school furniture is simple and carefully planned. some of it was designed by richard riemerschmid of munich, the well-known artist. each child has two and a half hours' work each day; all who are strong enough do gymnastics, and all have baths at school. each child has its own locker and its own numbered blanket for use out of doors on damp or chilly days. the doctor visits the school twice a week, and the weight of each child is carefully watched. the busy sister who superintends the housekeeping and the hygienic arrangements seemed to know how much each child had increased already; and she told us what quantities of food were consumed every day. the kitchen and larder were as bright and clean as such places always are in germany. when the children arrive in the morning at half-past seven they have a first breakfast of _griesbrei_. at ten o'clock they have rolls and butter. their dinner consists of one solid dish. the day we were there it had been pork and cabbage, a combination germans give more willingly to delicate children than we should; the next day it was to be _nudelsuppe_ and beef. at four o'clock they have bread and milk, and just before they go home a supper like their early breakfast of milk-soup, and bread. litres of milk are used every day, to lbs. of meat, cwts. potatoes, big rye loaves, rolls, and when spinach, for instance, is given, lbs. of spinach. we asked whether the children paid, and were told that those who could afford it paid from to pf. a day. the school is kept open throughout the summer holidays, but no work is done then, and two-thirds of the teachers are away. although the children are at play for the greater part of the day in term time, and all day in the holidays, the headmaster told us that they gave no trouble. there was not a dirty or untidy child to be seen, nor one with rough manners. they are allowed to play in the light, sandy soil of the forest, much as english children play at the seaside, and we saw the beginning of an elaborate chain of fortresses defended by toy guns and decorated with flowers. we heard a lesson in mental arithmetic given in one of the class-rooms, the boys sitting on one side of the room and the girls on the other; and we found that these young sickly children were admirably taught and well advanced for their age. to be a teacher in one of these open-air schools is hard work, because the strain is never wholly relaxed. all day long, and a german day is very long, the children must be watched and guarded, sheltered from changes in the weather and prevented from over-tiring themselves. many of them come from poor cramped homes, and to spend the whole summer in the forest more at play than at work makes them most happy. i met germans who did not approve of the _waldschule_ who considered it a fantastic extravagant experiment, too heavy for the rate-payers to bear. this is a side of the question that the rate-payers must settle for themselves; but there is no doubt about the results of the venture on the children sent to school in the forest. they get a training that must shape their whole future, moral and physical, a training that changes so many unsound citizens into sound ones every year for the german empire. if the rate-payers can survive the strain it seems worth while. chapter v the backfisch the word is untranslatable, though my dictionary translates it. backfisch, m. fried fish; young girl; says the dictionary. in germany a woman does not arrive at her own gender till she marries and becomes somebody's _frau_. woman in general, girl, and miss are neuter; and the fried-fish girl is masculine. but if one little versed in german wished to tell you that he liked a fried sole, and said _ich liebe einen backfisch_, it might lead to misunderstandings. the origin of the word in this application is dubious. some say it means fish that are baked in the oven because they are too small to fry in pans; but this does not seem a sensible explanation to anyone who has seen white-bait cooked. others say it means fish the anglers throw back into the water because they are small. at any rate, the word used is to convey an impression of immaturity. a _backfisch_ is what english and american fashion papers call a "miss." you may see, too, in german shop windows a printed intimation that special attention is given to _backfisch moden_. it is a girl who has left school but has not cast off her school-girl manners; and who, according to her nation and her history, will require more or less last touches. miss betham-edwards tells us that a french girl is taught from babyhood to play her part in society, and that the exquisite grace and taste of frenchwomen are carefully developed in them from the cradle. an english girl begins her social education in the nursery, and is trained from infancy in habits of personal cleanliness and in what old-fashioned english people call "table manners." an englishwoman, who for many years lived happily as governess in a german country house, told me how on the night of her arrival she tried out of politeness to eat and drink as her hosts did; and how the mistress of the house confided to her later that she had disappointed everyone grievously. there were daughters in the family, and they were to learn to behave at table in the english way. that was why the father, arriving from berlin, had on his own initiative brought them an english governess; for the english are admitted by their continental friends to excel in this special branch of manners, while their continental enemies charge them with being "ostentatiously" well groomed and dainty. the truth is, that if you have lived much with both english and germans, and desire to be fair and friendly to both races, you find that your generalisations will not often weigh on one side. the english child learns to eat with a fork rather than with a spoon, and never by any chance to put a knife in its mouth, or to touch a bone with its fingers. the german child learns that it must never wear a soiled or an unmended garment or have untidy hair. i have known a german scandalised by the slovenly wardrobe of her well-to-do english pupil, and i have heard english people say that to hear germans eat soup destroyed their appetite for dinner. english girls are not all slovens, and nowadays decently bred germans behave like other people at table. but untidiness is commoner in england than in germany, and you may still stumble across a german any day who, abiding by old customs, puts his knife in his mouth and takes his bones in his hands. he will not only do these things, but defend them vociferously. in that case you are strongly advised not to eat a dish of asparagus in his company. your modern german _backfisch_ may be a person of finish and wide culture. you may find that she insists on her cold tub every morning, and is scandalised by your offer of hot water in it. she has seen salome as a play and heard salome as an opera. she has seen plays by g.b.s. both in berlin and london. she does not care to see shakespeare in london, because, as she tells you, the english know nothing about him. besides, he could not sound as well in english as in german. she has read carlyle, and is now reading ruskin. she adores byron, but does not know keats, shelley, or rossetti. tennyson she waves contemptuously away from her, not because she has read him, but because she has been taught that his poetry is "bourgeois." her favourite novels are _dorian gray_ and _misunderstood_. she dresses with effect and in the height of fashion, she speaks french and english fluently, she has travelled in italy and switzerland, she plays tennis well, she can ride and swim and skate, and she would cycle if it was not out of fashion. in fact, she can do anything, and she knows everything, and she has been everywhere. your french and english girls are ignorant misses in comparison with her, and you say to yourself as you watch her and humbly listen to her opinions, delivered without hesitation and expressed without mistakes: "where is the german _backfisch_ of yesteryear?" "did you ever read _backfischchen's leiden und freuden_?" you say to her; for the book is in its th edition, and you have seen german girls devouring it only last week; german girls of a different type, that is, from your present glittering companion. "that old-fashioned inferior thing," she says contemptuously. "i believe my mother had it. that is not literature." you leave her to suppose you could not have made that discovery for yourself, and you spend an amusing hour over the story again, for there are occasions when a book that is not "literature" will serve your purpose better than a masterpiece. the little book has entertained generations of german girls, and is presumably accepted by them, just as _little women_ is accepted in america or _the daisy chain_ in england. the picture was always a little exaggerated, and some of its touches are now out of date; yet as a picture of manners it still has a value. it narrates the joys and sorrows of a young girl of good family who leaves her country home in order to live with an aunt in berlin, a facetious but highly civilised aunt who uses a large quantity of water at her morning toilet. all the stages of this toilet are minutely described, and all the mistakes the poor countrified _backfisch_ makes the first morning. she actually gets out of bed before she puts on her clothes, and has to be driven behind the bed curtains by her aunt's irony. this is an incident that is either out of date or due to the genius and imagination of the author, for i have never seen bed curtains in germany. however, gretchen is taught to perform the early stages of her toilet behind them, and then to wash for the first time in her life in a basin full of water. she is sixteen. her aunt presents her with a sponge, and observes that the civilisation of a nation is judged by the amount of soap it uses. "in much embarrassment i applied myself to this unaccustomed task," continues the ingenuous _backfisch_, "and i managed it so cleverly that everything around me was soon swimming. to make matters worse, i upset the water-jug, and now the flood spread to the washstand, the floor, the bed curtains, even to my clothes lying on the chair. if only this business of dressing was over," she sighs as she is about to brush her teeth, with brushes supplied by her aunt. but it is by no means over. she is just going to slip into a dressing-gown, cover her unbrushed hair with a cap, and so proceed to breakfast, when this exacting aunt stops her: actually desires her to plait and comb her hair at this hour of the morning, and to put on a tidy gown. gretchen's gown is extremely untidy, and on that account i will not admit that the portrait is wholly lifelike. in fact, the author has summed up the sins of all the _backfisch_ tribe, and made a single _backfisch_ guilty of them. but caricature, if you know how to allow for it, is instructive. mr. stiggins is a caricature, yet he stands for failings that exist among us, though they are never displayed quite so crudely. "go and brush your nails," says the aunt to the niece when the girl attempts to kiss her hand; and the _backfisch_ uses a nail-brush for the first time in her life. then the two ladies sit down to breakfast. gretchen fills the cups too full, soaks her roll in her coffee, and drinks out of her saucer. her aunt informs her that "coffee pudding" is not polite, and can only be allowed when they are by themselves; also that she must not drink out of the saucer. "but we children always did it at home," says gretchen. "i can well believe it," says the aunt. "_everything is permitted to children._" the italics are mine. an aunt who has such ideas about the education of the young is naturally not surprised when at dinner-time she has to admonish her niece not to wipe her mouth with her hand, not to speak with her mouth full, to eat her soup quietly, to keep her elbows off the table, not to put her fingers in her plate or her knife in her mouth, and not to take her chicken into her hands on ceremonial occasions. "my treasure," says the aunt, "as you know, we are going to dinner with the dunkers to-morrow. be good enough not to take your chicken into your hands. here at home i don't object to it, but the really correct way is to separate the meat from the bone with the knife and fork." the docile _backfisch_ says _jawohl, liebe tante_, and feels that this business of becoming civilised is full of pitfalls and surprises. never in her life has she eaten poultry without the assistance of her fingers. when she gets to the dinner-party she is fortunate enough to sit next to her bosom friend, who starts in horror and whispers "with a knife, gretchen," when gretchen is just about to dip her fingers in the salt. the _backfisch_ is truly anxious to learn, but she feels that the injunctions of society are hard, and says it is poor sport to eat your chicken with a knife and fork, because the best part sticks to the bones. then her friend stops her from drinking fruit syrup out of her plate, and her neighbour on the other side, a stout guzzler who has not been taught by his aunt to eat properly, encourages gretchen to drink too much champagne. after these early adventures the education of the _backfisch_ proceeds quickly. she has to learn at her aunt's tea-parties not to fill cups to overflowing in sheer exuberance of hospitality; and she is also instructed not to press food on people. "in good society," says the aunt, "people decline to eat because they have had enough, and not because they require pressing." she is obliged also to discourage gretchen from waiting too attentively on the young men who visit at the house; and gretchen, who does not care about young men, but only yearns to be serviceable, devotes herself in future to the old ladies, their foot-stools, their knitting, and their smelling bottles. this touch is one of many that makes the book, in spite of its obvious shortcomings, valuable as a picture of german character and manner. it is impossible to imagine gretchen in a french or english story of the same class. the french girl would be more adroit and witty; the english girl would expect young men to wait on her; and neither of them would gush as gretchen did about her old ladies. "my readiness to serve them knew no bounds. to arrange their seats to their liking, to give them stools for their feet and cushions for their backs, to rush for their shawls and cloaks, to count the rows in their knitting, to help them pick up their stitches, to thread their needles, to wind silk or wool, to peel fruit, to run for smelling bottles and cold water,--all these things i did with delight the instant my watchful eye discovered the smallest wish, and i was always cordially thanked." tastes differ. some old ladies would be made quite uncomfortable by such fussy attentions. the _backfisch_ goes on to say that she was equally assiduous in waiting on the old gentlemen. she picked up anything they dropped, polished their spectacles for them, and listened to their dull stories when no one else would. i consider the portrait of gretchen in this story a literary triumph. i can see the girl; i can hear her voice and laugh. i know exactly how she behaved and what the old ladies and gentlemen said to her, how she dressed and how she did her hair; not because the author tells me just these things, but because her type is as true to life to-day as it was thirty years ago. as a contrast to her, a fine young lady from the city presently joins the household, and the aunt does not have to provide her with a tooth-brush. the new arrival wears blue satin slippers, drinks her chocolate in bed, and cannot dress without the help of a maid. in this way the author shows you that girls brought up in cities are superfine rather than savage, and that you are not to suppose the ordinary german _backfisch_ is like her little heroine from the provinces. the truth of the matter is, that no one nowadays has such manners as the _backfisch_ had when she first came from the wilds; at least, no one of her class, even if they have grown up in hinter-pommern. but if you travel in germany next week and stay in small towns and country places, you will still meet plenty of people who take their poultry bones in their fingers and put their knives in their mouths. if they are men you will see them use their fork as a dagger to hold the meat while they cut it up; you will see them stick their napkins into their shirt collars and placidly comb their hair with a pocket comb in public; if they are women and at a restaurant, they will pocket the lumps of sugar they have not used in their coffee. but if you are in private houses amongst people of gretchen's type you will see none of these things. a german host still pulls the joint close to him sometimes or stands up to carve, and a german hostess still presses you to eat, still in the kindness of her heart piles up your plate. but this embarrassing form of hospitality is dying out. as gretchen's aunt said, people in good society recognise that a guest refuses food because he does not want it. some years ago, when you had satisfied your hunger and declined more, your german friends used to look offended or distressed, and say _sie geniren sich gewiss_. this is a difficult phrase to translate, because the idea is one that has never taken root in the english mind, _sich geniren_, however, is a reflective verb, a corruption of the french verb _se gêner_, and what they meant was that you really wanted a third potato dumpling but did not like to say so. whether your reluctance was supposed to proceed from your distrust of your host's hospitality or shame at your own appetite, is not clear; in either case it was taken, is even to-day still often taken, for artificial. to accept a portion of an untouched dish was considered a sign that you came from "a good house" where no one grudged or wished to save the food put on the table; and formerly you could not refuse sugar in your tea without being commended for your economy. you are still invited to eat tarts and puddings in germany with what we consider the insufficient assistance of a tea-spoon, but i have never been in a private house where salt-spoons were not provided. you never used to find them in inns of a plain kind, and unless you were known to be english and peculiar you were not provided with more than one knife and fork for all the courses of a _table d'hôte_. you would see your german neighbours putting theirs aside as a matter of course when their plates were removed. on the whole, then, the celebrated picture of the _backfisch_, though it is overloaded, bears some relation to the facts of life in germany: not only in the episodes that make the early chapters entertaining, but all through the story in atmosphere, in the little touches that give a story nationality. when the excellent gretchen has been civilised she spends a great deal of time in the kitchen, and soon knows all the duties of the complete housekeeper; while, when the frivolous eugenie becomes _braut_ she cannot cook at all. but frivolous as she is, she recognises that marriage is unthinkable without cooking, and straightway sets to work to learn. then, too, the _backfisch_ is the ideal german maiden, cheerful, docile, and facetious; and constantly on the jump (_springen_ is the word she uses) to serve her elders. middle-aged germans used to have a most tiresome way of expecting girls to be like lambs in spring, always in the mood to frisk and caper: so that a quiet or a delicate girl had a bad time with some of them. _ein junges mädchen muss immer heiter sein_, they would say reproachfully. but it does not follow that you are always _heiter_ just because you are not twenty yet; especially in germany, where girls are often anæmic and have headaches. however, perhaps the modern german maiden does not allow her elders to be so silly. there are some other ways, too, in which my _backfisch_ of thirty years ago is typical of german womanhood both then and now. she is as good as gold, she is devoted to duty not to pleasure, and she is as guileless as a child. you know that when she marries she will be faithful unto death; you know that her husband and her children will call her blessed. these things come out quite naturally, almost unconsciously, in the little story that is "not literature," and which for all that is so truly and deeply german in its quality and tone. this gretchen of the schoolroom, this caricature of the country cousin, is akin in her simplicity, sweetness, and depth of nature to that other gretchen whose figure lives for ever in the greatest of german poems. just as the women of shakespeare and the women of miss austen are subtly kin to each other, inasmuch as they are english women, so goethe's girl and the girl of the poor little schoolroom story are german in every pulse and fibre. and this national essence, the honesty, goodness, and sweetness of the girl, are the real things, the things to remember about her. those little matters of the toilet and the table will soon be out of date, are out of date already in the greater part of germany. as a picture of forgotten manners they will always be amusing, just as it is amusing to read an eighteenth-century english story of school life, in which the young ladies fought and bit and scratched each other and were whipped and sent to bed. chapter vi the student when an english lad goes to the university he usually goes there from a public school, where out of school hours he has been learning for years past to be a man. in these strenuous days he may have learned a little in school hours too, but that is a new departure. cricket and character are what an english boy expects to develop at school, and if there is stuff in him he succeeds. he does not set a high value on learning. even if he works and brings home prizes he will not be as proud of them as of his football cap, while a boy who is head of the school, but a duffer at games, will live for all time in the memory of his fellows as a failure. but the german boy goes to school to acquire knowledge, and he too gets what he wants. the habit of work must be strong in him when at the age of eighteen he goes to one of his many universities. but when he gets there he is free for the first time in his life, and the first use he for the most part makes of his freedom is to be thoroughly, happily idle. this idleness, if he has a backbone and a call to work, only lasts a term or two; and no one who knows how a german boy is held to the grindstone for twelve years of school life can grudge him a holiday. but the odd fact is, that the briton who leaves school a man is more under control at oxford or cambridge than the german at heidelberg who leaves school a boy. a german university is a teaching institution which prepares for the state examinations, and is never residential. there are no old colleges. the professors live in flats like other people, and the students live in lodgings or board with private families. there is one building or block of buildings called the _universität_ where there are laboratories and lecture-rooms. the state can decline a professor chosen by the university; but this power is rarely exercised. the teachers at a german university consist of ordinary professors, extraordinary professors, and _privatdocenten_--men who are not professors yet, but hope to be some day. an englishman in his ignorance might think that an extraordinary professor ought to rank higher than an ordinary one; but this is not so. the ordinary professors are those who have chairs; the extraordinary ones have none. but all professors have a fixed salary which is paid to the day of their death, though they may cease work when they choose. the salaries vary from £ to £ , and are paid by the state, but this income is increased by lecturing fees. whether it is largely increased depends on the popularity of the lecturer and on his subject. an astronomer cannot expect large classes, while a celebrated professor of law or medicine addresses crowds. i have found it difficult to make my english friends believe that there are professors now in berlin earning as much as £ a year. the english idea of the german professor is rudely disturbed by such a fact, for his poverty and simplicity of life have played as large a part in our tradition of him as his learning. the germans seem to recognise that a scholar cannot want as much money as a man of affairs; therefore, when one of their professors is so highly esteemed by the youth of the nation that his fees exceed £ , half of the overflow goes to the university and not to him at all. in this way berlin receives a considerable sum every year, and uses it to assist poorer professors and to attract new men. as a rule a german professor has not passed the state examinations. these are official, not academic, and they qualify men for government posts rather than for professorial chairs. a professor acquires the academic title of doctor by writing an original essay that convinces the university of his learning. the title confers no privileges. it is an academic distinction, and its value depends on the prestige of the university conferring it. germans say that our english universities exist to turn out gentlemen rather than scholars, and that the aim of their own universities is to train servants for the state and to encourage learning. i think an englishman would say that a gentleman is bred at home, but he would understand how the german arrived at his point of view. when a german talks of an english university he is thinking of oxford and cambridge, and he knows that, roughly speaking, it is the sons of well-to-do men who go there. perhaps he does not know much about the scotch and irish and welsh universities, or london, or the north of england; though it is never safe to build on what a german does not know. i once took for granted that a man talking to me of some point in history would no more remember all the names and dates of the kings of scotland than i remember them myself. but he knew every one, and was scandalised by my ignorance. so perhaps the average german knows better than i do what it costs a man to graduate at edinburgh or at dublin. anyhow, he knows that three or four years at oxford or cambridge cost a good deal; and he knows that in berlin, for instance, a student can live on sixty pounds a year, out of which he can afford about five pounds a term for academic fees. if he is too poor to pay his fees the authorities allow him to get into their debt, and pay later in life when he has a post. there are cases where a man pays for his university training six years after he has ended it. but a german university comes to a man's help still more effectively when there is need for it, and will grant him partial or even entire support. then there are various organisations for providing hungry men with dinners so many days a week; sometimes at a public table, sometimes with families who arrange to receive one or more guests on certain days every week. the jewish community in a university always looks after its poor students well, and this practice of entertaining them in private houses is one that gives rises to many jests and stories. the students soon find out which of their hosts are liberal and which are not, and give them a reputation accordingly. a german comparing his universities with the english ones will always lay stress on the fact that his are not examining bodies, and that his professors are not crammers but teachers. a student who intends to pass the state examinations chooses his own course of reading for them, and the lectures that he thinks will help him. he does not necessarily spend his whole time at the same university, but may move from one to the other in pursuit of the professors he wants for his special purpose. he is quite free to do this; and he is free to work night and day, or to drink beer night and day. he is under no supervision either in his studies or his way of life. english people who have been to germany at all have invariably been to heidelberg, and if they have been there in term time they have been amused by the gangs of young men who swagger about the narrow streets, each gang wearing a different coloured cap. they will have been told that these are the "corps" students, and the sight of them so jolly and so idle will confirm their mental picture of the german student, the picture of a young man who does nothing but drink beer, fight duels, sing _volkslieder_ and _trinklieder_, and make love to pretty low-born maidens. when you see a company of these young men clatter into the schloss garden on a summer afternoon, and drink vast quantities of beer, when you observe their elaborate ceremonial of bows and greetings, when you hear their laughter and listen to the latest stories of their monkey tricks, you understand that the student's life is a merry one, but except for the sake of tradition you wonder why he need lead it at a seat of learning. anything further removed from learning than a german corps student cannot be imagined, and the noise he makes must incommode the quiet working students who do not join a corps. not that the quiet working students would wish to banish the others. they are the glory of the german universities. in novels and on the stage none others appear. the innocent foreigner thinks that the moment a young german goes to the alma mater of his choice he puts on an absurd little cap, gets his face slashed, buys a boarhound, and devotes all his energies to drinking beer and ragging officials. but though the "corps" students are so conspicuous in the small university towns, it is only the men of means who join them. for poorer students there is a cheaper form of union, called a _burschenschaft_. when a young german goes to the university he has probably never been from home before, and by joining a _corps_ or a _burschenschaft_ he finds something to take the place of home, companions with whom he has a special bond of intimacy, and a discipline that carries on his social education; for the etiquette of these associations is most elaborate and strict. the members of a corps all say "thou" to each other, and on the _alte herren abende_, when members of an older generation are entertained by the young ones of to-day, this practice still obtains, although one man may be a great minister of state and the other a lad fresh from school. the laws of a "corps" remind you of the laws made by english schoolboys for themselves,--they are as solemnly binding, as educational, and as absurd. if a vandal meets a hessian in the street he may not recognise him, though the hessian be his brother; but outside the town's boundary this prohibition is relaxed, for it is not rooted in ill feeling but in ceremony. one corps will challenge another to meet it on the duelling ground, just as an english football team will meet another--in friendly rivalry. all the students' associations except the theological require their members to fight these duels, which are really exercises in fencing, and take place on regular days of the week, just as cricket matches do in england. the men are protected by goggles and by shields and baskets on various parts of their bodies, but their faces are exposed, and they get ugly cuts, of which they are extremely proud. as it is quite impossible that i should have seen these duels myself, i will quote from a description sent me by an english friend who was taken to them in heidelberg by a corps student. "they take place," he says, "in a large bare room with a plain boarded floor. there were tables, each to hold ten or twelve persons, on three sides of the room, and a refreshment counter on the fourth side, where an elderly woman and one or two girls were serving wine. the wine was brought to the tables, and the various corps sat at their special tables, all drinking and smoking. the dressing and undressing and the sewing up of wounds was done in an adjoining room. when the combatants were ready they were led in by their seconds, who held up their arms one on each side. the face and the top of the head were exposed, but the body, arms and neck were heavily bandaged. the duellists are placed opposite each other, and the seconds, who also have swords in their hands, stand one on each side, ready to interfere and knock up the combatant's sword. they say '_auf die mensur_', and then the slashing begins. as soon as blood is drawn the seconds interfere, and the doctor examines the cut. if it is not bad they go on fighting directly. if it needs sewing up they go into the next room, and you wait an endless time for the next party. i got awfully tired of the long intervals, sitting at the tables, drinking and smoking. while the fights were going on we all stood round in a ring. there were only about three duels the whole morning. there was a good deal of blood on the floor. the women at the refreshment counter were quite unconcerned. they didn't trouble to look on, but talked to each other about blouses like girls in a post office. the students drove out to the inn and back in open carriages. it is a mile from heidelberg. the duels are generally as impersonal as games, but sometimes they are in settlement of quarrels. i think any student may come and fight on these occasions, but i suppose he has to be the guest of a corps." a german professor lecturing on university life constantly used a word i did not understand at first. the word as he said it was _commang_, with a strong accent on the second syllable. the word as it is written is _comment_, and means the etiquette set up and obeyed by the students. the germans have taken many french words into their language and corrupted them, much as we have ourselves: sometimes by germanising the pronunciation, sometimes by conjugating a french verb in the german way as they do in _raisonniren_ and _geniren_. the _commang_, said the professor, was a highly valuable factor in a young man's education, because it helped more than anything else to turn a schoolboy into a man of the world. so when i saw a little book called _der bier comment_ for sale i bought it instantly, for i wanted to know how beer turned a schoolboy into a man of the world. it began with a little preface, a word of warning to anyone attempting to write about the morals, customs, and characteristics of the german nation. no one undertaking this was to forget that the germans had an amazing _bierdurst_, and that they liked to assuage this thirst in company, to be cheerful and easy, and to sing while they were drinking. then it goes on to give the elaborate ceremonial observed at the _kneiptafel_. one of my dictionaries, although the german-english part has pages, translates _kneipe_ as "any instrument for pinching." i never yet found anything i wanted in those pages. another dictionary, one that cost ninepence, and is supposed to give you all words in common use, does not include _kneipe_ at all. as an instrument for pinching, _kneipe_ is certainly not common, except possibly amongst people who use tools. as a word for a sort of beer club it is as common as beer. it is not only students who go to the _kneipe_. in some parts of germany men spend most of the evening drinking beer and smoking with their friends, while the womenfolk are by themselves or with the children at home. but the beer _commang_ that the professor thought had such educational value is the name for certain intricate rites practised by university students at the _kneiptafel_. those who sit at the table are called beer persons, and they are of various ranks according to the time of membership and their position in the kneipe. every beer person must drink beer and join in the songs, unless he has special permission from the chairman. the beer persons do not just sit round the table and drink as they please. if they did there would be no _comment_, and i suppose no educational value. they have to invite their fellows to drink with them, and the quantity drunk, the persons who may have challenged, and the exact number of minutes that may elapse before a challenge is accepted and returned, is all exactly laid down. then there are various festive and ingenious ways of drinking together, so as to turn the orgy into something like a game. for instance, the glass "goes into the world," that is, it circulates, and any beer person who seizes it with a different hand or different fingers from his neighbour is fined. or the glasses are piled one on the top of another while the beer persons sing, and some one man has to drink to each glass in the pile at the word of command. or the president orders a "beer galop" with the words "_silentium für einen biergalopp: ich bitte den nötigen stoff anzuschaffen._" at the word of command everyone, beginning with the president, passes his glass to his left-hand neighbour and empties the one he receives. then the glasses are refilled, passed to the right, and emptied again as soon as possible. the president, it seems, has to exercise a good deal of discretion and ingenuity, for if the _kneipe_ seems flat it lies with him to order the moves in the game that will make it lively and stimulate beer, song, and conversation. there are various fines and punishments inflicted according to strict rule on those who transgress the code of the _kneipe_, but as far as i can make out they all resolve themselves into drinking extra beer, singing extra songs, or in really serious cases ceasing to be a beer person for whatever length of time meets the offence. an englishman who was present at some of these gatherings in heidelberg, told me that the etiquette was most difficult for a foreigner to understand, and always a source of anxiety to him all the evening. he was constantly invited to drink with various members, and the german responsible for him explained that he must not only respond to the invitation at the moment, but return it at the right time: not too soon, because that would look like shaking off an obligation, and not too late, because that would look like forgetting it. a _kommers_ is a students' festival in which the professors and other senior members of a university take part, and at which outsiders are allowed to look on. the presiding students appear _in vollem wichs_, as we should say in their war paint, with sashes and rapiers. young and old together drink beer, sing songs, make speeches, and in honour of one or the other they "rub a salamander,"--a word which is said to be a corruption of _sauft alle mit einander_. this is a curious ceremony and of great antiquity. when the glasses are filled, at the word of command they are rubbed on the table; at the word of command they are raised and emptied; and again at the word of command every man rubs his glass on the table, the second time raises it and brings it down with a crash. anyone who brought his glass down a moment earlier or later than the others would spoil the _salamander_ and be in disgrace. in _ekkehardt_ scheffel describes a similar ceremonial in the tenth century. "the men seized their mugs," he says, "and rubbed them three times in unison on the smooth rocks, producing a humming noise, then they lifted them towards the sun and drank; each man set down his mug at the same moment, so that it sounded like a single stroke." a _kommers_ is not always a gay festival. it may be a memorial ceremony in honour of some great man lately dead. then speeches are made in his praise, solemn and sacred music is sung, and the salamander, an impressive libation to the dead man's manes, is drunk with mournful effect. in small university towns--and it must be remembered that there are twenty-two universities in germany--the students play a great part in the social life of the place. german ladies have often told me that the balls they looked forward to with most delight as girls were those given by students, when one "corps" would take rooms and pay for music, wine, and lights. for supper, tickets are issued on such occasions, which the guests pay themselves. the small german universities seem full of the students in term time, especially in those places where people congregate for pleasure and not for work. even in a town as big as leipsic they are seen a good deal, filling the pavement, occupying the restaurants, going in gangs to the play. but in berlin the german student of tradition, the beer person, the duellist, the rollicking lad with his big dog, is lost. he is there, you are told, but if you keep to the highway you never see him; and, to tell the truth, in germany you miss him. he stands for youth and high spirits and that world of ancient custom most of us would be loth to lose. in berlin, if you go to the _universität_ when the working day begins, you see a crowd of serious, well-mannered young men, most of them carrying books and papers. they are swarming like bees to the various lecture-rooms; they are as quiet as the elderly professors who appear amongst them. they have no corps caps, no dogs, no scars on their scholarly faces. by their figures you judge that they are not beer persons. they have worked hard for twelve years in the gymnasiums of germany, they have no idle habits, no interests so keen as their interest in this business of preparing for the future. they are the men of next year's germany, and will carry on their country's reputation in the world for efficiency and scholarship. chapter vii riehl on women not long ago i heard a german professor say that anyone who wanted to speak with authority about the german family must read _die familie_ by w.h. riehl. he said that, amongst other things, this important work explained why men went to the _kneipe_, because they were fond of home life; and also what was the sphere of women. i thought it would be useful to have both these points settled; besides, i asked several wise germans about the book, and they all nodded their heads and said it was a good one. so i got it, and was surprised to find it came out in . i thought ideas about women had advanced since then, even in germany, though a german friend had warned me just before my last visit not to expect much in this way. she made a movement with her lips as if she was blowing a bit of thistledown from her. "remember," she said, "that is what you will be directly you get there ... nothing at all." but i had been to germany so often that i was prepared to be "nothing at all" for a time, and not to mind it much. what i wanted to discover was how far german women had arrived at being "something" in the eyes of their men. in my eyes they had always been a good deal: admirable wives and mothers, for instance, patient, capable, thrifty, and self-sacrificing. at first i thought that my friend was wrong, and that women of late years had made great strides in germany. i met single women who had careers and homes of their own and were quite cheerful. when you are old enough to look back twenty or thirty years, and remember the blight there used to be on the "old maid," and the narrow gossiping life she was driven to lead, you must admit that these contented bachelor women have done a good deal to emancipate themselves. in england they have been with us for a long time, but formerly i had not come across them in germany. on the contrary, i well remember my amazement as a girl at hearing a sane able-bodied single woman of sixty say she had naturally not ventured on a summer journey to switzerland till some man who looked after her money affairs, but was in no way related, had given her his consent. i did once hear a german boast of having struck his wife in order to bring her to submission. he was not a navvy either, but a merchant of good standing. he was not a common type, however. german men, on the whole, treat their womenfolk kindly, but never as their equals. over and over again german women have told me they envied the wives of englishmen, and i should say that it is impossible for an english woman to be in germany without feeling, if she understands what is going on around her, that she has suddenly lost caste. she is "nothing at all" because she is a woman: to be treated with gallantry if she is young and pretty, and as a negligible quantity if she is not. that perhaps is a bitter description of what really takes place, but after reading herr riehl, and hearing that his ideas are still widely accepted in germany, i am not much afraid of being unjust. his own arguments convict the men of the nation in a measure nothing i could say would. they are in extreme opposition to the ideas fermenting amongst modern women there, and the strange fact that they are not regarded as quite out of date makes them interesting. herr riehl's theory, to put it in a nutshell, is that the family is all-important, and the individual, if she is a woman, is of no importance at all. he does not object to her being yoked to a plough, because then she is working for the family, but he would forbid her, if he could, to enter any profession that would make her independent of the family. she is not to practise any art, and if she "commences author" it is a sure sign that she is ugly, soured, and bitter. in any country where they are allowed to rule, and even in any country where they distinguish themselves in art and literature, civilisation as well as statecraft must be at a standstill. queen elizabeth and maria theresa were evidently awkward people for a man laying down this theory to encounter, so he goes out of his way to say that they were not women at all, but men in women's clothes. moreover, he has no doubt that the salic law must ultimately prevail everywhere. a woman has no independent existence: he says she is taught from childhood to be subordinate to others; she cannot go out by herself with propriety; she is not a complete creature till she finds a mate. the unlucky women who never find one (more than , in germany) are not to make any kind of career for themselves, either humble or glorious. each one is to search carefully for relatives who will give her a corner in their house, and allow her to work for them. if no one wants her she may live with other women and bring up poor children. he would allow women some education. far be it from him to think that women are to remain in compulsory ignorance. but their education is to be "womanly," and carried on in the family. women teachers in public schools he considered a danger to the state, and he would send all girls till they reach their twelfth or fourteenth year to the elementary schools, where they would be taught by men and associate with bare-footed children. woman, in short, is to learn how to be woman at home, and how not to be superwoman in school. she may even have some instruction in art and science, but only a limited instruction that will not encroach on her duty to the family. the fate of lonely single women is much on herr riehl's mind. what are we to do with them? he asks despairingly. "what is to become of the army of innocent creatures, without means, without a craft, doomed to an aimless, disappointed life. shall we shut them up in convents? shall we buy them into stifts? shall we send them to australia? shall we put an end to them?" quite in the manner of dogberry, he answers his own questions. let them go their ways as before, he says. he knows there is no short cut to social regeneration, and he will not recommend one, not even extirpation. he points out that the working women of germany have never asked to be on an equality with men. the lower you descend in the social scale the less sharply women are differentiated from men, and the worse time women have in consequence. the wife of a peasant is only his equal in one respect: she works as hard as he does. otherwise she is his serf. the sole public position allowed to a woman in a village is that of gooseherd; while those original minds who in other circumstances would take to authorship or painting have to wait, if they are peasants, till they are old, when they can take to fortune-telling and witchcraft. herr riehl admits that the lot of women when they are peasants is not a happy one. he does not make the admission because he thinks it of much consequence, but because it illustrates his argument that the less "feminine" women are the less power they exercise. he has no great fault to find with the peasant's household, where the wife is a beast of burden in the field and a slave indoors, bears children in quick succession, is old before her time, and sacrifices herself body and soul to the family. but he points out that on a higher social plane, where women are more unlike men, more distinctively feminine, the position they take is more honourable. yet it is these same "superfeminine" women who are foolishly claiming equality with men. herr riehl's views expressed in english seem a little behind the times, here and there more than a little brutal. he speaks with sympathy of suttee, and he quotes the volga-kalmucks with approval. this tribe, it seems, "treat their wives with the most exquisite patriarchal courtesy; but directly the wife neglects a household duty courtesy ceases (for the _genius_ of the house is more important than the personal dignity of the wife), and the sinner is castigated (_wird tüchtig durchgepeitscht_). the whip used, the household sword and sceptre, is handed down from generation to generation as a sacred heirloom." i have translated this passage instead of alluding to it, because i thought it was an occasion on which herr riehl should literally speak for himself. it is, however, fair to explain that modern men as well as modern women come under his censure. all the tendencies and all the habits of modern life afflict him, and he lashes out at them without discrimination, and with such an entire lack of prophetic insight that i have found him consoling. for this book was published sixteen years before the franco-prussian war, when germany, the world must admit, proved that it was not decadent. yet every page of it is a jeremiad, an exhortation to his countryfolk to stop short on the road to ruin. he does not see that the whole nation is slowly and patiently girding its loins for that mighty effort; he believes it is blind, weak, and flighty. if he had lived in england, and a little later, he would certainly have talked about the smart set, foreign financiers, and the yellow press. as he lived in germany fifty years ago, he scolds his countryfolk for living in flats. he wants to know why a family cannot herd in one room instead of scattering itself in several. as for a father who cannot endure the cry of children, that man should never have been a father, says herr riehl. he cannot approve of the dinner hour being put off till two o'clock. why not begin work at five and dine at eleven in the good old german way? he praises the ruinous elaborate festivals that used to celebrate family events, and considers that the police help to destroy family life by fining people who in their opinion spend more than they can afford on a wedding or a christening. he objects to artificial christmas trees, and points out that other nations set a tree in the drawing-room, but that germans have it in the nursery, the innermost sanctum of family life. he arrives at some curious conclusions when he discusses the german's habit of turning the beer-house into a sort of club that he calls his _kneipe_. other races can drink, he says; _aber bloss die germanischen können kneipen_--only the germanic peoples can make themselves at home in an inn. what does the _stammgast_, the regular guest, ask but the ways of home? the same chair every night, the same corner, the same glass, the same wine; and where there is a _stammtisch_ the same companions. he sees that family life is more or less destroyed when the men of the household spend their leisure hours, and especially their evenings, at an inn, but he says that the homelike surroundings of the _kneipe_ prove the german's love of home. in fact, he suggests that even the habitual drunkard is often a weak, amiable creature cut out for family life; only, he has sought it at the public-house instead of on his own hearth. herr riehl is, in fact, deeply concerned to see amongst his countryfolk a gradual slackening of family ties, a widespread selfish individualism amongst women, an abdication of duty and authority amongst men. his views about women sound outrageous to-day, chiefly because he wants to apply them to all women without distinction; and also because they display a total want of consideration for the welfare and the wishes of women themselves. but his position is interesting, because with some modifications it is the position still taken by the majority of german men; naturally, not by the most advanced and intelligent, but by the average german from the spree to the danube. he thinks that woman was made for man, and that if she has board, lodging, and raiment, according to the means of her menfolk, she has all she can possibly ask of life. when her menfolk are peasants, she must work in the fields; when they belong to the middle or upper classes, her place is in the kitchen and the nursery. unless he is exceptionally intelligent he does not understand that this simple rule is complicated by modern economic conditions, and by the enormous number of women thrown on their own resources. he would send them as herr riehl did, to the kitchens and nurseries of other people; or he would give up the problem in despair, as herr riehl did, admitting with a sigh that modern humanitarianism forbids the establishment of a lethal chamber for the superfluous members of a weaker sex. the most modern german women are in direct opposition to herr riehl, and it must be said that some of their leaders are enthusiastic rather than sensible. they are drunk with the freedom they claim in a country where women are not even allowed to attend a political meeting except with the express consent of the police. in their ravings against the tyranny of men they lose all historical sense, just as an american does when he describes a mediæval crime as if it had been committed by a european with a twentieth-century conscience. they charge men with keeping half humanity in a degrading state of slavery, and attribute all the sins of civilisation to the enforced ignorance and helplessness of women. their contempt for their masters is almost beyond the german language to express, eloquently as they use it. they demand equality of education and opportunity, but they do not want to be men. far be such a desire from their minds. they mean to be something much better. to what a pass have men brought the world, they ask? how much better would manners and morals and politics be in the hands of women! they repel with indignation the taunt that women have no right to govern the state because their bodies are too weak to defend it. they point out with a gleam of sense and justice that the mother of children does serve the state in a supremely important way; and for that matter they are willing to take many state duties on their shoulders, and to train for them as arduously and regularly as men train for the wretched business of killing each other. they will not mate with those poor things--modern men--under the existing marriage laws. they refuse to be household beasts of burden a day longer. life, life to the dregs with all its joys and all its responsibilities, is what they want, and love if it comes their way. but not marriage. young siegfrieds they ask for, young lions. here one bewildered reader rubbed her eyes; for she had just heard siegfried and the götterdämmerung again, and sometimes she reads in the _nibelungenlied_; and if ever a man won a woman with his club, by muscle seemingly, by magic really, but anyhow by sheer bodily strength, was not that man siegfried? and was not the woman brünnhilde? and what does the siegfried of the lied say when his wife has failed to keep a guard on her tongue-- "man soll so frauen ziehen," sprach siegfried, "der degen, das sie üppig reden lassen unterwegen. verbiet es deinem weibe; der meinen thu' ich's auch. ich schäme mich, wahrlich um solchen übermüthigen brauch." and then, just as if he was one of those volga-kalmucks admired by herr riehl, he beats poor kriemhilde black and blue. "das hat mich bald gereuet," so sprach das edle weib; "auch hat er so zerblaüet deswegen meinen leib! dass ich es je geredet, beschwerte ihm den muth: das hat gar wohl gerochen der degen tapfer und gut." yet here is the last development in women, the woman who refuses as an outrage both the theory of masculine superiority and the fact so evident in germany of masculine domination, here is the self-constituted superwoman calling as if she was eve to the primæval male. it may be perverse of me, but my imagination refuses to behold them mated. chapter viii the old and the new germany stands midway between france and england in its care for its womenfolk. french parents consider marriage the proper career for a woman, and with logical good sense set themselves from the day of a girl's birth to provide a dowry for her. when she is of a marriageable age they provide the husband. they will make great sacrifices to establish a daughter in prosperity, and they leave nothing to chance. we leave everything to chance, and the idea of marriage made by bargain and without love offends us. such marriages are often enough made in england, but they are never admitted. some gloss of sentiment or of personal respect is considered decent. but on the whole in this country a girl shifts for herself. if she marries, well and good; if she remains single, well and good too, provided she can earn her living or has means. when she has neither means nor craft and fails to marry, she is one of the most tragic figures in our confused social hierarchy, difficult to help, superfluous. she sets her hand to this and that, but she has no grip on life. to think of her is to invoke the very image of failure and incompetence. she flocks into every opening, blocking and depressing it; as a "help" she becomes a byword, for she has grown up without learning to help herself or anybody else. if she is a protestant she has no haven. only people who have set themselves to help poor ladies know the difficulties of the undertaking, and the miseries their protégées endure. even in the middle ages the conscientious german was doing more for this helpless element of his population than england and america are doing to-day. he saw that some of his daughters would remain unmarried, and that if they were gently bred he must provide for their future, and he did this by founding _stifte_. the old _stift_ was established by the gentlemen of some one district, who built a house and contributed land and money for its maintenance, so that when they died their unmarried daughters should still have a suitable home. some of these old _stifte_ are very wealthy now, and have buildings of great dignity and beauty; they still admit none but the descendants of the men who founded them, and when they have more money than they need to support the _stift_ itself, they use it to pension the widows and endow the brides belonging to their group or families. in hesse-cassel, for instance, there is an ancient _stift_ formed by the _ritterschaft_ of the duchy and it is so well off that it can afford to pension every widow and fatherless child, and buy an outfit for every bride whose name either by marriage or descent entitles her to its protection. the example set by the noble families of the middle ages was followed in time by other classes, and _stifte_ were established all over germany for the daughters of the bourgeoisie. they grew in number and variety; some had a school attached to their endowment and some an orphanage. in some the rule was elastic, in others binding. there are _stifte_ from which a woman may absent herself for the greater part of the year, and yet draw an income from its funds and have a room or rooms appointed to her use; there are others where residence is compulsory. some are only open to descendants of the founders; some sell vacancies. a woman may have to wait year after year for a chance of getting in; or she may belong to one that will admit her at a certain age. in many there is a presiding lady, the domina or abbess; and when the present emperor visited a well-known _stift_ lately he gave the abbess a shepherd's crook with which to rule her flock. some are just sets of rooms with certain privileges of light and firing attached. their constitution varies greatly, according to the class provided for and the means available. but you cannot be much amongst germans without meeting women who have been educated, endowed, helped in sickness, or supported in old age by one of these organisations. you come across girls of gentle birth but with no means who have been brought up in a _stift_, or you hear of well-to-do girls whose parents have paid high for their schooling in one. you know the elderly unmarried daughter of an official living on his pension, and you find that though she has never been taught to earn her bread she looks forward to old age with serenity, because when she was a child her relations bought her into a _stift_ that will give her at the age of fifty free quarters, fire, light, and an income on which, with her habits of thrift, she can live comfortably. another woman engaged in private teaching and a good deal battered by the struggle for life, comes to you some day more radiant than you have ever seen her, and you find that influential friends have put her case before a _stift_, and that it has granted her two charming rooms with free fire and light. i heard of a cook the other day who, after many years of faithful service, left her employers to spend her old age in a _stift_. no social stigma attaches to the women living in one, and they are as free, in some cases as well placed and well born, as the english women living at hampton court. some friction and some gossip is presumably inevitable wherever women herd together in an unnatural segregation from men and children. but at any rate the german _stift_ saves many a woman from the tragic struggle with old age and poverty to which the penniless incapable spinster is condemned in our country. it may not be a paradise, but it is a haven. as i said at the beginning, the frenchman dowers and marries his girl, the german buys her a refuge, the englishman leaves her to fate. on the whole, the german believes that the woman's province is within the limits of the household. he wants her to be a home-maker, and in germany what "he" wants her to be still fixes the standard. but as the census reveals the existence of large numbers of single women, and as "he" often has a thoughtful and benevolent mind, more and more is done there every year to prepare those women who must earn their living to earn it capably. it has been understood for some time past that herr riehl's plan of finding a family roof for every woman without one presents difficulties where there are , -odd women to provide for in this way. one of the people who first saw this clearly, and supported every sensible undertaking that came to the assistance of women, was the empress frederick; and one of the institutions that she encouraged and esteemed from the beginning was the _lette-verein_ in berlin. the _lette-verein_, named after its originator, dr. a. lette, was founded, says its prospectus, to further the education of women and to increase the efficiency of women dependent on themselves for support. what it actually does is to train for housekeeping and office work, and for some trades. its interest lies in the ordered and thoughtful provision it makes both for the woman who means to devote herself body and soul to the family; and for the woman who prefers, or who is driven, to stand in the market-place and compete with men. the _lette-verein_ does not train servants or admit servants to its classes. it occupies a large block of buildings in the west of berlin, for its various schools and hostels require a great deal of room. students who live in the city can attend daily classes; but those who come from a distance can have board and residence for £ a week or less. once a week strangers are allowed to see the _lette-haus_ at work, and when i went there we were taken first to the kitchens, where the future housewives of germany were learning to cook. the stoves were the sensible low closed-in ones used on the continent, and the vessels were either earthenware or metal, kept brightly polished both inside and out. the students were preparing and cooking various dishes, but the one that interested me was the _leipziger allerlei_, because i compared it with the "herbage" an english plain cook throws into water and sends up half drained, half cold, and often enough half clean. i could not stop to count the vegetables required for _leipziger allerlei_, but there seemed to be at least six varieties, all cooked separately, and afterwards combined with a properly made sauce. the englishman may say that he prefers his half-cooked cabbage, and the english woman, if she is a plain cook, will certainly say that the cabbage gives her as much trouble as she means to take; but the german woman knows that when she marries her husband will want _leipziger allerlei_, so she goes to the _lette-haus_ and learns how to make it. even the young doctors of berlin learn cooking at the _lette-haus_. special classes for invalid cookery are held on their behalf, and are said to be popular and extremely useful. certainly doctors whose work is amongst the poor or in country places must often wish they understood something about the preparation of food. the girls who go to the _lette-haus_ are taught the whole art of housekeeping, from the proper way to scour a pan or scrub a floor to fine laundry work and darning, and even how to set and serve a table. an intelligent girl who had been right through the courses at the _lette-haus_ could train an inexperienced servant, because she would understand exactly how things ought to be done, how much time they should take, and what amount of fatigue they involve. if her servants failed her she would be independent of them. some students at the _lette-haus_ do, as a matter of fact, form a household that is carried on without a single servant, and is on this account the most interesting branch of the organisation. the girls are from fourteen to sixteen years of age, and they pay £ a year for instruction, board, and lodging. some of them are the daughters of landed proprietors, and some will eventually earn a living as "supports of the housewife," an honourable career shortly referred to by germans as _eine stütze_. they were a happy, healthy looking lot of girls. they wear neat serviceable gowns while they are at work, aprons, linen sleeves to protect their stuff ones, and pretty blue handkerchiefs tied like turbans over their hair. some of them were busy at the wash-tub, and this seemed heavy work for girls of that age. the various kinds of work are done in turn, and the student when her washing week comes round is employed in this way three hours every morning. on alternate days she mangles clothes, and in the afternoons she sews. our guide would not admit that three hours at the wash-tub could be too great a strain on a half-developed girl, and it is a question for medical wisdom to decide. the cooking and ironing looked hot work, but these young german girls were cheerfully and thoroughly learning how to do them, and whether they marry or stay single their knowledge of these arts will be of inestimable use in later years. i heard of an able-bodied englishwoman the other day who took to her bed in tears because her maids left her suddenly. she could not have roasted a leg of mutton or made the plainest pudding. this is the school of the future, said our enthusiastic guide when we went to see the "children" at work at the _lette-haus_; and i, remembering my helpless englishwoman, agreed with her. the children's afternoons are mostly given to needlework, and they are instructed in the prospectus not to bring new clothes with them, because it is desired that they should learn how to mend old ones neatly and correctly. they are taught to darn and patch so finely that the repair cannot easily be discovered; they make sets of body linen for themselves, three finely sewn men's linen shirts, a gown for work-days, and some elaborate blouses. in another part of the _lette-haus_, where students were being trained as expert embroiderers and dressmakers, we were shown pieces of flowered brocade into which patches had been so skilfully inserted that you could only find them by holding them up to the light. in the bookbinding department there were amateur and professional students. the professionals apprentice themselves for three years, and from the first receive a small weekly wage. the length of their apprenticeship is determined by the length of time prescribed for men, and not by what is necessary for their training. i asked if they easily found regular work later, and was told that at present the demand for expert women bookbinders exceeded the supply. the _lette-haus_ trains women to be photographers, printers, and clerks. in fact, with german thoroughness and foresight it does all one big institution can to save the women of the nation from the curse of incompetence. it turns them out efficient housewives or efficient craftswomen, according to their needs. the german woman of to-day has travelled far from the ideal set up by herr riehl, and still upheld by his disciples. women have found that the realities of life clash with that particular ideal, and rudely upset it. just like any man, a woman wants bread when she is hungry, and when there is no man to give it to her she must raven for it herself. she has been driven from a family hearth that has no fire on it, and from a family roof that cannot afford her shelter. on the whole, if i may judge from personal observation, it has done her good. the traditional old maid is dying out in germany as assuredly as she is dying out in england, and who shall regret her? her outlook was narrow, her temper often soured. she had neither self-reliance nor charm. she was that sad, silly spectacle, a clinging plant without support. now that she is learning to grow on her own account, she finds that there is a good deal in life a sensible plant can enjoy without clinging. the german "old maid" of the twentieth century has, like her english sister, transformed herself into a "bachelor," a person who for this reason or that has not married, and who nevertheless has a cheerful time. she has her own work, she often has her own flat, and if she lives in one of the big cities she has her own club. there are at present three ladies' clubs in berlin all flourishing. the subscription to the _berliner frauenklub_ is only six marks a year, yet it provides the members with comfortably furnished rooms and well cooked meals at low prices. a member of this club can dine for ninepence, and have a hot dish from fourpence to sevenpence. she has access to a library of volumes, to the leading papers and reviews, and to magazines in four languages. she can entertain women at the club, but not men; though she can meet men there at certain hours of the day. social gatherings of various kinds are arranged to meet the various needs and ages of the members; and one night a week four or five card-tables are set out, so that the older members can have a quiet game of skat or whist. we wonder what herr riehl would say if he could see them. another german ladies' club in berlin is the _deutscher frauenklub_, and it is nicknamed the millionaire's club because the subscription is twenty-five shillings. it is a rather smarter club than the other, and has a charming set of rooms. there are about members. the third club is a branch of the london lyceum, and it has aroused great interest and attention in berlin, not only because it is on a more magnificent scale than the other clubs, but because of the brave effort it makes to unite the women of all nations and help them. most of the women distinguished in art and literature have joined it. i began this chapter by saying something of the _stift_, the refuge for unmarried women that germany established in the middle ages and still preserves. i end it with the lyceum club, that latest manifestation of a modern woman's desire to help her own sex. the character of these institutions and their history are both significant. in other days men helped women; in these days women try to help themselves. the _stift_ gives a woman bread and shelter in idleness; the aim of the lyceum club is not to give, but to bring women together and to encourage good work. the _stifte_ are still crowded and the lyceum flourishes, for in our time the old woman jostles the new. but the new woman has arrived, and is making herself felt; with amazing force and swiftness, you must admit when you reflect on the position of women in germany thirty or forty years ago. chapter ix girlhood in the _memoiren einer idealistin_, those genuine and interesting memoirs that have been so widely read in germany of late, malvida von meysenbug, the daughter of a highly placed official at a small german court, describes her confirmation day and the long period of preparation and the spiritual struggle that preceded it. "during a whole year my sister and i went twice a week to the pastor's house to be instructed in the dogma of the protestant church," she says.... "the ceremony was to be on sunday. the friday before we had our last lesson. our teacher was deeply moved; with tears in his eyes he spoke to us of the holiness and importance of the act we were about to perform.... according to the german custom amongst girls of the better classes, we put on black silk dresses for the first time for our confirmation, and this ceremonial attire calmed me and did me good. our maid took special pains with our toilet, as if we were going to a worldly entertainment, and chattered more than usual. it jarred on me, but it helped to distract my thoughts. when it was time to start i said good-bye to my mother with deep emotion, and asked her to forgive me my faults. my sister and i were to go to the pastor's house on our way to church. there we found everything strewn with flowers. our teacher received us in his priestly robes, and spoke to all of us so lovingly and earnestly that the most indifferent were moved. when the church bells began to peal our procession set out, the pastor at its head, and we following two by two. the way from the rectory to the church was strewn with flowers, and the church was decked with them. the choral society of the town, to which some of our best friends belonged, received us with a beautiful hymn. i felt on wings, i prayed to god that this hour might be blessed to me throughout my life. the sermon preached by the voice that had so often affected me made me calm. when the preacher required us to make our confession of faith, i uttered my 'yes' with firm assurance. then i knelt before him with the rest to receive his blessing. he put his hands on our heads, accepted us as members of the protestant church, and blessed each one separately, and with a special verse from the bible. to me he said, 'be thou faithful unto death, and i will give thee a crown of life.' my heart echoed the solemn vow: faithful unto death. the choir greeted the young christians with a song of victory. we did not return to the seats reserved for candidates, but sat with our parents and relatives waiting with them until everyone had left the church, except those who wished to partake of the holy communion." malvida von meysenbug is too much absorbed in her intense spiritual experiences to describe the lighter side of confirmation in germany, which celebrates it with presents and a gathering of friends. a girl gets her first black silk gown for the occasion, and both boys and girls get as many presents as they do at christmas or on a birthday. these are all set out for the inspection of the friends who assemble at the house after the religious ceremony, to congratulate the parents and the youngest member of their church. there is an entertainment of coffee, chocolate, and cakes; and a few days later both boys and girls return these visits of congratulation in the company of their parents. some years ago, when a girl had been confirmed, she was considered officially grown up and marriageable, and entered straight away into the gaieties that are supposed to lead to marriage. but the modern tendency in germany is to prolong girlhood, and the wife of sixteen is as rare there amongst the educated classes as it is here. amongst the jews in germany marriages are still arranged for the young people by their elders; often, as in france, through the intervention of friends, but also by the business-like office of the marriage broker. it need hardly be said, perhaps, that the refined and enlightened jews refuse to marry in this way. they insist on choosing their own mate, and even on overlooking some disparity of fortune. unorthodox jews marry christian women, and the jewish heiress constantly allies herself and her money with a title or a uniform. in the latter case, however, the nuptials are just as business-like as if the _schadchan_ had arranged them and received his commission. the graf or the major gets the gold he lacks, and the rich jewess gets social prestige or the nearest approach to it possible in a jew-baiting land. an ardent anti-semite told me that these mixed marriages were not fertile, and that if only everyone of jewish blood would marry a christian, the country would in course of time be cleared of a race that, she solemnly assured me, is as great a curse to it, and as inferior as the negro in america. but as she was an anti-semite with a sense of humour she admitted that the remedy was a slow one and difficult to enforce. as a matter of fact, the jews marry mostly amongst themselves in germany, and men are still living in frankfurt and other large cities who have made comfortable fortunes by the brokerage they charged on their matchmaking. formerly a prosperous unmarried jew used to be besieged by offers from these agents; and so were men who could give their daughters a good dowry. the better-class jews do not employ them nowadays, but their marriages are suggested and arranged much as marriages are in france. a young merchant of berlin thinks it is time to settle down, or perhaps wants a little capital to enlarge his business. he consults an uncle in frankfurt. the uncle tells his old friend, the father of several daughters, that the most handsome, industrious, and accomplished man the world has ever seen, his own nephew, in fact, thinks of marriage, and that his conditions are this and that; he tells his nephew that the most beautiful and amiable creature in germany, a brilliant musician, a fluent linguist, a devoted daughter, and a person of simple housewifely tastes, lives next door to him, the uncle. except for the housewifely tastes, it sounds, and in fact is, rather like a courtship in the _arabian nights_ so far. the prince hears of the princess, and without having seen her sets out to seek her hand. the young merchant pays a flying visit to frankfurt, is presented to the most beautiful creature in germany, finds her passable, has a talk to her father as business-like as a talk between two solicitors, proposes, is accepted, and at once becomes the most ardent lover the world has ever seen. amongst christians marriages are certainly not arranged for girls in this matter-of-course way, and so "old maids" abound. girls without money have far less chance of marriage in germany than in england, where young people mate as they please and where a man expects to support his wife entirely; while the spectacle, quite common here, of girls with a good deal of money remaining single from various reasons, sometimes actually from want of opportunity to marry, this every-day occurrence amongst the english better classes is unknown on the continent. in her powerful novel _aus guter familie_, gabrielle reuter describes the life of a german girl whose parents cannot give her a dowry, and who is doomed in consequence to old maidhood and to all the disappointments, restrictions, and humiliations of unsought women. while women look to marriage and nothing else for happiness, there must be such lives in every monogamous country, where they outnumber the men; but in england a woman's marriage is much more a matter of chance and charm than of money. if she is poor and misses her chance she is worse off than the german, for she has no _stift_ provided for her; but if she is attractive she is just as likely to marry without a fortune as with one. those german women who consider their ideas "progressive" have taken up a new cry of late, a cry about every woman's "right" to motherhood; but they do not seem to have found a satisfactory way of securing this right to the , women who outnumber the men. one learned professor wrote a pamphlet advocating polygamy, but his proposal did not have the success he no doubt felt it deserved. the women who discuss these questions, in magazines they edit and mostly write themselves, said that his arguments were all conducted from the man's point of view, and were most reprehensible. their own chief aim at present is to protect the mothers of illegitimate children, and this seems a natural and proper thing for the women of any community to do. otherwise they are not a united body. there are moderates and immoderates amongst them, and as i am a moderate myself in such matters, i think those who go all lengths are lunatics. it makes one open one's eyes to go to germany to-day with one's old-fashioned ideas of the german frau, and hear what she is doing in her desire to reform society and inaugurate a new code of morals. she does not even wait till she is married to speak with authority. on the contrary, she says that marriage is degrading, and that temporary unions are more to the honour and profit of women. "dear aunt s.," i heard of one girl writing to a venerable relative, "i want you to congratulate me on my happiness. i am about to be united with the man i love, and we shall live together (_in freier ehe_) till one of us is tired of it." a german lady of wide views and worldly knowledge told me a girl had lately sent her a little volume of original poems that she could only describe as unfit for publication; yet she knew the girl and thought her a harmless creature. she was presumably a goose who wanted to cackle in chorus. this same lady met another girl in the gallery of an artist who belonged to what mr. gilbert calls the "fleshly school." "ah!" said the girl to my friend, "this is where i feel at home." one of these immoderates, on the authority of plato, recommended at a public meeting that girls should do gymnastics unclothed. some of them are men-haters, some in the interests of their sex are all for free love. none of them accept the domination of men in theory, so i think that the facts of life in their own country must often be unpleasantly forced on them. i discussed the movement, which is a marked one in germany at present, with two women whose experience and good sense made their opinion valuable. but they did not agree. one said that the excesses of these people were the outcome of long repression, and would wear out in time. the other thought the movement would go on and grow; which was as much as to say that she thought the old morals were dead. undoubtedly they are dead in some sets in germany to-day. you hear of girls of good family who have asserted their "right to motherhood" without marriage; and you hear of other girls who refuse to marry because they will not make vows or accept conditions they consider humiliating. these views do not attract large numbers; probably never will. but they are sufficiently widespread to express themselves in many modern essays, novels, and pamphlets, and even to support several magazines. the women holding them are of various types and quality, and are by no manner of means agreed with each other; while those women who are working steadily and discreetly for the progress of their sex condemn the extreme party, and consider them a check on all real advancement. the german girl, then, is not always the simple creature tradition paints her. at any rate she reads novels and sees plays that would have been forbidden to her mother. nevertheless she is as a rule just as happy as a girl should be when the man of her dreams asks her to marry him. in other days a proposal of marriage was a ceremonial in germany. a man had to put on evening dress for the occasion, and carry a bouquet with him. "oh yes," said a german friend of mine, "this is still done sometimes. a little while ago a cousin of mine in mainz was seen coming home in evening dress by broad daylight carrying his bouquet. the poor fellow had been refused." but in these laxer times a man is spared such an ordeal. it is more usual in germany than in england to speak to a girl's father before proposing to her, but even this is not invariable nowadays. young people make their own opportunities. "last year my brother proposed to his present wife in the woods near baden while they gathered waldmeister," said a young german to a girl he ardently admired. "it will be in flower next week, and your parents have just arranged that i may meet them at the _alte schloss_ in time for dinner. after dinner we will walk in the woods--_nicht wahr_?" but the girl, as it happened, did not wish to receive a proposal of marriage from this young man, so she took care not to walk in the woods and gather waldmeister with him. it is often said that the sexes herd separately in germany, and do not meet each other much. but this always seems to me one of the things said by people who have looked at germans and not lived amongst them. a nation that has such an intimate home life, and is on the whole poor, receives its friends in an intimate informal way. young men have different occupations and interests from girls, but when they are admitted to a family they are often admitted on terms of easy friendship. in london you may ask a young man with others to dinner at intervals, and never get to know him; in berlin you ask him without others to supper, and soon get to know him very well. besides, a german cannot endure life long without an _ausflug_ or a _landpartie_, and when the family plans one it includes one or two of its friends. when two germans do get engaged they let their world know of it. a betrothal there is not the informal flimsy contract it often is with us. they begin by publishing the event in their newspapers, and sending round printed forms announcing it to their friends. in the newspaper the announcement is rather bare compared with the advertisement of other family events. "engaged. frl. martha raekelwitz mit hrn. ingenieur julius prinz dresden-hamburg" is considered sufficient. but the printed intimations sent round on gilt-edged paper or cardboard to the friends of the contracting parties are more communicative. on one side the parents have the honour to announce the engagement of their daughter anna to mr. so-and-so, and on the other side mr. so-and-so announces his engagement to miss anna. here is a reproduction of such a form, with nothing altered except the actual names and addresses. on the left-hand side of the double sheet of cartridge paper the parents of the _braut_ have their say-- "die verlobung ihrer tochter pauline mit herrn referendar dr. jur. heinrich schmidt in berlin beehren sich ergebenst anzuzeigen. geh. regierungsrat dr. eugen brand königl. gymnasialdirektor und frau helene, geb. engel stuttgart, _im juni _ tiergarten " then on the opposite page the future bridegroom speaks for himself-- "meine verlobung mit fräulein pauline brand, tochter des königl. gymnasialdirektors herrn geh. regierungsrat dr. eugen brand und seiner frau gemahlin helene, geb. engel, in stuttgart, beehre ich mich ergebenst anzuzeigen. dr. jur. heinrich schmidt referendar berlin, _im juni _ kurfürstendamm " directly these forms have been circulated, all the friends who have received one and live near enough pay a visit of congratulation to the bride's parents, and soon after the betrothed couple return these visits with some ceremony. it is quite impossible, by the way, to talk of germans who are officially engaged without calling them the bride and bridegroom. they plight their troth with the plain gold rings that will be their wedding rings, and this stage of their union is celebrated with as much ceremony and merrymaking as the actual wedding. the germans are giving up so many of their quaint poetical customs that the girl of to-day probably wears a fine diamond engagement ring instead of the old-fashioned gold one. but the ring with which her mother and grandmother plighted their troth was the ring with which they were wedded, and when chamisso wrote _du ring an meinem finger_ he was not writing of diamonds. all the tenderness and poetry of germany go out to lovers, and the thought of a german bride and bridegroom flashes through the mind with thoughts of flowers and moonlight and nightingales. at least, it does if you can associate them with the poems of heine and chamisso, with the songs of schumann, and with the caressing intimate talk of the german tongue unloosed by love. but your experience is just as likely to play you the unkindest trick, and remind you of german lovers whose uncouth public endearments made everyone not to the manner born uncomfortable. when the bride and bridegroom live in the same town, and know a large number of people, they are overdone with festivities from the moment of betrothal to the day of marriage. the round of entertainments begins with a gala dinner given by the bride's father, and this is followed by invitations from all the relatives and friends on either side. when you receive a german _brautpaar_ they should be the guests of honour, and if you can hang garlands near them so much the better. you must certainly present the _braut_ with a bouquet at some stage of the proceedings, and you will give pleasure if you can manufacture one or two mottoes in green stuff and put them in conspicuous places. for instance, i knew of a girl who got engaged away from home. do you suppose that she was allowed to return to a bare and speechless front door as her english cousin would? nothing of the kind. the whole family had set to work to twine laurel wreaths and garlands in her honour, and she was received with _wilkommen du glückseliges kind_ done in ivy leaves by her grandmother. it was considered very _rührend_ and _innig_. at some time during the engagement the betrothed couple are sure to get photographed together, and anyone who possesses a german family album will bear me out that the lady is nearly always standing, while her bearded lover is sitting down. when they are both standing they are arm in arm or hand in hand. i remember a collection possessing two photographs of a married daughter with her husband. one had been taken just before the wedding in the orthodox pose; he in an easy chair and she standing meekly by his side: the other represented them a year after marriage, when heaven had sent them twins. they were both standing then, and they each had a baby in a _steckkissen_ in their arms. if the bridegroom is not living in the same town with his bride her life is supposed to run rather quietly in his absence. she is not expected to dance with other men, for instance; but rather to spend her time in embroidering his monogram on every conceivable object he might use: on tobacco pouches, or slippers, on letter cases, on braces, on photograph frames, on luggage straps, on fine pocket handkerchiefs. if she is expert and possesses the true sentiment she will embroider things for him with her hair. in these degenerate days she does not make her own outfit. formerly, when a german girl left school she began to make stores of body and house linen for future years. but in modern cities the _braut_ gets everything at one of the big "white" shops, from her own laces and muslins to the saucepan holders for the kitchen, and the bread bags her cook will hang outside the flat for the baker's boy. in germany it is the bride, or rather her parents, who furnish the house and provide the household linen; and the linen is all embroidered with her initials. this custom extends to all classes, so that you constantly hear of a servant who is saving up for her _aussteuer_, that is, the furniture and linen of a house as well as her own clothes. if you ask whether she is engaged you are told that the outfit is the thing. when the money for that is there it is easy to provide the bridegroom. in higher spheres much more is spent on a bride's trousseau than in england, taking class for class. some years ago i had occasion to help in the choice of a trousseau bought in hamburg, and to be often in and out of a great "white ware" business there. i cannot remember how many outfits were on view during those weeks, but they were all much alike. what some people call "undies" had been ordered in immense quantities, sometimes heavily trimmed with madeira work, sometimes with a plain scollop of double linen warranted to wash and wear for ever. the material was also invariably of a kind to wear, a fine linen or a closely woven english longcloth. how any one woman could want some six dozen "nighties" (the silly slang sounds especially silly when i think of those solid highly respectable german garments) was a question no one seemed to ask. the bride's father could afford six dozen; it was the custom to have six dozen if you could pay for them, and there they were. the thin cambric garments french women were beginning to wear then were shown to you and tossed contemptuously aside as only fit for actresses. but this has all been changed. if you ask for "undies" in berlin to-day, a supercilious shoplady brings you the last folly in gossamer, decolletée, and with elbow sleeves; and you wonder as you stare at it what a sane portly german housewife makes of such a garment. in this, as in other things, instead of abiding by his own sensible fashions, the german is imitating the french and the americans; for it is the french and the americans who have taught the women of other nations to buy clothes so fragile and so costly that they are only fit for the purse of a chicago packer. when the outfit is ready and the wedding day near, the bride returns all the entertainments given in her honour by inviting her girl friends to a bride-chocolate or a bean-coffee. this festivity is like a _kaffee-klatsch_, or what we should call an afternoon tea. in germany, until quite lately, chocolate and coffee were preferred to tea, and the guests sat round a dining-table well spread with cakes. at a bean-coffee the cake of honour had a bean in it, and the girl who got the bean in her slice would be _braut_ before the year was out. another entertainment that takes place immediately before the marriage is given by the bride's best friend, who invites several other girls to help her weave the bridal wreath of myrtle. the bride does not help with it. she appears with the bridegroom later in the afternoon when the wreath is ready. it is presented to her with great ceremony on a cushion, and as they bring it the girls sing the well-known song from the _freischütz_-- "wir winden dir den jungfernkranz mit veilchenblauer seide; wir führen dich zu spiel und tanz zu glück und liebesfreude! lavendel, myrt' und thymian das wächst in meinen garten; wie lang bleibt doch der freiersmann? ich kann es kaum erwarten. sie hat gesponnen sieben jahr den goldnen flachs am rocken; die schleier sind wie spinnweb klar, und grün der kranz der locken. und als der schmucke freier kam, war'n sieben jahr verronnen: und weil sie der herzliebste nahm hat sie den kranz gewonnen." the bridegroom receives a buttonhole, but no one sings him a song. in the opera he is not on the stage during the bridesmaids' chorus. i have not been able to find out whether the quaint pretty verses are by friedrich kind, who founded the libretto of the opera on a story by august apel, or whether he borrowed them from an older source. german brides wore myrtle and their friends wove a wedding wreath for them long before , when _der freischütz_ appeared. chapter x marriages "he was a pompous, stiff-jointed man," said my friends, "an official in a small town, who would go to the stake rather than break the letter of the law. but when he came to berlin to attend a niece's marriage he thought he would have some fun. he arrived late on _polterabend_, and he brought with him an enormous earthenware crock. instead of ringing he hurled the crock against the outside door of the flat, so that it smashed to atoms with a noise like thunder. the inhabitants of that flat came forth like a swarm of bees, but they were not laughing at the fun, because it was not their _polterabend_." he had broken crockery on the wrong floor. in cities this ancient german custom of breaking crockery at the bride's door on _polterabend_ (the night before the wedding) has died out, but it has not long been dead. i have talked with people who remembered it in full force when they were young. i believe that the idea was to appease the _poltergeist_, who would otherwise vex and disturb the young couple. my dictionary, the one that has pages, says that a _poltergeist_ is a "racketing spectre," probably what we who are not dictionary makers would call a hobgoblin. in brands' _antiquities_ i find reference to this old custom at the marriage of a duke of york in germany, when great quantities of glass and china were smashed at the palace doors the night before the wedding. polterabend is still celebrated by germans, although they no longer consider it polite to smash crockery. there is always a large entertainment, sometimes at the bride's house, sometimes at the house of a near relative; there are theatricals with personal allusions, or recitations of home-made topical poetry, some good music, and the inevitable evergreens woven into sentiments of encouragement and congratulation. the bride's presents are set out much as they are in england, and perhaps class for class more valuable presents are given in germany than in england. electro-plate, for instance, was considered impossible a few years ago. a wedding present, if it was silver at all, must be real silver. but it is not so much the custom as with us to give presents of money. the civil marriage takes place either the day before or early on the same day as the religious ceremony. the bride used to wear black silk, and still wears a dark plain costume for this official function. her parents go with her and the necessary witnesses. the religious ceremony often used to take place in the house, but that is no longer customary. the anonymous author of _german home life_, a book published and a good deal read in , says that marriage is a troublesome and expensive ceremony in germany, and that this accounts for the large number of illegitimate children. mr. o. eltzbacher, the author of _modern germany_ published in , confirms what was said in as to the number of illegitimate children born in germany and austria, for he says that in germany itself they are per cent., while in those districts of austria where the germans form about nine-tenths of the population, from per cent, to per cent, of the children are born out of wedlock. in france statistics give per cent., in scotland . per cent., and in england and wales . per cent. nevertheless in modern germany children are not illegitimate because their parents are too poor to pay their marriage fees. the civil marriage is obligatory everywhere, and costs nothing. the religious ceremony need cost nothing at all. in the porch of every church in prussia there is a notice stating on which days _freie trauungen_ are conducted. several couples are married at the same time, but they have the full liturgy and the marriage sermon. a small charge is made for the organist and for the decoration of the church. a friend whose husband has a large poor parish in berlin tells me that the social democrats object to the religious ceremony, and will stand guard outside the house on the day of the civil marriage, to make sure that the newly made husband and wife do not leave together to go to church. sometimes an artisan will wait a fortnight after the civil ceremony before he ventures to have the religious one. every artisan in berlin has to belong to the _sozialdemokratischer verband_, because if he did not his fellow-workmen would destroy his tools and ruin his chances of work. apparently they interfere with his private affairs as well. the marriage service is not to be found in the prayer-book germans take to church, but i have both read it and listened to it. the vows made are much the same as here; but in germany great importance is attached to the homily or marriage sermon. this is often long and heavy. i have heard the pastor preach to the young couple for nearly half an hour about their duties, and especially about the wife's duty of submission and obedience. his victims were kept standing before him the whole time, and the poor little bride was shaking from head to foot with nervousness and excitement. in some cities the carriage used by a well-to-do bride and bridegroom is as big as a royal coach, and upholstered with white satin, and on the wedding day decorated inside and out with garlands of flowers. the bridegroom fetches his bride in this coach, and enters the church with her. when a pretty popular girl gets married all her admirers send flowers to the church to decorate it. the bride and bridegroom exchange rings, for in germany men as well as women wear a plain gold wedding ring, and it is always worn on the right hand. the bridegroom and all the male guests wear evening dress and silk hats. the women wear evening clothes too, and no hats. the bride wears the conventional white silk or satin and a white veil, but her wreath must be partly of myrtle, for in germany myrtle is the bride's emblem. after the wedding dinner the bride slips away unnoticed and changes her gown, and is presently joined by the bridegroom, but not by any of the guests. no rice and no old slippers are thrown in germany, and no crowd of friends assembles to see the young pair start. the bride bids her parents farewell, and slips away with her husband unseen and unattended. after the wedding dinner there is often dancing and music. a hundred years ago wedding festivities lasted for many days after the wedding, and the bride and bridegroom did not go till they were over. when the celebrated and much married caroline schlegel married her first husband, george böhmer, in , the ceremony took place at her own home in göttingen, where her father was a well-known professor. "it would be unnatural if a young wife did not begin with an account of her wedding day," she says in one of her letters. "mine was delightful enough. böhmer breakfasted with me, and the morning hours passed gaily, and yet with quietness. there was no trepidation--only an intercourse of souls. my brother came. we were together till four, and when he left us he gave us his blessing with tears.... lotte and friederike wove the bridal wreath.... then i had a talk with my father and dressed myself.... meanwhile those dear meiners sent me a note, with which were some garters they had embroidered themselves. several of my friends wrote to me, and last of all i got a silhouette, painted on glass, of lotte and friederike weaving my bridal wreath. when i was dressed i was a pretty bride. the room was charmingly decorated by my mother. soon after four o'clock böhmer arrived, and the guests, thirty-eight in number. thank heaven, there were no old uncles and aunts, so the company was of a more bearable type than is usual on such occasions. i stood there surrounded by my girl friends, and my most vivid thought was of what my condition would be if i did not love the man before me. my father, who was still far from well, led me to the clergyman, and i saw myself for life at böhmer's side and yet did not tremble. during the ceremony i did not cry. but after it was over and böhmer took me in his arms with every expression of the deepest love, while parents, brothers, sisters, and friends greeted me with kind wishes as never a bride was greeted before, my brother being quite overwhelmed--then my heart melted and overflowed out of sheer happiness." a week later caroline and her husband are still at göttingen, and still celebrating their marriage. at one house, under pretence of the heat, the bride was led into the garden, and beheld there an illuminated motto: "happy the man who has a virtuous wife: his life will be doubly long." another friend arrayed her son as hymen, and taught him to strew flowers in caroline's path, leading her thus to an arbour where there was a throne of moss and flowers, with high steps ascending to it, a canopy and a triumphal arch. concealed behind a bush were musicians, who sang an appropriate song, while the bride and bridegroom mounted the throne and sank in each other's arms before a crowd of sympathising and tearful spectators. this took place more than a hundred and twenty years ago, but i have in my possession what i can only describe as the "literature" of a marriage celebrated three years ago between a north and a south german, both belonging to commercial families of old standing; and it supplies me, if i needed it, with documentary evidence that germans enjoy now what they enjoyed then. the marriage took place in winter and from a flat, so that the bride's friends could not build grottoes or hide musicians behind a bush; but for weeks before both sides of the family must have been busy composing the poems sung at the wedding feast, the music that accompanied them, and the elaborate humorous verses containing allusions to the past history of the bride and bridegroom. to begin with, there is a dainty book of picture postcards, the first one giving portraits of a very handsome and dignified bridegroom with his dainty bride. then there is a view of dresden where the bridegroom was born, another of the rhenish town in which he found his bride, and one of berlin where she used to stay with a married sister and deal "baskets" right and left to would-be admirers. in germany, when a girl refuses a man she is said to give him a "basket," and a favourite old figure in the cotillon used to put one in a girl's hands and then present two men to her. she danced with the one she liked best, and the rejected man had to dance round after them with the basket. besides the book of postcards, each guest at this wedding was presented with printed copies of the _tafel-lieder_ composed by members of the family. one of these has eight verses and each verse has eight lines. it relates little events in the life of the bridegroom from babyhood onwards. you learn that he was a clever child, that he lived at home with his mother instead of going abroad to learn his work, that when he was young he ardently desired to go on the stage, that he is a fine gymnast and musician, but that he needs a wife because he is a dreamy person capable of putting on odd boots. another _tafel-lied_ describes the courtship step by step, and even the assistance given by the poet's wife to bring the romance to its present happy conclusion. "at last frau sophie stirred in the affair, her eyes had pierced to his heart's desire, with fine diplomacy she coaxed miss clare to own her maiden heart was set on fire. on all the words and sighs there follow deeds: he comes, he woos her, and at last succeeds." the songs are not all sentiment. they are jocular, and contain puns and play upon names. three out of the five end with an invitation to everyone to raise their glasses with a _hoch_ to the married pair. this is done over and over again at german weddings, and as all the guests want to clink glasses with the bride and bridegroom, there is a good deal of movement as well as noise. besides the _tafel-lieder_, each of which made a separate booklet with its own dedication and illustration, every guest received an elaborate book of samples: samples of the various straws used that summer for ladies' hats. the bridegroom's family had manufactured hats for many generations; they were wealthy, highly considered people, and extremely proud of their position in their own industry. i am sure that when an englishman in the same trade and of the same standing gets married, the last thing that would be mentioned at his wedding would be hats. it would be considered in the highest degree indecorous. but the german is still guileless enough to be satisfied with his station in life when it is sufficiently honourable and prosperous, and for this wedding two little nieces had prepared this card of samples and composed a rhyme for each different colour-- "wie ist doch der onkel hoch beglückt das tantchen heute der 'brautkranz' schmückt" went with "myrtle green." "liebe gäste, mit genuss, wollet alle euch erheben-- hoch das brautpaar-- es soll leben!" went with the "champagne" straw at the end; and one accompanying the "silver" straw contained an allusion to the "silver" wedding twenty-five years hence, when the bride's golden hair would be silver-grey. here is the _menu_, mostly in french, to which all the _tafel-lieder_ were sung, and all the toasts drunk and congratulatory speeches made. you will observe that it is none of your light cup, cake, and ice entertainments that you have substituted for the solid old wedding breakfast in this country. hochzeits-tafel. caviar-schnitten potage douglas saumon-s^{ce} bernaise pommes naturelles selle de chevreuil à la chipolata ris de veau en demi deuil poularde salade & compote asperges en branches s^{ce} mousseline glace napolitaine patisserie fruits & dessert fromage scharzberger mousseux er caseler er st. emilion er schloss johannisberg moet et chandon white star and that no guest should depart hungry-- kaltes abendbrot bier germans celebrate both silver and golden weddings with as much ceremony and rejoicing as the first wedding. the husband and wife receive presents from all their friends, and entertain them according to the best of their circumstances. children will travel across the world and bring grandchildren with them to one of these anniversaries, and they are of course a great occasion for the topical poetry, theatricals, and tableaux that germans enjoy. if the grandmother by good luck has saved a gown she wore as a girl, and the grandchild can put it on and act some little episode from the old lady's youth, everyone will applaud and enjoy and be stirred to smiles and tears. there is as much feasting as at a youthful wedding, and perhaps more elaborate performances. silver-grey is considered the proper thing for the silver bride to wear. it seems like a want of sentiment to speak of divorce in the same breath with weddings; but as a matter of fact, divorce is commoner in germany than in england, and more easily obtained. imprisonment for felony is sufficient reason, and unfaithfulness without cruelty, insanity that has lasted three years, desertion, ill treatment or any attempt on the other's life. you hear divorce spoken of lightly by people whose counterparts in england would be shocked by it; people, i mean, of blameless sequestered lives and rigid moral views. some saintly ladies, who i am sure have never harboured a light thought or spent a frivolous hour, told me of a cousin who played whist every evening with her present husband and his predecessor. my friends seemed to think the situation amusing, but not in any way to be condemned. at the same time, i have heard germans quote the saying--"_geschiedene leute scheiden fort und fort_," and object strongly to associate with anyone, however innocent, who had been connected with a matrimonial scandal. a woman remains in possession of her own money after marriage even without marriage settlements; but the husband has certain rights of use and investment. her clothes, jewels, and tools are her own, and the wages she earns by her own work. a man's creditors cannot seize either these or her fortune to pay his debts. both in germany and england the wife must live in the house and place chosen by the husband, but in germany she need not follow him to _unwirtlichen_ countries against her will. he can insist on her doing the housework and helping him in his business when he has no means to pay substitutes; but she can insist on being maintained in a style proper to their station in life. he is responsible for her business debts if he has consented to her undertakings; but he can forbid her to carry on a business if he prefers that she should be supported by him and give her time and strength to the administration of their home. when they are legally separated he must make her an allowance, but it need only be enough for the bare necessaries of life if the separation is due to her misconduct. the father and mother have joint control of the children, but during the father's lifetime his rule is paramount. when he is dead or incapacitated parental authority remains in the mother's hands. it is her right and duty to care for the child's person, to decide where it shall live, and to superintend its education. she can claim it legally from people who desire to keep it from her. a child born in wedlock is legitimate unless the husband can prove otherwise, and he must establish proof within a year of the birth coming to his knowledge. but a woman is not allowed to prove that a child born in wedlock is illegitimate. if a man dies intestate and leaves children or grandchildren, his widow inherits a fourth of his property; if he only has more distant relatives, half; if he has none, the whole. a man cannot cut his wife off with a shilling. he must leave her at least half of what would come to her if he died intestate. all the laws relating to husband and wife are to be found in the _bürgerliches gesetzbuch_, which can be bought for a mark. as far as the non-legal intelligence can grasp them, they seem according to our times to be just to women, except when they give the use of her income to the husband. this is a big exception, however. i remember hearing a german say that his sister's quarterly allowance, which happened to be a large one, was always sent to her husband, as it was right and proper that important sums of money should be in the man's hands and under his control. this undoubtedly is the general german view. after the moonshine, the nightingales, the feasting, the toasts, and the family poetry come the realities of life: and the realities in german make the man the predominant partner. chapter xi the householder rents are high in germany. at least, the germans say so, and so do the people whose books about germany are crammed with soul-satisfying statistics and elaborate calculations. over-crowding, too, is said to be worse in germany than in english cities. but i have always seen the rent and the crowding judged by the number of rooms and not by their size. this is really misleading, because you could put the whole of a small london flat into many a german middle-class dining-room or _wohnzimmer_. you could bring up a family in a single room i once had for a whole summer in thüringen for s. a week. it was as big as a church, and most light and airy. one camped in bits of it. i think rent for rent rooms in germany are quite twice as large as in london. in berlin, where rent is considered wickedly high, you can get a flat in a good quarter for £ , and for that sum you will have four large rooms, three smaller ones, a good kitchen, an attic that serves as a lumber-room, and a share in a laundry at the top of the house. there will even be a bathroom with a trickle of cold water, but it is only in the very newest and most expensive german flats that you find hot and cold water laid on. your drawing and dining-rooms will be spacious, and one of them is almost sure to have a balcony looking on the street and the pleasant avenue of trees with which it is planted. for this rent you must either make yourself happy on the third or fourth floor in a house without a lift, or you must find one of the delightful "garden" dwellings behind the _hof_; but you will have a better home for your money than you could get in a decent part of london. in fact, it comes to this, in spite of all the statistics in favour of london. if you can only spend £ on your rent you can live in a good quarter of berlin, near enough to the tiergarten, close to the zoological gardens, and within a tram-ride of the delightful woods at halensee. in london you can get a small house for £ , but it will either be in an unattractive quarter or in a suburb. a flat, wherever it is, must always seem a dwelling place rather than a home, but the germans have elected to live in flats and accept their disadvantages. in and around all the great cities there are villas, but their number hardly counts in comparison with the masses of tall white houses, six storeys high for the most part, and holding within their walls all degrees of wealth and poverty. the german villa is florid, and likes blue glass balls and artificial fountains in its garden. it is often a villa in appearance and several flats in reality. its most pleasant feature is the garden-room or big verandah, where in summer all meals are served. outside hamburg, on the banks of the elbe, the merchant princes of the city have built themselves palaces surrounded by splendid park-like gardens. but hamburg, though it does not love the english, is always accused by the rest of germany of being english. it certainly has beautiful gardens. so have other german cities in some instances, but well kept gardens are not the matter of course in germany that they are here. you see more bare and artificial ones and more neglected overgrown ones in an afternoon's walk than you do all the year round in england. but i wish we could follow the german fashion of planting all our streets with double avenues of healthy trees. berlin in spring seems to be set in a wood; it is so fresh and green. the flowering shrubs, on the other hand, are not to be compared with ours. everyone rushes to see a few lilac bushes, and gueldres roses trimmed to a stiff snowball of flowers, and everyone says _wie herrlich!_ but you miss the profusion of lilac, hawthorn, and laburnum that runs riot all about london in every residential road and every garden. above all, you miss the english lawns. in berlin wherever grass is grown it looks either thin or coarse. the majority of germans do not dream of wanting a garden. they are content with a few palms in their sitting-room or window boxes on their balcony. they are proud of their window-gardening in berlin, but i think london windows in june are gayer and more flowery. the palms kept in german rooms attain to a great size and number, and a palm is a favourite present. nursery gardeners undertake the troublesome business of repotting them every spring, so the owners have nothing to do but water them and keep them from draughts. there are usually so many windows in a german sitting-room that those near the plants need never be opened in winter; and even when the temperature sinks several degrees below zero outside, the air of the flat is kept artificially warm, so warm that english folk gasp and flag in it. at the first sign of winter the outside windows, removed for the summer, are brought back again. our windows are unknown on the continent, and disliked by continentals who see them here. they call them guillotine windows, and consider them dangerous. theirs all open like doors, so that you have four doors to each window, and until you get used to them you find they make a pretty clatter whenever you set them wide. but in winter they are only opened for a few minutes every morning when the room is "aired." it is considered extravagant to open them at other times, because the heat would escape and more fuel would be required. i suppose everyone in england understands that our open fireplaces are almost unknown in germany. they have enclosed stoves of iron or porcelain that make little work or dirt and give no pleasure. there is no gathering round the hearth. you sit about the room as you would in summer, for it is evenly heated. all the beauty and poetry of fire are wanting; you have nothing but an atmosphere that will be comfortable or asphyxiating, according to the taste of your hosts. years ago in south germany you burnt nothing but logs of wood in the old-fashioned iron stoves, and there was some faint pleasure in listening to their crackle. you could just see the flames too, if you stooped low enough and opened the little stove door. but the wood burnt so quickly that it was most difficult to keep a big room warm. nowadays you always find the porcelain stove that mark twain says looks like the family monument. in some of these coal is burnt, or a mixture of coal and peat. some burn anthracite, and are considered economical. a _füllofen_ of this kind is kept burning night and day during the worst of the winter. it requires attention two or three times in twenty-four hours; it is easily regulated, and if the communicating doors are left open it warms two or three rooms. a friend who has a large flat in berlin told me that there was one of these stoves in her husband's study, and that her drawing-room which opens out of it, and which they constantly use, had only had a fire in it five times last winter. i find on looking at this friend's budget that she spends £ a year on turf and other fuel, and this seems high for a flat where so few fires were lighted. but fuel is dear in german towns. briquettes are largely used in cities, small slabs of condensed coal that cost one pfennig each. it takes about twenty-four slabs to keep a stove in during the day. the great advantage of the _füllofen_ over the ordinary stove is that it keeps in all night. there are dangerous variations of temperature in a german flat that is kept as hot as an oven all day, and allowed to sink below zero during the night. but you hear complaints on all sides in germany, both of inconsiderate english people who waste fuel by opening windows in cold weather; and of the sufferings endured by germans who have been in england in winter. they do not like our open fireplaces at all, because they say they wish to be warm all over and not in bits. "in england," they tell you solemnly, "you can be warm either in front or at the back; but you cannot be warm on both sides as we are here. besides, your fireplaces make dirt and work and are extravagant. they would not suit us." in fact, they imply that for the french and the english they are well enough, but not for the salt of the earth. the german kitchen stoves are certainly more practical and economical than ours, and i never can understand why we do not fetch a few over and try them. they are entirely enclosed, and much lower than ours. the berlin kitchener has one fire that is lighted for a short time to roast a joint, and another using less fuel that heats water and does light cooking. the sweep, who is bound by the etiquette of his trade to wear a tall hat in germany, does not come into your flat at all. you hear him shout through the courtyard that he will visit the house next day, and he works from the garrets and cellars. the police regulate his visits as they regulate everything else in germany. chimneys must be swept every six weeks in summer, and every four weeks in winter in berlin. dustbins are emptied every day, and in some towns the police make most troublesome regulations with regard to them. the householder has to set his outside to be emptied, and the police insist on this being done at a certain hour, neither earlier nor later, so that if your servant happens to be careless or unpunctual you will be repeatedly fined. staircases vary greatly according to the date and rent of the house. the most modern houses in berlin have broad front staircases with thick carpets, and in some cases seats of "nouveau art" design on the landings. in such houses you are always met on the threshold by printed requests to wipe your feet and shut the door gently. they don't tell you to do as you're bid. that is taken for granted, or the police will know the reason why. there is always an uncarpeted back staircase for servants and tradespeople, and for the tenants who inhabit the poorer parts of the building. in houses where all the tenants belong to the poorer classes, you find notices that forbid children to play in the hof, and command people not to loiter or to make any noise on the stairs. carpet-beating and shaking, which is constantly and vigorously carried on, is only allowed on certain days of the week and at certain hours. when there is a house porter he is not as important and conspicuous as the french concierge. in my experience he has usually gone out and thoughtfully left the front door ajar. he is not a universal institution even in berlin. taxes vary in different parts of germany. in saxony a man spending £ a year pays altogether £ for income tax, municipal rates, water, school, and church rates. in berlin the income tax is not an imperial (reichs) tax, but a _landes_ tax, and amounts to £ on an income of £ . smaller incomes pay less and larger ones more, in proportion varying from about to per cent. besides this _staats_ tax there is a municipal tax of exactly the same amount in berlin and charlottenberg. but there are towns in prussia where it is less; others, mostly in the western provinces, where it is more, considerably more in some cases. the water rate is paid by the house owners, and the tenant pays it in his rent. there are no school taxes. the church tax is compulsory on members of the _landeskirche_. when a man has no capital his income tax is levied on his yearly expenses; but the man whose income is derived from capital pays a higher tax than the man who has none. the german, too, pays a great deal to the state indirectly; for nearly everything he requires is taxed. but the three things he loves best, tobacco, beer, and music, he gets cheap--cheaper than he can in a free trade country; so he pays for everything else as best he can, and tries to look pleasant. "but the burden is almost more than we can bear," said one thoughtful german to me when i told him how greatly english people admired their municipal enterprise, and the admirable provision made in berlin for the very poor. last time i went to germany i actually made the acquaintance of one german who did not smoke, and on various occasions i was in the society of others who did not smoke for some hours. in the berlin tramcars smoking is strictly forbidden, but i did not observe that this rule was strictly enforced. in fact, my attention was drawn to it one day by finding my neighbour's cigar unpleasantly strong. one cigar in a tramcar, however, is nothing at all, and should not be mentioned. it is when a railway carriage beautifully upholstered with crimson velvet holds you, six germans, and one englishman, for eight hours on a blazing summer day, that you begin to wonder whether, after all, you do mind smoke. to be sure, you might have travelled in a _nichtraucher_ or a _damen-coupé_, but changes are a nuisance on a journey. besides, you know that a _damen-coupé_ is always crowded, and that the moment you open a window someone will hold a handkerchief tearfully to her neck and say, "_aber ich bitte meine dame: es zieht!_" and all the other women in the carriage will say in chorus, "_ja! ja! es zieht!_" and if you don't shut the window instantly the conductor will be summoned, and he will give the case against you. so you travel all day long with seven cigars, most of them cheap strong ones, that their owners smoke very slowly and replace directly they are finished. and after a time the conversation turns on smoking, and your neighbour admits that he always lights his first cigar when he gets up in the morning and smokes it while he is dressing. his wife dresses in the same room and does not like it, but.... it is unnecessary to say more. five cigars out of six are in sympathy with him, while you amuse yourself by wondering what revenge a wife could take in such circumstances. a bottle of the most offensive scent in the market suggests itself, but you look at your neighbour's profile, and see that he is the kind of man to pitch scent he did not like out of the window. you have heard of one german husband who did this when his wife brought home perfumes that did not please him. and then your memory travels back and back along the years, arriving at last at the picture of an english nursery, in the household where a german guest had arrived the night before. the nurses and the children are sitting peacefully at breakfast, when there enters to them a housemaid, scornful, scandalised, out of breath with her hurry to impart what she had seen. "he's a-smoking in bed," she says, "that there mr. hoggenheimer! he's a-smoking in bed!" "some of them do," says nurse, who is a travelled person, and refuses to be taken by surprise. "well, of all the nasty...." "sh!" says nurse, pointing to the children, all eyes and ears. so that is all you can remember about the housemaid and mr. hoggenheimer. but you remember him--a little dark man who sent you books you could not read at christmas, and brought you enchanting gingerbreads covered with hundreds and thousands. you thought him rather funny, but you liked him, and if he wanted to smoke in bed why not? you liked toys in bed yourself, and you would have taken the dog there if only it had been allowed. then you come back again to the present hour, nearly all the years of your life later, and you are in a railway carriage with six german householders who, like mr. hoggenheimer, want cigars in and out of season. "to-morrow," you say to your englishman; "to-morrow i shall travel in a _nichtraucher_." "but then i can't smoke," he says quite truly. "we shall not travel together." "but that is so unsociable." "i would rather be unsociable than suffocated," you explain. "i have suffered tortures to-day." "have you? but you always say you don't mind smoke." "in reason. seven cigars and one woman are not reasonable. never again will i travel with seven cigars." "i thought we had a pleasant journey," says the englishman regretfully. "that little man next to you----" "mr. hoggenheimer----?" "was that his name?--i couldn't understand all he said, but he had an amusing face." "a face can be misleading," you say; "that man bullies his wife." "how do you know?" "he told us so. he smokes before breakfast ... while he is dressing, ... and he has no dressing room...." the englishman looks calm. "they do take one into their confidence," he remarks. "my neighbour told me that he never could eat mayonnaise of salmon directly after roast pork, because it gave him peculiar pains. i was afraid you'd hear him describe his symptoms; but i believe you were asleep." "no, i wasn't," you confess; "i heard it all, and i shut my eyes, because i knew if i opened them he'd address himself to me. i shut them when he began talking to you about your _magen_ and what you ought to do to give it tone. you seemed interested." "it's quite an interesting subject," says the englishman, who makes friends with every german he meets. "he is not in the least like an englishman," they say to you cordially,--"he is so friendly and amiable." chapter xii housewives "frenchwomen are the best housewives in europe," said a german lady who knew most european countries well; "the next best are the english; germans come third." the lady speaking was one whose opinions were always uttered with much charm, but _ex-cathedra_; so that you found it impossible to disagree with her ... until you got home. but to hear the supreme excellence of the _hausfrau_ contested takes the breath away; to see her deposed from the first place by one of her own countrywomen dazzles the eyes. it was a new idea to me that any women in the world except the germans kept house at all. if you live amongst germans when you are young you adopt this view quite insensibly and without argument. "my son is in england," you hear a german mother say. "i am uneasy about him. i fear he may marry an englishwoman." "they sometimes do," says her gossip, shaking her head. "it would break my heart. the women of that nation know nothing of housekeeping. they sit in their drawing-rooms all day, while their husband's hard-earned money is wasted in the kitchen. besides ... _mein armer karl_--he loves _nudelsuppe_ and _küken mit spargel_. what does an englishwoman know of such things? she would give him cold mutton to eat, and he would die of an indigestion. i was once in england in my youth, and when i got back we had a _frikassee von hähnchen mit krebsen_ for dinner, and i wept with pleasure." "perhaps," says the gossip consolingly, "your karl will remember these things and fetch himself a german wife." "poor girl!" says karl's not-to-be-consoled mother, "she would have to live in england and keep house there. it happened to my niece greta löhring. she had a new cook every fortnight, and each one was worse than the one before. in england when a cook spoils a pudding she puts it in the fire and makes another. imagine the eggs that are used under such circumstances." i remember this little dialogue, because i was young and ignorant enough at the time to ask what a german did when she spoilt a pudding, and was promptly informed that in germany such things could not happen. a cook was not allowed to make puddings unless her mistress stood by and saw that she made them properly; "unless she is a _perfekte köchin_," added karl's mother, "and then she does not spoil things." a german friend, not the travelled one, but a real home-baked domestic german, took me one hot afternoon this summer to pay a call, and at once fell to talking to the mistress of the house about the washing of lace curtains. there were eight windows in front of the flat, and each window had a pair of stiff spotless lace curtains, and each curtain had been washed by the lady's own hands. my friend had just washed hers, and they both approached the subject as keenly as two gardeners will approach a question of bulbs or alpines. there are different ways of washing a white curtain, you know, and different methods of rinsing and drying it, and various soaps. starch is used too at some stage of the process; at least, i think so. but the afternoon was hot and the argument involved. the starch i will not swear to, but i will swear to ten waters--ten successive cleansings in fresh water before the soul of the housewife was at rest. "and how do you wash yours?" said one of them, turning to me. "oh--i!" i stammered, taken aback, for i had been nearly asleep; "i send a post-card to whiteley's, and they fetch them one week and bring them back the next. they cost s. a pair." the two german ladies looked at each other and smiled. then they politely changed the subject. this trivial story is not told for its intrinsic merits, but because it illustrates the difference of method between english and german women. the german with much wear and tear of body and spirit washes her own lace curtains. she saves a little money, and spends a great deal of time over them. the englishwoman, when she possibly can, likes to spend her time in a different way. in both countries there are admirable housekeepers, and middling housekeepers, and extremely bad ones. the german who goes the wrong way about it sends her husband to the _kneipe_ by her eternal fussing and fidgeting. she is not his companion mentally, but the cook's, for her mind has sunk to the cook's level, while her temper through constant fault-finding is on a lower one. the englishwoman sends her husband to the club or the public house, according to his social station, because she is incapable of giving him eatable food. but the english belief that german housewives are invariably dull and stodgy is not a whit more ignorant and untrue than the german belief that all englishwomen are neglectful, extravagant housekeepers. the englishwoman keeps house in her own way, and it is different from the german way, but it is often admirable. the comfort, the organisation, and the unbroken peace of a well-managed english household are not surpassed, in some details not equalled, anywhere in the world. the german ideal (for women) is one of service and self-sacrifice. let her learn betimes to serve, says goethe, for by service only shall she attain to command and to the authority in the house that is her due. "dienen lerne bei zeiten das weib nach ihrer bestimmung, denn durch dienen allein gelangt sie endlich zum herrschen zu der verdienten gewalt, die doch ihr im hause gehöret, dienet die schwester dem bruder doch früh, sie dienet den eltern; und ihr leben ist immer ein ewiges gehen und kommen, oder ein heben und tragen, bereiten und schaffen für andre; wohl ihr, wenn sie daran sich gewöhnt, dass kein weg ihr zu sauer wird, und die stunden der nacht ihr sind wie die stunden des tages: dass ihr niemals die arbeit zu klein und die nadel zu fein dünkt, dass sie sich ganz vergisst, und leben mag nur in andern!" she is to serve her brothers and parents. her whole life is to be a going and coming, a lifting and carrying, a preparing and acting for others. well for her if she treads her way unweariedly, if night is as day to her, if no task seems too small and no needle too fine. she is to forget herself altogether and live in others. it is a beautiful passage, and an unabashed magnificent masculine egotism speaks in every line of it. whenever i read it i think of the little girl in _punch_ whose little brother called to her, "come here, effie. i wants you." and effie answered, "thank you, archie, but i wants myself!" herr riehl quotes the passage at the end of his own exhortations to his countrywomen, which are all in the same spirit, and were not needed by them. german women have always been devoted to their homes and their families, and they are as subservient to their menfolk as the japanese. they do not actually fall on their knees before their lords, but the tone of voice in which a woman of the old school speaks of _die herren_ is enough to make a french, american, or englishwoman think there is something to be said for the modern revolt against men. for any woman with a spice of feminine perversity in her nature will be driven to the other camp when she meets extremes; so that in germany she feels ready to rise against overbearing males; whilst in america she misses some of the regard for masculine judgment and authority that german women show in excess. at least, it seems an excess of duty to us when we hear of a german bride who will not go down to dinner with the man appointed by her hostess till she has asked her husband's permission; and when we hear of another writing from germany that, although in england she had ardently believed in total abstention, she had now changed her opinion because her husband drank beer and desired her to approve of it. but it was an englishwoman who, when asked about some question of politics, said quite simply and honestly, "i think what jack thinks." the truth is, that the women of the two great germanic races are kin. there are differences, chiefly those of history, manners, and environment. the likeness is profound. "par une rencontre singulière," says m. taine, "les femmes sont plus femmes et les hommes plus hommes ici qu'ailleurs. les deux natures vont chacune à son extrême; chez les uns vers l'audace, l'esprit d'entreprise et de resistance, le caractère guerrier, impérieux et rude; chez les autres vers la douceur, l'abnégation, la patience, l'affection inépuisable; chose inconnue dans les pays lointains, surtout en france, la femme ici se donne sans se reprendre et met sa gloire et son devoir à obeir, à pardonner, à adorer, sans souhaiter ni pretendre autre chose que se fondre et s'absorber chaque jour davantage en celui qu'elle a volontairement et pour toujours choisi. c'est cet instinct, un antique instinct germanique, que ces grands peintres de l'instinct mettent tous ici en lumière!... l'âme dans cette race, est à la fois primitive et serieuse. la candeur chez les femmes y subsiste plus longtemps qu'ailleurs. elles perdent moins vite le respect, elles pèsent moins vite les valeurs et les caractères: elles sont moins promptes à deviner le mal et à mesurer leurs maris.... elles n'ont pas la netteté, la hardiesse d'idées, l'assurance de conduite, la précocité qui chez nous en six mois font d'une jeune fille une femme d'intrigue et une reine de salon. la vie enfermée et l'obéissance leur sont plus faciles. plus pliantes et plus sédentaires elles sont en même temps plus concentrées, plus intérieures, plus disposées à suivre des yeux le noble rêve qu'on nomme le devoir...." i cannot imagine what m. taine means by saying that englishwomen lead a more sedentary and sequestered life than frenchwomen, but the rest of his description presents a well-known type in england and germany. "voir la peinture de ce caractère dans toute la littérature anglaise et allemande," he says in a footnote. "le plus grand des observateurs, stendhal tout imprégné des moeurs et des idées italiennes et françaises, est stupéfait à cette vue. il ne comprend rien à cette espèce de dévouement, 'à cette servitude, que les maris anglais, sous le nom de devoir, out eu l'esprit d'imposer à leurs femmes.' ce sont 'des moeurs de sérail.'" here the "greatest of all observers" seems to talk nonsense, for marriage in the seraglio does not hinge on the submission of one wife to one husband, but on a plurality of wives that english and german women have only endured in certain historic cases. in both western countries marriage has its roots in the fidelity of one man and one woman to each other. a well-known english novelist once said quite truly that an englishman very rarely distrusts his wife, and never by any chance distrusts the girl who is to become his wife; and just the same may be said of the german of the better classes. in both countries you will find sections of society above and below where morals are lax and manners corrupt. german professors write sketches of london in which our busy grimy city is held up to a virtuous germania as the modern sodom and gomorrah; and the continental anglophobe likes nothing better than to entertain you with pictures of our decadent society, pictures that really do credit to the vividness and detail of his imagination. meanwhile our press assures the respectable briton that berlin is the most profligate city in europe, and that scurrilous german novels about the german army will show him what the rotten state of things really is in that much over-rated organisation. but these national amenities are misleading. the bulk of the nation in both countries is sound, and family life still flourishes both here and there. the men of the race, in spite of herr riehl's prognostications, still have the whip hand, as much as is good for them in england, a little more than is good for them in germany. if you go to germany you must not expect a man to open a door for you, or to wait on you at afternoon tea, or to carry a parcel for you in the street. he will kiss your hand when he greets you, he will address you as gracious lady or gracious miss, he will put his heels together and make you beautiful bows, he will pay you compliments that are manifestly, almost admittedly, artificial. that at least is one type of man. he may leave out the kisses and the bows and the compliments and be quite undisguisedly bearish; or he may be something betwixt and between, kindly, concerned for your pleasure and welfare. but whatever he is he will never forget for a moment that you are "only a woman." if you marry him he will expect to rule everywhere except in the kitchen, and as you value a quiet life you had better take care that the kitchen produces what pleases him. on occasion he will assert his authority with some violence and naïveté. no one can be long amongst germans, or even read many german novels, without coming across instances of what i mean. for example, there was once a quarrel between lovers that all turned upon a second glass of champagne. the girl did not want it, and the man insisted that she should drink it whether she wanted it or not. what happened in the end is forgotten and does not matter. it is the comment of the historian that remains in the memory. "her family had spoilt her," said he. "when they are married and my friend gets her to himself she will not behave so." "but why should she drink a second glass of champagne if she did not want it?" i asked. "because he commanded her to," said this petruchio, beginning to bristle at once; and he straightway told me another story about a man who threw his lady-love's dog into a pond, not because the dog needed a bath, but in assertion of his authority. the lady had wished to keep her dog out of the water. "did she ever forgive the man?" said i. "forgive!--what was there to forgive? the man wished to put the dog in the pond. a man must know how to enforce his will ... or he is no man." i nearly said "lor!" like mr. tweddle in _the tinted venus_, but in germany it's a serious matter, a sort of _lèse majesté_, to laugh at the rightful rule of man. you must expect to see them waited on hand and foot, and to take this service as a matter of course. i have known englishmen embarrassed by this state of affairs. "they will get me chairs," complained one, "and at table the daughters jump up and wait on me. it's horrid." "not at all," said i. "it's your due. you must behave as if you were used to it." "i can't. the other day i got the daughters of the house to sit still while i handed about cups of tea, and if some of the old boys didn't jump down their throats and tell them they'd no business to let me forget my dignity. bless my dignity ... if it's such a tender plant as that...." "sh!" i said. "they must have been old-fashioned people. in some houses young men hand cups." "they look jolly self-conscious while they're doing it, ... as if they didn't half like it. you bet, they take it out of their womenfolk when they get home. look at that chap müller!" "where is he?" "in dresden, where i lived last winter. he stormed the house down because his wife took up his glass of beer and drank before he did. nearly had a fit. said his dignity as a husband was damaged. then he turned to me and asked whether even in england a wife would be so bold and bad?" "what did you say?" "i didn't say anything. i looked sick." "that's no use. you should say a great deal, and wave your arms about and hammer on the table. you don't know how to show emotion." "i should hope not," says the englishman. "but german women are always telling me they envy the women in our country." "that's their politeness," i assure him. "they don't mean it. they're as happy as the day is long. besides, germans don't get drunk and beat their wives with pokers. you know perfectly well that most englishmen----" but, of course, whatever you say about german women of the present day can be contradicted by anybody who chooses to describe one at either end of the scale, for the contrasts there are violent. you will find in the same street a woman who exercises a profession, lives more or less at her club, and is as independent as her brother; and women who are household drudges, with neither leisure nor spirit for any occupation that would enrich their minds. chapter xiii housewives (_continued_) in germany the home is furnished by the bride's parents, and the household linen forms part of her trousseau and is marked by her monogram. in describing the furniture of a german flat, you must first decide whether you are going to choose one furnished to-day by a fashionable young woman in berlin or hamburg; or one furnished by her parents twenty to twenty-five years ago. modern german furniture is quite easily suggested to the english imagination, because some of it looks as if the artist had visited our arts and crafts exhibitions and then made his own designs in a nightmare; while some has accepted english inspiration and adapted itself wisely and cleverly to german needs. to-day a german bride will have in her bedroom a wardrobe with a big mirror, a toilet table or chest, a marble-topped washstand and two narrow bedsteads, all of fumed wood. if she has money and understanding the things have probably come from england, not from an emporium, but from one of our artists in furniture whom the germans know better and value more highly than we do ourselves. but if she has money only she can buy florid pretentious stuff that outdoes in ugliness the worst productions of our "suite" sellers. her mother, however, probably did without any kind of toilet table or glass in her wardrobe. twenty years ago you occasionally saw such things in the houses of rich people, but they were quite unusual. a small hanging glass behind the washstand was considered enough for any _ordentliche frau_. nowadays in rare cases the _ordentliche frau_ actually has silver brushes and powder pots and trinket boxes. but as a rule she still does without such things; she brushes her beautiful hair with an ivory or a wooden brush, and leaves paint and powder to ladies who are presumably not _ordentlich_. at one time narrow brass or iron bedsteads were introduced from england, and were used a great deal in germany. i remember seeing one all forlorn in a vast magnificent palace bedroom where a fourposter hung with brocade or tapestry would have looked more at home. but the real old-fashioned bedstead, still much liked and formerly seen everywhere was always of wood, single and with deep sides to hold the heavy box mattress. in mariana starcke's _travels in europe_, published in , she says of an inn in villach, "tall people cannot sleep comfortably here or in any part of germany; the beds, which are very narrow, being placed in wooden frames or boxes, so short that any person who happened to be above five feet high must absolutely sit up all night supported by pillows; and this, in fact, is the way in which the germans sleep." i think this is a statement that will be as surprising to any german who reads it as the statements made by germans about england have often been to me. it is true, however, that tall people do find the old-fashioned german bedsteads short; and it is true that the big square downy pillows are supported by a wedge-shaped bolster called a _keilkissen_. but the _plumeau_ is what the german loves, and the briton hates above all things: the mountain of down or feathers that tumbles off on cold nights and stays on on hot ones. you hate it all the year round, because in winter it is too short and in summer it is an oppression. sometimes the sheet is buttoned to it, and then though you are a traveller you are less than ever content. at the best you never succumb to its attractions. every spring the good german housewife takes her maid and her _plumeaux_ to a cleaner and sits there while the feathers are purified by machinery and returned to their bags. in this way she makes sure of getting back her own feathers both in quality and quantity. except for the _plumeaux_ and the want of a dressing-table and proper mirror, an ordinary german bedroom is very comfortable and always very clean. however plain it is you can use it partly as a sitting-room, because a sofa and a good sized table in front of it are considered an indispensable part of its furniture. when germans come to england and have to live in lodgings or poorly furnished inns, the bedrooms seem to them most comfortless and ill provided. the poor idealist who lived as an exile in london in the early victorian age describes her forlorn room with nothing in it but a "colossal" bed, a washstand, and a chest of drawers, and though she does not describe them, you who know london from that side can see the half-dirty honey-combed counterpane, the untempting cotton sheets, the worn uncleanly carpet, the grained or painted furniture with doors and drawers that will not shut; and if you know germany too you must in honesty compare with it the pleasant rooms you have inhabited there for less rent than she paid her mrs. quickly,--rooms with cool clean painted floors, solid old dark elm cupboards, and bedsteads that when you had pitched the _plumeau_ on the floor or the sofa were inviting because they were made with spotless home-spun linen. what we call the drawing-room used to be extremely chill and formal in germany, but it has never been as hideously overloaded as english drawing-rooms belonging to people who do not know better. the "suite" of furniture covered with rep or brocade was everywhere, and the rep was frequently grass-green or magenta. there was invariably a sofa and a table in front of the sofa, and a rug or a small carpet under the table. even in these days this arrangement prevails and must continue to do so while the sofa is considered the place of honour to which the hostess invites her leading guest. if you go to germany in ignorance of the social importance attached to the sofa, you may blunder quite absurdly and sit down uninvited or when your age or your sex does not entitle you to a seat there. i was once present when an english girl innocently chose a corner of the sofa instead of a chair, though there were older women in the room. the hostess promptly and audibly told her to get up, for she knew it was not an affair to pass off as a joke. in england the question of precedence comes up chiefly at the dinner-table. the host and hostess must send the right people together and place them correctly too. in germany you have to know as hostess who is to sit on the sofa; and your decision may be complicated by the absurd titles of your guests. for instance, one frau direktor may be the wife of a post office official who had a university education, and in germany a university education counts; while another frau direktor, though she can afford better clothes, is merely the wife of the man who manages the factory in the next village. i have heard a story of a frau kreisrichter and a frau actuar that ended in a life-long feud, and it all turned on a _kaffee klatsch_ and the wrong woman on the sofa. it is not easy to know what to do about these ridiculous titles in germany, because some people insist on them and some laugh at them as much as we do. i once asked a lady who had the best right to know, about using military titles instead of names: herr lieutenant, herr major, and so on. she was quite explicit. "_mir ist es ein greuel_," she said, and went on to tell me that it was only done as one might expect by people who did not know better, and of course by servants. all the same, it is well to be careful and study the individual case. i know of an american who addressed his professor as professor lachs. "where are your manners, mein herr?" said the professor in a fury, "i am herr professor dr. lachs to every student in this laboratory." but when it comes to mrs. tax-collector and mrs. organist and mrs. head master, and it does come to this quite seriously, it is difficult for the foreigner to appraise values. the length of the titles, too, is a stumbling-block. you may marry a harmless herr braun, and in course of time become frau wirklichergeheimerober regierungsrath. in this case i don't think your friends would use the whole of your title every time they addressed you; but you would undoubtedly have a seat on the sofa before all the small fry. on the table in front of the sofa there used always to be a heavy coloured cloth, and then put diamond-wise a light embroidered or lace one. a vase of artificial or real flowers, according to taste, stood exactly in the middle, and a few books in ornamental bindings on either side. there would be very few ornaments, but these few would be good of their kind, though probably hideous. luckily the family did not assemble here on state occasions. for every-day use there was a _wohnzimmer_ soberly furnished with solid well made chairs and cupboards. here the mistress of the house kept her palms, her work-table, and her pet birds. here her husband smoked his after-dinner cigar and drank his coffee before going to his work again. here the elder children did their lessons for next day's school, and here at night the family sat round one lamp,--the father smoking, the mother probably mending, the children playing games. for german fathers do not live at the _kneipe_. they are occasionally to be found with their families. when the flat was not large enough to furnish a third sitting-room, the dining-room was used in this way. a modern german family still lives in any room rather than the drawing-room, but it has learned how to make a drawing-room attractive. the odious "suite" has been abolished or dispersed, and a lighter, less formal scheme of decoration is making its way. you see charming rooms in germany nowadays, but they are never quite like english ones, even when your friends point to a wicker chair or an eastern carpet and tell you that they love everything english and have furnished in the english fashion. in the first place, you do not see piles of magazines and papers or of library books in a german drawing-room. they would be considered scandalously untidy, and put away in a cupboard at once. if there are cut flowers they are not arranged as they are here. on ceremonial occasions and anniversaries great quantities of flowers are presented, but they are mostly wired and probably arranged in a fanciful shape. the favourite shape changes with the season and the fashion of the moment. one year those who wish to honour you and have plenty of money, will send you lyres and harps made of violets, pansies, pinks, cornflowers, any flower that will lend itself meekly to popular design. the favourite design in berlin one spring was a large flat sofa cushion of guelder roses with tall sprays of roses or carnations dancing from it. on ordinary occasions market bunches are put into water as an english cottager puts in his flowers, level and tightly packed. but on a festive occasion in a rich man's house you hear of a long dinner table strewn with branches of pink hawthorn and peonies. in fact, a riot of flowers is now considered correct by wealthy people, but you do not find them here and there and everywhere, whether people are wealthy or not, as you do in england. that is partly because there are so few private gardens. the extreme tidiness of german rooms is a constant source of surprise. they are as guiltless of "litter" as the showrooms of a furniture emporium. you would think that the people who live in them were never employed if you did not know that germans were never idle. every bit of embroidery has its use and its own corner. the article now being embroidered is neatly folded inside the work-basket or work-table when it is not in the lady's hands. the one book she is reading will be near. any other books she possesses will be on shelves, and probably behind glass doors. each chair has its place, each cushion, each ornament. even where there are children german rooms never look disarranged. i can truly say i have only once seen a german room untidy and dusty, and that was in a house with no one but a "mamsell" in charge; and she apologised and explained that it was to be spring cleaned next day. there is, by the way, a curious litter of things kept on a german sideboard in many houses,--coffee machines, silver, useful and ornamental glass, great blue beer jugs, and suchlike; but they are kept there with intention and not by neglectful accident. then the narrow corridor of a german flat is often uncomfortably choked with articles of household use: lamps, for instance, and a refrigerator, and the safe in which the mistress locks her food; spare cupboards too, and neat piles of papers and magazines. it will be inelegant, but it will be orderly and clean. it is the way in this country to laugh at the german _hausfrau_, and pity her for a drudge; and it is the way with many germans to talk as if all englishwomen were pleasure loving and incompetent. the less people know of a foreign nation the greater nonsense they talk in general, and the more cocksure they are about their own opinions. a year ago, when i was in germany, i asked a friend i could trust if there really was much anglophobia abroad except in the newspapers. she reflected a little before she answered, for she was honest and intelligent. "there is none amongst people like ourselves," she said,--"people who know the world a little. but you come across it?" she turned to her husband. "there are others like g.," she said. "he turns green if anyone speaks of england, and he says shakespeare is _dumm_. you see, he has never been out of germany, and has never met any english people." so i told her about my english cook, who snorted with scorn when i assured her germans considered rabbits vermin and would not eat them. "h ... ph!" she said, "i shouldn't have thought foreigners were so particular." the average german housewife has to keep the house going on exceedingly small means and with inefficient help. it is her pride and pleasure to make a little go a long way, and she can only achieve this by working with her hands. probably her servant cannot cook, but she can, and it would never occur to her to let her husband and children eat ill-prepared food because servants do not like ladies in the kitchen. a german lady, like a princess of ancient greece, considers that it becomes her to do anything she chooses in her own house, and that the most convenient household workshop is the kitchen. the idealist from whom i have quoted before was the daughter of a well-known german diplomatist, and she had been used since childhood to the atmosphere of courts. she was an accomplished well-born woman of the world, but she had not been a week in her sordid london lodgings with the woman she calls mrs. quickly, before she blundered in her innocent german way--into the lodging-house kitchen. figure to yourself the stupefaction and the indignation of mrs. quickly, probably engaged, though the idealist does not say so, in dining off the foreign woman's beef. "i went down to the kitchen," says fräulein von meysenbug, "with a muslin gown on my arm to ask for an iron so that i could iron my gown there. the kitchen was mrs. quickly's true kingdom; here she alone reigned at the hearth, for the servant was not allowed to approach the saucepans. mrs. quickly looked at me with unconcealed astonishment as i came in, but when i proffered my request her astonishment turned to wrath. 'what!' she shrieked, 'a lady ironing in the kitchen? that is impossible.' and with the mien of offended majesty she snatched the gown from me, and ordered the little maid servant to put an iron in the fire and to iron the gown; then she turned to me and said with tragic emphasis, 'you are a foreigner. you don't understand our english ways: we consider it extremely unladylike for a lady to enter the kitchen, and worse still if she wants to iron her own gown. no, ma'am, please to ring the bell when you require anything; otherwise you will ruin my servants.' much ashamed of my ignorance on this higher plane of english custom," continues the idealist, "i crept back to my parlour and laughed heartily as i looked round the dirty, wretchedly furnished room, and reflected on the abyss set by prejudice between the ground-floor and the basement." "how do you like your new german governess?" i once asked an english friend who lived in the country and had just engaged a german lady for her only daughter. "oh! i like her," said my friend without enthusiasm. "she is a brilliant musician and a fine linguist and all that. but she has such odd ideas about what a girl ought to know. the other day i actually caught her teaching patricia to _dust_." "if you don't watch her," i said, "she'll probably teach patricia to cook." my friend looked anxious first, and then relieved. "i don't see how she could do that," she said. "the cook would never have them in the kitchen for five minutes. but now you mention it, i believe she can cook. when things go wrong she seems to know what has been done or not done." "that might be useful," i suggested. "i don't see it. i expect my cook to know her work, and to do it and not to rely on me. i've other fish to fry." but the german housewife expects to have her fingers literally in every pie even when by rights they should be employed elsewhere. you hear, for instance, of a great court functionary whose wife is so devoted to cooking that though she has a large staff of servants she cannot be persuaded to spend the day anywhere but in her kitchen. mistresses of this kind breed incapable servants, and you find, in fact, that german maids cannot compare with our english ones in qualities of self-reliance, method, and initiative. they mostly expect to be told from hour to hour what to do, and very often to lend a hand to the ladies of the household rather than to do the thing themselves. indeed, though the servants are on duty from morning till night more than english servants are, in some ways they have an easier time of it than ours, because they are used so much to run errands and go to market. everyone who has been in german towns can remember the hordes of servants with baskets and big umbrellas strolling in twos and threes along the streets in the early morning. they are never in any hurry to get home to work again, and a good many doubtless know that what they leave undone will be done by their mistress. the german kitchen with its beautiful cleanliness and brightly polished copper pans i have described, but i have not said anything yet about the fidgety housewife who carries her _tüchtigkeit_ to such a pitch that she ties every wooden spoon and twirler with a coloured ribbon to hang by against the wall. in england you hear of ladies who tie every bottle of scent on the toilet table with a different ribbon, and that really has more sense in it, because it must be trying to a cook's nerves to use spoons tied with delicate ribbons that must not be spoiled. every housewife has dainty little holders for the handles of saucepans when they are hot. you see them, all different shapes and sizes, on view with the piles of kitchen cloths and the various aprons that form part of every lady's trousseau, and if you have german friends they probably present you with a few from time to time. i have never noticed any pictures in a german kitchen, but there are nearly always _sprüche_ both in the kitchen, and the dining-room and sometimes in the hall: rhyming maxims that are done in poker work or painted on wood and hung in conspicuous positions-- "wie die küche so das haus, reinlich drinnen, reinlich draus" is a nice one; and so is "trautes heim glück allein." there was one in the _lette-haus_ or some other big institution about an hour in the morning being worth several hours later in the day, which would prick our english consciences more sharply than it can most german ones, for they are a nation of early risers. schools and offices all open so early that a household must of necessity be up betimes to feed its menfolk and children with bread and coffee before their day's work. in most german towns the tradespeople do not call for orders, but they do in hamburg; and a friend born there told me in a whisper, so that her husband should not hear the awful confession, that she would never be a good "provider" in consequence. she went to market regularly, for many housewives will not delegate this most important business to a cook, but she had not the same eye for a tough goose or a poor fish, perhaps not the same backbone for a bargain, as a housewife used from childhood to these sorties. in some towns the butcher calls over night for orders. the baker's boy brings rolls before anyone is up, and hangs them outside the flat in one of two bags every household possesses. after the early breakfast either the mistress or the cook fetches what is required for the day. when the good german housewife is not in her kitchen, english tradition believes her to be at her linen cupboard. "i am going to write a humble little gossiping book about german home life," i said to a learned but kindly professor last spring. "german home life," he said, rather aghast at my daring, for we had only just made each other's acquaintance, and i believe he thought that this was my first visit to germany and that i had been there a week. "it is a wide field," he went on. "however ... if you want to understand our home life ... just look at that...." we were having tea together in the dining-room in his wife's absence, and he suddenly got up from table and threw back both doors of an immense cupboard occupying the longest wall in the room. i gazed at the sight before me, and my thoughts were too deep for words. it was a small household, i knew. it comprised, in fact, the professor, his beautiful young wife, and one small maid-servant; and for their happiness they possessed all this linen: shelf upon shelf, pile upon pile of linen, exactly ordered, tied with lemon coloured ribbons, embroidered beyond doubt with the initials of the lady who brought it here as a bride. the lady, it may as well be said, is a celebrated musician who passes a great part of each winter fulfilling engagements away from home. "but what happens to the linen cupboard when you are away?" i asked her, later, for it was grievous to think of any servant, even a "pearl," making hay of those ordered shelves. "i come home for a few days in between and set things to rights again," she explained; and then, seeing that i was interested, she admitted that she had put up and made every blind and curtain, and had even carpentered and upholstered an empire sofa in her drawing-room. she showed me each cupboard and corner of the flat, and i saw everywhere the exquisite order and spotlessness the notable german housewife knows how to maintain. we even peeped into the professor's dressing-room. "he must be a very tidy man," i said, sighing and reflecting that he could not be as other men are. "do you never have to set things to rights here?" "every half hour," she said. these enormous quantities of linen that are still the housewife's pride used to be necessary when house and table linen were only washed twice a year. a german friend who entertained a large party of children and grandchildren every week, pointed out to me that she used eighteen or twenty dinner napkins each time they came, and that when washing day arrived at the end of six months even her supply was nearly exhausted. the soiled linen was stored meanwhile in an attic at the top of the house. the wash itself and the drying and ironing all took place up there with the help of a hired laundress. in most german cities this custom of washing at home still prevails, but in these days it is usually done once a month. the large attics that serve as laundries are engaged for certain days by the families living in the house, and one servant assisted for one day by a laundry woman washes and irons all the house and body linen used by her employers and herself in four weeks. it sounds impossible, but in germany nothing involving hard work is impossible. all the differences of life between england and germany, in as far as expenses are concerned, seem to come to this in the end: that over there both men and women will work harder for less money. on the monthly washing day the ladies of the household do the cooking and housework, and on the following day they help to fold the clothes and iron them. "i am very tired," confessed a little maid-servant who had been sent out at night to show me where to find a tram. "we got up at four o'clock this morning, and have been ironing all day. my mistress gets up as early, and works as hard as i do. she is very _tüchtig_, and where there are four children and only one servant there is a good deal to do." yet her mistress had asked me to supper, i reflected, and everything had been to time and well cooked and served. the rooms had looked as neat and orderly as usual. the _hausfrau_ had entertained me as pleasantly as if she had no reason to feel tired. we had talked of english novels, and of the invasion of england by germany; for her husband was a soldier, and another guest present was a soldier too. the men had talked seriously, for they were as angry with certain english newspapers as we are over here with certain german ones. but the _hausfrau_ and i had laughed. "when they come, i'm coming with them," she said. "we will receive you with open arms," said i. chapter xiv servants the first thing that english people notice about german servants is, that they are allowed to dress anyhow, and that the results are most unpleasing. in hamburg, the city that gives you ox-tail soup for dinner and has sirloins of beef much like english sirloins, the maids used to wear clean crackling, light print gowns with elbow sleeves. this was their full dress in which they waited at table, and fresh looking country girls from holstein and thereabouts looked very well in it. this costume is being superseded in hamburg to-day by the english livery of a black frock with a white cap and apron. but in other german cities, in the ordinary middle-class household, the servants wear what they choose on all occasions. in most places they are as fond of plaids as their betters, and in a house where everything else is methodical and well arranged, you will find the dishes plumped on the table by a young woman wearing a tartan blouse decidedly decolletée, and ornamented with a large cheap lace collar. i have dined with people whose silver, glass, and food were all luxurious; while the girl who waited on us wore a red and white checked blouse, a plaid neck-tie with floating ends, and an enormous brooch of sham diamonds. in south germany the servants wear a great deal of indigo blue: stuff skirts of plain blue woollen, with blouses and aprons of blue cotton that has a small white pattern on it. some ladies keep smart white aprons to lend their servants on state occasions, but the laciest apron will not do much for a girl in a sloppy coloured blouse with a plaid neck-tie. but these same girls who look such slovens usually have stores of tidy well-made body linen and knitted stockings. in england a servant of the better class will not be seen out of doors in her working-dress. "in london," says the idealist in her memoirs, "no woman of the people, no servant-girl will stir a step from the house without a hat on her head, and this is one of the ugliest of english prejudices. while the clean white cap worn by a french maid looks pretty and suitable, the englishwoman's hat which makes her "respectable" is odious, for it is usually dirty, out of shape, and trimmed with faded flowers and ribbons." it gives me pleasure to quote this criticism made by an observant german on our english servants, partly because it is true, and it is good for us to hear it, and partly because it encourages me to continue my criticism of german as compared with english servants. for it ought to be possible to criticise without giving offence. the idealist has a very poor opinion of english lodging-house bedrooms and lodging-house keepers, and she states her opinion quite plainly, but i cannot imagine that anyone in this country would be hurt by what she says. on the contrary, it is amusing to find the ills from which most of us have suffered at times recognised by the stranger within our gates. none of us admire the battered tawdry finery we see in our streets every day, and i cannot believe that german ladies admire the shocking garments in which their servants will come to the door and wait at table. but though these clothes are sloppy looking and unsuitable, they are never ragged; and the girl who puts on an impossible tie and blouse will also wear an impeccable long white apron with an embroidered monogram you can see across the room. in most towns servants go shopping or to market with a large basket and an umbrella. they do not consider a hat or a stuff gown necessary, for they are not in the least ashamed of being servants. some years ago they made no attempt to dress like ladies when they went out for themselves, and even now what they do in this way is a trifle compared to the extravagant get-up of an english cook or parlour-maid on a sunday afternoon. a german girl in service is always saving with might and main to buy her _aussteuer_, and as she gets very low wages it takes her a long time. she needs about _£_ , so husbands are not expensive in germany in that class. german servants get less wages than ours, and work longer hours. speaking out of my own experience, i should say that they were indefatigable, amiable, and inefficient. they will do anything in the world for you, but they will not do their own work in a methodical way. a lady whose uncle at one time occupied an important diplomatic post in london, told me that her aunt was immensely surprised to find that every one of her english servants knew his or her work and did it without supervision, but that none of them would do anything else. the german lady, not knowing english ways, used to make the mistake at first of asking a servant to do what she wanted done instead of what the servant had engaged to do; but she soon found that the first housemaid would rather leave than fill a matchbox it was the second housemaid's "place" to fill; and what surprised her most was to find that her english friends sympathised with the housemaids and not with her. "we believe in everyone minding his own business," they said. "we believe that it is the servant's business to do what his employer wants," says the german. "you must tell him what you want when you engage him," you say. "then he can take your place or leave it." "but that is impossible ... _unsinn_ ... _quatsch_...." says the german indignantly. "how can i tell what i shall want my servant to do three months hence on a monday morning. _das hat keinen zweck._" "i know exactly what each one of my servants will do three months hence on a monday morning," you say. "it is quite easy. you plan it all out...." but you will never agree. the german has his or rather her own methods, and you will always think her unmethodical but thrifty and knowledgeable, and she will always think you extravagant and ignorant, but "chic," and on these terms you may be quite good friends. in most german households there is no such thing as the strict division of labour insisted on here. your cook will be delighted to make a blouse for you, and your nurse will turn out the dining-room, and your chambermaid will take the child for an airing. they are more human in their relation to their employers. the english servant fixes a gulf between herself and the most democratic mistress. the german servant brings her intimate joys and sorrows to a good _herrschaft_, and expects their sympathy. when a girl has bad luck and engages with a bad _herrschaft_ she is worse off than in england, partly because when german housekeeping is mean it sounds depths of meanness not unknown, but extremely rare here; and also because a german servant is more in the power of her employers and of the police than an english one. anyone who has read klara viebig's remarkable novel, _das tägliche brot_ (a story of servant life in berlin) will remember the mistress who kept every bit of dainty food under lock and key, and fed the kitchen on soup-meat all the year round. the chambermaid gives way in a moment of hunger and temptation, manages to get the key, and is discovered by the worthless son of the house stealing cakes. he threatens her with exposure if she will not listen to his love-making. even if there was no son and no love-making, a girl who once steals cakes in germany may go from place to place branded as a thief. because every servant has to have a _dienstbuch_, which is under the control of the police, and has to be shown to them whenever she leaves her situation. there is no give and take of personal character in germany. ladies do not see the last lady with whom a girl has lived. they advertise or they go to a registry office where servants are waiting to be engaged. in berlin every third house seems to be a registry office, and you hear as many complaints of the people who keep them as you hear here. so the government has set up a large public registry in charlottenberg, where both sides can get what they want without paying fees. but servants are not as scarce in germany yet as they are here and in america. german ladies tell you they are scarce, but it is only true in comparison with a former state of things. in comparison with london, servants are still plentiful in germany. when a lady finds a likely looking girl at an office, she either engages her at once on the strength of the good character in her _dienstbuch_, or, if she is very particular, she takes her home and discusses things with her there. the engagement is not completed until the lady has filled in several forms for police inspection; while the servant has to take her _dienstbuch_ to the police station both when she leaves and when she enters a situation. it is hardly necessary to say that when a girl does anything seriously bad, and her employers record it in the book, the book gets "lost." then the police interfere and make things extremely disagreeable for the girl. a friend told me that in the confusion of a removal her own highly valued servant lost her _dienstbuch_, or rather my friend lost it, for employers usually keep it while a girl is in their service; and though she took the blame on herself, and explained that the book was lost, the police were most offensive about it. in the end the book was found, so i am not in a position to say what penalties my friend and her maid would have incurred if they had never been able to produce it. but germans have often told me that servants as a class have real good reason to complain of police insolence and brutality. here is an entry from a german servant's _dienstbuch_, with nothing altered but the names. on the first page you found the following particulars:-- gesinde-dienstbuch für anna schmidt. aus rheinbeck. alt geb. juni . statur schlank. augen grau. nase } gewöhnlich. mund } haare dunkelblond. besondere merkmale _official stamp._ (_official signature of amtsvorsteher._) then came the record of her previous situations:-- key: a: nr. b: name, stand, und wohnung der dienerschaft c: inhaber ist angenommen als d: tag des dienstantritts e: tag des dienstaustritts f: grund des dienstaustritts und dienstabschieds--zeugniss g: beglaubigung und bemerkung der polizei-behÖrde +--+------------+-------------+---------+--------+--------------+----------- a | b | c | d | e | f | g +--+------------+-------------+---------+--------+--------------+----------- |wittwe |dienstmagd |den ten|den ten|veränderung |gesehen |auguste | | oktober | januar | halber. | |knoblauch | | | | betragen |(_place and | | | | | gut |date, with | | | | | |official | | | | | |stamp and | | | | | |signature_) | | | | | | |boretzky, |dienstmädchen|den ten |den ten|wird entlassen|gesehen |restaurant | | februar | oktober| weil ihr | |zur post, | | | | benehmen mir |(_place and |bärenstrasse| | | | nicht mehr |date, with | | | | | passt. sonst |official | | | | | fleissig und |stamp and | | | | | ehrlich |signature_) +--+------------+-------------+---------+--------+--------------+----------- it will be seen that the characters given tell nothing about a servant's qualities and knowledge; while the vague complaint that anna schmidt's behaviour no longer suited her mistress might mean anything or nothing. in this case it meant that a son of the house had annoyed the girl with his attentions, and she had in consequence treated him with some brusquerie. but ten minutes' talk with a lady who knows the best and the worst of a servant is worth any _dienstbuch_ in germany. and when english servants write to the _times_ and ask to have the same system here, i always wonder how they would like their failings sent with them from place to place in black and white; every fresh start made difficult, and every bad trait recorded against them as long as they earn their daily bread. wages are much lower in germany than here. some years ago you could get a good cook for from £ to £ , but those days are past. now you hear of a general servant getting from £ to £ , and a good plain cook from £ upwards. these are servants who would get from £ to £ in england, and more in america. but the wages of german servants are supplemented at christmas by a system of tips and presents that has in course of time become extortionate. germans groan under it, but every nation knows how hard it is to depart from one of these traditional indefinite customs. the system is hateful, because it is neither one of free gift nor of business-like payment, but hovers somewhere between and gives rise to much friction and discontent. in a household account book that a friend allowed me to see i found the following entry. "christmas present for the servant. marks in money. bed linen, . . pincushion, . . five small presents. in all marks. _was not contented._" this was a general servant in a family of two occupying a good social position, but living as so many germans do on a small income. but then the servant's wages for doing the work of a large well-furnished, well-kept flat was £ , and these same friends told me that servants now expect to get a quarter of their wages in money and presents at christmas. a german servant gets a great deal more help from her mistress, and is more directly under her superintendence, than she would be in a household of the same social standing in this country. i have heard an english lady say that when she had asked people to dinner she made it a rule to go out all day, because if she did not her servants worried her with questions about extra silver and other tiresome details. all the notable housewives in england will say that this lady was a "freak," and must not be held up to the world as an english type. but i think there is something of her spirit in many englishwomen. they engage their servants to do certain work, and hold them responsible. the german holds herself responsible for every event and every corner in her husband's house, and she never for a moment closes her eyes and lets go the reins. the servants are used to working hand in hand with the ladies of the household, and do not regard the kitchen as a department belonging exclusively to themselves after an early hour in the morning. "why did you leave your last place?" you say to an english cook applying for yours. "because the lady was always in the kitchen," she replies quite soberly and civilly. "i don't like to see ladies in my kitchen at all hours of the day. it is impossible to get on with the work." but in germany the kitchen is not the cook's kitchen. it belongs to the people who maintain it, and they enter it when they please. it is always so spick and span that you sigh as you see it, because you think of your own kitchen at home with its black pans and unpleasant looking sink. _there are no black pans in a german kitchen_; you never see any grease, and you never by any chance see a teacloth or a duster with a hole in it. an english kitchen in a small household is furnished with more regard to the comfort of the servants than a german one, and with less concern for the work to be done there. we supply comfortable chairs, a coloured table-cloth, oil-cloth, books, hearth-rug, pictures, cushions, inkstand, and a roaring fire. the german kitchen lacks all these things. it does not look as if the women who live in it ever expected to pursue their own business, or rest for an hour in an easy chair. but the shining brightness of it rejoices you,--every vessel is of wood, earthenware, enamel, or highly polished metal, and every one of them is scrupulously clean. the groceries and pudding stuffs are kept in fascinating jars and barrels, like those that come to children at christmas in toy kitchens made in germany. the stove is a clean, low hot table at which you can stand all day without getting black and greasy. in this sensible spotless workshop a german servant expects to be busy from morning till night. neither for herself nor for her fellow-servants will she ever set a table for a tidy kitchen meal. she eats anywhere and anywhen, as the fancy takes her and the exigencies of the day permit. her morning meal will consist of coffee and rye bread without butter. in the middle of the morning she will have a second breakfast, rye bread again with cheese or sausage. in a liberal household she will dine as the family dines; in a stingy one she will fare worse than they. in an old-fashioned household her portion will be carved for her in the dining-room, because the joint will not return to the kitchen when the family has done with it, but be placed straightway in the _speiseschrank_ under lock and key. in the afternoon she will have bread and coffee again, and for supper as a rule what the family has, sausage or ham or some dish made with eggs. one friend who goes out so much with her husband that they are rarely at home to supper, told me that she made her servant a monthly allowance to buy what she liked for supper. german servants are allowed coffee and either beer or wine, but they are never given tea. except for the scarcity of butter in middle-class households, they live very well. they go out on errands and to market a great deal, but they do not go out as much for themselves as our servants do. a few hours every other sunday still contents them in most places. their favourite amusement is the cheap public ball, and the careful german householder is actually in the habit of trusting the key of the flat to his maid-of-all-work, and allowing her to return at any hour of the night she pleases. this at any rate is the custom in berlin and some other large german towns, and the evil results of such a system are manifold. over and over again burglaries have been traced to it. one beguiling man engages your maid to dance and sup with him, while his confederate gets hold of her key and comfortably rifles your rooms. on the girls themselves these entertainments are said to have the worst possible influence, and most sensible germans would put a stop to them if they could. you must not expect in germany to have hot water brought to you at regular intervals as you do in every orderly english household. the germans have a curious notion that english life is quite uniform, and all english people exactly alike. one man, a notably wise man too, said to me that if he knew one english family he knew ten thousand. another german told me that this account of german life would be impossible to write, because one part of germany differed from the other part; but that a german could easily write the same kind of book about england, because from land's end to john o' groats we were so many peas in a pod. to us who live in england and know the differences between the cornish and the yorkshire people, for instance, or the welsh and the east anglians, this seems sheer nonsense. i have tried to understand how germans arrive at it, and i believe it is by way of our cans of hot water brought at regular intervals every day in the year in every british household. i remember that their machine-like precision impressed m. taine when he was in england, and certainly miss them sadly while we are abroad. gretchen brings you no hot water unless you ask for it; but she will brush your clothes as a matter of course, though she does all the work of the household. she will, however, be hurt and surprised if you do not press a small coin into her hand at the end of each week, and one or two big ones at parting. one friend told me that when she stayed with her family at a german hotel her german relatives told her she should give the chambermaid a tip that was equal to pf. for each pair of boots cleaned during their stay. it seems an odd way of reckoning, because the chambermaid does not clean boots. however, the tip came to £ , which seems a good deal and helps to explain the ease with which german servants save enough for their marriage outfit on small wages. it is usual also to tip the servant where you have supped or dined. your opportunity probably comes when she precedes you down the unlighted stairs with a lantern or a candle to the house door. but you need not be at all delicate about your opportunity. you see the other guests make little offerings, and you can only feel that the money has been well earned when you have eaten the elaborate meal she has helped to cook, and has afterwards served to you. domestic servants come under the law in germany that obliges all persons below a certain income to provide for their old age. the post office issues cards and pf. stamps, and one of these stamps must be dated and affixed to the card every monday. sometimes the employers buy the cards and stamps, and show them at the post office once a month; sometimes they expect the servant to pay half the money required. women who go out by the day to different families get their stamps at the house they work in on mondays. if a girl marries she may cease to insure, and may have a sum of money towards her outfit. in that case she will receive no old age pension. but if she goes on with her insurance she will have from to marks a month from the state after the age of . in cases of illness, employers are legally bound to provide for their domestic servants during the term of notice agreed on. at least this is so in prussia, and the term varies from a fortnight to three months. in some parts of germany servants are still engaged by the quarter, but in berlin it has become unusual of late years. the obligation to provide for illness is often a heavy tax on employers, especially in cases when the illness has not been caused by the work or the circumstances of the situation, but by the servant's own carelessness and folly. most householders in berlin subscribe . a year to an insurance company, a private undertaking that provides medical help, and when necessary sends the invalided servant to a hospital and maintains her there. it even pays for any special food or wine ordered by its own doctor. one cause of ill health amongst german servants must often be the abominable sleeping accommodation provided for them in old-fashioned houses. it is said that rooms without windows opening to the air are no longer allowed in germany, and there may be a police regulation against them. even this cannot have been issued everywhere, for not long ago i had a large well furnished room of this kind offered me in a crowded hotel. it had windows, but they opened on to a narrow corridor. the proprietor was quite surprised when i said i would rather have a room at the top of the house with a window facing the street. i know a young lady acting as _stütze der hausfrau_ who slept in a cupboard for years, the only light and air reaching her coming from a slit of glass over the door. i remember the consumptive looking daughter of a prosperous tradesman showing us some rooms her father wished to let, and suggesting that a cupboard off a sitting-room would make a pleasant study. she said she slept in one just like it on a higher floor. of course she called it a _kammer_ and not a cupboard, but that did not make it more inviting. over and over again i have known servants stowed away in holes that seemed fit for brooms and brushes, but not for creatures with lungs and easily poisoned blood. this is one of the facts of german life that makes comparison between england and germany so difficult and bewildering. everyone knowing both countries is struck by the amount of state and police surveillance and interference the germans enjoy compared with us. i do not say "endure," because germans would not like it. most of them approve of the rule they are used to, and they tell us we live in a horrid go-as-you-please fashion with the worst results. i suppose we do. but i have never known an english servant put to sleep in a cupboard, though i have heard complaints of damp fireless rooms, especially in old historical palaces and houses. and i have never been offered a room in a good english inn that had no windows to the open air. these windowless rooms may be forbidden as bedrooms by the german police, but it would take a bigger earthquake than the empire is likely to sustain to do away with those still in use. chapter xv food although the germans as a nation are large eaters, they begin their day with the usual light continental breakfast of coffee and rolls. in households where economy is practised it is still customary to do without butter, or at any rate to provide it only for the master of the house and for visitors. in addition to rolls and butter, you may, if you are a man or a guest, have two small boiled eggs; but eggs in a german town are apt to remind you of the viennese waiter who assured a complaining customer that their eggs were all stamped with the day, month, and year. home-made plum jam made with very little sugar is often eaten instead of butter by the women of the family; and the servants, where white rolls are regarded as a luxury, have rye bread. no one need pity them on this account, however, as german rye bread is as good as bread can be. ordinary london household bread is poor stuff in comparison with it. the white rolls and butter are always excellent too, and i would even say a good word for the coffee. to be sure, mark twain makes fun of german coffee in the _tramp abroad_: says something about one chicory berry being used to a barrel of water; but the poorest german coffee is better than the tepid muddy mixture you get at all english railway stations, and at most english hotels and private houses. milk is nearly always poor in germany, but whipped cream is often added to either coffee or chocolate. the precision that is so striking in the arrangement of german rooms is generally lacking altogether in the serving of meals. the family does not assemble in the morning at a table laid as in england with the same care for breakfast as it will be at night for dinner. it dribbles in as it pleases, arrayed as it pleases, drinks a cup of coffee, eats a roll and departs about its business. formerly the women of the family always spent the morning in a loose gown, and wore a cap over their undressed hair. this fashion, germans inform you, is falling into desuetude; but it falls slowly. take an elderly german lady by surprise in the morning, and you will still find her in what fashion journals call a _negligé_, and what plain folk call a wrapper. when it is of shepherd's plaid or snuff-coloured wool it is not an attractive garment, and it is always what the last generation but one, with their blunt tongues, called "slummocking." most german women are busy in the house all the morning, and when they are not going to market they like to get through their work in this form of dress and make themselves trim for the day later. the advantage claimed for the plan is one of economy. the tidy costume worn later in the day is saved considerable wear and tear. the obvious disadvantage is the encouragement it offers to the sloven. in england whatever you are by nature you must in an ordinary household be down to breakfast at a fixed hour, presentably dressed; at any rate, with your hair done for the day, and, it is to be supposed, with your bath accomplished. directly you depart from this you open the door to anything in the dressing-gown and slipper way, to lying abed like a sluggard, and to a waste of your own and the servants' time that undermines the whole welfare of a home. at least, this is how the question presents itself to english eyes. meanwhile the continent continues to drink its coffee attired in dressing-gowns, and to survive quite comfortably. in every trousseau you still see some of these confections, and on the stage the young wife who has to cajole her husband in the coming scene usually appears in a coquettish one. but then it will not be made of shepherd's plaid or snuff-coloured wool. the dinner hour varies so much in germany that it is impossible to fix an hour for it. in country places you will find everyone sitting down at midday, in towns one o'clock is usual, in hamburg five is the popular hour, in berlin you may be invited anywhen. but unless people dine at twelve they have some kind of second breakfast, and this meal may correspond with the french déjeûner, or it may be even more informal than the morning coffee. it consists in many places of a roll or slice of bread with or without a shaving of meat or sausage. servants have it, children take it to school, charitable institutions supply the bread without the meat to their inmates. in south germany all the men and many women drink beer or wine with this light meal, but in prussia most people are content with a _belegtes butterbrot_, a roll cut in two, buttered, and spread with meat or sausage or smoked fish. this carries people on till one or two o'clock, when the chief meal of the day is served. all over germany dinner begins with soup, and in most parts the soup is followed by the _ochsenfleisch_ that made it. at least _ochsenfleisch_ should make it by rights. "i know what this is," said an old german friend, prodding at a tough slice from a dish we all found uneatable. "this is not _ochsenfleisch_ at all. this is _cow_." good gravy or horseradish sauce is served with it, whether it is ox or cow, and for a time you take a slice day after day without complaining. it is the persistence of the thing that wears you out in the end. you must be born to _ochsenfleisch_ to eat it year in and year out as if it was bread or potatoes. it does not appear as regularly in north as in south germany; and in hamburg you may once in a way have dinner without soup. people who know germany find this almost beyond belief, but hamburg has many little ways of its own, and is a city with a strong individual character. it is extremely proud of its cooking and its food, and it has every right to be. i once travelled with two germans who in a heated way discussed the comparative merits of various german cities. they could not agree, and they could not let the matter drop. at last one man got the best of it. "i tell you that hamburg is the finest city in germany," he said. "in a hamburg hotel i once ate the best steak i ever ate in my life." the other man had nothing to say to that. hamburg has a splendid fish supply, and holstein brings her quantities of fruit and of farm produce. your second breakfast there is like a french déjeûner, a meal served and prepared according to your means, but a regular meal and not a mere snack. you drink coffee after it, and so sustain life till five o'clock, when you dine. then you drink coffee again, and as your dinner has probably been an uncommonly good one you only need a light supper at nine o'clock, when a tray will arrive with little sandwiches and slender bottles of beer. in north germany, where wine is scarce and dear, it is hardly ever seen in many households, so that a young englishman wanting to describe his german friends, divided them for convenience into wine people and beer people. the wine people were plutocrats, and had red or white rhine wine every day for dinner. i probably need not tell my well-informed country people that germans never speak of hock. in households where the chief meal of the day is at one or two o'clock there is afternoon tea or coffee. it used invariably to be coffee, good hot coffee and fresh rusks and dainty little _hörnchen_ and _radankuchen_, an excellent light cake baked in a twisty tin. german cakes want a whole chapter to themselves to do them justice, and they should have it if it were not for a dialogue that frequently takes place in a family well known to me. the wife is of german origin, but as she has an english husband and english servants she keeps house in the english way. therefore mutton cold or hashed is her frequent portion. "how i hate hashed mutton," she sometimes says. "why do you have it, then?" says the husband, who has a genius for asking apparently innocent but really provoking questions. "what else can i have?" says the wife. "eel in jelly," says the husband. he once tasted it in berlin, and it must have given him a mental shock; for whenever his wife approaches him with a domestic difficulty, asks him, for instance, what he would like for breakfast, he suggests this inaccessible and uninviting dish. "there is never anything to eat in england except mutton and apple-tart," says the wife. "your plain cooks can't cook anything else. they can't cook those really. think of a german apple-tart--" "why should i? i don't want one." "that's the hopeless part of it. you are all content with what daudet called your _abominable cuisine_. i thank him for the phrase. it is descriptive." "oh, well," says the husband, "we're not a greedy nation." so if this is the english point of view the less said about cakes the better. and anyhow, it is in this country that afternoon tea is an engaging meal. berlin offers you tea nowadays, but it is never good, and instead of freshly cut bread and butter they have horrid little chokey biscuits flavoured with vanilla. old-fashioned germans used to put a bit of vanilla in the tea-pot when they had guests they delighted to honour, but they all know better than that nowadays. the milk is often boiled milk, but even that scarcely explains why tea is so seldom fit to drink in germany. supper is a light meal in most houses. the english mutton bone is never seen, for when cold meat is eaten it is cut in neat slices and put on a long narrow dish. but there is nearly always something from the nearest _delikatessen_ shop with it,--slices of ham or tongue, or slices of one or two of the various sausages of germany: _blutwurst_, _mettwurst_, _schinkenwurst_, _leberwurst_, all different and all good. when a hot dish is served it is usually a light one, often an omelette or some other preparation of eggs; and in spring eggs and bits of asparagus are a great deal cooked together in various ways: not asparagus heads so often as short lengths of the stalk sold separately in the market, and quite tender when cooked. there is nearly always a salad with the cold meat or a dish of the salted cucumbers that make such a good pickle. the big loaves of light brown rye bread appear at this meal instead of the little white rolls eaten at breakfast. beer or wine is drunk, and very often of late years tea as well. sweets are not usually served at supper, unless guests are present. they are eaten at the midday dinner, and each part of germany has its own favourite dishes. soups are nearly always good in germany, and some of the best are not known in england. the dried green corn so much used for soup in south germany can, however, be bought in london from the german provision merchants, so at the end of this greedy chapter i will give a recipe for making it. _nudelsuppe_ of strong chicken stock and home-made _nudeln_ used to be what the berliner called his roast goose--"_eine jute jabe jottes_," but the degenerate germans of to-day buy tasteless manufactured _nudeln_ instead of rolling out their own. _nudeln_ are the german form of macaroni, but when properly made they are better than any macaroni can be. if you have been brought up in an old-fashioned german ménage, and, as a child likes to do, peeped into the kitchen sometimes, you will remember seeing large sheets of something as thin and yellow as chamois leather hung on a clothes horse to dry. then you knew that there would be _nudeln_ for your dinner, either narrow ones in soup, or wider ones boiled in water and sprinkled with others cut as fine as vermicelli and fried brown in butter. the paste is troublesome to make. it begins with a deceptive simplicity. take four whole eggs and four tablespoonsful of milk if you want enough for ten people, says the cookery book, and make a light dough of it with a knife in a basin. anyone can do that, you find. but then you must put your dough on the pastry board, and work in more flour as you knead it with your hands. "the longer you knead and the stiffer the dough is the better your _nudeln_ will be," continues the cookery book. but the next operation is to cut the dough into four, and roll out each portion _as thin as paper_, and no one who has not seen german _nudeln_ before they are cooked can believe that this is actually done. it is no use to give the rest of the recipe for drying them, rolling each piece loosely and cutting it into strips and boiling them with salt in water. if you told your english cook to make you _nudeln_ she would despise it for a foreign mess, and bring you something as thick as a pancake. if you want them you had better get them in a box from a provision merchant, as the _hausfrau_ herself does nowadays. english people often say that there is no good meat to be had in germany. i would say that there is no good mutton, and a great deal of poor coarse beef. but the _filetbraten_ that you can get from the best butchers is excellent. it is a long roll of undercut of beef, so long that it seems to be sold by the yard. if you cook it in the english way, says my german cookery book, you rub it well with salt and pepper and baste it with butter; while the gravy is made with flour, mushrooms, cream, and extract of beef. i should like to see the expression of the english plain cook if she was told to baste her beef with butter and make her gravy for it with mushrooms. i once came back from germany with a new idea for gravy, and tried it on a cook who seemed to think that gravy was made by upsetting a kettle over a joint and then adding lumps of flour. "my sister's cook always puts an onion in the tin with a joint," i said tentatively, for i was not very hopeful. i know that there is always some insuperable objection to anything not consecrated by tradition. "it gives the gravy a flavour," i went on,--"not a strong flavour"-- i stopped. i waited for the objection. "we couldn't do that here," said the cook. "why not?--we have tins and we have onions." "it would spoil the dripping. what could i do with dripping as tasted of onion?" i had never thought of that, and so i had never asked my sister what was done in her household with dripping as tasted with onion. "i should think," i said slowly, "that it could be used to baste the next joint." "then that would taste of onion," said the cook, "and i should have no dripping when i wanted it." i have always thought dripping a dull subject, and i know that it is an explosive one, so i said nothing more. i went on instead to describe a piece of beef stewed in its own juices on a bed of chopped vegetables. we actually tried that, and when it was cold it tasted agreeably of the vegetables, and was as tender to carve as butter. "how did you like the german beef?" i said to an englishwoman who had been with me a great many years. "i didn't like it at all, m'm." "but it was so tender." "yes, m'm, it made me creep," she said. so this chapter is really of no use from one point of view. you may hear what queer things benighted people like the germans eat and drink, but you will never persuade your british household to condescend to them. except in the coast towns, sea fish is scarce and dear all over germany. salt fish and fresh-water fish are what you get, and except the trout it is not interesting. a great deal of carp is eaten, cooked with vinegar to turn it blue, and served with horseradish or wine sauce. at a dinner party i have seen tench given, and they were extremely pretty, like fish in old italian pictures, but they were not worth eating. at least a pound of fresh butter was put on each dish of them, handed round, and you took some of it as well as a sort of mustard sauce. perch, pike, and eel are all eaten where nothing better is to be had; but the standing fish-course of inland germany is trout. most hotels have a tank where they keep it alive till it is wanted, and in the black forest the peasants catch it and peddle it, walking miles to make good sales. we went into the garden of our hotel in the wiesenthal one day, and found the basin of the fountain there crammed with live trout. it was so full that you could take one in your hand for a moment and look at its speckles, as lovely as the speckles on a thrush's breast. the man who was carrying them on his back in a wooden water-tight satchel was having a drink, and he had put out his fish for a drink while he rested. i have never been within reach of fresh herrings in germany, and have never seen them there, but smoked ones are eaten everywhere, often with salad, or together with smoked ham and potatoes in their jackets. neither the ham nor the herrings are ever cooked when they have been smoked, and the ham is very tough in consequence. the breast of a goose, too, is eaten smoked but not cooked, and is considered a great delicacy. poultry varies in quality a good deal. everyone knows the little chickens that come round at hotel dinners, all legs and bones. a german family will sit down contentedly to an old hen that the most economical of us would only use for soup, and they will serve it roasted though it is as tough as leather. i think it must be said that you get better fowls both in france and england than in germany. the german national bird is the goose. in england, if you buy a goose your cook roasts it and sends it up, and that is all you ever know of it. in germany a goose is a carnival, rather as a newly killed pig is in an english farmhouse. you begin with a stew of the giblets, you perhaps continue with the bird itself roasted and stuffed with chestnuts, you may have a dozen different dishes made of its remains, while the fat that has basted it you hoard and use sparingly for weeks. for instance, you cook a cabbage with a little of it instead of with water. in south germany, goose livers are prepared with it, and are just as much liked as _pâté de foie gras_. hares are eaten and most carefully prepared in germany. they are skinned in a way that an english poulterer has been known to learn from his german customers and pronounce very troublesome, and the back is usually served separately, larded and basted with sour cream. vegetables are cooked less simply than in england, and you will find the two countries disagree heatedly about them. the englishman does not want his peas messed up with grease and vinegar, and though he will be too polite to say so, he will silently agree with his plain cook who says that peas served in the pod is a dish only fit for pigs and what she has never been accustomed to; while the german will get quite dejected over the everlasting plain boiled cabbage and potatoes he is offered week after week in his english boarding-house. at home, he says, he is used to mountains of fat asparagus all the spring, and he thinks slightly of your skinny green ones or of the wooden stuff you import and pay less for because it is "foreign." he likes potatoes cooked in twenty various ways, and when mashed he is of opinion that they should not be black or lumpy. he wants a dozen different vegetables dished up round one joint of beef, and in summer salads of various kinds on various occasions, and not your savage mixed salad with a horrible sauce poured out of a bottle; furniture polish he believes it to be from its colour. in the autumn he expects chestnuts cooked with gravy and vegetables, or made into light puddings; and apple sauce, he assures you, should be a creamy white, and as smooth as a well made purée. if he is of the south he would like a _mehlspeise_ after his meat, _spetzerle_ if he comes from würtemberg; one of a hundred different dishes if he is a bavarian. he will not allow that your national milk puddings take their place. if he is a north german his _leibgericht_ may be _rote grütze_. this is eaten enormously all over denmark and north germany in summer, and is nothing in the world but a ground rice or sago mould made with fruit juice instead of milk. the old-fashioned way was to squeeze raspberries and currants through a cloth till you had a quart of pure juice, which you then boiled with oz. ground rice and sugar to taste, stirring carefully lest it should burn, and stirring patiently so that the rice should be well cooked. but where fruit is dear you can make excellent _rote grütze_ by stewing the fruit first with a little water and straining off the juice. a quart of currants and a pound of raspberries should give you a good quart mould. the danes make it of rhubarb and plum juice in the same way; and my german cookery book gives a recipe for _grüne grütze_ made with green gooseberries, but i tried that once and found it quite inferior to our own gooseberry fool. food is so much a matter of taste and custom, that it seems absurd to make dogmatic remarks about the superiority of one kitchen to another. if you like cold mutton, boiled potatoes and rice pudding, most days in the week, you like them and there is an end of it. the one thing you can say for certain is that to cook for you requires neither skill nor pains, while to cook for a german family, even if it lives plainly and poorly, takes time and trouble. in trying to compare the methods of two nations, one must naturally be careful to compare households on the same social plane; and an english household that lives on cold mutton and rice pudding is certainly a plain and probably a poor one. in well-to-do english households you get the best food in the world as far as raw material goes, but it must be said that you often get poor cooking. it passes quite unnoticed too. no one seems to mind thick soups that are too thick and gravies that are tasteless, and melted butter like stickphast paste, and savouries quite acrid with over much vinegar and anchovy. i once saw a whole company of english people contentedly eat a dish of hot scones that had gone wrong. they tasted of strong yellow soap. but i once saw a company of germans eat bad fish and apparently like it. they were sea soles handed round in a swiss hotel, and they should by rights have been buried the day before. i thought of ottilie von schlippenschlopp and the oysters. but the soles were carefully cooked, and served with an elaborate sauce. * * * * * green corn soup.--for six people take oz. of green corn: wash it well in hot water, and cook it until it is quite soft in stock or salt water. put it through a sieve, add boiling stock, and serve with fried slice of bread or with small semolina dumplings. green corn soup.--another way. for six people take -½ oz. of green corn, wash it well in hot water, and let it simmer for a few minutes with a little stock and -½ oz. butter. then add strong stock, and let it simmer slowly with the lid on till the corn is soft. then stir a tablespoonful of fine flour with half a cupful of milk, and add it to the soup, stirring all the time. this must then cook an hour longer. when ready to serve, mix the yolks of two eggs with a little sour cream, and add the soup carefully so that it is not curdled. the soup is not strained through a sieve when it is served without dumplings. the little dumplings are first cooked as a panada of semolina, butter, milk and egg, and then dropped into the soup and cooked in it for ten minutes. chapter xvi shops and markets berlin people compare their wertheim with the bon marché at paris, or with whiteley's in london; only always adding that wertheim is superior to any emporium in france or england. so it really is in one way. a great artist designed it, and the outside of the building is plain and stately, a most refreshing contrast to most berlin architecture. on the ground floor there is a high spacious hall that is splendid when it is lighted up at night, and a staircase leads up and down from here to the various departments, all decorated soberly and pleasantly, mostly with wood. you can buy almost anything you want at wertheim's, from the furniture of your house to a threepenny pair of cotton mittens with a thumb and no fingers. you can see tons of the most hideous rubbish there, and you can find a corner reserved for original work, done by two or three artists whose names are well known in germany. for instance, wertheim exhibits the very clever curious "applications" done by frau katy münchhausen, groups of monkeys, storks, cocks and hens, and other animals, drawn with immense spirit and life on cloth, cut out and then _machined_ on a background of another colour. the machining has a bad sound, i admit, but for all that the "applications" are enchanting. wertheim, too, shows some good furniture; he sells theatre tickets, books, fruit, groceries, liberty cushions, embroideries, soaps, perfumes, toys, ironmongery, china, glass, as well as everything that can be called drapery. he has a tea-room as well as a large general refreshment-room, where you can get ices, iced coffee, beer, all kinds of sandwiches, and the various _torten_ germans make so very much better than other people. in this room no money is wasted on waiters or waitresses, and no one expects to be tipped. you fetch what you want from a long bar running along two sides of the room, and divided into short stretches, each selling its own stuff; you pay at the counter, and you carry your ice or your cake to any little marble-topped table you choose. the advantage of the plan is that you do not have to wait till you catch the eye of a waitress determined not to look your way: the disadvantage is that you have to perform the difficult feat of carrying a full cup or a full glass through a crowd. whatever you buy at the counter is sure to be good, but if all you could get was a mugby junction bun you would have to eat it after the exhausting process of buying a yard of ribbon or a few picture postcards at wertheim's. to begin with, there are no chairs. you cannot sit down. on a hot summer morning, when you have perhaps been to the market already, you go to the leipziger strasse for theatre tickets, a pair of gloves, and two or three small odds and ends. on the ground floor you see gloves, innumerable boxes of them besieged by a pushing, determined crowd of women. the shop ladies in any coloured blouses look hot and weary, but try to serve six customers at once. when you have chosen what you want, and know exactly how sharp the elbows to left and right of you are, you see your lady walk off with your most pushful neighbour and the pair of three-penny gloves she has after much argument agreed to buy; for at wertheim's you cannot depart with so much as a halfpenny postcard till it has passed through three pairs of hands besides your own. first the shop lady must deposit it with a bill at the cashier's desk. then, when the cashier can attend to you, you pay for it. then you may wait any time until the third person concerned will do it up in paper and string. this last proceeding is often so interminably delayed that if you were not in germany you would snatch at what you have paid for and make off. but the _polizei_ alone knows what would happen if you ran your head against the established pedantry of things in the city of the spree. you would probably find yourself in prison for _beamtenbeleidigung_ or _lèse majesté_. "the emperor is a fool," said some disloyal subject in a public place. "to prison with him," screamed every horror-struck official. "off with his head!" "but i meant the emperor of china," protested the sinner. "that's impossible," said the officials in chorus. "anyone who says the emperor is a fool means our emperor." and an official spirit seems to encroach on the business one, and drill its very customers while it anxiously serves them. for instance, the arrangements for sending what you buy are most tiresome and difficult to understand at wertheim's. his carts patrol the streets, and your german friends assure you that he sends anything. you find that if you shop with a country card the things entered on it will arrive; but if you buy a bulky toy or some heavy books and pay for them in their departments, you meet with fuss and refusal when you ask as a matter of course to have them sent. it can be done if your goods have cost enough, but not if you have only spent two or three shillings. it is the fashion in england just now for every man who writes about germans to say that they are immensely ahead of us in business matters. i cannot judge of them in their factories and warehouses, but i am sure they are behind us in their shops. a woman cannot live three hundred miles from berlin and get everything she wants from wertheim delivered by return and carriage free. nor will he supply her with an immense illustrated catalogue and a book of order forms addressed to his firm, so that the trouble of shopping from a distance is reduced to a minimum. in england you can do your london shopping as easily, promptly, and cheaply from a scotch or a cornish village as you can from a surrey suburb. in most german towns you still find the shops classified on the old lines. you go to one for drapery, and to another for linen, and to another for small wares, and to yet another for ribbons. there are sausage shops and chocolate shops, and in berlin there are shops for the celebrated berlin _baumkuchen_. there are a great many cellar shops all over germany, and these are mostly restaurants, laundries, and greengrocers. the drinking scene in _faust_ when mephisto made wine flow from the table takes place in auerbach's keller, a cellar restaurant still in existence in leipzig. the lower class of cellar takes the place in germany of our slums, and the worst of them are regular thieves' kitchens known to the police. there is an admirable description of life in a cellar shop in klara viebig's _das tägliche brot_. the woman who keeps it has a greengrocery business and a registry office for servants, and as such people go is respectable; but i recommend the book to my countrymen who go to berlin as officials or journalists for ten days, are taken over various highly polished public institutions, and come back to tell us that the germans are every man jack of them clean, prosperous, well mannered, and healthy. it is true that german municipal government is striving rather splendidly to bring this state of things about, but they have plenty of work before them still. these cellar shops, for instance, are more fit for mushroom growing than for human nurseries, and yet the picture in the novel of the family struggling with darkness and disease there can still be verified in most of the old streets of germany. when our english journalists write column after column about the dangerous explosive energy and restlessness of modern germany, i feel sure that they must be right, and yet i wish they could have come shopping with me a year or two ago in a small black forest town. one of us wanted a watch key and the other a piece of tape, and we set off light-heartedly to buy them, for we knew that there was a draper and a watchmaker in the main street. we knew, too, that in south germany everyone is first dining and then asleep between twelve and two, so we waited till after two and then went to the watchmaker's. there was no shop window, and when, after ringing two or three times, we were let in we found there was no shop. we sat down in a big cool sitting-room, beautifully clean and tidy. the watchmaker's wife appeared in due course, looked at us with friendly interest, asked us where we came from, and how long we meant to stay, wondered if we knew her cousin johannes müller, a hairdresser in islington, discussed the relative merits of emigration to england and america, offered us some cherries from a basketful on the table, and at last admitted unwillingly that her husband was not at home, and that she herself knew not whether he had watch keys. so we set off to buy our tape, and again found a private room, an amiable family, but no one who felt able to sell anything. it seemed an odd way of doing business we said to our landlord, but he saw nothing odd in it. most people were busy with their hay, he explained. towards the end of a week we caught our watchmaker, and obtained a key, but he would not let us pay for it. he said it was one of an old collection, and of no use to him. the etiquette of shopping in germany seems to us rather topsy-turvy at first. in a small shop the proprietor is as likely as not to conduct business with a cigar in his mouth, even if you are a lady, but if you are a man he will think you a boor if you omit to remove your hat as you cross his threshold. whether you are a man, woman, or child, you will wish him good-morning or good-evening before you ask for what you want, and he will answer you before he asks what your commands are. if you are a woman, about as ignorant as most women, and with a humble mind, you will probably have no fixed opinion about the question of free or fair trade. you may even, if you are very humble, recognise that it is not quite the simple question dick, tom, and harry think it is. but you will know for certain that when you want ribbons for a hat you had better buy them in kensington and not in frankfurt, and that though there are plenty of cheap materials in germany, the same quality would be cheaper still in london. everything to do with women's clothing is dearer there than here. so is stationery, so are groceries, so are the better class of fancy goods. but the germans, say the fair traders, are a prosperous nation, and it is because their manufactures are protected. this may be so. i can only look at various quite small unimportant trifles, such as ribbons, for instance, or pewter vases or blotting-paper or peppermint drops. i know that a german woman either wears a common ribbon on her hat, or pays twice as much as i do for a good one; she is content with one pewter vase where your english suburban drawing-room packs twenty into one corner, with twenty silver frames and vases near them. a few years ago the one thing german blotting-paper refused to do was to absorb ink, and it was so dear that in all small country inns and in old-fashioned offices you were expected to use sand instead. the sand was kept beside the ink in a vessel that had a top like a pepper pot; and it was more amusing than blotting-paper, but not as efficacious. as for the peppermint drops, they used to be a regular export from families living in london to families living in germany. they were probably needed after having goose and chestnuts for dinner, and ours were twice as large as the german ones and about six times as strong, so no doubt they were like our blotting-paper, and performed what they engaged to perform more thoroughly. but shops of any kind are dull compared with an open market held in one of the many ancient market places of germany. photographs of freiburg give a bird's-eye view of the town with the minster rising from the midst of its red roofs; but there is just a peep at the market which is being held at the foot of the minster. on the side hidden by the towering cathedral there are some of the oldest houses in freiburg. it is a large crowded market on certain days of the week, and full of colour and movement. the peasants who come to it from the neighbouring valleys wear bright-coloured skirts and headgear, and in that part of germany fruit is plentiful, so that all through the summer and autumn the market carts and barrows are heaped with cherries, wild strawberries, plums, apricots, peaches, and grapes in their season. the market place itself, and even the steps of the minster and of the surrounding houses, are crowded with the peasants and their produce, and with the leisurely servants and housewives bargaining for the day's supplies. from a view of the market place at cottbus in brandenburg you may get a better idea of the people at a german market; the servants with their umbrellas, their big baskets, their baggy blouses and no hats, the middle class housewife with a hat or a bonnet, and a huge basket on her arm, a nursemaid in peasant costume stooping over her perambulator, other peasants in costume at the stalls, and two of the farm carts that are in some districts yoked oftener with oxen than with horses. there is naturally great variety in the size and character of markets, according to the needs they supply. in hamburg the old names show you that there were separate markets for separate trades, so that you went to the schweinemarkt when you wanted pigs, and to some other part of the city when you wanted flowers and fruit. in berlin there are twelve covered markets besides the open ones, and they are all as admirably clean, tidy, and unpoetical as everything else is in that spick and span, swept and garnished philistine city. the green gooseberries there are marked "unripe fruit" by order of the police, so that no one should think they were ripe and eat them uncooked; and you can buy rhubarb nowadays, a vegetable the modern berliner eats without shuddering. but in a berlin market you buy what you need as quickly as you can and come away. there is nothing to tempt you, nothing picturesque, nothing german, if german brings to your mind a queer mixture of poetry and music, gabled, tumbledown houses, storks' nests, toys, marvellous cakes and sweets and the kindliest of people. if you are so modern that german means nothing to you but drill and hustle, the roar of factories and the pride of monster municipal ventures, then you may see the markets of berlin and rest content with them. they will show you what you already know of this day's germany. but my household treasures gathered here and there in german markets did not have one added to their number in berlin. "that!" said a german friend when i showed her a yellow pitcher dabbed with colour, and having a spout, a handle, and a lid,--"that! i would not have it in my kitchen." it certainly only cost the third of a penny, but it lived with honour in my drawing-room till it shared the fate of all clay, and came in two in somebody's hands. the blue and grey bellied bottle, one of those in which the thuringian peasants carry beer to the field, cost three halfpence, but the butter-dish with a lid of the same ware only cost a halfpenny. there is always an immense heap of this rough grey and blue pottery in a south german market, and it is much prettier than the more ornate coblenz ware we import and sell at high prices. so is the deep red earthenware glazed inside and rough outside and splashed with colours. you find plenty of it at the leipziger messe, that historical fair that used to be as important to western europe as nijni novgorod is to russia and the east. to judge from modern german trade circulars, it is still of considerable importance, and the buildings in which merchants of all countries display their wares have recently been renovated and enlarged. out of doors the various market-places are covered with little stalls selling cheap clothing, cheap toys, jewellery, sweets, and gingerbread; all the heterogeneous rubbish you have seen a thousand times at german fairs, and never tire of seeing if a fair delights you. but better than the leipziger messe, better even than a summer market at freiburg or at heidelburg, is a christmas market in any one of the old german cities in the hill country, when the streets and the open places are covered with crisp clean snow, and the mountains are white with it, and the moon shines on the ancient houses, and the tinkle of sledge bells reaches you when you escape from the din of the market, and look down at the bustle of it from some silent place, a high window perhaps, or the high empty steps leading into the cathedral. the air is cold and still, and heavy with the scent of the christmas trees brought from the forest for the pleasure of the children. day by day you see the rows of them growing thinner, and if you go to the market on christmas eve itself you will find only a few trees left out in the cold. the market is empty, the peasants are harnessing their horses or their oxen, the women are packing up their unsold goods. in every home in the city one of the trees that scented the open air a week ago is shining now with lights and little gilded nuts and apples, and is helping to make that christmas smell, all compact of the pine forest, wax candles, cakes, and painted toys, you must associate so long as you live with christmas in germany. chapter xvii expenses of life a few years ago a german economist reckoned that there were only , families in the empire whose incomes exceeded £ , a year. there were nearly three million households living on incomes ranging from £ to £ , and nearly four millions with more than £ but less than £ . but there were upwards of five millions whose incomes fell below £ . since that estimate was made, germany has grown in wealth and prosperity; and in the big cities there is great expenditure and luxury amongst some classes, especially amongst the jews who can afford it, and amongst the officers of the army who as a rule cannot. but the bulk of the nation is poor, and class for class lives on less than people do in england. for instance, the headmaster of a school gets about £ a year in a small town, and from £ to £ in a big one. a lieutenant gets about £ a year, and an additional £ if he has no private means. his uniform and mess expenses are deducted from this. he is not allowed to marry on his official income, unless he or his wife has an income of £ in addition to his pay, as even in germany an army man can hardly keep up appearances and support a wife and family on less than £ a year. it is quite common to hear of a clerk living on £ or £ , or of a doctor who knows his work and yet can only make £ . the official posts so eagerly sought after are poorly paid; so are servants, agricultural labourers, and artisans. when you are in germany, if you are interested in questions of income and expenditure, you are always trying to make up your mind why a german family can live as successfully on £ as an english family on £ , for you know that rent and taxes are high and food and clothing dear. if you are a woman and think about it a great deal, and look at family life in as many places and classes as you can, you finally decide that there are three chief reasons for the great difference between the cost of life in england and germany. in the first place, labour is cheaper there; in the second place, the standard of luxury and even of comfort is lower; in the third place, the women are thriftier and more industrious than englishwomen. this, too, leaves out of account the most important fact, that the state educates a man's children for next to nothing; and drills the male ones into shape when they serve in the army. servants, we have seen, get lower wages than they do here, but the real economy is in the smaller number kept. where we pay and maintain half a dozen a german family will be content with two, and the typical small english household that cannot face life without its plain cook in the kitchen and its parlour-maid in her black gown at the front door, will throughout the german empire get along quite serenely with one young woman to cook and clean and do everything else required. if she is a "pearl" she probably makes the young ladies' frocks and irons the master's shirts to fill in her time. germans do not trouble about the black frock and the white apron at the front door. they will even open the door to you themselves if the "girl" is washing or cooking. a female servant is always a "girl" in germany. i once heard a young englishwoman who had not been long in germany ask an elderly acquaintance to recommend a dressmaker. "the best one in ---- is fräulein müller," said the elderly acquaintance. "but she is too expensive," said the englishwoman, and she glanced across the room at the lady's nieces, who were neatly and plainly dressed. "do girls go to fräulein müller?" "girls! certainly not," said the lady, with the expression germans keep for the insane english it is their fate to encounter occasionally. "but that is what i want to know, ... a dressmaker girls go to ... girls with a small allowance." "i am afraid i cannot help you," said the lady stiffly. "i know nothing about the dressmakers girls employ." "perhaps miss brown means 'young girls,'" said one of the nieces, who was not as slow in the uptake as her aunt, and it turned out that this was what miss brown did mean; but she had not known that in everyday life _mädchen_ without an adjective usually means a servant. she had heard of _das mädchen aus der fremde_ and _der tod und das mädchen_, and blundered. i once made a german exceedingly angry by saying that the standard of comfort was higher in england than in germany. she said it was lower. when you have lived in both countries and with both peoples you arrive in the end at having your opinions, and knowing that each one you hold will be disputed on one side or the other. "find out what means _gemütlichkeit_, and do it without fail," says hans breitmann, but _gemütlichkeit_ and comfort are not quite interchangeable words. our word is more material. when we talk of english comfort we are thinking of our open fires, our solid food, our thick carpets, and our well-drilled smart-looking servants. the german is thinking of the spiritual atmosphere in his own house, the absence, as he says, of ceremony and the freedom of ideas. he talks of a man being _gemütlich_ in his disposition, kindly, that is, and easy going. we talk of a house being comfortable, and when we do use the word for a person usually mean that she is rather stout. when both you and the german have decided that "comfort" for the moment shall mean material comfort, you will disagree about what is necessary to yours. you must have your bathroom, your bacon for breakfast, your table laid precisely, your meals served to the moment, your young women in black or your staid men to give them to you, and your glowing fires in as many rooms as possible. the german cares for none of these things. he would rather have his half-pound of odds and ends from the provision shop than your boiled cod, roast mutton, and apple-tart; he wants his stove, his double windows, his good coffee, his _kräftige kost_, and freedom to smoke in every corner of his house. he is never tired of telling you that, though you have more political freedom in england, you are groaning under a degree of social tyranny that he could not endure for a day. the idealist, quoted in a former chapter, is for ever talking of the "hypocrisy" of english life, and her burning anxiety is to save the children of certain russian and german exiles from contact with it. another german tells you that our system of collegiate life for women would not suit her countryfolk, because they are more "individual." each one likes to choose her own rooms, and live as she pleases. the next german has suffered torments in london because he had to sit down to certain meals at certain hours instead of eating anything he fancied at any time he felt hungry, and i suppose it is only your british _heuchelei_ that leads you to smile politely instead of adding, "as the beasts of the field do." but i am always mazed, as the cornish say, when germans talk of their freedom from convention. in hamburg i was once seriously rebuked by an old friend for carrying a book through the streets that was not wrapped up in paper. in hamburg that is one of the things people don't do. in mainz and in many other german towns there are certain streets where one side, for reasons no one can explain, is taboo at certain hours of the day; not of the night, but of the day. you may go to a music shop at midday to buy a sonata, and find, if you are a girl, that you have committed a crime. the intercourse between young people outside their homes is hedged round with convention. german titles of address are so absurdly formal that germans laugh at them themselves. their ceremonies in connection with anniversaries and family events bristle with convention, and offer pitfalls at every step to the stranger or the blunderer. it is true that men do not dress for dinner every day, and wax indignant over the necessity of doing so for the theatre in england; but there are various occasions when they wear evening dress in broad daylight, and an englishman considers that an uncomfortable convention. the truth is, that these questions of comfort and ceremonial are not questions that should be discussed in the hostile dogmatic tone adopted in both countries by those who only know their own. the ceremonies that are foreign to you impress you, while those you have been used to all your life have become a second nature. an englishwoman feels downright uncomfortable in her high stuff gown at night, and a german lady brought up at one of the great german courts told me that when she stayed in an english country house and put on what she called a ball dress for dinner every night, she felt like a fool. to come back to questions of expenditure so intimately related to questions of comfort, it must be remembered that in an english household there are two dinners a day: one early for the servants and children, and one late for the grown-ups; and solid dinners cost money even in england, where at present there is no meat famine. when germans dine late they don't also dine early, even where there are children; while the kitchen dinner, that meal of supreme importance here, is eaten when the family has finished theirs, and is as informal as the meal a bird makes of berries. in a german household, living on a small income, nothing is wasted,--not fuel, not food, not cleaning materials, as far as possible not time. the _tüchtige hausfrau_ would be made miserable by having to pay and feed a woman who put on gala clothes at midday, and did no work to soil them after that. "two girls," i once heard a german say to an englishwoman who had just described her own modest household which she ran, she said, with two maids. "two girls ... for you and your husband. but what, i ask you, does the second one do?" "she cleans the rooms and waits at table and opens the door," said the englishwoman. "all that can one girl do just as well. i assure you it is so. there cannot possibly be work in your household for two girls. you have told me how quietly you live, and i know what english cooking is, if you can call it cooking." "you see, there must be someone to open the door." "why could one girl not answer the door, ... unless she was washing. then you would naturally go yourself." "but it wouldn't be natural in england," said the englishwoman. "it would be odd. besides, if you only have one servant, she can't dress for lunch." "why should she dress for lunch?" asked the german. "my auguste is a pearl, but she only dresses when we have _gesellschaft_. then she wears a plaid blouse and a garnet brooch that i gave her last christmas, and she looks very well in them. but every day ... and for lunch, when half the work of the day is still to be done.... what, then, does your second girl do in the afternoons?" "she brings tea and answers the door." "always the door. but your husband is not a doctor or a dentist. why do so many people come to your door that you need a whole girl to attend to them?" "oh! they don't," said the englishwoman, getting rather worn. "there are very few, really. it's the custom." "ah!" said the german, with a long deep breath of satisfaction. "so are you english ... such slaves to custom. _gott sei dank_ that i do not live in a country where i should have to keep a girl in idleness for the sake of the door. with us a door is a door. anyone who happens to be near opens it." "i know they do," said the englishwoman, "and when a servant comes she expects you to say _guten tag_ before you ask whether her mistress is at home?" "certainly. it is a politeness. we are a polite nation." "and once, when i had just come back from germany, i said good-morning to an english butler before i asked if his mistress was at home, and he thought i was mad. we each have our own conventions. that's the truth of the matter." "not at all," said the german. "the truth of the matter is, that the english are extremely conventional, and follow each other as sheep do; but the german does what pleases him, without asking first whether his neighbour does likewise." this is what the german really believes, and you agree or disagree with him according to the phase of life you look at when he is speaking. you find that when he comes to england he honestly feels checked at every turn by our unwritten laws, while when you go to germany you wonder how he can submit so patiently to the pettiness and multiplicity of his written ones. he vaguely feels the pressure and criticism of your indefinite code of manners; you think his elaborate system of titles, introductions, and celebrations rather childish and extremely troublesome. if you have what the english call manners you will take the greatest care not to let him find this out, and in course of time, however much you like him on the whole, you will lose your patience a little with the individual you are bound to meet, the individual who has england on his nerves, and exhausts his energy and eloquence in informing you of your country's shortcomings. they are legion, and indeed leave no room for the smallest virtue, so that in the end you can only wonder solemnly why such a nation ever came to be a nation at all. "that is easily answered," says your anglophobe. "england has arrived where she is by seizing everything she can lay hands on. now it is going to be our turn." you express your interest in the future of germany as seen by your friend, and he shows you a map of europe which he has himself marked with red ink all round the empire as it will be a few years hence. there is not much europe outside the red line. "but you haven't taken great britain," you say, rather hurt at being left out in this way. "we don't want it ... otherwise, ... but india ... possibly australia." he waves his hands. you look at him pensively, and suddenly see one of the great everyday distances between your countryfolk and his. you think of a french novel that has amused you lately, because the parents of the heroine objected to her marriage with the hero on grounds you were quite incapable of understanding. the young man's work was in cochin-china, and the young lady's father and mother did not wish her to go so far. never in your life have you heard anyone raise such a trivial difficulty. you live in a dull sober street mostly inhabited by dull sober people, but there is not one house in it that is not linked by interest or affection, often doubly linked, with some uttermost end of the earth. you can hardly find an english family that has not one member or more in far countries, and so the common talk of english people in all classes travels the width of the world in the wake of those dear to them. but in only , germans out of a population of , , emigrated from germany, and these, says mr. eltzbacher, whose figures i am quoting, were more than counterbalanced by immigration into germany from austria, russia, and italy. it is true that the population of germany is increasing with immense rapidity, and that the question of expansion is becoming a burning one; but it is a question quite outside the strictly home politics of this unpretending chronicle. we are only concerned with the obvious fact that germans settle in far countries in much smaller numbers than we do, and that those who go abroad mostly choose the british flag and avoid their own. it does not occur as easily to a german as to an englishman that he may better his fortunes in another part of the world, or if he is an official that he will apply for a post in asia or africa. he wants to stay near the rhine or the spree where he was born, and to bring up his children there; and with the help of the state and his wife he contrives to do this on an extraordinary small income. the state, as we have seen, almost takes his children off his hands from the time they are six years old. it brings them up for nothing, or next to nothing; in cases of need it partially feeds and clothes them, it even washes them. some english humorist has said that a german need only give himself the trouble to be born; his government does the rest. but first his mother and then his wife do a good deal. they are like the woman in proverbs who worked willingly with her hands, rose while it was night, saw well to the ways of her household, and ate not the bread of idleness. i have before me the household accounts of several german families living on what we should call small incomes; and they show more exactly than any vague praise can do the prodigies of thrift accomplished by people obliged to economise, and at the same time to present a respectable appearance. the first one is the budget of a small official living with a wife and two children in a little town where a flat on the fourth or fifth floor can be had at a low rent:-- £ s. d. rent fuel light clothes for the man clothes for the wife clothes for the children boots for the man boots for the wife and children repairs to boots washing and house repairs doctor newspaper charwoman taxes postage insurances amusements housekeeping sundries ----------- £ =========== the fuel allowed in this budget consists of cwt. of _steinkohlen_ at mark pf. the cwt., cwt. of _braunkohlen_ at pf. the cwt., and cwt. of kindling at mark pf. the cwt. this quantity, tons without the kindling, would have to be used most sparingly to last through a long rigorous german winter, as well as for cooking and washing in summer. the amount set apart for lights allows for one lamp in the living room and two small ones in the passage and kitchen. the man may have a new suit every year, one year in winter and the next year in summer, and his suit may cost £ , s. his great-coat also is to cost £ , s., but he can't have a new suit the year he buys one, and it should last him at least four years. the ten shillings left is for all his other clothes except boots, and presumably for all his personal expenses, including tobacco, so he had better not spend it all at once. his wife performs greater miracles still, for she has to buy a winter gown and a summer gown, a hat and gloves, for her £ . these are not fancy figures. the miracle is performed by tens of thousands of german women every year. they buy a few yards of cheap stuff and get in a sewing-woman to make it up, for as a rule they are not nearly as clever and capable as englishwomen about making things for themselves. your english maid-servant will buy a blouse length at a sale for a few pence, make it up smartly, and wear it out in a month of sundays. your german she-official will have a blouse made for her, and it will probably be hideous; but she will wear it so carefully that it lasts her two years. under-raiment she will never want to buy, as she will have brought a life-long supply to her home at marriage. you easily figure the children who are dressed on twenty marks a year, the girl in a shoddy tartan made in a fashion of fifty years ago with the "waist" hooked behind, and the boy in some snuff-coloured mixture floridly braided. but the interesting revelation of this small official budget is in its carefully planned fare made out for a fortnight in summer and a fortnight in winter. in winter the _hausfrau_ may spend about s. a week on her food and in summer s. that leaves only s. a month for the extra days of the month, and for small expenses, such as soda, matches, blacking, and condiments. breakfast may cost sixpence a day, and for this there is to be ¾ litre of milk, small white rolls, ½ lb. rye bread, oz. of butter, oz. of coffee. nothing is set down for sugar, and i think that most german families of this class would not use sugar, and would eat their bread without butter. on sunday they have a goose for dinner, and pay s. d. for it, and though s. d. is not much to pay for a goose, it seems an extravagant dish for this family, until you discover that they are still dining on it on wednesday. not only has the _hausfrau_ brought home this costly bird, but she has laid in a whole pound of lard to roast with it, white bread for stuffing, and cabbage for a vegetable. pudding is not considered necessary after goose, and for supper there is bread and milk for the children, and bread, butter, cheese, and beer for the parents. on monday they have a rest from goose, and dine on _gehacktes schweinefleisch_. german butchers sell raw minced meat very cheaply, and the _hausfrau_ would probably get as much as she wanted for three-halfpence. on tuesday they get back to the goose, and have a hash of the wings, neck, and liver with potatoes. for supper, rice cooked with milk and cinnamon. germans use cinnamon rather as the spaniards use garlic. they seem to think it improves everything, and they eat quantities of milky rice strewn with it. on wednesday my family has soup for dinner, a solid soup made of goose, rice, and a pennyworth of carrots. for supper there is sausage, bread, and beer. by the way, this official is not really representative, for he spends nothing on tobacco, and only a penny every other day on beer. he cannot have been a bavarian. his wife gives him cod with mustard sauce on thursday, sauerkraut and shin of beef on friday, and on saturday lentil soup with sausages, an excellent dish when properly cooked for those who want solid nourishing food. on the following sunday pounds of beef appears, and potato dumplings with stewed fruit, another good german mixture if the dumplings are as light as they should be. the husband has them warmed up for supper next day. one day he has bacon and vegetables for dinner, and another day only apple sauce and pancakes, but at every midday meal throughout the fortnight he has carefully planned food on which his wife spends considerable time and trouble. he never comes home from his work on a winter's day to have a mutton bone and watery potatoes set before him. in summer the bill of fare provides soups made with wine, milk, or cider; sometimes there are curds for supper, and if they have a chicken, rice and stewed fruit are eaten with it. but a chicken only costs this _hausfrau_ mark pf., so it must have been a small one. i have often bought pigeons for pf. apiece in germany, and stuffed in the bavarian way with egg and bread crumbs they are good eating. fruit is extremely cheap and plentiful in many parts of germany, but not everywhere. we have heine's word for it that the plums grown by the wayside between jena and weimar are good, for most of us know his story of his first interview with goethe; how he had looked forward to the meeting with ecstasy and reflection, and how when he was face to face with the great man all he found to say was a word in praise of the plums he had eaten as he walked. in the fruit-growing districts most of the roads are set with an avenue of fruit trees, and so law-abiding are the boys of germany, and so plentiful is fruit in its season, that no one seems to steal from them. i have talked with elderly germans, who remembered buying pounds of cherries for kreuzers, a little more than a penny, when they were boys. but those days are over. the small sweet-water grapes from the vineyards of south germany are to be had for the asking where they are grown, and apricots are plentiful in some districts, and the little golden plums called _mirabellen_ that are dried in quantities and make the best winter compote there is. when i see english grocers' shops loaded up with dried american apples and apricots that are not worth eating, however carefully they are cooked, i always wonder why we do not import _mirabellen_ instead. sweetbreads in the berlin markets were about mark pf. each last year, small tongues were mark pf. _morscheln_, a poor kind of fungus much used in germany, were pf. a pound, real mushrooms were mark pf., and the dried ones used for flavouring sauces were the same price. butter and milk are usually about the same price as with us, but eggs are cheaper. you get twenty for a mark still in spring, and i remember making an english plumcake once in a bavarian village and being charged pf. for the three eggs i used. a rye loaf weighing pounds costs pf., the little white rolls cost pf. each. in berlin last year vegetables were nearly as dear as in london, but in many parts of germany they are much cheaper. i know of one housewife who fed her family largely on vegetables, and would not spend more than pf. a day on them, but she lived in a small country town where green stuff was a drug in the market. asparagus is cheaper than here, for it costs pf. to pf. a pound, and is eaten in such quantities that even an asparagus lover gets tired of it. meat has risen terribly in price of late years. in the open market you can get fillet of beef for mark pf., sirloin for pf., good cuts of mutton for pf. to mark, and veal for mark, but all these prices are higher at a butcher's shop. fillet of beef, for instance, is marks pf. a pound there. the budget of a family living on £ a year does not call for so much comment as the smaller one, because £ is a fairly comfortable income in germany. either a schoolmaster or a soldier must have risen in his profession before he gets it; but the following estimate is made out for a business man who does not get a house free or any other aid from outside:-- £ s. d. rent fuel light clothes--husband " wife " children shoes school fees washing repairs to linen doctor and dentist newspapers and magazines servant's wages servant's insurance and christmas present taxes postage insurances housekeeping amusements and travelling christmas and presents sundries ----------- £ =========== on examining this budget it will occur to most people that the poor _hausfrau_ might spend a little more on her clothes and a little less on her presents, and as a matter of fact even in germany, where christmas is a burden as well as a pleasure, this would be done. the next budget is the most interesting, because it is not an ideal one drawn up for anyone's guidance, but is taken without the alteration of one penny from the beautifully kept account book of a friend. there were no children in the family, so nothing appears for school fees or children's clothes. the household consisted of husband and wife and one maid. they lived in one of the largest and dearest of german cities, and the husband's work as well as their social position forced certain expenses on them. for instance, they had to live in a good street and on the ground floor; and they had to entertain a good deal. m. pf. bread -- meat fish and poultry aufschnitt potatoes vegetables fruit eggs milk butter -- lard flour, gries, etc. sugar and treacle groceries coffee -- tea and chocolate drinks lights washing laundress ice coal and wood turf and other fuel matches -- cleaning -- furniture repairs crockery and kitchenware -- repairs -- china and glass clothes--husband " wife boots--husband " wife linen charities rent -- rent of husband's share of professional rooms ---- -- carry forward m. pf. brought forward fares books writing materials charwoman and tips wages and servants' presents papers carpenter -- tobacco and cigars sundries photography and fishing tackle music lessons medicine hairdresser presents--family " friends -- amusements travelling stamps entertaining (at home) -- charities[ ] -- subscriptions fire insurance old age insurance ---- -- ==== == there are some interesting points about this budget as compared with an english one of £ . it will be seen that although meat is so dear in germany the weekly butcher's bill for three people was only s., fish and poultry together only s., and the ham sausage, etc. from the provision shop under s. d. a week. the washing bill for the year is low, because nearly everything was washed at home, and dear as fuel is in germany this household spent about £ , where an english one presenting the same front would spend £ to £ . observe, too, the amount spent on servants' wages by people who lived in a large charmingly furnished flat, and had a long visiting list. the wife, too, a very pretty woman and always well dressed, spent much less on her toilet than anyone would have guessed from its finish and variety, for she came from one of the german cities where women do dress well. there is nearly as much difference amongst german cities in this respect as there is amongst nations. berlin is far behind either hamburg or frankfurt, for instance. the middle-class women of berlin have an extraordinary affection all through the summer season for collarless blouses, bastard tartans, and white cotton gloves with thumbs but no fingers. in england the force of custom drives women to uncover their necks in the evening, whether it becomes them or not, and it is not a custom for which sensible elderly women can have much to say. but pneumonia blouses have never been universal wear in any country, and it is impossible to explain their apparently irresistible attraction for all ages and sizes of women in the berlin electric cars. those who were not wearing pneumonia blouses a year ago were wearing _reform-kleider_, shapeless ill-cut garments usually of grey tweed. the oddest combination, and quite a common one, was a sack-like _reform-kleid_, with a saucy little coloured bolero worn over it, fingerless gloves, and a madly tilted beflowered hat perched on a dowdy coiffure. these are rude remarks to make about the looks of foreign ladies, but the _reform-kleid_ is just as hideous and absurd in germany now as our bilious green draperies were on the wrong people twenty-five years ago, and i am sure every foreigner who came to england must have laughed at them. on the whole, i would say of german women in general what a frenchwoman once said to me in the most matter-of-fact tone of englishwomen, _elles s'habillent si mal_. footnotes: [ ] probably private charities. chapter xviii hospitality if a german cannot afford to ask you to dinner he asks you to supper, and makes his supper inviting. at least, he does if he is sensible, and if he lives where an inexpensive form of entertainment is in vogue. but even in germany people are not sensible everywhere. the headmaster of a school in a small east prussian town told me that his colleagues, the higher officials and other persons of local importance, felt bound to entertain their friends at least once a year, and that their way was to invite everyone together to a dinner given at the chief hotel in the town; and that to do this a family would stint itself for months beforehand. he spoke with knowledge, so i record what he said; but i have never been amongst germans who were hospitable in this painful way. hotels are used for large entertainments, just as they are in england, but most people receive their friends in their homes, and only hire servants for some special function, like a wedding or a public dinner. the form of hospitality most popular in england now, the visit of two or three days' duration, is hardly known in germany, and i believe that they have not begun yet to supply their guests with small cakes of soap labelled "visitors," and meant to last for a week-end but not longer. in towns no one dreams of having a constant succession of staying guests, and either in town or country when a german family expects a guest at all it is more often than not for the whole summer or winter. you do not find a german girl arranging, as her english cousin will, for a round of visits, fitting in dates, writing here and there to know if people can take her in, and by the same post answering those who are planning a pilgrimage for themselves and wish to be taken. a visit in germany is not the flighty affair it is with us. "this winter," says your friend, "my niece from posen will be with us," and presently the niece arrives and stays about three months. there is rarely more than one spare room on a flat, and that is often a room not easily spared. in country houses there are rows of rooms, but they are not filled by an everlasting procession of guests in the english way. when you stay in a country house at home you wonder how your hosts ever get anything done, and whether they don't sometimes wish they had a few days to themselves. to be sure, english hosts go about their business and leave you to yours, more than germans think polite. i once spent six weeks, quite an ordinary visit as to length, with some friends who had several grown-up children. it was a most cheerful friendly household, but one day i got into a corner near the stove, rather glad for a change to be myself for a while with a novel for company. when i had been there a little time the second daughter looked in and at once apologised. "mamma sent me to see," she explained,--"she feared you were by yourself." it is not easy to tell your german hosts that you like and wish to be by yourself sometimes; and if you say that you are used to it in england you won't impress them. the english are so inhospitable and unfriendly, they will say, for that is one of the many popular myths that are believed about us. i have been told of a german lady who has lived here most of her life, and complains to her german friends that she has never spent a night under an english roof; but then, she chooses to associate exclusively with germans, whose roofs she refuses to regard as english ones, even when they are in kensington; and she cherishes such an invincible prejudice against the born english that she lives amongst them year after year without making a friend. it would be quite simple to perform the same feat in paris, or even in berlin, although there you would not have such a large foreign colony to stand between you and the detestable natives. the real difficulty in writing about german hospitality is to find and express the ways in which it differs from our own; and certainly these lie little in qualities of kindness and generosity. amongst both nations, if you have a friendly disposition you will find friends easily, and receive kindness on all sides. perhaps, as one concrete instance is worth many assertions, i may describe a visit i paid many years ago to a family who invited me because a marriage had recently connected us. i had seen some of the family at the wedding, and had been surprised to receive a warm invitation, not for a week-end and a cake of visitors' soap, but for the rest of the winter; six weeks or two months at least. the family living at home consisted of the parents, a grown-up son and two grown-up daughters. some of them met me at the station, for the german does not breathe who would let a guest arrive or depart alone. your friends often give you flowers when you arrive, and invariably when you go away. i cannot remember about the flowers on this occasion, but i remember vividly that the day after my arrival the two married daughters living in the same town both called on me and brought me flowers. week after week, too, they made it their pleasure to entertain me just as kindly as my immediate hosts, taking me to concerts or the opera, asking me to dinner or supper, including me on every occasion in the family festivities, which were numerous and lively. in some ways my hosts found me a disappointing guest, and said so. the trouble was that i liked plain rolls and butter for breakfast, while the daughters for days before i came had baked every size and variety of rich cake for me to eat first thing in the morning with my coffee. i never could eat enough to please anyone either. you never can in germany, try as you may. yet it was hungry weather, for the rhine was frozen hard all the time i was there, and we used to skate every day in the harbour when the daughters of the house had finished their morning's work. two maids were kept on the flat, but, like most german servants, they were supposed to require constant supervision, and when a room was turned out the young ladies in their morning wrappers helped to do it. they helped with the ironing too and the cooking, and did all the mending of linen and clothes. "a child's time belongs to her parents," said the father one day when the elder daughter wanted to skate, but was told that she could not be spared. "i've had a heavenly time," said a girl friend who had been laid up for some weeks with a sprained ankle; "i've had nothing to do but read and amuse myself." the household work, however, was usually done before the one o'clock dinner, and the afternoon was given up to skating, walks, and visits. there were not so many formal calls paid as in england, but there was a constant interchange of hospitality amongst the members of the family, the kind of intimate unceremonious entertaining described in miss austen's novels. every time one of the many small children had a birthday there was a feast of chocolate and cakes, a gathering of the whole clan. the birthday cake had a sugared _spruch_ on it, and a little lighted candle for each year of the child's age, and the birthday table had a present on it from everyone who came to the party, and many who did not. once a week the married daughters and their husbands came to supper with my hosts, and every day when they were not coming to supper they called on their mother, and if she could coax them to stay drank their afternoon coffee with her. sometimes one or two strangers were asked to coffee, for this household was an old-fashioned one, and gave you good coffee rather than wishy-washy tea. it made a point of honour of a _meringuetorte_ when strangers came, and of the little chocolate cream cakes germans call othellos. but it must not be supposed that one or two strangers constitute a _kaffee-klatsch_, that celebrated form of entertainment where at every sip a reputation dies. a genuine _klatsch_ was, however, given during my stay by a young married woman who wished to entertain her friends and display her furniture. about twenty ladies were invited, and when they had assembled they were solemnly conducted through every room of the flat from the drawing-room to the spick-and-span kitchen, where every pan was of shining copper and every cloth embroidered with the bride's monogram. the procession as it filed through the rooms chattered like magpies, for except myself every member of it had been to school with the bride, and had helped to adorn her home with embroidered chair backs, cushions, cloths, newspaper stands, foot-stools, duster bags, and suchlike, all of which they now had the pleasure of seeing in the places suitable to them. by the time we sat down in the dining-room to a table loaded with cakes, the slight frost of arrival had melted away. the strange englishwoman no longer acted as a wet blanket, and when she tried to converse with her neighbours she found, as she still finds at german entertainments, that she could only do so by screaming at the top of her voice as you do in england in a high wind or in the sound of loud machinery. everyone was in the highest spirits, and the collective noise they made was amazing. in germany, when actors play english parts or when people in private life put on english manners, the first thing they do is to lower their voices as if they had met to bury a friend. this is the way our natural manner strikes them, while their natural manner strikes us as easy and jolly, but tiring to the voice and after a time to the spirit. there are quiet germans, but when they sit at a good man's table they must certainly either shout or be left out of all that goes on. at a _kaffee-klatsch_ you either shout or whisper, you eat every sort of rich cake presented to you if you can, you drink chocolate or coffee with whipped cream. nowadays you would often find tea provided instead. when the hostess finds she cannot persuade anyone to eat another cake, she leads her guests back to the drawing-room, and the _klatsch_ goes on. there is often music as well as gossip, and before you are allowed to depart there are more refreshments, ices, sweetmeats, fruit, little glasses of lemonade or _bowle_. when you get home you do not want any supper, and you are quite hoarse, though you have only been to a simple _kaffee-klatsch_ without _schleppe_. your friends tell you that when they were young a _kaffee-klatsch mit schleppe_ was the favourite form of entertaining, and lasted the whole afternoon and evening. men were asked to come in when the _klatsch_ was over and a supper was provided. those must have been proud and bustling days for a _hausfrau_ with one "girl." to be asked to dinner or supper in germany may mean anything. either form of invitation varies both in hour and kind more than it does in england; but unless you are asked to a dinner that precedes a dance you hardly ever need evening dress. some years ago you would have written that people never dressed for dinner in germany except when the dinner celebrated a betrothal, a wedding, or some equally important and unusual event. but it has become the fashion in berlin lately to dress for large dinners and evening entertainments. no rule can be laid down for the guidance of english visitors to germany, because what you wear must depend partly on the dinner hour and partly on the ways of your hosts and their friends. last year when i was in berlin i accepted a formal invitation sent a fortnight beforehand to a dinner given on a sunday at five o'clock. as the host was a distinguished scientific man who had just returned from a journey round the world, it promised to be an interesting entertainment; and there were, in fact, some of the most celebrated members of the university present. they were all in morning dress, and their womenfolk wore what we should call sunday frocks. the dinner was beautifully cooked and served, and was not oppressively long. soup began it of course, roast veal with various vegetables followed, fish came next, lovely little grey-blue fish better to look at than to eat, then chicken, ice pudding, and dessert. there were flowers on the table, but not as many as we should have with the same opportunities, for the house was set in an immense garden; and all down the long narrow table there were bottles of wine and mineral water. when the champagne came, and that is served at a later stage in germany than it is with us, speeches of congratulation were made to the host on his safe return, and every guest in reach clinked their glasses with his. after dinner men and women rose together in the german way, and drank coffee in the drawing-room. the men lighted cigars. a little later in the evening slender glasses of beer and lemonade were brought round, and just before everyone left at nine o'clock there was tea and a variety of little cakes and sandwiches, not our double sandwiches, but tiny single slices of buttered roll, each with its scrap of caviare or smoked salmon. a ball supper or a christmas supper in germany consists of three or four courses served separately, and all hot except the sweet, which is usually _gefrorenes_. salmon, roast beef or veal, venison or chicken, and then ice would be an ordinary menu, and every course would be divided into portions and handed round on long narrow dishes. in most german towns you are often asked to supper, and very seldom to dinner. you never know beforehand what sort of meal to expect unless you have been to the house before. in some houses it will be hot, in others cold. in berlin, supper usually offers you a dish made with eggs and mushrooms, eggs and asparagus, or some combination of the kind, and after this the usual variety of ham and sausages fetched from the provision shop. tea and beer are drunk at this meal in most houses. sometimes rhine wine is on the table too. the sweets are often small fruit tartlets served with whipped cream. one menu i remember distinctly, because it was so quaint and full of surprises. we began with huge quantities of asparagus and poached eggs eaten together. then we had _pumpernickel_, gruyère cheese and radishes, and for a third course vanilla ice. that was the end of the supper, but later in the evening, just before we left, in came an enormous dish covered with gooseberry tartlets, and we had to eat them, for somehow in germany it seems ungrateful and unfriendly not to eat and drink what is provided. after dinner or supper everyone wishes everyone else _mahlzeit_ which is to say, "i wish you a good digestion." sometimes people only bow as they say it, but more often they shake hands. i know an englishman who was much puzzled by this ceremony at his first german dinner-party. he saw everyone shaking hands as if they were about to disperse the instant the feast was over, and when his host came to him with a smiling face, took his hand and murmured _mahlzeit_, he summoned what german he had at his command and answered _gute nacht_. chapter xix german sundays there was to be singing in the forest on sunday afternoon, we were told, when we arrived at our little black forest town; and we were on no account to miss it. we did not want to miss anything, for whenever we looked out of our windows or strolled through the streets we were entertained and enchanted. from the hotel we could see women and girls pass to and fro all day with the great wooden buckets they carried on their backs and filled at the well close by. as dusk fell the oldest woman in the community hobbled out, let down the iron chains slung across the street, and lighted the oil lamps swinging from them. all the gossips of the place gathered at the well of evenings, and throughout the day barefooted children played there. behind the main street there were gabled houses with ancient wooden balconies and gardens crammed with pinks. the population mostly sat out of doors after dark, and as it was hot weather no one went to bed early. even in the dead of night the timber waggons drawn by oxen passed through the town, and the driver did his best to wake us by cracking his long whip. for though a black forest town is mediæval in its ways, it is not restful. it may soothe you by suggestion, the people seem so leisurely and the life so easy going; but there is not an hour in the twenty-four when you are secure from noise. the sunday in question began with the bustle occasioned in a country inn by an unusual strain on its resources. there must be an extra good dinner for the expected influx of guests, said the landlord's niece, who kept house for him, while the wife and daughters ran a second hotel higher up the valley. we escaped to the forest, where the morning hours of a hot june day were fresh and scented, and we were sorry we had to return to the hotel for a long hot midday dinner. when it was over, we sat in the garden and wondered why people held a festival on the top of a hill on such a sleepy afternoon. however, when the time came we joined the leisurely procession making the ascent. an hour's stroll took us to the concert hall, a forest glade where people sat about in groups waiting for the music to begin. barrels of beer had been rolled up here, and children were selling _kringel_, crisp twists of bread sprinkled with salt. there were more children present than adults, and we observed, as you nearly always will in germany, that though they belonged to the poorer classes they wore neat clothes and had quiet, modest manners. the older people often let them drink out of their glasses, for it was a thirsty afternoon, and when the singing began the children joined in some of the songs. the occasion of the festival was the friendly meeting of several choirs, and they sang fine anthems as well as _volkslieder_. the effect of the music in the heart of the forest was enchanting, and we stayed till the end. these choral competitions or reunions often take place on a sunday in germany, and in summer are often held in an inn garden. they bring some custom to the innkeeper, but drunkenness and disorder are almost unknown. in fact, all the cases of drunkenness i have seen in germany have been in the munich comic papers. you never by any chance hear of it as you do in england amongst people you know, and you may spend hours at the berlin zoo on a whit-monday and see no one who is not sober. university students get drunk and have fights with innkeepers and policemen, but that is etiquette rather than vice. next day they suffer from _katzenjammer_, but feel that they are upholding ancient tradition. real intemperance is found almost entirely amongst the dregs of the big cities and the lowest class of peasants. in berlin the better class of artisans and small tradespeople escape from their flats on sundays to their allotment gardens. you see whole tracts of these gardens on the outskirts of the city, and many of them have some kind of summer house or rough shelter. here the family spends the whole day in fresher air, and presumably finds out how to grow the simpler kinds of flowers and vegetables. those who have no garden and can afford a few pence for fares go farther afield. they carry food for the day in tin satchels, or rolls that look as if they ought to accompany butterfly nets and contain entomological specimens. but they are usually in the hands of a stout alpaca-clad middle-class mater-familias, who looks rather anxious and flustered while she herds her flock and hunts for a garden with the announcement, "hier können familien kaffee kochen." there for a trifling indemnity she can be accommodated with seats, cups and saucers, and hot water; just as people can in an english tea-garden. provisions she has with her in her _pickenick rolle_. if fate takes you to potsdam on a fine summer sunday, you will think that the whole bourgeoisie of berlin has elected to come by the same train and steamer, and that everyone but you has brought food for the day in a green tin. you need not expect to find a seat either in the train or the steamer at certain hours of the day, and as you stand wedged in the crowd on the dangerously overladen boat, and look about you as best you can at the chain of wooded lakes, you wonder how it is that such overcrowding is permitted in a police-governed land. at home we take such things for granted as part of our system or want of system. but in germany the moment you cross the frontier a thousand trifles make you feel that you are a unit in an army, drilled and kept under by the bureaucracy and the police. it surprises you to see an unmanageable crowd in a train or on a steamer, much as it would surprise you to see soldiers swarm at will into a troopship. you expect them to march precisely, each man to his place. and in germany this nearly always happens in civil life; while even on a sunday or a public holiday the mob behaves itself. at the berlin zoo, for instance, there are such masses of people every sunday that you see nothing but people. it is impossible, or rather would not be agreeable, to force your way through the crowd surrounding the cages. but the people are interesting, and it is to see them that you have ventured here. you soon find, however, that it is not a venture at all. no one will offend you, no one is drunken or riotous. the gardens are packed with decent folk, mostly of the lower middle classes, and the only unseemly thing you see them do is to eat small hot sausages with their fingers in the open-air restaurants. sunday is the great day of the week at german theatres. in all the large towns there are afternoon performances at popular prices, and this means that people who can pay a few pence for a seat can see all the great classical plays and most of the successful modern ones; and they can hear many of the great operas as well as a variety of charming light ones never heard in this country. on one sunday afternoon in berlin, hoffmann's _erzählungen_ was played at one theatre, and at others gorky's _nachtasyl_, tolstoy's _power of darkness_, hauptmann's _versunkene glocke_, the well known military play _zapfenstreich_, and lortzing's light opera _der waffenschmied_. the star players and singers do not usually appear at these popular performances, and the wagnerian _ring_ has, as far as i know, never yet been given. but on sunday afternoons all through the winter the playhouses are crowded with people who cannot pay week-day prices, and yet are intelligent enough to enjoy a fairly good performance of _hamlet_ or _egmont_; who are musical and choose a mozart opera; or who are interested in the problems of life presented by ibsen, gorky, tolstoy, or their own great fellow-countryman gerhardt hauptmann. when summer comes, as long as the theatres are open the whole audience streams out between the acts to have coffee or beer in the garden, or when there is no garden, in the nearest restaurant; and then comes your chance of appraising the people who take their pleasure in this way. they look for the most part as if they belonged to the small official and shop-keeper class. if the play is a suitable one, there are sure to be a great many young people present, and at the state-supported theatres these sunday performances are such as young people are allowed to see. in the evening the sunday play or opera is always one of the most important of the week; the play everyone wishes to see or the opera that is most attractive. a wagner opera is often played on a sunday evening in the theatre that undertakes wagner. the smaller stages will give some old favourite, _der freischütz_, _don juan_, _oberon_, or _die zauberflöte_. in fact, all through the winter the upper and middle classes make the play and the opera their favourite sunday pastime. the lower classes depend a good deal on the public dancing saloons, which seem to do as much harm as our public-houses, and to be disliked and discouraged by all sensible germans. so far this account of a german sunday suggests that germans always go from home for their weekly holiday, and it is true that when sunday comes the german likes to amuse himself. but he is not invariably at the play or in inn gardens. it is the day when scattered members of a family will meet most easily, and when the branch of the family that can best do so will entertain the others. some years ago in a north german city i was often with friends who had a dining-room and narrow dinner table long enough for a hotel. the host and hostess, when they were by themselves, dined in a smaller room, sitting next to each other on the sofa; but on sundays their children and grandchildren, some spinster cousins, some _stammgäste_ (old friends who came every week) all met in the drawing-room at five o'clock, and sat down soon after to a dinner of four or five courses in a long dining-room. it was a company of all ages and some variety of station, and the patriarchal arrangement placed the venerable and beloved host and hostess side by side at the top of the room, with their friends in order of importance to right and left of them, until you came, below the salt as it were, to the mamsells and the little children at the foot of the table. but the mamsells did not leave the room when the sweets arrived. everyone ate everything, including the preserved fruits that came round with the roast meat, and the pudding that arrived after the cheese. in those days it was not considered proper in germany for ladies to eat cheese, and no young lady would dream of taking one of the little glasses of madeira offered on a tray. they were exclusively for _die herren_, and always gave a fillip to the conversation, which was also more or less a masculine monopoly. just before the end of the dinner it was the business of the mamsell belonging to the house to light a little army of vienna coffee machines standing ready on the sideboard, so that coffee could be served when everyone went back to the drawing-room. the men smoked their cigars there too, and someone would play the piano, and when no music was going on there was harmless, rather dull, family conversation. the spinster cousins got out their embroidery, the mamsells disappeared with the children, _die herren_ either talked to each other or had a quiet game of _skat_. the women and some of the men had been to church in the morning, but this did not prevent them from spending the rest of the day as it pleased them. it will be seen that from the english point of view sunday is not observed at all in germany; yet this does not mean, as is often announced from english pulpits, that the whole nation is without religion. un-belief is more widely professed than here, and many people who call themselves christians openly reject certain vital doctrines of evangelical faith,--are unitarians, in fact, but will not say so. but the whole question of religious belief in germany is a difficult and contentious one, for according to the people you meet you will be told that the nation lacks faith or possesses it. if you use your own judgment you must conclude that there is immensely more scepticism there than here, and that there is also a good deal of vague belief, a belief, that is, in a personal god and a life after death. but you must admit that except in an "evangelical" set belief sits lightly on both men and women. certainly it has nothing to do with the way they spend sunday, and if they go to church in the morning they are as likely as not to go to the theatre in the afternoon. they sew, they dance, they fiddle, they act, they travel on the day of rest, more on that day than on any other, and when they come to england there is nothing in our national life they find so tedious and unprofitable as our sundays. they cannot understand why a people with so strong a tendency to drink should make the public-house the only counter attraction to the church on the working man's day of leisure; and when they are in a country place, and see our groups of idle, aimless young louts standing about not knowing what to do, they ask why in the name of common sense they should not play an outdoor game. the idealist expresses the german point of view very well in her memoirs, and in so far as she misunderstands our english point of view she is only on a line with those amongst us who denounce the continental sunday as an orgy of noisy and godless pleasures. she says: "i had a thousand opportunities of noticing that the religious life did not mean a deep life-sanctifying belief, but simply one of those formulas that are a part of 'respectability,' as they understand it both in the family and in society." nothing proves this better than their truly shocking way of keeping holy the sabbath day, which is the very reverse of holy, inasmuch as it paves the way to the heaviest boredom and slackness of spirit. i have been in english houses on sundays where the gentlemen threw themselves from one easy chair to the other, and proclaimed their empty state of mind by their awful yawns; where the children wandered about hopelessly depressed, because they might neither play nor read an amusing book, not even grimm's _fairy tales_; where all the mental enjoyment of the household consisted of so-called 'sacred music,' which some young miss strummed on the piano or, worse still, sang. a young girl once spoke to me in severe terms about the germans who visit theatres and concerts on sundays. i asked her whether, if she put it to her conscience, she could honestly say that she had holier feelings and higher thoughts, whether, in fact, she felt herself a better human being on her quiet sunday, than when she heard a beethoven symphony, saw a shakespeare play, or any other noble work of art. she confessed with embarrassment that she could not say so, but nevertheless arrived at the logical conclusion that, for all that, it was very wicked of the germans not to keep sunday more holy. another lady, a cultured liberal-minded person, invited me once to go with her to the temple church, one of the oldest and most beautiful london churches in the city, belonging to the great labyrinth of temple bar where english justice has its seat. the music of the temple church is famous, and i had expressed a wish to hear it. so i went with my house-mate and the lady in question, and sat between them. during the sermon i had great trouble not to fall asleep, but fought against it for the sake of decorum. to my surprise, when i glanced at my right-hand neighbour i saw that she was fast asleep, and when i glanced at the one on my left i saw that she was asleep too. i looked about at other people, and saw more than one sunk in a pious nirvana. as we left the church i asked the englishwoman, who had a strong sense of humour, whether she had slept well. 'yes,' she said, laughing, 'it did me a lot of good.' 'but why do you go?' i said. 'oh, my dear,' said she, 'what can one do? it has to be on sundays.' "but this narrow sunday observance is worse for the lower than for the upper classes. at that time the great dispute was just beginning as to whether the people should be admitted to the crystal palace, to museums, and suchlike institutions. the question was discussed in parliament, and decided in the negative. it was feared that the churches would remain empty, and that morals would suffer if the people began to like heathen gods, works of art and natural curiosities, better than going to church. at least, this is the only explanation one can give of such a decision. the churches and the public-houses remained the only public places open on sundays. the churches were all very well for a few hours in the morning, but what about the afternoon and evening? then the beer-house was the only refuge for the artisan or proletarian bowed down by the weight of hard work, unused and untaught to wile away the idle hours of sunday in any intellectual occupation, and having no friendly attractive home to make the peace of his own hearth the best refreshment after the exhausting week. and so it turned out: the public-houses were full to overflowing, and the holiness of sunday was only too often desecrated by the unholy sight of drunken men and, more horrible still, drunken women; but this was not all, for so strong was the temptation thrust upon them, that the workman's hardly earned week's wages went in drink, and the children were left without bread and not a penny was saved to lighten future distress. the coarse animal natures of the only half-human beings became coarser and more animal through the degrading passion for drink that only too often has murder in its train, and murder in its most terrible and brutal guise!" there is not one idea or argument in this passage that i have not heard over and over again from the lips of every german who has anything to say about our english sunday, and every german who has been in england or heard much of english life invariably attacks what he considers this weak joint in our armour. "what is the use?" he asks, "of going to church in the morning if you get drunk and beat your wife at night?" "but the same man does not usually do both things in one day," you represent to him. "one set of people goes to church and keeps sunday strictly, and another set goes to public-houses and is drunk and disorderly. you should try to get out of your head your idea that we are all exactly alike." "but you are--exactly alike. everyone of you goes to church with a solemn face, sings psalms, and comes back to his roast beef and apple-pie. all the afternoon you are asleep; and at night the streets and parks are not fit for respectable people." "at night," you explain, "all the respectable people are at home eating cold beef and cold pie. the others...." "the others you drive to drink and fight and kill by your pharisaical methods. you shut the doors of your theatres and your art galleries, and you set wide the doors of your drinking hells. how you can call yourself a religious people--it is satanic...." "but, my dear man," you say, taking a long breath, "the people who go to public-houses don't want theatres and art galleries. they are on too low a level." "it is the business of the state to raise them--not to push them down. besides, there is drinking--much drinking--in england on the higher levels too, as you well know...." "of course i know," you say impatiently. "all i am saying is that we do not bring it about by shutting the british museum on sundays." but next time the subject comes up for discussion your german will say again, as he has said ever since he could speak, that the english sunday is anathema, and a standing witness to british _heuchelei_, because people sing psalms in the morning and get drunk and beat their wives at night. you can easily imagine the hypocrite's progress painted by a german hogarth, and it would begin with a gentleman in a black coat and tall hat on his way to church, and would end with the same gentleman in the last stage of delirium tremens surrounded by his slaughtered family. for in germany one of the curious deep rooted notions about us, who as people go are surely indifferent honest, is that we are _ein falsches volk_. with the want of logic that makes human nature everywhere so entertaining, a german will nearly always cash a cheque offered by an english stranger when he would refuse to do so for a countryman. as far as one can get at it, what germans really mean by our _heuchelei_ when they speak without malice is our regard for the unwritten social law. this is so strong in us from old habit and tradition that most of us do not feel the shackles; but the stranger within our gates feels it at every step. chapter xx sport and games the word sport has been taken into the german language lately, but germans use it when we should use "hobby." "it is my sport," says an artist when he shows you furniture of his own design. he means that his business in life is to paint pictures, but his pleasure is to invent beautiful chairs and tables. when the talk turns on the absurd extreme to which the marthas of germany carry their housekeeping zeal, a german friend will turn to you in defence of his countrywomen. "it is their 'sport,'" says he, and you understand his point of view. yet another will tell you that the english have only become sportsmen in modern times, and that the germans are rapidly catching them up; but this is the kind of information you receive politely, disagree with profoundly, and do not discuss because you have not all the facts at your fingers' ends. but you know that the british love of sport, be it vice or virtue, is as ingrained in britons as their common sense, and as old as their history. in germany the country gentleman is a sportsman. he rides, he shoots, he hunts the wild boar which he preserves in his great forests. "you have no country (_land_)," said a german to me, using the word as opposed to town. "in germany we have country still." he meant that england is thickly populated, and that we have no vast tracts of heath and forest where wild animals live undisturbed. i told him there were a few such places still in scotland, but that they all belonged to american and jewish millionaires; however, he would not believe it. he said he had spent a fortnight in england and had not heard of them. it is not such a matter of course with germans of a certain class to ride as it is with us. you see a few men, women, and children on horseback in berlin, but not many; and in most german towns you see no one riding except cavalry officers. i am told that the present emperor tried to institute a fashionable hour for riding in the tiergarten, but that it fell through partly because there were not enough people to bring decent carriages and horses. on the great estates in east prussia the women as well as the men of the family ride, and go great distances in this way to see their friends; but in cities you cannot fail to observe the miserable quality and condition of the horses and the scarcity of private carriages. in fact, the german does not make as much of animals as the englishman does. if he lives in the country, or if he means to be a man of fashion, he will have dogs and horses, but he will not have one or both, by hook or by crook, whether he is rich or poor, as the briton does. you see dogs in any german city that remind you of a paragraph that once appeared in an italian paper, a paragraph about a case of dog stealing. the dog was produced in court, said the paper, and was either a fox terrier or a newfoundland. but you often see a fine dachs; in heidelberg the students are proud of their great boar-hounds, and in the black forest there are numbers of little black pomeranians. in german towns where there is water, the traffic on it both for business and amusement is as busy as with us, and in some respects better managed. hamburg life, for instance, is largely on the basin of the alster; either in the little steamers that carry you from city to suburb, or in the small craft that crowd its waters on a summer night. it is as usual in hamburg as on the thames to own boats and understand their management, and there are the same varieties to be seen there: the pleasure boats with people of all ages, the racing outrigger full of strenuous, lightly clad young men, and the little sail boats scurrying across the water before the breeze. on the rhine the big steamers do a roaring traffic all the summer, and catch the public that likes a good dinner with their scenery; and on the rhine, as well as on most of the other rivers of germany, there are a great many swimming baths; for every german who has a chance learns to swim. in hamburg on a summer evening you meet troops of little boys and girls going to the baths, many of them belonging to the poorer classes; for where there are no swimming baths attached to the school they get tickets free or at a very low rate. about fishing i can only speak from hearsay, for i have never caught a minnow myself, but i have met germans who are keen anglers, and i have found that they knew every london shop beloved of anglers, and the english name of every fly. germans get more amusement out of their water-ways in winter than we do, for the winters there are long and hard, so that there is always skating. i have seen the alster frozen for weeks, and the whole city of hamburg playing on the ice. it was not what we call good ice, and not what we call good skating. for the most part people were content to get over the ground, to mix with their friends, to have hot drinks at the booths that sprang up in long lines by the chief track, and even to stroll about without skates and watch the fun. all classes, all ages, and both sexes skate nowadays, but some fifty or sixty years ago german ladies were not seen on the ice at all. skating, like most exercises that are healthy and agreeable, was considered unfeminine, and men had the fun to themselves. in the mountain districts of germany winter sports are growing in favour every year, and people go to the riesengebirge or to the black forest for tobogganing and ski-ing. the german illustrated papers constantly have articles about these winter pastimes, and portraits of the distinguished men and women who took part in them. the history of cycling in germany is not unlike its history here. the boom subsided some years ago, but a steady industry survives. in berlin you see officers in uniform on bicycles, but you see hardly any ladies. that is because the emperor and empress disapprove of cycling for women, and their disapproval has made it unfashionable. ten years ago, two years, that is, after the english boom, no woman on a bicycle had ever been seen in the remoter valleys of the black forest. one who ventured there used to be followed by swarms of wondering children, who wished her _all heil_ at the top of their voices. they did not heave bricks at her. tennis has not been blighted by the imperial frown, and is extremely popular in germany. hockey, as far as i know, is not played yet; certainly not by women. cricket and football are played, but not very much. an englishman teaching at a gymnasium, told me that the authorities discouraged outdoor games, as they were considered waste of time. gymnastics is the form of athletics really enjoyed and practised by germans. every boy, even every girl, begins them at school, and the boy when he leaves school joins a _turnverein_. for wherever germans foregather, and whatever they do, you may be sure they have a _verein_, and that the _verein_ has feasts in winter and _ausflüge_ in summer. when a man is young and lusty, the delights of the _verein_, the _ausflug_, the feast, and the walking tour are often combined. you meet a whole gang of pleasure pilgrims ascending the broad path that leads to the restaurant on the top of a german mountain, or you encounter them in the restaurant itself making speeches to the honour and glory of their _verein_; and you find that they are the gymnasts or the fire brigade, or the architects or what not of an adjacent town, and that once a year they make an excursion together, beginning with a walk or a journey by rail or by steamer, and culminating in a restaurant where they dine and drink and speechify. every age, every trade, and every pastime has its _verein_ and its anniversary rites. i was much amused and puzzled in berlin one afternoon by a procession that filed slowly past the tram in which i sat, and was preceded and attended by such a rabble of sightseers that the ordinary traffic was stopped for a time. i thought at first it was a demonstration in connection with temperance or teetotalism, because there were so many broad blue ribbons about, and i was surprised, because i know that germans club together to drink beer and not to abstain from it, and that they are a sober nation. at the head of the procession came a string of boys on bicycles, each boy carrying a banner. then came four open carriages garlanded with flowers. there was a garland round each wheel, as well as round the horses' necks and the coachmen's hats, and anywhere else where a garland would rest. in each carriage sat four damsels robed in white, and they wore garlands instead of hats. after them walked a large, stout, red-faced man in evening dress, and he carried a staff. after him walked the music, men puffing and blowing into brass instruments, and, like their leader, wearing evening dress and silk hats. they were followed by a procession that seemed as if it would stretch to the moon, a procession of elderly, portly men all wearing evening dress, all wearing broad blue ribbons and embroidered scarves, and all marching with banners bearing various devices. the favourite device was _heil gambrinus_, and when i saw that i knew that the blue ribbons had nothing to do with total abstention. the next banner explained things. it was the _verein_ of the _schenkwirte_ of berlin,--the publicans, in fact, of berlin having their little holiday. all through the summer the german nation amuses itself out of doors, and leads an outdoor life to an extent unknown and impossible in our damp climate. a house that has a garden nearly always has a garden room where all meals are served. sometimes it is a detached summer house, but more often it opens from the house and is really a big verandah with a roof and sides of glass. in country places the inn gardens are used as dining-rooms from morning till night, and you may if you choose have everything you eat and drink brought to you out of doors. most inns have a skittle alley, for skittles are still played in germany by all classes. the peasants play it on sunday afternoons, and the dignified merchant has his skittle club and spends an evening there once a week. the favourite card game of germany is still _skat_, but bridge has been heard of and will probably supersede it in time. _skat_ is a good game for three players, with a system of scoring that seems intricate till you have played two or three times and got used to it. in germany it is always _die herren_ who play these serious games, while the women sit together with their bits of embroidery. at the ladies' clubs in berlin there is some card playing, but these two or three highly modern and emancipated establishments do not call the tune for all germany. directly you get away from berlin you find that men and women herd separately, far more than in england, take their pleasures separately, and have fewer interests in common. it is still the custom for the man of the family to go to a beer-house every day, much as an englishman goes to his club. here he meets his friends, sees the papers, talks, smokes, and drinks his _schoppen_. each social grade will have its own haunts in this way, or its own reserved table in a big public room. at the hof bräuhaus in munich one room is set apart for the ministers of state, and i was told some years ago that the appointments of it were just as plain and rough as those in the immense public hall where anyone who looked respectable could have the best beer in the world and a supper of sorts. it is dull uphill work to write about sport and outdoor games in germany, because you may have been in many places and met a fair variety of people without seeing any enthusiasm for either one or the other. the bulk of the nation is, as a matter of fact, not interested in sport or in any outdoor games except indifferent tennis, swimming, skating, and in some places boating. when a german wants to amuse himself, he sits in a garden and listens to a good band; if he is young and energetic, he walks on a well-made road to a restaurant on the top of a hill. in winter he plays skat, goes to the theatre or to a concert, or has his music at home. also he reads a great deal, and he reads in several tongues. this, at any rate, is the way of germans in cities and summer places, and it is a very small proportion of the educated classes who lead what we call a country life. "elizabeth" knows german country life, and describes it in her charming books; perhaps she will some day choose to tell us how the men in her part of the world amuse themselves, and whether they are good sportsmen. i must confess that i have only once seen a german in full sporting costume. it was most impressive, though, a sort of pinkish grey bound everywhere with green, and set off by a soft felt hat and feathers. as we were having a walk with him, and it was early summer, we ventured to ask him what he had come to kill. "bees," said he, and killed one the next moment with a pop-gun. chapter xxi inns and restaurants english people who have travelled in germany know some of the big well-kept hotels in the large towns, and know that they are much like big hotels in other continental cities. it is not in these establishments that you can watch national life or discover much about the germans, except that they are good hotel-keepers; and this you probably discovered long ago abroad or at home. if you are a woman, you may be impressed by the fineness, the whiteness, the profusion, and the embroidered monograms of the linen, whether you are in a huge caravanserai or a wayside inn. otherwise a hotel at cologne or heidelberg has little to distinguish it from a hotel at brussels or bâle. the dull correct suites of furniture, the two narrow bedsteads, even the table with two tablecloths on it, a thick and a thin, the parqueted floor, and the small carpet are here, there, and everywhere directly you cross the channel. the modern german tells you with pride that this apparent want of national quality and colour is to be felt in every corner of life, and that what you take to be german is not peculiarly german at all, but common to the whole continent of europe. this may be true in certain cases and in a certain sense, but there is another sense in which it is never true. for instance, the women of continental nations wear high-necked gowns in the evening. it is only english women who wear evening gowns as a matter of course every day of their lives. i have been told in germany that, so far from being a sign of civilisation, this fashion is merely a stupid survival from the times when all the women of europe went barenecked all day. however this may be, there is no doubt that whether the gown be high or low, worn by sunlight or lamplight, you can see at a glance whether the woman who wears it is english, french, or german. every nation has its own features, its own manners, and its own tone, instantly recognised by foreigners, and apparently hidden from itself. the german assures you that the english manner is quite unmistakable, and he will even describe and imitate for your amusement some of his silly countryfolk who were talking to him quite naturally, but suddenly froze and stiffened at the approach of english friends whose national manner they wished to assume. in england we are not conscious of having a stiff frozen manner, and we never dream that everyone has the same manner. it takes a foreigner to perceive this; and so in germany it takes a foreigner to appreciate and even to see the characteristic trifles that give a nation a complexion of its own. some of the most comfortable hotels in germany are the smaller ones supported entirely by germans. a stray englishman, finding one of these starred in baedeker and put in the second class, may try it from motives of economy, but in many of them he would only meet merchants on their travels and the unmarried men of the neighbourhood who dine there. in such establishments as these the _table d'hôte_ still more or less prevails, while if you go to fashionable hotels you dine at small tables nowadays and see nothing of your neighbours. the part played during dinner by the hotel proprietor varies considerably. in a big establishment he is represented by the _oberkellner_, and does not appear at all. the _oberkellner_ is a person of weight and standing; so much so that when you are in a crowded beer garden and can get no one to attend to you, you call out _ober_ to the first boy waiter who passes, and he is so touched by the compliment that he serves you before your turn. but in a real old-fashioned german inn you have personal relations with the proprietor, for he takes the head of his table and attends to the comfort of his customers as carefully as if they were his guests. this used to be a universal custom, but you only find it observed now in the sleepy hollows of germany. i have stayed in a most comfortable and well-managed hotel where the proprietor and his brother waited on their guests all through dinner, but never sat down with them. there were hired men, but they played a subordinate part. in small country inns the host still arrives in the garden when your meal is served, asks if you have all you want, wishes you _guten appetit_, and after a little further conversation waddles away to perform the same office at some other table. except in the depths of the country where the inn-keepers are peasants, a german hotel-keeper invariably speaks several languages, and has usually been in paris and london or new york. his business is to deal with the guests and the waiters, and to look after the cellar and the cigars; while his wife or his sister, though she keeps more in the background than a french proprietress, does just as much work as a frenchwoman, and, as far as one can judge, more than any man in the establishment. she superintends the chambermaids and has entire care of the vast stock of linen; in many cases she has most of it washed on the premises, and she helps to iron and repair it. she buys the provisions, and sees that there is neither waste nor disorder in the kitchen; she often does a great part of the actual cooking herself. when i was a girl i happened to spend a winter in a south german hotel of old standing, kept for several generations in the same family, and now managed by two brothers and a sister. the sister, a well-educated young woman of twenty-five, used to get up at five winter and summer to buy what was wanted for the market, and one day she took me with her. it was a pretty lesson in the art of housekeeping as it is understood and practised in germany. all the peasant women in the duchy could not have persuaded my young woman to have given the fraction of a farthing more for her vegetables than they were worth that day, or to take any geese except the youngest and plumpest. she went briskly from one part of the market to the other, seeming to see at a glance where it was profitable to deal this morning. she did not haggle or squabble as inferior housewives will, because she knew just what she wanted and what it was prudent to pay for it. when she got home she sat down to a second breakfast that seemed to me like a dinner, a stew of venison and half a bottle of light wine; but, as she said, hotel keeping is exhausting work, and hotel-keepers must needs live well. at some hotels in this part of germany wine is included in the charge for dinner, and given to each guest in a glass carafe or uncorked bottle. it is kept on tap even in the small wayside inns, where you get half a litre for two or three pence when you are out for a walk and are thirsty. if you dislike thin sour wine you had better avoid the grape-growing lands and travel in bavaria, where every country inn-keeper brews his own beer. many of these small inns entertain summer visitors, not english and americans who want luxuries, but their own countryfolk, whose purses and requirements are both small. as far as i know by personal experience and by hearsay, the rooms in these inns are always clean. the bedding all over germany is most scrupulously kept and aired. in country places you see the mattresses and feather beds hanging out of the windows near the pots of carnations every sunny day. the floors are painted, and are washed all over every morning. the curtains are spotless. in each room there is the inevitable sofa with the table in front of it, a most sensible and comfortable addition to a bedroom, enabling you to seek peace and privacy when you will. if you wander far enough from the beaten track, you may still find that all the water you are supposed to want is contained in a good-sized glass bottle; but if you are english your curious habits will be known, and more water will be brought to you in a can or pail. my husband and i once spent a summer in a thuringian inn that had never taken staying guests before, and even here we found that the proprietress had heard of english ways, and was willing, with a smile of benevolent amusement, to fill a travelling bath every day. this inn had a summer house where all our meals were served as a matter of course, and where people from a fashionable watering-place in the next valley came for coffee or beer sometimes. the household itself consisted of the proprietress, her daughter, and her maidservant, and during the four months we spent there i never knew them to sit down to a regular meal. they ate anything at any time, as they fancied it. the summer house in which we had our meals was large and pleasant, with a wide view of the hills and a near one of an old stone bridge and a trout stream. the trees near the inn were limes, and their scent while they were in flower overpowered the scent of pines coming at other times with strength and fragrance from the surrounding forest. the only drawback to our comfort was a hornets' nest in an old apple-tree close to the summer-house. the hornets used to buzz round us at every meal, and at first we supposed they might sting us. this they never did, though we waged war on them fiercely. but no one wants to be chasing and killing hornets all through breakfast and dinner, so we asked the maid of the inn what could be done to get rid of them. she smiled and said _jawohl_, which was what she always said; and we went out for a walk. when we came back and sat down to supper there were no hornets. _jawohl_ had just stood on a chair, she said, poured a can of water into the nest, and stuffed up the opening with grass. she had not been stung, and we were not pestered by a hornet again that summer. i have sometimes told this story to english people, and seen that though they were too polite to say so they did not believe it. but that is their fault. the story as i have told it is true. we found immense numbers of hornets in one wild uninhabited valley where we sometimes walked that summer, but we were never stung. the proprietress of this inn, like most german women, was a fair cook. besides the inn she owned a small brewery, and employed a brewer who lived quite near, and showed us the whole process by which he transferred the water of the trout stream into foaming beer. his mistress had no rival in the village, and the village was a small one, so sometimes the beer was a little flat. when _jawohl_ brought a jug from a cask just broached, she put it on the table with a proud air, and informed us that it was _frisch angesteckt_. we once spent a summer in a bavarian village where a dozen inns brewed their own beer, and it was always known which one had just tapped a cask. then everyone crowded there as a matter of course. in all these country inns there is one room with rough wooden tables and benches, and here the peasants sit smoking their long pipes and emptying their big mugs or glasses, and as a rule hardly speaking. they do not get drunk, but no doubt they spend more than they can afford out of their scanty earnings. in the bavarian village the inns were filled all through the summer with people from nuremberg, erlangen, augsburg, erfurth, and other bavarian towns. the inn-keeper used to charge five shillings a week for a scrupulously clean, comfortably furnished room, breakfast was sixpence, dinner one and two-pence, and supper as you ordered it. for dinner they gave you good soup, _rindfleisch_, either poultry or roast meat, and one of the _mehlspeisen_ for which bavaria is celebrated, some dish, that is, made with eggs and flour. there was a great variety of them, but i only remember one clearly, because i was impressed by its disreputable name. it was some sort of small pancake soaked in a wine sauce, and it was called _versoffene jungfern_. most of these inns kept no servants, and except in the kurhaus there was not a black-coated waiter in the place. our inn-keeper tilled his own fields, grew his own hops, and brewed his own beer; and his wife, wearing her peasant's costume, did all the cooking and cleaning, assisted by a daughter or a cousin. when you met her out of doors she would be carrying one of the immense loads peasant women do carry up hill and down dale in germany. she was hale and hearty in her middle age, and always cheerful and obliging. at that inn, too, we never had a meal indoors from may till october. everything was brought out to a summer-house, from which we looked straight down the village, its irregular noah's ark-like houses, and its background of mountains and forest. when you first get back to england from germany, you have to pull yourself together and remember that in your own country, even on a hot still summer evening, you cannot sit in a garden where a band is playing and have your dinner in the open air, unless you happen to be within reach of earl's court. in german towns there are always numbers of restaurants in which, according to the weather, meals can be served indoors or out. you see what use people make of them if, for instance, you happen to be in hamburg on a hot summer night. all round the basin of the alster there are houses, hotels, and gardens, and every public garden is so crowded that you wonder the waiters can pass to and fro. bands are playing, lights are flashing, the little sailing boats are flitting about. the whole city after its day's work has turned out for air and music and to talk with friends. and as you watch the scene you know that in every city, even in every village of the empire, there is some such gala going on: in gardens going down to the rhine from the old rhenish towns; in the gardens of ancient castles set high above the stifling air of valleys; in the forest that comes to the very edge of so many little german towns; even in the streets of towns where a table set on the pavement will be pleasanter than in a room on such a night as this. you can sit at one of these restaurants and order nothing but a cup of coffee or a glass of beer; or you can dine, for the most part, well and cheaply. if you order a _halbe portion_ of any dish, as germans do, you will be served with more than you can eat of it. the variety offered by some of the restaurants in the big cities, the excellence of the cooking, the civilisation of the appointments, and the service, all show that the german must be the most industrious creature in the world, and the thriftiest and one of the cleverest. in london we have luxurious restaurants for people who can spend a great deal of money, but in berlin they have them for people who cannot spend much. that is the difference between the two cities. how berlin does it is a mystery. in the restaurants i have seen there is neither noise nor bustle nor garish colours nor rough service nor any other of the miseries we find in our own cheap eating-houses. in one of them the walls were done in some kind of plain fumed wood with a frieze and ceiling of soft dull gold. in another each room had a different scheme of colour. "so according to your _stimmung_ you will choose your room," said the friends who took me. "to-night we are rather cheerful. we will go to the big room on the first floor. that is all pale green and ivory." "you have nothing like this in england," said the artist as we went up the lift. "it is terrible in england. when i asked for my lunch at three or four o'clock i was told that lunch was over. _das hat keinen zweck_,--i want my lunch when i am hungry." "but you are terribly behindhand in some ways in berlin," i said, for i knew the artist liked an argument. "in london you can shop all through the night by telephone. it is most convenient." "have you ever done it?" "i'm not on the telephone, and i am generally asleep at night. but other people...." "_verrückt_," said the artist. "who in his senses wants to do shopping at night? now look at this room, and admit that you have nothing at all like it." the first swift impression of the place was that liberty had brought his stuffs, his furniture, and his glass from london and set up as a restaurateur in berlin. the whole thing was certainly well done. it was not as florid and fussy as our expensive restaurants. the colours were quiet, and the necessary draperies plain. the glass was thin and elegant; so were the coffee cups; and the table linen was white and fine. nothing about it, however, would be worth describing if it had been expensive. but the menu, which covered four closely printed pages, showed that the most expensive dish offered there cost one and threepence, while the greater number cost ninepence, sixpence, or threepence each. the hungry man would begin with crayfish, which were offered to him prepared in ten various ways; for the germans, like the french, are extremely fond of crayfish. he would have them in soup, for instance, or with asparagus, with salad or dressed with dill. then he would find the week's bill of fare on his card, three or four dishes for each day, some cooked in small casseroles and served so to any guest who orders one. if it was a friday he could have a ragoût of chicken in the bremen style, or a slice from a hamburg leg of mutton with cream sauce and celery salad, or ox-tongue cooked with young turnips. if he was a catholic he would find two kinds of fish ready for him,--trout, cooked blue, and a ragoût of crayfish with asparagus and baked perch. but these are just the special dishes of the day, and he is not bound to try them. there are seven kinds of soup, including real turtle, and it is not for me to say how real turtle can be supplied in berlin for pfennig. there are seven kinds of fish and too many varieties of meat, poultry, salads, vegetables and sweets, both hot and cold, to count. a man can have any kind of cooking he fancies, too; his steak may be german, austrian, or french; he can have english roast beef, russian caviare, a maltese rice pudding, apples from the tyrol, wild strawberries from a german forest, all the cheeses of france and england, a welsh rarebit, and english celery. the english celery is as mysterious as the real turtle, for it was offered in june. pheasants and partridges, i can honestly say, however, were not offered. under the head of game there were only venison, geese, chickens, and pigeons. i am sorry now that when i dined at this restaurant i did not order real turtle soup, _roast beef engl. mit schmorkartoffeln_, celery, and a welsh rarebit, because then i should have discovered whether these old british friends were recognisable in their berlin environment. but it was more amusing at the time to ask for ham cooked in champagne and served with radish sauce, and other curious inviting combinations. "but at home," i said to the artist,--"at home we just eat to live. we have a great contempt for people who pay much attention to food." "i stayed in an english house last year, and never did i hear so much about food," said he. "one would eat nothing but grape-nuts and cheese, and another swore by toast and hot water and little _pastetchen_ of beef, and the third would have large rice puddings, and the fourth asked for fruit at every meal, and the fifth said all the others were wrong and that he wanted a good dinner. the poor hostess would have been distracted if she had not been one of those who love a new fad and try each one in turn. also there were two eminent physicians in the house, and one of these drank champagne every night, while the other would touch nothing but perrier and said champagne was poison. directly we sat down we discussed these things, ... and everyone assured me that if i tried his regime i should improve in health most marvellously." "which did you try?" i asked. "the good dinner and the champagne, of course. but i did not find they affected my health one way or the other." chapter xxii life in lodgings as rents are high in germany, it is usual for people of small means to let off one or two rooms, either furnished or unfurnished. but it is not usual to supply a lodger with any meal except his coffee and rolls in the morning. if you wish to take lodgings in a german town, and work through the long list of them in a local paper, you will probably find no one willing to provide for you in the english fashion. "cooking!" they say with horror,--"cooking! you want to eat in your room. no. that can we not undertake. coffee in the morning, yes; and rolls with it and butter and even two eggs, but nothing further. just round the corner in the _königstrasse_ are two very fine restaurants, where the _herrschaften_ can eat what they will at any hour of the day, and for moderate prices." if you insist, the most they will promise, and that not willingly, is to provide you with a knife and fork and a tablecloth for a pyramid of courses sent hot from one of the very fine adjacent restaurants for mark or mark pf. supper in germany is the easiest meal in the day to provide, as you buy the substantial part of it at a _delikatessenhandlung_, and find that even a german landlady will condescend to get you rolls and butter and beer. this sounds like the simple life, to be sure; but if you are in german lodgings for any length of time you probably desire for one reason or the other to lead it. the plan of having your dinner sent piping hot from a restaurant in nice clean white dishes rather like monster soufflé dishes is not a bad one if the restaurant keeps faith with you. it is rather amusing to begin at the top with soup and work through the various surprises and temptations of the pyramid till you get to _biskuit-pudding mit vanille sauce_ at the bottom. but in nine cases out of ten the restaurant fails you, sends uneatable food, is absurdly unpunctual or says plainly it can't be bothered. then you have to wander about and out of doors for your food in all weathers and all states of health. this is amusing for a time, but not in the long run. it is astonishing how tired you can get of the "very fine" restaurants within reach, of their waitresses, their furniture, their menus, and their daily guests. at least, this is so in a small town where the best restaurant is not "very fine," although both food and service will be better than in an english town of the same size. if you are in berlin and can go to the good restaurants, there you will be in danger of becoming a gourmet and losing your natural affection for cold mutton. in a university or a big commercial town it is easy to get rooms for less than we pay in england; but in a small _residenz_ i have found it difficult. there were rooms to let, but no one wanted us, because we were not officers with soldier servants to wait on us; nor did we want to engage rooms as the officers did for at least six months. in fact, we found ourselves as unpopular as ladies are in a london suburb where all the lodging-house keepers want "gentlemen in the city" who are away all day and give no trouble. at last, after searching through every likely street in the town, we found a dentist with exuberant manners, who said he would overlook our shortcomings, and allow us to inhabit his rooms at a high price on condition we gave no trouble. we said we never gave trouble anywhere, and left both hotels and lodging-houses with an excellent character, so the bargain was concluded. i saw that his wife was not a party to it, but he overruled her, and as he was a big red-faced noisy man, and she was a small rat of a woman, i thought he would continue to do so. one is always making these stupid elementary mistakes about one's fellow-creatures. but a little later in the day i had occasion to call at the rooms to complete some arrangement about luggage, and then the wife received me alone. i asked her if she could put a small table into a room that only had a big one. i forget why i wanted it. "table!" she said rudely. "what can you want another table for? isn't that one enough?" "i should like another," i said,--"any little one would do." "i don't keep tables up my sleeve," said she. "you see what you can have, ... just what is there. if it doesn't suit you...." "but it does suit me," i said hurriedly, for the search had been long and exhausting, and the rooms were pleasant enough. i thought we need not deal much with the woman. "no meals except coffee in the morning; you understand that?" she said in a truculent tone. "oh yes, i understand. we shall go out at midday and at night. afternoon tea i always make myself with a spirit lamp...." never in my life have i been so startled. i thought the woman was going to behave like a rat in a corner, and fly at me. she shook her fist and shouted so loud that she brought the dentist on the scene. "_spiritus_," she screamed. "_spiritus--spiritus leid' ich nicht._" "bless us!" i said in english. "what's the matter?" "_was ist's?_" said the dentist, and he looked downright frightened. "_sie will kochen_," said his wife, shaking her fist at me again. "she has a spirit lamp. she wants to turn my beautiful _bestes zimmer_ into a kitchen. she will take all the polish off my furniture, just as the last people did when they cooked for themselves." "cooked!" i said. "who speaks of cooking?--i spoke of a cup of tea." "_spiritus leid' ich nicht_," shrieked the woman. "no," said the dentist, "we can't have cooking here." "_spiritus leid'_...." but i fled. luckily, we had not paid any rent in advance. i made up my mind that i would never confess to my small harmless etna in german lodgings again, and would bolt the door while i boiled water for tea in it. we found rooms after another weary search, but they were extremely noisy and uncomfortable. we had to take them for six weeks, and could only endure them for a fortnight, and though we paid them the full six weeks' rent when we left, they charged us for every jug of hot water we had used, and added a _trinkgeld_ for the servant. "we did not engage to pay extra either for hot water or for _trinkgeld_," we said, turning, as worms will even in a _residenz_, where everyone is a worm who is not _militär_. "but _engländer_ never give a _trinkgeld_. that is why we have put it in the bill. the girl expects it, and has earned it." "the girl will have it," we said; "but we shall give it her ourselves. and what have you to say about the hot water?" "without coal it is impossible to have hot water. we let you our rooms, but we did not let you our coal. it is quite simple. have you any other complaint to make?" we had, but we did not make them. we went to one of the big cities, where the civilian is still a worm, but where he has a large number and variety of other worms to keep him company. in berlin or hamburg or leipzig there are always furnished rooms delighted to receive you. there may be a difficulty, however, if you are a musician. the police come in with their regulations; or your fellow-lodgers may be students of medicine or philosophy, and driven wild by your harmonies. i knew a young musician who always took rooms in the noisiest street in berlin, and practised with his windows open. he said the din of electric trams, overhead trains, motor cars, and heavy lorries helped his landlady and her family to suffer a beethoven sonata quite gladly. one of the insoluble mysteries of german life is the cheapness of furnished lodgings as compared with the high rent and rates. to be sure, the landlady does not cook for you, and the bed-sitting-room is not considered sordid in germany. in fact, the separate sitting-room is almost unknown, though it is easy to arrange one by shifting some furniture. the pattern of the room and its appointments hardly vary in any part of germany, though of course the size and quality vary with the price. if you take a small room you have one straight window, and if you take a large one you have several. or you may have a broad balcony window opening on to a balcony. you have the parqueted or painted floor, the porcelain stove, the sofa, the table, the wooden bedstead, and the wooden hanging cupboard wherever you are. it is always sensible, comfortable furniture, and usually plain. when people over there know no better they buy themselves tawdry horrors, just as they do here. the german manufacturers flood the world with such things. but people who let lodgings put their treasures in a sacred room they call _das beste zimmer_, and only use on festive occasions. they fob you off with old-fashioned stuff they do not value, a roomy solid cupboard, a family sofa, a chest of drawers black with age, and a hanging mirror framed in old elm-wood; and if it were not for a bright green rep tablecloth, snuff-coloured curtains, and a wall paper with a brown background and yellow snakes on it, you would like your quarters very well indeed. rooms are usually let by the month, except in watering-places, where weekly prices prevail. in leipzig you can get a room for s. a month. it will be a parterre or a fourth-floor room, rather gloomy and rather shabby, but a possible room for a student who happens to be hard up. for £ a month you can get a room on a higher floor, and better furnished, while for £ , s. a month in hamburg i myself have had two well-furnished rooms commanding a fine view of the alster, and one of them so large that in winter it was nearly impossible to keep warm. then my hamburg friends told me i was paying too much, and that they could have got better lodgings for less money. they were nearer the sky than i should like in these days, but the old german system of letting the higher flats in a good house for a low rent benefits people who care about a "select" neighbourhood and yet cannot pay very much. the modern system of lifts will gradually make it impossible to get a flat or lodgings in a good street without paying as much for the fifth floors as for the first. you do not see much of a german landlady, as she does not cater for you. she is often a widow, and when you know the rent of a flat you wonder how she squeezes a living out of what her lodgers pay her. she cannot even nourish herself with their scraps, or warm herself at a kitchen fire for which they pay. some of them perform prodigies of thrift, especially when they have children to feed and educate. at the end of a long severe winter, when the alster had been frozen for months, i found out by chance that my landlady, a sad aged widow with one little boy, had never lighted herself a fire. she let every room of her large flat, except a kitchen and a _kammer_ opening out of it. the little food she needed she cooked on an oil stove, at night she had a lamp, and of course she never by any chance opened a window. she said she could not afford coals, and that her son and she managed to keep warm. the miracle is that they both kept alive and well. another german landlady was of a different type, a big buxom bustling creature, who spent most of the day in her husband's coal sheds, helping him with his books and taking orders. although she was so busy she undertook to cook for me, and kept her promise honourably; and she cooked for herself, her husband, and their work-people. she used sometimes to show me the huge dishes of food they were about to consume, food that was cheap to buy and nourishing to eat, but troublesome to prepare. she did all her own washing too, and dried it in the narrow slip of a room her husband and she used for all purposes. i discovered this by going in to see her when she was ill one day, and finding rows of wet clothes hung on strings right across her bed. i made no comment, for nothing that is an outrage of the first laws of hygiene will surprise you if you have gone here and there in the byways of germany. an english girl told me that when she was recovering from a slight attack of cholera in a rhenish _pension_, they were quite hurt because she refused stewed cranberries. "_das schadet nichts, das ist gesund_," they said. i could hear them say it. only the summer before a kindly hotel-keeper had brought me a ragoût of _schweinefleisch_ and vanilla ice under similar circumstances. the german constitution seems able to survive anything, even roast goose at night at the age of three. a _pension_ in germany costs from £ a month upwards. that is to say, you will get offers of a room and full board for this sum, but i must admit that i never tried one at so low a rate, and should not expect it to be comfortable. rent and food are too dear in the big towns to make a reasonable profit possible on such terms, unless the household is managed on starvation lines. to have a comfortable room and sufficient food, you must pay from £ to £ a month, and then if you choose carefully you will be satisfied. the society is usually cosmopolitan in these establishments, and the german spoken is a warning rather than a lesson. it is not really german life that you see in this way, though the proprietress and her assistants may be german. in most of the university towns some private families take "paying guests," and when they are agreeable people this is a pleasanter way of life than any _pension_. before you have been in germany a fortnight the police expects to know all about you. you have to give them your father's christian and surname, and tell them how he earned his living, and where he was born; also your mother's christian and maiden name, and where she was born. you must declare your religion, and if you are married give your husband's christian and surname; also where he was born, and what he does for a living. if you happen to do anything yourself, though, you need not mention it. they do not expect a woman to be anything further than married or single. but you must say when and where you were last in germany, and how often you have been, and why you have come now, and what you are doing, and how long you propose to stay. they tell you in london you do not need a passport in germany, and they tell you in berlin that you must either produce one or be handed over for inquiry to your embassy. last year when i was there i produced one twenty-three years old. i had not troubled to get a new one, but i came across this, quite yellow with age, and i thought it might serve to make some official happy; for i had once seen my husband get himself, me, and our bicycles over the german frontier and into switzerland, and next morning back into germany, by showing the gendarmes on the bridge his c.t.c. ticket. i cannot say that my ancient passport made my official exactly happy. twenty-three years ago he was certainly in a _steckkissen_, and no doubt he felt that in those days, in a world without him to set it right, anything might happen. "twenty-three years," he bellowed at the top of his voice, for he saw that i was _fremd_, and wished to make himself clear. we are not the only people who scream at foreigners that they may understand. "twenty-three years. but it is a lifetime." it was for him no doubt. i admitted that twenty-three years was--well, twenty-three years, and explained that i had been told at a _reisebureau_ that a passport was unnecessary. "they know nothing in england," he said gloomily. "with us a passport is necessary; but what is a passport twenty-three years old?" i admitted that, from the official point of view, it was not much, and he made no further difficulties. as a rule you need not go to the police bureau at all. the people you are with will get the necessary papers, and fill them in for you; but i wanted to see whether the german jack-in-office was as bad as his reputation makes him. germans themselves often complain bitterly of the treatment they receive at the hands of these lower class officials. "i went to the police station," said a german lady who lived in england, and was in her own country on a visit. "i went to _anmelden_ myself, but not one of the men in the office troubled to look up. when i had stood there till i was tired i said that i wished someone to attend to me. every pen stopped, every head was raised, astounded by my impertinence. but no one took any notice of my request. i waited a little longer, and then fetched myself a chair that someone had left unoccupied. i did not do it to make a sensation. i was tired. but every pen again stopped, and one in authority asked in a voice like thunder what i made here. i said that i had come to _anmelden_ myself, and he began to ask the usual questions with an air of suspicion that was highly offensive. you can see for yourself that i do not look like an anarchist or anything but what i am, a respectable married woman of middle age. i told the man everything he wanted to know, and at every item he grunted as if he knew it was a lie. in the end he asked me very rudely how long a stay i meant to make in germany. "not a day longer than i can help," i said; "for your manners do not please me." all the pens stopped again till i left the office, and when i got back to my mother she wept bitterly; for she said that i should be prosecuted for _beamtenbeleidigung_ and put in prison. "but the really interesting fact about the system is that it doesn't work," said a german to me; "when i wanted my papers a little while ago i could not get them. nothing about me could be discovered. officially i did not exist." yet he had inherited a name famous all over the world, was a distinguished scientific man himself, and had been born in the city where his existence was not known to the police. "take care you don't go in at an _ausgang_ or out at an _eingang_," said an englishman who had just come back from berlin. "take care you don't try to buy stamps at the post office out of your turn. remember that you can't choose your cab when you arrive. a policeman gives you a number, and you have to hunt amongst a crowd of cabs for that number, even if it is pouring with rain. remember that the police decides that you must buy your opera tickets on a sunday morning, and stand _queue_ for hours till you get them. if you have a cold in your head, stay at home. last winter a man was arrested for sneezing loudly. it was considered _beamtenbeleidigung_. the englishwoman who walked on the grass in the tiergarten was not arrested, because the official who saw her died of shock at the sight, and could not perform his duty." wherever you go in germany you hear stories of police interference and petty tyranny, and it is mere luck if you do not innocently transgress some of their fussy pedantic regulations. in south germany i once put a cream jug on my window-sill to keep a little milk cool for the afternoon. the jug was so small and the window so high that it can hardly have been visible from the street, but my landlady came to me excitedly and said the police would be on her before the day was out if the jug was left there. the police allowed nothing on a window-sill in that town, lest it should fall on a citizen's head. each town or district has its own restrictions, its own crimes. in one you will hear that a butcher boy is not allowed on the side-path carrying his tray of meat. if a policeman catches him at it, he, or his employer, is fined. in another town the awning from a shop window must not exceed a certain length, and you are told of a poor widow, who, having just had a new one put up at great expense, was compelled by the police to take the whole thing down, because the flounce was a quarter of an inch longer than the regulations prescribed. you hear of a poor man laboriously building a toy brick wall round the garden in his _hof_, and having to pull it to pieces because "building" is not allowed except with police permission. in some towns the length of a woman's gown is decided in the _polizeibureau_, and the officers fine any woman whose skirt touches the ground. in one town you may take a dog out without a muzzle; in another it is a crime. a merchant on his way to his office, in a city where there was a muzzling order, found to his annoyance, one morning, that his mother's dog had followed him unmuzzled. he had no string with him, he could not persuade the dog to return, and he could not go back with it, because he had an important appointment. so he risked it and went on. before long, however, he met a policeman. the usual questions were asked, his name and address were taken, and he was told that he would be fined. hardly had he got to the end of the street when he met a second policeman. he explained that the matter was settled, but this was not the opinion of the policeman. was the dog not at large, unmuzzled, on his the policeman's beat? with other policemen he had nothing to do. the dog was his discovery, the name and address of the owner were required, and there was no doubt, in the policeman's mind, that the owner would have to pay a second fine. the merchant went his ways, still followed by an unmuzzled unled dog. before long he met a third policeman, gave his name and address a third time, and was assured that he would have to pay a third time. "_dann war es mir zu bunt_," said the merchant, and he picked up the dog and carried it the rest of the way to his office. when he got there he sent it home in a cab. chapter xxiii summer resorts if you choose to leave the railroad you may still travel by diligence in germany, and rumble along the roads in its stuffy interior. as you pass through a village the driver blows his horn, old and young run out to enjoy the sensation of the day, the geese cackle and flutter from you in the dust, you catch glimpses of a cobble-stoned market-place, a square church-tower with a stork's nest on its summit, noah's ark-like houses with thatched or gabled roofs, tumble-down balconies, and outside staircases of wood. sometimes when the official coach is crowded you may have an open carriage given you without extra charge, but you cannot expect that to happen often; nor will you often be driven by postillion nowadays. indeed, for all i know the last one may have vanished and been replaced by a motor bus. you can take one to a mountain inn in the black forest nowadays, over a pass i travelled a few years ago in a mail coach. in those times it was a jog-trot journey occupying the long lazy hours of a summer morning. i suppose that now you whizz and hustle through the lovely forest scenery pursued by clouds of dust and offended by the fumes of petrol, but no doubt you get to your destination quicker than you used. the pleasantest way to travel in germany, if you are young and strong, is on your feet. it is enchanting to walk day after day through the cool scented forest and sleep at night in one of the clean country inns. you must choose your district and your inn, for if you went right off the traveller's track and came to a peasant's house you would find nothing approaching the civilisation of an english farmhouse. but in most of the beautiful country districts of germany there are fine inns, and there are invariably good roads leading to them. this way of travelling is too tame for english people as a rule. they laugh at the broad well-made path winding up the side of a german mountain, and still more at the hotel or restaurant to be found at the top. from the english point of view a walk of this kind is too tame and easy either for health or pleasure. but the beauty of it, especially in early summer, can never be forgotten; and so it is worth while, even if you are young and cherish a proper scorn for broad roads and good dinners. you would probably come across some dinners that were not good, tough veal, for instance, and greasy vegetables. the roads you would have to accept, and walk them if you choose in tennis shoes. indeed, you would forget the road and eat the dinner unattending; for all that's made would be a green thought in a green shade for you by the end of the day, and as you shut your eyes at night you would see forest, forest with the sunlight on the young tips of the pines, forest unfolding itself from earth to sky as you climbed hour after hour close to the ferns and boulders of the foaming mountain stream your pathway followed, forest too on the opposite side of the valley, with wastes of golden broom here and there, and fields of rye and barley swept gently by the breeze. you may walk day by day in germany through such a paradise as this, and meet no one but a couple of children gathering wild strawberries, or an old peasant carrying faggots, or the goose-girl herding her fussy flock. you may even spend your summer holiday in a crowded watering-place, and yet escape quite easily into the heart of the forest where the crowd never comes. the crowd sits about on benches planted by a _verschönerungsverein_ within a mile of their hotel, or on the verandah of the hotel itself. some of the benches will command a view, and these will be most in demand. those that are nearly a mile away will be reached by energetic elderly ladies, and at dinner you will hear that they have been to the rabenstein this morning, and that the _aussicht_ was _prachtvoll_ and the _luft herrlich_, but that they must decline to go farther afield this afternoon as the morning's exertions have tired them. but some of _die herren_ say they are ready for anything, and even propose to scale the mountain behind the hotel and drink a glass of beer at the top. you readily agree to go with them, for by this time you know that even if you are a poor walker you can toddle half way up a german hill and down again; and the hotel itself has been built high above the valley. but after dinner you find that nearly everyone disappears for a siesta, while the few who keep outside are asleep over their coffee and cigar. even _skat_ hardly keeps awake the three _herren_ who proposed a walk; and your friend the frau geheimrath schultze warns you solemnly against the insanity of stirring a step before sundown; for summer in south germany is summer indeed. the sun comes suddenly with power and glory, bursting every sheathed bud and ripening crops in such a hurry that you walk through new mown hayfields while your english calendar tells you it is still spring. later in the year the heat is often intense all through the middle of the day, and the young men who make their excursions on foot start at dawn, so that they may arrive at a resting place by ten or eleven. "for many years our boys have wandered cheaply and simply through their german fatherland," says a leaflet advertising a society that organises walking tours for girls; saturday afternoon walks, sunday walks, and holiday walks extending over six or eight days. "simplicity, cheerful friendly intercourse, gaiety in fresh air, these are the companions of our pilgrimage.... we wish to provide the german nation with mothers who are at home in woods and meadows, who have learned to observe the beauties of nature, who have strengthened their health and their perceptions of everything that is great and beautiful by happy walks.... anyone _wanderfroh_ who has been at a higher school or who is still attending one is eligible. the card of membership only costs marks for a single member and marks for a whole family. some of the excursions are planned to include brother pilgrims, and their character is gay and cheerful, without flirting or coquetry, a genuine friendly intercourse between girls and boys, young men and maidens, a pure and beautiful companionship such as no dancing lesson and no ballroom can create, and which is nevertheless the best training for life." so nowadays gangs of girls, and even mixed gangs of boys and girls, are to swarm through the pleasant forests of germany, ascend the easy pathways of her mountains, and fill her country inns to overflowing. how horrified the little _backfisch_ would have been at such a suggestion, how unmaidenly her excellent aunt would have deemed it, how profoundly they would both have disapproved of any exercise that heightens the colour or disturbs the neatness of a young lady's toilet. i myself have heard german men become quite violent in their condemnation of englishwomen who play games or take walks that make them temporarily dishevelled. it never seemed to occur to them that a woman might think their displeasure at her appearance of less account than her own enjoyment. "no," they said, "ask not that we should admire miss smith. she has just come in from a six hours' walk with her brother. her face is as red as a poppy, her blouse is torn, and her boots are thick and muddy." as a matter of fact, i had not asked them to admire miss smith. i knew that the lady they admired was arch, and had a persuasive giggle. nevertheless i tried to break a lance for my countrywoman. "you will see," i assured them, "she will remove the torn blouse and the muddy boots; and when she comes down her face will be quite pale." "but she often looks like that," said one of the men. "at least once a day she plays a game or takes a walk that is more of a strain on her appearance than it should be. a young woman must always consider what effect things have on her appearance." "why?" "why?--because she is a woman. there is no sense in a question like that. it goes back to the beginning of all things. it is unanswerable. every young woman wishes to please." "but is it not conceivable," i asked, "that a young woman may sometimes wish to please herself even at the expense of her appearance. miss smith assures me that she enjoys long walks and games,--oh, games that you have not seen her play here--hockey, for instance, and cricket." "_verrückt!_" said the men in chorus. "a young woman should not think of herself at all. the almighty has created her to please us, and it does not please us when she wears muddy boots and is as red as a poppy; at least, not while she is young. when she is married, and her place is in the kitchen, she may be as red as she pleases. that is a different matter." "is it?" i said, and i wanted to ask why again; but i held my tongue. some questions, as they said, lead one too far afield. the majority of visitors at a german watering-place take very little exercise of any kind. they sit about the forest as our seaside visitors sit about the sands, and though they cannot fill in their mornings by sea bathing, there are often medicinal baths that take as much time. then the _badearzt_ probably prescribes so many glasses of water from his favourite spring each day, and a short walk after each glass, and a long rest after the midday dinner. dinner is the really serious business of the day, and often occupies two hours. where there is still a _table d'hôte_ it is a tedious, noisy affair, conducted in a stuffy room, and even if you are greedy enough to like the good things brought round you wish very soon that you were on a cumberland fell-side with a mutton sandwich and a mountain stream. you wish it even although you hate mutton sandwiches and like meringues filled with alpine strawberries and whipped cream; for the clatter and the clack going on around you, and the asphyxiating air, bring on a demoralising somnolence that you despise and cannot easily throw off. you sit about as lazily as anyone else half through the golden afternoon, drink a cup of coffee at four o'clock, look at mountains of cake, and then start for the restaurant, which is said to be _eine gute stunde_ from the hotel. you find, as you expected, that you saunter gently uphill on a broad winding road through the forest, and that you have a charming walk, but not what anyone in this country would call exercise till they were about seventy. in case you should be weary you pass seats every hundred yards or so, and when you have made your ascent you are received by a bustling waiter or a waitress in costume, who expects to serve you with beer or coffee before you venture down the hill again. by the time you get back to the hotel everyone is streaming in to supper, which is not as long as dinner, but quite as noisy. after supper everyone sits about the verandah or the garden. the men play cards, and smoke and drink coffee and kirsch, the married women talk and do embroidery, the maidens stroll about in twos and threes or sit down to halma. there are never many young men in these summer hotels, and the few there are herd with the older men or with each other more than young men do in this country. what we understand by flirtation is not encouraged, unless it is almost sure to lead to marriage; and what the germans understand by flirtation is justly considered scandalous and reprehensible. for the germans have taken the word into use, but taken away the levity and innocence of its meaning. they make it a term of serious reproach, and those who dislike us condemn the shocking prevalence of flirt (they make a noun of the verb) in our decadent society. the _pension_ price at a german summer hotel varies from four to fifteen marks, according to the general style of the establishment and the position of the rooms engaged. in one frequented by germans the sitting-rooms are bare and formal, and as english visitors are not expected no english papers are taken. the season begins in june and lasts till the end of september, and you must be a successful hotel-keeper yourself to understand how so much can be provided for so little, miles away from any market. many of these summer hotels have been built high up in the forest, and with no others near them. some are run as a speculation by doctors. there is hardly a woman or girl in germany who has not needed a _kur_ at some time of her life, or who does not need one every year if she has money and pretty gowns. the _badereise_ and everything connected with it serves the german professional humorist much as the mother-in-law and the drop too much serve the english one, perennially and faithfully. for the wife is determined to have her _badereise_, and the husband is not inclined to pay for it, and the family doctor is called in to prescribe it. the artifices and complications arising suggest themselves, and to judge by the postcards and farces of germany never weary the public they are designed to amuse. in berlin, when the hot weather comes, you see the family luggage and bedding going off to the sea-coast, for people who take a house take part of their bedding with them. there is so little seaside and so much berlin that prices rule high wherever there is civilised accommodation. in ruegen £ a week per room is usual, and the room you get for that may be a very poor one. in most german watering-places, both on the coast and in the forest, you can have furnished rooms if you prefer them to hotel life, but as a rule you must either cook your own dinner or go out to a hotel for it. the cooking landlady is as rare in the country as in the town. then in some places, at oberhof, for instance, high upon the hills above gotha, there are charming little furnished bungalows. friends of mine go there or to one of the neighbouring villages every year, and never enter a hotel. they either take a servant with them, or find someone on the spot to do what is necessary. when there are no mineral waters or sea baths to give a place importance, germans say they have come there to do a _luftkur_. a delightful frenchwoman who has written about england lately is amused by our everlasting babble about a "change." this one needs a change, she says, and that one is away for a change, and the other means to have a change next week. so the germans amuse us by their eternal "cures." one tries air, and the other water, and the next iron, and the fourth sulphur, while the number and variety of nerve cures, _blutarmut_ cures, diet cures, and obesity cures are bewildering. it is difficult to believe that life in a hotel can cure anyone anywhere. however, in germany, if you are under a capable _badearzt_, there may be some salvation for you, since he orders your baths, measures your walks, and limits your diet so strictly. at one of the well-known places where people who eat too much all the year round go to reduce their figures, there is in the chief hotels a table known as the _corpulententisch_, and a man who sits there is not allowed an ounce of bread beyond what his physician has prescribed. but the german _luxusbad_, the fashionable watering-place where the guests are cosmopolitan and the prices high--marienbad, homburg, karlsbad, schwalbach, wiesbaden--all these places are as well known to english people as their own bath and buxton. homburg they have swallowed, and i have somewhere come across a paragraph from an english newspaper objecting to the presence of germans there. it is the quiet german watering-place where no english come that is interesting and not impossible to find. during the summer i spent in a bavarian forest village i only saw one english person the whole time, except my own two or three friends. i heard the other day that the village and the life there have hardly altered at all, but that some english people have discovered the trout streams and come every year for fishing. in my time no one seemed to care about fishing. you went for walks in the forest. there was nothing else to do, unless you played _kegel_ and drank beer; for it was only a _luftkur_. there was no _badearzt_ and no mineral water. to be sure, there were caves, huge limestone caves that you visited with a guide the day after you arrived, and never thought about again. there were various ruined castles, too, in the neighbourhood that made a goal for a drive in cases where there was a restaurant attached, and not far off there was a curious network of underground beer-cellars that i did not see, but which seemed to attract the men of our party sometimes. there were several inns in the straggling village, for the place lay high up amongst the dolomite hills of upper franconia, and people came there from the neighbouring towns for _waldluft_. the summer i was there richard wagner passed through with his family, and we saw him more than once. he stayed at the kurhaus, a hotel of more pretentions than the village inns, for it had a good sized garden and did not entertain peasants. my inn, recommended by an old nuremberg friend, was owned and managed by a peasant proprietor, his wife, their elderly daughter, and two charming orphan grandchildren in their early teens. the peasant customers had as usual a large rough room to themselves, the town guests had their plain bare _speisesaal_, and we britishers possessed the summer house; so we were all happy. the whole glory of the place was in the forest; for it was not flat sandy forest that has no undergrowth, and wearies you very soon with its sameness and its still, oppressive air. it was up hill and down dale forest, full of lovely glades, broken by massive dolomite rocks; the trees not set in serried rows, but growing for the most part as the birds and the wind planted them; a varied natural forest tended but not dragooned by man. the flowers there were a delight to us, for we arrived early enough in the year to find lilies of the valley growing in great quantities amongst the rocks, while a little later the stream and pathways were bordered by oak and beech fern and by many wild orchises that are rare now with us. it was not here, however, but in another german forest, where, one day when i had no time to linger, i met people with great bunches of the _cypripedium calceolus_ that they had gathered as we gather primroses. at the bavarian watering-place we had the whole forest as much to ourselves as the summer house, for no one seemed to wander farther than the seats placed amongst the trees by the _verschönerungsverein_. "warum willst du weiter schweifen sieh das gute liegt so nah," says goethe, and most germans out for their summer holiday seem to take his advice in the most literal way, and find their happiness as near home as they possibly can. when you begin to think about the actual process of travelling in germany, the tiresome business of getting from the city to the forest village, for instance, you at once remember both the many complaints you have heard germans make of our system, or rather want of system, and the bitter scorn poured on german fussiness by travelling britons. the ways of one nation are certainly not the ways of another in this respect. directly i cross the german frontier i know that i am safe from muddle and mistakes, that i need not look after myself or my luggage, that i cannot get into a wrong train or alight at a wrong station, or suffer any injury through carelessness or mismanagement. everything is managed for me, and on long journeys in the corridor trains things are well managed. but your carriage is far more likely to be unpleasantly crowded in germany than in england; and as hand-luggage is not charged for, the public takes all it can, and fills the racks, the seats, and the floor with heavy bags and portmanteaux. in bygone years the saying was that none travelled first class save fools and englishmen, but nowadays germans travel in their own first-class carriages a good deal. the third-class accommodation is wretched, more fit for animals than men. in some districts there are fourth-class uncovered seats on the roof of the carriages, but i have only seen these used in summer. when i was last in germany a year ago there was much excitement and indignation over certain changes that were to make travelling dearer for everyone. all luggage in the van was to be paid for in future, first-class fares were to be raised, and no return tickets issued. but you must not think that when you have bought a ticket from one place to another you can get to it by any train you please. "i want the . to entepfuhl," you say to the nearest and biggest official you can see; and he looks at your ticket. "_personenzug_," he says in a withering way,--"the . is an express." you say humbly that you like an express. "then you must get an extra ticket," he says, "this one only admits you to slow trains." so you get your extra ticket, and then you wait with everyone else in a big room where most people are eating and drinking to wile away the time. don't imagine that you can find your empty train, choose your corner, and settle yourself comfortably for your journey as you can in england. you are well looked after, but if you are used to england you never quite lose the impression in germany that if you are not an official or a soldier you must be a criminal, and that if you move an inch to right or left of what is prescribed you will hear of it. just before the train starts the warders open your prison doors and shout out the chief places the train travels to. so you hustle along with everyone else, and get the best place you can, and are hauled out by a watchful conductor when you arrive. if it is a small station there is sure to be a dearth of porters, but you get your luggage by going to the proper office and giving up the slip of paper you received when it was weighed. never forget, as i have known english people do, that you cannot travel in germany without having your luggage weighed and receiving the _schein_ for it. if you lose the _schein_ you are undone. i cannot tell you exactly what would happen, because it would be a tragedy without precedent, but it is impossible that german officials would surrender a trunk without receiving a _schein_ in exchange; at least, not without months of rigmarole and delay. even when it is the official who blunders the public suffers for it. we were travelling some years ago from leipzig to london when the guard examining our tickets let one blow away. luckily some german gentlemen in the carriage with us saw what happened, gave us their addresses, and offered to help us in any way they could. but we had to buy a fresh ticket and trust to getting our money back by correspondence. six months later we did get it back, and this is an exact translation of the letter accompanying it:-- "in answer to your gracious letter of the th september, we inform your wellbornship, respectfully, that the ticket office here is directed, in regard to the ticket by you on the rd of september taken, by the guard in checking lost ticket leipzig-london via calais nd class, the for the distance hanover to london outpaid fare of m. pf. by post to you to refund." one must admire the mind that can compose a sentence like that without either losing its way or turning dizzy. but if you want to see what germans can give you in the way of order and comfort you must leave the railroad and travel in one of their big american liners. even if you are not going to america, but only from hamburg to dover, it is well worth doing. the interest of it begins the day before, when you take your trunks to the docks and see the steerage passengers assembled for their start. they are a strange gipsy-looking folk, for the most part from the eastern frontier of germany, bare-footed and wearing scraps of brighter colours than western people choose. when we arrived the doctor was examining their eyes in an open shed, and we saw them huddled together in families waiting their turn. there was no weeping and wailing as there is when the irish leave their shores. these people looked scared by the bustle of departure, and concerned for the little children with them, and for their poor bundles of clothes; but they did not seem unhappy. in the luggage bureau itself you came across the emigrant upsides with fortune, the successful business german returning to america after a summer holiday in his native land, and speaking the most hideously corrupt and vulgar english ever heard. the most harsh and nasal american is heavenly music compared with nasal american spoken by a german tongue. the great ship was crowded with people of this type, and the resources of europe could hardly supply them with the luxuries they wanted. we had a special train next day to cuxhaven, and an army of blue-coated white-gloved stewards to meet us on the platform, and a band to play us on board. our private rooms were hung with pale blue silk and painted with white enamel and furnished with satin-wood; the passages had marble floors; there were quantities of flowers everywhere, and books, and the electric light. in fact, it was the luxurious floating hotel a modern liner must be to entice such people as those i saw in the luggage bureau to travel in it. the meals were most elaborate and excellent; and i feel sure that any royal family happening to travel incognito on the ship would have been satisfied with them. but my neighbours at table were not. "we shall not dine down here again," said one of them, speaking with the twang i have described. "after to-night we shall have all our meals in the ritz restaurant." i looked at her reflectively, and next day after breakfast i stood on the bridge and looked at the other emigrants. the women were singing an interminable droning mass, the men sat about on sacks and played cards, the bare-footed children scuttled to and fro. "one day some of these people will come back in a _luxus_ cabin," said a german acquaintance to me. "and they will dine in the ritz restaurant, because our dinner is not good enough for them," i prophesied. directly we got to dover every feature of our arrival helped us to feel at home. there was a batch of large good-natured looking policemen, whose function i cannot explain, but it was agreeable to see them again. there was no order or organisation of any kind to protect and annoy you. the authorities had thoughtfully painted the letters of the alphabet on the platform where the luggage was deposited, and you were supposed to find your own trunks in front of your own letter. i, full of german ideas still, waited a weary time near my letter. "you'll never get them that way," said an english friend. "you'd much better go to the end of the platform and pick them out as you can." so i went, and found a huge pile of luggage pitched anyhow, anywhere, and picked out my own, seized a porter, made him shoulder things, and followed him at risk to life and limb. all the luggage leaving dover was being tumbled about at our feet, and when we tried to escape it we fell over what had arrived. porters were rushing to and fro with trunks, just as disturbed ants do with eggs, but in this case it was the german passengers who felt disturbed. they were not used to such ways. when they had to duck under a rope to reach the waiting train they grew quite angry, and said they did not think much of the british empire. but there was worse to come for us all. breakfast on board had been early and a fog had delayed our arrival. we were all hungry and streamed into the refreshment room. we filled it. "what is there to eat?" said one. the young woman with the hauteur and detachment of her calling did not speak, but just glanced at a glass dish under a glass cover. there were two stale looking ham sandwiches. "well," says my englishman, when i tell him this true story--"we are not a greedy nation." "but how about the trunks that were not under their right letters?" i ask. "who in his senses wants to find trunks under letters?" says he. "the proper place for trunks is the end of the platform. then you can tear out of the train and find yours first and get off quickly. when you are all dragooned and drilled an ass comes off as well as anyone else. you place a premium on stupidity." "but that is an advantage to the ass," i say; "and in a civilised state why should the ass not have as good a chance as anyone else?" the argument that ensues is familiar, exhausting, and interminable. "an ass is an ass wherever he lives," says someone at last; and everyone is delighted to have a proposition put forward to which he can honestly agree. chapter xxiv peasant life the peasant proprietors of southern germany are a comfortable, prosperous class. "a rich peasant" begins your comic story as often as "a rich jew." the peasants own their farms and a bit of forest, as well as a vineyard or a hop garden. they never pretend to be anything but peasants; but when they can afford it they like to have a son who is a doctor, a schoolmaster, or a pastor. unless you have special opportunities you can only watch peasant life from outside in germany, for you could not stay in a bauernhaus as you would in a farmhouse in england. at least, you could not live with the family. in some of the summer resorts the peasants make money by furnishing bedrooms and letting them to _herrschaften_, but the _herrschaften_ have to get their meals at the nearest inn. the inner life of the peasant family is rougher than the inner life of the farmer's family in england, though their level of prosperity is as high, possibly higher. you cannot imagine the english farmer and his wife putting on costly and picturesque mediæval costumes every sunday and solemnly marching to church in them; but the german bauer still does this quite simply and proudly. in some parts of the black forest every valley has its own costume, so that you know where a man lives by the clothes he wears. there is one valley where all the girls are pretty, and on festive occasions or for church they wear charming transparent black caps with wings to them. there is another valley where the men are big-boned and blackavised, with square shaven chins and spare bodies, rather like our english legal type; and they go to church in scarlet breeches, long black velvet coats, and black three-cornered hats. their women-folk wear gay-coloured skirts and mushroom hats loaded with heavy poms-poms. in cassel there are most curious costumes to be seen still on high days and holidays; from berlin, people go to the spreewald to see the wendish peasants, and in bavaria there is still some colour and variety of costume. but everywhere you hear that these costumes are dying out. the new generation does not care to label itself, for it finds _städtische kleider_ cheaper and more convenient. the wendish girls seem to abide by the ways of their forefathers, for they go to service in berlin on purpose to save money for clothes. they buy or are presented with two or three costumes each year, and when they marry they have a stock that will last a lifetime and will provide them with the variety their pride demands. for they like to have a special rig-out for every occasion, and a great many changes for church on sundays. in catholic germany a procession on a saint's day seems to have stepped down from a stained-glass window, the women's gowns are so vivid and their bodies so stiff and angular. but to see the german peasantry in full dress you must go to a _kirchweih_, a dance, or a wedding. you can hardly be in germany in summer without seeing something of peasants' weddings, and of the elaborate rites observed at them. different parts of the empire have different ways, and even in one district you will find much variety. we saw several peasant weddings in the black forest one summer, and no two were quite alike. sometimes when we were walking through the forest we met a _brautwagen_: the great open cart loaded with the furniture and wedding presents the bride was taking as part of her dowry to her new home. it would be piled with bedding, wooden bedsteads, chests of drawers, and pots and pans; and gay-coloured ribbons would be floating from each point of vantage. sometimes the bridal pair was with the cart, the young husband in his wedding clothes walking beside the horse, the bride seated amongst her possessions. sometimes a couple of men in working clothes, probably the bridegroom and a friend, were carrying the things beforehand, so that the new home should be ready directly after the wedding. we happened to be staying in the black forest when our inn-keeper's daughter was going to marry a young doctor, the son of a rich peasant in a neighbouring valley, and we were asked to the wedding. our landlord ran two inns, the one in which we stayed and another a dozen miles away, which was managed by his wife and daughters. the wife's hotel was in a fashionable watering-place, and offered a smarter background for a wedding than the one in our out-of-the-world little town. it is the proper moment now for you to object that this could not have been a "peasant" wedding at all, and has no place in a picture of peasant life; and i concede that the bride and bridegroom, their parents, and certain of their friends all wore _städtische kleider_. the bride was in black silk, and the bridegroom in his professional black coat. but nearly all the guests were peasants, and wore peasant costume; and the heavy long-spun festivities were those usual at a peasant's wedding. we started with our bicycles at six o'clock in the morning, and soon found ourselves in a straggling procession of carts and pedestrians come from all the valleys round. the main road was like a road on a fair day. everyone knew that there was to be a _hochzeit_ at r., a big splendid _hochzeit_, and everyone who could afford the time and the money was going to eat and drink and dance at it. everyone was in a holiday mood, and all along the lovely forest road we exchanged greetings with our fellow-guests and gathered scraps of information about the feast we were on our way to join. every inn we passed had set out extra tables, and expected extra custom that day, and when we got to one within a mile of r. we found the garden crowded. people were ready by this time for their second breakfast, and were having it here before making their appearance at the wedding. we were hungry and thirsty ourselves, so we sat down under the shade of trees and ate _belegtes butterbrot_ and drank pilsener as our neighbours did. we arrived at r. just in time to remove the dust of the road, and then walk, as we found our hosts expected us to do, in the wedding procession. first came the bride and bridegroom, and then a long crocodile of bridesmaids, all wearing the curious high bead wreaths possessed by every village girl of standing in this part of germany. we witnessed the civil ceremony, but though i have been present at several german civil weddings i remember as little about them as about a visit to the english district council office where i have sometimes been to pay taxes. in both cases there is a bare room, an indifferent official, some production of official papers, and the thing is done. when the bride and bridegroom had been made legally man and wife they headed the waiting procession again, and proceeded to the church for the real, the religious ceremony. it was packed with people, and the service, which was catholic, lasted a long time. when it was over everyone streamed back to the hotel, and as soon as possible the _hochzeitsmahl_ began; but though we were politely bidden to it we politely excused ourselves, for we knew that the feast would last for hours and would be more than we could bear. till evening, they said, it would last, and there would be many speeches, and it was a broiling summer day. the guests we perceived to be a mixed company of peasants in costume, of inn-keepers and their families in ordinary clothes, and of university students in black coats who were removed from the peasantry by their education, but not by birth and affection. the invited guests sat down to dinner in the _speisesaal_, but the hotel garden was crowded with country people who paid for what they consumed. the dinner served to us and to others out here was an unusually good one, so we discovered that people who attend a wedding unasked get a spectacle, a dance, and extra fine food for their money. towards the end of the afternoon before we left r. we looked in at the ballroom, where dancing had begun already. at another peasant's wedding in the black forest we saw some quaint customs observed that were omitted at r. in this case the bride and bridegroom were themselves peasants, and wore the costume of their valley. the bride was said to be well endowed, but she was extremely plain. amongst german peasants, however, beauty hardly counts. what a woman is worth to a man, he reckons partly in hard cash and partly in the work she can do. there were two charmingly pretty girls in the bavarian village where we once spent a summer, but we were told that they had not the faintest chance of marriage, because, though they belonged to a respectable family, they were orphans and dowerless. auerbach's enchanting story of _barfüssele_, in which the village cinderella marries the rich peasant, is a fairy story and not a picture of real life. the feast at this second wedding we saw must have cost a good deal, for it was prepared at our hotel for a large crowd of guests and lasted for hours. it was an agitating wedding in some of its aspects. the day before we had been startled at irregular but frequent intervals by loud gunshots, and we were told that these were fired in welcome of the wedding guests as they arrived. when the bride appeared with her _brautwagen_ and an escort of young men there was a volley in her honour. we did not go to church to see that wedding, as we were not attracted by the bridal pair; but we watched the crowd from our windows, and as it was a wet day, endured the sounds of revelry that lasted for hours after the feast began. there was no dancing at this marriage, and as each batch of guests departed a brass band just outside our rooms played them a send-off. it was a jerky irritating performance, because the instant the object of their attentions disappeared round the turn of the hill they stopped short, and only began a new tune when there was a new departure. we were rather glad when the day came to an end. in the black forest you always know where there is a wedding, because two small fir trees are brought from the forest decked with flying coloured streamers of paper or ribbon, and set on either side of the bride's front door. the german peasant loves his pipe and his beer, and on a sunday afternoon his game of _kegel_; but on high days and holidays he likes to be dancing. he and she will trudge for miles to dance at some distant village inn. you meet them dressed in their best clothes, walking barefoot and carrying clean boots and stockings. how they can dance in tight boots after a long hot walk on a dusty road, you must be a german peasant yourself to understand. the dance i remember best took place in a barn belonging to a village inn in bavaria. i went with several english friends to look on at it, and the men of our party danced with some of the village girls. the room was only lighted by a few candles, and it was so crowded that while everyone was dancing everyone was hustled. but we were told that anyone who chose could "buy the floor" for a time by giving sixpence or a shilling to the band. two of the englishmen did this, and the crowd looked on in solemn approval while they waltzed once or twice round with the pretty granddaughters of our hosts. it was a scene i have often wished i could paint, the crowd was so dense, and the faces, from our point of view, so foreign. the candles only lifted the semi-darkness here and there, but where their light fell it flashed on the bright-coloured handkerchiefs which the women of this village twisted round their heads like turbans, and pinned across their bosoms. i think it is absurd, though, to say that german peasants dance well. they enjoy the exercise immensely, but are heavy and loutish in their movements, and they flounder about in a grotesque way with their hands on each other's shoulders. at a _kirchweih_ they dance in the open air. a _kirchweih_ is a feast to celebrate the foundations of the village church, and it takes the form of a fair. the preparations begin the day before, when the roundabouts and shooting booths are put up in the appointed field. on the day before the _kirchweih_ in our bavarian village i found the inn-keeper's wife cooking what we call berlin pancakes in a cauldron of boiling fat, the like of which i have never seen before or since for size. it must have held gallons. all day long she stood there throwing in the cinnamon flavoured batter, and taking out the little crisp brown balls. they are, it seems, a favourite dainty at a bavarian _kirchweih_, and must be provided in large quantities. on the fair field itself the food offered by the stall-keepers seemed to be chiefly enormous slabs of shiny gingerbread made in fanciful shapes, such as hearts, lyres, and garlands, cheap sweetmeats, and the small boiled sausages the artless german eats in public without a knife and fork. the _kirchweih_ is the chief event of the summer in a german village, and is talked of for weeks beforehand. the peasants stream in from all the villages near, and join in the dancing and the shooting matches. when the day is fine and the fair field has a background of wooded hills, you see where the librettists of pre-wagnerian days went for their stage effects. all the characters of many a german opera are there correctly dressed, joining in the songs and dances, shooting for wagers, making love, sometimes coming to blows. but you may look on at a _kirchweih_ from morning till night without seeing either horseplay or drunkenness. not that the german peasant is an opera hero in his inner life. he is a hard-working man, god-fearing on the whole, stupid and stolid often, narrowly shrewd often, having his eye on the main chance. when he is stupid but not god-fearing he dresses himself and his wife in their best clothes, puts his insurance papers in his pockets, sets his thatched house on fire, and goes for a walk. then he is surprised that he is caught and punished. fires are frequent in german villages, and in a high wind and where the roofs are of straw destruction is complete sometimes. you often come across the blackened remains of houses, and you always feel anxious about the new buildings that will replace them. it is a good deal to say, but i believe our own jerry-builders are outdone in florid vulgarity by german villadom, and the german atrocities will last longer than ours, because the building laws are more stringent. but the old _bauernhaus_ still to be seen in most parts of the black forest is dignified and beautiful. the swiss chalet is a poor gim-crack thing in comparison. sometimes the german house has a shingled roof, and sometimes a thatched roof dark with age, and it has drooping eaves and an outside staircase and balcony of wood. it shelters the farm cattle in the stables on the ground floor, and the family on the upper floor, and in the roof there are granaries. but the beautiful old thatched roofs are gradually giving place to the slate ones, because they burn so easily, and fire, when it comes, is the village tragedy. i can remember when a fire in a big german commercial town was proclaimed by a beating drum, the noisy parade of fire-men, the clanging of bells, and all the hullaballoo that panic and curiosity could make. but last year, in berlin, looking at houses like the tower of babel, i said something of fire, and was told that no one felt nervous nowadays, the arrangements for dealing with it were so complete. "people just look out of the window, see that there is a fire next door, or above or beneath them, and go about their business," said my hosts. "they know that the fire brigade will do their business and put it out." i did not see a fire in berlin, so i had no opportunity of witnessing the remarkable coolness of the berliner in circumstances the ordinary man finds trying; but i saw a fire in my bavarian village, and there were not many cool people there. the summons came in the middle of the night with the hoarse insistent clanging of the church bell, the sudden start into life of the sleeping village, the sounds in the house and in the street of people astir and terrified. then there came the brilliant reflection of the flames in the opposite windows, and the roar and crackle of fire no one at first knew where. it was only a barn after all, a barn luckily detached from other buildings. yet when we got into the street we found most of the population removing its treasures, as if danger was imminent. all the beds and chairs and pots and pans of the place seemed to be on the cobble-stones, and the women wailed and the children wept. "but the village is not on fire," we said. "it may be at any moment," they assured us, and were scandalised by our cold-bloodedness. for we had not carted our trunks into the street, but hastened towards the burning barn to see if we could help the men and boys carrying water. the weather was still and the barn isolated, so we knew there was no danger of the fire spreading. but the villagers were too excitable and too panic-stricken to be convinced of this. all their lives they had dreaded fire, and when the flames broke out so near them they thought that their houses were doomed. next to fire the german peasant hates beggars and gipsies. we were six months in the black forest and only met one beggar the whole time, and he was a decent-looking old man who seemed to ask alms unwillingly. but in some parts of germany there are a great many most unpleasant-looking tramps. the village council puts up a notice that forbids begging, and has a general fund from which it sends tramps on their way. but it does not seem able to deal with the caravans of gipsies that come from hungary and bohemia. in a thuringian village we came down one morning to find our inn locked and barricaded as if a riot was expected, and an attack. even the shutters were drawn and bolted. "_was ist denn los?_" we asked in amazement, and were told that the gipsies were coming. "but will they do you any harm?" we asked. "they will steal all they can lay hands on," our landlady assured us. she was a widow, and her brewer, the only man in her employ, was, we supposed, standing guard over his own house. we thought the panic seemed extreme, but we had never encountered hungarian gipsies on the warpath, and we did not know how many were coming. so, after assuring our excited little frau that we would stand by her as well as we could, we went to an upper window to watch for the enemy. presently the procession began, a straggling procession of the dirtiest, meanest-looking ruffians ever seen. there was waggon after waggon, swarming with ragamuffins of both sexes and all ages. the men were mostly on foot, casting furtive glances to right and left, evident snappers-up of unconsidered trifles, truculent, ragged, wearing evil-looking knives by their sides. during their transit the village had shut itself up, as coventry did for godiva's ride. when we all ventured forth again the talk was of missing poultry and rifled fruit trees. the geese had luckily started for their day on the high pastures before the bad folk came; for in a german village there is always a gooseherd. sometimes it is a little boy or girl, sometimes an old woman, and early in the morning whoever has the post collects the whole flock, drives it to a chosen feeding ground, spends the day there, and brings it back at night. it must be a contemplative life, and in dry weather pleasant. i think it would suit a philosopher if he could choose his days. in our franconian village the gooseherd was a little boy, vastly proud of his job. every morning, long before we were up, he would stride past our windows piping the same tune, and at the sound of it every goose in the village would waddle out from her night quarters and join the cackling fussy crowd at his heels. every evening as dusk fell he came back again, still piping the same tune, and then the geese would detach themselves in little groups from the main body and find their own homes as surely as cows do. every rural district of germany has its own novelist. fritz reuter, frenssen, rosegger, sudermann all write of country life in the places they know best. in hauptmann's beautiful plays you see the peasant through a veil of poetry and mysticism. auerbach, i am told, is out of fashion. his stories end well mostly, his construction one must admit is childish, and his characters change their natures with the suddenness of a thunderbolt to suit his plot. yet when i have _sehnsucht_ for germany, and cannot go there in reality, i love to go in fancy where auerbach leads. he takes you to a house in the black forest, and you sit at breakfast with the family eating _haferbrei_ out of one bowl. you know the people gathered there as well as if you had been with them all the summer, and you know them now in winter time when the roads are deep in snow and a wolf is abroad in the forest. the story i am thinking of was published in , and i believe that there are no wolves now in the black forest. but as far as one outside peasant life can judge, i doubt whether anything else has changed much. you hear the history of the _grossbauer_, the rich farmer of the district whose breed is as strong and daring as the breed of the volsungs. seven years ago the only son and heir of this forest magnate, adam röttman, loved a poor girl called martina, and their child joseph is now six years old. adam is still faithful to martina, but his parents will not consent to their marriage, and insists on betrothing him to an heiress as rich as he will be, heidenmüller's toni. the whole village looks on at the romance and sides with martina; for adam's mother, _die wilde röttmännin_, is one of those stormy viragoes i myself have met amongst german women. she masters her husband and son with her temper. she is so rich that she has more _schmalz_ than she can use, and so mean that she would rather let it go bad than give it to the poor. at midnight, when the roads are deep in snow, she sends for the _pfarrer_, and when he risks his life and goes because he thinks she is dying, he finds she is merely bored and wanted his company; for she has been used to think that she could tyrannise over all men because she was richer and more determined than most. next day she gets up, orders her husband and son to put on sunday clothes, and well wrapped up in _betten_ drives with them to the _heidenmühle_, where adam is formally betrothed to toni. the girl knows all about martina, but she consents because she would marry anyone to escape from her stepmother, who treats her cruelly, and in order to hurt her feelings has given her mother's cup to the _knecht_. after the betrothal the two fathers sit together and drink hot spiced wine, the two mothers gossip together, and the _brautpaar_ talk sadly about martina, who should be adam's wife, and joseph who is his child. at last adam could bear it no longer. he would go straight to martina, he said, and he would be with toni again before the christmas tree was lighted; and then he would either break with toni or feel free to marry her. "the bride stared at adam with amazement as he put on his grey cloak and his fur cap and seized his pointed stick. he looked both handsome and terrible." for he is one of the heroes germans love, a giant who once held a bull by its horns while martina escaped from it, who is called the _gaul_, because for a wager he once carried the cart and the load a cart horse should have carried, and who on this wild winter night meets the wolf in the forest and kills it with his stick. so you see him striding through the snow-bound forest to the village where martina lives, dragging the wolf after him, as strong as siegfried, as credulous as a child, ready to believe that the voices of his father and his child both looking for him in the snow are witches' voices. but when he gets to the village he finds that his child, so long disowned and disregarded, is really lost, and is looking for him in the snow. the hatter who tramps from village to village hung with hats met him, and tried to turn him back. but the child said he had come out to find his father, and must go on. then every man in the village assembles at the _pfarrhaus_, and, led by the _pfarrer's_ brother-in-law (an eventual husband for heidenmüller's toni), sets out to find joseph in the snow. before they start adam vows before the whole community that whether the child is alive or dead nothing shall ever part him again from martina, and when he has made this vow you see the whole company depart in various directions carrying torches, ladders, axes, and long ropes. meanwhile the child, after some alarms and excursions, meets three angels (children masquerading), who take him with them to the mill where toni has just lighted the christmas tree. she rescues joseph from _die wilde röttmännin_, and that same night, her father dying of his carouse, she becomes a rich heiress and free of her wicked stepmother. joseph's hostile grandfathers, after a fight in the snow, make friends, the obliging _pfarrer_ marries adam and martina at midnight, and soon after the _wilde röttmännin_ who will not be reconciled leaves this world. so everyone who deserves happiness gets it. but though you only half believe in the story you have been in the very heart of the black forest, the companion of its people, the observer of their most intimate talk and ways. you have heard the women gossip at the well, you have made friends with leegart the seamstress, who believes that quite against her will she is gifted with supernatural powers. there is häspele, too, who made joseph his new boots, and would marry martina if he could; and there is david, the father of martina, who was hardly kept from murdering his daughter when she came home in disgrace, and whose grandson becomes the apple of his eye. the whole picture of these people is vivid and enchanting, touched with quaint detail, veined with the tragedy of their lives, glowing with the warm human qualities that knit them to each other. the south german loves to tell you that his country is _ein gesegnetes land_, a blessed country, flowing with milk and honey; and whether you are reading auerbach's peasant stories or actually staying amongst his peasant folk, you get this impression of their natural surroundings. nature is kind here, grows forest for her people on the hill-tops, and wine, fruit and corn in her sheltered valleys, ripens their fruit in summer, gives them heavy crops of hay, and sends soft warm rain as well as sun to enrich their pastures. in the eastern provinces of germany the conditions of life amongst the poor are most unhappy. here the land belongs to large proprietors, and until modern times the people born on the land belonged to the landlords too. no man could leave the village where he was born without permission, and he had to work for his masters without pay. even in the memory of living men the whip was quite commonly used. in her most interesting account of a silesian village,[ ] gertrud dyhrenfurth says that the present condition of the peasantry in this region compares favourably with former times, but she admits that they are still miserably overworked and underpaid. they are no longer legally obliged to submit to corporal punishment, nor can they be forced to live where they were born, and as they emigrate in large numbers, scarcity of labour has brought about slightly improved conditions for those remaining. but a man's wage is still a mark a day in summer and pf. in winter. a woman earns pf. in summer and pf. in winter. besides receiving these wages, a family regularly employed lives rent free and gets a fixed amount of coal, and at harvest time some corn and brandy. you cannot say the family has a house or cottage to itself, because the system is to build long bare-looking barracks in which numbers of working families herd like rabbits in a warren. in modern times each family has a kitchen to itself, so there is one warm room where the small children can be kept alive. in former times there was a general kitchen, and in the rooms appointed to each family no heating apparatus; therefore, if the children were not to die of cold, they had to be carried every morning to the kitchen, where there was a fire. the present plan has grave disadvantages, as in one room the whole family has to sleep, eat, wash, and cook for themselves and for the animals in their care. the furniture consists of two or three bedsteads with straw mattresses and feather plumeaux, shelves for pots and pans, a china cupboard with glass doors, a table in the window, and wooden benches with backs. this installation is quite luxurious compared with that of a milkmaid's or a stablemaid's surroundings sixty or seventy years ago. "her home consisted of a plank slung from the stable roof and furnished with a sack of straw and a plumeau. her small belongings were in a little trunk in a wooden niche, her clothes in a chest that stood in the garret." here is the life history of an unmarried working woman of eighty-six born in a silesian village. when she left school she was apprenticed to a thrasher, with a yearly wage of four thalers, besides two chemises and two aprons as a christmas present. even in those days this money did not suffice for clothing, although even in winter the women wore no warm under-garments. quite unprotected, they waded up to the middle in snow.... in summer the girl was in the barn and at work by dawn; in winter they threshed by artificial light. a bit of bread taken in the pocket served as breakfast. the first warm meal was taken at midday. when the farm work was finished there was spinning to do till o'clock. this woman "bettered herself" as she grew older till she was earning thalers (£ , s. d.) a year; she accustomed herself to live on this sum, and when wages increased, to put by the surplus. so in her old age she is a capitalist, has saved enough for a decent funeral, for certain small legacies, and for such an amazing luxury as a tin foot-warmer. the family she faithfully served for so many years allows her coal, milk and potatoes, and when necessary pays for doctor and medicine. her weekly budget is as follows-- pf. rent bread rolls __ carried forward pf. brought forward ¼ lb. butter ¼ lb. coffee and chicory sugar lb. flour salt light washing ------ m. ====== meat is of course out of the question, and in discussing another budget fräulein dyhrenfurth shows that a family of eight people could only afford three quarters of a pound a week. their yearly expenses amounted to m. pf., so each one of the eight had to be fed and clothed for about s. d. a week. women are still terribly overworked in the fields. they used to begin at four o'clock in the morning, and go on till nine at night,--a working day, that is, of seventeen hours for a wife and the mother of a family. when the family at the mansion had the great half-yearly wash, the village women called in to help began at midnight, and stood at the washtub till eight o'clock next evening, twenty hours, that is, on end. in the working day was shortened, and only lasts now from five in the morning till seven at night, with a two hours' pause for dinner and shorter pauses for breakfast and vesper. but, on the other hand, women do work now that only men did in former times. the threshing of corn has fallen entirely into their hands, and they follow a plough yoked with oxen. both kinds of work are heavy and unpleasant. but women are glad to get the threshing in winter time when other work fails, and it is often on this account that the proprietors do not introduce threshing machines. at certain times of the year poles swarm over the frontier into the eastern provinces of germany, but fräulein dyhrenfurth says that they do not work for lower wages. the women have no house-keeping to do, and can therefore give more hours to field labour. one woman prepares a meal for a whole gang of her country people, and they live almost entirely on bread, potatoes, and brandy. they do not mix with the germans, but spend their evenings and sundays in playing the harmonium, dancing, and drinking. they return every year, are always foreigners in germany, and are very industrious, religious, contented, and cheerful, but inclined to drink and fight. footnotes: [ ] _ein schlesisches dorf und rittergut_, von gertrud dyhrenfurth. leipzig, duncker und humblot. chapter xxv how the poor live poverty in german cities puts on a more respectable face than it does in london or manchester. it herds in the cellars and courtyards of houses that have an imposing frontage; and when it walks out of doors it does not walk in rags. but you only have to look at the pinched faces of the children in the poorer quarters of any city to know that it is there. they are tidier and cleaner than english slum children, but they make you wish just as ardently that you were the pied piper and could pipe them all with you to a land of plenty. it would require more experience and wider facts than i possess to compare the condition of the poor in england and germany, especially as the professed economists and philanthropists who make it their business to understand such things disagree with each other about every detail. if you talk to englishmen, one will tell you that the german starves on rye bread and horse sausage because he is oppressed by an iniquitous tariff; and the next will assure you that the german flourishes and fattens on the high wages and prosperous trade he owes entirely to his admirable protective laws. if you talk to the anglophobe, he will tell you that the dirt, drunkenness, disease, and extravagance of the english lower classes are the sin and scandal of the civilised world; that it is useless for you to ask where the poor live in berlin, because there are no poor. everyone in germany is clean, virtuous, well housed, and well-to-do. if you talk to an honest, reasonable german, he will recognise that each country has its own difficulties and its own shortcomings, and that both countries make valiant efforts to fight their own dragons. he will tell you of the suffering that exists amongst the german poor crowded into these houses with the imposing fronts, and of all that statecraft and philanthropy are patiently trying to accomplish. doctor shadwell, in his most valuable and interesting book _industrial efficiency_, says that the american has to pay twice as much rent as the english working man, and that rents in germany are nearer the american than the english level. as wages are lower in germany than in england, and as meat and groceries are decidedly dearer, it is plain that the working man cannot live in clover. doctor shadwell gives an example of a smith earning marks, and having to pay for rent. he had a wife and two children, and doctor shadwell reckoned that the family to make two ends meet must live on pf. per head per day; the prison scale per head being pf. i know a respectable german charwoman who earns marks a month, and pays marks a month for her parterre flat in the _hof_. she lets off all her rooms except the kitchen, and she sleeps in a place that is only fit for a coal-hole. a work-girl pays her marks a month for a clean tidy bedroom furnished with a solid wooden bedstead, a chest of drawers, a sofa, and a table. this girl works from . to in a shop, she pays the charwoman pf. for her breakfast, pf. weekly for her lamp, and another pf. for the use and comfort of the kitchen fire at night. her dinner of soup, meat, and vegetables the girl gets at a _privatküche_ for pf. so the workgirl's weekly expenses for food, fire, and lodging are marks pf., but this does not give her an evening meal or afternoon coffee. the charwoman reckoned that she herself only had marks a month for food, fire, light, and clothes; but she got nearly all her food with the families for whom she worked. she was a cheerful, honest body, and though she slept in a coal-hole was apparently quite healthy. she looked forward to her old age with tranquillity, because before long she would be in receipt of a pension from the state, a weekly sum that with her habits of thrift and industry would enable her to live. a german lady who chooses to teach in a _volksschule_, because she thinks the _volk_ more interesting than higher daughters, described a home to me from which one of her pupils came. the parents had eight children, and the family of ten lived in two rooms. that is a state of things we can match in england, unhappily. but my friend described this home, not on account of its misery, but for the extraordinary neatness and comfort the mother maintained in it. "every time i go there," said my friend, who lived with her father and sister in a charming flat,--"every time i go there i say to the woman, if only it looked like this in my home"; and there was no need for me to see the rooms to understand what she meant; for i know the air of order and even of solidity with which the poorest germans will surround themselves if they are respectable. they have very few pieces of furniture, but those few will stand wear and tear; they prefer a clean painted floor to a filthy carpet, and they are so poor that they have no pence to spend on plush photograph frames. i cannot remember what weekly wage this family existed on, but i know that it seemed quite inadequate, and when i asked if the children were healthy as well as clean and tidy, my friend admitted that they were not. in spite of the brave struggle made by the parents, it was impossible to bring up a large family on such means, and the maladies arising from insufficient food, fire, and clothing afflicted them. the case is, i think, a typical one. english people are always impressed when they visit german cities by the tidy clothes poor people wear, and if they are shown the right interiors, by their clean tidy homes. but you need most carefully and widely collected facts and figures to judge how far the children of a nation are suffering from poverty. it was found, for instance, in one german city, that out of children examined in the elementary schools, per cent. of the girls and per cent. of the boys were _nicht völlig normal_. moreover, there are whole classes of poor people in germany whose homes are not tidy and comfortable, who are crowded into cellars and courtyards, and who have neither time nor strength for the decencies of life. the "sweater" flourishes in berlin as well as in london, and his victims are as overworked as they are here. he is usually a jew, it is said in berlin, but i will not guarantee the truth of that, for i have not observed that the jew is anywhere a harder task-master than the christian. as berlin grew, these spiders of society increased in numbers, finding it easy and profitable to employ home workers and spare themselves the expenses of factories and of insurance. women who could not go out to work were tempted by the chance offered them of earning a trifle at home, and woman-like never paused to reckon whether it was worth earning. as the city gets larger every evil connected with the system increases. the worst paid are naturally the incompetent rough peasant women who swarm into berlin from the country districts, because they think that it will be easier to sit at a machine than to labour in the fields. these people have to buy their machines and their cotton at high prices from their employers, and then they get pf. for making a blouse. a lady who spends her life in working amongst poor people told me that many of them worked for nothing in reality, because the trifle they earned only just paid the difference between the food they had to buy ready cooked and the food they might with more leisure prepare at home. they pay high rents for wretched homes, £ , for instance, for a kitchen and one room in a dark courtyard. under £ it is impossible to get anything in the poorest quarter of berlin. "the house itself looked respectable enough from outside," says frau buchholz, when she went to see a girl who had just married a poor man; "but oh! those steep narrow stairs that i had to mount, those wretched entrances on each floor, the miserable door handles, the sickly bluish-grey walls, the shaky banisters! it was easy to see that the outside had been devised with a view to investors, and the inside for poverty." in houses of this class there are often three courtyards, one behind each other, all noisy and badly kept. the conditions of life in such circumstances are no better than in our own notorious slums, but a slum seven storeys high, and presenting a decent front to the world, does not suggest the real misery behind its regular row of windows, nor does the quiet well-swept street give any picture of the rabbit warren in the courtyards at the back. in the enormous "confection" trade of berlin the home-workers are nearly all widows and mothers of families, as the unmarried girls prefer to go to factories. a skilled hand can earn a fair wage at certain seasons of the year, as the demand for skilled work in this department always exceeds the supply. but the average wage of the unskilled worker is only marks a week, while it sinks as low as marks for petticoats, aprons, and woollen goods. a corset maker, who has learned her trade, can only make from to marks a week in a factory, while a woman who sits at home and covers umbrellas gets mark pf. _a dozen_ when the coverings are of stuff, and slightly more when they are of silk. the extreme poverty of these home-workers is a constant subject of inquiry and legislation, but for various reasons it is most difficult to combat. the market is always over-crowded, because, badly paid as it is, the work is popular. women push into it from the middle classes for the sake of pocket-money, and from the agrarian classes because they fancy a city life. efforts are being made to organise them, and especially to train the daughters of these women to more healthy and profitable trades. i went over a small _volksküche_ in berlin, and was told that there were many like it established by various charitable agencies, and that the effect of them was to make the children ready to go into service; a life that has some drawbacks, but should at any rate be wholesome and civilising,--a better preparation for marriage, too, than to sit like a slattern over a machine all day, and buy scraps of expensive ready-made food, because both time and skill are wanting for anything more palatable. in the kitchen i visited there were sixteen children from the poorest families in the neighbourhood, and, assisted by a superintendent and two teachers, they were preparing a dinner that cost pf. a head for people. the rooms were clean and plainly furnished. a small laundry business was run in connection with the kitchen, so that the girls should be thoroughly trained to wash and iron as well as to cook. of late years the working classes of berlin have adopted what they call _englische tischzeit_, and no one who knows the ways of the english artisan will guess that the german means _late dinner_. he now does his long day's work, i am told, on bread alone, and has the one solid meal in the twenty-four hours when he gets home at night. _durch arbeiten_, he calls it, and people interested in the welfare of the poor say it is bad for all concerned, but especially bad for the children, who come in too exhausted to eat, and for the women, who have to cook and clean up when the day's business should be nearly done. it is quite characteristic of some kinds of modern germans that they should in a breath condemn us, imitate us, and completely misunderstand our ways. the business women of germany have organised themselves. _der kaufmännische verband für weibliche angestellte_ was founded by herr julius meyer in , and, beginning with members, numbered , in . its aim has been to improve the conditions of life for women working in shops and businesses, to carry on their education, and to help them when ill or out of work. it began by opening commercial schools for women, where they could receive a thorough training in book-keeping, shorthand, typewriting, and other branches of office work. these have been a great success, have been imitated all over germany, and have led to an expansion of the law enforcing on girls attendance at the state continuation schools. the society was founded to remedy some crying abuses amongst women employed in shops and offices, a working day of seventeen hours, for instance, dismissal without notice, no rest on sundays, no summer holiday, and not only a want of seats but an actual prohibition to sit down even when unemployed. all these matters the society, which has become a powerful one, has gradually set right. a ten-hours' day for grown-up women, and eight hours for those under age, the provision of seats, an o'clock closing rule, a month's notice on either side, some hours of rest on sunday, and a summer holiday are all secured to members of the organisation. the system of "living in" does not obtain in germany. shops may only open for five hours on sundays now, and large numbers do not open at all. they may only keep open after ten on twenty days in the year. other reforms the society hopes to bring about in time; and meanwhile it occupies itself both in finding work for members who are out of place, and in protecting those who are sick and destitute. the ladies of germany have taken to philanthropic work with characteristic energy and thoroughness. there is one society in berlin that has members, some of whom devote their whole time to their poor neighbours. i am not going to give the name of the society; so i may describe one of its secretaries, who personified the best modern type of german woman. she was about , a dark-haired, slim, serious-looking person with delicate jewish features and beautiful grey eyes; a girl belonging to the wealthy classes, and able if she had chosen to lead a life of frivolity and pleasure. but she had chosen instead to give herself to the sick, the afflicted, the needy, and even to the sinning; for she was a moving spirit of the organisation that dives down into the depths of the great city, and rescues those who have gone under. her society also does a great deal for the children of the very poor, not only for babies in crêches, but for those who go to school. the members help these older ones with their school work, and when the children are free teach them to wash, cook, and sew, and to play open-air games. they teach the blind, they look after the deserted families of men in prison, and the older members act as guardians to illegitimate children; for in germany every illegitimate child must have a guardian, and women are now allowed to act in this capacity. the secretary said they found no difficulty in getting both married and single women to take up these good works. "what do the parents say when their daughters take it up?" i asked, for i could not picture the german girl as i had always known her going out into the highways and byways of the city, leaving her cooking, her music, her embroidery, and her sentiment, and battling with the hideous realities of life amongst the sick, the poor, and the more or less wicked of the earth. "the parents don't like it," my girl with the honest eyes admitted. "when girls have worked for us some time they often refuse to marry; at least, they refuse the arranged marriages proposed to them. but we cannot stop on that account. if a girl does not wish to marry in this way it is better that she should not. no good can come of it." then she went on to tell me how well it was that a child born to utmost shame and poverty should have a woman of the better classes interested from the beginning in its welfare, and responsible for its decent upbringing. it implied contact with various officials, of course, but she said that the ladies who took this work in hand met with courtesy and support everywhere. you have only to place this type of young woman beside the _backfisch_, who represents an older type quite fairly, to understand how far the modern german girl has travelled from the traditional lines. if you can imagine the _backfisch_ married and mentally little altered in her middle age, you can also imagine that she would find a daughter with the new ideas upsetting. at present both types are living side by side, for there are still numbers of women of the old school in germany, women who passively accept the life made for them by their surroundings, whether it suits their needs or not; and who would never strike out a path for themselves, even if by doing so they could forget their own troubles in the troubles of others. the state and municipal establishments for the poor and sick have been so much described lately, that everyone in england must be acquainted with all that berlin does for its struggling citizens. there are, of course, large hospitals and sanatoriums for consumption; and the admirable system of national insurance secures help in sickness to every working man and woman, as well as a pension in old age. "the club doctor and dispensary as we have them here do not exist," say the birmingham brassworkers in their pamphlet. "in their stead leading doctors and specialists (with very few exceptions) are at the service of the working man or woman." "yes," said a leading doctor to me when i quoted this; "we get about three half-pence for a consultation, and we find them the most impossible people in the community to satisfy. as they get medical advice for nothing they run from one doctor to another, and consult a dozen about some simple ailment that a student could set right. we all suffer from them." so that is the other side of the question. but berlin certainly manages its submerged tenth both more humanely and more wisely than we manage ours. it begins, as one thinks any civilised country must, by separating those who will not work from those who cannot. the able-bodied beggar, the drunkard, and other vagrants are sent to a house of correction and made to work. the respectable poor are not driven to herd with these people in germany. they receive shelter and assistance at institutions reserved for the deserving. in one of these old married people who cannot support themselves are allowed to spend the evening of their lives together. anyone desiring to know more about the charitable institutions of berlin will find a most interesting account of them in the pamphlet written by the birmingham brassworkers, and published by p.s. king & son. the bias of the authors is so strongly german that when you have read to the end you begin to lean in the opposite direction, and look for the things we manage better over here. "in ," they say, "there was such a shortage of houses (in berlin) that families had to be sheltered in the municipal refuge for homeless people." that is surely a worse state of affairs than in london. but when you walk through london or a london suburb in winter, and are pestered at every crossing and corner by able-bodied young beggars of both sexes, you begin to agree with the brassworkers. berlin is clear of beggars and crossing-sweepers all the year round, and you know that as far as possible they are classified and treated according to their deserts. it is not possible for the individual bent on his own business to know at a glance whether he will encourage vice by giving alms or behave brutally to a deserving case by withholding them. the decision should never be forced upon him as it is in england every day of his life. chapter xxvi berlin once upon a time a german got hold of aladdin's lamp, and he summoned the djinn attendant on the lamp. "build me a city of broad airy streets," he bade him, "and where several streets meet see that there is an open place set with trees and statues and fountains." all the houses, even those that the poor inhabit, are to be big and white and shining, like palaces; but the real palaces where princes shall live may be plain and grey. there are to be pleasure grounds in the midst of the city, but they are to be woods rather than parks, because even you and the lamp cannot make grass grow in this soil and climate. in the pleasure grounds, and especially on either side of one broad avenue, there are to be sculptured figures of kings and heroes, larger than life and as white as snow. the djinn said it would be easy to build the city in a night as the german desired, but that the sculpture could not be hurried in this way, because artists would have to make it, and artists were people who would not work to order or to time. the german, however, said he was master of the lamp, and that the city must be ready when he wanted it early next morning. so the djinn set to work and got the city ready in a night, sculpture and all. but when he had finished he had not used half the figures and garlands and other stone ornaments he had made. if he had been in england he might have reduced them in size, and given them to an italian hawker to carry about on his head on a tray. but he knew that hawkers would not be allowed in the city he had built. so, as he was rather tired and anxious to be done, he quickly made one more long, broad street stretching all the way from the pleasure ground in the centre of the city to the forest that begins where the city ends; and on every house in the street he put figures and garlands and gilded balconies and ornamental turrets, as many as he could. the effect when he had finished pleased him vastly, and he said it was the finest street in the city, and should be called the _kurfürstendamm_. his master and all the germans who came to live in it agreed with him. they gave large rents for a flat in one of the houses, and when they went to london and saw the smoky dwarfish houses there they came away as quickly as possible and rubbed their hands and were happy, and said to each other, "how beautiful is our _kurfürstendamm_. we have as many turrets as we have chimneys, and we have garlands on our balconies of green or gilded iron, and some of us have angelic figures made of red brick, so that the angelic faces are checked with white where the bricks are joined together." "but it does not become anyone from england to criticise the architecture and sculpture of a foreign country," i said to the artist who told me the story of the lamp. "our own is notoriously bad." "it is not you who will criticise ours," he answered. "by your own confession, you know nothing whatever of architecture and sculpture, and when people know nothing they should either keep silence or ask for information in the best quarter. you have my authority for saying that the architects and sculptors of berlin would have been better employed building dog-kennels." "but i rather like your wide cheerful streets," i objected, "and your tall clean houses. our houses...." "your houses are little black boxes in which people eat and sleep. they do not pretend to anything. ours pretend to be beautiful, and are ridiculous. moreover, in england there are men who can build beautiful houses. you do not employ them much. you prefer your ugly little boxes. but they are there. i know their names and their work." "but what do you think of our statues?" i asked him. "i don't think of them," he said; "i prefer to think of something pleasant. when i am in london i spend every hour i have at the docks." "i like the _sieges-allee_," i said boldly,--"it is so clean and cheerful." "it was made for people who look at sculpture from that point of view," said my friend. i hardly know where an artist finds inspiration in the streets of berlin. it really makes the impression of a city that has sprung up in a night, and that is kept clean by invisible forces. the great breadth of the streets, the avenues of trees everywhere, and the many open places make it pleasant; but you look in vain for the narrow lanes and gabled houses still to be found in other german towns, and you are not surprised when americans compare it with chicago, because it is so new and busy. it is indeed the city of the modern german spirit, and what it has of old tradition and old social life lies beneath the surface, hidden from the eye of the stranger. there is sans-souci, to be sure, and frederick the great, and the grosser kurfürst. there is the double line of princes on either side of the _sieges-allee_. but modern berlin dates from , and so do all good berliners, whatever their age may be. they are proud of their young empire and of their big city, and of doing everything in the best possible way. there is unceasing flux and growth in berlin, so that descriptions written a few years ago are as out of date as these impressions must be soon. for instance, i had counted steadfastly on finding three things there that i cannot find at home: first and second-class cabs, hordes of soldiers everywhere, and policemen who would run a sword through you if you looked at them; and of all these i was more or less disappointed. i did get hold of a second-class cab on my arrival in berlin, but it nearly came to pieces on the way, and i never saw another during my stay there. the cabs are all provided with the taximeter now, so that the fare knows to a fraction what is due to the driver; and the drivers are of the first class, and wear white hats. anyone who wished to see a second-class cab would have to make inquiries, and find a stand where some still languish, but before long the last of them will probably be preserved in a museum. cabs are not much used in berlin, because communication by the electric cars is so well organised. the whole population travels by them, the whole city is possessed by them. if it is to convey a true impression, a description of berlin should run to the moan of them as they glide everlastingly to and fro. you can hardly escape their noise, and not for long their sight. even the tiergarten, the hyde park of berlin, is traversed by them, which is as it should be in a municipal republic. this is what the germans call their city, for they are not conscious themselves of living under an autocracy or of being in any sense of the word less free than, let us say, the english, a point of view most puzzling to an english person, who is conscious from the moment he crosses the german frontier of being governed for his good. but it is pleasant on a summer morning to be carried through the shady avenues of the tiergarten in an open car, whether it is an autocracy or a republic that arranges it for you; and you reflect that in this and a thousand other ways germany is an agreeable country even if it is not a free one; especially for "the people" who have small means, and are able to drive through the chief pleasure ground of their city for a penny. the conductors of the cars are obliged to announce the name of the next halting-place, so that passengers alighting may get up in time and step off directly, but on no account before the car stops. nothing is left to chance or muddle in berlin, and unless you are a born fool you cannot go astray. if you are a born fool you ask a policeman, as you would at home, and find another dear illusion shattered. he does not draw his sword, he is neither gruff nor disobliging. he greets you with the military salute, and calls you gracious lady. then he answers your question if he can. if not he gets out the little guide book he carries, and patiently hunts up the street or the building you want. he is usually a good-natured rosy faced young man with a fair moustache, and he will do anything in the world for you except control the traffic. that with the best will in the world he cannot do. so he stands in the midst of it and smiles. sometimes he sits amidst it on a horse and looks solemn. but he never impresses himself on it. there is a story of a policeman who went to london to learn from our men what to do, and who bemoaned his fate when he got back. "i hold up my hand in just the same way," he said, "and then the people run and the horses run, and there's a smash and i get put in prison." the berliners themselves say that they are not accustomed yet, as we have been for years, to regard the police as their well-liked and trusted servants, and to obey their directions willingly. however this may be, there is at present only one safe way of getting to the opposite side of a busy street in berlin, and that is to wait till a crowd gathers and charges across it in a bunch like a swarm of bees. berlin is never asleep, and it is as light by night as by day. it is much pleasanter for a woman without escort to come out of the theatre there than in london. she will find crowds of respectable people with her, and they will not depart in their own cabs and carriages. they will crowd into the electric cars, and she must know which car she wants and crowd with them. the worst that can happen to her will be to find her car over-crowded, and in that case she must not expect a man to give her his seat. i have seen a young german lady make an old lady take her place, but i have never known men yield their seats to women. you do not see as many private carriages in berlin in a week as you do in some parts of london in an hour. even in front of the opera house very few will be in waiting; and there is no fashionable hour for riding and driving in the tiergarten. i know too little about horses to judge of those that were being ridden, or driven in private carriages; but the miserable beasts in cabs and carts force the most ignorant person to observe and pity them. they look as if they were on their way to the knacker's yard, and very often as if they must sink beneath the load they are compelled to carry. it is comforting to reflect that horses will doubtless soon be too old-fashioned for berlin, and that all the cabs and vans of the future will be motors. the cars run early enough in the morning for the workmen, and late enough at night for people who have had supper at a popular restaurant after the theatre or a glass of beer at one of the _zelten_, the garden restaurants that in the time of frederick the great were really tents, and where the berliners flocked then as they do now to hear a band, look at the trees of the tiergarten, and enjoy light refreshments. when you get back to your house from such gaieties you find it locked and in darkness, but though there is a "portier" you do not disturb him by calling out your name as you would in paris. in modern houses there is electric light outside each floor that you switch on for yourself, and you have a race with it that you lose unless you are active; but you soon learn to feel your way up to the next light when you are left in darkness. the berlin "portier" is not as much in evidence as the paris concierge. he opens the door to strangers, but if you stay or live in the house you are expected to carry two heavy keys about with you, one for the street door and one for the flat. the modern doors have some machinery by which they shut themselves noiselessly after you. you hear a great deal more said about "nerves" in germany than in england, and yet germans seem to be amazingly indifferent to noise. they will not tolerate the brass bands and barrel-organs that pester us, but that is because they are fond of music. screaming voices, banging doors, and the clatter of kitchens and business premises seem not to trouble them at all. most houses in berlin are five or six storeys high, and are built round the four sides of a small paved court. no one who has not lived in such a house, and in a room giving on the court, can understand how every sound increases and reverberates. footsteps at dawn sound as if the seven-leagued boots had come, and were shod with iron. you whisper that the kitchen on a lower floor in an opposite corner looks well kept, and the maid hears what you say and looks at you smiling. i knew that the back premises of these big german hives might harbour any social grade and almost any industry, and for a long time i vowed that some one must live in our court whose business it was to hammer tin, and that he hammered it most late at night and early in the morning. i had not heard anything like the noise since i had lived in a high narrow german street paved with cobble-stones, and occupied just opposite my windows by a brewer whose vans returned to him at daybreak and tumbled empty casks at his door. but i never discovered my tin merchant in berlin, and in time i had to admit that my hosts were right. the noise i complained of was made by the cook washing up in the opposite kitchen. i should not have noticed it if i had been a sensible person, and slept with my curtains drawn and my double windows tight shut. of course, there are some quiet streets in berlin, and there are charming homes in the "garden-houses." some of the quadrangles are built round a garden instead of a paved yard, and then you can get a quiet pleasant flat with a balcony that looks on a garden instead of a street. the traditional plan of a berlin flat is most inconvenient and unpractical. in old-fashioned houses, and even in houses built sixteen years ago or less, you find that one of the chief rooms is the only thoroughfare between the bedrooms near the kitchen premises and the rooms near the front door. anyone occupying one of these back rooms, which are often good ones, can only get to the front door by way of this thoroughfare, where he will usually find the family gathered together; the maid, too, must pass through every time the door bell rings, and when she goes about her business in the front regions her brooms and pails must pass through with her. the window of this room, which is known as a _berliner zimmer_, is always in one corner and lights it insufficiently. the berliners themselves recognise its disadvantages, but i like to describe it, because i observe amongst the germans of to-day a fierce determination to destroy and deny everything a foreigner might call a little absurd, even if it is characteristic; so i feel sure that if i go to berlin a few years hence there will not be a _berliner zimmer_ left in the city, and no berliner will ever have seen or heard of one; nor will the flat doors have the quaint little peepholes through which the maid's eye may be seen appraising you before she lets you in. the newest houses, those in the _kurfürstendamm_, for instance, have every "improvement"--central heating, lifts, gas cooking stoves, sinks for washing up, and bathrooms that are a reality and not a mere appearance. these bathrooms, i am assured, can be used without several hours' notice and the anxious superintendence of the only person, the head of the family as a rule, who understands the heating apparatus. berlin, like mr. barrie's admirable crichton, has found out how to lay on hot and cold. it has found out about electric light too, and it might teach london how to use the telephone. berlin talks to its friends by telephone as a matter of course, asks them how they are, if they enjoyed the _fest_ last night, whether if you call on tuesday they will be at home. perhaps when mr. wells goes to berlin he will forsee a reaction, a revolt against the incessant insistent bell that respects no occupation and allows no undisturbed rest. it is a hurried generation that uses the telephone so much, for the letter boxes are emptied eighteen times in twenty-four hours, and if the post is not quick enough or a telegram too expensive for all you want to say you can send a card by the tube post. berlin is not the city of soldiers that the english fancy pictures it. english people, english little boys, for instance, who would like to see all their lead soldiers come to life, must go to one of the smaller garrison towns, where in every street and every square they will watch men on the march and at drill. in those quarters of berlin not occupied by barracks the population is civilian. you see the grey and the dark blue uniforms everywhere, but not in masses and not at work. the people rush like children to follow the guard changed at the schloss every day; just as they might in london, where soldiers are a rare spectacle. in a smaller town the army is more evidently in possession. it fills the restaurants, occupies the front row of the stalls at the opera, prevails in public gardens, and holds the pavement against the world. but berlin to all appearances belongs to its citizens, and provides for their profit and convenience. they fill its multitude of houses. they say they make its laws and order its progress. at any rate they live in an agreeable, well-managed city, full of air and light, and kept so clean that most other cities seem slovenly and grimy by comparison. to go suddenly from berlin to hamburg, for instance, gives you a shock; though hamburg is incomparably more attractive and delightful. but in hamburg you may see bits of paper lying about, and dust on the pavement. in berlin there is no dust, and no one has ever seen an untidy bit of paper there. it is to be hoped that no one ever travels direct from berlin to london. what would he think of covent garden market? there are markets in berlin, at least a dozen of them, but by midday they are swept and garnished. you would not find a leaf of parsley or an end of string to tell you where one had been. chapter xxvii odds and ends the most amusing columns in german daily papers are those devoted to family advertisement. there you find the prolix intimate announcements of domestic events compared with which the first column of the _times_ is so bare, so _nichtssagend_. "the birth of a second son is announced with joy by dr johann weber and wife martha, born hansen."--dresden, may . "emil harzdorf and wife magdalene, born klaus, have the honour to announce the birth of a strong girl."--hamburg, may . boy babies are nearly always _stramm_, the girl babies are _kräftig_, and the parents are _hocherfreut_, as they should be. engagements and marriages are advertised more simply, and your eye is not caught by them as it is by the big black bordered paragraphs that inform the world that someone has just left it. "to-day, in consequence of a stroke of apoplexy, my deeply loved husband, our dear father, grandfather, father-in-law, brother, and uncle fell asleep. in the name of the survivors, olga wagner, born richter.--leipzig, may ." this is a curt announcement compared with many. when the deceased has occupied any kind of official post, or has been an employer of labour, a long register of his many virtues accompanies the advertisement of his death. "he who has just passed away was an exemplary chief, a fatherly friend and adviser, who by his benevolence erected an everlasting monument to himself in the hearts of his colleagues and subordinates." he who had just passed away had been the head of a small soap factory, and this advertisement was put in by the factory hands just beneath the one signed by all the family. another advertisement on the same page expresses thanks for sympathy, "on the death of my dear wife, our good mother, grandmother, mother-in-law, aunt, sister-in-law, and cousin, frau angelika pankow, born salbach." a german friend who had to undergo an operation last year wrote just before to tell me she expected to come through safely. "if not," she said, "you'll receive a card like this"-- "yesterday passed away adelaide deminski, born weigert, her heart-broken husband grandmother father mother sons daughters sons-in-law daughters-in-law brothers sisters brothers-in-law sisters-in-law uncles aunts cousins"; for germans themselves laugh at these advertisements, and assure the inquiring foreigner that their vogue has had its day. but if the inquiring foreigner looks at the right papers he will find as many as ever. you will also find matrimonial advertisements in papers that are considered respectable. but when you turn to the news columns for details of some event that is startling the world, whether it is a crime, an earthquake, a battle, or a royal wedding, you find a few lines that vex you with their insufficiency. our english papers have pages about a german coronation, german manoeuvres, german high jinks at köpenick. but when i wanted to see what happened in london on our day of diamond jubilee i found five lines about queen victoria having driven to st. paul's accompanied by her family and some royal guests. i was in a country inn at the time, and the paper taken there was one taken everywhere in the duchy. it is a great mistake to think that german newspaper hostility to england dates from the transvaal war. the same journal that spared five lines to the jubilee gave a column to a question asked by one of our parliamentary cranks about the ill-treatment of natives by britons in india. the question was met by a complete and convincing denial, but we had to turn to our english papers to find that recorded. the ---- _tageblatt_ printed the question with comments, and suppressed the denial. as long ago as , when there was cholera in egypt, a little thuringian paper we saw weekly had frenzied articles about the evil english who were doing all they could to bring the scourge to germany. i think we had refused some form of quarantine that modern medical science considers worse than useless. the tone of the press all through the transvaal war did attract some attention in this country, and since then from time to time we are presented with quotations from abusive articles about our greed, our perfidy, and our presumption. i am not writing as a journalist, for i know nothing whatever of journalism; but as a member of the general public i believe that we are inclined to overrate the importance of these amenities, because we overrate the part played by the newspaper in the average german household. one can only speak from personal experience, but i should say that it hardly plays a part at all. whatever tageblatt is in favour with the _hausherr_ comes in every morning, and is stowed away tidily in a corner till he has time to look at it while he drinks his coffee and smokes his cigar. if the ladies of the household are inclined that way they look at it too. but there really is not much to look at as a rule. these paragraphs about the wicked british that seem so pugnacious when they are printed on solid english paper in plain english words, are often in a corner with other political paragraphs about other wicked nations. at times of crisis, when the leading papers are attacking us at great length, the germans themselves will talk of _zeitungsgeschrei_ and shrug their shoulders. it is absurd to deny the existence of anglophobia in germany, because you can hardly travel there without coming across isolated instances of it. but these isolated instances will stand out against a crowded background of people from whom you have received the utmost kindness and friendship; and of other people with whom your relations have been fleeting, but who have been invariably civil. unfortunately the german anglophobe is a creature of the meanest breed, and he impresses himself on the memory like a pain; so that one of him looms larger than fifty others, just as the moment will when you had your last tooth out, and not the summer day that went before and after. the truth is, that we are on the nerves of certain germans. you may live for ever in an english family and never hear a german mentioned. you would assuredly not hear the nation everlastingly discussed and scolded. as far as we are concerned, they are welcome to their own manners, their own ways, and their own opinions. if they would only take their stand on these and leave ours alone we could meet on equal terms. but that is the one thing this particular breed of german cannot do. he must be always arguing with you about the superiority of his nation to yours, and you soon think him the most tiresome and offensive creature you ever met. in private life you can usually avoid him and seek out those charming german people who, even if their tageblatt teaches them that they should hate england, will never extend their hatred to the english stranger within their gates, and who will admit you readily and kindly to their pleasant unaffected lives. germany is full of such people, whatever the german newspapers are saying. presumably every country has the press that suits it, and in one respect german journalism is more dignified and estimable than our own. it does not publish columns of silly society gossip, or of fashions that only a duchess can follow and only a kitchen-maid can read. nor would the poorest, smallest provincial tageblatt descend to the depths of musical criticism in which one of our popular dailies complacently flounders all through the london season. "i cannot tell you much about last night's wagner opera, because to my great annoyance the auditorium was dark nearly all the time. once when we were allowed to see each other for a moment i noticed that the duchess of whitechapel was in her box, looking so lovely in cabbage green. mrs. 'dicky' fitzwegschwein was in the stalls with a ruby necklace and a marvellous coat of rose velours spangled in diamonds, and on the grand tier i saw lady 'bobby' holloway, who is of course the daughter-in-law of lord islington, in black net over silver, quite the dernier cri this season, and looking radiant over her sister lady yolande's engagement to the duke of bilgewater. richter conducted with his usual brilliance, and the new wotan sang with great élan, although he was obviously suffering from a cold in his head." it is impossible to imagine berlin waking some winter morning to find such a "criticism" as this on its breakfast table. in germany, people who understand music write about music, and people who understand about fashions write about fashions, and the two subjects, both of them interesting and important, are kept apart. society journalists who write about lady bobbies and mrs. fitzwegschweins do not exist yet in germany, and so far the empire seems to worry along quite comfortably without them. i once asked a well-known english journalist who is of german birth, why one of our newspaper kings did not set up a huge, gossipy, frivolous paper in berlin, and it was explained to me that it would be impossible, because the editor and his staff would probably find themselves in prison in a week. what we understand by freedom of the press does not exist there. on the other hand, books and pamphlets are circulated in germany that would be suppressed here; and the stage is freer than our own. _monna vanna_ had a great success in berlin, where mme. maeterlinck played the part to crowded audiences. _salome_ is now holding the stage both as a play and with richard strauss' music as an opera; gorky's _nachtasyl_ is played year after year in berlin. both french and german plays are acted all over germany that could not be produced in england, both because the censor would refuse to pass them and because public opinion would not tolerate them, unless, to be sure, they were played in their own tongues. it is most difficult to explain our attitude to germans who have been in london, because they know what vulgar and vicious farces and musical comedies pass muster with us, and indeed are extremely popular. it is only when a play touches the deeps of life and shows signs of thought and of poetry that we take fright, and by the lips of our chosen official cry, "this will never do." tolstoy, ibsen, gorky, bernard shaw, oscar wilde, hauptmann, and otto ernst are the modern names i find on one week's programme cut from a berlin paper late in spring when the theatrical season was nearly over. besides plays by these authors, one of the state theatres announced tragedies by goethe, schiller, and a comedy by molière. _the merchant of venice_ was being played at one theatre and _a midsummer night's dream_ at another; there were farces and light operas for some people, and wagner, gluck, and beethoven at the royal opera house for others. the theatre in germany is a part of national life and of national education, and it is largely supported by the state; so that even in small towns you get good music and acting. the meiningen players are celebrated all over the world, and everyone who has read goethe's life will remember how actively and constantly he was interested in the weimar stage. at a _stadt-theater_ in a small town two or three operas are given every week, and two or three plays. most people subscribe for seats once or twice a week all through the winter, and they go between coffee and supper in their ordinary clothes. even in berlin women do not wear full dress at any theatre. in the little towns you may any evening meet or join the leisurely stream of playgoers, and if you enter the theatre with them you will find that the women leave their hats with an attendant. you are in no danger in germany of having the whole stage hidden from you by flowers and feathers. shakespeare is as much played as goethe and schiller, and it is most interesting and yet most disappointing to hear the poetry you know line upon line spoken in a foreign tongue. germans say that their translation is more beautiful and satisfying than the original english; but i actually knew a german who kept bayard taylor's _faust_ by his bedside because he preferred it to goethe's. i think there is something the matter with people who prefer translated to original poetry, but i will leave a critic of standing to explain what ails them. i have never met a german who would admit that shakespeare was an englishman. they say that his birth at stratford-on-avon was a little accident, and that he belongs to the world. they say this out of politeness, because what they really believe is that he belongs to germany, and that as a matter of fact byron is the only great poet england has ever had. i am not joking. i am not even exaggerating. this is the real opinion of the german man in the street, and it is taught in lessons in literature. an english girl went to one of the best-known teachers in berlin for lessons in german, and found, as she found elsewhere, that the talk incessantly turned on the crimes of england and the inferiority of england. "you have had two great names," said the teacher,--"two and no more. that is, if one can in any sense of the word call shakespeare an english name ... shakespeare and byron, ... then you have finished. you have never had anyone else, and shakespeare has always belonged more to us than to you." the english girl gasped, for she knew something of her own literature. "but have you never heard about chaucer," she asked, "or of the elizabethans, or of milton, keats, shelley, wordsworth...?" "_reden sie nicht, reden sie nicht!_" cried the teacher,--"i never allow my pupils to argue with me. shakespeare and byron ... no, byron only, ... then england has done." you still find byron in every german household where english is read at all, and no one seems to have found out what fustian most of his poetry really was. ruskin and oscar wilde are the two popular modern authors, and the novel-reading public chooses, so several booksellers assured me, marion crawford and mrs. croker. i could not hear a word anywhere of stevenson or rudyard kipling, but i did come across one person who had enjoyed _richard feverel_. "your english novels are rather better than they used to be, are they not?" said a lady to me in good faith, and i found it a difficult question to answer, because i had always believed that we had a long roll of great novelists; but then, i had also thought that england had a few poets. the most popular german novels are mostly translated into english, and all german novels of importance are reviewed in our papers. so english people who read german know what a strong reaction there is against the moonshine of fifty years ago. the novels most in vogue exhibit the same coarse, but often thoughtful and impressive, realism that prevails on the stage and in the conversation and conduct of some sets of people in the big cities. the _tagebuch einer verlorenen_ has sold , copies, and it is the story of a german _kamelliendame_ compared with whom dumas' lady is moonshine. it is a haunting picture of a woman sinning against the moral and social law, and no one with the least sense or judgment could put it on the low level of certain english novels that sell because they are offensive, and for no other reason in the world. _aus guter familie_, by gabrielle reuter, is another remarkable novel, and i believe it has never been translated into english. it presents the poignant tragedy of a woman's life suffocated by the social conditions obtaining in a small german town where a woman has no hope but marriage, and if she is poor no chance of marriage. it is one of the most sincere books i ever read. _das tägliche brot_, klara viebig's story of servant-life in berlin, is another typical novel of the present day, and that has been translated for those amongst us who do not read german. i choose these three novels for mention because they are written by women, and because they are brilliant examples of the modern tone amongst women. if you want the traditional german qualities of sentiment, poetry, formlessness, and dreamy childlike charm, you must read novels written by men. i have said very little about music in germany, because we all know and admit that it reaches heights there no other nation can approach. an englishman writing about germany lately says that you often hear very bad music there, but i think his experience must have been exceptional and unfortunate. i am sure that germans do not tolerate the vapid dreary drawing-room songs we listen to complacently in this country; for in england people often have beautiful voices without any musical understanding, or technical facility without charm. i suppose such cases must occur amongst germans too, and in the end one speaks of a foreign nation partly from personal experience, which must be narrow, and partly from hearsay. i have met germans who were not musical, but i have never met any who were pleased with downright bad music. on the whole, it is the art they understand best, the one in which their instinctive taste is sure and good. you would not find that the byron amongst composers, whoever he may be, was the one they set up for worship. nor do you find the street of a german city or suburb infested with barrel-organs. there is some kind of low dancing saloon or _café chantant_ called a tingl-tangl where i imagine they have organs and gramaphones and suchlike horrors, but then unless you chance to pass their open windows you need not endure their strains. in england, even if we are fond of music, and therefore sensitive to jarring sounds and maudlin melodies, yet in the street we cannot escape the barrel-organ nor in the house the drawing-room songs. as if these were not enough, we now invite each other to listen to the pianotist and the pianola. "i will explain my country to you," said the artist one day when i had expressed myself puzzled by the curious gaps in german taste, and even in german knowledge; by their enthusiasm for the second rate in poetry and literature, and by their amazing uncertain mixture of information and blank complacent ignorance. for when an englishman says "goethe! schiller!--was is das?" you are not surprised. it is just what you expect of an englishman, and for all that he may know how to build bridges and keep his temper in games and argument. but when a german teacher of literature tells you byron is the only english poet, and when the whole nation neglects some of our big men but runs wild over certain little ones, you listen eagerly for any explanation forthcoming. "we have _wissen_," said the artist, "we have _kunst_; but we have no _kultur_." i did not recover from the shock he gave me till the evening, when i saw the professor of philosophy and æsthetics. "the artist says that you have no _kultur_," i told him; for i wanted to see how he received a shock. "the artist speaks the truth," said the professor calmly. i have never met anyone more civilised and scholarly then he was himself; and i set a high value on his opinion. "what is _kultur_?" i asked. "one result of it is a fine discrimination," he replied, "a fine discrimination in art, in conduct, and in manner." "are you not the most intellectual people in the world?" i said reproachfully. he seemed to think that had nothing to do with it. "are you still worrying your head about _kultur_?" said the artist next time i saw him. "then i will explain a little more to you. i, as you know, am extremely _anti-semite_." "i am sure that is not a proof of _kultur_," i said hurriedly. "it is not a proof of anything. it is a result. nevertheless i perceive that if it were not for the jews there would be neither art nor literature in germany. they create, they appreciate, they support, and although we affect to despise them we invariably follow them like sheep. what they admire we admire; what they discover we see to be good. but ... i told you i was _anti-semite_, ... though they have most of the brains in the country, they have little _kultur_. one of us who is as stupid as an ox, ... most of us are as stupid as oxen, ... may have more, ... but because he is stupid he cannot impose his opinion on the multitude." "do you mean that the jews set the fashion in art and literature, and that they sometimes set a bad one?" i asked "that is exactly what i mean." it was a curious theory, and i will not be responsible for its truth. but there is no doubt that in every german town artistic and literary society has its centre amongst the educated jews. they are most generous hosts, and it is their pleasure to gather round them an aristocracy of genius. the aristocracy that is perfectly happy without genius would as a rule not enter a jew's house; though the poorer members of the aristocracy often marry a jew's daughter. where there is inter-marriage some social intercourse is presumably inevitable. but the social crusade against jews is carried on in germany to an extent we do not dream of here. the christian clubs and hostels exclude them, christian families avoid them, and christian insults are offered to them from the day of their birth. "what do you use those long lances for?" said the wife of a jewish professor to a young man in a cavalry regiment. "_damit hetzen wir die juden_," said he, with the snarl of his kind; and he knew very well that the lady's husband was a jew. i have been told a story of a jewish girl being asked to a court ball by the emperor frederick, and finding that none of the men present would consent to dance with her. i have heard of girls who wished to ask a jewish schoolmate to a dance, and discovered that their christian friends flatly refused to meet anyone of her race. how any christians contrive to avoid it i do not understand, for wherever you go in germany some of the great scholars, doctors, men of science, art, and literature, are men of jewish blood. the press is almost entirely in their hands, and when there is a scurrilous artist or a coarse picture your friends explain it by saying that the tone of that special paper is _jüdisch_. the modern campaign against jews began nearly thirty years ago, when a court chaplain called stöcker startled the world by the violence of his invective. but the fire he stirred to flame must have been smouldering. he and his followers gave the most ingenuous reasons for curtailing jewish rights and privileges in germany, one of which was the provoking fact that jewish boys did more brilliantly at school than christians. the subject bristles with difficulties, and no one who knows the german jew intimately will wish to pose him as a persecuted saint. the christian certainly makes it unpleasant for him socially, but in one way or the other he holds his own. i have seen him vexed and offended by some brutal slight, but his keen sense of humour helps him over most stiles. so no doubt does his sense of power. "they will not admit me to their clubs or ask my daughters to their dances," said a jewish friend, "but they come to me for money for their charities." and i knew that half the starving poor in the town came to his wife for charity, and that she never sent one empty away. when a very clever, sensitive, numerically small race has lived for hundreds of years cheek by jowl with a dense brutal race that has never ceased to insult and humiliate it, you cannot be surprised if those clever but highly sensitive ones become imbued in course of time with a painful undesirable conviction that the brutes are their superiors. so you have the spectacle in germany of jews seeking christian society instead of avoiding it; and you hear them boast quite artlessly of their _christlicher umgang_. they would really serve their people and even themselves more if they refused all _christlicher umgang_ until the christians had learned to behave themselves. an englishwoman living in berlin told me that once as she came out of a concert hall an officer standing in the crowd stared at her and said, so that everyone could hear: "at last! a single face that is not a _jüdischer fratz_." the concert, you will understand, must have been a good one, and therefore largely attended by a jewish audience. possibly the officer who so much disliked his surroundings had married a jewish heiress and was waiting for his wife. such things happen. during the worst times of stöcker's campaign a woman with jewish features could hardly go out unescorted; and even now, though it is not openly expressed, you can hardly fail to catch some note of sympathy with the russian persecution of the jews. the deep helpless genuine horror felt in england at the pogroms is felt in a fainter way in northern germany. meanwhile the jewish woman of the upper classes takes her revenge by knowing how to dress. in german cities, when you see a woman who is "exquisite," slim that is and graceful, dainty from head to foot and finely clad, then you may vow by all the gods that she has jewish blood in her. appendix page , l. . _wunderkind_: a prodigy. page , l. . _wickelkinder_: infants in swaddling clothes. page , l. . _mamsell_: supervising housekeeper. page , l. . _die kunst im leben des kindes_: art in the life of the child. page , l. . _pestalozzi fröbel haus_: named for the two great educators, pestalozzi and fröbel. page , l. . _pf._: _pfennig_, a quarter of a cent. page , l. . _das recht des kindes_: the right of the child. page , l. . _gymnasium_: school where latin and greek are taught (humanistic education). page , l. . _real-gymnasium_: school where latin, modern languages, mathematics, science, and history are taught. no greek. page , l. . _ober-real schule_: school where mathematics, science, history, french, and english are taught. page , l. . _real-schule_: a school which prepares for practical life, not for the university; modern languages are included in the curriculum. page , l. . _abiturienten_: graduates from a gymnasium or ober-real schule. page , l. . _mark_: a quarter of a dollar. page , l. . _flachsmann als erzieher_: flachsmann as a pedagogue. page , l. . _evangelisch_: protestant. page , l. . _schauspielhaus_: theatre. page , l. . _was ist das?_ what is that? page , l. . _höhere töchterschule_: high school for girls. page , l. . _ober lehrerin_: high grade teacher. page , l. . _lyceen_: school where latin and greek is taught. page , l. . _ober-lyceen_: school preparing for the university. page , l. . _allgemeine deutsche frauenverein_: universal league of german women. page , l. . _allgemeine deutsche lehrerinnen-verein_: universal league of german teachers. page , l. . _real-kurse für mädchen und frauen_: courses for girls and women outside of those found in the school system, and preparing for the university. page , l. . _gymnasialkurse_: the above plan organised into preparatory schools for women for the university. page , l. . _stift_: private or state school with board and residence. also an endowed home for gentlewomen, with certain privileges--either with or without a school for girls. page , l. . _volkschule_: public school. page , l. . _nicht völlig normal_: rather weak intellectually, abnormal. page , l. . _schulrat_: superintendent of schools. page , l. . _waldschule_: forest school in open air. page , l. . _griesbrei_: porridge made of farina. page , l. . _nudelsuppe_: soup of noodles. vermicelli soup. page , l. . _ich liebe einen backfisch_: i love a girl in her teens. page , l. . _backfisch-moden_: fashions for misses. page , l. . _backfischen's leiden und freuden_: sorrows and joys of a backfisch. page , l. . _jawohl, liebe tante_: yes, certainly, dear aunt. page , l. . _sie geniren sich gewiss_: you are surely too shy. page , l. . _braut_: betrothed. page , l. . _ein junges mädchen muss immer heiter sein_: young girl must always be cheerful. page , l. . _privatdocenten_: private lecturer. page , l. . _volkslieder_: folk songs. page , l. . _trinklieder_: drinking songs. page , l. . _burschenschaft_: students' corporation. page , l. . _alte herren abende_: old gentlemen's (former students) evenings. page , l. . "_auf die mensur_": ready, begin! page , l. . _raisonniren_: to reason, to argue, to dispute, to scold about. page , l. . _geniren_: to embarrass, to trouble. page , l. . _der bier comment_: beer drinking custom; the commanding phrase for a drink called salamander. page , l. . _bierdurst_: beer thirst. page , l. . _kneiptafel_: a kind of club table, where men generally spend evenings drinking beer and joining in songs. page , l. . "_silentium für einen biergalopp, ich bitte den nötigen staff anzuschaffen_": silence for a beer gallop; please provide the necessary stuff. page , l. . _kommers_: students' festival evening, drinking bout. page , l. . _in vollem wichs_: in full dress. page , l. . "_sauft alle mit einander_": drink all together. page , l. . _stammtisch_: a club table, where every member has a reserved seat. page , l. . "_man soll_," etc.: "one ought to so bring up women," said siegfried, the champion, "that they omit all unnecessary talk. forbid it your wife. i will do the same with mine. really i am ashamed of such an arrogant custom." page , l. . "_das hat mich_," etc.: "i repented it immediately," said the noble woman. "on this account he beat my body black and blue; because i talked too much he was disturbed in his spirit: this did revenge the champion wise and good." page , l. _ritterschaft_: knighthood. page , l. . _lette verein_: lette association. page , l. . _leipziger allerlei_: a kind of mixed pickles. page , l. . _eine stütze_: a helper for the housewife. page , l. . _memoiren einer idealistin_: memoirs of an idealist. page , l. . _schadchan_: jewish business match-maker or marriage broker. page , l. . _aus guter familie_: of good family. page , l. . _in freier ehe_: in free love. page , l. . _alte schloss_: old castle. page , l. . _nicht wahr?_ is that not so? page , l. . _ausflug_ or _landpartie_: excursion trip in the country. page , l. . "_die verlobung_," etc.: the engagement of their daughter pauline to mr. henry schmidt, barrister dr. jur., in berlin, is announced respectfully by privy counsellor of government dr. eugene brand, royal director of gymnase, and mrs. helene, born engel. stuttgart, in june, . tiergarten. page , l. . "_meine verlobung_," etc.: i have the honor respectfully to announce my engagement with miss pauline brand, daughter of the royal director of gymnase, privy counsellor of government dr. eugen brand and his honorable wife helene, born engel. dr. jur. heinrich schmidt, barrister referendar. berlin, in june, . kurfürstendam . page , l. . _brautpaar_: bride and bridegroom on the wedding day, betrothed couple. page , l. . _wilkommen, du glückseliges kind_: welcome, you happy child. page , l. . _rührend_: touching. page , l. . _innig_: hearty, fervent. page , l. . _aussteurer_: trousseau, also household endowment of money. page , l. . "wir winden dir": the free shooter the bridal wreath for thee we bind, with silken thread of azure; in wedded days, oh, mayst thou find full store of hope and pleasure. i've planted thyme and myrtle sweet, they grew in my garden; but when shall i my true love meet, how long will he delay yet? full seven years the maiden span, the snow-white web augmenting; the veil is clear like a web, and green the wreath in her hair. when lo! her true love came at last, when seven years had passed, because her lover married her she has deserved her wreath. page , l. . _freie trauungen_: free marriages. page , l. . _sozialdemokratischer verband_: society of democratic socialists. page , l. . _tafel-lieder_: table songs. page , l. . _hoch_: hurrah. page , l. . _"wie ist doch,"_ etc.: how highly is the uncle blest; to-day the bridal wreath adorns the aunt. page , l. . "_liebe gäste_," etc.: dear guests, will you all arise with pleasure-- hail to the bridal pair-- may they prosper. page , l. . _hochzeits-tafel_: wedding meal. page , l. . "_geschiedene leute scheiden fort und fort_": divorced people sever forever. page , l. . _unwirtlichen_: inhospitable, barren. page , l. . "_bürgerliches gesetzbuch_": citizen's law book, code. page , l. . _wohnzimmer_: living room. page , l. . _hof_: court; yard. page , l. . _wie herrlich_: how splendid. page , l. . _füllofen_: stove, a self-feeder. page , l. . _landeskirche_: national church. page , l. . _nichtraucher_: no smoking allowed. page , l. . _damen-coupé_: for ladies only (in railway). page , l. . _aber ich bitte, meine dame: es zieht, ja, ja, es zieht_: but please, madame, there is a draught, yes, yes, there is a draught. page , l. . _magen_: stomach. page , l. . _mein armer karl_: my poor charles. page , l. . _küken mit spargel_: spring chicken with asparagus. page , l. . _frikassee von hähnchen mit krebsen_: fricassee of chicken with crabs. page , l. . _perfekte köchin_: experienced cook. page , l. . "_dienen lerne_," etc.: early a woman should learn to serve, for that is her calling; since through service alone she finally comes to governing, comes to the due command that is hers of right in the household. early the sister must wait on her brother, and wait on her parents; life must be always with her a perpetual coming and going, or be a lifting and carrying, making and doing for others. happy for her be she accustomed to think no way is too grievous, and if the hours of the night be to her as the hours of the daytime; if she find never a needle too fine, nor a labour too trifling; wholly forgetful of self, and caring to live but in others! page , l. . "_par une recontre_," etc.: "by a strange chance," says monsieur taine, "women are more feminine and men more masculine here than elsewhere. the two natures go to extremes, the one to boldness, to a spirit of enterprise and opposition, to a character that is warlike, imperious, and rough; the other to gentleness, self-denial, patience, inexhaustible affection. here woman yields completely, a thing unknown in foreign lands, especially in france, and looks upon obedience, pardon, adoration as an honour and a duty, without desiring or striving for anything beyond subordinating herself and becoming daily more absorbed in him whom she has chosen of her own accord and for all time. it is this instinct, an old germanic instinct, that those great delineators of instinct all paint in a high light!... the spirit of this race is at once primitive and serious. among women simplicity lasts longer than it does elsewhere. they are slower in losing respect, and in weighing values and characters; they are less ready to suspect evil and to analyse their husbands.... they have not the cleverness, the advanced ideas, the assured behaviour, the precocity which with us turns a young girl into a sophisticated woman and a queen of society in six months. a secluded life and obedience are easier for them. more yielding and more sedentary, they are at once more reserved, more self-centred, more disposed to gaze upon the noble dream that they call duty." page , l. . "_voir la peinture_," etc.: "depiction of this character is to be seen in all english and german literature," he says in a footnote. "the closest of observers, stendhal, thoroughly impregnated with italian and french ideas and customs, is amazed at sight of it. he understands nothing of this kind of devotion, 'of this slavery which english husbands have had the cleverness to impose upon their wives under the name of duty.' these are 'customs of the seraglio.'" page , l. . _lèse majesté_: high treason. page , l. . _ordentliche frau_: respectable woman. page , l. . "_mir ist ein greuel_": it is a horror for me. page , l. . _frau wirklichergeheimerober regierungsrath_: mrs. privy chief counsellor of government. page , l. . _dumm_: silly, stupid. page , l. . _tüchtigkeit_: capability. page , l. . "_wie die küche_," etc.: when the kitchen is clean, the whole house is clean. neat indoors, neat outdoors. page , l. . "_trautes heim_," etc.: there is no place like home. my home is my castle. page , l. . _unsinn ... quatsch_: nonsense, rubbish. page , l. . _das hat keinen zweck_: that is of no use. page , l. . _herrschaft_: master and mistress and their family. page , l. . _gesinde-dienstbuch_: servant's book of reference. for anna schmidt. from rheinbeck. age (geboren, born) june , . stature, slender. eyes, gray. nose and mouth ordinary. hair, dark blond. especial characteristics. ---------------+-----------+--------+-------+------------+------------ name, vocation,| |day of |day of |reason of |certificate and address of |bearer is |entering|leaving|leaving-- |and remarks the employer |accepted as|service |service|reference |of police ---------------+-----------+--------+-------+------------+------------ widow auguste |servant |oct. ,|jan. ,|wished a |seen knoblauch | | | |change |(_place and | | | |conduct | date, with | | | |good |official | | | | |stamp and | | | | |signature_) ---------------+-----------+--------+-------+------------+------------ boretzky, post |housemaid |feb. , |oct. ,|is dismissed| restaurant, | | | |because of | bären street | | | |unbecoming | | | | |behaviour, | | | | |but is | | | | |diligent and| | | | |honest | ---------------+-----------+--------+-------+------------+------------ page , l. . _speiseschrank_: pantry. page , l. . _kammer_: little chamber. page , l. . _eine jute jabe jottes_: a good gift of god. page , l. . _mehlspeise_: farinaceous dish. page , l. . _spetzerle_: a sort of dumpling. page , l. . _leibgericht_: favourite dish. page , l. . _rote grütze_: literally "red gruel." page , l. . _torten_: tarts. page , l. . _beamtenbeleidigung_: offence against an official. page , l. . _baumkuchen_: cake baked on a spit. page , l. . _das mädchen aus der fremde_: the strange maiden. page , l. . _der tod und das mädchen_: death and the maiden. page , l. . _gemütlich_: comfortable, agreeable, cosy. page , l. . _kräftige kost_: nourishing food. page , l. . _heuchelei_: hypocrisy. page , l. . _tüchtige hausfrau_: experienced housewife. page , l. . _gesellschaft_: society, a "party." page , l. . _gott sei dank_: god be thanked. page , l. . _guten tag_: good day. page , l. . _steinkohlen_: mineral coal, anthracite. page , l. . _braunkohlen_: lignite, brown coal. page , l. . _gehacktes schweinefleisch_: choppy pork. page , l. . _reform-kleider_: reform dresses. page , l. . _elles s'habillent si mal_: they dress so badly. page , l. . _spruch_: motto. page , l. . _meringuetorte_: pastry with whipped cream. page , l. . _bowle_: punch. page , l. . _kaffee-klatsch mit schleppe_ (train): a coffee party in grand style. page , l. . _gefrorenes_: ice cream. page , l. . _pumpernickel_: westphalian rye bread. page , l. . _katzenjammer_: moral depression--the blues--seediness after drunken debauch. page , l. . _hier können familien kaffee kochen_: here families are allowed to cook coffee. page , l. . _ein falsches volk_: false people. page , l. . _schenkwirte_: tavern keepers. page , l. . _schoppen_: a pint. page , l. . _oberkellner_: head waiter, head steward. page , l. i. _frisch angesteckt_: fresh on tap. page , l. . _rindfleisch_: boiled beef. page , l. . _versoffene jungfern_: drunken maidens. page , l. . _halbe portion_: half a portion. page , l. . _stimmung_: mood, humour. page , l. . _das hat keinen zweck_: of no use, end, etc.; what difference does that make? page , l. i. _verrückt_: crazy, mad. page , l. . _schmorkartoffeln_: stewed potatoes baked in butter. page , l. . _pastetchen_: small pies, patties. page , l. . _königstrasse_: king's road. page , l. . _herrschaften_: patrons. page , l. . _delikatessenhandlung_: delicatessen shop. page , l. . _spiritus leid' ich nicht_: i will not allow alcohol. page , l. . _trinkgeld_: tips. page , l. . _das beste zimmer_: best room, salon. page , l. . _das schadet nichts, das ist gesund_: never mind, it is healthful. page , l. . _fremd_: strange. page , l. . _reisebureau_: office of information for travellers. page , l. . _anmelden_: announce, report. page , l. . _ausgang_: exit. page , l. . _eingang_: entrance. page , l. . _dann war es mir zu bunt_: it was too much for me, it goes too far. page , l. . _verschönerungsverein_: society for embellishments. page , l. . _aussicht_: view. page , l. _prachtvoll_: splendid. page , l. . _luft herrlich_: lovely air. page , l. . _die herren_: the gentlemen. page , l. . _wanderfroh_: fond of travelling. page , l. . _badearzt_: physician of a watering place. page , l. . _eine gute stunde_: a good hour's walk. page , l. . _kur_: medical treatment. page , l. . _badereise_: sojourn at a bathing place for the benefit of the waters. page , l. . _luftkur_: open air cure. page , l. . _blutarmut_: anæmia. page , l. . _corpulententisch_: table of the corpulents. page , l. . _kegel_: ninepins. page , l. . _waldluft_: forest air. page , l. . _speisesaal_: dining room. page , l. . "_warum willst_," etc.: why do you wander elsewhere when happiness is so near? page , l. . _personenzug_: local train. page , l. . _schein_: bill, receipt. page , l. . _städtische kleider_: city dress. page , l. . _kirchweih_: annual festival in commemoration of the consecration of church. page , l. . _brautwagen_: wedding coach. page , l. . _hochzeit_: wedding. page , l. . _belegtes butterbrot_: sandwiches. page , l. . _hochzeitsmahl_: wedding meal. page , l. . _speisesaal_: dining room. page , l. . _was ist denn los?_ what is the matter? page , l. . _sehnsucht_: yearning. page , l. . _haferbrei_: oat meal. page , l. . _schmalz_: suet, lard. page , l. . _pfarrer_: priest, clergyman, parson. page , l. . _betten_: beds. page , l. . _heidenmühle_: mill on the heath. page , l. . _knecht_: manservant. page , l. . _volksküche_: public kitchen. page , l. . _tischzeit_: hours for meals. page , l. . _durch arbeiten_: through work. page , l. . _der kaufmännische verband für weibliche angestellte_: merchant association for employed women. page , l. . _kurfürstendam_: elector's dyke. page , l. . _zelten_: tents. page , l. . _berliner zimmer_: a room with one window. page , l. . _nichtssagend_: trifling, of little value. page , l. . _stramm_: robust, vigorous. page , l. . _kräftig_: strong, healthy, sturdy. page , l. . _hocherfreut_: delighted, highly pleased. page , l. . _zeitungsgeschrei_: newspaper clamour. page , l. . _reden sie nicht_: don't talk. page , l. . _kultur_: culture. page , l. . _damit hetzen wir die juden_: therewith we stir up the jews. page , l. . _christlicher umgang_: to be in company of christians. page , l. . _jüdischer fratz_: jewish phiz. index advertisements, , allotment gardens, anglophobia, , , , , - art in the nursery, auerbach, - _backfischen's leiden und freuden_, - baden, , (see also black forest) _badereise_, - bathrooms, , bavaria, , , , , beds, , beggars, , berlin-- electric cars, fire-brigade, flats and houses, - fröbel haus, ladies' clubs, philanthropy, registry offices, restaurants, sculptures, shops, - , students, sunday excursions, taxes, _berliner zimmer_, _bestes zimmer_, betham-edwards, miss, betrothals, - _bier comment_, - birmingham brass workers, black forest, , , , , ff., _brautpaar_, budgets, household, - , _bürgerliches gesetzbuch_, _burschenschaft_, byron, , cellar-shops, charlottenberg forest school, christmas, church tax, confirmation, - cooking classes, _corps-studenten_, - cotta, frl. v., cottbus market, _crêches_, , _dienstbuch_, - divorce, doctors, , , , doecker system, drawing-rooms, drunkenness, duels, students', - dyhrenfurth, gertrud, economy, , , , , eltzbacher, o., , emigration, , emperor wilhelm ii., , , empress friedrich, , family life, , , _flachsmann als erzieher_, flats, , , , food-- family meals, fish, free food, , goose, meat, _mehlspeisen_, , _nudeln_, _ochsenfleisch_, recipes, - _rothe grütze_, supper, , tea, vegetables, freiburg market, fuel, , furniture, - "garden houses," gardens, "german home life," , gipsies, goethe, , _gymnasium_, - gymnastics, , , hamburg-- life, , , lodgings, markets, servants' dress, sports, heidelberg, - _hof_, the, , home-workers, - hospitality, , ff., hospitals, housekeeping budgets, - , house-porter, , _idealistin, memoiren einer_, , , , , , - illegitimate children, , incomes, , ; and see economy inns and innkeepers, - jews, , , , - _joseph im schnee_, - _kaffee klatsch_, , - _kindergarten_, - _kirchweih_, kitchens, , , - , _kneipe_, - , , _kommers_, ladies' clubs, - _landes_ tax, lange, frl. helene, - laundry work, _leipziger messe_, _lette-verein_, - linen, - lodgings, ff. loeper-housselle, marie, luggage on railways, lyceum club, lyceum, victoria, marketing, - markets, - , marriage-- arranged, , - ceremony, ff. proposal, revolt against, , münchhausen, frau k., music, , , , newspapers, - novels, nurseries, - oberhof, opera, outdoor life, peasants' costume, dances, - weddings, - pensions, old age, , pestalozzi fröbel haus, philanthropy, - police regulations, , , , - _polterabend_, professors' salaries, prussia-- cost of schools, free schools, taxes, railway travelling, - religious teaching, religious belief, - rents, restaurants, - reuter, gabrielle, riehl on women, ff. ruegen, _salamander_, saxony, scenery, ff. schadchan, schlegel, caroline, schmidt, auguste, schools-- cost of, elementary, - forest, - kinds of, , , lessons, medical inspection, , music in, religious teaching in, servants-- bedrooms, costumes, , , dances, gratuities, , meals, pensions, wages, , shadwell, dr., shakespeare, shops-- cellar, in berlin, - in black forest, silesian village, - skittles, sofa, sports, winter, state tax, _steckkissen_, _stifte_, , - , stoves, - students, ff. _stütze der hausfrau_, , summer resorts, ff. sundays, ff. "sweating," - swimming-baths, _tafel-lieder_, - taine, m., , taxes, teachers' seminaries, theatres, - , - thuringia, , tidiness, , - , , titles, toys, _trousseaux_, , , universities, ff. _verein_, victoria lyceum, viebig, klara, , , village fires, - visits, - _volksküche_, walking tours, organised, weddings, ff., - _weibliche angestellte_, wertheim, - _wickelkinder_, windows, winter sports, women-- dress, , legal position, modern, , - riehl on, ff. single, - , , treatment of, , , , - working, ff. * * * * * +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | typographical errors corrected in text: | | | | page : allegemeine replaced with allgemeine | | page : ' , odd women' replaced with | | ' , -odd women' | | page : bridgroom replaced with bridegroom | | page : 'it it not easy' replaced with | | 'it is not easy' | | page : knowledgable replaced with knowledgeable | | page : rothe grütze replaced with rote grütze | | page : extremly replaced with extremely | | page : 'fairly comfortably income' replaced with | | 'fairly comfortable income' | | page : braühaus replaced with bräuhaus | | page : preceptions replaced with perceptions | | page : amazment replaced with amazement | | page : 'it is an autocracy or are public' replaced | | with 'it is an autocracy or a republic' | | page : anti-semit replaced with anti-semite | | page : burgerliches replaced with bürgerliches | | page : braunkolen replaced with braunkohlen | | page : gahacktes replaced with gehacktes | | page : delicatessenhandlung replaced with | | page : dyrenfurth replaced with dyhrenfurth | | page : 'stüze der hausfrau' replaced with | | 'stütze der hausfrau' | | page : rügen replaced with ruegen | | page : vereine replaced with verein | | page : weibliche angestelle replaced with | | weibliche angestellte | | | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ transcriber's note: bold type is indicated thus: =the prussian bully.= and italics so: _ - ._ supplement to "punch, or the london charivari."--october , . "punch" and the prussian bully * * * * * illustration: _january , ._ *** =the prussian bully disturbs the peace of europe.= _ - ._ "punch" office, bouverie street, london, e.c. * * * * * illustration: =the reward of (de)merit.= king punch presenteth prussia with the order of "st. gibbet." _may , ._ * * * *** =the prussian bully tears up a "scrap of paper" pledging him to respect the integrity of denmark.= * * * * * illustration: =jack on the crisis.= "blow it, bill! we can't be expected to _fight_ a lot o' lubberly swabs like him. we'll _kick_ 'em, if that'll do." _july , ._ * * * *** =the prussian bully gives great offence to england.= * * * * * illustration: =brigands dividing the spoils.= _august , ._ * * * *** =the prussian bully takes his share of the plunder.= * * * * * illustration: =check to the king.= _bismarck_ (_reads from , citizens of cologne_). "in view of the miserable condition of the country in view of a civil war, with its attendant sufferings and fearful calamities ... we couch a solemn protest against engaging in such a war...." _king of prussia._ "what is that? dare my subjects object to be slaughtered! what next, i wonder?" _june , ._ * * * *** =the prussian bully declares his intention of making war on austria.= * * * * * illustration: =peace--and no pieces!= bismarck. "pardon, mon ami; but we really can't allow you to pick up anything here." nap (_the chiffonnier_). "pray don't mention it, m'sieu! it's not of the slightest consequence." _august , ._ * * * *** =the prussian bully refuses to allow france to rectify her frontier.= * * * * * illustration: ="to be sold."= _emperor napoleon:_ "i-a-have made an offer to my friend here, and...." _the man in possession:_ "no, have you, though? i rather think i was the party to apply to." _emperor napoleon:_ "oh, indeed! ah! then in that case i'll--but it's of no consequence." _may , ._ * * * *** =the prussian bully objects to being turned out of luxemburg.= * * * * * illustration: =gaul to the new cÆsar.= "defiance, emperor, while i have strength to hurl it!" _december , ._ * * * *** =the prussian bully has no pity for france.= * * * * * illustration: =excessive bail.= _justice_ (_to bismarck_). "your client was assaulted, and you ask that the defendant 'shall be bound over to keep the peace for many years.' but i cannot sanction a demand for exorbitant securities." _february , ._ * * * *** =the prussian bully demands from france the cession of alsace and lorraine and an indemnity of £ , , .= * * * * * illustration: =enter bismarck.= "i speak of peace, while covert enmity, under the smile of safety, wounds the world; and who but 'bismarck,' who but only i, make fearful musters and prepared defence." _henry the fourth, part ii._ (_induction._) _february , ._ * * * *** =the prussian bully speaks of peace and prepares for war.= * * * * * illustration: =dropping the pilot.= _march , ._ * * * *** =the prussian bully has no further use for prince bismarck.= * * * * * illustration: ="nana would not give me a bow-wow!"= [the german emperor is reported to have said, "it was impossible for me to anticipate the rejection of the army bills, so fully did i rely upon the patriotism of the imperial diet to accept them unreservedly. a patriotic minority has been unable to prevail against the majority ... i was compelled to resort to a dissolution, and i look forward to the acceptance of the bills by the new reichstag. should this expectation be again disappointed, i am determined to use every means in my power to achieve my purpose."--_the times._] _may , ._ * * * *** =the prussian bully complains that he cannot have it all his own way.= * * * * * illustration: =his favorite subject.= _imperial artist._ "wish i could have got it done in time for the royal academy. sure to have been accepted." _may , ._ * * * *** =the prussian bully paints himself in divine colours.= * * * * * illustration: =germania arming kruger.= "the _vossische zeitung_ chronicles with satisfaction the recent arrival at lorenzo marquez, on board the german east african liner kaiser, of , cases of war material for the transvaal, including a whole battery of heavy guns, and states its conviction that the transvaal and the orange free state are 'determined to maintain their independence.'"--_globe, april ._ _april , ._ * * * *** =the prussian bully tries to interfere in the transvaal.= * * * * * illustration: =a tall order.= _german eagle_ (_to dove of peace_). "teach me how to coo!" _december , ._ * * * *** =the prussian bully maintains, in the cause of peace, a strong and efficient army, ready for instant action.= * * * * * illustration: =the blind side.= _german officer_: "glad to hear you're going to fortify your sea front. very dangerous people, these english." _dutchman_: "but it will cost much." _german officer_: "ah, but see what you save on the eastern frontier, where there's nobody but us." _january , ._ * * * *** =the prussian bully tries to get on the "blind side" of holland.= * * * * * illustration: =solid.= _germany._ "donnerwetter! it's rock. i thought it was going to be paper." _august , ._ * * * *** =the prussian bully finds that the triple entente really exists.= * * * * * illustration: =out of the shadow.= _the kaiser._ "what business have you here?" _german socialist party._ "i too want 'a place in the sun.'" _january , ._ * * * *** =the prussian bully becomes aware of a growing menace.= * * * * * illustration: =bravo, belgium!= _august , ._ * * * *** =the prussian bully invades an inoffensive neutral country.= * * * * * illustration: =the triumph of "culture."= _august , ._ * * * *** =the prussian bully declares himself to be the apostle of culture.= * * * * * illustration: =the great goth.= design for a stained-glass window in a neo-gothic cathedral at potsdam. _september , _ * * * *** =the apotheosis of the prussian bully.= * * * * * bradbury, agnew & co. printers, london & tonbridge. secret memoirs the court of royal saxony - this edition, printed on japanese vellum paper, is limited to two hundred and fifty copies. no. ________ [illustration: louise, ex-crown-princess of saxony photo taken shortly before her flight from dresden] secret memoirs the court of royal saxony - the story of louise crown princess from the pages of her diary, lost at the time of her elopement from dresden with m. andrÉ ("richard") giron by henry w. fischer author of "private lives of william ii and his consort," "secret history of the court of berlin," etc., etc. illustrated from photographs bensonhurst, new york fischer's foreign letters, inc. publishers copyright, by henry w. fischer copyright, , applied for by henry w. fischer in great britain copyright, , by henry w. fischer, in germany, france, austria, switzerland, and all foreign countries having international copyright arrangements with the united states [_all rights reserved, including those of translation_] editor's card this is to certify that the ex-crown princess of saxony, now called countess montiguoso, madame toselli by her married name, is in no way, either directly or indirectly, interested in this publication. there has been no communication of whatever nature, directly or through a third party, between this lady and the editor or publishers. in fact, the publication will be as much a surprise to her as to the general public. the royal court of saxony, therefore, has no right to claim, on the ground of this publication, that princess louise violated her agreement with that court as set forth in the chapter on the _kith and kin of the ex-crown princess of saxony_, under the heads of "_louise's alimony and conditions_" and "_allowance raised and a further threat_." henry w. fischer, _editor_. fischer's foreign letters, publishers this book and its purpose by henry w. fischer of memoirs that are truly faithful records of royal lives, we have a few; the late queen victoria led the small number of crowned autobiographists only to discourage the reading of self-satisfied royal ego-portrayals forever, but in the story of louise of saxony we have the main life epoch of a cyprian royal, who had no inducement to say anything false and is not afraid to say anything true. for the saxon louise wrote not to guide the hand of future official historiographers, or to make virtue distasteful to some sixty odd grand-children, bored to death by the recital of the late "mrs. john brown's" sublime goodness:--louise wrote for her own amusement, even as pepys did when he diarized the peccadilloes of the second charles' english and french "hures" (which is the estimate these ladies put upon themselves).[ ] the ex-crown princess of saxony suffered much in her youth by a narrow-minded, bigoted mother, a sadist like the monstrous torquemada; marriage, she imagined, spelled a rich husband, more lover than master; freedom from tyranny, paltry surroundings, interference. to her untutored mind, life at the saxon court meant right royal splendor, liberty to do as one pleases, the companionship of agreeable, amusing and ready-to-serve friends. _the sad saxon court_ her experience? instead of the imperial mother who took delight in cutting her children's faces with diamonds and exposing her daughters to the foul machinations of worthless teachers--she acquired a father-in-law (prince, afterwards king george) whose pretended affection was but a share of his all-encompassing hatred, whose breath was a serpent's, whose veins were flowing with gall; the supposed chevaleresque husband turned out a walking dictionary of petty indecencies and gross vulgarities when in a favorable mood, a brawler at other times, a coward always. as to money--louise wished for nothing better "than to be an american multi-millionaire's daughter for a week"! amusements were few and frowned upon. liberty? none outside of a general permit to eat, drink and couple like animals in pasture, was recognized or tolerated. nor could the royal young woman make friends. her relatives-by-marriage were mostly freaks, and all were unbearable; her entourage a collection of spies and flunkeys. if charity-bazaars, pious palaver, and orphaned babies' diapers had not been the sole topic of conversation at court; if there had been intellectual enjoyment of any kind, louise might never have taken up her pen. as it was: "this diary is intended to contain my innermost thoughts, my ambitions, my promises for the future, _myself_. * * * these pages are my father-confessor. i confess to myself. * * * and as i start in writing letters to myself, it occurs to me that my worse self may be corresponding with my better self, or vice-versa." at any rate she thinks "this diary business will be quite amusing." _louise's amusing writings_ it is. the world always laughs at the--husband of a woman whose history isn't one long yawn. nor is louise content with a bust picture.[ ] she gives full length portraits of herself, family, friends, enemies, and lovers, which latter she picks hap-hazard among commoners and the nobility. only one of them was a prince of the blood, and he promptly proved the most false and dishonorable of the lot. when louise's pen-pictures do not deal with her _amororos_, they focus invariably emperors and princes, kings and queens,--contemporary personages whose acquaintance, by way of the newspapers and magazines, we all enjoy to the full, as "stern rulers," "sacrificers to the public weal," "martyrs of duty," "indefatigable workers," "examples of abstinence," and "high-mindedness"--everything calculated to make life a burden to the ordinary mortal. _kings in fiction and in reality_ but kings and emperors, we are told by these _distant_ observers, are built that way; they would not be happy unless they made themselves unhappy for their people's sake. and as to queens and empresses,--they simply couldn't live if they didn't inspect their linen closets daily, stand over a broiling cook-stove, or knit socks for the offspring of inebriated bricklayers "and sich." witness louise, imperial and royal highness, archduchess of austria, princess of hungary and tuscany, crown princess of saxony, etc., etc., smash these paper records of infallible royal rectitude, and superhuman, almost inhuman, royal probity! had she castigated her own kind _after_ royalty unkenneled her, neck and crop, her story might admit of doubt, but she wrote these things while in the full enjoyment of her rank and station, before her title as future queen was ever questioned or menaced. her diary finishes with her last night in the dresden palace. we do not hear so much as the clatter of the carriage wheels that carried her and "richard" to her unfrocking as princess of the blood,--in short, our narrator is not prejudiced, on the defensive, or soured by disfranchisement. she had no axes to grind while writing; for her all kings dropped out of the clouds; the lustre that surrounds a king never dimmed while her diary was in progress, and before she ceases talking to us she never "ate of the fish that hath fed of that worm that hath eat of a king." yet this large folio edition of _obscénités royale_, chock full, at the same time, of intensely human and interesting facts, notable and amusing things, as enthralling as a novel by balzac,--louise's life record in sum and substance, since her carryings-on _after_ she doffed her royal robes for the motley of the free woman are of no historical, and but scant human interest. the prodigality of the mass of indictments louise launches against royalty as every-day occurrences, reminds one of the great catharine sforza, duchess of milan's clever _mot_. when the enemy captured her children she merely said, "i retain the oven for more." _royal scandals_ such scandalmongering! only her imperial highness doesn't see the obloquy,--sarcasm, cynicism and disparagement being royalty's every-day diet. such gossiping! but what else was there to do at a court whose literature is tracts and whose theatre of action the drill grounds. but for all that, louise's diary is history, because its minute things loom big in connection with social and political results, even as its horrors and abnormalities help paint court life and the lives of kings and princes as they _are_, not as royalties' sycophants and apologizers would have us view them. there is a perfect downpour of books eulogizing monarchs and monarchy; royal governments spend millions of the people's money to uphold and aggrandize exalted kingship and seedy princeship alike; three-fourths of the press of europe is swayed by king-worship, or subsidized to sing the praises of "god's anointed," while in our own country the aping of monarchical institutions, the admiration for court life, the idealization of kings, their sayings, doings and pretended superiority, as carried on by the multi-rich, are undermining love for the republic and the institutions our fathers fought and bled for. _un-american folly_ it's the purpose of the present volume to show the guilty folly of such un-american, un-republican, wholly unjustifiable, reprehensible and altogether ridiculous king-worship, not by argument, or a more or less fanciful story, but by the unbiased testimony of an "insider." let it be considered, above all, that a member of the proudest imperial family in the wide, wide world demonstrates, by inference, the absurdity of king-worship! of course, whether or not you'll obey the impassioned appeal of the corner sermonizer, who, espying a number of very décolletée ladies passing by in a carriage, cried out: "_quand vous voyez ces tetons rebondies, qui se montrent avec tant d'impudence, bandez! bandez! bandez! vous--les yeux!_" is a matter for you to decide. * * * * * seek not for descriptions of ceremonials and festivities in these pages; only imbeciles among kings are interested in such wearying spectacles, intended to dazzle the multitude. the czar paul, who became insane and had his head knocked off by his own officers, appeared upon the scene vacated by his brilliant mother, catharine the great, with a valise full of petty regulations, ready drawn up, by which, every day, every hour, every minute, he announced some foolish change, punishment or favor, but i often saw kaiser wilhelm and other kings look intensely bored and disgusted when obliged to attend dull and superfluous court or government functions. _royalty's loose talk_ but for genuine expressions of the royal self consult louise. those who think that royalty shapes its language in accordance with the plural of the personal pronoun, sometimes used in state papers, will be shocked at the "négligé talk" of one royal highness and the "rag-time" expressions of others. louise, herself, assures us over and over again that she "_feels like a dog_," a statement no self-respecting publisher's reader would allow to pass, yet i was told by a friend of king frederick of denmark that he loved to compare his "all-highest person" to a "_mut_," and i remember a letter from victor emanuel ii to his great minister, count cavour, solemnly protesting that he (the king) was "_no ass_." when the same danish ruler, the seventh of his name, was asked why, in thunder, he married a common street walker (the rasmussen, afterwards created countess danner), he cried out with every indication of gusto: "you don't know how deliciously common that girl is." frederick's words explain the hostler marriages of several royal women mentioned by louise, as well as her own and loving family's _broulleries_ of the fish-wife order, repeatedly described in the diary. _royalty threatens a royal woman_ it is safe to say that few $ flats in all the united states witnessed more outrageous family jars than were fought out in the gilded halls of the dresden palace between louise and father-in-law and louise and husband. threats of violence are frequent; prince george promises his daughter-in-law a sound beating at the hands of the crown prince and the crown princess confesses that she would rather go to bed with a drunken husband, booted and spurred, than risk a sword thrust. at the coronation of the present czar, at moscow, i mistook the duke of edinburgh, brother of the late king edward, for a policeman attached to the british ambassador, so exceedingly commonplace a person in appearance, speech and manner he seemed; louise has a telling chapter on the mean looks of royalty, but fails to see the connection between that and royalty's coarseness. perhaps it wasn't the "commonness" of lady emma hamilton, child of the slums, impersonator of _risqué_ stage pictures, and mistress of the greatest naval hero of all times, that appealed primarily to louise's grand-aunt, queen caroline of naples, but the abandon of the beautiful englishwoman, her reckless exposure of person, her freedom of speech, certainly sealed the friendship between the adventuress and the despotic ruler who deserved the epithet of "bloody" no less than mary of england. _covetous royalty_ royal covetousness is another subject dwelt on by louise. we learn that in money matters the kings and princes of her acquaintance--and her acquaintance embraces all the monarchs of europe--are "dirty," that royal girls are given in marriage to the highest bidder, and that poor princes have no more chance to marry a rich princess than a drayman an american multi-millionaire's daughter. louise gives us a curious insight into the pappenheim-wheeler marriage embroglio, and refers to some noble families that made their money in infamous trades; that the kaiser adopted the title of one of these unspeakables ("count of henneberg") she doesn't seem to know. we hear of imperial and royal highnesses, living at public expense and for whom honors and lucrative employment are exacted from the people, who at home figure as poor relations, obliged to submit to treatment that a self-respecting "boots" or "omnibus" would resent. here we have a royal prince of twenty-four or twenty-five subjected to kicks and cuffs by his uncle, who happens to be king--no indignity either to the slugged or the slugger in that--but when a pretty princess gets a few "_hochs_" more than an ugly, mouse-colored majesty, she is all but flayed for "playing to the gallery." "high-minded" royalty robs widows and despoils orphans; re-introduces into the family obsolete punishments forbidden by law; maintains in the household a despicable spy system! its respect for womanhood is on a par with a bushman's; of authors, "lickspittles" only count; literature, unless it kowtows to the "all-highest" person, is the "trade of jew scribblers." _right royal manners_ as to manners, what do you think of kings and princes and grand-dukes who, at ceremonial dinners, pound the table to "show that they are boss"? louise tells of an emperor at a foreign court ignoring one of his hostesses absolutely, even refusing to acknowledge her salute by a nod. we hear of expectant royal heirs who engage in wild fandangoes of merriment while their father, brother or cousin lies dying. "personal matter," you say? "a typical case," i retort. "ask the _duc du_ maine to wait till i am dead before he indulges in the full extent of his joy," said the dying louis xiv, when the _de profundis_ in the death chamber was suddenly interrupted by the sound of violent laughter from the adjoining gallery. and the fact that almost every new king sets aside the testament of his predecessor,--is this not evidence of the general callowness of feeling prevailing in royal circles? _the irish famine and royalty_ in famine times, the kings and princes of old drove the starving out of town to die of hunger in the fields, and as late as one hundred and fifty thousand saxons died of hunger under the "glorious reign" of louise's grandfather-by-marriage, frederick augustus iii. and the "life of queen victoria," approved by the court of st. james, unblushingly informs us that in "her most gracious majesty" was chiefly concerned about investing to good profit the revenues of the prince of wales, her infant son (about four hundred thousand dollars per annum). yet, while victoria pinched the boy's tenants to extort an extra penny for him, and "succeeded in saving all but four thousand pounds sterling" of his imperial allowance, the population of ireland was reduced two millions by the most dreadful famine the world remembers! before the famine ireland had a population of , , , against a population of , , in england and wales, while scotland's population was , , . six years after the famine ireland's population was , , , scotland's , , , england and wales' , , . today ireland's population is less than scotland's, the exact figures being: scotland , , , ireland , , , england and wales , , . _royalty utterly heartless_ however, as the waste of two million human lives, the loss of four millions in population, subsequently enabled the prince of wales to tie the price of a dukedom[ ] in diamonds around a french dancer's neck and to support a hundred silly harlots in all parts of europe, who cares? according to louise and--others, royalty is the meanest, the most heartless, the most faithless and the most unjust of the species--that in addition she herself disgraced its womanhood, after the famous louise of prussia rehabilitated queenship, is regrettable, but to call it altogether unexpected would be rank euphemism. _louise's character_ if louise had lived at the time of phryne, the philosophers would have characterized her as "an animal with long hair"; if he had known her, the great mirabeau might have coined his pet phrase, "a human that dresses, undresses and--talks" (or writes) for louise; as a matter of fact, she is one of those "_jansenists_" of love who believe in the utter helplessness of natural woman to turn down a good looking man. her great grand-uncle, emperor francis, recorded on a pane of glass overlooking the courtyard of the vienna _hofburg_ his opinion of women in the brief observation: "_chaque femme varie_" (women always change). this is true of louise and also untrue of her. while occupying her high position at the saxon court she was fixed in the determination to make a cuckold of her husband, though frederick augustus, while a pumpkin, wasn't fricasseed in snow by any means. the process gave her palpitations, but, like ninon, she was "_so_ happy when she had palpitations." _changed lovers frequently_ as to lovers, she changed them as often as she had to, never hesitating to pepper her _steady_ romances by playing "everybody's wife," chance permitting, as she intimates naïvely towards the close of the diary. qualms of conscience she knows not, but of pride of ancestry, of insistence on royal prerogatives, she has plenty and to spare. "my great grand-aunt, marie antoinette, did this"; "my good cousins d'orleans" (three of them) "allowed themselves to be seduced"; "_ma cousine de_ saxe-coburg laughs at conventionalities,"--there you have the foundation of the iniquitous philosophy of the royal lais. and for the rest--when she is queen, all will be well. _her court--a seraglio_ louise's fixed idea was that, as queen of saxony, she had but to say the word to establish a court _à la_ catharine ii; time and again she refers to the great empress's male seraglio, and to the enormous sums she squandered on her favorites. if the diarist had known that her majesty of russia, when in the flesh, never suffered to be longer than twenty-four hours without a lover, louise, no doubt, would have made the most elaborate plans to prevent, in her own case, a possible _interregnum_ of five minutes even. she thought she held the whip hand because a king cannot produce princes without his wife, while the wife can produce princes without the king; besides frederick augustus was no paragon, and he who plants horns, must not grudge to wear them. a wanton's calculations, it will be argued,--but louise's records show that her husband, the king-to-be, fell in with her main idea,--that he forgave the unfaithful wife, the disgraced princess, because, as queen, her popularity would be "a great asset." and americans, our women of whom we are so proud, are asked to bow down to such sorry majesties! _sired and "cousined" by lunatics_ and is there no excuse for so much baseness in high places? our royal diarist offers none, but her family history is a telling apology. be it remembered that louise is not so much an austrian as a wittelsbacher of the royal house of bavaria that gave to the world two mad kings, louis ii and otho, the present incumbent of the throne, besides a number of eccentrics, among others louise's aunts, the empress elizabeth and the duchess d'alencon, both dead; crown prince rudolph of austria, her cousin, was also undoubtedly insane, the result of breeding in and in, austrian, bourbon and wittelsbach stock, all practically of the same parentage, in a mad mix-up, the insane wittelsbachers predominating. to cap the climax, louise has eighteen or nineteen insane cousins on her mother's side! * * * * * once upon a time louise's prosaic and stupid great-uncle, as a young husband, felt dreadfully scandalized when his queen, marie antoinette, bombarded him with spit-balls. "what can i do with her?" he asked "minister sans-culotte" dumouriez. "i would spike the cannon, sire," replied the courtier. "_enclouer le canon_," if performed in time, might have saved louise, but i doubt it. henry w. fischer. footnotes: [footnote : "be civil, good people, i am the english hure," said nell gwyn, addressing a london mob that threatened to storm her carriage, assuming that its occupant was the hated frenchwoman.] [footnote : "your biography give a faithful portrait of self," said fontenelle, the famous french academician, to an th century marquise, "but i miss the record of your gallantries." "_ah, monsieur, c'est que je ne me suis peinte qu'en buste!_" replied her ladyship.] [footnote : the prince of wales' revenue is derived from the duchy of cornwall, amounting to about half a million dollars per year.] kith and kin of the ex-crown princess of saxony _louise's own family_ the royal woman whose life's history is recorded in this volume was born louise antoinette, daughter of the late grand duke ferdinand iv of tuscany (died january , ) and the dowager grand duchess alice, _née_ princess bourbon of parma. * * * * * louise has four brothers, among them the present head of the tuscany family, joseph ferdinand, who dropped the obsolete title of grand duke and is officially known as archduke of austria-hungary. he is a brigadier general, commanding the fifth austrian infantry, and unmarried. better known is louise's older brother, the former archduke leopold, who dropped his title and dignities, and, as a swiss citizen, adopted the name of leopold wulfling. this leopold is generally regarded as a black sheep. louise more often refers to him in the present volume than to any other member of her family. he is now a commoner by his own, more or less enforced, abdication, as louise is a commoner by decree of her chief-of-family, the austrian emperor, francis joseph, dated vienna, january , . a month before above date the saxon court had conferred on louise the title of countess montiguoso, while, on her own part, she adopted the fanciful cognomen of louise of tuscany. of louise's two remaining brothers, one, archduke peter, serves in the austrian army as colonel of the thirty-second infantry, while archduke henry is master of horse in the sixth bavarian dragoons. only one of louise's four sisters is married, the oldest, anna, now princess johannes of hohenlohe-bartenstein. the unmarried sisters are archduchesses margareta ( years old), germana ( years old), agnes ( years old). * * * * * _mother comes of mentally tainted stock_ louise's mother, _née_ princess alice of parma, is the only surviving sister of the late duke robert, who left twenty children, all living, and of whom eighteen or nineteen are either imbeciles or raving lunatics, the present head of the house, duke henry, belonging to the first category of mentally unsound. louise's first cousin, prince elias of parma, the seventh son, is accounted sound, but elias's sister, zita (the twelfth child), developed maniacal tendencies since her marriage to archduke karl francis joseph, heir-presumptive to the crown of austria-hungary. * * * * * _francis joseph's autocratic rule_ _louise formerly in line of austrian succession_ louise was in the line of the austrian succession until, upon her marriage to the crown prince of saxony ( ), she officially renounced her birthrights. emperor francis joseph of austria-hungary is louise's grand-uncle as well as chief of the imperial family of austria, the royal family of hungary, the grand-ducal family of tuscany (now extinct as far as the title goes), and of the estes, which is the ducal line of modena, extinct in the male line. finally he is recognized as chief by the ducal family of parma, descendants of the spanish hapsburgs. emperor francis joseph rules all the hapsburgers, austrian, hungarian, and those of tuscany, of este, of modena and parma, autocratically, his word being law in the family. even titles conferred by birth can be taken away by him, as exemplified in the case of louise and her brother leopold. * * * * * _royal saxons_ as a member of the austrian imperial family, the hapsburgers, founded in , louise ranked higher than her husband, the crown prince of the petty kingdom of saxony, whose claim to the royal title dates from ,--a gift of the emperor napoleon. she married frederick augustus november , , while the latter's uncle reigned as king albert of saxony ( to ). louise's father-in-law, up to then known as prince george, succeeded his brother june , . he was then a widower and his family consisted of: princess mathilde, unmarried, the crown prince frederick augustus, husband of louise, princess marie-josepha, wife of archduke otho of austria, prince johann george, at that time married to isabelle of württemberg, and prince max. the latter subsequently shelved his title and entered the church july , . he is a professor of canonical law and slated for a german bishopric. at the time of prince george's ascension, there was also living the late king albert's widow, queen caroline, _née_ princess of wasa, since dead. the marchesa rapallo, _née_ princess elizabeth of saxony, is a sister of the late king george. _louise and her father-in-law_ during king george's short reign, louise ran away from the saxon court, end of november, . on february , , divorce was pronounced against her by a special court assembled by king george. louise was adjudged the guilty party and deprived of the name and style of crown princess of saxony. as previously (january ) the austrian emperor had forbidden her to use the name and title of austrian archduchess and imperial and royal princess, louise would have been nameless but for the rank and title of countess montiguoso, conferred upon her by king george. * * * * * _louise's alimony conditional_ at the same time louise accepted from the court of saxony a considerable monthly allowance on condition that "she undertake nothing liable to compromise the reigning family, either by criticism or story, either by word, deed or in writing." * * * * * _frederick augustus, king_ upon his father's death, frederick augustus succeeded king george october , . he is now forty-seven years old, while louise is forty-two. the king of saxony has six children by louise, three boys and three girls, five born in wedlock, the youngest born without wedlock. the children born in wedlock are: the present crown prince, born . frederick christian, likewise born in . ernest, born . margaret, born . and marie alix, born . the youngest princess of saxony, so called, anna monica, was born by louise more than six months after she left her husband and nearly three months after her divorce. louise desired to retain anna monica in her own custody, but though the child's fathership is in doubt, to say the least, frederick augustus insisted upon the little one's transference to his care. * * * * * _allowance raised and a further threat_ king frederick augustus raised louise's allowance to $ , per year, "which alimony ceases if the said countess montiguoso shall commit, either personally, directly or indirectly, any act in writing or otherwise liable to injure the reputation of king frederick augustus or members of the royal family of saxony, or if the said countess montiguoso contributes to any such libellous publication in any manner or form." * * * * * _the divorce of royal couple illegal_ after divorce was pronounced against her, louise declined to accept the decree of the court, pronouncing the proceedings illegal on the ground that both she and husband are catholics and that the roman catholic church, under no circumstances, recognizes divorce. her protest gained importance from the fact that her marriage to frederick augustus was solemnized by the rites of the roman catholic church. the saxon court, on the other hand, justified its own decision by basing same on a certain civil ceremony entered into by louise and frederick augustus previous to the church marriage. * * * * * _louise marries a second time_ when louise realized in the course of years that frederick augustus would not take her back, she changed her mind as to the illegality of her divorce and married, september , , enrico toselli, an italian composer and pianist of small reputation. this marriage was performed civilly. they have one child, a boy, about whose custody the now legally separated parents have instituted several actions in law. the boy has now been allotted to the care of toselli's mother. _king did not marry again_ king frederick augustus, though by the laws of saxony and germany allowed to contract a second marriage, has not availed himself of the license, probably in deference to the wishes of the vatican. at the same time he spurned all of louise's attempts at reconciliation, the most dramatic of which was her _coup de tête_ of december, , when she went to dresden "to see her children," was arrested at the palace gate and conducted out of the kingdom by high police officials. * * * * * _other royalties mentioned in this volume_ louise refers, in her diary, to the kaiser as "cousin." if there be any relationship between her and william, it is that imposed by the saxon marriage, saxon princes and princesses having frequently intermarried with the royal and princely hohenzollerns, despite the differences of religion. there are four courts of saxony despite that of dresden: weimar, meiningen, altenburg and coburg and gotha. the latter duchy's ruler, karl eduard, is of english descent, a son of the late duke of albany. hence, louise's cousinship with victoria melita, sometime grand duchess of hesse, now grand duchess kyril of russia. of course, louise is closely related to all the orleans and bourbons. marie antoinette, queen of france, who died on the scaffold at paris, october , , she calls her great-grand-aunt and namesake, claiming, at the same time, most of the kings and princes of france of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as relatives. contents chapter i motherhood page a sterile royal family once fruitful--diary true record of self--long legs of countess solms--a child only because he can't help it--wet nurse to socialist brat--royal permit for nursing--royal negligee talk--a saxon failing chapter ii the sweet family husband loving, but family nasty--money considerations--brutal caresses in public--pests in the family--awful serenity--meddle with angels' or devils' affairs--father-in-law's gritty kiss chapter iii weeping willow--emblem royal a pious fraud--theresa mayer--character of the queen--mopishness rampant chapter iv my unpleasant youth father hard to get along with--royal imaginations--kings cursing other kings--poverty and pretense--piety that makes children suffer--up at five to pray on cold stones--chilblains and prayer chapter v a fierce disciplinarian diamonds used to punish children--face object of attacks-- grunting and snorting at the royal table--blood flowing at dinner--my brother jumps out of a window chapter vi leopold defends my honor at his peril punished for objecting to familiarities--awful names i was called--locked in the room with wicked teacher--defend myself with burning lamp--my brother nearly kills my would-be assailant chapter vii princes and princesses dance to the tune of the whip the result shows in the character of rulers--why english kings and princes are superior to the continental kind--leopold's awful revenge--mother acts the tigress--her mailed fist--"i forbid your imperial highness to see that dog" chapter viii planning to get a husband for me dissecting possible wooers at vienna--royalty after money, not character--"he is a cohen, not a coburg"--prince who looked like a jew counter-jumper in his sunday best--balkan princes tabooed by francis joseph--a good time for the girls--army men commanded to attend us chapter ix love-making the fascinating baron--the man's audacity--putting the question boldly--real love-making--_risqué_ stories for royalty chapter x my popularity renders george dyspeptic the cudgel-majesty--prince george's intrigues--no four-horse coach for princess--popular demonstration in my favor--"all-highest" displeasure chapter xi scolded for being popular entourage spied upon by george's minions--my husband proves a weakling--i disavow the personal compliment--no more intelligent than a king should be chapter xii royal disgrace--lightning and shadows ordered around by the queen--give thanks to a bully--jealous of the "mob's" applause--"the old monkey after '_hochs_'"--criticizing the "old man"--royalty's plea for popularity--proposed punishments for people refusing to love royalty chapter xiii unspeakable littlenesses of petty courts another quarrel with my husband--personal attendant to a corpse--killing by pin pricks--the mythical three "_how art thou's?_"--unwanted sympathy from my inferiors--pride of the decapitated queen of france is in me--lovers not impossible--court to blame for them--my husband acts cowardly--brutalizes my household--i lock myself in chapter xiv imperial russian ethics transferred to dresden my husband's reported escapade--did he give diamonds to a dancing girl?--his foolish excuses--"i am your pal"--a restaurant scene in st. petersburg--the birthday suit chapter xv royalty not pretty, and why fecundity royal women's greatest charm--how to have beautiful children chapter xvi more jealousies of the great men and women caress me with their eyes--some disrespectful sayings and doings of mine--first decided quarrel with frederick augustus--i go to the theatre in spite of him chapter xvii the royal prince, who behaves like a drunken bricklayer i face the music, but my husband runs away--prince george can't look me in the eye--he roars and bellows--advocates wife-beating--i defy him--german classics--"jew literature" _auto da fé_ ordered chapter xviii i defy them laughter and pleasant faces for me--frederick augustus refuses to back me, but i don't care--we quarrel about my reading--he professes to gross ignorance chapter xix attempted violence defeated by firmness frederick augustus seeks to carry out his father's brutal threats--orders and threats before servants--i positively refuse to be ordered about--frederick augustus plays mrs. lot--enjoying myself at the theatre chapter xx titled servants low and cunning george tries to rob me of my confidante--enter the king's spy, baroness tisch in her true character--punishment of one royal spy chapter xxi banishment i am ordered to repair to a country house with the hated spy as my grand mistress--my first impulse to go home, but afraid parents won't have me chapter xxii "poor relations" in royal houses myself and frederick augustus quarrel and pound table--the countess cosel's golden vessel--off to brighton--threat of a beating--i provoke shadows of divorce--king threatens force--more defiance on my part--i humble the king and am allowed to invite my brother leopold chapter xxiii a servant-tyrant my correspondence is not safe from the malicious woman appointed grand mistress--lovers at a distance and by correspondence--fell in love with a leg chapter xxiv more tyranny of a titled servant my daily papers seized, and only milk-and-water clippings are submitted--"king's orders"--grand mistress's veracity doubted--my threats of suspension cow her chapter xxv the two black sheep of the family united leopold upon my troubles and his own--imperial hapsburgs that, though catholics, got divorces or married divorced women--books that are full of guilty knowledge, according to royalty--a mud-hole lodging for one imperial highness--leopold's girl--what i think of army officers' wives--their anonymous letters--leopold's money troubles--we will fool our enemies by feigning obedience chapter xxvi frederick augustus continues very raw manners _à la_ barracks natural to royal princes--names i am called--my ladies scandalized--leopold turned over a new leaf, according to agreement, and is well treated--the king grateful to me for having "influenced leopold to be good" chapter xxvii prince max makes love to me wants me to consult him on all spiritual matters--warns me against the kaiser, the heretic bishop--princes as ill-mannered as russian-jew up-starts chapter xxviii the shah of persia falls in love with me the "animal" and his show of diamonds and rubies--overcome by love he treats me like a lady of the harem--on the defensive--the king of kings an ill-behaved brute--eats like a pig and affronts queen--wiped off greasy hands on my state robe--when ten thousand gouged-out eyes carpeted his throne--offers of jewels--"does he take me for a ballet girl?"--the shah almost compromises me--king, alarmed, abruptly ends dinner--i receive presents from him chapter xxix the shah compromises me in public has only eyes for me at the grand manoeuvres, and i can't drive him from my carriage--ignores the king and the military spectacle--calls me his adored one--court in despair--shah ruins priceless carpets to make himself a lamb stew chapter xxx my life at court becomes unbearable laughter a crime--disappointed queen lays down the law for my behavior--frederick augustus sometimes fighting drunk--draws sword on me--prince george would have me beaten--to bed with his boots on chapter xxxi prison for princes that oppose the king duke of saxony banished--cut off from good literature even--anecdote concerning the grand dauphin and his "kettledrums"--a royal prince's garrison life--his association with lewd women chapter xxxii prince george shown the door by grand-duchess melita a royal lady who walks her garden attired in a single diaphanous garment--won't stand for any meddling--called impertinent--my virtuous indignation assumed--a flirtation at a distance--an audacious lover--the grand mistress hoodwinked--matrimonial horns for kaiser--the banished duke dies--princes scolded like school-boys chapter xxxiii melita's love affairs and mine the grand duchess tells me how she cudgeled george--living dictaphone employed--shows him who is mistress of the house--snaps fingers in prince george's face--debate about titles--"a sexless thing of a husband"--conference between lover and husband--grand duke doesn't object to his wife's lover, but lover objects to "his paramour being married" chapter xxxiv more about the sweet royal family life "closed season" for petty meannesses--a prince who enjoys himself like a pig--why princes learn trades--a family dinner to the accompaniment of threats and smashing of table--the duke's widow and children robbed of their inheritance by royal family--king confiscates testament chapter xxxv flirtation develops into love at the theatre--my adorer must have felt my presence--forgot his diplomacy--the mute salute--his good looks--his mouth a promise of a thousand sweet kisses--our love won't be any painted business chapter xxxvi count bielsk makes love to the crown princess fearless to indiscretion--he "thou's" me--puts all his chances on one card--proposes a rendezvous--shall i go or shall i not go?--peril if i go and peril if i don't chapter xxxvii rapid love making in the bois a discreet maid--"remove thy glove"--kisses of passion, pure kisses, powerful kisses--i see my lover daily--countess barnello offers "doves' nest"--driving to rendezvous in state--"naughty louise," who makes fun of george chapter xxxviii "in love there are no princesses, only women" a diplomatic trick--jealous of romano's past--the pact for life and the talisman--if there were a theatre fire the talisman would discover our love to the king--some ill-natured reflections--bernhardt's escapades cover up my tracks--the "black sheep" jumps his horse over a coffin--king gives him a beating--bernhardt's mess-room lingo--anecdotes of royal voluptuaries--forces animals to devour each other--naked ballet-girls as horses--abnormals rule the world chapter xxxix my punishment i lose my lover--quarrels with me because i did my duty as a mother--royalty extols me for the same reason---my pride of kingship aroused by socialist scribblers--change my opinion as to duke's widow--parents arrive--father and his alleged astrolatry--his finances disarranged by alimony payments--my uncle, the emperor, rebukes mother harshly for complaining of _roué_ father chapter xl a plebeian lover in need of a friend--my physician offers his friendship--i discover that he loves me, but he will never confess--i give him encouragement--we manage to persuade the king to further our intrigue--not a bit repentant of my peccadilloes--very submissive--introduced to my lover's wife chapter xli an atrocious royal scandal a royal couple that shall be nameless--the voluptuous duchess--her husband the worst of degenerates--"what monsters these royalties be"--nameless outrages--a duchess forced to have lovers--ferdinand and i live like married folk--duchess feared for her life--her husband murdered her--i scold and humiliate my overbearing grand mistress--the medical report too horrible to contemplate chapter xlii i lose another of my lovers happily no scandal--rewarded for bearing children--$ --for becoming a mother--royal poverty--bernhardt, the black sheep, in hot water again--the king rebukes me for taking his part chapter xliii the crown princess quells a riot asked to play the coward, and i refuse--a hostler who would die for a look from me--hostler marriages in royal houses--anecdotes and unknown facts concerning royal ladies and their offspring--refuse police escort and rioters acclaim me--whole royal family proud of my feat chapter xliv the new lover, and "i play the hussy for fair" who is that most exquisite _vortänzer?_--a lovely boy--"blush, good white paper"--i long for henry--my eyes reflect love--"i must see you tonight. arrange with lucretia"--sorry i ever loved a man before henry--poetry even--i try to get him an office at court--afraid women will steal him chapter xlv love and the happiness it conveys my grand mistress suspects because i am so amiable--pangs of jealousy--every good-looking man pursued by women--a good story of my cousin, the duchess berri--we all go cycling together--the vitzthums--love making on the street--a mud bath chapter xlvi fears for my love some reflections on queens of old who punished recreant lovers--henry was in debt and i gave him money--indignities by which some of that money was earned--husband accompanies me to loschwitz--reflections on frederick augustus's character chapter xlvii love's intermezzo bernhardt takes advantage of my day-dreams--my husband's indolent _gaucherie_--violent love-making--ninon who loved families, not men--does bernhardt really love me? chapter xlviii grand mistress tells husband i keep a diary he wants to see it, but seems unsuspecting--grand mistress denies that she meant mischief, but i upbraid her unmercifully--threaten to dismiss her like a thieving lackey chapter xlix aristocratic visitors i hear disquieting news about my lover's character--the aristocracy a dirty lot--love-making made easy by titled friends--anecdotes of richelieu and the duke of orleans--the german nobleman who married miss wheeler and had to resign his birthright--the disreputable business the pappenheims and other nobles used to be in--i am afraid to question my lover as to charges chapter l to live under king's and prince george's eye abruptly ordered to the royal summer residence--the vitzthums and henry take flight--enmeshed by prince george's intrigues--those waiting for a crown have no friends--what i will do when queen--no wonder kings of old married only relatives--interesting facts about relative marriages furnished by scientist chapter li cold reception--enemies all around frederick augustus gives his views on adultery--doesn't care personally, but "the king knows"--"thank god, the king is ill"--i am deprived of my children--have i got the moral strength to defy my enemies? chapter lii prince george reveals to me the depth of his hatred a terrible interview--"the devil will come to claim you"--uncertain how much the king and prince george know--i break into the nursery and stay with my children all day--prince george insults me in my own rooms and threatens prison if i disobey him chapter liii revolver in hand, i demand an explanation an insolent grand mistress, but of wonderful courage--imprisonment, threats to kill have no effect on her--disregards my titles--my lover's souvenir and endearing words--how she caused henry to leave me--my paroxysms of rage--henry's complete betrayal of me chapter liv forced to do penance like a trappist-monk "by the king's orders"--i submit for the sake of my children--must fast as well as pray--in delicate health, i insist upon returning to dresden--bernhardt, to avoid being maltreated by king, threatens him with his sword--the king's awful wrath--bernhardt prisoner in nossen--i escape, temporarily, protracted _ennui_ chapter lv francis joseph joins my saxon enemies cuts me dead before whole family--everybody talks over my head at dinner--i refuse to attend more court festivities--husband protests because i won't stand for insult from emperor--i give rein to my contempt for his family--hypocrites, despoilers, gamblers, religious maniacs, brutes--benign lords to the people, tyrants at home--i cry for my children like a she-dog whose young were drowned chapter lvi i am determined to do as i please i reject mother's tearful reproaches--i beard prince george in his lair despite whining chamberlains--i tell him what i think of him, and he becomes frightened--threatens madhouse--"i dare you to steal my children"--i win my point--and the children--"her imperial highness regrets"--lots of forbidden literature--precautions against intriguing grand mistress--the affair with henry--was it a flower-covered pit to entrap me?--castle stolpen and some of its awful history chapter lvii i confess to papa king albert dies and king george a very sick man--papa's good advice--"you will be queen soon"--a lovely old man, very much troubled chapter lviii monsieur giron--richard, the artist the king asks me to superintend lessons by m. giron--a most fascinating man--his grecian eyes--he is a painter as well as a teacher--in love--careless whether i am caught in my lover's arms--"richard" talks anarchy to me--why i don't believe in woman suffrage--characters and doings of women in power chapter lix the people think me a wanton credit me with innumerable lovers, but don't disapprove--glad the king feels scandalized--picture of the "she-monster"--everybody eager for love--i delight in richard's jealousy--husband's indelicate announcement at table--i rush from the royal opera to see my lover--a threatening dream--richard not mercenary like my noble lovers chapter lx the day of judgment looms up my grand mistress shows her colors--richard advises flight--i hesitate on account of my children--my grand mistress steals a letter from richard to me--i opine that an adulteress's word is as good as a thief's--i humble my grand mistress, but it won't do me much good--pleasant hours at his studio chapter lxi a mad house for louise--probably my confidential maid, lucretia, is banished--the new king has got the incriminating letter, but frederick augustus says nothing--on the eve of judgment the king falls ill chapter lxii king's illness a boon to lovers prayers mixed with joy--espionage disorganized, and i can do as i please--love-making in the school-room--buying a ring for richard--"wishing it on"--"our marriage"--king's life despaired of--my tormentors obsequious--smile at my peccadilloes--husband proud of me--my popularity a great asset--frederick augustus delighted when he hears that king can't last long--the joyous luncheon at richard's studio--making fun of majesties--i expect to be queen presently chapter lxiii what i will do when i am queen a foretaste: titled servants put me _en route_ for lover--the bargain i will propose to frederick augustus--frederick augustus will be a complaisant king--to revive _petit trianon_--i am addressed as queen chapter lxiv the king is alive and punishment near my queenship postponed--king george publicly acclaimed--cuts me dead in church--frederick augustus's disappointment--terrible power of a king over his family, and no appeal--i am like the nude witch of old chapter lxv fisticuffs don't save my crown the attempted theft of my diary--grand mistress discovered after breaking open my desk--reading diary like mad--personal encounter between me and grand mistress--i am the stronger, and carry off the manuscript, but have to leave all my love letters, which go to the king--i discover that they had stolen the key to my diary from my neck chapter lxvi abandoned my titled servants withdraw from me--an old footman my sole support--queen takes the children--old andrew plays spy for me chapter lxvii family council at castle rendezvous at studio--state takes my children from me--madhouse or flight--i brought fifty-two trunks to the palace--depart with small satchel--if i attempt to see my children i'll be seized as "mad woman"--varying emotions of the last ten minutes--threatening shadows thrown on a curtain decide me--ready for flight--diary the last thing to go into the satchel [illustration: from louise's diary] the story of louise, crown princess of saxony chapter i motherhood a sterile royal family once fruitful--diary true record of self--long legs of countess solms--a child only because he can't help it--wet nurse to socialist brat--royal permit for nursing--royal negligee talk--a saxon failing. castle wachwitz, _february , _. i did my duty towards the saxons. i gave them a prince. the royal house ought to be grateful to me:--i am helping to perpetuate it. who would, if i didn't? my sister-in-law, princess mathilde, is an old maid. the other, maria josepha, as sterile as sarah was before she reached the nineties. this applies also to isabelle, the wife of brother-in-law, john-george. and prince max, tired of ballet girls, is about to take the soutane. there is just one more royal saxon princess, elizabeth, and she succeeded in having children neither with her husband _de jure_, the late duke of genoa, nor with her husband-lover, marquis rapallo. louise, then, is the sole living hope of the royal saxons that, only years ago, boasted of a sovereign having three hundred and fifty-two children to his credit, among them not a few subsequently accounted geniuses. augustus, the physical strong ( to ), was the happy father, the _maréshal de_ saxe one of his numerous gifted offspring. alas, since then the house of wettin has declined not in numbers only. poor baby is burdened with ten names in honor of so many ancestors. why, in addition, they want to call him "maria" i cannot for the life of me understand, for there never was a saxon princess or queen that amounted to a row of pins. i wonder whether they will say the same of me after the crown of the wettiners descended upon my brow. those so inclined should consult these papers ere they begin throwing stones, for my diary is intended to contain my innermost thoughts, my ambitions, my promises for the future, _myself_, and let no one judge me by what i say other than what is recorded here. these pages are my father confessor. i confess to myself,--what a woman in my position says to members of her family or official and semi-official persons--her servants, so to speak--doesn't signify, to borrow a phrase from my good cousin, the kaiser wilhelm. father-in-law george tells me to trust no one but him, my husband, and frederick augustus's sisters, cousins and aunts, and to rely on prayer only, yet, stubborn as nature made me, i prefer respectable white paper to my sweet relatives. up to now my most ambitious literary attempts were intimate letters to my brother leopold, the "black sheep." as i now start in writing letters to myself, it occurs to me that my worse self may be corresponding with my better self, or vice versa. if i was only a poet like countess solms, but, dear, no. all real bluestockings are ugly and emaciated. solms is both, and her legs are as long and as thin as those of diana, my english hunter. i think this diary business will be quite amusing,--at any rate, it will be more so than the conversation of my ladies. ah, those ladies of the court of saxony! if they would only talk of anything else but orphans, sisters of charity and ballet girls. the latter always have one foot in hades, while you can see the wings grow on the backs of the others. when the von schoenberg struts in, peacock fashion, and announces "his royal highness did himself the honor to soil his bib," i sometimes stare at her, not comprehending at the moment, and the fact that she is talking of my baby only gradually comes to mind. isn't it ridiculous that a little squalling bit of humanity, whom the accident of birth planted in a palace, is royalty first and all the time, and a child only because he can't help it? as for me, i am a woman and mother first, and my child is an animated lump of flesh and blood--_my_ flesh and blood--first and all the time. of course, when baby came i wanted to nurse it. you should have seen frederick augustus's face. if i had proposed to become a wet-nurse to some "socialist brat" he couldn't have been more astonished. yet my great ancestress, the empress maria theresa, nursed her babies "before a parquet of proletarians," at the theatre and at reviews, and thought nothing of giving the breast to a poor foundling left in the park of schoenbrunn. frederick augustus recovered his speech after a while--though he never says anything that would seem to require reflection, he always acts the deep thinker. "louise," he mumbled reproachfully,--"what will his majesty say?" "i thought you were the father of the child," i remarked innocently. "no levity where the king is concerned," he corrected poor me. "you know very well that for an act of this kind a royal permit must be previously obtained." followed a long pause to give his mental apparatus time to think some more. then: "and, besides, it will hurt your figure." "augusta victoria" (the german empress) "nursed half a dozen children, and her _décolleté_ is still much admired," i insisted. frederick augustus paid no attention to this argument. "anyhow, i don't want the doctors to examine your breast daily," he said with an air of mixed sentimentality and brusqueness. these were not his own words, though. my husband, not content with calling a spade a spade, invariably uses the nastiest terms in the dictionary of debauchery. when he tells me of his love adventures before marriage it's always "i bagged that girl," or "i made something tender out of her," just as a hunter talks of game or a leg of venison. he doesn't want to be rude; he is so without knowing it. his indelicacy would be astounding in a man born on the steps of the throne, if the princes of this royal house were not all inclined that way. two weeks after my accouchement george and isabelle called. though brother and sister-in-law, we are not at all on terms of intimacy. frederick augustus made some remarks of a personal nature that sent all the blood to my head; isabelle seemed to enjoy my discomfort, but george had the decency to go to the window and comment on the dirty boots of a guard lieutenant just entering the courtyard. frederick augustus thought he had made a hit with isabelle and applauded his own effort with a loud guffaw, while pounding his thighs, which seems to give him particular satisfaction. chapter ii the sweet family husband loving, but family nasty--money considerations--brutal caresses in public--pests in the family--awful serenity--meddle with angels' or devils' affairs--father-in-law's gritty kiss. castle wachwitz, _february , _. i have been married some fifteen months and i love my husband. he is kind, not too inquisitive and passionate. i have better claims to domestic happiness than most of my royal sisters on or near the thrones of europe. of course when i married into the saxon royal family i expected to be treated with ill-concealed enmity. wasn't i young and handsome? reason enough for the old maids and childless wives, my new sweet relatives, to detest me. wasn't i poor? i brought little with me and my presence entailed a perpetual expense. now in royal families money is everything, or nearly so, and the newcomer that eats but doesn't increase the family fortune is regarded as an interloper. if i hadn't "_made good_," that is if, in due time, i hadn't become a mother, my position among the purse-proud, rapacious and narrow-minded wettiners would have become wellnigh intolerable. but i proved myself a _holstein_. i rose superior to queen carola, who never had a child, and to maria, mathilda, isabelle and elizabeth, who either couldn't or didn't. but, to my mind, acting the _cow_ for the benefit of the race did not invite stable manners. i wasn't used to them. they hadn't figured in the dreams of my girlhood. i thought love less robust. i didn't expect to be squeezed before my ladies. even the best beloved husband shouldn't take liberties with his wife's waist in the parlor. and frederick augustus's negligee talk is no less offensive than his manner of laying loving hands on my person. as a rule, he treats me like a third-row dancing girl that goes to petition the manager for a place nearer the footlights. there is no limit to his familiarities or to the license of his conversation. "_fine wench_" is a term of affection he likes to bestow on his future queen; indeed, one of the less gross. he has the weakness to like epithets that, i am told, gentlemen sometimes use in their clubs, but never towards a mistress they half-way respect. my father-in-law, prince george, is a pest of another kind. while frederick augustus is jovial and rude, george is rude and serene of a serenity that would make a grand inquisitor look gay. one of my famous ancestresses, the princess-palatine, sister-in-law of louis the fourteenth, once boxed the dauphin's ears for a trick he played on her, by putting his upright thumb in the centre of an armchair which her royal highness meant to sit on. whenever i behold george's funereal visage, i long to repeat the dauphin's undignified offense. i would like to see this royal parcel of melancholy jump and dance; change that ever-frowning and mournful aspect of his. indeed, i would like to treat him to one of the anecdotes that made the duchess de berri explode with laughter. frederick augustus lives in deadly fear of him, and never gets his hair cut without first considering whether his father will approve or not. george isn't happy unless he renders other people unhappy. i actually believe he would rather meddle with the angels' or devils' affairs than say his prayers, though he is a bigot of the most advanced stripe. sometimes when the itch for meddling has hold of him, he cites all the married princes of the royal house and lectures them on the wickedness of having no children, winding up by commanding each one to explain, in detail, his failure to have offspring. of course, these gentlemen put the blame on their wives, whereupon the ladies are forthwith summoned to be threatened and cajoled. prince george had the great goodness to approve of my baby and to congratulate me, also to set me up as an example for isabelle. when i return to dresden i shall be made colonel of horse. twice has george kissed me,--upon my arrival in saxony and five days after the birth of my child. it felt like a piece of gritty ice rubbing against my forehead. chapter iii weeping willow--emblem royal a pious fraud--theresa mayer--character of the queen--mopishness rampant. castle wachwitz, _march , _. prince max came unexpectedly. he is studying for the priesthood and looks more sour than his father even. i was in bed, nursing a sick headache, but presuming upon his future clerical dignity, he walked in without ceremony and sat down on a chair near my bed. then he raised his hands in prayer and announced that he had come to assist in my devotions. "forget that i am your brother-in-law and cousin," he said; "tell me what's in your heart, louise, and i will pray to the good god for thee." "don't trouble yourself," i replied, "i have a court chaplain charged with these affairs. rather tell me about the latest comic opera." "comic opera!" he stammered. "you don't intend to go to such worldly amusements now that you are a mother?" "of course i do. the very day i return to dresden i will take a look at your girl." "my--what?" gasped max. "your theresa--theresa mayer. i understand she made a great hit in the _geisha_, and everybody approves of your taste, max." max turned red, then green, and i thought to myself what a fool i was. he's a favorite with the king and queen, and my father-in-law believes every word he says. * * * * * castle wachwitz, _march , _. queen carola is a good soul though she doesn't dare call her soul her own. i never heard her say "_peep_" in the presence of his majesty. she looks forlorn and frightened when king albert is around. i like her better since i am a mother, for she loves baby. yes, though she is a queen, i saw her actually smile at the child once or twice. poor woman, the point of her nose is always red, and, like father-in-law george, she believes weeping willow the only fit emblem for royalty. the look of the whipped dog is always in her weak eyes. i am too young and--they _do_ say--too frivolous to stand so much mopishness. these mustard-pots, sedate, grave, wan and long-faced, make me mad. i don't know what to say,--all i can do is try to hide my "un-princess-like" cheerfulness when they are around. i wish i had an ounce or so of diplomacy in my composition. it might enable me to sympathize with the fancied troubles of the queen and prince george, but i am incorrigible. chapter iv my unpleasant youth father hard to get along with--royal imaginations--kings cursing other kings--poverty and pretense--piety that makes children suffer--up at five to pray on cold stones--chilblains and prayer. castle wachwitz, _march , _. it occurs to me that, if this is intended as a record of my life--somewhat after the fashion of the _margravine_ of bayreuth's memoirs--i ought to tell about my girlhood. let me admit at once that my marriage to the crown prince of saxony was, politically speaking, a stroke of good luck. my father, the grand-duke of tuscany, had been deprived of land and crown ten years before i was born, and, though he likes to pose as a sovereign, he is, as a matter of fact, a mere private gentleman of limited resources, whom the head of the family, the austrian emperor, may coax or browbeat at his sweet pleasure. if papa had been able to save his thronelet, i have no doubt he would be a most agreeable man, open-handed and eager to enjoy life, but instead of making the best of a situation over which he has no control, he is forever fretting about his lost dignities and about "his dear people" that don't care a snap for his love and affection. this makes him a trying person to get along with,--mention a king or prince in the full enjoyment of power, and father gets melancholy and calls victor emanuel, the second of his name, a brigand. he seldom or never visits his _confrères_ in the capitals of europe, but when i was a girl our gloomy palace at salzburg saw much of the ghosts of decaying royalty. the dukes of modena and parma, the king of hanover, the _kurfurst_ of hesse, the king of naples and other monarchs and toy-monarchs that were handed their walking papers by sovereigns mightier than themselves, visited us off and on, filling the air with lamentations and cursing their fate. and, like papa, all these _ex'es_ are ready to fly out of their very skins the moment they notice the smallest breach of etiquette concerning their august selves. if they had the power, the imperial highnesses would execute any man that called them "royal highness," while the royal highnesses would be pleased to send to the gallows persons addressing them as "highness" only. and papa has other troubles, and the greatest of them, lack of money. poverty in private life must be hard enough, but a poor king, obliged to keep up the pretense of a court, is to be pitied indeed. add to what i have said, father's share of domestic unhappiness. mother is a bourbon of parma, serious-minded and hard like my father-in-law, and almost as much of a religious fanatic. oh, how we children suffered by the piety of our mother. there were eight of us, myself the oldest of five girls, and seven years older than my sister anna. yet this baby, as soon as she could walk, was obliged to rise, like myself, at five o'clock summer and winter to go to the chapel and pray. the chapel was lighted only by a few wax candles and, of course, was unheated like the corridors of the palace. and like them it was paved with stones. many a chilblain i carried away from kneeling on those granite flags. and the stupidity of the thing! instead of saying our prayers we murmured and protested, and as soon as we were old enough we slipped portions of novels in our prayer-books, which we read while mass was said. that trick was not unfraught with danger though, for mother's spies were always after us, and the bad light made reading difficult. i am sure that if mother had found us out, she would have whipped us within an inch of our lives. chapter v a fierce disciplinarian diamonds used to punish children--face object of attacks--grunting and snorting at the royal table--blood flowing at dinner--my brother jumps out of a window. castle wachwitz, _april , _. nothing of consequence happened since my last entry, and i continue the story of my girlhood. her imperial highness, my pious mother, had a terrible way of punishing her children. the face of the culprit was invariably the object of her attacks. she hit us with the flat of her bony hand, rendered more terrible by innumerable rings. the sharp diamonds cut into the flesh and usually made the blood flow freely. the court chaplain at salzburg was a peasant's boy without manners or breeding of any kind. while the least violation of etiquette or politeness on the children's part was punished by a box on the ear, or by withholding the next meal, mother overlooked the swinishness of the chaplain simply because he wore a black coat. one of the chaplain's most offensive habits was to grunt and snort when eating. on one occasion my brother leopold gave a somewhat exaggerated imitation of these disgusting practices at table, whereupon mother, blind with fury, for she thought a priest could do no wrong, struck leopold in the face, causing the blood to gush from his lacerated cheek. father immediately rose from table and savagely turning upon mother said, "understand, madame, that as a sovereign and head of the family i will have no one punished in my presence. if i think punishment necessary, i will inflict it myself in a dignified way." mother immediately began to cry. she always had a flood of tears ready when father offered the slightest reprimand. afterwards she upbraided father and us, the children. if it were not for her incessant prayers, she said, and for the christian life she was leading, god would have destroyed the tuscans long ago, and she wasn't sure that either of us would attain paradise except for her intercession with the almighty. this and similar scenes and incidents disgusted me with religion early in life. myself and all my brothers and sisters hated the very sight of the court chaplain who licked our mother's boots, while heaping punishments and indignities upon us. at one time my brother leopold didn't know his catechism. "i will teach your imperial highness to skip your lessons," said the court chaplain. "kneel before me and read the passage over ten times as a punishment." leopold promptly answered: "i won't." "yes, you will, imperial highness, for such are my orders," cried the court chaplain. leopold said doggedly, "i kneel before the altar and before the emperor, if he demands it, not before such as you." "suppose i call on your imperial highness's mother and ask her to forbid you to mount a horse for a month or so?" queried our tormentor. horseback riding was leopold's chief pleasure, and the chaplain had no sooner launched his threat, when leopold opened the window and apparently jumped out. as the school-room was situated in the third story, the teacher thought his pupil dead on the pavement below, but leopold was merely hanging on to the stone coping and shutters. that gave him the whip hand over the teacher. "i will let go if you don't promise not to inform mother," demanded the twelve-year-old boy. "i promise, only come in," moaned the teacher. "promise furthermore there shall be no punishment whatever for what i did and said." "none whatever, your imperial highness." "swear it on the cross." the chaplain did as ordered and leopold crawled back to safety. leopold is a good deal like me, and has been in hot water more or less all his life. when i was a girl of fifteen, he defended my honor at the risk of the fearful punishments my mother had in store for those children that wouldn't buckle down to the chaplain, but that is so sad a chapter of my girlhood days i cannot bring myself to put it down today. chapter vi leopold defends my honor at his peril punished for objecting to familiarities--awful names i was called--locked in the room with wicked teacher--defend myself with burning lamp--my brother nearly kills my would-be assailant. castle wachwitz, _april , _. i want to finish with evil recollections. maybe i will be able to forget them, when i have done with this narrative. my mother, as pointed out, had more confidence in our rascally court chaplain than in her own children, and was far more concerned about the chaplain's dignity than ours. she never hesitated to doubt her children's veracity, but regarded all the chaplain said as gospel truth. about two weeks before easter, , the time when i was just budding into young womanhood, the chaplain began to pay me a great deal of attention. the lessons he gave me to learn were insignificant compared with those of my brothers and sisters, and it mattered not whether i came to school prepared or otherwise. the strict disciplinarian had all of a sudden turned lenient. he began to pat my hair, to give me friendly taps on the shoulder, and never took his eyes off me. i was too young and innocent to see the true significance of his strange behavior, but i woke up suddenly and ran crying to my mother, telling her what had happened. "i won't take another lesson from that man, unless my lady-in-waiting is present," i sobbed. "you are a malicious, lying, low-minded creature," hissed my mother, at the same time striking me in the face with her big diamonds. "it's mortal sin to throw suspicion on so holy a man, and i will not have him watched." i ran out of mother's room crying, intending to go to papa, but met the boys in the corridor, who told me that father had just departed for the chase. then i took leopold aside and told him everything. he was half-mad with rage and was hardly able to articulate when he rushed to mother's room demanding protection for me. "i will protect the holy man instead," answered my fanatic mother. "louise shall be locked in the room with the chaplain while she has her lesson." and my mother actually carried out that wicked design inspired by fanaticism. locked in a room with me, the chaplain was sweetness itself, but for a while at least remained at a distance. when he attempted to approach me, i seized the burning kerosene lamp, as leopold had advised. "one step more," i cried excitedly, "and i will throw the lamp in your face." the coward stood still in his tracks, and began whispering to me in a hoarse voice things i hardly understood, but that nevertheless wounded me to the quick. i kept my hand at the burning lamp during the whole hour and was ready to faint when the fiend at last left me. as the door opened, i saw leopold standing outside, an enormous dog whip in hand. without a word he applied the whip to the chaplain's broad face, lashing him right and left. the scoundrel offered no resistance, but fled like the dog he was, leopold after him through the long corridors, upstairs and downstairs, through the picture gallery and the state apartments, lashing him as he ran, the two of them filling the palace with cries of rage and pain. only the fact that leopold stumbled over a footstool, enabled the chaplain to reach his room alive, where he barricaded himself. chapter vii princes and princesses dance to the tune of the whip the result shows in the character of rulers--why english kings and princes are superior to the continental kind--leopold's awful revenge--mother acts the tigress--her mailed fist--"i forbid your imperial highness to see that dog." castle wachwitz, _april , _. if my diary ever fell into plebeian hands, i suppose such stories as the above would be branded as rank exaggerations. a queen endangering life and health of her children by a form of punishment otherwise known only in the prize ring. an imperial highness using her diamonds to graft scars on the cheeks of a little girl! royal children beaten worse than dogs, deprived of sleep, subjected to cold and damp and, withal, given over, bound hand and foot, so to speak, to the tender mercies of low-minded, unworthy, and even dangerous persons without manners or education. and, to cap the climax, a royal maid in the first blush of budding womanhood grossly repulsed and physically attacked when she appeals to her mother for protection; that child locked in a room with her would-be ravisher and obliged to defend her honor by a threat of murder. only the uninitiated--men and women living outside the pale of royal courts--will deem such things impossible. let me tell these happy ignoramuses that all through the nineteenth century the princes and princesses of europe were brought up to the tune of the whip and of physical and mental humiliation. it was the fashion. the only eminent monarch of the immediate past--frederick the great--was all but flayed alive by his father when a boy and young man,--emulate the second king of prussia's brutalities and your offspring will be destined for greatness, argued princes. the first emperor william of germany had a gentle mother, my famous namesake; he was always a gentleman. the russian czars, paul, nicholas i, and alexander iii, were brought up with the knout, their preceptors used the boys at their sweet pleasure. the first turned out a madman; the second a brute; the third his people's executioner. czar paul would run a mile to cane a soldier who had a speck of dust on his boots. my grand-uncle, emperor francis joseph of austria, sometimes travels tens of miles to box the ears of a member of his family. francis joseph had a cruel bringing up. at the royal library in berlin i saw the manuscript of _les mémoires de ma vie: la princesse de prusse, frederice sophie wilhelmine, qui epousa le margrave de bayreuth_,--the original, unedited save by the corrections of the authoress. a good many passages of this "most terrible indictment of royalty" reminded me of home. there is even a parallel, or a near-parallel, of my own case just recorded. the princess wilhelmina's all-powerful governess was madame leti, who pummelled the child "as if she had been her mother." this leti was undoubtedly a sadist; to inflict torture, to practice refined cruelties was a joy to her. not content with whipping the little girl, she added, shortly before her dismissal, some poisonous matter to wilhelmina's wash water "that gnawed the skin and made my face all coppery and inflamed my eyes." this species of wickedness, at last, resulted in the discharge of leti, "but she decided to leave me a few souvenirs in the shape of fisticuffs and kicks. she had told my mother that i was suffering from nose bleed and punched my nose whenever she was unobserved. during the last week of her stay at the palace i sometimes bled like an ox, and my arms and legs were blue, green and yellow from her kicks and cuffs. i am sure if she could have broken my legs with impunity, she would not have hesitated a moment to do so." history and the court gossip of the day afford plenty of precedents for what happened to me and my brothers and sisters in salzburg. indeed, prince albert, consort of the late queen victoria, was the only royal father of the first half of the century that used the rod in moderation. to my mind that is one of the reasons why english kings and princes are so far superior to the continental kind. but to return to salzburg. leopold had it all his own way for a quarter of an hour, as none of the servants would interfere in favor of the hated chaplain and mother was engaged in her oratory in a far away part of the castle. so my brother kicked in the door and went for the cowering brute again, raining stripes on every part of his bloated body, alternately using the whip and the whip-end. undoubtedly leopold would have killed him then and there if his boy's strength had not given out. he left him more dead than alive, bleeding and moaning. i will never forget the spectacle when leopold came down the stairs after leaving the chaplain's room. i and my brothers and sisters were huddled together behind our ladies in the blue ante-chamber. a dozen or more lackeys stood in the corridor, whispering. leopold's face was deathly pale as he descended the stairs, and blood was dripping from his whip, reddening the white linen runners protecting the carpet. he wore his army uniform, that should have saved him from violence at any rate. at that moment i prayed my sincerest that father would come home. i would have thrown myself on my knees and told everything, servants or no servants. but mother came instead. she was fully informed and she sprang upon poor leopold like a tigress, knocking him from one end of the corridor to the other with her diamond-mailed fist. it was terrible, and all of us children cried aloud with terror. but the more we cried and the more we begged for mercy, the harder were the blows mother rained upon poor leopold's face and head. his blood spattered over the white enameled banisters and doors until finally he was dragged out of my mother's clutches by an old footman who placed his broad back between the imperial highness and her victim. now, it was the rule in our house that the whipped child had to ask our mother's forgiveness for putting her to the trouble of wielding the terrible back of her hand. six weeks leopold stayed at salzburg after the scene described, and daily my mother urged him to beg her forgiveness. the boy stood stockstill on these occasions, never twitching a muscle of his face and never saying a word in reply. during all these six weeks he waited on mother morning, noon and night, according to ceremony, but never a word escaped him, never did he look in her direction unless actually forced to do so. he played the deaf and dumb to perfection. father must have thought that leopold got enough punishment, for he never mentioned the matter to him and forbade the servants to even allude to the court chaplain. mother, on her part, placed the chaplain in charge of two skilled surgeons and sent every little while to inquire how he was doing. on the third day she said to my father at table, that she was going to pay a visit to the court chaplain. "i forbid your imperial highness to see that dog," said my father in an icy voice that brooked no reply. "i will have his carcass thrown out of here as soon as his condition permits." that was the only time i heard father speak like a sovereign and man. that leopold nearly killed the scoundrel, as he promised to do, is evident from the fact that the court chaplain lay in the castle three weeks before he could be transported to a monastery. some monks--for none of the servants would lend a helping hand--carried him away by night and none of the children ever saw or heard of our tormentor again. the only sorry reminder of the episode is the estrangement of leopold and our mother. though mother tried her hardest to win back the boy's confidence and affection, he remained an iceberg towards her, ceremonious but cold, polite but wholly indifferent. chapter viii planning to get a husband for me dissecting possible wooers at vienna--royalty after money, not character--"he is a cohen, not a coburg"--prince who looked like a jew counter-jumper in his sunday best--balkan princes tabooed by francis joseph--a good time for the girls--army men commanded to attend us. castle wachwitz, _april , _. a change of scene. i was eighteen and my parents were anxious to get a husband for me. royalty marries off its princes at an early age to keep them out of mischief; its princesses as soon as a profitable suitor turns up or can be secured by politics, diplomacy, the exercise of parental wits or the powerful influence of the head of the house. sister anna, now princess john of hohenlohe, myself and mother were invited to vienna. it was my introduction to royal pomp and circumstance. the _hofburg_, our town lodging, seemed to me the first and also the last cry in sumptuousness--all that was beautiful and expensive in days gone by is there, and all that is new and desirable is there, too; schoenbrunn, the imperial summer residence, is a dream of loveliness wedded to grandeur. between the emperor and my mother and between her and the numerous archduchesses and archdukes every second word uttered referred to me as the possible wife of someone or another. and that someone was well dissected as to fortune, success in life and political exigencies. whether he was good-looking or a monkey in face and figure mattered not. health, good character, uprightness didn't count. has he expectations for gaining a throne? will he be wise enough to retain that throne? what kind of an establishment will he be able to set up? how long may his parents live, hanging on to the family fortune?--these were the only considerations deemed worthy of discussion. three or four of the archduchesses seemed to be acting as marriage brokers for ferdinand, just elected hereditary prince of bulgaria, whose mother, princess clementine, a daughter of the dethroned king louis philippe of france, was reputed to be rolling in gold. leopold irreverently called ferdinand's partisans "_fillons_" after famous "_la fillon_," who supplied the harem of our jolly ancestor, the regent of france, duke of orleans, and he insisted that ferdinand was a _cohen_, not a coburg. as a matter of fact, ferdinand's great fortune is derived from a kohary, which is hungarian for cohen. the original kohary was a cattle-dealer, who supplied the armies of the allies during the napoleonic wars. in this way he accumulated so much wealth that an impoverished coburg prince fell in love with his daughter and made her his wife, after she exchanged the name of rebecca for antonie and the mosaic faith for that of rome. young and proud and flippant as i was, leopold's talk filled me with hearty contempt for the "coburger" long before we were introduced. and as to his ambassador, who was forever dancing attendance upon me, i hated him. yet the imperial "_fillons_" kept up their clatter, and one fine morning prince ferdinand was announced. he wasn't half bad looking, but struck me as too much of a mother's-boy. princess clementine seemed to decide everything for him. anyhow, i wouldn't have him and he marched off again. i next reviewed, as another balkan matrimonial possibility, prince danilo of montenegro, a small, thin person, looking like a jew counter-jumper in holiday dress--vienna "store-clothes." danilo spoke the worst _table d'hôte_ french i ever heard in my life, and i told mother i would rather marry a rich banker than this crowned idiot. for once she agreed with me and said his father was only a "mutton-thief," anyhow. finally there was talk of king alexander of servia, six years younger than i. queen natalie, who a few days ago celebrated one of her several reunions with ex-king milan, spoke feelingly of her "sasha" to mother, lauding him as the best of sons and the most promising of sovereigns, but the oft-divorced majesty was less communicative when mother asked how many millions she would pass over to alexander on his marriage day. that settled "sasha's" ambitions as far as my hand was concerned. marry a balkan king and the _née_ keshko holding the purse-strings! not for my father's daughter! i didn't want to marry into a russian colonel's family, anyhow. i believe queen natalie's father was a colonel, or was he only a lieutenant-colonel? these marriage negotiations aside, anna and myself had a mighty good time in vienna (i forgot to say that emperor francis joseph agreed with me that danilo and alexander were quite impossible and that henceforth balkan marriages should be taboo). "i have ordered a dozen young officers to report for tonight's dancing," said my imperial uncle one evening. "select from among them your tennis partners, girls." baron cambroy of the guards was my choice, and a mighty handsome fellow he is. he seemed pleased when i commanded him to tennis duty every afternoon during our stay. he is tall and spare in appearance and i might have fallen in love with him sooner, but for his dark skin. i am an italian and, by way of contrast, prefer blondes to any other sort of man. anna, myself and our ladies bicycled to the tennis court every afternoon, and on our way back to the castle were escorted by the baron and the other officers. trust a girl with a dress reaching an inch below her knees to find out scandals! on the second day after our meeting with the baron, anna told me that he was the lover of draga maschin, lady-in-waiting to queen natalie of servia.[ ] draga was in attendance upon queen natalie when she called on us, a beautiful girl, somewhat too full-bosomed for an unmarried one, like my great-aunt, catharine, who became the wife of that upstart, jerome napoleon. at home we have her picture, and mother, who was rather skinny as a girl, never failed to point out that it was painted before queen catharine's marriage, despite her voluptuous bust. if my baron was really draga's beloved, that would more than half explain mother's puzzle. footnotes: [footnote : the same who afterwards became the queen of king alexander of servia and eventually the cause of his death and of the extinction of the obrenovitsch dynasty. alexander and draga were both slaughtered in their beds may , , ten years after the above was written.] chapter ix love-making the fascinating baron--the man's audacity--putting the question boldly--real love-making--_risqué_ stories for royalty. castle wachwitz, _may , _. i am in love but, like a prudent virgin, i admitted the fact to myself only shortly before we departed for salzburg. after i put several hundred miles between me and my fascinating baron, all's well again. my first love, and it was the man's audacity that won the day! imagine an imperial highness, decidedly attractive, eighteen, and no tigress by any means, wheeling at the side of a mere lieutenant who has nothing but his pay to bless himself with and nothing but good looks to recommend him. and, as before stated, he wasn't even my style. anna pedalled ahead some twenty-five paces; our ladies wheezed and snorted that many behind. this devil of a lieutenant took a chance. "imperial highness," he commenced, "i wager you don't know what love is." it was the one theme i was aching for, scenting, as i did, the odor of forbidden things. never before had i the opportunity. "r-e-a-l love," he insisted. "do you blame me?" i asked, vixen-like. "would be a poor specimen of guard officer who didn't know more about real love than a mere girl of eighteen and a princess at that." "will your imperial highness allow me to explain?" this, oh so insinuatingly, from the gay seducer. "why not?" i asked, with the air of a _roué_ and hating myself for blushing like a poppy--i felt it. "charmed to enlighten you--with your imperial highness's permission," whispered the baron, his knee crowding mine as he drew nearer on his wheel. "explain away." "not until i have your imperial highness's express command and your promise not to get angry if i should offend." anna, always an _enfant terrible_ and invariably in the way, was waiting for us in the shadow of a tree and now rode by the baron's side. she had evidently heard part of our conversation. "permission and pardon granted beforehand," she cried. "go ahead." the baron looked at me, and not to be outdone by the parcel of impudence in short petticoats, i said carelessly: "oh, tell. i command." the baron began to stroke his moustache and then related a story of napoleon and our ancestress marie louise, the austrian archduchess, not found in school books. on the day before her entry into paris, he said, and when they were destined to meet for the first time, napoleon waylaid his bride-to-be at courcelles and without ceremony entered her carriage. they rushed past villages, through towns _en fête_ and at last, at nine o'clock in the evening, reached the palace of compiègne. there the emperor cut short the addresses of welcome, presentations and compliments, and taking marie louise by the hand conducted her to his private apartments. next morning they had breakfast in bed. the marriage ceremony took place a few days later. "that's love," said the baron, shooting significant glances at me. "henry _quatre_ did the same to marie de medici--an italian like you, imperial highness." anna didn't know what to make of it, and as for me, my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. the impudent fellow seems to have misinterpreted our silence, for, brazen like the _duc de_ richelieu, who boasted of sleeping in the beds of queens, he continued: "catharine the great, too, knew what love was. one fine afternoon when she wasn't a day older than you, imperial highness, she looked out of the window of her room at castle peterhof. in the garden below a sentinel, very handsome, very herculean, very brave, was pacing up and down. catharine, then imperial grand-duchess and only just married, made a sign to the soldier. the giant, abandoning his rifle, jumped below the window and catharine jumped onto his shoulders from the second story. "that's real love," concluded the baron. anna got frightened and fled down the avenue, but i had the weakness to remain at the baron's side until we reached the palace. alas, frederick augustus wasn't as good a talker as the baron. [illustration: frederick augustus, reigning king of saxony louise's ex-husband] chapter x my popularity renders george dyspeptic the cudgel-majesty--prince george's intrigues--no four-horse coach for princess--popular demonstration in my favor--"all-highest" displeasure. dresden, _september , _. i haven't lived up to my promise to keep a daily record, or even a weekly one. those tales of my girlhood days disgusted me with diary keeping as far as my early experiences at home went and i reflected that many of the subsequent happenings in my life might be safer in the shrine of memory, than spread over the pages of a blank-book, even though no one sees it and i carry its golden key on a chain around my neck. we are back in the capital now and things are moving. great doings had been planned for our reception, for the re-entry of the little prince, my baby, and his mother who is expected to give another child to saxony at the end of the year. two babies in one year! i am going to beat the german empress, and if wilhelm doesn't send me a medal i will cut him dead the next time i see him! well, about that reception. flags, triumphal arches, speeches by the burgo-master, white-robed virgins at the station and all that sort of thing! but father-in-law george said "no." anything that gives joy to others goes against his royal grain, gives him politico-economic dyspepsia. he doesn't want me to be popular,--neither me, nor frederick augustus, nor the baby. george will be the next king, and if the dresdeners or the saxons want to "_hoch the king_," they must "_hoch_" george. they must. "it's their damned duty," says george the pious, who never blasphemes on his own account, but allows himself some license concerning his subjects. his attitude recalls the story told of frederick william the first of prussia, whose appearance on the streets of berlin used to cause passers-by to run to save their back. upon one occasion his majesty caught one of these fugitives, and whacking him over the head with his spanish reed, cried angrily: "what do you want to run away from me for?" "because i'm afraid of your royal majesty," stuttered the poor devil. "afraid?" thundered frederick william, giving the fellow another whack with his cane. "afraid?"--the beating continuing--"when i, your king, commanded you to love me. love me, you miserable coward, love god's anointed." and the loving majesty broke his cane on the unloving subject's back. two days before our arrival prince george sent his adjutant, baron de metsch-reichenbeck, to the mayor of dresden, stopping all reception arrangements contemplated. to have children was a mere picnic to her imperial highness, lied george's messenger,--if the physicians hadn't used chloroform i would have perished with the torture. ovations intended as a sort of reward or recognition of my services to the country, then, would be entirely out of place, and must not be thought of. the municipality thereupon officially abandoned preparations. i was a little vexed when i first heard about george's meanness, yet again felt tickled that he went out of his way to intrigue against me, the despised little princess of a house that ceased to reign. and i had an idea that the dresdeners would give us a good welcome anyhow. i had contemplated ordering my special train to leave in the early morning or at noon, but the ministry of railways informed me that it was impossible to accommodate me at the hours mentioned. "we will take the ordinary express, then, and will be in dresden at four in the afternoon," i suggested. "according to the new schedule, the express doesn't stop in dresden," protested frederick augustus. "we will command it to stop," i cried. frederick augustus looked at me as if i had asked him to borrow twenty marks from the kaiser. "for god's sake!" he cried, "don't you know what happened to john the other day?" i confessed my ignorance. "well," said frederick augustus, "john ordered the continental express to pick him up at his garrison, and he had no sooner arrived in dresden than he was commanded by the king to appear before him. his majesty walked all over john, accusing him of 'interfering with international traffic' and forbidding him to issue another order of that character." "pshaw!" i said, "john is merely a childless princeling. i am the mother of saxony's future king. the regeneration, the perpetuation of your race depends on me." it was a mere waste of breath, for at that moment came a telegram, announcing that our special was billed to leave at : , getting us to dresden at half-past five--king's orders. "did you command the _daumont_ coach-and-four to meet us at the station?" i asked. "my dear child, you are dreaming," replied frederick augustus. "the state carriages are the property of the crown and we don't own a four-horse team in dresden. they will send the ordinary royal carriage, i suppose." i was mad enough to wish my husband's family to hades, the whole lot of them, but the people of dresden took revenge in hand and dealt most liberally. of course, having fixed our arrival at a late and unusual hour, george expected there would be no one to welcome us, but the great concourse of people that actually assembled at the station and in the adjacent streets, lining them up to the palace gates, was tremendous instead. one more disappointment. george had sent an inconspicuous, narrow _coupé_ to the station,--the dresdeners shouldn't see more than the point of my nose. i saw through his scheme the moment i clapped eyes on that mouse-trap of a vehicle standing at the curb. and then i remembered the brilliant stagecraft of august the physical strong--he of the three hundred and fifty-two--and how he always managed to focus everybody's eyes on himself. and i stood stockstill on the broad, red-carpeted terrace when i walked out of the waiting room and held up my baby in the face of the multitude. you could hear the "_hochs_" and hurrahs all over town, they said. hats flew in the air, handkerchiefs waved, flags were thrust out of the windows of the houses. "what are you doing, imperial highness?" whispered _fräulein von_ schoenberg, my lady-in-waiting. "never mind, i will carry the baby to the carriage," i answered curtly. "but the king and prince george will be angry,--everything will be reported to them." "i sincerely hope it will," i said. and before i entered that petty _souricière_ of a royal coach, i danced the baby above my head time and again, giving everybody a chance to see him. and as i stood there in the midst of this tumult of applause, this waving sea of good-will, this thunder of jubilation, i felt proud and happy as i never did before. and when the thought struck me how mad george would feel about it all, i had to laugh outright. i was still grinning to myself when i heard frederick augustus's troubled voice: "get in, what are you standing around here for?"--these manifestations of popularity spelt "all-highest" displeasure to him, poor noodle. he anticipated the scene at the palace, george fuming and charging "play to the gallery," the queen in tears, the king threatening to banish us from dresden. "be it so," i said to myself, "we might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb." and i refused to enter the carriage until i had waved and smiled profound thanks to everybody in the square and in the windows and on the balconies of the surrounding houses. i saw the master of horse address the coachman and immediately divined his purpose. so i pulled at the rope and commanded the coachman to drive slowly. i said it in my most imperious manner, and the master of horse dared not give the counter order with which prince george had charged him. poor man, his failure to subordinate my will to his, or george's, cost him his job. and so we made our royal entry into dresden amid popular rejoicings. i glued my face to the carriage window and smiled and smiled and showed the baby to everyone who asked for the boon. baby took it all in a most dignified fashion. he neither squalled nor kicked, but seemed to enjoy the homage paid him. when we reached the palace there was another big crowd of well-wishers, who shouted themselves hoarse for louise and the baby, and, malicious thing that i am, i noticed with pleasure that it all happened under george's windows. "this will give father-in-law jaundice," said baby's nurse in italian. she is a girl from tuscany and very devoted to me. "if he dies, i will be queen the sooner," thought i,--but happily i didn't think aloud. chapter xi scolded for being popular entourage spied upon by george's minions--my husband proves a weakling--i disavow the personal compliment--no more intelligent than a king should be. dresden, _september , _. i wrote the foregoing at one sitting, without interruption. it's not so easy a matter to put down the consequences of our triumph, or rather mine and baby's. when i entered my apartments, i met a whole host of long faces. the commander of the palace, in great gala, offered a most stiff and icy welcome. the adjutants, the chamberlains, the _maître d'hôtel_, all looked ill at ease. they evidently felt the coming storm in their bones and didn't care to have it said of them, by george's spies, that they lent countenance, even in a most remote way, to my carryings-on. even the schoenberg--my own woman--shot reproachful glances at me when the commander of the palace happened to look her way. frederick augustus looked and acted as if he was to be deprived of all his military honors. "your courage must have fallen into your _cuirassier_ boots, look for it there," i said to him in an undertone when he seemed ready to go to pieces at the entrance of the king's grand marshal, count vitzthum. with that i advanced towards his excellency and, holding out my hand to be kissed, took care to say to him with my most winning smile, "i trust his majesty will be pleased with me, for of course our grand reception was but a reflex of the love the people have for their king. i never for a moment took it as a personal compliment." my smart little speech disconcerted the official completely. maybe he had orders to say something disagreeable, but my remark disarmed him, forestalled any quarrel that might have been in the king's or prince george's mind. frederick augustus, who is no more intelligent than a future king should be, was so amazed, he had to think hard and long before he could even say "good evening" to the count. as for the latter, he hawed and coughed and stammered and cleared his throat until finally he succeeded in delivering himself of the following sublime effort: "i will have the honor to report to his majesty that during the time of your imperial highness's entry, your imperial highness thought of naught but the all-highest approval of his majesty." whereupon i shook his hand again and dismissed him. "it will please me immensely, count," i said, "immensely." chapter xii royal disgrace--lightning and shadows ordered around by the queen--give thanks to a bully--jealous of the "mob's" applause--"the old monkey after '_hochs_'"--criticizing the "old man"--royalty's plea for popularity--proposed punishments for people refusing to love royalty. dresden, _september , _. thrice twenty-four hours of royal disgrace and i am--alive. this morning: "all-highest order," signed by her majesty's dame of the palace, countess von minckwitz: "the queen is graciously pleased to invite your imperial highness to audience." of course her pleasure is a command. i dressed in state and ordered all the ladies and gentlemen of my court to attend me to the royal chambers. queen carola was very nice, giving the impression that she would be more lovely still if she dared. "prince george has just commanded your husband," she said,--"the king ordered this condescension on my brother-in-law's part. you will have to thank him for it." isn't it amusing to be an imperial highness and a crown princess to be ordered around like a "boots" and to be "commanded" like an orphan child to say thanks to one's betters! i promised and the queen, assuming that i intended to act the good little girl, took courage to say--for she is the biggest of cowards--"you are too popular, louise. such a reception as you had! all the papers, even the jew-sheets, are full of it." and before i could make any excuses for my popularity she added in sorrowful, half-accusing tones: "i lived here ever so many years and the mob never applauded _me_." "it's so fickle," i quoted. i had to say something, you know. "and contemptible," added the queen heartily. "but how is baby?" i begged permission to send for him. her majesty was pleased to play with the little one for a minute or two and that secured me a gracious exit. the queen attended me to the door, opening it with her own royal hand, thereby rehabilitating me with my entourage waiting outside. meanwhile frederick augustus had a "critical quarter of an hour" with father-in-law, who assumed to speak on behalf of the king. "the king," he said, "despised 'playing to the gallery' worse than the devil hated holy water." (this court is overrun with jesuits, and we must needs adopt their vernacular.) the king, he repeated, thought it very bad taste for anyone to take the centre of the stage in these "popularity-comedies," and he told a lot more lies of the same character. then he bethought himself of his own grieved authority. "tell your wife," he said, "that i, her father-in-law, and next to the throne, do everything in my power to escape such turbulent scenes, and that i would rather ride about town in an ordinary _droschke_ (cab) of the second class, preserving my incognito, than in a state carriage and be the object of popular acclamation." when frederick augustus repeated the above with the most solemn face in the world, i thought i would die with laughter and actually had to send for my tire-woman to let my corset out a few notches. "the old monkey," i cried--"as if he wasn't after '_hochs_' morning, noon and night; as if he thought of anything else when he mounts a carriage or his horse." "you forget yourself, louise," warned frederick augustus in the voice of an undertaker, and i really think he meant it. but i wasn't in the mood to be silenced. "and as if i didn't know that, like kaiser wilhelm, he keeps a record of towns and villages that were never honored by one of his visits, intending to make his ceremonial entry there at the first plausible opportunity." "it isn't true," insisted frederick augustus. then i got angry. "it may be thought polite in the bosom of your family to call one another a liar," i retorted, "but don't you get into the habit of introducing those tap-room manners in the _ménage_ of an imperial highness of austria. i forbid it." and then i gave rein to some of the bitterness that had accumulated in my heart against the old man. didn't i know that george was mad enough to quarrel with his dinner when, on his drives about town, he observed a single person refusing to salute him? and wasn't it a fact that the socialists had combined never more to raise their hats to him just because he insisted on it? and wasn't that one of the reasons why the government was more hard on them than happened to be politic? "you mustn't say these things," pleaded frederick augustus. i pretended to melt. "may i not quote your father's own words?" "what my father says is always correct," replied the dutiful son. "well, then, this is what he told house minister von seydowitz a couple of weeks ago: 'when i see one of these intending destroyers of the state and social order staring at me, hat on head and cigar in face, i doubly regret the good old times when kings and princes were at liberty to yank a scoundrel of that ilk to jail and immure him for life, giving him twenty-five stripes daily to teach him the desirableness of rendering unto cæsar that which is cæsar's.'" frederick augustus was holding his hands to his ears when i finished. he ran out and slammed the door behind him. chapter xiii unspeakable littlenesses of petty courts another quarrel with my husband--personal attendant to a corpse--killing by pin pricks--the mythical three "_how art thou's?_"--unwanted sympathy from my inferiors--pride of the decapitated queen of france is in me--lovers not impossible--court to blame for them--my husband acts cowardly--brutalizes my household--i lock myself in. dresden, _december , _. i saved myself the trouble to record events for two or three months. i expect my child by the end of the year and, believing in prenatal influence, it would be a shame, i think, to poison the unborn baby's mind by dwelling on the unspeakable littlenesses that make up and burden life at this petty court. but i may die in the attempt of presenting saxony with another candidate for appanages and honors, and this threat, hanging over every expectant mother, makes me take up my pen again. if i perish, let there be a record of my sufferings and also of my defiance. it turned out that the queen's and george's apparent acquiescence to my sinful popularity marked the deceitful calm before the storm. frederick augustus has not succeeded in gaining the king's and his father's forgiveness even now. as a military officer he is shunted from pillar to post, and the generals and high officials of the court treat him like a recruit in disgrace. of course he blames me, shouting that i wrecked his career. as if a future king need care a rap whether, as prince, he got a regiment a few months earlier or later. "when you are king," i sometimes say to him, "you may nominate yourself field-marshal-general and great-admiral above and below the sea--what do you care?" "it isn't the same," he moans. "i would like to have my patents signed by uncle or father." "antedate your papers," i advised, "who dare dispute the king? didn't the kaiser nominate himself adjutant-general to his grand-dad long after william i lay mouldering in charlottenburg?" but frederick augustus takes colonel-ships and his petty kingship of the future too seriously to see even the humor of appointing oneself personal attendant to a corpse. as for me, if i weren't _enceinte_, they would send me to some lost-in-the-woods country house to die of _ennui_. but respect for public opinion forbidding drastic measures, george relies on a russian expedient to humble my proud self and force me to submit to his meddling. in the czar's country, when a village resolves on the death of some obnoxious individual, they take him, or her, and bind the body naked to a tree. then several papers of pins are distributed among the inhabitants, and each man, woman and child is asked to put a pin in the lady or gentleman, whom they must approach blindfolded. they stick the pin wherever they touch the body and if the thing leaks out are able to swear by all the saints that they don't know where it struck. the pin pricking is continued until the obnoxious one expires amid awful tortures and, while all contributed to the murder, none can be hanged for it. in like manner george and his minions are trying to reduce me to the position of social and political corpse. court festivities and public acts, attended by the court, seem to be specially arranged to pillorize me and husband. we are invited, of course. we are next in importance to prince george. our entourage is more numerous and more richly costumed than that of the other princes. four horse coaches for us; ministers of state waiting on us. i have train-bearers, pages, what-not. but the king and prince george cut me and frederick augustus in sight of the whole court, of the public in fact! i don't mean to say that the "all-highest lords," as they call themselves, treat us as air, or offer insult plain to the ear and eye--they couldn't afford to--nevertheless the stigma of royal disfavor is stamped on us. this is the mode of proceedings: ceremony obliges the king to address each member of the royal family with the words: "how do you do?", in the german fashion, "_how art thou?_" to princes and princesses that are in disgrace, this momentous question is put only once. those in good standing are asked three times. ever since that september day when all dresden did me honor, the king and prince george have said "_how art thou's?_" to me and mine but once, whenever and wherever we met, and be sure there were always listeners to report the double omission. at first it amused me; then enraged me; i don't care a fig now. but frederick augustus! poor imbecile, he is eating his heart out about those two missing "_how art thou's?_" and though he looks splendid in gala uniform he acts in the royal, but ungracious, presence like a green recruit expecting to be kicked and cuffed by his noncommissioned officer on getting back to the barracks. as to my entourage, it surrenders to royal disfavor even as frederick augustus: depressed faces, pitying glances. i could box their ears for their sympathy. am i not the great-granddaughter of that mighty maria theresa that ruled austria and hungary with an iron hand, lined with velvet. "_moriamur pro rege nostro_" (we will die for our king), cried the hungarians, when she appealed to their chivalry, her new-born babe at her breast. "_rege_," not "_regina_." they called her king. they forgot the woman in the monarch, yet i am treated like an insipid female always, never as the crown princess! let them beware. my full name is louise marie antoinette. i was named after the marie antoinette of history--another ancestor of mine--and the pride of the decapitated queen of france is in me! my namesake was satisfied when she read the saint-antoine placard of june , : "whosoever insults marie antoinette shall be caned, whosoever applauds her shall be hanged." some day i will dismiss the cattle that now grudge me the people's applause and punish those that insult me. come to think of it, marie antoinette had not only pride and defiance, she had lovers too. well, some day this marie antoinette may have lovers, and if it's wrong, let the recording angel debit my sins to the saxon court. thank god, i am blessed with that truly royal attribute, ability to dissimulate. "_qui nescit dissimulare nescit regnare_" was all the latin charles viii knew, yet he made a pretty successful king for one who died at the age of twenty-seven. i always act as if the king, and father-in-law george, had asked me not once, or three times, but a dozen times "_how art thou?_" i don't know anything about being in disgrace, i don't anticipate being snubbed and when i am snubbed i don't see it. the "all-highest lord" looks daggers at me--i curtsy and smile! father-in-law prince george exhibits the visage of a poisoned pole-cat at my table--i congratulate him on his good digestion! majesty pays no more attention to my presence than if i was a pillar, or a lackey; i greet him with my most devoted genuflections, rise from the carpet smiling all over the face and begin a frivolous conversation with the nearest man at hand, who in his fright acts as if he had taken an overdose of physic. if frederick augustus only had an inch of backbone, a pinch of ginger in his constitution! but he always stands around with a red face and the mien of a penitent. no dog, accustomed to daily beatings, follows his master's movements with more anxious looks than the crown prince of this realm bestows upon the goings and sayings of the king and prince george. then, as recompense for his royal feast of toads, he plays the tyrant at home. jellyfish in the state apartments, a brute in our own and--on the drill grounds, i am told! he is always finding fault with the servants, and cares not whether he calls his court marshal, or a groom, "_lausbub_." poor chamberlain von tumpling earned that scurvy epithet the other day and he prides himself on being a nobleman and an army officer! only this morning the prince roared and bellowed at one of my ladies, i thought she would have a stroke from righteous anger and vexation. when he attempted to address me in the same fashion, i simply turned my back on him, went into my boudoir and locked the door. i will keep him "guessing" for two days, sending for the court physician every little while. when he has to eat his meals alone and sleep alone for twice twenty-four hours, it will occur even to him that louise is not made of the stuff that stands for being bullied. chapter xiv imperial russian ethics transferred to dresden my husband's reported escapade--did he give diamonds to a dancing girl?--his foolish excuses--"i am your pal"--a restaurant scene in st. petersburg--the birthday suit. dresden, _december , _. after all, frederick augustus has more spirit than i gave him credit for. isabelle just told me that he has a new love, and a very appetizing piece of femininity she is, _fräulein_ dolores of the municipal theatre. "she's as well made as you, louise, and rather more graceful," she said, "only her expression is somewhat inert. she lacks animation. of course, she hasn't your attractive bust." that devilish isabelle _sowed_ her poisonous information rather than pronounced it. "she has been seen with a new diamond-studded _bandeau_," she added. at that moment the schoenberg came to say that baby wants me. isabelle went along to the nursery, but i managed to take the schoenberg aside. "i must know, before dinner, who gave the dolores woman the new jewelry she is displaying; likewise whether his royal highness is sweet on that hussy. no half-truths, if you please. i want to know the worst if there be any." the schoenberg has a cousin who is a councillor in the office of the police president, and the police president keeps a detailed record of the love affairs of all the actresses and singers employed in dresden,--a relic of the time when stage folks, in european capitals, classed as "the king's servants." the councillor came himself to report and, after listening to what he said, i raised the boycott on frederick augustus without further ado, inviting him to my bed and board once more. "so you went slumming with kyril," i said after we had retired for the night. "who told you?" stammered the big fellow, reddening to the roots of his hair. "never mind. i know all! about the dolores woman, her brand new diamonds, the pirouettes she did on the table and the many lace petticoats she wore." "my word, i didn't count them," vowed his royal highness. "neither would i advise you to do so," i warned sternly, though as a matter of fact i was near exploding with laughter. "now make a clean breast of it." "i swear i was only the elephant. the king himself would excuse me under the circumstances," whimpered my husband. "you big booby," i interposed, "can't you see that i'm not angry? i blab about you to the king? what do you take me for? i am your pal, now and always, in affairs liable to prove inartistic to the king's, or prince george's, stomach. to begin with, what has an elephant to do with supping with a dancing girl?" frederick augustus explained that the name of the pachyderm applies to a third party, who attends a couple out for a lark until he proves a crowd. our cousin, grand-duke kyril of russia, visiting dresden incognito, had prevailed on frederick augustus's good nature to serve him and the dolores. "the dolores is prettier than i?" i inquired. "not at all. she has a black mole under her left bosom." "you saw that?" "how could i help it? russian grand-dukes never allow a girl to wear corsets at supper. kyril says it interferes with digestion." how considerate of his russian imperial highness! well, they had a good time and i guess the dolores earned her diamonds. a fair exchange is no robbery. "but in st. petersburg," said frederick augustus, "they do these things better." and he gave an elaborate description of a famous restaurant there, where the princes of the imperial family hold high carnival occasionally. "the upper tier of dining rooms is reserved at night for any grand-duke who promises his visit," quoted my husband, "and the broad marble stairs leading to them must not be used by others. well, one fine evening grand-duke vladimir and a crowd of nobles and officers supped at the '_ermitaj_' and when they were all good and drunk, one of vladimir's guests, prince galitzin, bet the host the price of the supper and a champagne bath for all, that he could induce the famous _danseuse_ mshinskaya to descend the stairs stark naked and walk among the tables below without anyone offering her insult. "the bet was accepted and the girl sent for. she was found in a near-by theatre and rushed to the '_ermitaj_'. of course, seeing that his imperial highness wished it, she consented to pull off the trick and--her clothes, but she made a condition." "she demanded tights," i suggested. "pshaw, she is a sport, says kyril." this in a tone of disgust from frederick augustus. he continued: "she merely begged his imperial highness to have it announced that she, mshinskaya, was acting under the grand-duke's orders. done. 'by his imperial highness's leave,' shouted the _maître d'hôtel_ from the top of the stairs, as _mademoiselle_ descended in her birthday suit. and the mshinskaya made the tour of the restaurant as unconcernedly and as little subject to protests, or remarks, as if she had been muffled up to her ears. "that's what i call freedom--discipline," concluded frederick augustus. "think of doing anything like that in a dresden restaurant." "i would gladly give a year's allowance to the poor if you could manage it here while prince george was masticating a hamburg steak at a table opposite the grand staircase," said i. chapter xv royalty not pretty, and why fecundity royal women's greatest charm--how to have beautiful children. dresden, _february , _. behold the mother of two boys in a twelve-month! frederick came just in the nick of time, sylvester eve (december , ), to gain me a little brief renown, for royalty likes its women to be rabbits and, in the reigning houses at least, we are esteemed in proportion to our fecundity. "january --december ," not half bad! even prince george had to admit that. and the kaiser remarked: "louise, if she keeps it up, bids fair to break de villeneuve's record. let me see, sophie's first child was born january --a girl" (with a sneer); "her next, the hereditary count, on december th of the same year." the "de villeneuve" is sophie, countess of schlitz. wilhelm made her celebrated by his gallantries and lenbach by the great portrait he painted of her wondrous loveliness. if i ever have a daughter, i will have a copy of the lenbach canvas placed in baby's room. come to think of it, i will have one made right away to hang in my own boudoir. as stated, i believe in prenatal influence, and am more than convinced that the portraits of saxon and prussian princesses frowning from the walls of our palaces are calculated neither to promote beauty nor gentleness. if i had my way, i would send the whole lot to the store-room and fill the space they occupy with the present store-room treasures, old time portraits of august the physical strong's favorites, aurora von königsmark, countess cosel, princess lubomirska, fatime, the circassian, the orselska and--who can remember their names? as a rule, queens and princesses are conspicuous for lack of beauty, while kings and princes cut most ordinary figures in _mufti_. only their uniforms, the ribands and decorations, the _mise-en-scène_ render them tolerable imitations of the average military man. why? because their mothers and fathers, their sisters, cousins and aunts see nothing but painted and photographed and sculptured frights and grotesques. so much ugliness of the past must needs cause ugliness of the present and future. in a century the thrones of europe have known but two beauties, both plebeians, the empress josephine and the empress eugenie. my aunt, the empress elizabeth, is only good-looking, the german empress was just an ordinary german _frau_ even in her salad-days. well, my little girls, if i have any, shall profit by the lessons of the past. as expectant mothers in ancient greece were wont to walk in the temple of _athene parthenos_, filled with the greatest sculptures the world has ever seen (ruins of them i admired in the british museum), so i intend to have a gallery of my own for beauty's sake, even if every female figure be a harlot's likeness. chapter xvi more jealousies of the great men and women caress me with their eyes--some disrespectful sayings and doings of mine--first decided quarrel with frederick augustus--i go to the theatre in spite of him. dresden, _april , _. i am afraid i wrote down some wicked things--wicked from the standpoint of the saxon court--and though queen carola and father-in-law george know naught of my scribblings, punishment was meted out to me in full measure. of course, it's my "damned popularity," as the king calls it, that got me into trouble again. my carriage happened to follow one occupied by the queen at a distance of some hundred or more paces along the avenues of the _grosser garten_. i had no idea that her majesty was out at the time, and certainly was dressed to please the eye. i can't help it. it's a habit with me. well, the optics of a good many of my future subjects grew long and cozening, like gipsies', when they beheld their queen-to-be; there was many a "flatteringly protracted, but never a wiltingly disapproving gaze," and those who liked me--and they all seemed to--shouted "our louise," and hurrah. they shouted so loud that poor queen carola got plenty of auricular evidence of how her successor-to-be was loved by the people, by _her_, carola's, people. and the poor old girl got so "peeved," she ordered her coachman to turn back and proceed to the palace by the shortest route, through the least frequented streets. frederick augustus knew all about it before i reached home and was in a terribly dejected state. "this has to stop," he said with a fine effort at imitating authority. "on sunday, when we drove home from high mass, you got an ovation while the king's carriage passed almost unnoticed. and now this affront to the queen." "bother the old girl," i replied, stamping my foot. frederick augustus got as white as a sheet. "that's the language of a--a--" he knew enough not to finish. "it's the title by which queen victoria is known to many of her subjects." "who told you that?" "i often run across it in the english newspapers." "jew-sheets!" roared frederick augustus. "since you don't understand a word of english, you couldn't distinguish the london times from the hebrew at work." after this sally, i added maliciously: "i'm going to the opéra comique tonight. come along?" "you are _not_ going to the opéra comique," shouted frederick augustus. "you don't want me to go, papa don't want me to go, uncle and aunt and cousins don't? so many reasons more why i _shall_ go. i announced my coming and i will go, if i have to tear the ropes, by which you might bind me hand and foot, with my teeth." i rang the bell and ordered dinner served half an hour earlier than usual. then i went to my dressing room to inspect the new gown that i intended to wear at the theatre. girardi night! girardi, the famous vienna comedian! i never saw him. his humor will act as a tonic. just what i need. i will die if i breathe none other but the air of this palace, that reeks with cheap pretensions, jesuitical puritanism, envy and hatred, where every second person is a spy of either the king or george. i must escape the polluted atmosphere for a few hours, at least, and laugh, laugh, laugh. * * * * * : p.m. i have seen girardi. i have laughed. i saw the dolores. and i don't blame kyril a bit. chapter xvii the royal prince, who behaves like a drunken bricklayer i face the music, but my husband runs away--prince george can't look me in the eye--he roars and bellows--advocates wife-beating--i defy him--german classics--"jew literature" _auto da fé_ ordered. dresden, _april , _. chamberlain baron haugk, of the service of prince george, called at nine a.m. and insisted upon seeing me. i sent out my grand-mistress, baroness von tisch, to tell him that "her imperial highness would graciously permit him to wait upon her at half past ten." "but my all-highest master commands." i was listening in my boudoir and i went out to him only half-dressed, a powder-mantle over my shoulders. "her imperial highness will not have her commands questioned by servants," i said in my most haughty style. the _kammerherr_ knocked his heels together, bowed to the ground and retired. that's my way of dealing with royal flunkeys, no matter what their title of courtesy. he was back at the stroke of the clock to announce his "sublime master" for one in the afternoon. "i will be ready to receive his royal highness. my household shall be instructed," i answered coldly, though i dread that old man. "you are not wanted," i told frederick augustus. "better make yourself scarce." he didn't need to be told twice. "undress-uniform," he shouted to his valet. "and send somebody for a cab." "why a cab?" i inquired. he looked at me in a pitying way. "women are such geese," he made answer. "don't you see, if i left the palace in one of our own carriages, the king, or father, might notice and call me back." "oh, very well. and don't 'celebrate' too much while you are out." i had the lackeys line the staircase and corridors. my military household stood in the first ante-chamber, my courtiers in the second, my ladies in the third when prince george walked into my parlor. at first he acted in no unfriendly manner. he kissed me on the forehead and asked after the babies, and if he hadn't riveted his eyes all the time into some corner of the room--his stratagem when in an ugly mood--i might have persuaded myself that he wasn't on mischief bent. but he soon began pouring out his bile. with a face like a wooden martyr he announced that he was not pleased with me. "you are too much of a light-weight, too vivacious, too attractive to the mob," he said in his bitterest tones. "you are forever seeking the public eye like--an actress." "i beg your royal highness to take notice that imperial princesses of austria"--i put some emphasis on the imperial--"while popular, never descend to jugglery," i answered politely, but firmly. "no offence to your imperial highness," said george, "but you must understand once and for all that saxon princes and princesses are bound by our house laws to the strictest observance of precedence. the love of the people naturally goes out to the king and queen. junior members of the royal house must not seek to divert to themselves the popularity that is the king's own." "i have always been taught to respond to popular greetings offered me. my aunt, the empress elizabeth, in particular instructed me to that effect," i submitted with great deference. "her majesty didn't instruct you to make a show of yourself every hour of the day," hissed george, his eyes devouring the stove. "i drive out twice, in the morning to go shopping, in the afternoon to air my babies." george, unable to dispute me, abandoned pretensions of politeness or manners. he fairly roared at me: "you are travelling the streets all the time. it has to stop." whereupon i said in as sharp a voice as i could manage: "and your royal highness has to stop bellowing at me. i'm not used to it. in salzburg and vienna gentlemen don't use that tone of voice and that sort of language to gentlewomen." "salzburg," cried george, "in salzburg you got your ears boxed, but it didn't do much good to all appearances." "your royal highness," i answered, "my mother has her faults, but it's no one's business outside of her immediate family. and no one at this court has a mother's authority over me." i saw that george was beside himself with rage. "if your husband," he snarled, "was as free with his hand as your mother, there would be an end to your frivolities." "your royal highness forgets what you admitted yourself, namely, that the indignities offered me while i was a child were bereft of beneficial results. and please take notice," i added, raising my voice, "i won't stand violence from anyone, neither from my husband--as you kindly suggest--nor from you, or the king." george was too surprised to even attempt a reply. he evidently didn't know what to say or do. to avoid my eyes that were seeking his, he turned his back on me and stepped up to a little table laden with books. he studied the titles for a while, then, turning suddenly, held a small volume towards me. his arm was out-stretched as if he feared to contaminate his uniform. "what have we got here?" he cried. it was my turn to be astonished. "why, according to the binding, it must be heine's _atta troll_." "_atta troll_," cried george, and opening the book at random he read half to himself: "this bear-leader six madonnas wears upon his pointed hat, to protect his head from bullets or from lice, perchance, it may be." he fired the volume on the floor and grabbed another. "what's this?" "as the title will indicate to your royal highness, nietzsche's zarathustra." for the life of me i couldn't see any harm in this portion of my library. george continued to rummage among the books. he acted like a madman. "what's this, what's this?" he kept on saying, turning them over and over. i thought it beneath my dignity to answer. i just stared at the fanatic. after he finished his hurried examination, he took one book after the other and tossed it violently at my feet. "heine, the jew-scribbler," he cried, aiming a kick at atta troll. "don't you dare," i said, "that book was given me by her majesty, the empress of austria." "i can't believe it," shouted george, "that jew-scribbler, the reviler of kinship." "he never lampooned the kings of saxony," i calmly remarked, picking up the volume. "here is her majesty's dedication to me." "everybody knows the eccentricities of her majesty of austria," shouted george. "anyhow, who gave you permission to read such rotten stuff as this at our court?" "prince george," i answered, taking two steps towards him, "duke of saxony, the archduchess of austria takes pleasure to inform you that in her house she asks no one's permission what to read or do." at this he turned drill-ground bully. "you are in the king's house," rang out his voice in cutting tones, "and at this moment i represent the king. and in the king's name i forbid you to read these obscenities, and in the king's name i hereby command that these books be destroyed at once." well, since he talked in the king's name i had no leg to stand on. i merely bowed acquiescence and he strutted out, turning his back on me as he went without salutation of any sort. i ran into my room, locked the door and had a good cry. chapter xviii i defy them laughter and pleasant faces for me--frederick augustus refuses to back me, but i don't care--we quarrel about my reading--he professes to gross ignorance. dresden, _may , _. what's the use keeping a diary that is nothing but a record of quarrels and humiliations? after i finished the entry about my scene with prince george, i felt considerably relieved. i had held my own, anyhow. but fighting is one thing and writing another. i am always ready for a fight, but "war-reporting" comes less easy. the unpleasantness with george brought in its wake, as a natural consequence so to speak, a whole lot of other squabbles and altercations, family jars and general rumpuses, which i cared not to embalm in these pages at the time. however, as they are part and parcel of my narrative, incomplete as it may be, i will insert them by and by according to their sequence. after george was gone i made up my mind that, his commands and threats notwithstanding, i must continue to live as i always did: joyful, free within certain limits and careless of puritan standards. if the rest of the royal ladies, and the women of the service, want to mope and look sour, that's their affair. let them wear out their lives between confessional, knitting socks for orphan children, _kaffe-klatsches,_ spying and tale-bearing and prayer-meetings,--it isn't my style. i'm young, i'm pretty, i'm full of red blood, life means something to me. i want to live it my own way. i want to laugh; i have opinions of my own; i want to read books that open and improve the mind. i want to promote my education by attending lectures, by going to the theatre--in short, i don't want to become a dunce and a bell-jingling fool like the others. if that spells royal disgrace--be it so. louise won't purchase two "_how art thou's?_" at the price their majesties and royal highnesses ask. of course, it would come easier with frederick augustus's help and support, but since he chooses to be bully-ragged and sat upon and, moreover, finds pleasure in licking the hand that strikes at his and his wife's dignity, i will go it alone. i defy them. * * * * * dresden, _june , _. i had another tiff with frederick augustus, but the cause is too insignificant to deserve record. i will rather tell about our grand quarrel following prince george's visit. we dined alone that day, as he was eager to hear the news. the preliminaries didn't excite him much, but when i mentioned the book episode, he bristled up. "you won't allow the king, or prince george, to dictate what i shall read or not read?" i demanded. "my house is my castle and i won't brook interference in my _ménage_." "do you really suppose," replied frederick augustus, "that i'll court royal displeasure for the sake of those jew-scribblers? i never read a book since i left school and can't make out what interest books can have to you or anyone else. where did you get them, anyhow?" i told him that leopold supplied my book wants. "my brother is a very intelligent man," i said, "and the books he gives me are all classics in their way." "go to with your book-talk!" he mocked in his most contemptuous voice. "i asked the director of the royal library and was told that each of the books, to which father objects, was written by a jew. let jews read them. it isn't decent for a royal princess to do so." "my brother isn't a jew." "but in utter disgrace in vienna. no one at court speaks to him. he is head over heels in debt and the next we know he will be borrowing from us. as to those books, don't bring any more into the house. royal princes and princesses have better things to do than waste time on jew-scribblers." with that he violently pushed back his chair and left me, a very much enraged woman. he didn't give me the chance to have the last word. chapter xix attempted violence defeated by firmness frederick augustus seeks to carry out his father's brutal threats--orders and threats before servants--i positively refuse to be ordered about--frederick augustus plays mrs. lot--enjoying myself at the theatre. dresden, _june , _. the chance came later and with it the conviction that his royal highness, prince george, didn't quite believe me when i told him that i wouldn't stand for violence, for tonight frederick augustus attempted something of the sort. i had ordered my carriage for seven o'clock to drive to the theatre, and had just finished dressing when he stormed into my boudoir and demanded to know if i had taken leave of my senses. "not that i am aware of." "but i hear you intend to go to the theatre--a princess in disgrace going to the theatre!" "aren't you coming along, frederick augustus?" i asked naïvely. "i have no desire to lose my regiment." "and i have no desire to sit at home and talk nothingnesses with the fools his majesty appoints for my service." "take a care," cried frederick augustus. "don't be a noodle and a coward," i answered hotly. "louise, remember that i am an army officer." "what has that to do with my going to the theatre?" "it's the height of audacity to defy the king." "it would be the depth of cowardice to stay at home." "take back that word, or----" "i wish your royal highness a very pleasant evening," i said, indulging in a low genuflexion. frederick augustus got blue with rage. i saw him clench his fists as i swept out of the room, making as much noise with my train as i could manage. "an out-rider," i commanded the master of horse who stood in the ante-chamber awaiting me. "at your imperial highness' commands," bowed the baron with the most astonished face in the world. we use out-riders, that is grooms in livery, to ride ahead of the royal carriage, only on state occasions in dresden. but, of course, my orders would be obeyed even if i had demanded twelve grooms to attend me. i was just going out, preceded by my chamberlain and followed by my ladies, baroness tisch and _fräulein_ von schoenberg; there were two lackeys at the door and in the corridor stood the groom-in-waiting, holding several lap-robes for me to decide which to take, when the prince caught up with me. "i forbid you to go to the theatre," he bawled in the presence of my titled entourage and three servants. i realized at once that this was the supreme moment of my life at the court of saxony. either bend or break. if i allowed myself to be roared at and ordered about like a servant-wench--goodbye the imperial highness! enter the jenny-sneak german housewife, greedy for her master's smile and willing to accept an occasional kick. the prince had begun this family brawl in public. i would finish. "i won't take orders," i held forth. "no commands, understand, princely, royal or otherwise. and be advised, now and for all time, that i will answer any attempt to brutalize me by immediate departure, or by seeking refuge with the austrian ambassador." if frederick augustus had suddenly become mrs. lot he wouldn't have been more conspicuous for utter petrification and silence. he stared at me with wide-open, bleary eyes and if i had taken him by the neck and feet and dropped him out of the window, as his ancestor augustus of the three-hundred and fifty-two took the "spook" sent into his bedroom by joseph the first, he wouldn't have offered the ghost of resistance, i dare say. "your arm, mr. chamberlain, since his royal highness doesn't wish to accompany us." and i swept out of the ante-chamber and through the corridor, triumphant. "gipsy baron" was the bill of the play. i knew only a few of its waltzes and i drank in the comedy and the pretty music like one desperately athirst. kyril's girl, the dolores, was very chic and looked ravishingly pretty, and brother-in-law max isn't the dunce i took him for. his theresa is a droll dog, fair to look upon, dark and fat. it will take a lot of holy water to save her from purgatory. girardi made me screech with laughter. he is as funny as my father-in-law is mournful--a higher compliment to his art i cannot pay. of course, actor-like, he appreciated an imperial highness' applause and looked up to my box every little while. i wish, though, he hadn't acknowledged my plaudits by bowing to me. it attracted general attention and soon the whole house was staring and smiling. the people seemed to be glad that their crown princess was enjoying herself. chapter xx titled servants low and cunning george tries to rob me of my confidante--enter the king's spy, baroness tisch in her true character--punishment of one royal spy. dresden, _august , _. prince george is planning a devilish revenge. he threatens to separate me from my secretary and confidante, little baranello, whom i brought with me from salzburg. she is an italian, and, unlike most of them, as faithful as a dog. a connection of the ruffo family, princes and dukes that gave the world more than one pope, the small fry saxon nobility hate her, and george knows that he can't corrupt lucretia by his paltry presents and ridiculous condescension. they would send her back to salzburg, if they dared,--anyhow, baroness von tisch is to be both chief mistress and confidential secretary. if she died of the first confidence i make her, she wouldn't live five minutes. the king's house marshal, baron von carlowitz, came to announce the change to me, but i knew, of course, that it was george's doings. "tell prince george," i said icily, "that i appreciate the fact of being deprived of the services of an honest woman in favor of a spy." i will "show" this tisch woman, as my american friends say. some three years ago emperor francis joseph appointed a spy as attendant to my brother leopold. schoenstein, baron or count, was his name, i think. schoenstein would rather bear evil tales of his young master to his old master than eat, and nothing would please him better than to meddle with leopold's correspondence. he stole as many letters as he could lay his hands on. fished them even from slop-pails, or pieced together such as leopold tore up and dropped in the cuspidors. when brother observed this, he used to tear up bills and the most innocent writings of his own and other people into little bits and planted them in schoenstein's hunting-grounds. appropriate work for a _lick-spittle_ to pull them out. but leopold got tired of playing with this vermin, and it tickled him to make an example of the scamp. hence, he allowed it to be observed by schoenstein when he, leopold, locked a parcel of letters from his girl in the cash-box. the toad-eating schoenstein burned with desire to copy these letters and send the transcript on to emperor francis joseph. they would have made interesting reading to my old uncle who has given up cracking nuts since his teeth fell out. there is kati schratt, you say. pshaw, kati is as old, or nearly as old, as his majesty and she isn't a ninon de l'enclos by any means. to cut a long story short, schoenstein could see but one way for getting those compromising letters: steal the keys and borrow the parcel for a short while. that's what leopold was waiting for. not half an hour after the keys had been abstracted, he raised the alarm. he had been "robbed." the archducal safe had been rifled. and he managed to catch schoenstein red-handed. "send for the police," thundered my brother, "and meanwhile watch the thief well." schoenstein was given no chance to explain and deemed himself lucky to escape arrest. my brother suspended him from service and made him go to a hotel while he telegraphed the story of the attempted theft to vienna, asking the count's immediate dismissal. of course, vienna disavowed the dunderhead--royalty has no use for persons that allow themselves to be compromised--and he has been in disgrace ever since. nor can he get another courtly office, for leopold threatened the moment he sees him with a highness to warn everybody: "look to your watch and purse, we have a thief with us." i jotted this down to remind me that prince george's spy deserves no better than the emperor's. chapter xxi banishment i am ordered to repair to a country house with the hated spy as my grand mistress--my first impulse to go home, but afraid parents won't have me. dresden, _august , _. order from the king that myself and children spend the rest of the summer at villa loschwitz, to remain until i get royal permission to return to dresden,--the tisch to act as chief of my household. banished! i didn't know whether to laugh or cry. smile, because i escaped the _ennui_ of attending court at the summer residence of pillnitz; weep, because my absence from court would be interpreted as a disciplinary measure. i know pillnitz is about as gay as a trappist feast of carrion and ant's milk, but this princess doesn't want to be disciplined. i shall tell them that i want to go home, but will they have me in salzburg? papa, of course, but if mother hears of my acquaintance with heine, "who doesn't love jesus,"--her own words,--she will undoubtedly side with prince george against her daughter. it was heine who wrote of one of her ancestors, king louis of bavaria: "as soon as the monkeys and kangaroos are converted to christianity, they'll make king louis their guardian saint, in proof of their perfect sanity." and you don't suppose for a moment that mamma forgets a thing like that. as to nietzsche, he will give her no conscientious qualms, for i'm sure she never heard of the gentleman, but my going to the gipsy baron "where two princely mistresses are gyrating"--horrible! i hear her say: "i think prince george is most considerate sending our daughter to loschwitz. she deserved to be put in a nunnery and made to kneel on unboiled peas three times a day." and when it comes to an _éclat_, even papa may have to abandon me. emperor francis joseph holds the purse-strings; and papa always lives beyond his means and francis joseph, king albert and prince george are fast friends. if papa quarrelled with the two latter gentlemen, they would immediately denounce him to the emperor. the rest can easily be guessed. sorry, but papa is no hero in his daughter's eyes. chapter xxii "poor relations" in royal houses myself and frederick augustus quarrel and pound table--the countess cosel's golden vessel--off to brighton--threat of a beating--i provoke shadows of divorce--king threatens force--more defiance on my part--i humble the king and am allowed to invite my brother leopold. villa loschwitz, _september , _. father had to give in. he is the poor relation, and a poor relation in royal circles doesn't amount to more than one among well-to-do merchants and farmers. he has no rights that others need respect and if he shows backbone he is given to understand that the head of the family has other uses for the palace or hunting grounds lent him. "i would love to have you with me in salzburg," he wrote, "but, dear child, it's for your best to learn to obey. do it for your old father's sake." still i wouldn't give in at once. "i won't go to loschwitz," i declared. and gave a dozen reasons besides the paramount one that i wouldn't go, because prince george wanted me. "i'm no trunk to be shipped hither and thither at someone's behest," i said. frederick augustus took umbrage at the "someone," which he pronounced _lèse majesté_, and to emphasise the fact hit the table with a bang, whereupon i pounded the table twice: bang-bang! it hurt my hand, and didn't do frederick augustus any good. nor was the discussion advanced thereby. for the rest: an exchange of names and epithets that smacked of the kitchen rather than the _salon_. "too bad you exhaust all your energy with me," i said among other things, "while in the royal presence you act the docile lamb's tail." he began prating about his character as an army officer again, and i reminded him that i wasn't the countess cosel. "who's that?" asked the big ignoramus. "never heard of the lady that refused to accompany augustus to the camp of mühlberg unless he brought her a certain intimate golden vessel costing five thousand _thalers_?" "a loving cup?" asked my husband. "if you like to call it so." "but why did you say you are no cosel?" "i meant to imply that i am not a prisoner of state and don't want to be treated like one. hence, since a visit to my parents would greatly embarrass them, i decided to go to brighton for the season." "brighton," he repeated, "and where will you get the spondulicks?" "i saved up quite a bit of money. guess i can manage the expense alright." "lip-music," cried frederick augustus in his polite way. "you have no idea what such a trip costs." i assured him that i had made every inquiry and was able to meet all expenses. "we will go incog.," i added, "the babies and nurse and lucretia. the tisch woman shall have a furlough even before she asks for it." "is that so?" frederick augustus laughed brutally. "you seem to forget that you are subject to our house laws." "and you seem to forget that i have a will of my own," i almost shouted. frederick augustus jumped up. "not another word on the subject," he commanded. "the incident is closed." it suddenly occurred to me that prince george had been talking once more to frederick augustus about the pugilistic performances of my mother. perhaps he was trying to pluck up courage to beat me, a diversion not altogether unknown in the house of saxony, according to the memoirs of the famous baron schweinichen, court marshal and _chroniqueur_. his diaries, covering a number of years, have many such entries as this: "his royal highness hit the princess a good one on the 'snout' by way of silencing her tongue." doubtless george would be delighted to have me "shut up" by some such process, but frederick augustus lacks the sand. when he was gone, i indicted a letter to the king, advising him in oily, malicious, yet eminently respectful language that, not wishing to figure as a prisoner of state, i had decided to spend the rest of the summer abroad with my children. at the same time i intimated that i was well aware of being in disgrace and being regarded with ill favor by the several members of the royal family. "if it pleases your majesty," i added, "i will relieve a most unhappy situation by giving back his liberty to frederick augustus. i'll promise not to oppose divorce, or allow my family to interfere." this letter i sent to the king, sealing it with my personal arms, of which there is no duplicate at court. after that i sent three telegrams. one to papa, announcing that i was going to brighton; another to the palace hotel in brighton; a third to the minister of railways, commanding that my saloon carriage be coupled to the continental express night after next. i knew, of course, that the king would be informed of these messages in a twinkling. i waited an hour for the powers to move; as a rule it takes them a week or ten days. exactly sixty-five minutes after sending my letter to the king, frederick augustus rode into the courtyard like a madman. he had been hurriedly summoned from the drill-grounds, i heard afterwards. he dismounted at the stairs leading to the king's apartments. half an hour later, he slunk into my room, as serious as a corpse. there wasn't a trace of brutality in his voice as he said: "a fine row you kicked up." i didn't favor him by questions, but kept looking out of the window. he walked up and down for five or six minutes, boring his eyes into the corners of the room. suddenly, at a safe distance, he delivered himself of the following: "his majesty interdicts your plans _in toto_. you will be conducted to loschwitz tonight. don't put yourself to the humiliation of trying to disobey. you are being watched." "his majesty's own words?" "he refused to see me," answered frederick augustus, dejectedly. he acted as if pronouncing his own death warrant. "baumann told me." (this is the king's secretary.) i almost pitied the poor fellow, but i had to hold my own. "my dear frederick augustus," i said, "you can tell baumann from me that i won't go to loschwitz tonight; that for the present i intend to stay here and that, if they force me, they'll need plenty of rope, for i will holler and kick and do all i can to attract attention." maybe frederick augustus wanted to say something in reply, but open his mouth was all he could manage. seeing him so bamboozled, i continued: "it is decided, then, that i stay, but i give you fair warning that i will skip to england sooner or later. i don't want you to get into trouble, frederick augustus, therefore inform baumann without delay." frederick augustus got blue in the face. he seemed ready to jump on me, crush me between his cuirassier fists. i held up my hand. "did baumann tell you that i offered to accept divorce if it pleases the king?" frederick augustus changed color. white as a ghost, he fixed his eyes upon mine, momentarily, and murmured: "have we got to that point?" he ran out of the room and a minute later was tearing up the stairs leading to the king's apartments. lucretia says he returned within a quarter of an hour and tried my door. but i had locked myself in and refused to open. we didn't meet until dinner. neither of us ate a bite, or said a word. baumann was announced with the ice. he was all smiles, all devotion. "his majesty will be pleased to see your imperial highness in a quarter of an hour," he said sweetly. frederick augustus was a painted sepulchre when i coolly replied: "pray inform his majesty that i am not well and about to retire for the night." at this baumann looked like a whipped dog. he probably thought it impossible for anyone to refuse to answer the summons of his majesty. with the most downcast mien in the world, he seemed singularly anxious to render himself ridiculous. "maybe the crown prince will do in my stead," i suggested maliciously. baumann grabbed at the straw and withdrew. a little while later a lackey came, summoning frederick augustus to prince george. when he came back, he was all undone. "father treated me very well," he said. "he says the king regrets that your uncontrollable temper causes so many misunderstandings, and both his majesty and father have no objection to your staying in dresden if you like. loschwitz was suggested because you and the children seem to need country air. "as to your proposed visit to england, the king begs you to consider that such a journey at this time is liable to provoke a scandal which would reflect not only on you, on us, but on your poor parents." the old story of the penurious relations, i thought bitterly, but on the whole i was well pleased. i had beaten and out-generaled them all. "if loschwitz isn't meant for punishment, i accept with pleasure," i said. "it's a very pretty place." poor frederick augustus' face lit up. "but there must be an end to the talk about i being in disgrace. if the king is as friendly to me as he makes out, let him come and see me and the babies. as to summonses by baumann or others, i won't accept them." "very well," said frederick augustus, and i saw that i had risen mile-high in his estimation, "when will it be your pleasure to leave for loschwitz?" "tonight, if i have permission to invite leopold for a week or so." "are you stark, staring mad?" shouted my husband,--"impose conditions after the king moderated?" "go and tell baumann i'll have leopold or all is off," i said. next morning: ceremonial visit from the queen. the tip of her nose was redder than ever and she seemed prepared to weep at the flicking of an eye-lash. she gave me a list of her troubles, mental, physical, political, matrimonial and otherwise, since the day she was born, but said: "obedience to my father, the king, and obedience to my husband, the king, has enabled me to weather all storms. you, too, must learn obedience, louise. it's women's only salvation and especially a princess's." i answered that i fully recognized my obligations to the king. "i only object to being buffeted around like a piece of furniture." "i know, i know," said the queen, "and hope all is arranged satisfactorily. the king will be glad if you invite your parents to loschwitz." "i asked permission to invite leopold." "but, no doubt, your parents would take more interest in the children than your brother." "i don't dispute that, your majesty. but if my parents joined me at the present time, people might think they came to condole with me or else to scold me. i want leopold." the queen said she wouldn't dare mention leopold to his majesty. "well, then," i concluded, "i shall stay in dresden, regarding baumann's fine promises as mere talk." the queen went away with the air of a martyr, but three days later baumann came and said his imperial highness was welcome. a triumph all along the line. i left dresden without seeing the king. frederick augustus is at the manoeuvres. the baroness is acting as my grand mistress. i expect leopold in a fortnight. chapter xxiii a servant-tyrant my correspondence is not safe from the malicious woman appointed grand mistress--lovers at a distance and by correspondence--fell in love with a leg. loschwitz, _september , _. baroness tisch, now that she attained the height of her ambition, is beginning to show her claws. she is an infernal cat. her skinniness makes her repulsive to me and her face gives everyone the impression that she just sucked an enormous lemon. she lisps and that makes me nervous. i feel like aping her when she isn't around. she's after me like the devil chasing a poor soul and as i never address her except to command or reprimand, she tries to find out any secret doings, or thinkings, i may be guilty of by way of letters i write or receive. according to the laws of most countries private correspondence is sacred, legally and morally. the late field-marshal, count blumenthal, wrote to his wife of the crown prince, afterwards emperor frederick, that he was a "d----fool," but "as communications between husband and wife are privileged," no official cognizance was taken. otherwise in this petty kingdom and, as already told, in austria, whose monarch, in family matters at least, holds to the "_l'etat c'est moi_" maxim. the king's spy, the tisch, constituted herself post-office of villa loschwitz--a duty appertaining to her rank--and i wager she works the "_black cabinet_" to perfection. of course, i am now careful in all i write and advise my friends to be, but i sometimes get letters from unknowns, people that sympathize with me or have fallen in love with me. all women in high station have lovers among the lowly. i recall the cardinal dubois' yarn about salvatico, envoy of the prince of modena, my kinsman of yore. the italian was sent to paris to conduct home his master's lovely intended, _mademoiselle_ de valois, daughter of the regent. it happened that the emissary was introduced to _mademoiselle's_ room an hour before the time set, when she was lying on a lounge "with one leg, almost naked, hanging down." salvatico fell in love with the leg and exhausted himself in so many "ah, ah's" of admiration and other love-sick stunts that the duke of richelieu, having older rights, said to him: "rogue, if you had your deserts i would cut off your two ears!" no man, except my husband, has seen my legs, which is a pity, perhaps, but the extreme _décolleté_ demanded at certain court functions, especially in berlin, gained me many epistolary lovers, whose homage i accept gracefully, but in silence, of course. still, a malicious thing like the tisch, if one gives her enough rope, might arrange, on paper at least, to get me with child by a lothario a hundred miles off, even as the children of madame de montespan and louis xiv were credited to the marquis, her husband, residing a hundred leagues away, at guienne. let me find her red-handed and she will fare even worse than schoenstein. chapter xxiv more tyranny of a titled servant my daily papers seized, and only milk-and-water clippings are submitted--"king's orders"--grand mistress's veracity doubted--my threats of suspension cow her. loschwitz, _september , _. this morning there were no newspapers at the usual hour. instead, the tisch furnished a heap of clippings carefully pasted up--the veriest milk-and-water slush "ever." instanter i sent for my tormentor. "what's this?" i demanded. "today's papers, your imperial highness." "you made these clippings?" "at your imperial highness's commands." "and you think me ninny enough to be satisfied with reading no more than what you consider proper for me to see?" the tisch wavered not a bit. "his majesty the king is served the same fashion." "no matter. i want my papers whole, and don't you dare to mutilate them." by way of letting her down easier i added: "don't give yourself the trouble." "no trouble, i assure your imperial highness. with your permission, then, i will continue to clip for your imperial highness." i rose and, measuring her from head to toe with flaming eyes, i said: "you will do nothing of the kind, do you understand?" the impertinent cat insisted: "but i think it proper----" "have you heard what i said or not, baroness?" she tried to save her face by asserting, "i am acting by command of his majesty." "i will ask his majesty whether you spoke the truth," i said quick as a flash; "meanwhile you are suspended and will return to dresden until recalled. ring the bell and i will give orders to the master of horse to send you away." of course tisch couldn't afford such an inquiry to be made, which would have exposed her clumsy hand and, as remarked, royalty doesn't care to be found out. defeat staring her in the face, tisch wavered: "of course, if your imperial highness chooses to take the responsibility, i will be most happy to submit the papers as they arrive." "in their wrappers," i commanded, as i dismissed her. by distributing a hundred marks in silver, i found out that the tisch examines my body-servants daily and that, night after night, she sits up hours writing long-winded reports. she is the king's tool, but she let the cat out of the bag when cornered. that gives me the whip hand for the time being. chapter xxv the two black sheep of the family united leopold upon my troubles and his own--imperial hapsburgs that, though catholics, got divorces or married divorced women--books that are full of guilty knowledge, according to royalty--a mud-hole lodging for one imperial highness--leopold's girl--what i think of army officers' wives--their anonymous letters--leopold's money troubles--we will fool our enemies by feigning obedience. loschwitz, _september , _. leopold is with me, the brother two years older than i. they just made him a major--a twelve-month later than his patent calls for. like myself, he is almost permanently in disgrace with the head of the family, even as i am with the king and prince george. we had no sooner embraced and kissed, than i asked him for the latest gossip concerning the crown princess of saxony. "you are a tough one," he said, shaking his finger with amused mockery. according to vienna court gossip, "i threw prince george out of doors," when he "raised his hand against me," frederick augustus and myself haven't been on speaking terms for six months; and the saxe family was actually considering the advisability of divorce. of course i told leopold how things really are. "then there will be no divorce?" he asked. "if the king and prince george leave me alone,--no." "too bad," he said with a laugh, "that knocks me out of the pleasure of maintaining my _thesis_ that the founder of the christian religion didn't believe in indissoluble marriage, but, on the contrary, in divorce if such couldn't be avoided." "who told you that?" "professor wahrmund is preparing a paper on the subject," said leopold, who, as remarked, is a very well-read chap and a student. he named five or six emperors and kings, catholics, some of them members of the austrian imperial family, who obtained divorces, or married divorced women. i jotted down the list. lothair ii divorced his wife theutberga and married his love, waldrade. emperor frederick i divorced the empress anna on the plea that she was sterile. she married a count, with whom she had a dozen children. margaret, a daughter of leopold vi of austria, was divorced by king ottokar of bohemia. john henry, prince of bohemia, divorced his wife margareta, who afterwards married an ancestor of the kaiser, ludwig of brandenburg. king ladislaus of sicily divorced queen constance and forced his vassal, andrea di capua, to marry her against his will. ten years later ladislaus married maria de lusignan. * * * * * but a little knowledge is a terrible thing, if it happens to be acquired by a prince. princes are supposed to know nothing but the art and the _finesses_ of destruction--war. upbuilding is not in their line. "i hear you are exercising a bad influence on louise," roared our uncle, the emperor, at leopold when the latter took leave from him. "you furnished to her those infernal books, sowing the seed of guilty knowledge?" leopold so far forgot himself as to address a question to the "all-highest": "what infernal books?" "books full of indecencies and obscenities, in short pornographic literature," shouted the head of the family, turned his horse and rode away in high dudgeon. royal arguments are nothing if not one-sided! then leopold told of himself. his garrison: a filthy mud-hole in poland. one-story houses and everybody peeping into everybody else's windows. the few notables of the town and neighborhood tickled to death because they have an imperial highness with them, and the fool of an imperial highness goes and "besots himself with a mere country lass." he showed me her photograph. i like her looks. a pretty face, blonde hair and soft eyes. he was her first lover. on his account she left her family. she dotes on him as a dog dotes on his master. leopold is eccentric enough to jeopardize his career for this poor thing. he rented a small house for her and spends much of his time there when not on the drill-grounds. hence intense indignation among the "respectable ladies." an imperial highness within reach and he "doesn't come to our dances, he doesn't visit and sends his regrets when invited!" poor marja suffers especially from the venom of the officers' wives,--cattle i detest. no royal or imperial prince is safe from them except in his mother's womb. "from morn till night and half the night they do nothing but gossip about me and my girl," said leopold,--"if the cats were only satisfied with that! but every little while i get an anonymous letter from one of them, denouncing her; marja is favored in a similar way; so is my general and our uncle, the emperor." and needless to say leopold can't get along on his salary and appanage. father can't give him much. the emperor won't, because the clergy intrigues against him as a free-thinker and non-church-goer. we thought long and deep whether it wouldn't be possible to improve our position and we decided on this: we will keep up each other's spirits by clandestine correspondence, carried on with the aid of a mutual friend. at the same time we will, apparently, fall in with the ideas of "our masters" and endure a few pin-pricks rather than waste our strength in useless opposition. let no one chide us for hypocrites, because our gentleness will be a mask, our submission a snare, our obedience a lie. it's all on the outside. inwardly leopold and louise will remain true to themselves. chapter xxvi frederick augustus continues very raw manners _à la_ barracks natural to royal princes--names i am called--my ladies scandalized--leopold turned over a new leaf, according to agreement, and is well treated--the king grateful to me for having "influenced leopold to be good." loschwitz, _october , _. i have tried it a fortnight during frederick augustus' sojourn here, and, like the french countess who fell in love with the strong man of the circus, i am disappointed. frederick augustus considers my tractability _carte blanche_ to carry into the boudoir of an imperial princess the license of the brothel. he treats me like a kept-woman--all with the utmost good-nature. i am called names such as the other augustus bestowed on the mothers of his three hundred and fifty-two, and i daren't remind him that some day i'll be queen of these realms. this prince, like the majority of them, hasn't the ghost of an idea of a sensitive woman's nature. he paws me over like a prize cow, and as the fourteenth louis esteemed his mistress's chamber-women no more worthy of notice than her lap-dogs, so frederick augustus makes love _à la_ barracks before the schoenberg, countess von minckwitz, or whatever other lady is in attendance. only when he does it before the tisch i am inclined to be amused rather than incensed. tisch, cadaverous beanpole, never felt a loving touch on her shoulder. the place where her bosom should be never experienced a friendly squeeze. no one ever cared whether she wore silk stockings or rubber boots--be amorous, frederick augustus, when the tisch is 'round! indulge your coarseness! put twenty-mark pieces in my stockings for a kiss. tell gay stories and don't forget playing with my corsage. it will make the old woman mad. it will remind her of what she missed--of what she will miss all her life! * * * * * loschwitz, _october , _. letter from leopold. he is going to church and--they leave his mistress in peace. he is paying banal compliments to the noble-women of his garrison and pinches the officers' wives when he finds one in a corner--and they seem to live in corners when his imperial highness is around--hence, no more anonymous letters! the spy planted in his household by the emperor is allowed to see much of the "innocent" correspondence passing between me and leopold. he has reported to francis joseph that the prince turned over a new leaf. result: leopold's debts have been paid and he got about two thousand marks over and above his wants. further results: a gracious letter from the king's house marshal, baron carlowitz, praising me for "the good influence i am exercising on leopold." truly the world wants to be deceived. chapter xxvii prince max makes love to me wants me to consult him on all spiritual matters--warns me against the kaiser, the heretic bishop--princes as ill-mannered as russian-jew up-starts. dresden, _november , _. prince max called on me the day of my arrival and promised me an armchair in paradise for "reforming" leopold. "i understand that your family life is ideal now," he added. "what bliss!" "oh, louise," he continued, with the face of a donkey withdrawing his nozzle from a syrup barrel, "whenever doubtful of the right way, of the lord's way, come to me." it would have been un-politic to repulse the grotesque ape, and i said: "i will. i will even give you the preference over the kaiser, who asked me the same thing--as _summus episcopus_, of course." max looked about the room. we were alone, yet he lowered his voice to a faint whisper. "william is a heretic. don't trust him in religious matters," he breathed stealthily. and this devilish max began to stroke my hands and admire a bracelet i wore above the elbow. the kaiser wouldn't have gone much further under the circumstances. maybe he would have kissed my arm, though, from wrist to pit. * * * * * tonight family tea in the queen's _salon_. the king an icicle, but polite as a french marquis. he gave me the three "_how art thou's_" in the space of five minutes, asked after the babies and promised to come and look them over. frederick augustus, half insane with delight, pinched my arm and squeezed my leg under the table. i felt like boxing his ears. my father-in-law had to behave in the presence of the king and said a few commonplaces to me. johann george and isabella talked automobiles, not to let us forget they are millionaires. "how much did you pay for my blue car?" asked isabella. "not much," replied johann george; "sixty thousand francs, if i recollect rightly." "my allowance for a whole year." i smiled my sweetest, and the king looked disapprovingly at the braggarts. for ill manners recommend me to a russian-jew upstart or to a royal highness. chapter xxviii the shah of persia falls in love with me the "animal" and his show of diamonds and rubies--overcome by love he treats me like a lady of the harem--on the defensive--the king of kings an ill-behaved brute--eats like a pig and affronts queen---wiped off greasy hands on my state robe--when ten thousand gouged-out eyes carpeted his throne--offers of jewels--"does he take me for a ballet girl?"--the shah almost compromises me--king, alarmed, abruptly ends dinner--i receive presents from him. dresden, _november , _. lover no. two. very much in earnest, like the first, but i--extremely distant this time, though i accepted some emeralds and sapphires as big as dove's eggs. the shah of persia is the happy-unhappy man. the king and all the princes went to the railway station to receive him. the queen and princesses, our entourage behind us, assembled in the throne room to do honor to the "animal." to designate him otherwise would be callow flattery. but his diamonds and rubies fairly dazzled us. nothing like it in europe, and our gala uniforms, compared with his, like stage tiaras to the russian crown jewels! though he had eyes for me only, i didn't like him a bit. he is a little fellow, unsecure on his pins. and like the balkan princeling i met in vienna, looks as though there was a strain of jewish blood in his veins. like a true oriental potentate, he wasted not a minute's time on the queen and my sisters-in-law, but began making love to me as soon as he entered. the king had to take him by the arm to remind him that his first greetings were due to her majesty. poor carola! her face looked like parchment, much interlined, and the point of her nose was as conspicuous as usual. there's nothing elegant about this "king of kings," and his french, like his manners, is atrocious. he addressed a few set phrases to the queen, then attacked me--"attacked" is the right word. if i hadn't been on the defensive, i think he would have handled my charms as unceremoniously as frederick augustus when in his cups. as it was i escaped but by the length of an eye-lash. state dinner at five. i never saw such an ill-behaved brute, yet he intended to be most agreeable. we are very pious at this court, but on occasions like this even an old woman like the queen is obliged to denude herself like a wet-nurse on duty. his majesty had the queen on one side; me on the left. the king of saxony was opposite. after we sat down the shah examined queen carola from the point of her chin to the edge of her desolate corsage and had the effrontery to express disapproval in all but words. then he turned to me. his gaze became admiring. he was evidently delighted with his discoveries and, true despot that he is, turned his back on the queen, while paying extravagant court to my charms. the king, the whole vast assembly, the surrounding splendor were lost on this mutton-eater of a barbarian. he saw only me, _m-e_, me, and i'm sure would have consigned all the rest to some unspeakable oriental death for five minutes' _tête-à-tête_ with louise. "you are neglecting her majesty," i whispered to him over and over again. this seemed to enrage him, but at last he turned to the queen, expecting her to begin a conversation with him. of course, her majesty thought he would take the initiative, which led to mutual staring, the shah's eyes growing wickeder every second. then he began to devote himself to the food and, be sure, there was small pleasure in watching him. he fed more like a dog than a human being and actually had the effrontery to wipe his sauce-spattered hands in the lap of my state robe. then, before his mouth was empty, he began talking again. "which of the princes is your husband?" i singled out frederick augustus. "he isn't a beauty by any means," he said, after examining him like a horse for sale. the next second his eyes were wandering over my body; i felt as if i was being disrobed. "you will attend the opera?" "i'll have the honor." "i will send you a little present after dinner," he said. "if you wear it tonight, i will regard that as a sign of hope." the beast affected a sentimentality to which he must be a stranger. i recalled that he was the monster who carpeted the steps of his throne with the gouged-out eyes of ten thousand enemies of his régime when he was crowned. on twenty-thousand human eyes he trod with naked feet as he acclaimed himself "king of kings" and the "true son of god." and juggernaut was in love with me! i was speechless. did he take me for a dancing girl? i narrowed my shoulders and gave him a look of disdain. house marshal baron carlowitz, standing behind the king's chair, took in the situation and whispered to king albert. the king immediately rose from table and the state dinner came to an abrupt end. an hour later, while i was dressing for the theatre, a big jewel box was handed in. "from the shah." despite my disgust with the fellow, i opened it in feverish haste. there was a bracelet set with rubies, sapphires and emeralds of fabulous size. chapter xxix the shah compromises me in public has only eyes for me at the grand manoeuvres, and i can't drive him from my carriage--ignores the king and the military spectacle--calls me his adored one--court in despair--shah ruins priceless carpets to make himself a lamb stew. dresden, _december , _. i am in disgrace again and that uncouth animal, the shah, is responsible. the dinner episode was bad enough, but he carried on worse at the grand parade next day. six or eight regiments, horse, foot and artillery, had been moved to do him honor, but he flatly refused to accept a mount for the occasion. like the ladies of the royal family, he drove to the parade field in a coach and four, and no sooner did he clap eyes on me at the rendezvous in another vehicle than he left his and shambled over to me. he stood at the carriage door, chanting love and devotion, and if i hadn't been all ice, i have no doubt he would have jumped in and ordered the coachman to drive to a hotel. meanwhile the king trotted around the manoeuvre field in honor of his "sublime guest." evolutions, _parade-marsch_, attacks, saluting the colors, persian and saxon, what not? imagine the feelings of the old king when he rode up to the shah's gala coach and found it empty. the marching past had begun, and still the "king of kings" turned his back on it all, while trying to persuade me to be queen of his seraglio. our courtiers, the princes, the queen, the generals were in despair. they took counsel with each other, disputed, advised, got red in the face. the shah's gentlemen alone kept cool. they probably argued: if our master prefers the company of a pretty woman to looking at ten thousand men, he shows his good taste. i tried to shake him off. he stood his ground and smiled. "the grand march has begun, your majesty." "bother the grand march." the king began to bombard me with ungracious, glances, and of course everybody stared. three times i asked the big booby to return to his carriage to oblige his host. "not while i may look at you, adored one." his love-making became desperate. the crown princess of saxony, the imperial highness of austria, the "adored one" of this butcher, who was ruining twenty-five thousand marks' worth of carpets in his apartments at our palace by using them as a shambles to prepare his breakfast of lamb stew. it was contemptible,--nay, ridiculous. surely there was nothing to do but laugh. and i laughed and laughed again. only when the last battalion had marched by and the music ceased, the "king of kings" returned to his carriage and drove back to dresden with the most bored looking visage of the world. chapter xxx my life at court becomes unbearable laughter a crime--disappointed queen lays down the law for my behavior--frederick augustus sometimes fighting drunk--draws sword on me--prince george would have me beaten--to bed with his boots on. dresden, _january , _. ever since the shah left i have been the object of criticism, suspicions and down-right attacks by the pretty family i married into. these pages witness that i tried to conform to the absurd notions and comply with the narrow-minded idiosyncrasies of the royal wettiners. i give it up. it can't be done, and i won't make another effort at pleasing my relatives-in-law, who adjudge laughter a crime and the desire to make friends a bid of lewdness. prince george invented the phrase, "louise is over-desirous to please," and queen carola paid me a state visit to acquaint me with the new indictment. "good gracious," i said to her majesty, "is that all? i thought of being accused of 'sassing' the archangel gabriel. as to desire to please, that's exactly what ails me. i love to please. i love to see people happy. i love to make friends." "my dear child," said the queen, "you haven't the slightest notion of royal dignity. you talk like a _cocotte_. it's a princess's place to be honored, to be held in supreme esteem." poor old woman! she was never pretty, never was made love to, never had admirers, legitimate or otherwise; she thus became impregnated with the fixed idea that to be fair and to be loved for one's fairness is frivolous, if not altogether reprehensible. * * * * * _march , ._ frederick augustus drinks. he says i drive him to drink by my attitude towards his beloved family. what the beloved family does to me doesn't count, of course. drinking was one of the vices of his youth. love for me cured him of the dreadful habit. as this love wanes, the itch for alcohol increases. i can't do anything with him when he is drunk, and at such times i am afraid of him. he both nauseates me and frightens me. sometimes he comes home "fighting drunk." the fumes of wine, beer and _schnapps_, mixed with tobacco, upset my stomach and i try to avoid his coarse embrace as any decent woman would. what does this royal drill-ground bully do? he unsheathes his sword and threatens to cut my liver out, unless i instantly doff my clothes and go to bed with him. prince george's evil counsel wasn't powerful enough to procure me beatings, but my husband's military education, his love of discipline, backed by alcohol, thrusts a sword into his hand, and, if i refuse to comply with his atrocious demands, i am liable to be treated like so many "mere" civilians that are sabred in the public streets for refusing to do some spurred and epauletted blackguard's bidding, or entertain his insults. if the socialists, who are forever railing against these self-same army poltroons, only knew it! an imperial highness threatened like a small "cit" with a four-foot sword in the hand of a drunken royal highness and dragged to a couch with no more ceremony than a street-walker passing a cossack barracks! the howl that would go up in the diet, or the _reichstag_, the fulminant denials by prince and king and government! and if i really did get hurt in one of these fracases, frederick augustus would be sure of a "severe reprimand" by father and uncle, and perhaps by the kaiser, too, but would that heal my wounds, would it save me from death? would it even prevent prince george from saying that i myself was to blame? no, no, i like a whole skin and prefer an embrace to a sword-thrust any day, like my ancestress, the queen of naples, who consummated the marriage forced upon her on the spot and in sight of the army rather than have her head cut off. too bad she was hanged in the end despite her complacency.[ ] indeed, if frederick augustus shows the mailed fist, i don't stand on ceremony, but i do wish he would take his boots off. footnotes: [footnote : joanna i, queen of naples, a pupil of petrarca and in many respects an enlightened ruler. she issued the first laws and regulations regarding prostitutes. hanged by order of king louis of hungary, after her defeat in battle, july, .] chapter xxxi prison for princes that oppose the king duke of saxony banished--cut off from good literature even--anecdote concerning the grand dauphin and his "kettledrums"--a royal prince's garrison life--his association with lewd women. dresden, _september , _. i have once more come to the conclusion that the agreement i made with leopold, to dissimulate my real feelings, was the sanest decision i ever formed, for, while _lettres de cachet_ are a dead measure as far as ordinary mortals go, kings still wield that awful and mysterious abuse of power in the family circle. there is a distant connection of our "sublime master," the king, lingering, without process of law, in a state prison. duke of saxony is his title, and he is quite rich in his own right. some six or eight years ago he raised his hand against the king after the latter struck him. it was suggested that he had better make away with himself, and a revolver and poison were conspicuously displayed in the room where he was held captive. the duke said "nay." he thought he could "brass" it out. but the assembled family council taught him that, while the world at large was _fin-de-siècle_, royalty still lived in the traditions of the eighteenth century. it empowered the king to banish his kinsman to a lonely country house, styled castle by courtesy, and he is confined there even today, with the proviso, though, that he may use the surrounding hunting-grounds. otherwise he lives in complete seclusion, separated not only from all his friends, but from the very classes of society to which he belongs by birth and education. and he is still a young man. i believe they are trying to drive him mad, once as a punishment, and again to secure his fortune the quicker. to the latter end, he is denied all books that give him pleasure and are liable to improve his mind. bibles, christian heralds, the lives of the martyrs, or the popes, galore, but never a carlyle, shakespeare or taine, which he demands regularly. the duke is dying of _ennui_, they say, and to kill time engages in all sorts of manual labor. when he gets tired of that he blows the trombone. "of course he would prefer a pair of kettledrums," said my cousin bernhardt of weimar, to whom i am indebted for the above. "kettledrums?" i asked. "i mean those the grand dauphin, called 'son of a king, father of a king, never a king,' was so fond of, and which he finally married in secret." i looked bewildered. "you are a very ignorant girl," said bernhardt. "never heard of the prodigious bosoms of _mademoiselle_ chouin?" "they won't let the duke marry?" i queried. "not even temporarily," said bernhardt. "and they are trying the same game on me. my garrison--a dung-heap. the people there, males and females, entirely unacquainted with soap and water. nothing in the world to do but drink and gamble." "that reminds me. what are you doing in dresden?" "with your imperial highness's permission, i came to see my girl." "who is the lady?" "no lady at all. just an ordinary servant-wench, but prettier and more devilish than a hundred of them." "bernhardt!" "what would you have me do, louise? i haven't money enough to keep a mistress, and king and queen certainly won't keep one for me. i wish i had lived a hundred and fifty years ago, when every lady of the court was expected to entertain the royal princes, the palace footing the bill." chapter xxxii prince george shown the door by grand-duchess melita a royal lady who walks her garden attired in a single diaphanous garment--won't stand for any meddling--called impertinent--my virtuous indignation assumed--a flirtation at a distance--an audacious lover--the grand mistress hoodwinked--matrimonial horns for kaiser--the banished duke dies--princes scolded like school-boys. dresden, _february , _. at last prince george got his deserts, and got 'em good and heavy. there had been rumors for some time that grand-duke ernest ludwig and his bride, victoria melita of saxe-coburg, the english branch, didn't get along together. ernest ludwig is a serious-minded, modest and intelligent man, but a good deal of a sissy. victoria melita is a spit-fire, very good-looking and anxious to let people know about it. she rides horseback and fences to show off her figure, and someone called her a centaur. "be in the palace gardens tomorrow at eleven," answered melita, "and you will be convinced that i am not half-horse, even if my husband is a ninny." she kept the _rendezvous_, attired in a single garment of diaphanous texture. when prince george heard that she had a lover, he went to darmstadt to "correct her," as he expressed himself with much self-satisfaction. but victoria melita proved to him that english princesses are made of sterner stuff than the german variety. "i will have none of your meddling," said the bride of two years. "i came here to make peace between you people." "play the dove to your daughter-in-law," quoth the grand-duchess. "i hear you are fighting like kilkenny cats." "you are impertinent, madame," cried george furiously. "you will oblige me by showing this man the door," demanded victoria melita, addressing her husband. "not until i have explained the situation," answered ernest ludwig quietly. "listen, then, cousin! while i am by principle opposed to divorce, i won't force my wife to live with me." "and now be so kind as to withdraw," said victoria melita, opening the door for prince george. poor as i am, i would have given five thousand marks to have seen the meddling pest exit in that fashion, and i love victoria melita for the spirit she displayed, even if i don't approve of her _liaisons_. * * * * * dresden, _february , _. a mighty virtuous remark escaped me on the last page, and i almost feel like asking the grand-duchess's pardon, for, whatever i am, i'm no hypocrite. melita is said to have a lover; i have an admirer. up to now i don't care a rap for him, but who knows? it's count bielsk of the roumanian embassy. i can't remember whether he was ever introduced to me. most probably he was, but i forgot. an elegant fellow--always looks as if he stepped out of a tailor's shop in piccadilly. every single night i go to the theatre the count occupies an orchestra chair that affords the best possible view of the royal box. it happened too often and too persistently to be accidental. moreover, i observe that he pays no attention to the play. he has eyes for me only. impertinence? decidedly, but i can't be angry with the fellow. on the contrary, i am flattered, and the kind face and the fine eyes he's got! poor stupid tisch doesn't approve of the theatre, of course, and usually begs to be excused on the plea of religious duties. "what a sinner you must be," i sometimes say, "when you are obliged to forever bother god with prayers." the schoenberg i send into the next box, for she is no spy and never watches me. but if i must take tisch, i always command her to sit behind me. etiquette forbids her the front of the box and from the rear she can see only the stage. what fun to carry on a flirtation right under the nose of that acrid-hearted, snivelling bigot, who would mortgage part of the eternal bliss she promises herself for a chance to catch me at it! am i flirting, then? to spite the tisch i would plant horns on the very kaiser. * * * * * _april , ._ the duke of saxony is dead--the man who at one time offered violence to his majesty. bernhardt was mistaken; he left a wife and three children. of course, no recognized wife. just the woman he married. unless you are of the blood-royal, you won't see the difference, but that is no concern of mine. novels and story books have a good deal to say on the subject of inheritance-fights among the lowly. greed, hard-heartedness, close-fistedness, treachery, cheating all around! see what will happen to the duke's widow and her little ones. according to the house laws, a regular pirate's code, his late highness's fortune reverts to the family treasury. prince johann george will derive the revenues from the real estate the duke owned privately. he is already rich,--sufficient reason for his wanting more. i shudder when i think what they will do to the woman the duke married. the most notable thing about the funeral was the "calling down" prince bernhardt got. "you will go to my valet and ask him to lend you one of my helmets. yours is not the regulation form, i see," said the king to him in the voice of a drill-sergeant. and bernhardt had to take to his heels like a school-boy caught stealing apples. i had to laugh when i observed the meeting between my erstwhile admirer, the prince of bulgaria, and his majesty. ferdinand's broad chest was ablaze with orders and decorations, but his valet had forgotten to pin onto him the cross of the _rautenkrone_, the royal saxe house decoration. there were plenty of others, but the king had eyes only for the one not dangling from a green ribbon. consequently, ferdinand, though a sovereign prince, got only one "_how art thou?_" if we were living in the eighteenth, instead of the nineteenth, century, his valet's neglect would constitute a prime cause for war between the two countries. chapter xxxiii melita's love affairs and mine the grand duchess tells me how she cudgeled george--living dictaphone employed--shows him who is mistress of the house--snaps fingers in prince george's face--debate about titles--"a sexless thing of a husband"--conference between lover and husband--grand duke doesn't object to his wife's lover, but lover objects to "his paramour being married." dresden, _april , _. melita conducted herself at the funeral and in our palace as unconcernedly as if she and george were fast friends. she smiled every time she saw him, and he cut her dead to his heart's content. during the three days' stay of the hesses, i had many a good talk and many a good laugh with melita, and now i got a true and unabridged record of what happened at darmstadt during george's meddling visit there. the grand-duchess, who can be as catty as they make 'em, had her secretary sit behind a screen to take stenographic notes. saxon kings and princes always roar and bellow when, in conversation or otherwise, things go against their "all-highest" grain. as soon as george felt that he was losing ground, he began to bark and yell, whereupon melita interrupted him by saying, "i beg you to take notice that you are in _my_ house." george grew so red in the face, melita hoped for an apoplectic fit. but after a few seconds he managed to blurt out: "it's your husband's house." "while i am grand-duchess of hesse it's my house, too. moreover, this is my room and i forbid you to play the ruffian here." prince george looked at the grand-duke, but ernest ludwig said nothing. "i am here as the king's representative. i represent the chief of the royal house of saxony." "a fig for your royal house of saxony," said melita, snapping her fingers in george's face. "queen victoria is my chief of family, and, that aside, ludwig and i are sovereigns in hesse and have no intention whatever to allow anyone----" "anyone?" repeated george aghast. "you refer to me as anyone?" "in things matrimonial," said melita, "only husband and wife count; all others are 'anyone.' you, too." "she calls me 'you,'" cried george, white with rage, looking helplessly at ernest ludwig. when the latter kept his tongue and temper, george addressed himself to melita once more. "i want you to understand that my title is royal highness." "and i want you to understand that i am her royal highness the grand-duchess of hesse, royal princess of great britain and ireland, duchess of saxony," cried melita, stamping her foot. with that she went to the door, opened it and said, "i request your royal highness to leave my house this very second." and george went. * * * * * dresden, _june , _. poor virtuous me, to chide myself, and call myself names for flirting with count bielsk--at a distance of twenty feet or more! "i could kick my back," as the duc de richelieu--not the cardinal, but the lover of the regent's daughters and "every wife's husband"--used to say (only a bit more grossly) when i think what i miss in this dead-alive dresden. darmstadt isn't half as big a town, and the hesse establishment doesn't compare with ours in magnitude, but what fun melita is having! of course, it isn't _all_ fun, for her husband is a "sexless" thing, and, like the grand-duchess serge of russia, she would be a virgin, though married for years, if it wasn't for the other. "the other" is none other but kyril, the lover of our dolores,--kyril isn't exactly pining away when separated from melita. well, melita wants him all to herself. she wants a divorce. the complacent husband, who is no husband at all, doesn't suit her. exit ernest ludwig--officially. enter kyril--legitimately. she made me reams of confidences, indulged in whole _brochures_ of dissertations on the question of sex. what an ignoramus i am! i didn't understand half she said and was ashamed to ask. ernest ludwig is the most accommodating of husbands. knows all about kyril and would gladly shut both eyes if they let him. melita might, if pressed very hard, for adultery has no terrors for her, but kyril affects the idealist. sure sign that he really loves her. if he was mine, i would be afraid of this kyril. no doubt he is jealous as a turk. last week the three of them had a conference. lovely to see husband, wife and paramour "in peaceful meeting assembled" and talk over the situation as if it concerned the royal stud or something of the sort. no recriminations, no threats, no heroics; only when ernest ludwig submitted that divorce be avoided to save his face as a sovereign, kyril got a bit excited. "this is not a question of politics," he said, "or what the dear public thinks. your wife don't want you; as a matter of fact, she isn't your wife, and since we are in love with each other, we ought to marry." "marry, marry, why always marry?" demanded the grand-duke. "i acknowledge that i haven't the right to interfere in my wife's pleasure--i am not built that way. well, i _don't_ interfere. what more do you want? you don't deny that i am the chief person to be considered." "you?" mocked kyril. "you with your sovereignty are not in it at all. if it wasn't for you, melita and i could marry and say no more about it." "but i don't prevent your enjoyment of each other," pleaded the ruler of the hessians. now the idealistic kyril got on his high horse. "grand-duke," he said, "if you don't object to your wife having a lover, that's your business. for my part, i object to my paramour having a husband." and so on _ad infinitum_, and a goose like me abuses herself for a bit of goo-goo-eyeing. chapter xxxiv more about the sweet royal family life "closed season" for petty meannesses--a prince who enjoys himself like a pig--why princes learn trades--a family dinner to the accompaniment of threats and smashing of table--the duke's widow and children robbed of their inheritance by royal family--king confiscates testament. loschwitz, _september , _. they are treating me like a laying hen. expect another golden egg in december. hence, "closed season" for imperious commands, "all-highest" orders and petty meannesses. when i learned that bernhardt was in dresden, i phoned him to come out and see me--without asking either royal, princely, or the tisch's permission. a junior prince, without fortune or high protector, is really to be pitied. his title, the vague possibility that some day he may be called to the throne, stand between him and enjoyment of life as a man. nothing left, but to enjoy himself like a pig. bernhardt admits it. "they planted me in the god-forsakenest hole in the kingdom. if i saw a pretty woman in my garrison from one year's end to the other, i would die of joy. and the newspaper scribblers wonder why we are all oscar wildes. "just to kill time, i am learning the carpenter's trade--this royal highness, you must know, lives in a carpenter's house, as innocent of sanitary arrangements as a bushman's hut. of course, i run away every little while to dresden, incog. to pay my respects to venus. "louise," he cried with comic emphasis, "may the three hours you steal from my girl, by way of this visit, be deducted from your eternal beatitude." i lent the poor fellow five hundred marks and he rushed back to dresden. tonight i told frederick augustus of my interview with bernhardt, not mentioning the five hundred, of course. he laughed. "he's no worse than the rest of us used to be," he said. "i did exactly like him, and father and uncle and brothers and cousins, ditto. behold--your husband-locksmith! max spent all his time reading the lives of the popes. that made him the dried-up mummy he is. but, believe me, i gave the girls many a treat. all the money i could beg, borrow or steal went for girls." which explains frederick augustus's bedroom manners--sometime transplanted to the parlor. * * * * * dresden, _january , _. i gave saxony a third prince on december , and really i wasn't quite in condition to be scolded at today's family dinner. but since, with three boys growing up, the succession is more than guaranteed, the season for insults is again open. his majesty, our most gracious, sublime, etc., sovereign, sulks. consequently the family looks glum, down in the mouth, utterly unhappy. max gets up to make a speech and one could fairly see the lies wriggle out of his mouth full of defective teeth: exemplary family life; traditional friendship of all members for each other; perfect unity; the king and all the princes brave as lions; the queen and all the princesses paragons of virtue. and the fatherly love with which the king embraces us all; his more than royal generosity; his mildness, his christian virtues! the queen is a goose. max's lying commonplaces make her forget her many years of misery spent at this court, and she grows as sentimental as a kitten. fat mathilda, isabelle and johann george applaud max despite their better understanding, and now the king rises to make his usual new year's address. the gist of his long-winded remarks is this: "i am the lord, your master, and i will see to it that you--wife, brother, nephews and nieces--will dance as i whistle. "for obedience to the king is the highest law," he paraphrases wilhelm,--"strictest, unconditional obedience" (and he gave me a poisoned look) "and let no one forget it, no one." with that he beat the table with his clenched fist, and the whole assemblage turns an accusing eye on me. * * * * * dresden, _april , _. they have driven the late duke of saxony's wife and children from house and home--put her on the high-road, piling her personal belongings, trunks, wardrobe and knick-knacks outside, too. she arrived in dresden and sought refuge with her widowed mother. her father, a court-councillor, dismissed because of the relations between the duke and his daughter, died of grief and mortification, almost penniless. and the ducal widow is as poor as the mother--and three children to bring up! children of the royal blood of saxony, children sanctioned by the church of which they prate so much, for there is no doubt that the pair married in secret. the late highness kept all his papers in a strong-box, and it's said the king's representative, who searched the safe by royal orders, found neither acknowledgment of the marriage, nor a last will in favor of the widow and children. hence, all the duke's belongings revert to the royal family, and the estate he lived on goes to his next of kin, johann george. johann george, who has more money than he knows what to do with, promptly sent the bailiff after his cousin's wife and children. "_noblesse oblige_,--the way you interpret the old saying, will advance the cause of monarchy immensely," i said to the official heir. "is it any business of mine to support my relatives' mistresses?" i saw he was mad clean through. "you know very well that she was his wife." "there is apparently no official record of the marriage." "maybe not in dresden, as the nuptials were solemnized abroad. but what about the testament?" johann george grew very red in the face. "if there is one, the king must have confiscated it. that often happens in royal houses." "and you mean to say that, with all your riches, you are heartless enough and contemptible enough----" "take a care, your imperial highness. the duke's strumpet was today indicted for _lèse majesté_ in connection with the testament matter." this junior prince dared to speak thus to me, the crown princess. "johann george," i cried, "forget not that sooner or later i will be at the head of the royal family of saxony. i forbid you to introduce your mess-room jargon into my parlor; at the same time i am sincerely sorry that a prince of saxony should stoop to buy cigarettes and gasoline with the pittance stolen from his cousin's widow and her three little children." i went to the door and told the lackey on duty to fetch his royal highness's carriage. chapter xxxv flirtation develops into love at the theatre--my adorer must have felt my presence--forgot his diplomacy--the mute salute--his good looks--his mouth a promise of a thousand sweet kisses--our love won't be any painted business. dresden, _april , night, _. the talk with johann george had excited me so, i wanted a diversion. frederick augustus sent word that he wouldn't be home for dinner. hence, i decided to go to the theatre after an absence of months. it was after six when i telephoned that i would occupy my box at the royal opera. if i should see him there, in the absence of announcements in the newspapers! he was there. in his usual seat. i won't rest until i find out how he manages to get wind of my theatrical ventures at such short notice. the opera, faust, had been in progress for ten minutes when i arrived. i espied him at once, but kept well behind the curtains of the box for a second or two. then, suddenly, i dropped into the gilded armchair and the very same moment our eyes met. i am sure he expected me; he must have known i was near when i entered the house. to his ears the hundred and one melodies of gounod's masterpiece were naught compared with the music of my silken skirts. he was so overcome, he forgot his diplomacy. twice he pressed his right hand to his heart, then bowed his head in a mute salute. fortunately the house was dark at the time and the audience, unacquainted with my visit, paid strict attention to the stage. no one but him saw my heart leap within me and the blood mount to my cheeks. presently his diplomatic tact got the upper hand again, and he fixed his eyes on the score. that afforded me the chance to take a pictorial inventory of my lover-at-a-distance. i used my opera-glasses unmercifully. he's a fine looking man--if he were a woman he would be hailed a beauty. his forehead is a dream of loveliness; his mouth a promise of a thousand sweet kisses. if this man wants me, i mean if he wants me badly, our love won't be any painted business, i assure you. * * * * * dresden, _april , _. ball at the roumanian embassy. royal command to attend. as if it needed a command to throw me into the arms of bielsk. chapter xxxvi count bielsk makes love to the crown princess fearless to indiscretion--he "thou's" me--puts all his chances on one card--proposes a rendezvous--shall i go or shall i not go?--peril if i go and peril if i don't. dresden, _april , , night_. we went to the ball as his majesty's representatives, frederick augustus and i, and were obliged to say a few nothingnesses to a hundred paltry persons or more. when the ambassador introduced count bielsk, i said in the most careless voice of the world, "i hear you love the theatre, count." "i don't care a rap for the theatre," he replied. "i go to opera and operetta simply to see you, imperial highness." such audacity! and he spoke quite loud. frightened, i turned to the next person presented, saying something imbecile, no doubt. later i withdrew upon the dais to watch the dancing, and at a moment when i was quite alone, he came up to me, making it appear as if i had commanded his attendance. "i have much to say to your imperial highness." i didn't have my wits about me and didn't know how to act. he repeated twice or oftener: "pray, your imperial highness, i have something to say to you," until, at last, i threw etiquette to the winds and asked: "why should you wish to talk to me in private, count?" no royal woman indulging in lovers ever encouraged a rogue more carelessly. "because my life and happiness depend on what i have to say to you." and, weaker still, i assented by the tone of my voice rather than words: "you make me curious, count. whatever you have to say, say it now." he raised his eyes to me, with a soul and reputation-destroying look. "thanks!" then wildly, clamorously: "louise, i love you." instinctively i thought of flight, but his eyes wouldn't let me rise. from that moment on he dropped my title. "stay," he whispered, "i beseech you, stay. don't you see that i love you to distraction? i have kept silent these many months. now i must talk. i love thee, louise." i tried in vain to collect my thoughts while his love talk fanned my blood. finally i managed to say: "can't you see that you are playing _va banque_?" "i know, but it doesn't interest me. let my career be wrecked, i care not; i've got only one thought in the world--thee, only one wish--thee. and i must either love thee or die." i turned my eyes away and rose abruptly. as he bowed to kiss my hand, he whispered, still "_thou'ing_" me: "i expect you tomorrow at the end of the grand boulevard. come when you please. i will wait all day." * * * * * and here i am thinking, thinking, thinking. "the end of the boulevard" is the beginning of dresden's _bois_. does this madman really suppose that her imperial highness, the crown princess of this kingdom, will lower herself and respond to his demand for a rendezvous? yet, how he must love me to risk saying what he did say to me. he is no ill-balanced youth; he is a man of ripe judgment. his passion got the better of him. i adore passion. i must go no more to the theatre. impossible for me to see him nightly. but it's a fine thing to be loved as i am. the most beautiful thing in the wide, wide world! * * * * * dresden, _april , . in the morning._ he is waiting. doubtless he expects me. what a persuasive thing love is, to be sure! because he loves me, he argues that the crown princess, the wife and mother, will rush to meet him, fall into his arms. of course, he will be most unhappy if i don't go, for i am sure he is not your ordinary "petticoat-chaser." he will suffer, he is suffering now while i sit here quietly. am i quiet? if i weren't determined to stay at home, i would half-admit to myself that my soul is obsessed with longing for this man. a diplomat, who has seen much of court life, assumes that a woman in my position is at liberty to keep rendezvous! let's reason it out. to begin with, lucretia has to be won over. that's easy enough, but the coachman and lackey! they must be told that her imperial highness is graciously pleased to _walk_ in the _bois_, the carriage waiting at the end of the grand boulevard. * * * * * _after luncheon._ i ought to have said to him, i won't come. it's cruel to let him wait on a street corner and not even send notice, and to tip him off is impossible. and come to think of it, if lucretia and i were promenading in the _bois_ and met the count by accident, where's the harm? and if i don't go--good lord, he might kill himself. he is desperate enough for that. and he might leave letters compromising me. i will go to give him a piece of my mind. i will be very harsh with him, very adamant. and i will try to find out how he manages to select always the same theatre as i. chapter xxxvii rapid love making in the bois a discreet maid--"remove thy glove"--kisses of passion, pure kisses, powerful kisses--i see my lover daily--countess baranello offers "doves' nest"--driving to rendezvous in state--"naughty louise," who makes fun of george. dresden, _june , ._ a month of untold happiness. i went to the _bois_ and i am going there every afternoon. he was splendid; he was modest, quiet. he seemed to exude happiness. lucretia is discretion itself. she kept behind us, but out of ear-shot. "i came to tell you that you acted like a madman last night, and that the offense must not be repeated," i said sternly to bielsk. "i _am_ a madman--in love," he replied, looking at me with big, soulful eyes. i chattered a lot of nonsense, prohibitions, commands, entreaties. "remove thy glove," he begged. "you mustn't 'thou' me." "remove thy glove," he repeated. why i complied, i don't know, but i ripped off my glove, and he held my hand in both his hands and kissed it and kissed it. "what right have you got to treat me like a woman unmindful of her duties?" "i know that thou art lonesome, forlorn, louise." he struck at my heart as he spoke these words, and my eyes filled with tears. he pressed his warm, pulsating lips on the palm of my hand, covering it from wrist to finger-tips with wild kisses. we were standing among the trees, and lucretia, at a little distance, was plucking flowers. the remnant of common sense i mustered told me: "he is dishonoring you, repulse him," but his "i love thee, louise," rang like music in my ears. however, i tore myself free at last. "farewell, we must never meet again." and then i lay in his arms, on his broad chest, and he covered my face with kisses, not passionate or insulting kisses. his lips touched lightly my eyes, my cheeks, my own lips--recompense for the long fast he had endured during all the months he had loved me at a distance. marvelous kisses kissed this man, pure kisses, lovely kisses, powerful kisses. and i thought the whole world was falling to pieces around me and i didn't care as long as only he and i were living. he himself freed me. "tomorrow," he whispered. i awoke confused, ashamed of my weakness, trembling. "i'll never see you again. never," i said as if i meant it. "tomorrow, love," he repeated. and i ran and joined lucretia. when we were riding home i told lucretia to draw the curtains, and fell upon her neck and told her all. the good soul was nearly frightened to death and we cried a good deal. * * * * * dresden, _january , _. i neglected my diary, i neglect everything, for i'm in love. what care i for the king, prince george and the rest who are trying to make life miserable for me? i laugh their pettinesses to scorn, for i have no other thought now but romano bielsk, no other interests. he is my all, my happiness. of course, his "_tomorrow, love_," prevailed and it has been "_tomorrow, love_," ever since. on the day after our first meeting i actually thought i was warring against nature if i resisted his entreaties. it seemed to me that i had always known him, that we were predestined for each other. i still think so. lucretia has a relative here, an aunt, member of the court set. old countess baranello delights in intrigue and hates prince george. when i told her of my affair, she placed her palace at our disposal, saying: "bielsk shall have a key to the garden gate and to the pavilion inside the walls, which connects, through a subterranean passage, with my sun-parlor. you can meet your love there any time. i will see to it that none of the servants or workmen disturb you." a capital arrangement, worthy of an old lady who has seen many gallant days! there can be no possible objection to my visits at her palace, and the grounds to which romano has the _entrée_ fronts on a street unfrequented by society or carriages. i descend from my carriage at the palace gate; a knot of people, a small crowd, perhaps, collects to salute me and gape at the horses and livery. i sweep up the stoop, lined by my own, and the countess's, servants. the bronze doors open. the countess advances with stately curtsy; a few words _sub rosa_, and i--fly into the arms of love, while faithful lucretia mounts guard at the street side, and her ladyship's spy glasses cover the garden;--needless precautions, but---- it's rare fun, and, after all, where's the harm? i made good as propagatrix of the royal race, and a union of soul such as exists between me and romano never entered into my relations with frederick augustus. romano is very intelligent. i can learn from him; frederick augustus taught me only coarseness, and if it came high, _double entendres_. yet my lover is only a councillor of legation! because his superiors, fearing his adroitness, keep him down. my children! have i ever been allowed to be a real mother to them? the king, the nation, owns my little ones. i see them at stated intervals for half an hour or so, and romp with them as i do with my dogs. still, i don't altogether approve of louise, malicious girl! when i am at the top-gallant of my happiness i sometimes say to myself: "oh, if only george could see me now!" naughty louise--it's unworthy of thee. what do i care for george, what do i care for the world? chapter xxxviii "in love there are no princesses, only women" a diplomatic trick--jealous of romano's past--the pact for life and the talisman--if there were a theatre fire the talisman would discover our love to the king--some ill-natured reflections--bernhardt's escapades cover up my tracks--the "black sheep" jumps his horse over a coffin--king gives him a beating--bernhardt's mess-room lingo--anecdotes of royal voluptuaries--forces animals to devour each other--naked ballet-girls as horses--abnormals rule the world. dresden, _may , _. romano learned about my theatre going by a diplomatic trick. he told one of the minor attaches of the embassy that he had orders to watch me--"all-highest command." the official, consequently, negotiated with the box offices of all the theatres to phone him the moment her imperial highness ordered seats. i am crazy to know how many women romano loved in the twenty or more years since he grew to man's estate, and how many he seduced. it agitates and pains me to think of it, but all my questions are barren of results. yesterday i asked him whether he ever knew a princess of the blood before me--"knew" in the biblical sense. "in love," he said, "there are no princesses, there are women only." he saw that i was hurt and added quickly: "now don't be unreasonable, louise--no prejudices. with the thought in my mind that you are an imperial highness, or that you consider yourself of better clay than i, i couldn't love you as i do." * * * * * dresden, _july , _. we made a life-pact. romano cut a gold piece in two and bored a hole in each half. he drew thin gold chains through the holes, gave me one of the amulets, and kept the other. our combined monograms were already engraved on the bits of gold _en miniature_. each swore to wear the talisman on the naked body for life, but we exchange amulets daily, or as often as we meet. when i am enthroned in the royal box and look down upon my lover below, i think all the time of this, our secret understanding, and it sometimes occurs to me, that the opera house might get on fire and both of us perish. next day our bodies would be found. in or near the royal box, that of a woman, burned so as to be unrecognizable at first. ("we are all of the same clay," says romano.) and down in the orchestra floor they would find romano's body, likewise unrecognizable. and on my charred breast they would find the half of a twenty-mark piece. and on his charred chest they would find the half of a twenty-mark piece. and they would put the two together and discover that they match. consternation, speculation! someone suggests that the mysterious gold pieces be photographed for publication and the engraver who made the monogram, and the jeweler who sold the two chains come forward as witnesses. meanwhile the identity of my body is established. that of romano's follows. _scandalum magnatum!_ but what are you going to do about it, _messieurs_? if you had only known it a week ago! a prison _à la_ princess ahlden, or the danish queen caroline matilda, for me, disgraceful dismissal for romano, for times are happily past when comely gentlemen, who have the wit to amuse royal ladies, durst be murdered in cold blood like koenigsmarck, or be-handed, be-headed and cut into ninety-nine pieces as struensee was in copenhagen market-square. what are you going to do about it, king, george, frederick augustus? i'll tell you. you will bury me with the pomp of kings; and your sycophants will print beautiful stories about me, asserting that i died trying to rescue others, or did something of the sort; and your court chaplains will weep and pray and lie for me. and the tip of queen carola's nose will be redder than ever. * * * * * dresden, _september , _. my young friend bernhardt is doing me a great service and himself a lot of harm. a good-natured, tractable boy _au fond_, they made him a poltroon and worse by their persecutions, their meanness, their petty tyranny. he is proud, and they sent him to reside on a village manure heap; he is ambitious, and must drill raw recruits from morn till night; he is eager to learn and they try to embalm his intellect with tracts and kill his initiative by the endless, watery _ennui_ of tu-penny environment. of course, he gets desperate and kicks over the traces, and while attracting the dear family's disapproving attention, i am more free than ever to devote myself to my romano. bernhardt's "latest" is really inexcusable. "i wonder we don't turn tigers with the education we receive," said one of the brothers of louis xvi when upbraided for thoughtlessness and lack of consideration for the feelings of others--but bernhardt seems to qualify for a vulture, and no original one at that, for a like offense as he is charged with was, several years ago, laid at the door of my cousin, archduke otho of austria. observe half a dozen young officers riding horseback in the neighborhood of their garrison town, bernhardt at the head. at a bend in the road, a rural funeral _cortège_ hoves into sight: coffin borne on the shoulders of half a dozen peasants; weeping relatives; friends promising themselves a good time at the widow's expense on returning home. a black cross lifted high; priest and choir-boys in their robes. "halt," thunders bernhardt, blocking the way. the priest tries to expostulate with the half-drunken fellow. "shut up, black-coat. i am his royal highness, prince bernhardt." then--the devil must be riding him--he orders the coffin put down on the ground. "out of the way, yokels." and he leaps his horse three or four times across the coffin. the outrage is duly reported in the newspapers and bernhardt is summoned before the king. "don't you dare to appear in uniform," albert added in his own hand. "what has happened?" i asked the ne'er-do-well, when he begged for an audience after meeting the king. he pointed to a swollen cheek. "he hit me three times in _the eats_." (i beg the diary's pardon for the language; i report literally.) "three times," repeated bernhardt, "that's the reason he wanted me to appear in mufti. as i went out one of the lackeys said: 'i never heard his majesty rave so.'" "but why did you make a beast of yourself?" i asked. "to force the king to transfer me to another garrison, of course. i can't remain where i am, for the people are terribly incensed against me." "did you tell his majesty?" "not on your life," answered bernhardt. "if i did, i would have to stay there until my last tooth falls out. as things are, the colonel will insist upon my speedy transference, and that's worth the three slams on the face i got in addition to the various _lausbubs_." "he called you, an army officer, a '_lausbub_.' where is his vaunted respect for the uniform?" "didn't he hit me in _the eats_?" lamented bernhardt tragically in his terrible lingo. "i responded both to insult and injury by knocking my heels together and saying: 'at your majesty's commands.'" of course, i told romano. "royalty," he said, "has only, on the face of it, advanced beyond the pirate and robber-baron period. _au fond_ all princes and kings would be criminals if they happened not to be crowned heads." [illustration: the late king albert of saxony louise's uncle by marriage] he told me of a balkan prince--young alexander of servia, the same mamma natalie intended for my consort--whose chief amusement consists in having mice and rats chased by ferocious tom-cats in a big cage made for that purpose. once, growing tired of that sport, he incarcerated ten tom-cats in the same cage without food many days in succession, visiting the prison hourly to see whether they wouldn't take to devouring each other. when, in the end, they did, tearing one another to pieces, his majesty danced around the cage in high glee, pronouncing the battle of the poor beasts a bully spectacle. "you visited castle sibyllenort a week ago," continued romano--"a most proper place, this royal residence, is it not? you ought to have seen it before your puritan king inherited it, ten years ago, upon the death of the last duke of brunswick. at that time it was a veritable museum of pornography, the apotheosis of paphian voluptuousness. the palace, which has over four hundred rooms and halls--not one which a decent woman might enter without a blush--acquired its equipment as a _lupanar_ and its reputation for debauchery under the famous, or notorious, 'diamond duke,' a brother of the highness who left the estate to king albert. both dukes held high carnival in its gilded halls, but he of the diamonds rather outdid william in outraging decency. "one of his chief amusements was to hire a drove of ballet girls for parlor horses. he had a carriage constructed no bigger or heavier than a japanese jinrickshaw, and to this hitched ten or twenty ballet girls in their birthday suits, walking on all fours, himself rider and driver. "gracious--how he lashed his treble and quadruple teams of human flesh as they pulled him from room to room, and his was no make-belief ferocity, either. he was a niggardly rake, but in order to indulge his sadist tendencies, agreed to pay one _thaler_ (seventy-five cents) for every drop of blood shed by the girls. "to make the count easier, white linen sheets were spread over the carpets, and the sum total was paid over to the two-legged horses after each entertainment, the girls showing the sorest stripes or wounds getting the larger share." romano, who lived at half a dozen courts and is primed with the scandalous gossip of them all, could certainly write an entertaining book on the fallacies and vices of the world's great. it's most indelicate, to be sure, but i laughed long and hard over the sexual specialty of my uncle, archduke karl ludwig, who is bad, anyhow, as everybody knows. one morning his highness rose at an unusually early hour, even before the scrub-women made their exit. in the corridors, in the parlors, everywhere blonde and dark percherons, cleaning away for dear life and courting housemaid's knee! karl ludwig has no more use for women than the late chevalier de lorraine, the president of the _mignons_, but the exaggerated protuberances he met so unexpectedly on all sides, appealed to his sense of humor, or some other sense which i would hate to name. anyhow, he ran into the garden and cut himself a switch. and ever since then his chief amusement is to switch scrubbing percherons. if he succeeds in dealing one a blow unforeseen by lying in wait for her, or coming upon her all of a sudden, he is particularly satisfied with his day's work and is liable to give a beggar a copper instead of the usual demi-copper. and of such abnormals the rulers of the world are recruited. chapter xxxix my punishment i lose my lover--quarrels with me because i did my duty as a mother--royalty extols me for the same reason--my pride of kingship aroused by socialist scribblers--change my opinion as to duke's widow--parents arrive--father and his alleged astrolatry--his finances disarranged by alimony payments--my uncle, the emperor, rebukes mother harshly for complaining of _roué_ father. dresden, _christmas, _. god punished me for my sins. my children, one after the other, were ill with scarlet fever, and the youngest is only now out of danger. of course, i abandoned all my frivolities. i can say without boasting that the mother atoned for the short-comings of the wife and princess. hence i thought justified to arrange for a right royal christmas present: romano. lucretia went to see him. he received her coldly, hardly vouchsafed a word. from a secret drawer of his desk he took a letter, ready written, dated and gave it to lucretia. "it explains," he said curtly, as he opened the door for her. he has abandoned me. because i loved my children better than him, because i am a mother first, lais second, he throws away his imperial _fille de joie_ like a lemon sucked dry and prates of tendernesses and heavenly fancies that he alone feels, that are outside the pale of my understanding. he even refuses to thank me, this proud wooer of the royal bed. he "has given me the best that is in man to give to a woman," etc., etc. be it so! god desired to punish me and, because i loved much, he meted out to me mild chastisement. he stole my lover, but i have my children. * * * * * dresden, _january , _. the king, prince george, my brothers-in-law, my cousins and aunts are trying to make a hero of me. because i followed the inclinations of my heart and helped to save my children, there's no end of their praise and admiration. did they take me for a raven? i am disgusted with so much unctuousness. nevertheless i changed my mind about the duke's widow. when i felt friendly towards her and quarrelled with johann george for taking her money and with the king for embezzling the testament and offering accommodation at the poor-house for his kin's children, i thought it a family affair, but now that the socialist papers meddle with the case, which concerns the royal house and the royal house alone, it's time for the crown princess to stand by her colors. those jews have actually the audacity to reprimand the king and the royal princes, to impute ignoble motives to us all! they talk of us as if we were _messieurs_ and _mesdames_ jones or browns, trying to enrich ourselves at the expense of a corpse! they call us "inheritance-chasers," "purloiners of pupillary funds," "starvers of innocent children." the duke's kept-woman is "a lady of the highest character" and we are not; her children are of the blood royal--only better for the dash of plebeian. it makes me boil to read such things; to see the reverence due the throne set aside, the royal banner dragged into the mire, and of course it's the kept-woman to whom we are indebted for this pretty kettle of fish. it is she who set the press against us, and it's me, louise, who protests with all her might that her demands and petitions be denied. let her starve with her brats. if she was sent to the poor-house she might make anarchists out of loyal paupers. * * * * * dresden, _april , _. my parents came to see the children and make merry because i am basking in the sun of royal grace. mother has a new maid of honor, as ugly as the tisch, and when we are _entre nous_ every second word is: "when louise is queen." they know to a penny what our inheritance from the king, the queen and prince george will amount to and are forever making plans and specifications how to spend the money for the glory of saxony and of our own family.[ ] mother's scare-crow of a maid of honor had at least sense enough to tell lucretia of a few scandals that happened at home, which mother never intended for my ears. it seems that papa, some few months ago, suddenly became possessed of the ambition to become an astronomer. nothing would do, but he must buy a heap of instruments and set them up in a distant tower of salzburg castle. and there he spent all his evenings--star-gazing, he gave out. he seldom reached the nuptial couch before one or two in the morning,--utterly exhausted by the night's work. well, mamma thought he labored too hard, and one forenoon when he had gone hunting, climbed up many stairs to investigate. imagine her surprise when she found, in the astrolatry, a young lady in the act of getting out of bed, a girl, by the way, whom i used to know. mamma had the _mauvais genre_ to report the case to emperor francis joseph, while papa sought another climate, remaining away until mother begged him on her bended knees, so to speak, to come home. nor did she get satisfaction from vienna. that great moral teacher, the emperor, told her not to make a scare-crow of herself, but on the contrary make herself pretty and agreeable for, and to, her lord and master. i understand now why mamma says: "all men stick together like gypsies." as a matter of fact father's limited resources are considerably affected by the various alimonies he has to pay to his own mistresses and those of my brothers. the third born of our boys, only a week ago, made too free with the _fiancée_ of the pastry-cook, who threatened to kill him. it cost father several thousand florins to appease the ruffian and heinrich ferdinand renewed acquaintance with mother's boxing proclivities. footnotes: [footnote : the fortune of the present king of saxony (louise's ex-husband) amounts to million marks ($ , , )--no more than many an american parent paid for his daughter's seedy coronet. it will be remembered that gladys vanderbilt and anna gould brought to their husbands fifteen million dollars each, and the castellanes and szechenys are only nobles of the second class, their ancestors never having possessed ever so small a territory as sovereign lords. the bigger half of the saxon king's fortune comes from the brunswick inheritance already mentioned.] chapter xl a plebeian lover in need of a friend--my physician offers his friendship--i discover that he loves me, but he will never confess--i give him encouragement--we manage to persuade the king to further our intrigue--not a bit repentant of my peccadilloes--very submissive--introduced to my lover's wife. dresden, _in may, _. privy councillor von barthels, my body physician, is a very agreeable man. i have no use for his services, _professional_ services at present, yet insist upon receiving him daily. still i love him not. only esteem him as a friend, i need a friend. physicians can keep secrets, and i have many of them. i look upon barthels as my father-confessor. the tears came into his eyes when i told him, and he said: "imperial highness, this is the most beautiful hour of my life." he spoke with enthusiasm; there was fire in his eyes and in his voice, yet a moment later he was again the most reserved of men and conversation lagged. it happened three days ago. he has paid me four visits since and i notice with astonishment, with curiosity and with alarm, that this man is in love with me. how long has he loved me? his love is like a warm mantle 'round my shoulders on a chilly night. it exudes warmth, strength, beatitude, yet there is none of the animal. he is a good talker on a thousand and one subjects, a thinker and psychologist. psychology is his strong point. he argues brilliantly on the subject, yet i need only look at him to upset his _thesis_, to make him stammer and redden. he's no count bielsk and will never tell me of his own accord that he loves me. is his admiration greater than his love? perhaps so. it gives me a feeling of security. lucretia knows, but in the presence of the tisch, he plays the servant, deeming himself thrice honored by being allowed to breathe the same air as her imperial highness. * * * * * dresden, _june , _. i frequently drive to the _bois_ nowadays with the children, the _bois_, where i was so happy with him. romano was right, a thousand times right, that he abandoned me when our love was at its zenith. * * * * * _at midnight._ it's done. barthels came tonight. he was so feverish, so passionate, there was so much humble solicitation in his looks and manners, i was moved to pity. this man is too over-awed by my rank to ever permit himself to express his feelings by word of mouth. he talked of everything but love and was in the midst of a learned dissertation when i sunk my eyes in his and said: "why do you try to hide things from me? don't i know what's in your heart?" like a little criminal--as my oldest boy does occasionally--he turned red, then white, then red again. he buried his face in his hands. he trembled. he seemed to be crying. i arose, and lightly laid my hand upon his blonde head. he's got the finest, silkiest hair in the world, shimmering like beaten gold. and then he lay at my feet, covering them with kisses. and instantly all his force, his courage, his eloquence returned. he went away like a man a-dreaming. i long for him; i confess i long for him. whether i love him or not i don't know. but that i know, i _will_ love him. and if i cannot, what matters it? i don't have to love to be happy. to _be_ loved is enough. i want to be his queen, his life. * * * * * dresden, _july , _. privy councillor von barthels told the king that my delicate condition needs constant watching. i go to his clinic every second day, while he visits me once or twice daily at the palace. * * * * * like melita i am never a bit repentant of my peccadilloes. if i don't want to do a thing, neither kaiser, king, george, frederick augustus, my parents, the pope, nor the whole world, can make me. but if i resolve to follow my sweet inclinations, rueing and pining are out of question. ferdinand is the most devoted of lovers. he has unlimited tendernesses--a new experience for me. the lover of my girlhood days overwhelmed me by audacity. the shah used me like a show-girl. romano was imperious, super-mannish. for him i was only the female of the species. sometimes, in the midst of an embrace, ferdinand suddenly seems to recollect that a queen trembles in his arms; the master turns _âme damnée_. i am sultana, louise-catherine. like catherine the great, i would throw millions to my favorites and millions more when i dismissed one. at any rate, i would give each a hundred thousand marks "to furnish himself with linen and silks,"--a _mot_ invented by the semiramis of the north. * * * * * dresden, _july , _. no more clinic for me. ferdinand begged so hard, that i allowed him to introduce his wife. she came in after we finished our "consultation," a little heap of misfortune, execrably dressed, frightened, almost dead with submissiveness. and i am robbing this poor creature; it's like stealing pennies from a child. and under her own roof. it must not be. i am going to the country. chapter xli an atrocious royal scandal a royal couple that shall be nameless--the voluptuous duchess--her husband the worst of degenerates--"what monsters these royalties be"--nameless outrages--a duchess forced to have lovers--ferdinand and i live like married folk--duchess feared for her life--her husband murdered her--i scold and humiliate my overbearing grand mistress--the medical report too horrible to contemplate. ----r, _july , _. i am afraid to date this entry. another terrible indictment of royalty. and, as usual, things criminal are at the bottom of the abuse of sovereign power. the duchess had a baby and asked me to be godmother to the little girl. the king, eager to oblige his rich cousin, favored the journey. i insisted that ferdinand accompany me. "marie," i said, "hates tisch, and she must, under no circumstances, be commanded to attend me." lucretia would do. it would be cheaper. the king first wouldn't hear of dr. von barthels going. people might think i had some chronic disease. but he finally gave in for the sake of the child i expect. "we need a few princes more from you," said his majesty benignly. "when you got about a dozen boys, you can rest." pleasant job, that of a crown princess. * * * * * ----r, _july , _. the duchess is a pretty woman, her face a lovely oval. she has small eyes, the color of amethysts. her complexion is as white and harmonious as if she washed in sow's milk, like the late ninon. her mouth is sweet, but certain lines indicate that it can bite as well as smile. she has abundant hair, the color of ferdinand's. this dainty, albeit voluptuous, little person, is mated to a bull-necked he, pompous, broad and full of the conceit of the _duodez_ satrap. marie was forced to marry him; their honeymoon scarcely lasted a fortnight and he treated her shamefully after that. of course, babies she must bear like any other "royal cow." gradually, very gradually, she got over her disappointment and shyness, developing into a cunning, world-wise woman. then came the man she was bound to love, even as the violet is bound to be kissed by the sun. she had no scruples about accepting him, thinking herself entitled to compensation for the sorrows of her married life. and revenge is sweet. the duke found them out in the first month of their young love, walked into her boudoir one fine afternoon and remarked casually that none of his hats would fit him,--"on account of the horns you kindly planted on my forehead." marie was more dead than alive when he asked her for the key of her writing desk. she lied and lied; to no purpose. he kicked open the writing desk, and with his iron fists broke the shelves and pigeon holes, laying bare a secret drawer and stacks of love letters it shielded. these he confiscated. then locked himself into his room to enjoy his disgrace. this monster is a _masochist_ and sadist combined. he loves both to inflict suffering upon himself and upon others. what monsters royalties be! in the meanwhile marie experienced all the tortures of purgatory; she thought of flight, of suicide. before she could indulge in either her husband was back: othello in the last act. marie was frightened stiff, her brain a whirl, her limbs inert. rape most foul this crowned satyr committed. "he fell upon me as a pack of hounds overwhelm a hunted, wounded she-stag," she said. afterwards he commanded her to describe minutely every detail of her relations with the other. he was primed with the letter-accounts; he made her dot her amorous i's and cross her bawdry t's. and every attempt at omission he punished with kicks and cuffs; no drayman or brick-layer could give a more expert exhibition of woman-beating! and he violated her again. this was the beginning of a series of outrages of the same gross character. marie suffered for years and years that his royal highness may gratify his unclean fancies: he the pander; she the cyprian. "if i ceased having lovers, i think he would kill me," says marie. alas, such is the stuff "god's anointed" are made of! in the face of such, we pronounce a hypocritical _j'accuse_ upon the louis's and pompadours, upon marie antoinette even. the duchess, who knows, gave ferdinand an apartment near my own. we are living here like man and wife. he sometimes calls me "_frau professor_." * * * * * loschwitz, _july , _. marie is dead. "died suddenly," said the telegram. i understand now why she begged me, with tears in her eyes, to remain at least two weeks. she was afraid that, though ill and suffering after the confinement, he would treat her as he did when he first found her unfaithful. "don't go," she cried. "it will be my death." and when i showed her the king's letter commanding me to return at once, she made her confidential tire-woman swear on the bible that she wouldn't leave her for a minute, day or night, until she herself released her from the promise. private advices from ----r say his highness brutally kicked the faithful maid out of his wife's bedroom and outraged his sick wife while the servant kept thundering at the door, denouncing her master a murderer. ferdinand says the great majority of crowned heads are sexual voluptuaries, deserving of the penitentiary or the straight-jacket. * * * * * loschwitz, _august , _. i caught the tisch stealing one of my letters. happily there was nothing incriminating in it, though addressed to ferdinand,--just the letter the crown princess would write to a privy councillor. but the petty theft indicates that she suspects. prince george, i am told, receives a report from her every few days. well, i had my revenge. the queen called today to see the children, and when her majesty and myself withdrew into my closet, the tisch, who had been spying, didn't retire as promptly as she might. "can't you see that you are _de trop_," i said sharply to her. "please close the door from outside." the baroness gave a cry of dismay and the queen was scandalized. "louise," she said, "that is no way to treat servants. you should always try to be kind and considerate with them." "i am, thanks, your majesty," i replied. "all the officials and servants love me, but i have very good reasons for treating the tisch as i do." of course, george will hear of this, and the tisch will be reprimanded by him as well. spies that compromise themselves, compromise their masters. the same evening i said to the tisch in the presence of the nurses: "my dear baroness, i wish you would display a little more tact. listen at my doors as much as you like, but whatever you do, don't spy on her majesty in my house." she exuded a flood of tears and i sent her to her room. "don't come back until you can show a pleasant face. i want to see none other around me." * * * * * loschwitz, _august , _. ferdinand received a medical report from ----r. my first private advices regarding marie's death were correct, but the additional details given are too horrible to contemplate. the poor duchess was brutally murdered. she died cursing her crowned murderer. the manner in which she was put to death can only be likened to that of the lover in heinrich von kleist's poetically sublime, but morally atrocious, tragedy, _penthesilcia_, except that, in poor marie's case, the _woman_ suffered from the awful frenzy of the male, in whom the "gentlest passion" degenerated in saturnalia of revolting cruelty. the duke killed marie because _doing so gave him the most damnable pleasure,--her the most excruciating pain_. yet the king's will is the highest law and criminals on thrones laugh at the criminal code. chapter xlii i lose another of my lovers happily no scandal--rewarded for bearing children--$ --for becoming a mother--royal poverty--bernhardt, the black sheep, in hot water again--the king rebukes me for taking his part. loschwitz, _august , _. frederick augustus sent for ferdinand and gave him to understand that he had received divers anonymous letters, connecting my name with that of the privy councillor. "of course i don't believe a word of it," said my husband, "but one in my position cannot afford to flout public opinion. it will be for the best, if you cease your services to her imperial highness." upon the same day ferdinand received orders from the king to stop his visits. the baroness's doings, of course,--pin-pricks when she would like to shoot with sharp cartridges. she evidently doesn't know the full extent of our intimacy. as to ferdinand, he acted the coward, left my letters unanswered and didn't make the slightest attempt to continue relations that might possibly turn out to his disadvantage. he is contemptible. my heart is unengaged, but my pride sadly humbled. * * * * * dresden, _february , _. the king sent me an emerald, one-twentieth the size of that given me by the shah of persia. frederick augustus did himself proud and, on his part, i gained a pearl necklace in acknowledgment of my renewed services to the state. little marguerite was born january . frederick augustus also gave me five thousand marks spending money. not much for a multi-millionaire's wife or daughter, i reckon, but a terrible lot for an imperial highness. when i read of the sums the vanderbilts, astors, goulds and other dollar-kings spend in paris and london, and even with us in dresden, i sometimes wish i could exchange places with an american duchess or countess long enough to buy all the things beautiful and pretty i would like to own. an awful thing is royal poverty, but the reputation of affluence and unlimited resources, stalking ahead of us, whenever we enter a store or bargain with a jeweler, is worse. "your imperial highness is pleased to joke," says my man-milliner, when i admit, unblushingly, that i haven't the wherewithal to buy the things i dote on. wait till i am queen, modistes, store-keepers, jewelers! the new majesty will show you that she cares for money only to get rid of it. * * * * * dresden, _february , _. this morning lucretia came running to the nursery and whispered to me: "imperial highness, quick, to the boudoir. he begged so hard, i smuggled him in." she couldn't say more, for the tisch was watching us. what new trouble was brewing? could it be romano, dare-devil, who had come back to me? if it was that poltroon, ferdinand, i would have him thrown out by my lackeys. the mysterious visitor doffed wig and false moustache. "it's me," cried bernhardt. "you are my only hope." "what have you been doing again?" "they threaten to banish my girl from the garrison and i won't stand for it. if they send her away or imprison her, i will kick up such a row, all europe shall hear of it." "but why this masquerade?" "s-s-sh!" whispered the young prince. "i came without leave." quickly, breathlessly, he continued: "i hear you are in his majesty's good graces. go and see him on my behalf. persuade him to annul the order of banishment or render it ineffective." "bernhardt," i said, "why don't you marry?" "if i could get a girl like you, louise, i would--today, tomorrow, but the royal scare-crows that will have penniless me,--much obliged! you are a very exceptional woman," he added earnestly. we held a council of war, discussing the situation from every view-point, and finally i agreed to see baumann. "i'll have to vouch for your future good conduct," i said. "on condition that they leave my girl alone." "precisely. and on your part you give me your word of honor not to scandalize the people of your new garrison; to gradually break with the girl and, in the end, get married." "you are a brick, louise," cried bernhardt, and before i could shake him off, he was kissing me all over my face. no cousinly or brotherly kisses! his lips were apart, there was passion in his embrace. i struggled, but his hand pressed against my back. what strength the rascal's got! * * * * * dresden, _february , _. the king is adamant. i no sooner mentioned bernhardt's name than his face froze. "does your husband know about your interference for that rake?" when i answered in the negative, he praised frederick augustus for strict submission to the royal will and upbraided me for "upholding bernhardt in his wickedness." "the boy is desperate," i said. "if he is desperate," cried the king, "let him do the one reasonable and honorable thing: mend his evil ways. it will come easy if he seeks true strength in prayer, in fasting and religious discipline." "i submit to your majesty that it might be well to send bernhardt travelling." "on a tour of inspection of houses of ill-fame?" interrupted albert coldly. "this is a mere waste of words," he added, looking towards the door, "and i'm sorry that your imperial highness has the bad taste to take the part of this disobedient, immoral and altogether reprehensible _lausbub_." that meant my dismissal. i shudder when i think of the consequences of the king's obstinacy. chapter xliii the crown princess quells a riot asked to play the coward, and i refuse--a hostler who would die for a look from me--hostler marriages in royal houses--anecdotes and unknown facts concerning royal ladies and their offspring--refuse police escort and rioters acclaim me--whole royal family proud of my feat. dresden, _july , _. behold louise, a political personage! i was driving with my little ones in the _bois_ yesterday afternoon. we occupied an open court carriage, conspicuous for livery and magnificent horse-flesh, for i love display and the children enjoy it. we were driving along leisurely enough when there was hasty clatter of hoofs and wheels behind. presently a royal _coupé_ dashed up alongside. the tisch stuck her head out: "imperial highness--the town's in revolt.--socialist riot. they are marching upon the palace.--for the love of god, return at once. your imperial highness must take a seat in this inconspicuous carriage. we will change to the first _droschke_ we meet, going through side-streets." "my dear baroness," i answered, "it's not in my nature to shirk peril. if i were to be hanged and quartered and could avoid that unpleasantness by changing from my carriage to a cab--i would be hanged and quartered. take the children and return to the palace any way you like. "as for me, i'll go back as her imperial highness, the crown princess of saxony, and my coachman will drive slowly." i kissed the children, and the _coupé_ rolled away at a sharp clip. calling the coachman by name, i commanded him: "you heard what my grand mistress said. riot or no riot, i am solely responsible for my own safety. you will take orders from no one but me, neither from the mob nor the police." the coachman lifted his hat respectfully and bowed a submissive "at your imperial highness's orders." the groom, a young, good-looking fellow, struck the broadsword at his side. "there is some good steel in this, your imperial highness," he said with sparkling eyes. i believe this poor fellow would have died for a single look from me. among royal servants, the most devoted are those connected with the _marstall_. no wonder so many of my sisters born on the steps of the throne, fell in love with their master of horse or equerries; some with mere hostlers, like queen christina of spain, the mother of my aunt isabelle, of amorous memory. her lover, munoz, of the body guards, was a famous equestrian and two years younger than christina. he managed horses so well, she thought it would be great fun to boss this giant. but it ended by the brute lording it over her, the "catholic majesty." by the way, i wonder what became of christina's and munoz's several children. while they lived together from to without the sanction of either law or church, they were "regularly married" in the end, the hostler, munoz, metamorphosing into duke rianzares. yet the _almanach de gotha_ knows not their progeny when, as "love children," they should live long and happily. another "hostler-marriage" occurred in the family of the proud kaiser, the contracting parties being princess albrecht of prussia and a groom, whose name i forget. this princess, marianne of the netherlands, brought the first "real" money into the hohenzollern family, and her husband, albrecht, was long regarded the croesus among german princes. after the divorce, his royal highness forced the ex-wife to marry the hostler, and the bloom of forbidden love having worn off in the meantime, marianne seldom passed a day without being soundly beaten by the plebeian. maybe she liked it. some women do. today her offspring with master fisticuffs are sturdy farmers in silesia, but two of the three sons she had with the royal prince, as well as the sons the royal prince had with his second wife, rosalie von rauch, are degenerates. rosalie's sons are known as counts hohenau and the wife of the elder, fritz, is giving my astute and pious cousin, the kaiserin, considerable heart-ache. curious, isn't it? the children of the "adulteress" are successful men and women, aids in the progress of the world; those of the blood royal, in double or single doses, a menace to public morality. this much for your royal inbred custom. but back to dresden. the order to drive slowly was soon rescinded, for i was burning to see a riot at close range. "_plein carrière_," i commanded, and my fast _carrossiers_ went at a tremendous rate for two miles. the moment i saw, in the distance, knots of people standing round or moving in the direction of the palace, i cried: "_schritt_," and we proceeded as leisurely as if following a funeral. as we turned around a corner, a detachment of gendarmes, sent to watch for me, hove into sight. their commanding officer signalled frantically to the coachman to stop, but george had his instructions and proceeded. the officer spurred his horse and rode up to me, questioning me with his eyes. "my orders," i explained. "then i must escort your imperial highness." "don't." "strict orders from my superior officer, your imperial highness," and the gendarmes formed a _cordon_ around my carriage. i was furious. "send for your commander." the captain of the gendarmes could not be found at once and joined my cavalcade only when we were opposite a living wall of excited people, nearly all of them workmen. "what is your imperial highness's pleasure?" asked the captain, bending down from his horse. "send your men away instantly." "but the responsibility?" "rests with me and with me only. send them away. every one of them." the mob was watching us. i read suspicion in the eyes of those nearest. the captain gave the sign and the troopers turned their horses' heads, saluting me with their drawn swords. "may i act as your imperial highness's out-rider?" asked the captain in a low voice. "don't trouble yourself. i command you." the groom had been watching us. i gave the signal and we proceeded at a pace. the rampart of human bodies swung open and lined the sides of the streets. someone cried: "three cheers for the crown princess," and everyone responded. these socialists, whom i had been taught to hate and despise, behaved in exemplary style. when i dismissed their tyrants, the gendarmes, they immediately took me under their protection. i am sure anyone daring to insult me, or raise a hand against me, would have fared badly at the hands of his fellows. i was all smiles, bowing right and left. labor agitators raised their hats to me, mothers offered their children that i might pat their little hand, or lay mine on their head--a veritable triumph! when i drove into the palace yard, the guards rushed out to do me honor. the queen, the king and prince george saluted me from the windows of their apartments. frederick augustus embraced me in front of everybody. in short i was made a hero of. i afterwards learned that as soon as the palace knew of the incipient riot, the king sent word to all members of the royal family, ordering them to stay in their apartments. they were even forbidden to show themselves at the windows overlooking the palace square. learning that i had gone driving, mounted grooms were dispatched in all directions to intercept me. the tisch, being responsible for the royal children, got the fastest team the court commands and started for the _bois_. it gave me some satisfaction to observe that i arrived before her. of course, i never doubted the children's safety. the evening papers devoted columns to the little incident and prince george had the great sorrow to hear the king say: "a dare-devil, that louise, but she did the right thing. by pretending confidence in the loyalty of the people, she successfully gulled them. the riot's back was broken when she showed a bold front." chapter xliv the new lover, and "i play the hussy for fair" who is that most exquisite _vortänzer_?--a lovely boy--"blush, good white paper"--i long for henry--my eyes reflect love--"i must see you tonight. arrange with lucretia"--sorry i ever loved a man before henry--poetry even--i try to get him an office at court--afraid women will steal him. pillnitz, _september , _. dance at the royal summer residence. concentrated _ennui_ as a rule, but a complete success this time. i have seen him,--capital "h." he is the one man for me. i am happy; i am myself again. all sorrows are forgotten. i am ten years younger. love at first sight. i the aggressor. i must be getting very clever since i managed to hide it from hundreds of searching eyes, even from my entourage. "lucretia," i whispered breathlessly to my confidante, "find out the name of the _vortänzer_, quick." the _vortänzer_, at royal courts, is a sort of official master of the dance, who sets the pace for the company, combining the duties of master of ceremonies and of dancing master. the more i looked at the _vortänzer_, the more he enchanted me. taller than any other man present, elegant, blonde, clean-shaven. not an ounce of superfluous flesh, i judged. might be the reincarnation of the _duc_ de richelieu, who seduced my three cousins d'orleans. his face is livid with white and carmine tints; his eyes glow with an irresistible charm. that figure of his! the elegance of the palm tree, both straight and flexible. and the infinity of grace as he waltzed that little baroness around. "baron bergen, of the guards," breathed lucretia into my ear. "my master of ceremony will command baron bergen at the end of this dance." when he stood before me, bowing and smiling, the idea that he was richelieu reincarnated became almost a certainty with me. like richelieu, his face has the refinement that we admire in women (i forgot to say that i became infatuated with him merely from seeing a back view of the man. when he turned around, i was lost). while he chanted the usual compliments, my eyes hung upon his cherry lips, reveled in his white, strong teeth. the man i want. i say it without shame, without care. blush, good, white paper! i am giving an account of my feelings, and if they be impure, there's something wrong with nature. even as i write, i tremble with longing, with desire for henry. ten days since we first met. it might have been this morning, so lively and overwhelming is the recollection. i am impatient for his kisses, for his blonde loveliness, for his whole self,--just as if we hadn't loved and kissed scarce an hour ago. "my horse, lucretia. we'll go for a canter. i must have air and plenty of it." * * * * * pillnitz, _september , _. i must give some additional account of our first meeting at the court ball. ah, i was the hussy for fair! he couldn't help seeing the impression he made upon me. my eyes must have reflected it in letters of flame. i wish he were as bold as the _duc_, who slept on a pillow stuffed with the hair of his mistresses, past and present. i never made such advances to any man. i was gone clean off my head. when he reddened and when his left hand, resting on the hilt of his sword, trembled, i became intoxicated. and i danced with him, and i was angry with myself for lacking the courage to say: "feel my heart beat." my great-great-aunt and namesake, marie antoinette, did and won the love of her life,--fersen. but we _fin de siècle_ women are cowards. all i said to him was: "i must see you tonight. arrange with lucretia." * * * * * dresden, _september , _. summer heat continues, but no country-seat for me! the town is a much safer place for lovers, and old countess baranello keeps open house for us all the year round. we meet daily. i persuaded henry's colonel that the lieutenant would never be a courtier unless he saw more of court life and was relieved, to a certain extent, of duties on the drill ground. we see each other mornings or afternoons at the countess's. the evenings we spend at the theatre together, i in the box, he in the _fauteuil_ once sacred to romano. every saturday afternoon we concoct the repertoire for the week following, and he goes at once to secure tickets for the various entertainments i intend to visit for his sake. * * * * * dresden, _october , _. i wish i had never loved any man before henry. i wish he had known me as an innocent girl. i wish i wasn't royal. then i could get a divorce and marry him, but now, if i got ten divorces, he would always be the insignificant baron, i the princess of the blood. and i couldn't see my love humiliated! as a talisman he wears on his chest a golden locket with my miniature. in exchange he gave me a _portebonheur_ with his picture and a few sweet words. so help me, god, i am in love with this man,--love him to the verge of poetry. indeed, i am writing silly verse in his honor, and later haven't the courage to show it to him. _par example_: i want you most, dear, when the sunset bright makes of the hills a glorious funeral pyre, so die the love-light in your eyes, if die it must, and leave the wondrous, throbbing silence of the night. henry isn't very intellectual, i am afraid, but he is the finest horseman in the world. if i were queen, i would barter a regiment to have him appointed my chief master of horse. augustus of the three-hundred and fifty-two sold one for his first night with cosel. i am racking my brains for a pretense to have him appointed to court duty,--anything to give him the _entrée_ to my apartments. but he is far too beautiful. the sanctimonious cats that envy me my happiness, that look upon love as a crime, would at once combine to destroy him. well, we'll have to bear with the difficulties of the situation forced upon us by these moral busy-bodies. as for me, i'll be thrice careful, for if he was taken away from me, all the joy would go out of my life. chapter xlv love and the happiness it conveys my grand mistress suspects because i am so amiable--pangs of jealousy--every good-looking man pursued by women--a good story of my cousin, the duchess berri--we all go cycling together--the vitzthums--love making on the street--a mud bath. _december , ._ when one is in love and loved a-plenty, weeks and months roll by without notice by the happy ones. for my part i never thought there was so much happiness in the world as i am experiencing since the beginning of september. but i have my troubles, too. first, the tisch. when a lady is well pleased by her lover, then her eyes are bright, her cheeks glow, her lips smile; she bears with her entourage; she is kind to her servants. the moment i treated the tisch as a human being, she began to suspect, and i am sure she is eating her heart out fretting because god gave me both nuts and teeth to crack them. but i am qualifying as an expert deceiver, and my grand mistress won't catch me in a hurry. my other great trouble is: long separations from henry, hours upon hours in daytime, half the nights. what is he doing when he is not with me? of course he pretends to tell, but i am not goose enough to suppose that he would incriminate himself for the love of truth. he is hiding things from me, perhaps cheating me. i have to arm myself with all the faith loving woman commands to forestall occasional noisy out-breaks of jealousy. was there ever a good-looking man, women didn't try to capture and seduce? manly beauty is the red rag that enthralls and excites women and renders them dishonest, though their honor doesn't lodge at the point they designate as its _habitat_. sometimes, when in these jealous frenzies, i wish henry had a face like a chinese kite, or like riom, husband and lover of my ancestress, the duchess du berri. she was "_satisfied_" with him, but since her lady-in-waiting, too, was, i might, after all, fare no better than berri, if henry was a toad, "his skin spotted like a serpent's, oily like a negro's, changeable like a chameleon, with a turned up nose and disproportionate mouth." yet i hardly believe that, like my cousin, i would say anent a rival: "whoever would not be satisfied with him, would be hard to please." alas, with women in love the extreme of ugliness counts as triumphantly as the charms of adonis. ever since i read certain passages of faust, part ii, eduard von hartmann's "philosophy of the unconscious," and lermontoff's "hero of our times," i am convinced that to love a man very good-looking, or, on the contrary, a perfect horror, is no sinecure. fortunately henry is almost penniless. * * * * * dresden, _january , _. henry's sister married one of the numerous vitzthums, of the family that furnished the saxon court with titled servants and _maîtresses en titre_ for the past several hundred years. i immediately sent word to her ladyship, that having taken up bicycling, i would be pleased to have her attend me on the wheel on the afternoon following. the invitation was issued from the office of my court marshal, which is controlled by the king's. having thus secured beforehand his majesty's approval, possible criticism was nipped in the bud. the bride asked permission to bring her husband. "granted. order of dress: _mufti_." this enabled us, myself and henry, and the count and countess to ride all over town, unrecognized by either officials or the public at large. it was great fun, and i told the vitzthums that i intended to wheel every morning at nine, immediately after breakfast. count vitzthum is henry's colonel. of course he granted both henry and himself furlough for the time set. what happiness! now i don't have to wait till afternoon and evening to see my lover. * * * * * dresden, _january , _. i am so happy, i am growing careless. the vitzthums, profiting by the fact that they are but recently married, prefer to travel in pairs, and always take the lead. accordingly henry and myself, incog. as far as my future subjects go, are free to indulge in occasional caresses and sweet nonsense-talk. i was pouring honeyed words into henry's ears the other morning when my wheel skidded on the wet pavement, and before he, or i, could save me, i was down on my back in the mud. the fact that i was again _enceinte_, and the other fact that i was covered with dirt, ought to have prompted me to return to the palace at once, but how un-louise-like the straight and sane course would have been. i allowed myself to be wiped off by henry; then mounted my wheel anew and raced after the vitzthums. unfortunately, a reporter heard of the incident and, for the benefit of his pocket, made a column out of it. a few hours after the story appeared in the evening paper, the palace was in an uproar. the king wasn't well enough to scold me, so he delegated that pleasant duty to prince george. his royal highness promptly informed me that the "damned bicycling had to stop." chapter xlvi fears for my love some reflections on queens of old who punished recreant lovers--henry was in debt and i gave him money--indignities by which some of that money was earned--husband accompanies me to loschwitz--reflections on frederick augustus's character. _january , ._ my love played the melancholy dane for the last few days. his tenderness seemed labored, his spirits under a cloud. every smile i got had to be coaxed from him. "the end of my happiness," i thought; "some chit of a girl dethroned me." and i cursed my birthday. "a kingdom for ten years off my age." and my thoughts of thoughts travelled back to the times when royal ladies had their rivals immured, as practiced by a brandenburg princess at the kaiser's hunting box at grünewald, or made a head shorter, like lady jane grey, who was far too pretty to please elizabeth; or shot, as elected by queen christina, _tribade_ and nymphomaniac both. and the things queen bess did to her unfaithfuls and the crimes mary stuart perpetrated to cheat jeannie bothwell out of her doughty hepburn! "if i were queen," i thought, and i must have spoken aloud, for henry said: "you would make me a great lord, love, wouldn't you, give me the best paying office at court, but that's small comfort to my creditors today." "it's creditors, mere creditors bothering you?" i almost shouted with joy. this man was still mine. no one had succeeded in luring him away from me. i threw myself upon him and nearly smothered him. filthy lucre, or the want of it, oppressing my boy. money, miserable money, caused me to doubt his very loyalty. "how much?" he stuttered and denied and swore it was all a mistake and that i had misunderstood him. "as an army officer----" "don't talk like frederick augustus. it will give me the greatest pleasure in the world to arrange your affairs, dearest." i got him to name the sum after a while. what a pity i am not rich. as catharine sent her orloffs and potemkins and zoritchs to the state treasury to help themselves as they saw fit, so i would gladly turn fortunes over to henry, never asking for an accounting. but this imperial highness is wretchedly poor, like most royal women not actually seated on the throne. i can't offer my paramour financial independence, not even luxury, but, thank heaven, i saved up enough to provide for his present needs, even if my treasury be drained to the last twenty-mark piece, and i will have to cut short my charities for the next quarter of a year. but he must not know these sordid details. some day i will be queen. i will reimburse the poor and i will be a true catharine to henry. * * * * * dresden, _january , _. i brought my mite to our rendezvous. mostly in small bills and twenty-mark pieces. if henry knew that many of these were earned in the right royal fashion of having them slipped down one's stocking by a husband, too drunk to distinguish a royal palace from a dance-hall! he told me honestly enough how he got into debt. "how can one lay by for a rainy day when one hasn't got anything?" i appreciate the play of words, for i am in the same predicament. only once has henry touched a card, but he lost considerably in horse deals, as most young army officers do. his sister made a rich marriage, but he wouldn't discover himself to her. if she asked money of her husband, there might be trouble, for vitzthum is not a liberal man. * * * * * loschwitz, _april , _. the children's health called for country air and i was quasi-forced to retire to loschwitz, though i have a thousand and one reasons for remaining in dresden. frederick augustus accompanies us. after the strenuous city life (in dresden!), he needs a change and a long rest from drinking and carousing, he says boastingly. of course, while he is here, i dare not invite the vitzthums. but as soon as he is gone, they shall come for a couple of weeks, and their presence will make henry's possible. it's dreadful the way i miss the sweet boy. i suffer like a dog, when the longing seizes me, suffer both in heart and body. when i contemplate his miniature, tears come into my eyes. i often cry for hours thinking of him. and to have to endure this great booby of a husband of mine day and night, especially nights. it's almost more than i can bear. the grossness of his egotism reminds me of the story told of king james, whom the english got rid of in . the dutch william, instead of waiting peacefully for the heritage of his father-in-law, went to claim it before his death, and james, pressed on all sides by enemies, decided upon flight. one sunday, in the month of december, his devotions over, he dismissed all his servants and advised his last partisans to turn towards the rising sun. after which, he lay for an hour with his wife, the better to take leave of her." the very thing frederick augustus would do if war or revolution made us fugitives. i never realized the diversity in our natures as much as i do now, when all my thoughts go out to another, when even connubial tendernesses seem like whip-strokes. the further our souls draw apart, the more disgusting this forced intimacy, the prostitution under the marriage vow, which i detest and abhor. but what will i do? shut my door to him? he would kick it in, or climb through the window. it's easier to submit to the violation of my person than to breaking of locks and furniture. chapter xlvii love's intermezzo bernhardt takes advantage of my day-dreams--my husband's indolent _gaucherie_--violent love-making--ninon who loved families, not men--does bernhardt really love me? loschwitz, _april , _. fortunately bernhardt came for a few days to relieve the monotony of my alcove life _par le droit du plus fort_. tall stories of dissipation, indiscipline, scandal, had preceded the poor fellow. no doubt, his military superiors got orders to make his life as unhappy as they possibly can, and he retaliates. the prince told me that, at last, he had succeeded arranging for an audience with the king. his majesty had denied himself to bernhardt for months past. he managed the coveted boon only by the intervention of various high generals and the threat to appeal to the kaiser. the royal house of saxony, while compelled to recognize william as war-lord, doesn't court his interference, or attempted interference, in matters military. flushed with this initial success and expecting lots of good things in the future, bernhardt was bent upon having a good time. he drank with frederick augustus, made love to lucretia and squeezed the chambermaids on his floor to his heart's content. to me he was the most gallant of cousins and, glad to contribute to the happiness of the poor fellow, i gave him plenty of rope, perhaps too much. on the second day of his stay we had a very merry dinner, having dispensed for the time with titled servants. after dinner the three of us retired to the veranda. i was in a rocker, showing perhaps more of my ankles than was absolutely necessary. frederick augustus was smoking dreamily. like an animal he likes to sleep after he has gorged himself. bernhardt, with my permission, had thrown himself on a wicker lounge and was absorbing cigarettes at a killing rate. i bantered him on his laziness. but he only sighed. "you wish that audience was past and forgotten," i asked. "pshaw, i'm thinking of something prettier than the king." remembering bernhardt's chief weakness, i indulged in the old joke, "_cherchez la femme_." bernhardt replied, with another succession of groans, "you are right, louise; _parfaitement, cherchez la femme_." "egads," grunted frederick augustus, glad for an excuse to go to his room, or play a game of pinochle with his aides, "egads, if you indulge in intellectualities, i had better go. a full stomach and french conversation--whew!" the tisch was in dresden; _fräulein_ von schoenberg with the children, lucretia flirting somewhere at a neighboring country chalet. we were alone on the remote terrace and it was getting dark. bernhardt sat up and looked at me with eyes of life-giving fire, but continued silent. "you want me to think that you command the rays of the sun stolen by prometheus?" he answered not, but sought to burn the skin of my neck and bosom by those prometheus rays. now, in the morning i got a note from henry, and i had been thinking of the dear boy every minute. i was longing for him; my heart, my senses were crying for him. i forgot bernhardt; i forgot all around me. with my fancies focussed on my lover, i leaned back in my armchair, gazing at the rising moon. my word, at that moment i was lost to everything. i half-awoke from my dream when i heard bernhardt rise. a moment later i felt his eyes prowling over my body. then a shadow darkened my face and bernhardt said with a strange quaver in his voice: "_cherchez la femme._ you are the woman, louise, you and none else." and wild, forbidden kisses burned on my face, on my neck, on my breasts. both hands claimed a lover's liberties. i was taken completely unawares; in my mind of minds i was in the countess's pavilion, receiving henry's caresses. all sense of location had vanished. and, thinking of my lover, i clasped both arms about bernhardt's neck and drew him to me. we kissed like mad. the love feast for henry became bernhardt's in the twinkling of an eye. whether he felt like a thief, i don't know; for my part my senses responded to henry, not to his substitute. how long this embrace lasted, i don't know. somebody, or some noise, caused us to separate. i fled and locked myself in my room. "tell his royal highness he must excuse me. i can't see him before he goes away. say i have a headache, or the gout, i don't care which," i commanded lucretia next morning. the previous night i had denied myself to frederick augustus, though he entreated and raved. while i appreciate the arch-lais's _bon mot_ that "one can't judge of a family by a single specimen," which made ninon talk of her lovers _not_ as coligny, villarceau, sévigné, condé, d'albret, etc., but as _les_ rochefoucaults, _les_ d'effiats, _les_ condés, _les_ sévignés, etc., i was determined not to betray henry by the whole house of saxony in a single twelve-hours. i wonder whether this bernhardt loves me? perhaps, on his part, it was the longing for the girl he adores, as, on mine, it was longing for henry that drew us together with electric force. and, of course, environment had something to do with it: moon, opportunity, frederick augustus's indolent _gaucherie_. yes, why deny it, the good dinner we had, the champagne. chapter xlviii grand mistress tells husband i keep a diary he wants to see it, but seems unsuspecting--grand mistress denies that she meant mischief, but i upbraid her unmercifully--threaten to dismiss her like a thieving lackey. loschwitz, _may , _. frederick augustus leaves tomorrow. forever, i thought, when he put this question to me: "you are keeping a diary, louise?" i was frightened dumb. i stared at him. "what's the matter," he laughed. "i'm not going to eat you." he didn't seem to be at all perturbed. "how do you know i keep a diary?" i stuttered. nonchalantly enough he made answer: "your bag-of-bones baroness told me. full of forbidden things, i suppose, since you regard it a state secret. you often say that my education was sadly neglected. maybe i can learn a thing or two from your scribblings. let's look 'm over." by this time i had regained my composure. "naturally," i said, "a diary records thoughts and things intended for the writer only, but if you choose to be ungentlemanly enough to wish to peruse those pages more sacred than private letters, i suppose i will have to submit." frederick augustus changed the subject, but i felt instinctively that he was disappointed. someone had played on his curiosity, and to go unsatisfied is not at all in this prince's line. of course, the someone was the tisch, but how did she know? i will ask her as soon as frederick augustus is gone. * * * * * loschwitz, _may , _. "have you ever seen my diary?" i asked the tisch this morning. "never, your imperial highness." "then how do you know i keep a diary?" "i surmised it because i saw your imperial highness write repeatedly in one and the same book." the hussy affected a humble tone, but the note of triumph and hatred underlying the creature's meekness did not escape me. "and the mere surmise prompted you to blab to my husband, arouse his suspicions?" "for heaven's sake," cried my grand mistress, "i had no idea that his royal highness didn't know about the diary. secrets between the prince-royal and your imperial highness--how dare i pre-suppose such a state of things? his royal highness casually asked how the crown princess killed time in loschwitz. i mentioned riding, driving, bicycling, writing letters, writing in the diary----" my fingers itched to slap her lying face, grand-duchess of tuscany fashion, but i kept my temper. "listen to me," i said. "while you have secret instructions to play the serpent in my household and to betray, for dirty money, your mistress of the blood imperial, your duties as a spy are confined to my going and coming, to my exterior conduct, to my visits outside the palace, to my friendships, perhaps. "they cannot possibly encompass my thoughts. and my diary is the repository of my thoughts--thoughts that must not be defiled by your favor-seeking curiosity. be warned. the next time you dare act the burglar--i say _burglar_--i will kick you out of doors like a thieving lackey." she got as white as a sheet and hissed back: "your imperial highness can't dismiss me. only his majesty has power----" i interrupted her with an imperious gesture. "i said i will kick you out of doors like a thieving lackey," i repeated, "and i will do so this moment if you say another word. whether or not his majesty will punish me for the act, that's _my_ business. you will be on the street and will stay on the street." i pointed to the door: "i dismiss you now. you will keep to your room for the rest of the day." i saw the tisch was near collapse. "your imperial highness deigns to insult a defenseless woman," she breathed as she went out. defenseless! so is the viper that attacks one's heel! first these "defenseless" creatures goad one to madness, then they appeal to our _noblesse oblige_. the enmity between the tisch and i is more intense than ever. chapter xlix aristocratic visitors i hear disquieting news about my lover's character--the aristocracy a dirty lot--love-making made easy by titled friends--anecdotes of richelieu and the duke of orleans--the german nobleman who married miss wheeler and had to resign his birthright--the disreputable business the pappenheims and other nobles used to be in--i am afraid to question my lover as to charges. loschwitz, _may , _. the vitzthums have been visiting for a week. henry lodges in the village, but spends nearly all his time in the castle and grounds. we play tennis, polo, ball; we drive, ride, go bicycling, we dine and sup together. i ought to be the happiest woman in the world, but a shadow dims the ideal picture my mind's eye drew of the lover. i have it recorded somewhere--i wish i hadn't, so i might doubt my memory--that henry told me he never borrowed from his sister. countess vitzthum's confidences to me show that he did repeatedly, that, in fact, he is forever trying to borrow. "he is a spendthrift; he cannot be trusted," said his sister, who loves him dearly. "he will wreck his career if he continues at the pace he is going. some day we may hear of him as a waiter or cab-driver in new york." these disclosures frightened me. i might forgive him the lie, but what is he doing with the money? spending it on lewd women like bernhardt, i suppose. i said: "oh," and madame von vitzthum seemed to catch its significance. it occurred to her at once that she had said too much and she tried to minimize her brother's delinquencies. but i know. maybe some of my money went to pay hotel expenses for---- * * * * * _at midnight._ my cousin richelieu caused his mistresses to be painted in all sorts of monastic garments and licentious devices, saying: "i have my saints and martyrs; they are all that; but, as for virgins, there are none outside of paradise." substitute _paillards_ for the holy ones and you have the situation in a nutshell. the vitzthums are panderers. they always manage to leave me alone with henry. when we are a-wheel, they ride a mile ahead; while playing tennis one or the other aims the ball, every little while, to enter the open window of a summer-house, where my lover and i can exchange a few rapid kisses. when we are driving, without coachman or groom, of course, they always "feel like walking a bit," while henry and i remain in the carriage. the same at the house, on the veranda. they are always _de trop_. vitzthum even sacrifices himself to the extent of paying court to the tisch and engaging her entire attention, if it must be. he reminds me of a certain colonel of the french army during the regency. "_monseigneur_," said this gentleman to my cousin d'orleans, "permit me to employ my regiment as a guard for my wife, and i swear to you that nobody shall go near her but your highness." of course, it's very lovely of them, but rather emphasizes the poor opinion i have of the nobility. your nobleman and noblewoman adopt all tones, all airs, all masks, all allures, frank and false, flattering and brutal, choleric or mild, virtuous or bawdy--anything as long as it makes for their profit. some months ago i met at the dresden court the dowager countess julie feodorowna of pappenheim, who told everybody she could persuade to listen that her eldest son, max albrecht, had to resign the succession, because he married beneath him, an american heiress, miss wheeler of philadelphia. "then you despise money?" i queried with a malicious thought just entering my head. "not exactly, your imperial highness," she said, "but our house laws----" "those funny house laws," i smiled, "you don't say they forbid a pappenheim to accept half a dozen millions from his wife, when, in days gone by, the counts of pappenheim's chief income was the tax on harlotry in franconia and swabia." the countess nearly dropped. "don't be alarmed," i said. "see the pompous looking man in the corner yonder? it's count henneberg. his forbears held the fiefship of the würzburg city brothel for many hundred years. that's where the family fortune came from." * * * * * loschwitz, _may , _. i am an ingrate. i bit the hand that fed me. noble iniquity that yields such delicious crumbs of love as henry and i stole in moments of ecstasy in park and parlor, in pavilion and veranda, on our drives and rides, be blessed a hundred times. ah, the harvest of little tendernesses, the sweet words i caught on the wing--recompense for the weeks of abstinence i suffered! occasionally only, very occasionally, i feel like questioning henry as to the lie he was guilty of. i quizzed his sister time and again about his relations with women. she always gives me a knowing laugh; i wonder whether she means to be impertinent, or is simply a silly goose. i won't ask him. if he is innocent, as i sincerely hope, he will be offended. if he is not, he will be ashamed of himself and will avoid me in future. it's "innocent," you lose, and "guilty," you don't win. and i love him. i want him, whether he lies to me or not. chapter l to live under king's and prince george's eye abruptly ordered to the royal summer residence--the vitzthums and henry take flight--enmeshed by prince george's intrigues--those waiting for a crown have no friends--what i will do when queen--no wonder kings of old married only relatives--interesting facts about relative marriages furnished by scientist. loschwitz, _may , _. all-highest order to proceed to pillnitz, the royal summer residence, without delay--a command i cannot possibly evade. conveyed in curt, almost insulting terms--the tisch's work, no doubt. it came like lightning out of a blue sky, just when henry and i had planned some real love-making _à la_ dresden. the vitzthums lost no time taking their leave when the scent of royal disgrace was in the air, and, as if to emphasize the obscene office they had assumed, they spirited henry away ere we had time even to say goodbye. what a life i am leading with the ogre of the king's wrath forever hanging over me; prince george's intrigues, octopus-like, enmeshing me! ten years i have been crown princess of these realms. three princes and a princess i gave to saxony. a fifth child is trembling in my womb, yet every atom of happiness that falls to my lot is moulded into a strand of the rope fastening 'round my neck. i haven't a friend in the world. a most dangerous thing to be on good terms with the heirs to the crown. makes the temporary incumbent of the bauble nervous, makes him jealous. when i am queen, i will have friends in plenty. but then i won't need any. immense wealth will be at my disposal. i will have offices to distribute, titles, crosses and stars. instead of tolerating the serpents now coiling at my fireside ready to spring at a word from their master, i will appoint to court offices persons i love or esteem, at least. henry shall be my chief equerry; the tisch will be dismissed in disgrace--no pension. but i am day-dreaming again. i started out to say that i had no friends. yet there's bernhardt? precisely--as long as i am his mistress. marie is dead, melita expects to be divorced before the end of the year. she will be a russian grand-duchess, and the tedium of petty german court life will know her no longer. aside from lucretia, there isn't a man or woman at the saxon court whom i can trust, for our high functionaries are only lackeys having a bathroom to themselves. in no other way do they differ from the servants who are allowed one bathroom per twenty-four heads. but the high aristocracy! its men and women flatter us to get us into leading strings, try to make us pawns on the political or social chess-board. as a whole, they are a despicable lot. no wonder kings of old married members of their own family exclusively, even their sisters, _in re_ of which the learned baron von reitzenstein told me many interesting details. he copied especially from egyptian records, but also from armenian, babylonian and persian, to wit: daranavausch married his niece, phratunga. his son and successor married his niece artayanta. artaxerxes was also married to a niece of his. darius ii and parysatis married their sisters. kambyses married two of his sisters. artachschasa ii married his two daughters; kobad his daughter sambyke. artaviraf, the founder of a great ancient religion, married no less than seven of his sisters--because "there were no other women worthy of the honor." according to that, the aristocracy of old must have been as rotten as that of our day. lucretia is the only person i trust, and they would have robbed me of her services long ago if my marriage contract did not vest the power of dismissal in me. unlike me, she can afford to defy the king's wrath. chapter li cold reception--enemies all around frederick augustus gives his views on adultery--doesn't care personally, but "the king knows"--"thank god, the king is ill"--i am deprived of my children--have i got the moral strength to defy my enemies? pillnitz, _may , _. i am undone. that malicious tisch woman holds me in the hollow of her hand. i dropped into a sea of ice when i set foot in the castle. long faces, suspicious looks, frigidity everywhere. the king treats me like a criminal. i wonder the guards don't refuse their _spiel_ at my coming and going. * * * * * pillnitz, _may , _. frederick augustus arrived. he doesn't say for how long, and acts the icicle in the presence of others. at night he seeks his "rights," seeks them brutally. this afternoon he said to me: "that you made me a cuckold isn't exactly killing me; this sort of thing happened to better men than i, and--i was almost prepared for it. but to hear it announced from the king's lips----" because his majesty knows--frederick augustus raved and swore i had dishonored him. "if i wasn't a royal prince, i would be kicked out of the army," he whined. in short, adultery isn't so very reprehensible if the king doesn't know. late tonight profound disquietude at court. the king is ill. thank god, the audience i feared must be postponed. * * * * * pillnitz, _may , _. it wasn't. his majesty appointed prince george his representative, and i received a command to call on him at ten sharp. i wrote on the court marshal's brutal invitation: "i refuse to see his royal highness." ten minutes later the tisch entered my apartment with a look of triumph on her hateful face. she handed me a letter on a golden plate and waited. "your ladyship is dismissed," i snapped. she didn't move: "i expect your imperial highness's commands with respect to the royal children," she said. "may it please your imperial highness to read prince george's letter." i tore open the envelope. his majesty's representative "graciously permits me to see my children at nine in the morning and between five and six in the afternoon. at no other time, and never unless baroness tisch is in attendance." i threw the letter on the floor and trampled on it. "get out," i commanded the baroness. if she hadn't gone instantly, i believe i would have choked her. so i am deemed unworthy to mother the children i bore; and a spy is officially appointed to watch my intercourse with the little ones lest i corrupt them. no other inference was to be drawn from the measure. "i will show them." but no sooner was the threat launched, than a great fear clutched at my heart. was i in a position to defy them? to guard the purity of the royal children "is the king's first duty towards his family." if he had proof positive that i was an impure woman, there was no use quarrelling with his decision. besides, moral delinquencies engender more than physical weakness. i felt my boasted energy ebbing away fast. "i am without strength, unnerved, because henry left me," i lied to myself. the abandoned woman is either a tigress or a kitten. i happen to be no tigress. chapter lii prince george reveals to me the depth of his hatred a terrible interview--"the devil will come to claim you"--uncertain how much the king and prince george know--i break into the nursery and stay with my children all day--prince george insults me in my own rooms and threatens prison if i disobey him. pillnitz, _may , _. i caught prince george in the park after laying in wait for him three long hours. "why does your royal highness forbid me to see my children?" i demanded, every nerve aquiver. "his majesty's orders. he thinks you are not fit company for growing children. you are leading a godless life." "what does your royal highness mean?" "what i said. a godless life, such as you entered upon, is an invitation to the devil. sins are the devil's envoys. when you are black with sin, the devil himself will come to claim you." he dropped his theological lingo and continued: "my fine daughter-in-law wants to be everybody's lady-love. if she had her sweet will, she would ruin every young chap in the residence and the surrounding country." he looked about him and, seeing we were unobserved, eased his bile in this pretty epigram as rank as a serpent's saliva: "an adulterous wife, that's what you are. satan alone knows how many you seduced." it was more than i could stand and i burst into tears. in moments like this women always cry, but even if i hadn't felt like doing so, i would have cried because george hates it. "prove to me, prove to the king that you are sorry for what you have done, return to the path of righteousness, to god, and we will see about the children," he whispered as he moved away. "what does he know?" "how much have they found out?" i kept saying to myself as i withdrew to my lonely apartments. * * * * * pillnitz, _may , _. no answer to the questions in my last entry. the silent persecution continues unabated. i am growing desperate. * * * * * pillnitz, _may , _. this morning at eight-thirty i went to the nursery. the baroness tried to speak to me. i held up my hand. "not a word from you, or something terrible will happen." _fräulein_ von schoenberg, who is really a sweet girl, offered some respectful advice. i begged her to be silent. if the door had been locked i would have forced it with the dagger i carried in my bosom. lucretia came and whispered. "i have decided to stay, and stay i will. let them do their worst if they dare," i told her. i changed the children's _curriculum_. "you can drive every day; you can't have mother every day. let's have some games." i remained in the nursery till all the children were asleep. they partook of the breakfast, lunch and dinner i ordered for myself. a great treat for them. we were very happy. but i waited in vain for interference. nothing happened to clear the situation. those questions were still unanswered when i returned to my apartments. i had just sat down to read the evening papers, when prince george entered unannounced. "if ever again you dare disobey my commands"--he shouted without preliminaries. i cut him short: "are the children yours or mine?" "they belong to saxony, to the royal house," he bawled, and poured forth a torrent of abuse without giving me a chance to put in a word. "you shall be disciplined to the last extremity. we will imprison you in some lonely tower, without state or attendants. you shall not see your children from one year's end to the other." "prison for the crown princess? would you dare, prince george?" "at the tower of nossen rooms are in readiness for your imperial highness," sneered my father-in-law as he walked out. nossen! a ruined country-house, flanked by a mediæval tower in the midst of swamps. the nearest habitation miles away. neither railway nor post-office, neither telegraph nor telephone--just the place to bury one alive. and i only thirty-one. augustus the physical strong imprisoned countess cosel at nossen six months before he sent her to her prison-grave in stolpen. after cosel's departure, another royal mistress was lodged in nossen, and as she would neither commit suicide, nor succumb to the fever, they starved her to death. and it all happened in the eighteenth century. the word nossen sent cold shivers down my spine. i am sure i won't sleep a wink. chapter liii revolver in hand, i demand an explanation an insolent grand mistress, but of wonderful courage--imprisonment, threats to kill have no effect on her--disregards my titles--my lover's souvenir and endearing words--how she caused henry to leave me--my paroxysms of rage--henry's complete betrayal of me. pillnitz, _may , _. this morning i awoke a mental and physical wreck, but determined to solve those vexatious questions: "what do the king and prince george know?" "what have they found out?" i slipped on a dressing-gown, fetched my small revolver from its hiding-place in the boudoir and rang for the tisch. i received her politely enough. i was quiet, cold, calculating. she gave a start as she observed my stony countenance. "baroness," i said, motioning her to come nearer, "explain the attitude assumed by his majesty, prince george and the rest." she shrugged her shoulders. "i want to know. do you hear, grand mistress? i command you to speak," i cried. a sneer of contempt hovered about her lips. she is a viper, this woman, but has the courage of the rattle-snake in action. i turned the keys in the several doors and threw them under the bed. from under the pillow i drew my revolver. i showed her the weapon and calmly announced, accentuating each word: "you won't leave this room alive until the question i put to you is answered to my satisfaction. i want the whole truth. you needn't excuse your own part in the business. as henri _quatre_ said to the lover of diane de poitiers, secreted under her bed, as he threw him half a cold bird: 'we all want to live, some honestly, some dishonestly.' you choose the dishonest road. be it so. "but i want you to state what you accuse me of. hurry," i added menacingly. the tisch was unmoved. either she thinks me a horrible dastard or is brave to madness. she looked at me fearlessly and smiled. she seemed to enjoy my rage. "answer or i will shoot you like the dog you are." and then her cold and fearless voice rang out: "put your revolver away. i am not afraid to tell you, and that thing might go off. is it possible," she continued sarcastically, "you have to ask?" this woman dared to address me "you." "tisch," i thundered, "my title reads your imperial highness." another contemptuous smile curled her thin lips as she answered insolently: "at your commands. but if you want me to talk, put away the weapon. i won't open my head while threatened." i threw the revolver into a drawer of my chiffonier and the tisch approached me. "do you know this?" she hissed, whipping from her desert bosom the golden _portebonheur_, henry's present. i had missed it for two days. fear seized my throat. "do you know this?" repeated the tisch, pushing the button and disclosing henry's miniature with the legend "to my sweetest louise." "where did you get it?" i asked, half-dead with shame and fear. "never mind. it's the last piece of evidence that fell into my hands. the real facts i have known for a long while." "and sold that knowledge?" "i did my duty." "report, then." and she told the story of her infamy--or mine? my true relations with henry were discovered by her at loschwitz. he is a distant relative of hers and she an intimate friend of his mother. hence she took care not to compromise the young man. the entire blame was put on me. "her imperial highness is indulging in a dangerous flirtation with baron bergen," she advised the king. "they must be separated at once lest that exemplary young man fall victim to her seductive wiles. i beseech your majesty to order the crown princess to pillnitz and put a stop to her most reprehensible conduct." hence the royal command to proceed to pillnitz without a moment's delay. "the king and prince george deem your honor unsafe unless you are under their watchful eyes," she had the effrontery to tell me. she drew a key from her pocket and opened one of the bedroom doors. with her hand on the knob, she said, bowing formally: "by your imperial highness's leave, i will keep the _portebonheur_ to use in case you are ever tempted again 'to throw me out of doors like a thieving lackey!'" a low bow, a sarcastic smile,--my executioner was gone. and i broke some priceless bric-a-brac, stamped my foot on the pearl necklace frederick augustus had given me, tore three or four lace handkerchiefs and stuffed the rags in my mouth to prevent me from crying aloud. * * * * * pillnitz, _may , _. lucretia finished the tisch's report. the good soul hadn't had the courage to tell me before, but now that the grand mistress had spoken, considerations of delicacy no longer stood in the way. what a judge of character i am, to be sure: henry, whom i raised from obscurity, whom i befriended, loved, advanced, rescued from the hands of usurers--a traitor, pshaw, worse,--i cannot write down the word, but it's in my mind. henry, who hadn't the time to take leave from me, devoted an hour to the tisch before he went away with the vitzthums. he told her all and gave her his word of honor--the honor of a man who accepted money from the woman weak enough to love him--that, first, he would never see me again of his own accord and would reject both my entreaties and commands; secondly, that he would petition to be transferred to a distant garrison to be out of the path of temptation; thirdly, that he would burn my letters. the tisch, on her part, promised to tell the king only half the truth--not for my sake, of course, but to shield her dear, seduced young relative. chapter liv forced to do penance like a trappist monk "by the king's orders"--i submit for the sake of my children--must fast as well as pray--in delicate health, i insist upon returning to dresden--bernhardt, to avoid being maltreated by king, threatens him with his sword--the king's awful wrath--bernhardt prisoner in nossen--i escape, temporarily, protracted _ennui_. pillnitz, _may , _. though i am in delicate health, the king, having recovered from his illness, commanded me to do penance,--almost public penance. fast and pray, pray and fast is the order of the day for the next two weeks. i arise every morning at five. at six a closed carriage takes me to a distant nunnery of the ursulines, a good hour's travel. i am forced to attend mass, which also lasts an hour. then a half-hour's sermon, dealing with fire and brimstone, hell and damnation. when that's over the mother superior kindly asks me to her cell and lectures me for an hour on the duties of a wife and mother, and on the terrors that follow in the wake of adultery. (i wonder where she gets her wisdom. she isn't married, she isn't supposed to have children, and she ought to know that the founder of her religion was most kind to the adulteress.) then back to pillnitz and breakfast, for it's the king's express command that i worship on an empty stomach; some jesuit told george my sins would never be forgiven unless the torture of the fast was added to that of early rising, travel, prostration before the altar and listening to pious palaver. i stand it for my children's sake. they will be returned to me after i did penance full score. my only satisfaction: i compel the tisch to attend me on my trips, and make her sit on the back seat of the carriage. i know this turns her stomach and watch her twitching face with devilish glee. * * * * * dresden, _june , _. with the authority of the pregnant woman i demanded that i be allowed to return to town. "if compelled to see prince george and the rest of my enemies daily, my child will be mal-formed, or i will suffer an _avortement_," i told the king. they let me go and i am breathing more freely. i still wear the chain and ball, but they don't cut into my flesh as in pillnitz. yesterday i learned that bernhardt was in dresden, and sent for him. he came in company of two army officers who remained in the anteroom. "i am a prisoner," he said resignedly, "those fellows outside will conduct me to nossen." the audience granted him several months ago took place only after my departure from the summer residence, and developed into a fearful scene. "his majesty," said bernhardt, "was in a rage when i entered. 'state what you have to say,' said the king, 'and be brief.' "'if your majesty will graciously permit me to reside in dresden, i will promise to lead a life in accordance with your majesty's intentions and will obey your slightest wish.' "'what?' cried the king, 'you dare name conditions for your good conduct?'" bernhardt denied any intention to impose conditions, but begged to submit to his majesty that he couldn't exist in those small garrisons. if in dresden, it would come easier to him to turn over a new leaf. "sure, all you young rakes want to live in the capital," sneered the king, "because it's easy in a big town to hide one's delinquencies." "your majesty," cried bernhardt, "if i ever did a reprehensible thing, it was forced upon me by intolerable conditions." the king grew white with rage. "no excuses," he thundered. "you are a rip and ugly customer and you will stay in the garrison i designated." even before the king had finished, bernhardt interrupted him with a fierce: "don't you call me names, majesty. i won't stand for that." "won't stand for anything that i think proper to mete out to you, rascal? i will make you." the king had risen and was about to box bernhardt's ears. bernhardt jumped back two paces and shouted like mad: "don't you dare touch me. i will defend my honor sword in hand, even if i have to shoot myself on the spot." for several seconds the king stood speechless, then he reached out his hand and touched an electric button. marshal count vitzthum responded. "take him," said the king hoarsely--"he is your prisoner." bernhardt drew his sword and threw it at the king's feet. he was conducted to a room, and sentinels were posted outside his door and under his windows. presently the telephone called together a council of war and it was decided that bernhardt go to nossen during the king's pleasure, or rather displeasure. "the army officers that act as my guards are not allowed to speak to me," said bernhardt, "and the garrison in nossen will likewise be muzzled." he laughed as he added: "i suppose i shall have to make friends with the spirits of the great augustus's mistresses haunting the old burg. they were gay ones! if the king remembered that, he would send me to the trappists rather than to nossen." * * * * * dresden, _july , _. i never dreamt that science would come to my rescue, but a clever woman has more than one trick up her sleeve. on a visit to a book store i happened to see a new publication on the hygienics of pregnancy and had it sent to the palace. last night, when nearly dead with _ennui_, i turned over the leaves of the volume and came across an article advising women in my condition to seek plenty of merry company. my mind was made up at once. first thing in the morning i sent for the court physician, and with many a sigh and groan gave him to understand that i feared to have melancholy if i continued the monotonous life i was leading. i happened to strike one of the doctor's pet theories, and he recited whole pages from the book i had been reading. then he asked me a hundred questions, and rest assured that my answers were in accordance with my wishes. "i will have the honor to report to his majesty at once," said the councillor at the end of the examination, "that some diversion is imperative in your imperial highness's case. would your imperial highness be pleased to visit the theatre or the opera if the king approves?" the king did approve, and the crown princess of saxony is once more permitted the privilege of _frau_ schmidt and _frau_ müller; namely, to go to the theatre when she feels like it. [illustration: the late king george of saxony louise's father-in-law] chapter lv francis joseph joins my saxon enemies cuts me dead before whole family--everybody talks over my head at dinner--i refuse to attend more court festivities--husband protests because i won't stand for insult from emperor--i give rein to my contempt for his family--hypocrites, despoilers, gamblers, religious maniacs, brutes--benign lords to the people, tyrants at home--i cry for my children like a she-dog whose young were drowned. dresden, _november , _. great family concourse to look my new baby over, dear marie alix, born at wachwitz, september . emperor francis joseph was first to arrive, the majesty who is forever posing as the family's good genius, as upholder of peace and amity among his countless cousins and nieces, and the many uncles and aunts and other relatives of his grand-children. behold how he lived up to this reputation! i had been commanded to attend the reception in the queen's _salon_, and made my bow to him. he bowed all around, looking at each present, but managed to overlook me. then he commenced a long and weary conversation with the queen, at whose elbow i sat, and when his stock of platitudes was exhausted, turned to fat mathilde, congratulating her on the possession of the _stern kreuz_ decoration, an austrian order which i likewise wore at my corsage. it was none other than the late empress elizabeth who pinned it on me. presently dinner was announced. the emperor took in her majesty, the king, _nolens, volens_, had to conduct me, but gave me neither word nor look. nor did the others. i couldn't have been more isolated on a desert island, than at this royal board. they talked and cracked their silly jokes, and paid compliments to each other and were careful not to let their tongues run away with their intriguing minds, but all went above my head. no one spoke to me but the lackeys: "if it please your imperial highness----" frederick augustus tore into my bedroom some little time after i had retired. picture of the offended gentleman, if you please. i got no more than i deserve, but it "reflected on him, h-i-m, him." though it was a "family dinner," he, the crown prince of saxony, was "publicly" disgraced. the emperor had treated the crown princess as air. he had not deigned to address a single word to her. the crown princess was a trollop in the imperial eyes--it was enough to drive the crown prince to drink. "drink yourself to death then," i shrieked. during the night i speculated what to do: ask a private audience of the emperor, state my side of the case and beg his forgiveness and protection, beg, especially, for better treatment at his hands? and if he refused? francis joseph is a good deal of a jesuit. when he hates, he never lets it come to a break; when he loves, he never attaches himself. if i stooped to humiliate myself, he might choose to debase me still more. it was entirely probable that he would betray my confidences to the king and prince george. i will defy him and--all of them! "her imperial highness regrets----" my court marshal wrote in answer to all invitations or rather "commands" for the next three days. when i refused to participate in the "grand leave-taking," frederick augustus came post-haste to expostulate with me. "you must. it would be an affront without precedent." "take leave of a man who didn't say good-day to me on his arrival, and who probably intends to slight me in similar fashion on going away----" in lieu of argument the prince royal abused me like a pick-pocket; i had waited for it and now i let loose. "you are like the rest of your family," i shouted: "ignorant, thoughtless, brutal _en venerie_, sanctimonious in dotage. i know few people for whom i have so great a detestation as for the royal saxons. look at your father, there is no more jesuitical a jesuit, the inward man as hideous as the outward. he would be an insolent lackey, if he didn't happen to be a prince. "and johann george--a shameless inheritance-chaser, despoiler of pupillary funds, gambler at the _bourse_, who whines like a whipped dog when he loses. "the royal bernhardt, companion of street-walkers! "prince max, who talks theology, but keeps his eye on therese. "your queen, a victim of religious madness, your king and his system--organized selfishness. chicanery for those dependent upon him, ruin for all more gifted than the average wettiner. "while living here i have learned to look upon my father's discrowning as a stroke of good luck for, since kings can no longer indulge their brutalities against their subjects, they turned tyrants at home. "if your father did to the humblest of his subjects what he did to me, he would be chased from home and country. the people, the parliament, his own creatures would rise against him and blot his name from the royal roster. "in the palace, in boudoirs, in the nurseries, he plays the prince--extortioner--executioner. to the public he is the benign lord, whining for paltry huzzas." frederick augustus was so dumfounded, he could only grind his teeth. i continued: "you prate of respect due the majesty. there's nothing to induce feelings of that sort. round me there is naught but weakness, hypocrisy, pettiness. i see shame and thievery stalking side by side in these gilded halls--gilded for show, but pregnant with woe. "fie on you, prince royal, who allows his wife to be dogged by spies. thieves, paid by your father, steal my souvenirs; a burglar's kit hidden in their clothes, they besiege my writing table. jailers stand between me and my children. "my children! "like a she-dog,[ ] whose young were drowned, i cry for my babies--i, the crown princess of saxony, who saved your family from dying out, a degenerate, depraved, demoralized, decadent race." when i had said this and more i fell down and was seized by crying convulsions. footnotes: [footnote : queens seem to like this unseemly comparison: "am i a kennel-dog in the estimation of the bastard of england?" cried mary of scots, when queen elizabeth refused her safe-conduct through england upon her departure from france (summer ).] chapter lvi i am determined to do as i please i reject mother's tearful reproaches--i beard prince george in his lair despite whining chamberlains--i tell him what i think of him, and he becomes frightened--threatens madhouse--"i dare you to steal my children"--i win my point--and the children--"her imperial highness regrets"--lots of forbidden literature--precautions against intriguing grand mistress--the affair with henry--was it a flower-covered pit to entrap me?--castle stolpen and some of its awful history. dresden, _november , _. patience ceased to be a virtue. tolerance would be a crime against myself. i am determined to do as i please in future. if it upsets the king's, prince george's and the rest's delicate digestion, so much the better. the newspapers are hinting about my troubles with prince george and the king. when i go driving or appear at the theatre, the public shows its sympathy in many ways. sometimes i am acclaimed to the echo. mamma wrote me a tearful letter. she spent six hours in prayers for "sinful louise" and sends me the fruits of her meditations: six pages of close script, advising me how to regain the king's and prince george's favor. never before have i failed in outward respect to my mother, but this time i wrote to her: "pray attend to your own affairs. don't meddle in mine which you are entirely unable to understand." * * * * * dresden, _november , _. bernhardt was sent to sonnenstein. whether he became insane at nossen, or whether it is the family's intention to drive him mad among the madmen of sonnenstein, i don't know, but it behooves me to be careful. sonnenstein has accommodation for both sexes. * * * * * loschwitz, _november , _. i sent a letter to the king, asking him to have loschwitz castle prepared for my reception. his majesty didn't deign to answer, but prince george commanded me in writing to stay at dresden "under his watchful eye." i immediately proceeded to his apartments in my morning undress, without hat, gloves or wrap. as i rushed through the anteroom, adjutant von metsch begged me with up-lifted hands not to force his royal highness's door, prince george being too ill to receive me, etc., etc. i paid no attention to his mournful whinings. at that moment i had courage enough to stock a regiment. "so you won't allow me to go to loschwitz," i addressed george as i suddenly bobbed up at the side of his desk. my father-in-law looked at me as if i were a spook, emerged from a locked closet. "who let you in?" he managed to say after a while. "i didn't come here to answer questions," i replied. "i came to announce that if you don't let me go to loschwitz, there will be a scandal that will resound all over christendom and make you impossible in your own capital." "why do you want to leave dresden?" he insisted. "because i want to be alone. because i am tired of hateful faces. because i refuse to accept orders and insults from people that are beneath an imperial princess of austria." prince george turned pale. "am i one of those beneath your imperial highness?" he queried stupidly. "decidedly so." a long pause. then prince george shouted: "to the devil with you. i don't care whether you stay in loschwitz, or dresden, or on the vogelwiese." the vogelwiese is an amusement park, respectable enough, but the word or name, as used by george, reeked with sinister and insulting meaning. trembling with rage, i replied: "right royal language you royal saxons use. from time to time, i suppose, you refresh your fish-wife vocabulary in the annals of augustus the physical strong, than whom a more gross word-slinger did not walk the history of the eighteenth century." i believe prince george was frightened by my violence. assuming a haughty tone he said formally: "your imperial highness is at liberty to travel whenever you please, but you will be so good as to leave your children in dresden." i stepped up to the white-livered coward and hissed in his face: "steal my children if you dare, and i will go to france, or switzerland and ask a republican president to interfere for humanity's sake." "and--land yourself in an insane asylum," sneered george. "an old trick of the royal house of saxony, i know," i shouted back. "bernhardt is saner than you, yet the king sent him to sonnenstein. if such a crime had been perpetrated by one not a king, he would go to jail." prince george pointed a trembling finger towards the door. "out with you!" he bawled hoarsely. "out!" i stood my ground. "may i take my children? yes or no?" he rang the bell and repeated mechanically: "out with you, out!" i had another fit of crying convulsions. doctors, maids and lackeys were summoned in numbers. they bedded me on the couch and six men-servants carried me to my apartments. two days later i went to loschwitz with my children. i had defied the king. prince george was humbled. i carried my point, and the dresden court will not see me again in a hurry. * * * * * loschwitz, _christmas, _. i refused to spend christmas at court. frederick augustus planned a stay of a couple of weeks. "not a single night," i wrote back. they parleyed; they begged. "the crown prince desires to spend christmas with the children. in the interests of public opinion, it's absolutely necessary that he does." "but not--that i submit to prostitution. i will give him a dinner, but he will drive back to dresden immediately afterwards." frederick augustus brought numerous presents for me. "you may place them under the christmas tree," i ordered the tisch. "oh, your imperial highness, look," cried the tisch, holding up something or other. i turned my back on her and looked out of the window. i never went near my end of the christmas table. "you will send the things brought by his royal highness to the bazaar for crippled children," i told the house marshal. "they shall be sold for the benefit of the poor." * * * * * loschwitz, _january , _. "her imperial highness regrets." i refused the invitations to today's family dinner; the grand reception, _te deum_ and parade. "unprecedented affront!" what do i care! i have eighteen horses, half-a-dozen carriages, i drive, i ride, i hunt, i give the tisch palpitation daily by the literature i affect: _zola_, _flaubert_, _m'lle paul_, _ma femme_, _m'lle de maupin_, _casanova_, _m'me bovary_. and the periodicals i subscribed for! _simplicissimus_, harden's _zukunft_, all the _double entendre_ weeklies and monthlies of paris. may prince george and mathilde burst with rage and envy when they hear of my excursions in the realms of the literary satans. * * * * * loschwitz, _january , _. the tisch is beginning to treat me like a person irresponsible for her doings. sonnenstein is looming up anew. but i am going to fool her. as i will hold no more speech with her, there will be no occasion for turning my own words against me. if i have to give a command, or answer a question, i ask lucretia or _fräulein_ von schoenberg to convey my orders. * * * * * loschwitz, _march , _. an uneventful winter is drawing to a close. by banishing myself to this quiet place i raised a barrier against quarrels, against harsh orders, against humiliations. and the barrier also shuts out: love, happiness. sometimes, when the tisch's hateful mouth spouts honeyed platitudes, i ask myself whether the affair with henry wasn't, after all, a flower-covered pit dug for me by my enemies. it was the tisch who had henry appointed _vortänzer_. maybe, knowing my inflammable heart, she offered the tempting bait solely to the end of getting me into her power? far from impossible. i curse the day when i entered dresden, joined this court and family. * * * * * loschwitz, _may , _. royal command to join the court at pillnitz june . the king, who has been ailing for some time, is anxious to be reunited with the children, and, as a necessary evil, i must go along. i replied that i would prefer nossen, or even stolpen, if it pleases his majesty. castle stolpen is an old-time stronghold of the bishops of meissen, and its very ruins are pregnant with reminiscences of a barbaric age. the apartments once occupied by the countess cosel, as a prison first, as a residence after the death of augustus, might be made habitable even now. exceedingly interesting are the old-time torture chambers and the subterranean living rooms of the "sworn torturer" and the dogs, man-shaped, that served him. sanct. donatus tower, a wing of the great, black pile, was the ancient _habitat_ of these worthies, and the torture chamber, still extant, is a hall almost as big as the dresden throne-room. in an inscription hewn in the basalt, the sovereign bishop, johannes vi, poses as builder and seems proud of the damnable fact. other princes of the church let us know in high-sounding latin script that they created the "monk hole" and the "stairless prison" respectively. the latter is a vast subterranean vault, never reached by sunshine or light of any kind. its victims were made to descend some twenty feet below the surface of the earth on a ladder. when near the bottom, the ladder was pulled up and--stayed up. the prisoners were fed once every twenty-four hours, when a leather water pouch and some pounds of black bread were sent down on a rope. of course only the strongest got a morsel, or a drink of water. the others died of starvation and the survivors lived only until there were new arrivals, stronger than themselves. the dead bodies were never removed, and horrible stories of necrophily smudge the records of this awful prison and cover its princely keepers with infamy. the "monk's hole" was called officially "obey your judge." it is a sort of chimney, just large enough to take the body of a man. when a monk or other prisoner refused to confess, he was let down into the hole in the wall to starve, while tempting dishes, meat, wine and bread, were dangled over his head, almost within reach of his hands. of course, after enduring this torture for several days, the delinquent was glad enough to "obey his judge." by offering to go to this abode of horror and to take the place of cosel, i meant to show my utter contempt for the royal favor vouchsafed. chapter lvii i confess to papa king albert dies and king george a very sick man--papa's good advice--"you will be queen soon"--a lovely old man, very much troubled. castle sibyllenort, _june , _. king albert is dead. george is king, and may god have mercy upon my soul. of course the demise of his majesty changed all my plans of defiance and otherwise. i am once more an official person, even an important one, for the new king can't last long. he is a very sick man, in fact. perhaps that is the reason why he wants to hear himself addressed "your majesty" all the time. petty souls like to be called "great." * * * * * dresden, _june , _. i intended to return at once to loschwitz, but the king, hearing of my intention and not wishing to provoke another scene, invited my father to come to dresden "in the interests of his daughter." the same evening i received a wire from papa, saying that he would be in dresden within twenty-four hours. my own arrival in the capital was kept secret by the king's order, but next afternoon, when i drove to the station to welcome my father, i got my reception just the same. the people wildly cheered their crown princess and thousands of sympathizing eyes followed me from the palace to the depot. i was almost overcome by so much sympathy and when at last i saw father, i threw myself on his neck, crying aloud. the king was standing by, impatiently waiting to conduct his grand-ducal guest before the guard of honor had drawn up. "later, later," whispered papa, patting me on the cheek. * * * * * dresden, _june , _. i had an hour's talk with father. i bared my heart to him. i reported my own faults along with those of the others. papa understands me. he sympathizes with me, but help me he cannot. "these are only passing shadows," he said. "look boldly into the future. you will soon be queen." and he told me of his financial difficulties and of the misfortune of being a sovereign lord without either land or money. "the emperor ordered me to scold you hard," he continued, "and mamma wants me to be very severe. as to king george, he said he would thank god if i succeeded in breaking your rebellious spirit. 'if you don't, i will,' added his majesty." then father kissed me more lovingly than ever and asked, half apologetically: "is it true, louise, that you had a lover?" "i thought i had one, but he was unworthy of me," i replied without shame. my confession seemed to frighten him. "it's sad, sad," he said. "royal blood is dangerous juice. it brought mary of scots to the scaffold; it caused your great-aunt marie antoinette to lose her head, only to save the old monarchies a few years later, when we inveigled the enemy of legitimate kingship into a marriage with another of your relatives. but for marie, louise, the descendants of the corsican might still sit on a dozen thrones." father forgot his daughter's disgrace when he mounted this historic hobby-horse and, needless to say, i did not recall the original text. only when, three days later, he took leave of me, holding my head long between his two trembling hands and kissing me again and again, i felt that the poor, old man's heart was oppressed with shame and torn by fears. chapter lviii monsieur giron--richard, the artist the king asks me to superintend lessons by m. giron--a most fascinating man--his grecian eyes--he is a painter as well as a teacher--in love--careless whether i am caught in my lover's arms--"richard" talks anarchy to me--why i don't believe in woman suffrage--characters and doings of women in power. dresden, _july , _. king george is determined i shall stay in dresden to end the newspaper talk about trouble in the bosom of the royal family. he engaged a new head-tutor for my little brood. monsieur giron, a belgian of good family. "i would be pleased if you attended the children's lessons and reported to me on the method of the new man," he said. "you are so intellectual, louise, you will find out quickly if m. giron is not what he is represented to be." i promised, for, after all, i owed so much to the king and my children. alas, it was fate! * * * * * dresden, _july , after midnight_. he is tall, well made, and his wild, grecian eyes fascinate me. he is conscious of self, but modest. his voice is sweet and sonorous, his eyes are bright with intellect. speaking eyes! i asked him to visit my apartments at the conclusion of school hours. he told me he was a painter as well as a teacher of languages. "would you like to paint me?" "i am dying for a chance to reproduce your loveliness as far as my poor art permits." he told me he had a studio in town, where he is known under his artist's _pseudonyme_, richard. "how romantic! i'd like to see it," i said impulsively. "several ladies and gentlemen of society sat for portraits at my studio here and at home." in short we arranged that he paint my picture and that i should go to his studio, where the light is excellent. * * * * * dresden, _july , _. i am happy once more. those hours at richard's studio are the sweetest of my life. lucretia acts the protecting angel as usual. richard calls her justice because she is "blind." when she is along, i drive boldly up to the door in one of the court carriages. sometimes, when i can sneak out of the palace for a little while unobserved, i go alone in a cab. how long this sort of thing can go on without discovery, i know not. as to what will happen afterwards, i care not. if i was told that tomorrow i would be caught in my lover's arms and banished to a lone island for life, i would go to his studio just the same. * * * * * dresden, _august , _. richard is moulding my character. i, once so proud of rank and station, i, who upheld the wettiners' robbery of a poor, defenseless woman, the duke's wife, because socialistic papers spoke in her favor,--louise now allows anarchistic tendencies to be poured in her ears. she almost applauds them. this easy change from one extreme to the other at a lover's behest is one of the things that make woman's rule--or co-rule--as the male's political equal--impossible. it's a sort of _phallus_ worship that always was and always will be. "though women have not unfrequently been the holders of temporary and precarious power, there are not many instances where they have held secure and absolute dominion," says dr. william w. ireland in his famous "blot upon the brain." because they were swayed by the male of the species, of course! though the characters of the world's female sovereigns differed as to blood, race, education, environment and personal traits, neither showed any inclination to resist the allurements of irregular _amours_. think of semiramis, of mary of scots, of elizabeth, catherine i, of the tsaritzas elizabeth and the second catherine--under the temptations of power, they recruited paramours for themselves in all ranks of society. agrippina was more licentious than caligula; messalina's infamy surpassed nero's, and the furthest reaching, the one irresistible power swaying them all was man. augustus of the three hundred and fifty-four emphasized this in the negative and, in his own uncouth way, by "postering" the countess cosel's chief charm on penny coins. "she cost saxony twenty millions in gold--behold the penny's worth she gave in return." when the beauty who had brought the richest german kingdom to the verge of state bankruptcy died february , , four hundred of augustus's infamous medals were found hidden in her favorite armchair. she paid three or four times their weight in gold for each. chapter lix the people think me a wanton credit me with innumerable lovers, but don't disapprove--glad the king feels scandalized--picture of the "she-monster"--everybody eager for love--i delight in richard's jealousy--husband's indelicate announcement at table--i rush from the royal opera to see my lover--a threatening dream--richard not mercenary like my noble lovers. dresden, _august , _. this is the kind of speech richard holds with me and--i enjoy: "every working-girl, every poor woman who suckles her own children and helps her husband in the fight for existence, stands mountain high above royal ladies like you. "none of you royal ladies are their moral equals. "in no distant time," he says, "they will chase you from your thrones, even as your relatives had to evacuate france by tumbril, post-chaise or train." richard's ethical and intellectual valuation of royal princes coincides with my own. he has rare insight into our family life. however, these disclosures both amazed and alarmed me when i first heard them pronounced. i never dreamt that opinions of that kind prevailed among the masses. "but why am i acclaimed whenever i show myself?" "because you are pretty, because you impersonate the one thing all are desirous to embrace: affluence, kindness, youth and beauty. because you are a treat to the senses and because sensuality is the paramount thing in life, whether we admit it or not." "who's 'we'?" "kings and anarchists, princesses of the blood and laundresses, royal princes and cab drivers, empresses, street-walkers, society ladies, big-wigs and _sabretasches_. the draggled menads and the helpful lafayette, the jacobins, charlotte corday and the man she killed--all were, and are, on similar pleasure bent." and he added quickly: "as to the dresdeners, they are tickled because, every time they applaud you, the king is scandalized." "how do they know that i am not on good terms with the king?" "the very children in arms understand." all dresden, says richard, is talking about me. everybody assumes to know the number and qualities of my lovers. "louise," they argue, "knows how to enjoy herself, but, though it serves the king right, we wouldn't have her for a daughter-in-law, either." according to the masses, i visit the vogelwiese at night, ride on the flying horses and solicit men and boys that please my fancy. like a gigantic she-monster, i drag them to my lair--"some to vanish forever." (no doubt, i eat them.) "unwashed soldiers and clerks reeking with cheap perfume, actors and students, draymen and generals, it's all the same to the crown princess. "sometimes, when the spirit moves her, the crown princess issues from her gilded apartments in the palace and seizes the sentinel patrolling the corridors. or she visits the guard-room _en déshabille_ and selects the youngest and best looking officer for her prey. "generous, too. she thinks nothing of handing a pension of ten thousand marks per year to a chap that pleased her once." "is that all they say about me?" "not one-half. poor devils that can't afford ten marks per year for their fun, cit's wives that know only their ill-kempt husbands, factory girls that sell their virtue for a supper or a glass of beer--though afterwards they claim it was champagne--all take delight in contemplating that you, or any other good looking royal woman, are frankenstein's succuba or worse. didn't they accuse your grand-aunt, marie antoinette, of incest with her son and gave him to the cobbler to thrash the immorality out of him?" "and they give names?" "strings of them"--among them several i never heard mentioned before. * * * * * dresden, _august , _. richard is jealous--jealous of the men i did love and the regiments that public opinion give me credit for. he must needs think i have loins of steel. he tells me he suffers agonies by what i confessed, and still more by what i hide. to see him thus unhappy gives me intense pleasure, for it shows that the boy loves me to distraction. _midnight._ m. giron was very cold and distant during the afternoon's lessons. i had previously lunched with him at his studio and we were very gay then. i teased him unmercifully about "his royal _demi-mondaine_," as the masses painted me. frederick augustus was very gallant at dinner and told me, before a table full of people, that he would take pleasure in sleeping with me tonight. i have too bad a conscience to deny myself to him. but i ran over to the opera for half an hour and ordered m. giron to my box. "i got over my vexation," he said,--"got over it because i reflected that you are the princess royal and that i would be a fool to take your love seriously. henceforth i will regard it a passing adventure and let it go at that, for if i thought it the great passion of my life, i would despair, indeed." "find a closed cab," i whispered, my heart in my mouth; "i must see you alone. i will be at the northern side-exit in five minutes." cabby was ordered to drive slowly along unfrequented side streets. we lowered the curtains. "so you don't love me?" i wailed. burying my face on richard's chest i cried as if my heart would break. "not love you?" he breathed. "if i loved you not, i would die, louise." "then why those cruel words?" "good heavens," he cried, "haven't i the right to be jealous? i said what i said to hear you say that you love me." "and you will always love me?" "always, dearest," and he covered my face and neck with burning kisses. ten minutes later i was again seated at the opera. i hear frederick augustus in the corridor. * * * * * dresden, _august , _. a horrible night. lucky that frederick augustus was more than half drunk when he sought "his imperial pleasure-trove," as he likes to call me, for i often talk in my sleep and--i dreamt of richard. i dreamt of my enemies, too. they stole him from me. he was of the past like henry, romano and the rest. in a second dream he jilted me--cast me off like a garment, old or out of fashion. lucretia, who sleeps in the next room, heard me cry out in terror, heard me denounce the king, tisch--everybody. and frederick augustus snored. * * * * * dresden, _october , _. princes and noblemen have ever sought their own advantage of me. to them i was always the milch-cow, or phryne, outright. richard is poor. i offered him a considerable sum for one of his paintings. "never again mention the matter," he said curtly. "but it would give me much pleasure to be of assistance to you." "louise, we must separate if you don't stop that line of talk," he replied. and he means it. a day or two later i let fall, casually, that frederick augustus might buy the portrait of myself that was nearing completion under his skillful brush. "his royal highness won't have the chance," he cried fiercely. "i will tell him it isn't finished, or doesn't come up to my artistic standard, or something of the sort." chapter lx the day of judgment looms up my grand mistress shows her colors--richard advises flight--i hesitate on account of my children--my grand mistress steals a letter from richard to me--i opine that an adulteress's word is as good as a thief's--i humble my grand mistress, but it won't do me much good--pleasant hours at his studio. dresden, _october , _. that dreadful dream is becoming a heart-breaking reality. the tisch entered my boudoir last night in her mantilla, emblem of her office as grand mistress. some dirty business on hand, i surmised at once. "imperial highness," she said, genuflexing ceremoniously, "i submit that your artist takes too long about the portrait. your imperial highness's visits to the studio must cease." "since when do you give orders here, baroness?" "his majesty empowered me," answered the grand dame. "in that case, do as you like, but don't bother me," i cried bravely enough, but trembling in every limb. the tisch, no doubt, is preparing to deal me another blow. when i told richard that henceforth we would have to exercise extra care, he was beside himself with rage. "why stand such tyranny?" he cried. "no self-respecting woman, other than royal, would submit for a single week to be bullied and intrigued against and threatened and browbeaten as you are, and they have ill-used you for eleven years. if you were a simple cit's daughter, instead of the descendant of a decrepit, bloodless family, yclept royal, you would make an end now, leave them to their shabby kingship and be a free woman--free and happy." my lover forgets the children, but the picture of the free life he draws is most attractive. "and would you go with me to the end of the earth, as the story books put it?" i asked tremblingly. "louise," he answered, "if you are brave enough and strong enough to throw away a crown, i will be your slave for life." * * * * * dresden, _october , _. "your imperial highness was pleased to call me a thief once," said the tisch early this morning as she entered my boudoir, triumph written all over her yellow countenance. "you repeated that calumny to the prince royal and doubtless to many other persons. today came the opportunity to live up to my reputation. i stole a letter addressed to you by your present lover, and as your imperial highness is pleased to doubt my authority, immediately sent it to his majesty. it makes highly interesting reading." the blow made my knees tremble, but pain and rage came to my assistance, effacing the momentary weakness. "don't think for a moment to frighten me," i cried. "i say to your face that i have a lover--a gentleman, not an unspeakable, like your nephew. and now listen: i will tell the king and the press of europe, if it must be, that it was you, my grand mistress, who 'pandered' me to henry--for--revenue. i will have him whipped out of the army----" "you don't suppose for a moment that the word of an adulteress would prove acceptable either to his majesty or anyone else?" hissed the insolent creature. "my word will be accepted all around," i shouted back, "for i have the proofs, proofs that you smuggled this unspeakable into my household, proofs that you lied to the king in order not to disrupt your nephew's career. "and i will cry from the house-tops that you discovered my relations with henry only _after_ i had paid his debts, _after_ i had financed his excursions to gambling-houses and to usurers' dens. ah, i paid his tailors and glove-makers, his board and lodging, his laundry bills. i paid the alimony due his strumpets, and _after_ all was done, _after_ his lieutenantship had again a clean bill of health, financially speaking, then, and not a moment before, did you step in and make an end of the farce, wherein i played the part of 'angel,' or pay-master." the tisch got visibly smaller under my lash. the air of triumph she bore when entering the room gave way to an expression of despair. if she hadn't sent the letter to the king, i believe she would have given it up after i was half through with her. once more i hold the whip hand, but what good will it do me since i am condemned to lose the man i love? * * * * * _midnight._ richard approved of all i said and did. we were unspeakably happy this afternoon, despite the storm threatening us. i fear neither the king nor frederick augustus now, but the fear of sonnenstein i can't shake off. if the king takes it upon himself to say that i'm mad, there will be plenty of medical authorities to bear him out, none to oppose him. of course, they will separate me from my children and will do their utmost to drive me mad between now and the time when i should be proclaimed queen. chapter lxi a mad house for louise--probably my confidential maid, lucretia, is banished--the new king has got the incriminating letter, but frederick augustus says nothing--on the eve of judgment the king falls ill. dresden, _october , _. this morning, at six, lucretia rushed into my room. she was in her night-gown. her hair was loose. no color in her face. and between sobs and curses she told me that she had orders to leave by ten sharp. "if you dare stay over the appointed time, you will be transported to the frontier on foot, between gendarmes." "von baumann shall come." i threw a loose wrapper over my night-gown and received him at once. "my marriage contract provides that no one but i have the right of dismissal with respect to countess baranello," i said sharply. "as long as the lady keeps within the law," replied baumann with just a trace of insolence in his voice. i looked at him in astonishment. "the countess is guilty of a crime, of a succession of crimes," continued baumann, "but his majesty, not wishing to be harsh, decided to treat her merely as an obnoxious foreigner. she has forfeited her right to live in saxony, and will do well to obey." i helped poor lucretia pack. i gave her a handful of jewels, i paid her a year's salary in advance and ordered the treasury to procure first-class passage for her to rome. i sent her to the station in my own carriage, and wired to our rome representative to show her every courtesy. * * * * * _afternoon._ frederick augustus hasn't said a word to me about the affair with richard. we have our meals together and his attitude in no wise differs from that usually maintained. yet i am convinced he knows. the last service rendered me by lucretia, gave me great relief. she found out that neither the tisch, nor frederick augustus, nor the king know who "richard" is. fortunately his letter was typewritten, signature and all. * * * * * _six o'clock._ the king announced his visit for eight o'clock. * * * * * _nine o'clock._ the king had a fall in his apartments shortly after he sent me notice of his coming. he was unconscious for two hours. safe for the time being! chapter lxii king's illness a boon to lovers prayers mixed with joy--espionage disorganized, and i can do as i please--love-making in the school-room--buying a ring for richard--"wishing it on"--"our marriage"--king's life despaired of--my tormentors obsequious--smile at my peccadilloes--husband proud of me--my popularity a great asset--frederick augustus delighted when he hears that king can't last long--the joyous luncheon at richard's studio--making fun of majesties--i expect to be queen presently. dresden, _october , _. he is dangerously ill. it may be weeks and months before the king recovers--if he recovers at all. i feel like praying, crying, shouting with joy. when richard folded his arms about me this afternoon, i said to myself: "god doesn't begrudge me a lover as kind and good as richard." the king's illness has disorganized the espionage, my coming and going are no longer controlled. the body-groom brings in my letters as delivered at the gate. in the school room, while the children are writing or studying, richard and i find time to exchange kind words and even an occasional caress. when i "command" the tutor to my apartments, we need fear no surprise. the utmost quiet prevails in the palace. the courtyard is sanded foot high and strewn with straw to deaden the sound of wheels and horses' hoofs. no more mounting of the guard with fife and drum. i suggested that the children be sent to the _grosser garten_ to play. the tisch agreed with enthusiasm. this yields us--richard and myself--two hours of love-making. * * * * * dresden, _october , _. the king continues ill. i went into a cheap jeweler's this afternoon and bought an inexpensive ring with a ruby no larger than a pin head. when i gave it to richard, he grew red with joy. strange, he bought a similar ring for me. i shall never wear another ring in my life but richard's. i pulled my rings off one after the other and threw them on the bed. i kissed the larger ring and "wished" it on richard's finger. he did the same with the ring intended for me. and we said, as with a common breath, "our wedding." * * * * * dresden, _november , _. a bulletin, by the king's physicians, holds out scant hopes for george's life. i am watching the palace yard. the archbishop of dresden, attended by two court chaplains and a host of other clerics, is just mounting the stairs to administer the last rites of the church. the next minute may see me queen of saxony. i may even be queen now. i wish i had the effrontery to promise the lackey or official, announcing my enthronization, a handful of gold, as george did, when king albert was dying. even so, i have risen immeasurably in everybody's esteem. the sweet family knows me again. johann george, mathilde, isabelle and max are kotowing to me. bernhardt sent me a telegram of condolence--condolence! he is a humorist, that boy. minister of the royal house, baron seydwitz, called twice. the royal adjutant, general von carlowitz, spoke of the possibility of giving bernhardt a command in dresden. von baumann says it was the president of the police who insisted upon lucretia's hasty departure. if he, baumann, had his way, my maid of honor would have got off with a warning. and you should see the tisch. she must have spent a month's salary on flowers for me, which i promptly sent to the nearest pauper hospital. she smiles, she nearly breaks her back genuflexing. her every second word is "most submissive," "will the imperial highness deign to do this," that, or the other thing. the terror got into her old bones and she trembles for her pension, for, of course, she knows that instant dismissal will be her portion. frederick augustus talks of having some more princes and--acts accordingly. perish the thought that his louise is an adulteress, that she ever had a lover, has one now! he is haunting my room, running from door to window, from window to door. every little while he opens the _portières_ to see if no one's coming to address him "your majesty." "your popularity with the public is a great asset," he says over and over again. "lucky devil i, to have a wife as smart as you." * * * * * dresden, _november , _. frederick augustus came running into my room and gave me a bear-hug. "the doctors say the king is lost. impossible to keep him alive any longer." he rushed out. i am queen. * * * * * _after lunch._ just back from richard's studio. we had lunch together. we laughed, we danced, we sang. we bombarded one another with pillows. we acted the jubilant heirs. i recalled sybillenort at the time king albert died. in saxony, when man or woman shuffles off this mortal coil, there's always a good "feed" at the corpse's expense. at the late king's castle a "mourning breakfast" was served upon the royal family's arrival from dresden--a most magnificent repast in the matter of plate and victuals offered, but each had to serve himself or herself, as servants were dispensed with. this by the new king's special orders--that he might hear himself addressed "your majesty" by his kith and kin, a formality usually neglected in the family circle except when two or more of the big-wigs are warring against each other. "will your majesty have one or two lumps of sugar?" "may it please your majesty--some steak?" "i hope your majesty will allow me to peel an orange for your majesty." thus at sybillenort. and at richard's: "will your greatness (majesty) deign to take your greatness's feather out of my eye?" or: "may it never please your transparency (_durchlaucht_, german for highness) to let _his_ greatness see through you." i am several times a countess besides a princess, duchess, etc., and richard continued with his paraphrasing of titles: "your illuminatedness[ ] makes lights quite unnecessary," and he switched them off in a room already darkened by blinds and shades and curtains. footnotes: [footnote : "illuminated" is the proper title for german counts of the higher class.] chapter lxiii what i will do when i am queen a foretaste: titled servants put me _en route_ for lover--the bargain i will propose to frederick augustus--frederick augustus will be a complaisant king--to revive _petit trianon_--i am addressed as queen. dresden, _november , _. though still styled crown princess, i am already revelling in the delights and perquisites of queenship: i do as i please, go where i please, i would think aloud, as i please, if anyone dared me. for all my enemies of a week ago turned flatterers and flunkeys, bowing, grovelling, fawning, contemptible in their self-abasement, but quite useful to my purposes. like most royal palaces, ours at dresden has a secret staircase and exit for emergencies. it is never used by ladies; only the princes have recourse to it, occasionally, to drop out of sight in _mufti_, for, of course, royal incognito is more or less legitimate. "in the evening, after our card party was over, catherine was seen to dismiss her court and retire to her private apartments with the new favorite," say the secret memoirs of the court of st. petersburg. less publicly, perhaps, but even more illegitimately, i walk the secret staircase _en route_ for my lover whenever i please nowadays. i go veiled and--make the grand mistress open the door for me. she knows that i am on sweet pleasure bent and--smiles. "when will your imperial highness deign to return?" i name the hour and she is there to receive me--smirking, blind, deaf and dumb. a foretaste of my queenship paradise! no one will boss me, no one will dare talk about me, everything i do will be good, even sublime. i made up my mind as to frederick augustus. "frederick augustus," i will say to him, "now that we are king and queen, let's enjoy to the full the thing's emoluments; otherwise, what's the use? you will allow me to go my way and i will certainly shut both eyes as to your doings, even if you follow in the footsteps of your namesake of the three-hundred-and-fifty-two." of course, i will say it differently, but my husband will understand. the main thing: the royal family and court must stop hurling at me the long, watery _haussez les mains_ of narrow-minded, provincial inquisitiveness, which both oppresses and goads me. frederick augustus has too much respect for the kingly dignity to impugn his partner, the queen. will i revive, then, the seraglios of the russian anns and elizabeths, or start a new _parc aux cerfs_ with strong men and marathon winners for inmates? thank you, a miniature _petit trianon_ will be good enough for me. the tisch entered a minute ago and respectfully remains at the door, though she sees i am engaged on my diary. i watch her in the mirror. she would travel bare-foot to kevlaar, of which heinrich heine sung, for a glimpse of what i wrote. her variegated grimaces give her the appearance of a carved wooden devil, sprinkled with holy water. at last i deign to inquire: "what is it, baroness?" "the crown prince wants to see your imperial highness. may he come in?" "since when does my husband send you to announce him?" "pardon, your imperial highness, i meant prince george." designating my first-born prince royal, means recognizing me as queen. and, but ten days ago, this same viper refused to address me by my _proper_ title. chapter lxiv the king is alive and punishment near my queenship postponed--king george publicly acclaimed--cuts me dead in church--frederick augustus's disappointment--terrible power of a king over his family, and no appeal--i am like the nude witch of old. dresden, _november , _. the king has taken nourishment. the king will not die--he will live and punish me. still, i must not complain. i had a respite and richard says, "when one rises from the dead, one is less inclined to be severe with the living." but he grew rather despondent immediately. "_la liberté est une garce, qui ne se laisse monter que sur des matelas des cadavres humains!_" he quoted _comte_ mirabeau. our corpse was alive, our liberty is dead for the time being. * * * * * dresden, _november , _. the king went driving this morning and i am told that he came home well pleased, for there was lusty cheering along the line. frederick augustus hasn't mentioned my affair at all. disappointment made him rather gloomy and he begins to treat me again in the right royal saxon fashion: i am air for his highness. * * * * * _after supper._ the family will wait upon his majesty in a body tomorrow, to congratulate him on his recovery. after that, _te deum_ in the cathedral, which the court and authorities must attend by command. "your imperial highness's pew will be in readiness, but my sublime master has not deigned to graciously announce that he wishes to receive your imperial highness,"--this from the toad baumann, who but yesterday licked my boots. * * * * * dresden, _november , _. another straw indicating the direction of the wind--the ill-wind. king george commanded bernhardt to be madman no longer and come and live in dresden. since his arrival he has paid assiduous court to all members of the royal family, but me. he called on the royal ministers, the courtiers, the high civil authorities, but my apartments have seen him not. i don't blame the boy for making the best of the situation, but was it really necessary to offer gratuitous insult to the only relative that stood by him when in trouble? doubtless, he took his cue from the king, who cut me dead while, with the rest, i thanked god for his recovery. * * * * * _november , ._ the tisch is openly talking sonnenstein. "the royal apartments are ready for her reception," she let fall yesterday. old andrew, my confidential servant, told me. she shows me the face of a bull-dog about to spring at a victim, a sea-green devil filled with vinegar and gall, but affects icy courtesy. frederick augustus is down in the mouth. if he knows of any evil intention against me, he evidently made up his mind to hold his tongue and avoid scenes. richard keeps on saying: "don't worry. after all, what can they do to you?" he doesn't know, or doesn't want to understand that, while the law holds out protection for all, from pedlars and vagabonds to and including prime ministers, royalty itself is only technically above the law; in _praxis_ we are beyond the benefits of all law, human and otherwise. to be sure, a cit is sometimes unjustly treated, but with tenacity and a small amount of courage, he finds his remedy in the courts and in the press. to royal princes and princesses the king is both judge and executioner, as the cases of the duke of saxony and bernhardt show. maybe it pleases his majesty to cloak his tyranny by convoking a commission, but what of it, since the commission is invariably made up of his creatures, trained, if not commanded, to do the all-highest will and nothing but the all-highest will? as in days gone by, the poor "witch"--if she be young and comely--must face her accusers naked, the sworn torturer at her elbow, so i have no standing in law or decency before the powers over social life or death in our sphere of society. if there be blemishes in my character, the king sees them magnified by the sharp tongues of evil creatures, his spies. there is no privacy. i must submit to be stared at, to have my flesh lacerated by curious eyes, and, as in the case of the old-time "witches," the handsomest were condemned the quicker because "the devil was more liable to choose them for an abode than ugly ones," so my very beauty will hasten my destruction. chapter lxv fisticuffs don't save my crown the attempted theft of my diary--grand mistress discovered after breaking open my desk--reading diary like mad--personal encounter between me and grand mistress--i am the stronger, and carry off the manuscript, but have to leave all my love letters, which go to the king--i discover that they had stolen the key to my diary from my neck. dresden, _november , _. i am undone. they tried to obtain a picture of louise _in the nude_--louise as she paints _herself_--this diary, in fact--and, though i foiled them, the king now has in his hands my entire correspondence--every letter from every man that ever approached or possessed me. and be sure he won't use them for curl papers as did the duke of richelieu with the remnants of his ladyloves' _billets doux_ that escaped confiscation. "my collection is incomplete. i have to begin another," he said. alas, my collection was only _too_ complete! this is how it came about: as i was in the act of retiring last night, a clairvoyant's vision seized me. "somebody meddling with your papers!" "they are breaking into your _secrétaire_," the voices said. i slipped on a pair of bath sandals and stealthily opened the door of my boudoir. my writing desk was open, all the drawers ajar and in disorder; the baroness bending over this, my diary. she was reading like mad, her eyes danced with lust of revenge. with one bound i was at her side and she was so frightened at first, i thought she would drop. her chest seemed to draw inward; she swayed to and fro. but only for a second or two. then, recovering her self-possession, her fighting harness was in place again. "go to your room, royal highness," she said in a tone of command. "these papers are confiscated in the name of the king." i was beside myself with rage. "my diary," i cried; "instantly return it to me." more i couldn't say, for i had neither breath nor voice. my right hand was on the book when she attempted to seize it. i struck her hand with richard's ring--i wish it was bigger, i wish it had a good diamond point--but she wouldn't let go. then, before one could count one, two, three, i had hold of her--heaven, how i enjoyed it; the satisfaction i had in giving rein to my passion, for all was up now, anyhow. with the left hand i caught her by the throat, while my good right boxed her ears after the homely manner mamma had taught me. good, sound cuffs, i assure you, each liable to dislocate a tooth. "_canaille_," i cried, "_miserable canaille_." i pushed her into a corner and recovered the diary, folding it up quickly. i was holding the book close to my bosom when i crossed the room to regain my bedchamber. the tisch after me, trying to snatch it back. i caught her on the chest and sent her flying. then, with the manuscript, i made good my escape, leaving for the contemptible bird of prey all my love letters, reams of them, the oldest fifteen or more years old, the latest bearing yesterday's date. once in my room, i recollected and made a grab at my throat. the key to my diary was gone. they stole it, chain and all, while i was asleep, no doubt. * * * * * dresden, _november , _. awakening, i find myself seated at the little table near the window. both my hands are ink-spotted. so is my night-dress. i see, i have written an account of the battle. i must have done so some time after i returned from the field. it's well, for at the moment, i don't remember a thing. the palace clock strikes seven. the day of my doom. chapter lxvi abandoned my titled servants withdraw from me--an old footman my sole support--queen takes the children--old andrew plays spy for me. _afternoon._ no one has come to see me. my household, my adjutants, marshal, chamberlains, equerries, the ladies of my entourage are on duty, but since i ordered my meals brought to the room, they pretend to assume that i'm too ill to see anyone. there may be no truth in the saying that rats leave the ship destined to sink, but the titled vermin royalty surrounds itself with certainly knows when to avoid dangerous craft. i rang for andrew. the good, old man wouldn't put me to the humiliation of asking questions. "your imperial highness's children are with her majesty," he said; and, coming a step nearer, he added in an undertone: "baroness tisch has been with his majesty since nine in the morning." "you are a kind and brave man." i held out my hand. "if your imperial highness has no immediate orders for me," continued the good soul, "i beg to be allowed to visit my friend, hans, the king's body-servant." i thanked andrew for his good intentions. "wait in the ante-chamber until i am dressed." i donned a forty-mark costume that i keep on hand for the purpose; it didn't take me more than six or seven minutes. "i will have to leave by the secret staircase, andrew." he understood and cleared the way for me. chapter lxvii family council at castle rendezvous at studio--state takes my children from me--madhouse or flight--i brought fifty-two trunks to the palace--depart with small satchel--if i attempt to see my children i'll be seized as "mad woman"--varying emotions of the last ten minutes--threatening shadows thrown on a curtain decide me--ready for flight--diary the last thing to go into the satchel. _at night. eleven o'clock._ they went into family council at six tonight and are still deliberating, andrew reports. the tisch, he says, acts as secretary; his majesty, of course, presides. present are the dowager queen, mathilde and isabelle. then frederick augustus, johann george, max and bernhardt. baron george von metzsch, a high government and court functionary and my enemy, attends as legal adviser to the king. it's in the nature of things that the baron will do his worst to destroy me, but bernhardt! bernhardt, who held me in his arms, now one of my judges! he will have to be especially severe with his _quondam_ mistress lest the king suspect. while the sweet family bent over those love letters--i bet the tisch withheld henry's--i sat in richard's studio, advising with him. "there are only two things to be considered: the madhouse or instant flight." "you dare advise me to leave my children?" "there are no nurseries in madhouses. your children are lost to you, anyhow. if you remain, as an alleged insane person, you 'can't be trusted,' they'll argue, for you are helpless, legally, morally and physically. "if you run away to switzerland, on the other hand, you are a free woman, under the protection of a republican government. "switzerland, i needn't tell you, will not go to war to wrest your children from the royal family, but will afford you personally every advantage, legal and otherwise. "decide quickly: are you going to make king george a present of yourself as well as of the five children you bore for the benefit of the wettiners?" "never." * * * * * my mind is made up. my few belongings are packed. i, who came to dresden with fifty-two trunks, leave the palace with a satchel, easy to carry. i take nothing but my personal jewels, the little money i own and some changes of linen. if i could only see my children for a moment or two, but the queen has them in her keeping, and i might be seized as a "mad woman" if i dared leave my apartments and cross to those occupied by her majesty. and frederick augustus! he will miss me in his way. * * * * * ten more minutes. i hear the distant clatter of a carriage. richard driving to our rendezvous, two streets north of the palace gate. will my limbs carry me to him and liberty? i pace the room to test their strength. "louise," says the voice within,--"your last chance. your good-natured husband, your darling children, your old parents, pomp and state and circumstance, indeed, a crown, you are going to abandon for--what?" a man whose carnal side only you know, a poor man, an artist without fame, a professional without future. sadly perturbed in mind, i walk to the window. those of his majesty's cabinet, where the family council is in progress, are directly opposite. shadows of men and women, rising from a sitting position, are thrown on the curtains. one of the shades slowly ascends. i see the tisch pointing a bony finger to the windows of my boudoir. von metzsch stands by her side. they grin. you triumph, wretch and jezebel? but when your _sbirri_, in an hour from now, or tomorrow morning early, invade my rooms, instructed to carry me away--bound hand and foot to a sofa, or in a straight jacket, perhaps--they will find the crown princess gone--her and her diary. both will be safe on foreign soil ere you can make arrangements for organized pursuit, for richard and i will travel by carriage to a distant suburb, there mount the fast express and keep to our state room, engaged under an assumed name, until without the sphere of saxon or german influence. * * * * * a discreet knock. andrew, my liberator! in his hand a tallow dip to light this imperial highness down back stairs to the new life of her choice. "one moment, old man, this book goes into the valise. "hand me the blotter, please. tears won't do. "and a couple more handkerchiefs from the top of the chiffonier, please." finis the schemes of the kaiser from the french of juliette adam by j. o. p. bland new york e. p. dutton & company printed in great britain translator's introduction more fortunate than the majority of the prophets who cannot speak smooth things, madame adam has lived to find honour in her own country: _la grande française_ has come into her own. god willing, she should live to see that _revanche_ for which, through good and evil report, she has laboured unceasingly these forty-five years, to see the arrogant prussian humbled to the dust and alsace-lorraine restored to france. , she firmly believes will revenge and reverse the tragedy of . more fortunate than the great british soldier who spent his veteran days in warning his countrymen of the ordeal to come, madame adam, now in her eighty-first year, may yet hope to see the banners of the allies crowned with victory, the black wreaths on the statue of strasburg in the place de la concorde changed to garlands of rejoicing. there have been dark days in these forty-five years, times when, even to herself, the struggle for _la patrie_ seemed almost a forlorn hope. it was so at the time of the berlin congress in , when, after his visit to germany, gambetta abandoned the idea of _la revanche_. it was so in , when she realised that the influence of paul déroulède's ligue des patriotes had ceased to be a living force in public opinion, when france had become impregnated with false doctrines of international pacifism and homeless cosmopolitanism, when (as she wrote at the time) there were left of the faithful to wear the forget-me-not of alsace-lorraine only "a few mothers, a few widows, a few old soldiers, and your humble servant." but never, even in the darkest of dark days, was the flame of her ardent patriotism dimmed. after her breach with gambetta, determined not to be defeated by the government's abandonment of a vigorous anti-german policy of preparation, she founded the _nouvelle revue_, to wage war with her brain and pen against bismarck and the ruler of germany. the objects with which she created that brilliant magazine, as explained by herself to mr. gladstone in , were threefold--"to oppose bismarck, to demand the restoration of alsace-lorraine, and to lift from the minds of young french writers the shadow of depression cast on them by national defeat." the fortnightly "letters on foreign politics" which she contributed regularly to the _nouvelle revue_, for twenty years were not only persistently and violently anti-teuton: they became a powerful force in educating public opinion in france to the necessity for an effective alliance with russia, and to the cause of nationalism, in the balkans, in egypt, and wherever the liberties of the smaller nations were endangered by the earth-hunger of the great. she disliked and feared the policy of colonial expansion inaugurated by gambetta and pursued by jules ferry, because she felt that it must weaken france in preparing for the great and final struggle with teutonism which she knew to be inevitable. thus, when ferry requested her to cease from attacking germany, she defied him, assuring him that nothing less than imprisonment would stop her, and that no honour could be greater than to be imprisoned for attacking bismarck. juliette adam has always been intensely sure of herself and her opinions. she has the virile fighting spirit of a super-suffragette. "always out of rank," as gambetta described her, "madame intégrale" has displayed throughout her political and literary work a contempt for compromise of every kind, which occasionally leads her into untenable positions and exaggerations. like her friend george sand, she has ever been an inveterate optimist and in the clouds, and this defect of her very qualities has tended to make her proficient in the gentle art of making enemies. thus she broke with anatole france for espousing the cause of dreyfus, because, in spite of her keen sense of justice, she identified the army with france and was instinctively opposed to jews, because she regarded their "cosmopolitan" influence as incompatible with patriotism. for her, all things and all men have been subordinate to the sacred cause, to her watch-word and battle-cry of _vive la france_! nobly has she laboured for france, confident ever in the _renaissance_ of _la grande nation_, and of her country's final triumph. and to-day her unswerving faith is justified, and her life work has been recognised and crowned with honour in her own land. with one exception, all the articles collected in this book have been taken from madame adam's "letters on foreign politics" in _la nouvelle revue_. together they constitute a remarkable testimony to the political foresight and courage of _la grande française_, and an equally remarkable analysis of the policy and character of germany's ruler. author's preface modesty is out of fashion nowadays: what is wanted is the glorification of every kind of courage. that being so, i hold myself entitled to claim a military cross, for my forty-five years of hand-to-hand fighting with bismarck and with william the second, and to be mentioned in despatches for the past. juliette adam. chapter i william ii, the "social monarch"--what lies beneath his declared pacifism--his journey to russia--the german press invites us to forget our defeat and become reconciled while germany is adding to her army every day. april , . [ ] what an all-pervading nuisance is william! to think of the burden that this one man has imposed upon the intelligence of humanity and the world's press! the machiavelism of bismarck was bad enough, with its constant demands on our vigilance, but this new omniscient german emperor is worse; he reminds one of some infant prodigy, the pride of the family. yet his ways are anything but kingly; they resemble rather those of a shopkeeper. he literally fills the earth with his circulars on the art of government, spreads before us the wealth of his intentions, and puffs his own magnanimity. he struggles to get the widest possible market for his ideas: 'tis a petty dealer in imperial sovereignty. there is nothing fresh about his wares, but he does his best to persuade us that they are new; one feels instinctively that some day he will throw the whole lot at our heads. i am quite prepared to admit that, if he had any rare or really superior goods to offer, his advertising methods might be profitable, but william's stock-in-trade has for many years been imported, and exported under two labels, namely the principles of ' and christian socialism. the german emperor has mixed the two, after the manner of a prentice-hand. his organ, the _cologne gazette_, with all the honeyed adulation of a suddenly converted opponent, [ ] has called this mixture "social monarchism." therefore, it seems, the german emperor is neither a constitutional sovereign nor a monarch by divine right. he has restored caesarism of the roman type, clinging at the same time to the principle of divine right--and the result is our "social monarch"! rushing headlong on the path of reform--full steam ahead, as he puts it--he is prepared to change the past, present and future in order to give happiness to his own subjects. but france is likely to pay for all this; sooner or later some new rescript will tell us that the valley of tribulation is our portion and inheritance. it is one of his ambitions to put an end to class warfare in germany. to this end he begins, with his usual tact, by denouncing the capitalists (that is to say; the wealth of the middle class) to the workers, and then holds up the scandalous luxury of the aristocracy in the army to the contempt of the bourgeois. one of his most brilliant and at the same time most futile efforts, is his rescript on the subject of the shortage of officers for the army. as the army itself is steadily increasing every day, it should have been easy in each regiment for him, gradually and quite quietly, to increase the number of officers drawn from the middle-class; indeed, the change would have practically effected itself, for the minister of war had a hundred-and-one means of bringing it about. but this rescript has put a check on what might otherwise have been a natural process of change, and unless william now settles matters with a high hand, it will cease. in every regiment the aristocracy provides the great majority of officers; bourgeois candidates for admission to the service are liable to be black-balled, just as they might be at any club; it is now safe to predict that they will henceforward be regarded with less favour than ever, and that generals, colonels, majors and the rest will form up into a solid phalanx, to prevent the emperor's platonic _protégés_ from getting in. william ii appeals to the higher ranks of officers, who are tradition personified, to put an end to tradition. it is really wonderful what a genius he has for exciting cupidity in one class and resistance in the other. and he has done the same thing with the working class as with the army. what a strange riddle his character presents--this quietist, this worshipper of an angry and a jealous god, with a mania for achieving the happiness of his people in the twinkling of an eye! a strange figure, this emperor of country squires, who despises the bourgeois and who threatens to despoil the aristocracy of the very privileges which have been the safeguard of the hohenzollerns' throne for centuries. these peculiarities are due to an occult influence which weighs on the mind of william ii, an influence which, while it points the way to action, blinds him to its consequences. the dead hand is upon him! frederick iii, that liberal, bourgeois monarch, compels his reactionary, old-prussian-school son, to do those things which he would have done himself, had he not been victimised by bismarck and his pupil. i wonder whether the ever-mystical william ii sometimes reflects on the ways by which god leads men into his appointed ways? such thoughts might do more to enlighten him than his way of gazing at the heavens in the belief that all the stars are his. there is one piece of advice that william's friends should give him--not to restore the sixty millions of guelph money to the duke of cumberland. this ultra-modern young emperor will very soon have greater need of the services of the reptile press than even bismarck himself; for every one of his latest rescripts adds new public difficulties to the number of those secret ones which the ex-chancellor, with his infinite capacity for intrigue, will hatch for him. bismarck, of the biting wit, who accepts the title of duke of lauenburg, because, as he says, "it will enable him to travel incognito," sends forth from friedrichsruhe winged words which sink deep into the mind of the people. this phrase, for example, which sums up the whole of william's policy: "the emperor has selected his best general to be chancellor and made of his chancellor a field marshal." and bismarck begs his readers to insert the adjectives, good and bad, where they rightly belong. april , . [ ] emperor william continues to increase the list of his excursions into every field of mental activity. intellectually divided between the middle ages and the late nineteenth century, it would seem as if he were trying to forget the infirmity of his one useless arm by assuming a prominent rôle modelled on men of action. he tries to combine in his person the effects of extreme modernism with those of the days of charlemagne. because of his very impotence, his desire to grasp and clasp all history is the fiercer, and this emphasises and aggravates the cruelty he showed in relegating bismarck to compulsory inaction. just imagine if some power stronger than himself were to compel this ever restless monarch to quiescence! what would be the cumulative effect of want of exercise at the end of a year? and just because the german emperor is pleased, amongst the innumerable costumes of his wardrobe, to don that of a socialist sovereign, the same people who before believed in the liberalism of bismarck, now believe in the socialism of william ii. they go on saying the same old things. in different words they ask: "isn't the young emperor amusing?" (tis' a great word with us french people), and before long, they will be appealing to the gullible weaklings among us by suggesting "after all, why shouldn't he give us back alsace-lorraine?" and thus are being sown the seeds of our national enervation. the dangers that threaten us from the hatred that the prussian bears us are all the greater now that germany is ruled by this man-chameleon. let william do what he will, let him change colour as he likes, our hatred for prussia remains unshaken and immutable. but acquiescence in his performances will draw us into his orbit and expose us to those same dangers which he incurs, dangers which, were we wise, we should know how to turn to our own profit. may , . [ ] amidst the ruins of his fallen fortunes, bismarck can still erect a magnificent monument to his pride. if the results pursued by his once-beloved pupil stultify the old man's immediate intentions, they constitute nevertheless a testimonial to the bismarckian doctrine in its purest form, to those immortal principles based on lies and the exploitation of "human stupidity," which the ex-chancellor raised to such heights in german policy, from the commencement of his career to the date of his fall. let us, in the first place, inquire how it has come to pass that william ii has been able to convince a certain number of people, either through their "human stupidity" or their cowardice, that he is striving for and towards peace, when every single act of his proves the opposite. is it enough that, because he declares himself a pacifist, men should go about saying "thank god that he, who seemed most eager for war, now sings the praises of peace"? and there are others who earnestly implore us to think no more or war "now that william of germany no longer dreams of it." now i ask, is there a single reason to be found, either in the tradition of his race, or in his own character, or in the logic of prussian militarism, which can justify any clear-thinking mind in believing that william is a pacifist? during the past fortnight a pamphlet has been published in germany under the title _videant consules_ (a pamphlet having all the appearance of a berlin semi-official, or officious, document) which gives us the key (my readers will agree that i have already placed it in the lock) of william ii's sudden affection for paths of peace. the illuminating pages of this work are written with the object of preparing the honorable members of the reichstag to vote an annual credit of twenty millions (it is said that the minister of war and the chief of the general staff originally asked for fifty). this money will be asked for to provide new batteries, to bring up to the number of the german battalions on the vosges frontier and to increase the peace footing strength of the army. according to a statement made by william ii, in his speech at the opening of the reichstag, the special object of those twenty millions is to strengthen the defences of the eastern and western frontiers. _videant consules_ tells us that bismarck created the empire by war, but that his later policy threatened to destroy it by peace; for this reason the young emperor deprived him of power. according to this pamphlet, the ex-chancellor allowed france to recover and russia to prepare her defences, whereas he should have crushed us a second time in order to have only one enemy--russia--to deal with later on. therefore, germany's present task is to prepare in haste for the struggle against russia and france united, and for this reason it behoves her (says _videant consules_) to increase her forces by a superhuman effort. as matters stand, in spite of the triple alliance, in spite of the sympathy and support of austria and italy (ruinous for them) william ii is by no means confident in the future success of his arms. now this hero is not taking any chances. in order that might may overcome right, he wants to be quite sure of superior numbers. and this explains why the emperor of germany is a "pacifist" to-day! but things are likely to be different by october . i would have the dupes of pacifism read carefully the following extract from his speech; if they remain deaf to its meaning, it can only be because, like the man in the fable, they do not wish to hear. "it is true," says the german emperor, "that we have neglected none of the measures by which our military strength may be increased within the limits prescribed by the law, but what we have been able to effect in this direction has not been sufficient to prevent the changes which have taken place in the general situation from being unfavourable to us. we can no longer postpone making additions to the peace footing of the army and to effective units, more especially the field artillery. a bill will be brought before you which will provide for the necessary increase of the army to take place on the first of october of this year." according to _videant consules_, the last _favourable_ date for attacking france would have been in . bismarck sinned beyond forgiveness in not provoking a war at that time. more than that, his manoeuvres to undermine the credit of russia and his policy of intimidation towards france, by exciting the hatred of both countries against germany, only served to unite them. in the position in which he finds himself, william ii has therefore no alternative; he must vastly increase his forces, while assuming the pacifist rôle. he must pretend to be severe with the aristocracy of his army--the apple of his eye--and to be full of sympathetic concern for the welfare of the working classes and peasantry, whom he fears or despises, and who are nothing but cannon fodder to him. and he does these things in order to sow seeds of mutual distrust between france and russia. he will use every possible expedient of trickery and guile, and, even more confident than his teacher bismarck in the eternal gullibility of human nature, he will exploit it for all it is worth. take this example of our gullibility, as displayed in the question of passports for alsace-lorraine. a section of the european press, well primed for the purpose (the guelph funds not having been restored, so far as we know, to their proper owner), continues unceasingly to implore william ii to consent to a relaxation of the regulations in regard to these passports. the idea is, that when our credulous fools come to learn that this relaxation has been granted, there will be absolutely no limit to their enthusiasm for him. already they speak of him good-naturedly as "this young emperor." (is it not so, that, every day, old friends whose rugged patriotism we thought unshakable, meet us with the inquiry, "well, and what have you got to say now of this young emperor?") this young emperor piles falsehood upon falsehood. if he permits any relaxation of the passport regulations, you may be perfectly certain that he will give orders that the _permis de séjour_ are to be more severely restricted than before. once a passport is issued, it is of some value; but the _permis de séjour_ is a weapon in the hands of the lower ranks of german officialdom, which they use with pomeranian cruelty. every german bureaucrat in alsace-lorraine aims at preventing frenchmen from residing there, at getting them out of the country; and nothing earns them greater favour in the eyes of their chiefs. therefore, if this "young emperor" is to be asked to grant anything, let it be a relaxation of the _permis de séjour_. to be allowed to _travel_ amongst the brothers from whom we are separated, can only serve to aggravate the grief we feel at not being allowed to _live_ amongst them. william's socialism is all of the same brand. his first display of affection for the tyrant lower down was due to the fact that he used him to overthrow a tyrant higher up: it was the socialist voter who broke the power of bismarck. when we see william embarking upon so many schemes of social reform all at once, we may be sure that he has no serious intention of carrying out any one of them. after having made all sorts of lavish promises to the industrial workers, he is now busy giving undertakings to make the welfare of the peasantry his special care! in his speech to the reichstag there is no mention even of the one definite benefit that the workers had a right to expect--namely, a reduction of the hours of labour; but the threat of shooting "them in the back" reappears in a new guise. william ii warns the working classes of "the dangers which they will incur in the event of their doing anything to disturb the order of government." "my august confederates and i," adds the emperor, "are determined to defend this order with unshakable energy." delicious to my way of thinking, this expression "my august confederates." is there not something astounding about the use of the possessive pronoun in connection with the word "august," implying sovereignty? one wonders what part can they have to play, these confederates, led and dominated by a personality as jealous and self-centred as this "young emperor." there is only one thing about which william ii really concerns himself, over and above his blind passion for increasing the forces of germany, and that is, other people's morals--the morals of working men or officers. the devil has always had his days for playing the monk. may , . [ ] do my readers remember my last article but one, written at a moment when the whole press was singing the praises of william the pacifist, on the eve of the day when _the times_ published its despatch, proclaiming the complete agreement between tzar and kaiser, the _entente_ that assures the world of the peace that shall come down from william's starry heavens? it was then that i wrote-- "is there a single reason to be found, either in the traditions of his race, or in his own character, or in the logic of prussian militarism, which can justify, any clear-thinking mind in believing that william is a pacifist?" hardly had that number of may appeared when the german emperor made his speech at königsberg! in his cups, the king of prussia reveals his true nature, just as a champagne cork flies from a badly wired bottle. after giving expression once again to his animosity towards france, he borrows from us one of the famous dicta of monsieur prudhomme-- "the duty of an emperor," he declared, "is to keep the peace, and i am determined to do it; but should i be compelled to draw the sword to preserve peace, germany's blows will fall like hail upon those who have dared to disturb it." next, in the neighbourhood of the russian frontier, he used the following provocative language: "i will not permit that any one should touch my eastern provinces and he who tries to do so, will find that my power and my might are as rocks of bronze." sire, beware! the god of the hohenzollern will prove to you before long that your power and your might, those rocks of bronze, are no more in his hands than a feather tossed in the wind; he will show you that a tricky horse can unseat you, regardless of your dignity, when you take your favourite ride, the road to peacock island, with your august brother-in-law. say what you will, the prussians have not yet acquired either wit or good taste! there is proof of this not only in the speeches of william ii at konigsberg, but even more convincing, in that which was delivered before the reichstag by that famous strategist, our conqueror de moltke, on the subject of the proposed increase in the peace-footing effectives. one must read the whole speech to get an idea of the sort of nonsense that "honorable" germans are prepared to listen to. in urging the vote of credit, "the victor" said: "confronted with the fundamental problem of the army, the question of money is of secondary importance; for what becomes of your prosperous finances in war-time?" having proved that conquerors are the greatest benefactors of the human race, m. de moltke goes on to declare that it is not the rulers, but the peoples, who want war to-day. in germany, it is "the cupidity of the classes whom fate has neglected"; it is also the socialists who decline to vote more soldiers because they desire to trouble the world's peace and expect "to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of lives in the next war and to threaten the existence of morality and civilisation." i do not know whether my readers can make head or tail of this speech--i certainly cannot--but its intention is plain enough. william ii has been careful to emphasise it, by declaring that the increase in the peace strength of the army is intended to reinforce the eastern and western frontiers. several officious newspapers (we no longer call them reptile, but to do so would make them more authoritative) sum up the matter in these words-- "the nearer the peace-footing of the troops on our frontiers approaches to war-strength, the more effectively these troops are provided with everything necessary to enable them to leave within _three hours_ of receiving marching orders, the more secure becomes germany's position." quite so! by next october there will be , men in alsace-lorraine. as you see, the new law adds to the security of germany precisely what it takes from ours. june , . [ ] my readers will recollect that after a journey in switzerland, two years ago, i proved by statements which could not be (and never were) refuted, that the russian nihilists established in switzerland before the federal government's inquiry, were all either deliberate or unconscious tools of the german police. on the one hand, m. de puttkamer, minister of the interior, unable to refute the evidence brought forward by the socialist deputy, bebel, had then been compelled to confess that the socialist agitators haupt and schneider were his agents in switzerland. on the other hand, at the inquiry into the proceedings of these socialists, there was the evidence furnished by letters seized on schmidt and friedmann, associates of haupt and schneider, that schmidt had been commissioned by m. krüger of the berlin police to commit a crime. in one of the seized letters, the following words were actually used by krüger: "the next attempt upon the life of the emperor alexander must be prepared at geneva. write to me; i await your reports." [ ] whenever the alleged liberalism of william ii finds its expression in anything else but speeches, it is easy to take its measure. he has just shown once more what it really amounts to, in the treaty of establishment with switzerland, wherein restrictions are placed upon the issue of good moral character certificates by german parishes to their parishioners. these will no longer be available to enable a german to take up his residence in switzerland. henceforward it will be the business of the german legation to pick and choose those whom it considers eligible to reside in switzerland, either to practise a profession or to conduct an export business there. it will be for germany to decide whether or not her subjects are dangerous abroad. this would be well enough if it were only a question of restraining rogues, but it is anything but reassuring when we come to deal with the ever advancing phalanx of german spies. july , . [ ] it seems to me that this wagnerian emperor, pursuing his legends to the uttermost parts of the earth, is doing his utmost to darken our horizon. everywhere, always he confronts us, appearing on the scene to deprive us of the last remnants of good-will left to us in europe. in the scandinavian states, even after , we had preserved certain trusty friendships: of these william ii now tries to rob us. he appears and, to use his own expression, draws men to him by magic strings. to the people who are offshoots of germany he figures as "the emperor," unique, mysterious, he who goes forward in the name of the fables of mythology, gathering and uniting anew in his slumbering people the instincts of vassalage. "super-german virtues," he calls them, "ornaments of old-time germany." this monarch who, in his own land, is pleased to pose as a liberal! can it be that this same william who, on the bosphorus held communion with the stars, who, writing to bismarck, said, "i talk with god," finds the celestial responses so inadequate that his mind must needs invoke a retinue of teutonic deities? "let the latins, slavs and gauls know it," says he, "the german emperor bears to germans the glad tidings which promise them the sovereignty of the world!" have not even the anglo-saxons bowed before the sovereign will of william ii, so that before long the island of heligoland will see the german flag floating over its rocky shores? yes, let her press and public men say what they will, proud albion has delivered herself over to germany. she has made surrender to our enemy in the hope that we shall thus become for her an easier victim, that she will be able to recover at our expense what germany has taken from her. lord salisbury hopes, in return for the plum he has yielded, to be able to help himself to ours, to those of italy and portugal, and to share others with germany. but such is the character of william ii that he despises those who serve him or who yield to his will. like don juan, he seeks ever new worlds to conquer, new resistances to overcome, and neglects no means to secure his desired ends. england and austria to-day count for less than nothing in his schemes. these countries have had a free hand in bulgaria, and they have used it to indulge in every sort of intrigue. screened by bismarck, they have advised, upheld and exalted stamboulof, they have set up the prince of coburg. and william, not having inspired any of this policy, would like to see it end in complications shameful for his associates. as to the king of sweden, he thinks it due to the dignity of his people to make some show of resistance, but one feels that this is only done to save appearances. he also has delivered himself, bound hand and foot, just as they have all done, the emperor francis joseph, the king of italy, the hohenzollern who reigns at bucharest, stamboulof, lord salisbury and leopold ii. july , . [ ] the imperial bagman travelling in germanophil wares conceals under his flag a very mixed cargo. he makes a bernadotte to serve as speaking trumpet for prussian conservatism at the same time that he subsidises _agents provocateurs_ for the purpose of misleading and internationalising the social reform programme of the danes. and all the time, in every direction, he comes and goes--this ever restless, universal disturber--creating and perpetuating instability on all sides, so as to increase the price of his peace stock, he controlling the market. it is bismarck's old game, played with up-to-date methods. august , . [ ] does it not seem to you, dear reader, that the voyage of william ii to russia suggests in more ways than one the scene of the temptation on the mount? at st. petersburg there reigns a sovereign whose life, directed by the inspirations of his soul, is one long act of virtuous self-denial; who prefers the humble and the lowly to fortune's favourites; whose works are works of peace, and whose intentions are always those of a man ready to appear before him who only tolerates the great ones of this earth when their power is balanced by a due sense of their moral responsibility, by devotion to duty and truth. at berlin there reigns a man of ungovernable pride, who aspires to be torch-bearer to the world. restless, like the spirit of evil, tormented by his inability to do good, he has dedicated his soul to wickedness and lies. alexander iii regarded his accession to the throne as an ordeal, the sacrifice of his life. he would have given his own blood to spare his father the pangs of death. william ii seized fiercely on the reins of power, after having committed a crime, at least in his heart; after having wished for the death of his father and increased his sufferings by his conduct. by the tragic end of two martyrs, god has brought face to face those who are destined to be the champions of good and of evil respectively in these last years of the century. the german emperor goes to russia to say to the tzar, "divide with me the kingdoms of the earth, always on condition that i receive the lion's share." the emperor of russia will reply: "let us endeavour, my brother, to work for the welfare of the nations, let us calm their hatreds and follow the rugged paths of justice; above all, let us regard the power which the god of hosts has confided into our hands as an instrument of sovereignty, whose only purpose should be to keep the nation's honour unsullied and safeguard the blessings of peace." "words, nothing but words," replies the tempter. "say, yes or no, wilt thou go with me to the conquest of the world? on all sides your influence, which i have undermined, is waning: you and your followers are caught in a ring of iron from which before long you will be unable to escape. "in germany, all things are subject to my unfettered rule. henceforth nothing can ever check or stop my triumphal march. throughout the humbly listening world, which will soon be at my feet, i break that which will not bend before me. i overthrow all those that stand, and that which comes to me, i keep. even the church, which treated with my forefathers on a footing of equality, now bows the knee before me and humbly votes the money for my great slaughters. "socialism, that bogey of bismarck's, is an easily tamed monster. i have only to sow discord amongst its leaders to make it serve my ends of policy like the veriest national liberal party. "in austria, my grandfather and i created financial troubles, entangled things, let loose envy and hatred and sowed the seeds of quarrels, which have delivered her into my hands. let them try as they will to free themselves from the fetters with which i have bound them; i shall create such obstacles to all these efforts that the future shall be mine, like the present. "in hungary, prussian diplomacy has found a way to turn the people's hatred of austria into hatred of russia, and to make them forgive the house of hapsburg for a policy of coercion so cruel than even a romanoff denounced it. "everywhere i create dissension amongst my allies so that the final decision may be mine. "in italy i have my _âme damnée_, the only one who understands me, an ambitious tyrant, mad like bismarck with the lust of power, who serves my purposes at rome as effectively as bismarck hampered them in berlin. "i have stifled and destroyed the spirit of brotherhood in the cradle of the latin race. i have made history a liar, bringing a false morality to the interpretation of the most brilliant days and deeds. i have reduced to servility a royal house that once was proud. i have cheated and deceived the cleverest and most suspicious race on earth. "at rome, i have insulted the traditional and sacred majesty of the head of the christian religion! "in england, i have done even more. i have compelled proud albion to serve the ends of my personal policy. i have forced the most jealous of nations to yield the leading place to me, to work, in her own colonies and against her own interests, for the benefit of my growing rivalry, sacrificing to me her dreams of supremacy in the four quarters of the globe. "as to america, i will deal with her later. i have my plans. "despite lord salisbury's make-believe of caution and reserve (about which, i may say, we quite understand each other) england is so completely delivered into my power that, after the conservatives the liberals, in the person of the young leader john morley, now proffer me their services, and no matter what changes may take place in the english parties my influence will soon prevail. "my journeys to the scandinavian states have been fruitful. in denmark, o tzar! your own father-in-law has become almost associated with my destiny. "i have linked with my fortunes a king of french stock in sweden, and i will prove it at alsen island, where i shall compel him to take part in the manoeuvres of my fleet. "as to norway, a few words from my imperial lips have overcome the old republicanism of these brother teutons. "so as to keep closer watch over the submission of my new allies, i have wrested heligoland from england; and there i shall build an eagle's nest from which i shall be able to swoop down upon them, should they attempt to escape me. those who had any doubts as to the importance of this surrender, have learned it from the speeches that i made when taking possession. "by this means i have closed the german ocean _for ever_, and that which is closed gives access to something. "what need i say of turkey that you do not know already? all her thoughts, movements and actions are regulated by one man, and he a vassal of german policy. turkey's army, trade and finances, the direction of her ruling minds, are either in my hands or in those of england. and england, say what you will, is hypnotised by me. "i can afford at my pleasure to challenge her policy indefinitely. "the diplomas which she conferred upon the bulgarian bishops after the execution at panitza have shown you, my brother, how greatly i am pleased to favour those whom you have condemned! stamboulof, the inveterate foe of russia, now dominates the elections in bulgaria and roumelia, thanks to the iradé on the bishoprics. he goes in triumph through the land, so that even the russophile candidates invoke the protection of this man, who shoots the country's heroes and reduces its prince to the level of an ordinary public servant. his audacity, his impunity, the length of his tether, have no limits except those which will be imposed upon him by my power should you turn a deaf ear to my proposals. "and just as british policy has served the ends of prussian statecraft in bulgaria and roumelia, even so it serves them at this moment in armenia. "it was i who willed and inspired the indulgence of the sultan for the bloodthirsty moussa bey. massacred by the kurds on the one hand, and on the other observing the success of the revolution in roumelia, the armenians will inevitably be led from one revolt to another and, helped by a few timely suggestions, will come to believe that they can win their autonomy. "herein lies another difficulty which disturbs your mind, and of which my hands hold the threads; another people, to whom you might have looked for help in the event of my allies going to war with you, but which england and i will be able to remove from your influence. "in roumania, a hohenzollern guards all the keys which open the doors of his frontiers. "in serbia, i am working by sure means to destroy the last remaining sympathies for russia. to attain this end i will leave no stone unturned, even as i am doing in greece against france. "with an eye to the future interests of my african colonies, i have compelled england to keep portugal quiet. i do not wish any revolutionary upheaval to react upon spain, that indomitable nation which still resists me, but in whose mouth nevertheless, i have put an invisible bit. i shall know how to drive her headlong into the trap that awaits her in morocco. "with the help of italy, switzerland is mine. and holland will fall to me through the little duchy of luxembourg, which will come to me by the marriage of one of my sisters with the heir of nassau. "my last master stroke was the way of my coming into belgium. therein i was artful. the belgians affected to believe in the neutrality of their microscopic kingdom. i played up to the joke and entered their country by way of the sea. "in all the splendour of my power, i came to ostend on the _hohenzollern_, and i made it my business to invest my appearance with every feature calculated to impress the mob, in these days when outward show appeals most powerfully to the popular imagination. and i was, moreover, determined that nothing should be lacking to the full effectiveness of this demonstration. "belgium had intimated by a revolution her objections to becoming german. well and good: i imposed myself upon her as german emperor. with wearisome reiteration she had manifested her sympathy for france. in order to challenge these sentiments the more effectively, i compelled king leopold to take his seat beside me as the colonel of one of my alsatian regiments! "and do you suppose that the belgians protested? not a bit of it! no, the trick is played. no longer in secret, but openly, belgium will play my waiting game, in the congo and at the gates of france. "my visit to belgium is destined to produce such important results in days to come, that i have neglected not the smallest detail in order to produce a legendary impression upon europe. nothing have i forgotten: costumes for each part, words, good seed sown broadcast in the public mind, communications to the press, advice given to sovereigns of a nature to please the people, and elsewhere (as in england) popularity with the military caste! "an individual of the name of van der smissen, having dared to argue in the ranks, got broken for his pains. "at the same time, in order to cast into stronger relief the loftiness and majesty of my countenance, i invested it, amongst these good belgians, with certain new features of good nature and cordiality. "as to france, russia's only possible ally to-day, her artless simplicity protects me from all risks that i might otherwise run. i shall compel her to accept the neutralisation of alsace-lorraine, whenever the provinces shall have become thoroughly germanised. "for the present i leave england to deal with her: england who keeps her busy with childish things, and soothes her vanity with illusory diplomatic successes, such as the _exequatur_ of the madagascar consuls (which the settled policy of the residents would have achieved in time) and with useless concessions amidst the fogs of lake chad, or on the niger, or in regions whose possession none disputed. "lord salisbury evoked much mirth, over these concessions at the lord mayor's banquet, joking somewhat cynically at his own policy in disposing of territories over which he had no rights. one country, amongst others, given to france, has provided my good english friends with an inexhaustible source of merriment. "concerning egypt, lord salisbury has clearly intimated to france that england will _never_ give it up. "thus, the salisbury ministry has still at its disposal, to keep busy my fiery but easily duped neighbours, the egyptian problem, with a french minister at cairo, who is more of a help than a hindrance to england; the newfoundland question, with the anglo-american waddington, more yielding for the purposes of the british foreign office than one of its own agents. "moreover, whenever i choose, the rulers of france can be made to believe in a francophile reincarnation of m. crispi! i have many things in store for them in that quarter. "deceived by the infinite resources of my diplomacy, led astray by my agents who have taken on less reptilian disguises, the guileless french nation remains a prey to ignorance and ambitions as countless as the sands on the shore of her democracy. "to sum up; england, through india; england and germany, through china, we hold in our hands that question of an asiatic war, a scourge which will exhaust the strength of your empire, o tzar! and which may finally weaken france. i have said!" 'tis a long tale, and were it all told at one time, alexander iii would certainly not listen to half of it. but william ii spent a fortnight in russia, and i have only an hour to summarise his argument. have the wings of the german emperor the span of those of lucifer, as he believes? he may play the part, but he will never be able to carry it through! august , . [ ] although for the meeting of these two powerful emperors (whose destinies, as history proves, are so frequently commingled) there was no real necessity, other than the desire of the young and restless king of prussia, to keep the whole world guessing as to the object of his multifarious designs, their coming together has its undeniable importance and significance, for it has been the means of increasing the resistance and strengthening the determination of the tzar. alexander iii, whose mind reflects the great and untroubled soul of russia, is well able to estimate at its true worth the insatiable greed of germany and the ever-encroaching character of her ruler. because of his own self-control and disinterestedness, the tzar must have been able to gather from william's words and works a very fair idea of his unbounded self-conceit; of that vanity which, like its emblem the eagle of the outspread wings, aspires to cover the whole earth. even though william has offered to the emperor of russia the prospect of a general disarmament; even though, with his present mania for speech-making he may have suggested a congress for the settlement of europe's disputes, his success must have been of the negative kind. if the tzar were to agree to a conference, it could only lead to one of two results. either it would embitter those disputes which threaten to embroil the nations in a fierce struggle, and bring france and russia together in resistance to the same greedy foes, or it would end in the imposition of a lasting peace, which would mean that the prussian and military fabric of the german state would be dissolved, as by a miracle, to the benefit of french and russian influences in europe. let then the german emperor have his head. god is leading him straight on the path of failure. it is this still-vague feeling, that he will never have power to add to the prussian birthright, that makes him rush feverishly from one scheme to another; stirring up this question and that, ever testing, ever striving. it is this foreboding that has driven him to pursue fame, fortune and glory, and so to weary them with his importunities and haste, that they flee from him, unable and unwilling to bear with him any longer. sire, if it be your ambition to become, immediately and by your own endeavours, greater than any one on earth, allow me to express the charitable wish without hoping to dissuade you--that you may break your neck in the attempt! september , . [ ] it was just at the time that i was writing my last article, that the emperor of germany, king of prussia (who has a perfect obsession for being in the middle of the picture), was carrying out at the army manoeuvres at narva, a certain strategic design, long-prepared and tested, by means of which he proposed to fill with amazement and admiration not only the russian army but the imperial court--nay, all russia, and the whole wide world! william's idea was to repeat the exploit performed by the troops of charles xii (with the aid of the russian viborg regiment, of which he is colonel) and to pass through the heavy mass of a regiment of cavalry with light infantry battalions. the future commander-in-chief of the german army wished to show the world that he would know how to add the _élan_ of the french and the impetuosity of the slav to the qualities of method and strength perfected by leaders like von moltke or frederick charles. therefore, several weeks before, william ii had asked the tzar to be allowed to take part in the manoeuvres and to command in person the viborg regiment. and so it came to pass that, having cast himself for a part of invincible audacity, he came to cut a very sorry and ridiculous figure. surrounded by the hussars, he was made to see that what may be done with german infantry against uhlans, cannot be accomplished, even with russian soldiers, against russian cavalry. this incident shows that the tzar had something akin to second sight when he gave orders that the length of the manoeuvres would be optional. thanks to this, the kaiser was free to take home the sooner his pretty jacket (no, his tunic, i mean) from narva. what an interesting broadsheet might be made on the subject of "william ii a prisoner"! in the long winter evenings to come, how many a russian peasant--gifted with imagination as they are--in telling again the tale of the viborg regiment's attack, will see in it an omen of the destiny of the german emperor! and they will add, with bated breath, that the _hohenzollern_, on leaving the shores of russia narrowly missed being cut in two by another vessel. and one more sign of evil omen--a fearful tempest shook the imperial yacht in russian waters. let us, whose emperor was a prisoner of the germans in , pray that some day a german emperor may be taken prisoner by the russian army--not like at narva, but in all seriousness. i said in my last letter that it might well be that william's journey to russia might result in stiffening the resolution of the emperor alexander. and so it has proved, for scarcely had his imperial guest returned to berlin, than a ukase raised the russian customs tariff and imposed a new duty of per cent. on german imports. a fine result this, of that which the german press, before william's departure, described as the russo-german economic entente, at a moment when, even for the berlin newspapers, the prospects of a political _entente_ were somewhat dubious. for this reason, professor delbrück says quite bluntly, in the "prussian annals," that william ii's journey to russia has been a lamentable fiasco; that the tzar declined to listen to any diplomatic conversation; that he ridiculed and entertained his imperial guest with a series of military parades whilst the russian general staff was carrying out important manoeuvres on the western frontiers. in the same spirit as that of the ex-deputy professor, the whole german and austrian press have been demanding that, for the peace of europe, the german and austrian troops should be withdrawn from their respective frontiers, so as to compel the russian forces to do the same. that is all very well, but inasmuch as the military zones of the great russian empire are separated by enormous distances, and the movement of troops being very much easier for germany and austria than for russia, one would like to know precisely what is the idea at the back of these demands. as soon as ever he returned to germany, two very significant ideas occurred to william ii: one, to make a display of the warmest sentiments for his august _pis-aller_, the emperor of austria; the other, to have his faithful ally italy play some scurvy trick on france, russia's friend. to this end, the german emperor proceeded to hold a review of the austro-hungarian fleet and went beyond the official programme by going aboard the ironclad _francis joseph_, flying the flag of admiral sterneck. after this, inviting himself to luncheon with the archduke charles stephen, commanding the austrian squadron, he made a fervent speech, wishing health and glory to his precious ally the emperor of austria. september , . [ ] when germany agreed to withdraw her armies from the soil of france, she replaced them by other soldiers: crossing-sweepers, clerks, workmen, bankers (industrials or "reptiles" as the case might be), as well organised, linked up and drilled as her best troops. unceasingly, therefore, and without rest, it behoves us to be on our guard and to defend ourselves. a good many amiable frenchmen will shrug their shoulders at this, but if we act otherwise we shall be delivered over to our enemies, bound hand and foot, at the psychological moment. and now, dear reader, to return to william ii. you will grant, i think, that since we have followed the interminable zig-zags of his wanderings throughout europe, we are entitled to coin and utter a new proverb: "a rolling monarch gathers no prestige." november , . [ ] for mastodons like bismarck, william ii prepares a refrigerating atmosphere which freezes them alive. splendid mummies like von moltke he smothers with flowers. the men whom william dismisses and discards are great men in the eyes of germany, even though in history they may not be so, because the ex-chancellor is of inferior character, and because certain successes of von moltke were due rather to luck than design. nevertheless, they are in william's way and he gets rid of them, by different means. he needs about him men of a different stamp to those of the iron age; for the present, he is satisfied with courtiers, later he will demand valets. all those who are of any worth, all those who stand erect before his shadow, will be sacrificed sooner or later. his autocratic methods will end by producing the same results as those of the most jealous of democracies. let us bear in mind how often, under bismarck and william i, the german press made mock of our fatal french mania for change, pointing out to europe how the everlasting see-saw of ministers of war was bound to reduce our national defences to a position of inferiority. in two years william is at his fourth! soon, no doubt, william ii will be able to score a personal success in the matter of his intrigues against count taaffe. his benevolence spares not his allies. we know the measure of his good-will towards italy. lately, it seems, the emperor, king of prussia, said to the count of launay, king humbert's ambassador at berlin, "do not forget that, sooner or later, trieste is destined to become a german port." and it was doubtless with this generous idea in his mind that he had his compliments conveyed to m. crispi for his anti-irridentist speech at florence. that the triple alliance is the "safeguard of peace," has become a catchword that each of the allies repeats with wearisome reiteration. but there! it is not that william ii does not wish for war: it is germany which forbids him to seek it. it was not m. crispi who declined to seek a pretext for attacking france: it was italy that forbade him to find it. it is not the germanised austrians who hesitate to provoke russia: it is the slavs who threaten that if a provocation takes place they will revolt. let me add that the official organs in germany, italy and vienna only raise a smile nowadays when they describe russia and france as thunderbolts of war. november , . [ ] at the outset of the reign of william ii, referring to his father, i spoke of the "dead hand" and its power over the living. now, what has the young king of prussia done since his accession to the throne? he, the flatterer of bismarck, this disciple of pastor stöker, this out-and-out soldier, this hard and haughty personage, who was wont to blame his august parents for their bourgeois amiability and their frequent excursions? he carries out everything that his father planned, but he does it under impulse from without and he does it badly, without forethought, without the sincerity or the natural quality which is revealed in a man by a course of skilful action legitimate in its methods. he smashed von bismarck in brutal fashion. his father, on the other hand, was wont to say: "i will not touch the chancellor's statue, but i will remove the stones, one by one, from his pedestal, so that some fine day it will collapse of itself." it is a curious thing that these reforms and ideas, not having been applied by the monarch whose character would have harmonised perfectly with their conception and execution, now possess no reversionary value. they lose it completely by being subjected to a false paternity. it is true that occasionally william ii envoys some real satisfaction, such as that which he has derived from the coming of the king of belgium. so impatient was his majesty to return his visit, that he could not wait for the good season and therefore he came in the bad. at ostend, leopold ii had caused sand to be strewn at william's coming (the beach being conveniently handy). the king of prussia only spread mud. why was the king of belgium in such a hurry? after the visit of general pontus to berlin and his three days in retirement with the german headquarters staff, people at brussels are still asking what more king leopold could possibly have to settle in person with messrs. moltke and waldersee at these same headquarters? the _courier de bruxelles_ informs us that certain proposals for an alliance were made to leopold ii during his stay at potsdam. what! could prussia possibly have dared to think of laying an impious hand upon belgian neutrality! but if not, why should they have been at such pains formerly to prove to me that the thing was inconceivable? prussia wants a belgian alliance and the king refuses. splendid! but let him tell us so himself! i confess that such a document would interest me far more than all that i have published on the subject! may not the explanation of king leopold's journey be, that william ii would like a mobilisation in belgium just as he wants one in italy? m. bleichroder will supply the cash. he has already got his bargain money, viz. pastor stöcker in disgrace, and the repudiation of anti-semitism by its ex-partisan, william ii. november , . [ ] how can one avoid taking an interest in william ii of hohenzollern? he is one of those people who, by every means and in every way, insist on being noticed. this up-to-date emperor is obsessed by the idea of making profit, for purposes of advertisement, out of every sensation; he loves to upset calculations and produce every kind of astonishment. he believes that he has not fulfilled his part, until he has made a number of people lift their arms to heaven at least once a day and exclaim: "william is marvellous!" he wants to hear this cry arise from the humblest and the highest, from the miner's gallery and the palace of his "august confederates," from the workman's cottage and the homes of the middle-class, from the officers' club, from church and chapel, from the parliament of the empire and the house of peers. being _blasé_ himself, it pleases him to tickle public opinion with spicy fare; his lack of mental balance compels him to these endless and senseless choppings and changes, to all these schemes projected, proclaimed and cast aside. the former court of his grandfather is already in ruins, the work of bismarck crumbling in the dust; in less than no time he has reduced the old aristocratic and feudal prussian monarchy to the purest kind of democratic caesarism. perched above every political party in germany, william the young wants to be the one and only ruler and judge of all. among themselves let them differ as and when they will, it being always understood that all these separate opinions must equally be sacrificed to the emperor. before long the king of prussia will endeavour to be at one and the same time the spiritual head of the lutheran church and the temporal pope of the catholic church, the leader of economists, the cleverest of stategists, the one and only socialist, the most marvellous incarnation of the warrior of german legends, the greatest pacifist of modern times, explorer in his day and soothsayer whenever he likes. in his own eyes, william is all these. have not the delegates of the old house of peers ingenuously complained during these last few days that they no longer possess any initiative of legislation? but they have just as much or as little as the honourable members of the prussian diet. all schemes of reform emanate from the emperor. the people have no right to be emperor. surely that is simple enough? to bulk larger in the public eye, william dwells apart; he can no longer endure that any one should presume to think himself useful or agreeable to him or to give him advice. he is fulfilling the prediction that he made of himself when he was twenty-one: "when i come to reign i shall have no friends; i shall only have dupes." more infatuated with himself than ever, the emperor wears his mystic helmet _à la_ lohengrin, tramples the purple underfoot and has the throne surrounded by his life-guards, wearing the iron-plated bonnets of the days of frederick ii. thus he deludes himself with the dream of absolute authority. his mania for power is boundless, his pride knows no limits. he recognises only god and himself. to his recruits, he says: "after having sworn fidelity to your masters upon earth, swear the same oath to your saviour in heaven!" but in his moments of solitude, in the privacy of the potentate's toilet-chamber, must it not be dreadful for him to reflect that his silver helmet rests on ears that suppurate, that his voice comes from a mouth afflicted with fistula of the bone, and that there are days when his sceptre is at the mercy of the surgeon's knife? december , . [ ] the rumour has spread, and has not yet been authoritatively contradicted, that william is suffering from disease of the brain. is not this in itself good and sufficient reason to make him wish to prove that no one in his empire can do as much brain work as he can? we, whose minds are so confused in the endeavour to follow william's movements at a distance, where little things escape us, can imagine what it must be to observe them from close at hand! one of the chief glories of his reign will be to have produced the diagnosis of a new disease, "locomotor caesarism" of the restless type. before his case, these symptoms were always associated with paralysis. here is a discovery that may turn out to be more genuine that that of dr. koch. the unfortunate koch is one more of william's victims. it was his imperial will that germany should wake up one morning to find herself possessed of a pasteur of her own. he could not even wait long enough to allow the necessary experiments to be made with a remedy which is so violent that it may well be mortal. at the word of command "forward, march," koch found himself propelled by his majesty into the position of a benevolent genius. dr. henri huchard has expressed his opinion of koch's method in the following words: "in therapeutics, daring is always permissible, so long as it preserves its respect for human life." a few days ago, the german emperor was thrusting his advice on a man of science, to-day he is overthrowing the most venerable traditions of the prussian monarchy with the scheme of m. miguel, the new system, for taxing incomes and legacies, opening a campaign against the nobility and the old conservatives. with the help of an official of the "younger generation"--for thus is he pleased to describe his minister of finance--he begins to make war on the "old school." with the "old school" in his mind's eye, he conceives another idea, namely, that of a new method of teaching in the elementary, secondary and high schools, upon which it will be unnecessary to improve for the next hundred years. he sets the faithful m. hinzpeter to work, and compels him to toil night and day to prepare a complete programme in all haste--whereupon behold the emperor holding forth to the collegians just as he does to the recruits. "down with latin!" cries william. "let us make germans instead of greeks and romans! let us teach our children the practical side of life." all of which does not prevent him from adding: "let us teach them the fabulous history of our race." william insists that his name shall be on every lip--that he be recognised as father of his workmen, father of collegians, father of the country at large. it is his ambition to look upon all his subjects as his sons. much good may it do them! december , . [ ] the emperor of germany, determined supporter of triumphant militarism, and, therefore, the deadly enemy of every permanent and beneficial social reform, has suddenly stopped short in his attempts to improve the condition of the masses. if you ask: to whom does william ii give satisfaction? the only possible answer is: himself! for it matters nothing to him whether these plans of his succeed or fail. the thing that does matter to him is, that he should have left his mark everywhere, and that, after a quarter of a century or more, legislators shall inevitably find, in every project of law, the sacred mark, the holy seal of william's mind. [ ] from _la nouvelle revue_, of april , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] this paper had been, till then, in the service of prince bismarck. [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, may , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, may , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, june , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, june , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] several pages of the "letters on foreign policy" of june give proofs, undeniable and complete, that the preparation of crimes committed by anarchists in europe was instigated at berlin, william knowing and approving the fact. [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, july , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, august , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, august , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, september , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, september , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, october , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, november , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, november , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, december , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, december , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, january , , "letters on foreign policy." chapter ii - the danger to france of a _rapprochement_ with germany--the empress frederick's visit to paris--william ii as _summus episcopus_ of the german evangelical church--reception of the alsace-lorraine deputation in berlin--the law against espionage in germany: every german is a spy abroad--christening of the imperial yacht, the _hohenzollern_--further increase of the military effective force in peace-time--the _youth of william the second_, by mr. bigelow. january , . [ ] the berlin _post_ thinks that we should be able to get on very well without alsace-lorraine, and that the best thing for us to do, if we are "reasonable souls," is simply to become reconciled with germany. the reasonable ones among us are directed to prove to us others (who must needs be "gloomy lunatics") the folly of believing in the russian alliance, and gently to prepare us for a last and supreme act of cowardly surrender--namely, to give william ii a friendly reception at cannes or in paris. the chief argument with which they would persuade us is, that berlin is quite willing to receive our philosophers and our doctors. but we are more than quits on this score, seeing the number of germans that we entertain and enrich in paris. to prove that we owe them nothing in the matter of hospitality, it should be enough to ascertain on the th inst. how many germans will celebrate the birthday of william ii in one of our first-rate hotels. heaven be praised, hatred of the hohenzollerns is not yet dead in france! if it be true that the corpse of an enemy always smells sweet, the person of a living enemy must always remain hateful. before we discuss the possibility of the king of prussia visiting paris, however, let us wait until m. carnot has been to berlin. january , . [ ] the nearer we approach to , the less desire have i to be up-to-date. i persist in the belief that the solution of the problems of european policy in which france is concerned, would have been more readily attainable by an old fashioned fidelity to the memory of our misfortunes than by scorning to learn by our experience. certain well-meaning, end-of-the century sceptics may be able lightly to throw off that past in which they have (or believe they have) lost nothing, whilst we of the "mid-century" are borne down under its heavy burden. these people neglect no occasion to advise us to forget and they do it gracefully, lightly showing us how much more modern it is to crown oneself with roses than to continue to wear tragically our trailing garments of affliction and mourning. i should be inclined to judge with more painful severity those witty writers who advise us to light-hearted friendship with bismarck the "great german," with william the "sympathetic emperor", with richard wagner "the highest expression of historical poetry and musical art," those men who prepared and who perpetuate prussia's victories--i should judge them differently, i say, were it not that i remember my former anger against the young decadents and the older _roués_ in the last days of the empire. all of them used to make mock of patriotism in a jargon mixed with slang which greatly disturbed the minds of worthy folk, who became half ashamed at harbouring, in spite of themselves, the ridiculous emotions "of another age." but these same decadents and _roués_, after a period of initiation somewhat longer than that which falls to the lot of ordinary mortals, behaved very gallantly in the terrible year. true, in order to convince them that they had been wrong in regarding the theft of schleswig-holstein as a trifle, wrong in applauding the victory of sadowa, and declaring that each war was the last, it required such disasters, that not one of us can evoke without trembling the memory of those events, whose lurid light served to open the eyes of the blindest. "understand this," nefftzer was wont to insist (before ), "we can never wish that prussia should be victorious without running the risk of bringing about our own defeat; we must not yield to any of her allurements nor even smile at any of her wiles." if the people of paris applaud wagner, he who believed himself to be the genius of victorious germany personified, it can only be in truth that paris has forgotten. and in that case, there will only be left, of those who rightly remember, but a few mothers, a few widows, a few old campaigners and your humble servant! so that we may recognise each other in this world's wilderness, we will wear in our button-holes and in our bodices that blue flower which grows in the streams of alsace-lorraine, the forget-me-not! and we shall vanish, one by one, disappearing with the dying century, _that is, unless some surprise of sudden war, such as one must expect from william ii, should cure us of our antiquated attitude_. need i speak of these rumours of disarmament, wherewith the german press now seeks to lull us, rumours which spread the more persistently since, at last, we have come to believe in our armaments? "germany is satisfied and seeks no further conquests," says william ii. but does it follow that we also should be satisfied with the bitter memories of our defeats, and resolved that, no matter what may happen, we shall never object to prussia's victories? i never forget that william ii, as a prince, in his grandfather's time, said, "when i come to the throne i shall do my best to make dupes." this rumour of disarmament is part of his dupe-making. the real william reveals himself in his true colours when he awakens his aide-de-camp in the middle of the night, to go and pay a surprise visit to the garrison at hanover. in militarism the german emperor finds his complete expression and the emblem of his character. his empire is not a centralised empire and only the army holds it together. and for this reason william has favoured the army this year at the expense of all the other public services, by increasing its peace-footing strength and the number of its officers, by ordering more than two hundred locomotives and a corresponding amount of rolling stock intended to expedite mobilisation. seventy new batteries have been formed. the artillery has been furnished with new ammunition, the infantry with new weapons, and the strategic network of railways has been completed! abroad, every one, friends and enemies alike, think as i do on the subject of disarmament. "this plaything of william the second's leisure moments," says _the standard_ (although a fervent admirer of queen victoria's grandson), "this disarmament idea, is a myth." our faithful and loyal supporter, the _sviet_, says the same thing: "disarmament is a myth, germany talks of it unceasingly, but she strengthens her frontiers, east and west. on the north," adds the russian organ, "she is converting heligoland into a fortress; on the south-east, she is increasing the defences of breslau, and holds in readiness two thousand axle-trees _of the width of the russian railways_." it is only in france that a few up-to-date journalists take this disarmament talk of the german emperor quite seriously. to them, we may reply by a quotation from the official organ of the "great german." "the course of historic events," says the _hamburger nachrichten_, "is opposed to any realisation of the idea of disarmament, and justifies the opinion expressed by von moltke, who declared war to be in reality a necessary element in the order of things, of itself natural and divine, which humanity can never give up without becoming stagnant and submitting to moral and physical ruin." there you have the genuine style of bismarck, of the man who invented the formula--"the right of might." one thing--and one thing only--might possibly lead william ii to entertain seriously this idea of disarmament, and that would be for bismarck to oppose it. truly, there is something extremely pleasant in this duel between the two ex-accomplices! bismarck terrorising socialism, william coaxing and wheedling it, for no other tangible purpose than to act in opposition to him whose power he has overthrown. what an eccentric freak is this german emperor! one day he sends the sultan a sword of honour, a bitter jest for one who has never known anything but defeat! the next, he proposes to take back the command of the fleet from his brother henry, and in order to get rid of him conceives the plan of making alsace-lorraine and luxembourg into a new kingdom. at the same time he proposes to provide the grand duke of luxembourg with a guard of honour, a guard _à la prudhomme_, whose business it would be to defend and to fight him. the state council of the patriotic grand duchy is aroused, and denies the right of prussia on any pretext to interfere in its affairs. boldly it reminds the powers signatory to the convention of of their pledges. and with all his mania for governing the world at large, william ii would seem to be possessed of the evil eye, and to bring misfortune to all whom he honours with his friendship for any length of time. february , . it looks as if poor bismarck were about to be treated just as he treated count von arnim. can it be that everything must be paid for in this world, and that a splendid retributive justice rules the destiny even of super-men and punishes them for committing base actions? it is rumoured that the duke of lauenbourg (bismarck) is threatened with prosecution on a charge of _lèse majesté_, which the lawyers of the crown will not have very much trouble in proving against him. that any one should dare to criticise the emperor's policy, even though it be bismarck, or that any one, even be it count waldersee, should express a personal opinion in his presence, is more than william ii will tolerate. the "sympathetic emperor" has a cruel way of doing things. before striking his victims it is his wont to give them some public mark of his esteem and good-will. small and great, they pass before him, sacrificed each in his turn, so soon as they have come to believe themselves for a moment in the enjoyment of his favour. thus colonel kaissel, aide-de-camp to the emperor, is about to be shelved. lieutenant von chelin has been removed from the court, general von wittich has already lost his fleeting favour, and the moderating influence of major de huene, erected on the ruins of that of von falkenstein, proves to be equally short-lived. three generals in command of army corps are now threatened--that is, of course, unless a fortnight hence they should prove to have reached the highest pinnacle of favour. three months ago von moltke declared that he and bismarck would live long enough to be able to say "farewell to the empire." on the other hand, von puttkamer seems to be regaining something of favour, and prince battenberg has been welcomed to the old castle; strange plans concerning him are being hatched in the brain of william ii. prince henry has been brought back, ostensibly to take part in the councils of the government, but in reality that he may be watched the more closely. he also has received a letter in which he is publicly thanked for the services he has rendered. if i were in his place i should be very uneasy, seeing the kind of brother that he was, the most changeable the most jealous, and the most suspicious of men. there is a false ring about this letter to prince henry, just as there was in those which the emperor addressed to count waldersee and to bismarck. gratitude is a word that william often thinks fit to use, but it is a sentiment that he is careful never to indulge in. it is impossible to discover any sign of a heart in the actions of the german sovereign. one may therefore predict that he will continue to show an ever increasing preference for distinguished personalities, whom it may please him to destroy, or creatures who would be the butts of his malicious sport, rather than to encourage the kind of public servants who strive continually to increase their efficiency, so as to serve him better. instead of being simply good and ruling benevolently, he aspires to be first a sort of pope, imposing upon his people a social state composed of servility and compulsory comfort, and again a leader of crusades, drawing his people after him to the conquest of the world. spiritual and material interests, military organisation, he mixes and confuses them like everything else which occurs to his mind, and every day he does something to destroy the results of that marvellous continuity, which did more to establish the power of william i than the victories of sadowa and sedan. ever more and more infatuated with the idea of military supremacy, he now pretends to be greatly concerned with the idea of disarmament. and he, the avowed protector of socialists, looks as if he were about to accept from mr. dryander, the protestant presidency of that association of workmen, which is being organised for the purpose of fighting socialism. wherever we look, it is always the same, false pretences, trickery, lying, love of mischief-making and of persecution, innumerable and unceasing proofs given by william that his sovereign soul, irretrievably committed to restless agitation, will never know the higher and divine joys of peace. march , . [ ] for some months past, my dear readers, i have predicted that william ii will not be satisfied without paying a visit to france. the visit of the empress frederick should have prepared us for this amiable surprise. but because the august mother of the german emperor was received by us with nothing more than cold politeness, the _cologne gazette_ gives us a sound drubbing, as witness the following-- "the french have no right to be offensive towards the august head of the german empire and his noble mother, by insulting them after the manner of blackguards (polissons). every german who has the very least regard for the dignity of the nation must feel mortally insulted in the person of the emperor." "the german people have the right to expect that the french government and the french nation will give them ample satisfaction, and will wipe out this stain on the honour of france, by sternly calling to order the wretches in question, creatures whom we germans consider to be the refuse of human society." and we who belong to this "refuse," who flatter ourselves that we have made extraordinary efforts of self-control when we refrained from saying to the empress frederick: "madame, spare us; let it not be said that you went one day to saint-cloud, and on the next to versailles, lest our resolution to be calm should forsake us"--we, i say, now perceive, that all our prudence has been wasted, and that we are still "refuse," the refuse of human society. the character of william ii continues to develop its series of eccentricities. with him, one may be sure of incurring displeasure, but his favours are shortlived. his mania for change is manifested to a degree unexampled since the days of the decay of the roman empire. his freakishness, the suddenness of his impulses, are becoming enough to create dismay amongst all those who approach him. one day he will suddenly start off to take by surprise the garrisons of potsdam and of rinfueld; he gives the order for boots and saddles, which naturally leads to innumerable accidents. next day you will find him issuing a decree that, a play written by one of his _protégés_, entitled _the new saviour_, is a masterpiece, which he would compel the public to applaud. the best he can do with it is to prevent its being hissed off the stage. another day he has a room prepared for himself at the headquarters of the general staff, where he interferes in the preparation of strategic plans, without paying the least attention to the new chief who has replaced count waldersee. then, again, he connects his private office with the entire press organisation, so as to be able to manipulate the reptile fund himself, and to dictate in person the notices he requires, concerning all his proceedings, in the newspapers which he pays in germany and in those which he buys abroad. all of a sudden it occurs to him that six more war-ships would round off the german fleet; and so he demands that they be built on the spot. his minister resists, pointing out that the approval of the reichstag is required, william ii flies into a passion, and the wretched minister obeys. suddenly it occurs to him also to remember the existence of a certain count vedel, greatly favoured by the grand duke of saxe-weimar. he summons him by telegraph, and makes him his favourite of an hour. when it pleases him to remove a superior officer, or to put one on the shelf, nothing stops him, neither the worth of the man, nor the value of the services he may have rendered. one can readily conceive that german generals live in a state of perpetual fright. add to all this that william is becoming impecunious. he has taken to borrowing, and is reduced to making money out of everything. what will the sultan abdul hamid say when he learns that the grand marshal of the german court has put up for sale the presents which he offered to the emperor, his guest, and which are valued at four millions! these things bring to mind the threat which william ii uttered a few days before the fall of bismarck: "those who resist me i will break into a thousand pieces." march , . [ ] the many and varied causes which led to the journey of the empress frederick to paris, and the equally numerous results that the emperor, her son, expected from that visit, are beginning to stand out in such a manner that we can appreciate their significance more and more clearly. this proceeding on the part of william ii, like all his actions, was invested with a certain quality of suddenness, but at the same time, it reveals itself as the result of a complicated series of deliberate plans. the object of these last was, as usual, the young monarch's unhealthy craving for making dupes. to this i shall return later on. let us first examine the causes of william's sudden impulses. he has acquired, and is teaching his people to acquire, the taste and habit of sudden and unexpected happenings. it having been the habit of bismarck to speculate on things foreseen, it was inevitable that his jealous adversary should speculate on things unforeseen. moreover, the king-emperor is dominated by that law of compensation, from which neither men nor things can escape, and from which it follows logically that germany, after having profited by methods of continuity, is now condemned to suffer, in the same proportion, her trials of instability. in determining upon the journey of his august mother to paris, the emperor took no risks other than those which pleased him, and which served the purposes of his grudges and his policy. in the first place, this journey would serve for a moment to divert attention in germany from a policy which the great industrials and the workmen, the party of progress and the conservatives, all unite in condemning. in the next place, berlin, having for a long time made ready to be amiable to paris, was bound to resent all the more acutely any failure to reciprocate her kind advances. these results could not fail to be favourable to the vote of credits for military purposes, which are always the last credits asked for by the government (whether under bismarck or under caprivi) and which are always voted under stress of an appeal to the eternal but utterly non-existent dangers, that are supposed to threaten germany from france. if our capital, then, should extend a cold welcome to the august mother of the german sovereign, the result could not fail to be of immediate advantage to the vote of military credits. i ask my readers to notice, by the way, the deliberate coincidence of the journey of the empress with the demand for these credits, and also with the anniversary of the treaty of versailles. finally, it was to be expected that if she were badly received, the mistake thus committed by the empress frederick would make "the englishwoman" more unpopular in germany; and, so far as one knows, her imperial son has never been passionately devoted to her. moreover, she afforded bismarck an opportunity of getting rid of a little of his venom, as witness the following words of his-- "only an englishwoman," the ex-chancellor declared during a visit to mr. burckardt, "could possibly have inspired the emperor with the idea of sending her to paris as a challenge to the french. a german woman would have had too much respect for her own dignity to go and visit versailles and saint-cloud. the nobility of her feelings would have forbidden her to make a triumphal appearance amidst the ruins of the houses and castles destroyed by our troops, and her pride would have prevented her from seeking the homage and the favours of the vanquished. the empress is english, and english she will remain." but if france were to welcome with enthusiasm--or even with favour--the empress frederick, william ii might justifiably conclude (without making allowance for the sympathy which the widow of the emperor-martyr inspires in frenchwomen) that france had accepted the accomplished fact, abandoned her claims to alsace-lorraine, and the defence of her future interests in common with russia. in that case, he would have treated france as he treats those who show him the greatest devotion. in order to get a clear idea of the object pursued by william ii, it is sufficient to read two short extracts from the _Étoile belge_, a blind admirer of the emperor of germany, and to read them separately from the enthusiastic articles which this paper published at the commencement of the journey of the empress frederick. the correspondent of the _Étoile belge_ wrote as follows-- "in confiding his mother and his sister to the hospitality of paris, william ii committed an act as clever as it was courageous. let him continue in this policy of pacific advances, and the idea of a reconciliation with germany will soon become more popular than the russian alliance." the berlin correspondent of the same _Étoile_ wrote-- "germany has at least as much as england to gain in bringing it about that russia should not feel too sure of french support." is not this clear enough? there you have it: the real object which underlay the visit incognito of the empress frederick for the furtherance of the interests of germany, it meant a reconciliation with germany, which would have separated us from russia, from which england had everything to gain, which would once more have surrendered our credit to italy unconditionally, and would have compelled us to renounce alsace-lorraine for good and all. what then would have been the results had she paid us an official visit? we have already seen that none of the alternative schemes for this journey could work to germany's detriment; we need, therefore, not be astonished at the publicity given by the count von münster to all the comings and goings of the empress, and at the determination shown by her majesty to investigate the quality of our patriotism in all its various aspects. the memories which the empress went to recall at saint-cloud and at versailles were the same as those which she compelled us to call from the past: memories glorious for her but unforgettably sad for us, memories which, in reminding her of victory, were meant to remind us of a defeat to which our conquerors have added cruelty. i watch with fervour the expression of our patriotism. a race which forgets the brutal insults of superior force deserves slavery. italy would never have reconquered milan and venice had she resigned herself to see them pass under the yoke of the stranger. forty years and more had passed since the nd of may, [ ] when prince napoleon thought fit to send prince jérome as ambassador to madrid. he was forced to leave it. princess murat was in no way responsible for what the french generals had done. she came in the suite of the empress eugenie, but spain found a way to make her displeasure manifest without any lack of courtesy. to the empress frederick, france has shown a melancholy kind of astonishment rather than dislike, and has displayed an infinite courtesy. not a single demonstration, not a gesture, not a word from the population of paris has done anything to detract from the city's world-wide reputation for hospitality. the emperor william i and bismarck, who pretended to make war only against the empire, would have shown themselves to be great and far-seeing political minds had they left republican france in possession of the whole of her territory. although beaten at sedan, she would have remembered jena, and germany's revenge would have quickly been forgotten. let us remember the words of the emperor of germany-- "i would rather that all my people should fall upon the field of battle than give back to france a single clover-field of alsace-lorraine." the _post_ of strasburg, recalling this declaration, adds-- "the french _bourgeoisie_ is too cowardly to begin a war. it is willing to smile at the words of déroulède, but does not move. the people of alsace-lorraine have done quite rightly in turning away from these talkers. we have _permitted_ them to become germans, why then, should they refuse the privilege?" but william ii continues to evoke the red vision of france militant, in order to obtain the vote for his military credits. it would seem that his liberalism has gone to join his socialism. at the dinner of the brandenburgers he said "god inspires me; the people and the nation owe me their obedience." no matter whether he bungles or blunders, god alone is responsible, and it is not for the people or the nation to argue. and what is more, has not the new president of the evangelical church just proclaimed william ii as _summus episcopus_? just as william claims to decide infallibly every political question he will now decide all theological questions, without asking any help from the supreme council of the evangelical church. pope, emperor and king--but does anybody suppose that this will satisfy him? march , . [ ] the reception of the delegates from alsace-lorraine at berlin is characteristic. william ii, eternally pre-occupied with stage-effects, has on this occasion accentuated the disproportion between the framework and the results obtained. he insisted upon it that the proceedings should be as imposing as the refusal of the delegates' request was to be humiliating. all the pomp and circumstance of state was displayed for the occasion, with the result of producing a scene, carefully prepared in advance, worthy of a nero. the emperor of germany surrounded by his military household, in the hall of his knights of the guard, receives the complaints of the representatives of alsace-lorraine, who have come to ask for a relaxation of the laws imposed on them by conquest. to them, william ii made answer: "the sooner the population of alsace-lorraine becomes convinced that the ties which bind her to the german empire will never be broken, the sooner she proves more definitely that she is resolved henceforward to display unswerving fidelity towards _me_ and towards the empire, the sooner will this hope of hers be realised." above the imperial palace, during this scene, the yellow flag of the emperors of germany floated side by side with the purple banner of prussia. another picture-- the emperor gives a banquet to the delegates of alsace-lorraine, after having refused to hear their complaints. at the same table with them he invites herr krupp to sit, in order to remind the people of the annexed provinces of the cannons which defeated france and will defeat her again. here we have a reproduction of the roman empire in decay. the power of the conqueror, imposed in all its pomp upon the vanquished, with the cruelty of a bygone age. the all-absorbing personality of william grows more and more jealous. he would like to fill the whole stage of the theatre of the empire and of the world itself. more than that, he even demands that the past should date from himself, and he turns history inside out, having it written to begin with his reign, and reascending the course of time. first himself, then the house of hohenzollern, then prussia, and let that suffice. the other dynasties, other kingdoms of germany, count for so little that it is sufficient merely to mention their existence. the history of which i speak, written for the german army, will be prescribed later on for use of the high schools. from each department of the public service william lifts an important part of its business. from the department of education he takes the direction of public worship, which, in his capacity as _summus episcopus_, he proposes to control in person. from the war department he takes the section having control of maps and fortresses, which, he proposes to place under the general staff and his own direction. he is planning to make a province of berlin, so that he himself may govern it in military fashion, etc., etc. is it possible that the mind of such a man, thus inflated with pride, should not succumb to every temptation of ambition? is there any one of those about him, or amongst his subjects, who can say where these ambitions will end? when one thinks of the mass of ambitions and emotions that william ii has exhausted since he came to the throne, when one thinks of the difficult questions he has raised, the obstacles he has created and the enterprises he has undertaken, how is it possible not to _fear_ the future? germany is beginning to be oppressed by a feeling of uneasiness. she is beginning to realise that her emperor, by designing the orbit of his activity on too large a scale, is producing the contrary effect, with the result that sooner or later, the narrowing circumference of that orbit will close in upon him, and he will only be able to break its barriers by violent repression from within _and by a sudden outbreak of war without_. militarism and militarism only, the passion for which is ever recurrent with william ii, can satisfy his morbid craving for movement and action. thus we see him celebrating the anniversary of william i by a review of his troops and by a speech, so seriously threatening a breach of the peace, that even the newspapers of the opposition hesitate to reproduce it. all france should realise that _the german emperor will make war upon her without warning and without formal declaration, just as he surprises his own garrisons_. by his orders, the statement is made on all sides that the rifle of the german army is villainously bad. let us not believe a word of it. on the contrary, we should know that the greater part of the prussian artillery is superior to ours; let us be on our guard against every surprise and ready. april , . [ ] on the occasion of the presentation of new standards to his troops, the emperor observed that the number is one of deep significance for his race, that it corresponds with six important dates in the history of prussia. "for this reason," he added, "i have chosen the th of april as the day on which to present the new standards." as william ii himself puts it, this day, like all the "eighteenths" that went before it, has its special significance. the strange words uttered by the monarch on this occasion--always intoxicated with the sense of his power, and sometimes by _kaiserbier_--are denied to-day, or perhaps it would be more correct to say that the _monitor of the empire_ has not published them. "let our soldiers come to me," he proclaimed in the white hall, to "overcome the resistance of the enemies of the fatherland, abroad as well as at home." on the one hand, after the manner of the middle ages, he reveals to us the ancient mysteries of the cabal, on the other, as an up-to-date emperor, he compels his brother henry to become a sportsman like himself. on occasion he will don the uniform of the navy, interrupt a post-captain's lecture, and throw overboard the so-called plan of re-organisation, so as to substitute a new strategy of his own making for the use of the german fleet. so field-marshal von moltke is dead at last. his place is already filled by the emperor, who is willing to be called his pupil, but a pupil equal in the art of strategy to his master and a better soldier. the remarkably peaceful death of von moltke only reminds me of the violent deaths that he brought about. it was to him that we owed the bombardment of paris. only yesterday, marshal canrobert said "he was our most implacable foe, and in that capacity, we must continue to regard him with hatred and contempt." von moltke himself was wont to say "when war is necessary it is holy." he leaves behind him all the plans in readiness for the next war. william ii, you may be sure, will proceed to depreciate the military work of von moltke, just as he tries to depreciate his diplomatic and parliamentary work. he has reached a pitch of infatuation unbelievable; and is becoming, as i have said before, more and more of a nero every day. at the present moment he is instigating the construction of an arena at schildorn where spectacles after the ancient manner will be given. these, according to william, are intended to afford instruction to the masses as well as to the classes. a very fitting conclusion this, to the fears which he has expressed about seeing the youth of the german schools working too hard and overloading its memory. for the same reason, no doubt, he has made von sedlitz minister of public instruction--it is an unfortunate name--an individual who has never been to college, who has never studied at any university, and who only attended school up to the age of twelve. now, it seems, william ii is bored with the palace of his forefathers. for the next two years he is going to establish his imperial residence at potsdam; consequently all his ministers and high officials are compelled to reside partly at potsdam. his mania for change leads him to destroy the historic character of the old castle; his scandalised architects have been ordered to restore it in modern style. and berlin, his faithful berlin, is abandoned. it is said that at a gala dinner the other day the emperor uttered these words: "the empire has been made by the army, and not by a parliamentary majority." but it is also said that bismarck observed to the conservative committee at kiel: "it is best not to touch things that are quiet, best to do nothing to create uneasiness, when there is no reason for making changes. there are certain people who seem singularly upset by the craving to work for the benefit of humanity." it requires no special knowledge to interpret this sentence as a thinly veiled criticism of the character of william ii. may , . [ ] there is an attitude frequently adopted by william ii, that german socialists are in the habit of describing, as "the whipping after the cake." he has now had the socialist deputies arrested, and he is introducing throughout the country a system of espionage and intimidation, which is only balanced to a certain extent by his fondness for sending abroad a class of reptiles who go about preaching, writing and imparting to others the doctrines which he endeavours to strangle at birth in his own country. in spite of his brief flirtation with socialism (in which he indulged merely to copy the man whom he opposes in everything and cordially detests), william ii has now come to persecute it. one of his amiable jokes is to try and lead people to believe that the order which he has given, for the dispositions of his troops on the frontier _en échelon_, has no other object but to prevent belgian strikers, from coming into germany. but can it be also to repel this invasion of belgian strikers that the entire german army now receives orders just as if it were actually preparing to begin a campaign? sentinels of france, be on your guard! it goes without saying that during the past fortnight we have had our regular supply of speeches from william ii. at düsseldorf he said three things. the first, coming from the lips of a sovereign known all the world over for his mania for change, is calculated to raise a smile-- "from the paths which i have set before me, i shall not swerve a single inch." the second was a threat-- "i trust that the sons of those who fought in will know how to follow the example of their fathers." the third and last was meant for bismarck-- "there is but one master, myself, and i will suffer none other beside me." for the future william will only make his appearances accompanied by heralds clad in the costumes of the middle ages, bodyguards drawn from the nobility, surrounding the _summus episcopus_, pope and khalif of the protestant church. the extremely curious mixture which unceasingly permeates the character of william ii may be observed in the orders which he, the mystic, the pious, has recently given to the chaplains of the court, viz. that they are never to preach in his presence for more than twenty minutes. naturally enough, the prussian pastors are extremely indignant at the cavalier way in which the _summus episcopus_ treats the holy word. may , . [ ] the business of a sovereign is not a bed of roses, and causes of discomfiture are just as frequent in the palaces of kings as in the humblest cottages. william ii has just had more than one experience of this humiliating truth, but it must be admitted he fully deserves most of the lessons he receives. instead of saying, as he used to say, "my august confederates and myself," he has suddenly conceived the pretension that he and he alone is the sole master in germany. accordingly the august confederates by common consent, although invited by the grand marshal of the palace, count eulenberg, have refused to take part in the trifling folly of the golden throne that william is having made for himself. kings, grand dukes and senators of the free cities, all have unanimously declared that they will never assist "in the erection of a throne which is the sign and attribute of sovereignty." but to continue the list: at strelitz, a clergyman refused the request of the prussian colonel of the th regiment to allow his church to be used for a thanksgiving service in honour of the birth of william ii, and preached a sermon declaring that the grand duke of mecklenburg-strelitz, and he alone, had the right to have a divine service and a sermon in honour of his birthday. and yet another instance: the emperor has organised a regatta to be held on lake wannsee on may for all yachts and pleasure boats owned by princes and by the german aristocracy. the archduke, heir to the austrian throne, has refused to honour the occasion with his presence. the toast at dusseldorf, "myself the only master," has been very generally condemned; equally that which the emperor addressed to the students at bonn, when he said to them "let your jolly rapiers have full play," or in other words, "indulge to the top of your bent, and without regard to the laws, in your orgies of brutality." people in germany are beginning to think that william reminds them a little too much of the incoherencies of his great-uncle, frederick william, who was undoubtedly clever in all sorts of ways, but who died insane. at the shipyards of elbing, william ii narrowly escaped being wounded by the fall of the large mast of the ship _kohlberg_, which had been sawn through in several places. he has just had his coachman, menzel, arrested, who very nearly brought him to his death by driving him into a lime tree in a _troika_ presented to him by the tzar. at present it is his wish that holland and belgium should receive him. the queen regent and leopold ii (in spite of the latter's violent love for germany) are hesitating, by no means certain as to the welcome which their peoples would extend to him. william ii proposes to strike the imagination of the dutch, as he did that of the belgians, and to make his appearance before them, aboard his yacht, the _hohenzollern_, which dutch vessels are to go to meet and escort. to make the thing complete (and it may well be that the idea is germinating in his mind) it would only require him to visit the fortifications on the meuse. the _berliner tageblatt_ in a long article informs us that the emperor declares them to be _perfect_. 'tis a good word. . . . when the imperial traveller shall have exhausted all pretexts for rushing about on this continent, he will go to africa. there is a _but_ about this; it arises from the question whether he will be able to obtain from his ministers that they should ask the reichstag or the landtag for the , francs that he needs for the voyage, the constitution forbidding the king of prussia to leave europe. but what does the constitution matter to william ii? he, the master, will put an end to it! august , . [ ] what are the qualities which have distinguished the government of germany since the victories of moltke? the patient tenacity of william i, and a continuous policy of trickery raised by bismarck to the level of genius. william ii is a mind diseased, infatuated with itself. his actions are dominated by pride, and all the most childish off-shoots of that weakness, love of noise, of attitudes, of pomps and vanities and jewellery; his mind is a thing of somersaults, and his will is subject to capricious whims and sudden outbursts of temper. august , . [ ] may we not flatter ourselves that the torments of william ii are now beginning? he, who only yesterday proclaimed himself to be the triumphant personification of the german empire, is now compelled to inaction as the result of a fall. whilst the great tzar is received with acclamation on board of the french _marengo_, he goes awkwardly stumbling about on the deck of his yacht. the german emperor composed for himself a prayer, which he is accustomed to have said in his presence, and in which god is implored "to grant his protection to the emperor william, to give him health and inspiration for the fulfilment of his mission _towards the nations_." to-day, reduced to inactivity by his illness and by the consequences of his folly, he has ample leisure to reflect on the psalm which he is so fond of singing, with the mitre of the _summus episcopus_ on his head: "the kings of the earth are the instruments of god." yes, sire, they are instruments which god breaks as easily as he bends a reed before the wind. he is pleased to humble the proud, and he reserves defeat and death as the portion of the parricide. august , . [ ] germany's luck is running out. . . . the emperor certainly lacks neither the youth nor the audacity to compel fortune, but he drives her too hard, and ignores all her warnings. his fall is a clear warning, which he appears to be quite unwilling to notice; more mechanical than ever in his movements, he is now taking to riding again. by his orders, his illness and even his fall are alike contradicted. his reason for withdrawing himself so long from the gaze of his adoring subjects is to let his beard grow, after the fashion of boulanger. but he hasn't wasted his time; his furious impatience under activity has brought about a fresh attack. september , . [ ] william ii makes every effort to keep the triple alliance on its legs (it being as lame as himself) whilst he continues to give vent to his triple _hoch!_ and resumes once more his rushing to and fro, so wearisome to his faithful subjects, which compels the european press to groan so loudly that his pennon (imperial in austria, or royal in bavaria) waves madly about his excited person. meanwhile the emperor alexander iii, calm in the serenity of his nature, takes his rest in the pleasant retreat of fredensborg, where he finds contented virtues and the joys of family life. it really looks as if a certain deviltry were at work against william ii. his splendid statecraft now revolves about questions of rye bread, russian geese, and american pork; he struggles amidst a mass of difficulties more comic than sublime. he has imposed a system of rigid protection in order to entangle his allies in a net of tariffs favourable only to germany, and now behold him, all of a sudden, removing the duties off diseased pork, all for the profit of the mckinley bill, the scourge of germany. only the future can say what dangers await a policy of fierce protection and dangerous favouritism. how much simpler and cleverer it would have been to remove the duties on cereals! as far as the people are concerned, cheap pork will never appeal to them as cheap bread would have done. the progressive party had asked for both; the satisfaction they have received appeases them for the moment, but the socialists will still be able to say that william's government takes off the duties on foodstuffs that poison the people, and leaves them on those which would afford them healthy nourishment. september , . [ ] william ii has decidedly no luck when he puts the martial trumpet to his lips. it was at erfurt that he learned that the tribes of the wa héhé had massacred zalewski's expedition into east africa. it is said that, on hearing this news, the german emperor, seized with one of those sudden outbursts of rage which throw him into convulsions, swore to avenge in torrents of blood the insult thus suffered by the ever-victorious banner of prussia. are we, then, to see the reichstag in its turn, like the french and italian parliaments, wasting its millions and its men in colonial adventures? at münich, william ii has declared that the wretched condition of the artillery in the austrian army, the lack of cohesion in its infantry, and the inexperience, not to say incapacity, of its officers, render it unfit for war in the near future, and that no hope of its improvement is to be entertained, so long as it shall have as its head a man so completely worn out as francis joseph. germany's armament is to be completely changed and renewed, and it is even said that william will go down in person to the reichstag during the autumn session to demand the enormous credits which the situation requires. the _neue münchen tageblatt_ has been seized at münich for having published an attack upon "the mania for armaments and for military pomp which possesses william ii, a mania which is exhausting germany and will leave her completely ruined after the next war." november , . [ ] the unfortunate constitution of the german empire, like the emperor himself, doesn't know which way to turn. legislation, administration, the army; the universities, the church and the administration of justice: everything is being passed through a sieve, and transformed, first in order that it may retransform itself and then become more readily accessible to the rising generation. anything that savours of a ripe age is extremely displeasing to william ii. ripeness is a thing which he disdains to acquire. all that is youthful finds favour in his eyes, with the sole exception of a class of youth with which he is disposed to deal severely, viz. the _souteneurs_. against them the _summus episcopus_ is extremely wroth. here the virtue of chaste germany is at stake, and he proposes to cauterise the disease with a red-hot iron. for the future, the scandalous discussion of these things will be forbidden to the press, and thus, even if private morals continue the same, public morality will not be offended. hypocrisy, at least, will be saved. there is much talk at vienna of a plan whispered at headquarters in berlin, which has to do with converting the capital of austria into an entrenched camp, so that an army driven back from the austro-russian frontiers might there be re-formed. william means to throw austria against russia, and to take his precautions in case of defeat, precautions which would at the same time, safeguard the rear of the german empire. november , . germany is becoming uneasy; she has heard the rustling of the wings of defeat. accustomed to victory, she is suffering, as rich people suffer under the least of privations. bankruptcies, one after another, are spreading ruin in berlin. bismarck and william, united in a very touching manner on this subject, conceived the idea of bringing about russia's financial ruin, and of importing into the prussian capital the vitality of the paris market. the fall in russian securities was unlucky for the german bank, and all the scrip that the berlin bourse so greedily devoured, for the sole purpose of preventing paris from getting it, does not seem to have been easily digested. the middle class is suffering from the bad condition of the market, and the increase of taxation; the lower classes are hungry. impassive in his majesty, the emperor contemplates himself upon the throne. now you will find him copying louis xiv and writing in the golden book of the city of münich _regis volontas suprema lex_. and again he will imitate st. louis, but not finding any oak tree within his reach, he administers justice on the public highway, as in the skinkel-platz. he is having his own statue made of marble, to be placed alongside of his throne. great heavens! if some day, this were to be for him the avenging commander's statue! [ ] but no, it cannot be, for has he not been converted? is he not the _summus episcopus_, who conducts the service in person? has he not composed psalms? could anybody be more pious, a more resolute foe of those vices which he pursues with such energy? could any one be more determined to be a pillar of the church? in his interviews with the delegates of the synod of the united prussian church, has not the _summus_ said that the reformation drew its strength from the hearts of princes? true, you may say, that this does not sound very like a humble christian; but then humility had never anything to do with william. at the administration of the oath to new recruits, after having held forth to them on the subject of the hardships at the beginning of a soldier's life, he added, "it shall be your reward when you have learnt your trade, to manoeuvre before me." december , . [ ] the nations of europe desire peace, and it has been so often proved to them that they also desire it, who have been accused of furbishing their weapons unceasingly, that it would be dangerous even for william ii to seem to be preparing for war, or rather that, having made ready for it, he should be working to let it loose. and so it comes to pass that the fire-eating emperor and king of prussia himself is compelled to play the part of a bleating sheep "admiring his reflection in the crystal stream," and that he cannot even have recourse to the expedient, now exhausted, to make it appear that either france or russia are ravening wolves in search of adventure. but the rôle of a sheep sits badly on william, and the _mot d'ordre_, which he dictates is so evidently opposed to the condition of affairs for which he is responsible, that messrs. kalnoky and caprivi, in spite of their appearance of rotund good nature, have shown distinct signs of intractable irritation. people have been asking what can be the meaning of all these pacific assurances, so hopelessly at variance with everything that one sees and knows, at a moment when the monarch of berlin is furious at the visit of the tzar to kronstadt? well, the truth is out, and it is m. de kalnoky who, by proxy, shall reveal it to you. "the reception at kronstadt and its consequences have effected no change in the situation." there you have the secret. it is necessary to prove that the diplomacy of the triple alliance has not been checked at any point or in any way; that the "excellent impression," to quote the words of m. de caprivi, left in russia by the visit of william ii did not allow the tzar any alternative; he was compelled to show attention to some other country than germany. moreover, the appearance of alexander iii on the _marengo_ was nothing more than a simple desire for a sea trip; france, going like mohammed to the mountain, bore in her flanks nothing larger than a mouse. finally, that peace never having been threatened by the loyal league of peace, there could be no possible reason left to france and russia for wanting to defend it, etc., etc. william ii is working hard to control and direct the diplomacy of the triple alliance. nevertheless, all his scaffolding work is liable to sudden collapse, overthrown by the most insignificant of events. regarding his speech to the recruits, the german press has pluckily voiced its condemnation by the public. it is impossible to deny that his observations on that occasion were a perfect masterpiece of self-glorification. this is what he said-- "you have just taken the oath of fidelity to myself. from this day forward there exists for you one order and one order only, that of my majesty. henceforth you have only one enemy, mine, and should it be necessary for me some day (which god forbid) to order you to shoot your own parents, yes, to fire on your own brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, on that day remember your oath." those who wish to form an accurate idea of william's loquacity and self-conceit should read a few passages, selected haphazard from "the voice of the lord upon the waters," a sermon by his majesty, the emperor-king, for use in polar voyages. there they will find a strange hotch-potch of all sorts of ideas, religious, political and heathen, all half digested. but the dominant note in the sermons preached by william ii lies in his tendency to diminish the infinite, to hold it within the measure of his own mind, to bring down god to his own stature. all his comparisons tend to show god as an emperor, built in the image in which william sees himself. when he draws you a picture, in which he brings god face to face with himself, there is about him a certain splendour of pride, something in his utterance that suggests an imperial lucifer. but beyond these relations between god and the german emperor, his utterances reveal nothing beyond commonplace self-conceit. in his perpetual and personal contact with the divinity, william's morality becomes more exacting than even that of god himself towards his saints, who have long enjoyed his sanction to sin seven times a day. william ii will not allow of a single sin. everywhere and in everything he must interfere. well may his subjects say, who have just received their catechism: "he is on heaven, on earth, and within us." january , . [ ] i, who have so long been devoted to the franco-russian alliance, have followed with acute distress the intrigues of bismarck in bulgaria (intrigues of which the _nouvelle revue_ revealed one proof in the letters of prince ferdinand of coburg to the countess of flanders). i have known that william, in spite of his actual dislike for the proceedings of his ex-chancellor, is pleased to approve the impertinences of a stamboulof. nevertheless, i confess i am seized with anxiety at seeing france enter into diplomatic proceedings with the so-called government of bulgaria. it is very often more dignified to despise and ignore the enterprises of certain people, then to endeavour to obtain satisfaction from them. there are certain complicated circumstances in which the manifestation of a sense of honour or loyalty becomes a weakness: at all costs one should avoid being led into it. the emperor of germany possesses a special talent for adding new complications to a difficult situation, so as to render it impossible of solution. he has now so completely tangled up the parliamentary skein, that in a little while it will be impossible for parliament to govern. can one conceive of a majority of the chamber rallying around the catholic centre, or the socialists, for the same reason, increasing in number at the bye-elections? in such a case william ii, equally unable to surrender in favour of the clericals or to submit to the socialists, will find himself, as others have been before him, driven to adopt the ultimate remedy of war. february , . [ ] if the states of germany, in joining themselves on to prussia, have thereby increased in power, they have gained very little in humanity. the circular, secretly issued by prince george of saxony, commanding the th army corps, reveals something of the brutalities and exquisite torture which german soldiers have to suffer. this circular was addressed to the commanders of regiments, and has been published by a socialist newspaper, the _vorwärts_. this prince of saxony is indignant at these things, doubtless because he is a saxon; bavaria, we are told, declines to accept the application of the prussian military code. by common consent, the house of peers and the chamber of deputies at münich have voted against subscribing to a condition of things which permits men to behave like real savages. military germany takes pleasure in cruelty, sentimental germany is moved by the tortures inflicted on her children. brutality and sentiment rub elbows, and are so strangely intermingled amongst our neighbours that i, for one, abandon all attempts at understanding them. it was von moltke who said one day that the army was the school of all the virtues. next day the same field-marshal put into circulation certain formulas for the infliction of cruelty, intended for the use of commanding officers. "if a superior officer should order an inferior to commit a crime, the inferior must commit it." thus says william ii, who in the very next breath expresses his sentimental concern over the unfortunate lot of a woman of loose life handed over to the tender mercies of a bully! william's latest quarrel, it seems, is with liberty of conscience. the _summus episcopus_ of the evangelical religion becomes the protector of clericalism in germany. he, the elect of god, has discovered the power of the catholic church. this was the power that broke bismarck, but it will not break william ii, for he intends to assimilate it. he dreams of establishing his protectorate over catholicism in europe, america, africa and in the east; his destiny lies in a world-wide mission, which only catholicism can support. he will, therefore, dominate the papacy, and through it will govern the world. february , . [ ] the list of emperor william's vagaries continues to grow. he, who was once the father of socialists, now pursues them with all manner of cruelty, in order to be revenged for their opposition to the scholastic law. this law is his dearest achievement. he produced it under the same conditions as his socialist rescripts, all by himself, without consulting his minister. it seems that von sedlitz was instructed to bring it forward without discussing its terms. this is a reactionary _coup d'état_ in the same way that the rescripts on socialism were a democratic stroke. will this "new course" of imperial policy, as they call it in germany, last any longer than its predecessor? i presume so, for it corresponds more closely than the old one to the autocratic instincts of william ii. the national, liberal and progressive parties, and even the socialists, who had turned full of hope towards their liberal emperor, now vie with each other in turning their backs on the sovereign, who fulfils the policies of a von kardoff or a baron von stumm, the most determined conservatives of the extreme party. the universities of berlin and halle, together with all the other educational institutions, have addressed petitions to the landtag, protesting against the re-organisation of the primary schools, which it is proposed to hand over to the church. sixty-nine professors out of eighty-three, six theologians out of eight, including amongst them certain members of the faculty, have signed this protest. the greatest names of german science and literature have here joined forces. liberals like herr harnack have made common cause with such anti-semite conservatives as professor treitschke. mommsen, virchow, curtius helmholtz, stand side by side in defence of the rights of liberty of thought. william is becoming irritated by the lessons thus administered to him and the opposition thus displayed, and his nervousness continues to assume an aggressive form. alsace-lorraine is undisturbed, and all europe bears witness to its pacific tendencies; nevertheless, the german emperor is bringing forward a bill before the reichstag for declaring a state of siege in alsace-lorraine, which includes even a threat of war, and opens the door to every abusive power on the part of the civil authority. the speech which he addressed to the members of the diet of brandenburg is the most complete expression which the emperor, king of prussia, has yet given of his latest frame of mind. how dare they criticise him, or discuss his policy! let them all go to the devil! he, whose policy it is to block emigration, now wishes for nothing better than that all his opponents should leave germany. but it is impossible to revoke public opinion wholesale, like an edict. if it is difficult now to expel all malcontents from prussia, what will it be when their number is legion? william ii has promised to his people a glorious destiny, happiness, and the protection of heaven. truly these germans must be insatiable if they ask for more! march , . [ ] william ii aims at concentrating all power, and, to organise the work of espionage, in the hands of the military authorities. if the prussian law of is still effective, the emperor in case of need will be able to dispense with a vote of the reichstag. this law confers on every general and on his representative, who may be an officer of eighteen years of age, the right to declare a state of siege in the event of war threatening. on the other hand, the projected bill against espionage meets with very general approval. your german has got spies on the brain. he wishes to be able to indulge in spying in other countries, but to prevent it in germany. the _frankfurter zeitung_ and the _vorwärts_ assert that the proposed law against the revealing of military secrets was inspired by the publication of the report by prince george of saxony, containing revelations of a kind which the emperor does not wish to occur again. one of the articles of this law against spying reveals the prussian character in all its beauty. one has only to read it, in order to understand the inducements which the government of william ii holds out to informers. the end of this article runs as follows: "every individual having knowledge of such an infringement, and who shall fail to notify the authorities, is liable to imprisonment." to hear these germans, one would think that france and russia are flooding the empire with spies, whilst germany never sends a single one of them to france or russia. in the first place, all these statements are purely cynical; and in the second germany can very well afford to dispense with professionally selected spies, inasmuch as every german prides himself on being one at all times in the service of the fatherland. april , . [ ] william ii makes a solemn promise to his august grandmother, queen victoria, and to the "best beloved" of his allies, the emperor of austria, that he will restore the guelph fund. francis joseph has obtained from the duke of cumberland the somewhat undignified letter of renunciation, which we have all read, and now it is either up to rogue scapin or bre'r fox, just as you please! william ii says that he never meant to give back the capital, but only the interest! it is easy to imagine the effect produced on those concerned by the revelation of this astonishing mental reservation. but this is not all! the king of prussia--always short of money, always in debt on account of his extravagant fancies and expensive clothes, and half ruined by his mania for running to and fro--had made certain arrangements for meeting his creditors by means of the guelph fund, but with the proviso, needless to say, that they affected only the interest!! it is said that the heir of the house of hanover has written a second letter which evoked a sickly smile from william ii, and of which councillor rössing has suppressed the publication with some difficulty. amongst other things, william ii has had quick-firing guns, supplied to the people of dahomey by slave merchants. the berlin _post_, directly inspired by the emperor, tells us exactly what is his object in so doing-- "england and russia will not help france to settle her difficulties in her colonies. these two powers are far too pre-occupied with the struggle for supremacy in asia. france is, therefore, reduced to looking to germany as her sole support. if france consents to work together with germany, africa will be won for civilisation, and for the best civilisation of all, the franco-german, but so long as france pursues this task single-handed, she will not attain her end, and will find in africa nothing but disappointment." such evidences of effrontery remind us that william ii is the pupil of bismarck. we are, therefore, justified in concluding that the germans realise that it is not aristides the just who has been exiled, but a master rogue, whom his pupil now imitates. april , . [ ] william ii continues to expel from berlin all unemployed workmen, quite regardless of the cause of their temporary or continuous idleness. he sends them back to their native parishes, without caring in the least whether they will find there the work which they are unable to secure at the capital. the "workmen's emperor" compels an emigration into the interior of all the most discontented, the most irritated and wretched, thus sowing throughout all the land the evil seed of the most dangerous kind of propagandist. the spirit of germany is full of surprises for any one who takes the trouble to observe it carefully, and it is not only in the acts of the emperor that we perceive its contradictions. to take one instance out of a thousand. five non-commissioned officers of dragoons have just been tried at ulm, accused of having beaten recruits with sticks until they drew blood. they have been acquitted, after having proved that they acted under the orders of their captain. in this connection it is interesting to read the following-- "the court of saverne has just condemned a carrier named schwartz to six weeks' imprisonment and a fine of ten marks for ill-treating his horse." the unstable grandson of the steadfast william i threatens before long to get between his teeth a fourth war minister; he has already devoured three chiefs of the general staff, and, in a few years, as many ministers as his grandfather had during the whole course of his long reign. it remains to be seen whether, after the withdrawal of the scholastic law, william ii will still find a majority willing to accept his new and disturbing schemes. may , . [ ] as the german empire has no other force of cohesion except such as lies in militarism, william is necessarily compelled to do everything to magnify and increase it. whereas we in france are free to develop the quality rather than the quantity of our army, germany, finding the elements of cohesion only in her military agglomerations is compelled to increase unceasingly the number of her soldiers. at this very moment william is planning to add a permanent effective of , men to the tactical units. in return, he will promise parliament and the country a provisional two years' service, being quite capable of withdrawing his promise so soon as the vote has been secured. numbers, always numbers! it is the german emperor's only ideal, and he becomes further and further removed from any principle of selection. . . . the german newspapers make a speciality of the fabrication of sensational rumours. i could not ask any better vengeance for our beloved country than to have their stories placed before the most loyal of sovereigns, the most far-seeing of diplomats, of the politician the furthest removed from sordid calculations that the world knows or has ever known, that is to say, of the emperor alexander iii. . . . but all this is just a manoeuvre of the enemy who plays his own game, and it has no importance whatsoever beyond that which credulous and anxious people choose to give it. inasmuch as the renewal of the triple alliance has produced a definite situation, which affords no opportunity for any of the combinations which might have resulted had it been broken up into independent parts, the tzar with his usual foresight was naturally led to proclaim his _rapprochement_ with france, and this he has done. what change has there been in the situation since kronstadt? none at all, unless it be that lord salisbury has revealed something more of the nature of his intrigues at sofia, and of the anti-russian intentions of his bulgarian policy. the king of italy has surrendered himself a little more into the hands of the king of prussia, placing at the disposal of william's diseased restlessness further and inexhaustible sources of trouble and uneasiness for europe. july , . [ ] it seems to me that the speech addressed by william to his new admiralty yacht at the port of stettin has not attracted sufficient notice. it is simply beautiful, a very choice morsel indeed. to show how little i exaggerate, i will ask my readers to study it in the actual text, and i would like to engage the services of the king of prussia to collaborate in the _nouvelle revue_ for a page in precisely the same style. here is this little masterpiece of classic purity-- "thou art ready to glide into thy new element, to take thy place amidst the imperial war-ships, and thou art destined to carry our national flag. thine elegant construction, thy light sides, showing no sign of the heavy threatening defensive turrets, such as are carried by our war-ships destined to fight the foe, indicate that thou art consecrated to works of peace. lightly, as on the wing, to cross the seas, bringing distant lands closer to each other, giving rest and recreation to workers, happiness to the imperial children, and to the august mother of the country,--that is thine appointed task. may thy light artillery be worn by thee as an ornament and not as a weapon of war. "it is for me now to give thee a name. thou shalt carry that which my castle bears, whose towers rise so high towards heaven, that which, lying amidst the beautiful country of suabia, has given its name to my family. it is a name which recalls to my fatherland centuries full of labour, of work done with and for the people, of life devoted to the people, of good examples set in leading the people in paths of literature and in many struggles. the name which thou shall bear means all this. mayest thou do honour to thy name, and to thy flag, to the great elector who, first of all men, taught us our mission on the sea, and to my great ancestors who, by works of peace as in fierce warfare, knew how to keep and increase the glory of our fatherland. i baptize thee _hohenzollern_!" august , . [ ] william ii, claiming as usual to be ahead of every change of opinion in europe, and to direct it, has chosen a very singular pretext to make profession of his faith as a pacifist, at the moment when lord rosebery was doing the same, and when the visit of our squadron to genoa was about to emphasise a relaxation of tension in the relations between france and italy. on june , , the following motion was adopted by the reichstag-- "the governments of the confederated german states are requested to take into serious consideration the introduction of the two years' period of military service for the infantry." without deigning to remember this, and without bothering his head as to the discomfiture of the peasantry, who believed the emperor to be really favourable to a scheme which he had openly patronised hardly six months before, on the ground that he had been greatly impressed by general falkenstein's report; indifferent also to the difficulty of the situation in which he was placing von caprivi, advocate of the two years' system--the emperor-king (apparently just because on that day it had pleased him to make a declaration in favour of peace) made a speech to his officers after the last review of the guards, and summarily condemned any reduction in the term of military service. moreover, he requested his hearers to repeat his words and to let people know the motives which impelled him thus to set his face against a reform, which, not having secured his approval, must remain in the limbo of fantastic schemes. much stir and commotion follows, and as usual a great deal is said about the most changeable and the most feather-headed of sovereigns; then we have a new interpretation of his speech by the press, contradictions of the original text, withdrawal by the emperor himself of his original words, and finally, as net result: a great deal of noise, and the attention of all europe directed towards william ii. what more could he ask? soon, thanks to the insidious activities of austria in servia, and thanks to that of his own police on the franco-belgian frontier, william will be able to threaten europe with war. september , . [ ] william has given up the idea of his trip to hamburg, cholera being the sort of jest for which he has no relish. to make up, he has rushed off to canossa. the black alliance, as the liberals call it, is an accomplished fact. the price paid to the catholics for their assistance has been a matter of bargaining; what william ii wants is an increase in the peace-footing of the army, and of the annual contingent of recruits, so that germany's army of , men may always be ready. in twenty years the war budget has been raised from to millions, as the result of these new plans. the _freisinnige zeitung_ wonders what will happen on the day when the opposition of the catholic centre shall cease, which has always been a check upon military expenditure and which, nevertheless, has not prevented germany from spending , millions upon armaments since . will austria follow once more the lead of berlin? the object of william ii's visit to vienna, accompanied by von caprivi, is to decide her to do so. in the empire of the hapsburgs, as in germany, people are asking; "what is going to be the end of all this expenditure?" the _vaterland_, discussing william's voyage, says that "the pact between the three great powers appears to be beginning to be very shaky." september , . [ ] william ii thinks that war is impending and close at hand; he feels that italy is inclined to argue, and austria to assert herself. according to the tradition of von moltke, he wishes to be ready at the hour of his own choosing. in the last volume of the field-marshal's memoirs, there is a letter addressed by him to the deputy, count de bethusy huc, dated march , , in which the following words occur-- "after a war like that which we have just ended, one can hardly wish for another. i desire, however, to profit by the occasion which now offers to make war on france, for, unfortunately, i consider this war to be absolutely necessary, and indispensable within a period of five years; after that, our organisation and armament, which are to-day superior, may be equalled by the efforts of france. it is therefore to our interest to fight as soon as possible. the present moment is favourable; let us profit by it." november , . [ ] if you would take the measure of the hatred which the emperor-king of prussia, has towards russia, read the _youth of william the second_ by mr. bigelow, his companion in childhood, the friend of his youth, and the passionate admirer of his imperial greatness. in the eyes of mr. bigelow, william ii is endowed with all the virtues, all the qualities, and a hatred of evil; he is a complete master of every conceivable kind of science. he is a person of tact, foresight, and superior feelings, he possesses the noblest qualities of courage and sense of honour. he knows better than any one else everything concerning government, business, trade and industry. of his military art, it were needless to speak; it is conspicuously evident. a brilliant talker and a fine orator, his lucidity of observation, his judgment, and his rapidity of decision are all alike, incomparable. mr. bigelow's william has a complete knowledge of the history of europe and of the character of its peoples. there is nothing that he does not know of the upper and lower foundations of the views of european statesmen, past and present. a frank and loyal fellow withal, good to children, he feels keenly the sufferings of soldiers ill-treated by their officers, and the hardships of the working classes exploited by their masters. frederick the great is the only one who in any way approaches him. then, as to his magnanimity, he proved it to m. jules simon, by offering him the musical works of the said frederick the great, with a letter which, according to mr. bigelow, should have made france give up her foolish ideas about alsace-lorraine, were it not for the fact that "from the drawing-rooms of the faubourg saint germain to the garrets of montmartre, all frenchmen suffer from an incorrigible mania for revenge." to the great satisfaction of mr. bigelow, however, it has been given to england to understand, and she knows how to promote william's mission. on august , , she ceded to him heligoland, the gibraltar of germany. it is not i who put these words into the mouth of the friend of the king of prussia! "since waterloo," adds mr. bigelow, "england has not been on such good terms with germany." a very touching confession for us to remember! hatred of russia finds expression in a hundred ways under the pen of mr. bigelow. nothing that is russian can find favour in his sight; the least of the sins of russia are barbarism, corruption, vice of every kind, cruelty and ignorance. after having piled up all the usual accusations, he stops, and one might think that it was for lack of materials. but not at all! he could, but will not say more about it; and this "more" assumes most fabulous proportions "so as not to compromise my german friends." i imagine that some of those friends of his must figure on the margin of the russian budget, for if it were not so, why should they be liable to be compromised? travelling down the danube by boat, mr. bigelow was able to make use everywhere of the german language. every intelligently conducted enterprise which he found on his way was in the hands of germans. "sooner or later," said he, "the danube will belong to germany." according to mr. bigelow, all the people who have the misfortune to live in the neighbourhood of the frontiers of russia only dream of becoming germans, in order to escape her. there is one remarkable quality which william ii possesses and which mr. bigelow has forgotten, and that is his talent as a scenic artist and _impresario_ for any and every kind of ceremony; in this he is past master. for the th anniversary of october , , the day on which the famous theses, which inaugurated the reformation, were posted by martin luther on the door of the chapel at wittenberg, the emperor-king surpassed himself. the imperial procession aroused the greatest enthusiasm in the little town by its successful reconstruction of the historic picture. the speech of the _summus episcopus_ cast all sermons into the shade by its lofty tone and spirit of tolerance. [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, january , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, february , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, march , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, march , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] spanish insurrection against the french invasion under the first empire. [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, april , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, may , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, may , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, june , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, august , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _ibid._, august , . [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, september , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _ibid._, september , . [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, october , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, november , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] an allusion to the commander's statue in "don juan." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, december , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, january , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, february , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, march , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, march , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, april , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, may , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, june , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, july , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, september , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, september , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, october , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, november , , "letters on foreign policy." chapter iii william ii receives the tzarewitch--germany would rather shed the last drop of her blood than give up alsace-lorraine--william's journey to italy--the german manoeuvres in alsace-lorraine. january , . [ ] being too weak a man to accept such responsibility as that involved in the scheme of military reforms, von caprivi has, so to speak, by his suppliant attitude towards the parties in the reichstag, forced william ii to assert himself. in spite of his leanings towards prudent reform, the emperor-king, whose pride we know, has found himself all of a sudden in a sorry plight on the question of the increase of the standing army. the rising tide of public censure, mounting to the foot of the throne itself, found no one to hold it back but a bewildered lock-keeper. and so the emperor, with his helmet on his head, appeared upon the scene, to take charge of the damming operations. on january he addressed his generals, his enthusiastic officers (who, like all soldiers, have a holy horror of politicians), and said to them, "i shall smash the obstacles that they raise against me." thus it happens that it is no longer von caprivi who confronts the reichstag, no longer the hesitating successor of bismarck, whom the country accuses of leading it on the path to ruin: the emperor-king takes charge in person. instead of being a question of policy and bargaining between the political parties, the question becomes one of loyalty. in parliament, the resistance of the country, instead of being a legitimate opposition intended to enlighten the sovereign, becomes revolutionary. so now the reichstag is compelled either to vote the scheme of military reform, or to be dissolved; germany must either confirm her representatives in their obedience, or take the consequences of her hostility towards the emperor and his army. the reichstag will submit, and germany will humbly offer to her sovereign an additional million of troops in the next five or six years. william ii will hasten their general submission by threats of war and revolution, as unlimited as is the field of his falsehood. february , . [ ] william ii has left no stone unturned, and has displayed the utmost skill, in endeavouring to enfold in his influence the heir to the throne of russia. he has devoted to this end all the splendour that an imperial sovereign can display in the entertainment of his guest, all the resources of enthusiasm which he can lead his people to display in welcoming him, all his tricks of apparent good-will, all the fascination of a mind which is apt to dazzle those who meet it for the first time (although later on it is apt to inspire them with weariness by its very excesses), every manifestation of a wistful friendship which proclaims itself misunderstood. the whole germany of tradition displayed itself before the eyes of the tzarewitch, all its treacherous appearance of good nature, all its dishonest methods, composed of a mixture of vanity and apparent simplicity, whose object it is to make people believe in a sort of unconsciousness of great strength. the german emperor made an appeal for a union of princes to resist the restless democracy of our times, and repeated it with urgency, and in the usual stock phrases. in a word, william ii laid under contribution, to charm the son of the tzar, all his arts and spells of fascination. why wonder that he succeeded, when we remember that m. jules simon, a french republican, member of the government of national defence in , came back from berlin singing the praises of the king of prussia? also, that the entire press of our country, with the sole exception of the _nouvelle revue_, was wont, at the commencement of william's reign, to speak with sympathy of the genial character of the "young emperor," to praise his schemes of social reform, and to express its belief in the superiority of a mind which, as a matter of fact, is remarkable only for its excesses and disorder? but all germany, like m. jules simon and the french press, will find out the truth. the country may have gone into ecstasies over the first acts and first speeches of its young sovereign, but it will soon learn to know how little connection there is between the words and assurances of william of hohenzollern and his deeds. at the outset, during the sojourn of the tzarewitch at berlin, whilst he was being carefully coddled by the emperor, the chancellor, von caprivi (who boasts of having no initiative of his own and of acting only under the orders of his master), was inspiring accusations, and making them himself before the military commission, charging the war party in russia with secretly plotting against germany. one would like to know where the war party in russia can possibly be at the present moment? at the same time that william ii was endeavouring to recover and restore amicable relations with the tzar, he had every intention of carrying through his schemes of military re-organisation and the increase of the army, which, as von caprivi was wont to say after his majesty, constitute essential safeguards against a russian invasion. now, the good germans welcomed the son of alexander iii; they meant to prove to william ii how useless they considered the increase of the army, inasmuch as the tzar, with whom lies the final arbitrament of war, had shown his desire for peace by sending his son to berlin. the tzar, whose statecraft is great and profound, had clearly foreseen what the german people would think of the presence of his son in their midst; he showed them by this means that the increase of the army is useless, and that all the agitation and complications which william provokes, the oppositions and the struggles which he himself creates amongst the forces that he lets loose, give rise to dangers, far greater than any with which russia could ever threaten germany. william ii wears blinkers; he can sometimes see in front of him, but never around him nor behind. he believed that the tzar and the russian press were going to be affected by the same sort of enthusiasm which he had inspired in the tzarewitch, but the tzar, russia, and the russian press considered matters dispassionately and saw them in their right light; they were even of opinion that william ii had displayed far too much vanity in his reception of the tzarewitch and too little dignity. consequently, after the departure of the tzarewitch, the emperor-king of prussia, had a fit of rage, furious with disappointment at not having been able to follow up the success which he had obtained with the tzarewitch himself. in one of those fits of ungovernable temper which lead him to commit so many irreparable mistakes, and which are the despair of his government and his court, he caused von caprivi's press to publish the news of an attempt upon the life of the tzar. but the methods of reptile journalism are now thoroughly understood and the emperor alexander, guessing the source of this lie, demanded an immediate apology, which admiral prince henry hastened to convey, in the name of his brother, to the russian embassy. at the same time that he invented this story of the attempt on the life of the tzar, the king of prussia, german emperor, proposed a toast in honour of the duke of edinburgh, commander-in-chief of the british fleet, in which he looked forward to "the glorious day when the british fleet should fight the common enemy." the common and double enemy of england and germany, as every one is aware, is france and russia. march , . [ ] until quite recently, the proposed military law was heatedly discussed in germany. realising that the military commission was on the point of rejecting it, william ii finished his speech in the following words-- "the supporters of the proposed sedlitz law accused the government of weakness, when it withdrew the bill in the face of the clearly declared opposition of a majority of the nation. well, then, the proposed military law provides us with an opportunity of showing that my government is not a weak one, and that the firm will of my grandfather, the emperor william, lives again in me." a few days before the vote in the reichstag, herr bebel had raised the question of international arbitration wherein, he said, lay germany's best means of proving her love for peace, even should it involve the risk of having the question of alsace-lorraine brought before an international tribunal. hereupon, von caprivi, chancellor of the prusso-german empire, replied to the applause which had come from almost the entire reichstag, as follows-- "the deputy bebel advises us to adopt a tribunal of international arbitration. he admits the possibility that such a tribunal might raise some day the question of alsace-lorraine; he insinuates that we were to blame for the outbreak of war in , and that there are those who maintain this idea with even greater strength and assurance than himself. well, then, if such a tribunal should come together, and should express, no matter in what connection, its opinion on the question of alsace-lorraine, and if that opinion should be to the effect that germany should hand back alsace-lorraine, i am convinced that germany would never submit to such a decision, and that she would rather shed her blood to the last drop than to hand back these provinces." to which herr bebel naturally replied-- "when one holds ideas of this kind, it is perfectly evident that one cannot admit of international tribunals." before his little speech, his majesty the german emperor had made a big one, from which we learned yet once again that william i had been entrusted with a mission, and had handed it down to william ii; and then we heard once more the phrase with which bismarck had deafened our ears, on one of his blustering days, and which the king of prussia has re-issued in a new form and on his own account: "we germans fear god and nothing else in this world." well, sire, i for my part believe that your majesty fears something else besides god, and that is the disintegration of the triple alliance. march , . [ ] william ii is ever at pains to invest those occasions in which his personality plays a part, with all the glamour of imperial pomp. once again, accompanied this time by an enormous retinue of germans glad of the occasion of a free trip to a sunny land, william ii is about to remind the romans at rome of the majesty of the caesars. may their king not be reminded at the same time, by certain aspects of this triumphal procession, of rome's captive kings. in binding herself to germany, has not italy given herself over into bondage to the teuton and especially to austria, her hereditary foe? i could readily answer this question in the affirmative by looking back into the past, i who have so often shared in the patriotic emotions of italy in bygone days; but every people is entitled to be the sole judge of its own destinies, and its best friends abroad have no right to endeavour to enlighten it by any rays which do not fall from its own heaven above. one can easily lead a nation astray, even by means of truths that have been clearly demonstrated beyond its frontiers. one is compelled to admit that the most extraordinary events may occur amongst one's neighbours. william ii, after having sent general loë to congratulate leo xiii on his episcopal jubilee, has just made a speech on the occasion of the silver wedding of king humbert i and queen margaret. it will please the italians, but this ambiguous policy seems to me anything but flattering, either for the italian kingdom or for the papacy. as in and with the same ceremonies, leo xiii will receive the emperor-king of prussia at the vatican, and william ii, as on that previous occasion will be able to split his sides with laughter on returning to the quirinal, mimicking the holy father and boasting that he has befooled him once more. april , . [ ] the wisdom of the nations is now enriched with a new proverb, "a rolling emperor gathers moss, and gathers nothing more." before long the tumult and the shouting of the fêtes at rome will die down, and with them the popular excitement of enthusiasm for the all-powerful german emperor. the italian people will then find itself confronted by the exhaustion imposed upon it by the compulsory militarism of the so-called pacific triple alliance. even if cavalcades, reviews and tournays, should awaken again in the heart of the roman people that love of the circus, which this people has inspired in all the latinised races, the economic question still remains, the question of money and of bread, implacable. i know not why it is, but the brilliancy of william ii's visit to italy gives me the impression of a fire of straw. what object had he in going there, and what has he attained? i can see none. all his fervent protestations appear to me in bad taste, when compared with the correct dignity of the court of austria, third of the allied powers. may , . [ ] how can our german caesar, who has just made a journey to rome after the manner of barbarossa, continue to suffer an assembly of talkers, of political commercial travellers, of people who allow their minds to be dominated by the vulgar thing called economics? it is not possible, and therefore caesar calls to witness the first military staff that he comes across at the tempelhof and makes it judge of the matter. "i have had to order the dissolution of the reichstag," says william to his officers and generals, "and i trust that the new parliament will sanction the re-organisation of the army. but if this hope should not be realised, i fully intend to leave no stone unturned to attain the end which i desire. no stone unturned, gentlemen, and you understand, i hope, that it is to you that i am speaking, and you who are concerned. you are the defenders of the past, and of the prerogatives of the imperial and royal power." if the new reichstag meets in the same spirit of resistance to the excesses of prussian militarism, william ii will be condemned to constitutional government and then, little by little, to the surrender of everything that he believes to be his proper attributes, and of all his tastes. no further possibility then of an offensive war, to escape from domestic difficulties; no more parades with the past riding behind him; no more finding a way out by some sudden headlong move, for he would drag behind him only a people convinced against its will and too late. the only thing then left to the king of prussia, face to face with a new majority opposed to militarism, would be the dangerous resource of a _coup d'état_. dr. lieber, an influential deputy, has defined the actual situation with a clearness which leaves nothing to be desired-- "we perceive," he said, "that the prussian principle of government is developing more and more, and tending to become the idea of the german empire. the policy to be pursued in the german parliament should be purely german." the dilemma is clear. will germany continue to become prussianised or will she remain german? if she is prussian, that is to say, militarist, socialism will grow and increase; if she is german, the development and expansion of her political and social organism, having free play, will come about normally and surely. therefore, the solidity of german unity should consist in resistance to prussianism or militarism, to william ii, and to the past. on the other hand, submission of the old confederation to prussia must inevitably lead to disintegration. may , . [ ] william ii has told us, on the occasion of the unveiling of the statue of william i at gorlitz, that the question which brought about the dissolution of the reichstag, that like which confronts the impending election, is that of the military bill, and that this question dominates all others. "that which the emperor, william i, has won, i will uphold," says the present emperor; "we must assure the future of the fatherland. in order to attain this object, the military strength of the country must be increased and fortified, and i have asked the nation to supply the necessary means. confronted by this grave question, on which the very existence of the country depends, all others are relegated to the background." should we conclude, with the _frankfurter zeitung_, that "that which oppresses our minds in this struggle is the reflection, that no possible benefit is to be attained through victory, nor any remedy for defeat"? will germany yield, or will she resist the will of the emperor thus clearly expressed? herein lies a question which, in one way or another, must have the gravest consequences. july , . [ ] one day, on the occasion of a first performance of a play called "cadio," by george sand, i was with a woman, my best friend, in the wings of the theatre, porte-saint-martin. i saw mélingue stamping on the floor with his feet and jumping and twisting about, and upon my asking him what was the meaning of these extraordinary antics, he replied; "it is because, when i come upon the scene, i am supposed to have galloped several miles on horseback and it would not do for me, therefore, to present the appearance of a gentleman who has just come out of a room or from the garden." i do not quite know why i should have remembered this far-off incident on learning that the german emperor, king of prussia, had come on horseback from potsdam to open the new reichstag. as a comedian, william ii does not follow the methods of mélingue. he rides, in order to present a calmer appearance at his entry upon the scene. clad in the uniform of a hussar, he read the speech from the throne with an evangelical mildness. he was playing the part of a soldier-clergyman. the soldier said-- "my august allies agree with my conviction that the empire, in view of the development of military institutions by other powers, can no longer delay to give to its armed forces such increase as shall guarantee the security of its future." the clergyman had upon his lips the honey of promises of concessions, and he concluded with these words, added to the speech from the throne-- "and now, gentlemen, may the lord grant his blessing to every one of us, for the successful issue of a meritorious work in the interests of our country. amen!" in the course of the latest discussion of the military law in the reichstag, we have been able to gather certain unforgettable information. in the first place, von caprivi has told us that the increase of the army is directed really and more especially against france. herr richter declares that germany, single-handed, can carry through victoriously any struggle against us. liebknecht says that turkey can hold russia in check together with poland, and finally, that: "germany counts upon england as surely as upon austria and upon italy." september , . [ ] the emperor, king of prussia, has addressed to our brothers that are cut off from us, the following words-- "you are germans, and germans you will remain; may god and our good german sword help us to bring it to pass." to which words, every frenchman has replied-- "they are french and french they shall remain, god and our good french sword helping us." calmly we await the final provocation. the german manoeuvres have only served to teach us one thing more, viz. that william ii wishes us to know that the moment is at hand for a last challenge. all the german sovereigns who were present at the manoeuvres in alsace-lorraine, appeared to be weary of the supremacy which william, the hot-headed, asserts throughout all the territory of the empire. certain of their number stated in the presence of several people whose sympathies are with the french, that the emperor of germany was no more master of the proceedings than they themselves, and that they had no intention of figuring either as members of his suite or of his general staff, in accordance with the wish which he had expressed to von caprivi. (before the emperor of germany, talma had played a part in the presence of an audience of kings.) the gift offered by the german subjects of the city of metz, by way of thanksgiving for the extraordinary performance given by william ii, proves by its very nature that not a single frenchman had anything to do with its selection. in its form and substance, and in the taste which it displayed, it is a typically german present, this casket of green plush full of candied fruits. no doubt, the empress will be delighted and all the little princes too. [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, january , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, february , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, march , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, april , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, may , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _ibid._, may , . [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, june , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, july , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, september , , "letters on foreign policy." chapter iv - treaty of commerce between germany and russia--opening of the kiel canal; why france should not have sent her ships there--germany proclaims her readiness to give us again the lesson which she gave us in . march , . [ ] william ii is triumphant in germany, and his officious newspapers vie with each other in proclaiming the grandeur of his ideas. meanwhile, the people of berlin hiss him and sing rebel songs about him on the review ground at tempelhof. beyond all doubt the king of prussia got the better of much opposition when he secured the vote for his commercial treaty with russia. our friends of the north cannot doubt that they have our best wishes, that their commercial and agrarian position may be improved thereby, but the more favourable the treaty proves for them, the more we would beg them to profit by its advantages, but not to allow themselves to be entangled in its dangerous consequences. if they act thus, if germany's sacrifices should prove of benefit only to her neighbours, if the advantages of influence and penetration aimed at by william ii under cover of this treaty, should be revealed to russian patriotism, germany may prove to be the party deceived. if william ii is clever it is only because of our lack of cleverness and foresight. it is because we leave the door open that he is able to make his way in. prussian policy is completely lacking in honesty. it forces an entry by all possible means, keeps listening ears at every door, and weakens its rivals by the dissensions which it creates, maintains and fosters. neither french influence in russia, nor russian influence in france, has ever made use of such methods of procedure as germany employs in both our countries. the unwholesome and dangerous penetration of reptile influences and of espionage, in all its multitudinous forms, produce effects on our two allied nations, whose consequences are impossible to over-estimate. only an unceasing vigilance against every one of the foreign intruders, salaried and enlisted in our midst, can protect russia and france against their insidious influences. our enemies labour to weaken us with the desperation inspired in them by the dangers which they must face, if only we remain staunch, united and strong. is it generally known that the german subjects of the poorer class who inhabit paris, receive an annual subsidy of marks? this amounts to putting a premium on a form of emigration useful to germany and constitutes for us a grave danger. proof of this is to be found in the report of a recent meeting of the municipal council at metz. instead of sending back distressed german subjects in france to their own country, germany sends them money. the alsatian newspaper which affords us this information adds with perfect accuracy: "what would germany say if french municipalities were to subsidise officially frenchmen living in berlin?" april , . [ ] i am one of those french people who have hoped, up to the very last moment, for a continuation of good commercial relations (which means good political relations) with italy; i am one of those who first believed in the possibility of re-establishing a good understanding under both these headings; but for this very reason i retain a certain susceptibility and pride which others, less sincere in the pursuit of a definite reconciliation, certainly do not possess. sadly i have followed the cavalcade of the prince of naples to metz. i can find no joy in the words of king humbert, which m. gaston calmette has reproduced so wittily and with such good nature, in the _figaro_. from my point of view, both these actions of the king of italy were inspired by william ii; and both had the same object in view, viz. to prove at metz that he could wound us cruelly through his ally, and to prove at venice that the good-will of humbert i was subject to his control, dictated in his own good time, and sanctioned at his pleasure. the emperor of germany has inaugurated in europe the policy of right-about-face, a policy which bewilders diplomacy, astonishes the _bourgeoisie_ and fills the nations with fear. april , . [ ] the revelations published by mr. valentin, comptroller of stores in the cameroons, deserve to be quoted in their entirety. in the _neue deutsche rundschau_ he has described the atrocities committed by governors of german colonies, or by their representatives. wholesale butcheries, slow and horrible tortures, a new and ingenious method of scalping, the imprisonment of wives snatched from their husbands and of young girls taken from their mothers (to minister to the debaucheries of these governors and their officers) and then brought back to tell the terrible story to other unfortunate creatures destined to the same fate; the horrible brutality of sentences, by virtue of which the flesh of the victims was reduced to pulp under the eyes of the judges--the revelation of all these things leaves one's mind possessed with feelings of terror and horror, sufficient in themselves to justify any reprisals that negro races might inflict upon white people. july , . [ ] one of these days i shall tell how the house of krupp (in which william ii has so large a personal interest over and above his public interest) is about to create for itself a formidable position in china, which is likely to overthrow many calculations and may end in turning asia upside down. the great commercial houses of hamburg, encouraged and supported by the government at berlin, are in telegraphic communication with every market in china. germany's economic life is developing with frightful rapidity in asia. september , . [ ] amongst the list of surprises with which the emperor of germany is pleased to supply the makers of small-talk in europe, one often finds, since the journey of the empress frederick to paris (although that was hardly to be called a success) that he is by way of making advances to france. from time to time william ii, in a carefully premeditated pose (as, for that matter, all his poses are), extends towards us, across the frontiers of alsace-lorraine, the hand of generous friendship. sometimes, for an entire day he will be good enough to forget that he is heir to the victories won from us in . next day, it is true, we shall find him celebrating in splendour our defeat at sedan; but none the less he will have satisfied his great soul by thus inviting us to forget the past. why is it that william ii wearies not in thus renewing his attempts at reconciliation with france? the reason is, that he has nothing to lose by continual failures, whilst he has everything to gain if he succeeds, even for a moment, in deceiving our vigilance, and in diverting us from those feelings which alone can honour and raise the vanquished, that is to say, fidelity to the brothers we have lost, and the proud belief that, sooner or later, we shall re-enter into possession of the conquered territory. last on the list of the intermittent advances which william ii has made to france, there appeared lately the following in the _allegemeine norddeutsche zeitung_, official organ of the german government:-- "there is no reason for misunderstanding, or for failure to appreciate, the increasing signs which go to show that public opinion in france is favourable to reconciliation with us, and that this opinion is growing, not only amongst the higher classes in france, but amongst the people. it is beginning to be recognised that it is to the interest of both nations to shake hands, as is fitting between neighbours, no matter what may have been their _former differences_. on the part of germans the tendency towards an _entente_ has gained in strength since we have noticed the tendency of the french to judge impartially a personality like that of our emperor, as befits a nation so cultured and richly endowed as the french." what say you, veteran soldiers, who fought in the terrible year? what say you, parisians of the siege, frenchmen who have seen the prussian conqueror dragging his guns and booty along the roads of our france? what say you, men of alsace-lorraine, heroes all? (no matter whether, like some, you have sacrificed situation, home and your little fatherland, so as not to forsake the greater, or, like others, you have consented to become prussians in order that the land you worship may remain in hands that are still french.) what say you, when our dreadful defeat, our piled-up ruin, and the spoliation of a portion of france, become for a german official organ our _former differences_? what words are these in which to speak of - , of that unforgettable and tragic invasion, of the terrible anguish of our ravished provinces, and what a proof they afford of the great gulf which separates the mind of germany from that of france! september , . the german emperor does not forget that he is before all things a prussian. having administered a reprimand to the nobility, he proceeds to give to the five new fortresses at königsberg, the five greatest family names of the prussian nobility. at thorn he declared-- "only they can count upon my royal favour who shall regard themselves as absolutely and entirely prussian subjects." the germans have not yet realised that the german empire will be prussian, before ever prussia consents to lose herself in a united germany. october , . the german emperor, king of prussia, with that love of peace for which even frenchmen are pleased to praise him, is now chiefly occupied in displaying his passion for militarism. in the case of william ii, it will be necessary to modify a hallowed phrase, and to say to him: "seeing you in uniform, i guessed that you were no soldier." the emperor, king of prussia, insists on continually reminding the german peoples that he is the commander-in-chief of the armies of the empire, and he never misses an opportunity of emphasising the fact. at the presentation of flags to the new battalions created by the new military law, (and doubtless with a view to peace, as usual) the emperor with his own hand hammered nails, fixing the standards to their flag-staffs. this sort of thing fills me with admiration, and if it were not for my stupid obstinacy, it might convert me to share the opinion of m. jules simon, who holds that we should entertain the king of prussia at the exhibition in , and welcome him as the great _clou_[ ] on that occasion. but i should not jest about those feelings which transcend all others in the heart of the french people. germany owes us alsace-lorraine; she has every interest in trying to make us forget the debt. what would one think of a creditor who allowed the debtor to persuade him that the debt no longer existed? a nation which reserves its rights against the victor, and maintains its claims to conquered territory, may be despoiled but is not vanquished. would italy have recovered lombardy and venice had she not unceasingly protested against the austrian occupation? excessive politeness towards those who have inflicted upon us the unforgettable outrage of defeat is not a sign of good manners, but of culpable weakness, for it inflicts suffering upon those who have to put up with the material consequences of germany's conquest, and might end in separating them from their old and unforgotten mother country. when william ii conducted the prince of naples to metz he was only acting in accordance with his usual ideas as an insolent conqueror. but if we were to receive the german emperor at the exhibition of --if at that time he is still master of alsace-lorraine--we should be committing the base act of a people defeated beyond all hope of recovery. december , . [ ] as day by day one follows the proceedings of william ii, one gradually experiences a feeling of weariness and of numbness, such as one gets from watching the spectacle of waves in motion. before his speech from the throne, and in order to prepare his public for a surprise, william ii had directed the king of saxony, on the occasion of a presentation of standards, to tell france to her face that she had better behave, that the saxon heroes of had sons worthy of them, and that the glorious, triumphant march from metz to paris might very easily begin all over again. whereupon, general alarm and feverish expectation of the speech of william ii, which of course, turned out to be pacific. the following sentence should suffice to prove it: "our confidence in the maintenance of peace has again been strengthened. faithful to the spirit of our alliances, we maintain good and friendly relations with all the powers." one can discern, however, a little trumpet note (of which he would not lose the habit), in the speech which he made at the opening of the new reichstag building, whose construction was begun at the time of the prussian victories: "may this building remind them (the deputies) that it is their duty to watch over that which their fathers have conquered." but this is a pure and simple melody compared to the war-march of the saxons. january , . [ ] william ii, in search of a social position, has become lecturer. at his first lecture, he announced to the whole world that our commercial marine no longer holds the second place, that this second place belongs to germany, and it is now necessary that germany's navy should also take our place. and in his usual chameleon way, the german emperor, who until quite recently refused to admit that there lay any merit whatsoever in the bismarckian policy, now adds: "and prince bismarck may rejoice, for the policy which he introduced has triumphed." march , . [ ] on a certain day, in , the defenders of paris and its patriotic inhabitants learned from the silence of our guns, that the prussian enemy's victory over them was complete. and now it seems we are going to kiel, to take part in the triumphant procession of h.m. william ii, king of prussia, and to add the glory of our flag to the brilliant inauguration of his strategic waterway. why should we go to kiel? who wanted our government to go there? nobody, either in france or russia. the great tzars are too jealous of the integrity of their own splendid territory, to refuse to allow that a nation should remember its lost provinces. we were indignant when the prince royal of italy, the ally of germany, went to take part in the german military cavalcades, and now we ourselves, whom prussia defeated, are going, in the train of the despoiler of schleswig-holstein, to assist at the opening of a canal, which penetrates and bleeds danish provinces, annexed by the same conqueror who took from us alsace-lorraine. will denmark, whom william ii has had the audacity to invite, go to kiel? no, a thousand times no! and neither should we go there ourselves, to applaud this taking possession of danish waters. denmark, though invited, will not go to kiel; yet we know what are the ties which bind her sovereigns to russia. it has been said, in order to reassure consciences that are easily quieted, that our war-ships will go to kiel sheltered by those of russia, and, so to speak, hidden beneath their shadow. our dignity is at stake, as much in the truth as in the falsehood of this news. the french government is not a monarchy. by declining this invitation of our conquerors, it would have placed the whole question on its proper footing, which should be that of the situation created by the treaty of frankfort. we should have said to germany, france desires peace. our chauvinists will remain quiet, so long as the german government gives us no provocation. if we refrain from going to kiel, it is in order to maintain the peaceful condition of our relations. germany's chief interest is to lead europe to believe that we have come to accept the loss of alsace-lorraine, and to make the people of those provinces believe that we have forgotten them. the king of prussia, german emperor, just to keep his hand in, stimulates the military virtues of his recruits, and for the hundredth time presides over the taking of the oath of fidelity. he teaches the recruits that the eagle is a noble bird, which soars aloft into the skies and fears no danger; also, that it is the business of the said recruits to imitate the eagle. he adds that the german navy is the only real one, that all others are spurious imitations, and he concludes by saying that "the german navy will achieve prosperity and greatness along paths of peace, for the good of the fatherland, as it will in war, so as to be able, if god will, to crush the enemy." william ii never speaks of conquering the enemy or being superior to him; it is always "crush." it is this crushing german navy that our sailors are to go and salute at kiel. it looks as if our artists were lending a hand to william, and gratifying this passion of his for crushing people. an alsatian friend of mine, who knows his germany well, said to me the other day that, in sending their pictures for exhibition at berlin, our painters are likely to ruin their own market. for a long time the king of prussia has wanted to have a _salon_ at berlin, and he looks to french painters to give it brilliancy and to attract those foreign artists who are accustomed to french exhibitions. once it has become the fashion to go to berlin, french artists will find that they have helped to ruin their own business. how can anybody suppose that william ii really wishes to do honour to french art? do not let us forget that frederick iii said "france must have her industrial sedan, as she has had her military sedan." march , . [ ] it seems then, that germany's proudest ambitions are about to be realised at the fêtes at kiel. that patriotic hymn of theirs, which up to the present has been a dead letter for those peoples who have not yet been incorporated in the prussianised empire, will now become a living thing. henceforward all europe must hear and accept the offensive utterance which the germans shout: "deutschland über alles!" yes, germany over all things. that her emperor should have willed it, is enough to bring together in his triumphant procession all the following-- russia, despoiled of her triumph at constantinople by the congress of berlin, and exposed on her flank by the baltic canal. england, tricked at heligoland and at zanzibar, and whose power is threatened by the very fleet which she is going to salute. spain, threatened in the carolines, who has only been protected from prussian presumption by her own indomitable pride. denmark, cynically robbed of schleswig-holstein. italy, from whom the german navy, when it has become the equal of the german army and fulfilled the dream of william ii, will take trieste. it is true that, to make up for trieste, diplomacy at berlin is putting salonika in pickle with a good deal of english pepper, intending to offer it as a _hors d'oeuvre_ to austria, germany's advanced and submissive sentinel in the east. france, the most deeply injured and despoiled, whom the german conquest has plundered to the utmost, she also will take part in the procession, and in order that our humiliation be the more complete, so that the french army may be unable to forgive the french navy for it, our flag, our beloved colours, will doubtless salute one of those prussian vessels which carry the name of one of our defeats, for instance, the _wörth_! after that, william ii, king of prussia, will be unable to descry a single cloud on the german horizon. and germany, germany will be above and over all! the glory and the splendour of the hohenzollerns will shine upon the entire universe, and the german emperor, emperor of emperors, like the king of kings, will have nothing to fear until the heavens fall. and we, who have forgotten nothing of the terrible year and what it took from us, we, who can see under the left breast of our beloved france, her bleeding heart, ravished alsace-lorraine, we shall lift our eyes unto heaven, our last hope, beseeching it to strike down the presumptuous one, since men are afraid of him. april , . [ ] it has always been a dream of mine to see a newspaper founded under the title _foreign opinion_, a sheet confined to information, in which would be presented, clearly, simply, and held together by an intelligent sequence of ideas, quotations from the principal organs of those countries in which we have interests, either identical or opposed. statesmen and members of parliament would be compelled to read such a paper. a knowledge of foreign opinion would render the greatest services to public opinion in this country, for it would compel our somewhat self-centred mind to take into consideration the judgment of others, to determine the justice or the harshness of the criticism directed against us, and to draw, from the study of these things, warnings and rules of conduct. to take an immediate instance, let me give my readers an extract from the _münchner nachtrichten_, a newspaper, which as a rule does not share the brutal harshness of the berlin press with regard to our feelings and their expression in french newspapers-- "these foolishly vain frenchmen, sitting in their meagre little thicket of laurels, contemplate with evident displeasure the stirring of the winds in the great forest of german oaks, and their discontent finds expression in ways that are frequently comical. the _figaro_ for example, has expressed it in an article which is particularly silly (with a kind of foolishness not often found even in a french newspaper, which is saying a good deal). it denies to germans the right to remember the glorious years of and ' , for the reason that french people might thereby be hurt. does it mean to say that the french would threaten us with war if we continue to celebrate our victories over them? well, if these gentlemen are of that opinion, we will answer them that germany is peacefully inclined, but that, if the french are not satisfied with the severe lesson that we gave them in - , we are quite prepared to begin it all over again." and these are the people, mind you, who would have said that we were trying to provoke them if, faithful to the memory of our defeat, as they are to the memory of their victory, we had abstained from going to kiel to sing the glories of the conqueror. like william ii, their sovereign and lord, germany will never admit that our actions should be a counterpart to their own, even though such actions should include recognition of their former victories. they wish to impose upon us, not only the acceptance of defeat, but a definite recognition of their conquest, a final sacrifice of our ancient rights, together with unlimited scope for their new ambitions. the german emperor, king of prussia, has never made two consecutive speeches in which one did not contain some threat for us, long or short-dated. if one were to add together all the words of peace which william has spoken and all his war-like utterances, the mass of the latter would irretrievably swamp all the rest. october , . [ ] his majesty the german emperor, king of prussia, seems to be quite incapable of understanding that, in love as in hate, it is wisest not to be overfond of repeating either the word "always" or the word "never." it is the intention of william ii, that germany should for ever and ever remain the gate of hell for france, and he has continued to din into our ears his _lasciate speranza_ every year for the last twenty-five. he never misses an opportunity of showing us france humiliated and germany magnified and glorified. the monument at wörth has been unveiled with such a noisy demonstration, that it has for ever banished from our minds the figure, softened by suffering, of that emperor frederick, who had made us forget "unser fritz" of blood-stained memory. william ii noisily recalls to our mind the conqueror, when we wished to see in him only the martyr. this is what the german emperor now tells the world at large: "before the statue of this great conqueror, let us swear to keep what he conquered, to defend this territory against all comers and to keep it german, by the aid of god and our good german sword." to do him justice, william ii has rendered to us patriots a most conspicuous service. at a word he has set us back in the position from which the luke-warm, the dreamers, and the cowards were trying to drive us. by saying that alsace-lorraine is to remain prussian for ever and for ever, he has compelled france either to accept her defeat for centuries to come, or to protest against it every hour of her national existence. november , . william ii suffers from a curious kind of obsession, which makes him want to astonish the world by his threats, every time that his recruits take the oath. on the present occasion he said, that the army must not only remember the watch on the rhine but also the watch on the vistula. [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, april , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, april , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _ibid._, may , . [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, august , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, september , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] a pun on the word _clou_, a nail. [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, december , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, january , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _ibid._, march , . [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, april , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, april , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, november , , "letters on foreign policy." chapter v - telegram from william ii to president krüger--the emperor nicholas ii visits france--william ii and turkish affairs; he becomes protector of the sultan--why the condolences of william ii preceded those of the tzar on the occasion of the fire at the charity bazaar--"germany, the enemy": skobeleff's word remains true--we have been, and we still are, gulls--peace signed between turkey and greece. january , . [ ] as the result of his telegram to president krüger, william ii has recovered the popularity of the early days of his reign. the german emperor had undoubtedly very powerful reasons for making a chivalrous display on behalf of the transvaal, from which he anticipated deriving the greatest advantages. he expected to produce a moral effect by undertaking the defence of the weaker side (a rôle that once belonged to france). he saw a way to flatter holland, deeply touched by these manifestations of german sympathy for dutchmen, who were represented by others as barbarians. he saw also an opportunity for acquiring and keeping admirable outlets into the transvaal, which had threatened to become for ever closed to german emigrants. finally, he expected to produce a feeling of admiration for his magnanimous attitude, which would divert the german people from socialism and make them forget the hammerstein affair. truly, the transvaal is for william ii one of those lucky finds from which all sorts of good things may spring. the educated classes in germany, as well as the lower orders, were beginning to get very weary of the everlasting celebrations in memory of - , which continually fed the flames of french hatred. a silesian journal had just informed us that the th anniversary of the proclamation of the german empire at versailles would be celebrated by a great fête in all the german schools. the german artillery of the siege of paris had arranged for a commemorative banquet, to be held in berlin on january . the senate and the _bourgeoisie_ of hamburg had made a gift of nearly , marks on behalf of the regiment of hanseatic infantry which fought at loigny on december , and for distressed veterans of that regiment. germany was in great need of something to distract her attention by a stroke of exotic brilliancy and by the creation of some new object of hatred. enmity for ever directed against france, was beginning somewhat to pall. this continually living on the strength of one's old triumphs, made germany to appear like some much-dyed old dandy, seeking to gain recognition for past conquests by means of art and cosmetics. the time had come to create a diversion. the german emperor, king of prussia, has found it with his usual headlong impetuosity, the quality which impels him always to seize things on the wing, to display alternately the capacity of a genius, and that of a stupid blunderer. . . . march , . [ ] german opinion persists in expressing its severe criticisms on the subject of the transvaal business and continues to display its sympathy for the boers. there is every reason to expect that german interests will now be able to create for themselves numerous outlets in the transvaal. william ii has made another speech on the subject of the war of ; in this he is like the tide, which the waves carry away only to bring it back. lord, lord, deliver us from this torture! i, for one, can bear it no longer. my eyes are filled with tears of rage as i listen and listen again, for ever, unceasingly and without end, to the tale of our defeat and to the glorification of the army which conquered us, to the tale of the german empire born of these prussian victories. will it ever be finished, this tale? when will they have done, once and for all, with inscribing these cruel records of theirs in the golden book of germany, and shut the clasp upon it? we know that william ii either painted himself, or had painted, a picture, which was all the rage in germany and which represented europe invaded by the chinese. it would look as if william ii really believed in the danger of this impending invasion, to judge by the inscription on the engraving of this picture, reproduced by the thousand; "nations of europe, take care for your most sacred treasures!--william i.r." but if this be so, how comes it that the german emperor is sending hundreds of military instructors to the chinese, who are supposed to be threatening his country? june , . [ ] william ii believes that the victories of were due to prussia alone, and that it was she who made the empire; and this explains why he takes such complete possession of the empire, and makes the celebrations of these victories so personal a matter. the people of bavaria, würtemberg and saxony are herein exposed to humiliation of a kind which they decline to accept. there is no doubt that all germans hate us with an equal hatred, and all have united with the same enthusiasm to crush our unfortunate france; nevertheless, we may derive some profit from the antipathy inspired in them by prussia's grasping claims to glory and authority. september , . [ ] do you remember, my faithful friends, and you, my earliest readers, what were the sentiments of hatred, love and fidelity, that inspired the letters which i addressed to you nearly eighteen years ago--the violence of my hatred for the most tyrannical, and at the same time, the most dangerously vindictive, of european statesmen, viz. von bismarck? have you not often smiled, when i then denied the strength of the colossus and asserted his fragility, when i used to say: "he must not die with a halo of glory; let him witness rather the bankruptcy of his moral estate and give proof of the pettiness of his character and evidence of his unbridled lust for power. let the effrontery of his lies return to him in bitterness?" and together, you and i, we have now seen prince bismarck, not hurled down, but slowly crumbling to ruin; there has been nothing great about his fall, neither the shout that he gave, nor his way of falling, nor the words which he said when he picked himself up. and at the same time when i showed you, in the far distant future, this idol of blood-thirstiness broken, i preached to you the love of russia. i saw her freeing herself from german influence and drawing closer to us. hardly had the emperor alexander iii come to the throne, than i said to you: "he will be a popular emperor, and the more he loves his own people the more he will love ours." for a long time you thought that my hatred of prince bismarck was blind, but from the outset you regarded my love of russia as enlightened. how many strengthening and encouraging letters have i not received from you? and now, nicholas ii, son of alexander iii, the well-beloved emperor, who represents in his own person the highest expression of great, holy and mystical russia, is coming to paris officially, as the ally of france, so that all the ambitions of our patriotism, all our dreams of the last twenty-five years, are coming true together. am i not entitled to say to you, dear readers, "i have fulfilled the mission that i set before myself, my work amongst you is accomplished"? but there remains still a tie between us, our common fidelity to alsace! how could we forget those who have not ceased to remember? shall it be said that we failed those who rather than yield have suffered every form of torture? let us endeavour together to prove in a more active manner our devotion to the brethren who are separated from us. now that prince bismarck has one foot in the grave, now that the russian alliance is in the hands of the government of france, let us devote all our strength and all the resources of our advocacy, all our love of justice, to the cause of alsace-lorraine. . . . william ii is sick, nervous and irritable. he has lost all patience with the question of the reform of military organisation; he did not raise that question, it would seem, and has plenty of other things to worry him. he is going to ask parliament, on its re-assembling, to vote large sums for the increase of the navy, his own particular care. after all, he received the army triumphant from the hands of moltke and of bismarck, but the navy is his own personal achievement; he believes this, and says so repeatedly. but the german navy has no luck. this year, besides the _iltis_, the _frauenlob_, and the _amazone_, which swallowed up a large number of junior officers of the prussian navy, it has lost the _kurfurstin_ (as the result of an error of navigation) with sailors, also the _augusta_, the _undine_, and other vessels. february , . [ ] william ii has announced himself as the enemy of greece, and the prop of the ottoman empire. at the subscription ball given at the opera in berlin, did he not walk arm-in-arm with ghalik bey, the turkish ambassador, and authorise him to telegraph to the sultan that, under existing conditions, he might count upon his sense of justice and his good-will? does not this constitute an insolent challenge to the decision which the powers are supposed to have taken for the observation of neutrality? when william ii is insolent, he does not do things by halves; now, he repeats to all concerned: "one does not argue with greece, one gives her orders," and on every occasion that has offered, he has displayed sentiments hostile to greece and favourable to the sultan. for these reasons, abdul hamid is devoted to william ii. he is tied to him, and bound by all his sentiments, by all his admiration and his fear, to the germans. messrs. cambon and de nelidoff believed that they had detached the sultan from germany, but illusions on that score are no longer possible. germany possesses his entire confidence. did not he, the most nervous and suspicious of men, allow on one occasion the german military mission to take _effective_ command of his troops, whereas no other military mission has ever been allowed anything more than the right to put them through their drill? germany, which in case of need can count upon the turkish army, is fundamentally interested in preventing turkey from being either weakened or divided up. a war in the east, in which germany might get russia deeply involved, at the same time that she kept her busy in asia, is too great an advantage to risk losing, without doing everything possible to protect it. . . . april , . [ ] william ii, the god of war and of force, is in every way responsible for events in the east. only his friendship, and the many consequences of that friendship, have given to abdul hamid the courage of his massacres, of his resistance to all efforts at reconciliation, and of his military proceedings in greece. the german emperor had been able to persuade the simple-minded government of france of his peaceful and humanitarian intentions. it only needed a few of us to revolt and to express our indignation, to unmask him, and to show in its true, lurid light, the real nature of his actions, so as to enable the nations to know him for what he is. to-day he is the master of europe; but let the power of the kaiser be what it may (and it is a power no more capable of honesty than that of bismarck, who lied without ceasing, forfeited without ceasing his honour, and accepted responsibility for crime), whatever conquests hereafter william ii may achieve, even should we be defeated again, we shall be able to stand up before him and to his face to say, "you will never achieve greatness!" material greatness turns again to dust, like all matter, but moral greatness is eternal, an intangible thing, which surrounds men, invisible, and which emanates from the best amongst them. we will leave to history, which shall surely record it, the judgment of _human_ men, of real peace-lovers, concerning william ii, concerning this protector of the red sultan, this renegade and denier of his faith, who has sold his soul in order to govern the world through evil, through trickery, through force and through war. you have only to read the german legends, to analyse the souls of the traditional heroes of germany, to see that they are indeed much more closely allied to the turks (who have only understood islamism under its aspects of conquest) than they are to the traditions which europe has inherited from greece and from her daughters, rome and byzantium. the struggle of to-day lies between these two spirits: one the barbarian spirit, the spirit of conquest, which knows no other law but force, the spirit which subdues and kills, represented by turkey and by germany; the other, the spirit of civilisation, of love, which knows no other law than the right, the spirit which emancipates and vivifies, the spirit of greece, from which european civilisation is drawn, excepting always that of the germans and turks. either the east will resist the turks, and europe will resist germany, or else both will relapse into barbarism, and be condemned to war without ceasing, to butcheries, to the brutality of force and all its works. may , . [ ] at all events they have not yet won their bet in berlin that they would make us look ridiculous and hateful. those very wise and well-bred people, who have been advising us to revise our national education, so as to welcome the kaiser in , have had but meagre success. as to the golden stream, which brought us the marks of the king of prussia,[ ] thank heaven, it has not been able to drown our patriotism. brother frenchmen, it is still lawful for lunatics and ill-bred people like ourselves to remember sedan, metz, strasburg and paris, as well as kronstadt and toulon. then let us not forget either the first rays of sunlight which reach us from russia, or the darkness of . [ ] there is not a single german journalist (_and i wish to emphasise this fact most clearly_), even in the ultra-prussian party, who would have dared to put his signature to such an article as one of our greatest newspapers has published concerning william ii, whom it describes as "a humanitarian thinker, a gentle philosopher, thinking only of the happiness of the human race, of appeasing ancient hatreds and removing old grudges. how joyfully would he not have restored metz and strasburg had he not been prevented in performing this act by the historical necessities of his position." in proof of all which things, this article cites his telegrams of sympathy, the splendid bouquets which he has sent to our illustrious dead, his wish to pay homage to france in , etc., etc. the journalist grown old in harness, who has dared to write such monstrous things as well as such nonsense, will no doubt be greatly astonished when i inform him that no foreign reporter, however inexperienced, of any nation great or small, is ignorant of the fact that william ii is relentlessly determined to achieve the re-establishment of absolute autocracy as it was conceived by certain emperors of rome and byzantium. his motto is _voluntas regis supremo lex_, which, on the occasion of his first visit to münich, he wrote there with his own imperial hand. on the first occasion of the opening of the states of brandenburg, he declared that he counted on their fidelity to help him to crush and destroy everything that might oppose his personal wishes. is it necessary to say once more for the hundredth time that he never has the oath taken by his recruits without telling them that "they must ever be ready to fire on those who oppose his rule, even though they should be their own fathers, mothers and brothers"? the other day, did he not make his brother prince henry read a letter to the sailors of his war-ship the _wilhelm imperator_ (the vessel appointed to attend the jubilee of queen victoria), in which letter he held up to the execration of the army and navy those "unpatriotic" germans who refused to provide him with millions for his wild scheme of increasing the navy, that is to say, about nine-tenths of the reichstag? there is in germany one institution which commands very general respect, and enjoys traditional liberty, viz. the university. for the last year william ii has opened a campaign against the liberties of university education, and the scandalous manner in which he has attacked the professors at berlin because of the dignity with which they have defended their rights of scientific research, are known to every one except "this brilliant chronicler of the boulevards." from one end of germany to the other they go into ecstasies whenever, either before, during, or after his acts of politeness to france, william finds some new pretext for humiliating, humbling, or threatening us. [ ] a german pamphlet published two years ago, entitled _caligula; a study of caesarian madness_, by mr. quidde, achieved such a success, that hundreds of thousands of copies were bought up in a few days by the faithful subjects of the german emperor. this pamphlet, ingeniously compiled by means of quotations from suetonius, dion cassius, philo, etc., gives a marvellous analysis of the character of william ii. i cannot resist the pleasure of giving a few extracts from this little work, for it would appear that william ii is endeavouring, since its publication, to emphasise the resemblance between himself and caligula and nero. "the dominant feature in the actions of caligula lies in a certain nervous haste, which led him spasmodically from one obsession to another, often of a self-contradictory nature; moreover, he had the dangerous habit of wanting to do everything himself. caligula seems to have a great fondness of the sea. the strolling-player side of his character was by no means limited to his military performances. he was passionately devoted to the theatre and the circus, and would occasionally take part himself on the stage, led thereto by his peculiar taste for striking costumes and frequent changes of clothing. he was always endeavouring to shine in the display of eloquence; and was fond of talking, often in public. we know that he developed a certain talent in this direction, and was particularly successful in the gentle art of wounding people. his favourite quotation was the celebrated verse of homer-- there is only one master, only one king. sometimes he loved the crowd, and sometimes solitude; at other times he would start out on a journey, from which he would return quite unrecognisable, having allowed his hair and beard to grow." just as the names of caligula and nero are daily affixed in germany to the name of william ii, herr hinzpeter is called senecus, general von hahnke is known as burrhus; there is also an acté and a poppea at berlin. frederick iii is germanicus and prince bismarck is called macro, after the powerful prefect of the praetorium in disgrace. like nero, william ii has been cruel to his mother; he is cruel to his sister, the princess of greece. he hates england, just as caligula hated brittany. with a mind like that of nero, william ii derives the greatest pleasure from the thought of degrading the french people by making them receive him with acclamation. what a triumph it must be for this grandson of william i (who defeated us but left us our honour) thus to bring us to dishonour: us, the descendants of the france of , republicans in the service of a prussian caesar! june , . [ ] it should have been to the interest of france and, of russia, and a policy of skilful strategy, to oppose turkey when supported by the triple alliance, and to create around and about her, in greece as in the balkans, such a force of resistance as would have put a stop to her schemes of expansion, resulting from those of the powers of the triple alliance. by so doing, france and russia might have taken them in the rear and upset their plans. we were already in a position of considerable advantage, in that we could leave to the king of prussia, the german emperor, all the responsibility for the crimes of the sultan, observing at the same time all those principles which would have maintained, in their integrity, the moral and christian traditions of france and russia. but our policy has been that of children building castles in the sand. confronted by a triumphant turkey, leaning on the triple alliance, and by a sultan suffering from the dementia of blood-lust, certain of the faithful friendship of william ii, and confident in his victorious army (already , strong, and commanded by a german general staff); confronted by such fears and threats, we have chosen to place all our hopes upon the balanced mind of william ii, the generosity of the sultan, and the loyalty of oriental statecraft! i have said it so repeatedly that i may have wearied my readers, but i say it again; "_to their undoing, france and russia have sacrificed their policy to turkey, protected by germany_." they are now confronted by german policy, evasive and at the same time triumphant, that is to say, in full command of the situation which it has brought about. william ii is at last revealed, even to the blindest eyes, as the instigator and sole director of everything that has taken place in the east since his visit to constantinople. he takes pleasure in advising the sultan day by day, for he makes him do everything that he himself is prevented from doing, and he enjoys the satisfaction of being a tyrant in imagination when he cannot be one actually. june , . [ ] the sultan's million of armed men, organised under a german general staff, in a country where germany is making every effort to possess herself of every kind of influence and every source of wealth, is not this the chief danger which russia has to fear, and whose imminence she should clearly foresee, in dealing with a sultan like abdul hamid, a man of nervous fears and bloodthirsty instincts, bound to furtherance of the sudden or premeditated schemes of william ii? july , . [ ] although germany has commemorated her victories for the last twenty-five years, and will doubtless continue to commemorate them for the next six months and then for evermore, it seems that we are to be compelled, in deference to "superior orders" revealed at the council of ministers, to postpone the official consecration of a monument intended to prove our devotion to our mutilated country, and our incurable grief at the defeat of sedan. it seems that we have not the right, a free people, to give to sorely oppressed alsace-lorraine (which never ceases to give proofs of her fidelity to france) a proof in our turn, that we remember the disaster which has separated us, that we lament this disaster, and hope one day to repair, if not to avenge it. our pride is being systematically humiliated in every direction! the nature and consequences of victory have indeed been cruelly modified, if one must submit to the law of the conqueror after having been delivered from him for twenty-five years. the glorious resistance of the past thus becomes an ignominious surrender and makes us shed tears of shame, even more bitter than those which we shed over our saddest memories. gentlemen of the government of france, i would ask you to read the german newspapers; go to berlin, go wherever you like in germany or in alsace-lorraine, and you will find there hundreds and hundreds of monuments which have been inaugurated by the imperial german government. for these, the smallest event, ancient or modern, affords sufficient pretext. [ ] in all things and in every direction we yield today to the authority of a monarch who emphasises our defeat more severely than those who actually conquered us. our strict national duty towards him who did not overcome us with his own sword, was to hold ourselves firmly upright before him and to protect our brethren, victims of the war. alas! we have been obedient to bismarck, and we shall be submissive to william ii. but why, and to what end? had we met the liar and cheat with honesty, had we remained calm in presence of this nerve-ridden individual, we should have been able to recover, morally at first and then actually, all the advantages that prussia gained by her victory. the imperial victim of restlessness, whose nerves are so unhealthily and furiously shaken when he goes abroad, has a craving for disturbing the nerves of others; this in itself makes him the most dangerous of advisers. william ii never allows to himself or to others any relaxation of the brain; like all spirits in torment, he must needs find, forthwith, to the very minute, a counter-effect to every thing that confronts him. with him, even a sudden calm contains the threat of a storm, excitement lurks beneath his moods of quietness. the bastard peace which he has authorised turkey to conclude, conceals a new revolution in crete: such is his will. no sooner is there evidence of an improvement in our relations with italy, than he invites king humbert to be present at the german military manoeuvres, in order to create dissension between the two countries. and so it is in everything. he makes it his business to inspire weariness and vexation of spirit, to destroy those hopes and feelings which restore vitality to the soul of a people. he is for ever stretching out a hand that would fain control by itself the rotation of the globe, and he sets it all awry. the glorification of william ii at kiel is founded upon shifting sands. schleswig remains danish and resists the germanising process with a force of energy at least equal to that of alsace-lorraine. the danes of schleswig are still danes, they have not bowed the knee in admiration of german _kultur_, any more than the alsatians, schleswig says: "let them ask us by a _plébiscite_ and they shall see what we want, what civilised men have the right to ask: light and air and the right to dispose of themselves." the people of alsace-lorraine say: "if you would know what alsace-lorraine, which was never consulted, thinks of the treaty of frankfort, ask her." i blush, and my soul is filled with shame, when i think of the degradation of french patriotism contained in the utterances of . . . ., of those words which, to our lasting sorrow, evoked in _the centre_ of the chamber an outburst of enthusiasm. may our patriots never forget this cowardly session of the french parliament! thus, then, twenty-seven years after the war, when we have spent countless millions on the remaking of our army and navy, when every frenchman has bled himself to the bone to make france so strong and independent that she might cherish the brightest hopes, a president of the french council has the unutterable weakness, from the tribune, to threaten france with the german cane, should she dare to follow any other policy than that desired by berlin! and french deputies have applauded these shameful words, that are reproduced, with such joy as may be imagined, by the whole german press! that press has every reason to be delighted and to find in these words clear proof that the official class in france has always looked upon the russian alliance as a show-piece, never relying upon it, and that since the berlin congress (how often have i said it!) this official class has never ceased to gravitate towards germany. and i, a republican, a fanatic for the russian alliance, such as it might and should have been, a frenchwoman, blind worshipper of my vanquished country--how can i hold my head up in the face of such a shameful collapse! in placing his services at the disposal of the grand turk for the persecution of christians, in supporting those in russia whose policy it is to urge their country into war with japan and china and to divert it from its natural sphere of action in europe, our minister for foreign affairs has ruined one of the finest political situations in which france has ever found herself. if the conduct of our foreign affairs had been entrusted to a real statesman, france might have recovered her position in europe instead of going, with giant strides, down the path of hopeless decadence. are not the intentions of germany plain enough now and sufficiently proved? they must be stupidly foolish who cannot see that a great german war is being prepared against the slavs and gallo-latins, under most disastrous conditions for us and for russia. it needs all the blindness of king humbert, of leopold ii and of the hungarian centralists, to believe that if and when it comes, a german victory would confer any benefits on anything that is not german. september , . [ ] the mind of germany is everlastingly concerned with the toasts proposed by william ii. we know the toast proposed after his review of the th army corps. first of all, come his remarks on the subject of foreign policy. "it rests with us to maintain in its integrity the work accomplished by the great emperor and to defend it against the influences and claims of foreigners." on such an occasion, after the remarks on "justice and equity," which he made on board the _pothuau_, the hot-headed emperor was bound to deliver himself in some such strain. the next toast was that which he proposed at hamburg in honour of king humbert and queen marguerita. this one is emphatic and at the same time gracious, for william ii cultivates every style and all the arts. on this occasion the king of prussia, emperor of germany, referred as usual to the solidity of the triple alliance and to the mandate which it has assumed for the preservation of peace. he spoke as the grandson of william i. king humbert replied as the grandson of victor emmanuel (_sic_), skilfully gliding over the question of the indissoluble nature of the triple alliance and reminding his hearers that germany has no monopoly in the pursuit of peace, but that all the governments of europe are equally concerned in endeavouring to attain it. a movement is taking shape in italy, full of danger and of promise, as events will prove. the clericals and the republicans have sketched the outline of an understanding, which looks as if it might be approved by leo xiii. the danger of this union between the parties will lead king humbert back to a more national, a more peninsular, policy. the strong opposition that it has to face is useful, in that it will oblige the country's rulers to pay more attention to home affairs and to the nation's interests than to the glorification of the dynasty. september , . [ ] "germany is the enemy," skobeleff used to say at paris in , speaking to the younger generation of slavs in the balkans. these prophetic words were inspired in the hero of plevna by germany's intrigues at the berlin congress, intricate intrigues, full of menace for the future of the east. they should have haunted the spirit of every chancellery ever since, and become the formula around and about which european diplomacy should have organised its forces to resist prussia's invading tendencies. until the liberal, philosophic, learned and federalist genius of germany, was spreading all over the world through its literature, science, poetry and music, a genius whose attitude and equilibrium were the fruit of an equal fusion of the mind of north germany with that of the south. by the victories and conquest of , this genius became suddenly and entirely absorbed in prussian militarism, and has now grown to be a force hostile to all other races. the power of the intellect in all its forms, recognises reciprocity and scientific research; the power of brute force only recognises the idea of predominance and the subjection of others. the genius of prussianised germany to-day combines the lust of conquest and power with the shopkeeping spirit, but even in this last, there is no idea of reciprocity but only of exclusive encroachment. her international misdeeds are past all number; she saps and undermines all that has been laboriously built up by others. germanisation carries with it the seeds of disintegration; it is a sower of hatred, proclaiming for its own exclusive benefit the equity of iniquity, the justice of injustice. only less extraordinary than the audacity of prussia is europe's failure to realise these truths. in napoleon iii was deluded, fooled and compromised, led into war by means of lies. nameless intrigues set our generals one against the other. at a moment when victory was possible, the treachery of bazaine made defeat inevitable for france, whom the so-called genius of moltke and frederick-carl would never have vanquished. having overthrown the empire, the king of prussia, who had declared that he was fighting against it alone, made war on france, well aware that sufficient vitality remained in the broken pieces to enable them to come together again, and that, under the threat of a french _revanche_, prussia would be able to keep germany exercised in such a state of mind as would reconcile her to remaining under the military yoke of the hohenzollerns. and europe, without protest, accepts this condition of things, fatal to her interests and security, created for the sole profit of the lowest of nations. by her self-effacement, indeed, she increased fivefold the influence and power of that nation. september , . [ ] you and i, all of us, we french people in particular, who think that we were born clever, we are all a pack of credulous fools. let any one take the trouble to put a little consistency, a little continuity, into the business of fooling us--especially about outside matters whose origins we ignore, or people whose history we have not closely followed--and we will swallow anything! all of us republicans, all the liberals of the second empire, edmond adam, our friends, our group,--great heavens! how we swallowed german republicanism and liberalism! with what brotherly emotion did we not sympathise with the misfortunes of those who, like ourselves, were the vanquished victims of tyranny! we, frenchmen and germans alike, were defending the same principles, the same cause; we were fighting the same good fight for the emancipation of ideas, for the levelling of intellectual frontiers, etc., etc. how well i remember the friendly _abandon_ of louis bamberger in our midst! truly these prussian liberals and ourselves held the same opinions concerning everything, far or near, which bore upon intellectual independence, upon progress and civilisation. and since we were united by such a complete understanding, such identity of ideas, it was our duty to work together: our german friends for the triumph of liberalism in france, and we, for the triumph of liberalism in germany. as to such questions as those of territorial frontiers, or the banks of the rhine, bamberger used to ask, "who thinks of such things in germany? no one! they had other things to think about!" the heart's desire of the sons of the german revolution of - was a universal republic, universal brotherhood, and nothing else. we believed him, but for what an awakening! hardly were the germans in france, than all the orders dictated by bismarck were translated into french by louis bamberger. a book by dr. hans blum, which has just been published in berlin under the title of "_the german revolution of - _," throws even more light on the "brotherly" sentiments of german republicans. in this book dr. blum recalls a speech made in the palatinate on may , . this is what the orator said: "there can only be one opinion amongst germans, and only one voice, to proclaim that, on our side, we would not accept liberty as the price of giving the left bank of the rhine to france. should france show a desire to seize even an inch of german territory, all internal dissensions would cease at once and all germany would rise to demand the retrocession of alsace-lorraine, for the deliverance of our country." that is how german republicans thought, as far back as . in - they made us swallow once again ideas of brotherhood from beyond the rhine, by lulling our perspicacity, by enervating the courage we used to display towards _foreigners_, and it was several weeks before we realised in that _all germany_, from one end to the other, was of the same type of honesty, the same character as the ems telegram. we are nothing but fools, credulous fools, if we believe that any german can think otherwise than as a member of united, that is to say prussianised, germany, or if we imagine that prussia is anything but the complete, total, unique, fully accepted, assimilated and admired expression of german patriotism. prussia is the fine flower, the ripe fruit of german unity. a few bavarians, a few so-called german liberals, may pretend to be restive under the despotism of the king of prussia, but they accept unreservedly the authority of the german emperor. and what is more, it is just as he is, that they wish their emperor to be, thus they have imagined, thus they have made him. he is like unto them in their own image, he governs them according to their own mind. there may be some who, as a matter of personal inclination, might prefer to have more liberalism, but whenever germanism is in question it is personified in william ii, king of prussia. berlin is the capital of all the germans upon earth. during these past few days, in the vienna parliament, whilst an orator on the government side was singing the praises of the emperor francis joseph, a german austrian exclaimed--an austrian, mark you--"_our_ emperor is william ii." the credulous fools of the moment in france are the socialists. just as we believed in the liberalism of german liberals before , so french socialists now believe in the internationalism of german socialists. with greater sincerity than anything displayed by the old german liberals of before , the socialists of hamburg have taken the trouble to enlighten their french brethren with regard to their real sentiments. herr liebknecht himself has explained their attitude; his words may be summed up as follows: "the socialists of france are our brothers, but if they wanted to take back alsace-lorraine, we should regard them as enemies." there is nothing more remarkable than these german socialists and their congresses, these fellows who always preach to other nations against patriotism, and never come together except to make speeches about the fatherland. at the hamburg congress, auer, the socialist deputy, looked into the future and saw "the cossacks trampling underfoot all the liberties of western europe." what tyranny of barbarians could be more cruel than the tyranny of germany which, wherever it extends, oppresses the racial instincts of mankind, ruins and absorbs a people, reducing it to servitude by the assertion of the rights of a superior race over its inferiors. has the hamburg congress disabused the minds of french socialists on the brotherhood of their german brethren? let us hope that it will not be necessary for them, as it was for us, to hear the thunder of german guns to understand that all parties in germany are included in the _german party_, and that those who believe anything else are nothing but poor deluded dupes. october , . [ ] those amongst us who, hour by hour, have devoted their lives to the service of our mutilated country, have for their object, each within the humble limits of his individual efforts, the glorification of france and that of russia, the greatness of the one being dependent on the greatness of the other. this twofold devotion, and dual service keep our fears perpetually alert in two directions; how great are those two commingled sources of fear when patriotic frenchmen, like patriotic russians, come to consider the bewildering development of prussian power--a veritable process of absorption. german policy knows no laws except those of which prussia is sole beneficiary. only that which is profitable to prussia is good; the rest, all the rest, is a negligible quantity. moral precepts, religious brotherhood, higher education by force of example, a sense of justice applied to the fair apportioning of influence, vested rights, and a reasonable idea of reciprocity--all such things are moonshine for prussia. the sole object that prussian germany pursues is brutal conquest in all its forms. by all conceivable means to get a footing for herself, here, there and everywhere; by the most energetic and methodical diplomacy possible, by military science, by trade and manufactures, by emigration and the race-spirit, and at the same time by subterranean methods of allurement and by insolent threats; these are her purposes and she accomplishes something of them every day. when one reflects what germany's objects were, and what she has achieved in the eastern question, to what humiliations and cross purposes she has exposed and reduced europe, to what contempt for her own interests, what bewilderment and impotence, then, i repeat, the stoutest heart may have good cause for fear. turkey, galvanised by germany, has become a force to inspire terror amongst christians in the east and throughout the whole range of european civilisation, where it comes into contact with mussulmans, in all parts of the world. all the slow-moving patience of russian and french diplomacy for centuries, all the long struggles of the crusades have been robbed of their garnered fruits in a few months. german policy has overthrown all their influence, destroyed all their approach works, released europe's vassal from all his promises and obligations. the sick man, cured by a quack who holds his health in pawn, has bound himself body and soul to his healer. greece, frequently hesitating in her policy between british and french sympathies, has nothing to hope for in the future from turkophil germany. william ii will make her recovery a matter of limitations and bargaining. and who knows but that the strange proceedings of prince constantine and of the royal princes, his brothers, may not be explained by secret promises for the future--promises made by the german emperor in return for blind submission to his will? william ii holds turkey in the hollow of his hand. byzantium and rome are vassals of a german monarch. if rome is threatened with ruin by her alliance with the king of prussia, byzantium is restored by a new caraculla. william ii is, therefore, twice entitled to wear the sphere with the imperial crown atop, as the emblem of his sovereign power and as the imitator of the roman emperor. and notwithstanding the anti-christ protection which he extends to the infidel, he can also affix the cross to his sphere. is he not about to take possession, in theatrical fashion, of the holy places? turkey has been restored by the kaiser of berlin. he is her emperor, her khalif, master of the holy places, for the reason that his most humble servant is emperor, khalif and master of the holy places. so long as all these titles and powers lay in weak hands, the dangers of turkish policy, if not the anxieties it created, might be disregarded. but today the military strength of turkey is firmly established and it is supported by another tremendous power. russia and france have never committed an act of graver imprudence than to allow these two forces to unite. germany, germany, ever and ever greater! the german song is no longer a dead letter. it was by guile that simulated liberal and democratic ideas, that bismarck prepared public opinion in the german confederation for union with prussia. we, too, believed in the liberalism of germans and of bismarck before , and herein we proved ourselves to be just as easily gullible as french socialists are to-day, who believe in the genuine internationalism of german socialists. for those whose interest lies in this direction, the imperial statistical bureau of berlin provides information of an astounding kind. germany's exports in reached the value of millions of marks. german exports to england and her colonies amounted to million marks, whilst england and her colonies supplied germany with produce to the amount of million marks. [ ] henceforth william ii knows that he has at his command the tools with which to bite into england, industrially and commercially. he has already had a large bite, and he looks forward to eating up proud albion, slowly but surely. november , . [ ] we must always remember and incessantly repeat: germany's paths throughout the whole world are widening and lengthening horribly. the latest roman invader profits at the same time by all the headway that carthage and athens lose. england and france, alike responsible for their spoliation, are the more to blame in that they allow themselves to be smitten with blindness at a time when they are not yet smitten with impotence. in the east, both might have done what they liked, with the help and the interested support of russia. but what have they done? less than nothing, since they have worked in servile fashion--one for the greater glory of her military conqueror, the other for the glory of her commercial conqueror. the european concert, whether it retreated or advanced, whether it took up a question or discussed it, has done all things under the exclusive direction of german interests. with a haughty contempt and disdain for the dignity of all europe outside the triple alliance, which should have been met by emphatic protests, william ii has compelled russia, england and france to give public sanction to the crimes of the hyena of stamboul, to build up with their own hands the supremacy of prussia in the east and that of austria in the balkans. baron marshal von bieberstein, germany's new ambassador, has been welcomed at the court of the grand turk as the envoy of his chief counsellor, his only friend, as the sacrosanct representative of the emperor-king, over-lord of the east. thus all the delays, evasions and subterfuges of the sultan are sanctioned by william ii. the king of prussia, emperor of germany, takes pleasure in a self-contradictory policy, whereby he misleads and confuses the world. he is the same to-day as he was when, as prince heir to the throne, he declared that he "would never have any friends, only dupes." through him the sultan, whom he delights to honour, becomes a conqueror, his crimes are condoned and cynically absolved before the outraged conscience of all europe. yes, all these things have been done by william ii; abdul hamid looks upon the german emperor as the main pillar of the temple of his glory! one cannot speak of the east without feelings of shame and heartfelt indignation. in turkey's stolid resistance to reform, in her massacres, in the cretan revolt, and in the war between her and greece, william ii has seen only an opportunity of gain for himself. he has cynically pursued his policy of profit-snatching. just as certain quacks demand a higher fee when they prescribe for a patient whose life is in serious danger, so william ii exacts heavier payment from his client. his demands are exorbitant: trade, finance, armaments, concessions, sale of arms, renewal of munitions of war, rebuilding of the fleet, etc., etc. the king of prussia continues, without ceasing and at his own sweet will, to utter defiance to common sense and to the general direction of civilised opinion. whilst by his policy he supports the foul murderer of christians and prepares the way for fresh butcheries on the return of the victorious turks from thessaly, william ii has addressed these astounding words to the recruits of his royal guards: "he who is not a good christian, is not a brave man, nor a worthy prussian soldier, and can by no means fulfil the duty required of a soldier in the prussian army." december , . [ ] germanism, which up till had a certain sense of decent restraint, and took the trouble to disguise itself skilfully under bismarck, no longer knows either limitations or scruples. it displays itself without shame, secure in the hesitancy of the slav and the weakness of the latin peoples. who could fail to be roused to indignation by the display of german fanaticism which has taken place at vienna? to think that in the capital of an ally of william ii, a faction, relying on advice publicly given in berlin should shout in the reichsrath, overthrow a ministry, disturb the public peace in the streets, and accompany these manifestations with prussia's national song, "die wacht am rhein," and the display of the german flag! if scandalous proceedings such as these make no difference in the relations of the triple alliance, why wonder at the audacity and pride of the teutons? everything is a matter of exclusive right for the german. there are no other rights but german rights, and when germany claims the exercise of a right, neither numbers, nor nationalism, nor races have any existence, confronted by the individuality, the nationalism, of the german race. mommsen, the leading historian of prussian germany, wrote in the _neue freie presse_ of vienna, "pummel the heads of the czechs with your fists," whereat all the austrians of german race applauded, loudly declaring that if it came to a question between the germans of prussian germany and austrian subjects of slav extraction, their sympathies would not be in doubt, for they, although austrians, saw on the one side their brethren of a superior _kultur_, and, on the other, barbarians only fit to remain for ever oppressed. on another occasion, mommsen wrote: "we are twin brothers; we became separated from you in former days, but soon we must be united again." the linguistic map of germany, widespread wherever german is spoken, reveals very clearly what are the ambitions of "alt-deutschland." the lion's maw of the "slav-eaters" is always wide open. sometimes the devouring beast walks delicately, at others he hurls himself savagely on his prey. the opening of the reichstag has provided us with a very important speech from the throne by william ii, for it emphasises the lack of agreement which prevails between sovereign, parliament and people. the emperor-king has announced his plan for a seven-years' period for naval service, similar to that in force in the army. the bill will come before the reichstag during its present session. as william has declared more than once, he intends that the naval strength of germany shall equal that of her army. as for the german people, while ready to accept all the sacrifices required to maintain the supremacy of its military forces, it has no hankerings after naval supremacy. its proudest hopes lie in the direction covered by the "drang nach osten" formula. it wants to advance upon austria, while retaining the ground already won. mommsen and the duke of baden between them sum up germany's ambitions. in germany at the present moment, public opinion would appear to be satisfied with preserving the work of william i and pushing on towards the east; but how little will these things satisfy william ii! it is the will of the german emperor, king of prussia, to be a law-giver to the east, to dispute with england the sovereignty of the seas, to take bites out of china, to display the ever-victorious flag of germany all over the world. it is true that, to accomplish this will of his, will require an additional millions, and it will require, in particular, that the reichstag should vote them in one lump sum. william ii is like his teacher bismarck in the matter of dogged obstinacy. like him, he will present his scheme in a hundred different guises, until its opponents become weary and give in. germany has just been giving the european concert a lesson in the policy of energy. she displays as much bluntness in her sudden claims as she displayed skill in having the concert brought to ridicule by turkey. haiti and china have yielded on the spot to her direct threats. if they reflect, will not the powers of the concert realise that germany's every act is either a challenge or a lesson? the german expedition to kiao-chao, strong, is so greatly in excess of the requirements of her claims to compensation for injuries suffered, that it reveals a definite intention on the part of william ii to take advantage of the first plausible pretext to acquire a naval station in china. peace has been signed between turkey and greece, but let us not regard it as a settlement of outstanding questions, for the ambassadors were only able to come to an agreement by eliminating questions in dispute, one by one. germany now appears to dominate the eastern question to such a degree that, in his speech from the throne, william ii did not even allude to it. what would have been the good? turkey is already a province of germany! william ii and his ambassador are the rulers there and govern the country as sovereigns. the flood-gate of german emigration, secretly unlocked, will soon be thrown wide open; , germans will be able to make their way into the ottoman empire every year. before long their numbers will tell, they will assert their rights, and the slav provinces in the balkans and in austria will find themselves out off by the flood. is russia beginning to realise that it would have been better for her to protect the christians against turkey rather than to allow them to be slaughtered--that it would have been a more humane and far-seeing policy to defend greece and crete instead of abandoning them to the tender mercies of turco-german policy? it is over-late to set the clock back and to challenge the pre-eminent control which william ii has established over everything in the east. december , . [ ] none but the author of _tartarin_ and his immortal "departures" could have described for us the setting-forth of prince henry of prussia for china. the exchange of speeches between william and his brother makes one of the most extravagant performances of modern times, when read in conjunction with the actual facts, reduced by means of the telegraph to their proper proportions, which may be summed up as follows: taking up the cause of two german missionaries who have suffered ill-treatment in china, the emperor of germany sends an ultimatum to the son of heaven, who yields on every point and carries his submission so far that he runs the risk of compromising his relations with other powers. consequently, there is an end of the dispute. the facts, you see, are simple. but prince henry has made him ready to receive his solemn investiture at the hands of his brother, the emperor, by going to kiss prince bismarck on his forehead and cheek ("forehead and cheek," as prince henry unctuously remarks, "so often kissed by my grandfather, william i"). next prince henry goes to seek the blessing of general waldersee; then he has himself blessed by his mother, and by his aunt, and later he will go and get blessed by his grandmother, queen victoria. slowly and solemnly each act and formality is accomplished in accordance with the rites prescribed by william. the imperial missionary, the sailor transformed into a sort of bishop, sets forth. the quest of the pirate-knight is to conquer all china, to become its emperor, to fall upon it, inspired by the god of battles. what matters it that the chinese will not resist, that they will fall prostrate before him? the grandeur of tartarin's setting forth has nothing to do with his getting there. at kiel all was prepared. germany trembled with impatience and this is what she heard:-- "imperial power means sea power: the existence of the one depends upon the other. the squadron which your ships will reinforce must act and hold itself as the symbol of imperial and maritime power; it must live on good terms of friendship with all its comrades of the fifteen foreign fleets out yonder, so as energetically to protect the interests of the fatherland against any one who would injure a german. let every european over them, every german merchant, and, above all, every foreigner in the land to which we are going, or with whom we may have to do, understand that the german michael has firmly planted on this soil his shield bearing the imperial eagle, so as to be able, once and for all, to give his protection to all those who may require it of him. may our fellow-countrymen out yonder be firmly convinced that, no matter what their situation, be they priests or merchants, the protection of the german empire will be extended to them with all possible energy by means of the warships of the imperial fleet. and should any one ever infringe our just rights strike him with your mailed fist! if god so will he shall bind about your young brow laurels of which none, throughout all germany, shall be jealous! "firmly convinced that, following the example of good models (and models are not lacking to our house, heaven be praised!), you will fulfil my wishes and my vows, i drink to your health and wish a good journey, all success, and, a safe return! hurrah for prince henry!" prince henry's incredible reply was as follows-- "as children we grew up together. later, when we grew to manhood, it was given to us to look into each other's eyes and to remain faithfully united to each other. for your majesty the imperial crown has been girt with thorns. within my narrower sphere and with my feeble strength strengthened by my vows, i have endeavoured to help your majesty as a soldier and a citizen. . . . "i am very sincerely grateful to your majesty for the trust which you place in my feeble person. and i can assure your majesty that it is not laurels that tempt me, nor glory. one thing and one only leads me on, it is to go and proclaim in a foreign land the gospel of the sacred person of your majesty and to preach it as well to those who will hear it as to those who will not. it is this that i intend to blazon upon my flag and wherever i may go. our comrades share these sentiments! eternal life to our well-beloved emperor!" such gems must be left intact. one should read them again and again, line by line. ponderous eloquence, fustian bombast, and mouldy pathos combine with the display of pomp, to excite world-wide admiration. this play of well-rehearsed parts is given before an audience of generals, high officials and politicians, and the scene is set at kiel, that moving pedestal which the king of prussia inaugurated when he made all the fleets of europe file past him. william ii looks upon history as a vulgar photographic plate designed for the purpose of "taking" him in all his poses and in such places as he may select and appoint. a crusade is afoot: they go, they are gone, to preach "the gospel of the sacred person of william ii." a holy war is declared, to be waged against a people which declines to fight. never mind, they will find a way to glory, be it only in the size of the slices of territory which they will seize. the two great conceptions of our minister of foreign affairs are to act as the honest broker in china between st. petersburg and berlin, and to put the european concert to rights. how often have i not told him that all he has to gain by playing this game is a final surrender on the part of france? alas! my prophecy, already fulfilled in the east, is very near to coming true in the far east. if it should prove otherwise, it would not be to anything in our foreign policy that our good luck would be due, but to the fact that all russia has come to realise that she is likely to be germany's dupe in the far east, as she has been in the east. during the reign of the emperor alexander iii and the presidency of m. carnot, the franco-russian alliance possessed a definite meaning, because both these rulers understood that any pro-german tendencies in their mutual policy must have constituted an obstacle to the perfect union of the national policies of their two countries. france had ceased to indulge in secret flirtations with germany when the latter was no longer russia's ally. the plain and inevitable duty of our government was to promote an antagonism of interests between germany and russia and to prove to the latter that france was loyally working to promote her greatness above all else, on condition that she should help us to hold our own position. if france had been governed as she should have been, had we possessed a statesman at the quai d'orsay, our diplomatic defeats at canea, athens and constantinople, though possibly inevitable, might have found a court of appeal; and france would finally have been in a position of exceptional advantage in securing a judgment favourable to our alliance. germany's brutal seizure in china of a naval station that the chinese government had leased to russia for the purposes of a winter harbour for her fleet, foreshadows the sort of thing that william ii is capable of doing, under cover of an _entente_, so soon as japan comes to evacuate wei-hai-wei, upon china's payment of the war indemnity. germany's scruples in dealing with "sick men," remind one of the charlatans who either kill or cure, according to their estimate of their prospects of being able to grab the inheritance. [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, january , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, march , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, june , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _ibid._, september , . [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, march , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] la nouvelle revue, may , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, june , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] william ii had just sent marks to the fund for the victims of the fire at the charity bazaar. [ ] since parisian journalists have dared to sing their cynical praises in honour of the german emperor, no considerations need restrain our pen in defending the tzars from the charges that have been brought against them. these people ask: how is it that _your_ emperor of russia has delayed so long in expressing to us his condolence? why? let me explain. the fire at the charity bazaar broke out at p.m. on may , but the russian ambassador in paris only telegraphed the news to count mouravieff on the evening of may . the emperor can only have heard of the disaster on the th; it was then too late for him to telegraph a direct message, and it was therefore thought best to send instructions to the russian embassy. the blame in this matter falls therefore upon m. de mohrenheim. it was due to his methods of proceeding that the emperor learnt the news forty-eight hours late. _le gaulois_, in a somewhat officious explanation, informs us that the russian ambassador kept back his telegram because may is the birthday of the empress, and because there is a superstition in russia that it is bad luck to get bad news on one's birthday. this explanation is untrue; there is no such superstition. did they conceal from nicholas ii, on the day of his coronation, the terrible catastrophe at khadyskaje, which cost the lives of thousands of russians; and did this disaster prevent the tzar from attending m. de montebello's ball that same evening? moreover, m. de mohrenheim should have telegraphed on may to count mouravieff, leaving to him the choice as to the hour for communicating the information to the tzar. m. de mohrenheim is in the habit of doing this sort of thing; when he chooses, his instincts are dilatory. he behaved in exactly the same way, and with the same object, on the day when m. carnot was assassinated. as soon as the news of that dreadful event reached the quai d'orsay, the _chef du protocole_, (then count bourqueney) went in all haste to the russian embassy, woke up the ambassador, and informed him officially of the disaster which had just overtaken france. it was then two o'clock in the morning. instead of telegraphing the news at once to alexander iii, m. de mohrenheim only did so at eleven o'clock on the following day. now, he knew perfectly well that, as the result of this delay, the tzar could only learn the news two days later because, on the following day in the early morning, alexander iii was starting with the whole imperial family for borki, where he was about to open a memorial chapel on the spot where several years before an attempt had been made on his life. the journey takes about forty-eight hours, and as the destination of the imperial train is always kept secret, the tzar could not receive the telegram until after his arrival at borki. it will be remembered that the delay which thus took place, in the communication of the tzar's sympathy with france in her mourning, created an unfortunate impression, and enabled the german emperor to get in ahead of him by two days. the explanation of the delay which occurred on that occasion should have been communicated to the havas press agency, and the tzar's journey mentioned. this was done by all foreign newspapers, but good care was taken that no word of the sort should be published in paris. it is, therefore, evident that, if the kaiser has been twice placed in the position which has enabled him to get in well ahead of alexander iii and nicholas ii, the blame must not be ascribed to any indifference, or lukewarm feelings on the part of the friends of france. the most one can reproach them with is to have retained at paris an ambassador about whose sentiments both tzars were fully informed long ago. [ ] "truly, this man must be devoted to france," m. emile hinzelin writes me, "he must love her dearly, since he keeps a strip of her, cut from the living flesh, which still palpitates and bleeds. whom can he possibly hope to deceive? mülhausen is not far from paris, neither is colmar, nor strasburg, nor metz. it is from this unhappy town of metz, the most cruelly tortured of all, that he sends us his condolences and his bag of money. as is usual with complete hypocrites, he is by no means lacking in impudence. never have the french people of alsace-lorraine been accused with more bitter determination, prosecuted, condemned and exploited by all possible means and humiliated in every way. never has william himself displayed such unrestraint and wealth of insult in his speeches to the army. i came across him during a journey of mine some months ago, just as he was unveiling a monument, commemorating the fatal year of . with his head thrown back, his eyes rolling in frenzy and rage, shaking his fist towards france and with his voice coming in jerks, he uttered imprecations, challenges and threats in wild confusion. next day the german press published his speech, very carefully arranged, toned down, and even changed in certain respects; but it still retained, in spite of this diplomatic doctoring, an unmistakable accent of fierce and determined hatred. there you have him in his true light, and in his real sentiments, this man of sympathetic telegrams, of flowers, and easy tears." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, june , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, july , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, august , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] amongst the latest proofs of this, here is one, i quote from a german newspaper: "in , when war was declared, the _kölnische zeitung_ offered a reward of thalers for the first capture of a french gun. this prize was won by some soldiers of the first silesian battalion of the th regiment of chasseurs, who, in their first fight at wissemburg, took possession of a cannon which bore the name of le douay, after the commander-in-chief of a french army corps. it occurred to these soldiers to erect a monument at the spot where this gun was captured. the monument itself, consisting of a large rock from the vosges, was the gift of one of them, and on june the presentation of the monument took place, in the presence of chasseurs who had come from all parts of the country and of a large number of officers. twenty-seven years ago, the chasseurs were there, on the same spot, facing the enemy; to-day, they hail the heights of wissemburg as part of the great german fatherland, reconquered after a fierce and bloody struggle." it is evident that the emperor is not the only one to celebrate these anniversaries, that new ones are always being invented, and that no humiliation will be spared us in alsace-lorraine. [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, september , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, october , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] this article appeared in the _petit marseillais_ under the title of "the gulls." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, october , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] a friend writes to me from germany: "you cannot conceive the effects produced upon me by the _incredible_ development of industrial enterprise throughout all germany. factories seem to spring out of the ground; in all the large towns that one visits, smoke ascends from hundreds of chimneys. the workshops that manufacture steam-engines are so overloaded with work, that orders take more than a year to fill. i went all over the offices of the patents bureau in berlin--a place as large as our ministry of commerce, with a library more complete than that of our poor conservatoire of arts and trades. alas, we are but pigmies beside these giants! everywhere one sees evidence of order, discipline and patience, qualities in which we are somewhat lacking. but i am not down-hearted, and with the help of a few colleagues, we are going to try and propagate some of the ideas we have learned from our neighbours and which may be of benefit to our country." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, december , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, december , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, january , , "letters on foreign policy." chapter vi the encroaching expansion of germany--when will there be a determined coalition against germany?--the crime of jules ferry--william ii checked in his attempt to obtain a representative of the holy see at constantinople--leo xiii confirms france in her protectorate over christians in the east--william's journey to palestine. january , . [ ] shall i be told that i repeat myself if, once a fortnight, i say to every good citizen, anxious about the many dangers that threaten his country, "beware of this germany, whose numbers and wealth and strength are ever-increasing and multiplying?" let each one of us do all that lies in his power not to assist in any way the industry and commerce of germany, which devour and destroy our own. let us enlighten those near to us who in their turn will enlighten their neighbours, and let us stimulate a movement of resistance to the invasion of german produce of every kind; let every one of us contribute his share to the strengthening of public opinion for the struggle against the spirit of germanism, which is gradually undermining the national spirit of france. may the voter insist that his representative should not keep his eyes fixed within the narrow semi-circle of parliamentary affairs and that he should observe beyond it the continual retreat of our diplomacy before the advance of german predominance. even the most limited intelligence can now perceive that, even if we felt ourselves powerless to pursue our secular policy for the defence and protection of christians in the east, nothing compelled us to witness the marriage contract between germany and the grand turk, to overwhelm them both with good wishes for their perfect union, to lend them our aid in establishing their perfect understanding. what need is there for us to seek to reconcile germany and russia in china? germany could not have rendered any valuable assistance to our ally in the middle kingdom, for she brings to asia nothing but her insatiable greed, and had it not been for her reconciliation with russia, she would never have dared to gratify it. once sure of the confidence of the young tzar, with what haste and brutality did william ii proceed to display his long teeth! so there he is, definitely in possession of kiao-chao bay, for only the utterly credulous will believe in any retrocession of this so-called leased territory, in recovering from germany this admirable commercial harbour, this marvellous strategical position. february , . [ ] lies, insolence, polite hypocrisy, underhand plotting, audacity, cynicism and cruelty, these are the ingredients that go to the making of prussian statecraft. it must be admitted that the emperor-king of prussia is growing. cutting himself clear from the timid souls who are still possessed of a sense of right, he assumes the proportions of a machiavelli and a mephistopheles combined. william the incalculable, as his subjects call him, develops to his own advantage the influences and the power of evil. what new distress will he bring to christian souls, this applauder of the armenian massacres, when, after having covered with his favour, supported by his strength, guided by his advice and encouraged by his friendship, the assassin who reigns at constantinople, he makes his pilgrimage to palestine, escorted in triumph by the same soldiers who, by order of the red sultan, have killed, tortured and tormented christians? we shall see him kneeling before the tomb of christ, surrounded by turks with bloodstained hands, when he goes to take possession of those much-coveted holy places, which shall make him, the prop and stay of the exterminator of christians, sole arbiter of christianity in the east. can the heavens that look down on mount sinai smile on william ii, sheltering in the shadow of turkish bayonets? when, at jerusalem, he celebrates the opening of the prussian church (whose corner-stone was laid by frederick iii, repentant of his military glory), will not this man of insatiable pride receive some sign of warning from above? no, it sufficeth perhaps that he should go forward to meet his fate. is it not the same for all evil-doers, no matter to what heights they may attain, who only climb that they may be hurled to lower depths? the challenges that men fling at the ideal structure of the principles of humanity are like the stones that children throw at monuments. they accumulate and serve to consolidate that which they were meant to destroy. no one can reproach william ii with inactivity, and in this the monarch at berlin is of one mind with germany. he draws the nation after him; it follows blindly on dizzy paths of adventure and the pursuit of wealth. there is this about germany to inspire us with fear--and one wonders how it is that russia and france have not been so terrified long ago as to make them leave no stone unturned in the near and far east, to exorcise the perils with which her earth-hunger threatens them--that she is just as greedy as england in the politics of business, has just the same jealous desires for financial and commercial expansion, but that, in addition, she has hankerings of another sort: for glory, for conquests, for the annexations necessary to feed and satisfy her imperious military spirit. when we consider the innumerable objects for which germany is working in the near and far east, we are compelled to astonishment at the narrow limits of the field of action that she leaves for other nations. prior to , every country in europe possessed its own distinguishing features, its power, its ambition, or its dominating influences. england was the first, of commercial and industrial nations. russia was the great leader of oriental policy, the predestined heir to asia. austria was the supreme german power. france was a military nation and at the same time the eldest daughter of the church; she was the undisputed protector of catholic missions all over the world and umpire in most of the great international quarrels. to-day, germany is at once all that england, russia, austria and france were. she holds every monopoly, centralises power of every kind, and destroys all power of movement in others. when shall we have a determined coalition against germany? herein lies the only hope of liberating europe from the claws of prussia and recovering something of the lion's share which william takes to himself. february , . [ ] by what process of mental aberration has it come to pass that our minister of foreign affairs has placed himself under the wing of william ii at constantinople? his one object should have been to combine every effort on the part of russia and france to keep germany out of the east. there would be no parallel to such a deplorable lack of foresight, if our diplomacy had not provided it in the far east, if it had not helped to prove to germany, there also, that she was becoming indispensable in china, that the prestige of russia combined with that of france was insufficient to cope with the situation and to solve the difficulties that had arisen with the son of heaven, with japan and england. the blindness which has characterised our foreign policy, which, since jules ferry took it in hand, has made us labour continuously with our own hands for the greatness of germany, as if to justify our humility in her eyes, this will remain the crime of the initiator of an anti-national policy, the crime of m. jules ferry. it will also remain the irreparable fault committed by those who have adopted the lamentable policy which consists in following in the train of the conqueror once the ransom has been paid. march , . [ ] william ii will have his sea-going fleet, and be able to challenge the fleets of the great powers and meet them on equal terms. he had meant to carry with a high hand his seven years' naval construction plan, in the same way that bismarck obtained his seven years' military programme in spite of the opposition of the german catholics. and now behold the german budget committee has sanctioned the raising of the money for his warships in six years! as to the projected reform of the military code and the complete re-organisation of the army on a homogeneous basis, the emperor-king of prussia is not in the least disturbed. no doubt bavaria, würtemberg and certain other confederated states will claim to keep their autonomous armies by virtue of the constitution of , but the king of prussia is quite determined, on his part, to administer the german army under a single military code. bavaria, they tell us, will never yield. bavaria will yield. the german victories of - created the german empire and every empire must of necessity be centralised or else become once more a confederation. united teutondom, germany, is embodied in prussia. the bavarians, like all the other saxons, sing the national hymn "germany, germany, ever and ever greater." what, then, is the good of all their talking at münich? if germany is to grow ever greater, she cannot have several centres of influence. therefore bavaria will submit. april , . [ ] notwithstanding the fact that he is a protestant, william is impressed by the greatness of the rôle that leo xiii might play in christianity; and, therefore, brings all the influences at his command to bear upon him. through all his official and officious agents he tells him that atheistic france, in the hands of laymen, can no longer be the eldest daughter of the church; that the holy father is the head of christianity throughout the world, and that in the east and far east he should make use of those who are most christian; that an emperor who is a believer, even though he be a protestant, is much better fitted to be the protector of christians in china and in turkey than a republic without faith. the only possible influences in china and in turkey are religious influences, but economic questions follow in their wake, and the german emperor, king of prussia, means to appear before the peoples of the near and far east, in the light of his spectacular proceedings at kiel, of the triumphant audacity of kiao-chao, and of the splendour with which he is going to invest his journey in palestine, as the controller of their destinies, the defender of their rights and the supplier of such goods as they may wish to purchase. it is possible that william ii may be able to persuade leo xiii that he should entrust him with the holy places and work together with him in china. in any event, the catholics of germany are now a long way from the _kulturkampf_; they will vote the naval budget by an ample majority and germany will become the great naval power, and at the same time the great military power, so that in the end she may become the wealthiest of the commercial powers: this is the dream of william, king of prussia! june , . [ ] william ii has become attached to the east, the scene of his chief diplomatic successes, a part of the world in which his imperial word is law. he will continue to shower his favours upon it, and disturb everything there, so as to be able to fish in troubled waters. he will ransack everything for his purposes, even that very vague thing, homogeneous turkey, based on the mussulman faith. at this moment, he is planning i know not what kind of acceptance of the cross by the crescent, just as he planned prince henry's chinese crusade. if the cuban war did not detain him in europe, he would have gone to palestine, with a cavalcade of some sort which would have been an event in the history of christianity. and he will do it yet. what does russia, so jealous for the holy places, think of the intrusion into them of the german kaiser? he is master there. here is one of the most striking proofs of the fact: the mussulmans have a perfect horror of bells, but the new german church erected at jerusalem is equipped with a fine peal of them. that which neither christian kings, nor even tzars, were able to obtain, william ii has achieved. and such is the idea of force with which the german emperor is associated in their minds, that even the most fanatical mussulmans have bent the knee in submission to this sacrilege. july , . [ ] the unseverable unity of pan-germanism is the ruling formula with the germans of austria. are they not continually threatening the hapsburgs that they will secede if the supremacy of their german minority over the slav majority is not maintained? they do not even take the trouble to lower their voices when they cry to the neighbouring empire: "before very long we shall be yours." since the defeat of france, germany's ambitions have grown to a height out of all proportion even to the importance of her conquest. on all sides she has cast covetous eyes, stretched out her grasping hand in all directions. for only france, while still intact, possessed the courage to protect other nations from the all-consuming german appetite. that germany should have captured the monstrous friendship of a french minister for the christian-slaying sultan! can any one possibly find any absolution, any excuses, for such a deplorable mismanagement of our material and moral interests in the east? gradually, unless something can be done to check these unfortunate tendencies of our diplomacy, william ii will announce that the time has come for the apotheosis, _à la turque,_ of a protestant emperor. and then, all of a sudden after this gradual preparation, the catholics and the holy places of the orthodox will be delivered over to one of the only forces of christianity, to that which gives absolution for murder and protects the slayer of christians. race, nationality, politics, trade, influence and guarantees, all may be summed up in oriental countries in a single word: religion! must, then, a government seek to advance the cause of its state religion, not from religious conviction, but in the spirit which seeks to retain the privileges and wealth it has acquired and its powers of self-defence? our new minister of foreign affairs understands these things--he has pondered over them long: will he not, therefore, seek and find in the complexities of oriental policy the factor of immediate and personal advantage which is calculated to minister to boundless self-conceit? he will endeavour quietly to untie the least compact of the knots tied at stamboul and berlin; he will replace them by other knots, tied more closely by himself. he will display the cleverness of those who make no effort to be clever, and he will not lack clearness of sight and precision for the simple reason that he loves his country better than himself. july , . [ ] the high approval bestowed by germany upon all the subterfuges of the diplomacy of abdul hamid, the bankruptcy of the european concert, the embarrassment in which each one of the governments that compose this strange concert finds itself when confronted with the machiavelism of the turk, all these have produced a situation intolerable for those statesmen who have any regard for the dignity of their country. our new minister of foreign affairs, upon coming to the quai d'orsay, felt keenly the humiliation inflicted upon france by the persistent weakness of our policy. from the outset he succeeded in foiling the sultan's dangerous scheme for securing a representative of the holy see at constantinople which would have abolished at one stroke the whole french protectorate over christians in the east. cardinal ledochowsky, prefect of propaganda, with the help of the prospective nuncio at constantinople, and in order to emphasise the collapse of french influence in the east, was making his plans in readiness for william ii to assume, solemnly and definitely, a protectorate over the christians. already the kaiser's trusty friend at the vatican had decided to instruct the catholic clergy in palestine to render exceptional honours to the german emperor on the occasion of his journey to the holy places. but the council of the congregation, in plenary session, has opposed the wishes of cardinal ledochowsky, and so there will be no nomination of a representative of the holy see at the court of the grand turk. the german emperor must needs be content with the honours "usually accorded to reigning princes." this is the kind of rebuff that neither abdul hamid nor william ii readily forgives. one of the german emperor's chief joys is to break things. to bewilder people by the suddenness of his resolutions, to court all risks, to proclaim his power, to sow the wind and reap the whirlwind: these are the pleasures of the german emperor, king of prussia. there is no need for me to repeat the strange neronian stories that are whispered in germany concerning certain incidents of william's sea-voyages and journeys in norway. a number of mysterious deaths following one upon the other provide sufficient material for these tales. for those who, like myself, have never ceased to regard william ii as a creature of unbridled pride, it is enough from time to time to note one of his actions, so as to form our judgment of the man and to be able to predict to what heights of complacent admiration for himself and of severity for others he is likely to attain hereafter. august , . [ ] created by force, the unity of germany is maintained by force. on the day that another force arises, germany will collapse, for her cohesion has only been attained and cemented by cunning and contempt for the truth; she has lived by the sword and she shall perish by the sword. it is said that bismarck was the real obstacle to an understanding between england and germany. it is certainly true that neither france nor russia has anything to gain by england's throwing herself into the arms of germany. mr. chamberlain is ready to do all in his power to draw england into the triple alliance, and william ii, no longer dreading the criticisms of varzin, would now accept with pleasure the proposals which he seemed to disdain. nevertheless, the real rival that threatens england's future is germany. the german peril, industrial and commercial, inspires england with fear, and we should know how to turn this situation to our advantage. let us do all we can to prevent an _entente_ being arranged which would deprive us of a card and add one to the enemy's hand. a war in china between russia and great britain, no matter how it might end, would fulfil germany's dream of being delivered from russia in the east and the balkans. this is precisely what william ii desires and seeks--herein pursuing bismarckian tactics. france and russia must, therefore, exercise all their skill to prevent it, and go exceeding warily amidst the intrigues that are now afoot. what has been the result of the note which the representatives of the powers have handed to the porte, on the initiative of france and russia, stating that they will never permit the landing of new turkish forces in crete? merely to prove that austria and germany refuse to be parties to these proceedings, and to speak plainly, support the sultan. ah, if russia could only be kept busy in china! what a godsend if france could be left alone to play the part of this admirable european concert, the genial notion of our last minister of foreign affairs! germany alone secures her ends, profits by all the disturbances she creates, waxes and grows fat, and william ii smiles at the thought of a world-wide kingdom ruled by himself alone. once master of the whole earth, he may come to stand face to face with god. september , . [ ] on the occasion of a gala dinner at hanover, william ii, always in a hurry to display his likes and everlastingly parading his dislikes, did not fail to seize the opportunity of being polite to england and uncivil to france. he proposed a toast to the health of the th army corps, recalling to memory the brotherhood of arms between englishmen and germans at waterloo; he glorified the victory of the sirdar, kitchener, in the soudan. a few days later, speaking of peace, the german emperor, king of prussia, let fly his parthian arrow at his august brother, the tzar. at porta, in westphalia, he said: "peace can only be obtained by keeping a trained army ready for battle. may god grant that 'e may always be able to work for the maintenance of peace by the use of this good and sharp-edged weapon." nothing could have been more bluntly expressed; it is now perfectly clear that the reduction of armaments has no place in the dreams of william ii. i know not by what subterfuge he will pretend to approve of a congress "to prepare for universal peace," but i know that, for him, the dominating and absorbing interest of life lies in conquest, in victories, in war. turkey victorious, america victorious, england victorious--these are the lights that lead him on. he excels at gathering in the inheritance won for him by his own people, and he likes to have a share also in the successes of others. he has had his share in turkey and has filed his application in america. he is already beginning with england in china and speculating with great britain in delagoa bay, under the eyes of his greatly distressed friends of the transvaal. amidst a hundred other schemes, the german emperor, king of prussia, is by no means neglecting his apotheosis at jerusalem. we are told even the details of his clothes, which combine the military with the civil, "an open tunic of light cloth, brown coloured; tight trousers, boots and sword-scabbard of yellow leather, the insignia of a german general of the guards, a helmet winged with the prussian eagle." a truly pious rig-out forsooth, in which to go and kneel before the tomb of christ! they say that, in order to judge of the effect of this costume, william ii has posed for his photograph forty times. the german church in palestine certainly never expected to see the _summus episcopus_ adopting an attitude of extreme humility in that country. if any simple-minded lutheran were to address the kaiser in the streets of jerusalem, after the manner of the hungarian workman, who saw the archbishop primate, all glittering with gold in his gala coach, passing over the buda bridge, william ii would answer him in the same style as did the archbishop: "that is just the sort of carriage in which jesus used to drive," exclaimed the workman. the archbishop heard him, and leaning from the carriage door, replied: "jesus, my good fellow, was the son of a carpenter. i am the son of a magnate, and archbishop primate of hungary." william ii undoubtedly believes that he does christ an honour in going to visit him. he goes in the full pride of a personality which sees in itself all the great events of the past, gathered together as in an historic procession. he goes, with all the pomp and circumstance of a glorious omnipotence, he, whose diplomacy has made a protégé of the khalif and a footstool of the crescent--he goes, i say, to manifest himself as the emperor of christianity. was all then to be lost to us at a stroke--the crusades, all the moral and economic interests of france in the east, that secular protectorate of which we, the possessors, make so light whilst william ii devotes to its conquest all the resources of his skill and cunning? not so! our minister of foreign affairs was on the alert. william xi, who is an artistic walking advertisement, designed, like a mucha or a cheret, for the german market, has now had evidence of the fact that, if religion is an article of export for him, anti-clericalism is nothing of the kind for us. our interests in the east have been protected and preserved. the pope of lutheranism has not been able to silence the pope of rome. the radical republic which represents france remains the grand-daughter of saint louis. on hearing the authoritative news of william ii's journey to jerusalem, cardinal langénieux, archbishop of rheims, begged leo xiii for "a reassuring word." up to the present, the holy see has recognised our protectorate in the east as a simple fact; to-day it is recognised as a right. here is the "reassuring word," the answer given by leo xiii to cardinal langénieux:-- "we know that for centuries the french nation's protectorate has been established in eastern countries and that it has been confirmed by treaties between governments. therefore no change whatsoever should be made in this matter. this nation's protectorate, wherever it is exercised, should be religiously maintained and missionaries must be notified accordingly, so that, if they have need of help, they may have recourse to the consuls and other agents of the french nation." at their last congress the german catholics--we know that the catholics constitute a third of the population of germany and that their representatives can hold in check the imperial policy in the reichstag--openly expressed their sympathy for leo xiii, for the "noble exile at rome, who is compelled, from the day of his elevation to the papacy, to pledge himself never to cross the threshold of the vatican alive." when william ii is compelled hereafter to make concessions to the centre in the reichstag, his allies, the italians, will be well advised to give the matter their attention. september , . [ ] all the actions of that modern lohengrin, william ii, derive their inspiration from a wagnerian theory concerning the harmony of discords. this friend of the sultan, soon to be the guest of the khedive, congratulates kitchener, the sirdar, whose deeds are the blood-stained consecration of england's machinations in mussulman territory. almost at the identical moment that he sent his telegram to the sirdar to celebrate a british victory, he said at the opening of the new harbour at stettin: "i rejoice that the ancient spirit of pomerania is still alive in the present generation, urging it from the land towards the sea. _our future lies on the water_." queen of the seas, take warning! we know how william ii is wont to express his pacific ideas and what is his conception of the reduction of armaments--with blustering threats and hosannahs in praise of rifles and cannons. on the subject of peace, the german mind has long since been fixed in its ideas. one cannot sum them up better than in the following quotation from a berlin newspaper. "at the paris salon in there was a great picture by danger entitled 'the great authors of arbitration and peace,' depicting all those, from confucius and buddha down to the tzar alexander iii, who have laboured in the cause of peace. in a note which explained the painter's work, it was said to be impossible to depict all the friends of arbitration and peace. it seems to me that such friends of peace as william ii and prince bismarck should not have been forgotten, for, by the treaty of frankfort, they have brought about a lasting peace and have obtained the power required to maintain it." between this german conception of peace and ours, is there not a gulf that nothing can ever bridge? october , . [ ] william ii is in the seventh heaven. one by one he dons his shining garments, which the eastern sun gladdens with silver and gold. he has made another trip on his swan, that is to say, on the white _hohenzollern_, which carries lohengrin to the four corners of the earth. the german emperor's departure from venice was a master-stroke of scenic effects, one of those subversions of history, to which the eccentric monarch of berlin is so passionately addicted. nothing indeed could have been more original than to make the sons of the ancient venetians, hereditary foes of the turk, welcome a protestant monarch who is the friend of the chief slaughterer of catholics. a christian emperor landing at stamboul accompanied by his empress, obtaining permission from the sultan to hold a review of troops on a _selamlik_ day, acclaimed by the mussulman people and soldiery, exalted amidst all the pomp and splendour of the east, feasting his eyes on magic colours, the hero of unrivalled entertainments, surely it is enough to raise to a frenzy of pride the potentate who has made such things possible. but amidst these pomps and vanities, william is by no means neglectful of his skilful and lucrative business schemes. it is said that he has secured a concession for a commercial harbour at haïdar pasha, near scutari. haïdar pasha is the railhead of the anatolian line, which belongs to a german company. will the great commercial traveller, william ii be able to persuade his sweet friend the slayer, to make him a grant of the coaling station which he covets at haïfa? the sultan will refuse him nothing. will france and russia have time to spare for lodging protests, their attention having been so skilfully diverted to fashoda on the one hand and to china on the other? is it not written that the two nations must unite forces if they would check the schemes of him who aspires to world-wide dominion over religion and commerce? though france and russia have sometimes quarrelled over the question of the holy places, they cannot regard without anxiety the triumphant entry of the third thief upon the scene. england, too, is busy with fashoda and does not seem to be in such a position, diplomatically speaking, at constantinople, as to be able to oppose the cession by turkey to germany of a mediterranean harbour. moreover, the manner in which she has grabbed cyprus leaves her without much voice to talk of the _status quo_ in the mediterranean. william ii in palestine! this man with his mania for glittering pomp and grandeur going to kneel at the stable in bethlehem; the proudest and most conceited of men, the most puffed up with vainglory, treading the paths trodden by the feet of the humblest; the most egotistical and least brotherly, coming to bow before him who is brotherhood personified: could any spectacle be sadder for true christians? november , . [ ] the imperial pilgrim has left the holy city, _el cods_, as the turks themselves have it. amidst the silence of its holy places his turbulent majesty manifested itself in every direction. he prayed, discoursed, telegraphed, wrote and conducted inaugural functions. he made all the stations of the cross and preached to the german colony in jerusalem, telling them that amidst such surroundings "they should be possessed of a perpetual inclination to do good." and forthwith he proceeded to speak of his great friendship for the sultan, for the individual who methodically suppresses christians in his empire by killing them. william has seen the tomb of david, which infidels may not approach, and whose stones only mussulmans may lawfully tread. the very dear friend of abdul hamid, he whom the turkish troops salute with the same words as they use for the sultan, has written to the holy see, announcing his gift of a plot of land to the german catholic association in the holy land and adding "that he was happy to have been able to prove to catholics that their religious interests lie very near to his heart." leo xiii might have replied: "sire--let your majesty do even more for catholics; persuade your friend the sultan to cease from killing them." november , . [ ] william ii's journey to palestine has completely proved the thorough understanding which he has established with abdul hamid--that he should take possession of the holy places, as head of the lutheran religion and as representative of the catholics of his empire. france is, therefore, no longer _de facto_ protector of christians in the east, since she is not required to protect the german catholics, now directly protected by their emperor. in the far east, william ii had already refused to allow france to protect his catholic subjects. the advantages which he derived from this decision were too great for him to abandon them elsewhere, since the murder of a single missionary had brought him kiao-ohao. thus, then, ended this journey, accomplished in pomp and splendour, applauded at the same time by german christians and by the slayers of christians. william ii has attained his object in the matter of religious influence and of the emigration of german colonists, whom the sultan will be pleased to receive with open arms. the kaiser paid his reckoning liberally by proposing the health of the sultan at damascus and by declaring his intention to help and sustain the master and the khalif of million mussulmans. the seed of the words thus spoken will sprout and will inspire encouragement for every kind of revolt in the mussulman subjects of france--and, for that matter, of england also. whilst william ii was paying his devotions at the holy places, giving all the impression of a pious benevolent head of the church, a number of horrible evictions were being carried out in schleswig in his name and by his orders. hundreds of families, dragged from their native soil, from their homes and kindred, were led away to the frontier on the pretext that they still clung to their belief in a "southern jutland." day after day, for the last thirty-four years, on one pretext or another--and sometimes without any--the danes have been discouraged from living in schleswig. either life has gradually been made impossible for them, or else they have been suddenly compelled to leave the house where they were born, where their elders hoped to die in peace, and their places have been filled by german colonists. a terrible exodus, shameful cruelty! but "germany for the germans" is an axiom before which all must bow, big and little, rich and poor. december , . [ ] mr. chamberlain's coquetting with germany has ceased for the time being. _the times_, in contrast with its former hymns of praise, now contents itself with asking william ii not to make difficulties for england in europe or beyond the seas, and it adds that a friendly attitude would serve the interests of german subjects in the colonies much better than one of hostility. the passage in the german emperor's speech from the throne which refers to china is not calculated, it would seem, to appease great britain's irritation. "germany's colonies," said the kaiser, "are in a state of prosperous development. at kiao-chao steps have already been taken to improve the economic conditions of the protectorate. the frontier has been definitely settled by agreement with the chinese government. a free port has been opened and work upon it has begun. the construction of the railway which will link up the protectorate with the hinterland, will be commenced in the near future. relying on the old treaties still in force, and on the new rights acquired under the treaty concluded with china on march , , my government will also endeavour in future, whilst carefully respecting the lawful rights acquired by other powers, _to develop economic relations with china, which, year by year, will become more important, and to secure to german subjects their full share in the activities directed towards opening the far east to europe, from the economic point of view_." nor is the influence acquired by william ii and his subjects in the ottoman empire, emphasised by this same speech from the throne, of a nature to reassure england with regard to her projects in the east. in the near, as in the far, east she sees herself being supplanted by germany, and this by methods identical with her own, against which, therefore, she fights more disadvantageously than against france and russia, more foolishly chivalrous. william ii, who had replied with insolent sharpness to a legitimate claim advanced by a certain princeling of the confederated states--the regent of lippe-detmold, count ernest von lippe-biesterfeld, has had occasion to see that public opinion severely condemns his unjustifiable action. the confederated sovereigns and princes perceive therein a menace to themselves, and have rallied energetically in defence of one of their number. the masses, seeing an insignificant princeling oppressed and threatened by the biggest of them, have sided with the weaker. on his return from jerusalem, william found the situation extremely strained, and he endeavoured to relieve it by concessions of various kinds. none of them, however, were regarded as adequate. thereupon, with the suppleness which costs him so little when it is a question of sacrificing his most devoted and valuable servant, the emperor, king of prussia, sacrificed herr von lucanus, the head of his private household, an almost legendary personage who had had a hand in every important act of william's life. it was he who carried the imperial ultimatum to von bismarck and escaped unhurt from the hands of the infuriated giant. herr von lucanus had not been sacrificed to the violent sarcasms of the chancellor after his reconciliation with william ii; he seemed to be unassailable until, simply for having addressed a few improper lines, at the emperor's dictation, to a minor prince, he is removed from the anonymous post which was one of the occult powers of potsdam. the august confederates may consider themselves satisfied. [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, january , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, february , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, march , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, march , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, april , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, june , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, july , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, august , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, august , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, september , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, october , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, november , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, november , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, december , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, december , , "letters on foreign policy." chapter vii our diplomatic situation in --william ii visits the _iphigénie_--the hague conference--germany the only obstacle to the fulfilment of the humanitarian plans of the tzar. january , . [ ] impelled by a simplicity of mind that suggests vacuity, a great many french patriots imagine that our country cannot be equally hated by two nations at once. seeing england threatening france every day in every way and by all the means at her disposal, these hypnotised patriots with fixed and staring eyes, see only england and nothing else! no matter what misdeeds germany may commit, they scarcely trouble to turn towards her their inattentive gaze. some of them, even, whose lips are tightened with anger when they think of london, smile with a vague feeling of good-will at the thought of berlin. and yet the other enemy, the german, emboldened by our absorption, is more ready to oppress the weak, reveals himself as bolder and greedier, more cynical and exclusive, more violent in denying to others their rights. german influence may spread all over the world, but refuses to allow any other influence whatsoever to penetrate germany. prussia introduced the law of force because she was strong; she is now inaugurating a new system of human rights to the exclusive advantage of germany. one newspaper, the _vossische zeitung_, has dared to say: "this system is unworthy of a civilised state and must lead to our being morally humiliated before the whole world." but that is all. when germany perpetrates some particularly monstrous act, she is only "a civilising power spreading the greatest of all languages." moreover, germany is the only nation that possesses a secular history; other nations have nothing more than a succession of irregular proceedings, tolerated by german generosity or indifference. the german emperor, king of prussia, wages a victorious war against everything that is not german. he has just put to the sword the french terms in the prussian military vocabulary. in vain these poor words pleaded the authority of the great frederick, who introduced them into prussia. in spite of his fondness for imitating frederick the great, william ii has slaughtered the french expressions "_officier aspirant_," "_porte épée_," "_premier lieutenant_," "_général_," etc., etc. the massacre is complete, their exclusion wholesale; he leaves no trace of the enemy's tongue. william ii follows with marked satisfaction the anti-french movement of opinion in england. "england will chastise france," he said to his officers' club, "and then she will come and beg me to protect her." germany hates us with all her own hatred, added to that of england. she hopes for our defeat, but if we should win, she would come hypocritically to claim from us her vulture share of the spoil for her so-called neutrality. february , . bismarck's interest in things was never keenly aroused unless they were worth lying about. when he said "the eastern question is not worth the bones of a single pomeranian grenadier," he was formulating in his mind the programme of the "drang nach osten," the great push towards the east. the russo-turkish war; the humbling of the victorious slav colossus by the congress of berlin; the diabolical treachery contained in the resolutions of the said congress (not one of which but contains the germ of some revolt or movement on the part of the races of the turkish empire); the separation of bulgaria and roumelia, united by the treaty of san stefano; the subsequent reunion, directed against russia, of these two countries; the handing over of bulgaria to a coburg, bound by ties to austria--all these things were brought about by the treachery and guile of the super-liar who ruled at berlin. and since then, william ii has done everything possible to advance this "drang nach osten," prussia's favourite scheme. and whilst the menace of this "push towards the east" is steadily growing, whilst he who directs it from berlin holds in his hand all the strings of the puppets who can help to advance it or pretend (as part of the conspiracy) to oppose it, what is great russia doing, the mighty tzar, and france? they tell us that russia is abandoning her interests in the east and that the tzar is dreaming of giving europe a lasting peace--a peace chiefly favourable to the economic and commercial development of germany and to the increase of her influence. russia and france seem scarcely to realise that the only force which can drive back the tide of germanic invasion is the slav power, organised and firmly established in europe. a balkan league including bulgaria, serbia and montenegro, a southern slav kingdom, a bohemia-moravia, these might hold the german power in check and give to europe the necessary equilibrium. france has an interest as great as russia's in the organisation of this opposing force, but she does not realise the fact. just as the athenians stretched out their hands towards the power of rome, deadly in its fascination, even so there are culpably blind patriots among us who dream the monstrous dream of an _entente_ with germanism. as well might one, to escape the flood, throw oneself into the rising ravening torrent. before long, germany will be the ruler of austria, of hungary, turkey and holland, and we shall have prepared no counterpoise to this encroachment, we, the allies of the great russian people, who, even though they may eventually succumb to the fatal attraction of asia, might first help us to secure our racial psychology and to establish bonds between our gallo-latin soul and the soul of the slavs. the germans are establishing themselves comfortably and permanently in china. there lies before me an extract from the first number of a newspaper published by the germans in china under the title of _the german asiatic sentinel_. this official organ of the kiao-chao territory appears every week with six pages of articles and advertisements. it is strange to find in it advertisements of the most diverse description, from that which commends brown kulmback beer, to that in which two young german merchants seek to correspond, with a view to marriage, with good-looking young german girls of good family. when one remembers the solemn investiture at kiel of prince henry of prussia, as leader of the crusade which was to spread the sacred words of christianity amongst the barbarian followers of confucius, and when one sees this investiture finding its expression in the initiation of the chinese into the mysteries of kulmback beer and the search for exportable gretchens, the association of the two pictures reminds one somehow of tight-rope dancing. but ridicule is unknown in germany. it seems to me that the kaiser's latest speech, at the banquet of the provincial landtag of brandenburg, is in somewhat doubtful taste. on this occasion, he spoke first of the divine right and responsabilities of the hohenzollerns on a footing of familiarity with god, and next he compared the functions of a sovereign with those of a gardener, who stirs up the earth, smokes the roots and hunts out noxious insects. true, the german emperor has got to cultivate the tree of - and to destroy "hostile animals," which i take to mean our good simple-minded frenchmen! the campaign in favour of a _rapprochement_ between france and germany continues to be cleverly managed and directed in our midst. there is talk of a visit of the tzar, who would come to antibes and who would there receive william ii at the same time as m. félix faure. the formula with which this arrangement is commended to us is "we have sulked long enough." in other words, they would convert a great, strengthening and enduring hatred into a trivial grudge. that, since fashoda they should regard sedan as a peccadillo is strange, to say the least of it. the _kolnische zeitung_, which opened the discussion with regard to a _rapprochement_ with france, now closes it by observing-- "that if ever the french should feel impelled to seek a reconciliation with germany, it could only be sincerely effected on the condition that they abandon once and for all the idea of a reckoning to be settled between the two countries for the war of - ." when we have estimated the nature and extent of germany's greed, calculated the number of her demands and ambitions, reflected by the light of history and german exaggerations, on the character of the german race and its unbridled lust of domination, then the national, colonial and continental interests of france (considered dispassionately and without hatred for the conqueror or resentment for the cruel and humiliating past) do not lie in the direction of a _rapprochement_ with germany. they lie in the establishment and combination of the slav states in europe, in a more effective alliance with russia, and a _rapprochement_ between the latin nations. march , . [ ] by our resistance, since the national defeat of , we have pledged ourselves not to accept it. our moral position and the dignity of our claims to restitution have been worthy of our history because we inveterate frenchmen have never ceased to maintain that our power over alsace-lorraine has been overthrown by force, but that our rights remain undiminished. austria, to germany, and italy, to austria, have sacrificed this moral position and the dignity of their respective claims, in return for an alliance which, besides being treacherously false, has brought them neither wealth nor honour. but alas! even whilst our rights became strengthened by our very faithfulness and constancy, our rulers were yielding to the insidious counsels of the enemy. m. ferry listened to bismarck and slowly, drop by drop, we wasted the blood with which we should have reconquered alsace-lorraine. bismarck, seeing us regaining our strength too quickly for his liking, and becoming a danger to germany, and prevented by the tzar from stopping our recovery by striking at us again, played his hand so as to throw us headlong into a policy of colonial adventures. but the great iron chancellor, the would-be genial fellow, had not foreseen that his pupil william ii would be inspired by ambitions entirely different from his own: that of a relentless colonial policy, that of commercial and industrial development, on broad lines of encroachment, and that of a navy. all these things however, followed logically, one from the other; for profitable colonisation one must have a market for one's produce, and to protect a mercantile marine one must have a navy. therefore, under these conditions, which bismarck did not foresee, the danger to france became an immediate and equal danger to germany, for england would be free to sweep the seas of germany's merchantmen as well as those of france. certain misguided people, moved by their extravagant feelings either of hatred towards england or of fear, seized the opportunity of the hour of danger under cover of the well-worn word (which leads so many worthy folk to lose their heads, even when it represents just the opposite of what it means) pleading our _interests_, i say, seized the opportunity to lower france by making overtures to the kaiser and to prussia. our interest, our twofold interest, was not to have a war with england, and to let germany see that it was to her interest that we should not be deprived of our maritime power which _protects_ the free development of german expansion. we possess at this moment a third of africa, a portion of asia and madagascar; before trying to add to these possessions, let us endeavour to make the most of their wealth. to sum up: our position has never been better, if we _know how to wait_ and not to make ourselves cheap. as the faithful allies of russia, either england or germany will have need of us. * * * * * * and so, the german emperor, king of prussia, has added another chapter, and not the least astounding, to the volume of his swift changes and contradictions. the author of the telegram to president krüger has received at berlin mr. cecil rhodes, the instigator of jameson, invader of the transvaal! william ii has been negotiating with him in the matter of the telegraph line and the railway. if any one had foretold, on the day that he sent his famous telegram concerning the rights of the south african republic, that the paladin who signed this chivalrous message would come to discuss "business" with sir [_sic_] cecil rhodes, or that the latter would have dared to present himself, in a check suit, before the kaiser wearing his winged helmet--such a prophet would have been regarded as a dangerous lunatic. nevertheless, so it is. mr. rhodes entered the imperial palace quite simply and naturally, conveying to the emperor the affectionate regards of queen victoria. i do not know whether they shook hands. between business men, shopkeepers ready for a deal, etiquette is superfluous and a ready understanding easy. shake! herr von bülow, secretary of state for foreign affairs communicated the news to the reichstag, promising further information on the subject before long. and now, what becomes of the hope of a rupture with england, anticipated by our worthy apostles of the franco-german alliance against perfidious albion? not only does william ii flirt with old england and give her pledges, but he opens his arms to the most dangerous, the most enterprising, the most compromised of englishmen, the napoleon of the cape! april , . [ ] were it not for alsace-lorraine, we should be the ally of colonial germany. were it not for alsace-lorraine, we should be the most ardent disciples of the noble, truly humane, and admirable work of disarmament undertaken by the emperor nicholas ii. alsace-lorraine has made us the irreconcilable enemies of germanism and at the same time the faithful, devoted and ever loyal friends of every slav cause. familiar with the work of these causes, attached to the greatness of our allies, those of us who were the first to seek that mighty alliance, will ever labour to strengthen and extend it by all the resources which can add to its glory, but at the same time we are anxious that nothing should be said or done to diminish our own first claims to restitution. an article in the _novae vremya_ contains a protest against the idea (disseminated by the german press) that russia is working to bring about a reconciliation between germany and france. the russian organ declares that such a _rapprochement_ would deprive france of all the advantages of her alliance with russia. the st. petersburg newspaper adds a sentence which appeals to us, because we can adapt it to our own case. "a franco-german _entente_," says the _novae vremya_, "would erect a cross on the franco-russian _entente_." a russo-german _entente_ would erect a cross on the franco-russian _entente_. needless to say, the _kolnische zeitung_ informs us that the _novae vremya_ only represents middle-class opinion in russia. well, that isn't so bad, considering that we are sure of the antipathy of the whole russian people for the germans. the _kleine zeitung_, already reckoning on the conclusion of the _rapprochement_ between germany and france, adds that it will be received with sympathy throughout the whole german empire. i believe you, _o kleine zeitung_! and the more so when, with a mixture of haughtiness and careless indifference, you add "with the exception of the question of alsace-lorraine, _which for us does not exist_, there is no difference which should separate germany from france!" o most generous _kleine zeitung_! it is sweet to differ. on condition that we do not ask you to give us back the flesh that you have torn from our side, you are willing to extend to us your mild greetings of disinterested friendship, and i have no doubt that you are ready to forgive us the crime you have committed against us! may , . [ ] amongst the most definite impressions produced by the general proceedings of the peace conference there are two which stand out: one, that the diplomats invariably assert that it will not lead to any practical result, either as regards disarmament or the creation of an arbitration tribunal; the other, that all patriots who are enemies of germany are filled with anguish at the sight of germany endeavouring to direct its discussions. in its practical results, the conference will not go further than the splendidly magnanimous proposal of nicholas ii, having for its object the humanising of war, the development of arbitration as a remedial measure, and the possibility of conditional and partial disarmament. all that will be accomplished might have been attained by the tzar alone in case of war, in the event of proposals for arbitration, or by way of leading the powers to recognise the economic dangers to which they expose their peoples by ever-increasing armaments. june , . [ ] we know what a struggle william ii had to face on the subject of the canal from the elbe to the rhine, and what concessions he was compelled to make to the prussian chamber. moreover he had a stiff fight in the parliament of the empire with regard to the new relations with [transcriber's note: which?] he proposes to establish between germany and england and her colonies. the agrarians of the right and the socialists found themselves united in violent opposition. herr von bülow required genuine skill to avert the storm. the kaiser met with a very decided rebuff in the matter of what is called in germany the "convicts' law." it will be remembered that last autumn, in westphalia, the emperor had threatened the socialists that those who incited to strikes would be condemned to hard labour. such a threat is easily uttered, but difficult to enforce by process of law. under the conditions existing nowadays it does not do to speak of forced labour in connection with trades unions and strikes; nevertheless, in order to make good the word of the german emperor, his ministers tried to snatch a vote for a fight with the workers. baron stumm, a factory king possessed of great influence with the kaiser, had inspired him with hatred against industrial workers, just as others had inspired him with love for them at the beginning of his reign. with all his swagger and bluster, william ii is more a creature of impulse than of constancy. all parties united to oppose his scheme, except those who are known in every parliament as mamelukes. the former "father" of the working classes, suddenly become their enemy, has experienced a personal defeat in this matter which is all the greater for the fact that the socialists, while they rejoice at seeing it inflicted upon him by the reichstag, will not forgive him for his "convicts' law." july , . [ ] the wretched policy, which sent french ships to kiel to salute the flag of the king of prussia, continues to be honoured--no, dishonoured--by the government of the republic of to-day. for this government, the least of william's wishes is an order. so the emperor william ii has set foot upon the soil of france by paying a visit aboard of the _iphigénie_ (for every one of our ships is a bit of the mother-country). the waldeck-rousseau cabinet, the ideal of m. urbain gohier, has allowed this monstrous thing to be done almost immediately after william ii had laid the first stone of his fortresses on the moselle, fortresses intended (to use his own aggressive words) to hold _the enemy_ under germany's guns. so we are the enemy for germany and yet, oh shame! even while she slashes us with this word, we seek to show her that she is our friend. * * * * * * it certainly looks as if the present prussian ministry has neither the prestige nor the strength of will to control successfully the conduct of the ex-mamelukes. its failure at the last session of parliament was complete. it is amongst the strongest supporters of the monarchy that the most determined opposition was offered to the proposed law for the construction of the canal from the elbe to the rhine, an enterprise dear to the heart of the emperor, once the father of his working men and now the father of german manufacturers. where the political impediments block his path william ii cuts and hacks away as it may please him. there is proof of this in the feverish haste with which he is lowering the age of officers in the army. on the th of june, six prussian generals were allowed to retire; on the th, ten more were placed on the unattached list, and a further movement in the same direction is expected to take place after the great imperial manoeuvres. july , . [ ] the hague conference i desire to convince my readers by indisputable facts-- ( ) that the pacifist agitation in europe, in all its various forms, is inspired and sustained by the most uncompromising military power on this continent, that is to say, by germany; ( ) that if the magnanimous humanitarian idea, so sincerely conceived by nicholas ii, has not been fulfilled, its failure is entirely due to the treachery of germany. for that matter, germany has been providentially punished for her machiavellian ways. firstly, because she has been unable to conceal the fact that she is primarily responsible for this failure; and secondly (the fact is important in other ways and has proved in a most striking manner), because the hague conference has clearly demonstrated, that which the initiated have long suspected, that germany is completely isolated in europe! as a matter of fact neither austria nor italy were with her, only one power voted solidly with germany--the power which is not content with war and supplements it by massacres--the turkey of abdul hamid. this isolation (an indirect result of the franco-russian alliance, which has compelled austria to come to a complete understanding with russia in regard to affairs in the balkans, and led italy to draw closer to france), this isolation is a great and inestimable victory, whose benefit must be frankly recognised by every honest mind in the two allied countries, a victory for those who, like myself, have worked heart and soul for the franco-russian alliance. and it is now, now that these things are clearly proved, now, when germany finds but one servile nation in europe--turkey--that the french government thinks fit to seek to draw closer to germany! the thing is unthinkable, unbelievable! _for years, acting upon an evil policy which i propose to elucidate hereafter, the government of the republic first set itself to oppose the alliance with russia, preferring an alliance with germany; later, this government saw in the russian alliance nothing but a means to gain public applause, to acquire popularity. now that the strength and worth of this alliance have been revealed in all their truth by the isolation of germany, this same government of the republic compels our sailors to suffer the courtesy of william ii and prepares us, by diplomatic communiqués, for an entente with germany_. only super-simpletons can believe in william ii's sham bluster against england on behalf of the transvaal and of that africa concerning which he has just concluded a binding treaty with albion. one must either be hopelessly ignorant or wilfully blind not to see through the game of william ii and to be fooled by his ingratiating ways. his only object is to compel england to throw herself into his arms and to bring about a great common alliance of the anglo-saxon races. will not the cynical supporters of the "policy of interest" experience a revulsion of conscience if they know whither they are leading us, or a sudden enlightenment, if they do not know? if not, then to those who, through cowardice or treachery, have lightly ruined the noblest of all causes, i shall say, "i wash my hands" of this crime of ignorance or base surrender. weary, sick at heart and indignant i shall say it, in my own name and in the name of those who have died, suddenly or mysteriously, for the franco-russian cause. any one who followed carefully the successive events of the performance given under the direction of m. de staal, any one familiar with the secret manoeuvres that led to the convening of the peace conference, could have had no difficulty in predicting what its end would be. from some of these secret manoeuvres in the wings, i propose to lift the veil; my readers will then be in a position to understand more clearly why it is that the truly christian act of the tzar (apart from certain unimportant improvements of the brussels convention) did not attain the result which might have been expected from the initiative of a powerful and generous sovereign. for the past year we have repeatedly been told, in more or less sensational revelations, that the influence which chiefly determined nicholas ii in his action, was his reading of a famous book on war by m. de bloch. this is no doubt true and the fact may be admitted. much moved by the eloquent description, given by the great financial writer of warsaw, of the heavy burdens imposed on the nations by the extravagant armaments of the continent, and terrified at the thought of the calamities which the next war would let loose upon all europe, nicholas ii, full of christian pity for the sufferings of humanity, directed count mouravieff to send the famous circular to the powers, which resulted in the convening of the hague conference. but i would ask, how are we to reconcile the hostile attitude of william ii's delegates to the russian proposals with his solemn declaration that he was absolutely in agreement with his friend nicholas ii? why did the german emperor first give his approval to de bloch's campaign in favour of disarmament and then make von schwartzkopf publicly repudiate the most important arguments of that writer's book? was it that william ii was in the first instance seduced by the lamentable picture which de bloch gives of france and the organisation of her army, or (and this seems far more likely) did he simply approve of the intrigue set on foot by the author of this work on war, an intrigue which aimed at casting a shadow over the patriotic hopes that france placed on the russian alliance, by inciting nicholas ii to call for a general disarmament? it must be confessed that the franco-russian alliance struck a bitter blow at the hopes of polish patriots. the contempt and hostility towards france which inspire m. de bloch's book are proof sufficient of the grudge its author bears us. it is perfectly evident that they must have been delighted in berlin at the chief object of his work. but there were other objects in view. for years william ii has unceasingly laboured to persuade england that she has every interest to join the triple alliance. his perseverance in this direction is quite natural. but if germany succeeded last year in concluding an agreement with england on a few special questions, the hague conference has proved that it does not involve an agreement in matters of general policy. nevertheless, william ii counted on this congress to produce closer relations with great britain. he hoped that the congress would result in sharp antagonism between england and russia and he reckoned on this antagonism to help him to inflict a severe defeat on russia, which in its turn would have enabled him to draw one or other of these two powers into the orbit of his policy. great then was the disappointment of the german emperor _when, from the very outset of the conference, england, performing a most unexpected volte-face, made proposals on the subject of arbitration, which went a great deal farther than the russian proposals laid before, the congress. this master-stroke of british diplomacy compelled germany to come out into the open and to reveal herself in her true light: that is to say, as the only obstacle to the fulfilment of the tzar's humanitarian designs_. the stengels, zorns and schwartzkopfs completed the success of british diplomacy by the brutal violence of their opposition and the cynicism of their proposals. it was not only on the two committees that dealt with arbitration and disarmament that german opposition (always supported by turkey alone) wrecked the magnanimous attempt of nicholas ii to minimise the horrors of war. the committee presided over by m. de martens succeeded in effecting certain improvements in the terms of the brussels convention; if the labours of its president and members were not successful in doing more to lessen the evils of war upon land, the fact is again due to the opposition of the german representatives. thus, for instance, the humane measures proposed in forbidding the bombardment of open towns and private dwellings unoccupied by troops, or the destruction of unfortified villages, were not adopted because the german delegate insisted on the impossibility of limiting the powers of a commander-in-chief, who must remain the sole judge of the utility of such destruction in the general interest of military operations. it was the same in the case of the article whereby it was proposed that provinces occupied by enemy forces should be guaranteed in the maintenance of their autonomous administration and in certain rights against the demands of invasions, germany declared her unwillingness to fetter in any way the decision of her army commanders. i would ask those amongst us who rejoice at the idea of seeing william ii take part in the exhibition of , to let their thoughts dwell a little on the attitude of the prussian delegates at the peace conference. william i took part in the exhibition of and we know what that visit cost france three years later. now that all the perfidious plans inspired by berlin have come to nought, now that the defenders of german policy at st. petersburg, warsaw and elsewhere have come to grief, and that the peace congress--even though it may not have fulfilled the generous hopes of nicholas ii--has nevertheless led to a great advance in the opinion of the public as in that of governments, on the subjects of arbitration and disarmament, william ii shifts his rifle on to the other shoulder. in order to clear germany of the blame for the failure of the conference in the eyes of the tzar, the same individuals who constituted themselves the protectors and sponsors of m. de bloch at the russian court and who had assured the tzar of the absolute support of william ii, have now started a campaign of intrigue against count mouravieff. that faithful minister and servant of the tzar, who undertook with great skill to carry out the initiative of his sovereign, and who has devoted himself whole-heartedly to the task of winning over to the tzar's ideas not only the sympathy of the entire civilised world, but even the vast majority of the sceptical diplomats, who are leaving the conference with the conviction that they have done useful work--well, it is this same count mouravieff that the german press is now trying to hold responsible for the misdeeds of the stengels, the zorns and the schwartzkopfs. by way of a first attempt at abolishing the horrors of war by means of international agreements, the hague conference has given very satisfactory results, and the honour for these is due to m. de staal, count mouravieff and m. de martens. the tzar has reason to be equally satisfied in that he has compelled his very good friend william ii to throw off his mask and to reveal all his hostility towards russia. it is now for those who had pledged themselves to guarantee the unconditional support of germany for the tzar, to bear the load of responsibility which is properly theirs for having unworthily deceived their sovereign. many other hopes, bearing on internal affairs in russia, had been created by the authors of the intrigue which i have endeavoured to expose. we know how deeply rooted is the religious and pacific character of the russian masses. no initiative could stir their hearts so profoundly as that which seeks to lessen the horrors of war and to relieve the people of the crushing burden of armaments. one has only to remember the sects which exist in russia which are opposed to military service and duties. such an initiative coming from their adored tzar was bound to produce far-reaching results. after our experiences of and --and even --how can we be guilty of running the same risks again? was not william i, king of prussia, amiable enough? did he not do everything to lull the suspicions of napoleon whilst he himself was arming to the teeth? we all allowed ourselves to be sufficiently fooled by bismarck's agents and spies in to be able to recognise the secret agents of william ii to-day. it is not only a shameful thing, that the _iphigénie_ should have hoisted at her mainmasthead the imperial flag, bearing the insulting device of , it is also an encouragement to william ii in the treachery which he is plotting against us. one's heart is heavy with the grief of hopelessness when one thinks of our easy-going short memories, and the suffering courage of the people of alsace-lorraine. during the past few days, whilst our parisian newspapers have been discussing the probability of the obnoxious presence of the kaiser in paris for the exhibition, the _strasburger post_ has been heaping bitter reproaches on the inhabitants of alsace-lorraine for their lack of enthusiasm and meagre contributions towards the proposed statue in honour of the late emperor william. in spite of all the pressure applied, the subscriptions have hardly produced a few hundred marks. the german press describes the alsatians as ungrateful and short-sighted. august , . [ ] the mania for autocracy dominates the mind of the german emperor, king of prussia, and leaves no room therein for anything but exactions of a disturbing kind. we know how numerous are the crimes of _lèse-majesté_; also that william ii wishes the reichstag to pass a law punishing with hard labour those who incite strikes. a lecturer at the university of berlin, m. arons, having dared to proclaim himself a socialist--needless to say, from the theoretical point of view--the emperor required his minister of public education to have m. arons brought for trial before the council of the university, consisting of forty-five professors. these acquitted the accused, who, in their opinion, had not indulged in any propaganda and was within his strict rights in expressing his personal opinions. the emperor had their judgment heard on appeal before a court consisting of officials of the public education department. to make such an appeal possible, the reichstag was required to pass a new law in june , known as the arons law. whenever the occasion offered, i have shown how deep is the hatred which william ii bears towards the old liberalism of the german universities. yet it is for this same william that certain germanophils amongst our french universities entertain such a disgraceful weakness. whilst french newspapers are continually discussing, with evident sympathy, the possibility of the kaiser's paying a visit to france during the exhibition, it brings the tears to our eyes to read the following in the _journal de colmar_:-- "the possibility of a _rapprochement_ between frenchmen and germans should not lead the latter to suppose that the alsatians are likely to forget their country in order to be reconciled with the conquerors. the alsatian will never give up his own individual character, he will never lightly consent to be merged in a homogeneous whole. the alsatian remains french, and such is the rigour of his nationality that it has resisted every attempt to destroy it." in order to make us believe the more easily that a reconciliation with germany is possible, and that we may come to forget and the loss of alsace-lorraine, they are continually telling us that germany has never been on better terms with russia. i showed in my last letter what were the steps taken by the germans to minimise the great, imperishable, humanitarian success of tzar nicholas ii in bringing about the hague conference. i showed that his efforts resulted in leading all the diplomats accredited to the peace congress to recognise that the foundation had been laid, not only of the possibility of eliminating needless horrors from the wars of the future, but also of action by the powers in common, to be brought to bear, in the form of advice and arbitration proposals, on the minds of rivals, adversaries and enemies preparing to settle their quarrels by the arbitrament of war. germany realises the defeat at the hague so completely that now she thinks only of new armaments and of arming turkey, her only ally, to the teeth. herein she finds numerous advantages; such as supplying rifles and guns, sending out new military instructors, and threatening russia with a formidable army commanded by german generals. germany knows every inch of russia, by land and by water, and has calculated her resources to a nicety. german spies are legion in russia as they are in france. she may hope to make easy-going people like us believe that she is on the best of terms with our ally, but she will find it far more difficult to make russia herself believe it. one has only to study the russian press to be convinced of this, and particularly a long article in the _novae vremya_, which proves that, as a matter of policy and of material facts, it is absolutely impossible for russia and france to admit germany into their alliance without risking the destruction of that alliance, inasmuch as its fundamental objects are diametrically opposed to those of germany. [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, january , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, april , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, may , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, june , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _ibid._, july , . [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, july , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, august , , "letters on foreign policy." [ ] _la nouvelle revue_, aug. , , "letters on foreign policy." * * * * * +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | transcriber's note: | | | | inconsistent hyphenation in the original document has | | been preserved. | | | | obvious typographical errors have been corrected. for | | a complete list, please see the end of this document. | | | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ * * * * * +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | the book and the author | | | | john l. spivak comes closer to the popular conception of the | | ace journalist than any other living writer. combining the | | instinct of a detective with the resourcefulness of a | | reporter, and gifted with a hard-hitting, breezy style, he | | has time and again "scooped the world," "gotten the | | story"--despite powerful opposition and personal danger that | | might well have daunted less hardy souls. | | | | but there is an important difference that sets spivak apart | | from most other gentlemen of the press. for several years he | | has devoted his bright and sharp pen solely to uncovering | | evidence of fascist activities in the united | | states--evidence that is credited with having set off | | several official investigations exposing un-american, | | foreign-dominated propaganda. | | | | secret armies climaxes spivak's exposures. his sensational | | inside story of hitler's far-flung, under-cover poison | | campaign in the americas would seem scarcely credible, were | | it not so thoroughly documented with original letters and | | records, citing chapter and verse, naming names, dates and | | places. his unanswerable, uncontradicted facts should go far | | toward jolting many of us out of our false sense of | | security. | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------+ _books by john l. spivak_ the devil's brigade georgia nigger america faces the barricades europe under the terror secret armies _the new technique of nazi warfare_ [illustration] john l. spivak modern age books, inc. fourth avenue new york copyright by john l. spivak published by modern age books, inc. fourth avenue new york city _all rights in this book are reserved, and it may not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the holder of these rights. for information address the publishers._ _first printing, february _ _second printing, march _ _printed in the united states of america_ _contents_ chapter page preface i czechoslovakia--before the carving ii england's cliveden set iii france's secret fascist army iv dynamite under mexico v surrounding the panama canal vi secret agents arrive in america vii nazi spies and american "patriots" viii henry ford and secret nazi activities ix nazi agents in american universities x underground armies in america xi the dies committee suppresses evidence xii conclusion _illustrations_ page application in the secret order of ' by sidney brooks letter from harry a. jung anti-semitic handbill letter from peter v. armstrong letter to peter v. armstrong account card of reverend gerald b. winrod sample of "capitol news & feature service" letter from _wessington springs independent_ letter from general rodriguez letter from general rodriguez letter from henry allen anti-semitic sticker and german titlepage of book by henry ford letter from olov e. tietzow judgment showing conviction of e.f. sullivan - letter from carl g. orgell letter from g. moshack letter from e.a. vennekohl _preface_ the material in this small volume just barely scratches the surface of a problem which is becoming increasingly grave: the activities of nazi agents in the united states, mexico, and central america. during the past five years i have observed some of them, watching the original, crudely organized and directed propaganda machine develop, grow and leave an influence far wider than most people seem to realize. what at first appeared to be merely a distasteful attempt by nazi government officials at direct interference in the affairs of the american people and their government, has now assumed the more sinister aspect of also seeking american naval and military secrets. further studies in central america, mexico and the panama canal zone disclosed an espionage network directed by the rome-berlin-tokyo axis and operating against the peace and security of the united states. a scrutiny of the nazi fifth column[ ] in a few european countries, especially in czechoslovakia just before that republic was turned over to germany's mercy by the munich "peace" and in france where nazi and italian agents built an amazing secret underground army, has made the fascist activities in the western hemisphere somewhat clearer to me. i have included one chapter detailing events which cannot, so far as i have been able to discover, be traced directly to nazi espionage; but it shows the influence of nazi ideology upon england's now notorious "cliveden set," which maneuvered the betrayal of austria, sacrificed czechoslovakia and is working in devious ways to strengthen hitler in europe. the "cliveden set" has already had so profound an effect upon the growth and influence of fascism throughout the world, that i thought it advisable to include it. the sources for most of the material, by its very nature, naturally cannot be revealed. those conversations which i quote directly came from people who were present when they occurred or, as in the case of the cagoulards in france, from official records. in the chapter on czechoslovakia i quote a conversation between a nazi spy and his chief. the details came to me from a source which in the past i had found accurate. subsequently, the spy was arrested by czech secret police, and his confession substantiated the conversation as i have given it. much of the material in this volume has been published in various periodicals from time to time, but so many americans feel that concern over nazi penetration in this country is exaggerated, that i hope even this brief and incomplete picture will serve to impress the reader, as it has impressed me, with the gravity of the situation. j.l.s. footnotes: [ ] when the spanish insurgents were investing madrid early in november, , newspaper correspondents asked insurgent general emilio mola which of his four columns would take the city. mola replied enigmatically: "the fifth column." he referred to the fascist sympathizers within madrid--those attempting to abet the defeat of the spanish government by means of spying, sabotage and terrorism. the term "fifth column" is today widely used to describe the various fascist and nazi organizations operating within the borders of non-fascist nations. i _czechoslovakia--before the carving_ it is pretty generally admitted now that the munich "peace" gave germany industrial and military areas essential to further aggressions. instead of helping to put a troubled europe on the road to lasting peace, munich strengthened the totalitarian powers, especially germany, and a strengthened germany inevitably means increased activities of the nazis' fifth column which is, in all quarters of the globe, actively preparing the ground for hitler's greater plans. if we can divine the future by the past, the fifth column, that shadowy group of secret agents now entrenched in every important country throughout the world, is an omen of what is to come. before germany marched into austria, that unhappy country witnessed a large influx of fifth column members. in czechoslovakia, especially in those months before the republic's heart was handed to hitler on a platter, there was a tremendous increase in the numbers and activities of agents sent into the central european country. during my stay there in the brief period immediately preceding the "peace," i learned a little about the operations of the gestapo's secret agents in czechoslovakia. their numbers are vast and those few of whom i learned, are infinitesimal to the actual numbers at work then and now, not only in czechoslovakia but in other countries. what i learned of those few, however, shows how the gestapo, the nazi secret service, operates in its ruthless drive. for years hitler had laid plans to fight, if he had to, for czechoslovakia, whose natural mountain barriers and man-made defensive line of steel and concrete stood in the way of his announced drive to the ukrainian wheat fields. in preparation for the day when he might have to fight for its control, he sent into the republic a host of spies, provocateurs, propagandists and saboteurs to establish themselves, make contacts, carry on propaganda and build a machine which would be invaluable in time of war. in a few instances i learned the details of the nazis' inexorable determination and their inhuman indifference to the lives of even their own agents. arno oertel, _alias_ harald half, was a thin, white-faced spy trained in two gestapo schools for fifth column work. oertel was given a german passport by richter, the gestapo district chief at bischofswerda on what was then the czechoslovak-german frontier. "you will proceed to prague," richter instructed him, "and lose yourself in the city. as soon as it is safe, go to langenau near boehmisch-leipa and report to frau anna suchy.[ ] she will give you further instructions." oertel nodded. it was his first important espionage job--assigned to him after the twenty-five-year-old secret agent had finished his intensive course in the special gestapo training school in zossen (brandenburg), one of the many schools established by the nazi secret service to train agents for various activities. after his graduation oertel had been given minor practical training in politically disruptive work in anti-fascist organizations across the czech border where he had posed as a german emigré. there he had shown such aptitude that his gestapo chief at sector headquarters in dresden, herr geissler, sent him to czechoslovakia on a special mission. oertel hesitated. "naturally i'll take all possible precautions but--accidents may happen." richter nodded. "if you are caught and arrested, demand to see the german consul immediately," he said. "if you are in a bad predicament, we'll request your extradition on a criminal charge--burglary with arms, attempted murder--some non-political crime. we've got a treaty with czechoslovakia to extradite germans accused of criminal acts but--" the gestapo chief opened the top drawer of his desk and took a small capsule from a box. "if you find yourself in an utterly hopeless situation, swallow this." he handed the pellet to the nervous young man. "cyanide," richter said. "tie it up in a knot in your handkerchief. it will not be taken from you if you are arrested. there is always an opportunity while being searched to take it." oertel tied the pellet in a corner of his handkerchief and placed it in his breast pocket. "you are to make two reports," richter continued. "one for frau suchy, the other for the contact in prague. she'll get you in touch with him." anna suchy, when oertel reported to her, gave him specific orders: "on august [ ], at five o'clock in the afternoon, you will sit on a bench near the fountain in karlsplatz in prague. a man dressed in a gray suit, gray hat, with a blue handkerchief showing from the breast pocket of his coat, will ask you for a light for his cigarette. give him the light and accept a cigarette from the gentleman. he will give you detailed instructions on what to do and how to meet the prague contact to whom in turn you will report." at the appointed hour oertel sat on a bench staring at the fountain, watching men and women strolling and chatting cheerfully on the way to meet friends for late afternoon coffee. occasionally he looked at the afternoon papers lying on the bench beside him. he felt that he was being watched but he saw no one in a gray suit with a blue handkerchief. he wiped his forehead with his handkerchief, partly because of the heat, partly because of nervousness. as he held the handkerchief he could feel the tightly bound capsule. precisely at five he noticed a man in a gray suit with a gray hat and a blue handkerchief in the breast pocket of his coat, strolling toward him. as the man approached he took out a package of cigarettes, selected one and searched his pockets for a light. stopping before oertel, he doffed his hat and smilingly asked for a light. oertel produced his lighter and the other in turn offered him a cigarette. he sat down on the bench. "report once a week," he said abruptly, puffing at his cigarette and staring at two children playing in the sunshine which flooded karlsplatz. he stretched his feet like a man relaxing after a hard day's work. "deliver reports to frau suchy personally. one week she will come to prague, the next you go to her. deliver a copy of your report to the english missionary, vicar robert smith, who lives at karlsplatz." smith, to whom the unidentified man in the gray suit told oertel to report, was a minister of the church of scotland in prague, a british subject with influential connections not only with english-speaking people but with czech government officials.[ ] besides his ministerial work, the reverend smith led an amateur orchestra group giving free concerts for german emigrés. on his clerical recommendation, he got german "emigré" women into england as house servants for british government officials and army officers. the far-flung gestapo network in czechoslovakia concentrated much of its activities along the former german-czech border. in prague, even today when germany has achieved what she said was all she wanted in europe, the network reaches into all branches of the government, the military forces and emigré anti-fascist groups. the country, before it was cut to pieces and even now, is honeycombed with gestapo agents sent from germany with false passports or smuggled across the border. often the gestapo uses czech citizens whose relatives are in germany and upon whom pressure is put. the work of these agents consists not only of ferreting out military information regarding czech defense measures and establishing contacts with czech citizens for permanent espionage, but of the equally important assignment of disrupting anti-fascist groups--of creating opposition within organizations having large memberships in order to split and disintegrate them. agents also make reports on public opinion and attitudes, and record carefully the names and addresses of those engaged in anti-fascist work. a similar procedure was followed in austria before that country was invaded, and it enabled the nazis to make wholesale arrests immediately upon entering the country. prague, with a german population of sixty thousand is still the headquarters for the astonishing espionage and propaganda machine which the gestapo built throughout the country. before czechoslovakia was cut up, most of the espionage reports crossed the frontier into germany through tetschen-bodenbach. the propaganda and espionage center of the henlein group was in the headquarters of the _sudeten deutsche partei_ at hybernska st. a secondary headquarters, in the _deutscher hilfsverein_ at nekazanka st., was directed by emil wallner, who was ostensibly representing the leipzig fair but was actually the chief of the gestapo machine in prague. his assistant, hermann dorn, living in hanspaulka-dejvice, masqueraded as the representative of the _muenchner illustrierte zeitung_. some aspects of the nazi espionage and propaganda machine in czechoslovakia hold especial interest for american immigration authorities since into the united states, too, comes a steady flow of the shadowy members of the nazis' fifth column. it is well to know that the letters and numbers at the top of passports inform german diplomatic representatives the world over that the bearer usually is a gestapo agent. whenever american immigration authorities find german passports with letters and numbers at the top, they may be reasonably sure that the bearer is an agent. these numbers are placed on passports by gestapo headquarters in berlin or dresden. the agent's photograph and a sample of his (or her) handwriting is sent via the diplomatic pouch to the nazi embassy, legation, consulate or german bund in the country or city to which the agent is assigned. when the agent reports in a foreign city, the resident gestapo chief, in order to identify him, checks the passport's top number with the picture and the handwriting received by diplomatic pouch. rudolf walter voigt, _alias_ walter clas, _alias_ heinz leonhard, _alias_ herbert frank--names which he used throughout europe in his espionage work will serve as an illustration. voigt was sent to prague on a delicate mission. his job was to discover how czechs got to spain to fight in the international brigade, a mystery in berlin since such czechs had to cross italy, germany or other fascist countries which cooperate with the gestapo. voigt was given passport no. , , made out in the name of walter clas, and bearing at the top of the passport the letters and numbers a . he was instructed, by leader wilhelm may of dresden, to report to the henlein party headquarters upon his arrival in prague. clas, _alias_ voigt, arrived october , , reported at the sudeten party headquarters and saw a man whom i was unable to identify. he was instructed to report again four days later, since information about the agent had not yet arrived. voigt was trained in the gestapo espionage schools in potsdam and calmuth-remagen. he operates directly under wilhelm may whose headquarters are in dresden. may is in charge of gestapo work over sector no. . preceding the granting to hitler of the sudeten areas in czechoslovakia, the entire czech border espionage and terrorist activity was divided into sectors. at this writing the same sector divisions still exist, operating now across the new frontiers. sector no. embraces silesia with headquarters at breslau; no. , saxony, with headquarters at dresden; and no. , bavaria, with headquarters at munich. after the annexation of austria, sector no. was added, commanded by gestapo chief scheffler whose headquarters are in berlin with a branch in vienna. sector no. also directs _standarte ii_ which stands ready to provide incidents to justify german invasion "because the situation has got out of control of the local authorities." another way in which immigration authorities, especially in countries surrounding germany, can detect gestapo agents is by the position of stamps on the german passport. stamps are placed, in accordance with german law, directly under the spot provided for them on the passport on the front page, upper right hand corner. whenever the stamps are on the cover facing the passport title page, it is a sign to gestapo representatives and consulates that the bearer is an agent who crossed the border hurriedly without time to get the regular numbers and letters from gestapo headquarters. the agent is given this means of temporary identification by the border gestapo chief. also, whenever immigration authorities find a german passport issued to the bearer for less than five years and then extended to the regulation five-year period, they may be certain that the bearer is a new gestapo agent who is being tested by controlled movements in a foreign country. for his first gestapo mission in holland, for instance, voigt was given a passport august , , good for only fourteen days. his chief was not sure whether or not voigt had agreed to become an agent just to get a passport and money to escape the country; so his passport period was limited. when the fourteen-day period expired, voigt would have to report to the nazi consulate for a renewal. in this particular instance, the passport was marked "non-renewable except by special permission of the chief of dresden police." when voigt performed his holland mission successfully, he was given the usual five-year passport. any german whose passport shows a given limited time, which has been subsequently extended, gives proof that he has been tested and found satisfactory by the gestapo. footnotes: [ ] frau suchy was one of the most active members of konrad henlein's _deutscher volksbund_, a propaganda and espionage organization masquerading as a "cultural" body in the sudeten area. she is today a leading official in the new german sudetenland. [ ] the rev. smith returned to england when he learned that the czechoslovakian secret police were watching him. at the present writing he had not returned to his church in prague. ii _england's cliveden set_ the work of foreign agents does not necessarily involve the securing of military and naval secrets. information of all kinds is important to an aggressor planning an invasion or estimating a potential enemy's strength and morale; and often a diplomatic secret is worth far more than the choicest blueprint of a carefully guarded military device. there are persons whom money, social position, political promises or glory cannot interest in following a policy of benefit to a foreign power. in such instances, however, protection of class interests sometimes drives them to acts which can scarcely be distinguished from those of paid foreign agents. this is especially true of those whose financial interests are on an international scale and who consequently think internationally. such class interests were involved in the betrayal of austria to the nazis only a few months before aggressor nations were invited to cut themselves a slice of czechoslovakia; and it will probably never be known just how much the nazis' fifth column, working in dinner jackets and evening gowns, influenced the powerful personages involved to chart a course which sacrificed a nation and a people and which foretold the munich "peace" pact. the story begins when neville chamberlain, prime minister of england, accepted an invitation to spend the week-end of march - , , at cliveden, lord and lady astor's country estate at taplow, buckinghamshire, in the beautiful thames valley. when the prime minister and his wife arrived at the huge georgian house rising out of a fairyland of gardens and forests with the placid river for a background, the other guests who had already arrived and their hosts were under the horseshoe stone staircase to receive them. the small but carefully selected group of guests had been invited "to play charades" over the week-end--a game in which the participants form opposing sides and act a certain part while the opponents try to guess what they are portraying. every man invited held a strategic position in the british government, and it was during this "charades party" week-end that they secretly charted a course of british policy which will affect not only the fate of the british empire but the course of world events and the lives of countless millions of people for years to come. this course, which indirectly menaces the peace and security of the united states, deliberately launched england on a series of maneuvers which made hitler stronger and will inevitably lead great britain on the road to fascism. the british parliament and the british people do not know of these decisions, some of which the chamberlain government has already carried out. and without a knowledge of what happened during the talks in those historic two days and what preceded them, the world can only puzzle over an almost incomprehensible british foreign policy. present at this week-end gathering, besides the astors and the prime minister and his wife, were the following: sir thomas inskip, minister for defense. sir alexander cadogan, who replaced sir robert vansittart as adviser to the british cabinet and who acts in a supervisory capacity over the extraordinarily powerful british intelligence service. geoffrey dawson, editor of the london _times_. lord lothian, governor of the national bank of scotland, a determined advocate of refusing arms to the spanish democratic government while hitler and mussolini supplied franco with them. tom jones, adviser to former premier baldwin. the right honorable e.a. fitzroy, speaker of the house of commons. the baroness mary ravensdale, sister-in-law of sir oswald mosley, leader of the british fascist movement. to understand the amazing game played by the cliveden house guests, in which nations and peoples have already been shuffled about as pawns, one must remember that powerful german industrialists and financiers like the krupps and the thyssens supported hitler primarily in order to crush the german trade-union and political movements which were in the late 's threatening their wealth and power. the astors are part of the same family in the united states. lady nancy astor, born in virginia, married into one of the richest families in england. her interests and the interests of viscount astor, her husband, stretch into banking, railroads, life insurance and journalism. half a dozen members of the family are in parliament: lady astor, her husband, their son, in the house of commons; and two relatives in the house of lords. the astor family controls two of the most powerful and influential newspapers in the world, the london _times_ and the london _observer_. in the past these papers, whose influence cannot be exaggerated, have been strong enough to make and break prime ministers. cliveden house, ruled by the intensely energetic and ambitious american-born woman, had already left its mark upon current history following other week-end parties. lady astor and her coterie had been playing a more or less minor role in the affairs of the largest empire in the world, but decisions recently reached at her week-end parties have already changed the map of europe, after almost incredible intrigues, betrayals and double-crossings, carried through with the ruthlessness of a conquering caesar and the boundless ambitions of a napoleon. the week-ends at cliveden house which culminated in the historic one of march - , began in the fall of . lady astor had been having teas with lady ravensdale and had entertained von ribbentrop, nazi ambassador to great britain, at her town house. gradually the astor-controlled london _times_ assumed a pro-nazi bias on its very influential editorial page. when the _times_ wants to launch a campaign, its custom is to run a series of letters in its famous correspondence columns and then an editorial advocating the policy decided upon. during october, , the _times_ sprouted letters regarding hitler's claims for the return of the colonies taken from germany after the war. rather than have germany attack her, england preferred to see hitler turn his eyes to the fertile ukrainian wheat fields of the soviet union. it meant war, but that war seemed inevitable. if russia won, england and her economic royalists would be faced with "the menace of communism." but if germany won, she would expand eastward and, exhausted by the war, would be in no condition to make demands upon england. the part great britain's economic royalists had to play, then, was to strengthen germany in her preparations for the coming war with russia and at the same time prepare herself to fight if her calculations went wrong. cabinet ministers lord hailsham (sugar and insurance interests), lord swinton (railroads, power, with subsidiaries in germany, italy, etc.), sir samuel hoare (real estate, insurance, etc.), were felt out and thought it was a good idea. chamberlain himself had a hefty interest (around twelve thousand shares) in imperial chemical industries, affiliated with _i.g. farbenindustrie_, the german dye trust which is very actively supplying hitler with war materials. the difficulty was anthony eden, british foreign minister, who was opposed to fascist aggressions because he feared they would eventually threaten the british empire. eden would certainly not approve of strengthening fascist countries and encouraging them to still greater aggressions. at one of the carefully selected little parties the astors invited eden. in the small drawing room banked with flowers the idea was broached about sending an emissary to talk the matter over with hitler--some genial, inoffensive person like lord halifax (huge land interests) for instance. eden understood why the _times_ had suddenly raised the issue of the lost german colonies to an extent greater even than hitler himself, and eden emphatically expressed his disapproval. such a step, he insisted, would encourage both germany and italy to further aggressions which would ultimately wreck the british empire. nevertheless, the cabinet ministers who had been consulted brought pressure upon chamberlain and while the foreign secretary was in brussels on a state matter, the prime minister announced that halifax would visit the führer. eden was furious and after a stormy session tendered his resignation. at that period, however, eden's resignation might have thrown england into a turmoil--so chamberlain mollified him. public sympathy was with eden and before he was eased out, the country had to be prepared for it. in the quiet and subdued atmosphere of the diplomats' drawing rooms in london they tell, with many a chuckle, how lord halifax, his bowler firmly on his head, was sent to berlin and berchtesgaden in mid-november, , with instructions not to get into any arguments. lord halifax, in the mellow judgment of his close friends, is one of the most amiable and charming of the british peers, earnest, well meaning and--not particularly bright. in berlin halifax met goering, attired for the occasion in a new and bewilderingly gaudy uniform. in the course of their conversation goering, resting his hands on his enormous paunch, said: "the world cannot stand still. world conditions cannot be frozen just as they are forever. the world is subject to change." "of course not," lord halifax agreed amiably. "it's absurd to think that anything can be frozen and no changes made." "germany cannot stand still," goering continued. "germany must expand. she must have austria, czechoslovakia and other countries--she must have oil--" now this was a point for argument but the messenger extraordinary had been instructed not to get into any arguments; so he nodded and in his best pacifying tone murmured, "naturally. no one expects germany to stand still if she must expand." after austria was invaded and halifax was asked by his close friends what he had cooked up over there, he told the above story, expressing the fear that his conversation was probably misunderstood by goering, the latter taking his amiability to mean that great britain approved germany's plans to swallow austria. the french intelligence service, however, has a different version, most of it collected during february, , which, in the light of subsequent events, seems far more accurate. lord halifax, these secret-service reports state, pledged england to a hands-off policy on hitler's ambitions in central europe if germany would not raise the question of the return of the colonies for six years. within that period england estimated that hitler would have expanded, strengthened his war machine and fought the soviet union to a victorious conclusion. late in january , lord and lady astor invited some guests for a week-end at cliveden. the prime minister of england came and so did lord halifax, lord lothian, tom jones and j.l. garvin, editor of the astor-controlled london _observer_. when chamberlain returned to london, he asked eden to open negotiations with italy to secure a promise to stop killing british sailors and sinking british merchant vessels in the mediterranean. during this time the british foreign office was issuing statements that mussolini was "cooperating" in the hunt for the "unidentified" pirates. british opinion, roused by the sinking of english ships, might hamper deals with the fascist leaders if such attacks were not ended. in return for the cessation of the piratical attacks, chamberlain was ready to offer recognition of abyssinia and even loans to italy to develop her captured territory. it was paying tribute to a pirate chieftain, but chamberlain was ready to do it to quiet opposition at home to the sinking of british vessels and to give him time in which to develop his policy. eden, who had fought for sanctions against the aggressor when abyssinia was invaded, obeyed orders but insisted that italy must first get her soldiers out of spain. he did not want mussolini to get a stranglehold upon gibraltar, one of the strategic life lines of the british empire. mussolini refused and told the british ambassador in rome that he and great britain would never to able to get together because eden insisted on the withdrawal of italian troops from spain, and that it might help if a different foreign secretary were appointed. hitler, working closely with mussolini in the rome-berlin axis, also began to press for a different foreign secretary but went mussolini one better. von ribbentrop informed chamberlain that der führer was displeased with the english press attacks upon him, nazis and nazi aggressions. der führer wanted that stopped. the foreign office of the once proud and still biggest empire in the world promptly sent notes to the newspapers in fleet street requesting that stories about nazis and hitler be toned down "to aid the government," and most of the once proud and independent british newspapers established a "voluntary censorship" at what amounted to an order from hitler relayed through england's foreign office. the explanation the newspapers gave to their staffs was that the world situation was too critical to refuse the government's request and, besides that refusal would probably mean losing routine foreign office and other government department news sources. the more than average british citizen doesn't know even today how his government and "independent" press took orders from hitler. in the latter part of january, , the french intelligence service, still not knowing of the secret deal halifax had made, learned that hitler intended to invade austria late in february and that simultaneously both italy and germany, instead of withdrawing troops as they had said they would, planned to intensify their offensive in spain. when the french intelligence learned of it, m. delbos, then french foreign minister, and eden were in geneva attending a meeting of the council of the league. delbos excitedly informed eden who, never dreaming that great britain had not only agreed to sacrifice austria and betray france but was also double-crossing her own foreign minister, telephoned chamberlain from geneva. the prime minister listened attentively, thanked him dryly, hung up, and promptly telephoned sir eric phipps, british ambassador to france. sir eric was instructed to get hold of m. chautemps, the french premier at the time, and ask that chautemps instruct delbos to stop frightening the british foreign secretary. but all during february the french intelligence kept getting more information about the planned invasion of austria and the proposed intensified offensive in spain, and relayed it to england with insistent suggestions for joint precautions. eden in turn relayed it to chamberlain who always thanked him. the date set for the invasion was approaching but eden was still in office and hitler began to fear that perhaps "perfidious albion" with all her overtures of friendship might really be double-crossing germany. if england could send a special emissary to offer to sell out austria and double-cross her ally france, she might be quite capable of tricking germany. simultaneously the gestapo stumbled upon information that the british intelligence had reached into the top ranks of the german army and was working with high officers. hitler, not knowing how far the british intelligence had penetrated, shook up his cabinet, made ribbentrop secretary for foreign affairs, and prepared for war in the event that england was leading him into a trap. there are records in the british foreign office which show that hitler, before invading austria, tested england to be sure he wasn't being led into a trap. von ribbentrop informed eden and chamberlain that hitler intended to summon schuschnigg, the austrian chancellor, and demand that austria rearrange her cabinet, take in dr. seyss-inquart and release imprisoned nazis. hitler knew that schuschnigg would immediately rush to england and france for aid. if they turned austria down it was safe to proceed with the invasion. the british foreign office records show that schuschnigg did rush to england and france for support, that france was ready to give it, but that england refused, thereby forcing france to keep out of it. while these frantic maneuvers were going on, the astor-controlled _times_ and _observer_, the nazi and the italian press simultaneously started a campaign against eden. the date set for the sacrifice of austria was approaching and eden had to go or it might fail. the public, however, was with eden; so another kind of attack was launched. stories began to appear about the foreign secretary's health. there were sighs, long faces, sad regrets, but eden stuck to his post in the hope that he could do something. on february , hitler, tired of waiting, bluntly demanded that he be removed, and with the newspaper campaign in full swing, chamberlain "in response to public opinion" removed him the very next day. the amiable lord halifax was appointed foreign secretary. pro-fascists like a.l. lennon-boyd, stanch supporter of franco and admirer of hitler and mussolini, were given ministerial posts. the austrian invasion was delayed for three weeks because of the difficulty in getting eden out. when the news flashed to a startled world that nazi troops were thundering into a country whose independence hitler had promised to respect, m. corbin, the still unsuspecting french ambassador, rushed to the foreign office to arrange for swift joint action. this was at four o'clock in the afternoon of march , . instead of receiving him immediately, lord halifax kept him waiting until nine o'clock in the evening. by that time austria was nazi territory. there was nothing to do but protest; so lord halifax, with a straight face, joined france in a "strong protest." it was not until a week after austria had been absorbed that the french intelligence service learned the details of the halifax deal and finally understood why england had side-stepped the pleas for joint action and why the french ambassador had been kept cooling his heels until the occupation of austria was completed. from austria hitler got more men for his army, large deposits of magnesite, timber forests and enormous water-power resources for electricity. from czechoslovakia, if he could get it, hitler would have the skoda armament works, one of the biggest in the world, factories in the sudeten area, be next door to hungarian wheat and rumanian oil, dominate the balkans, destroy potential russian air and troop bases in central europe, and place nazi troops within a few miles of the soviet border and the ukrainian wheat fields he has eyed so long. five days after austria was invaded, on march , at : in the afternoon, lord halifax personally summoned the czechoslovakian minister. at four o'clock the minister came out of the conference with a dazed and bewildered air. lord halifax had made some "suggestions." revealing complete ignorance of what had happened and was happening in czechoslovakian politics, halifax was nevertheless laying down the law. it was obvious that the british foreign secretary was getting orders from someone else, for halifax suggested that the central european republic try to conciliate germany (which it had been doing for months) and that a german be taken into the cabinet (there were already three in it). on march there was another meeting at which the minister learned that halifax wanted the czech government to take a nazi into the cabinet--as austria took dr. seyss-inquart at hitler's orders. this pressure from england for czechoslovakian nazis to be given more power in the government was virtually telling the beleaguered little democracy to fashion a strong rope and hang itself. subsequent events showed that chamberlain personally supplied the rope. then came the historic week-end of march - , . the walls of the small drawing room at cliveden house are lined with shelves filled with books. the laughing and chatting guests had gathered there after a delightful dinner. for the prime minister of england to go through all sorts of contortions in a game of charades might prove a trifle undignified; so the hostess suggested that they play "musical chairs." everyone thought it was a splendid idea and men servants in their impressive blue liveries arranged the chairs in the required order, carefully spacing the distances between them. one of the laughing and bejeweled women took her place at the piano. in "musical chairs" there is one person more than the number of chairs. when the music starts the players march around the chairs. the moment the music stops everyone dives for the nearest chair leaving the extra person standing and subject to the hilarious jibes of the other players and those rooting from the bleachers. it's one of the ways statesmen relax. the music started and the dour prime minister of the greatest empire in the world, the minister in charge of the empire's defense measures, the editor of england's most powerful newspaper, the right honorable speaker of the house of commons, the sister-in-law of england's leading fascist and several others started marching while the piano tinkled its challenging tune. the prime minister, perhaps because he is essentially conservative, marched cautiously and stepped quickly between the spaces while lady astor eyed him shrewdly and the others suppressed giggles. the prime minister tried to maintain at least the dignity of his banking background but managed "to look only a little porky" as one expressed it afterward. suddenly the music stopped. everyone lunged for the nearest chair. the prime minister managed to get one and plopped into it heavily. after half an hour or so some of the strategic rulers of great britain got a little winded and quit. a conversation started on foreign affairs and most of the wives retired to another room. when the discussion was ended the little cliveden house party had come to six major decisions which will change the face of the world if successfully carried through. those decisions (maneuvers to put some of them into effect have already begun) are: . to inform france that england will go to her aid if she is attacked, unless the attack results from a treaty obligation with another power. . to introduce peace time conscription in england. . to appoint three ministers to coordinate industrial defense (conscription in peace time); supervise military conscription; and, coordinate the "political education of the people" (propaganda). . to reach an agreement with italy to preserve the legitimate interest of both countries in the mediterranean. . to discuss mutual problems with germany. . to express the hope to germany that her methods of self-assertion be such as will not hinder mutual discussions by arousing british public opinion against her. the two most important decisions in this plan are the one for the conscription of labor in peace time and the effort to force france to break the franco-soviet pact by choosing between england and russia. consider conscription first and the motives behind it: when any country whose workers are strongly organized starts veering towards fascism, it must either win over the trade-unions in one way or another or destroy them, for rebellious labor can prevent fascism by means of the general strike. british labor is known to hate fascism since it has learned that fascism destroys, among other things, the value of the trade-unions and all that they have gained after many years of struggle. any veering by england toward fascism and fascist alliances spells trouble with the trade-unions; hence, the decision "to coordinate the political education of the people." this move is particularly necessary since some trade-union leaders, especially in the important armament industry, have already stated publicly that unless the workers were given assurances that the arms labor was manufacturing would be used in defense of democracy and not to destroy it, they would not cooperate. hence "the education of the people" and the conscription of labor in peace time which would ultimately lead to government control over the unions. with some variations it is the same procedure followed by hitler in getting control of the once extremely powerful german trade-unions. a few days after this historic week-end, the _times_ came out for "national organization" and the wisdom of "national registration." national registration, as the history of fascist countries has shown, is the first step in the conscription of labor. with this opening gun having been fired, it is a safe prophecy that if the chamberlain government remains in office british labor will witness one of the most determined attacks ever made upon it in its history. all indications point to the ground being laid and it may result in splitting the trade-union movement, for some of the leaders are willing to go with the government while others have already indicated that they will refuse unless they know that it's for democracy and not for fascism. the second important decision is to exert pressure upon france to break her pact with the soviet union--something hitler has been unsuccessfully trying to accomplish for a long time. at the moment it appears that great britain will succeed just as she has already succeeded in breaking the czechoslovakian-soviet pact--another rupture hitler was determined upon. england has a reputation for shrewd diplomacy. in the past she has used nations and peoples, played one against the other, betrayed, sacrificed, double-crossed in the march of her empire. since the cliveden week-end, however, with its resultant intrigues, england has, to all appearances, finally double-crossed herself. those who guide her destiny and the destinies of her millions of subjects have apparently come to the conclusion that democracy, as england has known it, cannot survive and that it is a choice between fascism and communism. under communism, the ruling class to which the cliveden week-end guests belong, stand to lose their wealth and power. it is the fatuous hope of the economic royalists that under fascism they will still sit on top of the roost, and so the cliveden week-enders move toward fascism. hitler's fifth column finds strange allies. iii _france's secret fascist army_ neither hitler nor mussolini could have foreseen the development of a cliveden set or england's willingness to weaken her own position as the dominant european power by sacrificing austria and a good portion of czechoslovakia. the totalitarian powers proceeded on the assumption that when the struggle for control of central europe, the balkans and the mediterranean came they would have to fight. the rome-berlin axis reasoned logically that if, when the expected war broke out, france could be disrupted by a widespread internal rebellion, not only would she be weakened on the battlefield but fascism might even be victorious in the republic. in preparation for this, the axis sent into france secret agents plentifully supplied with money and arms, and almost succeeded in one of the most amazing plots in history. the opening scene of events which led directly to the discovery of how far the foreign secret agents had progressed took place in the restaurant drouant on the place gaillon which is frequented by leaders of paris' financial, industrial and cultural life. precisely at noon, on september , , jacqueline blondet, an eighteen-year-old stenographer with marcelled hair, sparkling eyes, and heavily rouged lips, passed through the rotating doors of the famous restaurant and turned right as she had been instructed. she had never been in so luxurious a place before--dining rooms done in gray or brown marble with furniture to match. two steps lead from the gray to the brown room and mlle. blondet, not noticing them in her excitement, slipped and would have fallen had not the old wine steward who looks like charles dickens, caught and steadied her. the two men with whom she was lunching were at a table at the far corner of the deserted room. the one who had invited her, françois metenier, a well-known french engineer and industrialist, powerfully built, with sharp eyes, dark hair, and a suave self-assured manner, rose at her approach, smiling at her embarrassment. the other man, considerably younger, was m. locuty, a stocky, bushy haired man with square jaws and heavy tortoise-shell eyeglasses. he was an engineer at the huge michelin tire works at clermont-ferrand where metenier was an important official. the industrialist introduced the girl merely as "my friend" without mentioning her name. with the exception of two couples having a late breakfast in the gray marble room, which they could see from their table, the three were alone. "shall we have a bottle of bordeaux?" asked metenier. "i ordered lunch by 'phone but i thought i would await your presence on the wine." "oh, anything you order," said locuty with an effort at casualness. "yes, you order the wine," said the stenographer. "_garçon_, a bottle of st. julien, château léoville-poyferre ." the ghost of charles dickens, who had been hovering nearby, bowed and smiled with appreciation of the guest's knowledge of a rare fine wine and personally rushed off to the cellars for the bordeaux. when the early lunch was over and the brandy had been set before them, metenier studied his glass thoughtfully and glanced at the two portly men who had entered the brown dining room and sat some tables away. from the snatches of conversation the three gathered that one was a literary critic and the other a publisher. they were discussing a thrilling detective story just published which the critic insisted was too fantastic. metenier said to locuty: "you will have to make two bombs. i will take you to a very important man in our organization, a power in france. he will personally give you the material and show you how to make them. then i will take you to the places where you will leave them. i do not want them to see me." in low tones, they discussed the bombing of two places. metenier, a pillar of the church, highly respected in his community and well-known throughout france, cautioned them as they left. why the vivacious blond stenographer was permitted to sit in on this conversation, locuty did not know, unless it was to tempt him, for, as she bade him good-by, she squeezed his hand significantly and said she wanted to see him again. metenier drove locuty to an office building where he introduced him to a man he called "leon"--actually alfred macon, concierge of a building which metenier and others used as headquarters for their activities. within a few moments the door of an adjacent room opened and jean adolphe moreau de la meuse, aristocrat and leading french industrialist, came in. he had a monocle in his right eye which he kept adjusting nervously. his face was deeply marked and lined with heavy bluish pouches under the eyes. with a swift glance he sized up locuty as metenier rose. "this is the gentleman whom i mentioned," he said. "he understands his mission?" de la meuse asked. "yes," said locuty. "you will teach me how to make them?" de la meuse nodded. "it will be a time bomb which must be set for ten o'clock tomorrow night. there will be nobody in the building at that time, so no one will be hurt." an hour later locuty, who had made both bombs and set the timing devices, wrapped them into two neat packages. metenier took him to the general confederation of french employers' building in the rue de presbourg. in accordance with instructions he left one of the packages with the concierge, after which metenier took him to the ironmasters' association headquarters on the rue boissiere, where locuty left the second package. on the evening of september , the general confederation of french employers was scheduled to hold a meeting in their building. this meeting was postponed; and, as de la meuse had assured the michelin engineer, the concierges and their wives, contrary to custom, were not in their buildings that evening. at ten o'clock, both bombs exploded. the plans had gone off as arranged except for an accident, the investigation of which made public the whole amazing conspiracy. two french gendarmes standing near one of the buildings were killed. immediately after the bombs exploded, the employers' confederation and the ironmasters' association issued statements charging the communists and the popular front with being responsible for the outrages and accusing them of planning a reign of terror to seize control of france. the accusations left a profound effect upon the french people despite the communists' assertions that they never countenance terrorism. the _sûreté nationale_, the french scotland yard, opened an intensive investigation which was spurred on by the deaths of the unfortunate gendarmes. it was not long before the french people heard of the almost incredibly fantastic plot to destroy the popular front and establish fascism in france--a plot directed by leading french industrialists and high army officers cooperating with secret agents of the german and italian governments. the ramifications of the plot are so packed with dynamite in the national and international arena that the french government, under pressure from england as well as from some of its own industrialists, government officials and army officers, has clamped the lid down on further disclosures lest continued publicity seriously affect the delicate balance of international relations. it was obvious from what the police uncovered that it had taken several years to organize the gigantic conspiracy. within the teeming city of paris itself, steel and concrete fortresses had been secretly built. other cities throughout france were similarly ringed in strategic places. every one of these secret fortresses was stocked with arms and munitions, and throughout the country, once the confessions began, the police found thousands upon thousands of rifles and pistols, millions of cartridges, hundreds of machine guns and sub-machine guns. the fortresses themselves were fitted with secret radio and telephone stations for communication among themselves. code books and evidence of arms-running from germany and italy were found. a vast espionage network and a series of murders were traced to this secret organization whose official name is the "secret committee for revolutionary action." at their meetings they wore hoods to conceal their identity from one another, like the black legion in the united states, and the press promptly named them the "cagoulards" ("hooded ones"). just how many members the cagoulards actually have is unknown except to its supreme council and probably to the german and italian intelligence divisions. lists of names totaling eighteen thousand men were turned up by the _sûreté nationale_, and the hundreds of steel and concrete fortresses and the arms found in them point to a membership of at least , . the way the fortresses were built and their strategic locations (blowing down the walls of the buildings where the fortresses were hidden would have given them command of streets, squares and government buildings) indicate supervision by high military officials. when contractors buy enormous quantities of cement for dugouts, when butchers' and bakers' lorries rattle over ancient cobblestones with enormous loads of arms smuggled across german and italian borders, when thousands of people are drilled and trained in pistol, rifle and machine-gun practice, it is impossible that the competent french intelligence service and the _sûreté nationale_ should not get wind of it. as far back as september, , the _sûreté nationale_ knew that some leading french industrialists with the cooperation of the german and italian governments were building a military fascist organization within france. nevertheless it quietly permitted fortresses to be built and stocked with munitions. the general staff of the french army, from reports of intelligence men in germany and italy, knew that those countries were smuggling arms into france, but they permitted it to go on. the general staff knew that some eight hundred concrete fortresses were being built under the supervision of m. anceaux, a building contractor of dieppe, and that skilled members of the secret committee for revolutionary action had been recruited for the building and sworn to secrecy under penalty of death. they knew that these fortresses were equipped with sending and receiving radios, knew that some were within the shadow of military centers, knew that the cagoulards had a far-flung espionage system. but the french general staff made no effort to stop it. the popular front government was in power at the time, and heads of the supreme war council apparently preferred a fascist france to a democratic one. in fact, officers and reserve officers of the french army cooperated with secret agents of their traditional enemy, germany, to build up this formidable secret army. the investigating authorities, stunned by their discoveries and the high officials and individuals to whom their investigations led, either did not dare go further with it, or, if they did, suppressed the information. some of it, however, came out. at the top of the cagoulards is a supreme war council or general staff whose members have not been disclosed. working with them are several other organizations, all with innocent names, as for example the "society of studies for french regeneration." the cagoulards' activities are divided into broad general lines, each directed by an individual in complete command and embracing: buying war materials within france and smuggling war materials into the country from germany, italy and insurgent spain, along with the simultaneous weaving of an espionage network under nazi and fascist direction and leadership. building concrete fortresses at strategic centers and storing smuggled arms in them. military training of secretly organized troops. getting the money to carry on these extensive activities. extreme care was, and still is, taken to conceal the identities of the ordinary members and especially the leaders. for instance, one of the leaders known to his subordinates as "fontaine" is in reality georges cachier, director of a large company in paris and chief of the cagoulards' "third bureau," which is in charge of military movements. cachier is an officer of the french legion of honor and a reserve lieutenant-colonel in the french army. the cagoulards are still very active. members are being recruited with leaders pointing out to the fearful ones that there is nothing to worry about--almost all of those arrested in the early days of the investigation are free, out on bail or kept in a "gentleman's confinement" where they can do virtually as they please. "our power is great," new members are told. as is customary in secret terrorist societies, the members are sworn to silence with death as the penalty for indiscretion. the penalty when it is employed is usually administered in american gangster fashion. each member is allotted to a "cell," the basic unit of the military organization, and assigned to a secretly fortified post for training. one of these posts discovered by the _sûreté nationale_ was in an old boarding house run by two ancient spinsters with equally ancient guests who spent their time in rockers, knitting and reading and not dreaming that underneath the porch on which they sat so tranquilly was a fortress with enough explosives to blow the whole street to smithereens. into this particular fortification, the cell members would steal one by one after the old maids had retired, entering by a concealed door three feet thick and electrically operated. there are two different kinds of cells in the cagoulards, "heavy" and "light" ones. they differ in the number of men and the quantity of armaments assigned to them. the "light" cell has eight men equipped with army rifles, automatics, hand grenades, and one sub-machine gun; the "heavy" one has twelve men similarly armed but with a machine gun instead of a sub-machine gun. three cells form a unit, three units a battalion, three battalions a regiment, two regiments a brigade and two brigades a division of two thousand men. the battalions (one hundred and fifty men) are subdivided into squads of fifty to sixty men with ten to twelve cars at their disposal for quick movement throughout the city. these automobile squads are given intensive training. members are not required to pay dues, for enough money comes in from industrialists and the german and italian governments to eliminate the need of collecting money from members for operating expenses. every effort is made to function without written communications. no membership cards are issued. notices of meetings, drill and rifle practice are issued verbally, and so far as the mass membership is concerned, nothing in writing is placed in their hands. a twenty-page handbook with instructions on street fighting was issued to group commanders and, lest a copy fall into wrong hands and betray the organization, it was boldly entitled: _secret rules of the communist party_. the instructions are specific and are based upon the insurrectionary tactics issued to the nazi storm troopers. they fall into six sections: general remarks; group fighting; section fighting; choice of terrain; commissariat; and policing groups. one or two excerpts from these instructions for street fighting follow: "the particular force for street fighting is infantry, provided with automatic weapons and hand grenades. members of the detachments should be instructed that automatic weapons must always be used in preference. essential arms are: sub-machine guns, rifles including hunting rifles, hand grenades, revolvers, petards." (petards are small bombs used for blowing in doors.) with regard to "mopping up" in houses, the instructions state: "if the door is barricaded, it must be opened with tools or explosives. if it is a heavy door, break it in by driving a lorry at it. clean up basements and cellars by throwing bombs down through the air holes or other openings after your men have got into the house. only after these have exploded should the cellar doors be forced. then, when ascending the stairs, keep close to the walls while one of your men keeps firing straight up the shaft. mop up as you go down floor by floor. if necessary, pierce holes in the ceilings and mop up by throwing down hand grenades." the chief of the cagoulards' espionage system is dr. jean marie martin, a bushy-haired stocky man with dark, somber eyes. dr. martin usually travels with several false passports and with the utmost secrecy. at the moment he is in genoa where he went to meet commendatore boccalaro, mussolini's personal representative in charge of smuggling arms into foreign countries. the preparations by the rome-berlin axis point to plans for a fight to a finish between fascist and non-fascist countries. a feeble or disrupted democracy will obviously strengthen the fascist powers in any coming struggle with anti-fascist powers. germany and italy, faced on their own borders with a democratic france allied with the soviet union in a military defense pact, would face a powerful enemy in the event of war. but if france were torn by a bloody civil war, she would be virtually unable even to defend her borders. consequently, it is essential for germany and italy to weaken and if possible destroy france's democracy. france and germany have been traditional enemies in their struggle for land containing raw materials needed by their industries to compete in the world markets. but the growth of the french labor movement and the power of the popular front which threatened the control and the profits of french industrialists and financiers, made them find more in common with fascist and nazi industrialists than with french workers who menaced their economic and political control. the result was that leading french industrialists were willing to cooperate with nazi and fascist agents to destroy the popular front and establish fascism in france. about half of the , , francs, which it is estimated the fortresses and arms cost, was contributed by french industrialists. the other half came from the german and italian governments. germany and italy sent swarms of secret agents into france to supervise the building of the underground military machine and to carry on intensive espionage with the assistance of the french army and government officials who were members of the hooded ones. the espionage service was organized by baron de potters, an old international spy who travels with two or more passports under the names of farmer and meihert. de potters gets his funds from the nazis' strongly guarded "bureau iii b," established in berne, switzerland at gewerbestrasse. "bureau iii b" is the official name of this branch of the gestapo. at the head of it is boris toedli whose activities include not only espionage but underground diplomatic intrigue and propaganda. he works directly under drs. rosenberg and goebbels. toedli supplies not only the baron but other espionage directors with money and there is plenty of it at his disposal for quick emergency uses. the money is deposited in the _société des banques suisses_, account no. . the head of the italian espionage system directing the work in france and cooperating closely with the nazis is commendatore boccalaro, head of the italian government's arsenal in genoa. one of his specialties is the smuggling of arms into foreign countries. boccalaro's history shows that the not so fine italian hand is interfering in the internal affairs of foreign governments. as far back as , he secretly supplied carloads of arms from the genoa arsenal to hungary, and in he supplied yugoslavian terrorists with war materials in efforts to get those countries under mussolini's sphere of influence. boccalaro, too, seems to have had reasons to suppress information in at least one case where the death penalty was inflicted upon a member of the cagoulards. among the hooded ones who have been found with bullets or knives in them was an arms runner named adolphe-augustin juif, who tried to charge the secret organization a little more than he should for smuggling guns and munitions into france. when the organization threatened him, he advised it not to resort to threats because he knew a little too much. on february , , his bullet-riddled body was found in san remo, italy. when juif's wife, not hearing from him, sought information about his whereabouts, she wrote to boccalaro, since she knew he was working with the genoa director. the italian papers had announced the finding of his body; nevertheless, on march , boccalaro wrote to the murdered man's widow: "your husband, my dear friend, is carrying on a special and delicate mission (perhaps in spain or germany) and has special reasons of a delicate nature not to inform even his own family where he is at the present moment." among the men whom juif met before he was murdered was eugène deloncle, director of the maritime and river transport mortgage company and one of the most important industrialists in france. deloncle, a high official in the cagoulards, used the name of "grosset" in his conspiratorial activities. the other man whom the murdered juif met is general edouard arthur du-seigneur, former air force chief and military adviser to the french air ministry. the general is one of the military heads of the cagoulards and frequently met with baron de potters. the _sûreté nationale_, the french intelligence service, and the examining magistrate have documentary evidence that germany and italy were and are deliberately conspiring to throw france, as they did spain, into a civil war. publication of these documents would have far-reaching effects, internally and externally. great britain, however, planning to establish a four-cornered pact between england, france, germany and italy, brought pressure to bear upon france to suppress further disclosures about the cagoulards. to england's pressure was added that of leading french industrialists, financiers, government and army officials. gradually, news about the cagoulards is dying out. the real heads of the hooded ones either have not been named or, if arrested in the early days of the investigation, have been released on bail. and recruiting for the underground army is still going on. iv _dynamite under mexico_ most people in the united states feel secure from european or asiatic aggression since wide oceans apparently separate us from the conquering ambitions of a führer or a son of the sun. however, despite our desire to be left in peace, the rome-berlin axis, which japan joined, has cast longing eyes upon the western hemisphere. the monroe doctrine is of value only so long as aggressor nations feel we are too strong for them to violate it; recent history has shown what pieces of paper are worth. in the process of trying to get a foothold in the americas, the nazis have sent agents into all of the countries, but because most of the central and south american republics are still resentful of past acts by the "colossus of the north," they offer the most fertile fields. the two spots on the western hemisphere most vital to the united states are the panama canal zone and mexico--the zone because it is our trade and naval life line between the oceans and mexico because potential enemies could find in it perfect military and naval bases. let us see what the totalitarian powers are doing in mexico: on june , , the s.s. "panuco" of the new york and cuba mail steamship co. steamed into tampico, mexico, from new york with a mysterious cargo consigned to one armeria estrada. as soon as she docked, the cargo was quickly transferred to the atchison, topeka and santa fe railroad freight car no. , which was awaiting it. a gentleman known around the freight yards as a.m. cabezut, arranged for the car to leave immediately for the state of san luis potosí in the heart of mexico. there was no record on the bill of lading to show that the shipper was the winchester repeating arms company of new haven, conn., and that the cargo, ordered on january and february , , by an italian named benito estrada, was a large quantity of rifles, pistols and one hundred and forty cases of cartridges for various caliber guns. when the car arrived in san luis potosí, it was met by an elderly, mustached german named baron ernst von merck, who took the shipment to general saturnino cedillo, former governor of the state[ ] and a well-known advocate of fascism. one week later the elderly german met a carload shipment of "farm implements." when it was unloaded in san luis potosí, the farm implements turned out to be dynamite. von merck, who has been cedillo's right-hand man, was during the world war a german spy stationed in brussels. a member of cedillo's staff[ ] he traveled constantly between san luis potosí, where the arms were cached, and the nazi legation in mexico city. on december , , baron von merck flew to guatemala--the same day that a cargo of arms from germany was to be landed off the wild jungle coast of campeche in southern mexico. guatemala, just south of mexico, is the most thoroughly organized fascist country in central or south america. its chief industries, coffee and bananas, are virtually controlled by germans, whose enormous plantations overlap into the state of chiapas, mexico. but president jorge ubico, who is not much of an aryan, prefers mussolini's brand of fascism because the nazi theory of nordic supremacy does not strike a sympathetic chord in the president's heart. as a result, the italian minister to guatemala is ubico's adviser on almost all matters of state. guiseppe sotanis, a mysterious italian officer who sits in the gran hotel in san josé, costa rica, collecting stamps and studying his immaculate fingernails, arranges for shipments of italian arms into guatemala. a few months ago sotanis, the italian minister to guatemala, and ubico met in guatemala city. shortly thereafter the italian arms manufacturing company, bredda, sent ubico two hundred eighty portable machine guns, sixty anti-aircraft machine guns and seventy small caliber cannon. but president ubico is not hopelessly addicted to one brand of fascism. nazi ships make no attempt to conceal their landing of arms and munitions at puerto barrios. from there they are transported by car, river and horse into the dense chicle forests in the mountain regions, then across the guatemalan border into chiapas and campeche. during march, , mysterious activities took place in the heart of the chicle forests in campeche. the region is a dense jungle inhabited by primitive indian tribes. there is little reason for anyone to build an airport in this territory, much of which has not even been explored. but if the mexican government will instruct its air squadron to go to campeche and fly forty miles north of the rio hondo and a little west of quintana roo border, they will find a completed airport in the heart of the chicle jungle; and if they will fly a little due west of the small villages of la tuxpena and esperanza in campeche, they will find two more secret airports. the mexican government knows that arms are being smuggled in through its own ports, across the guatemalan border, and across the wide, sparsely inhabited two-thousand-mile stretch of american border. both american and mexican border patrols have been increased, but it is almost impossible to watch the entire region between southern california and brownsville. few contraband runners are caught, apparently because neither the american nor mexican governments seem to know the routes followed or who the leading smugglers are. on february , , josé rebey and his brother pablo, who live in the altar district of sonora and know every foot of the desert, drove to tucson, arizona, where they met two unidentified americans. on february , , josé rebey and francisco cuen, old and close friends of gov. roman yocupicio, drove a buick to the sandy, deserted wastes near sonoyta, just south of the american border where one of the two unidentified americans delivered a carload of cases securely covered with sheet metal. as soon as the cases were transferred into rebey's car, he turned back on sonora's flat, dusty roads, passing caborca, la cienega, and turning on the sun-dried rutted road to ures, which lies parched and dry in the semi-tropical sun. ures is the central cache for arms smuggled into sonora by yocupicio, and the rebey brothers and cuen are among the chief contraband runners. the load they carried that day consisted of thompson guns and cartridges, and the route followed is the one they generally use. a secondary route used by one of cuen's chief aids, a police delegate from the el tiro mine, lies over the roads to ures by way of altar. if in time of war it becomes necessary for guard or patrol work to deflect any troops from the army, or ships from the navy, it is of advantage to the enemy. if a coming war found the united states lined up with the democratic as against the fascist powers and serious uprisings broke out in mexico, it would require several u.s. regiments to patrol the border and a number of u.s. ships to watch the thousands of miles of coast line to prevent arms running to american countries sympathetic to the berlin-rome-tokyo axis. the three fascist powers that have cast longing eyes upon central and south america have apparently divided their activities in the americas, with japan concentrating on the coast lines and the panama canal, germany on the large central and south american countries and italy upon the small ones. in mexico, nazi agents work directly with mexican fascist groups, and have undertaken to carry the brunt of spreading anti-democratic propaganda to turn popular sentiment against the "colossus of the north," and to develop a receptive attitude toward the totalitarian form of government. italy concentrates on espionage, with particular attention to mexican aid to loyalist spain. it was the italian espionage network in mexico which learned the course of the ill-fated "mar cantabrico" which left new york and vera cruz with a cargo of arms for the loyalists and was intercepted and sunk by an insurgent cruiser. though germany, even more than italy, is utilizing her propaganda machine in the americas' markets, the japanese are not troubling about that just yet. their commercial missions seem to be much less interested in establishing business connections than in taking photographs. the chief commercial activity all three countries are intensely interested in is getting concessions from mexico for iron, manganese and oil--materials essential for war. president lázaro cárdenas, however, has stated his dislike of fascism on several occasions. since germany, japan and italy must obtain these products wherever they can get them, it would be to their advantage if a government more friendly to fascism were in power. but, should that prove impossible, the existence of a strong, fascist movement would have, in time of war, tremendous potentialities for sabotage. hence, mexico is today being battered by pro-fascist propaganda broadcasts from germany on special short-wave beams, and nazi and fascist agents surreptitiously meet with discontented generals to weave a network throughout the country. the radio propaganda is devoted chiefly to selling the wonders of totalitarian government, and to the dissemination of subtle, indirect comments calculated to turn popular feeling against the united states. in addition to regular broadcasts, material printed in spanish and in german by the _fichte bund_ with headquarters in hamburg, germany, is smuggled into mexico in commercial shipments. a nazi bund to direct this propaganda was organized secretly because of the government's unfriendly attitude toward fascism. the bund operates as the _deutsche volksgemeinschaft_ and its propaganda center functions under the name of the "united german charities." this organization, on the top floor of the building at uruguay street, mexico city, is actually the "brown house," in direct contact with nazi propaganda headquarters in hamburg. some of the propaganda distributed in mexico is smuggled off nazi ships docking in los angeles, and is transported across the american border by agents working under hermann schwinn, director of nazi activities for the west coast of the united states. the propaganda sent by schwinn across the american border is chiefly for distribution around guaymas, where a special effort is being made to win the sympathy of the people. meanwhile yocupicio caches arms in ures and the bland japanese continue charting the harbors and coast lines. the nazis began to build fascism in mexico right after hitler got into power. in schwinn called a meeting in mexicali of several nazi agents operating out of los angeles, including general rodriguez, and several members of a veterans organization. it was at this meeting that the mexican gold shirts were organized. under the direction of rodriguez and his right-hand men (antonio f. escobar was one of them), the fascist organization drilled and paraded, but little official attention was paid to them. five years ago few people realized the intensity and possibilities of nazi propaganda and organization. the only ones in mexico who watched the growth of the fascist military body were the trade-unionists and the communists. they remembered what happened in italy and germany when the black shirts and the brown shirts were permitted to grow strong. on november , , rodriguez and his organization staged a military demonstration in mexico city, and marched upon the president's palace. trade-unionists, liberals and communists barred their way. when the pitched battle was over, five gold shirts were dead, some sixty persons wounded, and rodriguez himself had been stabbed by a woman worker, on her lips the furious cry, "down with fascism!" when the gold shirt leader was discharged from the hospital, he found that his organization had been made illegal, and he himself exiled. rodriguez went to el paso, texas, and immediately, working through escobar, set about establishing the "confederation of the middle class" to take over now the illegal gold shirt work and consolidate the various mexican fascist groups. its headquarters was established at passo de la reforma. rodriguez kept in touch with schwinn through henry allen, a native american of san diego, who acts as liaison man. it was allen, on orders from schwinn, who last year secretly met in guaymas ramon f. iturbe, a member of the mexican chamber of deputies. iturbe is in constant touch with the fascist groups in mexico city. the gold shirts smuggled arms into mexico along the border between laredo and brownsville, and cached them in monterrey. on january , , gold shirts attempted to attack matamoros, near brownsville. a mexican policeman was killed and another wounded in the fighting. two days later gold shirts surrounded reynosa, some distance west of matamoros, but met peasants armed with rifles, pistols and knives. the fascists withdrew and rodriguez vanished, only to appear in san diego, california, on february , for a secret meeting with plutarco elias calles, the former president of mexico. after a three-hour conference rodriguez went to los angeles, met schwinn, and proceeded to mission, texas, where he established new headquarters. a few days after these conferences, he sent two men into mexico under forged passports to discuss closer cooperation among the fascist leaders. the men sent into mexico were an american named mario baldwin, one of rodriguez's chief assistants, and a mexican named sanchez yanez. they established headquarters at josé joaquin herrera, apartment -t, and met for their secret conferences in jesus de avila's tailor shop at isabel la catolico. in the latter part of june, , an amiable bar fly arrived in mexico city from berlin as civilian attaché to the german legation. a civilian attaché is the lowest grade in the diplomatic ranks and the salary is just about enough to keep him going. nevertheless, dr. heinrich northe, at that time not quite thirty, and not especially well-to-do, established a somewhat luxurious place at tokyo st. and bought a private airplane for "pleasure jaunts" about mexico. northe is seldom at the nazi legation. he is more apt to be found in sonora, where yocupicio is storing arms and where the japanese fishing fleet is active, or in acapulco, whose harbor fascinates the japanese. he used to make frequent visits to cedillo just before the general started his rebellion. on march , , northe took off "for a vacation" in the panama canal zone. he stopped off in guatemala on the way down. the persistently vacationing commercial attaché, before coming to mexico, was part of the gestapo network in moscow and bulgaria. immediately after the nazis got control of germany, northe went into the german "diplomatic service," and was one of the first secret agents sent to the german embassy in moscow. the russian secret service apparently watched him a little too closely, for he was shifted to sofia, bulgaria, where he bought a private plane and flew wherever he wished. in , when the signers of the "anti-communist pact" decided to concentrate upon mexico, northe was transferred to mexico city. one of northe's chief aids is a german adventurer who was a spy during the world war. when the war ended, hans heinrich von holleuffer, of danubio st., mexico city, worked hard at earning a dishonest penny in republican germany. when the law got after him, he skipped to mexico, where, without even pausing for breath, he went to work on his fellow countrymen in the new world. berlin asked for his arrest and extradition and von holleuffer fled to guatemala. that was in . he came back to mexico in under the name of hans helbing. when hitler got into power von holleuffer's brother-in-law became a high official in the gestapo. since there was no danger of the nazis extraditing him on charges of fraud and forgery, hans helbing became hans heinrich von holleuffer again and, without any visible means of support, established a swanky residence at the above address, got an expensive automobile, a chauffeur, and some very good-looking maids. since he has not defrauded anyone lately, the german colony in mexico still wonders how he does it. he does it by being in charge of arms smuggling from germany to mexican fascists. during the latter part of december, , he directed the unloading of one of the heaviest cargoes of arms yet shipped into mexico. northe had informed von holleuffer that a german vessel whose name even northe had not yet been given, would be ready to land a cargo of guns, munitions and mountain artillery somewhere along the wild and deserted coast of campeche where there are miles of shore with not even an indian around. von holleuffer was instructed to arrange for unloading the cargo and having it removed into the interior. on december , , von holleuffer arranged a meeting in mexico city with julio rosenberg of san juan de letran and curt kaiser at bolivar, the latter's home. he offered them fifty thousand pesos to take the contraband off the boat and transport it through the chicle jungles to the destination he would give them. shortly after the japanese-nazi pact was signed, the japanese government arranged with the somewhat naive mexican government for japanese fishing experts to conduct "scientific explorations" along mexico's pacific coast in return for teaching mexicans how to catch fish scientifically. the agreement provided that two japanese, j. yamashito and y. matsui, be employed by the mexican government for the exploratory work. matsui arrived in mexico in and immediately became interested in the fish situation at acapulco, which from a naval standpoint has the best harbor on the entire long stretch of mexico's pacific coast line. in february, , he decided that it was important to the west-coast shrimp-fishing studies for him to do some exploratory work along the northeast part of the mexican coast, near the american border, and there he went. immediately after the agreement was signed, three magnificent fishing boats, the "minatu maru," the "minowa maru" and the "saro maru," which had been hovering out on the pacific while the negotiations were going on, appeared in guaymas. their captains reported to the nippon suisan kaisha, a fishing company with headquarters in guaymas. eighty per cent of this company's stock is owned by the japanese government. each ship is equipped with large fish bins which can easily be turned into munition carriers, each has powerful short-wave sending and receiving sets; and each has extraordinarily long cruising powers ranging from three to six thousand miles. these boats do not do much fishing. they confine themselves to "exploring," which includes the taking of soundings of harbors, especially magdalena bay. apparently the explorers want to know how deep the fish can swim and whether there are any rocks or ledges in their way. that germany, japan and italy are not working toward peaceful ends in mexico is slowly dawning upon the mexican government. influential government and trade-union leaders have repeatedly shown their dislike of nazism and fascism and have urged propaganda against them. on the morning of october , , freiherr riedt von collenberg, nazi minister to mexico, telephoned the japanese and italian ministers to suggest a joint meeting to discuss steps to counteract the attacks on fascism and their countries. the japanese minister, sacchiro koshda, suave and skilled in such matters, thought it would not be wise to meet in any of the legations. the italian minister suggested the offices of the italian union on san cosne avenue. at half past one in the afternoon of october , the ministers arrived, each in a taxi instead of the legation car which carries a conspicuous diplomatic license plate. at this secret meeting which lasted until after four, they concluded that it would be unwise for them personally to take any steps to counteract the anti-fascist activities--that it would be wiser to work indirectly through fascist organizations like the confederation of the middle class and its associated bodies. a few days earlier each minister had received a letter from several organizations allied with the confederation of the middle class. it was an offer to help the berlin-tokyo-rome combination. a free translation of the passage which the ministers discussed (from the letter received by the japanese minister which i now have) follows: "we, exactly like the representatives of the three powers, love our fatherland and are disposed to any sacrifice to prevent the intervention of these elements [jews and communists] in our politics, in which, unfortunately, they have begun to have great influence. and we will employ, and are employing, all legal methods of struggle to make an end of them." the phrase "legal methods" is frequently employed by those who suggest illegal activity. the german minister knew that the _union nacionalista mexicana_, one of the signers of the letter, was run by escobar, and that carmen calero, place de la concepcion, mexico city, an elderly woman physician active in many fascist organizations, was a member of the _partido anti-reelectionista accion_, another of the signers. one month later the various fascist groups got enough money to launch an intensive pro-fascist drive under the usual guise of fighting communism. josé luis noriega, secretary of the nationalist youth of mexico, which also signed the letters to the ministers, left for the united states to organize an anti-cardenas drive. at the same time, carmen calero left on a mysterious mission to puebla on november , , with a letter from escobar to j. trinidad mata, publisher of the local paper _avance_. she carried still another letter addressed to their "distinguished comrades," without mentioning names, and signed by both escobar and ovidio pedrero valenzuela, president of the _accion civica nacionalista_. the "distinguished comrades" to whom she presented the letter were the nazi honorary consul in puebla, carl petersen, avenida , oriente , and a japanese agent named l. yuzinratsa with whom the consul has been in repeated conferences. six weeks after the secret meeting of the japanese, german and italian ministers, and one week after she went to puebla, dr. carmen calero got twenty-two kilos of dynamite and stored it in a house at juan de la mateos, in mexico city. she, her sister, colonel valenzuela, and four others, met at her home and laid plans to assassinate president cárdenas by blowing up his train when he left on a proposed trip to sonora. on november , , the secret police made a series of simultaneous raids upon dr. calero's and valenzuela's homes and the house where the dynamite was cached. they arrested everyone in the houses. but once the arrests had been made, the mexican government found itself in a quandary. to bring the prisoners to trial would involve foreign governments and create an international scandal; so cárdenas personally ordered the secret police to release them. the arrests, however, scared the wits out of the ministers, and their horror was not lessened when they discovered that the letters from the fascist organizations had vanished from their files. they wouldn't even answer the telephone when one of the released fascist leaders called. it was then that the mexican fascists decided to send a special messenger to francisco franco in spain (november , ) with the request that franco intercede to get money from hitler to help overthrow cárdenas, since the nazi minister was too scared to cooperate. the special messenger was fernando ostos mora. he never got there. footnotes: [ ] in may, , cedillo launched an abortive rebellion and is now being hunted by the mexican government. [ ] after cedillo's defeat von merck fled to new york and went to germany. v _surrounding the panama canal_ there is a little shirt shop in colon, panama, on calle a between avenida herrera and avenida amador guerrero, whose red and black painted shingle announces that lola osawa is the proprietor. across the street from her shirt shop, where the red light district begins, is a bar frequented by natives, soldiers and sailors. tourists seldom go there, for it is a bit off the beaten track. in front of the bar is a west indian boy with a tripod and camera with a telescopic lens. he never photographs natives, and wandering tourists pass him by, but he is there every day from eight in the morning until dark. his job is to photograph everyone who shows an undue interest in the little shirt shop and particularly anyone who enters or leaves it. usually he snaps your picture from across the street, but if he misses you he darts across and waits to take another shot when you come out. i saw him take my picture when i entered the store. it was almost high noon and lola was not yet up. the business upon which she and her husband are supposed to depend for a living was in the hands of two giggling young panamanian girls who sat idly at two ancient singer sewing machines. "you got shirts?" i asked. without troubling to rise and wait on me, they pointed to a glass case stretched across the room and barring quick entrance to the shop proper. i examined the assortment in the case, counting a total of twenty-eight shirts. "i don't especially like these," i said. "got any others?" "no more," one of them giggled. "where's lola?" "upstairs," the other said, motioning with her thumb to the ceiling. "looks like you're doing a rushing business, eh?" they looked puzzled and i explained: "busy, eh?" "busy? no. no busy." there is little work for them and neither lola nor they care a whoop whether or not you buy any of the shop's stock of twenty-eight shirts. lola herself pays little attention to the business from which she obviously cannot earn enough to pay the rent, let alone keep herself and her husband, pay two girls and a lookout. the little shirt shop is a cubbyhole about nine feet square, its wooden walls painted a pale, washed-out blue. a deck which cuts the store's height in half, forms a little balcony which is covered by a green and yellow print curtain stretched across it. to the right, casually covered by another print curtain, is a red painted ladder by which the deck is reached. on the deck, at the extreme left, where it is not perceptible from the street or the shop, is another tiny ladder which reaches to the ceiling. if you stand on the ladder and press against the ceiling directly over it, a well-oiled trap door will open soundlessly and lead you into lola's bedroom above the shop. in front of the window with the blue curtain is a worn bed, the hard mattress neatly covered with a counterpane. at the head of the mattress is a mended tear. it is in this mattress that lola hides photographs of extraordinary military and naval importance. i saw four of them. the charming little seamstress is one of the most capable of the japanese espionage agents operating in the canal zone area. lola osawa is not her right name. she is chiyo morasawa, who arrived at balboa from yokahama on the japanese steamship "anyo maru" on may , , and promptly disappeared for almost a year. when she appeared again, she was lola osawa, seamstress. she has been an active japanese agent for almost ten years, specializing in getting photographs of military importance. her husband, who entered panama without a panamanian visa on his passport, is a reserve officer in the japanese navy. he lives with lola in the room above the shop, never does any work though he passes as a merchant, and is always wandering around with a camera. occasionally he vanishes to japan. his last trip was in . at that time he stayed there over a year. to defend the ten-mile-wide and forty-six-mile-long strip of land, lakes and canal which the republic of panama leased to the united states "in perpetuity," the army, navy and air corps have woven a network of secret fortifications, laid mines and placed anti-aircraft guns. foreign spies and international adventurers play a sleepless game to learn these military and naval secrets. the isthmus is a center of intrigue, plotting, conniving, conspiracy and espionage, with the intelligence departments of foreign governments bidding high for information. for the capture or disablement of the canal by an enemy would mean that american ships would have to go around the horn to get from one coast to another--a delay which in time of war might prove to be the difference between victory and defeat. because of the efficiency and speed of modern communication and transportation, any region within five hundred to a thousand miles of a military objective is considered in the "sensitive zone," especially if it is of great strategic importance. hence, espionage activities embrace central and south american republics which may have to be used by an enemy as a base of operations. costa rica, north of the canal, and colombia, south of it, are beehives of secret japanese, nazi and italian activities. special efforts are made to buy or lease land "for colonization," but the land chosen is such that it can be turned into an air base almost overnight. for decades japanese in the canal zone area have been photographing everything in sight, not only around the canal, but for hundreds of miles north and south of it; and the japanese fishing fleet has taken soundings of the waters and harbors along the coast. since the conclusion of the japanese-nazi "anti-communist pact," nazi agents have been sent to german colonies in central and south america to organize them, carry on propaganda and cooperate secretly with japanese agents. italy, which had been only mildly interested in central america, has become extremely active in cultivating the friendship of central american republics since she joined the tokyo-berlin tie-up. let me illustrate: the recognized vulnerability of the canal has caused the united states to plan another through nicaragua. the friendship of the nicaraguan government and people, therefore, is of great importance to us from both a commercial and a military standpoint. it is likewise of importance to others. italy undertook to gain nicaragua's friendship when she joined the japanese-nazi line-up. first, she offered scholarships, with all expenses paid, for nicaraguan students to study fascism in italy. then, on december , , about one month after a secret nazi agent arrived in central america with orders to step on the propaganda and organizational activity, the italian s.s. "leme" sailed out of naples with a cargo of guns, armored cars, mountain artillery, machine guns and a considerable amount of munitions. on january , , the secretary of the italian legation in san josé, costa rica, flew to managua, nicaragua, to witness the delivery of arms which arrived in managua on january , . diplomatic representatives do not usually witness purely business transactions, but this was a shipment worth $ , which the italian government knew nicaragua could not pay. but, as one of the results, italy today has a firm foothold in the country through which the united states hopes to build another canal. the international espionage underground world, which knew that the shipment of arms was coming, has it that japan, germany and italy split the cost of the arms among themselves to gain the friendship of the nicaraguan government. a flood of nazi propaganda sent on short-wave beams is directed at central and south america from germany. in spanish, german, portuguese and english, regular programs are sent across at government expense. government subsidized news agencies flood the newspapers with "news dispatches" which they sell at a nominal price or give away. the programs and the "news dispatches" explain and glorify the totalitarian form of government, and since many of the sister "republics" are dictatorships, they are ideologically sympathetic and receptive. the nazis are strong in colombia, south of the canal, with a bund training regularly in military maneuvers at cali. since the japanese-nazi pact, the japanese have established a colony of several hundred at corinto in the cauca valley, thirty miles from cali. the japanese colony was settled on land carefully chosen--long, level, flat acres which overnight can be turned into an air base for a fleet landed from an airplane carrier or assembled on the spot. and it is near cali that alejandro tujun, a japanese in constant touch with the japanese foreign office, is at this writing dickering for the purchase of , acres of level land for "colonization." on such an acreage enough military men could be colonized to give the united states a first-class headache in time of war. it is two hours flying time from cali to the canal. the entrances on either side of the panama canal are secretly mined. the location of these mines is one of the most carefully guarded secrets of the american navy and one of the most sought after by international spies. the japanese, who have been fishing along the west coast and panamanian waters for years, are the only fishermen who find it necessary to use sounding lines to catch fish. sounding lines are used to measure the depths of the waters and to locate submerged ledges and covered rocks in this once mountainous area. any fleet which plans to approach the canal or use harbors even within several hundred miles north or south of the canal must have this information to know just where to go and how near to shore they can approach before sending out landing parties. the use of sounding lines by japanese fishermen and the mysterious going and comings of their boats became so pronounced that the panamanian government could not ignore them. it issued a decree prohibiting all aliens from fishing in panamanian waters. in april, , the "taiyo maru," flying the american flag but manned by japanese, hauled up her anchor in the dead of night and with all lights out chugged from the unrestricted waters into the area where the mines are generally believed to be laid. the "taiyo" operated out of san diego, california, and once established a world's record of being one hundred and eleven days at sea without catching a single fish. the captain, piloting the boat from previous general knowledge of the waters rather than by chart, unfortunately ran aground. the fishing vessel was stranded on a submerged ledge and couldn't get off. in the morning the authorities found her, took off her captain and crew--all of whom had cameras--and asked why the boat was in restricted waters. "i didn't know where i was," said the captain. "we were fishing for bait." "but bait is caught in the daytime by all other fishermen," the officials pointed out. "we thought we might catch some at night," the captain explained. since , when rumors of the japanese-nazi pact began to circulate throughout the world, the japanese have made several attempts to get a foothold right at the entrance to the canal on the pacific side. they have moved heaven and earth for permission to establish a refrigeration plant on taboga island, some twelve miles out on the pacific ocean and facing the canal. taboga island would make a perfect base from which to study the waters and fortifications along the coast and the islands between the canal and taboga. when this and other efforts failed and there was talk of banning alien fishing in panamanian waters, yoshitaro amano, who runs a store in panama and has far flung interests all along the pacific coasts of central and south america, organized the amano fisheries, ltd. in july, , he built in japan the "amano maru," as luxurious a fishing boat as ever sailed the seas. with a purring diesel engine, it has the longest cruising range of any fishing vessel afloat, a powerful sending and receiving radio with a permanent operator on board, and an extremely secret japanese invention enabling it to detect and locate mines. like all other japanese in the canal zone area, amano, rated a millionaire in chile, goes in for a little photography. in september, , word spread along the international espionage grapevine that nicaragua, through which the united states was planning another canal, had some sort of peculiar fortifications in the military zone at managua. shortly thereafter the japanese millionaire appeared at managua with his expensive camera and headed straight for the military zone. thirty minutes after he arrived ( : a.m. of october , ), he was in a nicaraguan jail charged with suspected espionage and with taking pictures in prohibited areas. i mention this incident because the luxurious boat was registered under the panamanian flag and immediately began a series of actions so peculiar that the republic of panama canceled the panamanian registry. the "amano" promptly left for puntarenas, costa rica, north of the canal, which has a harbor big enough to take care of almost all the fleets in the world. many of the japanese ships went there, sounding lines and all, when alien fishing was prohibited in panamanian waters. today the "amano maru" is a mystery ship haunting puntarenas and the waters between costa rica and panama and occasionally vanishing out to sea with her wireless crackling constantly. some seventy fishing vessels operating out of san diego, california, fly the american flag. san diego is of great importance to a potential enemy because it is a naval as well as an air base. of these seventy vessels flying the american flag, ten are either partially or entirely manned by japanese. let me illustrate how boats fly the american flag: on march , , the s.s. "columbus" was registered as an american fishing vessel under certificate of registry no. , , issued at los angeles. the vessel is owned by the columbus fishing company of los angeles. the captain, r.i. suenaga, is a twenty-six-year-old japanese, born in hawaii and a full-fledged american citizen. the navigator and one sailor are also japanese, born in hawaii but american citizens. the crew of ten consists entirely of japanese born in japan. the ten boats which fly the american flag but are manned by japanese crews are: "alert," "asama," "columbus," "flying cloud," "magellan," "oipango," "san lucas," "santa margarita," "taiyo," "wesgate." each boat carries a short-wave radio and has a cruising range of from three to five thousand miles, which is extraordinary for just little fishing boats. they operate on the high seas and where they go, only the master and crew and those who send them know. the only time anyone gets a record of them is when they come in to refuel or repair. in the event of war half a dozen of these fishing vessels, stretched across the pacific at intervals of five hundred or a thousand miles, would make an excellent system of communication for messages which could be relayed from one to another and in a few moments reach their destination. in colón on the atlantic side and in panama on the pacific, east and west literally meet at the crossroads of the world. the winding streets are crowded with the brown and black people who comprise three-fourths of panama's population. on these teeming, hot, tropical streets are some three hundred japanese storekeepers, fishermen, commission merchants and barbers-few of whom do much business, but all of whom sit patiently in their doorways, reading the newspapers or staring at the passer-by. i counted forty-seven japanese barbers in panama and eight in colón. in panama they cluster on avenida central and calle carlos a. mendoza. on both these streets rents are high and, with the exception of saturdays when the natives come for haircuts, the amount of business the barbers do does not warrant the three to five men in each shop. yet, though they earn scarcely enough to meet their rent, there is not a lowly barber among them who does not have a leica or contax camera with which, until the sinking of the "panay," they wandered around, photographing the canal, the islands around the canal, the coast line, and the topography of the region. they live in panama with a sort of permanence, but nine out of ten do not have families--even those advanced in years. periodically some of them take trips to japan, though, if you watch their business carefully, you know they could not possibly have earned enough to pay for their passage. and those in the outlying districts don't even pretend to have a business. they just sit and wait, without any visible means of support. it is not until you study their locations, as in the province of chorrera, that you find they are in spots of strategic military or naval importance. since there were so many barbers in panama, the need for an occasional gathering without attracting too much attention became apparent. and so the little barber, a. sonada, who shaves and cuts hair at carlos a. mendoza street, organized a "labor union," the barbers' association. the association will not accept barbers of other nationalities but will allow japanese fishermen to attend meetings. they meet on the second floor of the building at carlos a. mendoza street, where many of the fishermen live. at their meetings one guard stands outside the room and another downstairs at the entrance to the building. on hot sunday afternoons when the barbers' association gathers, the diplomatic representatives of other nations are usually taking a siesta or are down at the beach, but tetsuo umimoto, the japanese consul, climbs the stairs in the stuffy atmosphere and sits in on the deliberations of the barbers and visiting fishermen. it is the only barbers' union i ever heard of whose deliberations were considered important enough for a diplomatic representative to attend. this labor union has another extraordinary custom. it has a special fund to put competitors up in business. whenever a japanese arrives in panama, the barbers' association opens a shop for him, buys the chairs-provides him with everything necessary to compete with them for the scarce trade in the shaving and shearing industry! at these meetings the barber sonada, who is only a hired hand, sits beside the japanese consul at the head of the room. umimoto remains standing until sonada is seated. when another barber, t. takano, who runs a little hole-in-the-wall shop and lives at avenida b, shows up, both sonada and the consul rise, bow very low and remain standing until he motions them to be seated. maybe it's just an old japanese custom, but the consul does not extend the same courtesy to the other barbers. in attendance at these guarded meetings of the barbers' union and visiting fishermen, is katarino kubayama, a gentle-faced, soft-spoken, middle-aged businessman with no visible business. he is fifty-five years old now and lives at calle colón, casa no. . way back in kubayama was a barefoot japanese fisherman like the others now on the west coast. one morning two japanese battleships appeared and anchored in the harbor. from the reed-and vegetation covered jungle shore, a sun-dried, brown _panga_ was rowed out by the barefooted fisherman using the short quick strokes of the native. his brown, soiled dungarees were rolled up to his calves; his shirt, open at the throat, was torn and his head was covered by a ragged straw hat. the silvery notes of a bugle sounded. the crew of the flagship lined up at attention. the officers, including the commander, also waited stiffly at attention while the fisherman tied his _panga_ to the ship's ladder. as kubayama clambered on board, the officers saluted. with a great show of formality they escorted him to the commander's quarters, the junior officer following behind at a respectful distance. two hours later kubayama was escorted to the ladder again, the trumpet sounded its salute, and the ragged fisherman rowed away--all conducted with a courtesy extended only to a high ranking officer of the japanese navy. today kubayama works closely with the japanese consul. together they call upon the captains of japanese ships whenever they come to panama, and are closeted with them for hours at a time. kubayama says he is trying to sell supplies to the captains. japanese in the canal zone area change their names periodically or come with several passports all prepared. there is, for instance, shoichi yokoi, who commutes between japan and panama without any commercial reasons. on june , , the japanese foreign office in tokyo issued passport no. , to him under the name of masakazu yokoy with permission to visit all central and south american countries. though he had permission for all, he applied only for a panamanian visa (september , ), after which he settled down for a while among the fishermen and barbers. on july , , the foreign office in tokyo handed yokoy another passport under the name of shoichi yokoi, together with visas which filled the whole passport and overflowed onto several extra pages. shoichi or masakazu is now traveling with both passports and a suitcase full of film for his camera. several years ago a japanese named t. tahara came to panama as the traveling representative of a newly organized company, the official japanese association of importers and exporters for latin america, and established headquarters in the offices of the boyd bros. shipping agency in panama. nelson rounsevell, publisher of the _panama american_, who has fought japanese colonization in canal areas, printed a story that this big businessman got very little mail, made no efforts to establish business contacts and, in talking with the few businessmen he met socially, showed a complete lack of knowledge about business. tahara was talked about and orders promptly came through for him to return to japan. this was in . half a year later, a suave japanese named takahiro wakabayashi appeared in panama as the representative of the federation of japanese importers and exporters, the same organization under a slightly changed name. wakabayashi checked into the cool and spacious hotel tivoli, run by the united states government on canal zone territory and, protected by the guardian wings of the somewhat sleepy american eagle, washed up and made a beeline for the boyd bros. office, where he was closeted with the general manager for over an hour. wakabayashi's business interests ranged from taking pictures of the canal in specially chartered planes, to negotiating for manganese deposits and attempting to establish an "experimental station to grow cotton in costa rica." the big manganese-and-cotton-photographer man fluttered all over central and south america, always with his camera. one week he was in san josé, costa rica; the next he made a hurried special flight to bogotá, colombia (november , ); then back to panama and costa rica. he finally got permission from costa rica to establish his experimental station. in obtaining that concession he was aided by giuseppe sotanis, an italian gentleman wearing the fascist insignia in the lapel of his coat, whom he met at the gran hotel in san josé. sotanis, a former italian artillery officer, is a nattily dressed, slender man in his early forties who apparently does nothing in san josé except study his immaculate finger nails, drink scotch-and-sodas, collect stamps and vanish every few months only to reappear again, still studying his immaculate finger nails. it was sotanis who arranged for nicaragua to get the shipment of arms and munitions which i mentioned earlier. this uncommunicative italian stamp collector paved the way for wakabayashi to meet raul gurdian, the costa rican minister of finance, and ramon madrigal, vice-president of the government-owned national bank and a prominent costa rican merchant. shortly after costa rica gave wakabayashi permission to experiment with his cotton growing, both the minister of finance and the vice-president of the government bank took trips to japan. the ink was scarcely dry on the agreement to permit the japanese to experiment in cotton growing before a japanese steamer appeared in puntarenas with twenty-one young and alert japanese and a bag of cotton seed. they were "laborers," wakabayashi explained. the "laborers" were put up in first-class hotels and took life easy while wakabayashi and one of the laborers started hunting a suitable spot on which to plant their bag of seed. all sorts of land was offered to them, but wakabayashi wanted no land anywhere near a hill or a mountain. he finally found what he wanted half-way between puntarenas and san josé--long, level, flat acres. he wanted this land at any price, finally paying for it an annual rental equal to the value of the acres. the twenty-one "laborers" who had been brought from chimbota, peru, where there is a colony of twenty thousand japanese, planted an acre with cotton seed and sat them down to rest, imperturbable, silent, waiting. the plowed land is now as smooth and level as the acres at corinto in colombia, south of the canal. the harbor at puntarenas, as i mentioned earlier, would make a splendid base of operations for an enemy fleet. not far from shore are the flat, level acres of the "experimental station" and the twenty-one japanese who could quickly turn these smooth acres into an air base. it is north of the panama canal and within two hours flying time of it, as corinto is south of the canal and within two hours flying time. the boyd bros. steamship agency, to which tahara and wakabayashi went immediately upon arrival, is an american concern. the manager, with whom each was closeted, is hans hermann heildelk of avenida peru, no. , panama city, and, though efforts have been made to keep it secret, part owner of the agency. heildelk is also the son-in-law of ernst f. neumann, the nazi consul to panama. on november , , heildelk returned from japan by way of germany. five days later, on november , , his father-in-law, who, besides being nazi consul, owns in partnership with fritz kohpcke, one of the largest hardware stores in panama, told his clerks that he and his partner would work a little late that night. neither partner went out to eat and the corrugated sliding door of the store, at norte no. in the heart of the panamanian commercial district, was left open about three feet from the ground so that passers-by could not see inside unless they stooped deliberately. at eight o'clock a car drew up at the corner of the darkened street in front of neumann & kohpcke, ltd. two unidentified men, heildelk and walter scharpp, former nazi consul at colón who had also just returned from germany, stepped out, and stooping under the partly open door, entered the store. once inside scharpp quietly assumed command. to all practical purposes they were on german territory, for the nazi consulate office was in the store. scharpp announced that the group had been very carefully chosen because of their known loyalty to nazi germany and because of their desire to promote friendship for germany in latin american countries and to cooperate with the japanese, who had their own organization functioning efficiently in central and south america. "some of these countries are already friendly," said scharpp, "and we can work undisturbed provided we do not interfere in the panama canal zone. it is north american territory, and you will have trouble from their officials and intelligence officers as well as political pressure from the states. you understand?" "panama is friendly to north america," said kohpcke. "precisely. at the present time it is not wise to do much more than broadcast, but at a propitious time we shall be able to explain national socialism to the panamanians." he looked at kohpcke, whose left eyelid droops more than his right, giving him the appearance of being perpetually sleepy. kohpcke looked at neumann. "tonight we want to organize a bund in panama. in a few days i am going to costa rica to organize another and then leave for valparaiso." the others nodded. they had been informed that scharpp was to have complete charge of nazi activities from valparaiso to panama. that night they established _der deutsch-ausländische nazi genossenschafts bund_, with the understanding that it function secretly. the list of members was to be controlled by neumann. scharpp explained that secrecy was advisable to avoid antagonizing the panamanian government, "which is friendly to italy and we can cooperate with the italian legation here." "the japanese are more important that the italians," kohpcke pointed out. "the japanese will work with us," heildelk assured him. "but we can't be seen with them--" "fritz [kohpcke] will call a meeting in jacobs' house," said scharpp. "jacobs!" exclaimed one of the unidentified men. "you don't mean the austrian consul!" scharpp nodded slowly. "he is generally believed to be anti-nazi. his partner spent twelve years in japan and speaks japanese perfectly. the japanese consul knows and trusts both. we cannot find a better place." on the night of december , , forty carefully selected germans who, during the intervening month had become members of the bund in panama, arrived singly and in small groups at the home of august jacobs-kantstein, panamanian merchant and austrian honorary consul. five japanese, headed by tetsuo umimoto, also came. one, k. ishibashi, formerly captain of the "hokkai maru" and a reserve officer in the japanese navy; k. ohihara, a japanese agent staying with the japanese consul but having no visible reason to be in panama; two captains of japanese fishing boats and a. sonada, the barber who organized the labor union and in whose presence the consul does not sit until the barber is seated. throughout the meeting, presided over by the elderly but tall and soldierly austrian consul, the japanese said little. it was primarily the first get-together for nazi-japanese cooperation in the canal zone area. "mr. umimoto has not said much," remarked jacobs. "there is so little to say when there are so many present," said the little consul apologetically. the others understood. the japanese were too shrewd to discuss detailed plans with so many present. a few days later umimoto called upon heildelk and was closeted with him for three hours. shortly after that sonada made a hurried trip to japan. vi _secret agents arrive in america_ germany's interest in the panama canal became acute only after japan joined the rome-berlin axis "to exchange information about communism"--an exchange which appears to be more concerned with military secrets than with communism. the activities of japanese and nazi agents in latin american countries and especially around the canal, the organizing of a fascist rebellion in mexico to the south of us and intensive propaganda carried on in canada to the north, are but part of the broad invasion of the western hemisphere by the fifth column--an invasion which began almost immediately after hitler got into power. since the united states is the most important country in the americas, it was and is subject to special concentration by secret nazi agents. the first threads spun spread out in many directions, with propaganda as the base from which to broaden espionage activities. one of the earliest of the secret agents sent to this country was an american, colonel edwin emerson, soldier of fortune, mediocre author and fairly competent war correspondent. emerson lived at east th street, new york city and had an office in room at battery place, the address of the german consulate general. room was rented by a representative of the german consul general. the rent paid was nominal and in at least one instance, to avoid its being traced, it was paid in cash by hitler's diplomatic representative. prior to the renting of this room, emerson had desk space with the german consulate general for six weeks. the may , , issue of the _amerika deutsche post_, a nazi propaganda organ published in new york, carried an advertisement stating that the editor of this paper made his headquarters in emerson's room. this was the first indication that emerson had arrived in this country to handle nazi propaganda. for many years emerson had wandered about the globe covering assignments for newspapers and magazines and always bragging about his americanism and his "patriotism." one of his great boasts was that he was with roosevelt's rough riders during the spanish-american war; what he never told was that roosevelt brought him back from cuba in irons. from his room paid for by the german consul general, emerson launched the "friends of germany."[ ] this organization was the chief disseminator of pro-hitler and anti-democratic propaganda in the united states, but the colonel directed the propaganda somewhat stupidly. the "friends of germany" held meetings with "storm troops" in full uniform; bitter attacks were made against jews and catholics at large mass meetings. visiting officers and sailors, from german ships docked in new york, appeared at these meetings to preach fascism and nazism, until a wave of resentment swept the country. one of the keynotes of these talks was sounded by edward f. sullivan of boston at a meeting held at turnhalle, lexington avenue and th street, on june th, , when he repeatedly referred to jews as "dirty, stinking kikes" and announced that he proposed to organize a strong nazi group in boston. propaganda minister goebbels in berlin became annoyed at the public reaction, and the entire nazi foreign propaganda service was reorganized. emerson was ordered back to germany for explicit instructions on how to carry on propaganda without antagonizing the entire country. in october, , royal scott gulden (who has no connection with the mustard business, but is a distant relative of the head of it), who had been cooperating with emerson, tried to organize an espionage system to watch communists. in this effort gulden enlisted the aid of fred r. marvin, a professional patriot. at three o'clock on the afternoon of march , , a very secret meeting was called by gulden at east th street. present were gulden, j. schmidt and william dudley pelley, head of the silver shirts. the meeting decided to adopt anti-semitic propaganda--to play on latent anti-semitism--as part of the first campaign to attract followers. the country was in a serious economic crisis with considerable unrest throughout the land. both hitler and mussolini got into power in periods of great unrest by promising peace and security to the bewildered people. men of means were terrified by fears of "revolution" and this group, directed by emerson, began to preach that the revolution might come any minute and that the jews were responsible for moscow, the third international, the mississippi flood and anything else that troubled the people. when the meeting ended the "order of ' "[ ] had been born and royal scott gulden appointed secretary to direct espionage and propaganda. from the very beginning emerson tried to get people into places which would provide access to important information. on february , , a merger of the republican senatorial and congressional campaign committees to conduct the party's congressional campaign independent of the republican national committee was announced in a joint statement by senator daniel o. hastings of delaware and representative chester c. bolton of ohio, chairmen, respectively, of the two committees. several weeks before this announcement, the two committees had employed sidney brooks, for years head of the research bureau of the international telephone and telegraph company. brooks, because of his position, was close in the confidences of republican senators and congressmen. he heard state secrets and had his fingers on the political pulse of the country. shortly after he took charge of the joint committee for the senators and congressmen, brooks made a hurried visit to new york. on march , , he drove to the hotel edison and went directly to room where a man registered as "william d. goodales--los angeles," was awaiting him. mr. "goodales" was william dudley pelley, head of the silver shirts, who had come to new york to confer with brooks and gulden. after this conference the two went to gulden's office where they had a confidential talk that lasted over an hour during which an agreement was made to merge the order of ' with the silver shirts so as to carry on their propaganda more effectively. brooks himself, on his mysterious visits to new york, went to battery place, which houses the german consulate general. at that address he visited one john e. kelly. in a letter to kelly dated as far back as december , , he wrote: "i will be in new york friday to monday and can be reached in the usual manner--gramercy - (care emerson)." sidney brooks also was a member of the secret order of ' . before anyone could join he had to give, in his own handwriting and sealed with his own fingerprints, certain details of his life. brooks' application for membership in this espionage group organized with the help of a nazi sent to this country, revealed that he was the son of the nazi agent, colonel edwin emerson, and that he was using his mother's maiden name so that connection could not be traced too easily. [illustration: application by sidney brooks for membership in the secret order of ' , showing him to be a son of the nazi agent, colonel edwin emerson.] one of the other early propagandists who is still active as a "patriot" was edward h. hunter, executive secretary of the industrial defense association, inc., water street, boston. early in , while the negotiations for the merging of the espionage order and the silver shirts were going on, this rooter for american liberty heard germany was spending money in this country and on march , he wrote to the "friends of germany": "under separate cover we are sending you twenty-five copies of our _swan song of hate_ as requested and you may have as many as you wish. "several times i have conferred with dr. tippelskirch and at one time suggested that if he could secure the financial backing from germany, i could start a real campaign along lines that would be very effective. "all that is necessary to return america to americans is to organize the many thousands of persons who are victims of judaism and i am ready to do that at any time." dr. tippelskirch, with whom hunter discussed getting money from germany for anti-semitic work, was the german consul in boston. the activities of the early agents ranged from propaganda to smuggling and espionage, though at the beginning the espionage was on a minor scale. it took several years of organizing pro-german groups in this country before they could pick the most reliable for the more dangerous spy work. much of the propaganda was sent in openly through the mails, but some of it was of so vicious and anti-democratic character that the propaganda ministry in germany decided it was wiser to smuggle it in from nazi ships. one of the chief smugglers was guenther orgell,[ ] at that time head of the "friends of germany," through whom the propaganda was distributed to various branches of the organization throughout the country. in those days orgell lived at west th street, new york city,[ ] and was ostensibly employed as an electrical engineer by the raymond roth co., west th street. let me illustrate how he worked: at twenty minutes to ten on the evening of march , , the north german lloyd "europa" was preparing to sail at midnight. the gaily illuminated boat was filled with men and women, many in evening dress, seeing friends off to europe. german stewards, all of them members of the ship's nazi _gruppe_, stood about smiling, bowing, but watching every passenger and visitor carefully. people wandered all over the boat. many visited the library on the main promenade deck, which has a german post office. there was a great deal of laughter and chatter. orgell, dressed in an ordinary business suit and carrying a folded newspaper in his hands, wandered in. catching the post office steward's eye, he casually took four letters from his coat pocket and handed them to the steward who as casually slipped them into his pocket. there were no stamps on the letters, which, incidentally, constituted a federal offense. still so casual in manner that the average observer would not even have noticed the transfer of the letters, orgell wandered over to a desk in the library and rapidly wrote another letter--so important, apparently, that he dared not carry it with him for fear of a mishap. the letter was sealed and handed to the steward. the library had a great many visitors. no one seemed to be paying any attention to this visitor or passenger talking to the steward. with a quick glance around him, orgell took in everyone in the library and seemed satisfied. he caught the steward's eye again and nodded. the steward opened a closet in the library, the second one left of the main aisle on the port side toward the stern of the boat. a thin package was taken from its hiding place and quickly slipped to orgell who covered it with his newspaper and promptly left the ship. this was the manner in which nazi secret instructions and spy reports were sent and received--a procedure that kept up until the arrest of the nazi spies who were tried late in . when orgell needed trusted men to deliver messages to and from the boats as well as to smuggle off material, he usually called upon the american branch of the _stahlhelm_, or steel helmets, which used to drill secretly in anticipation of _der tag_ in this country. only when he felt that he was not being watched, or only in the event of the most important messages, did he go aboard the ships personally. orgell's liaison man in the smuggling activities was frank mutschinski, a painting contractor who used to live at garland court, garritsen beach, n.y. mutschinski came to the united states from germany on the s.s. "george washington," june , . he was commander of one of the american branches of the _stahlhelm_ which had offices at east th street, new york. while he was in command, he received his orders direct from franz seldte, subsequently minister of labor under hitler. seldte at that time was in magdeburg, germany. branches of the _stahlhelm_ were established by him and orgell in rochester, chicago, philadelphia, newark, detroit, los angeles and toronto (the first step in the fifth column's invasion of canada). to help orgell in his smuggling activities, mutschinski supplied him with a chief assistant, carl brunkhorst. it was brunkhorst's job to deliver the secret letters. nazi uniforms for american storm troopers were smuggled into this country off german ships by paul bante who lived at east rd street, new york city. bante, at the time he was engaged in the smuggling activities, was a member of the th coast guard as well as the new york national guard. in the early days of organizing the nazi web over the united states, the german agents received cooperation from racketeering "patriots" who saw possibilities of scaring the wits out of the american people by announcing that the "revolution" was just around the corner. the country was in an economic crisis, the american people were bewildered and didn't know which way to turn, there was considerable unrest in the land, and the nazi agents and their american counterparts visualized in hitler's cry that "communism and the jews" were responsible, grand pickings from the scared suckers. since communism, especially in those restless days in the depths of the depression, was the bugaboo of the rich, it was inevitable that some unscrupulous but shrewd observers of the american scene would take advantage of this fear and capitalize on it. one of the chief racketeers, a man who subsequently worked very closely with secret nazi agents in this country, was harry a. jung, honorary general manager of the american vigilant intelligence federation, post office box , chicago. this organization was originally founded to spy on communists and socialists. for a while jung collected from terrified employers by promising to inform them about the threat of revolution--what time it would occur and who would lead it. in return he collected plenty. in time employers got fed up when the rowboat loaded with bomb-throwing bolsheviks failed to arrive from moscow. pickings became slim. jung was badly in need of a new terror-inspiring "issue" with which to collect from the suckers. he found it at the time emerson was sent here from germany. gulden, pelley and their associates were launching an anti-semitic campaign as the first step to attract people to the "friends of germany." jung likewise discovered the "menace of the jew" and peddled it for all it was worth. [illustration: showing the type of literature peddled by patrioteer harry a. jung.] there was an air of secrecy about the whole outfit. even the location of the office in the chicago tribune tower was kept from the membership; all they were given was the post office box number. as soon as he collected enough material from the _daily worker_ and other communist publications, he sent agents to call on the gullible businessmen with horrendous stories of the muscovites now on the high seas on their way to capture the american government. the salesmen collected and in turn got forty per cent of the pickings. when jung heard that william dudley pelley was making money on the jew-and-catholic scare and that others like edward h. hunter of the industrial defense association were talking with the german consul general about getting money from germany for propaganda, he got busy peddling "the protocols of the elders of zion," long discredited as forgeries. armed with these, jung's high pressure salesmen scoured the country, collecting shekels from christian businessmen and getting their forty per cent commissions. it was not long before jung, pelley and others were working in full swing with secret nazi agents sent into this country for propaganda and espionage purposes. footnotes: [ ] subsequently changed to "friends of the new germany" and then to the current "german-american bund." [ ] still functioning on a minor scale. the fifth column has since these early beginnings established much more efficient groups. [ ] following passage of the new law requiring all foreign agents to register, orgell registered with the state department as a german agent. [ ] he now lives at great kills, staten island, n.y. vii _nazi spies and american "patriots"_ once the spadework was done by the early nazi agents sent into the united states, the web rapidly embraced native fascists, racketeering "patriots" and deluded americans who swallowed their propaganda. when japan joined the rome-berlin axis, espionage directed against american naval and military forces became one of the major interests of the foreign agents, especially on the west coast. some five years ago, after the mccormick congressional committee investigation into nazi activities turned up a number of propagandists, there was a lull in their activity until the nation-wide denunciations died out. in the meantime goebbels again ordered the reorganization of the entire propaganda machine in this country. it was during this period that the approaching presidential elections presented an immediate task for the nazis to work on. the roosevelt administration was considered by the nazis both here and in germany as none too friendly to hitler, and before the election got well under way the nazis here, upon instructions from their local leaders who act only upon instructions from the german propaganda bureau, became active in the anti-roosevelt campaign. both nazi agents and "patriotic" american groups working with nazi agents (without much money after the congressional committee's exposés) suddenly found themselves possessed of more than enough capital with which to operate. some of the money came from the nazis and some from anti-roosevelt forces. one of the most vicious of the anti-roosevelt propaganda mediums was established by nazi agents in a carefully hidden printing plant. [illustration: anti-semitic anti-roosevelt handbill issued by the american white guard in california.] no one who got off on the sixth floor at w. ohio st., chicago, and entered the john baumgarth's specialty company, would have suspected anything out of the ordinary about the place. it looked just like hundreds of other business firms where pale girls and anemic-looking men made calendars. people came up on the ancient elevator, attended to their affairs at the desks in front of the door, and left. very few of them ever went behind the enormous piles of cardboard and paper which almost obstructed the passage to the right of the desks. but if you turned into this passage and then turned to the left, you came upon a wooden partition. unless you were watching for it you would think it a wall. there was no indication of what was behind the partition. there was only a shiny yale lock in a door carefully hidden from the eyes of casual visitors. if you knew nothing about it and tried to open the door, you would find it locked. if you knocked or banged on it, there would be no answering sign from the other side, and the young man operating the cutting machine alongside the partition would merely stare at you blankly. but if you knocked three times quickly, paused for a split second and then knocked once more, the door would be opened immediately. without the proper signal all the knocking in the world would not help, for this was the entrance to the carefully guarded publication rooms of the _american gentile_ and the headquarters for nazi anti-democratic activities in the middle west. but even more guarded than the location of the printing plant were the goings and comings of the paper's editor, captain victor dekayville and his financial backer, charles o'brien. this brings me to two of the leading nazi agents in the united states, one of whom originally started the newspaper. certainly none of the american suckers who gave them money to spread pro-nazi propaganda knew that both were masquerading under false names and that one of them is an ex-convict. those social leaders in chicago and san francisco, whose doors were always open to the handsome, dashing prince peter kushubue with his sad eyes and his talk of how the bolsheviki had confiscated his vast estates and family jewels in old russia, may be interested to learn that his highness, the prince, is really--well, let me give a brief sketch of his activities before he became a nazi agent: in , a russian emigré, born in petrograd and christened peter afanassieff or aphanassieff, came to the united states seeking his fortune, preferably in the form of a wealthy heiress. as an ordinary run-of-the-mill afanassieff, he was just an unemployed white russian looking for a job and it didn't take him long to discover that in this democratic country heiresses and their doting papas go nuts over titles. so overnight peter afanassieff blossomed out into prince peter kushubue; and as a prince whose wealth had been confiscated by the bolsheviki, the doors of san francisco society opened to him. afanassieff just barely missed marrying a wealthy heiress on the west coast, and in his despondence he tried his hand at a little forgery. but he picked the wrong outfit to practice penmanship on. he forged a united states treasury check and when the federal men got after him he fled to chicago. he was picked up and on november , , he found himself before a u.s. commissioner who ordered his return to san francisco. on december of the same year he pleaded guilty before federal judge f.j. kerrigan and was given a year and a half. at the trial he admitted to being just an ordinary afanassieff and served his sentence under that name. when he came out he alternated between being prince kushubue and an ordinary afanassieff and then, because the crash had kicked the bottom out of the market for foreign titles, he picked himself a good solid american name: armstrong. he said it was his mother's maiden name. for convenience we'll call him armstrong from now on. when he arrived in chicago in , he met some white russians who were working with harry a. jung on an altogether new translation of the "protocols." jung planned to publish and distribute the forgeries in order to scare the wits out of his christian suckers, but changed his mind when he discovered he could buy them cheaper and resell at a higher price. jung, in turn, introduced armstrong to nazi agents. jung and the ex-convict hit it up. before long armstrong became jung's secret agent no. (jung is no. and always signs his letters to agents with that number. his agents, too, sign only their numbers. they are not supposed even to write the number but every once in a while an agent slips up and scribbles a postscript in his own handwriting. a reproduction of one of no. 's reports to the no. guy appears on the opposite page.) it was not long after jung introduced armstrong to nazi agents that the white russian decided that he could work the racket himself. he began to meet secretly with nazi agents without telling jung about it. their favorite meeting place was at von thenen's tavern, roscoe st., chicago. present at these meetings, usually called by fritz gissibl, head of the "friends of the new germany,"[ ] were armstrong, captain victor dekayville, j.k. leibl (who organized an underground nazi clique in south bend, ind.), oscar pfaus, nick mueller, toni mueller, jose martini, franz schaeffer and gregor buss. when gissibl couldn't attend, his right-hand man leibl acted for him. in march, , armstrong and the others decided to establish a "national alliance" to aid in nazi work. they decided to use the utmost secrecy lest what they were doing and who were behind it, leak out. they met only in private homes and so careful were they that the host of one meeting would not be told where the next meeting was to be held. only a picked handful of the most trusted nazi agents were invited. the first meeting was held at bockhold's home, wave-land ave., chicago; the second at the home of mrs. emma schmid, winthrop ave., chicago. to the second meeting they invited c.o. anderson of diversey parkway, chicago. he was listed by the nazis and the white russians as a good sucker because he had contributed money to jung. [illustration: letter written by secret agent no. (peter afanassieff, _alias_ prince kushubue, _alias_ peter v. armstrong) to no. (harry a. jung).] [illustration: letter showing contact between peter v. armstrong (the white russian ex-convict peter afanassieff) and german publishers of anti-semitic literature.] the white russians and the nazi agents then decided to start a publishing business as the first step to attract followers. they issued a paper called the _gentile front_. they were extremely careful to keep the editorial and publication addresses secret. all mail was sent only to post office box no. in the old chicago post office. the company was named the patriotic publishing co. and with the utmost secrecy editorial offices were established at s. wabash in chicago and the paper printed in the basement at n. kildare where the merrimac press functioned. subsequently, to throw anyone who might be watching them off the trail, they changed the name of the publishing company to the right cause publishing co. and issued an avalanche of nazi propaganda. it was through this secretly organized and secretly functioning propaganda center that harry a. jung, ultra-"patriot," distributed printed attacks on roosevelt just before the presidential election. the _american gentile_, backed by nazi money, published the most insane rantings imaginable. but when one is inclined to dismiss them as insanity, one remembers that it was the same sort of stuff hitler used in winning millions of bewildered germans to his banner. the pre-election issue (october, ) of the _gentile_ will serve as an illustration of what they published and distributed through the united states mails: former congressman louis t. mcfadden[ ] died on october from a stroke. he was sixty years old. the _american gentile_, however, implied that he had been murdered by jews; senator bronson cutting (killed in an airplane crash) also was murdered by jews. huey long was murdered by jews. walter a. liggett, the newspaper editor, was murdered by jews, and it was an international ring of jewish bankers who hired booth to murder abraham lincoln. of course it was crazy, but the coal digger in kentucky or the bedeviled farmer in the middle west who couldn't pay his taxes or the unemployed worker in an industrial center who couldn't find a job did not know history any too well nor understand the workings of the economic system; and when they were told by newspapers brought to them by the united states government mails that their economic difficulties were due to a jewish-communist plot, that roosevelt was a jew and was controlled by jews and communists, some of them were prone to believe it. with this irresponsible propaganda anti-semitism grew. men and women were attracted to the nazi web without dreaming of the forces disseminating the propaganda of the motives behind them. the most capable of those drawn into the nazi propaganda machine were chosen for more serious work. some were used for propaganda; others were given definite espionage assignments. the espionage and propaganda divisions of the nazi machine in this country are separate bodies. they overlap only in serving as a recruiting ground. the smuggling of anti-democratic propaganda off nazi ships entering american ports was exposed by the mccormick congressional committee, but it stopped only for a brief period. the nazi ships which bring in propaganda also bring secret instructions to agents here and take back their reports. to eliminate tell-tale evidence, dr. george gyssling, nazi consul in los angeles, has paid out cash to leaders of the german propaganda machine on the west coast. affidavits to this effect are in my possession. the headquarters for the west coast propaganda machine which dabbles a little in espionage, is the _deutsches haus_, w. th street, los angeles. the building is supposed to be merely a meeting place for german-americans and sympathizers of the hitler regime. actually its functions are far more sinister. the _deutsches haus_, before it was turned into a center of nazi activity, had been a typical los angeles home. when the nazis took it over, they ripped out several of the front rooms and turned it into a barn-like affair with a skylight overhead and a raised platform from which speakers sing the praises of hitler and fascism. in the rear part of the hall is a combined bar and restaurant where the german-americans drink their beer and whiskies and plot the smuggling of propaganda from nazi ships and the carrying on of espionage against american military and naval forces. i use the word "plot" for precisely what it means. from this house, naturalized american citizens and native americans direct espionage and propaganda activities paid for by a foreign government and designed against the peace and security of the united states. the leader of this group, hermann schwinn, was appointed by minister of propaganda goebbels in germany and is the recipient of personal letters of praise from adolf hitler for his work. schwinn is a naturalized citizen,[ ] a comparatively young man in his early thirties, ruddy-faced and with a thin, quivering mustache on his upper lip. this little führer's office is just off the meeting hall and adjoins the small bookstore where the purchaser can get pamphlets, books, and newspapers attacking democracy. when i called upon schwinn at the nazi headquarters and introduced myself, he smiled amiably and granted my request for an interview. the german-american bund, he explained immediately (the reorganized friends of the new germany), is now a patriotic organization, consisting only of american citizens. the german-american bund, schwinn continued as we seated ourselves in his office, was now a "patriotic organization striving to create among americans a better understanding of nazi germany, to combat anti-nazi propaganda and the boycott against germany, and to fight communism." he took about ten minutes to explain their peaceful objectives and their great love for the united states. "everything is america for the americans and to fight all alien theories and interests?" i asked, summing up his explanation. "that's right," he beamed. "does any propaganda come from germany to help save america for the americans?" "no, sir!" he said. "we have nothing to do with germany; we are americans first. mr. dickstein[ ] says that there is propaganda coming, but he was never able to prove any of his statements." "then how does propaganda like _world service_ from erfurt, germany, get into this country?" "oh, i get it," he said casually. "anyone can subscribe to it for a dollar and a half a year. we get two or three copies around here--by subscription, of course." "there must be a lot of subscribers in the united states for i've seen a great many copies. i thought that perhaps it comes in batches from germany for distribution here so members of the nazi groups in the united states could use it to help save america for the americans." "no," he smiled. "it's all a subscription matter." "i see. do you know captain george trauernicht?" schwinn shot a startled glance at me and nodded slowly. "yes," he said, "he's captain of the hapag line ship 'oakland.'" "do you ever visit him?" "yes; he was here last week." "doesn't he bring batches of _world service_ and other propaganda for you every time he comes into port?" "no," schwinn said sharply. "the visits i pay him are purely social. just to drink a glass of good german beer." "do you usually pay social visits carrying a brief case?" "now, wait a minute," he protested. "don't write down the answer until i think." i stopped typing on his office machine which he had permitted me to use to take verbatim notes of the interview and waited while he thought. after a lengthy silence i added: "you had a brief case on thursday when you visited him." he continued thinking for a little longer and then said that he thought he had had a brief case on that trip. "but why do you ask me that?" he demanded. "there was nothing in that brief case." "sure there was. the brief case always contains reports you send back to germany and instructions from germany are brought to you by captain trauernicht as well as other captains of german ships docking here and in san diego." "i have never taken off propaganda nor given nor received reports," schwinn insisted. "somebody told you something and you've got it all wrong." "suppose i mention a few instances. at four o'clock on monday afternoon, march , , your beer-drinking friend, captain trauernicht, waited for you at the gangplank of his boat--for your 'social' visit. what he wanted was the package of sealed reports from nazi agents throughout the united states which you were bringing in your brief case. in due time you arrived and gave him the reports. then you started on a drinking spree--" "i don't know what you're talking about," schwinn interrupted. "maybe i can refresh your memory. that was the evening the captain took a lady from beverly hills, to the first mate's cabin--remember? you know, the lady who lives on north crescent drive--shall i mention her name?" schwinn's face turned an apoplectic red and he became quiet. "on monday, february , ," i continued. "reinhold kusche, leader of the o.d. unit in your organization and a 'patriotic' naturalized american citizen, was on board the steamer 'elbe' docked in los angeles harbor. he telephoned to one of your nazi agents, albert voigt, that the captain was sailing at five o'clock for antwerp and was furious because the agents' reports had not yet been delivered to him. kusche told voigt to bring the reports in a hurry--which voigt promptly did. "on tuesday evening, may , , the captain of the nazi ship 'schwaben', which had just arrived from antwerp, belgium, came to your office and handed you a sealed package of orders and propaganda. he laid it on your desk in this room. the package contained copies of _world service_--which is obtainable, you remember, only by subscription at a dollar and a half a year." "it is not true--" schwinn interrupted excitedly. "i have a copy from the batch he brought to you. but let's continue. on monday, june , , you yourself went to the nazi ship 'weser' and gave the captain secret reports to take back to germany and left with secret orders he had brought over--orders sealed in brown, manila paper[ ]--and a large package of _fichte-bund_ propaganda. i have a copy from that batch, too." schwinn stared at me and then smiled. "you can't prove anything," he said with assurance. "i have affidavits about all these items and more--affidavits from men on board the nazi ships." "it's impossible!" he exclaimed. "no german on the ship would dare to sign an affidavit!" "but i have them," i repeated. "you intend to publish them?" he asked, a cunning look appearing in his eyes. his eagerness to discover who had given me affidavits was funny and i laughed. "i'll publish the information contained in them," i explained. "the names of the signers will be given only to an american governmental or judicial body which may look into your 'patriotic' activities. but let's get on. do you know the nazi consul in los angeles--dr. george gyssling?" he sat silently for a moment as if hesitating whether to speak. "don't be afraid to talk," i said. "the consul isn't. you know, of course, that he does not like you?" a deep red flush suffused his face. "it's mutual!" he said. "i know he talks--" throughout the interview schwinn tried almost pathetically, despite his obvious dislike of gyssling, to cover up the consul's interference in american affairs. when i told schwinn i had affidavits showing that rafael demmler, president of the steuben society of los angeles, got two hundred dollars in april, , from the nazi consul to help maintain the _deutsches haus_ as a center of nazi propaganda, he shook his head bewilderedly; and when i pointed out that he himself got one hundred and forty-five dollars in cash from the nazi consul on tuesday, april , , to cover expenses incurred by schwinn in the effort to bring the german-american groups together for the better dissemination of nazi propaganda, his face turned alternately white and red and finally he exploded: "did gyssling tell you that?" "i'm not saying who told it to me. but let's get on with some of your other 'patriotic' activities. on thursday, june , , you visited captain trauernicht in company with count von bülow--" for the first time since the interview began schwinn sat upright in his chair as if i had struck him. all the other subjects had left him slightly disturbed but still with an obvious sense that he was not on particularly dangerous ground. but at the mention of von bülow's name a look of actual fear spread over his face. "on that day," i continued, "you and the count went directly to the captain's cabin where you handed over your reports--" "what are you getting at?" schwinn demanded sharply. "i'm getting at the count. what do you know about him?" "nothing. i know nothing about him. i've met him, that's all." "have you ever visited his home at point loma,[ ] san diego?" schwinn stared at me without answering. "have you ever been there?" i repeated. "yes," he said slowly. "did you ever observe how, through his study windows, you could see almost everything going on at the american naval base--" "i have nothing to say," schwinn interrupted excitedly. among the men sent here directly by rudolf hess, hitler's right-hand man, is a former german-american businessman named meyerhofer. this nazi came here with special instructions from hess, a personal friend of his, to reorganize the nazi machine in the united states. he arrived early in posing as a businessman. after consultations with nazi leaders in new york, including the nazi consul general, he went to detroit to confer with fritz kuhn,[ ] national head of the german-american bund. from detroit he went to chicago where he held more conferences with nazi agents and then went directly to los angeles for conferences with schwinn, von bülow and other secret agents operating in the united states. meyerhofer's mission was not only to reorganize the propaganda machine but to try to place it on a self-supporting basis so that in the event of war when funds from germany would be cut off, an efficient nazi machine could continue functioning. it was with this knowledge in mind that i asked schwinn what he knew about meyerhofer. at the mention of his name the nazi leader for the west coast again showed a flash of fear. he hesitated a little longer than usual and then said in a low voice, "he is a member of our organization. he came from germany about thirty or forty years ago." suddenly he added, "he's an american citizen." "i know he's an american citizen. but are you sure he didn't come from germany--on his latest trip--in january of last year?" schwinn smiled a little wryly. "he might have," he said in the same low tone. "he's a personal friend of rudolf hess--" "listen!" schwinn exclaimed. "you're on the wrong track!" "maybe; but what's his business here?" "he's a businessman!" "what's his business?" schwinn shrugged his shoulders. "i don't know," he said and then with growing excitement, "i tell you you're on the wrong track!" "then what are you so excited about?" "because you're on the wrong track--" "okay. i'm on the wrong track and you know nothing about nazi spies. do you know of the visits paid by the japanese consul in los angeles to nazi ships when they come into port and of his conferences with nazi captains--" "the japanese! we have nothing to do with the japanese. we are a patriotic group--" "yes, i know. what do you know about schneeberger?" schwinn answered with an "m-m-m-m." his jaw bones showed against the ruddy flesh of his cheeks. he stared up at the ceiling. "he was a tyrolian peasant boy," he said without looking at me. "a boy traveling around the world; you know, just chiseling his way around--" "just a bum, eh?" "that's it," he agreed quickly. "just a bum." "what would your connections be with bums? do you usually associate with tyrolian bums who are chiseling their way around the world?" "oh, he just came here like so many other people. he wanted money; so i gave him a little help and he went to san francisco and oakland. he vanished. i haven't any idea where he might be now. maybe he's in chicago now." "he couldn't possibly be in japan now, could he?" "he spoke of going to japan," schwinn admitted. "you saw him off on a japanese training ship which the japanese government sent here from the canal zone, didn't you?" "i don't know," he said defiantly. "i know nothing about him." "the treaty between japan and germany providing for exchange of information about communists was signed november , . but in september, , schneeberger told you he was leaving on a japanese training ship for japan. no training ship was expected on the west coast at that time by the united states port authorities, and yet a japanese training ship appeared--ordered here from the canal zone. it was on this ship that schneeberger left. apparently, then, the nazis and the japanese had already been working together--and you were cooperating because you took schneeberger around. you took him to count von bülow's home at point loma, overlooking the american naval base. you know that schneeberger was not broke because he was spending money freely--" "he was broke," schwinn interrupted weakly. "if he was so broke, how do you account for his carrying around an expensive camera and always having plenty of film with which to photograph american naval and military spots?" "i don't know. maybe he carried the camera around to hock in case he went broke." the absurdity of the excuse was so patent that i laughed. schwinn smiled a little. "all right. what do you know about a man named maeder?" again that long, drawn-out "m-m-m-m." a long pause and schwinn said, "maeder is an american citizen, i believe." "yes; you are, too. but what's his business in this country?" "i don't know," schwinn said helplessly. "i really don't know." "you know nothing about his activities or observations of american naval and military bases? do you usually take in members without knowing anything about them?" "sometimes we do and sometimes we do not--" "but orders were sent from germany to make this an american organization--" schwinn nodded without admitting it verbally. "and since you throw out all germans who are not american citizens, you check with the consul general in new york as to whether they are fit--" "we have nothing to do with the consul general--" "what happened to willi sachse who used to be a member here?" "he is supposed to have gone back to germany." "have you heard from him from germany?" "no; i haven't heard since he left." "you received a letter recently from him from san francisco where he is watching foreign vessels--" "oh," said schwinn, raising his hands in a helpless gesture, "i know you have spies in my organization." we talked a little longer--of visits he made to nazi agents in the middle west and in new york, of secret conferences with propagandists and spies. but he refused to do any more than shrug his shoulders at all new questions. "i have said too much already," he said. footnotes: [ ] gissibl left for stuttgart, germany, and leadership was taken over by his brother, peter. [ ] before mcfadden died, i published evidence that while he was a member of congress he worked with nazi agents in this country. [ ] as this book went to press, the u.s. government had just begun action to revoke schwinn's citizenship, claiming that he had obtained it by making false statements. [ ] congressman samuel dickstein. the mccormick congressional committee was frequently referred to as the "dickstein committee" because dickstein had introduced the resolution for the investigation. [ ] during the trial of the four nazi spies in new york the federal prosecutor brought out that they also carried orders sealed in brown, manila paper. [ ] von bülow has since sold his home and moved into the el cortez hotel in san diego. [ ] at that time working for henry ford. viii _henry ford and secret nazi activities_ one of the chief nazi propagandists in the united states recently ran in the united states senate primaries in kansas and was almost nominated. he is gerald b. winrod, who poses as a protestant minister but has no affiliations with any reputable church. winrod, even before he tried to get into the senate, was one of the most brazen of the nazis' fifth column operating in this country. he has held secret consultations with officials in the german embassy in washington and carries on his propaganda under fritz kuhn's direction. shortly after winrod returned from a mysterious trip to germany and held an equally mysterious long consultation at the nazi embassy in this country ( ), he organized the _capitol news and feature service_, with offices at kellogg building, washington. the "news service" supplied smaller papers throughout the land with "impartial comments" on the national scene. the _service_ was edited by dan gilbert, a san diego newspaperman, and the material was sent free of charge (as is the material sent to the latin american countries from germany and italy). it was of course, deliberately calculated to spread pro-hitler sentiment and propaganda. few who read winrod's publications realize the extent of his activities. on march , , senator joseph t. robinson addressed the united states senate on what appeared to him to be "unfair propaganda" carried on by winrod against president roosevelt's proposed reorganization of the judiciary system. the senator stated that he could not understand why the issues should be deliberately falsified by a gentleman of the cloth--that it reminded him of the old ku klux klan tactics. the senator did not know that winrod's propaganda against roosevelt was only part of a propaganda campaign cunningly and brazenly organized by nazis in this country in an effort to defeat a man who, they felt, was not friendly to them. in this campaign, nazi agents worked openly and secretly with a few unscrupulous members of the republican party in an effort to defeat roosevelt. several years ago winrod was a poverty-stricken man living at n. green street, wichita, kansas. he called himself a minister but all church bodies have repudiated him. without a church, he did a little evangelistic preaching and lived off collections made from his audience. it was a precarious livelihood and often the "reverend" did not have enough money to buy even ordinary necessities. records in several wichita department stores tell the story of the evangelist's poverty before an angel came to visit him. all the storekeepers with whom winrod dealt requested that their names be withheld, but signified their willingness to present their records to any governmental body which might be interested in the sudden wealth he acquired after he became an intense hitler propagandist. in the days of his poverty winrod, the records show, could afford to buy only the cheapest furniture, the cheapest clothes, and pay for them on the installment plan in weekly payments ranging from fifty cents to two or three dollars a week. i am reproducing with this chapter several of the installment cards. the reader will notice that as late as winrod was paying at the rate of one dollar a week. it was in this period that nazi agents in the united states were carrying on their intensive campaign, and it was also in this period that winrod began to harangue his audiences about the "menace of the jews and the catholics." [illustration: account cards for the reverend gerald b. winrod in a wichita department store, showing his straitened financial circumstances during the early thirties.] then one day, the reverend gerald b. winrod suddenly found himself possessed of enough money to go to germany. when he came back in february, , he had new suit cases, new clothes and a fat check book. the records in the wichita department stores where he had been getting credit for clothes and furniture show that after his return from germany he paid all his debts in lump sums--by check. then he became a publisher. in his newspaper, _the revealer_, he published a report on his trip to europe, but did not mention where he got the money for the jaunt. the report (february , ) told of his discovery that the german people loved hitler and that only "jewish influence in high circles of certain governments is making it impossible for germany to carry on normal trade and financial relations with other countries." in this period of his new-found prosperity he established contacts with nazi agents and pro-fascists like harry a. jung of the american vigilant intelligence federation, colonel edwin emerson, james true and a host of other patrioteers. before the presidential election he made another trip to germany. when he returned, he enlarged his distribution apparatus and was apparently important enough for high nazi officials visiting the united states to meet with him. one of these was hans von reitenkranz, who came quietly to the united states as hitler's personal representative to arrange for oil purchases--oil which germany needed badly for her factories and especially for her growing war machine. von reitenkranz is a friend of professor kurt sepmeier of the university of wichita. he introduced winrod to the professor. they became friendly. when i was in wichita making inquiries about the reverend winrod, i constantly came across the professor's trail. both he and winrod had been meeting regularly but with an effort at secrecy. in january, , after several meetings with professor sepmeier, winrod went to washington. i also went to washington and found that the reverend was calling at the german embassy. on one of his visits he remained inside for an hour and eighteen minutes. whom he saw or what he discussed i do not know; but immediately after this long visit, the _news and feature service_ was organized with money enough to send its items out free of charge to the papers that would accept them. gilbert, who headed the _service_, was for many years the personal representative of william dudley pelley, leader of the silver shirts. the nazis had been trying to get the silver shirts to cooperate with them in a fascist "united front" and the appointment of gilbert was the first indication that a friendly cooperation had been established. [illustration: sample of the "capital news and feature service," in the establishment and distribution of which the reverend gerald b. winrod had a hand.] winrod had been in constant communication with pelley, and pelley had conferred several times with schwinn. the nazis were eager to get a native american body into the organization so they would have an american "front." gilbert opened offices in washington and, fearful lest their location become known, rented post office box no. , ben franklin station, for use as a mailing address. after the first issue had been sent out, winrod and his agents canvassed prominent industrialists for donations to support the "news service" on the grounds that it was furthering religious activities and fighting communism. the money collected was actually used to carry on anti-democratic propaganda. a number of industrialists contributed. i have a list of them, but since there is no conclusive evidence that they knew the money was being spent by nazi agents, i shall not publish the names. i mention it merely as an illustration of how wealthy men are victimized by racketeers with pleas of "patriotism" and "public service." harry a. jung did the same thing by getting money from rich jews "to fight communism" and from rich gentiles "to fight the menace of the jew." [illustration: letter from a small-town newspaper showing the kind of confusion caused by the "capitol news and feature service."] with the first issue of the _capitol news and feature service_, the following announcement was mailed to the editors of rural weeklies: "good morning, mr. editor! _capitol news and feature service_ herewith delivers three priceless articles, fresh from the nation's capitol. use them without cost. you will hear from us each week. watch for these interesting articles." an examination of the "priceless articles" showed that they were designed primarily to attack american democracy. since his return from germany and his conferences at the nazi embassy, winrod has made frequent trips into mexico where he has met with mexican fascists--especially with leaders of the mexican gold shirts which were organized by hermann schwinn. again we discover the tie-up between fascist organizations in the united states and those to the south of us. when the nazis reorganized their propaganda machine several years ago and established smuggling headquarters on the west coast, propaganda taken off nazi ships docking in san diego and los angeles included material printed in spanish for the special use of general nicholás rodriguez, head of the gold shirts. the spanish as well as the english material was taken to the _deutsches haus_ in los angeles and turned over to schwinn, who forwarded the batches to rodriguez. the contact man between schwinn and the head of the fascist movement in mexico is a native american named henry douglas allen of san diego. allen, under the pretext of being a mining engineer and interested in prospecting in mexico, went repeatedly into the neighboring country with the smuggled propaganda and delivered it to rodriguez' agents. since native americans, especially if they say they wish to prospect, can travel across the international boundary into mexico as often as they please without arousing suspicion, allen was chosen as the liaison man between nazi agents in the united states and rodriguez. as i said earlier, the nazis tried from the beginning to get an american "front" and to draw as many americans into it as possible--obviously strategic preparation for future work more serious than mere propaganda. hence allen was instructed to become active in the silver shirt movement. he organized down town post no. - and established silver shirt recruiting headquarters in room at south grand ave., los angeles. in august, , when a lot of nazi and anti-roosevelt money was being shelled out in efforts to defeat roosevelt, allen became extremely active. while pelley was out of town, he was instructed to work with kenneth alexander, pelley's right-hand man. alexander was formerly a still-photographer at united artists studios. the two opened offices in the broadway arcade building and on october , , moved to the lankersheim building at third street near spring, los angeles. rodriguez, after he was given assurances of nazi aid, worked not only with nazi agents in this country but also with julio brunet, manager of the ford factory in mexico city. the earliest documentary record i have of their tie-up is a letter rodriguez wrote to ford's manager on september , , on gold shirt stationery. the letter merely asks brunet to give jobs to two "worthy young men" and is written in a manner that shows rodriguez and brunet are rather close. by february , , rodriguez and the ford executive in mexico had become sufficiently intimate for the fascist leader to express his appreciation of brunet's placing gold shirts in the plant. his letter addressed to the manager of the ford company follows: we have been informed by our delegate, senora n.m. colunga, that she was very well treated by you and that in addition you informed her that our request for work for some of our comrades who needed it has also been heard. not doubting but that this will be fulfilled, a.r.m. [the gold shirts] sends you the most expressive thanks for having seen in you the recognition of one of the greatest obligations of humanity to mexicanism. on november , , shortly before the gold shirts felt they were powerful enough to attempt the overthrow of the mexican government and the establishment of a fascist dictatorship, rodriguez wrote to the manager of the ford plant, asking for the two ambulances which had been promised the fascists by the ford manager. rodriguez had organized his attempted putsch carefully, with a women's ambulance corps to care for the wounded in the expected fighting. the letter, again translated almost literally, follows: sr. manager of the ford company nov. , . city highly esteemed señor: this will be delivered to you personally by sr. general juan alvarez c., who comes with the object of ascertaining if that company would be able to supply two ambulances which they had already offered, for the transportation of the women's sanitary brigade on the th day of this month at a.m. thanking you in advance for the references, i am happy to repeat that i am at your command. affectionately and attentively, s.s. nicholÁs rodriguez c. supreme commander. [illustration: letter from general nicholás rodriguez, mexican fascist leader, to the ford manager in mexico city, soliciting employment for two protégés.] in the street fighting that followed the attempted fascist putsch a number were killed and wounded. it was after this fight that rodriguez was exiled. i am reproducing some of these letters from carbon copies, initialed by rodriguez, which were in his files. why he initials carbon copies i don't know, but i have a stack of his correspondence with nazi agents and almost all of his carbons are initialed. on october , , allen wrote to the exiled fascist leader. ostensibly the letter invited him to address the silver shirts. actually it was for a special conference about "matters of vital importance to us both." this letter was written when schwinn was holding conferences with pelley to merge forces in a fascist united front, and when schneeberger was preparing to leave for japan on a training ship ordered up from the canal zone by the japanese to take him on board. the letter follows: dear general rodriguez: upon receipt of this letter will you kindly communicate with me and advise me whether it would be possible for you to come to los angeles in the near future to make an address to our organization here. we shall be glad to defray all expenses which will include airplane both ways if you desire it. we shall also offer you bodyguard for your protection if you deem it necessary. your fight is our fight and it is our desire to have you come to los angeles especially to confer with us relative to matters of vital importance to us both. i would suggest that if you can arrange to come, you telegraph me (charges collect) upon receipt of this letter so that i may make arrangements without delay. fraternally yours, henry allen. when i went to mexico to look into nazi activities, i gave a copy of this letter to the minister of the interior. at that time allen was again in mexico under the pretense of looking into his mining interests, but a check showed that he had actually gone there to confer secretly with a mexican army man, general iturbe. at my request the mexican government looked into allen's movements and learned that he had entered guaymas, center of japanese activities, with kenneth alexander, pelley's chief aid. the connection between ford's mexican manager and general rodriguez might be considered an unfortunate incident for which ford could not be held responsible. this would be a reasonable assumption if the nazi-rodriguez-ford tie-up in mexico were an isolated case. the facts, however, show it is not. [illustration: letter from general rodriguez to the ford manager in mexico city. the translation is given on page .] the national leader of the nazi propaganda machine in this country has been on the ford pay roll. kuhn was supposed to work for ford as a chemist, but while on ford's pay roll he traveled around the united states conferring with other secret nazi agents and actively directing nazi work in this country. ford has a highly developed and exceedingly efficient espionage system of his own which, among other things, watches what his employees do--even to their home life. kuhn's activities were known to harry bennett, head of the ford secret service or "personnel department," as it is called, and bennett reports to ford. furthermore, kuhn's nazi connections had been publicized in both the american and the nazi press and were no secret. jews and christians alike protested to ford about his employee's anti-democratic work while on the motor magnate's pay roll, but kuhn was left undisturbed to travel around organizing nazi groups. in ford was given the highest medal of honor which hitler can give to a foreigner. no statement was ever made as to just what henry ford had done for the nazi führer to merit the honor. simultaneously with kuhn's intensified work, ford's confidential secretary, william j. cameron, became active again. cameron was editor of ford's _dearborn independent_ when that newspaper published the "protocols of the elders of zion" after they had been proved to be forgeries. when a nation-wide protest arose from jews and christians who were shocked at seeing one of the richest and most powerful men in the country use his wealth to disseminate race hatred, and when the protest grew into a boycott of his cars, ford apologized and discontinued the newspaper. but instead of easing his editor out or giving him some other job, he made him his confidential secretary. [illustration: letter from henry allen to general rodriguez, showing the tie-up between american and mexican fascist organizations.] when kuhn went to work for ford, the national headquarters of the nazi propaganda machine was moved to detroit, and the anti-democratic activities increased in intensity. employing nazi anti-semitism as the bait to attract dissatisfied and bewildered elements in the population, a new organization made its appearance: the anglo-saxon federation, headed by ford's private secretary. headquarters were established in the mccormick building in chicago, room , at s. michigan ave. and in the fox building in detroit. in july, , cameron, obviously because ford was violently anti-roosevelt, stepped out as head of the organization and became its director of publications. when winrod was raising money from american industrialists to support the _capitol news and feature service_, cameron was among the contributors. the anglo-saxon federation began to distribute the "protocols" again. i bought a copy in the detroit offices of the organization, stamped with the name of the organization. the introduction quotes ford as approving of them. it states: mr. henry ford, in an interview published in the _new york world_. february , , put the case for nilus[ ] tersely and convincingly thus: "the only statement i care to make about the 'protocols' is that they fit in with what is going on. they are sixteen years old, and they have fitted the world situation up to this time. they fit it now." when ford was on the witness stand in a libel suit some fifteen years ago and admitted his ignorance of matters with which even grammar school children are familiar, the country laughed. his ignorance, however, is his own affair, but when he takes no step to curb his personal representative from working with secret foreign agents to undermine a friendly government, it becomes a matter, it appears to me, of importance to the people of this country and the government of the united states. [illustration: left: american-made anti-semitic sticker of a type appearing with increasing frequency in recent times. right: title-page of the german edition of "the international jew," by henry ford, of which , copies have been distributed.] footnotes: [ ] the man who forged the "protocols" originally and who subsequently confessed to having done so. ix _nazi agents in american universities_ the universities are too important a training ground for nazi agents to ignore. a few professors in some of our universities have joined the growing list of anti-democratic propagandists. some of them are german subjects and do not disguise their pro-nazi bias; others carry on their propaganda as a "scholarly analysis" of the hitler regime--with a fervor, however, that smacks of the paid propagandist. german exchange students, too, studying at some of our universities, are active in various efforts to draw native americans within the sphere of nazi influence. some of these students came here ostensibly to study for degrees, but devote most of their time to spreading nazi ideology and meeting with secret nazi agents and military spies. such was prince von lippe of the university of southern california. von lippe is not an american citizen as so many of the agents are. with no visible means of support, he received expenses from a total stranger--oddly enough, count von bülow whose home overlooked the naval base in san diego and who was constantly in conferences with nazi agents. it was to count von bülow, you recall, that hermann schwinn brought schneeberger as soon as he arrived on his way to japan, and von bülow took him around while schneeberger photographed areas in the military and naval zone. a number of very secret conferences were held while schneeberger was on the west coast, in the home of dr. k. burchardi, a los angeles physician who visits nazi ships with schwinn and von bülow (on one occasion schneeberger summoned burchardi to come with him to a nazi ship which had just docked in los angeles--and the physician dropped his work and went). german exchange students, when they enter this country, are under instructions to report to the german-american bund. on july , , three exchange students--a young lady and two young men--entered los angeles while on a motor tour of the country. they were students at georgia tech. in los angeles they went directly to the _deutsches haus_ and presented a letter of introduction to hermann schwinn who assigned them quarters at the home of max edgan, one of schwinn's lieutenants. the students then made a detailed report to schwinn on the political work they were carrying out at georgia tech. but the professors are the chief hope of nazi agents attempting to spread the idea of totalitarian government and a bit of race hatred as the bait to attract some elements in the population. some of the professors and some of their activities follow briefly: professor frederick e. auhagen, formerly of the german department, seth low junior college, columbia university. dr. auhagen came to this country in and worked as a mining engineer in pennsylvania. from to he was with the foreign department of the equitable trust co.; then became connected with columbia university in . he is not an american citizen and constantly refers to germany as "my native country." this professor is one of the leading academic apologists for herr hitler in the united states. besides carrying on his pro-nazi propaganda in the classroom, he does a great deal of lecturing, sometimes appearing before the foreign policy association. on one occasion, in an address before the men's club of the baptist church at rockville, long island, he stated that seth low junior college was opened "in order to keep hebrew faces off the campus at columbia university." auhagen never tried to hide his sympathies with nazism. preceding a debate on february , , before the city club of cleveland, he gave press interviews as a nazi, and in the debate upheld hitler as the savior of germany and world civilization. with a fervor far removed from professorial calm, he explained that american newspaper dispatches about the treatment of jews and catholics in germany were exaggerated. "as to criticism of germany's treatment of catholics," he said again in denver, colorado on july , , "that is not true!" professor frederick k. krueger, of wittenberg college, with whom auhagen is rather closely identified in arranging and giving talks about nazis and totalitarian government, at every opportunity issues press interviews along the same line. in them he explains that the anti-nazi sentiment in the united states press does not represent the editors, but is dictated by jews who "control the press, the motion pictures and other organs of public opinion." because of the high scientific standing of professor vladimir karapetoff of the cornell engineering faculty, he is listened to with more attention and respect than are the more blatant propagandists for the adoption of fascist tactics and principles. shortly after hitler took power, the professor started to do his share on the campus. at first he did it subtly, but when this made little headway he began to talk of the "growing domination of jews in american life, politically as well as economically" and emphasized that the large number of jews in the law school and on the campus generally was becoming a problem. "it's the smooth-faced jew whom we must fear," he kept repeating, "and not the long-bearded jewish rabbi." not content with expressing personal opinions, he took to organizing groups, addressing them on the subject of the jew; and on one occasion he called a special meeting of the officer's club with the proviso that jews be excluded. paul f. douglas,[ ] teacher of german, economics and political science at green mountain college, wrote a book, _god among the germans_, which purports to be an introduction to the mind and method of nazism. i have information coming from a reputable source that dr. douglas was paid by the nazi government to write the book. this source is unwilling to let his name be used, but is ready to testify and lay his information before any governmental body which will investigate the devious methods of nazi agents in this country. there are at various universities throughout the country other professors and instructors quite active in spreading pro-hitler propaganda. some of them meet with nazi agents closely allied to the espionage machine. i offer only these few as illustrations of nazi efforts to get footholds in the american universities. along with efforts to carry on their work in the universities, nazi agents tried to get a foothold in the political life of the country by finding a few republicans who were willing to use anti-democratic propaganda in their efforts to defeat roosevelt during the presidential campaign. at no time in american history did secret agents of a foreign power so brazenly attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of the american people. nor at any time in american history did agents of a foreign government find such willing cooperation from unscrupulous american politicians. among those who worked with hitler agents was newton jenkins, director of the coughlin-lemke third party.[ ] the detroit priest and the congressman were fully aware, preceding and during the campaign, that jenkins supported hitler and was a jew-baiter of the first order. they were aware of this while they were appealing for jewish votes. the radio priest and the congressman kept in constant touch with their campaign manager and knew what sort of government jenkins wanted. jenkins' association with nazis dates to the days preceding the launching of the presidential campaign. at that time he participated in a secret conference held in chicago with the object of uniting the scattered fascist forces in the united states to form a powerful fascist united front. among those who attended were walter kappe, fritz gissibl and zahn--three active hitler agents assigned to the mid-west area; william dudley pelley, leader of the silver shirts; harry a. jung, the ultra-"patriot"; george w. christians of chattanooga, tenn., head of the american fascists; and several others. the conference ended with an agreement to support a third-party movement directed by jenkins. throughout the campaign jenkins stressed an exaggerated nationalism, advocated "party patrols" similar to hitler's storm troops and adopted the nazi jew-baiting tactics. his first public appearance with the nazis was on october , , at a meeting held in lincoln turner hall, diversey building, chicago. uniformed storm troopers with the swastika on their arm bands patrolled the room. in the course of his talk he said: the trouble with this country now is due to the money powers and jewish politicians who control our government. the federal treasury is being controlled by a jew, morgenthau, and a jew, eugene meyer. the state, county and our own municipal government is being controlled by jewish politicians. our own mayor signs what the jews want him to sign. nearly in every department of our country and local government you will find a jew at the head of it. not only under a democratic administration but also under a republican administration we will find the same conditions.... the american people must free itself from the money plunderers who have thrown this country into the world war and also a possibility of dragging them into the present war for private gain and shake off their shoulders the jewish politicians. the third party promises to do both. this is precisely the sort of stuff paid nazi agents in the propaganda division are ordered to disseminate, and this is the man father coughlin and congressman lemke picked to direct their campaign. it was a nazi agent, ernst goerner of milwaukee, who spread the story, aided by anti-roosevelt forces, that frances perkins, secretary of labor, was a jewess. the story received such wide publicity that she had to issue a public statement giving her birth and marriage records. goerner is one of the important nazi agents in the mid-west. he's a bit eccentric and the nazis sometimes have difficulty keeping him in line, but when schwinn made a trip east shortly before the election campaign, he stopped off specially to see goerner who thereupon sent a flood of propaganda throughout the country about secretary perkins' ancestry as well as charges that roosevelt and almost all government officials were jews. it was after schwinn's trip to the east that other disseminators of anti-democratic propaganda, like robert edward edmondson and james true, came to life in a big way. one of the penniless men who suddenly blossomed into the money after schwinn's trip east was olov e. tietzow, who used post office box no. in chicago lest the fact that he lived at aldine ave. be discovered. up until a few months before the campaign tietzow was an unemployed electrical engineer who had difficulty paying the three-dollar weekly rent for his hall bed-room at the aldine ave. address. after schwinn's visit and meeting with him, tietzow began to commute by air between chicago and buffalo where he opened a branch office. tietzow was tested out a little at first. he was put to work in the offices of the friends of the new germany on western ave. and roscoe st., chicago. in his spare time he worked out of foster ave., chicago. a quotation or two from some of his letters will give an indication of his activities. on february , , he wrote to william stern, fargo, n.d., a member of the republican national committee. he said in part: information about the so-called fascist movement here in the u.s.a. will be furnished by me if you so desire, together with other data you might be interested in. an opportunity to discuss our national problems and to lay before patriotic persons of means and influence and before national organizations my plans for a nationwide movement would be welcome.... this letter to a high republican party official was written after tietzow had outlined the contents to toni mueller, nazi agent in chicago reporting directly to fritz kuhn. since most of the patrioteers were opposed to the new deal and since some of them were already working with nazi agents in this country, it was not long before they were going full blast in their "save america" racket. the people of the united states, though they don't talk much about it, are thoroughly patriotic in the fullest sense of the word. to accuse anyone of not being a patriot is almost worse than telling a man that he is a son of not quite a lady. the racketeers in patriotism long ago discovered that people would contribute to a "patriotic cause" if only to escape the reputation of being unpatriotic; and the racketeers have made a nice living out of it. for some of the patrioteers it has become a thriving business, with everybody involved--except the suckers--getting his cut. some of the big "patriotic" organizations are really influential, and the small ones are hopefully struggling along in the expectation of bigger and better and more patriotic days when the pickings will be more than attractive. [illustration: letter by olov e. tietzow, showing typical methods of american fascists.] every time i start looking into organizations with high-sounding and impressive names, i am profoundly impressed with the accuracy of barnum's noted observation. raise the cry of "patriotism" and perfectly good americans forget to try to find out just what the "patriotic" activities are, and shell out without a murmur. industrialists particularly like the "americanism" of the patriotic groups because almost all of them incorporate an anti-labor policy. the propaganda, of course, is rarely conducted as an open fight against labor, but is put across as a fight to save america from the communists. some of the racketeering patriotic organizations with a more or less devout following include the national republican publishing company, washington, d.c., the american vigilant intelligence federation, chicago, ill., the paul reveres, chicago, ill., the industrial defense association, boston, mass., the american nationalists, inc., new york, n.y. and the american nationalist party, los angeles, calif. there are a number of others, but these are some of the most blatant. the national republican company, th street, n.w., washington, d.c., is one of the most influential. it publishes the _national republic_, a journal accepted by men high in public office and by leading industrialists as earnestly trying to inculcate "americanism" into americans. the _national republic_ has an amazing list of endorsers--governors, mayors, senators, congressmen and nationally-known industrialists. the magazine is virtually the entire organization and is dedicated "to defending american ideals and institutions." it is headed by walter s. steele, who was tied up with harry a. jung of the american vigilant intelligence federation before he went into business for himself. while steele was working with the ace of racketeers in patriotism, the president-editor of the _national republic_ also eked out a few pennies by distributing the "protocols of the elders of zion." today, however, he confines himself chiefly to fighting communism, spreading race hatred only when it is paid for in advertisements. books distributed by nazi propagandists in furthering their anti-democratic campaign--such books as _t.n.t._ by colonel edwin hadley and _the conflict of the ages_ find space in the _national republic's_ pages. colonel hadley headed the paul reveres which tried to organize fascist groups on american university campuses, and _the conflict of the ages_ devotes a full chapter to the nazi "proofs" of the authenticity of the "protocols." i mention these to show the type of stuff steele is willing to disseminate--if he is paid for it. and by permitting the use of their names, the sponsors, consciously or unconsciously, aid him in his anti-american activities. the detailed aims of the _national republic_ are to provide a "weekly service to twenty-three hundred editors, to defend american institutions against subversive radicalism; a national information service on subversive organizations and activities; an americanization bureau serving schools, colleges and patriotic groups; conducted for the public good from washington, d.c., by nationally known leaders." the procedure of conducting the organization "for the public good" includes high-pressuring the shekels from the suckers. steele, a former newspaperman, learned from his association with that other arch-patriot, jung. so when steele established his own racket, he found one of his early aids in former senator robinson of indiana. robinson was closely tied up with the ku klux klan. through robinson and through other politicians reached with the cry "save america," he got a long list of prominent sponsors and gradually increased it until now it reads like a _who's who_ of reactionary industrialists and innocent politicians. with letters of introduction from senator robinson, steele's high pressure gang set out to collect in the name of patriotism. the procedure was simple. salesmen presented their letters of introduction to the mayor of a city. the mayor was impressed with the high "patriotic" motives and especially with the imposing list of names sponsoring the efforts. the mayor introduced the high-pressure fellows to other people--and the milking began. let me illustrate a little more specifically: on march , , steele sent two of his ablest dollar-pullers, messrs. fahr and hamilton, into the oklahoma oil fields where the industrialists would like to see a minimum of per cent americanism instilled in the public mind. messrs. fahr and hamilton had letters of introduction to mayor t.a. penny of tulsa, okla. when the salesmen approached the mayor, they had not only the long and imposing list of names on the letterhead but additional letters of introduction from ex-governor curley of mass., ex-senator robinson of indiana and congressman martin dies of texas. the drummers wanted the mayor to introduce them to the chairman of the tulsa board of education who could help them get funds in tulsa and elsewhere. the funds were to be used to place the "patriotic" magazine in the public school system in order "to preserve this country against subversive activities, particularly communism." it was a neat circulation-getting stunt, performed without fahr and hamilton telling what percentage of the take they got. the mayor gave the letters of introduction. with these letters and the excellent contacts thus established, they started down the sucker list from w.g. skelly, head of the skelly oil co., tulsa to waite phillips of the phillips petroleum co. like his former colleague harry a. jung, steele works on the big industrialists by whispering confidentially that he has sources of information about which he can't talk much but which make it possible for him to keep the industrialists informed about "subversive radicals." for a reasonable price and perhaps a contribution to a worthy cause, steele would supply the industrialist with "confidential information for members only" which would keep him up to date about the radicals threatening america. the "confidential information" must not be shown to anybody else. extreme caution is necessary lest the radicals find out about the "information service." with all this hocum, secrecy and whispering, the industrialist becomes a member at so much per not realizing that the information thus peddled can be got for three cents a day--five cents on sundays--by buying the _daily worker_. it's just one of the little patriotic rackets the boys have cooked up. working closely with steele is james a. true of the james true associates, another precious racketeer who stepped from patrioteering into efforts to organize in conjunction with nazi agents a secret armed force in the united states. with true in this effort to establish a cagoulard organization in this country, were some of the most active nazi agents and patrioteers. footnotes: [ ] not to be confused with prof. paul h. douglas of the university of chicago, a highly reputable scholar and a stanch defender of democracy. [ ] father coughlin was finally reprimanded by the vatican for his unpriestly attacks upon the president. x _underground armies in america_ early in native americans, working with nazi agents, completed plans to organize a secret army along the general lines of the cagoulards in france. the decision was made after the liaison man between nazi agents here and plotters for the secret army met with fritz kuhn and signor giuseppe cosmelli, counselor to the italian embassy in washington. the liaison man is henry d. allen, who moved from san diego to nina st., pasadena, calif. allen, the reader may recollect, helped schwinn organize the mexican gold shirts which unsuccessfully attempted to seize the mexican government. allen is still active in a plot to overthrow the cárdenas government, working at the moment with gen. ramon f. iturbe, a member of the mexican chamber of deputies, with gen. yocupicio who is smuggling arms as part of a plan to rebel, and with pablo l. delgado who took over the fascist gold shirt work under a different name after rodriguez was exiled when his attempt to march on the government failed. to understand the feverish activities of foreign agents and native americans working with foreign agents, one must remember that when the world war broke out in , germany was caught with only small espionage and sabotage organizations in the united states. it cost the german war office large sums of money to build them under difficult and dangerous conditions. the nazis do not intend to be caught the same way in the event a war finds the united states on the enemy side or, if neutral, supplying arms and materials to the enemy. the first step to prevent such a development is to build an enormous propaganda machine and to draw into it as many native americans as possible. because of the future potentialities of natives as spies and _saboteurs_, the nazi leaders take extraordinary precautions to safeguard their identities. should the united states become involved in a war with fascist powers, especially germany, the german members of the bund can be watched and, if necessary, interned; but native americans not known as bund members can move about freely, hence the care to prevent their identities from becoming known. schwinn, for instance, keeps a regular list of the german-american bund members at the _deutsches haus_ in los angeles. the native american members, however, are not listed. the names are kept in code and only schwinn knows the code numbers. military considerations thus lead the nazi general staff to maintain this propaganda in the united states, despite the knowledge nazi leaders in germany have that its activities and distasteful propaganda here are seriously hampering german-american commercial relations. the propaganda machine is already functioning as the german-american _volksbund_. the second step, as was demonstrated in france with the cagoulards and in spain with franco's fifth column, is to organize secret armies capable of starting sporadic outbreaks tantamount to civil war--a procedure which would naturally deflect the country's energies in war time. this second step was taken after careful study, and henry d. allen was chosen as the liaison man between those maneuvering the plot. the private letters exchanged between allen and his fellow conspirators are now in my possession. some of the letters exchanged were signed with the writers' real names and some with code names. allen's code name, for instance, is "rosenthal." on april , , he wrote to a "g.d." (of whom more shortly) as follows: have just sent delgado into sonora incognito. this move has resulted from a four-party conference held in yuma a few days ago. this party was composed of urbalejo, chief of the yaqui nation, joe mattus, his trusted lieutenant, delgado and myself. yocupicio has completely come over to our side, which you can perceive from the outcome of the little tryout in aqua prieta a few weeks ago. delgado has arrived safely at bocatete, and will get the boys in that part of the country pretty active.... inasmuch as i am his legal and properly accredited representative in the united states, you may rest assured that there will be no doubt as to the objectives of this movement south of the rio grande. i have received three letters from general iturbe in which he tells me that they are taking the spanish copies of the protocols which k. sent me, and making , copies of same. in each letter he begs me to set a time and date for meeting him at guadalajara for the purpose of effecting the necessary plans for active campaigning with delgado. i will arrange all of this as soon as you consider it expedient.... rosenthal. two days later (april , ) he wrote from fresno, calif. under his own name to f.w. clark, -½ s. yakima ave., tacoma, wash. the letter reads in part: relative to the gold shirts of mexico, please be advised that we found it necessary to reorganize this group in august, . the activist elements have proceeded and are now carrying on under the name of the mexican nationalist movement of which pablo l. delgado is the nominal head. i am the legal and personal representative of delgado in the movement in the united states. so much for his current activities to establish fascism to the south of us. most americans who fall for nazi propaganda do not suspect that they are being played for suckers by shrewd manipulators pulling the strings in berlin, and probably not one of the many reputable and sincerely patriotic americans who fell for allen's "patriotic" appeals suspects his activities against the country he so zealously wants to "save." some shrewd observer once remarked that "patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." whenever i come across an "ultra-patriot" with foam dripping from his mouth while he beats his chest with loud cries about his own honesty and the crookedness of those running the country, i suspect a phony. as a rule, i look for the criminal record of a man who's yelling "chase out the crooks" and "let's have honest government," and all too often i find one. henry d. allen, _alias_ h.o. moffet, _alias_ howard leighton allen, _alias_ rosenthal, etc., ex-inmate of san quentin and folsom prisons, is no exception; his criminal record extends over a period of twenty-nine years. let me give the record before i start quoting from his letters, chiefly for the benefit of those sincere and loyal americans who thought his swastika-inspired activities represented honest convictions. may , : arrested in los angeles charged with uttering fictitious checks. in simple language this means just a little bit of forgery. los angeles police department file, no. . june , : sentenced to three years imprisonment; sentence suspended upon tearful assurances of good behavior. may , : picked up in philadelphia charged with being a fugitive; brought back to los angeles. july , : committed to san quentin. guest no. . april , : committed to folsom from santa barbara on a forgery charge. guest no. . feb. , : arrested in los angeles county charged with suspicion of a felony. los angeles county no. . june , : arrested in san francisco, charged with uttering fictitious checks. no. . oct. , : los angeles police department issued notice that allen was wanted for uttering fictitious checks. bulletin no. . allen is apparently a prolific writer--of bad checks and of long reports about his activities to his superiors. two of allen's close friends are also native americans: c.f. ingalls of bush st., san francisco and george deatherage (the g.d. mentioned earlier). deatherage now lives and operates out of st. albans, w. va. he organized the american nationalist confederation which used to have its headquarters in palo alto, calif. both these gentlemen also work with schwinn. on january , , deatherage received from san francisco a letter signed "c.f.i."--in a plain envelope without a return address. the letter is very long and detailed. i quote in part: we must get busy organizing grid-lattice-work or skeleton for a military staff throughout the nation, and in this we need representatives of fascist groups, and we need americans with whom these others may be incorporated.... all must believe in being ruthless in an emergency.... the political and the military organizations must not be unified. they have different aims. with one hand we offer the public a potential program. whether they accept it or not and whether they wish to return to the ideals embodied in a representative form of a constitutional federal republic or not, is of secondary importance. of first importance is the need of the emergency military organization to function simultaneously should our enemies revolt if we should win politically or should we revolt if our enemies win politically. on january , , deatherage received a letter signed with the code name "laura and clayton." "laura" is hermann schwinn. this letter, too, is long and goes into details on how best to organize the secret military group and have it ready for instant action. the letter states at one point: after we do all this, now then we shall have the national military framework all steamed up and oiled and coupled to the multiplicity of working parts ready to appear on all fronts.... after "c.f.i." and "laura and clayton" had decided on the details of the secret military body in which they needed the aid of "nazi and fascist" forces, they needed money and arms. early in january, allen received from "mrs. fry and c. chapman" four hundred and fifty dollars for a trip to washington, d.c. "mrs. fry and c. chapman" live in santa monica, but use glendale, calif, for a post office address. this money was spent between january and february , , according to the expense account allen turned in to the fry-chapman combination. three days after allen got the money (january , ), he received from schwinn a letter of introduction to fritz kuhn, addressed to the _amerikadeutscher volksbund_, e. th street, new york city. the letter was written in german. following is the translation: my bund leader: the bearer of this letter is my old friend and comrade-in-arms, henry allen, who is coming east on an important matter. mr. allen knows the situation in los angeles and california very well and can give you important information. we can give allen absolute confidence. hail and victory, hermann schwinn. the "important matter" on which allen was going east and which he wanted to discuss with the national nazi leader in this country, was to contact the italian embassy, the hungarian legation, james true of the james true associates (distributors of "industrial control reports" from its headquarters in washington, d.c.), george deatherage in st. albans, w. va., and several others. allen reported regularly to chapman, signing his letters with the code name "rosenthal." i quote in part from one letter written from washington on january , : upon calling at the rumanian embassy i found the ambassador with all his attachés are of the carol-tartarescu regime, and they are sailing on wednesday, january . the new ambassador will arrive with his staff on saturday, i am told. the letter which you gave me i mailed to budapest myself, not daring to entrust it to the present staff at the embassy. at the italian embassy i found the ambassador away, but i had a very delightful and satisfactory conference with signor g. cosmelli, who is the italian counselor.... shortly after the conference at the italian embassy, true and allen conferred. subsequently, true wrote to allen and added a postscript in long hand: "but be very careful about controlling the information and destroy this letter." allen did not destroy it immediately. the letter, dated february , , reads in part: the bunch of money promised off and on for three years may come through within the next week or two. we have had so many disappointments that i hardly dare hope but there seems a fair chance of results. if it comes through we will have you back here in a hurry. you, george, and i will get together and prepare for real action. if your friends want some pea shooters, i have connections now for any quantity and at the right price. they are united states standard surplus. let me know as soon as you can. to these events must be added the peculiar and unexplained actions of the dies congressional committee appointed to "investigate subversive activities." the committee employed a nazi propagandist as one of its chief investigators and refused to question three suspected nazi spies working in the brooklyn navy yard. congressman martin dies of texas, chairman of the committee, gave two of the _national republic's_ high-pressure men letters of introduction when they started out on a little milking party in the name of patriotism. he received the cooperation of harry a. jung, and he refused to examine the files of james a. true when the above letter was brought to his committee's attention. but these actions merit more detailed consideration. xi _the dies committee suppresses evidence_ three suspected nazi spies were quietly taken out of the brooklyn navy yard to the dies congressional committee headquarters in new york in room , united states court house building. the three men were each questioned for about five minutes by congressman j. parnell thomas[ ] of new jersey and joe starnes of alabama. the men were asked if they had heard of any un-american goings-on in the navy yard. each of the three subpoenaed men said he had not, and the congressmen sent them back to work in the navy yard after warning them not to say a word to anyone about having been called before the committee. when i learned of the congressional committee's refusal to question men they had subpoenaed, i wondered at the unusual procedure--especially since it promptly put nazi propagandists (such as edwin p. banta, a speaker for the german-american bund) on the stand as authorities on "un-american" activities in the united states. a little inquiry turned up some interesting facts. one of the committee's chief investigators, edward francis sullivan of boston, had worked closely with nazi agents as far back as . sullivan's whole record was extremely unsavory. he had been a labor spy, had been active in promoting anti-democratic sentiments in cooperation with secret agents of the german government and in addition was a convicted thief. (shortly after slap-happy eddie, as he was known around boston because of his convictions on drunkenness, lined up with the nazis, he got six months for a little stealing.) before going on with the congressional committee's strange attitude toward suspected spies and known propagandists in constant communication with germany, it might be well to review a meeting which the congressional committee's investigator addressed in the nazi stronghold in yorkville. [illustration: reproduction of a document showing that edward francis sullivan, at one time chief investigator for the dies committee, was convicted of larceny and sentenced to prison.] on the night of tuesday, june , , at eight o'clock, some , nazis and their friends attended a mass meeting of the friends of the new germany at turnhall, lexington ave. and th street, new york city. sixty nazi storm troopers--attired in uniforms with black breeches and sam brown belts, smuggled off nazi ships--were the guard of honor. storm troop officers had white and red arm bands with the swastika superimposed on them. every twenty minutes the troopers, clicking their heels in the best nazi fashion, changed guard in front of the speakers' stand. the hitler youth organization was present. men and women nazis sold the official nazi publication, _jung sturm_, and everybody awaited the coming of one of the chief speakers of the evening who was to bring them a message from the boston nazis. w.l. mclaughlin, then editor of the _deutsche zeitung_, spoke in english. he was followed by h. hempel, an officer of the nazi steamship "stuttgart," who vigorously exhorted his audience to fight for hitlerism and was rewarded by shouts of "heil hitler!" mclaughlin then introduced edward francis sullivan of boston as a "fighting irishman." the gentleman whom the congressional committee chose as one of its investigators into subversive activities, gave the crowd the hitler salute and launched into an attack upon the "dirty, lousy, stinking jews." in the course of his talk he announced proudly that he had organized the group of nazis in boston who had attacked and beaten liberals and communists at a meeting protesting the docking of the nazi cruiser "karlsruhe," in an american port. the audience cheered. sullivan, again giving the nazi salute, shouted: "throw the goddam lousy jews--all of them--into the atlantic ocean. we'll get rid of the stinking kikes! heil hitler!" the three suspected nazi spies were subpoenaed on august , . they were: walter dieckhoff, badge no. , living at e. th street, sheepshead bay. hugo woulters, badge no. , living at east th street, brooklyn. alfred boldt, badge no. , living at - th street, middle village, l.i. boldt had worked in the navy yard since . dieckhoff and woulters went to work there within one day of each other in june, . the three men were kept in the committee's room from one o'clock on the day they were subpoenaed until five in the afternoon. when it became apparent that the congressmen would not show up until the next day, the men were dismissed and told to come back the following morning. not a word was said to them as to why they had been subpoenaed. nevertheless dieckhoff, who was with the german air corps during the world war, instead of going to his home in sheepshead bay, drove to the home of albert nordenholz at castleton ave., port richmond, s.i., where he kept two trunks. nordenholz, a german-american naturalized citizen for many years, is highly respected by the people in his neighborhood. when dieckhoff first came to the united states, the nordenholzes accepted him with open arms. he was the son of an old friend back in bremerhafen, germany. dieckhoff asked permission to keep two trunks in the nordenholz garret; he stored them there when he went to work in the brooklyn navy yard. during the two years he worked in the yard, he would drop around every two weeks or so and go up to the garret to his trunks. just what he did on those visits, nordenholz does not know. on the night dieckhoff was subpoenaed he suddenly appeared to claim the trunks. he told nordenholz that he planned to return to germany. just what the trunks contained and what he did with them i do not know. they have vanished. i called upon dieckhoff in the two-story house in sheepshead bay where he lived. he had no intimate friends, didn't smoke, drink or run around. the life of the german war veteran seemed to be confined to working in the navy yard, returning home unobtrusively to work on ships' models and making his occasional visits to nordenholz's garret. so far as i could learn, dieckhoff became a marine engineer, working for the north german lloyd after the world war. in he entered the united states illegally and remained for two years. eventually he returned to germany, but came back to the united states, this time legally, applied for citizenship papers and became a naturalized citizen five years later. before he went to work on american war vessels, he worked in various parts of the country--in automobile shops, in the general electric co. in schenectady and as an engineer on sheepshead bay boats. even after hitler came into power, he worked on sheepshead bay boats. after the berlin-tokyo axis was formed ( ), germany became particularly interested in american naval affairs, for the axis, among other things, exchanged military secrets. shortly before the agreement was made, dieckhoff suddenly went to work for the staten island shipbuilding co., staten island, which was building four united states destroyers, numbers , , and . he worked on these destroyers during the day. until late at night he pursued his hobby of building ships' models, which he never made an attempt to sell. dieckhoff weighed his words carefully during our talk. "why did you apply for a transfer from staten island to the brooklyn navy yard?" i asked. "i don't know," he said. "i guess there was more money in it." "how much were you getting when you were working on the destroyers?" "it was some time ago," he said slowly. "i do not remember very good." "how much are you getting now at the navy yard?" "forty dollars and twenty-nine cents a week." "you went to germany last year for a couple of months and before that you went to germany for six months. were you able to save enough for these trips on your wages?" "i do not spend very much," he said. "i live here all alone." "how much do you save a week?" "oh, i don't know. ten dollars a week." "that would make five hundred dollars a year--if you worked steadily, which you didn't. you traveled third class. a round trip would be about two hundred dollars. that would leave you three hundred to spend provided you did not buy clothes, etc., for these trips. how did you manage to live in germany for six months on three hundred dollars? did you work there?" he hesitated and said, "no, i did not work there. i traveled around. i was not in one place." "how did you do it on three hundred dollars for six months?" "my brother gave me money." "what's your brother's business?" "oh, just general business in bremerhafen. he's got a big business there." "perhaps i can get a report from the american consul--" "oh," he interrupted. "his business isn't that big." "have you a bank account?" he hesitated again and then said, "no, i do not make enough money for a bank account." "where do you keep your money for trips to germany? in cash?" "yes, in cash." "where? here? in this room?" "no. not in this room. i have it locked up." "where?" "oh, different places," he said vaguely. "where are those places?" "i have my money with a friend." "who?" "nordenholz, albert nordenholz." "you work in brooklyn, live in sheepshead bay and save ten dollars a week in port richmond with a friend? isn't that a long distance to go to save money?" he shrugged his shoulders without answering. "what's nordenholz's business?" "i think he's retired. i think he used to be a butcher." "you don't know very much about a man's business and you travel all this distance to give him money to save for you when there are banks all around? why do you do that?" "oh, i don't know. it seems to me that it is better that way." later when i asked nordenholz, he denied that dieckhoff had ever given him any money to hold. dieckhoff had worked on turbines, gear reductions and other complicated mechanical parts on the cruiser "brooklyn." the moment i asked him if he handled blueprints he answered in the affirmative, but quickly added that the blueprints were returned every night and locked up by the officers. a capable machinist could, he admitted, after careful study remember the blueprints well enough to make a duplicate copy. "when you went to germany after working on the destroyers did anyone ever question you about them over there?" "no," he said quickly. "nobody." "my information is that you did talk about structural matters." he looked startled. "well," he said, "my brother knew i worked in the brooklyn navy yard. we talked about it, naturally." "my information is that you talked about it with other people, too." he stared out of the window with a worried air. finally he said, "well, my brother has a friend and i talked with him about it." "a minute ago you said you had not talked about it with anyone." "i had forgotten." "this is the brother who gave you money to travel around in germany?" he didn't answer. "i didn't hear you," i said. "yes," dieckhoff said finally, "he gave me the money." i called upon the second of the three suspected spies subpoenaed by the dies committee. alfred boldt had done very responsible work on the u.s. cruiser "honolulu." though he had not been in germany for ten years, he suddenly got enough money last year to go there and to send his son to school at a nazi academy. boldt, too, has no bank account. he needed a minimum of seven hundred dollars for his wife and himself to cross third class, but the dies committee was not interested in where the money for the trip had come from. boldt left for germany on august , , and returned september . on the evening i dropped in to see him, he was tensely nervous. he had heard that someone had been around to talk with dieckhoff. "i understand your only son, helmuth, is going to school in langin, germany?" i asked. "yes," he said, "i sent him there two years ago." "no schools in the united states for a fifteen-year-old boy?" "i wanted him to learn german." "what do you pay for his schooling over there?" he hesitated. his wife, who was sitting with us and occasionally advising him in german, suddenly interrupted in german, "don't tell him. that's german business." i assume they did not know that i understood, for boldt passed off her comment as if he had not heard it and said casually, "oh, twenty-five dollars a month." "you earn forty dollars a week at the navy yard, pay for your son's schooling in germany, clothes, etc., and you and your wife took more than a month's trip to germany last year. how do you do it on forty a week?" his wife giggled a little in the adjoining room. boldt shrugged his shoulder without answering. "the cheapest the two of you could do it, third class, would be about seven hundred dollars. where do you have your bank account?" "no. no bank account," his wife interrupted sharply. "all the money is kept here, right here in this house," he laughed. "you saved all that money in cash?" "yes; in cash, right here." "no banks?" "we like it better like that--in cash." boldt, like dieckhoff, had been a marine engineer on the north german lloyd. he went to work in the brooklyn navy yard in . when the cruiser "honolulu" made its trial run in the spring of , boldt was on board. like dieckhoff and boldt, harry woulters, _alias_ hugo woulters, the third of the three subpoenaed men, is a naturalized citizen of german extraction. he went to work in the navy yard within one day of dieckhoff. before that, both had worked on the same four american destroyers at the staten island shipbuilding company. the house where woulters lives has a great many jews in it, judging from the names on the letterboxes, and since hugo sounded too german, he listed his first name as "harry." "you and dieckhoff worked on the same destroyers on staten island and you say you never met him there?" i asked. "no, i never met him until the second day after i went to work in the navy yard." "how many people work on a destroyer--a thousand?" "oh, no. not that many." "about one hundred?" "about that," he said uncertainly. "and you worked with dieckhoff for six months on the same warships and never met him?" "yes," he insisted. "how come that if you never met him both of you applied for jobs at the brooklyn navy yard at about the same time?" he shrugged his shoulders. "i don't know. it's funny. sounds funny, anyway." "when you worked on the cruiser 'honolulu' you handled blueprints?" "yes, of course, but they were never left in my possession overnight," he added quickly. i couldn't help but think that dieckhoff, too, had been very quick in protesting that the blueprints had never been left in his possession overnight. they seemed worried about that even though i had not said anything about it. "were they _ever_ left in your possession overnight?" "no. they guarded the blueprints--" "my information is that they were left in your possession." "wells, sometimes--blueprints--you know, when you work from blueprints sometimes, yes, sometimes blueprints were left in my possession overnight. i was working on reduction gears on the cruiser 'brooklyn' and i kept the blueprints overnight." "how often?" "i can't remember how often. sometimes the blueprints were kept overnight in my tool box." "you also worked on turbines and other complicated and confidential structural problems on the warship?" "yes." "and you kept those blueprints overnight, too?" "sometimes--not often. sometimes i left them in my tool box overnight." woulters, during the latter period of construction on the "brooklyn" and the "honolulu" had got two jobs which most workers do not like. he had the four to midnight and the midnight to eight a.m. watches. normally woulters likes to stay at home with his wife. "while you had these watch duties you had pretty much the run of the ship?" he hesitated and weighed his words carefully before answering. finally he nodded and added hastily, "but no one can get on board." "i didn't ask that. did you have the run of the ship while everybody else was asleep when you were on watch?" "yes," he said in a low voice. "how did you happen to work in the brooklyn navy yard?" "oh, i don't know. i like to work for the government." "have you a bank account?" "yes." "what bank?" "oh, i don't know, it's some place on church avenue." "you have about , dollars in the bank, a nice apartment, and you and your wife went on a trip to germany last year. did you save all that money in so short a time on wages of forty dollars a week?" he shrugged his shoulders. "your bank account does not show withdrawals sufficient to cover the trip to germany--" "say," he interrupted excitedly as soon as he saw where the question was leading, "when i was called before the dies committee, the congressman there shook hands with me and asked me if i knew anything about un-american activities in the navy yard. i told him i didn't and he told me to go back to work and not to say anything about having been called before them. now i do not understand why you ask me all these questions. the congressman told me not to talk and i am saying nothing more. nothing." the dies congressional committee was not interested in these three men whom they had subpoenaed and then, oddly enough, refused to question. besides this very strange procedure by a committee empowered by the congress to investigate subversive activities, the dies committee withheld for months documentary evidence of nazi activities in this country directed from germany. the committee obtained letters to guenther orgell and peter gissibl, but quietly placed them in their files without telling anyone about the existence of these documents. they did not subpoena or question the men involved. the letters the committee treated so cavalierly are from e.a. vennekohl in charge of the foreign division of the _volksbund für das deutschtum im ausland_ with headquarters in berlin, letters from the foreign division headquarters in stuttgart, and from orgell to gissibl. gissibl was in constant touch with nazi propaganda headquarters in germany, receiving instructions and reporting not only on general activities, but especially upon the opening by the nazis here of schools for children in which nazi propaganda would be disseminated. the letters, freely translated, follow. the first is dated october , , and was sent by orgell from his home at great kills, s.i.: dear mr. gissibl: many thanks for your prompt reply. my complaint that one cannot get an answer from chicago refers to the time prior to may, . i assume from your writing that it is not opportune any more to deliver further books to the _arbeitsgemeinschaft_, etc. the material which mr. balderman received came from the v.d.a.[ ] it has been sent to our central book distributing place (mirbt). if he wishes he can get more any time; that is, if you recommend it. the thirty books for your theodore koerner school, which arrived this summer (via the german consulate general in chicago), also came from the v.d.a. if you need more first readers or study books, please write directly to me. your request then goes immediately--without the official way via the consulate and foreign office--to our central book distributing place. please say how many you need and what else beside the first readers and primers[ ] you need. i will take care that it will be promptly attended to. fritz kuhn, of course, has to be informed of your request and has to give his okay.... with german greetings, carl g. orgell. five days earlier orgell had written to gissibl: "you may perhaps remember that i am in charge of the work for the _volkbund für das deutschtum im ausland_[ ] for the u.s.a." [illustration: a letter the dies committee shelved--carl g. orgell identifying himself to peter gissibl as a representative of the people's bund for germans living abroad.] on march , , gissibl, who had been taking instructions from orgell, received the following letter from stuttgart: dear peter: from your office manager. comrade möller, i received a letter dated february . he informed me among other things that an exchange of youth is out of the question for this year. i regret this very much. i would like to see, in the interests of our common efforts, if we would have had youth all ready this year, especially also from your district. perhaps it is still possible with your support. the time, of course, which is still at our disposal, is very limited. this i can see clearly. i will write to you again in greater detail soon. in the meantime you can perhaps send me more detailed information about the development of your school during the past weeks; i recommend again the fulfillment of your justified wishes wholeheartedly. let us hope that the result might be achieved very soon towards which we in common strive. hearty greetings from house to house. in loyal comradeship, yours, g. moshack. on may , , e.a. vennekohl, of the people's bund for germans living abroad, wrote to gissibl as follows: dear comrade gissibl: we wrote you yesterday that the , badges for the singing festival would be sent to you via orgell; for various reasons we have now divided the badges in ten single packages of which two each went to the following addresses: friedrich schlenz, karl moeller, karl kraenzle, orgell and two to you. please inform your co-workers respectively and take care that in case duties have to be paid they should be laid out; please see to it that orgell refunds the money to you later; this was the simplest and the only way by which the badges could be sent in order to arrive on time. with the german people's greetings, e.a. vennekohl. these documents in the hands of the dies committee show definite tie-ups between german propaganda divisions and agents in the united states (some of them came through the nazi diplomatic corps), yet these documents were put aside. the letters from true, allen, and others quoted in the previous chapter were also placed before the congressional committee. it refused to call the men involved. [illustration: another letter connecting gissibl with a german propaganda agency. this letter, translated in the text, was hardly noticed by the dies committee.] [illustration: further evidence of gissibl's tie-up with the people's bund for germans living abroad. this letter, a translation of which appears in the text, was also long withheld by the dies committee.] footnotes: [ ] formerly known as j. parnell feeney. he changed his name because he thought he could get along better in the business world with a name like thomas than with a name as potently irish as feeney. [ ] nazi propaganda center for foreign countries with headquarters in germany. [ ] the notorious nazi primer teaching children songs of hate against jews and catholics. [ ] people's bund for germans living abroad. _conclusion_ the activities of the few agents and propagandists described in the foregoing chapters do not, as i said in the preface, even scratch the surface of what seem to be widespread efforts to interfere in the internal affairs of the american people and their government; but a few basic conclusions can reasonably be drawn from what little is known of the fifth column's operations. berlin-directed agents in foreign countries sometimes combine propaganda and espionage, frequently using the propaganda organizations as the bases for espionage. in the united states, so far as i have been able to ascertain, agents of the rome-berlin-tokyo axis are just beginning to cooperate. in the central and south american countries, however, the axis has apparently agreed to a division of labor, each of the fascist powers assuming a specific field of activity. germany, italy and japan have already shown the extent to which they will go in their drive for raw materials vital to their industries and war machines. in spain, the german and italian fifth column organized and fomented a bloody civil war in order to establish a wide fascist area to the south of france, for germany and italy, of course, consider france a potential enemy in the next war. in france itself, german and italian agents, aided by their governments, built an amazing network of steel and concrete fortifications manned by at least , heavily armed men--all this before france awoke to the treason within her own borders. the strategy pursued by the fifth column in different countries falls into like patterns. in austria, before it was swallowed, nazi agents first established propaganda organizations as the bases from which to work. when, after the abortive attempt to seize the austrian government, the nazis were made illegal, they went underground but continued to get aid from germany. eventually berlin ordered _standarte ii_ organized as a specific body prepared to provoke disturbances. when the austrian police quelled them, the provocations enabled germany to protest that german citizens were being attacked and mistreated. the activities of _standarte ii_, directed by the gestapo, continued with increasing intensity until the unfortunate country was absorbed. in czechoslovakia the same strategy was followed: first the establishment of propaganda centers to which nazis and nazi sympathizers could gravitate--under the cloak of bodies seeking to improve relations between the sudeten germans and the czech government; then the utilization of propaganda headquarters and branches as centers for espionage. shortly before the munich pact, _standarte ii_ again came into being, creating disorders which, when czech police tried to suppress them, enabled germany to raise the cry that czech subjects of german blood were being cruelly mistreated. invariably the aggressor nation raises a moral issue to cover up proposed acts of aggression. italy wanted to "civilize the ethiopians" by dropping bombs on defenseless women and children. germany and italy openly sent aid to franco "to keep spain from being bolshevized." and so on. the broad "moral issue" on the international field to cover up aggressions by the rome-berlin-tokyo axis is "communism." the axis, announced as having been formed "to exchange information about communism," is really a military alliance now generally recognized. with the same issue, the axis is now boring into the western hemisphere. actually the reasons seem to be military and not missionary. germany, especially, has sent and is sending agents not only to carry on espionage but to organize groups for political pressure upon the american republics. i very much doubt, from all i have been able to learn, if the motive is primarily to win the americas over to the joys of totalitarian government or to the theory of aryan supremacy. the money and the effort seem to be expended for more practical reasons. the bunds can exert not only political pressure, but can develop natives with fascist leanings into the spies and _saboteurs_ so badly needed in war time; for this reason it is worth the enormous effort and money it is costing the aggressor nations. when the long expected war breaks, neither europe nor the far east will be in a condition to supply war materials and foodstuffs to the warring countries. the chief sources of raw materials will be the western hemisphere. a strong foothold in the americas means a tremendous advantage in the coming struggle, since materials are as important to an army as is man power. and, should the fascist powers be unable to get these raw materials for themselves, secret agents can at least sabotage shipments to enemy countries--as did german agents in the united states during the first years of the world war, while we were still neutral. mexico, because of its enormous oil supplies, plays an important part in fascist military strategy. consequently, we find intensive efforts by the axis, and especially germany, to overthrow the cárdenas government because it is avowedly anti-fascist. a fascist government, helped into power by the rome-berlin-tokyo axis, could be depended upon to supply much needed oil in war time. the united states, as one of the world's greatest sources of raw materials and foodstuffs, is an even more important factor. germany has not forgotten that its armies had the allies on their knees when american supplies and american man power turned their imminent victory into defeat; should america be on the side of the democracies as against the fascist powers, sabotaging shipments of supplies and men will be as important as crushing an enemy line. the tactics utilized in the western hemisphere by the fifth column are similar to those used in europe. propaganda machines, masquerading as organizations designed to promote better relationships between a fascist and an american nation, are set up. fascist movements are organized, usually from across national boundaries. in mexico, nazi agents operating out of the united states organized the gold shirts; subsequently, as in austria, a putsch was attempted (in and again in ). the storing of arms in sonora by general yocupicio, who is working with nazi agents, promises another rebellion when the time seems ripe. in central america, the axis is presenting small republics with gifts of arms in efforts to win their friendship. agents sent from germany are establishing nazi centers and the home government is supplying them with propaganda. in panama the situation is somewhat more sharp. there japan has always had an intense interest in the canal. in the axis, germany has become a co-worker since she has large colonies in brazil and colombia, next door to the panama canal. these colonies are now being organized at a feverish pace while the countries themselves are deluged with propaganda over special short-wave beams. in brazil, a nazi-directed abortive putsch took place in . these activities point to an objective which certainly is not calculated to be in the interest of the united states and our monroe doctrine. from all indications the efforts appear directed toward ringing the united states with fascist countries, or at least countries with fascist bodies capable of giving the united states a headache should she ever be involved in a war with one or all of the axis powers. in the united states itself we find that the strategy is the same as that followed in austria, czechoslovakia and in countries of the western world. the german-american bund functions "to promote better relations between the united states and germany," but the efforts consist of persistent anti-american and anti-democratic propaganda and, within the past year or two, of serving as a base for military and naval spies. with germany directing the strategy, her agents in all countries raise the issue of the "menace of the jew and the catholic," with especial emphasis upon the jew; the catholics are still too strong for the nazis to come to grips with at this time. the federal government, of course, has ample legal machinery for prosecuting spies, but espionage is only part of the broad nazi campaign against this democratic government. so far as the western world is concerned, the federal government has already taken steps to try to counteract the short-wave broadcasts by german and italian government-controlled stations. counter broadcasts are being employed as a defensive measure, and though of value, will probably not completely counteract fascist "news" agencies supplying propaganda in the guise of news, free of charge, to the central and south american newspapers as well as printed propaganda sent from germany and distributed by the bunds. outside of military action, economic pressure seems to be the only language the fascist governments understand, and a little of that pressure by the american government would probably make them understand our resentment at their invasion far more than broadcasts and general talk about a family of nations in the western hemisphere. our laws and courts provide a machinery which can be used to prevent any infringement upon the democratically constituted rights of the people. it is of vital importance, however, that preparations for fascist lawlessness be vigilantly uprooted. the italian and german people made just this fatal mistake of tolerating the activities of mussolini's and hitler's gangs until they grew strong enough to seize power and crush every sign of democracy. there is no reason why a great people, attacked by a pernicious ideology, cannot counteract such propaganda with greater and more intelligent propaganda to educate our people to the advantages of democracy--to what fascism really means to everyone, including the big industrialists and financiers, some of whom have been flirting with fascism. the government, however, can and should be instructed by the representatives of the people, to take proper steps to stop the infiltration of nazi agents and propagandists into this country. there are various other and perhaps more practical and useful steps which can be taken, but those can be worked out once the people awake to the danger of permitting fascist propaganda to go on, and sentiment becomes strong enough to put an end to foreign-directed activities here. --the end-- _this book has been produced wholly under union conditions. the paper was made, the type set, the plates electrotyped, and the printing and binding done in union shops affiliated with the american federation of labor. all employees of modern age books, inc., are members of the book and magazine guild, local no. of the united office and professional workers of america, affiliated with the congress of industrial organizations._ * * * * * +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | typographical errors corrected in text: | | | | page : potosi replaced with potosí | | page : nicholas rodriguez replaced with | | nicholás rodriguez | | page : 'among those who attended where' replaced with | | 'among those who attended were' | | | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ * * * * * history of friedrich ii. of prussia frederick the great by thomas carlyle table of contents books chapters volumes project gutenberg editor's note reproofing this old project gutenberg edition of the history of frederick the great has been both rewarding and disappointing. each of the first original volumes had many hundreds of errors corrected�many remain. the editor was fortunate to have a good printed set of all volumes available for reference when there were questions in the etext. the original pg edition had some severe basic problems: two of the most important were first, that the etext was posted in the ascii character set--a heavy defect in books full of words in german; and second, the footnotes were not marked as such in the etext but rather the footnote material was simply inserted into the main text making it impossible most of the time to tell what is text and what footnote. another of the peculiarities in this set: many words are a combination of lower and upper case�likely done in the original contributor's print copy for emphasis of certain syllables. in spite of the many months taken in correcting the volumes, they are reposted with regret they are not better and with the realization the renovated edition is a poor representation of this great work. this reposting i consider an interim step, with the hope another volunteer will someday produce a new pg edition from new scans saved in unicode or latin- with linked footnotes--a project i am unlikely to have time to accomplish. david widger june , books book i. -- birth and parentage. - . book ii. -- of brandenburg and the hohenzollerns. - - . book iii. -- the hohenzollerns in brandenburg. - - book iv. -- friedrich's apprenticeship, first stage. - - . book v. -- double-marriage project, and what element it fell into. - - . book vi. -- double-marriage project, and crown-prince, going adrift under the storm-winds. - - . book vii. -- fearful shipwreck of the double-marriage project. - feb.- nov., . book viii. -- crown-prince reprieved: life at custrin - nov. - february, . book ix. -- last stage of friedrich's apprenticeship: life in ruppin. - - . book x. -- at reinsberg. - - . book xi. -- friedrich takes the reins in hand. -- june-december, . book xii. -- first silesian war, awakening a general european one, begins. -- december, -may, . book xiii. -- first silesian war, leaving the general european one ablaze all round, gets ended. -- may, -july, . table of contents of all chapters book i. -- birth and parentage. -- . chapter i. -- proem: friedrich's history from the distance we are at. . friedrich then, and friedrich now. . eighteenth century. . english prepossessions. . encouragements, discouragements. chapter ii. -- friedrich's birth. chapter iii. -- father and mother: the hanoverian connection. chapter iv. -- father's mother. chapter v. -- king friedrich i. book ii. -- of brandenburg and the hohenzollerns. - - . chapter i. -- brannibor: henry the fowler. chapter ii. -- preussen: saint adalbert. chapter iii. -- markgraves of brandenburg. end of the first shadowy line. second shadowy line. substantial markgraves: glimpse of the contemporary kaisers. chapter iv. -- albert the bear. chapter v. -- conrad of hohenzollern; and kaiser barbarossa. conrad has become burggraf of nurnberg (a.d. ). of the hohenzollern burggraves generally. chapter vi. -- the teutsch ritters or teutonic order. head of teutsch order moves to venice. teutsch order itself goes to preussen. the stuff teutsch ritters were made of conrad of thuringen: saint elizabeth; town of marburg. chapter vii. -- margraviate of culmbach: baireuth, anspach. burggraf friedrich iii.; and the anarchy of nineteen years. kaiser rudolf and burggraf friedrich iii. chapter viii. -- ascanier markgraves in brandenburg. of berlin city. markgraf otto iv., or otto with the arrow chapter ix. -- burggraf friedrich iv. contested elections in the reich: kaiser albert i.; after whom six non-hapsburg kaisers. of kaiser henry vii. and the luxemburg kaisers. henry's son johann is king of bohemia; and ludwig the bavarian, with a contested election, is kaiser. chapter x. -- brandenburg lapses to the kaiser. chapter xi. -- bayarian kurfursts in brandenburg. a resuscitated ascanier; the false waldemar. margaret with the pouch-mouth. chapter xii. -- brandenburg in kaiser karl's time; end of the bavarian kurfursts. end of resuscitated waldemar; kurfurst ludwig sells out. second, and then third and last, of the bavarian kurfursts in brandenburg. chapter xiii. -- luxemburg kurfursts in brandenburg. chapter xiv. -- burggraf friedrich vi. sigismund is kurfurst of brandenburg, but is king of hungary also. cousin jobst has brandenburg in pawn. brandenburg in the hands of the pawnbrokers; rupert of the pfalz is kaiser. sigismund, with a struggle, becomes kaiser. brandenburg is pawned for the last time. the seven intercalary or non-hapsburg kaisers. book iii. -- the hohenzollerns in brandenburg. - - chapter i. -- kurfurst friedrich i. chapter ii. -- matinees du roi de prusse. chapter iii. -- kurfurst friedrich ii. chapter iv. -- kurfurst albert achilles, and his successor. johann the cicero is fourth kurfurst, and leaves two notable sons. chapter v. -- of the baireuth-anspach branch. two lines in culmbach or baireuth-anspach: the gera bond of . the elder line of culmbach: friedrich and his three notable sons there. friedrich's second son, margraf george of anspach. chapter vi. -- hochmeister albert, third notable son of friedrich. chapter vii. -- albert alcibiades. chapter viii. -- historical meaning of the reformation. chapter ix. -- kurfurst joachim i. chapter x. -- kurfurst joachim ii. joachim gets co-investment in preussen. joachim makes "heritage-brotherhood" with the duke of liegnitz. chapter xi. -- seventh kurfurst, johann george. chapter xii. -- of albert friedrich, the second duke of preussen. of duke albert friedrich's marriage: who his wife was, and what her possible dowry. margraf george friedrich comes to preussen to administer. chapter xiii. -- ninth kurfurst, johann sigismund. how the cleve heritage dropped, and many sprang to pick it up. the kaiser's thoughts about it, and the world's. chapter xiv. -- symptoms of a great war coming. first symptom; donauworth, . symptom third: a dinner-scene at dusseldorf, : spaniards and dutch shoulder arms in cleve. symptom fourth, and catastrophe upon the heels of it. what became of the cleve-julich heritage, and of the preussen one. chapter xv. -- tenth kurfurst, george wilhelm. chapter xvi. -- thirty-years war. second act, or epoch, - . a second uncle put to the ban, and pommern snatched away. third act, and what the kurfurst suffered in it. chapter xvii. -- duchy of jagerndorf. duke of jagerndorf, elector's uncle, is put under ban. chapter xviii. -- friedrich wilhelm, the great kurfurst, eleventh of the series. what became of pommern at the peace; final glance into cleve- julich. the great kurfurst's wars: what he achieved in war and peace. chapter xix. -- king friedrich i. again. how austria settled the silesian claims. his real character. chapter xx. -- death of king friedrich i. the twelve hohenzollern electors. genealogical diagram: the two culmbach lines. book iv. -- friedrich's apprenticeship, first stage. - - . chapter i. -- childhood: double educational element. first educational element, the french one. chapter ii. -- the german element. of the dessauer, not yet "old." chapter iii. -- friedrich wilhelm is king. chapter iv. -- his majesty's ways. chapter v. -- friedrich wilhelm's one war. the devil in harness: creutz the finance-minister. chapter vi. -- the little drummer. chapter vii. -- transit of czar peter. chapter viii. -- the crown-prince is put to his schooling. chapter ix. -- wusterhausen. chapter x. -- the heidelberg protestants. of kur-pfalz karl philip: how he got a wife long since, and did feats in the world. karl philip and his heidelberg protestants. friedrich wilhelm's method;--proves remedial in heidelberg. prussian majesty has displeased the kaiser and the king of poland. chapter xi. -- on the crown-prince's progress in his schooling. the noltenius-and-panzendorf drill-exercise. chapter xii. -- crown-prince falls into disfavor with papa. chapter xiii. -- results of the crown-prince's schooling. book v. -- double-marriage project, and what element it fell into. -- - . chapter i. -- double-marriage is decided on. queen sophie dorothee has taken time by the forelock. princess amelia comes into the world. friedrich wilhelm's ten children. chapter ii. -- a kaiser hunting shadows. imperial majesty on the treaty of utrecht. imperial majesty has got happily wedded. imperial majesty and the termagant of spain. imperial majesty's pragmatic sanction. third shadow: imperial majesty's ostend company. chapter iii. -- the seven crises or european travail-throes. congress of cambrai. congress of cambrai gets the floor pulled from under it. france and the britannic majesty trim the ship again: how friedrich wilhelm came into it. treaty of hanover, . travail-throes of nature for baby carlos's italian apanage; seven in number. chapter iv. -- double-marriage treaty cannot be signed. chapter v. -- crown-prince goes into the potsdam guards. of the potsdam giants, as a fact. friedrich wilhelm's recruiting difficulties. queen sophie's troubles: grumkow with the old dessauer, and grumkow without him. chapter vi. -- ordnance-master seckendorf crosses the palace esplanade. chapter vii. -- tobacco-parliament. of gundling, and the literary men in tobacco-parliament. chapter viii. -- seckendorf's retort to her majesty. book vi. -- double-marriage project, and crown-prince, going adrift under the storm-winds. -- - . chapter i. -- fifth crisis in the kaiser's spectre-hunt. crown-prince seen in dryasdust's glass, darkly. chapter ii. -- death of george i. his prussian majesty falls into one of his hypochondriacal fits. chapter iii. -- visit to dresden. the physically strong pays his counter-visit. of princess whilhelmina's four kings and other ineffectual suitors. chapter iv. -- double-marriage project is not dead. crown-prince friedrich writes certain letters. double-marriage project re-emerges in an official shape. his majesty slaughters , head of wild swine. falls ill, in consequence; and the double-marriage cannot get forward. chapter v. -- congress of soissons, sixth crisis in the spectre-hunt. chapter vi. -- imminency of war or duel between the britannic and prussian majesties. cause first: the hanover joint-heritages, which are not in a liquid state. cause second: the troubles of mecklenburg. causes third and fourth:--and cause fifth, worth all the others. troubles of mecklenburg, for the last time. one nussler settles the ahlden heritages; sends the money home in boxes. chapter vii. -- a marriage: not the double-marriage: crown-prince deep in trouble. crown-prince's domesticities seen in a flash of lightning. chapter viii. -- crown-prince getting beyond his depth in trouble. chapter ix. -- double-marriage shall be or shall not be. wilhelmina to be married out of hand. crisis first: england shall say yes or say no. dubourgay strikes a light for the english court. wilhelmina to be married out of hand. crisis second: england shall have said no. wilhelmina to be married out of hand. crisis third: majesty himself will choose, then. how friedrich prince of baireuth came to be the man, after all. double-marriage, on the edge of shipwreck, flies off a kind of carrier-pigeon, or noah's-dove, to england, with cry for help. book vii. -- fearful shipwreck of the double-marriage project. -- feb.- nov., . chapter i. -- england sends the excellency hotham to berlin. majesty and crown-prince with him make a run to dresden. how villa was received in england. excellency hotham arrives in berlin. chapter ii. -- language of birds: excellency hotham proves unavailing. a peep into the nosti-grumkow correspondence caught up in st. mary axe. the hotham despatches. his majesty gets sight of the st.-mary-axe documents; but nothing follows from it. st. peter's church in berlin has an accident. chapter iii. -- camp of radewitz. chapter iv. -- excellency hotham quits berlin in haste. chapter v. -- journey to the reich. chapter vi. -- journey homewards from the reich; catastrophe on journey homewards. catastrophe on journey homewards. chapter vii. -- catastrophe, and majesty, arrive in berlin. scene at berlin on majesty's arrival. chapter viii. -- sequel to crown-prince and friends. chapter ix. -- court-martial on crown-prince and consorts. crown-prince in custrin. sentence of court-martial. katte's end, th november, . book viii. -- crown-prince reprieved: life at custrin -- november, - february, . chapter i. -- chaplain muller waits on the crown-prince. chapter ii. -- crown-prince to repent and not perish. crown-prince begins a new course. chapter iii. -- wilhelmina is to wed the prince of baireuth. chapter iv. -- criminal justice in preussen and elsewhere. case of schlubhut. case of the criminal-collegium itself. skipper jenkins in the gulf of florida. baby carlos gets his apanage. chapter v. -- interview of majesty and crown-prince at custrin. grumkow's "protokoll" of the th august, ; or summary of what took place at custrin that day. schulenburg's three letters to grumkow, on visits to the crown-prince, during the custrin time. his majesty's building operations. chapter vi. -- wilhelmina's wedding. book ix. -- last stage of friedrich's apprenticeship: life in ruppin. -- - . chapter i. -- princess elizabeth christina of brunswick-bevern. who his majesty's choice is; and what the crown-prince thinks of it. duke of lorraine arrives in potsdam and in berlin. betrothal of the crown-prince to the brunswick charmer, niece of imperial majesty, monday evening, th march, . chapter ii. -- small incidents at ruppin. chapter iii. -- the salzburgers. chapter iv. -- prussian majesty visits the kaiser. chapter v. -- ghost of the double-marriage rises; to no purpose. session of tobacco-parliament, th december, . chapter vi. -- king august meditating great things for poland. chapter vii. -- crown-prince's marriage. chapter viii. -- king august dies; and poland takes fire. poland has to find a new king. of the candidates; of the conditions. how the election went. poland on fire; dantzig stands siege. chapter ix. -- kaiser's shadow-hunt has caught fire. subsequent course of the war, in the italian part of it. course of the war, in the german part of it. chapter x. -- crown-prince goes to the rhine campaign. glimpse of lieutenant chasot, and of other acquisitions. crown-prince's visit to baireuth on the way home. chapter xi. -- in papa's sick-room; prussian inspections: end of war. book x. -- at reinsberg. - - . chapter i. -- mansion of reinsberg. of monsieur jordan and the literary set. chapter ii. -- of voltaire and the literary correspondences. chapter iii. -- crown-prince makes a morning call. chapter iv. -- news of the day. of berg and julich again; and of luiscius with the one razor. chapter v. -- visit at loo. crown-prince becomes a freemason; and is harangued by monsieur de bielfeld. seckendorf gets lodged in gratz. the ear of jenkins re-emerges. chapter vi. -- last year of reinsberg; journey to preussen. pine's horace; and the anti-machiavel. friedrich in preussen again; at the stud of trakehnen. a tragically great event coming on. chapter vii. -- last year of reinsberg: transit of baltimore and other persons and things. bielfeld, what he saw at reinsberg and around. turk war ends; spanish war begins. a wedding in petersburg. chapter viii. -- death of friedrich wilhelm. book xi. -- friedrich takes the reins in hand. -- june-december, . chapter i. -- phenomena of friedrich's accession. friedrich will make men happy: corn-magazines. abolition of legal torture. will have philosophers about him, and a real academy of sciences. and every one shall get to heaven in his own way. free press, and newspapers the best instructors. intends to be practical withal, and every inch a king. behavior to his mother; to his wife. no change in his father's methods or ministries. chapter ii. -- the homagings. friedrich accepts the homages, personally, in three places. chapter iii. -- friedrich makes an excursion, not of direct sort into the cleve countries. friedrich strikes off to the left, and has a view of strasburg for two days. friedrich finds m. de maupertuis; not yet m. de voltaire. chapter iv. -- voltaire's first interview with friedrich. particulars of first interview, on severe scrutiny. what voltaire thought of the interview twenty years afterwards. what voltaire thought of the interview at the time. chapter v. -- affair of herstal. how the herstallers had behaved to friedrich wilhelm. friedrich takes the rod out of pickle. what voltaire thought of herstal. chapter vi. -- returns by hanover; does not call on his royal uncle there. chapter vii. -- withdraws to reinsberg, hoping a peaceable winter. wilhelmina's return-visit. unexpected news at reinsberg. chapter viii. -- the kaiser's death. chapter ix. -- resolution formed at reinsberg in consequence. mystery in berlin, for seven weeks, while the preparations go on; voltaire visits friedrich to decipher it, but cannot. view of friedrich behind the veil. excellency botta has audience; then excellency dickens, and others: december th, the mystery is out. masked ball, at berlin, th- th december. book xii. -- first silesian war, awakening a general european one, begins. -- december, -may, . chapter i. -- of schlesien, or silesia. historical epochs of schlesien;- -after the quads and marchmen. chapter ii. -- friedrich marches on glogau. friedrich at crossen, and still in his own territory, th- th december;--steps into schlesien. what glogau, and the government at breslau, did upon it. march to weichau (saturday, th, and stay sunday there); to milkau (monday, th); get to herrendorf, within sight of glogau, december d. chapter iii. -- problem of glogau. what berlin is saying; what friedrich is thinking. jordan to the king schwerin at liegnitz; friedrich hushes up the glogau problem, and starts with his best speed for breslau. chapter iv. -- breslau under soft pressure. king enters breslaw; stays there, gracious and vigilant, four days (jan. d- th, ). chapter v. -- friedrich pushes forward towards brieg and neisse. friedrich comes across to ottmachau; sits there, in survey of neisse, till his cannon come. chapter vi. -- neisse is bombarded. browne vanishes in a slight flash of fire. chapter vii. -- at versailles, the most christian majesty changes his shirt, and belleisle is seen with papers. of belleisle and his plans. chapter viii. -- phenomena in petersburg. chapter ix. -- friedrich returns to silesia. skirmish of baumgarten, th february, . aspects of breslau. austria is standing to arms. the young dessauer captures glogau (march th); the old dessauer, by his camp of gottin (april d), checkmates certain designing persons. friedrich takes the field, with some pomp; goes into the mountains,--but comes fast back. chapter x. -- battle of mollwitz. of friedrich's disappearance into fairyland, in the interim; and of maupertuis's similar adventure. chapter xi. -- the bursting forth of bedlams: belleisle and the breakers of pragmatic sanction. who was to blame for the austrian-succession war? how belleisle made visit to teutschland; and there was no fit henry the fowler to welcome him. downbreak of pragmatic sanction; manner of the chief artists in handling their covenants. concerning the imperial election (kaiserwahl) that is to be: candidates for kaisership. teutschland to be carved into something of symmetry, should the belleisle enterprises succeed. belleisle on visit to friedrich; sees friedrich besiege brieg, with effect. chapter xii. -- sorrows of his britannic majesty. no. . snatch of parliamentary eloquence by mr. viner ( th april, ). no. . constitutional historian on the phenomenon of walpole in england. no. . of the spanish war, or the jenkins's-ear question. succinct history of the spanish war, which began in ; and ended--when did it end? chapter xiii. -- small-war: first emergence of ziethen the hussar general into notice. book xiii. -- first silesian war, leaving the general european one ablaze all round, gets ended. -- may, -july, . chapter i. -- britannic majesty as paladin of the pragmatic. cunctations, yet incessant and ubiquitous endeavorings, of his britannic chapter ii. -- camp of strehlen. excellency hyndford has his first audience (camp of mollwitz, may th); excellency robinson busy in the vienna hofrath circles, to produce a excellency robinson has audience of friedrich (camp of strehlen, th chapter iii. -- grand review at strehlen: neipperg takes aim at breslau. chapter iv. -- friedrich takes the field again, intent on having neisse. chapter v. -- klein-schnellendorf: friedrich gets neisse, in a fashion. excellency hyndford brings about a meeting at klein-schnellendorf ( th friedrich takes neisse by sham siege (capture not sham); gets homaged in chapter vi. -- new mayor of landshut makes an installation speech. chapter vii. -- friedrich purposes to mend the klein-schnellendorf failure: fortunes of the belleisle armament. the french safe in prag; kaiserwahl just coming on. broglio has a bivouac of pisek; khevenhuller looks in upon the donau chapter viii. -- friedrich starts for moravia, on a new scheme he has. chapter ix. -- wilhelmina goes to see the gayeties at frankfurt. wilhelmina at the coronation. the duchess dowager of wurtemberg, returning from berlin favors us with chapter x. -- friedrich does his moravian expedition which proves a mere iglau is got, but not the magazine at iglau. the saxons think iglau enough; the french go home. friedrich submerges the moravian countries; but cannot brunn, which is the saxons have no cannon for brunn, cannot afford any; there is a high chapter xi. --nussler in neisse, with the old dessauer and walrave. how nussler happened to be in neisse, may, . chapter xii. -- prince karl does come on. chapter xiii. --battle of chotusitz. chapter xiv. -- peace of breslau. book xiv.�the surrounding european war does not end.�august, -july, . chapter i.�friedrich resumes his peaceable pursuits. settles the silesian boundaries, the silesian arrangements; with manifest profit to silesia and himself. opening of the opera-house at berlin. friedrich takes the waters at aachen, where voltaire comes to see him. chapter ii.�austrian affairs are on the mounting hand. war-phenomena in the western parts: king george tries, a second time, to draw his sword; tugs at it violently, for seven months (february-october, ). how duc d'harcourt, advancing to reinforce the oriflamme, had to split himself in two; and become an "army of bavaria," to little effect. how belleisle, returning from dresden without co-operation found the attack had been done,�in a fatally reverse way. prag expecting siege. colloquy with broglio on that interesting point. prag besieged. concerning the italian war which simultaneously went on, all along. scene, roads of cadiz, october, : by what astonishing artifice this italian war did, at length, get begun. other scene, bay of naples, th- th august, : king of two sicilies (baby carlos that was), having been assisting mamma, is obliged to become neutral in the italian war. the siege of prag contimes. a grand sally there. maillebois marches, with an "army of redemption" or "of mathurins" (wittily so called), to relieve prag; reaches the bohemian frontier, joined by the comte de saxe; above , strong (august th-september th). prince karl and the grand-duke, hearing of maillebois, go to meet him (september th); and the siege of prag is raised. the maillebois army of redemption cannot redeem at all;�has to stagger southward again; and becomes an "army of bavaria," under broglio. voltaire has been on visit at aachen, in the interim,�his third visit to king friedrich. three letters of voltaire, dated brussels, th sept. . chapter iii.�carnival phenomena in war-time. retreat from prag; army of the oriflamme, bohemian section bohemian section of it, makes exit. a glance at vienna, and then at berlin. voltaire, at paris, is made immortal by a kiss. chapter iv.�austrian affairs mount to a dangerous height. britannic majesty, with sword actually drawn, has marched meanwhile to the frankfurt countries, as "pragmatic army;" ready for battle and treaty alike. friedrich has objections to the pragmatic army; but in vain. of friedrich's many endeavors to quench this war, by "union of independent german princes," by "mediation of the reich," and otherwise; all in vain. chapter v.�britannic majesty fights his battle of dettingen; and becomes supreme jove of germany, in a manner. battle of dettingen. britannic majesty holds his conferences of hanau. hungarian majesty answers, in the diet, that french declaration, "make peace, good people; i wish to be out of it!"�in an ominous manner. britannic majesty goes home. chapter vi.�voltaire visits friedrich for the fourth time. friedrich visits baireuth: on a particular errand;�voltaire attending, and privately reporting. chapter vii.�friedrich makes treaty with france; and silently gets ready. chapter viii.�perfect peace at berlin, war all round. glance at the belligerent powers; britannic majesty narrowly misses an invasion that might have been dangerous the young duke of wurtemberg gets a valedictory advice; and pollnitz a ditto testimonial (february th; april st, ). two conquests for prussia, a gaseous and a solid: conquest first, barberina the dancer. conquest second is ost-friesland, of a solid nature. book xv.�second silesian war, important episode in the general european one.� th aug. - th dec. . chapter i.�preliminary: how the moment arrived. prince karl gets across the rhine ( june- july, ). friedrich decides to intervene. chapter ii.�friedrich marches upon prag, captures prag. chapter iii.�friedrich, diligent in his bohemian conquests, unexpectedly comes upon prince karl, with no french attending him. friedrich, leaving small garrison in prag, rushes swiftly up the moldau valley, upon the tabor-budweis country; to please his french friends. the french are little grateful for the pleasure done them at such ruinous expense. chapter iv.�friedrich reduced to straits; cannot maintain his moldau conquests against price karl. friedrich tries to have battle from prince karl, in the moldau countries; cannot, owing to the skill of prince karl or of old feldmarschall traun;�has to retire behind the sazawa, and ultimately behind the elbe, with much labor in vain. friedrich's retreat; especially einsiedel's from prag. chapter v.�friedrich, under difficulties, prepares for a new campaign. old dessauer repels the silesian invasion (winter, - ). the french fully intend to behave better next season to friedrich and their german allies;�but are prevented by various accidents (november, -april, ; april-august, ). strange accident to marechal de belleisle in the harz mountains ( th december, ). the kaiser karl vii. gets secured from oppressions, in a tragic way. friedrich proposes peace, but to no purpose. chapter vi.�valori goes on an electioneering mission to dresden. . friedrich's position towards saxony. . there is a, "union of warsaw" ( th january, ); and still more specially a "treaty of warsaw" ( th january- th may, ). . valori's account of his mission (in compressed form). [valori, i. - .] middle-rhine army in a staggering state; the bavarian intricacy settles itself, the wrong way. chapter vii.�friedrich in silesia; unusually busy. king friedrich to podewils, in berlin (under various dates, march-april, ). friedrich to podewils (as before, april-may, ). chapter viii.�the martial boy and his english versus the laws of nature. battle of fontenoy ( th may, ). chapter ix.�the austrian-saxon army invades silesia, across the mountains. chapter x.�battle of hohenfriedberg. chapter xi.�camp of chlum: friedrich cannot achieve peace. camp of dieskau: britannic majesty makes peace, for himself, with friedrich; but cannot for austria or saxony. schonbrunn, d august, , robinson has audience of her hungarian majesty. grand-duke franz is elected kaiser ( th september, ); friedrich, the season and forage being done, makes for silesia. chapter xii.�battle of sohr. chapter xiii.�saxony and austria make a surprising last attempt. friedrich goes out to meet his three-legged monster; cuts one leg of it in two (fight of hennersdorf, d november, ). prince karl, cut in two, tumbles home again double-quick. chapter xiv.�battle of kesselsdorf. chapter xv.�peace of dresden: friedrich does march home. book xvi.�the ten years of peace.� - chapter i.�sans-souci friedrich declines the career of conquering hero; goes into law-reform; and gets ready a cottage residence for himself chapter ii.�peep at voltaire and his divine emilie (by candlelight) in the tide of events voltaire and the divine emilie appear suddenly, one night, at sceaux war-passages in marshal keith comes to prussia (september, ) chapter iii.�european war falls done: treaty of aix-la-chapelle marechal de saxe pays friedrich a visit. tragic news, that concern us, of voltaire and others. chapter iv. cocceji finishes the law-reform; friedrich is printing his poesies chapter v. strangers of note come to berlin, in candidatus linsenbarth (quasi "lentil-beard") likewise visits berlin sir jonas hanway stalks across the scene, too; in a pondering and observing manner chapter vi.�berlin carrousel, and voltaire visible there perpetual president maupertuis has a visit from one konig, out of holland, concerning the infinitely little chapter vii.�m. de voltaire has a painful jew-lawsuit the voltaire- hirsch transaction: part i. origin of lawsuit ( th november- th december, ) part ii. the lawsuit itself ( th december, - th and th february, ) chapter viii. ost-friesland and the shipping interests friedriah visits ost-friesland chapter ix.�second act of the voltaire visit detached features (not fabulous) of voltaire and his berlin-potsdam environment in - fractions of events and indications, from voltaire himself, in this time; more or less illuminative when reduced to order chapter x. demon newswriter, of a demon newswriter gives an "idea" of friedrich; intelligible to the knowing classes in england and elsewhere chapter xi. third act and catastrophe of the voltaire visit "answer from [very privately voltaire, calling himself] a berlin academician to a paris one. chapter xii. of the afterpiece, which proved still more tragical part i. fredersdorf sends instructions; the "oeuvre de poesie" is got; but� part ii. voltaire, in spite of his efforts, does get away (june th-july th) chapter xiii. romish-king question; english-privateer question chapter xiv. there is like to be another war ahead chapter xv.�anti-prussian war-symptoms: friedrich visible for a moment "extractus protocollorum in inquisitions-sachen,"�that is to say, extract of protocols in inquest "contra friedrich wilhelm menzel and johann benjamin erfurth." friedrich is visible, in holland, to the naked eye, for some minutes (june d, ). book xvii�the seven-years war: first campaign� - . chapter i.�what friedrich had read in the menzel documents. how friedrich discovered the mystery. concerning menzel and weingarten. chapter ii.�english diplomacies abroad, in prospect of a french war. the triumphant hanbury treaty becomes, itself, nothing or less;�but produces a friedrich treaty, followed by results which surprise everybody. there has been a counter-treaty going on at versailles in the interim; which hereupon starts out, and tumbles the wholly astonished european diplomacies heels-over-head. chapter iii.�french-english war breaks out. king friedrich's enigma gets more and more stringent. chapter iv.�friedrich puts a question at vienna, twice over. the march into saxony, in three columns. chapter v.�friedrich blockades the saxons in pirna country. chapter vi.�battle of lobositz. chapter vii.�the saxons get out of pirna on dismal terms. chapter viii.�winter in dresden. book xviii.�seven-years war rises to a height.� - . chapter i.�the campaign opens. reich's thunder, slight survey of it; with question, whitherward, if any-whither. friedrich suddenly marches on prag. chapter ii.�battle of prag. chapter iii.�prag cannot be got at once. colonel mayer with his "free- corps" party makes a visit, of didactic nature, to the reich. of the singular quasi-bewitched condition of england; and what is to be hoped from it for the common cause, if prag go amiss. phenomena of prag siege:�prag siege is interrupted. chapter iv.�battle of kolin. the maria-theresa order, new knighthood for austria. chapter v.�friedrich at leitmeritz, his world of enemies coming on. prince august wilhelm finds a bad problem at jung-bunzlau; and does it badly: friedrich thereupon has to rise from leitmeritz, and take the field elsewhere, in bitter haste and impatience, with outlooks worse than ever. chapter vi.�death of winterfeld. chapter vii.�friedrich in thuringen, his world of enemies all come. i. friedrich's march to erfurt from dresden�( st august- th september, ). ii. the soubise hildburghausen people take into the hills; friedrich in erfurt neighborhood, hanging on, week after week, in an agony of inaction ( th september- th october). lamentation-psalms of friedrich. iii. rumor of an inroad on berlin suddenly sets friedrich on march thither: inroad takes effect,�with important results, chiefly in a left-hand form. scene at regensburg in the interim. book xviii (continued)�seven-years war rises to a height. - . chapter viii.�battle of rossbach. catastrophe of dauphiness (saturday, th november, ). chapter ix.�friedrich marches for silesia. friedrich's speech to his generals (parchwitz, d december, ). [from chapter x.�battle of leuthen. chapter xi.�winter in breslau: third campaign opens. of the english subsidy. friedrich, as indeed pitt's people and others have done, takes the field uncommonly early: friedrich goes upon schweidnitz, schweidnitz, as the preface to whatever his campaign may be. chapter xii.�siege of olmutz. chapter xiii.�battle of zorndorf. theseus and the minotaur over again,�that is to say, friedrich at hand-grips with fermor and his russians ( th august, ). chapter xiv.�battle of hochkirch. daun and the reichs army invade saxony, in friedrich's absence. friedrich intervening, daun draws back; intrenches himself in neighborhood to dresden and pirna; friedrich following him. four armies standing there, in dead-lock, for a month; with issue, a flank-march on the part of friedrich's army, which halts at hoch what actually befell at hochkirch (saturday, th october, ). sequel of hochkirch; the campaign ends in a way surprising to an attentive public ( d october- th november, ). friedrich marches, enigmatically, not on glogau, but on reichenbach and gorlitz; to daun's astonishment. feldmarschall daun and the reichs army try some siege of dresden ( th- th november). book xix.�friedrich like to be overwhelmed in the seven-years war.� - . chapter i.�preliminaries to a fourth campaign. of the small-war in spring, . there are five disruptions of that grand cordon (february- april); and ferdinand of brunswick fights his battle of bergen (april th). chapter ii.�general dohna; dictator wedell: battle of zullichau. dictator wedell fights his battle (monday, d july, ), without success. chapter iii.�friedrich in person attempts the russian problem; not with success. chapter iv.�battle of kunersdorf. chapter v.�saxony without defence: schmettau surrenders dresden. the "reichs army" called has entered saxony, under fine omens; does some feats of sieging (august th- d),�with an eye on dresden as the crowning one. austrian reichs army does its crowning feat (august th- september th): diary of what is called the "siege" of dresden. chapter vi.�prince henri makes a march of fifty hours; the russians cannot find lodging in silesia. daun, soltikof and company again have a colloquy (bautzen, september th); after which everybody starts on his special course of action. friedrich manages (september th-october th) to get the russians sent home; and himself falls lamed with gout. chapter vii.�friedrich reappears on the field, and in seven days after comes the catastrophe of maxen. chapter viii.�miscellanea in winter-quarters, - . serene highness of wurtemberg, at fulda (november th, ), is just about "firing victoria," and giving a ball to beauty and fashion, in honor of a certain event;�but is unpleasantly interrupted. what is perpetual president maupertuis doing, all this while? is he still in berlin; or where in the universe is he? alas, poor maupertuis! grand french invasion-scheme comes entirely to wreck (quiberon bay, th november, ): of controller-general silhouette, and the outlooks of france, financial and other. friedrich, strange to say, publishes (march-june, ) an edition of his poems. question, "who wrote matinees du roi de prusse?"�for the second, and positively the last time. peace- negotiations hopeful to friedrich all through winter; but the french won't. voltaire, and his style of corresponding. voltaire on friedrich, to different third-parties, during this war. voltaire on surrounding objects, chiefly on maupertuis, and the battles. friedrich to voltaire, before and during these peace negotiations. friedrich has sent lord marischal to spain: other fond hopes of friedrich's. book xx.�friedrich is not to be overwhelmed: the seven-years war chapter i.�fifth campaign opens. chapter ii.�friedrich besieges dresden. capture of glatz ( th july, ). dialogue of friedrich and henri (from their private correspondence: june th-july th, ). duke ferdinand's battle of warburg ( st july, ). chapter iii.�battle of liegnitz. loudon is trying a stroke-of-hand on breslau, in the glatz fashion, in the interim (july th-august d). friedrich on march, for the third time, to rescue silesia (august st- th). battle, in the neighborhood of liegnitz, does ensue (friday morning, th august, ). chapter iv.�daun in wrestle with friedrich in the silesian hills. the russians make a raid on berlin, for relief of daun and their own behoof (october d- th, ). chapter v.�battle of torgau. fight of kloster kampen (night of october th- th); wesel not to be had by duke ferdinand. chapter vi.�winter-quarters - . king friedrich in the apel house at leipzig ( th december, - th march, ). interview with herr professor gellert (thursday, th december, ). dialogue with general saldern (in the apel house, leipzig, st january, ). there are some war-movements during winter; general financiering difficulties. choiseul proposes peace. chapter vii.�sixth campaign opens: camp of bunzelwitz. of ferdinand's battle of vellinghausen ( th- th july); and the campaign . third siege of colberg. chapter viii.�loudon pounces upon schweidnitz one night (last of september, ). chapter ix.�traitor warkotsch. chapter x.�friedrich in breslau; has news from petersburg. the pitt catastrophe: how the peace-negotiation went off by explosion; how pitt withdrew ( d october, ), and there came a spanish war nevertheless. tiff of quarrel between king and henri (march-april, ). bright news from petersburg (certain, jan. th); which grow ever brighter; and become a star-of-day for friedrich. what colonel hordt and the others saw at petersburg (january-july, ). chapter xi.�seventh campaign opens. chapter xii.�siege of schweidnitz: seventh campaign ends. chapter xiii.�peace of hubertsburg. book xxi.�afternoon and evening of friedrich's life� - . chapter i.�prefatory. chapter ii.�repairing of a ruined prussia. landrath nussler and the king ( th march- d april, ). iii. saturday, april d, in the schloss again: nussler and landraths. to them, the king. kriegsrath roden and the king ( th- th june, ). of friedrich's new excise system. the neue palais, in sans-souci neighborhood, is founded and finished ( - ). "obituary in friedrich's circle till ." chapter iii.�troubles in poland. king of poland dies; and there ensue huge anarchies in that country. ex-lover poniatowski becomes king of poland ( th sept. ), and is crowned without loss of his hair. for several years the dissident question cannot be got settled; confederation of radom ( d june, - th march, ) pushes it into settlement. confederation of bar ensues, on the per-contra side (march th, ); and, as first result of its achievements (october th, ), a turk-russian war. chapter iv.�partition of poland. first interview between friedrich and kaiser joseph (neisse, th- th august, ). next year there is a second interview; friedrich making a return-visit during the kaiser's moravian reviews (camp of mahrisch-neustadt, d- th september, ). russian-turk war, first two campaigns. prince henri has been to sweden; is seen at petersburg in masquerade (on or about new-year's day, ); and does get home, with results that are important. the empress-queen to prince kaunitz (undated: date must be vienna, february, ). what friedrich did with his new acquisition. chapter v.�a chapter of miscellanies. herr doctor zimmermann, the famous author of the book "on solitude," walks reverentially before friedrich's door in the dusk of an october evening: and has a royal interview next day. sister ulrique, queen-dowager of sweden, revisits her native place (december, -august, ). wilhelmina's daughter, elizabeth frederike sophie, duchess of wurtemberg, appears at ferney (september, ). no. . dr burney has sight of voltaire (july, ). no. . a reverend mr. sherlock sees voltaire, and even dines with him (april, ). general or fieldmarshal conway, direct from the london circles, attends one of friedrich's reviews (august-september, ). exuberant sherlock and eleven other english are presented to friedrich on a court occasion ( th october, ); and two of them get spoken to, and speak each a word. excellency hugh elliot is their introducer. chapter vi.�the bavarian war. chapter vii.�miller arnold's lawsuit. "protocol [of december th, title already given; [supra, p. n.] docketing adds], which is to be printed." chapter viii.�the furstenbund: friedrich's last years. prince de ligne, after ten years, sees friedrich a second time; time; and reports what was said. how general von der marwitz, in early boyhood, saw friedrich the great three times ( - ). general bouille, home from his west-indian exploits, visits friedrich (august th- th, ). chapter ix.�friedrich's last illness and death. appendix. a day with friedrich.�( d july, .) history of friedrich ii. of prussia frederick the great by thomas carlyle book iv. -- friedrich's apprenticeship, first stage. - - . chapter i. -- childhood: double educational element. of friedrich's childhood, there is not, after all our reading, much that it would interest the english public to hear tell of. perhaps not much of knowable that deserves anywhere to be known. books on it, expressly handling it, and books on friedrich wilhelm's court and history, of which it is always a main element, are not wanting: but they are mainly of the sad sort which, with pain and difficulty, teach us nothing, books done by pedants and tenebrific persons, under the name of men; dwelling not on things, but, at endless length, on the outer husks of things: of unparalleled confusion, too;--not so much as an index granted you; to the poor half-peck of cinders, hidden in these wagon-loads of ashes, no sieve allowed! books tending really to fill the mind with mere dust-whirlwinds,--if the mind did not straightway blow them out again; which it does. of these let us say nothing. seldom had so curious a phenomenon worse treatment from the dryasdust, species. among these books, touching on friedrich's childhood, and treating of his father's court, there is hardly above one that we can characterize as fairly human: the book written by his little sister wilhelmina, when she grew to size and knowledge of good and evil; [_memoires de frederique sophie wilhelmine de prusse, margrave de bareith_ (brunswick, paris et londres, l l ), vols. vo.]--and this, of what flighty uncertain nature it is, the world partly knows. a human book, however, not a pedant one: there is a most shrill female soul busy with intense earnestness here; looking, and teaching us to look. we find it a veracious book, done with heart, and from eyesight and insight; of a veracity deeper than the superficial sort. it is full of mistakes, indeed; and exaggerates dreadfully, in its shrill female way; but is above intending to deceive: deduct the due subtrahend,--say perhaps twenty-five per cent, or in extreme cases as high as seventy-five,--you will get some human image of credible actualities from wilhelmina. practically she is our one resource on this matter. of the strange king friedrich wilhelm and his strange court, with such an heir-apparent growing up in it, there is no real light to be had, except what wilhelmina gives,--or kindles dark books of others into giving. for that, too, on long study, is the result of her, here and there. with so flickery a wax-taper held over friedrich's childhood,--and the other dirty tallow-dips all going out in intolerable odor,--judge if our success can be very triumphant! we perceive the little creature has got much from nature; not the big arena only, but fine inward gifts, for he is well-born in more senses than one;--and that in the breeding of him there are two elements noticeable, widely diverse: the french and the german. this is perhaps the chief peculiarity; best worth laying hold of, with the due comprehension, if our means allow. first educational element, the french one. his nurses, governesses, simultaneous and successive, mostly of french breed, are duly set down in the prussian books, and held in mind as a point of duty by prussian men; but, in foreign parts, cannot be considered otherwise than as a group, and merely with generic features. he had a frau von kamecke for head governess,--the lady whom wilhelmina, in her famed _memoires,_ always writes kamken; and of whom, except the floating gossip found in that book, there is nothing to be remembered. under her, as practical superintendent, sous-gouvernante and quasi-mother, was the dame de roucoulles, a more important person for us here. dame de roucoulles, once de montbail, the same respectable edict-of-nantes french lady who, five-and-twenty years ago, had taken similar charge of friedrich wilhelm; a fact that speaks well for the character of her performance in that office. she had done her first edition of a prussian prince in a satisfactory manner; and not without difficult accidents and singularities, as we have heard: the like of which were spared her in this her second edition (so we may call it); a second and, in all manner of ways, an improved one. the young fritz swallowed no shoe-buckles; did not leap out of window, hanging on by the hands; nor achieve anything of turbulent, or otherwise memorable, in his infantine history; the course of which was in general smooth, and runs, happily for it, below the ken of rumor. the boy, it is said, and is easily credible, was of extraordinary vivacity; quick in apprehending all things, and gracefully relating himself to them. one of the prettiest, vividest little boys; with eyes, with mind and ways, of uncommon brilliancy;--only he takes less to soldiering than the paternal heart could wish; and appears to find other things in the world fully as notable as loud drums, and stiff men drawn up in rows. moreover, he is apt to be a little unhealthy now and then, and requires care from his nurses, over whom the judicious roucoulles has to be very vigilant. of this respectable madame de roucoulles i have read, at least seven times, what the prussian books say of her by way of biography; but it is always given in their dull tombstone style; it has moreover next to no importance; and i,--alas, i do not yet too well remember it! she was from normandy; of gentle blood, never very rich; protestant, in the edict-of-nantes time; and had to fly her country, a young widow, with daughter and mother-in-law hanging on her; the whole of them almost penniless. however, she was kindly received at the court of berlin, as usual in that sad case; and got some practical help towards living in her new country. queen sophie charlotte had liked her society; and finding her of prudent intelligent turn, and with the style of manners suitable, had given her friedrich wilhelm to take charge of. she was at that time madame de montbail; widow, as we said: she afterwards wedded roucoulles, a refugee gentleman of her own nation, who had gone into the prussian army, as was common for the like of him: she had again become a widow, madame de roucoulles this time, with her daughter montbail still about her, when, by the grateful good sense of friedrich wilhelm, she was again intrusted as we see;--and so had the honor of governessing frederick the great for the first seven years of his life. respectable lady, she oversaw his nurses, pap-boats,--"beer-soup and bread," he himself tells us once, was his main diet in boyhood,--beer-soups, dress-frocks, first attempts at walking; and then also his little bits of intellectualities, moralities; his incipiencies of speech, demeanor, and spiritual development; and did her function very honestly, there is no doubt. wilhelmina mentions her, at a subsequent period; and we have a glimpse of this same roucoulles, gliding about among the royal young-folk, "with only one tooth left" (figuratively speaking), and somewhat given to tattle, in princess wilhelmina's opinion. grown very old now, poor lady; and the dreadfulest bore, when she gets upon hanover and her experiences, and queen sophie charlotte's, in that stupendously magnificent court under gentleman ernst. shun that topic, if you love your peace of mind! [_memoires_ (above cited).]--she did certainly superintend the boy fritzkin for his first seven years; that is a glory that cannot be taken from her. and her pupil, too, we agreeably perceive, was always grateful for her services in that capacity. once a week, if he were in berlin, during his youthful time, he was sure to appear at the roucoulles soiree, and say and look various pleasant things to his "cher maman (dear mamma)," as he used to call her, and to the respectable small parts she had. not to speak of other more substantial services, which also were not wanting. roucoulles and the other female souls, mainly french, among whom the incipient fritz now was, appear to have done their part as well as could be looked for. respectable edict-of-nantes french ladies, with high head-gear, wide hoops; a clear, correct, but somewhat barren and meagre species, tight-laced and high-frizzled in mind and body. it is not a very fertile element for a young soul: not very much of silent piety in it; and perhaps of vocal piety more than enough in proportion. an element founding on what they call "enlightened protestantism," "freedom of thought," and the like, which is apt to become loquacious, and too conscious of itself; terming, on the whole, rather to contempt of the false, than to deep or very effective recognition of the true. but it is, in some important senses, a clear and pure element withal. at lowest, there are no conscious semi-falsities, or volunteer hypocrisies, taught the poor boy; honor, clearness, truth of word at least; a decorous dignified bearing; various thin good things, are honestly inculcated and exemplified; nor is any bad, ungraceful or suspicious thing permitted there, if recognized for such. it might have been a worse element; and we must be thankful for it. friedrich, through life, carries deep traces of this french-protestant incipiency: a very big wide-branching royal tree, in the end; but as small and flexible a seedling once as any one of us. the good old dame de roucoulles just lived to witness his accession; on which grand juncture and afterwards, as he had done before, he continued to express, in graceful and useful ways, his gratitude and honest affection to her and hers. tea services, presents in cut-glass and other kinds, with letters that were still more precious to the old lady, had come always at due intervals, and one of his earliest kingly gifts was that of some suitable small pension for montbail, the elderly daughter of this poor old roucoulles, [preuss, _friedrich der grosse, eine lebensgeschichte_ ( vols. berlin, - ), v. (urkundenbuch, p. ). _oeuvres de frederic_ (same preuss's edition, berlin, - , &c.), xvi. , .--the herr doctor j. d. e. preuss, "historiographer of brandenburg," devoted wholly to the study of friedrich for five-and-twenty years past, and for above a dozen years busily engaged in editing the _oeuvres de frederic,_--has, besides that _lebensgeschichte_ just cited, three or four smaller books, of indistinctly different titles, on the same subject. a meritoriously exact man; acquainted with the outer details of friedrich's biography (had he any way of arranging, organizing or setting them forth) as few men ever were or will be. we shall mean always this _lebensgeschichte_ here, when no other title is given: and _oeuvres de frederic_ shall signify his edition, unless the contrary be stated.] who was just singing her dimittaes as it were, still in a blithe and pious manner. for she saw now (in ) her little nursling grown to be a brilliant man and king; king gone out to the wars, too, with all europe inquiring and wondering what the issue would be. as for her, she closed her poor old eyes, at this stage of the business; piously, in foreign parts, far from her native normandy; and did not see farther what the issue was. good old dame, i have, as was observed, read some seven times over what they call biographical accounts of her; but have seven times (by heaven's favor, i do partly believe) mostly forgotten them again; and would not, without cause, inflict on any reader the like sorrow. to remember one worthy thing, how many thousand unworthy things must a man be able to forget! from this edict-of-mantes environment, which taught our young fritz his first lessons of human behavior,--a polite sharp little boy, we do hope and understand,--he learned also to clothe his bits of notions, emotions, and garrulous utterabilities, in the french dialect. learned to speak, and likewise, what is more important; to think, in french; which was otherwise quite domesticated in the palace, and became his second mother-tongue. not a bad dialect; yet also none of the best. very lean and shallow, if very clear and convenient; leaving much in poor fritz unuttered, unthought, unpractised, which might otherwise have come into activity in the course of his life. he learned to read very soon, i presume; but he did not, now or afterwards, ever learn to spell. he spells indeed dreadfully ill, at his first appearance on the writing stage, as we shall see by and by; and he continued, to the last, one of the bad spellers of his day. a circumstance which i never can fully account for, and will leave to the reader's study. from all manner of sources,--from inferior valetaille, prussian officials, royal majesty itself when not in gala,--he learned, not less rootedly, the corrupt prussian dialect of german; and used the same, all his days, among his soldiers, native officials, common subjects and wherever it was most convenient; speaking it, and writing and misspelling it, with great freedom, though always with a certain aversion and undisguised contempt, which has since brought him blame in some quarters. it is true, the prussian form of german is but rude; and probably friedrich, except sometimes in luther's bible, never read any german book. what, if we will think of it, could he know of his first mother-tongue! german, to this day, is a frightful dialect for the stupid, the pedant and dullard sort! only in the hands of the gifted does it become supremely good. it had not yet been the language of any goethe, any lessing; though it stood on the eve of becoming such. it had already been the language of luther, of ulrich hutten, friedrich barbarossa, charlemagne and others. and several extremely important things had been said in it, and some pleasant ones even sung in it, from an old date, in a very appropriate manner,--had crown-prince friedrich known all that. but he could not reasonably be expected to know:--and the wiser germans now forgive him for not knowing, and are even thankful that he did not. chapter ii. -- the german element. so that, as we said, there are two elements for young fritz, and highly diverse ones, from both of which he is to draw nourishment, and assimilate what he can. besides that edict-of-nantes french element, and in continual contact and contrast with it, which prevails chiefly in the female quarters of the palace,--there is the native german element for young fritz, of which the centre is papa, now come to be king, and powerfully manifesting himself as such. an abrupt peremptory young king; and german to the bone. along with whom, companions to him in his social hours, and fellow-workers in his business, are a set of very rugged german sons of nature; differing much from the french sons of art. baron grumkow, leopold prince of anhalt-dessau (not yet called the "old dessauer," being under forty yet), general glasenap, colonel derschau, general flans; these, and the other nameless generals and officials, are a curious counterpart to the camases, the hautcharmoys and forcades, with their nimble tongues and rapiers; still more to the beausobres, achards, full of ecclesiastical logic, made of bayle and calvin kneaded together; and to the high-frizzled ladies rustling in stiff silk, with the shadow of versailles and of the dragonnades alike present to them. born hyperboreans these others; rough as hemp, and stout of fibre as hemp; native products of the rigorous north. of whom, after all our reading, we know little.--o heaven, they have had long lines of rugged ancestors, cast in the same rude stalwart mould, and leading their rough life there, of whom we know absolutely nothing! dumb all those preceding busy generations; and this of friedrich wilhelm is grown almost dumb. grim semi-articulate prussian men; gone all to pipe-clay and mustache for us. strange blond-complexioned, not unbeautiful prussian honorable women, in hoops, brocades, and unintelligible head-gear and hair-towers,--ach gott, they too are gone; and their musical talk, in the french or german language, that also is gone; and the hollow eternities have swallowed it, as their wont is, in a very surprising manner!-- grumkow, a cunning, greedy-hearted, long-headed fellow, of the old pomeranian nobility by birth, has a kind of superficial polish put upon his hyperboreanisms; he has been in foreign countries, doing legations, diplomacies, for which, at least for the vulpine parts of which, he has a turn. he writes and speaks articulate grammatical french; but neither in that, nor in native pommerish platt-deutsch, does he show us much, except the depths of his own greed, of his own astucities and stealthy audacities. of which we shall hear more than enough by and by. of the dessauer, not yet "old." as to the prince of anhalt-dessau, rugged man, whose very face is the color of gunpowder, he also knows french, and can even write in it, if he like,--having duly had a tutor of that nation, and strange adventures with him on the grand tour and elsewhere;--but does not much practise writing, when it can be helped. his children, i have heard, he expressly did not teach to read or write, seeing no benefit in that effeminate art, but left them to pick it up as they could. his princess, all rightly ennobled now,--whom he would not but marry, though sent on the grand tour to avoid it,--was the daughter of one fos an apothecary at dessau; and is still a beautiful and prudent kind of woman, who seems to suit him well enough, no worse than if she had been born a princess. much talk has been of her, in princely and other circles; nor is his marriage the only strange thing leopold has done. he is a man to keep the world's tongue wagging, not too musically always; though himself of very unvocal nature. perhaps the biggest mass of inarticulate human vitality, certainly one of the biggest, then going about in the world. a man of vast dumb faculty; dumb, but fertile, deep; no end of ingenuities in the rough head of him:--as much mother-wit, there, i often guess, as could be found in whole talking parliaments, spouting themselves away in vocables and eloquent wind! a man of dreadful impetuosity withal. set upon his will as the one law of nature; storming forward with incontrollable violence: a very whirlwind of a man. he was left a minor; his mother guardian. nothing could prevent him from marrying this fos the apothecary's daughter; no tears nor contrivances of his mother, whom he much loved, and who took skilful measures. fourteen months of travel in italy; grand tour, with eligible french tutor,--whom he once drew sword upon, getting some rebuke from him one night in venice, and would have killed, had not the man been nimble, at once dexterous and sublime:--it availed not. the first thing he did, on re-entering dessau, with his tutor, was to call at apothecary fos's, and see the charming mamsell; to go and see his mother, was the second thing. not even his grand passion for war could eradicate those; he went to his grand passion for dutch william's wars; the wise mother still counselling, who was own aunt to dutch william, and liked the scheme. he besieged namur; fought and besieged up and down,--with insatiable appetite for fighting and sieging; with great honor, too, and ambitions awakening in him;--campaign after campaign: but along with the flamy-thundery ideal bride, figuratively called bellona, there was always a soft real one, mamsell fos of dessau, to whom he continued constant. the government of his dominions he left cheerfully to his mother, even when he came of age: "i am for learning war, as the one right trade; do with all things as you please, mamma,-- only not with mamsell, not with her!"-- readers may figure this scene too, and shudder over it. some rather handsome male cousin of mamsell, medical graduate or whatever he was, had appeared in dessau:--"seems, to admire mamsell much; of course, in a platonic way," said rumor:--"he? admire?" thinks leopold;--thinks a good deal of it, not in the philosophic mood. as he was one day passing fos's, mamsell and the medical graduate are visible, standing together at the window inside. pleasantly looking out upon nature,--of course quite casually, say some histories with a sneer. in fact, it seems possible this medical graduate may have been set to act shoeing-horn; but he had better not. leopold storms into the house, "draw, scandalous canaille, and defend yourself!"--and in this, or some such way, a confident tradition says, he killed the poor medical graduate there and then. one tries always to hope not: but varnhagen is positive, though the other histories say nothing of it. god knows. the man was a prince; no reichshofrath, speyer-wetzlar kammer, or other supreme court, would much trouble itself, except with formal shakings of the wig, about such a peccadillo. in fine, it was better for leopold to marry the miss fos; which he actually did ( , in his twenty-second year), "with the left-hand,"--and then with the right and both hands; having got her properly ennobled before long, by his splendid military services. she made, as we have hinted, an excellent wife to him, for the fifty or sixty ensuing years. this is a strange rugged specimen, this inarticulate leopold; already getting mythic, as we can perceive, to the polished vocal ages; which mix all manner of fables with the considerable history he has. readers will see him turn up again in notable forms. a man hitherto unknown except in his own country; and yet of very considerable significance to all european countries whatsoever; the fruit of his activities, without his name attached, being now manifest in all of them. he invented the iron ramrod; he invented the equal step; in fact, he is the inventor of modern military tactics. even so, if we knew it: the soldiery of every civilized country still receives from this man, on parade-fields and battle-fields, its word of command; out of his rough head proceeded the essential of all that the innumerable drill-sergeants, in various languages, daily repeat and enforce. such a man is worth some transient glance from his fellow-creatures,--especially with a little fritz trotting at his foot, and drawing inferences from him. dessau, we should have said for the english reader's behoof, was and still is a little independent principality; about the size of huntingdonshire, but with woods instead of bogs;--revenue of it, at this day, is , pounds, was perhaps not , or even , in leopold's first time. it lies some fourscore miles southwest of berlin, attainable by post-horses in a day. leopold, as his father had done, stood by prussia as if wholly native to it. leopold's mother was sister of that fine louisa, the great elector's first wife; his sister is wedded to the margraf of schwedt, friedrich wilhelm's half-uncle. lying in such neighborhood, and being in such affinity to the prussian house, the dessauers may be said to have, in late times, their headquarters at berlin. leopold and leopold's sons, as his father before him had done, without neglecting their dessau and principality, hold by the prussian army as their main employment. not neglecting dessau either; but going thither in winter, or on call otherwise; leopold least of all neglecting it, who neglects nothing that can be useful to him. he is general field-marshal of the prussian armies, the foremost man in war-matters with this new king; and well worthy to be so. he is inventing, or brooding in the way to invent, a variety of things,--"iron ramrods," for one; a very great improvement on the fragile ineffective wooden implement, say all the books, but give no date to it; that is the first thing; and there will be others, likewise undated, but posterior, requiring mention by and by. inventing many things;--and always well practising what is already invented, and known for certain. in a word, he is drilling to perfection, with assiduous rigor, the prussian infantry to be the wonder of the world. he has fought with them, too, in a conclusive manner; and is at all times ready for fighting. he was in malplaquet with them, if only as volunteer on that occasion. he commanded them in blenheim itself; stood, in the right or eugene wing of that famed battle of blenheim, fiercely at bay, when the austrian cavalry had all fled;--fiercely volleying, charging, dexterously wheeling and manoeuvring; sticking to his ground with a mastiff-like tenacity,--till marlborough, and victory from the left, relieved him and others. he was at the bridge of cassano; where eugene and vendome came to hand-grips;--where mirabeau's grandfather, col-d'argent, got his six-and-thirty wounds, and was "killed" as he used to term it. [carlyle's _miscellanies,_ v. ? mirabeau.] "the hottest fire i ever saw," said eugene, who had not seen malplaquet at that time. while col-d'argent sank collapsed upon the bridge, and the horse charged over him, and again charged, and beat and were beaten three several times,--anhalt-dessau, impatient of such fiddling hither and thither, swashed into the stream itself with his prussian foot: swashed through it, waist-deep or breast-deep; and might have settled the matter, had not his cartridges got wetted. old king friedrich rebuked him angrily for his impetuosity in this matter, and the sad loss of men. then again he was at the storming of the lines of turin,--eugene's feat of , and a most volcanic business;--was the first man that got-over the entrenchment there. foremost man; face all black with the smoke of gunpowder, only channelled here and there with rivulets of sweat;--not a lovely phenomenon to the french in the interior! who still fought like madmen, but were at length driven into heaps, and obliged to run. a while before they ran, anhalt-dessau, noticing some captain posted with his company in a likely situation, stept aside to him for a moment, and asked, "am i wounded, think you?--no? then have you anything to drink?" and deliberately "drank a glass of aqua-vitae," the judicious captain carrying a pocket-pistol of that sort, in case of accident; and likewise "eat, with great appetite, a bit of bread from one of the soldiers' haversacks; saying, he believed the heat of the job was done, and that there was no fear now!"--[_des weltberumkten leopoldi, &c._ (anonymous, by ranfft, cited above), pp. - , , .] a man that has been in many wars; in whose rough head, are schemes hatching. any religion he has is of protestant nature; but he has not much,--on the doctrinal side, very little. luther's hymn, _eine feste burg ist unser gott,_ he calls "god almighty's grenadier-march." on joining battle, he audibly utters, with bared head, some growl of rugged prayer, far from orthodox at times, but much in earnest: that lifting of his hat for prayer, is his last signal on such occasions. he is very cunning as required, withal; not disdaining the serpentine method when no other will do. with friedrich wilhelm, who is his second-cousin (mother's grand-nephew, if the reader can count that), he is from of old on the best footing, and contrives to be his mentor in many things besides war. till his quarrel with grumkow, of which we shall hear, he took the lead in political advising, too; and had schemes, or was thought to have, of which queen sophie was in much terror. a tall, strong-boned, hairy man; with cloudy brows, vigilant swift eyes; has "a bluish tint of skin," says wilhelmina, "as if the gunpowder still stuck to him." he wears long mustaches; triangular hat, plume and other equipments, are of thrifty practical size. can be polite enough in speech; but hides much of his meaning, which indeed is mostly inarticulate, and not always joyful to the by-stander. he plays rough pranks, too, on occasion; and has a big horse-laugh in him, where there is a fop to be roasted, or the like. we will leave him for the present, in hope of other meetings. remarkable men, many of those old prussian soldiers: of whom one wishes, to no purpose, that there had more knowledge been attainable. but the books are silent; no painter, no genial seeing-man to paint with his pen, was there. grim hirsute hyperborean figures, they pass mostly mute before us: burly, surly; in mustaches, in dim uncertain garniture, of which the buff-belts and the steel, are alone conspicuous. growling in guttural teutsoh what little articulate meaning they had: spending, of the inarticulate, a proportion in games, of chance, probably too in drinking beer; yet having an immense overplus which they do not so spend, but endeavor to utter in such working as there may be. so have the hyperboreans lived from of old. from the times of tacitus and pytheas, not to speak of odin and japhet, what hosts of them have marched across existence, in that manner;--and where is the memory that would, even if it could, speak of them all!-- we will hope the mind of our little fritz has powers of assimilation. bayle-calvin logics, and shadows of versailles, on this hand, and gunpowder leopolds and inarticulate hyperboreans on that: here is a wide diversity of nutriment, all rather tough in quality, provided for the young soul. innumerable unconscious inferences he must have drawn in his little head! prince leopold's face, with the whiskers and blue skin, i find he was wont, at after periods, to do in caricature, under the figure of a cat's;--horror and admiration not the sole feelings raised in him by the field-marshal.--for bodily nourishment he had "beer-soup;" a decided spartan tone prevailing, wherever possible, in the breeding and treatment of him. and we need not doubt, by far the most important element of his education was the unconscious apprenticeship he continually served to such a spartan as king friedrich wilhelm. of whose works and ways he could not help taking note, angry or other, every day and hour; nor in the end, if he were intelligent, help understanding them, and learning from them. a harsh master and almost half-mad, as it many times seemed to the poor apprentice; yet a true and solid one, whose real wisdom was worth that of all the others, as he came at length to recognize. chapter iii. -- friedrich wilhelm is king. with the death of old king friedrich, there occurred at once vast changes in the court of berlin; a total and universal change in the mode of living and doing business there. friedrich wilhelm, out of filial piety, wore at his father's funeral the grand french peruke and other sublimities of french costume; but it was for the last time: that sad duty once done, he flung the whole aside, not without impatience, and on no occasion wore such costume again. he was not a friend to french fashions, nor had ever been; far the contrary. in his boyhood, say the biographers, there was once a grand embroidered cloth-of-gold, or otherwise supremely magnificent, little dressing-gown given him; but he would at no rate put it on, or be concerned with it; on the contrary, stuffed it indignantly "into the fire;" and demanded wholesome useful duffel instead. he began his reform literally at the earliest moment. being summoned into the apartment where his poor father was in the last struggle, he could scarcely get across for kammerjunker, kammerherrn, goldsticks, silversticks, and the other solemn histrionic functionaries, all crowding there to do their sad mimicry on the occasion: not a lovely accompaniment in friedrich wilhelm's eyes. his poor father's death-struggle once done, and all reduced to everlasting rest there, friedrich wilhelm looked in silence over the unutterable, for a short space, disregardful of the goldsticks and their eager new homaging; walked swiftly away from it to his own room, shut the door with a slam; and there, shaking the tears from his eyes, commenced by a notable duty,--the duty nearest hand, and therefore first to be done, as it seemed to him. it was about one in the afternoon, th february, ; his father dead half an hour before: "tears at a father's death-bed, must they be dashed with rage by such a set of greedy histrios?" thought friedrich wilhelm. he summoned these his court-people, that is to say, summoned their ober-hofmarschall and representative; and through him signified to them, that, till the funeral was over, their service would continue; and that on the morrow after the funeral, they were, every soul of them, discharged; and from the highest goldstick down to the lowest page-in-waiting, the king's house should be swept entirely clean of them;--said house intending to start afresh upon a quite new footing. [forster, i. ; pollnitz, _memoiren,_ ii. .] which spread such a consternation among the courtier people, say the histories, as was never seen before. the thing was done, however; and nobody durst whisper discontent with it; this rugged young king, with his plangent metallic voice, with his steady-beaming eyes, seeming dreadfully in earnest about it, and a person that might prove dangerous if you crossed him. he reduced his household accordingly, at once, to the lowest footing of the indispensable; and discharged a whole regiment of superfluous official persons, court-flunkies, inferior, superior and supreme, in the most ruthless manner. he does not intend keeping any ober-hofmarschall, or the like idle person, henceforth; thinks a minimum of the goldsticks ought to suffice every man. eight lackeys, in the ante-chambers and elsewhere, these, with each a jagerbursch (what we should call an under-keeper) to assist when not hunting, will suffice: lackeys at "eight thalers monthly," which is six shillings a week. three active pages, sometimes two, instead of perhaps three dozen idle that there used to be. in king friedrich's time, there were wont to be a thousand saddle-horses at corn and hay: but how many of them were in actual use? very many of them were mere imaginary quadrupeds; their price and keep pocketed by some knavish stallmeister, equerry or head-groom. friedrich wilhelm keeps only thirty horses; but these are very actual, not imaginary at all; their corn not running into any knave's pocket; but lying actually in the mangers here; getting ground for you into actual four-footed speed, when, on turf or highway, you require such a thing. about, thirty for the saddle,--with a few carriage-teams, are what friedrich wilhelm can employ in any reasonable measure: and more he will not have about him. in the like ruthless humor he goes over his pension-list; strikes three fourths of that away, reduces the remaining fourth to the very bone. in like humor, he goes over every department of his administrative, household and other expenses: shears everything down, here by the hundred thalers, there by the ten, willing even to save half a thaler. he goes over all this three several times;--his papers, the three successive lists he used on that occasion, have been printed. [rodenbeck, _beitrage zur bereicherung der lebembeschreibungen friedrich wilhelms i. und friedrichs des grossen_ (berlin, ), pp. - .] he has satisfied himself, in about two months, what, the effective minimum is; and leaves it so. reduced to below the fifth of what it was; , thalers, instead of , . [stenzel, iii. .] by degrees he went over, went into and through, every department of prussian business, in that fashion; steadily, warily, irresistibly compelling every item of it, large and little, to take that same character of perfect economy and solidity, of utility pure and simple. needful work is to be rigorously well done; needless work, and ineffectual or imaginary workers, to be rigorously pitched out of doors. what a blessing on this earth; worth purchasing almost at any price! the money saved is something, nothing if you will; but the amount of mendacity expunged, has any one computed that? mendacity not of tongue; but the far feller sort, of hand, and of heart, and of head; short summary of all devil's-worship whatsoever. which spreads silently along, once you let it in, with full purse or with empty; some fools even praising it: the quiet dry-rot of nations! to expunge such is greatly the duty of every man, especially of every king. unconsciously, not thinking of devil's-worship, or spiritual dry-rot, but of money chiefly, and led by nature and the ways she has with us, it was the task of friedrich wilhelm's life to bring about this beneficent result in all departments of prussian business, great and little, public and even private. year after year, he brings it to perfection; pushes it unweariedly forward every day and hour. so that he has prussia, at last, all a prussia made after his own image; the most thrifty, hardy, rigorous and spartan country any modern king ever tied over; and himself (if he thought of that) a king indeed. he that models nations according to his own image, he is a king, though his sceptre were a walking-stick; and, properly no other is. friedrich wilhelm was wondered at, and laughed at, by innumerable mortals for his ways of doing; which indeed were very strange. not that he figured much in what is called public history, or desired to do so; for, though a vigilant ruler, he did not deal in protocolling and campaining,--he let a minimum of that suffice him. but in court soirees, where elegant empty talk goes on, and of all materials for it scandal is found incomparably the most interesting. i suppose there turned up no name oftener than that of his prussian majesty; and during these twenty-seven years of his reign, his wild pranks and explosions gave food for continual talk in such quarter. for he was like no other king that then existed, or had ever been discovered. wilder son of nature seldom came into the artificial world; into a royal throne there, probably never. a wild man, wholly in earnest, veritable as the old rocks,--and with a terrible volcanic fire in him too. he would have been strange anywhere; but among the dapper royal gentlemen of the eighteenth century, what was to be done with such an orson of a king?--clap him in bedlam, and bring out the ballot-boxes instead? the modern generation, too, still takes its impression of him from these rumors,--still more now from wilhelmina's book; which paints the outside savagery of the royal man, in a most striking manner; and leaves the inside vacant, undiscovered by wilhelmina or the rumors. nevertheless it appears there were a few observant eyes even of contemporaries, who discerned in him a surprising talent for "national economics" at least. one leipzig professor, saxon, not prussian by nation or interest, recognizes in friedrich wilhelm "den grossen wirth (the great manager, husbandry-man, or landlord) of the epoch;" and lectures on his admirable "works, arrangements and institutions" in that kind. [rodenbeck's _beitrage_ (p. ),--year, or name of lecturer, not mentioned.] nay the dapper royal gentlemen saw, with envy, the indubitable growth of this mad savage brother; and ascribed it to "his avarice," to his mean ways, which were in such contrast to their sublime ones. that he understood national economics has now become very certain. his grim semi-articulate papers and rescripts, on these subjects, are still almost worth reading, by a lover of genuine human talent in the dumb form. for spelling, grammar, penmanship and composition, they resemble nothing else extant; are as if done by the paw of a bear: indeed the utterance generally sounds more like the growling of a bear than anything that could be handily spelt or parsed. but there is a decisive human sense in the heart of it; and there is such a dire hatred of empty bladders, unrealities and hypocritical forms and pretences, what he calls "wind and humbug (wind und blauer dunst)," as is very strange indeed. strange among all mankind; doubly and trebly strange among the unfortunate species called kings in our time. to whom,--for sad reasons that could be given,--"wind and blue vapor (blauer dunst)," artistically managed by the rules of acoustics and optics, seem to be all we have left us!-- it must be owned that this man is inflexibly, and with a fierce slow inexorable determination, set upon having realities round him. there is a divine idea of fact put into him; the genus sham was never hatefuler to any man. let it keep out of his way, well beyond the swing of that rattan of his, or it may get something to remember! a just man, too; would not wrong any man, nor play false in word or deed to any man. what is justice but another form of the reality we love; a truth acted out? of all the humbugs or "painted vapors" known, injustice is the least capable of profiting men or kings! a just man, i say; and a valiant and veracious: but rugged as a wild bear; entirely inarticulate, as if dumb. no bursts of parliamentary eloquence in him, nor the least tendency that way. his talent for stump-oratory may be reckoned the minimum conceivable, or practically noted a zero. a man who would not have risen in modern political circles; man unchoosable at hustings or in caucus; man forever invisible, and very unadmirable if seen, to the able editor and those that hang by him. in fact, a kind of savage man, as we say; but highly interesting, if you can read dumb human worth; and of inexpressible profit to the prussian nation. for the first ten years of his reign, he had a heavy, continual struggle, getting his finance and other branches of administration extricated from their strangling imbroglios of coiled nonsense, and put upon a rational footing. his labor in these years, the first of little fritz's life, must have been great; the pushing and pulling strong and continual. the good plan itself, this comes not of its own accord; it is the fruit of "genius" (which means transcendent capacity of taking trouble, first of all): given a huge stack of tumbled thrums, it is not in your sleep that you will find the vital centre of it, or get the first thrum by the end! and then the execution, the realizing, amid the contradiction, silent or expressed, of men and things? explosive violence was by no means friedrich wilhelm's method; the amount of slow stubborn broad-shouldered strength, in all kinds, expended by the man, strikes us as very great. the amount of patience even, though patience is not reckoned his forte. that of the ritter-dienst (knights'-service), for example, which is but one small item of his business, the commuting of the old feudal duty of his landholders to do service in wartime, into a fixed money payment: nothing could be fairer, more clearly advantageous to both parties; and most of his "knights" gladly accepted the proposal: yet a certain factious set of them, the magdeburg set, stirred up by some seven or eight of their number, "hardly above seven or eight really against me," saw good to stand out; remonstrated, recalcitrated; complained in the diet (kaiser too happy to hear of it, that he might have a hook on friedrich wilhelm); and for long years that paltry matter was a provocation to him. [ - . forster, ii. - , iv. - ; stenzel, iii. - ; samuel buchholz, _neueste preussisch-brandenburgische geschichte_ (berlin, ), i. .] but if your plan is just, and a bit of nature's plan, persist in it like a law of nature. this secret too was known to friedrich wilhelm. in the space of ten years, by actual human strength loyally spent, he had managed many things; saw all things in a course towards management. all things, as it were, fairly on the road; the multiplex team pulling one way, in rational human harness, not in imbroglios of coiled thrums made by the nightmares. how he introduced a new mode of farming his domain lands, which are a main branch of his revenue, and shall be farmed on regular lease henceforth, and not wasted in peculation and indolent mismanagement as heretofore; [forster, ii. , .] new modes of levying his taxes and revenues of every kind: [ib. ii. , .] how he at last concentrated, and harmonized into one easy-going effective general directory, [completed th january, (ib. ii. ).] the multifarious conflicting boards, that were jolting and jangling in a dark use-and-wont manner, and leaving their work half done, when he first came into power: [dohm, _denkwurdigkeiten meiner zeit_ (lemgo und hanover, - ), iv. .] how he insisted on having daylight introduced to the very bottom of every business, fair-and-square observed as the rule of it, and the shortest road adopted for doing it: how he drained bogs, planted colonies, established manufactures, made his own uniforms of prussian wool, in a lagerhaus of his own: how he dealt with the jew gompert about farming his tobacoo;--how, from many a crooked case and character he, by slow or short methods, brought out something straight; would take no denial of what was his, nor make any demand of what was not; and did prove really a terror to evildoers of various kinds, especially to prevaricators, defalcators, imaginary workers, and slippery unjust persons: how he urged diligence on all mortals, would not have the very apple-women sit "without knitting" at their stalls; and brandished his stick, or struck it fiercely down, over the incorrigibly idle:--all this, as well as his ludicrous explosions and unreasonable violences, is on record concerning friedrich wilhelm, though it is to the latter chiefly that the world has directed its unwise attention, in judging of him. he was a very arbitrary king. yes, but then a good deal of his arbitrium, or sovereign will, was that of the eternal heavens as well; and did exceedingly behoove to be done, if the earth would prosper. which is an immense consideration in regard to his sovereign will and him! he was prompt with his rattan, in urgent cases; had his gallows also, prompt enough, where needful. let him see that no mistakes happen, as certainly he means that none shall! yearly he made his country richer; and this not in money alone (which is of very uncertain value, and sometimes has no value at all, and even less), but in frugality, diligence, punctuality, veracity,--the grand fountains from which money, and all real values and valors spring for men. to friedrich wilhelm in his rustio simplicity, money had no lack of value; rather the reverse. to the homespun man it was a success of most excellent quality, and the chief symbol of success in all kinds. yearly he made his own revenues, and his people's along with them and as the source of them, larger: and in all states of his revenue, he had contrived to make his expenditure less than it; and yearly saved masses of coin, and "reposited them in barrels in the cellars of his schloss,"--where they proved very useful, one day. much in friedrich wilhelm proved useful, beyond even his expectations. as a nation's husband he seeks his fellow among kings, ancient and modern. happy the nation which gets such a husband, once in the half-thousand years. the nation, as foolish wives and nations do, repines and grudges a good deal, its weak whims and will being thwarted very often; but it advances steadily, with consciousness or not, in the way of well-doing; and afterlong times the harvest of this diligent sowing becomes manifest to the nation and to all nations. strange as it sounds in the republic of letters, we are tempted to call friedrich wilhelm a man of genius;--genius fated and promoted to work in national husbandry, not in writing verses or three-volume novels. a silent genius. his melodious stanza, which he cannot bear to see halt in any syllable, is a rough fact reduced to order; fact made to stand firm on its feet, with the world-rocks under it, and looking free towards all the winds and all the stars. he goes about suppressing platitudes, ripping off futilities, turning deceptions inside out. the realm of disorder, which is unveracity, unreality, what we call chaos, has no fiercer enemy. honest soul, and he seemed to himself such a stupid fellow often; no tongue-learning at all; little capable to give a reason for the faith that was in him. he cannot argue in articulate logic, only in inarticulate bellowings, or worse. he must do a thing, leave it undemonstrated; once done, it will itself tell what kind of thing it is, by and by. men of genius have a hard time, i perceive, whether born on the throne or off it; and must expect contradictions next to unendurable,--the plurality of blockheads being so extreme! i find, except samuel johnson, no man of equal veracity with friedrich wilhelm in that epoch: and johnson too, with all his tongue-learning, had not logic enough. in fact, it depends on how much conviction you have. blessed be heaven, there is here and there a man born who loves truth as truth should be loved, with all his heart and all his soul; and hates untruth with a corresponding perfect hatred. such men, in polite circles, which understand that certainly truth is better than untruth, but that you must be polite to both, are liable to get to the end of their logic. even johnson had a bellow in him; though johnson could at any time withdraw into silence, his kingdom lying all under his own hat. how much more friedrich wilhelm, who had no logic whatever; and whose kingdom lay without him, far and wide, a thing he could not withdraw from. the rugged orson, he needed to be right. from utmost memel down to wesel again, ranked in a straggling manner round the half-circumference of europe, all manner of things and persons were depending on him, and on his being right, not wrong, in his notion. a man of clear discernment, very good natural eyesight; and irrefragably confident in what his eyes told him, in what his belief was;--yet of huge simplicity withal. capable of being coaxed about, and led by the nose, to a strange degree, if there were an artist dexterous enough, daring enough! his own natural judgment was good, and, though apt to be hasty and headlong, was always likely to come right in the end; but internally, we may perceive, his modesty, self-distrust, anxiety and other unexpected qualities, must have been great. and then his explosiveness, impatience, excitability; his conscious dumb ignorance of all things beyond his own small horizon of personal survey! an orson capable enough of being coaxed and tickled, by some first-rate conjurer;--first-rate; a second-rate might have failed, and got torn to pieces for his pains. but seckendorf and grumkow, what a dance they led him on some matters,--as we shall see, and as poor fritz and others will see! he was full of sensitiveness, rough as he was and shaggy of skin. his wild imaginations drove him hither and thither at a sad rate. he ought to have the privileges of genius. his tall potsdam regiment, his mad-looking passion for enlisting tall men; this also seems to me one of the whims of genius,--an exaggerated notion to have his "stanza" polished to the last punctilio of perfection; and might be paralleled in the history of poets. stranger "man of genius," or in more peculiar circumstances, the world never saw! friedrich wilhelm, in his crown-prince days, and now still more when he was himself in the sovereign place, had seen all along, with natural arithmetical intellect, that his strength in this world, as at present situated, would very much depend upon the amount of potential-battle that lay in him,--on the quantity and quality of soldiers he could maintain, and have ready for the field at any time. a most indisputable truth, and a heartfelt one in the present instance. to augment the quantity, to improve the quality, in this thrice-essential particular: here lay the keystone and crowning summit of all friedrich wilhelm's endeavors; to which he devoted himself, as only the best spartan could have done. of which there will be other opportunities to speak in detail. for it was a thing world-notable; world-laughable, as was then thought; the extremely serious fruit of which did at length also become notable enough. in the malplaquet time, once on some occasion, it is said, two english officers, not well informed upon the matter, and provoking enough in their contemptuous ignorance, were reasoning with one another in friedrich wilhelm's hearing, as to the warlike powers of the prussian state, and whether the king of prussia could on his own strength maintain a standing army of , ? without subsidies, do you think, so many as , ? friedrich wilhelm, incensed at the thing and at the tone, is reported to have said with heat: "yes, , !" [forster, i. .] whereat the military men slightly wagged their heads, letting the matter drop for the present. but he makes it good by degrees; twofold or threefold;--and will have an army of from seventy to a hundred thousand before he dies, [" , field-troops, , garrison-troops" (_gestandnisse eines oester reichischen veterans,_ breslau, , i. ).] the best-drilled of fighting men; and what adds much to the wonder, a full treasury withal. this is the brandenburg spartan king; acquainted with national economics. alone of existing kings he lays by money annually; and is laying by many other and far more precious things, for prussia and the little boy he has here. friedrich wilhelm's passion for drilling, recruiting and perfecting his army attracted much notice: laughing satirical notice; in the hundred months of common rumor, which he regarded little; and notice iracund and minatory, when it led him into collision with the independent portions of mankind, now and then. this latter sort was not pleasant, and sometimes looked rather serious; but this too he contrived always to digest in some tolerable manner. he continued drilling and recruiting,--we may say not his army only, but his nation in all departments of it,--as no man before or since ever did: increasing, by every devisable method, the amount of potential-battle that lay in him and it. in a military, and also in a much deeper sense, he may be defined as the great drill-sergeant of the prussian nation. indeed this had been the function of the hohenzollerns all along; this difficult, unpleasant and indispensable one of drilling. from the first appearance of burggraf friedrich, with good words and with heavy peg, in the wreck of anarchic brandenburg, and downwards ever since, this has steadily enough gone on. and not a little good drilling these populations have had, first and last; just orders given them (wise and just, which to a respectable degree were heaven's orders as well): and certainly heavy peg, for instance,--heavy peg, bringing quitzow's strong house about his ears,--was a respectable drummer's cat to enforce the same. this has been going on these three hundred years. but friedrich wilhelm completes the process; finishes it off to the last pitch of perfection. friedrich wilhelm carries it through every fibre and cranny of prussian business, and so far as possible, of prussian life; so that prussia is all a drilled phalanx, ready to the word of command; and what we see in the army is but the last consummate essence of what exists in the nation everywhere. that was friedrich wilhelm's function, made ready for him, laid to his hand by his hohenzollern foregoers; and indeed it proved a most beneficent function. for i have remarked that, of all things, a nation needs first to be drilled; and no nation that has not first been governed by so-called "tyrants," and held tight to the curb till it became perfect in its paces and thoroughly amenable to rule and law, and heartily respectful of the same, and totally abhorrent of the want of the same, ever came to much in this world. england itself, in foolish quarters of england, still howls and execrates lamentably over its william conqueror, and rigorous line of normans and plantagenets; but without them, if you will consider well, what had it ever been? a gluttonous race of jutes and angles, capable of no grand combinations; lumbering about in pot-bellied equanimity; not dreaming of heroic toil and silence and endurance, such as leads to the high places of this universe, and the golden mountain-tops where dwell the spirits of the dawn. their very ballot-boxes and suffrages, what they call their "liberty," if these mean "liberty," and are such a road to heaven, anglo-saxon high-road thither,--could never have been possible for them on such terms. how could they? nothing but collision, intolerable interpressure (as of men not perpendicular), and consequent battle often supervening, could have been appointed those undrilled anglo-saxons; their pot-bellied equanimity itself continuing liable to perpetual interruptions, as in the heptarchy time. an enlightened public does not reflect on these things at present; but will again, by and by. looking with human eyes over the england that now is, and over the america and the australia, from pole to pole; and then listening to the constitutional litanies of dryasaust, and his lamentations on the old norman and plantagenet kings, and his recognition of departed merit and causes of effects,--the mind of man is struck dumb! chapter iv. -- his majesty's ways. friedrich wilhelm's history is one of economics; which study, so soon as there are kings again in this world, will be precious to them. in that happy state of matters, friedrich wilhelm's history will well reward study; and teach by example, in a very simple and direct manner. in what is called the political, diplomatic, "honor-to-be" department, there is not, nor can ever be, much to be said of him; this economist king having always kept himself well at home, and looked steadily to his own affairs. so that for the present he has, as a king, next to nothing of what is called history; and it is only as a fellow-man, of singular faculty, and in a most peculiar and conspicuous situation, that he can be interesting to mankind. to us he has, as father and daily teacher and master of young fritz, a continual interest; and we must note the master's ways, and the main phenomena of the workshop as they successively turned up, for the sake of the notable apprentice serving there. he was not tall of stature, this arbitrary king: a florid-complexioned stout-built man; of serious, sincere, authoritative face; his attitudes and equipments very spartan in type. man of short firm stature; stands (in pesne's best portraits of him) at his ease, and yet like a tower. most solid; "plumb and rather more;" eyes steadfastly awake; cheeks slightly compressed, too, which fling the mouth rather forward; as if asking silently, "anything astir, then? all right here?" face, figure and bearing, all in him is expressive of robust insight, and direct determination; of healthy energy, practicality, unquestioned authority,--a certain air of royalty reduced to its simplest form. the face in pictures by pesne and others, is not beautiful or agreeable; healthy, genuine, authoritative, is the best you can say of it. yet it may have been, what it is described as being, originally handsome. high enough arched brow, rather copious cheeks and jaws; nose smallish, inclining to be stumpy; large gray eyes, bright with steady fire and life, often enough gloomy and severe, but capable of jolly laughter too. eyes "naturally with a kind of laugh in them," says pollnitz;--which laugh can blaze out into fearful thunderous rage, if you give him provocation. especially if you lie to him; for that he hates above all things. look him straight in the face: he fancies he can see in your eyes, if there is an internal mendacity in you: wherefore you must look at him in speaking; such is his standing order. his hair is flaxen, falling into the ash-gray or darker; fine copious flowing hair, while he wore it natural. but it soon got tied into clubs, in the military style; and at length it was altogether cropped away, and replaced by brown, and at last by white, round wigs. which latter also, though bad wigs, became him not amiss, under his cocked-hat and cockade, says pollnitz. [pollnitz, _memoiren_ (berlin, ), ii. .] the voice, i guess, even when not loud, was of clangorous and penetrating, quasi-metallic nature; and i learn expressly once, that it had a nasal quality in it. [busching, _beitrage,_ i. .] his majesty spoke through the nose; snuffled his speech in an earnest ominously plangent manner. in angry moments, which were frequent, it must have been--unpleasant to listen to. for the rest, a handsome man of his inches; conspicuously well-built in limbs and body, and delicately finished off to the very extremities. his feet and legs, says pollnitz, were very fine. the hands, if he would have taken care of them, were beautifully white; fingers long and thin; a hand at once nimble to grasp, delicate to feel, and strong to clutch and hold: what may be called a beautiful hand, because it is the usefulest. nothing could exceed his majesty's simplicity of habitudes. but one loves especially in him his scrupulous attention to cleanliness of person and of environment. he washed like a very mussulman, five times a day; loved cleanliness in all things, to a superstitious extent; which trait is pleasant in the rugged man, and indeed of a piece with the rest of his character. he is gradually changing all his silk and other cloth room-furniture; in his hatred of dust, he will not suffer a floor-carpet, even a stuffed chair; but insists on having all of wood, where the dust may be prosecuted to destruction. [forster, i. .] wife and womankind, and those that take after them, let such have stuffing and sofas: he, for his part, sits on mere wooden chairs;--sits, and also thinks and acts, after the manner of a hyperborean spartan, which he was. he ate heartily, but as a rough farmer and hunter eats; country messes, good roast and boiled; despising the french cook, as an entity without meaning for him. his favorite dish at dinner was bacon and greens, rightly dressed; what could the french cook do for such a man? he ate with rapidity, almost with indiscriminate violence: his object not quality but quantity. he drank too, but did not get drunk: at the doctor's order he could abstain; and had in later years abstained. pollnitz praises his fineness of complexion, the originally eminent whiteness of his skin, which he had tanned and bronzed by hard riding and hunting, and otherwise worse discolored by his manner of feeding and digesting: alas, at last his waistcoat came to measure, i am afraid to say how many prussian ells,--a very considerable diameter indeed! [ib. i. .] for some years after his accession he still appeared occasionally in "burgher dress," or unmilitary clothes; "brown english coat, yellow waistcoat" and the other indispensables. but this fashion became rarer with him every year; and ceased altogether (say chronologists) about the year : after which he appeared always simply as colonel of the potsdam guards (his own lifeguard regiment) in simple prussian uniform: close military coat; blue, with red cuffs and collar, buff waistcoat and breeches; white linen gaiters to the knee. he girt his sword about the loins, well out of the mud; walked always with a thick bamboo in his hand; steady, not slow of step; with his triangular hat, cream-white round wig (in his older days), and face tending to purple,--the eyes looking out mere investigation, sharp swift authority, and dangerous readiness to rebuke and set the cane in motion:--it was so he walked abroad in this earth; and the common run of men rather fled his approach than courted it. for, in fact, he was dangerous; and would ask in an alarming manner, "who are you?" any fantastic, much more any suspicious-looking person, might fare the worse. an idle lounger at the street-corner he has been known to hit over the crown; and peremptorily despatch: "home, sirrah, and take to some work!" that the apple-women be encouraged to knit, while waiting for custom;--encouraged and quietly constrained, and at length packed away, and their stalls taken from them, if unconstrainable,--there has, as we observed, an especial rescript been put forth; very curious to read. [in rodenbeck, _beitrage,_ p. .] dandiacal figures, nay people looking like frenchmen, idle flaunting women even,--better for them to be going. "who are you?" and if you lied or prevaricated (_"er blicke mich gerade an,_ look me in the face, then!"), or even stumbled, hesitated, and gave suspicion of prevaricating, it might be worse for you. a soft answer is less effectual than a prompt clear one, to turn away wrath. "a _candidatus theoligiae,_ your majesty," answered a handfast threadbare youth one day, when questioned in this manner.--"where from?" "berlin, your majesty."--"hm, na, the berliners are a good-for-nothing set." "yes, truly, too many of them; but there are exceptions; i know two."--"two? which then?" "your majesty and myself!"--majesty burst into a laugh: the candidatus was got examined by the consistoriums, and authorities proper in that matter, and put into a chaplaincy. this king did not love the french, or their fashions, at all. we said he dismissed the big peruke,--put it on for the last time at his father's funeral, so far did filial piety go; and then packed it aside, dismissing it, nay banishing and proscribing it, never to appear more. the peruke, and, as it were, all that the peruke symbolized. for this was a king come into the world with quite other aims than that of wearing big perukes, and, regardless of expense, playing burst-frog to the ox of versailles, which latter is itself perhaps a rather useless animal. of friedrich wilhelm's taxes upon wigs; of the old "wig-inspectors," and the feats they did, plucking off men's periwigs on the street, to see if the government-stamp were there, and to discourage wiggery, at least all but the simple scratch or useful welsh-wig, among mankind: of these, and of other similar things, i could speak; but do not. this little incident, which occurred once in the review-ground on the outskirts of berlin, will suffice to mark his temper in that respect. it was in the spring of ; our little fritz then six years old, who of course heard much temporary confused commentary, direct and oblique, triumphant male laughter, and perhaps rebellious female sighs, on occasion of such a feat. count rothenburg, prussian by birth, [buchholz, _neueste preuwssisch-brandenburgische geschichte,_ i. .] an accomplished and able person in the diplomatic and other lines of business, but much used to paris and its ways, had appeared lately in berlin, as french envoy,--and, not unnaturally, in high french costume; cocked-hat, peruke, laced coat, and the other trimmings. he, and a group of dashing followers and adherents, were accustomed to go about in that guise; very capable of proving infectious to mankind. what is to be done with them? thinks the anxious father of his people. they were to appear at the ensuing grand review, as friedrich wilhelm understood. whereupon friedrich wilhelm took his measures in private. dressed up, namely, his scavenger-executioner people (what they call profossen in prussian regiments) in an enormous exaggeration of that costume; cocked-hats about an ell in diameter, wigs reaching to the houghs, with other fittings to match: these, when count rothenburg and his company appeared upon the ground, friedrich wilhelm summoned out, with some trumpet-peal or burst of field-music; and they solemnly crossed count rothenburg's field of vision; the strangest set of, phantasms he had seen lately. awakening salutary reflections in him. [forster, i. ; faasmann, _leben und thaten des allerdurchlauchtigsten gc. konigs von preussen frederici wilhelmi_ (hambug und breslau, ), pp. , .] fancy that scene in history; friedrich wilhelm for comic-symbolic dramaturgist. gods and men (or at least houyhnhnm horses) might have saluted it; with a homeric laugh,--so huge and vacant is it, with a suspicion of real humor too:--but the men were not permitted, on parade, more than a silent grin, or general irrepressible rustling murmur; and only the gods laughed inextinguishably, if so disposed. the scavenger-executioners went back to their place; and count rothenburg took a plain german costume, so long as he continued in those parts. friedrich wilhelm has a dumb rough wit and mockery, of that kind, on many occasions; not without geniality in its brobdignag exaggeration and simplicity. like a wild bear of the woods taking his sport; with some sense of humor in the rough skin of him. very capable of seeing through sumptuous costumes; and respectful of realities alone. not in french sumptuosity, but in native german thrift, does this king see his salvation; so as nature constructed him: and the world which has long lost its spartans, will see again an original north-german spartan; and shriek a good deal over him; nature keeping her own counsel the while, and as it were, laughing in her sleeve at the shrieks of the flunky world. for nature, when she makes a spartan, means a good deal by it; and does not expect instant applauses, but only gradual and lasting. "for my own part," exclaims a certain editor once, "i perceive well there was never yet any great empire founded, roman, english, down to prussian or dutch, nor in fact any great mass of work got achieved under the sun, but it was founded even upon this humble-looking quality of thrift, and became achievable in virtue of the same. which will seem a strange doctrine, in these days of gold-nuggets, railway-fortunes, and miraculous, sumptuosities regardless of expense. earnest readers are invited to consider it, nevertheless. though new; it is very old; and a sad meaning lies in it to us of these times! that you have squandered in idle fooleries, building where there was no basis, your hundred thousand sterling, your eight hundred million sterling, is to me a comparatively small matter. you may still again become rich, if you have at last become wise. but if you have wasted your capacity of strenuous, devoutly valiant labor, of patience, perseverance, self-denial, faith in the causes of effects; alas, if your once just judgment of what is worth something and what is worth nothing, has been wasted, and your silent steadfast reliance on the general veracities, of yourself and of things, is no longer there,--then indeed you have had a loss! you are, in fact, an entirely bankrupt individual; as you will find by and by. yes; and though you had california in fee-simple; and could buy all the upholsteries, groceries, funded-properties, temporary (very temporary) landed properties of the world, at one swoop, it would avail you nothing. henceforth for you no harvests in the seedfield of this universe, which reserves its salutary bounties, and noble heaven-sent gifts, for quite other than you; and i would not give a pin's value for all you will ever reap there. mere imaginary harvests, sacks of nuggets and the like; empty as the east-wind;--with all the demons laughing at you! do you consider that nature too is a swollen flunky, hungry for veils; and can be taken in with your sublime airs of sumptuosity, and the large balance you actually have in lombard street? go to the--general cesspool, with your nuggets and your ducats!" the flunky world, much stript of its plush and fat perquisites, accuses friedrich wilhelm bitterly of avarice and the cognate vices. but it is not so; intrinsically, in the main, his procedure is to be defined as honorable thrift,--verging towards avarice here and there; as poor human virtues usually lean to one side or the other! he can be magnificent enough too, and grudges no expense, when the occasion seems worthy. if the occasion is inevitable, and yet not quite worthy, i have known him have recourse to strange shifts. the czar peter, for example, used to be rather often in the prussian dominions, oftenest on business of his own: such a man is to be royally defrayed while with us; yet one would wish it done cheap. posthorses, "two hundred and eighty-seven at every station," he has from the community; but the rest of his expenses, from memel all the way to wesel? friedrich wilhelm's marginal response to his finanz-directorium, requiring orders once on that subject, runs in the following strange tenor: "yes, all the way (except berlin, which i take upon myself); and observe, you contrive to do it for , thalers ( pounds),--which is uncommonly cheap, about pound per mile;--won't allow you one other penny (_nit einen pfennig gebe mehr dazu_); but you are (_sollen sie_)," this is the remarkable point, "to give out in the world that it costs me from thirty to forty thousand!" [ : forster, i. .] so that here is the majesty of prussia, who beyond all men abhors lies, giving orders to tell one? alas, yes; a kind of lie, or fib (white fib, or even gray), the pinch of thrift compelling! but what a window into the artless inner-man of his majesty, even that gray fib;--not done by oneself, but ordered to be done by the servant, as if that were cheaper! "verging upon avarice," sure enough: but, unless we are unjust and unkind, he can by no means be described as a miser king. he collects what is his; gives you accurately what is yours. for wages paid he will see work done; he will ascertain more and more that the work done be work needful for him; and strike it off, if not. a spartan man, as we said,--though probably he knew as little of the spartans as the spartans did of him. but nature is still capable of such products: if in hellas long ages since, why not in brandenburg now? chapter v. -- friedrich wilhelm's one war. one of fritz's earliest strong impressions from the outer world chanced to be of war,--so it chanced, though he had shown too little taste that way, and could not, as yet, understand such phenomena;--and there must have been much semi-articulate questioning and dialoguing with dame de roucoulles, on his part, about the matter now going on. in the year , little fritz's third year, came grand doings, not of drill only, but of actual war and fighting: the "stralsund expedition," friedrich wilhelm's one feat in that kind. huge rumor of which fills naturally the maternal heart, the berlin palace drawing-rooms; and occupies, with new vivid interests, all imaginations young and old. for the actual battledrums are now beating, the big cannon-wains are creaking under way; and military men take farewell, and march, tramp, tramp; majesty in grenadier-guard uniform at their head: horse, foot and artillery; northward to stralsund on the baltic shore, where a terrible human lion has taken up his lair lately. charles xii. of sweden, namely; he has broken out of turkish bender or demotica, and ended his obstinate torpor, at last; has ridden fourteen or sixteen days, he and a groom or two, through desolate steppes and mountain wildernesses, through crowded dangerous cities;--"came by vienna and by cassel, then through pommern;" leaving his "royal train of two thousand persons" to follow at its leisure. he, for his part, has ridden without pause, forward, ever forward, in darkest incognito, the indefatigable man;--and finally, on old-hallowmas eve ( d- th november, ), far in the night, a horseman, with two others still following him, travel-splashed, and "white with snow," drew bridle at the gate of stralsund; and, to the surprise of the swedish sentinel there, demanded instant admission to the governor. the governor, at first a little surly of humor, saw gradually how it was; sprang out of bed, and embraced the knees of the snowy man; stralsund in general sprang out of bed, and illuminated itself, that same hallow-eve:--and in brief, charles xii., after five years of eclipse, has reappeared upon the stage of things; and menaces the world, in his old fashion, from that city. from which it becomes urgent to many parties, and at last to friedrich wilhelm himself, that he be dislodged. the root of this stralsund story belongs to the former reign, as did the grand apparition of charles xii. on the theatre of european history, and the terror and astonishment he created there. he is now thirty-three years old; and only the winding up, both of him and of the stralsund story, falls within our present field. fifteen years ago, it was like the bursting of a cataract of bomb-shells in a dull ball-room, the sudden appearance of this young fighting swede among the luxurious kings and kinglets of the north, all lounging about and languidly minuetting in that manner, regardless of expense! friedrich iv. of denmark rejoicing over red wine; august the strong gradually producing his "three hundred and fifty-four bastards;" [_memoires de bareith_ (wilhelmina's book, londres, ), i. .] these and other neighbors had confidently stept in, on various pretexts; thinking to help themselves from the young man's properties, who was still a minor; when the young minor suddenly developed himself as a major and maximus, and turned out to be such a fire-king among them! in consequence of which there had been no end of northern troubles; and all through the louis-fourteenth or marlborough grand "succession war," a special "northern war" had burnt or smouldered on its own score; swedes versus saxons, russians and danes, bickering in weary intricate contest, and keeping those northern regions in smoke if not on fire. charles xii., for the last five years (ever since pultawa, and the summer of ), had lain obstinately dormant in turkey; urging the turks to destroy czar peter. which they absolutely could not, though they now and then tried; and viziers not a few lost their heads in consequence. charles lay sullenly dormant; danes meanwhile operating upon his holstein interests and adjoining territories; saxons, russians, battering continually at swedish pommern, continually marching thither, and then marching home again, without success,--always through the brandenburg territory, as they needs must. which latter circumstance friedrich wilhelm, while yet only crown-prince, had seen with natural displeasure, could that have helped it. but charles xii. would not yield a whit; sent orders peremptorily, from his bed at bender or demotica, that there must be no surrender. neither could the sluggish enemy compel surrender. so that, at length, it had grown a feeble wearisome welter of inextricable strifes, with worn-out combatants, exhausted of all but their animosity; and seemed as if it would never end. inveterate ineffective war; ruinous to all good interests in those parts. what miseries had holstein from it, which last to our own day! mecklenburg also it involved in sore troubles, which lasted long enough, as we shall see. but brandenburg, above all, may be impatient; brandenburg, which has no business with it except that of unlucky neighborhood. one of friedrich wilhelm's very first operations, as king, was to end this ugly state of matters, which he had witnessed with impatience, as prince, for a long while. he had hailed even the treaty of utrecht with welcome, in hopes it might at least end these northern brabbles. this the treaty of utrecht tried to do, but could not: however, it gave him back his prussian fighting men; which he has already increased by six regiments, raised, we may perceive, on the ruins of his late court-flunkies and dismissed goldsticks;--with these friedrich wilhelm will try to end it himself. these he at once ordered to form a camp on his frontier, close to that theatre of contest; and signified now with emphasis, in the beginning of , that he decidedly wished there were peace in those pommern regions. negotiations in consequence; [ th june, : buchholz, i. .] very wide negotiations, louis xiv. and the kaiser lending hand, to pacify these fighting northern kings and their czar: at length the holstein government, representing their sworn ally, charles xii., on the occasion, made an offer which seemed promising. they proposed that, stettin and its dependencies, the strong frontier town, and, as it were, key of swedish pommern, should be evacuated by the swedes, and be garrisoned by neutral troops, prussians and holsteiners in equal number; which neutral troops shall prohibit any hostile attack of pommern from without, sweden engaging not to make any attack through pommern from within. that will be as good as peace in pommern, till we get a general swedish peace. with which friedrich wilhelm gladly complies. [ d june, : buchholz, i. .] unhappily, however, the swedish commandant in stettin would not give up the place, on any representative or secondary authority; not without an express order in his king's own hand. which, as his king was far away, in abstruse turkish circumstances and localities, could not be had at the moment; and involved new difficulties and uncertainties, new delay which might itself be fatal. the end was, the russians and saxons had to cannonade the man out by regular siege: they then gave up the town to prussia and holstein; but required first to be paid their expenses incurred in sieging it,-- , thalers, as they computed and demonstrated, or some where about , pounds of our money. friedrich wilhelm paid the money (holstein not having a groschen); took possession of the town, and dependent towns and forts; intending well to keep them till repaid. this was in october, ; and ever since, there has been actual tranquillity in those parts: the embers of the northern war may still burn or smoulder elsewhere, but here they are quite extinct. at first, it was a joint possession of stettin, holsteiners and prussians in equal number; and if friedrich wilhelm had been sure of his money, so it would have continued. but the holsteiners had paid nothing; charles xii's sanction never could be expressly got, and the holsteiners were mere dependents of his. better to increase our prussian force, by degrees; and, in some good way, with a minimum of violence, get the holsteiners squeezed out of stettin: friedrich wilhelm has so ordered and contrived. the prussian force having now gradually increased to double in this important garrison, the holsteiners are quietly disarmed, one night, and ordered to depart, under penalties;--which was done. holding such a pawn-ticket as stettin, buttoned in our own pocket, we count now on being paid our , pounds before parting with it. matters turned out as friedrich wilhelm had dreaded they might. here is charles xii. come back; inflexible as cold swedish iron; will not hear of any treaty dealing with his properties in that manner: is he a bankrupt, then, that you will sell his towns by auction? charles does not, at heart, believe that friedrich wilhelm ever really paid the , pounds charles demands, for his own part, to have, his own swedish town of stettin restored to him; and has not the least intention, or indeed ability, to pay money. vain to answer: "stettin, for the present, is not a swedish town; it is a prussian pawn-ticket!"--there was much negotiation, correspondence; louis xiv. and the kaiser stepping in again to produce settlement. to no purpose. louis, gallant old bankrupt, tried hard to take charles's part with effect. but he had, himself, no money now; could only try finessing by ambassadors, try a little menacing by them; neither of which profited. friedrich wilhelm, wanting only peace on his borders, after fifteen years of extraneous uproar there, has paid , pounds in hard cash to have it: repay him that sum, with promise of peace on his borders, he will then quit stettin; till then not. big words from a french ambassador in big wig, will not suffice: "bullying goes for nothing (_bange machen gilt nicht_),"--the thing covenanted for will need to be done! poor louis the great, whom we now call "bankrupt-great," died while these affairs were pending; while charles, his ally, was arguing and battling against all the world, with only a grandiloquent ambassador to help him from louis. _"j'ai trop aime la guerre,"_ said louis at his death, addressing a new small louis (five years old), his great-grandson and successor: "i have been too fond of war; do not imitate me in that, _ne m'imitez pas en cela."_ [ st september, .] which counsel also, as we shall see, was considerably lost in air. friedrich wilhelm had a true personal regard for charles xii., a man made in many respects after his own heart; and would fain have persuaded him into softer behavior. but it was to no purpose. charles would not listen to reasons of policy; or believe that his estate was bankrupt, or that his towns could be put in pawn. danes, saxons, russians, even george i. of england (george-having just bought, of the danish king, who had got hold of it, a great hanover bargain, bremen and verden, on cheap terms, from the quasi-bankrupt estate of poor charles),--have to combine against him, and see to put him down. among whom prussia, at length actually attacked by charles in the stettin regions, has reluctantly to take the lead in that repressive movement. on the th of april, , friedrich wilhelm declares war against charles; is already on march, with a great force, towards stettin, to coerce and repress said charles. no help for it, so sore as it goes against us: "why will the very king whom i most respect compel me to be his enemy?" said friedrich wilhelm. [_ oeuvres de frederic (histoire de brandebourg),_ i. ; buchholz, i. .] one of friedrich wilhelm's originalities is his farewell order and instruction, to his three chief ministers, on this occasion. ilgen, dohna, prinzen, tacit dusky figures, whom we meet in prussian books, and never gain the least idea of, except as of grim, rather cunning, most reserved antiquarlan gentlemen,--a kind of human iron-safes, solemnly filled (under triple and quadruple patent-locks) with what, alas, has now all grown waste-paper, dust and cobweb, to us:--these three reserved cunning gentlemen are to keep a thrice-watchful eye on all subordinate boards and persons, and see well that nobody nod or do amiss. brief weekly report to his majesty will be expected; staffettes, should cases of hot haste occur: any questions of yours are "to be put on a sheet of paper folded down, to which i can write marginalia:" if nothing particular is passing, "nit schreiben, you don't write." pay out no money, except what falls due by the books; none;--if an extraordinary case for payment arise, consult my wife, and she must sign her order for it. generally in matters of any moment, consult my wife; but her only, "except her and the privy councillors, no mortal is to poke into my affairs:" i say no mortal, "sonst kein mensch." "my wife shall be told of all things," he says elsewhere, "and counsel asked of her." the rugged paterfamilias, but the human one! "and as i am a man," continues he, "and may be shot dead, i command you and all to take care of fritz (fur fritz zu sorgen), as god shall reward you. and i give you all, wife to begin with, my curse (meinen pluch), that god may punish you in time and eternity, if you do not, after my death,--do what, o heavens?--bury me in the vault of the schlosskirche," palace-church at berlin! "and you shall make no grand to-do (kein festin) on the occasion. on your body and life, no festivals and ceremonials, except that the regiments one after the other fire a volley over me." is not this an ursine man-of-genius, in some sort, as we once defined him? he adds suddenly, and concludes: "i am assured you will manage everything with all the exactness in the world; for which i shall ever zealously, as long as i live, be your friend." [ th april, : cosmars und klaproths _staatsrath,_s. (in stenzel, iii. )]. russians, saxons affected to intend joining friedrich wilhelm in his pommern expedition; and of the latter there did, under a so-called field-marshal von wackerbarth, of high plumes and titles, some four thousand--of whom only colonel von seckendorf, commanding one of the horse-regiments, is remarkable to us--come and serve. the rest, and all the russians, he was as well pleased to have at a distance. some sixteen thousand danes joined him, too, with the king of denmark at their head; very furious, all, against the swedish-iron hero; but they were remarked to do almost no real service, except at sea a little against the swedish ships. george i. also had a fleet in the baltic; but only "to protect english commerce." on the whole, the siege of stralsund, to which the campaign pretty soon reduced itself, was done mainly by friedrich wilhelm. he stayed two months in stettin, getting all his preliminaries completed; his good queen, wife "feekin," was with him for some time, i know not whether now or afterwards. in the end of june, he issued from stettin; took the interjacent outpost places; and then opened ground before stralsund, where, in a few days more, the danes joined him. it was now the middle of july: a combined army of well-nigh forty thousand against charles; who, to man his works, musters about the fourth part of that number. [pauli, viii. - ; buchholz, i. - ; forster, ii. - ; stenzel, iii. - .] stralsund, with its outer lines and inner, with its marshes, ditches, ramparts and abundant cannon to them, and leaning, one side of it, on the deep sea, which swedish ships command as yet, is very strong. wallenstein, we know, once tried it with furious assault, with bombardment, sap and storm; swore he would have it, "though it hung by a chain from heaven;" but could not get it, after all his volcanic raging; and was driven away, partly by the swedes and armed townsfolk, chiefly by the marsh-fevers and continuous rains. stralsund has been taken, since that, by prussian sieging; as old men, from the great elector's time, still remember. [l th- th october, (pauli, v. , ).] to louis fourteenth's menacing ambassador, friedrich wilhelm seems to intimate that indeed big bullying words will not take it, but that prussian guns and men, on a just ground, still may. the details of this siege of stralsund are all on record, and had once a certain fame in the world; but, except as a distant echo, must not concern us here. it lasted till midwinter, under continual fierce counter-movements and desperate sallies from the swedish lion, standing at bay there against all the world. but friedrich wilhelm was vigilance itself; and he had his anhalt-dessaus with him, his borcks, buddenbrocks, finkensteins, veteran men and captains, who had learned their art under marlborough and eugene. the lion king's fierce sallies, and desperate valor, could not avail. point after point was lost for him. koppen, a prussian lieutenant-colonel, native to the place, who has bathed in those waters in his youth, remembers that, by wading to the chin, you could get round the extremity of charles's main outer line. koppen states his project, gets it approved of;--wades accordingly, with a select party, under cloud of night ( th of november, eve of gunpowder-day, a most cold-hot job); other ranked prussian battalions awaiting intently outside, with shouldered firelock, invisible in the dark; what will become of him. koppen wades successfully; seizes the first battery of said line,--masters said line with its batteries, the outside battalions and he. irrepressibly, with horrible uproar from without and from within; the flying swedes scarcely getting up the town drawbridge, as he chased them. that important line is lost to charles. next they took the isle of rugen from him, which shuts up the harbor. leopold of anhalt-dessau, our rugged friend, in danish boats, which were but ill navigated, contrives, about a week after that koppen feat, to effect a landing-on rugen at nightfall; beats off the weak swedish party;--entrenches, palisades himself to the teeth, and lies down under arms. that latter was a wise precaution. for, about four in the morning, charles comes in person, with eight pieces of cannon and four thousand horse and foot: charles is struck with amazement at the palisade and ditch ("mein gott, who would have expected this!" he was heard murmuring); dashes, like a fire-flood, against ditch and palisade; tears at the pales himself, which prove impregnable to his cannon and him. he storms and rages forward, again and again, now here, now there; but is met everywhere by steady deadly musketry; and has to retire, fruitless, about daybreak, himself wounded, and leaving his eight cannons, and four hundred slain. poor charles, there had been no sleep for him that night, and little for very many nights: "on getting to horse, on the shore at stralsund, he fainted repeatedly; fell out of one faint into another; but such was his rage, he always recovered himself, and got on horseback again." [buchholz, i. .] poor charles: a bit of right royal swedish-german stuff, after his kind; and tragically ill bested now at last! this is his exit he is now making,--still in a consistent manner. it is fifteen years now since he waded ashore at copenhagen, and first heard the bullets whistle round him. since which time, what a course has he run; crashing athwart all manner of ranked armies, diplomatic combinations, right onward, like a cannon-ball; tearing off many solemn wigs in those northern parts, and scattering them upon the winds,--even as he did his own full-bottom wig, impatiently, on that first day at copenhagen, tiding it unfurthersome for actual business in battle. [kohler, _munzbelustigungen,_ xiv. .] in about a month hence, the last important hornwork is forced; charles, himself seen fiercely fighting on the place, is swept back from his last hornwork; and the general storm, now altogether irresistible, is evidently at hand. on entreaty from his followers, entreaty often renewed, with tears even (it is said) and on bended knees, charles at last consents to go. he left no orders for surrender; would not name the word; "left only ambiguous vague orders." but on the th december, , he does actually depart; gets on board a little boat, towards a swedish frigate, which is lying above a mile out; the whole road to which, between rugen and the mainland, is now solid ice, and has to be cut as he proceeds. this slow operation, which lasted all day, was visible, and its meaning well known, in the besiegers' lines. the king of denmark saw it; and brought a battery to bear upon it; his thought had always been, that charles should be captured or killed in stralsund, and not allowed to get away. friedrich wilhelm was of quite another mind, and had even used secret influences to that effect; eager that charles should escape. it is said, he remonstrated very passionately with the danish king and this battery of his; nay, some add, since remonstrances did not avail, and the battery still threatened to fire, friedrich wilhelm drew up a prussian regiment or two at the muzzles of it, and said, you shall shoot us first, then. [buchholz, p. .] which is a pleasant myth at least; and symbolical of what the reality was. charles reached his frigate about nightfall, but made little way from the place, owing to defect of wind. they say, he even heard the chamade beating in stralsund next day, and that a danish frigate had nearly taken him; both which statements are perhaps also a little mythical. certain only that he vanished at this point into scandinavia; and general europe never saw him more. vanished into a cloud of untenable schemes, guided by alberoni, baron gortz and others; wild schemes, financial, diplomatic, warlike, nothing not chimerical in them but his own unquenchable real energy;--and found his death (by assassination, as appears) in the trenches of frederickshall, among the norway hills, one winter night, three years hence. assassination instigated by the swedish official persons, it is thought. the bullet passed through both his temples; he had clapt his hand upon the hilt of his sword, and was found leant against the parapet, in that attitude,--gone upon a long march now. so vanished charles twelfth; the distressed official persons and nobility exploding upon him in that rather damnable way,--anxious to slip their muzzles at any cost whatever. a man of antique character; true as a child, simple, even bashful, and of a strength and valor rarely exampled among men. open-hearted antique populations would have much worshipped such an appearance;--voltaire, too, for the artificial moderns, has made a myth of him, of another type; one of those impossible cast-iron gentlemen, heroically mad, such as they show in the playhouses, pleasant but not profitable, to an undiscerning pub ic. [see adlerfeld (_military history of charles xii._ london, , vols., "from the swedish," through the french) and kohler (_munzbelustigungen,_ ubi supra), for some authentic traits of his life and him.] the last of the swedish kings died in this way; and the unmuzzled official persons have not made much of kinging it in his stead. charles died; and, as we may say, took the life of sweden along with him; for it has never shone among the nations since, or been much worth mentioning, except for its misfortunes, spasmodic impotences and unwisdoms. stralsund instantly beat the chamade, as we heard; and all was surrender and subjection in those regions. surrender; not yet pacification, not while charles lived; nor for half a century after his death, could mecklenburg, holstein-gottorp, and other his confederates, escape a sad coil of calamities bequeathed by him to them. friedrich wilhelm returned to berlin, victorious from his first, which was also his last prussian war, in january, ; and was doubtless a happy man, not "to be buried in the schlosskirche (under penalty of god's curse)," but to find his little fritz and feekin, and all the world, merry to see him, and all things put square again, abroad as at home. he forbade the "triumphal entry" which berlin was preparing for him; entered privately; and ordered a thanksgiving sermon in all the churches next sunday. the devil in harness: creutz the finance-minister. in the king's absence nothing particular had occurred,--except indeed the walking of a dreadful spectre, three nights over, in the corridors of the palace at berlin; past the doors where our little prince and wilhelmina slept: bringing with it not airs from heaven, we may fear, but blasts from the other place! the stalwart sentries shook in their paces, and became "half-dead" from terror. "a horrible noise, one night," says wilhelmina, "when all were buried in sleep: all the world started up, thinking it was fire; but they were much surprised to find that it was a spectre." evident spectre, seen to pass this way, "and glide along that gallery, as if towards the apartments of the queen's ladies." captain of the guard could find nothing in that gallery, or anywhere, and withdrew again:--but lo, it returns the way it went! stalwart sentries were found melted into actual delirium of swooning, as the preternatural swept by this second time. "they said, it was the devil in person; raised by swedish wizards to kill the prince-royal." [wilhelmina, _memoires de bareith_, i. .]l poor prince-royal; sleeping sound, we hope; little more than three years old at this time, and knowing nothing of it!--all berlin talked of the affair. people dreaded it might be a "spectre" of swedish tendencies; aiming to burn the palace, spirit off the royal children, and do one knew not what? not that at all, by any means! the captain of the guard, reinforcing himself to defiance even of the preternatural, does, on the third or fourth apparition, clutch the spectre; finds him to be--a prowling scullion of the palace, employed here he will not say how; who is straightway locked in prison, and so exorcised at least. exorcism is perfect; but berlin is left guessing as to the rest,--secret of it discoverable only by the queen's majesty and some few most interior parties. to the following effect. spectre-scullion, it turns out, had been employed by grumkow, as spy upon one of the queen's maids of honor,--suspected by him to be a no-maid of dishonor, and of ill intentions too,--who lodges in that part of the palace: of whom herr grumkow wishes intensely to know, "has she an intrigue with creutz the new finance-minister, or has she not?" "has, beyond doubt!" the spectre-scullion hopes he has discovered, before exorcism. upon which grumkow, essentially illuminated as to the required particular, manages to get the spectre-scullion loose again, not quite hanged; glozing the matter off to his majesty on his return: for the rest, ruins entirely the creutz speculation; and has the no-maid called of honor--with whom creutz thought to have seduced the young king also, and made the young king amenable--dismissed from court in a peremptory irrefragable manner. this is the secret of the spectre-scullion, fully revealed by wilhelmina many years after. this one short glance into the satan's invisible-world of the berlin palace, we could not but afford the reader, when an actual goblin of it happened to be walking in our neighborhood. such an invisible-world of satan exists in most human houses, and in all human palaces;--with its imps, familiar demons, spies, go-betweens, and industrious bad-angels, continually mounting and descending by their jacob's-ladder, or palace backstairs: operated upon by conjurers of the grumkow-creutz or other sorts. tyrannous mamsell leti, [leti, governess to wilhelmina, but soon dismissed for insolent cruelty and other bad conduct, was daughter of that gregorio leti ("protestant italian refugee," "historiographer of amsterdam," &c. &c.), who once had a pension in this country; and who wrote history-books, a _life of cromwell_ one of them, so regardless of the difference between true and false.] treacherous mamsell ramen, valet-surgeon eversmann, and plenty more: readers of wilhelmina's book are too well acquainted with them. nor are expert conjurers wanting; capable to work strange feats with so plastic an element as friedrich wilhelm's mind. let this one short glimpse of such subterranean world be sufficient indication to the reader's fancy. creutz was not dismissed, as some people had expected he might be. creutz continues finance-minister; makes a great figure in the fashionable berlin world in these coming years, and is much talked of in the old books,--though, as he works mostly underground, and merely does budgets and finance-matters with extreme talent and success, we shall hope to hear almost nothing more of him. majesty, while crown-prince, when he first got his regiment from papa, had found this creutz "auditor" in it; a poor but handsome fellow, with perhaps seven shillings a week to live upon; but with such a talent for arranging, for reckoning and recording, in brief for controlling finance, as more and more charmed the royal mind. [mauvillon ("elder mauvillon," anonymous), _histoire de frederic guillaume i.,_ par m. de m--(amsterdam et leipzig, ), i. . a vague flimsy compilation;--gives abundant "state-papers" (to such as want them), and echoes of old newspaper rumor. very copious on creutz.] one of majesty's first acts was to appoint him finance-minister; [ th may, : preuss, i. . n.] and there he continued steady, not to be overset by little flaws of wind like this of the spectre-scullion's raising. it is certain he did, himself, become rich; and helped well to make his majesty so. we are to fancy him his majesty's bottle-holder in that battle with the finance nightmares and imbroglios, when so much had to be subjugated, and drilled into step, in that department. evidently a long-headed cunning fellow, much of the grumkow type;--standing very low in wilhelmina's judgment; and ill-seen, when not avoidable altogether, by the queen's majesty. "the man was a poor country bailiff's (amtmann's, kind of tax-manager's) son: from auditor of a regiment," papa's own regiment, "he had risen to be director of finance, and a minister of state. his soul was as low as his birth; it was an assemblage of all the vices," [wilhelmina, i. .] says wilhelmina, in the language of exaggeration.--let him stand by his budgets; keep well out of wilhelmina's and the queen's way;--and very especially beware of coming on grumkow's field again. chapter vi. -- the little drummer. this siege of stralsund, the last military scene of charles xii., and the first ever practically heard of by our little fritz, who is now getting into his fourth year, and must have thought a great deal about it in his little head,--papa and even mamma being absent on it, and such a marching and rumoring going on all round him,--proved to be otherwise of some importance to little fritz. most of his tutors were picked up by the careful papa in this stralsund business. duhan de jandun, a young french gentleman, family-tutor to general count dohna (a cousin of our minister dohna's), but fonder of fighting than of teaching grammar; whom friedrich wilhelm found doing soldier's work in the trenches, and liked the ways of; he, as the foundation-stone of tutorage, is to be first mentioned. and then count fink von finkenstein, a distinguished veteran, high in command (of whose qualities as head-tutor, or occasional travelling guardian friedrich wilhelm had experience in his own young days [_biographisches lexikon aaler helden und militairpersonen, welche sich in preussischen diensten berumht gemacht haben_ ( vols. berlin, ), i. , ? finkenatein.--a praiseworthy, modest, highly correct book, of its kind; which we shall, in future, call _militair-lexikon,_ when referring to it.]); and lieutenant-colonel kalkstein, a prisoner-of-war from the swedish side, whom friedrich wilhelm, judging well of him, adopts into his own service with this view: these three come all from stralsund siege; and were of vital moment to our little fritz in the subsequent time. colonel seckendorf, again, who had a command in the four thousand saxons here, and refreshed into intimacy a transient old acquaintance with friedrich wilhelm,--is not he too of terrible importance to fritz and him? as we shall see in time!-- for the rest, here is another little incident. we said it had been a disappointment to papa that his little fritz showed almost no appetite for soldiering, but found other sights more interesting to him than the drill-ground. sympathize, then, with the earnest papa, as he returns home one afternoon,--date not given, but to all appearance of that year , when there was such war-rumoring, and marching towards stralsund;--and found the little fritz, with wilhelmina looking over him, strutting about, and assiduously beating a little drum. the paternal heart ran over with glad fondness, invoking heaven to confirm the omen. mother was told of it; the phenomenon was talked of,--beautifulest, hopefulest of little drummers. painter pesne, a french immigrant, or importee, of the last reign, a man of great skill with his brush, whom history yet thanks on several occasions, was sent for; or he heard of the incident, and volunteered his services. a portrait of little fritz drumming, with wilhelmina looking on; to which, probably for the sake of color and pictorial effect, a blackamoor, aside with parasol in hand, grinning approbation, has been added,--was sketched, and dexterously worked out in oil, by painter pesne. picture approved by mankind there and then. and it still hangs on the wall, in a perfect state, in charlottenburg palace; where the judicious tourist may see it without difficulty, and institute reflections on it. a really graceful little picture; and certainly, to prussian men, not without weight of meaning. nor perhaps to picture-collectors and cognoscenti generally, of whatever country,--if they could forget, for a moment, the correggiosity of correggio, and the learned babble of the sale-room and varnishing auctioneer; and think, "why it is, probably, that pictures exist in this world, and to what end the divine art of painting was bestowed, by the earnest gods, upon poor mankind?" i could advise it, once, for a little! flaying of saint bartholomew, rape of europa, rape of the sabines, piping and amours of goat-footed pan, romulus suckled by the wolf: all this, and much else of fabulous, distant, unimportant, not to say impossible, ugly and unworthy, shall pass without undue severity of criticism, in a household of such opulence as ours, where much goes to waste, and where things are not on an earnest footing for this long while past! as created objects, or as phantasms of such, pictorially done, all this shall have much worth, or shall have little. but i say, here withal is one not phantasmal; of indisputable certainty, home-grown, just commencing business, who carried it far! fritz is still, if not in "long-clothes," at least in longish and flowing clothes, of the petticoat sort, which look as of dark-blue velvet, very simple, pretty and appropriate; in a cap of the same; has a short raven's feather in the cap; and looks up, with a face and eyes full of beautiful vivacity and child's enthusiasm, one of the beautifulest little figures, while the little drum responds to his bits of drumsticks. sister wilhelmina, taller by some three years, looks on in pretty marching attitude, and with a graver smile. blackamoor, and accompaniments elegant enough; and finally the figure of a grenadier, on guard, seen far off through an opening,--make up the background. we have engravings of this picture; which are of clumsy poor quality, and misrepresent it much: an excellent copy in oil, what might be called almost a fac-simile and the perfection of a copy, is now ( ) in lord ashburton's collection here in england. in the berlin galleries,--which are made up, like other galleries, of goat-footed pan, europa's bull, romulus's she-wolf, and the correggiosity of correggio; and contain, for instance, no portrait of frederick the great; no likenesses at all, or next to none at all, of the noble series of human realities, or of any part of them, who have sprung not from the idle brains of dreaming dilettanti, but from the head of god almighty, to make this poor authentic earth a little memorable for us, and to do a little work that may be eternal there:--in those expensive halls of "high art" at berlin, there were, to my experience, few pictures more agreeable than this of pesne's. welcome, like one tiny islet of reality amid the shoreless sea of phantasms, to the reflective mind, seriously loving and seeking what is worthy and memorable, seriously hating and avoiding what is the reverse, and intent not to play the dilettante in this world. the same pesne, an excellent artist, has painted friedrich as prince-royal: a beautiful young man with moist-looking enthusiastic eyes of extraordinary brilliancy, smooth oval face; considerably resembling his mother. after which period, authentic pictures of friedrich are sought for to little purpose. for it seems he never sat to any painter, in his reigning days; and the prussian chodowiecki, [pronounce kodov-yetski;--and endeavor to make some acquaintance with this "prussian hogarth," who has real worth and originality.] saxon graff, english cunningham had to pick up his physiognomy from the distance, intermittently, as they could. nor is rauch's grand equestrian sculpture a thing to be believed, or perhaps pretending much to be so. the commonly received portrait of friedrich, which all german limners can draw at once,--the cocked-hat, big eyes and alert air, reminding you of some uncommonly brisk invalid drill-sergeant or greenwich pensioner, as much as of a royal hero,--is nothing but a general extract and average of all the faces of friedrich, such as has been tacitly agreed upon; and is definable as a received pictorial-myth, by no means as a fact, or credible resemblance of life. but enough now of pictures. this of the little drummer, the painting and the thing painted which remain to us, may be taken as friedrich's first appearance on the stage of the world; and welcomed accordingly. it is one of the very few visualities or definite certainties we can lay hold of, in those young years of his, and bring conclusively home to our imagination, out of the waste prussian dust-clouds of uninstructive garrulity which pretend to record them for us. whether it came into existence as a shadowy emanation from the stralsund expedition, can only be matter of conjecture. to judge by size, these figures must have been painted about the year ; fritz some three or four years old, his sister wilhelmina seven. it remains only to be intimated, that friedrich wilhelm, for his part, had got all he claimed from this expedition: namely, stettin with the dependent towns, and quietness in pommern. stettin was, from of old, the capital of his own part of pommern; thrown in along with the other parts of pommern, and given to sweden (from sheer necessity, it was avowed), at the peace of westphalia, sixty years ago or more:--and now, by good chance, it has come back. wait another hundred years, and perhaps swedish pommern altogether will come back! but from all this friedrich wilhelm is still far. stettin and quiet are all he dreams of demanding there. stralsund he did not reckon his; left it with the danes, to hold in pawn till some general treaty. nor was there farther outbreak of war in those regions; though actual treaty of peace did not come till , and make matters sure. it was the new queen of sweden, ulrique eleonora (charles's younger sister, wedded to the young landgraf of hessen-cassel),--much aided by an english envoy,--who made this peace with friedrich wilhelm. a young english envoy, called lord carteret, was very helpful in this matter; one of his first feats in the diplomatic world. for which peace, [stockholm, st january, : in mauvillon (i. - ) the document itself at large.] friedrich wilhelm was so thankful, good pacific armed-man, that happening to have a daughter born to him just about that time, he gave the little creature her swedish majesty's name; a new "ulrique," who grew to proper stature, and became notable in sweden, herself, by and by. [louisa ulrique, born th july, ; queen of sweden in time coming.] chapter vii. -- transit of czar peter. in the autumn of , peter the great, coming home from his celebrated french journey, paid friedrich wilhelm a visit; and passed four days at berlin. of which let us give one glimpse, if we can with brevity. friedrich wilhelm and the czar, like in several points, though so dissimilar in others, had always a certain regard for one another; and at this time, they had been brought into closer intercourse by their common peril from charles xii., ever since that stralsund business. the peril was real, especially with a gortz and alberoni putting hand to it; and the alarm, the rumor, and uncertainty were great in those years. the wounded lion driven indignant into his lair, with plotting artists now operating upon the rage of the noble animal: who knows what spring he will next take? george i. had a fleet cruising in the baltic sounds, and again a fleet;--paying, in that oblique way, for bremen and verden; which were got, otherwise, such a bargain to his hanover. czar peter had marched an army into denmark; united russians and danes count fifty thousand there; for a conjunct invasion, and probable destruction, of sweden: but that came to nothing; charles looking across upon it too dangerously, "visible in clear weather over from the danish side." [ : fassmann, p. .] so peter's troops have gone home again; denmark too glad to get them away. perhaps they would have stayed in denmark altogether; much liking the green pastures and convenient situation,--had not admiral norris with his cannon been there! perhaps? and the pretender is coming again, they say? and who knows what is coming?--how gortz, in about a year hence was laid hold of, and let go, and then ultimately tried and beheaded (once his lion master was disposed of); [ th march, : see kohler (_munzbelustiggungen,_ vi. - , xvii. - ) for many curious details of gortz and his end.] how, ambassador cellamare, and the spanish part of the plot, having been discovered in paris, cardinal alberoni at madrid was discovered, and the whole mystery laid bare; all that mad business, of bringing the pretender into england, throwing out george i., throwing out the regent d'orleans, and much more,--is now sunk silent enough, not worthy of reawakening; but it was then a most loud matter; filling the european courts, and especially that of berlin, with rumors and apprehensions. no wonder friedrich wilhelm was grateful for that swedish peace of his, and named his little daughter "ulrique" in honor of it. tumultuous cloud-world of lapland witchcraft had ceased hereby, and daylight had begun: old women (or old cardinals) riding through the sky, on broomsticks, to meet satan, where now are they? the fact still dimly perceptible is, europe, thanks to that pair of black-artists, gortz and alberoni, not to mention law the finance-wizard and his french incantations, had been kept generally, for these three or four years past, in the state of a haunted house; riotous goblins, of unknown dire intent, walking now in this apartment of it, now in that; no rest anywhere for the perturbed inhabitants. as to friedrich wilhelm, his plan in , as all along, in this bewitched state of matters, was: to fortify his frontier towns; memel, wesel, to the right and left, especially to fortify stettin, his new acquisition;--and to put his army, and his treasury (or army-chest), more and more in order. in that way we shall better meet whatever goblins there may be, thinks friedrich wilhelm. count lottum, hero of the prussians at malplaquet, is doing his scientific uttermost in stettin and those frontier towns. for the rest, his majesty, invited by the czar and france, has been found willing to make paction with them, as he is with all pacific neighbors. in fact, the czar and he had their private conference, at havelberg, last year,--havelberg, some sixty miles from berlin, on the road towards denmark, as peter was passing that way;--ample conference of five days; [ d- th november, : fassmann, p. .]--privately agreeing there, about many points conducive to tranquillity. and it was on that same errand, though ostensibly to look after art and the higher forms of civilization so called, that peter had been to france on this celebrated occasion of . we know he saw much art withal; saw marly, trianon and the grandeurs and politenesses;--saw, among other things, "a medal of himself fall accidentally at his feet;" polite medal "just getting struck in the mint, with a rising sun on it; and the motto, vires acquirit eundo." [voltaire, _oeuvres completes (histoire du czar pierre),_ xxxi. .--kohler in _munzbelustigungen_, xvii. - (this very medal the subject), gives authentic account, day by day, of the czar's visit there.] ostensibly it was to see cette belle france; but privately withal the czar wished to make his bargain, with the regent d'orleans, as to these goblins walking in the northern and southern parts, and what was to be done with them. and the result has been, the czar, friedrich wilhelm and the said regent have just concluded an agreement; [ th august, ; buchholz, i. .] undertaking in general, that the goblins shall be well watched; that they three will stand by one another in watching them. and now the czar will visit berlin in passing homewards again. that is the position of affairs, when he pays this visit. peter had been in berlin more than once before; but almost always in a succinct rapid condition; never with his "court" about him till now. this is his last, and by far his greatest, appearance in berlin. such a transit, of the barbaric semi-fabulous sovereignties, could not but be wonderful to everybody there. it evidently struck wilhelmina's fancy, now in her ninth year, very much. what her little brother did in it, or thought of it, i nowhere find hinted; conclude only that it would remain in his head too, visible occasionally to the end of his life. wilhelmina's narrative, very loose, dateless or misdated, plainly wrong in various particulars, has still its value for us: human eyes, even a child's, are worth something, in comparison to human want-of-eyes, which is too frequent in history-books and elsewhere!--czar peter is now forty-five, his czarina catherine about thirty-one. it was in that he first passed this way, going towards saardam and practical ship-building: within which twenty years what a spell of work done! victory of pultawa is eight years behind him; [ th june, .] victories in many kinds are behind him: by this time he is to be reckoned a triumphant czar; and is certainly the strangest mixture of heroic virtue and brutish samoeidic savagery the world at any time had. it was sunday, th september, , when the czar arrived in berlin. being already sated with scenic parades, he had begged to be spared all ceremony; begged to be lodged in monbijou, the queen's little garden-palace with river and trees round it, where he hoped to be quietest. monbijou has been set apart accordingly; the queen, not in the benignest humor, sweeping all her crystals and brittle things away; knowing the manners of the muscovites. nor in the way of ceremony was there much: king and queen drove out to meet him; rampart-guns gave three big salvos, as the czarish majesty stept forth. "i am glad to see you, my brother friedrich," said peter, in german, his only intelligible language; shaking hands with the brother majesty, in a cordial human manner. the queen he, still more cordially, "would have kissed;" but this she evaded, in some graceful effective way. as to the czarina,--who, for obstetric and other reasons, of no moment to us, had stayed in wesel all the time he was in france,--she followed him now at two days' distance; not along with him, as wilhelmina has it. wilhelmina says, she kissed the queen's hand, and again and again kissed it; begged to present her ladies,--"about four hundred so-called ladies, who were of her suite."--surely not so many as four hundred, you too witty princess? "mere german serving-maids for the most part," says the witty princess; "ladies when there is occasion, then acting as chambermaids, cooks, washerwomen, when that is over." queen sophie was averse to salute these creatures; but the czarina catherine making reprisals upon our margravines, and the king looking painfully earnest in it, she prevailed upon herself. was there ever seen such a travelling tagraggery of a sovereign court before? "several of these creatures [presque toutes, says the exaggerative princess] had, in their arms, a baby in rich dress; and if you asked, 'is that yours, then?' they answered, making salaams in russian style, 'the czar did me the honor (_m'a fait l'honneur de me faire cet enfant_ )!'"-- which statement, if we deduct the due per cent, is probably not mythic, after all. a day or two ago, the czar had been at magdeburg, on his way hither, intent upon inspecting matters there; and the official gentlemen,--president cocceji (afterwards a very celebrated man) at the head of them,--waited on the czar, to do what was needful. on entering, with the proper address or complimentary harangue, they found his czarish majesty "standing between two russian ladies," clearly ladies of the above sort; for they stood close by him, one of his arms was round the neck of each, and his hands amused themselves by taking liberties in that posture, all the time cocceji spoke. nay, even this was as nothing among the magdeburg phenomena. next day, for instance, there appeared in the audience-chamber a certain serene high-pacing duke of mecklenburg, with his duchess;--thrice-unfortunate duke, of whom we shall too often hear again; who, after some adventures, under charles xii. first of all, and then under the enemies of charles, had, about a year ago, after divorcing his first wife, married a niece of peter's:--duke and duchess arrive now, by order or gracious invitation of their sovereign uncle, to accompany him in those parts; and are announced to an eager czar, giving audience to his select magdeburg public. at sight of which most desirable duchess and brother's daughter, how peter started up, satyr-like, clasping her in his arms, and snatching her into an inner room, with the door left ajar, and there--it is too samoeidic for human speech! and would excel belief, were not the testimony so strong. [pollnitz (_memoiren,_ ii. ) gives friedrich wilhelm as voucher, "who used to relate it as from eye-and-ear witnesses."] a duke of mecklenburg, it would appear, who may count himself the non-plus-ultra of husbands in that epoch;--as among sovereign rulers, too, in a small or great way, he seeks his fellow for ill-luck! duke and duchess accompanied the czar to berlin, where wilhelmina mentions them, as presentees; part of those "four hundred" anomalies. they took the czar home with them to mecklenburg: where indeed some russian regiments of his, left here on their return from denmark, had been very useful in coercing the rebellious ritterschaft (knightage, or landed-gentry) of this duke,--till at length the general outcry, and voice of the reich itself, had ordered the said regiments to get on march again, and take themselves away. [the last of them, "july, ;" two months ago. (michaelis, ii. .)] for all is rebellion, passive rebellion, in mecklenburg; taxes being so indispensable; and the knights so disinclined; and this duke a sovereign,--such as we may construe from his quarrelling with almost everybody, and his not quarrelling with an uncle peter of that kind. [one poor hint, on his behalf, let us not omit: "wife quitted him in , and lived at moscow afterwards!" (general mannstein, _memoirs of russia,_ london, , p. n.)] his troubles as sovereign duke, his flights to dantzig, oustings, returns, law-pleadings and foolish confusions, lasted all his life, thirty years to come; and were bequeathed as a sorrowful legacy to posterity and the neighboring countries. voltaire says, the czar wished to buy his duchy from him. [ubi supra, xxxi. .] and truly, for this wretched duke, it would have been good to sell it at any price: but there were other words than his to such a bargain, had it ever been seriously meditated. by this extraordinary duchess he becomes father (real or putative) of a certain princess, whom we may hear of; and through her again is grandfather of an unfortunate russian prince, much bruited about, as "the murdered iwan," in subsequent times. with such a duke and duchess let our acquaintance be the minimum of what necessity compels. wilhelmina goes by hearsay hitherto; and, it is to be hoped, had heard nothing of these magdeburg-mecklenburg phenomena; but after the czarina's arrival, the little creature saw with her own eyes:-- "next day," that is, wednesday, d "the czar and his spouse came to return the queen's visit; and i saw the court myself." palace grand-apartments; queen advancing a due length, even to the outer guard-room; giving the czarina her right hand, and leading her into her audience-chamber in that distinguished manner: king and czar followed close;--and here it was that wilhelmina's personal experiences began. "the czar at once recognized me, having seen me before, five years ago [march, ]. he caught me in his arms; fell to kissing me, like to flay the skin off my face. i boxed his ears, sprawled, and struggled with all my strength; saying i would not allow such familiarities, and that he was dishonoring me. he laughed greatly at this idea; made peace, and talked a long time with me. i had got my lesson: i spoke of his fleet and his conquests;--which charmed him so much, that he said more than once to the czarina, 'if he could have a child like me, he would willingly give one of his provinces in exchange.' the czarina also caressed me a good deal. the queen [mamma] and she placed themselves under the dais, each in an arm-chair" of proper dignity; "i was at the queen's side, and the princesses of the blood," margravines above spoken of, "were opposite to her,"--all in a standing posture, as is proper. "the czarina was a little stumpy body, very brown, and had neither air nor grace: you needed only look at her, to guess her low extraction." it is no secret, she had been a kitchen-wench in her lithuanian native country; afterwards a female of the kind called unfortunate, under several figures: however, she saved the czar once, by her ready-wit and courage, from a devouring turkish difficulty, and he made her fortunate and a czarina, to sit under the dais as now. "with her huddle of clothes, she looked for all the world like a german play-actress; her dress, you would have said, had been bought at a second-hand shop; all was out of fashion, all was loaded with silver and greasy dirt. the front of her bodice she had ornamented with jewels in a very singular pattern: a double-eagle in embroidery, and the plumes of it set with poor little diamonds, of the smallest possible carat, and very ill mounted. all along the facing of her gown were orders and little things of metal; a dozen orders, and as many portraits of saints, of relics and the like; so that when she walked, it was with a jingling, as if you heard a mule with bells to its harness."--poor little czarina; shifty nutbrown fellow-creature, strangely chased about from the bottom to the top of this world; it is evident she does not succeed at queen sophie dorothee's court!-- "the czar, on the other hand, was very tall, and might be called handsome," continues wilhelmina: "his countenance was beautiful, but had something of savage in it which put you in fear." partly a kind of milton's-devil physiognomy? the portraits give it rather so. archangel not quite ruined, yet in sadly ruinous condition; its heroism so bemired,--with a turn for strong drink, too, at times! a physiognomy to make one reflect. "his dress was of sailor fashion, coat, altogether plain." "the czarina, who spoke german very ill herself, and did not understand well what the queen said, beckoned to her fool to come near,"--a poor female creature, who had once been a princess galitzin, but having got into mischief, had been excused to the czar by her high relations as mad, and saved from death or siberia, into her present strange harbor of refuge. with her the czarina talked in unknown russ, evidently "laughing much and loud," till supper was announced. "at table," continues wilhelmina, "the czar placed himself beside the queen. it is understood this prince was attempted with poison in his youth, and that something of it had settled on his nerves ever after. one thing is certain, there took him very often a sort of convulsion, like tic or st.-vitus, which it was beyond his power to control. that happened at table now. he got into contortions, gesticulations; and as the knife was in his hand, and went dancing about within arm's-length of the queen, it frightened her, and she motioned several times to rise. the czar begged her not to mind, for he would do her no ill; at the same time he took her by the hand, which he grasped with such violence that the queen was forced to shriek out. this set him heartily laughing; saying she had not bones of so hard a texture as his catherine's. supper done, a grand ball had been got ready; but the czar escaped at once, and walked home by himself to monbijou, leaving the others to dance." wilhelmina's story of the cabinet of antiques; of the indecent little statue there, and of the orders catherine got to kiss it, with a "kopf ab (head off, if you won't)!" from the bantering czar, whom she had to obey,--is not incredible, after what we have seen. it seems, he begged this bit of antique indecency from friedrich wilhelm; who, we may fancy, would give him such an article with especial readiness. that same day, fourth of the visit, thursday, d of the month, the august party went its ways again; friedrich wilhelm convoying "as far as potsdam;" czar and suite taking that route towards mecklenburg, where he still intends some little pause before proceeding homeward. friedrich wilhelm took farewell; and never saw the czar again. it was on this journey, best part of which is now done, that the famous order bore, "do it for six thousand thalers; won't allow you one other penny (_nit einen pfennig gebe mehr dazu _); but give out to the world that it costs me thirty or forty thousand!" nay, it is on record that the sum proved abundant, and even superabundant, near half of it being left as overplus. [forster, i. .] the hospitalities of berlin, friedrich wilhelm took upon himself, and he has done them as we see. you shall defray his czarish majesty, to the last prussian milestone; punctually, properly, though with thrift! peter's, viaticum, the antique indecency, friedrich wilhelm did not grudge to part with; glad to purchase the czar's good-will by coin of that kind. last year, at havelberg, he had given the czar an entire cabinet of amber articles, belonging to his late father. amber cabinet, in the lump; and likewise such a yacht, for shape, splendor and outfit, as probably holland never launched before;--yacht also belonging to his late father, and without value to friedrich wilhelm. the old king had got it built in holland, regardless of expense,-- , pounds, they say, perhaps as good as , pounds now;--and it lay at potsdam: good for what? friedrich wilhelm sent it down the havel, down the elbe, silk sailors and all, towards hamburg and petersburg, with a great deal of pleasure. for the czar, and peace and good-will with the czar, was of essential value to him. neither, at any rate, is the czar a man to take gifts without return. tall fellows for soldiers: that is always one prime object with friedrich wilhelm; for already these potsdam guards of his are getting ever more gigantic. not less an object, though less an ideal or poetic one (as we once defined), was this other, to find buyers for the manufactures, new and old, which he was so bent on encouraging. "it is astonishing, what quantities of cloth, of hardware, salt, and all kinds of manufactured articles the russians buy from us," say the old books;--"see how our 'russian company' flourishes!" in both these objects, not to speak of peace and good-will in general, the czar is our man. thus, this very autumn, there arrive, astonished and astonishing, no fewer than a hundred and fifty human figures (one half more than were promised), probably from seven to eight feet high; the tallest the czar could riddle out from his dominions: what a windfall to the potsdam guard and its colonel-king! and all succeeding autumns the like, so long as friedrich wilhelm lived; every autumn, out of russia a hundred of the tallest mortals living. invaluable,--to a "man of genius" mounted on his hobby! one's "stanza" can be polished at this rate. in return for these russian sons of anak, friedrich wilhelm grudged not to send german smiths, millwrights, drill-sergeants, cannoneers, engineers; having plenty of them. by whom, as peter well calculated, the inert opaque russian mass might be kindled into luminosity and vitality; and drilled to know the art of war, for one thing. which followed accordingly. and it is observable, ever since, that the russian art of war has a tincture of german in it (solid german, as contradistinguished from unsolid revolutionary-french); and hints to us of friedrich wilhelm and the old dessauer, to this hour.--exeant now the barbaric semi-fabulous sovereignties, till wanted again. chapter viii. -- the crown-prince is put to his schooling. in his seventh year, young friedrich was taken out of the hands of the women; and had tutors and sub-tutors of masculine gender, who had been nominated for him some time ago, actually set to work upon their function. these we have already heard of; they came from stralsund siege, all the principal hands. duhan de jandun, the young french gentleman who had escaped from grammar-lessons to the trenches, he is the practical teacher. lieutenant-general graf fink von finkenstein and lieutenant-colonel von kalkstein, they are head tutor (oberhofmeister) and sub-tutor; military men both, who had been in many wars besides stralsund. by these three he was assiduously educated, subordinate schoolmasters working under them when needful, in such branches as the paternal judgment would admit; the paternal object and theirs being to infuse useful knowledge, reject useless, and wind up the whole into a military finish. these appointments, made at different precise dates, took effect, all of them, in the year . duhan, independently of his experience in the trenches, appears to have been an accomplished, ingenious and conscientious man; who did credit to friedrich wilhelm's judgment; and to whom friedrich professed himself much indebted in after life. their progress in some of the technical branches, as we shall perceive, was indisputably unsatisfactory. but the mind of the boy seems to have been opened by this duhan, to a lively, and in some sort genial, perception of things round him;--of the strange confusedly opulent universe he had got into; and of the noble and supreme function which intelligence holds there; supreme in art as in nature, beyond all other functions whatsoever. duhan was now turned of thirty: a cheerful amiable frenchman; poor, though of good birth and acquirements; originally from champagne. friedrich loved him very much; always considered him his spiritual father; and to the end of duhan's life, twenty years hence, was eager to do him any good in his power. anxious always to repair, for poor duhan, the great sorrows he came to on his account, as we shall see. of graf fink von finkenstein, who has had military experiences of all kinds and all degrees, from marching as prisoner into france, "wounded and without his hat," to fighting at malplaquet, at blenheim, even at steenkirk, as well as stralsund; who is now in his sixtieth year, and seems to have been a gentleman of rather high solemn manners, and indeed of undeniable perfections,--of this supreme count fink we learn almost nothing farther in the books, except that his little pupil did not dislike him either. the little pupil took not unkindly to fink; welcoming any benignant human ray, across these lofty gravities of the oberhofmeister; went often to his house in berlin; and made acquaintance with two young finks about his own age, whom he found there, and who became important to him, especially the younger of them, in the course of the future. [zedlitz-neukirch, _preussisches adels-lexikon _ (leipzig, ), ii. . _militair-lexicon, _ i. .] this pupil, it may be said, is creditably known for his attachment to his teachers and others; an attached and attaching little boy. of kalkstein, a rational, experienced and earnest kind of man, though as yet but young, it is certain also that the little fritz loved him; and furthermore that the great friedrich was grateful to him, and had a high esteem of his integrity and sense. "my master, kalkstein," used to be his designation of him, when the name chanced to be mentioned in after times. they continued together, with various passages of mutual history, for forty years afterwards, till kalkstein's death. kalkstein is at present twenty-eight, the youngest of the three tutors; then, and ever after, an altogether downright correct soldier and man. he is of preussen, or prussia proper, this kalkstein;--of the same kindred as that mutinous kalkstein, whom we once heard of, who was "rolled in a carpet," and kidnapped out of warsaw, in the great elector's time. not a direct descendant of that beheaded kalkstein's but, as it were, his nephew so many times removed. preussen is now far enough from mutiny; subdued, with all its kalksteins, into a respectful silence, not lightly using the right even of petition, or submissive remonstrance, which it may still have. nor, except on the score of parliamentary eloquence and newspaper copyright, does it appear that preussen has suffered by the change. how these fink-kalkstein functionaries proceeded in the great task they had got,--very great task, had they known what pupil had fallen to them,--is not directly recorded for us, with any sequence or distinctness. we infer only that everything went by inflexible routine; not asking at all, what pupil?--nor much, whether it would suit any pupil? duhan, with the tendencies we have seen in him, who is willing to soften the inflexible when possible, and to "guide nature" by a rather loose rein, was probably a genial element in the otherwise strict affair. fritz had one unspeakable advantage, rare among princes and even among peasants in these ruined ages: that of not being taught, or in general not, by the kind called "hypocrites, and even sincere-hypocrites,"--fatalest species of the class hypocrite. we perceive he was lessoned, all along, not by enchanted phantasms of that dangerous sort, breathing mendacity of mind, unconsciously, out of every look; but by real men, who believed from the heart outwards, and were daily doing what they taught. to which unspeakable advantage we add a second, likewise considerable; that his masters, though rigorous, were not unlovable to him;--that his affections, at least, were kept alive; that whatever of seed (or of chaff and hail, as was likelier) fell on his mind, had sunshine to help in dealing with it. these are two advantages still achievable, though with difficulty, in our epoch, by an earnest father in behalf of his poor little son. and these are, at present, nearly all; with these well achieved, the earnest father and his son ought to be thankful. alas, in matter of education, there are no high-roads at present; or there are such only as do not lead to the goal. fritz, like the rest of us, had to struggle his way, nature and didactic art differing very much from one another; and to do battle, incessant partial battle, with his schoolmasters for any education he had. a very rough document, giving friedrich wilhelm's regulations on this subject, from his own hand, has come down to us. most dull, embroiled, heavy document; intricate, gnarled, and, in fine, rough and stiff as natural bull-headedness helped by prussian pipe-clay can make it;--contains some excellent hints, too; and will show us something of fritzchen and of friedrich wilhelm both at once. that is to say, always, if it can be read! if by aid of abridging, elucidating and arranging, we can get the reader engaged to peruse it patiently;--which seems doubtful. the points insisted on, in a ponderous but straggling confused manner, by his didactic majesty, are chiefly these:-- . must impress my son with a proper love and fear of god, as the foundation and sole pillar of our temporal and eternal welfare. no false religions, or sects of atheist, arian (arrian), socinian, or whatever name the poisonous things have, which can so easily corrupt a young mind, are to be even named in his hearing: on the other hand, a proper abhorrence (abscheu) of papistry, and insight into its baselessness and nonsensicality (ungrund und absurditat), is to be communicated to him:--papistry, which is false enough, like the others, but impossible to be ignored like them; mention that, and give him due abhorrence for it. for we are protestant to the bone in this country; and cannot stand absurditat, least of all hypocritically religious ditto! but the grand thing will be, "to impress on him the true religion, which consists essentially in this, that christ died for all men," and generally that the almighty's justice is eternal and omnipresent,--"which consideration is the only means of keeping a sovereign person (souveraine macht), or one freed from human penalties, in the right way." . "he is to learn no latin;" observe that, however it may surprise you. what has a living german man and king, of the eighteenth christian soeculum, to do with dead old heathen latins, romans, and the lingo they spoke their fraction of sense and nonsense in? frightful, how the young years of the european generations have been wasted, for ten centuries back; and the thinkers of the world have become mere walking sacks of marine-stores, "gelehrten, learned," as they call themselves; and gone lost to the world, in that manner, as a set of confiscated pedants;--babbling about said heathens, and their extinct lingo and fraction of sense and nonsense, for the thousand years last past! heathen latins, romans;--who perhaps were no great things of heathen, after all, if well seen into? i have heard judges say, they were inferior, in real worth and grist, to german home-growths we have had, if the confiscated pedants could have discerned it! at any rate, they are dead, buried deep, these two thousand years; well out of our way;--and nonsense enough of our own left, to keep sweeping into corners. silence about their lingo and them, to this new crown-prince! "let the prince learn french and german," so as to write and speak, "with brevity and propriety," in these two languages, which may be useful to him in life. that will suffice for languages,--provided he have anything effectually rational to say in them. for the rest, . "let him learn arithmetic, mathematics, artillery,--economy to the very bottom." and, in short, useful knowledge generally; useless ditto not at all. "history in particular;--ancient history only slightly (nur uberhin);--but the history of the last hundred and fifty years to the exactest pitch. the jus naturale and jus gentium," by way of hand-lamp to history, "he must be completely master of; as also of geography, whatever is remarkable in each country. and in histories, most especially the history of the house of brandenburg; where he will find domestic examples, which are always of more force than foreign. and along with prussian history, chiefly that of the countries which have been connected with it, as england, brunswick, hessen and the others. and in reading of wise history-books there must be considerations made (_sollen beym lesen kluger historiarum betrachtungen gemacht werden_) upon the causes of the events."--surely, o king! . "with increasing years, you will more and more, to a most especial degree, go upon fortification,"--mark you!--"the formation of a camp, and the other war-sciences; that the prince may, from youth upwards, be trained to act as officer and general, and to seek all his glory in the soldier profession." this is whither it must all tend. you, finkenstein and kalkstein, "have both of you, in the highest measure, to make it your care to infuse into my son [einzupragen, stamp into him] a true love for the soldier business, and to impress on him that, as there is nothing in the world which can bring a prince renown and honor like the sword, so he would be a despised creature before all men, if he did not love it, and seek his sole glory (die einzige gloria) therein." [preuss, i. - (of date th august, ).] which is an extreme statement of the case; showing how much we have it at heart. these are the chief friedrich-wilhelm traits; the rest of the document corresponds in general to what the late majesty had written for friedrich wilhelm himself on the like occasion. [stenzel, iii. .] ruthless contempt of useless knowledge; and passionate insight into the distinction between useful and useless, especially into the worth of soldiering as a royal accomplishment, are the chief peculiarities here. in which latter point too friedrich wilhelm, himself the most pacific of men, unless you pulled the whiskers of him, or broke into his goods and chattels, knew very well what he was meaning,--much better than we of the "peace society" and "philanthropic movement" could imagine at first sight! it is a thing he, for his part, is very decided upon. already, a year before this time, [ st september, : preuss, i. .] there had been instituted, for express behoof of little fritz, a miniature soldier company, above a hundred strong; which grew afterwards to be near three hundred, and indeed rose to be a permanent institution by degrees; called _kompagnie der kronprinzlichen kadetten_ (company of crown-prince cadets). a hundred and ten boys about his own age, sons of noble families, had been selected from the three military schools then extant, as a kind of tiny regiment for him; where, if he was by no means commander all at once, he might learn his exercise in fellowship with others. czar peter, it is likely, took a glance of this tiny regiment just getting into rank and file there; which would remind the czar of his own young days. an experienced lieutenant-colonel was appointed to command in chief. a certain handy and correct young fellow, rentsel by name, about seventeen, who already knew his fugling to a hair's-breadth, was drill-master; and exercised them all, fritz especially, with due strictness; till, in the course of time and of attainments, fritz could himself take the head charge. which he did duly, in a year or two: a little soldier thenceforth; properly strict, though of small dimensions; in tight blue bit of coat and cocked-hat:--miniature image of papa (it is fondly hoped and expected), resembling him as a sixpence does a half-crown. in the assiduous papa set up a "little arsenal" for him, "in the orange hall of the palace:" there let him, with perhaps a chosen comrade or two, mount batteries, fire exceedingly small brass ordnance,--his engineer-teacher, one major von senning, limping about (on cork leg), and superintending if needful. rentzel, it is known, proved an excellent drill-sergeant;--had good talents every way, and was a man of probity and sense. he played beautifully on the flute too, and had a cheerful conversible turn; which naturally recommended him still farther to fritz; and awoke or encouraged, among other faculties, the musical faculty in the little boy. rentzel continued about him, or in sight of him, through life; advancing gradually, not too fast, according to real merit and service (colonel in ); and never did discredit to the choice friedrich wilhelm had made of him. of senning, too, engineer-major von senning, who gave fritz his lessons in mathematics, fortification and the kindred branches, the like, or better, can be said. he was of graver years; had lost a leg in the marlborough campaigns, poor gentleman; but had abundant sense, native worth and cheery rational talk, in him: so that he too could never be parted with by friedrich, but was kept on hand to the last, a permanent and variously serviceable acquisition. thus, at least, is the military education of our crown-prince cared for. and we are to fancy the little fellow, from his tenth year or earlier, going about in miniature soldier figure, for most part; in strict spartan-brandenburg costume, of body as of mind. costume little flattering to his own private taste for finery; yet by no means unwholesome to him, as he came afterwards to know, in october, , it is on record, when george i. came to visit his son-in-law and daughter at berlin, his britannic majesty, looking out from his new quarters on the morrow, saw fritzchen "drilling his cadet company;" a very pretty little phenomenon. drilling with clear voice, military sharpness, and the precision of clock-work on the esplanade (lustgarten) there;--and doubtless the britannic majesty gave some grunt of acquiescence, perhaps even a smile, rare on that square heavy-laden countenance of his. that is the record: [forster, i. .] and truly it forms for us by far the liveliest little picture we have got, from those dull old years of european history. years already sunk, or sinking, into lonesome unpeopled dusk for all men; and fast verging towards vacant oblivion and eternal night;--which (if some few articles were once saved out of them) is their just and inevitable portion from afflicted human nature. of riding-masters, fencing-masters, swimming-masters; much less of dancing-masters, music-masters (celebrated graun, "on the organ," with psalm-tunes), we cannot speak; but the reader may be satisfied they were all there, good of their kind, and pushing on at a fair rate. nor is there lack anywhere of paternal supervision to our young apprentice, from an early age, papa took the crown-prince with him on his annual reviews. from utmost memel on the russian border, down to wesel on the french, all prussia, in every nook of it, garrison, marching-regiment, board of management, is rigorously reviewed by majesty once a year. there travels little military fritz, beside the military majesty, amid the generals and official persons, in their hardy spartan manner; and learns to look into everything like a rhadamanthine argus, and how the eye of the master, more than all other appliances, fattens the cattle. on his hunts, too, papa took him. for papa was a famous hunter, when at wusterhausen in the season:--hot beagle-chase, hot stag-hunt, your chief game deer; huge "force-hunt" (parforce-jagd, the woods all beaten, and your wild beasts driven into straits and caudine-forks for you); boar-hunting (sauhetze, "sow-baiting," as the germans call it), partridge-shooting, fox- and wolf-hunting;--on all grand expeditions of such sort, little fritz shall ride with papa and party. rough furious riding; now on swift steed, now at places on wurstwagen,--wurstwagen, "sausage-car" so called, most spartan of vehicles, a mere stuffed pole or "sausage" with wheels to it, on which you sit astride, a dozen or so of you, and career;--regardless of the summer heat and sandy dust, of the winter's frost-storms and muddy rain. all this the little crown-prince is bound to do;--but likes it less and less, some of us are sorry to observe! in fact he could not take to hunting at all, or find the least of permanent satisfaction in shooting partridges and baiting sows,--"with such an expenditure of industry and such damage to the seedfields," he would sometimes allege in extenuation. in later years he has been known to retire into some glade of the thickets, and hold a little flute-hautbois concert with his musical comrades, while the sows were getting baited. or he would converse with mamma and her ladies, if her majesty chanced to be there, in a day for open driving. which things by no means increased his favor with papa, a sworn hater of "effeminate practices." he was "nourished on beer-soup," as we said before. frugality, activity, exactitude were lessons daily and hourly brought home to him, in everything he did and saw. his very sleep was stingily meted out to him: "too much sleep stupefies a fellow!" friedrich wilhelm was wont to say;--so that the very doctors had to interfere, in this matter, for little fritz. frugal enough, hardy enough; urged in every way to look with indifference on hardship, and take a spartan view of life. money-allowance completely his own, he does not seem to have had till he was seventeen. exiguous pocket-money, counted in groschen (english pence, or hardly more), only his kalkstein and finkenstein could grant as they saw good;--about eighteenpence in the month, to start with, as would appear. the other small incidental moneys, necessary for his use, were likewise all laid out under sanction of his tutors, and accurately entered in day-books by them, audited by friedrich wilhelm; of which some specimens remain, and one whole month, september, (the boy's eighth year), has been published. very singular to contemplate, in these days of gold-nuggets and irrational man-mountains fattened by mankind at such a price! the monthly amount appears to have been some pounds shillings:--and has gone, all but the eighteenpence of sovereign pocket-money, for small furnishings and very minute necessary luxuries;--as thus:-- "to putting his highness's shoes on the last;" for stretching them to the little feet,--and only one "last," as we perceive. "to twelve yards of hairtape,"--haarband, for our little queue, which becomes visible here. "for drink-money to the postilions." "for the housemaids at wusterhausen," don't i pay them myself? objects the auditing papa, at that latter kind of items: no more of that. "for mending the flute, four groschen [or pence];" "two boxes of colors, sixteen ditto;" "for a live snipe, twopence;" "for grinding the hanger [little swordkin];" "to a boy whom the dog bit;" and chiefly of all, "to the klingbeutel,"--collection-plate, or bag, at church,--which comes upon us once, nay twice, and even thrice a week, eighteenpence each time, and eats deep into our straitened means. [preuss, i. .] on such terms can a little fritz be nourished into a friedrich the great; while irrational man-mountains, of the beaverish or beaverish-vulpine sort, take such a price to fatten them into monstrosity! the art-manufacture of your friedrich can come very cheap, it would appear, if once nature have done her part in regard to him, and there be mere honest will on the part of the by-standers. thus samuel johnson, too, cost next to nothing in the way of board and entertainment in this world. and a robert burns, remarkable modern thor, a peasant-god of these sunk ages, with a touch of melodious runes in him (since all else lay under ban for the poor fellow), was raised on frugal oatmeal, at an expense of perhaps half a crown a week. nuggets and ducats are divine; but they are not the most divine. i often wish the devil had the lion's share of them,--at once, and not circuitously as now. it would be an unspeakable advantage to the bewildered sons of adam, in this epoch! but with regard to our little crown-prince's intellectual culture, there is another document, specially from papa's hand, which, if we can redact, adjust and abridge it, as in the former case, may be worth the reader's notice, and elucidate some things for him. it is of date, wusterhausen, d september, ; little fritz now in his tenth year, and out there, with his duhans and finkensteins, while papa is rusticating for a few weeks. the essential title is, or might be:-- _to head-governor van finkenstein, sub-governor von kalkstein, preceptor jacques egide duhan de jandun, and others whom it may concern: regulations for schooling, at wusterhausen, d september, ;_ [preuss, i. .]--in greatly abridged form. sunday. "on sunday he is to rise at ; and as soon as he has got his slippers on, shall kneel down at his bedside, and pray to god, so as all in the room may hear it [that there be no deception or short measure palmed upon us], in these words: 'lord god, blessed father, i thank thee from my heart that thou hast so graciously preserved me through this night. fit me for what thy holy will is; and grant that i do nothing this day, nor all the days of my life, which can divide me from thee. for the lord jesus my redeemer's sake. amen.' after which the lord's prayer. then rapidly and vigorously (geschwinde und hurtig) wash himself clean, dress and powder and comb himself [we forget to say, that while they are combing and queuing him, he breakfasts, with brevity, on tea]: prayer, with washing, breakfast and the rest, to be done pointedly within fifteen minutes [that is, at a quarter past ]. "this finished, all his domestics and duhan shall come in, and do family worship (_das grosse gebet zu halten_): prayer on their knees, duhan withal to read a chapter of the bible, and sing some proper psalm or hymn [as practised in well-regulated families]:--it will then be a quarter to . all the domestics then withdraw again; and duhan now reads with my son the gospel of the sunday; expounds it a little, adducing the main points of christianity;--questioning from noltenius's catechism [which fritz knows by heart]:--it will then be o'clock. "at he brings my son down to me; who goes to church, and dines, along with me [dinner at the stroke of noon]: the rest of the day is then his own [fritz's and duhan's]. at half-past in the evening, he shall come and bid me goodnight. shall then directly go to his room; very rapidly (sehr geschwind) get off his clothes, wash his hands [get into some tiny dressing-gown or cassaquin, no doubt]; and so soon as that is done, duhan makes a prayer on his knees, and sings a hymn; all the servants being again there. instantly after which, my son shall get into bed; shall be in bed at half-past ;"--and fall asleep how soon, your majesty? this is very strict work. monday. "on monday, as on all weekdays, he is to be called at ; and so soon as called he is to rise; you are to stand to him (anhalten) that he do not loiter or turn in bed, but briskly and at once get up; and say his prayers, the same as on sunday morning. this done, he shall as rapidly as possible get on his shoes and spatterdashes; also wash his face and hands, but not with soap. farther shall put on his cassaquin [short dressing-gown], have his hair combed out and queued, but not powdered. while getting combed and queued, he shall at the same time take breakfast of tea, so that both jobs go on at once; and all this shall be ended before half-past ." then enter duhan and the domestics, with worship, bible, hymn, all as on sunday; this is done by , and the servants go again. "from till duhan takes him on history; at comes noltenius [a sublime clerical gentleman from berlin] with the christian religion, till a quarter to . then fritz rapidly (geschwind) washes his face with water, hands with soap-and-water; clean shirt; powders, and puts on his coat;--about comes to the king. stays with the king till ,"--perhaps promenading a little; dining always at noon; after which majesty is apt to be slumberous, and light amusements are over. "directly at , he goes back to his room. duhan is there, ready; takes him upon the maps and geography, from to ,--giving account [gradually!] of all the european kingdoms; their strength and weakness; size, riches and poverty of their towns. from to , duhan treats of morality (_soll die moral tractiren _). from to , duhan shall write german letters with him, and see that he gets a good stylum [which he never in the least did]. about , fritz shall wash his hands, and go to the king;--ride out; divert himself, in the air and not in his room; and do what he likes, if it is not against god." there, then, is a sunday, and there is one weekday; which latter may serve for all the other five:--though they are strictly specified in the royal monograph, and every hour of them marked out: how, and at what points of time, besides this of history, of morality, and writing in german, of maps and geography with the strength and weakness of kingdoms, you are to take up arithmetic more than once; writing of french letters, so as to acquire a good stylum: in what nook you may intercalate "a little getting by heart of something, in order to strengthen the memory;" how instead of noltenius, panzendorf (another sublime reverend gentleman from berlin, who comes out express) gives the clerical drill on tuesday morning;--with which two onslaughts, of an hour-and-half each, the clerical gentlemen seem to withdraw for the week, and we hear no more of them till monday and tuesday come round again. on wednesday we are happy to observe a liberal slice of holiday come in. at half-past , having done his history, and "got something by heart to strengthen the memory [very little, it is to be feared], fritz shall rapidly dress himself, and come to the king. and the rest of the day belongs to little fritz (_gehort vor fritzchen_)." on saturday, too, there is some fair chance of half-holiday:-- "saturday, forenoon till half-past , come history, writing and ciphering; especially repetition of what was done through the week, and in morality as well [adds the rapid majesty], to see whether he has profited. and general graf von finkenstein, with colonel von kalkstein, shall be present during this. if fritz has profited, the afternoon shall be his own. if he has not profited, he shall, from to , repeat and learn rightly what he has forgotten on the past days." and so the laboring week winds itself up. here, however, is one general rule which cannot be too much impressed upon you, with which we conclude:-- "in undressing and dressing, you must accustom him to get out of, and into, his clothes as fast as is humanly possible (_ hurtig so viel als menschenmoglich ist_). you will also look that he learn to put on and put off his clothes himself, without help from others; and that he be clean and neat, and not so dirty (_nicht so schmutzig_)." "not so dirty," that is my last word; and here is my sign-manual, "friedrich wilhelm." [preuss, i. .] chapter ix. -- wusterhausen. wusterhausen, where for the present these operations go on, lies about twenty english miles southeast of berlin, as you go towards schlesien (silesia);--on the old silesian road, in a flat moory country made of peat and sand;--and is not distinguished for its beauty at all among royal hunting-lodges. the gohrde at hanover, for example, what a splendor there in comparison! but it serves friedrich wilhelm's simple purposes: there is game abundant in the scraggy woodlands, otter-pools, fish-pools, and miry thickets, of that old "schenkenland" (belonged all once to the "schenken family," till old king friedrich bought it for his prince); retinue sufficient find nooks for lodgment in the poor old schloss so called; and noltenius and panzendorf drive out each once a week, in some light vehicle, to drill fritz in his religious exercises. one zollner, a tourist to silesia, confesses himself rather pleased to find even wusterhausen in such a country of sandy bent-grass, lean cattle, and flat desolate languor. "getting to the top of the ridge" (most insignificant "ridge," made by hand; wilhelmina satirically says), tourist zollner can discern with pleasure "a considerable brook,"--visible, not audible, smooth stream, or chain of meres and lakelets, flowing languidly northward towards kopenik. inaudible big brook or stream; which, we perceive, drains a slightly hollowed tract; too shallow to be called valley,--of several miles in width, of several yards in depth;--tract with wood here and there on it, and signs of grass and culture, welcome after what you have passed. on the foreground close to you is the hamlet of konigs-wusterhausen, with tolerable lime-tree avenue leading to it, and the air of something sylvan from your hill-top. konigs-wusterhausen was once wendish-westerhausen, and not far off is deutsch-wusterhausen, famed, i suppose, by faction-fights in the vandalic times: both of them are now king's-wusterhausen (since the king came thither), to distinguish them from other wusterhausens that there are. descending, advancing through your lime-tree avenue, you come upon the backs of office-houses, out-houses, stables or the like,--on your left hand i have guessed,--extending along the highway. and in the middle of these you come at last to a kind of gate or vaulted passage (art von thor, says zollner), where, if you have liberty, you face to the left, and enter. here, once through into the free light again, you are in a court: four-square space, not without prospect; right side and left side are lodgings for his majesty's gentlemen; behind you, well in their view, are stables and kitchens: in the centre of the place is a fountain "with hewn steps and iron railings;" where his simple majesty has been known to sit and smoke, on summer evenings. the fourth side of your square, again, is a palisade; beyond which, over bridge and moat and intervening apparatus, you perceive, on its trim terraces, the respectable old schloss itself. a rectangular mass, not of vast proportions, with tower in the centre of it (tower for screw-stair, the general roadway of the house); and looking though weather-beaten yet weather-tight, and as dignified as it can. this is wusterhausen; friedrich wilhelm's hunting-seat from of old. a dreadfully crowded place, says wilhelmina, where you are stuffed into garrets, and have not room to turn. the terraces are of some magnitude, trimmed all round with a row of little clipped trees, one big lime-tree at each corner;--under one of these big lime-trees, aided by an awning: it is his majesty's delight to spread his frugal but substantial dinner, four-and-twenty covers, at the stroke of , and so dine sub dio. if rain come on, says wilhelmina, you are wet to mid-leg, the ground being hollow in that place,--and indeed in all weathers your situation every way, to a vehement young princess's idea, is rather of the horrible sort. after dinner, his majesty sleeps, stretched perhaps on some wooden settle or garden-chair, for about an hour; regardless of the flaming heat, under his awning or not; and we poor princesses have to wait, praying all the saints that they would resuscitate him soon. this is about p.m.; happier fritz is gone to his lessons, in the interim. these four terraces, this rectangular schloss with the four big lindens at the corners, are surrounded by a moat; black abominable ditch, wilhelmina calls it; of the hue of tartarean styx, and of a far worse smell, in fact enough to choke one, in hot days after dinner, thinks the vehement princess. three bridges cross this moat or ditch, from the middle of three several terraces or sides of the schloss; and on the fourth it is impassable. bridge first, coming from the palisade and office-house court, has not only human sentries walking at it; but two white eagles perch near it, and two black ditto, symbols of the heraldic prussian eagle, screeching about in their littery way; item two black bears, ugly as sin, which are vicious wretches withal, and many times do passengers a mischief. as perhaps we shall see, on some occasion. this is bridge first, leading to the court and to the outer highway; a king's gentleman, going to bed at night, has always to pass these bears. bridge second leads us southward to a common mill which is near by; its clacking audible upon the common stream of the region, and not unpleasant to his majesty, among its meadows fringed with alders, in a country of mere and moor. bridge third, directly opposite to bridge first and its bears, leads you to the garden; whither mamma, playing tocadille all day with her women, will not, or will not often enough, let us poor girls go. [zollner, _briefe uber schlesien_ (berlin, ), i. , ; wilhelmina, i. , .] such is wusterhausen, as delineated by a vehement princess, some years hence,--who becomes at last intelligible, by study and the aid of our silesian tourist. it is not distinguished among country palaces: but the figure of friedrich wilhelm asleep there after dinner, regardless of the flaming sun (should he sleep too long and the shadow of his linden quit him),--this is a sight which no other palace in the world can match; this will long render wusterhausen memorable to me. his majesty, early always as the swallows, hunts, i should suppose, in the morning; dines and sleeps, we may perceive, till towards three, or later. his official business he will not neglect, nor shirk the hours due to it; towards sunset there may be a walk or ride with fritz, or feekin and the womankind: and always, in the evening, his majesty holds tabagie, tabaks-collegium (smoking college, kind of tobacco-parliament, as we might name it), an institution punctually attended to by his majesty, of which we shall by and by speak more. at wusterhausen his majesty holds his smoking session mostly in the open air, oftenest "on the steps of the great fountain" (how arranged, as to seating and canvas-screening, i cannot say);--smokes there, with his grumkows, derschaus, anhalt-dessaus, and select friends, in various slow talk; till night kindle her mild starlights, shake down her dark curtains over all countries, and admonish weary mortals that it is now bedtime. not much of the picturesque in this autumnal life of our little boy. but he has employments in abundance; and these make the permitted open air, under any terms, a delight. he can rove about with duhan among the gorse and heath, and their wild summer tenantry winged and wingless. in the woodlands are wild swine, in the meres are fishes, otters; the drowsy hamlets, scattered round, awaken in an interested manner at the sound of our pony-hoofs and dogs. mittenwalde, where are shops, is within riding distance; we could even stretch to kopenik, and visit in the big schloss there, if duhan were willing, and the cattle fresh. from some church-steeple or sand-knoll, it is to be hoped, some blue streak of the lausitz hills may be visible: the sun and the moon and the heavenly hosts, these full certainly are visible; and on an earth which everywhere produces miracles of all kinds, from the daisy or heather-bell up to the man, one place is nearly equal to another for a brisk little boy. fine palaces, if wusterhausen be a sorry one, are not wanting to our young friend: whatsoever it is in the power of architecture and upholstery to do for him, may be considered withal as done. wusterhausen is but a hunting-lodge for some few autumn weeks: the berlin palace and the potsdam, grand buildings both, few palaces in the world surpass them; and there, in one or the other of these, is our usual residence.--little fritz, besides his young finkensteins and others of the like, has cousins, children of his grandfather's half-brothers, who are comrades of his. for the great elector, as we saw, was twice wedded, and had a second set of sons and daughters: two of the sons had children; certain of these are about the crown-prince's own age, "cousins" of his (strictly speaking, half-cousins of his father's), who are much about him in his young days,--and more or less afterwards, according to the worth they proved to have. margraves and margravines of schwedt,--there are five or six of such young cousins. not to mention the eldest, friedrich wilhelm by name, who is now come to manhood (born );--who wished much in after years to have had wilhelmina to wife; but had to put up with a younger princess of the house, and ought to have been thankful. this one has a younger brother, heinrich, slightly fritz's senior, and much his comrade at one time; of whom we shall transiently hear again. of these two the old dessauer is uncle: if both his majesty and the crown-prince should die, one of these would be king. a circumstance which wilhelmina and the queen have laid well to heart, and build many wild suspicions upon, in these years! as that the old dessauer, with his gunpowder face, has a plot one day to assassinate his majesty,--plot evident as sunlight to wilhelmina and mamma, which providentially came to nothing;--and other spectral notions of theirs. [wilhelmina, i. , .] the father of these two margraves (elder of the two half-brothers that have children) died in the time of old king friedrich, eight or nine years ago. their mother, the scheming old margravine, whom i always fancy to dress in high colors, is still living,--as wilhelmina well knows! then, by another, the younger of those old half-brothers, there is a karl, a second friedrich wilhelm, cousin margraves: plenty of cousins;--and two young margravines among them, [michaelis, i. .] the youngest about fritz's own age. [note of the cousin margraves.--great elector, by his second wife, had five sons, two of whom left children;]--as follows (so far as they concern us,--he others omitted):-- . son philip's children (mother the old dessauer's sister) are: friedrich wilhelm ( ), who wished much, but in vain, to marry wilhelmina. heinrich friedrich ( ), a comrade of fritz's in youth; sometimes getting into scrapes;--misbehaved, some way, at the battle of molwits (first of friedrich's battles), , and was inexorably cut by the new king, and continued under a cloud thenceforth .--this philip ("philip wilhelm") died , his forty-third year; widow long survived him. . son albert's children (mother a courland princess) are: karl ( ); lived near custrin; became a famed captain, in the silesian wars, under his cousin. friedrich ( ); fell at molwitz, . friedrich wilhelm (a margraf friedrich wilhelm "no. ,"--namesake of his now majesty, it is like); born ; killed at prag, by a cannon-shot (at king friedrich's hand, reconnoitring the place), .--[this albert ("albert friedrich" ) died suddenly , age fifty-nine.] no want of cousins; the crown-prince seeing much of them all; and learning pleasantly their various qualities, which were good in most, in some not so good, and did not turn out supreme in any case. but, for the rest, sister wilhelmina is his grand confederate and companion; true in sport and in earnest, in joy and in sorrow. their truthful love to one another, now and till death, is probably the brightest element their life yielded to either of them. what might be the date of fritz's first appearance in the roucoulles "soiree held on wednesdays," in the finkenstein or any other soiree, as an independent figure, i do not know. but at the proper time, he does appear there, and with distinction not extrinsic alone;--talks delightfully in such places; can discuss, even with french divines, in a charmingly ingenious manner. another of his elderly consorts i must mention: colonel camas, a highly cultivated frenchman (french altogether by parentage and breeding, though born on prussian land), who was tutor, at one time, to some of those young margraves. he has lost an arm,--left it in those italian campaigns, under anhalt-dessau and eugene;--but by the aid of a cork substitute, dexterously managed, almost hides the want. a gallant soldier, fit for the diplomacies too; a man of fine high ways. [_militair-lexicon,_ i. .] and then his wife--in fact, the camas house, we perceive, had from an early time been one of the crown-prince's haunts. madam camas is a german lady; but for genial elegance, for wit and wisdom and goodness, could not readily be paralleled in france or elsewhere. of both these camases there will be honorable and important mention by and by; especially of the lady, whom he continues to call "mamma" for fifty years to come, and corresponds with in a very beautiful and human fashion. under these auspices, in such environment, dimly visible to us, at wusterhausen and elsewhere, is the remarkable little crown-prince of his century growing up,--prosperously as yet. chapter x. -- the heidelberg protestants. friedrich wilhelm holds tabagie nightly; but at wusterhausen or wherever he may be, there is no lack of intricate official labor, which, even in the tabagie, friedrich wilhelm does not forget. at the time he was concocting those instructions for his little prince's schoolmasters, and smoking meditative under the stars, with magdeburg "ritter-dienst" and much else of his own to think of,--there is an extraneous political intricacy, making noise enough in the world, much in his thoughts withal, and no doubt occasionally murmured of amid the tobacco-clouds. the business of the heidelberg protestants; which is just coming to a height in those autumn months of . indeed this year was a particularly noisy one for him. this is the year of the "nephritic colic," which befell at brandenburg on some journey of his majesty's; with alarm of immediate death; queen sophie sent for by express; testament made in her favor; and intrigues, very black ones, wilhelmina thinks, following thereupon. [_memoires de bareith,_ i. - .] and the "affair of clement," on which the old books are so profuse, falls likewise, the crisis of it falls, in . of clement the "hungarian nobleman," who was a mere hungarian swindler, and forger of royal letters; sowing mere discords, black suspicions, between friedrich wilhelm and the neighboring courts, imperial and saxon: "your majesty to be snapt up, some day, by hired ruffians, and spirited away, for behoof of those treacherous courts:" so that friedrich wilhelm fell into a gloom of melancholy, and for long weeks "never slept but with a pair of loaded pistols under his pillow:"--of this clement, an adroit phenomenon of the kind, and intensely agitating to friedrich wilhelm;--whom friedrich wilhelm had at last to lay hold of, try, this very year, and ultimately hang, [had arrived in berlin, "end of ;" stayed about a year, often privately in the king's company, poisoning the royal mind; withdrew to the hague, suspecting berlin might soon grow dangerous;--is wiled out of that territory into the prussian, and arrested, by one of friedrich wilhelm's colonels, "end of ;" lies in spandau, getting tried, for seventeen months; hanged, with two accomplices, th april, . (see, in succession, stenzel, iii. , ; fassmann, p. ; forster, ii. , and iii. - .)] amid the rumor and wonder of mankind:--of him, noisy as he was, and still filling many pages of the old books, a hint shall suffice, and we will say nothing farther. but this of the heidelberg protestants, though also rather an extinct business, has still some claims on us. this, in justice to the "inarticulate man of genius," and for other reasons, we must endeavor to resuscitate a little. of kur-pfalz karl philip: how he got a wife long since, and did feats in the world. there reigns, in these years, at heidelberg, as elector palatine, a kind-tempered but abrupt and somewhat unreasonable old gentleman, now verging towards sixty, karl philip by name; who has come athwart the berlin court and its affairs more than once; and will again do so, in a singularly disturbing way. from before friedrich wilhelm's birth, all through friedrich wilhelm's life and farther, this karl philip is a stone-of-stumbling there. his first feat in life was that of running off with a prussian princess from berlin; the rumor of which was still at its height when friedrich wilhelm, a fortnight after, came into the world,--the gossips still talking of it, we may fancy, when friedrich wilhelm was first swaddled. an unheard-of thing; the manner of which was this. readers have perhaps forgotten, that old king friedrich i. once had a brother; elder brother, who died, to the father's great sorrow, and made way for friedrich as crown-prince. this brother had been married a short time; he left a widow without children; a beautiful lithuanian princess, born radzivil, and of great possessions in her own country: she, in her crapes and close-cap, remained an ornament to the new berlin court for some time;--not too long. the mourning-year once out, a new marriage came on foot for the brilliant widow; the bridegroom, a james sobieski, eldest prince of the famous john, king sobieski; prince with fair outlooks towards polish sovereignty, and handy for those lithuanian possessions of hers: altogether an eligible match. this marriage was on foot, not quite completed; when karl philip, cadet of the pfalz, came to berlin;--a rather idle young man, once in the clerical way; now gone into the military, with secular outlooks, his elder brother, heir-apparent of the pfalz, "having no children:"--came to berlin, in the course of visiting, and roving about. the beautiful widow-princess seemed very charming to karl philip; he wooed hard; threw the princess into great perplexity. she had given her yes to james sobieski; inevitable wedding-day was coming on with james; and here was karl philip wooing so:--in brief, the result was, she galloped off with karl philip, on the eve of said wedding-day; married karl philip ( th july, ); and left prince james standing there, too much like lot's wife, in the astonished court of berlin. [michaelis, ii. .] judge if the berlin public talked,--unintelligible to friedrioh wilhelm, then safe in swaddling-clothes. king sobieski, the father, famed deliverer of vienna, was in high dudgeon. but karl philip apologized, to all lengths; made his peace at last, giving a sister of his own to be wife to the injured james. this was karl philip's first outbreak in life; and it was not his only one. a man not ill-disposed, all grant; but evidently of headlong turn, with a tendency to leap fences in this world. he has since been soldiering about, in a loose way, governing innspruck, fighting the turks. but, lately, his elder brother died childless (year ); and left him kurfurst of the pfalz. his fair radzivil is dead long ago; she, and a successor, or it may be two. except one daughter, whom the fair radzivil left him, he has no children; and in these times, i think, lives with a third wife, of the left-hand kind. his scarcity of progeny is not so indifferent to my readers as they might suppose. this new kur-pfalz (elector-palatine) karl philip is by genealogy--who, thinks the reader? pfalz-neuburg by line; own grandson of that wolfgang wilhelm, who got the slap on the face long since, on account of the cleve-julich matter! so it has come round. the line of simmern died out, winter-king's grandson the last of that; and then, as right was, the line of neuburg took the top place, and became kur-pfalz. the first of these was this karl philip's father, son of the beslapped; an old man when he succeeded. karl philip is the third kur-pfalz of the neuburg line; his childless elder brother (he who collected the pictures at dusseldorf, once notable there) was second of the neuburgs. they now, we say, are electors-palatine, head of the house;--and, we need not add, along with their electorate and neuburg country, possess the cleve-julioh moiety of heritage, about which there was such worrying in time past. nay the last kur-pfalz resided there, and collected the "dusseldorf gallery," as we have just said; though karl philip prefers heidelberg hitherto. to friedrich wilhelm the scarcity of progeny is a thrice-interesting fact. for if this actual neuburg should leave no male heir, as is now humanly probable,--the line of neuburg too is out; and then great things ought to follow for our prussian house. then, by the last bargain, made in , with all solemnity, between the great elector, our grandfather of famous memory, and your serene father the then pfalz-neuburg, subsequently kur-pfalz, likewise of famous memory, son of the beslapped,--the whole heritage falls to prussia, no other pfalz branch having thenceforth the least claim to it. bargain was express; signed, sealed, sanctioned, drawn out on the due extent of sheepskin, which can still be read. bargain clear enough: but will this karl philip incline to keep it? that may one day be the interesting question. but that is not the question of controversy at present: not that, but another; for karl philip, it would seem, is to be a frequent stone-of-stumbling to the prussian house. the present question is of a protestant-papist matter; into which friedrich wilhelm has been drawn by his public spirit alone. karl philip and his heidelberg protestants. the pfalz population was, from of old, protestant-calvinist; the electors-palatine used to be distinguished for their forwardness in that matter. so it still is with the pfalz population; but with the electors, now that the house of simmern is out, and that of neuburg in, it is not so. the neuburgs, ever since that slap, on the face, have continued popish; a sore fact for this protestant population, when it got them for sovereigns. karl philip's father, an old soldier at vienna, and the elder brother, a collector of pictures at dusseldorf, did not outwardly much molest the creed of their subjects. protestants, and the remnant of catholics (remnant naturally rather expanding now that the court shone on it), were allowed to live in peace, according to the treaty of westphalia, or nearly so; dividing the churches and church-revenues equitably between them, as directed there. but now that karl philip is come in, there is no mistaking his procedures. he has come home to heidelberg with a retinue of jesuits about him; to whom the poor old gentleman, looking before and after on this troublous world, finds it salutary to give ear. his nibblings at protestant rights, his contrivances to slide catholics into churches which were not theirs, and the like foul-play in that matter, had been sorrowful to see, for some time past. the elector of mainz, chief-priest of germany, is busy in the same bad direction; he and others. indeed, ever since the peace of ryswick, where louis xiv. surreptitiously introduced a certain "clause," which could never be got rid of again, ["clause of the fourth article" is the technical name of it. fourth article stipulates that king louis xiv. shall punctually restore all manner of towns and places, in the palatinate &c. (much burnt, somewhat be-jesuited too, in late wars, by the said king, during his occupancy): clause of fourth article (added to it, by a quirk, "at midnight," say the books) contains merely these words, _"religione tamen catholica romana, in locis sic restitutis, in statu quo nunc est remanente:_ roman-catholic religion to continue as it now is [as we have made it to be] in such towns and places."--which clause gave rise to very great but ineffectual lamenting and debating. (scholl, _traites de paix_ (par. ), i. - ; buchholz; spittler, _geschichte wurtembergs_; &c).] nibbling aggressions of this kind have gone on more and more. always too sluggishly resisted by the corpus evangelicorum, in the diets or otherwise, the "united protestant sovereigns" not being an active "body" there. and now more sluggishly than ever;--said corpus having august elector of saxony, catholic (sham-catholic) king of poland, for its official head; "august the physically strong," a man highly unconcerned for matters evangelical! so that the nibblings go on worse and worse. an offence to all protestant rulers who had any conscience; at length an unbearable on to friedrich wilhelm, who, alone of them all, decided to intervene effectually, and say, at whatever risk there might be, we will not stand it! karl philip, after some nibblings, took up the heidelberg catechism (which candidly calls the mass "idolatrous"), and ordered said catechism, an authorized book, to cease in his dominions. hessen-cassel, a protestant neighbor, pleaded, remonstrated, friedrich wilhelm glooming in the rear; but to no purpose. our old gentleman, his priests being very diligent upon him, decided next to get possession of the heilige-geist kirche (church of the holy ghost, principal place of worship at heidelberg), and make it his principal cathedral church there. by treaty of westphalia, or peaceably otherwise, the catholics are already in possession of the choir: but the whole church would be so much better. "was it not catholic once?" thought karl philip to himself: "built by our noble ancestor kaiser rupert of the pfalz, rupert klemm ['pincers,' so named for his firmness of mind]:--why should these heretics have it? i will build them another!" these thoughts, in , the third year of karl philip's rule, had broken out into open action ( th august, th september the consummation of it) [mauvillon, i. - .] and precisely in the ime when friedrich wilhelm was penning that first didactic morsel which we read, grave clouds from the palatinate were beginning to overshadow the royal mind more or less. for the poor heidelberg consistorium, as they could not undertake to give up their church on request of his serenity,--"how dare we, or can we?" answered they,--had been driven out by compulsion and stratagem. partly strategic was the plan adopted, to avoid violence; smith's picklocks being employed, and also mason's crowbars: but the end was, on the st of august, , consistorium and congregation found themselves fairly in the street, and the heilige-geist kirche clean gone from them. screen of the choir is torn down; one big catholic edifice now; getting decorated into a court church, where serene highness may feel his mind comfortable. the poor heidelbergers, thus thrown into the street, made applications, lamentations; but with small prospect of help: to whom apply with any sure prospect? remonstrances from hessen-cassel have proved unavailing with his bigoted serene highness. corps evangelicorum, so presided over as at present, what can be had of such a corpus? long-winded lucubrations at the utmost; real action, in such a matter; none. or will the kaiser, his jesuits advising him, interfere to do us justice? kur-mainz and the rest;--it is everywhere one story. everywhere unhappy protestantism getting bad usage, and ever worse; and no corpus evangelicorum, or appointed watchdog, doing other than hang its ears, and look sorry for itself and us!-- the heidelbergers, however, had applied to friedrich wilhelm among others. friedrich wilhelm, who had long looked on these anti-protestant phenomena with increasing anger, found now that this of the heidelberg catechism and heilige-geist kirche was enough to make one's patience run over. your unruly catholic bull, plunging about, and goring men in that mad absurd manner, it will behoove that somebody take him by the horns, or by the tail, and teach him manners. teach him, not by vocal precepts, it is likely, which would avail nothing on such a brute, but by practical cudgelling and scourging to the due pitch. pacific friedrich wilhelm perceived that he himself would have to do that disagreeable feat:--the growl of him, on coming to such resolution, must have been consolatory to these poor heidelbergers, when they applied!--his plan is very simple, as the plans of genius are; but a plan leading direct to the end desired, and probably the only one that would have done so, in the circumstances. cudgel in hand, he takes the catholic bull,--shall we say, by the horns?--more properly perhaps by the tail; and teaches him manners. friedrich wilhelm's method;--proves remedial in heidelberg. friedrich wilhelm's first step, of course, was to remonstrate pacifically with his serene highness on the heidelberg-church affair: from this he probably expected nothing; nor did he get anything. getting nothing from this, and the countenance of external protestant powers, especially of george i. and the dutch, being promised him in ulterior measures, he directed his administrative officials in magdeburg, in minden, in hamersleben, where are catholic foundations of importance, to assemble the catholic canons, abbots, chief priests and all whom it might concern in these three places, and to signify to them as follows:-- "from us, your protestant sovereign, you yourselves and all men will witness, you have hitherto had the best of usage, fair-play, according to the laws of the reich, and even-more. with the protestants at heidelberg, on the part of the catholic powers, it is different. it must cease to be different; it must become the same. and to make it do so, you are the implement i have. sorry for it, but there is no other handy. from this day your churches also are closed, your public worship ceases, and furthermore your revenues cease; and all makes dead halt, and falls torpid in respect of you. from this day; and so continues, till the day (may it be soon!) when the heidelberg church of the holy ghost is opened again, and right done in that question. be it yours to speed such day: it is you that can and will, you who know those high catholic regions, inaccessible to your protestant sovereign. till then you are as dead men; temporarily fallen dead for a purpose. and herewith god have you in his keeping!" [mauvillon, i. , .] that was friedrich wilhelm's plan; the simplest, but probably the one effectual plan. infallible this plan, if you dare stand upon it; which friedrich wilhelm does. he has a formidable army, ready for fight; a treasury or army-chest in good order. george i. seconds, according to bargain; shuts the catholic church at zelle in his luneburg country, in like fashion; dutch, too, and swiss will endorse the matter, should it grow too serious. all which, involving some diplomacy and correspondence, is managed with the due promptitude, moreover. [church of zelle shut up, th november; minden, th november; monastery of hamersleben, d december, &c. (putter, _historische entwickelung der hautigen staatsverfassung des teutschen reichs,_ gottingen, , ii. , ).] and so certain doors are locked; and friedrich wilhelm's word, unalterable as gravitation, has gone forth. in this manner is the mad catholic bull taken by the tail: keep fast hold, and apply your cudgel duly in that attitude, he will not gore you any more! the magdeburg-hamersleben people shrieked piteously; not to friedrich wilhelm, whom they knew to be deaf on that side of his head, but to the kaiser, to the pope, to the serenity of heidelberg. serene highness of heidelberg was much huffed; kaiser dreadfully so, and wrote heavy menacing rebukes. to which friedrich wilhelm listened with a minimum of reply; keeping firm hold of the tail, in such bellowing of the animal. the end was, serene highness had to comply; within three months, kaiser, serene highness and the other parties interested, found that there would be nothing for it but to compose themselves, and do what was just. april th, , the protestants are reinstated in their heilige-geist kirche; heidelberg catechism goes its free course again, may th; and one baron reck [michaelis, ii. ; putter, ii. , ; buchholz, pp. - .] is appointed commissioner, from the corpus evangelicorum, to heidelberg; who continues rigorously inspecting church matters there for a considerable time, much to the grief of highness and jesuits, till he can report that all is as it should be on that head. karl philip felt so disgusted with these results, he removed his court, that same year, to mannheim; quitted heidelberg; to the discouragement and visible decay of the place; and, in spite of humble petitions and remonstrances, never would return; neither he nor those that followed him would shift from mannheim again, to this day. prussian majesty has displeased the kaiser and the king of poland. friedrich wilhelm's praises from the protestant public were great, on this occasion. nor can we, who lie much farther from it in every sense, refuse him some grin of approval. act, and manner of doing the act, are creditably of a piece with friedrich wilhelm; physiognomic of the rugged veracious man. it is one of several such acts done by him: for it was a duty apt to recur in germany, in his day. this duty friedrich wilhelm, a solid protestant after his sort, and convinced of the "nothingness and nonsensicality (ungrund und absurditat) of papistry," was always honorably prompt to do. there is an honest bacon-and-greens conscience in the man; almost the one conscience you can find in any royal man of that day. promptly, without tremulous counting of costs, he always starts up, solid as oak, on the occurrence of such a thing, and says, "that is unjust; contrary to the treaty of westphalia; you will have to put down that!"--and if words avail not, his plan is always the same: clap a similar thumbscrew, pressure equitably calculated, on the catholics of prussia; these can complain to their popes and jesuit dignitaries: these are under thumbscrew till the protestant pressure be removed. which always did rectify the matter in a little time. one other of these instances, that of the salzburg protestants, the last such instance, as this of heidelberg was the first, will by and by claim notice from us. it is very observable, how friedrich wilhelm, hating quarrels, was ever ready to turn out for quarrel on such an occasion; though otherwise conspicuously a king who stayed well at home, looking after his own affairs; meddling with no neighbor that would be at peace with him. this properly is friedrich wilhelm's "sphere of political activity" among his contemporaries; this small quasi-domestic sphere, of forbidding injury to protestants. a most small sphere, but then a genuine one: nor did he seek even this, had it not forced itself upon him. and truly we might ask, what has become of the other more considerable "spheres" in that epoch? the supremest loud-trumpeting "political activities" which then filled the world and its newspapers, what has the upshot of them universally been? zero, and oblivion; no other. while this poor friedrich-wilhelm sphere is perhaps still a countable quantity. wise is he who stays well at home, and does the duty he finds lying there!-- great favor from the protestant public: but, on the other hand, his majesty had given offence in high places. what help for it? the thing was a point of conscience with him; natural to the surly royal overseer, going his rounds in the world, stick in hand! however, the kaiser was altogether gloomy of brow at such disobedience. a kaiser unfriendly to friedrich wilhelm: witness that of the ritter-dienst (our unreasonable magdeburg ritters, countenanced by him, on such terms, in such style too), and other offensive instances that could be given. perhaps the kaiser will not always continue gloomy of brow; perhaps the thoughts of the imperial breast may alter, on our behalf or his own, one day?-- nor could king august the physically strong be glad to see his "director" function virtually superseded, in this triumphant way. a year or two ago, friedrich wilhelm had, with the due cautions and politic reserves, inquired of the corpus evangelicorum, "if they thought the present directorship (that of august the physically strong) a good one?" and "whether he, friedrich wilhelm, ought not perhaps himself to be director?"--to which, though the answer was clear as noonday, this poor corpus had only mumbled some "quieta non movere," or other wise-foolish saw; and helplessly shrugged its shoulders. [ - , when august's kurprinz, heir-apparent, likewise declared himself papist, to the horror and astonishment of poor saxony, and wedded the late kaiser joseph's daughter:--not to father august's horror; who was steering towards "popularity in poland," "hereditary polish crown," &c. with the young man. (buchholz, i. - .)] but king august himself,--though a jovial social kind of animal, quite otherwise occupied in the world; busy producing his three hundred and fifty-four bastards there, and not careful of church matters at all,--had expressed his indignant surprise. and now, it would seem nevertheless, though the title remains where it was, the function has fallen to another, who actually does it: a thing to provoke comparisons in the public. clement, the hungarian forger, vender of false state-secrets, is well hanged; went to the gallows ( th april, ) with much circumstance, just two days before that heidelberg church was got reopened. but the suspicions sown by clement cannot quite be abolished by the hanging of him: forger indisputably; but who knows whether he had not something of fact for his? what with clement, what with this heidelberg business, the court of berlin has fallen wrong with dresden, with vienna itself, and important clouds have risen. _there is an absurd flame of war, blown out by admiral byng; and a new man of genius announces himself to the dim populations._ the poor kaiser himself is otherwise in trouble of his own, at this time. the spaniards and he have fallen out, in spite of utrecht treaty and rastadt ditto; the spaniards have taken sicily from him; and precisely in those days while karl philip took to shutting up the heilige-geist church at heidelberg, there was, loud enough in all the newspapers, silent as it now is, a "siege of messina" going on; imperial and piedmontese troops doing duty by land, admiral byng still more effectively by sea, for the purpose of getting sicily back. which was achieved by and by, though at an extremely languid pace. [byng's sea-fight, th august, (campbell's _lives of the admirals,_ iii. ); whereupon the spaniards, who had hardly yet completed their capture of messina, are besieged in it;-- th october, , messina retaken (this is the "siege of messina"): february, , peace is clapt up (the chief article, that alberoni shall be packed away), and a "congress of cambrai" is to meet, and settle everything.] one of the most tedious sieges; one of the paltriest languid wars (of extreme virulence and extreme feebleness, neither party having any cash left), and for an object which could not be excelled in insignificance. object highly interesting to kaiser karl vi. and elizabeth farnese termagant queen of spain. these two were red, or even were pale, with interest in it; and to the rest of adam's posterity it was not intrinsically worth an ounce of gunpowder, many tons of that and of better commodities as they had to spend upon it. true, the spanish navy got well lamed in the business; spanish fleet blown mostly to destruction,--"roads of messina, th august, ," by the dexterous byng (a creditable handy figure both in peace and war) and his considerable sea-fight there:--if that was an object to spain or mankind, that was accomplished. but the "war," except that many men were killed in it, and much vain babble was uttered upon it, ranks otherwise with that of don quixote, for conquest of the enchanted helmet of mambrino, which when looked into proved to be a barber's basin. congress of cambrai, and other high gatherings and convulsive doings, which all proved futile, and look almost like lapland witchcraft now to us, will have to follow this futility of a war. it is the first of a long series of enchanted adventures, on which kaiser karl,--duelling with that spanish virago, satan's invisible world in the rear of her,--has now embarked, to the woe of mankind, for the rest of his life. the first of those terrifico-ludicrous paroxysms of crisis into which he throws the european universe; he with his enchanted barber's-basin enterprises;--as perhaps was fit enough, in an epoch presided over by the nightmares. congress of cambrai is to follow; and much else equally spectral. about all which there will be enough to say anon! for it was a fearful operation, though a ludicrous one, this of the poor kaiser; and it tormented not the big nations only, and threw an absurd europe into paroxysm after paroxysm; but it whirled up, in its wide-weeping skirts, our little fritz and his sister, and almost dashed the lives out of them, as we shall see! which last is perhaps the one claim it now has to a cursory mention from mankind. byng's sea-fight, done with due dexterity of manoeuvring, and then with due emphasis of broadsiding, decisive of that absurd war, and almost the one creditable action in it, dates itself th august, . and about three months later, on the mimic stage at paris there came out a piece, oedipe the title of it, [ th november, .] by one francois arouet, a young gentleman about twenty-two; and had such a run as seldom was;--apprising the french populations that, to all appearance, a new man of genius had appeared among them (not intimating what work he would do); and greatly angering old m. arouet of the chamber of accouuts; who thereby found his son as good as cast into the whirlpools, and a solid law-career thenceforth impossible for the young fool.--the name of that "m. arouet junior" changes itself, some years hence, into m. de voltaire; under which latter designation he will conspicuously reappear in this narrative. and now we will go to our little crown-prince again;--ignorant, he, of all this that is mounting up in the distance, and that it will envelop him one day. chapter xi. -- on the crown-prince's progress in his schooling. wilhelmina says, [_memoires,_ i. .] her brother was "slow" in learning: we may presume, she means idle, volatile, not always prompt in fixing his attention to what did not interest him. moreover, he was often weakly in health, as she herself adds; so that exertion was not recommendable for him. herr von loen (a witty prussian official, and famed man-of-letters once, though forgotten now) testifies expressly that the boy was of bright parts, and that he made rapid progress. "the crown-prince manifests in this tender age [his seventh year] an uncommon capacity; nay we may say, something quite extraordinary (_etwas ganz ausserordentliches_). he is a most alert and vivacious prince; he has fine and sprightly manners; and shows a certain kindly sociality, and so affectionate a disposition that all things may be hoped of him. the french lady who [under roucoulles] has had charge of his learning hitherto, cannot speak of him without enthusiasm. _'c'est un esprit ange'lique_ (a little angel),' she is wont to say. he takes up, and learns, whatever is put before him, with the greatest facility." [van loen, _kleine schriften,_ ii. (as cited in rodenbeck, no. iv. ).] for the rest, that friedrich wilhelm's intentions and rhadamanthine regulations, in regard to him, were fulfilled in every point, we will by no means affirm. rules of such exceeding preciseness, if grounded here and there only on the sic-volo, how could they be always kept, except on the surface and to the eye merely? the good duhan, diligent to open his pupil's mind, and give nature fair-play, had practically found it inexpedient to tie him too rigorously to the arbitrary formal departments where no natural curiosity, but only order from without, urges the ingenious pupil. what maximum strictness in school-drill there can have been, we may infer from one thing, were there no other: the ingenious pupil's mode of spelling. fritz learned to write a fine, free-flowing, rapid and legible business-hand; "arithmetic" too, "geography," and many other useful knowledges that had some geniality of character, or attractiveness in practice, were among his acquisitions; much, very much he learned in the course of his life; but to spell, much more to punctuate, and subdue the higher mysteries of grammar to himself, was always an unachievable perfection. he did improve somewhat in after life; but here is the length to which he had carried that necessary art in the course of nine years' exertion, under duhan and the subsidiary preceptors; it is in the following words and alphabetic letters that he gratefully bids duhan farewell,--who surely cannot have been a very strict drill-sergeant in the arbitrary branches of schooling! "mon cher duhan je vous promais (promets) que quand j'aurez (j'aurai) mon propre argent en main, je vous donnerez (donnerai) enuelement (annuellement) ecu (ecus) par an, et je vous aimerais (aimerai) toujour encor (toujors encore) un peu plus q'asteure (qu'a cette heure) s'il me l'est (m'est) posible (possible)." "my dear duhan,--i promise to you, that when i shall have my money in my own hands, i will give you annually crowns [say pounds] every year; and that i will love you always even a little more than at present, if that be possible. "frideric p.r. [prince-royal]." "potsdam, le de juin, ." [preuss, i. .] the document has otherwise its beauty; but such is the spelling of it. in fact his grammar, as he would himself now and then regretfully discern, in riper years, with some transient attempt or resolution to remedy or help it, seems to have come mainly by nature; so likewise his "stylus" both in french and german,--a very fair style, too, in the former dialect:--but as to his spelling, let him try as he liked, he never came within sight of perfection. the things ordered with such rigorous minuteness, if but arbitrary things, were apt to be neglected; the things forbidden, especially in the like case, were apt to become doubly tempting. it appears, the prohibition of latin gave rise to various attempts, on the part of friedrich, to attain that desirable language. secret lessons, not from duhan, but no doubt with duhan's connivance, were from time to time undertaken with this view: once, it is recorded, the vigilant friedrich wilhelm, going his rounds, came upon fritz and one of his preceptors (not duhan but a subaltern) actually engaged in this illicit employment. friedrich himself was wont to relate this anecdote in after life. [busching, _beitrage zu der lebensgeschichte denkwurdiger personen,_ v. . preuss, i. .] they had latin books, dictionaries, grammars on the table, all the contraband apparatus; busy with it there, like a pair of coiners taken in the fact. among other books was a copy of the golden bull of kaiser karl iv.,--_aurea bulla,_ from the little golden bullets or pellets hung to it,--by which sublime document, as perhaps we hinted long ago, certain so-called fundamental constitutions, or at least formalities and solemn practices, method of election, rule of precedence, and the like, of the holy roman empire, had at last been settled on a sure footing, by that busy little kaiser, some three hundred and fifty years before; a document venerable almost next to the bible in friedrich wilhelm's loyal eyes, "what is this; what are you venturing upon here?" exclaims paternal vigilance, in an astonished dangerous tone. _"ihro majestat, ich explicire dem prinzen auream bullam,"_ exclaimed the trembling pedagogue: "your majesty, i am explaining aurea bulla [golden bull] to the prince!"--"dog, i will golden-bull you!" said his majesty, flourishing his rattan, _"ich will dich, schurke, be-auream-bullam!"_ which sent the terrified wretch off at the top of his speed, and ended the latin for that time. [forster, i. .] friedrich's latin could never come to much, under these impediments. but he retained some smatterings of it in mature life; and was rather fond of producing his classical scraps,--often in an altogether mouldy, and indeed hitherto inexplicable condition. _"de gustibus non est disputandus," "beati possedentes," "compille intrare," "beatus pauperes spiritus;"_ the meaning of these can be guessed: but _"tot verbas tot spondera,"_ for example,--what can any commentator make of that? _"festina lente," "dominus vobiscum," "flectamus genua," "quod bene notandum;"_ these phrases too, and some three or four others of the like, have been riddled from his writings by diligent men: [preuss (i. ) furnishes the whole stock of them.] _"o tempora, o mores!_ you see, i don't forget my latin," writes he once. the worst fruit of these contraband operations was, that they involved the boy in clandestine practices, secret disobediences, apt to be found out from time to time, and tended to alienate his father from him. of which sad mutual humor we already find traces in that early wusterhausen document: "not to be so dirty," says the reproving father. and the boy does not take to hunting at all, likes verses, story-books, flute-playing better; seems to be of effeminate tendencies, an effeminirter kerl; affects french modes, combs out his hair like a cockatoo, the foolish french fop, instead of conforming to the army-regulation, which prescribes close-cropping and a club! this latter grievance friedrich wilhelm decided, at last, to abate, and have done with; this, for one. it is an authentic fact, though not dated,--dating perhaps from about fritz's fifteenth year. "fritz is a querpfeifer und poet," not a soldier! would his indignant father growl; looking at those foreign effeminate ways of his. querpfeife, that is simply "german-flute," "cross-pipe" (or fife of any kind, for we english have thriftily made two useful words out of the deutsch root); "cross-pipe," being held across the mouth horizontally. worthless employment, if you are not born to be of the regimental band! thinks friedrich wilhelm. fritz is celebrated, too, for his fine foot; a dapper little fellow, altogether pretty in the eyes of simple female courtiers, with his blond locks combed out at the temples, with his bright eyes, sharp wit, and sparkling capricious ways. the cockatoo locks, these at least we will abate! decides the paternal mind. and so, unexpectedly, friedrich wilhelm has commanded these bright locks, as contrary to military fashion, of which fritz has now unworthily the honor of being a specimen, to be ruthlessly shorn away. inexorable: the hof-chirurgus (court-surgeon, of the nature of barber-surgeon), with scissors and comb, is here; ruthless father standing by. crop him, my jolly barber; close down to the accurate standard; soaped club, instead of flowing locks; we suffer no exceptions in this military department: i stand here till it is done. poor fritz, they say, had tears in his eyes; but what help in tears? the judicious chirurgus, however, proved merciful. the judicious chirurgus struck in as if nothing loath, snack, snack; and made a great show of clipping. friedrich wilhelm took a newspaper till the job were done; the judicious barber, still making a great show of work, combed back rather than cut off these apollo locks; did fritz accurately into soaped club, to the cursory eye; but left him capable of shaking out his chevelure again on occasion,--to the lasting gratitude of fritz. [preuss, i. .] the noltenius-and-panzendorf drill-exercise. on the whole, as we said, a youth needs good assimilating power, if he is to grow in this world! noltenius aud panzendorf, for instance, they were busy "teaching friedrich religion." rather a strange operation this too, if we were to look into it. we will not look too closely. another pair of excellent most solemn drill-sergeants, in clerical black serge; they also are busy instilling dark doctrines into the bright young boy, so far as possible; but do not seem at any time to have made too deep an impression on him. may we not say that, in matter of religion too, friedrich was but ill-bested? enlightened edict-of-nantes protestantism, a cross between bayle and calvin: that was but indifferent babe's milk to the little creature. nor could noltenius's catechism, and ponderous drill-exercise in orthodox theology, much inspire a clear soul with pieties, and tendencies to soar heavenward. alas, it is a dreary litter indeed, mere wagon-load on wagon-load of shot-rubbish, that is heaped round this new human plant, by noltenius and company, among others. a wonder only that they did not extinguish all sense of the highest in the poor young soul, and leave only a sense of the dreariest and stupidest. but a healthy human soul can stand a great deal. the healthy soul shakes off, in an unexpectedly victorious manner, immense masses of dry rubbish that have been shot upon it by its assiduous pedagogues and professors. what would become of any of us otherwise! duhan, opening the young soul, by such modest gift as duhan had, to recognize black from white a little, in this embroiled high universe, is probably an exception in some small measure. but, duhan excepted, it may be said to have been in spite of most of his teachers, and their diligent endeavors, that friedrich did acquire some human piety; kept the sense of truth alive in his mind; knew, in whatever words he phrased it, the divine eternal nature of duty; and managed, in the muddiest element and most eclipsed age ever known, to steer by the heavenly loadstars and (so we must candidly term it) to follow god's law; in some measure, with or without noltenius for company. noltenius's catechism, or ghostly drill-manual for fritz, at least the catechism he had plied wilhelmina with, which no doubt was the same, is still extant. [preuss, i. ;--specimens of it in rodenbeck.] a very abstruse piece; orthodox lutheran-calvinist, all proved from scripture; giving what account it can of this unfathomable universe, to the young mind. to modern prussians it by no means shines as the indubitablest theory of the universe. indignant modern prussians produce excerpts from it, of an abstruse nature; and endeavor to deduce therefrom some of friedrich's aberrations in matters of religion, which became notorious enough by and by. alas, i fear, it would not have been easy, even for the modern prussian, to produce a perfect catechism for the use of friedrich; this universe still continues a little abstruse! and there is another deeper thing to be remarked: the notion of "teaching" religion, in the way of drill-exercise; which is a very strange notion, though a common one, and not peculiar to noltenius and friedrich wilhelm. piety to god, the nobleness that inspires a human soul to struggle heavenward, cannot be "taught" by the most exquisite catechisms, or the most industrious preachings and drillings. no; alas, no. only by far other methods,--chiefly by silent continual example, silently waiting for the favorable mood and moment, and aided then by a kind of miracle, well enough named "the grace of god,"--can that sacred contagion pass from soul into soul. how much beyond whole libraries of orthodox theology is, sometimes, the mute action, the unconscious look of a father, of a mother, who had in them "devoutness, pious nobleness"! in whom the young soul, not unobservant, though not consciously observing, came at length to recognize it; to read it, in this irrefragable manner: a seed planted thenceforth in the centre of his holiest affections forevermore! noltenius wore black serge; kept the corners of his mouth well down; and had written a catechism of repute; but i know not that noltenius carried much seed of living piety about with him; much affection from, or for, young fritz he could not well carry. on the whole, it is a bad outlook on the religious side; and except in apprenticeship to the rugged and as yet repulsive honesties of friedrich wilhelm, i see no good element in it. bayle-calvin, with noltenius and catechisms of repute: there is no "religion" to be had for a little fritz out of all that. endless doubt will be provided for him out of all that, probably disbelief of all that;--and, on the whole, if any form at all, a very scraggy form of moral existence; from which the highest shall be hopelessly absent; and in which anything high, anything not low and lying, will have double merit. it is indeed amazing what quantities and kinds of extinct ideas apply for belief, sometimes in a menacing manner, to the poor mind of man, and poor mind of child, in these days. they come bullying in upon him, in masses, as if they were quite living ideas; ideas of a dreadfully indispensable nature, the evident counterpart, and salutary interpretation, of facts round him, which, it is promised the poor young creature, he shall recognize to correspond with them, one day. at which "correspondence," when the facts are once well recognized, he has at last to ask himself with amazement, "did i ever recognize it, then?" whereby come results incalculable; not good results any of them;--some of them unspeakably bad! the ease of crown-prince friedrich in berlin is not singular; all cities and places can still show the like. and when it will end, is not yet clear. but that it ever should have begun, will one day be the astonishment. as if the divinest function of a human being were not even that of believing; of discriminating, with his god-given intellect, what is from what is not; and as if the point were, to render that either an impossible function, or else what we must sorrowfully call a revolutionary, rebellious and mutinous one. o noltenius, o panzendorf, do for pity's sake take away your catechetical ware; and say either nothing to the poor young boy, or some small thing he will find to be beyond doubt when he can judge of it! fever, pestilence, are bad for the body; but doubt, impious mutiny, doubly impious hypocrisy, are these nothing for the mind? who would go about inculcating doubt, unless he were far astray indeed, and much at a loss for employment! but the sorest fact in friedrich's schooling, the forest, for the present, though it ultimately proved perhaps the most beneficent one, being well dealt with by the young soul, and nobly subdued to his higher uses, remains still to be set forth. which will be a long business, first and last! chapter xii. -- crown-prince falls into disfavor with papa. those vivacities of young fritz, his taste for music, finery, those furtive excursions into the domain of latin and forbidden things, were distasteful and incomprehensible to friedrich wilhelm: where can such things end? they begin in disobedience and intolerable perversity; they will be the ruin of prussia and of fritz!--here, in fact, has a great sorrow risen. we perceive the first small cracks of incurable divisions in the royal household; the breaking out of fountains of bitterness, which by and by spread wide enough. a young sprightly, capricions and vivacious boy, inclined to self-will, had it been permitted; developing himself into foreign tastes, into french airs and ways; very ill seen by the heavy-footed practical germanic majesty. the beginnings of this sad discrepancy are traceable from friedrich's sixth or seventh year: "not so dirty, boy!" and there could be no lack of growth in the mutual ill-humor, while the boy himself continued growing; enlarging in bulk and in activity of his own. plenty of new children come, to divide our regard withal, and more are coming; five new princesses, wise little ulrique the youngest of them (named of sweden and the happy swedish treaty), whom we love much for her grave staid ways. nay, next after ulrique comes even a new prince; august wilhelm, ten years younger than friedrich; and is growing up much more according to the paternal heart. pretty children, all of them, more or less; and towardly, and comfortable to a father;--and the worst of them a paragon of beauty, in comparison to perverse, clandestine, disobedient fritz, with his french fopperies, flutings, and cockatoo fashions of hair!-- and so the silent divulsion, silent on fritz's part, exploding loud enough now and then on his father's part, goes steadily on, splitting ever wider; new offences ever superadding themselves. till, at last, the rugged father has grown to hate the son; and longs, with sorrowful indignation, that it were possible to make august wilhelm crown-prince in his stead. this fritz ought to fashion himself according to his father's pattern, a well-meant honest pattern; and he does not! alas, your majesty, it cannot be. it is the new generation come; which cannot live quite as the old one did. a perennial controversy in human life; coeval with the genealogies of men. this little boy should have been the excellent paternal majesty's exact counterpart; resembling him at all points, "as a little sixpence does a big half-crown:" but we perceive he cannot. this is a new coin, with a stamp of its own. a surprising friedrich d'or this; and may prove a good piece yet; but will never be the half-crown your majesty requires!-- conceive a rugged thick-sided squire western, of supreme degree,--or this squire western is a hot hohenzollern, and wears a crown royal;--conceive such a burly ne-plus-ultra of a squire, with his broad-based rectitudes and surly irrefragabilities; the honest german instincts of the man, convictions certain as the fates, but capable of no utterance, or next to none, in words; and that he produces a son who takes into voltairism, piping, fiddling and belles-lettres, with apparently a total contempt for grumkow and the giant-regiment! sulphurous rage, in gusts or in lasting tempests, rising from a fund of just implacability, is inevitable. such as we shall see. the mother, as mothers will, secretly favors fritz; anxious to screen him in the day of high-wind. withal she has plans of her own in regard to fritz, and the others; being a lady of many plans. that of the "double-marriage," for example; of marrying her prince and princess to a princess and prince of the english-hanoverian house; it was a pleasant eligible plan, consented to by papa and the other parties; but when it came to be perfected by treaty, amid the rubs of external and internal politics, what new amazing discrepancies rose upon her poor children and her! fearfully aggravating the quarrel of father and son, almost to the fatal point. of that "double-marriage," whirled up in a universe of intriguing diplomacies, in the "skirts of the kaiser's huge spectre-hunt," as we have called it, there will be sad things to say by and by. plans her majesty has; and silently a will of her own. she loves all her children, especially fritz, and would so love that they loved her.--for the rest, all along, fritz and wilhelmina are sure allies. we perceive they have fallen into a kind of cipher-speech; [_memoires de bareith,_ i. .] they communicate with one another by telegraphic signs. one of their words, "ragotin (stumpy)," whom does the reader think it designates? papa himself, the royal majesty of prussia, friedrich wilhelm i., he to his rebellious children is tyrant "stumpy," and no better; being indeed short of stature, and growing ever thicker, and surlier in these provocations!-- such incurable discrepancies have risen in the berlin palace: fountains of bitterness flowing ever wider, till they made life all bitter for son and for father; necessitating the proud son to hypocrisies towards his terrible father, which were very foreign to the proud youth, had there been any other resource. but there was none, now or afterwards. even when the young man, driven to reflection and insight by intolerable miseries, had begun to recognize the worth of his surly rhadamanthine father, and the intrinsic wisdom of much that he had meant with him, the father hardly ever could, or could only by fits, completely recognize the son's worth. rugged suspicious papa requires always to be humored, cajoled, even when our feeling towards him is genuine and loyal. friedrich, to the last, we can perceive, has to assume masquerade in addressing him, in writing to him,--and in spite of real love, must have felt it a relief when such a thing was over. that is, all along, a sad element of friedrich's education! out of which there might have come incalculable damage to the young man, had his natural assimilative powers, to extract benefit from all things, been less considerable. as it was, he gained self-help from it; gained reticence, the power to keep his own counsel; and did not let the hypocrisy take hold of him, or be other than a hateful compulsory masquerade. at an uncommonly early age, he stands before us accomplished in endurance, for one thing; a very bright young stoic of his sort; silently prepared for the injustices of men and things. and as for the masquerade, let us hope it was essentially foreign even to the skin of the man! the reader will judge as he goes on. _"je n'ai jamais trompe personne durant ma vie,_ i have never deceived anybody during my life; still less will i deceive posterity," [_ memoires depuis la paix de huberrtsbourg,_ - (avant-propos), oeuvres, vii. .] writes friedrich when his head was now grown very gray. chapter xiii. -- results of the crown-prince's schooling. neither as to intellectual culture, in duhan's special sphere, and with all duhan's good-will, was the opportunity extremely golden. it cannot be said that friedrich, who spells in the way we saw, "asteure" for "a cette heure," has made shining acquisitions on the literary side. however, in the long-run it becomes clear, his intellect, roving on devious courses, or plodding along the prescribed tram-roads, had been wide awake; and busy all the while, bringing in abundant pabulum of an irregular nature. he did learn "arithmetic," "geography," and the other useful knowledges that were indispensable to him. he knows history extensively; though rather the roman, french, and general european as the french have taught it him, than that of "hessen, brunswick, england," or even the "electoral and royal house of brandenburg," which papa had recommended. he read history, where he could find it readable, to the end of his life; and had early begun reading it,--immensely eager to learn, in his little head, what strange things had been, and were, in this strange planet he was come into. we notice with pleasure a lively taste for facts in the little boy; which continued to be the taste of the man, in an eminent degree. fictions he also knows; an eager extensive reader of what is called poetry, literature, and himself a performer in that province by and by: but it is observable how much of realism there always is in his literature; how close, here as elsewhere, he always hangs on the practical truth of things; how fiction itself is either an expository illustrative garment of fact, or else is of no value to him. romantic readers of his literature are much disappointed in consequence, and pronounce it bad literature;--and sure enough, in several senses, it is not to be called good! bad literature, they say; shallow, barren, most unsatisfactory to a reader of romantic appetites. which is a correct verdict, as to the romantic appetites and it. but to the man himself, this quality of mind is of immense moment and advantage; and forms truly the basis of all he was good for in life. once for all, he has no pleasure in dreams, in parti-colored clouds and nothingnesses. all his curiosities gravitate towards what exists, what has being and reality round him. that is the significant thing to him; that he would right gladly know, being already related to that, as friend or as enemy; and feeling an unconscious indissoluble kinship, who shall say of what importance, towards all that. for he too is a little fact, big as can be to himself; and in the whole universe there exists nothing as fact but is a fellow-creature of his. that our little fritz tends that way, ought to give noltenius, finkenstein and other interested parties, the very highest satisfaction. it is an excellent symptom of his intellect, this of gravitating irresistibly towards realities. better symptom of its quality (whatever quantity there be of it), human intellect cannot show for itself. however it may go with literature, and satisfaction to readers of romantic appetites, this young soul promises to become a successful worker one day, and to do something under the sun. for work is of an extremely unfictitious nature; and no man can roof his house with clouds and moonshine, so as to turn the rain from him. it is also to be noted that his style of french, though he spelt it so ill, and never had the least mastery of punctuation, has real merit. rapidity, easy vivacity, perfect clearness, here and there a certain quaint expressiveness: on the whole, he had learned the art of speech, from those old french governesses, in those old and new french books of his. we can also say of his literature, of what he hastily wrote in mature life, that it has much more worth, even as literature, than the common romantic appetite assigns to it. a vein of distinct sense, and good interior articulation, is never wanting in that thin-flowing utterance. the true is well riddled out from amid the false; the important and essential are alone given us, the unimportant and superfluous honestly thrown away. a lean wiry veracity (an immense advantage in any literature, good or bad!) is everywhere beneficently observable; the quality of the intellect always extremely good, whatever its quantity may be. it is true, his spelling--"asteure" for "a cette heure"--is very bad. and as for punctuation, he never could understand the mystery of it; he merely scatters a few commas and dashes, as if they were shaken out of a pepper-box upon his page, and so leaves it. these are deficiencies lying very bare to criticism; and i confess i never could completely understand them in such a man. he that would have ordered arrest for the smallest speck of mud on a man's buff-belt, indignant that any pipe-clayed portion of a man should not be perfectly pipeclayed: how could he tolerate false spelling, and commas shaken as out of a pepper-box over his page? it is probable he cared little about literature, after all; cared, at least, only about the essentials of it; had practically no ambition for himself, or none considerable, in that kind;--and so might reckon exact obedience and punctuality, in a soldier, more important than good spelling to an amateur literary man: he never minded snuff upon his own chin, not even upon his waistcoat and breeches: a merely superficial thing, not worth bothering about, in the press of real business!-- that friedrich's course of education did on the whole prosper, in spite of every drawback, is known to all men. he came out of it a man of clear and ever-improving intelligence; equipped with knowledge, true in essentials, if not punctiliously exact, upon all manner of practical and speculative things, to a degree not only unexampled among modern sovereign princes so called, but such as to distinguish him even among the studious class. nay many "men-of-letters" have made a reputation for themselves with but a fraction of the real knowledge concerning men and things, past and present, which friedrich was possessed of. already at the time when action came to be demanded of him, he was what we must call a well-informed and cultivated man; which character he never ceased to merit more and more; and as for the action, and the actions,--we shall see whether he was fit for these or not. one point of supreme importance in his education was all along made sure of, by the mere presence and presidence of friedrich wilhelm in the business: that there was an inflexible law of discipline everywhere active in it; that there was a spartan rigor, frugality, veracity inculcated upon him. "economy he is to study to the bottom;" and not only so, but, in another sense of the word, he is to practise economy; and does, or else suffers for not doing it. economic of his time, first of all: generally every other noble economy will follow out of that, if a man once understand and practise that. here was a truly valuable foundation laid; and as for the rest, nature, in spite of shot-rubbish, had to do what she could in the rest. but nature had been very kind to this new child of hers. and among the confused hurtful elements of his schooling, there was always, as we say, this eminently salutary and most potent one, of its being, in the gross, apprenticeship to friedrich wilhelm the rhadamanthine spartan king, who hates from his heart all empty nonsense, and unveracity most of all. which one element, well aided by docility, by openness and loyalty of mind, on the pupil's part, proved at length sufficient to conquer the others; as it were to burn up all the others, and reduce their sour dark smoke, abounding everywhere, into flame and illumination mostly. this radiant swift-paced son owed much to the surly, irascible, sure-footed father that bred him. friedrich did at length see into friedrich wilhelm, across the abstruse, thunderous, sulphurous embodiments and accompaniments of the man;--and proved himself, in all manner of important respects, the filial sequel of friedrich wilhelm. these remarks of a certain editor are perhaps worth adding:-- "friedrich wilhelm, king of prussia, did not set up for a pestalozzi; and the plan of education for his son is open to manifold objections. nevertheless, as schoolmasters go, i much prefer him to most others we have at present. the wild man had discerned, with his rugged natural intelligence (not wasted away in the idle element of speaking and of being spoken to, but kept wholesomely silent for most part), that human education is not, and cannot be, a thing of vocables. that it is a thing of earnest facts; of capabilities developed, of habits established, of dispositions well dealt with, of tendencies confirmed and tendencies repressed:--a laborious separating of the character into two firmaments; shutting down the subterranean, well down and deep; an earth and waters, and what lies under them; then your everlasting azure sky, and immeasurable depths of aether, hanging serene overhead. to make of the human soul a cosmos, so far as possible, that was friedrich wilhelm's dumb notion: not to leave the human soul a mere chaos;--how much less a singing or eloquently spouting chaos, which is ten times worse than a chaos left mute, confessedly chaotic and not cosmic! to develop the man into doing something; and withal into doing it as the universe and the eternal laws require,--which is but another name for really doing and not merely seeming to do it:--that was friedrich wilhelm's dumb notion: and it was, i can assure you, very far from being a foolish one, though there was no latin in it, and much of prussian pipe-clay!" but the congress of cambrai is met, and much else is met and parted: and the kaiser's spectre-hunt, especially his duel with the she-dragon of spain, is in full course; and it is time we were saying something of the double-marriage in a directly narrative way. end of book iv, history of friedrich ii. of prussia frederick the great by thomas carlyle book xvi.--the ten years of peace.-- - . chapter i.--sans-souci. friedrich has now climbed the heights, and sees himself on the upper table-land of victory and success; his desperate life-and-death struggles triumphantly ended. what may be ahead, nobody knows; but here is fair outlook that his enemies and austria itself have had enough of him. no wringing of his silesia from this "bad man." not to be overset, this one, by never such exertions; oversets us, on the contrary, plunges us heels-over-head into the ditch, so often as we like to apply to him; nothing but heavy beatings, disastrous breaking of crowns, to be had on trying there! "five victories!" as voltaire keeps counting on his fingers, with upturned eyes,--mollwitz, chotusitz, striegau, sohr, kesselsdorf (the last done by anhalt; but omitting hennersdorf, and that sudden slitting of the big saxon-austrian projects into a cloud of feathers, as fine a feat as any),--"five victories!" counts voltaire; calling on everybody (or everybody but friedrich himself, who is easily sated with that kind of thing) to admire. in the world are many opinions about friedrich. in austria, for instance, what an opinion; sinister, gloomy in the extreme: or in england, which derives from austria,--only with additional dimness, and with gloomy new provocations of its own before long! many opinions about friedrich, all dim enough: but this, that he is a very demon for fighting, and the stoutest king walking the earth just now, may well be a universal one. a man better not be meddled with, if he will be at peace, as he professes to wish being. friedrich accordingly is not meddled with, or not openly meddled with; and has, for the ten or eleven years coming, a time of perfect external peace. he himself is decided "not to fight with a cat," if he can get the peace kept; and for about eight years hopes confidently that this, by good management, will continue possible;--till, in the last three years, electric symptoms did again disclose themselves, and such hope more and more died away. it is well known there lay in the fates a third silesian war for him, worse than both the others; which is now the main segment of his history still lying ahead for us, were this halcyon period done. halcyon period counts from christmas-day, dresden, ,--"from this day, peace to the end of my life!" had been friedrich's fond hope. but on the th day of september, , friedrich was again entering dresden (saxony some twelve days before); and the crowning struggle of his life was, beyond all expectation, found to be still lying ahead for him, awfully dubious for seven years thereafter!-- friedrich's history during this intervening halcyon or peace period must, in some way, be made known to readers: but for a great many reasons, especially at present, it behooves to be given in compressed form; riddled down, to an immense extent, out of those sad prussian repositories, where the grain of perennial, of significant and still memorable, lies overwhelmed under rubbish-mountains of the fairly extinct, the poisonously dusty and forgettable;--ach himmel! which indispensable preliminary process, how can an english editor, at this time, do it; no prussian, at any time, having thought of trying it! from a painful predecessor of mine, i collect, rummaging among his dismal paper-masses, the following three fragments, worth reading here:-- . "friedrich was as busy, in those years, as in the generality of his life; and his actions, and salutary conquests over difficulties, were many, profitable to prussia and to himself. very well worth keeping in mind. but not fit for history; or at least only fit in the summary form; to be delineated in little, with large generic strokes,--if we had the means;--such details belonging to the prussian antiquary, rather than to the english historian of friedrich in our day. a happy ten years of time. perhaps the time for montesquieu's aphorism, 'happy the people whose annals are blank in history-books!' the prussian antiquary, had he once got any image formed to himself of friedrich, and of friedrich's history in its human lineaments and organic sequences, will glean many memorabilia in those years: which his readers then (and not till then) will be able to intercalate in their places, and get human good of. but alas, while there is no intelligible human image, nothing of lineaments or organic sequences, or other than a jumbled mass of historical marine-stores, presided over by dryasdust and human stupor (unsorted, unlabelled, tied up in blind sacks), the very antiquary will have uphill work of it, and his readers will often turn round on him with a gloomy expression of countenance!" . "friedrich's life--little as he expected it, that day when he started up from his ague-fit at reinsberg, and grasped the fiery opportunity that was shooting past--is a life of war. the chief memory that will remain of him is that of a king and man who fought consummately well. not peace and the muses; no, that is denied him,--though he was so unwilling, always, to think it denied! but his life-task turned out to be a battle for silesia. it consists of three grand struggles of war. and not for silesia only;--unconsciously, for what far greater things to his nation and to him! "deeply unconscious of it, they were passing their 'trials,' his nation and he, in the great civil-service-examination hall of this universe: 'are you able to defend yourselves, then; and to hang together coherent, against the whole world and its incoherencies and rages?' a question which has to be asked of nations, before they can be recognized as such, and be baptized into the general commonwealth; they are mere hordes or accidental aggregates, till that question come. question which this nation had long been getting ready for; which now, under this king, it answered to the satisfaction of gods and men: 'yes, heaven assisting, we can stand on our defence; and in the long-run (as with air when you try to annihilate it, or crush it to nothing) there is even an infinite force in us; and the whole world does not succeed in annihilating us!' upon which has followed what we term national baptism;--or rather this was the national baptism, this furious one in torrent whirlwinds of fire; done three times over, till in gods or men there was no doubt left. that was friedrich's function in the world; and a great and memorable one;--not to his own prussian nation only, but to teutschland at large, forever memorable. "'is teutschland a nation; is there in teutschland still a nation?' austria, not dishonestly, but much sunk in superstitions and involuntary mendacities, and liable to sink much farther, answers always, in gloomy proud tone, 'yes, i am the nation of teutschland!'--but is mistaken, as turns out. for it is not mendacities, conscious or other, but veracities, that the divine powers will patronize, or even in the end will put up with at all. which you ought to understand better than you do, my friend. for, on the great scale and on the small, and in all seasons, circumstances, scenes and situations where a son of adam finds himself, that is true, and even a sovereign truth. and whoever does not know it,--human charity to him (were such always possible) would be, that he were furnished with handcuffs as a part of his outfit in this world, and put under guidance of those who do. yes; to him, i should say, a private pair of handcuffs were much usefuler than a ballot-box,--were the times once settled again, which they are far from being!"... "so that, if there be only austria for nation, teutschland is in ominous case. truly so. but there is in teutschland withal, very irrecognizable to teutschland, yet authentically present, a man of the properly unconquerable type; there is also a select population drilled for him: these two together will prove to you that there is a nation. conquest of silesia, three silesian wars; labors and valors as of alcides, in vindication of oneself and one's silesia:--secretly, how unconsciously, that other and higher question of teutschland, and of its having in it a nation, was friedrich's sore task and his prussia's at that time. as teutschland may be perhaps now, in our day, beginning to recognize; with hope, with astonishment, poor teutschland!"... . "and in fine, leaving all that, there is one thing undeniable: in all human narrative, it is the battle only, and not the victory, that can be dwelt upon with advantage. friedrich has now, by his second silesian war, achieved greatness: 'friedrich the great;' expressly so denominated, by his people and others. the struggle upwards is the romance; your hero once wedded,--to glory, or whoever the bride may be,--the romance ends. precise critics do object, that there may still lie difficulties, new perils and adventures ahead:--which proves conspicuously true in this case of ours. and accordingly, our book not being a romance but a history, let us, with all fidelity, look out what these are, and how they modify our royal gentleman who has got his wedding done. with all fidelity; but with all brevity, no less. for, inasmuch as"-- well, brevity in most cases is desirable. and, privately, it must be owned there is another consideration of no small weight: that, our prussian resources falling altogether into bankruptcy during peace-periods, nature herself has so ordered it, in this instance! partly it is our books (the prussian dryasdust reaching his acme on those occasions), but in part too it is the events themselves, that are small and want importance; that have fallen dead to us, in the huge new time and its uproars. events not of flagrant notability (like battles or war-passages), to bridle dryasdust, and guide him in some small measure. events rather which, except as characteristic of one memorable man and king, are mostly now of no memorability whatever. crowd all these indiscriminately into sacks, and shake them out pell-mell on us: that is dryasdust's sweet way. as if the largest marine-stores establishment in all the world had suddenly, on hest of some necromancer or maleficent person, taken wing upon you; and were dancing, in boundless mad whirl, round your devoted head;--simmering and dancing, very much at its ease; no-whither; asking you cheerfully, "what is your candid opinion, then?" "opinion," heavens!-- you have to retire many yards, and gaze with a desperate steadiness; assuring yourself: "well, it does, right indisputably, shadow forth something. this was a thing alive, and did at one time stick together, as an organic fact on the earth, though it now dances in dryasdust at such a rate!" it is only by self-help of this sort, and long survey, with rigorous selection, and extremely extensive exclusion and oblivion, that you gain the least light in such an element. "brevity"--little said, when little has been got to be known--is an evident rule! courage, reader; by good eyesight, you will still catch some features of friedrich as we go along. to say our little in a not unintelligible manner, and keep the rest well hidden, it is all we can do for you!-- friedrich declines the career of conquering hero; goes into law-reform; and gets ready a cottage residence for himself. friedrich's journey to pyrmont is the first thing recorded of him by the newspapers. gone to take the waters; as he did after his former war. here is what i had noted of that small occurrence, and of one or two others contiguous in date, which prove to be of significance in friedrich's history. "may - th, ," say the old books, "his majesty sets out for pyrmont, taking brunswick by the way; arrives at pyrmont may th; stays till june th;" three weeks good. "is busy corresponding with the king of france about a general peace; but, owing to the embitterment of both parties, it was not possible at this time." taking the waters at least, and amusing himself. from brunswick, in passing, he had brought with him his brother-in-law the reigning duke; rothenburg was there, and brother henri; d'arget expressly; flute-player quanz withal, and various musical people: "in all, a train of above sixty persons." i notice also that prince wilhelm of hessen was in pyrmont at the time. with whom, one fancies, what speculations there might be: about the late and present war-passages, about the poor peace prospects; your hessian "siege" so called "of blair in athol" (culloden now comfortably done), and other cognate topics. that is the pyrmont journey. it is no surprise to us to hear, in these months, of new and continual attention to army matters, to husbandry matters; and to making good, on all sides, the ruins left by war. of rebuilding (at the royal expense) "the town of schmiedeberg, which had been burnt;" of rebuilding, and repairing from their damage, all silesian villages and dwellings; and still more satisfactory, how, "in may, , there was, in every circle of the country, by exact liquidation of accounts [so rapidly got done], exact payment made to the individuals concerned, . of all the hay, straw and corn that had been delivered to his majesty's armies; . of all the horses that had perished in the king's work; . of all the horses stolen by the enemy, and of all the money-contributions exacted by the enemy: payment in ready cash, and according to the rules of justice (baar und billigmassig), by his majesty." [seyfarth, ii. , .] it was from pyrmont, may, ,--or more definitely, it was "at potsdam early in the morning, th september," following,--that friedrich launched, or shot forth from its moorings, after much previous attempting and preparing, a very great enterprise; which he has never lost sight of since the day he began reigning, nor will till his reign and life end: the actual reform of law in prussia. "may th, ," friedrich, on the road to pyrmont, answers his chief law-minister cocceji's report of practical plan on this matter: "yes; looks very hopeful!"--and took it with him to consider at pyrmont, during his leisure. much considering of it, then and afterwards, there was. and finally, september th, early in the morning, cocceji had an interview with friedrich; and the decisive fiat was given: "yes; start on it, in god's name! pommern, which they call the provincia litigiosa; try it there first!" [ranke, ii. .] and cocceji, a vigorous old man of sixty-seven, one of the most learned of lawyers, and a very hercules in cleaning law-stables, has, on friedrich's urgencies,--which have been repeated on every breathing-time of peace there has been, and even sometimes in the middle of war (last january, , for example; and again, express order, january, , a fortnight after peace was signed),--actually got himself girt for this salutary work. "wash me out that horror of accumulation, let us see the old pavements of the place again. every lawsuit to be finished within the year!" cocceji, who had been meditating such matters for a great while, [" st march, ," friedrich wilhelm's "edict" on law reform: cocceji ready, at that time;--but his then majesty forbore.] and was himself eager to proceed, in spite of considerable wigged oppositions and secret reluctances that there were, did now, on that fiat of september th, get his select commission of six riddled together and adjoined to him,--the likeliest six that prussia, in her different provinces, could yield;--and got the stande of pommern, after due committeeing and deliberating, to consent and promise help. december st, , was the day the stande consented: and january th, , cocceji and his six set out for pommern. on a longish enterprise, in that province and the others;--of which we shall have to take notice, and give at least the dates as they occur. to sweep out pettifogging attorneys, cancel improper advocates, to regulate fees; to war, in a calm but deadly manner, against pedantries, circumlocutions and the multiplied forms of stupidity, cupidity and human owlery in this department;--and, on the whole, to realize from every court, now and onwards, "a decision to all lawsuits within a year after their beginning." this latter result, friedrich thinks, will itself be highly beneficial; and be the sign of all manner of improvements. and cocceji, scanning it with those potent law-eyes of his, ventures to assure him that it will be possible. as, in fact, it proved;--honor to cocceji and his king, and king's father withal. "samuel von cocceji [says an old note], son of a law professor, and himself once such,--was picked up by friedrich wilhelm, for the official career, many years ago. a man of wholesome, by no means weakly aspect,--to judge by his portrait, which is the chief 'biography' i have of him. potent eyes and eyebrows, ditto blunt nose; honest, almost careless lips, and deep chin well dewlapped: extensive penetrative face, not pincered together, but potently fallen closed;--comfortable to see, in a wig of such magnitude. friedrich, a judge of men, calls him 'a man of sterling character (caractere integre et droit), whose qualities would have suited the noble times of the roman republic.'" [--oeuvres,--iv. .] he has his herculean battle, his master and he have, with the owleries and the vulturous law-pedantries,--which i always love friedrich for detesting as he does:--and, during the next five years, the world will hear often of cocceji, and of this prussian law-reform by friedrich and him. his majesty's exertions to make peace were not successful; what does lie in his power is, to keep out of the quarrel himself. it appears great hopes were entertained, by some in england, of gaining friedrich over; of making him supreme captain to the cause of liberty. and prospects were held out to him, quasi-offers made, of a really magnificent nature,--undeniable, though obscure. herr ranke has been among the archives again; and comes out with fractional snatches of a very strange "paper from england;" capriciously hiding all details about it, all intelligible explanation: so that you in vain ask, "where, when, how, by whom?"--and can only guess to yourself that carteret was somehow at the bottom of the thing; aut carteretus aut diabolus. "what would your majesty think to be elected stadtholder of holland? without a stadtholder, these dutch are worth nothing; not hoistable, nor of use when hoisted, all palavering and pulling different ways. must have a stadtholder; and one that stands firm on some basis of his own. stadtholder of holland, king of prussia,--you then, in such position, take the reins of this poor floundering english-dutch germanic anti-french war, you; and drive it in the style you have. conquer back the netherlands to us; french netherlands as well. french and austrian netherlands together, yours in perpetuity; dutch stadtholderate as good as ditto: this, with prussia and its fighting capabilities, will be a pleasant protestant thing. austria cares little about the netherlands, in comparison. austria, getting back its lorraine and alsace, will be content, will be strong on its feet. what if it should even lose italy? france, spain, sardinia, the italian petty principalities and anarchies: suppose they tug and tussle, and collapse there as they can? but let france try to look across the rhine again; and to threaten teutschland, england, and the cause of human liberty temporal or spiritual!" this is authentically the purport of herr ranke's extraordinary document; [ranke, iii. .] guessable as due to carteretus or diabolus. here is an outlook; here is a career as conquering hero, if that were one's line! a very magnificent ground-plan; hung up to kindle the fancy of a young king,--who is far too prudent to go into it at all. more definite quasi-official offers, it seems, were made him from the same quarter: subsidies to begin with, such subsidies as nobody ever had before; say , , pounds sterling by the year. to which friedrich answered, "subsidies, your excellency?" (are we a hackney-coachman, then?)--and, with much contempt, turned his back on that offer. no fighting to be had, by purchase or seduction, out of this young man. will not play the conquering hero at all, nor the hackney-coachman at all; has decided "not to fight a cat" if let alone; but to do and endeavor a quite other set of things, for the rest of his life. friedrich, readers can observe, is not uplifted with his greatness. he has been too much beaten and bruised to be anything but modestly thankful for getting out of such a deadly clash of chaotic swords. seems to have little pride even in his "five victories;" or hides it well. talks not overmuch about these things; talks of them, so far as we can hear, with his old comrades only, in praise of their prowesses; as a simple human being, not as a supreme of captains; and at times acknowledges, in a fine sincere way, the omnipotence of luck in matters of war. one of the most characteristic traits, extensively symbolical of friedrich's intentions and outlooks at this epoch, is his installing of himself in the little dwelling-house, which has since become so celebrated under the name of sans-souci. the plan of sans-souci--an elegant commodious little "country box," quite of modest pretensions, one story high; on the pleasant hill-top near potsdam, with other little green hills, and pleasant views of land and water, all round--had been sketched in part by friedrich himself; and the diggings and terracings of the hill-side were just beginning, when he quitted for the last war. "april th, ," while he lay in those perilous enigmatic circumstances at neisse with pandours and devouring bugbears round him, "the foundation-stone was laid" (knobelsdorf being architect, once more, as in the old reinsberg case): and the work, which had been steadily proceeding while the master struggled in those dangerous battles and adventures far away from it, was in good forwardness at his return. an object of cheerful interest to him; prophetic of calmer years ahead. it was not till may, , that the formal occupation took place: "mayday, ," he had a grand house-heating, or "first dinner, of covers: and may th- th was the first night of his sleeping there." for the next forty years, especially as years advanced, he spent the most of his days and nights in this little mansion; which became more and more his favorite retreat, whenever the noises and scenic etiquettes were not inexorable. "sans-souci;" which we may translate "no-bother." a busy place this too, but of the quiet kind; and more a home to him than any of the three fine palaces (ultimately four), which lay always waiting for him in the neighborhood. berlin and charlottenburg are about twenty miles off; potsdam, which, like the other two, is rather consummate among palaces, lies leftwise in front of him within a short mile. and at length, to right hand, in a similar distance and direction, came the "neue schloss" (new palace of potsdam), called also the "palace of sans-souci," in distinction from the dwelling-house, or as it were garden-house, which made that name so famous. certainly it is a significant feature of friedrich; and discloses the inborn proclivity he had to retirement, to study and reflection, as the chosen element of human life. why he fell upon so ambitious a title for his royal cottage? "no-bother" was not practically a thing he, of all men, could consider possible in this world: at the utmost perhaps, by good care, "less-bother"! the name, it appears, came by accident. he had prepared his tomb, and various tombs, in the skirts of this new cottage: looking at these, as the building of them went on, he was heard to say, one day (spring ), d'argens strolling beside him: "oui, alors je serai sans souci (once there, one will be out of bother)!" a saying which was rumored of, and repeated in society, being by such a man. out of which rumor in society, and the evident aim of the cottage royal, there was gradually born, as venus from the froth of the sea, this name, "sans-souci;"--which friedrich adopted; and, before the year was out, had put upon his lintel in gold letters. so that, by "mayday, ," the name was in all men's memories; and has continued ever since. [preuss, i. , &c.; nicolai, iii. .] tourists know this cottage royal: friedrich's "three rooms in it; one of them a library; in another, a little alcove with an iron bed" (iron, without curtains; old softened hat the usual royal nightcap)--altogether a soldier's lodging:--all this still stands as it did. cheerfully looking down on its garden-terraces, stairs, greek statues, and against the free sky:--perhaps we may visit it in time coming, and take a more special view. in the years now on hand, friedrich, i think, did not much practically live there, only shifted thither now and then. his chief residence is still potsdam palace; and in carnival time, that of berlin; with charlottenburg for occasional festivities, especially in summer, the gardens there being fine. this of sans-souci is but portion of a wider tendency, wider set of endeavors on friedrich's part, which returns upon him now that peace has returned: that of improving his own domesticities, while he labors at so many public improvements. gazing long on that simmering "typhoon of marine-stores" above mentioned, we do trace three great heads of endeavor in this peace period. first, the reform of law; which, as above hinted, is now earnestly pushed forward again, and was brought to what was thought completion before long. with much rumor of applause from contemporary mankind. concerning which we are to give some indications, were it only dates in their order: though, as the affair turned out not to be completed, but had to be taken up again long after, and is an affair lying wide of british ken,--there need not, and indeed cannot, be much said of it just now. secondly, there is eager furthering of the husbandries, the commerces, practical arts,--especially at present, that of foreign commerce, and shipping from the port of embden. which shall have due notice. and thirdly, what must be our main topic here, there is that of improving the domesticities, the household enjoyments such as they were;--especially definable as renewal of the old reinsberg program; attempt more strenuous than ever to realize that beautiful ideal. which, and the total failure of which, and the consequent quasi-abandonment of it for time coming, are still, intrinsically and by accident, of considerable interest to modern readers. curious, and in some sort touching, to observe how that old original life-program still re-emerges on this king: "something of melodious possible in one's poor life, is not there? a life to the practical duties, yes; but to the muses as well!"--of friedrich's success in his law-reforms, in his husbandries, commerces and furtherances, conspicuously great as it was, there is no possibility of making careless readers cognizant at this day. only by the great results--a "prussia quadrupled" in his time, and the like--can studious readers convince themselves, in a cold and merely statistic way. but in respect of life to the muses, we have happily the means of showing that in actual vitality; in practical struggle towards fulfillment,--and how extremely disappointing the result was. in a word, voltaire pays his fifth and final visit in this period; the voltaire matter comes to its consummation. to that, as to one of the few things which are perfectly knowable in this period of ten-years peace, and in which mankind still take interest, we purpose mostly to devote ourselves here. ten years of a great king's life, ten busy years too; and nothing visible in them, of main significance, but a crash of author's quarrels, and the crowning visit of voltaire? truly yes, reader; so it has been ordered. innumerable high-dressed gentlemen, gods of this lower world, are gone all to inorganic powder, no comfortable or profitable memory to be held of them more; and this poor voltaire, without implement except the tongue and brain of him,--he is still a shining object to all the populations; and they say and symbol to me, "tell us of him! he is the man!" very strange indeed. changed times since, for dogs barking at the heels of him, and lions roaring ahead,--for asses of mirepoix, for foul creatures in high dizenment, and foul creatures who were hungry valets of the same,--this man could hardly get the highways walked! and indeed had to keep his eyes well open, and always have covert within reach,--under pain of being torn to pieces, while he went about in the flesh, or rather in the bones, poor lean being. changed times; within the century last past! for indeed there was in that man what far transcends all dizenment, and temporary potency over valets, over legions, treasure-vaults and dim millions mostly blockhead: a spark of heaven's own lucency, a gleam from the eternities (in small measure);--which becomes extremely noticeable when the dance is over, when your tallow-dips and wax-lights are burnt out, and the brawl of the night is gone to bed. chapter ii.--peep at voltaire and his divine emilie (by candlelight) in the tide of events. public european affairs require little remembrance; the war burning well to leeward of us henceforth. a huge world of smoky chaos; the special fires of it, if there be anything of fire, are all the more clear far in the distance. of which sort, and of which only, the reader is to have notice. marechal de saxe--king louis oftenest personally there, to give his name and countenance to things done--is very glorious in the netherlands; captures, sometimes by surprisal, place after place (beautiful surprisal of brussels last winter); with sieges of antwerp, mons, charleroi, victoriously following upon brussels: and, before the end of , he is close upon holland itself; intent on having namur and maestricht; for which the poor sea-powers, with a handful of austrians, fight two battles, and are again beaten both times. [ . battle of roucoux, th october, ; prince karl commanding, english taking mainly the stress of fight;--saxe having already outwitted poor karl, and got namur. . battle of lawfelt, or lauffeld, called also of val, d july, ; royal highness of cumberland commanding (and taking most of the stress; ligonier made prisoner, &c.),--dutch fighting ill, and bathyani and his austrians hardly in the fire at all.] a glorious, ever-victorious marechal; and has an army very "high-toned," in more than one sense: indeed, i think, one of the loudest-toned armies ever on the field before. loud not with well-served artillery alone, but with play-actor thunder-barrels (always an itinerant theatre attends), with gasconading talk, with orgies, debaucheries,--busy service of the devil, and pleasant consciousness that we are heaven's masterpiece, and are in perfect readiness to die at any moment;--our elasticity and agility ("elan" as we call it) well kept up, in that manner, for the time being. hungarian majesty, contrary to hope, neglects the netherlands, "holland and england, for their own sake, will manage there!"--and directs all her resources, and her lately anti-prussian armies (general browne leading them) upon italy, as upon the grand interest now. little to the comfort of the sea-powers. but hungarian majesty is decided to cut in upon the french and spaniards, in that fine country,--who had been triumphing too much of late; maillebois and senor de gages doing their mutual exploits (though given to quarrel); don philip wintering in milan even ( - ); and the king of sardinia getting into french courses again. strong cuts her hungarian majesty does inflict, on the italian side; tumbles infant philip out of milan and his carnival gayeties, in plenty of hurry; besieges genoa, marquis botta d'adorno (our old acquaintance botta) her siege-captain, a native of this region; brings back the wavering sardinian majesty; captures genoa, and much else. captures genoa, we say,--had not botta been too rigorous on his countrymen, and provoked a revolt again, revolt of genoa, which proved difficult to settle. in fine, hungarian majesty has, in the course of this year , with aid of the reconfirmed sardinian majesty, satisfactorily beaten the french and spaniards. has--after two murderous battles gained over the maillebois-gages people--driven both french and spaniards into corners, maillebois altogether home again across the var;--nay has descended in actual invasion upon france itself. and, before new-year's day, , general browne is busy besieging antibes, aided by english seventy-fours; so that "sixty french battalions" have to hurry home, from winter-quarters, towards those provencal countries; and marechal de belleisle, who commands there, has his hands full. triumphant enough her hungarian majesty, in italy; while in the netherlands, the poor sea-powers have met with no encouragement from the fates or her. ["battle of piacenza" (prince lichtenstein, with whom is browne, versus gages and maillebois), th june, (adelung, v. ); "battle of rottofreddo" (botta chief austrian there, and our old friend barenklau getting killed there), th august, (ib. ); whereupon, th september, genoa (which had declared itself anti-austrian latterly, not without cause, and brought the tug of war into those parts) is coerced by botta to open its gates, on grievous terms (ib. - ); so that, november th, browne, no bourbon army now on the field, enters provence (crosses the var, that day), and tries antibes: th- th december, popular revolt in genoa, and expulsion of proud botta and his austrians (ib. - ); upon which surprising event (which could not be mended during the remainder of the war), browne's enterprise became impossible. see buonamici,--histoire de la derniere revolution de genes;--adelung, v. ; vi. , &c. &c.] all which the reader may keep imagining at his convenience;--but will be glad rather, for the present, to go with us for an actual look at m. de voltaire and the divine emilie, whom we have not seen for a long time. not much has happened in the interim; one or two things only which it can concern us to know;--scattered fragments of memorial, on the way thus far:-- . m. de voltaire has, in , made way at court. divine emilie picked up her voltaire from that fine diplomatic course, and went home with him out of our sight, in the end of ; the diplomatic career gradually declaring itself barred to him thenceforth. since which, nevertheless, he has had his successes otherwise, especially in his old literary course: on the whole, brighter sunshine than usual, though never without tempestuous clouds attending. goes about, with his divine emilie, now wearing browner and leaner, both of them; and takes the good and evil of life, mostly in a quiet manner; sensible that afternoon is come. the thrice-famous pompadour, who had been known to him in the chrysalis state, did not forget him on becoming head-butterfly of the universe. by her help, one long wish of his soul was gratified, and did not hunger or thirst any more. some uncertain footing at court, namely, was at length vouchsafed him:--uncertain; for the most christian majesty always rather shuddered under those carbuncle eyes, under that voice "sombre and majestious," with such turns lying in it:--some uncertain footing at court; and from the beginning of , his luck, in the court spheres, began to mount in a wonderful and world-evident manner. on grounds tragically silly, as he thought them. on the dauphin's wedding,--a termagant's infanta coming hither as dauphiness, at this time,--there needed to be court-shows, dramaticules, transparencies, feasts of lanterns, or i know not what. voltaire was the chosen man; voltaire and rameau (readers have heard of rameau's nephew, and musical readers still esteem rameau) did their feat; we may think with what perfection, with what splendor of reward. alas, and the feat done was, to one of the parties, so unspeakably contemptible! voltaire pensively surveying life, brushes the sounding strings; and hums to himself, the carbuncle eyes carrying in them almost something of wet:-- "mon henri quatre et ma zaire, et mon americain alzire, ne m'ont valu jamais un seul regard du roi; j'avais mille ennemis avec tres peu de gloire: les honneurs et les biens pleuvent enfin sur moi pour un farce de la foire." ["my henri quatre, my zaire, my alzire [high works very many], could never purchase me a single glance of the king; i had multitudes of enemies, and very little fame:--honors and riches rain on me, at last, for a farce of the fair" (--oeuvres,--ii. ). the "farce" (which by no means called itself such) was princesse de navarre (--oeuvres,--lxxiii. ): first acted d february, , day of the wedding. gentlemanship of the chamber thereupon (which voltaire, by permission, sold, shortly after, for , pounds, with titles retained), and appointment as historiographer royal. poor dauphiness did not live long; louis xvi.'s mother was a second wife, saxon-polish majesty's daughter.] yes, my friend; it is a considerable ass, this world; by no means the perfectly wise put at the top of it (as one could wish), and the perfectly foolish at the bottom. witness--nay, witness psyche pompadour herself, is not she an emblem! take your luck without criticism; luck good and bad visits all. . and got into the academy next year, in consequence. in , the academy itself, pompadour favoring, is made willing; voltaire sees himself among the forty: soul, on that side too, be at ease, and hunger not nor thirst anymore. ["may th, , voltaire is received at the academy; and makes a very fine discourse" (barbier, ii. ).--oeuvres de voltaire,--lxxiii. , , and i. .] this highest of felicities could not be achieved without an ugly accompaniment from the surrounding populace. desfontaines is dead, safe down in sodom; but wants not for a successor, for a whole doggery of such. who are all awake, and giving tongue on this occasion. there is m. roi the "poet," as he was then reckoned; jingling roi, who concocts satirical calumnies; who collects old ones, reprints the same,--and sends travenol, an opera-fiddler, to vend them. from which sprang a lawsuit, proces-travenol, of famous melancholy sort. as voltaire had rather the habit of such sad melancholy lawsuits, we will pause on this of travenol for a moment:-- . summary of travenol lawsuit. "monday, th may, , was the day or reception at the academy; reception and fruition, thrice-savory to voltaire. but what an explosion of the doggeries, before, during and after that event! voltaire had tried to be prudent, too. he had been corresponding with popes, with cardinals; and, in a fine frank-looking way, capturing their suffrages:--not by lying, which in general he wishes to avoid, but by speaking half the truth; in short, by advancing, in a dexterous, diplomatic way, the uncloven foot, in those vatican precincts. and had got the holy father's own suffrage for mahomet (think of that, you ass of mirepoix!), among other cases that might rise. when this seat among the forty fell vacant, his very first measure--mark it, orthodox reader--was a letter to the chief jesuit, father latour, head of one's old college of louis le grand. a letter of fine filial tenor: 'my excellent old schoolmasters, to whom i owe everything; the representatives of learning, of decorum, of frugality and modest human virtue:--in what contrast to the obscure doggeries poaching about in the street-gutters, and flying at the peaceable passenger!' [in--voltairiana, ou eloges amphigouriques,--&c. (paris, ), i. - , the letter itself, "paris, th february, ;" omitted (without need or real cause on any side) in the common collections of--oeuvres de voltaire.--] which captivated father latour; and made matters smooth on that side; so that even the ancien de mirepoix said nothing, this time: what could he say? no cloven foot visible, and the authorities strong. "voltaire had started as candidate with these judicious preliminaries. voltaire was elected, as we saw; fine discourse, th may; and on the official side all things comfortable. but, in the mean while, the doggeries, as natural, seeing the thing now likely, had risen to a never-imagined pitch; and had filled paris, and, to voltaire's excruciated sense, the universe, with their howlings and their hyena-laughter, with their pasquils, satires, old and new. so that voltaire could not stand it; and, in evil hour, rushed downstairs upon them; seized one poor dog, travenol, unknown to him as fiddler or otherwise; pinioned dog travenol, with pincers, by the ears, him for one;--proper police-pincers, for we are now well at court;--and had a momentary joy! and, alas, this was not the right dog; this, we say, was travenol a fiddler at the opera, who, except the street-noises, knew nothing of voltaire; much less had the least pique at him; but had taken to hawking certain pasquils (jingler roi's collection, it appears), to turn a desirable penny by them. "and mistakes were made in the affair travenol,--old father travenol haled to prison, instead of son,--by the lieutenant of police and his people. and voltaire took the high-hand method (being well at court):--and thereupon hungry advocates took up dog travenol and his pincered ears: 'serene judges of the chatelet, most christian populace of paris, did you ever see a dog so pincered by an academical gentleman before, merely for being hungry?' and voltaire, getting madder and madder, appealed to the academy (which would not interfere); filed criminal informations; appealed to the chatelet, to the courts above and to the courts below; and, for almost a year, there went on the 'proces-travenol:' [about mayday, , seizure of travenol; pleadings are in vigor august, ; not done april, . _in--voltairiana,--_ii. - , pleadings, &c., copiously given; and most of the original libels, in different parts of that sad book (compiled by travenol's advocate, a very sad fellow himself): see also--oeuvres de voltaire,--lxxiii. n., n.; ib. i. ; barbier, ii. . all in a very jumbled, dateless, vague and incorrect condition.] olympian jove in distressed circumstances versus a hungry dog who had eaten dirty puddings. paris, in all its saloons and literary coffee-houses (figure the antre de procope, on publication nights!), had, monthly or so, the exquisite malign banquet; and grinned over the law pleadings: what magazine serial of our day can be so interesting to the emptiest mind! "lasted, i find, for above a year. from spring, , till towards autumn, : voltaire's feelings being--haha, so exquisite, all the while!--well, reader, i can judge how amusing it was to high and low. and yet phoebus apollo going about as mere cowherd of admetus, and exposed to amuse the populace by his duels with dogs that have bitten him? it is certain voltaire was a fool, not to be more cautious of getting into gutter-quarrels; not to have a thicker skin, in fact." proces-travenol escorting one's triumphal entry; what an adjunct! always so: always in your utmost radiance of sunshine a shadow; and in your softest outburst of lydian or spheral symphonies something of eating care! then too, in the court-circle itself, "is trajan pleased," or are all things well? readers have heard of that "trajan est-il content?" it occurred winter, ( th november, , a date worth marking), while things were still in the flush of early hope. that evening, our temple de la gloire (temple of glory) had just been acted for the first time, in honor of him we may call "trajan," returning from a "fontenoy and seven cities captured:" [seven of them; or even eight of a kind: tournay, ghent, bruges, nieuport, dendermond, ath, ostend; and nothing lost but cape breton and one's codfishery.]-- "reviens, divin trajan, vainqueur doux et terrible; le monde est mon rival, tous les coeurs sont a toi; mais est-il un coeur plus sensible, et qui t'adore plus que moi?" [temple de la gloire, acte iv. (--oeuvres,--xii. ).] "return, divine trajan, conqueror sweet and terrible; the world is my rival, all hearts are thine; but is there a heart more loving, or that adores thee more than i?" an allegoric dramatic piece; naturally very admirable at versailles. issuing radiant from fall of the curtain, voltaire had the farther honor to see his majesty pass out; majesty escorted by richelieu, one's old friend in a sense: "is trajan pleased?" whispered voltaire to his richelieu; overheard by trajan,--who answered in words nothing, but in a visible glance of the eyes did answer, "impertinent lackey!"--trajan being a man unready with speech; and disliking trouble with the people whom he paid for keeping his boots in polish. o my winged voltaire, to what dunghill bubbly-jocks (coqs d'inde) you do stoop with homage, constrained by their appearance of mere size!-- evidently no perfect footing at court, after all. and then the pompadour, could she, head-butterfly of the universe, be an anchor that would hold, if gales rose? rather she is herself somewhat of a gale, of a continual liability to gales; unstable as the wind! voltaire did his best to be useful, as court poet, as director of private theatricals;--above all, to soothe, to flatter pompadour; and never neglected this evident duty. but, by degrees, the envious lackey-people made cabals; turned the divine butterfly into comparative indifference for voltaire; into preference of a crebillon's poor faded pieces: "suitabler these, madame, for the private theatricals of a most christian majesty." think what a stab; crueler than daggers through one's heart: "crebillon?" m. de voltaire said nothing; looked nothing, in those sacred circles; and never ceased outwardly his worship, and assiduous tuning, of the pompadour: but he felt--as only phoebus apollo in the like case can!"away!" growled he to himself, when this atrocity had culminated. and, in effect, is, since the end of or so, pretty much withdrawn from the versailles olympus; and has set, privately in the distance (now at cirey, now at paris, in our petit palais there), with his whole will and fire, to do crebillon's dead dramas into living oues of his own. dead catilina of crebillon into rome sauvee of voltaire, and the other samples of dead into living,--that stupid old crebillon himself and the whole universe may judge, and even pompadour feel a remorse!--readers shall fancy these things; and that the world is coming back to its old poor drab color with m. de voltaire; his divine emilie and he rubbing along on the old confused terms. one face-to-face peep of them readers shall now have; and that is to be enough, or more than enough:-- voltaire and the divine emilie appear suddenly, one night, at sceaux. about the middle of august, , king friedrich, i find, was at home;--not in his new sans-souci by any means, but running to and fro; busy with his musterings, "grand review, and mimic attack on bornstadt, near berlin;" invaliden-haus (military hospital) getting built; silesian reviews just ahead; and, for the present, much festivity and moving about, to charlottenburg, to berlin and the different palaces; wilhelmina, "august th," having come to see him; of which fine visit, especially of wilhelmina's thoughts on it,--why have the envious fates left us nothing! while all this is astir in berlin and neighborhood, there is, among the innumerable other visits in this world, one going on near paris, in the mansion or palace of sceaux, which has by chance become memorable. a visit by voltaire and his divine emilie, direct from paris, i suppose, and rather on the sudden. which has had the luck to have a letter written on it, by one of those rare creatures, a seeing witness, who can make others see and believe. the seeing witness is little madame de staal (by no means necker's daughter, but a much cleverer), known as one of the sharpest female heads; she from the spot reports it to madame du deffand, who also is known to readers. there is such a glimpse afforded here into the actuality of old things and remarkable human creatures, that friedrich himself would be happy to read the letter. duchesse du maine, lady of sceaux, is a sublime old personage, with whom and with whose high ways and magnificent hospitalities at sceaux, at anet and elsewhere, voltaire had been familiar for long years past. [in--oeuvres de voltaire,--lxxiii. n, x. , &c., "clog." and others represent this visit as having been to anet,--though the record otherwise is express.] this duchess, grand-daughter of the great conde, now a dowager for ten years, and herself turned of seventy, has been a notable figure in french history this great while: a living fragment of louis le grand, as it were. was wedded to louis's "legitimated" illegitimate, the duc du maine; was in trouble with the regent d'orleans about alberoni-cellamare conspiracies ( ), regent having stript her husband of his high legitimatures and dignities, with little ceremony; which led her to conspire a good deal, at one time. [duc du maine with comte de toulouse were products of louis xiv. and madame de montespan:--"legitimated" by papa's fiat in , while still only young children; dislegitimated again by regent d'orleans, autumn, ; grand scene, "guards drawn out" and the like, on this occasion (barbier, i. - , ii. ); futile conspiracies with alberoni thereupon; arrest of duchess and duke ( th december, ), and closure of that poor business. duc du maine died ; toulouse next year; ages, each about sixty-five. "duc de penthievre," egalite's father-in-law, was toulouse's son; maine has left a famous dowager, whom we see. nothing more of notable about the one or the other.] she was never very beautiful; but had a world of grace and witty intelligence; and knew a voltaire when she saw him. was the soul of courtesy and benignity, though proud enough, and carrying her head at its due height; and was always very charming, in her lofty gracious way, to mankind. interesting to all, were it only as a living fragment of the grand epoch,--kind of french fulness of time, when the world was at length blessed with a louis quatorze, and ne-plus-ultra of a gentleman determined to do the handsome thing in this world. she is much frequented by high people, especially if of a literary or historical turn. president henault (of the abrege chronologique, the well-frilled, accurately powdered, most correct old legal gentleman) is one of her adherents; voltaire is another, that may stand for many: there is an old marquis de st. aulaire, whom she calls "mon vieux berger (my old shepherd," that is to say, sweetheart or flame of love); [barbier, ii. ; see ib. (i. - ; ii. , ; &c.) for many notices of her affairs and her.] there is a most learned president de mesmes, and others we have heard of, but do not wish to know. little de staal was at one time this fine duchess's maid; but has far outgrown all that, a favorite guest of the duchess's instead; holds now mainly by madame du deffand (not yet fallen blind),--and is well turned of fifty, and known for one of the shrewdest little souls in the world, at the time she writes. her letter is addressed "to madame du deffand, at paris;" most free-flowing female letter; of many pages, runs on, day after day, for a fortnight or so;--only excerpts of it introducible here:-- "sceaux, tuesday, th august, .... madame du chatelet and voltaire, who had announced themselves as for to-day, and whom nobody had heard of otherwise, made their appearance yesternight, near midnight; like two spectres, with an odor of embalmment about them, as if just out of their tombs. we were rising from table; the spectres, however, were hungry ones: they needed supper; and what is more, beds, which were not ready. the housekeeper (concierge), who had gone to bed, rose in great haste. gaya [amiable gentleman, conceivable, not known], who had offered his apartment for pressing cases, was obliged to yield it in this emergency: he flitted with as much precipitation and displeasure as an army surprised in its camp; leaving a part of his baggage in the enemy's hands. voltaire thought the lodging excellent, but that did not at all console gaya. "as to the lady, her bed turns out not to have been well made; they have had to put her in a new place to-day. observe, she made that bed herself, no servants being up, and had found a blemish or defaut of"--word wanting: who knows what?--"in the mattresses; which i believe hurt her exact mind, more than her not very delicate body. she has got, in the interim, an apartment promised to somebody else; and she will have to leave it again on friday or saturday, and go into that of marechal de maillebois, who leaves at that time." --yes; maillebois in the body, o reader. this is he, with the old ape-face renewed by paint, whom we once saw marching with an "army of redemption," haggling in the passes about eger, unable to redeem belleisle; marching and haggling, more lately, with a "middle-rhine army," and the like non-effect; since which, fighting his best in italy,--pushed home last winter, with browne's bayonets in his back; belleisle succeeding him in dealing with browne. belleisle, and the "revolt of genoa" (fatal to browne's invasion of us), and the defence of genoa and the mutual worryings thereabout, are going on at a great rate,--and there is terrible news out of those savoy passes, while maillebois is here. concerning which by and by. he is grandson of the renowned colbert, this maillebois. a field-marshal evidently extant, you perceive, in those vanished times: is to make room for madame on friday, says our little de staal; and take leave of us,--if for good, so much the better! "he came at the time we did, with his daughter and grand-daughter: the one is pretty, the other ugly and dreary [l'une, l'autre; no saying which, in such important case! madame la marechale, the mother and grandmother, i think must be dead. not beautiful she, nor very benignant, "une tres-mechante femme, very cat-witted woman," says barbier; "shrieked like a devil, at court, upon the cardinal," about that old army-of-redemption business; but all her noise did nothing]. [barbier, ii, ("november, ").]--m. le marechal has hunted here with his dogs, in these fine autumn woods and glades; chased a bit of a stag, and caught a poor doe's fawn: that was all that could be got there. "our new guests will make better sport: they are going to have their comedy acted again [comedy of the exchange, much an entertainment with them]: vanture [conceivable, not known] is to do the count de boursoufle (de blister or de windbag); you will not say this is a hit, any more than madame du chatelet's doing the hon. miss piggery (la cochonniere), who ought to be fat and short." [l'echange, the exchange, or when shall i get married? farce in three acts:--oeuvres, x. - ; used to be played at cirey and elsewhere (see plenty of details upon it, exact or not quite so, ib. - ).]--little de staal then abruptly breaks off, to ask about her correspondent's health, and her correspondent's friend old president henault's health; touches on those "grumblings and discords in the army (tracasseries de l'armee)," which are making such astir; how m. d'argenson, our fine war-minister, man of talent amid blockheads, will manage them; and suddenly exclaims: "o my queen, what curious animals men and women are! i laugh at their manoeuvres, the days when i have slept well; if i have missed sleep, i could kill them. these changes of temper prove that i do not break off kind. let us mock other people, and let other people mock us; it is well done on both sides.--[poor little de staal: to what a posture have things come with you, in that fast-rotting epoch, of hypocrisies becoming all insolvent!] "wednesday, th. our ghosts do not show themselves by daylight. they appeared yesterday at ten in the evening; i do not think we shall see them sooner to-day: the one is engaged in writing high feats [siecle de louis xv., or what at last became such]; the other in commenting newton. they will neither play nor walk: they are, in fact, equivalent to zeros in a society where their learned writings are of no significance.--[pauses, without notice given: for some hours, perhaps days; then resuming:] nay, worse still: their apparition to-night has produced a vehement declamation on one of our little social diversions here, the game of cavagnole: ["kind of biribi," it would appear; in the height of fashion then.] it was continued and maintained," on the part of madame du chatelet, you guess, "in a tone which is altogether unheard of in this place; and was endured," on the part of serene highness, "with a moderation not less surprising. but what is unendurable is my babble"--and herewith our nimble little woman hops off again into the general field of things; and gossips largely, how are you, my queen, whither are you going, whither we; that the maillebois people are away, and also the villeneuves, if anybody knew them now; then how the estillacs, to the number of four, are coming to-morrow; and cousin soquence, for all his hunting, can catch nothing; and it is a continual coming and going; and how boursoufle is to be played, and a dame dufour is just come, who will do a character. rubrics, vanished shadows, nearly all those high dames and gentlemen; la pauvre saint-pierre, "eaten with gout," who is she? "still drags herself about, as well as she can; but not with me, for i never go by land, and she seems to have the hydrophobia, when i take to the water. [thread of date is gone! i almost think we must have got to saturday by this time:--or perhaps it is only thursday, and maillebois off prematurely, to be out of the way of the farce? little de staal takes no notice; but continues gossiping rapidly:] "yesterday madame du chatelet got into her third lodging: she could not any longer endure the one she had chosen. there was noise in it, smoke without fire:--privately meseems, a little the emblem of herself! as to noise, it was not by night that it incommoded her, she told me, but by day, when she was in the thick of her work: it deranges her ideas. she is busy reviewing her principles"--newton's principia, no doubt, but de staal will understand it only as principes, principles in general:--"it is an exercise she repeats every year, without which the principles might get away, and perhaps go so far she would never find them again [you satirical little gypsy!]. her head, like enough, is a kind of lock-up for them, rather than a birthplace, or natural home: and that is a case for watching carefully lest they get away. she prefers the high air of this occupation to every kind of amusement, and persists in not showing herself till after dark. voltaire has produced some gallant verses [unknown to editors] which help off a little the bad effect of such unusual behavior. "sunday, th. i told you on thursday [no, you did n't; you only meant to tell] that our spectres were going on the morrow, and that the piece was to be played that evening: all this has been done. i cannot give you much of boursoufle [done by one vanture]. mademoiselle piggery [de la cochonniere, madame du chatelet herself] executed so perfectly the extravagance of her part, that i own it gave me real pleasure. but vanture only put his own fatuity into the character of boursoufle, which wanted more: he played naturally in a piece where all requires to be forced, like the subject of it."--what a pity none of us has read this fine farce! "one paris did the part of muscadin (little coxcomb), which name represents his character: in short, it can be said the farce was well given. the author ennobled it by a prologue for the occasion; which he acted very well, along with madame dufour as barbe (governess barbara),--who, but for this brilliant action, could not have put up with merely being governess to piggery. and, in fact, she disdained the simplicity of dress which her part required;--as did the chief actress," du chatelet herself (age now forty-one); "who, in playing piggery, preferred the interests of her own face to those of the piece, and made her entry in all the splendor and elegant equipments of a court lady,"--her "principles," though the key is turned upon them, not unlike jumping out of window, one would say! "she had a crow to pluck" [maille a partir, "clasp to open," which is better] with voltaire on this point: but she is sovereign, and he is slave. i am very sorry at their going, though i was worn out with doing her multifarious errands all the time she was here. "wednesday, th. m. le president [henault] has been asked hither; and he is to bring you, my queen! tried all i could to hinder; but they would not be put off. if your health and disposition do suit, it will be charming. in any case, i have got you a good apartment: it is the one that madame du chatelet had seized upon, after an exact review of all the mansion. there will be a little less furniture than she had put in it; madame had pillaged all her previous apartments to equip this one. we found about seven tables in it, for one item: she needs them of all sizes; immense, to spread out her papers upon; solid, to support her necessaire; slighter, for her nicknacks (pompons), for her jewels. and this fine arrangement did not save her from an accident like that of philip ii., when, after spending all the night in writing, he got his despatches drowned by the oversetting of an ink-bottle. the lady did not pretend to imitate the moderation of that prince; at any rate, he was only writing on affairs of state; and the thing they blotted, on this occasion, was algebra, much more difficult to clean up again. "this subject ought to be exhausted: one word more, and then it does end. the day after their departure, i receive a letter of four pages, and a note enclosed, which announces dreadful burly-burly: m. de voltaire has mislaid his farce, forgotten to get back the parts, and lost his prologue: i am to find all that again [excessively tremulous about his manuscripts, m. de voltaire; of such value are they, of such danger to him; there is la pucelle, for example,--enough to hang a man, were it surreptitiously launched forth in print!]--i am to send him the prologue instantly, not by post, because they would copy it; to keep the parts for fear of the same accident, and to lock up the piece 'under a hundred keys.' i should have thought one padlock sufficient for this treasure! i have duly executed his orders." [--madame de graffigny (paris, ), pp. - .] and herewith explicit de staal. scene closes: exeunt omnes; are off to paris or versailles again; to luneville and the court of stanislaus again,--where also adventures await them, which will be heard of! "figure to yourself," says some other eye-witness, "a lean lady, with big arms and long legs; small head, and countenance losing itself in a cloudery of head-dress; cocked nose [retrousse, say you? very slightly, then; quite an unobjectionable nose!] and pair of small greenish eyes; complexion tawny, and mouth too big: this was the divine emilie, whom voltaire celebrates to the stars. loaded to extravagance with ribbons, laces, face-patches, jewels and female ornaments; determined to be sumptuous in spite of economics, and pretty in spite of nature:" pooh, it is an enemy's hand that paints! "and then by her side," continues he, "the thin long figure of voltaire, that anatomy of an apollo, affecting worship of her," [from rodenbeck (quoting somebody, whom i have surely seen in french; whom rodenbeck tries to name, as he could have done, but curiously without success), i. .]--yes, that thin long gentleman, with high red-heeled shoes, and the daintiest polite attitudes and paces; in superfine coat, laced hat under arm; nose and under-lip ever more like coalescing (owing to decay of teeth), but two eyes shining on you like carbuncles; and in the ringing voice, such touches of speech when you apply for it! thus they at sceaux and elsewhere; walking their life-minuet, making their entrances and exits. one thing is lamentable: the relation with madame is not now a flourishing one, or capable again of being: "does not love me as he did, the wretch!" thinks madame always;--yet sticks by him, were it but in the form of blister. they had been to luneville, spring, ; happy dull place, within reach of cirey; far from versailles and its cabals. they went again, , in a kind of permanent way; titular stanislaus, an opulent dawdling creature, much liking to have them; and father menou, his jesuit,--who is always in quarrel with the titular mistress,--thinking to displace her (as you, gradually discover), and promote the du chatelet to that improper dignity! in which he had not the least success, says voltaire; but got "two women on his ears instead of one." it was not to be stanislaus's mistress; nor a titular one at all, but a real, that madame was fated in this dull happy place! idle readers know the story only too well;--concerning which, admit this other fraction and no more:-- "stanislaus, as a titular king, cannot do without some kind of titular army,--were it only to blare about as life-guard, and beat kettle-drums on occasion. a certain tall high-sniffing m. de st. lambert, a young lorrainer of long pedigree and light purse, had just taken refuge in this life-guard [summer , or so], i know not whether as captain or lieutenant, just come from the netherlands wars: of grave stiff manners; for the rest, a good-looking young fellow; thought to have some poetic genius, even;--who is precious, surely, in such an out-of-the-way place. welcome to voltaire, to madame still more. alas, readers know the history,--on which we must not dwell. madame, a brown geometric lady, age now forty-two, with a great man who has scandalously ceased to love her, casts her eye upon st. lambert: 'yes, you would be the shoeing-horn, monsieur, if one had time, you fine florid fellow, hardly yet into your thirties--' and tries him with a little coquetry; i always think, perhaps in this view chiefly? and then, at any rate, as he responded, the thing itself became so interesting: 'our ulysses-bow, we can still bend it, then, aha! 'and is not that a pretty stag withal, worth bringing down; florid, just entering his thirties, and with the susceptibilities of genius! voltaire was not blind, could he have helped it,--had he been tremulously alive to help it. 'your verses to her, my st. lambert,--ah, tibullus never did the like of them. yes, to you are the roses, my fine young friend, to me are the thorns:' thus sings voltaire in response; [--oeuvres,--xvii. (epitre a m. de st. lambert, ); &c. &c. in--memoires sur voltaire par longchamp et wagniere--(paris, ), ii. et seq., details enough and more.] perhaps not thinking it would go so far. and it went,--alas, it went to all lengths, mentionable and not mentionable: and m. le marquis had to be coaxed home in the spring of ,--still earlier it had been suitabler;--and in september ensuing, m. de st. lambert looking his demurest, there is an important lying-in to be transacted! newton's principia is, by that time, drawing diligently to its close;--complicated by such far abstruser problems, not of the geometric sort! poor little lean brown woman, what a life, after all; what an end of a life!"-- war-passages in . the war, since friedrich got out of it, does not abate in animosity, nor want for bloodshed, battle and sieging; but offers little now memorable. march th, , a ghastly phantasm of a congress, "congress of breda," which had for some months been attempting peace, and was never able to get into conference, or sit in its chairs except for moments, flew away altogether; [in september, , had got together; but would not take life, on trying and again trying, and fell forgotten: february, , again gleams up into hope: march th and the following days, vanishes for good (adelung, v. ; vi. , ).] and left the war perhaps angrier than ever, more hopelessly stupid than ever. except, indeed, that resources are failing; money running low in france, parlements beginning to murmur, and among the population generally a feeling that glory is excellent, but will not make the national pot boil. perhaps all this will be more effective than congresses of breda? here are the few notes worth giving: april d- th, , the french invade holland; whereupon, suddenly, a stadtholder there. "after fontenoy there has been much sieging and capturing in that netherlands country, a series of successes gloriously delightful to marechal de saxe and the french nation: likewise (in bar of said sieging, in futile attempt to bar it) a battle of roucoux, october, ; with victory, or quasi-victory, to saxe, at least with prostration to the opposite part." and farther on, there is a battle of lauffeld coming, d july, ; with similar results; frustration evident, retreat evident, victory not much to speak of. and in this gloriously delightful manner saxe and the french nation have proceeded, till in fact the netherlands territory with all strongholds, except maestricht alone, was theirs,--and they decided on attacking the dutch republic itself. and ( th april, ) actually broke in upon the frontier fortresses of zealand; found the same dry-rotten everywhere; and took them, fortress after fortress, at the rate of a cannon salvo each: 'ye magnanimous dutch, see what you have got by not sitting still, as recommended!' to the horror and terror of the poor zealanders and general dutch population. who shrieked to england for help;--and were, on the very instant, furnished with a modicum of seventy-fours (dutch courier returning by the same); which landed the courier april d, and put walcheren in a state of security. [adelung, vi. , - .] "whereupon the dutch population turned round on its governors, with a growl of indignation, spreading ever wider, waxing ever higher: 'scandalous laggards, is this your mode of governing a free republic? freedom to let the state go to dry-rot, and become the laughing-stock of mankind. to provide for your own paltry kindred in the state-employments; to palaver grandly with all comers; and publish melodious despatches of van hoey? had not britannic majesty, for his dear daughter's sake, come to the rescue in this crisis, where had we been? we demand a stadtholder again; our glorious nassau orange, to keep some bridle on you!' and actually, in this way, populus and plebs, by general turning out into the streets, in a gloomily indignant manner, which threatens to become vociferous and dangerous,--cowed the heads of the republic into choosing the said prince, with princess and family, as stadtholder, high-admiral, high-everything and supreme of the republic. hereditary, no less, and punctually perpetual; princess and family to share in it. in which happy state (ripened into kingship latterly) they continue to this day. a result painfully surprising to most christian majesty; gratifying to britannic proportionately, or more;--and indeed beneficial towards abating dry-rot and melodious palaver in that poor land of the free. consummated, by popular outbreak of vociferation, in the different provinces, in about a week from april d, when those helpful seventy-fours hove in sight. stadtholdership had been in abeyance for forty-five years. [since our dutch william's death, .] the new stadtholder did his best; could not, in the short life granted him, do nearly enough.--next year there was a second dutch outbreak, or general turning into the streets; of much more violent character; in regard to glaringly unjust excises and taxations, and to 'instant dismissal of your excise-farmers,' as the special first item. [adelung, vi. et seq.; raumer, - ("march-september, "); or, in--chesterfield's works,--dayrolles's letters to chesterfield: somewhat unintelligent and unintelligible, both raumer and he.] which salutary object being accomplished (new stadtholder well aiding, in a valiant and judicious manner), there has no third dose of that dangerous remedy been needed since. "july th, fate of chevalier de belleisle. at the fortress of exilles, in one of those passes of the savoy alps,--pass of col di sieta, memorable to the french soldier ever since,--there occurred a lamentable thing;" doubtless much talked of at sceaux while voltaire was there. "the revolt of genoa (popular outburst, and expulsion of our poor friend botta and his austrians, then a famous thing, and a rarer than now) having suddenly recalled the victorious general browne from his siege of antibes and invasion of provence,--marechal duc de belleisle, well reinforced and now become 'army of italy' in general, followed steadfastly for 'defence of genoa' against indignant botta, browne and company. for defence of genoa; nay for attack on turin, which would have been 'defence' in genoa and everywhere,--had the captious spaniard consented to co-operate. captious spaniard would not; couriers to madrid, to paris thereupon, and much time lost;--till, at the eleventh hour, came consent from paris, 'try it by yourself, then!' belleisle tries it; at least his brother does. his brother, the chevalier, is to force that pass of exilles; a terrible fiery business, but the backbone of the whole adventure: in which, if the chevalier can succeed, he too is to be marechal de france. forward, therefore, climb the alpine stairs again; snatch me that fort of exilles. "and so, july th, , the chevalier comes in sight of the place; scans a little the frowning buttresses, bristly with guns; the dumb alps, to right and left, looking down on him and it. chevalier de belleisle judges that, however difficult, it can and must be possible to french valor; and storms in upon it, huge and furious ( , , or if needful , );--but is torn into mere wreck, and hideous recoil; rallies, snatches a standard, 'we must take it or die,'--and dies, does not take it; falls shot on the rampart, 'pulling at the palisades with his own hands,' nay some say 'with his teeth,' when the last moments came. within one hour, he has lost , men; and himself and his brother's enterprise lie ended there. [voltaire, xxv. et seq. (siecle de louis quinze, c. ); adelung, vi .] fancy his poor brother's feelings, who much loved him! the discords about war-matters (tracasseries de l'armee) were a topic at sceaux lately, as de staal intimated. 'why starve our italian enterprises; heaping every resource upon the netherlands and saxe?' diligent defence of genoa (chiefly by flourishing of swords on the part of france, for the austrians were not yet ready) is henceforth all the italian war there is; and this explosion at exilles may fitly be finis to it here. let us only say that infant philip did, when the peace came, get a bit of apanage (parma and piacenza or some such thing, contemptibly small to the maternal heart), and that all things else lapsed to their pristine state, minus only the waste and ruin there had been." july th-september th: siege of the chief dutch fortress. "unexpected siege of bergen-op-zoom; two months of intense excitement to the dutch patriots and cause-of-liberty gazetteers, as indifferent and totally dead as it has now become. marechal de saxe, after his victory at lauffeld, d july, did not besiege maestricht, as had been the universal expectation; but shot off an efficient lieutenant of his, one lowendahl, in due force, privately ready, to overwhelm bergen-op-zoom with sudden siege, while he himself lay between the beaten enemy and it. bergen is the heart, of holland, key of the scheld, and quite otherwise important than maestricht. 'coehorn's masterpiece!' exclaim the gazetteers; 'impregnable, you may depend!' 'we shall see,' answered saxe, answered lowendahl the dane (who also became marechal by this business); and after a great deal of furious assaulting and battering, took the place september th, before daylight," by a kind of surprisal or quasi-storm;--"the commandant, one cronstrom, a brave old swede, age towards ninety, not being of very wakeful nature! 'did as well as could be expected of him,' said the court-martial sitting on his case, and forbore to shoot the poor old man." [adelung, vi. , ;--"for cronstrom," if any one is curious, "see schlotzer,--schwedische biographie,--ii. (in voce)."] a sore stroke, this of bergen, to britannic majesty and the friends of liberty; who nevertheless refuse to be discouraged." december th, russians in behalf of human liberty. "march of , russians from the city of moscow, this day; on a very long journey, in the hoary christmas weather! most, christian majesty is ruinously short of money; britannic majesty has still credit, and a voting parliament, but, owing to french influence on the continent, can get no recruits to hire. gradually driven upon russia, in such stress, britannic majesty has this year hired for himself a , russians; , regular foot; , ditto horse, and , cossacks;--uncommonly cheap, only , pounds the lot, not, pounds per head by the year. and, in spite of many difficulties and hagglings, they actually get on march, from moscow, th december, ; and creep on, all winter, through the frozen peats wildernesses, through lithuania, poland, towards bohmen, mahren: are to appear in the rhine countries, joined by certain austrians; and astonish mankind next spring. their captain is one repnin, prince repnin, afterwards famous enough in those polish countries;"--which is now the one point interesting to us in the thing. "their captain was, first, to be lacy, old marshal lacy; then, failing lacy, 'why not general keith?'--but proves to be repnin, after much hustling and intriguing:" repnin, not keith, that is the interesting point. "such march of the russians, on behalf of human liberty, in pay of britannic majesty, is a surprising fact; and considerably discomposes the french. who bestir themselves in sweden and elsewhere against russia and it: with no result,--except perhaps the incidental one, of getting our esteemed old friend guy dickens, now sir guy, dismissed from stockholm, and we hope put on half-pay on his return home." [adelung, vi. , :--sir guy, not yet invalided, "went to russia," and other errands.] marshal keith comes to prussia (september, ). "much hustling and intriguing," it appears, in regard to the captaincy of these russians. concerning which there is no word worthy to be said,--except for one reason only, that it finished off the connection of general keith with russia. that this of seeing repnin, his junior and inferior, preferred to him, was, of many disgusts, the last drop which made the cup run over;--and led the said general to fling it from him, and seek new fields of employment. from hamburg, having got so far, he addresses himself, st september, , to friedrich, with offer of service; who grasps eagerly at the offer: "feldmarschall your rank; income, $ , a year; income, welcome, all suitable:"--and, october th, feldmarschall keith finishes, at potsdam, a long letter to his brother lord marischal, in these words, worth giving, as those of a very clear-eyed sound observer of men and things:-- "i have now the honor, and, which is still more, the pleasure, of being with the king at potsdam; where he ordered me to come," th current, "two days after he declared me fieldmarshal: where i have the honor to dine and sup with him almost every day. he has more wit than i have wit to tell you; speaks solidly and knowingly on all kinds of subjects; and i am much mistaken if, with the experience of four campaigns, he is not the best officer of his army. he has several persons," rothenburg, winterfeld, swedish rudenskjold (just about departing), not to speak of d'argens and the french, "with whom he lives in almost the familiarity of a friend,--but has no favorite;--and shows a natural politeness for everybody who is about him. for one who has been four days about his person, you will say i pretend to know a great deal of his character: but what i tell you, you may depend upon. with more time, i shall know as much of him as he will let me know;--and all his ministry knows no more." [varnhagen van ense,--leben des feldmarschalls jakob keith--(berlin, ,) p. ; adelung, vi. .] a notable acquisition to friedrich;--and to the two keiths withal; for friedrich attached both of them to his court and service, after their unlucky wanderings; and took to them both, in no common degree. as will abundantly appear. while that russia corps was marching out of moscow, cocceji and his commissions report from pommern, that the pomeranian law-stables are completely clear; that the new courts have, for many months back, been in work, and are now, at the end of the year, fairly abreast with it, according to program;--have "decided of old-pending lawsuits , , all that there were (one of them years old, and filling seventy volumes); and of the new ones, ; not one lawsuit remaining over from the previous year." a highly gratifying bit of news to his majesty; who answers emphatically, euge! and directs that the law hercules proceed now to the other provinces,--to the kur-mark, now, and berlin itself,--with his salutary industries. naming him "grand chancellor," moreover; that is to say, under a new title, head of prussian law,--old arnim, "minister of justice," having shown himself disaffected to law-reform, and got rebuked in consequence, and sulkily gone into private life. [stenzel, iv. ; ranke, iii. .] in february of this year, , friedrich had something like a stroke of apoplexy; "sank suddenly motionless, one day," and sat insensible, perhaps for half an hour: to the terror and horror of those about him. hemiplegia, he calls it; rush of blood to the head;--probably indigestion, or gouty humors, exasperated by over-fatigue. which occasioned great rumor in the world; and at paris, to voltaire's horror, reports of his death. he himself made light of the matter: [to voltaire, d february, (--oeuvres de frederic,--xxii. ); see ib. n.] and it did not prove to have been important; was never followed by anything similar through his long life; and produced no change in his often-wavering health, or in his habits, which were always steady. he is writing memoirs; settling "colonies" (on his waste moors); improving harbors. waiting when this european war will end; politely deaf to the offers of britannic majesty as to taking the least personal share in it. chapter iii.--european war falls done: treaty of aix-la-chapelle. the preparations for campaign were on a larger scale than ever. britannic subsidies, a new parliament being of willing mind, are opulent to a degree; , men, , austrians for one item, shall be in the netherlands;--coupled with this remarkable new clause, "and they are to be there in fact, and not on paper only," and with a tare-and-tret of or per cent, as too often heretofore! holland, under its new stadtholder, is stanch of purpose, if of nothing else. the , russians, tramping along, are actually dawning over the horizon, towards teutschland,--king friedrich standing to arms along his silesian border, vigilant "cordon of troops all the way," in watch of such questionable transit. [in adelung, vi. , , , ("april, -august, "), account of the more and more visible ill-will of the czarina: "jealousy" about sweden, about dantzig, poland, &c. &c.] britannic majesty and parliament seem resolute to try, once more, to the utmost, the power of the breeches-pocket in defending this sacred cause of liberty so called. breeches-pocket minus most other requisites: alas, with such methods as you have, what can come of it? royal highness of cumberland is a valiant man, knowing of war little more than the white horse of hanover does;--certain of ruin again, at the hands of marechal de saxe. so think many, and have their dismal misgivings. "saxe having eaten bergen-op-zoom before our eyes, what can withstand the teeth of saxe?" in fact, there remains only maestricht, of considerable; and then holland is as good as his! as for king louis, glory, with funds running out, and the pot ceasing to boil, has lost its charm to an afflicted france and him. king louis's wishes are known, this long while;--and ligonier, generously dismissed by him after lauffeld, has brought express word to that effect, and outline of the modest terms proposed in one's hour of victory, with pot ceasing to boil. on a sudden, too, "march th,"--wintry blasts and hailstorms still raging,--marechal de saxe, regardless of domestic hunger, took the field, stronger than ever. manoeuvred about; bewildering the mind of royal highness and the stadtholder ("will he besiege breda? will he do this, will he do that?")--poor highness and poor stadtholder; who "did not agree well together," and had not the half of their forces come in, not to speak of handling them when come! bewilderment of these two once completed, marechal de saxe made "a beautiful march upon maestricht;" and, april th, opened trenches, a very vesuvius of artillery, before that place; royal highness gazing into it, in a doleful manner, from the adjacent steeple-tops. royal highness, valor's self, has to admit: "such an outlook; not half of us got together! the , austrians are but , ; the--in fact, you will have to make peace, what else?" [his letters, in coxe's--pelham--("march th-april d, "), i. - .] nothing else, as has been evident to practical official people (especially to frugal pelham, chesterfield and other leading heads) for these two months last past. in a word, those , russians are still far away under the horizon, when thoughts of a new congress, "congress of aix-la-chapelle," are busying the public mind: "mere moonshine again?" "something real this time?"--and on and from march th (lord sandwich first on the ground, and robinson from vienna coming to help), the actual congress begins assembling there. april th, the congress gets actually to business; very intent on doing it; at least the three main parties, france, england, holland, are supremely so. who, finding, for five diligent days, nothing but haggle and objection on the part of the others, did by themselves meet under cloud of night, "night of april th- th;" and--bring the preliminaries to perfection. and have them signed before daybreak; which is, in effect, signing, or at least fixing as certain, the treaty itself; so that armistice can ensue straightway, and the war essentially end. a fixed thing; the purseholders having signed. on the safe rear of which, your recipient subsidiary parties can argue and protest (as the empress-queen and her kaunitz vehemently did, to great lengths), and gradually come in and finish. which, in the course of the next six months, they all did, empress-queen and excellency kaunitz not excepted. and so, october th, , all details being, in the interim, either got settled, or got flung into corners as unsettleable (mostly the latter),--treaty itself was signed by everybody; and there was "peace of aix-la-chapelle." upon which, except to remark transiently how inconclusive a conclusion it was, mere end of war because your powder is run out, mere truce till you gather breath and gunpowder again, we will spend no word in this place. [complete details in adelung, vi. - : "october, ," ligonier returning, and first rumor of new congress ( ); " th march, ," sandwich come ( ); "april th- th," meet under cloud of night ( ); kaunitz protesting ( ): " d august," russians to halt and turn ( ); "are over into the oberpfalz, magazines ahead at nurnberg;" in september, get to bohmen again, and winter there: " th october, ," treaty finished ( , ); treaty itself given (ib., beylage, ). see--gentleman's magazine,--and old newspapers of ; coxe's--pelham,--ii. - , i. - .] "the treaty of aix-la-chapelle was done in a hurry and a huddle; greatly to maria theresa's disgust. 'why not go on with your expenditures, ye sea-powers? can money and life be spent better? i have yet conquered next to nothing for the cause of liberty and myself!' but the sea-powers were tired of it; the dutch especially, who had been hoisted with such difficulty, tended strongly, new stadtholder notwithstanding, to plump down again into stable equilibrium on the broad-bottom principle. huddle up the matter; end it, well if you can; any way end it. the treaty contained many articles, now become forgettable to mankind. there is only one article, and the want of one, which shall concern us in this place. the one article is: guarantee by all the european powers to friedrich's treaty of dresden. punctually got as bargained for,--french especially willing; britannic majesty perhaps a little languid, but his ministers positive on the point; so that friedrioh's envoy had not much difficulty at aix. and now, friedrich's ownership of silesia recognized by all the powers to be final and unquestionable, surely nothing more is wanted? nothing,--except keeping of this solemn stipulation by all the powers. how it was kept by some of them; in what sense some of them are keeping it even now, we shall see by and by. "the want of an article was, on the part of england, concerning jenkins's ear. there is not the least conclusion arrived at on that important spanish-english question; blind beginning of all these conflagrations; and which, in its meaning to the somnambulant nation, is so immense. no notice taken of it; huddled together, some hasty shovelful or two of diplomatic ashes cast on it, 'as good as extinct, you see!' left smoking, when all the rest is quenched. considerable feeling there was, on this point, in the heart of the poor somnambulant english nation; much dumb or semi-articulate growling on such a peace-treaty: 'we have arrived nowhere, then, by all this fighting, and squandering, and perilous stumbling among the chimney-pots? spain (on its own showing) owed us , pounds. spain's debt to hanover; yes, you take care of that; some old sixpenny matter, which nobody ever heard of before: and of spain's huge debt to england you drop no hint; of the , pounds, clear money, due by spain; or of one's liberty to navigate the high seas, none!' [protest of english merchants against, &c. ("may, ") given in adelung, vi. - .] a peace the reverse of applauded in england; though the wiser somnambulants, much more pitt and friends, who are broad awake on these german points, may well be thankful to see such a war end on any terms."--well, surely this old admitted , pounds should have been paid! and, to a moral certainty, robinson and sandwich must have made demand of it from the spaniard. but there is no getting old debts in, especially from that quarter. "king friedrich [let me interrupt, for a moment, with this poor composite note] is trying in spain even now,--ever since , when termagant's husband died, and a new king came,--for payment of old debt: two old debts; quite tolerably just both of them. king friedrich keeps trying till , three years in all: and, in the end, gets nothing whatever. nothing,--except some merino rams in the interim," gift from the new king of spain, i can suppose, which proved extremely useful in our wool industries; "and, from the same polite ferdinand vi., a porcelain vase filled with spanish snuff." that was all!-- king friedrich, let me note farther, is getting decidedly deep into snuff; holds by spaniol (a dry yellow pungency, analogous to lundy-foot or irish-blackguard, known to snuffy readers); always by spaniol, we say; and more especially "the kind used by her majesty of spain," the now dowager termagant: [orders this kind, from his ambassador in paris, " th september, :" the earliest extant trace of his snuffing habits (preuss, i. ).--note farther (if interesting): "the termagant still lasted as dowager, consuming spaniol at least, for near twenty years (died th july, );--the new king, ferdinand vi., was her stepson, not her son; he went mad, poor soul, and died ( th august, ): upon which, carlos of naples, our own 'baby carlos' that once was, succeeded in spain, 'king carlos iii. of spain;' leaving his son, a young boy under tutelage, as king of the two sicilies (king 'ferdinand iv.,' who did not die, but had his difficulties, till ). don philip, who had fought so in those savoy passes, and got the bit of parmesan country, died , the year before mamma."] which, also, is to be remembered. dryasdust adds, in his sweetly consecutive way: "friedrich was very expensive about his snuff-boxes; wore two big rich boxes in his pockets; five or six stood on tables about; and more than a hundred in store, coming out by turns for variety. the cheapest of them cost pounds ( , thalers); he had them as high as , pounds. at his death, there were found of various values: they were the substance of all the jewelry he had; besides these snuff-boxes, two gold watches only, and a very small modicum of rings. had yearly for personal expenditure , , thalers [ , pounds of civil list, as we should say]; spent , pounds of it, and yearly gave the rest away in royal beneficences, aid of burnt villages, inundated provinces, and multifarious pater-patriae objects." [preuss, i. , ,]--in regard to jenkins's ear, my constitutional friend continues:-- "silesia and jenkins's ear, we often say, were the two bits of realities in this enormous hurly-burly of imaginations, insane ambitions, and zeros and negative quantities. negative belleisle goes home, not with germany cut in four and put under guidance of the first nation of the universe (so extremely fit for guiding self and neighbors), but with the first nation itself reduced almost to wallet and staff; bankrupt, beggared--'yes,' it answers, 'in all but glory! have not we gained fontenoy, roucoux, lauffeld; and strong-places innumerable [mostly in a state of dry-rot]? did men ever fight as we frenchmen; combining it with theatrical entertainments, too! sublime france, first nation of the universe, will try another flight (essor), were she breathed a little!' "yes, a new essor ere long, and perhaps surprise herself and mankind! the losses of men, money and resource, under this mad empty enterprise of belleisle's, were enormous, palpable to france and all mortals: but perhaps these were trifling to the replacement of them by such gloire as there had been. a gloire of plunging into war on no cause at all; and with an issue consisting only of foul gases of extreme levity. messieurs are of confessed promptitude to fight; and their talent for it, in some kinds, is very great indeed. but this treating of battle and slaughter, of death, judgment and eternity, as light play-house matters; this of rising into such transcendency of valor, as to snap your fingers in the face of the almighty maker; this, messieurs, give me leave to say so, is a thing that will conduct you and your premiere nation to the devil, if you do not alter it. inevitable, i tell you! your road lies that way, then? good morning, messieurs; let me still hope, not!" diplomatist kaunitz gained his first glories in this congress of aix; which are still great in the eyes of some. age now thirty-seven; a native of these western parts; but henceforth, by degrees ever more, the shining star and guide of austrian policies down almost to our own new epoch. as, unluckily, he will concern us not a little, in time coming, let us read this note, as foreshadow of the man and his doings:-- "the glory of count, ultimately prince, von kaunitz-rietberg, is great in diplomatic circles of the past century. 'the greatest of diplomatists,' they all say;--and surely it is reckoned something to become the greatest in your line. farther than this, to the readers of these times, kaunitz-rietberg's glory does not go. a great character, great wisdom, lasting great results to his country, readers do not trace in kaunitz's diplomacies,--only temporary great results, or what he and the by-standers thought such, to kaunitz himself. he was the supreme jove, we perceive, in that extinct olympus; and regards with sublime pity, not unallied to contempt, all other diplomatic beings. a man sparing of words, sparing even of looks; will hardly lift his eyelids for your sake,--will lift perhaps his chin, in slight monosyllabic fashion, and stalk superlatively through the other door. king of the vanished shadows. a determined hater of fresh air; rode under glass cover, on the finest day; made the very empress shut her windows when he came to audience; fed, cautiously daring, on boiled capons: more i remember not,--except also that he would suffer no mention of the word death by any mortal. [hormayr,--oesterreichischer plutarch,--iv. ( tes), - .] a most high-sniffing, fantastic, slightly insolent shadow-king;--ruled, in his time, the now vanished olympus; and had the difficult glory (defective only in result) of uniting france and austria against the poor old sea-power milk-cows, for the purpose of recovering silesia from friedrich, a few years hence!"--these are wondrous results; hidden under the horizon, not very far either; and will astonish britannic majesty and all readers, in a few years. marechal de saxe pays friedrich a visit. in summer, , marechal de saxe, the other shiny figure of this mad business of the netherlands, paid friedrich a visit; had the honor to be entertained by him three days (july th- th, ), in his royal cottage of sans-souci seemingly, in his choicest manner. curiosity, which is now nothing like so vivid as it then was, would be glad to listen a little, in this meeting of two suns, or of one sun and one immense tar-barrel, or atmospheric meteor really of shining nature, and taken for a sun. but the books are silent; not the least detail, or hint, or feature granted us. only fancy;--and this of smelfungus, by way of long farewell to one of the parties:-- ... "it was at tongres, or in head-quarters near it, th october, ,--battle expected on the morrow [battle of roucoux, over towards herstal, which we used to know],-that m. favart, saxe's playwright and theatre-director, gave out in cheerful doggerel on fall of the curtain, the announcement:-- --'demain nous donnerons relache, quoique le directeur s'en fache, vous voir combleroit nos desirs:-- 'to-morrow is no play, to the manager's regret, whose sole study is to keep you happy: --on doit ceder tout a la gloire; vous ne songes qu'a la victoire, nous ne songeons qu'a vos plaisires'-- [--biographic universelle,--xiv. ,? favart; espagnac, ii. .] but, you being bent upon victory, what can he do?-- day after to-morrow,'-- 'day after to-morrow,' added he, taking the official tone, (in honor of your laurels) [gained already, since you resolve on gaining them], we will have the honor of presenting'--such and such a gay farce, to as many of you as remain alive! which was received with gay clapping of hands: admirable to the universe, at least to the parisian univers and oneself. such a prodigality of light daring is in these french gentlemen, skilfully tickled by the marechal; who uses this playwright, among other implements, for keeping them at the proper pitch. was there ever seen such radiancy of valor? very radiant indeed;--yet, it seems to me, gone somewhat into the phosphorescent kind; shining in the dark, as fish will do when rotten! war has actually its serious character; nor is death a farcical transaction, however high your genius may go. but what then? it is the marechal's trade to keep these poor people at the cutting pitch, on any terms that will hold for the moment. "i know not which was the most dissolute army ever seen in the world; but this of saxe's was very dissolute. playwright favart had withal a beautiful clever wife,--upon whom the courtships, munificent blandishments, threatenings and utmost endeavors of marechal de saxe (in his character of goat-footed satyr) could not produce the least impression. for a whole year, not the least. whereupon the goat-footed had to get lettre de cachet for her; had to--in fact, produce the brutalest adventure that is known of him, even in this brutal kind. poor favart, rushing about in despair, not permitted to run him through the belly, and die with his wife undishonored, had to console himself, he and she; and do agreeable theatricalities for a living as heretofore. let us not speak of it! "of saxe's generalship, which is now a thing fallen pretty much into oblivion, i have no authority to speak. he had much wild natural ingenuity in him; cunning rapid whirls of contrivance; and gained three battles and very many sieges, amid the loudest clapping of hands that could well be. he had perfect intrepidity; not to be flurried by any amount of peril or confusion; looked on that english column, advancing at fontenoy with its fue infernal, steadily through his perspective; chewing his leaden bullet: 'going to beat me, then? well--!' nobody needed to be braver. he had great good-nature too, though of hot temper and so full of multifarious veracities; a substratum of inarticulate good sense withal, and much magnanimity run wild, or run to seed. a big-limbed, swashing, perpendicular kind of fellow; haughty of face, but jolly too; with a big, not ugly strut;--captivating to the french nation, and fit god of war (fitter than 'dalhousie,' i am sure!) for that susceptive people. understood their army also, what it was then and there; and how, by theatricals and otherwise, to get a great deal of fire out of it. great deal of fire;--whether by gradual conflagration or not, on the road to ruin or not; how, he did not care. in respect of military 'fame' so called, he had the great advantage of fighting always against bad generals, sometimes against the very worst. to his fame an advantage; to himself and his real worth, far the reverse. had he fallen in with a friedrich, even with a browne or a traun, there might have been different news got. friedrich (who was never stingy in such matters, except to his own generals, where it might do hurt) is profuse in his eulogies, in his admirations of saxe; amiable to see, and not insincere; but which, perhaps, practically do not mean very much. "it is certain the french army reaped no profit from its experience of marechal de saxe, and the high theatricalities, ornamental blackguardisms, and ridicule of death and life. in the long-run a graver face would have been of better augury. king friedrich's soldiers, one observes, on the eve of battle, settle their bits of worldly business; and wind up, many of them, with a hoarse whisper of prayer. oliver cromwell's soldiers did so, gustaf adolf's; in fact, i think all good soldiers: roucoux with a prince karl, lauffeld with a duke of cumberland; you gain your roucoux, your lauffeld, human stupidity permitting: but one day you fall in with human intelligence, in an extremely grave form;--and your 'elan,' elastic outburst, the quickest in nature, what becomes of it? wait but another decade; we shall see what an army this has grown. cupidity, dishonesty, floundering stupidity, indiscipline, mistrust; and an elastic outspurt (elan) turned often enough into the form of sauve-qui-peut! "m. le marechal survived aix-la-chapelle little more than two years. lived at chambord, on the loire, an ex-royal palace; in such splendor as never was. went down in a rose-pink cloud, as if of perfect felicity; of glory that would last forever,--which it has by no means done. he made despatch; escaped, in this world, the nemesis, which often waits on what they call 'fame.' by diligent service of the devil, in ways not worth specifying, he saw himself, november st, , flung prostrate suddenly: 'putrid fever!' gloom the doctors ominously to one another: and, november th, the devil (i am afraid it was he, though clad in roseate effulgence, and melodious exceedingly) carried him home on those kind terms, as from a universe all of opera. 'wait till ,--till !' murmured the devil to himself." tragic news, that concern us, of voltaire and others. about two months after those saxe-friedrich hospitalities at sans-souci, voltaire, writing, late at night, from the hospitable palace of titular stanislaus, has these words, to his trusted d'argental:-- luneville, th september, .... "madame du chatelet, this night, while scribbling over her newton, felt a little twinge; she called a waiting-maid, who had only time to hold out her apron, and catch a little girl, whom they carried to its cradle. the mother arranged her papers, went to bed; and the whole of that (tout cela) is sleeping like a dormouse, at the hour i write to you." my guardian angels, "poor i sha'n't have so easy a delivery of my catilina" (my rome saved, for the confusion of old crebillon and the cabals)! [--oeuvres,--lxxiv. (voltaire to d'argental).]... and then, six days later, hear another witness present there:-- luneville palace, th september. "for the first three or four days, the health of the mother appeared excellent; denoting nothing but the weakness inseparable from her situation. the weather was very warm. milk-fever came, which made the heat worse. in spite of remonstrances, she would have some iced barley-water; drank a big glass of it;--and, some instants after, had great pain in her head; followed by other bad symptoms." which brought the doctor in again, several doctors, hastily summoned; who, after difficulties, thought again that all was coming right. and so, on the sixth night, th september, inquiring friends had left the sick-room hopefully, and gone down to supper, "the rather as madame seemed inclined to sleep. there remained none with her but m. de st. lambert, one of her maids and i. m. de st. lambert, as soon as the strangers were gone, went forward and spoke some moments to her; but seeing her sleepy, drew back, and sat chatting with us two. eight or ten minutes after, we heard a kind of rattle in the throat, intermixed with hiccoughs: we ran to the bed; found her, senseless; raised her to a sitting posture, tried vinaigrettes, rubbed her feet, knocked into the palms of her hands;--all in vain; she was dead! "of course the supper-party burst up into her room; m. le marquis de chatelet, m. de voltaire, and the others. profound consternation: to tears, to cries succeeded a mournful silence. voltaire and st. lambert remained the last about her bed. at length voltaire quitted the room; got out by the grand entrance, hardly knowing which way he went. at the foot of the outer stairs, near a sentry's box, he fell full length on the pavement. his lackey, who was a step or two behind, rushed forward to raise him. at that moment came m. de st. lambert; who had taken the same road, and who now hastened to help. m. de voltaire, once on his feet again, and recognizing who it was, said, through his tears and with the most pathetic accent, 'ah, mon ami, it is you that have killed her to me!'--and then suddenly, as if starting awake, with the tone of reproach and despair, 'eh, mon dieu, monsieur, de quoi vous avisiez-vous de lui faire un enfant (good god, sir, what put it into your head to--to--)!'" [longchamp et wagniere,--memoires sur voltaire,--ii. , ;--longchamp loquitur.] poor m. de voltaire; suddenly become widower, and flung out upon his shifts again, at his time of life! may now wander, ishmael-like, whither he will, in this hard lonesome world. his grief is overwhelming, mixed with other sharp feelings clue on the matter; but does not last very long, in that poignant form. he will turn up on us, in his new capacity of single-man, again brilliant enough, within year and day. last autumn, september, , wilhelmina's one daughter, one child, was wedded; to that young durchlaucht of wurtemberg, whom we saw gallanting the little girl, to wilhelmina's amusement, some years ago. about the wedding, nothing; nor about the wedded life, what would have been more curious:--no wilhelmina now to tell us anything; not even whether mamma the improper duchess was there. from berlin, the two youngest princes, henri and ferdinand, attended at baireuth;--mannstein, our old russian friend, now prussian again, escorting them. [seyfarth, ii. .] the king, too busy, i suppose, with silesian reviews and the like, sends his best wishes,--for indeed the match was of his sanctioning and advising;--though his wishes proved mere disappointment in the sequel. friedrich got no "furtherance in the swabian-franconian circles," or favor anywhere, by means of this durchlaucht; in the end, far the reverse!--in a word, the happy couple rolled away to wurtemberg (september th, ); he twenty, she sixteen, poor young creatures; and in years following became unhappy to a degree. there was but one child, and it soon died. the young serene lady was of airy high spirit; graceful, clever, good too, they said; perhaps a thought too proud:--but as for her reigning duke, there was seldom seen so lurid a serenity; and it was difficult to live beside him. a most arbitrary herr, with glooms and whims; dim-eyed, ambitious, voracious, and the temper of an angry mule,--very fit to have been haltered, in a judicious manner, instead of being set to halter others! enough, in six or seven years time, the bright pair found itself grown thunderous, opaque beyond description; and (in ) had to split asunder for good. "owing to the reigning duke's behavior," said everybody. "has behaved so, i would run him through the body, if we met!" said his own brother once:--brother friedrich eugen, a prussian general by that time, whom we shall hear of. [preuss, iv. ; michaelis, iii. .] what thoughts for our dear wilhelmina, in her latter weak years;--lapped in eternal silence, as so much else is. chapter iv. cocceji finishes the law-reform; friedrich is printing his poesies. in these years, friedrich goes on victoriously with his law-reform; herculean cocceji with assistants, backed by friedrich, beneficently conquering province after province to him;--kur-mark, neu-mark, cleve (all easy, in comparison, after pommern), and finally preussen itself;--to the joy and profit of the same. cocceji's method, so far as the foreign on-looker can discern across much haze, seems to be three-fold:-- . extirpation (painless, were it possible) of the petti-fogger species; indeed, of the attorney species altogether: "seek other employments; disappear, all of you, from these precincts, under penalty!" the advocate himself takes charge of the suit, from first birth of it; and sees it ended,--he knows within what limit of time. . sifting out of all incompetent advocates, "follow that attorney-company, you; away!"--sifting out all these, and retaining in each court, with fees accurately settled, with character stamped sound, or at least soundest, the number actually needed. in a milder way, but still more strictly, judges stupid or otherwise incompetent are riddled out; able judges appointed, and their salaries raised. . what seems to be friedrich's own invention, what in outcome he thinks will be the summary of all good law-procedure: a final sentence (three "instances" you can have, but the third ends it for you) within the year. good, surely. a justice that intends to be exact must front the complicacies in a resolute piercing manner, and will not be tedious. nay a justice that is not moderately swift,--human hearts waiting for it, the while, in a cancerous state, instead of hopefully following their work,--what, comparatively, is the use of its being never so exact!-- simple enough methods; rough and ready. needing, in the execution, clear human eyesight, clear human honesty,--which happen to be present here, and without which no "method" whatever can be executed that will really profit. in the course of , friedrich, judging by pommern and the other symptoms that his enterprise was safe, struck a victorious medal upon it: "fridericus borussorum rex," pressing with his sceptre the oblique balance to a level posture; with epigraph, "emendato jure." [letter to cocceji, accompanying copy of the medal in gold, " th june, " (seyfarth, ii. n.).] and by new-year's day, , the matter was in effect completed; and "justice cheap, expeditious, certain," a fact in all prussian lands. nay, in - , to complete the matter, cocceji's "project of a general law-code," projekt des corporis juris fridericiani, came forth in print: [halle, vols. folio (preuss, i. ; see ib. n., as to the law-procedure, $c. now settled by cocceji).] to the admiration of mankind, at home and abroad; "the first code attempted since justinian's time," say they. project translated into all languages, and read in all countries. a poor mildewed copy of this codex fridericianus--done at edinburgh, , not said by whom; evidently bought at least twice, and mostly never yet read (nor like being read)--is known to me, for years past, in a ghastly manner! without the least profit to this present, or to any other enterprise;--though persons of name in jurisprudence call it meritorious in their science; the first real attempt at a code in modern times. but the truth is, this cocceji codex remained a project merely, never enacted anywhere. it was not till , that friedrich made actual attempt to build a law-code and did build one (the foundation-story of one, for his share, completed since), in which this of cocceji had little part. in , the thing must again be mentioned; the "second law-reform," as they call it. what we practically know from this time is, that prussian lawsuits, through friedrich's reign, do all terminate, or push at their utmost for terminating, within one year from birth; and that friedrich's fame, as a beneficent justinian, rose high in all countries (strange, in countries that had thought him a war-scourge and conquering hero); strange, but undeniable; [see--gentleman's magazine,--xx. - ("may, "): eloquent, enthusiastic letter, given there, "of baron de spon to chancellor d'aguessan," on these inimitable law achievements.] and that his own people, if more silently, yet in practice very gladly indeed, welcomed his law-reform; and, from day to day, enjoyed the same,--no doubt with occasional remembrance who the donor was. of friedrich's literary works, nobody, not even friedrich himself, will think it necessary that we say much. but the fact is, he is doing a great many things that way: in prose, the memoirs of brandenburg, coming out as papers in the academy from time to time; [from and onward: first published complete (after slight revision by voltaire), berlin, .] in verse, very secret as yet, the palladion ("exquisite burlesque," think some), the art of war (reckoned truly his best piece in verse):--and wishes sometimes he had voltaire here to perfect him a little. this too would be one of the practical charms of voltaire. [friedrich's letter to algarotti (--oeuvres,--xviii. ), " th september, ."] for though king friedrich knows and remembers always, that these things, especially the verse part, are mere amusements in comparison, he has the creditable wish to do these well; one would not fantasy ill even on the flute, if one could help it. "why does n't voltaire come; as quantz of the flute has done?" friedrich, now that voltaire has fallen widower, renews his pressings, "why don't you come?" patience, your majesty; voltaire will come. nobody can wish details in this department: but there is one thing necessary to be mentioned, that friedrich in these years, - , has printers out at potsdam, and is printing, "in beautiful quarto form, with copperplates," to the extent of twelve copies, the oeuvres (poetical, that is) du philosophe de sans-souci. only twelve copies, i have heard; gift of a single copy indicating that you are among the choicest of the chosen. copies have now fallen extremely rare (and are not in request at all, with my readers or me); but there was one copy which, or the mis-title of which, as oeuvre de "poeshie" du roi mon maitre, became miraculously famous in a year or two;--and is still memorable to us all! on voltaire's arrival, we shall hear more of these things. enough to say at present that the oeuvres du philosophe de sans-souci: au donjon du chateau: avec privilege d'apollon,--"three thinnish quarto volumes, all the poetry then on hand,"--was finished early in , before voltaire came. that, when voltaire came, a revisal was undertaken, a new edition, with voltaire's corrections and other changes (total suppression of the palladion, for one creditable change): that this edition was to have been in two volumes; that one, accordingly, rather thicker than the former sort, was got finished in (same title, only the new date, and "no donjon du chateau this time"), one volume in ; after which, owing to the explosions that ensued, no second came, nor ever will;--and that the actual contents of that far-famed oeuvre de "poeshie" (number of volumes even) are points of mystery to me, at this day. [herr preuss--in the chronological list of friedrich's writings (a useful accurate piece otherwise), and in two other places where he tries--is very indistinct on this of donjon du chateau; and it is all but impossible to ascertain from him what, in an indisputable manner, the oeuvre de "poeshie" may have been. here are the places for groping, if another should be induced to try:--oeuvres de frederic,--x. (preface, p. ix); ib. xi. (preface, p. ix); ib.--table chhronologique--(in what volume this is, you cannot yet say; seems preliminary to a general index, which is infinitely wanted, but has not yet appeared to this editor's aid), p. .] friedrich's other employments are multifarious as those of a land's husband (not inferior to his father in that respect); and, like the benefits of the diurnal sun, are to be considered incessant, innumerable and, in result to us-ward, silent also, impossible to speak of in this place. from the highest pitch of state-craft (russian czarina now fallen plainly hostile, and needing lynx-eyed diplomacy ever and anon), down to that of dredging and fascine-work (as at stettin and elsewhere), of oder-canals, of soap-boiler companies, and mulberry-and-silk companies; nay of ordaining where, and where not, the crows are to be shot, and (owing to cattle-murrain) no veal to be killed: [seyfarth, ii. , , ; preuss,--buch fur jedermann,--i. - ; &c.] daily comes the tide of great and of small, and daily the punctual friedrich keeps abreast of it,--and dryasdust has noted the details, and stuffed them into blind sacks,--for forty years. the review seasons, i notice, go somewhat as follows. for berlin and neighborhood, may, or perhaps end of april (weather now bright, and ground firm); sometimes with considerable pomp ("both queens out," and beautiful female nobilities, in "twenty-four green tents"), and often with great complicacy of manoeuvre. in june, to magdeburg, round by cleve; and home again for some days. july is pommern: onward thence to schlesien, oftenest in august; schlesien the last place, and generally not done with till well on in september. but we will speak of these things, more specially, another time. such "reviews," for strictness of inspection civil and military, as probably were not seen in the world since,--or before, except in the case of this king's father only. chapter v. strangers of note come to berlin, in . british diplomacies, next to the russian, cause some difficulties in those years: of which more by and by. early in , while aix-la-chapelle was starting, ex-exchequer legge came to berlin; on some obscure object of a small patch of principality, hanging loose during those negotiations: "could not we secure it for his royal highness of cumberland, thinks your majesty?" ex-exchequer legge was here; [coxe's--pelham,--i. , &c.; rodenbeck, pp. , (first audience st may, );--recalled d november, aix being over.] got handsome assurances of a general nature; but no furtherance towards his obscure, completely impracticable object; and went home in november following, to a new parliamentary career. and the second year after, early in , came sir hanbury williams, famed london wit of walpole's circle, on objects which, in the main, were equally chimerical: "king of the romans, much wanted;" "no damage to your majesty's shipping from our british privateers;" and the like;--about which some notice, and not very much, will be due farther on. here, in his own words, is hanbury's account of his first audience:-- ... "on thursday," th july, , "i went to court by appointment, at a.m. the king of prussia arrived about [at berlin; king in from potsdam, for one day]; and count podewils immediately introduced me into the royal closet; when i delivered his britannic majesty's letters into the king of prussia's hands, and made the usual compliments to him in the best manner i was able. to which his prussian majesty replied, to the best of my remembrance, as follows:--"'i have the truest esteem for the king of britain's person; and i set the highest value on his friendship. i have at different times received essential proofs of it; and i desire you would acquaint the king your master that i will (sic) never forget them.' his prussian majesty afterwards said something with respect to myself, and then asked me several questions about indifferent things and persons. he seemed to express a great deal of esteem for my lord chesterfield, and a great deal of kindness for mr. villiers," useful in the peace-of-dresden time; "but did not once mention lord hyndford or mr. legge,"--how singular! "i was in the closet with his majesty exactly five minutes and a half. my audience done, prussian majesty came out into the general room, where foreign ministers were waiting. he said, on stepping in, just one word" to the austrian excellency; not even one to the russian excellency, nor to me the britannic; "conversed with the french, swedish, danish;"--happy to be off, which i do not wonder at; to dine with mamma at monbijou, among faces pleasant to him; and return to his businesses and books next day. [walpole,--george the second,--i. ; rodenbeck, i. .] witty excellency hanbury did not succeed at berlin on the "romish-king question," or otherwise; and indeed went off rather in a hurry. but for the next six or seven years he puddles about, at a great rate, in those northern courts; giving away a great deal of money, hatching many futile expensive intrigues at petersburg, warsaw (not much at berlin, after the first trial there); and will not be altogether avoidable to us in time coming, as one could have wished. besides, he is horace walpole's friend and select london wit: he contributed a good deal to the english notions about friedrich; and has left considerable bits of acrid testimony on friedrich, "clear words of an eye-witness," men call them,--which are still read by everybody; the said walpole, and others, having since printed them, in very dark condition. [in walpole,--george the second--(i. - ), the pieces which regard friedrich. in--sir charles hanbury williams's works--(edited by a diligent, reverential, but ignorant gentleman, whom i could guess to be bookseller jeffery in person: london, , vols. small vo) are witty verses, and considerable sections of prose, relating to other persons and objects now rather of an obsolete nature.] brevity is much due to hanbury and his testimonies, since silence in the circumstances is not allowable. here is one excerpt, with the necessary light for reading it:-- ... it is on this romish-king and other the like chimerical errands, that witty hanbury, then a much more admirable man than we now find him, is prowling about in the german courts, off and on, for some ten years in all, six of them still to come. a sharp-eyed man, of shrewish quality; given to intriguing, to spying, to bribing; anxious to win his diplomatic game by every method, though the stake (as here) is oftenest zero: with fatal proclivity to scandal, and what in london circles he has heard called wit. little or nothing of real laughter in the soul of him, at any time; only a labored continual grin, always of malicious nature, and much trouble and jerking about, to keep that up. had evidently some modicum of real intellect, of capacity for being wise; but now has fatally devoted it nearly all to being witty, on those poor terms! a perverse, barren, spiteful little wretch; the grin of him generally an affliction, at this date. his diplomatic correspondence i do not know. [nothing of him is discoverable in the state-paper office. many of his papers, it would seem, are in the earl of essex's hands;--and might be of some historical use, not of very much, could the british museum get possession of them. abundance of backstairs history, on those northern courts, especially on petersburg, and warsaw-dresden,--authentic court-gossip, generally malicious, often not true, but never mendacious on the part of williams,--is one likely item.] he did a great deal of diplomatic business, issuing in zero, of which i have sometimes longed to know the exact dates; seldom anything farther. his "history of poland," transmitted to the right hon. henry fox, by instalments from dresden, in , is [see--hanbury's works,--vol. iii.]--well, i should be obliged to call it worthier of goody two-shoes than of that right hon. henry, who was a man of parts, but evidently quite a vacuum on the polish side! of hanbury's news-letters from foreign courts, four or five, incidentally printed, are like the contents of a slop-pail; uncomfortable to the delicate mind. not lies on the part of hanbury, but foolish scandal poured into him; a man more filled with credulous incredible scandal, evil rumors, of malfeasances by kings and magnates, than most people known. his rumored mysteries between poor polish majesty and pretty daughter-in-law (the latter a clever and graceful creature, daughter of the late unfortunate kaiser, and a distinguished correspondent of friedrich's) are to be regarded as mere poisoned wind. [see--hanbury's works,--ii. - .] that "polish majesty gets into his dressing-gown at two in the afternoon" (inaccessible thenceforth, poor lazy creature), one most readily believes; but there, or pretty much there, one's belief has to stop. the stories, in walpole, on the king of prussia, have a grain of fact in them, twisted into huge irrecognizable caricature in the williams optic-machinery. much else one can discern to be, in essence, false altogether. friedrich, who could not stand that intriguing, spying, shrewish, unfriendly kind of fellow at his court, applied to england in not many months hence, and got williams sent away: [" d january, " (ms. list in state-paper office).] on to russia, or i forget whither;--which did not mend the hanbury optical-machinery on that side. the dull, tobacco-smoking saxon-polish majesty, about whom he idly retails so many scandals, had never done him any offence. on the whole, if anybody wanted a swim in the slop-pails of that extinct generation, hanbury, could he find an editor to make him legible, might be printed. for he really was deep in that slop-pail or extinct-scandal department, and had heard a great many things. apart from that, in almost any other department,--except in so far as he seems to date rather carefully,--i could not recommend him. the letters and excerpts given in walpole are definable as one pennyworth of bread,--much ruined by such immersion, but very harmless otherwise, could you pick it out and clean it,--to twenty gallons of hanbury sherris-sack, or chamber-slop. i have found nothing that seems to be, in all points, true or probable, but this; worth cutting out, and rendering legible, on other accounts. hanbury loquitur (in condensed form): "in the summer of last year, , there was, somewhere in mahren, a great austrian muster or review;" all the more interesting, as it was believed, or known, that the prussian methods and manoeuvres were now to be the rule for austria. not much of a review otherwise, this of ; empress-queen and husband not personally there, as in coming years they are wont to be; that high lady being ardent to reform her army, root and branch, according to the prussian model,--more praise to her. [--maria theresiens leben,--p. (what she did that way, anno ); p. (present at the reviews, anno ).] "at this muster in mahren, three prussian officers happened to make their appearance,--for several imaginable reasons, of little significance: 'for the purpose of inveigling people to desert, and enlist with them!' said the austrian authorities; and ordered the three prussian officers unceremoniously off the ground. which friedrich, when he heard of it, thought an unhandsome pipe-clay procedure, and kept in mind against the austrian authorities. "next summer," next spring, , "an austrian captain being in mecklenburg, travelling about, met there an old acquaintance, one chapeau [hat! can it be possible?], who is in great favor with the king of prussia:"--very well, excellency hanbury; but who, in the name of wonder, can this hat, or chapeau, have been? after study, one perceives that hanbury wrote chazeau, meaning chasot, an old acquaintance of our own! brilliant, sabring, melodying chasot, lieutenant-colonel of the baireuth dragoons; who lies at treptow, close on mecklenburg, and is a declared favorite of the duchess, often running over to the residenz there. often enough; but honi soit, o reader; the clever lady is towards sixty, childless, musical; and her husband--do readers recollect him at all?--is that collapsed tailoring duke whom friedrich once visited,--and whose niece, half-niece, is charlotte, wise little hard-favored creature now of six, in clean bib and tucker, ancestress of england that is to be; whose papa will succeed, if the serene tailor die first,--which he did not quite. to this duchess, musical gallant chasot may well be a resource, and she to him. naturally the austrian captain, having come to mecklenburg, dined with serene highness, he and chasot together, with concert following, and what not, at the schloss of neu-strelitz:--and now we will drop the 'chapeau,' and say chasot, with comfort, and a shade of new interest. "'the grand may review at berlin just ahead, won't you look in; it is straight on your road home?' suggests chasot to his travelling friend. 'one would like it, of all things,' answered the other: 'but the king?' 'tush,' said chasot; 'i will make that all straight!' and applies to the king accordingly: 'permission to an austrian officer, a good acquaintance of mine.' 'austrian officer?' friedrich's eyes lighten; and he readily gives the permission. this was at berlin, on the very eve of the review; and chasot and his austrian are made happy in that small matter. and on the morrow [end of may, ], the austrian attends accordingly; but, to his astonishment, has hardly begun to taste the manoeuvres, when--one of friedrich's aides-de-camp gallops up: 'by the king's command, mein herr, you retire on the instant!' "next day, the austrian is for challenging chasot. 'as you like, that way,' answers chasot; 'but learn first, that on your affront i rode up to the king; and asked, publicly, did not your majesty grant me permission? unquestionably, monsieur chasot;--and if he had not come, how could i have paid back the moravian business of last year!'" [walpole,--george the second,--i. , .]--this is much in friedrich's way; not the unwelcomer that it includes a satirical twitch on chasot, whom he truly likes withal, or did like, though now a little dissatisfied with those too frequent mecklenburg excursions and extra-military cares. of this, merely squeezing the hanbury venom out of it, i can believe every particular. "did you ever hear of anything so shocking?" is hanbury's meaning here and elsewhere. "i must tell you a story of the king of prussia's regard for the law of nations," continues he to walpole? [ib. i. .] which proves to be a story, turned topsy-turvy, of one hofmann, brunswick envoy, who (quite beyond commission, and a thing that must not be thought of at all!) had been detected in dangerous intriguings with the ever-busy russian excellency, or another; and got flung into spandau, [adelung, v. ; vii. - .]--seemingly pretty much his due in the matter. and so of other hanbury things. "what a prussia; for rigor of command, one huge prison, in a manner!" king intent on punctuality, and all his business upon the square. society, official and unofficial, kept rather strictly to their tackle; their mode of movement not that of loose oxen at all! "such a detestable tyrant,"--who has ordered me, hanbury, else-whither with my exquisite talents and admired wit!-- candidatus linsenbarth (quasi "lentil-beard") likewise visits berlin. by far the notablest arrival in berlin is m. de voltaire's july th; a few days before hanbury got his first audience, "five minutes long." but that arrival will require a chapter to itself;--most important arrival, that, of all! the least important, again, is probably that of candidatus linsenbarth, in these same weeks;--a rugged poverty-stricken old licentiate of theology; important to no mortal in berlin or elsewhere:--upon whom, however, and upon his procedures in that city, we propose, for our own objects, to bestow a few glances; rugged narrative of the thing, in singular exotic dialect, but true every word, having fortunately come to us from linsenbarth's own hand. [through rodenbeck,--beitrage,--i. et seq.] berlin, it must be admitted, after all one's reading in poor dryasdust, remains a dim empty object; teutschland is dim and empty: and out of the forty blind sacks, or out of four hundred such, what picture can any human head form to itself of friedrich as king or man? a trifling adventure of that poor individual, called linsenbarth candidatus theologiae, one of the poorest of mortals, but true and credible in every particular, comes gliding by chance athwart all that; and like the glimmer of a poor rushlight, or kindled straw, shows it us for moments, a thing visible, palpable, as it worked and lived. in the great dearth, linsenbarth, if i can faithfully interpret him for the modern reader, will be worth attending to. date of linsenbarth's adventure is june-august, . "schloss of beichlingen" and "village of hemmleben" are in the thuringen hill country (weimar not far off to eastward): the hero himself, a tall awkward raw-boned creature, is, for perhaps near forty years past, a candidatus, say licentiate, or curate without cure. subsists, i should guess, by schoolmastering--cheapest schoolmaster conceivable, wages mere nothing--in the villages about; in the village of hemmleben latterly; age, as i discover, grown to be sixty-one, in those straitened but by no means forlorn circumstances. and so, here is veteran linsenbarth of hemmleben, a kind of thuringian dominie sampson; whose interview with such a brother mortal as friedrich king of prussia may be worth looking at,--if i can abridge it properly. well, it appears, in the year , at this thrice-obscure village of hemmleben, the worthy old pastor cannabich died;--worthy old man, how he had lived there, modestly studious, frugal, chiefly on farm-produce, with tobacco and dutch theology; a modest blessing to his fellow-creatures! and now he is dead, and the place vacant. twenty pounds a year certain; let us guess it twenty, with glebe-land, piggeries, poultry-hutches: who is now to get all that? linsenbarth starts with his narrative, in earnest. linsenbarth, who i guess may have been assistant to the deceased cannabich, and was now out of work, says: "i had not the least thought of profiting by this vacancy; but what happened? the herr graf von werthern, at schloss beichlingen, sent his steward [lehnsdirector, fief-director is the title of this steward, which gives rise to obsolete thought of mill-dues, road-labor, payments in natura], his lehnsdirector, herr kettenbeil, over to my logis [cheap boarding quarters]; who brought a gracious salutation from his lord; saying farther, that i knew too well [excellent cannabich gone from us, alas!] the pastorate of hemmleben was vacant; that there had various competitors announced themselves, supplicando, for the place; the herr graf, however, had yet given none of them the fiat, but waited always till i should apply. as i had not done so, he (the lord graf) would now of his own motion give me the preference, and hereby confer the pastorate upon me!"-- "without all controversy, here was a vocatio divina, to be received with the most submissive thanks! but the lame second messenger came hitching in [halting messenger, german proverb] very soon. kettenbeil began again: 'he must mention to me sub rosa, her ladyship the frau grafin wanted to have her lady's-maid provided for by this promotion, too; i must marry her, and take the living at the same time.'" whew! and this is the noble lady's way of thinking, up in her fine schloss yonder? linsenbarth will none of it. "for my notion fell at once," says he, "when i heard it was do ut facias, facio ut facias (i give that thou mayest do, i do that thou mayest do; wilt have the kirk, then take the irk, willst du die pfarre, so nimm die quarre); on those terms, my reply was: 'most respectful thanks, herr fief-judge, and no, for such a vocation! and why? the vocation must have libertatem, there must be no vitium essentiale in it; it must be right in essentiali, otherwise no honest man can accept it with a good conscience. this were a marriage on constraint; out of which a thousand inconvenientiae might spring!'" hear linsenbarth, in the piebald dialect, with the sound heart, and preference of starvation itself to some other things! kettenbeil (chain-axe) went home; and there was found another candidatus willing for the marriage on constraint, "out of which inconvenientiae might spring," in linsenbarth's opinion. "and so did the sneakish courtly gentleman [hofmann, courtier as linsenbarth has it], who grasped with both hands at my rejected offer, experience before long," continues linsenbarth. "for the loose thing of court-tatters led him such a life that, within three years, age yet only thirty, he had to bite the dust" (bite at the grass, says linsenbarth, proverbially), which was an inconvenientia including all others. "and i had legitimam causam to refuse the vocation cum tali conditione. "however, it was very ill taken of me. all over that thuringian region i was cried out upon as a headstrong foolish person: the herr graf von werthern, so ran the story, had of his own kindness, without request of mine, offered me a living; rara avis, singular instance; and i, rash and without head, flung away such gracious offer. in short, i was told to my face [by good-natured friends], nobody would ever think of me for promotion again;"--universal suffrage giving it clear against poor linsenbarth, in this way. "to get out of people's sight at least," continues he, "i decided to leave my native place, and go to berlin," miles away or more. "and so it was that, on june the th, , i landed at berlin for the first time: and here straightway at the packhof (or custom-house), in searching of my things, thalers (some pounds), all in nurnberg batzen, were seized from me;"--batzen, quarter-groats we may say; and a half batzen go to a shilling; what a sack there must have been of them, , in all, about the size of herring-scales, in bad silver; fruit of linsenbarth's stern thrift from birth upwards:--all snatched from him at one swoop. "and why?" says he, quite historically: yes, why? the reader, to understand it wholly, would need to read in mylius's--edicten-sammlung,--in seyfarth and elsewhere; [mylius,--edict--xli., january, , &c. &c.] and to know the scandalous condition of german coinage at this time and long after; every needy little potentate mixing his coin with copper at discretion, and swindling mankind with it for a season; needing to be peremptorily forbidden, confiscated or ordered home, by the like of friedrich. linsenbarth answers his own "and why?" with historical calmness:-- "the king had, some (six) years ago, had the batzen utterly cried down (ganz und gar); they were not to circulate at all in his countries; and i was so bold, i had brought batzen hither into the king's capital, konigliche residenz itself! at the packhof, there was but one answer, 'contraband, contraband!'"--here was a welcome for a man. "i made my excuses: did not the least know; came straight from thuringen, many miles of road; could not guess there what his majesty the king had been pleased to forbid in his (theiro) countries. 'you should have informed yourself,' said the packhof people; and were deaf to such considerations. 'a man coming into such a residenz town as berlin, with intent to abide there, should have inquired a little what was what, especially what coins were cried down, and what allowed,' said they of the packhof." poor linsenbarth!"'but what am i to do now? how am i to live, if you take my very money from me?' 'that is your outlook,' said they;--and added, he must even find stowage for his stack of herring-scales or batzen, as soon as it was sealed up; 'we have no room for it in the packhof!'" for a man: here is a roughish welcome "i must leave all my money here; and find stowage for it, in a day or two. "there was, accordingly, a truck-porter called in; he loaded my effects on his barrow, and rolled away. he brought me to the white swan in the judenstrasse [none of the grandest of streets, that berlin jewry], threw my things out, and demanded four groschen. two of my batzen" and a half exact, "would have done; but i had no money at all. the landlord came out: seeing that i had a stuffed feather-bed [note the luggage of linsenbarth: "feder-bett," of extreme tenuity], a trunk full of linens, a bag of books and other trifles, he paid the man; and sent me to a small room in the court-yard [inn forms a court, perhaps four stories high]: 'i could stay there,' he said; 'he would give me food and drink in the meanwhile.' and so i lived in this inn eight weeks long, without one red farthing, in mere fear and anxiety." june th plus eight weeks brings us to august th; voltaire in height of feather; and very great things just ahead! ["grand carrousel, th august;" &c.]--of which soon. the white swan was a place where carriers lodged: some limb of the law, of subaltern sort, whom linsenbarth calls "der advocat b." (one of the ousted of cocceji, shall we fancy!), had to do with carriers and their pie-powder lawsuits. advocat b. had noticed the gray dreary candidatus, sitting sparrow-like in remote corners; had spoken to him;--undertook for a louis d'or, no purchase no pay, to get back his batzen for him. they went accordingly, one morning, to "a grand house;" it was a minister's (name not given), very grand official man: he heard the advocat b.'s short statement; and made answer: "monsieur, and is it you that will pick holes in the king's law? i have understood you were rather aiming at the hausvogtei [common jail of berlin]: go on in that way, and you are sure of your promotion!"--advocat b. rushed out with linsenbarth into the street; and there was neither pay nor purchase in that quarter. poor linsenbarth was next advised, by simple neighbors, to go direct to the king; as every poor man can, at certain hours of the day. "write out your case (memorial) with extreme brevity," said they; "nothing but the essential points, and those clear." linsenbarth, steam at the high-pressure, composed (conzipirte) a memorial of that right laconic sort; wrote it fair (mundirte es);--and went off therewith "at opening of the gates (middle time of august, , no date farther), [august st? (see rodenbeck, diary, which we often quote, i. .)]--without one farthing in my pocket, in god's name, to potsdam." he continues:-- "and at potsdam i was lucky enough to see the king; my first sight of him. he was on the palace esplanade there, drilling his troops [fine trim sanded expanse, with the palace to rear, and garden-walks and river to front; where friedrich wilhelm sat, the last day he was out, and ordered jockey philips's house to be actually set about; where the troops do evolutions every morning;--there is friedrich with cocked-hat and blue coat; say about a.m.]. "when the drill was over, his majesty went into the garden, and the soldiers dispersed; only four officers remained lounging upon the esplanade, and walked up and down. for fright i knew not what to do; i pulled the papers out of my pocket,--these were my memorial, two certificates of character, and a thuringen pass [poor soul]. the officers noticed this; came straight to me, and said, 'what letters has he there, then?' i thankfully and gladly imparted the whole; and when the officers had read them, they said, 'we will give you [him, not even thee] a good advice, the king is extra-gracious to-day, and is gone alone into the garden. follow him straight. thou wilt have luck.' "this i would not do; my awe was too great. they thereupon laid hands on me [the mischievous dogs, not ill-humored either]: one took me by the right arm, another by the left, 'off, off; to the garden!' having got me thither, they looked out for the king. he was among the gardeners, examining some rare plant; stooping over it, and had his back to us. here i had to halt; and the officers began, in underhand tone [the dogs!], to put me through my drill: 'hat under left arm!--right foot foremost!--breast well forward!--head up!--papers from pouch!--papers aloft in right hand!--steady! steady!'--and went their ways, looking always round, to see if i kept my posture. i perceived well enough they were pleased to make game of me; but i stood, all the same, like a wall, being full of fear. the officers were hardly out of the garden, when the king turned round, and saw this extraordinary machine,"--telegraph figure or whatever we may call it, with papers pointing to the sky. "he gave such a look at me, like a flash of sunbeams glancing through you; and sent one of the gardeners to bring my papers. which having got, he struck into another walk with them, and was out of sight. in few minutes he appeared again at the place where the rare plant was, with my papers open in his left hand; and gave me a wave with them to come nearer. i plucked up a heart, and went straight towards him. oh, how thrice and four-times graciously this great monarch deigned to speak to me!-- king. "'my good thuringian (lieber thuringer), you came to berlin, seeking to earn your bread by industrious teaching of children; and here, at the packhof, in searching your things, they have taken your thuringen hoard from you. true, the batzen are not legal here; but the people should have said to you: you are a stranger, and did n't know the prohibition;--well then, we will seal up the bag of batzen; you send it back to thuringen, get it changed for other sorts; we will not take it from you!-- "'be of heart, however; you shall have your money again, and interest too.--but, my poor man, berlin pavement is bare, they don't give anything gratis: you are a stranger; before you are known and get teaching, your bit of money is done; what then?' "i understood the speech right well; but my awe was too great to say: 'your majesty will have the all-highest grace to allow me something!' but as i was so simple and asked for nothing, he did not offer anything. and so he turned away; but had scarcely gone six or eight steps, when he looked round, and gave me a sign i was to walk by him; and then began catechising:-- king. "'where did you (er) study?' linsenbarth. "'your majesty, in jena.' king. "'what years?' linsenbarth. "'from to .' ["born " (rodenbeck, p. ); twenty-five when he went.] king. "'under what pro-rector were you inscribed?' linsenbarth. "'under the professor theologiae dr. fortsch.' king. "'who were your other professors in the theological faculty?'" linsenbarth--names famed men; sunk now, mostly, in the bottomless waste-basket: "buddaus" (who did a dictionary of the bayle sort, weighing four stone troy, out of which i have learned many a thing), "buddaeus," "danz," "weissenborn," "wolf" (now back at halle after his tribulations,--poor man, his immortal system of philosophy, where is it!). king. "'did you study biblica diligently?' linsenbarth. "'with buddaeus (beym buddao).' king. "'that is he who had such quarrelling with wolf?' linsenbarth. "'yea, your majesty! he was--' king (does not want to know what he was). "'what other useful courses of lectures (collegia) did you attend?' linsenbarth. "'thetics and exegetics with fortsch [how the deuce did fortsch teach these things?]; hermeneutics and polemics with walch [editor of--luther's works,--i suppose]; hebraics with dr. danz; homiletics with dr. weissenborn; pastorale [not pastoral poetry, but the art of pastorship] and morale with dr. buddaeus.' [there, your majesty!--what a glimpse, as into infinite extinct continents, filled with ponderous thorny inanities, invincible nasal drawling of didactic titans, and the awful attempt to spin, on all manner of wheels, road-harness out of split cobwebs: hoom! hoom-m-m! harness not to be had on those terms. let the dreary limbus close again, till the general day of judgment for all this.] king (glad to get out of the limbus). "'were things as wild then at jena, in your time, as of old, when the students were forever scuffling and ruffling, and the couplet went:-- --"wer kommt von jena ungeschlagen, der hat von grossen gluck zu sagen.-- "he that comes from jena sine bello, he may think himself a lucky fellow"?' linsenbarth. "'that sort of folly is gone quite out of fashion; and a man can lead a silent and quiet life there, just as at other universities, if he will attend to the dic, curhic? [or know what his real errand is]. in my time their serene highnesses, the nursing-fathers of the university (nutritores academiae),--of the ernestine line [weimar-gotha highnesses, that is], were in the habit of having the rufflers (renomisten), renowners as they are called, who made so much disturbance, sent to eisenach to lie in the wartburg a while; there they learned to be quiet.' [clock strikes twelve,--dinner-time of majesty.] king. "'now i must go: they are waiting for their soup'" (and so ends dialogue for the present). 'did the king bid me wait? "when we got out of the garden," says linsenbarth, silent on this point, "the four officers were still there upon the esplanade [captains of guard belike]; they went into the palace with the king,"--clearly meaning to dine with his majesty. "i remained standing on the esplanade. for twenty-seven hours i had not tasted food: not a farthing in bonis [of principal or interest] to get bread with; i had waded twenty miles hither, in a sultry morning, through the sand. not a difficult thing to keep down laughter in such circumstances!"--poor soul; but the royal mind is human too.--"in this tremor of my heart, there came a kammer-hussar [soldier-valet, valet reduced to his simplest expression] out of the palace, and asked, 'where is the man that was with my king (meinem konig,--thy king particularly?) in the garden?' i answered, 'here!' and he led me into the schloss, to a large room, where pages, lackeys, and kammer-hussars were about. my kammer-hussar took me to a little table, excellently furnished; with soup, beef; likewise carp dressed with garden-salad, likewise game with cucumber-salad: bread, knife, fork, spoon and salt were all there [and i with an appetite of twenty-seven hours; i too was there]. my hussar set me a chair, said: 'this that is on the table, the king has ordered to be served for you (ihm): you are to eat your fill, and mind nobody; and i am to serve. sharp, then, fall to!'--i was greatly astonished, and knew not what to do; least of all could it come into my head that the king's kammer-hussar, who waited on his majesty, should wait on me. i pressed him to sit by me; but as he refused, i did as bidden; sat down, took my spoon, and went at it with a will (frisch)! "the hussar took the beef from the table, set it on the charcoal dish (to keep it hot till wanted); he did the like with the fish and roast game; and poured me out wine and beer--[was ever such a lucky barmecide!] i ate and drank till i had abundantly enough. dessert, confectionery, what i could,--a plateful of big black cherries, and a plateful of pears, my waiting-man wrapped in paper and stuffed them into my pockets, to be a refreshment on the way home. and so i rose from the royal table; and thanked god and the king in my heart, that i had so gloriously dined,"--herrlich, "gloriously" at last. poor excellent down-trodden linsenbarth, one's heart opens to him, not one's larder only. "the hussar took away. at that moment a secretary came; brought me a sealed order (rescript) to the packhof at berlin, with my certificates (testimonia), and the pass; told down on the table five tail-ducats (schwanz-dukaten), and a gold friedrich under them [about pounds s., i think; better than pounds of our day to a common man, and better than pounds to a linsenbarth],--saying, the king sent me this to take me home to berlin again. "and if the hussar took me into the palace, it was now the secretary that took me out again. and there, yoked with six horses, stood a royal proviant-wagon; which having led me to, the secretary said: 'you people, the king has given order you are to take this stranger to berlin, and also to accept no drink-money from him.' i again, through the herrn secretarium, testified my most submissive thankfulness for all royal graciousnesses; took my place, and rolled away. "on reaching berlin, i went at once to the packhof, straight to the office-room,"--standing more erect this time,--"and handed them my royal rescript. the head man opened the seal; in reading, he changed color, went from pale to red; said nothing, and gave it to the second man to read. the second put on his spectacles; read, and gave it to the third. however, he [the head man] rallied himself at last: i was to come forward, and be so good as write a quittance (receipt), 'that i had received, for my thalers all in batzen, the same sum in brandenburg coin, ready down, without the least deduction.' my cash was at once accurately paid. and thereupon the steward was ordered, to go with me to the white swan in the judenstrasse, and pay what i owed there, whatever my score was. for which end they gave him twenty-four thalers; and if that were not enough, he was to come and get more." on these high terms linsenbarth marched out of the packhof for the second time; the sublime head of him (not turned either) sweeping the very stars. "that was what the king had meant when he said, "you shall have your money back and interest too:' videlicet, that the packhof was to pay my expenses at the white swan. the score, however, was only thaler,' groschen, pfennigs [ shillings, pence, and or perhaps quarter-farthings], for what i had run up in eight weeks,"--an uncommonly frugal rate of board, for a man skilled in hermeneutics, hebraics, polemics, thetica, exegetics, pastorale, morale (and practical christianity and the philosophy of zeno, carried to perfection, or nearly so)!"and herewith this troubled history had its desired finish." and our gray-whiskered, raw-boned, great-hearted candidatus lay down to sleep, at the white swan; probably the happiest man in all berlin, for the time being. linsenbarth dived now into private-teaching, "information," as he calls it; forming, and kneading into his own likeness, such of the young berliners as he could get hold of:--surely not without some good effect on them, the model having, besides hermeneutics in abundance, so much natural worth about it. he himself found the mine of informing a very barren one, as to money: continued poor in a high degree, without honor, without emolument to speak of; and had a straitened, laborious, and what we might think very dark life-pilgrimage. but the darkness was nothing to him, he carried such an inextinguishable frugal rushlight within. meat, clothes and fire he did not again lack, in berlin, for the time he needed them,--some twenty-seven years still. and if he got no printed praise in the reviews, from baddish judges writing by the sheet,--here and there brother mortals, who knew him by their own eyes and experiences, looked, or transiently spoke, and even did, a most real praise upon him now and then. and, on the whole, he can do without praise; and will stand strokes even without wincing or kicking, where there is no chance. a certain berlin druggist ("herr medicinal-assessor rose," whom we may call druggist first, for there were two that had to do with linsenbarth) was good and human to him. in rose's house, where he had come to teach the children, and which continued, always thenceforth, a home to him when needful, he wrote this narrative (anno ); and died there, three years afterwards,--" th august, , of apoplexy, age ," say the burial registers. [in rodenbeck,--beitrage,--i. - , these latter details (with others, in confused form); ib. - , the narrative itself.] druggist second, on succeeding the humane predecessor, found linsenbarth's papers in the drug-stores of the place: druggist second chanced to be one klaproth, famed among the scientific of the world; and by him the linsenbarth narrative was forwarded to publication, and such fame as is requisite. sir jonas hanway stalks across the scene, too; in a pondering and observing manner. of the then very famous "berlin carrousel of " we propose to say little; the now chief interesting point in it being that m. de voltaire is curiously visible to us there. but the truth is, they were very great days at berlin, those of autumn, ; distinguished strangers come or coming; the king giving himself up to entertainment of them, to enjoyment of them; with such a hearty outburst of magnificence, this carrousel the apex of it, as was rare in his reign. there were his sisters of schwedt and baireuth, with suite, his dear wilhelmina queen of the scene; ["came th august" (rodenbeck, ).] there were--it would be tedious to count what other high herrschaften and durchlauchtig persons. and to crown the whole, and entertain wilhelmina as a queen should be, there had come m. de voltaire; conquered at length to us, as we hope, and the dream of our youth realized. voltaire's reception, july th and ever since, has been mere splendor and kindness; really extraordinary, as we shall find farther on. reception perfect in all points, except that of the pompadour's compliments alone. "that sublime creature's compliments to your majesty; such her express command!" said voltaire. "je ne la connais pas," answered friedrich, with his clear-ringing voice, "i don't know her;" [voltaire to madame denis, "potsdam, th august, " (--oeuvres,--lxxiv. ).]--sufficient intimation to voltaire, but painful and surprising. for which some diplomatic persons blame friedrich to this day; but not i, or any reader of mine. a very proud young king; in his silent way, always the prouder; and stands in no awe of the divine butterflies and crowned infatuations never so potent, as more prudent people do. in a berlin of such stir and splendor, the arrivals of sir jonas hanway, of the "young lord malton" (famed earl or marquis of rockingham that will be), or of the witty excellency hanbury, are as nothing;--sir jonas's as less than nothing. a sir jonas noticed by nobody; but himself taking note, dull worthy man; and mentionable now on that account. here is a scrap regarding him, not quite to be thrown away: "sir jonas hanway was not always so extinct as he has now become. readers might do worse than turn to his now old book of travels again, and the strange old london it awakens for us: a 'russian trading company,' full of hope to the then mercantile mind; a mr. hanway despatched, years ago, as chief clerk, inexpressibly interested to manage well;--and managing, as you may read at large. has done his best and utmost, all this while; and had such travellings through the naphtha countries, sailings on the caspian; such difficulties, successes,--ultimately, failure. owing to mr. elton and thamas kouli khan mainly. thamas kouli khan--otherwise called nadir shah (and a very hard-headed fellow, by all appearance)--wiled and seduced mr. elton, an ex-naval gentleman, away from his ledgers, to build him ships; having set his heart on getting a navy. and mr. elton did build him (spite of all i could say) a bark or two on the caspian;--most hopeful to the said nadir shah; but did it come to anything? it disgusted, it alarmed the russians; and ruined sir jonas,--who is returning at this period, prepared to render account of himself at london, in a loftily resigned frame of mind. [jonas hanway,--an account of &c.--(or in brief, travels: london, vols. to, ), ii. . "arrived in berlin," from the caspian and petersburg side, "august th, ."] "the remarks of sir jonas upon berlin--for he exercises everywhere a sapient observation on men and things--are of dim tumidly insignificant character, reminding us of an extinct minerva's owl; and reduce themselves mainly to this bit of ocular testimony, that his prussian majesty rides much about, often at a rapid rate; with a pleasant business aspect, humane though imperative; handsome to look upon, though with face perceptibly reddish [and perhaps snuff on it, were you near]. his age now thirty-eight gone; a set appearance, as if already got into his forties. complexion florid, figure muscular, almost tending to be plump. "listen well through hanway, you will find king friedrich is an object of great interest, personal as well as official, and much the theme in berlin society; admiration of him, pride in him, not now the audiblest tone, though it lies at the bottom too: 'our friedrich the great,' after all [so hanway intimates, though not express as to epithets or words used]. the king did a beautiful thing to lieutenant-colonel keith the other day [as some readers may remember]: to lieutenant-colonel keith; that poor keith who was nailed to the gallows for him (in effigy), at wesel long ago; and got far less than he had expected. the other day, there had been a grand review, part of it extending into madam knyphausen's grounds, who is keith's mother-in-law. 'monsieur keith,' said the king to him, 'i am sorry we had to spoil madam's fine shrubbery by our manoeuvres: have the goodness to give her that, with my apologies,'--and handed him a pretty casket with key to it, and in the interior , crowns. not a shrub of madam's had been cut or injured; but the king, you see, would count it , pounds of damage done, and here is acknowledgment for it, which please accept. is not that a gracious little touch? "this king is doing something at embden, sir jonas fears, or trying to do, in the trade-and-navigation way; scandalous that english capitalists will lend money in furtherance of such destructive schemes by the foreigner! for the rest, sir jonas went to call on lord malton (marquis of rockingham that will be): an amiable and sober young nobleman, come thus far on his grand tour," and in time for the carrousel. "his lordship's reception at court here, one regretted to hear, was nothing distinguished; quite indifferent, indeed, had not the queen-mother stept in with amendments. the courts are not well together; pity for it. my lord and his tutor did me the honor to return my visit; the rather as we all quartered in the same inn. amiable young nobleman,"--so distinguished since, for having had unconsciously an edmund burke, and such torrents of parliamentary eloquence, in his breeches-pocket (breeches-pocket literally; how unknown to hanway!)--"amiable young nobleman, is not it one's duty to salute, in passing such a one? though i would by no means have it over-done, and am a calmly independent man. "sir jonas also saw the carrousel [of which presently]; and admired the great men of berlin. great men, all obsolete now, though then admired to infinitude, some of them: 'you may abuse me,' said the king to some stranger arrived in berlin; 'you may abuse me, and perhaps here and there get praise by doing it: but i advise you not to doubt of lieberkuhn [the fashionable doctor] in any company in berlin,'" [hanway, ii. , , &c.]--how fashionable are men! one collini, a young italian, quite new in berlin, chanced also to be at the carrousel, or at the latter half of it,--though by no means in quest of such objects just at present, poor young fellow! as he came afterwards to be secretary or amanuensis of voltaire, and will turn up in that capacity, let us read this note upon him:-- "signor como alessandro collini, a young venetian gentleman of some family and education, but of no employment or resource, had in late years been asking zealously all round among his home circle, what am i to do with myself? mere echo answering, what,--till a signora sister of barberina the dancer's answered: 'try berlin, and king friderico il grande there? i could give you a letter to my sister!' at which collini grasps; gets under way for berlin,--through wild alpine sceneries, foreign guttural populations; and with what thoughts, poor young fellow. it is a common course to take, and sometimes answers, sometimes not. the cynosure of vague creatures, with a sense of faculty without direction. what clouds of winged migratory people gathering in to berlin, all through this reign. not since noah's ark a stranger menagerie of creatures, mostly wild. of whom voltaire alone is, in our time, worth mention. "collini gazed upon the alpine chasms, and shaggy ice-palaces, with tender memory of the adriatic; courageously steered his way through the inoffensive guttural populations; had got to berlin, just in this time; been had to dinner daily by the hospitable barberinas, young cocceji always his fellow-guest,--'privately, my poor signorina's husband!' whispered old mamma. both the barberinas were very kind to collini; cheering him with good auguries, and offers of help. collini does not date with any punctuality; but the german books will do it for him. august th- th was carrousel; and collini had arrived few days before." [collini,--mon sejour aupres de voltaire--(paris, ), pp. - .] and now it is time we were at the carrousel ourselves,--in a brief transient way. chapter vi.--berlin carrousel, and voltaire visible there. readers have heard of the place du carrousel at paris; and know probably that louis xiv. held world-famous carrousel there (a.d. ); and, in general, that carrousel has something to do with tourneying, or the shadow of tourneying. it is, in fact, a kind of superb be-tailored running at the ring, instead of be-blacksmithed running at one another. a second milder edition of those tournament sports, and dangerous trials of strength and dexterity, which were so grand a business in the old iron ages. of which, in the form of carrousel or otherwise, down almost to the present day, there have been examples, among puissant lords;--though now it is felt to have become extremely hollow; perhaps incapable of fully entertaining anybody, except children and their nurses on a high occasion. a century ago, before the volcanic explosion of so many things which it has since become wearisome to think of in this earnest world, the tournament, emblem of an age of chivalry, which was gone: but had not yet declared itself to be quite gone, and even to be turned topsy-turvy, had still substance as a mummery,--not enough, i should say, to spend much money upon. not much real money: except, indeed, the money were offered you gratis, from other parties interested? sir jonas kindly informs us, by insinuation, that this was, to a good degree, friedrich's case in the now carrousel: "a thing got up by the private efforts of different great lords and princes of the blood;" each party tailoring, harnessing and furbishing himself and followers; friedrich contributing little but the arena and general outfit. i know not whether even the , lamps (for it took place by night) were of his purchase, though that is likely; and know only that the suppers and interior palace entertainments would be his. "did not cost the king much money," says sir jonas; which is satisfactory to know. for of the carrousel kind, or of the royal-mummery kind in general, there has been, for graceful arrangement, for magnificence regardless of expense,--inviting your amiable lord malton, and the idlers of all countries, and awakening the rapture of gazetteers,--nothing like it since louis the grand's time. nothing,--except perhaps that camp of muhlberg or radowitz, where we once were. done, this one, not at the king's expense alone, but at other people's chiefly: that is an unexpected feature, welcome if true; and, except for sir jonas, would not have helped to explain the puzzle for us, as it did in the then berlin circles. muhlberg, in my humble judgment, was worth two of this as a mummery;--but the meritorious feature of friedrich's is, that it cost him very little. it was, say all gazetteers and idle eye-witnesses, a highly splendid spectacle. by much the most effulgent exhibition friedrich ever made of himself in the expensive-mummery department: and i could give in extreme detail the phenomena of it; but, in mercy to poor readers, will not. fancy the assiduous hammering and sawing on the schloss-platz, amid crowds of gay loungers, giving cheerful note of preparation, in those latter days of august, . and, on wednesday night, th august, look and see,--for the due moments only, and vaguely enough (as in the following excerpt):-- palace-esplanade of berlin, th august, (dusk sinking into dark): "under a windy nocturnal sky, a spacious parallelogram, enclosed for jousting as at aspramont or trebisond. wide enough arena in the centre; vast amphitheatre of wooden seats and passages, firm carpentry and fitted for its business, rising all round; audience, select though multitudinous, sitting decorous and garrulous, say since half-past eight. there is royal box on the ground-tier; and the king in it, king, with princess amelia for the prizes: opposite to this is entrance for the chevaliers,--four separate entrances, i think. who come,--lo, at last!--with breathings and big swells of music, as resuscitations from the buried ages. "they are in four 'quadrilles,' so termed: romans, persians, carthaginians, greeks. four jousting parties, headed each by a prince of the blood:--with such a splendor of equipment for jewels, silver helmets, sashings, housings, as eye never saw. prancing on their glorious battle-steeds (sham-battle, steeds not sham, but champing their bits as real quadrupeds with fire in their interior):--how many in all, i forgot to count. perhaps, on the average, sixty in each quadrille, fifteen of them practical ritters; the rest mythologic winged standard-bearers, blackamoors, lictors, trumpeters and shining melodious phantasms as escort,--of this latter kind say in round numbers two hundred altogether; and of actual ritters threescore. [blumenthal,--life of de ziethen--(ziethen was in it, and gained a prize), i. - et seq.; voltaire's letters to niece denis (--oeuvres,--lxxiv. , , );--and two contemporary tos on the subject, with drawings &c., which may well continue unknown to every reader.] who run at rings, at turks' heads, and at other objects with death-doing lance; and prance and flash and career along: glorious to see and hear. under proud flourishings of drums and trumpets, under bursts and breathings of wind-music; under the shine of forty thousand lamps, for one item. all berlin and the nocturnal firmament looking on,--night rather gusty, 'which blew out many of the lamps,' insinuates hanway. "about midnight, beauty in the form of princess amelia distributes the prizes; music filling the air; and human 'euge's,' and the surviving lamps, doing their best. after which the principalities and ritters withdraw to their palace, to their balls and their supper of the gods; and all the world and his wife goes home again, amid various commentary from high and low. 'jamais, never,' murmured one high gentleman, of the impromptu kind, at the palace supper-table:-- --'jamais dans athene et dans rome on n'eut de plus beaux jours, ni de plus digne prix. j'ai vu le fils de mars sous les traits de paris, et venus qui donnait la pomme.'"-- ["never in athens or rome were there braver sights or a worthier prize: i have seen the son of mars [king friedrich] with paris's features, and venus [amelia] crowning the victorious." (--oeuvres de voltaire,--xviii. .)] and amphitheatre and lamps lapse wholly into darkness, and the thing has finished, for the time being. august th, it was repeated by daylight: if possible, more charming than ever; but not to be spoken of farther, under penalties. to be mildly forgotten again, every jot and tittle of it,--except one small insignificant iota, which, by accident, still makes it remarkable. namely, that collini and the barberinas were there; and that not only was voltaire again there, among the princes and princesses; but that collini saw voltaire, and gives us transient sight of him,--thanks to collini. thursday, th august, , was the daylight version of the carrousel; which collini, if it were of any moment, takes to have preceded that of the , lamps. sure enough collini was there, with eyes open:-- "madame de cocceji [so one may call her, though the known alias is barberina] had engaged places; she invited me to come and see this festivity. we went;" and very grand it was. "the palace-esplanade was changed" by carpentries and draperies "into a vast amphitheatre; the slopes of it furnished with benches for the spectators, and at the four corners of it and at the bottom, magnificently decorated boxes for the court." vast oval amphitheatre, the interior arena rectangular, with its four entrances, one for each of the four quadrilles. "the assemblage was numerous and brilliant: all the court had come from potsdam to berlin. "a little while before the king himself made appearance, there rose suddenly a murmur of admiration, and i heard all round me, from everybody, the name 'voltaire! voltaire!' looking down, i saw voltaire accordingly; among a group of great lords, who were walking over the arena, towards one of the court boxes. he wore a modest countenance, but joy painted itself in his eyes: you cannot love glory, and not feel gratefully the prize attached to it,"--attained as here. "i lost sight of him in few instants," as he approached his box "the place where i was not permitting farther view." [collini,--mon sejour,--p. .] this was collini's first sight of that great man (de ce grand homme). with whom, thanks to barberina, he had, in a day or two, the honor of an interview (judgment favorable, he could hope); and before many months, accident also favoring, the inexpressible honor of seeing himself the great man's secretary,--how far beyond hope or aspiration, in these carrousel days! voltaire had now been here some seven weeks,--arrived th july, as we often note;--after (on his own part) a great deal of haggling, hesitating and negotiating; which we spare our readers. the poor man having now become a quasi-widower; painfully rallying, with his whole strength, towards new arrangements,--now was the time for friedrich to urge him: "come to me! away from all that dismal imbroglio; hither, i say!" to which voltaire is not inattentive; though he hesitates; cannot, in any case, come without delay;--lingers in paris, readjusting many things, the poor shipwrecked being, among kind d'argentals and friends. poor ishmael, getting gray; and his tent in the desert suddenly carried off by a blast of wind! to the legal widower, m. le marquis, he behaves in money matters like a prince; takes that paris domicile, in the rue traversiere, all to himself; institutes a new household there,--niece denis to be female president. niece denis, widow without encumbrances; whom in her married state, wife to some kind of commissariat-officer at lille, we have seen transiently in that city, her uncle lodging with her as he passed. a gadding, flaunting, unreasonable, would-be fashionable female--(a du chatelet without the grace or genius, and who never was in love with you!)--with whom poor uncle had a baddish life in time coming. all which settled, he still lingers. widowed, grown old and less adventurous! 'that house in the rue traversiere, once his and another's, now his alone,--for the time being, it is probably more like a mausoleum than a house to him. and versailles, with its sulky trajans, its crebillon cabals, what charm is in versailles? he thinks of going to italy for a while; has never seen that fine country: of going to berlin for a while: of going to--in fact, berlin is clearly the place where he will land; but he hesitates greatly about lifting anchor. friedrich insists, in a bright, bantering, kindly way; "you were due to me a year ago; you said always, 'so soon as the lying-in is over, i am yours:'--and now, why don't you come?" friedrich, since they met last, has had some experiences of voltaire, which he does not like. their roads, truly--one adulating trajan in versailles, and growing great by "farces of the fair;" the other battling for his existence against men and devils, trajan and company included--have lain far apart. their correspondence perceptibly languishing, in consequence, and even rumors rising on the subject, voltaire wrote once: "give me a yard of ribbon, sire [your order of merit, sire], to silence those vile rumors!" which friedrich, on such free-and-easy terms, had silently declined. "a meddlesome, forward kind of fellow; always getting into scrapes and brabbles!" thinks friedrich. but is really anxious, now that the chance offers again, to have such a levite for his priest, the evident pink of human intellect; and tries various incitements upon him;--hits at last (i know not whether by device or by accident) on one which, say the french biographers, did raise voltaire and set him under way. a certain m. baculard d'arnaud, a conceited, foolish young fellow, much patronized by voltaire, and given to write verses, which are unknown to me, has been, on voltaire's recommending, "literary correspondent" to friedrich (paris book-agent and the like) for some time past; corresponding much with potsdam, in a way found entertaining; and is now (april, ) actually going thither, to friedrich's court, or perhaps has gone. at any rate, friedrich--by accident or by device--had answered some rhymes of this d'arnaud, "yes; welcome, young sunrise, since voltaire is about to set!" [--oeuvres de frederic,--xiv. (verses "a d'arnaud," of date december, .)] i hope it was by device; d'arnaud is such a silly fellow; too absurd, to reckon as morning to anybody's sunset. except for his involuntary service, for and against, in this voltaire journey, his name would not now be mentionable at all. "sunset?" exclaimed voltaire, springing out of bed (say the biographers), and skipping about indignantly in his shirt: "i will show them i am not set yet!" [duvernet (second), p. .] and instantly resolved on the berlin expedition. went to compiegne, where the court then was; to bid his adieus; nay to ask formally the royal leave,--for we are historiographer and titular gentleman of the chamber, and king's servant in a sense. leave was at once granted him, almost huffingly; we hope not with too much readiness? for this is a ticklish point: one is going to prussia "on a visit" merely (though it may be longish); one would not have the door of france slammed to behind one! the tone at court did seem a little succinct, something almost of sneer in it. but from the pompadour herself all was friendly; mere witty, cheery graciosities, and "my compliments to his majesty of prussia,"--compliments how answered when they came to hand: "je ne la connais pas!" in short, m. de voltaire made all his arrangements; got under way; piously visited fontenoy and the battle-fields in passing: and is here, since july th,--in very great splendor, as we see:--on his fifth visit to friedrich. fifth; which proved his last,--and is still extremely celebrated in the world. visit much misunderstood in france and england, down to this day. by no means sorted out into accuracy and intelligibility; but left as (what is saying a great deal!) probably the wastest chaos of all the sections of friedrich's history. and has, alone of them, gone over the whole world; being withal amusing to read, and therefore well and widely remembered, in that mendacious and semi-intelligible state. to lay these goblins, full of noise, ignorance and mendacity, and give some true outline of the matter, with what brevity is consistent with deciphering it at all, is now our sad task,--laborious, perhaps disgusting; not impossible, if readers will loyally assist. voltaire had taken every precaution that this visit should succeed, or at least be no loss to one of the parties. in a preliminary letter from paris,--prose and verse, one of the cleverest diplomatic pieces ever penned; letter really worth looking at, cunning as the song of apollo, voltaire symbolically intimates: "well, sire, your old danae, poor malingering old wretch, is coming to her jove. it is jove she wants, not the shower of jove; nevertheless"--and friedrich (thank hanbury, in part, for that bit of knowledge) had remitted him in hard money pounds "to pay the tolls on his road." [walpole, i. ("had it from princess amelia herself"); see voltaire to friedrich, "paris, th june, ;" friedrich to voltaire, "potsdam, th may" (--oeuvres de voltaire,--lxxiv. , ).] as a high gentleman would; to have done with those base elements of the business. nay furthermore, precisely two days before those splendors of the carrousel, friedrich,--in answer to new cunning croakeries and contrivances ("sire, this letter from my niece, who is inconsolable that i should think of staying here;" where, finding oneself so divinized, one is disposed to stay),--has answered him like a king: by gold key of chamberlain, cross of the order of merit, and pension of , francs ( pounds) a year,--conveyed in as royal a letter of business as i have often read; melodious as apollo, this too, though all in business prose, and, like apollo, practical god of the sun in this case. ["berlin, d august, " (--oeuvres de frederic,--xxii. );--voltaire to niece denis, " th august" (misprinted " th"); to d'argental, " th august" (--oeuvres de voltaire,--lxxiv. , ).] dated d august, . this letter of friedrich's i fancy to be what voltaire calls, "your majesty's gracious agreement with me," and often appeals to, in subsequent troubles. not quite a notarial piece, on friedrich's part; but strictly observed by him as such. four days after which, collini sees voltaire serenely shining among the princes and princesses of the world; amphitheatre all whispering with bated breath, "voltaire! voltaire!" but let us hear voltaire himself, from the interior of the phenomenon, at this its culminating point:-- voltaire to his d'argentals,--to niece denis even, with whom, if with no other, he is quite without reserve, in showing the bad and the good,--continues radiantly eloquent in these first months: ... "carrousel, twice over; the like never seen for splendor, for [rather copious on this sublimity]--after which we played rome sauvee [my anti-crebillon masterpiece], in a pretty little theatre, which i have got constructed in the princess amelia's antechamber. i, who speak to you, i played cicero." yes; and was manager and general stage-king and contriver; being expert at this, if at anything. and these beautiful theatricals had begun weeks ago, and still lasted many weeks; [rodenbeck, "august-october," .]--with such divine consultings, directings, even orderings of the brilliant royalties concerned.-- duvernet (probably on d'arget's authority) informs us that "once, in one of the inter-acts, finding the soldiers allowed him for pretorian guards not to understand their business here," not here, as they did at hohenfriedberg and elsewhere, "voltaire shrilled volcanically out to them [happily unintelligible): 'f----, devil take it, i asked for men; and they have sent me germans (j'ai demande des hommes, et l'on m'envoie des allemands)!' at which the princesses were good-natured enough to burst into laughter." [duvernet (second), p. ,--time probably th october.] voltaire continues: "there is an english ambassador here who knows cicero's orations in catilinam by heart;" an excellent etonian, surely. "it is not milord tyrconnell" (blusterous irish jacobite), our ambassador, note him, fat valori having been recalled); no, "it is the envoy from england," excellency hanbury himself, who knows his cicero by heart. "he has sent me some fine verses on rome sauvee; he says it is my best work. it is a piece appropriate for ministerial people; madame la chanceliere," cocceji's better half, "is well pleased with it. [--oeuvres,--lxxiv. (letters, to the d'argentals and denis, " th august- d september, "), pp. , , , &c. &c.] and then,"--but enough. in princess amelia's antechamber, there or in other celestial places, in palace after palace, it goes on. gayety succeeding gayety; mere princesses and princes doing parts; in rome sauvee, and in masterpieces of voltaire's, voltaire himself acting cicero and elderly characters, lusignan and the like. excellent in acting, say the witnesses; superlative, for certain, as preceptor of the art,--though impatient now and then. and wears such jewel-ornaments (borrowed partly from a hebrew, of whom anon), such magnificence of tasteful dress;--and walks his minuet among the morning stars. not to mention the suppers of the king: chosen circle, with the king for centre; a radiant friedrich flashing out to right and left, till all kindles into coruscation round him; and it is such a blaze of spiritual sheet-lightnings,--wonderful to think of; voltaire especially electric. never, or seldom, were seen such suppers; such a life for a supreme man of letters so fitted with the place due to him. smelfungus says:-- "and so your supreme of literature has got into his due place at last,--at the top of the world, namely; though, alas, but for moments or for months. the king's own friend; he whom the king delights to honor. the most shining thing in berlin, at this moment. virtually a kind of papa, or intellectual father of mankind," sneers smelfungus; "pope improvised for the nonce. the new fridericus magnus does as the old pipinus, old carolus magnus did: recognizes his pope, in despite of the base vulgar; elevates him aloft into worship, for the vulgar and for everybody! carolus magnus did that thrice-salutary feat [sublimely human, if you think of it, and for long centuries successful more or less]; fridericus magnus, under other omens, unconsciously does the like,--the best he can! let the opera fiddlers, the frerons, travenols and desfontaines-of-sodom's ghost look and consider!"-- madame denis, an expensive gay lady, still only in her thirties, improvable by rouge, carries on great work in the rue traversiere; private theatricals, suppers, flirtations with italian travelling marquises;--finds intendant longchamp much in her way, with his rigorous account-books, and restriction to louis per month; wishes even her uncle were back, and cautions him, not to believe in friedrich's flattering unctions, or put his trust in princes at all. voltaire, with the due preliminaries, shows friedrich her letter, one of her letters, [now lost, as most of them are; voltaire's answer to it, already cited, is " th august, " (misprinted " th august,"--oeuvres,--lxxiv. ; see ib. lxxv. ); king friedrich's practical answer (so munificent to denis and voltaire), "your majesty's gracious agreement," bore date "august d."]--with result as we saw above. formey says: "in the carnival time, which voltaire usually passed at berlin, in the palace, people paid their court to him as to a declared favorite. princes, marshals, ministers of state, foreign ambassadors, lords of the highest rank, attended his audience; and were received," says formey, nowhere free from spite on this subject, "in a sufficiently lofty style (hauteur assez dedaigneuse). [formey,--souvenirs,--i. , .] a great prince had the complaisance to play chess with him; and to let him win the pistoles that were staked. sometimes even the pistole disappeared before the end of the game," continues formey, green with spite;--and reports that sad story of the candle-ends; bits of wax-candle, which should have remained as perquisite to the valets, but which were confiscated by voltaire and sent across to the wax-chandler's. so, doubtless, the spiteful rumor ran; probably little but spite and fable, berlin being bitter in its gossip. stupid thiebault repeats that of the candle-ends, like a thing he had seen (twelve years before his arrival in those parts); and adds that voltaire "put them in his pocket,"--like one both stupid and sordid. alas, the brighter your shine, the blacker is the shadow you cast. friedrich, with the knowledge he already had of his yoke-fellow,--one of the most skittish, explosive, unruly creatures in harness,--cannot be counted wise to have plunged so heartily into such an adventure with him. "an undoubted courser of the sun!" thought friedrich;--and forgot too much the signs of bad going he had sometimes noticed in him on the common highways. there is no doubt he was perfectly sincere and simple in all this high treatment of voltaire. "the foremost, literary spirit of the world, a man to be honored by me, and by all men; the trismegistus of human intellects, what a conquest to have made; how cheap is a little money, a little patience and guidance, for such solacement and ornament to one's barren life!" he had rashly hoped that the dreams of his youth could hereby still be a little realized; and something of the old reinsberg program become a fruitful and blessed fact. friedrich is loyally glad over his voltaire; eager in all ways to content him, make him happy; and keep him here, as the talking bird, the singing tree and the golden water of intelligent mankind; the glory of one's own court, and the envy of the world. "will teach us the secret of the muses, too; french muses, and help us in our bits of literature!" this latter, too, is a consideration with friedrich, as why should it not,--though by no means the sole or chief one, as the french give it out to be. on his side, voltaire is not disloyal either; but is nothing like so completely loyal. he has, and continued always to have, not unmixed with fear, a real admiration for friedrich, that terrible practical doer, with the cutting brilliances of mind and character, and the irrefragable common sense; nay he has even a kind of love to him, or something like it,--love made up of gratitude for past favors, and lively anticipation of future. voltaire is, by nature, an attached or attachable creature; flinging out fond boughs to every kind of excellence, and especially holding firm by old ties he had made. one fancies in him a mixed set of emotions, direct and reflex,--the consciousness of safe shelter, were there nothing more; of glory to oneself, derived and still derivable from this high man:--in fine, a sum-total of actual desire to live with king friedrich, which might, surely, have almost sufficed even for voltaire, in a quieter element. but the element was not quiet,--far from it; nor was voltaire easily sufficeable! perpetual president maupertuis has a visit from one konig, out of holland, concerning the infinitely little. whether maupertuis, in red wig with yellow bottom, saw these high gauderies of the carrousel, the plays in princess amelia's antechamber, and the rest of it, i do not know: but if so, he was not in the top place; nor did anybody take notice of him, as everybody did of voltaire. meanwhile, i have something to quote, as abridged and distilled from various sources, chiefly from formey; which will be of much concernment farther on. some four weeks after those carrousel effulgencies, perpetual president maupertuis had a visit (september st, just while the sun was crossing the line; thanks to formey for the date, who keeps a note-book, useful in these intricacies): visit from professor konig, an effective mathematical man from the dutch parts. whom readers have forgotten again; though they saw him once: in violent quarrel, about the infinitely little, with madame du chatelet, voltaire witnessing with pain;--it was just as they quitted cirey together, ten years ago, for these new courses of adventure. do readers recall the circumstance? maupertuis, referee in that quarrel, had, with a bluntness offensive to the female mind, declared konig indisputably in the right; and there had followed a dryness between the divine emilie and the flattener of the earth, scarcely to be healed by voltaire's best efforts. konig has gone his road since then; become a fine solid fellow; professor in a dutch university; more latterly librarian to the dutch stadtholder: still frank of speech, and with a rugged free-and-easy turn, but of manful manners; really a person of various culture, and as is still noticeable, of a solid geometric turn of mind. having now, as librarian at the hague, more leisure and more money, he has made a run to berlin,--chiefly or entirely to see his maupertuis again, whom he still remembers gratefully as his first patron in older times, and a man of sound parts, though rather blusterous now and then, a little bit of scientific business also he has with him. konig is member of the berlin academy, for some years back; and there is a thing he would speak with the perpetual president upon. "wants nothing else in berlin," says formey: a hearing by the road that maupertuis was not there, he had actually turned homewards again: but got truer tidings, and came on. "the more was the pity, as perhaps will appear!"he arrived september th [if you will be particular on cheese-parings]; called on me that day, being lodged in my neighborhood; and next day, found maupertuis at home;" [formey, i. - .]--and flew into his arms again, like a good boy long absent. maupertuis, not many months ago, had, in two successive papers, i think two, communicated to the academy a discovery of metaphysico-mathematical or altogether metaphysical nature, on the laws of motion;--discovery which he has, since that, brought to complete perfection, and sent forth to the universe at large, in his sublime little book of cosmology; [in la beaumelle,--vie de maupertuis--(paris, ), pp. - , confused account of this "discovery," and of the gradual publication of it to mankind,--very gradual; first of all in the old paris times; in the berlin academy latterly; and in fine, to all the world, in this essai de cosmologie (berlin, summer of ).]--grateful academy striving to admire, and believe, with its perpetual president, that the discovery was sublime to a degree; second only to the flattening of the earth; and would probably stand thenceforth as a milestone in the progress of human thought. "which discovery, then?" be not too curious, reader; take only of it what shall concern you! it is well known there have been, to the metaphysical head, difficulties almost insuperable as to how, in the system of nature, motion is? how, in the name of wonder, it can be; and even, whether it is at all? difficulties to the metaphysical head, sticking its nose into the gutter there;--not difficult to my readers and me, who can at all times walk across the room, and triumphantly get over them. but stick your nose into any gutter, entity, or object, this of motion or another, with obstinacy,--you will easily drown, if that be your determination!--suffice it for us to know in this matter, that maupertuis, intensely watching nature, has discovered, that the key of her enigma (or at least the ultimate central door, which hides all her motional enigmas, the key to which cannot even be imagined as discoverable!) is, that "nature is superlatively thrifty in this affair of motion;" that she employs, for every motion done or do-able, "a minimum of action;" and that, if you well understand this, you will, at least, announce all her procedures in one proposition, and have found the door which leads to everything. which will be a comfort to you; still looking vainly for the key, if there is still no key conceivable. perpetual president maupertuis, having surprised nature in this manner, read papers upon it to an academy listening with upturned eyes; new papers, perfected out of old,--for he has long been hatching these phoenix-eggs; and has sent them out complete, quite lately, in a little book called cosmologie, where alone i have had the questionable benefit of reading them. grandly brief, as if coming from delphi, the utterance is; loftily solemn, elaborately modest, abstruse to the now human mind; but intelligible, had it only been worth understanding:--a painful little book, that cosmologie, as the perpetual president's generally are. "minimum of action, loi d'epargne, law of thrift," he calls this sublime discovery;--thinks it will be sovereign in natural theology as well: "for how could nature be a save-all, without designer present?"--and speaks, of course, among other technical points, about "vis viva, or velocity multiplied by the square of the time:" which two points, "loi d'epargne," and that "the vis viva is always a minimum," the reader can take along with him; i will permit him to shake the others into limbo again, as forgettable by human nature at this epoch and henceforth. in la beaumelle's--vie de maupertuis--(printed at last, paris, , after lying nearly a century in manuscript, an obtuse worthless leaden little book), there is much loud droning and detailing, about this cosmologie, this sublime "discovery," and the other sublime discoveries, insights and apocalyptic utterances of maupertuis; though in so confused a fashion, it is seldom you can have the poor pleasure of learning exactly when, or except by your own severe scrutiny, exactly what. for reasons that will appear, certain of those apocalyptic utterances by perpetual president maupertuis have since got a new interest, and one has actually a kind of wish to read the ipsissima verba of them, at this date! but in la beaumelle (his modern editor lying fast asleep throughout) there is no vestige of help. nay maupertuis's own book, [--oeuvres de maupertuis,--lyon, , vols. to.] luxurious cream-paper quartos, or octaves made four-square by margin,--which you buy for these and the cognate objects,--proves altogether worthless to you. the maupertuis quartos are not readable for their own sake (solemnly emphatic statement of what you already know; concentrated struggle to get on wing, and failure by so narrow a miss; struggle which gets only on tiptoe, and won't cease wriggling and flapping); and then (to your horror) they prove to be carefully cleaned of all the maupertuis-voltaire matter;--edition being subsequent to that world-famous explosion. caveat emptor.--our excerpt proceeds:-- "industrious konig, like other mathematical people, has been listening to these oracles on the 'law of minimum,' by the perpetual president; and grieves to find, after study, that said law does not quite hold; that in fact it is, like descartes's old key or general door, worth little or nothing; as leibnitz long ago seems to have transiently recognized. konig has put his strictures on paper: but will not dream of publishing, till the perpetual president have examined them and satisfied himself; and that is konig's business at present, as he knocks on maupertuis, while sol is crossing the line. maupertuis has a house of the due style: wife a daughter of minister borck's (high borcks, 'old as the diuvel'); no children;--his back courts always a good deal dirty with pelicans, bustards, perhaps snakes and other zoological wretches, which sometimes intrude into the drawing-rooms, otherwise very fine. a man of some whims, some habits; arbitrary by nature, but really honest, though rather sublimish in his interior, with red wig and yellow bottom. "konig, all filial gladness, is received gladly;--though, by degrees, with some surprise, on the paternal part, to find konig ripened out of son, client and pupil, into independent posture of a grown man. frankly certain enough about himself, and about the axioms of mathematics. standing, evidently, on his own legs; kindly as ever, but on these new terms,--in fact rather an outspoken free-and-easy fellow (i should guess), not thinking that offence can be taken among friends. formey confesses, this was uncomfortable to maupertuis; in fact, a shock which he could not recover from. they had various meetings, over dinner aud otherwise, at the perpetual president's, for perhaps two weeks at this time (dates all to be had in formey's note-book, if anybody would consult); in the whole course of which the shock to the perpetual president increased, instead of diminishing. republican freedom and equality is evidently konig's method; konig heeds not a whit the oracular talent or majestic position of maupertuis; argues with the frankest logic, when he feels dissent;--drives a majestic perpetual president, especially in the presence of third parties, much out of patience. thus, one evening, replying to some argument of the perpetual president's, he begins: 'my poor friend, mon pauvre ami, don't you perceive, then'--upon which maupertuis sprang from his chair, violently stamping, and pirouetted round the room, 'poor friend, poor friend? are you so rich: then!' frank konig merely grinning till the paroxysm passed. [formey, i. .] konig went home again, re infecta about the end of the month." such a konig--had better not have come! as to his strictures on the law of thrift, the arguings on them, alone together, or with friends by, merely set maupertuis pirouetting: and as to the konig manuscripts on them "to be published in the leipzig acta, after your remarks and permission," maupertuis absolutely refused to look at said manuscripts: "publish them there, here, everywhere, in the devil and his grandmother's name; and then there is an end, monsieur!" konig went his ways therefore, finding nothing else for it; published his strictures, in the leipzig acta in march next,--and never saw maupertuis again, for one result, out of several that followed! i have no doubt he was out to voltaire, more than once, in this fortnight; and eat "the king's roast" pleasantly with that eminent old friend. voltaire always thought him a bon garcon (justly, by all the evidence i have); and finds his talk agreeable, and his berlin news--especially that of maupertuis and his explosive pirouettings. adieu, herr professor; you know not, with your leipzig acta and fragment of leibnitz, what an explosion you are preparing! chapter vii.--m. de voltaire has a painful jew-lawsuit. voltaire's terrestrial paradise at berlin did not long continue perfect. scarcely had that grand carrousel vanished in the azure firmaments, when little clouds began rising in its stead; and before long, black thunder-storms of a very strange and even dangerous character. it must have been a painful surprise to friedrich to hear from his voltaire, some few weeks after those munificences, that he, voltaire, was in very considerable distress of mind, from the bad, not to call it the felonious and traitorous, conduct of m. d'arnaud,--once friedrich's shoeing-horn and "rising-sun" for voltaire's behoof; now a vague flaunting creature, without significance to friedrich or anybody! that d'arnaud had done this and done that, of an anti-voltairian, treasonous nature;--and that, in short, life was impossible in the neighborhood of such a d'arnaud!"d'arnaud has corrupted my clerk (prince henri hungering in vain for la pucelle, has got sight of it, in this way); [clerk was dismissed accordingly (one tinois, an ingenious creature),--and collini appointed in his stead.] d'arnaud has been gossiping to freron and the paris newspapers; d'arnaud has" [voltaire to friedrich (--oeuvres de frederic,--xxii. ), undated, "november, ."]--has, in effect, been a flaunting young fool; of dissolute, esurient, slightly profligate turn; occasionally helping in the theatricals, and much studious to make himself notable, and useful to the princely kind. a d'arnaud of nearly no significance, to friedrich or to anybody. a d'arnaud whose bits of fooleries and struttings about, in the peacock or jackdaw way, might surely have been below the notice of a trismegistus! friedrich, painfully made sensible what a skinless explosive trismegistus he has got on hand, answers, i suppose, in words little or nothing,--in letters, i observe, answers absolutely nothing, to voltaire repeating and re-repeating;--does simply dismiss d'arnaud (a "bon diable," as voltaire, to impartial people, calls him), or accept d'arnaud's demission, and cut the poor fool adrift. who sallies out into infinite space, to paris latterly ("alive there in "); and claims henceforth perpetual oblivion from us and mankind. and now there will be peace in our garden of the gods, and perpetual azure will return? alas, d'arnaud is not well gone, when there has begun brewing in threefold secrecy a mass of galvanic matter, which, in few weeks more, filled the heavens with miraculous foul gases and the blackness of darkness;--which, in short, exploded about new-year's time, as the world-famous voltaire-hirsch lawsuit, still remembered, though only as a portent and mystery, by observant on-lookers. of which it is now our sad duty to say something; though nowhere, in the annals of jurisprudence, is there a more despicable thing, or a deeper involved in lies and deliriums by current reporters of it, about which the sane mind can be called upon accidentally to speak a word. beaten, riddled, shovelled, washed in many waters, by a patient though disgusted predecessor in this field, there lies by me a copious but wearisome narrative of this matter;--the more vivid portions of which, if rightly disengaged, and shown in sequence, may satisfy the curious. duvernet (who, i can guess, had talked with d'arget on the subject) has, alone of the french biographers, some glimmer of knowledge about it; duvernet admits that it was a thing of illegal stock-jobbing; that-- . "that m. de voltaire had agreed with a jew named hirsch to go to dresden and, illegally, purchase a good lot of steuer-scheine [saxon exchequer bills, which are payable in gold to a bona fide prussian holding them, but are much in discount otherwise, as readers may remember]; and given hirsch a draft on paris, due after some weeks, for payment of the same; hirsch leaving him a stock of jewels in pledge till the steuer-scheine themselves come to hand. . "that hirsch, having things of his own in view with the money, sent no steuer-scheine from dresden, nothing but vague lying talk instead of steuer: so that voltaire's suspicions naturally kindling, he stopped payment of the paris draft, and ordered hirsch to come home at once. . "that hirsch coming, a settlement was tried: 'give me back my draft on paris, you objectionable blockhead of a hirsch; there are your diamonds, there is something even for your expenses (some fair moiety, i think); and let me never see your unpleasant face again!' to which hirsch, examining the diamonds, answered [says duvernet, not substantially incorrect hitherto, though stepping along in total darkness, and very partial on voltaire's behalf],--hirsch, examining the diamonds, answered, 'but you have changed some of them! i cannot take these!'--and drove voltaire quite to despair, and into the law-courts; which imprisoned hirsch, and made him do justice." [duvernet (t.j.d.v.), , , :--vague utterly; dateless (tries one date, and is mistaken even in the year); wrong in nearly every detail; "the 'staire or steuer was a bank?" &c. &c.] in which last clause, still more in the conclusion, that it was "to the triumph of voltaire," duvernet does substantially mistake! and indeed, except as the best parisian reflex of this matter, his account is worth nothing:--though it may serve as introduction to the following irrefragable documents and more explicit featurings. we learn from him, and it is the one thing we learn of credible, that "voltaire, when it came to law procedures, begged maupertuis to speak for him to m. jarriges," a prussian frenchman, "one of the judges; and that maupertuis answered, 'i cannot interfere in a bad business (me meler d'une mauvaise affaire).'" the other french biographies, definable as "ignor-amus speaking in a loud voice to ignor-atis," require to be altogether swept aside in this matter. even "clog." jumbling voltaire's undated letters into confusion thrice confounded, and droning out vituperatively in the dark, becomes a minus quantity in these friedrich affairs. in regard to the hirsch process, our one irrefragable set of evidences is: the prussian law-report by klein,--especially the documents produced in court, and the sentence given. [ernst ferdinand klein,--annalen der gesetzgebung und rechtsgelehrsamkeit in den preussischen staaten--(berlin und stettin), , v. - .] other lights are to be gathered, with severe scrutiny and caution, from the circumambient contemporary rumor,--especially from the preface to a "comedy" so called of "tantale en proces (tantalus," voltaire, "at law");--which preface is evidently hirsch's own story, put into language for him by some humane friend, and addressed to a "clear-seeing public." [tantale en proces (ascribed to friedrich himself, by some wonderful persons!) is in--supplement aux oeuvres posthumes de frederic ii.--(cologne, ), i. et seq. among the weakest of comedies (might be by d'arnaud, or some such hand); nothing in it worth reading except the preface.] "and in fine," says my manuscript, "by sweeping out the distinctly false, and well discriminating the indubitable from what is still in part dubitable, sufficient twilight [abridgable in a high degree, i hope!] rises over the affair, to render it visible in all its main features." the voltaire-hirsch transaction: part i. origin of lawsuit ( th november- th december, ). "saxon steuer-schein, some readers know, is, in the rough, equivalent to exchequer bill. payable at the saxon treasury; to prussians, in gold; to all other men, in paper only,--which (thanks to bruhl and his unheard-of expenditures and financierings) is now at a discount say of , or even per cent. by article eleventh of the dresden treaty of peace, king friedrich, if our readers have not forgotten, got stipulated, that all prussian holders of these scheine should be paid in gold; interest at the due days; and at the due days principal itself:--in gold they, whatever became of others. no farther specifications, as to proof, method, limits or conditions of any kind, occur in regard to this eleventh article; which is a just one, beyond doubt, but most carelessly drawn up. apparently it trusts altogether to the personal honesty of all prussian subjects: 'prove yourself a prussian subject, and we pay your steuer-schein in real money.' but now if a saxon or other non-prussian, who can get no payment save in paper, were to have his note smuggled or trafficked over into prussia, and presented as a prussian one? in our time, such traffic would start on the morrow morning; and in a week or two, all notes whatsoever would be presented as prussian, payable in gold! not so in those days;--though a small contraband of that kind does by degrees threaten to establish itself, and friedrich had to publish severe rescripts (one before this hirsch-voltaire business, [ th august, (seyfarth, i. ).] one still severer after), and menace it down again. the malpractice seems to have proved menaceable in that manner; nor was any new arrangement made upon it,--no change, till the steuer-scheine, by their gradual terms, were all paid either in real money or imaginary, and thus, in the course of years, the thing burnt to the socket, and went out." voltaire's rash adventure, dangerous navigation and gradual wreck, in this forbidden sea of steuer-scheine,--will become conceivable to readers, on study diligent enough of the following documents and select details:-- document first (a small missive, in voltaire's hand). "je prie instamment monsieur hersch de venir demain mardi matin a potsdam pour affaire pressante, et d'aporter (sic) avec luy les diamants qui doivent servir pour la representation de la tragedie qui se jouera a cinq heures de soir chez s.a.r. monseigneur le prince henri ce lundy a midy. voltaire." which being interpreted, rightly spelt, and dated (as by chance we can do) with distinctness, will run as follows in english:-- "potsdam, monday, th november, . "i earnestly request mr. hirsch to come to-morrow tuesday morning to potsdam, on business that is urgent; and to bring with him the diamonds needed for the tragedy which is to be represented, at five in the evening, in his royal highness prince henry's apartment." [klein, v. .] "on tuesday the th," say the old newspapers, "was rome sauvee;"--with voltaire, perceptible there as "ciceron," [rodenbeck, i. .] in due a glorious enough cicero;--and such a piece of "urgent business" done with your hirsch, just before emerging on the stage! "hirsch, in that narrative, describes himself as a young innocent creature. not very old, we will believe: but as to innocence!--for certain, he is named abraham hirsch, or hirschel: a berlin jew of the period; whom one inclines to figure as a florid oily man, of semitic features, in the prime of life; who deals much in jewels, moneys, loans, exchanges, all kinds of jew barter; whether absolutely in old clothes, we do not know--certainly not unless there is a penny to be turned. the man is of oily semitic type, not old in years,--there is a fraternal hirsch, and also a paternal, who is head of the firm;--and this young one seems to be already old in jew art. speaks french and other dialects, in a hebrew, partially intelligible manner; supplies voltaire with diamonds for his stage-dresses, as we perceive. to all appearance, nearly destitute of human intellect, but with abundance of vulpine instead. very cunning; stupid, seemingly, as a mule otherwise;--and, on the whole, resembling in various points of character a mule put into breeches, and made acquainted with the uses of money. he is come 'on pressing business,'--perhaps not of stage-diamonds alone? here now is document second; nearly of the same date; may be of the very same;--more likely is a few days later, and betokens mysterious dialogue and consultation held on tuesday th. it is in two hands: written on some scrap or torn bit of paper, to judge by the length of the lines." document second. "in voltaire's hand, this part:-- --'savoir s'il est encore tems de declarer les billets qu'on a sur la steure. si on en specifie le numero dans la declaration.'-- 'if it is still time to declare [to announce in saxony and demand payment for] notes one holds on the steuer? if one is to specify the no. in the declaration?' "in hirsch's hand, this part:-- --'l'on peut declarer des billets sur la steure, qu'on a en depost en pays etranger, et dont on ne pourra savoir le numero que dans quinze jours ou trois semaines.'--[klein, .] 'one can declare notes on the steuer, which one holds in deposit in foreign countries; and of which one cannot state the no. till after a fortnight or three weeks.' "which of these two was the serpent, which the eve, in this steuer-schein tree of knowledge, that grew in the middle of paradise, remains entirely uncertain. hirsch, of course, says it was voltaire; voltaire (not aware that document second remained in existence) had denied that his hirsch business was in any way concerned with steuer;--and must have been a good deal struck, when document second came to light; though what could he do but still deny! hirsch asserts himself to have objected the 'illegality, the king's anger;' but that voltaire answered in hints about his favor with the king; 'about his power to make one a court-jeweller,' if he liked; and so at last tempted the baby innocence of hirsch;--for the rest, admits that the steuer-notes were expected to yield a profit--of per cent:--and, in fact, a dramatic reader can imagine to himself dialogue enough, at different times, going on, partly by words, partly by hint, innuendo and dumb-show, between this pair of stage-beauties. but, for near a fortnight after document first, there is nothing dated, or that can be clearly believed,--till, "monday, d november, . it is credibly certain the jew hirsch came again, this day, to the royal schloss of potsdam, to voltaire's apartment there [right overhead of king friedrich's, it is!]--where, after such dialogue as can be guessed at, there was handed to hirsch by voltaire, in the form of two negotiable bills, a sum of about , pounds; with which the jew is to make at once for dresden, and buy steuer-scheine. [hirsch's narrative, in preface to--tantale en proces,--p. .] steuer-scheine without fail: 'but in talking or corresponding on the matter, we are always to call them furs or diamonds,'--mystery of mysteries being the rule for us. this considerable sum of , pounds may it not otherwise, contrives voltaire, be called a 'loan' to jeweller hirsch, so obliging a jeweller, to buy 'furs' or 'diamonds' with? at a gain of per pieces, there will be above pounds to me, after all expenses cleared: a very pretty stroke of business do-able in few days!"-- "monday, d november:" the beautiful wilhelmina, one remarks, is just making her packages; right sad to end such a visit as this had been! thursday night, from her first sleeping-place, there is a touching farewell to her brother;--tender, melodiously sorrowful, as the song of the swan. [wilhelmina to friedrich, "brietzen, th november, jour funeste pour moi" (--oeuvres de frederic,--xxvii. i. ).] to voltaire she was always good; always liked voltaire. voltaire would be saying his adieus, in state, among the others, to that high being,--just in the hours while such a scandalous hirsch-concoction went, on underground! "as to the two bills and voltaire's security for them, readers are to note as follows. bill first is a draft, on voltaire's paris banker for , livres (about , pounds), not payable for some weeks: 'this i lend you, monsieur hirsch; mind, lend you,--to buy furs!' 'yes, truly, what we call furs;--and before the bill falls payable, there will be effects for it in monseigneur de voltaire's hand; which is security enough for monseigneur.' the second bill, again"--truth is, there were in succession two second bills, an intended-second (of this same monday d), which did not quite suit, and an actual-second (two days later), which did. intended-second bill was one for , thalers (about pounds), drawn by voltaire on the sieur ephraim,--a very famous jew of berlin now and henceforth, with whom as money-changer, if not yet otherwise (which perhaps ephraim thinks unlucky), voltaire, it would seem, is in frequent communication. this bill, ephraim would not accept; told hirsch he owed m. de voltaire nothing; "turned me rudely away," says hirsch (two of a trade, and no friends, he and i!)--so that there is nothing to be said of this ephraim bill; and except as it elucidates some dark portions of the whirlpools, need not have been noticed at all. "hirsch," continues my authority, "got only two available bills; the first on paris for , pounds, payable in some weeks; and, after a day or two, this other: the actual bill second; which is a draft for , thalers (about pounds), by old father hirsch, head of the firm, on voltaire himself:--'furs too with that, monsieur hirsch, at the rate of per piece, you understand?' 'yea, truly, monseigneur!'--draft accepted by voltaire, and the cash for it now handed to hirsch son: the only absolutely ready money he has yet got towards the affair. "for these two bills, especially for this second, i perceive, voltaire holds borrowed jewels (borrowed in theatrical times, or partly bought, from the hirsch firm, and not paid for), which make him sure till he see the steuer papers themselves.--(and now off, my good sieur hirsch; and know that if you please me, there are--things in my power which would suit a man in the jeweller and hebrew line!) hirsch pushes home to berlin; primed and loaded in this manner; voltaire naturally auxious enough that the shot may hit. alas, the shot will not even go off, for some time: an ill omen! "sunday, th november, hirsch, we hear, is still in berlin. fancy the humor of voltaire, after such a week as last! (tuesday, december st) hirsch still is not off: 'go, you son of amalek!' urges voltaire; and sends his servant picard, a very sharp fellow, for perhaps the third time,--who has orders now, as hirsch discovers, to stay with him, not quit sight of him till he do go. [hirsch's narrative; see voltaire's letter to d'arget (--oeuvres,--lxiv. ).] hirsch's hour of departure for dresden is not mentioned in the acts; but i guess he could hardly get over wednesday, with picard dogging him on these terms; and must have taken the diligence on wednesday night: to arrive in dresden about december th. 'well; at least, our shot is off; has not burst out, and lodged in our person here,--thanked be all the gods!' "off, sure enough:--and what should we say if the whole matter were already oozing out; if, on this same sunday evening, november th) not quite a week's time yet, the matter (as we learn long afterwards) had been privately whispered to his majesty: 'that voltaire has sent off a jew to buy steuer-scheine, and has promised to get him made court-jeweller!' [voltaire,--oeuvres,--lxxiv. ("letter to friedrich, february, ,"--after catastrophe).], so; within a week, and before hirsch is even gone! for men are very porous; weighty secrets oozing out of them, like quicksilver through clay jars. i could guess, hirsch, by way of galling insolent ephraim, had blabbed something: and in the course of five days, it has got to the very king,--this kammerherr voltaire being such a favorite and famous man as never was; the very bull's-eye of all kinds of berlin gossip in these days. 'hm, steuer-scheine, and the jew hirsch to be court-jeweller, you say?' thinks the king, that sunday night; but locks the rumor in his royal mind, he, for his part; or dismisses it as incredible: 'there ought to be impervious vessels too, among the porous!' voltaire notices nothing particular, or nothing that he speaks of as particular. this must have been a horrid week to him, till hirsch got away." hirsch is away (december d); in dresden, safe enough; but-- "but, the fortnight that follows is conceivable as still worse. hirsch writing darkly, nothing to the purpose; voltaire driving often into berlin, hearing from ephraim hints about, 'no connection with that house;' 'if monseigneur have intrusted hirsch with money,--may there be a good account of it!' and the like. black care devouring monseigueur; but nothing definite; except the fact too evident, that hirsch does not send or bring the smallest shadow of steuer-scheine,--'peltries,' or 'diamonds,' we mean,--or any value whatever for that paris bill of ours, payable shortly, and which he has already got cashed in dresden. nothing but excuses, prevarications; stupid, incoherently deceptive jargon, as of a mule intent on playing fox with you. vivid correspondence is conceivable; but nothing of it definite to us, except this sample" (which we give translated):-- document third (torn fraction in voltaire's hand: to hirsch, doubtless; early in december).... "not proper (il ne fallait pas) to negotiate bills of exchange, and never produce a single diamond"--bit of peltry, or ware of any kind, you son of amalek! "not proper to say: i have got money for your bills of exchange, and i bring you nothing back; and i will repay your money when you shall no longer be here [in germany at all]. not proper to promise at louis, and then say . to say , and then next morning . you should at least have produced goods (il fallait en donner) at the price current; very easy to do when one was on the spot. all your procedures have been faults hitherto. [klein, v. .] "these are dreadful symptoms. steuer-notes, promised at discount, are not to be had except at . say then, and get done with it, mule of a scoundrel! next day the sinks to ; and not a steuer-note, on any terms, comes to hand. and the mule of a scoundrel has drawn money, in dresden yonder, for my bill on paris,--excellent to him for trade of his own! what is to be done with such an ass of balaam? he has got the bit in his teeth, it would seem. heavens, he too is capable of stopping short, careless of spur and cudgel; and miraculously speaking to a new prophet [strange new "revealer of the lord's will," in modern dialect], in this enlightened eighteenth century itself!--one thing the new prophet, can do: protest his paris bill. "december th [our next bit of certainty], voltaire writes, haste, haste, to paris, 'don't pay;' and intimates to hirsch, 'you will have to return your dresden banker his money for that paris bill. at paris i have protested it, mark me; and there it never will be paid to him or you. and you must come home again instantly, job undone, lies not untold, you--!' hirsch, with money in hand, appears not to have wanted for a briskish trade of his own in the dresden marts. but this of cutting off his supplies brings him instantly back:"--and at berlin, december th, new facts emerge again of a definite nature. "wednesday, th december, . 'to-day the king with court and voltaire come to berlin for the carnival;' [rodenbeck, i. .] to-day also voltaire, not in carnival humor, has appointed his jew to meet him. in the royal palace itself,--we hope, well remote from friedrich's apartment!--this sordid conference, needing one's choicest diplomacy withal, and such exquisite handling of bit and spur, goes on. and probably at great length. of which, as the finale, and one clear feature significant to the fancy, here is,--for record of what they call 'complete settlement,' which it was far from turning out to be:-- document fourth (in hirsch's hand, first piece of it). --"'pour quittance generale promettant de rendre a mr. de voltaire tous billets, ordres et lettres de change a moy donnez jusqu'a ce jour, decembre, .-- "'account all settled; i promising to return m. de voltaire all letters, orders and bills of exchange given me to this day, th december, . [hirsch signs. but you have forgotten something, monsieur hirsch! whereupon]--et promets de donner a mr. de voltaire dans le jour de demain ou apres au plustard deux cent guatre-vingt frederics d'or au lieu de deux cent quatre-vingt louis d'or, que je lui ai payez, le tout pour quittance generale, ce decembre, , a berlin--and promise to give m. de voltaire, in the course of to-morrow, or the day after to-morrow at latest, frederics d'or, instead of louis d'or [gold frederics the preferabe coin, say experts] which i have now paid him; whereby all will be settled. [hirsch again signs; but has again forgotten something, most important thing. and]--je lui remettrai surtout les , livres de billets de change sur paris qu'il mavoit donnez et fiez'--i will especially return him the bill on paris for , livres ( , pounds) which he had given and trusted to me,'--but has since protested, as is too evident. [and hirsch signs for the last time]." [klein, pp. , .]-- symptomatic, surely, of a haggly settlement, these three shots instead of one!--"voltaire's return is:-- --"'pour quittance generale de tout compte solde entre nous, tout paye au sieur abraham hersch a berlin, decembre, .--voltaire'-- "'account all settled between us, payment of the sieur abraham hirsch in full: berlin, th deember, .' [which second piece, we perceive, is to lie in hirsch's hand, to keep, if he find it valuable]. "this 'complete settlement,'--little less than miraculous to voltaire and us,--one finds, after sifting, to have been the fruit of voltaire's exquisite skill in treating and tuning his hirsch (no harshness of rebuke, rather some gleam of hope, of future bargains, help at court): (your expenses; compensation for protesting of that bill on paris? tush, cannot we make all that good! in the first place, i will buy of you these jewels [this one discovers to have been the essence of the operation!], all or the best part of them, which i have here in pawn for papa's bill: pounds was it not? well, suppose i on the instant take pounds worth, or so, of these jewels (i want a great many jewels); and you to pay me down a or so of gold louis as balance,--gold louis, no, we will say frederics rather. there now, that is settled. nothing more between us but settles itself, if we continue friends!' upon which hirsch walked home, thankful for the good job in jewels; wondering only what the allowance for expenses and compensation will be. and voltaire steps out, new-burnished, into the royal carnival splendors, with a load rolled from his mind. "this complete settlement, meanwhile, rests evidently on two legs, both of which are hollow. 'what will the handsome compensation be, i wonder?' thinks hirsch;--and is horror-struck to find shortly, that voltaire considers thalers (about pounds) will be the fair sum! 'more than ten times that!' is hirsch's privately fixed idea. on the other hand, voltaire has been asking himself, 'my pounds worth of jewels, were they justly valued, though?' jew ephraim (exaggerative and an enemy to this hirsch house) answers, 'justly? i would give from pounds to pounds for them!'--so that the legs both crumbling to powder, complete settlement crashes down into chaos: and there ensues,"--but we must endeavor to be briefer! there ensues, for about a week following, such an inextricable scramble between the sieur hirsch and m. de voltaire as,--as no reader, not himself in the jew-bill line, or paid for understanding it, could consent to have explained to him. voltaire, by way of mending the bad jewel-bargain, will buy of hirsch pounds worth more jewels; gets the new pounds worth in hand, cannot quite settle what articles will suit: "this, think you? that, think you?" and intricately shuffles them about, to hirsch and back. hirsch, singular to notice, holds fast by that protested paris bill; on frivolous pretexts, always forgets to bring that: "may have its uses, that, in a court of justice yet!" meetings there are, almost daily, in the voltaire palace-apartment; december th and december th) there are two documents (which we must spare the reader, though he will hear of them again, as highly notable, especially of one of them, as notable in the extreme!)--indicating the abstrusest jewel-bargainings, scramblings, re-bargainings. "my jewels are truly valued!" asseverates hirsch always: "ephraim is my enemy; ask herr reklam, chief jeweller in berlin, an impartial man!" the meetings are occasionally of stormy character; voltaire's patience nearly out: "but did n't i return you that topaz ring, value pounds? and you have not deducted it; you--!" "one day, picard and he pulled a ring [doubtless this topaz] off my finger," says the pathetic hirsch, "and violently shoved me out of the room, slamming their door,"--and sent me home, along the corridors, in a very scurvy humor! thus, under a skin of second settlement, there are two galvanic elements, getting ever more galvanic, which no skin of settlement can prevent exploding before long. explosion there accordingly was; most sad and dismal; which rang through all the court circles of berlin; and, like a sound of hooting and of weeping mixed, is audible over seas to this day. but let not the reader insist on tracing the course of it henceforth. klein, though faithful and exact, is not a pitaval; and we find in him errors of the press. the acutest actuary might spend weeks over these distracted money-accounts, and inconsistent lists of jewels bought and not bought; and would be unreadable if successful. let us say, the business catches fire at this point; the voltaire-hirsch theatre is as if blown up into mere whirlwinds of igneous rum and smoky darkness. henceforth all plunges into lawsuit, into chaos of conflicting lies,--undecipherable, not worth deciphering. let us give what few glimpses of the thing are clearly discernible at their successive dates, and leave the rest to picture itself in the reader's fancy. it appears, that meeting of december th, above alluded to, was followed by another on christmas-day, which proved the final one. final total explosion took place at this new meeting;--which, we find farther, was at chasot's lodging (the chapeau of hanbury), who is now in town, like all the world, for carnival. hirsch does not directly venture on naming chasot: but by implication, by glimmers of evidence elsewhere, one sufficiently discovers that it is he: lieutenant-colonel, king's friend, a man glorious, especially ever since hohenfriedberg, and that haul of the "sixty-seven standards" all at once. in the way of arbitration, voltaire thinks chasot might do something. in regard to those pounds worth of bought jewels, there is not such a judge in the world! hirsch says: "next morning [december th, morrow after that jumbly account, with probable slamming of the door, and still worse!], voltaire went to a lieutenant-colonel in the king's service; and ask him to send for me." [duvernet (second), p. ; hirsch's narrative (in--tantale,--p. ).] this is chasot; who knows these jewels well. duvernet,--who had talked a good deal with d'arget, in latter years, and alone of frenchmen sometimes yields a true particle of feature in things prussian,--duvernet tells us, these jewels were once chasot's own: given him by a fond duchess of mecklenburg,--musical old duchess, verging towards sixty; honi soit, my friend! what hirsch gave chasot for these jewels is not a doubtful quantity; and may throw conviction into hirsch, hopes voltaire. december th, . the interview at chasot's was not lengthy, but it was decisive. hirsch never brings that paris bill; privately fixed, on that point. hirsch's claims, as we gradually unravel the intricate mule-mind of him, rise very high indeed. "and as to the value of those jewels, and what i allowed you for them, monsieur chasot; that is no rule: trade-profits, you know"--nay, the mule intimates, as a last shift, that perhaps they are not the same jewels; that perhaps m. de voltaire has changed some of them! whereupon the matter catches fire, irretrievably explodes. m. de voltaire's patience flies quite done; and, fire-eyed fury now guiding, he springs upon the throat of hirsch like a cat-o'-mountain; clutches hirsch by the windpipe; tumbles him about the room: "infamous canaille, do you know whom you have got to do with? that it is in my power to stick you into a hole underground for the rest of your life? sirrah, i will ruin and annihilate you!"--and "tossed me about the room with his fist on my throat," says hirsch; "offering to have pity nevertheless, if i would take back the jewels, and return all writings." [narrative (in--tantale--).] eyes glancing like a rattlesnake's, as we perceive; and such a phenomenon as hirsch had not expected, this christmas! in short, the matter has here fairly exploded, and is blazing aloft, as a mass of intricate fuliginous ruin, not to be deciphered henceforth. such a scene for chasot on the christmas-day at berlin! and we have got to part ii. the lawsuit itself ( th december, - th and th february, ). hirsch slunk hurriedly home, uncertain whether dead or alive. old hirsch, hearing of such explosion, considered his house and family ruined; and, being old and feeble, took to bed upon it, threatening to break his heart. voltaire writes to niece denis, on the morrow; not hinting at the hirsch matter, far from that; but in uncommonly dreary humor: "my splendor here, my glory, never was the like of it; mais, mais," but, and ever again but, at each new item,--in fact, the humor of a glorious phoenix-peacock suddenly douched and drenched in dirty water, and feeling frost at hand! ["to madame denis" (lxxiv. , "berlin palace, th december, ;"--and ib. , , &c. of other dates).] humor intelligible enough, when dates are compared. better than that, voltaire is applying, on all points of the compass, to legal and influential persons, for help in a court of law. to chancellor cocceji; to jarriges (eminent prussian frenchman), president of court; to maupertuis, who knows jarriges, but "will not meddle in a bad business;"--at last, even to dull reverend formey, whom he had not called on hitherto. cocceji seems to have answered, to the effect, "most certainly: the courts are wide open;"--but as to "help"! december th, the suit, voltaire versus hirsch, "comes to protocol,"--that is, cocceji, jarriges, loper, three eminent men, have been named to try it; and herr hofrath bell, advocate for voltaire plaintiff, hands in his first statement that day. berlin resounds, we may fancy how! rumor, laughter and wonder are in all polite quarters; and continue, more or less vivid, for above two months coming. here is one direct glimpse of plaintiff, in this interim; which we will give, though the eyes are none of the best: "the first visit i," formey, "had from voltaire was in the afternoon of january th) [suit begun ten days ago]. i had, at the time, a large party of friends. voltaire walked across the apartment, without looking at anybody; and, taking me by the hand, made me lead him to a cabinet adjoining. his lawsuit with a jew was the matter on hand. he talked to me at large about his lawsuit, and with the greatest vehemence; he wound up by asking me to speak to law-president m. de jarriges (since chancellor): i answered what was suitable;"--probably did speak to jarriges, but might as well have held my tongue. "voltaire then took his leave: stepping athwart the former apartment with some precipitation, he noticed my eldest little girl, then in her fourth year, who was gazing at the diamonds on his cross of the order of merit. 'bagatelles, bagatelles, mon enfant!' said he, and disappeared." [formey, i. .] on new-year's day, friday, st january, , voltaire had legally applied to herr minister von bismark, for warrant to arrest hirsch, as a person that will not give up papers not belonging to him. warrant was granted, and hirsch lodged in limbo. which worsens the state of poor old father hirsch; threatening now really to die, of heart-break and other causes. hirsch son, from the interior of limbo, appeals to bismark, "lord chancellor cocceji is seized of my plea, your gracious lordship!"--"all the same," answers bismark; "produce caution, or you can't get out." hirsch produces caution; and gets out, after a day or two;--and has been "brought to protocol january th." no delay in this court: both parties, through their advocates, are now brought to book; the points they agree in will be sifted out, and laid on this side as truth; what they differ in, left lying on that side, as a mixture of lies to be operated on by farther processes and protocols. we will not detail the lawsuit;--what i chiefly admire in it is its brevity. cocceji has not reformed in vain. good advocates, none other allowed; and no advocate talks; he merely endeavors to think, see and discover; holds his tongue if he can discover nothing: that doubtless is one source of the brevity!--many lies are stated by hirsch, many by voltaire: but the judges, without difficulty, shovel these aside; and come step by step upon the truth. hirsch says plainly, he was sent to buy steuer-scheine at per cent discount; voltaire entirely denies the steuer-notes; says, it was an affair of peltries and jewelries, originating in loans of money to this ungrateful jew. which necessitates much wriggling on the part of m. de voltaire;--but he has himself written in a lawyer's office, in his young days, and knows how to twist a turn of expression. the judges are not there to judge about steuer-notes; but they give you to understand that voltaire's peltry-and-jewelry story is moonshine. hirsch produces the voltaire scraps of writing, already known to our readers; voltaire says, "mere extinct jottings; which hirsch has furtively picked out of the grate,"--or may be said to have picked; papers annihilated by our bargain of december th, and which should have been in the grate, if they were not; this felon never having kept his word in that respect. peltries and jewelries, i say: he will not give me back that paris bill which was protested; pays me the other , crowns (draft of pounds) in jewels overvalued by half.--"jewels furtively changed since plaintiff had them of me!" answers hirsch;--and the steady judges keep their sieves going. the only documents produced by voltaire are two; of th december and of th december;--which the reader has not yet seen, but ought now to gain some notion of, if possible. they affect once more, as that of december th had done, to be "final settlements" (or final settlement of th, with codicil of th); and turn on confused lists of jewels, bought, returned, re-bought (that "topaz ring" torn from one's hand, a conspicuous item), which no reader would have patience to understand, except in the succinct form. let all readers note them, however,--at least the first of them, that of december th; especially the words we mark in italics, which have merited a sad place for it in the history of human sin and misery. klein has given both documents in engraved fac-simile; we must help ourselves by simpler methods. berlin, december th, ; voltaire writes, hirsch signs;--and the italics are believed to be words foisted in by m. de voltaire, weeks after, while the hirsch pleadings were getting stringent! read,--a very sad memorial of m. de voltaire,-- document fifth (in voltaire's hand, written at two times; and the old writing mended in parts, to suit the new!).--"for payment of , thalers by me due, i have sold to m. de voltaire, at the price costing by estimation and tax, with per cent for my commission ["or gratification," written above], the following diamonds, taxed [blotted into "taxable"], as here adjoined; viz."--seven pieces of jewelry, pendeloques, &c., with price affixed, among which is the violated topaz,--"the whole estimated by him ["him" crossed out, and "me" written over it], being , thalers. whereupon, received from monsieur de voltaire [what is very strange; not intelligible without study!] the sum of , thalers, and he has given me back the topaz, with crowns for my trouble.--berlin, th december, ." (hitherto in voltaire's hand; after which hirsch writes:) "aprouve, a. hirschel." [sic: that is always his signature; "abraham hirschel," so given by klein, while klein and everybody call him hirsch (stag), as we have done,--if only to save a syllable on the bad bargain.] and between these two lines ("... " and "approved..."), there is crushed in, as afterthought, "valued by myself [hirsch's self], , , add , is , ." and, in fine, below the hirsch signature, on what may be called the bottom margin, there is,--i think, avowedly voltaire's and subsequent,--this: "n.b. that hirsch's valuing of all the jewels [present lot and former lot] is, by real estimation, between twice and thrice too high;" of which, it is hoped, your lordships will take notice! was there ever seen such a paper; one end of it contradicting the other? payment to m. de voltaire, and payment by m. de voltaire;--with other blottings and foistings, which print and italics will not represent! hirsch denies he ever signed this paper. is not that your writing, then: "aprouve, a. hirschel"?--"no!" and they convict him of falsity in that respect: the signature is his, but the paper has been altered since he signed it. that is what the poor dark mortal meant to express; and in his mulish way, he has expressed into a falsity what was in itself a truth. there is not, on candid examination of klein's fac-similes and the other evidence, the smallest doubt but voltaire altered, added and intercalated, in his own privacy, those words which we have printed in italics; taxes changed into taxables ("estimated at" into "estimable at"), him for me, and so on; and above all, the now first line of the paper, for payment of , thalers by me due, and in last line the words valued by myself, &c., are palpable interpolations, sheer falsifications, which hirsch is made to continue signing after his back is turned! no fact is more certain; and few are sadder in the history of m. de voltaire. to that length has he been driven by stress of fortune. nay, when the judges, not hiding their surprise at the form of this document, asked, will you swear it is all genuine? voltaire answered, "yes, certainly!"--for what will a poor man not do in extreme stress of fortune? hirsch, as a jew, is not permitted to make oath, where a quasi-christian will swear to the contrary, or he gladly would; and might justly. the judges, willing to prevent chance of perjury, did not bring voltaire to swearing, but contrived a way to justice without that. february th, , the court arrives at a conclusion. hirsch's diamonds, whatever may have been written or forged, are not, nor were, worth more than their value, think the judges. the paris bill is admitted to be voltaire's, not hirsch's, continue they;--and if hirsch can prove that voltaire has changed the diamonds, not a likely fact, let him do so. the rest does not concern us. and to that effect, on the above day, runs their sentence: "you, hirsch, shall restore the paris bill; mutual papers to be all restored, or legally annihilated. jewels to be valued by sworn experts, and paid for at that price. hirsch, if he can prove that the jewels were changed, has liberty to try it, in a new action. hirsch, for falsely denying his signature, is fined ten thalers (thirty shillings), such lie being a contempt of court, whatever more." "ha, fined, you jew villain!" hysterically shrieks voltaire: "in the wrong, weren't you, then; and fined thirty shillings?" hysterically trying to believe, and make others believe, that he has come off triumphant. "beaten my jew, haven't i?" says he to everybody, though inwardly well enough aware how it stands, and that he is a phoenix douched, and has a tremor in the bones! chancellor cocceji was far from thinking it triumphant to him. here is a small note of cocceji's, addressed to his two colleagues, jarriges and loper, which has been found among the law papers: "berlin, th february, . the herr president von jarriges and privy-councillor loper are hereby officially requested to bring the remainder of the voltaire sentence to its fulfilment: i am myself not well, and can employ my time much better. the herr von voltaire has given in a desperate memorial (ein desperates memorial) to this purport: 'i swear that what is charged to me [believed of me] in the sentence is true; and now request to have the jewels valued.' i have returned him this paper, with notice that it must be signed by an advocate.--cocceji." [klein, .] so wrote chancellor cocceji, on the saturday, washing his hands of this sorry business. voltaire is ready to make desperate oath, if needful. we said once, m. de voltaire was not given to lying; far the reverse. but yet, see, if you drive him into a corner with a sword at his throat,--alas, yes, he will lie a little! forgery lay still less in his habits; but he can do a stroke that way, too (one stroke, unique in his life, i do believe), if a wild boar, with frothy tusks, is upon him. tell it not in gath,--except for scientific purposes! and be judicial, arithmetical, in passing sentence on it; not shrieky, mobbish, and flying off into the infinite! berlin, of course, is loud on these matters. "the man whom the king delighted to honor, this is he, then!" king friedrich has quitted town, some while ago; returned to potsdam "january th." glad enough, i suppose, to be out of all this unmusical blowing of catcalls and indecent exposure. to voltaire he has taken no notice; silently leaves voltaire, in his nook of the berlin schloss, till the foul business get done. "voltaire filoute les juifs (picks jew pockets)," writes he once to wilhelmina: "will get out of it by some gambade (summerset)," writes he another time; "but" [" st december, " (--oeuvres de frederic,--xxvii, i. ); " d february, " (ib. ).]--and takes the matter with boundless contempt, doubtless with some vexation, but with the minimum of noise, as a royal gentleman might. jew hirsch is busy preparing for his new desperate action; getting together proof that the jewels have been changed. in proof jew hirsch will be weak; but in pleading, in public pamphlets, and keeping a winged apollo fluttering disastrously in such a mud-bath, jew hirsch will be strong. voltaire, "out of magnanimous pity to him," consents next week to an agreement. agreement is signed on thursday, th february, :--papers all to be returned, jewels nearly all, except one or two, paid at hirsch's own price. whereby, on the whole, as klein computes, voltaire lost about pounds;--elsewhere i have seen it computed at pounds: not the least matter which. old hirsch has died in the interim ("of broken heart!" blubbers the son); day not known. and, on these terms, voltaire gets out of the business; glad to close the intolerable rumor, at some cost of money. for all tongues were wagging; and, in defect of a times newspaper, it appears, there had pamphlets come out; printed satires, bound or in broadside;--sapid, exhilarative, for a season, and interesting to the idle mind. of which, tantale en proces may still, for the sake of that preface to it, be considered to have an obscure existence. and such, reduced to its authenticities, was the adventure of the steuer-notes. a very bad adventure indeed; unspeakably the worst that voltaire ever tried, who had such talent in the finance line. on which poor history is really ashamed to have spent so much time; sorting it into clearness, in the disgust and sorrow of her soul. but perhaps it needed to be done. let us hope, at least, it may not now need to be done again. [besides the klein, the tantale en proces and the voltaire letters cited above, there is (in--oeuvres de voltaire,--lxiv. pp. - , as supplement there), written off-hand, in the very thick of the hirsch affair, a considerable set of notes to d'arget, which might have been still more elucidative; but are, in their present dateless topsy-turvied condition; a very wonder of confusion to the studious reader!] this is the first act of voltaire's tragic-farce at the court of berlin: readers may conceive to what a bleared frost-bitten condition it has reduced the first favonian efflorescence there. he considerably recovered in the second act, such the indelible charm of the voltaire genius to friedrich. but it is well known, the first act rules all the others; and here, accordingly, the third act failed not to prove tragical. out of first act into second the following extracts of correspondence will guide the reader, without commentary of ours. voltaire, left languishing at berlin, has fallen sick, now that all is over;--no doubt, in part really sick, the unfortunate phoenix-peafowl, with such a tremor in his bones;--and would fain be near friedrich and warmth again; fain persuade the outside world that all is sunshine with him. voltaire's letters to friedrich, if he wrote any, in this jew time, are lost; here are friedrich's answers to two,--one lost, which had been written from berlin after the jew affair was out of court; and to another (not lost) after the jew affair was done. . king friedrich to voltaire at berlin. "potsdam, th february, . "i was glad to receive you in my house; i esteemed your genius, your talents and acquirements; and i had reason to think that a man of your age, wearied with fencing against authors, and exposing himself to the storm, came hither to take refuge as in a safe harbor. "but, on arriving, you exacted of me, in a rather singular manner, not to take freron to write me news from paris; and i had the weakness, or the complaisance, to grant you this, though it is not for you to decide what persons i shall take into my service. d'arnaud had faults towards you; a generous man would have pardoned them; a vindictive man hunts down those whom he takes to hating. in a word, though to me d'arnaud had done nothing, it was on your account that he had to go. you were with the russian minister, speaking of things you had no concern with [russian excellency gross, off home lately, in sudden dudgeon, like an angry sky-rocket, nobody can guess why! adelung, vii. (about st december, ).]--and it was thought i had given you commission." "you have had the most villanous affair in the world with a jew. it has made a frightful scandal all over town. and that steuer-schein business is so well known in saxony, that they have made grievous complaints of it to me. "for my own share, i have preserved peace in my house till your arrival: and i warn you, that if you have the passion of intriguing and caballing, you have applied to the wrong hand. i like peaceable composed people; who do not put into their conduct the violent passions of tragedy. in case you can resolve to live like a philosopher, i shall be glad to see you; but if you abandon yourself to all the violences of your passions, and get into quarrels with all the world, you will do me no good by coming hither, and you may as well stay in berlin." [preuss, xxii. (wanting in the french editions).]--f. to which voltaire sighing pathetically in response, "wrong, ah yes, your majesty;--and sick to death" (see farther down),--here is friedrich's second in answer:-- . friedrich to voltaire again. "potsdam, th february, . "if you wish to come hither, you can do so. i hear nothing of lawsuits, not even of yours. since you have gained it, i congratulate you; and i am glad that this scurvy affair is done. i hope you will have no more quarrels, neither with the old nor with the new testament. such worryings (ces sortes de compromis) leave their mark on a man; and with the talents of the finest genius in france, you will not cover the stains which this conduct would fasten on your reputation in the long-run. a bookseller gosse [read jore, your majesty? nobody ever heard of gosse as an extant quantity: jore, of rouen, you mean, and his celebrated lawsuit, about printing the henriade, or i know not what, long since] [unbounded details on the jore case, and from to continual letters on it, in--oeuvres de voltaire;----came to a head in (ib. lxix. ); jore penitent, (ib. i. ), &c. &c.], a bookseller jore, an opera fiddler [poor travenol, wrong dog pincered by the ear], and a jeweller jew, these are, of a surety, names which in no sort of business ought to appear by the side of yours. i write this letter with the rough common-sense of a german, who speaks what he thinks, without employing equivocal terms, and loose assuagements which disfigure the truth: it is for you to profit by it.--f." [--oeuvres de frederic,--xxii. .] so that voltaire will have to languish: "wrong, yes;--and sick, nigh dead, your majesty! ah, could not one get to some country lodge near you, 'the marquisat' for instance? live silent there, and see your face sometimes?" [in--oeuvres de frederic--(xxii. - , - ) are four lamenting and repenting, wheedling and ultimately whining, letters from voltaire, none of them dated, which have much about "my dreadful state of health," my passion" for reposing in that marquisat," &c.;--to one of which four, or perhaps to the whole together, the above no. of friedrich seems to have been answer. of that indisputable "marquisat" no nicolai says a word; even careful preuss passes "gosse" and it with shut lips.] languishing very much;--gives cosy little dinners, however. here are two other excerpts; and these will suffice:-- voltaire to formey ("berlin palace;" datable, first days of march): "will you, monsieur, come and eat the king's roast meat (rot du roi), to-day, thursday, at two o'clock, in a philosophic, warm and comfortable manner (philosophiquement et chaudement et doucement). a couple of philosophers, without being courtiers, may dine in the palace of a philosopher-king: i should even take the liberty of sending one of his majesty's carriages for you,-at two precise. after dinner, you would be at hand for your academy meeting." [formey, i. .]--v. how cosy!--and king friedrich has relented, too; grants me the marquisat; can refuse me nothing! voltaire to d'argental (potsdam, th march ).... "i could not accompany our chamberlain [von ammon, gone as envoy to paris, on a small matter ["commercial treaty;" which he got done. see longchamp, if any one is curious otherwise about this gentleman: "d'hamon" they call him, and sometimes "damon",--to whom niece denis wanted to be phyllis, according to longchamp.]], through the muds and the snows,--where i should have been buried; i was ill," and had to go to the marquisat. "d'arnaud and the pack of scribblers would have been too glad. d'arnaud, animated with the true love of glory, and not yet grown sufficiently illustrious by his own immortal works, has done one of that kind,"--by his behavior here. has behaved to me--oh, like a miserable, envious, intriguing, lying little scoundrel; and made berlin too hot for him: seduced tinois my clerk, stole bits of the pucelle (brief sight of bits, for prince henri's sake) to ruin me. "d'arnaud sent his lies to freron for the paris meridian [that is his real crime]; delightful news from canaille to canaille: 'how voltaire had lost a great lawsuit, respectable jew banker cheated by voltaire; that voltaire was disgraced by the king,' who of course loves jews; 'that voltaire was ruined; was ill; nay at last, that voltaire was dead.'" to the joy of freron, and the scoundrels that are printing one's pucelle. "voltaire is still in life, however, my angels; and the king has been so good to me in my sickness, i should be the ungratefulest of men if i didn't still pass some months with him. when he left berlin [ th january, six weeks ago], and i was too ill to follow him, i was the sole animal of my species whom he lodged in his palace there [what a beautiful bit of color to lay on!]--he left me equipages, cooks et cetera; and his mules and horses carted out my temporary furniture (meubles de passade) to a delicious house of his, close by potsdam [marquisat to wit, where i now stretch myself at ease; niece denis coming to live with me there,--talks of coming, if my angels knew it],--and he has reserved for me a charming apartment in his palace of potsdam, where i pass a part of the week. "and, on close view, i still admire this unique genius; and he deigns to communicate himself to me;--and if i were not leagues from you, and had a little health, i should be the happiest of men." [--oeuvres de voltaire,--lxxiv. .]... oh, my angels-- and, in short, better or worse, my second act is begun, as you perceive!--and certain readers will be apt to look in again, before all is over. chapter viii. ost-friesland and the shipping interests. two foreign events, following on the heel of the hirsch lawsuit, were of interest to our berlin friends, though not now of much to us or anybody. april th, , the old king of sweden, landgraf of hessen-cassel, died; whereby not only our friend wilhelm, the managing landgraf, becomes landgraf indeed (if he should ever turn up on us again), but princess ulrique is henceforth queen of sweden, her husband the new king. no doubt a welcome event to princess ulrique, the high brave-minded lady; but which proved intrinsically an empty one, not to say worse than empty, to herself and her friends, in times following. friedrich's connection with sweden, which he had been tightening lately by a treaty of alliance, came in the long-run to nothing for him, on the swedish side; and on the russian has already created umbrages, kindled abstruse suspicions, indignations,--russian excellency gross, abruptly, at berlin, demanding horses, not long since, and posting home without other leave-taking, to the surprise of mankind;--russian czarina evidently in the sullens against friedrich, this long while; dull impenetrable clouds of anger lodging yonder, boding him no good. all which the accession of queen ulrique will rather tend to aggravate than otherwise. [adelung, vii. (accession of adolf friedrich); ib. (gross's sudden departure).] the second foreign event is english, about a week prior in date, and is of still less moment: march st, , prince fred, the royal heir-apparent, has suddenly died. had been ill, more or less, for an eight days past; was now thought better, though "still coughing, and bringing up phlegm,"--when, on "wednesday night between nine and ten," in some lengthier fit of that kind, he clapt his hand on his breast; and the terrified valet heard him say, "je suis mort!"--and before his poor wife could run forward with a light, he lay verily dead. [walpole, george the second, i. .] the rising sun in england is vanished, then. yes; and with him his moons, and considerable moony workings, and slushings hither and thither, which they have occasioned, in the muddy tide-currents of that constitutional country. without interest to us here; or indeed elsewhere,--except perhaps that our dear wilhelmina would hear of it; and have her sad reflections and reminiscences awakened by it; sad and many-voiced, perhaps of an almost doleful nature, being on a sick-bed at this time, poor lady. she quitted berlin months ago, as we observed,--her farewell letter to friedrich, written from the first stage homewards, and melodious as the voice of sorrowful true hearts to us and him, dates "november th," just while voltaire (whom she always likes, and in a beautiful way protects, "frere voltaire," as she calls him) was despatching hirsch on that ill-omened predatory steuer-mission. her brother is in real alarm for wilhelmina, about this time; sending out cothenius his chief doctor, and the like: but our dear princess re-emerges from her eclipse; and we shall see her again, several times, if we be lucky. and so poor fred is ended;--and sulky people ask, in their cruel way, "why not?" a poor dissolute flabby fellow-creature; with a sad destiny, and a sadly conspicuous too. could write madrigals; be set to make opposition cabals. read this sudden epitaph in doggerel; an uncommonly successful piece of its kind; which is now his main monument with posterity. the "brother" (hero of culloden), the "sister" (amelia, our friedrich's first love, now growing gossipy and spiteful, poor princess), are old friends:-- "here lies prince fred, who was alive and is dead: had it been his father, i had much rather; had it been his brother, sooner than any other; had it been his sister, there's no one would have missed her; had it been his whole generation, best of all for the nation: but since it's only fred, there's no more to be said." [walpole, i. .] friedriah visits ost-friesland. a thing of more importance to us, two months after that catastrophe in london, is friedrich's first visit to ost-friesland. may st, having done his berlin-potsdam reviews and other current affairs, friedrich sets out on this excursion. with ost-friesland for goal, but much business by the way. towards magdeburg, and a short visit to the brunswick kindred, first of all. there is much reviewing in the magdeburg quarter, and thereafter in the wesel; and reviewing and visiting all along: through minden, bielfeld, lingen: not till july th does he cross the ost-friesland border, and enter embden. his three brothers, and prince ferdinand of brunswick, were with him. [--helden-geschichte,--iii. ; seyfarth, ii. ; rodenbeck, i. (who gives a foolish german myth, of voltaire's being passed off for the king's baboon, &c.; voltaire not being there at all).] on catching view of ost-friesland border, see, on the border-line, what an arch got on its feet: triumphal arch, of frondent ornaments, inscriptions and insignia; "of quite extraordinary magnificence;" arch which "sets every one into the agreeablest admiration." above a hundred such arches spanned the road at different points; multitudinous enthusiasm reverently escorting, "more than , " by count: till we enter embden; where all is cannon-salvo, and three-times-three; the thunder-shots continuing, "above , of them from the walls, not to speak of response from the ships in harbor." embden glad enough, as would appear, and ost-friesland glad enough, to see their new king. july th, ; after waiting above six years. next day, his majesty gave audience to the new "asiatic shipping company" (of which anon), to the stande, and magisterial persons;--with many questions, i doubt not, about your new embankments, new improvements, prospects; there being much procedure that way, in all manner of kinds, since the new dynasty came in, now six years ago. embankments on your river, wide spaces changed from ooze to meadow; on the dollart still more, which has lain years hidden from the sun. does any reader know the dollart? ost-friesland has awakened to wonderful new industries within these six years; urged and guided by the new king, who has great things in view for it, besides what are in actual progress. that of dikes, sea-embankments, for example; to ost-friesland, as to holland, they are the first condition of existence; and, in the past times, of extreme parliamentary vitality, have been slipping a good deal out of repair. ems river, in those flat rainy countries, has ploughed out for itself a very wide embouchure, as boundary between groningen and ost-friesland. muddy ems, bickering with the german ocean, does not forget to act, if parliamentary commissioners do. these dikes, miles of dike, mainly along both banks of this muddy ems river, are now water-tight again, to the comfort of flax and clover: and this is but one item of the diking now on foot. readers do not know the dollart, that uppermost round gulf, not far from embden itself, in the waste embouchure of ems with its continents of mud and tide. five hundred years ago, that ugly whirl of muddy surf, square miles in area, was a fruitful field, " villages upon it, one town, several monasteries and , souls:" till on christmas midnight a.d. , the winds and the storm-rains having got to their height, ocean and ems did, "about midnight," undermine the place, folded it over like a friable bedquilt or monstrous doomed griddle-cake, and swallowed it all away. most of it, they say, that night, the whole of it within ten years coming; [busching,--erdbeschreibung,--v. , ; preuss, i. , .]--and there it has hung, like an unlovely goitre at the throat of embden, ever since. one little dot of an island, with six houses on it, near the embden shore, is all that is left. where probably his majesty landed (july th, being in a yacht that day); but did not see, afar off, the "sunk steeple-top," which is fabled to be visible at low-water. upon this dollart itself there is now to be diking tried; king's domain-kammer showing the example. which official body did accordingly (without blue-books, but in good working case otherwise) break ground, few months hence; and victoriously achieved a polder, or diked territory, "worth about , pounds annually;" "which, in , was sold to the stande;" at twenty-five years purchase, let us say, or for , pounds. an example of a convincing nature; which many others, and ever others, have followed since; to gradual considerable diminution of the dollart, and relief of ost-friesland on this side. furtherance of these things is much a concern of friedrich's. the second day after his arrival, those audiences and ceremonials done, friedrich and suite got on board a yacht, and sailed about all over this dollart, twenty miles out to sea; dined on board; and would have, if the weather was bright (which i hope), a pleasantly edifying day. the harbor is much in need of dredging, the building docks considerably in disrepair; but shall be refitted if this king live and prosper. he has declared embden a "free-haven," inviting trade to it from all peaceable nations;--and readers do not know (though sir jonas hanway and the jealous mercantile world well did) what magnificent shipping companies and sea-enterprises, of his devising, are afoot there. of which, one word, and no second shall follow: "september st, , those carrousel gayeties scarce done, 'the asiatic trading company' stept formally into existence; embden the head-quarters of it; [patent, or freyheits-brief in--helden-geschichte,--iii. , .] chief manager a ritter de la touche; one of the directors our fantastic bielfeld, thus turned to practical value. a company patronized, in all ways, by the king; but, for the rest, founded, not on his money; founded on voluntary shares, which, to the regret of hanway and others, have had much popularity in commercial circles. will trade to china. a thing looked at with umbrage by the english, by the dutch. a shame that english people should encourage such schemes, says hanway. which nevertheless many dutch and many english private persons do,--among the latter, one english lady (name unknown, but i always suspect 'miss barbara wyndham, of the college, salisbury'), concerning whom there will be honorable notice by and by. "at the time of friedrich's visit, the asiatic company is in full vogue; making ready its first ship for canton. first ship, konig von preussen (tons burden not given), actually sailed th february next ( ); and was followed by a second, named town of embden, on the th of september following; both of which prosperously reached canton, and prosperously returned with cargoes of satisfactory profit. the first of them, konig von preussen, had been boarded in the downs by an english captain thomson and his frigate, and detained some days,--till thomson 'took seven english seamen out of her.' 'act of parliament, express!' said his grace of newcastle. which done, thomson found that the english jealousies would have to hold their hand; no farther, whatever one's wishes may be. "nay within a year hence, january th, , friedrich founded another company for india: 'bengalische handels-gesellschaft;' which also sent out its pair of ships, perhaps oftener than once; and pointed, as the other was doing, to wide fields of enterprise, for some time. but luck was wanting. and, 'in part, mismanagement,' and, in whole, the seven-years war put an end to both companies before long. friedrich is full of these thoughts, among his other industrialisms; and never quits them for discouragement, but tries again, when the obstacles cease to be insuperable. ever since the acquisition of ost-friesland, the furtherance of sea-commerce had been one of friedrich's chosen objects. 'let us carry our own goods at least, silesian linens, memel timbers, stock-fish; what need of the dutch to do it?' and in many branches his progress had been remarkable,--especially in this carrying trade, while the war lasted, and crippled all anti-english belligerents. upon which, indeed, and the conduct of the english privateers to him, there is a controversy going on with the english court in those years (began in ), most distressful to his grace of newcastle;--which in part explains those stingy procedures of captain thomson ('home, you seven english sailors!') when the first canton ship put to sea. that controversy is by no means ended after three years, but on the contrary, after two years more, comes to a crisis quite shocking to his grace of newcastle, and defying all solution on his grace's side,--the other party, after such delays, five years waiting, having settled it for himself!" of which, were the crisis come, we will give some account. on the third day of his visit, friedrich drove to aurich, the seat of government, and official little capital of ost-friesland; where triumphal arches, joyful reverences, concourses, demonstrations, sumptuous dinner one item, awaited his majesty: i know not if, in the way thither or back, he passed those "three huge oaks [or the rotted stems or roots of them] under which the ancient frisians, lords of all between weser and rhine, were wont to assemble in parliament" (without fourth estate, or any eloquence except of the purely business sort),--or what his thoughts on the late ost-friesland bandbox parliaments may have been! he returned to embden that night; and on the morrow started homewards; we may fancy, tolerably pleased with what he had seen. "king friedrich's main objects of pursuit in this period," says a certain author, whom we often follow, "i define as being three. . reform of the law; . furtherance of husbandry and industry in all kinds, especially of shipping from embden; . improvement of his own domesticities and household enjoyments,"--renewal of the reinsberg program, in short. "in the first of these objects," continues he, "king friedrich's success was very considerable, and got him great fame in the world. in his second head of efforts, that of improving the industries and husbandries among his people, his success, though less noised of in foreign parts, was to the near observer still more remarkable. a perennial business with him, this; which, even in the time of war, he never neglects; and which springs out like a stemmed flood, whenever peace leaves him free for it. his labors by all methods to awaken new branches of industry, to cherish and further the old, are incessant, manifold, unwearied; and will surprise the uninstructed reader, when he comes to study them. an airy, poetizing, bantering, lightly brilliant king, supposed to be serious mainly in things of war, how is he moiling and toiling, like an ever-vigilant land-steward, like the most industrious city merchant, hardest-working merchant's clerk, to increase his industrial capital by any the smallest item! "one day, these things will deserve to be studied to the bottom; and to be set forth, by writing hands that are competent, for the instruction and example of workers,--that is to say, of all men, kings most of all, when there are again kings. at present, i can only say they astonish me, and put me to shame: the unresting diligence displayed in them, and the immense sum-total of them,--what man, in any the noblest pursuit, can say that he has stood to it, six-and-forty years long, in the style of this man? nor did the harvest fail; slow sure harvest, which sufficed a patient friedrich in his own day; harvest now, in our day, visible to everybody: in a prussia all shooting into manufactures, into commerces, opulences,--i only hope, not too fast, and on more solid terms than are universal at present! those things might be didactic, truly, in various points, to this generation; and worth looking back upon, from its high laissez-faire altitudes, its triumphant scrip-transactions and continents of gold-nuggets,--pleasing, it doubts not, to all the gods. to write well of what is called 'political economy' (meaning thereby increase of money's-worth) is reckoned meritorious, and our nearest approach to the rational sublime. but to accomplish said increase in a high and indisputable degree; and indisputably very much by your own endeavors wisely regulating those of others, does not that approach still nearer the sublime? "to prevent disappointment, i ought to add that friedrich is the reverse of orthodox in 'political economy;' that he had not faith in free-trade, but the reverse;--nor had ever heard of those ultimate evangels, unlimited competition, fair start, and perfervid race by all the world (towards 'cheap-and-nasty,' as the likeliest winning-post for all the world), which have since been vouchsafed us. probably in the world there was never less of a free-trader! constraint, regulation, encouragement, discouragement, reward, punishment; these he never doubted were the method, and that government was good everywhere if wise, bad only if not wise. and sure enough these methods, where human justice and the earnest sense and insight of a friedrich preside over them, have results, which differ notably from opposite cases that can be imagined! the desperate notion of giving up government altogether, as a relief from human blockheadism in your governors, and their want even of a wish to be just or wise, had not entered into the thoughts of friedrich; nor driven him upon trying to believe that such, in regard to any human interest whatever, was, or could be except for a little while in extremely developed cases, the true way of managing it. how disgusting, accordingly, is the prussia of friedrich to a hanbury williams; who has bad eyes and dirty spectacles, and hates friedrich: how singular and lamentable to a mirabeau junior, who has good eyes, and loves him! no knave, no impertinent blockhead even, can follow his own beautiful devices here; but is instantly had up, or comes upon a turnpike strictly shut for him. 'was the like ever heard of?' snarls hanbury furiously (as an angry dog might, in a labyrinth it sees not the least use for): 'what unspeakable want of liberty!'--and reads to you as if he were lying outright; but generally is not, only exaggerating, tumbling upside down, to a furious degree; knocking against the labyrinth he sees not the least use for. mirabeau's gospel of free-trade, preached in , [monarchie prussienne he calls it (a londres, privately paris, ), vols. vo; which is a dead-sea of statistics, compiled by industrious major mauvillon, with this fresh current of a "gospel" shining through it, very fresh and brisk, of few yards breadth;--dedicated to papa, the true protevangelist of the thing.]--a comparatively recent performance, though now some seventy or eighty years the senior of an english (unconscious) fac-simile, which we have all had the pleasure of knowing,--will fall to be noticed afterwards [not by this editor, we hope!] "many of friedrich's restrictive notions,--as that of watching with such anxiety that 'money' (gold or silver coin) be not carried out of the country,--will be found mistakes, not in orthodox dismal science as now taught, but in the nature of things; and indeed the dismal science will generally excommunicate them in the lump,--too. heedless that fact has conspicuously vindicated the general sum-total of them, and declared it to be much truer than it seems to the dismal science. dismal science (if that were important to me) takes insufficient heed, and does not discriminate between times past and times present, times here and times there." certain it is, king friedrich's success in national husbandry was very great. the details of the very many new manufactures, new successful ever-spreading enterprises, fostered into existence by friedrich; his canal-makings, road-makings, bog-drainings, colonizings and unwearied endeavorings in that kind, will require a technical philosopher one day; and will well reward such study, and trouble of recording in a human manner; but must lie massed up in mere outline on the present occasion. friedrich, as land-father, shepherd of the people, was great on the husbandry side also; and we are to conceive him as a man of excellent practical sense, doing unweariedly his best in that kind, all his life long. alone among modern kings; his late father the one exception; and even his father hardly surpassing him in that particular. in regard to embden and the shipping interests, ost-friesland awakened very ardent speculations, which were a novelty in prussian affairs; nothing of foreign trade, except into the limited baltic, had been heard of there since the great elector's time. the great elector had ships, forts on the coast of africa; and tried hard for atlantic trade,--out of this same embden; where, being summoned to protect in the troubles, he had got some footing as contingent heir withal, and kept a "prussian battalion" a good while. and now, on much fairer terms, not less diligently turned to account, it is his great-grandson's turn. friedrich's successes in this department, the rather as embden and ost-friesland have in our time ceased to be prussian, are not much worth speaking of; but they connect themselves with some points still slightly memorable to us. how, for example, his vigilantes and endeavors on this score brought him into rubbings, not collisions, but jealousies and gratings, with the english and dutch, the reader will see anon. law-reform is gloriously prosperous; husbandry the like, and shipping interest itself as yet. but in the third grand head, that of realizing the reinsberg program, beautifying his domesticities, and bringing his own hearth and household nearer the ideal, friedrich was nothing like so successful; in fact had no success at all. that flattering reinsberg program, it is singular how friedrich cannot help trying it by every new chance, nor cast the notion out of him that there must be a kind of muses'-heaven realizable on earth! that is the biographic phenomenon which has survived of those years; and to that we will almost exclusively address ourselves, on behalf of ingenuous readers. chapter ix.--second act of the voltaire visit. voltaire's visit lasted, in all, about thirty-two months; and is divisible into three acts or stages. the first we have seen: how it commenced in brightness as of the sun, and ended, by that hirsch business, in whirlwinds of smoke and soot,--voltaire retiring, on his passionate prayer, to that silent country-house which he calls the marquisat; there to lie in hospital, and wash himself a little, and let the skies wash themselves. the hirsch business having blown over, as all things do, voltaire resumed his place among the court-planets, and did his revolutions; striving to forget that there ever was a hirsch, or a soot-explosion of that nature. in words nobody reminded him of it, the king least of all: and by degrees matters were again tolerably glorious, and all might have gone well enough; though the primal perfect splendor, such fuliginous reminiscence being ineffaceable, never could be quite re-attained. the diamond cross of merit, the chamberlain gold key, hung bright upon the man; a man the admired of men. he had work to do: work of his own which he reckoned priceless (that immortal siecle de louis quatorze; which he stood by, and honestly did, while here; the one fixed axis in those fooleries and whirlings of his);--work for the king, "two hours, one hour, a day," which the king reckoned priceless in its sort. for friedrich himself voltaire has, with touches of real love coming out now and then, a very sincere admiration mixed with fear; and delights in shining to him, and being well with him, as the greatest pleasure now left in life. besides the king, he had society enough, french in type, and brilliant enough: plenty of society; or, at his wish, what was still better, none at all. he was bedded, boarded, lodged, as if beneficent fairies had done it for him; and for all these things no price asked, you might say, but that he would not throw himself out of window! had the man been wise--but he was not wise. he had, if no big gloomy devil in him among the bright angels that were there, a multitude of ravening tumultuary imps, or little devils very ill-chained; and was lodged, he and his restless little devils, in a skin far too thin for him and them!-- reckoning up the matter, one cannot find that voltaire ever could have been a blessing at berlin, either for friedrich or himself; and it is to be owned that friedrich was not wise in so longing for him, or clasping him so frankly in his arms. as friedrich, by this time, probably begins to discover;--though indeed to friedrich the thing is of finite moment; by no means of infinite, as it was to voltaire. "at worst, nothing but a little money thrown away!" thinks friedrich: "sure enough, this is a strange trismegistus, this of mine: star fire-work shall we call him, or terrestrial smoke-and-soot work? but one can fence oneself against the blind vagaries of the man; and get a great deal of good by him, in the lucid intervals." to voltaire himself the position is most agitating; but then its glories, were there nothing more! besides he is always thinking to quit it shortly; which is a great sedative in troubles. what with intermittencies (safe hidings in one's marquisat, or vacant interlunar cave), with alternations of offence and reconcilement; what with occasional actual flights to paris (whitherward voltaire is always busy to keep a postern open; and of which there is frequent talk, and almost continual thought, all along), flights to be called "visits," and privately intending to be final, but never proving so,--the voltaire-friedrich relation, if left to itself, might perhaps long have staggered about, and not ended as it did. but, alas, no relation can be left to itself in this world,--especially if you have a porous skin! there were other french here, as well as voltaire, revolving in the court-circle; and that, beyond all others, proved the fatal circumstance to him. "ne savez-vous pas, don't you know," said he to chancellor jarriges one day, "that when there are two frenchmen in a foreign court or country, one of them must die (faut que l'un des deux perisse)?" [seyfarth, ii. ; &c. &c.] which shocked the mind of jarriges; but had a kind of truth, too. jew hirsch, run into for low smuggling purposes, had been a cape of storms, difficult to weather; but the continual leeshore were those french,--with a heavy gale on, and one of the rashest pilots! he did strike the breakers there, at last; and it is well known, total shipwreck was the issue. our second act, holding out dubiously, in continual perils, till autumn, , will have to pass then into a third of darker complexion, and into a catastrophe very dark indeed. catastrophe which, by farther ill accident, proved noisy in the extreme; producing world-wide shrieks from the one party, stone-silence from the other; which were answered by unlimited hooting, catcalling and haha-ing from all parts of the world-theatre, upon both the shrieky and the silent party; catcalling not fallen quite dead to this day. to friedrich the catcalling was not momentous (being used to such things); though to poor voltaire it was unlimitedly so:--and to readers interested in this memorable pair of men, the rights and wrongs of the affair ought to be rendered authentically conceivable, now at last. were it humanly possible,--after so much catcalling at random! smelfungus has a right to say, speaking of this matter:-- "never was such a jumble of loud-roaring ignorances, delusions and confusions, as the current records of it are. editors, especially french editors, treating of a hyperborean, cimmerian subject, like this, are easy-going creatures. and truly they have left it for us in a wonderful state. dateless, much of it, by nature; and, by the lazy editors, misdated into very chaos; jumbling along there, in mad defiance of top and bottom; often the very year given wrong:--full everywhere of lazy darkness, irradiated only by stupid rages, ill-directed mockeries:--and for issue, cheerfully malicious hootings from the general mob of mankind, with unbounded contempt of their betters; which is not pleasant to see. when mobs do get together, round any signal object; and editorial gentlemen, with talent for it, pour out from their respective barrel-heads, in a persuasive manner, instead of knowledge, ignorance set on fire, they are capable of carrying it far!--will it be possible to pick out the small glimmerings of real light, from this mad dance of will-o'-wisps and fire-flies thrown into agitation?" it will be very difficult, my friend;--why did not you yourself do it? most true, "those actual voltaire-friedrich letters of the time are a resource, and pretty much the sole one: letters a good few, still extant; which all had their bit of meaning; and have it still, if well tortured till they give it out, or give some glimmer of it out:"--but you have not tortured them; you have left it to me, if i would! as i assuredly will not (never fear, reader!)--except in the thriftiest degree. detached features (not fabulous) of voltaire and his berlin-potsdam environment in - . to the outside crowd of observers, and to himself in good moments, voltaire represents his situation as the finest in the world:-- "potsdam is sparta and athens joined in one; nothing but reviewing and poetry day by day. the algarottis, the maupertuises, are here; have each his work, serious for himself; then gay supper with a king, who is a great man and the soul of good company."... sparta and athens, i tell you: "a camp of mars and the garden of epicurus; trumpets and violins, war and philosophy. i have my time all to myself; am at court and in freedom,--if i were not entirely free, neither an enormous pension, nor a gold key tearing out one's pocket, nor a halter (licou), which they call cordon of an order, nor even the suppers with a philosopher who has gained five battles, could yield me the least happiness." [--oeuvres,--lxxiv. , , (letters, to d'argental and others, " th april- th may, ").] looked at by you, my outside friends,--ah, had i health and you here, what a situation! but seen from within, it is far otherwise. alongside of these warblings of a heart grateful to the first of kings, there goes on a series of utterances to niece denis, remarkable for the misery driven into meanness, that can be read in them. ill-health, discontent, vague terror, suspicion that dare not go to sleep; a strange vague terror, shapeless or taking all shapes--a body diseased and a mind diseased. fear, quaking continually for nothing at all, is not to be borne in a handsome manner. and it passes, often enough (in these poor letters), into transient malignity, into gusts of trembling hatred, with a tendency to relieve oneself by private scandal of the house we are in. seldom was a miserabler wrong-side seen to a bit of royal tapestry. a man hunted by the little devils that dwell unchained within himself; like pentheus by the maenads, like actaeon by his own dogs. nay, without devils, with only those terrible bowels of mine, and scorbutic gums, it is bad enough: "glorious promotions to me here," sneers he bitterly; "but one thing is indisputable, i have lost seven of my poor residue of teeth since i came!" in truth, we are in a sadly scorbutic state; and that, and the devils we lodge within ourselves, is the one real evil. could not suspicion--why cannot she!--take her natural rest; and all these terrors vanish? oh, m. de voltaire!--the practical purport, to niece denis, always is: keep my retreat to paris open; in the name of heaven, no obstruction that way! miserable indeed; a man fatally unfit for his present element! but he has two considerable sedatives, all along; two, and no third visible to me. sedative first: that, he can, at any time, quit this illustrious tartarus-elysium, the envy of mankind;--and indeed, practically, he is always as if on the slip; thinking to be off shortly, for a time, or in permanence; can be off at once, if things grow too bad. sedative second is far better: his own labor on louis quatorze, which is steadily going on, and must have been a potent quietus in those court-whirlwinds inward and outward. from berlin, already in autumn, , voltaire writes to d'argental: "i sha'n't go to italy this autumn [nor ever in my life], as i had projected. but i will come to see you in the course of november" (far from it, i got into steuer-scheine then!)--and again, after some weeks: "i have put off my journey to italy for a year. next winter too, therefore, i shall see you," on the road thither. "to my country, since you live in it, i will make frequent visits," very!" italy and the king of prussia are two old passions with me; but i cannot treat frederic-le-grand as i can the holy father, with a mere look in passing." [to d'argental, "berlin, th september,--potsdam, th october, " (--oeuvres,--lxxiv. , ).] let this one, to which many might be added, serve as sample of sedative first, or the power and intention to be off before long. in regard to sedative second, again:... "the happiest circumstance is, brought with me all my louis-fourteenth papers and excerpts. 'i get from leipzig, if no nearer, whatever books are needed;'" and labor faithfully at this immortal production. yes, day by day, to see growing, by the cunning of one's own right hand, such perennial solomon's-temple of a siecle de louis quatorze:--which of your kings, or truculent, tiglath-pilesers, could do that? to poor me, even in the potsdam tempests, it is possible: what ugliest day is not beautiful that sees a stone or two added there!--daily voltaire sees himself at work on his siecle, on those fine terms; trowel in one hand, weapon of war in the other. and does actually accomplish it, in the course of this year ,--with a great deal of punctuality and severe painstaking; which readers of our day, fallen careless of the subject, are little aware of, on voltaire's behalf. voltaire's reward was, that he did not go mad in that berlin element, but had throughout a bower-anchor to ride by. "the king of france continues me as gentleman of the chamber, say you; but has taken away my title of historiographer? that latter, however, shall still be my function. 'my present independence has given weight to my verdicts on matters. probably i never could have written this book at paris.' a consolation for one's exile, mon enfant." [to niece denis (--oeuvres,--lxxiv. , &c. &c.), " th october, ," and subsequent dates.] it is proper also to observe that, besides shining at the king's suppers like no other, voltaire applies himself honestly to do for his majesty the small work required of him,--that of verse-correcting now and then. two specimens exist; two pieces criticised, ode aux prussiens, and the art of war: portions of that reprint now going on ("to the extent of twelve copies,"--woe lies in one of them, most unexpected at this time!) "au donjon du chateau;"--under benefit of voltaire's remarks. which one reads curiously, not without some surprise. [in--oeuvres de frederic,--x. - .] surprise, first at voltaire's official fidelity; his frankness, rigorous strictness in this small duty: then at the kind of correcting, instructing and lessoning, that had been demanded of him by his royal pupil. mere grammatical stylistic skin-deep work: nothing (or, at least, in these specimens nothing) of attempt upon the interior structure, or the interior harmony even of utterance: solely the parisian niceties, graces, laws of poetic language, the fas and the nefas in regard to all that: this is what his majesty would fain be taught from the fountain-head;--one wonders his majesty did not learn to spell, which might have been got from a lower source!--and all this voltaire does teach with great strictness. for example, in the very first line, in the very first word, set, before him:-- "prussiens, que la valeur conduisit a la gloire," so friedrich had written (ode aux prussiens, which is specimen first); and thus voltaire criticises: "the hero here makes his prussiens of two syllables; and afterwards, in another strophe, he grants them three. a king is master of his favors. at the same time, one does require a little uniformity; and the iens are usually of two syllables, as liens, silesiens, autrichiens; excepting the monosyllables bien, rien"--enough, enough!--a severe, punctual, painstaking voltaire, sitting with the schoolmaster's bonnet on head; ferula visible, if not actually in hand. for which, as appears, his majesty was very grateful to the trismegistus of men. voltaire's flatteries to friedrich, in those scattered little billets with their snatches of verse, are the prettiest in the world,--and approach very near to sincerity, though seldom quite attaining it. something traceable of false, of suspicious, feline, nearly always, in those seductive warblings; which otherwise are the most melodious bits of idle ingenuity the human brain has ever spun from itself. for instance, this heading of a note sent from one room to another,--perhaps with pieces of an ode aux prussiens accompanying:-- --"vou gui daignez me departir les fruits d'une muse divine, o roi! je ne puis consentir que, sans daigner m'en avertir, vous alliez prendre medecine. je suis votre malade-ne, et sur la casse et le sene, j'ai des notions non communes. nous sommes de mene metier; faut-il de moi vous defier, et cacher vos bonnes fortunes?"-- was there ever such a turn given to taking physic! still better is this other, the topic worse,--haemorrhoids (a kind of annual or periodical affair with the royal patient, who used to feel improved after):-- ... (ten or twelve verses on another point; then suddenly--) --"que la veine hemorroidale de votre personne royale cesse de troubler le repos! quand pourrai-je d'une style honnete dire: 'le cul de mon heros va tout aussi bien que sa tete'?"-- [in--oeuvres de frederic,--xxii. , .] a kittenish grace in these things, which is pleasant in so old a cat. smelfungus says: "he is a consummate artist in speech, our voltaire: that, if you take the word speech in its widest sense, and consider the much that can be spoken, and the infinitely more that cannot and should not, is voltaire's supreme excellency among his fellow-creatures; never rivalled (to my poor judgment) anywhere before or since,--nor worth rivalling, if we knew it well." another fine circumstance is, that voltaire has frequent leave of absence; and in effect passes a great deal of his time altogether by himself, or in his own way otherwise. what with friedrich's review journeys and business circuits, considerable separations do occur of themselves; and at any time, voltaire has but to plead illness, which he often does; with ground and without, and get away for weeks, safe into the distance more or less remote. he is at the marquisat (as we laboriously make out); at berlin, in the empty palace, perhaps in lodgings of his own (though one would prefer the gratis method); nursing his maladies, which are many; writing his louis quatorze; "lonely altogether, your majesty, and sad of humor,"--yet giving his cosy little dinners, and running out, pretty often, if well invited, into the brilliancies and gayeties. no want of brilliant social life here, which can shine, more or less, and appreciate one's shining. the king's supper-parties--yes, and these, though the brightest, are not the only bright things in our potsdam-berlin world. take with you, reader, one or two of the then and there chief figures; voltaire's fellow-players; strutting and fretting their hour on that stage of life. they are mostly not quite strangers to you. we know the sublime perpetual president in his red wig, and sublime supremacy of pure science. a gloomy set figure; affecting the sententious, the emphatic and a composed impregnability,--like the jove of science. with immensities of gloomy vanity, not compressible at all times. friedrich always strove to honor his perpetual president, and duly adore the pure sciences in him; but inwardly could not quite manage it, though outwardly he failed in nothing. impartial witnesses confess, the king had a great deal of trouble with his gloomings and him. "who is this voltaire?" gloomily thinks the perpetual president to himself. "a fellow with a nimble tongue, that is all. knows nothing whatever of pure sciences, except what fraction or tincture he has begged or stolen from myself. and here is the king of the world in raptures with him!" voltaire from of old had faithfully done his kowtows to this king of the sciences; and, with a sort of terror, had suffered with incredible patience a great deal from him. but there comes an end to all things; voltaire's patience not excepted. it lay in the fates that maupertuis should steadily accumulate, day after day, and now more than ever heretofore, upon the sensitive voltaire. till, as will be seen, the sensitive voltaire could endure it no longer; but had to explode upon this big bully (accident lending a spark); to go off like a vesuvius of crackers, fire-serpents and sky-rockets; envelop the red wig, and much else, in delirious conflagration;--and produce the catastrophe of this berlin drama. d'argens, poor dissolute creature, is the best of the french lot. he has married, after so many temporary marriages with actresses, one actress in permanence, mamsell cochois, a patient kind being; and settled now, at potsdam here, into perfectly composed household life. really loves friedrich, they say; the only frenchman of them that does. has abundance of light sputtery wit, and provencal fire and ingenuity; no ill-nature against any man. never injures anybody, nor lies at all about anything. a great friend of fine weather; regrets, of his inheritances in provence, chiefly one item, and this not overmuch,--the bright southern sun. sits shivering in winter-time, wrapping himself in more and more flannel, two dressing-gowns, two nightcaps:--loyal to this king, in good times and in evil. was the king's friend for thirty years; helped several meritorious people to his majesty's notice; and never did any man a mischief in that quarter. an erect, guileless figure; very tall; with vivid countenance, chaotically vivid mind: full of bright sallies, irregular ingenuities; had a hot temper too, which did not often run away with him, but sometimes did. he thrice made a visit to provence,--in fact ran away from the king, feeling bantered and roasted to a merciless degree,--but thrice came back. "at the end of the first stage, he had always privately forgiven the king, and determined that the pretended visit should really be a visit only." "reads the king's letters," which are many to him, "always bare-headed, in spite of the draughts!" [nicolai,--anekdoten,--i. - , &c. &c.] algarotti is too prudent, politely egoistic and self-contained, to take the trouble of hurting anybody, or get himself into trouble for love or hatred. he fell into disfavor not long after that unsuccessful little mission in the first silesian war, of which the reader has lost remembrance. good for nothing in diplomacy, thought friedrich, but agreeable as company. "company in tents, in the seat of war, has its unpleasantness," thought algarotti;--and began very privately sounding the waters at dresden for an eligible situation; so that there has ensued a quarrel since; then humble apologies followed by profound silence,--till now there is reconcilement. it is admitted friedrich had some real love for algarotti; algarotti, as we gather, none at all for him; but only for his greatness. they parted again (february, ) without quarrel, but for the last time; [algarotti-correspondence (--oeuvres de frederic,--xviii. ).]--and i confess to a relief on the occasion. friedrich, readers know by this time, had a great appetite for conversation: he talked well, listened well; one of his chief enjoyments was, to give and receive from his fellow-creatures in that way. i hope, and indeed have evidence, that he required good sense as the staple; but in the form, he allowed great latitude. he by no means affected solemnity, rather the reverse; goes much upon the bantering vein; far too much, according to the complaining parties. took pleasure (cruel mortal!) in stirring up his company by the whip, and even by the whip applied to raws; for we find he had "established," like the dublin hackney-coachman, "raws for himself;" and habitually plied his implement there, when desirous to get into the gallop. in an inhuman manner, said the suffering cattle; who used to rebel against it, and go off in the sulks from time to time. it is certain he could, especially in his younger years, put up with a great deal of zanyism, ingenious foolery and rough tumbling, if it had any basis to tumble on; though with years he became more saturnine. by far his chief artist in this kind, indeed properly the only one, was la mettrie, whom we once saw transiently as army-surgeon at fontenoy: he is now out of all that (flung out, with the dogs at his heels); has been safe in berlin for three years past. friedrich not only tolerates the poor madcap, but takes some pleasure in him: madcap we say, though poor la mettrie had remarkable gifts, exuberant laughter one of them, and was far from intending to be mad. not zanyism, but wisdom of the highest nature, was what he drove at,--unluckily, with open mouth, and mind all in tumult. la mettrie had left the army, soon after that busy fontenoy evening: chivalrous grammont, his patron and protector, who had saved him from many scrapes, lay shot on the field. la mettrie, rushing on with mouth open and mind in tumult, had, from of old, been continually getting into scrapes. unorthodox to a degree; the sorbonne greedy for him long since; such his audacities in print, his heavy hits, boisterous, quizzical, logical. and now he had set to attacking the medical faculty, to quizzing medicine in his wild way; doctor astruc, doctor this and that, of the first celebrity, taking it very ill. so that la mettrie had to demit; to get out of france rather in a hurry, lest worse befell. he had studied at leyden, under boerhaave. he had in fact considerable medical and other talent, had he not been so tumultuous and open-mouthed. he fled to leyden; and shot forth, in safety there, his fiery darts upon sorbonne and faculty, at his own discretion,--which was always a minimum quantity:--he had, before long, made leyden also too hot for him. his books gained a kind of celebrity in the world; awoke laughter and attention, among the adventurous of readers; astonishment at the blazing madcap (a bon diable, too, as one could see); and are still known to catalogue-makers,--though, with one exception, l'homme machine, not otherwise, nor read at all. l'homme machine (man a machine) is the exceptional book; smallest of duodecimos to have so much wildfire in it, this man a machine, though tumultuous la mettrie meant nothing but open-mouthed wisdom by it, gave scandal in abundance; so that even the leyden magistrates were scandalized; and had to burn the afflicting little duodecimo by the common hangman, and order la mettrie to disappear instantly from their city. which he had to do,--towards king friedrich, usual refuge of the persecuted; seldom inexorable, where there was worth, even under bad forms, recognizable; and not a friend to burning poor men or their books, if it could be helped. la mettrie got some post, like d'arget's, or still more nominal; "readership;" some small pension to live upon; and shelter to shoot forth his wildfire, when he could hold it no longer: fire, not of a malignant incendiary kind, but pleasantly lambent, though maddish, as friedrich perceived. thus had la mettrie found a goshen;--and stood in considerable favor, at court and in berlin society in the years now current. according to nicolai, friedrich never esteemed la mettrie, which is easy to believe, but found him a jester and ingenious madcap, out of whom a great deal of merriment could be had, over wine or the like. to judge by nicolai's authentic specimen, their colloquies ran sometimes pretty deep into the cynical, under showers of wildfire playing about; and the high-jinks must have been highish. [--anekdoten,--vi. - .] when there had been enough of this, friedrich would lend his la mettrie to the french excellency, milord tyrconnel, to oblige his excellency, and get la mettrie out of the way for a while. milord is at berlin; a jacobite irishman, of blusterous irish qualities, though with plenty of sagacity and rough sense; likes la mettrie; and is not much a favorite with friedrich. tyrconnel had said, at first,--when rothenburg, privately from friedrich, came to consult him, "what are, in practical form, those 'assistances from the most christian majesty,' should we make alliance with him, as your excellency proposes, and chance to be attacked?"--"morbleu, assistance enough [enumerating several]: mais morbleu, si vous nous trompex, vous serez ecrases (if you deceive us, you will be squelched)!" [valori, ii. , &c.] "he had been chosen for his rough tongue," says valori; our french court being piqued at friedrich and his sarcasms. tyrconnel gives splendid dinners: voltaire often of them; does not love potsdam, nor is loved by it. nay, i sometimes think a certain demon newswriter (of whom by and by), but do not know, may be some hungry attache of tyrconnel's. hungry attache, shut out from the divine suppers and upper planetary movements, and reduced to look on them from his cold hutch, in a dog-like angry and hungry manner? his flying allusions to voltaire, "son (friedrich's) squelette d'apollon, skeleton of an apollo," and the like, are barkings almost rabid. of the military sort, about this time, keith and rothenburg appear most frequently as guests or companions. rothenburg had a great deal of friedrich's regard: winterfeld is more a practical counseller, and does not shine in learned circles, as rothenburg may. a fiery soldier too, this rothenburg, withal;--a man probably of many talents and qualities, though of distinctly decipherable there is next to no record of him or them. he had a parisian wife; who is sometimes on the point of coming with niece denis to berlin, and of setting up their two french households there; but never did it, either of them, to make an uncle or a husband happy. rothenburg was bred a catholic: "he headed the subscription for the famous 'katholische kirche,'" so delightful to the pope and liberal christians in those years; "but never gave a sixpence of money," says voltaire once: catholic kirk was got completed with difficulty; stands there yet, like a large washbowl set, bottom uppermost, on the top of a narrowish tub; but none of rothenburg's money is in it. in voltaire's correspondence there is frequent mention of him; not with any love, but with a certain secret respect, rather inclined to be disrespectful, if it durst or could: the eloquent vocal individual not quite at ease beside the more silent thinking and acting one. what we know is, friedrich greatly loved the man. there is some straggle of correspondence between friedrich and him left; but it is worth nothing; gives no testimony of that, or of anything else noticeable:--and that is the one fact now almost alone significant of rothenburg. much loved and esteemed by the king; employed diplomatically, now and then; perhaps talked with on such subjects, which was the highest distinction. poor man, he is in very bad health in these months; has never rightly recovered of his wounds; and dies in the last days of ,--to the bitter sorrow of the king, as is still on record. a highly respectable dim figure, far more important in friedrich's history than he looks. as king's guest, he can in these months play no part. highly respectable too, and well worth talking to, though left very dim to us in the books, is marshal keith; who has been growing gradually with the king, and with everybody, ever since he came to these parts in . a man of scotch type; the broad accent, with its sagacities, veracities, with its steadfastly fixed moderation, and its sly twinkles of defensive humor, is still audible to us through the foreign wrappages. not given to talk, unless there is something to be said; but well capable of it then. friedrich, the more he knows him, likes him the better. on all manner of subjects he can talk knowingly, and with insight of his own. on russian matters friedrich likes especially to hear him,--though they differ in regard to the worth of russian troops. "very considerable military qualities in those russians," thinks keith: "imperturbably obedient, patient; of a tough fibre, and are beautifully strict to your order, on the parade-ground or off." "pooh, mere rubbish, mon cher," thinks friedrich always. to which keith, unwilling to argue too long, will answer: "well, it is possible enough your majesty may try them, some day; if i am wrong, it will be all the better for us!" which friedrich had occasion to remember by and by. friedrich greatly respects this sagacious gentleman with the broad accent: his brother, the lord marischal, is now in france: ambassador at paris, since september, : ["left potsdam th august" (rodenbeck, i. ).] "lord marischal, a jacobite, for prussian ambassador in paris; tyrconnel, a jacobite, for french ambassador in berlin!" grumble the english. fractions of events and indications, from voltaire himself, in this time; more or less illuminative when reduced to order. here, selected from more, are a few "fire-flies,"--not dancing or distracted, but authentic all, and stuck each on its spit; shedding a feeble glimmer over the physiognomy of those fifteen caliginous months, to an imagination that is diligent. fractional utterances of voltaire to friedrich and others (in abridged form, abridgment indicated): the exact dates are oftenest irretrievably gone; but the glimmer of light is indisputable, all the more as, on voltaire's part, it is mostly involuntary. grouping and sequence must be other than that of time. potsdam, th june, .--king is off on that ost-friesland jaunt; voltaire at potsdam, "at what they call the marquisat," in complete solitude,--preparing to die before long,--sends his majesty some poor trifles of scribbling, proofs of my love, sire: "since i live solitary, when you are not at potsdam, it would seem i came for you only" (note that, your majesty)!... "but in return for the rags here sent, i expect the sixth canto of your art [art de la guerre, one of the two pupil-and-schoolmaster "specimens" mentioned above]; i expect the roof to the temple of mars. it is for you, alone of men, to build that temple; as it was for ovid to sing of love, and for horace to give an art of poetry." (laying it on pretty thick!)... then again, later (after severe study, ferula in hand): "sire, i return your majesty your six cantos; i surrender at discretion (lui laisse carte-blanche) on that question of 'victoire.' the whole poem is worthy of you: if i had made this journey only to see a thing so unique, i ought not to regret my country."... and again (still no date): "grand dieu! is not all that [history of the great elector, by your majesty, which i am devouring with such appetite] neat, elegant, precise, and, above all, philosophical!"--"sire, you are adorable; i will pass my days at your feet. oh, never make game of me (des niches)!" has he been at that, say you! "if the kings of denmark, portugal, spain, &c. did it, i should not care a pin; they are only kings. but you are the greatest man that perhaps ever reigned." [[in--oeuvres de frederic,--xxii. , .] is on leave of absence, near by; wishes to be called again (no date).--"sire, if you like free criticism, if you tolerate sincere praises, if you wish to perfect a work [art de la guerre, or some other as sublime], which you alone in europe are capable of doing, you have only to bid a hermit come upstairs. at your orders for all his life." [ib. .] in berlin palace: please don't turn me out! (no date)--... "next to you, i love work and retirement. nobody whatever complains of me. i ask of your majesty, in order to keep unaltered the happiness i owe to you, this favor, not to turn me out of the apartment you deigned to give me at berlin, till i go for paris [always talking of that]. if i were to leave it, they would put in the gazettes that i"--oh, what would n't they put in, of one that, belonging to king friedrich, lives as it were in the disc of the sun, conspicuous to everybody!--"i will go out [of the apartment] when some prince, with a suite needing it to lodge in, comes; and then the thing will be honorable. chasot [gone to paris] has been talking"--unguarded things of me!"i have not uttered the least complaint of chasot: i never will of chasot, nor of those who have set him on [maupertuis belike]: i forgive everything, i!" [ib. .] rothenburg is ill; voltaire has been to see him ("berlin, th," no month; year, too surely, , as we shall find! letter is in verse).--"lieberkuhn was going to kill poor rothenburg; to send him off to pluto,--for liking his dish a little;--monster lieberkuhn! but doctor joyous," your reader, la mettrie,--led by, need i say whom?--"has brought him back to us:--think of lieberkuhn's solemn stare! pretty contrasts, those, of sublime quacksalverism, with sense under the mask of folly. may the haemorrhoidal vein"--follows here, note it, exquisite reader, that of "cul de mon heros," cited above!--... and then (a day or two after; king too haemorrhoidal to come twenty miles, but anxious to know): "sire, no doubt doctor joyous (le medecin joyeux) has informed your majesty that when we arrived, the patient was sleeping tranquil; and cothenius assured us, in latin, that there was no danger. i know not what has passed since, but i am persuaded your majesty approves my journey" (of a street or two),--must you speak of it, then! goes to an evening-party now and then (to niece denis).--... "madame tyrconnel [french excellency's wife] has plenty of fine people at her house on an evening; perhaps too many" (one of the first houses in berlin, this of my lord tyrcannel's, which we frequent a good deal).... "madame got very well through her part of andromaque [in those old play-acting times of ours]: never saw actresses with finer eyes,"--how should you! "as to milord tyrconnel, he is an anglais of dignity,"--irish in reality, and a thought blusterous. "he has a condensed (serre) caustic way of talk; and i know not what of frank which one finds in the english, and does not usually find in persons of his trade. french tragedies played at berlin, i myself taking part; an englishman envoy of france there: strange circumstances these, are n't they?" [to d'argental this (--oeuvres de voltaire,--lxxiv. ).] yes, that latter especially; and milord marischal our prussian envoy with you! which the english note, sulkily, as a weather-symptom. at potsdam, big devils of grenadiers (no date).--... "but, sire, one is n't always perched on the summit of parnassus; one is a man. there are sicknesses about; i did not bring an athlete's health to these parts; and the scorbutic humor which is eating my life renders me truly, of all that are sick, the sickest. i am absolutely alone from morning till night. my one solace is the necessary pleasure of taking the air, i bethink me of walking, and clearing my head a little, in your gardens at potsdam. i fancy it is a permitted thing; i present myself, musing;--i find huge devils of grenadiers, who clap bayonets in my belly, who cry furt, sacrament, and der konig [off, sackerment, the king, quite tolerably spelt]! and i take to my heels, as austrians and saxons would do before them. have you ever read, that in titus's or marcus-aurelius's gardens, a poor devil of a gaulish poet"--in short, it shall be mended. [--oeuvres de frederic,--xxii. .] have been laying it on too thick (no date; in verse).--"marcus aurelius was wont to"--(well, we know who that is: what of marcus, then?)--"a certain lover of his glory [still in verse] spoke once, at supper, of a magnanimity of marcus's;--at which marcus [flattery too thick] rather gloomed, and sat quite silent,--which was another fine saying of his [ends verse, starts prose]:-- "pardon, sire, some hearts that are full of you! to justify myself, i dare supplicate your majesty to give one glance at this letter (lines pencil-marked), which has just come from m. de chauvelin, nephew of the famous garde-des-sceaux. your majesty cannot gloom at him, writing these from the fulness of his heart; nor at me, who"--pooh; no, then! perhaps do you a niche again,--poor restless fellow! [ib. .] potsdam palace (no date): sire, nzay i change my room?... "i ascend to your antechambers, to find some one by whom i may ask permission to speak with you. i find nobody: i have to return:" and what i wanted was this, "your protection for my siecle de louis quatorze, which i am about to print in berlin." surely,--but also this:-- "i am unwell, i am a sick man born. and withal i am obliged to work, almost as much as your majesty. i pass the whole day alone. if you would permit that i might shift to the apartment next the one i have,--to that where general bredow slept last winter,--i should work more commodiously. my secretary (collini) and i could work together there. i should have a little more sun, which is a great point for me.--only the whim of a sick man, perhaps! well, even so, your majesty will have pity on it. you promised to make me happy." [--oeuvres de frederic,--xxii. .] i suspect that i am suspected (no date).--"sire, if i am not brief, forgive me. yesterday the faithful d'arget told me with sorrow that in paris people were talking of your poem." horrible; but, o sire,--me?--"i showed him the eighteen letters that i received yesterday. they are from cadiz," all about finance, no blabbing there! "permit me to send you now the last six from my niece, numbered by her own hand [no forgery, no suppression]; deign to cast your eyes on the places i have underlined, where she speaks of your majesty, of d'argens, of potsdam, of d'ammon" (to whom she can't be phyllis, innocent being)!-mon cher voltaire, must i again do some niche upon you, then? tie some tin-canister to your too-sensitive tail? what an element you inhabit within that poor skin of yours! [ib. .] majesty invites us to a literary christening, potsdam (no date. these "six twins" are the "art de la guerre," in six chants; part of that revised edition which is getting printed "au donjon du chateau;" time must be, well on in ). friedrich writes to voltaire:-- "i have just been brought to bed of six twins; which require to be baptized, in the name of apollo, in the waters of hippocrene. la henriade is requested to become godmother: you will have the goodness to bring her, this evening at five, to the father's apartment. d'arget lucina will be there; and the imagination of man-a-machine will hold the poor infants over the font." [ib. .] deign to say if i have offended.--... "as they write to me from paris that i am in disgrace with you, i dare to beg very earnestly that you will deign to say if i have displeased in anything! may go wrong by ignorance or from over-zeal; but with my heart never! i live in the profoundest retreat; giving to study my whole"--"your assurances once vouchsafed [famous document of august d]. i write only to my niece. i" (a page more of this)--have my sorrows and merits, and absolutely no silence at all! [--oeuvres de frederic,--xxii. .] "in the gift of speech he is the most brilliant of mankind," said smelfungus; but in the gift of silence what a deficiency! friedrich will have to do that for two, it would seem. berlin, th december, : louis quatorze; and death of rothenburg.--"our louis quatorze is out. but, heavens, see, your majesty: a pirate printer, at frankfurt-on-oder, has been going on parallel with us, all the while; and here is his foul blotch of an edition on sale, too! bielfeld," fantastic fellow, "had proof-sheets; bielfeld sent them to a professor there, though i don't blame bielfeld: result too evident. protect me, your majesty; order all wagons, especially wagons for leipzig, to be stopped, to be searched, and the books thrown out,--it costs you but a word!" quite a simple thing: "all prussia to the rescue!" thinks an ardent proprietor of these proof-sheets. but then, next day, hears that rothenburg is dead. that the silent rothenburg lay dying, while the vocal voltaire was writing these fooleries, to a king sunk in grief. "repent, be sorry, be ashamed!" he says to himself; and does instantly try;--but with little success; frankfurt-on-oder, with its bielfeld proof-sheets, still jangling along, contemptibly audible, for some time. [ib. - .] and afterwards, from frankfurt-on-mayn new sorrow rises on louis quatorze, as will be seen.--friedrich's grief for rothenburg was deep and severe; "he had visited him that last night," say the books; "and quitted his bedside, silent, and all in tears." it is mainly what of biography the silent rothenburg now has. from the current narratives, as they are called, readers will recollect, out of this voltaire period, two small particles of event amid such an ocean of noisy froth,--two and hardly more: that of the "orange-skin," and that of the "dirty linen." let us put these two on their basis; and pass on:-- the orange-skin (potsdam, d september, , to niece denis)--good heavens, mon enfant, what is this i hear (through the great dionysius' ear i maintain, at such expense to myself)!... "la mettrie, a man of no consequence, who talks familiarly with the king after their reading; and with me too, now and then: la mettrie swore to me, that, speaking to the king, one of those days, of my supposed favor, and the bit of jealousy it excites, the king answered him: "i shall want him still about a year:--you squeeze the orange, you throw away the skin (on en jette lecorce)!'" here is a pretty bit of babble (lie, most likely, and bit of mischievous fun) from dr. joyous. "it cannot be true, no! and yet--and yet--?" words cannot express the agonizing doubts, the questionings, occasionally the horror of voltaire: poor sick soul, keeping a dionysius'-ear to boot! this blurt of la mettrie's goes through him like a shot of electricity through an elderly sick household-cat; and he speaks of it again and ever again,--though we will not farther. dirty linen (potsdam, th july, , to niece denis).--... "maupertuis has discreetly set the rumor going, that i found the king's works very bad; that i said to some one, on verses from the king coming in, 'will he never tire, then, of sending me his dirty linen to wash?' you obliging maupertuis!" rumor says, it was general mannstein, once aide-de-camp in russia, who had come to have his work on russia revised (excellent work, often quoted by us [did get out at last,--in england, through lord marischal and david hume: see preface to it (london, ).]), when the unfortunate royal verses came. perhaps m. de voltaire did say it:--why not, had it only been prudent? he really likes those verses much more than i; but knows well enough, sub rosa, what kind of verses they are. this also is a horrible suspicion; that the king should hear of this,--as doubtless the king did, though without going delirious upon it at all. ["to niece denis," dates as above (--oeuvres de voltaire,--lxxiv. , lxxv. ).] thank you, my perpetual president, not the less!-- of maupertuis, in successive phases.--... "maupertuis is not of very engaging ways; he takes my dimensions harshly with his quadrant: it is said there enters something of envy into his data. ... a somewhat surly gentleman; not too sociable; and, truth to say, considerably sunk here [assez baisse, my d'argental]. ... "i endure maupertuis, not having been able to soften him. in all countries there are insociable fellows, with whom you are obliged to live, though it is difficult. he has never forgiven me for"--omitting to cite him, &c.--at paris he had got the academy of sciences into trouble, and himself into general dislike (detester); then came this berlin offer. "old fleuri, when maupertuis called to take leave, repeated that verse of virgil, nec tibi regnandi veniat tam dira cupido. fleuri might have whispered as much to himself: but he was a mild sovereign lord, and reigned in a gentle polite manner. i swear to you, maupertuis does not, in his shop [the academy here]--where, god be thanked, i never go. "he has printed a little pamphlet on happiness (sur le bonheur); it is very dry and miserable. reminds you of advertisements for things lost,--so poor a chance of finding them again. happiness is not what he gives to those who read him, to those who live with him; he is not himself happy, and would be sorry that others were [to niece denis this]. ... "a very sweet life here, madame [madame d'argental, an outside party]: it would have been more so, if maupertuis had liked. the wish to please, is no part of his geometrical studies; the problem of being agreeable to live with, is not one he has solved." [--oeuvres de voltaire,--lxxiv. , ( th may, , and th march, ), to the d'argentals; to niece denis ( th november, , and th august, ), lxxiv. , .]--add this anecdote, which is probably d'arget's, and worth credit:-- "voltaire had dinner-party, maupertuis one of them; party still in the drawing-room, dinner just coming up. 'president, your book, sur le bonheur, has given me pleasure,' said voltaire, politely [very politely, considering what we have just read]; given me pleasure,--a few obscurities excepted, of which we will talk together some evening.' 'obscurities?' said maupertuis, in a gloomy arbitrary tone: 'there may be such for you, monsieur!' voltaire laid his hand on the president's shoulder [yellow wig near by], looked at him in silence, with many-twinkling glance, gayety the topmost expression, but by no means the sole one: 'president, i esteem you, je vous estime, mon president: you are brave; you want war: we will have it. but, in the mean while, let us eat the king's roast meat.'" [duvernet ( d form of him, always, p. .] friedrich's answers to these voltaire letters, if he wrote any, are all gone. probably he answered almost nothing; what we have of his relates always to specific business, receipt of louis quatorze, and the like; and is always in friendly tone. handsomely keeping silence for two! here is a snatch from him, on neutral figures and movements of the time:-- friedrich to wiilhelmina (november th, ).--"i think the margraf of anspach will not have stayed long with you. he is not made to taste the sweets of society: his passion for hunting, and the tippling life he leads this long time, throw him out when he comes among reasonable persons.... "i expect my sister of brunswick, with the duke and their eldest girl, the th of next month,"--to carnival here. "it is seven years since the queen (our mamma) has seen her. she holds a small board of wit at brunswick; of which your doctor [doctor superville, dutch-french, whose perennial merit now is, that he did not burn wilhelmina's memoirs, but left them safe to posterity, for long centuries],--of which your doctor is the director and oracle. you would burst outright into laughing when she speaks of those matters. her natural vivacity and haste has not left her time to get to the bottom of anything; she skips continually from one subject to the other, and gives twenty decisions in a minute." [--oeuvres de frederic,--xxvii. i. :--on superville, see preuss's note, ib. .] about a month before rothenburg's death, which was so tragical to friedrich, there had fallen out, with a hideous dash of farce in it, the death of la mettrie. here are two accounts, by different hands,--which represent to us an immensity of babble in the then voltaire circle. la mettrie dies.--two accounts: . king friedrich's: to wilhelmina. " st november, .... we have lost poor la mettrie. he died for a piece of fun: ate, out of banter, a whole pheasant-pie; had a horrible indigestion; took it into his head to have blood let, and convince the german doctors that bleeding was good in indigestion. but it succeeded ill with him: he took a violent fever, which passed into putrid; and carried him off. he is regretted by all that knew him. he was gay; bon diable, good doctor, and very bad author: by avoiding to read his books, one could manage to be well content with himself." [ib. xxvii. i. .] . voltaire's: to niece denis (not his first to her): potsdam, th december, .... "no end to my astonishment. milord tyrconnel," always ailing (died here himself), "sends to ask la mettrie to come and see him, to cure him or amuse him. the king grudges to part with his reader, who makes him laugh. la mettrie sets out; arrives at his patient's just when madame tyrconnel is sitting down to table: he eats and drinks, talks and laughs more than all the guests; when he has got crammed (en a jusqu'au menton), they bring him a pie, of eagle disguised as pheasant, which had arrived from the north, plenty of bad lard, pork-hash and ginger in it; my gentleman eats the whole pie, and dies next day at lord tyrconnel's, assisted by two doctors," cothenius and lieberkuhn, "whom he used to mock at.... how i should have liked to ask him, at the article of death, about that orange-skin!" [--oeuvres de voltaire,--lxxiv. , .] add this trait too, from authentic nicolai, to complete the matter: "an irish priest, father macmahon, tyrconnel's chaplain [more power to him], wanted to convert la mettrie: he pushed into the sick-room;--encouraged by some who wished to make la mettrie contemptible to friedrich [the charitable souls]. la mettrie would have nothing to do with this priest and his talk; who, however, still sat and waited. la mettrie, in a twinge of agony, cried out, 'jesus marie!' 'ah, vous voila enfin retourne a ces noms consolateurs!' exclaimed the irishman. to which la mettrie answered (in polite language, to the effect), 'bother you!' and expired a few minutes after." [nicolai,--anekdoten,--i. n.] enough of this poor madcap. friedrich's eloge of him, read to the academy some time after, it was generally thought (and with great justice), might as well have been spared. the piece has nothing noisy, nothing untrue; but what has it of importance? and surely the subject was questionable, or more. la mettrie might have done without eulogy from a king of men. ... "he had been used to put himself at once on the most familiar footing with the king [says thiebault, unbelievable]. entered the king's apartment as he would that of a friend; plunged down whenever he liked, which was often, and lay upon the sofas; if it was warm, took off his stock, unbuttoned his waistcoat, flung his periwig on the floor;" [thiebault, v. (calls him "la metherie;" knows, as usual, nothing).]--highly probable, thinks stupid thiebault! "the truth is," says nicolai, "the king put no real value on la mettrie. he considered him as a merry-andrew fellow, who might amuse you, when half seas-over (entre deux vins). de la mettrie showed himself unworthy of any favor he had. not only did he babble, and repeat about town what he heard at the king's table; but he told everything in a false way, and with malicious twists and additions. this he especially did at lord tyrconnel, the then french ambassador's table, where at last he died." [nicolai,--anekdoten,--i. .] but could not take the orange-skin along with him; alas, no!-- on the whole, be not too severe on poor voltaire! he is very fidgety, noisy; something of a pickthank, of a wheedler; but, above all, he is scorbutic, dyspeptic; hag-ridden, as soul seldom was; and (in his oblique way) appeals to friedrich and us,--not in vain. and, in short, we perceive, after the first act of the piece, beginning in preternatural radiances, ending in whirlwinds of flaming soot, he has been getting on with his second act better than could be expected. gyrating again among the bright planets, circum-jovial moons, in the court firmament; is again in favor, and might--alas, he had his fellow-moons, his maupertuis above all! incurable that maupertuis misery; gets worse and worse, steadily from the first day. no smallest entity that intervenes, not even a wandering la beaumelle with his book of pensees, but is capable of worsening it. take this of smelfungus; this pair of cabinet sketches,--"hasty outlines; extant chiefly," he declares, "by voltaire's blame:"-- la beaumelle.--"voltaire has a fatal talent of getting into i quarrels with insignificant accidental people; and instead of silently, with cautious finger, disengaging any bramble that catches to him, and thankfully passing on, attacks it indignantly with potent steel implements, wood-axes, war-axes; brandishing and hewing;--till he has stirred up a whole wilderness of bramble-bush, and is himself bramble-chips all over. m. angliviel de la beaumelle, for example, was nothing but a bramble: some conceited licentiate of theology, who, finding the presbytery of geneva too narrow a field, had gone to copenhagen, as professor of rhetoric or some such thing; and, finding that field also too narrow, and not to be widened by attempts at literature, mes pensees and the like, in such barbarous country",--had now [end of ] come to berlin; and has presentation copies of mes pensees, ou le qu'en dira-t-on, flying right and left, in hopes of doing better there. of these pensees (thoughts so called) i will give but one specimen" (another, that of "king friedrich a common man," being carefully suppressed in the berlin copies, of la beaumelle's distributing):-- "there have been greater poets than voltaire; there was never any so well recompensed: and why? because taste (gout, inclination) sets no limits to its recompenses. the king of prussia overloads men of talent with his benefits for precisely the reasons which induce a little german prince to overload with benefits a buffoon or a dwarf." [--oeuvres de voltaire,--xxvii. n.] could there be a phenomenon more indisputably of bramble nature? "he had no success at berlin, in spite of his merits; could not come near the king at all; but assiduously frequented maupertuis, the flower of human thinkers in that era,--who was very humane to him in consequence. 'how is it, o flower of human thinkers, that i cannot get on with his majesty, or make the least way?' (helas, monsieur, you have enemies!' answered he of the red wig; and told la beaumelle (hear it, ye heavens), that m. de voltaire had called his majesty's attention to the pensee given above, one evening at supper royal; 'heard it myself, monsieur--husht!' upon which-- "'upon which, see, paltry la beaumelle has become my enemy for life!' shrieks voltaire many times afterwards: 'and it was false, i declare to heaven, and again declare; it was not i, it was d'argens quizzing me about it, that called his majesty's attention to that pensee of blockhead la beaumelle,--you treacherous perpetual president, stirring up enemies against me, and betraying secrets of the king's table.' sorrow on your red wig, and you!--it is certain la beaumelle, soon after this, left berlin: not in love with voltaire. and there soon appeared, at franfurt-on-mayn, a pirate edition of our brand-new siecle de louis quatorze (with annotations scurrilous and flimsy);--la beaumelle the professed perpetrator; 'who received for the job pounds s. net!' [ib. xx.] asseverates the well-informed voltaire. oh, m. de voltaire, and why not leave it to him, then? poor devil, he got put into the bastille too, by and by; royal persons being touched by some of his stupid foot-notes. "la beaumelle had a long course of it, up and down the world, in and out of the bastille; writing much, with inconsiderable recompense, and always in a wooden manure worthy of his first vocation in the geneva time. 'a man of pleasing physiognomy,' says formey, 'and expressed himself well. i received his visit th january, ,'--to which latter small circumstance (welcome as a fixed date to us here) la beaumelle's biography is now pretty much reduced for mankind. [formey, ii. .] he continued maupertuis's adorer: and was not a bad creature, only a dull wooden one, with obstinate temper. a life of maupertuis of his writing was sent forth lately, [--vie de maupertuis--(cited above), paris, .] after lying hidden a hundred years: but it is dull, dead, painfully ligneous, like all the rest; and of new or of pleasant tells us nothing. "his enmity to m. de voltaire did prove perpetual:--a bramble that might have been dealt with by fingers, or by fingers and scissors, but could not by axes, and their hewing and brandishing. 'this is the ninety-fifth anonymous calumny of la beaumelle's, this that you have sent me!' says voltaire once. the first stroke or two had torn the bramble quite on end: 'he says he will pursue you to hell even,' writes one of the voltaire kind friends from frankfurt, on that pounds s. business. 'a l'enfer?' answers m. de voltaire, with a toss: 'well, i should think so, he, and at a good rate of speed. but whether he will find me there, must be a question!' if you want to have an insignificant accidental fellow trouble you all your days, this is the way of handling him when he first catches hold." abbe de prades.--"de prades, 'abbe de prades, reader to the king,' though happily not an enemy of voltaire's, is in some sort la beaumelle's counterpart, or brother with a difference; concerning whom also, one wants only to know the exact date of his arrival. as la beaumelle felt too strait-tied in the geneva vestures (where it had been good for him to adjust himself, and stay); so did de prades in the sorbonne ditto,--and burst out, on taking orders, not into eloquent preachings or edifying devotional exercises; but into loud blurts of mere heresy and heterodoxy. blurts which were very loud, and i believe very stupid; which failed of being sublime even to the philosophic world; and kindled the sorbonne into burning his book, and almost burning himself, had not he at once run for it. "ran to holland, and there continued blurting more at large,--decidedly stupid for most part, thinks voltaire, 'but with glorious passages, worth your majesty's attention;'--upon which, d'alembert too helping, poor de prades was invited to the readership, vacant by la mettrie's eagle-pie; and came gladly, and stayed. at what date? one occasionally asks: for there are royal letters, dateless, but written in his hand, that raise such question in the utter dimness otherwise. date is 'september, .' [preuss, i. ; ii. .] farther question one does not ask about de prades. rather an emphatic intrusive kind of fellow, i should guess;--wrote, he, not friedrich, that abridgment of pleury's ecclesiastical history, and other the like dreary pieces, which used to be inflicted on mankind as friedrich's. "for the rest, having place and small pension,--not, like la beaumelle, obliged to pirate and annotate for pounds s.--he went on steadily, a good while; got a canonry of glogau [small catholic benefice, bad if it was not better than its now occupant];--and unluckily, in the seven-years-war time, fell into treasonous correspondence with his countrymen; which it was feared might be fatal, when found out. but no, not fatal. friedrich did lock him in magdeburg for some months; then let him out: 'home to glogau, sirrah; stick to your canonry henceforth, and let us hear no more of you at all!' which shall be his fate in these pages also." good, my friend; no more of him, then! only recollect "september, ," if dateless royal letters in de prades's hand turn up. chapter x. demon newswriter, of . it must be owned, the king's french colony of wits were a sorry set of people. they tempt one to ask, what is the good of wit, then, if this be it? here are people sparkling with wit, and have not understanding enough to discern what lies under their nose. cannot live wisely with anybody, least of all with one another. in fact, it is tragic to think how ill this king succeeded in the matter of gathering friends. with the whole world to choose from, one fancies always he might have done better! but no, he could not;--and chiefly for this reason: his love of wisdom was nothing like deep enough, reverent enough; and his love of esprit (the mere garment or phantasm of wisdom) was too deep. friends do not drop into one's mouth. one must know how to choose friends; and that of esprit, though a pretty thing, is by no means the one requisite, if indeed it be a requisite at all. this present wit colony was the best that friedrich ever had; and we may all see how good it was. he took, at last more and more, into bantering his table-companions (which i do not wonder at), as the chief good he could get of them. and had, as we said, especially in his later time, in the manner of dublin hackney-coachmen, established upon each animal its raw; and makes it skip amazingly at touch of the whip. "cruel mortal!" thought his cattle:--but, after all, how could he well help it, with such a set? native literary men, german or swiss, there also were about friedrich's court: of them happily he did not require esprit; but put them into his academy; or employed them in practical functions, where honesty and good sense were the qualities needed. worthy men, several of these; but unmemorable nearly all. we will mention sulzer alone,--and not for theories and philosophies of the fine arts [--allgemeine theorie der schonen kunste,-- vols.; &c. &c.] (which then had their multitudes of readers); but for a speech of friedrich's to him once, which has often been repeated. sulzer has a fine rugged wholesome swiss-german physiognomy, both of face and mind; and got his admirations, as the berlin hugh blair that then was: a sulzer whom friedrich always rather liked. friedrich had made him school inspector; loved to talk a little with him, about business, were it nothing else. "well, monsieur sulzer, how are your schools getting on?" asked the king one day,--long after this, but nobody will tell me exactly when, though the fact is certain enough: "how goes our education business?" "surely not ill, your majesty; and much better in late years," answered sulzer.--"in late years: why?" "well, your majesty, in former time, the notion being that mankind were naturally inclined to evil, a system of severity prevailed in schools: but now, when we recognize that the inborn inclination of men is rather to good than to evil, schoolmasters have adopted a more generous procedure."--"inclination rather to good?" said friedrich, shaking his old head, with a sad smile: "alas, dear sulzer, ach mein lieber sulzer, i see you don't know that damned race of creatures (er kennt nicht diese verdammte race) as i do!" [nicolai, iii. ;--the thing appears to have been said in french ("je vois bien, mon cher sulzer, que vous ne connaissez pas, comme moi, cette race maudite a laquelle nous appartenons"); but the german form is irresistibly attractive, and is now heard proverbially from time to time in certain mouths.] here is a speech for you!"pardon the king, who was himself so beneficent and excellent a king!" cry several editors of the rose-pink type. this present editor, for his share, will at once forgive; but how can he ever forget!-- "perhaps i mistake," owns voltaire, in his pasquinade of a vie privee, "but it seems to me, at these suppers there was a great deal of esprit (real wit and brilliancy) going. the king had it, and made others have; and, what is extraordinary, i never felt myself so free at any table." "conversation most pleasant," testifies another, "most instructive, animated; not to be matched, i should guess, elsewhere in the world." [bielfeld, letters; voltaire, vie privee.] very sprightly indeed: and a fund of good sense, a basis of practicality and fact, necessary to be in it withal; though otherwise it can foam over (if some la mettrie be there, and a good deal of wine in him) to very great heights. a demon newswriter gives an "idea" of friedrich; intelligible to the knowing classes in england and elsewhere. practically, i can add only, that these suppers of the gods begin commonly at half-past eight ("concert just over"); and last till towards midnight,--not later conveniently, as the king must be up at five (in summer-time at four), and "needs between five and six hours of sleep." or would the reader care to consult a piece expressly treating on all these points; kind of manuscript newspaper, fallen into my hands, which seems to have had a widish circulation in its day. ["idee de la personne, de la maniere de vivre, et de la cour du roi de prusse: juin, ." in the--robinson papers--(one copy) now in the british museum.] i have met with two copies of it, in this country: one of them, to appearance, once the property of george selwyn. the other is among the robinson papers: doubtless very luculent to robinson, who is now home in england, but remembers many a thing. judging from various symptoms, i could guess this ms. to have been much about, in the english aristocratic circles of that time; and to have, in some measure, given said circles their "idea" (as they were pleased to reckon it) of that wonderful and questionable king:--highly distracted "idea;" which, in diluted form, is still the staple english one. by the label, demon newswriter, it is not meant that the author of this poor paper was an actual devil, or infernal spiritual essence of miraculous spectral nature. by no means! beyond doubt, he is some poor frenchman, more or less definable as flesh-and-blood; gesturing about, visibly, at berlin in ; in cocked-hat and bright shoe-buckles; grinning elaborate salutations to certain of his fellow-creatures there. possibly some hungry attache of milord tyrconnel's legation; fatally shut out from the beatitudes of this barbarous court, and willing to seek solacement, and turn a dishonest penny, in the per-contra course? who he is, we need not know or care: too evident, he has the sad quality of transmuting, in his dirty organs, heavenly brilliancy, more or less, into infernal darkness and hatefulness; which i reckon to have been, at all times, the principal function of a devil;--function still carried on extensively, under firms of another title, in this world. some snatches we will give. for, though it does not much concern a man or king, seriously busy, what the idle outer world may see good to talk of him, his biographers, in time subsequent, are called to notice the matter, as part of his life-element, and characteristic of the world he had round him. friedrich's affairs were much a wonder to his contemporaries. especially his domesticities, an item naturally obscure to the outer world, were wonderful; sure to be commented upon, to all lengths; and by the unintelligent, first of all. of contemporary mankind, as we have sometimes said, nobody was more lied of:--of which, let this of the demon newswriter be example, one instead of many. the demon newswriter, deriving only from outside gossip and eavesdropping, is wrong very often,--in fact, he is seldom right, except on points which have been officially fixed, and are within reach of an inquisitive clerk of legation. wrong often enough, even in regard to external particulars, how much more as to internal;--and will need checking, as we go along. demon speaks first of friedrich's stature, ft. in. (as we know better than this demon); "pretty well proportioned, not handsome, and even something of awkward (gauche), acquired by a constrained bearing [head slightly off the perpendicular, acquired by his flute, say the better-informed]. is of the greatest politeness. fine tone of voice,--fine even in swearing, which is as common with him as with a grenadier," adds this demon; not worth attending to, on such points. "has never had a nightcap [sleeps bareheaded; in his later times, would sleep in his hat, which was always soft as duffel, kneaded to softness as its first duty, and did very well]: never a nightcap, dressing-gown, or pair of slippers [true]; only a kind of cloth cloak [not quite], much worn and very dirty, for being powdered in. the whole year round he goes in the uniform of his first battalion of guards:--blue with red facings, button-hole trimmings in silver, frogs at the inner end; his coat buttons close to the shape; waistcoat is plain yellow [straw-color]; hat [three-cornered] has edging of spanish lace, white plume [horizontal, resting on the lace all round]: boots on his legs all his life. he cannot walk with shoes [pooh, you--!]. "he rises daily at five:"--no, he does n't at all! in fact, we had better clap the lid on this demon, ill-informed as to all these points; and, on such suggestion, give the real account of them, distilled from preuss, and the abundant authentic sources. preuss says (if readers could but remember him): "an almanac lies on the king's table, marking for each day what specific duties the day will bring. from five to six hours of sleep: in summer he rises about three, seldom after four; in winter perhaps an hour later. in his older time, seven hours' sleep came to be the stipulated quantity; and he would sleep occasionally eight hours or even nine, in certain medical predicaments. not so in his younger years: four a.m. and five, the set hours then. summer and winter, fire is lighted for him a quarter of an hour before. king rises; gets into his clothes: 'stockings, breeches, boots, he did sitting on the bed' (for one loves to be particular); the rest in front of the fire, in standing posture. washing followed; more compendious than his father's used to be. "letters specifically to his address, a courier (leaving berlin, p.m.) had brought him in the dead of night: these, on the instant of the king's calling 'here!' a valet in the ante chamber brought in to him, to be read while his hair was being done. his uniform the king did not at once put on; but got into a casaquin [loose article of the dressing-gown kind, only shorter than ours] of rich stuff, sometimes of velvet with precious silver embroideries. these casaquins were commonly sky-blue (which color he liked), presents from his sisters and nieces. letters being glanced over, and hair-club done, the life-guard general-adjutant hands in the potsdam report (all strangers that have entered potsdam or left it, the principal item): this, with a berlin report, which had come with the letters; and what of army-reports had arrived (adjutant-general delivering these),--were now glanced over. and so, by five o'clock in the summer morning, by six in the winter, one sees, in the gross, what one's day's-work is to be; the miscellaneous stones of it are now mostly here, only mortar and walling of them to be thought of. general-adjutant and his affairs are first settled: on each thing a word or two, which the general-adjutant (always a highly confidential officer, a hacke, a winterfeld, or the like) pointedly takes down. "general-adjutant gone, the king, in sky-blue casaquin [often in very faded condition] steps into his writing-room; walks about, reading his letters more completely; drinking, first, several glasses of water; then coffee, perhaps three cups with or without milk [likes coffee, and very strong]. after coffee he takes his flute; steps about practising, fantasying: he has been heard to say, speaking of music and its effects on the soul, that during this fantasying he would get to considering all manner of things, with no thought of what he was playing; and that sometimes even the luckiest ideas about business-matters have occurred to him while dandling with the flute. sauntering so, he is gradually breakfasting withal: will eat, intermittently, small chocolate cakes; and after his coffee, cherries, figs, grapes, fruits in their season [very fond of fruit, and has elaborate hot-houses]. so passes the early morning. "between nine and ten, most of one's plan-work being got through, the questions of the day are settled, or laid hold of for settling. between nine and ten, king takes to reading the 'excerpts' (i suppose, of the more intricate or lengthier things) of yesterday, which his three cabinet raths [clerk eichel and the other two] have prepared for him. king summons these three, one after the other, according to their department; hands them the letters just read, the excerpts now decided on, and signifies, in a minimum of words, what the answers are to be,--clerk, always in full dress, listening with both his ears, and pencil in hand. may have, of answers, cabinet-orders so called, perhaps a dozen, to be ready with before evening. ["in a certain copy or final-register book [herr preuss's windfall, of which infra] entitled kabinetsordenkopialbuch, of one of the three clerks, years - , there are, on the average, ten cabinet-orders daily, sundays included" (preuss, i. n.).] "eichel and company dismissed, king flings off his casaquin, takes his regimental coat; has his hair touched off with pomade, with powder; and is buttoned and ready in about five minutes;--ready for parade, which is at the stroke of eleven, instead of later, as it used to be in papa's time. if eleven is not yet come, he will get on horseback; go sweeping about, oftenest with errands still, at all events in the free solitude of air, till parade-time do come. the parole [sentry's-word of the day] he has already given his adjutant-general. parole, which only the adjutant and commandant had known till now, is formally given out; and the troops go through their exercises, manoeuvres, under a strictness of criticism which never abates." "parade he by no chance ever misses," says our demon friend. "at the stroke of twelve," continues preuss, "dinner is served. dinner threefold; that is, a second table and a third. only two courses, dishes only eight, even at the king's table, (eight also at the marshal's or second table); guests from seven to ten. dinner plentiful and savory (for the king had his favorites among edibles), by no means caring to be splendid,--yearly expense of threefold dinner (done accurately by contract) was , pounds." linsenbarth we saw at the third table, and how he fared. "the dinner-service was of beautiful porcelain; not silver, still less gold, except on the grandest occasions. every guest eats at discretion,--of course!--and drinks at discretion, moselle or pontac [kind of claret]; champagne and hungary are handed round on the king's signal. king himself drinks bergerac, or other clarets, with water. dinner lasts till two;--if the conversation be seductive, it has been known to stretch to four. the king's great passion is for talk of the right kind; he himself talks a great deal, tippling wine-and-water to the end, and keeps on a level with the rising tide. "with a bow from majesty, dinner ends; guests gently, with a little saunter of talk to some of them, all vanish; and the king is in his own apartment again. generally flute-playing for about half an hour; till eichel and the others come with their day's work: tray-loads of cabinet-orders, i can fancy; which are to be 'executed,' that is, to be glanced through, and signed. signature for most part is all; but there are marginalia and postscripts, too, in great number, often of a spicy biting character; which, in our time, are in request among the curious." herr preuss, who has right to speak, declares that the spice of mockery has been exaggerated; and that serious sense is always the aim both of document and of signer. preuss had a windfall; , of these pieces, or more, in a lump, in the way of gift; which fell on him like manna,--and led, it is said, to those friedrich studies, extensive faithful quarryings in that vast wilderness of sliding shingle and chaotic boulders. "coffee follows this despatch of eichel and consorts; the day now one's own." scandalous rumors, prose and verse, connect themselves with this particular epoch of the day; which appear to be wholly lies. of which presently. "in this after-dinner period fall the literary labors," says preuss:--a facile pen, this king's; only two hours of an afternoon allowed it, instead of all day and the top of the morning. "about six, or earlier even, came the reader [la mettrie or another], came artists, came learned talk. at seven is concert, which lasts for an hour; half-past eight is supper." [preuss, i. - (and, with intermittencies, pp. , , &c. to ), abridged.] demon newswriter says, of the concert: "it is mostly of wind-instruments," king himself often taking part with his flute; "performers the best in europe. he has three"--what shall we call them? of male gender,--"a counter-alt, and mamsell astrua, an italian; they are unique voices. he cannot bear mediocrity. it is but seldom he has any singing here. to be admitted, needs the most intimate favor; now and then some young lord, of distinction, if he meet with such." concert, very well;--but let us now, suppressing any little abhorrences, hear him on another subject:-- "dinner lasts one hour [says our demon, no better informed]: upon which the king returns to his apartment with bows. it pretty often happens that he takes with him one of his young fellows. these are all handsome, like a picture (faits a peindre), and of the beautifulest face,"--adds he, still worse informed; poisonous malice mixing itself, this time, with the human darkness, and reducing it to diabolic. this demon's paper abounds with similar allusions; as do the more desperate sort of voltaire utterances,--vie privee treating it as known fact; letters to denis in occasional paroxysms, as rumor of detestable nature, probably true of one who is so detestable, at least so formidable, to a guilty sinner his guest. others, not to be called diabolical, as herr dr. busching, for example, speak of it as a thing credible; as good as known to the well-informed. and, beyond the least question, there did a thrice-abominable rumor of that kind run, whispering audibly, over all the world; and gain belief from those who had appetite. a most melancholy business. solacing to human envy;--explaining also, to the dark human intellect, why this king had commonly no women at his court. a most melancholy portion of my raw-material, this; concerning which, since one must speak of it, here is what little i have to say:-- . that proof of the negative, in this or in any such case, is by the nature of it impossible. that it is indisputable friedrich did not now live with his wife, nor seem to concern himself with the empire of women at all; having, except now and then his sisters and some foreign princess on short visit, no women in his court; and though a great judge of female merits, graces and accomplishments, seems to worship women in that remote way alone, and not in any nearer. which occasioned great astonishment in a world used so much to the contrary. and gave rise to many conjectures among the idle of mankind, "what, on earth, or under earth, can be the meaning of it?"--and among others, to the above scandalous rumor, as some solacement to human malice and impertinent curiosity. . that an opposite rumor--which would indeed have been pretty fatal to this one, but perhaps still more disgraceful in the eyes of a demon newswriter--was equally current; and was much elaborated by the curious impertinent. till nicolai got hold of it, in herr dr. zimmermann's responsible hands; and conclusively knocked it on the head. [see zimmermann's--fragmente,--and nicolai patiently pounding it to powder (whoever is curious on this disgusting subject).] ". that, for me, proof in the affirmative, or probable indication that way, has not anywhere turned up. nowhere for me, in these extensive minings and siftings. not the least of probable indication; but contrariwise, here and there, rather definite indications pointing directly the opposite way. [for example ("correspondence with fredersdorf"),--oeuvres,--xxvii. iii. .] friedrich, in his own utterances and occasional rhymes, is abundantly cynical; now and then rises to a kind of epic cynicism, on this very matter. but at no time can the painful critic call it cynicism as of other than an observer; always a kind of vinegar cleanness in it, except in theory. cynicism of an impartial observer in a dirty element; observer epically sensible (when provoked to it) of the brutal contemptibilities which lie in human life, alongside of its big struttings and pretensions. in friedrich's utterances there is that kind of cynicism undeniable;--and yet he had a modesty almost female in regard to his own person; "no servant having ever seen him in an exposed state." [preuss, i. .] which had considerably strengthened rumor no. . o ye poor impious long-eared,--long-eared i will call you, instead of two-horned and with only one hoof cloven! among the tragical platitudes of human nature, nothing so fills a considering brother mortal with sorrow and despair, as this innate tendency of the common crowd in regard to its great men, whensoever, or almost whensoever, the heavens do, at long intervals, vouchsafe us, as their all-including blessing, anything of such! practical "blasphemy," is it not, if you reflect? strangely possible that sin, even now. and ought to be religiously abhorred by every soul that has the least piety or nobleness. act not the mutinous flunky, my friend; though there be great wages going in that line. . that in these circumstances, and taking into view the otherwise known qualities of this high fellow-creature, the present editor does not, for his own share, value the rumor at a pin's fee. and leaves it, and recommends his readers to leave it, hanging by its own head, in the sad subterranean regions,--till (probably not for a long while yet) it drop to a far deeper and dolefuler region, out of our way altogether. "lamentable, yes," comments diogenes; "and especially so, that the idle public has a hankering for such things! but are there no obscene details at all, then? grumbles the disappointed idle public to itself, something of reproach in its tone. a public idle-minded; much depraved in every way. thus, too, you will observe of dogs: two dogs, at meeting, run, first of all, to the shameful parts of the constitution; institute a strict examination, more or less satisfactory, in that department. that once settled, their interest in ulterior matters seems pretty much to die away, and they are ready to part again, as from a problem done."--enough, oh, enough! practically we are getting no good of our demon;--and will dismiss him, after a taste or two more. this demon newswriter has, evidently, never been to potsdam; which he figures as the abode of horrid cruelty, a kind of tartarus on earth;--where there is a dreadful scarcity of women, for one item; lamentable to one's moral feelings. scarcity nothing like so great, even among the soldier-classes, as the demon newswriter imagines to himself; nor productive of the results lamented. prussian soldiers are not encouraged to marry, if it will hurt the service; nor do their wives march with the regiment except in such proportions as there may be sewing, washing and the like women's work fairly wanted in their respective companies: the potsdam first battalion, i understand, is hardly permitted to marry at all. and in regard to lamentable results, that of "liebsten-scheine, sweetheart-tickets,"--or actual military legalizing of temporary marriages, with regular privileges attached, and fixed rules to be observed,--might perhaps be the notablest point, and the semi-lamentablest, to a man or demon in the habit of lamenting. [preuss, i. .] for the rest, a considerably dreadful place this potsdam, to the flaccid, esurient and disorderly of mankind;--"and strict as fate [demon correct for once] in inexorably punishing military sins. "this king," he says, "has a great deal of esprit; much less of real, knowledge (connaissances) than is pretended. he excels only in the military part; really excellent there. has a facile expeditious pen and head; understands what you say to him, at the first word. not taking nor wishing advice; never suffering replies or remonstrances, not even from his mother. pretty well acquainted with works of esprit, whether in prose or in verse: burning [very hot indeed] to distinguish himself by performance of that kind; but unable to reach the beautiful, unless held up by somebody (etaye). it is said that, in a splenetic moment, his skeleton of an apollo [squelette d'apollon, m. de voltaire, who is lean exceedingly] exclaimed once, some time ago, 'when is it, then, that he will have done sending me his dirty linen to wash?' "the king is of a sharp mocking tongue withal; pricking into whoever displeases him; often careless of policy in that. understands nothing of finance, or still less of trade; always looking direct towards more money, which he loves much; incapable of sowing [as some of us do!] for a distant harvest. treats, almost all the world as slaves. all his subjects are held in hard shackles. rigorous for the least shortcoming, where his interest is hurt:--never pardons any fault which tends to inexactitude in the military service. spandau very full,"--though i did not myself count. "keeps in his pay nobody but those useful to him, and capable of doing employments well [true, always]; and the instant he has no more need of them, dismissing them with nothing [false, generally]. the subsidies imposed on his subjects are heavy; in constant proportion to their feudal properties, and their leases of domains (contrats et baux); and, what is dreadful, are exacted with the same rigor if your property gets into debt,"--no remission by the iron grip of this king in the name of the state! sell, if you can find a purchaser; or get confiscated altogether; that is your only remedy. surely a tyrant of a king. "people who get nearest him will tell you that his politeness is not natural, but a remnant of old habit, when he had need of everybody, against the persecutions of his father. he respects his mother; the only female for whom he has a sort of attention. he esteems his wife, and cannot endure her; has been married nineteen years, and has not yet addressed one word to her [how true!]. it was but a few days ago she handed him a letter, petitioning some things of which she had the most pressing want. he took the letter, with that smiling, polite and gracious air which he assumes at pleasure; and without breaking the seal, tore the letter up before her face, made her a profound bow, and turned his back on her." was there ever such a pluto varnished into literary rose-pink? very proper majesty for the tartarus that here is. ... "the queen-mother," continues our small devil, "is a good fat woman, who lives and moves in her own way (rondement). she has l , pounds a year for keeping up her house. it is said she hoards. four days in the week she has apartment [royal soiree]; to which you cannot go without express invitation. there is supper-table of twenty-four covers; only eight dishes, served in a shabby manner (indecemment) by six little scoundrels of pages. men and women of the country [shivering natives, cheering their dull abode] go and eat there. steward royal sends the invitations. at eleven, everybody has withdrawn. other days, this queen eats by herself. stewardess royal and three maids of honor have their separate table; two dishes the whole. she is shabbily lodged [in my opinion], when at the palace. her monbijou, which is close to berlin [now well within it], would be pretty enough, for a private person. "the queen regnant is the best woman in the world. all the year [not quite] she dines alone. has apartment on thursdays; everybody gone at nine o'clock. her morsels are cut for her, her steps are counted, and her words are dictated; she is miserable, and does what she can to hide it"--according to our small devil. "she has scarcely the necessaries of life allowed her,"--spends regularly two-thirds of her income in charitable objects; translates french-calvinist devotional works, for benefit of the german mind; and complains to no small devil, of never so sympathizing nature. "at court she is lodged on the second floor [scandalous]. schonhausen her country house, with the exception of the garden which is pretty enough,--our shopkeepers of the rue st. honore would sniff at such a lodging. "princess amelia is rather amiable [thank you for nothing, small devil]; often out of temper because--this is so shocking a place for ladies, especially for maiden ladies. lives with her mother; special income very small;--coadjutress of quedlinburg; will be actual abbess" in a year or two. [ th april, : preuss, xxvii. p. xxxiv (of preface).] "eldest prince, heir-apparent,"--do not speak of him, small devil, for you are misinformed in every feature and particular:--enough, "he is fac-simile of his brother. he has only , pounds a year, for self, wife, household and children [two, both boys];--and is said [falsely] to hoard, and to follow trade, extensive trade with his brother's woods. "prince henri, who is just going to be married,"--thank you, demon, for reminding us of that. bride is wilhelmina, princess of hessen-cassel. marriage, th june, ;--did not prove, in the end, very happy. a small contemporary event; which would concern voltaire and others that concern us. three months ago, april th, , the berlin powder-magazine flew aloft with horrible crash; [in--helden-geschichte--(iii. ) the details.]--and would be audible to voltaire, in this his second act. events, audible or not, never cease. "prince henri," in demon's opinion, "is the amiablest of the house. he is polite, generous, and loves good company. has , pounds a year left him by papa." not enough, as it proved. "if, on this marriage, his brother, who detests him [witness reinsberg and other evidences, now and onward], gives him nothing, he won't be well off. they are furnishing a house for him, where he will lodge after wedding. is reported to be--potzdamiste [says the scandalous small devil, whom we are weary of contradicting],--potsdamite, in certain respects. poor princess, what a destiny for you! "prince ferdinand, little scraping of a creature (petit chafouin), crapulous to excess, niggardly in the extreme, whom everybody avoids,"--much more whose portrait, by a magic-lantern of this kind: which let us hastily shut, and fling into the cellar!--"little ferdinand, besides his , pounds a year, papa's bequest, gets considerable sums given him. has lodging in the king's house; goes shifting and visiting about, wherever he can live gratis; and strives all he can to amass money. has to be in boots and uniform every three days. three months of the year practically with his regiment: but the shifts he has for avoiding expense are astonishing."... what an illuminative "idea" are the walpole-selwyn circles picking up for their money!-- chapter xi. third act and catastrophe of the voltaire visit. meantime there has a fine controversy risen, of mathematical, philosophical and at length of very miscellaneous nature, concerning that konig-maupertuis dissentience on the law of thrift. wonderful controversy, much occupying the so-called philosophic or scientific world; especially the idler population that inhabit there. upon this item of the infinitely little,--which has in our time sunk into nothing-at-all, and but for voltaire, and the accident of his living near it, would be forgotten altogether,--we must not enter into details; but a few words to render voltaire's share in it intelligible will be, in the highest degree, necessary. here, in brief form, rough and ready, are the successive stages of the business; the origin and first stage of which have been known to us for some time past:-- "september, , konig, his well-meant visit to berlin proving so futile, had left maupertuis in the humor we saw;--pirouetting round his apartment, in tempests of rage at such contradiction of sinners on his sublime law of thrift; and fulminating permission to konig: 'no time to read your paper of contradictions; publish it in leipzig, in jericho; anywhere in the earth, in heaven, in the other place, where you have the opportunity!' konig, returning on these terms, had nothing for it but to publish his paper; and did publish it, in the leipzig--acta eruditorum--for march, . there it stands, legible to this day: and if any of the human species should again think of reading it, i believe it will be found a reasonable, solid and decisive paper; of steadfast, openly articulate, by no means insolent, tone; considerably modifying maupertuis's law of thrift, or minimum of action;--fatal to the claim of its being a 'sublime discovery,' or indeed, so far as true, any discovery at all. [in--acta eruditorum--(lipsiae, ):--"de universali principio aequilibrii et motus."--by no means uncivil to maupertuis; though obliged to controvert him. for example:--"quoe itaque de minima actionis in modificationibus modum obtinente in genere proferuntur vehementer laudo;" "continent nempe facundum longeque pulcherrimum dynamices sublimioris principium, cujus vim in difficillimis quoestionibus soepe expertus fui."--] by way of finis to the paper, there is given, what proves extremely important to us, an excerpt from an old letter of leibnitz's; which perhaps it will be better to present here in corpore, as so much turned on it afterwards. konig thus winds up:-- "i add only a word, in finishing; and that is, that it appears mr. leibnitz had a theory of action, perhaps much more extensive than one would suspect at present. there is a letter written by him to mr. hermann [an ancient mathematical sage at basel], where he uses these expressions: 'action, is not what you think; the consideration of time enters into it; action is as the product of the mass by the space and the velocity, or as the time by the vis viva. i have remarked that in the modifications of motion, the action becomes usually a maximum or a minimum:--and from this there might several propositions of great consequence be deduced. it might serve to determine the curves described by bodies under attraction to one or more centres. i had meant to treat of these things in the second part of my dynamique; which i suppressed, the reception of the first, by prejudice in many quarters, having disgusted me.'" [maupertuisiana, no. ii. (from--acta eruditorum,--ubi supra). in maupertuisiana, no. iv. , is the whole letter, "hanover, th october, ;" no address left, judged to be to hermann. maupertuisiana (hamburg, ) is a mere bookseller's or even bookbinder's farrago, with printed title-page and list, of the chief pamphlets which had appeared on this business (sixteen by count, various type, all vo size, in my copy). of which only no. ii. (konig's appel au public) and no. iv. ( d edition of said appel, with appendix of correspondence) are illuminative to read.] your minimum of action, it would appear, then, is in some cases a maximum; nothing can be said but that, in every case it is either a maximum or minimum. what a stroke for our law of thrift, the "at last conclusive proof" of an intelligent creator, as the perpetual president had fancied it!"so-ho, what is this! my discovery an error? and leibnitz discovered it, so far as true?"-- "may th- th october, . maupertuis, compressing himself what he can, writes to konig: 'very good, monsieur. but please inform me where is that letter of leibnitz's; i have never seen or heard of it before,--and i want to make use of it myself.' to which konig answers: 'henzi gave it me, in copy [unfortunate conspirator henzi, who lost his head three years ago, by sentence of the oligarch government at berne]: [government by "the two hundred;" of select-vestry nature, very stiff, arbitrary and become rife in abuses; against whom had risen angry mutterings more than once, and in a select plot (not select enough, for they discovered it in time). poor ex-captain henzi, "clerk *of the salt-office," most frugal, studious and quiet of men; a very miracle, it would appear, of genius, solid learning, philosophy and piety,--not the chief or first of the conspirators, but by far the most distinguished,--was laid hold of, july d, , and beheaded, with another of them, a day or two after. much bewailed in a private way, even by the better kinds of people. (copious account of him in--adelung,--vii. - .)]--he, poor fellow, had no end of papers and excerpts; had, as we know, above a hundred volumes of the latter kind; this, and some other letters of leibnitz's, among them,--i send you the whole letter, copied faithfully from his copy.' ["the hague, th june," in--maupertuisiana,--no. iv. .] to that effect, still in perfect good-humor, was konig's reply to his maupertuis. "'hm, copy? by henzi?' grumbles maupertuis to himself:--'search in berne, then; it must be there, if anywhere!' to konig maupertuis answers nothing: but sulkily resolves on having search made;--and, to give solemnity to the matter, requests his excellency marquis de paulmy, the french ambassador at berne, to ask the government there,--government having seized all henzi's papers, on beheading him. excellency paulmy does, accordingly, make inquiry in the highest quarter; some inquiries up and down. not the least account of this, or of any leibnitz letter, to be had from among henzi's papers,--the 'hundred volumes,' seemingly, exist no longer;--original of this leibnitz piece is nowhere. for eight months the highest authorities have been looking about (with one knows not what vivacity or skill in searching), and have found nothing whatever." stage second of the business finishes in this manner. how lucky for the perpetual president, had he stopped here! to konig and the common contradiction of sinners he could have opposed, as it was apparently his purpose to do, an olympian silence, "pshaw!" whereby the small matter, interesting to few, would have dropped gently into dubiety, into oblivion, and been got well rid of. but this of the great leibnitz, touching on one's law of thrift; and not only "discovering" it, half a century beforehand, but discovering that it was not true: to leibnitz one must speak;--and the abstruse question is, what is one to say? "find me the original; let us be certain, first:" that you can say; that is one dear point; and pretty much the only one. the rest, at this time, as i conjecture, may have been not a little abstruse to the perpetual president! and now, had the perpetual president but stopped here, there might still have rested a saving shadow of suspicion on konig's excerpt, that it was not exact, that it might be wrong in some vital point:--"you never showed me the original, monsieur!" unluckily, the perpetual president did not stop. one cannot well fancy him believing, now or ever, that konig had forged the excerpt. most likely he had the fatal persuasion that these were leibnitz's words; and the question, what was to be said or done, if the original should turn up? might justly be alarming to a son of the pure sciences. but at this point a new door of escape disclosed itself: "where is the original, i say!"--and he rushed, full speed, into that; galloping triumphantly, feeling all safe. "october th ( ), maupertuis summons his academy: 'messieurs, permit me to submit a case perhaps requiring your attention. one of our number dissents from your president's discovery of the law of thrift; which surely he is free to do: but furthermore he gives an excerpt purporting to be from leibnitz; whereby it would appear that your president's discovery, sanctioned in your acts as new, is not new, but leibnitz's (so far as it is good for anything),--possibly stolen, therefore; and, at any rate, fifty-four years old. in self-defence, i have demanded to see the original of said excerpt; and the honorable member in question does not produce it. what say you?' 'shame to him!' say they all [there seem to be but few scientific members, and most of them, it is insinuated, have pensions from the king through their perpetual president];--and determine to make a star-chamber matter of it! "accordingly, next day, october th) secretary formey writes officially to konig, 'produce that letter within one month,'--and has got his majesty to order, that our prussian minister at the hague shall take charge of delivering such message, and shall mark on what day. thing serious, you see!--prussian minister at the hague delivers, and dockets accordingly. to konig's astonishment; who is in a scene of deep trouble at this time; royal highness the stadtholder suddenly dead, or dying: 'died october d; leaving a very young heir, and a very sorrowful widow and country.' much to think of, that lies apart from the maupertuis matter! which latter, however, is so very serious too, his prussian majesty's minister at berne is now charged to make new perquisition for the leibnitz original there: in short, within one month that document is peremptorily wanted at berlin." high proceedings these;--and calculated to have one result, if no other. namely, that, at this point, as readers can fancy, the idler public, seeing a street-quarrel in progress, began to take interest in the question of minimum; and quasi-scientific gentlemen to gather round, and express, with cheery capable look, their opinions,--still legible in the vanished jugemens libres (of hamburg), gazette de savans (leipzig), and other poor shadows of journals, if you daringly evoke them from the other side of styx. which, the whole matter being now so indisputably extinct, shadowy, stygian, we will not here be guilty of doing; but hasten to the catastrophes, that have still a memorability. "konig, having in fact nothing more to say about the leibnitz excerpt, was in no breathless haste to obey his summons; he sat almost two months before answering anything. did then write however, in a friendly strain to maupertuis (december th, ). [--maupertuisiana,--no. iv. .] almost on which same day, as it chanced, the academie, after two months' dignified waiting, had in brief terms repeated its order on konig. [december th, (ib. ). to which konig makes no special answer (having as good as answered the day before);--but does silently send off to switzerland to make inquiries; and does write once or twice more, when there is occasion for explaining;--always in a clear, sonorous, manfully firm and respectful tone: 'that he himself had, or has, no kind of reason to doubt the authenticity of the leibnitz letter; that to himself (and, so far as he can judge, to maupertuis) the question of its authenticity is without special interest;--he, konig, having thrown it in as a mere marginal illustration, which decides nothing, either for or against the law of thrift. that he has, in obedience to the academy, caused search to be made in switzerland, especially at basel, where he judged the chance might lie; but that of this particular letter nothing has come to light; that he has two other leibnitz letters, of indifferent tenor, in the late henzi's hand, if these will serve in aught, [--maupertuisiana,--no. iv. ; and ib. - , the two letters themselves.]--but what farther can he do?' in short, konig speaks always in a clear business-like manful tone; the one person that makes a really respectful and respectable figure in this controversy of the infinitely little. a man whom, viewed from this quiet distance, it seems almost inconceivably absurd to have suspected of forging for so small an object. oh, my president, that dira regnandi cupido!-- "question is, however, what the academy will do? one member, 'the best geometer among them' [whose name is not given, but which the berlin academy should write in big letters across this sad page of their annals, by way of erasure to the same], dissented from the high line of procedure; asserting konig's innocence in this matter; nay, hinting agreement with konig's opinion. but was met by such a storm, that he withdrew from the deliberations; which henceforth went their own bad course, unanimous though slow. and so the matter pendulates all through winter, - , and was much the theme of idle men." voltaire heard of it vaguely all along; but not with distinctness till the end of july following. as spring advanced, maupertuis had fallen ill of lungs,--threatened with spitting of blood ("owing to excess of brandy," hints the malicious voltaire, "which is fashionable at st. malo," birthplace of maupertuis),--and could not farther direct the academy in this affair. the academy needs no direction farther. here, very soon, for a sick president's consolation, is what the academy decides on, by way of catastrophe:-- thursday evening, th april, , the academy met; curator monsieur de keith, presiding; about a score of acting members present. to whom curator de keith, as the first thing, reads a magnanimous brief letter from our perpetual president: "that, for two reasons, he cannot attend on this important occasion: first, because he is too ill, which would itself be conclusive; but secondly, and a fortiori, because he is in some sense a party to the cause, and ought not if he could." whereupon, secretary formey having done his documentary flourishings, curator euler--(great in algebra, apparently not very great in common sense and the rules of good temper)--reads considerable "report;" [is no. of--maupertuisiana.--] reciting, not in a dishonest, but in a dim wearisome way, the various steps of the affair, as readers already know them; and concludes with this extraordinary practical result: "things being so (les choses etant telles): the fragment being of itself suspect [what could leibnitz know of maxima and minima? they were not developed till one euler did it, quite in late years!], [--maupertuisians,--no. i. .] of itself suspect; and monsieur konig having failed to" &c. &c.,--"it is assuredly manifest that his cause is one of the worst (des plus mauvaises), and that this fragment has been forged." singular to think!"and the academy, all things duly considered, will not hesitate to declare it false (suppose), and thereby deprive it publicly of all authority which may have been ascribed to it" (hear, hear! from all parts). curator de keith then collects the votes,--twenty-three in all; some sixteen are of working members; two are from accidental strangers ("travelling students," say the enemy); the rest from curators of quality:--vote is unanimous, "adopt the report. fragment evidently forged, and cannot have the least shadow of authority (aucune ombre d'authorite). forged by whom, we do not now ask; nor what the academy could, on plain grounds, now do to monsieur konig [not nail his ears to the pump, oh no!]; enough, it is forged, and so remains." signed, "curator de keith," and six other office-bearers; "formey, perpetual secretary"' closing the list. at the name keith, a slight shadow (very slight, for how could keith help himself?) crosses the mind: "is this, by ill luck, the feldmarschall keith?" no, reader; this is lieutenant-colonel keith; he of wesel, with "effigy nailed to the gallows" long since; whom none of us cares for. sulzer, i notice too, is of this long-eared sanhedrim. ach, mein lieber sulzer, you don't know (do you, then?) diese verdammte race, to what heights and depths of stupid malice, and malignant length of ear, they are capable of going. "thursday, th april," this is forger konig's doom:--and, what is observable, next morning, with a crash audible through nature, the powder-magazine flew aloft, killing several persons! [supra, p. .] had no hand, he, i hope, in that latter atrocity? on authentic sight of this sentence (for which konig had at once, on hearing of it, applied to formey, and which comes to him, without help of formey, through the public newspapers) konig, in a brief, proud enough, but perfectly quiet, mild and manful manner, resigns his membership. "ceases, from this day (june th, ), to have the honor of belonging to your academy; 'an honor i had been the prouder of, as it came to me unasked;'--and will wish, you, from the outside henceforth, successful campaigns in the field of science." [--maupertuisiana,--no. iv. .] and sets about preparing his pamphlet to instruct mankind on the subject. maupertuis, it appears, did write, and made others write to konig's sovereign lady, the dowager princess of orange, "how extremely handsome it would be, could her most serene highness, a friend to pure science, be pleased to induce monsieur konig not to continue this painful controversy, but to sit quiet with what he had got." [voltaire (infra).] which her most serene highness by no mean thought the suitable course. still less did konig himself; whose appeal to the public, with defence of appeal,--reasonably well done, as usual, and followed and accompanied by the multitude of commentators,--appeared in due course. ["september, , konig's appel" (preuss, in--oeuvres de frederic,--xv. n.).] till, before long, the public was thoroughly instructed; and nobody, hardly the signing curators, or thin euler himself, not to speak of perpetual formey, who had never been strong in the matter, could well believe in "forgery" or care to speak farther on such a subject. subject gone wholly to the stygian fens, long since; "forgery" not now imaginable by anybody! the rumor of these things rose high and wide; and the quantity of publishing upon them, quasi-scientifically and otherwise, in the serious vein and the jocose, was greater than we should fancy. ["letter from a marquis;" "letter from mr. t---to m. s---" (mr. t. lives in london;--"je traverse le queen's square, et je rencontre notre ami d---: 'avez-vous la l'appel au public?' dit-il"--); "letter by euler in the berlin gazette," &c. &c. (in--maupertuisiana--).] voltaire, for above a month past, had been fully aware of the case ( th july, , writing to niece, "heard yesterday"); not without commentary to oneself and others. voltaire, with a kind of love to konig, and a very real hatred to maupertuis and to oppression generally, took pen himself, among the others (konig's appeal just out),--could not help doing it, though he had better not! the following small piece is perhaps the one, if there be one, still worth resuscitating from the inane kingdoms. appeared in the bibliotheque raisonnee (mild-shining quarterly review of those days), july-september number. "answer from [very privately voltaire, calling himself] a berlin academician to a paris one. "berlin, th september, . this is the exact truth, in reply to your inquiry. m. moreau de maupertuis in a pamphlet entitled essai de cosmologie, pretended that the only proof of the existence of god is the circumstance that ar+nrb is a minimum. [only proof:^??????^ (p. book xvi) voila!] he asserts that in all possible cases, 'action is a minimum,' what has been demonstrated false; and he says, 'he discovered this law of minimum,' what is not less false. "m. konig, as well as other mathematicians, wrote against this strange assertion; and, among other things, m. konig cited some sentences of a letter by leibnitz, in which that great man says, he has observed 'that, in the modifications of motion, the action usually becomes either a maximum or else a minimum.' "m. moreau de maupertuis imagined that, by producing this fragment, it had been intended to snatch from him the glory of his pretended discovery,--though leibnitz says precisely the contrary of what he advances. he forced some pensioned members of the academy, who are dependent on him, to summon m. konig"--as we know too well; and cannot bear to have repeated to us, even in the briefest and spiciest form!"sentence (jugement) on m. konig, which declares him guilty of having assaulted the glory of the sieur moreau maupertuis by forging a leibnitz letter.--wrote then, and made write, to her serene highness the princess of orange, who was indignant at so insolent"--... and in fine, "thus the sieur moreau maupertuis has been convicted, in the face of scientific europe, not only of plagiarism and blunder, but of having abused his place to suppress free discussion, and to persecute an honest man who had no crime but that of not being of his opinion. several members of our academy have protested against so crying a procedure; and would leave the academy, were it not for fear of displeasing the king, who is protector of it." [--oeuvres de voltaire,--lxiii. (in--maupertuisiana,--no. xvi).] king friedrich's position, in the middle of all this, was becoming uncomfortable. of the controversy he understood, or cared to understand, nothing; had to believe steadily that his academy must be right; that konig was some loose bird, envious of an eagle maupertuis, sitting aloft on his high academic perch: this friedrich took for the truth of the matter;--and could not let himself imagine that his sublime perpetual president, who was usually very prudent and jove-like, had been led, by his truculent vanity (which friedrich knew to be immense in the man, though kept well out of sight), into such playing of fantastic tricks before high heaven and other on-lookers. this view of the matter had hitherto been friedrich's; nor do i know that he ever inwardly departed from it;--as outwardly he, for certain, never did; standing, king-like, clear always for his perpetual president, till this hurricane of pamphlets blew by. voltaire's little piece, therefore, was the unwelcomest possible. this new bolt of electric fire, launched upon the storm-tost president from berlin itself, and even from the king's house itself,--by whom, too clearly recognizable,--what an irritating thing! unseemly, in fact, on voltaire's part; but could not be helped by a voltaire charged with electricity. friedrich evidently in considerable indignation, finding that public measures would but worsen the uproar, took pen in hand; wrote rapidly the indignant letter from an academician of berlin to an academician of paris: [--oeuvres de frederic,--xv. - (not dated; datable "october, ").] which piece, of some length, we cannot give here; but will briefly describe as manifesting no real knowledge of the law-of-thrift controversy; but as taking the above loose view of it, and as directed principally against "the pretended member of our academy" (mischievous voltaire, to wit), whom it characterizes as "such a manifest retailer of lies," a "concocter of stupid libels:" "have you ever seen an action more malicious, more dastardly, more infamous?"--and other hard terms, the hardest he can find. this is the privilege of anonymity, on both sides of it. but imagine now a king and his voltaire doing witty discourse over their supper of the gods (as, on the set days, is duly the case); with such a consciousness, burning like bude light, though close veiled, on the part of host and guest! the friedrich-voltaire relation is evidently under sore stress of weather, in those winter-autumn months of ,--brown leaves, splashy rains and winds moaning outwardly withal. and, alas, the irrepressibly electric voltaire, still far from having ended, still only just beginning his anti-maupertuis discharges, has, in the interim, privately got his doctor akakia ready. compared to which, the former missile is as a popgun to a park of artillery shotted with old nails and broken glass!--such a constraint, at the royal dinner-table, amid wine and wit, could not continue. the credible account is, it soon cracked asunder; and, after the conceivable sputterings, sparklings and flashings of various complexion, issued in lambent airs of "tacit mutual understanding; and in reading of akakia together,--with peals of laughter from the king," as the common french biographers assert. "readers know akakia," [diatribe du docteur akakia (in voltaire,--oeuvres,--lxi. - ).] says smelfungus: "it is one of the famous feats of satirical pyrotechny; only too pleasant to the corrupt race of adam! there is not much, or indeed anything, of true poetic humor in it: but there is a gayety of malice, a dexterity, felicity, inexhaustibility of laughing mockery and light banter, capable of driving a perpetual president delirious. what an explosion of glass-crackers, fire-balls, flaming-serpents;--generally, of sleeping gunpowder, in its most artistic forms,--flaming out sky-high over all the parish, on a sudden! the almost-sublime of maupertuis, which exists in large quantities, here is a new artist who knows how to treat it. the engineer of the sublime (always painfully engineering thitherward without effect),--an engineer of the comic steps in on him, blows him up with his own petards in a most unexampled manner. not an owlery has that poor maupertuis, in the struggle to be sublime (often nearly successful, but never once quite), happened to drop from him, but voltaire picks it up; manipulates it, reduces it to the sublimely ridiculous; lodges it, in the form of burning dust, about the head of mon president. needless to say of the comic engineer that he is unfair, perversely exaggerative, reiterative, on the owleries of poor maupertuis;--it is his function to be all that. clever, but wrong, do you say? well, yes:--and yet the ridiculous does require ridicule; wise nature has silently so ordered. and if ever truculent president in red wig, with his absurd truculences, tyrannies and perpetual struggles after the sublime, did deserve to be exploded in laughter, it could not have been more consummately done;--though perversely always, as must be owned. "'the hole bored through the earth,' for instance: really, one sometimes reflects on such a thing; how you would see daylight, and the antipodal gentleman (if he bent a little over) foot to foot; how a little stone flung into it would exactly (but for air and friction) reach the other side of the world; would then, in a computable few moments, come back quiescent to your hand, and so continue forevermore;--with other the like uncriminal fancies. "'the latin town,' again: truly, if learning the ancient languages be human education, it might, with a greek ditto, supersede the universities, and prove excellently serviceable in our struggle heavenward by that particular route. i can assure m. de voltaire, it was once practically proposed to this king's great-grandfather, the grosse kurfurst;--who looked into it, with face puckered to the intensest, in his great care for furtherance of the terrestrial sciences and wisdoms; but forbore for that time. [minute details about it in stenzel, ii. - ; who quotes "erman" (a poor old friend of ours) "sur le projet d'une ville savante dans le brandebourg (berlin, ):" date of the project was .] then as to 'dissecting the brains of patagonians;' what harm, if you can get them gross enough? and as to that of (exalting your mind to predict the future,' does not, in fact, man look before and after; are not memory and (in a small degree) prophecy the two faculties he has? "these things--which are mostly to be found in the 'lettres de maupertuis' (dresden, , then a brand-new book), but are now clipt out from the maupertuis treatises--we can fancy to be almost sublimities.--almost, unfortunately not altogether. and then there is such a sisyphus-effort visible in dragging them aloft so far: and the nimble wicked voltaire so seizes his moment, trips poor sisyphus; and sends him down, heels-over-head, in a torrent of roaring debris! 'from gradual transpiration of our vital force comes death; which perhaps, by precautions, might be indefinitely retarded,' says maupertuis. 'yes, truly,' answers the other: 'if we got ourselves japanned, coated with resinous varnish (induits de poix resineux); who knows!' not a sublime owlery can you drop, but it is manipulated, ground down, put in rifled cannon, comes back on you as tempests of burning dust." enough to send maupertuis pirouetting through the world, with red wig unquenchably on fire! peals of laughter (once you are allowed to be non-official) could not fail, as an ovation, from the king;--so report the french biographers. but there was, besides, strict promise that the piece should be suppressed: "never do to send our president pirouetting through the world in this manner, with his wig on fire; promise me, on your honor!" voltaire promised. but, alas, how could voltaire perform! once more the rhadamanthine fact is: voltaire, as king's chamberlain, was bound, without any promise, to forbear, and rigidly suppress such an akakia against the king's perpetual president. but withal let candid readers consider how difficult it was to do. the absurd blusterous turkey-cock, who has, every now and then, been tyrannizing over you for twenty years, here you have him filled with gunpowder, so to speak, and the train laid. there wants but one spark,--(edition printed in holland, edition done in berlin, plenty of editions made or makable by a little surreptitious legerdemain,--and i never knew whether it was akakia in print, or akakia in manuscript, that king and king's chamberlain were now reading together, nor does it matter much):--your turkey surreptitiously stuffed with gunpowder, i say; train ready waiting; one flint-spark will shoot him aloft, scatter him as flaming ruin on all the winds: and you are, once and always, to withhold said spark. perhaps, had akakia not yet been written--but all lies ready there; one spark will do it, at any moment;--and there are unguarded moments, and the tempter must prevail!-- on what day akakia blazed out at berlin, surreptitiously forwarded from holland or otherwise, i could never yet learn (so stupid these reporters). but "on november d" the king makes a visit to sick maupertuis, which is published in all the newspapers; [rodenbeck, in die;--helden-geschichte,--iii. , " d november, , p.m."]--and one might guess the akakia conflagration, and cruel haha-ings of mankind, to have been tacitly the cause. then or later, sure enough, akakia does blaze aloft about that time; and all berlin, and all the world, is in conversation over maupertuis and it,-- , copies sold in paris:--and friedrich naturally was in a towering passion at his chamberlain. nothing for the chamberlain but to fly his presence; to shriek, piteously, "accident, your majesty! fatal treachery and accident; after such precautions too!"--and fall sick to death (which is always a resource one has); and get into private lodgings in the tauben-strasse, [at a "hofrath francheville's" (kind of subaltern literary character, see denina, ii. ), "tauben-strasse (dove street), no. :" stayed there till "march, " (note by preuss,--oeuvres de frederic,--xxii. n.).] till one either die, or grow fit to be seen again: "ah, sire"--let us give the voltaire shriek of not-guilty, with the friedrich answer; both dateless unluckily:-- voltaire. "ah, mon dieu, sire, in the state i am in! i swear to you again, on my life, which i could renounce without pain, that it is a frightful calumny. i conjure you to summon all my people, and confront them. what? you will judge me without hearing me! i demand justice or death." friedrich. "your effrontery astonishes me. after what you have done, and what is clear as day, you persist, instead of owning yourself culpable. do not imagine you will make people believe that black is white; when one [on, meaning _i_] does not see, the reason [sic]? one p. , book xvi +++++++++++++++++ is, one does not want to see everything. but if you drive the affair to extremity,--all shall be made public; and it will be seen whether, if your works deserve statues, your conduct does not deserve chains." [--oeuvres de frederic,--xxii. , .] most dark element (not in date only), with terrific thunder-and- lightning. nothing for it but to keep one's room, mostly one's bed,--"ah, sire, sick to death!" december th, , there is one thing dismally distinct, voltaire himself looking on (they say), from his windows in dove street: the public burning of akakia, near there, by the common hangman. figure it; and voltaire's reflections on it:--haggardly clear that act third is culminating; and that the final catastrophe is inevitable and nigh. we must be brief. on the eighth day after this dread spectacle (new-year's-day ), voltaire sends, in a packet to the palace, his gold key and cross of merit. on the interior wrappage is an inscription in verse: "i received them with loving emotion, i return them with grief; as a broken-hearted lover returns the portrait of his mistress:-- --je les recus avec tendresse, je vous les rends avec douleur; c'est ainsi qu'un amant, dans son extreme ardeur, rend le portrait de sa maitresse."-- and--in a letter enclosed, tender as the song of swans--has one wish: permission for the waters of plonbieres, some alleviations amid kind nursing friends there; and to die craving blessings on your majesty. [collini, p. ; letter, in--oeuvres de frederic,--xxii. .] friedrich, though in hot wrath, has not quite come that length. friedrich, the same day, towards evening, sends fredersdorf to him, with decorations back. and a long dialogue ensues between fredersdorf and voltaire; in which collini, not eavesdropping, "heard the voice of m. de voltaire at times very loud." precise result unknown. after which, for three months more, follows waiting and hesitation and negotiation, also quite obscure. confused hithering and thithering about permission for plombieres, about repentance, sorrow, amendment, blame; in the end, reconciliation, or what is to pass for such. recorded for us in that whirl of misdated letter-clippings; in those narratives, ignorant, and pretending to know: perhaps the darkest section in history, sacred or profane,--were it of moment to us, here or elsewhere! voltaire has got permission to return to potsdam; apartment in the palace ready again: but he still lingers in dove street; too ill, in real truth, for potsdam society on those new terms. does not quit francheville's "till march th;" and then only for another lodging, called "the belvedere", of suburban or rural kind. his case is intricate to a degree. he is sick of body; spectre-haunted withal, more than ever;--often thinks friedrich, provoked, will refuse him leave. and, alas, he would so fain not go, as well as go! leave for plombieres,--leave in the angrily contemptuous shape, "go, then, forever and a day!"--voltaire can at once have: but to get it in the friendly shape, and as if for a time only? his prospects at paris, at versailles, are none of the best; to return as if dismissed will never do! would fain not go, withal;--and has to diplomatize at potsdam, by d'argens, de prades, and at paris simultaneously, by richelieu, d'argenson and friends. he is greatly to be pitied;--even friedrich pities him, the martyr of bodily ailments and of spiritual; and sends him "extract of quinquina" at one time. [letter of voltaire's.] three miserable months; which only an oedipus could read, and an oedipus who had nothing else to do! the issue is well known. of precise or indisputable, on the road thither, here are fractions that will suffice:-- voltaire to one bagieu his doctor at paris ("berlin, th december," , week before his akakia was burnt).... "wish i could set out on the instant, and put myself into your hands and into the arms of my family! i brought to berlin about a score of teeth, there remain to me something like six; i brought two eyes, i have nearly lost one of them; i brought no erysipelas, and i have got one, which i take a great deal of care of.... meanwhile i have buried almost all my doctors; even la mettrie. remains only that i bury codenius [cothenius], who looks too stiff, however,"--and, at any rate, return to you in spring, when roads and weather improve. [--oeuvres de voltaire,--lxxxv. .] friedrich to voltaire (potsdam, uncertain date). "there was no need of that pretext about the waters of plombieres, in demanding your leave (conge). you can quit my service when you like: but, before going, be so good as return me the contract of your engagement, the key [chamberlain's], the cross [of merit], and the volume of verses which i confided to you. "i wish my works, and only they, had been what you and konig attacked. them i sacrifice, with a great deal of willingness, to persons who think of increasing their own reputation by lessening that of others. i have not the folly nor vanity of certain authors. the cabals of literary people seem to me the disgrace of literature. i do not the less esteem honorable cultivators of literature; it is only the caballers and their leaders that are degraded in my eyes. on this, i pray god to have you in his holy and worthy keeping.--friedrich." [in de prades's hand;--oeuvres de frederic,--xxii. , : friedrich's own minute to de prades has, instead of these last three lines: "that i have not the folly and vanity of authors, and that the cabals of literary people seem to me the depth of degradation," &c.] voltaire spectrally given (collini loquitur). "one evening walking in the garden [at rural belvedere,--after march th], talking of our situation, he asked me, 'could you drive a coach-and-two?' i stared at him a moment; but knowing that there must be no direct contradiction of his ideas, i said 'yes.'--'well, then, listen; i have thought of a method for getting away. you could buy two horses; a chariot after that. so soon as we have horses, it will not appear strange that we lay in a little hay.'--'yes, monsieur; and what should we do with that?' said i. 'le voici (this is it). we will fill the chariot with hay. in the middle of the hay we will put all our baggage. i will place myself, disguised, on the top of the hay; and give myself out for a calvinist curate going to see one of his daughters married in the next town. you shall drive: we take the shortest road for the saxon border; safe there, we sell chariot, horses, hay; then straight to leipzig, by post.' at which point, or soon after, he burst into laughing." [collini, p. .] voltaire to friedrich ("berlin, belvedere," rural lodging, ["in the stralauer vorstadt (hodie, woodmarket street):" preuss's note to this letter,--oeuvres de frederic,--xxii. n.] " th march," ). "sire, i have had a letter from konig, quite open, as my heart is. i think it my duty to send your majesty a duplicate of my answer.... will submit to you every step of my conduct; of my whole life, in whatever place i end it. i am konig's friend; but assuredly i am much more attached to your majesty; and if he were capable the least in the world of failing in respect [as is rumored], i would"--enough! friedrich relents (to voltaire; de prades writing, friedrich covertly dictating: no date). "the king has held his consistory; and it has there been discussed, whether your case was a mortal sin or a venial? in truth, all the doctors owned that it was mortal, and even exceedingly confirmed as such by repeated lapses and relapses. nevertheless, by the plenitude of the grace of beelzebub, which rests in the said king, he thinks he can absolve you, if not in whole, yet in part. this would be, of course, in virtue of some act of contrition and penitence imposed on you: but as, in the empire of satan, there is a great respect had of genius, i think, on the whole, that, for the sake of your talents, one might pardon a good many things which do discredit to your heart. these are the sovereign pontiff's words; which i have carefully taken down. they are a prophecy rather." [--oeuvres de frederic,--xxii. .] voltaire to de prades ("belvedere, th march," ). "dear abbe,--your style has not appeared to me soft. you are a frank secretary of state:--nevertheless i give you warning, it is to be a settled point that i embrace you before going. i shall not be able to kiss you; my lips are too choppy from my devil of a disorder [scurvy, i hear]. you will easily dispense with my kisses; but don't dispense, i pray you, with my warm and true friendship. "i own i am in despair at quitting you, and quitting the king; but it is a thing indispensable. consider with our dear marquis [d'argens], with fredersdorf,--parbleu, with the king himself, how you can manage that i have the consolation of seeing him before i go. i absolutely will have it; i will embrace with my two arms the abbe and the marquis. the marquis sha'n't be kissed, any more than you; nor the king either. but i shall perhaps fall blubbering; i am weak, i am a drenched hen. i shall make a foolish figure: never mind; i must, once more, have sight of you two. if i cannot throw myself at the king's feet, the plombieres waters will kill me. i await your answer, to quit this country as a happy or as a miserable man. depend on me for life.--v." [ib. .]--this is the last of these obscure documents. three days after which, "evening of march th", [collini, pp. , .] voltaire, collini with him and all his packages, sets out for potsdam; king's guest once more. sees the king in person "after dinner, next day;" stays with him almost a week, "quite gay together," "some private quizzing even of maupertuis" (if we could believe collini or his master on that point); means "to return in october, when quite refitted,"--does at least (note it, reader), on that ground, retain his cross and key, and his gift of the oeuvre de poesies: which he had much better have left! and finally, morning of march th) , [collini, p. ; see rodenbeck, i. .] drives off,--towards dresden, where there are printing affairs to settle, and which is the nearest safe city;--and friedrich and he, intending so or not, have seen one another for the last time. not quite intending that extremity, either of them, i should think; but both aware that living together was a thing to be avoided henceforth. "take care of your health, above all; and don't forget that i expect to see you again after the waters!" such was friedrich's adieu, say the french biographers, [collini, p. ; duvernet, p. ;--oeuvres de voltaire,--lxxv. ("will return in october").] "who is himself just going off to the silesian reviews", add they;--who does, in reality, drive to berlin that day; but not to the silesian reviews till may following. as voltaire himself will experience, to his cost! chapter xii. of the afterpiece, which proved still more tragical. voltaire, once safe on saxon ground, was in no extreme haste for plombieres. he deliberately settled his printing affairs at dresden; then at leipzig;--and scattered through newspapers, or what port-holes he had, various fiery darts against maupertuis; aggravating the humors in berlin, and provoking maupertuis to write him an express letter. letter which is too curious, especially the answer it gets, to be quite omitted:-- maupertuis to voltaire (at leipzig). "berlin, d april, . if it is true that you design to attack me again [with your la-beaumelle doggeries and scurrilous discussions], i declare to you that i have still health enough to find you wherever you are, and to take the most signal vengeance on you (vengeance la plus eclatante). thank the respect and the obedience which have hitherto restrained my arm, and saved you from the worst adventure you have ever yet had. maupertuis." voltaire's answer (from leipzig, a few days after). "m. le president,--i have had the honor to receive your letter. you inform me that you are well; that your strength is entirely returned; and that, if i publish la beaumelle's letter [private letter of his, lent me by a friend, which proves that you set him against me], you will come and assassinate me. what ingratitude to your poor medical man akakia!... if you exalt your soul so as to discern futurity, you will see that if you come on that errand to leipzig, where you are no better liked than in other places, and where your letter is in safe legal hands, you run some risk of being hanged. poor me, indeed, you will find in bed; and i shall have nothing for you but my syringe and vessel of dishonor: but so soon as i have gained a little strength, i will have my pistols charged cum pulvere pyrio; and multiplying the mass by the square of the velocity, so as to reduce the action and you to zero, i will put some lead in your head;--it appears to have need of it. adieu, mon president. akakia." [duvernet, pp. , ;--oeuvres de voltaire,--lxi. - .] here, in the history of duelling, or challenging to mortal combat, is a unique article! at which the whole world haha'd again; perhaps king friedrich himself; though he was dreadfully provoked at it, too: "no mending of that fellow!"--and took a resolution in consequence, as will be seen. dresden and leipzig done with, voltaire accepted an invitation to the court of sachsen-gotha (most polite serene highnesses there, and especially a charming duchess,--who set him upon doing the annales de l'empire, decidedly his worst book). "about april lst" voltaire arrived, stayed till the last days of may; [--oeuvres de voltaire,--lxxv. n. clogenson's note).] and had, for five weeks, a beautiful time at gotha;--wilhelmina's daughter there (young duchess of wurtemberg, on visit, as it chanced), [wilhelmina-friedrich correspondence (--oeuvres de frederic,--xxvii. iii. , ).] and all manner of graces, melodies and beneficences; a little working, too, at the annales, in the big library, between whiles. five decidedly melodious weeks. beautiful interlude, or half-hour of orchestral fiddling in this voltaire drama; half-hour which could not last! on the heel of which there unhappily followed an afterpiece or codicil to the berlin visit; which, so to speak, set the whole theatre on fire, and finished by explosion worse than akakia itself. a thing still famous to mankind;--of which some intelligible notion must be left with readers. the essence of the story is briefly this. voltaire, by his fine deportment in parting with friedrich, had been allowed to retain his decorations, his letter of agreement, his royal book of poesies (one of those "twelve copies," printed au donjon du chateau, in happier times!)--and in short, to go his ways as a friend, not as a runaway or one dismissed. but now, by his late procedures at leipzig, and "firings out of port-holes" in that manner, he had awakened friedrich's indignation again,--friedrich's regret at allowing him to take those articles with him; and produced a resolution in friedrich to have them back. they are not generally articles of much moment; but as marks of friendship, they are now all falsities. one of the articles might be of frightful importance: that book of poesies; thrice-private oeuvre de poesies, in which are satirical spurts affecting more than one crowned head: one shudders to think what fires a spiteful voltaire might cause by publishing these! this was friedrich's idea;--and by no means a chimerical one, as the fact proved; said oeuvre being actually reprinted upon him, at paris afterwards (not by voltaire), in the crisis of the seven-years war, to put him out with his uncle of england, whom it quizzed in passages. [title of it is,--oeuvres du philosophe de sans-souci--(paris, pretending to be "potsdam," ), vol. mo: at paris, "in january" this; whereupon, at berlin, with despatch, "april th," "the real edition" (properly castrated) was sent forth, under title, poesies diverses, vol. big vo (preuss, in--oeuvres de frederic,--x. preface, p. x. see formey, ii. , under date misprinted " ").] "we will have those articles back," thinks friedrich; "that oeuvre most especially! no difficulty: wait for him at frankfurt, as he passes home; demand them of him there." and has (directly on those new "firings through port-holes" at leipzig) bidden fredersdorf take measures accordingly. ["friedrich to wilhelmina, th april, " (--oeuvres,--xxvii. iii. ).] fredersdorf did so; early in april and onward had his official person waiting at frankfurt (one freytag, our prussian resident there, very celebrated ever since), vigilant in the extreme for voltaire's arrival,--and who did not miss that event. voltaire, arriving at last (may st), did, with freytag's hand laid gently on his sleeve, at once give up what of the articles he had about him;--the oeuvre, unluckily, not one of them; and agreed to be under mild arrest ("parole d'honneur; in the lion-d'or hotel here!") till said oeuvre should come up. under fredersdorf's guidance, all this, and what follows; king friedrich, after the general order given, had nothing more to do with it, and was gone upon his reviews. in the course of two weeks or more the oeuvre de poesie did come. voltaire was impatient to go. and he might perhaps have at once gone, had freytag been clearly instructed, so as to know the essential from the unessential here. but he was not;--poor subaltern freytag had to say, on voltaire's urgencies: "i will at once report to berlin; if the answer be (as we hope), 'all right,' you are that moment at liberty!" this was a thing unexpected, astonishing to voltaire; a thing demanding patience, silence: in three days more, with silence, as turns out, it would have been all beautifully over,--but he was not strong in those qualities! voltaire's arrest hitherto had been merely on his word of honor, "i promise, on my honor, not to go beyond the garden of this inn." but he now, without warning anybody, privately revoked said word of honor; and collini and he, next morning, whisked shiftily into a hackney-coach, and were on the edge of being clear off. to freytag's terror and horror; who, however, caught them in time: and was rigorous enough now, and loud enough;--street-mob gathering round the transaction; voltaire very loud, and freytag too,--the matter taking fire here; and scenes occurring, which voltaire has painted in a highly flagrant manner! on the third day, answer from berlin had come, as expected; answer (as to the old score): "all right; let him go!" but to punctual freytag's mind, here is now a new considerable item of sundries: insult to his majesty, to wit; breaking his majesty's arrest, in such insolent loud manner:--and freytag finds that he must write anew. post is very slow; and, though fredersdorf answers constantly, from berlin, "let him go, let him go," there have to be writings and re-writings; and it is not till july th (after a detention, not of nearly three weeks, as it might and would have been, but of five and a day) that voltaire gets off, and then too at full gallop, and in a very unseemly way. this is authentically the world-famous frankfurt affair;--done by fredersdorf, as we say; friedrich, absent in silesia, or in preussen even, having no hand in it, except the original order left with fredersdorf. voltaire has used his flamingest colors on this occasion, being indeed dreadfully provoked and chagrined; painting the thing in a very flagrant manner,--known to all readers. voltaire's flagrant narrative had the round of the world to itself, for a hundred years; and did its share of execution against friedrich. till at length, recently, a precise impartial hand, the herr varnhagen, thought of looking into the archives; and has, in a distinct, minute and entertaining way, explained the truth of it to everybody;--leaving the voltaire narrative in rather sad condition. [varnhagen von ense,--voltaire in frankfurt am mayn,-- (separate, as here, mo, pp. ; or in--berliner kalender--for ).] we have little room; but must give, compressed, from varnhagen and the other evidences, a few of the characteristic points. the story falls into two parts. part i. fredersdorf sends instructions; the "oeuvre de poesie" is got; but-- april th, (few days after that of maupertuis's cartel, voltaire having set to firing through port-holes again, and the king being swift in his resolution on it), factotum fredersdorf, who has a free-flowing yet a steady and compact pen, directs herr freytag, our resident at frankfurt-on-mayn, to procure from the authorities there, on majesty's request, the necessary powers; then vigilantly to look out for voltaire's arrival; to detain the said voltaire, and, if necessary, arrest him, till he deliver certain articles belonging to his majesty: cross of merit, gold key, printed oeuvre de poesies and writings (skripturen) of his majesty's; in short, various articles,--the specification of which is somewhat indistinct. in fredersdorf's writing, all this; not so mathematically luminous and indisputable as in eichel's it would have been. freytag put questions, and there passed several letters between fredersdorf and him; but it was always uncomfortably hazy to freytag, and he never understood or guessed that the oeuvre de poesies was the vital item, and the rest formal in comparison. which is justly considered to have been an unlucky circumstance, as matters turned. for help to himself, freytag is to take counsel with one hofrath schmidt; a substantial experienced burgher of frankfurt, whose rathship is prussian. april st, freytag answers, that schmidt and he received his majesty's all-gracious orders the day before yesterday (post takes eight days, it would seem); that they have procured the necessary powers; and are now, and will be, diligently watchful to execute the same. which, one must say, they in right earnest are; patrolling about, with lips strictly closed, eyes vividly open; and have a man or two privately on watch at the likely stations, on the possible highways;--and so continue, voltaire doing his annals of the empire, and enjoying himself at gotha, for weeks after, ["left gotha th may" (clog. in--oeuvres de voltaire,--xxv. n.).]--much unconscious of their patrolling. freytag is in no respect a shining diplomatist;--probably some emeritus lieutenant, doing his function for pounds a year: but does it in a practical solid manner. writes with stiff brevity, stiff but distinct; with perfect observance of grammar both in french and german; with good practical sense, and faithful effort to do aright what his order is: no trace of "monsir," of "oeuvre de poeshie," to be found in freytag; and most, or all, of the ridiculous burs stuck on him by voltaire, are to be pulled off again as--as fibs, or fictions, solacing to the afflicted wit. freytag is not of quick or bright intellect: and unluckily, just at the crisis of voltaire's actual arrival, both schmidt and fredersdorf are off to embden, where there is "grand meeting of the embden shipping company" (with comfortable dividends, let us hope),--and have left freytag to his own resources, in case of emergency. thursday, may st, "about eight in the evening," voltaire does arrive,--most prosperous journey hitherto, by cassel, marburg, warburg, and other places famous then or since; landgraf of hessen (wise wilhelm, whom we knew) honorably lodging him; innkeepers calling him "your excellency," or "m. le comte;"--and puts up at the golden lion at frankfurt, where rooms have been ordered; freytag well aware, though he says nothing. friday morning, june st) "his excellency and suite" (voltaire and collini) have their horses harnessed, carriage out, and are about taking the road again,--when freytag, escorted by a dr. rucker, "frankfurt magistrate de mauvaise mine," [collini, p. .] and a prussian recruiting lieutenant, presents himself in voltaire's apartment! readers know voltaire's account and monsir collini's; and may now hear freytag's own, which is painted from fact:-- "introductory civilities done (nach gemachten politessen), i made him acquainted with the will of your most all-gracious majesty. he was much astonished (besturzt," no wonder); "he shut his eyes, and flung himself back in his chair." [varnhagen, p. .] calls in his friend collini, whom, at first, i had requested to withdraw. two coffers are produced, and opened, by collini; visitation, punctual, long and painful, lasted from nine a.m. till five p.m. packets are made,--a great many papers, "and one poem which he was unwilling to quit" (perilous la pucelle);--inventories are drawn, duly signed. packets are signeted, mutually sealed, rucker claps on the town-seal first, freytag and voltaire following with theirs. "he made thousand protestations of his fidelity to your majesty; became pretty weak [like fainting, think you, herr resident?], and indeed he looks like a skeleton.--we then made demand of the book, oeuvre de poesies: that, he said, was in the big case; and he knew not whether at leipzig or hamburg" (knew very well where it was); and finding nothing else would do, wrote for it, showing freytag the letter; and engaged, on his word of honor, not to stir hence till it arrived. upon which,--what is farther to be noted, though all seems now settled,--freytag, at voltaire's earnest entreaty, "for behoof of madame denis, a beloved niece, monsieur, who is waiting for me hourly at strasburg, whom such fright might be the death of!"--puts on paper a few words (the few which voltaire has twisted into "monsir," "poeshies" and so forth), to the effect, "that whenever the oeuvre comes, voltaire shall actually have leave to go." and so, after eight hours, labor (nine a.m. to five p.m.), everything is hushed again. voltaire, much shocked and astonished, poor soul, "sits quietly down to his annales" (says collini),--to working, more or less; a resource he often flies to, in such cases. madame denis, on receiving his bad news at strasburg, sets off towards him: arrives some days before the oeuvre and its big case. king friedrich had gone, may st) for some weeks, to his silesian reviews; june st (very day of this great sorting in the lion d'or), he is off again, to utmost prussia this time;--and knows, hitherto and till quite the end, nothing, except that voltaire has not turned up anywhere. ... voltaire cannot have done much at his annals, in this interim at the golden lion, "where he has liberty to walk in the garden." he has been, and is, secretly corresponding, complaining and applying, all round, at a great rate: to count stadion the imperial excellency at mainz, to french friends, to princess wilhelmina, ultimately to friedrich himself. [in--oeuvres de voltaire,--lxxv. - , &c., letters to stadion (of strange enough tenor: see varnhagen, pp. , &c.). in--oeuvres de frederic,--xxii. , and in--oeuvres de voltaire,--lxxv. , is the letter to friedrich (dateless, totally misplaced, and rendered unintelligible, in both works): letter sent through wilhelmina (see her fine remarks in forwarding it,--oeuvres de frederic,--xxvii. iii. ).] he has been receiving visits, from serene highnesses, "duke of meiningen" and the like, who happen to be in town. visit from iniquitous dutch bookseller, van duren (printer of the anti-machiavel); with whom we had such controversy once. iniquitous, now opulent and prosperous, van duren, happening to be here, will have the pleasure of calling on an old distinguished friend: distinguished friend, at sight of him entering the garden, steps hastily up, gives him a box on the ear, without words but an interjection or two; and vanishes within doors. that is something! "monsieur," said collini, striving to weep, but unable, "you have had a blow from the greatest man in the world." [collini, p. .] in short, voltaire has been exciting great sensation in frankfurt; and keeping freytag in perpetual fear and trouble. monday, th june, the big case, lumbering along, does arrive. it is carried straight to freytag's; and at eleven in the morning, collini eagerly attends to have it opened. freytag,--to whom schmidt has returned from embden, but no answer from potsdam, or the least light about those skripturen,--is in the depths of embarrassment; cannot open, till he know completely what items and skripturen he is to make sure of on opening: "i cannot, till the king's answer come!"--"but your written promise to voltaire?" "tush, that was my own private promise, monsieur; my own private prediction of what would happen; a thing pro forma", and to save madame denis's life. patience; perhaps it will arrive this very day. come again to me at three p.m.;--there is berlin post today; then again in three days:--i surely expect the order will come by this post or next; god grant it may be by this!" collini attends at three; there is note from fredersdorf: king's majesty absent in preussen all this while; expected now in two days. freytag's face visibly brightens: "wait till next post; three days more, only wait!" [varnhagen, pp. - .] and in fact, by next post, as we find, the open-sesame did punctually come. voltaire, and all this big cawing rookery of miseries and rages, would have at once taken wing again, into the serene blue, could voltaire but have had patience three days more! but that was difficult for him, too difficult. part ii. voltaire, in spite of his efforts, does get away (june th-july th). wednesday, june th, voltaire and collini ("word. of honor" fallen dubious to them, dubious or more),--having laid their plan, striving to think it fair in the circumstances,--walk out from the lion d'or, "voltaire in black-velvet coat," [ib. p. .] with their valuablest effects (la pucelle and money-box included); leaving madame denis to wait the disimprisonment of oeuvre de poesie and wind up the general business. walk out, very gingerly,--duck into a hackney-coach; and attempt to escape by the mainz gate! freytag's spy runs breathless with the news; never was a freytag in such taking. terrified freytag has to "throw on his coat;" order out three men to gallop by various routes; jump into some excellency's coach (kind excellency lent it), which is luckily standing yoked near by; and shoot with the velocity of life and death towards mainz gate. voltaire, whom the well-affected porter, suspecting something, has rather been retarding, is still there: "arrested, in the king's name!"--and there is such a scene! for freytag, too, is now raging, ignited by such percussion of the terrors; and speaks, not like what they call "a learned sergeant", but like a drilled sergeant in heat of battle: vol-taire's tongue, also, and collini's,--"your excellenz never heard such brazen-faced lies thrown on a man; that i had offered, for , thalers, to let them go; that i had"--in short, the thing has caught fire; broken into flaming chaos again. "freytag [to give one snatch from collini's side] got into the carriage along with us, and led us, in this way, across the mob of people to schmidt's [to see what was to be done with us]. sentries were put at the gate to keep out the mob; we are led into a kind of counting-room; clerk, maid-and man-servants are about; madam schmidt passes before voltaire with a disdainful air, to listen to freytag, recounting," in the tone not of a learned sergeant, what the matter is. they seize our effects; under violent protest, worse than vain. "voltaire demands to have at least his snuffbox, cannot do without snuff; they answer, 'it is usual to take everything.' "his," voltaire's, "eyes were sparkling with fury; from time to time he lifted them on mine, as if to interrogate me. all on a sudden, noticing a door half open, he dashes through it, and is out. madam schmidt forms her squad, shopmen and three maid-servants; and, at their head, rushes after. 'what?' cries he, (cannot i be allowed to--to vomit, then?'" they form circle round him, till he do it; call out collini, who finds him "bent down, with his fingers in his throat, attempting to vomit; and is terrified; 'mon dieu, are you ill, then?' he answered in a low voice, tears in his eyes, 'fingo, fingo (i pretend,'" and collini leads him back, re infecta. "the author of the henriade and merope; what a spectacle! [collini, pp. , .]... not for two hours had they done with their writings and arrangings. our portfolios and cassette (money-box) were thrown into an empty trunk [what else could they be thrown into?]--which was locked with a padlock, and sealed with a paper, voltaire's arms on the one end, and schmidt's cipher on the other. dorn, freytag's clerk, was bidden lead us away. sign of the bouc" (or billy-goat; there henceforth; lion d,or refusing to be concerned with us farther); twelve soldiers; madame denis with curtains of bayonets,--and other well-known flagrancies.... the th of july, voltaire did actually go; and then in an extreme hurry,--by his own blame, again. these final passages we touch only in the lump; voltaire's own narrative of these being so copious, flamingly impressive, and still known to everybody. how much better for voltaire and us, had nobody ever known it; had it never been written; had the poor hubbub, no better than a chance street-riot all of it, after amusing old frankfurt for a while, been left to drop into the gutters forever! to voltaire and various others (me and my poor readers included), that was the desirable thing. had there but been, among one's resources, a little patience and practical candor, instead of all that vituperative eloquence and power of tragi-comic description! nay, in that case, this wretched street-riot hubbub need not have been at all. truly m. de voltaire had a talent for speech, but lamentably wanted that of silence!--we have now only the sad duty of pointing out the principal mendacities contained in m. de voltaire's world-famous account (for the other side has been heard since that); and so of quitting a painful business. the principal mendacities--deducting all that about "poe'shie" and the like, which we will define as poetic fiction--are:-- . that of the considerable files of soldiers (almost a company of musketeers, one would think) stuck up round m. de voltaire and party, in the billy-goat; madame denis's bed-curtains being a screen of bayonets, and the like. the exact number of soldiers i cannot learn: "a schildwache of the town-guard [means one; surely does not mean four?] for each prisoner," reports the arithmetical freytag; which, in the extreme case, would have been twelve in whole (as collini gives it); and "next day we reduced them to two", says freytag. . that of the otherwise frightful night madame denis had; "the fellow dorn [freytag's clerk, a poor, hard-worked frugal creature, with frugal wife and family not far off] insisting to sit in the lady's bedroom; there emptying bottle after bottle; nay at last [as voltaire bethinks him, after a few days] threatening to"--plainly to excel all belief! a thing not to be spoken of publicly: indeed, what lady could speak of it at all, except in hints to an uncle of advanced years?--proved fact being, that madame denis, all in a flutter, that first night at the billy-goat, had engaged dorn, "for a louis-d'or," to sit in her bedroom; and did actually pay him a louis-d'or for doing so! this is very bad mendacity; clearly conscious on m. de voltaire's part, and even constructed by degrees. . very bad also is that of the moneys stolen from him by those official people. m. de voltaire knows well enough how he failed to get his moneys, and quitted frankfurt in a hurry! here, inexorably certain from the documents, and testimonies on both parts, is that final passage of the long fire-work: last crackle of the rocket before it dropped perpendicular:-- july th, complete open-sesame having come, freytag and schmidt duly invited voltaire to be present at the opening of seals (his and theirs), and to have his moneys and effects returned from that "old trunk" he speaks of. but voltaire had by this time taken a higher flight. july th, voltaire was protesting before notaries, about the unheard-of violence done him, the signal reparations due; and disdained, for the moment, to concern himself with moneys or opening of seals: "seals, moneys? ye atrocious highwaymen!" upon which, they sent poor dorn with the sealed trunk in corpore, to have it opened by voltaire himself. collini, in the billy-goat, next morning (july th)) says, he (collini) had just loaded two journey-pistols, part of the usual carriage-furniture, and they lay on the table. at sight of poor dorn darkening his chamber-door, voltaire, the prey of various flurries and high-flown vehemences, snatched one of the pistols ("pistol without powder, without flint, without lock," says voltaire; "efficient pistol just loaded", testifies collini);--snatched said pistol; and clicking it to the cock, plunged dorn-ward, with furious exclamations: not quite unlikely to have shot dorn (in the fleshy parts),--had not collini hurriedly struck up his hand, "mon dieu, monsieur!" and dorn, with trunk, instantly vanished. dorn, naturally, ran to a lawyer. voltaire, dreading trial for intended homicide, instantly gathered himself; and shot away, self and pucelle with collini, clear off;--leaving niece denis, leaving moneys and other things, to wait till to-morrow, and settle as they could. after due lapse of days, in the due legal manner, the trunk was opened; "the pounds of expenses" ( pounds and odd shillings, not pounds or more, as voltaire variously gives it) was accurately taken from it by schmidt and freytag, to be paid where due,--(in exact liquidation, "landlord of the billy-goat" so much, "hackney-coachmen, riding constables sent in chase," so much, as per bill);--and the rest, pounds s. was punctually locked up again, till voltaire should apply for it. "send it after him," friedrich answered, when inquired of; "send it after him; but not [reflects he] unless there is somebody to take his receipt for it,"--our gentleman being the man he is. which case, or any application from voltaire, never turned up. "robbed by those highwaymen of prussian agents!" exclaimed voltaire everywhere, instead of applying. never applied; nor ever forgot. would fain have engaged collini to apply,--especially when the french armies had got into frankfurt,--but collini did not see his way. [three letters to collini on the subject (january-may, ),--collini,--pp. - .] so that, except as consolatory scolding-stock for the rest of his life, voltaire got nothing of his pounds s., "with jewels and snuffbox," always lying ready in the trunk for him. and it had, i suppose, at the long last, to go by right of windfall to somebody or other:--unless, perhaps, it still lie, overwhelmed under dust and lumber, in the garrets of the old rathhaus yonder, waiting for a legal owner? what became of it, no man knows; but that no doit of it ever went freytag's or king friedrich's way, is abundantly evident. on the whole, what an entertaining narrative is that of voltaire's; but what a pity he had ever written it! this was the finishing catastrophe, tragical exceedingly; which went loud-sounding through the world, and still goes,--the more is the pity. catastrophe due throughout to three causes: first, that fredersdorf, not eichel, wrote the order; and introduced the indefinite phrase skripturen, instead of sticking by the oeuvre de poesies, the one essential point. second, that freytag was of heavy pipe-clay nature. third, that voltaire was of impatient explosive nature; and, in calamities, was wont, not to be silent and consider, but to lift up his voice (having such a voice), and with passionate melody appeal to the universe, and do worse, by way of helping himself!-- "the poor voltaire, after all!" ejaculates smelfungus. "lean, of no health, but melodious extremely (in a shallow sense); and truly very lonely, old and weak, in this world. what an end to visit fifth; began in olympus, terminates in the lock-up! his conduct, except in the jew case, has nothing of bad, at least of unprovokedly bad. 'lost my teeth,' said he, when things were at zenith. 'thought i should never weep again,'--now when they are at nadir. a sore blow to one's vanity, in presence of assembled mankind; and made still more poignant by noises of one's own adding. france forbidden to him [by expressive signallings]; miraculous goshen of prussia shut: (these old eyes, which i thought would continue dry till they closed forever, were streaming in tears;'" [letter from "mainz, th july," third day of rout or flight; to niece denis, left behind (--oeuvres,--lxxv. ).]--but soon brightened up again: courage! how voltaire now wanders about for several years, doing his annales, and other works; now visiting lyon city (which is all in gaudeamus round him, though cardinal tencin does decline him as dinner-guest); now lodging with dom calmet in the abbey of senones (ultimately in one's own first-floor, in colmar near by), digging, in calmet's benedictine libraries, stuff for his annales;--wandering about (chiefly in elsass, latterly on the swiss border), till he find rest for the sole of his foot: [purchased les delices (the delights), as he named it, a glorious summer residence, on the lake, near geneva (supplemented by a winter ditto, monrion, near lausanne), "in february, " (--oeuvres,--xvii. n.);--then purchased ferney, not far off, "in october, ;" and continued there, still more glorious, for almost twenty years thenceforth (ib. lxxvii. , xxxix. : thank the exact "clog." for both these notes).] all this may be known to readers; and we must say nothing of it. except only that, next year, in his tent, or hired lodgings at colmar, the angels visited him (abraham-like, after a sort). namely, that one evening (late in october, ), a knock came to his door, "her serene highness of baireuth wishes to see you, at the inn over there!" "inn, baireuth, say you? heavens, what?"--or, to take it in the prose form:-- "january th, , about eight p.m. [while voltaire sat desolate in francheville's, far away], the palace at baireuth,--margraf with candle at an open window, and gauze curtains near--had caught fire; inexorably flamed up, and burnt itself to ashes, it and other fine edifices adjoining. [holle, stadt bayreuth (bayreuth, ), p. .] wilhelmina is always very ill in health; they are now rebuilding their palace: margraf has suggested, 'why not try montpellier; let us have a winter there!' on that errand they are (end of october, ) got the length of colmar; and do the voltaire miracle in passing. very charming to the poor man, in his rustication here. "'eight hours in a piece, with the sister of the king of prussia" writes he: think of that, my friends! 'she loaded me with bounties; made me a most beautiful present. insisted to see my niece; would have me go with them to montpellier.' [letters (in--oeuvres,--lxxv. , ), "colmar, d october, &c. ."] other interviews and meetings they had, there and farther on: voltaire tried for the montpellier; but could not. [wrote to friedrich about it (one of his first letters after the explosion), applying to friedrich "for a passport" or letter of protection; which friedrich answers by de prades, openly laughing at it (--oeuvres,--xxiii. ).] wilhelmina wintered at montpellier, without voltaire "thank your stars!' writes friedrich to her. the friedrich-wilhelmina letters are at their best during this journey; here unfortunately very few). [--oeuvres de frederic,--xxvii. iii. - (september, , and onwards).] winter done, wilhelmina went still south, to italy, to naples, back by venice:--at naples, undergoing the grotto del cane and neighborhood, wilhelmina plucked a sprig of laurel from virgil's grave, and sent it to her brother in the prettiest manner;--is home at baireuth, new palace ready, august, ." these points, hurriedly put down, careful readers will mark, and perhaps try to keep in mind. wilhelmina's tourings are not without interest to her friends. of her voltaire acquaintanceship, especially, we shall hear again. with voltaire, friedrich himself had no farther correspondence, or as good as none, for four years and more. what voltaire writes to him (with gifts of books and the like, in the tenderest regretful pathetically cooing tone, enough to mollify rocks), friedrich usually answers by de prades, if at all,--in a quite discouraging manner. in the end of , on what hint we shall see, the correspondence recommenced, and did not cease again so long as they both lived. voltaire at potsdam is a failure, then. nothing to be made of that. law is reformed; embden has its shipping companies; industry flourishes: but as to the trismegistus of the muses coming to our hearth--! some eight of friedrich's years were filled by these three grand heads of effort; perfect peace in all his borders: and in we see how the celestial one of them has gone to wreck. "understand at last, your majesty, that there is no muses'-heaven possible on telluric terms; and cast that notion out of your head!" friedrich does cast it out, more and more, henceforth,--"ach, mein lieber sulzer, what was your knowledge, then, of that damned race?" casts it out, we perceive,--and in a handsome silently stoical way. cherishing no wrath in his heart against any poor devil; still, in some sort, loving this and the other of them; chasot, algarotti, voltaire even, who have gone from him, too weak for the place: "too weak, alas, yes; and i, was i wise to try them, then?" with a fine humanity, new hope inextinguishably welling up; really with a loyalty, a modesty, a cheery brother manhood unexpected by readers. eight of the eleven peace years are gone in these courses. the next three, still silent and smooth to the outward eye, were defaced by subterranean mutterings, electric heralds of coming storm. "meaning battle and wrestle again?" thinks friedrich, listening intent. a far other than welcome message to friedrich. a message ominous; thrice unwelcome, not to say terrible. requires to be scanned with all one's faculty; to be interpreted; to be obeyed, in spite of one's reluctances and lazinesses. to plunge again into the mahlstrom, into the clash of chaos, and dive for one's silesia, the third time;--horrible to lazy human nature: but if the facts are so) it must be done!-- chapter xiii. romish-king question; english-privateer question. the public events so called, which have been occupying mankind during this voltaire visit, require now mainly to be forgotten;--and may, for our purposes, be conveniently riddled down to three. first, king-of-the-romans question; second, english-privateer question; and then, hanging curiously related to these two, a third, or "english-french canada question." of some importance all of them; extremely important to friedrich, especially that third and least expected of them. witty hanbury williams, the english excellency at berlin, busy intriguing little creature, became distasteful there, long since; and they had to take him away: "recalled," say the documents, " d january, ." upon which, no doubt, he made a noise in downing street; and got, it appears, "re-credentials to berlin, th march, ;" [manuscript list in state-paper office.] but i think did not much reside, nor intend to reside; having all manner of wandering continental duties to do; and a world of petty businesses and widespread intrigues, russian, german and other, on hand. robinson, too, is now home; returned, (treaty of aix in his pocket); and an excellency keith, more and more famous henceforth, has succeeded him in that austrian post. busy people, these and others; now legationing in foreign parts: able in their way; but whose work proved to be that of spinning ropes from sand, and must not detain us at this time. the errand of all these britannic excellencies is upon a notable scheme, which royal george and his newcastle have devised, of getting all made tight, and the peace of aix double-riveted, so to speak, and rendered secure against every contingency,--by having archduke joseph at once elected "king of the romans." king of the romans straightway; whereby he follows at once as kaiser, should his father die; and is liable to no french or other intriguing; and we have taken a bond of fate that the balance cannot be canted again. excellent scheme, think both these heads; and are stirring germany with all their might, purse in hand, to co-operate, and do it. inconceivable what trouble these prescient minds are at, on this uncertain matter. it was britannic majesty's and newcastle's main problem in this world, for perhaps four years ( - ):--"my own child," as a fond noodle of newcastle used to call it; though i rather think it was the other that begot the wretched object, but had tired sooner of nursing it under difficulties. unhappily there needs unanimity of all the nine electors. the poorer you can buy; "bavarian subsidy," or annual pension, is only , pounds, for this invaluable object; koln is only--a mere trifle: [debate on "bavarian subsidy" (in walpole,--george the second,--i. ): endless correspondence between newcastle and his brother (curious to read, though of the most long-eared description on the duke's part), in coxe's--pelham,--ii, - (" st may, - d november, "): precise account (if anybody now wanted it), in--adelung,--vii. , , , et seq.] trifles all, in comparison of the sacred balance, and dear hanover kept scathless. but unfortunately friedrich, whom we must not think of buying, is not enthusiastic in the cause! far from it. the now kaiser has never yet got him, according to bargain, a reichs-guarantee for the peace of dresden; and needs endless flagitating to do it. [does it, at length, by way of furtherance to this romish-king business, " d january- th may, " (--adelung,--vii. ).] the chase of security and aggrandizement to the house of austria is by no means friedrich's chief aim! this of king of the romans never could be managed by britannic majesty and his newcastle. it was very triumphant, and i think at its hopefulest, in , soon after starting,--when excellency hanbury first appeared at berlin on behalf of it. that was excellency hanbury's first journey on this errand; and he made a great many more, no man readier; a stirring, intriguing creature (and always with such moneys to distribute); had victorious hopes now and then,--which one and all proved fatuous. ["june, ," hanbury for berlin (britannic majesty much anxious hanbury were there): hanbury to warsaw next (hiring polish majesty there); at dresden, does make victorious treaty, september, ; at vienna, (still on the aawe quest). coxe's--pelham,--ii. , , .] in and , the darling project met cross tides, foul winds, political whirlpools ("such a set are those german princes!")--and swam, indomitable, though near desperate, as project seldom did; till happily, in , it sank drowned:--and left his grace of newcastle asking, "well-a-day! and is not england drowned too?" we hope not. "owing mainly to friedrich's opposition!" exclaimed noodle and the political circles. which--(though it was not the fact; friedrich's opposition, once that reichs-guarantee of his own was got, being mostly passive, "push it through the stolid element, then, you stolid fellows, if you can!")--awoke considerable outcry in england. lively suspicion there, of treasonous intentions to the cause of liberty, on his prussian majesty's part; and--coupled with other causes that had risen--a great deal of ill-nature, in very dark condition, against his prussian majesty. and it was not friedrich's blame, chiefly or at all. if indeed friedrich would have forwarded the enterprise:--but he merely did not; and the element was viscous, stolid. austria itself had wished the thing; but with nothing like such enthusiasm as king george;--to whom the refusal, by friedrich and fate, was a bitter disappointment. poor britannic majesty: archduke joseph came to be king of the romans, in due course; right enough. and long before that event (almost before george had ended his vain effort to hasten it), austria turned on its pivot; and had clasped, not england to its bosom, but france (thanks to that exquisite kaunitz); and was in arms against england, dear hanover, and the cause of liberty! vain to look too far ahead,--especially with those fish-eyes. smelfungus has a note on kaunitz; readable, though far too irreverent of that superlative diplomatist, and unjust to the real human merits he had. "the struggles of britannic george to get a king of the romans elected were many. friedrich never would bite at this salutary scheme for strengthening the house of austria: 'a bad man, is not he?' and all the while, the court of austria seemed indifferent, in comparison;--and graf von kaunitz-rietberg, ambassador at paris, was secretly busy, wheeling austria round on its axis, france round on its; and bringing them to embrace in political wedlock! feat accomplished by his excellency kaunitz (paris, - );--accomplished, not consummated; left ready for consummating when he, kaunitz, now home as prime minister, or helmsman on the new tack, should give signal. thought to be one of the cleverest feats ever done by diplomatic art. "admirable feat, for the diplomatic art which it needed; not, that i can see, for any other property it had. feat which brought, as it was intended to do, a third silesian war; death of about a million fighting men, and endless woes to france and austria in particular. an exquisite diplomatist this kaunitz; came to be prince, almost to be god-brahma in austria, and to rule the heavens and earth (having skill with his sovereign lady, too), in an exquisite and truly surprising manner. sits there sublime, like a gilt crockery idol, supreme over the populations, for near forty years. "one reads all biographies and histories of kaunitz: [hormayr's (in--oesterreichischer plutarch,--iv. tes, - ); &c. &c.] one catches evidence of his well knowing his diplomatic element, and how to rule it and impose on it. traits there are of human cunning, shrewdness of eye;--of the loftiest silent human pride, stoicism, perseverance of determination,--but not, to my remembrance, of any conspicuous human wisdom whatever, one asks, where is his wisdom? enumerate, then, do me the pleasure of enumerating, what he contrived that the heavens answered yes to, and not no to? all silent! a man to give one thoughts. sits like a god-brahma, human idol of gilt crockery, with nothing in the belly of it (but a portion of boiled chicken daily, very ill-digested); and such a prostrate worship, from those around him, as was hardly seen elsewhere. grave, inwardly unhappy-looking; but impenetrable, uncomplaining. seems to have passed privately an act of parliament: 'kaunitz-rietberg here, as you see him, is the greatest now alive; he, i privately assure you!'--and, by continued private determination, to have got all men about him to ratify the same, and accept it as valid. much can be done in that way with stupidish populations; nor is beau brummel the only instance of it, among ourselves, in the later epochs. "kaunitz is a man of long hollow face, nose naturally rather turned into the air, till artificially it got altogether turned thither. rode beautifully; but always under cover; day by day, under glass roof in the riding-school, so many hours or minutes, watch in hand. hated, or dreaded, fresh air above everything: so that the kaiserinn, a noble lover of it, would always good-humoredly hasten to shut her windows when he made her a visit. sumptuous suppers, soirees, he had; the pink of nature assembling in his house; galaxy, domestic and foreign, of all the vienna stars. through which he would walk one turn; glancing stoically, over his nose, at the circumambient whirlpool of nothings,--happy the nothing to whom he would deign a word, and make him something. o my friends!--in short, it was he who turned austria on its axis, and france on its, and brought them to the kissing pitch. pompadour and maria theresa kissing mutually, like righteousness and--not peace, at any rate! 'ma chere cousine,' could i have believed it, at one time?" a second prussian-english cause of offence had arisen, years ago, and was not yet settled; nay is now (spring, ) at its height or crisis: offence in regard to english privateering. friedrich, ever since ost-friesland was his, has a considerable foreign trade,--not as formerly from stettin alone, into the baltic russian ports; but from embden now, which looks out into the atlantic and the general waters of europe and the world. about which he is abundantly careful, as we have seen. anxious to go on good grounds in this matter, and be accurately neutral, and observant of the maritime laws, he had, in , directly after coming to possession of ost-friesland, instructed excellency andrie, his minister in london, to apply at the fountain-head, and expressly ask of my lord carteret: "are hemp, flax, timber contraband?" "no," answered carteret; andrie reported, no. and on this basis they acted, satisfactorily, for above a year. but, in october, , the english began violently to take planks for contraband; and went on so, and ever worse, till the end of the war. [adelung, vii. .] excellency andrie has gone home; and a secretary of legation, herr michel, is now here in his stead:--a good few dreary old pamphlets of michel's publishing (official declaration, official arguments, documents, in french and english, to and vo, on this extinct subject), if you go deep into the dust-bins, can be disinterred here to this day. tread lightly, touching only the chief summits. the haggle stretches through five years, - ,--and then at last ceases haggling:-- "january th, [war still on foot, but near ending], michel applies about injuries, about various troubles and unjust seizures of ships; secretary chesterfield answers, 'we have an admiralty court; beyond question, right shall be done.' 'would it were soon, then!' hints michel. chesterfield, who is otherwise politeness itself, confidently hopes so; but cannot push judicial people. "february, . admiralty being still silent, michel applies by memorial, in a specific case: 'two stettin ships, laden with wine from bordeaux, and a third vessel,' of some other prussian port, laden with corn; taken in ramsgate roads, whither they had been driven by storm: 'give me these ships back!' memorial to his grace of newcastle, this. upon which the admiralty sits; with deliberation, decides (june, ), 'yes!' and 'there is hope that a treaty of commerce will follow;' [--gentleman's magazine,--xviii. (for ), pp. , .] which was far from being the issue just yet! "on the contrary, his prussian majesty's merchants, perhaps encouraged by this piece of british justice, came forward with more and ever more complaints and instances. to winnow the strictly true out of which, from the half-true or not provable, his prussian majesty has appointed a 'commission,'" fit people, and under strict charges, i can believe, "commission takes (to friedrich's own knowledge) a great deal of pains;--and it does not want for clean corn, after all its winnowing. plenty of facts, which can be insisted on as indisputable. 'such and such merchant ships [schedules of them given in, with every particular, time, name, cargo, value] have been laid hold of on the ocean highway, and carried into english ports;--out of which his prussian majesty has, in all friendliness, to beg that they be now re-delivered, and justice done.' 'contraband of war,' answer the english; 'sorry to have given your majesty the least uneasiness; but they were carrying'--'no, pardon me; nothing contraband discoverable in them;' and hands in his verified schedules, with perfectly polite, but more and more serious request, that the said ships be restored, and damages accounted for. 'our prize courts have sat on every ship of them,' eagerly shrieks newcastle all along: 'what can we do!' 'nay a special commission shall now [ , date not worth seeking farther]--special commission shall now sit, till his prussian majesty get every satisfaction in the world!' "english special commission, counterpart of that prussian one (which is in vacation by this time), sits accordingly: but is very slow; reports for a long while nothing, except, 'oh, give us time!' and reports, in the end, nothing in the least satisfactory. ["have entirely omitted the essential points on which the matter turns; and given such confused account, in consequence, that it is not well possible to gather from their report any clear and just idea of it at all." (verdict of the prussian commission: which had been re-assembled by friedrich, on this report from the english one, and adjured to speak only "what they could answer to god, to the king and to the whole world," concerning it:--seyfarth,--ii. .)] 'prize courts? special commission?' thinks friedrich: 'i must have my ships back!' and, after a great many months, and a great many haggles, friedrich, weary of giving time, instructs michel to signify, in proper form (' d november, '), 'that the law's delay seemed to be considerable in england; that till the fulness of time did come, and right were done his poor people, he, friedrich himself, would hopefully wait; but now at last must, provisionally, pay his poor people their damages;--would accordingly, from the d day of april next, cease the usual payment to english bondholders on their silesian bonds; and would henceforth pay no portion farther of that debt, principal or interest [about , pounds now owing], but proceed to indemnify his own people from it, to the just length,--and deposit the remainder in bank, till britannic majesty and prussian could unite in ordering payment of it; which one trusts may be soon!'" [walpole, i. ; seyfarth, ii. , ; adelung, vii. - ;--gentleman's magazine;--&c.] "november d, , resolved on by friedrich;" "consummated april d, :" these are the dates of this decisive passage (michel's biggest pamphlet, french and english, issuing on the occasion). february th, , no redress obtainable, poor newcastle shrieks, "can't, must n't; astonishing!" and "the people are in great wrath about it. april th, friedrich replies, in the kindest terms; but sticking to his point." [adelung, vii. - .] and punctually continued so, and did as he had said. with what rumor in the city, commentaries in the newspapers and flutter to his grace of newcastle, may be imagined. "what a nephew have i!" thinks britannic majesty: "hah, and embden, ost-friesland, is not his. embden itself is mine!" a great deal of ill-nature was generated, in england, by this one affair of the privateers, had there been no other: and in dark cellars of men's minds (empty and dark on this matter), there arose strange caricature portraitures of friedrich: and very mad notions--of friedrich's perversity, astucity, injustice, malign and dangerous intentions--are more or less vocal in the old newspapers and distinguished correspondences of those days. of which, this one sample: to what height the humor of the english ran against friedrich is still curiously noticeable, in a small transaction of tragic ex-jacobite nature, which then happened, and in the commentaries it awoke in their imagination. cameron of lochiel, who forced his way through the nether-bow in edinburgh, had been a notable rebel; but got away to france, and was safe in some military post there. dr. archibald cameron, lochiel's brother, a studious contemplative gentleman, bred to physic, but not practising except for charity, had quitted his books, and attended the rebel march in a medical capacity,--"not from choice," as he alleged, "but from compulsion of kindred;"--and had been of help to various loyalists as well; a foe of human pain, and not of anything else whatever: in fact, as appears, a very mild form of jacobite rebel. he too got, to france; but had left his wife, children and frugal patrimonies behind him,--and had to return in proper concealment, more than once, to look after them. two visits, i think two, had been successfully transacted, at intervals; but the third, in , proved otherwise. march th, , wind of him being had, and the slot-hounds uncoupled and put on his trail, poor cameron was unearthed "at the laird of glenbucket's," and there laid hold of; locked in edinburgh castle,--thence to the tower, and to trial for high treason. which went against him; in spite of his fine pleadings, and manful conciliatory appearances and manners. executed th june, . his poor wife had twice squeezed her way into the royal levee at kensington, with petition for mercy;--fainted, the first time, owing to the press and the agitation; but did, the second time, fall on her knees before royal george, and supplicate,--who had to turn a deaf ear, royal gentleman; i hope, not without pain. the truth is, poor cameron---though, i believe, he had some vague jacobite errands withal--never would have harmed anybody in the rebel way; and might with all safety have been let live. but his grace of newcastle, and the english generally, had got the strangest notion into their head. those appointments of earl marischal to paris, of tyrconnel to berlin; friedrich's nefarious spoiling of that salutary romish-king project; and now simultaneous with that, his nefarious oonduct in our privateer business: all this, does it not prove him--as the hanburys, demon newswriters and well-informed persons have taught us--to be one of the worst men living, and a king bent upon our ruin? what is certain, though now well-nigh inconceivable, it was then, in the upper classes and political circles, universally believed, that this dr. cameron was properly an "emissary of the king of prussia's;" that cameron's errand here was to rally the jacobite embers into new flame;--and that, at the first clear sputter, friedrich had , men, of his best prussian-spartan troops, ready to ferry over, and help jacobitism to do the matter this time! [walpole,--george the second,--i. , ; and--letters to horace mann--(summer, ), for the belief held. adelung, vii. - , for the poor cameron tragedy itself.] about as likely as that the cham of tartary had interfered in the "bangorian controversy" (raging, i believe, some time since,--in cremorne gardens fist of all, which was bishop hoadly's place,--to the terror of mitres and wigs); or that, the emperor of china was concerned in meux's porter-brewery, with an eye to sale of nux vomica. among all the kings that then were, or that ever were, king friedrich distinguished himself by the grand human virtue (one of the most important for kings and for men) of keeping well at home,--of always minding his own affairs. these were, in fact, the one thing he minded; and he did that well. he was vigilant, observant all round, for weather-symptoms; thoroughly well informed of what his neighbors had on hand; ready to interfere, generally in some judicious soft way, at any moment, if his own countries or their interests came to be concerned; certain, till then, to continue a speculative observer merely. he had knowledge, to an extent of accuracy which often surprised his neighbors: but there is no instance in which he meddled where he had no business;--and few, i believe, in which he did not meddle, and to the purpose, when he had. later in his reign, in the time of the american war ( ), there is, on the english part, in regard to friedrich, an equally distracted notion of the same kind brought to light. again, a conviction, namely, or moral-certainty, that friedrich is about assisting the american insurgents against us;--and a very strange and indubitable step is ordered to be taken in consequence. [--oeuvres de frederic,--xxvi. (friedrich to prince henri, th june, .)] as shall be noticed, if we have time. no enlightened public, gazing for forty or fifty years into an important neighbor gentleman, with intent for practical knowledge of him, could well, though assisted by the cleverest hanburys, and demon and angel newswriters, have achieved less!-- question third is--but question third, so extremely important was it in the sequel, will deserve a chapter to itself. chapter xiv. there is like to be another war ahead. question third, french-english canada question, is no other than, under a new form, our old friend the inexorable jenkins's-ear question; soul of all these controversies, and--except silesia and friedrich's question--the one meaning they have! huddled together it had been, at the peace of aix-la-chapelle, and left for closed under "new spanish assiento treaty," or i know not what:--you thought to close it by diplomatic putty and varnish in that manner: and here, by law of nature, it comes welling up on you anew. for it springs from the centre, as we often say, and is the fountain and determining element of very large sections of human history, still hidden in the unseen time. "ocean highway to be free; for the english and others who have business on it?" the english have a real and weighty errand there. "english to trade and navigate, as the law of nature orders, on those seas; and to ponderate or preponderate there, according to the real amount of weight they and their errand have? or, english to have their ears torn off; and imperious french-spanish bourbons, grounding on extinct pope's-meridians, gloire and other imaginary bases, to take command?" the incalculable yankee nations, shall they be in effect yangkee ("english" with a difference), or frangcee ("french" with a difference)? a question not to be closed by diplomatic putty, try as you will! by treaty of utrecht ( ), "all nova scotia [acadie as then called], with newfoundland and the adjacent islands," was ceded to the english, and has ever since been possessed by them accordingly. unluckily that treaty omitted to settle a line of boundary to landward, or westward, for their "nova scotia;" or generally, a boundary from north to south between the british colonies and the french in those parts. the treaty of aix-la-chapelle, eager to conclude itself, stipulated, with great distinctness, that cape breton, all its guns and furnishings entire, should be restored at once (france extremely anxious on that point); but for the rest had, being in such haste, flung itself altogether into the principle of status-quo-ante, as the short way for getting through. the boundary in america was vaguely defined, as "now to be what it had been before the war." it had, for many years before the war, been a subject of constant altercation. acadie, for instance, the nova scotia of the english since utrecht time, the french maintained to mean only "the peninsula", or nook included between the ocean waters and the bay of fundy. and, more emphatic still, on the "isthmus" (or narrow space, at northwest, between said bay and the ocean or the gulf of st. lawrence) they had built "forts:" "stockades," or i know not what, "on the missaquish" (hodie missiquash), a winding difficult river, northmost of the bay of fundy's rivers, which the french affirm to be the real limit in that quarter. the sparse french colonists of the interior, subjects of england, are not to be conciliated by perfect toleration of religion and the like; but have an invincible proclivity to join their countrymen outside, and wish well to those stockades on the missiquash. it must be owned, too, the french official people are far from scrupulous or squeamish; show energy of management; and are very skilful with the indians, who are an important item. canada is all french; has its quebecs, montreals, a st. lawrence river occupied at all the good military points, and serving at once as bulwark and highway. southward and westward, france, in its exuberant humor, claims for itself the whole basin of the st. lawrence, and the whole basin of the mississippi as well: "have not we stockades, castles, at the military points; fortified places in louisiana itself?" yes;--and how many ploughed fields bearing crop have you? it is to the good plougher, not ultimately to the good cannonier, that those portions of creation will belong? the exuberant intention of the french is, after getting back cape breton, "to restrict those aspiring english colonies," mere ploughers and traders, hardly numbering above one million, "to the space eastward of the alleghany mountains," over which they are beginning to climb, "and southward of that missiquash, or, at farthest, of the penobscot and kennebunk" (rivers hodie in the state of maine). [la gallisonniere, governor of canada's despatch, "quebec, th january, " (cited in bancroft,--history of the united states,--boston, , et seq.). "the english inhabitants are computed at , , ; french (in canada , , in louisiana , ), in all , :"--history of british dominions in north america--(london, ), p. . bancroft (i. ) counts the english colonists in " about , , ."] that will be a very pretty parallelogram for them and their ploughs and trade-packs: we, who are , odd, expert with the rifle far beyond them, will occupy the rest of the world. such is the french exuberant notion: and, october, , before signature at aix-la-chapelle, much more before delivery of cape breton, the commandant at detroit (west end of lake erie) had received orders, "to oppose peremptorily every english establishment not only thereabouts, but on the ohio or its tributaries; by monition first; and then by force, if monition do not serve." establishments of any solidity or regularity the english have not in those parts; beyond the alleghanies all is desert: "from the canada lakes to the carolinas, mere hunting-ground of the six nations; dotted with here and there an english trading-house, or adventurous squatter's farm:"--to whom now the french are to say: "home you, instantly; and leave the desert alone!" the french have distinct orders from court, and energetically obey the same; the english have indistinct orders from nature, and do not want energy, or mind to obey these: confusions and collisions are manifold, ubiquitous, continual. of which the history would be tiresome to everybody; and need only be indicated here by a mark or two of the main passages. in , three things had occurred worth mention. first, captain coram, a public-spirited half-pay gentleman in london, originator of the foundling hospital there, had turned his attention to the fine capabilities and questionable condition of nova scotia, with few inhabitants, and those mostly disaffected; and, by many efforts now forgotten, had got the government persuaded to despatch (june, ) a kind of half-pay or military colony to those parts: "more than , persons disbanded officers, soldiers and marines, under colonel edward cornwallis," brother of the since famous lord cornwallis. [coxe's--pelham,--ii. .] who landed, accordingly, on that rough shore; stockaded themselves in, hardily endeavoring and enduring; and next year, built a town for themselves; town of halifax (so named from the then lord halifax, president of the board of trade); which stands there, in more and more conspicuous manner, at this day. thanks to you, captain coram; though the ungrateful generations (except dimly in coram street, near your hospital) have lost all memory of you, as their wont is. blockheads; never mind them. the second thing is, an "ohio company" has got together in virginia; governor there encouraging; britannic majesty giving charter (march, ), and what is still easier, " , acres of land" in those ohio regions, since you are minded to colonize there in a fixed manner. britannic majesty thinks the country "between the monongahela and the kanahawy" (southern feeders of ohio) will do best; but is not particular. ohio company, we shall find, chose at last, as the eligible spot, the topmost fork or very head of the ohio,--where monongahela river from south and alleghany river from north unite to form "the ohio;" where stands, in our day, the big sooty town of pittsburg and its industries. ohio company was laudably eager on this matter; land-surveyor in it (nay, at length, "colonel of a regiment of men raised by the ohio company") was mr. george washington, whose family had much promoted the enterprise; and who was indeed a steady-going, considerate, close-mouthed young gentleman; who came to great distinction in the end. french governor (la gallisonniere still the man), getting wind of this ohio company still in embryo, anticipates the birth; sends a vigilant commandant thitherward, "with men, to trace and occupy the valleys of the ohio and of the st. lawrence, as far as detroit." that officer "buries plates of lead," up and down the country, with inscriptions signifying that "from the farthest ridge, whence water trickled towards the ohio, the country belonged to france; and nails the bourbon lilies to the forest-trees; forbidding the indians all trade with the english; expels the english traders from the towns of the miamis; and writes to the governor of pennsylvania, requesting him to prevent all farther intrusion." vigilant governors, these french, and well supported from home. duquesne, the vigilant successor of la gallisonniere (who is now wanted at home, for still more important purposes, as will appear), finding "the lead plates" little regarded, sends, by and by, new soldiers from detroit into those ohio parts (march of miles or so);--"the french government having, in this year , shipped no fewer than , men for their american garrisons;"--and where the ohio company venture on planting a stockade, tears it tragically out, as will be seen! the third thing worth notice, in , and still more in the following year and years, had reference to nova scotia again. one la corne, "a recklessly sanguinary partisan" (military gentleman of the trenck, indigo-trenck species), nestles himself (winter, - ) on that missiquash river, head of the bay of fundy; in the village of chignecto, which is admittedly english ground, though inhabited by french. la corne compels, or admits, the inhabitants to swear allegiance to france again; and to make themselves useful in fortifying, not to say in drilling,--with an eye to military work. hearing of which, colonel cornwallis and incipient halifax are much at a loss. they in vain seek aid from the governor of massachusetts ("assembly to be consulted first, to be convinced; constitutional rights:--nothing possible just, at once");--and can only send a party of men, to try and recover chignecto at any rate. april th, , the arrive there; order la corne instantly to go. bourbon flag is waving on his dikes, this side the missiquash: high time that he and it were gone. "village priest [flamingly orthodox, as all these priests are, all picked for the business], with his own hands, sets fire to the church in chignecto; "inhabitants burn their houses, and escape across the river,--la corne as rear-guard. la corne, across the missiquash, declares, that, to a certainty, he is now on french ground; that he will, at all hazards, defend the territory here; and maintain every inch of it,--"till regular commissioners [due ever since the treaty of aix, had not that romish-king business been so pressing] have settled what the boundary between the two countries is."--chignecto being ashes, and the neighboring population gone, cornwallis and his four hundred had to return to halifax. it was not till autumn following, that chignecto could be solidly got hold of by the halifax people; nor till a long time after, that la corne could be dislodged from his stockades, and sent packing. [--gentleman's magazine,--xx. , .] september, , a new expedition on chignecto found the place populous again, indians, french "peasants" (seemingly soldiers of a sort); who stood very fiercely behind their defences, and needed a determined on-rush, and "volley close into their noses," before disappearing. this was reckoned the first military bloodshed (if this were really military on the french side). and in november following, some small british cruiser on those coasts, falling in with a french brigantine, from quebec, evidently carrying military stores and solacements for la corne, seized the same; by force of battle, since not otherwise,--three men lost to the british, five to the french,--and brought it to halifax. "lawful and necessary!" says the admiralty court; "sheer piracy!" shriek the french;--matters breaking out into actual flashes of flame, in this manner. british commissions, two in number, names not worth mention, have, at last, in this year , gone to paris; and are holding manifold conferences with french ditto,--to no "purpose, any of them. one reads the dreary tattle of the duke of newcastle upon it, in the years onward: "just going to agree," the duke hopes; "some difficulties, but everybody, french and english, wanting mere justice; and our and their commissioners being in such a generous spirit, surely they will soon settle it." [his letters, in coxe's--pelham,--ii. ("september, "), &c.] they never did or could; and steadily it went on worsening. that notable private assertion of the french, that canada and louisiana mean all america west of the alleghanies, had not yet oozed out to the english; but it is gradually oozing out, and that england will have to content itself with the moderate country lying east of that blue range. "not much above a million of you", say the french; "and surely there is room enough east of the alleghanies? we, with our couple of colonies, are the real america;--counting, it is true, few settlers as yet; but there shall be innumerable; and, in the mean while, there are army-detachments, block-houses, fortified posts, command of the rivers, of the indian nations, of the water-highways and military keys (to you unintelligible); and we will make it good!" the exact cipher of the french (guessed to be , ), and their precise relative-value as tillers and subduers of the soil, in these two colonies of theirs, as against the english thirteen, would be interesting to know: curious also their little bill, of trouble taken in creating the continent of america, in discovering it, visiting, surveying, planting, taming, making habitable for man:--and what rhadamanthus would have said of those two documents! enough, the french have taken some trouble, more or less,--especially in sending soldiers out, of late. the french, to certain thousands, languidly tilling, hunting and adventuring, and very skilful in wheedling the indian nations, are actually there; and they, in the silence of rhadamanthus, decide that merit shall not miss its wages for want of asking. "ours is america west of the alleghanies," say the french, openly before long. "yours? yours, of all people's?" answer the english; and begin, with lethargic effort, to awake a little to that stupid foreign question; important, though stupid and foreign, or lying far off. who really owned all america, probably few englishmen had ever asked themselves, in their dreamiest humors, nor could they now answer; but, that north america does not belong to the french, can be doubtful to no english creature. pitt, chatham as we now call him, is perhaps the englishman to whom, of all others, it is least doubtful. pitt is in office at last,--in some subaltern capacity, "paymaster of the forces" for some years past, in spite of majesty's dislike of the outspoken man;--and has his eyes bent on america;--which is perhaps (little as you would guess it such) the main fact in that confused controversy just now!-- in ( th august of that year), goes message from the home government, "stand on your defence, over there! repel by force any foreign encroachments on british dominions." [holderness, or robinson our old friend.] and directly on the heel of this, november, , the virginia governor,--urged, i can believe, by the ohio company, who are lying wind-bound so long,--despatches mr. george washington to inquire officially of the french commandant in those parts, "what he means, then, by invading the british territories, while a solid peace subsists?" mr. george had a long ride up those desert ranges, and down again on the other side; waters all out, ground in a swash with december rains, no help or direction but from wampums and wigwams: mr. george got to ohio head (two big rivers, monongahela from south, alleghany from north, coalescing to form a double-big ohio for the far west); and thought to himself, "what an admirable three-legged place: might be chief post of those regions,--nest-egg of a diligent ohio company.!" mr. george, some way down the ohio river, found a strongish french fort, log-barracks, " river-boats, with more building," and a french commandant, who cannot enter into questions of a diplomatic nature about peace and war: "my orders are, to keep this fort and territory against all comers; one must do one's orders, monsieur: adieu!" and the steadfast washington had to return; without result,--except that of the admirable three-legged place for dropping your nest-egg, in a commanding and defenceful way! ohio company, painfully restrained so long in that operation, took the hint at once. despatched, early in , a party of some forty or thirty-three stout fellows, with arms about them, as well as tools, "go build us, straightway, a stockade in the place indicated; you are warranted to smite down, by shot or otherwise, any gainsayer!" and furthermore, directly got on foot, and on the road thither, a "regiment of men," washington as colonel to it, for perfecting said stockade, and maintaining it against all comers. washington and his hundred-and-fifty--wagonage, provender and a piece or two of cannon, all well attended to--vigorously climbed the mountains; got to the top th may, ; and there met the thirty-three in retreat homewards! stockade had been torn out, six weeks ago ( th april last); by overwhelming french force, from the gentleman who said adieu, and had the river-boats, last fall. and, instead of our stockade, they are now building a regular french fort,--fort duquesne, they call it, in honor of their governor duquesne:--against which, washington and his regiment, what are they? washington, strictly surveying, girds himself up for the retreat; descends diligently homewards again, french and indians rather harassing his rear. in-trenches himself, st july, at what he calls "fort necessity," some way down; and the second day after, d july, , is attacked in vigorous military manner. defends himself, what he can, through nine hours of heavy rain; has lost thirty, the french only three;--and is obliged to capitulate: "free withdrawal" the terms given. this is the last i heard of the ohio company; not the last of washington, by any means. ohio company,--its judicious nest-egg squelched in this manner, nay become a fiery cockatrice or "fort duquesne:"--need not be mentioned farther. by this time, surely high time now, serious military preparations were on foot; especially in the various colonies most exposed. but, as usual, it is a thing of most admired disorder; every governor his own king or vice-king, horses are pulling different ways: small hope there, unless the home government (where too i have known the horses a little discrepant, unskilful in harness!) will seriously take it in hand. the home government is taking it in hand; horses willing, if a thought unskilful. royal highness of cumberland has selected general braddock, and two regiments of the line (the two that ran away at prestonpans,--absit omen). royal highness consults, concocts, industriously prepares, completes; modestly certain that here now is the effectual remedy. about new-year's day, , braddock, with his two regiments and completed apparatus, got to sea. arrived, th february, at williamsburg in virginia ("at hampden, near there," if anybody is particular); found now that this was not the place to arrive at; that he would lose six weeks of marching, by not having landed in pennsylvania instead. found that his stores had been mispacked at cork,--that this had happened, and also that;--and, in short, that chaos had been very considerably prevalent in this adventure of his; and did still, in all that now lay round it, much prevail. poor man: very brave, they say; but without knowledge, except of field-drill; a heart of iron, but brain mostly of pipe-clay quality. a man severe and rigorous in regimental points; contemptuous of the colonial militias, that gathered to help him; thrice-contemptuous of the indians, who were a vital point in the enterprise ahead. chaos is very strong,--especially if within oneself as well! poor braddock took the colonial militia regiments, colonel washington as aide-de-camp; took the indians and appendages, colonial chaos much presiding: and after infinite delays and confused hagglings, got on march;-- , regular, and of all sorts say , strong. got on march; sprawled and haggled up the alleghanies,--such a commissariat, such a wagon-service, as was seldom seen before. poor general and army, he was like to be starved outright, at one time; had not a certain mr. franklin come to him, with charitable oxen, with pounds-worth provisions live and dead, subscribed for at philadelphia,--mr benjamin franklin, since celebrated over all the world; who did not much admire this iron-tempered general with the pipe-clay brain. [franklin's autobiography;--gentleman's magazine,--xxv. .] thereupon, however, braddock took the road again; sprawled and staggered, at the long last, to the top; "at the top of the alleghanies, th june;"--and forward down upon fort duquesne, "roads nearly perpendicular in some places," at the rate of "four miles" and even of "one mile per day." much wood all about,--and the indians to rear, in a despised and disgusted condition, instead of being vanward keeping their brightest outlook. july th, braddock crossed the monongahela without hindrance. july th, was within ten miles of fort duquesne; plodding along; marching through a wood, when,--ambuscade of french and indians burst out on him, french with defences in front and store of squatted indians on each flank,--who at once blew him to destruction, him and his enterprise both. his men behaved very ill; sensible perhaps that they were not led very well. wednesday, th july, , about three in the afternoon. his two regiments gave one volley and no more; utterly terror-struck by the novelty, by the misguidance, as at prestonpans before; shot, it was whispered, several of their own officers, who were furiously rallying them with word and sword: of the sixty officers, only five were not killed or wounded. brave men clad in soldier's uniform, victims of military chaos, and miraculous nescience, in themselves and in others: can there be a more distressing spectacle? imaginary workers are all tragical, in this world; and come to a bad end, sooner or later, they or their representatives here: but the imaginary soldier--he is paid his wages (he and his poor nation are) on the very nail! braddock, refusing to fall back as advised, had five horses shot under him; was himself shot, in the arm, in the breast; was carried off the field in a death-stupor,--forward all that night, next day and next (to fort cumberland, seventy miles to rear);--and on the fourth day died. the colonial militias had stood their ground, colonel washington now of some use again;--who were ranked well to rearward; and able to receive the ambuscade as an open fight. stood striving, for about three hours. and would have saved the retreat; had there been a retreat, instead of a panic rout, to save. the poor general--ebbing homewards, he and his enterprise, hour after hour--roused himself twice only, for a moment, from his death-stupor: once, the first night, to ejaculate mournfully, "who would have thought it!" and again once, he was heard to say, days after, in a tone of hope, "another time we will do better!" which were his last words, "death following in a few minutes." weary, heavy-laden soul; deep sleep now descending on it,--soft sweet cataracts of sleep and rest; suggesting hope, and triumph over sorrow, after all:--"another time we will do better;" and in few minutes was dead! [manuscript journal of general braddock's expedition in (british museum: king's library, e, king's mss. ): raw-material, this, of the official account (--london gazette,--august th, ), where it is faithfully enough abridged. will perhaps be printed by some inquiring pittsburgher, one day, after good study on the ground itself? it was not till that the bones of the slain were got buried, and the infant pittsburg (now so busy and smoky) rose from the ashes of fort duquesne.] the colonial populations, who had been thinking of triumphal arches for braddock's return, are struck to the nadir by this news. french and indians break over the mountains, harrying, burning, scalping; the black settlers fly inward, with horror and despair: "and the home government, too, can prove a broken reed? what is to become of us; whose is america to be?"--and in fact, under such guidance from home governments and colonial, there is no saying how the matter might have gone. to men of good judgment, and watching on the spot, it was, for years coming, an ominous dubiety,--the chances rather for the french, "who understand war, and are all under one head." [governor pownal's memorial (of which infra), in thackeray's--life of chatham.--] but there happens to be in england a mr. pitt, with royal eyes more and more indignantly set on this business; and in the womb of time there lie combinations and conjunctures. if the heavens have so decreed!-- the english had, before this, despatched their admiral boscawen, to watch certain war-ships, which they had heard the french were fitting out for america; and to intercept the same, by capture if not otherwise. boscawen is on the outlook, accordingly; descries a french fleet, coast of newfoundland, first days of june; loses it again in the fogs of the gulf-stream; but has, june th (a month before that of braddock), come up with two frigates of it, and, after short broadsiding, made prizes of them. and now, on this braddock disaster, orders went, "to seize and detain all french ships whatsoever, till satisfaction were had." and, before the end of this year, about " french ships (value, say, , pounds)" were seized accordingly, where seizable on their watery ways. which the french ("our own conduct in america being so undeniably proper") characterized as utter piracy and robbery;--and getting no redress upon it, by demand in that style, had to take it as no better than meaning open war declared. [paris, december st, , minister rouille's remonstrance, with menace "unless--:" london, january th, , secretary fox's reply, "well then, no!" due official "declaration of war" followed: on the english part, " th may, ;" " th june," on the french part.] chapter xv.--anti-prussian war-symptoms: friedrich visible for a moment. the burning of akakia, and those foolish maupertuis-voltaire duellings (by syringe and pistol) had by no means been friedrich's one concern, at the time voltaire went off. precisely in those same months, carnival - , king friedrich had, in a profoundly private manner, come upon certain extensive anti-prussian symptoms, austrian, russian, saxon, of a most dangerous, abstruse, but at length indubitable sort; and is, ever since, prosecuting his investigation of them, as a thing of life and death to him! symptoms that there may well be a third silesian war ripening forward, inevitable, and of weightier and fiercer quality than ever. so the symptoms indicate to friedrich, with a fatally increasing clearness. and, of late, he has to reflect withal: "if these french-english troubles bring war, our symptoms will be ripe!" as, in fact, they proved to be. king friedrich's investigations and decisions on this matter will be touched upon, farther on: but readers can take, in the mean time, the following small documentary piece as note of preparation. the facts shadowed forth are of these years now current ( - ), though this judicial deposition to the facts is of ulterior date ( ). in the course of , as will well appear farther on, it became manifest to the saxon court and to all the world that somebody had been playing traitor in the dresden archives. somebody, especially in the foreign department; copying furtively, and imparting to prussia, despatches of the most secret, thrice-secret and thrice-dangerous nature, which lie reposited there! who can have done it? guesses, researcher, were many: at length suspicion fell on one menzel, a kanzellist (government clerk), of good social repute, and superior official ability; who is not himself in the foreign department at all; but whose way of living, or the like sign, had perhaps seemed questionable. in , menzel, and the saxon court and its businesses, were all at warsaw; menzel dreaming of no disturbance, but prosecuting his affairs as formerly,--when, one day, september th (the slot-hounds, long scenting and tracking, being now at the mark), menzel and an associate of his were suddenly arrested. confronted with their crimes, with the proofs in readiness; and next day,--made a clear confession, finding the matter desperate otherwise, copy of which, in notarial form, exact and indisputable, the reader shall now see. as this story, of friedrich and the saxon archives, was very famous in the world, and mythic circumstances are prevalent, let us glance into it with our own eyes, since there is opportunity in brief compass. "extractus protocollorum in inquisitions-sachen,"--that is to say, extract of protocols in inquest "contra friedrich wilhelm menzel and johann benjamin erfurth." "at warsaw, th september, : this day, in the king's name, in presence of legationsrath von saul, hofrath ferbers and kriegsrath von gotze the undersigned: examination of the kabinets-kanzellist menzel, arrested yesterday, and now brought from his place of arrest to the royal palace;--who, admonitus de dicenda veritate, made answers, to the effect following:-- "his name is friedrich wilhelm menzel; age thirty-eight; is a son of the late hofrath and privy-referendary menzel, who formerly was in the king's service, and died a few years back. has been seventeen years kanzellist at the geheime cabinets-canzlei (secret archive); had taken the oath when he entered on his office. "acknowledges some slips of paper (zettel), now shown to him, to be his handwriting: they contained news intended to be communicated to the prussian secretary benoit, now residing here", at dresden formerly. "confesses that he has employed, here as well as previously in dresden, his brother-in-law, the journeyman goldsmith erfurth (who was likewise arrested yesterday), to convey to the prussian secretaries, plessmann and benoit, such pieces and despatches from the secret cabinet, especially the foreign department, as he, menzel, wanted to communicate to said prussian secretaries. "confesses having received, by degrees, since the year , from the prussian minister (envoye) von mahlzahn, and the secretaries plessmann and benoit, for such communications, the sum of , thalers ( pounds) in all. "was led into these treasonable practices by the following circumstance: he owed at that time thalers on a promissory note, to a certain rhenitz, who then lived (hielt sich auf) at dresden, and who pressed him much for payment. as he pleaded inability to pay, rhenitz hinted that he could put him into the way of getting money; and accordingly, at last, took him to the then prussian secretary hecht, at dresden; by whom he was at once carried to the prussian minister von mahlzahn; who gave him thalers ( pounds), with the request to communicate to him, now and then, news from the archive of the cabinet. for a length of time prisoner could not accomplish this; as the said von mahlzahn wanted pieces from the foreign office, and especially the correspondence with the two imperial courts of austria and russia. these papers were locked in presses, which prisoner could not get at; moreover, the court had, in the mean time, gone to warsaw, prisoner remaining at dresden. in that way, many months passed without his being able to communicate anything; till, at last, about december, , the secretary plessmann gave him a whole bunch of keys, which were said to be sent by privy-counsellor eichel of potsdam [whom we know], to try whether any of them would unlock the presses of the foreign department. but none of them would; and prisoner returned the keys; pointing out, however, what alterations were required to fit the keyhole. "and, about three weeks after this, plessmann provided prisoner with another set of keys; among which one did unlock said presses. with this key prisoner now repeatedly opened the presses; and provided plessmann, whenever required,--oftenest, with petersburg despatches. had also, three years ago ( ), here in warsaw, communicated vienna despatches, three or four times, to benoit; especially on sundays and thursdays, which were slack days, nobody in the office about noon. "the actual first of these communications did not take place till after easter-fair, ; prisoner not having, till said fair, received the second bunch of keys from plessmann. now and then he had to communicate french despatches. whenever he gave original despatches, he received them back shortly after, and replaced them in the presses. during this present stay of the court at warsaw, has communicated little to benoit except from the circulars [legation news-letters], when he found anything noteworthy in them; also, now and then, the ponikau despatches [ponikau being at the reich's diet, in circumstances interesting to us]. has received, one time and another, several thalers from benoit, since the court came hither last."--(and so exit menzel.) "hereupon the second prisoner was brought in;--who deposed as follows:-- "he is named johann benjamin erfurth; a goldsmith by trade; age thirty-two; the prisoner menzel's brother-in-law. "confesses that menzel had made use of him, at dresden, during one year: to deliver, several times, sealed papers to the prussian secretary plessmann, or rather mostly to plessmann's servant. also that, here in warsaw, he has had to carry despatches to benoit, and to deliver them into his own hands. latterly he has delivered the despatches to certain prussian peasants, who stopped at benoit's, and who always relieved each other; and every time, the one who went away directed prisoner, in turn, to him that arrived. "he received from menzel, yesterday towards noon, a small sealed packet, which he was to convey to the prussian peasant who had made an appointment with him at the prussian office (hof) here. but as he was going to take it, and had just got outside of the palace court, a corporal took hold of him and arrested him. confesses having concealed the parcel in his trousers-pocket, and to have denied that he had anything upon him.... actum ut supra." signed "gotze" (with titles). "next day, september th, menzel re-examined; answers in effect following:-- "plessmann never himself came into the archive office at dresden; except the one time [a time that will be notable to us!] when the prussians were there to take away the papers by force; then plessmann was with them,"--and we will remember the circumstance. "before leaving dresden for poland, last year ( ), he, menzel, had returned the said key to plessmann; who gave him others for use here. after his arrival here, he returned these keys to benoit, in the presence of erfurth; saying, they were of no use to him, and that he could not get at the despatches here. prisoner farther declares, that it was the minister von mahlzahn who, of his own accord, and quite at the beginning, made the proposal concerning the keys; and when plessmann brought the keys, he said expressly they were for the minister, along with fifty thalers, which he, menzel, received at the same time. actum ut supra." signed as before. [--helden-geschichte,--v. (as beylage or appendix to the kur-sachsen "pro memoria to the reich's diet;" of date, regensburg, st january, ).] we could give some of the stolen pieces, too; but they are of abstruse tenor, and would be mere enigmas to readers here. enough that friedrich understands them. to friedrich's intense and long-continued scrutiny, they indicate, what is next to incredible, but is at length fatally undeniable, that the old treaty, which we called of warsaw, "treaty for partitioning prussia," is still (in spite of all subsequent and superincumbent treaties to the contrary) vigorously alive underground; that saxon bruhl and her hungarian majesty, to whom is now added czarish majesty, are fixed as ever on cutting down this afflictive, too aspiring king of prussia to the size of a brandenburg elector; busy (in these menzel documents) considering how it may be done, especially how the bear-skin may be shared;--and that, in short, there lies ahead, inevitable seemingly, and not far off, a third silesian war. which punctually came true. the third silesian war--since called seven-years war, that proving to be the length of it--is now near. breaks out, has to break out, august, . the heaviest and direst struggle friedrich ever had; the greatest of all his prowesses, achievements and endurances in this world. and, on the whole, the last that was very great, or that is likely to be memorable with posterity. upon which, accordingly, we must try our utmost to leave some not untrue notion in this place: and that once done--courage, reader! friedrich is visible, in holland, to the naked eye, for some minutes (june d, ). in it was that voltaire wrote, not the first letter, but the first very notable one, to his royal friend, after their great quarrel: [dated "the delices, near geneva, th august, " (in rodenbeck, i. ; in--oeuvres de frederic,--xxiii. ; not given by any of the french editors).] seductively repentant, and oh, so true, so tender;--royal friend still obstinate, who answers nothing, or answers only through de prades: "yes, yes, we are aware!" and it was in the same year that friedrich first saw d'alembert,--voltaire's successor, in a sense. and farther on ( st november, ), that the earthquake of lisbon went, horribly crashing, through the thoughts of all mortals,--thoughts of king friedrich, among others; whose reflections on it, i apprehend, are stingy, snarlingly contemptuous, rather than valiant and pious, and need not detain us here. one thing only we will mention, for an accidental reason: that friedrich, this year, made a short run to holland,--and that actual momentary sight of him happens thereby to be still possible. in summer, , after the west-country reviews, and a short journey into ost-friesland, whence to wesel on the rhine,--whither friedrich had invited d'alembert to meet him, whom he finds "un tres-aimable garcon," likely for the task in hand,--friedrich decided on a run into holland: strictly incognito, accompanied only by balbi (engineer, a genoese) and one page. bade his d'alembert adieu; and left wesel thitherward june th. [rodenbeck, i. .] at amsterdam he viewed the bramkamp picture-gallery, the illustrious country-house of jew pinto at tulpenburg (tulip-borough!)... "i saw nothing but whim-whams (colifichets)," says he: "i gave myself out for a musician of the king of poland;" wore a black wig moreover, "and was nowhere known:" [--oeuvres,--xxvii. i. ("potsdam, th june, ;" and ib. p. ), to wilhelmina, who is now on the return from her italian journey. uncertain anecdotes of adventures among the whim-whams, in rodenbeck, &c.]--and, for finis, got into the common passage-boat (trekschuit, no doubt) for utrecht, that he might see the other fine country-houses along the vechte. fine enough country-houses,--not mud and sedges the main thing, as idle readers think. to arnheim up the vechte in this manner; wesel and his own country just at hand again. now it happened that a young swiss--poor enough in purse, but not without talent and eyesight, assistant teacher in some boarding-school thereabouts; name of him de catt, age twenty-seven, "born at morges near geneva "--had got holiday, or had got errand, poor good soul; had decided, on this same day ( d june, ), to go to utrecht, and so stept into the very boat where friedrich was. he himself (in a letter written long after to editor laveaux) shall tell us the rest:-- "as i could n't get into the roef (cabin) because it was all engaged, i stayed with the other passengers in the steerage (dans la barque meme), and the weather being fine, came up on deck. after some time, there stept out of the cabin a man in cinnamon-colored coat with gold button-holes; in black wig; face and coat considerably dusted with spanish snuff. he looked fixedly at me, for a while; and then said, without farther preface, 'who are you, monsieur?' this cavalier tone from an unknown person, whose exterior indicated nothing very important, did not please me; and i declined satisfying his curiosity. he was silent. but, some time after, he took a more courteous tone, and said: 'come in here to me, monsieur! you will be better here than in the steerage, amid the tobacco-smoke.' this polite address put an end to all anger; and as the singular manner of the man excited my curiosity, i took advantage of his invitation. we sat down, and began to speak confidentially with one another. "do you see the man in the garden yonder, sitting smoking his pipe?' said he to me: 'that man, you may depend upon it, is not happy.'--'i know not,' answered i: 'but it seems to me, until one knows a man, and is completely acquainted with his situation and his way of thought, one cannot possibly determine whether he is happy or unhappy.' "my gentleman admitted this [very good-natured!]; and led the conversation on the dutch government. he criticised it,--probably to bring me to speak. i did speak; and gave him frankly to know that he was not perfectly instructed in the thing he was criticising.--'you are right,' answered he; 'one can only criticise what one is thoroughly acquainted with.'--he now began to speak of religion; and with eloquent tongue to recount what mischief scholastic philosophy had brought upon the world; then tried to prove 'that creation was impossible.' at this last point i stood out in opposition. 'but how can one create something out of nothing?' said he. 'that is not the question,' answered i; 'the question is, whether such a being as god can or cannot give existence to what has yet none.' he seemed embarrassed, and added, 'but the universe is eternal.'--'you are in a circle,' said i; 'how will you get out of it?'--'i skip over it" said he, laughing; and then began to speak of other things. "'what form of government do you reckon the best?' inquired he, among other things. 'the monarchic, if the king is just and enlightened.'--'very well,' answered he; 'but where will you find kings of that sort?' and thereupon went into such a sally upon kings, as could not in the least lead me to the supposition that he was one. in the end he expressed pity for them, that they could not know the sweets of friendship; and cited on the occasion these verses (his own, i suppose):-- --'amitie, plaisir des grandes ames; amitie, que les rois, ces illustres ingrats, sont assez malheureux de ne connaitre pas!'-- 'i have not the honor to be acquainted with kings,' said i; 'but to judge by what one has read in history of several of them, i should believe, monsieur, that you, on the whole, are right.'--'ah, oui, oui, i am right; i know the gentlemen!' "we now got to speak of literature. the stranger expressed himself with enthusiastic admiration of racine. a droll incident happened during our dialogue. my gentleman wanted to let down a little sash-window, and could n't manage it. 'you don't understand that,' said i; 'let me do that.' i tried to get it down; but succeeded no better than he. 'monsieur,' said he, 'allow me to remark, on my side, that you, upon my honor, understand as little of it as i!'--'that is true; and i beg your pardon; i was too rash in accusing you of want of expertness.'--'were you ever in germany?' he now asked me. 'no; but i should like to make that journey: i am very curious to see the prussian states, and their king, of whom one hears so much.' and now i began to launch out on friedrich's actions; but he interrupted me rapidly, with the words: 'nothing more of kings, monsieur! what have we to do with them? we will spend the rest of our voyage on more agreeable and cheering objects.' and now he spoke of the best of all possible worlds; and maintained that, in our planet earth, there was more evil than good. i maintained the contrary; and this dispute brought us to the end of our voyage. "on quitting me, he said, 'i hope, monsieur, you will leave me your name: i am very glad to have made your acquaintance; perhaps we shall see one another again.' i replied, as was fitting, to the compliment; and begged him to excuse me for contradicting him a little. 'ascribe this,' i concluded, 'to the ill-humor which various little journeys i had to make in these days have given me.' i then told him my name, and we parted." [laveaux,--histoire de frederic--( d edition, strasbourg, , and blown now into six vols. instead of four; dead all, except this fraction), vi. . seyfarth, ii. , is right; ib. , wrong, and has led others wrong.] parted to meet again; and live together for about twenty years. of this honest henri de catt, whom the king liked on this interview, and sent for soon after, and at length got as "lecteur du roi," we shall hear again. ["september, ," sent for (but de catt was ill and couldn't); "december, " got (rodenbeck, i. ).] he did, from onwards, what de prades now does with more of noise, the old d'arget functions; faithfully and well, for above twenty years;--left a note-book (not very boswellian) about the king, which is latterly in the royal archives at berlin; and which might without harm, or even with advantage, be printed, but has never yet been. a very harmless de catt. and we are surely obliged to him for this view of the travelling gentleman "with the cinnamon-colored coat, snuffy nose and black wig," and his manner of talking on light external subjects, while the inner man of him has weights enough pressing on it. age still under five-and-forty, but looks old for his years. "june d, :" it is in the very days while poor braddock is staggering down the alleghanies; braddock fairly over the top;--and the fates waiting him, at a fortnight's distance. far away, on the other side of the world. but it is notable enough how pitt is watching the thing; and will at length get hand laid on it, and get the kingship over it for above four years. whereby the jenkins's-ear question will again, this time on better terms, coalesce with the silesian, or partition-of-prussia question; and both these long controversies get definitely closed, as the eternal decrees had seen good. history of friedrich ii of prussia frederick the great by thomas carlyle volume x. book x. -- at reinsberg. - - . chapter i. -- mansion of reinsberg. on the crown-prince's marriage, three years ago, when the amt or government-district ruppin, with its incomings, was assigned to him for revenue, we heard withal of a residence getting ready. hint had fallen from the prince, that reinsberg, an old country-seat, standing with its domain round it in that little territory of ruppin, and probably purchasable as was understood, might be pleasant, were it once his and well put in repair. which hint the kind paternal majesty instantly proceeded to act upon. he straightway gave orders for the purchase of reinsberg; concluded said purchase, on fair terms, after some months' bargaining; [ d october, , order given,-- th march, , purchase completed (preuss, i. ).]--and set his best architect, one kemeter, to work, in concert with the crown-prince, to new-build and enlarge the decayed schloss of reinsberg into such a mansion as the young royal highness and his wife would like. kemeter has been busy, all this while; a solid, elegant, yet frugal builder: and now the main body of the mansion is complete, or nearly so, the wings and adjuncts going steadily forward; mansion so far ready that the royal highnesses can take up their abode in it. which they do, this autumn, ; and fairly commence joint housekeeping, in a permanent manner. hitherto it has been intermittent only: hitherto the crown-princess has resided in their berlin mansion, or in her own country-house at schonhausen; husband not habitually with her, except when on leave of absence from ruppin, in carnival time or for shorter periods. at ruppin his life has been rather that of a bachelor, or husband abroad on business; up to this time. but now at reinsberg they do kindle the sacred hearth together; " th august, ," the date of that important event. they have got their court about them, dames and cavaliers more than we expected; they have arranged the furnitures of their existence here on fit scale, and set up their lares and penates on a thrifty footing. majesty and queen come out on a visit to them next month; [ th september, (ib.).]--raising the sacred hearth into its first considerable blaze, and crowning the operation in a human manner. and so there has a new epoch arisen for the crown-prince and his consort. a new, and much-improved one. it lasted into the fourth year; rather improving all the way: and only kingship, which, if a higher sphere, was a far less pleasant one, put an end to it. friedrich's happiest time was this at reinsberg; the little four years of hope, composure, realizable idealism: an actual snatch of something like the idyllic, appointed him in a life-pilgrimage consisting otherwise of realisms oftenest contradictory enough, and sometimes of very grim complexion. he is master of his work, he is adjusted to the practical conditions set him; conditions once complied with, daily work done, he lives to the muses, to the spiritual improvements, to the social enjoyments; and has, though not without flaws of ill-weather,--from the tobacco-parliament perhaps rather less than formerly, and from the finance-quarter perhaps rather more,--a sunny time. his innocent insipidity of a wife, too, appears to have been happy. she had the charm of youth, of good looks; a wholesome perfect loyalty of character withal; and did not "take to pouting," as was once apprehended of her, but pleasantly gave and received of what was going. this poor crown-princess, afterwards queen, has been heard, in her old age, reverting, in a touching transient way, to the glad days she had at reinsberg. complaint openly was never heard from her, in any kind of days; but these doubtless were the best of her life. reinsberg, we said, is in the amt ruppin; naturally under the crown-prince's government at present: the little town or village of reinsberg stands about, ten miles north of the town ruppin;--not quite a third-part as big as ruppin is in our time, and much more pleasantly situated. the country about is of comfortable, not unpicturesque character; to be distinguished almost as beautiful, in that region of sand and moor. lakes abound in it; tilled fields; heights called "hills;" and wood of fair growth,--one reads of "beech-avenues" of "high linden-avenues:"--a country rather of the ornamented sort, before the prince with his improvements settled there. many lakes and lakelets in it, as usual hereabouts; the loitering waters straggle, all over that region, into meshes of lakes. reinsberg itself, village and schloss, stands on the edge of a pleasant lake, last of a mesh of such: the summary, or outfall, of which, already here a good strong brook or stream, is called the rhein, rhyn or rein; and gives name to the little place. we heard of the rein at ruppin: it is there counted as a kind of river; still more, twenty miles farther down, where it falls into the havel, on its way to the elbe. the waters, i think, are drab-colored, not peat-brown: and here, at the source, or outfall from that mesh of lakes, where reinsberg is, the country seems to be about the best;--sufficient, in picturesqueness and otherwise, to satisfy a reasonable man. the little town is very old; but, till the crown-prince settled there, had no peculiar vitality in it. i think there are now some potteries, glass-manufactories: friedrich wilhelm, just while the crown-prince was removing thither, settled a first glass-work there; which took good root, and rose to eminence in the crystal, bohemian-crystal, white-glass, cut-glass, and other commoner lines, in the crown-prince's time. [_bescheibung des lutschlosses &c. zu reinsberg_ (berlin, ); author, a "lieutenant hennert," thoroughly acquainted with his subject.] reinsberg stands on the east or southeast side of its pretty lake: lake is called "the grinerick see" (as all those remote lakes have their names); mansion is between the town and lake. a mansion fronting, we may say, four ways; for it is of quadrangular form, with a wet moat from the lake begirdling it, and has a spacious court for interior: but the principal entrance is from the town side; for the rest, the building is ashlar on all sides, front and rear. stands there, handsomely abutting on the lake with two towers, a tower at each angle, which it has on that lakeward side; and looks, over reinsberg, and its steeple rising amid friendly umbrage which hides the house-tops, towards the rising sun. townward there is room for a spacious esplanade; and then for the stables, outbuildings, well masked; which still farther shut off the town. to this day, reinsberg stands with the air of a solid respectable edifice; still massive, rain-tight, though long since deserted by the princeships,--by friedrich nearly sixscore years ago, and nearly threescore by prince henri, brother of friedrich's, who afterwards had it. last accounts i got were, of talk there had risen of planting an extensive normal-school there; which promising plan had been laid aside again for the time. the old schloss, residence of the bredows and other feudal people for a long while, had good solid masonry in it, and around it orchards, potherb gardens; which friedrich wilhelm's architects took good care to extend and improve, not to throw away: the result of their art is what we see, a beautiful country-house, what might be called a country-palace with all its adjuncts;--and at a rate of expense which would fill english readers, of this time, with amazement. much is admirable to us as we study reinsberg, what it had been, what it became, and how it was made; but nothing more so than the small modicum of money it cost. to our wondering thought, it seems as if the shilling, in those parts, were equal to the guinea in these; and the reason, if we ask it, is by no means flattering altogether. "change in the value of money?" alas, reader, no; that is not above the fourth part of the phenomenon. three-fourths of the phenomenon are change in the methods of administering money,--difference between managing it with wisdom and veracity on both sides, and managing it with unwisdom and mendacity on both sides. which is very great indeed; and infinitely sadder than any one, in these times, will believe!--but we cannot dwell on this consideration. let the reader take it with him, as a constant accompaniment in whatever work of friedrich wilhelm's or of friedrich his son's, he now or at any other time may be contemplating. impious waste, which means disorder and dishonesty, and loss of much other than money to all, parties,--disgusting aspect of human creatures, master and servant, working together as if they were not human,--will be spared him in those foreign departments; and in an english heart thoughts will arise, perhaps, of a wholesome tendency, though very sad, as times are. it would but weary the reader to describe this crown-prince mansion; which, by desperate study of our abstruse materials, it is possible to do with auctioneer minuteness. there are engraved views of reinsberg and its environs; which used to lie conspicuous in the portfolios of collectors,---which i have not seen. [see hennert, just cited, for the titles of them.] of the house itself, engraved frontages (facades), ground-plans, are more accessible; and along with them, descriptions which are little descriptive,--wearisomely detailed, and as it were dark by excess of light (auctioneer light) thrown on them. the reader sees, in general, a fine symmetrical block of buildings, standing in rectangular shape, in the above locality;--about two hundred english feet, each, the two longer sides measure, the townward and the lakeward, on their outer front: about a hundred and thirty, each, the two shorter; or a hundred and fifty, taking in their towers just spoken of. the fourth or lakeward side, however, which is one of the longer pair, consists mainly of "colonnade;" spacious colonnade "with vases and statues;" catching up the outskirts of said towers, and handsomely uniting everything. beyond doubt, a dignified, substantial pile of stone-work; all of good proportions. architecture everywhere of cheerfully serious, solidly graceful character; all of sterling ashlar; the due risalites (projecting spaces) with their attics and statues atop, the due architraves, cornices and corbels,--in short the due opulence of ornament being introduced, and only the due. genuine sculptors, genuine painters, artists have been busy; and in fact all the suitable fine arts, and all the necessary solid ones, have worked together, with a noticeable fidelity, comfortable to the very beholder to this day. general height is about forty feet; two stories of ample proportions: the towers overlooking them are sixty feet in height. extent of outer frontage, if you go all round, and omit the colonnade, will be five hundred feet and more: this, with the rearward face, is a thousand feet of room frontage:--fancy the extent of lodging space. for "all the kitchens and appurtenances are underground;" the "left front" (which is a new part of the edifice) rising comfortably over these. windows i did not count; but they must go high up into the hundreds. no end to lodging space. way in a detached side-edifice subsequently built, called cavalier house, i read of there being, for one item, "fifty lodging rooms," and for another "a theatre." and if an english duke of trumps were to look at the bills for all that, his astonishment would be extreme, and perhaps in a degree painful and salutary to him. in one of these towers the crown-prince has his library: a beautiful apartment; nothing wanting to it that the arts could furnish, "ceiling done by pesne" with allegorical geniuses and what not,--looks out on mere sky, mere earth and water in an ornamental state: silent as in elysium. it is there we are to fancy the correspondence written, the poetries and literary industries going on. there, or stepping down for a turn in the open air, or sauntering meditatively under the colonnade with its statues and vases (where weather is no object), one commands the lake, with its little tufted islands, "remus island" much famed among them, and "high beech-woods" on the farther side. the lake is very pretty, all say; lying between you and the sunset;--with perhaps some other lakelet, or solitary pool in the wilderness, many miles away, "revealing itself as a cup of molten gold," at that interesting moment. what the book-collection was, in the interior, i know not except by mere guess. the crown-princess's apartment, too, which remained unaltered at the last accounts had of it, [from hennert, namely, in .] is very fine;--take the anteroom for specimen: "this fine room," some twenty feet height of ceiling, "has six windows; three of them, in the main front, looking towards the town, the other three, towards the interior court. the light from these windows is heightened by mirrors covering all the piers (schafte, interspaces of the walls), to an uncommonly splendid pitch; and shows the painting of the ceiling, which again is by the famous pesne, to much perfection. the artist himself, too, has managed to lay on his colors there so softly, and with such delicate skill, that the light-beams seem to prolong themselves in the painted clouds and air, as if it were the real sky you had overhead." there in that cloud-region "mars is being disarmed by the love-goddesses, and they are sporting with his weapons. he stretches out his arm towards the goddess, who looks upon him with fond glances. cupids are spreading out a draping." that is pesne's luxurious performance in the ceiling.--"weapon-festoons, in basso-relievo, gilt, adorn the walls of this room; and two pictures, also by pesne, which represent, in life size, the late king and queen [our good friends friedrich wilhelm and his sophie], are worthy of attention. over each of the doors, you find in low-relief the profiles of hannibal, pompey, scipio, caesar, introduced as medallions." all this is very fine; but all this is little to another ceiling, in some big saloon elsewhere, music-saloon, i think: black night, making off, with all her sickly dews, at one end of the ceiling; and at the other end, the steeds of phoebus bursting forth, and the glittering shafts of day,--with cupids, love-goddesses, war-gods, not omitting bacchus and his vines, all getting beautifully awake in consequence. a very fine room indeed;--used as a music-saloon, or i know not what,--and the ceiling of it almost an ideal, say the connoisseurs. endless gardens, pavilions, grottos, hermitages, orangeries, artificial ruins, parks and pleasances surround this favored spot and its schloss; nothing wanting in it that a prince's establishment needs,--except indeed it be hounds, for which this prince never had the least demand. except the old ruppin duties, which imply continual journeyings thither, distance only a morning's ride; except these, and occasional commissions from papa, friedrich is left master of his time and pursuits in this new mansion. there are visits to potsdam, periodical appearances at berlin; some correspondence to keep the tobacco-parliament in tune. but friedrich's taste is for the literatures, philosophies: a--young prince bent seriously to cultivate his mind; to attain some clear knowledge of this world, so all-important to him. and he does seriously read, study and reflect a good deal; his main recreations, seemingly, are music, and the converse of well-informed, friendly men. in music we find him particularly rich. daily, at a fixed hour of the afternoon, there is concert held; the reader has seen in what kind of room: and if the artists entertained here for that function were enumerated (high names, not yet forgotten in the musical world), it would still more astonish readers. i count them to the number of twenty or nineteen; and mention only that "the two brothers graun" and "the two brothers benda" were of the lot; suppressing four other fiddlers of eminence, and "a pianist who is known to everybody." [hennert, p. .] the prince has a fine sensibility to music: does himself, with thrilling adagios on the flute, join in these harmonious acts; and, no doubt, if rightly vigilant against the nonsenses, gets profit, now and henceforth, from this part of his resources. he has visits, calls to make, on distinguished persons within reach; he has much correspondence, of a literary or social nature. for instance, there is suhm the saxon envoy translating _wolf's philosophy_ into french for him; sending it in fascicles; with endless letters to and from, upon it,--which were then highly interesting, but are now dead to every reader. the crown-prince has got a post-office established at reinsberg; leathern functionary of some sort comes lumbering round, southward, "from the mecklenburg quarter twice a week, and goes by fehrbellin," for the benefit of his correspondences. of his calls in the neighborhood, we mean to show the reader one sample, before long; and only one. there are lists given us of the prince's "court" at reinsberg; and one reads, and again reads, the dreariest unmemorable accounts of them; but cannot, with all one's industry, attain any definite understanding of what they were employed in, day after day, at reinsberg:--still more are their salaries and maintenance a mystery to us, in that frugal establishment. there is wolden for hofmarschall, our old custrin friend; there is colonel senning, old marlborough colonel with the wooden leg, who taught friedrich his drillings and artillery-practices in boyhood, a fine sagacious old gentleman this latter. there is a m. jordan, ex-preacher, an ingenious prussian-frenchman, still young, who acts as "reader and librarian;" of whom we shall hear a good deal more. "intendant" is captain (ex-captain) knobelsdorf; a very sensible accomplished man, whom we saw once at baireuth; who has been to italy since, and is now returned with beautiful talents for architecture: it is he that now undertakes the completing of reinsberg, [hennert, p. .] which he will skilfully accomplish in the course of the next three years. twenty musicians on wind or string; painters, antoine pesne but one of them; sculptors, glume and others of eminence; and hof-cavaliers, to we know not what extent:--how was such a court kept up, in harmonious free dignity, and no halt in its finances, or mean pinch of any kind visible? the prince did get in debt; but not deep, and it was mainly for the tall recruits he had to purchase. his money-accounts are by no means fully known to me: but i should question if his expenditure (such is my guess) ever reached , pounds a year; and am obliged to reflect more and more, as the ancient cato did, what an admirable revenue frugality is! many of the cavaliers, i find, for one thing, were of the regiment goltz; that was one evident economy. "rittmeister van chasot," as the books call him: readers saw that chasot flying to prince eugene, and know him since the siege of philipsburg. he is not yet rittmeister, or captain of horse, as he became; but is of the ruppin garrison; hof-cavalier; "attended friedrich on his late prussian journey;" and is much a favorite, when he can be spared from ruppin. captain wylich, afterwards a general of mark; the lieutenant buddenbrock who did the parson-charivari at ruppin, but is now reformed from those practices: all these are of goltz. colonel keyserling, not of goltz, nor in active military duty here, is a friend of very old standing; was officially named as "companion" to the prince, a long while back; and got into trouble on his account in the disastrous ante-custrin or flight epoch: one of the prince's first acts, when he got pardoned after custrin, was to beg for the pardon of this keyserling; and now he has him here, and is very fond of him. a courlander, of good family, this keyserling; of good gifts too,--which, it was once thought, would be practically sublime; for he carried off all manner of college prizes, and was the admirable-crichton of konigsberg university and the graduates there. but in the end they proved to be gifts of the vocal sort rather: and have led only to what we see. a man, i should guess, rather of buoyant vivacity than of depth or strength in intellect or otherwise. excessively buoyant, ingenious; full of wit, kindly exuberance; a loyal-hearted, gay-tempered man, and much a favorite in society as well as with the prince. if we were to dwell on reinsberg, keyserling would come prominently forward. major van stille, ultimately major-general von stille, i should also mention: near twenty years older than the prince; a wise thoughtful soldier (went, by permission, to the siege of dantzig lately, to improve himself); a man capable of rugged service, when the time comes. his military writings were once in considerable esteem with professional men; and still impress a lay reader with favorable notions towards stille, as a man of real worth and sense. [_campagnes du roi de prusse;_--a posthumous book; anterior to the seven-years war.] of monsieur jordan and the literary set. there is, of course, a chaplain in the establishment: a reverend "m. deschamps;" who preaches to them all,--in french no doubt. friedrich never hears deschamps: friedrich is always over at ruppin on sundays; and there "himself reads a sermon to the garrison," as part of the day's duties. reads finely, in a melodious feeling manner, says formey, who can judge: "even in his old days, he would incidentally," when some emeritus parson, like formey, chanced to be with him, "roll out choice passages from bossuet, from massillon," in a voice and with a look, which would have been perfection in the pulpit, thinks formey. [_souvenirs d'un citoyen_ ( de edition, paris, ), i. .] m. jordan, though he was called "lecteur (reader)," did not read to him, i can perceive; but took charge of the books; busied himself honestly to be useful in all manner of literary or quasi-literary ways. he was, as his name indicates, from the french-refugee department; a recent acquisition, much valued at reinsberg. as he makes a figure afterwards, we had better mark him a little. jordan's parents were wealthy religious persons, in trade at berlin; this jordan (charles etienne, age now thirty-six) was their eldest son. it seems they had destined him from birth, consulting their own pious feelings merely, to be a preacher of the gospel; the other sons, all of them reckoned clever too, were brought up to secular employments. and preach he, this poor charles etienne, accordingly did; what best gospel he had; in an honest manner, all say,--though never with other than a kind of reluctance on the part of nature, forced out of her course. he had wedded, been clergyman in two successive country places; when his wife died, leaving him one little daughter, and a heart much overset by that event. friends, wealthy brothers probably, had pushed him out into the free air, in these circumstances: "take a tour; holland, england; feel the winds blowing, see the sun shining, as in times past: it will do you good!" jordan, in the course of his tour, came to composure on several points. he found that, by frugality, by wise management of some peculium already his, his little daughter and he might have quietness at berlin, and the necessary food and raiment;--and, on the whole, that he would altogether cease preaching, and settle down there, among his books, in a frugal manner. which he did;--and was living so, when the prince, searching for that kind of person, got tidings of him. and here he is at reinsberg; bustling about, in a brisk, modestly frank and cheerful manner: well liked by everybody; by his master very well and ever better, who grew into real regard, esteem and even friendship for him, and has much correspondence, of a freer kind than is common to him, with little jordan, so long as they lived together. jordan's death, ten years hence, was probably the one considerable pain he had ever given his neighbors, in this the ultimate section of his life. i find him described, at reinsberg, as a small nimble figure, of southern-french aspect; black, uncommonly bright eyes; and a general aspect of adroitness, modesty, sense, sincerity; good prognostics, which on acquaintance with the man were pleasantly fulfilled. for the sake of these considerations, i fished out, from the old-book catalogues and sea of forgetfulness, some of the poor books he wrote; especially a _voyage litteraire,_ [_histoire d'un voyage litteraire fait, en mdccxxxiii., en france, en angleterre et en hollande_ ( de edition, a la haye, ).] journal of that first sanitary excursion or tour he took, to get the clouds blown from his mind. a literary voyage which awakens a kind of tragic feeling; being itself dead, and treating of matters which are all gone dead. so many immortal writers, dutch chiefly, whom jordan is enabled to report as having effloresced, or being soon to effloresce, in such and such forms, of books important to be learned: leafy, blossomy forest of literature, waving glorious in the then sunlight to jordan;--and it lies all now, to jordan and us, not withered only, but abolished; compressed into a film of indiscriminate peat. consider what that peat is made of, o celebrated or uncelebrated reader, and take a moral from jordan's book! other merit, except indeed clearness and commendable brevity, the _voyage litteraire_ or other little books of jordan's have not now. a few of his letters to friedrich, which exist, are the only writings with the least life left in them, and this an accidental life, not momentous to him or us. dryasdust informs me, "abbe jordan, alone of the crown-prince's cavaliers, sleeps in the town of reinsberg, not in the schloss:" and if i ask, why?--there is no answer. probably his poor little daughterkin was beside him there?-- we have to say of friedrich's associates, that generally they were of intelligent type, each of them master of something or other, and capable of rational discourse upon that at least. integrity, loyalty of character, was indispensable; good humor, wit if it could be had, were much in request. there was no man of shining distinction there; but they were the best that could be had, and that is saying all. friedrich cannot be said, either as prince or as king, to have been superlatively successful in his choice of associates. with one single exception, to be noticed shortly, there is not one of them whom we should now remember except for friedrich's sake;--uniformly they are men whom it is now a weariness to hear of, except in a cursory manner. one man of shining parts he had, and one only; no man ever of really high and great mind. the latter sort are not so easy to get; rarely producible on the soil of this earth! nor is it certain how friedrich might have managed with one of this sort, or he with friedrich;--though friedrich unquestionably would have tried, had the chance offered. for he loved intellect as few men on the throne, or off it, ever did; and the little he could gather of it round him often seems to me a fact tragical rather than otherwise. with the outer berlin social world, acting and reacting, friedrich has his connections, which obscurely emerge on us now and then. literary eminences, who are generally of theological vesture; any follower of philosophy, especially if he be of refined manners withal, or known in fashionable life, is sure to attract him; and gains ample recognition at reinsberg or on town-visits. but the berlin theological or literary world at that time, still more the berlin social, like a sunk extinct object, continues very dim in those old records; and to say truth, what features we have of it do not invite to miraculous efforts for farther acquaintance. venerable beausobre, with his _history of the manicheans, [_histoire critique de manichee et du manicheisme:_ wrote also _remarques &c. sur le nouveau testament,_ which were once famous; _histoire de la reformation;_ &c. &c. he is beausobre senior; there were two sons (one of them born in second wedlock, after papa was ), who were likewise given to writing.--see formey, _souvenirs d'un citoyen since, in toland and the republican queen's time, as a light of the world. he is now fourscore, grown white as snow; very serene, polite, with a smack of french noblesse in him, perhaps a smack of affectation traceable too. the crown-prince, on one of his berlin visits, wished to see this beausobre; got a meeting appointed, in somebody's rooms "in the french college," and waited for the venerable man. venerable man entered, loftily serene as a martyr preacher of the word, something of an ancient seigneur de beausobre in him, too; for the rest, soft as sunset, and really with fine radiances, in a somewhat twisted state, in that good old mind of his. "what have you been reading lately, m. de beausobre?" said the prince, to begin conversation. "ah, monseigneur, i have just risen from reading the sublimest piece of writing that exists."--"and what?" "the exordium of st. john's gospel: _in the beginning was the word; and the word was with god, and the word was--"_ which somewhat took the prince by surprise, as formey reports; though he rallied straightway, and got good conversation out of the old gentleman. to whom, we perceive, he writes once or twice, [_oeuvres de frederic,_ - . dates are all of ; the last of beausobre's years.]--a copy of his own verses to correct, on one occasion,--and is very respectful and considerate. formey tells us of another french sage, personally known to the prince since boyhood; for he used to be about the palace, doing something. this is one la croze; professor of, i think, "philosophy" in the french college: sublime monster of erudition, at that time; forgotten now, i fear, by everybody. swag-bellied, short of wind; liable to rages, to utterances of a coarse nature; a decidedly ugly, monstrous and rather stupid kind of man. knew twenty languages, in a coarse inexact way. attempted deep kinds of discourse, in the lecture-room and elsewhere; but usually broke off into endless welters of anecdote, not always of cleanly nature; and after every two or three words, a desperate sigh, not for sorrow, but on account of flabbiness and fat. formey gives a portraiture of him; not worth copying farther. the same formey, standing one day somewhere on the streets of berlin, was himself, he cannot doubt, seen by the crown-prince in passing; "who asked m. jordan, who that was," and got answer:--is not that a comfortable fact? nothing farther came of it;--respectable ex-parson formey, though ever ready with his pen, being indeed of very vapid nature, not wanted at reinsberg, as we can guess. there is m. achard, too, another preacher, supreme of his sort, in the then berlin circles; to whom or from whom a letter or two exist. letters worthless, if it were not for one dim indication: that, on inquiry, the crown-prince had been consulting this supreme achard on the difficulties of orthodoxy; [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xvi. pp. - : date, march-june, .] and had given him texts, or a text, to preach from. supreme achard did not abolish the difficulties for his inquiring prince,--who complains respectfully that "his faith is weak," and leaves us dark as to particulars. this achard passage is almost the only hint we have of what might have been an important chapter: friedrich's religious history at reinsberg. the expression "weak faith" i take to be meant not in mockery, but in ingenuous regret and solicitude; much painful fermentation, probably, on the religious question in those reinsberg years! but the old "gnadenwahl" business, the free-grace controversy, had taught him to be cautious as to what he uttered on those points. the fermentation, therefore, had to go on under cover; what the result of it was, is notorious enough; though the steps of the process are not in any point known. enough now of such details. outwardly or inwardly, there is no history, or almost none, to be had of this reinsberg period; the extensive records of it consisting, as usual, mainly of chaotic nugatory matter, opaque to the mind of readers. there is copious correspondence of the crown-prince, with at least dates to it for most part: but this, which should be the main resource, proves likewise a poor one; the crown-prince's letters, now or afterwards, being almost never of a deep or intimate quality; and seldom turning on events or facts at all, and then not always on facts interesting, on facts clearly apprehensible to us in that extinct element. the thing, we know always, is there; but vision of the thing is only to be had faintly, intermittently. dim inane twilight, with here and there a transient spark falling somewhither in it;--you do at last, by desperate persistence, get to discern outlines, features:--"the thing cannot always have been no-thing," you reflect! outlines, features:--and perhaps, after all, those are mostly what the reader wants on this occasion. chapter ii. -- of voltaire and the literary correspondences. one of friedrich's grand purposes at reinsberg, to himself privately the grandest there, which he follows with constant loyalty and ardor, is that of scaling the heights of the muses' hill withal; of attaining mastership, discipleship, in art and philosophy;--or in candor let us call it, what it truly was, that of enlightening and fortifying himself with clear knowledge, clear belief, on all sides; and acquiring some spiritual panoply in which to front the coming practicalities of life. this, he feels well, will be a noble use of his seclusion in those still places; and it must be owned, he struggles and endeavors towards this, with great perseverance, by all the methods in his power, here, or wherever afterwards he might be. here at reinsberg, one of his readiest methods, his pleasantest if not his usefulest, is that of getting into correspondence with the chief spirits of his time. which accordingly he forthwith sets about, after getting into reinsberg, and continues, as we shall see, with much assiduity. rollin, fontenelle, and other french lights of the then firmament,--his letters to them exist; and could be given in some quantity: but it is better not. they are intrinsically the common letters on such occasions: "o sublime demi-god of literature, how small are princely distinctions to such a glory as thine; thou who enterest within the veil of the temple, and issuest with thy face shining!"--to which the response is: "hm, think you so, most happy, gracious, illustrious prince, with every convenience round you, and such prospects ahead? well, thank you, at any rate,--and, as the irish say, more power to your honor's glory!" this really is nearly all that said sets of letters contain; and except perhaps the voltaire set, none of them give symptoms of much capacity to contain more. certainly there was no want of literary men discernible from reinsberg at that time; and the young prince corresponds with a good many of them; temporal potentate saluting spiritual, from the distance,--in a way highly interesting to the then parties, but now without interest, except of the reflex kind, to any creature. a very cold and empty portion, this, of the friedrich correspondence; standing there to testify what his admiration was for literary talent, or the great reputation of such; but in itself uninstructive utterly, and of freezing influence on the now living mind. most of those french lights of the then firmament are gone out. forgotten altogether; or recognized, like rollin and others, for polished dullards, university big-wigs, and long-winded commonplace persons, deserving nothing but oblivion. to montesquieu,--not yet called "baron de montesquieu" with esprit des lois, but "m. de secondat" with (anonymous) lettres persanes, and already known to the world for a person of sharp audacious eyesight,--it does not appear that friedrich addressed any letter, now or afterwards. no notice of montesquieu; nor of some others, the absence of whom is a little unexpected. probably it was want of knowledge mainly; for his appetite was not fastidious at this time. and certainly he did hit the centre of the mark, and get into the very kernel of french literature, when, in , hardly yet established in his new quarters, he addressed himself to the shining figure known to us as "arouet junior" long since, and now called m. de voltaire; which latter is still a name notable in friedrich's history and that of mankind. friedrich's first letter, challenging voltaire to correspondence, dates itself th august, ; and voltaire's answer--the reinsberg household still only in its second month--was probably the brightest event which had yet befallen there. on various accounts it will behoove us to look a good deal more strictly into this voltaire; and, as his relations to friedrich and to the world are so multiplex, endeavor to disengage the real likeness of the man from the circumambient noise and confusion which in his instance continue very great. "voltaire was the spiritual complement of friedrich," says sauerteig once: "what little of lasting their poor century produced lies mainly in these two. a very somnambulating century! but what little it did, we must call friedrich; what little it thought, voltaire. other fruit we have not from it to speak of, at this day. voltaire, and what can be faithfully done on the voltaire creed; 'realized voltairism;'--admit it, reader, not in a too triumphant humor,--is not that pretty much the net historical product of the eighteenth century? the rest of its history either pure somnambulism; or a mere controversy, to the effect, 'realized voltairism? how soon shall it be realized, then? not at once, surely!' so that friedrich and voltaire are related, not by accident only. they are, they for want of better, the two original men of their century; the chief and in a sense the sole products of their century. they alone remain to us as still living results from it,--such as they are. and the rest, truly, ought to depart and vanish (as they are now doing); being mere ephemera; contemporary eaters, scramblers for provender, talkers of acceptable hearsay; and related merely to the butteries and wiggeries of their time, and not related to the perennialities at all, as these two were."--with more of the like sort from sauerteig. m. de voltaire, who used to be m. francois-marie arouet, was at this time about forty, [born th february, ; the younger of two sons: father, "francois arouet, a notary of the chatelet, ultimately treasurer of the chamber of accounts;" mother, "marguerite d'aumart, of a noble family of poitou."] and had gone through various fortunes; a man, now and henceforth, in a high degree conspicuous, and questionable to his fellow-creatures. clear knowledge of him ought, at this stage, to be common; but unexpectedly it is not. what endless writing and biographying there has been about this man; in which one still reads, with a kind of lazy satisfaction, due to the subject, and to the french genius in that department! but the man himself, and his environment and practical aspects, what the actual physiognomy of his life and of him can have been, is dark from beginning to ending; and much is left in an ambiguous undecipherable condition to us. a proper history of voltaire, in which should be discoverable, luminous to human creatures, what he was, what element he lived in, what work he did: this is still a problem for the genius of france!-- his father's name is known to us; the name of his father's profession, too, but not clearly the nature of it; still less his father's character, economic circumstances, physiognomy spiritual or social: not the least possibility granted you of forming an image, however faint, of that notable man and household, which distinguished itself to all the earth by producing little francois into the light of this sun. of madame arouet, who, or what, or how she was, nothing whatever is known. a human reader, pestered continually with the madame-denises, abbe-mignots and enigmatic nieces and nephews, would have wished to know, at least, what children, besides francois, madame arouet had: once for all, how many children? name them, with year of birth, year of death, according to the church-registers: they all, at any rate, had that degree of history! no; even that has not been done. beneficent correspondents of my own make answer, after some research, no register of the arouets anywhere to be had. the very name voltaire, if you ask whence came it? there is no answer, or worse than none.--the fit "history" of this man, which might be one of the shining epics of his century, and the lucid summary and soul of any history france then had, but which would require almost a french demi-god to do it, is still a great way off, if on the road at all! for present purposes, we select what follows from a well-known hand:-- "youth of voltaire ( - ).--french biographers have left the arouet household very dark for us; meanwhile we can perceive, or guess, that it was moderately well in economic respects; that francois was the second of the two sons; and that old arouet, a steady, practical and perhaps rather sharp-tempered old gentleman, of official legal habits and position, 'notary of the chatelet' and something else, had destined him for the law profession; as was natural enough to a son of m. arouet, who had himself succeeded well in law, and could there, best of all, open roads for a clever second son. francois accordingly sat 'in chambers,' as we call it; and his fellow-clerks much loved him,--the most amusing fellow in the world. sat in chambers, even became an advocate; but did not in the least take to advocateship;--took to poetry, and other airy dangerous courses, speculative, practical; causing family explosions and rebukes, which were without effect on him. a young fool, bent on sportful pursuits instead of serious; more and more shuddering at law. to the surprise and indignation of m. arouet senior. law, with its wigs and sheepskins, pointing towards high honors and deep flesh-pots, had no charms for the young fool; he could not be made to like law. "whereupon arose explosions, as we hint; family explosions on the part of m. arouet senior; such that friends had to interfere, and it was uncertain what would come of it. one judicious friend, 'm. caumartin,' took the young fellow home to his house in the country for a time;--and there, incidentally, brought him acquainted with old gentlemen deep in the traditions of henri quatre and the cognate topics; which much inflamed the young fellow, and produced big schemes in the head of him. "m. arouet senior stood strong for law; but it was becoming daily more impossible. madrigals, dramas (not without actresses), satirical wit, airy verse, and all manner of adventurous speculation, were what this young man went upon; and was getting more and more loved for; introduced, even, to the superior circles, and recognized there as one of the brightest young fellows ever seen. which tended, of course, to confirm him in his folly, and open other outlooks and harbors of refuge than the paternal one. "such things, strange to m. arouet senior, were in vogue then; wicked regent d'orleans having succeeded sublime louis xiv., and set strange fashions to the quality. not likely to profit this fool francois, thought m. arouet senior; and was much confirmed in his notion, when a rhymed lampoon against the government having come out (les j'ai vu, as they call it ["i have seen (j'ai vu)" this ignominy occur, "i have seen" that other,--to the amount of a dozen or two;--"and am not yet twenty." copy of it, and guess as to authorship, in _oeuvres de voltaire_, i. .]), and become the rage, as a clever thing of the kind will, it was imputed to the brightest young fellow in france, m. arouet's son. who, in fact, was not the author; but was not believed on his denial; and saw himself, in spite of his high connections, ruthlessly lodged in the bastille in consequence. 'let him sit,' thought m. arouet senior, 'and come to his senses there!' he sat for eighteen months (age still little above twenty); but privately employed his time, not in repentance, or in serious legal studies, but in writing a poem on his henri quatre. 'epic poem,' no less; la ligue, as he then called it; which it was his hope the whole world would one day fall in love with;--as it did. nay, in two years more, he had done a play, oedipe the renowned name of it; which ran for forty-eight nights' ( th november, , the first of them); and was enough to turn any head of such age. law may be considered hopeless, even by m. arouet senior. "try him in the diplomatic line; break these bad habits and connections, thought m. arouet, at one time; and sent him to the french ambassador in holland,--on good behavior, as it were, and by way of temporary banishment. but neither did this answer. on the contrary, the young fellow got into scrapes again; got into amatory intrigues,--young lady visiting you in men's clothes, young lady's mother inveigling, and i know not what;--so that the ambassador was glad to send him home again unmarried; marked, as it were, 'glass, with care!' and the young lady's mother printed his letters, not the least worth reading:--and the old m. arouet seems now to have flung up his head; to have settled some small allowance on him, with peremptory no hope of more, and said, 'go your own way, then, foolish junior: the elder shall be my son.' m. arouet disappears at this point, or nearly so, from the history of his son francois; and i think must have died in not many years. poor old m. arouet closed his old eyes without the least conception what a prodigious ever-memorable thing he had done unknowingly, in sending this francois into the world, to kindle such universal 'dry dung-heap of a rotten world,' and set it blazing! francois, his father's synonym, came to be representative of the family, after all; the elder brother also having died before long. except certain confused niece-and-nephew personages, progeny of the sisters, francois has no more trouble or solacement from the paternal household. francois meanwhile is his father's synonym, and signs arouet junior, 'francois aroue l. j. (le jeune).' "'all of us princes, then, or poets!' said he, one night at supper, looking to right and left: the brightest fellow in the world, well fit to be phoebus apollo of such circles; and great things now ahead of him. dissolute regent d'orleans, politest, most debauched of men, and very witty, holds the helm; near him dubois the devil's cardinal, and so many bright spirits. all the luciferous spiritualism there is in france is lifting anchor, under these auspices, joyfully towards new latitudes and isles of the blest. what may not francois hope to become? 'hmph!' answers m. arouet senior, steadily, so long as he lives. here are one or two subsequent phases, epochs or turning-points, of the young gentleman's career. "phasis first ( - ).--the accomplished duc de sulli (year , day not recorded), is giving in his hotel a dinner, such as usual; and a bright witty company is assembled;--the brightest young fellow in france sure to be there; and with his electric coruscations illuminating everything, and keeping the table in a roar. to the delight of most; not to that of a certain splenetic ill-given duc de rohan; grandee of high rank, great haughtiness, and very ill-behavior in the world; who feels impatient at the notice taken of a mere civic individual, arouet junior. _ 'quel est done ce jeune homme qui parle si haut,_ who is this young man that talks so loud, then?' exclaims the proud splenetic duke. 'monseigneur,' flashes the young man back upon him in an electric manner, 'it is one who does not drag a big name about with him; but who secures respect for the name he has!' figure that, in the penetrating grandly clangorous voice (voix sombre et majestueuse), and the momentary flash of eyes that attended it. duc de rohan rose, in a sulphurous frame of mind; and went his ways. what date? you ask the idle french biographer in vain;--see only, after more and more inspection, that the incident is true; and with labor date it, summer of the year . treaty of utrecht itself, though all the newspapers and own correspondents were so interested in it, was perhaps but a foolish matter to date in comparison! "about a week after, m. arouet junior was again dining with the duc de sulli, and a fine company as before. a servant whispers him, that somebody has called, and wants him below. 'cannot come,' answers arouet; 'how can i, so engaged?' servant returns after a minute or two: 'pardon, monsieur; i am to say, it is to do an act of beneficence that you are wanted below!' arouet lays down his knife and fork; descends instantly to see what act it is. a carriage is in the court, and hackney-coach near it: 'would monsieur have the extreme goodness to come to the door of the carriage, in a case of necessity?' at the door of the carriage, hands seize the collar of him, hold him as in a vice; diabolic visage of duc de rohan is visible inside, who utters, looking to the hackney-coach, some "voila, now then!" whereupon the hackney-coach opens, gives out three porters, or hired bullies, with the due implements: scandalous actuality of horsewhipping descends on the back of poor arouet, who shrieks and execrates to no purpose, nobody being near. 'that will do,' says rohan at last, and the gallant ducal party drive off; young arouet, with torn frills and deranged hair, rushing up stairs again, in such a mood as is easy to fancy. everybody is sorry, inconsolable, everybody shocked; nobody volunteers to help in avenging. 'monseigneur de sulli, is not such atrocity done to one of your guests, an insult to yourself?' asks arouet. 'well, yes perhaps, but'--monseigneur de sulli shrugs his shoulders, and proposes nothing. arouet withdrew, of course in a most blazing condition, to consider what he could, on his own strength, do in this conjuncture. "his biographer duvernet says, he decided on doing two things: learning english and the small-sword exercise. [_la vie de voltaire,_ par m--(a geneve, ), pp. - ; or pp. - , in his second form of the book. the "m--" is an abbe duvernet; of no great mark otherwise. he got into revolution trouble afterwards, but escaped with his head; and republished his book, swollen out somewhat by new "anecdotes" and republican bluster, in this second instance; signing himself t. j. d. v--(paris, ). a vague but not dark or mendacious little book; with traces of real eyesight in it,--by one who had personally known voltaire, or at least seen and heard him.] he retired to the country for six months, and perfected himself in these two branches. being perfect, he challenged duc de rohan in the proper manner; applying ingenious compulsives withal, to secure acceptance of the challenge. rohan accepted, not without some difficulty, and compulsion at the theatre or otherwise:--accepted, but withal confessed to his wife. the result was, no measuring of swords took place; and rohan only blighted by public opinion, or incapable of farther blight that way, went at large; a convenient lettre de cachet having put arouet again in the bastille. where for six months arouet lodged a second time, the innocent not the guilty; making, we can well suppose, innumerable reflections on the phenomena of human life. imprisonment once over, he hastily quitted for england; shaking the dust of ungrateful france off his feet,--resolved to change his unhappy name, for one thing. "smelfungus, denouncing the torpid fatuity of voltaire's biographers, says he never met with one frenchman, even of the literary classes, who could tell him whence this name voltaire originated. 'a petite terre, small family estate,' they said; and sent him hunting through topographies, far and wide, to no purpose. others answered, 'volterra in italy, some connection with volterra,'--and seemed even to know that this was but fatuity. 'in ever-talking, ever-printing paris, is it as in timbuctoo, then, which neither prints nor has anything to print?' exclaims poor smelfungus! he tells us at last, the name voltaire is a mere anagram of arouet l. j.--you try it; a.r.o.u.e.t.l.j.=v.o.l.t.a.i.r.e and perceive at once, with obligations to smelfungus, that he has settled this small matter for you, and that you can be silent upon it forever thenceforth. "the anagram voltaire, gloomily settled in the bastille in this manner, can be reckoned a very famous wide-sounding outer result of the rohan impertinence and blackguardism; but it is not worth naming beside the inner intrinsic result, of banishing voltaire to england at this point of his course. england was full of constitutionality and freethinking; tolands, collinses, wollastons, bolingbrokes, still living; very free indeed. england, one is astonished to see, has its royal-republican ways of doing; something roman in it, from peerage down to plebs; strange and curious to the eye of m. de voltaire. sciences flourishing; newton still alive, white with fourscore years, the venerable hoary man; locke's gospel of common sense in full vogue, or even done into verse, by incomparable mr. pope, for the cultivated upper classes. in science, in religion, in politics, what a surprising 'liberty' allowed or taken! never was a freer turn of thinking. and (what to m. de voltaire is a pleasant feature) it is freethinking with ruffles to its shirt and rings on its fingers;--never yet, the least, dreaming of the shirtless or sansculottic state that lies ahead for it! that is the palmy condition of english liberty, when m. de voltaire arrives there. "in a man just out of the bastille on those terms, there is a mind driven by hard suffering into seriousness, and provoked by indignant comparisons and remembrances. as if you had elaborately ploughed and pulverized the mind of this voltaire to receive with its utmost avidity, and strength of fertility, whatever seed england may have for it. that was a notable conjuncture of a man with circumstances. the question, is this man to grow up a court poet; to do legitimate dramas, lampoons, witty verses, and wild spiritual and practical magnificences, the like never seen; princes and princesses recognizing him as plainly divine, and keeping him tied by enchantments to that poor trade as his task in life? is answered in the negative. no: and it is not quite to decorate and comfort your 'dry dung-heap' of a world, or the fortunate cocks that scratch on it, that the man voltaire is here; but to shoot lightnings into it, and set it ablaze one day! that was an important alternative; truly of world-importance to the poor generations that now are; and it was settled, in good part, by this voyage to england, as one may surmise. such is sometimes the use of a dissolute rohan in this world; for the gods make implements of all manner of things. "m. de voltaire (for we now drop the arouet altogether, and never hear of it more) came to england--when? quitted england--when? sorrow on all fatuous biographers, who spend their time not in laying permanent foundation-stones, but in fencing with the wind!--i at last find indisputably, it was in that he came to england: [got out of the bastille, with orders to leave france, " th april" of that year (_oeuvres de voltaire,_ i. n.).] and he himself tells us that he .' spent, therefore, some two years there in all,--last year of george i.'s reign, and first of george ii.'s. but mere inanity and darkness visible reign, in all his biographies, over this period of his life, which was above all others worth investigating: seek not to know it; no man has inquired into it, probably no competent man now ever will. by hints in certain letters of the period, we learn that he lodged, or at one time lodged, in 'maiden lane, covent garden;' one of those old houses that yet stand in maiden lane: for which small fact let us be thankful. his own letters of the period are dated now and then from 'wandsworth.' allusions there are to bolingbroke; but the wandsworth is not bolingbroke's mansion, which stood in battersea; the wandsworth was one edward fawkener's; a man somewhat admirable to young voltaire, but extinct now, or nearly so, in human memory. he had been a turkey merchant, it would seem, and nevertheless was admitted to speak his word in intellectual, even in political circles; which was wonderful to young voltaire. this fawkener, i think, became sir edward fawkener, and some kind of 'secretary to the duke of cumberland:'--i judge it to be the same fawkener; a man highly unmemorable now, were it not for the young frenchman he was hospitable to. fawkener's and bolingbroke's are perhaps the only names that turn up in voltaire's letters of this english period: over which generally there reigns, in the french biographies, inane darkness, with an intimation, half involuntary, that it should have been made luminous, and would if perfectly easy. "we know, from other sources, that he had acquaintance with many men in england, with all manner of important men: notes to pope in voltaire-english, visit of voltaire to congreve, notes even to such as lady sundon in the interior of the palace, are known of. the brightest young fellow in the world did not want for introductions to the highest quarters, in that time of political alliance, and extensive private acquaintance, between his country and ours. and all this he was the man to improve, both in the trivial and the deep sense. his bow to the divine princess caroline and suite, could it fail in graceful reverence or what else was needed? dexterous right words in the right places, winged with esprit so called: that was the man's supreme talent, in which he had no match, to the last. a most brilliant, swift, far-glancing young man, disposed to make himself generally agreeable. for the rest, his wonder, we can see, was kept awake; wonder readily inclining, in his circumstances, towards admiration. the stereotype figure of the englishman, always the same, which turns up in voltaire's works, is worth noting in this respect. a rugged surly kind of fellow, much-enduring, not intrinsically bad; splenetic without complaint, standing oddly inexpugnable in that natural stoicism of his; taciturn, yet with strange flashes of speech in him now and then, something which goes beyond laughter and articulate logic, and is the taciturn elixir of these two, what they call 'humor' in their dialect: this is pretty much the reverse of voltaire's own self, and therefore all the welcomer to him; delineated always with a kind of mockery, but with evident love. what excellences are in england, thought voltaire; no bastille in it, for one thing! newton's philosophy annihilated the vortexes of descartes for him; locke's toleration is very grand (especially if all is uncertain, and you are in the minority); then collins, wollaston and company,--no vile jesuits here, strong in their mendacious mal-odorous stupidity, despicablest yet most dangerous of creatures, to check freedom of thought! illustrious mr. pope, of the _essay on man,_ surely he is admirable; as are pericles bolingbroke, and many others. even bolingbroke's high-lacquered brass is gold to this young french friend of his.--through all which admirations and exaggerations the progress of the young man, toward certain very serious attainments and achievements, is conceivable enough. "one other man, who ought to be mentioned in the biographies, i find voltaire to have made acquaintance with, in england: a german m. fabrice, one of several brothers called fabrice or fabricius,--concerning whom, how he had been at bender, and how voltaire picked charles douse from the memory of him, there was already mention. the same fabrice who held poor george i. in his arms while they drove, galloping, to osnabriick, that night, in extremis:--not needing mention again. the following is more to the point. "voltaire, among his multifarious studies while in england, did not forget that of economics: his poem la ligue,--surreptitiously printed, three years since, under that title (one desfontaines, a hungry ex-jesuit, the perpetrator), [ , vie, par t. j. d. v. (that is, "m--" in the second form), p. .]--he now took in hand for his own benefit; washed it clean of its blots; christened it henriade, under which name it is still known over all the world;--and printed it; published it here, by subscription, in ; one of the first things he undertook. very splendid subscription; headed by princess caroline, and much favored by the opulent of quality. which yielded an unknown but very considerable sum of thousands sterling, and grounded not only the world-renown but the domestic finance of m. de voltaire. for the fame of the 'new epic,' as this henriade was called, soon spread into all lands. and such fame, and other agencies on his behalf, having opened the way home for voltaire, he took this sum of thousands sterling along with him; laid it out judiciously in some city lottery, or profitable scrip then going at paris, which at once doubled the amount: after which he invested it in corn-trade, army clothing, barbary-trade, commissariat bacon-trade, all manner of well-chosen trades,--being one of the shrewdest financiers on record;--and never from that day wanted abundance of money, for one thing. which he judged to be extremely expedient for a literary man, especially in times of jesuit and other tribulation. 'you have only to watch,' he would say, 'what scrips, public loans, investments in the field of agio, are offered; if you exert any judgment, it is easy to gain there: do not the stupidest of mortals gain there, by intensely attending to it?' "voltaire got almost nothing by his books, which he generally had to disavow, and denounce as surreptitious supposititious scandals, when some sharp-set book-seller, in whose way he had laid the savory article as bait, chose to risk his ears for the profit of snatching and publishing it. next to nothing by his books; but by his fine finance-talent otherwise, he had become possessed of ample moneys. which were so cunningly disposed, too, that he had resources in every country; and no conceivable combination of confiscating jesuits and dark fanatic official persons could throw him out of a livelihood, whithersoever he might be forced to run. a man that looks facts in the face; which is creditable of him. the vulgar call it avarice and the like, as their way is: but m. de voltaire is convinced that effects will follow causes; and that it well beseems a lonely ishmaelite, hunting his way through the howling wildernesses and confused ravenous populations of this world, to have money in his pocket. he died with a revenue of some , pounds a year, probably as good as , pounds at present; the richest literary man ever heard of hitherto, as well as the remarkablest in some other respects. but we have to mark the second phasis of his life [in which friedrich now sees him], and how it grew out of this first one. "phasis second ( - ).--returning home as if quietly triumphant, with such a talent in him, and such a sanction put upon it and him by a neighboring nation, and by all the world, voltaire was warmly received, in his old aristocratic circles, by cultivated france generally; and now in , in his thirty-second year, might begin to have definite outlooks of a sufficiently royal kind, in literature and otherwise. nor is he slow, far from it, to advance, to conquer and enjoy. he writes successful literature, falls in love with women of quality; encourages the indigent and humble; eclipses, and in case of need tramples down, the too proud. he elegizes poor adrienne lecouvreur, the actress,--our poor friend the comte de saxe's female friend; who loyally emptied out her whole purse for him, , pounds in one sum, that he might try for courland, and whether he could fall in love with her of the swollen cheek there; which proved impossible. elegizes adrienne, slightly, and even buries her under cloud of night: ready to protect unfortunate females of merit. especially theatrical females; having much to do in the theatre, which we perceive to be the pulpit or real preaching-place of cultivated france in those years. all manner of verse, all manner of prose, he dashes off with surprising speed and grace: showers of light spray for the moment; and always some current of graver enterprise, _siecle de louis quatorze_ or the like, going on beneath it. for he is a most diligent, swift, unresting man; and studies and learns amazingly in such a rackety existence. victorious enough in some senses; defeat, in literature, never visited him. his plays, coming thick on the heels of one another, rapid brilliant pieces, are brilliantly received by the unofficial world; and ought to dethrone dull crebillon, and the sleepy potentates of poetry that now are. which in fact is their result with the public; but not yet in the highest courtly places;--a defect much to be condemned and lamented. "numerous enemies arise, as is natural, of an envious venomous description; this is another ever-widening shadow in the sunshine. in fact we perceive he has, besides the inner obstacles and griefs, two classes of outward ones: there are lions on his path and also dogs. lions are the ex-bishop of mirepoix, and certain other dark holy fathers, or potent orthodox official persons. these, though voltaire does not yet declare his heterodoxy (which, indeed, is but the orthodoxy of the cultivated private circles), perceive well enough, even by the henriade, and its talk of 'tolerance,' horror of 'fanaticism' and the like, what this one's 'doxy is; and how dangerous he, not a mere mute man of quality, but a talking spirit with winged words, may be;--and they much annoy and terrify him, by their roaring in the distance. which roaring cannot, of course, convince; and since it is not permitted to kill, can only provoke a talking spirit into still deeper strains of heterodoxy for his own private behoof. these are the lions on his path: beasts conscious to themselves of good intentions; but manifesting from voltaire's point of view, it must be owned, a physiognomy unlovely to a degree. 'light is superior to darkness, i should think,' meditates voltaire; 'power of thought to the want of power! the ane de mirepoix (ass of mirepoix), [poor joke of voltaire's, continually applied to this bishop, or ex-bishop,--who was thought, generally, a rather tenebrific man for appointment to the feuille des benefices (charge of nominating bishops, keeping king's conscience, &c.); and who, in that capacity, signed himself anc (by no means "ane," but "ancien, whilom") de mirepoix,--to the enragement of voltaire often enough.] pretending to use me in this manner, is it other, in the court of rhadamanthus, than transcendent stupidity, with transcendent insolence superadded?' voltaire grows more and more heterodox; and is ripening towards dangerous utterances, though he, strives to hold in. "the dogs upon his path, again, are all the disloyal envious persons of the writing class, whom his success has offended; and, more generally, all the dishonest hungry persons who can gain a morsel by biting him: and their name is legion. it must be owned, about as ugly a doggery ('infame canaille' he might well reckon them) as has, before or since, infested the path of a man. they are not hired and set on, as angry suspicion might suggest; but they are covertly somewhat patronized by the mirepoix, or orthodox official class. scandalous ex-jesuit desfontaines, thersites freron,--these are but types of an endless doggery; whose names and works should be blotted out; whose one claim to memory is, that the riding man so often angrily sprang down, and tried horsewhipping them into silence. a vain attempt. the individual hound flies howling, abjectly petitioning and promising; but the rest bark all with new comfort, and even he starts again straightway. it is bad travelling in those woods, with such lions and such dogs. and then the sparsely scattered human creatures (so we may call them in contrast, persons of quality for most part) are not always what they should be. the grand mansions you arrive at, in this waste-howling solitude, prove sometimes essentially robber-towers;--and there may be armida palaces, and divine-looking armidas, where your ultimate fate is still worse. _'que le monde est rempli d'enchanteurs, je ne dis rien d'enchanteresses!'_ to think of it, the solitary ishmaelite journeying, never so well mounted, through such a wilderness: with lions, dogs, human robbers and armidas all about him; himself lonely, friendless under the stars:--one could pity him withal, though that is not the feeling he solicits; nor gets hitherto, even at this impartial distance. "one of the beautiful creatures of quality,--we hope, not an armida,--who came athwart voltaire, in these times, was a madame du chatelet; distinguished from all the others by a love of mathematics and the pure sciences, were it nothing else. she was still young, under thirty; the literary man still under forty. with her husband, to whom she had brought a child, or couple of children, there was no formal quarrel; but they were living apart, neither much heeding the other, as was by no means a case without example at that time; monsieur soldiering, and philandering about, in garrison or elsewhere; madame, in a like humor, doing the best for herself in the high circles of society, to which he and she belonged. most wearisome barren circles to a person of thought, as both she and m. de voltaire emphatically admitted to one another, on first making acquaintance. but is there no help? "madame had tried the pure sciences and philosophies, in books: but how much more charming, when they come to you as a human philosopher; handsome, magnanimous, and the wittiest man in the world! young madame was not regularly beautiful; but she was very piquant, radiant, adventurous; understood other things than the pure sciences, and could be abundantly coquettish and engaging. i have known her scuttle off, on an evening, with a couple of adventurous young wives of quality, to the remote lodging of the witty m. de voltaire, and make his dim evening radiant to him. [one of voltaire's letters.] then again, in public crowds, i have seen them; obliged to dismount to the peril of madame's diamonds, there being a jam of carriages, and no getting forward for half the day. in short, they are becoming more and more intimate, to the extremest degree; and, scorning the world, thank heaven that they are mutually indispensable. cannot we get away from this scurvy wasp's-nest of a paris, thought they, and live to ourselves and our books? "madame was of high quality, one of the breteuils; but was poor in comparison, and her husband the like. an old chateau of theirs, named cirey, stands in a pleasant enough little valley in champagne; but so dilapidated, gaunt and vacant, nobody can live in it. voltaire, who is by this time a man of ample moneys, furnishes the requisite cash; madame and he, in sweet symphony, concert the plans: cirey is repaired, at least parts of it are, into a boudoir of the gods, regardless of expense; nothing ever seen so tasteful, so magnificent; and the two withdraw thither to study, in peace, what sciences, pure and other, they have a mind to. they are recognized as lovers, by the parisian public, with little audible censure from anybody there,--with none at all from the easy husband; who occasionally even visits cirey, if he be passing that way; and is content to take matters as he finds them, without looking below the surface. [see (whosoever is curious) madame de grafigny, _vie privee de voltaire et de madame du chatelet_ (paris, ). a six months of actual letters written by poor grafigny, while sheltering at cirey, winter and spring, - ; straitened there in various respects,--extremely ill off for fuel, among other things. rugged practical letters, shadowing out to us, unconsciously oftenest, and like a very mirror, the splendid and the sordid, the seamy side and the smooth, of life at cirey, in her experience of it. published, fourscore years after, under the above title.] for the ten commandments are at a singular pass in cultivated france at this epoch. such illicit-idyllic form of life has been the form of voltaire's since ,"--for some three years now, when friedrich and we first make acquaintance with him. "it lasted above a dozen years more: an illicit marriage after its sort, and subject only to the liabilities of such. perhaps we may look in upon the cirey household, ourselves, at some future time; and"--this editor hopes not! "madame admits that for the first ten years it was, on the whole, sublime; a perfect eden on earth, though stormy now and then. [_lettres inedites de madame la marquise du chastelet; auxquelles on a joint une dissertation_ (&c. of hers): paris, .] after ten years, it began to grow decidedly dimmer; and in the course of few years more, it became undeniably evident that m. de voltaire 'did not love me as formerly:'--in fact, if madame could have seen it, m. de voltaire was growing old, losing his teeth, and the like; and did not care for anything as formerly! which was a dreadful discovery, and gave rise to results by and by. "in this retreat at cirey, varied with flying visits to paris, and kept awake by multifarious correspondences, the quantity of literature done by the two was great and miscellaneous. by madame, chiefly in the region of the pure sciences, in newtonian dissertations, competitions for prizes, and the like: really sound and ingenious pieces, entirely forgotten long since. by voltaire, in serious tragedies, histories, in light sketches and deep dissertations:--mockery getting ever wilder with him; the satirical vein, in prose and verse, amazingly copious, and growing more and more heterodox, as we can perceive. his troubles from the ecclesiastical or lion kind in the literary forest, still more from the rabid doggery in it, are manifold, incessant. and it is pleasantly notable,--during these first ten years,--with what desperate intensity, vigilance and fierceness, madame watches over all his interests and liabilities and casualties great and small; leaping with her whole force into m. de voltaire's scale of the balance, careless of antecedences and consequences alike; flying, with the spirit of an angry brood-hen, at the face of mastiffs, in defence of any feather that is m. de voltaire's. to which voltaire replies, as he well may, with eloquent gratitude; with verses to the divine emilie, with gifts to her, verses and gifts the prettiest in the world;--and industriously celebrates the divine emilie to herself and all third parties. "an ardent, aerial, gracefully predominant, and in the end somewhat termagant female figure, this divine emilie. her temper, radiant rather than bland, was none of the patientest on occasion; nor was m. de voltaire the least of a job, if you came athwart him the wrong way. i have heard, their domestic symphony was liable to furious flaws,--let us hope at great distances apart:--that 'plates' in presence of the lackeys, actual crockery or metal, have been known to fly from end to end of the dinner-table; nay they mention 'knives' (though only in the way of oratorical action); and voltaire has been heard to exclaim, the sombre and majestic voice of him risen to a very high pitch: _'ne me regardez tant de ces yeux hagards et louches,_ don't fix those haggard sidelong eyes on me in that way!'--mere shrillness of pale rage presiding over the scene. but we hope it was only once in the quarter, or seldomer: after which the element would be clearer for some time. a lonesome literary man, who has got a brood phoenix to preside over him, and fly at the face of gods and men for him in that manner, ought to be grateful. "perhaps we shall one day glance, personally, as it were, into cirey with our readers;"--not with this editor or his!--"it will turn out beyond the reader's expectation. tolerable illicit resting-place, so far as the illicit can be tolerable, for a lonesome man of letters, who goes into the illicit. helpfulness, affection, or the flattering image of such, are by no means wanting: squalls of infirm temper are not more frequent than in the most licit establishments of a similar sort. madame, about this time, has a swift palfrey, 'rossignol (nightingale)' the name of him; and gallops fairy-like through the winding valleys; being an ardent rider, and well-looking on horseback. voltaire's study is inlaid with--the grafigny knows all what:--mere china tiles, gilt sculptures, marble slabs, and the supreme of taste and expense: study fit for the phoebus apollo of france, so far as madame could contrive it. takes coffee with madame, in the gallery, about noon. and his bedroom, i expressly discern, [_letters of voltaire._] looks out upon a running brook, the murmur of which is pleasant to one." enough, enough. we can perceive what kind of voltaire it was to whom the crown-prince now addressed himself; and how luminous an object, shining afar out of the solitudes of champagne upon the ardent young man, still so capable of admiration. model epic, henriade; model history, charles douze; sublime tragedies, cisar, alzire and others, which readers still know though with less enthusiasm, are blooming fresh in friedrich's memory and heart; such literature as man never saw before; and in the background friedrich has inarticulately a feeling as if, in this man, there were something grander than all literatures: a reform of human thought itself; a new "gospel," good-tidings or god's-message, by this man;--which friedrich does not suspect, as the world with horror does, to be a new ba'spel, or devil's-message of bad-tidings! a sublime enough voltaire; radiant enough, over at cirey yonder. to all lands, a visible phoebus apollo, climbing the eastern steeps; with arrows of celestial "new light" in his quiver; capable of stretching many a big foul python, belly uppermost, in its native mud, and ridding the poor world of her nightmares and mud-serpents in some measure, we may hope!-- and so there begins, from this point, a lively correspondence between friedrich and voltaire; which, with some interruptions of a notable sort, continued during their mutual life; and is a conspicuous feature in the biographies of both. the world talked much of it, and still talks; and has now at last got it all collected, and elucidated into a dimly legible form for studious readers. [preuss, _oeuvres de frederic,_ (xxi. xxii. xxiii., berlin, ); who supersedes the lazy french editors in this matter.] it is by no means the diabolically wicked correspondence it was thought to be; the reverse, indeed, on both sides;--but it has unfortunately become a very dull one, to the actual generation of mankind. not without intrinsic merit; on the contrary (if you read intensely, and bring the extinct alive again), it sparkles notably with epistolary grace and vivacity; and, on any terms, it has still passages of biographical and other interest: but the substance of it, then so new and shining, has fallen absolutely commonplace, the property of all the world, since then; and is now very wearisome to the reader. no doctrine or opinion in it that you have not heard, with clear belief or clear disbelief, a hundred times, and could wish rather not to hear again. the common fate of philosophical originalities in this world. as a biographical document, it is worth a very strict perusal, if you are interested that way in either friedrich or voltaire: finely significant hints and traits, though often almost evanescent, so slight are they, abound in this correspondence; frankness, veracity under graceful forms, being the rule of it, strange to say! as an illustration of two memorable characters, and of their century; showing on what terms the sage plato of the eighteenth century and his tyrant dionysius correspond, and what their manners are to one another, it may long have a kind of interest to mankind: otherwise it has not much left. in friedrich's history it was, no doubt, an important fact, that there lived a voltaire along with him, twenty years his senior. with another theory of the universe than the voltaire one, how much other had friedrich too been! but the theory called by voltaire's name was not properly of voltaire's creating, but only of his uttering and publishing; it lay ready for everybody's finding, and could not well have been altogether missed by such a one as friedrich. so that perhaps we exaggerate the effects of voltaire on him, though undoubtedly they were considerable. considerable; but not derived from this express correspondence, which seldom turns on didactic points at all; derived rather from voltaire's printed works, where they lay derivable to all the world. certain enough it is, voltaire was at this time, and continued all his days, friedrich's chief thinker in the world; unofficially, the chief preacher, prophet and priest of this working king;--no better off for a spiritual trismegistus was poor friedrich in the world! on the practical side, friedrich soon outgrew him,--perhaps had already outgrown, having far more veracity of character, and an intellect far better built in the silent parts of it, and trained too by hard experiences to know shadow from substance;--outgrew him, and gradually learned to look down upon him, occasionally with much contempt, in regard to the practical. but in all changes of humor towards voltaire, friedrich, we observe, considers him as plainly supreme in speculative intellect; and has no doubt but, for thinking and speaking, nature never made such another. which may be taken as a notable feature of friedrich's history; and gives rise to passages between voltaire and him, which will make much noise in time coming. here, meanwhile, faithfully presented though in condensed form, is the starting of the correspondence; first letter of it, and first response. two pieces which were once bright as the summer sunrise on both sides, but are now fallen very dim; and have much needed condensation, and abridgment by omission of the unessential,--so lengthy are they, so extinct and almost dreary to us! sublime "wolf" and his "philosophy," how he was hunted out of halle with it, long since; and now shines from marburg, his "philosophy" and he supreme among mankind: this, and other extinct points, the reader's fancy will endeavor to rekindle in some slight measure:-- to m. de voltaire, at cirey (from the crown-prince). "berlin, th august, . "monsieur,--although i have not the satisfaction of knowing you personally, you are not the less known to me through your works. they are treasures of the mind, if i may so express myself; and they reveal to the reader new beauties at every fresh perusal. i think i have recognized in them the character of their ingenious author, who does honor to our age and to human nature. if ever the dispute on the comparative merits of the moderns and the ancients should be revived, the modern great men will owe it to you, and to you only, that the scale is turned in their favor. with the excellent quality of poet you join innumerable others more or less related to it. never did poet before put metaphysics into rhythmic cadence: to you the honor was reserved of doing it first. "this taste for philosophy manifested in your writings, induces me to send you a translated copy of the _accusation and defence of m. wolf,_ the most celebrated philosopher of our days; who, for having carried light into the darkest places of metaphysics, is cruelly accused of irreligion and atheism. such is the destiny of great men; their superior genius exposes them to the poisoned arrows of calumny and envy. i am about getting a translation made of the _treatise on god, the soul, and the world,"_--translation done by an excellency suhm, as has been hinted,--"from the pen of the same author. i will send it you when it is finished; and i am sure that the force of evidence in all his propositions, and their close geometrical sequence, will strike you. "the kindness and assistance you afford to all who devote themselves to the arts and sciences, makes me hope that you will not exclude me from the number of those whom you find worthy of your instructions:--it is so i would call your intercourse by correspondence of letters; which cannot be other than profitable to every thinking being.... ... "beauties without number in your works. your henriade delights me. the tragedy of cesar shows us sustained characters; the sentiments in it are magnificent and grand, and one feels that brutus is either a roman, or else an englishman _(ou un romain ou un anglais)._ your alzire, to the graces of novelty adds... "monsieur, there is nothing i wish so much as to possess all your writings," even those not printed hitherto. "pray, monsieur, do communicate them to me without reserve. if there be amongst your manuscripts any that you wish to conceal from the eyes of the public, i engage to keep them in the profoundest secrecy. i am unluckily aware, that the faith of princes is an object of little respect in our days; nevertheless i hope you will make an exception from the general rule in my favor. i should think myself richer in the possession of your works than in that of all the transient goods of fortune. these the same chance grants and takes away: your works one can make one's own by means of memory, so that they last us whilst it lasts. knowing how weak my own memory is, i am in the highest degree select in what i trust to it. "if poetry were what it was before your appearance, a strumming of wearisome idyls, insipid eclogues, tuneful nothings, i should renounce it forever:" but in your hands it becomes ennobled; a melodious "course of morals; worthy of the admiration and the study of cultivated minds (des honnetes gens). you"--in fine, "you inspire the ambition to follow in your footsteps. but i, how often have i said to myself: 'malheureux, throw down a burden which is above thy strength! one cannot imitate voltaire, without being voltaire!' "it is in such moments that i have felt how small are those advantages of birth, those vapors of grandeur, with which vanity would solace us! they amount to little, properly to nothing (pour mieux dire, rien). nature, when she pleases, forms a great soul, endowed with faculties that can advance the arts and sciences; and it is the part of princes to recompense his noble toils. ah, would glory but make use of me to crown your successes! my only fear would be, lest this country, little fertile in laurels, proved unable to furnish enough of them. "if my destiny refuse me the happiness of being able to possess you, may i, at least, hope one day to see the man whom i have admired so long now from afar; and to assure you, by word of mouth, that i am,--with all the esteem and consideration due to those who, following the torch of truth for guide, consecrate their labors to the public,--monsieur, your affectionate friend, "frederic, p. r. of prussia." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxi. .] by what route or conveyance this letter went, i cannot say. in general, it is to be observed, these friedrich-voltaire letters--liable perhaps to be considered contraband at both ends of their course--do not go by the post; but by french-prussian ministers, by hamburg merchants, and other safe subterranean channels. voltaire, with enthusiasm, and no doubt promptly, answers within three weeks:-- to the crown-prince, at reinsberg (from voltaire). "cirey, th august, . "monseigneur,--a man must be void of all feeling who were not infinitely moved by the letter which your royal highness has deigned to honor me with. my self-love is only too much flattered by it: but my love of mankind, which i have always nourished in my heart, and which, i venture to say, forms the basis of my character, has given me a very much purer pleasure,--to see that there is, now in the world, a prince who thinks as a man; a philosopher prince, who will make men happy. "permit me to say, there is not a man on the earth but owes thanks for the care you take to cultivate by sound philosophy a soul that is born for command. good kings there never were except those that had begun by seeking to instruct themselves; by knowing-good men from bad; by loving what was true, by detesting persecution and superstition. no prince, persisting in such thoughts, but might bring back the golden age into his countries! and why do so few princes seek this glory? you feel it, monseigneur, it is because they all think more of their royalty than of mankind. precisely the reverse is your case:--and, unless, one day, the tumult of business and the wickedness of men alter so divine a character, you will be worshipped by your people, and loved by the whole world. philosophers, worthy of the name, will flock to your states; thinkers will crowd round that throne, as the skilfulest artisans do to the city where their art is in request. the illustrious queen christina quitted her kingdom to go in search of the arts; reign you, monseigneur, and the arts will come to seek you. "may you only never be disgusted with the sciences by the quarrels of their cultivators! a race of men no better than courtiers; often enough as greedy, intriguing, false and cruel as these," and still more ridiculous in the mischief they do. "and how sad for mankind that the very interpreters of heaven's commandments, the theologians, i mean, are sometimes the most dangerous of all! professed messengers of the divinity, yet men sometimes of obscure ideas and pernicious behavior; their soul blown out with mere darkness; full of gall and pride, in proportion as it is empty of truths. every thinking being who is not of their opinion is an atheist; and every king who does not favor them will be damned. dangerous to the very throne; and yet intrinsically insignificant:" best way is, leave their big talk and them alone; speedy collapse will follow.... "i cannot sufficiently thank your royal highness for the gift of that little book about monsieur wolf. i respect metaphysical ideas; rays of lightning they are in the midst of deep night. more, i think, is not to be hoped from metaphysics. it does not seem likely that the first-principles of things will ever be known. the mice that nestle in some little holes of an immense building, know not whether it is eternal, or who the architect, or why he built it. such mice are we; and the divine architect who built the universe has never, that i know of, told his secret to one of us. if anybody could pretend to guess correctly, it is m. wolf." beautiful in your royal highness to protect such a man. and how beautiful it will be, to send me his chief book, as you have the kindness to promise! "the heir of a monarchy, from his palace, attending to the wants of a recluse far off! condescend to afford me the pleasure of that book, monseigneur.... "what your royal highness thinks of poetry is just: verses that do not teach men new and touching truths, do not deserve to be read." as to my own poor verses--but, after all, "that henriade is the writing of an honest man: fit, in that sense, that it find grace with a philosopher prince. "i will obey your commands as to sending those unpublished pieces. you shall be my public, monseigneur; your criticisms will be my reward: it is a price few sovereigns can pay. i am sure of your secrecy: your virtue and your intellect must be in proportion. i should indeed consider it a precious happiness to come and pay my court to your royal highness! one travels to rome to see paintings and ruins: a prince such as you is a much more singular object; worthier of a long journey! but the friendship [divine emilie's] which keeps me in this retirement does not permit my leaving it. no doubt you think with julian, that great and much calumniated man, who said, 'friends should always be preferred to kings.' "in whatever corner of the world i may end my life, be assured, monseigneur, my wishes will continually be for you,--that is to say, for a whole people's happiness. my heart will rank itself among your subjects; your glory will ever be dear to me. i shall wish, may you always be like yourself, and may other kings be like you!--i am, with profound respect, your royal highness's most humble "voltaire." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxi. .] the correspondence, once kindled, went on apace; and soon burst forth, finding nourishment all round, into a shining little household fire, pleasant to the hands and hearts of both parties. consent of opinions on important matters is not wanting; nor is emphasis in declaring the same. the mutual admiration, which is high,--high and intrinsic on friedrich's side; and on voltaire's, high if in part extrinsic,--by no means wants for emphasis of statement: superlatives, tempered by the best art, pass and repass. friedrich, reading voltaire's immortal manuscripts, confesses with a blush, before long, that he himself is a poor apprentice that way. voltaire, at sight of the princely productions, is full of admiration, of encouragement; does a little in correcting, solecisms of grammar chiefly; a little, by no means much. but it is a growing branch of employment; now and henceforth almost the one reality of function voltaire can find for himself in this beautiful correspondence. for, "oh what a crown-prince, ripening forward to be the delight of human nature, and realize the dream of sages, philosophy upon the throne!" and on the other side, "oh what a phoebus apollo, mounting the eastern sky, chasing the nightmares,--sowing the earth with orient pearl, to begin with!"--in which fine duet, it must be said, the prince is perceptibly the truer singer; singing within compass, and from the heart; while the phoebus shows himself acquainted with art, and warbles in seductive quavers, now and then beyond the pitch of his voice. we must own also, friedrich proves little seducible; shows himself laudably indifferent to such siren-singing;--perhaps more used to flattery, and knowing by experience how little meal is to be made of chaff. voltaire, in an ungrateful france, naturally plumes himself a good deal on such recognition by a foreign rising sun; and, of the two, though so many years the elder, is much more like losing head a little. elegant gifts are despatched to cirey; gold-amber trinkets for madame, perhaps an amber inkholder for monsieur: priceless at cirey as the gifts of the very gods. by and by, a messenger goes express: the witty colonel keyserling, witty but experienced, whom we once named at reinsberg; he is to go and see with his eyes, since his master cannot. what a messenger there; ambassador from star to star! keyserling's report at reinsberg is not given; but we have grafigny's, which is probably the more impartial. keyserling's embassy was in the end of next year; [ d november, (as we gather from the correspondence).] and there is plenty of airy writing about it and him, in these letters. friedrich has translated the name keyserling (diminutive of kaiser) into "caesarion;"--and i should have said, he plays much upon names and also upon things, at reinsberg, in that style; and has a good deal of airy symbolism, and cloud-work ingeniously painted round the solidities of his life there. especially a "bayard order," as he calls it: twelve of his selectest friends made into a chivalry brotherhood, the names of whom are all changed, "caesarion" one of them; with dainty devices, and mimetic procedures of the due sort. which are not wholly mummery; but have a spice of reality, to flavor them to a serious young heart. for the selection was rigorous, superior merit and behavior a strict condition; and indeed several of these bayard chevaliers proved notable practical champions in time coming;--for example captain fouquet, of whom we have heard before, in the dark custrin days. this is a mentionable feature of the reinsberg life, and of the young prince's character there: pleasant to know of, from this distance; but not now worth knowing more in detail. the friedrich-voltaire correspondence contains much incense; due whiffs of it, from reinsberg side, to the "divine emilie," voltaire's quasi better-half or worse-half; who responds always in her divinest manner to reinsberg, eager for more acquaintance there. the du chatelets had a lawsuit in brabant; very inveterate, perhaps a hundred years old or more; with the "house of honsbrouck:" [_lettres inedites de voltaire_ (paris, ), p. .] this, not to speak of other causes, flights from french peril and the like, often brought voltaire and his dame into those parts; and gave rise to occasional hopes of meeting with friedrich; which could not take effect. in more practical style, voltaire solicits of him: "could not your royal highness perhaps graciously speak to some of those judicial big wigs in brabant, and flap them up a little!" which friedrich, i think, did, by some good means. happily, by one means or other, voltaire got the lawsuit ended,-- , we might guess, but the time is not specified;--and friedrich had a new claim, had there been need of new, to be regarded with worship by madame. [record of all this, left, like innumerable other things there, in an intrinsically dark condition, lies in voltaire's letters,--not much worth hunting up into clear daylight, the process being so difficult to a stranger.] but the proposed meeting with madame could never take effect; not even when friedrich's hands were free. nay i notice at last, friedrich had privately determined it never should--madame evidently an inconvenient element to him. a young man not wanting in private power of eyesight; and able to distinguish chaff from meal! voltaire and he will meet; meet, and also part; and there will be passages between them:--and the reader will again hear of this correspondence of theirs, where it has a biographical interest. we are to conceive it, at present, as a principal light of life to the young heart at reinsberg; a cheerful new fire, almost an altar-fire, irradiating the common dusk for him there. of another correspondence, beautifully irradiative for the young heart, we must say almost nothing: the correspondence with suhm. suhm the saxon minister, whom we have occasionally heard of, is an old friend of the crown-prince's, dear and helpful to him: it is he who is now doing those _translations of wolf,_ of which voltaire lately saw specimens; translate at large, for the young man's behoof. the young man, restless to know the best philosophy going, had tried reading of wolf's chief book; found it too abstruse, in wolf's german: wherefore suhm translates; sends it to him in limpid french; fascicle by fascicle, with commentaries; young man doing his best to understand and admire,--gratefully, not too successfully, we can perceive. that is the staple of the famous suhm correspondence; staple which nobody could now bear to be concerned with. suhm is also helpful in finance difficulties, which are pretty frequent; works out subventions, loans under a handsome form, from the czarina's and other courts. which is an operation of the utmost delicacy; perilous, should it be heard of at potsdam. wherefore suhm and the prince have a covert language for it: and affect still to be speaking of "publishers" and "new volumes," when they mean lenders and bank-draughts. all these loans, i will hope, were accurately paid one day, as that from george ii. was, in "rouleaus of new gold." we need not doubt the wholesome charm and blessing of so intimate a correspondence to the crown-prince: and indeed his real love of the amiable suhm, as suhm's of him, comes beautifully to light in these letters: but otherwise they are not now to be read without weariness, even dreariness, and have become a biographical reminiscence merely. concerning graf von manteufel, a third literary correspondent, and the only other considerable one, here, from a german commentator on this matter, is a clipping that will suffice:-- "manteufel was saxon by birth, long a minister of august the strong, but quarrelled with august, owing to some frail female it is said, and had withdrawn to berlin a few years ago. he shines there among the fashionable philosophical classes; underhand, perhaps does a little in the volunteer political line withal; being a very busy pushing gentleman. tall of stature, 'perfectly handsome at the age of sixty;' [formey, _souvenirs d'un citoyen,_ i. - .] great partisan of wolf and the philosophies, awake to the orthodoxies too. writes flowing elegant french, in a softly trenchant, somewhat too all-knowing style. high manners traceable in him; but nothing of the noble loyalty, natural politeness and pious lucency of suhm. one of his letters to friedrich has this slightly impertinent passage;--friedrich, just getting settled in reinsberg, having transiently mentioned 'the quantity of fair sex' that had come about him there:-- "'berlin, th august, (to the crown-prince).... i am well persuaded your royal highness will regulate all that to perfection, and so manage that your fair sex will be charmed to find themselves with you at reinsberg, and you charmed to have them there. but permit me, your royal highness, to repeat in this place, what i one day took the liberty of saying here at berlin: nothing in the world would better suit the present interests of your royal highness and of us all, than some heir of your royal highness's making! perhaps the tranquil convenience with which your royal highness at reinsberg can now attend to that object, will be of better effect than all those hasty and transitory visits at berlin were. at least i wish it with the best of my heart. i beg pardon, monseigneur, for intruding thus into everything which concerns your royal highness;'--in truth, i am a rather impudent busybodyish fellow, with superabundant dashing manner, speculation, utterance; and shall get myself ordered out of the country, by my present correspondent, by and by.--'being ever,' with the due enthusiasm, 'manteufel.' [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxv. ;--friedrich's answer is, reinsberg, d september (ib. ).] "to which friedrich's answer is of a kind to put a gag in the foul mouth of certain extraordinary pamphleteerings, that were once very copious in the world; and, in particular, to set at rest the herr dr. zimmermann, and his poor puddle of calumnies and credulities, got together in that weak pursuit of physiology under obscene circumstances;-- "which is the one good result i have gathered from the manteufel correspondence," continues our german friend; whom i vote with!--or if the english reader never saw those zimmermann or other dog-like pamphleteerings and surmisings, let this excerpt be mysterious and superfluous to the thankful english reader. on the whole, we conceive to ourselves the abundant nature of friedrich's correspondence, literary and other; and what kind of event the transit of that post functionary "from fehrbellin northwards," with his leathern bags, "twice a week," may have been at reinsberg, in those years. chapter iii. -- crown-prince makes a morning call. thursday, th october, , the crown-prince, with lieutenant buddenbrock and an attendant or two, drove over into mecklenburg, to a village and serene schloss called mirow, intending a small act of neighborly civility there; on which perhaps an english reader of our time will consent to accompany him. it is but some ten or twelve miles off, in a northerly direction; reinsberg being close on the frontier there. a pleasant enough morning's-drive, with the october sun shining on the silent heaths, on the many-colored woods and you. mirow is an apanage for one of the mecklenburg-strelitz junior branches: mecklenburg-strelitz being itself a junior compared to the mecklenburg-schwerin of which, and its infatuated duke, we have heard so much in times past. mirow and even strelitz are not in--a very shining state,--but indeed, we shall see them, as it were, with eyes. and the english reader is to note especially those mirow people, as perhaps of some small interest to him, if he knew it. the crown-prince reports to papa, in a satirical vein, not ungenially, and with much more freedom than is usual in those reinsberg letters of his:-- "to his prussian majesty (from the crown-prince). "reinsberg, th october, . ... "yesterday i went across to mirow. to give my most all-gracious father an idea of the place, i cannot liken it to anything higher than gross-kreutz [term of comparison lost upon us; say garrat, at a venture, or the clachan of aberfoyle]: the one house in it, that can be called a house, is not so good as the parson's there. i made straight for the schloss; which is pretty much like the garden-house in bornim: only there is a rampart round it; and an old tower, considerably in ruins, serves as a gateway to the house. "coming on the drawbridge, i perceived an old stocking-knitter disguised as grenadier, with his cap, cartridge-box and musket laid to a side, that they might not hinder him in his knitting-work. as i advanced, he asked, 'whence i came, and whitherward i was going?' i answered, that 'i came from the post-house, and was going over this bridge:' whereupon the grenadier, quite in a passion, ran to the tower; where he opened a door, and called out the corporal. the corporal seemed to have hardly been out of bed; and in his great haste, had not taken time to put on his shoes, nor quite button his breeches; with much flurry he asked us, 'where we were for, and how we came to treat the sentry in that manner?' without answering him at all, we went our way towards the schloss. "never in my life should i have taken this for a schloss, had it not been that there were two glass lamps fixed at the door-posts, and the figures of two cranes standing in front of them, by way of guards. we made up to the house; and after knocking almost half an hour to no purpose, there peered out at last an exceedingly old woman, who looked as if she might have nursed the prince of mirow's father. the poor woman, at sight of strangers, was so terrified, she slammed the door to in our faces. we knocked again; and seeing there could nothing be made of it, we went round to the stables; where a fellow told us, 'the young prince with his consort was gone to neu-strelitz, a couple of miles off [ten miles english]; and the duchess his mother, who lives here, had given him, to make the better figure, all her people along with him; keeping nobody but the old woman to herself.' "it was still early; so i thought i could not do better than profit by the opportunity, and have a look at neu-strelitz. we took post-horses; and got thither about noon. neu-strelitz is properly a village; with only one street in it, where chamberlains, office-clerks, domestics all lodge, and where there is an inn. i cannot better describe it to my most all-gracious father than by that street in gumbinnen where you go up to the town-hall,--except that no house here is whitewashed. the schloss is fine, and lies on a lake, with a big garden; pretty much like reinsberg in situation. "the first question i asked here was for the prince of mirow: but they told me he had just driven off again to a place called kanow; which is only a couple of miles english from mirow, where we had been. buddenbrock, who is acquainted with neu-strelitz, got me, from a chamberlain, something to eat; and in the mean while, that bohme came in, who was adjutant in my most all-gracious father's regiment [not of goltz, but king's presumably]: bohme did not know me till i hinted to him who i was. he told me, 'the duke of strelitz was an excellent seamster;'" fit to be tailor to your majesty in a manner, had not fate been cruel, "'and that he made beautiful dressing-gowns (cassaquins) with his needle.' this made me curious to see him: so we had ourselves presented as foreigners; and it went off so well that nobody recognized me. i cannot better describe the duke than by saying he is like old stahl [famed old medical man at berlin, dead last year, physiognomy not known to actual readers], in a blond abbe's-periwig. he is extremely silly (blode); his hofrath altrock tells him, as it were, everything he has to say." about fifty, this poor duke; shrunk into needlework, for a quiet life, amid such tumults from schwerin and elsewhere. "having taken leave, we drove right off to kanow; and got thither about six. it is a mere village; and the prince's pleasure-house (lusthaus) here is nothing better than an ordinary hunting-lodge, such as any forest-keeper has. i alighted at the miller's; and had myself announced" at the lusthaus, "by his maid: upon which the major-domo (haus-hofmeister) came over to the mill, and complimented me; with whom i proceeded to the residenz," that is, back again to mirow, "where the whole mirow family were assembled. the mother is a princess of schwartzburg, and still the cleverest of them all," still under sixty; good old mother, intent that her poor son should appear to advantage, when visiting the more opulent serenities. "his aunt also," mother's sister, "was there. the lady spouse is small; a niece to the prince of hildburghausen, who is in the kaiser's service: she was in the family-way; but (aber) seemed otherwise to be a very good princess. "the first thing they entertained me with was, the sad misfortune come upon their best cook; who, with the cart that was bringing the provisions, had overset, and broken his arm; so that the provisions had all gone to nothing. privately i have had inquiries made; there was not a word of truth in the story. at last we went to table; and, sure enough, it looked as if the cook and his provisions had come to some mishap; for certainly in the three crowns at potsdam [worst inn, one may guess, in the satirical vein], there is better eating than here. "at table, there was talk of nothing but of all the german princes who are not right in their wits (nicht recht klug)," as mirow himself, your majesty knows, is reputed to be!" there was weimar, [wilhelmina's acquaintance; wedded, not without difficulty, to a superfluous baireuth sister-in-law by wilhelmina (_ memoires de wilhelmina,_ ii. - ): grandfather of goethe's friend;--is nothing like fairly out of his wits; only has a flea (as we may say) dancing occasionally in the ear of him. perhaps it is so with the rest of these serenities, here fallen upon evil tongues?] gotha, waldeck, hoym, and the whole lot of them, brought upon the carpet:--and after our good host had got considerably drunk, we rose,--and he lovingly promised me that 'he and his whole family would come and visit reinsberg.' come he certainly will; but how i shall get rid of him, god knows. "i most submissively beg pardon of my most all-gracious father for this long letter; and"--we will terminate here. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. part d, pp. - .] dilapidated mirow and its inmates, portrayed in this satirical way, except as a view of serene highnesses fallen into sleepy hollow, excites little notice in the indolent mind; and that little, rather pleasantly contemptuous than really profitable. but one fact ought to kindle momentary interest in english readers: the young foolish herr, in this dilapidated place, is no other than our "old queen charlotte's" father that is to be,--a kind of ancestor of ours, though we little guessed it! english readers will scan him with new curiosity, when he pays that return visit at reinsberg. which he does within the fortnight:-- "to his prussian majesty (from the crown-prince). "reinsberg, th november, . ... "that my most all-gracious father has had the graciousness to send us some swans. my wife also has been exceedingly delighted at the fine present sent her.... general praetorius," danish envoy, with whose court there is some tiff of quarrel, "came hither yesterday to take leave of us; he seems very unwilling to quit prussia. "this morning about three o'clock, my people woke me, with word that there was a stafette come with letters,"--from your majesty or heaven knows whom! "i spring up in all haste; and opening the letter,--find it is from the prince of mirow; who informs me that 'he will be here to-day at noon.' i have got all things in readiness to receive him, as if he were the kaiser in person; and i hope there will be material for some amusement to my most all-gracious father, by next post."--next post is half a week hence:-- "to his prussian majesty (from the crown-prince). "reinsberg, th novemher. ... "the prince of mirow's visit was so curious, i must give my most all-gracious father a particular report of it. in my last, i mentioned how general praetorius had come to us: he was in the room, when i entered with the prince of mirow; at sight of him praetorius exclaimed, loud enough to be heard by everybody, 'voila le prince cajuca!' [nickname out of some romance, fallen extinct long since.] not one of us could help laughing; and i had my own trouble to turn it so that he did not get angry. "scarcely was the prince got in, when they came to tell me, for his worse luck, that prince heinrich," the ill margraf, "was come;--who accordingly trotted him out, in such a way that we thought we should all have died with laughing. incessant praises were given him, especially for his fine clothes, his fine air, and his uncommon agility in dancing. and indeed i thought the dancing would never end. "in the afternoon, to spoil his fine coat,"--a contrivance of the ill margraf's, i should think,--"we stept out to shoot at target in the rain: he would not speak of it, but one could observe he was in much anxiety about the coat. in the evening, he got a glass or two in his head, and grew extremely merry; said at last, 'he was sorry that, for divers state-reasons and businesses of moment, he must of necessity return home;'--which, however, he put off till about two in the morning. i think, next day he would not remember very much of it. "prince heinrich is gone to his regiment again;" praetorius too is off;--and we end with the proper kow-tow. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xvii. part d, p. .] these strelitzers, we said, are juniors to infatuated schwerin; and poor mirow is again junior to strelitz: plainly one of the least opulent of residences. at present, it is dowager apanage (wittwen-sitz) to the widow of the late strelitz of blessed memory: here, with her one child, a boy now grown to what manhood we see, has the serene dowager lived, these twenty-eight years past; a schwartzburg by birth, "the cleverest head among them all." twenty-eight years in dilapidated mirow: so long has that tailoring duke, her eldest step-son (child of a prior wife) been supreme head of mecklenburg-strelitz; employed with his needle, or we know not how,--collapsed plainly into tailoring at this date. there was but one other son; this clever lady's, twenty years junior,--"prince of mirow" whom we now see. karl ludwig friedrich is the name of this one; age now twenty-eight gone. he, ever since the third month of him, when the poor serene father died ("may, "), has been at mirow with mamma; getting what education there was,--not too successfully, as would appear. eight years ago, "in ," mamma sent him off upon his travels; to geneva, italy, france: he looked in upon vienna, too; got a lieutenant-colonelcy in the kaiser's service, but did not like it; soon gave it up; and returned home to vegetate, perhaps to seek a wife,--having prospects of succession in strelitz. for the serene half-brother proves to have no children: were his tailoring once finished in the world, our prince of mirow is duke in chief. on this basis the wedded last year; the little wife has already brought him one child, a daughter; and has (as friedrich notices) another under way, if it prosper. no lack of daughters, nor of sons by and by: eight years hence came the little charlotte,--subsequently mother of england: much to her and our astonishment. [born (at mirow) th may, ; married (london), th september, ; died, th november, (michaelis, ii. , ; hubner, t. ; oertel, pp. , ).] the poor man did not live to be duke of strelitz; he died, , in little charlotte's eighth year; tailor duke surviving him a few months. little charlotte's brother did then succeed, and lasted till ; after whom a second brother, father of the now serene strelitzes;--who also is genealogically notable. for from him there came another still more famous queen: louisa of prussia; beautiful to look upon, as "aunt charlotte" was not, in a high degree; and who showed herself a heroine in napoleon's time, as aunt charlotte never was called to do. both aunt and niece were women of sense, of probity, propriety; fairly beyond the average of queens. and as to their early poverty, ridiculous to this gold-nugget generation, i rather guess it may have done them benefits which the gold-nugget generation, in its queens and otherwise, stands far more in want of than it thinks. but enough of this prince of mirow, whom friedrich has accidentally unearthed for us. indeed there is no farther history of him, for or against. he evidently was not thought to have invented gunpowder, by the public. and yet who knows but, in his very simplicity, there lay something far beyond the ill margraf to whom he was so quizzable? poor down-pressed brother mortal; somnambulating so pacifically in sleepy hollow yonder, and making no complaint! he continued, though soon with less enthusiasm, and in the end very rarely, a visitor of friedrich's during this reinsberg time. patriotic english readers may as well take the few remaining vestiges, too, before quite dismissing him to sleepy hollow. here they are, swept accurately together, from that correspondence of friedrich with papa:-- "reinsberg, th november, .... report most submissively that the prince of mirow has again been here, with his mother, wife, aunt, hofdames, cavaliers and entire household; so that i thought it was the flight out of egypt [exodus of the jews]. i begin to have a fear of those good people, as they assured me they would have such pleasure in coming often!" "reinsberg, st february, ." let us give it in the original too, as a specimen of german spelling:-- _"der prints von mihrau ist vohr einigen thagen hier gewessen und haben wier einige wasser schwermer in der see ihm zu ehren gesmissen, seine frau ist mit eber thoten printzesin nieder gekomen.--der general schulenburg ist heute hier gekommen und wirdt morgen"_--that is to say:-- "the prince of mirow was here a few days ago; and we let off, in honor of him, a few water-rockets over the lake: his wife has been brought to bed of a dead princess. general schulenburg [with a small s] came hither to-day; and to-morrow will"... "reinsberg, th march, .... prince von mirow was here yesterday; and tried shooting at the popinjay with us; he cannot see rightly, and shoots always with help of an opera-glass." "ruppin, th october, . the prince of mirow was with us last friday; and babbled much in his high way; among other things, white-lied to us, that the kaiserinn gave him a certain porcelain snuff-box he was handling; but on being questioned more tightly, he confessed to me he had bought it in vienna." [_briefe an vater,_ p. (caret in _oeuvres_ ); pp. - .--see ib. th november, , for faint trace of a visit; and th september, , for another still fainter, the last there is.] and so let him somnambulate yonder, till the two queens, like winged psyches, one after the other, manage to emerge from him. friedrich's letters to his father are described by some prussian editors as "very attractive, sehr anziehende briefe;" which, to a foreign reader, seems a strange account of them. letters very hard to understand completely; and rather insignificant when understood. they turn on gifts sent to and sent from, "swans," "hams," with the unspeakable thanks for them; on recruits of so many inches; on the visitors that have been; they assure us that "there is no sickness in the regiment," or tell expressly how much:--wholly small facts; nothing of speculation, and of ceremonial pipe-clay a great deal. we know already under what nightmare conditions friedrich wrote to his father! the attitude of the crown-prince, sincerely reverent and filial, though obliged to appear ineffably so, and on the whole struggling under such mountains of encumbrance, yet loyally maintaining his equilibrium, does at last acquire, in these letters, silently a kind of beauty to the best class of readers. but that is nearly their sole merit. by far the most human of them, that on the first visit to mirow, the reader has now seen; and may thank us much that we show him no more of them. [_friedrich des grossen briefe an seinen vater_ (berlin, )]. reduced in size, by suitable omissions; and properly spelt; but with little other elucidation for a stranger: in _oeuvres,_ xxvii. part d, pp, - (berlin, ). chapter iv. -- news of the day. while these mirow visits are about their best, and much else at reinsberg is in comfortable progress, friedrich's first year there just ending, there come accounts from england of quarrels broken out between the britannic majesty and his prince of wales. discrepancies risen now to a height; and getting into the very newspapers;--the rising sun too little under the control of the setting, in that unquiet country! prince fred of england did not get to the rhine campaign, as we saw: he got some increase of revenue, a household of his own; and finally a wife, as he had requested: a sachsen-gotha princess; who, peerless wilhelmma being unattainable, was welcome to prince fred. she is in the family-way, this summer , a very young lady still; result thought to be due--when? result being potential heir to the british nation, there ought to have been good calculation of the time when! but apparently nobody had well turned his attention that way. or if fred and spouse had, as is presumable, fred had given no notice to the paternal majesty,--"let paternal majesty, always so cross to me, look out for himself in that matter." certain it is, fred and spouse, in the beginning of august, , are out at hampton court; potential heir due before long, and no preparation made for it. august th in the evening, out at solitary hampton court; the poor young mother's pains came on; no chancellor there, no archbishop to see the birth,--in fact, hardly the least medical help, and of political altogether none. fred, in his flurry, or by forethought,--instead of dashing off expresses, at a gallop as of epsom, to summon the necessary persons and appliances, yoked wheeled vehicles and rolled off to the old unprovided palace of st. james's, london, with his poor wife in person! unwarned, unprovided; where nevertheless she was safely delivered that same night,--safely, as if by miracle. the crisis might have taken her on the very highway: never was such an imprudence. owing, i will believe, to fred's sudden flurry in the unprovided moment,--unprovided, by reason of prior desuetudes and discouragements to speech, on papa's side. a shade of malice there might also be. papa doubts not, it was malice aforethought all of it. "had the potential heir of the british nation gone to wreck, or been born on the highway, from my quarrels with this bad fred, what a scrape had i been in!" thinks papa, and is in a towering permanence of wrath ever since; the very newspapers and coffee-houses and populaces now all getting vocal with it. papa, as it turned out, never more saw the face of fred. judicious mamma, queen caroline, could not help a visit, one visit to the poor young mother, so soon as proper: coming out from the visit, prince fred obsequiously escorting her to her carriage, found a crowd of people and populace, in front of st. james's; and there knelt down on the street, in his fine silk breeches, careless of the mud, to "beg a mother's blessing," and show what a son he was, he for his part, in this sad discrepancy that had risen! mamma threw a silent glance on him, containing volumes of mixed tenor; drove off; and saw no more of fred, she either. i fear, this kneeling in the mud tells against prince fred; but in truth i do not know, nor even much care. [lord hervey, _memoirs of george the second,_ ii. - , .] what a noise in england about nothing at all!--what a noisy country, your prussian majesty! foolish "rising sun" not restrainable there by the setting or shining one; opposition parties bowling him about among the constellations, like a very mad object!-- but in a month or two, there comes worse news out of england; falling heavy on the heart of prussian majesty: news that queen caroline herself is dead. ["sunday evening, st december ( th nov.), ." ib. pp. - .] died as she had lived, with much constancy of mind, with a graceful modest courage and endurance; sinking quietly under the load of private miseries long quietly kept hidden, but now become too heavy, and for which the appointed rest was now here. little george blubbered a good deal; fidgeted and flustered a good deal: much put about, poor foolish little soul. the dying caroline recommended him to walpole; advised his majesty to marry again. _"non, j'aurai des maitresses_ (no, i'll have mistresses)!" sobbed his majesty passionately. _"ah, mon dieu, cela n'empeche pas_" (that does not an experience of the case). there is something stoically tragic in the history of caroline with her flighty vaporing little king: seldom had foolish husband so wise a wife. "dead!" thought friedrich wilhelm, looking back through the whirlwinds of life, into sunny young scenes far enough away: "dead!"--walpole continued to manage the little king; but not for long; england itself rising in objection. jenkins's ear, i understand, is lying in cotton; and there are mad inflammable strata in that nation, capable of exploding at a great rate. from the eastern regions our newspapers are very full of events: war with the turk going on there; russia and austria both doing their best against the turk. the russians had hardly finished their polish-election fighting, when they decided to have a stroke at the turk,--turk always an especial eye-sorrow to them, since that "treaty of the pruth," and czar peter's sad rebuff there:--munnich marched direct out of poland through the ukraine, with his eye on the crimea and furious business in that quarter. this is his second campaign there, this of ; and furious business has not failed. last year he stormed the lines of perecop, tore open the crimea; took azoph, he or lacy under him; took many things: this year he had laid his plans for oczakow;--takes oczakow,--fiery event, blazing in all the newspapers, at reinsberg and elsewhere. concerning which will the reader accept this condensed testimony by an eye-witness? "oczakow, th july, . day before yesterday, feldmarschall munnich got to oczakow, as he had planned,"--strong turkish town in the nook between the black sea and the estuary of the dnieper;--"with intention to besiege it. siege-train, stores of every sort, which he had set afloat upon the dnieper in time enough, were to have been ready for him at oczakow. but the flotilla had been detained by shallows, by waterfalls; not a boat was come, nor could anybody say when they were coming. meanwhile nothing is to be had here; the very face of the earth the turks have burnt: not a blade of grass for cavalry within eight miles, nor a stick of wood for engineers; not a hole for covert, and the ground so hard you cannot raise redoubts on it: munnich perceives he must attempt, nevertheless. "on his right, by the sea-shore, munnich finds some remains of gardens, palisades; scrapes together some vestige of shelter there (five thousand, or even ten thousand pioneers working desperately all that first night, th july, with only half success); and on the morrow commences firing with what artillery he has. much outfired by the turks inside;--his enterprise as good as desperate, unless the dnieper flotilla come soon. july th, all day the firing continues, and all night; turks extremely furious: about an hour before daybreak, we notice burning in the interior, 'some wooden house kindled by us, town got on fire yonder,'--and, praise to heaven, they do not seem to succeed in quenching it again. munnich turns out, in various divisions; intent on trying something, had he the least engineer furniture;--hopes desperately there may be promise for him in that internal burning still visible. "in the centre of munnich's line is one general keith, a deliberate stalwart scotch gentleman, whom we shall know better; munnich himself is to the right: could not one try it by scalade; keep the internal burning free to spread, at any rate? 'advance within musket-shot, general keith!' orders munnich's aide-de-camp cantering up. 'i have been this good while within it,' answers keith, pointing to his dead men. aide-de-camp canters up a second time: 'advance within half musket-shot, general keith, and quit any covert you have!' keith does so; sends, with his respects to feldmarschall munnich, his remonstrance against such a waste of human life. aide-de-camp canters up a third time: 'feldmarschall munnich is for trying a scalade; hopes general keith will do his best to co-operate!' 'forward, then!' answers keith; advances close to the glacis; finds a wet ditch twelve feet broad, and has not a stick of engineer furniture. keith waits there two hours; his men, under fire all the while, trying this and that to get across; munnich's scalade going off ineffectual in like manner:--till at length keith's men, and all men, tire of such a business, and roll back in great confusion out of shot-range. munnich gives himself up for lost. and indeed, says mannstein, had the turks sallied out in pursuit at that moment, they might have chased us back to russia. but the turks did not sally. and the internal conflagration is not quenched, far from it;--and about nine a.m. their powder-magazine, conflagration reaching it, roared aloft into the air, and killed seven thousand of them," [mannstein, pp. - .]-- so that oczakow was taken, sure enough; terms, life only: and every remaining turk packs off from it, some "twenty thousand inhabitants young and old" for one sad item.--a very blazing semi-absurd event, to be read of in prussian military circles,--where general keith will be better known one day. russian war with the turk: that means withal, by old treaties, aid of thirty thousand men from the kaiser to russia. kaiser, so ruined lately, how can he send thirty thousand, and keep them recruited, in such distant expedition? kaiser, much meditating, is advised it will be better to go frankly into the turk on his own score, and try for slices of profit from him in this game. kaiser declares war against the turk; and what is still more interesting to friedrich wilhelm and the berlin circles, seckendorf is named general of it. feldzeugmeister now feldmarschall seckendorf, envy may say what it will, he has marched this season into the lower-donau countries,--going to besiege widdin, they say,--at the head of a big army (on paper, almost a hundred and fifty thousand, light troops and heavy)--virtually commander-in-chief; though nominally our fine young friend franz of lorraine bears the title of commander, whom seckendorf is to dry-nurse in the way sometimes practised. going to besiege widdin, they say. so has the poor kaiser been advised. his wise old eugene is now gone; [died th april, .] i fear his advisers,--a youngish feldzeugmeister, prince of hildburghausen, the chief favorite among them,--are none of the wisest. all protestants, we observe, these favorite hildburghausens, schmettaus, seckendorfs of his; and vienna is an orthodox papal court;--and there is a hofkriegsrath (supreme council of war), which has ruined many a general, poking too meddlesomely into his affairs! on the whole, seckendorf will have his difficulties. here is a scene, on the lower donau, different enough from that at oczakow, not far from contemporaneous with it. the austrian army is at kolitz, a march or two beyond belgrade:-- "kolitz, d july, . this day, the army not being on march, but allowed to rest itself, grand duke franz went into the woods to hunt. hunting up and down, he lost himself; did not return at evening; and, as the night closed in and no generalissimo visible, the generalissimo ad latus (such the title they had contrived for seckendorf) was in much alarm. generalissimo ad latus ordered out his whole force of drummers, trumpeters: to fling themselves, postwise, deeper and deeper into the woods all round; to drum there, and blow, in ever-widening circle, in prescribed notes, and with all energy, till the grand duke were found. grand duke being found, seckendorf remonstrated, rebuked; a thought too earnestly, some say, his temper being flurried,"--voice snuffling somewhat in alt, with lisp to help:--"so that the grand duke took offence; flung off in a huff: and always looked askance on the feldmarschall from that time;" [see _lebensgeschichte des grafen van schmettau_ (by his son: berlin, ), i. .]--quitting him altogether before long; and marching with khevenhuller, wallis, hildburghausen, or any of the subordinate generals rather. probably widdin will not go the road of oczakow, nor the austrians prosper like the russians, this summer. pollnitz, in tobacco-parliament, and in certain berlin circles foolishly agape about this new feldmarschall, maintains always, seckendorf will come to nothing; which his majesty zealously contradicts,--his majesty, and some short-sighted private individuals still favorable to seckendorf. [pollnitz, _memoiren,_ ii. - .] exactly one week after that singular drum-and-trumpet operation on duke franz, the last of the medici dies at florence; [ th july (_fastes de louis xv._, p. ).] and serene franz, if he knew it, is grand duke of tuscany, according to bargain: a matter important to himself chiefly, and to france, who, for stanislaus and lorraine's sake, has had to pay him some , pounds a year during the brief intermediate state. of berg and julich again; and of luiscius with the one razor. these remote occurrences are of small interest to his prussian majesty, in comparison with the pfalz affair, the cleve-julich succession, which lies so near home. his majesty is uncommonly anxious to have this matter settled, in peace, if possible. kaiser and reich, with the other mediating powers, go on mediating; but when will they decide? this year the old bishop of augsburg, one brother of the older kur-pfalz karl philip, dies; nothing now between us and the event itself, but karl philip alone, who is verging towards eighty: the decision, to be peaceable, ought to be speedy! friedrich wilhelm, in january last, sent the expert degenfeld, once of london, to old karl philip; and has him still there, with the most conciliatory offers: "will leave your sulzbachs a part, then; will be content with part, instead of the whole, which is mine if there be force in sealed parchment; will do anything for peace!" to which the old kur-pfalz, foolish old creature, is steadily deaf; answers vaguely, negatively always, in a polite manner; pushing his majesty upon extremities painful to think of. "we hate war; but cannot quite do without justice, your serenity," thinks friedrich wilhelm: "must it be the eighty thousand iron ramrods, then?" obstinate serenity continues deaf; and friedrich wilhelm's negotiations, there at mannheim, over in holland, and through holland with england, not to speak of kaiser and reich close at hand, become very intense; vehemently earnest, about this matter, for the next two years. the details of which, inexpressibly uninteresting, shall be spared the reader. summary is, these mediating powers will be of no help to his majesty; not even the dutch will, with whom he is specially in friendship: nay, in the third year it becomes fatally manifest, the chief mediating powers, kaiser and france, listening rather to political convenience, than to the claims of justice, go direct in kur-pfalz's favor;--by formal treaty of their own, ["versailles, th january, " (olrich, _geschichte der schlesischen kriege,_ i. ); mauvillon, ii - ; &c.] france and the kaiser settle, "that the sulzbachers shall, as a preliminary, get provisional possession, on the now serenity's decease; and shall continue undisturbed for two years, till law decide between his prussian majesty and them." two years; law decide;--and we know what are the nine-points in a law-case! this, at last, proved too much for his majesty. majesty's abstruse dubitations, meditations on such treatment by a kaiser and others, did then, it appears, gloomily settle into fixed private purpose of trying it by the iron ramrods, when old kur-pfalz should die,--of marching with eighty thousand men into the cleve countries, and so welcoming any sulzbach or other guests that might arrive. happily old kur-pfalz did not die in his majesty's time; survived his majesty several years: so that the matter fell into other hands,--and was settled very well, near a century after. of certain wranglings with the little town of herstal,--prussian town (part of the orange heritage, once king pepin's town, if that were any matter now) in the bishop of liege's neighborhood, town highly insignificant otherwise,--we shall say nothing here, as they will fall to be treated, and be settled, at an after stage. friedrich wilhelm was much grieved by the contumacies of that paltry little herstal; and by the bishop of liege's high-flown procedures in countenancing them;--especially in a recruiting ease that had fallen out there, and brought matters to a head. ["december, ," is crisis of the recruiting case (_helden-geschichte,_ ii. ); " th february, ," bishop's high-flown appearance in it (ib. ); kaiser's in consequence, " th april, ."] the kaiser too was afflictively high in countenancing the bishop;---for which both kaiser and bishop got due payment in time. but his prussian majesty would not kindle the world for such a paltriness; and so left it hanging in a vexatious condition. such things, it is remarked, weigh heavier on his now infirm majesty than they were wont. he is more subject to fits of hypochondria, to talk of abdicating. "all gone wrong!" he would say, if any little flaw rose, about recruiting or the like. "one might go and live at venice, were one rid of it!" [forster (place lost).] and his deep-stung clangorous growl against the kaiser's treatment of him bursts out, from time to time; though he oftenest pities the kaiser, too; seeing him at such a pass with his turk war and otherwise. it was in this pfalz business that herr luiscius, the prussian minister in holland, got into trouble; of whom there is a light dash of outline-portraiture by voltaire, which has made him memorable to readers. this "fat king of prussia," says voltaire, was a dreadfully avaricious fellow, unbeautiful to a high degree in his proceedings with mankind:-- "he had a minister at the hague called luiscius; who certainly of all ministers of crowned heads was the worst paid. this poor man, to warm himself, had made some trees be felled in the garden of honslardik, which belonged at that time to the house of prussia; he thereupon received despatches from the king, intimating that a year of his salary was forfeited. luiscius, in despair, cut his throat with probably the one razor he had (seul rasoir qu'il eut); an old valet came to his assistance, and unhappily saved his life. in after years, i found his excellency at the hague; and have occasionally given him an alms at the door of the vieille cour (old court), a palace belonging to the king of prussia, where this poor ambassador had lived a dozen years. it must be owned, turkey is a republic in comparison to the despotism exercised by friedrich wilhelm." [_oeuvres de voltaire (vie pricee,_ or what they now call _memoires_ ), ii. .] here truly is a witty sketch; consummately dashed off, as nobody but voltaire could; "round as giotto's o," done at one stroke. of which the prose facts are only as follows. luiscius, prussian resident, not distinguished by salary or otherwise, had, at one stage of these negotiations, been told, from head-quarters, he might, in casual extra-official ways, if it seemed furthersome, give their high mightinesses the hope, or notion, that his majesty did not intend actual war about that cleve-julich succession,--being a pacific majesty, and unwilling to involve his neighbors and mankind. luiscius, instead of casual hint delicately dropped in some good way, had proceeded by direct declaration; frank assurance to the high mightinesses, that there would be no war. which had never been quite his majesty's meaning, and perhaps was now becoming rather the reverse of it. disavowal of luiscius had to ensue thereupon; who produced defensively his instruction from head-quarters; but got only rebukes for such heavy-footed clumsy procedure, so unlike diplomacy with its shoes of felt;--and, in brief, was turned out of the diplomatic function, as unfit for it; and appointed to manage certain orange properties, fragments of the orange heritage which his majesty still has in those countries. this misadventure sank heavily on the spirits of luiscius, otherwise none of the strongest-minded of men. nor did he prosper in managing the orange properties: on the contrary, he again fell into mistakes; got soundly rebuked for injudicious conduct there,--"cutting trees," planting trees, or whatever it was;--and this produced such an effect on luiscius, that he made an attempt on his own throat, distracted mortal; and was only stopped by somebody rushing in. "it was not the first time he had tried that feat," says pollnitz, "and been prevented; nor was it long till he made a new attempt, which was again frustrated: and always afterwards his relations kept him close in view:" majesty writing comfortable forgiveness to the perturbed creature, and also "settling a pension on him;" adequate, we can hope, and not excessive; "which luiscius continued to receive, at the hague, so long as he lived." these are the prose facts; not definitely dated to us, but perfectly clear otherwise. [pollnitz, ii. , ;--the "new attempt" seems to have been "june, " (_ gentleman's magazine,_ in mense, p. ).] voltaire, in his dutch excursions, did sometimes, in after years, lodge in that old vacant palace, called vieille cour, at the hague; where he gracefully celebrates the decayed forsaken state of matters; dusky vast rooms with dim gilding; forgotten libraries "veiled under the biggest spider-webs in europe;" for the rest, an uncommonly quiet place, convenient for a writing man, besides costing nothing. a son of this luiscius, a good young lad, it also appears, was occasionally voltaire's amanuensis there; him he did recommend zealously to the new king of prussia, who was not deaf on the occasion. this, in the fire of satirical wit, is what we can transiently call "giving alms to a prussian excellency;"--not now excellent, but pensioned and cracked; and the reader perceives, luiscius had probably more than one razor, had not one been enough, when he did the rash act. friedrich employed luiscius junior, with no result that we hear of farther; and seems to have thought luiscius senior an absurd fellow, not worth mentioning again: "ran away from the cleve country [probably some mad-house there] above a year ago, i hear; and what is the matter where such a crack-brain end?" [voltaire, _oeuvres_ (letter to friedrich, th october, ), lxxii. ; and fredrich's answer (wrong dated), ib. ; preuss, xxii. .] chapter v. -- visit at loo. the pfalz question being in such a predicament, and luiscius diplomatizing upon it in such heavy-footed manner, his majesty thinks a journey to holland, to visit one's kinsfolk there, and incidentally speak a word with the high mightinesses upon pfalz, would not be amiss. such journey is decided on; crown-prince to accompany. summer of : a short visit, quite without fuss; to last only three days;--mere sequel to the reviews held in those adjacent cleve countries; so that the gazetteers may take no notice. all which was done accordingly: crown-prince's first sight of holland; and one of the few reportable points of his reinsberg life, and not quite without memorability to him and us. on the th of july, , the review party got upon the road for wesel: all through july, they did their reviewing in those cleve countries; and then struck across for the palace of loo in geldern, where a prince of orange countable kinsman to his prussian majesty, and a princess still more nearly connected,--english george's daughter, own niece to his prussian majesty,--are in waiting for this distinguished honor. the prince of orange we have already seen, for a moment once; at the siege of philipsburg four years ago, when the sale of chasot's horses went off so well. "nothing like selling horses when your company have dined well," whispered he to chasot, at that time; since which date we have heard nothing of his highness. he is not a beautiful man; he has a crooked back, and features conformable; but is of prompt vivacious nature, and does not want for sense and good-humor. paternal george, the gossips say, warned his princess, when this marriage was talked of, "you will find him very ill-looking, though!" "and if i found him a baboon--!" answered she; being so heartily tired of st. james's. and in fact, for anything i have heard, they do well enough together. she is george ii.'s eldest princess;--next elder to our poor amelia, who was once so interesting to us! what the crown-prince now thought of all that, i do not know; but the books say, poor amelia wore the willow, and specially wore the prince's miniature on her breast all her days after, which were many. grew corpulent, somewhat a huddle in appearance and equipment, "eyelids like upper-lips," for one item: but when life itself fled, the miniature was found in its old place, resting on the old heart after some sixty years. o time, o sons and daughters of time!-- his majesty's reception at loo was of the kind he liked,--cordial, honorable, unceremonious; and these were three pleasant days he had. pleasant for the crown-prince too; as the whole journey had rather been; papa, with covert satisfaction, finding him a wise creature, after all, and "more serious" than formerly. "hm, you don't know what things are in that fritz!" his majesty murmured sometimes, in these later years, with a fine light in his eyes. loo itself is a beautiful palace: "loo, close by the village appeldoorn, is a stately brick edifice, built with architectural regularity; has finely decorated rooms, beautiful gardens, and round are superb alleys of oak and linden." [busching, _erdbeschreibung,_ viii. .] there saunters pleasantly our crown-prince, for these three days;--and one glad incident i do perceive to have befallen him there: the arrival of a letter from voltaire. letter much expected, which had followed him from wesel; and which he answers here, in this brick palace, among the superb avenues and gardens. [_oeuvres,_ xxi. , the letter, "cirey, june, ;" ib. , the answer to it, "loo, th august, ."] no doubt a glad incident, irradiating, as with a sudden sunburst in gray weather, the commonplace of things. here is news worth listening to; news as from the empyrean! free interchange of poetries and proses, of heroic sentiments and opinions, between the unique of sages and the paragon of crown-princes; how charming to both! literary business, we perceive, is brisk on both hands; at cirey the _discours sur l'homme_ ("sixth discours" arrives in this packet at loo, surely a deathless piece of singing); nor is reinsberg idle: reinsberg is copiously doing verse, such verse! and in prose, very earnestly, an "anti-machiavel;" which soon afterwards filled all the then world, though it has now fallen so silent again. and at paris, as voltaire announces with a flourish, "m. de maupertuis's excellent book, _figure de la t'erre,_ is out;" [paris, : maupertuis's "measurement of a degree," in the utmost north, - (to prove the earth flattened there). vivid narrative; somewhat gesticulative, but duly brief. the only book of that great maupertuis which is now readable to human nature.] m. de maupertuis, home from the polar regions and from measuring the earth there; the sublimest miracle in paris society at present. might build, new-build, an academy of sciences at berlin for your royal highness, one day? suggests voltaire, on this occasion: and friedrich, as we shall see, takes the hint. one passage of the crown-prince's answer is in these terms;--fixing this loo visit to its date for us, at any rate:-- "loo in holland, th august, .... i write from a place where there lived once a great man [william iii. of england, our dutch william]; which is now the prince of orange's house. the demon of ambition sheds its unhappy poisons over his days. he might be the most fortunate of men; and he is devoured by chagrins in his beautiful palace here, in the middle of his gardens and of a brilliant court. it is pity in truth; for he is a prince with no end of wit (infiniment d'esprit), and has respectable qualites." not stadtholder, unluckily; that is where the shoe pinches; the dutch are on the republican tack, and will not have a stadtholder at present. no help for it in one's beautiful gardens and avenues of oak and linden. "i have talked a great deal about newton with the princess,"--about newton; never hinted at amelia; not permissible!--"from newton we passed to leibnitz; and from leibnitz to the late queen of england," caroline lately gone, "who, the prince told me, was of clarke's sentiment" on that important theological controversy now dead to mankind.--and of jenkins and his ear did the princess say nothing? that is now becoming a high phenomenon in england! but readers must wait a little. pity that we cannot give these two letters in full; that no reader, almost, could be made to understand them, or to care for them when understood. such the cruelty of time upon this voltaire-friedrich correspondence, and some others; which were once so rosy, sunny, and are now fallen drearily extinct,--studiable by editors only! in itself the friedrich-voltaire correspondence, we can see, was charming; very blossomy at present: businesses increasing; mutual admiration now risen to a great height,--admiration sincere on both sides, most so on the prince's, and extravagantly expressed on both sides, most so on voltaire's. crown-prince becomes a freemason; and is harangued by monsieur de bielfeld. his majesty, we said, had three pleasant days at loo; discoursing, as with friends, on public matters, or even on more private matters, in a frank unconstrained way. he is not to be called "majesty" on this occasion; but the fact, at loo, and by the leading mightinesses of the republic, who come copiously to compliment him there, is well remembered. talk there was, with such leading mightinesses, about the julich-and-berg question, aim of this journey: earnest enough private talk with some of them: but it availed nothing; and would not be worth reporting now to any creature, if we even knew it. in fact, the journey itself remains mentionable chiefly by one very trifling circumstance; and then by another, not important either, which followed out of that. the trifling circumstance is,--that friedrich, in the course of this journey, became a freemason: and the unimportant sequel was, that he made acquaintance with one bielfeld, on the occasion; who afterwards wrote a book about him, which was once much read, though never much worth reading, and is still citable, with precaution, now and then. [monsieur le baron de bielfeld, _lettres familieres et autres,_ ;--second edition, vols. a leide, , is the one we use here.] trifling circumstance, of freemasonry, as we read in bielfeld and in many books after him, befell in manner following. among the dinner-guests at loo, one of those three days, was a prince of lippe-buckeburg,--prince of small territory, but of great speculation; whose territory lies on the weser, leading to dutch connections; and whose speculations stretch over all the universe, in a high fantastic style:--he was a dinner-guest; and one of the topics that came up was freemasonry; a phantasmal kind of object, which had kindled itself, or rekindled, in those years, in england first of all; and was now hovering about, a good deal, in germany and other countries; pretending to be a new light of heaven, and not a bog-meteor of phosphorated hydrogen, conspicuous in the murk of things. bog-meteor, foolish putrescent will-o'-wisp, his majesty promptly defined it to be: tom-foolery and kinderspiel, what else? whereupon ingenious buckeburg, who was himself a mason, man of forty by this time, and had high things in him of the quixotic type, ventured on defence; and was so respectful, eloquent, dexterous, ingenious, he quite captivated, if not his majesty, at least the crown-prince, who was more enthusiastic for high things. crown-prince, after table, took his durchlaucht of buckeburg aside; talked farther on the subject, expressed his admiration, his conviction,--his wish to be admitted into such a hero fraternity. nothing could be welcomer to durchlaucht. and so, in all privacy, it was made up betweeen them, that durchlaucht, summoning as many mystic brothers out of hamburg as were needful, should be in waiting with them, on the crown-prince's road homeward,--say at brunswick, night before the fair, where we are to be,--and there make the crown-prince a mason. [bielfeld, i. - ; preuss, i. ; preuss, _buch fur jedermann,_ i. .] this is bielfeld's account, repeated ever since; substantially correct, except that the scene was not loo at all: dinner and dialogue, it now appears, took place in durchlaucht's own neighborhood, during the cleve review time; "probably at minden, th july;" and all was settled into fixed program before loo came in sight. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xvs. : friedrich's letter to this durchlaucht, "comte de schaumbourg-lippe" he calls him; date, "moyland, th july, : "moyland, a certain schloss, or habitable mansion, of his majesty's, few miles to north of mors in the cleve country; where his majesty used often to pause;--and where (what will be much more remarkable to readers) the crown-prince and voltaire had their first meeting, two years hence.] bielfeld's report of the subsequent procedure at brunswick, as he saw it and was himself part of it, is liable to no mistakes, at least of the involuntary kind; and may, for anything we know, be correct in every particular. he says (veiling it under discreet asterisks, which are now decipherable enough), the durchlaucht of lippe-buckeburg had summoned six brethren of the hamburg lodge; of whom we mention only a graf von kielmannsegge, a baron von oberg, both from hanover, and bielfeld himself, a merchant's son, of hamburg; these, with "kielmannsegge's valet to act as tiler," valet being also a mason, and the rule equality of mankind,--were to have the honor of initiating the crown-prince. they arrived at the western gate of brunswick on the th of august, as prearranged; prussian majesty not yet come, but coming punctually on the morrow. it is fair-time; all manner of traders, pedlers, showmen rendezvousing; many neighboring nobility too, as was still the habit. "such a bulk of light luggage?" said the custom-house people at the gate;--but were pacified by slipping them a ducat. upon which we drove to "korn's hotel" (if anybody now knew it); and there patiently waited. no great things of a hotel, says bielfeld; but can be put up with;--worst feature is, we discover a hanover acquaintance lodging close by, nothing but a wooden partition between us: how if he should overhear!-- prussian majesty and suite, under universal cannon-salvos, arrived, sunday the th; to stay till wednesday (three days) with his august son-in-law and daughter here. durchlaucht lippe presents himself at court, the rest of us not; privately settles with the prince: "tuesday night, eve of his majesty's departure; that shall be the night: at korn's hotel, late enough!" and there, accordingly, on the appointed night, th- th august, , the light-luggage trunks have yielded their stage-properties; jachin and boaz are set up, and all things are ready; tiler (kielmannsegge's valet) watching with drawn sword against the profane. as to our hanover neighbor, on the other side the partition, says bielfeld, we waited on him, this day after dinner, successively paying our respects; successively pledged him in so many bumpers, he is lying dead drunk hours ago, could not overhear a cannon-battery, he. and soon after midnight, the crown-prince glides in, a captain wartensleben accompanying, who is also a candidate; and the mysterious rites are accomplished on both of them, on the crown-prince first, without accident, and in the usual way. bielfeld could not enough admire the demeanor of this prince, his clearness, sense, quiet brilliancy; and how he was so "intrepid," and "possessed himself so gracefully in the most critical instants." extremely genial air, and so young, looks younger even than his years: handsome to a degree, though of short stature. physiognomy, features, quite charming; fine auburn hair (beau brun), a negligent plenty of it; "his large blue eyes have something at once severe, sweet and gracious." eligible mason indeed. had better make despatch at present, lest papa be getting on the road before him!--bielfeld delivered a small address, composed beforehand; with which the prince seemed to be content. and so, with masonic grip, they made their adieus for the present; and the crown-prince and wartensleben were back at their posts, ready for the road along with his majesty. his majesty came on sunday; goes on wednesday, home now at a stretch; and, we hope, has had a good time of it here, these three days. daughter charlotte and her serene husband, well with their subjects, well with one another, are doing well; have already two little children; a boy the elder, of whom we have heard: boy's name is karl, age now three; sprightly, reckoned very clever, by the fond parents;--who has many things to do in the world, by and by; to attack the french revolution, and be blown to pieces by it on the field of jena, for final thing! that is the fate of little karl, who frolics about here, so sunshiny and ingenuous at present. karl's grandmother, the serene dowager duchess, friedrich's own mother-in-law, his majesty and friedrich would also of course see here. fine younger sons of hers are coming forward; the reigning duke beautifully careful about the furtherance of these cadets of the house. here is prince ferdinand, for instance; just getting ready for the grand tour; goes in a month hence: [mauvillon (fils, son of him whom we cite otherwise), _geschichte ferdinands herzogs von braunschweig-luneburg_ (leipzig, ), i. - .] a fine eupeptic loyal young fellow; who, in a twenty years more, will be chatham's generalissimo, and fight the french to some purpose. a brother of his, the next elder, is now fighting the turks for his kaiser; does not like it at all, under such seckendorfs and war-ministries as there are. then, elder still, eldest of all the cadets, there is anton ulrich, over at petersburg for some years past, with outlooks high enough: to wed the mecklenburg princess there (daughter of the unutterable duke), and be as good as czar of all the russias one day. little to his profit, poor soul!--these, historically ascertainable, are the aspects of the brunswick court during those three days of royal visit, in fair-time; and may serve to date the masonic transaction for us, which the crown-prince has just accomplished over at korn's. as for the transaction itself, there is intrinsically no harm in this initiation, we will hope: but it behooves to be kept well hidden from papa. papa's good opinion of the prince has sensibly risen, in the course of this journey, "so rational, serious, not dangling about among the women as formerly;"--and what a shock would this of korn's hotel be, should papa hear of it! poor papa, from officious tale-bearers he hears many things: is in distress about voltaire, about heterodoxies;--and summoned the crown-prince, by express, from reinsberg, on one occasion lately, over to potsdam, "to take the communion" there, by way of case-hardening against voltaire and heterodoxies! think of it, human readers!--we will add the following stray particulars, more or less illustrative of the masonic transaction; and so end that trifling affair. the captain wartensleben, fellow-recipient of the mysteries at brunswick, is youngest son, by a second marriage, of old feldmarschall wartensleben, now deceased; and is consequently uncle, half-uncle, of poor lieutenant katte, though some years younger than katte would now have been. tender memories hang by wartensleben, in a silent way! he is captain in the potsdam giants; somewhat an intimate, and not undeservedly so, of the crown-prince;--succeeds wolden as hofmarschall at reinsberg, not many months after this; wolden having died of an apoplectic stroke. of bielfeld comes a book, slightly citable; from no other of the brethren, or their feat at kern's, comes (we may say) anything whatever. the crown-prince prosecuted his masonry, at reinsberg or elsewhere, occasionally, for a year or two; but was never ardent in it; and very soon after his accession, left off altogether: "child's-play and ignis fatuus mainly!" a royal lodge was established at berlin, of which the new king consented to be patron; but he never once entered the place; and only his portrait (a welcomely good one, still to be found there) presided over the mysteries in that establishment. harmless "fire," but too "fatuous;" mere flame-circles cut in the air, for infants, we know how!-- with lippe-buckeburg there ensued some correspondence, high enough on his serenity's side; but it soon languished on the prince's side; and in private poetry, within a two years of this brunswick scene, we find lippe used proverbially for a type-specimen of fools. ["taciturne, caton, avec mes bons parents, aussi fou que la lippe met les jeunes gens." _oeuvres,_ xi. (_discours sur la faussete,_ written ).] a windy fantastic individual;--overwhelmed in finance-difficulties too! lippe continued writing; but "only secretaries now answered him" from berlin. a son of his, son and successor, something of a quixote too, but notable in artillery-practice and otherwise, will turn up at a future stage. nor is bielfeld with his book a thing of much moment to friedrich or to us. bielfeld too has a light airy vein of talk; loves voltaire and the philosophies in a light way;--knows the arts of society, especially the art of flattering; and would fain make himself agreeable to the crown-prince, being anxious to rise in the world. his father is a hamburg merchant, hamburg "sealing-wax manufacturer," not ill off for money: son has been at schools, high schools, under tutors, posture-masters; swashes about on those terms, with french esprit in his mouth, and lace ruffles at his wrists; still under thirty; showy enough, sharp enough; considerably a coxcomb, as is still evident. he did transiently get about friedrich, as we shall see; and hoped to have sold his heart to good purpose there;--was, by and by, employed in slight functions; not found fit for grave ones. in the course of some years, he got a title of baron; and sold his heart more advantageously, to some rich widow or fraulein; with whom he retired to saxony, and there lived on an estate he had purchased, a stranger to prussia thenceforth. his book (_lettres familieres et autres,_ all turning on friedrich), which came out in , at the height of friedrich's fame, and was much read, is still freely cited by historians as an authority. but the reading of a few pages sufficiently intimates that these "letters" never can have gone through a terrestrial post-office; that they are an afterthought, composed from vague memory and imagination, in that fine saxon retreat;--a sorrowful ghost-like "travels of anacharsis," instead of living words by an eye-witness! not to be cited "freely" at all, but sparingly and under conditions. they abound in small errors, in misdates, mistakes; small fictions even, and impossible pretensions:--foolish mortal, to write down his bit of knowledge in that form! for the man, in spite of his lace ruffles and gesticulations, has brisk eyesight of a superficial kind: he could have done us this little service (apparently his one mission in the world, for which nature gave him bed and board here); and he, the lace ruffles having gone into his soul, has been tempted into misdoing it!--bielfeld and bielfeld's book, such as they are, appear to be the one conquest friedrich got of freemasonry; no other result now traceable to us of that adventure in korn's hotel, crowning event of the journey to loo. seckendorf gets lodged in gratz. feldmarschall seckendorf, after unheard-of wrestlings with the turk war, and the vienna war-office (hofkriegsrath), is sitting, for the last three weeks,--where thinks the reader?--in the fortress of gratz among the hills of styria; a state-prisoner, not likely to get out soon! seckendorf led forth, in , "such an army, for number, spirit and equipment," say the vienna people, "as never marched against the turk before;" and it must be owned, his ill success has been unparalleled. the blame was not altogether his; not chiefly his, except for his rash undertaking of the thing, on such terms as there were. but the truth is, that first scene we saw of him,--an army all gone out trumpeting and drumming into the woods to find its commander-in-chief,--was an emblem of the campaign in general. excellent army; but commanded by nobody in particular; commanded by a hofkriegsrath at vienna, by a franz duke of tuscany, by feldmarschall seckendorf, and by subordinates who were disobedient to him: which accordingly, almost without help of the turk and his disorderly ferocity, rubbed itself to pieces before long. roamed about, now hither now thither, with plans laid and then with plans suddenly altered, captain being chaos mainly; in swampy countries, by overflowing rivers, in hunger, hot weather, forced marches; till it was marched gradually off its feet; and the clouds of chaotic turks, who did finally show face, had a cheap pennyworth of it. never was such a campaign seen as this of seckendorf in , said mankind. except indeed that the present one, campaign of , in those parts, under a different hand, is still worse; and the campaign of , under still a different, will be worst of all!--kaiser karl and his austrians do not prosper in this turk war, as the russians do,--who indeed have got a general equal to his task: munnich, a famed master in the art of handling turks and war-ministries: real father of russian soldiering, say the russians still. [see mannstein for munnich's plans with the turk (methods and devices of steady discipline in small numbers versus impetuous ferocity in great); and berenhorst (_betrachtungen uber die kriegskunst,_ leipzig, ), a first-rate authority, for examples and eulogies of them.] campaign , with clouds of chaotic turks now sabring on the skirts of it, had not yet ended, when seckendorf was called out of it; on polite pretexts, home to vienna; and the command given to another. at the gates of vienna, in the last days of october, , an official person, waiting for the feldmarschall, was sorry to inform him, that he, feldmarschall seckendorf, was under arrest; arrest in his own house, in the kohlmarkt (cabbage-market so called), a captain and twelve musketeers to watch over him with fixed bayonets there; strictly private, till the hofkriegsrath had satisfied themselves in a point or two. "hmph!" snuffled he; with brow blushing slate-color, i should think, and gray eyes much alight. and ever since, for ten months or so, seckendorf, sealed up in the cabbage-market, has been fencing for life with the hofkriegsrath; who want satisfaction upon "eighty-six" different "points;" and make no end of chicaning to one's clear answers. and the jesuits preach, too: "a heretic, born enemy of christ and his kaiser; what is the use of questioning!" and the heathen rage, and all men gnash their teeth, in this uncomfortable manner. answering done, there comes no verdict, much less any acquittal; the captain and twelve musketeers, three of them with fixed bayonets in one's very bedroom, continue. one evening, st july, , glorious news from the seat of war--not till evening, as the imperial majesty was out hunting--enters vienna; blowing trumpets; shaking flags: "grand victory over the turks!" so we call some poor skirmish there has been; and vienna bursting all into three-times-three, the populace get very high. populace rush to the kohlmarkt: break the seckendorf windows; intent to massacre the seckendorf; had not fresh military come, who were obliged to fire and kill one or two. "the house captain and his twelve musketeers, of themselves, did wonders; seckendorf and all his domestics were in arms:" "jarni-bleu" for the last time!--this is while the crown-prince is at wesel; sound asleep, most likely; loo, and the masonic adventure, perhaps twinkling prophetically in his dreams. at two next morning, an official gentleman informs seckendorf, that he, for his part, must awaken, and go to gratz. and in one hour more ( a.m.), the official gentleman rolls off with him; drives all day; and delivers his prisoner at gratz:--"not so much as a room ready there; prisoner had to wait an hour in the carriage," till some summary preparation were made. wall-neighbors of the poor feldmarschall, in his fortress here, were "a gold-cook (swindling alchemist), who had gone crazy; and an irish lieutenant, confined thirty-two years for some love-adventure, likewise pretty crazy; their noises in the night-time much disturbed the feldmarschall." [_seckendorfs leben,_ ii. - pp. - .] one human thing there still is in his lot, the feldmarschall's old grafinn. true old dame, she, both in the kohlmarkt and at gratz, stands by him, "imprisoned along with him" if it must be so; ministering, comforting, as only a true wife can;--and hope has not quite taken wing. rough old feldmarschall; now turned of sixty: never made such a campaign before, as this of followed by ! there sits he; and will not trouble us any more during the present kaiser's lifetime. friedrich wilhelm is amazed at these sudden cantings of fortune's wheel, and grieves honestly as for an old friend: even the crown-prince finds seckendorf punished unjustly; and is almost, sorry for him, after all that has come and gone. the ear of jenkins re-emerges. we must add the following, distilled from the english newspapers, though it is now almost four months after date:-- "london, st april, . in the english house of commons, much more in the english public, there has been furious debating for a fortnight past: committee of the whole house, examining witnesses, hearing counsel; subject, the termagant of spain, and her west-indian procedures;--she, by her procedures somewhere, is always cutting out work for mankind! how english and other strangers, fallen-in with in those seas, are treated by the spaniards, readers have heard, nay have chanced to see; and it is a fact painfully known to all nations. fact which england, for one nation, can no longer put up with. walpole and the official persons would fain smooth the matter; but the west-india interest, the city, all mercantile and navigation interests are in dead earnest: committee of the whole house, 'presided by alderman perry,' has not ears enough to hear the immensities of evidence offered; slow public is gradually kindling to some sense of it. this had gone on for two weeks, when--what shall we say?--the ear of jenkins re-emerged for the second time; and produced important effects! "where jenkins had been all this while,--steadfastly navigating to and fro, steadfastly eating tough junk with a wetting of rum; not thinking too much of past labors, yet privately 'always keeping his lost ear in cotton' (with a kind of ursine piety, or other dumb feeling),--no mortal now knows. but to all mortals it is evident he was home in london at this time; no doubt a noted member of wapping society, the much-enduring jenkins. and witnesses, probably not one but many, had mentioned him to this committee, as a case eminently in point. committee, as can still be read in its rhadamanthine journals, orders: 'die jovis, * martii - , that captain robert jenkins do attend this house immediately;' and then more specially, ' * martii' captious objections having risen in official quarters, as we guess,--'that captain robert jenkins do attend upon tuesday morning next.' [_commons journals,_ xxiii. (in diebus).] tuesday next is st march,-- st of april, , by our modern calendar;--and on that day, not a doubt, jenkins does attend; narrates that tremendous passage we already heard of, seven years ago, in the entrance of the gulf of florida; and produces his ear wrapt in cotton:--setting all on flame (except the official persons) at sight of it." official persons, as their wont is in the pressure of debate, endeavored to deny, to insinuate in their vile newspapers, that jenkins lost his ear nearer home and not for nothing; as one still reads in the history books. [tindal (xx. ). coxe, &c.] sheer calumnies, we now find. jenkins's account was doubtless abundantly emphatic; but there is no ground to question the substantial truth of him and it. and so, after seven years of unnoticeable burning upon the thick skin of the english public, the case of jenkins accidentally burns through, and sets england bellowing; such a smart is there of it,--not to be soothed by official wet-cloths; but getting worse and worse, for the nineteen months ensuing. and in short--but we will not anticipate! chapter vi. -- last year of reinsberg; journey to preussen. the idyllium of reinsberg--of which, except in the way of sketchy suggestion, there can no history be given--lasted less than four years; and is now coming to an end, unexpectedly soon. a pleasant arcadian summer in one's life;--though it has not wanted its occasional discords, flaws of ill weather in the general sunshine. papa, always in uncertain health of late, is getting heavier of foot and of heart under his heavy burdens; and sometimes falls abstruse enough, liable to bewilderments from bad people and events: not much worth noticing here. [see pollnitz, ii. - ; friedrich's letter to wilhelmina ("berlin, th january, :" in _oeuvres,_ xxvii. part st, pp. , ); &c. &c.] but the crown-prince has learned to deal with all this; all this is of transient nature; and a bright long future seems to lie ahead at reinsberg;--brightened especially by the literary element; which, in this year of , is brisker than it had ever been. distinguished visitors, of a literary turn, look in at reinsberg; the voltaire correspondence is very lively; on friedrich's part there is copious production, various enterprise, in the form of prose and verse; thoughts even of going to press with some of it: in short, the literary interest rises very prominent at reinsberg in . biography is apt to forget the literature there (having her reasons); but must at last take some notice of it, among the phenomena of the year. to the young prince himself, "courting tranquillity," as his door-lintel intimated, [_"frederico tranquillitatem colenti"_ (infra, p. ).] and forbidden to be active except within limits, this of literature was all along the great light of existence at reinsberg; the supplement to all other employments or wants of employment there. to friedrich himself, in those old days, a great and supreme interest; while again, to the modern biographer of him, it has become dark and vacant; a thing to be shunned, not sought. so that the fact as it stood with friedrich differs far from any description that can be given of the fact. alas, we have said already, and the constant truth is, friedrich's literatures, his distinguished literary visitors and enterprises, which were once brand-new and brilliant, have grown old as a garment, and are a sorrow rather than otherwise to existing mankind! conscientious readers, who would represent to themselves the vanished scene at reinsberg, in this point more especially, must make an effort. as biographical documents, these poetries and proses of the young man give a very pretty testimony of him; but are not of value otherwise. in fact, they promise, if we look well into them, that here is probably a practical faculty and intellect of the highest kind; which again, on the speculative, especially on the poetical side, will never be considerable, nor has even tried to be so. this young soul does not deal in meditation at all, and his tendencies are the reverse of sentimental. here is no introspection, morbid or other, no pathos or complaint, no melodious informing of the public what dreadful emotions you labor under: here, in rapid prompt form, indicating that it is truth and not fable, are generous aspirations for the world and yourself, generous pride, disdain of the ignoble, of the dark, mendacious;--here, in short, is a swift-handed, valiant, steel-bright kind of soul; very likely for a king's, if other things answer, and not likely for a poet's. no doubt he could have made something of literature too; could have written books, and left some stamp of a veracious, more or less victorious intellect, in that strange province too. but then he must have applied himself to it, as he did to reigning: done in the cursory style, we see what it has come to. it is certain, friedrich's reputation suffers, at this day, from his writing. from his not having written nothing, he stands lower with the world. which seems hard measure;--though perhaps it is the law of the case, after all. "nobody in these days," says my poor friend, "has the least notion of the sinful waste there is in talk, whether by pen or tongue. better probably that king friedrich had written no verses; nay i know not that david's psalms did david's kingship any good!" which may be truer than it seems. fine aspirations, generous convictions, purposes,--they are thought very fine: but it is good, on various accounts, to keep them rather silent; strictly unvocal, except on call of real business; so dangerous are they for becoming conscious of themselves! most things do not ripen at all except underground. and it is a sad but sure truth, that every time you speak of a fine purpose, especially if with eloquence and to the admiration of by-standers, there is the less chance of your ever making a fact of it in your poor life.--if reinsberg, and its vacancy of great employment, was the cause of friedrich's verse-writing, we will not praise reinsberg on that head! but the truth is, friedrich's verses came from him with uncommon fluency; and were not a deep matter, but a shallow one, in any sense. not much more to him than speaking with a will; than fantasying on the flute in an animated strain. ever and anon through his life, on small hint from without or on great, there was found a certain leakage of verses, which he was prompt to utter;--and the case at reinsberg, or afterwards, is not so serious as we might imagine. pine's horace; and the anti-machiavel. in late months friedrich had conceived one notable project; which demands a word in this place. did modern readers ever hear of "john pine, the celebrated english engraver"? john pine, a man of good scholarship, good skill with his burin, did "tapestries of the house of lords," and other things of a celebrated nature, famous at home and abroad: but his peculiar feat, which had commended him at reinsberg, was an edition of horace: exquisite old flaccus brought to perfection, as it were; all done with vignettes, classical borderings, symbolic marginal ornaments, in fine taste and accuracy, the text itself engraved; all by the exquisite burin of pine. ["london, " (_biographie universelle,_ xxxiv. ).] this edition had come out last year, famous over the world; and was by and by, as rumor bore, to be followed by a virgil done in the like exquisite manner. the pine horace, part of the pine virgil too, still exist in the libraries of the curious; and are doubtless known to the proper parties, though much forgotten by others of us. to friedrich, scanning the pine phenomenon with interest then brand-new, it seemed an admirable tribute to classical genius; and the idea occurred to him, "is not there, by heaven's blessing, a living genius, classical like those antique romans, and worthy of a like tribute?" friedrich's idea was, that voltaire being clearly the supreme of poets, the henriade, his supreme of poems, ought to be engraved like flaccus; text and all, with vignettes, tail-pieces, classical borderings beautifully symbolic and exact; by the exquisite burin of pine. which idea the young hero-worshipper, in spite of his finance-difficulties, had resolved to realize; and was even now busy with it, since his return from loo. "such beautiful enthusiasm," say some readers; "and in behalf of that particular demi-god!" alas, yes; to friedrich he was the best demi-god then going; and friedrich never had any doubt about him. for the rest, this heroic idea could not realize itself; and we are happy to have nothing more to do with pine or the henriade. correspondences were entered into with pine, and some pains taken: pine's high prices were as nothing; but pine was busy with his virgil; probably, in fact, had little stomach for the henriade; "could not for seven years to come enter upon it:" so that the matter had to die away; and nothing came of it but a small dissertation, or introductory essay, which the prince had got ready,--which is still to be found printed in voltaire's works [_oeuvres, xiii. - ._] and in friedrich's, if anybody now cared much to read it. preuss says it was finished, "the th august, ;" and that minute fact in chronology, with the above tale of hero-worship hanging to it, will suffice my readers and me. but there is another literary project on hand, which did take effect;--much worthy of mention, this year; the whole world having risen into such a chorus of te deum at sight of it next year. in this year falls, what at any rate was a great event to friedrich, as literary man: the printing of his first book,--assiduous writing of it with an eye to print. the book is that "celebrated anti-machiavel," ever-praiseworthy refutation of machiavel's prince; concerning which there are such immensities of voltaire correspondence, now become, like the book itself, inane to all readers. this was the chosen soul's employment of friedrich, the flower of life to him, at reinsberg, through the yea? . it did not actually get to press till spring ; nor actually come out till autumn,--by which time a great change had occurred in friedrich's title and circumstances: but we may as well say here what little is to be said of it for modern readers. "the crown-prince, reading this bad book of machiavel's, years ago, had been struck, as all honest souls, especially governors or apprentices to governing, must be, if they thought of reading such a thing, with its badness, its falsity, detestability; and came by degrees, obliquely fishing out voltaire's opinion as he went along, on the notion of refuting machiavel; and did refute him, the best he could. set down, namely, his own earnest contradiction to such ungrounded noxious doctrines; elaborating the same more and more into clear logical utterance; till it swelled into a little volume; which, so excellent was it, so important to mankind, voltaire and friends were clear for publishing. published accordingly it was; goes through the press next summer ( ), under voltaire's anxious superintendence: [here, gathered from friedrich's letters to voltaire, is the chronology of the little enterprise:-- , march , june , "machiavel a baneful man," thinks friedrich. "ought to be refuted by somebody?" thinks he (date not known). , march , friedrich thinks of doing it himself. has done it, december ;--"a book which ought to be printed," say voltaire and the literary visitors. , april , book given up to voltaire for finished; book appears, "end of september," when a great change had occurred in friedrich's title and position.] for the prince has at length consented; and voltaire hands the manuscript, with mystery yet with hints, to a dutch bookseller, one van duren at the hague, who is eager enough to print such an article. voltaire himself--such his magnanimous friendship, especially if one have dutch lawsuits, or business of one's own, in those parts--takes charge of correcting; lodges himself in the 'old court' (prussian mansion, called vieille cour, at the hague, where 'luiscius,' figuratively speaking, may 'get an alms' from us); and therefrom corrects, alters; corresponds with the prince and van duren, at a great rate. keeps correcting, altering, till van duren thinks he is spoiling it for sale;--and privately determines to preserve the original manuscript, and have an edition of that, with only such corrections as seem good to van duren. a treasonous step on this mule of a bookseller's part, thinks voltaire; but mulishly persisted in by the man. endless correspondence, to right and left, ensues; intolerably wearisome to every reader. and, in fine, there came out, in autumn next,"--the crown-prince no longer a crown-prince by that time, but shining conspicuous under higher title,--"not one anti-machiavel only, but a couple or a trio of anti-machiavels; as printed 'at the hague;' as reprinted 'at london' or elsewhere; the confused bibliography of which has now fallen very insignificant. first there was the voltaire text, authorized edition, 'end of september, ;' then came, in few weeks, the van duren one; then, probably, a third, combining the two, the variations given as foot-notes:--in short, i know not how many editions, translations, printings and reprintings; all the world being much taken up with such a message from the upper regions, and eager to read it in any form. "as to friedrich himself, who of course says nothing of the anti-machiavel in public, he privately, to voltaire, disowns all these editions; and intends to give a new one of his own, which shall be the right article; but never did it, having far other work cut out for him in the months that came. but how zealous the worlds humor was in that matter, no modern reader can conceive to himself. in the frightful compilation called helden-geschichte, which we sometimes cite, there are, excerpted from the then 'bibliotheques' (nouvelle bibliotheque and another; shining periodicals of the time, now gone quite dead), two 'reviews' of the anti-machiavel, which fill modern readers with amazement: such a domine dimittas chanted over such an article!--these details, in any other than the biographical point of view, are now infinitely unimportant." truly, yes! the crown-prince's anti-machiavel, final correct edition (in two forms, voltaire's as corrected, and the prince's own as written), stands now in clear type; [preuss, _oeuvres de frederic,_ viii. - .] and, after all that jumble of printing and counter-printing, we can any of us read it in a few hours; but, alas, almost none of us with the least interest, or, as it were, with any profit whatever. so different is present tense from past, in all things, especially in things like these! it is sixscore years since the anti-machiavel appeared. the spectacle of one who was himself a king (for the mysterious fact was well known to van duren and everybody) stepping forth to say with conviction, that kingship was not a thing of attorney mendacity, to be done under the patronage of beelzebub, but of human veracity, to be set about under quite other patronage; and that, in fact, a king was the "born servant of his people" (domestique friedrich once calls it), rather than otherwise: this, naturally enough, rose upon the then populations, unused to such language, like the dawn of a new day; and was welcomed with such applauses as are now incredible, after all that has come and gone! alas, in these sixscore years, it has been found so easy to profess and speak, even with sincerity! the actual hero-kings were long used to be silent; and the sham-hero kind grow only the more desperate for us, the more they speak and profess!--this anti-machiavel of friedrich's is a clear distinct treatise; confutes, or at least heartily contradicts, paragraph by paragraph, the incredible sophistries of machiavel. nay it leaves us, if we sufficiently force our attention, with the comfortable sense that his royal highness is speaking with conviction, and honestly from the heart, in the affair: but that is all the conquest we get of it, in these days. treatise fallen more extinct to existing mankind it would not be easy to name. perhaps indeed mankind is getting weary of the question altogether. machiavel himself one now reads only by compulsion. "what is the use of arguing with anybody that can believe in machiavel?" asks mankind, or might well ask; and, except for editorial purposes, eschews any anti-machiavel; impatient to be rid of bane and antidote both. truly the world has had a pother with this little nicolo machiavelli and his perverse little book:--pity almost that a friedrich wilhelm, taking his rounds at that point of time, had not had the "refuting" of him; friedrich wilhelm's method would have been briefer than friedrich's! but let us hope the thing is now, practically, about completed. and as to the other question, "was the signor nicolo serious in this perverse little book; or did he only do it ironically, with a serious inverse purpose?" we will leave that to be decided, any time convenient, by people who are much at leisure in the world!-- the printing of the anti-machiavel was not intrinsically momentous in friedrich's history; yet it might as well have been dispensed with. he had here drawn a fine program, and needlessly placarded it for the street populations: and afterwards there rose, as could not fail on their part, comparison between program and performance; scornful cry, chiefly from men of weak judgment, "is this king an anti-machiavel, then? pfui!" of which,--though voltaire's voice, too, was heard in it, in angry moments,--we shall say nothing: the reader, looking for himself, will judge by and by. and herewith enough of the anti-machiavel. composition of anti-machiavel and speculation of the pine henriade lasted, both of them, all through this year , and farther: from these two items, not to mention any other, readers can figure sufficiently how literary a year it was. friedrich in preussen again; at the stud of trakehnen. a tragically great event coming on. in july this year the crown-prince went with papa on the prussian review-journey. ["set out, th july" (_oeuvres,_ xxvii. part st, n.).] such attendance on review-journeys, a mark of his being well with papa, is now becoming usual; they are agreeable excursions, and cannot but be instructive as well. on this occasion, things went beautifully with him. out in those grassy countries, in the bright summer, once more he had an unusually fine time;--and two very special pleasures befell him. first was, a sight of the emigrants, our salzburgers and other, in their flourishing condition, over in lithuania yonder. delightful to see how the waste is blossoming up again; busy men, with their industries, their steady pious husbandries, making all things green and fruitful: horse-droves, cattle-herds, waving cornfields;--a very "schmalzgrube (butter-pit)" of those northern parts, as it is since called. [busching, erdbeschreibung, ii. .] the crown-prince's own words on this matter we will give; they are in a letter of his to voltaire, perhaps already known to some readers;--and we can observe he writes rather copiously from those localities at present, and in a cheerful humor with everybody. "insterburg, th july, (crown-prince to voltaire).... prussian lithuania is a country a hundred and twenty miles long, by from sixty to forty broad; ["miles english," we always mean, unless &c.] it was ravaged by pestilence at the beginning of this century; and they say three hundred thousand people died of disease and famine." ravaged by pestilence and the neglect of king friedrich i.; till my father, once his hands were free, made personal survey of it, and took it up, in earnest. "since that time," say twenty years ago, "there is no expense that the king has been afraid of, in order to succeed in his salutary views. he made, in the first place, regulations full of wisdom; he rebuilt wherever the pestilence had desolated: thousands of families, from the ends of europe," seventeen thousand salzburgers for the last item, "were conducted hither; the country repeopled itself; trade began to flourish again;--and now, in these fertile regions, abundance reigns more than it ever did. "there are above half a million of inhabitants in lithuania; there are more towns than there ever were, more flocks than formerly, more wealth and more productiveness than in any other part of germany. and all this that i tell you of is due to the king alone: who not only gave the orders, but superintended the execution of them; it was he that devised the plans, and himself got them carried to fulfilment; and spared neither care nor pains, nor immense expenditures, nor promises nor recompenses, to secure happiness and life to this half-million of thinking beings, who owe to him alone that they have possessions and felicity in the world. "i hope this detail does not weary you. i depend on your humanity extending itself to your lithuanian brethren, as well as to your french, english, german, or other,--all the more as, to my great astonishment, i passed through villages where you hear nothing spoken but french.--i have found something so heroic, in the generous and laborious way in which the king addressed himself to making this desert flourish with inhabitants and happy industries and fruits, that it seemed to me you would feel the same sentiments in learning the circumstances of such a re-establishment. i daily expect news of you from enghien" [in those dutch-lawsuit countries].... the divine emilie;... the duke [d'aremberg, austrian soldier, of convivial turn,--remote welsh-uncle to a certain little prince de ligne, now spinning tops in those parts; [born d may, , this latter little prince; lasted till th december, ("danse, mais il ne marche pas").] not otherwise interesting], whom apollo contends for against bacchues.... adieu. ne m'oubliez pas, mon cher ami." [_oeuvres,_ xxi. , .] this is one pleasant scene, to the crown-prince and us, in those grassy localities. and now we have to mention that, about a fortnight later, at konigsberg one day, in reference to a certain royal stud or horse-breeding establishment in those same lithuanian regions, there had a still livelier satisfaction happened him; satisfaction of a personal and filial nature. the name of this royal stud, inestimable on such ground, is trakehnen,--lies south of tilsit, in an upper valley of the pregel river;--very extensive horse-establishment, "with seven farms under it," say the books, and all "in the most perfect order," they need hardly add, friedrich wilhelm being master of it. well, the royal party was at konigsberg, so far on the road homewards again from those outlying parts, when friedrich wilhelm said one day to his son, quite in a cursory manner, "i give thee that stud of trakehnen; thou must go back and look to it;" which struck fritz quite dumb at the moment. for it is worth near upon , pounds a year ( , thalers); a welcome new item in our impoverished budget; and it is an undeniable sign of papa's good-humor with us, which is more precious still. fritz made his acknowledgments, eloquent with looks, eloquent with voice, on coming to himself; and is, in fact, very proud of his gift, and celebrates it to his wilhelmina, to camas and others who have a right to know such a thing. grand useful gift; and handed over by papa grandly, in three business words, as if it had been a brace of game: "i give it thee, fritz!" a thing not to be forgotten. "at bottom, friedrich wilhelm was not avaricious" (not a miser, only a man grandly abhorring waste, as the poor vulgar cannot do), "not avaricious," says pollnitz once; "he made munificent gifts, and never thought of them more." this of trakehnen,--perhaps there might be a whiff of coming fate concerned in it withal: "i shall soon be dead, not able to give thee anything, poor fritz!" to the prince and us it is very beautiful; a fine effulgence of the inner man of friedrich wilhelm. the prince returned to trakehnen, on this glad errand; settled the business details there; and, after a few days, went home by a route of his own;--well satisfied with this prussian-review journey, as we may imagine. [see earlier---prussian review-journey (placing of hyphen)] one sad thing there was, though friedrich did not yet know how sad, in this review-journey: the new fit of illness that overtook his majesty. from pollnitz, who was of the party, we have details on that head. in his majesty's last bad illness, five years ago, when all seemed hopeless, it appears the surgeons had relieved him,--in fact recovered him, bringing off the bad humors in quantity,--by an incision in the foot or leg. in the course of the present fatigues, this old wound broke out again; which of course stood much in the way of his majesty; and could not be neglected, as probably the causes of it were. a regimental surgeon, pollnitz says, was called in; who, in two days, healed the wound,--and declared all to be right again; though in fact, as we may judge, it was dangerously worse than before. "all well here," writes friedrich; "the king has been out of order, but is now entirely recovered (tout a fait remis)." ["konigsberg, th july, ," to his wife (_oeuvres,_ xxvi. ).] much reviewing and heavy business followed at konigsberg;--gift of trakehnen, and departure of the crown-prince for trakehnen, winding it up. directly on the heel of which, his majesty turned homewards, the crown-prince not to meet him till once at berlin again. majesty's first stage was at pillau, where we have been. at pillau, or next day at dantzig, pollnitz observed a change in his majesty's humor, which had been quite sunshiny all this journey hitherto. at dantzig pollnitz first noticed it; but at every new stage it grew worse, evil accidents occurring to worsen it; and at berlin it was worst of all;--and, alas, his poor majesty never recovered his sunshine in this world again! here is pollnitz's account of the journey homewards:-- "till now," till pillau and dantzig, "his majesty had been in especially good humor; but in dantzig his cheerfulness forsook him;--and it never came back. he arrived about ten at night in that city [wednesday, th august, or thereby]; slept there; and was off again next morning at five. he drove only thirty miles this day; stopped in lupow [coast road through pommern], with herr von grumkow [the late grumkow's brother], kammer president in this pommern province. from lupow he went to a poor village near belgard, eighty miles farther;"--last village on the great road, belgard lying to left a little, on a side road;--"and stayed there overnight. "at belgard, next morning, he reviewed the dragoon regiment von platen; and was very ill content with it. and nobody, with the least understanding of that business, but must own that never did prussian regiment manoeuvre worse. conscious themselves how bad it was, they lost head, and got into open confusion. the king did all that was possible to help them into order again. he withdrew thrice over, to give the officers time to recover themselves; but it was all in vain. the king, contrary to wont, restrained himself amazingly, and would not show his displeasure in public. he got into his carriage, and drove away with the furst of anhalt," old dessauer, "and von winterfeld," captain in the giant regiment, "who is now major-general von winterfeld; [major-general since , of high fame; fell in fight, th september, .] not staying to dine with general von platen, as was always his custom with commandants whom he had reviewed. he bade prince wilhelm and the rest of us stay and dine; he himself drove away,"--towards the great road again, and some uncertain lodging there. "we stayed accordingly; and did full justice to the good cheer,"--though poor platen would certainly look flustered, one may fancy. "but as the prince was anxious to come up with his majesty again, and knew not where he would meet him, we had to be very swift with the business. "we found the king with anhalt and winterfeld, by and by; sitting in a village, in front of a barn, and eating a cold pie there, which the furst of anhalt had chanced to have with him; his majesty, owing to what he had seen on the parade-ground, was in the utmost ill-humor (hochst ubler laune). next day, saturday, he went a hundred and fifty or two hundred miles; and arrived in berlin at ten at night. not expected there till the morrow; so that his rooms were locked,--her majesty being over in monbijou, giving her children a ball;" [pollnitz, ii. - .]--and we can fancy what a frame of mind there was! nobody, not at first even the doctors, much heeded this new fit of illness; which went and came: "changed temper," deeper or less deep gloom of "bad humor," being the main phenomenon to by-standers. but the sad truth was, his majesty never did recover his sunshine; from pillau onwards he was slowly entering into the shadows of the total last eclipse; and his journeyings and reviewings in this world were all done. ten months hence, pollnitz and others knew better what it had been!-- chapter vii. -- last year of reinsberg: transit of baltimore and other persons and things. friedrich had not been long home again from trakehnen and preussen, when the routine of things at reinsberg was illuminated by visitors, of brilliant and learned quality; some of whom, a certain signor algarotti for one, require passing mention here. algarotti, who became a permanent friend or satellite, very luminous to the prince, and was much about him in coming years, first shone out upon the scene at this time,--coming unexpectedly, and from the eastward as it chanced. on his own score, algarotti has become a wearisome literary man to modern readers: one of those half-remembered men; whose books seem to claim a reading, and do not repay it you when given. treatises, of a serious nature, on the opera; setting forth, in earnest, the potential "moral uses" of the opera, and dedicated to chatham; _neutonianismo per le donne_ (astronomy for ladies): the mere titles of such things are fatally sufficient to us; and we cannot, without effort, nor with it, recall the brilliancy of algarotti and them to his contemporary world. algarotti was a rich venetian merchant's son, precisely about the crown-prince's age; shone greatly in his studies at bologna and elsewhere; had written poesies (rime); written especially that _newtonianism for the dames_ (equal to fontenelle, said fame, and orthodox newtonian withal, not heterodox or cartesian); and had shone, respected, at paris, on the strength of it, for three or four years past: friend of voltaire in consequence, of voltaire and his divine emilie, and a welcome guest at cirey; friend of the cultivated world generally, which was then laboring, divine emilie in the van of it, to understand newton and be orthodox in this department of things. algarotti did fine poesies, too, once and again; did classical scholarships, and much else: everywhere a clear-headed, methodically distinct, concise kind of man. a high style of breeding about him, too; had powers of pleasing, and used them: a man beautifully lucent in society, gentle yet impregnable there; keeping himself unspotted from the world and its discrepancies,--really with considerable prudence, first and last. he is somewhat of the bielfeld type; a merchant's son, we observe, like bielfeld; but a venetian merchant's, not a hamburg's; and also of better natural stuff than bielfeld. concentrated himself upon his task with more seriousness, and made a higher thing of it than bielfeld; though, after all, it was the same task the two had. alas, our "swan of padua" (so they sometimes called him) only sailed, paddling grandly, no-whither,--as the swan-goose of the elbe did, in a less stately manner! one cannot well bear to read his books. there is no light upon friedrich to tempt us; better light than bielfeld's there could have been, and much of it: but he prudently, as well as proudly, forbore such topics. he approaches very near fertility and geniality in his writings, but never reaches it. dilettantism become serious and strenuous, in those departments--well, it was beautiful to young friedrich and the world at that time, though it is not to us!--young algarotti, twenty-seven this year, has been touring about as a celebrity these four years past, on the strength of his fine manners and _newtonianism for the dames._ it was under escort of baltimore, "an english milord," recommended from potsdam itself, that algarotti came to reinsberg; the signor had much to do with english people now and after. where baltimore first picked him up, i know not: but they have been to russia together; baltimore by twelve years the elder of the two: and now, getting home towards england again, they call at reinsberg in the fine autumn weather;--and considerably captivate the crown-prince, baltimore playing chief, in that as in other points. the visit lasted five days: [ th- th september, (_oeuvres de frederic,_ xiv. p. xiv).] there was copious speech on many things;--discussion about printing of the anti machiavel; algarotti to get it printed in england, algarotti to get pine and his engraved henriade put under way; neither of which projects took effect;--readers can conceive what a charming five days these were. here, in the crown-prince's own words, are some brief glimmerings which will suffice us:-- reinsberg, th sept. (crown-prince to papa).... that "nothing new has occurred in the regiment, and we have few sick. here has the english milord, who was at potsdam, passing through [stayed five days, though we call it passing, and suppress the algarotti, baltimore being indeed chief]. he is gone towards hamburg, to take ship for england there. as i heard that my most all-gracious father wished i should show him courtesy, i have done for him what i could. the prince of mirow has also been here,"--our old strelitz friend. of baltimore nothing more to papa. but to another correspondent, to the good suhm (who is now at petersburg, and much in our intimacy, ready to transact loans for us, translate wolf, or do what is wanted), there is this passage next day:-- reinsberg, th september, (to suhm). "we have had milord baltimore here, and the young algarotti; both of them men who, by their accomplishments, cannot but conciliate the esteem and consideration of all who see them. we talked much of you [suhm], of philosophy, of science, art; in short, of all that can be included in the taste of cultivated people (honnetes gens)." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xvi. .] and again to another, about two weeks hence:-- reinsberg, th october, (to voltaire). "we have had milord baltimore and algarotti here, who are going back to england. this milord is a very sensible man (homme tressense); who possesses a great deal of knowledge, and thinks, like us, that sciences can be no disparagement to nobility, nor degrade an illustrious rank. i admired the genius of this anglais, as one does a fine face through a crape veil. he speaks french very ill, yet one likes to hear him speak it; and as for his english, he pronounces it so quick, there is no possibility of following him. he calls a russian 'a mechanical animal.' he says 'petersburg is the eye of russia, with which it keeps civilized countries in sight; if you took this eye from it, russia would fall again into barbarism, out of which it is just struggling.' [ib. xxi. , .]... young algarotti, whom you know, pleased me beyond measure. he promised that he"--but baltimore, promise or not, is the chief figure at present. evidently an original kind of figure to us, cet anglais. and indeed there is already finished a rhymed epistle to baltimore; _epitre sur la liberte_ (copy goes in that same letter, for voltaire's behoof), which dates itself likewise october th; beginning,--_"l'esprit libre, milord, qui regne en angleterre,"_ which, though it is full of fine sincere sentiments, about human dignity, papal superstition, newton, locke, and aspirations for progress of culture in prussia, no reader could stand at this epoch. what baltimore said in answer to the epitre, we do not know; probably not much: it does not appear he ever saw or spoke to friedrich a second time. three weeks after, friedrich writing to algarotti, has these words: "i pray you make my friendships to milord baltimore, whose character and manner of thinking i truly esteem. i hope he has, by this time, got my epitre on the english liberty of thought." [ th october , to algarotti in london (_oeuvres,_ xviii. ).] and so baltimore passes on, silent in history henceforth,--though friedrich seems to have remembered him to late times, as a kind of type-figure when england came into his head. for the sake of this small transit over the sun's disk, i have made some inquiry about baltimore; but found very little;--perhaps enough:-- "he was charles, sixth lord baltimore, it appears; sixth, and last but one. first of the baltimores, we know, was secretary calvert ( - ), who colonized maryland; last of them ( ) was the son of this charles; something of a fool, to judge by the face of him in portraits, and by some of his doings in the world. he, that seventh baltimore, printed one or two little volumes "now of extreme rarity"--(cannot be too rare); and winded up by standing an ugly trial at kingston assizes (plaintiff an unfortunate female). after which he retired to naples, and there ended, , the last of these milords. [walpole (by park), _catalogue of royal and noble authors_ (london, ), v. .] "he of the kingston assizes, we say, was not this charles; but his son, whom let the reader forget. charles, age forty at this time, had travelled about the continent a good deal: once, long ago, we imagined we had got a glimpse of him (but it was a guess merely) lounging about luneville and lorraine, along with lyttelton, in the congress-of-soissons time? not long after that, it is certain enough, he got appointed a gentleman of the bedchamber to prince fred; who was a friend of speculative talkers and cultivated people. in which situation charles sixth baron baltimore continued all his days after; and might have risen by means of fred, as he was anxious enough to do, had both of them lived; but they both died; baltimore first, in , a year before fred. bubb doddington, diligent laborer in the same fred vineyard, was much infested by this baltimore,--who, drunk or sober (for he occasionally gets into liquor), is always putting out bubb, and stands too well with our royal master, one secretly fears! baltimore's finances, i can guess, were not in too good order; mostly an absentee; irish estates not managed in the first style, while one is busy in the fred vineyard! 'the best and honestest man in the world, with a good deal of jumbled knowledge,' walpole calls him once: 'but not capable of conducting a party.'" [walpole's _letters to mann_ (london, ), ii. ; th january, . see ib. i. .] oh no;--and died, at any rate, spring : [_peerage of ireland_ (london, ), ii. - .] and we will not mention him farther. bielfeld, what he saw at reinsberg and around. directly on the rear of these fine visitors, came, by invitation, a pair of the korn's-hotel people; masonic friends; one of whom was bielfeld, whose dainty installation speech and ways of procedure had been of promise to the prince on that occasion. "baron von oberg" was the other:--hanoverian baron: the same who went into the wars, and was a "general von oberg" twenty years hence? the same or another, it does not much concern us. nor does the visit much, or at all; except that bielfeld, being of writing nature, professes to give ocular account of it. honest transcript of what a human creature actually saw at reinsberg, and in the berlin environment at that date, would have had a value to mankind: but bielfeld has adopted the fictitious form; and pretty much ruined for us any transcript there is. exaggeration, gesticulation, fantastic uncertainty afflict the reader; and prevent comfortable belief, except where there is other evidence than bielfeld's. at berlin the beautiful straight streets, linden avenues (perhaps a better sample than those of our day), were notable to bielfeld; bridges, statues very fine; grand esplanades, and such military drilling and parading as was never seen. he had dinner-invitations, too, in quantity; likes this one and that (all in prudent asterisks),---likes truchsess von waldburg very much, and his strange mode of bachelor housekeeping, and the way he dines and talks among his fellow-creatures, or sits studious among his military books and paper-litters. but all is loose far-off sketching, in the style of _anacharsis the younger;_ and makes no solid impression. getting to reinsberg, to the town, to the schloss, he crosses the esplanade, the moat; sees what we know, beautiful square mansion among its woods and waters;--and almost nothing that we do not know, except the way the moat-bridge is lighted: "bridge furnished," he says, "with seven statues representing the seven planets, each holding in her hand a glass lamp in the form of a globe;"--which is a pretty object in the night-time. the house is now finished; knobelsdorf rejoicing in his success; pesne and others giving the last touch to some ceilings of a sublime nature. on the lintel of the gate is inscribed frederico tranquillitatem colenti (to friedrich courting tranquillity). the gardens, walks, hermitages, grottos, are very spacious, fine: not yet completed,--perhaps will never be. a temple of bacchus is just now on hand, somewhere in those labyrinthic woods: "twelve gigantic satyrs as caryatides, crowned by an inverted punch-bowl for dome;" that is the ingenious knobelsdorf's idea, pleasant to the mind. knobelsdorf is of austere aspect; austere, yet benevolent and full of honest sagacity; the very picture of sound sense, thinks bielfeld. m. jordan is handsome, though of small stature; agreeable expression of face; eye extremely vivid; brown complexion, bushy eyebrows as well as beard are black. [bielfeld (abridged), i. .] or did the reader ever hear of "m. fredersdorf," head valet at this time? fredersdorf will become, as it were, privy-purse, house-friend, and domestic factotum, and play a great part in coming years. "a tall handsome man;" much "silent sense, civility, dexterity;" something "magnificently clever in him," thinks bielfeld (now, or else twenty years afterwards); whom we can believe. [ib. p. .] he was a gift from general schwerin, this fredersdorf; once a private in schwerin's regiment, at frankfurt-on-oder,--excellent on the flute, for one quality. schwerin, who had an eye for men, sent him to friedrich, in the custrin time; hoping he might suit in fluting and otherwise. which he conspicuously did. bielfeld's account, we must candidly say, appears to be an afterthought; but readers can make their profit of it, all the same. as to the crown-prince and princess, words fail to express their gracious perfections, their affabilities, polite ingenuities:--bielfeld's words do give us some pleasant shadowy conceivability of the crown-princess:-- "tall, and perfect in shape; bust such as a sculptor might copy; complexion of the finest; features ditto; nose, i confess, smallish and pointed, but excellent of that kind; hair of the supremest flaxen, 'shining' like a flood of sunbeams, when the powder is off it. a humane ingenuous princess; little negligences in toilet or the like, if such occur, even these set her off, so ingenuous are they. speaks little; but always to the purpose, in a simple, cheerful and wise way. dances beautifully; heart (her soubrette assures me) is heavenly;--and 'perhaps no princess living has a finer set of diamonds.'" of the crown-princess there is some pleasant shadow traced as on cobweb, to this effect. but of the crown-prince there is no forming the least conception from what he says:--this is mere cobweb with nothing elaborately painted on it. nor do the portraits of the others attract by their verisimilitude. here is colonel keyserling, for instance; the witty courlander, famous enough in the friedrich circle; who went on embassy to cirey, and much else: he "whirls in with uproar (fracas) like boreas in the ballet;" fowling-piece on shoulder, and in his "dressing-gown" withal, which is still stranger; snatches off bielfeld, unknown till that moment, to sit by him while dressing; and there, with much capering, pirouetting, and indeed almost ground-and-lofty tumbling, for accompaniment, "talks of horses, mathematics, painting, architecture, literature, and the art of war," while he dresses. this gentleman was once colonel in friedrich wilhelm's army; is now fairly turned of forty, and has been in troubles: we hope he is not like in the bielfeld portrait;--otherwise, how happy that we never had the honor of knowing him! indeed, the crown-prince's household generally, as bielfeld paints it in flourishes of panegyric, is but unattractive; barren to the modern on-looker; partly the painter's blame, we doubt not. he gives details about their mode of dining, taking coffee, doing concert;--and describes once an incidental drinking-bout got up aforethought by the prince; which is probably in good part fiction, though not ill done. these fantastic sketchings, rigorously winnowed into the credible and actual, leave no great residue in that kind; but what little they do leave is of favorable and pleasant nature. bielfeld made a visit privately to potsdam, too: saw the giants drill; made acquaintance with important captains of theirs (all in asterisks) at potsdam; with whom he dined, not in a too credible manner, and even danced. among the asterisks, we easily pick out captain wartensleben (of the korn's-hotel operation), and winterfeld, a still more important captain, whom we saw dining on cold pie with his majesty, at a barn-door in pommern, not long since. of the giants, or their life at potsdam, bielfeld's word is not worth hearing,--worth suppressing rather; his knowledge being so small, and hung forth in so fantastic a way. this transient sight he had of his majesty in person; this, which is worth something to us,--fact being evidently lodged in it, "after church-parade," autumn sunday afternoon (day uncertain, bielfeld's date being fictitious, and even impossible), majesty drove out to wusterhausen, "where the quantities of game surpass all belief;" and bielfeld had one glimpse of him:-- "i saw his majesty only, as it were, in passing. if i may judge by his portraits, he must have been of a perfect beauty in his young time; but it must be confessed there is nothing left of it now. his eyes truly are fine; but the glance of them is terrible: his complexion is composed of the strongest tints of red, blue, yellow, green,"--not a lovely complexion at all; "big head; the thick neck sunk between the shoulders; figure short and heavy (courte et ramassee)." [bielfeld, p. .] "going out to wusterhausen," then, that afternoon, "october, ." how his majesty is crushed down; quite bulged out of shape in that sad way, by the weight of time and its pressures: his thoughts, too, most likely, of a heavy-laden and abstruse nature! the old pfalz controversy has misgone with him: pfalz, and so much else in the world;--the world in whole, probably enough, near ending to him; the final shadows, sombre, grand and mournful, closing in upon him! turk war ends; spanish war begins. a wedding in petersburg. last news come to potsdam in these days is, the kaiser has ended his disastrous turk war; been obliged to end it; sudden downbreak, and as it were panic terror, having at last come upon his unfortunate generals in those parts. duke franz was passionate to be out of such a thing; franz, general neipperg and others; and now, " d september, ," like lodgers leaping from a burning house, they are out of it. the turk gets belgrade itself, not to mention wide territories farther east,--belgrade without shot fired;--nay the turk was hardly to be kept from hanging the imperial messenger (a general neipperg, duke franz's old tutor, and chief confidant, whom we shall hear more of elsewhere), whose passport was not quite right on this occasion!--never was a more disgraceful peace. but also never had been worse fighting; planless, changeful, powerless, melting into futility at every step:--not to be mended by imprisonments in gratz, and still harsher treatment of individuals. "has all success forsaken me, then, since eugene died?" said the kaiser; and snatched at this turk peace; glad to have it, by mediation of france, and on any terms. has not this kaiser lost his outlying properties at a fearful rate? naples is gone; spanish bourbon sits in our naples; comparatively little left for us in italy. and now the very turk has beaten us small; insolently fillips the imperial nose of us,--threatening to hang our neipperg, and the like. were it not for anne of russia, whose big horse-whip falls heavy on this turk, he might almost get to vienna again, for anything we could do! a kaiser worthy to be pitied;--whom friedrich wilhelm, we perceive, does honestly pity. a kaiser much beggared, much disgraced, in late years; who has played a huge life-game so long, diplomatizing, warring; and, except the shadow of pragmatic sanction, has nothing to retire upon. the russians protested, with astonishment, against such turk peace on the kaiser's part. but there was no help for it. one ally is gone, the kaiser has let go this western skirt of the turk; and "thamas kouli khan" (called also nadir shah, famed oriental slasher and slayer of that time) no longer stands upon the eastern skirt, but "has entered india," it appears: the russians--their cash, too, running low--do themselves make peace, "about a month after;" restoring azoph and nearly all their conquests; putting off the ruin of the turk till a better time. war is over in the east, then; but another in the west, england against spain (spain and france to help), is about beginning. readers remember how jenkins's ear re-emerged, spring gone a year, in a blazing condition? here, through sylvanus urban himself, are two direct glimpses, a twelve-month nearer hand, which show us how the matter has been proceeding since:-- "london, th february, . the city authorities,"--laying or going to lay "the foundation of the mansion-house" (edifice now very black in our time), and doing other things of little moment to us, "had a masquerade at the guildhall this night. there was a very splendid appearance at the masquerade; but among the many humorous and whimsical characters, what seemed most to engage attention was a spaniard, who called himself 'knight of the ear;' as badge of which order he wore on his breast the form of a star, with its points tinged in blood; and on the body of it an ear painted, and in capital letters the word jenkins encircling it. across his shoulder there hung, instead of ribbon, a large halter; which he held up to several persons dressed as english sailors, who seemed in great terror of him, and falling on their knees suffered him to rummage their pockets; which done, he would insolently dismiss them with strokes of his halter. several of the sailors had a bloody ear hanging down from their heads; and on their hats were these words, ear for ear; on others, no search or no trade; with the like sentences." [_gentleman's magazine_ for , p. ;--our dates, as always, are n. .] the conflagration evidently going on; not likely to be damped down again, by ministerial art!-- "london, th march, ." grand debate in parliament, on the late "spanish convention," pretended bargain of redress lately got from spain: approve the convention, or not approve? "a hundred members were in the house of commons before seven, this morning; and four hundred had taken their seat by ten; which is an unheard-of thing. prince of wales," fred in person, "was in the gallery till twelve at night, and had his dinner sent to him. sir robert walpole rose: 'sir, the great pains that have been taken to influence all ranks and degrees of men in this nation--... but give me leave to'"--apply a wet cloth to honorable gentlemen. which he does, really with skill and sense. france and the others are so strong, he urges; england so unprepared; kaiser at such a pass; 'war like to be, about the palatinate dispute [our friend friedrich wilhelm's]: where is england to get, allies?'--and hours long of the like sort. a judicious wet cloth; which proved unavailing. for "william pitts" (so they spell the great chatham that is to be) was eloquent on the other side: "despairing merchants," "voice of england," and so on. and the world was all in an inflamed state. and mr. pulteney exclaimed: palatinate? allies? "we need no allies; the case of mr. jenkins will raise us volunteers everywhere!" and in short,--after eight months more of haggling, and applying wet cloths,--walpole, in the name of england, has to declare war against spain; [" d november ( d october), ."] the public humor proving unquenchable on that matter. war; and no peace to be, "till our undoubted right," to roadway on the oceans of this planet, become permanently manifest to the spanish majesty. such the effect of a small ear, kept about one in cotton, from ursine piety or other feelings. has not jenkins's ear re-emerged, with a vengeance? it has kindled a war: dangerous for kindling other wars, and setting the whole world on fire,--as will be too evident in the sequel! the ear of jenkins is a singular thing. might have mounted to be a constellation, like berenice's hair, and other small facts become mythical, had the english people been of poetic turn! enough of it, for the time being.-- this summer, anton ulrich, at petersburg, did wed his serene mecklenburg princess, heiress of all the russias: "july th, ,"--three months before that drive to wusterhausen, which we saw lately. little anton ulrich, cadet of brunswick; our friedrich's brother-in-law;--a noticeably small man in comparison to such bulk of destiny, thinks friedrich, though the case is not without example! [a letter of his to suhm; touching on franz of lorraine and this anton ulrich.] "anton ulrich is now five-and-twenty," says one of my notebooks; "a young gentleman of small stature, shining courage in battle, but somewhat shy and bashful; who has had his troubles in petersburg society, till the trial came,--and will have. here are the stages of anton ulrich's felicity:-- "winter, - . he was sent for to petersburg (his serene aunt the german kaiserinn, and kaiser karl's diplomatists, suggesting it there), with the view of his paying court to the young mecklenburg princess, heiress of all the russias, of whom we have often heard. february, , he arrived on this errand;--not approved of at all by the mecklenburg princess, by czarina anne or anybody there: what can be done with such an uncomfortable little creature? they gave him the colonelcy of cuirassiers: 'drill there, and endure.' "spring, . much-enduring, diligently drilling, for four years past, he went this year to the turk war under munnich;--much pleased munnich, at oczakow and elsewhere; who reports in the war-office high things of him. and on the whole,--the serene vienna people now again bestirring themselves, with whom we are in copartnery in this turk business,--little anton ulrich is encouraged to proceed. proceeds; formally demands his mecklenburg princess; and, "july th, , weds her; the happiest little man in all the russias, and with the biggest destiny, if it prosper. next year, too, there came a son and heir; whom they called iwan, in honor of his russian great-grandfather. shall we add the subsequent felicities of anton ulrich here; or wait till another opportunity?" better wait. this is all, and more than all, his prussian majesty, rolling out of wusterhausen that afternoon, ever knew of them, or needed to know!-- chapter viii. -- death of friedrich wilhelm. at wusterhausen, this autumn, there is game as usual, but little or no hunting for the king. he has to sit drearily within doors, for most part; listening to the rustle of falling leaves, to dim winter coming with its rains and winds. field-sports are a rumor from without: for him now no joyous sow-baiting, deer-chasing;--that, like other things, is past. in the beginning of november, he came to berlin; was worse there, and again was better;--strove to do the carnival, as had been customary; but, in a languid, lamed manner. one night he looked in upon an evening-party which general schulenburg was giving: he returned home, chilled, shivering, could not, all night, be brought to heat again. it was the last evening-party friedrich wilhelm ever went to. [pollnitz (ii. ); who gives no date.] lieutenant-general schulenburg: the same who doomed young friedrich to death, as president of the court-martial; and then wrote the three letters about him which we once looked into: illuminates himself in this manner in berlin society,--carnival season, , weather fiercely cold. maypole schulenburg the lean aunt, ex-mistress of george i., over in london,--i think she must now be dead? or if not dead, why not! memory, for the tenth time, fails me, of the humanly unmemorable, whom perhaps even flunkies should forget; and i will try it no more. the stalwart lieutenant-general will reappear on us once, twice at the utmost, and never again. he gave the last evening-party friedrich wilhelm ever went to. poor friedrich wilhelm is in truth very ill; tosses about all day, in and out of bed,--bed and wheeled-chair drearily alternating; suffers much;--and again, in diplomatic circles, the rumors are rife and sinister. ever from this chill at schulenburg's the medicines did him no good, says pollnitz: if he rallied, it was the effect of nature, and only temporary. he does daily, with punctuality, his official business; perhaps the best two hours he has of the four-and-twenty, for the time hangs heavy on him. his old generals sit round his bed, talking, smoking, as it was five years ago; his feekin and his children much about him, out and in: the heavy-laden, weary hours roll round as they can. in general there is a kind of constant tabaks-collegium, old flans, camas, hacke, pollnitz, derschau, and the rest by turns always there; the royal patient cannot be left alone, without faces he likes: other generals, estimable in their way, have a physiognomy displeasing to the sick man; and will smart for it if they enter,--"at sight of him every pain grows painfuler!"--the poor king being of poetic temperament, as we often say. friends are encouraged to smoke, especially to keep up a stream of talk; if at any time he fall into a doze and they cease talking, the silence will awaken him. he is worst off in the night; sleep very bad: and among his sore bodily pains, ennui falls very heavy to a mind so restless. he can paint, he can whittle, chisel: at last they even mount him a table, in his bed, with joiner's tools, mallets, glue-pots, where he makes small carpentry,--the talk to go on the while;--often at night is the sound of his mallet audible in the palace esplanade; and berlin townsfolk pause to listen, with many thoughts of a sympathetic or at least inarticulate character: "hm, weh, ihro majestat: ach gott, pale death knocks with impartial foot at the huts of poor men and the palaces of kings!" [pollnitz, ii. .] reverend herr roloff, whom they call provost (probst, chief clergyman) roloff, a pious honest man and preacher, he, i could guess, has already been giving spiritual counsel now and then; later interviews with roloff are expressly on record: for it is the king's private thought, ever and anon borne in upon him, that death itself is in this business. queen and children, mostly hoping hitherto, though fearing too, live in much anxiety and agitation. the crown-prince is often over from reinsberg; must not come too often, nor even inquire too much: his affectionate solicitude might be mistaken for solicitude of another kind! it is certain he is in no haste to be king; to quit the haunts of the muses, and embark on kingship. certain, too, he loves his father; shudders at the thought of losing him. and yet again there will gleams intrude of a contrary thought; which the filial heart disowns, with a kind of horror, "down, thou impious thought!"--we perceive he manages in general to push the crisis away from him; to believe that real danger is still distant. his demeanor, so far as we can gather from his letters or other evidence, is amiable, prudent, natural; altogether that of a human son in those difficult circumstances. poor papa is heavy-laden: let us help to bear his burdens;--let us hope the crisis is still far off!-- once, on a favorable evening, probably about the beginning of april, when he felt as if improving, friedrich wilhelm resolved to dress, and hold tobacco-parliament again in a formal manner, let us look in there, through the eyes of pollnitz, who was of it, upon the last tobacco-parliament:-- "a numerous party; schwerin, hacke, derschau, all the chiefs and commandants of the berlin garrison are there; the old circle full; social human speech once more, and pipes alight; pleasant to the king. he does not himself smoke on this occasion; but he is unusually lively in talk; much enjoys the returning glimpse of old days; and the tobacco circle was proceeding through its phases, successful beyond common. all at once the crown-prince steps in; direct from reinsberg: [ th april, ? (_oeuvres,_ xxvii. part lst, p. ); pollnitz is dateless] an unexpected pleasure. at sight of whom the tobacco circle, taken on the sudden, simultaneously started up, and made him a bow. rule is, in tobacco-parliament you do not rise--for anybody; and they have risen. which struck the sick heart in a strange painful way. 'hm, the rising sun?' thinks he; 'rules broken through, for the rising sun. but i am not dead yet, as you shall know!' ringing for his servants in great wrath; and had himself rolled out, regardless of protestations and excuses. 'hither, you hacke!' said he. "hacke followed; but it was only to return on the instant, with the king's order, 'that you instantly quit the palace, all of you, and don't come back!' solemn respectful message to his majesty was of no effect, or of less; they had to go, on those terms; and pollnitz, making for his majesty's apartment next morning as usual, was twitched by a gens-d'arme, 'no admittance!' and it was days before the matter would come round again, under earnest protestations from the one side, and truculent rebukes from the other." [pollnitz (abridged), ii. .] figure the crown-prince, figure the poor sick majesty; and what a time in those localities! with the bright spring weather he seemed to revive; towards the end of april he resolved for potsdam, everybody thinking him much better, and the outer public reckoning the crisis of the illness over. he himself knew other. it was on the th of the month that he went; he said, "fare thee well, then, berlin; i am to die in potsdam, then (ich werde in potsdam sterben)!" the may-flowers came late; the weather was changeful, ungenial for the sick man: this winter of had been the coldest on record; it extended itself into the very summer; and brought great distress of every kind;--of which some oral rumor still survives in all countries. friedrich wilhelm heard complaints of scarcity among the people; admonitions to open his corn-granaries (such as he always has in store against that kind of accident); but he still hesitated and refused; unable to look into it himself, and fearing deceptions. for the rest, he is struggling between death and life; in general persuaded that the end is fast hastening on. he sends for chief preacher roloff out to potsdam; has some notable dialogues with roloff, and with two other potsdam clergymen, of which there is record still left us. in these, as in all his demeanor at this supreme time, we see the big rugged block of manhood come out very vividly; strong in his simplicity, in his veracity. friedrich wilhelm's wish is to know from roloff what the chances are for him in the other world,--which is not less certain than potsdam and the giant grenadiers to friedrich wilhelm; and where, he perceives, never half so clearly before, he shall actually peel off his kinghood, and stand before god almighty, no better than a naked beggar. roloff's prognostics are not so encouraging as the king had hoped. surely this king "never took or coveted what was not his; kept true to his marriage-vow, in spite of horrible examples everywhere; believed the bible, honored the preachers, went diligently to church, and tried to do what he understood god's commandments were?" to all which roloff, a courageous pious man, answers with discreet words and shakings of the head, "did i behave ill, then; did i ever do injustice?" roloff mentions baron schlubhut the defalcating amtmann, hanged at konigsberg without even a trial. "he had no trial; but was there any doubt he had justice? a public thief, confessing he had stolen the taxes he was set to gather; insolently offering, as if that were all, to repay the money, and saying, it was not manier (good manners) to hang a nobleman!" roloff shakes his head, too violent, your majesty, and savoring of the tyrannous. the poor king must repent. "well,--is there anything more? out with it, then; better now than too late!"--much oppression, forcing men to build in berlin.--"oppression? was it not their benefit, as well as berlin's and the country's? i had no interest in it other. derschau, you who managed it?" and his majesty turned to derschau. for all the smoking generals and company are still here; nor will his majesty consent to dismiss them from the presence and be alone with roloff: "what is there to conceal? they are people of honor, and my friends." derschau, whose feats in the building way are not unknown even to us, answers with a hard face, it was all right and orderly; nothing out of square in his building operations. to which roloff shakes his head: "a thing of public notoriety, herr general."--"i will prove everything before a court," answers the herr general with still harder face; roloff still austerely shaking his head. hm!--and then there is forgiveness of enemies; your majesty is bound to forgive all men, or how can you ask to be forgiven? "well, i will, i do; you feekin, write to your brother (unforgivablest of beings), after i am dead, that i forgave him, died in peace with him."--better her majesty should write at once, suggests roloff.--"no, after i am dead," persists the son of nature,--that will be safer! [wrote accordingly, "not able to finish without many tears;" honest sensible letter (though indifferently spelt), "berlin, st june, ;"--lies now in state-paper office: "royal letters, vol. xciv., prussia, - ."] an unwedgeable and gnarled big block of manhood and simplicity and sincerity; such as we rarely get sight of among the modern sons of adam, among the crowned sons nearly never. at parting he said to roloff, "you (er, he) do not spare me; it is right. you do your duty like an honest christian man." [_notata ex ore roloffi_ ("found among the seckendorf papers," no date but "may "), in forster, ii. , ; in a fragmentary state: completed in pollnitz, ii. - .] roloff, i perceive, had several dialogues with the king; and stayed in potsdam some days for that object. the above bit of jotting is from the seckendorf papers (probably picked up by seckendorf junior), and is dated only "may." of the two potsdam preachers, one of whom is "oesfeld, chaplain of the giant grenadiers," and the other is "cochius, calvinist hofprediger," each published on his own score some notes of dialogue and circumstance; [cochius the hofprediger's (calvinist court-chaplain's) account of his interviews (first of them "friday, th may, , about p.m."); followed by ditto from oesfeld (chaplain of the giants), who usually accompanied cochius,--are in seyfarth, _geschichte friedrich des grossen_ (leipzig, - ), i. (beylage) - . seyfarth was "regiments-auditor" in halle: his work, solid though stupid, consists nearly altogether of multifarious beylagen (appendices) and notes; which are creditably accurate, and often curious; and, as usual, have no index for an unfortunate reader.] which are to the same effect, so far as they concern us; and exhibit the same rugged son of nature, looking with all his eyesight into the near eternity, and sinking in a human and not inhuman manner amid the floods of time. "wa, wa, what great god is this, that pulls down the strength of the strongest kings!"-- the poor king's state is very restless, fluctuates from day to day; he is impatient of bed; sleeps very ill; is up whenever possible; rolls about in his wheeled-chair, and even gets into the air: at one time looking strong, as if there were still months in him, and anon sunk in fainting weakness, as if he had few minutes to live. friedrich at reinsberg corresponds very secretly with dr. eller; has other friends at potsdam whose secret news he very anxiously reads. to the last he cannot bring himself to think it "serious." [letter to eller, th may, (_oeuvres_ ), xvi. .] on thursday, th of may, an express from eller, or the potsdam friends, arrives at reinsberg: he is to come quickly, if he would see his father again alive! the step may have danger, too; but friedrich, a world of feelings urging him, is on the road next morning before the sun. his journey may be fancied; the like of it falls to all men. arriving at last, turning hastily a corner of the potsdam schloss, friedrich sees some gathering in the distance: it is his father in his rollwagen (wheeled-chair),--not dying; but out of doors, giving orders about founding a house, or seeing it done. house for one philips, a crabbed englishman he has; whose tongue is none of the best, not even to majesty itself, but whose merits as a groom, of english and other horses, are without parallel in those parts. without parallel, and deserve a house before we die. let us see it set agoing, this blessed mayday! of philips, who survived deep into friedrich's time, and uttered rough sayings (in mixed intelligible dialect) when put upon in his grooming, or otherwise disturbed, i could obtain no farther account: the man did not care to be put in history (a very small service to a man); cared to have a house with trim fittings, and to do his grooming well, the fortunate philips. at sight of his son, friedrich wilhelm threw out his arms; the son kneeling sank upon his breast, and they embraced with tears. my father, my father; my son, my son! it was a scene to make all by-standers and even philips weep.--probably the emotion hurt the old king; he had to be taken in again straightway, his show of strength suddenly gone, and bed the only place for him. this same friday he dictated to one of his ministers (boden, who was in close attendance) the instruction for his funeral; a rude characteristic piece, which perhaps the english reader knows. too long and rude for reprinting here. [copy of it, in seyfarth (ubi supra), i. - . translated in mauvillon (ii. - ); in &c. &c.] he is to be buried in his uniform, the potsdam grenadiers his escort; with military decorum, three volleys fired (and take care they be well fired, "nicht plackeren"), so many cannon-salvos;--and no fuss or flaunting ceremony: simplicity and decency is what the tenant of that oak coffin wants, as he always did when owner of wider dominions. the coffin, which he has ready and beside him in the palace this good while, is a stout piece of carpentry, with leather straps and other improvements; he views it from time to time; solaces his truculent imagination with the look of it: "i shall sleep right well there," he would say. the image he has of his burial, we perceive, is of perfect visuality, equal to what a defoe could do in imagining. all is seen, settled to the last minuteness: the coffin is to be borne out by so and so, at such and such a door; this detachment is to fall-in here, that there, in the attitude of "cover arms" (musket inverted under left arm); and the band is to play, with all its blackamoors, _o haupt voll blut und wunden_ (o head, all bleeding wounded); a dirge his majesty had liked, who knew music, and had a love for it, after his sort. good son of nature: a dumb poet, as i say always; most dumb, but real; the value of him great, and unknown in these babbling times. it was on this same friday night that cochius was first sent for; cochius, and oesfeld with him, "about nine o'clock." for the next three days (saturday to monday) when his cough and many sufferings would permit him, friedrich wilhelm had long private dialogues with his son; instructing him, as was evident, in the mysteries of state; in what knowledge, as to persons and to things, he reckoned might be usefulest to him. what the lessons were, we know not; the way of taking them had given pleasure to the old man: he was heard to say, perhaps more than once, when the generals were called in, and the dialogue interrupted for a while: "am not i happy to have such a son to leave behind me!" and the grimly sympathetic generals testified assent; endeavored to talk a little, could at least smoke, and look friendly; till the king gathered strength for continuing his instructions to his successor. all else was as if settled with him; this had still remained to do. this once done (finished, monday night), why not abdicate altogether; and die disengaged, be it in a day or in a month, since that is now the one work left? friedrich wilhelm does so purpose. his state, now as all along, was fluctuating, uncertain, restless. he was heard murmuring prayers; he would say sometimes, "pray for me; betet betet." and more than once, in deep tone: "lord, enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no man living be justified!" the wild son of nature, looking into life and death, into judgment and eternity, finds that these things are very great. this too is a characteristic trait: in a certain german hymn (_why fret or murmur, then?_ the title of it), which they often sang to him, or along with him, as he much loved it, are these words, "naked i came into the world, and naked shall i go,"--"no," said he "always with vivacity," at this passage; "not quite nakid, i shall have my uniform on:" let us be exact, since we are at it! after which the singing proceeded again. "the late graf alexander von wartenberg"--captain wartenberg, whom we know, and whose opportunities--"was wont to relate this." [busching (in ), _beitrage,_ iv. .] tuesday, st may, "about one in the morning," cochius was again sent for. he found the king in very pious mood, but in great distress, and afraid he might yet have much pain to suffer. cochius prayed with him; talked piously. "i can remember nothing," said the king; "i cannot pray, i have forgotten all my prayers."--"prayer is not in words, but in the thought of the heart," said cochius; and soothed the heavy-laden man as he could. "fare you well," said friedrich wilhelm, at length; "most likely we shall not meet again in this world." whereat cochius burst into tears, and withdrew. about four, the king was again out of bed; wished to see his youngest boy, who had been ill of measles, but was doing well: "poor little ferdinand, adieu, then, my little child!" this is the father of that fine louis ferdinand, who was killed at jena; concerning whom berlin, in certain emancipated circles of it, still speaks with regret. he, the louis ferdinand, had fine qualities; but went far a-roving, into radicalism, into romantic love, into champagne; and was cut down on the threshold of jena, desperately fighting,--perhaps happily for him. from little ferdinand's room friedrich wilhelm has himself rolled into queen sophie's. "feekin, o my feekin, thou must rise this day, and help me what thou canst. this day i am going to die; thou wilt be with me this day!" the good wife rises: i know not that it was the first time she had been so called; but it did prove the last. friedrich wilhelm has decided, as the first thing he will do, to abdicate; and all the official persons and companions of the sick-room, pollnitz among them, not long after sunrise, are called to see it done. pollnitz, huddling on his clothes, arrived about five: in a corridor he sees the wheeled-chair and poor sick king; steps aside to let him pass: "'it is over (das ist vollbracht),' said the king, looking up to me as he passed: he had on his nightcap, and a blue mantle thrown round him." he was wheeled into his anteroom; there let the company assemble; many of them are already there. the royal stables are visible from this room: friedrich wilhelm orders the horses to be ridden out: you old furst of anhalt-dessau my oldest friend, you colonel hacke faithfulest of adjutant-generals, take each of you a horse, the best you can pick out: it is my last gift to you. dessau, in silence, with dumb-show of thanks, points to a horse, any horse: "you have chosen the very worst," said friedrich wilhelm: "take that other, i will warrant him a good one!" the grim old dessauer thanks in silence; speechless grief is on that stern gunpowder face, and he seems even to be struggling with tears. "nay, nay, my friend," friedrich wilhelm said, "this is a debt we have all to pay." the official people, queen, friedrich, minister boden, minister podewils, and even pollnitz, being now all present, friedrich wilhelm makes his declaration, at considerable length; old general bredow repeating it aloud, [pollnitz, ii. .] sentence by sentence, the king's own voice being too weak; so that all may hear: "that he abdicates, gives up wholly, in favor of his good son friedrich; that foreign ambassadors are to be informed; that you are all to be true and loyal to my son as you were to me"--and what else is needful. to which the judicious podewils makes answer, "that there must first be a written deed of his high transaction executed, which shall be straightway set about; the deed once executed, signed and sealed,--the high royal will, in all points, takes effect." alas, before podewils has done speaking, the king is like falling into a faint; does faint, and is carried to bed: too unlikely any deed of abdication will be needed. ups and downs there still were; sore fluctuating labor, as the poor king struggles to his final rest, this morning. he was at the window again, when the wacht-parade (grenadiers on guard) turned out; he saw them make their evolutions for the last time. [pauli, viii. .] after which, new relapse, new fluctuation. it was about eleven o'clock, when cochius was again sent for. the king lay speechless, seemingly still conscious, in bed; cochius prays with fervor, in a loud tone, that the dying king may hear and join. "not so loud!" says the king, rallying a little. he had remembered that it was the season when his servants got their new liveries; they had been ordered to appear this day in full new costume: "o vanity! o vanity!" said friedrich wilhelm, at sight of the ornamented plush. "pray for me, pray for me; my trust is in the saviour!" he often said. his pains, his weakness are great; the cordage of a most tough heart rending itself piece by piece. at one time, he called for a mirror: that is certain:--rugged wild man, son of nature to the last. the mirror was brought; what he said at sight of his face is variously reported: "not so worn out as i thought," is pollnitz's account, and the likeliest;--though perhaps he said several things, "ugly face," "as good as dead already;" and continued the inspection for some moments. [pollnitz, ii. ; wilhelmina, ii. .] a grim, strange thing. "feel mv pulse, pitsch," said he, noticing the surgeon of his giants: "tell me how long this will last."--"alas, not long," answered pitsch.--"say not, alas; but how do you (he) know?"--"the pulse is gone!"--"impossible," said he, lifting his arm: "how could i move my fingers so, if the pulse were gone?" pitsch looked mournfully steadfast. "herr jesu, to thee i live; herr jesu, to thee i die; in life and in death thou art my gain (du bist mein gewinn)." these were the last words friedrich wilhelm spoke in this world. he again fell into a faint. eller gave a signal to the crown-prince to take the queen away. scarcely were they out of the room, when the faint had deepened into death; and friedrich wilhelm, at rest from all his labors, slept with the primeval sons of thor. no baresark of them, nor odin's self, i think, was a bit of truer human stuff;--i confess his value to me, in these sad times, is rare and great. considering the usual histrionic, papin's-digester, truculent-charlatan and other species of "kings," alone attainable for the sunk flunky populations of an era given up to mammon and the worship of its own belly, what would not such a population give for a friedrich wilhelm, to guide it on the road back from orcus a little? "would give," i have written; but alas, it ought to have been "should give." what they "would" give is too mournfully plain to me, in spite of ballot-boxes: a steady and tremendous truth from the days of barabbas downwards and upwards!--tuesday, st may, , between one and two o'clock in the afternoon, friedrich wilhelm died; age fifty-two, coming th august next. same day, friedrich his son was proclaimed at berlin; quilted heralds, with sound of trumpet and the like, doing what is customary on such occasions. on saturday, th june, the king's body is laid out in state; all potsdam at liberty to come and see. he lies there, in his regimentals, in his oaken coffin, on a raised place in the middle of the room; decent mortuary draperies, lamps, garlands, banderols furnishing the room and him: at his feet, on a black-velvet tabouret (stool), are the chivalry emblems, helmet, gauntlets, spurs; and on similar stools, at the right hand and the left, lie his military insignia, hat and sash, sword, guidon, and what else is fit. around, in silence, sit nine veteran military dignitaries; buddenbrock, waldau, derschau, einsiedel, and five others whom we omit to name. silent they sit. a grim earnest sight in the shine of the lamplight, as you pass out of the june sun. many went, all day; looked once again on the face that was to vanish. precisely at ten at night, the coffin-lid is screwed down: twelve potsdam captains take the coffin on their shoulders; four-and-twenty corporals with wax torches, four-and-twenty sergeants with inverted halberts lowered; certain generals on order, and very many following as volunteers; these perform the actual burial,--carry the body to the garrison church, where are clergy waiting, which is but a small step off; see it lodged, oak coffin and all, in a marble coffin in the side vault there, which is known to tourists. [pauli, viii. .] it is the end of the week, and the actual burial is done,--hastened forward for reasons we can guess. filial piety by no means intends to defraud a loved father of the spartan ceremonial contemplated as obsequies by him: very far from it. filial piety will conform to that with rigor; only adding what musical and other splendors are possible, to testify his love still more. and so, almost three weeks hence, on the d of the month, with the aid of dresden artists, of latin cantatas and other pomps (not inexcusable, though somewhat out of keeping), the due funeral is done, no corpse but a wax effigy present in it;--and in all points, that of the potsdam grenadiers not forgotten, there was rigorous conformity to the instruction left. in all points, even to the extensive funeral dinner, and drinking of the appointed cask of wine, "the best cask in my cellar." adieu, o king. the potsdam grenadiers fired their three volleys (not "plackering," as i have reason to believe, but well); got their allowance, dinner-liquor, and appointed coin of money: it was the last service required of them in this world. that same night they were dissolved, the whole four thousand of them, at a stroke; and ceased to exist as potsdam grenadiers. colonels, captains, all the officers known to be of merit, were advanced, at least transferred. of the common men, a minority, of not inhuman height and of worth otherwise, were formed into a new regiment on the common terms: the stupid splay-footed eight-feet mass were allowed to stalk off whither they pleased, or vegetate on frugal pensions; irish kirkman, and a few others neither knock-kneed nor without head, were appointed heyducs, that is, porters to the king's or other palaces; and did that duty in what was considered an ornamental manner. here are still two things capable of being fished up from the sea of nugatory matter; and meditated on by readers, till the following books open. the last breath of friedrich wilhelm having fled, friedrich hurried to a private room; sat there all in tears; looking back through the gulfs of the past, upon such a father now rapt away forever. sad all, and soft in the moonlight of memory,--the lost loved one all in the right as we now see, we all in the wrong!--this, it appears, was the son's fixed opinion. seven years hence, here is how friedrich concludes the history of his father, written with a loyal admiration throughout: "we have left under silence the domestic chagrins of this great prince: readers must have some indulgence for the faults of the children, in consideration of the virtues of such a father." [_oeuvres,_ i. (_memoires de brandebourg:_ finished about ).] all in tears he sits at present, meditating these sad things. in a little while the old dessauer, about to leave for dessau, ventures in to the crown-prince, crown-prince no longer; "embraces his knees;" offers, weeping, his condolence, his congratulation;--hopes withal that his sons and he will be continued in their old posts, and that he, the old dessauer, "will have the same authority as in the late reign." friedrich's eyes, at this last clause, flash out tearless, strangely olympian. "in your posts i have no thought of making change: in your posts, yes;--and as to authority, i know of none there can be but what resides in the king that is sovereign!" which, as it were, struck the breath out of the old dessauer; and sent him home with a painful miscellany of feelings, astonishment not wanting among them. at an after hour, the same night, friedrich went to berlin; met by acclamation enough. he slept there, not without tumult of dreams, one may fancy; and on awakening next morning, the first sound he heard was that of the regiment glasenap under his windows, swearing fealty to the new king. he sprang out of bed in a tempest of emotion; bustled distractedly to and fro, wildly weeping. pollnitz, who came into the anteroom, found him in this state, "half-dressed, with dishevelled hair, in tears, and as if beside himself." "these huzzaings only tell me what i have lost!" said the new king.--"he was in great suffering," suggested pollnitz; "he is now at rest." "true, he suffered; but he was here with us: and now--!" [ranke (ii. , )], from certain fragments, still, in manuscript, of pollnits's _memoiren._ Édition d'Élite historical tales the romance of reality by charles morris _author of "half-hours with the best american authors," "tales from the dramatists," etc._ in fifteen volumes volume v german j.b. lippincott company philadelphia and london copyright, , by j.b. lippincott company. copyright, , by j.b. lippincott company. copyright, , by j.b. lippincott company. _contents_ page hermann, the hero of germany albion and rosamond the career of grimoald wittekind, the saxon patriot the raids of the sea-rovers the career of bishop hatto the misfortunes of duke ernst the reign of otho ii the fortunes of henry the fourth the anecdotes of mediÆval germany frederick barbarossa and milan the crusade of frederick ii the fall of the ghibellines the tribunal of the holy vehm william tell and the swiss patriots the black death and the flagellants the swiss at morgarten a mad emperor sempach and arnold winkelried ziska, the blind warrior the siege of belgrade luther and the indulgences solyman the magnificent at guntz the peasants and the anabaptists the fortunes of wallenstein the end of two great soldiers the siege of vienna the youth of frederick the great voltaire and frederick the great scenes from the seven years' war the patriots of the tyrol the old empire and the new list of illustrations. german. page maximilian receiving venetian delegation return of hermann after his victory over the romans the baptism of wittekind the mouse-tower on the rhine peasant wedding procession scene of monastic life thusnelda in the germanicus triumph the amphitheatre at milan statue of william tell the castle of prague statue of arnold winkelried statue of luther at worms the mosque of solyman, constantinople old houses at mÜnster wallenstein the parliament house in vienna statue of frederick the great, unter den linden, berlin sans souci, palace of frederick the great the last day of andreas hofer a german milk wagon [illustration: maximilian receiving venetian delegation.] _hermann, the hero of germany._ in the days of augustus, the emperor of rome in its golden age of prosperity, an earnest effort was made to subdue and civilize barbarian germany. drusus, the step-son of the emperor, led the first army of invasion into this forest-clad land of the north, penetrating deeply into the country and building numerous forts to guard his conquests. his last invasion took him as far as the elbe. here, as we are told, he found himself confronted by a supernatural figure, in the form of a woman, who waved him back with lofty and threatening air, saying, "how much farther wilt thou advance, insatiable drusus? it is not thy lot to behold all these countries. depart hence! the term of thy deeds and of thy life is at hand." drusus retreated, and died on his return. tiberius, his brother, succeeded him, and went far to complete the conquest he had begun. germany seemed destined to become a roman province. the work of conquest was followed by efforts to civilize the free-spirited barbarians, which, had they been conducted wisely, might have led to success. one of the roman governors, sentius, prefect of the rhine, treated the people so humanely that many of them adopted the arts and customs of rome, and the work of overcoming their barbarism was well begun. he was succeeded in this office by varus, a friend and confidant of the emperor, but a man of very different character, and one who not only lacked military experience and mental ability, but utterly misunderstood the character of the people he was dealing with. they might be led, they could not be driven into civilization, as the new prefect was to learn. all went well as long as varus remained peacefully in his head-quarters, erecting markets, making the natives familiar with the attractive wares of rome, instructing them in civilized arts, and taking their sons into the imperial army. all went ill when he sought to hasten his work by acts of oppression, leading his forces across the weser into the land of the cherusci, enforcing there the rigid roman laws, and chastising and executing free-born germans for deeds which in their creed were not crimes. varus, who had at first made himself loved by his kindness, now made himself hated by his severity. the germans brooded over their wrongs, awed by the roman army, which consisted of thirty thousand picked men, strongly intrenched, their camps being impregnable to their undisciplined foes. yet the high-spirited barbarians felt that this army was but an entering wedge, and that, if not driven out, their whole country would gradually be subdued. a patriot at length arose among the cherusci, determined to free his country from the intolerable roman yoke. he was a handsome and athletic youth, arminius, or hermann as the germans prefer to name him, of noble descent, and skilled alike in the arts of war and of oratory, his eloquence being equal to his courage. he was one of the sons of the germans who had served in the roman armies, and had won there such distinction as to gain the honors of knighthood and citizenship. now, perceiving clearly the subjection that threatened his countrymen, and filled with an ardent love of liberty, he appeared among them, and quickly filled their dispirited souls with much of his own courage and enthusiasm. at midnight meetings in the depths of the forests a conspiracy against varus and his legions was planned, hermann being the chosen leader of the perilous enterprise. it was not long before this conspiracy was revealed. the german control over the cherusci had been aided by segestus, a treacherous chief, whose beautiful and patriotic daughter, thusnelda, had given her hand in marriage to hermann, against her father's will. filled with revengeful anger at this action, and hoping to increase his power, segestus told the story of the secret meetings, which he had discovered, to varus, and bade him beware, as a revolt against him might at any moment break out. he spoke to the wrong man. pride in the roman power and scorn of that of the germans had deeply infected the mind of varus, and he heard with incredulous contempt this story that the barbarians contemplated rising against the best trained legions of rome. autumn came, the autumn of the year a.d. the long rainy season of the german forests began. hermann decided that the time had arrived for the execution of his plans. he began his work with a deceitful skill that quite blinded the too-trusting varus, inducing him to send bodies of troops into different parts of the country, some to gather provisions for the winter supply of the camps, others to keep watch over some tribes not yet subdued. the roman force thus weakened, the artful german succeeded in drawing varus with the remainder of his men from their intrenchments, by inducing one of the subjected tribes to revolt. the scheme of hermann had, so far, been completely successful. varus, trusting to his representations, had weakened his force, and now prepared to draw the main body of his army out of camp. hermann remained with him to the last, dining with him the day before the starting of the expedition, and inspiring so much confidence in his faithfulness to rome that varus refused to listen to segestus, who earnestly entreated him to take hermann prisoner on the spot. he even took hermann's advice, and decided to march on the revolted tribe by a shorter than the usual route, oblivious to the fact that it led through difficult mountain passes, shrouded in forests and bordered by steep and rocky acclivities. the treacherous plans of the patriotic german had fully succeeded. while the romans were toiling onward through the straitened passes, hermann had sought his waiting and ambushed countrymen, to whom he gave the signal that the time for vengeance had come. then, as if the dense forests had borne a sudden crop of armed men, the furious barbarians poured out in thousands upon the unsuspecting legionaries. a frightful storm was raging. the mountain torrents, swollen by the downpour of rain, over--flowed their banks and invaded the passes, along which the romans, encumbered with baggage, were wearily dragging onward in broken columns. suddenly, to the roar of winds and waters, was added the wild war-cry of the germans, and a storm of arrows, javelins, and stones hurtled through the disordered ranks, while the barbarians, breaking from the woods, and rushing downward from the heights, fell upon the legions with sword and battle-axe, dealing death with every blow. only the discipline of the romans saved them from speedy destruction. with the instinct of their training they hastened to gather into larger bodies, and their resistance, at first feeble, soon became more effective. the struggle continued until night-fall, by which time the surviving romans had fought their way to a more open place, where they hastily intrenched. but it was impossible for them to remain there. their provisions were lost or exhausted, thousands of foes surrounded them, and their only hope lay in immediate and rapid flight. sunrise came. the soldiers had recovered somewhat from the fatigue of the day before. setting fire to what baggage remained in their hands, they began a retreat fighting as they went, for the implacable enemy disputed every step. the first part of their route lay through an open plain, where they marched in orderly ranks. but there were mountains still to pass, and they quickly found themselves in a wooded and pathless valley, in whose rugged depths defence was almost impossible. here they fell in thousands before the weapons of their foes. it was but a small body of survivors that at length escaped from that deadly defile and threw up intrenchments for the night in a more open spot. with the dawn of the next day they resumed their progress, and were at no great distance from their stronghold of aliso when they found their progress arrested by fresh tribes, who assailed them with murderous fury. on they struggled, fighting, dying, marking every step of the route with their dead. varus, now reduced to despair, and seeing only slaughter or captivity before him, threw himself on his sword, and died in the midst of those whom his blind confidence had led to destruction. of the whole army only a feeble remnant reached aliso, which fort they soon after abandoned and fought their way to the rhine. while this was going on, the detachments which varus had sent out in various directions were similarly assailed, and met the same fate as had overtaken the main body of the troops. [illustration: return of hermann after his victory over the romans.] no more frightful disaster had ever befallen the roman arms. many prisoners had been taken, among them certain judges and lawyers, who were the chief objects of hermann's hate, and whom he devoted to a painful death. he then offered sacrifices to the gods, to whom he consecrated the booty, the slain, and the leading prisoners, numbers of them being slain on the altars of his deities. these religious ceremonies completed, the prisoners who still remained were distributed among the tribes as slaves. the effort of varus to force roman customs and laws upon the germans had led to a fearful retribution. when the news of this dreadful event reached rome, that city was filled with grief and fear. the heart of augustus, now an old man, was stricken with dismay at the slaughter of the best soldiers of the empire. with neglected dress and person he wandered about the rooms and halls of the palace, his piteous appeal, "varus, give me back my legions!" showing how deeply the disaster had pierced his soul. hasty efforts were at once made to prevent the possible serious consequences of the overthrow of the slain legions. the romans on the rhine intrenched themselves in all haste. the germans in the imperial service were sent to distant provinces, and recruits were raised in all parts of the country, their purpose being to protect gaul from an invasion by the triumphant tribes. yet so great was the fear inspired by the former german onslaughts, and by this destructive outbreak, that only threats of death induced the romans to serve. as it proved, this defensive activity was not needed. the germans, satisfied, as it seemed, with expelling the romans from their country, destroyed their forts and military roads, and settled back into peace, with no sign of a desire to cross the rhine. for six years peace continued. augustus died, and tiberius became emperor of rome. then, in the year a.d., an effort was made to reconquer germany, an army commanded by the son of drusus, known to history under the name of germanicus, attacking the marsi, when intoxicated and unarmed after a religious feast. great numbers of the defenceless tribesmen were slain, but the other tribes sprung to arms and drove the invader back across the rhine. in the next year hermann was again brought into the fray. segestus had robbed him of his wife, the beautiful patriot thusnelda, who hitherto had been his right hand in council in his plans against the roman foe. hermann besieged segestus to regain possession of his wife, and pressed the traitor so closely that he sent his son sigismund to germanicus, who was again on the german side of the rhine, imploring aid. the roman leader took instant advantage of this promising opportunity. he advanced and forced hermann to raise the siege, and himself took possession of thusnelda, who was destined soon afterwards to be made the leading feature in a roman triumph. segestus was rewarded for his treason, and was given lands in gaul, his life being not safe among the people he had betrayed. as for the daughter whom he had yielded to roman hands, her fate troubled little his base soul. thusnelda is still a popular character in german legend, there being various stories extant concerning her. one of these relates that, when she lay concealed in the old fort of schellenpyrmont, she was warned by the cries of a faithful bird of the coming of the romans, who were seeking stealthily to approach her hiding-place. the loss of his beloved wife roused hermann's heroic spirit, and spread indignation among the germans, who highly esteemed the noble-hearted consort of their chief. they rose hastily in arms, and hermann was soon at the head of a large army, prepared to defend his country against the invading hosts of the romans. but as the latter proved too strong to face in the open field, the germans retreated with their families and property, the country left by them being laid waste by the advancing legions. germanicus soon reached the scene of the late slaughter, and caused the bones of the soldiers of varus to be buried. but in doing this he was obliged to enter the mountain defiles in which the former army had met its fate. hermann and his men watched the romans intently from forest and hilltop. when they had fairly entered the narrow valleys, the adroit chief appeared before them at the head of a small troop, which retreated as if in fear, drawing them onward until the whole army had entered the pass. then the fatal signal was given, and the revengeful germans fell upon the legionaries of germanicus as they had done upon those of varus, cutting them down in multitudes. but germanicus was a much better soldier than varus. he succeeded in extricating the remnant of his men, after they had lost heavily, and in making an orderly retreat to his ships, which awaited him upon the northern coast whence he had entered the country. there were two other armies, one of which had invaded germany from the coast of friesland, and was carried away by a flood, narrowly escaping complete destruction. the third had entered from the rhine. this was overtaken by hermann while retreating over the long bridges which the romans had built across the marshes of münsterland, and which were now in a state of advanced decay. here it found itself surrounded by seemingly insuperable dangers, being, in part of its route, shut up in a narrow dell, into which the enemy had turned the waters of a rapid stream. while defending their camp, the waters poured upon the soldiers, rising to their knees, and a furious tempest at the same time burst over their heads. yet discipline, again prevailed. they lost heavily, but succeeded in cutting their way through their enemies and reaching the rhine. in the next year, a.d., germanicus again invaded germany, sailing with a thousand ships through the northern seas and up the ems. flavus, the brother of hermann, who had remained in the service of rome, was with him, and addressed his patriotic brother from the river-side, seeking to induce him to desert the german cause, by painting in glowing colors the advantage of being a roman citizen. hermann, furious at his desertion of his country, replied to him with curses, as the only language worthy to use to a traitor, and would have ridden across the stream to kill him, but that he was held back by his men. a battle soon succeeded, the germans falling into an ambuscade artfully laid by the roman leader, and being defeated with heavy loss. germanicus raised a stately monument on the spot, as a memorial of his victory. the sight of this roman monument in their country infuriated the germans, and they attacked the romans again, this time with such fury, and such slaughter on both sides, that neither party was able to resume the fight when the next day dawned. germanicus, who had been very severely handled, retreated to his ships and set sail. on his voyage the heavens appeared to conspire against him. a tempest arose in which most of the vessels were wrecked and many of the legionaries lost. when he returned to rome, shortly afterwards, a fort on the taunus was the only one which rome possessed in germany. hermann had cleared his country of the foe. yet germanicus was given a triumph, in which thusnelda walked, laden with chains, to the capitol. the remaining events in the life of this champion of german liberty were few. while the events described had been taking place in the north of germany, there were troubles in the south. here a chieftain named marbodius, who, like hermann, had passed his youth in the roman armies, was the leader of several powerful tribes. he lacked the patriotism of hermann, and sought to ally himself with the romans, with the hope of attaining to supreme power in germany. hermann sought to rouse patriotic sentiments in his mind, but in vain, and the movements of marbodius having revealed his purposes, a coalition was formed against him, with hermann at its head. he was completely defeated, and southern germany saved from roman domination, as the northern districts had already been. peace followed, and for several years hermann remained general-in-chief of the german people, and the acknowledged bulwark of their liberties. but envy arose; he was maligned, and accused of aiming at sovereignty, as marbodius had done; and at length his own relations, growing to hate and fear him, conspired against and murdered him. thus ignobly fell the noblest of the ancient germans, the man whose patriotism saved the realm of the teutonic tribes from becoming a province of the empire of rome. had not hermann lived, the history of europe might have pursued a different course, and the final downfall of the colossus of the south been long averted, germany acting as its bulwark of defence instead of becoming the nursery of its foes. _alboin and rosamond._ of the teutonic invaders of italy none are invested with more interest than the lombards,--the long beards, to give them their original title. legend yields us the story of their origin, a story of interest enough to repeat. a famine had been caused in denmark by a great flood, and the people, to avoid danger of starvation, had resolved to put all the old men and women to death, in order to save the food for the young and strong. this radical proposition was set aside through the advice of a wise woman, named gambara, who suggested that lots should be drawn for the migration of a third of the population. her counsel was taken and the migration began, under the leadership of her two sons. these migrants wore beards of prodigious length, whence their subsequent name. they first entered the land of the vandals, who refused them permission to settle. this was a question to be decided at sword's point, and war was declared. both sides appealed to the gods for aid, gambara praying to freya, while the vandals invoked odin, who answered that he would grant the victory to the party he should first behold at the dawn of the coming day. the day came. the sun rose. in front of the danish host were stationed their women, who had loosened their long hair, and let it hang down over their faces. "who are these with long beards?" demanded odin, on seeing these danish amazons. this settled the question of victory, and also gave the invaders a new name, that of longobardi,--due, in this legend, to the long hair of the women instead of the long beards of the men. there are other legends, but none worth repeating. the story of their king alboin, with whom we have particularly to deal, begins, however, with a story which may be in part legendary. they were now in hostile relations with the gepidæ, the first nation to throw off the yoke of the huns. alboin, son of audoin, king of the longobardi, killed thurismund, son of turisend, king of the gepidæ, in battle, but forgot to carry away his arms, and thus returned home without a trophy of his victory. in consequence, his stern father refused him a seat at his table, as one unworthy of the honor. such was the ancient lombard custom, and it must be obeyed. the young prince acknowledged the justice of this reproof, and determined to try and obtain the arms which were his by right of victory. selecting forty companions, he boldly visited the court of turisend, and openly demanded from him the arms of his son. it was a daring movement, but proved successful. the old king received him hospitably, as the custom of the time demanded, though filled with grief at the loss of his son. he even protected him from the anger of his subjects, whom some of the lombards had provoked by their insolence of speech. the daring youth returned to his father's court with the arms of his slain foe, and won the seat of honor of which he had been deprived. turisend died, and cunimund, his son, became king. audoin died, and alboin became king. and now new adventures of interest occurred. in his visit to the court of turisend, alboin had seen and fallen in love with rosamond, the beautiful daughter of cunimund. he now demanded her hand in marriage, and as it was scornfully refused him, he revenged himself by winning her honor through force and stratagem. war broke out in consequence, and the gepidæ were conquered, rosamond falling to alboin as part of the trophies of victory. we are told that in this war alboin sought the aid of bacan, chagan of the avars, promising him half the spoil and all the land of the gepidæ in case of victory. he added to this a promise of the realm of the longobardi, in case he should succeed in winning for them a new home in italy, which country he proposed to invade. about fifteen years before, some of his subjects had made a warlike expedition to italy. their report of its beauty and fertility had kindled a spirit of emulation in the new generation, and inspired the young and warlike king with ambitious hopes. his eloquence added to their desire. he not only described to them in glowing words the land of promise which he hoped to win, but spoke to their senses as well, by producing at the royal banquets the fairest fruits that grew in that garden land of europe. his efforts were successful. no sooner was his standard erected, and word sent abroad that italy was his goal, than the longobardi found their strength augmented by hosts of adventurous youths from the surrounding peoples. germans, bulgarians, scythians, and others joined in ranks, and twenty thousand saxon warriors, with their wives and children, added to the great host which had flocked to the banners of the already renowned warrior. it was in the year that alboin, followed by the great multitude of adventurers he had gathered, and by the whole nation of the longobardi, ascended the julian alps, and looked down from their summits on the smiling plains of northern italy to which his success was thenceforward to give the name of lombardy, the land of the longobardi. four years were spent in war with the romans, city after city, district after district, falling into the hands of the invaders. the resistance was but feeble, and at length the whole country watered by the po, with the strong city of pavia, fell into the hands of alboin, who divided the conquered lands among his followers, and reduced their former holders to servitude. alboin made pavia his capital, and erected strong fortifications to keep out the burgundians, franks, and other nations which were troubling his new-gained dominions. this done, he settled down to the enjoyment of the conquest which he had so ably made and so skilfully defended. history tells us that the longobardi cultivated their new lands so skilfully that all traces of devastation soon vanished, and the realm grew rich in its productions. their freemen distinguished themselves from the other german conquerors by laboring to turn the waste and desert tracts into arable soil, while their king, though unceasingly watchful against his enemies, lived among his people with patriarchal simplicity, procuring his supplies from the produce of his farms, and making regular rounds of inspection from one to another. it is a picture fitted for a more peaceful and primitive age than that turbulent period in which it is set. but now we have to do with alboin in another aspect,--his domestic relations, his dealings with his wife rosamond, and the tragic end of all the actors in the drama of real life which we have set out to tell. the longobardi were barbarians, and alboin was no better than his people; a strong evidence of which is the fact that he had the skull of cunimund, his defeated enemy and the father of his wife, set in gold, and used it as a drinking cup at his banquets. doubtless this brutality stirred revengeful sentiments in the mind of rosamond. an added instance of barbarian insult converted her outraged feelings into a passion for revenge. alboin had erected a palace near verona, one of the cities of his new dominion, and here he celebrated his victories with a grand feast to his companions in arms. wine flowed freely at the banquet, the king emulating, or exceeding, his guests in the art of imbibing. heated with his potations, in which he had drained many cups of rhætian or falernian wine, he called for the choicest ornament of his sideboard, the gold-mounted skull of cunimund, and drank its full measure of wine amid the loud plaudits of his drunken guests. "fill it again with wine," he cried; "fill it to the brim; carry this goblet to the queen, and tell her that it is my desire and command that she shall rejoice with her father." rosamond's heart throbbed with grief and rage on hearing this inhuman request. she took the skull in trembling hands, and murmuring in low accents, "let the will of my lord be obeyed," she touched it to her lips. but in doing so she breathed a silent prayer, and resolved that the unpardonable insult should be washed out in alboin's blood. if she had ever loved her lord, she felt now for him only the bitterness of hate. she had a friend in the court on whom she could depend, helmichis, the armor-bearer of the king. she called on him for aid in her revenge, and found him willing but fearful, for he knew too well the great strength and daring spirit of the chief whom he had so often attended in battle. he proposed, therefore, that they should gain the aid of a lombard of unequalled strength, peredeus by name. this champion, however, was not easily to be won. the project was broached to him, but the most that could be gained from him was a promise of silence. failing in this, more shameful methods were employed. such was rosamond's passion for revenge that the most extreme measures seemed to her justifiable. peredeus loved one of the attendants of the queen. rosamond replaced this frail woman, sacrificed her honor to her vengeance, and then threatened to denounce peredeus to the king unless he would kill the man who had so bitterly wronged her. peredeus now consented. he must kill the king or the king would kill him, for he felt that rosamond was quite capable of carrying out her threat. having thus obtained the promise of the instruments of her vengeance, the queen waited for a favorable moment to carry out her dark design. the opportunity soon came. the king, heavy with wine, had retired from the table to his afternoon slumbers. rosamond, affecting solicitude for his health and repose, dismissed his attendants, closed the palace gates, and then, seeking her spouse, lulled him to rest by her tender caresses. finding that he slumbered, she unbolted the chamber door, and urged her confederates to the instant performance of the deed of blood. they entered the room with stealthy tread, but the quick senses of the warrior took the alarm, he opened his eyes, saw two armed men advancing upon him, and sprang from his couch. his sword hung beside him, and he attempted to draw it, but the cunning hand of rosamond had fastened it securely in the scabbard. the only weapon remaining was a small foot-stool. this he used with vigor, but it could not long protect him from the spears of his assailants, and he quickly fell dead beneath their blows. his body was buried beneath the stairway of the palace, and thus tragically ended the career of the founder of the kingdom of lombardy. but the story of rosamond's life is not yet at an end. the death of alboin was followed by another tragic event, which brought her guilty career to a violent termination. the wily queen had not failed to prepare for the disturbances which might follow the death of the king. the murder of alboin was immediately followed by her marriage with helmichis, whose ambition looked to no less a prize than the throne of lombardy. the queen was surrounded by a band of faithful gepidæ, with whose aid she seized the palace and made herself mistress of verona, the lombard chiefs flying in alarm. but the assassination of the king who had so often led them to victory filled the longobardi with indignation, the chiefs mustered their bands and led them against the stronghold of the guilty couple, and they in their turn, were forced to fly for their lives. helmichis and rosamond, with her daughter, her faithful gepidæ, and the spoils of the palace, took ship down the adige and the po, and were transported in a greek vessel to the port of ravenna, where they hoped to find shelter and safety. longinus, the greek governor of ravenna, gave willing refuge to the fugitives, the more so as the great beauty of rosamond filled him with admiration. she had not been long there, indeed, before he offered her his hand in marriage. rosamond, moved by ambition or a return of his love, accepted his offer. there was, it is true, an obstacle in the way. she was already provided with a husband. but the barbarian queen had learned the art of getting rid of inconvenient husbands. having, perhaps, grown to detest the tool of her revenge, now that the purpose of her marriage with him had failed, she set herself to the task of disposing of helmichis, this time using the cup instead of the sword. as helmichis left the bath he received a wine-cup from the hands of his treacherous wife, and lifted it to his lips. but no sooner had he tasted the liquor, and felt the shock that it gave his system, than he knew that he was poisoned. death, a speedy death, was in his veins, but he had life enough left for revenge. seizing his dagger, he pressed it to the breast of rosamond, and by threats of instant death compelled her to drain the remainder of the cup. in a few minutes both the guilty partners in the death of alboin had breathed their last. when longinus was, at a later moment, summoned into the room, it was to find his late guests both dead upon the floor. the poison had faithfully done its work. thus ended a historic tragedy than which the stage possesses few of more striking dramatic interest and opportunities for histrionic effect. _the career of grimoald._ the avars, led by cacan, their king, crossed, in the year , the mountains of illyria and lombardy, killed gisulph, the grand duke, with all his adherents, in battle, and laid siege to the city of friuli, behind whose strong walls romilda, the widow of gisulph, had taken refuge. these events formed the basis of the romantic, and perhaps largely legendary, story we have to tell. one day, so we are told, romilda, gazing from the ramparts of the city, beheld cacan, the young khan of the avars, engaged in directing the siege. so handsome to her eyes appeared the youthful soldier that she fell deeply in love with him at sight, her passion growing until, in disregard of honor and patriotism, she sent him a secret message, offering to deliver up to him the city on condition of becoming his wife. the khan, though doubtless despising her treachery to her people, was quick to close with the offer, and in a short time friuli was in his hands. this accomplished, he returned to hungary, taking with him romilda and her children, of whom there were four sons and four daughters. cacan kept his compact with the traitress, marrying her with the primitive rites of the hungarians. but her married life was of the shortest. he had kept his word, and such honor as he possessed was satisfied. the morning after his marriage, moved perhaps by detestation of her treachery, he caused the hapless romilda to be impaled alive. it was a dark end to a dark deed, and the perfidy of the woman had been matched by an equal perfidy on the part of the man. the children of romilda were left in the hands of the avars. of her daughters, one subsequently married a duke of bavaria and another a duke of allemania. the four sons, one of whom was grimoald, the hero of our story, managed to escape from their savage captors, though they were hotly pursued. in their flight, grimoald, the youngest, was taken up behind tafo, the oldest; but in the rapid course he lost his hold and fell from his brother's horse. tafo, knowing what would be the fate of the boy should he be captured, turned and galloped upon him lance in hand, determined that he should not fall alive into the hands of his cruel foes. but grimoald's entreaties and tafo's brotherly affection induced him to change his resolution, and, snatching up the boy, he continued his flight, the pursuing avars being now close at hand. not far had they ridden before the same accident occurred. grimoald again fell, and tafo was now obliged to leave him to his fate, the fierce pursuers being too near to permit him either to kill or save the unlucky boy. on swept tafo, up swept the avars, and one of them, halting, seized the young captive, threw him behind him on his horse, and rode on after his fellows. grimoald's peril was imminent, but he was a child with the soul of a warrior. as his captor pushed on in the track of his companions, the brave little fellow suddenly snatched a knife from his belt, and in an instant had stabbed him to the heart with his own weapon tossing the dead body from the saddle, grimoald seized the bridle and rode swiftly on, avoiding the avars, and in the end rejoining his flying brothers. it was a deed worthy the childhood of one who was in time to become a famous warrior. the fugitives reached lombardy, where tafo was hospitably received by the king, and succeeded his father as grand duke of friuli. grimoald was adopted by arigil, duke of benevento, in whose court he grew to manhood, and in whose service his courage and military ability were quickly shown. there were wars between benevento and the greeks of southern italy, and in these the young soldier so greatly distinguished himself that on the death of arigil he succeeded him as duke of benevento. meanwhile, troubles arose in lombardy. tafo had been falsely accused, by an enemy of the queen, of criminal relations with her, and was put to death by the king. her innocence was afterwards proved, and on the death of ariowald the lombards treated her with the greatest respect, and raised rotharis, her second husband, to the throne. he, too, died, and aribert, uncle of the queen, was next made king. on his death, his two sons, bertarit and godebert, disputed the succession. a struggle ensued between the rival brothers, in the course of which grimoald was brought into the dispute. the events here briefly described had taken place while grimoald was engaged in the greek wars of his patron, duke arigil. when he succeeded the latter in the ducal chair, the struggle between bertarit and godebert was going on, and the new duke of benevento declared in favor of the latter, who was his personal friend. a scheme of treachery, of a singular character, put an end to their friendship and to the life of godebert. a man who was skilled in the arts of dissimulation, and who was secretly in the pay of bertarit, persuaded godebert that his seeming friend, duke grimoald, was really his enemy, and was plotting his destruction. he told the same story to grimoald, making him believe that godebert was his secret foe. in proof of his words he told each of them that the other wore armor beneath his clothes, through fear of assassination by his assumed friend. the suspicion thus artfully aroused produced the very state of things which the agent of mischief had declared to exist. each of the friends put on armor, as a protection against treachery from the other, and when they sought to test the truth of the spy's story it seemed fully confirmed. each discovered that the other wore secret armor, without learning that it had just been assumed. the two close friends were thus converted by a plotting iago into distrustful enemies, each fearing and on guard against assassination by the other. the affair ended tragically. grimoald was no sooner fully convinced of the truth of what had been told him than he slew his supposed enemy, deeming it necessary to save his own life. the dark scheme had succeeded. treason and falsehood had sown death between two friends. bertarit, his rival removed, deemed the throne now securely his. but the truth underlying the tragedy we have described became known, and the lombards, convinced of the innocence of grimoald, and scorning the treachery by which he had been led on to murder, dismissed bertarit's pretensions and placed grimoald on the throne. his career had been a strange but highly successful one. from his childhood captivity to the avars he had risen to the high station of king of lombardy, a position fairly earned by his courage and ability. we are not yet done with the story of this distinguished warrior. bertarit had taken the field against him, and civil war desolated lombardy, an unhappy state of affairs which was soon taken advantage of by the foes of the distracted kingdom. the enemy who now appeared in the field was constans, the greek emperor, who laid siege to benevento, hoping to capture it while grimoald was engaged in hostilities with bertarit in the north. grimoald had left his son, romuald, in charge of the city. on learning of the siege he despatched a trusty friend and officer, sesuald by name, with some troops, to the relief of the beleaguered stronghold, proposing to follow quickly himself with the main body of his army. and now occurred an event nobly worthy of being recorded in the annals of human probity and faithfulness, one little known, but deserving to be classed with those that have become famous in history. when men erect monuments to courage and virtue, the noble sesuald should not be forgotten. this brave man fell into the hands of the emperor, who sought to use him in a stratagem to obtain possession of benevento. he promised him an abundance of wealth and honors if he would tell romuald that his father had died in battle, and persuade him to surrender the city. sesuald seems to have agreed, for he was led to the walls of the city that he might hold the desired conference with romuald. instead, however, of carrying out the emperor's design, he cried out to the young chief, "be firm, grimoald approaches"; then, hastily telling him that he had forfeited his life by those words, he begged him in return to protect his wife and children, as the last service he could render him. sesuald was right. constans, furious at his words, had his head instantly struck off; and then, with a barbarism worthy of the times, had it flung from a catapult into the heart of the city. the ghastly trophy was brought to romuald, who pressed it to his lips, and deeply deplored the death of his father's faithful friend. this was the last effort of the emperor. fearing to await the arrival of grimoald, he raised the siege and retreated towards naples, hotly pursued by the lombards. the army of grimoald came up with the retreating greeks, and a battle was imminent, when a lombard warrior of giant size, amalong by name, spurring upon a greek, lifted him from the saddle with his lance, and rode on holding him poised in the air. the sight of this feat filled the remaining greeks with such terror that they broke and fled, and their hasty retreat did not cease till they had found shelter in sicily. after this event bertarit, finding it useless to contend longer against his powerful and able opponent, submitted to grimoald. yet this did not end their hostile relations. the lombard king, distrusting his late foe, of whose treacherous disposition he already had abundant evidence, laid a plan to get rid of him by murdering him in his bed. this plot was discovered by a servant of the imperilled prince, who aided his master to escape, and, the better to secure his retreat, placed himself in his bed, being willing to risk death in his lord's service. grimoald discovered the stratagem of the faithful fellow, but, instead of punishing him for it, he sought to reward him, attempting to attach him to his own service as one whose fidelity would make him valuable to any master. the honest servant refused, however, to desert his old lord for a new service, and entreated so earnestly for permission to join his master, who had taken refuge in france, that grimoald set him free, doubtless feeling that such faithfulness was worthy of encouragement. in france bertarit found an ally in chlotar ii., who took up arms against the lombards in his aid. grimoald, however, defeated him by a shrewd stratagem. he feigned to retreat in haste, leaving his camp, which was well stored with provisions, to fall into the hands of the enemy. deeming themselves victorious, the franks hastened to enjoy the feast of good things which the lombards had left behind. but in the midst of their repast grimoald suddenly returned, and, falling upon them impetuously, put most of them to the sword. in the following year ( a.d.) he defeated another army by another stratagem. the avars had invaded lombardy, with an army which far out-numbered the troops which grimoald could muster against them. in this state of affairs he artfully deceived his foes as to the strength of his army by marching and countermarching his men within their view, each time dressed in uniform of different colors, and with varied standards and insignia of war. the invaders, deeming that an army confronted them far stronger than their own, withdrew in haste, leaving grimoald master of the field. we are further told of the king of the lombards whose striking history we have concisely given, that he gave many new laws to his country, and that in his old age he was remarkable for his bald head and long white beard. he died in , sixty years after the time when his mother acted the traitress, and suffered miserably for her crime. after his death, the exiled bertarit was recalled to the throne of lombardy, and romuald succeeded his father as duke of benevento, the city which he had held so bravely against the greeks. _wittekind, the saxon patriot._ as germany, in its wars with the romans, found its hero in the great arminius, or hermann; and as england, in its contest with the normans, found a heroic defender in the valiant hereward; so saxony, in its struggle with charlemagne, gave origin to a great soul, the indomitable patriot wittekind, who kept the war afoot years after the saxons would have yielded to their mighty foe, and, like hereward, only gave up the struggle when hope itself was at an end. the career of the defender of saxony bears some analogy to that of the last patriot of saxon england. as in the case of hereward, his origin is uncertain, and the story of his life overlaid with legend. he is said to have been the son of wernekind, a powerful westphalian chief, brother-in-law of siegfried, a king of the danes; yet this is by no means certain, and his ancestry must remain in doubt. he came suddenly into the war with the great frank conqueror, and played in it a strikingly prominent part, to sink again out of sight at its end. the attempt of charlemagne to conquer saxony began in . religion was its pretext, ambition its real cause. missionaries had been sent to the saxons during their great national festival at marclo. they came back with no converts to report. as the saxons had refused to be converted by words, fire and sword were next tried as assumed instruments for spreading the doctrines of christ, but really as effective means for extending the dominion of the monarch of the franks. in his first campaign in saxony, charlemagne marched victoriously as far as the weser, where he destroyed the celebrated irminsúl, a famous object of saxon devotion, perhaps an image of a god, perhaps a statue of hermann that had become invested with divinity. the next year, charles being absent in italy, the saxons broke into insurrection, under the leadership of wittekind, who now first appears in history. with him was associated another patriot, alboin, duke of eastphalia. charles returned in the succeeding year, and again swept in conquering force through the country. but a new insurrection called him once more to italy, and no sooner had he gone than the eloquent wittekind was among his countrymen, entreating them to rise in defence of their liberties. a general levy took place, every able man crowded to the ranks, and whole forests were felled to form abatis of defence against a marching enemy. again charles came at the head of his army of veterans, and again the poorly-trained saxon levies were driven in defeat from his front. he now established a camp in the heart of the country, and had a royal residence built at paderborn, where he held a diet of the great vassals of the crown and received envoys from foreign lands. hither came delegates from the humbled saxons, promising peace and submission, and pledging themselves by oaths and hostages to be true subjects of charles the great. but wittekind came not. he had taken refuge at the court of siegfried, the pagan king of the danes, where he waited an opportunity to strike a new blow for liberty. not content with their pledges and promises, the conqueror sought to win over his new subjects by converting them to christianity in the wholesale way in which this work was then usually performed. the saxons were baptized in large numbers, the proselyting method pursued being, as we are told, that all prisoners of war _must_ be baptized, while of the others all who were reasonable _would_ be baptized, and the inveterately unreasonable might be _bribed_ to be baptized. doubtless, as a historian remarks, the saxons found baptism a cool, cleanly, and agreeable ceremony, while their immersion in the water had little effect in washing out their old ideas and washing in new ones. the exigencies of war in his vast empire now called charlemagne to spain, where the arabs had become troublesome and needed chastisement. not far had he marched away when wittekind was again in saxony, passing from tribe to tribe through the forests of the land, and with fiery eloquence calling upon his countrymen to rise against the invaders and regain the freedom of which they had been deprived. heedless of their conversion, disregarding their oaths of allegiance, filled with the free spirit which had so long inspired them, the chiefs and people listened with approval to his burning words, seized their arms, and flew again to war. the priests were expelled from the country, the churches they had built demolished, the castles erected by the frank monarch taken and destroyed, and the country was laid waste up to the walls of cologne, its christian inhabitants being exterminated. but unyielding as wittekind was, his great antagonist was equally resolute and persistent. when he had finished his work with the arabs, he returned to saxony with his whole army, fought a battle in in the dry bed of the eder, and in defeated wittekind and his followers in two great battles, completely disorganizing and discouraging the saxon bands, and again bringing the whole country under his control. this accomplished, he stationed himself in their country, built numerous fortresses upon the elbe, and spent the summer of in missionary work, gaining a multitude of converts among the seemingly subdued barbarians. the better to make them content with his rule he treated them with great kindness and affability, and sent among them missionaries of their own race, being the hostages whom he had taken in previous years, and who had been educated in monasteries. all went well, the saxons were to all appearance in a state of peaceful satisfaction, and charles felicitated himself that he had finally added saxony to his empire. he deceived himself sadly. he did not know the spirit of the free-born saxons, or the unyielding perseverance of their patriotic leader. in the silent depths of their forests, and in the name of their ancient gods, they vowed destruction to the invading franks, and branded as traitors all those who professed christianity except as a stratagem to deceive their powerful enemy. entertaining no suspicion of the true state of affairs, charlemagne at length left the country, which he fancied to be fully pacified and its people content. with complete confidence in his new subjects, he commissioned his generals, geil and adalgis, to march upon the slavonians beyond the elbe, who were threatening france with a new barbarian invasion. they soon learned that there was other work to do. in a brief time the irrepressible wittekind was in the field again, with a new levy of saxons at his back, and the tranquillity of the land, established at such pains, was once more in peril. theoderic, one of charlemagne's principal generals, hastily marched towards them with what men he could raise, and on his way met the army sent to repel the slavonians. they approached the saxon host where it lay encamped on the weser, behind the sundel mountain, and laid plans to attack it on both sides at once. but jealousy ruined these plans, as it has many other well-laid schemes. the leaders of the slavonian contingent, eager to rob theoderic of glory, marched in haste on the saxons, attacked them in their camp, and were so completely defeated and overthrown that but a moity of their army escaped from the field. the appearance of these fugitives in the camp of theoderic was the first he knew of the treachery of his fellow generals and their signal punishment. the story of this dreadful event was in all haste borne to charlemagne. his army had been destroyed almost as completely as that of varus on a former occasion, and in nearly the same country. the distressing tidings filled his soul with rage and a bitter thirst for revenge. he had done his utmost to win over the saxons by lenity and kindness, but this course now seemed to him useless, if not worse than useless. he determined to adopt opposite measures and try the effect of cruelty and severe retribution. calling together his forces until he had a great army under his command, he marched into saxony torch and sword in hand, and swept the country with fire and steel. all who would not embrace christianity were pitilessly exterminated. thousands were driven into the rivers to be baptized or drowned. carnage, desolation, and destruction marked the path of the conqueror. never had a country been more frightfully devastated by the hand of war. all who were concerned in the rebellion were seized, so far as charles could lay hands on them. when questioned, they lay all the blame on wittekind. he was the culprit, they but his instruments. but wittekind had vanished, the protesting chiefs and people were in the conqueror's hands, and, bent on making an awful example, he had no less than four thousand five hundred of them beheaded in one day. it was a frightful act of vengeance, which has ever since remained an ineradicable blot on the memory of the great king. [illustration: the baptism of wittekind.] its effect was what might have been anticipated. instead of filling the saxons with terror, it inspired them with revengeful fury. they rose as one man, wittekind and alboin at their head, and attacked the french with a fury such as they had never before displayed. the remorseless cruelty with which they had been treated was repaid in the blood of the invaders, and in the many petty combats that took place the hardy and infuriated barbarians proved invincible against their opponents. even in a pitched battle, fought at detmold, in which wittekind led the saxons against the superior forces of charlemagne, they held their own against all his strength and generalship, and the victory remained undecided. but they were again brought to battle upon the hase, and now the superior skill and more numerous army of the great conqueror prevailed. the saxons were defeated with great slaughter, and the french advanced as far as the elbe. the war continued during the succeeding year, by the end of which the saxons had become so reduced in strength that further efforts at resistance would have been madness. the cruelty which charlemagne had displayed, and which had proved so signally useless, was now replaced by a mildness much more in conformity with his general character; and the saxons, exhausted with their struggles, and attracted by the gentleness with which he treated them, showed a general disposition to submit. but wittekind and his fellow-chieftain alboin were still at large, and the astute conqueror well knew that there was no security in his new conquest unless they could be brought over. he accordingly opened negotiations with them, requesting a personal conference, and pledging his royal word that they should be dealt with in all faith and honesty. the saxon chiefs, however, were not inclined to put themselves in the power of a king against whom they had so long and desperately fought without stronger pledge than his bare word. they demanded hostages. charlemagne, who fully appreciated the value of their friendship and submission, freely acceded to their terms, sent hostages, and was gratified by having the indomitable chiefs enter his palace at paderborn. wittekind was well aware that his mission as a saxon leader was at an end. the country was subdued, its warriors slain, terrorized, or won over, and his single hand could not keep up the war with france. he, therefore, swore fealty to charlemagne, freely consented to become a christian, and was, with his companion, baptized at attigny in france. the emperor stood his sponsor in baptism, received him out of the font, loaded him with royal gifts, and sent him back with the title of duke of saxony, which he held as a vassal of france. henceforward he seems to have observed good faith to charlemagne, for his name now vanishes from history, silence in this case being a pledge of honor and peacefulness. but if history here lays him down, legend takes him up, and yields us a number of stories concerning him not one of which has any evidence to sustain it, but which are curious enough to be worth repeating. it gives us, for instance, a far more romantic account of his conversion than that above told. this relates that, in the easter season of ,--the year of his conversion,--wittekind stole into the french camp in the garb of a minstrel or a mendicant, and, while cautiously traversing it, bent on spying out its weaknesses, was attracted to a large tent within which charlemagne was attending the service of the mass. led by an irresistible impulse, the pagan entered the tent, and stood gazing in spellbound wonder at the ceremony, marvelling what the strange and impressive performance meant. as the priest elevated the host, the chief, with astounded eyes, beheld in it the image of a child, of dazzling and unearthly beauty. he could not conceal his surprise from those around him, some of whom recognized in the seeming beggar the great saxon leader, and took him to the emperor. wittekind told charlemagne of his vision, begged to be made a christian, and brought over many of his countrymen to the fold of the true church by the shining example of his conversion. legend goes on to tell us that he became a christian of such hot zeal as to exact a bloody atonement from the frisians for their murder of boniface and his fellow-priests a generation before. it further tells us that he founded a church at enger, in westphalia, was murdered by gerold, duke of swabia, and was buried in the church he had founded, and in which his tomb was long shown. in truth, the people came to honor him as a saint, and though there is no record of his canonization, a saint's day, january , is given him, and we are told of miracles performed at his tomb. so much for the dealings of christian legend with this somewhat unsaintly personage. secular legend, for it is probably little more, has contented itself with tracing his posterity, several families of germany deriving their descent from him, while he is held to have been the ancestor of the imperial house of the othos. some french genealogists go so far as to trace the descent of hugh capet to this hero of the saxon woods. in truth, he has been made to some extent the roland or the arthur of saxony, though fancy has not gone so far in his case as in that of the french paladin and the welsh hero of knight-errantry, for, though he and his predecessor hermann became favorite characters in german ballad and legend, the romance heroes of that land continued to be the mythical siegfried and his partly fabulous, partly historical companions of the epical song of the nibelung. _the raids of the sea-rovers._ while central and southern europe was actively engaged in wars by land, scandinavia, that nest of pirates, was as actively engaged in wars by sea, sending its armed galleys far to the south, to plunder and burn wherever they could find footing on shore. not content with plundering the coasts, they made their way up the streams, and often suddenly appeared far inland before an alarm could be given. wherever they went, heaps of the dead and the smoking ruins of habitations marked their ruthless course. they did not hesitate to attack fortified cities, several of which fell into their hands and were destroyed. they always fought on foot, but such was their strength, boldness, and activity that the heavy-armed cavalry of france and germany seemed unable to endure their assault, and was frequently put to flight. if defeated, or in danger of defeat, they hastened back to their ships, from which they rarely ventured far and rowed away with such speed that pursuit was in vain. for a long period they kept the atlantic and mediterranean coasts of europe in such terror that prayers were publicly read in the churches for deliverance from them, and the sight of their dragon beaked ships filled the land with terror. in a party of them assailed and took paris, from which they were bought off by the cowardly and ineffective method of ransom, seven thousand pounds of silver being paid them. in another expedition, led by a leader named hasting, one of the most dreaded of the norsemen, again took paris, marched into burgundy, laying waste the country as he advanced, and finally took tours, to which city much treasure had been carried for safe-keeping. charles the bald, who had bought off the former expedition with silver, bought off this one with gold, offering the bold adventurer a bribe of six hundred and eighty-five pounds of the precious metal, to which he added a ton and a half of silver, to leave the country. from france, hasting set sail for italy, where his ferocity was aided by a cunning which gives us a deeper insight into his character. rome, a famous but mystical city to the northern pagans, whose imaginations invested it with untold wealth and splendor, was the proposed goal of the enterprising norseman, who hoped to make himself fabulously wealthy from its plunder. with a hundred ships, filled with hardy norse pirates, he swept through the strait of gibraltar and along the coasts of spain and france, plundering as he went till he reached the harbor of lucca, italy. as to where and what rome was, the unlettered heathen had but the dimmest conception. here before him lay what seemed a great and rich city, strongly fortified and thickly peopled. this must be rome, he told himself; behind those lofty walls lay the wealth which he so earnestly craved; but how could it be obtained? assault on those strong fortifications would waste time, and perhaps end in defeat. if the city could be won by stratagem, so much the better for himself and his men. the shrewd norseman quickly devised a promising plan within the depths of his astute brain. it was the christmas season, and the inhabitants were engaged in the celebration of the christmas festival, though, doubtless, sorely troubled in mind by that swarm of strange-shaped vessels in their harbor, with their stalwart crews of blue-eyed plunderers. word was sent to the authorities of the city that the fleet had come thither from no hostile intent, and that all the mariners wished was to obtain the favor of an honorable burial-place for their chieftain, who had just died. if the citizens would grant them this, they would engage to depart after the funeral without injury to their courteous and benevolent friends. the message--probably not expressed in quite the above phrase--was received in good faith by the unsuspecting lombards, who were glad enough to get rid of their dangerous visitors on such cheap terms, and gratified to learn that these fierce pagans wished christian burial for their chief. word was accordingly sent to the ships that the authorities granted their request, and were pleased with the opportunity to oblige the mourning crews. not long afterwards a solemn procession left the fleet, a coffin, draped in solemn black, at its head, borne by strong carriers. as mourners there followed a large deputation of stalwart norsemen, seemingly unarmed, and to all appearance lost in grief. with slow steps they entered the gates and moved through the streets of the city, chanting the death-song of the great hasting, until the church was reached, and they had advanced along its crowded aisle to the altar, where stood the priests ready to officiate at the obsequies of the expired freebooter. the coffin was set upon the floor, and the priests were about to break into the solemn chant for the dead, when suddenly, to the surprise and horror of the worshippers, the supposed corpse sprang to life, leaped up sword in hand, and with a fierce and deadly blow struck the officiating bishop to the heart. instantly the seeming mourners, who had been chosen from the best warriors of the fleet, flung aside their cloaks and grasped their arms, and a carnival of death began in that crowded church. it was not slaughter, however, that hasting wanted, but plunder. rushing from the church, the norsemen assailed the city, looting with free hand, and cutting down all who came in their way. no long time was needed by the skilful freebooters for this task, and before the citizens could recover from the mortal terror into which they had been thrown, the pagan plunderers were off again for their ships, laden with spoil, and taking with them as captives a throng of women and maidens, the most beautiful they could find. this daring affair had a barbarous sequel. a storm arising which threatened the loss of his ships, the brutal hasting gave orders that the vessels should be lightened by throwing overboard plunder and captives alike. saved by this radical method, the sea-rovers quickly repaid themselves for their losses by sailing up the rhone, and laying the country waste through many miles of southern france. the end of this phase of hasting's career was a singular one. in the year he consented to be baptized as a christian, and to swear allegiance to charles the bald of france, on condition of receiving the title of count of chartres, with a suitable domain. it was a wiser method of disarming a redoubtable enemy than that of ransoming the land, which charles had practised with hasting on a previous occasion. he had converted a foe into a subject, upon whom he might count for defence against those fierce heathen whom he had so often led to battle. while france, england, and the mediterranean regions formed the favorite visiting ground of the norsemen, they did not fail to pay their respects in some measure to germany, and during the ninth century, their period of most destructive activity, the latter country suffered considerably from their piratical ravages. two german warriors who undertook to guard the coasts against their incursions are worthy of mention. one of these, baldwin of the iron arm, count of flanders, distinguished himself by seducing judith, daughter of charles the bald of france, who, young as she was, was already the widow of two english kings, ethelwolf and his son ethelbold. charles was at first greatly enraged, but afterwards accepted baldwin as his son-in-law, and made him lord of the district. the second was robert the strong, count of maine, a valiant defender of the country against the sea-kings. he was slain in a bloody battle with them, near anvers, in . this distinguished warrior was the ancestor of hugh capet, afterwards king of france. for some time after his death the norsemen avoided germany, paying their attentions to england, where alfred the great was on the throne. about their incursions began again, and though they were several times defeated with severe slaughter, new swarms followed the old ones, and year by year fresh fleets invaded the land, leaving ruin in their paths. up the rivers they sailed, as in france, taking cities, devastating the country, doing more damage each year than could be repaired in a decade. aix-la-chapelle, the imperial city of the mighty charlemagne, fell into their hands, and the palace of the great charles, in little more than half a century after his death, was converted by these marauders into a stable. well might the far-seeing emperor have predicted sorrow and trouble for the land from these sea-rovers, as he is said to have done, on seeing their many-oared ships from a distance. yet even his foresight could scarcely have imagined that, before he was seventy years in the grave, the vikings of the north would be stabling their horses in the most splendid of his palaces. the rovers attacked metz, and bishop wala fell while bravely fighting them before its gates. city after city on the rhine was taken and burned to the ground. the whole country between liège, cologne, and mayence was so ravaged as to be almost converted into a desert. the besom of destruction, in the hands of the sea-kings, threatened to sweep germany from end to end, as it had swept the greater part of france. the impunity with which they raided the country was due in great part to the indolent character of the monarch. charles the fat, as he was entitled, who had the ambitious project of restoring the empire of charlemagne, and succeeded in combining france and germany under his sceptre, proved unable to protect his realm from the pirate rovers. like his predecessor, charles the bald of france, he tried the magic power of gold and silver, as a more effective argument than sharpened steel, to rid him of these marauders. siegfried, their principal leader, was bought off with two thousand pounds of gold and twelve thousand pounds of silver, to raise which sum charles seized all the treasures of the churches. in consideration of this great bribe the sea-rover consented to a truce for twelve years. his brother gottfried was bought off in a different method, being made duke of friesland and vassal of the emperor. these concessions, however, did not put an end to the depredations of the norsemen. there were other leaders than the two formidable brothers, and other pirates than those under their control, and the country was soon again invaded, a strong party advancing as far as the moselle, where they took and destroyed the city of treves. this marauding band, however, dearly paid for its depredations. while advancing through the forest of ardennes, it was ambushed and assailed by a furious multitude of peasants and charcoal-burners, before whose weapons ten thousand of the norsemen fell in death. this revengeful act of the peasantry was followed by a treacherous deed of the emperor, which brought renewed trouble upon the land. eager to rid himself of his powerful and troublesome vassal in friesland, charles invited gottfried to a meeting, at which he had the norsemen treacherously murdered, while his brother-in-law hugo was deprived of his sight. it was an act sure to bring a bloody reprisal. no sooner had news of it reached the scandinavian north than a fire of revengeful rage swept through the land, and from every port a throng of oared galleys put to sea, bent upon bloody retribution. soon in immense hordes they fell upon the imperial realm, forcing their way in mighty hosts up the rhine, the maese, and the seine, and washing out the memory of gottfried's murder in torrents of blood, while the brand spread ruin far and wide. the chief attack was made on paris, which the norsemen invested and besieged for a year and a half. the march upon paris was made by sea and land, the marauders making rouen their place of rendezvous. from this centre of operations rollo--the future conqueror and duke of normandy, now a formidable sea-king--led an overland force towards the french capital, and on his way was met by an envoy from the emperor, no less a personage than the count of chartres, the once redoubtable hasting, now a noble of the empire. "valiant sirs," he said to rollo and his chiefs, "who are you that come hither, and why have you come?" "we are danes," answered rollo, proudly; "all of us equals, no man the lord of any other, but lords of all besides. we are come to punish these people and take their lands. and you, by what name are you called?" "have you not heard of a certain hasting," was the reply, "a sea-king who left your land with a multitude of ships, and turned into a desert a great part of this fair land of france?" "we have heard of him," said rollo, curtly. "he began well and ended badly." "will you submit to king charles?" asked the envoy, deeming it wise, perhaps, to change the subject. "we will submit to no one, king or chieftain. all that we gain by the sword we are masters and lords of. this you may tell to the king who has sent you. the lords of the sea know no masters on land." hasting left with his message, and rollo continued his advance to the seine. not finding here the ships of the maritime division of the expedition, which he had expected to meet, he seized on the boats of the french fishermen and pursued his course. soon afterwards a french force was met and put to flight, its leader, duke ragnold, being killed. this event, as we are told, gave rise to a new change in the career of the famous hasting. a certain tetbold or thibaud, of northman birth, came to him and told him that he was suspected of treason, the defeat of the french having been ascribed to secret information furnished by him. whether this were true, or a mere stratagem on the part of his informant, it had the desired effect of alarming hasting, who quickly determined to save himself from peril by joining his old countrymen and becoming again a viking chief. he thereupon sold his countship to tetbold, and hastened to join the army of norsemen then besieging paris. as for the cunning trickster, he settled down into his cheaply bought countship, and became the founder of the subsequent house of the counts of chartres. the siege of paris ended in the usual manner of the norseman invasions of france,--that of ransom. charles marched to its relief with a strong army, but, instead of venturing to meet his foes in battle, he bought them off as so often before, paying them a large sum of money, granting them free navigation of the seine and entrance to paris, and confirming them in the possession of friesland. this occurred in . a year afterwards he lost his crown, through the indignation of the nobles at his cowardice, and france and germany again fell asunder. the plundering incursions continued, and soon afterwards the new emperor, arnulf, nephew of charles the fat, a man of far superior energy to his deposed uncle, attacked a powerful force of the piratical invaders near louvain, where they had encamped after a victory over the archbishop of mayence. in the heat of the battle that followed, the vigilant arnulf perceived that the german cavalry fought at a disadvantage with their stalwart foes, whose dexterity as foot-soldiers was remarkable. springing from his horse, he called upon his followers to do the same. they obeyed, the nobles and their men-at-arms leaping to the ground and rushing furiously on foot upon their opponents. the assault was so fierce and sudden that the norsemen gave way, and were cut down in thousands, siegfried and gottfried--a new gottfried apparently--falling on the field, while the channel of the dyle, across which the defeated invaders sought to fly, was choked with their corpses. this bloody defeat put an end to the incursions of the norsemen by way of the rhine. thenceforward they paid their attention to the coast of france, which they continued to invade until one of their great leaders, rollo, settled in normandy as a vassal of the french monarch, and served as an efficient barrier against the inroads of his countrymen. as to hasting, he appears to have returned to his old trade of sea-rover, and we hear of him again as one of the norse invaders of england, during the latter part of the reign of alfred the great. _the career of bishop hatto._ we have now to deal with a personage whose story is largely legendary, particularly that of his death, a highly original termination to his career having arisen among the people, who had grown to detest him. but bishop hatto played his part in the history as well as in the legend of germany, and the curious stories concerning him may have been based on the deeds of his actual life. it was in the beginning of the tenth century that this notable churchman flourished as archbishop of mayence, and the emperor-maker of his times. in connection with otho, duke of saxony, he placed louis, surnamed the child,--for he was but seven years of age,--on the imperial throne, and governed germany in his name. louis died in , while still a boy, and with him ended the race of charlemagne in germany. conrad, duke of franconia, was chosen king to succeed him, but the astute churchman still remained the power behind the throne. in truth, the influence and authority of the church at that time was enormous, and many of its potentates troubled themselves more about the affairs of the earth than those of heaven. hatto, while a zealous churchman, was a bold, energetic, and unscrupulous statesman, and raised himself to an almost unlimited power in france and southern germany by his arts and influence, otho of saxony aiding him in his progress to power. two of his opponents, henry and adelhart, of babenberg, took up arms against him, and came to their deaths in consequence. adalbert, the opponent of the norsemen, was his next antagonist, and hatto, through his influence in the diet, had him put under the ban of the empire. adalbert, however, vigorously resisted this decree, taking up arms in his own defence, and defeating his opponent in the field. but soon, being closely pressed, he retired to his fortress of bamberg, which was quickly invested and besieged. here he defended himself with such energy that hatto, finding that the outlawed noble was not to be easily subdued by force, adopted against him those spiritual weapons, as he probably considered them, in which he was so trained an adept. historians tell us that the priest, with a pretence of friendly purpose, offered to mediate between adalbert and his enemies, promising him, if he would leave his stronghold to appear before the assembled nobles of the diet, that he should have a free and safe return. adalbert accepted the terms, deeming that he could safely trust the pledged word of a high dignitary of the church. leaving the gates of his castle, he was met at a short distance beyond by the bishop, who accosted him in his friendliest tone, and proposed that, as their journey would be somewhat long, they should breakfast together within the castle before starting. adalbert assented and returned to the fortress with his smooth-tongued companion, took breakfast with him, and then set out with him for the diet. here he was sternly called to answer for his acts of opposition to the decree of the ruling body of germany, and finding that the tide of feeling was running strongly against him, proposed to return to his fortress in conformity with the plighted faith of bishop hatto. hatto, with an aspect of supreme honesty, declared that he had already fulfilled his promise. he had agreed that adalbert should have a free and safe return to his castle. this had been granted him. he had returned there to breakfast without opposition of any sort. the word of the bishop had been fully kept, and now, as a member of the diet, he felt free to act as he deemed proper, all his obligations to the accused having been fulfilled. just how far this story accords with the actual facts we are unable to say, but adalbert, despite his indignant protest, was sentenced to death and beheaded. hatto had reached his dignity in the church by secular instead of ecclesiastic influence, and is credited with employing his power in this and other instances with such lack of honor and probity that he became an object of the deepest popular contempt and execration. his name was derided in the popular ballads, and he came to be looked upon as the scapegoat of the avarice and licentiousness of the church in that irreligious mediæval age. among the legends concerning him is one relating to henry, the son of his ally, otho of saxony, who died in . henry had long quarrelled with the bishop, and the fabulous story goes that, to get rid of his high-spirited enemy, the cunning churchman sent him a gold chain, so skilfully contrived that it would strangle its wearer. [illustration: the mouse-tower on the rhine.] the most famous legend about hatto, however, is that which tells the manner of his death. the story has been enshrined in poetry by longfellow, but we must be content to give it in plain prose. it tells us that a famine occurred in the land, and that a number of peasants came to the avaricious bishop to beg for bread. by his order they were shut up in a great barn, which then was set on fire, and its miserable occupants burned to death. and now the cup of hatto's infamy was filled, and heaven sent him retribution. from the ruins of the barn issued a myriad of mice, which pursued the remorseless bishop, ceaselessly following him in his every effort to escape their avenging teeth. at length the wretched sinner, driven to despair, fled for safety to a strong tower standing in the middle of the rhine, near bingen, with the belief that the water would protect him from his swarming foes. but the mice swam the stream, invaded the tower, and devoured the miserable fugitive. as evidence of the truth of this story we are shown the tower, still standing, and still known as the mäusethurm, or mouse tower. it must be said, however, that this tradition probably refers to another bishop hatto, of somewhat later date. its utterly fabulous character, of course, will be recognisable by all. so much for bishop hatto and his fate. it may be said, in conclusion, that his period was one of terror and excitement in germany, sufficient perhaps to excuse the overturning of ideas, and the replacement of conceptions of truth and honor by their opposites. the wild magyars had invaded and taken hungary, and were making savage inroads into germany from every quarter. the resistance was obstinate, the magyars were defeated in several severe battles, yet still their multitudes swarmed over the borders, and carried terror and ruin wherever they came. these invaders were as ferocious in disposition, as fierce in their onsets, as invincible through contempt of death, and as formidable through their skilful horsemanship, as the huns had been before them. so rapid were their movements, and so startling the suddenness with which they would appear in and vanish from the heart of the country, that the terrified people came to look upon them as possessed of supernatural powers. their inhuman love of slaughter and their destructive habits added to the terror with which they were viewed. they are said to have been so bloodthirsty, that in their savage feasts after victory they used as tables the corpses of their enemies slain in battle. it is further said that it was their custom to bind the captured women and maidens with their own long hair as fetters, and drive them, thus bound, in flocks to hungary. we may conclude with a touching story told of these unquiet and misery-haunted times. ulrich, count of linzgau, was, so the story goes, taken prisoner by the magyars, and long held captive in their hands. wendelgarde, his beautiful wife, after waiting long in sorrow for his return, believed him to be dead, and resolved to devote the remainder of her life to charity and devotion. crowds of beggars came to her castle gates, to whom she daily distributed alms. one day, while she was thus engaged, one of the beggars suddenly threw his arms around her neck and kissed her. her attendants angrily interposed, but the stranger waved them aside with a smile, and said,-- "forbear, i have endured blows and misery enough during my imprisonment without needing more from you; i am ulrich, your lord." truly, in this instance, charity brought its reward. _the misfortunes of duke ernst._ in the reign of conrad ii., emperor of germany, took place the event which we have now to tell, one of those interesting examples of romance which give vitality to history. on the death of henry ii., the last of the great house of the othos, a vast assembly from all the states of the empire was called together to decide who their next emperor should be. from every side they came, dukes, margraves, counts and barons, attended by hosts of their vassals; archbishops, bishops, abbots, and other churchmen, with their proud retainers; saxons, swabians, bavarians, bohemians, and numerous other nationalities, great and small; all marching towards the great plain between worms and mayence, where they gathered on both sides of the rhine, until its borders seemed covered by a countless multitude of armed men. the scene was a magnificent one, with its far-spreading display of rich tents, floating banners, showy armor, and everything that could give honor and splendor to the occasion. we are not specially concerned with what took place. there were two competitors for the throne, both of them conrad by name. by birth they were cousins, and descendants of the emperor conrad i. the younger of these, but the son of the elder brother, and the most distinguished for ability, was elected, and took the throne as conrad ii. he was to prove one of the noblest sovereigns that ever held the sceptre of the german empire. the election decided, the great assembly dispersed, and back to their homes marched the host of warriors who had collected for once with peaceful purpose. [illustration: peasant wedding procession.] two years afterwards, in , conrad crossed the alps with an army, and marched through italy, that land which had so perilous an attraction for german emperors, and so sadly disturbed the peace and progress of the teutonic realm. conrad was not permitted to remain there long. troubles in germany recalled him to his native soil. swabia had broken out in hot troubles. duke ernst, step-son of conrad, claimed burgundy as his inheritance, in opposition to the emperor himself, who had the better claim. he not only claimed it, but attempted to seize it. with him were united two swabian counts of ancient descent, rudolf welf, or guelph, and werner of kyburg. swabia was in a blaze when conrad returned. he convoked a great diet at ulm, as the legal means of settling the dispute. thither ernst came, at the head of his swabian men-at-arms, and still full of rebellious spirit, although his mother, gisela, the empress, begged him to submit and to return to his allegiance. the angry rebel, however, soon learned that his followers were not willing to take up arms against the emperor. they declared that their oath of allegiance to their duke did not release them from their higher obligations to the emperor and the state, that if their lord was at feud with the empire it was their duty to aid the latter, and that if their chiefs wished to quarrel with the state, they must fight for themselves. this defection left the rebels powerless. duke ernst was arrested and imprisoned on a charge of high treason. eudolf was exiled. werner, who took refuge in his castle, was besieged there by the imperial troops, against whom he valiantly defended himself for several months. at length, however, finding that his stronghold was no longer tenable, he contrived to make his escape, leaving the nest to the imperialists empty of its bird. three years ernst remained in prison. then conrad restored him to liberty, perhaps moved by the appeals of his mother gisela, and promised to restore him to his dukedom of swabia if he would betray the secret of the retreat of werner, who was still at large despite all efforts to take him. this request touched deeply the honor of the deposed duke. it was much to regain his ducal station; it was more to remain true to the fugitive who had trusted and aided him in his need. "how can i betray my only true friend?" asked the unfortunate duke, with touching pathos. his faithfulness was not appreciated by the emperor and his nobles. they placed ernst under the ban of the empire, and thus deprived him of rank, wealth, and property, reducing him by a word from high estate to abject beggary. his life and liberty were left him, but nothing more, and, driven by despair, he sought the retreat of his fugitive friend werner, who had taken refuge in the depths of the black forest. here the two outlaws, deprived of all honest means of livelihood, became robbers, and entered upon a life of plunder, exacting contributions from all subjects of the empire who fell into their hands. they soon found a friend in adalbert of falkenstein, who gave them the use of his castle as a stronghold and centre of operations, and joined them with his followers in their freebooting raids. for a considerable time the robber chiefs maintained themselves in their new mode of life, sallying from the castle, laying the country far and wide under contribution, and returning to the fortress for safety from pursuit. their exactions became in time so annoying, that the castle was besieged by a strong force of swabians, headed by count mangold of veringen, and the freebooters were closely confined within their walls. impatient of this, a sally in force was made by the garrison, headed by the two robber chiefs, and an obstinate contest ensued. the struggle ended in the death of mangold on the one side and of ernst and werner on the other, with the definite defeat and dispersal of the robber band. thus ended an interesting episode of mediæval german history. but the valor and misfortunes of duke ernst did not die unsung. he became a popular hero, and the subject of many a ballad, in which numerous adventures were invented for him during his career as an opponent of the emperor and an outlaw in the black forest. for the step-son of an emperor to be reduced to such a strait was indeed an event likely to arouse public interest and sympathy, and for centuries the doings of the robber duke were sung. in the century after his death the imagination of the people went to extremes in their conception of the adventures of duke ernst, mixing up ideas concerning him with fancies derived from the crusades, the whole taking form in a legend which is still preserved in the popular ballad literature of germany. this strange conception takes ernst to the east, where he finds himself opposed by terrific creatures in human and brute form, they being allegorical representations of his misfortunes. each monster signifies an enemy. he reaches a black mountain, which represents his prison. he is borne into the clouds by an old man; this is typical of his ambition. his ship is wrecked on the magnet mountain; a personification of his contest with the emperor. the nails fly out of the ship and it falls to pieces; an emblem of the falling off of his vassals. there are other adventures, and the whole circle of legends is a curious one, as showing the vagaries of imagination, and the strong interest taken by the people in the fortunes and misfortunes of their chieftains. _the reign of otho ii._ otho ii., emperor of germany,--otho the red, as he was called, from his florid complexion,--succeeded to the western empire in , when in his eighteenth year of age. his reign was to be a short and active one, and attended by adventures and fluctuations of fortune which render it worthy of description. few monarchs have experienced so many of the ups and downs of life within the brief period of five years, through which his wars extended. as heir to the imperial title of charlemagne, he was lord of the ancient palace of the great emperor, at aix-la-chapelle, and here held court at the feast of st. john in the year . all was peace and festivity within the old imperial city, all war and threat without it. while otho and his courtiers, knights and ladies, lords and minions, were enjoying life with ball and banquet, feast and frivolity, in true palatial fashion, an army was marching secretly upon them, with treacherous intent to seize the emperor and his city at one full swoop. lothaire, king of france, had in haste and secrecy collected an army, and, without a declaration of hostilities, was hastening, by forced marches, upon aix-la-chapelle. it was an act of treachery utterly undeserving of success. but it is not always the deserving to whom success comes, and otho heard of the rapid approach of this army barely in time to take to flight, with his fear-winged flock of courtiers at his heels, leaving the city an easy prey to the enemy. lothaire entered the city without a blow, plundered it as if he had taken it by storm, and ordered that the imperial eagle, which was erected in the grand square of charles the great, should have its beak turned westward, in token that lorraine now belonged to france. doubtless the great eagle turned creakingly on its support, thus moved by the hand of unkingly perfidy, and impatiently awaited for time and the tide of affairs to turn its beak again to the east. it had not long to wait. the fugitive emperor hastily called a diet of the princes and nobles at dortmund, told them in impassioned eloquence of the faithless act of the french king, and called upon them for aid against the treacherous lothaire. little appeal was needed. the honor of germany was concerned. setting aside all the petty squabbles which rent the land, the indignant princes gathered their forces and placed them under otho's command. by the st of october the late fugitive found himself at the head of a considerable army, and prepared to take revenge on his perfidious enemy. into france he marched, and made his way with little opposition, by rheims and soissons, until the french capital lay before his eyes. here the army encamped on the right bank of the seine, around montmartre, while their cavalry avenged the plundering of aix-la-chapelle by laying waste the country for many miles around. the french were evidently as little prepared for otho's activity as he had been for lothaire's treachery, and did not venture beyond the walls of their city, leaving the country a defenceless prey to the revengeful anger of the emperor. the seine lay between the two armies, but not a frenchman ventured to cross its waters; the garrison of the city, under hugh capet,--count of paris, and soon to become the founder of a new dynasty of french kings,--keeping closely within its walls. these walls proved too strong for the germans, and as winter was approaching, and there was much sickness among his troops, the emperor retreated, after having devastated all that region of france. but first he kept a vow that he had made, that he would cause the parisians to hear a _te deum_ such as they had never heard before. in pursuance of this vow, he gathered upon the hill of montmartre all the clergymen whom he could seize, and forced them to sing his anthem of victory with the full power of their lungs. then, having burned the suburbs of paris, and left his lance quivering in the city gate, he withdrew in triumph, having amply punished the treacherous french king. aix-la-chapelle fell again into his hands; the eyes of the imperial eagle were permitted once more to gaze upon germany, and in the treaty of peace that followed lorraine was declared to be forever a part of the german realm. two years afterwards otho, infected by that desire to conquer italy which for centuries afterwards troubled the dreams of german emperors, and brought them no end of trouble, crossed the alps and descended upon the italian plains, from which he was never to return. northern italy was already in german hands, but the greeks held possessions in the south which otho claimed, in view of the fact that he had married theophania, the daughter of the greek emperor at constantinople. to enforce this claim he marched upon the greek cities, which in their turn made peace with the arabs, with whom they had been at war, and gathered garrisons of these bronzed pagans alike from sicily and africa. for two years the war continued, the advantage resting with otho. in he reached rome, and there had a secret interview with hugh capet, whom he sustained in his intention to seize the throne of france, still held by his old enemy lothaire. in he captured naples, taranto, and other cities, and in a pitched battle near cotrona defeated the greeks and their arab allies. abn al casem, the terror of southern italy, and numbers of his arab followers, were left dead upon the field. on the th of july, , the emperor again met the greeks and their arab allies in battle, and now occurred that singular adventure and reverse of fortune which has made this engagement memorable. the battle took place at a point near the sea-shore, in the vicinity of basantello, not far from taranto, and at first went to the advantage of the imperial forces. they attacked the greeks with great impetuosity, and, after a stubborn defence, broke through their ranks, and forced them into a retreat, which was orderly conducted. it was now mid-day. the victors, elated with their success and their hopes of pillage, followed the retreating columns along the banks of the river corace, feeling so secure that they laid aside their arms and marched leisurely and confidently forward. it was a fatal confidence. at one point in their march the road led between the river and a ridge of serried rocks, which lay silent beneath the mid-day sun. but silent as they seemed, they were instinct with life. an ambuscade of arabs crouched behind them, impatiently waiting the coming of the unsuspecting germans. suddenly the air pealed with sound, the "allah il allah!" of the fanatical arabs; suddenly the startled eyes of the imperialists saw the rugged rocks bursting, as it seemed, into life; suddenly a horde of dusky warriors poured down upon them with scimitar and javelin, surrounding them quickly on all sides, cutting and slashing their way deeply into the disordered ranks. the scattered troops, stricken with dismay, fell in hundreds. in their surprise and confusion they became easy victims to their agile foes, and in a short time nearly the whole of that recently victorious army were slain or taken prisoners. of the entire force only a small number broke through the lines of their environing foes. the emperor escaped almost by miracle. his trusty steed bore him unharmed through the crowding arabs. he was sharply pursued, but the swift animal distanced the pursuers, and before long he reached the sea-shore, over whose firm sands he guided his horse, though with little hope of escaping his active foes. fortunately, he soon perceived a greek vessel at no great distance from the shore, a vision which held out to him a forlorn hope of escape. the land was perilous; the sea might be more propitious; he forced his faithful animal into the water, and swam towards the vessel, in the double hope of being rescued and remaining unknown. he was successful in both particulars. the crew willingly took him on board, ignorant of his high rank, but deeming him to be a knight of distinction, from whom they could fairly hope for a handsome ransom. his situation was still a dangerous one, should he become known, and he could not long hope to remain incognito. in truth, there was a slave on board who knew him, but who, for purposes of his own, kept the perilous secret. he communicated by stealth with the emperor, told him of his recognition, and arranged with him a plan of escape. in pursuance of this he told the greeks that their captive was a chamberlain of the emperor, a statement which otho confirmed, and added that he had valuable treasures at rossano, which, if they would sail thither, they might take on board as his ransom. the greek mariners, deceived by the specious tale, turned their vessel's prow towards rossano, and on coming near that city, shifted their course towards the shore. otho had been eagerly awaiting this opportunity. when they had approached sufficiently near to the land, he suddenly sprang from the deck into the sea, and swam ashore with a strength and swiftness that soon brought him to the strand. in a short time afterwards he entered rossano, then held by his forces, and joined his queen, who had been left in that city. this singular adventure is told with a number of variations by the several writers who have related it, most of them significant of the love of the marvellous of the old chroniclers. one writer tells us that the escaping emperor was pursued and attacked by the greek boatmen, and that he killed forty of them with the aid of a soldier, named probus, whom he met on the shore. by another we are told that the greeks recognized him, that he enticed them to the shore by requesting them to take on board his wife and treasures, which had been left at rossano, and that he sent young men on board disguised as female attendants of his wife, by whose aid he seized the vessel. all the stories agree, however, in saying that theophania jeeringly asked the emperor whether her countrymen had not put him in mortal fear,--a jest for which the germans never forgave her. to return to the domain of fact, we have but further to tell that the emperor, full of grief and vexation at the loss of his army, and the slaughter of many of the german and italian princes and nobles who had accompanied him, returned to upper italy, with the purpose of collecting another army. all his conquests in the south had fallen again into the hands of the enemy, and his work remained to be done over again. he held a grand assembly in verona, in which he had his son otho, three years old, elected as his successor. from there he proceeded to rome, in which city he was attacked by a violent fever, brought on by the grief and excitement into which his reverses had thrown his susceptible and impatient mind. he died december , , and was buried in the church of st. peter, at rome. the fancy of the chroniclers has surrounded his death with legends, which are worth repeating as curious examples of what mediæval writers offered and mediæval readers accepted as history. one of them tells the story of a naval engagement between otho and the greeks, in which the fight was so bitter that the whole sea around the vessels was stained red with blood. the emperor won the victory, but received a mortal wound. another story, which does not trouble itself to sail very close to the commonplace, relates that otho met his end by being whipped to death on mount garganus by the angels, among whom he had imprudently ventured while they were holding a conclave there. these stories will serve as examples of the degree of credibility of many of the ancient chronicles and the credulity of their readers. _the fortunes of henry the fourth._ at the festival of easter, in the year , a great banquet was given in the royal palace at kaiserswerth, on the rhine. the empress agnes, widow of henry iii., and regent of the empire, was present, with her son, then a boy of eleven. a pious and learned woman was the empress, but she lacked the energy necessary to control the unquiet spirits of her times. gentleness and persuasion were the means by which she hoped to influence the rude dukes and haughty archbishops of the empire, but qualities such as these were wasted on her fierce subjects, and served but to gain her the contempt of some and the dislike of others. a plot to depose the weakly-mild regent and govern the empire in the name of the youthful monarch was made by three men, otto of norheim, the greatest general of the state, ekbert of meissen, its most valiant knight, and hanno, archbishop of cologne, its leading churchman. these three men were present at the banquet, which they had fixed upon as the occasion for carrying out their plot. the feast over, the three men rose and walked with the boy monarch to a window of the palace that overlooked the rhine. on the waters before them rode at anchor a handsome vessel, which the child looked upon with eyes of delight. [illustration: scene of monastic life.] "would you like to see it closer?" asked hanno. "i will take you on board, if you wish." "oh, will you?" pleaded the boy. "i shall be so glad." the three conspirators walked with him to the stream, and rowed out to the vessel, the empress viewing them without suspicion of their design. but her doubts were aroused when she saw that the anchor had been raised and that the sails of the vessel were being set. filled with sudden alarm she left the palace and hastened to the shore, just as the kidnapping craft began to move down the waters of the stream. at the same moment young henry, who had until now been absorbed in gazing delightedly about the vessel, saw what was being done, and heard his mother's cries. with courage and resolution unusual for his years he broke, with a cry of anger, from those surrounding him, and leaped into the stream, with the purpose of swimming ashore. but hardly had he touched the water when count ekbert sprang in after him, seized him despite his struggles, and brought him back to the vessel. the empress entreated in pitiful accents for the return of her son, but in vain; the captors of the boy were not of the kind to let pity interfere with their plans; on down the broad stream glided the vessel, the treacherous vassals listening in silence to the agonized appeals of the distracted mother, and to the mingled prayers and demands of the young emperor to be taken back. the country people, furious on learning that the emperor had been stolen, and was being carried away before their eyes, pursued the vessel for some distance on both sides of the river. but their cries and threats were of no more avail than had been the mother's tears and prayers. the vessel moved on with increasing speed, the three kidnappers erect on its deck, their only words being those used to cajole and quiet their unhappy prisoner, whom they did their utmost to solace by promises and presents. the vessel continued its course until it reached cologne, where the imperial captive was left under the charge of the archbishop, his two confederates fully trusting him to keep close watch and ward over their precious prize. the empress was of the same opinion. after vainly endeavoring to regain her lost son from his powerful captors, she resigned the regency and retired with a broken heart to an italian convent, in which the remainder of her sad life was to be passed. the unhappy boy soon learned that his new lot was not to be one of pleasure. he had a life of severe discipline before him. bishop hanno was a stern and rigid disciplinarian, destitute of any of the softness to which the lad had been accustomed, and disposed to rule all under his control with a rod of iron. he kept his youthful captive strictly immured in the cloister, where he had to endure the severest discipline, while being educated in latin and the other learning of the age. the regency given up by agnes was instantly assumed by the ambitious churchman, and a decree to that effect was quickly passed by the lords of the diet, on the grounds that hanno was the bishop of the diocese in which the emperor resided. the character of hanno is variously represented by historians. while some accuse him of acts of injustice and cruelty, others speak of him as a man of energy, yet one whose holy life, his paternal care for his see, and his zealous reformation of monasteries and foundation of churches, gained him the character of a saint. young henry remained but a year or two in the hands of this stern taskmaster. an imperative necessity called hanno to italy, and he was obliged to leave the young monarch under the charge of adalbert, archbishop of bremen, a personage of very different character from himself. adalbert, while a churchman of great ability, was a courtier full of ambitious views. he was one of the most polished and learned men of his time, at once handsome, witty, and licentious, his character being in the strongest contrast to the stern harshness of hanno and the coarse manners of the nobles of that period. it would have been far better, however, for henry could he have remained under the control of hanno, with all his severity. it is true that the kindness and gentleness of adalbert proved a delightful change to the growing boy, and the unlimited liberty he now enjoyed was in pleasant contrast to his recent restraint, while the gravity and severe study of hanno's cloister were agreeably replaced by the gay freedom of adalbert's court, in which the most serious matters were treated as lightly as a jest. but the final result of the change was that the boy's character became thoroughly corrupted. adalbert surrounded his youthful charge with constant alluring amusements, using the influence thus gained to obtain new power in the state for himself, and places of honor and profit for his partisans. he inspired him also with a contempt for the rude-mannered dukes of the empire, and for what he called the stupid german people, while he particularly filled the boy's mind with a dislike for the saxons, with whom the archbishop was at feud. all this was to have an important influence on the future life of the growing monarch. it was more henry's misfortune than his fault that he grew up to manhood as a compound of sensuality, levity, malice, treachery, and other mean qualities, for his nature had in it much that was good, and in his after-life he displayed noble qualities which had been long hidden under the corrupting faults of his education. the crime of the ambitious nobles who stole him from his pious and gentle mother went far to ruin his character, and was the leading cause of the misfortunes of his life. as to the character of the youthful monarch, and its influence upon the people, a few words may suffice. his licentious habits soon became a scandal and shame to the whole empire, the more so that the mistresses with whom he surrounded himself were seen in public adorned with gold and precious stones which had been taken from the consecrated vessels of the church. his dislike of the saxons was manifested in the scorn with which he treated this section of his people, and the taxes and enforced labors with which they were oppressed. the result of all this was an outbreak of rebellion. hanno, who had beheld with grave disapproval the course taken by adalbert, now exerted his great influence in state affairs, convoked an assembly of the princes of the empire, and cited henry to appear before it. on his refusal, his palace was surrounded and his person seized, while adalbert narrowly escaped being made prisoner. he was obliged to remain in concealment during the three succeeding years, while the indignant saxons, taking advantage of the opportunity for revenge, laid waste his lands. the licentious young ruler found his career of open vice brought to a sudden end. the stern hanno was again in power. under his orders the dissolute courtiers were dispersed, and henry was compelled to lead a more decorous life, a bride being found for him in the person of bertha, daughter of the italian margrave of susa, to whom he had at an earlier date been affianced. she was a woman of noble spirit, but, unfortunately, was wanting in personal beauty, in consequence of which she soon became an object of extreme dislike to her husband, a dislike which her patience and fidelity seemed rather to increase than to diminish. the feeling of the young monarch towards his dutiful wife was overcome in a singular manner, which is well worth describing. henry at first was eager to free himself from the tie that bound him to the unloved bertha, a resolution in which he was supported by siegfried, archbishop of mayence, who offered to assist him in getting a divorce. at a diet held at worms, henry demanded a separation from his wife, to whom he professed an unconquerable aversion. his efforts, however, were frustrated by the pope's legate, who arrived in germany during these proceedings, and the licentious monarch, finding himself foiled in these legal steps, sought to gain his end by baser means. he caused beautiful women and maidens to be seized in their homes and carried to his palace as ministers to his pleasure, while he exposed the unhappy empress to the base solicitations of his profligate companions, offering them large sums if they could ensnare her, in her natural revulsion at his shameless unfaithfulness. but the virtue of bertha was proof against all such wiles, and the story goes that she turned the tables on her vile-intentioned husband in an amusing and decisive manner. on one occasion, as we are informed, the empress appeared to listen to the solicitations of one of the would-be seducers, and appointed a place and time for a secret meeting with this profligate. the triumphant courtier duly reported his success to henry, who, overjoyed, decided to replace him in disguise. at the hour fixed he appeared and entered the chamber named by bertha, when he suddenly found himself assailed by a score of stout servant-maids, armed with rods, which they laid upon his back with all the vigor of their arms. the surprised lothario ran hither and thither to escape their blows, crying out that he was the king. in vain his cries; they did not or would not believe him; and not until he had been most soundly beaten, and their arms were weary with the exercise, did they open the door of the apartment and suffer the crest-fallen reprobate to escape. this would seem an odd means of gaining the affection of a truant husband, but it is said to have had this effect upon henry, his wronged wife from that moment gaining a place in his heart, into which she had fairly cudgelled herself. the man was really of susceptible disposition, and her invincible fidelity had at length touched him, despite himself. from that moment he ceased his efforts to get rid of her, treated her with more consideration, and finally settled down to the fact that a beautiful character was some atonement for a homely face, and that bertha was a woman well worthy his affection. we have now to describe the most noteworthy event in the life of henry iv., and the one which has made his name famous in history,--his contest with the great ecclesiastic hildebrand, who had become pope under the title of gregory vii. though an aged man when raised to the papacy, gregory's vigorous character displayed itself in a remarkable activity in the enhancement of the power of the church. his first important step was directed against the scandals of the priesthood in the matter of celibacy, the marriage of priests having become common. a second decree of equal importance followed. gregory forbade the election of bishops by the laity, reserving this power to the clergy, under confirmation by the pope. he further declared that the church was independent of the state, and that the extensive lands held by the bishops were the property of the church, and free from control by the monarch. these radical decrees naturally aroused a strong opposition, in the course of which henry came into violent controversy with the pope. gregory accused henry openly of simony, haughtily bade him to come to rome, and excommunicated the bishops who had been guilty of the same offence. the emperor, who did not know the man with whom he had to deal, retorted by calling an assembly of the german bishops at worms, in which the pope was declared to be deposed from his office. the result was very different from that looked for by the volatile young ruler. the vigorous and daring pontiff at once placed henry himself under interdict, releasing his subjects from their oath of allegiance, and declaring him deprived of the imperial dignity. the scorn with which the emperor heard of this decree was soon changed to terror when he perceived its effect upon his people. the days were not yet come in which the voice of the pope could be disregarded. with the exception of the people of the cities and the free peasantry, who were opposed to the papal dominion, all the subjects of the empire deserted henry, avoiding him as though he were infected with the plague. the saxons flew to arms; the foreign garrisons were expelled; the imprisoned princes were released; all the enemies whom henry had made rose against him; and in a diet, held at oppenheim, the emperor was declared deposed while the interdict continued, and the pope was invited to visit augsburg; in order to settle the affairs of germany. the election of a successor to henry was even proposed, and, to prevent him from communicating with the pope, his enemies passed a decree that he should remain in close residence at spires. the situation of the recently great monarch had suddenly become desperate. never had a decree of excommunication against a crowned ruler been so completely effective. the frightened emperor saw but one hope left, to escape to italy before the princes could prevent him, and obtain release from the interdict at any cost, and with whatever humiliation it might involve. with this end in view he at once took to flight, accompanied by bertha, his infant son, and a single knight, and made his way with all haste towards the alps. the winter was one of the coldest that germany had ever known, the rhine remaining frozen from st. martin's day of to april, . about christmas of this severe winter the fugitives reached the snow-covered alps, having so far escaped the agents of their enemies, and crossed the mountains by the st. bernard pass, the difficulty of the journey being so great that the empress had to be slid down the precipitous paths by ropes in the hands of guides, she being wrapped in an ox-hide for protection. italy was at length reached, after the greatest dangers and hardships had been surmounted. here henry, much to his surprise, found prevailing a very different spirit from that which he had left behind him. the nobles, who cordially hated gregory, and the bishops, many of whom were under interdict, hailed his coming with joy, with the belief "that the emperor was coming to humiliate the haughty pope by the power of the sword." he might soon have had an army at his back, but that he was too thoroughly downcast to think of anything but conciliation, and to the disgust of the italians insisted on humiliating himself before the powerful pontiff. gregory was little less alarmed than the emperor on learning of henry's sudden arrival in italy. he was then on his way to augsburg, and, in doubt as to the intentions of his enemy, took hasty refuge in the castle of canossa, then held by the countess matilda, recently a widow, and the most powerful and influential princess in italy. but the alarmed pope was astonished and gratified when he learned that the emperor, instead of intending an armed assault upon him, had applied to the countess matilda, asking her to intercede in his behalf with the pontiff. gregory's acute mind quickly perceived the position in which henry stood, and, with great severity, he at first refused to speak of a reconciliation, but referred all to the diet; then, on renewed entreaties, he consented to receive henry at canossa, if he would come alone, and as a penitent. the castle was surrounded with three walls, within the second of which henry was admitted, his attendants being left without. he had laid aside every badge of royalty, being clothed in penitential dress and barefoot, and fasting and praying from morning to evening. for a second and even a third day was he thus kept, and not until the fourth day, moved at length by the solicitations of matilda and those about him, did gregory grant permission for henry to enter his presence. an interview now took place, in which the pope consented to release the penitent emperor from the interdict. one of the conditions of this release was he should leave to gregory the settlement of affairs in germany, and to give up all exercise of his imperial power until he should be granted permission to exercise it again. this agreement was followed by a solemn mass, after which gregory spoke to the following effect: as regarded the crimes of which henry had accused him, he could easily bring evidence in disproof of the charges made, but he would invoke the judgment of god alone. "may the body of jesus christ, which i am about to receive," he said, "be the witness of my innocence. i beseech the almighty thus to dispel all suspicions, if i am innocent; to strike me dead on the spot, if guilty." he then received one-half the sacred host, and turning to the king, offered him the remaining half, bidding him to follow his example, if he held himself to be guiltless. henry refused the ordeal, doubtless because he did not dare to risk the penalty, and was glad enough to escape from the presence of the pope, a humble penitent. this ended henry's career of humiliation. it was followed by a period of triumph. on leaving the castle of canossa he found the people of lombardy so indignant at his cowardice, that their scorn induced him to break the oath he had just taken, gather an army, and assail the castle, in which he shut up the pope so closely that he could neither proceed to augsburg nor return to rome. this siege, however, was not of long continuance. henry soon found himself recalled to germany, where his enemies had elected rudolf, duke of swabia, emperor in his stead. a war broke out, which continued for several years, at the end of which gregory, encouraged by a temporary success of rudolf's party, pronounced in his favor, invested him with the empire as a fief of the papacy, and once more excommunicated henry. it proved a false move. henry had now learned his own power, and ceased to fear the pope. he had strong support in the cities and among the clergy, whom gregory's severity had offended, and immediately convoked a council, by which the pope was again deposed, and the archbishop of ravenna elected in his stead, under the title of clement iii. in this year, , a battle took place in which rudolf was mortally wounded, and the party opposed to henry left without a leader, though the war continued. and now henry, seeing that he could trust his cause in germany to the hands of his lieutenants, determined to march upon his pontifical foe in italy, and take revenge for his bitter humiliation at canossa. he crossed the alps, defeated the army which matilda had raised in the pope's cause, and laid siege to rome, a siege which continued without success for the long period of three years. at length the city was taken, wilprecht von groitsch, a saxon knight, mounting the walls, and making his way with his followers into the city, aided by treachery from within. gregory hastily shut himself up in the castle of st. angelo, in which he was besieged by the romans themselves, and from which he bade defiance to henry with the same inflexible will as ever. henry offered to be reconciled with him if he would crown him, but the vigorous old pontiff replied that, "he could only communicate with him when he had given satisfaction to god and the church." the emperor, thereupon, called the rival pope, clement, to rome, was crowned by him, and returned to germany, leaving clement in the papal chair and gregory still shut up in st. angelo. but a change quickly took place in the fortunes of the indomitable old pope. robert guiscard, duke of normandy, who had won for himself a principality in lower italy, now marched to the relief of his friend gregory, stormed and took the city at the head of his norman freebooters, and at once began the work of pillage, in disregard of gregory's remonstrances. the result was an unusual one. the citizens of rome, made desperate by their losses, gathered in multitudes and drove the plunderers from their city, and gregory with them. the normans, thus expelled, took the pope to salerno, where he died the following year, , his last words being, "i have loved justice and hated iniquity, therefore do i die in exile." as for his imperial enemy, the remainder of his life was one of incessant war. years of battle were needed to put down his enemies in the state, and his triumph was quickly followed by the revolt of his own son, henry, who reduced his father so greatly that the old emperor was thrown into prison and forced to sign an abdication of the throne. it is said that he became subsequently so reduced that he was forced to sell his boots to obtain means of subsistence, but this story may reasonably be doubted. henry died in , again under excommunication, so that he was not formally buried in consecrated ground until , the interdict being continued for five years after his death. _anecdotes of mediÆval germany._ the wives of weinsberg. in the year of grace a german army, under conrad iii., emperor, laid siege to the small town of weinsberg, the garrison of which resisted with a most truculent and disloyal obstinacy. germany, which for centuries before and after was broken into warring factions, to such extent that its emperors could truly say, "uneasy lies the head that wears a crown," was then divided between the two strong parties of the welfs and the waiblingers,--or the guelphs and the ghibellines, as pronounced by the italians and better known to us. the welfs were a noble family whose ancestry could be traced back to the days of charlemagne. the waiblingers derived their name from the town of waiblingen, which belonged to the hohenstaufen family, of which the emperor conrad was a representative. and now, as often before and after, the guelphs, and ghibellines were at war, duke welf holding weinsberg vigorously against his foes of the imperial party, while his relative, count welf of altorf, marched to his relief. a battle ensued between emperor and count, which ended in the triumph of the emperor and the flight of the count. and this battle is worthy of mention, as distinguished from the hundreds of battles which are unworthy of mention, from the fact that in it was first heard a war-cry which continued famous for centuries afterwards. the german war-cry preceding this period had been "kyrie eleison" ("lord, have mercy upon us!" a pious invocation hardly in place with men who had little mercy upon their enemies). but now the cry of the warring factions became "hie weif," "hie waiblinger," softened in italy into "the guelph," "the ghibelline," battle-shouts which were long afterwards heard on the field of german war, and on that of italy as well, for the factions of germany became also the factions of this southern realm. so much for the origin of guelph and ghibelline, of which we may further say that a royal representative of the former party still exists, in king edward vii. of england, who traces his descent from the german welfs. and now to return to the siege of weinsberg, to which conrad returned after having disposed of the army of relief. the garrison still were far from being in a submissive mood, their defence being so obstinate, and the siege so protracted, that the emperor, incensed by their stubborn resistance, vowed that he would make their city a frightful example to all his foes, by subjecting its buildings to the brand and its inhabitants to the sword. fire and steel, he said, should sweep it from the face of the earth. [illustration: thusnelda in the germanicus triumph.] weinsberg at length was compelled to yield, and conrad, hot with anger, determined that his cruel resolution should be carried out to the letter, the men being put to the sword, the city given to the flames. this harsh decision filled the citizens with terror and despair. a deputation was sent to the angry emperor, humbly praying for pardon, but he continued inflexible, the utmost concession he would make being that the women might withdraw, as he did not war with them. as for the men, they had offended him beyond forgiveness, and the sword should be their lot. on further solicitation, he added to the concession a proviso that the women might take away with them all that they could carry of their most precious possessions, since he did not wish to throw them destitute upon the world. the obdurate emperor was to experience an unexampled surprise. when the time fixed for the departure of the women arrived, and the city gates were thrown open for their exit, to the astonishment of conrad, and the admiration of the whole army, the first to appear was the duchess, who, trembling under the weight, bore upon her shoulders duke welf, her husband. after her came a long line of other women, each bending beneath the heavy burden of her husband, or some dear relative among the condemned citizens. never had such a spectacle been seen. so affecting an instance of heroism was it, and so earnest and pathetic were the faces appealingly upturned to him, that the emperor's astonishment quickly changed to admiration, and he declared that women like these had fairly earned their reward, and that each should keep the treasure she had borne. there were those around him with less respect for heroic deeds, who sought to induce him to keep his original resolution, but conrad, who had it in him to be noble when not moved by passion, curtly silenced them with the remark, "an emperor keeps his word." he was so moved by the scene, indeed, that he not only spared the men, but the whole city, and the doom of sword and brand, vowed against their homes, was withdrawn through admiration of the noble act of the worthy wives of weinsberg. a king in a quandary. from an old chronicle we extract the following story, which is at once curious and interesting, as a picture of mediæval manners and customs, though to all seeming largely legendary. henry, the bishop of utrecht, was at sword's point with two lords, those of aemstel and woerden, who hated him from the fact that a kinsman of theirs, goswin by name, had been deposed from the same see, through the action of a general chapter. in reprisal these lords, in alliance with the count of gebria, raided and laid waste the lands of the bishopric. time and again they visited it with plundering bands, henry manfully opposing them with his followers, but suffering much from their incursions. at length the affair ended in a peculiar compact, in which both sides agreed to submit their differences to the wager of war, in a pitched battle, which was to be held on a certain day in the green meadows adjoining utrecht. when the appointed day came both sides assembled with their vassals, the lords full of hope, the bishop exhorting his followers to humble the arrogance of these plundering nobles. the archbishop of cologne was in the city of utrecht at the time, having recently visited it. he, as warlike in disposition as the bishop himself, gave henry a precious ring, saying to him,-- "my son, be courageous and confident, for this day, through the intercession of the holy confessor st. martin, and through the virtue of this ring, thou shalt surely subdue the pride of thy adversaries, and obtain a renowned victory over them. in the meantime, while thou art seeking justice, i will faithfully defend this city, with its priests and canons, in thy behalf, and will offer up prayers to the lord of hosts for thy success." bishop henry, his confidence increased by these words, led from the gates a band of fine and well armed warriors to the sound of warlike trumpets, and marched to the field, where he drew them up before the bands of the hostile lords. meanwhile, tidings of this fray had been borne to william, king of the romans, who felt it his duty to put an end to it, as such private warfare was forbidden by law. hastily collecting all the knights and men-at-arms he could get together without delay, he marched with all speed to utrecht, bent upon enforcing peace between the rival bands. as it happened, the army of the king reached the northern gate of the city just as the bishop's battalion had left the southern gate, the one party marching in as the other marched out. the archbishop, who had undertaken the defence of the city, and as yet knew nothing of this royal visit, after making an inspection of the city under his charge, gave orders to the porters to lock and bar all the gates, and keep close guard thereon. king william was not long in learning that he was somewhat late, the bishop having left the city. he marched hastily to the southern gate to pursue him, but only to find that he was himself in custody, the gates being firmly locked and the keys missing. he waited awhile impatiently. no keys were brought. growing angry at this delay, he gave orders that the bolts and bars should be wrenched from the gates, and efforts to do this were begun. while this was going on, the archbishop was in deep affliction. he had just learned that the king was in utrecht with an army, and imagined that he had come with hostile purpose, and had taken the city through the carelessness of the porters. followed by his clergy, he hastened to where the king was trying to force a passage through the gates, and addressed him appealingly, reminding him that justice and equity were due from kings to subjects. "your armed bands, i fear, have taken this city," he said, "and you have ordered the locks to be broken that you may expel the inhabitants, and replace them with persons favorable to your own interests. if you propose to act thus against justice and mercy, you injure me, your chancellor, and lessen your own honor. i exhort you, therefore, to restore me the city which you have unjustly taken, and relieve the inhabitants from violence." the king listened in silence and surprise to this harangue, which was much longer than we have given it. at its end, he said,-- "venerable pastor and bishop, you have much mistaken my errand in utrecht. i come here in the cause of justice, not of violence. you know that it is the duty of kings to repress wars and punish the disturbers of peace. it is this that brings us here, to put an end to the private war which we learn is being waged. as it stands, we have not conquered the city, but it has conquered us. to convince you that no harm is meant to bishop henry and his good city of utrecht, we will command our men to repair to their hostels, lay down their arms, and pass their time in festivity. but first the purpose for which we have come must be accomplished, and this private feud be brought to an end." that the worthy archbishop was delighted to hear these words, need not be said. his fears had not been without sound warrant, for those were days in which kings were not to be trusted, and in which the cities maintained a degree of political independence that often proved inconvenient to the throne. as may be imagined, the keys were quickly forthcoming and the gates thrown open, the king being relieved from his involuntary detention, and given an opportunity to bring the bishop's battle to an end. he was too late; it had already reached its end. while king william was striving to get out of the city, which he had got into with such ease, the fight in the green meadows between the bishops and the lords had been concluded, the warlike churchman coming off victor. many of the lords' vassals had been killed, more put to flight, and themselves taken prisoners. at the vesper-bell henry entered the city with his captives, bound with ropes, and was met at the gates by the king and the archbishop. at the request of king william he pardoned and released his prisoners, on their promise to cease molesting his lands, and all ended in peace and good will. courting by proxy. frederick von stauffen, known as the one-eyed, being desirous of providing his son frederick (afterwards the famous emperor frederick barbarossa) with a wife, sent as envoy for that purpose a handsome young man named johann von würtemberg, whose attractions of face and manner had made him a general favorite. it was the beautiful daughter of rudolf von zähringen who had been selected as a suitable bride for the future emperor, but when the handsome ambassador stated the purpose of his visit to the father, he was met by rudolf with the joking remark, "why don't you court the damsel for yourself?" the suggestion was much to the taste of the envoy. he took it seriously, made love for himself to the attractive princess anna, and won her love and the consent of her father, who had been greatly pleased with his handsome and lively visitor, and was quite ready to confirm in earnest what he had begun in jest. frederick, the one-eyed, still remained to deal with, but that worthy personage seems to have taken the affair as a good joke, and looked up another bride for his son, leaving to johann the maiden he had won. this story has been treated as fabulous, but it is said to be well founded. it has been repeated in connection with other persons, notably in the case of captain miles standish and john alden, in which case the fair maiden herself is given the credit of admonishing the envoy to court for himself. it is very sure, however, that this latter story is a fable. it was probably founded on the one we have given. the bishop's wine-casks. adalbert of treves was a bandit chief of note who, in the true fashion of the robber barons of mediæval germany, dwelt in a strong-walled castle, which was garrisoned by a numerous band of men-at-arms, as fond of pillage as their leader, and equally ready to follow him on his plundering expeditions and to defend his castle against his enemies. our noble brigand paid particular heed to the domain of peppo, bishop of treves, whose lands he honored with frequent unwelcome visits, despoiling lord and vassal alike, and hastening back from his raids to the shelter of his castle walls. this was not the most agreeable state of affairs for the worthy bishop, though how it was to be avoided did not clearly appear. it probably did not occur to him to apply to the emperor, henry ii., the mediæval german emperors having too much else on hand to leave them time to attend to matters of minor importance. peppo therefore naturally turned to his own kinsmen, friends, and vassals, as those most likely to afford him aid. bishop peppo could wield sword and battle-axe with the best bishop, which is almost equivalent to saying with the best warrior, of his day, and did not fail to use, when occasion called, these carnal weapons. but something more than the battle-axes of himself and vassals was needed to break through the formidable walls of adalbert's stronghold, which frowned defiance to the utmost force the bishop could muster. force alone would not answer, that was evident. stratagem was needed to give effect to brute strength. if some way could only be devised to get through the strong gates of the robber's stronghold, and reach him behind his bolts and bars, all might be well; otherwise, all was ill. in this dilemma, a knightly vassal of the bishop, tycho by name, undertook to find a passage into the castle of adalbert, and to punish him for his pillaging. one day tycho presented himself at the gate of the castle, knocked loudly thereon, and on the appearance of the guard, asked him for a sup of something to drink, being, as he said, overcome with thirst. he did not ask in vain. it is a pleasant illustration of the hospitality of that period to learn that the traveller's demand was unhesitatingly complied with at the gate of the bandit stronghold, a brimming cup of wine being brought for the refreshment of the thirsty wayfarer. "thank your master for me," said tycho, on returning the cup, "and tell him that i shall certainly repay him with some service for his good will." with this tycho journeyed on, sought the bishopric, and told peppo what he had done and what he proposed to do. after a full deliberation a definite plan was agreed upon, which the cunning fellow proceeded to put into action. the plan was one which strongly reminds us of that adopted by the bandit chief in the arabian story of the "forty thieves," the chief difference being that here it was true men, not thieves, who were to be benefited. thirty wine casks of capacious size were prepared, and in each was placed instead of its quota of wine a stalwart warrior, fully armed with sword, shield, helmet, and cuirass. each cask was then covered with a linen cloth, and ropes were fastened to its sides for the convenience of the carriers. this done, sixty other men were chosen as carriers, and dressed as peasants, though really they were trained soldiers, and each had a sword concealed in the cask he helped to carry. the preparations completed, tycho, accompanied by a few knights and by the sixty carriers and their casks, went his way to adalbert's castle, and, as before, knocked loudly at its gates. the guard again appeared, and, on seeing the strange procession, asked who they were and for what they came. "i have come to repay your chief for the cup of wine he gave me," said tycho. "i promised that he should be well rewarded for his good will, and am here for that purpose." the warder looked longingly at the array of stout casks, and hastened with the message to adalbert, who, doubtless deeming that the gods were raining wine, for his one cup to be so amply returned, gave orders that the strangers should be admitted. accordingly the gates were opened, and the wine-bearers and knights filed in. reaching the castle hall, the casks were placed on the floor before adalbert and his chief followers, tycho begging him to accept them as a present in return for his former kindness. as to receive something for nothing was adalbert's usual mode of life, he did not hesitate to accept the lordly present, and tycho ordered the carriers to remove the coverings. in a very few seconds this was done, when out sprang the armed men, the porters seized their swords from the casks, and in a minute's time the surprised bandits found themselves sharply attacked. the stratagem proved a complete success. adalbert and his men fell victims to their credulity, and the fortress was razed to the ground. the truth of this story we cannot vouch for. it bears too suspicious a resemblance to the arabian tale to be lightly accepted as fact. but its antiquity is unquestionable, and it may be offered as a faithful picture of the conditions of those centuries of anarchy when every man's hand was for himself and might was right. _frederick barbarossa and milan._ a proud old city was milan, heavy with its weight of years, rich and powerful, arrogant and independent, the capital of lombardy and the lord of many of the lombard cities. for some twenty centuries it had existed, and now had so grown in population, wealth, and importance, that it could almost lay claim to be the rome of northern italy. but its day of pride preceded not long that of its downfall, for a new emperor had come to the german throne, frederick the red-bearded, one of the ablest, noblest, and greatest of all that have filled the imperial chair. not long had he been on the throne before, in the long-established fashion of german emperors, he began to interfere with affairs in italy, and demanded from the lombard cities recognition of his supremacy as emperor of the west. he found some of them submissive, others not so. milan received his commands with contempt, and its proud magistrates went so far as to tear the seal from the imperial edict and trample it underfoot. in frederick crossed the alps and encamped on the lombardian plain. soon deputations from some of the cities came to him with complaints about the oppression of milan, which had taken lodi, como, and other towns, and lorded it over them exasperatingly. frederick bade the proud milanese to answer these complaints, but in their arrogance they refused even to meet his envoys, and he resolved to punish them severely for their insolence. but the time was not yet. he had other matters to attend to. four years passed before he was able to devote some of his leisure to the milanese. they had in the meantime managed to offend him still more seriously, having taken the town of lodi and burnt it to the ground, for no other crime than that it had yielded him allegiance. after him marched a powerful army, nearly one hundred and twenty thousand strong, at the very sight of whose myriad of banners most of the lombard cities submitted without a blow. milan was besieged. its resistance was by no means obstinate. the emperor's principal wish was to win it over to his side, and probably the authorities of the city were aware of his lenient disposition, for they held out no long time before his besieging multitude. all that the conqueror now demanded was that the proud municipality should humble itself before him, swear allegiance, and promise not to interfere with the freedom of the smaller cities. on the th of september a procession of nobles and churchmen defiled before him, barefooted and clad in tattered garments, the consuls and patricians with swords hanging from their necks, the others with ropes round their throats, and thus, with evidence of the deepest humility, they bore to the emperor the keys of the proud city. "you must now acknowledge that it is easier to conquer by obedience than with arms," he said. then, exacting their oaths of allegiance, placing the imperial eagle upon the spire of the cathedral, and taking with him three hundred hostages, he marched away, with the confident belief that the defiant resistance of milan was at length overcome. he did not know the milanese. when, in the following year, he attempted to lay a tax upon them, they rose in insurrection and attacked his representatives with such fury that they could scarcely save their lives. on an explanation being demanded, they refused to give any, and were so arrogantly defiant that the emperor pronounced their city outlawed, and wrathfully vowed that he would never place the crown upon his head again until he had utterly destroyed this arrant nest of rebels. it was not to prove so easy a task. frederick began by besieging cremona, which was in alliance with milan, and which resisted him so obstinately that it took him seven months to reduce it to submission. in his anger he razed the city to the ground and scattered its inhabitants far and wide. then came the siege of milan, which was so vigorously defended that three years passed before starvation threw it into the emperor's hands. so virulent were the citizens that they several times tried to rid themselves of their imperial enemy by assassination. on one occasion, when frederick was performing his morning devotions in a solitary spot upon the river ada, a gigantic fellow attacked him and tried to throw him into the stream. the emperor's cries for help brought his attendants to the spot, and the assailant, in his turn, was thrown into the river. on another occasion an old, misshapen man glided into the camp, bearing poisoned wares which he sought to dispose of to the emperor. frederick, fortunately, had been forewarned, and he had the would-be assassin seized and executed. it was in the spring of that the city yielded, hunger at length forcing it to capitulate. now came the work of revenge. frederick proceeded to put into execution the harsh vow he had made, after subjecting its inhabitants to the greatest humiliations which he could devise. for three days the consuls and chief men of the city, followed by the people, were obliged to parade before the imperial camp, barefooted and dressed in sackcloth, with tapers in their hands and crosses, swords, and ropes about their necks. on the third day more than a hundred of the banners of the city were brought out and laid at the emperor's feet. then, in sign of the most utter humiliation, the great banner of their pride, the carocium--a stately iron tree with iron leaves, drawn on a cart by eight oxen--was brought out and bowed before the emperor. frederick seized and tore down its fringe, while the whole people cast themselves on the ground, wailing and imploring mercy. the emperor was incensed beyond mercy, other than to grant them their lives. he ordered that a part of the wall should be thrown down, and rode through the breach into the city. then, after deliberation, he granted the inhabitants their lives, but ordered their removal to four villages, several miles away, where they were placed under the care of imperial functionaries. as for milan, he decided that it should be levelled with the ground, and gave the right to do this, at their request, to the people of lodi, cremona, pavia, and other cities which had formerly been oppressed by proud milan. [illustration: the amphitheatre at milan.] the city was first pillaged, and then given over to the hands of the lombards, who--such was the diligence of hatred--are said to have done more in six days than hired workmen would have done in as many months. the walls and forts were torn down, the ditches filled up, and the once splendid city reduced to a frightful scene of ruin and desolation. then, at a splendid banquet at pavia, in the easter festival, the triumphant emperor replaced the crown upon his head. his triumph was not to continue, nor the humiliation of milan to remain permanent. time brings its revenges, as the proud frederick was to learn. for five years milan lay in ruins, a home for owls and bats, a scene of desolation to make all observers weep; and then arrived its season of retribution. frederick's downfall came from the hand of god, not of man. a frightful plague broke out in the ranks of the german army, then in rome, carrying off nobles and men alike in such numbers that it looked as if the whole host might be laid in the grave. thousands died, and the emperor was obliged to retire to pavia with but a feeble remnant of his numerous army, nearly the whole of it having been swept away. in the following spring he was forced to leave italy like a fugitive, secretly and in disguise, and came so nearly falling into the hands of his foes, that he only escaped by one of his companions placing himself in his bed, to be seized in his stead, while he fled under cover of the night. immediately the humbled cities raised their heads. an alliance was formed between them, and they even ventured to conduct the milanese back to their ruined homes. at once the work of rebuilding was begun. the ditches, walls, and towers were speedily restored, and then each man went to work on his own habitation. so great was the city that the work of destruction had been but partial. most of the houses, all the churches, and portions of the walls remained, and by aid of the other cities milan soon regained its old condition. in frederick reappeared in italy, with a new army, and with hostile intentions against the revolted cities. the lombards had built a new city, in a locality surrounded by rivers and marshes, and had enclosed it with walls which they sought to make impregnable. this they named alexandria, in honor of the pope and in defiance of the emperor, and against this frederick's first assault was made. for seven months he besieged it, and then broke into the very heart of the place, through a subterranean passage which the germans had excavated. to all appearance the city was lost, yet chance and courage saved it. the brave defenders attacked the germans, who had appeared in the market-place; the tunnel, through great good fortune, fell in; and in the end the emperor was forced to raise the siege in such haste that he set fire to his own encampment in his precipitate retreat. on may , , a decisive battle was fought at lignano, in which milan revenged itself on its too-rigorous enemy. the carocium was placed in the middle of the lombard army, surrounded by three hundred youths, who had sworn to defend it unto death, and by a body of nine hundred picked cavalry, who had taken a similar oath. early in the battle one wing of the lombard army wavered under the sharp attack of the germans, and threw into confusion the milanese ranks. taking advantage of this, the emperor pressed towards their centre, seeking to gain the carocium, with the expectation that its capture would convert the disorder of the lombards into a rout. on pushed the germans until the sacred standard was reached, and its decorations torn down before the eyes of its sworn defenders. this indignity to the treasured emblem of their liberties gave renewed courage to the disordered band. their ranks re-established, they charged upon the germans with such furious valor as to drive them back in disorder, cut through their lines to the emperor's station, kill his standard-bearer by his side, and capture the imperial standard. frederick, clad in a splendid suit of armor, rushed against them at the head of a band of chosen knights. but suddenly he was seen to fall from his horse and vanish under the hot press of struggling warriors that surged back and forth around the standard. this dire event spread instant terror through the german ranks. they broke and fled in disorder, followed by the death-phalanx of the carocium, who cut them down in multitudes, and drove them back in complete disorder and defeat. for two days the emperor was mourned as slain, his unhappy wife even assuming the robes of widowhood, when suddenly he reappeared, and all was joy again. he had not been seriously hurt in his fall, and had with a few friends escaped in the tumult of the defeat, and, under the protection of night, made his way with difficulty back to pavia. this defeat ended the efforts of frederick against milan, which had, through its triumph over the great emperor, regained all its old proud position and supremacy among the lombard cities. the war ended with the battle of lignano, a truce of six years being concluded between the hostile parties. for the ensuing eight years frederick was fully occupied in germany, in wars with henry the lion, of the guelph faction. at the end of that time he returned to italy, where milan, which he had sought so strenuously to humiliate and ruin, now became the seat of the greatest honor he could bestow. the occasion was that of the marriage of his son henry to constanza, the last heiress of naples and sicily of the royal norman race. this ceremony took place in milan, in which city the emperor caused the iron crown of the lombards to be placed upon the head of his son and heir, and gave him away in marriage with the utmost pomp and festivity. milan had won in its great contest for life and death. we may fitly conclude with the story of the death of the great frederick, who, in accordance with the character of his life, died in harness. in his old age, having put an end to the wars in germany and italy, he headed a crusade to the holy land, from which he was never to return. it was the most interesting in many of its features of all the crusades, the leaders of the host being, in addition to frederick barbarossa, richard coeur de lion of england, the hero of romance, the wise philip augustus of france, and various others of the leading potentates of europe. it is with frederick alone that we are concerned. in he set out, at the head of one hundred and fifty thousand trained soldiers, on what was destined to prove a disastrous expedition. entering hungary, he met with a friendly reception from bela, its king. reaching belgrade, he held there a magnificent tournament, hanged all the robber servians he could capture for their depredations upon his ranks, and advanced into greek territory, where he punished the bad faith of the emperor, isaac, by plundering his country. several cities were destroyed in revenge for the assassination of pilgrims and of sick and wounded german soldiers by their inhabitants. this done, frederick advanced on constantinople, whose emperor, to save his city from capture, hastened to place his whole fleet at the disposal of the germans, glad to get rid of these truculent visitors at any price. reaching asia minor, the troubles of the crusaders began. they were assailed by the turks, and had to cut their way forward at every step. barbarossa had never shown himself a greater general. on one occasion, when hard pressed by the enemy, he concealed a chosen band of warriors in a large tent, the gift of the queen of hungary, while the rest of the army pretended to fly. the turks entered the camp and began pillaging, when the ambushed knights broke upon them from the tent, the flying soldiers turned, and the confident enemy was disastrously defeated. but as the army advanced its difficulties increased. a turkish prisoner who was made to act as a guide, being driven in chains before the army, led the christians into the gorges of almost impassable mountains, sacrificing his life for his cause. here, foot-sore and weary, and tormented by thirst and hunger, they were suddenly attacked by ambushed foes, stones being rolled upon them in the narrow gorges, and arrows and javelins poured upon their disordered ranks. peace was here offered them by the turks, if they would pay a large sum of money for their release. in reply the indomitable emperor sent them a small silver coin, with the message that they might divide this among themselves. then, pressing forward, he beat off the enemy, and extricated his army from its dangerous situation. as they pushed on, the sufferings of the army increased. water was not to be had, and many were forced to quench their thirst by drinking the blood of their horses. the army was now divided. frederick, the son of the emperor, led half of it forward at a rapid march, defeated the turks who sought to stop him, and fought his way into the city of iconium. here all the inhabitants were put to the sword, and the crusaders gained an immense booty. meanwhile the emperor, his soldiers almost worn out with hunger and fatigue, was surrounded with the army of the sultan. he believed that his son was lost, and tears of anguish flowed from his eyes, while all around him wept in sympathy. suddenly rising, he exclaimed, "christ still lives, christ conquers!" and putting himself at the head of his knights, he led them in a furious assault upon the turks. the result was a complete victory, ten thousand of the enemy falling dead upon the field. then the christian army marched to iconium, where they found relief from their hunger and weariness. after recruiting they marched forward, and on june , , reached the little river cydnus, in cilicia. here the road and the bridge over the stream were so blocked up with beasts of burden that the progress of the army was greatly reduced. the bold old warrior, impatient to rejoin his son frederick, who led the van, would not wait for the bridge to be cleared, but spurred his war-horse forward and plunged into the stream. unfortunately, he had miscalculated the strength of the current. despite the efforts of the noble animal, it was borne away by the swift stream, and when at length assistance reached the aged emperor he was found to be already dead. never was a man more mourned than was the valiant barbarossa by his army, and by the germans on hearing of his death. his body was borne by the sorrowing soldiers to antioch, where it was buried in the church of st. peter. his fate was, perhaps, a fortunate one, for it prevented him from beholding the loss of the army, which was almost entirely destroyed by sickness at the city in which his body was entombed. his son frederick died at the siege of acre, or ptolemais. as regards the germans at home, they were not willing to believe that their great emperor could be dead. their superstitious faith gave rise to legendary tales, to the effect that the valiant barbarossa was still alive, and would, some day, return to yield germany again a dynasty of mighty sovereigns. the story went that the noble emperor lay asleep in a deep cleft of kylfhaüser berg, on the golden meadow of thuringia. here, his head resting on his arm, he sits by a granite block, through which, in the lapse of time, his red beard has grown. here he will sleep until the ravens no longer fly around the mountain, when he will awake to restore the golden age to the world. another legend tells us that the great barbarossa sits, wrapped in deep slumber, in the untersberg, near salzberg. his sleep will end when the dead pear-tree on the walserfeld, which has been cut down three times but ever grows anew, blossoms. then will he come forth, hang his shield on the tree, and begin a tremendous battle, in which the whole world will join, and in whose end the good will overcome the wicked, and the reign of virtue return to the earth. _the crusade of frederick ii._ a remarkable career was that of frederick ii. of germany, grandson of the great barbarossa, crowned in under the immediate auspices of the papacy, yet during all the remainder of his life in constant and bitter conflict with the popes. he was, we are told, of striking personal beauty, his form being of the greatest symmetry, his face unusually handsome, and marked by intelligence, benevolence, and nobility. born in a rude age, his learning would have done honor to our own. son of an era in which poetry was scarcely known, he cultivated the gay science, and was one of the earliest producers of the afterwards favorite form known as the sonnet. an emperor of germany, nearly his whole life was spent in sicily. though ruler of a christian realm, he lived surrounded by saracens, studying diligently the arabian learning, dwelling in what was almost a harem of arabian beauties, and hesitating not to give expression to the most infidel sentiments. the leader of a crusade, he converted what was ordinarily a tragedy into a comedy, obtained possession of jerusalem without striking a blow or shedding a drop of blood, and found himself excommunicated in the holy city which he had thus easily restored to christendom. altogether we may repeat that the career of frederick ii. was an extraordinary one, and amply worthy our attention. the young monarch had grown up in sicily, of which charming island he became guardian after the death of his mother, constanza. he was crowned at aix-la-chapelle, having defeated his rival, otho iv.; but spent the greater part of his life in the south, holding his pleasure-loving court at naples and palermo, where he surrounded himself with all the refinements of life then possessed by the saracens, but of which the christians of europe were lamentably deficient. it was in that frederick returned from germany to italy, leaving his northern kingdom in the hands of the archbishop of cologne, as regent. at rome he received the imperial crown from the hands of the pope, and, his first wife dying, married yolinda de lusignan, daughter of john, ex-king of jerusalem, in right of whom he claimed the kingdom of the east. shortly afterwards a new pope came to the papal chair, the gloomy gregory ix., whose first act was to order a crusade, which he desired the emperor to lead. despite the fact that he had married the heiress of jerusalem, frederick was very reluctant to seek an enforcement of his claim upon the holy city. he had pledged himself when crowned at aix-la-chapelle, and afterwards on his coronation at rome, to undertake a crusade, but honorius iii., the pope at that time, readily granted him delay. such was not the case with gregory, who sternly insisted on an immediate compliance with his pledge, and whose rigid sense of decorum was scandalized by the frivolities of the emperor, no less than was his religious austerity by frederick's open intercourse with the sicilian saracens. the old contest between emperor and pope threatened to be opened again with all its former virulence. it was deferred for a time by frederick, who, after exhausting all excuses for delay, at length yielded to the exhortations of the pope and set sail for the holy land. the crusade thus entered upon proved, however, to be simply a farce. in three days the fleet returned, frederick pleading illness as his excuse, and the whole expedition came to an end. gregory was no longer to be trifled with. he declared that the illness was but a pretext, that frederick had openly broken his word to the church, and at once proceeded to launch upon the emperor the thunders of the papacy, in a bull of excommunication. frederick treated this fulmination with contempt, and appealed from the pope to christendom, accusing rome of avarice, and declaring that her envoys were marching in all directions, not to preach the word of god, but to extort money from the people. "the primitive church," he said, "founded on poverty and simplicity, brought forth numberless saints. the romans are now rolling in wealth. what wonder that the walls of the church are undermined to the base, and threaten utter ruin." for this saying the pope launched against him a more tremendous excommunication. in return the partisans of frederick in rome, raising an insurrection, expelled the pope from that city. and now the free-thinking emperor, to convince the world that he was not trifling with his word, set sail of his own accord for the east, with as numerous an army as he was able to raise. a remarkable state of affairs followed, justifying us in speaking of this crusade as a comedy, in contrast with the tragic character of those which had preceded it. frederick had shrewdly prepared for success, by negotiations, through his saracen friends, with the sultan of egypt. on reaching the holy land he was received with joy by the german knights and pilgrims there assembled, but the clergy and the knight templars and hospitallers carefully kept aloof from him, for gregory had despatched a swift-sailing ship to palestine, giving orders that no intercourse should be held with the imperial enemy of the church. it was certainly a strange spectacle, for a man under the ban of the church to be the leader in an expedition to recover the holy city. its progress was as strange as its inception. had frederick been the leader of a mohammedan army to recover jerusalem from the christians, his camp could have been little more crowded with infidel delegates. he wore a saracen dress. he discussed questions of philosophy with saracen visitors. he received presents of elephants and of dancing-girls from his friend the sultan, to whom he appealed: "out of your goodness, and your friendship for me, surrender to me jerusalem as it is, that i may be able to lift up my head among the kings of christendom." camel, the sultan, consented, agreeing to deliver up jerusalem and its adjacent territory to the emperor, on the sole condition that mohammedan pilgrims might have the privilege of visiting a mosque within the city. these terms frederick gladly accepted, and soon after marched into the holy city at the head of his armed followers (not unarmed, as in the case of coeur de lion), took possession of it with formal ceremony, allowed the mohammedan population to withdraw in peace, and repeopled the city with christians, a.d. . he found himself in the presence of an extraordinary condition of affairs. the excommunication against him was not only maintained, but the pope actually went so far as to place jerusalem and the holy sepulchre under interdict. so far did the virulence of priestly antipathy go that the templars even plotted against frederick's life. emissaries sent by them gave secret information to the sultan of where he might easily capture the emperor. the sultan, with a noble friendliness, sent the letter to frederick, cautioning him to beware of his foes. the break between emperor and pope had now reached its highest pitch of hostility. frederick proclaimed his signal success to europe. gregory retorted with bitter accusations. the emperor, he said, had presented to the sultan of babylon the sword given him for the defence of the faith; he had permitted the koran to be preached in the holy temple itself; he had even bound himself to join the saracens, in case a christian army should attempt to cleanse the city and temple from mohammedan defilements. in addition to these charges, accusations of murder and other crimes were circulated against him, and a false report of his death was industriously circulated. frederick found it necessary to return home without delay. he crowned himself at jerusalem, as no ecclesiastic could be found who would perform the ceremony, and then set sail for italy, leaving richard, his master of the horse, in charge of affairs in palestine. reaching italy, he soon brought his affairs into order. he had under his command an army of thirty thousand saracen soldiers, with whom it was impossible for his enemies to tamper. a bitter recrimination took place with the pope, in which the emperor managed to bring the general sentiment of europe to his side, offering to convict gregory of himself entering into negotiations with the infidels. gregory, finding that he was getting the worst of the controversy with his powerful and alert enemy, now prudently gave way, having a horror of the shedding of blood. peace was made in , the excommunication removed from the emperor, and for nine years the conflict between him and the papacy was at an end. we have told the story of frederick's crusade, but the remainder of his life is of sufficient interest to be given in epitome. in his government of sicily he showed himself strikingly in advance of the political opinions of his period. he enacted a system of wise laws, instituted representative parliaments, asserted the principle of equal rights and equal duties, and the supremacy of the law over high and low alike. all religions were tolerated, jews and mohammedans having equal freedom of worship with christians. all the serfs of his domain were emancipated, private war was forbidden, commerce was regulated, cheap justice for the poor was instituted, markets and fairs were established, large libraries collected, and other progressive institutions organized. he established menageries for the study of natural history, founded in naples a great university, patronized medical study, provided cheap schools, aided the development of the arts, and in every respect displayed a remarkable public spirit and political foresight. yet splendid as was his career of development in secular affairs, his private life, as well as his public conduct, was stained with flagrant faults, and there was much in his doings that was frowned upon by the pope. new quarrels arose; new wars broke out; the emperor was again excommunicated; the unfortunate closing years of frederick's career began. again there were appeals to christendom; again frederick's saracens marched through italy; such was their success that the pope only escaped by death from falling into the hands of his foe. but with a new pope the old quarrel was resumed, innocent iv. flying to france to get out of reach of the emperor's hands, and desperately combating him from this haven of refuge. the incessant conflict at length bowed down the spirit of the emperor, now growing old. his good fortune began to desert him. in his son enzio, whom he had made king of sicily, and who was the most chivalrous and handsome of his children, was taken prisoner by the bolognese, who refused to accept ransom for him, although his father offered in return for his freedom a silver ring equal in circumference to their city. in the following year his long-tried friend and councillor, peter de vincis, who had been the most trusted man in the empire, was accused of having joined the papal party and of attempting to poison the emperor. he offered frederick a beverage, which he, growing suspicious, did not drink, but had it administered to a criminal, who instantly expired. whether peter was guilty or not, his seeming defection was a sore blow to his imperial patron. "alas!" moaned frederick, "i am abandoned by my most faithful friends; peter, the friend of my heart, on whom i leaned for support, has deserted me and sought my destruction. whom can i trust? my days are henceforth doomed to pass in sorrow and suspicion." his days were near their end. not long after the events narrated, while again in the field at the head of a fresh army of saracens, he was suddenly seized with a mortal illness at firenzuola, and died there on the th of december, , becoming reconciled with the church on his deathbed. he was buried at palermo. thus died one of the most intellectual, progressive, free-thinking, and pleasure-loving emperors of germany, after a long reign over a realm in which he seldom appeared, and an almost incessant period of warfare against the head of a church of which he was supposed to be the imperial protector. seven crowns were his,--those of the kingdom of germany and of the roman empire, the iron diadem of lombardy, and those of burgundy, sicily, sardinia, and jerusalem. but of all the realms under his rule the smiling lands of sicily and southern italy were most to his liking, and the scene of his most constant abode. charming palaces were built by him at naples, palermo, messina, and several other places, and in these he surrounded himself with the noblest bards and most beautiful women of the empire, and by all that was attractive in the art, science, and poetry of his times. moorish dancing-girls and the arts and learning of the east abounded in his court. the sultan camel presented him with a rare tent, in which, by means of artfully contrived mechanism, the movements of the heavenly bodies were represented. michael scott, his astrologer, translated aristotle's "history of animals." frederick studied ornithology, on which he wrote a treatise, and possessed a menagerie of rare animals, including a giraffe, and other strange creatures. the popular dialect of italy owed much to him, being elevated into a written language by his use of it in his love-sonnets. of the poems written by himself, his son enzio, and his friends, several have been preserved, while his chancellor, peter de vincis, is said to have originated the sonnet. we have already spoken of his reforms in his southern kingdom. it was his purpose to introduce similar reforms into the government of germany, abolishing the feudal system, and creating a centralized and organized state, with a well-regulated system of finance. but ideas such as these were much too far in advance of the age. state and church alike opposed them, and frederick's intelligent views did not long survive him. history must have its evolution, political systems their growth, and the development of institutions has never been much hastened or checked by any man's whip or curb. in , when the tomb of frederick was opened, centuries after his death, the institutions he had advocated were but in process of being adopted in europe. the body of the great emperor was found within the mausoleum, wrapped in embroidered robes, the feet booted and spurred, the imperial crown on its head, in its hand the ball and sceptre, on its finger a costly emerald. for five centuries and more frederick had slept in state, awaiting the verdict of time on the ideas in defence of which his life had been passed in battle. the verdict had been given, the ideas had grown into institutions, time had vouchsafed the far-seeing emperor his revenge. _the fall of the ghibellines._ the death of frederick ii., in , was followed by a series of misfortunes to his descendants, so tragical as to form a story full of pathetic interest. his son enzio, a man of remarkable beauty and valor, celebrated as a minnesinger, and of unusual intellectual qualities, had been taken prisoner, as we have already told, by the bolognese, and condemned by them to perpetual imprisonment, despite the prayers of his father and the rich ransom offered. for twenty-two years he continued a tenant of a dungeon, and in this gloomy scene of death in life survived all the sons and grandsons of his father, every one of whom perished by poison, the sword, or the axe of the executioner. it is this dread story of the fate of the hohenstauffen imperial house which we have now to tell. no sooner had frederick expired than the enemies of his house arose on every side. conrad iv., his eldest son and successor, found germany so filled with his foes that he was forced to take refuge in italy, where his half-brother, manfred, prince of taranto, ceded to him the sovereignty of the italian realm, and lent him his aid to secure it. the royal brothers captured capua and naples, where conrad signalized his success by placing a bridle in the mouth of an antique colossal horse's head, the emblem of the city. this insult made the inhabitants his implacable foes. his success was but temporary. he died suddenly, as also did his younger brother henry, poisoned by his half-brother manfred, who succeeded to the kingship of the south. but with the guelphs in power in germany, and the pope his bitter foe in italy, he was utterly unable to establish his claim, and was forced to cede all lower italy, except taranto, to the pontiff. but a new and less implacable pope being elected, the fortunes of manfred suddenly changed, and he was unanimously proclaimed king at palermo in . but the misfortunes of his house were to pursue him to the end. in northern italy, the guelphs were everywhere triumphant. ezzelino, one of frederick's ablest generals, was defeated, wounded, and taken prisoner. he soon after died. his brother alberich was cruelly murdered, being dragged to death at a horse's tail. the other ghibelline chiefs were similarly butchered, the horrible scenes of bloodshed so working on the feelings of the susceptible italians that many of them did penance at the grave of alberich, arrayed in sackcloth. from this circumstance arose the sect of the flagellants, who ran through the streets, lamenting, praying, and wounding themselves with thongs, as an atonement for the sins of the world. in southern italy, manfred for a while was successful. in he married helena, the daughter of michael of cyprus and Ætolia, a maiden of seventeen years, and famed far and wide for her loveliness. so beautiful were the bridal pair, and such were the attractions of their court, which, as in frederick's time, was the favorite resort of distinguished poets and lovely women, that a bard of the times declared, "paradise has once more appeared upon earth." manfred, like his father and his brother enzio, was a poet, being classed among the minnesingers. his marriage gave him the alliance of greece, and the marriage of constance, his daughter by a former wife, to peter of aragon, gained him the friendship of spain. strengthened by these alliances, he was able to send aid to the ghibellines in lombardy, who again became victorious. the guelphs, alarmed at manfred's growing power, now raised a frenchman to the papal throne, who induced charles of anjou, the brother of the french monarch, to strike for the crown of southern italy. charles, a gloomy, cold-blooded and cruel prince, gladly accepted the pope's suggestions, and followed by a powerful body of french knights and soldiers of fortune, set sail for naples in . manfred had unluckily lost the whole of his fleet in a storm, and was not able to oppose this threatening invasion, which landed in italy in his despite. nor was he more fortunate with his land army. the clergy, in the interest of the guelph faction, tampered with his soldiers and sowed treason in his camp. no sooner had charles landed, than a mountain pass intrusted to the defence of riccardo di caseta was treacherously abandoned, and the french army allowed to advance unmolested as far as benevento, where the two armies met. in the battle that followed, manfred defended himself gallantly, but, despite all his efforts, was worsted, and threw himself desperately into the thick of the fight, where he fell, covered with wounds. the bigoted victor refused him honorable burial, on the score of heresy, but the french soldiers, nobler-hearted than their leader, and touched by the beauty and valor of their unfortunate opponent, cast each of them a stone upon his body, which was thus buried under a mound which the natives still know as the "rock of roses." the wife and children of manfred met with a pitiable fate. on learning of the sad death of her husband helena sought safety in flight, with her daughter beatrice and her three infant sons, henry, frederick, and anselino; but she was betrayed to charles, who threw her into a dungeon, in which she soon languished and died. of her children, her daughter beatrice was afterwards rescued by peter of aragon, who exchanged for her a son of charles of anjou, whom he held prisoner; but the three boys were given over to the cruellest fate. immured in a narrow dungeon, and loaded with chains, they remained thus half-naked, ill-fed, and untaught for the period of thirty-one years. not until were they released from their chains and allowed to be visited by a priest and a physician. charles of anjou, meanwhile, filled with the spirit of cruelty and ambition, sought to destroy every vestige of the hohenstauffen rule in southern italy, the scene of frederick's long and lustrous reign. the death of manfred had not extinguished all the princes of frederick's house. there remained another, conradin, son of conrad iv., duke of swabia, a youthful prince to whom had descended some of the intellectual powers of his noted grand-sire. he had an inseparable friend, frederick, son of the margrave of baden, of his own age, and like him enthusiastic and imaginative, their ardent fancies finding vent in song. one of conradin's ballads is still extant. as the young prince grew older, the seclusion to which he was subjected by his guardian, meinhard, count von görtz, became so irksome to him that he gladly accepted a proposal from the italian ghibellines to put himself at their head. in he set out, in company with frederick, and with a following of some ten thousand men, and crossed the alps to lombardy, where he met with a warm welcome at verona by the ghibelline chiefs. treachery accompanied him, however, in the presence of his guardian meinhard and louis of bavaria, who persuaded him to part with his german possessions for a low price, and then deserted him, followed by the greater part of the germans. conradin was left with but three thousand men. the italians proved more faithful. verona raised him an army; pisa supplied him a large fleet; the moors of luceria took up arms in his cause; even rome rose in his favor, and drove out the pope, who retreated to viterbo. for the time being the ghibelline cause was in the ascendant. conradin marched unopposed to rome, at whose gates he was met by a procession of beautiful girls, bearing flowers and instruments of music, who conducted him to the capitol. his success on land was matched by a success at sea, his fleet gaining a signal victory over that of the french, and burning a great number of their ships. so far all had gone well with the youthful heir of the hohenstauffens. henceforth all was to go ill. conradin marched from rome to lower italy, where he encountered the french army, under charles, at scurcola, drove them back, and broke into their camp. assured of victory, the germans grew careless, dispersing through the camp in search of booty, while some of them even refreshed themselves by bathing. while thus engaged, the french reserve, who had watched their movements, suddenly fell upon them and completely put them to rout. conradin and frederick, after fighting bravely, owed their escape to the fleetness of their steeds. they reached the sea at astura, boarded a vessel, and were about setting sail for pisa, when they were betrayed into the hands of their pursuers, taken prisoners, and carried back to charles of anjou. they had fallen into fatal hands; charles was not the man to consider justice or honor in dealing with a hohenstauffen. he treated conradin as a rebel against himself, under the claim that he was the only legitimate king, and sentenced both the princes, then but sixteen years of age, to be publicly beheaded in the market-place at naples. conradin was playing at chess in prison when the news of this unjust sentence was brought to him. he calmly listened to it, with the courage native to his race. on october , , he, with frederick and his other companions, was conducted to the scaffold erected in the market-place, passing through a throng of which even the french contingent looked on the spectacle with indignation. so greatly were they wrought up, indeed, by the outrage, that robert, earl of flanders, charles's son-in-law, drew his sword, and cut down the officer commissioned to read in public the sentence of death. "wretch!" he cried, as he dealt the blow, "how darest thou condemn such a great and excellent knight?" conradin met his fate with unyielding courage, saying, in his address to the people,-- "i cite my judge before the highest tribunal. my blood, shed on this spot, shall cry to heaven for vengeance. nor do i esteem my swabians and bavarians, my germans, so low as not to trust that this stain on the honor of the german nation will be washed out by them in french blood." then, throwing his glove to the ground, he charged him who should raise it to bear it to peter, king of aragon, to whom, as his nearest relative, he bequeathed all his claims. the glove was raised by henry, truchsess von waldberg, who found in it the seal ring of the unfortunate wearer. thence-forth he bore in his arms the three black lions of the stauffen. in a minute more the fatal axe of the executioner descended, and the head of the last heir of the hohenstauffens rolled upon the scaffold. his friend, frederick, followed him to death, nor was the bloodthirsty charles satisfied until almost every ghibelline in his hands had fallen by the hand of the executioner. enzio, the unfortunate son of frederick who was held prisoner by the bolognese, was involved in the fate of his unhappy nephew. on learning of the arrival of conradin in italy he made an effort to escape from prison, which would have been successful but for an unlucky accident. he had arranged to conceal himself in a cask, which was to be borne out of the prison by his friends, but by an unfortunate chance one of his long, golden locks fell out of the air-hole which had been made in the side of the cask, and revealed the stratagem to his keepers. during his earlier imprisonment enzio had been allowed some alleviation, his friends being permitted to visit him and solace him in his seclusion; but after this effort to escape he was closely confined, some say, in an iron cage, until his death in . thus ended the royal race of the hohenstauffen, a race marked by unusual personal beauty, rich poetical genius, and brilliant warlike achievements, and during whose period of power the mediæval age and its institutions attained their highest development. as for the ruthless charles of anjou, he retained apulia, but lost his possessions in sicily through an event which has become famous as the "sicilian vespers." the insolence and outrages of the french had so exasperated the sicilians that, on the night of march , , a general insurrection broke out in this island, the french being everywhere assassinated. constance, the grand-daughter of their old ruler, and peter of aragon, her husband, were proclaimed their sovereigns by the sicilians, and charles, the son of charles of anjou, fell into their hands. constance was generous to the captive prince, and on hearing him remark that he was happy to die on a friday, the day on which christ suffered, she replied,-- "for love of him who suffered on this day i will grant thee thy life." he was afterwards exchanged for beatrice, the daughter of the unhappy helena, whose sons, the last princes of the hohenstauffen race, died in the prison in which they had lived since infancy. _the tribunal of the holy vehm._ the ideas of law and order in mediæval germany were by no means what we now understand by those terms. the injustice of the strong and the suffering of the weak were the rule; and men of noble lineage did not hesitate to turn their castles into dens of thieves. the title "robber baron," which many of them bore, sufficiently indicates their mode of life, and turbulence and outrage prevailed throughout the land. but wrong did not flourish with complete impunity; right had not entirely vanished; justice still held its sword, and at times struck swift and deadly blows that filled with terror the wrong-doer, and gave some assurance of protection to those too weak for self-defence. it was no unusual circumstance to behold, perhaps in the vicinity of some baronial castle, perhaps near some town or manorial residence, a group of peasants gazing upwards with awed but triumphant eyes; the spectacle that attracted their attention being the body of a man hanging from the limb of a tree above their heads. such might have been supposed to be some act of private vengeance or bold outrage, but the exulting lookers-on knew better. for they recognized the body, perhaps as that of the robber baron of the neighboring castle, perhaps that of some other bold defier of law and justice, while in the ground below the corpse appeared an object that told a tale of deep meaning to their experienced eyes. this was a knife, thrust to the hilt in the earth. as they gazed upon it they muttered the mysterious words, "_vehm gericht_," and quickly dispersed, none daring to touch the corpse or disturb the significant signal of the vengeance of the executioners. but as they walked away they would converse in low tones of a dread secret tribunal, which held its mysterious meetings in remote places, caverns of the earth or the depths of forests, at the dread hour of midnight, its members being sworn by frightful oaths to utter secrecy. before these dark tribunals were judged, present or absent, the wrong-doers of the land, and the sentence of the secret vehm once given, there was no longer safety for the condemned. the agents of vengeance would be put upon his track, while the secret of his death sentence was carefully kept from his ears. the end was sure to be a sudden seizure, a rope to the nearest tree, a writhing body, the signal knife of the executioners of the vehm, silence and mystery. such was the visible outcome of the workings of this dreaded court, of whose sessions and secrets the common people of the land had exaggerated conceptions, but whose sudden and silent deeds in the interest of justice went far to repress crime in that lawless age. we have seen the completion of the sentence, let us attend a session of this mysterious court. seeking the vehmic tribunal, we do not find ourselves in a midnight forest, nor in a dimly-lighted cavern or mysterious vault, as peasant traditions would tell us, but in the hall of some ancient castle, or on a hill-top, under the shade of lime-trees, and with an open view of the country for miles around. here, on the seat of justice, presides the graf or count of the district, before him the sword, the symbol of supreme justice, its handle in the form of the cross, while beside it lies the _wyd_, or cord, the sign of his power of life or death. around him are seated the _schöffen_, or ministers of justice, bareheaded and without weapons, in complete silence, none being permitted to speak except when called upon in the due course of proceedings. the court being solemnly opened, the person cited to appear before it steps forward, unarmed and accompanied by two sureties, if he has any. the complaint against him is stated by the judge, and he is called upon to clear himself by oath taken on the cross of the sword. if he takes it, he is free. "he shall then," says an ancient work, "take a farthing piece, throw it at the feet of the court, turn round and go his way. whoever attacks or touches him, has then, which all freemen know, broken the king's peace." this was the ancient custom, but in later times witnesses were examined, and the proceedings were more in conformity with those of modern courts. if sentence of death was passed, the criminal was hanged at once on the nearest tree. the minor punishments were exile and fine. if the defendant refused to appear, after being three times cited, the sentence of the vehm was pronounced against him, a dreadful sentence, ending in,-- "and i hereby curse his flesh and his blood; and may his body never receive burial, but may it be borne away by the wind, and may the ravens and crows, and wild birds of prey, consume and destroy him. and i adjudge his neck to the rope, and his body to be devoured by the birds and beasts of the air, sea, and land; but his soul i commend to our dear lord, if he will receive it." these words spoken, the judge cast forth the rope beyond the limits of the court, and wrote the name of the condemned in the book of blood, calling on the princes and nobles of the land, and all the inhabitants of the empire, to aid in fulfilling this sentence upon the criminal, without regard to relationship or any ties of kindred or affection whatever. the condemned man was now left to the work of the ministers of justice, the schöffen of the court. whoever should shelter or even warn him was himself to be brought before the tribunal. the members of the court were bound by a terrible oath, to be enforced by death, not to reveal the sentence of the holy vehm, except to one of the initiated, and not to warn the culprit, even if he was a father or a brother. wherever the condemned was found, whether in a house, a street, the high-road, or the forest, he was seized and hanged to the nearest tree or post, if the servants of the court could lay hands on him. as a sign that he was executed by the holy vehm, and not slain by robbers, nothing was taken from his body, and the knife was thrust into the ground beneath him. we may further say that any criminal taken in the act by the vehmic officers of justice did not need to be brought before the court, but might be hanged on the spot, with the ordinary indications that he was a victim to the secret tribunal. a citation to appear before the vehm was executed by two schöffen, who bore the letter of the presiding count to the accused. if they could not reach him because he was living in a city or a fortress which they could not safely enter, they were authorized to execute their mission otherwise. they might approach the castle in the night, stick the letter, enclosing a farthing piece, in the panel of the castle gate, cut off three chips from the gate as evidence to the count that they had fulfilled their mission, and call out to the sentinel on leaving that they had deposited there a letter for his lord. if the accused had no regular dwelling-place, and could not be met, he was summoned at four different cross-roads, where was left at the east, west, north, and south points a summons, each containing the significant farthing coin. it must not be supposed that the administration of justice in germany was confined to this vehmic court. there were open courts of justice throughout the land. but what were known as _freistuhls,_ or free courts, were confined to the duchy of westphalia. some of the sessions of these courts were open, some closed, the vehm constituting their secret tribunal. though complaints might be brought and persons cited to appear from every part of germany, a free court could only be held on westphalian ground, on the red earth, as it was entitled. even the emperor could not establish a free court outside of westphalia. when the emperor wenceslas tried to establish one in bohemia, the counts of the empire decreed that any one who should take part in it would incur the penalty of death. the members of these courts consisted of schöffen, nominated by the graf, or presiding judge, and composed of ordinary members and the wissenden or witan, the higher membership. the initiation of these members was a singular and impressive ceremony. it could only take place upon the red earth, or within the boundaries of westphalia. bareheaded and ungirt, the candidate was conducted before the tribunal, and strictly questioned as to his qualifications to membership. he must be free-born, of teutonic ancestry, and clear of any accusation of crime. this settled, a deep and solemn oath of fidelity was administered, the candidate swearing by the holy law to guard the secrets of the holy vehm from wife and child, father and mother, sister and brother, fire and water, every creature on whom rain falls or sun shines, everything between earth and heaven; to tell to the tribunal all offences known to him, and not to be deterred therefrom by love or hate, gold, silver, or precious stones. he was now intrusted with the very ancient password and secret grip or other sign of the order, by which the members could readily recognize each other wherever meeting, and was warned of the frightful penalty incurred by those who should reveal the secrets of the vehm. this penalty was that the criminal should have his eyes bound and be cast upon the earth, his tongue torn out through the back of his neck, and his body hanged seven times higher than ordinary criminals. in the history of the court there is no instance known of the oath of initiation being broken. for further security of the secrets of the vehm, no mercy was given to strangers found within the limits of the court. all such intruders were immediately hung. the number of the schöffen, or members of the free courts, was very great. in the fourteenth century it exceeded one hundred thousand. persons of all ranks joined them, princes desiring their ministers, cities their magistrates, to apply for membership. the emperor was the supreme presiding officer, and under him his deputy, the stadtholder of the duchy of westphalia, while the local courts, of which there were one or more in each district of the duchy, were under the jurisdiction of the grafs or counts of their districts. the vehm could consider criminal actions of the greatest diversity, cases of mere slander or defamation of character being sometimes brought before it. any violation of the ten commandments was within its jurisdiction. it particularly devoted itself to secret crimes, such as magic, witchcraft, or poisoning. its agents of justice were bound to make constant circuits, night and day, with the privilege, as we have said, if they caught a thief or murderer in the act, or obtained his confession, to hang him at once on the nearest tree, with the knife as signal of their commission. of the origin of this strange court we have no certain knowledge. tradition ascribes it to charlemagne, but that needs confirmation. it seems rather to have been an outgrowth of an old saxon system, which also left its marks in the systems of justice of saxon england, where existed customs not unlike those of the holy vehm. mighty was the power of these secret courts, and striking the traditions to which they have given rise, based upon their alleged nocturnal assemblies, their secret signs and solemn oaths, their mysterious customs, and the implacable persistency with which their sentences sought the criminal, pursuing him for years, and in whatever corner of the empire he might take refuge, while there were none to call its ministers of justice to account for their acts if the terrible knife had been left as evidence of their authority. such an association, composed of thousands of men of all classes, from the highest to the lowest,--for common freemen, mechanics, and citizens shared the honor of membership with knights and even princes,--bound together by a band of inviolable secrecy, and its edicts carried out so mysteriously and ruthlessly, could not but attain to a terrible power, and produce a remarkable effect upon the imagination of the people. "the prince or knight who easily escaped the judgment of the imperial court, and from behind his fortified walls defied even the emperor himself, trembled when in the silence of the night he heard the voices of the _freischöffen_ at the gate of his castle, and when the free count summoned him to appear at the ancient _malplatz_, or plain, under the lime-tree, or on the bank of a rivulet upon that dreaded soil, the westphalian or red ground. and that the power of those free courts was not exaggerated by the mere imagination, excited by terror, nor in reality by any means insignificant, is proved by a hundred undeniable examples, supported by records and testimonies, that numerous princes, counts, knights, and wealthy citizens were seized by these schöffen of the secret tribunal, and, in execution of its sentence, perished by their hands." an institution so mysterious and wide-spread as this could not exist without some degree of abuse of power. unworthy persons would attain membership, who would use their authority for the purpose of private vengeance. this occasional injustice of the vehmic tribunal became more frequent as time went on, and by the end of the fifteenth century many complaints arose against the free courts, particularly among the clergy. civilization was increasing, and political institutions becoming more developed, in germany; the lords of the land grew restive under the subjection of their people to the acts of a secret and strange tribunal, no longer supported by imperial power. alliances of princes, nobles, and citizens were made against the westphalian courts, and their power finally ceased, without any formal decree of abrogation. in the sixteenth century the vehm still possessed much strength; in the seventeenth it had grown much weaker; in the eighteenth only a few traces of it remained; at gehmen, in münster, the secret tribunal was only finally extinguished by a decree of the french legislature in . even to the present day there are peasants who have taken the oath of the schöffen, whose secrecy they persistently maintain, and who meet annually at the site of some of the old free courts. the principal signs of the order are indicated by the letters s.s.g.g., signifying _stock, stein, gras, grein_ (stick, stone, grass, tears), though no one has been able to trace the mysterious meaning these words convey as symbols of the mystic power of the ancient _vehm gericht_. _william tell and the swiss patriots._ "in the year of our lord ," writes an ancient chronicler, "there dwelt a pious countryman in unterwald beyond the kernwald, whose name was henry of melchthal, a wise, prudent, honest man, well to do and in good esteem among his country-folk, moreover, a firm supporter of the liberties of his country and of its adhesion to the holy roman empire, on which account beringer von landenberg, the governor over the whole of unterwald, was his enemy. this melchthaler had some very fine oxen, and on account of some trifling misdemeanor committed by his son, arnold of melchthal, the governor sent his servant to seize the finest pair of oxen by way of punishment, and in case old henry of melchthal said anything against it, he was to say that it was the governor's opinion that the peasants should draw the plough themselves. the servant fulfilled his lord's commands. but as he unharnessed the oxen, arnold, the son of the countryman, fell into a rage, and striking him with a stick on the hand, broke one of his fingers. upon this arnold fled, for fear of his life, up the country towards uri, where he kept himself long secret in the country where conrad of baumgarten from altzelen lay hid for having killed the governor of wolfenschiess, who had insulted his wife, with a blow of his axe. the servant, meanwhile, complained to his lord, by whose order old melchthal's eyes were torn out. this tyrannical action rendered the governor highly unpopular, and arnold, on learning how his good father had been treated, laid his wrongs secretly before trusty people in uri, and awaited a fit opportunity for avenging his father's misfortune." such was the prologue to the tragic events which we have now to tell, events whose outcome was the freedom of switzerland and the formation of that vigorous swiss confederacy which has maintained itself until the present day in the midst of the powerful and warlike nations which have surrounded it. the prologue given, we must proceed with the main scenes of the drama, which quickly followed. as the story goes, arnold allied himself with two other patriots, werner stauffacher and walter fürst, bold and earnest men, the three meeting regularly at night to talk over the wrongs of their country and consider how best to right them. of the first named of these men we are told that he was stirred to rebellion by the tyranny of gessler, governor of uri, a man who forms one of the leading characters of our drama. the rule of gessler extended over the country of schwyz, where in the town of steinen, in a handsome house, lived werner stauffacher. as the governor passed one day through this town he was pleasantly greeted by werner, who was standing before his door. "to whom does this house belong?" asked gessler. werner, fearing that some evil purpose lay behind this question, cautiously replied,-- "my lord, the house belongs to my sovereign lord the king, and is your and my fief." "i will not allow peasants to build houses without my consent," returned gessler, angered at this shrewd reply, "or to live in freedom as if they were their own masters. i will teach you better than to resist my authority." so saying, he rode on, leaving werner greatly disturbed by his threatening words. he returned into his house with heavy brow and such evidence of discomposure that his wife eagerly questioned him. learning what the governor had said, the good lady shared his disturbance, and said,-- "my dear werner, you know that many of the country-folk complain of the governor's tyranny. in my opinion, it would be well for some of you, who can trust one another, to meet in secret, and take counsel how to throw off his wanton power." this advice seemed so judicious to werner that he sought his friend walter fürst, and arranged with him and arnold that they should meet and consider what steps to take, their place of meeting being at rütli, a small meadow in a lonely situation, closed in on the land side by high rocks, and opening on the lake of lucerne. others joined them in their patriotic purpose, and on the night of the wednesday before martinmas, in the year , each of the three led to the place of meeting ten others, all as resolute and liberty-loving as themselves. these thirty-three good and true men, thus assembled at the midnight hour in the meadow of rütli, united in a solemn oath that they would devote their lives and strength to the freeing of their country from its oppressors. they fixed the first day of the coming year for the beginning of their work, and then returned to their homes, where they kept the strictest secrecy, occupying themselves in housing their cattle for the winter and in other rural labors, with no indication that they cherished deeper designs. during this interval of secrecy another event, of a nature highly exasperating to the swiss, is said to have happened. it is true that modern critics declare the story of this event to be solely a legend and that nothing of the kind ever took place. however that be, it has ever since remained one of the most attractive of popular tales, and the verdict of the critics shall not deter us from telling again this oft-repeated and always welcome story. we have named two of the many tyrannical governors of switzerland, the deputies there of albert of austria, then emperor of germany, whose purpose was to abolish the privileges of the swiss and subject the free communes to his arbitrary rule. the second named of these, gessler, governor of uri and schwyz, whose threats had driven werner to conspiracy, occupied a fortress in uri, which he had built as a place of safety in case of revolt, and a centre of tyranny. "uri's prison" he called this fortress, an insult to the people of uri which roused their indignation. perceiving their sullenness, gessler resolved to give them a salutary lesson of his power and their helplessness. on st. jacob's day he had a pole erected in the market-place at altdorf, under the lime-trees there growing, and directed that his hat should be placed on its top. this done, the command was issued that all who passed through the market-place should bow and kneel to this hat as to the king himself, blows and confiscation of property to be the lot of all who refused. a guard was placed around the pole, whose duty was to take note of every man who should fail to do homage to the governor's hat. on the sunday following, a peasant of uri, william tell by name, who, as we are told, was one of the thirty-three sworn confederates, passed several times through the market-place at altdorf without bowing or bending the knee to gessler's hat. this was reported to the governor, who summoned tell to his presence, and haughtily asked him why he had dared to disobey his command. "my dear lord," answered tell, submissively, "i beg you to pardon me, for it was done through ignorance and not out of contempt. if i were clever, i should not be called tell. i pray your mercy; it shall not happen again." [illustration: statue of william tell.] the name tell signifies dull or stupid, a meaning in consonance with his speech, though not with his character. yet stupid or bright, he had the reputation of being the best archer in the country, and gessler, knowing this, determined on a singular punishment for his fault. tell had beautiful children, whom he dearly loved. the governor sent for these, and asked him,-- "which of your children do you love the best?" "my lord, they are all alike dear to me," answered tell. "if that be so," said gessler, "then, as i hear that you are a famous marksman, you shall prove your skill in my presence by shooting an apple off the head of one of your children. but take good care to hit the apple, for if your first shot miss you shall lose your life." "for god's sake, do not ask me to do this!" cried tell in horror. "it would be unnatural to shoot at my own dear child. i would rather die than do it." "unless you do it, you or your child shall die," answered the governor harshly. tell, seeing that gessler was resolute in his cruel project, and that the trial must be made or worse might come, reluctantly agreed to it. he took his cross-bow and two arrows, one of which he placed in the bow, the other he stuck behind in his collar. the governor, meanwhile, had selected the child for the trial, a boy of not more than six years of age, whom he ordered to be placed at the proper distance, and himself selected an apple and placed it on the child's head. tell viewed these preparations with startled eyes, while praying inwardly to god to shield his dear child from harm. then, bidding the boy to stand firm and not be frightened, as his father would do his best not to harm him, he raised the perilous bow. the legend deals too briefly with this story. it fails to picture the scene in the market-place. but there, we may be sure, in addition to gessler and his guards, were most of the people of uri, their hearts burning with sympathy for their countryman and hatred of the tyrant, their feelings almost wrought up to the point of attacking gessler and his guards, and daring death in defence of their liberties. there also we may behold in fancy the brave child, scarcely old enough to appreciate the magnitude of his peril, but looking with simple faith into the kind eyes of his father, who stands firm of frame but trembling in heart before him, the death-dealing bow in his hand. in a minute more the bow is bent, tell's unerring eye glances along the shaft, the string twangs sharply, the arrow speeds through the air, and the apple, pierced through its centre, is borne from the head of the boy, who leaps forward with a glad cry of triumph, while the unnerved father, with tears of joy in his eyes, flings the bow to the ground and clasps his child to his heart. "by my faith, tell, that is a wonderful shot!" cried the astonished governor. "men have not belied you. but why have you stuck another arrow in your collar?" "that is the custom among marksmen," tell hesitatingly answered. "come, man, speak the truth openly and without fear," said gessler, who noted tell's hesitancy. "your life is safe; but i am not satisfied with your answer." "then," said tell, regaining his courage, "if you would have the truth, it is this. if i had struck my child with the first arrow, the other was intended for you; and with that i should not have missed my mark." the governor started at these bold words, and his brow clouded with anger. "i promised you your life," he exclaimed, "and will keep my word; but, as you cherish evil intentions against me, i shall make sure that you cannot carry them out. you are not safe to leave at large, and shall be taken to a place where you can never again behold the sun or the moon." turning to his guards, he bade them seize the bold marksman, bind his hands, and take him in a boat across the lake to his castle at küssnach, where he should do penance for his evil intentions by spending the remainder of his life in a dark dungeon. the people dared not interfere with this harsh sentence; the guards were too many and too well armed. tell was seized, bound, and hurried to the lake-side, gessler accompanying. the water reached, he was placed in a boat, his cross-bow being also brought and laid beside the steersman. as if with purpose to make sure of the disposal of his threatening enemy, gessler also entered the boat, which was pushed off and rowed across the lake towards brunnen, from which place the prisoner was to be taken overland to the governor's fortress. before they were half-way across the lake, however, a sudden and violent storm arose, tossing the boat so frightfully that gessler and all with him were filled with mortal fear. "my lord," cried one of the trembling rowers to the governor, "we will all go to the bottom unless something is done, for there is not a man among us fit to manage a boat in this storm. but tell here is a skilful boatman, and it would be wise to use him in our sore need." "can you bring us out of this peril?" asked gessler, who was no less alarmed than his crew. "if you can, i will release you from your bonds." "i trust, with god's help, that i can safely bring you ashore," answered tell. by gessler's order his bonds were then removed, and he stepped aft and took the helm, guiding the boat through the storm with the skill of a trained mariner. he had, however, another object in view, and had no intention to let the tyrannical governor bind his free limbs again. he bade the men to row carefully until they reached a certain rock, which appeared on the lake-side at no great distance, telling them that he hoped to land them behind its shelter. as they drew near the spot indicated, he turned the helm so that the boat struck violently against the rock, and then, seizing the cross-bow which lay beside him, he sprang nimbly ashore, and thrust the boat with his foot back into the tossing waves. the rock on which he landed is, says the chronicler, still known as tell's rock, and a small chapel has been built upon it. the story goes on to tell us that the governor and his rowers, after great danger, finally succeeded in reaching the shore at brunnen, at which point they took horse and rode through the district of schwyz, their route leading through a narrow passage between the rocks, the only way by which they could reach küssnach from that quarter. on they went, the angry governor swearing vengeance against tell, and laying plans with his followers how the runaway should be seized. the deepest dungeon at küssnach, he vowed, should be his lot. he little dreamed what ears heard his fulminations and what deadly peril threatened him. on leaving the boat, tell had run quickly forward to the passage, or hollow way, through which he knew that gessler must pass on his way to the castle. here, hidden behind the high bank that bordered the road, he waited, cross-bow in hand, and the arrow which he had designed for the governor's life in the string, for the coming of his mortal foe. gessler came, still talking of his plans to seize tell, and without a dream of danger, for the pass was silent and seemed deserted. but suddenly to his ears came the twang of the bow he had heard before that day; through the air once more winged its way a steel-barbed shaft, the heart of a tyrant, not an apple on a child's head, now its mark. in an instant more gessler fell from his horse, pierced by tell's fatal shaft, and breathed his last before the eyes of his terrified servants. on that spot, the chronicler concludes, was built a holy chapel, which is standing to this day. such is the far-famed story of william tell. how much truth and how much mere tradition there is in it, it is not easy to say. the feat of shooting an apple from a person's head is told of others before tell's time, and that it ever happened is far from sure. but at the same time it is possible that the story of tell, in its main features, may be founded on fact. tradition is rarely all fable. we are now done with william tell, and must return to the doings of the three confederates to whom fame ascribes the origin of the liberty of switzerland. in the early morning of january , , the date they had fixed for their work to begin, as landenberg was leaving his castle to attend mass at sarnen, he was met by twenty of the mountaineers of unterwald, who, as was their custom, brought him a new-year's gift of calves, goats, sheep, fowls, and hares. much pleased with the present, he asked the men to take the animals into the castle court, and went on his way towards sarnen. but no sooner had the twenty men passed through the gates than a horn was loudly blown, and instantly each of them drew from beneath his doublet a steel blade, which he fixed upon the end of his staff. at the sound of the horn thirty other men rushed from a neighboring wood, and made for the open gates. in a very few minutes they joined their comrades in the castle, which was quickly theirs, the garrison being overpowered. landenberg fled in haste on hearing the tumult, but was pursued and taken. but as the confederates had agreed with each other to shed no blood, they suffered this arch villain to depart, after making him swear to leave switzerland and never return to it. the news of the revolt spread rapidly through the mountains, and so well had the confederates laid their plans, that several other castles were taken by stratagem before the alarm could be given. their governors were sent beyond the borders. day by day news was brought to the head-quarters of the patriots, on lake lucerne, of success in various parts of the country, and on sunday, the th of january, a week from the first outbreak, the leading men of that part of switzerland met and pledged themselves to their ancient oath of confederacy. in a week's time they had driven out the austrians and set their country free. it must be admitted that there is no contemporary proof of this story, though the swiss accept it as authentic history, and it has not been disproved. the chief peril to the new confederacy lay with albert of austria, the dispossessed lord of the land, but the patriotic swiss found themselves unexpectedly relieved from the execution of his threats of vengeance. his harshness and despotic severity had made him enemies alike among people and nobles, and when, in the spring of , he sought the borders of switzerland, with the purpose of reducing and punishing the insurgents, his career was brought to a sudden and violent end. a conspiracy had been formed against him by his nephew, the duke of swabia, and others who accompanied him in this journey. on the st of may they reached the reuss river at windisch, and, as the emperor entered the boat to be ferried across, the conspirators pushed into it after him, leaving no room for his attendants. reaching the opposite shore, they remounted their steeds and rode on while the boat returned for the others. their route lay through the vast cornfields at the base of the hills whose highest summit was crowned by the great castle of hapsburg. they had gone some distance, when john of swabia suddenly rushed upon the emperor, and buried his lance in his neck, exclaiming, "such is the reward of injustice!" immediately two others rode upon him, rudolph of balm stabbing him with his dagger, while walter of eschenbach clove his head in twain with his sword. this bloody work done, the conspirators spurred rapidly away, leaving the dying emperor to breathe his last with his head supported in the lap of a poor woman, who had witnessed the murder and hurried to the spot. this deed of blood saved switzerland from the vengeance which the emperor had designed. the mountaineers were given time to cement the government they had so hastily formed, and which was to last for centuries thereafter, despite the efforts of ambitious potentates to reduce the swiss once more to subjection and rob them of the liberty they so dearly loved. _the black death and the flagellants._ the middle of the fourteenth century was a period of extraordinary terror and disaster to europe. numerous portents, which sadly frightened the people, were followed by a pestilence which threatened to turn the continent into an unpeopled wilderness. for year after year there were signs in the sky, on the earth, in the air, all indicative, as men thought, of some terrible coming event. in a great comet appeared in the heavens, its far-extending tail sowing deep dread in the minds of the ignorant masses. during the three succeeding years the land was visited by enormous flying armies of locusts, which descended in myriads upon the fields, and left the shadow of famine in their track. in came an earthquake of such frightful violence that many men deemed the end of the world to be presaged. its devastations were widely spread. cyprus, greece, and italy were terribly visited, and it extended through the alpine valleys as far as bâsle. mountains sank into the earth. in carinthia thirty villages and the tower of villach were ruined. the air grew thick and stifling. there were dense and frightful fogs. wine fermented in the casks. fiery meteors appeared in the skies. a gigantic pillar of flame was seen by hundreds descending upon the roof of the pope's palace at avignon. in came another earthquake, which destroyed almost the whole of bâsle. what with famine, flood, fog, locust swarms, earthquakes, and the like, it is not surprising that many men deemed the cup of the world's sins to be full, and the end of the kingdom of man to be at hand. an event followed that seemed to confirm this belief. a pestilence broke out of such frightful virulence that it appeared indeed as if man was to be swept from the earth. men died in hundreds, in thousands, in myriads, until in places there were scarcely enough living to bury the dead, and these so maddened with fright that dwellings, villages, towns, were deserted by all who were able to fly, the dying and dead being left their sole inhabitants. it was the pestilence called the "black death," the most terrible visitation that europe has ever known. this deadly disease came from asia. it is said to have originated in china, spreading over the great continent westwardly, and descending in all its destructive virulence upon europe, which continent it swept as with the besom of destruction. the disease appears to have been a very malignant type of what is known as the plague, a form of pestilence which has several times returned, though never with such virulence as on that occasion. it began with great lassitude of the body, and rapid swellings of the glands of the groin and armpits, which soon became large boils. then followed, as a fatal symptom, large black or deep-blue spots over the body, from which came the name of "black death." some of the victims became sleepy and stupid; others were incessantly restless. the tongue and throat grew black; the lungs exhaled a noisome odor; an insatiable thirst was produced. death came in two or three days, sometimes on the very day of seizure. medical aid was of no avail. doctors and relatives fled in terror from what they deemed a fatally contagious disease, and the stricken were left to die alone. villages and towns were in many places utterly deserted, no living things being left, for the disease was as fatal to dogs, cats, and swine as to men. there is reason to believe that this, and other less destructive visitations of plague, were due to the action of some of those bacterial organisms which are now known to have so much to do with infectious diseases. this particular pestilence-breeder seems to have flourished in filth, and the streets of the cities of europe of that day formed a richly fertile soil for its growth. men prayed to god for relief, instead of cleaning their highways and by-ways, and relief came not. such was its character, what were its ravages? never before or since has a pestilence brought such desolation. men died by millions. at bâsle it found fourteen thousand victims; at strasburg and erfurt, sixteen thousand; in the other cities of germany it flourished in like proportion. in osnabrück only seven married couples remained unseparated by death. of the franciscan minorites of germany, one hundred and twenty-five thousand died. outside of germany the fury of the pestilence was still worse; from east to west, from north to south, europe was desolated. the mortality in asia was fearful. in china there are said to have been thirteen million victims to the scourge; in the rest of asia twenty-four millions. the extreme west was no less frightfully visited. london lost one hundred thousand of its population; in all england a number estimated at from one-third to one-half the entire population (then probably numbering from three to five millions) were swept into the grave. if we take europe as a whole, it is believed that fully a fourth of its inhabitants were carried away by this terrible scourge. for two years the pestilence raged, and . it broke out again in - , and once more in . the mortality caused by the plague was only one of its disturbing consequences. the bonds of society were loosened; natural affection seemed to vanish; friend deserted friend, mothers even fled from their children; demoralization showed itself in many instances in reckless debauchery. an interesting example remains to us in boccaccio's "decameron," whose stories were told by a group of pleasure-lovers who had fled from plague-stricken florence. in many localities the hatred of the jews by the people led to frightful excesses of persecution against them, they being accused by their enemies of poisoning the wells. from berne, where the city councils gave orders for the massacre, it spread over the whole of switzerland and germany, many thousands being murdered. at mayence it is said that twelve thousand jews were massacred. at strasburg two thousand were burned in one pile. even the orders of the emperor failed to put an end to the slaughter. all the jews who could took refuge in poland, where they found a protector in casimir, who, like a second ahasuerus, extended his aid to them from love for esther, a beautiful jewess. from that day to this poland has swarmed with jews. this persecution was discountenanced by pope clement vi. in two bulls, in the first of which he ordered that the jews should not be made the victims of groundless charges or injured in person or property without the sentence of a lawful judge. the second affirmed the innocence of the jews in the persecution then going on and ordered the bishops to excommunicate all those who should continue it. of the beneficial results of the religious excitement may be named the earnest labors of the order of beguines, an association of women for the purpose of attending the sick and dying, which had long been in existence, but was particularly active and useful during this period. we may name also the beghards and lollards, whose extravagances were to some extent outgrowths of earnest piety, and their lives strongly contrasted with the levity and luxury of the higher ecclesiastics. these societies of poor and mendicant penitents were greatly increased by the religious excitement of the time, which also gave special vitality to another sect, the flagellants, which, as mentioned in a former article, first arose in , during the excesses of bloodshed of the guelphs of northern italy, and thence spread over europe. after a period of decadence they broke out afresh in , as a consequence of the deadly pestilence. the members of this sect, seeing no hope of relief from human action, turned to god as their only refuge, and deemed it necessary to propitiate the deity by extraordinary sacrifices and self-tortures. the flame of fanaticism, once started, spread rapidly and widely. hundreds of men, and even boys, marched in companies through the roads and streets, carrying heavy torches, scourging their naked shoulders with knotted whips, which were often loaded with lead or iron, singing penitential hymns, parading in bands which bore banners and were distinguished by white hats with red crosses. women as well as men took part in these fanatical exercises, marching about half-naked, whipping each other frightfully, flinging themselves on the earth in the most public places of the towns and scourging their bare backs and shoulders till the blood flowed. entering the churches, they would prostrate themselves on the pavement, with their arms extended in the form of a cross, chanting their rude hymns. of these hymns we may quote the following example: "now is the holy pilgrimage. christ rode into jerusalem, and in his hand he bore a cross; may christ to us be gracious. our pilgrimage is good and right." the flagellants did not content themselves with these public manifestations of self-sacrifice. they formed a regular religious order, with officers and laws, and property in common. at night, before sleeping, each indicated to his brothers by gestures the sins which weighed most heavily on his conscience, not a word being spoken until absolution was granted by one of them in the following form: "for their dear sakes who torture bore, rise, brother, go and sin no more." had this been all they might have been left to their own devices, but they went farther. the day of judgment, they declared, was at hand. a letter had been addressed from jerusalem by the creator to his sinning creatures, and it was their mission to spread this through europe. they preached, confessed, and forgave sins, declared that the blood shed in their flagellations had a share with the blood of christ in atoning for sin, that their penances were a substitute for the sacraments of the church, and that the absolution granted by the clergy was of no avail. they taught that all men were brothers and equal in the sight of god, and upbraided the priests for their pride and luxury. these doctrines and the extravagances of the flagellants alarmed the pope, clement vi., who launched against the enthusiasts a bull of excommunication, and ordered their persecution as heretics. this course, at first, roused their enthusiasm to frenzy. some of them even pretended to be the messiah, one of these being burnt as a heretic at erfurt. gradually, however, as the plague died away, and the occasion for this fanatical outburst vanished, the enthusiasm of the flagellants went with it, and they sunk from sight. in a troop of them reappeared in thuringia and lower saxony, and even surpassed their predecessors in wildness of extravagance. with the dying out of this manifestation this strange mania of the middle ages vanished, probably checked by the growing intelligence of mankind. _the swiss at morgarten_ on a sunny autumn morning, in the far-off year , a gallant band of horsemen wound slowly up the swiss mountains, their forest of spears and lances glittering in the ruddy beams of the new-risen sun, and extending down the hill-side as far as the eye could reach. in the vanguard rode the flower of the army, a noble cavalcade of knights, clad in complete armor, and including nearly the whole of the ancient nobility of austria. at the head of this group rode duke leopold, the brother of frederick of austria, and one of the bravest knights and ablest generals of the realm. following the van came a second division, composed of the inferior leaders and the rank and file of the army. switzerland was to be severely punished, and to be reduced again to the condition from which seven years before it had broken away; such was the dictum of the austrian magnates. with the army came landenberg, the oppressive governor who had been set free on his oath never to return to switzerland. he was returning in defiance of his vow. with it are also said to have been several of the family of gessler, the tyrant who fell beneath tell's avenging arrow. the birds of prey were flying back, eager to fatten on the body of slain liberty in switzerland. up the mountains wound the serried band, proud in their panoply, confident of easy victory, their voices ringing out in laughter and disdain as they spoke of the swift vengeance that was about to fall on the heads of the horde of rebel mountaineers. the duke was as gay and confidant as any of his followers, as he proudly bestrode his noble war-horse, and led the way up the mountain slopes towards the district of schwyz, the head-quarters of the base-born insurgents. he would trample the insolent boors under his feet, he said, and had provided himself with an abundant supply of ropes with which to hang the leaders of the rebels, whom he counted on soon having in his power. all was silent about them as they rode forward; the sun shone brilliantly; it seemed like a pleasure excursion on which they were bound. "the locusts have crawled to their holes," said the duke, laughingly; "we will have to stir them out with the points of our lances." "the poor fools fancied that liberty was to be won by driving out one governor and shooting another," answered a noble knight. "they will find that the eagle of hapsburg does not loose its hold so easily." their conversation ceased as they found themselves at the entrance to a pass, through which the road up the mountains wound, a narrow avenue, wedged in between hills and lakeside. the silence continued unbroken around the rugged scene as the cavalry pushed in close ranks through the pass, filling it, as they advanced, from side to side. they pushed forward; beyond this pass of morgarten they would find open land again and the villages of the rebellious peasantry; here all was solitude and a stillness that was almost depressing. suddenly the stillness was broken. from the rugged cliffs which bordered the pass came a loud shout of defiance. but more alarming still was the sound of descending rocks, which came plunging down the mountain side, and in an instant fell with a sickening thud on the mail-clad and crowded ranks below. under their weight the iron helmets of the knights cracked like so many nut-shells; heads were crushed into shapeless masses, and dozens of men, a moment before full of life, hope, and ambition, were hurled in death to the ground. down still plunged the rocks, loosened by busy hands above, sent on their errand of death down the steep declivities, hurling destruction upon the dense masses below. escape was impossible. the pass was filled with horsemen. it would take time to open an avenue of flight, and still those death-dealing rocks came down, smashing the strongest armor like pasteboard, strewing the pass with dead and bleeding bodies. and now the horses, terrified, wounded, mad with pain and alarm, began to plunge and rear, trebling the confusion and terror, crushing fallen riders under their hoofs, adding their quota to the sum of death and dismay. many of them rushed wildly into the lake which bordered one side of the pass, carrying their riders to a watery death. in a few minutes' time that trim and soldierly array, filled with hope of easy victory and disdain of its foes, was converted into a mob of maddened horses and frightened men, while the rocky pass beneath their feet was strewn thickly with the dying and the dead. yet all this had been done by fifty men, fifty banished patriots, who had hastened back on learning that their country was in danger, and stationing themselves among the cliffs above the pass, had loosened and sent rolling downwards the stones and huge fragments of rock which lay plentifully there. while the fifty returned exiles were thus at work on the height of morgarten, the army of the swiss, thirteen hundred in number, was posted on the summit of the sattel mountain opposite, waiting its opportunity. the time for action had come. the austrian cavalry of the vanguard was in a state of frightful confusion and dismay. and now the mountaineers descended the steep hill slopes like an avalanche, and precipitated themselves on the flank of the invading force, dealing death with their halberds and iron-pointed clubs until the pass ran blood. on every side the austrian chivalry fell. escape was next to impossible, resistance next to useless. confined in that narrow passage, confused, terrified, their ranks broken by the rearing and plunging horses, knights and men-at-arms falling with every blow from their vigorous assailants, it seemed as if the whole army would be annihilated, and not a man escape to tell the tale. numbers of gallant knights, the flower of the austrian, nobility, fell under those vengeful clubs. numbers were drowned in the lake. a halberd-thrust revenged switzerland on landenberg, who had come back to his doom. two of the gesslers were slain. death held high carnival in that proud array which had vowed to reduce the free-spirited mountaineers to servitude. such as could fled in all haste. the van of the army, which had passed beyond those death-dealing rocks, the rear, which had not yet come up, broke and fled in a panic of fear. duke leopold narrowly escaped from the vengeance of the mountaineers, whom he had held in such contempt. instead of using the ropes he had brought with him to hang their chiefs, he fled at full speed from the victors, who were now pursuing the scattered fragments of the army, and slaying the fugitives in scores. with difficulty the proud duke escaped, owing his safety to a peasant, who guided him through narrow ravines and passes as far as winterthur, which he at length reached in a state of the utmost dejection and fatigue. the gallantly-arrayed army which he had that morning led, with blare of trumpets and glitter of spears, with high hope and proud assurance of victory, up the mountain slopes, was now in great part a gory heap in the rocky passes, the remainder a scattered host of wearied and wounded fugitives. switzerland had won its freedom. the day before the swiss confederates, apprised of the approach of the austrians, had come together, four hundred men from uri, three hundred from unterwald, the remainder from schwyz. they owed their success to rudolphus redin, a venerable patriot, so old and infirm that he could scarcely walk, yet with such reputation for skill and prudence in war that the warriors halted at his door in their march, and eagerly asked his advice. [illustration: the castle of prague.] "our grand aim, my sons," said he, "as we are so inferior in numbers, must be to prevent duke leopold from gaining any advantage by his superior force." he then advised them to occupy the morgarten and sattel heights, and fall on the austrians when entangled in the pass, cutting their force in two, and assailing it right and left. they obeyed him implicitly, with what success we have seen. the fifty men who had so efficiently begun the fray had been banished from schwyz through some dispute, but on learning their country's danger had hastily returned to sacrifice their lives, if need be, for their native land. thus a strong and well-appointed army, fully disciplined and led by warriors famed for courage and warlike deeds, was annihilated by a small band of peasants, few of whom had ever struck a blow in war, but who were animated by the highest spirit of patriotism and love of liberty, and welcomed death rather than a return to their old state of slavery and oppression. the short space of an hour and a half did the work. austria was defeated and switzerland was free. _a mad emperor._ if genius to madness is allied, the same may be said of eccentricity, and certainly wenceslas, emperor of germany and king of bohemia, had an eccentricity that approached the vagaries of the insane. the oldest son of charles iv., he was brought up in pomp and luxury, and was so addicted to sensual gratification that he left the empire largely to take care of itself, while he gave his time to the pleasures of the bottle and the chase. born to the throne, he was crowned king of bohemia when but three years of age, was elected king of the romans at fifteen, and two years afterwards, in , became emperor of germany, when still but a boy, with regard for nothing but riot and rude frolic. so far as affairs of state were concerned, the volatile youth either totally neglected them or treated them with a ridicule that was worse than neglect. drunk two-thirds of his time, he now dismissed the most serious matters with a rude jest, now met his councillors with brutal fits of rage. the germans deemed him a fool, and were not far amiss in their opinion; but as he did not meddle with them, except in holding an occasional useless diet at nuremberg, they did not meddle with him. the bohemians, among whom he lived, his residence being at prague, found his rule much more of a burden. they were exposed to his savage caprices, and regarded him as a brutal and senseless tyrant. that there was method in his madness the following anecdote will sufficiently show. former kings had invested the bohemian nobles with possessions which he, moved by cupidity, determined to have back. this is the method he took to obtain them. all the nobles of the land were invited to meet him at willamow, where he received them in a black tent, which opened on one side into a white, and on the other into a red one. into this tent of ominous hue the waiting nobles were admitted, one at a time, and were here received by the emperor, who peremptorily bade them declare what lands they held as gifts from the crown. those who gave the information asked, and agreed to cede these lands back to the crown, were led into the white tent, where an ample feast awaited them. those who refused were dismissed with frowns into the red tent, where they found awaiting them the headsman's fatal block and axe. the hapless guests were instantly seized and beheaded. this ghastly jest, if such it may be considered, proceeded for some time before the nobles still waiting learned what was going on. when at length a whisper of the frightful mystery of the red tent was borne to their ears, there were no longer any candidates for its favors. the emperor found them eagerly willing to give up the ceded lands, and all that remained found their way to the white tent and the feast. the emperor's next act of arbitrary tyranny was directed against the jews. one of that people had ridiculed the sacrament, in consequence of which three thousand jews of prague were massacred by the populace of that city. wenceslas, instead of punishing the murderers, as justice would seem to have demanded, solaced his easy conscience by punishing the victims, declaring all debts owed by christians to jews to be null and void. his next act of injustice and cruelty was perpetrated in , and arose from a dispute between the crown and the church. one of the royal chamberlains had caused two priests to be executed on the accusation of committing a flagrant crime. this action was resented by the archbishop of prague, who declared that it was an encroachment upon the prerogative of the church, which alone had the right to punish an ecclesiastic. he, therefore, excommunicated the chamberlain. this action of the daring churchman threw the emperor into such a paroxysm of rage that the archbishop, knowing well the man he had to deal with, took to flight, saving his neck at the expense of his dignity. the furious wenceslas, finding that the chief offender had escaped, vented his wrath on the subordinates, several of whom were seized. one of them, the dean, moved by indignation, dealt the emperor so heavy a blow on the head with his sword-knot as to bring the blood. it does not appear that he was made to suffer for his boldness, but two of the lower ecclesiastics, john of nepomuk and puchnik, were put to the rack to make them confess facts learned by them in the confessional. they persistently refused to answer. wenceslas, infuriated by their obstinacy, himself seized a torch and applied it to their limbs to make them speak. they were still silent. the affair ended in his ordering john of nepomuk to be flung headlong, during the night, from the great bridge over the moldau into the stream. a statue now marks the spot where this act of tyranny was performed. the final result of the emperor's cruelty was one which he could not have foreseen. he had made a saint of nepomuk. the church, appreciating the courageous devotion of the murdered ecclesiastic to his duty in keeping inviolate the secrets of the confessional, canonized him as a martyr, and made him the patron saint of bohemia. puchnik escaped with his life, and eventually with more than his life. the tyrant's wrath was followed by remorse,--a feeling, apparently, which rarely troubled his soul,--and he sought to atone for his cruelty to one churchman by loading the other with benefits. but his mad fury changed to as mad a benevolence, and he managed to make a jest of his gratuity. puchnik was led into the royal treasury, and the emperor himself, thrusting his royal hands into his hoards of gold, filled the pockets, and even the boots, of the late sufferer with the precious coin. this done, puchnik attempted to depart, but in vain. he found himself nailed to the floor, so weighed down with gold that he was unable to stir. before he could move he had to disgorge much of his new-gained wealth, a proceeding to which churchmen in that age do not seem to have been greatly given. doubtless the remorseful wenceslas beheld this process with a grim smile of royal humor on his lips. the emperor had a brother, sigismund by name, a man not of any high degree of wisdom, but devoid of his wild and immoderate temper. brandenburg was his inheritance, though he had married the daughter of the king of hungary and poland, and hoped to succeed to those countries. there was a third brother, john, surnamed "von görlitz." sigismund was by no means blind to his brother's folly, or to the ruin in which it threatened to involve his family and his own future prospects. this last exploit stirred him to action. concerting with some other princes of the empire, he suddenly seized wenceslas, carried him to austria, and imprisoned him in the castle of wiltberg, in that country. a fair disposal, this, of a man who was scarcely fit to run at large, most reasonable persons would say; but all did not think so. john von görlitz, the younger brother of the emperor, fearing public scandal from such a transaction, induced the princes who held him to set him free. it proved a fatal display of kindness and family affection for himself. the imperial captive was no sooner free than, concealing the wrath which he felt at his incarceration, he invited to a banquet certain bohemian nobles who had aided in it. they came, trusting to the fact that the tiger's claws seemed sheathed. they had no sooner arrived than the claws were displayed. they were all seized, by the emperor's order, and beheaded. then the dissimulating madman turned on his benevolent brother john, who had taken control of affairs in bohemia during his imprisonment, and poisoned him. it was a new proof of the old adage, it is never safe to warm a frozen adder. the restoration of wenceslas was followed by other acts of folly. in the following year, , he sold to john galcazzo visconti, of milan, the dignity of a duke in lombardy, a transaction which exposed him to general contempt. at a later date he visited paris, and here, in a drunken frolic, he played into the hands of the king of france by ceding genoa to that country, and by recognizing the antipope at avignon, instead of boniface ix. at rome. these acts filled the cup of his folly. the princes of the empire resolved to depose him. a council was called, before which he was cited to appear. he refused to come, and was formally deposed, rupert, of the palatinate, being elected in his stead. ten years afterwards, in , rupert died, and sigismund became emperor of germany. meanwhile, wenceslas remained king of bohemia, in spite of his brother sigismund, who sought to oust him from this throne also. he took him prisoner, indeed, but trusted him to the austrians, who at once set him free, and the bohemians replaced him on the throne. some years afterwards, war continuing, wenceslas sought to get rid of his brother sigismund in the same manner as he had disposed of his brother john, by poison. he was successful in having it administered to sigismund and his ally, albert of austria, in their camp before zuaym. albert died, but sigismund was saved by a rude treatment which seems to have been in vogue in that day. he was suspended by the feet for twenty-four hours, so that the poison ran out of his mouth. the later events in the life of wenceslas have to do with the most famous era in the history of bohemia, the reformation in that country, and the stories of john huss and ziska. the fate of huss is well known. summoned before the council at constance, and promised a safe-conduct by the emperor sigismund, he went, only to find the emperor faithless to his word and himself condemned and burnt as a heretic. this base act of treachery was destined to bring a bloody retribution. it infuriated the reformers in bohemia, who, after brooding for several years over their wrongs, broke out into an insurrection of revenge. the leader of this outbreak was an officer of experience, named john ziska, a man who had lost one eye in childhood, and who bitterly hated the priesthood for a wrong done to one of his sisters. the martyrdom of huss threw him into such deep and silent dejection, that one day the king, in whose court he was, asked him why he was so sad. "huss is burnt, and we have not yet avenged him," replied ziska. "i can do nothing in that direction," said wenceslas; adding, carelessly, "you might attempt it yourself." this was spoken as a jest, but ziska took it in deadly earnest. he, aided by his friends, roused the people, greatly to the alarm of the king, who ordered the citizens to bring their arms to the royal castle of wisherad, which commanded the city of prague. ziska heard the command, and obeyed it in his own way. the arms were brought, but they came in the hands of the citizens, who marched in long files to the fortress, and drew themselves up before the king, ziska at their head. "my gracious and mighty sovereign, here we are," said the bold leader; "we await your commands; against what enemy are we to fight?" wenceslas looked at those dense groups of armed and resolute men, and concluded that his purpose of disarming them would not work. assuming a cheerful countenance, he bade them return home and keep the peace. they obeyed, so far as returning home was concerned. in other matters they had learned their power, and were bent on exerting it. nicolas of hussinez, huss's former lord, and ziska's seconder in this outbreak, was banished from the city by the king. he went, but took forty thousand men with him, who assembled on a mountain which was afterwards known by the biblical name of mount tabor. here several hundred tables were spread for the celebration of the lord's supper, july , . wenceslas, in attempting to put a summary end to the disturbance in the city, quickly made bad worse. he deposed the hussite city council in the neustadt, the locality of greatest disturbance, and replaced it by a new one in his own interests. this action filled prague with indignation, which was redoubled when the new council sent two clamorous hussites to prison. on the th of july ziska led a strong body of his partisans through the streets to the council-house, and sternly demanded that the prisoners should be set free. the councillors hesitated,--a fatal hesitation. a stone was flung from one of the windows. instantly the mob stormed the building, rushed into the council-room, and seized the councillors, thirteen of whom, germans by birth, were flung out of the windows. they were received on the pikes of the furious mob below, and the whole of them murdered. this act of violence was quickly followed by others. the dwelling of a priest, supposed to have been that of the seducer of ziska's sister, was destroyed and its owner hanged; the carthusian monks were dragged through the streets, crowned with thorns, and other outrages perpetrated against the opponents of the party of reform. a few days afterwards the career of wenceslas, once emperor of germany, now king of bohemia, came to an abrupt end. on august he suddenly died,--by apoplexy, say some historians, while others say that he was suffocated in his palace by his own attendants. the latter would seem a fitting end for a man whose life had been marked by so many acts of tyrannous violence, some of them little short of insanity. whatever its cause, his death removed the last restraint from the mob. on the following day every church and monastery in prague was assailed and plundered, their pictures were destroyed, and the robes of the priests were converted into flags and dresses. many of these buildings are said to have been splendidly decorated, and the royal palace, which was also destroyed, had been adorned by wenceslas and his father with the richest treasures of art. we are told that on the walls of a garden belonging to the palace the whole of the bible was written. while the work of destruction went on, a priest formed an altar in the street of three tubs, covered by a broad table-top, from which all day long he dispensed the sacrament in both forms. the excesses of this outbreak soon frightened the wealthier citizens, who dreaded an assault upon their wealth, and, in company with sophia, the widow of wenceslas, they sent a deputation to the emperor, asking him to make peace. he replied by swearing to take a fearful revenge on the insurgents. the insurrection continued, despite this action of the nobles and the threats of the emperor. ziska, finding the citizens too moderate, invited into the city the peasants, who were armed with flails, and committed many excesses. forced by the moderate party to leave the city, ziska led his new adherents to mount tabor, which he fortified and prepared to defend. they called themselves the "people of god," and styled their catholic opponents "moabites," "amalekites," etc., declaring that it was their duty to extirpate them. their leader entitled himself "john ziska, of the cup, captain, in the hope of god, of the taborites." but having brought the story of the emperor wenceslas to an end, we must stop at this point. the after-life of john ziska was of such stir and interest, and so filled with striking events, that we shall deal with it by itself, in a sequel to the present story. _sempach and arnold winkelried._ seventy years had passed since the battle of morgarten, through which freedom came to the lands of the swiss. throughout that long period austria had let the liberty-loving mountaineers alone, deterred by the frightful lesson taught them in the bloody pass. in the interval the confederacy had grown more extensive. the towns of berne, zurich, soleure, and zug had joined it; and now several other towns and villages, incensed by the oppression and avarice of their austrian masters, threw off the foreign yoke and allied themselves to the swiss confederacy. it was time for the austrians to be moving, if they would retain any possessions in the alpine realm of rocks. duke leopold of austria, a successor to the leopold who had learned so well at morgarten how the swiss could strike for liberty, and as bold and arrogant as he, grew incensed at the mountaineers for taking into their alliance several towns which were subject to him, and vowed not only to chastise these rebels, but to subdue the whole country, and put an end to their insolent confederacy. his feeling was shared by the austrian nobles, one hundred and sixty-seven of whom joined in his warlike scheme, and agreed to aid him in putting down the defiant mountaineers. war resolved upon, the austrians laid a shrewd plan to fill the swiss confederates with terror in advance of their approach. letters declaring war were sent to the confederate assembly by twenty distinct expresses, with the hope that this rapid succession of threats would overwhelm them with fear. the separate nobles followed with their declarations. on st. john's day a messenger arrived from würtemberg bearing fifteen declarations of war. hardly had these letters been read when nine more arrived, sent by john ulric of pfirt and eight other nobles. others quickly followed; it fairly rained declarations of war; the members of the assembly had barely time to read one batch of threatening fulminations before another arrived. letters from the lords of thurn came after those named, followed by a batch from the nobles of schaffhausen. this seemed surely enough, but on the following day the rain continued, eight successive messengers arriving, who bore no less than forty-three declarations of war. it seemed as if the whole north was about to descend in a cyclone of banners and spears upon the mountain land. the assembly sat breathless under this torrent of threats. had their hearts been open to the invasion of terror they must surely have been overwhelmed, and have waited in the supineness of fear for the coming of their foes. but the hearts of the swiss were not of that kind. they were too full of courage and patriotism to leave room for dismay. instead of awaiting their enemies with dread, a burning impatience animated their souls. if liberty or death were the alternatives, the sooner the conflict began the more to their liking it would be. the cry of war resounded through the country, and everywhere, in valley and on mountain, by lake-side and by glacier's rim, the din of hostile preparation might have been heard, as the patriots arranged their affairs and forged and sharpened their weapons for the coming fray. far too impatient were they to wait for the coming of leopold and his army. there were austrian nobles and austrian castles within their land. no sooner was the term of the armistice at an end than the armed peasantry swarmed about these strongholds, and many a fortress, long the seat of oppression, was taken and levelled with the ground. the war-cry of leopold and the nobles had inspired a different feeling from that counted upon. it was not long before duke leopold appeared. at the head of a large and well-appointed force, and attended by many distinguished knights and nobles, he marched into the mountain region and advanced upon sempach, one of the revolted towns, resolved, he said, to punish its citizens with a rod of iron for their daring rebellion. on the th of july, , the austrian cavalry, several thousands in number, reached the vicinity of sempach, having distanced the foot-soldiers in the impatient haste of their advance. here they found the weak array of the swiss gathered on the surrounding heights, and as eager as themselves for the fray. it was a small force, no stronger than that of morgarten, comprising only about fourteen hundred poorly-armed men. some carried halberds, some shorter weapons, while some among them, instead of a shield, had only a small board fastened to the left arm. it seemed like madness for such a band to dare contend with the thousands of well-equipped invaders. but courage and patriotism go far to replace numbers, as that day was to show. leopold looked upon his handful of foes, and decided that it would be folly to wait for the footmen to arrive. surely his host of nobles and knights, with their followers, would soon sweep these peasants, like so many locusts, from their path. yet he remembered the confusion into which the cavalry had been thrown at morgarten, and deeming that horsemen were ill-suited to an engagement on those wooded hill-sides, he ordered the entire force to dismount and attack on foot. the plan adopted was that the dismounted knights and soldiers should join their ranks as closely as possible, until their front presented an unbroken wall of iron, and thus arrayed should charge the enemy spear in hand. leaving their attendants in charge of their horses, the serried column of footmen prepared to advance, confident of sweeping their foes to death before their closely-knit line of spears. yet this plan of battle was not without its critics. the baron of hasenburg, a veteran soldier, looked on it with disfavor, as contrasted with the position of vantage occupied by the swiss, and cautioned the duke and his nobles against undue assurance. "pride never served any good purpose in peace or war," he said. "we had much better wait until the infantry come up." this prudent advice was received with shouts of derision by the nobles, some of whom cried out insultingly,-- "der hasenburg hat ein hasenherz" ("hasenburg has a hare's heart," a play upon the baron's name). certain nobles, however, who had not quite lost their prudence, tried to persuade the duke to keep in the rear, as the true position for a leader. he smiled proudly in reply, and exclaimed with impatience,-- "what! shall leopold be a mere looker-on, and calmly behold his knights die around him in his own cause? never! here on my native soil with you i will conquer or perish with my people." so saying, he placed himself at the head of the troops. and now the decisive moment was at hand. the swiss had kept to the heights while their enemy continued mounted, not venturing to face such a body of cavalry on level ground. but when they saw them forming as foot-soldiers, they left the hills and marched to the plain below. soon the unequal forces confronted each other; the swiss, as was their custom, falling upon their knees and praying for god's aid to their cause; the austrians fastening their helmets and preparing for the fray. the duke even took the occasion to give the honor of knighthood to several young warriors. the day was a hot and close one, the season being that of harvest, and the sun pouring down its unclouded and burning rays upon the combatants. this sultriness was a marked advantage to the lightly-dressed mountaineers as compared with the armor-clad knights, to whom the heat was very oppressive. the battle was begun by the swiss, who, on rising from their knees, flung themselves with impetuous valor on the dense line of spears that confronted them. their courage and fury were in vain. not a man in the austrian line wavered. they stood like a rock against which the waves of the swiss dashed only to be hurled back in death. the men of lucerne, in particular, fought with an almost blind rage, seeking to force a path through that steel-pointed forest of spears, and falling rapidly before the triumphant foe. numbers of the mountaineers lay dead or wounded. the line of spears seemed impenetrable. the swiss began to waver. the enemy, seeing this, advanced the flanks of his line so as to form a half-moon shape, with the purpose of enclosing the small body of swiss within a circle of spears. it looked for the moment as if the struggle were at an end, the mountaineers foiled and defeated, the fetters again ready to be locked upon the limbs of free switzerland. but such was not to be. there was a man in that small band of patriots who had the courage to accept certain death for his country, one of those rare souls who appear from time to time in the centuries and win undying fame by an act of self-martyrdom. arnold of winkelried was his name, a name which history is not likely soon to forget, for by an impulse of the noblest devotion this brave patriot saved the liberties of his native land. [illustration: statue of arnold winkelried.] seeing that there was but one hope for the swiss, and that death must be the lot of him who gave them that hope, he exclaimed to his comrades, in a voice of thunder,-- "faithful and beloved confederates, i will open a passage to freedom and victory! protect my wife and children!" with these words, he rushed from his ranks, flung himself upon the enemy's steel-pointed line, and seized with his extended arms as many of the hostile spears as he was able to grasp, burying them in his body, and sinking dead to the ground. his comrades lost not a second in availing themselves of this act of heroic devotion. darting forward, they rushed over the body of the martyr to liberty into the breach he had made, forced others of the spears aside, and for the first time since the fray began reached the austrians with their weapons. a hasty and ineffective effort was made to close the breach. it only added to the confusion which the sudden assault had caused. the line of hurrying knights became crowded and disordered. the furious swiss broke through in increasing numbers. overcome with the heat, many of the knights fell from exhaustion, and died without a wound, suffocated in their armor. others fell below the blows of the swiss. the line of spears, so recently intact, was now broken and pierced at a dozen points, and the revengeful mountaineers were dealing death upon their terrified and feebly-resisting foes. the chief banner of the host had twice sunk and been raised again, and was drooping a third time, when ulric, a knight of aarburg, seized and lifted it, defending it desperately till a mortal blow laid him low. "save austria! rescue!" he faltered with his dying breath. duke leopold, who was pushing through the confused throng, heard him and caught the banner from his dying hand. again it waved aloft, but now crimsoned with the blood of its defender. the swiss, determined to capture it, pressed upon its princely bearer, surrounded him, cut down on every side the warriors who sought to defend him and the standard. "since so many nobles and knights have ended their days in my cause, let me honorably follow them," cried the despairing duke, and in a moment he rushed into the midst of the hostile ranks, vanishing from the eyes of his attendants. blows rained on his iron mail. in the pressure of the crowd he fell to the earth. while seeking to raise himself again in his heavy armor, he cried, in his helpless plight, to a swiss soldier, who had approached him with raised weapon,-- "i am the prince of austria." the man either heard not his words, or took no heed of princes. the weapon descended with a mortal blow. duke leopold of austria was dead. the body of the slain duke was found by a knight, martin malterer, who bore the banner of freiburg. on recognizing him, he stood like one petrified, let the banner fall from his hand, and then threw himself on the body of the prince, that it might not be trampled under foot by the contending forces. in this position he soon received his own death-wound. by this time the state of the austrians was pitiable. the signal for retreat was given, and in utter terror and dismay they fled for their horses. alas, too late! the attendants, seeing the condition of their masters, and filled with equal terror, had mounted the horses, and were already in full flight. nothing remained for the knights, oppressed with their heavy armor, exhausted with thirst and fatigue, half suffocated with the scorching heat, assailed on every side by the light-armed and nimble swiss, but to sell their lives as dearly as possible. in a short time more all was at an end. the last of the austrians fell. on that fatal field there had met their death, at the hands of the small body of swiss, no less than six hundred and fifty-six knights, barons, and counts, together with thousands of their men-at-arms. thus ended the battle of sempach, with its signal victory to the swiss, one of the most striking which history records, if we consider the great disproportion in numbers and in warlike experience and military equipment of the combatants. it secured to switzerland the liberty for which they had so valiantly struck at morgarten seventy years before. but all switzerland was not yet free, and more blows were needed to win its full liberty. the battle of næfels, in , added to the width of the free zone. in this the peasants of glarus rolled stones on the austrian squadrons, and set fire to the bridges over which they fled, two thousand five hundred of the enemy, including a great number of nobles, being slain. in the same year the peasants of valais defeated the earl of savoy at visp, putting four thousand of his men to the sword. the citizens of st. gall, infuriated by the tyranny of the governor of the province of schwendi, broke into insurrection, attacked the castle of schwendi, and burnt it to the ground. the governor escaped. all the castles in the vicinity were similarly dealt with, and the whole district set free. shortly after the citizens of st. gall joined with the peasants against their abbot, who ruled them with a hand of iron. the swabian cities were asked to decide the dispute, and decided that cities could only confederate with cities, not with peasants, thus leaving the appenzellers to their fate. at this decision the herdsmen rose in arms, defeated abbot and citizens both, and set their country free, all the neighboring peasantry joining their band of liberty. a few years later the people of this region joined the confederation, which now included nearly the whole of the alpine country, and was strong enough to maintain its liberty for centuries thereafter. it was not again subdued until the legions of napoleon trod over its mountain paths. _ziska, the blind warrior._ sigismund, emperor of germany, had sworn to put an end to the hussite rebellion in bohemia, and to punish the rebels in a way that would make all future rebels tremble. but sigismund was pursuing the old policy of cooking the hare before it was caught. he forgot that the indomitable john ziska and the iron-flailed peasantry stood between him and his vow. he had first to conquer the reformers before he could punish them, and this was to prove no easy task. the dreadful work of religious war began with the burning of hussite preachers who had ventured from bohemia into germany. this was an argument which ziska thoroughly understood, and he retorted by destroying the bohemian monasteries, and burning the priests alive in barrels of pitch. "they are singing my sister's wedding song," exclaimed the grim barbarian, on hearing their cries of torture. queen sophia, widow of wenceslas, the late king, who had garrisoned all the royal castles, now sent a strong body of troops against the reformers. the army came up with the multitude, which was largely made up of women and children, on the open plain near pilsen. the cavalry charged upon the seemingly helpless mob. but ziska was equal to the occasion. he ordered the women to strew the ground with their gowns and veils, and the horses' feet becoming entangled in these, numbers of the riders were thrown, and the trim lines of the troops broken. seeing the confusion into which they had been thrown, ziska gave the order to charge, and in a short time the army that was to defeat him was flying in a panic across the plain, a broken and beaten mob. another army marched against him, and was similarly defeated; and the citizens of prague, finding that no satisfactory terms could be made with the emperor, recalled ziska, and entered into alliance with him. the one-eyed patriot was now lord of the land, all bohemia being at his beck and call. meanwhile sigismund, the emperor, was slowly gathering his forces to invade the rebellious land. the reign of cruelty continued, each side treating its prisoners barbarously. the imperialists branded theirs with a cup, the hussites theirs with a cross, on their foreheads. the citizens of breslau joined those of prague, and emulated them by flinging their councillors out of the town-house windows. in return the german miners of kuttenberg threw sixteen hundred hussites down the mines. such is religious war, the very climax of cruelty. in june, , the threatened invasion came. sigismund led an army, one hundred thousand strong, into the revolted land, fulminating vengeance as he marched. he reached prague and entered the castle of wisherad, which commanded it. ziska fortified the mountain of witlow (now called ziskaberg), which also commanded the city. sigismund, finding that he had been outgeneralled, and that his opponent held the controlling position, waited and temporized, amusing himself meanwhile by assuming the crown of bohemia, and sowing dissension in his army by paying the slavonian and hungarian troops with the jewels taken from the royal palaces and the churches, while leaving the germans unpaid. the germans, furious, marched away. the emperor was obliged to follow. the ostentatious invasion was at an end, and scarcely a blow had been struck. but sigismund had no sooner gone than trouble arose in prague. the citizens, the nobility, and ziska's followers were all at odds. the taborites--those strict republicans and religious reformers who had made mount tabor their head-quarters--were in power, and ruled the city with a rod of iron, destroying all the remaining splendor of the churches and sternly prohibiting every display of ostentation by the people. death was named as the punishment for such venial faults as dancing, gambling, or the wearing of rich attire. the wine-cellars were rigidly closed. church property was declared public property, and it looked as if private wealth would soon be similarly viewed. the peasants declared that it was their mission to exterminate sin from the earth. this tyranny so incensed the nobles and citizens that they rose in self-defence, and ziska, finding that prague had grown too hot to hold him, deemed it prudent to lead his men away. sigismund took immediate advantage of the opportunity by marching on prague. but, quick as he was, there were others quicker. the more moderate section of the reformers, the so-called horebites,--from mount horeb, another place of assemblage,--entered the city, led by hussinez, huss's former lord, and laid siege to the royal fortress, the wisherad. sigismund attempted to surprise him, but met with so severe a repulse that he fled into hungary, and the wisherad was forced to capitulate, this ancient palace and its church, both splendid works of art, being destroyed. step by step the art and splendor of bohemia were vanishing in this despotic struggle between heresy and the papacy. as the war went on, ziska, its controlling spirit, grew steadily more abhorrent of privilege and distinction, more bitterly fanatical. the ancient church, royalty, nobility, all excited his wrath. he was republican, socialist, almost anarchist in his views. his idea of perfection lay in a fraternity composed of the children of god, while he trusted to the strokes of the iron flail to bear down all opposition to his theory of society. the city of prachaticz treated him with mockery, and was burnt to the ground, with all its inhabitants. the bishop of nicopolis fell into his hands, and was flung into the river. as time went on, his war of extermination against sinners--that is, all who refused to join his banner--grew more cruel and unrelenting. each city that resisted was stormed and ruined, its inhabitants slaughtered, its priests burned. hussite virtue had degenerated into tyranny of the worst type. yet, while thus fanatical himself, ziska would not permit his followers to indulge in insane excesses of religious zeal. a party arose which claimed that the millennium was at hand, and that it was their duty to anticipate the coming of the innocence of paradise, by going naked, like adam and eve. these adamites committed the maddest excesses, but found a stern enemy in ziska, who put them down with an unsparing hand. in sigismund again roused himself to activity, incensed by the hussite defiance of his authority. he incited the silesians to invade bohemia, and an army of twenty thousand poured into the land, killing all before them,--men, women, and children. yet such was the terror that the very name of ziska now excited, that the mere rumor of his approach sent these invaders flying across the borders. but, in the midst of his career of triumph, an accident came to the bohemian leader which would have incapacitated any less resolute man from military activity. during the siege of the castle of raby a splinter struck his one useful eye and completely deprived him of sight. it did not deprive him of power and energy. most men, under such circumstances, would have retired from army leadership, but john ziska was not of that calibre. he knew bohemia so thoroughly that the whole land lay accurately mapped out in his mind. he continued to lead his army, to marshal his men in battle array, to command them in the field and the siege, despite his blindness, always riding in a carriage, close to the great standard, and keeping in immediate touch with all the movements of the war. blind as he was, he increased rather than diminished the severity of his discipline, and insisted on rigid obedience to his commands. as an instance of this we are told that, on one occasion, having compelled his troops to march day and night, as was his custom, they murmured and said,-- "day and night are the same to you, as you cannot see; but they are not the same to us." "how!" he cried. "you cannot see! well, set fire to a couple of villages." the blind warrior was soon to have others to deal with than his bohemian foes. sigismund had sent forward another army, which, in september, , invaded the country. it was driven out by the mere rumor of ziska's approach, the soldiers flying in haste on the vague report of his coming. but in november the emperor himself came, leading a horde of eighty thousand hungarians, servians, and others, savage fellows, whose approach filled the moderate party of the bohemians with terror. ziska's men had such confidence in their blind chief as to be beyond terror. they were surrounded by the enemy, and enclosed in what seemed a trap. but under ziska's orders they made a night attack on the foe, broke through their lines, and, to the emperor's discomfiture, were once more free. on new year's day, , the two armies came face to face near zollin. ziska drew up his men in battle array and confidently awaited the attack of the enemy. but the inflexible attitude of his men, the terror of his name, or one of those inexplicable influences which sometimes affect armies, filled the hungarians with a sudden panic, and they vanished from the front of the bohemians without a blow. once more the emperor and the army which he had led into the country with such high confidence of success were in shameful flight, and the terrible example which he had vowed to make of bohemia was still unaccomplished. the blind chief vigorously and relentlessly pursued, overtaking the fugitives on january near deutschbrod. terrified at his approach, they sought to escape by crossing the stream at that place on the ice. the ice gave way, and numbers of them were drowned. deutschbrod was burned and its inhabitants slaughtered in ziska's cruel fashion. this repulse put an end to invasions of bohemia while ziska lived. there were intestine disturbances which needed to be quelled, and then the army of the reformers was led beyond the boundaries of the country and assailed the imperial dominions, but the emperor held aloof. he had had enough of the blind terror of bohemia, the indomitable ziska and his iron-flailed peasants. new outbreaks disturbed bohemia. ambitious nobles aspired to the kingship, but their efforts were vain. the army of the iron flail quickly put an end to all such hopes. in ziska invaded moravia and austria, to keep his troops employed, and lost severely in doing so. in his enemies at home again made head against him, led an army into the field, and pursued him to kuttenberg. here he ordered his men to feign a retreat, then, while the foe were triumphantly advancing, he suddenly turned, had his battle-chariot driven furiously down the mountain-side upon their lines, and during the confusion thus caused ordered an attack in force. the enemy were repulsed, their artillery was captured, and kuttenberg set in flames, as ziska's signal of triumph. shortly afterwards, his enemies at home being thoroughly beaten, the indomitable blind chief marched upon prague, the head-quarters of his foes, and threatened to burn this city to the ground. he might have done so, too, but for his own men, who broke into sedition at the threat. procop, ziska's bravest captain, advised peace, to put an end to the disasters of civil war. his advice was everywhere re-echoed, the demand for peace seemed unanimous, ziska alone opposing it. mounting a cask, and facing his discontented followers, he exclaimed,-- "fear internal more than external foes. it is easier for a few, when united, to conquer, than for many, when disunited. snares are laid for you; you will be entrapped, but it will not be my fault." despite his harangue, however, peace was concluded between the contending factions, and a large monument raised in commemoration thereof, both parties heaping up stones. ziska entered the city in solemn procession, and was met with respect and admiration by the citizens. prince coribut, the leader of the opposite party and the aspirant to the crown, came to meet him, embraced him, and called him father. the triumph of the blind chief over his internal foes was complete. it seemed equally complete over his external foes. sigismund, unable to conquer him by force of arms, now sought to mollify him by offers of peace, and entered into negotiations with the stern old warrior. but ziska was not to be placated. he could not trust the man who had broken his plighted word and burned john huss, and he remained immovable in his hostility to germany. planning a fresh attack on moravia, he began his march thither. but now he met a conquering enemy against whose arms there was no defence. death encountered him on the route, and carried him off october , . thus ends the story of an extraordinary man, and the history of a series of remarkable events. of all the peasant outbreaks, of which there were so many during the mediæval period, the bohemian was the only one--if we except the swiss struggle for liberty--that attained measurable success. this was due in part to the fact that it was a religious instead of an industrial revolt, and thus did not divide the country into sharp ranks of rich and poor; and in greater part to the fact that it had an able leader, one of those men of genius who seem born for great occasions. john ziska, the blind warrior, leading his army to victory after victory, stands alone in the gallery of history. there were none like him, before or after. he is pictured as a short, broad-shouldered man, with a large, round, and bald head. his forehead was deeply furrowed, and he wore a long moustache of a fiery red hue. this, with his blind eye and his final complete blindness, yields a well-defined image of the man, that fanatical, remorseless, indomitable, and unconquerable avenger of the martyred huss, the first successful opponent of the doctrines of the church of rome whom history records. the conclusion of the story of the hussites may be briefly given. for years they held their own, under two leaders, known as procop holy and procop the little, defying the emperor, and at times invading the empire. the pope preached a crusade against them, but the army of invasion was defeated, and silesia and austria were invaded in reprisal by procop holy. seven years after the death of ziska an army of invasion again entered bohemia, so strong in numbers that it seemed as if that war-drenched land must fall before it. in its ranks were one hundred and thirty thousand men, led by frederick of brandenburg. their purposes were seen in their actions. every village reached was burned, till two hundred had been given to the flames. horrible excesses were committed. on august , , the two armies, the hussite and the imperialist, came face to face near tauss. the disproportion in numbers was enormous, and it looked as if the small force of bohemians would be swallowed up in the multitude of their foes. but barely was the hussite banner seen in the distance when the old story was told over again, the germans broke into sudden panic, and fled _en masse_ from the field. the bavarians were the first to fly, and all the rest speedily followed. frederick of brandenburg and his troops took refuge in a wood. the cardinal julian, who had preached a crusade against bohemia, succeeded for a time in rallying the fugitives, but at the first onset of the hussites they again took to flight, suffering themselves to be slaughtered without resistance. the munitions of war were abandoned to the foe, including one hundred and fifty cannon. it was an extraordinary affair, but in truth the flight was less due to terror than to disinclination of the german soldiers to fight the hussites, whose cause they deemed to be just and glorious, and the influence of whose opinions had spread far beyond the bohemian border. rome was losing its hold over the mind of northern europe outside the limits of the land of huss and ziska. negotiations for peace followed. the bohemians were invited to bâsle, being granted a safe-conduct, and promised free exercise of their religion coming and going, while no words of ridicule or reproach were to be permitted. on january , , three hundred bohemians, mounted on horseback, entered bâsle, accompanied by an immense multitude. it was a very different entrance from that of huss to constance, nearly twenty years before, and was to have a very different termination. procop holy headed the procession, accompanied by others of the bohemian leaders. a signal triumph had come to the party of religious reform, after twenty years of struggle. for fifty days the negotiations continued. neither side would yield. in the end, the bohemians, weary of the protracted and fruitless debate, took to their horses again, and set out homewards. this brought their enemies to terms. an embassy was hastily sent after them, and all their demands were conceded, though with certain reservations that might prove perilous in the future. they went home triumphant, having won freedom of religious worship according to their ideas of right and truth. they had not long reached home when dissensions again broke out. the emperor took advantage of them, accepted the crown of bohemia, entered prague, and at once reinstated the catholic religion. the fanatics flew to arms, but after a desperate struggle were annihilated. the bohemian struggle was at an end. in the following year the emperor sigismund died, having lived just long enough to win success in his long conflict. the martyrdom of huss, the valor and zeal of ziska, appeared to have been in vain. yet they were not so, for the seeds they had sown bore fruit in the following century in a great sectarian revolt which affected all christendom and permanently divided the church. _the siege of belgrade_ the empire of rome finally reached its end, not in the fifth century, as ordinarily considered, but in the fifteenth; not at rome, but at constantinople, where the eastern empire survived the western for a thousand years. at length, in , the turks captured constantinople, set a broad foot upon the degenerate empire of the east, and crushed out the last feeble remnants of life left in the pygmy successor of the colossus of the past. and now europe, which had looked on with clasped hands while the turks swept over the bosphorus and captured constantinople, suddenly awoke to the peril of its situation. a blow in time might have saved the greek empire. the blow had not been struck, and now europe had itself to save. terror seized upon the nations which had let their petty intrigues stand in the way of that broad policy in which safety lay, for they could not forget past instances of asiatic invasion. the frightful ravages wrought by the huns and the avars were far in the past, but no long time had elapsed since the coming of the magyars and the mongols, and now here was another of those hordes of murderous barbarians, hanging like a cloud of war on the eastern skirt of europe, and threatening to rain death and ruin upon the land. the dread of the nations was not amiss. they had neglected to strengthen the eastern barrier to the turkish avalanche. now it threatened their very doors, and they must meet it at home. the turks were not long in making their purpose evident. within two years after the fall of constantinople they were on the march again, and had laid siege to belgrade, the first obstacle in their pathway to universal conquest. the turkish cannons were thundering at the doors of europe. belgrade fallen, vienna would come next, and the march of the barbarians might only end at the sea. and yet, despite their danger, the people of germany remained supine. hungary had valiantly defended itself against the turks ten years before, without aid from the german empire. it looked now as if belgrade might be left to its fate. the brave john hunyades and his faithful hungarians were the only bulwarks of europe against the foe, for the people seemed incapable of seeing a danger a thousand miles away. the pope and his legate john capistrano, general of the capuchins, were the only aids to the valiant hunyades in his vigorous defence. they preached a crusade, but with little success. capistrano traversed germany, eloquently calling the people to arms against the barbarians. the result was similar to that on previous occasions, the real offenders were neglected, the innocent suffered. the people, instead of arming against the turks, turned against the jews, and murdered them by thousands. whatever happened in europe,--a plague, an invasion, a famine, a financial strait,--that unhappy people were in some way held responsible, and mediæval europe seemed to think it could, at any time, check the frightful career of a comet or ward off pestilence by slaughtering a few thousands of jews. it cannot be said that it worked well on this occasion; the jews died, but the turks surrounded belgrade still. capistrano found no military ardor in germany, in princes or people. the princes contented themselves with ordering prayers and ringing the turkish bells, as they were called. the people were as supine as their princes. he did, however, succeed, by the aid of his earnest eloquence, in gathering a force of a few thousands of peasants, priests, scholars, and the like; a motley host who were chiefly armed with iron flails and pitchforks, but who followed him with an enthusiasm equal to his own. with this shadow of an army he joined hunyades, and the combined force made its way in boats down the danube into the heart of hungary, and approached the frontier fortress which mahomet ii. was besieging with a host of one hundred and sixty thousand men, and which its defender, the brother-in-law of john hunyades, had nearly given up for lost. on came the flotilla,--the peasants with their flails and forks and hunyades with his trained soldiers,--and attacked the turkish fleet with such furious energy that it was defeated and dispersed, and the allied forces made their way into the beleaguered city. capistrano and his followers were full of enthusiasm. he was a second peter the hermit, his peasant horde were crusaders, fierce against the infidels, disdaining death in god's cause; neither leader nor followers had a grain of military knowledge or experience, but they had, what is sometimes better, courage and enthusiasm. john hunyades _had_ military experience, and looked with cold disfavor on the burning and blind zeal of his new recruits. he was willing that they should aid him in repelling the furious attacks of the turks, but to his trained eyes an attack on the well-intrenched camp of the enemy would have been simple madness, and he sternly forbade any such suicidal course, even threatening death to whoever should attempt it. in truth, his caution seemed reasonable. an immense host surrounded the city on the land side, and had done so on the water side, also, until the christian flotilla had sunk, captured, and dispersed its boats. far as the eye could see, the gorgeously-embellished tents of the turkish army, with their gilded crescents glittering in the sun, filled the field of view. cannon-mounted earthworks threatened the walls from every quarter. squadrons of steel-clad horsemen swept the field. the crowding thousands of besiegers pressed the city day and night. even defence seemed useless. assault on such a host appeared madness to experienced eyes. hunyades seemed wise in his stern disapproval of such an idea. yet military knowledge has its limitations, when it fails to take into account the power of enthusiasm. blind zeal is a force whose possibilities a general does not always estimate. it is capable of performing miracles, as hunyades was to learn. his orders, his threats of death, had no restraining effect on the minds of the crusaders. they had come to save europe from the turks, and they were not to be stayed by orders or threats. what though the enemy greatly outnumbered them, and had cannons and scimitars against their pikes and flails, had they not god on their side, and should god's army pause to consider numbers and cannon-balls? they were not to be restrained; attack they would, and attack they did. the siege had made great progress. the reinforcement had come barely in time. the walls were crumbling under the incessant bombardment. convinced that he had made a practicable breach, mahomet, the sultan, ordered an assault in force. the turks advanced, full of barbarian courage, climbed the crumbled walls, and broke, as they supposed, into the town, only to find new walls frowning before them. the vigorous garrison had built new defences behind the old ones, and the disheartened assailants learned that they had done their work in vain. this repulse greatly discouraged the sultan. he was still more discouraged when the crusaders, irrepressible in their hot enthusiasm, broke from the city and made a fierce attack upon his works. capistrano, seeing that they were not to be restrained, put himself at their head, and with a stick in one hand and a crucifix in the other, led them to the assault. it proved an irresistible one. the turks could not sustain themselves against these flail-swinging peasants. one intrenchment after another fell into their hands, until three had been stormed and taken. their success inspired hunyades. filled with a new respect for his peasant allies, and seeing that now or never was the time to strike, he came to their aid with his cavalry, and fell so suddenly and violently upon the turkish rear that the invaders were put to rout. onward pushed the crusaders and their allies; backward went the turks. the remaining intrenchments were stubbornly defended, but that storm of iron flails, those pikes and pitchforks, wielded by the zeal of enthusiasts, were not to be resisted, and in the end all that remained of the turkish army broke into panic flight, the sultan himself being wounded, and more than twenty thousand of his men left dead upon the field. it was a signal victory. miraculous almost, when one considers the great disproportion of numbers. the works of the invaders, mounted with three hundred cannon, and their camp, which contained an immense booty, fell into the hands of the christians, and the power of mahomet ii. was so crippled that years passed before he was in condition to attempt a second invasion of europe. the victors were not long to survive their signal triumph. the valiant hunyades died shortly after the battle, from wounds received in the action or from fatal disease. capistrano died in the same year ( ). hunyades left two sons, and the king of hungary repaid his services by oppressing both, and beheading one of these sons. but the king himself died during the next year, and matthias corvinus, the remaining son of hunyades, was placed by the hungarians on their throne. they had given their brave defender the only reward in their power. if the victory of hunyades and capistrano--the nobleman and the monk--had been followed up by the princes of europe, the turks might have been driven from constantinople, europe saved from future peril at their hands, and the tide of subsequent history gained a cleaner and purer flow. but nothing was done; the princes were too deeply interested in their petty squabbles to entertain large views, and the turks were suffered to hold the empire of the east, and quietly to recruit their forces for later assaults. _luther and the indulgences._ late in the month of april, in the year , an open wagon containing two persons was driven along one of the roads of germany, the horse being kept at his best pace, while now and then one of the occupants looked back as if in apprehension. this was the man who held the reins. the other, a short but presentable person, with pale, drawn face, lit by keen eyes, seemed too deeply buried in thought to be heedful of surrounding affairs. when he did lift his eyes they were directed ahead, where the road was seen to enter the great thuringian forest. dressed in clerical garb, the peasants who passed probably regarded him as a monk on some errand of mercy. the truth was that he was a fugitive, fleeing for his life, for he was a man condemned, who might at any moment be waylaid and seized. on entering the forest the wagon was driven on until a shaded and lonely dell was reached, seemingly a fitting place for deeds of violence. suddenly from the forest glades rode forth four armed and masked men, who stopped the wagon, sternly bade the traveller to descend and mount a spare horse they had with them, and rode off with him, a seeming captive, through the thick woodland. as if in fear of pursuit, the captors kept at a brisk pace, not drawing rein until the walls of a large and strong castle loomed up near the forest border. the gates flew open and the drawbridge fell at their demand, and the small cavalcade rode into the powerful stronghold, the entrance to which was immediately closed behind them. it was the castle of wartburg, near eisenach, saxony, within whose strong walls the man thus mysteriously carried off was to remain hidden from the world for the greater part of the year that followed. the monk-like captive was just then the most talked of man in germany. his seemingly violent capture had been made by his friends, not by his foes, its purpose being to protect him from his enemies, who were many and threatening. of this he was well aware, and welcomed the castle as a place of refuge. he was, in fact, the celebrated martin luther, who had just set in train a religious revolution of broad aspect in germany, and though for the time under the protection of a safe-conduct from the emperor charles v., had been deemed in imminent danger of falling into an ambush of his foes instead of one of his friends. that he might not be recognised by those who should see him at wartburg, his ecclesiastic robe was exchanged for the dress of a knight, he wore helmet and sword instead of cassock and cross and let his beard grow freely. thus changed in appearance, he was known as junker george (chevalier george) to those in the castle, and amused himself at times by hunting with his knightly companions in the neighborhood. the greater part of his time, however, was occupied in a difficult literary task, that of translating the bible into german. the work thus done by him was destined to prove as important in a linguistic as in a theological sense, since it fixed the status of the german language for the later period to the same extent as the english translation of the bible in the time of james i. aided to fix that of english speech. leaving luther, for the present, in his retreat at wartburg castle, we must go back in his history and tell the occasion of the events just narrated. no man, before or after his time, ever created so great a disturbance in german thought, and the career of this fugitive monk is one of great historical import. a peasant by birth, the son of a slate-cutter named hans luther, he so distinguished himself as a scholar that his father proposed to make him a lawyer, but a dangerous illness, the death of a near friend, and the exhortations of an eloquent preacher, so wrought upon his mind that he resolved instead to become a monk, and after going through the necessary course of study and mental discipline was ordained priest in may, . the next year he was appointed a professor in the university of wittenberg. there he remained for the next ten years of his life, when an event occurred which was to turn the whole current of his career and give him a prominence in theological history which few other men have ever attained. in pope leo x. authorized an unusually large issue of indulgences, a term which signifies a remission of the temporal punishment due to sin, either in this life or the life to come; the condition being that the recipient shall have made a full confession of his sins and by his penitence and purpose of amendment fitted himself to receive the pardon of god, through the agency of the priest. he was also required to perform some service in the aid of charity or religion, such as the giving of alms. at the time of the crusades the popes had granted to all who took part in them remission from church penalties. at a later date the same indulgence was granted to penitents who aided the holy wars with money instead of in person. at a still later date remission from the penalties of sin might be obtained by pious work, such as building churches, etc. when the turks threatened europe, those who fought against them obtained indulgence. in the instance of the issue of indulgences by leo x. the pious work required was the giving of alms in aid of the completion of the great cathedral of st. peter's at rome. this purpose did not differ in character from others for which indulgences had previously been granted, and there is nothing to show that any disregard of the requisite conditions was authorized by the pope; but there is reason to believe that some of the agents for the disposal of these indulgences went much beyond the intention of the decree. this was especially the case in the instance of a dominican monk named tetzel, who is charged with openly asserting what few or no other catholics appear to have ever claimed, that the indulgences not only released the purchasers from the necessity of penance, but absolved them from all the consequences of sin in this world or the next. we shall not go into the details of the venalities charged against tetzel, whose field of labor was in saxony, but they seem to have been sufficient to cause a strong feeling of dissatisfaction, which at length found a voice in martin luther, who preached vigorously against tetzel and his methods and wrote to the princes and bishops begging them to refuse this irreligious dealer in indulgences a passage through their dominions. the near approach of tetzel to wittenberg roused luther to more decided action. he now wrote out ninety-five propositions in which he set forth in the strongest language his reasons for opposing and his view of the pernicious effects of tetzel's doctrine of indulgences. these he nailed to the door of the castle church of wittenberg. the effect produced by them was extraordinary. the news of the protest spread with the greatest rapidity and within a fortnight copies of it had been distributed throughout germany. within five or six weeks it was being read over a great part of europe. on all sides it aroused a deep public interest and excitement and became the great sensation of the day. we cannot go into the details of what followed. luther's propositions were like a thunderbolt flung into the mind of germany. everywhere deep thought was aroused and a host of those who had been displeased with tetzel's methods sustained him in his act. other papers from his pen followed in which his revolt from the church of rome grew wider and deeper. his energetic assault aroused a number of opponents and an active controversy ensued; ending in luther's being cited to appear before cajetan, the pope's legate, at augsburg. from this meeting no definite result came. after a heated argument cajetan ended the controversy with the following words: "i can dispute no longer with this beast; it has two wicked eyes and marvellous thoughts in its head." luther's view of the matter was much less complimentary. he said of the legate,-- "he knows no more about the word than a donkey knows of harp-playing." in the next year, , a discussion took place at leipzig, between luther on the one hand, aided by his friends melanchthon and carlstadt, and a zealous and talented ecclesiastic, dr. eck, on the other. eck was a vigorous debater,--in person, in voice, and in opinion,--but as luther was not to be silenced by his argument, he ended by calling him "a gentile and publican," and wending his way to borne, where he expressed his opinion of the new movement, demanded that the heretic should be made to feel the heavy hand of church discipline. back he came soon to germany, bearing a bull from the pope, in which were extracts from luther's writings stated to be heretical, and which must be publicly retracted within sixty days under threat of excommunication. this the ardent agent tried to distribute through germany, but to his surprise he found that germany was in no humor to receive it. most of the magistrates forbade it to be made public. where it was posted upon the walls of any town, the people immediately tore it down. in truth, luther's heresy had with extraordinary rapidity become the heresy of germany, and he found himself with a nation at his back, a nation that admired his courage and supported his opinions. his most decisive step was taken on the th of december, . on that day the faculty and students of the university of wittenberg, convoked by him, met at the elster gate of the town. here a funeral pile was built up by the students, one of the magistrates set fire to it, and luther, amid approving shouts from the multitude, flung into the flames the pope's bull, and with it the canonical law and the writings of dr. eck. in this act he decisively broke loose from and defied the church of rome, sustained in his radical step of revolt apparently by all wittenberg, and by a large body of converts to his views throughout germany. the bold reformer found friends not only among the lowly, but among the powerful. the elector of saxony was on his side, and openly accused the pope of acting the unjust judge, by listening to one side and not the other, and of needlessly agitating the people by his bull. ulrich von hutten, a favorite popular leader, was one of the zealous proselytes of the new doctrines. franz von sickingen, a knight of celebrity, was another who offered luther shelter, if necessary, in his castles. and now came a turning-point in luther's career, the most dangerous crisis he was to reach, and the one that needed the utmost courage and most inflexible resolution to pass it in safety. it was that which has become famous as the "diet of worms." germany had gained a new emperor, charles v., under whose sceptre the empire of charlemagne was in great part restored, for his dominions included germany, spain, and the netherlands. this young monarch left spain for germany in , and was no sooner there than he called a great diet, to meet at worms, that the affairs of the empire might be regulated, and that in particular this religious controversy, which was troubling the public mind, should be settled. thither came the princes and potentates of the realm, thither great dignitaries of the church, among them the pope's legate, cardinal alexander, who was commissioned to demand that the emperor and the princes should call luther to a strict account, and employ against him the temporal power. but to the cardinal's astonishment he found that the people of germany had largely seceded from the papal authority. everywhere he met with writings, songs, and pictures in which the holy father was treated with contempt and mockery. even himself, as the pope's representative, was greeted with derision, and his life at times was endangered, despite the fact that he came in the suite of the emperor. [illustration: statue of luther at worms.] the diet assembled, the cardinal, as instructed, demanded that severe measures should be taken against the arch-heretic: the elector of saxony, on the contrary, insisted that luther should be heard in his own defence; the emperor and the princes agreed with him, silencing the cardinal's declaration that the diet had no right or power to question the decision of the pope, and inviting luther to appear before the imperial assembly at worms, the emperor granting him a safe-conduct. possibly charles thought that the insignificant monk would fear to come before that august body, and the matter thus die out. luther's friends strongly advised him not to go. they had the experience of john huss to offer as argument. but luther was not the man to be stopped by dread of dignitaries or fear of penalties. he immediately set out from wittenberg for worms, saying to his protesting friends, "though there were as many devils in the city as there are tiles on the roofs, still i would go." his journey was an ovation. the people flocked by thousands to greet and applaud him. on his arrival at worms two thousand people gathered and accompanied him to his lodgings. when, on the next day, april , , the grand-marshal of the empire conducted him to the diet, he was obliged to lead him across gardens and through by-ways to avoid the throng that filled the streets of the town. when entering the hall, he was clapped on the shoulder by a famous knight and general of the empire, georg von frundsberg, who said, "monk, monk, thou art in a strait the like of which myself and many leaders, in the most desperate battles, have never known. but if thy thoughts are just, and thou art sure of thy cause, go on, in god's name; and be of good cheer; he will not forsake thee." luther was not an imposing figure as he stood before the proud assembly in the imperial hall. he had just recovered from a severe fever, and was pale and emaciated. and standing there, unsupported by a single friend, before that great assembly, his feelings were strongly excited. the emperor remarked to his neighbor, "this man would never succeed in making a heretic of _me_." but though luther's body was weak, his mind was strong. his air quickly became calm and dignified. he was commanded to retract the charges he had made against the church. in reply he acknowledged that the writings produced were his own, and declared that he was not ready to retract them, but said that "if they can convince me from the holy scriptures that i am in error, i am ready with my own hands to cast the whole of my writings into the flames." the chancellor replied that what he demanded was retraction, not dispute. this luther refused to give. the emperor insisted on a simple recantation, which luther declared he could not make. for several days the hearing continued, ending at length in the threatening declaration of the emperor, that "he would no longer listen to luther, but dismiss him at once from his presence, and treat him as he would a heretic." there was danger in this, the greatest danger. the emperor's word had been given, it is true; but an emperor had broken his word with john huss, and his successor might with martin luther. charles was, indeed, importuned to do so, but replied that his imperial word was sacred, even if given to a heretic, and that luther should have an extension of the safe-conduct for twenty-one days, during his return home. luther started home. it was a journey by no means free from danger. he had powerful and unscrupulous enemies. he might be seized and carried off by an ambush of his foes. how he was saved from peril of this sort we have described. it was his friend and protector, frederick, the elector of saxony, who had placed the ambush of knights, his purpose being to put luther in a place of safety where he could lie concealed until the feeling against him had subsided. meanwhile, at worms, when the period of the safe-conduct had expired, luther was declared out of the ban of the empire, an outlaw whom no man was permitted to shelter, his works were condemned to be burned wherever found, and he was adjudged to be seized and held in durance subject to the will of the emperor. what had become of the fugitive no one knew. the story spread that he had been murdered by his enemies. for ten months he remained in concealment and when he again appeared it was to combat a horde of fanatical enthusiasts who had carried his doctrines to excess and were stirring up all germany by their wild opinions. the outbreak drew luther back to wittenberg, where for eight days he preached with great eloquence against the fanatics and finally succeeded in quelling the disturbance. from that time forward luther continued the guiding spirit of the protestant revolt and was looked upon with high consideration by most of the princes of germany, his doctrines spreading until, during his lifetime, they extended to moravia, bohemia, denmark and sweden. then, in , he died at eisleben, near the castle in which he had dwelt during the most critical period of his life. _solyman the magnificent at guntz._ solyman the magnificent, sultan of turkey, had collected an army of dimensions as magnificent as his name, and was on his march to overwhelm austria and perhaps subject all western europe to his arms. a few years before he had swept hungary with his hordes, taken and plundered its cities of buda and pesth, and made the whole region his own. belgrade, which had been so valiantly defended against his predecessor, had fallen into his infidel hands. the gateways of western europe were his; he had but to open them and march through; doubtless there had come to him glorious dreams of extending the empire of the crescent to the western seas. and yet the proud and powerful sultan was to be checked in his course by an obstacle seemingly as insignificant as if the sting of a hornet should stop the career of an elephant. the story is a remarkable one, and deserves to be better known. vast was the army which solyman raised. he had been years in gathering men and equipments. great work lay before him, and he needed great means for its accomplishment. it is said that three hundred thousand men marched under his banners. so large was the force, so great the quantity of its baggage and artillery, that its progress was necessarily a slow one, and sixty days elapsed during its march from constantinople to belgrade. here was time for ferdinand of austria to bring together forces for the defence of his dominions against the leviathan which was slowly moving upon them. he made efforts, but they were not of the energetic sort which the crisis demanded, and had the turkish army been less unwieldly and more rapid, vienna might have fallen almost undefended into solyman's hands. fortunately, large bodies move slowly, and the sultan met with an obstacle that gave the requisite time for preparation. on to belgrade swept the grand army, with its multitude of standards and all the pomp and glory of its vast array. the slowness with which it came was due solely to its size, not in any sense to lack of energy in the warlike sultan. an anecdote is extant which shows his manner of dealing with difficulties. he had sent forward an engineer with orders to build a bridge over the river drave, to be constructed at a certain point, and be ready at a certain time. the engineer went, surveyed the rapid stream, and sent back answer to the sultan that it was impossible to construct a bridge at that point. but solyman's was one of those magnificent souls that do not recognize the impossible. he sent the messenger back to the engineer, in his hand a linen cord, on his lips this message: "your master, the sultan, commands you, without consideration of the difficulties, to complete the bridge over the drave. if it be not ready for him on his arrival, he will have you strangled with this cord." the bridge was built. solyman had learned the art of overcoming the impossible. he was soon to have a lesson in the art of overcoming the difficult. belgrade was in due time reached. here the sultan embarked his artillery and heavy baggage on the danube, three thousand vessels being employed for that purpose. they were sent down the stream, under sufficient escort, towards the austrian capital, while the main army, lightened of much of its load, prepared to march more expeditiously than heretofore through hungary towards its goal. ferdinand of austria, alarmed at the threatening approach of the turks, had sent rich presents and proposals of peace to solyman at belgrade; but those had the sole effect of increasing his pride and making him more confidant of victory. he sent an insulting order to the ambassadors to follow his encampment and await his pleasure, and paid no further heed to their pacific mission. the save, an affluent of the danube, was crossed, and the army lost sight of the great stream, and laid its course by a direct route through sclavonia towards the borders of styria, the outlying austrian province in that direction. it was the shortest line of march available, the distance to be covered being about two hundred miles. on reaching the styrian frontier, the illyrian mountain chain needed to be crossed, and within it lay the obstacle with which solyman had to contend. the route of the army led through a mountain pass. in this pass was a petty and obscure town, guntz by name, badly fortified, and garrisoned by a mere handful of men, eight hundred in all. its principal means of defence lay in the presence of an indomitable commander, nicholas jurissitz, a man of iron nerve and fine military skill. ibrahim pasha, who led the vanguard of the turkish force, ordered the occupation of this mountain fortress, and learned with anger and mortification that guntz had closed its gates and frowned defiance on his men. word was sent back to solyman, who probably laughed in his beard at the news. it was as if a fly had tried to stop an ox. "brush it away and push onward," was probably the tenor of his orders. but guntz was not to be brushed away. it stood there like an awkward fact, its guns commanding the pass through which the army must march, a ridiculous obstacle which had to be dealt with however time might press. the sultan sent orders to his advance-guard to take the town and march on. ibrahim pasha pushed forward, assailed it, and found that he had not men enough for the work. the little town with its little garrison had the temper of a shrew, and held its own against him valiantly. a few more battalions were sent, but still the town held out. the sultan, enraged at this opposition, now despatched what he considered an overwhelming force, with orders to take the town without delay, and to punish the garrison as they deserved for their foolish obstinacy. but what was his surprise and fury to receive word that the pigmy still held out stubbornly against the leviathan, that all their efforts to take it were in vain, and that its guns commanded and swept the pass so that it was impossible to advance under its storm of death-dealing balls. thundering vengeance, solyman now ordered his whole army to advance, sweep that insolent and annoying obstacle from the face of the earth, and then march on towards the real goal of their enterprise, the still distant city of vienna, the capital and stronghold of the christian dogs. upon guntz burst the whole storm of the war, against guntz it thundered, around guntz it lightened; yet still guntz stood, proud, insolent, defiant, like a rock in the midst of the sea, battered by the waves of war's tempest, yet rising still in unyielding strength, and dashing back the bloody spray which lashed its walls in vain. solyman's pride was roused. that town he must and would have. he might have marched past it and left it in the rear, though not without great loss and danger, for the pass was narrow and commanded by the guns of guntz, and he would have had to run the gantlet of a hailstorm of iron balls. but he had no thought of passing it; his honor was involved. guntz must be his and its insolent garrison punished, or how could solyman the magnificent ever hold up his head among monarchs and conquerors again? on every side the town was assailed; cannon surrounded it and poured their balls upon its walls; they were planted on the hills in its rear; they were planted on lofty mounds of earth which overtopped its walls and roofs; from every direction they thundered threat; to every direction guntz thundered back defiance. an attempt was made to undermine the walls, but in vain; the commandant, jurissitz, was far too vigilant to be reached by burrowing. breach after breach was made in the walls, and as quickly repaired, or new walls built. assault after assault was made and hurled back. every effort was baffled by the skill, vigor, and alertness of the governor and the unyielding courage of his men, and still the days went by and still guntz stood. solyman, indignant and alarmed, tried the effect of promises, bribes, and threats. jurissitz and his garrison should be enriched if they yielded; they should die under torture if they persisted. these efforts proved as useless as cannon-balls. the indomitable jurissitz resisted promises and threats as energetically as he had resisted shot and balls. the days went on. for twenty-eight days that insignificant fortress and its handful of men defied the great turkish army and held it back in that mountain-pass. in the end the sultan, with all his pride and all his force, was obliged to accept a feigned submission and leave jurissitz and his men still in possession of the fortress they had held so long and so well. they had held it long enough to save austria, as it proved. while the sultan's cannon were vainly bombarding its walls, europe was gathering around vienna in defence. from every side troops hurried to the salvation of austria from the turks. italy, the netherlands, bohemia. poland, germany, sent their quotas, till an army of one hundred and thirty thousand men were gathered around vienna, thirty thousand of them being cavalry. solyman was appalled at the tidings brought him. it had become a question of arithmetic to his barbarian intellect. if guntz, with less than a thousand men, could defy him for a month, what might not vienna do with more than a hundred thousand? winter was not far away. it was already september. he was separated from his flotilla of artillery. was it safe to advance? he answered the question by suddenly striking camp and retreating with such haste that his marauding horsemen, who were out in large numbers, were left in ignorance of the movement, and were nearly all taken or cut to pieces. thus ingloriously ended one of the most pretentious invasions of europe. for three years solyman had industriously prepared, gathering the resources of his wide dominion to the task and fulminating infinite disaster to the infidels. yet eight hundred men in a petty mountain town had brought this great enterprise to naught and sent back the mighty army of the grand turk in inglorious retreat. [illustration: the mosque of solyman, constantinople.] the story of guntz has few parallels in history; the courage and ability of its commander were of the highest type of military worthiness; yet its story is almost unknown and the name of jurissitz is not classed among those of the world's heroes. such is fame. there is another interesting story of the doings of solyman and the gallant defence of a christian town, which is worthy of telling as an appendix to that just given. the assault at guntz took place in the year . in , when solyman was much older, though perhaps not much wiser, we find him at his old work, engaged in besieging the small hungarian town of szigeth, west of mohacs and north of the river drave, a stronghold surrounded by the small stream almas almost as by the waters of a lake. it was defended by a croatian named zrinyr and a garrison of twenty-five hundred men. around this town the turkish army raged and thundered in its usual fashion. within it the garrison defended themselves with all the spirit and energy they could muster. step by step the turks advanced. the outskirts of the town were destroyed by fire and the assailants were within its walls. the town being no longer tenable, zrinyr took refuge, with what remained of the garrison, in the fortress, and still bade defiance to his foes. solyman, impatient at the delay caused by the obstinacy of the defender, tried with him the same tactics he had employed with jurissitz many years before,--those of threats and promises. tempting offers of wealth proving of no avail, the sultan threatened the bold commander with the murder of his son george, a prisoner in his hands. this proved equally unavailing, and the siege went on. it went on, indeed, until solyman was himself vanquished, and by an enemy he had not taken into account in his thirst for glory--the grim warrior death. temper killed him. in a fit of passion he suddenly died. but the siege went on. the vizier concealed his death and kept the batteries at work, perhaps deeming it best for his own fortunes to be able to preface the announcement of the sultan's death with a victory. the castle walls had been already crumbling under the storm of balls. soon they were in ruins. the place was no longer tenable. yet zrinyr was as far as ever from thoughts of surrender. he dressed himself in his most magnificent garments, filled his pockets with gold, "that they might find something on his corpse," and dashed on the turks at the head of what soldiers were left. he died, but not unrevenged. only after his death was the turkish army told that their great sultan was no more and that they owed their victory to the shadow of the genius of solyman the magnificent. the peasants and the anabaptists. germany, in great part, under the leadership of martin luther, had broken loose from the church of rome, the ball which he had set rolling being kept in motion by other hands. the ideas of many of those who followed him were full of the spirit of fanaticism. the pendulum of religious thought, set in free swing, vibrated from the one extreme of authority to the opposite extreme of license, going as far beyond luther as he had gone beyond rome. there arose a sect to which was given the name of anabaptists, from its rejection of infant baptism, a sect with a strange history, which it now falls to us to relate. the new movement, indeed, was not confined to matters of religion. the idea of freedom from authority once set afloat, quickly went further than its advocates intended. if men were to have liberty of thought, why should they not have liberty of action? so argued the peasantry, and not without the best of reasons, for they were pitifully oppressed by the nobility, weighed down with feudal exactions to support the luxury of the higher classes, their crops destroyed by the horses and dogs of hunting-parties, their families ill-treated and insulted by the men-at-arms who were maintained at their expense, their flight from tyranny to the freedom of the cities prohibited by nobles and citizens alike, everywhere enslaved, everywhere despised, it is no wonder they joined with gladness in the revolutionary sentiment and made a vigorous demand for political liberty. as a result of all this an insurrection broke out,--a double insurrection in fact,--here of the peasantry for their rights, there of the religious fanatics for their license. suddenly all germany was upturned by the greatest and most dangerous outbreak of the laboring classes it had ever known, a revolt which, had it been ably led, might have revolutionized society and founded a completely new order of things. in the standard of revolt was first raised, its signal a golden shoe, with the motto, "whoever will be free let him follow this ray of light." in a fresh insurrection broke out, and in the spring of the following year the whole country was aflame, the peasants of southern germany being everywhere in arms and marching on the strongholds of their oppressors. their demands were by no means extreme. they asked for a board of arbitration, to consist of the archduke ferdinand, the elector of saxony, luther, melanchthon, and several preachers, to consider their proposed articles of reform in industrial and political concerns. these articles covered the following points. they asked the right to choose their own pastors, who were to preach the word of god from the bible; the abolition of dues, except tithes to the clergy; the abolition of vassalage; the rights of hunting and fishing, and of cutting wood in the forests; reforms in rent, in the administration of justice, and in the methods of application of the laws; the restoration of communal property illegally seized; and several other matters of the same general character. they asked in vain. the princes ridiculed the idea of a court in which luther should sit side by side with the archduke. luther refused to interfere. he admitted the oppression of the peasantry, severely attacked the princes and nobility for their conduct, but deprecated the excesses which the insurgents had already committed, and saw no safety from worse evils except in putting down the peasantry with a strong hand. the rejection of the demands of the rebellious peasants was followed by a frightful reign of license, political in the south, religious in the north. everywhere the people were in arms, destroying castles, burning monasteries, and forcing numbers of the nobles to join them, under pain of having their castles plundered and burned. the counts of hohenlohe were made to enter their ranks, and were told, "brother albert and brother george, you are no longer lords but peasants, and we are the lords of hohenlohe." other nobles were similarly treated. various swabian nobles fled for safety, with their families and treasures, to the city and castle of weinsberg. the castle was stormed and taken, and the nobles, seventy in number, were forced to run the gantlet between two lines of men armed with spears, who stabbed them as they passed. it was this deed that brought out a pamphlet from luther, in which he called on all the citizens of the empire to put down "the furious peasantry, to strangle, to stab them, secretly and openly, as they can, as one would kill a mad dog." there was need for something to be done if germany was to be saved from a revolution. the numbers of the insurgents steadily increased. many of the cities were in league with them, several of the princes entered in negotiation concerning their demands; in thuringia the anabaptists, under the lead of a fanatical preacher named thomas münzer, were in full revolt; in saxony, hesse, and lower germany the peasantry were in arms; there was much reason to fear that the insurgents and fanatics would join their forces and pour like a rushing torrent through the whole empire, destroying all before them. of the many peasant revolts which the history of mediævalism records this was the most threatening and dangerous, and called for the most strenuous exertions to save the institutions of germany from a complete overthrow. at the head of the main body of insurgents was a knight of notorious character, the famed goetz von berlichingen,--goetz with the iron hand, as he is named,--a robber baron whose history had been one of feud and contest, and of the plunder alike of armed foes and unarmed travellers. goethe has honored him by making him the hero of a drama, and the peasantry sought to honor him by making him the leader of their march of destruction. this worthy had lost his hand during youth, and replaced it with a hand of iron. he was bold, daring, and unscrupulous, but scarcely fitted for generalship, his knowledge of war being confined to the tactics of highway robbery. nor can it be said that his leadership of the peasants was voluntary. he was as much their prisoner as their general, his service being an enforced one. with the redoubtable goetz at their head the insurgents poured onward, spreading terror before them, leaving ruin behind them. castles and monasteries were destroyed, until throughout thuringia, franconia, swabia, and along the rhine as far as lorraine the homes of lords and clergy were destroyed, and a universal scene of smoking ruins replaced the formerly stately architectural piles. we cannot go further into the details of this notable outbreak. the revolt of the southern peasantry was at length brought to an end by an army collected by the swabian league, and headed by george truchsess of waldburg. had they marched against him in force he could not have withstood their onset. but they occupied themselves in sieges, disregarding the advice of their leaders, and permitted themselves to be attacked and beaten in detail. seeing that all was at an end, goetz von berlichingen secretly fled from their ranks and took refuge in his castle. many of the bodies of peasantry dispersed. others made head against the troops and were beaten with great slaughter. all was at an end. truchsess held a terrible court of justice in the city of würzburg, in which his jester hans acted as executioner, and struck off the heads of numbers of the prisoners, the bloody work being attended with laughter and jests, which added doubly to its horror. all who acknowledged that they had read the bible, or even that they knew how to read and write, were instantly beheaded. the priest of schipf, a gouty old man who had vigorously opposed the peasants, had himself carried by four of his men to truchsess to receive thanks for his services. hans, fancying that he was one of the rebels, slipped up behind him, and in an instant his head was rolling on the floor. "i seriously reproved my good hans for his untoward jest," was the easy comment of truchsess upon this circumstance. throughout germany similar slaughter of the peasantry and wholesale executions took place. in many places the reprisal took the dimensions of a massacre, and it is said that by the end of the frightful struggle more than a hundred thousand of the peasants had been slain. as for its political results, the survivors were reduced to a deeper state of servitude than before. thus ended a great struggle which had only needed an able leader to make it a success and to free the people from feudal bonds. it ended like all the peasant outbreaks, in defeat and renewed oppression. as for the robber chief goetz, while he is said by several historians to have received a sentence of life imprisonment, menzel states that he was retained in prison for two years only. in thuringia, as we have said, the revolt was a religious one, it being controlled by thomas münzer, a fanatical anabaptist. he pretended that he had the gift of receiving divine revelations, and claimed to be better able to reveal christian truth than luther. god had created the earth, he said, for believers, all government should be regulated by the bible and revelation, and there was no need of princes, priests, or nobles. the distinction between rich and poor was unchristian, since in god's kingdom all should be alike. nicholas storch, one of münzer's preachers, surrounded himself with twelve apostles and seventy-two disciples, and claimed that an angel brought him divine messages. driven from saxony by the influence of luther, münzer went to thuringia, and gained such control by his preaching and his doctrines over the people of the town of mülhausen that all the wealthy people were driven away, their property confiscated, and the sole control of the place fell into his hands. so great was the disturbance caused by his fanatical teachings and the exertions of his disciples that luther again bestirred himself, and called on the princes for the suppression of münzer and his fanatical horde. a division of the army was sent into thuringia, and came up with a large body of the anabaptists near frankenhausen, on may , . münzer was in command of the peasants. the army officers, hoping to bring them to terms by lenient measures, offered to pardon them if they would give up their leaders and peacefully retire to their homes. this offer might have been effective but for münzer, who, foreseeing danger to himself, did his utmost to awaken the fanaticism of his followers. it happened that a rainbow appeared in the heavens during the discussion. this, he declared, was a messenger sent to him from god. his ignorant audience believed him, and for the moment were stirred up to a mad enthusiasm which banished all thoughts of surrender. rushing in their fury on the ambassadors of peace and pardon, they stabbed them to death, and then took shelter behind their intrenchments, where they prepared for a vigorous defence. their courage, however, did not long endure the vigorous assault made by the troops of the elector. in vain they looked for the host of angels which münzer had promised would come to their aid. not the glimpse of an angel's wing appeared in the sky. münzer himself took to flight, and his infatuated followers, their blind courage vanished, fell an easy prey to the swords of the soldiers. the greater part of the peasant horde were slain, while münzer, who had concealed himself from pursuit in the loft of a house in frankenhausen, was quickly discovered, dragged forth, put to the rack, and beheaded, his death putting an end to that first phase of the anabaptist outbreak. [illustration: old houses at mÜnster.] after this event, several years passed during which the anabaptists kept quiet, though their sect increased. then came one of the most remarkable religious revolts which history records. persecution in germany had caused many of the new sectarians to emigrate to the netherlands, where their preachings were effective, and many new members were gained. but the persecution instigated by charles v. against heretics in the netherlands fell heavily upon them and gave rise to a new emigration, great numbers of the anabaptists now seeking the town of münster, the capital of westphalia. the citizens of this town had expelled their bishop, and had in consequence been treated with great severity by luther, in his effort to keep the cause of religious reform separate from politics. the new-comers were received with enthusiasm, and the people of münster quickly fell under the influence of two of their fanatical preachers, john matthiesen, a baker, of harlem, and john bockhold, or bockelson, a tailor, of leyden. münster soon became the seat of an extraordinary outburst of profligacy, fanaticism, and folly. the anabaptists took possession of the town, drove out all its wealthy citizens, elected two of themselves--a clothier named knipperdolling and one krechting--as burgomasters, and started off in a remarkable career of self-government under anabaptist auspices. a community of property was the first measure inaugurated. every person was required to deposit all his possessions, in gold, silver, and other articles of value, in a public treasury, which fell under the control of bockelson, who soon made himself lord of the city. all the images, pictures, ornaments, and books of the churches, except their bibles, were publicly burned. all persons were obliged to eat together at public tables, all made to work according to their strength and without regard to their former station, and a general condition of communism was established. bockelson gave himself out as a prophet, and quickly gained such influence over the people that they were ready to support him in the utmost excesses of folly and profligacy. one of the earliest steps taken was to authorize each man to possess several wives, the number of women who had sought münster being six times greater than the men. john bockelson set the example by marrying three at once. his licentious example was quickly followed by others, and for a full year the town continued a scene of unbridled profligacy and mad license. one of john's partisans, claiming to have received a divine communication, saluted him as monarch of the whole globe, the "king of righteousness," his title of royalty being "john of leyden," and declared that heaven had chosen him to restore the throne of david. twenty-eight apostles were selected and sent out, charged to preach the new gospel to the whole earth and to bring its inhabitants to acknowledge the divinely-commissioned king. their success was not great, however. wherever they came they were seized and immediately executed, the earth showing itself very unwilling to accept john of leyden as its king. in august, , an army, led by francis of waldeck, the expelled bishop, who was supported by the landgrave of hesse and several other princes, advanced and laid siege to the city, which the anabaptists defended with furious zeal. in the first assault, which was made on august , the assailants were repulsed with severe loss. they then settled down to the slower but safer process of siege, considering it easier to starve out than to fight out their enthusiastic opponents. one of the two leaders of the citizens, john matthiesen, made a sortie against the troops with only thirty followers, filled with the idea that he was a second gideon, and that god would come to his aid to defeat the oppressors of his chosen people. the aid expected did not come, and matthiesen and his followers were all cut down. his death left john of leyden supreme. he claimed absolute authority in the new "zion," received daily fresh visions from heaven, which his followers implicitly believed and obeyed, and indulged in wild excesses which only the insane enthusiasm of his followers kept them from viewing with disgust. among his mad freaks was that of running around the streets naked, shouting, "the king of zion is come." his lieutenant knipperdolling, not to be outdone in fanaticism, followed his example, shouting, "every high place shall be brought low." immediately the mob assailed the churches and pulled down all the steeples. those who ventured to resist the monarch's decrees were summarily dealt with, the block and axe, with knipperdolling as headsman, quickly disposing of all doubters and rebels. such was the doom of elizabeth, one of the prophet's wives, who declared that she could not believe that god had condemned so many people to die of hunger while their king was living in abundance. john beheaded her with his own hands in the market-place, and then, in insane frenzy, danced around her body in company with his other wives. her loss was speedily repaired. the angels were kept busy in picking out new wives for the inspired tailor, till in the end he had seventeen in all, one of whom, divara by name, gained great influence by her spirit and beauty. while all this was going on within the city, the army of besiegers lay encamped about it, waiting patiently till famine should subdue the stubborn courage of the citizens. numbers of nobles flocked thither by way of pastime, in the absence of any other wars to engage their attention. nor were the citizens without aid from a distance. parties of their brethren from holland and friesland sought to relieve them, but in vain. all their attempts were repelled, and the siege grew straiter than ever. the defence from within was stubborn, women and boys being enlisted in the service. the boys stood between the men and fired arrows effectively at the besiegers. the women poured lime and melted pitch upon their heads. so obstinate was the resistance that the city might have held out for years but for the pinch of famine. the effect of this was temporarily obviated by driving all the old men and the women who could be spared beyond the walls; but despite this the grim figure of starvation came daily nearer and nearer, and the day of surrender or death steadily approached. a year at length went by, the famine growing in virulence with the passing of the days. hundreds perished of starvation, yet still the people held out with a fanatical courage that defied assault, still their king kept up their courage by divine revelations, and still he contrived to keep himself sufficiently supplied with food amid his starving dupes. at length the end came. some of the despairing citizens betrayed the town by night to the enemy. on the night of june , , two of them opened the gates to the bishop's army, and a sanguinary scene ensued. the betrayed citizens defended themselves desperately, and were not vanquished until great numbers of them had fallen and the work of famine had been largely completed by the sword. john of leyden was made prisoner, together with his two chief men,--knipperdolling, his executioner, and krechting, his chancellor,--they being reserved for a slower and more painful fate. for six months they were carried through germany, enclosed in iron cages, and exhibited as monsters to the people. then they were taken back to münster, where they were cruelly tortured, and at length put to death by piercing their hearts with red-hot daggers. their bodies were placed in iron cages, and suspended on the front of the church of st. lambert, in the market-place of münster, while the catholic worship was re-established in that city. the cages, and the instruments of torture, are still preserved, probably as salutary examples to fanatics, or as interesting mementos of münster's past history. the münster madness was the end of trouble with the anabaptists. they continued to exist, in a quieter fashion, some of them that fled from persecution in germany and holland finding themselves exposed to almost as severe a persecution in england. as a sect they have long since vanished, while the only trace of their influence is to be seen in those recent sects that hold the doctrine of adult baptism. the history of mankind presents no parallel tale to that we have told. it was an instance of insanity placed in power, of lunacy ruling over ignorance and fanaticism; and the doings of john of leyden in münster may be presented as an example alike of the mad extremes to which unquestioned power is apt to lead, and the vast capabilities of faith and trust which exist in uneducated man. _the fortunes of wallenstein._ [illustration: wallenstein.] wallenstein was in power, wallenstein the mysterious, the ambitious, the victorious; soldier of fortune and arbiter of empires; reader of the stars and ally of the powers of darkness; poor by birth and rich by marriage and imperial favor; an extraordinary man, surrounded by mystery and silence, victorious through ability and audacity, rising from obscurity to be master of the emperor, and falling at length by the hand of assassination. in person he was tall and thin, in countenance sallow and lowering, his eyes small and piercing, his forehead high and commanding, his hair short and bristling, his expression dark and sinister. fortune was his deity, ambition ruled him with the sway of a tyrant; he was born with the conquering instinct, and in the end handed over all germany, bound and captive, to his imperial master, and retired to brood new conquests. albert von wallenstein was bohemian by birth, prague being his native city. his parents were lutherans, but they died, and he was educated as a catholic. he travelled with an astrologer, and was taught cabalistic lore and the secrets of the stars, which he ever after believed to control his destiny. his fortune began in his marriage to an aged but very wealthy widow, who almost put an end to his career by administering to him a love-potion. he had already served in the army, fought against the turks in hungary, and with his wife's money raised a regiment for the wars in bohemia. a second marriage with a rich countess added to his wealth; he purchased, at a fifth of their value, about sixty estates of the exiled bohemian nobility, and paid for them in debased coin; the emperor, in recognition of his services, made him duke of friedland, in which alone there were nine towns and fifty-seven castles and villages; his wealth, through these marriages, purchases, and gifts, steadily increased till he became enormously rich, and the wealthiest man in germany, next to the emperor. this extraordinary man was born in an extraordinary time, a period admirably calculated for the exercise of his talents, and sadly suited to the suffering of mankind in consequence. it was the period of the frightful conflict known as the thirty years' war. a century had passed since the diet of worms, in which protestantism first boldly lifted its head against catholicism. during that period the new religious doctrines had gained a firm footing in germany. charles v. had done his utmost to put them down, and, discouraged by his failure, had abdicated the throne. in his retreat he is said to have amused his leisure in seeking to make two watches go precisely alike. the effort proved as vain as that to make two people think alike, and he exclaimed, "not even two watches, with similar works, can i make to agree, and yet, fool that i was, i thought i should be able to control like the works of a watch different nations, living under diverse skies, in different climes, and speaking varied languages." those who followed him were to meet with a similar result. the second effort to put down protestantism by arms began in , and led to that frightful outbreak of human virulence, the thirty years' war, which made germany a desert, but left religion as it found it. the emperor, ferdinand ii., a rigid catholic, bitterly opposed to the spread of protestantism, had ordered the demolition of two new churches built by the bohemian protestants. his order led to instant hostilities. count thurn, a fierce bohemian nobleman, had the emperor's representatives, slawata and martinitz by name, flung out of the window of the council-chamber in prague, a height of seventy or more feet, and their secretary fabricius flung after them. it was a terrible fall, but they escaped, for a pile of litter and old papers lay below. fabricius fell on martinitz, and, polite to the last, begged his pardon for coming down upon him so rudely. this act of violence, which occurred on may , , is looked upon as the true beginning of the dreadful war. matters moved rapidly. bohemia was conquered by the imperial armies, its nobles exiled or executed, its religion suppressed. this victory gained, an effort was made to suppress lutheranism in upper austria. it led to a revolt, and soon the whole country was in a flame of war. tilly and pappenheim, the imperial commanders, swept all before them, until they suddenly found themselves opposed by a man their equal in ability, count mansfeld, who had played an active part in the bohemian wars. a diminutive, deformed, sickly-looking man was mansfeld, but he had the soul of a soldier in his small frame. no sooner was his standard raised than the protestants flocked to it, and he quickly found himself at the head of twenty thousand men. but as the powerful princes failed to support him he was compelled to subsist his troops by pillage, an example which was followed by all the leaders during that dreadful contest. and now began a frightful struggle, a game of war on the chess-board of a nation, in which the people were the helpless pawns and suffered alike from friends and foes. neither side gained any decisive victory, but both sides plundered and ravaged, the savage soldiery, unrestrained and unrestrainable, committing cruel excesses wherever they came. such was the state of affairs which preceded the appearance of wallenstein on the field of action. the soldiers led by tilly were those of the catholic league; ferdinand, the emperor, had no troops of his own in the field; wallenstein, discontented that the war should be going on without him, offered to raise an imperial army, paying the most of its expenses himself, but stipulating, in return, that he should have unlimited control. the emperor granted all his demands, and made him duke of friedland as a preliminary reward, wallenstein agreeing to raise ten thousand men. no sooner was his standard raised than crowds flocked to it, and an army of forty thousand soldiers of fortune were soon ready to follow him to plunder and victory. his fame as a soldier, and the free pillage which he promised, had proved irresistible inducements to war-loving adventurers of all nations and creeds. in a few months the army was raised and fully equipped, and in the autumn of took the field, growing as it marched. christian iv., the lutheran king of denmark, had joined in the war, and tilly, jealous of wallenstein, vigorously sought to overcome his new adversaries before his rival could reach the field of conflict. he succeeded, too, in great measure, reducing many of the protestant towns and routing the army of the danish king. meanwhile, wallenstein came on, his army growing until sixty thousand men--a wild and undisciplined horde--followed his banners. mansfeld, who had received reinforcements from england and holland, opposed him, but was too weak to face him successfully in the field. he was defeated on the bridge of dessau, and marched rapidly into silesia, whither wallenstein, much to his chagrin, was compelled to follow him. from silesia, mansfeld marched into hungary, still pursued by wallenstein. here he was badly received, because he had not brought the money expected by the king. his retreat cut off, and without the means of procuring supplies in that remote country, the valiant warrior found himself at the end of his resources. return was impossible, for wallenstein occupied the roads. in the end he was forced to sell his artillery and ammunition, disband his army, and proceed southward towards venice, whence he hoped to reach england and procure a new supply of funds. but on arriving at the village of urakowitz, in bosnia, his strength, worn out by incessant struggles and fatigues, gave way, and the noble warrior, the last hope of protestantism in germany, as it seemed, breathed his last, a disheartened fugitive. on feeling the approach of death, he had himself clothed in his military coat, and his sword buckled to his side. thus equipped, and standing between two friends, who supported him upright, the brave mansfeld breathed his last. his death left his cause almost without a supporter, for the same year his friend, duke christian of brunswick, expired, and with them the protestants lost their only able leaders; king christian of denmark, their principal successor, being greatly wanting in the requisites of military genius. ferdinand seemed triumphant and the cause of his opponents lost. all opposition, for the time, was at an end. tilly, whose purposes were the complete restoration of catholicism in germany, held the provinces conquered by him with an iron hand. wallenstein, who seemingly had in view the weakening of the power of the league and the raising of the emperor to absolutism, broke down all opposition before his irresistible march. his army had gradually increased till it numbered one hundred thousand men,--a host which it cost him nothing to support, for it subsisted on the devastated country. he advanced through silesia, driving all his enemies before him; marched into holstein, in order to force the king of denmark to leave germany; invaded and devastated jutland and silesia; and added to his immense estate the duchy of sagan and the whole of mecklenburg, which latter was given him by the emperor in payment of his share of the expenses of the war. this raised him to the rank of prince. as for denmark, he proposed to get rid of its king and have ferdinand elected in his stead. the career of this incomprehensible man had been strangely successful. not a shadow of reverse had met him. what he really intended no one knew. as his enemies decreased he increased his forces. was it the absolutism of the emperor or of himself that he sought? several of the princes appealed to ferdinand to relieve their dominions from the oppressive burden of war, but the emperor was weaker than his general, and dared not act against him. the whole of north germany lay prostrate beneath the powerful warrior, and obeyed his slightest nod. he lived in a style of pomp and ostentation far beyond that of the emperor himself. his officers imitated him in extravagance. even his soldiers lived in luxury. to support this lavish display many thousands of human beings languished in misery, starvation threatened whole provinces, and destitution everywhere prevailed. from mecklenburg, wallenstein fixed his ambitious eyes on pomerania, which territory he grew desirous of adding to his dominions. here was an important commercial city, stralsund, a member of the hanseatic league, and one which enjoyed the privilege of self-government. it had contributed freely to the expenses of the imperial army, but wallenstein, in furtherance of his designs upon pomerania, now determined to place in it a garrison of his own troops. this was an interference with their vested rights which roused the wrath of the citizens of stralsund. they refused to receive the troops sent them: wallenstein, incensed, determined to teach the insolent burghers a lesson, and bade general arnim to march against and lay siege to the place, doubting not that it would be quickly at his mercy. he was destined to a disappointment. stralsund was to put the first check upon his uniformly successful career. the citizens defended their walls with obstinate courage. troops, ammunition, and provisions were sent them from denmark and sweden, and they continued to oppose a successful resistance to every effort to reduce them. this unlooked for perversity of the stralsunders filled the soul of wallenstein with rage. it seemed to him unexampled insolence that these merchants should dare defy his conquering troops. "even if this stralsund be linked by chains to the very heavens above," he declared, "still i swear it shall fall!" he advanced in person against the city and assailed it with his whole army, bringing all the resources at his command to bear against its walls. but with heroic courage the citizens held their own. weeks passed, while he continued to thunder upon it with shot and shell. the stralsunders thundered back. his most furious assaults were met by them with a desperate valor which in time left his ranks twelve thousand men short. in the end, to his unutterable chagrin, he was forced to raise the siege and march away, leaving the valiant burghers lords of their homes. the war now seemingly came to its conclusion. the king of denmark asked for peace, which the emperor granted, and terms were signed at lübeck on may , . the contest was, for the time being, at an end, for there was no longer any one to oppose the emperor. for twelve years it had continued, its ravages turning rich provinces into deserts, and making beggars and fugitives of wealthy citizens. the opposition of the protestants was at an end, and there were but two disturbing elements of the seemingly pacific situation. one of these was the purpose which the catholic party soon showed to suppress protestantism and bring what they considered the heretical provinces again under the dominion of the pope. the other was the army of wallenstein, whose intolerable tyranny over friends and foes alike had now passed the bounds of endurance. from all sides complaints reached the emperor's ears, charges of pillage, burnings, outrages, and shameful oppressions of every sort inflicted by the imperial troops upon the inhabitants of the land. so many were the complaints that it was impossible to disregard them. the whole body of princes--every one of whom cordially hated wallenstein--joined in the outcry, and in the end ferdinand, with some hesitation, yielded to their wishes, and bade the general to disband his forces. would he obey? that was next to be seen. the mighty chief was in a position to defy princes and emperor if he chose. the plundering bands who followed him were his own, not the emperor's soldiers; they knew but one master and were ready to obey his slightest word; had he given the order to advance upon vienna and drive the emperor himself from his throne, there is no question but that they would have obeyed. as may be imagined, then, the response of wallenstein was awaited in fear and anxiety. should ambition counsel him to revolution, the very foundations of the empire might be shaken. what, then, was the delight of princes and people when word came that he had accepted the emperor's command without a word, and at once ordered the disbanding of his troops. the stars were perhaps responsible for this. astrology was his passion, and the planetary conjunctions seemed then to be in favor of submission. the man was superstitious, with all his clear-sighted ability, and permitted himself to be governed by influences which have long since lost their force upon men's minds. "i do not complain against or reproach the emperor," he said to the imperial deputies; "the stars have already indicated to me that the spirit of the elector of bavaria holds sway in the imperial councils. but his majesty, in dismissing his troops, is rejecting the most precious jewel of his crown." the event which we have described took place in september, . wallenstein, having paid off and dispersed his great army to the four winds, retired to his duchy of friedland, and took up his residence at gitschen, which had been much enlarged and beautified by his orders. here he quietly waited and observed the progress of events. he had much of interest to observe. the effort of ferdinand and his advisers to drive protestantism out of germany had produced an effect which none of them anticipated. the war, which had seemed at an end, was quickly afoot again, with a new leader of the protestant cause, new armies, and new fortunes. gustavus adolphus, king of sweden, had come to the rescue of his threatened fellow-believers, and before the army of wallenstein had been dissolved the work of the peace-makers was set aside, and the horrors of war returned. the dismissed general had now left gitschen for bohemia, where he dwelt upon his estates in a style of regal luxury, and in apparent disregard of the doings of emperors and kings. his palace in prague was royal in its adornments, and while his enemies were congratulating themselves on having forced him into retirement, he had italian artists at work painting on the walls of this palace his figure in the character of a conqueror, his triumphal car drawn by four milk-white steeds, while a star shone above his laurel-crowned head. sixty pages, of noble birth, richly attired in blue and gold velvet, waited upon him, while some of his officers and chamberlains had served the emperor in the same rank. in his magnificent stables were three hundred horses of choice breeds, while the daily gathering of distinguished men in his halls was not surpassed by the assemblies of the emperor himself. yet in his demeanor there was nothing to show that he entertained a shadow of his former ambition. he affected the utmost ease and tranquillity of manner, and seemed as if fully content with his present state, and as if he cared no longer who fought the wars of the world. but inwardly his ambition had in no sense declined. he beheld the progress of the swedish conqueror with secret joy, and when he saw tilly overthrown at leipsic, and the fruits of twelve years of war wrested from the emperor at a single blow, his heart throbbed high with hope. his hour of revenge upon the emperor had come. ferdinand must humiliate himself and come for aid to his dismissed general, for there was not another man in the kingdom capable of saving it from the triumphant foe. he was right. the emperor's deputies came. he was requested, begged, to head again the imperial armies. he received the envoys coldly. urgent persuasions were needed to induce him to raise an army of thirty thousand men. even then he would not agree to take command of it. he would raise it and put it at the emperor's disposal. he planted his standard; the men came; many of them his old followers. plenty and plunder were promised, and thousands flocked to his tents. by march of the thirty thousand men were collected. who should command them? there was but one, and this the emperor and wallenstein alike knew. they would follow only the man to whose banner they had flocked. the emperor begged him to take command. he consented, but only on conditions to which an emperor has rarely agreed. wallenstein was to have exclusive control of the army, without interference of any kind, was to be given irresponsible control over all the provinces he might conquer, was to hold as security a portion of the austrian patrimonial estates, and after the war might choose any of the hereditary estates of the empire for his seat of retirement. the emperor acceded, and wallenstein, clothed with almost imperial power, marched to war. his subsequent fortunes the next narrative must declare. _the end of two great soldiers._ two armies faced each other in central bavaria, two armies on which the fate of germany depended, those of gustavus adolphus, the right hand of protestantism, and of wallenstein, the hope of catholic imperialism. gustavus was strongly intrenched in the vicinity of nuremberg, with an army of but sixteen thousand men. wallenstein faced him with an army of sixty thousand, yet dared not attack him in his strong position. he occupied himself in efforts to make his camp as impregnable as that of his foeman, and the two great opponents lay waiting face to face, while famine slowly decimated their ranks. it was an extraordinary position. both sides depended for food on foraging, and between them they had swept the country clean. the peasantry fled in every direction from wallenstein's pillaging troops, who destroyed all that they could not carry away. it had become a question with the two armies which could starve the longest, and for three months they lay encamped, each waiting until famine should drive the other out. surely such a situation had never before been known. what had preceded this event? a few words will tell. ferdinand the emperor had, with the aid of tilly and wallenstein, laid all germany prostrate at his feet. ferdinand the zealot had, by this effort to impose catholicism on the protestant states, speedily undone the work of his generals, and set the war on foot again. gustavus adolphus, the hero of sweden, had come to the aid of the oppressed protestants of germany, borne down all before him, and quickly won back northern germany from the oppressor's hands. and now the cruelty of that savage war reached its culminating point. when germany submitted to the emperor, one city did not submit. magdeburg still held out. all efforts to subdue it proved fruitless, and it continued free and defiant when all the remainder of germany lay under the emperor's control. it was to pay dearly for the courage of its citizens. when the war broke out again, magdeburg was besieged by tilly with his whole force. after a most valiant defence it was taken by storm, and a scene of massacre and ruin followed without a parallel in modern wars. when it ended, magdeburg was no more. of its buildings all were gone, except the cathedral and one hundred and thirty-seven houses. of its inhabitants all had perished, except some four thousand who had taken refuge in the cathedral. man, woman, and child, the sword had slain them all, tilly being in considerable measure responsible for the massacre, for he was dilatory in ordering its cessation. when at length he did act there was little to save. all europe thrilled with horror at the dreadful news, and from that day forward fortune fled from the banners of count tilly. on september , , the armies of gustavus and tilly met at leipsic, and a terrible battle ensued, in which the imperialists were completely defeated and all the fruits of their former victories torn from their hands. in the following year tilly had his thigh shattered by a cannon-ball at the battle of the lech, and died in excruciating agonies. such were the preludes to the scene we have described. the lutheran princes everywhere joined the victorious gustavus; austria itself was threatened by his irresistible arms; and the emperor, in despair, called wallenstein again to the command, yielding to the most extreme demands of this imperious chief. the next scene was that we have described, in which the armies of gustavus and wallenstein lay face to face at nuremberg, each waiting until starvation should force the other to fight or to retreat. gustavus had sent for reinforcements, and his army steadily grew. that of wallenstein dwindled away under the assaults of famine and pestilence. a large convoy of provisions intended for wallenstein was seized by the swedes. soon afterwards gustavus was so strongly reinforced that his army grew to seventy thousand men. at his back lay nuremberg, his faithful ally, ready to aid him with thirty thousand fighting men besides. as his force grew that of wallenstein shrank, until by the end of the siege pestilence and want had reduced his army to twenty-four thousand men. the swedes were the first to yield in this game of starvation. as their numbers grew their wants increased, and at length, furious with famine, they made a desperate assault upon the imperial camp. they were driven back, with heavy loss. two weeks more gustavus waited, and then, despairing of drawing his opponent from his works, he broke camp and marched with sounding trumpets past his adversary's camp, who quietly let him go. the swedes had lost twenty thousand men, and nuremberg ten thousand of her inhabitants, during this period of hunger and slaughter. this was in september, . in november of the same year the two armies met again, on the plain of lützen, in saxony, not far from the scene of tilly's defeat, a year before. wallenstein, on the retreat of gustavus, had set fire to his own encampment and marched away, burning the villages around nuremberg and wasting the country as he advanced, with saxony as his goal. gustavus, who had at first marched southward into the catholic states, hastened to the relief of his allies. on the th of november the two great opponents came once more face to face, prepared to stake the cause of religious freedom in germany on the issue of battle. early in the morning of the th gustavus marshalled his forces, determined that that day should settle the question of victory or defeat. wallenstein had weakened his ranks by sending count pappenheim south on siege duty, and the swedish king, without waiting for reinforcements, decided on an instant attack. unluckily for him the morning dawned in fog. the entire plain lay shrouded. it was not until after eleven o'clock that the mist rose and the sun shone on the plain. during this interval count pappenheim, for whom wallenstein had sent in haste the day before, was speeding north by forced marches, and through the chance of the fog was enabled to reach the field while the battle was at its height. the troops were drawn up in battle array, the swedes singing to the accompaniment of drums and trumpets luther's stirring hymn, and an ode composed by the king himself: "fear not, thou little flock." they were strongly contrasted with the army of their foe, being distinguished by the absence of armor, light colored (chiefly blue) uniforms, quickness of motion, exactness of discipline, and the lightness of their artillery. the imperialists, on the contrary, wore old-fashioned, close-fitting uniforms, mostly yellow in color, cuirasses, thigh-pieces, and helmets, and were marked by slow movements, absence of discipline, and the heaviness and unmanageable character of their artillery. the battle was to be, to some extent, a test of excellence between the new and the old ideas in war. at length the fog rose and the sun broke out, and both sides made ready for the struggle. wallenstein, though suffering from a severe attack of his persistent enemy, the gout, mounted his horse and prepared his troops for the assault. his infantry were drawn up in squares, with the cavalry on their flanks, in front a ditch defended by artillery. his purpose was defensive, that of gustavus offensive. the swedish king mounted in his turn, placed himself at the head of his right wing, and, brandishing his sword, exclaimed, "now, onward! may our god direct us! lord! lord! help me this day to fight for the glory of thy name!" then, throwing aside his cuirass, which annoyed him on account of a slight wound he had recently received, he cried, "god is my shield!" and led his men in a furious charge upon the cannon-guarded ditch. the guns belched forth their deadly thunders, many fell, but the remainder broke irresistibly over the defences and seized the battery, driving the imperialists back in disorder. the cavalry, which had charged the black cuirassiers of wallenstein, was less successful. they were repulsed, and the cuirassiers fiercely charged the swedish infantry in flank, driving it back beyond the trenches. this repulse brought on the great disaster of the day. gustavus, seeing his infantry driven back, hastened to their aid with a troop of horse, and through the disorder of the field became separated from his men, only a few of whom accompanied him, among them francis, duke of saxe-lauenburg. his short-sightedness, or the foggy condition of the atmosphere, unluckily brought him too near a party of the black cuirassiers, and in an instant a shot struck him, breaking his left arm. "i am wounded; take me off the field," he said to the duke of lauenburg, and turned his horse to retire from the perilous vicinity. as he did so a second ball struck him in the back. "my god! my god!" he exclaimed, falling from the saddle, while his horse, which had been wounded in the neck, dashed away, dragging the king, whose foot was entangled in the stirrup, for some distance. the duke fled, but luchau, the master of the royal horse, shot the officer who had wounded the king. the cuirassiers advanced, while leubelfing, the king's page, a boy of eighteen, who had alone remained with him, was endeavoring to raise him up. "who is he?" they asked. the boy refused to tell, and was shot and mortally wounded. "i am the king of sweden!" gustavus is said to have exclaimed to his foes, who had surrounded and were stripping him. on hearing this they sought to carry him off, but a charge of the swedish cavalry at that moment drove them from their prey. as they retired they discharged their weapons at the helpless king, one of the cuirassiers shooting him through the head as he rushed past his prostrate form. the sight of the king's charger, covered with blood, and galloping with empty saddle past their ranks, told the swedes the story of the disastrous event. the news spread rapidly from rank to rank, carrying alarm wherever it came. some of the generals wished to retreat, but duke bernhard of weimar put himself at the head of a regiment, ran its colonel through for refusing to obey him, and called on them to follow him to revenge their king. his ardent appeal stirred the troops to new enthusiasm. regardless of a shot that carried away his hat, bernhard charged at their head, broke over the trenches and into the battery, retook the guns, and drove the imperial troops back in confusion, regaining all the successes of the first assault. the day seemed won. it would have been but for the fresh forces of pappenheim, who had some time before reached the field, only to fall before the bullets of the foe. his men took an active part in the fray, and swept backward the tide of war. the swedes were again driven from the battery and across the ditch, with heavy loss, and the imperialists regained the pivotal point of the obstinate struggle. but now the reserve corps of the swedes, led by kniphausen, came into action, and once more the state of the battle was reversed. they charged across the ditch with such irresistible force that the position was for the third time taken, and the imperialists again driven back. this ended the desperate contest. wallenstein ordered the retreat to be sounded. the dead gustavus had won the victory. a thick fog came on as night fell and prevented pursuit, even if the weariness of the swedes would have allowed it. they held the field, while wallenstein hastened away, his direction of retreat being towards bohemia. the swedes had won and lost, for the death of gustavus was equivalent to a defeat, and the emperor, with unseemly rejoicing, ordered a te deum to be sung in all his cities. on the following day the swedes sought for the body of their king. they found it by a great stone, which is still known as the swedish stone. it had been so trampled by the hoofs of charging horses, and was so covered with blood from its many wounds, that it was difficult to recognize. the collar, saturated with blood, which had fallen into the hands of the cuirassiers, was taken to vienna and presented to the emperor, who is said to have shed tears on seeing it. the corpse was laid in state before the swedish army, and was finally removed to stockholm, where it was interred. thus perished one of the great souls of europe, a man stirred deeply by ambition, full of hopes greater than he himself acknowledged, a military hero of the first rank, and one disposed to prosecute war with a humanity far in advance of his age. he severely repressed all excesses of his soldiery, was solicitous for the security of citizens and peasantry, and strictly forbade any revengeful reprisals on catholic cities for the frightful work done by his opponents upon the protestants. seldom has a conqueror shown such magnanimity and nobility of sentiment, and his untimely death had much to do with exposing germany to the later desolation of that most frightful of religious wars. his defeated foe, wallenstein, was not long to survive him. after his defeat he acted in a manner that gave rise to suspicions that he intended to play false to the emperor. he executed many of his officers and soldiers in revenge for their cowardice, as he termed it, recruited his ranks up to their former standard, but remained inactive, while bernhard of weimar was leading the swedes to new successes. his actions were so problematical, indeed, that suspicion of his motives grew more decided, and at length a secret conspiracy was raised against him with the connivance of the emperor. wallenstein, as if fearful of an attempt to rob him of his power, had his superior officers assembled at a banquet given at pilsen, in january, . a fierce attack of gout prevented him from presiding, but his firm adherents, field-marshals illo and terzka, took his place, and all the officers signed a compact to adhere faithfully to the duke in life and death as long as he should remain in the emperor's service. some signed it who afterwards proved false to him, among them field-marshal piccolomini, who afterwards betrayed him. just what designs that dark and much revolving man contemplated it is not easy to tell. it may have been treachery to the emperor, but he was not the man to freely reveal his secrets. the one person he trusted was piccolomini, whose star seemed in favorable conjunction with his own. to him he made known some of his projected movements, only to find in the end that his trusted confidant had revealed them all to the emperor. the plot against wallenstein was now put into effect, the emperor ordering his deposition from his command, and appointing general gablas to replace him, while a general amnesty for all his officers was announced. wallenstein was quickly taught how little he could trust his troops and officers. many of his generals fell from him at once. a few regiments only remained faithful, and even in their ranks traitors lurked. with but a thousand men to follow him he proceeded to eger, and from there asked aid of bernhard of weimar, as if he purposed to join with those against whom he had so long fought. bernhard received the message with deep astonishment, and exclaimed, moved by his belief that wallenstein was in league with the devil,-- "he who does not trust in god can never be trusted by man!" the great soldier of fortune was near his end. the stars were powerless to save him. it was not enough to deprive him of his command, his enemies did not deem it safe to let him live. one army gone, his wealth and his fame might soon bring him another, made up of those mercenary soldiers of all nations, and of all or no creeds, who would follow satan if he promised them plunder. his death had been resolved upon, and the agent chosen for its execution was colonel butler, one of the officers who had accompanied him to eger. it was late in february, . on the night fixed for the murder, wallenstein's faithful friends, illo, terzka, kinsky, and captain neumann were at a banquet in the castle of eger. the agents of death were colonel butler, an irish officer named lesley, and a scotchman named gordon, while the soldiers employed were a number of dragoons, chiefly irish. in the midst of the dinner the doors of the banqueting hall were burst open, and the assassins rushed upon their victims, killing them as they sat, with the exception of terzka, who killed two of his assailants before he was despatched. from this scene of murder the assassins rushed to the quarters of wallenstein. it was midnight and he had gone to bed. he sprang up as his door was burst open, and captain devereux, one of the party, rushed with drawn sword into the room. "are you the villain who would sell the army to the enemy and tear the crown from the emperor's head?" he shouted. wallenstein's only answer was to open his arms and receive the blow aimed at his breast. he died without a word. thus, with a brief interval between, had fallen military genius and burning ambition in two forms,--that of the heroic swede and that of the ruthless bohemian. _the siege of vienna._ once more the grand turk was afoot. straight on vienna he had marched, with an army of more than two hundred thousand men. at length he had reached the goal for which he had so often aimed, the austrian capital, while all western europe was threatened by his arms. the grand vizier, kara mustapha, headed the army, which had marched straight through hungary without wasting time in petty sieges, and hastened towards the imperial city with scarce a barrier in its path. consternation filled the viennese as the vast army of the turks rolled steadily nearer and nearer, pillaging the country as it came, and moving onward as irresistibly and almost as destructively as a lava flow. the emperor and his court fled in terror. many of the wealthy inhabitants followed, bearing with them such treasures as they could convey. the land lay helpless under the shadow of terror which the coming host threw far before its columns. but pillage takes time. the turks, through the greatness of their numbers, moved slowly. some time was left for action. the inhabitants of the city, taking courage, armed for defence. the duke of lorraine, whose small army had not ventured to face the foe, left twelve thousand men in the city, and drew back with the remainder to wait for reinforcements. count rüdiger of stahrenberg was left in command, and made all haste to put the imperilled city in a condition of defence. [illustration: the parliament house in vienna.] on came the turks, the smoke of burning villages the signal of their approach. on the th of june, , their mighty army appeared before the walls, and a city of tents was built that covered a space of six leagues in extent. their camp was arranged in the form of a crescent, enclosing within its boundaries a promiscuous mass of soldiers and camp-followers, camels, and baggage-wagons, which seemed to extend as far as the eye could reach. in the centre was the gorgeous tent of the vizier, made of green silk, and splendid with its embroidery of gold, silver, and precious stones, while inside it was kept the holy standard of the prophet. marvellous stories are told of the fountains, baths, gardens, and other appliances of oriental luxury with which the vizier surrounded himself in this magnificent tent. two days after the arrival of the turkish host the trenches were opened, the cannon placed, and the siege of vienna began. for more than two centuries the conquerors of constantinople had kept their eyes fixed on this city as a glorious prize. now they had reached it, and the thunder of their cannon around its walls was full of threat for the west. vienna once theirs, it was not easy to say where their career of conquest would be stayed. fortunately, count rüdiger was an able and vigilant soldier, and defended the city with a skill and obstinacy that baffled every effort of his foes. the turks, determined on victory, thundered upon the walls till they were in many parts reduced to heaps of ruins. with incessant labor they undermined them, blew up the strongest bastions, and laid their plans to rush into the devoted city, from which they hoped to gain a glorious booty. but active as they were the besieged were no less so. the damage done by day was repaired by night, and still vienna turned a heroic face to its thronging enemies. furious assaults were made, multitudes of the turks rushing with savage cries to the breaches, only to be hurled back by the obstinate valor of the besieged. every foot of ground was fiercely contested, the struggle at each point being desperate and determined. it was particularly so around the löbel bastion, where scarcely an inch of ground was left unstained by the blood of the struggling foes. count rüdiger, although severely wounded, did not let his hurt reduce his vigilance. daily he had himself carried round the circle of the works, directing and cheering his men. bishop kolonitsch attended the wounded, and with such active and useful zeal that the grand vizier sent him a threat that he would have his head for his meddling. despite this fulmination of fury, the worthy bishop continued to use his threatened head in the service of mercy and sympathy. but the numbers of the garrison grew rapidly less, and their incessant duty wore them out with fatigue. the commandant was forced to threaten death to any sentinel found asleep upon his post. a fire broke out which was only suppressed with the greatest exertion. famine also began to invade the city, and the condition of the besieged grew daily more desperate. their only hope lay in relief from without, and this did not come. two months passed slowly by. the turks had made a desert of the surrounding country, and held many thousands of its inhabitants as prisoners in their camp. step by step they gained upon the defenders. by the end of august they possessed the moat around the city walls. on the th of september a mine was sprung under the burg bastion, with such force that it shook half the city like an earthquake. the bastion was rent and shattered for a width of more than thirty feet, portions of its walls being hurled far and wide. into the great breach made the assailants poured in an eager multitude. but the defenders were equally alert, and drove them back with loss. on the following day they charged again, and were again repulsed by the brave viennese, the ruined bastion becoming a very gulf of death. the turks, finding their efforts useless, resumed the work of mining, directing their efforts against the same bastion. on the th of september the new mine was sprung, and this time with such effect that a breach was made through which a whole turkish battalion was able to force its way. this city now was in the last extremity of danger; unless immediate relief came all would soon be lost. the garrison had been much reduced by sickness and wounds, while those remaining were so completely exhausted as to be almost incapable of defence. rüdiger had sent courier after courier to the duke of lorraine in vain. in vain the lookouts swept the surrounding country with their eyes in search of some trace of coming aid. all seemed at an end. during the night a circle of rockets was fired from the tower of st. stephen's as a signal of distress. this done the wretched viennese waited for the coming day, almost hopeless of repelling the hosts which threatened to engulf them. at the utmost a few days must end the siege. a single day might do it. that dreadful night of suspense passed away. with the dawn the wearied garrison was alert, prepared to strike a last blow for safety and defence, and to guard the yawning breach unto death. they waited with the courage of despair for an assault which did not come. hurried and excited movements were visible in the enemy's camp. could succor be at hand? yes, from the summit of the kahlen hill came the distant report of three cannon, a signal that filled the souls of the garrison with joy. quickly afterwards the lookouts discerned the glitter of weapons and the waving of christian banners on the hill. the rescuers were at hand, and barely in time to save the city from its almost triumphant foes. during the siege the christian people outside had not been idle. bavaria, saxony, and the lesser provinces of the empire mustered their forces in all haste, and sent them to the reinforcement of charles of lorraine. to their aid came sobieski, the chivalrous king of poland, with eighteen thousand picked men at his back. he himself was looked upon as a more valuable reinforcement than his whole army. he had already distinguished himself against the turks, who feared and hated him, while all europe looked to him as its savior from the infidel foe. there were in all about seventy-seven thousand men in the army whose vanguard ascended the kahlen hill on that critical th of september, and announced its coming to the beleaguered citizens by its three signal shots. the turks, too confident in their strength, had thoughtlessly failed to occupy the heights, and by this carelessness gave their foes a position of vantage. in truth, the vizier, proud in his numbers, viewed the coming foe with disdain, and continued to pour a shower of bombs and balls upon the city while despatching what he deemed would be a sufficient force to repel the enemy. on the morning of september , sobieski led his troops down the hill to encounter the dense masses of the moslems in the plain below. this celebrated chief headed his men with his head partly shaved, in the polish fashion, and plainly dressed, though he was attended by a brilliant retinue. in front went an attendant bearing the king's arms emblazoned. beside him was another who carried a plume on the point of his lance. on his left rode his son james, on his right charles of lorraine. before the battle he knighted his son and made a stirring address to his troops, in which he told them that they fought not for vienna alone, but for all christendom; not for an earthly sovereign, but for the king of kings. early in the day the left wing of the army had attacked and carried the village of nussdorf, on the danube, driving out its turkish defenders after an obstinate resistance. it was about mid-day when the king of poland led the right wing into the plain against the dense battalions of turkish horsemen which there awaited his assault. the ringing shouts of his men told the enemy that it was the dreaded sobieski whom they had to meet, their triumphant foe on many a well-fought field. at the head of his cavalry he dashed upon their crowded ranks with such impetuosity as to penetrate to their very centre, carrying before him confusion and dismay. so daring was his assault that he soon found himself in imminent danger, having ridden considerably in advance of his men. only a few companions were with him, while around him crowded the dense columns of the foe. in a few minutes more he would have been overpowered and destroyed, had not the german cavalry perceived his peril and come at full gallop to his rescue, scattering with the vigor of their charge the turbaned assailants, and snatching him from the very hands of death. so sudden and fierce was the assault, so poorly led the turkish horsemen, and so alarming to them the war-cry of sobieski's men, that in a short time they were completely overthrown, and were soon in flight in all directions. this, however, was but a partial success. the main body of the turkish army had taken no part. their immense camp, with its thousands of tents, maintained its position, and the batteries continued to bombard the city as if in disdain of the paltry efforts of their foes. yet it seems to have been rather rage and alarm than disdain that animated the vizier. he is said to have, in a paroxysm of fury, turned the scimitars of his followers upon the prisoners in his camp, slaughtering thirty thousand of these unfortunates, while bidding his cannoneers to keep up their assault upon the city. these evidences of indecision and alarm in their leader filled the turks with dread. they saw their cavalry battalions flying in confusion, heard the triumphant trumpets of their foes, learned that the dreaded polish king was at the head of the irresistible charging columns, and yet beheld their commander pressing the siege as if no foe were in the field. it was evident that the vizier had lost his head through fright. a sudden terror filled their souls. they broke and fled. while sobieski and the other leaders were in council to decide whether the battle should be continued that evening or left till the next morning, word was brought them that the enemy was in full flight, running away in every direction. they hastened out. the tidings proved true. a panic had seized the turks, and, abandoning tents, cannon, baggage, everything, they were flying in wild haste from the beleaguered walls. the alarm quickly spread through their ranks. those who had been firing on the city left their guns and joined in the flight. from rank to rank, from division to division, it extended, until the whole army had decamped and was hastening in panic terror over the plain, hotly pursued by the death-dealing columns of the christian cavalry, and thinking only of constantinople and safety. the booty found in the camp was immense. the tent of the grand vizier alone was valued at nearly half a million dollars, and the whole spoil was estimated as worth fifteen million dollars. the king wrote to his wife as follows: "the whole of the enemy's camp, together with their artillery and an incalculable amount of property, has fallen into our hands. the camels and mules, together with the captive turks, are driven away in herds, while i myself am become the heir of the grand vizier. the banner which was usually borne before him, together with the standard of mohammed, with which the sultan had honored him in this campaign, and the tents, wagons, and baggage, are all fallen to my share; even some of the quivers captured among the rest are alone worth several thousand dollars. it would take too long to describe all the other objects of luxury found in his tents, as, for instance, his baths, fountains, gardens, and a variety of rare animals. this morning i was in the city, and found that it could hardly have held out more than five days. never before did the eye of man see a work of equal magnitude despatched with a vigor like that with which they blew up, and shattered to pieces, huge masses of stone and rocks." sobieski, on entering vienna, was greeted with the warmest gratitude and enthusiasm by crowds of people, who looked upon him as their deliverer. the governor, count rüdiger, grasped his hand with affection, the populace followed him in his every movement, while cries of "long live the king!" everywhere resounded. never had been a more signal delivery, and the citizens were beside themselves with joy. in this siege the turks had lost forty-eight thousand men. twenty thousand more fell on the day of battle, and an equal number during the retreat. it is said that in the tent of the grand vizier were found letters from louis xiv. containing the full plan of the siege, and to the many crimes of ambition of this monarch seems to be added that of bringing this frightful peril upon europe for his own selfish ends. as for the unlucky vizier, he was put to death by strangling, by order of the angry sultan, on his reaching belgrade. it is said that his head, found on the taking of belgrade by eugene, years afterwards, was sent to bishop kolonitsch, whose own head the vizier had threatened to take in revenge for his labors among the wounded of vienna. the war with the turks continued, with some few intermissions, for fifteen years afterwards. it ended to the great advantage of the christian armies. one after another the fortresses of hungary were wrested from their hands, and in the year they were totally defeated at mohacz by the duke of lorraine and prince eugene, and the whole of hungary torn from their grasp. in another great victory over them was won by eugene, at zenta, by which the power of the turks was completely broken. belgrade, which they had long held, fell into his hands, and a peace was signed which confirmed austria in the possession of all hungary. from that time forward the terror which the turkish name had so long inspired vanished, and the siege of vienna may be looked upon as the concluding act in the long array of invasions of europe by the mongolian hordes of asia. it was to be followed by the gradual recovery, now almost consummated, of their european dominions from their hands. _the youth of frederick the great._ an extraordinarily rude, coarse, and fierce old despot was frederick william, first king of prussia, son of the great elector and father of frederick the great. he hated france and the french language and culture, then so much in vogue in europe; he despised learning and science; ostentation was to him a thing unknown; and he had but two passions, one being to possess the tallest soldiers in europe, the other to have his own fierce will in all things on which he set his mind. about all that we can say in his favor is that he paid much attention to the promotion of education in his realm, many schools being opened and compulsory attendance enforced. of the fear with which he inspired many of his subjects, and the methods he took to overcome it, there is no better example than that told in relation to a jew, whom the king saw as he was riding one day through berlin. the poor israelite was slinking away in dread, when the king rode up, seized him, and asked in harsh tones what ailed him. "sire, i was afraid of you," said the trembling captive. "fear me! fear me, do you?" exclaimed the king in a rage, lashing his riding-whip across the man's shoulders with every word. "you dog! i'll teach you to love me!" [illustration: statue of frederick the great, unter den linden, berlin.] it was in some such fashion that he sought to make his son love him, and with much the same result. in fact, he seemed to entertain a bitter dislike for the beautiful and delicate boy whom fortune had sent him as an heir, and treated him with such brutal severity that the unhappy child grew timid and fearful of his presence. this the harsh old despot ascribed to cowardice, and became more violent accordingly. on one occasion when young frederick entered his room, something having happened to excite his rage against him, he seized him by the hair, flung him violently to the floor, and caned him until he had exhausted the strength of his arm on the poor boy's body. his fury growing with the exercise of it, he now dragged the unresisting victim to the windows, seized the curtain cord, and twisted it tightly around his neck. frederick had barely strength enough to grasp his father's hand and scream for help. the old brute would probably have strangled him had not a chamberlain rushed in and saved him from the madman's hands. the boy, as he grew towards man's estate, developed tastes which added to his father's severity. the french language and literature which he hated were the youth's delight, and he took every opportunity to read the works of french authors, and particularly those of voltaire, who was his favorite among writers. this predilection was not likely to overcome the fierce temper of the king, who discovered his pursuits and flogged him unmercifully, thinking to cane all love for such enervating literature, as he deemed it, out of the boy's mind. in this he failed. germany in that day had little that deserved the name of literature, and the expanding intellect of the active-minded youth turned irresistibly towards the tabooed works of the french. in truth, he needed some solace for his expanding tastes, for his father's house and habits were far from satisfactory to one with any refinement of nature. the palace of frederick william was little more attractive than the houses of the humbler citizens of berlin. the floors were carpetless, the rooms were furnished with common bare tables and wooden chairs, art was conspicuously absent, luxury wanting, comfort barely considered, even the table was very parsimoniously served. the old king's favorite apartment in all his places of residence was his smoking-room, which was furnished with a deal table covered with green baize and surrounded by hard chairs. this was his audience-chamber, his hall of state, the room in which the affairs of the kingdom were decided in a cloud of smoke and amid the fumes of beer. here sat generals in uniform, ministers of state wearing their orders, ambassadors and noble guests from foreign realms, all smoking short dutch pipes and breathing the vapors of tobacco. before each was placed a great mug of beer, and the beer-casks were kept freely on tap, for the old despot insisted that all should drink or smoke whether or not they liked beer and tobacco, and he was never more delighted than when he could make a guest drunk or sicken him with smoke. for food, when they were in need of it, bread and cheese and similar viands might be had. a strange picture of palatial grandeur this. fortune had missed frederick william's true vocation in not making him an inn-keeper in a german village instead of a king. around this smoke-shrouded table the most important affairs of state were discussed. around it the rudest practical jokes were perpetrated. gundling, a beer-bibbing author, whom the king made at once his historian and his butt, was the principal sufferer from these frolics, which displayed abundantly that absence of wit and presence of brutality which is the characteristic of the practical joke. as if in scorn of rank and official dignity, frederick gave this sot and fool the title of baron and created him chancellor and chamberlain of the palace, forcing him always to wear an absurdly gorgeous gala dress, while to show his disdain of learned pursuits he made him president of his academy of sciences, an institution which, in its condition at that time, was suited to the presidency of a gundling. for these dignities he made the poor butt suffer. on one occasion the kingly joker had a brace of bear cubs laid in gundling's bed, and the drunken historian tossed in between them, with little heed of the danger to which he exposed the poor victim of his sport. on another occasion, when gundling grew sullen and refused to leave his room, the king and his boon companions besieged him with rockets and crackers, which they flung in at the open window. a third and more elaborate trick was the following. the king had the door of gundling's room walled up, so that the drunken dupe wandered the palace halls the whole night long, vainly seeking his vanished door, getting into wrong rooms, disturbing sleepers to ask whither his room had flown, and making the palace almost as uncomfortable for its other inmates as for himself. he ended his journey in the bear's den, where he got a severe hug for his pains. such were the ideas of royal dignity, of art, science, and learning, and of wit and humor, entertained by the first king of prussia, the coarse-mannered and brutal-minded progenitor of one of the greatest of modern monarchs. his ideas of military power were no wiser or more elevated. his whole soul was set on having a play army, a brigade of tall recruits, whose only merit lay in their inches above the ordinary height of humanity. much of the revenues of the kingdom were spent upon these giants, whom he had brought from all parts of europe, by strategy and force where cash and persuasion did not avail. his agents were everywhere on the lookout for men beyond the usual stature, and on more than one occasion blood was shed in the effort to kidnap recruits, while some of his crimps were arrested and executed. more than once prussia was threatened with war for the practices of its king, yet so eager was he to add to the number of his giants that he let no such difficulties stand in his way. his tall recruits were handsomely paid and loaded with favors. to one irishman of extraordinary stature he paid one thousand pounds, while the expense of watching and guarding him while bringing him from ireland was two hundred pounds more. it is said that in all twelve million dollars left the country in payment for these showy and costly giants. by his various processes of force, fraud, and stratagem he collected three battalions of tall show soldiers, comprising at one time several thousand men. not content with the unaided work of nature in providing giants, he attempted to raise a gigantic race in his own dominions, marrying his grenadiers to the tallest women he could find. there is nothing to show that the result of his efforts was successful. the king's giants found life by no means a burden. they enjoyed the highest consideration in berlin, were loaded with favors, and presented with houses, lands, and other evidences of royal grace, while their only duties were show drills and ostentatious parades. they were too costly and precious to expose to the dangers of actual war. when frederick william's son came to the throne the military career of the giants suddenly ended. they were disbanded, pensioned off, or sent to invalid institutions, with secret instructions to the officers that if any of them tried to run away no hinderance should be placed in their path to freedom. it is, however, with frederick william's treatment of his son that we are principally concerned. as the boy grew older his predilection for the culture and literature of france increased, and under the influence of his favorite associates, two young men named katte and keith, a degree of licentiousness was developed in his habits. to please his father he accepted a position in the army, but took every opportunity to throw aside the hated uniform, dress in luxurious garments, solace himself with the flute, bury himself among his books, and enjoy the society of the women he admired and the friends he loved. he was frequently forced to attend the king's smoking-parties, where he seems to have avoided smoking and drinking as much as possible, escaping from the scene before it degenerated into an orgy of excess, in which it was apt to terminate. these tastes and tendencies were not calculated to increase the love of the brutal old monarch for his son, and the life of the boy became harder to bear as he grew older. his sister wilhelmina was equally detested by the harsh old king, who treated them both with shameful brutality, knocking them down and using his cane upon them on the slightest provocation, confining them and sending them food unfit to eat, omitting to serve them at table, and using disgusting means to render their food unpalatable. "the king almost starved my brother and me," says the princess. "he performed the office of carver, and helped everybody excepting us two, and when there happened to be something left in a dish, he would spit upon it to prevent us from eating it. on the other hand, i was treated with abundance of abuse and invectives, being called all day long by all sorts of names, no matter who was present. the king's anger was sometimes so violent that he drove my brother and me away, and forbade us to appear in his presence except at meal-times." this represented the state of affairs when they were almost grown up, and is a remarkable picture of court habits and manners in germany in the early part of the eighteenth century. the scene we have already described, in which the king attempted to strangle his son with the curtain cord, occurred when frederick was in his nineteenth year, and was one of the acts which gave rise to his resolution to run away, the source of so many sorrows. poor frederick's lot had become too hard to bear. he was bent on flight. his mother was the daughter of george i. of england, and he hoped to find at the english court the happiness that failed him at home. he informed his sister of his purpose, saying that he intended to put it into effect during a journey which his father was about to make, and in which opportunities for flight would arise. katte, he said, was in his interest; keith would join him; he had made with them all the arrangements for his flight. his sister endeavored to dissuade him, but in vain. his father's continued brutality, and particularly his use of the cane, had made the poor boy desperate. he wrote to lieutenant katte,-- "i am off, my dear katte. i have taken such precautions that i have nothing to fear. i shall pass through leipsic, where i shall assume the name of marquis d'ambreville. i have already sent word to keith, who will proceed direct to england. lose no time, for i calculate on finding you at leipsic. adieu, be of good cheer." the king's journey took place. frederick accompanied him, his mind full of his projected flight. the king added to his resolution by ill-treatment during the journey, and taunted him as he had often done before, saying,-- "if my father had treated me so, i would soon have run away; but you have no heart; you are a coward." this added to the prince's resolution. he wrote to katte at berlin, repeating to him his plans. but now the chapter of accidents, which have spoiled so many well-laid plots, began. in sending this letter he directed it "_via_ nürnberg," but in his haste or agitation forgot to insert berlin. by ill luck there was a cousin of katte's, of the same name, at erlangen, some twelve miles off. the letter was delivered to and read by him. he saw the importance of its contents, and, moved by an impulse of loyalty, sent it by express to the king at frankfort. another accident came from frederick's friend keith being appointed lieutenant, his place as page to the prince being taken by his brother, who was as stupid as the elder keith was acute. the royal party had halted for the night at a village named steinfurth. this the prince determined to make the scene of his escape, and bade his page to call him at four in the morning, and to have horses ready, as he proposed to make an early morning call upon some pretty girls at a neighboring hamlet. he deemed the boy too stupid to trust with the truth. young keith managed to spoil all. instead of waking the prince, he called his valet, who was really a spy of the king's, and who, suspecting something to be amiss, pretended to fall asleep again, while heedfully watching. frederick soon after awoke, put on a coat of french cut instead of his uniform, and went out. the valet immediately roused several officers of the king's suite, and told them his suspicions. much disturbed, they hurried after the prince. after searching through the village, they found him at the horse-market leaning against a cart. his dress added to their suspicions, and they asked him respectfully what he was doing there. he answered sharply, angry at being discovered. "for god's sake, change your coat!" exclaimed colonel rochow. "the king is awake, and will start in half an hour. what would be the consequence if he were to see you in this dress?" "i promise you that i will be ready before the king," said frederick. "i only mean to take a little turn." while they were arguing, the page arrived with the horses. the prince seized the bridle of one of them, and would have leaped upon it but for the interference of those around him, who forced him to return to the barn in which the royal party had found its only accommodation for that night. here he was obliged to put on his uniform, and to restrain his anger. during the day the valet and others informed the king of what had occurred. he said nothing, as there were no proofs of the prince's purpose. that night they reached frankfort. here the king received, the next morning, the letter sent him by katte's cousin. he showed it to two of his officers, and bade them on peril of their heads to keep a close watch on the prince, and to take him immediately to the yacht on which the party proposed to travel the next day by water to wesel. the king embarked the next morning, and as soon as he saw the prince his smothered rage burst into fury. he grasped him violently by the collar, tore his hair out by the roots, and struck him in the face with the knob of his stick till the blood ran. only by the interference of the two officers was the unhappy youth saved from more extreme violence. his sword was taken from him, his effects were seized by the king, and his papers burned by his valet before his face,--in which he did all concerned "an important service." at the request of his keepers the prince was taken to another yacht. on reaching the bridge of boats at the entrance to wesel, he begged permission to land there, so that he might not be known. his keepers acceded, but he was no sooner on land than he ran off at full speed. he was stopped by a guard, whom the king had sent to meet him, and was conducted to the town-house. not a word was said to the king about this attempt at flight. the next day frederick was brought before his father, who was in a raging passion. "why did you try to run away?" he furiously asked. "because," said frederick, firmly, "you have not treated me like your son, but like a base slave." "you are an infamous deserter, and have no honor." "i have as much as you," retorted the prince. "i have done no more than i have heard you say a hundred times that you would do if you were in my place." this answer so incensed the old tyrant that he drew his sword in fury from its scabbard, and would have run the boy through had not general mosel hastily stepped between, and seized the king's arm. "if you must have blood, stab me," he said; "my old carcass is not good for much; but spare your son." these words checked the king's brutal fury. he ordered them to take the boy away, and listened with more composure to the general, who entreated him not to condemn the prince without a hearing, and not to commit the unpardonable crime of becoming his son's executioner. events followed rapidly upon this discovery. frederick contrived to despatch a line in pencil to keith. "save yourself," he wrote; "all is discovered." keith at once fled, reached the hague, where he was concealed in the house of lord chesterfield, the english ambassador, and when searched for there, succeeded in escaping to england in a fishing-boat. he was hung in effigy in prussia, but became a major of cavalry in the service of portugal. katte was less fortunate. he was warned in time to escape, and the marshal who was sent to arrest him purposely delayed, but he lost precious time in preparation, and was seized while mounting his horse. his arrest filled the queen with terror. numerous letters were in his possession which had been written by herself and her daughter to the prince royal. in these they had often spoken with great freedom of the king. it might be ruinous should these letters fall into his hands. some friend sent the portfolio supposed to contain them to the queen. it was locked, corded, and sealed. the trouble about the seal was overcome by an old valet, who had found in the palace garden one just like it. the portfolio was opened, and the queen's fears found to be correct. it contained the letters, not less than fifteen hundred in all. they were all hastily thrown into the fire,--too hastily, for many of them were innocent of offence. but it would not do to return an empty portfolio. the queen and her daughter immediately began to write letters to replace the burned ones, taking paper of each year's manufacture to prevent discovery. for three days they diligently composed and wrote, and in that period fabricated no less than six or seven hundred letters. these far from filled the portfolio, but the queen packed other things into it, and then locked and sealed it, so that no change in its appearance could be perceived. this done, it was restored to its place. we must hasten over what followed. on the king's return his first greeting to his wife was, "your good-for-nothing son is dead." he immediately demanded the portfolio, tore it open, and carried away the letters which had been so recently concocted. in a few minutes he returned, and on seeing his daughter broke out into a fury of rage, his eyes glaring, his mouth foaming. "infamous wretch!" he shouted; "dare you appear in my presence? go keep your scoundrel of a brother company." he seized her as he spoke and struck her several times violently in the face, one blow on the temple hurling her to the floor. mad with rage, he would have trampled on her had not the ladies present got her away. the scene was a frightful one. the queen, believing her son dead, and completely unnerved, ran wildly around the room, shrieking with agony. the king's face was so distorted with rage as to be frightful to look at. his younger children were around his knees, begging him with tears to spare their sister. wilhelmina, her face bruised and swollen, was supported by one of the ladies of the court. rarely had insane rage created a more distressing spectacle. in the end the king acknowledged that frederick was still alive, but vowed that he would have his head off as a deserter, and that wilhelmina, his confederate, should be imprisoned for life. he left the room at length to question katte, who was being brought before him, harshly exclaiming as he did so, "now i shall have evidence to convict the scoundrel fritz and that blackguard wilhelmina. i shall find plenty of reasons to have their heads off." but we must hasten to the conclusion. both the captives were tried by court-martial, on the dangerous charge of desertion from the army. the court which tried frederick proved to be subservient to the king's will. they pronounced sentence of death on the prince royal. katte was sentenced to imprisonment for life, on the plea that his crime had been only meditated, not committed. the latter sentence did not please the despot. he changed it himself from life imprisonment to death, and with a refinement of cruelty ordered the execution to take place under the prince's window, and within his sight. on the th of november, , frederick, wearing a coarse prison dress, was conducted from his cell in the fortress of cüstrin to a room on the lower floor, where the window-curtains, let down as he entered, were suddenly drawn up. he saw before him a scaffold hung with black, which he believed to be intended for himself, and gazed upon it with shuddering apprehension. when informed that it was intended for his friend, his grief and pain became even more acute. he passed the night in that room, and the next morning was conducted again to the window, beneath which he saw his condemned friend, accompanied by soldiers, an officer, and a minister of religion. "oh," cried the prince, "how miserable it makes me to think that i am the cause of your death! would to god i were in your place!" "no," replied katte; "if i had a thousand lives, gladly would i lay them down for you." frederick swooned as his friend moved on. in a few minutes afterwards katte was dead. it was long before the sorrowing prince recovered from the shock of that cruel spectacle. whether the king actually intended the execution of his son is questioned. as it was, earnest remonstrances were addressed to him from the kings of sweden and poland, the emperor of germany, and other monarchs. he gradually recovered from the insanity of his rage, and, on humble appeals from his son, remitted his sentence, requiring him to take a solemn oath that he was converted from his infidel beliefs, that he begged a thousand pardons from his father for his crimes, and that he repented not having been always obedient to his father's will. this done, frederick was released from prison, but was kept under surveillance at cüstrin till february, , when he was permitted to return to berlin. he had been there before on the occasion of his sister's marriage, in november, , the poor girl gladly accepting marriage to a prince she had never seen as a means of escape from a king of whom she had seen too much. with this our story ends. father and son were reconciled, and lived to all appearance as good friends until , when the old despot died, and frederick succeeded him as king. _voltaire and frederick the great._ voltaire, who was an adept in the art of making france too hot to hold him, had gone to prussia, as a place of rest for his perturbed spirit, and, in response to the repeated invitations of his ardent admirer, frederick the great. it was a blunder on both sides. if they had wished to continue friends, they should have kept apart. frederick was autocratic in his ways and thoughts; voltaire embodied the spirit of independence in thought and speech. the two men could no more meet without striking fire than flint and steel. moreover, voltaire was normally satirical, restless, inclined to vanity and jealousy, and that terrible pen of his could never be brought to respect persons and places. with a martinet like frederick, the visit was sure to end in a quarrel, despite the admiration of the prince for the poet. frederick, though a german king, was french in his love for the gallic literature, philosophy, and language. he cared little for german literature--there was little of it in his day worth caring for--and always wrote and spoke in french, while french wits and thinkers who could not live in safety in straitlaced paris, gained the amplest scope for their views in his court. voltaire found three such emigrants there, maupertuis, la mettrie, and d'arnaud. he was received by them with enthusiasm, as the sovereign of their little court of free thought. frederick had given him a pension and the post of chamberlain,--an office with very light duties,--and the expatriated poet set himself out to enjoy his new life with zest and animation. "a hundred and fifty thousand victorious soldiers," he wrote to paris, "no attorneys, opera, plays, philosophy, poetry, a hero who is a philosopher and a poet, grandeur and graces, grenadiers and muses, trumpets and violins, plato's symposium, society and freedom! who would believe it? it is all true, however." "it is cæsar, it is marcus aurelius, it is julian, it is sometimes abbé chaulieu, with whom i sup," he further wrote; "there is the charm of retirement, there is the freedom of the country, with all those little delights which the lord of a castle who is a king can procure for his very obedient humble servants and guests. my own duties are to do nothing. i enjoy my leisure. i give an hour a day to the king of prussia to touch up a bit his works in prose and verse; i am his grammarian, not his chamberlain ... never in any place in the world was there more freedom of speech touching the superstitions of men, and never were they treated with more banter and contempt. god is respected, but all they who have cajoled men in his name are treated unsparingly." it was, in short, an eden for a free-thinker; but an eden with its serpent, and this serpent was the envy, jealousy, and unrestrainable satiric spirit of voltaire. there was soon trouble between him and his fellow-exiles. he managed to get arnaud exiled from the country, and gradually a coolness arose between him and maupertuis, whom frederick had made president of the berlin academy. there were other quarrels and complications, and voltaire grew disgusted with the occupation of what he slyly called "buck-washing" the king's french verses,--poor affairs they were. step by step he was making berlin as hot as he had made paris. the new adam was growing restless in his new paradise. he wrote to his niece,-- "so it is known by this time in paris, my dear child, that we have played the 'mort de cæsar' at potsdam, that prince henry is a good actor, has no accent, and is very amiable, and that this is the place for pleasure? all this is true, but--the king's supper parties are delightful; at them people talk reason, wit, science; freedom prevails thereat; he is the soul of it all; no ill-temper, no clouds, at any rate no storms; my life is free and well occupied,--but--opera, plays, carousals, suppers at sans souci, military manoeuvres, concerts, studies, readings,--but--the city of berlin, grand, better laid out than paris; palaces, play-houses, affable queens, charming princesses, maids of honor beautiful and well-made, the mansion of madame de tyrconnel always full and sometimes too much so,--but--but--my dear child, the weather is beginning to settle down into a fine frost." voltaire brought the frost. he got into a disreputable quarrel with a jew, and meddled in other affairs, until something very like a quarrel arose between him and frederick. the king wrote him a severe letter of reprimand. the poet apologized. but immediately afterwards his irrepressible spirit of mischief broke out in a new place. it was his ill-humor with maupertuis which now led him astray. he wrote a pamphlet, full of wit and as full of bitterness, called "la diatribe du docteur akakia," so evidently satirizing maupertuis that the king grew furious. it was printed anonymously, and circulated surreptitiously in berlin, but a copy soon fell into frederick's hand, who knew at once that but one man in the kingdom was capable of such a production. he wrote so severely to voltaire that the malicious satirist was frightened and gave up the whole edition of the pamphlet, which was burnt before his eyes in the king's own closet, though frederick could not help laughing at its wit. but voltaire's daring was equal to a greater defiance than frederick imagined. despite the work of the flames, a copy of the diatribe found its way to paris, was printed there, and copies of it made their way back to prussia by mail. everybody was reading it, everybody laughing, people fought for copies of the satire, which spread over europe. the king, enraged by this treacherous disobedience, as he deemed it, retorted on voltaire by having the pamphlet burned in the place d'armes. this brought matters to a crisis. the next day voltaire sent his commissions and orders back to frederick; the next, frederick returned them to him. he was bent on leaving prussia at once, but wished to do it without a quarrel with the king. "i sent the solomon of the north," he wrote to madame denis, "for his present, the cap and bells he gave me, with which you reproached me so much. i wrote him a very respectful letter, for i asked him for leave to go. what do you think he did? he sent me his great factotum, federshoff, who brought me back my toys; he wrote me a letter saying that he would rather have me to live with than maupertuis. what is quite certain is that i would rather not live with either the one or the other." in truth, frederick could not bear to lose voltaire. vexed as he was with him, he was averse to giving up that charming conversation from which he had derived so much enjoyment. voltaire wanted to get away; frederick pressed him to stay. there was protestation, warmth, coolness, a gradual breaking of links, letters from france urging the poet to return, communications from frederick wishing him to remain, and a growing attraction from paris drawing its flown son back to that centre of the universe for a true frenchman. at length frederick yielded; voltaire might go. the poet approached him while reviewing his troops. "ah! monsieur voltaire," said the king, "so you really intend to go away?" "sir, urgent private affairs, and especially my health, leave me no alternative." "monsieur, i wish you a pleasant journey." this was enough for voltaire; in an hour he was in his carriage and on the road to leipsic. he thought he was done for the rest of his life with the "exactions" and "tyrannies" of the king of prussia. he was to experience some more of them before he left the land. frederick bided his time. it was on march , , that voltaire left potsdam. it was two months afterwards before he reached frankfort. he had tarried at leipsic and at gotha, engaged in the latter place on a dry chronicle asked for by the duchess, entitled "the annals of the empire." during this time also, in direct disregard of a promise he had made frederick, there appeared a supplement to "doctor akakia," more offensive than the main text. it was followed by a virulent correspondence with maupertuis. voltaire was filling up the vials of wrath of the king. on may he reached frankfort. here the blow fell. there occurred an incident which has become famous in literary history, and which, while it had some warrant on frederick's side, tells very poorly for that patron of literature. no unlettered autocrat could have acted with less regard to the rights and proprieties of citizenship. "here is how this fine adventure came about," writes voltaire. "there was at frankfort one freytag, who had been banished from dresden and had become an agent for the king of prussia....he notified me, on behalf of his majesty, that i was not to leave frankfort till i had restored the valuable effects i was carrying away from his majesty. "'alack, sir, i am carrying away nothing from that country, if you please, not even the smallest regret. what, pray, are those jewels of the brandenburg crown that you require?' "'it be, sir,' replied freytag, 'the work of _poeshy_ of the king, my gracious master.' "'oh, i will give him back his prose and verse with all my heart,' replied i, 'though, after all, i have more than one right to the work. he made me a present of a beautiful copy printed at his expense. unfortunately, the copy is at leipsic with my other luggage.' "then freytag proposed to me to remain at frankfort until the treasure which was at leipsic should have arrived; and he signed an order for it." the volume which frederick wanted he had doubtless good reason to demand, when it is considered that it was in the hands of a man who could be as malicious as voltaire. it contained a burlesque and licentious poem, called the "palladium," in which the king scoffed at everybody and everything in a manner he preferred not to make public. voltaire in berlin might be trusted to remain discreet. in paris his discretion could not be counted on. frederick wanted the poem in his own hands. there was delay in the matter; references to frederick and returns; the affair dragged on slowly. the package arrived. voltaire, agitated at his detention, ill and anxious, wanted to get away, in company with madame denis, who had just joined him. freytag refused to let him go. very unwisely, the poet determined to slip away, imagining that in a "free city" like frankfort he could not be disturbed. he was mistaken. the freedom of frankfort was subject to the will of frederick. the poet tells for himself what followed. "the moment i was off, i was arrested, i, my secretary and my people; my niece is arrested; four soldiers drag her through the mud to a cheesemonger's named smith, who had some title or other of privy councillor to the king of prussia; my niece had a passport from the king of france, and, what is more, she had never corrected the king of prussia's verses. they huddled us all into a sort of hostelry, at the door of which were posted a dozen soldiers; we were for twelve days prisoners of war, and we had to pay a hundred and forty crowns a day." voltaire was furious; madame denis was ill, or feigned to be; she wrote letter after letter to voltaire's friends in prussia, and to the king himself. the affair was growing daily more serious. finally the city authorities themselves, who doubtless felt that they were not playing a very creditable part, put an end to it by ordering freytag to release his prisoner. voltaire, set free, travelled leisurely towards france, which, however, he found himself refused permission to enter. he thereupon repaired to geneva, and thereafter, freed from the patronage of princes and the injustice of the powerful, spent his life in a land where full freedom of thought and action was possible. as for the worthy freytag, he felicitated himself highly on the way he had handled that dabbler in _poeshy_. "we would have risked our lives rather than let him get away," he wrote; "and if i, holding a council of war with myself, had not found him at the barrier but in the open country, and he had refused to jog back, i don't know that i shouldn't have lodged a bullet in his head. to such a degree had i at heart the letters and writing of the king." the too trusty agent did not feel so self-satisfied on receiving the opinion of the king. "i gave you no such orders as that," wrote frederick. "you should never make more noise than a thing deserves. i wanted voltaire to give you up the key, the cross, and the volume of poems i had intrusted to him; as soon as all that was given up to you i can't see what earthly reason could have induced you to make this uproar." it is very probable, however, that frederick wished to humiliate voltaire, and the latter did not fail to revenge himself with that weapon which he knew so well how to wield. in his poem of "la loi naturelle" he drew a bitter but truthful portrait of frederick which must have made that arbitrary gentleman wince. he was, says the poet,-- "of incongruities a monstrous pile, calling men brothers, crushing them the while; with air humane, a misanthropic brute; ofttimes impulsive, sometimes over-'cute; weak 'midst his choler, modest in his pride; yearning for virtue, lust personified; statesman and author, of the slippery crew; my patron, pupil, persecutor too." _scenes from the seven years' war._ [illustration: sans souci, palace of frederick the great.] the story of frederick the great is a story of incessant wars, wars against frightful odds, for all europe was combined against him, and for seven years the austrians, the french, the russians, and the swedes surrounded his realm, with the bitter determination to crush him, if not to annihilate the prussian kingdom. england alone was on his side. russia had joined the coalition through anger of the empress elizabeth at frederick's satire upon her licentious life; france had joined it through hostility to england; austria had organized it from indignation at frederick's lawless seizure of silesia; the army raised to operate against prussia numbered several hundred thousand men. for years frederick fought them all single-handed, with a persistence, an energy, and a resolute rising under the weight of defeat that compelled the admiration even of his enemies, and in the end gave him victory over them all. to the rigid discipline of his troops, his own military genius, and his indomitable perseverance, he owed his final success and his well-earned epithet of "the great." the story of battle, stirring as it is, is apt to grow monotonous, and we have perhaps inflicted too many battle scenes already upon our readers, though we have selected only such as had some particular feature of interest to enliven them. out of frederick's numerous battles we may be able to present some examples sufficiently diverse from the ordinary to render them worthy of classification, under the title of the romance of history. let us go back to the th of november, . on that date the army of frederick lay in the vicinity of rossbach, on the saale, then occupied by a powerful french army. the prussian commander, after vainly endeavoring to bring the austrians to battle, had turned and marched against the french, with the hope of driving them out of saxony. his hope was not a very promising one. the french army was sixty thousand strong. he had but little over twenty thousand men. while he felt hope the french felt assurance. they had their active foe now in their clutches, they deemed. with his handful of men he could not possibly stand before their onset. he had escaped them more than once before; this time they had him, as they believed. his camp was on a height, near the saale. towards it the french advanced, with flying colors and sounding trumpets, as if with purpose to strike terror into the ranks of their foes. that frederick would venture to stand before them they scarcely credited. if he should, his danger would be imminent, for they had laid their plans to surround his small force and, by taking the king and his army prisoners, end at a blow the vexatious war. they calculated shrewdly but not well, for they left frederick out of the account in their plans. as they came up, line after line, column after column, they must have been surprised by the seeming indifference of the prussians. there were in their ranks no signs of retreat and none of hostility. they remained perfectly quiet in their camp, not a gun being fired, not a movement visible, as inert and heedless to all seeming of the coming of the french as though there were no enemy within a hundred miles. there was a marked difference between the make-up of the two armies, which greatly reduced their numerical odds. frederick's army was composed of thoroughly disciplined and trained soldiers, every man of whom knew his place and his duty, and could be trusted in an emergency. the french, on the contrary, had brought all they could of paris with them; their army was encumbered with women, wig-makers, barbers, and the like impedimenta, and confusion and gayety in their ranks replaced the stern discipline of frederick's camp. after the battle, the booty is said to have consisted largely of objects of gallantry better suited for a boudoir than a camp. the light columns of smoke that arose from the prussian camp as the french advanced indicated their occupation,--and that by no means suggested alarm. they were cooking their dinners, with as much unconcern as though they had not yet seen the coming enemy nor heard the clangor of trumpets that announced their approach. had the french commanders been within the prussian lines they would have been more astonished still, for they would have seen frederick with his staff and general officers dining at leisure and with the utmost coolness and indifference. there was no appearance of haste in their movements, and no more in those of their men, whose whole concern just then seemed to be the getting of a good meal. the hour passed on, the french came nearer, their trumpet clangor was close at hand, every moment seemed to render the peril of the prussians more imminent, yet their inertness continued; it looked almost as though they had given up the idea of defence. the confidence of the french must have grown rapidly as their plan of surrounding the prussians with their superior numbers seemed more and more assured. but frederick had his eye upon them. he was biding his time. suddenly there came a change. it was about half-past two in the afternoon. the french had reached the position for which he had been waiting. quickly the staff officers dashed right and left with their orders. the trumpets sounded. as if by magic the tents were struck, the men sprang to their ranks and were drawn up in battle array, the artillery opened its fire, the seeming inertness which had prevailed was with extraordinary rapidity exchanged for warlike activity; the complete discipline of the prussian army had never been more notably displayed. the french, who had been marching forward with careless ease, beheld this change of the situation with astounded eyes. they looked for heaviness and slowness of movement among the germans, and could scarcely believe in the possibility of such rapidity of evolution. but they had little time to think. the prussian batteries were pouring a rain of balls through their columns. and quickly the prussian cavalry, headed by the dashing seidlitz, was in their midst, cutting and slashing with annihilating vigor. the surprise was complete. the french found it impossible to form into line. everywhere their columns were being swept by musketry and artillery, and decimated by the sabres of the charging cavalry. in almost less time than it takes to tell it they were thrown into confusion, overwhelmed, routed; in the course of less than half an hour the fate of the battle was decided, and the french army completely defeated. their confidence of a short time before was succeeded by panic, and the lately trim ranks fled in utter disorganization, so utterly broken that many of the fugitives never stopped till they reached the other side of the rhine. ten thousand prisoners fell into frederick's hands, including nine generals and numerous other officers, together with all the french artillery, and twenty-two standards; while the victory was achieved with the loss of only one hundred and sixty-five killed and three hundred and fifty wounded on the prussian side. the triumph was one of discipline against over-confidence. no army under less complete control than that of frederick could have sprung so suddenly into warlike array. to this, and to the sudden and overwhelming dash of seidlitz and his cavalry, the remarkable victory was due. just one month from that date, on the th of december, another great battle took place, and another important victory for frederick the great. with thirty-four thousand prussians he defeated eighty thousand austrians, while the prisoners taken nearly equalled in number his entire force. the austrians had taken the opportunity of frederick's campaign against the french to overrun silesia. breslau, its capital, with several other strongholds, fell into their hands, and the probability was that if left there during the winter they would so strongly fortify it as to defy any attempt of the prussian king to recapture it. despite the weakness of his army frederick decided to make an effort to regain the lost province, and marched at once against the austrians. they lay in a strong position behind the river lohe, and here their leader, field-marshal daun, wished to have them remain, having had abundant experience of his opponent in the open field. this cautious advice was not taken by prince charles, who controlled the movements of the army, and whom several of the generals persuaded that it would be degrading for a victorious army to intrench itself against one so much inferior in numbers, and advised him to march out and meet the prussians. "the parade guard of berlin," as they contemptuously designated frederick's army, "would never be able to make a stand against them." the prince, who was impetuous in disposition, agreed with them, marched out from his intrenchments, and met frederick's army in the vast plain near leuthen. on december the two armies came face to face, the lines of the imperial force extending over a space of five miles, while those of frederick occupied a much narrower space. in his lack of numbers the prussian king was obliged to substitute celerity of movement, hoping to double the effectiveness of his troops by their quickness of action. the story of the battle may be given in a few words. a false attack was made on the austrian right, and then the bulk of the prussian army was hurled upon their left wing, with such impetuosity as to break and shatter it. the disorder caused by this attack spread until it included the whole army. in three hours' time frederick had completely defeated his foes, one-third of whom were killed, wounded, or captured, and the remainder put to flight. the field was covered with the slain, and whole battalions surrendered, the prussians capturing in all twenty-one thousand prisoners. they took besides one hundred and thirty cannon and three thousand baggage and ammunition wagons. the victory was a remarkable example of the supremacy of genius over mere numbers. napoleon says of it, "that battle was a master-piece. of itself it is sufficient to entitle frederick to a place in the first rank of generals." it restored silesia to the prussian dominions. there is one more of frederick's victories of sufficiently striking character to fit in with those already given. it took place in , several years after those described, years in which frederick had struggled persistently against overwhelming odds, and, though often worsted, yet coming up fresh after every defeat, and unconquerably keeping the field. he was again in silesia, which was once more seriously threatened by the austrian forces. his position was anything but a safe one. the austrians almost surrounded him. on one side was the army of field-marshal daun, on the other that of general lasci; in front was general laudon. fighting day and night he advanced, and finally took up his position at liegnitz, where he found his forward route blocked, daun having formed a junction with laudon. his magazines were at breslau and schweidnitz in front, which it was impossible to reach; while his brother, prince henry, who might have marched to his relief, was detained by the russians on the oder. the position of frederick was a critical one. he had only a few days' supply of provisions; it was impossible to advance, and dangerous to retreat; the austrians, in superior numbers, were dangerously near him; only fortune and valor could save him from serious disaster. in this crisis of his career happy chance came to his aid, and relieved him from the awkward and perilous situation into which he had fallen. the austrians were keenly on the alert, biding their time and watchful for an opportunity to take the prussians at advantage. the time had now arrived, as they thought, and they laid their plans accordingly. on the night before the th of august laudon set out on a secret march, his purpose being to gain the heights of puffendorf, from which the prussians might be assailed in the rear. at the same time the other corps were to close in on every side, completely surrounding frederick, and annihilating him if possible. it was a well-laid and promising plan, but accident befriended the prussian king. accident and alertness, we may say; since, to prevent a surprise from the austrians, he was in the habit of changing the location of his camp almost every night. such a change took place on the night in question. on the th the austrians had made a close reconnoisance of his position. fearing some hostile purpose in this, frederick, as soon as the night had fallen, ordered his tents to be struck and the camp to be moved with the utmost silence, so as to avoid giving the foe a hint of his purpose. as it chanced, the new camp was made on those very heights of puffendorf towards which laudon was advancing with equal care and secrecy. that there might be no suspicion of the prussian movement, the watch-fires were kept up in the old camp, peasants attending to them, while patrols of hussars cried out the challenge every quarter of an hour. the gleaming lights, the watch-cries of the sentinels, all indicated that the prussian army was sleeping on its old ground, without suspicion of the overwhelming blow intended for it on the morrow. meanwhile the king and his army had reached their new quarters, where the utmost caution and noiselessness was observed. the king, wrapped in his military cloak, had fallen asleep beside his watch-fire; ziethen, his valiant cavalry leader, and a few others of his principal officers, being with him. throughout the camp the greatest stillness prevailed, all noise having been forbidden. the soldiers slept with their arms close at hand, and ready to be seized at a moment's notice. frederick fully appreciated the peril of his situation, and was not to be taken by surprise by his active foes. and thus the night moved on until midnight passed, and the new day began its course in the small hours. about two o'clock a sudden change came in the situation. a horseman galloped at full speed through the camp, and drew up hastily at the king's tent, calling frederick from his light slumbers. he was the officer in command of the patrol of hussars, and brought startling news. the enemy was at hand, he said; his advance columns were within a few hundred yards of the camp. it was laudon's army, seeking to steal into possession of those heights which frederick had so opportunely occupied. the stirring tidings passed rapidly through the camp. the soldiers were awakened, the officers seized their arms and sprang to horse, the troops grasped their weapons and hastened into line, the cannoneers flew to their guns, soon the roar of artillery warned the coming austrians that they had a foe in their front. laudon pushed on, thinking this to be some advance column which he could easily sweep from his front. not until day dawned did he discover the true situation, and perceive, with astounded eyes, that the whole prussian army stood in line of battle on those very heights which he had hoped so easily to occupy. the advantage on which the austrian had so fully counted lay with the prussian king. yet, undaunted, laudon pushed on and made a vigorous attack, feeling sure that the thunder of the artillery would be borne to daun's ears, and bring that commander in all haste, with his army, to take part in the fray. but the good fortune which had so far favored frederick did not now desert him. the wind blew freshly in the opposite direction, and carried the sound of the cannon away from daun's hearing. not the roar of a piece of artillery came to him, and his army lay moveless during the battle, he deeming that laudon must now be in full possession of the heights, and felicitating himself on the neat trap into which the king of prussia had fallen. while he thus rested on his arms, glorying in his soul on the annihilation to which the pestilent prussians were doomed, his ally was making a desperate struggle for life, on those very heights which he counted on taking without a shot. truly, the austrians had reckoned without their foe in laying their cunning plot. three hours of daylight finished the affray. taken by surprise as they were, the austrians proved unable to sustain the vigorous prussian assault, and were utterly routed, leaving ten thousand dead and wounded on the field, and eighty-two pieces of artillery in the enemy's hands. shortly afterwards daun, advancing to carry out his share of the scheme of annihilation, fell upon the right wing of the prussians, commanded by general ziethen, and was met with so fierce an artillery fire that he halted in dismay. and now news of laudon's disaster was brought to him. seeing that the game was lost and himself in danger, he emulated his associate in his hasty retreat. fortune and alertness had saved the prussian king from a serious danger, and turned peril into victory. he lost no time in profiting by his advantage, and was in full march towards breslau within three hours after the battle, the prisoners in the centre, the wounded--friend and foe alike,--in wagons in the rear, and the captured cannon added to his own artillery train. silesia was once more delivered into his hands. never in history had there been so persistent and indomitable a resistance against overwhelming numbers as that which frederick sustained for so many years against his numerous foes. at length, when hope seemed almost at an end, and it appeared as if nothing could save the prussian kingdom from overthrow, death came to the aid of the courageous monarch. the empress elizabeth of russia died, and frederick's bitterest foe was removed. the new monarch, peter iii., was an ardent admirer of frederick, and at once discharged all the prussian prisoners in his hands, and signed a treaty of alliance with prussia. sweden quickly did the same, leaving frederick with no opponents but the austrians. four months more sufficed to bring his remaining foes to terms, and by the end of the year the distracting seven years' war was at an end, the indomitable frederick remaining in full possession of silesia, the great bone of contention in the war. his resolution and perseverance had raised prussia to a high position among the kingdoms of europe, and laid the foundations of the present empire of germany. _the patriots of the tyrol._ on the th of april, , down the river inn, in the tyrol, came floating a series of planks, from whose surface waved little red flags. what they meant the bavarian soldiers, who held that mountain land with a hand of iron, could not conjecture. but what they meant the peasantry well knew. on the day before peace had ruled throughout the alps, and no bavarian dreamed of war. those flags were the signal for insurrection, and on their appearance the brave mountaineers sprang at once to arms and flew to the defence of the bridges of their country, which the bavarians were marching to destroy, as an act of defence against the austrians. on the th the storm of war burst. some bavarian sappers had been sent to blow up the bridge of st. lorenzo. but hardly had they begun their work, when a shower of bullets from unseen marksmen swept the bridge. several were killed; the rest took to flight; the tyrol was in revolt. news of this outbreak was borne to colonel wrede, in command of the bavarians, who hastened with a force of infantry, cavalry, and artillery to the spot. he found the peasants out in numbers. the tyrolean riflemen, who were accustomed to bring down chamois from the mountain peaks, defended the bridge, and made terrible havoc in the bavarian ranks. they seized wrede's artillery and flung guns and gunners together into the stream, and finally put the bavarians to rout, with severe loss. the bavarians held the tyrol as allies of the french, and the movement against the bridges had been directed by napoleon, to prevent the austrians from reoccupying the country, which had been wrested from their hands. wrede in his retreat was joined by a body of three thousand french, but decided, instead of venturing again to face the daring foe, to withdraw to innsbruck. but withdrawal was not easy. the signal of revolt had everywhere called the tyrolese to arms. the passes were occupied. the fine old roman bridge over the brenner, at laditsch, was blown up. in the pass of the brixen, leading to this bridge, the french and bavarians found themselves assailed in the old swiss manner, by rocks and logs rolled down upon their heads, while the unerring rifles of the hidden peasants swept the pass. numbers were slain, but the remainder succeeded in escaping by means of a temporary bridge, which they threw over the stream on the site of the bridge of laditsch. of the tyrolese patriots to whom this outbreak was due two are worthy of special mention, joseph speckbacher, a wealthy peasant of rinn, and the more famous andrew hofer, the host of the sand inn at passeyr, a man everywhere known through the mountains, as he traded in wine, corn, and horses as far as the italian frontier. hofer was a man of herculean frame and of a full, open, handsome countenance, which gained dignity from its long, dark-brown beard, which fell in rich curls upon his chest. his picturesque dress--that of the tyrol--comprised a red waistcoat, crossed by green braces, which were fastened to black knee breeches of chamois leather, below which he wore red stockings. a broad black leather girdle clasped his muscular form, while over all was worn a short green coat. on his head he wore a low-crowned, broad-brimmed tyrolean hat, black in color, and ornamented with green ribbons and with the feathers of the capercailzie. this striking-looking patriot, at the head of a strong party of peasantry, made an assault, early on the th, upon a bavarian infantry battalion under the command of colonel bäraklau, who retreated to a table-land named sterzinger moos, where, drawn up in a square, he resisted every effort of the tyrolese to dislodge him. finally hofer broke his lines by a stratagem. a wagon loaded with hay, and driven by a girl, was pushed towards the square, the brave girl shouting, as the balls flew around her, "on with ye! who cares for bavarian dumplings!" under its shelter the tyrolese advanced, broke the square, and killed or made prisoners the whole of the battalion. speckbacher, the other patriot named, was no less active. no sooner had the signal of revolt appeared in the inn than he set the alarm-bells ringing in every church-tower through the lower valley of that stream, and quickly was at the head of a band of stalwart tyrolese. on the night of the th he advanced on the city of hall, and lighted about a hundred watch-fires on one side of the city, as if about to attack it from that quarter. while the attention of the garrison was directed towards these fires, he crept through the darkness to the gate on the opposite side, and demanded entrance as a common traveller. the gate was opened; his hidden companions rushed forward and seized it; in a brief time the city, with its bavarian garrison, was his. on the th he appeared before innsbruck, and made a fierce assault upon the city in which he was aided by a murderous fire poured upon the bavarians by the citizens from windows and towers. the people of the upper valley of the inn flocked to the aid of their fellows, and the place, with its garrison, was soon taken, despite their obstinate defence. dittfurt, the bavarian leader, who scornfully refused to yield to the peasant dogs, as he considered them, fought with tiger-like ferocity, and fell at length, pierced by four bullets. one further act completed the freeing of the tyrol from bavarian domination. the troops under colonel wrede had, as we have related, crossed the brenner on a temporary bridge, and escaped the perils of the pass. greater perils awaited them. their road lay past sterzing, the scene of hofer's victory. every trace of the conflict had been obliterated, and wrede vainly sought to discover what had become of bäraklau and his battalion. he entered the narrow pass through which the road ran at that place, and speedily found his ranks decimated by the rifles of hofer's concealed men. after considerable loss the column broke through, and continued its march to innsbruck, where it was immediately surrounded by a triumphant host of tyrolese. the struggle was short, sharp, and decisive. in a few minutes several hundred men had fallen. in order to escape complete destruction the rest laid down their arms. the captors entered innsbruck in triumph, preceded by the military band of the enemy, which they compelled to play, and guarding their prisoners, who included two generals, more than a hundred other officers, and about two thousand men. in two days the tyrol had been freed from its bavarian oppressors and their french allies and restored to its austrian lords. the arms of bavaria were everywhere cast to the ground, and the officials removed. but the prisoners were treated with great humanity, except in the single instance of a tax-gatherer, who had boasted that he would grind down the tyrolese until they should gladly eat hay. in revenge, they forced him to swallow a bushel of hay for his dinner. the freedom thus gained by the tyrolese was not likely to be permanent with napoleon for their foe. the austrians hastened to the defence of the country which had been so bravely won for their emperor. on the other side came the french and bavarians as enemies and oppressors. lefebvre, the leader of the invaders, was a rough and brutal soldier, who encouraged his men to commit every outrage upon the mountaineers. for some two or three months the conflict went on, with varying fortunes, depending upon the conditions of the war between france and austria. at first the french were triumphant, and the austrians withdrew from the tyrol. then came napoleon's defeat at aspern, and the tyrolese rose and again drove the invaders from their country. in july occurred napoleon's great victory at wagram, and the hopes of the tyrol once more sank. all the austrians were withdrawn, and lefebvre again advanced at the head of thirty or forty thousand french, bavarians, and saxons. the courage of the peasantry vanished before this threatening invasion. hofer alone remained resolute, saying to the austrian governor, on his departure, "well, then, i will undertake the government, and, as long as god wills, name myself andrew hofer, host of the sand at passeyr, and count of the tyrol." he needed resolution, for his fellow-chiefs deserted the cause of their country on all sides. on his way to his home he met speckbacher, hurrying from the country in a carriage with some austrian officers. "wilt thou also desert thy country!" said hofer to him in tones of sad reproach. another leader, joachim haspinger, a capuchin monk, nicknamed redbeard, a man of much military talent, withdrew to his monastery at seeben. hofer was left alone of the tyrolese leaders. while the french advanced without opposition, he took refuge in a cavern amid the steep rocks that overhung his native vale, where he implored heaven for aid. the aid came. lefebvre, in his brutal fashion, plundered and burnt as he advanced, and published a proscription list instead of the amnesty promised. the natural result followed. hofer persuaded the bold capuchin to leave his monastery, and he, with two others, called the western tyrol to arms. hofer raised the eastern tyrol. they soon gained a powerful associate in speckbacher, who, conscience-stricken by hofer's reproach, had left the austrians and hastened back to his country. the invader's cruelty had produced its natural result. the tyrol was once more in full revolt. with a bunch of rosemary, the gift of their chosen maidens, in their green hats, the young men grasped their trusty rifles and hurried to the places of rendezvous. the older men wore peacock plumes, the hapsburg symbol. with haste they prepared for the war. cannon which did good service were made from bored logs of larch wood, bound with iron rings. here the patriots built abatis; there they gathered heaps of stone on the edges of precipices which rose above the narrow vales and passes. the timber slides in the mountains were changed in their course so that trees from the heights might be shot down upon the important passes and bridges. all that could be done to give the invaders a warm welcome was prepared, and the bold peasants waited eagerly for the coming conflict. from four quarters the invasion came, lefebvre's army being divided so as to attack the tyrolese from every side, and meet in the heart of the country. they were destined to a disastrous repulse. the saxons, led by rouyer, marched through the narrow valley of eisach, the heights above which were occupied by haspinger the capuchin and his men. down upon them came rocks and trees from the heights. rouyer was hurt, and many of his men were slain around him. he withdrew in haste, leaving one regiment to retain its position in the oberau. this the tyrolese did not propose to permit. they attacked the regiment on the next day, in the narrow valley, with overpowering numbers. though faint with hunger and the intense heat, and exhausted by the fierceness of the assault, a part of the troops cut their way through with great loss and escaped. the rest were made prisoners. the story is told that during their retreat, and when ready to drop with fatigue, the soldiers found a cask of wine. its head was knocked in by a drummer, who, as he stooped to drink, was pierced by a bullet, and his blood mingled with the wine. despite this, the famishing soldiery greedily swallowed the contents of the cask. a second _corps d'armée_ advanced up the valley of the inn as far as the bridges of pruz. here it was repulsed by the tyrolese, and retreated under cover of the darkness during the night of august . the infantry crept noiselessly over the bridge of pontlaz. the cavalry followed with equal caution but with less success. the sound of a horse's hoof aroused the watchful tyrolese. instantly rocks and trees were hurled upon the bridge, men and horses being crushed beneath them and the passage blocked. all the troops which had not crossed were taken prisoners. the remainder were sharply pursued, and only a handful of them escaped. the other divisions of the invading army met with a similar fate. lefebvre himself, who reproached the saxons for their defeat, was not able to advance as far as they, and was quickly driven from the mountains with greatly thinned ranks. he was forced to disguise himself as a common soldier and hide among the cavalry to escape the balls of the sharp-shooters, who owed him no love. the rear-guard was attacked with clubs by the capuchin and his men, and driven out with heavy loss. during the night that followed all the mountains around the beautiful valley of innsbruck were lit up with watch-fires. in the valley below those of the invaders were kept brightly burning while the troops silently withdrew. on the next day the tyrol held no foes; the invasion had failed. hofer placed himself at the head of the government at innsbruck, where he lived in his old simple mode of life, proclaimed some excellent laws, and convoked a national assembly. the emperor of austria sent him a golden chain and three thousand ducats. he received them with no show of pride, and returned the following naïve answer: "sirs, i thank you. i have no news for you to-day. i have, it is true, three couriers on the road, the watscher-hiesele, the sixten-seppele, and the memmele-franz, and the schwanz ought long to have been here. i expect the rascal every hour." meanwhile, speckbacher and the capuchin kept up hostilities successfully on the eastern frontier. haspinger wished to invade the country of their foes, but was restrained by his more prudent associate. speckbacher is described as an open-hearted, fine-spirited fellow, with the strength of a giant, and the best marksman in the country. so keen was his vision that he could distinguish the bells on the necks of the cattle at the distance of half a mile. his son anderle, but ten years of age, was of a spirit equal to his own. in one of the earlier battles of the war he had occupied himself during the fight in collecting the enemy's balls in his hat, and so obstinately refused to quit the field that his father had him carried by force to a distant alp. during the present conflict, anderle unexpectedly appeared and fought by his father's side. he had escaped from his mountain retreat. it proved an unlucky escape. shortly afterwards, the father was surprised by treachery and found himself surrounded with foes, who tore from him his arms, flung him to the ground, and seriously injured him with blows from a club. but in an instant more he sprang furiously to his feet, hurled his assailants to the earth, and escaped across a wall of rock impassable except to an expert mountaineer. a hundred of his men followed him, but his young son was taken captive by his foes. the king, maximilian joseph, attracted by the story of his courage and beauty, sent for him and had him well educated. the freedom of the tyrol was not to last long. the treaty of vienna, between the emperors of austria and france, was signed. it did not even mention the tyrol. it was a tacit understanding that the mountain country was to be restored to bavaria, and to reduce it to obedience three fresh armies crossed its frontiers. they were repulsed in the south, but in the north hofer, under unwise advice, abandoned the anterior passes, and the invaders made their way as far as innsbruck, whence they summoned him to capitulate. during the night of october an envoy from austria appeared in the tyrolese camp, bearing a letter from the archduke john, in which he announced the conclusion of peace and commanded the mountaineers to disperse, and not to offer their lives as a useless sacrifice. the tyrolese regarded him as their lord, and obeyed, though with bitter regret. a dispersion took place, except of the band of speckbacher, which held its ground against the enemy until the d of november, when he received a letter from hofer saying, "i announce to you that austria has made peace with france, and has forgotten the tyrol." on receiving this news he disbanded his followers, and all opposition ceased. the war was soon afoot again, however, in the native vale of hofer, the people of which, made desperate by the depredations of the italian bands which had penetrated their country, sprang to arms and resolved to defend themselves to the bitter end. they compelled hofer to place himself at their head. for a time they were successful. but a traitor guided the enemy to their rear, and defeat followed. hofer escaped and took refuge among the mountain peaks. others of the leaders were taken and executed. the most gallant among the peasantry were shot or hanged. there was some further opposition, but the invaders pressed into every valley and disarmed the people, the bulk of whom obeyed the orders given them and offered no resistance. the revolt was quelled. hofer took refuge at first, with his wife and child, in a narrow hollow in the kellerlager. this he soon left for a hut on the highest alps. he was implored to leave the country, but he vowed that he would live or die on his native soil. discovery soon came. a peasant named raffel learned the location of his hiding-place by seeing the smoke ascend from his distant hut. he foolishly boasted of his knowledge; his story came to the ears of the french; he was arrested, and compelled to guide them to the spot. two thousand french were spread around the mountain; a thousand six hundred ascended it; hofer was taken. [illustration: the last day of andreas hofer.] his captors treated him with brutal violence. they tore out his beard, and dragged him pinioned, barefoot, and in his night-dress, over ice and snow to the valley. here he was placed in a carriage and carried to the fortress of mantua, in italy. napoleon, on news of the capture being brought to him at paris, sent orders to shoot him within twenty-four hours. he died as bravely as he had lived. when placed before the firing-party of twelve riflemen, he refused either to kneel or to allow himself to be blindfolded. "i stand before my creator," he exclaimed, in firm tones, "and standing will i restore to him the spirit he gave." he gave the signal to fire, but the men, moved by the scene, missed their aim. the first fire brought him to his knees, the second stretched him on the ground, where a corporal terminated the cruel scene by shooting him through the head. he died february , . at a later date his remains were borne back to his native alps, a handsome monument of white marble was erected to his memory in the church at innsbruck, and his family was ennobled. of the two other principal leaders of the tyrolese, haspinger, the capuchin, escaped to vienna, which speckbacher also succeeded in reaching, after a series of perils and escapes which are well worth relating. after the dispersal of his troops he, like hofer, sought concealment in the mountains where the bavarians sought for him in troops, vowing to "cut his skin into boot-straps if they caught him." he attempted to follow the mountain paths to austria, but at dux found the roads so blocked with snow that further progress was impossible. here the bavarians came upon his track and attacked the house in which he had taken refuge. he escaped by leaping from its roof, but was wounded in doing so. for the twenty-seven days that followed he roamed through the snowy mountain forests, in danger of death both from cold and starvation. once for four days together he did not taste food. at the end of this time he found shelter in a hut at bolderberg, where by chance he found his wife and children, who had sought the same asylum. his bitterly persistent foes left him not long in safety here. they learned his place of retreat, and pursued him, his presence of mind alone saving him from capture. seeing them approach, he took a sledge upon his shoulders, and walked towards and past them as though he were a servant of the house. his next place of refuge was in a cave on the gemshaken, in which he remained until the opening of spring, when he had the ill-fortune to be carried by a snow-slide a mile and a half into the valley. it was impossible to return. he crept from the snow, but found that one of his legs was dislocated. the utmost he could do, and that with agonizing pain, was to drag himself to a neighboring hut. here were two men, who carried him to his own house at rinn. bavarians were quartered in the house, and the only place of refuge open to him was the cow-shed, where his faithful servant zoppel dug for him a hole beneath the bed of one of the cows, and daily supplied him with food. his wife had returned to the house, but the danger of discovery was so great that even she was not told of his propinquity. for seven weeks he remained thus half buried in the cow-shed, gradually recovering his strength. at the end of that time he rose, bade adieu to his wife, who now first learned of his presence, and again betook himself to the high paths of the mountains, from which the sun of may had freed the snow. he reached vienna without further trouble. here the brave patriot received no thanks for his services. even a small estate he had purchased with the remains of his property he was forced to relinquish, not being able to complete the purchase. he would have been reduced to beggary but for hofer's son, who had received a fine estate from the emperor, and who engaged him as his steward. thus ended the active career of the ablest leader in the tyrolean war. _the old empire and the new._ during the christmas festival of the year the crown of the imperial dignity was placed at rome on the head of charles the great, and the roman empire of the west again came into being, so far as a dead thing could be restored to life. for one thousand and six years afterwards this title of emperor was retained in germany, though the power represented by it became at times a very shadowy affair. the authority and influence of the emperors reached their culmination during the reign of the hohenstauffens ( to ). for a few centuries afterwards the title represented an empire which was but a quarter fact, three-quarters tradition, the emperor being duly elected by the diet of german princes, but by no means submissively obeyed. the fraction of fact which remained of the old empire perished in the thirty years' war. after that date the title continued in existence, being held by the hapsburgs of austria as an hereditary dignity, but the empire had vanished except as a tradition or superstition. finally, on the th of august, , francis ii., at the absolute dictum of napoleon, laid down the title of "emperor of the holy roman empire of the german nation," and the long defunct empire was finally buried. the shadow which remained of the empire of charlemagne had vanished before the rise of a greater and more vital thing, the empire of france, brought into existence by the genius of napoleon bonaparte, the successor of charles the great as a mighty conqueror. for a few years it seemed as if the original empire might be restored. the power of napoleon, indeed, extended farther than that of his great predecessor, all europe west of russia becoming virtually his. some of the kings were replaced by monarchs of his creation. others were left upon their thrones, but with their power shorn, their dignity being largely one of vassalage to france. not content with an empire that stretched beyond the limits of that of charlemagne or of the roman empire of the west, napoleon ambitiously sought to subdue all europe to his imperial will, and marched into russia with nearly all the remaining nations of europe as his forced allies. his career as a conqueror ended in the snows of muscovy and amid the flames of moscow. the shattered fragment of the grand army of conquest that came back from that terrible expedition found crushed and dismayed germany rising into hostile vitality in its rear. russia pursued its vanquished invader, prussia rose against him, austria joined his foes, and at length, in october, , united germany was marshalled in arms against its mighty enemy before the city of leipsic, the scene of the great battles of the thirty years' war, nearly two centuries before. here was fought one of the fiercest and most decisive struggles of that quarter century of conflict. it was a fight for life, a battle to decide the question of who should be lord of europe. napoleon had been brought to bay. despising to the last his foes, he had weakened his army by leaving strong garrisons in the german cities, which he hoped to reoccupy after he had beaten the german armies. on the th of october the great contest began. it was fought fiercely throughout the day, with successive waves of victory and defeat, the advantage at the end resting with the allies through sheer force of numbers. the th was a day of rest and negotiation, napoleon vainly seeking to induce the emperor of austria to withdraw from the alliance. while this was going on large bodies of swedes, russians, and austrians were marching to join the german ranks, and the battle of the th was fought between a hundred and fifty thousand french and a hostile army of double that strength, which represented all northern and eastern europe. the battle was one of frightful slaughter. its turning-point came when the saxon infantry, which had hitherto fought on the french side, deserted napoleon's cause in the thick of the fight, and went over in a body to the enemy. it was an act of treachery whose fatal effect no effort could overcome. the day ended with victory in the hands of the allies. the french were driven back close upon the walls of leipsic, with the serried columns of germany and russia closing them in, and bent on giving no relaxation to their desperate foe. the struggle was at an end. longer resistance would have been madness. napoleon ordered a retreat. but the elster had to be crossed, and only a single bridge remained for the passage of the army and its stores. all night long the french poured across the bridge with what they could take of their wagons and guns. morning dawned with the rush and hurry of the retreat still in active progress. a strong rear-guard held the town, and napoleon himself made his way across the bridge with difficulty through the crowding masses. hardly had he crossed when a frightful misfortune occurred. the bridge had been mined, to blow it up on the approach of the foe. this duty had been carelessly trusted to a subaltern, who, frightened by seeing some of the enemy on the river-side, set fire hastily to the train. the bridge blew up with a tremendous explosion, leaving a rear-guard of twenty-five thousand men in leipsic cut off from all hope of escape. some officers plunged on horseback into the stream and swam across. prince poniatowsky, the gallant pole, essayed the same, but perished in the attempt. the soldiers of the rear-guard were forced to surrender as prisoners of war. in this great conflict, which had continued for four days, and in which the most of the nations of europe took part, eighty thousand men are said to have been slain. the french lost very heavily in prisoners and guns. only a hasty retreat to the rhine saved the remainder of their army from being cut off and captured. on the th napoleon succeeded in crossing that frontier river of his kingdom with seventy thousand men, the remnant of the grand army with which he had sought to hold prussia after the disastrous end of the invasion of russia. [illustration: a german milk wagon.] germany was at length freed from its mighty foe. the garrisons which had been left in its cities were forced to surrender as prisoners of war. france in its turn was invaded, paris taken, and napoleon forced to resign the imperial crown, and to retire from his empire to the little island of elba, near the italian coast. in he returned, again set europe in flame with war, and fell once more at waterloo, to end his career in the far-off island of st. helena. thus ended the empire founded by the great conqueror. the next to claim the imperial title was louis napoleon, who in had himself crowned as napoleon iii. but his so-called empire was confined to france, and fell in on the field of sedan, himself and his army being taken prisoners. a republic was declared in france, and the second french empire was at an end. and now the empire of germany was restored, after having ceased to exist for sixty-five years. the remarkable success of william of prussia gave rise to a wide-spread feeling in the german states that he should assume the imperial crown, and the old empire be brought again into existence under new conditions; no longer hampered by the tradition of a roman empire, but as the title of united germany. on december , , an address from the north german parliament was read to king william at versailles, asking him to accept the imperial crown. he assented, and on january , , an imposing ceremony was held in the splendid mirror hall (_galerie des glaces_) of louis xiv., at the royal palace of versailles. the day was a wet one, and the king rode from his quarters in the prefecture to the great gates of the château, where he alighted and passed through a lane of soldiers, the roar of cannon heralding his approach, and rich strains of music signalling his entrance to the hall. william wore a general's uniform, with the ribbon of the black eagle on his breast. helmet in hand he advanced slowly to the dais, bowed to the assembled clergymen, and turned to survey the scene. there had been erected an altar covered with scarlet cloth, which bore the device of the iron cross. right and left of it were soldiers bearing the standards of their regiments. attending on the king were the crown-prince, and a brilliant array of the princes, dukes, and other rulers of the german states arranged in semicircular form. just above his head was a great allegorical painting of the grand monarch, with the proud subscription, "_le roi gouverne par lui même_," the motto of the autocrat. the ceremony began with the singing of psalms, a short sermon, and a grand german chorale, in which all present joined. then william, in a loud but broken voice, read a paper, in which he declared the german empire re-established, and the imperial dignity revived, to be invested in him and his descendants for all future time, in accordance with the will of the german people. count bismarck followed with a proclamation addressed by the emperor to the german nation. as he ended, the grand-duke of baden, william's son-in-law, stepped out from the line, raised his helmet in the air, and shouted in stentorian tones, "long live the german emperor william! hurrah!" loud cheers and waving of swords and helmets responded to his stirring appeal, the crown-prince fell on his knee to kiss the emperor's hand, and a military band outside the hall struck up the german national anthem, while, as a warlike background to the scene, came the roar of french cannon from mount valérien, still besieged by the germans, their warlike peal the last note of defiance from vanquished france. ten days afterwards paris surrendered, and the war was at an end. on the th of june the army made a triumphant entrance into berlin, william riding at its head, to be triumphantly hailed as emperor by his own people on his own soil. all germany, with the exception of austria, was for the first time fully united into an empire, the minor princes having ceased to exist as ruling potentates. history of friedrich ii. of prussia frederick the great by thomas carlyle frederick the great. book i. -- birth and parentage. -- . chapter i. -- proem: friedrich's history from the distance we are at. about fourscore years ago, there used to be seen sauntering on the terraces of sans souci, for a short time in the afternoon, or you might have met him elsewhere at an earlier hour, riding or driving in a rapid business manner on the open roads or through the scraggy woods and avenues of that intricate amphibious potsdam region, a highly interesting lean little old man, of alert though slightly stooping figure; whose name among strangers was king friedrich the second, or frederick the great of prussia, and at home among the common people, who much loved and esteemed him, was vater fritz,--father fred,--a name of familiarity which had not bred contempt in that instance. he is a king every inch of him, though without the trappings of a king. presents himself in a spartan simplicity of vesture: no crown but an old military cocked-hat,--generally old, or trampled and kneaded into absolute softness, if new;--no sceptre but one like agamemnon's, a walking-stick cut from the woods, which serves also as a riding-stick (with which he hits the horse "between the ears," say authors);--and for royal robes, a mere soldier's blue coat with red facings, coat likely to be old, and sure to have a good deal of spanish snuff on the breast of it; rest of the apparel dim, unobtrusive in color or out, ending in high over-knee military boots, which may be brushed (and, i hope, kept soft with an underhand suspicion of oil), but are not permitted to be blackened or varnished; day and martin with their soot-pots forbidden to approach. the man is not of godlike physiognomy, any more than of imposing stature or costume: close-shut mouth with thin lips, prominent jaws and nose, receding brow, by no means of olympian height; head, however, is of long form, and has superlative gray eyes in it. not what is called a beautiful man; nor yet, by all appearance, what is called a happy. on the contrary, the face bears evidence of many sorrows, as they are termed, of much hard labor done in this world; and seems to anticipate nothing but more still coming. quiet stoicism, capable enough of what joy there were, but not expecting any worth mention; great unconscious and some conscious pride, well tempered with a cheery mockery of humor,--are written on that old face; which carries its chin well forward, in spite of the slight stoop about the neck; snuffy nose rather flung into the air, under its old cocked-hat,--like an old snuffy lion on the watch; and such a pair of eyes as no man or lion or lynx of that century bore elsewhere, according to all the testimony we have. "those eyes," says mirabeau, "which, at the bidding of his great soul, fascinated you with seduction or with terror _(portaient, au gre de son ame heroique, la seduction ou la terreur)_." [mirabeau, _histoire secrete de la cour de berlin,_ lettre ?? ( september, ) p. (in edition of paris, )]. most excellent potent brilliant eyes, swift-darting as the stars, steadfast as the sun; gray, we said, of the azure-gray color; large enough, not of glaring size; the habitual expression of them vigilance and penetrating sense, rapidity resting on depth. which is an excellent combination; and gives us the notion of a lambent outer radiance springing from some great inner sea of light and fire in the man. the voice, if he speak to you, is of similar physiognomy: clear, melodious and sonorous; all tones are in it, from that of ingenuous inquiry, graceful sociality, light-flowing banter (rather prickly for most part), up to definite word of command, up to desolating word of rebuke and reprobation; a voice "the clearest and most agreeable in conversation i ever heard," says witty dr. moore. [moore, view of society and manners in france, switzerland and germany (london, ), ii. .] "he speaks a great deal," continues the doctor; "yet those who hear him, regret that he does not speak a good deal more. his observations are always lively, very often just; and few men possess the talent of repartee in greater perfection." just about threescore and ten years ago, [a.d. ,-- th august, ] his speakings and his workings came to finis in this world of time; and he vanished from all eyes into other worlds, leaving much inquiry about him in the minds of men;--which, as my readers and i may feel too well, is yet by no means satisfied. as to his speech, indeed, though it had the worth just ascribed to it and more, and though masses of it were deliberately put on paper by himself, in prose and verse, and continue to be printed and kept legible, what he spoke has pretty much vanished into the inane; and except as record or document of what he did, hardly now concerns mankind. but the things he did were extremely remarkable; and cannot be forgotten by mankind. indeed, they bear such fruit to the present hour as all the newspapers are obliged to be taking note of, sometimes to an unpleasant degree. editors vaguely account this man the "creator of the prussian monarchy;" which has since grown so large in the world, and troublesome to the editorial mind in this and other countries. he was indeed the first who, in a highly public manner, notified its creation; announced to all men that it was, in very deed, created; standing on its feet there, and would go a great way, on the impulse it had got from him and others. as it has accordingly done; and may still keep doing to lengths little dreamt of by the british editor in our time; whose prophesyings upon prussia, and insights into prussia, in its past, or present or future, are truly as yet inconsiderable, in proportion to the noise he makes with them! the more is the pity for him,--and for myself too in the enterprise now on hand. it is of this figure, whom we see by the mind's eye in those potsdam regions, visible for the last time seventy years ago, that we are now to treat, in the way of solacing ingenuous human curiosity. we are to try for some historical conception of this man and king; some answer to the questions, "what was he, then? whence, how? and what did he achieve and suffer in the world?"--such answer as may prove admissible to ingenuous mankind, especially such as may correspond to the fact (which stands there, abstruse indeed, but actual and unalterable), and so be sure of admissibility one day. an enterprise which turns out to be, the longer one looks at it, the more of a formidable, not to say unmanageable nature! concerning which, on one or two points, it were good, if conveniently possible, to come to some preliminary understanding with the reader. here, flying on loose leaves, are certain incidental utterances, of various date: these, as the topic is difficult, i will merely label and insert, instead of a formal discourse, which were too apt to slide into something of a lamentation, or otherwise take an unpleasant turn. . friedrich then, and friedrich now. this was a man of infinite mark to his contemporaries; who had witnessed surprising feats from him in the world; very questionable notions and ways, which he had contrived to maintain against the world and its criticisms. as an original man has always to do; much more an original ruler of men. the world, in fact, had tried hard to put him down, as it does, unconsciously or, consciously, with all such; and after the most conscious exertions, and at one time a dead-lift spasm of all its energies for seven years, had not been able. principalities and powers, imperial, royal, czarish, papal, enemies innumerable as the seasand, had risen against him, only one helper left among the world's potentates (and that one only while there should be help rendered in return); and he led them all such a dance as had astonished mankind and them. no wonder they thought him worthy of notice. every original man of any magnitude is;--nay, in the long-run, who or what else is? but how much more if your original man was a king over men; whose movements were polar, and carried from day to day those of the world along with them. the samson agonistes,--were his life passed like that of samuel johnson in dirty garrets, and the produce of it only some bits of written paper,--the agonistes, and how he will comport himself in the philistine mill; this is always a spectacle of truly epic and tragic nature. the rather, if your samson, royal or other, is not yet blinded or subdued to the wheel; much more if he vanquish his enemies, not by suicidal methods, but march out at last flourishing his miraculous fighting implement, and leaving their mill and them in quite ruinous circumstances. as this king friedrich fairly managed to do. for he left the world all bankrupt, we may say; fallen into bottomless abysses of destruction; he still in a paying condition, and with footing capable to carry his affairs and him. when he died, in , the enormous phenomenon since called french revolution was already growling audibly in the depths of the world; meteoric-electric coruscations heralding it, all round the horizon. strange enough to note, one of friedrich's last visitors was gabriel honore riquetti, comte de mirabeau. these two saw one another; twice, for half an hour each time. the last of the old gods and the first of the modern titans;--before pelion leapt on ossa; and the foul earth taking fire at last, its vile mephitic elements went up in volcanic thunder. this also is one of the peculiarities of friedrich, that he is hitherto the last of the kings; that he ushers in the french revolution, and closes an epoch of world-history. finishing off forever the trade of king, think many; who have grown profoundly dark as to kingship and him. the french revolution may be said to have, for about half a century, quite submerged friedrich, abolished him from the memories of men; and now on coming to light again, he is found defaced under strange mud-incrustations, and the eyes of mankind look at him from a singularly changed, what we must call oblique and perverse point of vision. this is one of the difficulties in dealing with his history;--especially if you happen to believe both in the french revolution and in him; that is to say, both that real kingship is eternally indispensable, and also that the destruction of sham kingship (a frightful process) is occasionally so. on the breaking-out of that formidable explosion, and suicide of his century, friedrich sank into comparative obscurity; eclipsed amid the ruins of that universal earthquake, the very dust of which darkened all the air, and made of day a disastrous midnight. black midnight, broken only by the blaze of conflagrations;--wherein, to our terrified imaginations, were seen, not men, french and other, but ghastly portents, stalking wrathful, and shapes of avenging gods. it must be owned the figure of napoleon was titanic; especially to the generation that looked on him, and that waited shuddering to be devoured by him. in general, in that french revolution, all was on a huge scale; if not greater than anything in human experience, at least more grandiose. all was recorded in bulletins, too, addressed to the shilling-gallery; and there were fellows on the stage with such a breadth of sabre, extent of whiskerage, strength of windpipe, and command of men and gunpowder, as had never been seen before. how they bellowed, stalked and flourished about; counterfeiting jove's thunder to an amazing degree! terrific drawcansir figures, of enormous whiskerage, unlimited command of gunpowder; not without sufficient ferocity, and even a certain heroism, stage-heroism, in them; compared with whom, to the shilling-gallery, and frightened excited theatre at large, it seemed as if there had been no generals or sovereigns before; as if friedrich, gustavus, cromwell, william conqueror and alexander the great were not worth speaking of henceforth. all this, however, in half a century is considerably altered. the drawcansir equipments getting gradually torn off, the natural size is seen better; translated from the bulletin style into that of fact and history, miracles, even to the shilling-gallery, are not so miraculous. it begins to be apparent that there lived great men before the era of bulletins and agamemnon. austerlitz and wagram shot away more gunpowder,--gunpowder probably in the proportion of ten to one, or a hundred to one; but neither of them was tenth-part such a beating to your enemy as that of rossbach, brought about by strategic art, human ingenuity and intrepidity, and the loss of men. leuthen, too, the battle of leuthen (though so few english readers ever heard of it) may very well hold up its head beside any victory gained by napoleon or another. for the odds were not far from three to one; the soldiers were of not far from equal quality; and only the general was consummately superior, and the defeat a destruction. napoleon did indeed, by immense expenditure of men, and gunpowder, overrun europe for a time: but napoleon never, by husbanding and wisely expending his men and gunpowder, defended a little prussia against all europe, year after year for seven years long, till europe had enough, and gave up the enterprise as one it could not manage. so soon as the drawcansir equipments are well torn off, and the shilling-gallery got to silence, it will be found that there were great kings before napoleon,--and likewise an art of war, grounded on veracity and human courage and insight, not upon drawcansir rodomontade, grandiose dick-turpinism, revolutionary madness, and unlimited expenditure of men and gunpowder. "you may paint with a very big brush, and yet not be a great painter," says a satirical friend of mine! this is becoming more and more apparent, as the dust-whirlwind, and huge uproar of the last generation, gradually dies away again. . eighteenth century. one of the grand difficulties in a history of friedrich is, all along, this same, that he lived in a century which has no history and can have little or none. a century so opulent in accumulated falsities,--sad opulence descending on it by inheritance, always at compound interest, and always largely increased by fresh acquirement on such immensity of standing capital;--opulent in that bad way as never century before was! which had no longer the consciousness of being false, so false had it grown; and was so steeped in falsity, and impregnated with it to the very bone, that--in fact the measure of the thing was full, and a french revolution had to end it. to maintain much veracity in such an element, especially for a king, was no doubt doubly remarkable. but now, how extricate the man from his century? how show the man, who is a reality worthy of being seen, and yet keep his century, as a hypocrisy worthy of being hidden and forgotten, in the due abeyance? to resuscitate the eighteenth century, or call into men's view, beyond what is necessary, the poor and sordid personages and transactions of an epoch so related to us, can be no purpose of mine on this occasion. the eighteenth century, it is well known, does not figure to me as a lovely one; needing to be kept in mind, or spoken of unnecessarily. to me the eighteenth century has nothing grand in it, except that grand universal suicide, named french revolution, by which it terminated its otherwise most worthless existence with at least one worthy act;--setting fire to its old home and self; and going up in flames and volcanic explosions, in a truly memorable and important manner. a very fit termination, as i thankfully feel, for such a century. century spendthrift, fraudulent-bankrupt; gone at length utterly insolvent, without real money of performance in its pocket, and the shops declining to take hypocrisies and speciosities any farther:--what could the poor century do, but at length admit, "well, it is so. i am a swindler-century, and have long been,--having learned the trick of it from my father and grandfather; knowing hardly any trade but that in false bills, which i thought foolishly might last forever, and still bring at least beef and pudding to the favored of mankind. and behold it ends; and i am a detected swindler, and have nothing even to eat. what remains but that i blow my brains out, and do at length one true action?" which the poor century did; many thanks to it, in the circumstances. for there was need once more of a divine revelation to the torpid frivolous children of men, if they were not to sink altogether into the ape condition. and in that whirlwind of the universe,--lights obliterated, and the torn wrecks of earth and hell hurled aloft into the empyrean; black whirlwind, which made even apes serious, and drove most of them mad,--there was, to men, a voice audible; voice from the heart of things once more, as if to say: "lying is not permitted in this universe. the wages of lying, you behold, are death. lying means damnation in this universe; and beelzebub, never so elaborately decked in crowns and mitres, is not god!" this was a revelation truly to be named of the eternal, in our poor eighteenth century; and has greatly altered the complexion of said century to the historian ever since. whereby, in short, that century is quite confiscate, fallen bankrupt, given up to the auctioneers;--jew-brokers sorting out of it at this moment, in a confused distressing manner, what is still valuable or salable. and, in fact, it lies massed up in our minds as a disastrous wrecked inanity, not useful to dwell upon; a kind of dusky chaotic background, on which the figures that had some veracity in them--a small company, and ever growing smaller as our demands rise in strictness--are delineated for us.--"and yet it is the century of our own grandfathers?" cries the reader. yes, reader! truly. it is the ground out of which we ourselves have sprung; whereon now we have our immediate footing, and first of all strike down our roots for nourishment;--and, alas, in large sections of the practical world, it (what we specially mean by it) still continues flourishing all round us! to forget it quite is not yet possible, nor would be profitable. what to do with it, and its forgotten fooleries and "histories," worthy only of forgetting?--well; so much of it as by nature adheres; what of it cannot be disengaged from our hero and his operations: approximately so much, and no more! let that be our bargain in regard to it. . english prepossessions. with such wagon-loads of books and printed records as exist on the subject of friedrich, it has always seemed possible, even for a stranger, to acquire some real understanding of him;--though practically, here and now, i have to own, it proves difficult beyond conception. alas, the books are not cosmic, they are chaotic; and turn out unexpectedly void of instruction to us. small use in a talent of writing, if there be not first of all the talent of discerning, of loyally recognizing; of discriminating what is to be written! books born mostly of chaos--which want all things, even an index--are a painful object. in sorrow and disgust, you wander over those multitudinous books: you dwell in endless regions of the superficial, of the nugatory: to your bewildered sense it is as if no insight into the real heart of friedrich and his affairs were anywhere to be had. truth is, the prussian dryasdust, otherwise an honest fellow, and not afraid of labor, excels all other dryasdusts yet known; i have often sorrowfully felt as if there were not in nature, for darkness, dreariness, immethodic platitude, anything comparable to him. he writes big books wanting in almost every quality; and does not even give an index to them. he has made of friedrich's history a wide-spread, inorganic, trackless matter; dismal to your mind, and barren as a continent of brandenburg sand!--enough, he could do no other: i have striven to forgive him. let the reader now forgive me; and think sometimes what probably my raw-material was!-- curious enough, friedrich lived in the writing era,--morning of that strange era which has grown to such a noon for us;--and his favorite society, all his reign, was with the literary or writing sort. nor have they failed to write about him, they among the others, about him and about him; and it is notable how little real light, on any point of his existence or environment, they have managed to communicate. dim indeed, for most part a mere epigrammatic sputter of darkness visible, is the "picture" they have fashioned to themselves of friedrich and his country and his century. men not "of genius," apparently? alas, no; men fatally destitute of true eyesight, and of loyal heart first of all. so far as i have noticed, there was not, with the single exception of mirabeau for one hour, any man to be called of genius, or with an adequate power of human discernment, that ever personally looked on friedrich. had many such men looked successively on his history and him, we had not found it now in such a condition. still altogether chaotic as a history; fatally destitute even of the indexes and mechanical appliances: friedrich's self, and his country, and his century, still undeciphered; very dark phenomena, all three, to the intelligent part of mankind. in prussia there has long been a certain stubborn though planless diligence in digging for the outward details of friedrich's life-history; though as to organizing them, assorting them, or even putting labels on them; much more as to the least interpretation or human delineation of the man and his affairs,--you need not inquire in prussia. in france, in england, it is still worse. there an immense ignorance prevails even as to the outward facts and phenomena of friedrich's life; and instead of the prussian no-interpretation, you find, in these vacant circumstances, a great promptitude to interpret. whereby judgments and prepossessions exist among us on that subject, especially on friedrich's character, which are very ignorant indeed. to englishmen, the sources of knowledge or conviction about friedrich, i have observed, are mainly these two. first, for his public character: it was an all-important fact, not to it, but to this country in regard to it, that george ii., seeing good to plunge head-foremost into german politics, and to take maria theresa's side in the austrian-succession war of - , needed to begin by assuring his parliament and newspapers, profoundly dark on the matter, that friedrich was a robber and villain for taking the other side. which assurance, resting on what basis we shall see by and by, george's parliament and newspapers cheerfully accepted; nothing doubting. and they have re-echoed and reverberated it, they and the rest of us, ever since, to all lengths, down to the present day; as a fact quite agreed upon, and the preliminary item in friedrich's character. robber and villain to begin with; that was one settled point. afterwards when george and friedrich came to be allies, and the grand fightings of the seven-years war took place, george's parliament and newspapers settled a second point, in regard to friedrich: "one of the greatest soldiers ever born." this second item the british writer fully admits ever since: but he still adds to it the quality of robber, in a loose way;--and images to himself a royal dick turpin, of the kind known in review-articles, and disquisitions on progress of the species, and labels it frederick; very anxious to collect new babblement of lying anecdotes, false criticisms, hungry french memoirs, which will confirm him in that impossible idea. had such proved, on survey, to be the character of friedrich, there is one british writer whose curiosity concerning him would pretty soon have died away; nor could any amount of unwise desire to satisfy that feeling in fellow-creatures less seriously disposed have sustained him alive, in those baleful historic acherons and stygian fens, where he has had to dig and to fish so long, far away from the upper light!--let me request all readers to blow that sorry chaff entirely out of their minds; and to believe nothing on the subject except what they get some evidence for. second english source relates to the private character. friedrich's biography or private character, the english, like the french, have gathered chiefly from a scandalous libel by voltaire, which used to be called _ vie privee du roi de prusse _ (private life of the king of prussia) [first printed, from a stolen copy, at geneva, ; first proved to be voltaire's (which some of his admirers had striven to doubt), paris, ; stands avowed ever since, in all the editions of his works (ii. - of the edition by bandouin freres, vols., paris, - ), under the title _ memoires pour servir a vie de m. de voltaire, _--with patches of repetition in the thing called _commentaire historique,_ which follows ibid. at great length.] libel undoubtedly written by voltaire, in a kind of fury; but not intended to be published by him; nay burnt and annihilated, as he afterwards imagined; no line of which, that cannot be otherwise proved, has a right to be believed; and large portions of which can be proved to be wild exaggerations and perversions, or even downright lies,--written in a mood analogous to the frenzy of john dennis. this serves for the biography or private character of friedrich; imputing all crimes to him, natural and unnatural;--offering indeed, if combined with facts otherwise known, or even if well considered by itself, a thoroughly flimsy, incredible and impossible image. like that of some flaming devil's head, done in phosphorus on the walls of the black-hole, by an artist whom you had locked up there (not quite without reason) overnight. poor voltaire wrote that _ vie privee _ in a state little inferior to the frenzy of john dennis,--how brought about we shall see by and by. and this is the document which english readers are surest to have read, and tried to credit as far as possible. our counsel is, out of window with it, he that would know friedrich of prussia! keep it awhile, he that would know francois arouet de voltaire, and a certain numerous unfortunate class of mortals, whom voltaire is sometimes capable of sinking to be spokesman for, in this world!--alas, go where you will, especially in these irreverent ages, the noteworthy dead is sure to be found lying under infinite dung, no end of calumnies and stupidities accumulated upon him. for the class we speak of, class of "flunkies doing _ saturnalia _ below stairs," is numerous, is innumerable; and can well remunerate a "vocal flunky" that will serve their purposes on such an occasion!-- friedrich is by no means one of the perfect demigods; and there are various things to be said against him with good ground. to the last, a questionable hero; with much in him which one could have wished not there, and much wanting which one could have wished. but there is one feature which strikes you at an early period of the inquiry, that in his way he is a reality; that he always means what he speaks; grounds his actions, too, on what he recognizes for the truth; and, in short, has nothing whatever of the hypocrite or phantasm. which some readers will admit to be an extremely rare phenomenon. we perceive that this man was far indeed from trying to deal swindler-like with the facts around him; that he honestly recognized said facts wherever they disclosed themselves, and was very anxious also to ascertain their existence where still hidden or dubious. for he knew well, to a quite uncommon degree, and with a merit all the higher as it was an unconscious one, how entirely inexorable is the nature of facts, whether recognized or not, ascertained or not; how vain all cunning of diplomacy, management and sophistry, to save any mortal who does not stand on the truth of things, from sinking, in the long-run. sinking to the very mud-gods, with all his diplomacies, possessions, achievements; and becoming an unnamable object, hidden deep in the cesspools of the universe. this i hope to make manifest; this which i long ago discerned for myself, with pleasure, in the physiognomy of friedrich and his life. which indeed was the first real sanction, and has all along been my inducement and encouragement, to study his life and him. how this man, officially a king withal, comported himself in the eighteenth century, and managed not to be a liar and charlatan as his century was, deserves to be seen a little by men and kings, and may silently have didactic meanings in it. he that was honest with his existence has always meaning for us, be he king or peasant. he that merely shammed and grimaced with it, however much, and with whatever noise and trumpet-blowing, he may have cooked and eaten in this world, cannot long have any. some men do cook enormously (let us call it cooking, what a man does in obedience to his hunger merely, to his desires and passions merely),--roasting whole continents and populations, in the flames of war or other discord;--witness the napoleon above spoken of. for the appetite of man in that respect is unlimited; in truth, infinite; and the smallest of us could eat the entire solar system, had we the chance given, and then cry, like alexander of macedon, because we had no more solar systems to cook and eat. it is not the extent of the man's cookery that can much attach me to him; but only the man himself, and what of strength he had to wrestle with the mud-elements, and what of victory he got for his own benefit and mine. . encouragements, discouragements. french revolution having spent itself, or sunk in france and elsewhere to what we see, a certain curiosity reawakens as to what of great or manful we can discover on the other side of that still troubled atmosphere of the present and immediate past. curiosity quickened, or which should be quickened, by the great and all-absorbing question, how is that same exploded past ever to settle down again? not lost forever, it would appear: the new era has not annihilated the old eras: new era could by no means manage that;--never meant that, had it known its own mind (which it did not): its meaning was and is, to get its own well out of them; to readapt, in a purified shape, the old eras, and appropriate whatever was true and not combustible in them: that was the poor new era's meaning, in the frightful explosion it made of itself and its possessions, to begin with! and the question of questions now is: what part of that exploded past, the ruins and dust of which still darken all the air, will continually gravitate back to us; be reshaped, transformed, readapted, that so, in new figures, under new conditions, it may enrich and nourish us again? what part of it, not being incombustible, has actually gone to flame and gas in the huge world-conflagration, and is now gaseous, mounting aloft; and will know no beneficence of gravitation, but mount, and roam upon the waste winds forever,--nature so ordering it, in spite of any industry of art? this is the universal question of afflicted mankind at present; and sure enough it will be long to settle. on one point we can answer: only what of the past was true will come back to us. that is the one asbestos which survives all fire, and comes out purified; that is still ours, blessed be heaven, and only that. by the law of nature nothing more than that; and also, by the same law, nothing less than that. let art, struggle how it may, for or against,--as foolish art is seen extensively doing in our time,--there is where the limits of it will be. in which point of view, may not friedrich, if he was a true man and king, justly excite some curiosity again; nay some quite peculiar curiosity, as the lost crowned reality there was antecedent to that general outbreak and abolition? to many it appears certain there are to be no kings of any sort, no government more; less and less need of them henceforth, new era having come. which is a very wonderful notion; important if true; perhaps still more important, just at present, if untrue! my hopes of presenting, in this last of the kings, an exemplar to my contemporaries, i confess, are not high. on the whole, it is evident the difficulties to a history of friedrich are great and many: and the sad certainty is at last forced upon me that no good book can, at this time, especially in this country, be written on the subject. wherefore let the reader put up with an indifferent or bad one; he little knows how much worse it could easily have been!--alas, the ideal of history, as my friend sauerteig knows, is very high; and it is not one serious man, but many successions of such, and whole serious generations of such, that can ever again build up history towards its old dignity. we must renounce ideals. we must sadly take up with the mournfulest barren realities;--dismal continents of brandenburg sand, as in this instance; mere tumbled mountains of marine-stores, without so much as an index to them! has the reader heard of sauerteig's last batch of _ springwurzeln, _ a rather curious valedictory piece? "all history is an imprisoned epic, nay an imprisoned psalm and prophecy," says sauerteig there. i wish, from my soul, he had disimprisoned it in this instance! but he only says, in magniloquent language, how grand it would be if disimprisoned;--and hurls out, accidentally striking on this subject, the following rough sentences, suggestive though unpractical, with which i shall conclude:-- "schiller, it appears, at one time thought of writing an _ epic poem upon friedrich the great, _ 'upon some action of friedrich's,' schiller says. happily schiller did not do it. by oversetting fact, disregarding reality, and tumbling time and space topsy-turvy, schiller with his fine gifts might no doubt have written a temporary 'epic poem,' of the kind read an admired by many simple persons. but that would have helped little, and could not have lasted long. it is not the untrue imaginary picture of a man and his life that i want from my schiller, but the actual natural likeness, true as the face itself, nay truer, in a sense. which the artist, if there is one, might help to give, and the botcher _ (pfuscher)_ never can! alas, and the artist does not even try it; leaves it altogether to the botcher, being busy otherwise!-- "men surely will at length discover again, emerging from these dismal bewilderments in which the modern ages reel and stagger this long while, that to them also, as to the most ancient men, all pictures that cannot be credited are--pictures of an idle nature; to be mostly swept out of doors. such veritably, were it never so forgotten, is the law! mistakes enough, lies enough will insinuate themselves into our most earnest portrayings of the true: but that we should, deliberately and of forethought, rake together what we know to be not true, and introduce that in the hope of doing good with it? i tell you, such practice was unknown in the ancient earnest times; and ought again to become unknown except to the more foolish classes!" that is sauerteig's strange notion, not now of yesterday, as readers know:--and he goes then into "homer's iliad," the "hebrew bible," "terrible hebrew veracity of every line of it;" discovers an alarming "kinship of fiction to lying;" and asks, if anybody can compute "the damage we poor moderns have got from our practices of fiction in literature itself, not to speak of awfully higher provinces? men will either see into all this by and by," continues he; "or plunge head foremost, in neglect of all this, whither they little dream as yet!-- "but i think all real poets, to this hour, are psalmists and iliadists after their sort; and have in them a divine impatience of lies, a divine incapacity of living among lies. likewise, which is a corollary, that the highest shakspeare producible is properly the fittest historian producible;--and that it is frightful to see the _ gelehrte dummkopf _ [what we here may translate, dryasdust] doing the function of history, and the shakspeare and the goethe neglecting it. 'interpreting events;' interpreting the universally visible, entirely indubitable revelation of the author of this universe: how can dryasdust interpret such things, the dark chaotic dullard, who knows the meaning of nothing cosmic or noble, nor ever will know? poor wretch, one sees what kind of meaning he educes from man's history, this long while past, and has got all the world to believe of it along with him. unhappy dryasdust, thrice-unhappy world that takes dryasdust's reading of the ways of god! but what else was possible? they that could have taught better were engaged in fiddling; for which there are good wages going. and our damage therefrom, our damage,--yes, if thou be still human and not cormorant,--perhaps it will transcend all californias, english national debts, and show itself incomputable in continents of bullion!-- "believing that mankind are not doomed wholly to dog-like annihilation, i believe that much of this will mend. i believe that the world will not always waste its inspired men in mere fiddling to it. that the man of rhythmic nature will feel more and more his vocation towards the interpretation of fact; since only in the vital centre of that, could we once get thither, lies all real melody; and that he will become, he, once again the historian of events,--bewildered dryasdust having at last the happiness to be his servant, and to have some guidance from him. which will be blessed indeed. for the present, dryasdust strikes me like a hapless nigger gone masterless: nigger totally unfit for self-guidance; yet without master good or bad; and whose feats in that capacity no god or man can rejoice in. "history, with faithful genius at the top and faithful industry at the bottom, will then be capable of being written. history will then actually be written,--the inspired gift of god employing itself to illuminate the dark ways of god. a thing thrice-pressingly needful to be done!--whereby the modern nations may again become a little less godless, and again have their 'epics' (of a different from the schiller sort), and again have several things they are still more fatally in want of at present!"-- so that, it would seem, there will gradually among mankind, if friedrich last some centuries, be a real epic made of his history? that is to say (presumably), it will become a perfected melodious truth, and duly significant and duly beautiful bit of belief, to mankind; the essence of it fairly evolved from all the chaff, the portrait of it actually given, and its real harmonies with the laws of this universe brought out, in bright and dark, according to the god's fact as it was; which poor dryasdust and the newspapers never could get sight of, but were always far from!-- well, if so,--and even if not quite so,--it is a comfort to reflect that every true worker (who has blown away chaff &c.), were his contribution no bigger than my own, may have brought the good result nearer by a hand-breadth or two. and so we will end these preludings, and proceed upon our problem, courteous reader. chapter ii. -- friedrich's birth. friedrich of brandenburg-hohenzollern, who came by course of natural succession to be friedrich ii. of prussia, and is known in these ages as frederick the great, was born in the palace of berlin, about noon, on the th of january, . a small infant, but of great promise or possibility; and thrice and four times welcome to all sovereign and other persons in the prussian court, and prussian realms, in those cold winter days. his father, they say, was like to have stifled him with his caresses, so overjoyed was the man; or at least to have scorched him in the blaze of the fire; when happily some much suitabler female nurse snatched this little creature from the rough paternal paws,--and saved it for the benefit of prussia and mankind. if heaven will but please to grant it length of life! for there have already been two little princekins, who are both dead; this friedrich is the fourth child; and only one little girl, wise wilhelmina, of almost too sharp wits, and not too vivacious aspect, is otherwise yet here of royal progeny. it is feared the hohenzollern lineage, which has flourished here with such beneficent effect for three centuries now, and been in truth the very making of the prussian nation, may be about to fail, or pass into some side branch. which change, or any change in that respect, is questionable, and a thing desired by nobody. five years ago, on the death of the first little prince, there had surmises risen, obscure rumors and hints, that the princess royal, mother of the lost baby, never would have healthy children, or even never have a child more: upon which, as there was but one other resource,--a widowed grandfather, namely, and except the prince royal no son to him,--said grandfather, still only about fifty, did take the necessary steps: but they have been entirely unsuccessful; no new son or child, only new affliction, new disaster has resulted from that third marriage of his. and though the princess royal has had another little prince, that too has died within the year;--killed, some say on the other hand, by the noise of the cannon firing for joy over it! [forster, _ friedrich wilhelm i., konig von preussen _ (potsdam, ), i. (who quotes morgenstern, a contemporary reporter). but see also preuss, _ friedrich der grosse mit seinen verwandten und freunden _ (berlin, ), pp. - ] yes; and the first baby prince, these same parties farther say, was crushed to death by the weighty dress you put upon it at christening time, especially by the little crown it wore, which had left a visible black mark upon the poor soft infant's brow! in short, it is a questionable case; undoubtedly a questionable outlook for prussian mankind; and the appearance of this little prince, a third trump-card in the hohenzollern game, is an unusually interesting event. the joy over him, not in berlin palace only, but in berlin city, and over the prussian nation, was very great and universal;--still testified in manifold dull, unreadable old pamphlets, records official and volunteer,--which were then all ablaze like the bonfires, and are now fallen dark enough, and hardly credible even to the fancy of this new time. the poor old grandfather, friedrich i. (the first king of prussia),--for, as we intimate, he was still alive, and not very old, though now infirm enough, and laden beyond his strength with sad reminiscences, disappointments and chagrins,--had taken much to wilhelmina, as she tells us; [_ memoires de frederique sophie wilhelmine de prusse, margrave de bareith, soeur d frederic-le-grand _ (london, ), i. .] and would amuse himself whole days with the pranks and prattle of the little child. good old man: he, we need not doubt, brightened up into unusual vitality at sight of this invaluable little brother of hers; through whom he can look once more into the waste dim future with a flicker of new hope. poor old man: he got his own back half-broken by a careless nurse letting him fall; and has slightly stooped ever since, some fifty and odd years now: much against his will; for he would fain have been beautiful; and has struggled all his days, very hard if not very wisely, to make his existence beautiful,--to make it magnificent at least, and regardless of expense;--and it threatens to come to little. courage, poor grandfather: here is a new second edition of a friedrich, the first having gone off with so little effect: this one's back is still unbroken, his life's seedfield not yet filled with tares and thorns: who knows but heaven will be kinder to this one? heaven was much kinder to this one. him heaven had kneaded of more potent stuff: a mighty fellow this one, and a strange; related not only to the upholsteries and heralds' colleges, but to the sphere-harmonies and the divine and demonic powers; of a swift far-darting nature this one, like an apollo clad in sunbeams and in lightnings (after his sort); and with a back which all the world could not succeed in breaking!--yes, if, by most rare chance, this were indeed a new man of genius, born into the purblind rotting century, in the acknowledged rank of a king there,--man of genius, that is to say, man of originality and veracity; capable of seeing with his eyes, and incapable of not believing what he sees;--then truly!--but as yet none knows; the poor old grandfather never knew. meanwhile they christened the little fellow, with immense magnificence and pomp of apparatus; kaiser karl, and the very swiss republic being there (by proxy), among the gossips; and spared no cannon-volleyings, kettle-drummings, metal crown, heavy cloth-of-silver, for the poor soft creature's sake; all of which, however, he survived. the name given him was karl friedrich (charles frederick); karl perhaps, and perhaps also not, in delicate compliment to the chief gossip, the above-mentioned. kaiser, karl or charles vi.? at any rate, the karl, gradually or from the first, dropped altogether out of practice, and went as nothing: he himself, or those about him, never used it; nor, except in some dim english pamphlet here and there, have i met with any trace of it. friedrich (rich-in-peace, a name of old prevalence in the hohenzollern kindred), which he himself wrote frederic in his french way, and at last even federic (with a very singular sense of euphony), is throughout, and was, his sole designation. sunday st january, , age then precisely one week: then, and in this manner, was he ushered on the scene, and labelled among his fellow-creatures. we must now look round a little; and see, if possible by any method or exertion, what kind of scene it was. chapter iii. -- father and mother: the hanoverian connection. friedrich wilhelm, crown-prince of prussia, son of friedrich i. and father of this little infant who will one day be friedrich ii., did himself make some noise in the world as second king of prussia; notable not as friedrich's father alone; and will much concern us during the rest of his life. he is, at this date, in his twenty-fourth year: a thick-set, sturdy, florid, brisk young fellow; with a jovial laugh in him, yet of solid grave ways, occasionally somewhat volcanic; much given to soldiering, and out-of-door exercises, having little else to do at present. he has been manager, or, as it were, vice-king, on an occasional absence of his father; he knows practically what the state of business is; and greatly disapproves of it, as is thought. but being bound to silence on that head, he keeps silence, and meddles with nothing political. he addicts himself chiefly to mustering, drilling and practical military duties, while here at berlin; runs out, often enough, wife and perhaps a comrade or two along with him, to hunt, and take his ease, at wusterhausen (some fifteen or twenty miles [english miles,--as always unless the contrary be stated. the german meile is about five miles english; german stunde about three.] southeast of berlin), where he has a residence amid the woody moorlands. but soldiering is his grand concern. six years ago, summer , [forster, i. ] at a very early age, he went to the wars,--grand spanish-succession war, which was then becoming very fierce in the netherlands; prussian troops always active on the marlborough-eugene side. he had just been betrothed, was not yet wedded; thought good to turn the interim to advantage in that way. then again, spring , after his marriage and after his father's marriage, "the court being full of intrigues," and nothing but silence recommendable there, a certain renowned friend of his, leopold, prince of anhalt-dessau, of whom we shall yet hear a great deal,--who, still only about thirty, had already covered himself with laurels in those wars (blenheim, bridge of casano, lines of turin, and other glories), but had now got into intricacies with the weaker sort, and was out of command,--agreed with friedrich wilhelm that it would be well to go and serve there as volunteers, since not otherwises. [varnhagen von ense, _ furst leopold von anhalt-dessau _ (in _ biographische denkmale, _ d edition, berlin, ), p. . _ thaten und leben des weltberuhmten furstens leopoldi von anhalt-dessau _ (leipzig, ), p. . forster, i. .] a crown-prince of prussia, ought he not to learn soldiering, of all things; by every opportunity? which friedrich wilhelm did, with industry; serving zealous apprenticeship under marlborough and eugene, in this manner; plucking knowledge, as the bubble reputation, and all else in that field has to be plucked, from the cannon's mouth. friedrich wilhelm kept by marlborough, now as formerly; friend leopold being commonly in eugene's quarter, who well knew the worth of him, ever since blenheim and earlier. friedrich wilhelm saw hot service, that campaign of ; siege of tournay, and far more;--stood, among other things, the fiery battle of malplaquet, one of the terriblest and deadliest feats of war ever done. no want of intrepidity and rugged soldier-virtue in the prussian troops or their crown-prince; least of all on that terrible day, th september, ;--of which he keeps the anniversary ever since, and will do all his life, the doomsday of malplaquet always a memorable day to him. [forster, i. .] he is more and more intimate with leopold, and loves good soldiering beyond all things. here at berlin he has already got a regiment of his own, tallish fine men; and strives to make it in all points a very pattern of a regiment. for the rest, much here is out of joint, and far from satisfactory to him. seven years ago [ st february, .] he lost his own brave mother and her love; of which we must speak farther by and by. in her stead he has got a fantastic, melancholic, ill-natured stepmother, with whom there was never any good to be done; who in fact is now fairly mad, and kept to her own apartments. he has to see here, and say little, a chagrined heart-worn father flickering painfully amid a scene much filled with expensive futile persons, and their extremely pitiful cabals and mutual rages; scene chiefly of pompous inanity, and the art of solemnly and with great labor doing nothing. such waste of labor and of means: what can one do but be silent? the other year, preussen (prussia proper, province lying far eastward, out of sight) was sinking under pestilence and black ruin and despair: the crown-prince, contrary to wont, broke silence, and begged some dole or subvention for these poor people; but there was nothing to be had. nothing in the treasury, your royal highness:--preussen will shift for itself; sublime dramaturgy, which we call his majesty's government, costs so much! and preussen, mown away by death, lies much of it vacant ever since; which has completed the crown-prince's disgust; and, i believe, did produce some change of ministry, or other ineffectual expedient, on the old father's part. upon which the crown-prince locks up his thoughts again. he has confused whirlpools, of court intrigues, ceremonials, and troublesome fantasticalities, to steer amongst; which he much dislikes, no man more; having an eye and heart set on the practical only, and being in mind as in body something of the genus robustum, of the genus ferox withal. he has been wedded six years; lost two children, as we saw; and now again he has two living. his wife, sophie dorothee of hanover, is his cousin as well. she is brother's-daughter of his mother, sophie charlotte: let the reader learn to discriminate these two names. sophie charlotte, late queen of prussia, was also of hanover: she probably had sometimes, in her quiet motherly thought, anticipated this connection for him, while she yet lived. it is certain friedrich wilhelm was carried to hanover in early childhood: his mother,--that sophie charlotte, a famed queen and lady in her day, daughter of electress sophie, and sister of the george who became george i. of england by and by,--took him thither; some time about the beginning of , his age then five; and left him there on trial; alleging, and expecting, he might have a better breeding there. and this, in a court where electress sophie was chief lady, and elector ernst, fit to be called gentleman ernst, ["her highness (the electress sophie) has the character of the merry debonnaire princess of germany; a lady of extraordinary virtues and accomplishments; mistress of the italian, french, high and low dutch, and english languages, which she speaks to perfection. her husband (elector ernst) has the title of the gentleman of germany; a graceful and," &c. &c. w. carr, _ remarks of the governments of the severall parts of germanie, denmark, sweedland _ (amsterdam, ), p. . see also _ ker of kersland _ (still more emphatic on this point, _ soepius _)] the politest of men, was chief lord,--and where leibnitz, to say nothing of lighter notabilities, was flourishing,--seemed a reasonable expectation. nevertheless, it came to nothing, this articulate purpose of the visit; though perhaps the deeper silent purposes of it might not be quite unfulfilled. gentleman ernst had lately been made "elector" (_ kurfurst, _ instead of _ herzog _),--his hanover no longer a mere sovereign duchy, but an electorate henceforth, new "ninth electorate," by ernst's life-long exertion and good luck;--which has spread a fine radiance, for the time, over court and people in those parts; and made ernst a happier man than ever, in his old age. gentleman ernst and electress sophie, we need not doubt, were glad to see their burly prussian grandson,--a robust, rather mischievous boy of five years old;--and anything that brought her daughter oftener about her (an only daughter too, and one so gifted) was sure to be welcome to the cheery old electress, and her leibnitz and her circle. for sophie charlotte was a bright presence, and a favorite with sage and gay. uncle george again, "_ kurprinz _ georg ludwig" (electoral prince and heir-apparent), who became george i. of england; he, always a taciturn, saturnine, somewhat grim-visaged man, not without thoughts of his own but mostly inarticulate thoughts, was, just at this time, in a deep domestic intricacy. uncle george the kurprinz was painfully detecting, in these very months, that his august spouse and cousin, a brilliant not uninjured lady, had become an indignant injuring one; that she had gone, and was going, far astray in her walk of life! thus all is not radiance at hanover either, ninth elector though we are; but, in the soft sunlight, there quivers a streak of the blackness of very erebus withal. kurprinz george, i think, though he too is said to have been good to the boy, could not take much interest in this burly nephew of his just now! sure enough, it was in this year , that the famed konigsmark tragedy came ripening fast towards a crisis in hanover; and next year the catastrophe arrived. a most tragic business; of which the little boy, now here, will know more one day. perhaps it was on this very visit, on one visit it credibly was, that sophie charlotte witnessed a sad scene in the schloss of hanover high words rising, where low cooings had been more appropriate; harsh words, mutually recriminative, rising ever higher; ending, it is thought, in things, or menaces and motions towards things (actual box on the ear, some call it),--never to be forgotten or forgiven! and on sunday st of july, , colonel count philip konigsmark, colonel in the hanover dragoons, was seen for the last time in this world. from that date, he has vanished suddenly underground, in an inscrutable manner: never more shall the light of the sun, or any human eye behold that handsome blackguard man. not for a hundred and fifty years shall human creatures know, or guess with the smallest certainty, what has become of him. and shortly after konigsmark's disappearance, there is this sad phenomenon visible: a once very radiant princess (witty, haughty-minded, beautiful, not wise or fortunate) now gone all ablaze into angry tragic conflagration; getting locked into the old castle of ahlden, in the moory solitudes of luneburg heath: to stay there till she die,--thirty years as it proved,--and go into ashes and angry darkness as she may. old peasants, late in the next century, will remember that they used to see her sometimes driving on the heath,--beautiful lady, long black hair, and the glitter of diamonds in it; sometimes the reins in her own hand, but always with a party of cavalry round her, and their swords drawn. [_ die herzogin von ahlden _ (leipzig, ), p. . divorce was, th december, ; death, th november, ,--age then .] "duchess of ahlden," that was her title in the eclipsed state. born princess of zelle; by marriage, princess of hanover (_ kurprinzessin _); would have been queen of england, too, had matters gone otherwise than they did.--her name, like that of a little daughter she had, is sophie dorothee: she is cousin and divorced wife of kurprinz george; divorced, and as it were abolished alive, in this manner. she is little friedrich wilhelm's aunt-in-law; and her little daughter comes to be his wife in process of time. of him, or of those belonging to him, she took small notice, i suppose, in her then mood, the crisis coming on so fast. in her happier innocent days she had two children, a king that is to be, and a queen; george ii. of england, sophie dorothee of prussia; but must not now call them hers, or ever see them again. this was the konigsmark tragedy at hanover; fast ripening towards its catastrophe while little friedrich wilhelm was there. it has been, ever since, a rumor and dubious frightful mystery to mankind: but within these few years, by curious accidents (thefts, discoveries of written documents, in various countries, and diligent study of them), it has at length become a certainty and clear fact, to those who are curious about it. fact surely of a rather horrible sort;--yet better, i must say, than was suspected: not quite so bad in the state of fact as in that of rumor. crime enough is in it, sin and folly on both sides; there is killing too, but not assassination (as it turns out); on the whole there is nothing of atrocity, or nothing that was not accidental, unavoidable;--and there is a certain greatness of decorum on the part of those hanover princes and official gentlemen, a depth of silence, of polite stoicism, which deserves more praise than it will get in our times. enough now of the konigsmark tragedy; [a considerable dreary mass of books, pamphlets, lucubrations, false all and of no worth or of less, have accumulated on this dark subject, during the last hundred and fifty years; nor has the process yet stopped,--as it now well might. for there have now two things occurred in regard to it first: in the year , a swedish professor, named palmblad, groping about for other objects in the college library of lund (which is in the country of the konigsmark connections), came upon a box of old letters,--letters undated, signed only with initials, and very enigmatic till well searched into,--which have turned out to be the very autographs of the princess and her konigsmark; throwing of course a henceforth indisputable light on their relation. second thing: a cautious exact old gentleman, of diplomatic habits (understood to be "count von schulenburg-klosterrode of dresden"), has, since that event, unweariedly gone into the whole matter; and has brayed it everywhere, and pounded it small; sifting, with sublime patience, not only those swedish autographs, but the whole mass of lying books, pamphlets, hints and notices, old and recent; and bringing out (truly in an intricate and thrice-wearisome, but for the first time in an authentic way) what real evidence there is. in which evidence the facts, or essential fact, lie at last indisputable enough. his book, thick pamphlet rather, is that same _ herzogin von ahlden _ (leipzig, ) cited above. the dreary wheelbarrowful of others i had rather not mention again; but leave count von schulenburg to mention and describe them,--which he does abundantly, so many as had accumulated up to that date of , to the affliction more or less of sane mankind.] contemporaneous with friedrich wilhelm's stay at hanover, but not otherwise much related to him or his doings there. he got no improvement in breeding, as we intimated; none at all; fought, on the contrary, with his young cousin (afterwards our george ii.), a boy twice his age, though of weaker bone; and gave him a bloody nose. to the scandal and consternation of the french protestant gentlewomen and court-dames in their stiff silks: "ahee, your electoral highness!" this had been a rough unruly boy from the first discovery of him. at a very early stage, he, one morning while the nurses were dressing him, took to investigating one of his shoe buckles; would, in spite of remonstrances, slobber it about in his mouth; and at length swallowed it down,--beyond mistake; and the whole world cannot get it up! whereupon, wild wail of nurses; and his "mother came screaming," poor mother:--it is the same small shoe-buckle which is still shown, with a ticket and date to it, " december, ," in the berlin _ kunstkammer _; for it turned out harmless, after all the screaming; and a few grains of rhubarb restored it safely to the light of day; henceforth a thrice-memorable shoe-buckle. [forster, i. . erman, _ memoires de sophie charlotte _ (berlin, ), p. .] another time, it is recorded, though with less precision of detail, his governess the dame montbail having ordered him to do something which was intolerable to the princely mind, the princely mind resisted in a very strange way: the princely body, namely, flung itself suddenly out of a third-story window, nothing but the hands left within; and hanging on there by the sill, and fixedly resolute to obey gravitation rather than montbail, soon brought the poor lady to terms. upon which, indeed, he had been taken from her, and from the women altogether, as evidently now needing rougher government. always an unruly fellow, and dangerous to trust among crockery. at hanover he could do no good in the way of breeding: sage leibnitz himself, with his big black periwig and large patient nose, could have put no metaphysics into such a boy. sublime _ theodicee _ (leibnitzian "justification of the ways of god") was not an article this individual had the least need of, nor at any time the least value for. "justify? what doomed dog questions it, then? are you for bedlam, then?"--and in maturer years his rattan might have been dangerous! for this was a singular individual of his day; human soul still in robust health, and not given to spin its bowels into cobwebs. he is known only to have quarrelled much with cousin george, during the year or so he spent in those parts. but there was another cousin at hanover, just one other, little sophie dorothee (called after her mother), a few months older than himself; by all accounts, a really pretty little child, whom he liked a great deal better. she, i imagine, was his main resource, while on this hanover visit; with her were laid the foundations of an intimacy which ripened well afterwards. some say it was already settled by the parents that there was to be a marriage in due time. settled it could hardly be; for wilhelmina tells us, [_ memoires de la margrave de bareith, _ i. l.] her father had a "choice of three" allowed him, on coming to wed; and it is otherwise discernible there had been eclipses and uncertainties, in the interim, on his part. settled, no; but hoped and vaguely pre-figured, we may well suppose. and at all events, it has actually come to pass; "father being ardently in love with the hanover princess," says our margravine, "and much preferring her to the other two," or to any and all others. wedded, with great pomp, th november, ; [forster, i. .]--and sophie dorothee, the same that was his pretty little cousin at hanover twenty years ago, she is mother of the little boy now born and christened, whom men are to call frederick the great in coming generations. sophie dorothee is described to us by courtier contemporaries as "one of the most beautiful princesses of her day:" wilhelmina, on the other hand, testifies that she was never strictly to be called beautiful, but had a pleasant attractive physiognomy; which may be considered better than strict beauty. uncommon grace of figure and look, testifies wilhelmina; much dignity and soft dexterity, on social occasions; perfect in all the arts of deportment; and left an impression on you at once kindly and royal. portraits of her, as queen at a later age, are frequent in the prussian galleries; she is painted sitting, where i best remember her. a serious, comely, rather plump, maternal-looking lady; something thoughtful in those gray still eyes of hers, in the turn of her face and carriage of her head, as she sits there, considerately gazing out upon a world which would never conform to her will. decidedly a handsome, wholesome and affectionate aspect of face. hanoverian in type, that is to say, blond, florid, slightly profuse;--yet the better kind of hanoverian, little or nothing of the worse or at least the worst kind. the eyes, as i say, are gray, and quiet, almost sad; expressive of reticence and reflection, of slow constancy rather than of speed in any kind. one expects, could the picture speak, the querulous sound of maternal and other solicitude; of a temper tending towards the obstinate, the quietly unchangeable;--loyal patience not wanting, yet in still larger measure royal impatience well concealed, and long and carefully cherished. this is what i read in sophie dorothee's portraits,--probably remembering what i had otherwise read, and come to know of her. she too will not a little concern us in the first part of this history. i find, for one thing, she had given much of her physiognomy to the friedrich now born. in his portraits as prince-royal, he strongly resembles her; it is his mother's face informed with youth and new fire, and translated into the masculine gender: in his later portraits, one less and less recognizes the mother. friedrich wilhelm, now in the sixth year of wedlock, is still very fond of his sophie dorothee,--_ "fiechen" (feekin_ diminutive of _ sophie _), as he calls her; she also having, and continuing to have, the due wife's regard for her solid, honest, if somewhat explosive bear. he troubles her a little now and then, it is said, with whiffs of jealousy; but they are whiffs only, the product of accidental moodinesses in him, or of transient aspects, misinterpreted, in the court-life of a young and pretty woman. as the general rule, he is beautifully good-humored, kind even, for a bear; and, on the whole, they have begun their partnership under good omens. and indeed we may say, in spite of sad tempests that arose, they continued it under such. she brought him gradually no fewer than fourteen children, of whom ten survived him and came to maturity: and it is to be admitted their conjugal relation, though a royal, was always a human one; the main elements of it strictly observed on both sides; all quarrels in it capable of being healed again, and the feeling on both sides true, however troublous. a rare fact among royal wedlocks, and perhaps a unique one in that epoch. the young couple, as is natural in their present position, have many eyes upon them, and not quite a paved path in this confused court of friedrich i. but they are true to one another; they seem indeed to have held well aloof from all public business or private cabal; and go along silently expecting, and perhaps silently resolving this and that in the future tense; but with moderate immunity from paternal or other criticisms, for the present. the crown-prince drills or hunts, with his grumkows, anhalt-dessaus: these are harmless employments;--and a man may have within his own head what thoughts he pleases, without offence so long as he keeps them there. friedrich the old grandfather lived only thirteen months after the birth of his grandson: friedrich wilhelm was then king; thoughts then, to any length, could become actions on the part of friedrich wilhelm. chapter iv. -- father's mother. friedrich wilhelm's mother, as we hinted, did not live to see this marriage which she had forecast in her maternal heart. she died, rather suddenly, in , [ st february (erman, p. ; forster, i. ): born, th october, ; wedded, th september ; died, st february, .] at hanover, whither she had gone on a visit; shortly after parting with this her one boy and child, friedrich wilhelm, who is then about seventeen; whom she had with effort forced herself to send abroad, that he might see the world a little, for the first time. her sorrow on this occasion has in it something beautiful, in so bright and gay a woman: shows us the mother strong in her, to a touching degree. the rough cub, in whom she noticed rugged perverse elements, "tendencies to avarice," and a want of princely graces, and the more brilliant qualities in mind and manner, had given her many thoughts and some uneasy ones. but he was evidently all she had to love in the world; a rugged creature inexpressibly precious to her. for days after his departure, she had kept solitary; busied with little; indulging in her own sad reflections without stint. among the papers she had been scribbling, there was found one slip with a heart sketched on it, and round the heart "parti" (gone): my heart is gone!--poor lady, and after what a jewel! but nature is very kind to all children and to all mothers that are true to her. sophie charlotte's deep sorrow and dejection on this parting was the secret herald of fate to herself. it had meant ill health withal, and the gloom of broken nerves. all autumn and into winter she had felt herself indefinitely unwell; she determined, however, on seeing hanover and her good old mother at the usual time. the gloomy sorrow over friedrich wilhelm had been the premonition of a sudden illness which seized her on the road to hanover, some five months afterwards, and which ended fatally in that city. her death was not in the light style friedrich her grandson ascribes to it; [_ memoires de brandebourg _ (preuss's edition of _ oeuvres, _ berlin, et seqq.), i. .] she died without epigram, and though in perfect simple courage, with the reverse of levity. here, at first hand, is the specific account of that event; which, as it is brief and indisputable, we may as well fish from the imbroglios, and render legible, to counteract such notions, and illuminate for moments an old scene of things. the writing, apparently a quite private piece, is by "m. de la bergerie, pastor of the french church at hanover," respectable edict-of-nantes gentleman, who had been called in on the occasion;--gives an authentic momentary picture, though a feeble and vacant one, of a locality at that time very interesting to englishmen. m. de la bergerie privately records:-- "the night between the last of january and the first of february, , between one and two o'clock in the morning, i was called to the queen of prussia, who was then dangerously ill. "entering the room, i threw myself at the foot of her bed, testifying to her in words my profound grief to see her in this state. after which i took occasion to say, 'she might know now that kings and queens are mortal equally with all other men; and that they are obliged to appear before the throne of the majesty of god, to give an account of their deeds done, no less than the meanest of their subjects.' to which her majesty replied, 'i know it well (_ je le sais bien _).'--i went on to say to her, 'madam, your majesty must also recognize in this hour the vanity and nothingness of the things here below, for which, it may be, you have had too much interest; and the importance of the things of heaven, which perhaps you have neglected and contemned.' thereupon the queen answered, 'true (_ cela est vrai _)!' 'nevertheless, madam,' said i, 'does not your majesty place really your trust in god? do you not very earnestly (_ bien serieusement_) crave pardon of him for all the sins you have committed? do not you fly (_ n'a-t-elle pas recours _) to the blood and merits of jesus christ, without which it is impossible for us to stand before god?' the queen answered, '_ oui _ (yes).'--while this was going on, her brother, duke ernst august, came into the queen's room,"--perhaps with his eye upon me and my motions?"as they wished to speak together, i withdrew by order." this duke ernst august, age now , is the youngest brother of the family; there never was any sister but this dying one, who is four years older. ernst august has some tincture of soldiership at this time (marlborough wars, and the like), as all his kindred had; but ultimately he got the bishopric of osnabruck, that singular spiritual heirloom, or half-heirloom of the family; and there lived or vegetated without noise. poor soul, he is the same bishop of osnabruck, to whose house, twenty-two years hence, george i., struck by apoplexy, was breathlessly galloping in the summer midnight, one wish now left in him, to be with his brother;--and arrived dead, or in the article of death. that was another scene ernst august had to witness in his life. i suspect him at present of a thought that m. de la bergerie, with his pious commonplaces, is likely to do no good. other trait of ernst august's life; or of the schloss of hanover that night,--or where the sorrowing old mother sat, invincible though weeping, in some neighboring room,--i cannot give. m. de la bergerie continues his narrative:-- "some time after, i again presented myself before the queen's bed, to see if i could have occasion to speak to her on the matter of her salvation. but monseigneur the duke ernst august then said to me, that it was not necessary; that the queen was at peace with her god (_ etait bien avec son dieu _)."--which will mean also that m. de la bergerie may go home? however, he still writes:-- "next day the prince told me, that observing i was come near the queen's bed, he had asked her if she wished i should still speak to her; but she had replied, that it was not necessary in any way (_ nullement _), that she already knew all that could be said to her on such an occasion; that she had said it to herself, that she was still saying it, and that she hoped to be well with her god. "in the end a faint coming upon the queen, which was what terminated her life, i threw myself on my knees at the other side of her bed, the curtains of which were open; and i called to god with a loud voice, 'that he would rank his angels round this great princess, to guard her from the insults of satan; that he would have pity on her soul; that he would wash her with the blood of jesus christ her heavenly spouse; that, having forgiven her all her sins, he would receive her to his glory.' and in that moment she expired." [erman, p. .]--age thirty-six and some months. only daughter of electress sophie; and father's mother of frederick the great. she was, in her time, a highly distinguished woman; and has left, one may say, something of her likeness still traceable in the prussian nation, and its form of culture, to this day. charlottenburg (charlotte's-town, so called by the sorrowing widower), where she lived, shone with a much-admired french light under her presidency,--french essentially, versaillese, sceptico-calvinistic, reflex and direct,--illuminating the dark north; and indeed has never been so bright since. the light was not what we can call inspired; lunar rather, not of the genial or solar kind: but, in good truth, it was the best then going; and sophie charlotte, who was her mother's daughter in this as in other respects, had made it her own. they were deep in literature, these two royal ladies; especially deep in french theological polemics, with a strong leaning to the rationalist side. they had stopped in rotterdam once, on a certain journey homewards from flanders and the baths of aix-la-chapelle, to see that admirable sage, the doubter bayle. their sublime messenger roused the poor man, in his garret there, in the bompies,--after dark: but he had a headache that night; was in bed, and could not come. he followed them next day; leaving his paper imbroglios, his historical, philosophical, anti-theological marine-stores; and suspended his never-ending scribble, on their behalf;--but would not accept a pension, and give it up. [erman, pp. , . date is (late in the autumn probably).] they were shrewd, noticing, intelligent and lively women; persuaded that there was some nobleness for man beyond what the tailor imparts to him; and even very eager to discover it, had they known how. in these very days, while our little friedrich at berlin lies in his cradle, sleeping most of his time, sage leibnitz, a rather weak but hugely ingenious old gentleman, with bright eyes and long nose, with vast black peruke and bandy legs, is seen daily in the linden avenue at hanover (famed linden alley, leading from town palace to country one, a couple of miles long, rather disappointing when one sees it), daily driving or walking towards herrenhausen, where the court, where the old electress is, who will have a touch of dialogue with him to diversify her day. not very edifying dialogue, we may fear; yet once more, the best that can be had in present circumstances. here is some lunar reflex of versailles, which is a polite court; direct rays there are from the oldest written gospels and the newest; from the great unwritten gospel of the universe itself; and from one's own real effort, more or less devout, to read all these aright. let us not condemn that poor french element of eclecticism, scepticism, tolerance, theodicea, and bayle of the bompies versus the college of saumur. let us admit that it was profitable, at least that it was inevitable; let us pity it, and be thankful for it, and rejoice that we are well out of it. scepticism, which is there beginning at the very top of the world-tree, and has to descend through all the boughs with terrible results to mankind, is as yet pleasant, tinting the leaves with fine autumnal red. sophie charlotte partook of her mother's tendencies; and carried them with her to berlin, there to be expanded in many ways into ampler fulfilment. she too had the sage leibnitz often with her, at berlin; no end to her questionings of him; eagerly desirous to draw water from that deep well,--a wet rope, with cobwebs sticking to it, too often all she got; endless rope, and the bucket never coming to view. which, however, she took patiently, as a thing according to nature. she had her learned beausobres and other reverend edict-of-nantes gentlemen, famed berlin divines; whom, if any papist notability, jesuit ambassador or the like, happened to be there, she would set disputing with him, in the soiree at charlottenburg. she could right well preside over such a battle of the cloud-titans, and conduct the lightnings softly, without explosions. there is a pretty and very characteristic letter of hers, still pleasant to read, though turning on theologies now fallen dim enough; addressed to father vota, the famous jesuit, king's-confessor, and diplomatist, from warsaw, who had been doing his best in one such rencontre before her majesty (date march, ),--seemingly on a series of evenings, in the intervals of his diplomatic business; the beausobre champions being introduced to him successively, one each evening, by queen sophie charlotte. to all appearance the fencing had been keen; the lightnings in need of some dexterous conductor. vota, on his way homeward, had written to apologize for the sputterings of fire struck out of him in certain pinches of the combat; says, it was the rough handling the primitive fathers got from these beausobre gentlemen, who indeed to me, vota in person, under your majesty's fine presidency, were politeness itself, though they treated the fathers so ill. her majesty, with beautiful art, in this letter, smooths the raven plumage of vota;--and, at the same time, throws into him, as with invisible needle-points, an excellent dose of acupuncturation, on the subject of the primitive fathers and the ecumenic councils, on her own score. let us give some excerpt, in condensed state:-- "how can st. jerome, for example, be a key to scripture?" she insinuates; citing from jerome this remarkable avowal of his method of composing books; "especially of his method in that book, _ commentary on the galatians, _ where he accuses both peter and paul of simulation and even of hypocrisy. the great st. augustine has been charging him with this sad fact," says her majesty, who gives chapter and verse; ["epist. *, edit. paris." and jerome's answer, "ibid. epist. *."] "and jerome answers: 'i followed the commentaries of origen, of'"--five or six different persons, who turned out mostly to be heretics before jerome had quite done with them in coming years!--"'and to confess the honest truth to you,' continues jerome, 'i read all that; and after having crammed my head with a great many things, i sent for my amanuensis, and dictated to him now my own thoughts, now those of others, without much recollecting the order, nor sometimes the words, nor even the sense.' in another place (in the book itself farther on [_ "commentary on the galatians, _ chap. iii."]), he says: 'i do not myself write; i have an amanuensis, and i dictate to him what comes into my mouth. if i wish to reflect a little, to say the thing better or a better thing, he knits his brows, and the whole look of him tells me sufficiently that he cannot endure to wait.'"--here is a sacred old gentleman, whom it is not safe to depend on for interpreting the scriptures, thinks her majesty; but does not say so, leaving father vota to his reflections. then again, coming to councils, she quotes st. gregory nazianzen upon him; who is truly dreadful in regard to ecumenic councils of the church,--and indeed may awaken thoughts of deliberative assemblies generally, in the modern constitutional mind. "he says, [_ "greg. nazian. de vita sua." _] no council ever was successful; so many mean human passions getting into conflagration there; with noise, with violence and uproar, 'more like those of a tavern or still worse place,'--these are his words. he, for his own share, had resolved to avoid all such 'rendezvousing of the geese and cranes, flocking together to throttle and tatter one another in that sad manner.' nor had st. theodoret much opinion of the council of nice, except as a kind of miracle. 'nothing good to be expected from councils,' says he, 'except when god is pleased to interpose, and destroy the machinery of the devil.'" --with more of the like sort; all delicate, as invisible needle-points, in her majesty's hand. [letter undated (datable "lutzelburg, march, ,") is to be found entire, with all its adjuncts, in _ erman, _ pp. - . it was subsequently translated by toland, and published here, as an excellent polemical piece,--entirely forgotten in our time (_ a letter against popery by sophia charlotte, the late queen of prussia: being, _ &c. &c. london, ). but the finest duel of all was probably that between beausobre and toland himself (reported by beausobre, in something of a crowing manner, in _ erman, _ pp. - , "october, "), of which toland makes no mention anywhere.] what is father vota to say?--the modern reader looks through these chinks into a strange old scene, the stuff of it fallen obsolete, the spirit of it not, nor worthy to fall. these were sophie charlotte's reunions; very charming in their time. at which how joyful for irish toland to be present, as was several times his luck. toland, a mere broken heretic in his own country, who went thither once as secretary to some embassy (embassy of macclesfield's, , announcing that the english crown had fallen hanover-wards), and was no doubt glad, poor headlong soul, to find himself a gentleman and christian again, for the time being,--admires hanover and berlin very much; and looks upon sophie charlotte in particular as the pink of women. something between an earthly queen and a divine egeria; "serena" he calls her; and, in his high-flown fashion, is very laudatory. "the most beautiful princess of her time," says he,--meaning one of the most beautiful: her features are extremely regular, and full of vivacity; copious dark hair, blue eyes, complexion excellently fair;--"not very tall, and somewhat too plump," he admits elsewhere. and then her mind,--for gifts, for graces, culture, where will you find such a mind? "her reading is infinite, and she is conversant in all manner of subjects;" "knows the abstrusest problems of philosophy;" says admiring toland: much knowledge everywhere exact, and handled as by an artist and queen; for "her wit is inimitable," "her justness of thought, her delicacy of expression," her felicity of utterance and management, are great. foreign courtiers call her "the republican queen." she detects you a sophistry at one glance; pierces down direct upon the weak point of an opinion: never in my whole life did i, toland, come upon a swifter or sharper intellect. and then she is so good withal, so bright and cheerful; and "has the art of uniting what to the rest of the world are antagonisms, mirth and learning,"--say even, mirth and good sense. is deep in music, too; plays daily on her harpsichord, and fantasies, and even composes, in an eminent manner. [_ an account of the courts of prussia and hanover, sent to a minister of state in holland, _ by mr. toland (london, ), p. . toland's other book, which has reference to her, is of didactic nature ("immortality of the soul," "origin of idolatry," &c.), but with much fine panegyric direct and oblique: _ letters to serena _ ("serena" being _ queen _), a thin vo, london, .] toland's admiration, deducting the high-flown temper and manner of the man, is sincere and great. beyond doubt a bright airy lady, shining in mild radiance in those northern parts; very graceful, very witty and ingenious; skilled to speak, skilled to hold her tongue,--which latter art also was frequently in requisition with her. she did not much venerate her husband, nor the court population, male or female, whom he chose to have about him: his and their ways were by no means hers, if she had cared to publish her thoughts. friedrich i., it is admitted on all hands, was "an expensive herr;" much given to magnificent ceremonies, etiquettes and solemnities; making no great way any-whither, and that always with noise enough, and with a dust vortex of courtier intrigues and cabals encircling him,--from which it is better to stand quite to windward. moreover, he was slightly crooked; most sensitive, thin of skin and liable to sudden flaws of temper, though at heart very kind and good. sophie charlotte is she who wrote once, "leibnitz talked to me of the infinitely little (_ de l'infiniment petit): mon dieu, _ as if i did not know enough of that!" besides, it is whispered she was once near marrying to louis xiv.'s dauphin; her mother sophie, and her cousin the dowager duchess of orleans, cunning women both, had brought her to paris in her girlhood, with that secret object; and had very nearly managed it. queen of france that might have been; and now it is but brandenburg, and the dice have fallen somewhat wrong for us! she had friedrich wilhelm, the rough boy; and perhaps nothing more of very precious property. her first child, likewise a boy, had soon died, and there came no third: tedious ceremonials, and the infinitely little, were mainly her lot in this world. all which, however, she had the art to take up not in the tragic way, but in the mildly comic,--often not to take up at all, but leave lying there;--and thus to manage in a handsome and softly victorious manner. with delicate female tact, with fine female stoicism too; keeping all things within limits. she was much respected by her husband, much loved indeed; and greatly mourned for by the poor man: the village lutzelburg (little-town), close by berlin, where she had built a mansion for herself, he fondly named _ charlottenburg _ (charlotte's-town), after her death, which name both house and village still bear. leibnitz found her of an almost troublesome sharpness of intellect; "wants to know the why even of the why," says leibnitz. that is the way of female intellects when they are good; nothing equals their acuteness, and their rapidity is almost excessive. samuel johnson, too, had a young-lady friend once "with the acutest intellect i have ever known." on the whole, we may pronounce her clearly a superior woman, this sophie charlotte; notable not for her grandson alone, though now pretty much forgotten by the world,--as indeed all things and persons have, one day or other, to be! a life of her, in feeble watery style, and distracted arrangement, by one _ erman,_ [monsieur erman, historiographe de brandebourg, _ memoires pour servir a l'histoire de sophie charlotte, reine de preusse, las dans les seances, &c. _ ( vol. vo, berlin, .)] a berlin frenchman, is in existence, and will repay a cursory perusal; curious traits of her, in still looser form, are also to be found in _ pollnitz: _[carl ludwig freiherr von pollnitz, _ memoiren zur lebens-und regierungs-geschichte der vier letzten regenten des preussischen staats _ (was published in french also), vols. mo, berlin, .] but for our purposes here is enough, and more than enough. chapter v. -- king friedrich i. the prussian royalty is now in its twelfth year when this little friedrich, who is to carry it to such a height, comes into the world. old friedrich the grandfather achieved this dignity, after long and intricate negotiations, in the first year of the century; th november, , his ambassador returned triumphant from vienna; the kaiser had at last consented: we are to wear a crown royal on the top of our periwig; the old electorate of brandenburg is to become the kingdom of prussia; and the family of hohenzollern, slowly mounting these many centuries, has reached the uppermost round of the ladder. friedrich, the old gentleman who now looks upon his little grandson (destined to be third king of prussia) with such interest,--is not a very memorable man; but he has had his adventures too, his losses and his gains: and surely among the latter, the gain of a crown royal into his house gives him, if only as a chronological milestone, some place in history. he was son of him they call the great elector, friedrich wilhelm by name; of whom the prussians speak much, in an eagerly celebrating manner, and whose strenuous toilsome work in this world, celebrated or not, is still deeply legible in the actual life and affairs of germany. a man of whom we must yet find some opportunity to say a word. from him and a beautiful and excellent princess luise, princess of orange,--dutch william, our dutch william's aunt,--this, crooked royal friedrich came. he was not born crooked; straight enough once, and a fine little boy of six months old or so; there being an elder prince now in his third year, also full of hope. but in a rough journey to konigsberg and back (winter of , as is guessed), one of the many rough jolting journeys this faithful electress made with her husband, a careless or unlucky nurse, who had charge of pretty little fritzchen, was not sufficiently attentive to her duties on the worst of roads. the ever-jolting carriage gave some bigger jolt, the child fell backwards in her arms; [johann wegfuhrer, _ leben der kurfurstin luise, gebornen prinzessin von nassau-oranien, gemahlin friedrich wilhelm des grossen_ (leipzig, ), p. .] did not quite break his back, but injured it for life:--and with his back, one may perceive, injured his soul and history to an almost corresponding degree. for the weak crooked boy, with keen and fine perceptions, and an inadequate case to put them in, grew up with too thin a skin:--that may be considered as the summary of his misfortunes; and, on the whole, there is no other heavy sin to be charged against him. he had other loads laid upon him, poor youth: his kind pious mother died, his elder brother died, he at the age of seventeen saw himself heir-apparent;--and had got a stepmother with new heirs, if he should disappear. sorrows enough in that one fact, with the venomous whisperings, commentaries and suspicions, which a court population, female and male, in little berlin town, can contrive to tack to it. does not the new sovereign lady, in her heart, wish you were dead, my prince? hope it perhaps? health, at any rate, weak; and, by the aid of a little pharmacy--ye heavens! such suspicions are now understood to have had no basis except in the waste brains of courtier men and women; but their existence there can become tragical enough. add to which, the great elector, like all the hohenzollerns, was a choleric man; capable of blazing into volcanic explosions, when affronted by idle masses of cobwebs in the midst of his serious businesses! it is certain, the young prince friedrich had at one time got into quite high, shrill and mutually minatory terms with his stepmother; so that once, after some such shrill dialogue between them, ending with "you shall repent this, sir!"--he found it good to fly off in the night, with only his tutor or secretary and a valet, to hessen-cassel to an aunt; who stoutly protected him in this emergency; and whose daughter, after the difficult readjustment of matters, became his wife, but did not live long. and it is farther certain the same prince, during this his first wedded time, dining one day with his stepmother, was taken suddenly ill. felt ill, after his cup of coffee; retired into another room in violent spasms, evidently in an alarming state, and secretly in a most alarmed one: his tutor or secretary, one dankelmann, attended him thither; and as the doctor took some time to arrive, and the symptoms were instant and urgent, secretary dankelmann produced "from a pocket-book some drug of his own, or of the hessen-cassel aunt," emetic i suppose, and gave it to the poor prince;--who said often, and felt ever after, with or without notion of poison, that dankelmann had saved his life. in consequence of which adventure he again quitted court without leave; and begged to be permitted to remain safe in the country, if papa would be so good. [pollnitz, _ memoiren, _ i. - .] fancy the great elector's humor on such an occurrence; and what a furtherance to him in his heavy continual labors, and strenuous swimming for life, these beautiful humors and transactions must have been! a crook-backed boy, dear to the great elector, pukes, one afternoon; and there arises such an opening of the nether floodgates of this universe; in and round your poor workshop, nothing but sudden darkness, smell of sulphur; hissing of forked serpents here, and the universal alleleu of female hysterics there;--to help a man forward with his work! o reader, we will pity the crowned head, as well as the hatted and even hatless one. human creatures will not go quite accurately together, any more than clocks will; and when their dissonance once rises fairly high, and they cannot readily kill one another, any great elector who is third party will have a terrible time of it. electress dorothee, the stepmother, was herself somewhat of a hard lady; not easy to live with, though so far above poisoning as to have "despised even the suspicion of it." she was much given to practical economics, dairy-farming, market-gardening, and industrial and commercial operations such as offered; and was thought to be a very strict reckoner of money. she founded the _ dorotheenstadt, _ now oftener called the _ neustadt, _ chief quarter of berlin; and planted, just about the time of this unlucky dinner, "a.d. or so," [nicolai, _ beschreibung der koniglichen residenzstadte berlin und potsdam _ (berlin, ), i. .] the first of the celebrated lindens, which (or the successors of which, in a stunted ambition) are still growing there. _ unter-den-linden: _ it is now the gayest quarter of berlin, full of really fine edifices: it was then a sandy outskirt of electress dorothee's dairy-farm; good for nothing but building upon, thought electress dorothee. she did much dairy-and-vegetable trade on the great scale;--was thought even to have, underhand, a commercial interest in the principal beer-house of the city? [horn, _ leben friedrich wilhelms des grossen kurfursten von brandenburg _ (berlin, ).] people did not love her: to the great elector, who guided with a steady bridle-hand, she complied not amiss; though in him too there rose sad recollections and comparisons now and then: but with a stepson of unsteady nerves it became evident to him there could never be soft neighborhood. prince friedrich and his father came gradually to some understanding, tacit or express, on that sad matter; prince friedrich was allowed to live, on his separate allowance, mainly remote from court. which he did, for perhaps six or eight years, till the great elector's death; henceforth in a peaceful manner, or at least without open explosions. his young hessen-cassel wife died suddenly in ; and again there was mad rumor of poisoning; which electress dorothee disregarded as below her, and of no consequence to her, and attended to industrial operations that would pay. that poor young wife, when dying, exacted a promise from prince friedrich that he would not wed again, but be content with the daughter she had left him: which promise, if ever seriously given, could not be kept, as we have seen. prince friedrich brought his sophie charlotte home about fifteen months after. with the stepmother and with the court there was armed neutrality under tolerable forms, and no open explosion farther. in a secret way, however, there continued to be difficulties. and such difficulties had already been, that the poor young man, not yet come to his heritages, and having, with probably some turn for expense, a covetous unamiable stepmother, had fallen into the usual difficulties; and taken the methods too usual. namely, had given ear to the austrian court, which offered him assistance,--somewhat as an aged jew will to a young christian gentleman in quarrel with papa,--upon condition of his signing a certain bond: bond which much surprised prince friedrich when he came to understand it! of which we shall hear more, and even much more, in the course of time!-- neither after his accession (year ; his cousin dutch william, of the glorious and immortal memory, just lifting anchor towards these shores) was the new elector's life an easy one. we may say, it was replete with troubles rather; and unhappily not so much with great troubles, which could call forth antagonistic greatness of mind or of result, as with never-ending shoals of small troubles, the antagonism to which is apt to become itself of smallish character. do not search into his history; you will remember almost nothing of it (i hope) after never so many readings! garrulous pollnitz and others have written enough about him; but it all runs off from you again, as a thing that has no affinity with the human skin. he had a court _ "rempli d'intrigues, _ full of never-ending cabals," [forster, i. (quoting _ memoires du comte de dohna); _ &c. &c.]--about what? one question only are we a little interested in: how he came by the kingship? how did the like of him contrive to achieve kingship? we may answer: it was not he that achieved it; it was those that went before him, who had gradually got it,--as is very usual in such cases. all that he did was to knock at the gate (the kaiser's gate and the world's), and ask, "is it achieved, then?" is brandenburg grown ripe for having a crown? will it be needful for you to grant brandenburg a crown? which question, after knocking as loud as possible, they at last took the trouble to answer, "yes, it will be needful."-- elector friedrich's turn for ostentation--or as we may interpret it, the high spirit of a hohenzollern working through weak nerves and a crooked back--had early set him a-thinking of the kingship; and no doubt, the exaltation of rival saxony, which had attained that envied dignity (in a very unenviable manner, in the person of elector august made king of poland) in , operated as a new spur on his activities. then also duke ernst of hanover, his father-in-law, was struggling to become elector ernst; hanover to be the ninth electorate, which it actually attained in ; not to speak of england, and quite endless prospects there for ernst and hanover. these my lucky neighbors are all rising; all this the kaiser has granted to my lucky neighbors: why is there no promotion he should grant me, among them!-- elector friedrich had , excellent troops; kaiser leopold, the "little man in red stockings," had no end of wars. wars in turkey, wars in italy; all dutch william's wars and more, on our side of europe;--and here is a spanish-succession war, coming dubiously on, which may prove greater than all the rest together. elector friedrich sometimes in his own high person (a courageous and high though thin-skinned man), otherwise by skilful deputy, had done the kaiser service, often signal service, in all these wars; and was never wanting in the time of need, in the post of difficulty with those famed prussian troops of his. a loyal gallant elector this, it must be owned; capable withal of doing signal damage if we irritated him too far! why not give him this promotion; since it costs us absolutely nothing real, not even the price of a yard of ribbon with metal cross at the end of it? kaiser leopold himself, it is said, had no particular objection; but certain of his ministers had; and the little man in red stockings--much occupied in hunting, for one thing--let them have their way, at the risk of angering elector friedrich. even dutch william, anxious for it, in sight of the future, had not yet prevailed. the negotiation had lasted some seven years, without result. there is no doubt but the succession war, and marlborough, would have brought it to a happy issue: in the mean while, it is said to have succeeded at last, somewhat on the sudden, by a kind of accident. this is the curious mythical account; incorrect in some unessential particulars, but in the main and singular part of it well-founded. elector friedrich, according to pollnitz and others, after failing in many methods, had sent , _ thalers _ (say , pounds) to give, by way of--bribe we must call it,--to the chief opposing hofrath at vienna. the money was offered, accordingly; and was refused by the opposing hofrath: upon which the brandenburg ambassador wrote that it was all labor lost; and even hurried off homewards in despair, leaving a secretary in his place. the brandenburg court, nothing despairing, orders in the mean while, try another with it,--some other hofrath, whose name they wrote in cipher, which the blundering secretary took to mean no hofrath, but the kaiser's confessor and chief jesuit, pater wolf. to him accordingly he hastened with the cash, to him with the respectful electoral request; who received both, it is said, especially the , pounds, with a _ gloria in excelsis; _ and went forthwith and persuaded the kaiser. [pollnitz, _ memoiren, _ i. .]--now here is the inexactitude, say modern doctors of history; an error no less than threefold. . elector friedrich was indeed advised, in cipher, by his agent at vienna, to write in person to--"who is that cipher, then?" asks elector friedrich, rather puzzled. at vienna that cipher was meant for the kaiser; but at berlin they take it for pater wolf; and write accordingly, and are answered with readiness and animation. . pater wolf was not official confessor, but was a jesuit in extreme favor with the kaiser, and by birth a nobleman, sensible to human decorations. . he accepted no bribe, nor was any sent; his bribe was the pleasure of obliging a high gentleman who condescended to ask, and possibly the hope of smoothing roads for st. ignatius and the black militia, in time coming. and thus at last, and not otherwise than thus, say exact doctors, did pater wolf do the thing. [g. a. h. stenzel, _ geschichte des preussischen staats _ (hamburg, ), iii. _ (berliner monatschrift, _ year ); &c.] or might not the actual death of poor king carlos ii. at madrid, st november, , for whose heritages all the world stood watching with swords half drawn, considerably assist pater wolf? done sure enough the thing was; and before november ended, friedrich's messenger returned with "yes" for answer, and a treaty signed on the th of that month. [pollnitz (i. ) gives the treaty (date corrected by his editor, ii. ).] to the huge joy of elector friedrich and his court, almost the very nation thinking itself glad. which joyful potentate decided to set out straightway and have the coronation done; though it was midwinter; and konigsberg (for prussia is to be our title, "king in prussia," and konigsberg is capital city there) lies miles off, through tangled shaggy forests, boggy wildernesses, and in many parts only corduroy roads. we order " , post-horses," besides all our own large stud, to be got ready at the various stations: our boy friedrich wilhelm, rugged boy of twelve, rough and brisk, yet much "given to blush" withal (which is a feature of him), shall go with us; much more, sophie charlotte our august electress-queen that is to be: and we set out, on the th of december, , last year of the century; "in carriages:" such a cavalcade as never crossed those wintry wildernesses before. friedrich wilhelm went in the third division of carriages (for of them could not go quite together); our noble sophie charlotte in the second; a margraf of brandenburg-schwedt, chief margraf, our eldest half-brother, dorothee's eldest son, sitting on the coach-box, in correct insignia, as similitude of driver. so strict are we in etiquette; etiquette indeed being now upon its apotheosis, and after such efforts. six or seven years of efforts on elector friedrich's part; and six or seven hundred years, unconsciously, on that of his ancestors. the magnificence of friedrich's processionings into konigsberg, and through it or in it, to be crowned, and of his coronation ceremonials there: what pen can describe it, what pen need! folio volumes with copper-plates have been written on it; and are not yet all pasted in bandboxes, or slit into spills. [british museum, short of very many necessary books on this subject, offers the due coronation folio, with its prints, upholstery catalogues, and official harangues upon nothing, to ingenuous human curiosity.] "the diamond buttons of his majesty's coat [snuff-colored or purple, i cannot recollect] cost , pounds apiece;" by this one feature judge what an expensive herr. streets were hung with cloth, carpeted with cloth, no end of draperies and cloth; your oppressed imagination feels as if there was cloth enough, of scarlet and other bright colors, to thatch the arctic zone. with illuminations, cannon-salvos, fountains running wine. friedrich had made two bishops for the nonce. two of his natural church-superintendents made into quasi-bishops, on the anglican model,--which was always a favorite with him, and a pious wish of his;--but they remained mere cut branches, these two, and did not, after their haranguing and anointing functions, take root in the country. he himself put the crown on his head: "king here in my own right, after all!"--and looked his royalest, we may fancy; the kind eyes of him almost partly fierce for moments, and "the cheerfulness of pride" well blending with something of awful. in all which sublimities, the one thing that remains for human memory is not in these folios at all, but is considered to be a fact not the less: electress charlotte's, now queen charlotte's, very strange conduct on the occasion. for she cared not much about crowns, or upholstery magnificences of any kind; but had meditated from of old on the infinitely little; and under these genuflections, risings, sittings, shiftings, grimacings on all parts, and the endless droning eloquence of bishops invoking heaven, her ennui, not ill-humored or offensively ostensible, was heartfelt and transcendent. at one turn of the proceedings, bishop this and chancellor that droning their empty grandiloquences at discretion, sophie charlotte was distinctly seen to smuggle out her snuff-box, being addicted to that rakish practice, and fairly solace herself with a delicate little pinch of snuff. rasped tobacco, _ tabac rape, _ called by mortals _ rape _ or rappee: there is no doubt about it; and the new king himself noticed her, and hurled back a look of due fulminancy, which could not help the matter, and was only lost in air. a memorable little action, and almost symbolic in the first prussian coronation. "yes, we are kings, and are got so near the stars, not nearer; and you invoke the gods, in that tremendously long-winded manner; and i--heavens, i have my snuff-box by me, at least!" thou wearied patient heroine; cognizant of the infinitely little!--this symbolic pinch of snuff is fragrant all along in prussian history. a fragrancy of humble verity in the middle of all royal or other ostentations; inexorable, quiet protest against cant, done with such simplicity: sophie charlotte's symbolic pinch of snuff. she was always considered something of a republican queen. thus brandenburg electorate has become kingdom of prussia; and the hohenzollerns have put a crown upon their head. of brandenburg, what it was, and what prussia was; and of the hohenzollerns and what they were, and how they rose thither, a few details, to such as are dark about these matters, cannot well be dispensed with here. end of book i history of friedrich ii. of prussia frederick the great by thomas carlyle book xx.--friedrich is not to be overwhelmed: the seven-years war gradually ends-- th april, - th february, . chapter i.--fifth campaign opens. there were yet, to the world's surprise and regret, three campaigns of this war; but the campaign , which we are now upon, was what produced or rendered possible the other two;--was the crisis of them, and is now the only one that can require much narrative from us here. ill-luck, which, friedrich complains, had followed him like his shadow, in a strange and fateful manner, from the day of kunersdorf and earlier, does not yet cease its sad company; but, on the contrary, for long months to come, is more constant than ever, baffling every effort of his own, and from the distance sending him news of mere disaster and discomfiture. it is in this campaign, though not till far on in it, that the long lane does prove to have a turning, and the fortune of war recovers its old impartial form. after which, things visibly languish: and the hope of ruining such a friedrich becomes problematic, the effort to do it slackens also; the very will abating, on the austrian part, year by year, as of course the strength of their resources is still more steadily doing. to the last, friedrich, the weaker in material resources, needs all his talent,--all his luck too. but, as the strength, on both sides, is fast abating,--hard to say on which side faster (friedrich's talent being always a fixed quantity, while all else is fluctuating and vanishing),--what remains of the once terrible affair, through campaigns sixth and seventh, is like a race between spent horses, little to be said of it in comparison. campaign is the last of any outward eminence or greatness of event. let us diligently follow that, and be compendious with the remainder. friedrich was always famed for his marches; but, this year, they exceeded all calculation and example; and are still the admiration of military men. can there by no method be some distant notion afforded of them to the general reader? they were the one resource friedrich had left, against such overwhelming superiority in numbers; and they came out like surprises in a theatre,--unpleasantly surprising to daun. done with such dexterity, rapidity and inexhaustible contrivance and ingenuity, as overset the schemes of his enemies again and again, and made his one army equivalent in effect to their three. evening of april th, friedrich rose from his freyberg cantonments; moved back, that is, northward, a good march; then encamped himself between elbe and the hill-country; with freer prospect and more elbow-room for work coming. his left is on meissen and the elbe; his right at a village called the katzenhauser, an uncommonly strong camp, of which one often hears afterwards; his centre camp is at schlettau, which also is strong, though not to such a degree. this line extends from meissen southward about miles, commanding the reich-ward passes of the metal mountains, and is defensive of leipzig, torgau and the towns thereabouts. [tempelhof, iv. et seq.] katzenhauser is but a mile or two from krogis--that unfortunate village where finck got his maxen order: "er weiss,--you know i can't stand having difficulties raised; manage to do it!" friedrich's task, this year, is to defend saxony; prince henri having undertaken the russians,--prince henri and fouquet, the russians and silesia. clearly on very uphill terms, both of them: so that friedrich finds he will have a great many things to assist in, besides defending saxony. he lies here expectant till the middle of june, above seven weeks; daun also, for the last two weeks, having taken the field in a sort. in a sort;--but comes no nearer; merely posting himself astride of the elbe, half in dresden, half on the opposite or northern bank of the river, with lacy thrown out ahead in good force on that vacant side; and so waiting the course of other people's enterprises. well to eastward and rearward of daun, where we have seen loudon about to be very busy, prince henri and fouquet have spun themselves out into a long chain of posts, in length miles or more, "from landshut, along the bober, along the queiss and oder, through the neumark, abutting on stettin and colberg, to the baltic sea." [tempelhof, iv. - .] on that side, in aid of loudon or otherwise, daun can attempt nothing; still less on the katzenhauser-schlettau side can he dream of an attempt: only towards brandenburg and berlin--the country on that side, or miles of it, to eastward of meissen, being vacant of troops--is daun's road open, were he enterprising, as friedrich hopes he is not. for some two weeks, friedrich--not ready otherwise, it being difficult to cross the river, if lacy with his , should think of interference--had to leave the cunctatory feldmarschall this chance or unlikely possibility. at the end of the second week ("june th," as we shall mark by and by), the chance was withdrawn. daun and his lacy are but one, and that by no means the most harassing, of the many cares and anxieties which friedrich has upon him in those seven weeks, while waiting at schlettau, reading the omens. never hitherto was the augury of any campaign more indecipherable to him, or so continually fluctuating with wild hopes, which proved visionary, and with huge practical fears, of what he knew to be the real likelihood. "peace coming?" it is strange how long friedrich clings to that fond hope: "my edelsheim is in the bastille, or packed home in disgrace: but will not the english and choiseul make peace? it is choiseul's one rational course; bankrupt as he is, and reduced to spoons and kettles. in which case, what a beautiful effect might duke ferdinand produce, if he marched to eger, say to eger, with his , germans (britannic majesty and pitt so gracious), and twitched daun by the skirt, whirling daun home to bohemia in a hurry!" then the turks; the danes,--"might not the danes send us a trifle of fleet to colberg (since the english never will), and keep our russians at bay?"--"at lowest these hopes are consolatory," says he once, suspecting them all (as, no doubt, he often enough does), "and give us courage to look calmly for the opening of this campaign, the very idea of which has made me shudder!" ["to prince henri:" in _schoning,_ ii. ( d april, ): ib. (of the danish outlook); &c. &c.] meanwhile, by the end of may, the russians are come across the weichsel again, lie in four camps on the hither side; start about june st;--henri waiting for them, in sagan country his head-quarter; and on both hands of that, fouquet and he spread out, since the middle of may, in their long thin chain of posts, from landshut to colberg again, like a thin wall of miles. to friedrich the russian movements are, and have been, full of enigma: "going upon colberg? going upon glogau; upon breslau?" that is a heavy-footed certainty, audibly tramping forward on us, amid these fond visions of the air! certain too, and visible to a duller eye than friedrich's; loudon in silesia is meditating mischief. "the inevitable russians, the inevitable loudon; and nothing but fouquet and henri on guard there, with their long thin chain of posts, infinitely too thin to do any execution!" thinks the king. to whom their modes of operating are but little satisfactory, as seen at schlettau from the distance. "condense yourself," urges he always on henri; "go forward on the russians; attack sharply this corps, that corps, while they are still separate and on march!" henri did condense himself, "took post between sagan and sprottau; post at frankfurt,"--poor frankfurt, is it to have a kunersdorf or zorndorf every year, then? no; the cautious henri never could see his way into these adventures; and did not attack any corps of the russians. took post at landsberg ultimately,--the russians, as usual, having posen as place-of-arms,--and vigilantly watched the russians, without coming to strokes at all. a spectacle growing gradually intolerable to the king, though he tries to veil his feelings. neither was fouquet's plan of procedure well seen by friedrich in the distance. ever since that of regiment manteuffel, which was a bit of disappointment, loudon has been quietly industrious on a bigger scale. privately he cherishes the hope, being a swift vehement enterprising kind of man, to oust fouquet; and perhaps to have glatz fortress taken, before his russians come! in the very end of may, loudon, privately aiming for glatz, breaks in upon silesia again,--a long way to eastward of fouquet, and as if regardless of glatz. upon which, fouquet, in dread for schweidnitz and perhaps breslau itself, hastened down into the plain country, to manoeuvre upon loudon; but found no loudon moving that way; and, in a day or two, learned that landshut, so weakly guarded, had been picked up by a big corps of austrians; and in another day or two, that loudon (june th) had blocked glatz,--loudon's real intention now clear to fouquet. as it was to friedrich from the first; whose anger and astonishment at this loss of landshut were great, when he heard of it in his camp of schlettau. "back to landshut," orders he ( th june, three days before leaving schlettau); "neither schweidnitz nor breslau are in danger: it is glatz the austrians mean [as fouquet and all the world now see they do!]; watch glatz; retake me landshut instantly!" the tone of friedrich, which is usually all friendliness to fouquet, had on this occasion something in it which offended the punctual and rather peremptory spartan mind. fouquet would not have neglected glatz; pity he had not been left to his own methods with landshut and it. deeply hurt, he read this order ( th june); and vowing to obey it, and nothing but it, used these words, which were remembered afterwards, to his assembled generals: "meine herren, it appears, then, we must take landshut again. loudon, as the next thing, will come on us there with his mass of force; and we must then, like prussians, hold out as long as possible, think of no surrender on open field, but if even beaten, defend ourselves to the last man. in case of a retreat, i will be one of the last that leaves the field: and should i have the misfortune to survive such a day, i give you my word of honor never to draw a prussian sword more." [stenzel, v. .] this speech of fouquet's (june th) was two days after friedrich got on march from schlettau. june th, fouquet got to landshut; drove out the austrians more easily than he had calculated, and set diligently, next day, to repair his works, writing to friedrich: "your majesty's order shall be executed here, while a man of us lives." fouquet, in the old crown-prince time, used to be called bayard by his royal friend. his royal friend, now darker of face and scathed by much ill-weather, has just quitted schlettau, three days before this recovery of landshut; and will not have gone far till he again hear news of fouquet. night of june th- th, friedrich, "between zehren and zabel," several miles down stream,--his bridges now all ready, out of lacy's cognizance,--has suddenly crossed elbe; and next afternoon pitches camp at broschwitz, which is straight towards lacy again. to lacy's astonishment; who is posted at moritzburg, with head-quarter in that beautiful country-seat of polish majesty,--only miles to eastward, should friedrich take that road. broschwitz is short way north of meissen, and lies on the road either to grossenhayn or to radeburg (radeburg only four miles northward of lacy), as friedrich shall see fit, on the morrow. for the meissen north road forks off there, in those two directions: straight northward is for grossenhayn, right hand is for badeburg. most interesting to lacy, which of these forks, what is quite optional, friedrich will take! lacy is an alert man; looks well to himself; warns daun; and will not be caught if he can help it. daun himself is encamped at reichenberg, within two miles of him, inexpugnably intrenched as usual; and the danger surely is not great: nevertheless both these generals, wise by experience, keep their eyes open. the first great feat of marching now follows, on friedrich's part; with little or no result to friedrich; but worth remembering, so strenuous, so fruitless was it,--so barred by ill news from without! both this and the second stand recorded for us, in brief intelligent terms by mitchell, who was present in both; and who is perfectly exact on every point, and intelligible throughout,--if you will read him with a map; and divine for yourself what the real names are, out of the inhuman blotchings made of them, not by mitchell's blame at all. [mitchell, _memoirs and papers,_ ii. et seq.] tuesday, june th, second day of friedrich's stay at broschwitz, mitchell, in a very confidential dialogue they had together, learned from him, under seal of secrecy, that it was his purpose to march for radeburg to-morrow morning, and attack lacy and his , , who lie encamped at moritzburg out yonder; for which step his majesty was pleased farther to show mitchell a little what the various inducements were: "one russian corps is aiming as if for berlin; the austrians are about besieging glatz,--pressing need that fouquet were reinforced in his silesian post of difficulty. then here are the reichs-people close by; can be in dresden three days hence, joined to daun: , odd there will then be of enemies in this part: i must beat lacy, if possible, while time still is!"--and ended by saying: "succeed here, and all may yet be saved; be beaten here, i know the consequences: but what can i do? the risk must be run; and it is now smaller than it will ever again be." mitchell, whose account is a fortnight later than the dialogue itself, does confess, "my lord, these reasons, though unhappily the thing seems to have failed, 'appear to me to be solid and unanswerable.'" much more do they to tempelhof, who sees deeper into the bottom of them than mitchell did; and finds that the failure is only superficial. [mitchell, _memoirs and papers,_ ii. (despatch, "june th, "); tempelhof, iv. .] the real success, thinks tempelhof, would be, could the king manoeuvre himself into silesia, and entice a cunctatory daun away with him thither. a cunctatory daun to preside over matters there, in his superstitiously cautious way; leaving saxony free to the reichsfolk,--whom a hulsen, left with his small remnant in schlettau, might easily take charge of, till silesia were settled?" the plan was bold, was new, and completely worthy of friedrich," votes tempelhof; "and it required the most consummate delicacy of execution. to lure daun on, always with the prospect open to him of knocking you on the head, and always by your rapidity and ingenuity to take care that he never got it done." this is tempelhof's notion: and this, sure enough, was actually friedrich's mode of management in the weeks following; though whether already altogether planned in his head, or only gradually planning itself, as is more likely, nobody can say. we will look a very little into the execution, concerning which there is no dubiety:-- wednesday, th june, "friedrich," as predicted to mitchell, the night before, "did start punctually, in three columns, at a.m. [sun just rising]; and, after a hot march, got encamped on the southward side of radeburg: ready to cross the rodern stream there to-morrow, as if intending for the lausitz [should that prove needful for alluring lacy],--and in the mean while very inquisitive where lacy might be. one of lacy's outposts, those saxon light horse, was fallen in with; was chased home, and lacy's camp discovered, that night. at bernsdorf, not three miles to southward or right of us; daun only another three to south of him. let us attack lacy to-morrow morning; wind round to get between daun and him, [tempelhof, iv. - .]--with fit arrangements; rapid as light! in the king's tent, accordingly, his generals are assembled to take their orders; brief, distinct, and to be done with brevity. and all are on the move for bernsdorf at next morning; when, behold,-- "thursday, th, at bernsdorf there is no lacy to be found. cautions dorn has ordered him in,--and not for lacy's sake, as appears, but for his own: 'hitherward, you alert lacy; to cover my right flank here, my hill of reichenberg,--lest it be not impregnable enough against that feline enemy!' and there they have taken post, say , against , ; and are palisading to a quite extraordinary degree. no fight possible with lacy or daun." this is what mitchell counts the failure of friedrich's enterprise: and certainly it grieved friedrich a good deal. who, on riding out to reconnoitre reichenberg (quintus icilius and battalion quintus part of his escort, if that be an interesting circumstance), finds reichenberg a plainly unattackable post; finds, by daun's rate of palisading, that there will be no attack from daun either. no attack from daun;--and, therefore, that hulsen's people may be sent home to schlettau again; and that he, friedrich, will take post close by, and wearisomely be content to wait for some new opportunity. which he does for a week to come; daun sitting impregnable, intrenched and palisaded to the teeth,--rather wishing to be attacked, you would say; or hopeful sometimes of doing something of the hochkirch sort again (for the country is woody, and the enemy audacious);--at all events, very clear not to attack. a man erring, sometimes to a notable degree, by over-caution. "could hardly have failed to overwhelm friedrich's small force, had he at once, on friedrich's crossing the elbe, joined lacy, and gone out against him," thinks tempelhof, pointing out the form of operation too. [tempelhof, iv. , .] caution is excellent; but not quite by itself. would caution alone do it, an army all of druidic whinstones, or innocent clay-sacks, incapable of taking hurt, would be the proper one!--daun stood there; friedrich looking daily into him,--visibly in ill humor, says mitchell; and no wonder; gloomy and surly words coming out of him, to the distress of his generals: "which i took the liberty of hinting, one evening, to his majesty;" hint graciously received, and of effect perceptible, at least to my imagining. wednesday, june th, after nearly a week of this, there rose, towards sunset, all over the reichenberg, and far and wide, an exuberant joy-firing: "for what in the world?" thinks friedrich. alas, your majesty,--since your own messenger has not arrived, nor indeed ever will, being picked up by pandours,--here, gathered from the austrian outposts or deserters, are news for you, fatal enough! landshut is done; fouquet and his valiant , are trodden out there. indignant fouquet has obeyed you, not wisely but too well. he has kept landshut six nights and five days. on the morning of the sixth day, here is what befell:-- "landshut, monday, d june, about a quarter to two in the morning, loudon, who had gathered , horse and foot for the business, and taken his measures, fired aloft, by way of signal, four howitzers into the gray of the summer morning; and burst loose upon fouquet, in various columns, on his southward front, on both flanks, ultimately in his rear too: columns all in the height of fighting humor, confident as three to one,--and having brandy in them, it is likewise said. fouquet and his people stood to arms, in the temper fouquet had vowed they would: defended their hills with an energy, with a steady skill, which loudon himself admired; but their hill-works would have needed thrice the number;--fouquet, by detaching and otherwise, has in arms only , men. toughly as they strove, after partial successes, they began to lose one hill, and then another; and in the course of hours, nearly all their hills. landshut town loudon had taken from them, landshut and its roads: in the end, the prussian position is becoming permeable, plainly untenable;--austrian force is moving to their rearward to block the retreat. "seeing which latter fact, fouquet throws out all his cavalry, a poor , , to secure the passes of the bober; himself formed square with the wrecks of his infantry; and, at a steady step, cuts way for himself with bayonet and bullet. with singular success for some time, in spite of the odds. and is clear across the bober; when lo, among the knolls ahead, masses of austrian cavalry are seen waiting him, besetting every passage! even these do not break him; but these, with infantry and cannon coming up to help them, do. here, for some time, was the fiercest tug of all,--till a bullet having killed fouquet's horse, and carried the general himself to the ground, the spasm ended. the lichnowski dragoons, a famed austrian regiment, who had charged and again charged with nothing but repulse on repulse, now broke in, all in a foam of rage; cut furiously upon fouquet himself; wounded fouquet thrice; would have killed him, had it not been for the heroism of poor trautschke, his groom [let us name the gallant fellow, even if unpronounceable], who flung himself on the body of his master, and took the bloody strokes instead of him; shrieking his loudest, 'will you murder the commanding general, then!' which brought up the colonel of lichnowski; a gentleman and ritter, abhorrent of such practices. to him fouquet gave his sword;--kept his vow never to draw it again. "the wrecks of fouquet's infantry were, many of them, massacred, no quarter given; such the unchivalrous fury that had risen. his cavalry, with the loss of about , cut their way through. they and some stragglers of foot, in whole about , of both kinds, were what remained of those , after this bloody morning's work. there had been about six hours of it; 'all over by o'clock.'" [_hofbericht von der am junius, , bey landshuth vorgefallenen action_ (in seyfarth, _beylagen,_ ii. - ); _helden-geschichte,_ vi. - ; tempelhof, iv. - ; stenzel, v. (who, by oversight,--this volume being posthumous to poor stenzel,--protracts the action to "half-past in the evening").] fouquet has obeyed to the letter: "did not my king wrong me?" fouquet may say to himself. truly, herr general, your king's order was a little unwise; as you (who were on the ground, and your king not) knew it to be. an unwise order;--perhaps not inexcusable in the sudden circumstances. and perhaps a still more perfect bayard would have preferred obeying such a king in spirit, rather than in letter, and thereby doing him vital service against his temporary will? it is not doubted but fouquet, left to himself and his , , with the fortresses and garrisons about him, would have maintained himself in silesia till help came. the issue is,--fouquet has probably lost this fine king his silesia, for the time being; and beyond any question, has lost him , prussian-spartan fighters, and a fine general whom he could ill spare!--in a word, the gate of silesia is burst open; and loudon has every prospect of taking glatz, which will keep it so. what a thunder-bolt for friedrich! one of the last pillars struck away from his tottering affairs. "inevitable, then? we are over with it, then?" one may fancy friedrich's reflections. but he showed nothing of them to anybody; in a few hours, had his mind composed, and new plans on the anvil. on the morrow of that austrian joy-firing,--morrow, or some day close on it (ought to have been dated, but is not),--there went from him, to magdeburg, the order: "have me such and such quantities of siege-artillery in a state of readiness." [tempelhof, iv. .] already meaning, it is thought, or contemplating as possible a certain siege, which surprised everybody before long! a most inventive, enterprising being; no end to his contrivances and unexpected outbreaks; especially when you have him jammed into a corner, and fancy it is all over with him! "to no other general," says tempelhof, "would such a notion of besieging dresden have occurred; or if it had suggested itself, the hideous difficulties would at once have banished it again, or left it only as a pious wish. but it is strokes of this kind that characterize the great man. often enough they have succeeded, been decisive of great campaigns and wars, and become splendid in the eyes of all mankind; sometimes, as in this case, they have only deserved to succeed, and to be splendid in the eyes of judges. how get these masses of enemies lured away, so that you could try such a thing? there lay the difficulty; insuperable altogether, except by the most fine and appropriate treatment. of a truth, it required a connected series of the wisest measures and most secret artifices of war;--and withal, that you should throw over them such a veil as would lead your enemy to see in them precisely the reverse of what they meant. how all this was to be set in action, and how the enemy's own plans, intentions and moods of mind were to be used as raw material for attainment of your object,--studious readers will best see in the manoeuvres of the king in his now more than critical condition; which do certainly exhibit the completest masterpiece in the art of leading armies that europe has ever seen." tempelhof is well enough aware, as readers should continue to be, that, primarily, and onward for three weeks more, not dresden, but the getting to silesia on good terms, is friedrich's main enterprise: dresden only a supplement or substitute, a second string to his bow, till the first fail. but, in effect, the two enterprises or strings coincide, or are one, till the first of them fail; and tempelhof's eulogy will apply to either. the initiatory step to either is a second feat of marching;--still notabler than the former, which has had this poor issue. soldiers of the studious or scientific sort, if there are yet any such among us, will naturally go to tempelhof, and fearlessly encounter the ruggedest documents and books, if tempelhof leave them dubious on any point (which he hardly will): to ingenuous readers of other sorts, who will take a little pains for understanding the thing, perhaps the following intermittent far-off glimpses may suffice. [mitchell, ii. et seq.; and tempelhof (iv. - et seq.), as a scientific check on mitchell, or unconscious fellow-witness with him,--agreeing beautifully almost always.] on ascertaining the landshut disaster, friedrich falls back a little; northward to gross-dobritz: "possibly daun will think us cowed by what has happened; and may try something on us?" daun is by no means sure of this cowed phenomenon, or of the retreat it has made; and tries nothing on it; only rides up daily to it, to ascertain that it is there; and diligently sends out parties to watch the northeastward parts, where run the silesian roads. after about a week of this, and some disappointments, friedrich decides to march in earnest. there had, one day, come report of lacy's being detached, lacy with a strong division, to block the silesian roads; but that, on trial, proved to be false. "pshaw, nothing for us but to go ourselves!" concludes friedrich,--and, july st, sends off his bakery and heavy baggage; indicating to mitchell, "to-morrow morning at !"--here is mitchell's own account; accurate in every particular, as we find: [mitchell, ii. ; tempelhof, iv. .] wednesday, july d. "from gross-dobritz to quosdorf [to quosdorf, a poor hamlet there, not quolsdorf, as many write, which is a town far enough from there]--the army marched accordingly. in two columns; baggage, bakery and artillery in a third; through a country extremely covered with wood. were attacked by some uhlans and hussars; whom a few cannon-shot sent to the road again. march lasted from in the morning to in the afternoon;" twelve long hours. "went northeastward a space of miles, leaving radeburg, much more leaving reichenberg, moritzburg and the daun quarters well to the right, and at last quite to rearward; crossed the roder, crossed the pulsnitz," small tributaries or sub-tributaries of the elbe in those parts; "crossed the latter (which divides meissen from the lausitz) partly by the bridge of krakau, first village in the lausitz. head-quarter was the poor hamlet of quosdorf, a mile farther on. 'this march had been carefully kept secret,' says mitchell; 'and it was the opinion of the most experienced officers, that, had the enemy discovered the king of prussia's design, they might, by placing their light troops in the roads with proper supports, have rendered it extremely difficult, if not impracticable.'" daun very early got to know of friedrich's departure, and whitherward; which was extremely interesting to daun: "aims to be in silesia before me; will cut out loudon from his fine prospects on glatz?"--and had instantly reinforced, perhaps to , , lacy's division; and ordered lacy, who is the nearest to friedrich's march, to start instantly on the skirts of said march, and endeavor diligently to trample on the same. for the purpose of harassing said march, lacy is to do whatever he with safety can (which we see is not much: "a few uhlans and hussars"); at lowest, is to keep it constantly in sight; and always encamp as near it as he dare; [tempelhof, iv. .]--daun himself girding up his loins; and preparing, by a short-cut, to get ahead of it in a day or two. lacy was alert enough, but could not do much with safety: a few uhlans and hussars, that was all; and he is now encamped somewhere to rearward, as near as he dare. thursday, d july. "a rest-day; army resting about krakau, after such a spell through the woody moors. the king, with small escort, rides out reconnoitring, hither, thither, on the southern side or lacy quarter: to the top of the keulenberg (bludgeon hill), at last,--which is ten or a dozen miles from krakau and quosdorf, but commands an extensive view. towns, village-belfries, courses of streams; a country of mossy woods and wild agricultures, of bogs, of shaggy moor. southward miles is radeberg [not radeburg, observe]; yonder is the town of pulsnitz on our stream of pulsnitz; to southeast, and twice as far, is bischofswerda, chasmy stolpen (too well known to us before this): behind us, konigsbruck, kamenz and the road from grossenhayn to bautzen: these and many other places memorable to this king are discoverable from bludgeon hill. but the discovery of discoveries to him is lacy's camp,--not very far off, about a mile behind pulsnitz; clearly visible, at lichtenberg yonder. which we at once determine to attack; which, and the roads to which, are the one object of interest just now,--nothing else visible, as it were, on the top of the keulenberg here, or as we ride homeward, meditating it with a practical view. 'march at midnight,' that is the practical result arrived at, on reaching home." friday, july th. "since the stroke of midnight we are all on march again; nothing but the baggages and bakeries left [with quintus to watch them, which i see is his common function in these marches]; king himself in the vanguard,--who hopes to give lacy a salutation. [tempelhof, iv. .] 'the march was full of defiles,' says mitchell: and mitchell, in his carriage, knew little what a region it was, with boggy intricacies, lakelets, tangly thickets, stocks and stumps; or what a business to pass with heavy cannon, baggage-wagons and columns of men! such a march; and again not far from twenty miles of it: very hot, as the morning broke, in the breathless woods. had lacy known what kind of ground we had to march in, and been enterprising--! thinks tempelhof. the march being so retarded, lacy got notice of it, and vanished quite away,--to bischofswerda, i believe, and the protecting neighborhood of daun. nothing of him left when we emerge, simultaneously from this hand and from that, on his front and on his rear, to take him as in a vice, as in the sudden snap of a fox-trap;--fox quite gone. hardly a few hussars of him to be picked up; and no chase possible, after such a march." friedrich had done everything to keep himself secret: but lacy has endless pandours prowling about; and, i suppose, the country-people (in the lausitz here, who ought to have loyalty) are on the lacy side. friedrich has to take his disappointment. he encamps here, on the heights, head-quarter pulsnitz,--till quintus come up with the baggage, which he does punctually, but not till nightfall, not till midnight the last of him. saturday, july th. "to the road again at a.m. again to northward, to kloster (cloister) marienstern, a miles or so,--head-quarter in the cloister itself. daun had set off for bautzen, with his or , , in the extremest push of haste, and is at bautzen this night; ahead of friedrich, with lacy as rear-guard of him, who is also ahead of friedrich, and safe at bischofswerda. a daun hastening as never before. this news of a daun already at bautzen awakened friedrich's utmost speed: 'never do, that daun be in silesia before us! indispensable to get ahead of bautzen and him, or to be waiting on the flank of his next march!' accordingly, "sunday, july th, friedrich, at a.m., is again in motion; in three columns, streaming forward all day: straight eastward, daun-ward. intends to cross the spree, leaving bautzen to the right; and take post somewhere to northeast of bautzen, and on the flank of daun. the windless day grows hotter and hotter; the roads are of loose sand, full of jungles and impediments. this was such a march for heat and difficulty as the king never had before. in front of each column went wagons with a few pontoons; there being many brooks and little streams to cross. the soldier, for his own health's sake, is strictly forbidden to drink; but as the burning day rose higher, in the sweltering close march, thirst grew irresistible. crossing any of these brooks, the soldiers pounce down, irrepressible, whole ranks of them; lift water, clean or dirty; drink it greedily from the brim of the hat. sergeants may wag their tongues and their cudgels at discretion: 'showers of cudgel-strokes,' says archenholtz; sergeants going like threshers on the poor men;--'though the upper officers had a touch of mercy, and affected not to see this disobedience to the sergeants and their cudgels,' which was punishable with death. war is not an over-fond mother, but a sufficiently spartan one, to her sons. there dropt down, in the march that day, prussian men, who never rose again. and as to intercepting daun by such velocity,--daun too is on march; gone to gorlitz, at almost a faster pace, if at a far heavier,--like a cart-horse on gallop; faring still worse in the heat: ' of daun's men died on the road this day, and more were invalided for life.' [tempelhof, iv. ; archenholtz, ii. ; mitchell, ii. .] "before reaching the spree, friedrich, who is in the vanguard, hears of this gorlitz march, and that the bird is flown. for which he has, therefore, to devise straightway a new expedient: 'wheel to the right; cross spree farther down, holding towards bautzen itself,' orders friedrich. and settles within two miles of bautzen; his left being at doberschutz,--on the strong ground he held after hochkirch, while daun, two years ago, sat watching so quiescent. daun knows what kind of march these prussians, blocked out from relief of neisse, stole on him then, and saved their silesia, in spite of his watching and blocking;--and has plunged off, in the manner of a cart-horse scared into galloping, to avoid the like." what a sabbath-day's journey, on both sides, for those sons of war! nothing in the roman times, though they had less baggage, comes up to such modern marching: nor is this the fastest of friedrich's, though of daun's it unspeakably is. "friedrich, having missed daun, is thinking now to whirl round, and go into lacy,--which will certainly bring daun back, even better. "this evening, accordingly, ziethen occupies bautzen; sweeps out certain lacy precursors, cavalry in some strength, who are there. lacy has come on as far as bischofswerda: and his horse-people seem to be wide ahead; provokingly pert upon friedrich's outposts, who determines to chastise them the first thing to-morrow. to-morrow, as is very needful, is to be a rest-day otherwise. for friedrich's wearied people a rest-day; not at all for daun's, who continues his heavy-footed galloping yet another day and another, till he get across the queiss, and actually reach silesia." monday, july th. "rest-day accordingly, in bautzen neighborhood; nothing passing but a curious skirmish of horse,--in which friedrich, who had gone westward reconnoitring, seeking lacy, had the main share, and was notably situated for some time. godau, a small town or village, six miles west of bautzen, was the scene of this notable passage: actors in it were friedrich himself, on the prussian part; and, on the austrian, by degrees lacy's cavalry almost in whole. lacy's cavalry, what friedrich does not know, are all in those neighborhoods: and no sooner is godau swept clear of them, than they return in greater numbers, needing to be again swept; and, in fact, they gradually gather in upon him, in a singular and dangerous manner, after his first successes on them, and before his infantry have time to get up and support. "friedrich was too impatient in this provoking little haggle, arresting him here. he had ordered on the suitable battalion with cannon; but hardly considers that the battalion itself is six miles off,--not to speak of the order, which is galloping on horseback, not going by electricity:--the impatient friedrich had slashed in at once upon godau, taken above prisoners; but is astonished to see the slashed people return, with saxon-dragoon regiments, all manner of regiments, reinforcing them. and has some really dangerous fencing there;--issuing in dangerous and curious pause of both parties; who stand drawn up, scarcely beyond pistol-shot, and gazing into one another, for i know not how many minutes; neither of them daring to move off, lest, on the instant of turning, it be charged and overwhelmed. as the impatient friedrich, at last, almost was,--had not his infantry just then got in, and given their cannon-salvo. he lost about , the lacy people hardly so many; and is now out of a considerable personal jeopardy, which is still celebrated in the anecdote-books, perhaps to a mythical extent. 'two uhlans [saxon-polish light-horse], with their truculent pikes, are just plunging in,' say the anecdote-books: friedrich's page, who had got unhorsed, sprang to his feet, bellowed in polish to them: 'what are you doing here, fellows?' 'excellenz [for the page is not in prussian uniform, or in uniform at all, only well-dressed], excellenz, our horses ran away with us,' answer the poor fellows; and whirl back rapidly." the story, says retzow, is true. [retzow, ii. .] this is the one event of july th,--and of july th withal; which day also, on news of daun that come, friedrich rests. up to july th, it is clear friedrich is shooting with what we called the first string of his bow,--intent, namely, on silesia. nor, on hearing that daun is forward again, now hopelessly ahead, does he quit that enterprise; but, on the contrary, to-morrow morning, july th, tries it by a new method, as we shall see: method cunningly devised to suit the second string as well. "how lucky that we have a second string, in case of failure!"-- tuesday, th july. "news that daun reached gorlitz yesternight; and is due to-night at lauban, fifty miles ahead of us:--no hope now of reaching daun. perhaps a sudden clutch at lacy, in the opposite direction, might be the method of recalling daun, and reaching him? that is the method fallen upon. "sun being set, the drums in bautzen sound tattoo,--audible to listening croats in the environs;--beat tattoo, and, later in the night, other passages of drum-music, also for croat behoof (general-march i think it is); indicating that we have started again, in pursuit of daun. and in short, every precaution being taken to soothe the mind of lacy and the croats, friedrich silently issues, with his best speed, in three columns, by three roads, towards lacy's quarters, which go from that village of godau westward, in a loose way, several miles. in three columns, by three routes, all to converge, with punctuality, on lacy. of the columns, two are of infantry, the leftmost and the rightmost, on each hand, hidden as much as possible; one is of cavalry in the middle. coming on in this manner--like a pair of triple-pincers, which are to grip simultaneously on lacy, and astonish him, if he keep quiet. but lacy is vigilant, and is cautious almost in excess. learning by his pandours that the king seems to be coming this way, lacy gathers himself on the instant; quits godau, by one in the morning; and retreats bodily, at his fastest step, to bischofswerda again; nor by any means stops there." [tempelhof, iv. - .] for the third time! "three is lucky," friedrich may have thought: and there has no precaution, of drum-music, of secrecy or persuasive finesse, been neglected on lacy. but lacy has ears that hear the grass grow: our elaborately accurate triple-pincers, closing simultaneously on bischofswerda, after eighteen miles of sweep, find lacy flown again; nothing to be caught of him but some hussars. all this day and all next night lacy is scouring through the western parts at an extraordinary rate; halting for a camp, twice over, at different places,--durre fuchs (thirsty fox), durre buhle (thirsty sweetheart), or wherever it was; then again taking wing, on sound of prussian parties to rear; in short, hurrying towards dresden and the reichsfolk, as if for life. lacy's retreat, i hear, was ingeniously done, with a minimum of disorder in the circumstances: but certainly it was with a velocity as if his head had been on fire; and, indeed, they say he escaped annihilation by being off in time. he put up finally, not at thirsty sweetheart, still less at thirsty fox, successive hamlets and public houses in the sandy wilderness which lies to north of elbe, and is called dresden heath; but farther on, in the same tract, at weisse hirsch (white hart); which looks close over upon dresden, within two miles or so; and is a kind of height, and military post of advantage. next morning, july th, he crosses dresden bridge, comes streaming through the city; and takes shelter with the reichsfolk near there:--towards plauen chasm; the strongest ground in the world; hardly strong enough, it appears, in the present emergency. friedrich's first string, therefore, has snapt in two; but, on the instant, he has a second fitted on:--may that prove luckier! chapter ii. friedrich besieges dresden. from and after the evening of wednesday, july th, it is upon a siege of dresden that friedrich goes;--turning the whole war-theatre topsy-turvy; throwing daun, loudon, lacy, everybody out, in this strange and sudden manner. one of the finest military feats ever done, thinks tempelhof. undoubtedly a notable result so far, and notably done; as the impartial reader (if tempelhof be a little inconsistent) sees for himself. these truly are a wonderful series of marches, opulent in continual promptitudes, audacities, contrivances;--done with shining talent, certainly; and also with result shining, for the moment. and in a fabulous epic i think dresden would certainly have fallen to friedrich, and his crowd of enemies been left in a tumbled condition. but the epic of reality cares nothing for such considerations; and the time allowable for capture of dresden is very brief. had daun, on getting warning, been as prompt to return as he was to go, frankly fronting at once the chances of the road, he might have been at dresden again perhaps within a week,--no siege possible for friedrich, hardly the big guns got up from magdeburg. but friedrich calculated there would be very considerable fettling and haggling on daun's part; say a good fortnight of siege allowed;--and that, by dead-lift effort of all hands, the thing was feasible within that limit. on friedrich's part, as we can fancy, there was no want of effort; nor on his people's part,--in spite of his complainings, say retzow and the opposition party; who insinuate their own private belief of impossibility from the first. which is not confirmed by impartial judgments,--that of archenholtz, and others better. the truth is, friedrich was within an inch of taking dresden by the first assault,--they say he actually could have taken it by storm the first day; but shuddered at the thought of exposing poor dresden to sack and plunder; and hoped to get it by capitulation. one of the rapidest and most furious sieges anywhere on record. filled europe with astonishment, expectancy, admiration, horror:--must be very briefly recited here. the main chronological epochs, salient points of crisis and successive phases of occurrence, will sufficiently indicate it to the reader's fancy. "it was thursday evening, th july, when lacy got to his reichsfolk, and took breath behind plauen chasm. maguire is governor of dresden. the consternation of garrison and population was extreme. to lacy himself it did not seem conceivable that friedrich could mean a siege of dresden. friedrich, that night, is beyond the river, in daun's old impregnability of reichenberg: 'he has no siege-artillery,' thinks lacy; 'no means, no time.' "nevertheless, saturday, next day after to-morrow,--behold, there is hulsen, come from schlettau to our neighborhood, on our austrian side of the river. and at kaditz yonder, a mile below dresden, are not the king's people building their pontoons; in march since in the morning,--evidently coming across, if not to besiege dresden, then to attack us; which is perhaps worse! we outnumber them,--but as to trying fight in any form? zweibruck leaves maguire an additional , ;--every help and encouragement to maguire; whose garrison is now , : 'be of courage, excellenz maguire! nobody is better skilled in siege-matters. feldmarschall and relief will be here with despatch!'--and withdraws, lacy and he, to the edge of the pirna country, there to be well out of harm's way. lacy and he, it is thought, would perhaps have got beaten, trying to save dresden from its misery. lacy's orders were, not, on any terms, to get into fighting with friedrich, but only to cover dresden. dresden, without fighting, has proved impossible to cover, and lacy leaves it bare." [tempelhof, iv. .] "at kaditz," says mitchell, "where the second bridge of boats took a great deal of time, i was standing by his majesty, when news to the above effect came across from general hulsen. the king was highly pleased; and, turning to me, said: 'just what i wished! they have saved me a very long march [round by dippoldiswalde or so, in upon the rear of them] by going of will.' and immediately the king got on horseback; ordering the army to follow as fast as it could." [mitchell, ii. .] "through preisnitz, plauen-ward, goes the army; circling round the western and the southern side of dresden; [a dread spectacle from the walls]; across weistritz brook and the plauen chasm [comfortably left vacant]; and encamps on the southeastern side of dresden, at gruna, behind the great garden; ready to begin business on the morrow. gruna, about a mile to southeast of dresden walls, is head-quarter during this siege. "through the night, the prussians proceed to build batteries, the best they can;--there is no right siege-artillery yet; a few accidental howitzers and -pounders, the rest mere field-guns;--but to-morrow morning, be as it may, business shall begin. prince von holstein [nephew of the holstein beck, or "holstein silver-plate," whom we lost long ago], from beyond the river, encamped at the white hart yonder, is to play upon the neustadt simultaneously. monday th, "at a.m., cannonade began; diligent on holstein's part and ours; but of inconsiderable effect. maguire has been summoned: 'will [with such a garrison, in spite of such trepidations from the court and others] defend himself to the last man.' free-corps people [not quintus's, who is on the other side of the river], [tempelhof, v. .] with regulars to rear, advance on the pirna gate; hurl in maguire's out-parties; and had near got in along with them,--might have done so, they and their supports, it is thought by some, had storm seemed the recommendable method. "for four days there is livelier and livelier cannonading; new batteries getting opened in the moschinska garden and other points; on the prussian part, great longing that the magdeburg artillery were here. the prussians are making diligently ready for it, in the mean while (refitting the old trenches, 'old envelope' dug by maguire himself in the anti-schmettau time; these will do well enough):--the prussians reinforce holstein at the weisse, hirsch, throw a new bridge across to him; and are busy day and night. maguire, too, is most industrious, resisting and preparing: thursday shuts up the weistritz brook (a dam being ready this long while back, needing only to be closed), and lays the whole south side of dresden under water. many rumors about daun: coming, not coming;--must for certain come, but will possibly be slowish." friday th. "joy to every prussian soul: here are the heavy guns from magdeburg. these, at any rate, are come; beds for them all ready; and now the cannonading can begin in right earnest. as it does with a vengeance. to mitchell, and perhaps others, 'the king of prussia says he will now be master of the town in a few days. and the disposition he has made of his troops on the other side of the river is intended not only to attack dresden on that side [and defend himself from daun], but also to prevent the garrison from retiring.... this morning, friday, th, the suburb of pirna, the one street left of it, was set fire to, by maguire; and burnt out of the way, as the others had been. many of the wretched inhabitants had fled to our camp: "let them lodge in plauen, no fighting there, quiet artificial water expanses there instead." many think the town will not be taken; or that, if it should, it will cost very dear,--so determined seems maguire. [mitchell, iii. , .] and, in effect, from this day onwards, the siege became altogether fierce, and not only so, but fiery as well; and, though lasting in that violent form only four, or at the very utmost seven, days more, had near ruined dresden from the face of the world." saturday, th, "maguire, touched to the quick by these new artilleries of the prussians this morning, found good to mount a gun or two on the leads of the kreuz-kirche [protestant high church, where, before now, we have noticed friedrich attending quasi-divine service more than once];--that is to say, on the crown of dresden; from which there is view into the bottom of friedrich's trenches and operations. others say, it was only two or three old saxon cannon, which stand there, for firing on gala-days; and that they hardly fired on friedrich more than once. for certain, this is one of the desirablest battery-stations,--if only friedrich will leave it alone. which he will not for a moment; but brings terrific howitzers to bear on it; cannon-balls, grenadoes; tears it to destruction, and the poor kreuz-kirche along with it. kirche speedily all in flames, street after street blazing up round it, again and again for eight-and-forty hours coming; hapless dresden, during two days and nights, a mere volcano henceforth." "by mistake all that, and without order of mine," says friedrich once;--meaning, i think, all that of the kreuz-kirche: and perhaps wishing he could mean the bombardment altogether, [schoning, ii. "to prince henri, at giessen [frankfurt country], d july, ."]--who nevertheless got, and gets, most of the credit of the thing from a shocked outside world. "this morning," same saturday, th, "daun is reported to have arrived; vanguard of him said to be at schonfeld, over in thirsty-sweetheart country yonder which friedrich, going to reconnoitre, finds tragically indisputable: 'there, for certain; only five miles from holstein's post at the white hart, and no river between;--as the crow flies, hardly five from our own camp. perhaps it will be some days yet before he do anything?' so that friedrich persists in his bombardment, only the more: 'by fire-torture, then! let the bombarded royalties assail maguire, and maguire give in;--it is our one chance left; and succeed we will and must!' cruel, say you?--ah, yes, cruel enough, not merciful at all. the soul of friedrich, i perceive, is not in a bright mood at this time, but in a black and wrathful, worn almost desperate against the slings and arrows of unjust fate: 'ahead, i say! if everybody will do miracles, cannot we perhaps still manage it, in spite of fate?'" mitchell is very sorry; but will forget and forgive those inexorable passages of war. "i cannot think of the bombardment of dresden without horror," says he; "nor of many other things i have seen. misfortunes naturally sour men's temper [even royal men's]; and long continued, without interval, at last extinguish humanity." "we are now in a most critical and dangerous situation, which cannot long last: one lucky event, approaching to a miracle, may still save all: but the extreme caution and circumspection of marshal daun--!" [mitchell, ii. , .] if daun could be swift, and end the miseries of dresden, surely dresden would be much obliged to him. it was ten days yet, after that of the kreuz-kirche, before dresden quite got rid of its siege: daun never was a sudden man. by a kind of accident, he got holstein hustled across the river that first night (july th),--not annihilated, as was very feasible, but pushed home, out of his way. whereby the north side of dresden is now open; and daun has free communication with maguire. maguire rose thereupon to a fine pitch of spirits; tried several things, and wished daun to try; but with next to no result. for two days after holstein's departure, daun sat still, on his safe northern shore; stirring nothing but his own cunctations and investigations, leaving the bombardment, or cannonade, to take its own course. one attempt he did make in concert with maguire (night of monday st), and one attempt only, of a serious nature; which, like the rest, was unsuccessful. and would not be worth mentioning,--except for the poor regiment bernburg's sake; bernburg having got into strange case in consequence of it. "this attempt [night of st- d july] was a combined sally and assault--sally by maguire's people, a general nugent heading them, from the south or plauen side of dresden, and assault by , of daun's from the north side--upon friedrich's trenches. which are to be burst in upon in this double way, and swept well clear, as may be expected. friedrich, however, was aware of the symptoms, and had people ready waiting,--especially, had regiment bernburg, battalions st and d; a regiment hitherto without stain. "bernburg accordingly, on general nugent's entering their trenches from the south side, falls altogether heartily on general nugent; tumbles him back, takes prisoners, nudent himself one of them [who is considered to have been the eye of the enterprise, worth many hundreds this night] all this bernburg, in its usually creditable manner, does, as expected of it. but after, or during all this, when the dann people from the north come streaming in, say four to one, both south and north, bernburg looked round for support; and seeing none, had, after more or less of struggle, to retire as a defeated bernburg,--austrians taking the battery, and ruling supreme there for some time. till wedell, or somebody with fresh battalions, came up; and, rallying bernburg to him, retook their battery, and drove out the austrians, with a heavy loss of prisoners. [tempelhof, iv. .] "i did not hear that bernburg's conduct was liable to the least fair censure. but friedrich's soul is severe at this time; demanding miracles from everybody: 'you runaway bernburg, shame on you!'--and actually takes the swords from them, and cuts off their hat-tresses: 'there!' which excited such an astonishment in the prussian army as was seldom seen before. and affected bernburg to the length almost of despair, and breaking of heart,--in a way that is not ridiculous to me at all, but beautiful and pathetic. of which there is much talk, now and long afterwards, in military circles. 'the sorrows of these poor bernburgers, their desperate efforts to wash out this stigma, their actual washing of it out, not many weeks hence, and their magnificent joy on the occasion,--these are the one distinguishing point in daun's relief of dresden, which was otherwise quite a cunctatory, sedentary matter." daun built three bridges,--he had a broad stone one already,--but did little or nothing with them; and never himself came across at all. merely shot out nocturnal pandour parties, and ordered up lacy and the reichsfolk to do the like, and break the night's rest of his enemy. he made minatory movements, one at least, down the river, by his own shore, on friedrich's ammunition-boats from torgau, and actually intercepted certain of them, which was something; but, except this, and vague flourishings of the pandour kind, left friedrich to his own course. friedrich bombarded for a day or two farther; cannonaded, out of more or fewer batteries, for eight, or i think ten days more. attacks from daun there were to be, now on this side, now on that; many rumors of attack, but, except once only (midnight pandours attempting the king's lodging, "a farm-house near gruna," but to their astonishment rousing the whole prussian army "in the course of three minutes" [archenholtz, ii. (who is very vivid, but does not date); rodenbeck, ii. (quotes similar account by another eye-witness, and guesses it to be "night of july d- d").]), rumor was mainly all. for guarding his siege-lines, friedrich has to alter his position; to shift slightly, now fronting this way, now the other way; is "called always at midnight" (against these nocturnal disturbances), and "never has his clothes off." nevertheless, continues his bombardment, and then his cannonading, till his own good time, which i think is till the th. his "ricochet-battery," which is good against maguire's people, innocent to dresden, he continued for three days more;--while gathering his furnitures about plauen country, making his arrangements at meissen;--did not march till the night of june th. altogether calmly; no daun or austrian molesting him in the least; his very sentries walking their rounds in the trenches till daylight; after which they also marched, unmolested, meissen-ward. unfortunate friedrich has made nothing of dresden, then. after such a june and july of it, since he left the meissen country; after all these intricate manoeuvrings, hot fierce marchings and superhuman exertions, here is he returning to meissen country poorer than if he had stayed. fouquet lost, glatz unrelieved--nay, just before marching off, what is this new phenomenon? is this by way of "happy journey to you!" towards sunset of the th, exuberant joy-firing rises far and wide from the usually quiet austrian lines,--"meaning what, once more?" meaning that glatz is lost, your majesty; that, instead of a siege of many weeks (as might have been expected with fouquet for commandant), it has held out, under fouquet's second, only a few hours; and is gone without remedy! certain, though incredible. imbecile commandant, treacherous garrison (austrian deserters mainly), with stealthy jesuits acting on them: no use asking what. here is the sad narrative, in succinct form. capture of glatz ( th july, ). "loudon is a swift man, when he can get bridle; but the curb-hand of daun is often heavy on him. loudon has had glatz blockaded since june th; since june d he has had fouquet rooted away, and the ground clear for a siege of glatz. but had to abstain altogether, in the mean time; to take camp at landshut, to march and manoeuvre about, in support of daun, and that heavy-footed gallop of daun's which then followed: on the whole, it was not till friedrich went for dresden that the siege-artillery, from olmutz, could be ordered forward upon glatz; not for a fortnight more that the artillery could come; and, in spite of loudon's utmost despatch, not till break of day, july th, that the batteries could open. after which, such was loudon's speed and fortune,--and so diligent had the jesuits been in those seven weeks,--the 'siege,' as they call it, was over in less than seven hours. "one colonel d'o [piedmontese by nation, an incompetent person, known to loud trenck during his detention here] was commandant of glatz, and had the principal fortress,--for there are two, one on each side the neisse river;--his second was a colonel quadt, by birth prussian, seemingly not very competent he either, who had command of the old fortress, round which lies the town of glatz: a little town, abounding in jesuits;--to whose virgin, if readers remember, friedrich once gave a new gown; with small effect on her, as would appear. the quadt-d'o garrison was , ,--and, if tales are true, it had been well bejesuited during those seven weeks. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ v. .] at four in the morning, july th) the battering began on quadt; quadt, i will believe, responding what he could,--especially from a certain arrowhead redoubt (or fleche) he has, which ought to have been important to him. after four or five hours of this, there was mutual pause,--as if both parties had decided upon breakfast before going farther. "quadt's fortress is very strong, mostly hewn in the rock; and he has that important outwork of a fleche; which is excellent for enfilading, as it extends well beyond the glacis; and, being of rock like the rest, is also abundantly defensible. loudon's people, looking over into this fleche, find it negligently guarded; quadt at breakfast, as would seem:--and directly send for harsch, captain of the siege, and even for loudon, the general-in-chief. negligently guarded, sure enough; nothing in the fleche but a few sentries, and these in the horizontal position, taking their unlawful rest there, after such a morning's work. 'seize me that,' eagerly orders loudon; 'hold that with firm grip!' which is done; only to step in softly, two battalions of you, and lay hard hold. incompetent quadt, figure in what a flurry, rushing out to recapture his fleche,--explodes instead into mere anarchy, whole companies of him flinging down their arms at their officers' feet, and the like. so that quadt is totally driven in again, austrians along with him; and is obliged to beat chamade;--d'o following the example, about an hour after, without even a capitulation. was there ever seen such a defence! major unruh, one of a small minority, was prussian, and stanch; here is unruh's personal experience,--testimony on d'o's trial, i suppose,--and now pretty much the one thing worth reading on this subject. "major ulzruh testifies: 'at four in the morning, th july, , the enemy began to cannonade the old fortress [that of quadt]; and about nine, i was ordered with men to clear the envelope from austrians. just when i had got to the damm-gate, halt was called. i asked the commandant, who was behind me, which way i should march; to the crown-work or to the envelope? being answered, to the envelope, i found on coming out at the field-gate nothing but an austrian lieutenant-colonel and some men. he called to me, "there had been chamade beaten, and i was not to run into destruction (mich unglucklich machen)!" i offered him quarter; and took him in effect prisoner, with of his best men; and sent him to the commandant, with request that he would keep my rear free, or send me reinforcement. i shot the enemy a great many people here; chased him from the field-gate, and out of both the envelope and the redoubt called the crane [that is the fleche itself, only that the austrians are mostly not now there, but gone through into the interior there!]--returning to the field-gate, i found that the commandant had beaten chamade a second time; there were marching in, by this field-gate, two battalions of the austrian regiment andlau; i had to yield myself prisoner, and was taken to general loudon. he asked me, "don't you know the rules of war, then; that you fire after chamade is beaten?" i answered in my heat, "i knew of no chamade; what poltroonery or what treachery had been going on, i knew not!" loudon answered, "you might deserve to have your head laid at your feet, sir! am i here to inquire which of you shows bravery, which poltroonery?"' [seyfarth, ii. .] a blazing loudon, when the fire is up!"-- after the peace, d'o had court-martial, which sentenced him to death, friedrich making it perpetual imprisonment: "perhaps not a traitor, only a blockhead!" thought friedrich. he had been recommended to his post by fouquet. what trenck writes of him is, otherwise, mostly lies. thus is the southern key of silesia (one of the two southern keys, neisse being the other) lost to friedrich, for the first time; and loudon is like to drive a trade there; "will absolutely nothing prosper with us, then?" nothing, seemingly, your majesty! heavier news friedrich scarcely ever had. but there is no help. this too he has to carry with him as he can into the meissen country. unsuccessful altogether; beaten on every hand. human talent, diligence, endeavor, is it but as lightning smiting the serbonian bog? smite to the last, your majesty, at any rate; let that be certain. as it is, and has been. that is always something, that is always a great thing. friedrich intends no pause in those meissen countries. july th, on his march northward, he detaches hulsen with the old , to take camp at schlettau as before, and do his best for defence of saxony against the reichsfolk, numerous, but incompetent; he himself, next day, passes on, leaving meissen a little on his right, to schieritz, some miles farther down,--intending there to cross elbe, and make for silesia without loss of an hour. need enough of speed thither; more need than even friedrich supposes! yesterday, july th, loudon's vanguard came blockading breslau, and this day loudon himself;--though friedrich heard nothing, anticipated nothing, of that dangerous fact, for a week hence or more. soltikof's and loudon's united intentions on silesia he has well known this long while; and has been perpetually dunning prince henri on the subject, to no purpose,--only hoping always there would probably be no great rapidity on the part of these discordant allies. friedrich's feelings, now that the contrary is visible, and indeed all through the summer in regard to the soltikof-loudon business, and the fouquet-henri method of dealing with it, have been painful enough, and are growing ever more so. cautious henri never would make the smallest attack on soltikof, but merely keep observing him;--the end of which, what can the end of it be? urges friedrich always: "condense yourselves; go in upon the russians, while they are in separate corps;"--and is very ill-satisfied with the languor of procedures there. as is the prince with such reproaches, or implied reproaches, on said languor. nor is his humor cheered, when the king's bad predictions prove true. what has it come to? these letters of king and prince are worth reading,--if indeed you can, in the confusion of schoning (a somewhat exuberant man, loud rather than luminous);--so curious is the private dialogue going on there at all times, in the background of the stage, between the brothers. one short specimen, extending through the june and july just over,--specimen distilled faithfully out of that huge jumbling sea of schaning, and rendered legible,--the reader will consent to. dialogue of friedrich and henri (from their private correspondence: june th-july th, ). friedrich (june th; before his first crossing elbe: henri at sagan; he at schlettau, scanning the waste of fatal possibilities). ... embarrassing? not a doubt, of that! "i own, the circumstances both of us are in are like to turn my head, three or four times a day." loudon aiming for neisse, don't you think? fouquet all in the wrong.--"one has nothing for it but to watch where the likelihood of the biggest misfortune is, and to run thither with one's whole strength." henri... "i confess i am in great apprehension for colberg:"--shall one make thither; think you? russians, , as the first instalment of them, have arrived; got to posen under fermor, june st:--so the commandant of glogau writes me (see enclosed). friedrich (june th). commandant of glogau writes impossibilities: russians are not on march yet, nor will be for above a week. "i cross elbe, the th. i am compelled to undertake something of decisive nature, and leave the rest to chance. for desperate disorders desperate remedies. my bed is not one of roses. heaven aid us: for human prudence finds itself fall short in situations so cruel and desperate as ours." [schoning, ii. ("meissen camp, th june, "); ib. ii. (" th june").] henri. hm, hm, ha (nothing but carefully collected rumors, and wire-drawn auguries from them, on the part of henri; very intense inspection of the chicken-bowels,--hardly ever without a shake of the head). friedrich (june th; has heard of the fouquet disaster).... "yesterday my heart was torn to pieces [news of landshut, fouquet's downfall there], and i felt too sad to be in a state for writing you a sensible letter; but to-day, when i have come to myself a little again, i will send you my reflections. after what has happened to fouquet, it is certain loudon can have no other design but on breslau [he designs glatz first of all]: it will be the grand point, therefore, especially if the russians too are bending thither, to save that capital of silesia. surely the turks must be in motion:--if so, we are saved; if not so, we are lost! to-day i have taken this camp of dobritz, in order to be more collected, and in condition to fight well, should occasion rise,--and in case all this that is said and written to me about the turks is true [which nothing of it was], to be able to profit by it when the time comes." [schoning, ii. ("gross-dobritz, th june, ").] henri (simultaneously, june th: henri is forward from sagan, through frankfurt, and got settled at landsberg, where he remains through the rest of the dialogue).... tottleben, with his cossacks, scouring about, got a check from us,--nothing like enough. "by all my accounts, soltikof, with the gross of the russians, is marching for posen. the other rumors and symptoms agree in indicating a separate corps, under fermor, who is to join tottleben, and besiege colberg: if both these corps, the colberg and the posen one, act, in concert, my embarrassment will be extreme.... i have just had news of what has befallen general fouquet. before this stroke, your affairs were desperate enough; now i see but too well what we have to look for." [ib. ii. ("landsberg, th june, ").] (how comforting!) friedrich. "would to god your prayers for the swift capture of dresden had been heard; but unfortunately i must tell you, this stroke has failed me.... dresden has been reduced to ashes, third part of the altstadt lying burnt;--contrary to my intentions: my orders were, to spare the city, and play the artillery against the works. my minister graf von finck will have told you what occasioned its being set on fire." [schoning, ii. (" d- d july").] henri (july th; dresden siege gone awry).... "i am to keep the russians from frankfurt, to cover glogau, and prevent a besieging of breslau! all that forms an overwhelming problem;--which i, with my whole heart, will give up to somebody abler for it than i am." [ib. ii. - ("landsherg, th july").] friedrich ( th july; quits the trenches of dresden this night). ... "i have seen with pain that you represent everything to yourself on the black side. i beg you, in the name of god, my dearest brother, don't take things up in their blackest and worst shape:--it is this that throws your mind into such an indecision, which is so lamentable. adopt a resolution rather, what resolution you like, but stand by it, and execute it with your whole strength. i conjure you, take a fixed resolution; better a bad than none at all.... what is possible to man, i will do; neither care nor consideration nor effort shall be spared, to secure the result of my plans. the rest depends on circumstances. amid such a number of enemies, one cannot always do what one will, but must let them prescribe." [ib. ii. - ("leubnitz, before dresden, th july, ").] an uncomfortable little gentleman; but full of faculty, if one can manage to get good of it! here, what might have preceded all the above, and been preface to it, is a pretty passage from him; a glimpse he has had of sans-souci, before setting out on those gloomy marchings and cunctatory hagglings. henri writes (at torgau, april th, just back from berlin and farewell of friends):-- "i mean to march the day after to-morrow. i took arrangements with general fouquet [about that long fine-spun chain of posts, where we are to do such service?]--the black hussars cannot be here till to-morrow, otherwise i should have marched a day sooner. my brother [poor little invalid ferdinand] charged me to lay him at your feet. i found him weak and thin, more so than formerly. returning hither, the day before yesterday, i passed through potsdam; i went to sans-souci [april th, ]:--all is green there; the garden embellished, and seemed to me excellently kept. though these details cannot occupy you at present, i thought it would give you pleasure to hear of them for a moment." [schoning, ii. ("torgau, th april, ").] ah, yes; all is so green and blessedly silent there: sight of the lost paradise, actually it, visible for a moment yonder, far away, while one goes whirling in this manner on the illimitable wracking winds!-- here finally, from a distant part of the war-theatre, is another note; which we will read while friedrich is at schieritz. at no other place so properly; the very date of it, chief date (july st), being by accident synchronous with schieritz:-- duke ferdinand's battle of warburg ( st july, ). duke ferdinand has opened his difficult campaign; and especially--just while that siege of dresden blazed and ended--has had three sharp fights, which were then very loud in the gazettes, along with it. three once famous actions; which unexpectedly had little or no result, and are very much forgotten now. so that bare enumeration of them is nearly all we are permitted here. pitt has furnished , new english, this campaign,--there are now , english in all, and a duke ferdinand raised to , men. surely, under good omens, thinks pitt; and still more think the gazetteers, judging by appearances. yes: but if broglio have , , what will it come to? broglio is two to one; and has, before this, proved himself a considerable captain. fight first is that of korbach (july th): of broglio, namely, who has got across the river ohm in hessen (to ferdinand's great disgust with the general imhof in command there), and is streaming on to seize the diemel river, and menace hanover; of broglio, in successive sections, at a certain "pass of korbach," versus the hereditary prince (erbprinz of brunswick), who is waiting for him there in one good section,--and who beautifully hurls back one and another of the broglio sections; but cannot hurl back the whole broglio army, all marching by sections that way; and has to retire, back foremost, fencing sharply, still in a diligently handsome manner, though with loss. [mauvillon, ii. .] that is the battle of korbach, fought july th,--while lacy streamed through dresden, panting to be at plauen chasm, safe at last. fight second (july th) was a kind of revenge on the erbprinz's part: affair of emsdorf, six days after, in the same neighborhood; beautiful too, said the gazetteers; but of result still more insignificant. hearing of a considerable french brigade posted not far off, at that village of emsdorf, to guard broglio's meal-carts there, the indignant erbprinz shoots off for that; light of foot,--english horse mainly, and hill scots (berg-schotten so called, who have a fine free stride, in summer weather);--dashes in upon said brigade (dragoons of bauffremont and other picked men), who stood firmly on the defensive; but were cut up, in an amazing manner, root and branch, after a fierce struggle, and as it were brought home in one's pocket. to the admiration of military circles,--especially of mess-rooms and the junior sort. "elliot's light horse [part of the new , ], what a regiment! unparalleled for willingness, and audacity of fence; lost killed,"--in fact, the loss chiefly fell on elliot. [ib. ii. (prisoners got "were , , including general and officers ," with all their furnitures whatsoever, " horses, cannon," &c.).] the berg-schotten too,--i think it was here that these kilted fellows, who had marched with such a stride, "came home mostly riding:" poor beauffremont dragoons being entirely cut up, or pocketed as prisoners, and their horses ridden in this unexpected manner! but we must not linger,--hardly even on warburg, which was the third and greatest; and has still points of memorability, though now so obliterated. "warburg," says my note on this latter, "is a pleasant little hessian town, some twenty-five miles west of cassel, standing on the north or left bank of the diemel, among fruitful knolls and hollows. the famous 'battle of warburg,'--if you try to inquire in the town itself, from your brief railway-station, it is much if some intelligent inhabitant, at last, remembers to have heard of it! the thing went thus: chevalier du muy, who is broglio's rear-guard or reserve, , foot and horse, with his back to the diemel, and eight bridges across it in case of accident, has his right flank leaning on warburg, and his left on a village of ossendorf, some two miles to northwest of that. broglio, prince xavier of saxony, especially duke ferdinand, are all vehemently and mysteriously moving about, since that fight of korbach; broglio intent to have cassel besieged, du muy keeping the diemel for him; ferdinand eager to have the diemel back from du muy and him. "two days ago (july th), the erbprinz crossed over into these neighborhoods, with a strong vanguard, nearly equal to du muy; and, after studious reconnoitring and survey had, means, this morning (july st), to knock him over the diemel again, if he can. no time to be lost; broglio near and in such force. duke ferdinand too, quitting broglio for a moment, is on march this way; crossed the diemel, about midnight, some ten miles farther down, or eastward; will thence bend southward, at his best speed, to support the erbprinz, if necessary, and beset the diemel when got;--erbprinz not, however, in any wise, to wait for him; such the pressure from broglio and others. a most busy swift-going scene that morning;--hardly worth such describing at this date of time. "the erbprinz, who is still rather to northeastward, that is to rightward, not directly frontward, of du muy's lines; and whose plan of attack is still dark to du muy, commences [about a.m., i should guess] by launching his british legion so called,--which is a composite body, of free-corps nature, british some of it ('colonel beckwith's people,' for example), not british by much the most of it, but an aggregate of wild strikers, given to plunder too:--by launching his british legion upon warburg town, there to take charge of du muy's right wing. which legion, 'with great rapidity, not only pitched the french all out, but clean plundered the poor town;' and is a sad sore on du muy's right, who cannot get it attended to, in the ominous aspects elsewhere visible. for the erbprinz, who is a strategic creature, comes on, in the style of friedrich, not straight towards du muy, but sweeps out in two columns round northward; privately intending upon du muy's left wing and front--left wing, right wing, (by british legion), and front, all three;--and is well aided by a mist which now fell, and which hung on the higher ground, and covered his march, for an hour or more. this mist had not begun when he saw, on the knoll-tops, far off on the right, but indisputable as he flattered himself,--something of ferdinand emerging! saw this; and pours along, we can suppose, with still better step and temper. and bursts, pretty simultaneously, upon du muy's right wing and left wing, coercing his front the while; squelches both these wings furiously together; forces the coerced centre, mostly horse, to plunge back into the diemel, and swim. horse could swim; but many of the foot, who tried, got drowned. and, on the whole, du muy is a good deal wrecked [ , killed, , prisoners, not to speak of cannon and flags], and, but for his eight bridges, would have been totally ruined. "the fight was uncommonly furious, especially on du muy's left; 'maxwell's brigade' going at it, with the finest bayonet-practice, musketry, artillery-practice; obstinate as bears. on du muy's right, the british legion, left wing, british too by name, had a much easier job. but the fight generally was of hot and stubborn kind, for hours, perhaps two or more;--and some say, would not have ended so triumphantly, had it not been for duke ferdinand's vanguard, lord granby and the english horse; who, warned by the noise ahead, pushed on at the top of their speed, and got in before the death. granby and the blues had gone at the high trot, for above five miles; and, i doubt not, were in keen humor when they rose to the gallop and slashed in. mauvillon says, 'it was in this attack that lord granby, at the head of the blues, his own regiment, had his hat blown off; a big bald circle in his head rendering the loss more conspicuous. but he never minded; stormed still on,' bare bald head among the helmets and sabres; 'and made it very evident that had he, instead of sackville, led at minden, there had been a different story to tell. the english, by their valor,' adds he, 'greatly distinguished themselves this day. and accordingly they suffered by far the most; their loss amounting to men:' or, as others count,--out of , killed and wounded, were english." [mauvillon, ii. . or better, in all these three cases, as elsewhere, tempelhof's specific chapter on ferdinand (tempelhof, iv. - ). ferdinand's despatch (to king george), in _knesebeck,_ ii. - ;--or in the old newspapers (_gentleman's magazine,_ xxx. , ), where also is lord granby's despatch.] this of granby and the bald head is mainly what now renders warburg memorable. for, in a year or two, the excellent reynolds did a portrait of granby; and by no means forgot this incident; but gives him bare-headed, bare and bald; the oblivious british connoisseur not now knowing why, as perhaps he ought. the portrait, i suppose, may be in belvoir castle; the artistic why of the baldness is this battle of warburg, as above. an affair otherwise of no moment. ferdinand had soon to quit the diemel, or to find it useless for him, and to try other methods,--fencing gallantly, but too weak for broglio; and, on the whole, had a difficult campaign of it, against that considerable soldier with forces so superior. chapter iii.--battle of liegnitz. friedrich stayed hardly one day in neissen country; silesia, in the jaws of destruction, requiring such speed from him. his new series of marches thitherward, for the next two weeks especially, with daun and lacy, and at last with loudon too, for escort, are still more singular than the foregoing; a fortnight of soldier history such as is hardly to be paralleled elsewhere. of his inward gloom one hears nothing. but the problem itself approaches to the desperate; needing daily new invention, new audacity, with imminent destruction overhanging it throughout. a march distinguished in military annals;--but of which it is not for us to pretend treating. military readers will find it in tempelhof, and the supplementary books from time to time cited here. and, for our own share, we can only say, that friedrich's labors strike us as abundantly herculean; more alcides-like than ever,--the rather as hopes of any success have sunk lower than ever. a modern alcides, appointed to confront tartarus itself, and be victorious over the three-headed dog. daun, lacy, loudon coming on you simultaneously, open-mouthed, are a considerable tartarean dog! soldiers judge that the king's resources of genius were extremely conspicuous on this occasion; and to all men it is in evidence that seldom in the arena of this universe, looked on by the idle populaces and by the eternal gods and antigods (called devils), did a son of adam fence better for himself, now and throughout. this, his third march to silesia in , is judged to be the most forlorn and ominous friedrich ever made thither; real peril, and ruin to silesia and him, more imminent than even in the old leuthen days. difficulties, complicacies very many, friedrich can foresee: a daun's army and a lacy's for escort to us; and such a silesia when we do arrive. and there is one complicacy more which he does not yet know of; that of loudon waiting ahead to welcome him, on crossing the frontier, and increase his escort thenceforth!--or rather, let us say, friedrich, thanks to the despondent henri and others, has escaped a great silesian calamity;--of which he will hear, with mixed emotions, on arriving at bunzlau on the silesian frontier, six days after setting out. since the loss of glatz (july th), friedrich has no news of loudon; supposes him to be trying something upon neisse, to be adjusting with his slow russians; and, in short, to be out of the dismal account-current just at present. that is not the fact in regard to loudon; that is far from the fact. loudon is trying a stroke-of-hand on breslau, in the glatz fashion, in the interim (july th-august d). hardly above six hours after taking glatz, swift loudon, no daun now tethering him (daun standing, or sitting, "in relief of dresden" far off), was on march for breslau--vanguard of him "marched that same evening (july th):" in the liveliest hope of capturing breslau; especially if soltikof, to whom this of glatz ought to be a fine symbol and pledge, make speed to co-operate. soltikof is in no violent enthusiasm about glatz; anxious rather about his own magazine at posen, and how to get it carted out of henri's way, in case of our advancing towards some silesian siege. "if we were not ruined last year, it was n't daun's fault!" growls he often; and montalembert has need of all his suasive virtues (which are wonderful to look at, if anybody cared to look at them, all flung into the sea in this manner) for keeping the barbarous man in any approach to harmony. the barbarous man had, after haggle enough, adjusted himself for besieging glogau; and is surly to hear, on the sudden (order from petersburg reinforcing loudon), that it is breslau instead. "excellenz, it is not cunctator daun this time, it is fiery loudon." "well, breslau, then!" answers soltikof at last, after much suasion. and marches thither; [tempelhof, iv. - ("rose from posen, july th").] faster than usual, quickened by new temporary hopes, of montalembert's raising or one's own: "what a place-of-arms, and place of victual, would breslau be for us, after all!" and really mends his pace, mends it ever more, as matters grow stringent; and advances upon breslau at his swiftest: "to rendezvous with loudon under the walls there,--within the walls very soon, and ourselves chief proprietor!"--as may be hoped. breslau has a garrison of , , only , of them stanch; and there are, among other bad items, , austrian prisoners in it. a big city with weak walls: another place to defend than rock-hewn little glatz,--if there be no better than a d'o for commandant in it! but perhaps there is. "wednesday, th july, loudon's vanguard arrived at breslau; next day loudon himself;--and besieged breslau very violently, according to his means, till the sunday following. troops he has plenty, , odd, which he gives out for or even , ; not to speak of soltikof, 'with , ' (read , ), striding on in a fierce and dreadful manner to meet him here. 'better surrender to christian austrians, had not you?' loudon's artillery is not come up, it is only struggling on from glatz; soltikof of his own has no siege-artillery; and loudon judges that heavy-footed soltikof, waited on by an alert prince henri, is a problematic quantity in this enterprise. 'speedy oneself; speedy and fiery!' thinks loudon: 'by violence of speed, of bullying and bombardment, perhaps we can still do it!' and loudon tried all these things to a high stretch; but found in tauentzien the wrong man. "thursday, st, loudon, who has two bridges over oder, and the town begirt all round, summons tauentzien in an awful sounding tone: 'consider, sir: no defence possible; a trading town, you ought not to attempt defence of it: surrender on fair terms, or i shall, which god forbid, be obliged to burn you and it from the face of the world!' 'pooh, pooh,' answers tauentzien, in brief polite terms; 'you yourselves had no doubt it was a garrison, when we besieged you here, on the heel of leuthen; had you? go to!'--fiery loudon cannot try storm, the town having oder and a wet ditch round it. he gets his bombarding batteries forward, as the one chance he has, aided by bullying. and to-morrow, "friday, august st, sends, half officially, half in the friendly way, dreadful messages again: a warning to the mayor of breslau (which was not signed by loudon), 'death and destruction, sir, unless'--!--warning to the mayor; and, by the same private half-official messenger, a new summons to tauentzien: 'bombardment infallible; universal massacre by croats; i will not spare the child in its mother's womb.' 'i am not with child,' said tauentzien, 'nor are my soldiers! what is the use of such talk?' and about that night, loudon does accordingly break out into all the fire of bombardment he is master of. kindles the town in various places, which were quenched again by tauentzien's arrangements; kindles especially the king's fine dwelling-house (palace they call it), and adjacent streets, not quenchable till palace and they are much ruined. will this make no impression? far too little. "next morning loudon sends a private messenger of conciliatory tone: 'any terms your excellency likes to name. only spare me the general massacre, and child in the mother's womb!' from all which tauentzien infers that you are probably short of ammunition; and that his outlooks are improving. that day he gets guns brought to bear on general loudon's own quarter; blazes into loudon's sitting-room, so that loudon has to shift else-whither. no bombardment ensues that night; nor next day anything but desultory cannonading, and much noise and motion;--and at night, sunday, d, everything falls quiet, and, to the glad amazement of everybody, loudon has vanished." [tempelhof, iv. - ; archenholtz, ii. - ; hofbericht von der belagerung von breslau im august (in seyfarth, _beylagen,_ ii. - ); also in _helden-geschichte,_ vi. - : in _anonymous of hamburg_ (iv. - ), that is, in the old newspapers, extremely particular account, how "not only the finest horse in breslau, and the finest house [king's palace], but the handsomest man, and, alas, also the prettiest girl [poor jungfer muller, shattered by a bomb-shell on the streets], were destroyed in this short siege,"--world-famous for the moment. preuss, ii. .] loudon had no other shift left. this sunday his russians are still five days distant; alert henri, on the contrary, is, in a sense, come to hand. crossed the katzbach river this day, the vanguard of him did, at parchwitz; and fell upon our bakery; which has had to take the road. "guard the bakery, all hands there," orders loudon; "off to striegau and the hills with it;"--and is himself gone thither after it, leaving breslau, henri and the russians to what fate may be in store for them. henri has again made one of his winged marches, the deft creature, though the despondent; "march of miles in three days [in the last three, from glogau, ; in the whole, from landsberg, above ], and has saved the state," says retzow. "made no camping, merely bivouacked; halting for a rest four or five hours here and there;" [retzow, ii. (very vague); in tempelhof (iv. , , - ) clear and specific account.] and on august th is at lissa (this side the field of leuthen); making breslau one of the gladdest of cities. so that soltikof, on arriving (village of hundsfeld, august th), by the other side of the river, finds henri's advanced guards intrenched over there, in old oder; no russian able to get within five miles of breslau,--nor able to do more than cannonade in the distance, and ask with indignation, "where are the siege-guns, then; where is general loudon? instead of breslau capturable, and a sure magazine for us, here is henri, and nothing but steel to eat!" and the soltikof risen into russian rages, and the montalembert sunk in difficulties: readers can imagine these. indignant soltikof, deaf to suasion, with this dangerous henri in attendance, is gradually edging back; always rather back, with an eye to his provisions, and to certain bogs and woods he knows of. but we will leave the soltikof-henri end of the line, for the opposite end, which is more interesting.--to friedrich, till he got to silesia itself, these events are totally unknown. his cunctatory henri, by this winged march, when the moment came, what a service has he done!-- tauentzien's behavior, also, has been superlative at breslau; and was never forgotten by the king. a very brave man, testifies lessing of him; true to the death: "had there come but three, to rally with the king under a bush of the forest, tauentzien would have been one." tauentzien was on the ramparts once, in this breslau pinch, giving orders; a bomb burst beside him, did not injure him. "mark that place," said tauentzien; and clapt his hat on it, continuing his orders, till a more permanent mark were put. in that spot, as intended through the next thirty years, he now lies buried. [_militair-lexikon,_ iv. - ; lessing's _werke;_ &c. &c.] friedrich on march, for the third time, to rescue silesia (august st- th). august st, friedrich crossed the elbe at zehren, in the schieritz vicinity, as near meissen as he could; but it had to be some six miles farther down, such the liabilities to austrian disturbance. all are across that morning by o'clock (began at ); whence we double back eastward, and camp that night at dallwitz,--are quietly asleep there, while loudon's bombardment bursts out on breslau, far away! at dallwitz we rest next day, wait for our bakeries and baggages; and sunday, august d, at in the morning, set forth on the forlornest adventure in the world. the arrangements of the march, foreseen and settled beforehand to the last item, are of a perfection beyond praise;--as is still visible in the general order, or summary of directions given out; which, to this day, one reads with a kind of satisfaction like that derivable from the forty-seventh of euclid: clear to the meanest capacity, not a word wanting in it, not a word superfluous, solid as geometry. "the army marches always in three columns, left column foremost: our first line of battle [in case we have fighting] is this foremost column; second line is the second column; reserve is the third. all generals' chaises, money-wagons, and regimental surgeons' wagons remain with their respective battalions; as do the heavy batteries with the brigades to which they belong. when the march is through woody country, the cavalry regiments go in between the battalions [to be ready against pandour operations and accidents]. "with the first column, the ziethen hussars and free-battalion courbiere have always the vanguard; mohring hussars and free-battalion quintus [speed to you, learned friend!] the rear-guard. with the second column always the dragoon regiments normann and krockow have the vanguard; regiment czetteritz [dragoons, poor czetteritz himself, with his lost manuscript, is captive since february last], the rear-guard. with the third column always the dragoon regiment holstein as head, and the ditto finkenstein to close the column.--during every march, however, there are to be of the second column battalions joined with column third; so that the third column consists of battalions, the second of , while on march. "ahead of each column go three pontoon wagons; and daily are work-people allowed them, who are immediately to lay bridge, where it is necessary. the rear-guard of each column takes up these bridges again; brings them on, and returns them to the head of the column, when the army has got to camp. in the second column are to be wagons, and also in the third , so shared that each battalion gets an equal number. the battalions--" [in tempelhof (iv. , ) the entire piece.]... this may serve as specimen. the march proceeded through the old country; a little to left of the track in june past: roder water, pulsnitz water; kamenz neighborhood, bautzen neighborhood,--bunzlau on silesian ground. daun, at bischofswerda, had foreseen this march; and, by his light people, had spoiled the road all he could; broken all the bridges, half-felled the woods (to render them impassable). daun, the instant he heard of the actual march, rose from bischofswerda: forward, forward always, to be ahead of it, however rapid; lacy, hanging on the rear of it, willing to give trouble with his pandour harpies, but studious above all that it should not whirl round anywhere and get upon his, lacy's, own throat. one of the strangest marches ever seen. "an on-looker, who had observed the march of these different armies," says friedrich, "would have thought that they all belonged to one leader. feldmarschall daun's he would have taken for the vanguard, the king's for the main army, and general lacy's for the rear-guard." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ v. .] tempelhof says: "it is given only to a friedrich to march on those terms; between two hostile armies, his equals in strength, and a third [loudon's, in striegau country] waiting ahead." the march passed without accident of moment; had not, from lacy or daun, any accident whatever. on the second day, an aide-de-camp of daun's was picked up, with letters from lacy (back of the cards visible to friedrich). once,--it is the third day of the march (august th, village of rothwasser to be quarter for the night),--on coming toward neisse river, some careless officer, trusting to peasants, instead of examining for himself and building a bridge, drove his artillery-wagons into the so-called ford of neisse; which nearly swallowed the foremost of them in quicksands. nearly, but not completely; and caused a loss of five or six hours to that second column. so that darkness came on column second in the woody intricacies; and several hundreds of the deserter kind took the opportunity of disappearing altogether. an unlucky, evidently too languid officer; though friedrich did not annihilate the poor fellow, perhaps did not rebuke him at all, but merely marked it in elucidation of his qualities for time coming." this miserable village of rothwasser" (head-quarters after the dangerous fording of neisse), says mitchell, "stands in the middle of a wood, almost as wild and impenetrable as those in north america. there was hardly ground enough cleared about it for the encampment of the troops." [mitchell, ii. ; tempelhof, iv. .] thursday, august th, friedrich--traversing the whole country, but more direct, by konigsbruck and kamenz this time--is at bunzlau altogether. "bunzlau on the bober;" the silesian bunzlau, not the bohemian or any of the others. it is some miles west of liegnitz, which again lies some northwest of schweidnitz and the strong places. friedrich has now done miles of excellent marching; and he has still a good spell more to do,--dragging " , heavy wagons" with him, and across such impediments within and without. readers that care to study him, especially for the next few days, will find it worth their while. tempelhof gives, as usual, a most clear account, minute to a degree; which, supplemented by mitchell and a reimann map, enables us as it were to accompany, and to witness with our eyes. hitherto a march toilsome in the extreme, in spite of everything done to help it; starting at or at in the morning; resting to breakfast in some shady place, while the sun is high, frugally cooking under the shady woods,--"burschen abzukochen here," as the order pleasantly bears. all encamped now, at bunzlau in silesia, on thursday evening, with a very eminent week's work behind them. "in the last five days, above miles of road, and such road; five considerable rivers in it"--bober, queiss, neisse, spree, elbe; and with such a wagon-train of , teams. [tempelhof, iv. - .] proper that we rest a day here; in view of the still swifter marchings and sudden dashings about, which lie ahead. it will be by extremely nimble use of all the limbs we have,--hands as well as feet,--if any good is to come of us now! friedrich is aware that daun already holds striegau "as an outpost [loudon thereabouts, unknown to friedrich], these several days;" and that daun personally is at schmottseifen, in our own old camp there, twenty or thirty miles to south of us, and has his lacy to leftward of him, partly even to rearward: rather in advance of us, both of them,--if we were for landshut; which we are not. "be swift enough, may not we cut through to jauer, and get ahead of daun?" counts friedrich: "to jauer, southeast of us, from bunzlau here, is miles; and to jauer it is above east for daun: possible to be there before daun! jauer ours, thence to the heights of striegau and hohenfriedberg country, within wind of schweidnitz, of breslau: magazines, union with prince henri, all secure thereby?" so reckons the sanguine friedrich; unaware that loudon, with his corps of , , has been summoned hitherward; which will make important differences! loudon, beck with a smaller satellite corps, both these, unknown to friedrich, lie ready on the east of him: loudon's army on the east; daun's, lacy's on the south and west; three big armies, with their satellites, gathering in upon this king: here is a three-headed dog, in the tartarus of a world he now has! on the fourth side of him is oder, and the russians, who are also perhaps building bridges, by way of a supplementary or fourth head. august th (bunzlau to goldberg), friedrich, with his three columns and perfect arrangements, makes a long march: from bunzlau at in the morning; and at afternoon arrives in sight of the katzbach valley, with the little town of goldberg some miles to right. katzbach river is here; and jauer, for to-morrow, still fifteen miles ahead. but on reconnoitring here, all is locked and bolted: lacy strong on the hills of goldberg; daun visible across the katzbach; daun, and behind him loudon, inexpugnably posted: jauer an impossibility! we have bread only for eight days; our magazines are at schweidnitz and breslau: what is to be done? get through, one way or other, we needs must! friedrich encamps for the night; expecting an attack. if not attacked, he will make for liegnitz leftward; cross the katzbach there, or farther down at parchwitz:--parchwitz, neumarkt, leuthen, we have been in that country before now:--courage! august th- th (to liegnitz and back). at a.m., sunday, august th, friedrich, nothing of attack having come, got on march again: down his own left bank of the katzbach, straight for liegnitz; unopposed altogether; not even a pandour having attacked him overnight. but no sooner is he under way, than daun too rises; daun, loudon, close by, on the other side of katzbach, and keep step with us, on our right; lacy's light people hovering on our rear:--three truculent fellows in buckram; fancy the feelings of the way-worn solitary fourth, whom they are gloomily dogging in this way! the solitary fourth does his fifteen miles to liegnitz, unmolested by them; encamps on the heights which look down on liegnitz over the south; finds, however, that the loudon-daun people have likewise been diligent; that they now lie stretched out on their right bank, three or four miles up-stream or to rearward, and what is far worse, seven miles downwards, or ahead: that, in fact, they are a march nearer parchwitz than he;--and that there is again no possibility. "perhaps by jauer, then, still? out of this, and at lowest, into some vicinity of bread, it does behoove us to be!" at that night friedrich gets on march again; returns the way he came. and, august th, at daybreak, is back to his old ground; nothing now to oppose him but lacy, who is gone across from goldberg, to linger as rear of the daun-loudon march. friedrich steps across on lacy, thirsting to have a stroke at lacy; who vanishes fast enough, leaving the ground clear. could but our baggage have come as fast as we! but our baggage, quintus guarding and urging, has to groan on for five hours yet; and without it, there is no stirring. five mortal hours;--by which time, daun, lacy, loudon are all up again; between us and jauer, between us and everything helpful;--and friedrich has to encamp in seichau,--"a very poor village in the mountains," writes mitchell, who was painfully present there, "surrounded on all sides by heights; on several of which, in the evening, the austrians took camp, separated from us by a deep ravine only." [mitchell, ii. .] outlooks are growing very questionable to mitchell and everybody. "only four days' provisions" (in reality six), whisper the prussian generals gloomily to mitchell and to one another: "shall we have to make for glogau, then, and leave breslau to its fate? or perhaps it will be a second maxen to his majesty and us, who was so indignant with poor finck?" my friends, no; a maxen like finck's it will never be: a very different maxen, if any! but we hope better things. friedrich's situation, grasped in the three-lipped pincers in this manner, is conceivable to readers. soltikof, on the other side of oder, as supplementary or fourth lip, is very impatient with these three. "why all this dodging, and fidgeting to and fro? you are above three to one of your enemy. why don't you close on him at once, if you mean it at all? the end is, he will be across oder; and it is i that shall have the brunt to bear: henri and he will enclose me between two fires!" and in fact, henri, as we know, though friedrich does not or only half does, has gone across oder, to watch soltikof, and guard breslau from any attempts of his,--which are far from his thoughts at this moment;--a soltikof fuming violently at the thought of such cunctations, and of being made cat's-paw again. "know, however, that i understand you," violently fumes soltikof, "and that i won't. i fall back into the trebnitz bog-country, on my own right bank here, and look out for my own safety."--"patience, your noble excellenz," answer they always; "oh, patience yet a little! only yesterday (sunday, th the day after his arrival in this region), we had decided to attack and crush him; sunday very early: [tempelhof, iv. , - .] but he skipped away to liegnitz. oh, be patient yet a day or two: he skips about at such a rate!" montalembert has to be suasive as the muses and the sirens. soltikof gloomily consents to another day or two. and even, such his anxiety lest this swift king skip over upon him, pushes out a considerable russian division, , ultimately, under czernichef, towards the king's side of things, towards auras on oder, namely,--there to watch for oneself these interesting royal movements; or even to join with loudon out there, if that seem the safer course, against them. of czernichef at auras we shall hear farther on,--were these royal movements once got completed a little. morning of august th, friedrich has, in his bad lodging at seichau, laid a new plan of route: "towards schweidnitz let it be; round by pombsen and the southeast, by the hill-roads, make a sweep flankward of the enemy!"--and has people out reconnoitring the hill-roads. hears, however, about o'clock, that austrians in strength are coming between us and goldberg! "intending to enclose us in this bad pot of a seichau; no crossing of the katzbach, or other retreat to be left us at all?" friedrich strikes his tents; ranks himself; is speedily in readiness for dispute of such extremity;--sends out new patrols, however, to ascertain. "austrians in strength" there are not on the side indicated;--whereupon he draws in again. but, on the other hand, the hill-roads are reported absolutely impassable for baggage; pombsen an impossibility, as the other places have been. so friedrich sits down again in seichau to consider; does not stir all day. to mitchell's horror, who, "with great labor," burns all the legationary ciphers and papers ("impossible to save the baggage if we be attacked in this hollow pot of a camp"), and feels much relieved on finishing. [mitchell, ii. ; tempelhof, iv. .] towards sunset, general bulow, with the second line (second column of march), is sent out goldberg-way, to take hold of the passage of the katzbach: and at that night we all march, recrossing there about in the morning; thence down our left bank to liegnitz for the second time,--sixteen hours of it in all, or till noon of the th. mitchell had been put with the cavalry part; and "cannot but observe to your lordship what a chief comfort it was in this long, dangerous and painful march," to have burnt one's ciphers and dread secrets quite out of the way. and thus, wednesday, august th, about noon, we are in our old camp; head-quarter in the southern suburb of liegnitz (a wretched little tavern, which they still show there, on mythical terms): main part of the camp, i should think, is on that range of heights, which reaches two miles southward, and is now called "siegesberg (victory hill)," from a modern monument built on it, after nearly years. here friedrich stays one day,--more exactly, hours;--and his shifting, next time, is extremely memorable. battle, in the neighborhood of liegnitz, does ensue (friday morning, th august, ). daun, lacy and loudon, the three-lipped pincers, have of course followed, and are again agape for friedrich, all in scientific postures: daun in the jauer region, seven or eight miles south; lacy about goldberg, as far to southwest; loudon "between jeschkendorf and koischwitz," northeastward, somewhat closer on friedrich, with the katzbach intervening. that czernichef, with an additional , , to rear of loudon, is actually crossing oder at auras, with an eye to junction, friedrich does not hear till to-morrow. [tempelhof, iv. - ; mitchell, ii. .] the scene is rather pretty, if one admired scenes. liegnitz, a square, handsome, brick-built town, of old standing, in good repair (population then, say , ), with fine old castellated edifices and aspects: pleasant meeting, in level circumstances, of the katzbach valley with the schwartz-wasser (black-water) ditto, which forms the north rim of liegnitz; pleasant mixture of green poplars and brick towers,--as seen from that "victory hill" (more likely to be "immediate-ruin hill!") where the king now is. beyond liegnitz and the schwartzwasser, northwestward, right opposite to the king's, rise other heights called of pfaffendorf, which guard the two streams after their uniting. kloster wahlstatt, a famed place, lies visible to southeast, few miles off. readers recollect one blucher "prince of wahlstatt," so named from one of his anti-napoleon victories gained there? wahlstatt was the scene of an older fight, almost six centuries older, [april th, (kohler, reichs-historie).]--a then prince of liegnitz versus hideous tartar multitudes, who rather beat him; and has been a cloister wahlstatt ever since. till thursday, th, about in the evening, friedrich continued in his camp of liegnitz. we are now within reach of a notable passage of war. friedrich's camp extends from the village of schimmelwitz, fronting the katzbach for about two miles, northeastward, to his head-quarter in liegnitz suburb: daun is on his right and rearward, now come within four or five miles; loudon to his left and frontward, four or five, the katzbach separating friedrich and him; lacy lies from goldberg northeastward, to within perhaps a like distance rearward: that is the position on thursday, th. provisions being all but run out; and three armies, , (not to count czernichef and his , as a fourth) watching round our , , within a few miles; there is no staying here, beyond this day. if even this day it be allowed us? this day, friedrich had to draw out, and stand to arms for some hours; while the austrians appeared extensively on the heights about, apparently intending an attack; till it proved to be nothing: only an elaborate reconnoitring by daun; and we returned to our tents again. friedrich understands well enough that daun, with the facts now before him, will gradually form his plan, and also, from the lie of matters, what his plan will be: many are the times daun has elaborately reconnoitred, elaborately laid his plan; but found, on coming to execute, that his friedrich was off in the interim, and the plan gone to air. friedrich has about , wagons to drag with him in these swift marches: glogau magazine, his one resource, should breslau and schweidnitz prove unattainable, is forty-five long miles northwestward. "let us lean upon glogau withal," thinks friedrich; "and let us be out of this straightway! march to-night; towards parchwitz, which is towards glogau too. army rest till daybreak on the heights of pfaffendorf yonder, to examine, to wait its luck: let the empty meal-wagons jingle on to glogau; load themselves there, and jingle back to us in parchwitz neighborhood, should parchwitz not have proved impossible to our manoeuvrings,--let us hope it may not!"--daun and the austrians having ceased reconnoitring, and gone home, friedrich rides with his generals, through liegnitz, across the schwartzwasser, to the pfaffendorf heights. "here, messieurs, is our first halting-place to be: here we shall halt till daybreak, while the meal-wagons jingle on!" and explains to them orally where each is to take post, and how to behave. which done, he too returns home, no doubt a wearied individual; and at of the afternoon lies down to try for an hour or two of sleep, while all hands are busy packing, according to the orders given. it is a fact recorded by friedrich himself, and by many other people, that, at this interesting juncture, there appeared at the king's gate, king hardly yet asleep, a staggering austrian officer, irish by nation, who had suddenly found good to desert the austrian service for the prussian--("sorrow on them: a pack of"--what shall i say?)--irish gentleman, bursting with intelligence of some kind, but evidently deep in liquor withal. "impossible; the king is asleep," said the adjutant on duty; but produced only louder insistence from the drunk irish gentleman. "as much as all your heads are worth; the king's own safety, and not a moment to lose!" what is to be done? they awaken the king: "the man is drunk, but dreadfully in earnest, your majesty." "give him quantities of weak tea [tempelhof calls it tea, but friedrich merely warm water]; then examine him, and report if it is anything." something it was: "your majesty to be attacked, for certain, this night!" what his majesty already guessed:--something, most likely little; but nobody to this day knows. visible only, that his majesty, before sunset, rode out reconnoitring with this questionable irish gentleman, now in a very flaccid state; and altered nothing whatever in prior arrangements;--and that the flaccid irish gentleman staggers out of sight, into dusk, into rest and darkness, after this one appearance on the stage of history. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ v. ; tempelhof, iv. .] from about in the evening, friedrich's people got on march, in their several columns, and fared punctually on; one column through the streets of liegnitz, others to left and to right of that; to left mainly, as remoter from the austrians and their listening outposts from beyond the katzbach river;--where the camp-fires are burning extremely distinct to-night. the prussian camp-fires, they too are all burning uncommonly vivid; country people employed to feed them; and a few hussar sentries and drummers to make the customary sounds for daun's instruction, till a certain hour. friedrich's people are clearing the north suburb of liegnitz, crossing the schwartzwasser: artillery and heavy wagons all go by the stone-bridge at topferberg (potter-hill) there; the lighter people by a few pontoons farther down that stream, in the pfaffendorf vicinity. about one in the morning, all, even the right wing from schimmelwitz, are safely across. schwartzwasser, a river of many tails (boggy most of them, sohnelle or swift deichsel hardly an exception), gathering itself from the southward for twenty or more miles, attains its maximum of north at a place called waldau, not far northwest of topferberg. towards this waldau, lacy is aiming all night; thence to pounce on our "left wing,"--which he will find to consist of those empty watch-fires merely. down from waldau, past topferberg and pfaffendorf (priest-town, or as we should call it, "preston"), which are all on its northern or left bank, schwartzwasser's course is in the form of an irregular horse-shoe; high ground to its northern side, liegnitz and hollows to its southern; till in an angular way it do join katzbach, and go with that, northward for oder the rest of its course. on the brow of these horse-shoe heights,--which run parallel to schwartzwasser one part of them, and nearly parallel to katzbach another (though above a mile distant, these latter, from it),--friedrich plants himself: in order of battle; slightly altering some points of the afternoon's program, and correcting his generals, "front rather so and so; see where their fires are, yonder!" daun's fires, loudon's fires; vividly visible both:--and, singular to say, there is nothing yonder either but a few sentries and deceptive drums! all empty yonder too, even as our own camp is; all gone forth, even as we are; we resting here, and our meal-wagons jingling on glogau way! excellency mitchell, under horse-escort, among the lighter baggage, is on kuchelberg heath, in scrubby country, but well north behind friedrich's centre: has had a dreadful march; one comfort only, that his ciphers are all burnt. the rest of us lie down on the grass;--among others, young herr von archenholtz, ensign or lieutenant in regiment forcade: who testifies that it is one of the beautifulest nights, the lamps of heaven shining down in an uncommonly tranquil manner; and that almost nobody slept. the soldier-ranks all lay horizontal, musket under arm; chatting pleasantly in an undertone, or each in silence revolving such thoughts as he had. the generals amble like observant spirits, hoarsely imperative. [archenholtz, ii. - .] friedrich's line, we observed, is in the horse-shoe shape (or parabolic, straighter than horse-shoe), fronting the waters. ziethen commands in that smaller schwartzwasser part of the line, friedrich in the katzbach part, which is more in risk. and now, things being moderately in order, friedrich has himself sat down--i think, towards the middle or convex part of his lines--by a watch-fire he has found there; and, wrapt in his cloak, his many thoughts melting into haze, has sunk ito a kind of sleep. seated on a drum, some say; half asleep by the watch-fire, time half-past ,--when a hussar major, who has been out by the bienowitz, the pohlschildern way, northward, reconnoitring, comes dashing up full speed: "the king? where is the king?" "what is it, then?" answers the king for himself. "your majesty, the enemy in force, from bienowitz, from pohlschildern, coming on our left wing yonder; has flung back all my vedettes: is within yards by this time!" friedrich springs to horse; has already an order speeding forth, "general schenkendorf and his battalion, their cannon, to the crown of the wolfsberg, on our left yonder; swift!" how excellent that every battalion (as by order that we read) "has its own share of the heavy cannon always at hand!" ejaculate the military critics. schenkendorf, being nimble, was able to astonish the enemy with volumes of case-shot from the wolfsberg, which were very deadly at that close distance. other arrangements, too minute for recital here, are rapidly done; and our left wing is in condition to receive its early visitors,--loudon or whoever they may be. it is still dubious to the history-books whether friedrich was in clear expectation of loudon here; though of course he would now guess it was loudon. but there is no doubt loudon had not the least expectation of friedrich; and his surprise must have been intense, when, instead of vacant darkness (and some chance of prussian baggage, which he had heard of), prussian musketries and case-shot opened on him. loudon had, as per order, quitted his camp at jeschkendorf, about the time friedrich did his at schimmelwitz; and, leaving the lights all burning, had set forward on his errand; which was (also identical with friedrich's), to seize the heights of pfaffendorf, and be ready there when day broke, scouts having informed him that the prussian baggage was certainly gone through to topferberg,--more his scouts did not know, nor could loudon guess,--"we will snatch that baggage!" thought loudon; and with such view has been speeding all he could; no vanguard ahead, lest he alarm the baggage escort: loudon in person, with the infantry of the reserve, striding on ahead, to devour any baggage-escort there may be. friedrich's reconnoitring hussar parties had confirmed this belief: "yes, yes!" thought loudon. and now suddenly, instead of baggage to capture, here, out of the vacant darkness, is friedrich in person, on the brow of the heights where we intended to form!-- loudon's behavior, on being hurled back with his reserve in this manner, everybody says, was magnificent. judging at once what the business was, and that retreat would be impossible without ruin, he hastened instantly to form himself, on such ground as he had,--highly unfavorable ground, uphill in part, and room in it only for five battalions ( , ) of front;--and came on again, with a great deal of impetuosity and good skill; again and ever again, three times in all. had partial successes; edged always to the right to get the flank of friedrich; but could not, friedrich edging conformably. from his right-hand, or northeast part, loudon poured in, once and again, very furious charges of cavalry; on every repulse, drew out new battalions from his left and centre, and again stormed forward: but found it always impossible. had his subordinates all been loudons, it is said, there was once a fine chance for him. by this edging always to the northeastward on his part and friedrich's, there had at last a considerable gap in friedrich's line established itself,--not only ziethen's line and friedrich's line now fairly fallen asunder, but, at the village of panten, in friedrich's own line, a gap where anybody might get in. one of the austrian columns was just entering panten when the fight began: in panten that column has stood cogitative ever since; well to left of loudon and his struggles; but does not, till the eleventh hour, resolve to push through. at the eleventh hour;--and lo, in the nick of time, mollendorf (our leuthen-and-hochkirch friend) got his eye on it; rushed up with infantry and cavalry; set panten on fire, and blocked out that possibility and the too cogitative column. loudon had no other real chance: his furious horse-charges and attempts were met everywhere by corresponding counter-fury. bernburg, poor regiment bernburg, see what a figure it is making! left almost alone, at one time, among those horse-charges; spending its blood like water, bayonet-charging, platooning as never before; and on the whole, stemming invincibly that horse-torrent,--not unseen by majesty, it may be hoped; who is here where the hottest pinch is. on the third repulse, which was worse than any before, loudon found he had enough; and tried it no farther. rolled over the katzbach, better or worse; prussians catching , of him, but not following farther: threw up a tine battery at bienowitz, which sheltered his retreat from horse:--and went his ways, sorely but not dishonorably beaten, after an hour and half of uncommonly stiff fighting, which had been very murderous to loudon. loss of , to him: , killed and wounded; prisoners , ; cannon, flags, and other items; the prussian loss being , in whole. [tempelhof, iv. .] by o'clock, the battle, this loudon part of it, was quite over; loudon ( , ) wrecking himself against friedrich's left wing (say half of his army, some , ) in such conclusive manner. friedrich's left wing alone has been engaged hitherto. and now it will be ziethen's turn, if daun and lacy still come on. by last night, daun's pandours, creeping stealthily on, across the katzbach, about schimmelwitz, had discerned with amazement that friedrich's camp appeared to consist only of watch-fires; and had shot off their speediest rider to daun, accordingly; but it was one in the morning before daun, busy marching and marshalling, to be ready at the katzbach by daylight, heard of this strange news; which probably he could not entirely believe till seen with his own eyes. what a spectacle! one's beautiful plan exploded into mere imbroglio of distraction; become one knows not what! daun's watch-fires too had all been left burning; universal stratagem, on both sides, going on; producing--tragically for some of us--a tragedy of errors, or the mistakes of a night! daun sallied out again, in his collapsed, upset condition, as soon as possible: pushed on, in the track of friedrich; warning lacy to push on. daun, though within five miles all the while, had heard nothing of the furious fight and cannonade; "southwest wind having risen," so daun said, and is believed by candid persons,--not by the angry vienna people, who counted it impossible: "nonsense; you were not deaf; but you loitered and haggled, in your usual way; perhaps not sorry that, the brilliant loudon should get a rebuff!" emerging out of liegnitz, daun did see, to northeastward, a vast pillar or mass of smoke, silently mounting, but could do nothing with it. "cannon-smoke, no doubt; but fallen entirely silent, and not wending hitherward at all. poor loudon, alas, must have got beaten!" upon which daun really did try, at least upon ziethen; but could do nothing. poured cavalry across the stone-bridge at the topferberg: who drove in ziethen's picket there; but were torn to pieces by ziethen's cannon. ziethen across the schwartzwasser is alert enough. how form in order of battle here, with ziethen's batteries shearing your columns longitudinally, as they march up? daun recognizes the impossibility; wends back through liegnitz to his camp again, the way he had come. tide-hour missed again; ebb going uncommonly rapid! lacy had been about waldau, to try farther up the schwartzwasser on ziethen's right: but the schwartzwasser proved amazingly boggy; not accessible on any point to heavy people,--"owing to bogs on the bank," with perhaps poor prospect on the other side too! and, in fact, nothing of lacy more than of daun, could manage to get across: nothing except two poor hussar regiments; who, winding up far to the left, attempted a snatch on the baggage about hummeln,--hummeln, or kuchel of the scrubs. and gave a new alarm to mitchell, the last of several during this horrid night; who has sat painfully blocked in his carriage, with such a devil's tumult, going on to eastward, and no sight, share or knowledge to be had of it. repeated hussar attacks there were on the baggage here, loudon's hussars also trying: but mitchell's captain was miraculously equal to the occasion; and had beaten them all off. mitchell, by magnanimous choice of his own, has been in many fights by the side of friedrich; but this is the last he will ever be in or near;--this miraculous one of liegnitz, to . a.m., friday, august th, . never did such a luck befall friedrich before or after. he was clinging on the edge of slippery abysses, his path hardly a foot's-breadth, mere enemies and avalanches hanging round on every side: ruin likelier at no moment, of his life;--and here is precisely the quasi-miracle which was needed to save him. partly by accident too; the best of management crowned by the luckiest of accidents. [tempelhof, iv. - ; archenholtz, ubi supra; ho bericht von der schlacht so am august, , bey liegnitz, vorgefallen (seyfarth, _beylagen,_ ii. - ); &c. &c.] friedrich rested four hours on the battle-field,--if that could be called rest, which was a new kind of diligence highly wonderful. diligence of gathering up accurately the results of the battle; packing them into portable shape; and marching off with them in one's pocket, so to speak. major-general saldern had charge of this, a man of many talents; and did it consummately. the wounded, austrian as well as prussian, are placed in the empty meal-wagons; the more slightly wounded are set on horseback, double in possible cases: only the dead are left lying: or more meal-wagons are left, their teams needed for drawing our new cannon;--the wagons we split up, no austrians to have them; usable only as firewood for the poor country-folk. the or , good muskets lying on the field, shall not we take them also? each cavalry soldier slings one of them across his back, each baggage driver one: and the muskets too are taken care of. about a.m., friedrich, with his , prisoners, new cannon-teams, sick-wagon teams, trophies, properties, is afoot again. one of the succinctest of kings. i should have mentioned the joy of poor regiment bernburg; which rather affected me. loudon gone, the miracle of battle done, and this miraculous packing going on,--friedrich riding about among his people, passed along the front of bernburg, the eye of him perhaps intimating, "i saw you, bursche;" but no word coming from him. the bernburg officers, tragically tressless in their hats, stand also silent, grim as blackened stones (all bernburg black with gunpowder): "in us also is no word; unless our actions perhaps speak?" but a certain sergeant, fugleman, or chief corporal, stept out, saluting reverentially: "regiment bernburg, ihro majestat--?" "hm; well, you did handsomely. yes, you shall have your side-arms back; all shall be forgotten and washed out!" "and you are again our gracious king, then?" says the sergeant, with tears in his eyes.--"gewiss, yea, surely!" [tempelhof, iv. - .] upon which, fancy what a peal of sound from the ecstatic throat and heart of this poor regiment. which i have often thought of; hearing mutinous blockheads, "glorious sons of freedom" to their own thinking, ask their natural commanding officer, "are not we as good as thou? are not all men equal?" not a whit of it, you mutinous blockheads; very far from it indeed! this was the breaking of friedrich's imprisonment in the deadly rock-labyrinths; this success at liegnitz delivered him into free field once more. for twenty-four hours more, indeed, the chance was still full of anxiety to him; for twenty-four hours daun, could he have been rapid, still had the possibilities in hand;--but only daun's antagonist was usually rapid. about in the morning, all road-ready, this latter gentleman "gave three salvos, as joy-fire, on the field of liegnitz;" and, in the above succinct shape,--leaving ziethen to come on, "with the prisoners, the sick-wagons and captured cannon," in the afternoon,--marched rapidly away. for parchwitz, with our best speed: parchwitz is the road to breslau, also to glogau,--to breslau, if it be humanly possible! friedrich has but two days' bread left; on the breslau road, at auras, there is czernichef with , ; there are, or there may be, the loudon remnants rallied again, the lacy corps untouched, all daun's force, had daun made any despatch at all. which daun seldom did. a man slow to resolve, and seeking his luck in leisure. all judges say, daun ought now to have marched, on this enterprise of still intercepting friedrich, without loss of a moment. but he calculated friedrich would probably spend the day in te-deum-ing on the field (as is the manner of some); and that, by to-morrow, things would be clearer to one's own mind. daun was in no haste; gave no orders,--did not so much as send czernichef a letter. czernichef got one, however. friedrich sent him one; that is to say, sent him one to intercept. friedrich, namely, writes a note addressed to his brother henri: "austrians totally beaten this day; now for the russians, dear brother; and swift, do what we have agreed on!" [_oeuvres de frederic,_ v. .] friedrich hands this to a peasant, with instructions to let himself be taken by the russians, and give it up to save his life. czernichef, it is thought, got this letter; and perhaps rumor itself, and the delays of daun, would, at any rate, have sent him across. across he at once went, with his , , and burnt his bridge. a vanished czernichef;--though friedrich is not yet sure of it: and as for the wandering austrian divisions, the loudons, lacys, all is dark to him. so that, at parchwitz, next morning (august th), the question, "to glogau? to breslau?" must have been a kind of sphinx-enigma to friedrich; dark as that, and, in case of error, fatal. after some brief paroxysm of consideration, friedrich's reading was, "to breslau, then!" and, for hours, as the march went on, he was noticed "riding much about," his anxieties visibly great. till at neumarkt (not far from the field of leuthen), getting on the heights there,--towards noon, i will guess,--what a sight! before this, he had come upon austrian out-parties, beck's or somebody's, who did not wait his attack: he saw, at one point, "the whole austrian army on march (the tops of its columns visible among the knolls, three miles off, impossible to say whitherward);" and fared on all the faster, i suppose, such a bet depending;--and, in fine, galloped to the heights of neumarkt for a view: "dare we believe it? not an austrian there!" and might be, for the moment, the gladdest of kings. secure now of breslau, of junction with henri: fairly winner of the bet;--and can at last pause, and take breath, very needful to his poor army, if not to himself, after such a mortal spasm of sixteen days! daun had taken the liegnitz accident without remark; usually a stoical man, especially in other people's misfortunes; but could not conceal his painful astonishment on this new occasion,--astonishment at unjust fortune, or at his own sluggardly cunctations, is not said. next day (august th), friedrich encamps at hermannsdorf, head-quarter the schloss of hermannsdorf, within seven miles of breslau; continues a fortnight there, resting his wearied people, himself not resting much, watching the dismal miscellany of entanglements that yet remain, how these will settle into groups,--especially what daun and his soltikof will decide on. in about a fortnight, daun's decision did become visible; soltikof's not in a fortnight, nor ever clearly at all. unless it were to keep a whole skin, and gradually edge home to his victuals. as essentially it was, and continued to be; creating endless negotiations, and futile overtures and messagings from daun to his barbarous friend, endless suasions and troubles from poor montalembert,--of which it would weary every reader to hear mention, except of the result only. friedrich, for his own part, is little elated with these bits of successes at liegnitz or since; and does not deceive himself as to the difficulties, almost the impossibilities, that still lie ahead. in answer to d'argens, who has written ("at midnight," starting out of bed "the instant the news came"), in zealous congratulation on liegnitz, here is a letter of friedrich's: well worth reading,--though it has been oftener read than almost any other of his. a letter which d'argens never saw in the original form; which was captured by the austrians or cossacks; [see _oeuvres de frederic,_ xix. (d'argens himself, " th october" following), and ib. n.; rodenbeck, ii. , ;--mention of it in voltaire, montalembert, &c.] which got copied everywhere, soon stole into print, and is ever since extensively known. friedrich to marquis d'argens (at berlin). "hermannsdorf, near breslau, th august, . "in other times, my dear marquis, the affair of the th would have settled the campaign; at present it is but a scratch. there will be needed a great battle to decide our fate: such, by all appearance, we shall soon have; and then you may rejoice, if the event is favorable to us. thank you, meanwhile, for all your sympathy. it has cost a deal of scheming, striving and much address to bring matters to this point. don't speak to me of dangers; the last action costs me only a coat [torn, useless, only one skirt left, by some rebounding cannon-ball?] and a horse [shot under me]: that is not paying dear for a victory. "in my life, i was never in so bad a posture as in this campaign. believe me, miracles are still needed if i am to overcome all the difficulties which i still see ahead. and one is growing weak withal. 'herculean' labors to accomplish at an age when my powers are forsaking me, my weaknesses increasing, and, to speak candidly, even hope, the one comfort of the unhappy, begins to be wanting. you are not enough acquainted with the posture of things, to know all the dangers that threaten the state: i know them, and conceal them; i keep all the fears to myself, and communicate to the public only the hopes, and the trifle of good news i may now and then have. if the stroke i am meditating succeed [stroke on daun's anti-schweidnitz strategies, of which anon], then, my dear marquis, it will be time to expand one's joy; but till then let us not flatter ourselves, lest some unexpected bit of bad news depress us too much. "i live here [schloss of hermannsdorf, a seven miles west of breslau] like a military monk of la trappe: endless businesses, and these done, a little consolation from my books. i know not if i shall outlive this war: but should it so happen, i am firmly resolved to pass the remainder of my life in solitude, in the bosom of philosophy and friendship. when the roads are surer, perhaps you will write me oftener. i know not where our winter-quarters this time are to be! my house in breslau is burnt down in the bombardment [loudon's, three weeks ago]. our enemies grudge us everything, even daylight, and air to breathe: some nook, however, they must leave us; and if it be a safe one, it will be a true pleasure to have you again with me. "well, my dear marquis, what has become of the peace with france [english peace]! your nation, you see, is blinder than you thought: those fools will lose their canada and pondicherry, to please the queen of hungary and the czarina. heaven grant prince ferdinand may pay them for their zeal! and it will be the innocent that suffer, the poor officers and soldiers, not the choiseuls and--... but here is business come on me. adieu, dear marquis; i embrace you.--f." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xix. .] two events, of opposite complexion, a russian and a saxon, friedrich had heard of while at hermannsdorf, before writing as above. the saxon event is the pleasant one, and comes first. hulsen on the durrenberg, august th. "august th, at strehla, in that schlettau-meissen country, the reichsfolk and austrians made attack on hulsen's posts, principal post of them the durrenberg (dry-hill) there,--in a most extensive manner; filling the whole region with vague artillery-thunder, and endless charges, here, there, of foot and horse; which all issued in zero and minus quantities; hulsen standing beautifully to his work, and hussar kleist especially, at one point, cutting in with masterly execution, which proved general overthrow to the reichs project; and left hulsen master of the field and of his durrenberg, plus , prisoners and one prince among them, and one cannon: a hulsen who has actually given a kind of beating to the reichsfolk and austrians, though they were , to his , , and had counted on making a new maxen of it." [archenholts, ii. ; bericht von der om august bey strehla vorgefallonen action (seyfarth, _beylagen,_ ii. - ).] friedrich writes a glad laudatory letter to hulsen: "right, so; give them more of that when they apply next!" [letter in schoning, ii. , "hermsdorf" (hermannsdorf), " th august, ."] this is a bit of sunshine to the royal mind, dark enough otherwise. had friedrich got done here, right fast would he fly to the relief of hulsen, and recovery of saxony. hope, in good moments, says, "hulsen will be able to hold out till then!" fear answers, "no, he cannot, unless you get done here extremely soon!"--the russian event, full of painful anxiety to friedrich, was a new siege of colberg. that is the sad fact; which, since the middle of august, has been becoming visibly certain. second siege of colberg, august th. "under siege again, that poor place; and this time the russians seem to have made a vow that take it they will. siege by land and by sea; land-troops direct from petersburg, , in all ( , of them came by ship), with endless artillery; and near russian and swedish ships-of-war, big and little, blackening the waters of poor colberg. august th [the day before friedrich's writing as above], they have got all things adjusted,--the land-troops covered by redoubts to rearward, ships moored in their battering-places;--and begin such a bombardment and firing of red-hot balls upon colberg as was rarely seen. to which, one can only hope old heyde will set a face of gray-steel character, as usual; and prove a difficult article to deal with, till one get some relief contrived for him. [archenholtz, ii. : in _helden-geschichte,_ (vi. - ), "tagebuch of siege, th august- th september," and other details.] chapter iv.--daun in wrestle with friedrich in the silesian hills. in spite of friedrich's forebodings, an extraordinary recoil, in all anti-friedrich affairs, ensued upon liegnitz; everything taking the backward course, from which it hardly recovered, or indeed did not recover at all, during the rest of this campaign. details on the subsequent daun-friedrich movements--which went all aback for daun, daun driven into the hills again, friedrich hopeful to cut off his bread, and drive him quite through the hills, and home again--are not permitted us. no human intellect in our day could busy itself with understanding these thousand-fold marchings, manoeuvrings, assaults, surprisals, sudden facings-about (retreat changed to advance); nor could the powerfulest human memory, not exclusively devoted to study the art military under friedrich, remember them when understood. for soldiers, desirous not to be sham-soldiers, they are a recommendable exercise; for them i do advise tempelhof and the excellent german narratives and records. but in regard to others--a sample has been given: multiply that by the ten, by the threescore and ten; let the ingenuous imagination get from it what will suffice. our first duty here to poor readers, is to elicit from that sea of small things the fractions which are cardinal, or which give human physiognomy and memorability to it; and carefully suppress all the rest. understand, then, that there is a general going-back on the austrian and russian part. czernichef we already saw at once retire over the oder. soltikof bodily, the second day after, deaf to montalembert, lifts himself to rearward; takes post behind bogs and bushy grounds more and more inaccessible; ["august th, to trebnitz, on the road to militsch" (tempelhof, iv. ).] followed by prince henri with his best impressiveness for a week longer, till he seem sufficiently remote and peaceably minded: "making home for poland, he," thinks the sanguine king; "leave goltz with , to watch him. the rest of the army over hither!" which is done, august th; general forcade taking charge, instead of henri,--who is gone, that day or next, to breslau, for his health's sake. "prince henri really ill," say some; "not so ill, but in the sulks," say others:--partly true, both theories, it is now thought; impossible to settle in what degree true. evident it is, henri sat quiescent in breslau, following regimen, in more or less pathetic humor, for two or three months to come; went afterwards to glogau, and had private theatricals; and was no more heard of in this campaign. greatly to his brother's loss and regret; who is often longing for "your recovery" (and return hither), to no purpose. soltikof does, in his heart, intend for poland; but has to see the siege of colberg finish first; and, in decency even to the austrians, would linger a little: "willing i always, if only you prove feasible!" which occasions such negotiating, and messaging across the oder, for the next six weeks, as--as shall be omitted in this place. by intense suasion of montalembert, soltikof even consents to undertake some sham movement on glogau, thereby to alleviate his austrians across the river; and staggers gradually forward a little in that direction:--sham merely; for he has not a siege-gun, nor the least possibility on glogau; and goltz with the , will sufficiently take care of him in that quarter. friedrich, on junction with forcade, has risen to perhaps , ; and is now in some condition against the daun-loudon-lacy armies, which cannot be double his number. these still hang about, in the breslau-parchwitz region; gloomy of humor; and seem to be aiming at schweidnitz,--if that could still prove possible with a friedrich present. which it by no means does; though they try it by their best combinations;--by "a powerful chain of army-posts, isolating schweidnitz, and uniting daun and loudon;" by "a camp on the zobtenberg, as crown of the same;"--and put friedrich on his mettle. who, after survey of said chain, executes (night of august th) a series of beautiful manoeuvres on it, which unexpectedly conclude its existence:--"with unaccountable hardihood," as archenholtz has it, physiognomically true to friedrich's general style just now, if a little incorrect as to the case in hand, "sees good to march direct, once for all, athwart said chain; right across its explosive cannonadings and it,--counter-cannonading, and marching rapidly on; such a march for insolence, say the austrians!" [archenholtz (ii. - ); who is in a hurry, dateless, and rather confuses a subsequent day (september th) with this "night of august th." see retzow, ii. ; and still better, tempelhof, iv. .] till, in this way, the insolent king has schweidnitz under his protective hand again; and forces the chain to coil itself wholly together, and roll into the hills for a safe lodging. whither he again follows it: with continual changes of position, vying in inaccessibility with your own; threatening your meal-wagons; trampling on your skirts in this or the other dangerous manner; marching insolently up to your very nose, more than once ("dittmannsdorf, september th," for a chief instance), and confusing your best schemes. [tempelhof, iv. - ; &c. &c.: in _anonymous of hamburg,_ iv. - , "diary of the austrian army" ( - th september).] this "insolent" style of management, says archenholtz, was practised by julius caesar on the gauls; and since his time by nobody,--till friedrich, his studious scholar and admirer, revived it "against another enemy." "it is of excellent efficacy," adds tempelhof; "it disheartens your adversary, and especially his common people, and has the reverse effect on your own; confuses him in endless apprehensions, and details of self-defence; so that he can form no plan of his own, and his overpowering resources become useless to him." excellent efficacy,--only you must be equal to doing it; not unequal, which might be very fatal to you! for about five weeks, friedrich, eminently practising this style, has a most complex multifarious briarean wrestle with big daun and his lacy-loudon satellites; who have a troublesome time, running hither, thither, under danger of slaps, and finding nowhere an available mistake made. the scene is that intricate hill-country between schweidnitz and glatz (kind of glacis from schweidnitz to the glatz mountains): daun, generally speaking, has his back on glatz, friedrich on schweidnitz; and we hear of encampings at kunzendorf, at bunzelwitz, at burkersdorf--places which will be more famous in a coming year. daun makes no complaint of his lacy-loudon or other satellite people; who are diligently circumambient all of them, as bidden; but are unable, like daun himself, to do the least good; and have perpetually, daun and they, a bad life of it beside this neighbor. the outer world, especially the vienna outer world, is naturally a little surprised: "how is this, feldmarschall daun? can you do absolutely nothing with him, then; but sit pinned in the hills, eating sour herbs!" in the russians appears no help. soltikof on glogau, we know what that amounts to! soltikof is evidently intending home, and nothing else. to all austrian proposals,--and they have been manifold, as poor montalembert knows too well,--the answer of soltikof was and is: "above , of you circling about, helping one another to do nothing. happy were you, not a doubt of it, could we be wiled across to you, to get worried in your stead!" daun begins to be extremely ill-off; provisions scarce, are far away in bohemia; and the roads daily more insecure, friedrich aiming evidently to get command of them altogether. think of such an issue to our once flourishing campaign ! daun is vigilance itself against such fatality; and will do anything, except risk a fight. here, however, is the fatal posture: since september th, daun sees himself considerably cut off from glatz, his provision-road more and more insecure;--and for fourteen days onward, the king and he have got into a dead-lock, and sit looking into one another's faces; daun in a more and more distressed mood, his provender becoming so uncertain, and the winter season drawing nigh. the sentries are in mutual view: each camp could cannonade the other; but what good were it? by a tacit understanding they don't. the sentries, outposts and vedettes forbear musketry; on the contrary, exchange tobaccoes sometimes, and have a snatch of conversation. daun is growing more and more unhappy. to which of the gods, if not to soltikof again, can he apply? friedrich himself, successful so far, is abundantly dissatisfied with such a kind of success;--and indeed seems to be less thankful to his stars than in present circumstances he ought. profoundly wearied we find him, worn down into utter disgust in the small war of posts: "here we still are, nose to nose," exclaims he (see letters to henri), "both of us in unattackable camps. this campaign appears to me more unsupportable than any of the foregoing. take what trouble and care i like, i can't advance a step in regard to great interests; i succeed only in trifles.... oh for good news of your health: i am without all assistance here; the army must divide again before long, and i have none to intrust it to." [schoning, ii. .] and to d'argens, in the same bad days: "yes, yes, i escaped a great danger there [at liegnitz]. in a common war it would have signified something; but in this it is a mere skirmish; my position little improved by it. i will not sing jeremiads to you; nor speak of my fears and anxieties, but can assure you they are great. the crisis i am in has taken another shape; but as yet nothing decides it, nor can the development of it be foreseen. i am getting consumed by slow fever; i am like a living body losing limb after limb. heaven stand by us: we need it much. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xix. ("dittmannsdorf, th september," day after, or day of finishing, that cannonade).]... you talk always of my person, of my dangers. need i tell you, it is not necessary that i live; but it is that i do my duty, and fight for my country to save it if possible. in many little things i have had luck: i think of taking for my motto, maximus in minimis, et minimus in maximis. a worse campaign than any of the others: i know not sometimes what will become of it. but why weary you with such details of my labors and my sorrows? my spirits have forsaken me. all gayety is buried with the loved noble ones whom my heart was bound to. adieu." or, again, to henri: berlin? yes; i am trying something in bar of that. have a bad time of it, in the interim." our means, my dear brother, are so eaten away; far too short for opposing the prodigious number of our enemies set against us:--if we must fall, let us date our destruction from the infamous day of maxen!" is in such health, too, all the while: "am a little better, thank you; yet have still the"--what shall we say (dreadful biliary affair)?--"hemorrhoides aveugles: nothing that, were it not for the disquietudes i feel: but all ends in this world, and so will these. ... i flatter myself your health is recovering. for these three days in continuance i have had so terrible a cramp, i thought it would choke me;--it is now a little gone. no wonder the chagrins and continual disquietudes i live in should undermine and at length overturn the robustest constitution." [schoning, ii. : " d october." ib. ii. : " th september." ib. ii. .] friedrich, we observe, has heard of certain russian-austrian intentions on berlin; but, after intense consideration, resolves that it will behoove him to continue here, and try to dislodge daun, or help hunger to dislodge him; which will be the remedy for berlin and all things else. there are news from colberg of welcome tenor: could daun be sent packing, soltikof, it is probable, will not be in much alacrity for berlin!--september th, at dittmannsdorf, was the first day of daun's dead-lock: ever since, he has had to sit, more and more hampered, pinned to the hills, eating sour herbs; nothing but hunger ahead, and a retreat (battle we will not dream of), likely to be very ruinous, with a friedrich sticking to the wings of it. here is the note on colberg:-- september th, colherg siege raised. "the same september th, what a day at colberg too! it is the twenty-fourth day of the continual bombardment there. colberg is black ashes, most of its houses ruins, not a house in it uninjured. but heyde and his poor garrison, busy day and night, walk about in it as if fire-proof; with a great deal of battle still left in them. the king, i know not whether heyde is aware, has contrived something of relief; general werner coming:--the fittest of men, if there be possibility. when, see, september th, uneasy motion in the russian intrenchments (for the russians too are intrenched against attack): something that has surprised the russians yonder. climb, some of you, to the highest surviving steeple, highest chimney-top if no steeple survive:--yonder is werner come to our relief, o god the merciful!" "werner, with , , was detached from glogau (september th), from goltz's small corps there; has come as on wings, miles in thirteen days. and attacks now, as with wings, the astonished russian , , who were looking for nothing like him,--with wings, with claws, and with beak; and in a highly aquiline manner, fierce, swift, skilful, storms these intrenched russians straightway, scatters them to pieces,--and next day is in colberg, the siege raising itself with great precipitation; leaving all its artilleries and furnitures, rushing on shipboard all of it that can get,--the very ships-of-war, says archenholtz, hurrying dangerously out to sea, as if the prussian hussars might possibly take them. a glorious werner! a beautiful defence, and ditto rescue; which has drawn the world's attention." [seyfarth, ii. ; archenholtz, ii. : in _helden-geschichte,_ (vi. - ), tagebuch of siege.] heyde's defence of colberg, werner's swift rescue of it, are very celebrated this autumn. medals were struck in honor of them at berlin, not at friedrich's expense, but under friedrich's patronage; who purchased silver or gold copies, and gave them about. veteran heyde had a letter from his majesty, and one of these gold medals;--what an honor! i do not hear that heyde got any other reward, or that he needed any. a beautiful old hero, voiceless in history; though very visible in that remote sphere, if you care to look. that is the news from colberg; comfortable to friedrich; not likely to inspire soltikof with new alacrity in behalf of daun. it remains to us only to add, that friedrich, with a view to quicken daun, shot out (september th, after nightfall, and with due mystery) a detachment towards neisse,-- , or so, who call themselves , , and affect to be for mahren ultimately. "for mahren, and my bit of daily bread!" daun may well think; and did for some time think, or partly did. pushed off one small detachment really thither, to look after mahren; and (september th) pushed off another bigger; lacy namely, with , , pretending to be thither,--but who, the instant they were out of friedrich's sight, have whirled, at a rapid pace, quite into the opposite direction: as will shortly be seen! daun has now other irons in the fire. daun, ever since this fatal dead-lock in the hills, has been shrieking hoarsely to the russians, day and night; who at last take pity on him,--or find something feasible in his proposals. the russians make a raid on berlin, for relief of daun and their own behoof (october d- th, ). powerful entreaties, influences are exercised at petersburg, and here in the russian camp: "noble russian excellencies, for the love of heaven, take this man off my windpipe! a sally into brandenburg: oh, could not you? lacy shall accompany; seizure of berlin, were it only for one day!" soltikof has falleu sick,--and, indeed, practically vanishes from our affairs at this point;--fermor, who has command in the interim, finally consents: "our poor siege of colberg, what an end is come to it! what an end is the whole campaign like to have! let us at least try this of berlin, since our hands are empty." the joy of daun, of montalembert, and of everybody in austrian court and camp may be conceived. russians to the amount of , , czernichef commander; tottleben second in command, a clever soldier, who knows berlin: these are to start from sagan country, on this fine expedition, and to push on at the very top of their speed. september th, tottleben, with , of them as vanguard, does accordingly cross oder, at beuthen in sagan country; and strides forward direct upon berlin: lacy, with , , has started from silesia, we saw how, above a week later (september th), but at a still more furious rate of speed. soltikof,--theoretically soltikof, but practically fermor, should the dim german books be ambiguous to any studious creature,--with the main army (which by itself is still a , odd), moves to frankfurt, to support the swift expedition, and be within two marches of it. here surely is a feasibility! berlin, for defence, has nothing but weak palisades; and of effective garrison , men. and feasible, in a sort, this thing did prove; indisputably delivering daun from strangulation in the silesian mountains; filling the gazetteer mind with loud emotion of an empty nature; and very much affecting many poor people in berlin and neighborhood. making a big chapter in berlin local history; though compressible to small bulk for strangers, who have no specific sympathies in that locality. "friday, d october, , tottleben, with his hasty vanguard of , , preceded by hastier rumor, comes circling round berlin environs; takes post at the halle gate [west side of the city]; summons rochow [the same old commandant of haddick's time];--requires instant admittance; ransom of four million thalers, and other impossible things. berlin has been putting itself in some posture; repairing its palisades, throwing up bits of redoubts in front of the gates, and, though sounding with alarms and uncertainties, shows a fine spirit of readiness for the emergency. rochow is still commandant, the same old rochow who shrunk so questionably in haddick's time: but rochow has no court to tremble for at present; queen and royal family, archives, principal ministries, directorium in a body, went all to magdeburg again, on the kunersdorf disaster last year, and are safe from such insults. the spirit of the population, it appears, even of the rich classes, some of whom are very rich, is extraordinary. besides rochow, moreover, there are, by accident, certain generals in berlin: seidlitz and two others, recovering from their kunersdorf hurts, who step into the breach with heart admirably willing, if with limbs still lame. then there is old field-marshal lehwald [anti-russian at gross jagersdorf, but dismissed as too old], who is official governor of berlin, who succeeded poor keith in that honorable office: all these were strong for defence;--and do not now grudge, great men as they are, to take each his gate of berlin, his small redoubt thrown up there, and pass the night and the day in doing his utmost with it. "rochow refuses the surrender, and the four millions pure specie; and tottleben, about p.m. in an intermittent way, and about in a constant, begins bombarding--grenadoes, red-hot balls, what he can;--and continues the s&me till next morning. without result to speak of; seidlitz and consorts making good counter-play; the poor old , of garrison growing almost young again with energy, under their seidlitzes; and the population zealously co-operating, especially quenching all fires that rose. what greatly contributed withal was the arrival of prince eugen overnight. eugen of wurtemberg [cadet of that bad duke] had been engaged driving home the swedes, but instantly quitted that with a , he had; and has marched this day,--his vanguard has, mostly horse, whom the foot will follow to-morrow,--a distance of forty miles, on this fine errand. delicate manoeuvring, by these wearied horsemen, to enter berlin amid uncertain jostlings, under the shine of russian bombardment; ecstatic welcome to them, when they did get in,--instant subscription for fat oxen to them; a just abundance of beef to them, of generous beer i hope not more than an abundance: phenomena which, with others of the like, could be dwelt on, had we room. [tempelhof, iv. - ; archenholtz, ii. - ; _helden-geschichte,_ vi. - , - ; &c. &c.]' "tottleben, under these omens, found it would not do; wended off towards his czernichef next morning; eastward again as far as copenik, prince eugen attending him in a minatory manner: and, in berlin for the moment, the bad ten hours were over. for four days more, the fate of things hung dubious; hope soon fading again, but not quite going out till the fifth day. and this, in fact, was mainly all of bombardment that the city had to suffer; though its fate of capture was not to be averted. is not tottleben gone? yes; but lacy, marching at a rate he never did before (except from bischofswerda), is arrived in the environs this same evening, cautious but furious. the king is far away; what are eugen's , against these? "on the other hand, hulsen, leaving his saxon affairs to their chance,--which, alas, are about extinct, at any rate; except wittenberg, all saxony gone from us!--hulsen is on winged march hitherward with about , . 'how would the king come on wings, like an eagle from the blue, if he were but aware!' thought everybody, and said. hulsen did arrive on the th; so that there are now , of us. hulsen did;--but no king could; the king is just starting (october th, the king, on these bad rumors about saxony, about berlin, quitted the attempt on daun; october th, got on march hitherward; has finished his first march hitherward,--daun gradually preparing to attend him in the distance),--when hulsen arrives. and here are all their lacys, czernichefs fairly assembled; five to two of us,-- , of them against our , . "hulsen and eugen, drawn out in their skilfulest way, manoeuvred about, all this wednesday, th; attempted, did not attempt; found on candid examination, that , versus , ran a great risk of being worsted; that, in such case, the fate of the city might be still more frightful; and that, on the whole, their one course was that of withdrawing to spandau, and leaving poor berlin to capitulate as it could. capitulation starts again with tottleben that same night; gotzkowsky, a magnanimous citizen and merchant-prince, stepping forth with beautiful courageous furtherances of every kind; and it ends better than one could have hoped: ransom--not of four millions pure specie (which would have been , pounds): 'gracious sir, it is beyond our utmost possibility!'--but of one and a half million in modern ephraim coin; with a , pounds of douceur-money to the common man, russian and austrian, for his forbearance;--'for the rest, we are at your excellency's mercy, in a manner!' and so, "thursday, october th, about in the morning, tottleben marches in; exactly six days since he first came circling to the halle gate and began bombarding. tottleben, knowing friedrich, knew the value of despatch; and, they say, was privately no enemy to berlin, remembering old grateful days here. for tottleben has himself been in difficulties; indeed, was never long out of them, during the long stormy life he had. not a russian at all; though i suppose father of the now russian tottlebens whom one hears of: this one was a poor saxon gentleman, page once to poor old drunken weissenfels, whom, for a certain fair soul's sake, we sigh to remember! weissenfels dying, tottleben became a soldier of polish majesty's;--acceptable soldier, but disagreed with bruhl, for which nobody will like him worse. disagreed with bruhl; went into the dutch service (may have been in fontenoy for what i know); was there till aix-la-chapelle, till after aix-la-chapelle; kindly treated, and promoted in the dutch army; but with outlooks, i can fancy, rather dull. outlooks probably dull in such an element,--when, being a handsome fellow in epaulettes (major-general, in fact, though poor), he, diligently endeavoring, caught the eye of a dutch west-indian heiress; soft creature with no end of money; whom he privately wedded, and ran away with. to the horror of her appointed dutch lover and friends; who prosecuted the poor major-general with the utmost rigor, not of law only. and were like to be the ruin of his fair west-indian and him; when friedrich, about as i guess, gave him shelter in berlin; finding no insupportable objection in what the man had done. the rather, as his heiress and he were rich. tottleben gained general favor in berlin society; wished, in , to take service with friedrich on the breaking out of this war. 'a colonel with me, yes,' said friedrich. but tottleben had been major-general among the dutch, and could not consent to sink; had to go among the russians for a major-generalcy; and there and elsewhere, for many years coming, had many adventures, mostly troublesome, which shall not be memorable to us here. [sketch of tottleben's life; in rodenbeck, ii. - .] "lacy, who, after hovering about in these vicinities for four days, had now actually come up, so soon as eugen and hulsen withdrew,--was deeply disgusted at the terms of capitulation; angry to find that tottleben had concluded without him; and, in fact, flew into open rage at the arrangements tottleben had made for himself and for others. 'no admittance, except on order from his excellency!' said the russian sentry to lacy's austrians: upon which, lacy forced the gate, and violently marched in. took lodging, to his own mind, in the friedrichstadt quarter; and was fearfully truculent upon person and property, during his short stay. a scandal to be seen, how his croats and loose hordes went openly ravening about, bent on mere housebreaking, street-robbery and insolent violence. so that tottleben had fairly to fire upon the vagabonds once or twice; and force on the unwilling lacy some coercion of them within limits. for the three days of his continuance,--it was but three days in all,--lacy was as the evil genius of berlin; tottleben and his russians the good. their discipline was so excellent; all cossacks and loose rabble strictly kept out beyond the walls. to bachmann, russian commandant, the berliners, on his departure, had gratefully got ready a money-gift of handsome amount: 'by no means,' answered bachmann: 'your treatment was according to the mildness of our sovereign czarina. for myself, if i have served you in anything, the fact that for three days i have been commandant of the great friedrich's capital is more than a reward to me.' "tottleben and lacy, during those three days of russian and austrian joint dominion, had a stormy time of it together. 'destroy the lager-haus,' said lacy: lager-haus, where they manufacture their soldiers' uniforms; it is the parent of all cloth-manufacturing in prussia; set up by friedrich wilhelm,--not on free-trade principles. 'the lager-haus, say you? i doubt, it is now private property; screened by our capitulation;'--which it proves to be. 'you shall blow up the arsenal!' said lacy, with vehemence and truculence. a noble edifice, as travellers yet know: fancy its fragments flying about among the populous streets, plunging through the roofs of palaces, and great houses all round. lacy was inexorable; tottleben had to send a russian party (one wishes they had been croats) on this sad errand. they proceeded to the powder-magazine for explosive material, as preliminary; they were rash in handling the gunpowder there, which blew up in their hands; sent itself and all of them into the air; and saved the poor arsenal: 'not powder enough now left for our own artillery uses,' urged tottleben. "saxon and austrian parties were in the palaces about,--at potsdam, at charlottenburg, schonhausen (the queen's), at friedrichsfeld (the margraf karl's), some of whom behaved well, some horribly ill. in charlottenburg, certain saxon bruhl-dragoons, who by their conduct might have been dragoons of attila, smashed the furnitures, the doors, cutting the pictures, much maltreating the poor people; and, what was reckoned still more tragical, overset the poor polignac collection of antiques and classicalities; not only knocking off noses and arms, but beating them small, lest reparation by cement should be possible. their officers, pirna people, looking quietly on. a scandalous proceeding, thought everybody, friend or foe,--especially thought friedrich; whose indignation at this ruin of charlottenburg came out in way of reprisal by and by. at potsdam, on the other hand, prince esterhazy, with perhaps hungarians among his people, behaved like a very prince; received from the castellan an attestation that he had scrupulously respected everything; and took, as souvenir, only one picture of little value; prince de ligne, who was under him, carrying off, still more daintily, one goose-quill, immortal by having been a pen of the great friedrich's. "tottleben, with no feeling other than official tempered by human, was in great contrast with lacy, and very beneficent to berlin during the three days it lay under the tribula, or harrow of war. but the tutelary angel of berlin, then and afterwards for weeks and months, till all scores got settled, was the gotzkowsky mentioned above." whom we shall see again helpful at leipzig; a man worth marking in these tumults. "if tottleben was the temporal armed king, this gotzkowsky was the spiritual king, papa or universal father, armed only with charities, pieties, prayers, ever shiningly attended by self-sacrifices on gotzkowsky's part; which averted woes innumerable (lager-haus only one of a long list); and which 'surpassed all belief,' write the berlin magistracy, as if in tears over such heroism. truly a prince of merchants, this gotzkowsky, not for his vast enterprises, and the mere , workmen he employs, but for the still greater heart that dwells in him. had begun as a travelling pedler; used to call at reinsberg, with female haberdasheries exquisitely chosen ('gallanterie wares' the germans call them), for the then princess royal; not unnoticed by friedrich, who recognized the broad sense, solidity and great thoughts of the man. of all which friedrich has known far more since then, in various branches of prussian commerce improved by gotzkowsky's managements. a truly notable gotzkowsky; became bankrupt at last, one is sorry to hear; and died in affliction and neglect,--short of the humblest wages for so much good work done in the world! [preuss, ii. , &c. &c.; geschichte eines patriotischen kaufmanns (berlin, , by gotzkowsky himself).] "gotzkowsky's house was like a general storeroom for everybody's preciosities; his time, means, self were the refuge of all the needy. in zorndorf time, when this czernichef [if readers can remember], who is now so supreme,--czernichef, soltikof and others,--had nothing for it but to lodge in the cellars of burnt custrin, gotzkowsky, with ready money, with advice, with assuagement, had been their deus ex machina: and now czernichef remembers it; and gotzkowsky, as papa, has to go with continual prayers, negotiations, counsellings, expedients, and be the refuge of all unjustly suffering men berlin has immensities of trade in war-furnitures: the capitals circulating are astonishing to archenholtz; million on the back of million; no such city in germany for trade. the desire of the three-days lacy government is towards any lager-haus; any mass of wealth, which can be construed as royal or connected with royalty. ephraim and itzig, mint-masters of that copper-coinage; rolling in foul wealth by the ruin of their neighbors; ought not these to bleed? well, yes,--if anybody; and copiously if you like! i should have said so: but the generous gotzkowsky said in his heart, 'no;' and again pleaded and prevailed. ephraim and itzig, foul swollen creatures, were not broached at all; and their gratitude was, that, at a future day, gotzkowsky's day of bankruptcy, they were hardest of any on gotzkowsky. "archenholtz and the books are enthusiastically copious upon gotzkowsky and his procedures; but we must be silent. this anecdote only, in regard to freedom of the press,--to the so-called 'air we breathe, not having which we die!' would modern friends of progress believe it? because, in former stages of this war, the berlin newspapers have had offensive expressions (scarcely noticeable to the microscope in our day, and below calculation for smallness) upon the russian and austrian sovereigns or peoples,--the able editors (there are only two) shall now in person, here in the market-place of berlin, actually run the gantlet for it,--'run the rods (gassen-laufen'), as the fashion now is; which is worse than gantlet, not to speak of the ignominy. that is the barbaric russian notion: 'who are you, ill-formed insolent persons, that give a loose to your tongue in that manner? strip to the waistband, swift! here is the true career opened for you: on each hand, one hundred sharp rods ranked waiting you; run your courses there,--no hurry more than you like!' the alternative of death, i suppose, was open to these editors; roman death at least, and martyrdom for a new faith (faith in the loose tongue), very sacred to the democratic ages now at hand. but nobody seems to have thought of it; editors and public took the thing as a 'sorrow incident to this dangerous profession of the tongue loose (or looser than usual); which nobody yet knew to be divine. the editors made passionate enough lamentation, in the stript state; one of then, with loud weeping, pulled off his wig, showed ice-gray hair; 'i am in my th year!' but it seems nothing would have steaded them, had not gotzkowsky been busy interceding. by virtue of whom there was pardon privately in readiness: to the ice-gray editor complete pardon; to the junior quasi-complete; only a few switches to assert the principle, and dismissal with admonition." [_helden-geschichte_, vi. - ; rodenbeck, ii. - ; archenholtz, ii. - ; preuss, ubi supra: &c. &c.] the pleasant part of the fact is, that gotzkowsky's powerful intercessions were thenceforth no farther needed. the same day, saturday, october th, a few hours after this of the gassen-laufen, news arrived full gallop: "the king is coming!" after which it was beautiful to see how all things got to the gallop; and in a no-time berlin was itself again. that same evening, saturday, lacy took the road, with extraordinary velocity, towards torgau country, where the reichsfolk, in hulsen's absence, are supreme; and, the second evening after, was got miles thitherward. his joint dominion had been of two days. on the morning of sunday, th, went tottleben, who had businesses, settlements of ransom and the like, before marching. tottleben, too, made uncommon despatch; marched, as did all these invasive russians, at the rate of thirty miles a day; their main army likewise moving off from frankfurt to a safer distance. friedrich was still five marches off; but there seemed not a moment to lose. the russian spoilings during the retreat were more horrible than ever: "the gallows gaping for us; and only this one opportunity, if even this!" thought the agitated cossack to himself. our poor friend nissler had a sad tale to tell of them; [in busching, _beitrage,_ i. , , account of their sacking of nussler's pleasant home and estate, "weissensee, near berlin."] as who had not? terror and murder, incendiary fire and other worse unnamable abominations of the pit. one old half-pay gentleman, whom i somewhat respect, desperately barricaded himself, amid his domestics and tenantries, wife and daughters assisting: "human russian officers can enter here; cossacks no, but shall kill us first. not a cossack till all of us are lying dead!" [archenholtz, ii. .] and kept his word; the human russians owning it to be proper. in guben country, "at gross-muckro, october th," the day after passing guben, friedrich first heard for certain, that the russians had been in berlin, and also that they were gone, and that all was over. he made two marches farther,--not now direct for berlin, but direct for saxony and it;--to lubben, or miles straight south of berlin; and halted there some days, to adjust himself for a new sequel. "these are the things," exclaims he, sorrowfully, to d'argens, "which i have been in dread of since winter last; this is what gave the dismal tone to my letters to you. it has required not less than all my philosophy to endure the reverses, the provocations, the outrages, and the whole scene of atrocious things that have come to pass." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xix. ; " d october."] friedrich's grief about berlin we need not paint; though there were murmurs afterwards, "why did not he start sooner?" which he could not, in strict reason, though aware that these savageries were on march. he had hoped the eugen-hulsen appliances, even should all else fail, might keep them at bay. and indeed, in regard to these latter, it turned only on a hair. montalembert calculating, vows, on his oath, "can assure you, m. l'ambassadeur, puis bien vous assurer comme si j,etais devant dieu, as if i stood before god," [montalembert, ii. .] that, from first to last, it was my doing; that but for me, at the very last, the russians, on sight of hulsen and eugen, and no lacy come, would have marched away! friedrich's orderings and adjustings, dated lubben, where his army rested after this news from berlin, were manifold; and a good deal still of wrecks from the berlin business fell to his share. for instance, one thing he had at once ordered: "your bill of a million-and-half to the russians, don't pay it, or any part of it! when bamberg was ransomed, spring gone a year,--reich and kaiser, did they respect our bill we had on bamberg? did not they cancel it, and flatly refuse?" friedrich is positive on the point, "reprisal our clear remedy!" but berlin itself was in alarm, for perhaps another russian visit; berlin and gotzkowsky were humbly positive the other way. upon which a visit of gotskowsky to the royal camp: "merchants' bills are a sacred thing, your majesty!" urged gotzkowsky. who, in his zeal for the matter, undertook dangerous visits to the russian quarters, and a great deal of trouble, peril and expense, during the weeks following. magnanimous gotzkowsky, "in mere bribes to the russian officials, spent about , pounds of his own," for one item. but he had at length convinced his majesty that merchants' bills were a sacred thing, in spite of bamberg and desecrative individualities; and that this million-and-half must be paid. friedrich was struck with gotzkowsky and his view of the facts. friedrich, from his own distressed funds, handed to gotzkowsky the necessary million-and-half, commanding only profound silence about it; and to gotzkowsky himself a present of , thalers ( , pounds odd); [archenholtz, ii. .] and so the matter did at last end. it had been a costly business to berlin, and to the king, and to the poor harried country. to berlin, bombardment of ten hours; alarm of discursive siege-work in the environs for five days; foreign yoke for three days; lost money to the amounts above stated; what loss in wounds to body or to peace of mind, or whether any loss that way, nobody has counted. the berlin people rose to a more than roman height of temper, testifies d'argens; [_ oeuvres de frederic,_ xix. - : "d'argens to the king: berlin, th october, ,"--an interesting letter of details.] so that perhaps it was a gain. the king's magazines and war-furnitures about berlin are wasted utterly,--arsenal itself not blown up, we well know why;--and much hunnish ruin in charlottenburg, with damage to antiques,--for which latter clause there shall, in a few months, be reprisal: if it please the powers! of all this montalembert declares, "before god, that he, montalembert, is and was the mainspring." and indeed, tempelhof, without censure of montalembert and his vocation, but accurately computing time and circumstance, comes to the same conclusion;--as thus: "october th, seeing no lacy come, czernichef, had it not been for montalembert's eloquence, had fixed for returning to copenik: whom cautious lacy would have been obliged to imitate. suppose czernichef had, october th, got to copenik,--eugen and hulsen remain at berlin; czernichef could not have got back thither before the th; on the th was news of friedrich's coming; which set all on gallop to the right about." [tempelhof, iv. .] so that really, before god, it seems montalembert must have the merit of this fine achievement:--the one fruit, so far as i can discover, of his really excellent reasonings, eloquences, patiences, sown broadcast, four or five long years, on such a field as fine human talent never had before. i declare to you, m. l'ambassadeur, this excellent vulture-swoop on berlin, and burning or reburning of the peasantry of the mark, is due solely to one poor zealous gentleman!-- what was next to follow out of this,--in torgau neighborhood, where daun now stands expectant,--poor m. de montalembert was far from anticipating; and will be in no haste to claim the merit of before god or man. chapter v.--battle of torgau. after hulsen's fine explosion on the durrenberg, august th, on the incompetent reichs generals, there had followed nothing eminent; new futilities, attemptings and desistings, advancings and recoilings, on the part of the reich; hulsen solidly maintaining himself, in defence of his torgau magazine and saxon interests in those regions, against such overwhelming odds, till relief and reinforcement for them and him should arrive; and gaining time, which was all he could aim at in such circumstances. had the torgau magazine been bigger, perhaps hulsen might have sat there to the end. but having solidly eaten out said magazine, what could hulsen do but again move rearward? [_hogbericht von dem ruckzug des general-lieutenants von hulsen aus dem lager bey torgau _ (in seyfarth, _beylagen,_ ii. - ).] above all, on the alarm from berlin, which called him off double-quick, things had to go their old road in that quarter. weak torgau was taken, weak wittenberg besieged. leipzig, torgau, wittenberg, all that country, by the time the russians left berlin, was again the reich's. eugen and hulsen, hastening for relief of wittenberg, the instant berlin was free, found wittenberg a heap of ruins, out of which the prussian garrison, very hunger urging, had issued the day before, as prisoners of war. nothing more to be done by eugen, but take post, within reach of magdeburg and victual, and wait new order from the king. the king is very unquestionably coming on; leaves lubben thitherward october th. [rodenbeck, ii. : in _anonymous of hamburg_ (iv. - ) friedrich's two marches, towards and from berlin ( th- th october, to lubben; thence, th october- d november, to torgau).] with full fixity of purpose as usual; but with as gloomy an outlook as ever before. daun, we said, is now arrived in those parts: daun and the reich together are near , ; daun some , ,--loudon having stayed behind, and gone southward, for a stroke on kosel (if goltz will permit, which he won't at all!),--and the reich , . saxony is all theirs; cannot they maintain saxony? not a town or a magazine now belongs to friedrich there, and he is in number as to . "maintain saxony; indisputably you can!" that is the express vienna order, as friedrich happens to know. the russians themselves have taken camp again, and wait visibly, about landsberg and the warta country, till they see daun certain of executing said order; upon which they intend, they also, to winter in those elbe-prussian parts, and conjointly to crush friedrich into great confinement indeed. friedrich is aware of this vienna order; which is a kind of comfort in the circumstances. the intentions of the hungry russians, too, are legible to friedrich; and he is much resolved that said order shall be impossible to daun. "were it to be possible, we are landless. where are our recruits, our magazines, our resources for a new campaign? we may as well die, as suffer that to be possible!" such is friedrich's fixed view. he says to d'argens:-- "you, as a follower of epicurus, put a value on life; as for me, i regard death from the stoic point of view. never shall i see the moment that forces me to make a disadvantageous peace; no persuasion, no eloquence, shall ever induce me to sign my dishonor. either i will bury myself under the ruins of my country, or if that consolation appears too sweet to the destiny that persecutes me, i shall know how to put an end to my misfortunes when it is impossible to bear them any longer. i have acted, and continue to act, according to that interior voice of conscience and of honor which directs all my steps: my conduct shall be, in every time, conformable to those principles. after having sacrificed my youth to my father, my ripe years to my country, i think i have acquired the right to dispose of my old age. i have told you, and i repeat it, never shall my hand sign a humiliating peace. finish this campaign i certainly will, resolved to dare all, and to try the most desperate things either to succeed or to find a glorious end (fin glorieuse)." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xix. ("kemberg, th october, ," a week and a day before torgau).] friedrich had marched from lubben, after three days, settling of affairs, october th; arrived at jessen, on the elbe, within wind of wittenberg, in two days more. "he formed a small magazine at duben," says archenholtz; "and was of a velocity, a sharpness,"--like lightning, in a manner! friedrich is uncommonly dangerous when crushed into a corner, in this way; and daun knows that he is. friedrich's manoeuvrings upon daun--all readers can anticipate the general type of them. the studious military reader, if england boasts any such, will find punctual detail of them in tempelhof and the german books. for our poor objects, here is a summary which may suffice:-- from lubben, having winded up these bad businesses,--and reinforced goltz, at glogau, to a , for silesia's sake, to look towards kosel and loudon's attempts there,--friedrich gathered himself into proper concentration; and with all the strength now left to him pushed forward ( th october) towards wittenberg, and recovery of those lost saxon countries. to wittenberg from lubben is some miles;--can be done, nearly, in a couple of days. with the king, after goltz is furnished, there are about , ; eugen and hulsen, not idle for their own part, wait in those far western or ultra-wittenberg regions (in and beyond dessau country), to join him with their , , when they get signal. joined with these, he will be , ; he will then cross elbe somewhere, probably not where daun and the reich imagine, and be in contact with his problem; with what a pitch of willingness nobody need be told! daun, in torgau country, has one of the best positions; nor is daun a man for getting flurried. the poor reichs army, though it once flattered itself with intending to dispute friedrich's passage of the elbe, and did make some detachings and manoeuvrings that way, on his approach to wittenberg (october d- d),--took a safer view, on his actual arrival there, on his re-seizure of that ruined place, and dangerous attitude on the right bank below and above. safer view, on salutary second thoughts;--and fell back leipzig-way, southward to duben, or miles. whence rapidly to leipzig itself, or more, on his actually putting down his bridges over elbe. friedrich's crossing-place was schanzhaus, in dessau country, between roslau and klikau, or miles below wittenberg; about midway between wittenberg and the inflow of the mulda into elbe. he crossed october th, no enemy within wind at all; daun at torgau in his inexpugnable camp, reichsfolk at duben, making towards leipzig at their best pace. and is now wholly between elbe and mulda; nothing but mulda and the anhall countries and the halle country now to rear of him. at jonitz, next march southward, he finds the eugen-hulsen people ready. we said they had not been idle while waiting signal: of which here is one pretty instance. eugen's brother, supreme reigning duke of wurtemberg,--whom we parted with at fulda, last winter, on sore terms; but who again, zealous creature, heads his own little army in french-austrian service, in still more eclipsed circumstances ("no subsidy at all, this year, say your august majesties? well, i must do without: a volunteer; and shall need only what i can make by forced contributions!" which of course he is diligent to levy wherever possible),--has latterly taken halle country in hand, very busy raising contributions there: and eugen hears, not without interest, that certain regiments or detachments of his, pushed out, are lying here, there, superintending that salutary work,--within clutch, perhaps, of kleist the hussar! eugen despatches kleist upon him; who pounces with his usual fierce felicity upon these people. to such alarm of his poor serenity and poor army, that serenity flies off homeward at once, and out of these wars altogether; where he never had other than the reverse of business to be, and where he has played such a farce-tragedy for four years back. eugen has been heard to speak,--theoretically, and in excited moments,--of "running such a fellow through the body," were one near him:: but it is actually eugen in person that sends him home from these wars: which may be counted a not unfraternal or unpatriotic procedure; being of indisputable benefit to the poor sovereign man himself, and to everybody concerned with him. hearing that friedrich was across, daun came westward that same day (october th), and planted himself at eilenburg; concluding that the reichsfolk would now be in jeopardy first of all. which was partly the fact; and indeed this daun movement rather accelerated the completion of it. without this the reichs army might have lived another day. it had quitted duben, and gone in all haste for leipzig, at in the morning (not by eilenburg, of which or of daun's arrival there it knows nothing),--"at in the morning of the th," or in fact, so soon as news could reach it at the gallop, that friedrich was across. and now friedrich, seeing daun out in this manner, judged that a junction was contemplated; and that one could not be too swift in preventing it. october th, with one diligent march, friedrich posted himself at duben; there, in a sort now between daun and the reichsfolk, detached hulsen with a considerable force to visit these latter in leipzig itself; and began with all diligence forming "a small magazine in duben," magdeburg and the current of the elbe being hitherto his only resource in that kind. by the time of hulsen's return, this little operation will be well forward, and daun will have declared himself a little. hulsen, evening of october th, found leipzig in considerable emotion, the reichsfolk taking refuge in it: not the least inclined to stand a push, when hulsen presented himself. night of th- st, there was summoning and menacing; reich endeavoring to answer in firm style; but all the while industriously packing up to go. by in the morning, things had come to extremity;---morning, happily for some of us, was dark mist. but about o'clock, hulsen (or hulsen's second) coming on with menace of fire and sword upon these poor reichspeople, found the reichspeople wholly vanished in the mist. gone bodily; in full march for the spurs of the metal-mountain range again;--concluding, for the fourth time, an extremely contemptible campaign. daun, with the king ahead of him, made not the least attempt to help them in their leipzig difficulty; but retired to his strong camp at torgau; feels his work to lie there,--as friedrich perceives of him, with some interest. hulsen left a little garrison in leipzig (friend quintus a part of it); [tempelhof, iv. .] and returned to the king; whose small magazine at duben, and other small affairs there,--magdeburg with boats, and the king with wagons, having been so diligent in carrying grain thither,--are now about completed. from daun's returning to torgau, friedrich infers that the cautious man has got order from court to maintain torgau at all costs,--to risk a battle rather than go. "good: he shall have one!" thinks friedrich. and, november d, in four columns, marches towards torgau; to schilda, that night, which is some seven miles on the southward side of torgau. the king, himself in the vanguard as usual, has watched with eager questioning eye the courses of daun's advanced parties, and by what routes they retreat; discerns for certain that daun has no views upon duben or our little magazine; and that the tug of wrestle for torgau, which is to crown this campaign into conquest of saxony, or shatter it into zero like its foregoers on the austrian part, and will be of death-or-life nature on the prussian part, ought to ensue to-morrow. forward, then! this camp of torgau is not a new place to daun. it was prince henri's camp last autumn; where daun tried all his efforts to no purpose; and though hugely outnumbering the prince, could make absolutely nothing of it. nothing, or less; and was flowing back to dresden and the bohemian frontier, uncheered by anything, till that comfortable maxen incident turned up. daun well knows the strength of this position. torgau and the block of hill to west, called hill of siptitz:--hulsen, too, stood here this summer; not to mention finck and wunsch, and their beating the reichspeople here. a hill and post of great strength; not unfamiliar to many prussians, nor to friedrich's studious considerations, though his knowledge of it was not personal on all points;--as to-morrow taught him, somewhat to his cost. "tourists, from weimar and the thuringian countries," says a note-book, sometimes useful to us, "have most likely omitted rossbach in their screaming railway flight eastward; and done little in leipzig but endeavor to eat dinner, and, still more vainly, to snatch a little sleep in the inhuman dormitories of the country. next morning, screaming dresden-ward, they might, especially if military, pause at oschatz, a stage or two before meissen, where again are objects of interest. you can look at hubertsburg, if given that way,--a royal schloss, memorable on several grounds;--at hubertsburg, and at other features, in the neighborhood of oschatz. this done, or this left not done, you strike off leftward, that is northward, in some open vehicle, for survey of torgau and its vicinities and environs. not above fifteen miles for you; a drive singular and pleasant; time enough to return and be in dresden for dinner. "torgau is a fine solid old town; prussian military now abundant in it. in ancient heathen times, i suppose, it meant the gau, or district, of thor; capital of that gau,--part of which, now under christian or quasi-christian circumstances, you have just been traversing, with elbe on your right hand. innocent rural aspects of humanity, boor's life, gentry's life, all the way, not in any holiday equipment; on the contrary, somewhat unkempt and scraggy, but all the more honest and inoffensive. there is sky, earth, air, and freedom for your own reflections: a really agreeable kind of gau; pleasant, though in part ugly. large tracts of it are pine-wood, with pleasant villages and fine arable expanses interspersed. schilda and many villages you leave to right and left. old-fashioned villages, with their village industries visible around; laboring each in its kind,--not too fast; probably with extinct tobacco-pipe hanging over its chin (kalt-rauchend, 'smoking cold,' as they phrase it). "schilda has an absurd celebrity among the germans: it is the gotham of teutschland; a fountain of old broad-grins and homely and hearty rustic banter; welling up from the serious extinct ages to our own day; 'schiltburger' (inhabitant of schilda) meaning still, among all the teutsch populations, a man of calmly obstinate whims and delusions, of notions altogether contrary to fact, and agreeable to himself only; resolutely pushing his way through life on those terms: amid horse-laughter, naturally, and general wagging of beards from surrounding mankind. extinct mirth, not to be growled at or despised, in ages running to the shallow, which have lost their mirth, and become all one snigger of mock-mirth. for it is observable, the more solemn is your background of dark, the brighter is the play of all human genialities and coruscations on it,--of genial mirth especially, in the hour for mirth. who the doctor bordel of schilda was, i do not know: but they have had their bordel, as gotham had;--probably various bordels; industrious to pick up those spiritual fruits of the earth. for the records are still abundant and current; fully more alive than those of gotham here are.--and yonder, then, is actually schilda of the absurd fame. a small, cheerful-looking human village, in its island among the woods; you see it lying to the right:--a clean brick-slate congeries, with faint smoke-canopy hanging over it, indicating frugal dinner-kettles on the simmer;--and you remember kindly those good old grinnings, over good schiltburger, good wise men of gotham, and their learned chroniclers, and unlearned peasant producers, who have contributed a wrinkle of human fun to the earnest face of life. "after schilda, and before, you traverse long tracts of pine forest, all under forest management; with long straight stretches of sandy road (one of which is your own), straight like red tape-strings, intersecting the wide solitudes: dangerous to your topographies,--for the finger-posts are not always there, and human advice you can get none. nothing but the stripe of blue sky overhead, and the brown one of tape (or sand) under your feet: the trees poor and mean for most part, but so innumerable, and all so silent, watching you all like mute witnesses, mutely whispering together; no voice but their combined whisper or big forest sough audible to you in the world:--on the whole, your solitary ride there proves, unexpectedly, a singular deliverance from the mad railway, and its iron bedlamisms and shrieking discords and precipitances; and is soothing, and pensively welcome, though sad enough, and in outward features ugly enough. no wild boars are now in these woods, no chance of a wolf:"--what concerns us more is, that friedrich's columns, on the d of november, had to march up through these long lanes, or tape-stripes of the torgau forest; and that one important column, one or more, took the wrong turn at some point, and was dangerously wanting at the expected moment!-- "torgau itself stands near elbe; on the shoulder, eastern or elbe-ward shoulder, of a big mass of knoll, or broad height, called of siptitz, the main eminence of the gau. shoulder, i called it, of this height of siptitz; but more properly it is on a continuation, or lower ulterior height dipping into elbe itself, that torgau stands. siptitz height, nearly a mile from elbe, drops down into a straggle of ponds; after which, on a second or final rise, comes torgau dipping into elbe. not a shoulder strictly, but rather a cheek, with neck intervening;--neck goitry for that matter, or quaggy with ponds! the old town stands high enough, but is enlaced on the western and southern side by a set of lakes and quagmires, some of which are still extensive and undrained. the course of the waters hereabouts; and of elbe itself, has had its intricacies: close to northwest, torgau is bordered, in a straggling way, by what they call old elbe; which is not now a fluent entity, but a stagnant congeries of dirty waters and morasses. the hill of siptitz abuts in that aqueous or quaggy manner; its forefeet being, as it were, at or in elbe river, and its sides, to the south and to the north for some distance each way, considerably enveloped in ponds and boggy difficulties. "plenty of water all about, but i suppose mostly of bad quality; at least torgau has declined drinking it, and been at the trouble to lay a pipe, or rohrgraben, several miles long, to bring its culinary water from the western neighborhoods of siptitz height. along the southern side of siptitz height goes leisurely an uncomfortable kind of brook, called the 'rohrgraben (pipe-ditch);' the meaning of which unexpected name you find to be, that there is a service-pipe laid cunningly at the bottom of this brook; lifting the brook at its pure upper springs, and sending it along, in secret tubular quasi-bottled condition; leaving the fouler drippings from the neighborhood to make what 'brook' they still can, over its head, and keep it out of harm's way till torgau get it. this is called the rohrgraben, this which comes running through siptitz village, all along by the southern base of siptitz hill; to the idle eye, a dirtyish brook, ending in certain notable ponds eastward: but to the eye of the inquiring mind, which has pierced deeper, a tube of rational water, running into the throats of torgau, while the so-called brook disembogues at discretion into the entefang (duck-trap), and what ponds or reedy puddles there are,"--of which, in poor wunsch's fine bit of fighting, last year, we heard mention. let readers keep mind of them. the hill siptitz, with this rohrgraben at the southern basis of it, makes a very main figure in the battle now imminent. siptitz height is, in fact, daun's camp; where he stands intrenched to the utmost, repeatedly changing his position, the better to sustain friedrich's expected attacks. it is a blunt broad-backed elevation, mostly in vineyard, perhaps on the average feet above the general level, and of five or six square miles in area: length, east to west, from grosswig neighborhood to the environs of torgau, may be about three miles; breadth, south to north, from the siptitz to the zinna neighborhoods, above half that distance. the height is steepish on the southern side, all along to the southwest angle (which was daun's left flank in the great action coming), but swells up with easier ascent on the west, earth and other sides. let the reader try for some conception of its environment and it, as the floor or arena of a great transaction this day. daun stands fronting southward along these siptitz heights, looking towards schilda and his dangerous neighbor; heights, woods, ponds and inaccessibilities environing his position and him. one of the strongest positions imaginable; which, under prince henri, proved inexpugnable enough to some of us. a position not to be attacked on that southern front, nor on either of its flanks:--where can it be attacked? impregnable, under prince henri in far inferior force: how will you take it from daun in decidedly superior? a position not to be attacked at all, most military men would say;--though one military man, in his extreme necessity, must and will find a way into it. one fault, the unique military man, intensely pondering, discovers that it has: it is too small for daun; not area enough for manoeuvring , men in it; who will get into confusion if properly dealt with. a most comfortable light-flash, the eureka of this terrible problem. "we will attack it on rear and on front simultaneously; that is the way to handle it!" yes; simultaneously, though that is difficult, say military judges; perhaps to prussians it may be possible. it is the opinion of military judges who have studied the matter, that friedrich's plan, could it have been perfectly executed, might have got not only victory from daun, but was capable to fling his big army and him pell-mell upon the elbe bridge, that is to say, in such circumstances, into elbe river, and swallow him bodily at a frightful rate! that fate was spared poor daun. monday, d november, , at half-past in the morning friedrich is on march for this great enterprise. the march goes northward, in three columns, with a fourth of baggage; through the woods, on four different roads; roads, or combinations of those intricate sandy avenues already noticed. northward all of it at first; but at a certain point ahead (at crossing of the eilenburg-torgau road, namely), the march is to divide itself in two. half of the force is to strike off rightward there with ziethen, and to issue on the south side of siptitz hill; other half, under friedrich himself, to continue northward, long miles farther, and then at last bending round, issue--simultaneously with ziethen, if possible--upon siptitz hill from the north side. we are about , strong, against daun, who is , . simultaneously with ziethen, so far as humanly possible: that is the essential point! friedrich has taken every pains that it shall be correct, in this and all points; and to take double assurance of hiding it from daun, he yesternight, in dictating his orders on the other heads of method, kept entirely to himself this most important ziethen portion of the business. and now, at starting, he has taken ziethen in his carriage with him a few miles, to explain the thing by word of mouth. at the eilenburg road, or before it, ziethen thinks he is clear as to everything; dismounts; takes in hand the mass intrusted to him; and strikes off by that rightward course: "rightward, herr ziethen; rightward till you get to klitschen, your first considerable island in this sea of wood; at klitschen strike to the left into the woods again,--your road is called the butter-strasse (butter-street); goes by the northwest side of siptitz height; reach siptitz by the butter-street, and then do your endeavor!" with the other half of his army, specially with the first column of it, friedrich proceeds northward on his own part of the adventure. three columns he has, besides the baggage one: in number about equal to ziethen's; if perhaps otherwise, rather the chosen half; about , grenadier and footguard people, with kleist's hussars, are friedrich's own column. friedrich's column marches nearest the daun positions; the baggage-column farthest; and that latter is to halt, under escort, quite away to left or westward of the disturbance coming; the other two columns, hulsen's of foot, holstein's mostly of horse, go through intermediate tracks of wood, by roads more or less parallel; and are all, friedrich's own column, still more the others, to leave siptitz several miles to right, and to end, not at siptitz height, but several miles past it, and then wheeling round, begin business from the northward or rearward side of daun, while ziethen attacks or menaces his front,--simultaneously, if possible. friedrich's march, hidden all by woods, is more than twice as far as ziethen's,--some or miles in all; going straight northward miles; thence bending eastward, then southward through woods; to emerge about neiden, there to cross a brook (striebach), and strike home on the north side of daun. the track of march is in the shape somewhat of a shepherd's crook; the long handle of it, well away from siptitz, reaches up to neiden, this is the straight or wooden part of said crook; after which comes the bent, catching, or iron part,--intended for daun and his fierce flock. ziethen has hardly above six miles; and ought to be deliberate in his woodlands, till the king's party have time to get round. the morning, i find, is wet; fourteen miles of march: fancy such a promenade through the dripping woods; heavy, toilsome, and with such errand ahead! the delays were considerable; some of them accidental. vigilant daun has detachments watching in these woods:--a general ried, who fires cannon and gets off: then a general st. ignon and the st. ignon regiment of dragoons; who, being between column first and column second, cannot get away; but, after some industry by kleist and those of column two, are caught and pocketed, st. ignon himself prisoner among the rest. this delay may perhaps be considered profitable: but there were other delays absolutely without profit. for example, that of having difficulties with your artillery-wagons in the wet miry lanes; that of missing your road, at some turn in the solitary woods; which latter was the sad chance of column third, fatally delaying it for many hours. daun, learning by those returned parties from the woods what the royal intentions on him are, hastily whirls himself round, so as to front north, and there receive friedrich: best line northward for friedrich's behoof; rear line or second-best will now receive ziethen or what may come. daun's arrangements are admitted to be prompt and excellent. lacy, with his , ,--who lay, while friedrich's attack was expected from south, at loswig, as advanced guard, east side of the grosse teich (supreme pond of all, which is a continuation of the duck-trap, entefang, and hangs like a chief goitre on the goitry neck of torgau),--lacy is now to draw himself north and westward, and looking into the entefang over his left shoulder (so to speak), be rear-guard against any ziethen or prussian party that may come. daun's baggage is all across the elbe, all in wagons since yesterday; three bridges hanging for daun and it, in case of adverse accident. daun likewise brings all or nearly all his cannon to the new front, for friedrich's behoof: new pieces hither; archenholtz says in whole; certainly such a weight of artillery as never appeared in battle before. unless friedrich's arrangements prove punctual, and his stroke be emphatic, friedrich may happen to fare badly. on the latter point, of emphasis, there is no dubiety for friedrich: but on the former,--things are already past doubt, the wrong way! for the last hour or so of friedrich's march there has been continual storm of cannonade and musketry audible from ziethen's side:--"ziethen engaged!" thinks everybody; and quickens step here, under this marching music from the distance. which is but a wrong reading or mistake, nothing more; the real phenomenon being as follows: ziethen punctually got to klitschen at the due hour; struck into the butter-strasse, calculating his paces; but, on the edge of the wood found a small austrian party, like those in friedrich's route; and, pushing into it, the austrian party replied with cannon before running. whereupon ziethen, not knowing how inconsiderable it was, drew out in battle-order; gave it a salvo or two; drove it back on lacy, in the duck-trap direction,--a long way east of butter-street, and ziethen's real place;--unlucky that he followed it so far! ziethen followed it; and got into some languid dispute with lacy: dispute quite distant, languid, on both sides, and consisting mainly of cannon; but lasting in this way many precious hours. this is the phenomenon which friends, in the distance read to be, "ziethen engaged!" engaged, yes, and alas with what? what ziethen's degree of blame was, i do not know. friedrich thought it considerable:--"stupid, stupid, mein lieber!" which ziethen never would admit;--and, beyond question, it was of high detriment to friedrich this day. such accidents, say military men, are inherent, not to be avoided, in that double form of attack: which may be true, only that friedrich had no choice left of forms just now. about noon friedrich's vanguard (kleist and hussars), about o'clock friedrich himself, or , grenadiers, emerged from the woods about neiden. this column, which consists of choice troops, is to be front-line of the attack. but there is yet no second column under hulsen, still less any third under holstein, come in sight: and ziethen's cannonade is but too audible. friedrich halts; sends adjutants to hurry on these columns;--and rides out reconnoitring, questioning peasants; earnestly surveying daun's ground and his own. daun's now right wing well eastward about zinna had been friedrich's intended point of attack; but the ground, out there, proves broken by boggy brooks and remnant stagnancies of the old elbe: friedrich finds he must return into the wood again; and attack daun's left. daun's left is carefully drawn down en potence, or gallows-shape there; and has, within the wood, carefully built by prince henri last year, an extensive abatis, or complete western wall,--only the north part of which is perhaps now passable, the austrians having in the cold time used a good deal of it as firewood lately. there, on the northwest corner of daun, across that weak part of the abatis, must friedrich's attack lie. but friedrich's columns are still fatally behind,--holstein, with all the cavalry we have, so precious at present, is wandering by wrong paths; took the wrong turn at some point, and the adjutant can hardly find him at all, with his precept of "haste, haste!" we may figure friedrich's humor under these ill omens. ziethen's cannonade becomes louder and louder; which friedrich naturally fancies to be death or life to him,--not to mean almost nothing, as it did. "mein gott, ziethen is in action, and i have not my infantry up!" [tempelhof, iv. .] cried he. and at length decided to attack as he was: grenadiers in front, the chosen of his infantry; ramin's brigade for second line; and, except about of kleist, no cavalry at all. his battalions march out from neiden hand, through difficult brooks, striebach and the like, by bridges of austrian build, which the austrians are obliged to quit in hurry. the prussians are as yet perpendicular to daun, but will wheel rightward, into the domitsch wood again; and then form,--parallel to daun's northwest shoulder; and to prince henri's abatis, which will be their first obstacle in charging. their obstacles in forming were many and intricate; ground so difficult, for artillery especially: seldom was seen such expertness, such willingness of mind. and seldom lay ahead of men such obstacles after forming! think only of one fact: daun, on sight of their intention, has opened pieces of artillery on them, and these go raging and thundering into the hem of the wood, and to whatever issues from it, now and for hours to come, at a rate of deafening uproar and of sheer deadliness, which no observer can find words for. archenholtz, a very young officer of fifteen, who came into it perhaps an hour hence, describes it as a thing surpassable only by doomsday: clangorous rage of noise risen to the infinite; the boughs of the trees raining down on you, with horrid crash; the forest, with its echoes, bellowing far and near, and reverberating in universal death-peal; comparable to the trump of doom. friedrich himself, who is an old hand, said to those about him: "what an infernal fire (hollisches feuer)! did you ever hear such a cannonade before? i never." [tempelhof, iv. ; archenholtz, ii. .] friedrich is between the two lines of his grenadiers, which is his place during the attack: the first line of grenadiers, behind prince henri's abatis, is within yards of daun; ramin's brigade is to rear of the second line, as a reserve. horse they have none, except the kleist hussars; who stand to the left, outside the wood, fronted by austrian horse in hopeless multitude. artillery they have, in effect, none: their batteries, hardly to be got across these last woody difficulties of trees growing and trees felled, did rank outside the wood, on their left; but could do absolutely nothing (gun-carriages and gunners, officers and men, being alike blown away); and when tempelhof saw them afterwards, they never had been fired at all. the grenadiers have their muskets, and their hearts and their right-hands. with amazing intrepidity, they, being at length all ready in rank within yards, rush into the throat of this fire-volcano; in the way commanded,--which is the alone way: such a problem as human bravery seldom had. the grenadiers plunge forward upon the throat of daun; but it is into the throat of his iron engines and his tearing billows of cannon-shot that most of them go. shorn down by the company, by the regiment, in those terrible yards,--then and afterwards. regiment stutterheim was nearly all killed and wounded, say the books. you would fancy it was the fewest of them that ever got to the length of selling their lives to daun, instead of giving them away to his cannon. but it is not so. the grenadiers, both lines of them, still in quantity, did get into contact with daun. and sold him their lives, hand to hand, at a rate beyond example in such circumstances;--daun having to hurry up new force in streams upon them; resolute to purchase, though the price, for a long while, rose higher and higher. at last the , grenadiers, being now reduced to the tenth man, had to fall back. upon which certain austrian battalions rushed dawn in chase, counting it victory come: but were severely admonished of that mistake; and driven back by ramin's people, who accompanied them into their ranks and again gave daun a great deal of trouble before he could overpower them. this is attack first, issuing in failure first: one of the stiffest bits of fighting ever known. began about in the afternoon; ended, i should guess, rather after . daun, by this time, is in considerable disorder of line; though his fire-throats continue belching ruin, and deafening the world, without abatement. daun himself had got wounded in the foot or leg during this attack, but had no time to mind it: a most busy, strong and resolute daun; doing his very best. friedrich, too, was wounded,--nobody will tell me in which of these attacks;--but i think not now, at least will not speak of it now. what his feelings were, as this grenadier attack went on,--a struggle so unequal, but not to be helped, from the delays that had risen,--nobody, himself least of all, records for us: only by this little symptom: two grandsons of the old dessauer's are adjutants of his majesty, and well loved by him; one of them now at his hand, the other heading his regiment in this charge of grenadiers. word comes to friedrich that this latter one is shot dead. on which friedrich, turning to the brother, and not hiding his emotion, as was usual in such moments, said: "all goes ill to-day; my friends are quitting me. i have just heard that your brother is killed (tout va mal aujourd'hui; mes amis me quittent. on vient de m'annoncer la mort de votre frere)!" [preuss, ii. .] words which the anhalt kindred, and the prussian military public, treasured up with a reverence strange to us. of anhalt perhaps some word by and by, at a fitter season. shortly after , as i reckon the time, hulsen's column did arrive: choice troops these too, the pomeranian manteuffel, one regiment of them;--young archenholtz of forcade (first battalion here, second and third are with ziethen, making vain noise) was in this column; came, with the others, winding to the wood's edge, in such circuits, poor young soul; rain pouring, if that had been worth notice; cannon-balls plunging, boughs crashing, such a todes-posaune, or doomsday-thunder, broken loose:--they did emerge steadily, nevertheless, he says, "like sea-billows or flow of tide, under the smoky hurricane." pretty men are here too, manteuffel pommerners; no hearts stouter. with these, and the indignant remnants which waited for them, a new assault upon daun is set about. and bursts out, on that same northwest corner of him; say about half-past . the rain is now done, "blown away by the tremendous artillery," thinks archenholtz, if that were any matter. the attack, supported by a few more horse (though column three still fatally lingers), and, i should hope, by some practicable weight of field-batteries, is spurred by a grimmer kind of indignation, and is of fiercer spirit than ever. think how manteuffel of foot will blaze out; and what is the humor of those once overwhelmed remnants, now getting air again! daun's line is actually broken in this point, his artillery surmounted and become useless; daun's potence and north front are reeling backwards, prussians in possession of their ground. "the field to be ours!" thinks friedrich, for some time. if indeed ziethen had been seriously busy on the southern side of things, instead of vaguely cannonading in that manner! but resolute daun, with promptitude, calls in his reserve from grosswig, calls in whatsoever of disposable force he can gather; daun rallies, rushes again on the prussians in overpowering number; and, in spite of their most desperate resistance, drives them back, ever back; and recovers his ground. a very desperate bout, this second one; probably the toughest of the battle: but the result again is daun's; the prussians palpably obliged to draw back. friedrich himself got wounded here;--poor young archenholtz too, only wounded, not killed, as so many were:--friedrich's wound was a contusion on the breast; came of some spent bit of case-shot, deadened farther by a famed pelisse he wore,--"which saved my life," he said afterwards to henri. the king himself little regarded it (mentioning it only to brother henri, on inquiry and solicitation), during the few weeks it still hung about him. the books intimate that it struck him to the earth, void of consciousness for some time, to the terror of those about him; and that he started up, disregarding it altogether in this press of business, and almost as if ashamed of himself, which imposed silence on people's tongues. in military circles there is still, on this latter point, an anecdote; which i cannot confirm or deny, but will give for the sake of berenhorst and his famed book on the art of war. berenhorst--a natural son of the old dessauer's, and evidently enough a chip of the old block, only gone into the articulate-speaking or intellectual form--was, for the present, an adjutant or aide-de-camp of friedrich's; and at this juncture was seen bending over the swooned friedrich, perhaps with an over-pathos or elaborate something in his expression of countenance: when friedrich reopened his indignant eyes: "was macht er hier?" cried friedrich: "er sammle fuyards! what have you to do here? go and gather runaways" (be of some real use, can't you)!--which unkind cut struck deep into berenhorst, they say; and could never after be eradicated from his gloomy heart. it is certain he became prince henri's adjutant soon after, and that in his kriegskunst, amidst the clearest orthodox admiration, he manifests, by little touches up and down, a feeling of very fell and pallid quality against the king; and belongs, in a peculiarly virulent though taciturn way, to the opposition party. his book, next to english lloyd's (or perhaps superior, for berenhorst is of much the more cultivated intellect, highly condensed too, though so discursive and far-read, were it not for the vice of perverse diabolic temper), seemed, to a humble outsider like myself, greatly the strongest-headed, most penetrating and humanly illuminative i had had to study on that subject. who the weakest-headed was (perhaps jomini, among the widely circulating kind?), i will not attempt to decide, so great is the crush in that bad direction. to return. this second attack is again a repulse to the indignant friedrich; though he still persists in fierce effort to recover himself: and indeed daun's interior, too, it appears, is all in a whirl of confusion; his losses too having been enormous:--when, see, here at length, about half-past , sun now down, is the tardy holstein, with his cavalry, emerging from the woods. comes wending on yonder, half a mile to north of us; straight eastward or elbe-ward (according to the order of last night), leaving us and our death-struggles unregarded, as a thing that is not on his tablets, and is no concern of holstein's. friedrich halts him, not quite too late; organizes a new and third attack. simultaneous universal effort of foot and horse upon daun's front; holstein himself, who is almost at zinna by this time, to go upon daun's right wing. this is attack third; and is of sporadic intermittent nature, in the thickening dusk and darkness: part of it successful, none of it beaten, but nowhere the success complete. thus, in the extreme west or leftmost of friedrich's attack, spaen dragoons,--one of the last horse regiments of holstein's column,--spaen dragoons, under their lieutenant-colonel dalwig (a beautiful manoeuvrer, who has stormed through many fields, from mollwitz onwards), cut in, with an admired impetuosity, with an audacious skill, upon, the austrian infantry regiments there; broke them to pieces, took two of them in the lump prisoners; bearded whole torrents of austrian cavalry rushing up to the rescue,--and brought off their mass of prisoner regiments and six cannon;--the austrian rescuers being charged by some new prussian party, and hunted home again. [tempelhof, iv. .] "had these prussian horse been on their ground at o'clock, and done as now, it is very evident," says tempelhof, "what the battle of torgau had by this time been!" near by, too, farther rightwards, if in the bewildering indistinctness i might guess where (but the where is not so important to us), baireuth dragoons, they of the standards at striegau long since, plunged into the austrian battalions at an unsurpassable rate; tumbled four regiments of them (regiment kaiser, regiment neipperg,--nobody now cares which four) heels over head, and in few minutes took the most of them prisoners; bringing them home too, like dalwig, through crowds of rescuers. eastward, again, or elbe-ward, holstein has found such intricacies of ground, such boggy depths and rough steeps, his cavalry could come to no decisive sabring with the austrian; but stood exchanging shot;--nothing to be done on that right wing of daun. daun's left flank, however, does appear, after three such attacks, to be at last pretty well ruined: tempelhof says, "daun's whole front line was tumbled to pieces; disorder had, sympathetically, gone rearward, even in those eastern parts; and on the western and northwestern the prussian horse regiments were now standing in its place." but, indeed, such charging and recharging, pulsing and repulsing, has there been hereabouts for hours past, the rival hosts have got completely interpenetrated; austrian parties, or whole regiments, are to rear of those prussians who stand ranked here, and in victorious posture, as the night sinks. night is now sinking on this murderous day: "nothing more to be made of it; try it again to-morrow!" thinks the king; gives hulsen charge of bivouacking and re-arranging these scattered people; and rides with escort northwestward to elsnig, north of neiden, well to rear of this bloody arena,--in a mood of mind which may be figured as gloomy enough. daun, too, is home to torgau,-- think, a little earlier,--to have his wound dressed, now that the day seems to him secure. buccow, daun's second, is killed; daun's third is an irish graf o'donnell, memorable only on this one occasion; to this o'donnell, and to lacy, who is firm on his ground yonder, untouched all day, the charge of matters is left. which cannot be a difficult one, hopes daun. daun, while his wound is dressing, speeds off a courier to vienna. courier did enter duly there, with glorious trumpeting postilions, and universal hep-hep-hurrah; kindling that ardently loyal city into infinite triumph and illumination,--for the space of certain hours following. hulsen meanwhile has been doing his best to get into proper bivouac for the morrow; has drawn back those eastward horse regiments, drawn forward the infantry battalions; forward, i think, and well rightward, where, in the daytime, daun's left flank was. on the whole, it is northwestward that the general prussian bivouac for this night is; the extremest southwestern-most portion of it is infantry, under general lestwitz; a gallant useful man, who little dreams of becoming famous this dreary uncertain night. it is o'clock. damp dusk has thickened down into utter darkness, on these terms:--when, lo, cannonade and musketade from the south, audible in the lestwitz-hulsen quarters: seriously loud; red glow of conflagration visible withal,--some unfortunate village going up ("village of siptitz, think you?"); and need of hulsen at his fastest! hulsen, with some readiest foot regiments, circling round, makes thitherward; lestwitz in the van. let us precede him thither, and explain a little what it was. ziethen, who had stood all day making idle noises,--of what a fatal quality we know, if ziethen did not,--waiting for the king's appearance, must have been considerably displeased with himself at nightfall, when the king's fire gradually died out farther and farther north, giving rise to the saddest surmises. ziethen's generals, saldern and the leuthen mollendorf, are full of gloomy impatience, urgent on him to try something. "push westward, nearer the king? some stroke at the enemy on their south or southwestern side, where we have not molested them all day? no getting across the rohrgraben on them, says your excellenz? siptitz village, and their battery there, is on our side of the rohrgraben:--um gottes willen, something, herr general!" ziethen does finally assent: draws leftward, westward; unbuckles saldern's people upon siptitz; who go like sharp hounds from the slip; fasten on siptitz and the austrians there, with a will; wrench these out, force them to abandon their battery, and to set siptitz on fire, while they run out of it. comfortable bit of success, so far,--were not siptitz burning, so that we cannot get through. "through, no: and were we through, is not there the rohrgraben?" thinks ziethen, not seeing his way. how lucky that, at this moment, mollendorf comes in, with a discovery to westward; discovery of our old friend "the butter-street,"--it is nothing more,--where ziethen should have marched this morning: there would he have found a solid road across the rohrgraben, free passage by a bridge between two bits of ponds, at the schaferei (sheep-farm) of siptitz yonder. "there still," reports mollendorf, "the solid road is; unbeset hitherto, except by me mollendorf!" thitherward all do now hasten, austrians, prussians: but the prussians are beforehand; mollendorf is master of the pass, deploying himself on the other side of it, and ziethen and everybody hastening through to support him there, and the austrians making fierce fight in vain. the sound of which has reached hulsen, and set lestwitz and him in motion thither. for the thing is vital, if we knew it. close ahead of mollendorf, when he is through this pass, close on mollendorf's left, as he wheels round on the attacking austrians, is the southwest corner of siptitz height. southwest corner, highest point of it; summit and key of all that battle area; rules it all, if you get cannon thither. it hangs steepish on the southern side, over the rohrgraben, where this mollendorf-austrian fight begins; but it is beautifully accessible, if you bear round to the west side,--a fine saddle-shaped bit of clear ground there, in shape like the outside or seat of a saddle; domitsch wood the crupper part; summit of this height the pommel, only nothing like so steep:--it is here (on the southern saddle-flap, so to speak), gradually mounting westward to the crupper-and-pommel part, that the agony now is. and here, in utter darkness, illuminated only by the musketry and cannon blazes, there ensued two hours of stiff wrestling in its kind: not the fiercest spasm of all, but the final which decided all. lestwitz, hulsen, come sweeping on, led by the sound and the fire; "beating the prussian march, they," sharply on all their drums,--prussian march, rat-tat-tan, sharply through the gloom of chaos in that manner; and join themselves, with no mistake made, to mollendorf's, to ziethen's left and the saddle-flap there, and fall on. the night is pitch-dark, says archenholtz; you cannot see your hand before you. old hulsen's bridle-horses were all shot away, when he heard this alarm, far off: no horse left; and he is old, and has his own bruises. he seated himself on a cannon; and so rides, and arrives; right welcome the sight of him, doubt not! and the fight rages still for an hour or more. to an observant mollendorf, watching about all day, the importance and all-importance of siptitz summit, if it can be got, is probably known; to daun it is alarmingly well known, when he hears of it. daun is zealously urgent on lacy, on o'donnell; who do try what they can; send reinforcements, and the like; but nothing that proves useful. o'donnell is not the man for such a crisis: lacy, too, it is remarked, has always been more expert in ducking out of friedrich's way than in fighting anybody. [archenholtz's sour remark.] in fine, such is the total darkness, the difficulty, the uncertainty, most or all of the reinforcements sent halted short, in the belly of the night, uncertain where; and their poor friends got altogether beaten and driven away. map facing page , book xx---- about at night, all the austrians are rolling off, eastward, eastward. prussians goading them forward what they could (firing not quite done till ); and that all-important pommel of the saddle is indisputably won. the austrians settled themselves, in a kind of half-moon shape, close on the suburbs of torgau; the prussians in a parallel half-moon posture, some furlongs behind them. the austrians sat but a short time; not a moment longer than was indispensable. daun perceives that the key of his ground is gone from him; that he will have to send a second courier to vienna. and, above all things, that he must forthwith get across the elbe and away. lucky for him that he has three bridges (or four, including the town bridge), and that his baggage is already all across and standing on wheels. with excellent despatch and order daun winds himself across,--all of him that is still coherent; and indeed, in the distant parts of the battle-field, wandering austrian parties were admonished hitherward by the river's voice in the great darkness,--and daun's loss in prisoners, though great, was less than could have been expected: , in all. till towards one in the morning, the prussians, in their half-moon, had not learned what he was doing. about one they pushed into torgau, and across the town bridge; found pontoons,--all the rest packed off except these ;--and did not follow farther. lacy retreated by the other or left bank of the river, to guard against attempts from that side. next day there was pursuit of lacy; some prisoners and furnitures got from him, but nothing of moment: daun and lacy joined at dresden; took post, as usual, behind their inaccessible plauen chasms. sat there, in view of the chasing prussians, without farther loss than this of torgau, and of a campaign gone to water again. what an issue, for the third time! [tempelhof, iv. - ,; archenholtz, ii. - ; retzow, ii. et seq.; umstandliche beschreibung des &c, (in seyfarth, _beylagen,_ ii. - ): in _helden-geschichte,_ or in _anonymous of hamburg_ (iv. - ), the daun despatches, the lists, &c.]-- on torgau-field, behind that final prussian half-moon, there reigned, all night, a confusion which no tongue can express. poor wounded men by the hundred and the thousand, weltering in their blood, on the cold wet ground; not surgeons or nurses, but merciless predatory sutlers, equal to murder if necessary, waiting on them and on the happier that were dead. "unutterable!" says archenholtz; who, though wounded, had crawled or got carried to some village near. the living wandered about in gloom and uncertainty; lucky he whose haversack was still his, and a crust of bread in it: water was a priceless luxury, almost nowhere discoverable. prussian generals roved about with their staff-officers, seeking to re-form their battalions; to little purpose. they had grown indignant, in some instances, and were vociferously imperative and minatory; but in the dark who needed mind them?--they went raving elsewhere, and, for the first time, prussian word-of-command saw itself futile. pitch darkness, bitter cold, ground trampled into mire. on siptitz hill there is nothing that will burn: farther back, in the domitsch woods, are numerous fine fires, to which austrians and prussians alike gather: "peace and truce between us; to-morrow morning we will see which are prisoners, which are captors." so pass the wild hours, all hearts longing for the dawn, and what decision it will bring. friedrich, at elsnig, found every hut full of wounded, and their surgeries, and miseries silent or loud. he himself took shelter in the little church; passed the night there. busy about many things;--"using the altar," it seems, "by way of writing-table [self or secretaries kneeling, shall we fancy, on those new terms?], and the stairs of it as seat." of the final ziethen-lestwitz effort he would scarcely hear the musketry or cannonade, being so far away from it. at what hour, or from whom first, he learned that the battle of torgau had become victory in the night-time, i know not: the anecdote-books send him out in his cloak, wandering up and down before daybreak; standing by the soldiers' fires; and at length, among the woods, in the faint incipiency of dawn, meeting a shadow which proves to be ziethen himself in the body, with embraces and congratulations:--evidently mythical, though dramatic. reach him the news soon did; and surely none could be welcomer. head-quarters change from the altar-steps in elsnig church to secular rooms in torgau. ziethen has already sped forth on the skirts of lacy; whole army follows next day; and, on the war-theatre it is, on the sudden, a total change of scene. conceivable to readers without the details. hopes there were of getting back dresden itself; but that, on closer view, proved unattemptable. daun kept his plauen chasm, his few square miles of ground beyond; the rest of saxony was friedrich's, as heretofore. loudon had tried hard on kosel for a week; storming once, and a second time, very fiercely, goltz being now near; but could make nothing of it; and, on wind of goltz, went his way. [hofbericht von der belagerung von kosel, im october (seyfarth, _beylagen,_ ii. - ): began "october st;" ended "at daybreak, october th."] the russians, on sound of torgau, shouldered arms, and made for poland. daun, for his own share, went to vienna this winter; in need of surgery, and other things. the population there is rather disposed to be grumbly on its once heroic fabius; wishes the fabius were a little less cunctatory. but imperial majesty herself, one is proud to relate, drove out, in old roman spirit, some miles, to meet him, her defeated ever-honored daun, and to inquire graciously about his health, which is so important to the state. [archenholtz, ii. .] torgau was daun's last battle: daun's last battle; and, what is more to the joy of readers and their editor here, was friedrich's last,--so that the remaining two campaigns may fairly be condensed to an extreme degree; and a few chapters more will deliver us altogether from this painful element!-- daun lost at torgau, by his own account, "about , men,"--should have said, according to tempelhof, and even to neutral persons, "above , killed and wounded, plus , prisoners, cannon, flags, standard (or horse-flag)," [tempelhof, iv. ; kausler, p. .] which brings him to at least , minus;--the prussian loss, heavy enough too, being, by tempelhof's admission, "between and , , of whom , prisoners." the sore loss, not so computable in arithmetic,--but less sore to daun, perhaps, than to most people,--is that of being beaten, and having one's campaign reduced to water again. no conquest of saxony, any more than of silesia, possible to daun, this year. in silesia, thanks to loudon, small thanks to loudon's chief, they have got glatz: kosel they could not get; fiery loudon himself stormed and blazed to no purpose there, and had to hurry home on sight of goltz and relief. glatz is the net sum-total. daun knows all this; but in a stoical arithmetical manner, and refuses to be flurried by it. friedrich, as we said, had hoped something might be done in saxony on the defeated daun;--perhaps dresden itself be got back from him, and his army altogether sent to winter in bohemia again? but it proved otherwise. daun showed not the least disposition to quit his plauen chasm, or fall into discouragement: and after some weeks of diligent trial, on friedrich's part, and much running about in those central and hill-ward parts, friedrich found he would have to be content with his former allotment of saxon territory, and to leave the austrians quiet in theirs. took winter-quarters accordingly, and let the enemy take. cantoned himself, in that meissen-freyberg country, in front of the austrians and their impassable plauens and chasms:--pretty much as in the past year, only that the two armies lay at a greater distance, and were more peaceable, as if by mutual consent. head-quarter of the king is leipzig; where the king did not arrive till december th,--such adjusting and arranging has he had, and incessant running to and fro. he lived in the "apel house, new neumarkt, no. ;" [rodenbeck, ii. .] the same he had occupied in , in the rossbach time. "ach! how lean your majesty has grown!" said the mistress of it, at sight of him again (mythically, i should fancy, though it is in the anecdote-books). "lean, ja wohl," answered he: "and what wonder, with three women [theresa, czarina, pompadour] hanging on the throat of me all this while!" but we propose to look in upon him ourselves, in this apel house, on more authentic terms, by and by. read, meanwhile, these two bits of autograph, thrown off incidentally, at different places, in the previous busy journeyings over meissen-freyberg country:-- . friedrich to marquis d'argens (at berlin). "meissen, th november, . ... "i drove the enemy to the gates of dresden; they occupy their camp of last year; all my skill is not enough to dislodge them,"--[chasm of plauen, "a place impregnable, were it garrisoned by chimney-sweeps," says the king once]. "we have saved our reputation by the day of torgau: but don't imagine our enemies are so disheartened as to desire peace. duke ferdinand's affairs are not in a good way [missed wesel, of which presently;--and, alas also, george ii. died, this day gone a fortnight, which is far worse for us, if we knew it!]--i fear the french will preserve through winter the advantages they gained during the campaign. "in a word, i see all black, as if i were at the bottom of a tomb. have some compassion on the situation i am in; conceive that i disguise nothing from you, and yet that i do not detail to you all my embarrassments, my apprehensions and troubles. adieu, dear marquis; write to me sometimes,--don't forget a poor devil, who curses ten times a day his fatal existence, and could wish he already were in those silent countries from which nobody returns with news." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xix. , .] . the second, of different complexion, is a still more interesting little autograph, date elsewhere, farther on, in those wanderings. madam camas, widow of the colonel camas whom we knew twenty years ago, is "queen's ober-hofmeisterinn (lady in chief),"--to whom the king's letters are always pretty:-- freidrich to madam camas (at magdeburg, with the queen's majesty). "neustadt, th november, . "i am exact in answering, and eager to satisfy you [in that matter of the porcelain] you shall have a breakfast-set, my good mamma; six coffee-cups, very pretty, well diapered, and tricked out with all the little embellishments which increase their value. on account of some pieces which they are adding to the set, you will have to wait a few days; but i flatter myself this delay will contribute to your satisfaction, and produce for you a toy that will give you pleasure, and make you remember your old adorer. it is curious how old people's habits agree. for four years past i have given up suppers, as incompatible with the trade i am obliged to follow; and in marching days, my dinner consists of a cup of chocolate. "we hurried off, like fools, quite inflated with our victory, to try if we could not chase the austrians out of dresden: they made a mockery of us from the tops of their mountains. so i have withdrawn, like a bad little boy, to conceal myself, out of spite, in one of the wretchedest villages in saxony. and here the first thing will be to drive the circle gentlemen, [reichs army] out of freyberg into chemnitz, and get ourselves room to quarter and something to live upon. it is, i swear to you, a dog of a life [or even a she-dog, chienne de vie], the like of which nobody but don quixote ever led before me. all this tumbling and toiling, and bother and confusion that never ceases, has made me so old, that you would scarcely know me again. on the right side of my head the hair is all gray; my teeth break and fall out; i have got my face wrinkled like the falbalas of a petticoat; my back bent like a fiddle-bow; and spirit sad and downcast like a monk of la trappe. i forewarn you of all this, lest, in case we should meet again in flesh and bone, you might feel yourself too violently shocked by my appearance. there remains to me nothing but the heart,--which has undergone no change, and which will preserve, so long as i breathe, its feelings of esteem and of tender friendship for my good mamma. adieu." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xviii. .]--to which add only this on duke ferdinand, "whose affairs," we just heard, "are not in a good way:"-- fight of kloster kampen (night of october th- th); wesel not to be had by duke ferdinand. after warburg (july st, while friedrich was on the eve of crossing elbe on new adventures, dresden siege having failed him), duke ferdinand made no figure to the gazetteers; fought no battle farther; and has had a campaign, which is honorable only to judges of a higher than the gazetteer sort. by warburg ferdinand had got the diemel; on the north bank of which he spread himself out, impassable to broglio, who lay trying on the opposite bank:--"no hanover by this road." broglio thereupon drew back a little; pushed out circuitously from his right wing, which reaches far eastward of ferdinand, a considerable brigade,--circuitously, round by the weser-fulda country, and beyond the embouchure of diemel,--to try it by that method. got actually a few miles into hanoverian territory, by that method; laid hold of gottingen, also of munden, which secures a road thither: and at gottingen there, "ever since august th," broglio has been throwing up works, and shooting out hussar-parties to a good distance; intending, it would seem, to maintain himself, and to be mischievous, in that post. would, in fact, fain entice ferdinand across the weser, to help gottingen. "across weser, yes;--and so leave broglio free to take lippstadt from me, as he might after a short siege," thinks ferdinand always; "which would beautifully shorten broglio's communication [quite direct then, and without interruption, all the way to wesel], and make hanover itself, hanover and brunswick, the central seat of war!" which ferdinand, grieved as he is for gottingen, will by no means consent to. ferdinand, strong only as one to two, cannot hinder broglio, though he tries variously; and is much at a loss, seeing broglio irrepressibly busy this way, all through august and on into september;--has heard, however, from wesel, through secret partisans there, that wesel, considered altogether out of risk, is left in a very weak condition; weak in garrison, weak even in gunners. reflecting upon which, in his difficulties, ferdinand asks himself, "a sudden stroke at wesel, miles away, might it not astonish broglio, who is so busy on us just here?"--and, september d, despatches the hereditary prince on that errand. a man likely for it, if there be one in the world:--unable to do it, however, as the issue told. here is what i find noted. "september d, the erbprinz, with a chosen corps of , , mostly english, left these diemel regions towards wesel, at his speediest. september th, erbprinz and vanguard, corps rapidly following, are got to dorsten, within miles of wesel. a most swift erbprinz; likely for such work. and it is thought by judges, had he had either siege-artillery or scaling apparatus, he might really have attacked wesel with good chance upon it. but he has not even a ladder ready, much less a siege-gun. siege-guns are at bielefeld [come from bremen, i suppose, by english boating, up the weser so far]; but that is six score miles of wheel-carriage; roads bad, and threatening to be worse, as it is equinoctial weather. there is nothing for it but to wait for those guns. "the erbprinz, hopefully waiting, does his endeavor in the interim; throws a bridge over the rhine, pounces upon cleve garrison (prisoners, with their furnitures), pounces upon this and that; 'spreads terror' on the french thereabouts 'up to dusseldorf and koln,--and on broglio himself, so far off, the due astonishment. 'wesel to be snatched,--ye heavens! our netherlands road cut off: dusseldorf, koln, our rhine magazines, all and sundry, fallen to the hawks,--who, the lighter-winged of them, might pay visits in france itself!' broglio has to suspend his gottingen operations, and detach marquis de castries with (say ultimately, for castries is to grow and gather by the road) , , to relieve wesel. castries marches double-quick; weather very rainy;--arrives in those parts october th;--hardly a gun from bielefeld come to hand yet, erbprinz merely filling men with terror. and so, "october th, after two weeks and a day, the hereditary prince sees, not guns from bielefeld, but castries pushing into wesel a , of additional garrison,--and the enterprise on wesel grown impossible. impossible, and probably far more; castries in a condition to devour us, if he prove sharp. it behooves the hereditary prince to be himself sharp;--which he undoubtedly was, in this sharp crisis. next day, our erbprinz, taking survey of castries in his strong ground of kloster kampen, decides, like a gallant fellow, to attack him;--and straightway does it. breaks, that same night (october th- th, ), stealthily, through woods and with precautions, into castries's post;--intending surprisal, and mere ruin to castries. and there ensued, not the surprisal as it turned out, but the battle of kloster kampen; which again proved unsuccessful, or only half-successful, to the hereditary prince. a many-winged, intricate night-battle; to be read of in books. this is where the chevalier d'assas, he or somebody, gave the alarm to the castries people at the expense of his life. 'a moi, auvergne, ho, auvergne!' shouted d'assas (if it was d'assas at all), when the stealthy english came upon him; who was at once cut down. [preuss (ii. n.) asserts it to be proved, in _"miscellen aus den neuesten auslandischen litteratur_ ( , no. , p. )," a book which none of us ever saw, "that the real hero [equal to a roman decius or more] was not captain d'assas, of the regiment auvergne, but a poor private soldier of it, called dubois"!--is not this a strange turn, after such be-pensioning, be-painting, singing and celebrating, as rose upon poor d'assas, or the family of d'assas, twenty years afterwards ( - )!--both dubois and d'assas, i conclude, lay among the slain at kloster kampen, silent they forever:--and a painful doubt does rise, as to the miraculous operation of posthumous rumor and wonder; and whether there was any "miracle of heroism," or other miracle at all, and not rather a poor nocturnal accident,--poor sentry in the edge of the wood, shrieking out, on apparition of the stealthy english, "ho, auvergne, help!" probably firing withal; and getting killed in consequence? non nostrum est.] it is certain, auvergne gave fire; awoke castries bodily; and saved him from what was otherwise inevitable. surprise now there was none farther; but a complex fight, managed in the darkness with uncommon obstinacy; ending in withdrawal of the erbprinz, as from a thing that could not be done. his loss in killed, wounded and prisoners, was , ; that of castries, by his own counting, , : but kloster kampen, in the wide-awake state, could not be won. "during the fight, the erbprinz's rhine-bridge had burst in two: his ammunition was running short;--and, it would seem, there is no retreat, either! the erbprinz put a bold face on the matter, stood to castries in a threatening attitude; manoeuvred skilfully for two days longer, face still to castries, till the bridge was got mended; then, night of october th- th, crossed to his own side; gathered up his goods; and at a deliberate pace marched home, on those terms;--doing some useful fighting by the road." [mauvillon, ii. - : tempelhof, ii. - .] had lost nothing, say his admirers, "but one cannon, which burst." one burst cannon left on the field of kloster kampen;--but also, as we see, his errand along with it; and , good fighters lost and burst: which was more important! criticisms there were on it in england, perhaps of the unwise sort generally; sorrow in the highest quarter. "an unaccountable expedition," walpole calls it, "on which prince ferdinand suddenly despatched his nephew, at the head of a considerable force, towards the frontiers of holland,"--merely to see the country there?--"which occasioned much solicitude in england, as the main army, already unequal to that of france, was thus rendered much weaker. king george felt it with much anxiety." [walpole's _george second,_ iii. .] an unaccountable enterprise, my poor gazetteer friends,--very evidently an unsuccessful one, so far as wesel went. many english fallen in it, too: "the english showed here again a ganz ausnehmende tapferkeit," says mauvillon; and probably their share of the loss was proportionate. clearly enough there is no wesel to be had. neither could broglio, though disturbed in his gottingen fortifyings and operations, be ejected out of gottingen. ferdinand, on failure of wesel, himself marched to gottingen, and tried for some days; but found he could not, in such weather, tear out that firmly rooted french post, but must be content to "mask it," for the present; and, this done, withdrew (december th) to his winter-quarters near by, as did broglio to his,--about the time friedrich and daun had finally settled in theirs. ferdinand's campaigns henceforth, which turn all on the defence of hanover, are highly recommended to professional readers; but to the laic sort do not prove interesting in proportion to the trouble. in fact, the huge war henceforth begins everywhere, or everywhere except in pitt's department of it, to burn lower, like a lamp with the oil getting done; and has less of brilliancy than formerly. "let us try for hanover," the belleisles, choiseuls and wise french heads had said to themselves: "canada, india, everything is lost; but were dear hanover well in our clutch, hanover would be a remedy for many things!" through the remaining campaigns, as in this now done, that is their fixed plan. ferdinand, by unwearied effort, succeeded in defending hanover,--nothing of it but that inconsiderable slice or skirt round gottingen, which they kept long, could ever be got by the french. ferdinand defended hanover; and wore out annually the big french armies which were missioned thither, as in the spasm of an expiring last effort by this poor hag-ridden france,--at an expense to her, say, of , men per year. which was good service on ferdinand's part; but done less and less in the shining or universally notable way. so that with him too we are henceforth, thank heaven, permitted and even bound to be brief. hardly above two battles more from him, if even two:--and mostly the wearied reader's imagination left to conceive for itself those intricate strategies, and endless manoeuvrings on the diemel and the dill, on the ohm river and the schwalm and the lippe, or wherever they may be, with small help from a wearied editor!-- chapter vi.--winter-quarters - . a melancholy little event, which afterwards proved unexpectedly unfortunate for friedrich, had happened in england ten days before the battle of torgau. saturday, th october, , george ii., poor old gentleman, suddenly died. he was in his th year; feeble, but not feebler than usual,--unless, perhaps, the unaccountable news from kloster kampen may have been too agitating to the dim old mind? on the monday of this week he had, "from a tent in hyde park," presided at a review of dragoons; and on thursday, as his coldstream guards were on march for portsmouth and foreign service, "was in his portico at kensington to see them pass;"--full of zeal always in regard to military matters, and to this war in particular. saturday, by sunrise he was on foot; took his cup of chocolate; inquired about the wind, and the chances of mails arriving; opened his window, said he would have a turn in the gardens, the morning being so fine. it was now between and . the valet then withdrew with the chocolate apparatus; but had hardly shut the door, when he heard a deep sigh, and fall of something,--"billet of wood from the fire?" thought he;--upon which, hurrying back, he found it was the king, who had dropt from his seat, "as if in attempting to ring the bell." king said faintly, "call amelia," and instantly died. poor deaf amelia (friedrich's old love, now grown old and deaf) listened wildly for some faint sound from those lips now mute forever. george second was no more; his grandson george third was now king. [old newspapers (in _gentleman's magazine,_ xxx. - ).] intrinsically taken, this seemed no very great event for friedrich, for pitt, for england or mankind: but it proved otherwise. the merit of this poor king deceased, who had led his nation stumbling among the chimney-pots at such a rate in these mad german wars for twenty years past, was, that he did now stand loyal to the enterprise, now when it had become sane indeed; now when the nation was broad awake, and a captain had risen to guide it out of that perilous posture, into never-expected victory and triumph! poor old george had stood by his pitt, by his ferdinand, with a perfect loyalty at all turns; and been devoted, heart and soul and breeches-pocket, to completely beating bourbon's oppressive ideas out of bourbon's head. a little fact, but how important, then and there! under the successor, all this may be different:--ghastly beings, old tutors, favorites, mother's-favorites, flit, as yet invisible, on the new backstairs:--should bute and company get into the foreground, people will then know how important it was. walpole says:-- "the yorkes [ex-chancellor hardwicke people] had long distasted this war:" yes, and been painfully obliged to hold their tongues: "but now," within a month or so of the old king's death, "there was published, under lord hardwicke's countenance, a tract setting forth the burden and ill policy of our german measures. it was called considerations on the german war; was ably written, and changed many men's minds." this is the famous "mauduit pamphlet:" first of those small stones, from the sling of opposition not obliged to be dormant, which are now beginning to rattle on pitt's olympian dwelling-place,--high really as olympus, in comparison with others of the kind, but which unluckily is made of glass like the rest of them! the slinger of this first resounding little missile, walpole informs us, was "one mauduit, formerly a dissenting teacher,"--son of a dissenting minister in bermondsey, i hear, and perhaps himself once a preacher, but at present concerned with factorage of wool on the great scale; got soon afterwards promoted to be head of the custom-house in southampton, so lovely did he seem to bute and company. "how agreeable his politics were to the interior of the court, soon appeared by a place [southampton custom-house] being bestowed on him by lord bute." a fortunate mauduit, yet a stupidly tragical; had such a destiny in english history! hear walpole a little farther, on mauduit, and on other things then resonant to arlington street in a way of their own. "to sir horace mann [at florence]:-- "november th, [tenth night after torgau].... we are all in guns and bonfires for an unexpected victory of the king of prussia over daun; but as no particulars are yet arrived, there are doubters." "december th, . i have received the samples of brocadella.... i shall send you a curious pamphlet, the only work i almost ever knew that changed the opinions of many. it is called considerations on the present german war, ["london: printed for john wilkie, at the bible, in st. paul's churchyard, ," adds my poor copy (a frugal mo, of pp. ), not adding of what edition.] and is written by a wholesale woollen-draper [connected with wool, in some way] "factor at blackwell hall," if that mean draper:--and a growing man ever after; came to be "agent for massachusetts," on the boston-tea occasion, and again did tracts; was "president of the"--in short, was a conspicuous vice-president, so let us define him, of the general anti-penalty or life-made-soft association, with cause of civil and religious liberty all over the world, and such like; and a mauduit comfortably resonant in that way till he died [chalmers, biog. dictionary; nichols, literary anecdotes; &c. &c.]; but the materials are supposed to be furnished by the faction of the yorkes. the confirmation of the king of prussia's victory near torgau does not prevent the disciples of the pamphlet from thinking that the best thing which could happen for us would be to have that monarch's head shot off. [hear, hear!]-- "there are letters from the hague [what foolish letters do fly about, my friend!], that say daun is dead of his wounds. if he is, i shall begin to believe that the king of prussia will end successfully at last. [oh!] it has been the fashion to cry down daun; but, as much as the king of prussia may admire himself [does immensely, according to our selwyn informations], i dare say he would have been glad to be matched with one much more like himself than one so opposite as the marshal." "january d, . the german war is not so popular as you imagine, either in the closet or in the nation." [walpole, _letters to sir horace mann_ (lond. ), i. , .] (enough, enough.) the mauduit pamphlet, which then produced such an effect, is still to be met in old collections and on bookstalls; but produces little save weariness to a modern reader. "hanover not in real danger," argues he; "if the french had it, would not they, all europe ordering them, have to give it up again?" give it up,--gratis, or in return for canada and pondicherry, mauduit's does not say. which is an important omission! but mauduit's grand argument is that of expense; frightful outlay of money, aggravated by ditto mismanagement of same. a war highly expensive, he says--(and the truth is, pitt was never stingy of money: "nearly the one thing we have in any plenty; be frank in use of that, in an enterprise so ill-provided otherwise, and involving life and death!" thinks pitt);--"dreadfully expensive," urges mauduit, and gives some instances of commissariat moneys signally wasted,--not by pitt, but by the stupidity of pitt's war offices, commissariat offices, offices of all kinds; not to be cured at once by any pitt:--how magazines of hay were shipped and reshipped, carried hither, thither, up this river, down that (nobody knowing where the war-horses would be that were to eat it); till at length, when it had reached almost the value of bohea tea, the right place of it was found to be embden (nearest to britain from the first, had one but known), and not a horse would now taste it, so spoiled was the article; all horses snorted at it, as they would have done at bohea, never so expensive. [mauduit (towards the end) has a story of that tenor,--particulars not worth verifying.] these things are incident to british warfare; also to swedish, and to all warfares that have their war offices in an imaginary state,--state much to be abhorred by every sane creature; but not to be mended all at once by the noblest of men, into whose hands they are suddenly thrust for saving his nation. conflagration to be quenched; and your buckets all in hideous leakage, like buckets of the danaides:--your one course is, ply them, pour with them, such as they are. mauduit points out farther the enormous fortunes realized by a swindling set of army-furnishers, hebrews mainly, and unbeautiful to look on. alas, yes; this too is a thing incident to the case; and in a degree to all such cases, and situations of sudden crisis;--have not we seen jew ephraim growing rich by the copper money even of a friedrich? christian protestants there are, withal, playing the same game on a larger scale. herr schimmelmann ("mouldy-man") the dane, for instance,--dane or holsteiner,--is coining false money for a duke of holstein-plon, who has not a seven-years war on his hands. diligently coining, this mouldy individual; still more successfully, is trading in friedrich's meissen china (bought in the cheapest market, sold in the dearest); has at hamburg his "auction of meissen porcelain," steadily going on, as a new commercial institution of that city;--and, in short, by assiduously laboring in such harvest-fields, gathers a colossal fortune, , pounds, , pounds, or i will not remember what. gets "ennobled," furthermore, by a danish government prompt to recognize human merit: elephant order, dannebrog order; no order good enough for this mouldy-man of merit; [preuss, ii. , , &c.]--and is, so far as i know, begetting "nobles," that is to say, vice-kings and monitory exemplars, for the danish people, to this day. let us shut down the iron lid on all that. mauduit's pamphlet, if it raised in the abhorrent unthinking english mind some vague notion, as probably it did, that pitt was responsible for these things, or was in a sort the cause or author of them, might produce some effect against him. "what a splash is this you are making, you great commoner; wetting everybody's feet,--as our mauduit proves;--while the conflagration seems to be going out, if you let it alone!" for the heads of men resemble--my friend, i will not tell you what they, in multitudinous instances, resemble. but thus has woollen mauduit, from his private camp ("clement's lane, lombard street," say the dictionaries), shot, at a very high object, what pigeon's-egg or small pebble he had; the first of many such that took that aim; with weak though loud-sounding impact, but with results--results on king friedrich in particular, which were stronger than the cannonade of torgau! as will be seen. for within year and day,--mauduit and company making their noises from without, and the butes and hardwickes working incessantly with such rare power of leverage and screwage in the interior parts,--a certain quasi-olympian house, made of glass, will lie in sherds, and the ablest and noblest man in england see himself forbidden to do england any service farther: "not needed more, sir! go you,--and look at us for the remainder of your life!" king friedrich in the apel house at leipzig ( th december, - th march, ). friedrich's winter in the apel house at leipzig is of cheerfuler character than we might imagine. endless sore business he doubtless has, of recruiting, financiering, watching and providing, which grows more difficult year by year; but he has subordinates that work to his signal, and an organized machinery for business such as no other man. and solacements there are withal: his books he has about him; welcomer than ever in such seasons: friends too,--he is not solitary; nor neglectful of resources. faithful d'argens came at once (stayed till the middle of march): [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xix. , . sends a courier to conduct d'argens "for december th;" " st march," d'argens is back at berlin.] d'argens, quintus icilius, english mitchell; these three almost daily bore him company. till the middle of january, also, he had his two nephews with him (sons of his poor deceased brother, the late tragic prince of prussia),--the elder of whom, friedrich wilhelm, became king afterwards; the second, henri by name, died suddenly of small-pox within about seven years hence, to the king's deep and sore grief, who liked him the better of the two. their ages respectively are now about and . [henri, born th december, , died th may, ;--friedrich wilhelm, afterwards friedrich wilhelm ii. (sometimes called der dicke, the big), born th december, ; king, th august, ; died th november, .] their appetite for dancing, and their gay young ways, are pleasant now and afterwards to the old uncle in his grim element. [letters, &c. in schoning.] music, too, he had; daily evening concert, though from himself there is no fluting now. one of his berlin concert people who had been sent for was fasch, a virtuoso on i know not what instrument,--but a man given to take note of things about him. fasch was painfully surprised to see his king so altered in the interim past: "bent now, sunk into himself, grown old; to whom these five years of war-tumult and anxiety, of sorrow and hard toil, had given a dash of gloomy seriousness and melancholy, which was in strong contrast with his former vividly bright expression, and was not natural to his years." [zelter's _life of fasch_ (cited in preuss, ii. ).] from d'argens there is one authentic anecdote, worth giving. one evening d'argens came to him; entering his apartment, found him in a situation very unexpected; which has been memorable ever since. "one evening [there is no date to it, except vaguely, as above, december, -march, ], d'argens, entering the king's apartment, found him sitting on the ground with a big platter of fried meat, from which he was feeding his dogs. he had a little rod, with which he kept order among them, and shoved the best bits to his favorites. the marquis, in astonishment, recoiled a step, struck his hands together, and exclaimed: 'the five great powers of europe, who have sworn alliance, and conspired to undo the marquis de brandebourg, how might they puzzle their heads to guess what he is now doing! scheming some dangerous plan for the next campaign, think they; collecting funds to have money for it; studying about magazines for man and horse; or he is deep in negotiations to divide his enemies, and get new allies for himself? not a bit of all that. he is sitting peaceably in his room, and feeding his dogs!'" [preuss, ii. .] interview with herr professor gellert (thursday, th december, ). still more celebrated is the interview with gellert; though i cannot say it is now more entertaining to the ingenuous mind. one of friedrich's many interviews, this winter, with the learned of leipzig university; for he is a born friend of the muses so called, and never neglects an opportunity. wonderful to see how, in such an environment, in the depths of mere toil and tribulation, with a whole breaking world lying on his shoulders, as it were,--he always shows such appetite for a snatch of talk with anybody presumably of sense, and knowledge on something! "this winter," say the books, "he had, in vacant intervals, a great deal of communing with the famed of leipzig university;" this or the other famed professor,--winkler, ernesti, gottsched again, and others, coming to give account, each for himself, of what he professed to be teaching in the world: "on the natural sciences," more especially the moral; on libraries, on rare books. gottsched was able to satisfy the king on one point; namely, that the celebrated passage of st. john's gospel--"there are three that bear record--was not in the famous manuscript of the vienna library; gottsched having himself examined that important codex, and found in the text nothing of said passage, but merely, written on the margin, a legible intercalation of it, in melanchthon's hand. luther, in his version, never had it at all." [_helden-geschichte,_ vi. .] a gottsched inclined to the socinian view? not the least consequence to friedrich or us! our business is exclusively with gellert here. readers have heard of gellert; there are, or there were, english writings about him, lives, or i forget what: and in his native protestant saxony, among all classes, especially the higher, he had, in those years and onwards to his death, such a popularity and real splendor of authority as no man before or since. had risen, against his will in some sort, to be a real pope, a practical oracle in those parts. in his modest bachelor lodging (age of him five-and-forty gone) he has sheaves of letters daily,--about affairs of the conscience, of the household, of the heart: from some evangelical young lady, for example, shall i marry him, think you, o my father?" and perhaps from her papa, "shall she, think you, o my ditto?"--sheaves of letters: and of oral consulters such crowds, that the poor oracle was obliged to appoint special hours for that branch of his business. his class-room (he lectures on morals, some theory of moral sentiment, or such like) is crowded with "blue uniforms" (ingenuous prussian officers eager to hear a gellert) in these winters. rugged hulsen, this very season, who commands in freyberg country, alleviates the poor village of hainichen from certain official inflictions, and bids the poor people say "it is because gellert was born among you!" plainly the trismegistus of mankind at that date:--who is now, as usual, become a surprising trismegistus to the new generations! he had written certain thin books, all of a thin languid nature; but rational, clear; especially a book of fables in verse, which are watery, but not wholly water, and have still a languid flavor in them for readers. his book on letter-writing was of use to the rising generation, in its time. clearly an amiable, ingenious, correct, altogether good man; of pious mind,--and, what was more, of strictly orthodox, according to the then saxon standard in the best circles. this was the figure of his life for the last fifteen years of it; and he was now about the middle of that culminating period. a modest, despondent kind of man, given to indigestions, dietetics, hypochondria: "of neat figure and dress; nose hooked, but not too much; eyes mournfully blue and beautiful, fine open brow;"--a fine countenance, and fine soul of its sort, poor gellert: "punctual like the church-clock at divine service, in all weathers." [jordens, _lexikon deutscher dichter und prosaisten_ (leipzig, ), ii. - (gellert).] a man of some real intellect and melody; some, by no means much; who was of amiable meek demeanor; studious to offend nobody, and to do whatever good he could by the established methods;--and who, what was the great secret of his success, was of orthodoxy perfect and eminent. whom, accordingly, the whole world, polite saxon orthodox world, hailed as its evangelist and trismegistus. essentially a commonplace man; but who employed himself in beautifying and illuminating the commonplace of his clay and generation:--infinitely to the satisfaction of said generation. "how charming that you should make thinkable to us, make vocal, musical and comfortably certain, what we were all inclined to think; you creature plainly divine!" and the homages to gellert were unlimited and continual, not pleasant all of them to an idlish man in weak health. mitchell and quintus icilius, who are often urging on the king that a new german literature is springing up, of far more importance than the king thinks, have spoken much to him of gellert the trismegistus;--and at length, in the course of a ten days from friedrich's arrival here, actual interview ensues. the dialogue, though it is but dull and watery to a modern palate, shall be given entire, for the sake of one of the interlocutors. the report of it, gleaned gradually from gellert himself, and printed, not long afterwards, from his manuscripts or those of others, is to be taken as perfectly faithful. gellert, writing to his inquiring friend rabener (a then celebrated berlin wit), describes, from leipzig, " th january, ," or about six weeks after the event: "how, one day about the middle of december, quintus icilius suddenly came to my poor lodging here, to carry me to the king." am too ill to go. quintus will excuse me to-day; but will return to-morrow, when no excuse shall avail. did go accordingly next day, thursday, th december, o'clock of the afternoon; and continued till a quarter to . "had nothing of fear in speaking to the king. recited my maler zu athen." king said, at parting, he would send for me again. "the english ambassador [mitchell], an excellent man, was probably the cause of the king's wish to see me.... the king spoke sometimes german, sometimes french; i mostly german." [_gellert's briefwechsel mit demoiselle lucius, herausgegeben von f. a. ebert_ (leipzig, ), pp. , .] as follows:-- king. "are you (er) the professor gellert?" gellert. "yea, ihro majestat." king. "the english ambassador has spoken highly of you to me. where do you come from?" gellert. "from hainichen, near freyberg." king. "have not you a brother at freyberg?" gellert. "yea, ihro majestat." king. "tell me why we have no good german authors." major quintus icilius (puts in a word). "your majesty, you see here one before you;--one whom the french themselves have translated, calling him the german la fontaine!" king. "that is much. have you read la fontaine?" gellert. "yes, your majesty; but have not imitated: i am original (ich bin ein original)." king. "well, this is one good author among the germans; but why have not we more?" gellert. "your majesty has a prejudice against the germans." king. "no; i can't say that (nein; das kann ich nicht sagen)." gellert. "at least, against german writers." king. "well, perhaps. why have we no good historians? why does no one undertake a translation of tacitus?" gellert. "tacitus is difficult to translate; and the frenoh themselves have but bad translations of him." king. "that is true (da hat er recht)." gellert. "and, on the whole, various reasons may be given why the germans have not yet distinguished themselves in every kind of writing. while arts and sciences were in their flower among the greeks, the romans were still busy in war. perhaps this is the warlike era of the germans:--perhaps also they have yet wanted augustuses and louis-fourteenths!" king. "how, would you wish one augustus, then, for all germany?" gellert. "not altogether that; i could wish only that every sovereign encouraged men of genius in his own country." king (starting a new subject). "have you never been out of saxony?" gellert. "i have been in berlin." king. "you should travel." gellert. "ihro majestat, for that i need two things,--health and means." king. "what is your complaint? is it die gelehrte krankheit (disease of the learned," dyspepsia so called)? "i have myself suffered from that. i will prescribe for you. you must ride daily, and take a dose of rhubarb every week." gellert. "ach, ihro majestat: if the horse were as weak as i am, he would be of no use to me; if he were stronger, i should be too weak to manage him." (mark this of the horse, however; a tale hangs by it.) king. "then you must drive out." gellert. "for that i am deficient in the means." king. "yes, that is true; that is what authors (gelehrte) in deutschland are always deficient in. i suppose these are bad times, are not they?" gellert. "ja wohl; and if your majesty would grant us peace (den frieden geben wollten)--" king. "how can i? have not you heard, then? there are three of them against me (es sind ja drei wider mich)!" gellert. "i have more to do with the ancients and their history than with the moderns." king (changing the topic). "what do you think, is homer or virgil the finer as an epic poet?" gellert. "homer, as the more original." king. "but virgil is much more polished (viel polirter)." gellert. "we are too far removed from homer's times to judge of his language. i trust to quintilian in that respect, who prefers homer." king. "but one should not be a slave to the opinion of the ancients." gellert. "nor am i that. i follow them only in cases where, owing to the distance, i cannot judge for myself." major icilius (again giving a slight fillip or suggestion). "he," the herr professor here, "has also treated of german letter-writing, and has published specimens." king. "so? but have you written against the chancery style, then" (the painfully solemn style, of ceremonial and circumlocution; letters written so as to be mainly wig and buckram)? gellert. "ach ja, that have i, ihro majestat!" king. "but why doesn't it change? the devil must be in it (es ist etwas verteufeltes). they bring me whole sheets of that stuff, and i can make nothing of it!" gellert. "if your majesty cannot alter it, still less can i. i can only recommend, where you command." king. "can you repeat any of your fables?" gellert. "i doubt it; my memory is very treacherous." king. "bethink you a little; i will walk about [gellert bethinks him, brow puckered. king, seeing the brow unpucker itself]. well, have you one?" gellert. "yes, your majesty: the painter." gellert recites (voice plaintive and hollow; somewhat preachy, i should doubt, but not cracked or shrieky);--we condense him into prose abridgment for english readers; german can look at the bottom of the page: [(gellert's werke: leipzig, ; i. .)]-- "'a prudent painter in athens, more intent on excellence than on money, had done a god of war; and sent for a real critic to give him his opinion of it. on survey, the critic shook his head: "too much art visible; won't do, my friend!" the painter strove to think otherwise; and was still arguing, when a young coxcomb [geck, gawk] stept in: "gods, what a masterpiece!" cried he at the first glance: "ah, that foot, those exquisitely wrought toenails; helm, shield, mail, what opulence of art!" the sorrowful painter looked penitentially at the real critic, looked at his brush; and the instant this geck was gone, struck out his god of war.'" king. "and the moral?" gellert (still reciting): "'when the critic does not like thy bit of writing, it is a bad sign for thee; but when the fool admires, it is time thou at once strike it out.'" "ein kluger maler in athen, der minder, weil man ihn bezhalte, als weil er ehre suchte, malte, liess einen kenner einst den mars im bilde sehn, und bat sich seine meinung aus. der kenner sagt ihm fiei heraus, dass ihm das bild nicht ganz gefallen wollte, und dass es, um recht schon zu sein, weit minder kunst verrathen sollte. der maler wandte vieles ein; der kenner stritt mit ihm aus grunden, und konnt ihn doch nicht uberwinden. gleich trat ein junger geck herein, und nahm das bild in augenschein. 'o,' rief er, 'bei dem ersten blicke, ihr gotter, welch ein meisterstucke! ach, welcher fuss! o, wie geschickt sind nicht die nagel ausgedruckt! mars lebt durchaus in diesem bilde. wie viele kunst, wie viele pracht ist in dem helm und in dem schilde, und in der rustung angebracht!' der maler ward beschamt geruhret, und sah den kenner klaglich an. 'nun,' sprach er, 'bin ich uberfuhret! ihr habt mir nicht zu viel gethan.' der junge geck war kaum hinaus, so strich er seinen kriegsgott aus." moral. "wenn deine schrift dem kenner nicht gefallt, so ist es schon ein boses zeichen; doch, wenn sie gar des narren lob erhalt, so ist es zeit, sie auszustreichen." king. "that is excellent; very fine indeed. you have a something of soft and flowing in your verses; them i understand altogether. but there was gottsched, one day, reading me his translation of iphigenie; i had the french copy in my hand, and could not understand a word of him [a swan of saxony, laboring in vain that day]! they recommended me another poet, one peitsch [herr peitsch of konigsberg, hofrath, doctor and professor there, gottsched's master in art; edited by gottsched thirty years ago; now become a dumb idol, though at one time a god confessed]; him i flung away." gellert. "ihro majestat, him i also fling away." king. "well, if i continue here, you must come again often; bring your fables with you, and read me something." gellert. "i know not if i can read well; i have the singing kind of tone, native to the hill country." king. "ja, like the silesians. no, you must read me the fables yourself; they lose a great deal otherwise. come back soon." [_gellert's briefwechsel mit demoiselle lucius_ (already cited), pp. et seq.] (exit gellert.) king (to icilius, as we learn from a different record). "that is quite another man than gottsched!" (exuent omnes.) the modest gellert says he "remembered jesus sirach's advice, press not thyself on kings,--and never came back;" nor was specially sent for, in the hurries succeeding; though the king never quite forgot him. next day, at dinner, the king said, "he is the reasonablest man of all the german literary people, c'est le plus raisonnable de tous les savans allemands." and to garve, at breslau, years afterwards: "gellert is the only german that will reach posterity; his department is small, but he has worked in it with real felicity." and indeed the king had, before that, as practical result of the gellert dialogue, managed to set some berlin bookseller upon printing of these eligible fables, "for the use of our prussian schools;" in which and other capacities the fables still serve with acceptance there and elsewhere. [preuss, ii. .] in regard to gellert's horse-exercise, i had still to remember that gellert, not long after, did get a horse; two successive horses; both highly remarkable. the first especially; which was prince henri's gift: "the horse prince henri had ridden at the battle of freyberg" (battle to be mentioned hereafter);--quadruped that must have been astonished at itself! but a pretty enough gift from the warlike admiring prince to his dyspeptic great man. this horse having yielded to time, the very kurfurst (grandson of polish majesty that now is) sent gellert another, housing and furniture complete; mounted on which, gellert and it were among the sights of leipzig;--well enough known here to young goethe, in his college days, who used to meet the great man and princely horse, and do salutation, with perhaps some twinkle of scepticism in the corner of his eye. [dichtung und wahrheit, theil ii. buch (in goethe's werke, xxv. et seq).] poor gellert fell seriously ill in december, ; to the fear and grief of all the world: "estafettes from the kurfurst himself galloped daily, or oftener, from dresden for the sick bulletin;" but poor gellert died, all the same ( th of that month); and we have (really with pathetic thoughts, even we) to bid his amiable existence in this world, his bits of glories and him, adieu forever. dialogue with general saldern (in the apel house, leipzig, st january, ). four or five weeks after this of gellert, friedrich had another dialogue, which also is partly on record, and is of more importance to us here: dialogue with major-general saldern; on a certain business, delicate, yet profitable to the doer,--nobody so fit for it as saldern, thinks the king. saldern is he who did that extraordinary feat of packing the wrecks of battle on the field of liegnitz; a fine, clear-flowing, silent kind of man, rapid and steady; with a great deal of methodic and other good faculty in him,--more, perhaps, than he himself yet knows of. him the king has sent for, this morning; and it is on the business of polish majesty's royal hunting-schloss at hubertsburg,--which is a thing otherwise worth some notice from us. for three months long the king had been representing, in the proper quarters, what plunderings, and riotous and even disgusting savageries, the saxons had perpetrated at charlottenburg, schonhausen, friedrichsfeld, in october last, while masters there for a few days: but neither in reichs diet, where plotho was eloquent, nor elsewhere by the diplomatic method, could he get the least redress, or one civil word of regret. from polish majesty himself, to whom friedrich remonstrated the matter, through the english resident at warsaw, friedrich had expected regret; but he got none. some think he had hoped that polish majesty, touched by these horrors of war, and by the reciprocities evidently liable to follow, might be induced to try something towards mediating a general peace: but polish majesty did not; polish majesty answered simply nothing at all, nor would get into any correspondence: upon which friedrich, possibly a little piqued withal, had at length determined on retaliation. within our cantonments, reflects friedrich, here is hubertsburg schloss, with such a hunting apparatus in and around it; polish majesty's hertzblatt ("lid of the heart," as they call it; breastbone, at least, and pit of his stomach, which inclines to nothing but hunting): let his hubertsburg become as our charlottenburg is; perhaps that will touch his feelings! friedrich had formed this resolution; and, wednesday, january st, sends for saldern, one of the most exact, deft-going and punctiliously honorable of all his generals, to execute it. enter saldern accordingly,--royal audience-room "in the apel'sche haus, new neumarkt, no. ," as above;--to whom (one kuster, a reliable creature, reporting for us on saldern's behalf) the king says, in the distinct slowish tone of a king giving orders:-- king. "saldern, to-morrow morning you go [er, he goes) with a detachment of infantry and cavalry, in all silence, to hubertsburg; beset the schloss, get all the furnitures carefully packed up and invoiced. i want nothing with them; the money they bring i mean to bestow on our field hospitals, and will not forget you in disposing of it." saldern, usually so prompt with his "ja" on any order from the king, looks embarrassed, stands silent,--to the king's great surprise;--and after a moment or two says:-- saldern. "forgive me, your majesty: but this is contrary to my honor and my oath." king (still in a calm tone). "you would be right to think so if i did not intend this desperate method for a good object. listen to me: great lords don't feel it in their scalp, when their subjects are torn by the hair; one has to grip their own locks, as the only way to give them pain." (these last words the king said in a sharper tone; he again made his apology for the resolution he had formed; and renewed his order. with the modesty usual to him, but also with manliness, saldern replied:)-- saldern. "order me, your majesty, to attack the enemy and his batteries, i will on the instant cheerfully obey: but against honor, oath and duty, i cannot, i dare not!" the king, with voice gradually rising, i suppose, repeated his demonstration that the thing was proper, necessary in the circumstances; but saldern, true to the inward voice, answered steadily:-- saldern. "for this commission your majesty will easily find another person in my stead." king (whirling hastily round, with an angry countenance, but, i should say, an admirable preservation of his dignity in such extreme case). "saldern, er will nicht reich werden,--saldern, you refuse to become rich." and exit, leaving saldern to his own stiff courses. [kuster, _charakterzuge des general-lieutenant v. saldern_ (berlin, ), pp. - .] nothing remained for saldern but to fall ill, and retire from the service; which he did: a man honorably ruined, thought everybody;--which did not prove to be the case, by and by. this surely is a remarkable dialogue; far beyond any of the gellert kind. an absolute king and commander-in-chief, and of such a type in both characters, getting flat refusal once in his life (this once only, so far as i know), and how he takes it:--one wishes kuster, or somebody, had been able to go into more details!--details on the quintus-icilius procedure, which followed next day, would also have been rather welcome, had kuster seen good. it is well known, quintus icilius and his battalion, on order now given, went cheerfully, next day, in saldern's stead. and sacked hubertsburg castle, to the due extent or farther: , thalers ( , pounds) were to be raised from it for the field-hospital behoof; the rest was to be quintus's own; who, it was thought, made an excellent thing of it for himself. and in hauling out the furnitures, especially in selling them, quintus having an enterprising sharp head in trade affairs, "it is certain," says kuster, as says everybody, "various schandlichkeiten (scandals) occurred, which were contrary to the king's intention, and would not have happened under saldern." what the scandals particularly were, is not specified to me anywhere, though i have searched up and down; much less the net amount of money realized by quintus. i know only, poor quintus was bantered about it, all his life after, by this merciless king; and at potsdam, in years coming, had ample time and admonition for what penitence was needful. "the case was much canvassed in the army," says poor kuster; "it was the topic in every tent among officers and common men. and among us army-chaplains too," poor honest souls, "the question of conflicting duties arose: your king ordering one thing, and your own conscience another, what ought a man to do? what ought an army-chaplain to preach or advise? and considerable mutual light in regard to it we struck out from one another, and saw how a prudent army-chaplain might steer his way. our general conclusion was, that neither the king nor saldern could well be called wrong. saldern listening to the inner voice; right he, for certain. but withal the king, in his place, might judge such a thing expedient and fit; perhaps saldern himself would, had saldern been king of prussia there in january, ." saldern's behavior in his retirement was beautiful; and after the peace, he was recalled, and made more use of than ever: being indeed a model for army arrangements and procedures, and reckoned the completest general of infantry now left, far and near. the outcries made about hubertsburg, which still linger in books, are so considerable, one fancies the poor schloss must have been quite ruined, and left standing as naked walls. such, however, we by no means find to be the case; but, on the contrary, shall ourselves see that everything was got refitted there, and put into perfect order again, before long. there are some war-movements during winter; general financiering difficulties. choiseul proposes peace. february th, there fell out, at langensalza, on the unstrut, in gotha country, a bit of sharp fighting; done by friedrich's people and duke ferdinand's in concert; which, and still more what followed on it, made some noise in the quiet months. not a great thing, this of langensalza, but a sudden, and successfully done; costing broglio some , prisoners; and the ruin of a considerable post of his, which he had lately pushed out thither, "to seize the unstrut," as he hoped. a broglio grasping at more than he could hold, in those thuringen parts, as elsewhere! and, indeed, the fight of langensalza was only the beginning of a series of such; duke ferdinand being now upon one of his grand winter-adventures: that of suddenly surprising and exploding broglio's winter-quarters altogether, and rolling him back to frankfurt for a lodging. so that, since the first days of february, especially since langensalza day, there rose suddenly a great deal of rushing about, in those regions, with hard bits of fighting, at least of severe campaigning;--which lasted two whole-months;--filling the whole world with noise that winter; and requiring extreme brevity from us here. it was specially duke ferdinand's adventure; friedrich going on it, as per bargain, to the langensalza enterprise, but no farther; after which it did not much concern friedrich, nor indeed come to much result for anybody. "strenuous ferdinand, very impatient of the gottingen business and provoked to see broglio's quarters extend into hessen, so near hand, for the first time, silently determines to dislodge him. broglio's chain of quarters, which goes from frankfurt north as far as marburg, then turns east to ziegenhayn; thence north again to cassel, to munden with its defiles; and again east, or southeast, to langensalza even: this chain has above miles of weak length; and various other grave faults to the eye of ferdinand,--especially this, that it is in the form, not of an elbow only, or joiner's-square, which is entirely to be disapproved, but even of two elbows; in fact, of the profile of a chair [if readers had a map at hand]. foot of the chair is frankfurt; seat part is from marburg to ziegenhayn; back part, near where ferdinand lies in chief force, is the cassel region, on to munden, which is top of the back,--still backwards from which, there is a kind of proud curl or overlapping, down to langensalza in gotha country, which greedy broglio has likewise grasped at! broglio's friends say he himself knew the faultiness of this zigzag form, but had been overruled. ferdinand certainly knows it, and proceeds to act upon it. "in profound silence, namely, ranks himself (february st- th) in three divisions, wide enough asunder; bursts up sudden as lightning, at langensalza and elsewhere; kicks to pieces broglio's chair-profile, kicks out especially the bottom part which ruins both foot and back, these being disjointed thereby, and each exposed to be taken in rear;--and of course astonishes broglio not a little; but does not steal his presence of mind. "so that, in effect, broglio had instantly to quit cassel and warm lodging, and take the field in person; to burn his magazines; and, at the swiftest rate permissible, condense himself, at first partially about fulda (well down the leg of his chair), and then gradually all into one mass near frankfurt itself;--with considerable losses, loss especially of all his magazines, full or half full. and has now, except marburg, ziegenhayn and cassel, no post between gottingen and him. ferdinand, with his three divisions, went storming along in the wild weather, granby as vanguard; pricking into the skirts of broglio. captured this and that of corps, of magazines that had not been got burnt; laid siege to tassel, siege to ziegenhayn; blocked marburg, not having guns ready: and, for some three or four weeks, was by the gazetteer world and general public thought to have done a very considerable feat;--though to himself, such were the distances, difficulties of the season, of the long roads, it probably seemed very questionable whether, in the end, any feat at all. "cassel he could not take, after a month's siege under the best of siege-captains; ziegenhayn still less under one of the worst. provisions, ammunitions, were not to be had by force of wagonry: scant food for soldiers, doubly scant the food of sieges;"--"the road from beverungen [where the weser-boats have to stop, which is miles from cassel, perhaps from ziegenhayn, and perhaps from the outmost or southern-most of ferdinand's parties] is paved with dead horses," nor has even cassel nearly enough of ammunition:--in a word, broglio, finding the time come, bursts up from his frankfurt position (march th- st) in a sharp and determined manner; drives ferdinand's people back, beats the erbprinz himself one day (by surprisal, 'my compliment for langensalza'), and sets his people running. ferdinand sees the affair to be over; and deliberately retires; lucky, perhaps, that he still can deliberately: and matters return to their old posture. broglio resumes his quarters, somewhat altered in shape, and not quite so grasping as formerly; and beyond his half-filled magazines, has lost nothing considerable, or more considerable than has ferdinand himself." [tempelhof, v. - ; mauvillon, ii. - .] the vital element in ferdinand's adventure was the siege of cassel; all had to fail, when this, by defect of means, under the best of management, declared itself a failure. siege captain was a graf von lippe-buckeburg, ferdinand's ordnance-master, who is supposed to be "the best artillery officer in the world,"--and is a man of great mark in military and other circles. he is son and successor of that fantastic lippe-buckeburg, by whom friedrich was introduced to free-masonry long since. he has himself a good deal of the fantast again, but with a better basis of solidity beneath it. a man of excellent knowledge and faculty in various departments; strict as steel, in regard to discipline, to practice and conduct of all kinds; a most punctilious, silently supercilious gentleman, of polite but privately irrefragable turn of mind. a tall, lean, dusky figure; much seen to by neighbors, as he stalks loftily through this puddle of a world, on terms of his own. concerning whom there circulates in military circles this anecdote, among many others;--which is set down as a fact; and may be, whether quite believable or not, a symbol of all the rest, and of a man not unimportant in these wars. "two years ago, on king friedrich's birthday, th january, , the count had a select dinner-party in his tent in ferdinand's camp, in honor of the occasion. dinner was well over, and wine handsomely flowing, when somebody at last thought of asking, 'what is it, then, herr graf, that whistling kind of noise we hear every now and then overhead?' 'that is nothing,' said the graf, in his calm, dusky way: 'that is only my artillery-people practising; i have bidden them hit the pole of our tent if they can: unhappily there is not the slightest danger. push the bottles on.'" [archenholtz, ii. ; zimmermann, _einsamkeit,_ iii. ; &c.] lippe-buckeburg was siege-captain at cassel; commandant besieged was comte de broglio, the marshal's younger brother, formerly in the diplomatic line;--whom we saw once, five years ago, at the pirna barrier, fly into fine frenzy, and kick vainly against the pricks. friedrich says once, to d'argens or somebody: "i hope we shall soon have cassel, and m. le comte de broglio prisoner" (deserves it for his fine frenzies, at pirna and since);--but that comfort was denied us. some careless books say, friedrich had at first good hopes of this enterprise; and "had himself lent , men to it:" which is the fact, but not the whole fact. friedrich had approved, and even advised this plan of ferdinand's, and had agreed to send , men to co-operate at langensalza,--which, so far out in thuringen, and pointing as if to the reichsfolk, is itself an eye-sorrow to friedrich. the issue we have seen. his , went accordingly, under a general syburg; met the ferdinand people (general sporken head of these, and walpole's "conway" one of them); found the unstrut in flood, but crossed nevertheless; dashed in upon the french and saxons there, and made a brilliant thing of it at langensalza. [_bericht von der bey langensalza am februar vorgefallenen action_ in seyfarth, _beylagen,_ iii. ; tempelhof, v. - .] which done, syburg instantly withdrew, leaving sporken and his conways to complete the adventure; and, for his part, set himself with his whole might "to raising contributions, recruits, horses, proviants, over thuringen;" "which," says tempelhof, "had been his grand errand there, and in which he succeeded wonderfully." towards the end of ferdinand's affair, cassel siege now evidently like to fail, friedrich organized a small expedition for his own behoof: expedition into voigtland, or frankenland, against the intrusive reichs-people, who have not now a broglio or langensalza to look across to, but are mischievous upon our outposts on the edge of the voigtland yonder. the expedition lasted only ten days (april st it left quarters; april th was home again); a sharp, swift and very pretty expedition; [tempelhof, v. - .] of which we can here say only that it was beautifully impressive on the reichs gentlemen, and sent their croateries and them home again, to bamberg, to eger, quite over the horizon, in a considerably flurried state. after which there was no small-war farther, and everybody rested in cantonment, making ready till the great should come. the prussian wounded are all in leipzig this winter; a crowded stirring town; young archenholtz, among many others, going about in convalescent state,--not attending gellert's course, that i hear of,--but noticing vividly to right and left. much difficulty about the contributions, archenholtz observes;--of course an ever-increasing difficulty, here as everywhere, in regard to finance! from archenholtz chiefly, i present the following particulars; which, though in loose form, and without date, except the general one of winter - , to any of them, are to be held substantially correct. ... "'it is impossible to pay that contribution,' exclaim the leipzigers: 'you said, long since, it was to be , pounds on us by the year; and this year you rise to , pounds; more than double!'--'perhaps that is because you favored the reichsfolk while here?' answer the prussians, if they answer anything: 'it is the king's order. pay it you must.'--'cannot; simply impossible.' 'possible, we tell you, and also certain; we will burn your leipzig if you don't!' and they actually, these collector fellows, a stony-hearted set, who had a percentage of their own on the sums levied, got soldiers drawn out more than once pitch-link in hand, as if for immediate burning: hut the leipzigers thought to themselves, 'king friedrich is not a soltikof!' and openly laughed at those pitch-links. whereupon about a hundred of their chief merchants were thrown into prison,--one hundred or so, riddled down in a day or two to seventeen; which latter seventeen, as they stood out, were detained a good many days, how many is not said, but only that they were amazingly firm. black-hole for lodging, bread-and-water for diet, straw for bed: nothing would avail on the seventeen: 'impossible,' they answered always; each unit of them, in sight of the other sixteen, was upon his honor, and could not think of flinching. 'you shall go for soldiers, then;--possibly you will prefer that, you fine powdered velvet gentlemen? up then, and march; here are your firelocks, your seventeen knapsacks: to the road with us; to magdeburg, there to get on drill!' upon which the seventeen, horror-struck at such quasi-actual possibility, gave in. "magnanimous gotzkowsky, who had come to leipzig on business at the time [which will give us a date for this by and by], and been solemnly applied to by deputation of the rath, pleaded with his usual zealous fidelity on their behalf; got various alleviations, abatements; gave bills:--'never was seen such magnanimity!' said the leipzig town-council solemnly, as that of berlin, in october last, had done." [archenholtz, ii. - .] of course the difficulties, financial and other, are increasing every winter;--not on friedrich's side only. here, for instance, from the duchy of gottingen, are some items in the french account current, this winter, which are also furnished by archenholtz:-- "for bed-ticking, , webs; of shirts ready-made, , ; shoes," i forget in what quantity; but "from the poor little town of duderstadt pairs,--liability to instant flogging if they are not honest shoes; flogging, and the whole shoemaker guild summoned out to see it." hardy women the same duderstadt has had to produce: of them, "each with basket on back, who are carrying cannon-balls from the foundry at lauterberg to gottingen, the road being bad." [archenholtz, ii. .] "these french are in such necessity," continues archenholtz, "they spare neither friend nor foe. the frankish circle, for example, pleads piteously in reichs diet that it has already smarted by this war to the length of , , pounds, and entreats the kaiser to bid most christian majesty cease his exactions,--but without the least result." result! if most christian majesty and his pompadour will continue this war, is it he, or is it you, that can furnish the magazines? "magazine-furnishings, over all hessen and this part of hanover, are enormous. recruits too, native hessian, native hanoverian, you shall furnish,--and 'we will hang them, and do, if caught deserting' [to their own side]!" i add only one other item from archenholtz: "mice being busy in these hanover magazines, it is decided to have cats, and a requisition goes out accordingly [cipher not given]: cats do execution for a time, but cannot stand the confinement," are averse to the solitary system, and object (think with what vocality!): "upon which hanover has to send foxes and weasels." [ib. ii. ] these guardian animals, and the women laden with cannon-balls from the forge, are the most peculiar items in the french account current, and the last i will mention. difficulty, quasi-impossibility, on the french side, there evidently is, perhaps more than on any other. but choiseul has many arts;--and his official existence, were there nothing more, demands that he do the impossible now if ever. this spring ( th march, ), to the surprise and joy of mankind, there came formal proposal, issuing from choiseul, to which maria theresa and the czarina had to put their signatures; regretting that the british-prussian proposal of last year had, by ill accident, fallen to the ground, and now repeating it themselves (real "congress at augsburg," and all things fair and handsome) to britannic and prussian majesties. who answered (april d) as before, "nothing with more willingness, we!" [the "declaration" (of france &c.), with the answer or "counter-declaration," in seyfarth, _beylagen,_ iii. - .] and there actually did ensue, at paris, a vivid negotiating all summer; which ended, not quite in nothing, but in less, if we might say so. considerably less, for some of us. we shall have to look what end it had, and mauduit will look!--most people, pitt probably among the others, came to think that choiseul, though his france is in beggary, had no real view from the first, except to throw powder in the eyes of france and mankind, to ascertain for himself on what terms those english would make peace, and to get spain drawn into his quarrel. a choiseul with many arts. but we will leave him and his peace-proposals, and the other rumors and futilities of this year. they are part of the sound and smoke which fill all years; and which vanish into next to nothing, oftenest into pure nothing, when the years have waited a little. friedrich's finances, copper and other, were got completed; his armies too were once more put on a passable footing;--and this year will have its realities withal. gotzkowsky, in regard to those leipzig finance difficulties, yields me a date, which is supplementary to some of the archenholtz details. i find it was "january th, ,"--precisely while the saldern interview, and subsequent wreck of hubertsburg, went on,--that "gotzkowsky arrived in leipzig," [rodenbeck, ii. .] and got those unfortunate seventeen out of ward, and the contributions settled. and withal, at paris, in the same hours, there went on a thing worth noting. that january day, while icilius was busy on the schloss of hubertsburg, poor old marechal de belleisle,--mark him, reader!--"in the rue de lille at paris," lay sunk in putrid fever; and on the fourth day after, "january th, ," the last of the grand old frenchmen died. "he had been reported dead three days before," says barbier: "the public wished it so; they laid the blame on him of this apparent" (let a cautious man write it, "apparent) derangement in our affairs,"--instead of thanking him for all he had done and suffered (loss of so much, including reputation and an only son) to repair and stay the same. "he was in his th year. many people say, 'we must wait three months, to see if we shall not regret him,'"--even him! [barbier, iv. ; i. .] so generous are nations. marechal duc de belleisle was very wealthy: in vernon country, normandy, he had estates and chateaux to the value of about , pounds annually. all these, having first accurately settled for his own debts, he, in his grand old way, childless, forlorn, but loftily polite to the last, bequeathed to the king. his splendid paris mansion he expressly left "to serve in perpetuity as a residence for the secretary of state in the department of war:" a magnificent town-house it is, "hotel magnifique, at the end of the pont-royal,"--which, i notice farther, is in our time called "hotel de choiseul-praslin,"--a house latterly become horrible in men's memory, if my guess is right. and thus vanishes, in sour dark clouds, the once great belleisle. grandiose, something almost of great in him, of sublime,--alas, yes, of too sublime; and of unfortunate beyond proportion, paying the debt of many foregoers! he too is a notability gone out, the last of his kind. twenty years ago, he crossed the oeil-de-boeuf with papers, just setting out to cut teutschland in four; and in the rue de lille, no. , with that grandiose enterprise drawing to its issue in universal defeat, disgrace, discontent and preparation for the general overturn (culbute generale of )) he closes his weary old eyes. choiseul succeeds him as war-minister; war-minister and prime-minister both in one;--and by many arts of legerdemain, and another real spasm of effort upon hanover to do the impossible there, is leading france with winged steps the same road. since march th, friedrich was no longer in leipzig. he left at that time, for meissen country, and the hill cantonments,--organized there his little expedition into voigtland, for behoof of the reichsfolk;--and did not return. continued, mostly in meissen country, as the fittest for his many businesses, army-regulatings and other. till the campaign come, we will remember of him nothing, but this little note, and pleasant little gift, to his chere maman, the day after his arrival in those parts:-- to madam camas (at magdeburg, with the queen). "meissen, th march, . "i send you, my dear mamma, a little trifle, by way of keepsake and memento [snuffbox of meissen porcelain, with the figure of a dog on the lid]. you may use the box for your rouge, for your patches, or you may put snuff in it, or bonbons or pills: but whatever use you turn it to, think always, when you see this dog, the symbol of fidelity, that he who sends it outstrips, in respect of fidelity and attachment to maman, all the dogs in the world; and that his devotion to you has nothing whatever in common with the fragility of the material which is manufactured hereabouts. "i have ordered porcelain here for all the world, for schonhausen [for your mistress, my poor uncomplaining wife], for my sisters-in-law; in fact, i am rich in this brittle material only. and i hope the receivers will accept it as current money: for, the truth is, we are poor as can be, good mamma; i have nothing left but honor, my coat, my sword, and porcelain. "farewell, my beloved mamma. if heaven will, i shall one day see you again face to face; and repeat to you, by word of mouth, what i have already said and written; but, turn it and re-turn it as i may, i shall never, except very incompletely, express what the feelings of my heart to you are.--f." [given in rodenbeck, ii. ; omitted, for i know not what reason, in _oeuvres de frederic,_ xviii. : cited partly in preuss, ii. .] ------ it was during this winter, if ever it was, that friedrich received the following letter from an aspiring young lady, just coming out, age seventeen,--in a remote sphere of things. in "sleepy hollow" namely, or the court of mirow in mecklenburg-strelitz, where we once visited with friedrich almost thirty years ago. the poor collapsed duke has ceased making dressing-gowns there; and this is his niece, princess charlotte, sister to the now reigning duke. this letter, in the translated form, and the glorious results it had for some of us, are familiar to all english readers for the last hundred years. of friedrich's answer to it, if he sent one, we have no trace whatever. which is a pity, more or less;--though, in truth, the answer could only have been some polite formality; the letter itself being a mere breath of sentimental wind, absolutely without significance to friedrich or anybody else,--except always to the young lady herself, to whom it brought a royal husband and queenship of england, within a year. signature, presumably, this letter once had; date of place, of day, year, or even century (except by implication), there never was any: but judicious persons, scanning on the spot, have found that the "victory" spoken of can only have meant torgau; and that the aspiring young lady, hitherto a school girl, not so much as "confirmed" till a month or two ago, age seventeen in may last, can only have i written it, at mirow, in the winter subsequent. [ludwig giesebrecht,--der furstenhof in mirow wuhrend der jahre - , in _programm des vereinigten koniglichen und stadt-gymnasiums_ for (stettin, ), pp. - ,--enters into a minute criticism.] certain it is, in september next, september, , directly after george iii.'s wedding, there appeared in the english newspapers, what doubtless had been much handed about in society before, the following "translation of a letter, said to have been written by princess charlotte of mecklenberg to the king of prussia, on one of his victories,"--without farther commentary or remark of any kind; everybody then understanding, as everybody still. so notable a document ought to be given in the original as well (or in what passes for such), and with some approach to the necessary preliminaries of time and place: [from _gentleman's magazine_ (for october, , xxxi. ) we take, verbatim, the translation; from preuss (ii. ) the "original," who does not say where he got it,--whether from an old german newspaper or not.]-- [to his majesty the king of prussia (in leipzig, or somewhere. or somewhere). mirow in mechlenburg-strelitz, winter of - .] "sire!--ich weiss nicht, ob ich uber ewr. majestat letzteren sieg frohlich odor traurig sein soll, weil eben der gluckliche sieg, der neue lorbeern um dero scheitel geflochten hat, uber mein vaterland jammer und elend verbreitet. ich weiss, sire, in diesem unserm lasterhaft verfeinerten zeitalter werde ich verlacht werden, dass mein herz uber das ungluck des landes trauert, dass ich die drangsale des krieges beweine, und von ganzer seele die ruckkehr des friedens wunsche. selbst sie, sire, werden vielleicht denken, es schicke sich besser fur mich, mich in der kunst zu gefallen zu uben, oder mich nur um hausliche angelegenheiten zu bekummern. allein dem seye wie ihm wolle, so fuhlt mein herz zu sehr fur diese unglucklichen, um eine dringende furbitte fur dieselben zuruck zu halten. "seit wenigen jahren hatte dieses land die angenehmste gestalt gewonnen. man traf keine verodete stellen an. alles war angebaut. das landvolk sah vergnugt aus, und in den stadten herrschte wohlstand und freude. aber welch' eine veranderung gegen eine so angenehme scene! ich bin in partheischen beschreibungen nicht erfahren, noch weniger kann ich die grauel der verwilstung mit erdichteten schilderungen schrecklicher darstellen. allein gewiss selbst krieger, welche ein edles herz und gefuhl besitzen, wurden durch den anblick dieser scenen zu thranen bewegt werden. das ganze land, mein werthes vaterland, liegt da gleich einer wuste. der ackerbau und die viehzucht haben aufgehort. der bauer und der hirt sind soldaten worden, und in den stadten sieht man nur greise, weiber, und kinder, vielleicht noch hie und da einen jungen mann, der aber durch empfangene wunden ein kruppel ist und den ihn umgebenden kleinen knaben die geschichte einer jeden wunde mit einem so pathetischen heldenton erzahlt, dassihr herz schon der trommel folgt, ehe sie recht gehen konnen. was aber das elend auf den hochsten gipfel bringt, sind die immer abwechselnden vorruckungen und zuruckziehungen beider armeen, da selbst die, so sich unsre freunde nennen, beim abzuge alles mitnehmen und verheeren, und wenn sie wieder kommen, gleich viel wieder herbei geschafft haben wollen. von dero gerechtigkeit, sire, hoffen wir hulfe in dieser aussersten noth. an sie, sire, mogen auch frauen, ja selbst kinder ihre klagen bringen. sie, die sich auch zur niedrigsten klasse gutigst herablassen, und dadurch, wenn es moglich ist, noch grosser werden, als selbst durch ihre siege, werden die meinigen nicht unerhort lassen und, zur ehre dero eigenen ruhmes, bedruckungen und drangsalen abhelfen, welche wider alle menschenliebe und wider alle gute kriegszucht streiten. ich bin &c." "may it please your majesty, "i am at a loss whether i shall congratulate or condole with you on your late victory; since the same success that has covered you with laurels has overspread the couutry of mecklenburgh with desolation. i know, sire, that it seems unbecoming my sex, in this age of vicious refinement, to feel for one's country, to lament the horrors of war, or wish for the return of peace. i know you may think it more properly my province to study the art of pleasing, or to turn my thoughts to subjects of a more domestic nature: but, however unbecoming it may be in me, i can't resist the desire of interceding for this unhappy people. "it was but a very few years ago that this territory wore the most pleasing appearance. the country was cultivated, the peasant looked cheerful, and the towns abounded with riches and festivity. what an alteration at present from such a charming scene! i am not expert at description, nor can my fancy add any horrors to the picture; but sure even conquerors themselves would weep at the hideous prospect now before me. the whole country, my dear country, lies one frightful waste, presenting only objects to excite terror, pity and despair. the business of the husbandman and the shepherd are quite discontinued; the husbandman and the shepherd are become soldiers themselves, and help to ravage the soil they formerly occupied. the towns are inhabited only by old men, women and children; perhaps here and there a warrior, by wounds and loss of limbs rendered unfit for service, left at his door; his little children hang round him, ask a history of every wound, and grow themselves soldiers before they find strength for the field. but this were nothing, did we not feel the alternate insolence of either army, as it happens to advance or retreat. it is impossible to express the confusion, even those who call themselves our friends create. even those from whom we might expect redress, oppress us with new calamities. from your justice, therefore, it is that we hope relief; to you even children and women may complain, whose humanity stoops to the meanest petition, and whose power is capable of repressing the greatest injustice. "i am, sire, &c." it is remarked that this young lady, so amiably melodious in tone, though she might address to king friedrich, seems to be writing to the wind; and that she gives nothing of fact or picture in regard to mecklenburg, especially to mecklenburg-strelitz, but what is taken from her own beautiful young brain. all operatic, vague, imaginary,--some of it expressly untrue. [in mecklenburg-schwerin, which had always to smart sore for its duke and the line he took, the swedes, this year, as usual (but, till torgau, with more hope than usual), had been trying for winter-quarters: and had by the prussians, as usual, been hunted out,--eugen of wurtemberg speeding thither, directly after torgau; rostock his winter-quarters;--who, doubtless with all rigor, is levying contributions for prussian behoof. but as to mecklenburg-strelitz,--see, for example, in schoning, iii. &c., an indirect but altogether conclusive proof of the perfectly amicable footing now and always subsisting there; friedrich reluctant to intrude even with a small request or solicitation, on eugen's behalf, at this time.] so that latterly there have been doubts as to its authenticity altogether. ["boll, _geschichte mecklenburgs mit besonderer berucksichtigung der culturgeschichte_ (neubrandenburg, ), ii. - ;"--cited by giesebrecht, who himself takes the opposite view.] and in fact the piece has a good deal the air of some school-exercise, model of letter-writing, patriotic aspiration or the like;--thrown off, shall we say, by the young parson of mirow (charlotte's late tutor), with charlotte there to sign; or by some patriotic schoolmaster elsewhere, anywhere, in a moment of enthusiasm, and without any charlotte but a hypothetic one? certainly it is difficult to fancy how a modest, rational, practical young person like charlotte can have thought of so airy a feat of archery into the blue! charlotte herself never disavowed it, that i heard of; and to colonel grahame the ex-jacobite, hunting about among potential queens of england, for behoof of bute and of a certain young king and king's mother, the letter did seem abundantly unquestionable and adorable. perhaps authentic, after all;--and certainly small matter whether or not. chapter vii.--sixth campaign opens: camp of bunzelwitz. to the outward observer friedrich stands well at present, and seems again in formidable posture. after two such victories, and such almost miraculous recovery of himself, who shall say what resistance he will not yet make? in comparison with and its failures and disasters, what a year has been! liegnitz and torgau, instead of kunersdorf and maxen, here are unexpected phenomena; here is a king risen from the deeps again,--more incalculable than ever to contemporary mankind. "how these things will end?" fancy of what a palpitating interest then, while everybody watched the huge game as it went on; though it is so little interesting now to anybody, looking at it all finished! finished; no mystery of chance, of world-hope or of world-terror now remaining in it; all is fallen stagnant, dull, distant;--and it will behoove us to be brief upon it. contemporaries, and posterity that will make study, must alike admit that, among the sons of men, few in any age have made a stiffer fight than friedrich has done and continues to do. but to friedrich himself it is dismally evident, that year by year his resources are melting away; that a year must come when he will have no resource more. ebbing very fast, his resources;--fast too, no doubt, those of his enemies, but not so fast. they are mighty nations, he is one small nation. his thoughts, we perceive, have always, in the background of them, a hue of settled black. easy to say, "resist till we die;" but to go about, year after year, practically doing it, under cloudy omens, no end of it visible ahead, is not easy. many men, kings and other, have had to take that stern posture;--few on sterner terms than those of friedrich at present; and none that i know of with a more truly stoical and manful figure of demeanor. he is long used to it! wet to the bone, you do not regard new showers; the one thing is, reach the bridge before it be swum away. the usual hopes, about turks, about peace, and the like, have not been wanting to friedrich this winter; mentionable as a trait of friedrich's character, not otherwise worth mention. hope of aid from the turks, it is very strange to see how he nurses this fond shadow, which never came to anything! happily, it does not prevent, it rather encourages, the utmost urgency of preparation: "the readier we are, the likelier are turks and everything!" peace, at least, between france and england, after such a proposal on choiseul's part, and such a pass as france has really got to, was a reasonable probability. but indeed, from the first year of this war, as we remarked, peace has seemed possible to friedrich every year; especially from onward, there is always every winter a lively hope of peace:--"no slackening of preparation; the reverse, rather; but surely the campaign of next summer will be cut short, and we shall all get home only half expended!" [schoning (in locis).] practically, friedrich has been raising new free-corps people, been recruiting, refitting and equipping, with more diligence than ever; and, in spite of the almost impossibilities, has two armies on foot, some , men in all, for defence of saxony and of silesia,--henri to undertake saxony, versus daun; silesia, with loudon and the russians, to be friedrich's heavier share. the campaign, of which, by the one party and the other, very great things had been hoped and feared, seemed once as if it would begin two months earlier than usual; but was staved off, a long time, by friedrich's dexterities, and otherwise; and in effect did not begin, what we can call beginning, till two months later than usual. essentially it fell, almost all, to friedrich's share; and turned out as little decisive on him as any of its foregoers. the one memorable part of it now is, friedrich's encampment at bunzelwitz; which did not occur till four months after friedrich's appearance on the field. and from the end of april, when loudon made his first attempt, till the end of august, when friedrich took that camp, there was nothing but a series of attempts, all ineffectual, of demonstrations, marchings, manoeuvrings and small events; which, in the name of every reader, demand condensation to the utmost. if readers will be diligent, here, so far as needful, are the prefatory steps. since fouquet's disaster, goltz generally has silesia in charge; and does it better than expected. he was never thought to have fouquet's talent in him; but he shows a rugged loyalty of mind, less egoistic than the fiery fouquet's; and honestly flings himself upon his task, in a way pleasant to look at: pleasant to the king especially, who recognizes in goltz a useful, brave, frank soul;--and has given him, this spring, the order of merit, which was a high encouragement to goltz. in silesia, after kosel last year, there had been truce between goltz and loudon; which should have produced repose to both; but did not altogether, owing to mistakes that rose. and at any rate, in the end of april, loudon, bursting suddenly into silesia with great increase to the forces already there, gave notice, as per bargain, that "in hours" the truce would expire. and waiting punctiliously till the last of said hours was run out, loudon fell upon goltz (april th, in the schweidnitz-landshut country) with his usual vehemence;--meaning to get hold of the silesian passes, and extinguish goltz (only or , against , ), as he had done fouquet last year. but goltz took his measures better; seized "the gallows-hill of hohenfriedberg," seized this and that; and stood in so forcible an attitude, that loudon, carefully considering, durst not risk an assault; and the only result was: friedrich hastened to relief of goltz (rose from meissen country may d), and appeared in silesia six weeks earlier than he had intended. but again took cantonments there (schweidnitz and neighborhood);--loudon retiring wholly, on first tidings of him, home to bohemia again. home in bohemia; at braunau, on the western edge of the glatz mountains,--there sits loudon thenceforth, silent for a long time; silently collecting an army of , , with strict orders from vienna to avoid fighting till the russians come. loudon has very high intentions this year. intends to finish silesia altogether;--cannot he, after such a beginning upon glatz last year? that is the firm notion at vienna among men of understanding: ever-active loudon the favorite there, against a cunctator who has been too cunctatory many times. liegnitz itself, was not that (as many opine) a disaster due to cunctation, not of loudon's? loudon is to be joined by , russians, under a feldmarschall butturlin, not under sulky soltikof, this year; junction to be in upper silesia, in neisse neighborhood. we take that fortress," say the vienna people; "it is next on the file after glatz. neisse taken; thence northward, cleaning the country as we go; brieg, schweidnitz, glogau, probably breslau itself in some good interim: there are but four fortresses to do; and the thing is finished. let the king, one to three, and loudon in command against him, try if he can hinder it!" this is the program in vienna and in petersburg. and, accordingly, the russians have got on march about the end of may; plodding on ever since, due hereabouts before june end: "junction to be as near neisse as you can: and no fighting of the king, on any terms, till the russians come." never were the vienna people so certain before. daun is to do nothing "rash" in saxony (a daun not given that way, they can calculate), but is to guard loudon's game; carefully to reinforce, comfort and protect the brave loudon and his russians till they win;--after which saxony as rash as you like. this is the program of the season:--readers feel what an immensity of preliminary higglings, hitchings and manoeuvrings will now demand to be suppressed by us! read these essential fractions, chiefly chronological;--and then, at once, to bunzelwitz, and the time of close grips in silesia here. "last year," says a loose note, which we may as well take with us, "tottleben did not go home with the rest, but kept hovering about, in eastern pommern, with a , , all winter; attempting several kinds of mischief in those countries, especially attempting to do something on colberg; which the russians mean to besiege next summer, with more intensity than ever, for the third, and, if possible, the last time. 'storm their outposts there,' thinks tottleben, 'especially belgard, the chief outpost; girdle tighter and tighter the obstinate little crow's-nest of a colberg, and have it ready for besieging in good time.' tottleben did try upon the outposts, especially belgard the chief one (january th, ), but without the least success at belgard; with a severe reproof instead, werner's people being broad awake: [account of itt, _helden-geschichte,_ vi. .] upon which tottleben and they made a truce, 'peaceable till may th;' till june st, it proved, about which time [which time, or afterwards, as the silesian crisis may admit!] we will look in on them again." may d, as above intimated, friedrich hastened off for silesia, quitted meissen that day, with an army of some , ; pressingly intent to relieve goltz from his dangerous predicament there. this is one of friedrich's famed marches, done in a minimum of time and with a maximum of ingenuity; concerning which i will remember only that, one night, "he lodged again at rodewitz, near hochklrch, in the same house as on that occasion [what a thirty months to look back upon, as you sink to sleep!]--and that no accident anywhere befell the march, though daun's people, all through saxony and the lausitz, were hovering on the flank,--apprehensive chiefly lest it might mean a plunge into bohemia, for relief of goltz, instead of what it did." for six weeks after that hard march, the king's people got cantonments again, and rested. prince henri is left in saxony, with daun in huge force against him, daun and the reich; between whom and henri,--seidlitz being in the field again with henri, seidlitz and others of mark,--there fell out a great deal of exquisite manoeuvring, rapid detaching and occasional sharp cutting on the small scale; but nothing of moment to detain us here or afterwards, we shall say only that henri, to a wonderful extent, maintained himself against the heavy overwhelming daun and his austrian and reichs masses; and that napoleon, i know not after what degree of study, pronounced this campaign of to be the masterpiece of henri, and really a considerable thing, _"la campagne de est celle ou ce prince a vraiment montre des talents superieurs;_ the battle of freyberg [wait till next year] nothing in comparison." [montholon, _memoires de napoleon,_ vii. .] which may well detain soldier-people upon it; but must not us, in any measure. the result of henri being what we said,--a drawn game, or nearly so,--we will, without interference from him, follow friedrich and goltz. friedrich and goltz,--or, alas, it is very soon friedrich alone; the valiant goltz soon perishing from his hand! after brief junction in schweidnitz country, friedrich detached goltz to his old fortified camp at glogau, there to be on watch. goltz watching there, lynx-eyed, skilful, volunteered a proposal (june d): "reinforce me to , , your majesty; i will attack so and so of those advancing russians!" which his majesty straightway approved of, and set going. [goltz's letter to the king, "glogau, d june, ," is in tempelhof (v. - ), who thinks the plan good.] goltz thereupon tasked all his energies, perhaps overmuch; and it was thought might at last really have done something for the king, in this matter of the russians still in separate divisions,--a thing feasible if you have energy and velocity; always unfeasible otherwise. but, alas, poor goltz, just when ready to march, was taken with sudden violent fever, the fruit probably of overwork; and, in that sad flame, blazed away his valiant existence in three or four days:-gone forever, june th, ; to the regret of friedrich and of many. old ziethen was at once pushed on, from glogau over the frontier, to replace goltz; but, i doubt, had not now the requisite velocity: ziethen merely manoeuvred about, and came home "attending the russians," as henri, dohna and others had done. the russians entered silesia, from the northeast or polish side, without difficulty; and (july th- th) were within reach of breslau and of an open road to southward, and to junction with loudon, who is astir for them there. about breslau they linger and higgle, at their leisure, for three weeks longer: and if their junction with the austrians "in neisse neighborhood" is to be prevented or impeded, it is friedrich, not ziethen, that will have to do it. junction in neisse neighborhood (oppeln, where it should have been, which is some miles from neisse), friedrich did, by velocity and dexterity, contrive to prevent; but junction somewhere he probably knows to be inevitable. these are among friedrich's famed marches and manoeuvrings, these against the swift loudon and his slow russians; but we will not dwell on them. my readers know the king's manner in such cases; have already been on two marches with him, and even in these same routes and countries. we will say only, that the russians were and had been very dilatory; loudon much the reverse; and their and loudon's adversary still more. that, for five days, the russians, at length close to breslau (august th- th), kept vaguely cannonading and belching noise and apprehension upon the poor city, but without real damage to it, and as if merely to pass the time; and had gradually pushed out fore-posts, as far as oppeln, towards loudon, up their safe right bank of oder. that loudon, on the first glimpse of these, had made his best speed neisse-ward; and did a march or two with good hope; but at munsterberg (july d), on the morning of the third or fourth day's march, was astonished to see friedrich ahead of him, nearer neisse than he; and that in neisse country there was nothing to be done, no russian junction possible there. "try it in schweidnitz country, then!" said loudon. the russians leave off cannonading breslau; cross oder, about auras or leubus (august th- th); and loudon, after some finessing, marches back schweidnitz-way, cautiously, skilfully; followed by friedrich, anxious to prevent a junction here too or at lowest to do some stroke before it occur. a great deal of cunning marching, shifting and manoeuvring there is, for days round schweidnitz on all sides; encampings by friedrich, now liegnitz head-quarter, now wahlstadt, now schonbrunn, striegau;--without the least essential harm to loudon or likelihood increasing that the junction can be hindered. no offer of battle either; loudon is not so easy to beat as some. the russians come on at a snail's pace, so loudon thinks it, who is extremely impatient; but makes no mistakes in consequence, keeps himself safe (kunzendorf, on the edge of the glatz hills, his main post), and the roads open for his heavy-footed friends. in nicolstadt, a march from wahlstadt, th august, there are , russians in front of friedrich, , austrians in rear: what can he, with at the very utmost , , do against them? now was the time to have fallen upon the king, and have consumed him between two fires, as it is thought might have been possible, had they been simultaneous, and both of them done it with a will. but simultaneity was difficult, and the will itself was wanting, or existed only on loudon's side. nothing of the kind was attempted on the confederate part, still less on friedrich's,--who stands on his guard, and, from the heights about, has at last, to witness what he cannot hinder. sees both armies on march; austrians from the southeast or kunzendorf-freyberg side, russians from the northeast or kleinerwitz side, wending in many columns by the back of jauer and the back of liegnitz respectively; till (august th) they "join hands," as it is termed, or touch mutually by their light troops; and on the th (friedrich now off on another scheme, and not witnessing), fall into one another's arms, ranked all in one line of posts. [tempelhof, v. - .] "can the reichshofrath say our junction is not complete?" and so ends what we call the prefatory part; and the time of close grips seems to be come!--friedrich has now nothing for it but to try if he cannot possibly get hold of kunzendorf (readers may look in their map), and cut off loudon's staff of bread; loudon's, and butturlin's as well; for the whole , are now to be fed by loudon, and no slight task he will find it. by rushing direct on kunzendorf with such a velocity as friedrich is capable of, it is thought he might have managed kunzendorf; but he had to mask his design, and march by the rear or east side of schweidnitz, not by the west side: "they will think i am making off in despair, intending for the strong post of pilzen there, with schweidnitz to shelter me in front!" hoped friedrich (morning of the th), as he marched off on that errand. but on approaching in that manner, by the bow, he found that loudon had been quite sceptical of such despair, and at any rate had, by the string, made sure of kunzendorf and the food-sources. august th, at break of day, scouts report the kunzendorf ground thoroughly beset again, and loudon in his place there. no use marching thitherward farther:--whither now, therefore? friedrich knows pilzen, what an admirable post it really is; except only that schweidnitz will be between the enemy and him, and liable to be besieged by them; which will never do! friedrich, on the moment of that news from kunzendorf, gets on march, not by the east side (as intended till the scouts came in), but by the west or exposed side of schweidnitz:--he stood waiting, ready for either route, and lost not a moment on his scouts coming in. all upon the road by a.m. august th; and encamps, still at an early hour, midway between schweidnitz and striegau: right wing of him at zedlitz (if the reader look on his map), left wing at jauernik; headquarters, bunzelwitz, a poor village, celebrated ever since in war-annals. and begins (that same evening, the earlier or rested part of him begins) digging and trenching at a most extraordinary rate, according to plan formed; no enemy taking heed of him, or giving the least molestation. this is the world-famous camp of bunzelwitz, upon which it is worth while to dwell for a little. to common eyes the ground hereabouts has no peculiar military strength: a wavy champaign, with nothing of abrupt or high, much of it actual plain, excellent for cavalry and their work;--this latter, too, is an advantage, which friedrich has well marked, and turns to use in his scheme. the area he takes in is perhaps some seven or eight miles long, by as many broad. on the west side runs the still-young striegau water, defensive more or less; and on the farther bank of it green little hills, their steepest side stream-ward. inexpugnable schweidnitz, with its stores of every kind, especially with its store of cannon and of bread, is on the left or east part of the circuit; in the intervening space are peaceable farm-villages, spots of bog; knolls, some of them with wood. not a village, bog, knoll, but friedrich has caught up, and is busy profiting by. "swift, bursche, dig ourselves in here, and be ready for any quotity and quantity of them, if they dare attack!" and , spades and picks are at work, under such a field-engineer as there is not in the world when he takes to that employment. at all hours, night and day, , of them: half the army asleep, other half digging, wheeling, shovelling; plying their utmost, and constant as time himself: these, in three days, will do a great deal of spade-work. batteries, redoubts, big and little; spare not for digging. here is ground for cavalry, too; post them here, there, to bivouac in readiness, should our batteries be unfortunate. long trenches there are, and also short; batteries commanding every ingate, and under them are mines: "we will blow you and our batteries both into the air, in case of capture!" think the prussians, the common men at least, if friedrich do not. "mines, and that of being blown into the air," says tempelhof, "are always very terrible to the common man." in places there are "trenches feet broad, by deep," says an admiring archenholtz, who was in it: "and we have two of those flatterminen (scatter-mines," blowing-up apparatuses) "to each battery." [archenholtz, ii. &c.] "bunzelwitz, jauernik, tschechen and peterwitz, all fortified," continues archenholtz; "wurben, in the centre, is like a citadel, looking down upon striegau water. heavy cannon, plenty of them, we have brought from schweidnitz: we have pieces of cannon in all and mines. wurben, our citadel and centre, is about five miles from schweidnitz. our intrenchments"--you already heard what gulfs some of them were!" before the lines are palisades, storm-posts, the things we call spanish horse (chevaux-de-frise);--woods we have in abundance in our circuit, and axes busy for carpentries of that kind. there are four intrenched knolls; big batteries, capable of playing beautifully, all like pieces in a concert." four knolls elaborately intrenched, clothed with cannon; founded upon flatter-mines: try where you will to enter, such torrents of death-shot will converge on you, and a concert of big batteries begin their music!-- on the third day, loudon, looking into this thing, which he has not minded hitherto, finds it such a thing as he never dreamt of before. a thing strong as gibraltar, in a manner;--which it will be terribly difficult to attack with success! for eight days more friedrich did not rest from his spadework; made many changes and improvements, till he had artificially made a very stolpen of it, a plauen, or more. cogniazzo, the austrian veteran, says: "plauen, and daun's often ridiculed precautions there, were nothing to it. not as if bunzelwitz had been so inaccessible as our sheer rocks there; but because it is a masterpiece of art, in which the principles of tactics are combined with those of field-fortification, as never before." tielke grows quite eloquent on it: "a masterpiece of judgment in ground," says he; "and the treatment of it a model of sound, true and consummate field-engineering." [tielke, iii. bunzelwitz (which is praised as an attractive piece); oesterreichischer veteran, iv. : cited in preuss, ii. .] ziethen, appointed to that function, watches on the heights of wurben, the citadel of the place: keeps a sharp eye to the southwest. all round, in huge half-moon on the edge of the hills over there, six or more miles from ziethen, lie the angry enemies; austrians south and nearest, about kunzendorf and freyberg. russians are on the top of striegau hills, which are well known to some of us; russian head-quarter is hohenfriedberg,--who would have thought it, herr general von ziethen? sixteen years ago, we have seen these heights in other tenancy: austrian field-music and displayed banners coming down; a thousand and a thousand austrian watch-fires blazing out yonder, in the silent june night, eve of such a day! baireuth dragoons and their no. ;--you will find the baireuth dragoons still here in a sense, but also in a sense not. their fencing chasot is gone to lubeck long since; will perhaps pay friedrich a visit by and by: their fiery gessler is gone much farther, and will never visit anybody more! many were the reapers then, and they are mostly gone to rest. here is a new harvest; the old sickles are still here; but the hands that wielded them--! "steady!" answers the herr general; profoundly aware of all that, but averse to words upon it. fancy loudon's astonishment, on the third day: "while we have sat consulting how to attack him, there is he,--unattackable, shall we say?" unattackable, loudon will not consent to think him, though butturlin has quite consented. "difficult, murderous," thinks loudon; "but possible, certain, could butturlin but be persuaded!" and tries all his rhetoric on butturlin: "shame on us!" urges the ardent loudon: "imperial and czarish majesties; kriegshofrath, russian senate; vienna, petersburg, versailles and all the world,--what are they expecting of us? to ourselves it seemed certain, and here we sit helplessly gazing!" loudon is very diligent upon butturlin: "do but believe that it is possible. a plan can be made; many plans: the problem is solved, if only your excellency will believe." which butturlin never quite will. nobody knows better than friedrich in what perilous crisis he now stands: beaten here, what army or resource has he left? silesia is gone from him; by every likelihood, the game is gone. this of bunzelwitz is his last card; this is now his one stronghold in the world:--we need not say if he is vigilant in regard to this. from about the fourth day, when his engineering was only complete in outline, he particularly expects to be attacked. on the fifth night he concludes it will be; knowing loudon's way. towards sunset, that evening (august th), all the tents are struck: tents, cookeries, every article of baggage, his own among the rest, are sent to wurben heights (to schweidnitz, archenholtz says; but has misremembered): the ground cleared for action. and horse and foot, every man marches out, and stands ready under arms. contrary to everybody's expectation, not a shot was heard, that night. nor the next night, nor the next: but the practice of vigilance was continued. punctual as mathematics: at a given hour of the afternoon, tents are all struck; tents and furnitures, field swept clear; and the , in their places wait under arms. next morning, nothing having fallen out, the tents come back; the army (half of it at once, or almost the whole of it, according to aspects) rests, goes to sleep if it can. by night there is vigilance, is work, and no sleep. it is felt to be a hard life, but a necessary. nor in these labors of detail is the king wanting; far from it; the king is there, as ear and eye of the whole. for the king alone there is, near the chief battery, "on the pfarrberg, namely, in the clump of trees there," a small tent, and a bundle of straw where he can lie down, if satisfied to do so. if all is safe, he will do so; but perhaps even still he soon awakens again; and strolls about among his guard-parties, or warms himself by their fires. one evening, among the orders, is heard this item: "and remember, a lock of straw, will you,--that i may not have to sleep on the ground, as last night!" [seyfarth, ii. n.] many anecdotes are current to this day, about his pleasant homely ways and affabilities with the sentry people, and the rugged hospitalities they would show him at their watch-fires. "good evening, children." "the same to thee, fritz." "what is that you are cooking?"--and would try a spoonful of it, in such company; while the rough fellows would forbid smoking, "don't you know he dislikes it?" "no, smoke away!" the king would insist. mythical mainly, these stories; but the dialect of them true; and very strange to us. like that of an arab sheik among his tribesmen; like that of a man whose authority needs no keeping up, but is a law of nature to himself and everybody. he permits a little bantering even; a rough joke against himself, if it spring sincerely from the complexion of the fact. the poor men are terribly tired of this work: such bivouacking, packing, unpacking; and continual waiting for the tug of battle, which never comes. biscuits, meal are abundant enough; but flesh-meat wearing low; above all, no right sleep to be had. friedrich's own table, i should think, is very sparingly beset ("a cup of chocolate is my dinner on marching-days," wrote he once, this season); certainly his lodging,--damp ground, and the straw sometimes forgotten,--is none of the best. and thus it has to last, night after night and day after day. on september th, general bulow went out for a little butcher's-meat; did bring home " head of neat cattle [i fear, not very fat] and sheep." [tempelhof, v. .] loudon, all this while, is laboring, as man seldom did, to bring butturlin to the striking place; who continues flaccid, loudon screwing and rescrewing, altogether in vain. loudon does not deny the difficulty; but insists on the possibility, the necessity: councils of war are bid, remonstrances, encouragements. "we will lend you a corps," answers butturlin; "but as to our army cooperating,--except in that far-off way, it is too dangerous!" meanwhile provisions are running low; the time presses. a formal plan, presented by the ardent loudon,--loudon himself to take the deadlier part,--"mark it, noble russian gentlemen; and you to have the easier!"--surely that is loyal, and not in the old cat's-paw way? but in that, too, there is an offence. butturlin and the russians grumble to themselves: "and you to take all the credit, as you did at kunersdorf? a mere adjunct, or auxiliary, we: and we are a feldmarschall; and you, what is your rank and seniority?" in short, they will not do it; and in the end coldly answer: "a corps, if you like; but the whole army, positively no." upon which loudon goes home half mad; and has a colic for eight-and-forty hours. this was september d; the final sour refusal;--nearly heart-breaking to loudon. provisions are run so low withal: the campaign season all but done; result, nothing: not even an attempt at a result. no prussian, from friedrich downwards, had doubted but the attack would be: the grand upshot and fiery consummation of these dark continual hardships and nocturnal watchings. thrice over, on different nights, the prussians imagined loudon to have drawn out, intending actual business; and thrice over to have drawn in again,--instead of once only, as was the fact, and then taken colic. [tempelhof, v. .] friedrich's own notion, that "over dinner, glass in hand," the two generals had, in the enthusiasm of such a moment, agreed to do it, but on sober inspection found it too dubious, [_oeuvres de frederic,_ v. .] appears to be ungrounded. whether they could in reality have stormed him, had they all been willing, is still a question; and must continue one. wednesday evening, th september, there was much movement noticeable in the russian camp; also among the austrian, there are regiments, foot and horse, coming down hitherward. "meaning to try it then?" thought friedrich, and got at once under arms. suppositions were various; but about at night, the whole russian camp went up in flame; and, next morning, the russians were not there. russian main army clean gone; already got to jauer, as we hear; and beck with a division to see them safe across the oder;--only czernichef and , being left, as a corps of loudon's. who, with all austrians, are quiet in their heights of kunzendorf again. and thus, on the twentieth morning, september th, this strange business terminated. shot of those batteries is drawn again; powder of those mines lifted out again: no firing of your heavy artillery at all, nor even of your light, after such elaborate charging and shoving of it hither and thither for the last three weeks. the prussians cease their bivouacking, nightly striking of tents; and encamp henceforth in a merely human manner; their "spanish riders" (frisian horse, chevaux-de-frise, others of us call them), their storm-pales and elaborate wooden engineerings, they gradually burn as fuel in the cold nights; finding loudon absolutely quiescent, and that the thing is over, for the present. one huge peril handsomely staved away, though so many others impend. by way of accelerating butturlin, friedrich, next day, september th, despatched general platen with some , (so i will guess them from tempelhof's enumeration by battalions), to get round the flank of butturlin, and burn his magazines. platen, a valiant skilful person, did this business, as he was apt to do, in a shining style; shot dexterously forward by the skirts of butturlin; heard of a big wagenburg or travelling magazine of his, at gostyn over the polish frontier; in fact, his travelling bread-basket, arranged as "wagon-fortress" in and round some convent there, with trenches, brick walls, cannon and defence considered strong enough for so important a necessary of the road. september th, platen, before cock-crow, burst out suddenly on this wagon-fortress, with its cannons, trenches, brick walls and defensive russians; stormed into it with extraordinary fury: "fixed bayonets," ordered he at the main point of their defence, "not a shot till they are tumbled out!"--tumbled them out accordingly, into flight and ruin; took of prisoners , , seven cannon, and burnt the , provender wagons, which was the soul of the adventure; and directly got upon the road again. [tempelhof, v. - ; _helden-geschichte,_ vi. - .] detachments of him then fell on posen, on posen and other small russian repositories in those parts,--hay-magazines, biscuit-stores soldiers' uniforms; distributed or burnt the same;--completely destroying the travelling haversack or general road-bag of butturlin; a butturlin that will have to hasten forward or starve. which done, platen (not waiting the king's new orders, but anticipating them, to the king's great contentment) marched instantly, with his best speed and skilfulest contrivance of routes and methods, not back to the king, but onward towards colberg,--(which he knows, as readers shall anon, to be much in need of him at present);--and without injury, though begirt all the way by a hurricane of cossacks and light people doing their utmost upon him, arrived there september th; victoriously cutting in across the besieging party: and will again be visible enough when we arrive there. indignant butturlin chased violently, eager to punish platen; but could get no hold: found platen was clear off, to pommern,--on what errand butturlin knew well, if not so well what to do in consequence. "reinforce our poor besiegers there, and again reinforce [to enormous amounts, , of them in the end];--get bread from them withal:--and, before long, flow bodily thitherward, for bread to ourselves and for their poor sake!" that, on the whole, was what butturlin did. friedrich stayed at bunzelwitz above a fortnight after butturlin. "why did not friedrich stay altogether, and wait here?" said some, triumphantly soon after. that was not well possible. his schweidnitz magazine is worn low; not above a month's provision now left for so many of us. the rate of sickness, too, gets heavier and heavier in this bunzelwitz circuit. in fine, it is greatly desirable that loudon, who has nothing but bohemia for outlook, should be got to start thither as soon as possible, and be quickened homeward. september th- th, friedrich will be under way again. and, in the mean while, may not we employ this fortnight of quiescence in noting certain other things of interest to him and us which have occurred, or are occurring, in other parts of the field of war? of henri in saxony we undertook to say nothing; and indeed hitherto,--big daun with his lacys and reichsfolk, lying so quiescent, tethered by considerations (daun continually detaching, watching, for support of his loudon and russians and their thrice-important operation, which has just had such a finish),--there could almost nothing be said. nothing hitherto, or even henceforth, as it proves, except mutual vigilances, multifarious bickerings, manoeuvrings, affairs of posts: sharp bits of cutting (seidlitz, green kleist and other sharp people there); which must not detain us in such speed. but there are two points, the britannic-french campaign, and the third siege of colberg; which in no rate of speed could be quite omitted. of ferdinand's battle of vellinghausen ( th- th july); and the campaign . vellinghausen is a poor little moory hamlet in paderborn country, near the south or left bank of the lippe river; lies to the north of soest,--some miles to your left-hand there, as you go by rail from aachen to paderborn;--but nobody now has ever heard of it at soest or elsewhere, famous as it once became a hundred years ago. ferdinand had taken a singular position there, in the early days of july, . here is brief notice of that affair, and of some results, or adjuncts, still more important, which it had:-- "this year, ferdinand's campaign is more difficult than ever; choiseul having made a quite spasmodic effort towards hanover, while negotiating for peace. two armies, counting together , men, in great completeness of equipment, choiseul has got on foot, against ferdinand's of , . had a fine dashing plan, too;--devised by himself (something of a soldier he too, and full of what the mess-rooms call 'dash');--not so bad a plan of the dashing kind, say judges. but it was marred sadly in one point: that broglio, on issuing from his hessian winter-quarters, is not to be sole general; that soubise, from the lower-rhine country, is to be co-general;--such the inexorable will of pompadour. this clause of the business ferdinand, at an early stage, appears to have guessed or discerned might, for him, be the saving clause. "now, as formerly, ferdinand's first grand business is to guard lippstadt,--guard it now from these two generals:--and, singular to see, instead of opposing the junction of them, he has submitted cheerfully to let them join. and in the course of a week or two after taking the field, is found to be on the western or outmost flank of soubise, crushing him up towards broglio, not otherwise! and has, partly by accident, taken a position at vellinghausen which infinitely puzzles broglio and soubise, when they rush into junction at soest (july th) and study the thing, with their own eyes, for eight whole days, in concert.' what continual reconnoitring, galloping about of high-plumed gentlemen together or apart; what memoir-ing, mutual consulting, beating of brains, to little purpose, during those eight days!-- "ferdinand stands in moory difficult ground, length of him about eight miles, looking eastward; with his left at vellinghausen and the lippe; centre of him is astride of the ahse (centre partly, and right wing wholly, are on the south side of ahse), which is a branch of lippe; and in front, he has various little hamlets, kirch-denkern [kirch-denkern, for there are three or four other denkerns thereabouts], scheidingen, wambeln and others; and his right wing is covered farther by a quaggy brook, which runs into the above-said ahse, and is a sub-branch of lippe. at most of these villages ferdinand has thrown up something of earthworks: there are bogs, rough places, woods; all are turned to advantage. ferdinand is in a strongish, but yet a dangerous position; and will give difficulties, and does give endless dubieties, to these high-plumed gentlemen galloping about with their spy-glasses for eight days. one possibility they pretty soon discern in him: his left flank rests on lippe, yes; but his right flank is in the air, has nothing to rest on;--here surely is some possibility for us? a strong position, that of his; but if driven out of it by any method, he has no retreat; is tumbled back into the angle where ahse and lippe meet, and into the little town of hamm there, where his magazine is. what a fate for him, if we succeed!-- "ferdinand, by the incessant reconnoitring and other symptoms, judges what is coming; concludes he will be attacked in this posture of his; and on the whole, what critics now reckon very wise and very courageous of him, determines to stand his chance in it. the consultations of broglio and soubise are a thing unique to look upon; spread over volumes of official record, and about a volume and a half even of bourcet, where it is still almost amusing to read; [_memoires historiques_ (that is to say, for most part, selection of official papers) _sur la guerre que les francais ont soutenue en allemagne depuis jusqu'au _: par m. de bourcet, lieutenant-general des armees du roi ( tomes, paris, );--worthily done; but occupied, two-thirds of it, with this vellinghausen and the paltry "campaign of "!] and ending in helpless downbreak on both parts. of strategic faculty nobody supposes they had much, and nearly all of it is in broglio; soubise being strong in court-favor only. exquisitely polite they both strive to be; and under the exquisite politeness, what infirmities of temper, splenetic suspicions, and in fact mutual hatred lay hidden, could never be accurately known. 'attack him, sunday next; on the th!' so, at the long last, both of them had said. and then, on more reflection, broglio afterwards: 'or not till the th, m. le prince; till i reconnoitre ye and drive in his outposts?' 'm. le marechal's will is always mine: tuesday, th, reconnoitre him, drive him in; be it so, then!' answers soubise, with extreme politeness,--but thinking in his own mind (or thought to be thinking), 'wants to do it himself, or to get the credit of doing it, as in former cases; and bring me into disgrace!' not quite an insane notion either, on soubise's part, say some who have looked into the broglio-soubise controversy;--which far be it from any of us, at this or at any time, to do. here are the facts that ensued. "tuesday, july th, , broglio reconnoitred with intensity all day, drove in all ferdinand's outposts; and about six in the evening, seeing hope of surprise, or spurred by some notion of doing the feat by himself, suddenly burst into onslaught on ferdinand's position: 'vellinghausen yonder, and the woody strengths about,--could not we get hold of that; it would be so convenient to-morrow morning!' granby and the english are in camp about vellinghausen; and are taken quite on the sudden: but they drew out rapidly, in a state of bottled indignation, and fought, all of them,--pembroke's brigade of horse, cavendish's of foot, berg-schotten, maxwell's brigade and the others, in a highly satisfactory way,--'mit unbeschreiblicher tapferkeit,' says mauvillon on this occasion again. broglio truly has burst out into enormous cannonade, musketade and cavalry-work, in this part; and struggles at it, almost four hours,--a furious, and especially a very noisy business, charging, recharging through the woods there;--but, met in this manner, finds he can make nothing of it; and about at night, leaves off till a new morning. "next morning, about , broglio, having diligently warned soubise overnight, recommenced; again very fiercely, and with loud cannonading; but with result worse than before. ferdinand overnight, while broglio was warning soubise, had considerably strengthened his left wing here,--by detachments from the right or anti-soubise wing; judging, with good foresight, how soubise would act. and accordingly, while poor broglio kept storming forward with his best ability, and got always hurled back again, soubise took matters easy; 'had understood the hour of attack to be' so-and-so, 'had understood' this and that; and on the whole, except summoning or threatening, in the most languid way, one outlying redoubt ('redoubt of scheidingen') on ferdinand's right wing, did nothing, or next to nothing, for behoof of his broglio. who, hour after hour, finds himself ever worse bested;--those granby people proving 'indescribable' once more [their wutgenau also with his hanoverians not being absent, as they rather were last night];--and about in the morning gives up the bad job; and sets about retiring. if retiring be now permissible; which it is not altogether. ferdinand, watching intently through his glass the now silent broglio, discerns 'some confusion in the marechal yonder!'--and orders a general charge of the left wing upon broglio; which considerably quickened his retreat; and broke it into flight, and distressful wreck and capture, in some parts,--regiment rouge, for one item, falling wholly, men, cannon, flags and furniture, to that maxwell and his brigade. "ferdinand lost, by the indistinct accounts, 'from , to , :' broglio's loss was 'above , ; , of them prisoners.' soubise, for his share, 'had of killed ,'--o you laggard of a soubise! [mauvillon, ii. - ; tempelhof, v. - ; bourcet, ii. et seq. in _helden-geschichte_ (vi. - - ) the french account, and the english (or allied), with lists, and the like. slight letter from sir robert murray keith to his excellency papa, now at petersburg, "excellency first," as we used to define him, stands in the miserably edited _memoirs and correspondence_ (london, ), i. - ; and may tempt you to a reading; but alters nothing, adds little or nothing. sir r. fights here as a colonel of highlanders, but afterwards became "excellency second" of his name.] and it is a battle lost to choiseul's grand pair of armies; a campaign checked in mid volley; and nothing but recriminations, courts-martial, shrieky jargonings,--and plain incompatibility between the two marechaux de france; so that they had to part company, and go each his own road henceforth. choiseul remonstrates with them, urges, encourages; writes the 'admirablest despatches;' to no purpose. 'how ridiculous and humiliating would it be for us, if, with two armies of such strength, we accomplished nothing, and the whole campaign were lost!' writes he once to them. "which was in fact the result arrived at; the two generals parting company for this campaign (and indeed for all others); and each, in his own way, proving futile. soubise, with some , , went gasconading about, in the westphalian, or extreme western parts; taking embden (from two companies of chelsea pensioners; to whom he broke his word, poor old souls;--to whom, and much more to the populations there [letter from a french protestant gentleman at groningen; followed by confirmatory letter from &c. &c. (copied into _gentleman's magazine_ for ), give special details of the altogether ultra-soltikof atrocities perpetrated by soubise's people (doubtless against his will) on the recalcitrant or disaffected peasants, on the &c. &c.]),--taking embden, not taking bremen; and in fact doing nothing, except keep the gazetteers in vain noise: a soubise not in force, by himself, to shake ferdinand; and who, it is remarked, now and formerly, always prefers to be at a good distance from that gentleman. broglio, on the other hand, keeps violently pulsing out, round ferdinand's flanks; taking wolfenbuttel (broglio's for two days), besieging brunswick (for one day);-and, in short, leaving, he too, the matter as he had found it. a man of difficult, litigious temper, i should judge; but clearly has something of generalship: 'does understand tactic, if strategy not,' said everybody; 'while soubise, in both capacities, is plain zero!' [excellency stanley (see infra) to pitt, "paris, th july, :" in thackeray, ii. - .] the end, however, was: next winter, broglio got dismissed, in favor of soubise;--rest from shrieky jargon having its value to some of us; and 'hold of hanover' being now plainly a matter hopeless to france and us." in this battle a fine young prince of brunswick got killed; erbprinz's second brother;--leading on a regiment of berg-schotten, say the accounts. [_"the life of prince albert henry_ [had lived only years, poor youth, not much of a "life"!--but the account of his education is worth reading, from a respectable eye-witness] _of brunswick-luneburg, brother to the hereditary prince; who so eminently &c. at fellinghausen_ &c. &c. (london, printed for &c. ). _written originally in german by the rev. mr. hierusalem"_ (father of the "young jerusalem" who killed himself afterwards, and became, in a sense, goethe's werther and sorrows). price, probably, twopence).] berg-schotten, and english generally, pembroke's horse, cavendish's brigade,--we have mentioned their behavior; and how maxwell's brigade took one whole regiment prisoners, in that final charge on broglio. "what a glorious set of fellows!" said the english people over their beer at home. beer let us fancy it; at the sign of the marquis of granby, which is now everywhere prevalent and splendent;--the beer, we will hope, good. and as this is a thing still said, both over beer and higher liquors, and perhaps is liable to be too much insisted on, i will give, from a caudid by-stander, who knows the matter well, what probably is a more solid and circumstantially correct opinion. speaking of ferdinand's skill of management, and of how very composite a kind his army was, major mauvillon has these words:-- "the first in rank," of ferdinand's force, "were the english; about a fourth part of the whole army. braver troops, when on the field of battle and under arms against the enemy, you will nowhere find in the world: that is a truth;--and with that the sum of their military merits ends. in the first place, their infantry consists of such an unselected hand-over-head miscellany of people, that it is highly difficult to preserve among them even a shadow of good discipline,"--of mannszucht, in regard to plunder, drinking and the like; does not mean kriegszucht, or drill. "their cavalry indeed is not so constituted; but a foolish love for their horses makes them astonishingly plunderous of forage; and thus they exhaust a district far faster in that respect than do the germans. "officers' commissions among them are all had by purchase: from which it follows that their officers do not trouble their heads about the service; and understand of it, very very few excepted, absolutely nothing whatever [what a charming set of "officers"!]--and this goes from the ensign up to the general. their home-customs incline them to the indulgences of life; and, nearly without exception, they all expect to have ample and comfortable means of sleep. [hear, hear!] this leads them often into military negligences, which would sound incredible, were they narrated to a soldier. to all this is added a quiet natural arrogance (uebermuth),"--very quiet, mostly unconscious, and as if inborn and coming by discernment of mere facts,--"which tempts them to despise the enemy as well as the danger; and as they very seldom think of making any surprisal themselves, they generally take it for granted that the enemy will as little. "this arrogance, however, had furthermore a very bad consequence for their relation to the rest of the army. it is well known how much these people despise all foreigners. this of itself renders their co-operating with troops of other nations very difficult. but in this case there was the circumstance that, as the army was in english pay, they felt a strong tendency to regard their fellow-soldiers and copartners as a sort of subordinate war-valets, who must be ready to put up with anything:--which was far indeed from being the opinion of the others concerned! the others had not the smallest notion of consenting to any kind of inferior treatment or consideration in respect of them. to the hanoverians especially, from known political feelings, they were at heart, for most part, specially indisposed; and this mode of thinking was capable of leading to very dangerous outbreaks. the hanoverians, a dull steady people, brave as need be, but too slow for anything but foot service, considered silently this war to be their war, and that all the rest, english as well, were here on their [and britannic majesty's] account. "think what difficulties ferdinand's were, and what his merit in quietly subduing them; while to the cursory observer they were invisible, and nobody noticed them but himself!" [mauvillon, ii. - .] yes, doubtless. he needed to know his kinds of men; to regard intensely the chemic affinities and natural properties, to keep his phosphorescents his nitres and charcoals well apart; to get out of these english what they were capable of giving him, namely, heavy strokes,--and never ask them for what they had not: them or the others; but treat each according to his kind. just, candid, consummately polite: an excellent manager of men, as well as of war-movements, though voltaire found him shockingly defective in esprit. the english, i think, he generally quartered by themselves; employed them oftenest under the hereditary prince,--a man of swift execution and prone to strokes like themselves. "oftenest under the erbprinz," says mauvillon: "till, after the fight of kloster kampen, it began to be noticed that there was a change in that respect; and the mess-rooms whispered, 'by accident or not?'"--which shall remain mysterious to me. in battle after battle he got the most unexceptionable sabring and charging from lord granby and the difficult english element; and never was the least discord heard in his camp;--nor could even sackville at minden tempt him into a loud word. but enough of english soldiering, and battling with the french. for about two months prior to this of vellinghausen, and for more than two months after, there is going on, by special envoys between pitt and choiseul, a lively peace-negotiation, which is of more concernment to us than any battle. "congress at augsburg" split upon formalities, preliminaries, and never even tried to meet: but france and england are actually busy. each country has sent its envoy: the sieur de bussy, a tricky gentleman, known here of old, is choiseul's, whom pitt is on his guard against; "mr. hans stanley," a lively, clear-sighted person, of whom i could never hear elsewhere, is pitt's at paris: and it is in that city between choiseul and stanley, with pitt warily and loftily presiding in the distance, that the main stress of the negotiation lies. pitt is lofty, haughty, but very fine and noble; no king or kaiser could be more. sincere, severe, though most soft-shining; high, earnest, steady, like the stars. artful choiseul, again, flashes out in a cheerily exuberant way; and stanley's despatches about choiseul ("ce fou plein d'esprit," as friedrich once christens him), about choiseul and the france then round him, and the effects of vellinghausen in society and the like,--are the liveliest reading one almost anywhere meets with in that kind. [in thackeray, i. - , and especially ii. - , is the stanley-and-pitt correspondence: stanley went " d may;" returned (got his passports for returning) "september th."] choiseul frankly admits that he has come to the worst: ready for concessions, but the question is, what? canada is gone, for instance; of canada you will allow us nothing: but our poor fisher-people, toiling in the newfoundland waters, cannot they have a rock to dry their fish on; "isle of miquelon, or the like?" "not the breadth of a blanket,"--that is pitt's private expression, i believe; and for certain, that, in polite official language, is his inexorable determination. "you shall go home out of those countries, messieurs; america is to be english or yankee, not frangcee: that has turned out to be the decree of heaven; and we will stand by that." so that choiseul soon satisfies himself it will be a hard bargain, this with pitt; and turns the more assiduously to the majesty of spain (baby carlos, our old friend, who has sore grudges of his own against the english, standing grievance of campeachy logwood, of bitter naples reminiscences, and enough else), turns to baby carlos, time after time, with his pathetic "see, your most catholic majesty!" and by rapid degrees induces most catholic majesty to go wholly into the adventure with most christian ditto;--and to say, at length, or to let choiseul say for him, by way of cautious first-step ( th july, a date worth remembering, if the reader please): "might not most catholic majesty be allowed perhaps to mediate a little in this business?" "most catholic majesty!" answers pitt, with a flash as if from the empyrean: "who sent for most catholic majesty?"--and the matter catches fire, totally explodes, and spain too declares war; in what way is generally known. details are not permitted us. the catastrophe we shall give afterwards, and can here say only: first, that old earl marischal, friedrich's spanish envoy, is a good deal in england, coming and going, at this time,--on that interesting business of the kintore inheritance, doubtless,--and has been beautifully treated. been pardoned, disattainted, permitted to inherit,--by the king on the instant, by the parliament so soon as possible; [king's patent is of " th april, [dated th may, ], act of parliament to follow shortly;" "august th, , act having passed, is marischal's public presentation to his majesty (late majesty);" old gazettes in _gentleman's magazine_ (for ), xxx. , .]--and is of a naturally grateful turn. secondly, that in the profoundest secrecy, penetrable only to eyes near at hand and that see in the dark, a celebrated bourbon family compact was signed (august th, , ten days before the digging at bunzelwitz began), of which the first news to the olympian man (conveyed by marischal, as is thought) was like--like news of dead pythons pretending to revive upon him. and thirdly, that, postponing the catastrophe, and recommending the above two dates, th july, th august, to careful readers, we must hasten to colberg for the present. third siege of colberg. readers had, some while ago, a flying note, which we promised to take up again; about tottleben's procedures, and a third siege of colberg coming. siege, we have chanced to see, there accordingly is, and a platen gone to help against it. siege, after infinite delays and haggles, has at length come,--uncommonly vivid during the final days of bunzelwitz;--and is, and has been, and continues to be, much in the king's thoughts. probably a matter of more concernment to him, before, during and after bunzelwitz (though the pitt catastrophe, going on simultaneously, is still more important, if he knew it), than anything else befalling in the distance. let us now give a few farther indications on that matter. truce between werner and tottleben expired may th; but for five weeks more nothing practical followed; except diligent reinforcing, revictualling and extraordinary fortifying of colberg and its environs, on the prussian part,--eugen of wurtemberg, direct from restock and his anti-swede business, eugen , strong, with a werner and other such among them, taking head charge outside the walls; old heyde again as commandant within: while on the russian part, under general romanzow, there is a most tortoise-like advance,--except that the tortoise carries all his resources with him, and romanzow's, multifarious and enormous, are scattered over seas and lands, and need endless waiting for, in the intervals of crawling. this is the romanzow who failed at colherg once already (on the heel of zorndorf in , if readers recollect); and is the more bound to be successful now. from sea and from land, for five weeks, there is rumor of a romanzow in overwhelming force, and with intentions very furious upon colberg,--upon the outposts, under werner, as first point. five weeks went, before anything of romanzow was visible even to werner ( d june, at coslin, forty miles to eastward); after which his advance (such waiting for the ships, for the artilleries, the this and the that) was slower than ever; and for about eight weeks more, he haggles along through coslin, through corlin, belgard again, flowing slowly forward upon werner's outposts, like a summer glacier with its rubbishes; or like a slow lava-tide,--a great deal of smoke on each side of him (owing to the cossacks), as usual. romanzow's progress is of the slowest; and it is not till august th that he practically gets possession of corlin, belgard and those outposts on the persante river, and comes within sight of colberg and his problem. by which time, he finds eugen of wurtemberg encamped and intrenched still ahead of him, still nearer colberg, and likely to give him what they call "de la tablature," or extremely difficult music to play. "it was on august th [very eve of friedrich's going into bunzelwitz] that romanzow,--werner, for the sake of those poor towns he holds, generally retiring without bombardment or utter conflagration,--had got hold of corlin and of the river persante [with "quetzin and degow," if anybody knew them, as his main posts there]: and was actually now within sight of colberg,--only or miles west of him, and a river more or less in his way:--when, singular to see, eugen of wurtemberg has rooted himself into the ground farther inward, environing colberg with a fortified camp as with a second wall; and it will be a difficult problem indeed! "but sea armaments, swedish-russian, with endless siege-material and red-hot balls, are finally at hand; and this pitiful colberg must be done, were it only by falling flat, on it, and smothering it by weight of numbers and of red-hot iron. the day before yesterday, august th, after such rumoring and such manoeuvring as there has been, six russian ships-of-war showed themselves in colberg roads, and three of them tried some shooting on heyde's workpeople, busy at a redoubt on the beach; but hit nothing, and went away till romanzow himself should come. romanzow come, there is utmost despatch; and within the eight days following, the russian ships, and then the swedish as well, have all got to their moorings,-- sail of the line, with more of the frigate and gunboat kind, ships in all;--and from august th, especially from august th, bombardment to the very uttermost is going on. [tempelhof, v. .] bombardment by every method, from sea and from land, continues diligent for the next fortnight,--with little or no result; so diligent are eugen and veteran heyde. "september th. the swedish-russian gunboats have been much shot down by heyde's batteries on the beach; no success had, owing to heyde and eugen: paltry little colberg as impossible as bunzelwitz, it seems? 'double our diligence, therefore!' that is romanzow's and everybody's sentiment here. romanzow comes closer in, september th; besieges in form, since not colberg, eugen's camp, or brazen wall of colberg; and there rises in and round this poor little colberg (a , balls daily, red-hot and other) such a volcano as attracts the eyes of all the world thither. "september th. news yesterday of reinforcement, men and provender, coming from stettin; is to be at treptow on the th. werner, night of the th, stealthily sets out to meet it, it in the first place; then, joined with it, to take by rearward a certain inconvenient battery, which romanzow is building to westward of us, out that way; to demolish said battery, and be generally distressful to the rear of romanzow. at treptow, after his difficult night's march, werner is resting, secure now of the adventure;--too contemptuous of his slow russians, as appeared! who, for once, surprise him; and, at and round treptow, next morning, werner finds himself suddenly in a most awkward predicament. werner, one of the rapidest and stormiest of skilful men, plunged valiantly into the affair; would still have managed it, they say, had not, in some sudden swoop,--charge, or something of critical or vital nature,--rapid werner's horse got shot, and fallen with him; whereby not only the charge failed, but werner himself was taken prisoner. a loss of very great importance, and grievous to everybody: though, i believe, the reinforcement and supply, for this time, got mostly through, and the dangerous battery was got demolished by other means. [seyfarth, _beylagen,_ iii. ; tempelhof, v. .] this is romanzow's first item of success, this of getting such a werner snatched out of the game [and sent to petersburg instead as we shall hear]; and other items fell to romanzow thenceforth by the aid of time and hunger. "in the way of storming, battering or otherwise capturing eugen's camp, not to speak of heyde's town, romanzow finds, on trial after trial, that he can do as good as nothing; and his unwieldy sea-comrades (equinoctial gales coming on them, too) are equally worthless. september th [a week after this of werner, tenth day after bunzelwitz had ended], romanzow made his fiercest attempt that way; fiercest and last: furious extremely, from in the morning onwards; had for some time hold of the important 'green redoubt;' but was still more furiously battered and bayoneted out again, with the loss of above , men; and tried that no farther. impossible by that method. but he can stand between the eugen-heyde people and supplies; and by obstinacy hunger them out: this, added to the fruitless bombardment, is now his more or less fruitful industry. "in the end of september, the effects of bunzelwitz are felt: platen, after burning the butturlin magazine at gostyn, has hastened hither; in what style we know. blaten arrives th september; cuts his way through romanzow into eugen's camp, raises eugen to about , ; [tempelhof, v. .] renders eugen, not to speak of heyde, more impossible than ever. butturlin did truly send reinforcements, a , , a , , 'as many as you like, my romanzow!' and, in the beginning of october, came rolling thitherward bodily; hoping, they say, to make a maxen of it upon those eugens and platens: but after a fortnight's survey of them, found there was not the least feasibility;--and that he himself must go home, on the score of hunger. which he did, november d; leaving romanzow reinforced at discretion [ , , but with him too provisions are fallen low], and the advice, 'cut off their supplies: time and famine are our sole chances here!' butturlin's new russians, endless thousands of them, under fermor and others, infesting the roads from stettin, are a great comfort to romanzow. nor could any eugen--with his platens, thaddens, and utmost expenditure of skill and of valor and endurance, which are still memorable in soldier-annals, [_tagebuch der unternehmungen des platenschen corps vom september bis november _ (seyfarth, _beylagen,_ iii. - ). _bericht von der unternehmungen des thaddenschen corps vom jenner bis zum december _ (ibid. - ).]--suffice to convey provisions through that disastrous wilderness of distances and difficulties. "from stettin, which lies southwest, through treptow gollnow and other wild little prussian towns is about miles; from landsberg south, : friedrich himself is well-nigh miles away; in stettin alone is succor, could we hold the intervening country. but it is overrun with russians, more and ever more. a country of swamps and moors, winter darkness stealing over it,--illuminated by such a volcano as we see: a very gloomy waste scene; and traits of stubborn human valor and military virtue plentiful in it with utter hardship as a constant quantity; details not permissible here only the main features and epochs, if they could be indicated. "the king is greatly interested for colberg; sends orders to collect from every quarter supplies at stettin, and strain every nerve for the relief of that important little haven. which is done by the diligent bevern, the collecting part; could only the conveying be accomplished. but endless russians are afield, fermor with a , of them waylaying; the conveyance is the difficulty." [_bericht von den unternehmungen der wurtembergischen corps in pommern, vom may bis december _ (seyfarth, _beylagen,_ iii. - ). tempelhof, v. - . _helden-geschichte,_ vi. - .] but now we must return to bunzelwitz, and september th, in head-quarters there. chapter viii.--loudon pounces upon schweidnitz one night (last of september, ). it was september th, more properly th, [tempelhof, v. .] when friedrich quitted bunzelwitz; we heard on what errand. early that morning he marches with all his goods, first to pilzen (that fine post on the east side of schweidnitz); and from that, straightway,--southwestward, two marches farther,--to neisse neighborhood (gross-nossen the name of the place); loudon making little dispute or none. in neisse are abundant magazines: living upon these, friedrich intends to alarm loudon's rearward country, and draw him towards bohemia. as must have gradually followed; and would at once,--had loudon been given to alarms, which he was not. loudon, very privately, has quite different game afield. loudon merely detaches this and the other small corps to look after friedrich's operations, which probably he believes to be only a feint:--and, before a week passes, friedrich will have news he little expects! friedrich, pausing at gross-nossen, and perhaps a little surprised to find no loudon meddling with him, pushes out, first one party and then another,--dalwig, bulow, towards landshut hill-country, to threaten loudon's bohemian roads;--who, singular to say, do not hear the least word of loudon thereabouts. a loudon strangely indifferent to this new enterprise of ours. on the third day of gross-nossen (friday, october d), friedrich detaches general lentulus to rearward, or the way we came, for news of loudon. rearward too, lentulus sees nothing whatever of loudon: but, from the rumor of the country, and from two prussian garrison-soldiers, whom he found wandering about,--he hears, with horror and amazement, that loudon, by a sudden panther-spring, the night before last, has got hold of schweidnitz: now his wholly, since a.m. of yesterday; and a strong austrian garrison in it by this time! that was the news lentulus brought home to his king; the sorest job's-post of all this war. truly, a surprising enterprise this of loudon's; and is allowed by everybody to have been admirably managed. loudon has had it in his head for some time;--ever since that colic of forty-eight hours, i should guess; upon the wrecks of which it might well rise as a new daystar. he kept it strictly in his own head; nobody but daun and the kaiser had hint of it, both of whom assented, and agreed to keep silence. "on friedrich's removal towards neisse and threatening of bohemia," says my note on this subject, "loudon's time had come. friedrich had disappeared to southwestward, saturday, september th: 'gone to pilzen,' reported loudon's scouts; 'rests there over sunday. gone to sigeroth, th; gone to gross-nossen, tuesday, september th.' [tempelhof, v. .] that will do, thinks loudon; who has sat immovable at kunzendorf all this while;--and, wednesday, th, instantly proceeds to business. "draws out, about a.m. of wednesday, all round schweidnitz at some miles distance, a ring, or complete girdle, of croat-cossack people; blocking up every path and road: 'nobody to pass, this day, towards schweidnitz, much less into it, on any pretext.' that is the duty of the croat people. to another active officer he intrusts the task of collecting from the neighboring villages (outside the croat girdle) as many ladders, planks and the like, as will be requisite; which also is punctually done. for the attack itself, which is to be fourfold, our picked officers are chosen, with the best battalions in the army: czernichef is apprised; who warmly assents, and offers every help:--' of your grenadiers,' answers loudon; 'no more needed.' loudon's arrangements for management of the ladders, for punctuality about the routes, the times, the simultaneity, are those of a perfect artist; no friedrich could have done better. "about in the afternoon, all the captains and battalions, with their ladders and furnitures, everybody with instruction very pointed and complete, are assembled at kunzendorf: loudon addresses the troops in a few fiery words; assures himself of victory by them; promises them , pounds in lieu of plunder, which he strictly prohibits. officers had better make themselves acquainted with the four routes they are to take in the dark: proper also to set all your watches by the chief general's, that there be no mistake as to time. [in tempelhof (v. - ) and archenholtz (ii. - ) all these details.] at , all being now dark, and the croat girdle having gathered itself closer round the place since nightfall, the four divisions march to their respective starting-places; will wait there, silent; and about in the morning, each at its appointed minute, step forward on their business. with fixed bayonets all of them; no musketry permitted till the works are won. loudon will wait at the village of schonbrunn [not warkotsch's schonbrunn, of which by and by, and which also is not far [see archenholtz, ii. ; and correct his mistake of the two places.]]--at schonbrunn, within short distance; give loudon notice when you are within yards;--there shall, if desirable, be reinforcements, farther orders. loudon knows schweidnitz like his own bedroom. he was personally there, in leuthen time, improving the works. by nocturnal croat parties, in the latter part of bunzelwitz time; and since then, by deserters and otherwise,--he knows the condition of the garrison, of the commandant, and of every essential point. has calculated that the garrison is hardly third part of what it ought to be,-- , in whole, and many of them loose deserter fellows; special artillery-men, instead of about , only ;--most important of all, that commandant zastrow is no wizard in his trade; and, on the whole, that the enterprise is likely to succeed. "zastrow has been getting married lately; and has many things to think of, besides schweidnitz. some accounts say this was his wedding-night,--which is not true, but only that he had meant to give a ball this last night of september; and perhaps did give it, dancing over before , let us hope! something of a jolter-head seemingly, though solid and honest. i observe he is a kind of butt, or laughing-stock, of friedrich's, and has yielded some gleams of momentary fun, he and this marriage of his, between prince henri and the king, in the tragic gloom all round. [schoning, ii. soepius.] nothing so surprises me in friedrich as his habitual inattention to the state of his garrisons. he has the best of commandants and also the worst: tauentzien in breslau, heyde in colberg, unsurpassable in the world; in glatz a d'o, in schweidnitz a zastrow, both of whom cost him dear. opposition sneers secretly, 'it is as they happen to have come to hand.' which has not much truth, though some. tauentzien he chose; d'o was fouquet's choice, not his; zastrow he did choose; heyde he had by accident; of heyde he had never heard till the defence of colberg began to be a world's wonder. and in regard to his garrisons, it is indisputable they were often left palpably defective in quantity and quality; and, more than once, fatally gave way at the wrong moment. we can only say that friedrich was bitterly in want of men for the field; that 'a garrison-regiment' was always reckoned an inferior article; and that friedrich, in the press of his straits, had often had to say: 'well, these [plainly helots, not spartans], these will have to do!' for which he severely suffered: and perhaps repented,--who knows? "zastrow, in spite of loudon's precautionary girdle of croats, and the cares of a coming ball, had got sufficient inkling of something being in the wind. and was much on the walls all day, he and his officers; scanning with their glasses and their guesses the surrounding phenomena, to little purpose. at night he sent out patrols; kept sputtering with musketry and an occasional cannon into the vacant darkness ('we are alert, you see, herr loudon!'). in a word, took what measures he could, poor man;--very stupid measures, thinks tempelhof, and almost worse than none, especially this of sputtering with musketry;--and hoped always there would be no attack, or none to speak of. till, in fine, between and in the morning, his patrols gallop in, 'austrians on march!' and zastrow, throwing out a rocket or two, descries in momentary illumination that the fact is verily here. "his defence (four of the five several forts attacked at once) was of a confused character; but better than could have been expected. loudon's columns came on with extraordinary vigor and condensed impetuosity; stormed the outworks everywhere, and almost at once got into the shelter of the covered-way: but on the main wall, or in the scaling part of their business, were repulsed, in some places twice or thrice; and had a murderous struggle, of very chaotic nature, in the dark element. no picture of it in the least possible or needful here. in one place, a powder-magazine blew up with about of them,--blown (said rumor, with no certainty) by an indignant prussian artillery-man to whom they had refused quarter: in another place, the russian grenadiers came unexpectedly upon a chasm or bridgeless interstice between two ramparts; and had to halt suddenly,--till (says rumor again, with still less certainty) their officers insisting with the rearward part, 'forward, forward!' enough of front men were tumbled in to make a roadway! this was the story current; [archenholtz, ii. .] greatly exaggerated, i have no doubt. what we know is, that these russians did scramble through, punctually perform their part of the work;--and furthermore, that, having got upon the town-wall, which was finis to everything, they punctually sat down there; and, reflectively leaning on their muskets, witnessed with the gravity and dignity of antique sages, superior to money or money's worth, the general plunder which went on in spite of loudon's orders. "for, in fine, between and , that is in about three hours and a half, loudon was everywhere victorious; zastrow, schweidnitz fortress, and all that it held, were loudon's at discretion; loudon's one care now was to stop the pillage of the poor townsfolk, as the most pressing thing. which was not done without difficulty, nor completely till after hours of exertion by cavalry regiments sent in. the captors had fought valiantly; but it was whispered there had been a preliminary of brandy in them; certainly, except those poor russians, nobody's behavior was unexceptionable." the capture of schweidnitz cost loudon about , men; he found in schweidnitz, besides the garrison all prisoners or killed, some pieces of artillery,--" heavy guns, hand-mortars," say the austrian accounts, "with stores and munitions" in such quantities; " , musket-cartridges, , , flints," [in _helden-geschichte,_ (vi. - ) the austrian account, with lists &c.] for two items:--and all this was a trifle compared to the shock it has brought on friedrich's silesian affairs. for, in present circumstances, it amounts to the actual conquest of a large portion of silesia; and, for the first time, to a real prospect of finishing the remainder next year. it is judged to have been the hardest stroke friedrich had in the course of this war. "our strenuous campaign on a sudden rendered wind, and of no worth! the enemy to winter in silesia, after all; silesia to go inevitably,--and life along with it!" what friedrich's black meditations were, "in the following weeks [not close following, but poor kuster does not date], the king fell ill of gout, saw almost nobody, never came out; and, it was whispered, the inflexible heart of him was at last breaking; that is to say, the very axis of this prussian world giving way. and for certain, there never was in his camp and over his dominions such a gloom as in this october, ; till at length he appeared on horseback again, with a cheerful face; and everybody thought to himself, 'ha, the world will still roll, then!'" [kuster, _lebens-rettungen friedrichs des zweyten_ (berlin, ), p. &c. it is the same innocent reliable kuster whom we cited, in saldern's case, already.] this is what loudon had done, without any russians, except russians to give him eight-and-forty hours colic, and put him on his own shifts. and the way in which the kriegshofrath, and her imperial majesty the kaiserinn, received it, is perhaps still worth a word. the kaiser, who had alone known of loudon's scheme, and for good reason (absolute secrecy being the very soul of it) had whispered nothing of it farther to any mortal, was naturally overjoyed. but the olympian brow of maria theresa, when the kaiser went radiant to her with this news, did not radiate in response; but gloomed indignantly: "no order from kriegshofrath, or me!" indignant kriegshofrath called it a croaten-streich (croat's-trick); and loudon, like prince eugen long since, was with difficulty excused this act of disobedience. great is authority;--and ought to be divinely rigorous, if (as by no means always happens) it is otherwise of divine quality! friedrich's treatment of zastrow was in strong contrast of style. here is his letter to that unlucky gentleman, who is himself clear that he deserves no blame: "my dear major-general von zastrow,--the misfortune that has befallen me is very grievous; but what consoles me in it is, to see by your letter that you have behaved like a brave officer, and that neither you nor the garrison have brought disgrace or reproach on yourselves. i am your well-affectioned king,--friedrich." and in autograph this postscript: "you may, in this occurrence, say what francis i., after the battle of pavia, wrote to his mother: 'all is lost except honor.' as i do not yet completely understand the affair, i forbear to judge of it; for it is altogether extraordinary.--f." [_ militair-lexikon,_ iv. , (letter undated there; date probably, "gross-nossen, october d").] and never meddled farther with zastrow; only left him well alone for the future. "grant me a court-martial, then!" said zastrow, finding himself fallen so neglected, after the peace. "no use," answered friedrich: "i impute nothing of crime to you; but after such a mishap, it would be dangerous to trust you with any post or command;"--and in , granted him, on demand, his demission instead. the poor man then retired to cassel, where he lived twenty years longer, and was no more heard of. he was half-brother of the general zastrow who got killed by a pandour of long range (bullet through both temples, from brushwood, across the elbe), in the first year of this war. chapter ix.--traitor warkotsch. friedrich's army was to have cantoned itself round neisse, october d: but on the instant of this fatal schweidnitz news proceeded ( d- th october) towards strehlen instead,--friedrich personally on the th;--and took quarters there and in the villages round. general cantonment at strehlen, in guard of breslau and of neisse both; loudon, still immovable at kunzendorf, attempting nothing on either of those places, and carefully declining the risk of a battle, which would have been friedrich's game: all this continued till the beginning of december, when both parties took winter-quarters; [tempelhof, v. .] cantoned themselves in the neighboring localities,--czernichef, with his russians, in glatz country; friedrich in breslau as headquarter;--and the campaign had ended. ended in this part, without farther event of the least notability;--except the following only, which a poor man of the name of kappel has recorded for us. of which, and the astounding sequel to which, we must now say something. kappel is a gentleman's groom of those strehlen parts; and shall, in his own words, bring us face to face with friedrich in that neighborhood, directly after schweidnitz was lost. it is october th, day, or rather night of the day, of friedrich's arrival thereabouts; most of his army ahead of him, and the remainder all under way. friedrich and the rearward part of his army are filing about, in that new strehlen-ward movement of theirs, under cloud of night, in the intricate hill-and-dale country; to post themselves to the best advantage for their double object, of covering breslau and neisse both; kappel loquitur; abridged by kuster, whom we abridge:-- "monday night, october th, , the king, with two or three attendants, still ahead of his army, appeared at schonbrunn, a schloss and village, five or six miles south from strehlen; [this is the warkotsch schonbrunn; not the other near schweidnitz, as archenholtz believes: see archenholtz, ii. , and the bit of myth he has gone into in consequence.] and did the owner, baron von warkotsch, an acquaintance of his, the honor of lodging there. before bedtime,--if indeed the king intended bed at all, meaning to be off in four hours hence,--friedrich inquired of warkotsch for 'a trusty man, well acquainted with the roads in this country.' warkotsch mentioned kappel, his own groom; one who undoubtedly knew every road of the country; and who had always behaved as a trusty fellow in the seven years he had been with him. 'let me see him,' said the king. kappel was sent up, about midnight, king still dressed; sitting on a sofa, by the fire; kappel's look was satisfactory; kappel knows several roads to strehlen, in the darkest night. 'it is the footpath which goes so-and-so that i want' (for friedrich knows this country intimately: readers remember his world-famous camp of strehlen, with all the diplomacies of europe gathered there, through summer, in the train of mollwitz). 'ja, ihro majestat, i know it!' 'be ready, then, at .' "before the stroke of , kappel was at the door, on master's best horse; the king's groom too, and led horse, a nimble little gray, were waiting. as struck, friedrich came down, warkotsch with him. 'unspeakable the honor you have done my poor house!' besides the king's groom, there were a chamberlain, an adjutant and two mounted chasers (reitende jager), which latter had each a lighted lantern: in all seven persons, including kappel and the king. 'go before us on foot with your lanterns,' said the king. very dark it was. and overnight the army had arrived all about; some of them just coming in, on different roads and paths. the king walked above two miles, and looked how the regiments were, without speaking a word. at last, as the cannons came up, and were still in full motion, the king said: 'sharp, sharp, bursche; it will be march directly.' 'march? the devil it will: we are just coming into camp!' said a cannonier, not knowing it was the king. "the king said nothing. walked on still a little while; then ordered, 'blow out the lanterns; to horseback now!' and mounted, as we all did. me he bade keep five steps ahead, five and not more, that he might see me; for it was very dark. not far from the lordship casserey, where there is a water-mill, the king asked me, 'have n't you missed the bridge here?' (a king that does not forget roads and topographies which may come to concern him!)--and bade us ride with the utmost silence, and make no jingle. as day broke, we were in sight of strehlen, near by the farm of treppendorf. 'and do you know where the kallenberg lies?' said the king: 'it must be to left of the town, near the hills; bring us thither!' "when we got on the kallenberg, it was not quite day; and we had to halt for more light. after some time the king said to his groom, 'give me my perspective!' looked slowly all round for a good while, and then said, 'i see no austrians!'--(ground all at our choice, then; we know where to choose!) the king then asked me if i knew the road to"--in fact, to several places, which, in a parish history of those parts, would be abundantly interesting; but must be entirely omitted here.... "the king called his chamberlain; gave some sign, which meant 'beer-money to kappel!'--and i got four eight-groschen pieces [three shillings odd; a rich reward in those days]; and was bid tell my master, 'that the king thanked him for the good quarters, and assured him of his favor.' "riding back across country, kappel, some four or five miles homeward, came upon the 'whole prussian army,' struggling forward in their various columns. two generals,--one of them krusemark, king's adjutant [colonel krusemark, not general, as kappel thinks, who came to know him some weeks after],--had him brought up: to whom he gave account of himself, how he had been escorting the king, and where he had left his majesty. 'behind strehlen, say you? breslau road? devil knows whither we shall all have to go yet!' observed krusemark, and left kappel free." [kuster, _ lebens-rettungen,_ pp. - .] in those weeks, colberg siege, pitt's catastrophe and high things are impending, or completed, elsewhere: but this is the one thing noticeable hereabouts. in regard to strehlen, and friedrich's history there, what we have to say turns all upon this kappel and warkotsch: and,--after mentioning only that friedrich's lodging is not in strehlen proper, but in woiselwitz, a village or suburb almost half a mile off, and very negligently guarded,--we have to record an adventure which then made a great deal of noise in the world. warkotsch is a rich lord; schonbrunn only one of five or six different estates which he has in those parts; though, not many years ago, being younger brother, he was a captain in the austrian service (regiment botta, if you are particular); and lay in olmutz,--with very dull oulooks; not improved, i should judge, by the fact that silesia and the warkotsch connections were become prussian since this junior entered the austrian army. the junior had sown his wild oats, and was already getting gray in the beard, in that dull manner, when, about seven years ago, his elder brother, to whom friedrich had always been kind, fell unwell; and, in the end of , died: whereupon the junior saw himself heir; and entered on a new phase of things. quitted his captaincy, quitted his allegiance; and was settled here peaceably under his new king in , a little while before this war broke out. and, at schonbrunn, october th, , has had his majesty himself for guest. warkotsch was not long in riding over to strehlen to pay his court, as in duty bound, for the honor of such a visit; and from that time, kappel, every day or two, had to attend him thither. the king had always had a favor for warkotsch's late brother, as an excellent silesian landlord and manager, whose fine domains were in an exemplary condition; as, under the new warkotsch too, they have continued to be. always a gracious majesty to this warkotsch as well; who is an old soldier withal, and man of sense and ingenuity; acceptable to friedrich, and growing more and more familiar among friedrich's circle of officers now at strehlen. to strehlen is warkotsch's favorite ride; in the solitary country, quite a charming adjunct to your usual dull errand out for air and exercise. kappel, too, remarks about this time that he (kappel) gets once and again, and ever more frequently, a letter to carry over to siebenhuben, a village three or four miles off; the letter always to one schmidt, who is catholic curate there; letter under envelope, well sealed,--and consisting of two pieces, if you finger it judiciously. and, what is curious, the letter never has any address; master merely orders, "punctual; for curatus schmidt, you know!" what can this be? thinks kappel. some secret, doubtless; perhaps some intrigue, which madam must not know of,--"ach, herr baron; and at your age,--fifty, i am sure!" kappel, a solid fellow, concerned for groom-business alone, punctually carries his letters; takes charge of the responses too, which never have any address; and does not too much trouble himself with curiosities of an impertinent nature. to these external phenomena i will at present only add this internal one: that an old brother officer of warkotsch's, a colonel wallis, with hussars, is now lying at heinrichau,--say, miles from strehlen, and about from schonbrunn too, or a mile more if you take the siebenhuben way; and that all these missives, through curatus schmidt, are for wallis the hussar colonel, and must be a secret not from madam alone! how a baron, hitherto of honor, could all at once become turpissimus, the superlative of scoundrels? this is even the reason,--the prize is so superlative. "monday night, november th, [night bitter cold], kappel finds himself sitting mounted, and holding master's horse, in strehlen, more exactly in woiselwitz, a suburb of strehlen, near the king's door,--majesty's travelling-coach drawn out there, symbol that strehlen is ending, general departure towards breslau now nigh. not to kappel's sorrow perhaps, waiting in the cold there. kappel waits, hour after hour; master taking his ease with the king's people, regardless of the horses and me, in this shivery weather;--and one must not walk about either, for disturbing the king's sleep! not till midnight does master emerge, and the freezing kappel and quadrupeds get under way. under way, master breaks out into singular talk about the king's lodging: was ever anything so careless; nothing but two sentries in the king's anteroom; thirteen all the soldiers that are in woiselwitz; strehlen not available in less than twenty minutes: nothing but woods, haggly glens and hills, all on to heinrichau: how easy to snatch off his majesty! "um gottes willen, my lord, don't speak so: think if a patrolling prussian were to hear it, in the dark!" pooh, pooh, answers the herr baron. "at schonbrunn, in the short hours, kappel finds frau kappel in state of unappeasable curiosity: 'what can it be? curatus schmidt was here all afternoon; much in haste to see master; had to go at last,--for the church-service, this st. andrew's eve. and only think, though he sat with my lady hours and hours, he left this letter with me: "give it to your husband, for my lord, the instant they come; and say i must have an answer to-morrow morning at ." left it with me, not with my lady;--my lady not to know of it!' 'tush, woman!' but frau kappel has been, herself, unappeasably running about, ever since she got this letter; has applied to two fellow-servants, one after the other, who can read writing, 'break it up, will you!' but they would not. practical kappel takes the letter up to master's room; delivers it, with the message. 'what, curatus schmidt!' interrupts my lady, who was sitting there: 'herr good-man, what is that?' 'that is a letter to me,' answers the good-man: 'what have you to do with it?' upon which my lady flounces out in a huff, and the herr baron sets about writing his answer, whatever it may be. "kappel and frau are gone to bed, frau still eloquent upon the mystery of curatus schmidt, when his lordship taps at their door; enters in the dark: 'this is for the curatus, at o'clock to-morrow; i leave it on the table here: be in time, like a good kappel!' kappel promises his unappeasable that he will actually open this piece before delivery of it; upon which she appeases herself, and they both fall asleep. kappel is on foot betimes next morning. kappel quietly pockets his letter; still more quietly, from a neighboring room, pockets his master's big seal (petschaft), with a view to resealing: he then steps out; giving his bursch [apprentice or under-groom] order to be ready in so many minutes, 'you and these two horses' (specific for speed); and, in the interim, walks over, with letter and petschaft, to the reverend herr gerlach's, for some preliminary business. kappel is catholic; warkotsch, protestant; herr gerlach is protestant preacher in the village of schonbrunn,--much hated by warkotsch, whose standing order is: 'don't go near that insolent fellow;' but known by kappel to be a just man, faithful in difficulties of the weak against the strong. gerlach, not yet out of bed, listens to the awful story: reads the horrid missive; warkotsch to colonel wallis: 'you can seize the king, living or dead, this night!'--hesitates about copying it (as kappel wishes, for a good purpose]; but is encouraged by his wife, and soon writes a copy. this copy kappel sticks into the old cover, seals as usual; and, with the original safe in his own pocket, returns to the stables now. his bursch and he mount; after a little, he orders his bursch: 'bursch, ride you to siebenhuben and curatus schmidt, with this sealed letter; you, and say nothing. i was to have gone myself, but cannot; be speedy, be discreet!' and the bursch dashes off for siebenhuben with the sealed copy, for schmidt, warkotsch, wallis and company's behoof; kappel riding, at a still better pace, to strehlen with the original, for behoof of the king's majesty. "at strehlen, king's majesty not yet visible, kappel has great difficulties in the anteroom among the sentry people. but he persists, insists: 'read my letter, then!' which they dare not do; which only colonel krusemark, the adjutant, perhaps dare. they take him to krusemark. krusemark reads, all aghast; locks up kappel; runs to the king; returns, muffles kappel in soldier's cloak and cap, and leads him in. the king, looking into kappel's face, into kappel's clear story and the warkotsch handwriting, needed only a few questions; and the fit orders, as to warkotsch and company, were soon given: dangerous engineers now fallen harmless, blown up by their own petard. one of the king's first questions was: 'but how have i offended warkotsch?' kappel does not know; master is of strict wilful turn;--master would grumble and growl sometimes about the peasant people, and how a nobleman has now no power over them, in comparison. 'are you a protestant?' 'no, your majesty, catholic.' 'see, ihr herren,' said the king to those about him; 'warkotsch is a protestant; his curatus schmidt is a catholic; and this man is a catholic: there are villains and honest people in every creed!' "at noon, that day, warkotsch had sat down to dinner, comfortably in his dressing-gown, nobody but the good baroness there; when rittmeister rabenau suddenly descended on the schloss and dining-room with dragoons: 'in arrest, herr baron; i am sorry you must go with me to brieg!' warkotsch, a strategic fellow, kept countenance to wife and rittmeister, in this sudden fall of the thunder-bolt: 'yes, herr rittmeister; it is that mass of corn i was to furnish [showing him an actual order of that kind], and i am behind my time with it! nobody can help his luck. take a bit of dinner with us, anyway!' rittmeister refused; but the baroness too pressed him; he at length sat down. warkotsch went 'to dress;' first of all, to give orders about his best horse; but was shocked to find that the dragoons were a hundred, and that every outgate was beset. returning half-dressed, with an air of baffled hospitality: 'herr rittmeister, our schloss must not be disgraced; here are your brave fellows waiting, and nothing of refreshment ready for them. i have given order at the tavern in the village; send them down; there they shall drink better luck to me, and have a bit of bread and cheese.' stupid rabenau again consents:--and in few minutes more, warkotsch is in the woods, galloping like epsom, towards wallis; and rabenau can only arrest madam (who knows nothing), and return in a baffled state. "schmidt too got away. the party sent after schmidt found him in the little town of nimptsch, half-way home again from his wallis errand; comfortably dining with some innocent hospitable people there. schmidt could not conceal his confusion; but pleading piteously a necessity of nature, was with difficulty admitted to the--to the abtritt so called; and there, by some long pole or rake-handle, vanished wholly through a never-imagined aperture, and was no more heard of in the upper world. the prussian soldiery does not seem expert in thief-taking. "warkotsch came back about midnight that same tuesday, wallis hussars escorting him; and took away his ready moneys, near , pounds in gold, reports frau kappel, who witnessed the ghastly operation (hussars in great terror, in haste, and unconscionably greedy as to sharing);--after which our next news of him, the last of any clear authenticity, is this note to his poor wife, which was read in the law procedures on him six months hence: 'my child (mein kind),--the accursed thought i took up against my king has overwhelmed me in boundless misery. from the top of the highest hill i cannot see the limits of it. farewell; i am in the farthest border of turkey.--warkotsch.'" [kuster, _lebens-rettungen,_ p. : kuster, pp. - (for the general narrative); tempelhof, v. , &c. &c.] schmidt and he, after patient trial, were both of them beheaded and quartered,--in pasteboard effigy,--in the salt ring (great square) of breslau, may, :--in pasteboard, friedrich liked it better than the other way. "meinetwegen," wrote he, sanctioning the execution, "for aught i care; the portraits will likely be as worthless as the originals." rittmeister rabenau had got off with a few days' arrest, and the remark, "er ist ein dummer teufel (you are a stupid devil)!" warkotsch's estates, all and sundry, deducting the baroness's jointure, which was punctually paid her, were confiscated to the king,--and by him were made over to the schools of breslau and glogau, which, i doubt not, enjoy them to this day. reverend gerlach in schonbrunn, kappel and kappel's bursch, were all attended to, and properly rewarded, though there are rumors to the contrary. hussar-colonel wallis got no public promotion, though it is not doubted the head people had been well cognizant of his ingenious intentions. official vienna, like mankind in general, shuddered to own him; the great counts wallis at vienna published in the newspapers, "our house has no connection with that gentleman;"--and, in fact, he was of irish breed, it seems, the name of him wallisch (or walsh), if one cared. warkotsch died at raab (this side the farthest corner of turkey), in : his poor baroness had vanished from silesia five years before, probably to join him. he had some pension or aliment from the austrian court; small or not so small is a disputed point. and this is, more minutely than need have been, in authentic form only too diffuse, the once world-famous warkotsch tragedy or wellnigh-tragic melodrama; which is still interesting and a matter of study, of pathos and minute controversy, to the patriot and antiquary in prussian countries, though here we might have been briefer about it. it would, indeed, have "finished the war at once;" and on terms delightful to austria and its generals near by. but so would any unit of the million balls and bullets which have whistled round that same royal head, and have, every unit of them, missed like warkotsch! particular heads, royal and other, meant for use in the scheme of things, are not to be hit on any terms till the use is had. friedrich settled in breslau for the winter, december th. from colberg bad news meet him in breslau; bad and ever worse: colberg, not warkotsch, is the interesting matter there, for a fortnight coming,--till colberg end, it also irremediable. the russian hope on colberg is, long since, limited to that of famine. we said the conveyance of supplies, across such a hundred miles of wilderness, from stettin thither, with russians and the winter gainsaying, was the difficulty. our short note continues:-- "in fact, it is the impossibility: trial after trial goes on, in a strenuous manner, but without success. october th, green kleist tries; october d, knobloch and even platen try. for the next two months there is trial on trial made (hussar kleist, knobloch, thadden, platen), not without furious fencing, struggling; but with no success. there are, in wait at the proper places, , russians waylaying. winter comes early, and unusually severe: such marchings, such endeavorings and endurances,--without success! for darkness, cold, grim difficulty, fierce resistance to it, one reads few things like this of colberg. 'the snow lies ell-deep,' says archenholtz; 'snow-tempests, sleet, frost: a country wasted and hungered out; wants fuel-wood; has not even salt. the soldier's bread is a block of ice; impracticable to human teeth till you thaw it,--which is only possible by night.' the russian ships disappear ( th october); november d, butturlin, leaving reinforcements without stint, vanishes towards poland. the day before butturlin went, there had been solemn summons upon eugen, 'surrender honorably, we once more bid you; never will we leave this ground, till colberg is ours!' 'vain to propose it!' answers eugen, as before. the russians too are clearly in great misery of want; though with better roads open for them; and romanzow's obstinacy is extreme. "night of november th- th, eugen, his horse-fodder being entirely done, and heyde's magazines worn almost out, is obliged to glide mysteriously, circuitously from his camp, and go to try the task himself. the most difficult of marches, gloriously executed; which avails to deliver eugen, and lightens the pressure on heyde's small store. eugen, in a way tempelhof cannot enough admire, gets clear away. joins with platen, collects provision; tries to send provision in, but without effect. by the king's order, is to try it himself in a collective form. had heyde food, he would care little. "romanzow, who is now in eugen's old camp, summons the veteran; they say, it is 'for the twenty-fifth time,'--not yet quite the last. heyde consults his people: 'kameraden, what think you should i do?' 'thun sie's durchaus nicht, herr obrist, do not a whit of it, herr colonel: we will defend ourselves as long as we have bread and powder.' [seyfarth, iii. ; archenholtz, ii. .] it is grim frost; heyde pours water on his walls. romanzow tries storm; the walls are glass; the garrison has powder, though on half rations as to bread: storm is of no effect. by the king's order, eugen tries again. december th, starts; has again a march of the most consummate kind; december th, gets to the russian intrenchment; storms a russian redoubt, and fights inexpressibly; but it will not do. withdraws; leaves colberg to its fate. next morning, heyde gets his twenty-sixth summons; reflects on it two days; and then (december th), his biscuit done, decides to 'march out, with music playing, arms shouldered and the honors of war."' [tempelhof, v. - ; archenholtz, ii. - ; especially the seyfarth _beylagen_ above cited.] adieu to the old hero; who, we hope, will not stay long in russian prison. "what a place of arms for us!" thinks romanzow;--"though, indeed, for campaign , at this late time of year, it will not so much avail us." no;--and for , who knows if you will need it then! six weeks ago, prince henri and daun had finished their saxon campaign in a much more harmless manner. november th, daun, after infinite rallying, marshalling, rearranging, and counselling with loudon, who has sat so long quiescent on the heights at kunzendorf, ready to aid and reinforce, did at length (nothing of "rashness" chargeable on daun) make "a general attack on prince henri's outposts", in the meissen or mulda-elbe country, "from rosswein all across to siebeneichen;" simultaneous attack, miles wide, or i know not how wide, but done with vigor; and, after a stiff struggle in the small way, drove them all in;--in, all of them, more or less;--and then did nothing farther whatever. henri had to contract his quarters, and stand alertly on his guard: but nothing came. "shall have to winter in straiter quarters, behind the mulda, not astride of it as formerly; that is all." and so the campaign in saxony had ended, "without, in the whole course of it", say the books, "either party gaining any essential advantage over the other." [seyfarth, iii. ; tempelhof, v. et seq. (ibid. pp. - for the campaign at large, in all breadth of detail).] chapter x.--friedrich in breslau; has news from petersburg. since december th, friedrich is in breslau, in some remainder of his ruined palace there; and is represented to us, in books, as sitting amid ruins; no prospect ahead of him but ruin. withdrawn from society; looking fixedly on the gloomiest future. sees hardly anybody; speaks, except it be on business, nothing. "one day," i have read somewhere, "general lentulus dined with him; and there was not a word uttered at all." the anecdote-books have dialogues with ziethen; ziethen still trusting in divine providence; king trusting only in the iron destinies, and the stern refuge of death with honor: dialogues evidently symbolical only. in fact, this is not, or is not altogether, the king's common humor. he has his two nephews with him (the elder, old enough to learn soldiering, is to be of next campaign under him); he is not without society when he likes,--never without employment whether he like or not; and, in the blackest murk of despondencies, has his turk and other illusions, which seem to be brighter this year than ever. [letters to henri: in schoning, iii. (soepius).] for certain, the king is making all preparation, as if victory might still crown him: though of practical hope he, doubtless often enough, has little or none. england seems about deserting him; a most sad and unexpected change has befallen there: great pitt thrown out; perverse small butes come in, whose notions and procedures differ far from pitt's! at home here, the russians are in pommern and the neumark; austrians have saxony, all but a poor strip beyond the mulda; silesia, all but a fraction on the oder: friedrich has with himself , ; with prince henri, , ; under eugen of wurtemberg, against the swedes, , ; in all his dominions, , fighting men. to make head against so many enemies, he calculates that , more must be raised this winter. and where are these to come from; england and its help having also fallen into such dubiety? next year, it is calculated by everybody, friedrich himself hardly excepted (in bad moments), must be the finis of this long agonistic tragedy. on the other hand, austria herself is in sore difficulties as to cash; discharges , men,--trusting she may have enough besides to finish friedrich. france is bankrupt, starving, passionate for peace; english bute nothing like so ill to treat with as pitt: to austria no more subsidies from france. the war is waxing feeble, not on friedrich's side only, like a flame short of fuel. this year it must go out; austria will have to kill friedrich this year, if at all. whether austria's and the world's prophecy would have been fulfilled? nobody can say what miraculous sudden shifts, and outbursts of fiery enterprise, may still lie in this man. friedrich is difficult to kill, grows terribly elastic when you compress him into a corner. or destiny, perhaps, may have tried him sufficiently; and be satisfied? destiny does send him a wonderful star-of-day, bursting out on the sudden, as will be seen!--meanwhile here is the english calamity; worse than any schweidnitz, colberg or other that has befallen in this blackest, of the night. the pitt catastrophe: how the peace-negotiation went off by explosion; how pitt withdrew ( d october, ), and there came a spanish war nevertheless. in st. james's street, "in the duke of cumberland's late lodgings," on the d of october, , there was held one of the most remarkable cabinet-councils known in english history: it is the last of pitt's cabinet-councils for a long time,--might as well have been his last of all;--and is of the highest importance to friedrich through pitt. we spoke of the choiseul peace-negotiation; of an offer indirectly from king carlos, "could not i mediate a little?"--offer which exploded said negotiation, and produced the bourbon family compact and an additional war instead. let us now look, slightly for a few moments, into that matter and its sequences. it was july th, when bussy, along with something in his own french sphere, presented this beautiful spanish appendix,--"apprehensive that war may break out again with spain, when we two have got settled." by the same opportunity came a note from him, which was reckoned important too: "that the empress queen would and did, whatever might become of the congress of augsburg, approve of this separate peace between france and england,--england merely undertaking to leave the king of prussia altogether to himself in future with her imperial majesty and her allies." "never, sir!" answered pitt, with emphasis, to this latter proposition; and to the former about spain's interfering, or whispering of interference, he answered--by at once returning the paper, as a thing non-extant, or which it was charitable to consider so. "totally inadmissible, sir; mention it no more!"--and at once called upon the spanish ambassador to disavow such impertinence imputed to his master. fancy the colloquies, the agitated consultations thereupon, between bussy and this don, in view suddenly of breakers ahead! in about a week (july d), bussy had an interview with pitt himself on this high spanish matter; and got some utterances out of him which are memorable to bussy and us. "it is my duty to declare to you, sir, in the name of his majesty," said pitt, "that his majesty will not suffer the disputes with spain to be blended, in any manner whatever, in the negotiation of peace between the two crowns. to which i must add, that it will be considered as an affront to his majesty's dignity, and as a thing incompatible with the sincerity of the negotiation, to make farther mention of such a circumstance." [in thackeray, ii. ;--pitt next day putting it in writing, "word for word," at bussy's request.] bussy did not go at once, after this deliverance; but was unable, by his arguments and pleadings, by all his oil and fire joined together, to produce the least improvement on it: "time enough to treat of all that, sir, when the tower of london is taken sword in hand!" [beatson, ii. . archenholtz (ii. ) has heard of this expression, in a slightly incorrect way.] was pitt's last word. an expression which went over the world; and went especially to king carlos, as fast as it could fly, or as his choiseul could speed it: and, in about three weeks: produced--it and what had gone before it, by the united industry of choiseul and carlos, finally produced--the famed bourbon family compact (august th, ), and a variety of other weighty results, which lay in embryo therein. pitt, in the interim, had been intensely prosecuting, in spain and everywhere, his inquiry into the bussy phenomenon of july th; which he, from the first glimpse of it, took to mean a mystery of treachery in the pretended peace-negotiation, on the part of choiseul and catholic majesty;--though other long heads, and pitt's ambassador at madrid investigating on the spot, considered it an inadvertence mainly, and of no practical meaning. on getting knowledge of the bourbon family compact, pitt perceived that his suspicion was a certainty;--and likewise that the one clear course was, to declare war on the spanish bourbon too, and go into him at once: "we are ready; fleets, soldiers, in the east, in the west; he not ready anywhere. since he wants war, let him have it, without loss of a moment!" that is pitt's clear view of the case; but it is by no means bute and company's,--who discern in it, rather, a means of finishing another operation they have long been secretly busy upon, by their mauduits and otherwise; and are clear against getting into a new war with spain or anybody: "have not we enough of wars?" say they. since september th, there had been three cabinet-councils held on this great spanish question: "mystery of treachery, meaning war from spain? or awkward inadvertence only, practically meaning little or nothing?" pitt, surer of his course every time, every time meets the same contradiction. council of october d was the third of the series, and proved to be the last. "twelve seventy-fours sent instantly to cadiz", had been pitt's proposal, on the first emergence of the bussy phenomenon. here are his words, october d, when it is about to get consummated: "this is now the time for humbling the whole house of bourbon: and if this opportunity is let slip, we shall never find another! their united power, if suffered to gather strength, will baffle our most vigorous efforts, and possibly plunge us in the gulf of ruin. we must not allow them a moment to breathe. self-preservation bids us crush them before they can combine or recollect themselves."--"no evidence that spain means war; too many wars on our hands; let us at least wait!" urge all the others,--all but one, or one and a half, of whom presently. whereupon pitt: "if these views are to be followed, this is the last time i can sit at this board. i was called to the administration of affairs by the voice of the people: to them i have always considered myself as accountable for my conduct; and therefore cannot remain in a situation which makes me responsible for measures i am no longer allowed to guide." [beatson, ii. .] carteret granville, president of said council for ten years past, [came in " th june, ",--died " d january, ."] now an old red-nosed man of seventy-two, snappishly took him up,--it is the last public thing poor carteret did in this world,--in the following terms: "i find the gentleman is determined to leave us; nor can i say i am sorry for it, since otherwise he would have certainly compelled us to leave him [has ruled us, may not i say, with a rod of iron!] but if he be resolved to assume the office of exclusively advising his majesty and directing the operations of the war, to what purpose are we called to this council? when he talks of being responsible to the people, he talks the language of the house of commons; forgets that, at this board, he is only responsible to the king. however, though he may possibly have convinced himself of his infallibility, still it remains that we should be equally convinced, before we can resign our understandings to his direction, or join with him in the measure he proposes." [biog. britannica (kippis's; london, ), iii. . see thackeray, i. - .] who, besides temple (pitt's brother-in-law) confirmatory of pitt, bute negatory, and newcastle silent, the other beautiful gentlemen were, i will not ask; but poor old carteret,--the wine perhaps sour on his stomach (old age too, with german memories of his own, "a biggish life once mine, all futile for want of this same kingship like pitt's!")--i am sorry old carteret should have ended so! he made the above answer; and pitt resigned next day. [thackeray, i. n. "october th" (acceptance of the resignation, i suppose?) is the date commonly given.] "the nation was thunderstruck, alarmed and indignant," says walpole: [_ memoirs of the reign of george the third,_ i. et seq.] yes, no wonder;--but, except a great deal of noisy jargoning in parliament and out of it, the nation gained nothing for itself by its indignant, thunderstricken and other feelings. its pitt is irrecoverable; and it may long look for another such. these beautiful recalcitrants of the cabinet-council had, themselves, within three months (think under what noises and hootings from a non-admiring nation), to declare war on spain, [" d january, ," the english; " th january," the spaniard (annual register for , p. ; or better, beatson, ii. ).] not on better terms than when pitt advised; and, except for the "readiness" in which pitt had left all things, might have fared indifferently in it. to spain and france the results of the family compact (we may as well give them at once, though they extend over the whole next year and farther, and concern friedrich very little) were: a war on england (chiefly on poor portugal for england's sake); with a war by england in return, which cost spain its havana and its philippine islands. "from and before, the spanish carlos, his orthodox mind perhaps shocked at pombal and the anti-jesuit procedures, had forbidden trade with portugal; had been drawing out dangerous 'militia forces on the frontier;' and afflicting and frightening the poor country. but on the actual arrival of war with england, choiseul and he, as the first feasibility discernible, make demand (three times over, th march- th april, , each time more stringently) on poor portuguese majesty: 'give up your objectionable heretic ally, and join with us against him; will you, or will you not?' to which the portuguese majesty, whose very title is most faithful, answered always: 'you surprise me! i cannot; how can i? he is my ally, and has always kept faith with me! for certain, no!' [_london gazette,_ th may, , &c. (in _gentleman's magazine_ for , xxxii. , , ).] so that there is english reinforcement got ready, men, money; an english general, lord tyrawley, general and ambassador; with a or , horse and foot, and many volunteer officers besides, for the portuguese behoof. [list of all this in beatson, ii. , iii. ;--"did not get to sea till th may, " (_gentleman's magazine_ for , p. ).] in short, every encouragement to poor portugal: 'pull, and we will help you by tracing.' "the poor portuguese pulled very badly: were disgusting to tyrawley, he to them; and cried passionately, 'get us another general;'--upon which, by some wise person's counsel, that singular artillery gentleman, the graf von der lippe buckeburg, who gave the dinner in his tent with cannon firing at the pole of it, was appointed; and tyrawley came home in a huff. [varnhagen van ense, graf wilhelm zur lippe (berlin, ), in _vermischte schriften,_ i. - : pp. - , his portuguese operations.] which was probably a favorable circumstance. buckeburg understands war, whether tyrawley do or not. duke ferdinand has agreed to dispense with his ordnance-master; nay i have heard the ordnance-master, a man of sharp speech on occasion, was as good as idle; and had gone home to buckeburg, this winter: indignant at the many imperfections he saw, and perhaps too frankly expressing that feeling now and then. what he thought of the portuguese army in comparison is not on record; but, may be judged of by this circumstance, that on dining with the chief portuguese military man, he found his portuguese captains and lieutenants waiting as valets behind the chairs. [varnhagen (gives no date anywhere).] "the improvements he made are said to have been many;--and portuguese majesty, in bidding farewell, gave him a park of miniature gold cannon by way of gracious symbol. but, so far as the facts show, he seems to have got from his portuguese army next to no service whatever: and, but for the english and the ill weather, would have fared badly against his french and spaniards,-- , of them, advancing in three divisions, by the douro and the tagus, against oporto and lisbon. "his war has only these three dates of event. . may th, the northmost of the three divisions [annual register for , p. .] crosses the portuguese frontier on the douro; summons miranda, a chief town of theirs; takes it, before their first battery is built; takes braganza, takes monte corvo; and within a week is master of the douro, in that part, 'will be at oporto directly!' shriek all the wine people (no resistance anywhere, except by peasants organized by english officers in some parts); upon which seventy-fours were sent. " . division second of the , came by beira country, between tagus and douro, by tras-os-montes; and laid siege to a place called almeida [northwest some odd miles from cuidad rodrigo, a name once known to veterans of us still living], which buckeburg had tried to repair into strength, and furnish with a garrison. garrison defended itself well; but could not be relieved;--had to surrender, august th: whereby it seems the tagus is now theirs! all the more, as division three is likewise got across from estremadura, invading alemtejo: what is to keep these two from falling on lisbon together? " . against this, buckeburg does find a recipe. despatches brigadier burgoyne with an english party upon a town called valencia d'alcantara [not alcantara proper, but valencia of ditto, not very far from badajoz], where the vanguard of this third division is, and their principal magazine. burgoyne and his english did perfectly: broke into the place, stormed it sword in hand (august th); kept the magazine and it, though 'the sixteen portuguese battalions' could not possibly get up in time. in manner following (say the old newspapers):-- "'the garrison of almeida, before which place the whole spanish army had been assembled, surrendered to the spaniards on the th [august th, as we have just heard], having capitulated on condition of not serving against spain for six months. "'as a counterbalance to this advantage, the count de lippe caused valencia d'alcantara to be attacked, sword in hand, by the british troops; who carried it, after an obstinate resistance. the loss of the british troops, who had the principal share in this affair, is luckily but inconsiderable: and consists in lieutenant burk of colonel frederick's, one sergeant and three privates killed; two sergeants, one drummer, privates wounded; horses killed and wounded [loss not at all considerable, in a war of such dimensions!]. the british troops behaved upon this occasion with as much generosity as courage; and it deserves admiration, that, in an affair of this kind, the town and the inhabitants suffered very little; which is owing to the good order brigadier burgoyne kept up even in the heat of the action. this success would probably have been attended with more, if circumstances, that could not well be expected, had not retarded the march of sixteen portuguese battalions, and three regiments of cavalry.' [old newspapers (in _gentleman's magazine_ for , p, ).] "upon which--upon which, in fact, the war had to end. rainy weather came, deluges of rain; burgoyne, with or without the sixteen battalions of portuguese, kept the grip he had. valencia d'alcantara and its magazine a settled business, roads round gone all to mire,--this third division, and with it the , in general, finding they had nothing to live upon, went their ways again." note, the burgoyne, who begins in this pretty way at valencia d'alcantara, is the same who ended so dismally at saratoga, within twenty years:--perhaps, with other war-offices, and training himself in something suitabler than parliamentary eloquence, he might have become a kind of general, and have ended far otherwise than there?-- "such was the credit account on carlos's side: by gratuitous assault on portugal, which had done him no offence; result zero, and pay your expenses. on the english, or per contra side, again, there were these three items, two of them specifically on carlos: first, martinique captured from the french this spring (finished th february, ): [_gentleman's magazine_ for , p. .]--was to have been done in any case, guadaloupe and it being both on pitt's books for some time, and only guadaloupe yet got. secondly, king carlos, for family compact and fruitless attempt at burglary on an unoffending neighbor, debtor: . to loss of the havana ( th june- th august, ), [ib. pp. - , &c.] which might easily have issued in loss of all his west indies together, and total abolition of the pope's meridian in that western hemisphere; and . to loss of manilla, with his philippine islands ( d september- th october, ), [_gentleman's magazine_ for , xxxiii. - .] which was abolition of it in the eastern. after which, happily for carlos, peace came,--peace, and no pitt to be severe upon his indies and him. carlos's war of ten months had stood him uncommonly high." all these things the english public, considerably sullen about the cabinet-council event of october d, ascribed to the real owner of them. the public said: "these are, all of them, pitt's bolts, not yours,--launched, or lying ready for launching, from that olympian battery which, in the east and in the west, had already smitten down all lallys and montcalms; and had force already massed there, rendering your havanas and manillas easy for you. for which, indeed, you do not seem to care much; rather seem to be embarrassed with them, in your eagerness for peace and a lazy life!"--manilla was a beautiful work; [a journal of the proceedings of his majesty's forces in the expedition to manilla (_london gazette,_ april th, ; _gentleman's magazine,_ xxxiii. et seq.). written by colonel or brigadier general draper (suggester, contriver and performer of the enterprise; an excellent indian officer, of great merit with his pen as well,--bully junius's correspondent afterwards).] but the manilla ransom; a million sterling, half of it in bills,--which the spaniards, on no pretext at all but the disagreeableness, refused to pay! havana, though victorious, cost a good many men: was thought to be but badly managed. "what to do with it?" said bute, at the peace: "give us florida in lieu of it",--which proved of little benefit to bute. enough, enough of bute and his performances. pitt being gone, friedrich's english subsidy lags: this time friedrich concludes it is cut off;--silent on the subject; no words will express one's thoughts on it. not till april th has poor mitchell the sad errand of announcing formally that such are our pressures, portuguese war and other, we cannot afford it farther. answered by i know not what kind of glance from friedrich; answered, i find, by words few or none from the forsaken king: "good; that too was wanting," thought the proud soul: "keep your coin, since you so need it; i have still copper, and my sword!" the alloy this year became as to :--what other remedy? from the same cause, i doubt not, this year, for the first time in human memory, came that complete abeyance of the gift-moneys (douceur-gelder), which are become a standing expectation, quasi-right, and necessary item of support to every prussian officer, from a lieutenant upwards: not a word, in the least official, said of them this year; still less a penny of them actually forthcoming to a wornout expectant army. one of the greatest sins charged upon friedrich by prussian or prussian-military public opinion: not to be excused at all;--prussian-military and even prussian-civil opinion having a strange persuasion that this king has boundless supply of money, and only out of perversity refuses it for objects of moment. in the army as elsewhere much has gone awry; [see mollendorf's two or three letters (preuss, iv. - ).] many rivets loose after such a climbing of the alps as there has been, through dense and rare. it will surprise everybody that friedrich, with his copper and other resources, actually raised his additional , ; and has for himself , to recover schweidnitz, and bring silesia to its old state; , for prince henri and saxony, with a , of margin for sweden and accidental sundries. this is strange, but it is true. [stenzel, v. , ; tempelhof, vi. , , .] and has not been done without strivings and contrivings, hard requisitions on the places liable; and has involved not a little of severity and difficulty,--especially a great deal of haggling with the collecting parties, or at least with prince henri, who presides in saxony, and is apt to complain and mourn over the undoable, rather than proceed to do it. the king's correspondence with henri, this winter, is curious enough; like a dialogue between hope on its feet, and despair taking to its bed. "you know there are two doctors in moliere," says friedrich to him once; "a doctor tant-mieux (so much the better) and a doctor tant-pis (so much the worse): these two cannot be expected to agree!"--instead of infinite arithmetical details, here is part of a letter of friedrich's to d'argens; and a passage, one of many, with prince henri;--which command a view into the interior that concerns us. the king to d'argens (at berlin). "breslau, th january, . ... "you have lifted the political veil which covered horrors and perfidies meditated and ready to burst out [bute's dismal procedures, i believe; who is ravenous for peace, and would fain force friedrich along with him on terms altogether disgraceful and inadmissible [see d'argens's letter (to which this is answer), _oeuvres de frederic,_ xix. , .]]: you judge correctly of the whole situation i am in, of the abysses which surround me; and, as i see by what you say, of the kind of hope that still remains to me. it will not be till the month of february [turks, probably, and tartar khan; great things coming then!] that we can speak of that; and that is the term i contemplate for deciding whether i shall hold to cato [cato,--and the little glass tube i have!] or to caesar's commentaries," and the best fight one can make. "the school of patience i am at is hard, long-continued, cruel, nay barbarous. i have not been able to escape my lot: all that human foresight could suggest has been employed, and nothing has succeeded. if fortune continues to pursue me, doubtless i shall sink; it is only she that can extricate me from the situation i am in. i escape out of it by looking at the universe on the great scale, like an observer from some distant planet; all then seems to me so infinitely small, and i could almost pity my enemies for giving themselves such trouble about so very little. what would become of us without philosophy, without this reasonable contempt of things frivolous, transient and fugitive, about which the greedy and ambitious make such a pother, fancying them to be solid! this is to become wise by stripes, you will tell me; well, if one do become wise, what matters it how?--i read a great deal; i devour my books, and that brings me useful alleviation. but for my books, i think hypochondria would have had me in bedlam before now. in fine, dear marquis, we live in troublous times and in desperate situations:--i have all the properties of a stage-hero; always in danger, always on the point of perishing. one must hope the conclusion will come; and if the end of the piece be lucky, we will forget the rest. patience then, mon cher, till february th [by which time, what far other veritable star-of-day will have risen on me!]. adieu, mon cher.--f." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xix. , .] tiff of quarrel between king and henri (march-april, ). in the spring months prince henri is at hof in voigtland, on the extreme right of his long line of "quarters behind the mulda;" busy enough, watching the austrians and reich; levying the severe contributions; speeding all he can the manifold preparatives;--conscious to himself of the greatest vigilance and diligence, but wrapt in despondency and black acidulent humors; a "doctor so much the worse," who is not a comforting correspondent. from hof, towards the middle of march, he becomes specially gloomy and acidulous; sends a series of complaints; also of news, not important, but all rather in your favor, my dearest brother, than in mine, if you will please to observe! as thus:-- henri (at hof, th- th march).... "sadly off here, my dearest brother.! of our ' , head of commissariat horses,' only are come in; of our ' drivers,' not one. will be impossible to open campaign at that rate."--"grenadier battalions rothenburg and grant demand to have picked men to complete them [of cantonist, or sure prussian sort].... i find [nota bene, reader!] there are eight austrian regiments going to silesia [off my hands, and upon yours, in a sense], eight instead of four that i spoke of: intending, probably, for glatz, to replace czernichef [a czernichef off for home lately, in a most miraculous way; as readers shall hear!]--to replace czernichef, and the blank he has left there? eight of them: your majesty can have no difficulty; but i will detach platen or somebody, if you order it; though i am myself perilously ill off here, so scattered into parts, not capable of speedy junction like your majesty." friedrich ( th- th march). "commissariat horses, drivers? i arranged and provided where everything was to be got. but if my orders are not executed, nor the requisitions brought in, of course there is failure. i am despatching adjutant von anhalt to saxony a second time, to enforce matters. if i could be for three weeks in saxony, myself, i believe i could put all on its right footing; but, as i must not stir two steps from here, i will send you anhalt, with orders to the generals, to compel them to their duty." [schoning, iii. , .] "as to grenadier battalions grant and rothenburg, it is absurd." (henri falls silent for about a week, brooding his gloom;--not aware that still worse is coming.) king continues:-- king ( d march). "eight regiments, you said? here, by enclosed list, are seventeen of them, names and particulars all given", which is rather a different view of the account against silesia! seventeen of them, going, not for glatz, i should say, but to strengthen our enemies hereabouts. henri. "hm, hah [answers only in german; dry military reports, official merely;--thinks of writing to chief-clerk eichel, who is factotum in these spheres].... artillery recruits are scarce in the extreme; demand bounty: five thalers, shall we say?" king. "seventeen regiments of them, beyond question, instead of eight, coming on us: strange that you did n't warn me better. i have therefore ordered your major-general schmettau hitherward at once. as he has not done raising the contributions in the lausitz, you must send another to do it, and have them ready when general platen passes that way hither."--"'five thalers bounty for artillery men" say you? it is not to be thought of. artillery men can be had by conscription where you are." henri (in silence, still more indignant) sends military reports exclusively. march th, henri's gloom reaches the igniting point; he writes to chief-clerk eichel:-- "monsieur, you are aware that adjutant von anhalt is on the way hither. to judge by his orders, if they correspond to the letters i have had from the king, adjutant von anhalt's appearance here will produce an embarrassment, from which i am resolved to extricate myself by a voluntary retirement from office. my totally ruined (abimee) health, the vexations i have had, the fatigues and troubles of war, leave in me little regret to quit the employment. i solicit only, from your attentions and skill of management, that my retreat be permitted to take place with the decency observed towards those who have served the state. i have not a high opinion of my services; but perhaps i am not mistaken in supposing that it would be more a shame to the king than to me if he should make me endure all manner of chagrins during my retirement." [schoning, iii. .] eichel sinks into profound reflection; says nothing. how is this fire to be got under? where is the place to trample on it, before opening door or window, or saying a word to the king or anybody? henri (same day, th march). "my dearest brother,--in the list you send me of those seventeen austrian regiments, several, i am informed, are still in saxony; and by all the news that i get, there are only eight gone towards silesia."--"from leipzig my accounts are, the reichs army is to make a movement in advance, and prince xavier with the saxons was expected at naumburg the th ult. i know not if you have arranged with duke ferdinand for a proportionate succor, in case his french also should try to penetrate into saxony upon me? i am, with the profoundest attachment, your faithful and devoted servant and brother." king ( th march). "seventeen of them, you may depend; i am too well informed to be allowed to doubt in any way. what you report of the reichsfolk and saxons moving hither, thither; that seems to me a bit of game on their part. they will try to cut one post from you, then another, unless you assemble a corps and go in upon them. till you decide for this resolution, you have nothing but chicanes and provocations to expect there. as to duke ferdinand of brunswick, i don't imagine that his orders [from england] would permit him what you propose [for relief of yourself]: at any rate, you will have to write at least thrice to him,--that is to say, waste three weeks, before he will answer no or yes. you yourself are in force enough for those fellows: but so long as you keep on the defensive alone, the enemy gains time, and things will always go a bad road." henri's patience is already out; this same day he is writing to the king. henri ( th march).... "you have hitherto received proofs enough of my ways of thinking and acting to know that if in reality i was mistaken about those eight regiments, it can only have been a piece of ignorance on the part of my spy: meanwhile you are pleased to make me responsible for what misfortune may come of it. i think i have my hands full with the task laid on me of guarding , square miles of country with fewer troops than you have, and of being opposite an enemy whose posts touch upon ours, and who is superior in force. your preceding letters [from march th hitherto], on which i have wished to be silent, and this last proof of want of affection, show me too clearly to what fortune i have sacrificed these six years of campaigning." king ( d april: official orders given in teutsch; at the tail of which). "spare your wrath and indignation at your servant, monseigneur! you, who preach indulgence, have a little of it for persons who have no intention of offending you, or of failing in respect for you; and deign to receive with more benignity the humble representations which the conjunctures sometimes force from me. f."--which relieves eichel of his difficulties, and quenches this sputter. [plucked up from the waste imbroglios of schoning (iii. - ), by arranging and omitting.] prince henri, for all his complaining, did beautifully this season again (though to us it must be silent, being small-war merely;--and in particular, may th) early in the morning, simultaneously in many different parts, burst across the mulda, ten or twenty miles long (or broad rather, from his right hand to his left), sudden as lightning, upon the supine serbelloni and his austrians and reichsfolk. and hurled them back, one and all, almost to the plauen chasm and their old haunts; widening his quarters notably. [_bericht von dem uebergang uber die mulde, den der prinz heinrich den ten may glucklich ausgefuhrt_ (in seyfarth, _beylagen,_ iii, - ).] a really brilliant thing, testifies everybody, though not to be dwelt on here. seidlitz was of it (much fine cutting and careering, from the seidlitz and others, we have to omit in these two saxon campaigns!)--seidlitz was of it; he and another still more special acquaintance of ours, the learned quintus icilius; who also did his best in it, but lost his "amusette" (small bit of cannon, "plaything," so called by marechal de saxe, inventor of the article), and did not shine like seidlitz. henri's quarters being notably widened in this way, and nothing but torpid serbellonis and prince stollbergs on the opposite part, henri "drew himself out thirty-five miles long;" and stood there, almost looking into plauen region as formerly. and with his fiery seidlitzes, kleists, made a handsome summer of it. and beat the austrians and reichsfolk at freyberg (october th) a fine battle, and his sole one),--on the horse which afterwards carried gellert, as is pleasantly known. but we are omitting the news from petersburg,--which came the very day after that gloomy letter to d'argens; months before the tiff of quarrel with henri, and the brilliant better destinies of that gentleman in his campaign. bright news from petersburg (certain, jan. th); which grow ever brighter; and become a star-of-day for friedrich. to friedrich, long before all this of henri, indeed almost on the very day while he was writing so despondently to d'argens, a new phasis had arisen. hardly had he been five weeks at breslau, in those gloomy circumstances, when,--about the middle of january, (day not given, though it is forever notable),--there arrive rumors, arrive news,--news from petersburg; such as this king never had before! "among the thousand ill strokes of fortune, does there at length come one pre-eminently good? the unspeakable sovereign woman, is she verily dead, then, and become peaceable to me forevermore?" we promised friedrich a wonderful star-of-day; and this is it,--though it is long before he dare quite regard it as such. peter, the successor, he knows to be secretly his friend and admirer; if only, in the new czarish capacity and its chaotic environments and conditions, peter dare and can assert these feelings? what a hope to friedrich, from this time onward! russia may be counted as the bigger half of all he had to strive with; the bigger, or at least the far uglier, more ruinous and incendiary;--and if this were at once taken away, think what a daybreak when the night was at the blackest! pious people say, the darkest hour is often nearest the dawn. and a dawn this proved to be for friedrich. and the fact grew always the longer the brighter;--and before campaign time, had ripened into real daylight and sunrise. the dates should have been precise; but are not to be had so: here is the nearest we could come. january th, writing to henri, the king has a mysterious word about "possibilities of an uncommon sort,"--rumors from petersburg, i could conjecture; though perhaps they are only turk or tartar-khan affairs, which are higher this year than ever, and as futile as ever. but, on january th, he has heard plainly,--with what hopes (if one durst indulge them)!--that the implacable imperial woman, infame catin du nord, is verily dead. dead; and does not hate me any more. deliverance, peace and victory lie in the word!--catin had long been failing, but they kept it religiously secret within the court walls: even at petersburg nobody knew till the prayers of the church were required: prayers as zealous as you can,--the doctors having plainly intimated that she is desperate, and that the thing is over. on christmas-day, , by russian style, th january, , by european, the poor imperial catin lay dead;--a death still more important than that of george ii. to this king. peter iii., who succeeded has lang been privately a sworn friend and admirer of the king; and hastens, not too slowly as the king had feared, but far the reverse, to make that known to all mankind. that, and much else,--in a far too headlong manner, poor soul! like an ardent, violent, totally inexperienced person (enfranchised school-boy, come to the age of thirty-four), who has sat hitherto in darkness, in intolerable compression; as if buried alive! he is now czar peter, autocrat, not of himself only, but of all the russias;--and has, besides the complete regeneration of russia, two great thoughts: first, that of avenging native holstein, and his poor martyr of a father now with god, against the danes;--and, second, what is scarcely second in importance to the first, and indeed is practically a kind of preliminary to it, that of delivering the prussian pattern of heroes from such a pattern of foul combinations, and bringing peace to europe, while he settles the holstein-danish business. peter is russian by the mother's side; his mother was sister of the late catin, a daughter, like her, of czar peter called the great, and of the little brown catharine whom we saw transiently long ago. his holstein business shall concern us little; but that with friedrich, during the brief six months allowed him for it,--for it, and for all his remaining businesses in this world,--is of the highest importance to friedrich and us. peter is one of the wildest men; his fate, which was tragical, is now to most readers rather of a ghastly grotesque than of a lamentable and pitiable character. few know, or have ever considered, in how wild an element poor peter was born and nursed; what a time he has had, since his fifteenth year especially, when cousin of zerbst and he were married. perhaps the wildest and maddest any human soul had, during that century. i find in him, starting out from the lethean quagmires where he had to grow, a certain rash greatness of idea; traces of veritable conviction, just resolution; veritable and just, though rash. that of admiration for king friedrich was not intrinsically foolish, in the solitary thoughts of the poor young fellow; nay it was the reverse; though it was highly inopportune in the place where he stood. nor was the holstein notion bad; it was generous rather, noble and natural, though, again, somewhat impracticable in the circumstances. the summary of the friedrich-peter business is perhaps already known to most readers, and can be very briefly given; nor is peter's tragical six months of czarship ( th january- th july, ) a thing for us to dwell on beyond need. but it is wildly tragical; strokes of deep pathos in it, blended with the ghastly and grotesque: it is part of friedrich's strange element and environment: and though the outer incidents are public enough, it is essentially little known. had there been an aeschylus, had there been a shakspeare!--but poor peter's shocking six months of history has been treated by a far different set of hands, themselves almost shocking to see: and, to the seriously inquiring mind, it lies, and will long lie, in a very waste, chaotic, enigmatic condition. here, out of considerable bundles now burnt, are some rough jottings, excerpts of notes and studies,--which, i still doubt rather, ought to have gone in auto da fe along with the others. auto da fe i called it; act of faith, not spanish-inquisitional, but essentially celestial many times, if you reflect well on the poisonous consequences, on the sinfulness and deadly criminality, of human babble,--as nobody does nowadays! i label the different pieces, and try to make legible;--hasty readers have the privilege of skipping, if they like. the first two are of preliminary or prefatory nature,--perhaps still more skippable than those that will by and by follow. . genealogy of peter. "his grandfather was friedrich iv., duke of holstein-gottorp and schleswig, karl xii.'s brother-in-law; on whose score it was (denmark finding the time opportune for a stroke of robbery there) that karl xii., a young lad hardly eighteen, first took arms; and began the career of fighting that astonished denmark and certain other neighbors who had been too covetous on a young king. this his young brother-in-law, friedrich of holstein-gottorp (young he too, though karl's senior by ten years), had been reinstated in his territory, and the danes sternly forbidden farther burglary there, by the victorious karl; but went with karl in his farther expeditions. always karl's intimate, and at his right hand for the next two years: fell in the battle of clissow, th july, ; age not yet thirty-one. "he left as heir a poor young boy, at this time only two years old. his young widow hedwig survived him six years. [michaelis, ii. - .] her poor child grew to manhood; and had tragic fortunes in this world; danes again burglarious in that part, again robbing this poor boy at discretion, so soon as karl xii. became unfortunate; and refusing to restore (have not restored schleswig at all [a.d. , have at last had to do it, under unexpected circumstances!]):--a grimly sad story to the now peter, his only child! this poor duke at last died, th june, , age thirty-nine; the now peter then about ,--who well remembers tragic papa; tragic mamma not, who died above ten years before. [michaelis, ii. ; hubner, tt. , .] "czar peter called the great had evidently a pity for this unfortunate duke, a hope in his just hopes; and pleaded, as did various others, and endeavored with the unjust danes, mostly without effect. did, however, give him one of his daughters to wife;--the result of whom is this new czar peter, called the third: a czar who is sovereign of holstein, and has claims of sovereignty in sweden, right of heirship in schleswig, and of damages against denmark, which are in litigation to this day. the czarina catin, tenderly remembering her sister, would hear of no heir to russia but this peter. peter, in virtue of his paternal affinities, was elected king of sweden about the same time; but preferred russia,--with an eye to his danes, some think. for certain, did adopt the russian expectancy, the greek religion so called; and was," in the way we saw long years ago, "married (or to all appearance married) to catharina alexiewna of anhalt-zerbst, born in stettin; [herr preuss knows the house: "now dr. lehmann's [at that time the governor of stettin's], in which also czar paul's second spouse [eugen of wurtemberg a new governor's daughter], who is mother of the czars that follow, was born:" preuss, ii. , . catharine, during her reign, was pious in a small way to the place of her cradle; sent her successive medals &c. to stettin, which still has them to show.] a lady who became world-famous as czarina of the russias. "peter is an abstruse creature; has lived, all this while, with his catharine an abstruse life, which would have gone altogether mad except for catharine's superior sense. an awkward, ardent, but helpless kind of peter, with vehement desires, with a dash of wild magnanimity even: but in such an inextricable element, amid such darkness, such provocations of unmanageable opulence, such impediments, imaginary and real,--dreadfully real to poor peter,--as made him the unique of mankind in his time. he 'used to drill cats,' it is said, and to do the maddest-looking things (in his late buried-alive condition);--and fell partly, never quite, which was wonderful, into drinking, as the solution of his inextricabilities. poor peter: always, and now more than ever, the cynosure of vulturous vulpine neighbors, withal; which infinitely aggravated his otherwise bad case!-- "for seven or eight years, there came no progeny, nor could come; about the eighth or ninth, there could, and did: the marvellous czar paul that was to be. concerning whose exact paternity there are still calumnious assertions widely current; to this individual editor much a matter of indifference, though on examining, his verdict is: 'calumnies, to all appearance; mysteries which decent or decorous society refuses to speak of, and which indecent is pretty sure to make calumnies out of.' czar paul may be considered genealogically genuine, if that is much an object to him. poor paul, does not he father himself, were there nothing more? only that peter and this catharine could have begotten such a paul. genealogically genuine enough, my poor czar,--that needed to be garroted so very soon! . of catharine and the books upon peter and her. "catharine too had an intricate time of it under the catin; which was consoled to her only by a tolerably rapid succession of lovers, the best the ground yielded. in which department it is well known what a thrice-greatest she became: superior to any charles ii.; equal almost to an august the strong! of her loves now and henceforth, which are heartily uninteresting to me, i propose to say nothing farther; merely this, that in extent they probably rivalled the highest male sovereign figures (and are to be put in the same category with these, and damned as deep, or a little deeper);--and cost her, in gifts, in magnificent pensions to the emeriti (for she did things always in a grandiose manner, quietly and yet inexorably dismissing the emeritus with stores of gold), the considerable sum of millions sterling, in the course of her long reign. one, or at most two, were off on pension, when hanbury williams brought poniatowski for her, as we transiently saw. poniatowski will be king of poland in the course of events.... "russia is not a publishing country; the books about catharine are few, and of little worth. tooke, an english chaplain; castera, an unknown french hanger-on, who copies from tooke, or tooke from him: these are to be read, as the bad-best, and will yield little satisfactory insight; castera, in particular, a great deal of dubious backstairs gossip and street rumor, which are not delightful to a reader of sense. in fine, there has been published, in these very years, a fragment of early autobiography by catharine herself,--a credible and highly remarkable little piece: worth all the others, if it is knowledge of catharine you are seeking. [_memoires de l'imperatrice catharine ii., ecrits par elle-meme_ (a. herzen editing; london, )];--which we already cited, on occasion of catharine's marriage. anonymous (castera), _vie de catharine ii., imperatrice de russie_ a paris, ; or reprinted, most of it, enough of it, a varsovie, ) tomes, vo. tooke, _life of catharine ii._ ( th edition, london, ), vols. vo; _view of the russian empire during &c._ (london, ), vols. vo.-hermann, _geschichte des russischen staats_ (hamburg, et antea), v. - et seq.; is by much the most solid book, though a dull and heavy. stenzel cites, as does hermann, a _biographie peters des iiiten;_ which no doubt exists, in perhaps volumes; but where, when, by whom, or of what quality, they do not tell me. a most placid, solid, substantial young lady comes to light there; dropped into such an element as might have driven most people mad. but it did not her; it only made her wiser and wiser in her generation. element black, hideous, dirty, as lapland sorcery;--in which the first clear duty is, to hold one's tongue well, and keep one's eyes open. stars,--not very heavenly, but of fixed nature, and heavenly to catharine,--a star or two, shine through the abominable murk: steady, patient; steer silently, in all weathers, towards these! "young catharine's immovable equanimity in this distracted environment strikes us very much. peter is careering, tumbling about, on all manner of absurd broomsticks, driven too surely by the devil; terrific-absurd big lapland witch, surrounded by multitudes smaller, and some of them less ugly. will be czar of russia, however;--and is one's so-called husband. these are prospects for an observant, immovably steady-going young woman! the reigning czarina, old catin herself, is silently the olympian jove to catharine, who reveres her very much. though articulately stupid as ever, in this book of catharine's, she comes out with a dumb weight, of silence, of obstinacy, of intricate abrupt rigor, which--who knows but it may savor of dumb unconscious wisdom in the fat old blockhead? the book says little of her, and in the way of criticism, of praise or of blame, nothing whatever; but one gains the notion of some dark human female object, bigger than one had fancied it before. "catharine steered towards her stars. lovers were vouchsafed her, of a kind (her small stars, as we may call them); and, at length, through perilous intricacies, the big star, autocracy of all the russias,--through what horrors of intricacy, that last! she had hoped always it would be by husband peter that she, with the deeper steady head, would be autocrat: but the intricacies kept increasing, grew at last to the strangling pitch; and it came to be, between peter and her, 'either you to siberia (perhaps farther), or else i!' and it was peter that had to go;--in what hideous way is well enough known; no siberia, no holstein thought to be far enough for peter:--and catharine, merely weeping a little for him, mounted to the autocracy herself. and then, the big star of stars being once hers, she had, not in the lover kind alone, but in all uncelestial kinds, whole nebulae and milky-ways of small stars. a very semiramis, the louis-quatorze of those northern parts. 'second creatress of russia,' second peter the great in a sense. to me none of the loveliest objects; yet there are uglier, how infinitely uglier: object grandiose, if not great."--we return to friedrich and the death of catin. colonel hordt, i believe, was the first who credibly apprised friedrich of the great russian event. colonel hordt, late of the free-corps hordt, but captive since soon after the kunersdorf time; and whose doleful quasi-infernal "twenty-five months and three days" in the citadel of petersburg have changed in one hour into celestial glories in the court of that city;--as readers shall themselves see anon. by hordt or by whomsoever, the instant friedrich heard, by an authentic source, of the new czar's accession, friedrich hastened to turn round upon him with the friendliest attitude, with arms as if ready to open; dismissing all his russian prisoners; and testifying, in every polite and royal way, how gladly he would advance if permitted. to which the czar, by hordt and by other channels, imperially responded; rushing forward, he, as if with arms flung wide. january st is order from the king, [in schoning, iii. ("breslau, st january, ").] that our russian prisoners, one and all, shod, clad and dieted, be forthwith set under way from stettin: in return for which generosity the prussians, from siberia or wherever they were buried, are, soon after, hastening home in like manner. gudowitsh, peter's favorite adjutant, who had been sent to congratulate at zerbst, comes round by breslau (february th), and has joyfully benign audience next day; directly on the heel of whom, adjutant colonel von goltz, who kammerherr as well as colonel, and understands things of business, goes to petersburg. february d, czarish majesty, to the horror of vienna and glad astonishment of mankind, emits declaration (note to all the foreign excellencies in petersburg), "that there ought to be peace with this king of prussia; that czarish majesty, for his own part, is resolved on the thing; gives up east preussen and the so-called conquests made; russian participation in such a war has ceased." and practically orders czernichef, who is wintering with his , in glatz, to quit glatz and these austrian combinations, and march homeward with his , . which czernichef, so soon as arrangements of proviant and the like are made, hastens to do;--and does, as far as thorn; but no farther, for a reason that will be seen. on the last day of march, czernichef--off about a week ago from glatz, and now got into the breslau latitude--came across, with a select suite of four, to pay his court there; and had the honor to dine with his majesty, and to be, personally too, a czernichef agreeable to his majesty. the vehemency of austrian diplomacies at petersburg; and the horror of kaiserinn and kriegshofrath in vienna,--who have just discharged , of their own people, counting on this czernichef, and being dreadfully tight for money,--may be fancied. but all avails nothing. the ardent czar advances towards friedrich with arms flung wide. goltz and gudowitsh are engaged on treaty of peace; czar frankly gives up east preussen, "yours again; what use has russia for it, royal friend?" treaty of peace goes forward like the drawing of a marriage-settlement (concluded may th); and, in a month more, has changed into treaty of alliance;--czernichef ordered to stop short at thorn; to turn back, and join himself to this heroic king, instead of fighting against him. which again czernichef, himself an admirer of this king, joyfully does;--though, unhappily, not with all the advantage he expected to the king. swedish peace, queen ulrique and the anti-french party now getting the upper hand, had been hastening forward in the interim (finished, at hamburg, may d): a most small matter in comparison to the russian; but welcome enough to friedrich;--though he said slightingly of it, when first mentioned: "peace? i know not hardly of any war there has been with sweden;--ask colonel belling about it!" colonel belling, a most shining swift hussar colonel, who, with a , sharp fellows, hanging always on the swedish flanks, sharp as lightning, "nowhere and yet everywhere," as was said of him, has mainly, for the last year or two, had the management of this extraordinary "war." peace over all the north, peace and more, is now friedrich's. strangling imbroglio, wide as the world, has ebbed to man's height; dawn of day has ripened into sunrise for friedrich; the way out is now a thing credible and visible to him. peter's friendliness is boundless; almost too boundless! peter begs a prussian regiment,--dresses himself in its uniform, colonel of itzenplitz; friedrich begs a russian regiment, colonel of schuwalof: and all is joyful, hopeful; marriage-bells instead of dirge ditto and gallows ditto,--unhappily not for very long. in regard to friedrich's feelings while all this went on, take the following small utterances of his, before going farther. january th, (to madam camas,--eight days after the russian event): "i rejoice, my good mamma, to find you have such courage; i exhort you to redouble it! all ends in this world; so we may hope this accursed war will not be the only thing eternal there. since death has trussed up a certain catin of the hyperborean countries, our situation has advantageously changed, and becomes more supportable than it was. we must hope that some other events [favor of the new czar mainly] will happen; by which we may profit to arrive at a good peace." january st (to minister finkenstein) "behold the first gleam of light that rises;--heaven be praised for it! we must hope good weather will succeed these storms. god grant it!" [preuss, ii. .] end of march (to d'argens):... "all that [at paris; about the pompadourisms, the exile of broglio and brother, and your other news] is very miserable; as well as that discrepancy between king's council and parlement for and against the jesuits! but, mon cher marquis, my head is so ill, i can tell you nothing more,--except that the czar of russia is a divine man; to whom i ought to erect altars." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xix. .] may th (to the same,--russian peace three weeks ago): "it is very pleasant to me, dear marquis, that sans-souci could afford you an agreeable retreat during the beautiful spring days. if it depended only on me, how soon should i be there beside you! but to the six campaigns there is a seventh to be added, and will soon open; either because the number had once mystic qualities, or because in the book of fate from all eternity the"--... "jesuits banished from france? ah, yes:--hearing of that, i made my bit of plan for them [mean to have my pick of them as schoolmasters in silesia here]; and am waiting only till i get silesia cleared of austrians as the first thing. you see we must not mow the corn till it is ripe." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xix. p. .] may th (to the same):... tartar khan actually astir, , men of his in hungary (i am told); turk potentially ditto, with , (futile both, as ever): "all things show me the sure prospect of peace by the end of this year; and, in the background of it, sans-souci and my dear marquis! a sweet calm springs up again in my soul; and a feeling of hope, to which for six years i had got unused, consoles me for all i have come through. think only what a coil i shall be in, before a month hence [campaign opened by that time, horrid game begun again]; and what a pass we had come to, in december last: country at its last gasp (agonisait), as if waiting for extreme unction: and now--!" [ib. xix. .]... june th (to madame camas,--russian alliance now come): "i know well, my good mamma, the sincere part you take in the lucky events that befall us. the mischief is, we are got so low, that we want at present all manner of fortunate events to raise us again; and two grand conclusions of peace [the russian, the swedish], which might re-establish peace throughout, are at this moment only a step towards finishing the war less unfortunately." [ib. xviii. , .]* same day, june th (to d'argens): "czernichef is on march to join us. our campaign will not open till towards the end of this month [did open july st]; but think then what a pretty noise in this poor silesia again! in fine, my dear marquis, the job ahead of me is hard and difficult; and nobody can say positively how it will all go. pray for us; and don't forget a poor devil who kicks about strangely in his harness, who leads the life of one damned; and who nevertheless loves you sincerely.--adieu." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xix. .] d'argens (may th) has heard, by letters from very well-informed persons in vienna, that "imperial majesty, for some time past, spends half of her time in praying to the virgin, and the other half in weeping." "i wish her," adds the ungallant d'argens, "as punishment for the mischiefs her ambition has cost mankind these seven years past, the fate of phaethon's sisters, and that she melt altogether into water!" [ib. xix. (" th may, ").]--take one other little utterance; and then to colonel hordt and the petersburg side of things. june th (still to d'argens); "what is now going on in russia no count kaunitz could foresee: what has come to pass in england,--of which the hatefulest part [bute's altogether extraordinary attempts, in the kaunitz, in the czar peter direction, to force a peace upon me] is not yet known to you,--i had no notion of, in forming my plans! the governor of a state, in troublous times, never can be sure. this is what disgusts me with the business, in comparison. a man of letters operates on something certain; a politician can have almost no data of that kind." [ib. xix. p. .] (how easy everybody's trade but one's own!) readers know what a tragedy poor peter's was. his czernichef did join the king; but with far less advantage than czernichef or anybody had anticipated!--it is none of our intention to go into the chaotic russian element, or that wildly blazing sanguinary catharine-and-peter business; of which, at any rate, there are plentiful accounts in common circulation, more or less accurate,--especially m. rulhiere's, [histoire ou anecdotes sur la revolution de russie en l'annes (written ; first printed paris, : english translation, london, ).] the most succinct, lucid and least unsatisfactory, in the accessible languages. only so far as friedrich was concerned are we. but readers saw this couple married, under friedrich's auspices,--a marriage which he thought important twenty years ago; and sure enough the dissolution of it did prove important to him, and is a necessary item here! readers, even those that know rulhiere, will doubtless consent to a little supplementing from two other eye-witnesses of credit. the first and principal is a respectable ex-swedish gentleman, whom readers used to hear of; the colonel hordt above mentioned, once of the free-corps hordt, but fallen prisoner latterly;--whose experiences and reports are all the more interesting to us, as friedrich himself had specially to depend on them at present; and doubtless, in times long afterwards, now and then heard speech of them from hordt. our second eye-witness is the reverend herr doctor busching (of the erdbeschreibung, of the beitrage, and many other works, an invaluable friend to us all along); who, in his wandering time, had come to be "pastor of the german church at petersburg," some years back. what colonel hordt and the others saw at petersburg (january-july, ). autumn, , in the sequel to kunersdorf,--when the russians and daun lay so long torpid, uncertain what to do except keep friedrich and prince henri well separate, and friedrich had such watchings, campings and marchings about on the hither skirt of them (skirt always veiled in cossacks, and producing skirmishes as you marched past),--we did mention hordt's capture; [supra, vol. x. p. .] not much hoping that readers could remember it in such a press of things more memorable. it was in, or as prelude to, one of those skirmishes (one of the earliest, and a rather sharp one, "at trebatsch," in frankfurt-lieberose country, " th september, "), that hordt had his misfortune: he had been out reconnoitring, with an orderly or two, before the skirmish began, was suddenly "surrounded by cossacks," and after desperate plunging into bogs, desperate firing of pistols and the like, was taken prisoner. was carted miserably to petersburg,--such a journey for dead ennui as hordt never knew; and was then tumbled out into solitary confinement in the citadel, a place like the spanish inquisition; not the least notice taken of his request for a few books, for leave to answer his poor wife's letter, merely by the words, "dear one, i am alive;"--and was left there, to the company of his own reflections, and a life as if in vacant hades, for twenty-five months and three days. after the lapse of that period, he has something to say to us again, and we transiently look in upon him there. the book we excerpt from is _memoires du comte de hordt_ (second edition, volumes mo, berlin, ). this is bookseller pitra's redaction of the hordt autobiography (berlin, , was pitra's first edition): several years after, how many is not said, nor whether hordt (who had become a dignitary in berlin society before pitra's feat) was still living or not, a "m. borelly, professor in the military school," undertook a second considerably enlarged and improved redaction;--of which latter there is an english translation; easy enough to read; but nearly without meaning, i should fear, to readers unacquainted with the scene and subject. [_memoirs of the count de hordt:_ london, : vols. mo,--only the first volume of which (unavailable here) is in my possession.] hordt was reckoned a perfectly veracious, intelligent kind of man: but he seldom gives the least date, specification or precise detail; and his book reads, not like the testimony of an eye-witness, which it is, and valuable when you understand it; but more like some vague forgery, compiled by a destitute inventive individual, regardless of the ten commandments (sparingly consulting even his file of old newspapers), and writing a book which would deserve the tread-mill, were there any police in his trade!-- wednesday, th january, , hordt's vacant hades of an existence in the citadel of petersburg was broken by a loud sound: three minute-guns went off from different sides, close by; and then whole salvos, peal after peal: "czarina gone overnight, peter iii. czar in her stead!" said the officer, rushing in to tell hordt; to whom it was as news of resurrection from the dead. "evening of same day, an aide-de-camp of the new czar came to announce my liberty; equipage waiting to take me at once to his russian majesty. asked him to defer it till the following day--so agitated was i." and indeed the czar, busy taking acclamations, oaths of fealty, riding about among his troops by torchlight, could have made little of me that evening. [hermann, _geschichte des russischen staats,_ v. .] "ultimately, my presentation was deferred till sunday" january th, "that it might be done with proper splendor, all the nobility being then usually assembled about his majesty." "january th, waited, amid crowds of nobility, in the gallery, accordingly. was presented in the gallery, through which the czar, followed by czarina and all the court, were passing on their way to chapel. czar made a short kind speech ('delighted to do you an act of justice, monsieur, and return a valuable servant to the king i esteem'); gave me his hand to kiss: czarina did the same. general korf," an excellent friend, so kind to me at konigsberg, while i was getting carted hither, and a general now in high office here, "who had been my introducer, led me into chapel, to the court's place (tribune de la cour). czar came across repeatedly [while public worship was going on; a czar perhaps too regardless that way!] to talk to me; dwelt much on his attachment to the king. on coming out, the head chamberlain whispered me, 'you dine with the court.'" which, of course, i did. "table was of sixty covers; splendid as the arabian tales. czar and czarina sat side by side; korf and i had the honor to be placed opposite them. hardly were we seated when the czar addressed me: 'you have had no prussian news this long while. i am glad to tell you that the king is well, though he has had such fighting to right and left;--but i hope there will soon be an end to all that.' words which everybody listened to like prophecy! [peter is nothing of a politician.] 'how long have you been in prison?' continued the czar. 'twenty-five months and three days, your majesty.' 'were you well treated?' hordt hesitated, knew not what to say; but, the czar urging him, confessed, 'he had been always rather badly used; not even allowed to buy a few books to read.' at which the czarina was evidently shocked: 'cela est bien barbare!' she exclaimed aloud.--i wished much to return home at once; and petitioned the czar on that subject, during coffee, in the withdrawing rooms; but he answered, 'no, you must not,--not till an express prussian envoy arrive!' i had to stay, therefore; and was thenceforth almost daily at court",--but unluckily a little vague, and altogether dateless as to what i saw there! bieren and munnich, both of them just home from siberia, are to drink together (no date: palace of petersburg, spring, ).--peter had begun in a great way: all for liberalism, enlightenment, abolition of abuses, general magnanimity on his own and everybody's part. rulhiere did not see the following scene; but it seems to be well enough vouched for, and rulhiere heard it talked of in society. "as many as , persons, it is counted, have come home from siberian exile:" the l'estocs, the munnichs, bierens, all manner of internecine figures, as if risen from the dead. "since the night when munnich arrested bieren [readers possibly remember it, and mannstein's account of it [supra, vol. vii. p. .]], the first time these two met was in the gay and tumultuous crowd which surrounded the new czar. 'come, bygones be bygones,' said peter, noticing them; 'let us three all drink together, like friends!'--and ordered three glasses of wine. peter was beginning his glass to show the others an example, when somebody came with a message to him, which was delivered in a low tone; peter listening drank out his wine, set down the glass, and hastened off; so that bieren and munnich, the two old enemies, were left standing, glass in hand, each with his eyes on the czar's glass;--at length, as the czar did not return, they flashed each his eyes into the other's face; and after a moment's survey, set down their glasses untasted, and walked off in opposite directions." [rulhiere, p. .] won't coalesce, it seems, in spite of the czar's high wishes. an emblem of much that befell the poor czar in his present high course of good intentions and headlong magnanimities!--we return to hordt:-- the czar wears a portrait of friedrich on his finger. "czar peter never disguised his prussian predilections. one evening he said, 'propose to your friend keith [english excellency here, whom we know] to give me a supper at his house to-morrow night. the other foreign ministers will perhaps be jealous; but i don't care!' supper at the english embassy took place. only ten or twelve persons, of the czar's choosing, were present. czar very gay and in fine spirits. talked much of the king of prussia. showed me a signet-ring on his finger, with friedrich's portrait in it; ring was handed round the table." [hordt, ii. , , .] this is a signet-ring famous at court in these months. one day peter had lost it (mislaid somewhere), and got into furious explosion till it was found for him again. [hermann, v. .] let us now hear busching, our geographical friend, for a moment:-- herr pastor busching does the homaging for self and people.... "in most countries, it is official or military people that administer the oath of homage, on a change of sovereigns. but in petersburg, among the german population, it is the pastors of their respective churches. at the accession of peter iii., i, for the first time [being still a young hand rather than an old], took the oath from several thousands in my church,"--and handed it over, with my own, in the proper quarter. "as to the congratulatory addresses, the new czar received the congratulations of all classes, and also of the pastors of the foreign churches, in the following manner. he came walking slowly through a suite of rooms, in each of which a body of congratulators were assembled. court-officials preceded, state-officials followed him. then came the czarina, attended in a similar way. and always on entering a new room they received a new congratulation from the spokesman of the party there. the spokesman of us protestant pastors was my colleague, senior trefurt; but the general-in-chief and head-of-police, baron von korf [hordt's friend, known to us above, german, we perceive, by creed and name], thinking it was i that had to make the speech, and intending to present me at the same time to the czar, motioned to me from his place behind the czar to advance. but i did not push forward; thinking it inopportune and of no importance to me."--"neither did i share the great expectations which baron von korf and everybody entertained of this new reign. all people now promised themselves better times, without reflecting [as they should have done!] that the better men necessary to produce these were nowhere forthcoming!" [busching's _beitrage,_ vi. ("author's own biography") et seq.] for the first two or three months, peter was the idol of all the world: such generosities and magnanimities; such zeal and diligence, one magnanimous improvement following another! he had at once abolished torture in his law-courts: resolved to have a regular code of laws,--and judges to be depended on for doing justice. he "destroyed monopolies;" "lowered the price of salt." to the joy of everybody, he had hastened (january th, second week of reign) to abolish the secret chancery,--a horrid spanish-inquisition engine of domestic politics. his nobility he had determined should be noble: january th (third week of reign just beginning), he absolved the nobility from all servile duties to him: "you can travel when and where you please; you are not obliged to serve in my armies; you may serve in anybody's not at war with me!" under plaudits loud and universal from that order of men. and was petitioned by a grateful petersburg world: "permit us, magnanimous czar, to raise a statue of your majesty in solid gold!" "don't at all!" answered peter: "ah, if by good governing i could raise a memorial in my people's hearts; that would be the statue for me!" [hermann, v. .] poor headlong peter!--it was a less lucky step that of informing the clergy (date not given), that in the czarship lay spiritual sovereignty as well as temporal, and that he would henceforth administer their rich abbey lands and the like:--this gave a sad shock to the upper strata of priesthood, extending gradually to the lower, and ultimately raising an ominous general thought (perhaps worse than a general cry) of "church in danger! alas, is our czar regardless of holy religion, then? perhaps, at heart still lutheran, and has no religion?" this, and his too headlong prussian tendencies, are counted to have done him infinite mischief. herr busching sees the czar on horseback. "when the czar's own regiment of cuirassiers came to petersburg, the czar, dressed in the uniform of the regiment, rode out to meet it; and returning at its head, rode repeatedly through certain quarters of the town. his helmet was buckled tight with leather straps under the chin; he sat his horse as upright and stiff as a wooden image; held his sabre in equally stiff manner; turned fixedly his eyes to the right; and never by a hair's-breadth changed that posture. in such attitude he twice passed my house with his regiment, without changing a feature at sight of the many persons who crowded the windows. to me [in my privately austere judgment] he seemed so kleingeistisch, so small-minded a person, that i"--in fact, knew not what to think of it. [busching, _beitrage,_ vi. .] hordt sees the deceased czarina lying in state. "one day, after dining at court, general korf proposed that we should go and see the lit de parade" (parade-bed) of the late czarina, which is in another palace, not far off. "count schuwalof [not her old lover, who has died since her, poor old creature; but his son, a cultivated man, afterwards voltaire's friend] accompanied us; and, his rooms being contiguous to those of the dead lady, he asked us to take coffee with him afterwards. the imperial bier stood in the grand saloon, which was hung all round with black, festooned and garlanded with cloth-of-silver; the glare of wax-lights quite blinding. bier, covered with cloth-of-gold trimmed with silver lace, was raised upon steps. a rich crown was on the head of the dead czarina. beside the bier stood four ladies, two on each hand, in grand mourning; immense crape training on the ground behind them. two officers of the life-guard occupied the lowest steps: on the topmost, at the foot of the bier, was an archimandrite (superior kind of abbot), who had a bible before him, from which he read aloud,--continuously till relieved by another. this went on day and night without interruption. all round the bier, on stools (tabourets), were placed different crowns, and the insignia of various orders,--those of prussia, among others. it being established usage, i had, to my great repugnance, to kiss the hand of the corpse! we then talked a little to the ladies in attendance (with their crape trains), joking about the article of hand-kissing; finally we adjourned for coffee to count schuwalof's apartments, which were of an incredible magnificence." that same evening, farther on,-- "i supped with the czar in his petit appartement, private rooms [a fine free-and-easy nook of space!]. the company there consisted of the countess woronzow, a creature without any graces, bodily or mental, whom the czar had chosen for his mistress [snub-nosed, pock-marked, fat, and with a pert tongue at times], whom i liked the less, as there were one or two other very handsome women there. some courtiers too; and no foreigners but the english envoy and myself. the supper was very gay, and was prolonged late into the night. these late orgies, however, did not prevent his majesty from attending to business in good time next morning. he would appear unexpectedly, at an early hour, at the senate, at the synod [head consistory], making them stand to their duties,"--or pretend to do it. his majesty is not understood to have got much real work out of either of these governing bodies; the former, the senate, or secular one, which had fallen very torpid latterly, was, not long after this, suffered to die out altogether. peter himself was a violently pushing man, and never shrank from labor; always in a plunge of hurries, and of irregular hours. in his final time, people whispered, "the czar is killing himself; sits smoking, tippling, talking till in the morning; and is overhead in business again by !" czarina elizabeth's funeral, as seen by hordt (much abridged). "at in the morning all the bells in petersburg broke out; and tolled incessantly [day or month not hinted at,--nor worth seeking; grim darkness of universal frost perceptible enough; clangor of bells; and procession seemingly of miles long,--on this extremely high errand!]--minute-guns were fired from the moment the procession set out from the castle till it arrived at the citadel, a distance of two english miles and a half. planks were laid all the way; forming a sort of bridge through the streets, and over the ice of the neva. all the soldiers of the garrison were ranked in espalier on each side. three hundred grenadiers opened the march; after them, three hundred priests, in sacerdotal costume; walking two-and-two, singing hymns. all the crowns and orders, above mentioned by me, were carried by high dignitaries of the court, walking in single file, each a chamberlain behind him. hearse was followed by the czar, skirt of his black cloak held up by twelve chamberlains, each a lighted taper in the other hand. prince george of holstein [czar's uncle] came next, then holstein-beck [czar's cousin]. czarina catharine followed, also on foot, with a lighted taper; her cloak borne by all her ladies. three hundred grenadiers closed the procession. bells tolling, minute-guns firing, seas of people crowding."--thus the russians buried their czarina. day and its dusky frost-curtains sank; and bootes, looking down from the starry deeps, found one telluric anomaly forever hidden from him. she had left of unworn dresses, the richest procurable in nature (five a day her usual allowance, and never or seldom worn twice), " , and some hundreds." [hermann, v. .] hordt is of the new czarina catharine's evening parties. "the czarina received company every morning. she received everybody with great affability and grace. but notwithstanding her efforts to appear gay, one could perceive a deep background of sadness in her. she knew better than anybody the violent (ardente) character of her husband; and perhaps she then already foresaw what would come. she also had her circle every evening, and always asked the company to stay supper. one evening, when i was of her party, a confidential equerry of the czar came in, and whispered me that i had been searched for all over town, to come to supper at the countess's (that was the usual designation of the sultana,"--das fraulein, spelt in russian ways, is the more usual). "i begged to be excused for this time, being engaged to sup with the czarina, to whom i could not well state the reason for which i was to leave. the equerry had not gone long, when suddenly a great noise was heard, the two wings of the door were flung open, and the czar entered. he saluted politely the czarina and her circle; called me with that smiling and gracious air which he always had; took me by the arm, and said to the czarina: 'excuse me, madam, if to-night i carry off one of your guests; it is this prussian i had searched for all over the town.' the czarina laughed; i made her a deep bow, and went away with my conductor. next morning i went to the czarina; who, without mentioning what had passed last night, said smiling, 'come and sup with me always when there is nothing to prevent it.'" february st, hordt at zarskoe-zeloe. "on occasion of the czar's birthday [which gives us a date, for once], [michaelis, ii. : "peter born, st february, ."] there were great festivities, lasting a week. it began with a grand te deum, at which the czar was present, but not the czarina. she had, that morning, in obedience to her husband's will, decorated 'the countess' with the cordon of the order of st. catharine. she was now detained in her apartment 'by indisposition;' and did not leave it during the eight days the festivities lasted." this happened at the country palace, zarskoe-zeloe; and is a turning-point in poor peter's history. [hermann, p. .] from that day, his czarina saw that, by the medium of her peter, it was not she that would ever come to be autocrat; not she, but a pock-marked, unbeautiful person, with cordon of the order of st. catharine,--blessings on it! from that day the czarina sat brooding her wrongs and her perils,--wrongs done, very many, and now wrongs to be suffered, who can say how many! she perceives clearly that the czar is gone from her, fixedly sullen at her (not without cause);--and that siberia, or worse, is possible by and by. the czarina was helplessly wretched for some time; and by degrees entered on a plot;--assisted by princess dashkof (sister of the snub-nosed), by panin (our son's tutor, "a genuine son, i will swear, whatever the papa may think in his wild moments!"), by gregory orlof (one's present lover), and others of less mark;--and it ripened exquisitely within the next four months!-- hordt hears the praises of his king. "next day [nobody can guess what day] i dined at court. i sat opposite the czar, who talked of nothing but of his 'good friend the king of prussia.' he knew all the smallest details of his campaigns; all his military arrangements; the dress and strength of all his regiments; and he declared aloud that he would shortly put all his troops upon the same footing [which he did shortly, to the great disgust of his troops].--rising from table, the czar himself did me the honor to say, 'come to-morrow; dine with me en petit appartement [on the snug, where we often play high-jinks, and go to great lengths in liquor and tobacco]; i will show you something curious, which you will like.' i went at the accustomed hour; i found--lieutenant-general werner [hidden since his accident at colberg last winter, whom a beneficent czar has summoned again into the light of noon]! i made a great friendship with this distinguished general, who was a charming man; and went constantly about with him, till he left me here,"--czarish kindness letting werner home, and detaining me, to my regret. [hordt, i. - , .] the prussian treaties, first of peace (may th), with all our conquests flung back, and then of alliance, with yourself and ourselves, as it were, flung into the bargain,--were by no means so popular in petersburg as in berlin! from may th onwards, we can suppose peter to be, perhaps rather rapidly, on the declining hand. add the fatal element, "church in danger" (a czar privately apostate); his very guardsmen indignant at their tight-fitting prussian uniforms, and at their no less tight prussian drill (which the czar is uncommonly urgent with); and a czarina plot silently spreading on all sides, like subterranean mines filled with gunpowder!-- herr busching sees the catastrophe (friday, th july, ). "this being the day before peter-and-paul, which is a great holiday in petersburg, i drove out, between and in the morning, to visit the sick. on my way from the first house where i had called, i heard a distant noise like that of a rising thunder-storm, and asked my people what it was. they did not know; but it appeared to them like the shouting of a mob (volksgeschrei), and there were all sorts of rumors afloat. some said, 'the czar had suddenly resolved to get himself crowned at petersburg, before setting out for the war on denmark.' others said, 'he had named the czarina to be regent during his absence, and that she was to be crowned for this purpose.' these rumors were too silly: meanwhile the noise perceptibly drew nearer; and i ordered my coachman to proceed no farther, but to turn home. "on getting home, i called my wife; and told her, that something extraordinary was then going on, but that i could not learn what; that it appeared to me like some popular tumult, which was coming nearer to us every moment. we hurried to the corner room of our house; threw open the window, which looks to the church of st. mary of casan [where an act of thanksgiving has just been consummated, of a very peculiar kind!]--and we then saw, near this church, an innumerable crowd of people; dressed and half-dressed soldiers of the foot-regiments of the guards mixed with the populace. we perceived that the crowd pressed round a common two-seated hackney coach drawn by two horses; in which, after a few minutes, a lady dressed in black, and wearing the order of st. catharine, coming out of the church, took a seat. whereupon the church-bells began ringing, and the priests, with their assistants carrying crosses, got into procession, and walked before the coach. we now recognized that it was the czarina catharine saluting the multitude to right and left, as she fared along." [_beitrage,_ vi. : compare rulhiere, p. ; hermann, v. .] yes, doctor, that lady in black is the czarina; and has come a drive of twenty miles this morning; and done a great deal of business in town,--one day before the set time. in her remote apartment at peterhof, this morning, between and , she awoke to see alexei orlof, called oftener scarred orlof (lover gregory's brother), kneeling at her bedside, with the words, "madam, you must come: there is not a moment to lose!"--who, seeing her awake, vanished to get the vehicles ready. about , she, with the scarred and her maid and a valet or two, arrived at the guards' barracks here,--gregory orlof, and others concerned, waiting to receive her, in the fit temper for playing at sharps. she has spoken a little, wept a little, to the guards (still only half-dressed, many of them): "holy religion, russian empire thrown at the feet of prussia; my poor son to be disinherited: alack, ohoo!" whereupon the guards (their officers already gained by orlof) have indignantly blazed up into the fit hurra-hurra-ing:--and here, since about a.m., we have just been in the "church of st. mary of casan" ("oh, my friends, orthodox religion, first of all!") doing te-deums and the other divine offices, for the thrice-happy revolution and deliverance now vouchsafed us and you! and the herr doctor, under outburst of the chimes of st. mary, and of the jubilant soldieries and populations, sees the czarina saluting to right and left; and priests, with their assistants and crucifixes ("behold them, ye orthodox; is there anything equal to true religion?"), walking before her hackney coach. "on the one step of her coach," continues the herr doctor, "stood grigorei grigorjewitsh orlow," so he spells him, "and in front of it, with drawn sword, rode the field-marshal and hetman count kirila grigorjewitsh rasomowski, colonel of the ismailow guard. lieutenant-general (soon to be general-ordnance-master) villebois came galloping up; leapt from his horse under our windows, and placed himself on the other step of the coach. the procession passed before our house; going first to the new stone palace, then to the old wooden winter palace. common russians shouted mockingly up to us, 'your god [meaning the czar] is dead!' and others, 'he is gone; we will have no more of him!'"-- about this hour of the day, at oranienbaum (orange-tree, some twenty miles from here, and from peterhof guess ten or twelve), czar peter is drilling zealously his brave holsteiners ( , or more, "the flower of all my troops"); and has not, for hours after, the least inkling of all this. catharine had been across to visit him on wednesday, no farther back; and had kindled oranienbaum into opera, into illumination and what not. thursday (yesterday), czar and czarina met at some grandee's festivity, who lives between their two residences. this day the czar is appointed for peterhof; to-morrow, july th (peter-and-paul's grand holiday), czar, czarina and united court were to have done the festivities together there,--with czarina's powder-mine of plot laid under them; which latter has exploded one day sooner, in the present happy manner! the poor czar, this day, on getting to peterhof, and finding czarina vanished, understood too well; he saw "big smoke-clouds rise suddenly over petersburg region," withal,--"ha, she has cannon going for her yonder; salvoing and homaging!"--and rushed back to oranienbaum half mad. old munnich undertook to save him, by one, by two or even three different methods, "only order me, and stand up to it with sword bare!"--but peter's wits were all flying miscellaneously about, and he could resolve on nothing. peter and his czarina never met more. saturday (to-morrow), he abdicates; drives over to peterhof, expecting, as per bargain, interview with his wife; freedom to retire to holstein, and "every sort of kindness compatible with his situation:" but is met there instead, on the staircase, by brutal people, who tear the orders off his coat, at length the very clothes off his back,--and pack him away to ropscha, a quiet villa some miles off, to sit silent there till orlof and company have considered. consideration is: "to holstein? he has an anti-danish russian army just now in that neighborhood; he will not be safe in holstein;--where will he be safe?" saturday, th, peter's seventh day in ropscha, the orlofs (scarred orlof and four other miscreants, one of them a prince, one a play-actor) came over, and murdered poor peter, in a treacherous, and even bungling and disgusting, and altogether hideous manner. "a glass of burgundy [poisoned burgundy], your highness?" said they, at dinner with his poor highness. on the back of which, the burgundy having failed and been found out, came grappling and hauling, trampling, shrieking, and at last strangulation. surely the devil will reward such a five of his elect?--but we detain herr busching: it is still only friday morning, th of the month; and the czarina's hackney coach, in the manner of a comet and tail, has just gone into other streets:-- "after this terrible uproar had left our quarter, i hastened to the danish ambassador, count haxthausen, who lived near me, to bring him the important news that the czar was said to be dead. the count was just about to burn a mass of papers, fearing the mob would plunder his house; but he did not proceed with it now, and thanked heaven for saving his country. his secretary of legation, my friend schumacher, gave me all the money he had in his pockets, to distribute amongst the poor; and i returned home. directly after, there passed our house, at a rate as if the horses were running away, a common two-horse coach, in which sat head-tutor (ober-hofmeister) von panin with the grand duke [famous czar paul that is to be], who was still in his nightgown," poor frightened little boy!-- "not long after, i saw some of the foot-guards, in the public street near the winter palace, selling, at rates dog-cheap, their new uniforms after the prussian cut, which they had stript off; whilst others, singing merrily, carried about, stuck on the top of their muskets, or on their bayonets, their new grenadier caps of prussian fashion. [see in hermann (v. ) the saxon ambassador's report.] i saw several soldiers, out on errand or otherwise, seizing the coaches they met in the streets, and driving on in them. others appropriated the eatables which hucksters carried about in baskets. but in all this wild tumult, nobody was killed; and only at oranienbaum a few holstein soldiers got wounded by some low russians, in their wantonness. "july th, the disorder amongst the soldiers was at its height; yet still much less than might have been expected. many of them entered the houses of foreigners, and demanded money. seeing a number of them come into my house, i hastily put a quantity of roubles and half-roubles in my pocket, and went out with a servant, especially with a cheerful face, to meet them,"--and no harm was done. "saturday, july th, was the day of the czar's death; on the same th, the empress was informed of it; and next day, his body was brought from ropscha to the convent of st. alexander newski, near petersburg. here it lay in state three days; nay, an imperial manifesto even ordered that the last honors and duty be paid to it. july th, i drove thither with my wife; and to be able to view the body more minutely, we passed twice through the room where it lay. [an uncommonly broad neckcloth on it, did you observe?] owing to the rapid dissolution, it had to be interred on the following day:--and it was a touching circumstance, that this happened to be the very day on which the czar had fixed to start from petersburg on his campaign against denmark." [busching, vi. - .] catharine, one must own with a shudder, has not attained the autocracy of all the russias gratis. let us hope she would once--till driven upon a dire alternative--have herself shuddered to purchase at such a price. a kind of horror haunts one's notion of her red-handed brazen-faced orlofs and her, which all the cosmetics of the world will never quite cover. and yet, on the spot, in petersburg at the moment--! read this clipping from smelfungus, on a collateral topic:-- "in busching's magazine are some love-letters from the old marshal munnich to catharine just after this event, which are psychologically curious. love-letters, for they partake of that character; though the man is , and has had such breakages and vicissitudes in this earth. alive yet, it would seem; and full of ambitions. unspeakably beautiful is this young woman to him; radiant as ox-eyed juno, as diana of the silver bow,--such a power in her to gratify the avarices, ambitions, cupidities of an insatiable old fellow: o divine young empress, aurora of bright summer epochs, rosy-fingered daughter of the sun,--grant me the governing of this, the administering of that: and see what a thing i will make of it (i, an inventive old gentleman), for your majesty's honor and glory, and my own advantage! [busching, _magazin fur die neue historie und geographie_ (halle, year ), xvi. - ( letters, and only thrice or so a word of response from "ma divinite:" dates, "narva, th august, "... "petersburg, d october, ").]--innumerable persons of less note than munnich have their biographies, and are known to the reading public and in all barbers'-shops, if that were an advantage to them. very considerable, this munnich, as a soldier, for one thing. and surely had very strange adventures; an original german character withal:--about the stature of belleisle, for example; and not quite unlike belleisle in some of his ways? came originally from the swamps of oldenburg, or lower weser country,--son of a deichgrafe (ditch-superintendent) there. requiescant in oblivious silence, belleisle and he; it is better than being lied of, and maundered of, and blotched and blundered of. "biographies were once rhythmic, earnest as death or as life, earnest as transcendent human insight risen to the singing pitch; some homer, nay some psalmist or evangelist, spokesman of reverent populations, was the biographer. rhythmic, with exactitude, investigation to the very marrow; this, or else oblivion, biography should now, and at all times, be; but is not,--by any manner of means. with what results is visible enough, if you will look! human stupor, fallen into the dishonest, lazy and unflogged condition, is truly an awful thing." catharine did not persist in her anti-prussian determination. july th, the manifesto had been indignantly emphatic on prussia; july d, in a note to goltz from the czarina, it was all withdrawn again. [rodenbeck, ii. .] looking into the deceased czar's papers, she found that friedrich's letters to him had contained nothing of wrong or offensive; always excellent advices, on the contrary,--advice, among others, to be conciliatory to his clever-witted wife, and to make her his ally, not his opponent, in living and reigning. in konigsberg (july th, seven days after july th), the russian governor, just on the point of quitting, emitted proclamation, to everybody's horror: "no; altered, all that; under pain of death, your oath to russia still valid!" which for the next ten days, or till his new proclamation, made such a konigsberg of it as may be imagined. the sight of those letters is understood to have turned the scale; which had hung wavering till july d in the czarina's mind. "can it be good," she might privately think withal, "to begin our reign by kindling a foolish war again?" how friedrich received the news of july th, and into what a crisis it threw him, we shall soon see. his campaign had begun july st;--and has been summoning us home, into its horizon, for some time. chapter xi.--seventh campaign opens. freidrich's plan of campaign is settled long since: recapture schweidnitz; clear silesia of the enemy; silesia and all our own dominions clear, we can then stand fencible against the austrian perseverances. peace, one day, they must grant us. the general tide of european things is changed by these occurrences in petersburg and london. peace is evidently near. france and england are again beginning to negotiate; no pitt now to be rigorous. the tide of war has been wavering at its summit for two years past; and now, with this of russia, and this of bute instead of pitt, there is ebb everywhere, and all europe determining for peace. steady at the helm, as heretofore, a friedrich, with the world-current in his favor, may hope to get home after all. austrian head-quarters had been at waldenburg, under loudon or his lieutenants, all winter. loudon returned thither from vienna april th; but is not to command in chief, this year,--schweidnitz still sticking in some people's throats: "dangerous; a man with such rash practices, rapidities and pandour tendencies!" daun is to command in silesia; loudon, under him, obscure to us henceforth, and inoffensive to official people. reichs army shall take charge of saxony; nominally a reichs army, though there are , austrians in it, as the soul of it, under some serbelloni, some stollberg as chief--(the fact, i believe, is: serbelloni got angrily displaced on that "crossing of the mulda by prince henri, may th;" prince of zweibruck had angrily abdicated a year before; and a prince von stollberg is now generalissimo of reich and allies: but it is no kind of matter),--some stollberg, with serbelloni, haddick, maguire and such like in subaltern places. cunctator daun, in spite of his late sleepy ways, is to be head-man again: this surely is a cheering circumstance to friedrich; loudon, not daun, being the only man he ever got much ill of hitherto. daun arrives in waldenburg, may th; and to show that he is not cunctatory, steps out within a week after. may th, he has descended from his mountains; has swept round by the back and by the front of schweidnitz, far and wide, into the plain country, and encamped himself crescent-wise, many miles in length, head-quarter near the zobtenberg. bent fondly round schweidnitz; meaning, as is evident, to defend schweidnitz against all comers,--his very position symbolically intimating: "i will fight for it, prussian majesty, if you like!" prussian majesty, however, seemed to take no notice of him; and, what was very surprising, kept his old quarters: "a cantonment, or chain of posts, ten miles long; schweidnitz water on his right flank, oder on his left;" perfectly safe, as he perceives, being able to assemble in four hours, if daun try anything. [tempelhof, vi. .] and, in fact, sat there, and did not come into the field at all for five weeks or more;--waiting till czernichef's , arrive, who are on march from thorn since june d. mere small-war goes on in the interim; world getting all greener and flowerier; the glatz highlands, to one's left yonder (owl-mountains, eulengebirge so called), lying magically blue and mysterious:--on the plain in front of them, ten miles from the final peaks of them, is schweidnitz fortress, lying full in view, with a picked garrison of , under a picked captain, and all else of defence or impregnability; and friedrich privately determined to take it, though by methods of his own choosing, and which cannot commence till czernichef come. daun, with his right wing, has hold of those highland regions, and cautiously guards them; can, when he pleases, wend back to waldenburg country; and at once, with his superior numbers, block all passages, and sit there impregnable. the methods of dislodging him are obscure to friedrich himself; but methods there must be, dislodged he must be, and sent packing. without that, all siege of schweidnitz is flatly impossible. june th, friedrich's head-quarter is tintz, czernichef now nigh: [tempelhof, vi. .] two days ago (june th), czernichef's cossacks "crossed the oder at auras,"--with how different objects from those they used to have! july st, czernichef himself is here, in full tale and equipment. had encamped, a day ago, on the field of lissa; where majesty reviewed him, inspected and manoeuvred him, with great mutual satisfaction. "field of lissa;" it is where our poor prussian people encamped on the night of leuthen, with their "nun danket alle gott," five years ago, in memorable circumstances: to what various uses are earth's fields liable! friedrich, by degrees, has considerably changed his opinion, and bent towards the late keith's, about russian soldiery: a soldiery of most various kinds; from predatory cossacks and calmucks to those noble grenadiers, whom we saw sit down on the walls of schweidnitz when their work was done. a perfectly steady obedience is in these men; at any and all times obedient, to the death if needful, and with a silence, with a steadfastness as of rocks and gravitation. which is a superlative quality in soldiers. good in nations too, within limits; and much a distinction in the russian nation: rare, or almost unique, in these unruly times. the russians have privately had their admirations of friedrich, all this while; and called him by i forget what unpronounceable vernacular epithet, signifying "son of lightning," or some such thing. [buchholz, _neueste preussisch-brandenburgische geschichte_ ( ), vol ii. (page irrecoverable).] no doubt they are proud to have a stroke of service under such a one, since father peter feodorowitsh graciously orders it: the very cossacks show an alertness, a vivacity; and see cheery possibilities ahead, in countries not yet plundered out. they stayed with friedrich only three weeks,--russia being an uncertain country. as we have seen above; though friedrich, who is vitally concerned, has not yet seen! but their junction with him, and review by him in the field of lissa, had its uses by and by; and may be counted an epoch in russian history, if nothing more. the poor russian nation, most pitiable of loyal nations,--struggling patiently ahead, on those bad terms, under such catins and foul nightmares,--has it, shall we say, quite gone without conquest in this mad war? perhaps, not quite. it has at least shown europe that it possesses fighting qualities: a changed nation, since karl xii. beat them easily, at narva, , to , , in the snowy morning, long since!-- czernichef once come, and in his place in the camp of tintz, business instantly begins,--business, and a press of it, in right earnest;--upon the hitherto idle daun. july st, there is general complex advance everywhere on friedrich's part; general attempt towards the mountains. upon which daun, well awake, at once rolls universally thitherward again; takes post in front of the mountains,--on the heights of kunzendorf, to wit (loudon's old post in bunzelwitz time);-and elaborately spreads himself out in defence there. "take him multifariously by the left flank, get between him and his magazine at braunau!" thinks friedrich. discovering which, daun straightway hitches back into the mountains altogether, leaving kunzendorf to friedrich's use as main camp. his outmost austrians, on the edge of the mountain country, and back as far as suitable, daun elaborately posts; and intrenches himself behind them in all the commanding points,--schweidnitz still well in sight; and braunau and the roads to it well capable of being guarded. daun's head-quarter is tannhausen; burkersdorf, ludwigsdorf, if readers can remember them, are frontward posts:--in his old imperturbable way daun sits there waiting events. and for near three weeks there ensues a very multiplex series of rapid movements, and alarming demonstrations, on daun's front, on daun's right flank; with serious extensive effort (masked in that way) to turn daun's left flank, and push round by landshut country upon bohemia and braunau. effort very serious indeed on that landshut side: conducted at first by friedrich in person, with general wied (called also neuwied, a man of mark since liegnitz time) as second under him; latterly by wied himself, as friedrich found it growing dubious or hopeless. that was friedrich's first notion of the daun problem. there are rapid marches here, there, round that western or left flank of daun; sudden spurts of fierce fighting, oftenest with a stiff climb as preliminary: but not the least real success on daun. daun perfectly comprehends what is on foot; refuses to take shine for substance; stands massed, or grouped, at his own skilful judgment, in the proper points for braunau, still more for schweidnitz; and is very vigilant and imperturbable. kunzendorf heights, which are not of the hills, but in front of them, with a strip of flat still intervening;--these, we said, daun had at once quitted: and these are now friedrich's;--but yield him a very complex prospect at present. a line of opposing heights, burkersdorf, ludwigsdorf, leuthmannsdorf, bristling with abundant cannon; behind is the multiplex sea of hills, rising higher and higher, to the ridge of the eulenberg in glatz country or miles southward: daun, with forces much superior, calmly lord of all that; infinitely needing to be ousted, could one but say how! friedrich begins to perceive that braunau will not do; that he must contrive some other plan. general wied he still leaves to prosecute the braunau scheme: perhaps there is still some chance in it; at lowest it will keep daun's attention thitherward. and wied perseveres upon braunau; and braunau proving impossible, pushes past it deeper into bohemia, daun loftily regardless of him. wied's marches and attempts were of approved quality; though unsuccessful in the way of stirring daun. wied's light troops went scouring almost as far as prag,--especially a cossacks that were with him, following their old fashion, in a new country. to the horror of austria; who shrieked loudly, feeling them in her own bowels; though so quiet while they were in other people's on her score. this of the cossacks under wied, if this were anything, was all of actual work that friedrich had from his czernichef allies;--nothing more of real or actual while they stayed, though something of imaginary or ostensible which had its importance, as we shall see. friedrich, in the third week, recalls wied: "braunau clearly impossible; only let us still keep up appearances!" july th, wied is in kunzendorf country again; on an important new enterprise, or method with the daun problem, in which wied is to bear a principal hand. that is to say, the discomfiture and overturn of daun's right wing, if we can,--since his left has proved impossible. this was the storming of burkersdorf heights; friedrich's new plan. which did prove successful, and is still famous in the annals of war: reckoned by all judges a beautiful plan, beautifully executed, and once more a wonderful achieving of what seemed the impossible, when it had become the indispensable. one of friedrich's prettiest feats; and the last of his notable performances in this war. readers ought not to be left without some shadowy authentic notion of it; though the real portraiture or image (which is achievable too, after long study) is for the professional soldier only,--for whom tempelhof, good maps and plenty of patience are the recipe. "the scene is the wall of heights, running east and west, parallel to friedrich's position at kunzendorf; which form the face, or decisive beginning, of that mountain glacis spreading up ten miles farther, towards glatz country. they, these heights called of burkersdorf, are in effect daun's right wing; vitally precious to daun, who has taken every pains about them. burkersdorf height (or heights, for there are two, divided by the brook weistritz; but we shall neglect the eastern or lower, which is ruled by the other, and stands or falls along with it), burkersdorf height is the principal: a hill of some magnitude (short way south of the village of burkersdorf, which also is daun's); hill falling rather steep down, on two of its sides, namely on the north side, which is towards friedrich and kunzendorf, and on the east side, where weistritz water, as yet only a brook, gushes out from the mountains,--hastening towards schweidnitz or schweidnitz water; towards lissa and leuthen country, where we have seen it on an important night. weistritz, at this part, has scarped the eastern flank of burkersdorf height; and made for itself a pleasant little valley there: this is the one pass into the mountains. a valley of level bottom; where daun has a terrific trench and sunk battery level with the ground, capable of sweeping to destruction whoever enters there without leave. "east from burkersdorf lesser height (which we neglect for the present), and a little farther inwards or south, are two other heights: ludwigsdorf and leuthmannsdorf; which also need capture, as adjuncts of burkersdorf, or second line to burkersdorf; and are abundantly difficult, though not so steep as burkersdorf. "the enterprise, therefore, divides itself into two. wied is to do the ludwigsdorf-leuthmannsdorf part; mollendorf, the burkersdorf. the strength of guns in these places, especially on burkersdorf,--we know daun's habit in that particular; and need say nothing. man-devouring batteries, abatis; battalions palisaded to the teeth, 'the pales strong as masts, and room only for a musket-barrel between;' nay, they are 'furnished with a lath or cross-strap all along, for resting your gun-barrel on and taking aim:'--so careful is daun. the ground itself is intricate, in parts impracticably steep; everywhere full of bushes, gnarls and impediments. seldom was there such a problem altogether! friedrich's position, as we say, is kunzendorf heights, with schweidnitz and his old ground of bunzelwitz to rear, czernichef and others lying there, and wurben and the old villages and heights again occupied as posts:--what a tale of egyptian bricks has one to bake, your majesty, on certain fields of this world; and with such insufficiency of raw-material sometimes!" by the th of july, friedrich's plans are complete. contrived, i must say, with a veracity and opulent potency of intellect, flashing clear into the matter, and yet careful of the smallest practical detail. friday, th, mollendorf, with men and furnitures complete, circles off northwestward by wurben (for the benefit of certain on-lookers), but will have circled round to burkersdorf neighborhood two days hence; by which time also wied will be quietly in his place thereabouts, with a view to business on the th and st. mollendorf, wied and everything, are prosperously under way in this manner,--when, on the afternoon of that same friday, th, [compare tempelhof, vi. , and rodenbeck, ii. .] czernichef steps over, most privately, to head-quarters: with what a bit of news! "a revolution in petersburg [july th, as we saw above, or as herr busching saw]; czar peter,--your majesty's adorer, is dethroned, perhaps murdered; your majesty's enemies, in the name of czarina catharine, order me instantly homeward with my , !" this is true news, this of czernichef. a most unexpected, overwhelming revolution in those northern parts;--not needing to be farther touched upon in this place. what here concerns us is, friedrich's feelings on hearing of it; which no reader can now imagine. horror, amazement, pity, very poignant; grief for one's hapless friend peter, for one's still more hapless self! "the sisyphus stone, which we had got dragged to the top, the chains all beautifully slack these three months past,--has it leapt away again? and on the eve of burkersdorf, and our grand daun problem!" truly, the destinies have been quite dramatic with this king, and have contrived the moment of hitting him to the heart. he passionately entreats czernichef to be helpful to him,--which czernichef would fain be, only how can he? to be helpful; at least to keep the matter absolutely secret yet for some hours: this the obliging czernichef will do. and friedrich remains, czernichef having promised this, in the throes of desperate consideration and uncertainty, hour after hour,--how many hours i do not know. it is confidently said, [retzow, ii. .] friedrich had the thought of forcibly disarming czernichef and his , :--in which case he must have given up the daun enterprise; for without czernichef as a positive quantity, much more with czernichef as a negative, it is impossible. but, at any rate, most luckily for himself, he came upon a milder thought: "stay with us yet three days, merely in the semblance of allies, no service required of you, but keeping the matter a dead secret;--on the fourth day go, with my eternal thanks!" this is his milder proposal; urged with his best efforts upon the obliging czernichef: who is in huge difficulty, and sees it to be at peril of his head, but generously consents. it is the same czernichef who got lodged in custrin cellars, on one occasion: know, o king,--the king, before this, does begin to know,--that russians too can have something of heroic, and can recognize a hero when they see him! in this fine way does friedrich get the frightful chasm, or sudden gap of the ground under him, bridged over for the moment; and proceeds upon burkersdorf all the same. of the attack itself we propose to say almost nothing. it consists of two parts, wied and mollendorf, which are intensely real; and of a great many more which are scenic chiefly,--some of them scenic to the degree of drury-lane itself, as we perceive;--all cunningly devised, and beautifully playing into one another, both the real and the scenic. evening of the th, friedrich is on his ground, according to program. friedrich--who has now his mollendorf and wied beside him again, near this village of burkersdorf; and has his completely scenic czernichef, and partly scenic ziethen and others, all in their places behind him--quietly crushes daun's people out of burkersdorf village; and furthermore, so soon as night has fallen, bursts up, for his own uses, burkersdorf old castle, and its obstinate handful of defenders, which was a noisier process. which done, he diligently sets to trenching, building batteries in that part; will have forty formidable guns, howitzers a good few of them, ready before sunrise. and so, wednesday, st july, , all prussians are in motion, far and wide; especially mollendorf and wied (versus o'kelly and prince de ligne),--which pair of prussians may be defined rather as near and close; these two being, in fact, the soul of the matter, and all else garniture and semblance. about in the morning, friedrich's battery of has begun raging; the howitzers diligent upon o'kelly and his burkersdorf height,--not much hurting o'kelly or his height, so high was it, but making a prodigious noise upon o'kelly;--others of the cannon shearing home on those palisades and elaborations, in the weistritz valley in particular, and quite tearing up a cavalry regiment which was drawn out there; so that o'kelly had instantly to call it home, in a very wrecked condition. why o'kelly ever put it there--except that he saw no place for it in his rugged localities, or no use for it anywhere--is still a mystery to the intelligent mind. [tempelhof, vi. .] the howitzers, their shells bursting mostly in the air, did o'kelly little hurt, nor for hours yet was there any real attack on burkersdorf or him; but the noise, the horrid death-blaze was prodigious, and kept o'kelly, like some others, in an agitated, occupied condition till their own turn came. for it had been ordered that wied and mollendorf were not to attack together: not together, but successively,--for the following reasons. together; suppose mollendorf to prosper on o'kelly (whom he is to storm, not by the steep front part as o'kelly fancies, but to go round by the western flank and take him in rear); suppose mollendorf to be near prospering on burkersdorf height,--unless wied too have prospered, ludwigsdorf batteries and forces will have mollendorf by the right flank, and between two fires he will be ruined; he and everything! on the other hand, let wied try first: if wied can manage ludwigsdorf, well: if wied cannot, he comes home again with small damage; and the whole enterprise is off for the present. that was friedrich's wise arrangement, and the reason why he so bombards o'kelly with thunder, blank mostly. and indeed, from this morning and till in the afternoon, there is such an outburst and blazing series of scenic effect, and thunder mostly blank, going on far and near all over that district of country: general this ostentatiously speeding off, as if for attack on some important place; general that, for attack on some other; all hands busy,--the , russians not yet speeding, but seemingly just about to do it,--and blank thunder so mixed with not blank, and scenic effect with bitter reality, [tempelhof, vi. - .]--as was seldom seen before. and no wisest daun, not to speak of his o'kellys and lieutenants, can, for the life of him, say where the real attack is to be, or on what hand to turn himself. daun in person, i believe, is still at tannhausen, near the centre of this astonishing scene; five or six miles from any practical part of it. and does order forward, hither, thither, masses of force to support the de ligne, the o'kelly, among others,--but who can tell what to support? daun's lieutenants were alert some of them, others less: general guasco, for instance, who is in schweidnitz, an alert commandant, with , picked men, was drawing out, of his own will, with certain regiments to try friedrich's rear: but a check was put on him (some dangerous shake of the fist from afar), when he had to draw in again. in general the o'kelly supports sat gazing dubiously, and did nothing for o'kelly but roll back along with him, when the time came. but let us first attend to wied, and the ludwigsdorf-leuthmannsdorf part. wied, divided into three, is diligently pushing up on ludwigsdorf by the slacker eastern ascents; meets firm enough battalions, potent, dangerous and resolute in their strong posts; but endeavors firmly to be more dangerous than they. dislodges everything, on his right, on his left; comes in sight of the batteries and ranked masses atop, which seem to him difficult indeed; flatly impossible, if tried on front; but always some colonel lottum, or quick-eyed man, finds some little valley, little hollow; gets at the enemy side-wise and rear-wise; rushes on with fixed bayonets, double-quick, to co-operate with the front: and, on the whole, there are the best news from wied, and we perceive he sees his way through the affair. upon which, mollendorf gets in motion, upon his specific errand. mollendorf has been surveying his ground a little, during the leisure hour; especially examining what mode of passage there may be, and looking for some road up those slacker western parts: has found no road, but a kind of sheep track, which he thinks will do. mollendorf, with all energy, surmounting many difficulties, pushes up accordingly; gets into his sheep-track; finds, in the steeper part of this track, that horses cannot draw his cannon; sets his men to do it; pulls and pushes, he and they, with a right will;--sees over his left shoulder, at a certain point, the ranked austrians waiting for him behind their cannon (which must have been an interesting glimpse of scenery for some moments); tugs along, till he is at a point for planting his cannon; and then, under help of these, rushes forward,--in two parts, perhaps in three, but with one impetus in all,--to seize the austrian fruit set before him. surely, if a precious, a very prickly pomegranate, to clutch hold of on different sides, after such a climb! the austrians make stiff fight; have abatis, multiplex defences; and mollendorf has a furious wrestle with this last remnant, holding out wonderfully,--till at length the abatis itself catches fire, in the musketry, and they have to surrender. this must be about noon, as i collect: and feldmarschall daun himself now orders everybody to fall back. and the tug of fight is over;--though friedrich's scenic effects did not cease; and in particular his big battery raged till in the afternoon, the more to confirm daun's rearward resolutions and quicken his motions. on fall of night, daun, everybody having had his orders, and been making his preparations for six hours past, ebbed totally away; in perfect order, bag and baggage. well away to southward; and left friedrich quit of him. [tempelhof. vi. - : compare _bericht von der bey leutmannsdorf den sten julius vorgefallenen action_ (seyfarth, _beylagen,_ iii. - ); _anderweiter bericht von der &c._ (ib. - ); archenholtz, &c. &c.] quit of daun forevermore, as it turned out. plainly free, at any rate, to begin upon schweidnitz, whenever he sees good. of the behavior of wied, mollendorf, and their people, indeed of the prussians one and all, what can be said, but that it was worthy of their captain and of the plannings he had made? which is saying a great deal. "we got above big guns," report they; "above , prisoners, and perhaps twice as many that deserted to us in the days following." czernichef was full of admiration at the day's work: he marched early next morning,--i trust with lasting gratitude on the part of an obliged friedrich. some three weeks before this of burkersdorf, duke ferdinand, near a place called wilhelmsthal, in the neighborhood of cassel, in woody broken country of hill and dale, favorable for strategic contrivances, had organized a beautiful movement from many sides, hoping to overwhelm the too careless or too ignorant french, and gain a signal victory over them: battle, so called, of wilhelmsthal, june th, , being the result. mauvillon never can forgive a certain stupid hanoverian, who mistook his orders; and on getting to his hill-top, which was the centre of all the rest,--formed himself with his back to the point of attack; and began shooting cannon at next to nothing, as if to warn the french, that they had better instantly make off! which they instantly set about, with a will; and mainly succeeded in; nothing all day but mazes of intricate marching on both sides, with spurts of fight here and there,--ending in a truly stiff bout between granby and a comte de stainville, who covered the retreat, and who could not be beaten without a great deal of trouble. the result a kind of victory to ferdinand; but nothing like what he expected. [mauvillon, ii. - ; tempelhof, vi. &c. &c.] soubise leads the french this final year; but he has a d'estrees with him (our old d'estrees of hastenbeck), who much helps the account current; and though generally on the declining hand (obliged to give up gottingen, to edge away farther and farther out of hessen itself, to give up the weser, and see no shift but the farther side of fulda, with frankfurt to rear),--is not often caught napping as here at wilhelmsthal. there ensued about the banks of the fulda, and the question, shall we be driven across it sooner or not so soon? a great deal of fighting and pushing (battle called of lutternberg, battle of johannisberg, and others): but all readers will look forward rather to the cannonade of amoneburg, more precisely cannonade of the brucken-muhle (september lst), which finishes these wearisome death-wrestlings. peace is coming; all the world can now count on that! bute is ravenous for peace; has been privately taking the most unheard-of steps:--wrote to kaunitz, "peace at once and we will vote for your having silesia;" to which kaunitz, suspecting trickery in artless bute, answered, haughtily sneering, "no help needed from your lordship in that matter!" after which repulse, or before it, bute had applied to the czar's minister in london: "czarish majesty to have east preussen guaranteed to him, if he will insist that the king of prussia dispense with silesia;" which the indignant czar rejected with scorn, and at once made his royal friend aware of; with what emotion on the royal friend's part we have transiently seen. "horrors and perfidies!" ejaculated he, in our hearing lately; and regarded bute, from that time, as a knave and an imbecile both in one; nor ever quite forgave bute's nation either, which was far from being bute's accomplice in this unheard-of procedure. "no more alliances with england!" counted he: "what alliance can there be with that ever-fluctuating people? to-day they have a thrice-noble pitt; to-morrow a thrice-paltry bute, and all goes heels-over-head on the sudden!" [preuss, ii. ; mitchell, ii. .] bute, at this rate of going, will manage to get hold of peace before long. to friedrich himself, a siege of schweidnitz is now free; schweidnitz his, the austrians will have to quit silesia. "their cash is out: except prayer to the virgin, what but peace can they attempt farther? in saxony things will have gone ill, if there be not enough left us to offer them in return for glatz. and peace and as-you-were must ensue!" let us go upon schweidnitz, therefore; pausing on none of these subsidiary things; and be brief upon schweidnitz too. chapter xii.--siege of schweidnitz: seventh campaign ends. daun being now cleared away, friedrich instantly proceeds upon schweidnitz. orders the necessary siege materials to get under way from neisse; posts his army in the proper places, between daun and the fortress,--king's head-quarter dittmannsdorf, army spread in fine large crescent-shape, to southwest of schweidnitz some ten miles, and as far between daun and it;--orders home to him his upper-silesia detachments, "home, all of you, by neisse country, to make up for czernichef's departure; from neisse onwards you can guard the siege-ammunition wagons!" naturally he has blockaded schweidnitz, from the first; he names tauentzien siege-captain, with a or , to do the siege: "ahead, all of you!"--and in short, august th, with the due adroitness and precautions, opens his first parallel; suffering little or nothing hitherto by a resistance which is rather vehement. [tempelhof, vi. .] he expects to have the place in a couple of weeks--"one week (huit jour)" he sometimes counts it, but was far out in his reckoning as to time. the siege of schweidnitz occupied two most laborious, tedious months;--and would be wearisome to every reader now, as it was to friedrich then, did we venture on more than the briefest outline. the resistance is vehement, very skilful:--commandant is guasco (the same who was so truculent to schmettau in the dresden time); his garrison is near , , picked from all regiments of the austrian army; his provisions, ammunitions, are of the amplest; and he has under him as chief engineer a m. gribeauval, who understands "counter-mining" like no other. after about a fortnight of trial, and one event in the neighborhood which shall be mentioned, this of mining and counter-mining--though the external sap went restlessly forward too, and the cannonading was incessant on both sides--came to be regarded more and more as the real method, and for six or seven weeks longer was persisted in, with wonderful tenacity of attempt and resistance. friedrich's chief mining engineer is also a frenchman, one lefebvre; who is personally the rival of gribeauval (his old class-fellow at college, i almost think); but is not his equal in subterranean work,--or perhaps rather has the harder task of it, that of mining, instead of counter-mining, or spoiling mines. tempelhof's account of these two people, and their underground wrestle here, is really curious reading;--clear as daylight to those that will study, but of endless expansion (as usual in tempelhof), and fit only to be indicated here. [tempelhof, vi. - ; _bericht und tagebuch von der belagerung von schweidnitz vom ten august bis october, _ (seyfarth, _beylagen,_ iii. - ); archenholtz, retzow, &c.] the external event i promised to mention is an attempt on daun's part (august th) to break in upon friedrich's position, and interrupt the siege, or render it still impossible. event called the battle of reichenbach, though there was not much of battle in it;--in which our old friend the duke of brunswick-bevern (whom we have seen in abeyance, and merely a garrison commandant, for years back, till the russians left stettin to itself) again played a shining part. daun--at tannhausen, miles to southwest of friedrich, and spread out among the hills, with loudons, lacys, becks, as lieutenants, and in plenty of force, could he resolve on using it--has at last, after a month's meditation, hit upon a plan. plan of flowing round by the southern skirt of friedrich, and seizing certain heights to the southeastern or open side of schweidnitz,--koltschen height the key one; from which he may spread up at will, height after height, to the very zobtenberg on that eastern side, and render schweidnitz an impossibility. the plan, people say, was good; but required rapidity of execution,--a thing daun is not strong in. bevern's behavior, too, upon whom the edge of the matter fell, was very good. bevern, coming on from neisse and upper silesia, had been much manoeuvred upon for various days by beck; beck, a dangerous, alert man, doing his utmost to seize post after post, and bar bevern's way,--meaning especially, as ultimate thing, to get hold of a height called fischerberg, which lies near reichenbach (in the southern schweidnitz vicinities), and is preface to koltschen height and to the whole enterprise of daun. in most of which attempts, especially in this last, bevern, with great merit, not of dexterity alone (for the king's orders had often to be disobeyed in the letter, and only the spirit of them held in view), contrived to outmanoeuvre beck; and be found (august th) already firm on the fischerberg, when beck, in full confidence, came marching towards it. "the fischerberg lost to us!" beck had to report, in disappointment. "must be recovered, and my grand enterprise no longer put off!" thinks daun to himself, in still more disappointment ("laggard that i am!").--and on the third day following, the battle of reichenbach ensued. lacy, as chief, with abundant force, and beck and brentano under him: these are to march, "recover me that fischerberg; it is the preface to koltschen and all else!" [tempelhof, vi. .] monday, august th, pretty early in the day, lacy, with his becks and brentanos, appeared in great force on the western side of fischerberg; planted themselves there, about the three villages of peilau (upper, nether and middle peilau, a little way to south of reichenbach), within cannon-shot of bevern; their purpose abundantly clear. behind them, in the gorges of the mountains, what is not so clear, lay daun and most of his army; intending to push through at once upon koltschen and seize the key, were this of fischerberg had. lacy, after reconnoitring a little, spreads his tents (which it is observable beck does not); and all austrians proceed to cooking their dinner. "nothing coming of them till to-morrow!" said friedrich, who was here; and went his way home, on this symptom of the austrian procedures;--hardly consenting to regard them farther, even when he heard their cannonade begin. lacy, the general composure being thus established, and dinner well done, suddenly drew out about five in the evening, in long strong line, before these hamlets of peilau, on the western side of the fischerberg; beck privately pushing round by woods to take it on the eastern side: and there ensued abundant cannonading on the part of lacy and brentano, and some idle flourishing about of horse, responded to by bevern; and, on the part of lacy and brentano, nothing else whatever. more like a theatre fight than a real one, says tempelhof. beck, however, is in earnest; has a most difficult march through the tangled pathless woods; does arrive at length, and begin real fighting, very sharp for some time; which might have been productive, had lacy given the least help to it, as he did not. [tempelhof, vi. - .] beck did his fieriest; but got repulsed everywhere. beck tries in various places; finds swamps, impediments, fierce resistance from the bevern people;--finds, at length, that the king is awake, and that reinforcements, horse, foot, riding-artillery, are coming in at the gallop; and that he, beck, cannot too soon get away. none of the king's foot people could get in for a stroke, though they came mostly running (distance five miles); but the horse-charges were beautifully impressive on lacy's theatrical performers, as was the horse-artillery to a still more surprising degree; and produced an immediate exeunt omnes on the lacy part. all off; about p.m.,--sun just going down in the autumn sky;--and the battle of reichenbach a thing finished. seeing which, daun also immediately withdrew, through the gorges of the mountains again. and for seven weeks thenceforth sat contemplative, without the least farther attempt at relief of schweidnitz. it was during those seven weeks, some time after this, that poor madam daun, going to a levee at schonbrunn one day, had her carriage half filled with symbolical nightcaps, successively flung in upon her by the vienna people;--symbolical; in lieu of slashing articles, and newspapers the best instructors, which they as yet have not. next day the joy-fire of the prussians taught guasco what disaster had happened; and on the fifth day afterwards (august d), hearing nothing farther of daun, guasco offered to surrender, on the principle of free withdrawal. "no, never," answered tauentzien, by the king's order: "as prisoners of war it must be!" upon which guasco stood to his defences again; and maintained himself,--gribeauval and he did,--with an admirable obstinacy: the details of which would be very wearisome to readers. gribeauval and he, i said; for from this time, engineer lefebvre, though he tried (with bad skill, thinks tempelhof) some bits of assault above ground, took mainly to mining, and a grand underground invention called globes de compression; which he reckoned to be the real sovereign method,--unlucky that he was! i may at least explain what globe de compression is; for it becomes famous on this occasion, and no name could be less descriptive of the thing. not a globe at all, for that matter, nor intended to "compress," but to express, and shatter to pieces in a transcendent degree: it is, in fact, a huge cubical mine-chamber, filled by a wooden box (till friedrich, in his hurry, taught lefebvre that a sack would do as well), loaded with, say, five thousand-weight of powder. sufficient to blow any horn-work, bastion, bulwark, into the air,--provided you plant it in the right place; which poor lefebre never can. he tried, with immense labor, successively some four or almost five of these "press balls" so called (or volcanoes in little); mining on, many yards, or feet underground (tormented by gribeauval all the way); then at last, exploding his five thousand-weight,--would produce a "funnel," or crater, of perhaps " yards in diameter," but, alas, " yards off any bastion." funnel of no use to him;--mere sign to him that he must go down into it, and begin there again; with better aim, if possible. and then gribeauval's tormentings; never were the like! gribeauval has, all round under the glacis, mine-galleries, or main-roads for counter-mining, ready to his hand (mine-galleries built by friedrich while lately proprietor); there gribeauval is hearkening the beat of lefebvre's picks: "ten yards from us, think you? six yards? get a hundredweight of chamber ready for him!" and will, at the right moment, blow lefebvre's gallery about his ears;--sometimes bursts in upon him bodily with pistol and cutlass, or still worse, with explosive sulphur-balls, choke-pots and infinitudes of mal-odor instantaneously developed on lefebvre,--which mean withal, "you will have to begin again, monsieur!" enough to drive a lefebvre out of his wits. twice, or oftener, lefebvre, a zealous creature but a thin-skinned, flew out into open paroxysm; wept, invoked the gods, threatened suicide: so that friedrich had to console him, "courage, you will manage it; make chicanes on gribeauval, as he does on you,"--and suggested that powder-sack instead of deal-box, which we just mentioned. friedrich's patience seems to have been great; but in the end he began to think the time long. he was in three successive head-quarters, dittmannsdorf, peterswaldau, bogendorf, nearer and nearer; at length quite near (bogendorf within a couple of miles); and wondering gazetteers reported him on horseback, examining minutely the parallels and siege-works,--with a singular indifference to the cannon-balls flying about ("not easy to hit a small object with cannon!"), and intent only on giving tauentzien suggestions, admonitions and new orders. here, prior to bogendorf, are three snatches of writing, which successively have indications for us. king to prince henri:-- peterswaldau, august th, (king has just shifted hither, august th, on the bevern-reichenbach score; continues here till september d).... "you are right to say, 'we ourselves are our best allies.' i am of the same opinion; nevertheless, it is a clear duty and call of prudence to try and alleviate the burden as much as possible: and i own to you, that if, after all i have written, the thing fails this time [as it does], i shall be obliged to grant map goes here--facing page , chap xii, book ---- that there is nothing to be made of those turks."--"we are now in the press of our crisis as to schweidnitz. the siege advances beautifully: but beck is come hereabouts, lacy masked behind him; and i cannot yet tell you [not till reichenbach and the th] whether the enemy intends some big adventure for disengaging schweidnitz, or will content himself with disturbing and annoying us." peterswaldau, th september. springs, water-threads coming into our mines delay us a little: "by the th [in days' time, little thinking it would be days!] i still hope to despatch you a courier with the news, all is over! your nephew [prince of prussia] is out to-day assisting in a forage; he begins to kindle into fine action. we are nothing but pygmies in comparison to him [in point of physical stature]; imagine to yourself prince franz [of brunswick; killed, poor fellow, at hochkirch], only taller still: this is the figure of him at present." peterswaldau, september th.... "our siege wearies all the world; people persecute me to know the end of it; i never get a berlin letter without something on that head;--and i have no resource myself but patience. we do all we can: but i cannot hinder the enemy from defending himself, and gribeauval from being a clever fellow:--soon, however, surely soon, soon, we shall see the end. our weather here is like december; the seasons are as mad as the politics of europe. finally, my dear brother, one must shove time on; day follows day, and at last we shall catch the one that ends our labors. adieu; je vous embrasse." [schoning, iii. , , .]--here farther, from the siege-ground itself, are some traceries, scratchings by a sure hand, which yield us something of image. date is still only "before schweidnitz," far on in the eighth week:-- september d. "this morning, before , the king [direct from peterswaldau, where he has been lodging hitherto,--must have breakfasted rather early] came into the lines here:--his quarter is now to be at bogendorf near hand, in a farm house there. the prince of prussia was riding with him, and lieutenant-colonel von anhalt [the adjutant whom we have heard of]: he looked at the battery" lately ordered by him; "looked at many things; rode along, a good yards inside of the vedettes; so that the enemy noticed him, and fired violently,"--king decidedly ignoring. "to captain beauvrye [captain of the miners] he paid a gracious compliment; major lefebvre he rallied a little for losing heart, for bungling his business; but was not angry with him, consoled him rather; bantered him on the shabbiness of his equipments, and made him a gift of thalers ( pounds), to improve them. lefebvre, tauentzien and" another general "dined with him at bogendorf to-day." ["captain gotz's note-book" (a conspicuous captain here, note-book still in manuscript, i think): cited in schoning, iii. et seq.] september th, early. "the king on horseback viewed the trenches, rode close behind the first parallel, along the mid-most communication-line: the enemy cannonaded at us horribly (erschrecklich); a ball struck down the page von pirch's horse [pirch lay writhing, making moan,--plainly overmuch, thought the king]: on pirch's accident, too, the prince of prussia's horse made a wild plunge, and pitched its rider aloft out of the saddle; people thought the prince was shot, and everybody was in horror: great was the commotion; only the king was heard calling with a clear voice, 'pirch, vergiss er seinen sattel nicht,--pirch, bring your saddle with you!'" this of pirch and the saddle is an anecdote in wide circulation; taken sometimes as a proof of royal thrift; but is mainly the royal mode of rebuking pirch for his weak behavior in the accident that had befallen. pirch, an ingenious handy kind of fellow, famed for his pranks and trickeries in those page-days, had many adventures in the world;--was, for one while, something of a notability among the french; will "teach you the prussian mode of drill," and actually got leave to try it "on the german regiments in our service:" [voltaire's wondering report of him ("ferney, th december, "), and friedrich's quiet answer ("berlin, th dec. "): in _oeuvres de frederic,_ xxiii. , . rodenbeck (ii. - ) has a slight "biography" of pirch.]--died, finally, as colonel of one of these, at the siege of gibraltar, in . september th. "morning and noon, each time two hours, the king was in his new batteries; and, with great satisfaction, watched the working of them. this day there dined with him the prince of bernburg [general of brigade here], tauentzien, lefebvre and dieskau" (head of the artillery). the king is always riding about; has now, virtually, taken charge of the siege himself. "in bogendorf, the first night, he dismissed the guard sent for him; would have nothing there but six chasers (jager):" an alarming case! "after a night or two, there came always, without his knowledge, a dragoon party of horse; took post behind bogendorf church, patrolled towards kunzendorf, giesdorf, and had three pickets." september th. "gribeauval has sprung a mine last night;" totally blown up lefebvre again! "engineer-lieutenants gerhard and von kleist were wounded by our own people; captain guyon was shot:" things all going wrong,--weather, i suspect also, bad. "the king was in dreadful humor (sehr ungnadig); rated and rebuked to right and left: 'if it should last till january, the attack must go on. nobody seems to be able for his business; lefebvre a blockhead (dummer teufel), who knows nothing of mining: the generals, too, where are they? every general henceforth is to take his place in the third parallel, at the head of his covering-party [most exposed place of all], and stay his whole twenty-four hours there [prince of anhalt-bernburg is covering-party today; i hope, in his post during this thunder!]: taken the place can and must be! we have the misfortune, that a stupid engineer who knows nothing of his art has the direction; and a general without sense in sieging has the command. everybody is at a non plus, it appears! not all our artillery can silence that front-fire; not in a single place can thirty stupid miners get into the fort.' to-day and yesterday the king spoke neither to general tauentzien nor to major lefebvre; lieutenant-colonel von anhalt had to give all the orders." an electric kind of day! the weather is becoming wet. in fact, there ensue whole weeks of rain,--the trenches swimming, service very hard. guasco's guns are many of them dismounted; no daun to be heard of. guasco again and again proposes modified capitulations; answer always, "prisoners of war on the common terms." guasco is wearing low: october th (lefebvre sweating and puffing at his last globe of expression, hoping to hit the mark this last time), an accidental grenade from tauentzien, above ground, rolled into one of guasco's powder-vaults; blew it, and a good space of wall along with it, into wreck; two days after which, guasco had finished his capitulating;--and we get done with this wearisome affair. [tempelhof, vi. - ; _tagebuch von der belagerung von schweidnitz vom ten august bis ten october, _ (seyfarth, _beylagen,_ iii. - ); tielke, &c. &c.] guasco was invited to dine with the king; praised for his excellent defence. prisoners of war his garrison and he; about , of them still on their feet; their entire loss had been , killed and wounded; that of the prussians , . poor guasco died, in konigsberg, still prisoner, before the peace came. of austrian fighting in silesia, this proved to be the last, in the present controversy which has endured so long. no thought of fighting is in daun; far the reverse. daun is getting ill off for horse-forage in his mountains; the weather is bad upon him; we hear "he has had, for some time past, , laborers" palisading and fortifying at the passes of bohemia: "truce for the winter" is what he proposes. to which the king answers, "no; unless you retire wholly within bohemia and glatz country:" this at present daun grudged to do; but was forced to it, some weeks afterwards, by the sleets and the snows, had there been no other pressure. in about three weeks hence, friedrich, leaving bevern in command here, and a silesia more or less adjusted, made for saxony; whither important reinforcements had preceded him,--reinforcements under general wied, the instant it was possible. saxony he had long regarded as the grand point, were schweidnitz over: "recapture dresden, and they will have to give us peace this very winter!" daun, also with reinforcements, followed him to saxony, as usual; but never quite arrived, or else found matters settled on arriving;--and will not require farther mention in this history. he died some three years hence, age ; [" th february, ;" "born th september, " (hormayr _oester-reichischer plutarch,_ ii. - ).] an honorable, imperturbable, eupeptic kind of man, sufficiently known to readers by this time. friedrich did not recapture dresden; far enough from that,--though peace came all the same. hardly a week after our recovery of schweidnitz, stollberg and his reichsfolk, especially his austrians, became unexpectedly pert upon henri; pressed forward (october th), in overpowering force, into his posts about freyberg, pretschendorf and that southwestern reich-ward part: "no more invadings of bohemia from you, monseigneur; no more tormentings of the reich; here is other work for you, my prince!"--and in spite of all prince henri could do, drove him back, clear out of freyberg; northwestward, towards hulsen and his reserves. [_bericht von dem angriff so am ten october, , van der reichs-armee auf die kongilich-preussischen unter dem prinzen heinrich geschehen_ (seyfarth, _beylagen,_ iii. - ). _ausfuhrlicher bericht von der den ten october, , bey brand vorgefallenen action_ (ib. iii. - ). tempelhof, vi. .] giving him, in this manner, what soldiers call a slap; slap which might have been more considerable, had those stollberg people followed it up with emphasis. but they did not; so alert was henri. henri at once rallied beautifully from his slap (king's reinforcements coming too, as we have said); and, in ten days' time, without any reinforcement, paid stollberg and company by a stunning blow: battle of freyberg (october th),--which must not go without mention, were it only as prince henri's sole battle, and the last of this war. preparatory to which and its sequel, let us glance again at duke ferdinand and the english-french posture,--also for the last time. cannonade at amoneburg ( st september, ). "the controversies about right or left bank of the fulda have been settled long since in ferdinand's favor; who proceeded next to blockade the various french strongholds in hessen; marburg, ziegenhayn, especially cassel; with an eye to besieging the same, and rooting the french permanently out. to prevent or delay which, what can soubise and d'estrees do but send for their secondary smaller army, which is in the lower-rhine country under a prince de conde, mostly idle at present, to come and join them in the critical regions here. whereupon new controversy shifting westward to the mayn and nidda-lahn country, to achieve said junction and to hinder it. junction was not to be hindered. the d'estrees-soubise people and young conde made good manoeuvring, handsome fight on occasion; so that in spite of all the erbprinz could do, they got hands joined; far too strong for the erbprinz thenceforth; and on the last night of august were all fairly together, head-quarter friedberg in frankfurt country (a thirty miles north of frankfurt); and were earnestly considering the now not hopeless question, 'how, or by what routes and methods, push to northwestward, get through to those blockaded hessian strong-places, cassel especially; and hinder ferdinand's besieging them, and quite outrooting us there?' "this is a difficult question, but a vital. 'sweep rapidly past ferdinand,--cannot we? well frontward or eastward of him, dexterously across the lahn and its branches (our light people are to rear of him, on this side of the fulda, between the fulda and him): once joined with those light people by such methods, we have cassel ahead, ferdinand to rear, and will make short work with the blockades,--the blockades will have to rise in a hurry!' this was the plan devised by d'estrees; and rapidly set about; but it was seen into, at the first step, by ferdinand, who proved still more rapid upon it. campings, counter-campings, crossings of the lahn by d'estrees people, then recrossings of it, ensued for above a fortnight; which are not for mention here: in fine, about the middle of september, the d'estrees enterprise had plainly become impossible, unless it could get across the ohm,--an eastern, or wide-circling northeastern branch of the lahn,--where, on the right or eastern bank of which, as better for him than the lahn itself in this part, ferdinand now is. 'across the ohm: and that, how can that be done, the provident ferdinand having laid hold of ohm, and secured every pass of it, several days ago! perhaps by a surprisal; by extreme despatch?' "amoneburg is a pleasant little town, about thirty miles east of marburg,--in which latter we have been, in very old times; looking after st. elizabeth, teutsch ritters, philip the magnanimous and other objects. amoneburg stands on the left or western bank of the ohm, with an old schloss in it, and a bridge near by; both of which, ferdinand, the left or southmost wing of whose position on the other bank of ohm is hereabouts, has made due seizure of. seizure of the bridge, first of all,--bridge with a mill at it (which, in consequence, is called brucken-muhle, bridge-mill),--at the eastern end of this there is a strong redoubt, with the bridge-way blocked and rammed ahead of it; there ferdinand has put men; more are across in amoneburg and its old castle. unless by surprisal and extreme despatch, there is clearly no hope! ferdinand's head-quarter is seven or eight miles to northwest of this his brucken-muhle and extreme left; next to brucken-muhle is zastrow's division; next, again, is granby's; several divisions between ferdinand and it; 'do it by surprisal, by utmost force of vehemency!' say the french. and accordingly, "september st [day of the equinox, ], an hour before sunrise, there began, quite on the sudden, a vivid attack on the brucken-muhle and on amoneburg, by cannon, by musketry, by all methods; and, in spite of the alert and completely obstinate resistance, would not cease; but, on the contrary, seemed to be on the increasing hand, new cannon, new musketries; and went on, hour after hour, ever the more vivid. so that, about in the morning, after three hours of this, zastrow, with his division, had to intervene: to range himself on the hill-top behind this brucken-muhle; replace the afflicted (many of them hurt, not a few killed) by a fresh of his own; who again needed to be relieved before long. for the french, whom zastrow had to imitate in that respect, kept bringing up more cannon, ever more, as if they would bring up all the cannon of their army: and there rose between zastrow and them such a cannonade, for length and loudness together, as had not been heard in this war. most furious cannonading, musketading; and seemingly no end to it. ferdinand himself came over to ascertain; found it a hot thing indeed. zastrow had to relieve his every hour: 'don't go down in rank, you new ones,' ordered he--'slide, leap, descend the hill-face in scattered form: rank at the bottom!'--and generally about half of the old were left dead or lamed by their hour's work. 'they intend to have this bridge from us at any cost,' thinks ferdinand; 'and at any cost they shall not!' and, in the end, orders granby forward in room of zastrow, who has had some eight hours of it now; and rides home to look after his main quarters. "it was about in the afternoon when granby and his english came into the fire; and i rather think the french onslaught was, if anything, more furious than ever:--despair striding visibly forward on it, or something too like despair. amoneburg they had battered to pieces, wall and schloss, so that the had to ground arms: but not an inch of way had they made upon the bridge, nor were like to make. granby continued on the old plan, plying all his diligences and artilleries; needing them all. fierce work to a degree: ' of you go down on wings' (in an hour about will come back)! in english families you will still hear some vague memory of amoneburg, how we had built walls of the dead, and fired from behind them,--french more and more furious, we more and more obstinate. granby had still four hours of it; sunset, twilight, dusk; about , the french, in what spirits i can guess, ceased, and went their ways. bridge impossible; game up. they had lost, by their own account, , killed and wounded; ferdinand probably not fewer." [mauvillon, ii. ; _helden-geschichte,_ vii. - .] and in this loud peal, what none could yet know, the french-english part of the seven-years war had ended. the french attempted nothing farther; hutted themselves where they were, and waited in the pouring rains: ferdinand also hutted himself, in guard of the ohm; while his people plied their siege-batteries on cassel, on ziegenhayn, cannonading their best in the bad weather;--took cassel, did not quite take ziegenhayn, had it been of moment;--and for above six weeks coming (till november th- th [preliminaries of peace signed, "paris, november d;" known to french generals "november th;" not, officially, to ferdinand till "november th" (mauvillon, ii. ).]), nothing more but skirmishings and small scuffles, not worth a word from us, fell out between the two parties there. that cannonade of the brucken-muhle had been finis. for supreme bute, careless of the good news coming in on him from west and from east, or even rather embarrassed by them, had some time ago started decisively upon the peace negotiation. "september th," three weeks before that of amoneburg, "the duke of bedford, bute's plenipotentiary, set out towards paris,--considerably hissed on the street here by a sulky population," it would seem;--"but sure of success in paris. bute shared in none of the national triumphs of this year. the transports of rejoicing which burst out on the news of havana" were a sorrow and distress to him. [walpole's _george the third,_ ii. .] "havana, what shall we do with it?" thought he; and for his own share answered stiffly, "nothing with it; fling it back to them!"--till some consort of his persuaded him florida would look better. [thackeray, ii. .] of manilla and the philippines he did not even hear till peace was concluded; had made the most catholic carlos a present of that colony,--who would not even pay our soldiers their manilla ransom, as too disagreeable. such is the bute, such and no other, whom the satirical fates have appointed to crown and finish off the heroic day's-work of such a pitt. let us, if we can help it, speak no more of him! friedrich writes before leaving for saxony: "the peace between the english and the french is much farther off than was thought;--so many oppositions do the spaniards raise, or rather do the french,--busy duping this buzzard of an english minister, who has not common sense." [schoning, iii. (to henri: "peterswaldau, th october, ").] never fear, your majesty: a man with havanas and manillas of that kind to fling about at random, is certain to bring peace, if resolved on it!-- we said, prince henri rallied beautifully from his little slap and loss of freyberg (october th), and that the king was sending wied with reinforcements to him. in fact, prince henri of himself was all alertness, and instantly appeared on the heights again; seemingly quite in sanguinary humor, and courting battle, much more than was yet really the case. which cowed stollberg from meddling with him farther, as he might have done. not for some ten days had henri finished his arrangements; and then, under cloud of night ( th- th october, ), he did break forward on those spittelwalds and michael's mounts, and multiplex impregnabilities about freyberg, in what was thought a very shining manner. the battle of freyberg, i think, is five or six miles long, all on the west, and finally on the southwest side of freyberg (north and northwest sides, with so many batteries and fortified villages, are judged unattackable); and the main stress, very heavy for some time, lay in the abatis of the spittelwald (where seidlitz was sublime), and about the roots of st. michael's mount (the top of it stollberg, or some foolish general of stollberg's, had left empty; nobody there when we reached the top),--down from which, freyberg now lying free ahead of us, and the spittelwald on our left now also ours, we take stollberg in rear, and turn him inside out. the battle lasted only three hours, till stollberg and his maguires, campitellis and austrians (especially his reichsfolk, who did no work at all, except at last running), were all under way; and the hopes of some saxon victory to balance one's disgraces in silesia had altogether vanished. [_beschreibung der am sten october, , bey freyberg vorgefallenen schlacht_ (seyfarth, _beylagen,_ iii. - ). tempelhof, vi. - ; _helden-geschichte,_ vii. - .] of austrians and reichsfolk together i dimly count about , in this action; prince henri seems to have been well under , . [" battalions, squadrons," versus " battalions, squadrons" (schoning, iii. ).] i will give prince henri's despatch to his brother (a most modest piece); and cannot afford to say more of the matter,--except that "wegfurth," where henri gets on march the night before, lies or more miles west-by-north of freyberg and the spittelwald, and is about as far straight south from hainichen, gellert's birthplace, who afterwards got the war-horse now coming into action,--i sometimes think, with what surprise to that quadruped! prince henri to the king (battle just done; king on the road from silesia hither, letter meets him at lowenberg). "freyberg, th october, . "my dearest brother,--it is a happiness for me to send you the agreeable news, that your army has this day gained a considerable advantage over the combined austrian and reichs army. i marched yesternight; i had got on through wegfurth, leaving spittelwald [tempelhof, p. .] to my left, with intent to seize [storm, if necessary] the height of st. michael,--when i came upon the enemy's army. i made two true attacks, and two false: the enemy resisted obstinately; but the sustained valor of your troops prevailed: and, after three hours in fire, the enemy was obliged to yield everywhere. i don't yet know the number of prisoners; but there must be above , :--the reichs army has lost next to nothing; the stress of effort fell to the austrian share. we have got quantities of cannon and flags; lieutenant-general roth of the reichs army is among our prisoners. i reckon we have lost from to , men; among them no officer of mark. lieutenant-general von seidlitz rendered me the highest services; in a place where the cavalry could not act [border of the spittelwald, and its impassable entanglements and obstinacies], he put himself at the head of the infantry, and did signal services [his battle mainly, scheming and all, say some ill-natured private accounts]; generals belling and kleist [renowned colonels known to us, now become major-generals] did their very best. all the infantry was admirable; not one battalion yielded ground. my aide-de-camp [kalkreuth, a famous man in the napoleon times long after], who brings you this, had charge of assisting to conduct the attack through the spittelwald [and did it well, we can suppose]: if, on that ground, you pleased to have the goodness to advance him, i should have my humble thanks to give you. there are a good many officers who have distinguished themselves and behaved with courage, for whom i shall present similar requests. you will permit me to pay those who have taken cannons and flags ( ducats per cannon, per flag, or whatever the tariff was)--"by all manner of means!" his majesty would answer]. "the enemy is retiring towards dresden and dippoldiswalde. i am sending at his heels this night, and shall hear the result. my aide-de-camp is acquainted with all, and will be able to render you account of everything you may wish to know in regard to our present circumstances. general wied, i believe, will cross elbe to-morrow [general wied, with , to help us,--for whom it was too dangerous to wait, or perhaps there was a spur on one's own mind?]; his arrival would be [not "would have been:" cela viendrait, not even viendra] very opportune for me. i am, with all attachment, my dearest brother,--your most devoted servant and brother,--henri." [schoning, iii. , .] to-morrow, in cipher, goes the following despatch:-- "freyberg, th october, . "general wied [not yet come to hand, or even got across elbe] informs me, that prince albert of saxony [pushing hither with reinforcement, sent by daun] must have crossed elbe yesterday at pirna [did not show face here, with his large reinforcements to them, or what would have become of us!];--and that for this reason he, wied, must himself cross; which he will to-morrow. the same day i am to be joined by some battalions from general hulsen; and the day after to-morrow, when general wied [coming by meissen bridge, it appears] shall have reached the katzenhauser, the whole of general hulsen's troops will join me. directly thereupon i shall--" [schoning, p. .] or no more of that second despatch; friedrich's letter in response is better worth giving:-- "lowenberg, d november, . "my dear brother,--the arrival of kalkreuter [so he persists in calling him], and of your letter, my dear brother, has made me twenty [not to say forty] years younger: yesterday i was sixty, to-day hardly eighteen. i bless heaven for preserving you in health (bonne sante," so we term escape of lesion in fight); "and that things have passed so happily! you took the good step of attacking those who meant to attack you; and, by your good and solid measures (dispositions), you have overcome all the difficulties of a strong post and a vigorous resistance. it is a service so important rendered by you to the state, that i cannot enough express my gratitude, and will wait to do it in person. "kalkreuter will explain what motions i--... if fortune favor our views on dresden [which it cannot in the least, at this late season], we shall indubitably have peace this winter or next spring,--and get honorably out of a difficult and perilous conjuncture, where we have often seen ourselves within two steps of total destruction. and, by this which you have now done, to you alone will belong the honor of having given the final stroke to austrian obstinacy, and laid the foundations of the public happiness, which will be the consequence of peace.--f." [ib. iii. , .] two days after this, november th, friedrich is in meissen; november th, he comes across to freyberg; has pleasant day,--pleasant survey of the battle-field, henri and seidlitz escorting as guides. henri, in furtherance of the dresden project, has kleist out on the bohemian magazines,--"that is the one way to clear dresden neighborhood of enemies!" thinks henri always. kleist burns the considerable magazine of saatz; finds the grand one of leitmeritz too well guarded for him:--upon which, in such snowdrifts and sleety deluges, is not dresden plainly impossible, your majesty? impossible, friedrich admits,--the rather as he now sees peace to be coming without that. freyberg has at last broken the back of austrian obstinacy. "go in upon the reich," friedrich now orders kleist, the instant kleist is home from his bohemian inroad: "in upon the reich, with , , in your old style! that will dispose the reichs principalities to peace." kleist marched november d; kept the reich in paroxysm till december th;--plotho, meanwhile, proclaiming in the reichs diet: "such reichs princes as wish for peace with my king can have it; those that prefer war, they too can have it!" kleist, dividing himself in the due artistic way, flew over the voigtland, on to bamberg, on to nurnberg itself (which he took, by sounding rams'-horns, as it were, having no gun heavier than a carbine, and held for a week); [_helden-geschichte,_ vii. - .]--fluttering the reichs diet not a little, and disposing everybody for peace. the austrians saw it with pleasure, "we solemnly engaged to save these poor people harmless, on their joining us;--and, behold, it has become thrice and four times impossible. let them fall off into peace, like ripe pears, of themselves; we can then turn round and say, 'save you harmless? yes; if you had n't fallen off!'" november th, all austrians make truce with friedrich, truce till march st;--all austrians, and what is singular, with no mention of the reich whatever. the reich is defenceless, at the feet of kleist and his , . stollberg is still in prussian neighborhood; and may be picked up any day! stollberg hastens off to defend the reich; finds the reich quite empty of enemies before his arrival;--and at least saves his own skin. a month or two more, and stollberg will lay down his command, and the last reichs-execution army, playing farce-tragedy so long, make its exit from the theatre of this world. chapter xiii.--peace of hubertsburg. the prussian troops took winter-quarters in the meissen-freyberg region, the old saxon ground, familiar to them for the last three years: room enough this winter, "from plauen and zwickau, round by langensalza again;" truce with everybody, and nothing of disturbance till march st at soonest. the usual recruiting went on, or was preparing to go on,--a part of which took immediate effect, as we shall see. recruiting, refitting, "be ready for a new campaign, in any case: the readier we are, the less our chance of having one!" friedrich's head-quarter is leipzig; but till december th he does not get thither. "more business on me than ever!" complains he. at leipzig he had his nephews, his d'argens; for a week or two his brother henri; finally, his berlin ministers, especially herzberg, when actual peace came to be the matter in hand. henri, before that, had gone home: "peace being now the likelihood;--home; and recruit one's poor health, at berlin, among friends!" before getting to leipzig, the king paid a flying visit at gotha;--probably now the one fraction of these manifold winter movements and employments, in which readers could take interest. of this, as there happens to be some record left of it, here is what will suffice. from meissen, friedrich writes to his bright grand-duchess, always a bright, high and noble creature in his eyes: "authorized by your approval [has politely inquired beforehand], i shall have the infinite satisfaction of paying my duties on december d [four days hence], and of reiterating to you, madam, my liveliest and sincerest assurances of esteem and friendship.... some of my commissariat people have been misbehaving? strict inquiry shall be had," [to the grand-duchess, "meissen, th november" (_oeuvres de frederic,_ xviii. ).]--and we soon find was. but the visit is our first thing. the visit took place accordingly; seidlitz, a man known in gotha ever since his fine scenic-military procedures there in , accompanied the king. of the lucent individualities invited to meet him, all are now lost to me, except one putter, a really learned gottingen professor (deep in reichs-history and the like), whom the duchess has summoned over. by the dim lucency of putter, faint to most of us as a rushlight in the act of going out, the available part of our imagination must try to figure, in a kind of obliterated-rembrandt way, this glorious evening; for there was but one,--december d- th,--friedrich having to leave early on the th. here is putter's record, given in the third person:-- "during dinner, putter, honorably present among the spectators of this high business, was beckoned by the duchess to step near the king [right hand or left, putter does not say]; but the king graciously turned round, and conversed with putter." the king said:-- king. "in german history much is still buried; many important documents lie hidden in monasteries." putter answered "schicklich--fitly;" that is all we know of putter's answer. king (thereupon). "of books on reichs-history i know only the pere barri." [_barri de beaumarchais,_ vols. to, paris, : i believe, an extremely feeble pillar of will-o'-wisps by night;--as i can expressly testify pfeffel to be (pfeffel, _abrege chronologique de l'histoire d'allemagne,_ vols. to, paris, ), who has succeeded barri as patent guide through that vast sylva sylvarum and its pathless intricacies, for the inquiring french and english.] putter.... "foreigners have for most part known only, in regard to our history, a latin work written by struve at jena." [burkhard gotthelf struve, _syntagma historiae germanicus_ ( , vols. folio).] king. "struv, struvius; him i don't know." putter. "it is a pity barri had not known german." king. "barri was a lorrainer; barri must have known german!"--then turning to the duchess, on this hint about the german language, he told her, "in a ringing merry tone, how, at leipzig once, he had talked with gottsched [talk known to us] on that subject, and had said to him, that the french had many advantages; among others, that a word could often be used in a complex signification, for which you had in german to scrape together several different expressions. upon which gottsched had said, 'we will have that mended (das wollen wir noch machen)!' these words the king repeated twice or thrice, with such a tone that you could well see how the man's conceit had struck him;"--and in short, as we know already, what a gigantic entity, consisting of wind mainly, he took this elevated gottsched to be. upon which, putter retires into the honorary ranks again; silent, at least to us, and invisible; as the rest of this royal evening at gotha is. ["putter's _selbstbiographie_ (autobiography), p. :" cited in preuss, ii. n.] here, however, is the letter following on it two days after:-- friedrich to the duchess of sachsen-gotha. "leipzig, th december, . "madam,--i should never have done, my adorable duchess, if i rendered you account of all the impressions which the friendship you lavished on me has made on my heart. i could wish to answer it by entering into everything that can be agreeable to you [conduct of my recruiters or commissariat people first of all]. i take the liberty of forwarding the answers which have come in to the two memoires you sent me. i am mortified, madam, if i have not been able to fulfil completely your desires: but if you knew the situation i am in, i flatter myself you would have some consideration for it. "i have found myself here [in leipzig, as elsewhere] overwhelmed with business, and even to a degree i had not expected. meanwhile, if i ever can manage again to run over and pay you in person the homage of a heart which is more attached to you than that of your near relations, assuredly i will not neglect the first opportunity that shall present itself. "messieurs the english [bute, bedford and company, with their preliminaries signed, and all my westphalian provinces left in a condition we shall hear of] continue to betray. poor m. mitchell has had a stroke of apoplexy on hearing it. it is a hideous thing (chose affreuse); but i will speak of it no more. may you, madam, enjoy all the prosperities that i wish for you, and not forget a friend, who will be till his death, with sentiments of the highest esteem and the most perfect consideration,--madam, your highness's most faithful cousin and servant, friedrich." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xzvii. .] for a fortnight past, friedrich has had no doubt that general peace is now actually at hand. november th, ten days before this visit, a saxon privy-councillor, baron von fritsch, who, by order from his court, had privately been at vienna on the errand, came privately next, with all speed, to friedrich (meissen, november th): [rodenbeck, ii. .] "austria willing for treaty; is your majesty willing?" "thrice-willing, i; my terms well known!" friedrich would answer,--gladdest of mankind to see general pacification coming to this vexed earth again. the dance of the furies, waltzing itself off, home out of this upper sunlight: the mad bellona steeds plunging down, down, towards their abysses again, for a season!-- this was a result which friedrich had foreseen as nearly certain ever since the french and english signed their preliminaries. and there was only one thing which gave him anxiety; that of his rhine provinces and strong places, especially wesel, which have been in french hands for six years past, ever since spring, . bute stipulates that those places and countries shall be evacuated by his choiseul, as soon as weather and possibility permit; but bute, astonishing to say, has not made the least stipulation as to whom they are to be delivered to,--allies or enemies, it is all one to bute. truly rather a shameful omission, pitt might indignantly think,--and call the whole business steadily, as he persisted to do, "a shameful peace," had there been no other article in it but this;--as friedrich, with at least equal emphasis thought and felt. and, in fact, it had thrown him into very great embarrassment, on the first emergence of it. for her imperial majesty began straightway to draw troops into those neighborhoods: "we will take delivery, our allies playing into our hand!" and friedrich, who had no disposable troops, had to devise some rapid expedient; and did. set his free-corps agents and recruiters in motion: "enlist me those light people of duke ferdinand's, who are all getting discharged; especially that britannic legion so called. all to be discharged; re-enlist them, you; ferdinand will keep them till you do it. be swift!" and it is done;--a small bit of actual enlistment among the many prospective that were going on, as we noticed above. precise date of it not given; must have been soon after november d. there were from to , of them; and it was promptly done. divided into various regiments; chief command of them given to a colonel bauer, under whom a colonel beckwith whose name we have heard: these, to the surprise of imperial majesty, and alarm of a pacific versailles, suddenly appeared in the cleve countries, handy for wesel, for geldern; in such posts, and in such force and condition as intimated, "it shall be we, under favor, that take delivery!" snatch wesel from them, some night, sword in hand: that had been bauer's notion; but nothing of that kind was found necessary; mere demonstration proved sufficient. to the french garrisons the one thing needful was to get away in peace; bauer with his brows gloomy is a dangerous neighbor. perhaps the french officers themselves rather favored friedrich than his enemies. enough, a private agreement, or mutual understanding on word of honor, was come to: and, very publicly, at length, on the th and th days of march, (peace now settled everywhere), wesel, in great gala, full of field-music, military salutations and mutual dining, saw the french all filing out, and bauer and people filing in, to the joy of that poor town. [preuss, ii. .] soon after which, painful to relate, such the inexorable pressure of finance, bauer and people were all paid off, flung loose again: ruthlessly paid off by a necessitous king! there were about , of those poor fellows,--specimens of the bastard heroic, under difficulties, from every country in the world; beckwith and i know not what other english specimens of the lawless heroic; who were all cashiered, officer and man, on getting to berlin. as were the earlier free-corps, and indeed the subsequent, all and sundry, "except seven," whose names will not be interesting to you. paid off, with or without remorse, such the exhaustion of finance; kleist, icilius, count hordt and others vainly repugning and remonstrating; the king himself inexorable as arithmetic. "can maintain , of regular, , of other sorts; not a man more!" zealous icilius applied for some consideration to his officers: "partial repayment of the money they have spent from their own pocket in enlistment of their people now discharged!" not a doit. the king's answer is in autograph, still extant; not in good spelling, but with sense clear as light: "seine officiers haben wie die raben gestollen sie krigen nichts, your officers stole like ravens;--they get nothing." [preuss, ii. .] lessing's fine play of minna von barnhelm testifies to considerable public sympathy for these impoverished ex-military people. pathetic truly, in a degree; but such things will happen. irregular gentlemen, to whom the world 's their oyster,--said oyster does suddenly snap to on them, by a chance. and they have to try it on the other side, and say little!--but we are forgetting the peace-treaty itself, which still demands a few words. kleist's raid into the reich had a fine effect on the potentates there; and plotho's offer was greedily complied with; the kaiser, such his generosity, giving "free permission." we spoke of privy-councillor von fritsch, and his private little word with friedrich at meissen, on november th. the electoral-prince of saxony, it seems, was author of that fine stroke; the history of it this. since november d, the french and english have had their preliminaries signed; and all nations are longing for the like. "let us have a german treaty for general peace," said the kurprinz of saxony, that amiable heir-apparent whom we have seen sometimes, who is rather crooked of back, but has a sprightly wife. "by all means," answered polish majesty: "and as i am in the distance, do you in every way further it, my son!" whereupon despatch of fritsch to vienna, and thence to meissen; with "yes" to him from both parties. plenipotentiaries are named: "fritsch shall be ours: they shall have my schloss of hubertsburg for place of congress," said the prince. and on thursday, december th, , the three dignitaries met at hubertsburg, and began business. this is the schloss in torgau country which quintus icilius's people, saldern having refused the job, willingly undertook spoiling; and, as is well known, did it, january d, ; a thing quintus never heard the end of. what the amount of profit, or the degree of spoil and mischief, quintus's people made of it, i could not learn; but infer from this new event that the wreck had not been so considerable as the noise was; at any rate, that the schloss had soon been restored to its pristine state of brilliancy. the plenipotentiaries,--for saxony, fritsch; for austria, a von collenbach, unknown to us; for prussia, one hertzberg, a man experienced beyond his years, who is of great name in prussian history subsequently,--sat here till february th, , that is for six weeks and five days. leaving their protocols to better judges, who report them good, we will much prefer a word or two from friedrich himself, while waiting the result they come to. friedrich to prince henri (home at berlin). "leipzig, th january, .... am not surprised you find berlin changed for the worse: such a train of calamities must, in the end, make itself felt in a poor and naturally barren country, where continual industry is needed to second its fecundity and keep up production. however, i will do what i can to remedy this dearth (la disette), at least as far as my small means permit.... "no fear of geldern and wesel; all that has been cared for by bauer and the new free-corps. by the end of february peace will be signed; at the beginning of april everybody will find himself at home, as in . "the circles are going to separate: indifferent to me, or nearly so; but it is good to be plucking out tiresome burning sticks, stick after stick. i hope you amuse yourself at berlin: at leipzig nothing but balls and redouts; my nephews diverting themselves amazingly. madam friedrich, lately garden-maid at seidlitz [village in the neumark, with this beauty plucking weeds in it,--little prescient of such a fortune], now wife to an officer of the free hussars, is the principal heroine of these festivities." [schoning, iii. .] leipzig, th january, . "thanks for your care about my existence. i am becoming very old, dear brother; in a little while i shall be useless to the world and a burden to myself: it is the lot of all creatures to wear down with age,--but one is not, for all that, to abuse one's privilege of falling into dotage. "you still speak without full confidence of our negotiation business [going on at hubertsburg yonder]. most certainly the chapter of accidents is inexhaustible; and it is still certain there may happen quantities of things which the limited mind of man cannot foresee: but, judging by the ordinary course, and such degrees of probability as human creatures found their hopes on, i believe, before the month of february entirely end, our peace will be completed. in a permanent arrangement, many things need settling, which are easier to settle now than they ever will be again. patience; haste without speed is a thriftless method." [ib. iii. .] february th, the trio at hubertsburg got their preliminaries signed. on the tenth day thereafter, the treaty itself was signed and sealed. all other treaties on the same subject had been guided towards a contemporary finis: england and france, ready since the d of november last, signed and ended february th. february th, the reich signed and ended; february th, prussia, austria, saxony; and the third silesian or seven-years war was completely finished. [copy of the treaty in _helden-geschichte,_ vii. et seq.; in seyfarth, _beylagen,_ iii. - ; in rousset, in wenck, in &c. &c.] it had cost, in loss of human lives first of all, nobody can say what: according to friedrich's computation, there had perished of actual fighters, on the various fields, of all the nations, , ; of which above the fifth part, or , , is his own share: and, by misery and ravage, the general population of prussia finds itself , fewer; nearly the ninth man missing. this is the expenditure of life. other items are not worth enumerating, in comparison; if statistically given, you can find the most approved guesses at them by the same head, who ought to be an authority. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ v. - ; preuss, iii. - .] it was a war distinguished by--archenholtz will tell you, with melodious emphasis, what a distinguished, great and thrice-greatest war it was. there have since been other far bigger wars,--if size were a measure of greatness; which it by no means is! i believe there was excellent heroism shown in this war, by persons i could name; by one person, heroism really to be called superior, or, in its kind, almost of the rank of supreme;--and that in regard to the military arts and virtues, it has as yet, for faculty and for performance, had no rival; nor is likely soon to have. the prussians, as we once mentioned, still use it as their school-model in those respects. and we--o readers, do not at least you and i thank god to have now done with it!-- of the peace-treaties at hubertsburg, paris and other places, it is not necessary that we say almost anything. they are to be found in innumerable books, dreary to the mind; and of the articles to be counted there, not one could be interesting at present. the substance of the whole lies now in three points, not mentioned or contemplated at all in those documents, though repeatedly alluded to and intimated by us here. the issue, as between austria and prussia, strives to be, in all points, simply as-you-were; and, in all outward or tangible points, strictly is so. after such a tornado of strife as the civilized world had not witnessed since the thirty-years war. tornado springing doubtless from the regions called infernal; and darkening the upper world from south to north, and from east to west for seven years long;--issuing in general as-you-were! yes truly, the tornado was infernal; but heaven too had silently its purposes in it. nor is the mere expenditure of men's diabolic rages, in mutual clash as of opposite electricities, with reduction to equipoise, and restoration of zero and repose again after seven years, the one or the principal result arrived at. inarticulately, little dreamt of at the time by any by-stander, the results, on survey from this distance, are visible as threefold. let us name them one other time:-- . there is no taking of silesia from this man; no clipping of him down to the orthodox old limits; he and his country have palpably outgrown these. austria gives up the problem: "we have lost silesia!" yes; and, what you hardly yet know,--and what, i perceive, friedrich himself still less knows,--teutschland has found prussia. prussia, it seems, cannot be conquered by the whole world trying to do it; prussia has gone through its fire-baptism, to the satisfaction of gods and men; and is a nation henceforth. in and of poor dislocated teutschland, there is one of the great powers of the world henceforth; an actual nation. and a nation not grounding itself on extinct traditions, wiggeries, papistries, immaculate conceptions; no, but on living facts,--facts of arithmetic, geometry, gravitation, martin luther's reformation, and what it really can believe in:--to the infinite advantage of said nation and of poor teutschland henceforth. to be a nation; and to believe as you are convinced, instead of pretending to believe as you are bribed or bullied by the devils about you; what an advantage to parties concerned! if prussia follow its star--as it really tries to do, in spite of stumbling! for the sake of germany, one hopes always prussia will; and that it may get through its various child-diseases, without death: though it has had sad plunges and crises,--and is perhaps just now in one of its worst influenzas, the parliamentary-eloquence or ballot-box influenza! one of the most dangerous diseases of national adolescence; extremely prevalent over the world at this time,--indeed unavoidable, for reasons obvious enough. "sic itur ad astra;" all nations certain that the way to heaven is by voting, by eloquently wagging the tongue "within those walls"! diseases, real or imaginary, await nations like individuals; and are not to be resisted, but must be submitted to, and got through the best you can. measles and mumps; you cannot prevent them in nations either. nay fashions even; fashion of crinoline, for instance (how infinitely more, that of ballot-box and fourth-estate!),--are you able to prevent even that? you have to be patient under it, and keep hoping! . in regard to england. her jenkins's-ear controversy is at last settled. not only liberty of the seas, but, if she were not wiser, dominion of them; guardianship of liberty for all others whatsoever: dominion of the seas for that wise object. america is to be english, not french; what a result is that, were there no other! really a considerable fact in the history of the world. fact principally due to pitt, as i believe, according to my best conjecture, and comparison of probabilities and circumstances. for which, after all, is not everybody thankful, less or more? o my english brothers, o my yankee half-brothers, how oblivious are we of those that have done us benefit!-- these are the results for england. and in the rear of these, had these and the other elements once ripened for her, the poor country is to get into such merchandisings, colonizings, foreign-settlings, gold-nuggetings, as lay beyond the drunkenest dreams of jenkins (supposing jenkins addicted to liquor);--and, in fact, to enter on a universal uproar of machineries, eldorados, "unexampled prosperities," which make a great noise for themselves in the very days now come. prosperities evidently not of a sublime type: which, in the mean while, seem to be covering the at one time creditably clean and comely face of england with mud-blotches, soot-blotches, miscellaneous squalors and horrors; to be preaching into her amazed heart, which once knew better, the omnipotence of shoddy; filling her ears and soul with shriekery and metallic clangor, mad noises, mad hurries mostly no-whither;--and are awakening, i suppose, in such of her sons as still go into reflection at all, a deeper and more ominous set of questions than have ever risen in england's history before. as in the foregoing case, we have to be patient and keep hoping. . in regard to france. it appears, noble old teutschland, with such pieties and unconquerable silent valors, such opulences human and divine, amid its wreck of new and old confusions, is not to be cut in four, and made to dance to the piping of versailles or another. far the contrary! to versailles itself there has gone forth, versailles may read it or not, the writing on the wall: "thou art weighed in the balance, and found wanting" (at last even "found wanting")! france, beaten, stript, humiliated; sinful, unrepentant, governed by mere sinners and, at best, clever fools (fous pleins d'esprit),--collapses, like a creature whose limbs fail it; sinks into bankrupt quiescence, into nameless fermentation, generally into dry-rot. rotting, none guesses whitherward;--rotting towards that thrice-extraordinary spontaneous-combustion, which blazed out in . and has kindled, over the whole world, gradually or by explosion, this unexpected outburst of all the chained devilries (among other chained things), this roaring conflagration of the anarchies; under which it is the lot of these poor generations to live,--for i know not what length of centuries yet. "go into combustion, my pretty child!" the destinies had said to this belle france, who is always so fond of shining and outshining: "self-combustion;--in that way, won't you shine, as none of them yet could?" shine; yes, truly,--till you are got to caput mortuum, my pretty child (unless you gain new wisdom!)--but not to wander farther:-- wednesday, march th, friedrich, all saxon things being now settled,--among the rest, "eight saxon schoolmasters" to be a model in prussia,--quitted leipzig, with the seven-years war safe in his pocket, as it were. drove to moritzburg, to dinner with the amiable kurprinz and still more amiable wife: "it was to your highness that we owe this treaty!" a dinner which readers may hear of again. at moritzburg; where, with the lacys, there was once such rattling and battling. after which, rapidly on to silesia, and an eight days of adjusting and inspecting there. wednesday, march th, friedrich arrives in frankfurt-on-oder, on the way homeward from silesia: "takes view of the field of kunersdorf" (reflections to be fancied); early in the afternoon speeds forward again; at one of the stages (place called tassdorf) has a dialogue, which we shall hear of; and between and in the evening, not through the solemn receptions and crowded streets, drives to the schloss of berlin. "goes straight to the queen's apartment," queen, princesses and court all home triumphantly some time ago; sups there with the queen's majesty and these bright creatures,--beautiful supper, had it consisted only of cresses and salt; and, behind it, sound sleep to us under our own roof-tree once more. [rodenbeck, ii. , ; preuss, ii. , ; &c. &c.] next day, "the king made gifts to," as it were, to everybody; "to the queen about , pounds, to the princess amelia , pounds," and so on; and saw true hearts all merry round him,--merrier, perhaps, than his own was. history of friedrich ii. of prussia frederick the great by thomas carlyle appendix. this piece, it would seem, was translated sixteen years ago; some four or five years before any part of the present history of friedrich got to paper. the intercalated bits of commentary were, as is evident, all or mostly written at the same time:--these also, though they are now become, in parts, superfluous to a reader that has been diligent, i have not thought of changing, where not compelled. here and there, especially in the introductory part, some slight additions have crept in;--which the above kind of reader will possibly enough detect; and may even have, for friendly reasons, some vestige of interest in assigning to their new date and comparing with the old. (note of .) a day with friedrich.--( d july, .) "oberamtmann (head-manager) fromme" was a sister's son of poet, gleim,--gleim canon of halberstadt, who wrote prussian "grenadier-songs" in, or in reference to, the seven-years war, songs still printed, but worth little; who begged once, after friedrich's death, an old hat of his, and took it with him to halberstadt (where i hope it still is); who had a "temple-of-honor," or little garden-house so named, with portraits of his friends hung in it; who put jean paul very soon there, with a great explosion of praises; and who, in short, seems to have been a very good effervescent creature, at last rather wealthy too, and able to effervesce with some comfort;--oberamtmann fromme, i say, was this gleim's nephew; and stood as a kind of royal land-bailiff under frederick the great, in a tract of country called the rhyn-luch (a dreadfully moory country of sands and quagmires, all green and fertile now, some twenty or thirty miles northwest of berlin); busy there in , and had been for some years past. he had originally been an officer of the artillery; but obtained his discharge in , and got, before long, into this employment. a man of excellent disposition and temper; with a solid and heavy stroke of work in him, whatever he might be set to; and who in this oberamtmannship "became highly esteemed." he died in ; and has left sons (now perhaps grandsons or great-grandsons), who continue estimable in like situations under the prussian government. one of fromme's useful gifts, the usefulest of all for us at present, was "his wonderful talent of exact memory." he could remember to a singular extent; and, we will hope, on this occasion, was unusually conscientious to do it. for it so happened, in july, ( d july), friedrich, just home from his troublesome bavarian war, [had arrived at berlin may th (rodenbeck, iii. ).] and again looking into everything with his own eyes, determined to have a personal view of those moor regions of fromme's; to take a day's driving through that rhyn-luch which had cost him so much effort and outlay; and he ordered fromme to attend him in the expedition. which took effect accordingly; fromme riding swiftly at the left wheel of friedrich's carriage, and loudly answering questions of his, all day.--directly on getting home, fromme consulted his excellent memory, and wrote down everything; a considerable paper,--of which you shall now have an exact translation, if it be worth anything. fromme gave the paper to uncle gleim; who, in his enthusiasm, showed it extensively about, and so soon as there was liberty, had it "printed, at his own expense, for the benefit of poor soldiers' children." ["gleim's edition, brought out in , the year of friedrich's death, is now quite gone,--the book undiscoverable. but the paper was reprinted in an anekdoten-sammlung (collection of anecdotes, berlin, , tes stuck, where i discover it yesterday ( th july, ) in a copy of mine, much to my surprise; having before met with it in one hildebrandt's anekdoten-sammlung (halberstadt, , tes stuck, a rather slovenly book), where it is given out as one of the rarest of all rarities, and as having been specially 'furnished by a dr. w. korte,' being unattainable otherwise! the two copies differ slightly here and there,--not always to dr. korte's advantage, or rather hardly ever. i keep them both before me in translating" (marginale of )]. "the rhyn" or rhin, is a little river, which, near its higher clearer sources, we were all once well acquainted with: considerable little moorland river, with several branches coming down from ruppin country, and certain lakes and plashes there, in a southwest direction, towards the elbe valley, towards the havel stream; into which latter, through another plash or lake called gulper see, and a few miles farther, into the elbe itself, it conveys, after a course of say english miles circuitously southwest, the black drainings of those dreary and intricate peatbog-and-sand countries. "luch," it appears, signifies loch (or hole, hollow); and "rhyn-luch" will mean, to prussian ears, the peatbog quagmire drained by the rhyn.--new ruppin, where this beautiful black stream first becomes considerable, and of steadily black complexion, lies between and miles northwest of berlin. ten or twelve miles farther north is reinsberg (properly rhynsberg), where friedrich as crown-prince lived his happiest few years. the details of which were familiar to us long ago,--and no doubt dwell clear and soft, in their appropriate "pale moonlight," in friedrich's memory on this occasion. some time after his accession, he gave the place to prince henri, who lived there till . it is now fallen all dim; and there is nothing at new ruppin but a remembrance. to the hither edge of this rhyn-luoh, from berlin, i guess there may be five-and-twenty miles, in a northwest direction; from potsdam, whence friedrich starts to-day, about, the same distance north-by-west; "at seelenhorst," where fromme waits him, friedrich has already had miles of driving,--rate miles an hour, as we chance to observe. notable things, besides the spade-husbandries he is intent on, solicit his remembrance in this region. of freisack and "heavy-peg" with her didactic batterings there, i suppose he, in those fixed times, knows nothing, probably has never heard: freisack is on a branch of this same rhyn, and he might see it, to left a mile or two, if he cared. but fehrbellin ("ferry of belleen"), distinguished by the shining victory which "the great elector," friedrich's great-grandfather, gained there, over the swedes, in , stands on the rhyn itself, about midway; and friedrich will pass through it on this occasion. general ziethen, too, lives near it at wusterau (as will be seen): "old ziethen," a little stumpy man, with hanging brows and thick pouting lips; unbeautiful to look upon, but pious, wise, silent, and with a terrible blaze of fighting-talent in him; full of obedience, of endurance, and yet of unsubduable "silent rage" (which has brooked even the vocal rage of friedrich, on occasion); a really curious old hussar general. he is now a kind of mythical or demigod personage among the prussians; and was then ( ), and ever after the seven-years war, regarded popularly as their ajax (with a dash of the ulysses superadded),--seidlitz, another horse general, being the achilles of that service. the date of this drive through the moors being " d july, ," we perceive it is just about two months since friedrich got home from the bavarian war (what they now call "potato war," so barren was it in fighting, so ripe in foraging); victorious in a sort;--and that in his private thought, among the big troubles of the world on both sides of the atlantic, the infinitesimally small business of the miller arnold's lawsuit is beginning to rise now and then. [supra , . preuss, i. ; &c. &c.] friedrich is now years old; has reigned : the seven-years war is years behind us; ever since which time friedrich has been an "old man,"--having returned home from it with his cheeks all wrinkled, his temples white, and other marks of decay, at the age of . the "wounds of that terrible business," as they say, "are now all healed," perhaps above , burnt houses and huts rebuilt, for one thing; and the "alte fritz," still brisk and wiry, has been and is an unweariedly busy man in that affair, among others. what bogs he has tapped and dried, what canals he has dug, and stubborn strata he has bored through,--assisted by his prussian brindley (one brenkenhof, once a stable-boy at dessau);--and ever planting "colonies" on the reclaimed land, and watching how they get on! as we shall see on this occasion,--to which let us hasten (as to a feast not of dainties, but of honest sauerkraut and wholesome herbs), without farther parley. oberamtmann fromme (whom i mark "ich") loquitur: "major-general graf von gortz," whom fromme keeps strictly mute all day, is a distinguished man, of many military and other experiences; much about friedrich in this time and onwards. [supra, .] introduces strangers, &c.; bouille took him for "head chamberlain," four or five years after this. he is ten years the king's junior; a hessian gentleman;--eldest brother of the envoy gortz who in his cloak of darkness did such diplomacies in the bavarian matter, january gone a year, and who is a rising man in that line ever since. but let fromme begin:--[_anekdoten und karakterzuge aus dem leben friedrich des zweyten_ (berlin, bei johann friedrich unger, ), te sammlung, ss. - .] "on the d of july, , it pleased his majesty the king to undertake a journey to inspect those" mud "colonies in the rhyn-luch about neustadt-on-the-dosse, which his majesty, at his own cost, had settled; thereby reclaiming a tract of waste moor (einen oden bruch urbar machen) into arability, where now families have their living. "his majesty set off from potsdam about in the morning," in an open carriage, general von gortz along with him, and horses from his own post-stations; "travelled over ferlaudt, tirotz, wustermark, nauen, konigshorst, seelenhorst, dechau, fehrbellin," [see reimann's kreis-karten, nos. , .] and twelve other small peat villages, looking all their brightest in the morning sun,--"to the hills at stollen, where his majesty, because a view of all the colonies could be had from those hills, was pleased to get out for a little," as will afterwards be seen.--"therefrom the journey went by hohen-nauen to rathenau:" a civilized place, "where his majesty arrived about in the afternoon; and there dined, and passed the night.--next morning, about , his majesty continued his drive into the magdeburg region; inspected various reclaimed moors (bruche), which in part are already made arable, and in part are being made so; came, in the afternoon, about , over ziesar and brandenburg, back to potsdam,--and did not dine till about , when he arrived there, and had finished the journey." his usual dinner-hour is ; the state hour, on gala days when company has been invited, is p.m.,--and he always likes his dinner; and has it of a hot peppery quality! "till seelenhorst, the amtsrath sach of konigshorst had ridden before his majesty; but here," at the border of my fehrbellin district, where with one of his forest-men i was in waiting by appointment, "the turn came for me. about o'clock a.m. his majesty arrived in seelenhorst; had the herr general graf von gortz in the carriage with him," gortz, we need n't say, sitting back foremost:--here i, fromme, with my woodman was respectfully in readiness. "while the horses were changing, his majesty spoke with some of the ziethen hussar-officers, who were upon grazing service in the adjoining villages [all friedrich's cavalry went out to grass during certain months of the year; and it was a land-tax on every district to keep its quota of army-horses in this manner,--auf grasung]; and of me his majesty as yet took no notice. as the damme," dams or raised roads through the peat-bog, "are too narrow hereabouts, i could not, ride beside him," and so went before? or behind, with woodman before? gott weiss!" in dechau his majesty got sight of rittmeister von ziethen," old ajax ziethen's son, "to whom dechau belongs; and took him into the carriage along with him, till the point where the dechau boundary is. here there was again change of horses. captain von rathenow, an old favorite of the king's, to whom the property of karvesee in part belongs, happened to be here with his family; he now went forward to the carriage:-- captain von rathenow. "'humblest servant, your majesty!' [unterthanigster knecht, different from the form of ending letters, but really of the same import]. king. "'who are you?' captain. "'i am captain von rathenow from karvesee.' king (clapping his hands together). "'mein gott, dear rathenow, are you still alive! ["lebt er noch, is he still alive?"--way of speaking to one palpably your inferior, scarcely now in use even to servants; which friedrich uses always in speaking to the highest uncrowned persons: it gives a strange dash of comic emphasis often in his german talk:] i thought you were long since dead. how goes it with you are you whole and well?" captain. "'o ja, your majesty.' king. "'mein gott, how fat he has (you are) grown!' captain. "'ja, your majesty, i can still eat and drink; only the feet get lazy' [won't go so well, wollen nicht fort]. king. "'ja! that is so with me too. are you married?' captain. "'yea, your majesty.' king. "'is your wife among the ladies yonder?' captain. "'yea, your majesty.' king. "'bring her to me, then!' [to her, taking off his hat] 'i find in your herr husband a good old friend.' frau von rathenow. "'much grace and honor for my husband!' king. "'what were you by birth?' ["was sind sie," the respectful word, "fur eine geborne?"] frau. "'a fraulein von krocher.' king. "'haha! a daughter of general von krocher's?' frau. "'ja, ihro majestat.' king. "'oh, i knew him very well.'--[to rathenow] 'have you children too, rathenow?' captain. "'yes, your majesty. my sons are in the service,' soldiering; 'and these are my daughters.' king. "'well, i am glad of that (nun, das freut mich). fare he well. fare he well.' "the road now went upon fehrbellin; and forster," forester, "brand, as woodkeeper for the king in these parts, rode along with us. when we came upon the patch of sand-knolls which lie near fehrbellin, his majesty cried:-- "'forester, why aren't these sand-knolls sown?' forester. "'your majesty, they don't belong to the royal forest; they belong to the farm-ground. in part the people do sow them with all manner of crops. here, on the right hand, they have sown fir-cones (kienapfel)'. king. "'who sowed them?' forester. "'the oberamtmann [fromme] here.' the king (to me). "'na! tell my geheimer-rath michaelis that the sand-patches must be sown.'--[to the forester] 'but do you know how fir-cones (kienapfel) should be sown?' forester. "'o ja, your majesty.' king. "'na! [a frequent interjection of friedrich's and his father's], how are they sown, then? from east to west, or from north to south?' ["van morgen gegen abend, oder van abend gegen morgen?" so in orig. (p. );--but, surely, except as above, it has no sense? from north to south, there is but one fir-seed sown against the wind; from east to west, there is a whole row.] forester. "'from east to west.' king. "'that is right. but why?' forester. "'because the most wind comes from the west.' king. "'that's right.' "now his majesty arrived at fehrbellin; spoke there with lieutenant probst of the ziethen hussar regiment, [probst is the leftmost figure in that chodowiecki engraving of the famous ziethen-and-friedrich chair-scene, five years after this. (supra. n.)] and with the fehrbellin postmeister, captain von mosch. so soon as the horses were to, we continued our travel; and as his majesty was driving close by my big ditches," graben, trenches, main-drains, "which have been made in the fehrbellin luch at the king's expense, i rode up to the carriage, and said:-- ich. "'your majesty, these now are the two new drains, which by your majesty's favor we have got here; and which keep the luch dry for us.' king. "'so, so; that i am glad of!--who is he (are you)?' fromme. "'your majesty, i am the beamte here of fehrbellin.' king. "'what 's your name?' ich. "'fromme.' king. "'ha, ha! you are a son of the landrath fromme's.' ich. "'your majesty's pardon. my father was amtsrath in the amt luhnin.' king. "'amtsrath? amtsrath? that isn't true! your father was landrath. i knew him very well.--but tell me now (sagt mir einmal) has the draining of the luch been of much use to you here?' ich. "'o ja, your majesty.' king. "'do you keep more cattle than your predecessor?' ich. "'yes, your majesty. on this farm i keep more; on all the farms together more.' king. "'that is right. the murrain (viehseuche) is not here in this quarter?' ich. "'no, your majesty.' king. "'have you had it here?' ich. "'ja.' king. "'do but diligently use rock-salt, you won't have the murrain again.' ich. "'yes, your majesty, i do use it too; but kitchen salt has very nearly the same effect.' king. "'no, don't fancy that! you must n't pound the rock-salt small, but give it to the cattle so that they can lick it.' ich. "'yes, it shall be done.' king. "'are there still improvements needed here?' ich. "'o ja, your majesty. here lies the kemmensee [kemmen-lake]: if that were drained out, your majesty would gain some , acres [morgen, three-fifths english acre] of pasture-land, where colonists could be settled; and then the whole country would have navigation too, which would help the village of fehrbellin and the town of ruppin to an uncommon degree.' king. "'i suppose so! be a great help to you, won't it; and many will be ruined by the job, especially the proprietors of the ground nicht wahr?' [ha?] ich. "'your majesty's gracious pardon [ew. majestat halten zu gnaden,--hold me to grace]: the ground belongs to the royal forest, and there grows nothing but birches on it.' king. "'oh, if birchwood is all it produces, then we may see! but you must not make your reckoning without your host either, that the cost may not outrun the use.' ich. "'the cost will certainly not outrun the use. for, first, your majesty may securely reckon that eighteen hundred acres will be won from the water; that will be six-and-thirty colonists, allowing each acres. and now if there were a small light toll put upon the raft-timber and the ships that will frequent the new canal, there would be ample interest for the outlay.' king. "'na, tell my geheimer-rath michaelis of it. the man understands that kind of matters; and i will advise you to apply to the man in every particular of such things, and wherever you know that colonists can be settled. i don't want whole colonies at once; but wherever there are two or three families of them, i say apply to that man about it.' ich. "'it shall be done, your majesty.' king. "'can't i see wusterau,' where old ajax ziethen lives, 'from here?' ich. "'yes, your majesty; there to the right, that is it.' it belongs to general von ziethen; and terrible building he has had here,--almost all his life! king. "'is the general at home?' ich. "'ja.' king. "'how do you know?' ich. "'your majesty, the rittmeister von lestock lies in my village on grazing service; and last night the herr general sent a letter over to him by a groom. in that way i know it.' king. "'did general von ziethen gain, among others, by the draining of the luch?' ich. "'o ja; the farm-stead there to the right he built in consequence, and has made a dairy there, which he could not have done, had not the luch been drained.' king. "'that i am glad of!--what is the beamte's name in alt-ruppin?' [old ruppin, i suppose, or part of its endless "ruppin or rhyn mere," catches the king's eye.] ich. "'honig.' king. "'how long has he been there?' ich. "'since trinity-term.' king. "'since trinity-term! what was he before?' ich. "'kanonious' [a canon]. king. "'kanonicus? kanonicus? how the devil comes a kanonicus to be a beamte?' ich. "'your majesty, he is a young man who has money, and wanted to have the honor of being a beamte of your majesty.' king. "'why did n't the old one stay?' ich. "'is dead.' king. "'well, the widow might have kept his amt, then!' ich. "'is fallen into poverty.' king. "'by woman husbandry!' ich. "'your majesty's pardon! she cultivated well, but a heap of mischances brought her down: those may happen to the best husbandman. i myself, two years ago, lost so many cattle by the murrain, and got no remission: since that, i never can get on again either.' king. "'my son, to-day i have some disorder in my left ear, and cannot hear rightly on that side of my head' (!). ich. "'it is a pity that geheimer-rath michaelis has got the very same disorder!'--i now retired a little back from the carriage; i fancied his majesty might take this answer ill. king. "'na, amtmann, forward! stay by the carriage; but take care of yourself, that you don't get hurt. speak loud, i understand very well.' these words marked in italics [capitals] his majesty repeated at least ten times in the course of the journey. 'tell me now, what is that village over on the right yonder?' ich. "'langen.' king. "'to whom does it belong?' ich. "'a third part of it to your majesty, under the amt of alt-ruppin; a third to herr von hagen; and then the high church (dohm) of berlin has also tenants in it.' king. "'you are mistaken, the high church of magdeburg.' ich. "'your majesty's gracious pardon, the high church of berlin.' king. "'but it is not so; the high church of berlin has no tenants!' ich. "'your majesty's gracious pardon, the high church of berlin has three tenants in the village karvesen in my own amt.' king. "'you mistake, it is the high church of magdeburg.' ich. "'your majesty, i must be a bad beamte, if i did not know what tenants and what lordships there are in my own amt.' king. "'ja, then you are in the right!--tell me now: here on the right there must be an estate, i can't think of the name; name me the estates that lie here on the right.' ich. "'buschow, rodenslieben, sommerfeld, beetz, karbe.' king. "'that's it, karbe! to whom belongs that?' ich. "'to herr von knesebeck.' king. "'was he in the service?' ich. "'yes, lieutenant or ensign in the guards.' king. "'in the guards? [counting on his fingers.] you are right: he was lieutenant in the guards. i am very glad the estate is still in the hands of the knesebecks.--na, tell me though, the road that mounts up here goes to ruppin, and here to the left is the grand road for hamburg?' ich. "'ja, your majesty.' king. "'do you know how long it is since i was here last?' ich. "'no.' king. "'it is three-and-forty years. cannot i see ruppin somewhere here?' ich. "'yes, your majesty: the steeple rising there over the firs, that is ruppin.' king (leaning out of the carriage with his prospect-glass). "'ja, ja, that is it, i know it yet. can i see drammitz hereabouts?' ich. "'no, your majesty: drammitz lies too far to the left, close on kiritz.' king. "'sha'n't we see it, when we come closer?' ich. "'maybe, about neustadt; but i am not sure.' king. "'pity, that. can i see pechlin?' ich. "'not just now, your majesty; it lies too much in the hollow. who knows whether your majesty will see it at all!' king. "'na, keep an eye; and if you see it, tell me. where is the beamte of alt-ruppin?' ich. "'in protzen, where we change horses, he will be.' king. "'can't we yet see pechlin?' ich. "'no, your majesty.' king. "'to whom belongs it now?' ich. "'to a certain schonermark.' king. "'is he of the nobility?' ich. "'no.' king. "'who had it before him?' ich. "'the courier (feldjager) ahrens; he got it by inheritance from his father. the property has always been in commoners' (burgerlichen) hands. king. "'that i am aware of. how call we the village here before us?' ich. "'walcho.' king. "'to whom belongs it?' ich. "'to you, your majesty, under the amt alt-ruppin.' king. "'what is the village here before us?' ich. "'protzen.' king. "'whose is it?' ich. "'herr von kleist's.' king. "'what kleist is that?' ich. "'a son of general kleist's.' king. "'of what general kleist's.' ich. "'his brother was flugeladjutant [wing-adjutant, whatever that may be] with your majesty; and is now at magdeburg, lieutenant-colonel in the regiment kalkstein.' king. "'ha, ha, that one! i know the kleists very well. has this kleist been in the service too?' ich. "'yea, your majesty; he was ensign in the regiment prinz ferdinand.' king. "'why did the man seek his discharge?' ich. "'that i do not know.' king. "'you may tell me, i have no view in asking: why did the man take his discharge?' ich. "'your majesty, i really cannot say.' "we had now got on to protzen. i perceived old general van ziethen standing before the manor-house in protzen,"--rugged brave old soul; with his hanging brows, and strange dim-fiery pious old thoughts!--"i rode forward to the carriage and said:-- ich. "'your majesty, the herr general von ziethen is [are, sind] also here.' king. "'where? where? oh, ride forward, and tell the people to draw up; they must halt, i'll get out.' "and now his majesty got out; and was exceedingly delighted at the sight of herr general von ziethen; talked with him and herr von kleist of many things: whether the draining of the luch had done him good; whether the murrain had been there among their cattle?--and recommended rock-salt against the murrain. suddenly his majesty stept aside, turned towards me, and called: 'amtmann! [then close into my ear] who is the fat man there with the white coat?' ich (also close into his majesty's ear). "'your majesty, that is the landrath quast, of the ruppin circle.' king. "'very well.' "now his majesty went back to general von ziethen and herr von kleist, and spoke of different things. herr von kleist presented some very fine fruit to his majesty; all at once his majesty turned round, and said: 'serviteur, herr landrath!'--as the landrath ["fat man there with the white coat"] was stepping towards his majesty, said his majesty: 'stay he there where he is; i know him. he is the landrath von quast!'["very good indeed, old vater fritz; let him stand there in his white coat, a fat, sufficiently honored man!--chodowiecki has an engraving of this incident;--i saw it at the british museum once, where they have only seven others on friedrich altogether, all in one poor gotha almanac; very small, very coarse, but very good: this quast (anglice 'tassel') was one of them" (marginale of ).] "they had now yoked the horses. his majesty took a very tender leave of old general von ziethen, waved an adieu to those about, and drove on. although his majesty at protzen would not take any fruit, yet when once we were out of the village, his majesty took a luncheon from the carriage-pocket for himself and the herr general graf von gortz, and, all along, during the drive, ate apricots (immer pfirsche). at starting, his majesty had fancied i was to stop here, and called out of the carriage: 'amtmann, come along with us!' king. "'where is the beamte of alt-ruppin?' ich. "'apparently he must be unwell; otherwise he would have been in protzen at the change of horses there' ["at the vorspann:" yes;--and manor-house, edelhof, where old ziethen waited, was lower down the street, and sooner than the post-house?] king. "'na, tell me now, don't you really know why that kleist at protzen took his discharge?' [voila!] ich. "'no, your majesty, i really do not.' king. "'what village is this before us?' ich. "'manker.' king. "'and whose?' ich. "'yours, your majesty, in the amt alt-ruppin.' king (looking round on the harvest-fields). "'here you, now: how are you content with the harvest?' ich. "'very well, your majesty.' king. "'very well? and to me they said, very ill!' ich. "'your majesty, the winter-crop was somewhat frost-nipt; but the summer-crop in return is so abundant it will richly make up for the winter-crop.' his majesty now looked round upon the fields, shock standing upon shock. king. "'it is a good harvest, you are right; shock stands close by shock here!' ich. "'yes, your majesty; and the people here make steigs (mounts) of them too.' king. "'steigs, what is that?' ich. "'that is sheaves piled all together.' king. "'oh, it is indisputably a good harvest. but tell me, though, why did kleist of protzen take his discharge?' ich. "'your majesty, i do not know. i suppose he was obliged to take his father's estates in hand: no other cause do i know of.' king. "'what's the name of this village we are coming to?' ich. "'garz.' king. "'to whom belongs it?' ich. "'to the kriegsrath von quast.' king. "'to whom belongs it?' ich. "'to kriegsrath von quast.' king. "'ey was [pooh, pooh]! i know nothing of kriegsraths!--to whom does the estate belong?' ich. "'to herr von quast.' friedrich had the greatest contempt for kriegsraths, and indeed for most other raths or titular shams, labelled boxes with nothing in the inside: on a horrible winter-morning (sleet, thunder, &c.), marching off hours before sunrise, he has been heard to say, 'would one were a kriegsrath! king. "'na, that is the right answer.' "his majesty now arrived at garz. the changing of the horses was managed by herr von luderitz of nackeln, as first deputy of the ruppin circle. he had his hat on, and a white feather in it. when the yoking was completed, our journey proceeded again. king. "'to whom belongs this estate on the left here?' ich. "'to herr van luderitz; it is called nackeln.' king. "'what luderitz is that?' ich. "'your majesty, he that was in garz while the horses were changing.' king. "'ha, ha, the herr with the white feather!--do you sow wheat too?' ich. "'ja, your majesty.' king. "'how much have you sown?' ich. "'three wispels scheffels,' unknown measures! king. "'how much did your predecessor use to sow?' ich. "'four scheffels.' king. "'how has it come that you sow so much more than he?' ich. "'as i have already had the honor to tell your majesty that i keep seventy head of cows more than he, i have of course more manure for my ground, and so put it in a better case for bearing wheat.' king. "'but why do you grow no hemp?' ich. "'it would not answer here. in a cold climate it would answer better. our sailors can buy russian hemp in lubeck cheaper, and of better quality than i could grow here.' king. "'what do you sow, then, where you used to have hemp?' ich. "'wheat!' king. "'why do you sow no farbekraut, ["dye-herb:" commonly called "farberrothe;" yields a coarse red, on decoction of the twigs and branches; from its roots the finer red called "krapp" (in french garance) is got.] no krapp?' ich. "'it will not prosper; the ground is n't good enough.' king. "'that is people's talk: you should have made the trial.' ich. "'i did make the trial; but it failed; and as beamte i cannot make many trials; for, let them fail or not, the rent must be paid.' king. "'what do you sow, then, where you would have put farbekraut?' ich. "'wheat.' king. "'na! then stand by wheat!--your tenants are in good case, i suppose?' ich. "'yes, your majesty. i can show by the register of hypothecks (hypothekenbuch) that they have about thousand thalers of capital among them.' king. "'that is good.' ich. "'three years ago a tenant died who had , thalers,' say , pounds, 'in the bank.' king. "'how much?' ich. "'eleven thousand thalers.' king. "'keep them so always!' ich. "'ja, your majesty, it is very good that the tenant have money; but he becomes mutinous too, as the tenants hereabouts do, who have seven times over complained to your majesty against me, to get rid of the hofdienst,' stated work due from them. king. "'they will have had some cause too!' ich. "'your majesty will graciously pardon: there was an investigation gone into, and it was found that i had not oppressed the tenants, but had always gone upon my right, and merely held them to do their duty. nevertheless the matter stood as it was: the tenants are not punished; your majesty puts always the tenants in the right, the poor beamte is always in the wrong!' king. "'ja: that you, my son, will contrive to get justice, you, i cannot but believe! you will send your departmentsrath [judge of these affairs] such pretty gifts of butter, capons, poults!' ich. "'no, your majesty, we cannot. corn brings no price: if one did not turn a penny with other things, how could one raise the rent at all?' king. "'where do you send your butter, capons and poults (puter) for sale?' ich. "'to berlin.' king. "'why not to ruppin?' ich. "'most of the ruppin people keep cows, as many as are needed for their own uses. the soldier eats nothing but old [salt] butter, he cannot buy fresh.' king. "'what do you get for your butter in berlin?' ich. "'four groschen the pound; now the soldier at ruppin buys his salt butter at two.' king. "'but your capons and poults, you could bring these to ruppin?' ich. "'in the regiment there are just four staff-officers; they can use but little: the burghers don't live delicately; they thank god when they can get a bit of pork or bacon.' king. "'yes, there you are in the right! the berliners, again, like to eat some dainty article.--na! do what you will with the tenants [unterthanen, not quite adscripts at that time on the royal demesnes, but tied to many services, and by many shackles, from which friedrich all his days was gradually delivering them]; only don't oppress them.' ich. "'your majesty, that would never be my notion, nor any reasonable beamte's.' king. "'tell me, then, where does stollen lie?' ich. "'stollen your majesty cannot see just here. those big hills there on the left are the hills at stollen; there your majesty will have a view of all the colonies.' king. "'so? that is well. then ride you with us thither.' "now his majesty came upon a quantity of peasants who were mowing rye; they had formed themselves into two rows, were wiping their scythes, and so let his majesty drive through them. king. "'what the devil, these people will be wanting money from me, i suppose?' ich. "'oh no, your majesty! they are full of joy that you are so gracious as to visit this district.' king. "'i'll give them nothing, though.--what village is that, there ahead of us?' ich. "'barsekow.' king. "'to whom belongs it?' ich. "'to herr von mitschepfal.' king. "'what mitschepfal is that?' ich. "'he was major in the regiment which your majesty had when crown-prince.' [supra, vii. .] king. "'mein gott! is he still alive?' ich. "'no, he is dead; his daughter has the estate.' "we now came into the village of barsekow, where the manor-house is in ruins. king. "'hear! is that the manor-house (edelhof)?' ich. "'ja.' king. "'that does look miserable.' here mitschepfal's daughter, who has married a baronial herr von kriegsheim from mecklenburg, came forward while the horses were changing. kriegsheim came on account of her into this country: the king has given them a colony of morgen (acres). coming to the carriage, frau von kriegsheim handed some fruit to his majesty. his majesty declined with thanks; asked, who her father was, when he died, &c. on a sudden, she presented her husband; began to thank for the morgen; mounted on the coach-step; wished to kiss, if not his majesty's hand, at least his coat. his majesty shifted quite to the other side of the carriage, and cried"--good old fritz!--"'let be, my daughter, let be! it is all well!--amtmann, let us get along (macht dass wir fortkommen)!' king. "'hear now: these people are not prospering here?' ich. "'far from it, your majesty; they are in the greatest poverty.' king. "'that is bad.--tell me though; there lived a landrath here before: he had a quantity of children: can't you recollect his name?' ich. "'that will have been the landrath von gorgas of genser.' king. "'ja, ja, that was he. is he dead now?' ich. "'ja, your majesty. he died in : and it was very singular; in one fortnight he, his wife and four sons all died. the other four that were left had all the same sickness too, which was a hot fever; and though the sons, being in the army, were in different garrisons, and no brother had visited the other, they all got the same illness, and came out of it with merely their life left.' king. "'that was a desperate affair (verzweifelter umstand gewesen)! where are the four sons that are still in life?' ich. "'one is in the ziethen hussars, one in the gens-d'-armes, another was in the regiment prinz ferdinand, and lives on the estate dersau. the fourth is son-in-law of herr general von ziethen. he was lieutenant in the ziethen regiment; but in the last war (potato-war, ), on account of his ill health, your majesty gave him his discharge; and he now lives in genser.' king. "'so? that is one of the gorgases, then!--are you still making experiments with the foreign kinds of corn?' ich. "'o ja; this year i have sown spanish barley. but it will not rightly take hold; i must give it up again. however, the holstein stooling-rye (staudenroggen) has answered very well.' king. "'what kind of rye is that?' ich. "'it grows in holstein in the low grounds (niederung). never below the th grain [ reaped for sown] have i yet had it.' king. "'nu, nu [ho, ho], surely not the th grain all at once!' ich. "'that is not much. please your majesty to ask the herr general von gortz [who has not spoken a syllable all day]; he knows this is not reckoned much in holstein:'--(the general graf von gortz i first had the honor to make acquaintance with in holstein). "they now talked, for a while, of the rye, in the carriage together. presently his majesty called to me from the carriage, 'na, stand by the holstein stauden-rye, then; and give some to the tenants too.' ich. "'yes, your majesty.' king. "'but give me some idea: what kind of appearance had the luch before it was drained?' ich. "'it was mere high rough masses of hillocks (hullen); between them the water settled, and had no flow. in the driest years we couldn't cart the hay out, but had to put it up in big ricks. only in winter, when the frost was sharp, could we get it home. but now we have cut away the hillocks; and the trenches that your majesty got made for us take the water off. and now the luch is as dry as your majesty sees, and we can carry out our hay when we please.' king. "'that is well. have your tenants, too, more cattle than formerly?' ich. "'ja!' king. "'how many more?' ich. "'many have one cow, many two, according as their means admit.' king. "'but how many more have they in all? about how many, that is?' ich. "'about head.' "his majesty must lately have asked the herr general von gortz, how i came to know him,--as i told his majesty to ask general von gortz about the holstein rye;--and presumably the herr general must have answered, what was the fact, that he had first known me in holstein, where i dealt in horses, and that i had been at potsdam with horses. suddenly his majesty said: 'hear! i know you are fond of horses. but give up that, and prefer cows; you will find your account better there.' ich. "'your majesty, i no longer deal in horses. i merely rear a few foals every year.' king. "'rear calves instead; that will be better.' ich. "'oh, your majesty, if one takes pains with it, there is no loss in breeding horses. i know a man who got, two years ago, , thalers for a stallion of his raising.' king. "'he must have been a fool that gave it.' ich. "'your majesty, he was a mecklenburg nobleman.' king. "'but nevertheless a fool.' "we now came upon the territory of the amt neustadt; and here the amtsrath klausius, who has the amt in farm, was in waiting on the boundary, and let his majesty drive past. but as i began to get tired of the speaking, and his majesty went on always asking about villages, which stand hereabouts in great quantity, and i had always to name the owner, and say what sons he had in the army,--i brought up herr amtsrath klausius to the carriage, and said:-- ich. "'your majesty, this is the amtsrath klausius, of the amt neustadt, in whose jurisdiction the colonies are.' king. "'so, so! that is very good (das ist mir lieb). bring him up.' king. "'what's your name?' (from this point the king spoke mostly with amtsrath klausius, and i only wrote down what i heard). kl. "'klausius.' king. "'klau-si-us. na, have you many cattle here on the colonies?' kl. "' , head of cows, your majesty. there would have been above , , had it not been for the murrain that was here.' king. "'do the people too increase well? are there jolly children?' kl. "'o ja, your majesty; there are now , souls upon the colonies.' king. "'are you married too?' kl. "'ja, your majesty.' king. "'and have you children?' kl. "'step-children, your majesty.' king. "'why not of your own?' kl. "'don't know that, your majesty; as it happens.' king. "'hear: is it far to the mecklenburg border, here where we are?' kl. "'only a short mile [ miles english]. but there are some villages scattered still within the boundary which belong to brandenburg. there are stetzebart, rosso and so on.' king. "'ja, ja, i know them. but i should not have thought we were so near upon the mecklenburg country.' [to the herr amtsrath klausius] 'where were you born?' kl. "'at neustadt on the dosse.' king. "'what was your father?' kl. "'clergyman.' king. "'are they good people, these colonists? the first generation of them is n't usually good for much.' kl. "'they are getting on, better or worse.' king. "'do they manage their husbandry well?' kl. "'o ja, your majesty. his excellency the minister von derschau, too, has given me a colony of acres, to show the other colonists a good example in management.' king (smiling). "'ha, ha! good example! but tell me, i see no wood here: where do the colonists get their timber?' kl. "'from the ruppin district.' king. "'how far is that?' kl. "' miles' [ english]. king. "'well, that's a great way. it should have been contrived that they could have it nearer hand.' [to me] 'what man is that to the right there?' ich. "'bauinspector [buildings-inspector] menzelius, who has charge of the buildings in these parts.' king. "'am i in rome? they are mere latin names!--why is that hedged in so high?' ich. "'that is the mule-stud.' king. "'what is the name of this colony?' ich. "'klausiushof.' kl. "'your majesty, it should be called klaushof.' king. "'its name is klausiushof. what is the other colony called?' ich. "'brenkenhof.' king. "'that is not its name.' ich. "'ja, your majesty, i know it by no other!' king. "'its name is brenken-hosius-hof!--are these the stollen hills that lie before us?' ich. "'ja, your majesty.' king. "'have i to drive through the village?' ich. "'it is not indispensable; but the change of horses is there. if your majesty give order, i will ride forward, send the fresh horses out of the village, and have them stationed to wait at the foot of the hills.' king. "'o ja, do so! take one of my pages with you.' "i now took measures about the new team of horses, but so arranged it, that when his majesty got upon the hills i was there too. at dismounting from his carriage on the hill-top, his majesty demanded a prospect-glass; looked round the whole region, and then said: 'well, in truth, that is beyond my expectation! that is beautiful! i must say this to you, all of you that have worked in this business, you have behaved like honorable people!'--[to me] 'tell me now, is the elbe far from here?' ich. "'your majesty, it is miles off [ miles]. yonder is wurben in the altmark; it lies upon the elbe.' king. "'that cannot be! give me the glass again.--ja, ja, it is true, though. but what other steeple is that?' ich. "'your majesty, that is havelberg.' king. "'na, come here, all of you!' (there were amtsrath klausius, bauinspector menzelius and i.) 'hear now, the tract of moor here to the left must also be reclaimed; and what is to the right too, so far as the moor extends. what kind of wood is there on it?' ich. "'alders (elsen) and oaks, your majesty.' king. "'na! the alders you may root out; and the oaks may continue standing; the people may sell these, or use them otherwise. when once the ground is arable, i reckon upon families for it, and head of cows,--ha?'--nobody answered; at last i began, and said:-- ich. "'ja, your majesty, perhaps!' king. "'hear now, you may answer me with confidence. there will be more or fewer families. i know well enough one cannot, all at once, exactly say. i was never there, don't know the ground; otherwise i could understand equally with you how many families could be put upon it.' the bauinspector. "'your majesty, the luch is still subject to rights of common from a great many hands.' king. "'no matter for that. you must make exchanges, give them an equivalent, according as will answer best in the case. i want nothing from anybody except at its value.' [to amtsrath klausius] 'na, hear now, you can write to my kammer [board, board-of-works that does not sit idle!], what it is that i want reclaimed to the plough; the money for it i will give.' [to me] 'and you, you go to berlin, and explain to my geheimer-rath michaelis, by word of mouth, what it is i want reclaimed.' "his majesty now stept into his carriage again [was gortz sitting all the while, still in silence? or had he perhaps got out at the bottom of the hill, and sat down to a contemplative pipe of tobacco, the smoke of which, heart-cheering to gortz, was always disagreeable to friedrich? nobody knows!]--and drove down the hill; there the horses were changed. and now, as his majesty's order was that i should 'attend him to the stollen hills,' i went up to the carriage, and asked:-- ich. "'does your majesty command that i should yet accompany farther' ["befehlen, command," in the plural is polite, "your majesty, that i yet farther shall with"]? king. "'no, my son; ride, in god's name, home.'-- "the herr amtsrath [klau-si-us] then accompanied his majesty to rathenow, where he [they: his majesty is plural] lodged in the post-house. at rathenow, during dinner, his majesty was uncommonly cheerful: he dined with herr lieutenant-colonel von backhof of the carabineers, and the herr lieutenant-colonel von backhof himself has related that his majesty said:-- "'my good von backhof (mein lieber von backhof): if he [you] have not for a long time been in the fehrbellin neighborhood, go there.'" fehrbellin, the prussian bannockburn; where the great elector cut the hitherto invincible swedes in two, among the dams and intricate moory quagmires, with a vastly inferior force, nearly all of cavalry (led by one derflinger, who in his apprentice time had been a tailor); beat one end of them all to rags, then galloped off and beat the other into ditto; quite taking the conceit out of the swedes, or at least clearing prussia of them forever and a day: a feat much admired by friedrich: "'go there,' he says. 'that region is uncommonly improved [as i saw to-day]! i have not for a long time had such a pleasant drive. i decided on this journey because i had no review on hand; and it has given me such pleasure that i shall certainly have another by and by.' "'tell me now: how did you get on in the last war [kartoffel krieg, no fighting, only a scramble for proviant and "potatoes"]? most likely ill! you in saxony too could make nothing out. the reason was, we had not men to fight against, but cannons! i might have done a thing or two; but i should have sacrificed more than the half of my army, and shed innocent human blood. in that case i should have deserved to be taken to the guard-house door, and to have got a sixscore there (einen offfentlichen produkt)! wars are becoming frightful to carry on.' "'this was surely touching to hear from the mouth of a great monarch,' said herr lieutenant-colonel von backhof to me, and tears came into that old soldier's eyes." afterwards his majesty had said:-- "of the battle of fehrbellin i know everything, almost as if i myself had been there! while i was crown-prince, and lay in ruppin, there was an old townsman, the man was even then very old: he could describe the whole battle, and knew the scene of it extremely well. once i got into a carriage, took my old genius with me, who showed me all over the ground, and described everything so distinctly, i was much contented with him. as we were coming back, i thought: come, let me have a little fun with the old blade;--so i asked him: 'father, don't you know, then, why the two sovereigns came to quarrel with one another?'--'o ja, your royal highnesses [from this point we have platt-deutsch, prussian dialect, for the old man's speech; barely intelligible, as scotch is to an ingenious englishman], dat will ick se wohl seggen, i can easily tell you that. when our chorforste [kurfursts, great elector] was young, he studied in utrecht; and there the king of sweden happened to be too. and now the two young lords picked some quarrel, got to pulling caps [fell into one another's hair], and dit is nu de picke davon, and this now was the upshot of it.'--his majesty spoke this in platt-deutsch, as here given;--but grew at table so weary that he (they) fell asleep." so far backhof;--and now again fromme by way of finish:-- "of his majesty's journey i can give no farther description. for though his majesty spoke and asked many things else; it would be difficult to bring them all to paper." and so ends the day with friedrich the great; very flat, but i dare say very true:--a daguerrotype of one of his days. [illustration: _lola montez, countess of landsfeld_ (_from a lithograph by prosper guillaume dartiguenave_)] the magnificent montez _from courtesan to convert_ _by_ horace wyndham "when you met lola montez, her reputation made you automatically think of bedrooms." --aldous huxley. hillman-curl, inc. _publishers_ new york * * * * * foreword sweep a drag-net across the pages of contemporary drama, and it is unquestionable that in her heyday no name on the list stood out, in respect of adventure and romance, with greater prominence than did that of lola montez. everything she did (or was credited with doing) filled columns upon columns in the press of europe and america; and, from first to last, she was as much "news" as any hollywood heroine of our own time. yet, although she made history in two hemispheres, it has proved extremely difficult to discover and unravel the real facts of her glamorous career. this is because round few (if any) women has been built up such a honeycomb of fable and fantasy and imagination as has been built up round this one. even where the basic points are concerned there is disagreement. thus, according to various chroniclers, the sultan of turkey, an "indian rajah" (unspecified), lord byron, the king of the cannibal islands, and a "wealthy merchant," each figure as her father, with a "beautiful creole," a "scotch washerwoman," and a "dublin actress" for her mother; and calcutta, geneva, limerick, montrose, and seville--and a dozen other cities scattered about the world--for her birthplace. this sort of thing is--to say the least of it--confusing. but lola montez was something of an anachronism, and had as lofty a disregard for convention as had the ladies thronging the court of merlin. nor, it must be admitted, was she herself any pronounced stickler for exactitude. thus, she lopped half a dozen years off her age, allotted her father (whom she dubbed a "spanish officer of distinction") a couple of brevet steps in rank, and insisted on an ancestry to which she was never entitled. still, if lola montez deceived the public about herself, others have deceived the public about lola montez. thus, in one of his books, george augustus sala solemnly announced that she was a sister of adah isaacs menken; and a more modern writer, unable to distinguish between ludwig i and his grandson ludwig ii, tells us that she was "intimate with the mad king of bavaria." to anybody (and there still are such people) who accepts the printed word as gospel, slips of this sort destroy faith. as a fount of information on the subject, the _autobiography_ (alleged) of lola montez, first published in , is worthless. the bulk of it was written for her by a clerical "ghost" in america, the rev. chauncey burr, and merely serves up a tissue of picturesque and easily disproved falsehoods. a number of these, by the way, together with some additional embroideries, are set out at greater length in other volumes by ferdinand bac (who confounds ludwig i with maximilian ii) and the equally unreliable eugène de mirecourt and auguste papon. german writers, on the other hand, have, if apt to be long-winded, at least avoided the more obvious pitfalls. among the books and pamphlets (many of them anonymous) of teutonic origin, the following will repay research: _die gräfin landsfeld_ (gustav bernhard); _lola montez, gräfin von landsfeld_ (johann deschler); _lola montez und andere novellen_ (rudolf ziegler); _lola montez und die jesuiten_ (dr. paul erdmann); _die spanische tänzerin und die deutsche freiheit_ (j. beneden); _die deutsche revolution, - _ (hans blum); _ein vormarzliches tanzidyll_ (eduard fuchs); _abenteur der beruhmten tänzerin_; _anfang und ende der lola montez in bayern_; _die munchener vergange_; _unter den vier ersten königen bayerns_ (luise von kobell); and, in particular, the monumental _histeriche_ of heinrich von treitschke. but one has to milk a hundred cows to get even a pint of lola montez cream. with a view to gathering at first hand reliable and hitherto unrecorded details, visits have recently been made by myself to berlin, brussels, dresden, leningrad, munich, paris, and warsaw, etc., in each of which capitals some portion of colourful drama of lola montez was unfolded. in a number of directions, however, the result of such investigations proved disappointing. "lola montez--h'm--what sort of man was he?" was the response of a prominent actor, recommended to me as a "leading authority on anything to do with the stage"; and the secretary of a theatrical club, anxious to be of help, wrote: "sorry, but none of our members have any personal reminiscences of the lady." as she had then been in her grave for more than seventy years, it did not occur to me that even the senior _jeune premier_ among them would have retained any very vivid recollections of her. still, many of them were quite old enough to have heard something of her from their predecessors. but valuable assistance in eliciting the real facts connected with the career of this remarkable woman, and disentangling them from the network of lies and fables in which they have long been enmeshed, has come from other sources. among those to whom a special debt must be acknowledged are edmund d'auvergne (author of a carefully documented study), _lola montez_ (_an adventuress of the 'forties_); gertrude aretz (author of _the elegant woman_); bernard falk (author of _the naked lady_); arthur hornblow (author of _a history of the theatre in america_); harry price (hon. sec. university of london council for psychical investigation); philip richardson (editor of _the dancing times_); and constance rourke (author of _troupers of the gold coast_); and further information has been forthcoming from mrs. charles baker (ruislip), and john wade (acton). much help in supplying me with important letters and documents and hitherto unpublished particulars relating to the trail blazed by lola montez in america has been furnished by the following: miss mabel r. gillis (state librarian, californian state library, sacramento); mrs. lillian hall (curator, harvard theatre collection); miss ida m. mellen (new york); mrs. helen putnam van sicklen (library of the society of californian pioneers); mrs. annette tyree (new york); mr. john stapleton cowley-brown (new york); mr. lewis chase (hendersonville); professor kenneth l. daughrity (delta state teachers' college, cleveland); mr. frank fenton (stanford university, california); mr. harold e. gillingham (librarian, historical society of pennsylvania); mr. w. sprague holden (associate-editor, argonaut publishing company, san francisco); and mr. milton lord (director, public library, boston). in addition to these experts, i am also indebted to monsieur pierre tugal (conservateur, archives de la danse, paris); and to the directors and staffs of the bibliothèque d'arsenal, paris, and of the theatrical museum, munich, who have generously placed their records at my disposal. unlike his american and continental colleagues, a public librarian in england said (on a postcard) that he was "too busy to answer questions." h. w. * * * * * contents foreword chapter i. prelude to adventure ii. "married in haste" iii. the consistory court iv. flare of the footlights v. a passionate pilgrimage vi. an "affair of honour" vii. "hooking a prince" viii. ludwig the lover ix. "maÎtresse du roi" x. bursting of the storm xi. a fallen star xii. a "left-handed" marriage xiii. odyssey xiv. the "golden west" xv. "down under" xvi. farewell to the footlights xvii. the curtain falls appendix i. "arts of beauty" appendix ii. "lola montez' lectures" index * * * * * list of illustrations lola montez, countess of landsfeld _frontispiece_ "john company" troops on the march in india her majesty's theatre, haymarket, where lola montez made her dÉbut benjamin lumley, lessee of her majesty's theatre lola montez, "spanish dancer." dÉbut at her majesty's theatre viscount ranelagh, who organised a cabal against lola montez abbÉ liszt, musician and lover fanny elssler, predecessor of lola montez in paris porte st. martin theatre, paris, where lola was a "flop" supper-party at les frÈres provenÇaux. first act in a tragedy residenz palace, munich, in . residence of ludwig i. "command" portrait. in the "gallery of beauties," munich king of bavaria. "ludwig the lover" lola montez in caricature. "lola on the allemannen hound" berrymead priory, acton, where lola montez lived with cornet heald lola montez in london. aged thirty a "belle of the boulevards." lola montez in paris the "spider dance." cause of much criticism lola montez in "lola in bavaria." a "play with a purpose" lola as a lecturer. from stage to platform lola montez in middle life. a characteristic pose "lectures and life." from stage to platform countess of landsfeld. a favourite portrait grave of lola montez, in green-wood cemetery, new york * * * * * the magnificent montez chapter i prelude to adventure i in a tearful column, headed "necrology of the year," a mid-victorian obituarist wrote thus of a woman figuring therein: this was one who, notwithstanding her evil ways, had a share in some public transactions too remarkable to allow her name to be omitted from the list of celebrated persons deceased in the year . born of an english or irish family of respectable rank, at a very early age the unhappy girl was found to be possessed of the fatal gift of beauty. she appeared for a short time on the stage as a dancer (for which degradation her sorrowing relatives put on mourning, and issued undertakers' cards to signify that she was now dead to them) and then blazed forth as the most notorious paphian in europe. were this all, these columns would not have included her name. but she exhibited some very remarkable qualities. the natural powers of her mind were considerable. she had a strong will, and a certain grasp of circumstances. her disposition was generous, and her sympathies very large. these qualities raised the courtesan to a singular position. she became a political influence; and exercised a fascination over sovereigns and ministers more widely extended than has perhaps been possessed by any other member of the _demi-monde_. she ruled a kingdom; and ruled it, moreover, with dignity and wisdom and ability. the political hypatia, however, was sacrificed to the rabble. her power was gone, and she could hope no more from the flattery of statesmen. she became an adventuress of an inferior class. her intrigues, her duels, and her horse-whippings made her for a time a notoriety in london, paris, and america. like other celebrated favourites who, with all her personal charms, but without her glimpses of a better human nature, have sacrificed the dignity of womanhood to a profligate ambition, this one upbraided herself in her last moments on her wasted life; and then, when all her ambition and vanity had turned to ashes, she understood what it was to have been the toy of men and the scorn of women. altogether a somewhat guarded suggestion of disapproval about the subject of this particular memoir. ii three years after the thunderous echoes of waterloo had died away, and "boney," behind a fringe of british bayonets, was safely interned on the island of st. helena, there was born in barracks at limerick a little girl. on the same day, in distant bavaria, a sovereign was celebrating his thirty-fifth birthday. twenty-seven years later the two were to meet; and from that meeting much history was to be written. the little girl who first came on the scene at limerick was the daughter of one ensign edward gilbert, a young officer of good irish family who had married a señorita oliverres de montalva, "of castle oliver, madrid." at any rate, she claimed to be such, and also that she was directly descended from francisco montez, a famous toreador of seville. there is a strong presumption, however, that here she was drawing on her imagination; and, as for the "castle oliver" in sunny spain, well, that country has never lacked "castles." the oliver family, as pointed out by e. b. d'auvergne in his carefully documented _adventuresses and adventurous ladies_, was really of irish extraction, and had been settled in limerick since the year . "the family pedigree," he says, "reveals no trace of spanish or moorish blood." further, by the beginning of the last century, the main line had, so far as the union of its members was blessed by the church, expired, and no legitimate offspring were left. gilbert's spouse, accordingly, must, if a genuine oliverres, have come into the world with a considerable blot on her 'scutcheon. still, if there were no hidalgos perched on her family tree, mrs. gilbert probably had some good blood in her veins. as a matter of fact, there is some evidence adduced by a distant relative, miss d. m. hodgson, that she was really an illegitimate daughter of an irishman, charles oliver, of castle oliver (now cloghnafoy), co. limerick, and a peasant girl on his estate. this is possible enough, for the period was one when squires exercised "seigneurial rights," and when colleens were complacent. if they were not, they had very short shrift. mrs. gilbert's wedding had been a hasty one. still, not a bit too hasty, since the doctor and monthly nurse had to be summoned almost before the ink was dry on the register. as a matter of fact, mrs. gilbert must have gone to church in the condition of ladies who love their lords, for this "pledge of mutual affection" was born in limerick barracks while the honeymoon was still in full swing, and within a couple of months of the nuptial knot being tied. she was christened marie dolores eliza rosanna, but was at first called by the second of these names. this, however, being a bit of a mouthful for a small child, she herself soon clipped it to the diminutive lola. the name suited her, and it stuck. while these facts are supported by documentary evidence, they have not been "romantic" enough to fit in with the views of certain foreign biographers. accordingly, they have given the child's birthplace as in, among other cities, madrid, lucerne, constantinople, and calcutta; and one of them has even been sufficiently daring to make her a daughter of lord byron. larousse, too, not to be behindhand, says that she was "born in seville, of a spanish father"; and, alternatively, "in scotland, of an english father." both accounts, however, are emphatic that her mother was "a young creole of astonishing loveliness, who had married two officers, a spaniard and an englishman." it was to edward gilbert's credit that he had not joined the army with the king's commission in his pocket, but in a more humble capacity, that of a private soldier. gallant service in the field had won him advancement; and in he was selected for an ensigncy in the th foot, thus exchanging his musket and knapsack for the sword and sash of an officer. from the th foot he was, five years later, transferred to the th foot, commanded by colonel morrison. in , its turn coming round for a spell of foreign service, the regiment moved from dublin to chatham and embarked for india. sailing with his wife and child, the young officer, after a voyage that lasted the best (or worst) part of six months, landed at calcutta and went into barracks at fort william. on arrival there, "the newcomers," says an account that has been preserved, "were entertained with lavish hospitality and in a fashion to be compared only with the festivities pictured in the novels of charles lever." but all ranks had strong heads, and were none the worse for it. during the ensuing summer the regiment got "the route," and was ordered up country to dinapore, a cantonment near patna, on the ganges, that had been founded by warren hastings. it was an unhealthy station, especially for youngsters fresh from england. a burning sun by day; hot stifling nights; and no breath of wind sweeping across the parched ghats. within a few weeks the dreaded cholera made its appearance; the melancholy roll of muffled drums was heard every evening at sunset; and ensign gilbert was one of the first victims. [illustration: "john company" troops on the march in india] the widow, it is recorded, was "left to the care and protection of mrs. general brown," the wife of the brigadier. but events were already marching to their appointed end; and, as a result, this charitable lady was soon relieved of her charge. left a young widow (not yet twenty-five) with a child of five to bring up, and very little money on which to do it (for her husband had only drawn rupees a month), the position in which mrs. gilbert found herself was a difficult one. "you can," wrote lola, years afterwards, "have but a faint conception of the responsibility." warm hearts, however, were at hand to befriend her. the warmest among them was that of a brother officer of her late husband, lieutenant patrick craigie, of the th native infantry, then quartered at dacca. a bachelor and possessed of considerable private means, he invited her to share his bungalow. the invitation was accepted. as a result, there was a certain amount of gossip. this, however, was promptly silenced by a second invitation, also accepted, to share his name; and, in august, , mrs. gilbert, renouncing her mourning and her widowhood, blossomed afresh as mrs. craigie. it is said that the ceremony was performed by bishop heber, metropolitan of calcutta, who happened to be visiting dacca at the time. very soon afterwards the benedict received a staff appointment as deputy-adjutant-general at simla, combined with that of deputy-postmaster at headquarters. this sent him a step up the ladder to the rank of captain and brought a welcome addition to his pay. in the opinion of the station "gup," some of it not too charitable, the widow "had done well for herself." captain craigie, who appears to have been a somewhat dobbin-like individual, proved an affectionate husband and step-father. the little girl's prettiness and precocity appealed to him strongly. he could not do enough for her; and he spoiled her by refusing to check her wayward disposition and encouraging her mischievous pranks. it was not a good upbringing; and, as dress and "society" filled the thoughts of her mother, the "miss baba" was left very much to the care of the swarms of native servants attached to the bungalow. she was petted by all with whom she came into contact, from the gilded staff of government house down to the humblest sepoy and bearer. lord hastings, the commander-in-chief--a rigid disciplinarian who had reintroduced the "cat" when lord minto, his predecessor in office, had abolished it--smiled affably on her. she sat on the laps of be-medalled generals, veterans of assaye and bhurtpore, and pulled their whiskers unchecked; and she ran wild in the compounds of the civilian big-wigs and mercantile nabobs who, as was the custom in the days of "john company," had shaken the pagoda tree to their own considerable profit. after all, as they said, when any protest filtered through to leadenhall street, what were the natives for, except to be exploited; and busybodies who took them to task were talking nonsense. worse, they were "disloyal." as, however, there were adequate reasons why children could not stop in the country indefinitely, lola's step-father, after much anxious consideration, decided that, since she was running wild and getting into mischief, the best thing to do with her would be to have her brought up by his relatives in scotland. a suitable escort having been found and a passage engaged, in the autumn of she was sent to montrose, where his own father, a "venerable man occupying the position of provost, and sisters were living." from india to scotland was a considerable change. not a change for the better, in the opinion of the new arrival there. the montrose household, ruled by captain craigie's elderly sisters, was a dour and strict one, informed by an atmosphere of bleak and chill calvinism. all enjoyment was frowned upon; pleasure was "worldly" and had to be severely suppressed. no more petting and spoiling for the little girl. instead, a regime of porridge and prayers and unending lessons. as a result the child was so wretched that, convinced her mother would prove unsympathetic, she wrote to her step-father, begging to be sent back to him. this, of course, was impossible. still, when the letter, blotted with tears, reached him in calcutta, captain craigie's heart was touched. if she was unhappy among his kinsfolk at montrose, he would send her somewhere else. but where? that was the question. as luck would have it, by the same mail a second letter, offering a solution of the problem, arrived from an anglo-indian friend. this was sir jasper nicolls, k.c.b., a veteran of assaye and bhurtpore, who had settled down in england and wanted a young girl as companion for, and to be brought up with, his own motherless daughter. the two got into correspondence; and, the necessary arrangements having been completed, little lola gilbert, beside herself with delight, was in the summer of packed off to sir jasper's house at bath. "are you sorry to leave us?" enquired the eldest miss craigie. "not a bit," was the candid response. "mark my words, miss, you'll come to a bad ending," predicted the other sourly. iii but if bath was to be a "bad ending," it was certainly to be a good beginning. there, instead of bleakness and constant reproof, lola found herself wrapped in an atmosphere of warmth and friendliness. sir jasper was kindness itself; and his daughter fanny made the newcomer welcome. the two girls took to one another from the first, sharing each other's pleasures as they shared each other's studies. thus, they blushed and gushed when required; sewed samplers and copied texts; learned a little french and drawing; grappled with miss mangnall's _questions for the use of young people_; practised duets and ballads; touched the strings of the harp; wept over the poems of "l.e.l."; read byron surreptitiously, and the newly published _sketches by boz_ openly; admired the "books of beauty" and sumptuously bound "keepsake annuals," edited by the countess of blessington and the hon. mrs. norton; laughed demurely at the antics of that elderly figure-of-fun, "romeo" coates, when he took the air in the quadrant; wondered why that distinguished veteran, sir charles napier, made a point of cutting sir jasper nicolls; curtsied to the little princess victoria, then staying at the york hotel, and turned discreetly aside when the duchess de berri happened to pass; and (since they were not entirely cloistered) attended, under the watchful eye of a governess, "select" concerts in the assembly rooms (with catalini and garsia in the programmes) and an occasional play at the theatre royal, where from time to time they had a glimpse of fanny kemble and kean and macready; and, in short, followed the approved curriculum of young ladies of their position in the far off-days when william iv was king. although sir jasper had a hearty and john bullish contempt for foreigners--and especially for the "froggies" he had helped to drub at waterloo--he felt that they, none the less, had their points; and that they were born on the wrong side of the channel was their misfortune, rather than their fault. accordingly, there was an interval in paris, where the two girls were sent to learn french. there, in addition to a knowledge of the language, lola acquired a technique that was afterwards to prove valuable amid other and very different surroundings. if de mirecourt (a far from reliable authority) is to be believed, she was also, during this period, presented to king charles x by the british ambassador. on the evidence of dates, however, this could not have been the case, for charles had relinquished his sceptre and fled to england long before lola arrived in the country. after an interval, sir jasper felt that he ought to slip across to paris himself, if only to make sure that his daughter and ward were "not getting into mischief, or having their heads filled with ideas." no sooner said than done and, posting to dover, he took the packet. having relieved his mind as to the welfare of the two girls, he turned his attention to other matters. as he had anticipated, a number of his old comrades who had settled in paris gave him a warm welcome and readily undertook to "show him round." he enjoyed the experience. life was pleasant there, and the theatres and cafés were attractive and a change from the austerities of bath. the ladies, too, whom he encountered when he smoked his cheroot in the palais royal gardens, smiled affably on the "english milord." some of them, with very little encouragement, did more. "no nonsense about waiting for introductions." but, despite its amenities, paris in the early 'thirties was not altogether a suitable resort for british visitors. the political atmosphere was distinctly ruffled. revolution was in the air. sir jasper sniffed the coming changes; and was tactician enough to avoid being engulfed in the threatened maelstrom by slipping back to england with his young charges in the nick of time. others of his compatriots, not so fortunate or so discreet, found themselves clapped into french prisons. returning to the tranquillity of bath, things resumed their normal course. sir jasper nursed his gout (changing his opinion of french cooking, to which he attributed a fresh attack) and the girls picked up the threads they had temporarily dropped. always responsive to her environment, lola expanded quickly in the sympathetic atmosphere of the nicolls household. before long, montrose, with its "blue scotch calvinism," was but a memory. instead of being snubbed and scolded, she was petted and encouraged. as a result, she grew cheerful and vivacious, full of high spirits and laughter. perhaps because of her mother's spanish blood, she matured early. at sixteen she was a woman. a remarkably attractive one, too, giving--with her raven tresses, long-lashed violet eyes, and graceful figure--promise of the ripe beauty for which she was afterwards to be distinguished throughout two hemispheres. of a romantic disposition, she, naturally enough, had her _affaires_. several of them, as it happened. one of them was with an usher, who had slipped amorous missives into her prayer-book. greatly daring, he followed this up by bearding sir jasper in his den and asking permission to "pay his addresses" to his ward. the warrior's response was unconciliatory. still, he could not be angry when, on being challenged, the girl laughed at him. "egad!" he declared. "but, before long, miss, you'll be setting all the men by the ears." prophetic words. iv during the interval that elapsed since they last met, mrs. craigie had troubled herself very little about the child she had sent to england. when, however, she received her portrait from sir jasper, together with a glowing description of her attractiveness and charm, the situation assumed a fresh aspect. lola, she felt, had become an asset, instead of an anxiety; and, as such, must make a "good" marriage. bath swarmed with detrimentals, and there was a risk of a pretty girl, bereft of a mother's watchful care, being snapped up by one of them. possibly, a younger son, without a penny with which to bless himself. a shuddering prospect for an ambitious mother. obviously, therefore, the thing to do was to get her daughter out to india and marry her off to a rich husband. the richer, the better. mrs. craigie went to work in business-like fashion, and cast a maternal eye over the "eligibles" she met at government house. the one among them she ultimately selected as a really desirable son-in-law was a calcutta judge, sir abraham lumley. it was true he was more than old enough to be the girl's father, and was distinctly liverish. but this, she felt, was beside the point, since he had accumulated a vast number of rupees, and would, before long, retire on a snug pension. sir abraham was accordingly sounded. hardened bachelor as he was, a single glance at lola's portrait was enough to send his blood-pressure up to fever heat. in positive rapture at the idea of such fresh young loveliness becoming his, he declared himself ready to change his condition, and discussed handsome settlements. with everything thus cut and dried, as she considered, mrs. craigie took the next step in her programme. this was to leave india for england, during the autumn of , and tell lola of the "good news" in store for her. she was then to bring her back to calcutta and the expectant arms of sir abraham. honest captain craigie looked a little dubious when he was consulted. "perhaps she won't care about him," he suggested. "fiddlesticks!" retorted his wife. "any girl would jump at the chance of being lady lumley. think of the position." "i'm thinking of lola," he said. chapter ii "married in haste" i among the passengers accompanying mrs. craigie on the long voyage to southampton was a lieutenant thomas james, a debonair young officer of the bengal infantry, who made himself very agreeable to her and with whom he exchanged many confidences. he was going home on a year's sick leave; and at the suggestion of his ship-board acquaintance he decided to spend the first month of it in bath. "it's time i settled down," he said. "who knows, but i might pick up a wife in bath and take her back to india with me." "who knows," agreed mrs. craigie, her match-making instincts aroused. "bath is full of pretty girls." the meeting between mother and daughter developed very differently from the lines on which she had planned it. contrary to what she had expected, lola did not evince any marked readiness to fall in with them. quite undazzled by the prospects of becoming lady lumley, and reclining on sir abraham's elderly bosom, she even went so far as to dub the learned judge a "gouty old rascal," and declared that nothing would induce her to marry him. neither reproaches nor arguments had any effect. nor would she exhibit the smallest interest in the trousseau for which (but without her knowledge) lavish orders had been given. poor mrs. craigie could scarcely believe her ears. for a daughter to run counter to the wishes of her mother, and to snap her fingers at the chance of marrying a "title," was something she had considered impossible. what on earth were girls coming to, she wondered. either the paris "finishing school" or the bath air had gone to her head. the times were out of joint, and the theory that daughters did what they were told was being rudely upset. it was all very disturbing. in her astonishment and annoyance, mrs. craigie took to her bed. however, she did not stop there long, for prompt measures had to be adopted. as it was useless to tackle sir jasper nicolls (whom she held responsible for the upset to her plans) she sought counsel of somebody else. this was her military friend, who, as luck would have it, was still lingering in bath, where he had evidently discovered some special attraction. after all, he was a "man of the world" and would know what to do. accordingly, she summoned him to a consultation, and unburdened her mind on the subject of lola's "oddness." "of course, the girl's mad," she declared. "nothing else would account for it. can you imagine any girl in her senses turning up her nose at such a match? i never heard such rubbish. i'm sure i don't know what sir abraham will say. he expects her to join him in calcutta by the end of the year. as a matter of fact, i've already booked her passage. the wedding is to be from our house there. something will have to be done. the question is, what?" "leave it to me," was the airy response. "i'll talk to her." thomas james did "talk." he talked to some effect, but not at all in the fashion mrs. craigie had intended. expressing sympathy with lola, he declared himself entirely on her side. she was much too young and pretty and attractive, he said, to dream for an instant of marrying a man who was old enough to be her grandfather, and bury herself in india. the idea was ridiculous. he had a much better plan to offer. when lola, smiling through her tears, asked him what it was, he said that she must run away with him and they would get married. thus the problem of her future would be solved automatically. the luxuriant whiskers and dashing air of lieutenant thomas james did their work. further, the suggestion was just the sort of thing that happened to heroines in novels. lola gilbert, young and romantic and inexperienced, succumbed. watching her opportunity, she slipped out of the house early the next morning. her lover had a post-chaise in readiness, and they set off in it for bristol. there they took the packet and crossed over to ireland, where james had relatives, who, he promised, would look after her until their marriage should be accomplished. "elopement in high life!" a tit-bit of gossip for the tea-tables and for the bucks at the clubs. no longer a sleepy hollow. bath was in the "news." it was not until they were gone that mrs. craigie discovered what had happened. her first reaction was one of furious indignation. this, however, was natural, for not only had her ambitious project gone astray, but she had been deceived by the very man she had trusted. it was more than enough to upset anybody, especially as she was also confronted with the unpleasant task of writing to sir abraham lumley, and telling him what had happened. as a result, she announced that she would "wash her hands" of the pair of them. while it was one thing to run away, it was, as lola soon discovered, another thing to get married. an unexpected difficulty presented itself, as the parish priest whom they consulted refused to perform the ceremony for so young a girl without being first assured of her mother's consent. mrs. craigie, erupting tears and threats, declined to give it. thereupon, james's married sister, mrs. watson, sprang into the breach and pointed out that "things have gone so far that it is now too late to draw back, if scandal is to be avoided." the argument was effective; and, a reluctant consent having been secured, on july , , the "position was regularised" by the bridegroom's brother, the rev. john james, vicar of rathbiggon, county meath. "thomas james, bachelor, lieutenant, st bengal native infantry, and rose anna gilbert, condition, spinster," was the entry on the certificate. [illustration: _her majesty's theatre, haymarket, where lola montez made her début_] after a short honeymoon in dublin, first at the shamrock hotel, and then in rather squalid lodgings (for cash was not plentiful), lola was taken back to her husband's relatives. they lived in a dull irish village on the edge of a peat bog, where the young bride found existence very boring. then, too, when the glamour of the elopement had dimmed, it was obvious that her action in running away from bath had been precipitate. thomas, for all his luxuriant whiskers and dash, was, she reflected sadly, "nothing but the outside shell of a man, with neither a brain that she could respect nor a heart she could love." a sorry awakening from the dreams in which she had indulged. as a matter of fact, they had nothing in common. the husband, who was sixteen years his wife's senior, cared for little but hunting and drinking, and lola's tastes were mainly for dancing and flirting. it was in dublin, where, much to her satisfaction, her spouse was ordered on temporary duty, that she discovered a ready outlet for these activities. "dear dirty dublin" was, to lola's way of thinking, a vast improvement on rathbiggon. at any rate, there was "society," smart young officers and rising politicians, instead of clodhopping squireens and village boors, to talk to, and shops where the new fashions could be examined, and theatres with real london actors and actresses. if only she had had a little money to spend, she would have been perfectly happy. but tom james had nothing beyond his pay, which scarcely kept him in cheroots and car fares. still, this did not prevent him running up debts. the lord lieutenant of ireland at that period was the earl of mulgrave ("the elegant mulgrave"), afterwards marquess of normanby. a great admirer of pretty women, and fond of exercising the viceregal privilege of kissing attractive débutantes, the drawing-rooms at the castle were popular functions under his regime. he showed young mrs. james much attention. the aides-de-camp, prominent among whom were bernal osborne and francis sheridan, followed the example thus set them by their chief; and tickets for balls and concerts and dinner-parties and drums and routs were showered upon her. thinking that these compliments and attentions were being overdone, lieutenant james took them amiss and elected to become jealous. he talked darkly of "calling out" one of his wife's admirers. but before there could be any early morning pistol-play in the phoenix park, an unexpected solution offered itself. trouble was suddenly threatened on the afghan frontier; and, in the summer of , all officers on leave from india were ordered to rejoin their regiments. welcoming the prospect of thus renewing her acquaintance with a country of which she still had pleasant memories, lola set to work to pack her trunks. if she had followed the advice of a certain "travellers' handbook," written by miss emma roberts, that was then very popular, she must have had a considerable amount of baggage. thus, according to this authority, the "list of necessaries for a lady on a voyage from england to india" included, among other items, the following articles: " chemises; nightcaps; pocket-handkerchiefs; pairs of drawers (or combinations, at choice); petticoats; pairs of stockings; pairs of gloves; at least dresses of different texture; shawls and parasols; and bonnets and morning caps, together with biscuits and preserves at discretion, and a dozen boxes of aperient pills." nothing omitted. provision for all contingencies. officers were also required to provide themselves with an elaborate outfit. thus, the list recommended in the _east india voyage_ gives, among other necessary items, " calico shirts; pairs of stockings; pairs of drawers; pairs of gloves; and pairs of trousers"; together with uniform, saddlery, and camp equipment; and such odds and ends as " lbs. of wax candles and several bottles of ink." nothing, however, about red-tape. a helpful hint furnished by miss roberts was that "a lady on ship-board, spruced up for the park or the opera, would only be an object of ridicule to her experienced companions. frippery which would be discarded in england is often useful in india. members of my sex," she adds, "who have to study economy, can always secure bargains by acquiring at small cost items of fashion which, while outmoded in london, will be new enough by the time they reach calcutta." a lady with such sound views on managing the domestic budget as miss emma roberts should not have remained long in single blessedness. ii those were not the days of ocean greyhounds, covering the distance between england and india in a couple of weeks. nor was there then any suez canal route to shorten the long miles that had to be traversed. thus, when lola and her spouse embarked from england in an east indiaman, the voyage took nearly five months to accomplish, with calls at madeira, st. helena, and the cape, before the welcome cry, "land ahead!" was heard and anchor was dropped at calcutta. lola's first acquaintance with india's coral strand had been made as a child of five. now she was returning as a married woman. yet she was scarcely eighteen. she did not stop in calcutta long, for her husband's regiment was in the punjaub, and a peremptory message from the brigadier required him to rejoin as soon as possible. it was at kurnaul (as it was then spelled) that lola began her experience of garrison life. among the other officers she met there was a young subaltern of the bengal artillery, who, in the years to come, was to make a name for himself as "lawrence of lucknow." the year was, for both the company's troops and the queen's army, an eventful one where india was concerned. during the spring lord auckland, the newly-appointed governor-general, hatched the foolish and ill-conceived policy which led to the first afghan war. his idea (so far as he had one) was, with the help of brown bess and british bayonets, to replace dost muhammed, who had sat on the throne there for twenty years without giving any real trouble, by an incompetent upstart of his own nomination, shah shuja. lieutenant james's regiment, the st bengal native infantry, was among those selected to join the expeditionary force appointed to "uphold the prestige of the british raj"; and, as was the custom at that time, lola, mounted on an elephant (which she shared with the colonel's better half), and followed by a train of baggage camels and a pack of foxhounds complete, accompanied her husband to the frontier. the other ladies included mrs. mcnaghten and mrs. robert sale and the governor-general's two daughters. it is just possible that macaulay had a glimpse of lola, for a contemporary letter says that "he turned out to wish the party farewell." the "army of the indus" was given a good send off by a loyal native prince, ranjeet singh (the "lion of the punjaub"), who, on their march up country, entertained the column in a rest-camp at lahore with "showy pageants and gay doings," among which were nautch dances, cock-fights, and theatricals. he meant well, no doubt, but he contrived to upset a chaplain, who declared himself shocked that a "bevy of dancing prostitutes should appear in the presence of the ladies of the family of a british governor-general." judging from a luscious account that lola gives of a big durbar, to which all the officers and their wives were bidden, these strictures were not unjustifiable. thus, after lord auckland ("in sky blue inexpressibles") and his host had delivered patriotic speeches (with florid allusions to the "british raj," the "sahib log," and the "great white queen," and all the rest of it) gifts were distributed among the assembled company. some of these were of an embarrassing description, since they took the form of "beautiful circassian slave maidens, covered with very little beyond precious gems." to the obvious annoyance, however, of a number of prospective recipients, "the rajah was officially informed that english custom and military regulations alike did not permit her majesty's warriors to accept such tokens of goodwill." but, if they could not receive them, the guests had to make presents in turn, and ranjeet singh for his part had no qualms about accepting them. with true oriental politeness, and "without moving a muscle," he registered rapture at a "miscellaneous collection of imitation gold and silver trinkets and rusty old pistols offered him on behalf of the honourable east india company." a correspondent of the _calcutta englishman_ was much impressed. "the particular gift," he says, "before which the maharajah bent with the devotion of a _preux chevalier_ was a full-length portrait of our gracious little queen, from the brush of the hon. miss eden herself." in a letter from lord auckland's military secretary, the hon. william osborne, there is an account of these doings at lahore: ranjeet has entertained us all most handsomely. no one in the camp is allowed to purchase a single thing; and a list is sent round twice a week in which you put down just what you require, and it is furnished at his expense. it costs him , rupees a day. nothing could exceed his liberality and friendship during the whole of the governor-general's visit. a second durbar, held at simla, was accompanied by much florid imagery, all of which had to be interpreted for the benefit of lord auckland. "it took a quarter of an hour," says his sister, "to satisfy him about the maharajah's health, and to ascertain that the roses had bloomed in the garden of friendship, and the nightingales had sung in the bowers of affection sweeter than ever since the two powers had approached each other." the afghan campaign, as ill conceived as it was ill carried out, followed its appointed course. that is to say, it was punctuated by "regrettable incidents" and quarrels among the generals (two of whom, sir henry fane and sir john keane, were not on speaking terms); and, with the afghans living to fight another day, a "success for british arms" was announced. thereupon, the column returned to india, bands playing, elephants trumpeting a salute, and guns thundering a welcome. "the war," declared his excellency (who had received an earldom) in an official despatch, "is all over." unfortunately, however, it was all over afghanistan, with the result that there had to be another campaign in the following year. this time, not even lord auckland's imagination could call it "successful." "there will be a great deal of prize money," was the complacent fashion in which miss eden summed up the situation. "another man has been put on the khelat throne, so that business is finished." but it was not finished. it was only just beginning. "within six months," says edward thompson, "khelat was recaptured by a son of the slain khan, lord auckland's puppet ejected, and the english commander of the garrison murdered." although the expedition that followed was the subject of a highly eulogistic despatch from the commander-in-chief and the big-wigs at headquarters, a number of "regrettable incidents" were officially admitted. as a result, a regiment of light cavalry was disbanded, "as a punishment for poltroonery in the hour of trial and the dastards struck off the army list." later on, when lord ellenborough was governor-general, a bombastic memorandum, addressed "to all the princes and chiefs and people of india," was issued by him: "our victorious army bears the gates of the temple of somnauth in triumph from afghanistan, and the despoiled tomb of sultan mahmood looks down upon the ruins of ghuznee. the insult of years is at last avenged! "to you i shall commit this glorious trophy of successful war. you will yourselves with all honour transmit the gates of sandalwood to the restored temple of somnauth. "may that good providence, which has hitherto so manifestly protected me, still extend to me its favour, that i may so use the power entrusted to my hands to advance your prosperity and happiness by placing the union of our two countries upon foundations that may render it eternal." there was a good deal more in a similar style, for his lordship loved composing florid despatches. but this one had a bad reception when it was sent home to england. "at this puerile piece of business," says the plain spoken stocqueler, "the commonsense of the british community at large revolted. the ministers of religion protested against it as a most unpardonable homage to an idolatrous temple. ridiculed by the press of india and england, and laughed at by the members of his own party in parliament, lord ellenborough halted the gates at agra, and postponed the completion of the monstrous folly he had more than begun to perpetrate." severe as was this criticism, it was not unmerited. ellenborough's theatrical bombast, like that of napoleon at the pyramids, recoiled upon him, bringing a hornets' nest about his own ears and leading to his recall. as a matter of fact, too, the gates which he held in such reverence were found to be replicas of the pair that the sultan mahmood had pilfered from somnauth; and were not of sandalwood at all, but of common deal. iii while following the drum from camp to camp and from station to station, lola spent several months in bareilly, a town that was afterwards to play an important part in the mutiny. colonel durand, an officer who was present when the city was captured in , says that the bungalow she occupied there was destroyed. yet, the mutineers, he noticed, had spared the bath house that had been built for her in the compound. during the hot weather of , young mrs. james, accompanied by her husband, went off to simla for a month on a visit to her mother, who, yielding to pressure, had at last held out the olive-branch. the welcome, however--except from captain craigie, who still had a warm corner in his heart for her--was somewhat frigid. there is a reference to this visit in _up the country_, a once popular book by lord auckland's sister, the hon. emily eden. following the coy fashion of the period, however, she always refrained from giving a name in full, but would merely allude to people as "colonel a," "mr. b," "mrs. c," and "miss d," etc. still, the identities of "mrs. j" and "mrs. c" in this extract are clear enough: _september , ._ simla is much moved just now by the arrival of a mrs. j, who has been talked of as a great beauty all the year, and that drives every other woman quite distracted.... mrs. j is the daughter of a mrs. c, who is still very handsome herself, and whose husband is deputy-adjutant-general, or some military authority of that kind. she sent this only child to be educated at home, and went home herself two years ago to see her. in the same ship was mr. j, a poor ensign, going home on sick leave. he told her he was engaged to be married, consulted her about his prospects, and in the meantime privately married this child at school. it was enough to provoke any mother; but, as it now cannot be helped, we have all been trying to persuade her for the last year to make it up. she has withstood it till now, but at last has consented to ask them for a month, and they arrived three days ago. the rush on the road was remarkable. but nothing could be more satisfactory than the result, for mrs. j looked lovely, and mrs. c has set up for her a very grand jonpaun, with bearers in fine orange and brown liveries; and j is a sort of smart-looking man with bright waistcoats and bright teeth, with a showy horse, and he rode along in an attitude of respectful attention to _ma belle mère_. altogether, it was an imposing sight, and i cannot see any way out of it but magnanimous admiration. during this visit to simla the couple were duly bidden to dine at auckland house, on elysium hill, where they met his excellency. "we had a dinner yesterday," wrote their hostess. "mrs. j is undoubtedly very pretty, and such a merry unaffected girl. she is only seventeen now, and does not look so old; and when one thinks that she is married to a junior lieutenant in the indian army, fifteen years older than herself, and that they have rupees a month, and are to pass their whole lives in india, i do not wonder at mrs. c's resentment at her having run away from school." writing to lady teresa lister in england, miss eden gives an entertaining account of simla at this date: everybody has been pleased and amused, except the two clergymen who are here, and who have begun a course of sermons against what they call a destructive torrent of worldly gaiety. they had much better preach against the destructive torrent of rain which has now set in for the next three months, and not only washes away all gaiety, but all the paths, in the literal sense, which lead to it.... i do not count simla as any grievance--nice climate, beautiful place, constant fresh air, plenty of fleas, not much society, everything that is desirable. in another letter, this indefatigable correspondent remarks: here, society is not much trouble, nor much anything else. we give sundry dinners and occasional balls, and have hit upon one popular device. our band plays twice a week on one of the hills here, and we send ices and refreshments to the listeners, and it makes a nice little reunion with very little trouble. * * * * * a further reference to the amenities of government house at simla during the aucklands' regime is instructive, as showing that it was not a case of all work and no play: there are about ninety-six ladies here whose husbands are gone to the wars, and about twenty-six gentlemen--at least, there will, with good luck, be about that number. we have a very dancing set of aides-de-camp just now, and they are utterly desperate at the notion of our having no balls. i suppose we must begin on one in a fortnight; but it will be difficult, and there are several young ladies here with whom some of our gentlemen are much smitten. as they will have no rivals here, i am horribly afraid the flirtations may become serious, and then we shall lose some active aides-de-camp, and they will find themselves on ensign's pay with a wife to keep. however, they _will_ have these balls, so it is not my fault. * * * * * after she had left simla and its round of gaieties, lola was to have another meeting with the hospitable aucklands. this took place in camp at kurnaul, "a great ugly cantonment, all barracks and dust and guns and soldiers." miss eden, who was accompanying her brother on a tour through the district, wrote to her sister in england: _november , ._ we were at home in the evening, and it was an immense party; but, except that pretty mrs. j, who was at simla, and who looked like a star among the others, the women were all plain. [illustration: _benjamin lumley. lessee of her majesty's theatre_] a couple of days later, she added some further particulars: we left kurnaul yesterday morning. little mrs. j was so unhappy at our going that we asked her to come and pass the day here, and brought her with us. she went from tent to tent and chattered all day and visited her friend, mrs. m, who is with the camp. i gave her a pink silk gown, and it was altogether a very happy day for her evidently. it ended in her going back to kurnaul on my elephant, with e.n. by her side, and mr. j sitting behind. she had never been on an elephant before, and thought it delightful. she is very pretty, and a good little thing apparently. but they are very poor, and she is very young and lively, and if she falls into bad hands, she would laugh herself into foolish scrapes. at present the husband and wife are very fond of each other, but a girl who marries at fifteen hardly knows what she likes. when she wrote this passage, miss eden might have been a sibyl, for her words were to become abundantly true. iv except when on active service, officers of the company's army were not overworked. everything was left to the sergeants and corporals; and, while thomas atkins and jack sepoy trudged in the dust and sweated and drilled in their absurd stocks and tight tunics, the commissioned ranks, lolling in barracks, killed the long hours as they pleased. following form, captain james (the afghan business had brought him a step in rank) did a certain amount of tiger-shooting and pig-sticking, and a good deal of brandy-swilling, combined with card-playing and gambling. as a husband, he was not a conspicuous success. "he slept," complained lola, feeling herself neglected, "like a boa-constrictor," and, during the intervals of wakefulness, "drank too much porter." the result was, there were quarrels, instead of love-making, for they both had tempers. "runaway matches, like runaway horses," lola had once written, "are almost sure to end in a smash-up." in this case there was a "smash-up," for tom james was not always sleeping and drinking. he had other activities. if fond of a glass, he was also fond of a lass. the one among them for whom he evinced a special fondness was a mrs. lomer, the wife of a brother officer, the adjutant of his regiment. his partiality was reciprocated. one morning when, without any suspicion of what was in store for them, mrs. james and adjutant lomer sat down to their _chota-hazree_, two members of the accustomed breakfast party were missing. enquiries having been set on foot, the fact was elicited that captain james and mrs. lomer had gone out for an early ride. it must have been a long one, thought the camp, as they did not appear at dinner that evening. messengers sent to look for them came back with a disturbing report. this was to the effect that the couple had slipped off to the nilgiri hills and had decided to stop there. the next morning a panting native brought a letter from the errant lady addressed to her furious spouse. this missive is (without explaining how he got it) reproduced by an american journalist, t. everett harré, in a series of articles, _the heavenly sinner_: "i suggest," runs an extract, "you come to your senses and give me my freedom ... i am going with a man of parts who knows how to give a woman the attentions she craves, and is himself glad to shake off a young chit of a wife who is too brainless to appreciate him." a first-class sensation. the entire cantonment throbbed and buzzed with excitement. the colonel fumed; the adjutant cursed; and there was talk of bringing the don juan captain james to a court-martial for "conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman." but lola, as was her custom, took it philosophically, doubtless reflecting that she was well rid of a spouse for whom she no longer cared, and went back to her mother in calcutta. mrs. craigie's maternal heart-strings should have been wrung by the unhappy position of her daughter. they were not wrung. the clandestine marriage, with the upsetting of her own plans, still rankled and remained unforgiven and unforgotten. as a result, when she asked for shelter and sympathy, lola received a very frigid welcome. her step-father, however, took her part, and declared that his bungalow was open to her until other arrangements could be made for her future. not being possessed of much imagination, his idea was that she should leave india temporarily and stop for a few months in scotland with his brother, mr. david craigie, a man of substance and provost of perth. after an interval for reflection there, he felt that the differences of opinion that had arisen between her husband and herself would become adjusted, and the young couple resume marital relations. accordingly, he wrote to his brother, asking him to meet her when she arrived in london and escort her to perth. lola, however, while professing complete agreement, had other views as to her future. she wanted neither a reconciliation with her husband nor a second experience of life with the craigie family in scotland. one such had been more than sufficient, but she was careful not to breathe a word on the subject. she kept her own counsel, and matured her own plans. chapter iii the consistory court i sailing from calcutta for london in an east indiaman, at the end of , lola was consigned by her step-father to the "special care" of a mrs. sturgis who was among the passengers. he obviously felt the parting. "big salt tears," says lola, "coursed down his cheeks," when he wished her a last farewell. he also gave her his blessing; and, what was more negotiable, a cheque for £ . the two never met again. but although she had left india's coral strand, a memory of her lingered there for many years. in this connection, sir walter lawrence says that he once found himself in a cantonment that had been deserted so long that it was swallowed up by the ever advancing jungle. "a wizened villager," he says, "recalled a high-spirited and beautiful girl, the young wife of an officer, who would creep up and push him into the water. 'ah,' he said, with a smile of affection, 'she was a _badmash_, but she was always very kind to me.' she was better known afterwards as lola montez." at madras a number of fresh comers joined the good ship _larkins_ in which lola was proceeding to england. among them was a certain captain lennox, aide-de-camp to lord elphinstone, the governor. an agreeable young man, and very different from the missionaries and civil servants who formed the bulk of the other male passengers. lola and himself were soon on good terms. "too good," was the acid comment of the ladies in whose society captain lennox exhibited no interest. the couple were inseparable. they sat at the same table in the saloon; they paced the deck together, arm in arm, on the long hot nights, preferring dark and unfrequented corners; their chairs adjoined; their cabins adjoined; and, so the shocked whisper ran, they sometimes mistook the one for the other. "anybody can make a mistake in the dark," said lola, when mrs. sturgis, remembering captain craigie's injunctions, and resolved at all costs to fulfil her trust, ventured on a remonstrance. ninety years ago, travellers had to "rough it;" and the conditions governing a voyage from india to england were very different from those that now obtain. none of the modern amenities had any place in the accepted routine. thus, no deck sports; no jazz band; no swimming-pool; no cocktail bar; not even a sweepstake on the day's run. but time had to be killed; and, as a young grass widow, mrs. james felt that flirting was the best way of getting through it. captain lennox was the only man on board ship with whom she had anything in common. he was sympathetic, good-looking, and attentive. also, he swore that he was "madly in love with her." the old, old story; but it did its work. before the vessel berthed in london docks, lola had come to a decision. a momentous decision. she would give david craigie the slip, and, listening to his blandishments, cast in her lot with george lennox. "i'll look after you," he said reassuringly. "trust me for that, my dear." lola did trust him. in fact, she trusted him to such an extent that, on reaching london, she stopped with him at the imperial hotel in covent garden; and then, when the manageress of that establishment took upon herself to make pointed criticisms, at his rooms in pall mall. naturally enough, this sort of thing could not be hushed up for long. meaning nods and winks greeted the dashing lennox when he appeared at his club. tongues wagged briskly. some of them even wagged in distant calcutta, where they were heard by lola's husband. ignoring his own amorous dalliance with a brother officer's spouse, he elected to feel injured. resolved to assert himself, he got into touch with his london solicitors and instructed them to take the preliminary steps to dissolve his marriage. the first of these was to bring an action for what was then politely dubbed "crim. con." against the man he alleged to have "wronged" him. the lawyers would not be hurried; and things moved in leisurely fashion. still, they moved to their appointed end; and, the necessary red tape being unwound, interrogatories administered, and the evidence of prying chambermaids and hotel servants collected and examined, in may, , the case of james v. lennox got into the list and was heard by lord denman and a special jury in the court of queen's bench. sir william follett, the solicitor-general, was briefed on behalf of the plaintiff, and frederick thesiger appeared for captain lennox. in his opening address, sir william follett (who had not been too well instructed) told the jury that the petitioner and his wife "had lived very happily together in india, and that the return of mrs. james to england was due to a fall from her horse at calcutta." while on the passage home, he continued, pulling out his _vox humana_ stop, the ship touched at madras, where the defendant came on board; and, "during the long voyage, an intimacy sprang up between mrs. james and himself which developed in a fashion that left the outraged husband no choice but to institute the present proceedings to recover damages for having been wantonly robbed of the affection and society of his consort." at this point, counsel for captain lennox (who, in pusillanimous fashion, had loved and sailed away, rather than stop and help the woman he had compromised) cut short his learned friend's tearful eloquence by admitting that he was prepared to accept a verdict, with £ damages. as the judge agreed, the case was abruptly terminated. this, however, was only the first round. in december of the following year, the next step was adopted, and a suit for divorce was commenced in the consistory court. as neither mrs. james nor the lothario-like captain lennox put in an appearance, dr. lushington, declaring himself satisfied that misconduct had been committed, pronounced a decree _a mensa et thoro_. all that this amounted to was merely a judicial separation. the report in _the times_ only ran to a dozen lines. considering that the paper cost fivepence a copy, this was not a very liberal allowance. still, readers had better value in respect of another action in "high life" that was heard the same day, that of lord and lady graves, which had a full column allotted it. ii this was all that the public knew of the case. it did not seem much on which to blast a young wife's reputation. dr. lushington, the judge of the consistory court, however, knew a good deal more about the business than did the general public. this was because, during the preliminary hearing, held some months earlier and attended only by counsel and solicitors, a number of damaging facts had transpired. mrs. james, said learned counsel for the petitioner, had "been guilty of behaviour at which a crocodile would tremble and blush." a serious charge to bring against a young woman. still, in answer to the judge, he professed himself equipped with ample evidence to support it. his first witness was a retired civil servant, a mr. browne roberts, who had known the respondent's husband, first, as a bachelor in india, and afterwards as a married man in dublin. at the beginning of , he had received a call, he said, from a major mcmullen to whom captain craigie had written, asking him to take charge of his step-daughter on her arrival in london and see her off to his relatives in scotland. when, however, the major offered this hospitality, it was refused. thereupon, mr. roberts had himself called at the imperial hotel, covent garden, and suggested that she should come and stop with his wife; and this invitation was also refused. not much in this perhaps, but a good deal in what followed. mrs. elizabeth walters, the manageress of the imperial hotel, said that on february , , "a lady and gentleman arrived in a hackney cab, with luggage marked g. lennox and mrs. james, and booked a double room." mrs. walters had not, she admitted, "actually discovered them undressed, or sharing the bed," but "she would not have been surprised to have done so." accordingly, when her travelling companion left the next morning, she taxed mrs. james with misconduct. after telling her to "mind her own business," mrs. james had declared that she and captain lennox were on the point of being married, and had then packed up and left the establishment. "what exactly did she say?" enquired the judge. "she said, 'what i choose to do is my own affair and nobody else's.'" on leaving the somewhat arid hospitality of the covent garden hotel, mrs. james had removed to a lodging-house just off pall mall, where she stopped for a month. mrs. martin, the proprietress, told the court that, during this period, captain lennox settled the bill, and "called there every day, often stopping till all hours of the night." the testimony of mrs. sarah watson, the sister of captain james, was that her brother had written to her in the autumn of , saying that his wife had been thrown from her horse and was coming to england for medical treatment; and that he had written to his aunt, mrs. rae, of edinburgh, suggesting that his wife should stop with her. mrs. watson, having "been told things," then called on mrs. james in covent garden. "i spoke to her," she said, "of the shocking rumour that captain lennox had passed a night with her there, and pointed out the unutterable ruin that would result from a continuance of such deplorable conduct. i begged her to entrust herself to the care of mrs. rae. my entreaties were ineffectual. she positively declared, affirming with an oath, that she would do nothing of the kind." among the passengers on board the east indiaman by which mrs. james had voyaged to england was mrs. ingram, the captain's wife. "the conduct of mrs. james," she said, "was unguarded in the extreme, and her general behaviour was what is sometimes called flirting." captain ingram, who followed, had a still more disturbing story to recount. "on several occasions," he said, "i heard mrs. james address the gentleman who joined us at madras as 'dear lennox,' and she would even admit him to the privacy of her cabin while the other passengers were attending divine service on deck. when i spoke to her about it, she answered me in a very cool fashion." all this was distinctly damaging. the real sensation, however, was provided by caroline marden, a stewardess. "during the voyage from madras," she told the astonished judge, "i more than once saw captain lennox lacing up mrs. james's stays." "did you see anything else?" faltered counsel. "yes, i also saw her actually putting on her stockings while captain lennox was in her cabin!" there were limits to intimacies between the sexes. this was clearly among them. for a man to assist in adjusting a woman's stays, and watch her changing her stockings, could, in the opinion of the learned and experienced dr. lushington, only lead to one result. the worst result. hence, he had no difficulty in pronouncing the decree for which the husband was applying. iii all james had got for his activities in bringing his action was a divorce _a mensa et thoro_, that is, "from bed and board." but, while it was all he got, this measure of relief was probably all he wanted, as he was not contemplating a second experiment in matrimony, either with mrs. lomer or anybody else. where his discarded wife was concerned, she would have to shift for herself. she no longer had any legal claim upon him; nor could she marry again during his lifetime. her position was a somewhat pathetic one. thus, she was alone and friendless; besmirched in reputation; abandoned by her husband; and deserted by her lover. but she still had her youth and her courage. the london of the 's, where lola found herself cast adrift, was a curious microcosm and full of contrasts. a mixture of unabashed blackguardism and cloistered prudery; of double-beds and primness; of humbug and frankness; of liberty and restraint; of lust and license; of brutal horse-play passing for "wit," and of candour marching with cant. the working classes scarcely called their souls their own; women and children mercilessly exploited by smug profiteers; the "song of the shirt"; gradgrind and boanerges holding high festival; tom and jerry (on their last legs) and corinthians wrenching off door knockers and upsetting policemen; and exeter hall and the cider cellars both in full swing. altogether, an ill place of sojourn for an unprotected young woman. exactly how this one supported herself during the next few months is not very clear, for, if she kept a diary, she never published it. according, however, to a sunday organ, "she entangled the virtuous earl of malmesbury in a delicate kind of newspaper correspondence, an assertion having been made in public that she visited that pious nobleman at his own house." an odd story (of american origin, and quite unfounded) has it that, about this period, she established contact with a certain jean françois montez, "an individual of immense wealth who lavished a fortune on her"; and edward blanchard, a hack dramatist of drury lane, contributes the somewhat unhelpful remark, "she became a bohemian." perhaps she did. but she had to discover a second career that would bring a little more grist to the mill. such a course was imperative, since the balance of the £ her step-father had given her would not last indefinitely. looking round, she felt that, all things considered, the stage offered the best prospects of earning a livelihood. not a very novel decision. nowadays, as an attractive young woman, with a little capital in her possession, she would have had more choice. thus, she might have opened a hat shop, or run tea-rooms, or bred pet dogs, become a mannequin, or a dance club hostess, or even "gone on the films." but none of these avenues to feminine employment existed in the eighteen-forties. hence, it was the footlights or nothing. [illustration: _lola montez, "spanish dancer." début at her majesty's theatre_] she had the sense to put herself in the hands of an instructress. the one she selected was fanny kelly ("the only woman to whom charles lamb had screwed up sufficient courage to propose marriage"), who conducted a school of acting. being honest, as well as capable, miss kelly took the measure of the would-be ophelia very promptly. "you'll never make an actress," was her decision. "you've no talent for it." but, if the applicant had no talent, the other saw that she had something else. this was a pair of shapely legs, which, as a ballet-dancer, could yet twinkle in front of the footlights. this opinion being shared by its recipient, she lost no time in adopting it. as a preliminary, she went to madrid. there, under expert tuition, she learned to rattle the castanets, and practised the bolero and the cachucha, as well as the classic arabesques and entrechats and the technique accompanying them. but she did not advance much beyond the simplest steps, for the time at her disposal was short, and the art of the ballerina is not to be acquired without years of unceasing study. according to a french journalist, an "english milord" made lola's acquaintance in madrid. this was lord malmesbury, "who was so dazzled by the purity of her spanish accent that he adopted her as a _compagnon de voyage_, and shared with her the horrors of bad cooking and the joys of nights in granada." this fact, however, if it be a fact, is not to be found in the volume of "memoirs" that he afterwards published. still, it seems that lord malmesbury did meet lola. his own account of the incident is that, on returning to england from abroad, in the spring of the year , he was asked by the spanish consul at southampton to escort to london a young woman who had just landed there. he found her, he says, "a remarkably handsome person, who was in deep mourning and who appeared to be in great distress." while they were alone in the railway carriage, he improved the occasion and extracted from his travelling companion the story of her life. "she informed me," he says, "in bad english that she was the widow of don diego leon, who had lately been shot by the carlists after he was taken prisoner, and that she was going to london to sell some spanish property that she possessed, and give lessons in singing, as she was very poor." notwithstanding his diplomatic training, lord malmesbury swallowed this story, as well as much else with which it was embroidered. one thing led to another; and the acquaintance thus fortuitously begun in a railway carriage was continued in london. there he got up a concert for her benefit at his town house, where, in addition to singing castilian ballads, his protégée sold veils and fans among the audience; and he also gave her an introduction to a theatrical manager, with results that neither of them had foreseen. chapter iv flare of the footlights i times change. when lola returned to london a passage through the divorce court was not regarded as a necessary qualification for stage aspirants. also, being well aware that, to ensure a good reception, a foreign-sounding name was desirable, this one decided to adopt that of lola montez. this, she felt, would, among other advantages, effectively mask her identity with that of mrs. thomas james, an identity she was anxious to shed. her plans were soon made. on the morning after her arrival, she presented her letter of introduction to the impressario of her majesty's theatre, in the haymarket. this position was held by an affable hebrew, one benjamin lumley, an ex-solicitor, who had abandoned his parchments and bills of costs and acquired a lease of her majesty's. the house had long been looked upon as something of a white elephant in the theatrical jungle; but lumley, being pushful and knowledgeable, soon built up a valuable following and set the establishment on its legs. as luck would have it, lola's interview with him came at just the right moment, for he was alternating ballet with opera and was in want of a fresh attraction. convinced that he recognised it in his caller (or, perhaps, anxious to please lord malmesbury), he offered her an engagement there and then to dance a _pas seul_ between the acts of _il barbiere di seviglia_. "if you make a hit," he said, "you shall have a contract for the rest of the season. it all depends on yourself." lola, wanting nothing better, left the managerial office, treading on air. as was his custom, lumley cultivated the critics, and would receive them in his sanctum whenever he had a novel attraction to submit. "i have a surprise for you in my next programme," he said, when the champagne and cigars had been discussed. "this is that i have secured donna lola, a spanish dancer, direct from seville. she is, i assure you, deliciously beautiful and remarkably accomplished. i pledge you my word, gentlemen, she will create a positive _furore_ here." in dramatic critics had the privilege of attending rehearsals and penetrating behind the scenes. one of their number, adopting the pseudonym "q," has left an account of the manner in which he first met lola montez. he had called on lumley for a gossip, and was invited by that authority to descend to the stage and watch his new acquisition practising a dance there. "at that period," he says, "her figure was even more attractive than her face, lovely as the latter was. lithe and graceful as a young fawn, every movement she made was instinct with melody. her dark eyes were blazing and flashing with excitement, for she felt that i was willing to admire her.... as she swept round the stage, her slender waist swayed to the music, and her graceful head and neck bent with it like a flower that bends with the impulse given to its stem by the fitful temper of the wind." lumley was tactful enough to leave the pressman alone with the star. as the latter promised to "give her a good puff in his paper," lola, who never missed an opportunity, made herself specially agreeable to him. her bright eyes did their work. "when we separated," says "q" in his reminiscences, "i found myself tumbled heels over head into the profound depths of that which the french call a _grande passion_." lumley's next step was to draw up an announcement of the promised novelty for inclusion in the programme: her majesty's theatre june , special attraction! mr. benjamin lumley begs to announce that, between the acts of the opera, donna lola montez, of the teatro real, seville, will have the honour to make her first appearance in england in the original spanish dance el oleano. after the cast list had been set out the rest of the reading matter on the programme was given up to advertisements. some of them would appear to have been selected rather at haphazard. at any rate, their special appeal to music lovers was a little difficult to follow. thus, one was of "jackson's patent enema machines, as patronised by the nobility (either sex) when travelling"; another of "mrs. rodd's anatomical ladies' stays (which ensure the wearer a figure of astonishing symmetry";) and another of a "brilliant burlesque ballad, 'get along, rosey,' sung with the most positive triumph every evening by madame vestris." with much satisfaction, manager lumley, taking a preliminary peep at the crowded house, saw that a particularly "smart" audience was assembled on the night of june . the list of "fashionables" he handed to the reporters resembled an extract from the pages of messrs. burke and debrett. thus, the royal box was graced by the queen dowager, with the king of hanover and prince edward of saxe-weimar for her guests; and, dotted about the pit tier (then the fashionable part of the house) were the duke and duchess of wellington, the marquess and marchioness of granby, lord and lady brougham, and the baroness de rothschild, with the belgian minister, count esterhazy, and baron talleyrand. even the occupants of the pit had to accept an official intimation that "only black trousers will be allowed." her majesty's had a standard, and lumley insisted on its observance. that long familiar feature, "fops' alley," having disappeared from the auditorium, the modish thing for unattached men was to make up a party and hire an omnibus-box; and from that position to pronounce judgment upon the legs of the dancers pirouetting in wispy gauze on the stage. then, when the curtain fell, they would be privileged to go behind the scenes and chat with the coryphées. on the evening of lola's début one of the omnibus-boxes was occupied by lord ranelagh, a raffish mid-victorian roué, who had brought with him a select party of "corinthians" in frilled shirts and flowered waistcoats. it was observed that he paid but languid attention to the opera. as soon, however, as the promised novelty, _el oleano_, was reached, he exhibited a sudden interest and pushed his chair forward. "we shall see some fun in a moment," he whispered. "mind you fellows keep quiet until i give the word." ii a little ominous, perhaps, that the haymarket entrepreneur should bear the same name as the calcutta judge who had unsuccessfully sought her hand. but lola experienced no qualms. as she stood at the wings, in a black satin bodice and much flounced pink silk skirt, waiting for her cue, lumley passed her with a nod of encouragement. "capital," he said, rubbing his whiskers. "most attractive. you'll be a big success, my dear." as he moved off, a bell tinkled in the prompt corner. in response, the conductor lifted his baton; the heavy curtains were drawn aside; and, under a cross-fire of opera glasses, lola bounded on to the stage and executed her initial piroutte. there was a sudden hush, as, at the finish of the number, she stepped up to the footlights and awaited the verdict. had she made good, or not? in a moment, however, she knew that all was well, for a storm of applause and clapping of hands filled the air. lumley, from his place in the wings, beamed approval. his enterprise was to be rewarded. the débutante was a success. no doubt about it. she should have a contract from him before any other manager should step in and snap her up. we do not believe (scribbled a critic, hurriedly jotting down his impressions, to be expanded when he got back to his office) that donna lola smiled once throughout her performance. as she withdrew, numbers of bouquets fell on to the stage. but the proud one of seville did not deign to return to pick them up, and one of the gentlemen in livery was deputed for that purpose. when, however, her measure was encored, she stepped down from her pinnacle and actually condescended to accept an additional bouquet that had been tossed by a fair one from a box. her majesty's theatre (added a colleague) may now be said to be in its full zenith of grandeur and perfection of beauty and splendour, and variety and fame of the ballet. a new spanish donna has been introduced. although the visitation was unheralded by the customary flourish of trumpeting _on dits_, it was extremely successful. the young lady came and saw and conquered. many floral offerings were shot at her as a compliment, and the useful m. coulos--ever at hand in such an emergency--assisted very industriously in picking them up. as for _el oleano_, this is a sort of cachucha; and it certainly gives donna lola montez an opportunity of introducing herself to the public under a very captivating aspect.... a lovely picture she is to contemplate. there is before you the very perfection of spanish beauty--the tall handsome figure, the full lustrous eye, the joyous animated countenance, and the dark raven tresses. you gaze upon the donna with delight and admiration. it was just after the third item on her programme and while she stood before the curtain, bowing and smiling her acknowledgments, that there was an unexpected interruption. an ominous hiss suddenly split the air. the sound came from the occupants of the stage box in which lord ranelagh and his party had ensconced themselves. as at a prearranged signal, the occupants of the opposite box took it up and repeated it. the audience gasped in astonishment, and looked to lord ranelagh for a solution. he supplied one promptly. "egad!" he exclaimed in a loud voice, "that's not lola montez at all. it's betsy james, an irish girl. ladies and gentlemen, we're being properly swindled!" "swindled" was an ugly word. the pit and gallery, feeling that they were in some mysterious fashion being defrauded, followed the cue thus given them, and a volume of hisses and cat-calls sprang from the throats that, a moment earlier, had bellowed vociferous cheers. the great michael costa, who was conducting, dropped his baton in astonishment, and, refusing to pick it up again, left his desk. there is a theory that it was this untoward incident that led him to transfer himself from the haymarket to covent garden. quite possible. musicians are temperamental folk. it was left for lumley to deal with the situation. he did so by ringing down the curtain, while lola, in tears and fury, rushed off to her dressing-room. iii perhaps they left early, but none of the critics saw anything of this _dénouement_. what, however, they did see they described in rapturous, not to say, florid terms: we saw, as in a dream (declared one of them), an elssler or a taglioni descend from the clouds, under the traits of a new dancer, whose fervent admirers lavished on her all the enthusiasm and applause with which the rare perfection of her predecessors has been rewarded. on saturday last, between the acts of the opera, donna lola montez was announced to appear on the programme at her majesty's. a thousand ardent spectators were in feverish anxiety to see her. donna lola enchanted everyone. there was throughout a graceful flowing of the arms--not an angle discernible--an indescribable softness in her attitude and suppleness in her limbs which, developed in a thousand positions (without infringing on the opera laws), were the most intoxicating and womanly that can be imagined. we never remember seeing the _habitués_--both young and old--taken by more agreeable surprise than the bewitching lady excited. she was rapturously encored, and the stage strewn with bouquets. lord ranelagh and his friends must have grinned when they read this gush. "i saw lumley immediately after the fall of the curtain," says a reporter who was admitted behind the scenes. "he was surrounded by the professors of morality from the omnibus-box, who said that donna lola was positively not to reappear. they pointed out to him that it was absolutely essential to have none but exemplary characters in the ballet; but they did not tell him where he would procure females who would have no objection to exhibiting their legs in pink silk fleshings. as lumley could not afford to offend his patrons, he was compelled to accept the _fiat_ of these virtuous scions of a moral and ultra-scrupulous aristocracy. carlotta grisi might have had a score of lovers; but, then, she had never turned up her charming little nose at my lord ranelagh." it was an age when the theatre had to kow-tow to the patron. unless my lord approved, mr. crummles had no choice but to ring down the curtain. as the ranelagh faction very emphatically disapproved, lumley was compelled to give the recruit her marching-orders. lola's _première_ had thus become her _dernière_. by the way, a sunday paper, writing some time afterwards, was guilty of a serious slip in its account of the episode, and mistook lord ranelagh for the duke of cambridge. "the newcomer," says this critic, "was recognised as mrs. james by a prince of the blood and his companions in the omnibus-box. her beauty could not save her from insult; and, to avenge themselves on mr. lumley, for some pique, these chivalrous english gentlemen of the upper classes hooted a woman from the stage." what was behind lord ranelagh's cowardly attack on the débutante? there was a simple explanation, and not one that redounded to his credit in any way. it was that, during her "bohemian" period, he had endeavoured to fill the empty niche left in her affections by the departure of that light-o'-love, captain lennox, and had been repulsed for his pains. a bad loser, my lord nursed resentment. he would teach a mere ballet-dancer to snap her fingers at him. his opportunity came sooner than he imagined. he made the most of it. fond as he was of biting, lord ranelagh was, some years afterwards, himself bitten. he took a prominent part in an unsavoury scandal that fluttered mid-victorian dovecotes, when a bond street "beauty specialist," known as madame rachel, was clapped into prison for swindling a wealthy and amorous widow. this was a mrs. borrodaile, whom "madame" had gulled by declaring that lord ranelagh's one desire was to share his coronet with her. although the raffish peer denied all complicity, he did not come out of the business too well. "the peculiar prominence he has attained," remarked an obituarist, "has not always been of an enviable description. there are probably few men who have had so many charges of the most varied and disagreeable nature made against them. the resultant obloquy to which he had thus been exposed is great, nor has it vanished, as it properly should have done, with the charges themselves." this, however, was looking ahead. the comments of came first. "in the clubs that night," we read, "the bucks and bloods laughed heartily when they discussed the mishap of the proud beauty who had scorned the advances of my lord." lola montez, however, did not regard it as anything at which to laugh. she may, as she boasted, have had a dash of spanish blood in her veins, but she certainly had none of george washington's, for she immediately sat down and wrote a circular letter to all the london papers. in this she sought to correct what she described as a "false impression." swallowing it as gospel, a number of them printed it in full: _to the editor_. sir: since i had the honour of dancing at her majesty's theatre, on saturday, the rd inst. (when i was received by the english public in so kind and flattering a manner) i have been cruelly annoyed by reports that i am not really the person i pretend to be, but that i have long been known in london as a woman of disreputable character. i entreat you, sir, to allow me, through the medium of your respected journal, to assure you and the public, in the most positive and unqualified manner, that there is not a word of truth in such a statement. i am a native of seville; and in the year , when ten years old, was sent to a catholic lady at bath, where i remained seven months, and was then taken back to my parents in spain. from that period, until the th of april, when i landed in england, _i have never set foot in this country, and i never saw london before in my life_. in apologising for the favour i ask you, i feel sure that you will kindly consider the anxiety of myself and my friends to remove from the public any impression to my disadvantage. my lawyer has received instructions to proceed against all the parties who have calumniated me. believe me to be your obedient and humble servant, lola montez. _june , ._ ballet-dancers cannot, when making their débuts, be expected to remember everything; and this one had obviously forgotten her sojourn in india, just as she had forgotten her marriage to thomas james (and the subsequent consistory court action), as well as her amorous dalliance with captain lennox during the previous year. "in spite of the encouraging reception accorded donna lola montez, she has not danced again," remarked a critic in the _examiner_. "what is the reason?" lumley could have supplied the information. he did so, some years afterwards, in his book, _reminiscences of the opera_: it is not my intention to rake up the world-wide stories of this strange and fascinating woman. perhaps it will be sufficient to say frankly that i was, in this instance, fairly "taken in." a noble lord (afterwards closely connected with the foreign office) had introduced the lady to my notice as the daughter of a celebrated _spanish_ patriot and martyr, representing her merits as a dancer in so strong a light that her "appearance" was granted. ... but this spurious spanish lady had no real knowledge of that which she professed. the whole affair was an imposture; and on the very night of her first appearance the truth exploded. on the discovery of the truth, i declined to allow the english adventuress, for such she was, another appearance on my boards. in spite of the expostulations of the "friends" of the lady--in spite of the deprecatory letters in which she earnestly denied her english origin--in spite even of the desire expressed in high places to witness her strange performance--i remained inflexible. the "noble lord" thus referred to in this pompous disclaimer was lord malmesbury. [illustration: _viscount ranelagh, who organised a cabal against lola montez_] iv if she had a quick temper, lola montez had a good heart, and was always ready to lend a helping hand to others. in this connection edward fitzball, a hack dramatist with whom things were not going well, has a story of how she volunteered to assist in a benefit performance that was being got up to set him on his legs. it was difficult to secure attractions; and the beneficiare, realising that, as was the custom in such cases, he would have to make good any deficit himself, was feeling depressed. "this benefit," he says, "which i fully expected would prove to be a decided loss, annoyed me sadly. i was sauntering along regent street when i met stretton, the popular singer, whose own benefit was just coming off. he said that he had secured every attraction worthy of the public, and that there was no hope for me, 'unless,' he added, 'you could secure lola montez.' "'pray, who is that?' i said in my ignorance. "'lola montez is a lady who appeared the other night at her majesty's theatre as a dancer, but, due to some aristocratic disturbance, has left in disgust. the papers were full of it. i offered her £ to dance for me, and met with a decided refusal. hence, i see no hope for you.'" fitzball, however, thinking it worth while taking a chance, hurried to lola's lodgings and begged her to contribute to the programme he was offering. he had not expected to be successful, since he knew that she was smarting under a sense of injury. to his surprise and delight, however, she promised her services, and refused to accept any payment. overjoyed at the success of his embassy, fitzball rushed off to the printers and had the hoardings plastered with bills, directing special attention to the novelty: theatre royal, covent garden monday, july , . colossal attraction! (for the benefit of mr. fitzball) extraordinary combination of talent! during the evening the celebrated donna lola montez (whose recent performance created so pronounced a sensation at her majesty's theatre) will execute, by special request, her remarkable dance, "el oleano." n.b.--this will positively be the donna's only appearance in london, as she departs on thursday next for st. petersburg. "the theatre," says fitzball, in his account of the evening, "was crammed. lola montez arrived in a splendid carriage, accompanied by her maid. when she was dressed, she enquired if i thought her costume would be approved. i have seen sylphs and female forms of the most dazzling beauty in ballets and fairy dramas, but the most dazzling and perfect form i ever did gaze upon was that of lola montez in her white and gold attire studded with diamonds. her bounding before the public was the signal for general applause and admiration. on the conclusion of her performance, there was a rapturous and universal call for her reappearance." chapter v a passionate pilgrimage i the "departure for st. petersburg" was a stretch of fitzball's imagination. where lola did go when she left england was not to russia, but to belgium. the visit was not a success, as none of the theatres in brussels at which she applied for an engagement exhibited any interest in ballet-dancers, whether they came from seville, or elsewhere. a spell of ill luck followed; and, if her own account of this period is to be trusted, she was reduced to such a pass that in the belgian capital she became familiar with the inside of pawnshops and had to sing in the streets, to secure a lodging. but this "singing in the streets" business was, if a picturesque one, not an original touch. it is still in active use, as a stock portion of the autobiographical equipment of every stage and film heroine who wants "publicity." further, if lola montez ever did anything of the kind, it was not for long. a "rich man"--she had a knack of establishing contact with them--promptly came to the rescue; and, assisted by, it is said, the mysterious jean francois montez, who had followed her from london, she shook the inhospitable dust of the brussels boulevards off her feet. it was in berlin that, in the autumn of , long delayed fortune smiled on her. a novelty being wanted, she secured an engagement to dance at a fête organised by frederick william iv in honour of his son-in-law, the czar nicholas, and a posse of grand dukes then visiting potsdam. the autocrat of all the russias expressed himself as highly pleased with the newcomer's efforts. the berliners followed suit. lola was "made"; and every night for a month on end she was booked up to dance somewhere. while in the german capital, she is said to have had an encounter with the arm of the law. the story is that, mounted on a blood horse, she attended a review held in honour of the king and the czar; and her steed, being somewhat mettlesome, carried her at full tilt across the parade ground and into the midst of the royal party assembled at the saluting-point. when an indignant policeman, bellowing _verboten!_ at the top of his voice, rushed up and clung to the bridle, he received for his pains a vigorous cut from her whip. the next morning a summons was delivered to the daring amazon, ordering her to appear before a magistrate and answer a charge of "insulting the uniform." thereupon, lola, feeling that the general atmosphere was unfavourable, packed her trunks. she managed to get away just in time, as a warrant for her arrest was actually being made out. but if she did not leave berlin with all the honours of war, it is at any rate recorded that "she left this city of pigs with a high head and a snapping of her fan." the odyssey continued. the next place where she halted was dresden. there the pilgrim swam into the orbit of franz liszt, who happened to be giving a series of recitals. born in --the "year of the comet"--he was at the height of his powers when lola montez flashed across his path. during an early visit to england, as a "boy prodigy," he had gathered considerable laurels. windsor castle had smiled upon him, and he had played to george iv and to queen victoria. the chance encounter with lola was a fateful one for both of them. but, as it happened, the virtuoso rather welcomed the prospect of a fresh intrigue just then. wearied of the romanticism of the phalanx of feminine admirers, who clustered about him like bees, he found this one, with her beauty and vivacious charm, to have a special appeal for him. he responded to it avidly. the two became inseparable. one evening, while _rienzi_ was being performed, his latest charmer accompanied liszt to the opera house, and, during an interval, joined him in the dressing-room of josef tichatschek, the tenor. hearing that he was there, wagner was coming to speak to him, "when he saw that his companion was a painted and bejewelled woman with insolent eyes." thereupon, if his biographer is to be trusted, "the composer turned and fled." lola had routed "rienzi." musicians will be musicians; and liszt was no exception. with his love affairs and his long catalogue of "conquests" in half the capitals of europe, he was generally regarded as a don juan of the keyboard. it is said by james huneker that, on leaving dresden, lola joined him in constantinople. in her memoirs she says nothing about wandering along the shores of the bosphorus in his company. still, she says a good deal about sir stratford canning, the british ambassador, by whom, she declares, she was given a letter to the chief eunuch, admitting her to the sultan's harem. but this, like many of her other statements, must be taken with a generous pinch of salt. during that memorable summer liszt was specially invited to bonn, to unveil the beethoven monument that had been erected there. the ceremony attracted a distinguished gathering, and was witnessed by the king and queen of russia, together with queen victoria and prince albert. it was also witnessed by lola montez, who accompanied liszt. she was promptly recognised by ignatz moscheles; and, when they discovered her presence, the reception committee were so upset that they had her barred from the hotel in which rooms had been engaged for the guest of honour. but it took more than this to keep her in the background. while the speeches were in full swing, she forced her way into the banquet-hall, and won over the prudish burghers by jumping on the table and dancing to them. the prince consort was shocked at the "liberty." frederick william, however, being more broad-minded, cracked a teutonic jest. "lola is a lorelei!" he declared, with an appreciative grin, when the episode was reported to him. "what will she be up to next?" an inevitable result of liszt's dalliance with his new calypso in the various capitals that they visited together during the months that followed was to shatter the relations that had existed for years between himself and madame d'agoult. the virtuoso emerged from the business badly, for the woman he had discarded in summary fashion for a younger and more attractive one had sacrificed her name and her reputation for his sake, and had also presented him with three pledges of mutual affection. infuriated at his callousness, she afterwards, as "daniel stern," relieved her outraged feelings in a novel ("written to calm her agitated soul"), _nélida_, where liszt, under a transparent disguise, figured as "guermann regnier." but the pace was too hot to last. still, it was liszt, and not lola, who cooled first. "with lola, as with others, known and unknown, it was," observes william wallace, "_da capo al segno_." the story of the final rupture between them, as given by guy de pourtales, has in it something of the element of farce: liszt allowed her to make love to him, and amused himself with this dangerous sweetheart. but without any conviction, without any real curiosity. she annoyed, she irritated him during his hours of work. before long he planned to escape, and, having arranged everything with the hotel porter, he departed without leaving any address, but not without having first locked this most wearisome of inamoratas up in her room. for twelve hours lola raised a fearful uproar, breaking whatever she could lay her hands on. liszt, however, scenting this possibility, had settled the bill in advance. but the incident does not redound to his credit, for the spectacle of a distinguished artist bribing a lackey to smuggle him out of an hotel and imprison in her bedroom the woman with whom he had been living, is a sorry one. ii having had enough of germany for the time being, lola decided to see what france had to offer. "the only place for a woman of spirit," she once said, "is paris." accordingly she betook herself there. as soon as she arrived, she secured lodgings in a modest hotel near the palais royal; and, well aware of her limitations, took some dancing lessons from a ballet-master in the rue lepelletier. when she had taken what she considered enough, she called on léon pillet, the director of the _académie_. "you have, of course, already heard of my immense success in london," she announced with an assured air. m. pillet had not heard of it. but this did not matter. as had been the case with lumley before him, lola's ravishing smile inflamed his susceptible heart; and he promptly engaged her to dance in the ballet that was to follow halévy's _il lazzarone_, then in active rehearsal. lola's début as a _première danseuse_ was made on march , . it was not a successful one. far from it. the fact was, the parisians, accustomed to the dreamy and sylph-like pirouettings of cerito and elssler and taglioni, and their own adèle dumilâtre, could not appreciate the vigorous _cachuchas_ and _boleros_ now offered them. when they voiced their disapproval, lola lost the one thing she could never keep--her temper. she made a _moue_ at the audience; and, if de mirecourt is to be trusted, pulled off her garters (a second authority says a more intimate item of attire) and flung them with a gesture of contempt among the jeering crowd in the first row of stalls. as may be imagined, the press was unsympathetic towards this "demonstration." "we will avoid damaging with our strictures," remarked _le constitutionnel_ in its next issue, "a pretty young woman who, before making her début, has obviously not had time to study our preferences." a much more devastating criticism was published in _le journal des débats_ by jules janin. he went out of his way, indeed, to be positively offensive. nor did théophile gautier, who in his famous waistcoat of crimson velvet was present on this eventful evening, think very much of the would-be ballerina's efforts to win paris. beyond, he wrote, a pair of magnificent dark eyes, mademoiselle lola montez has nothing suggestively andalusian in her appearance. she talks poor spanish, scarcely any french, and only tolerable english. the question is, to what country does she really belong? we can affirm that she has small feet and shapely legs. the extent, however, to which these gifts serve her is quite another story. it must be admitted that the public's curiosity aroused by her altercations with the police of the north and her whip-cracking exploits among the prussian gendarmes has not been satisfied. we imagine that mademoiselle lola would do better on horseback than on the stage. an odd account, headed: "singular début of lola montez in paris," was sent to new york by an american journalist: "when, a few days ago, it was announced that two foreign dancers, mlle cerito and mlle lola montez, had just entered the walls of paris, the triumphs achieved by the italian ballerina could not eclipse the horse-whipping exploits of mlle lola. 'let us have lola montez!' exclaimed the stalls and pit. 'we want to see if her foot is as light as her hand!' never did they witness a more astounding _entrée_. after her first leap, she stopped short on the tips of her toes, and, by a movement of prodigious rapidity, detached one of her garters from a lissome limb adjacent to her quivering thigh (innocent of _lingerie_) and flung it to the occupants of the front row of the orchestra.... notwithstanding the effect produced by this piquant eccentricity, mile lola has not met with the reception she anticipated; and it has been deemed proper by the management to dispense with her reappearance." but to give lola her _congé_ by word of mouth was a task which m. pillet did not care to undertake. "so much was the haughty amazon's riding-whip dreaded that a letter of dismissal was prudently delivered. as a result, bloodshed was avoided; and mlle lola has solaced herself with the reflection that she has been the victim of the machiavellian cabal of russia, still angry at her routing of muscovite gendarmes in warsaw." with reference to the warsaw episode, the slipshod de mirecourt says that she was dancing there in . at that date, however, she was no nearer warsaw than calcutta. none the less, she did go there, but it was not until she had left paris after her failure at the académie royale. according to herself, the czar nicholas, who remembered her in berlin, invited her to visit st. petersburg, and, having a month to spare, she accepted a preliminary engagement in the polish capital. this began well enough, for, if her terpsichorean abilities still left something to be desired, the warsaw critics, ever susceptible to feminine charms, went into positive raptures about her personal attractions. one of them, indeed, became almost lyrical on the subject: "her soft silken hair," was this authority's opinion, "falls in luxuriant wealth down her back, its glistening hue rivalling that of the raven's wing; on a slender and delicate neck--the whiteness of which eclipses swansdown--is poised a lovely face.... where the proportions are concerned, lola's little feet are somewhere between those of a chinese maiden and those of the daintiest parisienne imaginable. as for her bewitching calves, they suggest the steps of a jacob's ladder transporting one up to heaven; and her ravishing figure resembles the venus of cnidus, that immortal masterpiece sculptured by the chisel of praxiteles in the th olympiad. as for her eyes, her very soul is enshrined in their blue depths." there was a lot more--several columns more--in a similar strain. as was to be expected, such a tribute attracted the attention of prince ivan paskievich, the viceroy of poland. he had a weakness for pretty women; and, after the long succession of lumpy and heavy-footed ballerinas occupying the warsaw stage, this new arrival sounded promising. when a trusted emissary reported that the critics "had not said half what they might," he resolved to make her acquaintance. his first step was to send her, through madam steinkeller, the wife of a banker, an invitation to have supper with him at his private house. lola, flattered by the invitation, and less clear-headed than usual, was sufficiently trusting to accept. she soon, however, discovered that his excellency's intentions were strictly dishonourable, for he made her, she afterwards said, "a most indelicate proposition." her response was to laugh in his face, and to tell him that "she had no wish to become his toy." thereupon, paskievich, furious at such a repulse (and unaccustomed to being thwarted by anyone, must less by a ballet-dancer), dismissed her with threats of reprisals. the first of these took the form of a visit from colonel abrahamowicz, the official charged with "preserving morality in the warsaw theatres." he apparently interpreted his responsible functions in a fashion that left something to be desired, for lola complained that "his conduct was so free that i took serious exception to it." paskievich then dealt his next card. this was to instruct his understrapper to fill the theatre with a rabble and have her hissed off the stage. lola, however, was equal to the occasion. advancing to the footlights, before the terror-stricken manager could stop her, she pointed to colonel abrahamowicz, sitting in a box, and exclaimed: "ladies and gentlemen, there is the dastard who attempts to revenge himself on a pure woman who has scorned his infamous suggestions! i ask your protection!" accompanied by m. lesniowski, the editor of the _warsaw gazette_, she returned to her lodgings, wondering what would happen next. she was soon to discover, for the angry colonel and a squad of police arrived with a warrant for her arrest as an "undesirable." when, however, they announced their purpose, she flourished a pistol in their faces and declared that she would put a bullet through the first of them who came near her. realising that she meant what she said, and not anxious to qualify for cheap martyrdom, colonel abrahamowicz was tactician enough to withdraw. in the meantime, the public, learning what had happened, sided with lola and raised lusty shouts of "down with the viceroy! long live the montez!" paskievich, who had crushed with an iron hand the rebellion of , had a short and sharp way with incipient revolutionaries; and, calling out the troops, cleared the streets at the point of the bayonet. while they were thus occupied, lola slipped off to the french consul and suggested that he should grant her his protection as a national. with characteristic gallantry, he met her wishes. none the less, she had to leave warsaw the next morning, under escort to the frontier. there were reprisals for a number of those who had taken her part. thus the manager of the theatre and the editor of the _warsaw gazette_ were dismissed; m. steinkeller was imprisoned; and a dozen students were publicly flogged. "tranquillity has been restored," was the official view of the situation. according to lola herself (not, by the way, a very sound authority) she went straight from warsaw and the clutches of the lustful paskievich to st. petersburg. considering, however, that poland was at that period under the domination of the czar, it is highly improbable that, after her expulsion, she could have set foot in russia without a passport. had she been sufficiently daring to make the experiment, she would assuredly have been clapped into fetters and packed off to siberia. lola's motto was "courage, and shuffle the cards." undeterred by her previous failure there, she went back to paris, to try her luck a second time. luck came to her very soon, for she had scarcely arrived in the capital when she encountered a young englishman, mr. francis leigh, an ex-officer of the th hussars. within a week the two were on such intimate terms that they set up housekeeping together. but the harmony was shattered abruptly by lola, who, in a jealous fit, one day fired a pistol at her "protector." as this was more than he could be expected to stand, mr. leigh, deciding that they could not continue living under the same roof, severed the relationship. iii in the paris of louis-philippe was, when lola resumed her acquaintance with it, a pleasant city in which to live. the star of baron haussmann had not yet arisen; and the capital's vulgarisation under the second empire had not then begun. john bull still gave it a wide berth; nor, except for a few stray specimens, were there any hordes of tourists to gape at the "froggies." everything was cheap; and most things were nice. paris really was _la ville lumière_. dull care had been given its marching orders. all that was required of a man was that he should be witty, and of a woman that she should be entertaining. the world of the boulevards--with its cafés and restaurants and theatres--was the accepted rallying point of the authors and poets, the painters and musicians, and the lights twinkling in the theatrical and journalistic firmaments, the men in velveteen jackets and peg-top trousers, the women in flounced skirts and shawls and elastic-sided boots. the mode of the moment. [illustration: _abbé liszt: musician and lover_] lola settled down among them, and was given a warm welcome. among others with whom she was soon on friendly terms was the famous (or, perhaps, it would be better to say, notorious) alphonsine plessis. the lady of the camelias had a large heart and a wide circle; and liszt, who was also back in paris, was to be found among the guests attending her "receptions" at her house on the boulevard de la madeleine. lola, who never cherished rancour, was prepared to let bygones be bygones, and resumed relations with him. but this time they were short lived, for the maestro was already dangling after another charmer, and, as was his habit, left for weimar without saying farewell. lola took his defection philosophically. as a matter of fact, she rather welcomed it, for it solved a situation that was fast threatening to become awkward. this was that she herself had now formed an intimacy with somebody else. her new acquaintance was charles dujarier, a young man of five and twenty, and a journalist of some distinction, being part proprietor and feuilleton editor of _la presse_. lola met him in the friendly atmosphere of a bohemian café, where formal introductions were not insisted upon. as was the custom in such an atmosphere, the friendship ripened rapidly. within a week of their first meeting the two set up housekeeping together in the rue lafitte. before long there was talk of marriage. but it did not get beyond talk, for lola had put her head in the matrimonial noose once--in her opinion, once too often--and she had no desire to do so a second time. apart from this consideration, she was probably well aware that her divorce from the philandering thomas james had never been completed. as dujarier's acknowledged mistress, lola was accepted without demur as one of themselves by the literary and artistic "set" thronging the cafés and salons they frequented. gautier and sue, with claudin and méry and dumas, were those habitués of whom she saw most; and ferdinand bac (but nobody else) says that she was on intimate terms with the austere m. guizot. gustave claudin declared that he met lola montez in paris in the spring of . that she made an impression on him is evident from a passage in his _souvenirs_: lola montez was a charmer. there was something--i do not quite know what--about her appearance that was provocative and voluptuous, and which attracted one. she had a white skin, hair suggestive of the tendrils of honeysuckle, and a mouth that could be compared with a pomegranate. added to this was a ravishing figure, charming feet, and perfect grace. unfortunately, as a dancer, she had very little talent. towards the year the author of these notes saw much of her. she wanted him to write her memoirs, and gave him some material for them.... she was born in seville in , with a french officer for a godfather and (as is the custom in spain) the city of seville for a godmother. the adventures of her life were written out by her in an exercise-book. she told me that, at a ball in calcutta, she had once refused to waltz with a wealthy gentleman who was so encrusted with diamonds that he resembled a snuff-box. when he asked her the reason for refusing to dance, she replied: "sir, i cannot dance with you because you have hurt my foot." the would-be waltzer was a chiropodist! writing, as he did, nearly fifty years after the episode to which he thus refers, claudin's memory was a little shaky. thus lola montez was born in limerick in , not, as he says, at seville in ; nor could claudin have met her in paris in the spring of , as she had not then left india. dujarier, according to lola, was much impressed by her political acumen, and employed her on "secret service" for the government, entrusting her as a preliminary with a "mission to st. petersburg." the story is an obvious concoction, if merely because dujarier, being little beyond a penny-a-liner hack, had no power to employ anybody on such a task. still, lola always stuck to it. still, it is just possible that she may have gone to russia at this period, for nicholas was interested in the art of the ballet, and welcomed foreign exponents of terpsichore from wherever they came. he was a familiar figure in the green-rooms of his capital. he patronised taglioni and elssler, and was always ready to make up any deficit in the box-office receipts. it only meant grinding more out of his army of serfs. if she did go from paris to russia, lola did not waste her time there, for, she says, she "nearly married prince schulkoski," whom she had already met in berlin. this, she adds, was "one of the romances of her life." but something went wrong with it, for the princely wooer, "while furiously telegraphing kisses three times a day," was discovered to be enjoying the companionship of another charmer. lola could put up with a great deal. there were, however, limits to her toleration, and this was one of them. first, tom james; then, george lennox; and now prince schulkoski. masculine promises were no more substantial than pie-crust. poor lola was having a sad awakening. it is not remarkable that she formed the conclusion that men were "deceivers ever." after such an experience, nothing else was possible. among other items in her repertoire of alleged happenings in russia at this period was one that certainly takes a good deal of swallowing. this was that, while having a "private audience" with the czar himself and count benkendorf (the chief of the secret police), an important visitor was announced. thereupon, and to avoid her presence being known to the newcomer, she was locked up in a cupboard and left there for several hours. when the czar came back, he was "full of apologies and insisted that she should accept from him a gift of a thousand roubles." other details follow: "a great magnate conquers her at st. petersburg; grand dukes perform their tricks; and circassian princes die for her. but soon she has enough of caviare and vodka. what, she wonders, is the good of becoming fuddled with drunkards and wasting valuable time on half-civilized asiatics?" no good at all, was lola's decision. accordingly, she bade farewell to russian hospitality, and, relinquishing all prospects of wearing the muscovite diadem, returned to paris and dujarier. her lover's influence secured her an engagement in _la biche au bois_ at the porte st. martin theatre; but, as had happened at the académie royale, she was a "flop." the critics said so with no uncertain voice; and the manager announced that he agreed with them. clearly, then, the ballet was not her _métier_. "well, dancing isn't everything," said lola, who always took a reverse in philosophical fashion. chapter vi an "affair of honour" i the evening of march , , was one pregnant with fate where dujarier was concerned. he had received, and accepted, an invitation to a supper-party at the frères-provençaux restaurant, given by mlle anais liévenne, a young actress from the vaudeville company. among the other _convives_ gathered round the festive board were a quartet of attractive damsels, atala beauchene, victorine capon, cecile john, and alice ozy, with, to keep them company, a trio of typical _flâneurs_ in rosemond de beauvallon (a swarthy creole from guadaloupe, with ambitions to be considered a novelist), roger de beauvoir (a friend of alphonse karr, and whose other claim to distinction was that he had once challenged balzac), and saint-agnan (an individual dubbed by journalists a "man-about-town"). altogether, a gathering thoroughly representative of the theatre, the press, the world, and the half-world. lola was invited to join the party; but, at dujarier's special request, she excused herself. if, however, she had gone with him, the tragedy for which the evening was to be responsible might have been averted. still, nobody can look ahead. for some time, all went merrily as the proverbial marriage bell. the ladies were not too strait-laced; dull care was banished. food and drink without stint; music and lights and laughter; bright eyes and pretty faces. champagne corks popped; toasts were offered; jests were cracked; and tongues wagged. but it did not last. the clouds were gathering; and presently the harmony was interrupted. dujarier was to blame. unable to carry his liquor well, or else, under the spell of her bright eyes, he went so far as to remark to his hostess: "my dear anais, figure to yourself, in six months from now you and i will be sleeping together." the damsel's acknowledged cavalier, de beauvallon, a stickler for propriety, took this amiss and declared the assertion to be unwarranted. words followed. warm words. mlle liévenne, however, being good-tempered, merely laughed, and peace was restored. but the patched-up truce was only a temporary one. feeling still ran high. a few minutes later, de beauvallon picked another quarrel with dujarier, this time complaining that he had neglected to publish a feuilleton of his, _mémoires de m. montholon_, that had been accepted by him. as was to be expected, the result of pestering the sub-editor at such a moment was to receive the sharp response that he "must wait his turn, and that, in the meantime, there were more important authors than himself to be considered." with the idea of calming frayed nerves, somebody suggested that they should all adjourn for a flutter at lansquenet, then ousting écarté. the proposal was accepted; and, the revellers having settled down, saint-agnan, having the best-lined wallet, took the bank. fortune did not smile on dujarier. the luck seemed against him; and, when the party broke up in the small hours, he was a couple of thousand francs to the bad. worse than this, he was unable to settle his losses until he had borrowed the necessary billets from the head waiter. as a result, his temper was soured, his nerves on edge. accordingly, when de beauvallon was tactless enough to upset him again, he "answered somewhat abruptly." this, however, was not all. the "wine being in, the wit was out." a woman's name cropped up, that of a certain madame albert, a young actress in whose affections dujarier had, before lola montez appeared on the scene, been ousted by de beauvallon. the recollection rankled, and he made some sneering reference to the subject. with an obvious effort, the other kept his temper and curtly remarking, "you will hear from me to-morrow, monsieur," left the restaurant. ii "it might have been thought," is the comment of larousse, "that, with the fever of the wine abated, these happenings and the recollection of the indecorous words accompanying them would, by the next morning, have been forgotten." but they were not forgotten. they were remembered. on the following afternoon, while dujarier was in his office, lamenting the fact that he had made such a fool of himself, and wondering how he was to explain matters to lola, two visitors were announced. one of them was the comte de flers and the other was the vicomte d'ecquevillez. with ceremonious bows, they stated the purport of their call. this was that they represented de beauvallon, who "demanded satisfaction for the insults he had received from m. dujarier." the quarrel, however, was really one between two rival papers, _la presse_ and _le globe_, which had long been at daggers drawn. granier de cassagnac, the editor of _le globe_, was the brother-in-law of de beauvallon, and emile de girardin, the proprietor of _la presse_, had systematically held him up to ridicule in his columns. hence, when the news of the restaurant fracas leaked out among the café gossipers, the result was that everybody said: "il n'y eut qu'une voix pour dire 'c'est le _globe_ qui veut se battre avec la _presse_.'" dujarier, who had no stomach for fighting--except with his pen--would have backed out if he could. but he could not. things had already gone too far. accordingly, he referred the visitors to his friends, arthur bertrand (a god-son of the emperor) and charles de boignes, and then hurried off to consult them himself. "pistols for two and coffee for one," was their decision when they heard what he had to tell them. there was, they were emphatic, no other way by which he could satisfy his "honour." the code demanded it. clutching at a straw, dujarier next sought counsel of alexandre dumas. "i don't know why i am fighting," he said. if it came to that, dumas shared his ignorance. still, he insisted that a "meeting" was inevitable. this was the case. for a frenchman to refuse to "go out"--no matter what his reason--would be to incur social ignominy. he would be looked upon as a pariah; not a hand would be offered him; and he would have bundles of white feathers showered upon him by his former acquaintances. it was all very ridiculous. still, it must be remembered that "the period was one when journalists aped fine gentlemen, and killed themselves for nothing." ferdinand bac declares that this practice was "largely the fault of dumas, who, in his romances, would describe lovely women throwing themselves between the combatants to effect their reconciliation." since a meeting could be a serious affair, the seconds were naturally anxious to protect themselves. accordingly, the four of them, putting their heads together, drew up a document which, in the event of untoward consequences occurring, would, they felt, absolve them of responsibility: "we, the undersigned, state that, as the result of a disagreement, m. de beauvallon has provoked m. dujarier in a fashion that makes it impossible for him to refuse an encounter. we ourselves have done all we can to reconcile these gentlemen; and it is only at m. de beauvallon's urgent demand that we are proceeding in the matter." as the challenged party, dujarier had the choice of weapons. the privilege, however, was not worth much to him. he had never handled cold steel, while his adversary was an expert fencer, and he was also such a poor marksman that he could not have made sure of hitting a haystack at twenty yards. still, he reflected that, although de beauvallon was unlikely to miss him with a rapier, he might possibly do so with a bullet. accordingly, he elected for pistols. when dujarier came back to her that evening, lola, with womanly intuition, saw that some trouble had befallen him. under pressure, he admitted that he was about to fight a duel for which he had no stomach. at the same time, however, he led her to believe that his adversary was de beauvoir, and not de beauvallon. having thus calmed her fears, for she knew that de beauvoir was no more a fire-eater than was he himself, he went off to have another consultation with his seconds. "i shall not be back until late," he said, "as i am supping with dumas. you must not stop up for me." instead, however, of returning that night, dujarier, feeling that he could not face lola and tell her the truth, stopped with one of his seconds. there he wrote and sealed a couple of letters, charging de boignes to "deliver them if required by circumstances." the first was to his mother: if this letter reaches you, it will be because i shall be dead or else dangerously wounded. to-morrow morning i am going out to fight with pistols. my position requires it; and, as a man of honour, i accept the challenge. if you, my good mother, should have cause to weep, it is better that you should shed tears for a son worthy of yourself than to shed them for a coward. i go to the combat in the spirit of a man who is calm and sure of himself. justice is on my side. a more difficult, although less flamboyant, letter to write was the second one, for its recipient would be the woman who had given him her heart: and was even then anxiously awaiting his return: my ever dearest lola: i want to explain why it was i slept by myself and did not come to you this morning. it is because i have to fight a duel. all my calmness is required, and seeing you would have upset me. by two o'clock this afternoon everything will be over. a thousand fond farewells to the dear little girl i love so much, and the thoughts of whom will be with me for ever. having written his letters, he proceeded to draw up his will. this document left, among specific bequests to his mother and sister, certain shares that he held in the palais royal to lola montez. iii the date of the meeting was march , and the rendezvous was a retired spot in the bois de boulogne. a bitterly cold morning, with snow on the ground and heavy clouds in a leaden sky. as the clock struck the appointed hour, dujarier, accompanied by his seconds, and m. de guise, a medical man, drove up in a cab. they were the first to arrive. after waiting for more than an hour, dujarier was in such a nervous condition that his seconds declared he would be justified in leaving the field, since his adversary had not kept the appointment. instead, however, of jumping at the chance, he took a swig at a flask of cognac. the potent spirit gave him some measure of dutch courage, and his teeth stopped chattering. "i will fight," he announced grandiloquently. "i am a frenchman, and my honour is very dear to me." it was to be put to the test, for a few minutes later de beauvallon and his seconds arrived, with a tardy apology. on behalf of their principal, dujarier's seconds then made a last appeal for an amicable settlement. it was coldly received; and they were told that "the insult offered was too serious to be wiped out by words." there being nothing else for it, the preliminaries were discussed, the conditions of the combat being that the adversaries should stand thirty paces apart, advance six paces, and then fire. the pistols were furnished by d'ecquevillez, and it had been expressly stipulated that his principal should not have handled them until that moment. when, however, bertrand examined the pair, he remarked that, since the barrels were blackened and still warm to the touch, it was obvious that somebody had already practised with them. as, however, d'ecquevillez swore that they had not been tried by de beauvallon, the protest was withdrawn. the distance being measured and the adversaries placed in position, the seconds stepped aside. then, at a signal, the word was given. the first to fire was dujarier. he was, however, so agitated that he sent a bullet wide of the mark. de beauvallon, on the other hand, was perfectly cool and collected. he lifted his weapon and aimed with such deliberate care that de boignes, unable to restrain himself, called out excitedly: "_mais, tirez donc, monsieur!_" with a nod, de beauvallon pressed the trigger. there was an answering flash and a report; and, as the smoke drifted away, dujarier reeled and fell, blood gushing from his mouth and nostrils. when dr. de guise examined him, he looked grave. he saw at once that the injury was serious. as a matter of fact, dujarier was dead before they returned to paris. as the cab reached the house in the rue lafitte, lola, waiting there in an agony of suspense, heard the rumble of wheels. rushing downstairs, she stepped back with a cry of terror, for three men were carrying a heavy burden into the hall. instinctively, she realised that the worst had happened, that her suspense was at an end. "mademoiselle, we have ill tidings for you," said de boignes. "i know it," said lola. "dujarier is killed. i felt sure this would happen. you should not have let him fight." the funeral of dujarier, which took place a couple of days later in the cemetery at montmartre, was attended by characteristic pomp. the velvet pall above his coffin was held by balzac, dumas, and joseph méry, and a flowery "oration" delivered at the graveside by emile de girardin: "whether it endure but a single day, or be deep and prolonged, man's sorrow is always barren and profitless. it cannot restore to a disconsolate mother, bemoaning her untimely loss, the son for whom she weeps, or give him back to his friends.... let the words written by dujarier: 'i am about to fight a duel for the most absurd and futile of causes,' never be effaced from our memory. farewell, dujarier! rest in peace! let us carry away from the graveside the hope that the recollection of so lamentable an end will last long enough to shield others from a similar one. let all mothers--still astounded and trembling--derive some measure of confidence from this hope, and pray to god for poor dujarier with all the fervour of their souls!" as may be imagined, talk followed. a vast amount of talk, in the newspapers and elsewhere. "the topic was discussed," one reads, "at the royal table itself by the family of louis-philippe; and queen amelie and aunt adelaide stigmatised the conduct of this wicked hussy, lola montez, in severe terms." iv after such an experience, lola felt that she had had enough of france for a time. accordingly, she went back to germany. there she resumed relations with liszt, who took her to a second beethoven festival at bonn. while allowance could be made for the artistic temperament, this was considered to be straining it, and caustic remarks on the subject appeared in the press. during the absence of lola from paris, the relatives of dujarier had not been idle. unpleasant whispers were heard that the dead man had not fallen in a fair fight; and that the fatal bullet had come from a weapon with which his adversary had already practised. as this was contrary to the conditions of the encounter, the arm of the law reached out, and de beauvallon and his seconds were called upon for an explanation. the one they furnished to them was deemed adequate by the authorities. still, if "honour was satisfied," the friends of de beauvallon's victim were not. accordingly, they set to work, and, pulling fresh strings, managed to get the official decision upset. [illustration: _fanny elssler. predecessor of lola montez in paris_] an article on the subject that appeared in _le droit_ took a severe tone: "the grounds alleged to be responsible for this deplorable business," declared an editorial, "were utterly frivolous. as a result, the public prosecutor has instructed an examining-magistrate to enquire into all the circumstances, and an autopsy will be held. it is possible that other measures will be adopted." other measures _were_ adopted. "all duels," was the austere comment of the examining-magistrate who conducted the enquiry, "are marked by folly, and some by deliberate baseness." where this one was concerned, he hinted at something sinister, and asked pointed questions about the pistols that d'ecquevillez had been obliging enough to furnish. the answer was that they belonged to m. de cassignac, who, for his part, declared that, until the actual day of the meeting, they had been in the custody of the gunsmith from whom he had bought them. the gunsmith, however, m. devismes, said that this was not the case; and another witness declared that he had seen de beauvallon having a little surreptitious practice with them in the garden. the next thing that happened was that, before the magisterial enquiry was finished, de beauvallon and d'ecquevillez made a hurried departure from paris. during their absence, it was decided to abandon further proceedings for want of evidence. thinking himself safe, de beauvallon then returned. but he was not safe. the supreme court cancelled the decision of the inferior one, and announced that he was to stand his trial for murder. as public feeling ran high, and it was felt that an impartial jury could not have been secured in paris, the trial was held at rouen. the date was march , . attracted by the special circumstances of the case, the court was crowded. "nearly all those who were present," says claudin, "belonged to the world of the boulevards." albert vandam was among the spectators; and with him for a companion was a much more distinguished person, gustave flaubert. v all being in readiness, and the stage set for the drama that was about to be unfolded, the judges, in the traditional red robes, took their seats, with m. letendre de tourville as president of the court. m. salveton, the public prosecutor, and m. rieff, the advocate-general, represented the government; and mâitre berryer and m. léon duval appeared respectively on behalf of the accused and the dead man's mother and sister. as it had been suggested that de beauvallon had purposely arrived late on the ground, in order to have some preliminary practice, he was told to give an account of his movements of the morning of the duel. "i got up at seven o'clock," he said, "and went downstairs with the pistols which had been waiting for me at the concierge's when i returned home on the previous evening." "the concierge remembers nothing of that," interrupted m. duval. "this is a fresh fact. we must certainly consider it. what happened next?" "i went off in a cab to m. d'ecquevillez, and handed the pistols to him. at half-past ten i returned home, to wait for my seconds. we arrived on the ground at half-past eleven. m. de boignes received us coldly, with his hands in his pockets, and said: 'you do well to keep us waiting like this for you. name of god! this isn't a summer morning. we think there is not sufficient motive to fight a duel.' i answered frigidly, but politely, that i did not agree with him, and that i was in the hands of my seconds." "but one of them, m. de flers," remarked the president, "thought the quarrel trifling and said so. another thing. why did m. d'ecquevillez tell us that the pistols belonged to him? remember, he has given us details as to where he got them." "i ignore details," was the lofty response. "if you do, we don't," returned the judge. a vigorous denial was made by de beauvallon to the suggestion that he was familiar with the pistols used in the duel. to convince the jury that he was not to be believed, the opposing counsel then told them that he had once pawned a watch belonging to somebody else. when the judge expressed himself shocked at such depravity, de beauvallon, says a report, "hung his head and wept." nor did d'ecquevillez, the other defendant, cut a very happy figure. his real name was said to be vincent, and aspersions were cast on his right to dub himself a "count." he swore he had never admitted that the pistols belonged to him, and that de beauvallon had borrowed them from the gunsmith, desvismes. the latter, however, calling on heaven for support, declared the statement to be a "wicked invention." believing in the efficacy of numbers in getting up their case, forty-six witnesses were assembled by the prosecution. mlle lièvenne, the first of them to be examined, brought with her an atmosphere of the theatre, "adopting a flashy costume, in deplorably bad taste." "this," says a chronicler, "took the form of a blue velvet dress, a scarlet shawl, and a pearl-grey mantle." altogether, a striking colour-scheme. but it did not help her. to the indignation of the examining-counsel, she affected to remember nothing, declaring that she had been "too busy at the supper-table, looking after the company." the other young women, described as "more or less actresses," who had also been present, appeared to be suffering from a similar loss of memory. their minds, they protested, were absolutely blank as to what had happened at the restaurant and very little could be extracted from them. when they had given their evidence, they looked for seats in the body of the court. the rouen ladies, however, having somewhat rigid standards, would not permit them to sit between the wind and their propriety. "things are coming to a pretty pass," they declared, "when play-actresses imagine they can sit beside respectable women like ourselves." thereupon, the discomfited damsels withdrew to the hard benches of the public gallery. dumas, subpoenaed as a witness, drove all the way from paris in a four-horsed carriage, with méry as a travelling companion. when he took his place on the stand, m. de tourville, affecting judicial ignorance, enquired his profession. "if," returned the other, striking an attitude, "i did not here happen to find myself in the country of the illustrious corneille, i should call myself a dramatist." "just so," was the caustic response, "but there are degrees among dramatists." taking this for encouragement, dumas launched out into a disquisition on the history of the duello through the ages that was nearly as long as one of his own serials. in the middle of it, a member of the jury, anxious to be in the limelight, asked him a question. "how does it happen," he enquired, "that dujarier, who considered that a man of fashion must fight at least one duel, had never prepared himself by learning to shoot and fence?" "i cannot tell you," was the reply. "my son, however, told me that he once accompanied him to a shooting-gallery. out of twenty shots, he only hit the target twice." dumas made an exit as dramatic as his entry. "i beg," he said, "that the honourable court will permit me to return to paris, where i have a new tragedy in five acts being performed this evening." lola montez, garbed in heavy mourning, was the next summoned to give evidence. "when," says one who was there, "she lifted her veil and removed her glove, to take the prescribed oath, a murmur of admiration ran through the gathering." to this an impressed reporter adds: "her lovely eyes appeared to the judges of a deeper black than her lace ruffles." the presiding judge had no qualms about enquiring her age; and she had none about lopping five years off it and declaring that she was just twenty-one. nor did she advance any objection to being described, with gallic candour, as the "mistress of dujarier." during her evidence, lola montez, probably coached by dumas, did just what was expected of her. thus, she shed abundant tears, struck pathetic attitudes, and several times looked on the point of collapsing. but what she had to say amounted to very little. in fact, it was nothing more than an assertion that ill-feeling existed between dujarier and de cassagnac, the brother-in-law of de beauvallon, and that the quarrel was connected with an alleged debt. dujarier, she said, had forbidden her to make de beauvallon's acquaintance, or to attend the supper at the restaurant. he had returned from it in an excited condition at o'clock the next morning and told her that he would have to accept a challenge. "i was troubled about it," she said, "all day long. but for m. bertrand's assurance that the encounter was to be with m. de beauvoir, i would have gone to the police. you see, de beauvoir was a high-minded gentleman, and would not have condescended to profit from the poor dujarier's lack of skill." "did you not," enquired counsel, "say 'i am a woman of courage, and, if the meeting is in order, i will not stop it'?" "yes, but that was because i understood it was to be with de beauvoir, and he would not willingly have harmed dujarier. when i heard it was to be with de beauvallon i exclaimed, 'my god! dujarier is as good as dead!'" "i myself," she added, "could handle a pistol more accurately than the poor dujarier; and, if he had wanted satisfaction, i should have been quite willing to have gone out with m. de beauvallon myself." a murmur of applause met this assurance. lola's attitude appealed to the spectators. she was clearly a woman of spirit. during the proceedings that followed some sharp things were said about m. granier de cassagnac, the accused's brother-in-law. some of them were so bitter that at last he protested. "monsieur le president," he exclaimed hotly. "i cannot bear these abominable attacks on myself any longer." "if you can't bear them, you can always leave the court," was the response. "this gentleman's indignation does not disturb me in the least," said the public prosecutor. "i have already had experience of it, and i consider it to be artificial." vi after all the witnesses had been examined and cross-examined, and bullied and threatened in the approved fashion, mâitre duval addressed the jury on behalf of the dead man's relatives. in the course of this he delivered a powerful speech, full of passion and invective, drawing a parallel between this _affaire d'honneur_ and the historic one between alceste and oronte in molière's drama. according to him, dujarier was a shining exemplar, while de beauvallon was an unmitigated scoundrel, with a "past" of the worst description imaginable. having once, years earlier, pledged a watch that did not belong to him, he had "no right to challenge anybody, much less a distinguished man of letters, such as the noble dujarier." the various causes of the quarrel were discussed next. counsel thought very little of them. de beauvallon had complained that dujarier had "cut" him. "is it an offence," enquired m. duval, "for one man to avoid another? upon my word, m. de beauvallon will have to kill a number of people if he wants to kill all those who decline the honour of his companionship." as for the gambling quarrel, this was not serious. what, however, was serious was that, on the morning of the encounter, de beauvallon had gone to a shooting gallery and had some private practice with the very pistols that were afterwards used. this gave him an unfair advantage. "if," was the advocate's final effort to win a verdict, "m. de beauvallon is acquitted, the result will be not only a victory for an improperly conducted duel, but the very custom of the duel itself will be dishonoured by such a decision." léon duval having sat down, the president turned to the defendant's counsel. "the word is with you, m. berryer," he said. mâitre berryer, a master of forensic oratory, began his address by contending that duelling was not prohibited by the law of france. in support he quoted guizot's dictum: "where the barbarian murders, the frenchman seeks honourable combat; legislation on the subject is profitless; and this must be the case, since the duel is the complement of modern civilization." the judges were unprepared to accept this view off-hand; and, after consulting with the assessors, the president insisted that, whatever m. berryer might say, duelling was illegal in france. although he did not tell him so, it was also quite as illegal in england, where lord cardigan had, a little earlier, only just wriggled out of a conviction for taking part in one by a combination of false swearing and the subservience of his brother peers. not in the least upset, m. berryer advanced another point. as might have been expected of so accomplished an advocate, he had little difficulty in demolishing the elaborate, but specious and unsupported, hypothesis built up by the other side. hard facts did more with the stolid and unimaginative rouen jury than did picturesque embroideries. "is the accusation true?" demanded the president. "on my honour and on my conscience, before god and before man," announced the foreman, "the declaration of the jury is that it is not true." as a result of this finding, de beauvallon was acquitted of the charge of murder. but he did not escape without penalty, for he was ordered to pay , francs "compensation" to the mother and dujarier's relatives. "he was the only son of his mother, and she was a widow." convinced that there had been a miscarriage of justice and a vast amount of false swearing, the dead man's friends set to work to collect other evidence. by a stroke of luck, they got into touch with a gardener, who said that he had seen de beauvallon, in company with d'ecquevillez, having some surreptitious pistol practice on the morning of the duel. thereupon, the pair of them were rearrested and tried for perjury. being convicted, d'ecquevillez was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment and de beauvallon to eight years. but neither couple stopped in durance very long. the revolution of opened the doors of the conciergerie and they made good their escape, the one of them to spain, and the other to his creole relatives in guadeloupe. chapter vii "hooking a prince" i immediately after the rouen trial, lola left france, returning once more to germany. perhaps the irish strain in her blood made her a little superstitious. at any rate, just before starting, she consulted a clairvoyante. she felt that she had her money's worth, for the sibyl declared that she would "exercise much influence on a monarch and the destiny of a kingdom." a long shot, and, as it happened, quite a sound one. her intention being, as she had candidly informed dumas, to "hook a prince," she studied the _almanach de gotha_, and familiarised herself with the positions and revenues of the various "notables" accorded niches therein. germany was obviously the best field to exploit, for that country just then was full of princes. as a matter of fact there were no less than thirty-six of them waiting to be "hooked." the first place to which she went on this errand was baden, where, according to ferdinand bac, she "bewitched the future emperor william i. the prince, however, being warned of her syren spell, presently smiled and passed on." better luck befell the wanderer at her next attempt to establish intimate contact with a member of the _hoch geboren_, henry lxxii. his principality, reuss-lobenstein-ebersdorf (afterwards amalgamated with thuringia), had the longest name, but the smallest area, of any in the kingdom, for it was only about the size of a pocket-handkerchief. but to lola this was of no great consequence. what, however, was of consequence was that he was a millionaire (in thalers) and possessed an inflammable heart. a great stickler for etiquette, he once published the following notice in his _court gazette_: "for twenty years it has been my express injunction that every official shall always be alluded to by his correct title. this injunction, however, has not always been obeyed. in future, therefore, i shall impose a fine of one thaler on any member of my staff who neglects to refer to another by his proper title or description." but that the prince could unbend on occasion is revealed by another notification to his subjects: "his most serene highness and all-highest self has graciously condescended to approve the conduct of those six members of the reuss militia who recently assisted to put out a fire. with his own all-highest hand he is (on production of a satisfactory birth certificate) even prepared to shake that of the oldest among them." risking a prosecution for _lèse-majesté_, a local laureate described the incident in stirring verse. an extract from this effort, translated by professor j. g. legge, in his _rhyme and revolution in germany_, is as follows: honour to whom honour is due quite recently in reuss militia at a fire (i'm sure it will rejoice you) great credit did acquire. when this, through a memorial, their gracious prince by right had learned; those territorials he to him did invite. and when the good men shyly stood up before him, each his gracious highness highly praised in a gracious speech. a solemn affidavit (with parents' names and date) each then produced and gave it --his birth certificate. his highness then demanded the eldest of the band, and clasped that horny-handed with his all-highest hand. now, this great deed recorded, who would not dwell for choice where heroes are rewarded as in the land of reuss? where lola was concerned, she very soon put a match to the inflammable, if arrogant, heart of prince henry, and, as a result, was "commanded" to accompany him to his miniature court at ebersdorf. she did not, however, stop there very long, for, by her imperious attitude and contempt of etiquette, she disturbed the petty officials and bourgeois citizens surrounding it to such a degree that they made formal complaints to his high-and-mightiness. at first he would not hear a word on the subject. such was his favourite's position that criticism of her actions was perilously near _lèse-majesté_ and incurred reprisals. as soon, however, as the amorous princeling discovered that his bank balance was being depleted considerably beyond the amount for which he had budgeted, he suffered a sudden spasm of virtue and issued marching-orders to the "fair impure," as his shocked and strait-laced ebersdorfians dubbed the intruder among them. there was also some suggestion, advanced by a gardener, that she had a habit of taking a short cut across the princely flower-beds when she was in a hurry. this was the last straw. "leave my kingdom at once," exclaimed the furious henry. "you are nothing but a feminine devil!" not in the least discomfited by this change of opinion, lola riposted by presenting a lengthy and detailed account for "services rendered"; and, when it had been met (and not before), shook the dust of reuss-lobenstein-ebersdorf from her pretty feet. "you can keep your thuringia," was her parting-shot. "i wouldn't have it as a gift." the next places at which she halted were homburg and carlsbad, two resorts then beginning to become popular and attracting a wealthy crowd seeking a promised "cure" for their various ills. but, finding the barons apt to be close-fisted, and the smart young lieutenants without one _pfennig_ in their pockets to rub against another, lola was soon continuing her travels. in september, , she found herself in wurtemburg, where, much to her annoyance, she discovered that a certain amalia stubenrauch, a prepossessing damsel, who would now be called a gold-digger, had conquered the spare affections of king william, on whom lola herself had designs. but that large-hearted monarch had, as it happened, few affections to spare for anybody just then, for, when she encountered him at stuttgart, he was on the point of being married to princess olga of russia. a correspondent of the _athenæum_, who was there to chronicle the wedding festivities for his paper, registered disapproval at her presence in the district. "from the capital of wurtemburg," he announced sourly, "lola montez departed in the _schnellpost_ for munich, unimpeded by any luggage." somebody else, however (perhaps a more careful observer), is emphatic that she "went off with three carts full of trunks." as she always had a considerable wardrobe, this is quite possible. ii when, at the suggestion of baron maltitz (a homburg acquaintance who had suggested that she should "try her luck in munich"), lola set off for bavaria, that country was ruled by ludwig i. a god-child of marie-antoinette, and the son of prince max joseph of zweibrucken and princess augusta of hesse-darmstadt, he was born at salzburg in and had succeeded his father in . as a young man, he had served with the bavarian troops under napoleon, and detesting the experience, had conceived a hatred of everything military. this hatred was so strongly developed that he would not permit his sons to wear uniform. under his regime the military estimates were cut down to the bone. the army, he said, was a "waste of money," and he grudged every _pfennig_ it cost the annual budget. he did his best to abolish conscription, but had to abandon the effort. for all, too, that he was a god-son of marie-antoinette, he had no love for france. [illustration: _porte st. martin theatre, paris, where lola was a "flop"_] ludwig's sister, louisa, exchanging her religion for a consort's crown, was the wife of the czar alexander i; and he himself was married to the princess theresa of saxe-hildburghausen, a lady described as "plain, but exemplary." still, so far as personal appearance goes, ludwig himself was no adonis. nestitz, indeed, has pictured him as "having a toothless jaw and an expressionless countenance." but his consort did her duty; and, at approved intervals, presented him with a quiverful of four sons and three daughters. of his sons, one of them, otto, was, as a lad of sixteen, selected by the congress of london to be king of greece, much to the fury of the czar nicholas, who held that this was a cunning, if diplomatic, attempt to set up a byzantine empire among the hellenes. "were i," he said in a despatch on the subject, "to give my countenance to such a step, i should nullify myself in the eyes of my church." nesselrode, however, was of another opinion. "it is unbecoming," he was daring enough to inform his master, "for the emperor of russia to question a step upon which the greeks themselves are not in entire accord." a remarkable utterance. politicians had gone to siberia for less. palmerston, too, had his way, and otto, escorted by a warship, left his fatherland. on arriving in athens, the joy-bells rang out and the columns of the parthenon were flood-lit. but the choice was not to the popular taste; and it was not long before otto was extinguished, as well as the lights. by the irony of fate, he returned to munich on the very day that ludwig had erected a doric arch to commemorate the activities of the house of wittelsbach in securing the liberation of greece. despite this untoward happening, ludwig remained an ardent phil-hellene; and, as such, conceived the idea of converting his capital into a mixture of athens and florence and a metropolis of all the arts. under his fostering care, munich was brought to bed of a succession of temples and columns, and sprouted pillars and porticoes in every direction. the slums and alleys and huddle of houses in the old enceinte were swept away, and replaced by broad boulevards, fringed with museums and churches and picture galleries. for many of the principal public buildings he went to good models. thus, one of them, the königsbau, was copied from the pitti palace; a second from the loggia de' lanzi; and a third from st. paul's at rome. he also built a walhalla, at ratisbon, in which to preserve the effigies of his more distinguished countrymen. yet, although it ran to size, there was no niche in it for luther. in his patronage of the fine arts, ludwig followed in the footsteps of the medici. during his regime, he did much to raise the standard of taste among his subjects. martin wagner and von hallerstein were commissioned by him to travel in greece and italy and secure choice sculpture and pictures for his galleries and museums. the best of them found a home in the glyptothek and the pinakothek, two enormous buildings in the doric style, the cost of which he met from his privy purse. another of his hobbies was to play the maecenas; and any budding author or artist who came to him with a manuscript in his pocket or a canvas under his arm was certain of a welcome. we all have our little weaknesses. that of ludwig of bavaria was that he was a poet. he was so sure of this that he not only produced yards of turgid verse, defying every law of construction and metre, but he even had some of it printed. a volume of selections from his muse, entitled _walhalla's genossen_, was published for him by baron cotta, and, like the indian shawls of queen victoria, did regular duty as a wedding-gift. one effort was dedicated "to myself as king," and another "to my sister, the empress of austria"; and a number of choice extracts were translated and appeared in an english guide-book. ignoring the divinity that should have hedged their author, heine was very caustic about this royal assault upon parnassus. ludwig riposted by banishing him from the capital. still, if he disapproved of this one, he added to his library the output of other bards, not necessarily german. but, while browning was there, tennyson had no place on his shelves. one, however, was found for martin tupper. ludwig cultivated friendly relations with england, and did all he could (within limits) to promote an _entente_. thus, on the occasion of a chance visit to munich by lord combermere, he "sent the distinguished traveller a message to the effect that a horse and saddlery, with aide-de-camp complete, were at his service." his companion, however, a member of the foreign office staff, who had forgotten to pack his uniform--or in john bull fashion had declined to do so--did not fare so well, since his name was struck off the list of "eligibles" to attend the palace functions. thereupon, says lord combermere, he "wrote an angry letter to the chamberlain, commenting on the absurdity of the restriction." but ludwig's opinion of diplomatists was also somewhat unflattering, for, of a certain embassy visited by him on his travels, he wrote: "a theatre once--and now an ambassador's dwelling. still, thou are what thou wast--the abode of deception." a strange mixture of henry iv and haroun-al-raschid, ludwig of bavaria was a man of contradictions. at one moment he was lavishly generous; at another, incredibly mean. he could be an autocrat to his finger tips, and insist on the observance of the most minute points of etiquette; and he could also be as democratic as anybody who ever waved a red flag. thus, he would often walk through the streets as a private citizen, and without an escort. yet, when he did so, he insisted on being recognised and having compliments paid him. the traffic had to be held up and hats doffed at his approach. nowadays, he would probably have been clapped into a museum as a curiosity. such, then, was the monarch whose path was to be crossed, with historic and unexpected consequences to each of them, by lola montez. iii on arriving in munich, lola called on the manager of the hof theatre. as this individual already knew of her paris fiasco, instead of an engagement from him, she met with a rebuff. quite undisturbed, however, by such an experience, she hurried off to the palace, and commanded the astonished door-keeper to take her straight to the king. the flunkey referred her to count rechberg, the aide-de-camp on duty. with him lola had more success. boldness conquered where bashfulness would have failed. after a single swift glance, count rechberg decided that the applicant was eligible for admission to the "presence," and reported the fact to his master. but ludwig already knew something of the candidate for terpsichorean honours. as it happened, that very morning he had received from herr frays, the director of the hof theatre, a letter, telling him that, on the advice of his _première-danseuse_, fräulein frenzal, he had refused to give her an engagement. count rechberg's florid description of her charms, however, decided his majesty to use his own judgment. but he did not give in easily. "is it suggested," he demanded acidly, "that i should receive all these would-be ballerinas and put them through their paces? they come here by the dozen. why am i troubled with such nonsense?" "sire," returned rechberg, greatly daring, but with lola's magnetism still upon him, "you will not regret it. i assure you this one is an exception. she is delightful. that is the only word for it. never have i seen anybody to equal her. such grace, such charm, such ----" "pooh!" interrupted ludwig, cutting short the threatened rhapsodies, "your swan is probably a goose. most of them are. still, now that she's here, let her come in. if she isn't any good, i'll soon send her about her business." brave words, but they availed him nothing. ludwig shot one glance at the woman who stood before him, and capitulated utterly. a sudden thrill passed through him. his sixty years fell away in a flash. a river of blood surged through his sexagenarian arteries. his boast recoiled upon himself. rechberg had not deceived him. "what has happened to me?" he muttered feebly. "i am bewitched." then, as the newcomer stood smiling at him in all her warm loveliness, he found his tongue. "mademoiselle, you say you can dance. well, let me see what you can do. count rechberg, you may leave us." "do i dance here, in this room, your majesty?" "certainly." lola wanted nothing better. the opportunity for which she had been planning and scheming ever since she left paris had come at last. well, she would make the most of it. not in the least perturbed that there was no accompaniment, and no audience but his majesty, she executed a _pas seul_ there and then. it was a "royal performance," and eminently successful. her feet tripped lightly across the polished floor, and danced their way straight into ludwig's heart. "you shall dance before the public," he announced. "i will myself give orders to the director of the hof theatre." luise von kobell, when a schoolgirl, encountered her by chance just after her arrival, and thus records the impression she received: as i was walking in the briennerstrasse, not far from the bayersdorf palace, i saw a veiled lady, wearing a black gown and carrying a fan, coming towards me. something flashed across my vision, and i suddenly stood still, completely dazzled by the eyes into which i stared, and which shone from a pale countenance that lit up with a laughing expression at my bewilderment. then she swept past me; and i, forgetting what my governess had said about looking round, stared after her until she disappeared.... "that," said my father, when i reached home and recounted my adventure, "must have been lola montez, the spanish dancer." the next evening little fräulein von kobell saw her again at the hof theatre, where her first appearance before the munich public was made on october , . lola montez assumed the centre of the stage. she was not dressed in the customary tights and short skirts of a ballerina, but in a spanish costume of silk and lace, in which shone at intervals a diamond. it seemed as if fire darted from her wonderful blue eyes, and she bowed like one of the graces at the king in the royal box. she danced after the manner of her country, bending on her hips and alternating one posture with another, each rivalling the former one in beauty. while she was dancing she held the attention of all; everybody's eyes followed her sinuous movements, now indicative of glowing passion, now of frolicsomeness. not until she ceased her rhythmic swayings was the spell interrupted. the audience went mad with rapture, and the entire dance had to be repeated over and over again. ludwig, ensconced in the royal box, could not take his eyes off her. during an _entr'acte_ he scribbled a verse: happy movements, clear and near, are in thy living grace. supple and tender, as a deer art thou, of andalusian race! "_wunderschön!_" declared an admiring aide-de-camp to whom he showed it. "_kolossal!_" echoed a second, not to be outdone in recognising laureateship. as, however, the cheers were mingled with a few hisses ("due to the report that the newcomer was an english freemason, and wanted to destroy the catholic religion"), the next evening the management took the precaution of filling the pit with a leather-lunged and horny-handed _claque_. this time the bill consisted of a comedy, _der weiberseind von benedix_, followed by a cachucha and a fandango with herr opsermann for a dancing-partner. lola's success was assured; and herr frays, who had started by refusing to let her appear, was now full of grovelling apologies. he offered her a contract. but lola, having other ideas as to how her time should be employed in munich, would not accept it. "thank you for nothing," she said. "when i asked you for an engagement, you told me i was not good enough to dance in your theatre. well, i have now proved to both fräulein frenzal and yourself that i am. that is all i care about, and i shall not dance again, either for you or for anybody else." if she had known enough german, she would probably have added: "put that in your pipe and smoke it!" munich in those days must have proved attractive to people with small incomes. thus, edward wilberforce, who spent some years there, says that meat was fivepence a pound, beer twopence-halfpenny a quart, and servants' wages eight shillings a month. but there were drawbacks. "the city," says an english guide-book of this period, "has the reputation of being a very dissolute capital." yet it swarmed with churches. the police, too, exercised a strict watch upon the hotel registers; and, as a result of their activities, a "french visitor was separated from his feminine companion on grounds of public morality." "none of your parisian looseness for us!" said the city fathers. but lola appears to have avoided any such rigid censorship. at any rate, a certain auguste papon (a mixture of pimp and _souteneur_), whom she had met in paris, happened to be in munich at the same time as herself. the intimacy was revived; and, as he did not possess the entrée to the court, for some weeks they lived together at the hotel maulich. in the spring of a young guardsman found himself in the town, on his way back to england from kissengen. he records that, not knowing who she was, he sat next lola montez at dinner one evening, and gives an instance of her quick temper. "on the floor between us," he says, "was an ice-pail, with a bottle of champagne. a sudden quarrel occurred with her neighbour, a bavarian lieutenant; and, applying her foot to the bucket, she sent it flying the length of the room." iv lola certainly made the running. five days after she first met him, ludwig summoned all the officials of the court, and astonished (and shocked) them by introducing her with the remark: "gentlemen, i have the honour to present to you my best friend. see to it that you accord her every possible respect." he also compelled his long suffering spouse to admit her to the order of the chanoines of st. thérèse, a distinction for which--considering her somewhat lurid "past"--this new recipient was scarcely eligible. when he heard that instructions had been issued for paying special compliments to her, mr. _punch_ registered severe disapproval. "it is a good joke," he remarked, "to call upon others to uphold the dignity of one who is always at some freak or other to lower herself." when she first sailed in dramatic fashion into the orbit of bavaria's sovereign, lola montez was just twenty-seven. in the full noontide of her beauty and allurement, she was well equipped with what the modern jargon calls sex-appeal. big-bosomed and with generously swelling curves, "her form," says eduard fuchs, "was provocation incarnate." fuchs, who was an expert on the subject of feminine attractions, knew what he was talking about. "shameless and impudent," adds heinrich von treitschke, "and as insatiable in her voluptuous desires as sempronia, she could converse with charm among friends; manage mettlesome horses; sing in thrilling fashion; and recite amorous poems in spanish. the king, an admirer of feminine beauty, yielded to her magic. it was as if she had given him a love philtre. for her he forgot himself; he forgot the world; and he even forgot his royal dignity." the fact that lola always wore a byronic collar helped the theory, held by many, that she was a daughter of the poet. but her real reason for adopting the style was that she had a lovely neck, and this set it off to the best advantage. she studied the art of dress and gave it an immense amount of care. where this matter was concerned, no trouble or care was too much. her favourite material was velvet, which she considered--and quite justifiably--to exercise an erotic effect on men of a certain age. she was insistent, too, that the contours of her figure ("her quivering thighs and all the demesnes adjacent thereto") should be clearly revealed, and in a distinctly provocative fashion. this, of course, was not far removed from exhibitionism. as a result, bourgeois opinion was outraged. the wives of the petty officials shopping in the marienplatz shuddered, and clutched their ample skirts when they saw her; anxious mothers instructed dumpy fräuleins "not to look like the foreign woman." there is no authoritative record that any of them did so. chapter viii ludwig the lover i lola montez had done better than "hook a prince." a lot better. she had now "hooked" a sovereign. her ripe warm beauty sent the thin blood coursing afresh through ludwig's sluggish veins. there it wrought a miracle. he was turned sixty, but he felt sixteen. the conversation of robert burns is said to have "swept a duchess off her feet." perhaps it did. but that of lola montez had a similar effect on a monarch. under the magic of her spell, this one became rejuvenated. the years were stripped from him; he was once more a boy. with his charmer beside him, he would wander through the nymphenburg woods and under the elms in the englischer garten, telling her of his dreams and fancies. his passion for greece was forgotten. pericles was now romeo. _in dem suden ist die liebe, da ist licht und da ist glut!_ that is, in the south there is love, there is light and there is heat, sang ludwig. yet lola montez was not by any means the first who ever burst into the responsive heart of ludwig i. she had many predecessors there. one of them was an italian syren. but that lola soon ousted her is clear from a poetical effort of which the royal troubadour was delivered. this begins: _tropfen der seligkeit und ein meer von bitteren leiden die italienerin gab--seligkeit, seligkeit nur lässest du mich entzündend, begeistert, befändig empfinden, in der spanierin fand liebe und leben ich nur!_ a free rendering of this passionate heart throb would read very much as follows: drops of bliss and a sea of bitter sorrow the italian woman gave me. bliss, only bliss, thou gav'st my enraptured heart and soul and spirit. in the spanish woman alone have i found love and life! ludwig had a prettier name for his inamorata than the "feminine devil" of henry lxxii of reuss. he called her the "lovely andalusian" and the "woman of spain." she also inspired him to fresh poetic flights. one of these ran: thine eyes are blue as heavenly vaults touched by the balmy air; and like the raven's plumage is thy dark and glistening hair! there were several more verses. a feature of the residenz palace was a collection of old masters. wanting to add a young mistress, ludwig allotted a place of honour among them to a portrait of lola montez, from the brush of josef stieler. the work was well done, for the artist was inspired by his subject; and he painted her wearing a costume of black velvet, with a touch of colour added by red carnations in her head-dress. ludwig's heart being large, _die schönheitengalerie_ (as the "gallery of beauties" was called) filled two separate rooms. the one qualification for securing a niche on the walls being a pretty face, the collection included the princess alexandra of bavaria (daughter of the king of greece), the archduchess sophie of austria, and the baroness de krüdener (catalogued as the "spiritual sister" of the czar alexander i), a popular actress, charlotte hagen, a ballet-dancer, antoinette wallinger, and the daughters of the court butcher and the municipal town-crier. to these were added a quartet of englishwomen, in lady milbanke (the wife of the british minister), lady ellenborough, lady jane erskine, and lady teresa spence. it was to this gallery that ludwig was accustomed to retire for a couple of hours every evening, to "meditate" on the charms of its occupants. being, however, possessed of generous instincts, and always ready (within limits) to share his good things, the public were admitted on sunday afternoons. but ludwig could scratch, as well as purr. on one occasion he chanced to meet a lady who had figured among the occupants of the _schönheiten_. she was considerably past the first flush of youth, and ludwig, exercising his prerogative, affected not to remember her. "but, sire," she protested, "i used to be in your gallery." "that, madame," was the response, "must have been a very long time ago. you would certainly not be there now." ii from her modest hotel, where, soon tiring of his society, she left auguste papon to stay by himself, lola took up fresh quarters in a small villa which the king had placed at her disposal in the theresienstrasse, a boulevard conveniently near the hofgarten and the palace. while comfortable enough, it was held to be merely a temporary arrangement. there was not enough room in it for lola to expand her wings. she wanted to establish a _salon_ and to give receptions. accordingly, she demanded something more suitable. it meant spending money, and ludwig had already, he reflected, spent a great deal on her whims and fancies. still, under pressure, he came round, and, agreeing that there must be a fitting nest for his love-bird (with a perch in it for himself), he summoned his architect, metzger, and instructed him to build one in the more fashionable barerstrasse. "no expense is to be spared," he said. none was spared. [illustration: _supper-party at les frères provençaux. first act in a tragedy_] the new dwelling, which adjoined the karolinen platz, was really a bijou palace, modelled on the italian style. everything in it was of the best, for ludwig had cash and lola had taste. thus, her toilet-set was of silver ware; her china and glass came from dresden: the rooms were filled with costly nicknacks; mirrors and cabinets and vases and bronzes; richly-bound books on the shelves; and valuable tapestries and pictures on the walls. french elegance, added to munich art, with a touch of solid english comfort in the shape of easy chairs and couches. to check a playful habit that the munich mob had of throwing bricks through them, when they had drunk more beer than they could carry, the windows were fitted with iron grilles. as a further precaution, a mounted officer always accompanied the barerstrasse châtelaine when she was driving in public, and sentries stood at the door, to keep the curious at a respectful distance. a description of the barerstrasse nest was sent to london by a privileged journalist who had inspected it: "the style of luxury in which lola montez lives here passes all bounds. nothing to equal it has been met with in munich. it might almost be an aladdin's palace! the walls of her bed-chamber are hung with guipure and costly satin. the furniture is of louis xv era, and the mantelpiece is of valuable sèvres porcelain. the garden is filled with rare flowers, and the carriages and horses in the stables are the wonder and envy of the honest burghers." "the queen herself could not be better housed," said lola delightedly, when she saw all the luxuries of which she was now the mistress. "you are my queen," declared ludwig fondly. while lola, to please her patron, grappled with the intricacies of the german tongue, ludwig, to please his charmer, took lessons from her in spanish. she still stuck to her andalusian upbringing, and is said (but the report lacks confirmation) to have introduced him to à kempis. this, however, is probably a misprint for don quixote. none the less, her inspiration was such that her pupil could write: thou dost not wound thy lover with heartless tricks; nor dost thou play with him wantonly. thou art not for self; thy nature is generous and kind. my beloved! thou art munificent and unchanging. * * * * * "give me happiness!" i begged with fierce longing. and happiness i received from thee, thou woman of spain! notwithstanding the suggestion implied by this assurance, lola always insisted that her relations with the king were purely platonic. while this view is a little difficult to accept, it is significant that ludwig's lawful spouse never objected to their "friendship." her majesty, however, was of a placid temperament. perhaps, too, she thought that the fancy would not endure. if so, she was wrong, for, with the passage of time, the newcomer was obviously consolidating her position. "lola montez, of horse-whipping notoriety," remarked a journalist, "appears to be increasing in favour at the court of bavaria. the queen calls her 'my dear,' and the ladies consider it their duty to caress the one who has all the world of munich at her feet." during the summer, ludwig, divesting himself of the cares of state, retired to his castle at bruckenau, picturesquely situated in the fulda forest; and lola, attended by a squadron of cuirassiers, accompanied him to this retreat. there, as in the nymphenburg park, ludwig dreamed dreams, while lola amused herself with the officers of the escort. halcyon days--and nights. they inspired his majesty with yet another "poem": song of walhalla through the holy dome, oh come, brothers, let us roam along; let from thousand throats the hum rise, like rivers, swift and strong! when the notes have died away let us clasp each other's hand; and, to high heaven, let us pray for our dearest fatherland! while she accorded it full value, lola montez did not depend on mere beauty for her power. she had a markedly sadistic vein in her composition; and, when annoyed, was not above laying about her right and left with a dog-whip that she always carried. an impudent lackey would be flogged into submission, or set upon by a fierce mastiff that she kept at her heels. high office, too, meant nothing to her. she boxed the ears of baron pechman; and, because he chanced to upset her, she encouraged her four-coated companion to tear the best trousers of professor lasaulx, the nephew of görrez, a cabinet minister. her english bulldog (with apparently a strain of presbyterian blood in him) had an unerring scent for jesuits. he seemed to disapprove of their principles as much as his mistress did, and would attack them at sight. this animal would also appear to have been something of a prohibitionist. at any rate, he once bit a brewer's carman, delivering goods to a _bierkeller_. when the victim expostulated, lola struck him with her whip. this infuriated the crowd to such an extent that she had to take refuge in a shop. there she happened to jostle a lieutenant, who, not recognising her, ventured on a protest. the next morning he received a challenge from a fire-eating comrade, alleging that he had "insulted a lady." because the challenge was refused, a "court of honour" had him deprived of his commission. iii what a distressed commentator has dubbed the "equivocal position" of lola montez at munich also stuck in the gullet of the cabinet, and heads were shaken. public affronts were offered her. when she visited the odéon theatre, the stalls adjoining the one she occupied were promptly emptied. "respectable women drew back, exhibiting on their countenances disgust and terror." but the masculine members of the audience were less exclusive, or perhaps made of sterner material, for they displayed eagerness to fill up the vacant stalls. "a new chivalry was born," says a chronicler of town gossip, "and paladins were anxious to act as a buckler." with the passage of time the infatuation of the wittelsbach lovelace became so marked that it could not be ignored in places beyond munich. the countess bernstorff grew seriously perturbed. "there has long been talk," she confided to a friend, "as to whether king ludwig would so far presume on the kindness and indulgence of the queen of prussia as to bring lola montez to court during her majesty's forthcoming stay in munich." the problem, however, was solved by the tactful action of lola herself, who gave the palace a wide berth until the visit had come to an end. in his _memoirs of madam jenny lind-goldschmidt_ shocked horror is similarly expressed by canon scott holland at the possibility of the swedish nightingale, who was arranging to give a concert there, encountering lola in her audience: the time fixed for this visit to munich was, in one respect, most unpropitious; and, for a young artist, unsupported by powerful moral protection, the visit itself might well have proved extremely unpleasant. it was impossible to sing at court, for the reigning spirit in the household of king ludwig i was the notorious lola montez, who was then at the climax of her ill-gotten power. to have been brought into contact with such a person would have been intolerable. an invitation to court would have rendered such contact inevitable. but if jenny lind adopted a lofty attitude and refused to fulfil an engagement in the bavarian capital, lest she should have chanced to rub shoulders with ludwig's mistress, other visitors did not share these qualms. they arrived in battalions, and evinced no disinclination to make her acquaintance. "to the shame of the aristocracy and the arts," says a rigid commentator, "every day there were to be found at the feet of this cyprian intruder a throng of princes and philosophers, authors and painters, and sculptors and musicians." fresh tactics to get her out of munich were then adopted. when, however, somebody remarked that ludwig was old enough to be her grandfather, she sent him away with a flea in his ear. "it is ridiculous to talk like that," she said. "my ludwig's heart is young. if you knew the strength of his passion, you would not credit him with being more than twenty!" as for ludwig himself he was bombarded with anonymous letters and warnings, calling lola by every evil name that occurred to the writers. she was la pompadour and the sempronia of sallust in one, a "voluptuous woman," and a "flame of desire." there were also tearful protests from the higher clergy, who, headed by archbishop diepenbrock, were positive that the "dancing woman" was an emissary of satan (sometimes they said of lord palmerston) sent from england to destroy the catholic religion in bavaria. ludwig was curt with his grace. "you stick to your _stola_," he said, "and let me stick to my lola." a soft answer, perhaps; but not a very satisfactory one. "it is all very well for kings to have mistresses," was the opinion of the more broad-minded, "but they should select them from their own countrywomen. this one is a foreigner. why should our hard-earned money be lavished on her?" the grievance was, as it happened, well founded, for lola was drawing , marks a year, wrung from the pockets of the tax-payers. baron pechman, the chief of police, had a bad reception when he suggested that the populace might get out of control. "if you can't manage the mob," said ludwig, turning on him furiously, "i'll get someone who can. a change of air may do you good." the next morning the discomfited baron pechman found himself _dégommé_ and a successor appointed to his office. the intrigue was too openly conducted to be "hushed up." word of what was happening in munich soon filtered through to vienna. queen caroline-augusta, ludwig's sister, shook her head. "alas," she sighed, "my wretched brother is always bringing fresh shame on me." she wrote him letters of tearful protest. they were ignored. she protested by word of mouth. ludwig, in unbrotherly fashion, told her to "mind her own business." caroline's next move was to take clerical counsel. "these creatures are always venal," said the jesuits. "they only care for cash." an emissary was accordingly despatched to the barerstrasse mansion, to convey an offer. unfortunately, however, he had not advanced beyond "_gnädige frau, erlauben_," when he himself capitulated to lola's charms, and returned to the hofburg, his task unaccomplished. still, he must have made out some sort of story to save his face, for the princess mélanie wrote: "our good senfft has come back. he was unable to speak to lola montez. the poor country of bavaria is in a sad condition, which gets worse every day." the least disturbed individual appeared to be queen thérèse. her attitude was one of placidity itself. but perhaps she was, by this time, accustomed to the dalliance of her ludwig along the primrose path. also, she probably knew by experience that it was not the smallest use making a fuss. the milk was spilled. to cry over it now would be a wasted effort. the king's favourite was good "copy" for the bavarian press; and the munich journals were filled with accounts of her activities. not in the least upset by their uncomplimentary references to himself, ludwig instructed his librarian, herr lichenthaler, to collect all the pasquinades, lampoons, squibs, and caricatures (many of them far from flattering, and others verging on the indecent) that appeared and have them sumptuously bound. it was not long before enough had been assembled to fill half a dozen volumes. his idea was "to preserve for posterity all this mountain of mud, as a witness of bavaria's shame." that somebody else was responsible for the "shame" did not occur to him. a choice specimen among the collection was one entitled _lola montez, oder des mench gehört dem könige_ ("lola montez, or the wench who belongs to the king"). there was also a scurrilous, and distinctly blasphemous, broadsheet, purporting to be lola's private version of the lord's prayer: "our father, in whom throughout my life, i have never yet had much belief, all's well with me. hallowed be thy name--so far as i am concerned. thy kingdom come, that is, my bags of gold, my polished diamonds, and my unpolished alemannia. thy will be done, if thou wilt destroy my enemies. give me this day champagne and truffles and pheasant, and all else that is delectable, for i have a very good appetite.... lead me not into temptation to return to this country, for, even if i were bullet-proof, i might be arrested, clapped into a cage, and six francs charged for a peep at me. amen!" iv those were the days when gentlemen (at any rate, bavarians) did not necessarily prefer blondes. lola's raven locks were much more to their taste. if she were not a success in the ballet, she was certainly one in the boudoir. of a hospitable and gregarious disposition, she kept what amounted to open house in her barerstrasse villa. every morning she held an informal levée there, at which any stranger who sent in his card was welcome to call and pay his respects; and in the evenings, when she was not dancing attendance on ludwig at the palace, the barerstrasse reception would be followed by a soirée. these gatherings attracted--in addition to a throng of artists and authors and musicians--professors and scholars from all over europe; and, as gertrude aretz remarks, in her admirable study, _the elegant woman_ (with considerable reference to this one): "the best intellects of her century helped to draw her victorious chariot." the uncultured mob, however, dubbed her a "fair impire" and a "light o' love," and flung even stronger and still more uncomplimentary epithets. their subject, however, received them with a laugh. the shopkeepers, with an eye to business, embellished their wares with her portrait; and the university students, headed by fritz peissner, serenaded her in front of her windows. _lolita schön, wie salamoni's weiber. welch 'suszer reis flog über dich dahin!_ they sang in rousing chorus. among the students engaged in amassing light and learning at the university of munich, there were a number of foreigners. one of them was a young american, charles godfrey leland ("hans breitmann"), who had gone there, he says, to "study æsthetics." but this did not take up all his time, for, during the intervals of attending classes, he managed to see something of lola montez. "i must," he says, "have had a great moral influence on her, for, so far as i am aware, i am the only friend she ever had at whom she never threw a plate or a book, or attacked with a dagger, poker, broom, or other deadly weapon.... i always had a strange and great respect for her singular talents. there were few, indeed, if any there, were, who really knew the depths of that wild irish soul." in another passage leland offers further details: "the great, the tremendous, celebrity at that time in munich was also an opera dancer, though not on the stage. this was lola montez, the king's last favourite.... she wished to run the whole kingdom and government, kick out the jesuits, and kick up the devil, generally speaking. "one of her most intimate friends was wont to tell her that she and i had many very strange characteristics in common, which we shared with no one else, while we differed utterly in other respects. it was very like both of us, for lola, when defending the existence of the soul against an atheist, to tumble over a great trunk of books of the most varied kind, till she came to an old vellum-bound copy of _apuleius_, and proceed to establish her views according to his subtle neo-platonism. but she romanced and embroidered so much in conversation that she did not get credit for what she really knew." well, if it comes to that, leland for his part was not above "romancing" and "embroidering." his books are full of these qualities. "marvels," says a biographer, "fill his descriptions of student life at munich. interesting people figure in his reminiscences.... prominent among them was lola montez, the king's favourite of the day, cordially hated by all munich for an interference in public affairs, hardly to be expected from the 'very small, pale, and thin or _frèle_ little person with beautiful blue eyes and curly black hair' who flits across the pages of the memoirs." if this were leland's real opinion of lola's appearance, he must have formed it after drinking too much of the munich beer of which he was so fond. he seems to have drunk a good deal at times, as he admits in one passage: "after the dinner and wine, i drank twelve _schoppens_." a dozen imperial pints would take some swallowing, and not leave the memory unclouded as to subsequent events. v despite the alleged spanish blood in her veins, lola (with, perhaps, some dim stirring of memory for the far-off montrose chapter) declared herself a staunch protestant, and, like her pet bull dog, disavowed the jesuits and all their works. hence, she supported the liberal government; and, as an earnest of her intentions, started operations by attempting to establish contact with von abel, the head of the ultramontane ministry. he, however, affecting to be hurt at the bare suggestion, would have nothing to do with the "scarlet woman," as he did not scruple to call her. following his example, the clerical press redoubled their attacks. as a result, lola decided to form an opposition and to have a party of her own. for this purpose she turned to some of the younger students, among whom she had a particular admirer in one fritz peissner. in response to her smiles, he, together with count hirschberg and a number of his friends, embodied themselves in a special corps, pledged to act as her bodyguard. its members elected to be known as the alemannia, and invited her to accept the position of _ehren-schwester_ ("honorary sister"). lola was quite agreeable, and reciprocated by setting apart a room in her villa where the swash-bucklers could meet. not to be outdone in paying compliments, the alemannia planted a tree in her garden on christmas day. their distinguishing badge (which would now probably be a black shirt) was a red cap. as was inevitable, they were very soon at daggers drawn with the representatives of the other university corps, who, having long-established traditions, looked upon the newcomers as upstarts, and fights between them were constantly occurring when they met in public. altogether, ludwig had reason to regret his action in transferring the university from its original setting at landshut. on the other hand, councillor berks, a thick and thin champion of lola (and not above taking her lap-dogs for an airing in the hofgarten), supported the alemannia, declaring them to be "an example to corrupt youth." prince leiningen retaliated by referring to him as "that wretched substitute for a minister, commonly held by public opinion in the deepest contempt." the origin of the alemannia was a little curious. two members of the palatia corps happened one afternoon, while peering through the windows of the barerstrasse mansion, to see lola entertaining a couple of their fellow-members. this they held to be "an affront to the honour of the palatia," and the offenders, glorying in their conduct, were expelled by the committee. thereupon, they joined with fritz peissner when he was thinking of establishing a fresh corps. in her new position, lola did not forget her old friends. feeling her situation with ludwig secure, she wrote to liszt, offering him "the highest order that bavaria could grant." he declined the suggestion, and sent word of her doings to madame d'agoult: apropos of this too celebrated anglo-spanish woman, have you heard that king louis of bavaria has demanded the sacrifice of her theatrical career? and that he is keeping her at munich (where he has bought her a house) in the quality of a favourite sultanah? later on, he returned to the subject: i have been specially pleased with a couple of allusions to lola and this poor mariette; but, to be perfectly candid--and being afraid that you would find the subject a little indecorous--i began to reproach myself for having mentioned it to you in my last letter from czernowitz. in speaking of lola, you tell me that you defend her (which i do also, but not for the same reasons) because she stands for progress. then, a page further on, in resuming the subject at vienna, you find me very young to still believe in justice, not realising that, in this little circle of ideas and things, i represent in europe a progressive and intelligent movement. "alas! who represents anything in europe to-day?" you enquire with bossuet. well, then, lola stands for the nineteenth century, and daniel stern stands for the woman of the ninth century; and, were it not for having contributed to the representation of others, i too shall finish by representing something else, by means of the , francs of income it will be necessary for me to end up by securing. chapter ix "maÎtresse du roi" i the role for which lola cast herself was that of la pompadour to the louis xv of ludwig i. she had been a coryphée. now she was a courtesan. history was repeating itself. like an agnes sorel or a jane shore before her, she held in munich the semi-official and quite openly acknowledged position of the king's mistress. it is said of her that she was so proud of the title and all it implied, that she would add "maîtresse du roi" to her signature when communicating with understrappers at the palace. ludwig, however, thought this going too far, and peremptorily forbade the practice. lola gave way. perhaps the only time on record. in return, however, she advanced a somewhat embarrassing demand. "my position as a king's favourite," she said, "entitles me to the services of a confessor and a private chapel." ludwig was quite agreeable, and instructed count reisach, the ultramontane archbishop of munich, to select a priest for this responsible office. his grace, however, reported that all the clergy in a body had protested to him that, "fearing for their virtue, they could not conscientiously accept the post." disappointed at the rebuff, lola herself then applied to dr. windischmann, the vicar-general, telling him that if he would undertake the office she would reciprocate by securing him a bishopric. this dignitary, however, was not to be tempted. "madame," he said, "my confessional is in the church of notre-dame; and you can always go there when you want to accuse yourself of any of the numerous sins you have committed." nor would his eminence, the primate of poland, give any help. all he would do was to get into his carriage and set off to expostulate with the king. but it was a wasted effort, for ludwig insisted that his relations with the conscience-stricken postulant were "nothing more than platonic." thereupon, "the superior clergy announced that the designs of providence were indeed inscrutable to mere mortals, but they trusted that his majesty would at any rate change his mistress." ludwig, however, brooking no interference with his amours, refused to do anything of the kind. "what are you thinking about?" he stormed. "how dare you hint that i am the man to roll myself in the mud of the gutter? my feelings for this lady are of the most lofty and high-minded description. if you drive me to extremes, heaven alone knows what will happen!" his eminence met the outburst by whispering in the ear of the bishop of augsburg that the king was "possessed." as for the bishop of augsburg, he "wept every day." a leaky prelate. "it is a paradox," was the expert opinion of archbishop diepenbrock, "that the more shameful she is, the more beautiful is a courtesan." a "day of humiliation," with a special prayer composed by himself, was his suggestion for mending matters; and madame von krüdener, not to be outdone in coming to the rescue, preached the necessity of "public penance." thus taken to task, ludwig solemnly declared in writing that he had "never exacted the last favours" from lola montez, and furnished the entire episcopal bench with a copy of this declaration. "that only makes his folly the greater," was the caustic comment of canitz, who was not to be deluded by eye-wash of this description. with the passage of time, lola's influence at the palace grew stronger. before long, it became abundantly clear to the ministry that she was the real channel of approach to the king and, in fact, his political egeria. "during that period," says t. everett harré, "when she was known throughout the world as the 'uncrowned queen of bavaria,' lola montez wielded a power perhaps enjoyed by no woman since the empress theodora, the circus mime and courtesan, was raised to imperial estate by the emperor justinian." well aware of this fact, and much as they objected to it, the cabinet, headed by von abel, began by attempting to win her to their side. when they failed, they put their thick heads together, and, announcing that she was an emissary of palmerston--just as la paiva was credited with being in bismarck's employ--they hinted that her room was preferable to her company. the hints having no effect, other measures were adopted. thus, ludwig's sister offered her a handsome sum (for the second time) to leave the country, and metternich improved on it; the bishop of augsburg, drying his tears, composed another and longer special prayer; the cabinet threatened to resign; and caricatures and scurrilous paragraphs once more appeared in munich journals. but all to no purpose. lola refused to budge. nothing could shake her resolve, _j'y suis, j'y reste_, might well have been her motto. "i will leave bavaria," she said, "when it suits me, and not before." ii for ten years ludwig had been under the thumb of the ultramontanes and the clerical ministry of carl von abel. he was getting more than a little tired of the combination. the advance of lola montez widened the breach. to get rid of him, accordingly, he offered von abel the appointment of bavarian minister at brussels. the offer, however, was not accepted. asked for his reason, von abel said that he "wanted to stop where he was and keep an eye on things." [illustration: _residenz palace, munich, in . residence of ludwig i_] at this date bavaria was catholic to a man--and a woman--and the ultramontanes held the reins of government. while one would have been enough, they professed to have two grievances. one was the "political poison" of the liberal opposition; and the other was the "moral perversion" of the king. in march matters came to a crisis. a number of university professors, headed by the rigid lasaulx, held an indignation meeting in support of the ultramontane cabinet and "their efforts to espouse the cause of good morals." this activity on the part of a secular body was resented by the clergy, who considered that they, and not the university, were the official custodians of the public's "morals." but if it upset the clergy, it upset ludwig still more; and, to mark his displeasure, he summarily dismissed four of the lecturers he himself had appointed. as the general body of students sided with them, they "demonstrated" in front of the house of lola montez, whom they held responsible. what began as a very ordinary disturbance soon developed into something serious. tempers ran high; brickbats were thrown, and windows smashed; there were collisions with the police, who endeavoured to arrest the ringleaders; and finally the karolinen platz had to be cleared by a squadron of cuirassiers. the alemannia, joining arms, forced a passage through which lola managed to slip to safety and reach the gates of the residenz. but it was, as she said, "a near thing." the crowd relieved their feelings by breaking a few more windows; and a couple of alemannia, detached from their comrades, were ducked in the isar. "_vivat, lola!_" bellowed one contingent. "_pereat, lola!_" bellowed the opposition. accounts of the disturbance filtered through to england. there they attracted much attention and acid criticism. "a lady," remarked the _examiner_, "has overthrown the holy alliance of southern germany. lola montez, whose affecting testimony during the trial of those who killed dujarier in a duel cannot but be remembered, was driven by that catastrophe to seek her fortunes in other realms. chance brought her to munich, the sovereign of which capital has divided his time between poetry and the arts, gallantry and devotion." "what paphian cestus," was another sour comment, "does lola wind round the blade of her poniard? we all remember how much the respectable juno was indebted to the bewitching girdle of a less regular fair one, but the properties of that talisman are still undescribed." the _thunderer_, in its capacity as a european watch-dog, had its eye on ludwig and his dalliance along the primrose path. disapproval was registered. "the king of bavaria," solemnly announced a leading article, "has entirely forgotten the duties and dignities of his position." freiherr zu canitz, however, who had succeeded von bülow as minister for foreign affairs, looked upon ludwig's lapse with more indulgence. "it is not," he wrote from the wilhelmstrasse, "the first time by any means that kings have chosen to live with dancers. while such conduct is not, perhaps, strictly laudable, we can disregard it if it be accompanied by a certain measure of decorum. still, a combination of ruler-ship and dalliance with a vagrant charmer is a phenomenon that is as much out of place as is an attempt to govern a country by writing sonnets." availing herself of what was then, as now, looked upon as a natural safety-valve, lola herself wrote to the _times_, giving her own version of these happenings: i left paris in june last on a professional trip; and, among other arrangements, decided upon visiting munich where, for the first time, i had the honour of appearing before his majesty and receiving from him marks of appreciation, which is not a very unusual thing for a professional person to receive at a foreign court. i had not been here a week before i discovered that there was a plot existing in the town to get me out of it, and that the party was the jesuit party.... when they saw that i was not likely to leave them, they tried what bribery would do; and actually offered me , fcs. a year if i would quit bavaria and promise never to return. this, as you may imagine, opened my eyes; and, as i indignantly refused their offer, they have since not left a stone unturned to get rid of me.... within this last week a jesuit professor of philosophy at the university here, named lasaulx, was removed. thereupon, the party paid and hired a mob to insult me and break the windows of my house. ... knowing that your columns are always open to protect anyone unjustly accused, and more especially when that one is an unprotected female, makes me rely upon you for the insertion of this; and i have the honour to subscribe myself, your obliged servant, lola montez. a couple of weeks later printing house square was favoured with a second epistle: _to the editor of "the times."_ munich, _march ._ sir:--in consequence of the numerous reports circulated in various papers regarding myself and family, i beg of you, through the medium of your widely circulated journal, to insert the following: i was born at seville in the year ; my father was a spanish officer in the service of don carlos; my mother, a lady of irish extraction, born at the havannah, and married to an irish gentleman, which, i suppose, is the cause of my being called sometimes irish and sometimes english, and "betsy watson," and "mrs. james," etc. i beg leave to say that my name is maria dolores porres montez, and i have never changed that name. as for my theatrical qualifications, i never had the presumption to think i had any. circumstances obliged me to adopt the stage as a profession, which profession i have now renounced for ever, having become a naturalised bavarian, and intending in future making munich my residence. trusting that you will give this insertion, i have the honour to remain, sir, your obedient servant, lola montez. the assumption that she had ever been known as "betsy watson" was due to the fact that she was said at one period to have lived under this name in dublin, "protected there by an irishman of rank and fortune." with regard to the rest of the letter, this was much the same as the one she had circulated after her london fiasco. it was very far from being well founded. still, she had repeated this story so often that she had probably come to believe in it herself. as _the times_ at that period was not read in munich to any great extent, lola, wanting a larger public, sent a letter to the _allegemeine zeitung_. this, she thought, would secure her a measure of sympathy not accorded her elsewhere: "i object to being made a target for countless malicious attacks--public and private, written and printed--some whispered in secret, and others uttered to the world. i therefore now stigmatise as a wicked liar and perverter of the truth any individual who shall, without proving it, disseminate any report to my detriment." the letter was duly published. the attacks, however, did not end. on the contrary, they redoubled in virulence. all sorts of fresh charges were brought against her. many of them were quite unfounded, and deliberately ignored much that might have been put to her credit. lola had not done nearly as much harm as some of ludwig's lights o' love. her predecessors, however, had made themselves subservient to the jesuits and clericals. when her friends sent protests to the editor, refuge was taken in the stereotyped reply: "pressure on our space does not permit us to continue this correspondence." by those who wished her ill, any stick was good enough with which to beat lola montez. thus, when a dignitary died--no matter what the medical diagnosis--it was announced in the gutter press that he died of "grief, caused by the national shame." the alleged last words of a certain politician were declared to be: "i die because i cannot continue living under the orders of a strumpet who rules our dear bavaria as if she were a princess." ludwig took it calmly. "the real trouble with this poor fellow," he said, "is that he never experienced the revivifying effects of the love of a beautiful woman." a popular prescription. the local doctors, however, were coy about recommending it to their patients. that the munich disturbances had an aftermath is clear from a news item that appeared in the _cologne gazette_ of july, , . lola, wanting a change of air and scene, had gone on a tour, travelling _incognita_ and without any escort. still, as she was to discover, it was impossible for her to move without being recognised: according to letters from bavaria, it is obvious that the animosities excited against lola montez earlier in the year are far from having subsided. on passing through nuremberg, she was received with coldness, but decency. at bamberg, however, it was very different. at the railway station she was hissed and hooted, and, stones being thrown at her carriage, she presented her pistols and threatened to punish her assailants. the upper classes were thoroughly ashamed of such excesses; and the chief magistrate has been instructed to appoint a deputation of the leading citizens to apologise to mademoiselle. in a letter to his brother, dated july , , a university student says: "lola montez was near being assassinated three days ago," but he gives no particulars. hence, it was probably gossip picked up in a beer hall. iii a grievance felt by lola was that she was not accorded recognition among the aristocracy. but there was an obvious remedy. this was to grant her a coronet. after all, historic examples were to hand by the dozen. in modern times the mistress of frederick william iii had been made a duchess. hence, lola felt that she should be at least a countess. "what special services have you rendered bavaria?" bluntly demanded the minister to whom she first advanced the suggestion. "if nothing else, i have given the king many happy days," was lola's response. curiosity was then exhibited as to whether she was sufficiently _hoch-geboren_, or not. the applicant herself had no doubts on the subject. her father, ensign gilbert, she said, had the blood of coeur-de-lion in his veins, and her mother's ancestors were among the council of the inquisition. when the matter was referred to him, ludwig was sympathetic and readily promised his help. but as she was a foreigner, she would, he pointed out, have to start by becoming naturalised as a bavarian subject; and, under the constitution, the necessary indigenate certificate must bear the signature of a cabinet minister. for this purpose, and never thinking that the slightest difficulty would be advanced, he had one drawn up and sent to count otto von steinberg. much to his annoyance and surprise, however, that individual, "suddenly developing conscientious objections," excused himself. thereupon, von abel, as head of the government, was instructed to secure another signature. "do not worry. it will be settled to-morrow," announced ludwig, when lola enquired the reason of the hitch. he was, however, speaking without his book. the ministry, ultramontane to a man, could swallow a good deal, in order to retain their portfolios (and salaries), but this, they felt, was asking too much of them. in unctuous terms, and taking refuge in offended virtue, they declared they would resign, rather than countenance the grant of bavarian nationality for "the foreign woman." neither pressure nor threats would shake them. ludwig could do what he pleased; and they would do what they pleased. the manifesto in which the cabinet's decision was delivered is little short of an historic document: munich. _february , ._ sir: public life has its moments when those entrusted by their sovereign with the proper conduct of public affairs have to make their choice between renouncing the duties to which they are pledged by loyalty and devotion, and, by discharging those duties in conscientious fashion, incurring the displeasure of their beloved sovereign. we, the faithful servants of your majesty, have now found ourselves in this situation owing to the decision to grant bavarian nationality to senora lola montez. as we cannot forget the duties that our oath compels us to observe, we cannot flinch in our resolve.... it is abundantly clear that reverence for the throne is becoming weakened in the minds of your subjects; and little is now heard in all directions but blame and disapproval. national sentiment is wounded, because the country considers itself to be under the dominion of a foreign woman of evil reputation. the obvious facts are such that it is impossible to adopt any other view.... the public journals print the most shocking anecdotes, together with the most degrading attacks on your royal majesty. as a sample of this, we append a copy of no. of the _ulner chronic_. the vigilance of the police is powerless to check the circulation of these journals, and they are read everywhere.... not only is the government being jeopardised, but also the very existence of the crown. hence, the delight of such as wish ill to the throne, and the anguish of such as are loyal to your majesty. the fidelity of the army, too, is threatened. ere long, the forces of the crown will become a prey to profound disaffection; and where could we look for help, should this occur and this last bulwark totter? the hearts of the undersigned loyal and obedient servants are torn with grief. this statement they submit to you is not one of visionaries. it is the melancholy result of observations made by them during the exercise of their functions for several months past. each of the undersigned is ready and willing to surrender everything to his sovereign. they have given you repeated proofs of their fidelity; and it is now nothing less than their sacred duty to direct the attention of your majesty to the dangers confronting him. our humble prayer, to which we beg you to listen, is not governed by any desire to run counter to your royal will. it is put forward solely with a view to ending a condition of affairs which is inimical to the well-being and happiness of a beloved monarch. should, however, your majesty not think fit to grant their petition, we, your ministers, will then have no alternative but to tender the resignation of the portfolios with which you have entrusted them. the signatories to this precious "manifesto" were von abel, von gumpenberg (minister of war), von schrenk, and von seinsheim (councillors of state). much to their hurt astonishment, their resignations were accepted. nor was there any lack of candidates for the vacant portfolios. ludwig, prompted by lola, filled up the gaps at once. georg von maurer (who reciprocated by signing her certificate of naturalisation) was appointed minister of justice and foreign affairs, and freiherr friederich zu rhein was the new minister of public worship and finance. the students, not prepared to let slip a chance of asserting themselves, paraded the streets with a fresh song: _da kam senorra lolala, sturzt abel und consorten; ach war sie doch jetz wieder da, und jagte fort den----_ despite the fact that he was indebted for his appointment to her, maurer attempted to snub lola and refused to speak to her the next time they met. for his pains, he found himself, in december, , dismissed from office. there was, however, joy in the ranks of the clerical party, for, to their horror, he happened to be a protestant. "i have now a new ministry, and there are no more jesuits in bavaria," announced ludwig with much complacence. as was his custom when a national crisis occurred, he was also delivered of a sonnet, commencing: you who have wished to hold me in thrall, tremble! greatly do i esteem the important affair which has ever on divested you of your power! but the fallen ministers had the sympathy of vienna. count senfft, the austrian envoy at munich, gave a banquet in their honour. lola reported this to ludwig, and ludwig gave senfft his _congé_. what had annoyed the wittelsbach lovelace more than anything else about the business was that the memorandum in which von abel and his colleagues had expressed their candid opinion of lola montez found its way into the _augsburger zeitung_ and a number of paris journals. this was regarded by him as a breach of confidence. enquiries revealed the fact that von abel's sister had been surreptitiously shown a copy of the document, and, not prepared to keep such a tit-bit of gossip to herself, had disclosed its contents to a reporter. after this, the fat, so to speak, was in the fire; and nothing that ludwig could do could prevent the affair becoming public property. as a result, it formed the basis of innumerable articles in the press of europe, and the worst possible construction was put on it. the erudite dr. döllinger, between whom and lola montez no love was lost, was much upset by the situation and wrote a long letter on the subject: the existing ministry were fully awake to the encroachments of the notorious lola montez; and in view of the destruction which menaced both the throne and the country, they secretly resolved to address a petition to ludwig i, humbly praying him to dismiss his favourite, and setting forth the grounds on which they based their request. rumours of this business soon got afloat. people began to whisper; and one fine day a sister of one of the ministers, goaded by curiosity, discovered the petition. she imparted the news in the strictest confidence to her most intimate friends; and they, in their turn, secretly read the memorial, with the result that, some time after the important document had been safely restored to its hiding-place, its contents appeared, nobody knew how, in the newspapers. the panic of the ministers was great; the king's displeasure was still greater. he suspected treachery, and considered the publication of such a petition treasonable. remonstrances were of no avail; the ministers were dismissed, and their adherents fled in every direction. i, who had been nominated a member of the chamber by the university, but against my will, had to resign office at the bidding of the king. his majesty was greatly incensed, and meanwhile the excited populace were assembling in crowds before the house of lola montez. döllinger was a difficult man to cross. he had doubts--serious doubts--concerning a number of matters. among them was one of the infallibility of the pope. what was more, he was daring enough to express these doubts. the wrath of the vatican could only be appeased by ex-communicating him from the church. he, however, added to his contumacy by surviving until his ninety-second year. iv appreciating on which side its bread was buttered, the new ministry had no qualms as to the eligibility of lola montez for the honour of a coronet in the bavarian peerage. this having been granted her, the next step was to select a suitable territorial title. ludwig ran an exploring finger down the columns of a gazetteer. there he saw two names, landshut and feldberg, that struck him as suggestive. combined, they made up landsfeld. nothing could be better. "i have it," he said. "countess of landsfeld, i salute you!" thereupon the court archivist was instructed to prepare the necessary document: "we, ludwig, king of bavaria, etc., hereby make public to all concerned that we have resolved to raise maria von porres and montez, of noble spanish descent, to the dignity of countess of landsfeld of this our kingdom. whilst we impart to her the dignity of a countess, with all the rights, honours and prerogatives connected therewith, it is our desire that she have and enjoy the following escutcheon on a german four-quartered shield: in the first field, red, an upright white sword with golden handle; in the second, blue, a golden-crowned lion rampant; the third, blue, a silver dolphin; and in the fourth, white, a pale red rose. this shield shall be surmounted by the coronet of a countess. "be this notified to all the authorities and to our subjects in general, with a view to not only recognising the said maria as countess of landsfeld, but also to supporting her in that dignity; and it is our will that whoever shall act contrary to these provisions shall be summoned by our attorney-general and there and then be condemned to make public and private atonement. "for our confirmation of the above we have affixed our royal name to this document and placed on it the seal of our kingdom. "given at aschaffensberg, this th of august, in the th year after the birth of christ, our lord, and in the nd year of our government." this did not miss the eagle eye of _punch_, in whose columns appeared a caustic reference: "the armorial bearings of the new countess of landsfeld, the ex-_coryphée_ of her majesty's theatre, have been designed, but we think they are hardly so appropriate as they might have been. we have therefore made some slight modifications of the original, which we hope will prove satisfactory." the suggested "modifications" were to substitute a parasol for the sword, a bulldog for the lion, and a pot of rouge for the rose. were such an adjunct of the toilet table then in existence, a lipstick would probably have been added. v with her title and heraldic honours complete, plus a generous allowance on which to support them, and a palace in which to live, lola montez cut a very considerable dash in munich. two sentries marched up and down in front of her gate, and two mounted orderlies (instead of one, as had previously been the case) accompanied her whenever she left the house in the barerstrasse. while by far the most important of them, ludwig was not by any means the only competitor for lola's favours. men of wealth and position--the bearers of high-sounding titles--with politicians and place-hunters, fluttered round her. it is to her credit that she sent them about their business. [illustration: _"command" portrait. in the "gallery of beauties," munich_] "the peculiar relations existing between the king of bavaria and the countess of landsfeld," remarked an apologist, "are not of a coarse or vulgar character. his majesty has a highly developed poetic mind, and thus sees his favourite through his imagination, and regards her with affectionate respect." this found a responsive echo in another quarter, and some sharp raps on the knuckles were administered to the bavarian moralists by a paris journal: "why do you interfere with the amours of your good ludwig? we don't say he should not have observed rather more discretion or have avoided compromising his dignity. still, a monarch, like a simple citizen, is surely free to love where he pleases. in selecting lola montez, the amorous ludwig proves that he loves equality and, as a true democrat, can identify himself with the public. let him espouse his servant girl, if he wants to. personally, we would rather see the bavarians excite themselves about their constitution than about the banishment of a royal favourite. the king of bavaria turns his mistress into a countess; his subjects refuse to recognise her; and a section of the students clamour for her head. happy days of montespan, of pompadour, of dubarry, of potemkin, of orloff, where have you gone?" in the summer of the paris courts were occupied with a long outstanding claim against lola montez. this was to the effect that, when she was appearing at the porte st. martin, she had run up a bill for certain intimate undergarments and had neglected to settle the account. the result was, she received a solicitor's letter in munich. she answered it in the following terms: munich, _september , ._ monsieur bloque, as i have never given any orders to messrs. hamon and company, tailors, rue de helder, they have no claim on me; and i am positively compelled to repudiate the bill for francs which you have the effrontery to demand in the name of this firm. last spring monsieur leigh made me a present of a riding-habit and certain other articles which he ordered for me, and i consider that it is to him you should now address yourself. accept, monsieur, etc., countess de landsfeld. not being prepared to accept this view, the paris firm's next step was to bring an action for the recovery of the alleged debt. once more, lola repudiated liability, this time on the grounds that the creditors had kept back some dress material belonging to herself. the defence to this charge was that, "on being informed by their representative that real ladies could not wear such common stuff, she had said she did not want it back." the court, however, held that the debt had been incurred; and, "as she considered it beneath her dignity to appear, either in person or by counsel," judgment for , francs was given against her. count bernstorff, a not particularly brilliant diplomatist, had an idea (shared, by the way, with a good many others) that frederick william iv, king of prussia, was at one time under lola's spell. he was allowed to think so by reason of a letter that the king had sent him from sans souci in the autumn of : "i am charging you, my dear count, with a commission, the performance of which demands a certain degree of that measure of delicacy which i recognise you to possess. the commission is somewhat beyond the accepted limits of what is purely diplomatic in character.... it is a matter of handing a certain trinket to a certain lady. the trinket is of little value, but, from causes you will be able to appreciate, the lady's favour is of very high value to myself. all depends on the manner in which the gift is presented. this should be sufficiently flattering to increase the value of the offering and to cause its unworthiness to be overlooked. my acquaintance with the lady, and my respect for her, should be adroitly described and made the most of, as must also be my desire to be remembered at her hands. "you will, of course, immediately perceive that i am alluding to donna maria de dolores de los montez, countess of landsfeld." it was not until he turned over the page that the horror-struck bernstorff saw that the king was playing a characteristic jest on him; and he realised that the intended recipient of the gift was his wife, the countess von bernstorff, "as a souvenir of my gratitude for the many agreeable hours passed under your hospitable roof last month." chapter x bursting of the storm i the beauty of lola montez was a lever. as such, it disturbed the equilibrium of the cabinet; for the time being, it even checked the dominion of rome. but the odds were against her. the jesuits were still a power, and would not brook any interference. metternich's wife, the princess mélanie, who had the family _flair_ for politics, marked the course of events. "lola montes," she wrote, "has actually been created countess of landsfeld. she is really a member of the radical party.... rechberg, who has just arrived from brazil, was alarmed on his journey at munich by the events of which this town is the theatre. the shocking conduct of lola montes will finish by plunging the country into revolution." this was looking ahead. still, not very far ahead. the correspondent of a london paper in the bavarian capital did not mince his words. "the indignation," he wrote, "against the king on account of his scandalous conduct, has been roused to the highest pitch.... king ludwig, who possesses many good qualities, is, unfortunately, a very licentious old man.... neither the tears of the queen, nor the entreaties of his sons, nor the public's indignation, could influence the old monarch, who has become the slave of his silly passion and of the caprices of a spanish dancer and parisian lorette." once more, ludwig "dropped into verse," and relieved his feelings about his enemies. this time, however, the verse was blank: you have driven me from my paradise, you have closed it for ever with iron grilles. you have turned my days into bitterness. you would even like to make me hate you because i have loved too much to please your withered spirits. the perfume of my spring-time is dissipated, but my courage still remains. youth, always bounding in my dreams, rests there, embracing my heart with fresh force! you who would like to see me covered with shame, tremble! you have committed sins against me and vomited injuries. your wicked acts have judged you. there has never been anything to equal them! already the clouds disappear; the storm passes; the sky lights up; i bless the dawn. ungrateful worms, creep back to your darkness! there were repercussions across the atlantic, where the role played by lola montez in bavarian circles was arousing considerable interest. american women saw in it a message of encouragement for the aspirations they themselves were cherishing. "the moral indignation which her political opponents exhibited," said a leading jurist, "was unfortunately a mere sham. they had not only tolerated, but had actually patronised, a female who formerly held the equivocal position which the countess of landsfeld recently held, because the former made herself subservient to the then dominant party." but, just as lola had staunch friends in munich, so had she pronounced enemies. conspicuous among them was johann görres, a leading ultramontane who held the position of professor of history at the university. he could not say anything strong enough against the king's mistress, and did all he could to upset her influence with him. as he had a "following," some measure of success attended his efforts. it was on his death, in january , that matters came to a head. the rival factions dividing the various students' corps made his funeral the occasion of a free fight among themselves. the mob joined in, and clamoured for the dismissal of the "andalusian woman." a hothead suggested that she should be driven from the town. the cry was taken up, and a rush set in towards her house in the barerstrasse. as there was an agreeable prospect of loot, half the scum of the city swelled the mob. bricks were hurled through the windows; and, until the police arrived, things began to look ugly. lola, as cool as a cucumber, appeared on the balcony, a glass of champagne in one hand, and a box of chocolates in the other. "i drink to your good healths," she said contemptuously, as she drained her glass and tossed bon-bons among the crowd. not appreciating this gesture, or regarding it as an impertinence, the temper of the rabble grew threatening. they shouted vulgar insults; and there was talk of battering in the doors and setting the house on fire. this might have happened, had not ludwig himself, who never lacked personal courage, plunged into the throng and, offering lola his arm, escorted her to the residenz. the disturbances continued, for tempers had reached fever pitch. troops hastily summoned from the nearest barracks patrolled the streets. a furious crowd assembled in front of the rathaus; the burgomaster, fearing for his position, talked of reading the riot act; a number of arrests were made; and it was not until the next afternoon that the coast was sufficiently clear for lola to return to the barerstrasse, triumphantly escorted by some members of the alemannia. when, however, they left her there, they were set upon by detachments of the palatia corps, who still cherished a grudge against them. lola's own account of these happenings, and written as if by a detached onlooker, is picturesque, if somewhat imaginative: "they came with cannons and guns and swords, with the voices of ten thousand devils, and surrounded her little castle. against the entreaties of her friends, she presented herself before the infuriated mob which demanded her life.... a thousand guns were pointed at her, and a hundred fat and apoplectic voices fiercely demanded that she should cause the repeal of what she had done. in language of great mildness--for it was no time to scold--she answered that it was impossible for her to accede to such a request; and that what had been done by her had been done for the good of the people and the honour of bavaria." after this "demonstration," there was a calm. but not for long. on the evening of february , a rabble assembled in front of the palace, raising cries of: "down with lola montez!" "down with the king's strumpet!" as the protestors consisted largely of students (whom thiersch, the rector, being no disciplinarian, could not keep in check), ludwig's response was drastic. he ordered the university to be shut, and all its members who did not live in munich to leave the town within twenty-four hours. this was a tactical blunder, and was in great measure responsible for the more serious repercussions of the following month. apart, too, from other considerations, the edict hit the pockets of the local tradesmen, since the absence of a couple of thousand hungry and thirsty customers had an adverse effect on the consumption of sauerkraut and beer. as she was still "news" in paris, a gossiping columnist suggested her return there: lola montez laments the notre-dame de lorette district, the joyous little supper-parties at the café anglais, and the theatrical first nights viewed from stage boxes. "ah," she must reflect, as she looks upon her coronet trodden underfoot and hears the sinister murmurs of the munich mob, "how delightful paris would be this evening! what a grand success i would be in the new ballet at the opera or at a ball at the winter garden!" alas, my poor lola, your whip is broken; your prestige is gone; you have lost your talisman. do not battle against the jealous bavarians. come back to paris, instead. if the porte st. martin won't have you, you can always rejoin the corps de ballet at the opera. lola, however, did not accept the invitation. she was virtually a prisoner in her own house, where, the next afternoon, a furious gathering assembled, threatening to wreak vengeance on her. never lacking a high measure of courage, she appeared on the balcony and told them to do their worst. they did it and attempted to effect an entrance by breaking down the door. but for the action of the alemannia, rallying to her help, she might have been severely handled. one of her bodyguard managed to make his way to the nearest barracks and summon assistance. thereupon, the bugles rang out the alarm; the drums beat a warning call. in response, a squadron of cuirassiers clattered up the barerstrasse; sabres rattled; and the rioters fled precipitously. prince wallerstein, who combined the office of minister of public worship with that of treasurer of the royal household, leaping into the breach, harangued the mob; and prince vrede, a strong adherent to the "whiff of grapeshot" remedy for a disturbance, suggested firing on the ringleaders. although the suggestion was not accepted, hundreds of arrests were made before some semblance of order was restored. but the rioting was only checked temporarily. a couple of days later it started afresh. the temper of the troops being upset, captain bauer (a young officer whom lola had patronised) took it upon himself to give them the word to charge. sabres flashed, and there were many broken heads and a good deal of bloodshed. the alemannia, thinking discretion the better part of valour, barricaded themselves in the restaurant of one herr rothmanner, where they fortified themselves with vast quantities of beer. becoming quarrelsome, their leader, count hirschberg, drew his sword and was threatened with arrest by a schutzmannschaft. thereupon, his comrades sent word to lola. she answered the call, and rushed to the house. it was a characteristic, but mad, gesture, for she was promptly recognised and pursued by a furious mob. nobody would give her sanctuary; and the swiss guards on duty there shut the doors of the austrian legation in her face. thereupon, she fled to the theatiner church, where she took refuge. but she did not stop there long; and, for her own safety, a military escort arrived to conduct her to the main guard-room. as soon as the coast was comparatively clear, she was smuggled out by a back entrance and making her way on foot to the barerstrasse, hid in the garden. in the meantime fresh attempts were being made to storm her house. suddenly, a figure, dishevelled and bare-headed, appeared on the threshold and confronted the rioters. "you are behaving like a pack of vulgar blackguards," he exclaimed, "and not like true bavarians at all. i give you my word, the house is empty. leave it in peace." a gallant gesture, and a last act of homage to the building that had sheltered the woman he loved. the mob, recognising the speaker, uncovered instinctively. _heil, unserm könig, heil!_ they shouted. a chorus swelled; the troops presented arms. "it is an orgy of ingratitude," said ludwig, as he watched the rabble dancing with glee before the house. "the jesuits are responsible. if my lola had been called loyala, she could still have stopped here." to dr. stahl, bishop of wurzburg, who had criticised his conduct, he addressed himself more strongly. "should a single hair of one i hold dear to me be injured," he informed that prelate, "i shall exhibit no mercy." palmerston, who stood no nonsense from anybody, wrote a very snappy letter to sir john milbanke, british minister at munich: "pray tell prince wallerstein that, if he wishes the british and bavarian governments to be on good terms, he will abstain from any attempt to interfere with our diplomatic arrangements, as such attempts on his part are as offensive as they will be fruitless." ii as ludwig had said, the barerstrasse nest was empty, for its occupant had managed to slip out of it and reach lindeau. from there, on february , she wrote a long letter to a friend in england, giving a somewhat highly coloured (and not altogether accurate) version of these happenings: in the morning, the nobles, with count a.--v--[arco valley] and a number of officers, were mixed up with the commonest people. the countess p [preysing] i saw myself, with other women--i cannot call them _ladies_--actually at their head. hearing that the entire city--with nobles, officers, and countesses--were making for my residence, i looked upon myself as already out of the land of the living. i had all my windows shuttered, and hid all my jewels; and then, having a clear conscience and a firm trust in god, calmly awaited my fate. the ruffians, egged on by a countess and a baroness, had stones, sticks, axes, and firearms, all to frighten and kill one poor inoffensive woman! they positively clamoured for my blood. i must tell you that all my faithful and devoted servants, with some others of my real friends, were in the house with me. i begged them to leave by the garden, but they said, poor fellows, they would die for me. ... seeing the eminent danger of my friends, and not thinking of myself, i ordered my carriage while the blackguards were endeavouring to break down the gates. my good george, the coachman, helped me to rush through the door and we set off at a furious gallop. many pistol shots were fired at me, but i was in god's care and avoided the bullets. my escape was most miraculous. at a distance of two hours from munich i left my carriage and in bluthenberg sought the protection of a brave honest man, by whom i was given shelter. presently, some officers galloped up and demanded me. my benefactor declared i was not there, and his daughters said my carriage had passed. when they were gone, his good wife helped me to dress as a peasant girl, and i rushed out of the house, across fields, ditches, and forests. being so well disguised, i resolved to return to munich. it was a dreadful spectacle. the palace blockaded; buildings plundered; and anarchy in all directions. seeing nothing but death if i stopped there, i left for lindeau, from whence i am writing to you. ... count arco valley has been distributing money like dirt to all classes, and the priests have stirred up the mob. nobody is safe in munich. the good, noble king has told everyone he will never leave me. of that he is quite determined. the game is not up. i shall, till death, stick to the king; but god knows what will happen next. i forgot to tell you that my enemies have announced in the german papers that the students are my _lovers_! they could not credit them with the loyal devotion they have ever had for the king and myself. marie de landsfeld. writing in his diary on march , , frederick cavendish, a budding diplomatist, whom palmerston had appointed as attaché at vienna, remarks: "there has been the devil of a disturbance in munich; and the king's mistress, lola montez, has been forced to fly for her life. she has been the curse of bavaria, yet the king is still infatuated with her." scarcely diplomatic language. still, not far from the truth. a rigorous press censorship was exercised. the munich papers had to print what they were told, and nothing else. as a result, an inspired article appeared in the _allegemeine zeitung_, of augsburg, declaring that the ultramontanes were responsible for the _émeute_. "herr von abel," in the opinion of a colleague, heinrich von treitsche, "took advantage of the opportunity to espouse a sudden championship of morals, and made _les convenances_ an excuse for resigning what had long been to him a dangerous office." döllinger himself always declared that he became an ultramontane against his will, and that he only joined the ministry at the earnest request of von abel. this was probably true enough, for he was much happier among his books than among the politicians. with his nose decidedly out of joint, he relieved his feelings in a lengthy epistle to his friend, madame rio. years afterwards this letter came into the hands of dom gougaud, o.s.b., who published it in the _irish ecclesiastical record_. among the more important passages were the following: since you left m[unich] the impudence of l[ola] m[ontez] and the infatuation of her admirers have been constantly increasing. our members of parliament, which have been convocated to an extraordinary session on account of a railway loan, did not dare, or did not deem it expedient, to interfere. the only thing that was done, but without producing any effect in high quarters, was that the chamber of deputies unanimously voted a protestation against the deposition of the professors. then came the change of ministers. prince wallerstein, who is a sort of bavarian thiers, selfish and unprincipled, only bent upon maintaining himself in the possession of the _portefeuille_, which is the glorious end that in his estimation sanctifies the means--this man of unscrupulous memory came in again, together with an obscure individual, a mere creature of l[ola] m[ontez], m. berks. [illustration: _king of bavaria. "ludwig the lover"_] ... meanwhile the crisis was brought about by the students of the university. l[ola] m[ontez] had succeeded in seducing a few of these, who, finding themselves immediately shunned and rejected by their fellow-students, formed a separate society or club, calling itself _alemannia_, which from its beginning was publicly understood to be distinguished by the king's special favour and protection. in the course of two or three months they rose to the number of nineteen or twenty, easily recognised by the red caps and ribbons they wore. for l[ola] m[ontez] they formed a sort of male harem, and the particulars which have since transpired, and which, of course, i must not pollute your ears with, leave no doubt that she is a second messalina. the indignation of the students, who felt all this as a degradation of the university and an affront cast upon their character, was general. the _alemanni_ were treated as outcasts, whose very presence was pollution. ... l[ola] m[ontez] had already been heard threatening that if the students continued to show themselves hostile to her favourites she would have the university closed. at last, on the th february, a royal mandate came forth, declaring the university to be suspended for the entire year. next morning it was evident that a decisive crisis was coming on; the students paraded in procession through the streets, when, suddenly, the _gendarmerie_, commanded by one of l. m.'s favourites, made an attack upon them and wounded two of them. this, of course, served only to kindle the flames of general indignation. the citizens threatened to appear in arms, and the people made preparations for storming the house of l[ola] m[ontez]. towards o'clock in the morning of the th, the appalling intelligence was communicated to the k[ing] that l. m.'s life was in imminent danger. meanwhile several members of the royal family had tried to make an impression on the k.'s mind. when his own tools, who, up to that moment, had been pushing him on, told him that l.'s life was in jeopardy, and that the regiments refused to fight, he began to yield. but even then his behaviour left no doubt that the personal safety of l[ola] m[ontez] was his paramount motive. he himself ran to her house, which the mob had begun to pluck down; regardless of all royal dignity, he exposed his person to all the humiliation which the intercourse with an infuriated mob might subject him to.... certainly, that day was the most disgraceful royalty has yet had in bavaria. ... you will find it natural that the first announcement of l.m.'s forced departure begot universal exultation. in the streets one met only smiling countenances; new hopes were kindled. people wished, and therefore believed, that the k[ing] having at last become aware of the true state of the nation's mind, had made a noble sacrifice. a few days were sufficient to undeceive them. the k.'s mind was in a sort of fearful excitement, alternating between fits of depression and thoughts of vengeance.... it is impossible to foresee what things will lead to, and where the persecution is to stop. the opinion gains credit that his intention is to bring l[ola] m[ontez] back. evidently he is acting, not only from a thirst for vengeance, but also under the fatal influence of an irresistible and sinister passion for that woman. a few days later, ludwig, to test public opinion, went to the opera. "i have lost my taste for spectacles," he said to his companion, "but i wish to see if i am still king in the hearts of the people i have served." he was not long in doubt, for the moment he entered his box the audience stood up and cheered him vigorously. this was enough; and, without waiting for the curtain to rise, he returned to the palace. "after all, my subjects still trust me," he said. "i was sure of them." iii there was another display of loyalty elsewhere. the munich garrison, under ludwig's second son, prince luitpold, took a fresh oath _en masse_, swearing fidelity to the new constitution. it was, however, a little late in the day. things had gone too far; and lola, who had merely gone a few leagues from the capital, had not gone far enough. that was the trouble. she was still able to pull strings, and to make her influence felt in various directions. nor would she show the white feather or succumb to the threats of rowdies. it was from lindeau that, disguised as a boy (then a somewhat more difficult job than now), lola, greatly daring, ventured back to the arms of ludwig. but she only stopped with him a couple of hours, for she had been followed, and was still being hunted by the rabble of the town. before, however, resuming her journey, she endeavoured to get into touch with her faithful _alemannia_. "i beg you," she wrote to the proprietor of the café they frequented, "to tell me where herr peissner has gone." the landlord, fearing reprisals, withheld the knowledge. if he had given it, he would probably have had his premises wrecked. safety first! in this juncture, ludwig, acting like a mental deficient, announced that there was only one adequate explanation for lola's conduct. this was that she was "possessed of an evil spirit" which had to be exorcised before things should get worse. lending a ready ear to every quack in bavaria, he sent her under escort to weinsberg, to the clinic of a dr. justinus kerner, who had established himself there as a mesmerist. "you are to drive the devil out of her," were the instructions given him. fearing that his spells and incantations might, after all, not prove effective, and thus convict him for a charlatan, the man of science felt uneasy. still, an order was an order, especially when it came from a king, and he promised to do his best. on the day that his patient arrived, he wrote to his married daughter, emma niendorf. a free translation of this letter, which is given in full by dr. von tim klein (in his _der vorkamfdeutscher einheit und freiheit_), would read: yesterday there arrived here lola montez; and, until further instructions come from munich, i am detaining her in my tower, where guard is being kept by three of the _alemannia_. that the king should have selected me of all people to send her to is most annoying. but he was assured that she was possessed of a devil, and that the devil in her could be driven out by me at weinsberg. still, the case is one of interest. as a preliminary to my magneto-magic treatment, i am beginning by subjecting her to a fasting-cure. this means that every day all she is to have is a quarter of a wafer and thirteen drops of raspberry juice. "_sage es aber niemanden! verbrenne diesen brief!_" ("but don't tell anybody about it; burn this letter") was the exorcist's final injunction. to live up to his reputation for wonder-working, the mystic had an Æolian harp in each of the windows of his house, so arranged that ariel-like voices would float through the summer breezes. "it is magic," said the peasants, crossing themselves devoutly when they heard the sound. but the harp-obligato proved no more effective than the reduced dieting and early attempt to popularise slimming. after a couple of days, accordingly, the regime was varied by the substitution of asses' milk for the raspberry juice. much to his annoyance, however, the specialist had to report to another correspondent, sophie schwab, that his patient was not deriving any real benefit, and that the troublesome "devil" had not been dislodged. as was to be expected, lola, having a healthy appetite and objecting to short rations, gave the mesmerist the slip and hurried back to her ludwig. after a few words with him, she left for stahrenberg. ludwig sat down and wrote another "poem." appropriately enough, this was entitled "lamentation." chapter xi a fallen star i even with lola montez out of the way and the university doors re-opened, it was not a case of all quiet on the munich front. far from it. berks, the new minister of the interior, who had always supported her, still remained in office; and lola herself continued from a distance to pull strings. some of them were effective. but lola montez, or no lola montez, there was in the eyes of his exasperated subjects more than enough to make them thoroughly dissatisfied with the wittelsbach regime, as carried out by ludwig. the cabinet had become very nearly inarticulate; public funds had been squandered on all sorts of grandiose and unnecessary schemes; and the clerical element had long been allowed to ride roughshod over the constitution. altogether, the "ministry of dawn," brought into existence with such a flourish of trumpets after the dismissal of von abel and his colleagues, had not proved the anticipated success. instead of getting better, things had got worse; and, although it had not actually been suggested, the idea of substituting the monarchy by a republic was being discussed in many quarters. the editor of the _annual register_, abandoning his customary attitude of an impartial historian, dealt out a sharp rap on the knuckles to the royal troubadour: "the discreditable conduct of the doting old king of bavaria, in his open _liaison_ with a wandering actress who had assumed the name of lola montez (but who was in reality the eloped wife of an englishman, and whom he had created a bavarian countess by the title of gräfin de landsfeld), had thoroughly alienated the hearts of his subjects." as the result of a solemn conclave at the rathaus, an ultimatum was delivered by the cabinet; and ludwig was informed, without any beating about the bush, that unless he wanted to plunge the country into revolution, lola montez must leave the kingdom. ludwig yielded; and forgetful of, or else deliberately ignoring, the fact that he had once written a passionate threnody, in which he declared: "and though thou be forsaken by all the world, yet, never wilt thou be abandoned by me!" he could find it in his heart to issue a decree expelling her from his realms. to this end, on march , he signed two separate orders in council. "we, ludwig, by the grace of god, king of bavaria, etc., think it necessary to give notice that the countess of landsfeld has ceased to possess the rights of naturalisation." "since the countess of landsfeld does not give up her design of disturbing the peace of the capital and country, all the judicial authorities of the kingdom are hereby ordered to arrest the said countess wherever she may be discovered. they are to carry her to the nearest fortress, where she is to be kept in custody." events moved rapidly. a few days later lola was arrested by prince wallerstein (whom she herself had put into power when his stock had fallen) and deported, as an "undesirable alien," to switzerland. woman-like, she had the last word. "i am leaving bavaria," she said, "but, before very long, your king will also leave." everybody had something to say about the business. most people had a lot to say. the wires hummed; and the foreign correspondents in munich filled columns with long accounts of the recent disturbances in munich and their origin. no two accounts were similar. "the people insisted," says edward cayley, in his _european revolutions of_ , "on the dismissal of the king's mistress. she was sent away, but, trusting to the king's dotage, she came back, police or no police.... this was a climax to which the people were unprepared to submit, not that they were any more virtuous than their sovereign." another publicist, edward maurice, puts it a little differently: "in bavaria the power exercised by lola montez over ludwig had long been distasteful to the sterner reformers." this was true enough; but the müncheners disliked the jesuits still more, asserting that it was with them that lola shared the conscience of the king. the liberals were ready for action, and welcomed the opportunity of asserting themselves. as soon as lola was really out of the country, her barerstrasse mansion was searched from attic to cellar by the munich police. since, in order to justify the search, they had to discover something compromising, they announced that they had discovered "proofs" that lord palmerston and mazzini were in active correspondence with the king's ex-mistress; and that the go-between for the british foreign office was a jew called loeb. this individual was an artist who had been employed to decorate the house. seized with pangs of remorse, he is said to have gone to ludwig and confessed having intercepted lola's correspondence with mazzini and engineered the rioting. he further declared that large sums of money had been sent her from abroad. historians, however, have no knowledge of this; nor was the nature of the "proofs" ever revealed. lola's villa in the barerstrasse afterwards became the new home of the british legation. it was demolished in ; and not even a wall plaque now marks her one-time occupancy. as for the residenz palace where she dallied with ludwig, this building is now a museum, and as such echoes to the tramp of tourists and the snapping of cameras. _sic transit_, etc. ii when lola, hunted from pillar to post, eventually left munich for switzerland, it was in the company of auguste papon, who, on the grounds of "moral turpitude," had already been given his marching-orders. he described himself as a "courier." his passport, however, bore the less exalted description of "cook." it was probably the more correct one. the faithful fritz peissner, anxious to be of service to the woman he loved, and for whom he had already risked his life, joined her at constance, together with two other members of the _alemannia_, count hirschberg and lieutenant nussbaum. but they only stopped a few days. anxious to get into touch with them, lola wrote to the landlord at their last address: _ march, ._ sir, in case the students of the alemannia society have left your hotel, i beg you to inform my servant, the bearer of this letter, where monsieur peissner, for whom he has a parcel to deliver, has gone. receive in advance my distinguished sentiments. countess of landsfeld. lola's first halt in switzerland (a country she described as "that little republic which, like a majestic eagle, lies in the midst of the vultures and cormorants of europe") was at geneva. an error of judgment, for the austere citizens of calvin's town, setting a somewhat lofty standard among visitors, were impervious to her blandishments. "they were," she complained, "as chilly as their own icicles." at berne, however, to which she went next, she had better luck. this was because she met there an impressionable young chargé d'affaires attached to the british legation, whom she found "somewhat younger than ludwig, but more than twice as silly." an _entente_ was soon established. "sometimes riding, and sometimes driving she would appear in public, accompanied by her youthful adorer." the official was robert peel, a son of the distinguished statesman, and was afterwards to become third baronet. in a curious little work, typical of the period, _the black book of the british aristocracy_, there is an acid allusion to the matter: "this bright youth has just taken under his protection the notorious lola montez, and was lately to be observed walking with her, in true diplomatic style, in the streets of a swiss town." it was about this period that it occurred to a theatrical manager in london, looking for a novelty, that there was material for a stirring drama written round the career of lola montez. no sooner said than done; and a hack dramatist, who was kept on the premises, was commissioned to set to work. locked up in his garret with a bottle of brandy, at the end of a week he delivered the script. this being approved by the management, it was put into rehearsal, and the hoardings plastered with bills: +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | theatre royal, haymarket | | | | (under the patronage of her gracious majesty the queen, | | his royal highness prince albert, and the Élite of rank and | | fashion.) on wednesday, april , , will be produced a | | new and original and apropos sketch entitled: | | | | "lola montez, or the countess for an hour." | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ "an hour." this was about as long as it lasted, for the reception by the critics was distinctly chilly. "we cannot," announced one of them, "applaud the motives that governed the production of a farce introducing a mock sovereign and his mistress. in our opinion the piece is extremely objectionable." the lord chamberlain apparently shared this view, for he had the play withdrawn after the second performance. "_es gibt kein zurück_" ("there is to be no coming back") had been ludwig's last words to her. but lola did not take the injunction seriously. according to a letter in the _deutsche zeitung_, she was back in munich within a week, travelling under the "protection" of baron möller, a russian diplomatist. entering the palace surreptitiously, she extracted a cheque for , florins from ludwig. as it was drawn on rothschild's bank at frankfort, she hurried off there, and returned to switzerland the same evening, "with a bagful of notes." to convince his readers that he was well behind the scenes, papon gives a letter which he asserts was written by ludwig to a correspondent some months later: i wish to know from you if my dear countess would like her annuity assured by having it paid into a private bank, or if she would rather i deposited a million francs with the bank of england.... i am already being blamed for giving her too much. as the revolutionaries seize upon any pretext to assert themselves, it is important to avoid directing attention to her just now. still, i want my dearly loved countess to be satisfied. i repeat that the whole world cannot part me from her. while he was with her in switzerland, papon strung together a pamphlet: _lola montez, mémoires accompagnés de lettres intimes de s.m. le roi de bavière et de lola montez, ornés des portraits, sur originaux donnés par eux à l'auteur_, purporting to be written by their subject. "i owe my readers," he makes her say smugly, "the exact truth. they must judge between my enemies and myself." but, in his character of a peeping tom, very little truth was expended by papon. thus, he declares that, during her sojourn in the land of the mountains and william tell, she had a series of _affaires_ with a "baron," a "muscular artisan," and an "intrepid sailor." he also has a story to the effect that "two pure-blooded english ladies, the bearers of illustrious names," called on her uninvited; and that this circumstance annoyed her so much that she made her pet monkey attack them. but auguste papon cannot be considered a very reliable authority. a decidedly odd fish, he claimed to be an ex-officer and also dubbed himself a marquis. for all his pretensions, however, he was merely a _chevalier d'industrie_, living on his wits; and, masquerading as a priest, he was afterwards convicted of swindling and sent to prison. iii a doughty, but anonymous, champion jumped into the breach and issued a counterblast to papon's effort in the shape of a second pamphlet, headed "a reply." but this was not any more remarkable for its accuracy than the original. thus, it declares, "she [lola] lived with the king of bavaria, a man of eighty-seven. the nature of that intimacy can best be surmised by reading the second and third verses of the first book of kings, chapter i. it is evident to any reflecting mind that it was a sort of king david arrangement." as for the rest of the pamphlet, it was chiefly taken up with an elaborate argument that, all said and done, its subject was no worse than other ladies, and much better than many of them. among extracts from this well intentioned effort, the following are the more important: a certain marquis auguste papon, a quondam panderer to the natural desires and affections which are common to the whole human race, published and circulated throughout europe a volume which stamps his own infamy (as we shall have occasion to show in the course of this reply) in far more ineffaceable characters than that of those whom, in his vindictiveness, he gloatingly sought to destroy. but, before we proceed to dissect his book, it may be permitted us to ask the impartial reader what there is so very remarkable in the conduct of the king of bavaria and lola montez as to distinguish them unfavourably from the monarchs and women celebrated for their talent, originality, and beauty who have gone before. where are henry iv of france, henry v, louis xiv, and louis xv, with their respective mistresses? who of their people ever presumed to interfere on the score of morality with the favours and honours conferred on those distinguished women? nay, to come down to a later period, has the marquis auguste papon ever heard of the loves of louis xviii and madame de cuyla, and that after the monarch's restoration in ? is he ignorant of those of napoleon himself and mademoiselle georges? have not almost all the royal family of england--even those of the house of hanover--been notorious for their connection with celebrated women? has he never heard of mrs. walkinshaw, ostensible mistress of charles edward the pretender, of lucy barlow, mistress of charles ii, mother of the duke of monmouth? of arabella churchill and katherine sedley, mistresses of james ii? of the countess of kendal, mistress of george ii, who was received everywhere in english society? or of george iv and the marchioness of c----? of the duke of york and mary anne clark? of the duke of clarence and the amiable and respected mrs. j----? and last, not least, of the present king of hanover and late duke of cumberland, who labours even unto this hour under suspicion of having murdered his valet sellis, to conceal his adultery with his wife? in what differs the king of bavaria from these? [illustration: _lola montez in caricature. "lola on the allemannen hound"_] but even to descend lower into the social scale of those who have occupied the attention of the world without incurring its marked and impertinent censure, has the marquis auguste papon ever heard of the beautiful miss foote, who, first the favourite of the celebrated colonel berkeley (a natural brother of the duke of devonshire) and secondly of a personal friend of the writer of this reply--the celebrated pea green hayne--became finally the charming and amiable countess of harrington, one of the sweetest women that ever were placed at the head of the stanhope family or graced a peerage? who, that ever once enjoyed the pleasure of knowing this fairest flower in the parterre of england's aristocracy of beauty, would, in a spirit of revenge and disappointed avarice, have had the grossness to insult _her_ as the marquis of papon--the depository of all her secrets--has insulted the countess of landsfeld with the loathsome name of "courtesan," because, yielding to the confidence of her woman's heart, she had been the adored of two previous lovers? never did lord petersham, afterwards the earl of harrington, take a more sensible course than when he elevated in a holy and irreproachable love--a love that strangled scandal in its bloated fullness--the fascinating maria foote to the position she was made to adorn, being twin sister in beauty as well as in law to the charming miss green, whose ripe red lips and long dark-lashed blue and laughing eyes were, before her marriage with colonel stanhope, the admiration and subject of homage of all london. should her eye ever rest on this page, she will perceive that we have not forgotten its power and expression. to descend still lower in the scale of social life, has the marquis auguste papon ever heard of the celebrated madame vestris, now mrs. mathews? is he ignorant that her theatre--the olympic--was ever a resort of the most fashionable and aristocratic people of london? did her moral life in any way detract from her popularity as a woman of talent and of beauty, and an artiste of exceeding fascination and merit? and yet she had more lovers than the marquis auguste papon can, with all his ingenuity, raise up in evidence against the remarkable woman he, in his not very creditable spirit of vengeance, has sworn to destroy. let us enumerate those we know to have been the lovers of madame vestris, who, after having passed her youth in all the variety of enjoyment, at length became the wife of a man, not without talent himself, and whose father stood first among the names celebrated in the comic art. first was a personal friend of the writer of this reply to the unmanly attack of the marquis auguste papon. and we have reason to remember it, for the connection of henry cole with the most fascinating woman of her day led to a duel in hyde park, of which that lady was the immediate cause, between the writer and a british officer who was so ungallant as to seek to check the enthusiasm created by her scarcely paralleled acting. to him succeeded sir john anstruther, and after sir john the celebrated horace claggett. in what order their successors came we do not recollect, but of those who knew madame vestris in all the intimacy of the most tender friendship were handsome jack, captain best, lord edward thynne, and lord castlereagh. these things were no secrets to the thousands who, fascinated by her beauty and the perfection of her acting, nevertheless thronged the theatre she was admitted to have conducted with the most amiable propriety and skill. on the contrary, they were as much matters of general knowledge among people of the first rank and fashion as the sun at noon-day. and yet what gentleman ever presumed to affix to the name of this gifted woman, whose very disregard of the opinion of those who hypocritically and _sub rosa_ pursued in nearly ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the same course--what gentleman, we ask, ever dared to commit himself so far as to term her a "courtesan"? there was a good deal more of it, for the "reply" ran to seventy-six pages. the title-page of this counterblast ran: lola montez or a reply to the "private history and memoirs" of that celebrated lady recently published by the marquis papon formerly secretary to the king of bavaria and for a period the professed friend and attendant of the countess of landsfeld _stet nomnis umbra_--junius new york iv bavaria was the key position in the sphere of european politics just then. ludwig, however, had dallied with the situation too long. nothing that he could do now would save him. unrest was in the air. all over europe the tide of democracy was rising, and fast threatening to engulf the entrenched positions of the autocrats. metternich, reading the portents, was planning to leave a mob-ridden vienna for the more tranquil atmosphere of brighton; louis philippe, setting him an example, had already fled from paris; and prince william of prussia, shaving off his moustache (and travelling on a false passport), was hurrying to england while the going was still good. with these examples to guide them, the bavarians, tired of soft promises and smooth words, were clamouring for a fresh hand at the helm. realising that the choice lay between this and a republic, ludwig bowed to the inevitable; and, with crocodile tears and hypocritical protestations of good faith, surrendered his sceptre. to give the decision full effect, he issued a proclamation: "bavarians! a new condition has arisen. this differs substantially from the one under which i have governed you for twenty-three years. accordingly, i lay down my sceptre in favour of my beloved son, prince maximilian. i have always governed you with full regard for your welfare. had i been a mere clerk, i could not have worked more strenuously; had i been a minister of finance, i could not have devoted more attention to the requirements of my country. i thank god that i can look the whole world fearlessly in the face and there confront the most scrutinising eye. although i now relinquish my crown, i can assure you that my heart still beats as warmly as ever for bavaria. "munich, _march , _." ludwig's signature to this mixture of rigmarole and bombast was followed by those of his sons, the princes maximilian luitpold, adalbert, and carl. as for maximilian, the new sovereign, he, rather than risk being thrown out of the saddle, was prepared to make a clean sweep of a number of existing grievances. as an earnest of his intentions, he promised, in the course of a frothy oration, to grant an amnesty to political prisoners, liberty of the press, the abolition of certain taxes, the institution of trial by jury, and a long delayed reform of the franchise. with the idea, no doubt, of filling the vacancy in his affections caused by the abrupt departure of lola montez, fräulein schroder, a young actress at the hof theatre, endeavoured to comfort ludwig in his retirement. he, however, was beyond forming any fresh contacts. "my happiness is gone from me," he murmured sadly. "i cannot stop in a capital to which i have long given a father's loving care." firm in this resolve, he left munich for the riviera and took a villa among the olives and oranges of nice. there he turned over a fresh leaf. but he did not stop writing poetry. nor did he stop writing to the woman who was still in his thoughts. one ardent epistle that followed her into exile ran in this fashion: oh, my lolita! a ray of sunshine at the break of day! a stream of light in an obscured sky! hope ever causes chords long forgotten to resound, and existence becomes once again pleasant as of yore. such were the feelings which animated me during that night of happiness when, thanks to you alone, everything was sheer joy. thy spirit lifted up mine out of sadness; never did an intoxication equal the one i then felt! thou hast lost thy gaiety; persecution has stripped you of it; and has robbed you of your health. the happiness of your life is already disturbed. but now, and more solidly than ever, are you attached to me. nobody will ever be able to separate us. you have suffered because you love me. when accounts of what was happening in bavaria reached england a well pickled rod was applied to lola's back: "the sanguinary and destructive conduct of the munich mob," began a furious leading article, "was caused by the supposed return of bavaria's famous strumpet, lola montez. this heroine was once familiar to the eyes of all paris, and notorious as a courtesan. when she was invested with a title, the bavarians shuddered at their degradation. it was nothing less than an outrage on the part of royalty, never to be forgotten or forgiven." the columns of _maga_ also wielded the rod in vigorous fashion: "the late king, one of the most accomplished of dilettanti, worst of poets, and silliest of men, had latterly put the coping-stone to a life of folly by engaging in a most bare-faced intrigue with the notorious lola montez. the indecency and infatuation of this last _liaison_--far more openly conducted than any of his former numerous amours--had given intense umbrage to the nobility whom he had insulted by elevating the ci-devant opera-dancer to their ranks." yet, with all his faults heavy upon him, ludwig, none the less, had his points. thus, in addition to converting munich from a second-rate town to a really important capital, he did much to encourage the development of art and letters and science and education throughout his kingdom. ignaz döllinger, the theologian, joseph görres, the historian, jean paul richter, the poet, franz schwanthaler, the sculptor, and wilhelm thirsch, the philosopher, with richard wagner and a host of others basked in his patronage. when he died, twenty years later, these facts were remembered and his little slips forgotten. the müncheners gave him burial in the basilica; and an equestrian statue, bearing the inscription, "just and persevering," was set up in the odeon-platz. it is the fashion among certain historians to charge lola montez with responsibility for the revolution in bavaria. but this charge is not justified. the fact is, the kingdom was ripe for revolution; and the equilibrium of the government was so unstable that ludwig would have lost his crown, whether she was in the country or not. it is just as well to remember this. v after a few months among them, lola, tiring of the swiss cantons, thought she might as well discover if england, which she had not visited for six years, could offer any fresh attractions. accordingly, resolved to make the experiment, on december , , she arrived in london. the _satirist_, hearing the news, suggested that the managers of drury lane and covent garden should engage her as a "draw." but she did not stop in england very long, as she returned to the continent almost at once. in the following spring, she made a second journey to london, and sailed from rotterdam. unknown to her, the passenger list was to have included another fallen star. this was metternich, who, with the riff-raff of vienna thundering at the doors of his palace, was preparing to seek sanctuary in england. thinking, however, that the times were not altogether propitious, he decided to postpone the expedition. "if," he wrote, "the chartist troubles had not prevented me embarking yesterday at rotterdam, i should have reached london this morning in the company of the countess of landsfeld. she sailed by the steamer in which i was to have travelled. i thank heaven for having preserved me from such contact!" all things considered, it is perhaps just as well that the two refugees did not cross the channel together. had they done so, it is probable that one of them would have found a watery grave. metternich had worsted napoleon, but he found himself worsted by lola montez. on april , he wrote from the hague: "i have put off my departure for england, because i wished to know first what was happening in that country as a result of the chartists' disturbance. i consider that, for me who must have absolute rest, it would have been ridiculous to have arrived in the middle of the agitation." louis napoleon, however, was made of sterner stuff; and it is to his credit that, as a return for the hospitality extended him, he was sworn in as a special constable. chapter xii a "left-handed" marriage i on arriving in london, and (thanks to the bounty of ludwig) being well provided with funds, lola took a house in half moon street, piccadilly. there she established something of a _salon_, where she gave a series of evening receptions. they were not, perhaps, up to the old barerstrasse standard; still, they brought together a number of the less important "lions," all of whom were only too pleased to accept invitations. among the hangers-on was frederick leveson-gower, a son of earl granville. he had met the great rachel in paris and was ecstatic about her. "not long after," he says, "i got to know another much less gifted individual, but who having captivated a king, upset two ministries, and brought about a revolution in bavaria, was entitled to be looked upon as celebrated. this was lola montez." in his character of what is still oddly dubbed a "man-about-town," serjeant ballantine was also among those who attended these half moon street gatherings. "his hostess," he says, "had certain claims to celebrity. she was, i believe, of spanish origin, and certainly possessed that country's style of beauty, with much dash of manner and an extremely _outré_ fashion of dress." another occasional visitor was george augustus sala, a mid-victorian journalist who was responsible for printing more slipshod inaccuracies than any two members of his craft put together. he says that he once contemplated writing lola's memoirs. he did not, however, get beyond "contemplating." this, perhaps, was just as well, since he was so ill-equipped for the task that he imagined she was a sister of adah isaacs menken. "about this time," he says, "i made the acquaintance, at a little cigar shop under the pillars in norreys street, regent street, of an extremely handsome lady, originally the wife of a solicitor, but who had been known in london and paris as a ballet-dancer under the name of lola montez. when i knew her, she had just escaped from munich, where she had been too notorious as countess of landsfeld. she had obtained for a time complete mastery over old king ludwig of bavaria; and something like a revolution had been necessary to induce her to quit the bavarian capital." a ridiculous story spread that lord brougham (who had witnessed her ill-starred début in ) wanted to marry her. the fact that there was already a lady brougham in existence did not curb the tongues of the gossipers. "she refused the honourable lord," says a french journalist, "in a manner that redounded to her credit." journalists, anxious for "copy," haunted half moon street all day long. they were never off her doorstep. "town gossip," declared one of them, "is in full swing; and the general public are all agog to catch a glimpse of the latest 'lioness.' lola montez is on every lip and in everybody's eye. she is causing an even bigger sensation than that inspired by the swedish nightingale, madame jenny lind." notwithstanding the ill-success of a former attempt to exploit her personality behind the footlights, mrs. keeley produced a sketch at the haymarket written "round" lola montez. this, slung together by stirling coyne, was called: _pas de fascination_. the scene was laid in "neverask-_where_"; and among the characters were "prince dunbrownski," "count muffenuff," and "general von bolte." it scarcely sounds rib-rending. mrs. charles kean, who attended the first performance, described _pas de fascination_ as "the most daring play i ever witnessed." lola montez herself took it in good part. she sat in a box, "and, when the curtain fell, threw a magnificent bouquet at the principal actress." coals of fire. not to be behindhand in offering tit-bits of "news," an american correspondent informed his readers that: "during the early part of , lola montez, arrayed in the royal bavarian jewels, crashed into one of the court balls at buckingham palace. needless to remark," he added, "the audacity has not been repeated." from this, it would appear that the lord chamberlain had been aroused from his temporary slumbers. the _satirist_ had assured his readers "the public will soon be hearing more of madame montez." they did. what they heard was something quite unexpected. this was that she had made a second experiment in matrimony, and that her choice had fallen on a mr. george heald, a callow lad of twenty, for whom a commission as cornet in the life guards had been purchased by his family. ii the precise reasons actuating lola in adopting this step were not divulged. several, however, suggested themselves. perhaps she was attracted by the cornet's glittering cuirass and plumed helmet; perhaps by his substantial income; and perhaps she tired of being a homeless wanderer, and felt that here at last was a prospect of settling down and experimenting with domesticity. when the announcement appeared in print there was much fluttering among the mayfair dovecotes. as the bridegroom had an income of approximately £ , a year, the débutantes--chagrined to discover that such an "eligible" had been snatched from their grasp--felt inclined to call an indignation meeting. "preposterous," they said, "that such a woman should have snapped him up! something ought to be done about it." but, for the moment, nothing was "done about it," and the knot was tied on july . lola saw that the knot should be a double one; and the ceremony took place, first, at the french catholic chapel in king street, and afterwards at st. george's, hanover square. [illustration: _berrymead priory, acton, where lola montez lived with cornet heald_] a press representative, happening to be among the congregation, rushed off to grub street. there he was rewarded with a welcome five shillings by his editor, who, in high glee at securing such a piece of news before any other journal, had a characteristic paragraph on the subject: lola montez, countess of landsfeld, the ex-danseuse and ex-favourite of the imbecile old king of bavaria, is, we are able to inform our readers, at last married legitimately. _on dit_ that her young husband, mr. george trafford heald, has been dragged into the match somewhat hurriedly. it will be curious to mark the progress of the countess in this novel position. a sudden change from a career of furious excitement to one in which prudence and a regard for the rules of good society are the very opposite to those observed by loose foreigners must prove a trial to her. whipping commissaries of police, and setting ferocious dogs at inoffensive civilians, may do very well for munich. in england, however, we are scarcely prepared for these activities, even if they be deemed the privilege of a countess. disraeli, who had a hearty appetite for all the tit-bits of gossip discussed in mayfair drawing-rooms, heard of the match and mentioned it in a letter to his sister, sarah: _july, ._ the lola montez marriage makes a sensation. i believe he [heald] has only £ , per annum, not £ , . it was an affair of a few days. she sent to ask the refusal of his dog, which she understood was for sale--of course it wasn't, being very beautiful. but he sent it as a present. she rejoined; he called; and they were married in a week. he is only twenty-one, and wished to be distinguished. their dinner invitations are already out, i am told. she quite convinced him previously that she was not mrs. james; and, as for the king of bavaria, who, by the by, allows her £ a year, and to whom she writes every day--that was only a _malheureuse_ passion. apropos of this union, a popular riddle went the round of the clubs: "why does a certain young officer of the life guards resemble a much mended pair of shoes?" the answer was, "because he has been heeled [heald] and soled [sold]." the honeymoon was spent at berrymead priory, a house that the bridegroom owned at acton. this was a substantial gothic building, with several acres of well timbered ground and gardens. some distance, perhaps, from the cornet's barracks. still, one imagines he did not take his military duties very seriously; and leave of absence "on urgent private affairs" was, no doubt, granted in liberal fashion. also, he possessed a phæton, in which, with a spanking chestnut between the shafts, the miles would soon be covered. the priory had a history stretching back to the far off days of henry iii, when it belonged to the chapter of st. paul's cathedral. henry vii, in high-handed fashion, presented it to the earl of bedford; and a subsequent occupant was the notorious elizabeth chudleigh, the bigamous spouse of the duke of kingston. another light lady, nancy dawson, is also said to have lived there as its châtelaine, under the "protection" of the duke of newcastle. at the beginning of the last century the property was acquired by a colonel clutton. he was followed by edward bulwer, afterwards lord lytton, who lived there on and off (chiefly off) with his wife, until their separation in . on one occasion he gave a dinner-party, among the guests being john forster, "to meet miss landon, fontblanque, and hayward." to the invitation was added the warning, "we dine at half-past five, to allow time for return, and regret much having no spare beds as yet." a spare bed, however, was available for lord beaconsfield, when he dined there in the following year. on the departure of bulwer, the house had a succession of tenants; and for a short period it even sheltered a bevy of nuns of the sacred heart. it was when they left that the estate was purchased by mr. george heald, a barrister with a flourishing practice. he left it to his booby son, the cornet: and it was thus that lola montez established her connection with berrymead priory. while the original house still stands, the garden in which it stood has gone; and the building itself now serves as the premises of the acton constitutional club. but the committee have been careful to preserve some evidence of cornet heald's occupancy. thus, his crest and family motto, _nemo sibi nascitur_, are let into the mosaic flooring of the hall, and the drawing-room ceiling is embellished with his initials picked out in gold. iii prejudice, perhaps, but unions between the sons of mars and the daughters of terpsichore were in those days frowned upon by the military big-wigs at the horse guards. hence, it was not long before an inspired note on the subject of this one appeared in the _standard_: we learn from undoubted authority that, immediately on the marriage of lieutenant heald with the countess of landsfeld, the marquess of londonderry, colonel of the nd life guards, took the most decisive steps to recommend to her majesty that this officer's resignation of his commission should be insisted on; and that he should at once leave the regiment, which this unfortunate and extraordinary act might possibly prejudice. her majesty, having consulted the prince consort and the duke of wellington, shared this view. instead, however, of being summarily "gazetted out," the love-sick young warrior was permitted to "send in his papers." thinking that he had acted precipitately in resigning, cornet heald (egged on, doubtless, by lola) endeavoured to get his resignation cancelled. the authorities, however, were adamant. "much curiosity," says a journalistic comment, "has been aroused among the household troops by the efforts of this officer to regain his commission after having voluntarily relinquished it. notwithstanding his youth and the fact that he had given way to a sudden impulse, lord londonderry was positively inflexible. yet the influence and eloquence of a certain ex-chancellor, well known to the bride, was brought to bear on him." the "certain ex-chancellor" was none other than lord brougham. much criticism followed in other circles. everybody had an opinion to advance. most of them were far from complimentary, and there were allusions by the dozen to "licentious soldiery" and "gilded popinjays." the rigid editor of _the black book of the british aristocracy_ was particularly indignant. "the army," he declared, in a fierce outburst, "is the especial favourite of the aristocratic section. any brainless young puppy with a commission is free to lounge away his time in dandyism and embryo moustaches at the public expense." the _satirist_, living up to its name, also had its customary sting: of course, the gallant colonel of the household troops could not do less. that distinguished corps is immaculate; and no breath of wind must come between it and its propriety. there is but one black sheep in the nd life guards, and that, in the eyes of the coal black colonel (him of the collieries), is the soft, enchanted, and enchained mr. heald. poor heald! indignant londonderry! how subservient, in truth, must be the lean subaltern to his fat colonel. a sunday organ followed suit. "what," it demanded, "may be the precise article of the military code against which mr. heald is thought to have offended? one could scarcely have supposed that officers in her majesty's service were living under such a despotism that they should be compelled to solicit permission to get married, or their colonel's approbation of their choice." in addition to thus disapproving of marriages between his officers and ladies of the stage, lord londonderry (a veteran of fifty-five years' service) disapproved with equal vigour of tobacco. "what," he once wrote to lord combermere, "are the gold sticks to do with that sink of smoking, the horse guards' guard and mess-rooms? whenever i have visited them, i have found them _worse_ than any pot-house, and this actually opposite the adjutant-general's and under his grace's very nose!" the example set by cornet heald seems to have been catching. "another young officer of this regiment," announced the _globe_, "has just run off with a frail lady belonging to the theatre and actually married her at brighton." he, too, was required to "send in his papers." besides losing his commission, cornet heald had, in his marriage, all unwittingly laid up a peck of fresh trouble for himself. this was brought to a head by the action of his spinster aunt, miss susannah heald, who, until he came of age, had been his guardian. suspecting lola of a "past," she set herself to pry into it. gathering that her nephew's inamorata had already been married, she employed enquiry agents to look into this previous union and discover just how and when it had been dissolved. they did their work well, and reported that the divorce decree of seven years earlier had not been made absolute, and that lola's first husband, captain james, was still alive. armed with this knowledge, miss heald hurried off to the authorities, and, having "laid an information," had lola montez arrested for bigamy. the case was heard at marlborough street police court, with mr. bingham sitting as magistrate. mr. clarkson conducted the prosecution, and mr. bodkin appeared for the defence. "the proceedings of a london police court," declared _john bull_, "have seldom presented a case more fruitful of matter for public gossip than was exhibited in the investigation at marlborough street, where the mediated wife of a british officer (and one invested with the distinction of royal favouritism) answered a charge of imputed bigamy.... it will readily be inferred that we allude to that extraordinary personage known as lola montez, _alias_ the countess of landsfeld." lola had, as the theatrical world would put it, dressed for the part. she had probably rehearsed it, too. she wore, we learn, "a black silk costume, under a velvet jacket, and a plain white straw bonnet trimmed with blue ribbons." as became a countess, she was not required to sit in the dock, but was given a chair in front of it. "there," said a reporter, "she appeared quite unembarrassed, and smiled frequently as she made a remark to her husband. she was described on the charge sheet as being twenty-four years of age, but in our opinion she has the look of a woman of at least thirty." "in figure," added a second occupant of the press box, "madam is rather plump, and of middle height, with pale complexion, unusually large blue eyes and long black lashes. her reputed husband, mr. heald, is a tall young man of boyish aspect, fair hair and small brown moustachios and whiskers. during the whole of the proceedings he sat with the countess's hand clasped in his, occasionally giving it a fervent squeeze, and murmuring fondly in her ear." all being ready, mr. clarkson opened the case for the prosecution. "the offence imputed to the lady at the bar," he said, "is that, well knowing her husband, captain thomas james, was still alive, she contracted another marriage with this young gentleman, mr. george trafford heald. if this be established, serious consequences must follow, as i shall prove that the ecclesiastical court merely granted a decree _a mensa et thoro_." he then put in a copy of this document, and pointed out that, by its provisions, neither party was free to re-marry during the lifetime of the other. counsel also submitted an extract from the register of the hanover square church, showing that, on july , the defendant had, under the name of "maria torres de landsfeld," gone through a ceremony of marriage with cornet heald. police-sergeant gray, who had executed the warrant, described the arrest. "when i told her she must come along with me, the lady up and said: 'this is all rubbish. i was properly divorced from captain james by act of parliament. lord brougham was present when the divorce was granted. i don't know if captain james is still alive or not, and i don't care a little bit. i was married to him in the wrong name, and that made the whole thing illegal.'" "did she say anything else?" enquired the magistrate. "yes, your worship," returned the sergeant, consulting his note-book. "she said: 'what on earth will the royal family say when they hear of this? there's bound to be the devil of a fuss.'" "laughter in court!" chronicled the pressmen. "and what did you say to that?" enquired mr. bingham. "i said that anything she said would be taken down by myself and used in evidence against her," was the glib response. the execution of the warrant would appear to have been carried out in dramatic fashion. having evidently got wind of what was awaiting her, lola and the cornet had packed their luggage and arranged to leave england. just as they were stepping into their carriage, miss susannah heald and her solicitor, accompanied by a couple of police officers, drove up in a cab to half moon street. when the latter announced that they had a warrant for her arrest, there was something of a scene. "the countess," declared an imaginative reporter (who must have been hovering on the doorstep), "exhibited all the appearance of excessive passion. she used very strong language, pushed the elderly miss heald aside, and bustled her husband in vigorous fashion. however, she soon cooled down, and, on being escorted to vine street police station, where the charge of bigamy was booked, she graciously apologised for any trouble she had given the representatives of the law. she then begged permission to light a cigar, and suggested that the constables on duty there should join her in a social whiff." miss susannah heald, described as "an aged lady," deposed that she was cornet heald's aunt, and that she had been appointed his guardian during his minority, which had only just expired. she was bringing the action, she insisted, "from a sense of duty." another witness was captain charles ingram, a mariner in the service of the east india company. he identified the accused as the mrs. james who had sailed in a ship under his command from calcutta to london in the year . while an official return, prepared by the military authorities, showed captain james to have been alive on june , there was none to show that he was still in the land of the living on july , the date of the alleged bigamous marriage. the prosecution affected to consider this point unimportant. the magistrate, however (on whom lola's bright eyes had done their work), did not agree. "the point," he said, "is, to my mind, very important. during the interval that elapsed between these two dates many things may have happened which would render this second marriage quite legal. it is possible, for instance, that captain james may have been snatched from this world to another one by any of those numerous casualties--such as wounds in action or cholera--that are apt to befall members of the military profession serving in a tropical climate. what do you say to that, mr. clarkson?" mr. clarkson had nothing to say. mr. bodkin, however, when it came to his turn, had a good deal to say. the charge against his client was, he declared, "in all his professional experience, absolutely unparalleled." neither the first nor the second husband, he pointed out, had advanced any complaint; and the offence, if any, had been committed under circumstances that fully justified it. he did not wish to hint at improper motives on the part of miss heald, but it was clear, he protested, that her attitude was governed by private, and not by public, ends. none the less, he concluded, "i am willing to admit that enough has been put before the court to justify further enquiry." such an admission was a slip which even the very rawest of counsel should have avoided. it forced the hand of the magistrate. "i am asked," he said, "to act on a presumption of guilt. as proof of guilt is wanting, i am reluctant to act on such presumption, even to the extent of granting a remand, unless the prosecution can assure me that more evidence will be offered at another hearing. since, however, the defendant's own advocate has voluntarily admitted that there is ground for further enquiry, i am compelled to order a remand. but the accused will be released from custody on providing two sureties of £ each, and herself in one of £ ." the adjourned proceedings began a week later, and were heard by another magistrate, mr. hardwick. this time, however, there was no defendant, for, on her name being called by the usher, mr. bodkin pulled a long face and announced that his client had left england. "i cannot," he said, "offer any reason for her absence." still, he had a suggestion. "it is possible," he said, "that she has gone abroad for the benefit of her health." the question of estreating the recognizances then arose. while not prepared to abandon them altogether, counsel for the prosecution was sufficiently generous to say that so far as he was concerned no objection would be offered to extending them. when, after two more adjournments, the defendant still failed to surrender to her bail, the magistrate and counsel for the prosecution altered their tone. "your worship," said mr. clarkson, "it has come to my knowledge that the person whose real name is mrs. james, and who is charged with the felonious crime of bigamy, is now some hundreds of miles beyond your jurisdiction, and does not mean to appear. accordingly, on behalf of the highly respectable miss heald, i now ask that the recognizances be forfeited. my client has been actuated all through by none but the purest motives, her one object being to remove the only son of a beloved brother from a marriage that was as illegal as it was disgraceful. if we secure evidence from india that captain james is still alive, we shall then adopt the necessary steps to remove this deluded lad from the fangs of this scheming woman." "let the recognizances be estreated," was the magisterial comment. "sensation!" scribbled the reporters. serjeant ballantine, who liked to have a hand in all _causes célèbres_, declares that he was consulted by lola's solicitors, with a view to undertaking her defence. if so, he would seem to have read his instructions very casually, since he adds: "i forget whether the prosecution was ultimately dropped, or whether she left england before any result was arrived at. my impression is that the charge could not have been substantiated." ignoring the fact that the case was still _sub judice_, the _observer_ offered its readers some severe comments: "the helen of the age is most assuredly lola montez, _alias_ betsy james, _alias_ the gräfin von lansfelt, _alias_ mrs. heald. as far as can be gathered from her dark history, her first public act was alleged adultery, as her last is alleged bigamy.... the evidence produced before the consistory court is of the most clear and convincing nature, and proves that the character of this lady (whose fame has become so disgustingly notorious) has been from an early date that of a mere wanton, alike unmindful of the sacred ties of matrimony and utterly careless of the opinion of the world upon morality or religion." [illustration: _lola montez in london. aged thirty_ (_engraved by auguste hüssner_)] by the way, during the police court proceedings, fresh light on the subject of lola's parentage was furnished by an odd entry in an irish paper: "lola montez, countess of landsfeld, is the daughter of a cork lady. her mother was at one time employed as a member of a millinery establishment in this city; and was married here to lieutenant gilbert, an officer in the army. soon after the marriage, he sailed with his wife and child to join his regiment in india. at the end of last year, lola's mother, who is now in delicate health, visited her sister in cork." iv thanks to the bright eyes of lola (or perhaps to the musical jingle of the cornet's cash bags), a very loose watch was kept on the pair. hence the reason why the countess of landsfeld (as she still insisted on being called) had not kept her second appointment at marlborough street was because, together with the dashing ex-life guardsman, she had left england early that morning. travelling as mr. and mrs. heald, the pair went, first, to paris, and then to italy. a british tourist who happened to be in naples wrote to _the times_, giving an account of a glimpse he had of them. according to him, the couple, "a youthful bridegroom and a fair lady," accompanied by a courier, a _femme de chambre_, and a carriage, took rooms at the hotel vittoria. after one night there, they left the next morning, hiring a special steamer, at a cost of £ , to take them to marseilles. the hurried departure was said to be due to a lawyer's letters that was waiting for the bridegroom at his banker's. "i am told," adds the correspondent, "that mr. and mrs. heald were bound on an excursion to the pyramids; and that, when the little business for which the lady is wanted at home has been settled, they mean to prosecute their intention. pray, sir, help mrs. heald out of her present affliction. is this the first time that a lady has had two husbands? and is she not bound for the east, where every man has four wives?" the booby cornet, with his ideas limited to fox-hunting and a study of _ruff's guide_, was no mate for a brilliant woman like lola. hence disagreements soon manifested themselves. a specially serious one would seem to have arisen at barcelona, for, says a letter from a mutual acquaintance, "the countess and her husband had a warm discussion, which ended in an attempt by her to stab him. mr. heald, objecting to such a display of conjugal affection, promptly quitted the town." further particulars were supplied by another correspondent: "i saw mr. heald," says this authority. "he is a tall, thin young man, with a fair complexion, and often uses rouge to hide his pallor. many pity him for what has happened. others, however, pity the lovely lola. before he left this district, mr. heald called on the english consul. 'i have come,' he said,'to ask your advice. some of my friends here suggest that i should leave my wife. what ought i to do about it? if i stop with her, i am afraid of being assassinated or poisoned.' he then exhibited a garment covered with blood. the consul replied: 'i am positively astonished that, after the attack of which you speak, you did not complain to the police, and that you have since lived with your wife on terms of intimacy. if you want to abandon her, you must do as you think best. i cannot advise you.'" h.b.m. consul, however, did stretch a point, since he (perhaps fearing further bloodshed) offered to _viser_ the applicant's passport for any other country. thereupon, mr. heald betook himself to mataro. but, becoming conscience-smitten, he promptly sat down and wrote an apologetic letter to the lady he left behind him, begging her forgiveness. "if you should ever have reason to complain of me again," he said, "this letter will always act as a talisman." apparently it had the effect, for lola returned to her penitent spouse. the barcelona correspondent of _l'assemblée nationale_ managed to interview the cornet. "he says," announced this authority, "that others persuaded him to depart, against his real wishes. on rejoining him, mrs. heald was most indignant. her eyes positively flashed fire; and, if she should chance to encounter the men who took her husband from her, i quite tremble to think what will happen!" something obviously did happen, for, according to de mirecourt, "during their sojourn in sunny spain, the admirable english husband made his wife the gratified mother of two beautiful offspring." parenthood, however, would appear to have had an odd effect upon this couple, for, continues de mirecourt: "_mais, en dépit de ces gages d'amour, leur bonheur est troublé par des querelles intestines._" it was from spain that, having adjusted their differences temporarily, the couple went back to paris. as a peace offering, a rising young artist, claudius jacquand, was commissioned to paint both their portraits on a single canvas. during, however, another domestic rupture, heald demanded that lola's features should be painted out. "i want nothing," he said, "to remind me of that woman." unfortunately, lola had just made a similar demand where the cornet was concerned. jacquand was a man of talent, but he could not do impossibilities. thereupon, lola, breathing fire and fury, took the canvas away and hung it with its back to the front in her bedroom. "to allow my husband to watch me always would," she said, "be indelicate!" there is a theory that, within the next twelve months, the ill-assorted union was dissolved by heald getting upset in a rowing-boat and drowned in lisbon harbour. the theory, however, is a little difficult to reconcile with the fact that, on the close of the great exhibition at the end of , he attended an auction of the effects, where he bought a parquet floor and had it laid down in his drawing-room at berrymead priory. after this he had a number of structural alterations added; fitted the windows with some stained glass, bearing his crest and initials; and, finally, did not give up the lease until . pretty good work, this, for a man said to have met with a watery grave six years earlier. as a matter of strict fact, cornet heald was not drowned, either at lisbon or anywhere else. he died in his bed at folkestone, in . the medical certificate attributed the cause of death to consumption. in the _gentleman's magazine_, however, the diagnosis was different, viz., "broken heart." all things pass. in the executors of the dashing cornet sold the berrymead property for £ , to be repurchased soon afterwards for £ , by a land-development company. the house now serves as the premises of the priory constitutional club, acton. a certain amount of evidence of cornet heald's one-time occupancy still exists. thus his crest and motto, _nemo sibi nascitur_, are let into the mosaic flooring of the hall, and the drawing-room ceiling is embellished with his initials picked out in gold. chapter xiii odyssey i notwithstanding the tie of alleged parenthood, domestic relations between them did not improve, and the couple soon parted. the knowledge that she was still "wanted" there kept lola out of england. instead, she went to paris, where such unpleasantnesses as warrants could not touch her. there she was given a warm welcome, by old friends and new. during this visit to paris an unaccustomed set-back was experienced. she received it from Émile de girardin, of whom she endeavoured to make a conquest. but this "wild-eyed, pale-faced man of letters," as she called him, would have none of her. perhaps he remembered what had befallen dujarier. as was to be expected, the coming among them of lola montez attracted the attention of the _courrierists_, who earned many welcome francs by filling columns with details of her career. what they did not know about it they invented. they knew very little. thus, one such article (appropriately signed "fantasio") read as follows: "madame lola montez, who is now happily returned to us, is the legitimate spouse of sir thomas james, an officer of the english army. milord sir james loved to drink and the beautiful lola loved to flirt. a wealthy prince of kabul was willing to possess her for her weight in gold and gems. up till now, her principal love affairs have been with don enriquez, a spaniard, brûle-tout, a well-developed french mariner, and john, a phlegmatic englishman. one day sir james bet that he could drink three bottles of brandy in twenty minutes. while he was thus occupied, the amorous lola made love to three separate gallants." "it will doubtless," added a second, "be gratifying to her pride to queen it again in paris, where she was once hissed off the stage. there she will at any rate now be received at the bavarian embassy, and exhibit the order of maria theresa. she was invested with this to the considerable scandal of the munich nobility, who cannot swallow the idea of such a distinction being bestowed on a dancer." this sort of thing and a great deal more in a similar strain, was accepted as gospel by its readers. but for those who wished her ill, any lie was acceptable. thus, although there was not a scrap of evidence to connect her with the incident, a paragraph, headed "lola again?" was published in the london papers: yesterday afternoon an extraordinary scene was witnessed by the promenaders in the champs elysées. two fashionably attired ladies, driving in an elegant equipage, were heard to be employing language that was anything but refined. from words to blows, for suddenly they began to assault one another with vigorous smacks. the toilettes and faces of the fair contestants were soon damaged; and, loud cries of distress being uttered, the carriage was stopped, and, attracted by the fracas, some gentlemen hurried to render assistance. as a result of their interference, one of the damsels was expelled from the vehicle, and the other ordered the coachman to drive her to her hotel. this second lady is familiar to the public by reason of her adventures in bavaria. albert vandam, a singularly objectionable type of journalist, who professed to be on intimate terms with everybody in paris worth knowing, has a number of offensive and unjustifiable allusions to lola montez at this period of her career. he talks of her "consummate impudence," of her "pot-house wit," and of her "grammatical errors," and dubs her, among other things, "this almost illiterate schemer." "lola montez," says the egregious vandam, "could not make friends." he was wrong. this was just what she could do. she made many staunch and warm-hearted friends. it was because she snubbed him on account of his pushfulness that vandam elected to belittle her. lola montez chose her friends for their disposition, not for their virtue. one of them was george sand, "the possessor of the largest mind and the smallest foot in paris." she also became intimate with alphonsine plessis, and constantly visited the future "lady of the camelias" in her _appartement_ on the boulevard de la madeleine. another _habitué_ there at this period was lola's old dresden flame, the abbé liszt, who, not confining his attentions to the romanticists, had no compunction about poaching on the preserves of dumas _fils_, or, for that matter, of anybody else. as for the fair, but frail, alphonsine, she said quite candidly that she was "perfectly willing to become his mistress, if he wanted it, but was not prepared to share the position." as liszt had other ideas on the subject, the suggestion came to nothing. some years afterwards, one of his pupils, an american young woman, amy fay, took his measure in a book, _music-study in germany_: "liszt," she wrote, "is the most interesting and striking-looking man imaginable. tall and slight, with deep-set eyes, shaggy eyebrows and long iron-grey hair which he wears parted in the middle. his mouth turns up at the corners, which gives him a most crafty and mephistophelean expression when he smiles, and his whole appearance and manner have a sort of jesuitical elegance and ease." before she set out on this journey, lola wrote to an acquaintance: "what makes men and women distinguished is their individuality; and it is for that i will conquer or die!" of this quality, she had enough and to spare. her paris life was hectic; or, as the boulevardiers put it, _elle faisait la bombe_. among the tit-bits of gossip served up by a reporter was the following: "lola is constantly giving tea-parties in her paris flat. a gentleman who is frequently bidden to them tells us that her masculine guests are restricted to such as have left their wives, and that the feminine guests consist of ladies who have left their husbands." an englishman whom she met at this time was savile morton, a friend of thackeray and tennyson. one night when she was giving a supper-party, a fellow-guest, roger de beauvoir, happened to read to the company some verses he had written. the hostess, on the grounds of their alleged "coarseness," complained to morton that she had been insulted. as a result, morton, being head over ears in love with her, sent de beauvoir a challenge. lola, however, having had enough of duels, took care that nothing should come of it; and insisted that an apology should be given and accepted. at one time she was optimistic enough to take a villa at beaujon on a fifteen years' lease, and had it refurnished in sumptuous fashion on credit. the first two instalments of the rent were met. when, however, the landlord called to collect the third one, he was put off with the excuse that: "mr. heald was away and had forgotten to send the money, but would be back in a week." this story might have been accepted, had not the landlord discovered that his tenant was planning to leave surreptitiously and that some of the furniture had already been removed. as a result, a body of indignant tradesmen, accompanied by the maire of the district, in tricoloured sash and wand of office complete, betook themselves to the villa and demanded a settlement of accounts for goods delivered. this time they were told that the money had arrived, but that the key of the box in which it had been deposited for safety was lost. assuring them that she would fetch a locksmith, lola slipped out of the house, and, stepping into a waiting cab, drove off to a new address near the Étoile. this was the last that the creditors saw of her. in january, , lola, setting an example that has since then become much more common among theatrical ladies, compiled her "memoirs." when the editor of _le pays_ undertook to publish them in his columns, a rival editor, jealous of the "scoop," referred to their author as "madame james, once madame heald, formerly mlle lola montez, and for nearly a quarter of an hour the countess of landsfeld." the work was dedicated to her old patron, king ludwig, with a florid _avant-propos_: sire: in publishing my memoirs, my purpose is to reveal to a world still engulfed in a vulgar materialism your majesty's lofty thoughts about art, poetry, and philosophy. the inspiration of this book, sire, is due to yourself, and to those other remarkable men whom fortune--always the protector of my younger years--has given me as councillors and friends. lola must have written with more candour than tact. at any rate, after the first three chapters had appeared, the editor of _le pays_, on the grounds that they would "shock his purer readers," refused to continue the series. "we positively decline," he announced, "to sully our columns further." ii authorship having thus proved a failure, lola, swallowing her disappointment, directed her thoughts to her old love, the ballet. to this end, she placed herself in the hands of a m. roux; and, a number of engagements having been secured by him, she began a provincial tour at bordeaux. by the time it was completed the star and her manager were on such bad terms that, when they got back to paris, the latter was dismissed. thereupon, he hurried off to a notary, and brought an action against his employer, claiming heavy damages. according to maître desmaret, his client, m. roux, had been engaged in the capacity of _pilote intermédiare_ during a prospective tour in europe and america. for his services he was to have per cent of the box-office receipts. on this understanding he had accompanied his principal to a number of towns. he then returned to paris; and while he was negotiating there for the defendant's appearance at the vaudeville, he suddenly discovered that she was planning to go to america without him. as a result, he was now claiming damages for breach of contract. these he laid at the modest figure of , francs. m. blot-lequesne, on behalf of lola montez, had a somewhat different story to tell. the plaintiff himself, he declared, wanted to get out of the contract and had deliberately disregarded its terms. his client, he said, had authorised him to accept an engagement for her to dance six times a week; but, in his anxiety to make additional profit for himself, he had compelled her to dance six times a day. apart from this, he had "signally failed to respect her dignity as a woman, and had invented ridiculous stories about her career." he had even done worse, for, "without her knowledge or sanction, he had compiled and distributed among the audiences where she appeared an utterly preposterous biography of his employer." this, among other matters, asserted that she had "lived and danced for eleven years in china and persia; and that she had been befriended by the dusky king of nepaul, as well as by numerous rajahs." the concluding passage from this effort was read to the judge: "ten substantial volumes would be filled with the chronicle of the eccentricities of mlle lola montez, and much of them would still be left unsaid. in the year a great english lord married her in london. unfortunately, they found themselves not in sympathy, and in she returned to the dreams of her spring-time. the countess has now completed one half of her projected tour. in november she leaves france for america and--well--god only knows what will happen then!" [illustration: _a "belle of the boulevards." lola montez in paris_] "as long," said counsel, "as the amiable mlle montez was treated by m. roux like a wild animal exhibited at a country fair, she merely shrugged her shoulders in disgust. when, however, she saw how this abominable pamphlet lifted the curtain from her private life, it was another thing altogether. she expressed womanly indignation, and made a spirited response." "what was that?" enquired the judge, with interest. "she said: 'it is lucky for you, sir, that my husband is not here to protect me. if he were, he would certainly pull your nose!'" as was inevitable, this expression of opinion shattered the _entente_, and the manager returned to paris by himself. hearing nothing from him, lola montez thought that she was at liberty to make her own plans, and had accordingly arranged the american tour without his help. on november , , continued counsel, lola montez arrived in paris, telling m. roux that she would leave for america on november , but that she would fulfil any engagement he secured during the interval. just before she was ready to start he said he had got her one, but he would not tell her where it was or produce any written contract. accepting this version as the correct one, the court pronounced judgment in favour of lola montez. iii m. roux having thus been dismissed with a flea in his ear, lola, on the advice of peter goodrich, the american consul in paris, next engaged richard storrs willis (a brother of n. p. willis, the american poet) to look after her business affairs, and left europe for america. as the good ship _humbolt_, by which she was sailing, warped into harbour at new york, a salute of twenty-one guns thundered from the battery. lola, mightily pleased, took this expenditure of ammunition as a tribute to herself. when, however, she discovered that it was really to herald the coming of louis kossuth, who also happened to be on board, she registered annoyance and retired to her cabin, to nurse her wrath. a magyar patriot to be more honoured than an english ex-favourite of a king! what next? "a gentleman travelling with her informed our representative," said the _new york herald_, "that madame had declared kossuth to be a great humbug. the countess was a prodigious favourite among the masculine passengers during the voyage, and continually kept them in roars of laughter." but, if disappointed in one respect, lola derived a measure of compensation from the fact that the bevy of reporters who met the vessel found her much more interesting than the stranger from hungary. "madame lola montez," remarked one of them, who had gone off with a bulging note-book, crammed with enough "copy" to fill a column, "says that a number of shocking falsehoods about her have been published in our journals. yet she insists she is not the woman she is credited (or discredited) with being. if she were, her admirers, she thinks, would be still more plentiful than they are. she expresses herself as fearful that she will not have proper consideration in new york; but she trusts that the great american public will suspend judgment until they have made her acquaintance." "the countess of landsfeld, who is now among us," adds a second scribe, "owes more to the brilliancy of intellect with which heaven has gifted her than to her world-wide celebrity as an artiste. her person and bearing are unmistakably aristocratic. if we may credit the stories which from time to time have reached us, she can, if necessary, use her riding-whip in vigorous fashion about the ears of any offending biped or quadruped. in america she is somewhat out of her latitude. paris should be her real home." for the present, however, lola decided to stop where she was. while she was in america on this tour, barnum wanted to be her impresario, and promised "special terms." despite, however, the lure of "having her path garlanded with flowers and her carriage drawn by human hands from hotel to theatre," the offer was not accepted. the new york début of lola montez was made on december , , in a ballet: _betly, the tyrolean_. public excitement ran high, for appetites had been whetted by the sensational accounts of her "past" with which the papers were filled. "scandal does not necessarily create a great dancer," declared one rigid critic; and a second had a long column, headed: "montez _v._ respectability," in which he observed (thoughtfully supplying a translation): "_parturiunt_ montez, _nascitur ridiculus mus_." all the same, the box-office reported record business. as a result, prices were doubled, and the seats put up to auction. if she had her enemies in the press, lola also had her champions there. just before she arrived, one of them, a new york paper, took up the cudgels on her behalf in vigorous fashion: the most funny proceeding that is going on in this town is the terrible to-do that is being made about lola montez. if this state of things continues we will guarantee a continuance of the fun after lola makes her advent among us, for if she doesn't properly horse-whip those squeamish gentlemen we are much mistaken in her character. now we want to call the attention of our fair-minded readers to a few other matters that are sure to occur. here are the various papers pouring out a torrent of abuse on lola. what will it all amount to? in a few weeks she will land. in a few weeks a popular theatre will be occupied by her, and tens of thousands will throng that theatre. the manager will reap a fortune, and so will lola montez; and those short-sighted conductors of the press will be begging for tickets and quarrelling among themselves as to who can say the most extravagant things in her favour. public curiosity will be gratified at any price; and if lola montez is a capital dancer she will soon dance down all opposition. with what grace can the public talk about virtue in a public actress, when they have followed in the wake of an elssler? if the private character of a public actress is to be the criterion by which to judge of her professional merit, then half the theatres would be compelled to shut their doors. we are as independently correct as any other paper that exists. we don't care a straw whether we go on with or without the other newspapers. we will do justice and say what is true, regardless of popularity. we detest hypocrisy; and we have no disposition to make a mountain out of a molehill, or to see a mote in the eye of lola montez, and not discover a beam in the eye of fanny elssler, or of any of the other great dancers or actresses. "what is lola montez?" enquire the public. a good dancer, says the manager of a theatre. she is also notorious. the public will crowd the theatre to see her and to judge whether she is not also a good actress; and if they get their money's worth, they are satisfied. they do not pay to judge of the former history of lola montez.... a few squeamish people cannot prevent lola montez from creating a sensation here, or from crowding from pit to dome any house where she may appear; and, as they will be the first to endorse her success, they would be more consistent were they to let her alone until she secures it. none the less, there was competition to meet. a great deal of competition, for counter-attractions were being offered in all directions. thus, "professor" anderson was conjuring rabbits out of borrowed top hats; thackeray was lecturing on "the english humourists"; macready was bellowing and posturing in shakespeare; general tom thumb was exhibiting his lack of inches; and mrs. bloomer was advancing the cause of "trousers for women!" still, lola more than held her own as a "draw." in january the bill was changed to _diana and the nymphs_. the fact that some of the "nymphs" supporting the star adopted a costume a little suggestive of modern nudism appears to have upset a feminine critic. "when," was her considered opinion, "a certain piece first presented a partly unclothed woman to the gaze of a crowded auditory, she was met with a gasp of astonishment at the effrontery which dared so much. men actually grew pale at the boldness of the thing; young girls hung their heads; a death-like silence fell over the house. but it passed; and, in view of the fact that these women were french ballet-dancers, they were tolerated." to show that she was properly qualified to express her views on such a delicate matter, this censor added: "belonging, root and branch, to a theatrical family, i have not on that account been deemed unworthy to break bread at an imperial table, nor to grasp the hand of friendship extended to me by an english lordly divine." by the way, on this subject of feminine attire (or the lack of it) a rigid standard was also applicable to the audience's side of the curtain, and any departure from it met with reprisals. this is made clear by a shocked paragraph chronicling one such happening at another theatre: "during the evening of our visit there transpired an occurrence to which we naturally have some delicacy in alluding. since, however, it indicates a censorship in a quarter where refinement is perhaps least to be expected, it should not be suffered by us to pass unnoticed. in the stalls, which were occupied by a number of ladies and gentlemen in full evening costume, and of established social position, there was to be observed a woman whose remarkable lowness of corsage attracted much criticism. indeed, it obviously scandalised the audience, among the feminine portion of which a painful sensation was abundantly perceptible. at last, their indignation found tangible expression; and a voice from the pit was heard to utter in measured accents a stern injunction that could apply to but one individual. blushing with embarrassment, the offender drew her shawl across her uncovered shoulders. a few minutes later, she rose and left the house, amid well merited hisses from the gallery, and significant silence from the outraged occupants of the stalls and boxes." decorum was one thing; _décolletage_ was another. in the considered opinion of the two did not blend. a certain dr. judd, who, in the intervals of his medical practice, was managing a christy minstrels entertainment at this period, has some recollections of lola montez. "many a long chat," he says, "i had with her in our little bandbox of a ticket-office. thackeray's _vanity fair_ was being read in america just then, and lola expressed to me great anger that the novelist should have put her into it as becky sharp. 'if he had only told the truth about me,' she said, 'i should not have cared, but he derived his inspiration from my enemies in england.'" this item appears to have been unaccountably missed by thackeray's other historians. iv lola's tastes were distinctly "bohemian," and led her, while in new york, to be a constant visitor at pfaff's underground _delicatessen_ café, then a favourite haunt of the literary and artistic worlds of the metropolis. there she mingled with such accepted celebrities as walt whitman, w. dean howells, commodore vanderbilt, and that other flashing figure, adah isaacs menken. she probably found in pfaff's a certain resemblance to the munich beer-halls with which she had been familiar. a bit of the fatherland, as it were, carried across the broad atlantic. german solids and german liquids; talk and laughter and jests among the company of actors and actresses and artists and journalists gathered night after night at the tables; everybody in a good temper and high spirits. walt whitman, inspired, doubtless, by beer, once described the place in characteristic rugged verse: the vaults at pfaff's, where the drinkers and laughers meet to eat and drink and carouse, while on the walk immediately overhead pass the myriad feet of broadway. there was a good deal more of it, for, when he had been furnished with plenty of liquid refreshment, the muse of walt ran to length. from new york lola set out on a tour to philadelphia, st. louis, and boston. while in this last town, she "paid a visit of ceremony" to one of the public schools. although the children there "expressed surprise and delight at the honour accorded them," the _boston transcript_ shook its editorial head; and "referred to the visit in a fashion that aroused the just indignation of the lady and her friends." the cudgels were promptly taken up on her behalf by a new york journalist: "lola montez," he declared, "owes less of her strange fascination and world-wide celebrity to her powers as an _artiste_ than to the extraordinary mind and brilliancy of intellect with which heaven has thought fit to endow her. at one moment ruling a kingdom, through an imbecile monarch; and the next, the wife of a dashing young english lord.... her person and bearing are unmistakably aristocratic. in her recent visit to one of our public schools she surprised and delighted the scholars by addressing them in the latin language with remarkable facility." it would be of interest to learn the name of the "dashing young english lord." this, however, was probably a brevet rank conferred by the pressman on cornet heald. on april , , lola montez appeared at the albany museum in selections from her repertoire. on this occasion she brought with her a "troupe of twelve dancing girls." as an additional lure, the bills described these damsels as "all of them unmarried, and most of them under sixteen." but the attraction which proved the biggest success in her repertoire was a drama called _lola in bavaria_. this was said to be written by "a young literary gentleman of new england, the son of a somewhat celebrated poetess." the heroine, who was never off the stage for more than five minutes, was depicted in turns as a dancer, a politician, a countess, a revolutionary, and a fugitive; and among the other characters were ludwig i, eugéne sue, dujarier, and cornet heald, while the setting offered "a correct representation of the lola montez palace at munich." it seemed good value. at any rate, the public thought it was, and full houses were secured. but the critics restrained their raptures. "i sympathise," was the acid comment of one of them, "with the actresses who were forced to take part in such stuff"; and joseph daly described the heroine as "deserting a royal admirer to court the sovereign public." the author of this balderdash was one c. p. t. ware, "a poor little hack playwright, who wrote anything for anybody." march of found lola montez fulfilling an engagement at the variétés theatre, st. louis. kate field, the daughter of the proprietor, wrote a letter on the subject to her aunt. "well, lola montez appeared at father's theatre last night for the first time. the theatre was crowded from parquet to doors. she had the most beautiful eyes i ever saw. i liked her very much; but she performed a dumb girl, so i cannot say what she would do in speaking characters." during this engagement lola apparently proved a little _difficile_, for her critic adds: "she is trying to trouble father as much as possible." lola certainly was apt to "trouble" people with whom she came into contact. as an accepted "star," she had a high sense of her own importance and considered herself above mere rules. once, when travelling from niagara to buffalo by train, she elected to sit in the baggage car and puff a cigarette. "while," says a report, "thus cosily ensconced, she was discovered by the conductor and promptly informed by him that such behaviour was not permitted. thereupon, madame replied that it was her custom to travel where and how she pleased, and that she had frequently horse-whipped much bigger men than the conductor. this settled the matter, for the company's officer did not care to challenge the tigress." the visit to buffalo was crowned with success. "lola montez," declared the _troy budget_, "has done what mrs. mcmahon failed to accomplish--she positively charmed the buffaloes. this can perhaps be attributed to her judicious choice of the ex-reverend chauncey burr, by whom she is accompanied on her tour in the capacity of business-manager." the choice of an "ex-reverend" to conduct a theatrical tour seems, perhaps, a little odd. still, as lola once remarked: "it is a common enough thing in america for a bankrupt tradesman or broken-down jockey to become a lawyer, a doctor, or even a parson." hence, from the pulpit to the footlights was no great step. chapter xiv the "golden west" i as this was before the days when actresses in search of publicity announce that they are _not_ going to hollywood, lola had to hit on a fresh expedient to keep her name in the news. ever fertile of resource, the one she now adopted was to give out that this would be her "positively last appearance, as she was abandoning the stage and becoming a nun." the scheme worked, and the box-office coffers were filled afresh. but lola did not take the veil. instead, she took a trip to california, sailing by the isthmus route in the summer of . a ridiculous book, _the wonderful adventures of mrs. seacole_, with an introductory puff by a windbag, w. h. russell, has a reference to this project: came one day lola montez, in the full zenith of her evil fame, bound for california, with a strange suite. a good-looking, bold woman, with fine, bad eyes and a determined bearing; dressed ostentatiously in perfect male attire, with shirt collar turned down over a lapelled coat, richly worked shirt front, black hat, french unmentionables, and natty polished boots with spurs. she carried in her hand a riding-whip.... an impertinent american, presuming--perhaps not unnaturally--upon her reputation, laid hold jestingly of the tails of her long coat; and, as a lesson, received a cut across his face that must have marked him for some days. i did not wait to see the row that followed, and was glad when the wretched woman rode off on the following morning. russell was not a fellow-passenger in the ship by which lola travelled. somebody else, however, who did happen to be one, gives a very different description of her conduct on the journey: "we had not been at sea one day," says mrs. knapp, "before all the saloon occupants were charmed by this lovely young woman. her vivacity was infectious, and her _abandon_ was always of a specially airy refinement." the arrival of lola montez at san francisco would have eclipsed that of any hollywood heroine of the present era. a vast crowd, headed by the city fathers, "in full regalia," gathered at the quay. flags decked the public buildings; guns fired a salute; bands played; and the schoolchildren were assembled to strew her path with flowers as she stepped down the gangway; and, "to the accompaniment of ringing cheers," the horses were taken from her carriage, which was dragged by eager hands through the streets to her hotel. "the countess acknowledged the reception accorded her with a graceful inclination." "what if europe has exiled her?" demanded an editorial. "this is of no consequence. after all, she is lola montez, acknowledged mistress of kings! she is beautiful above other women; she is gorgeous; she is irresistible; and we are genuinely proud to welcome her." enveloped in legend, the reputation of the newcomer for "eccentricity" had preceded her. she lived up to this reputation, too, for, when the spirit moved her (and it did so quite often), she would dance in the beer gardens "for fun"; she had her hair cut short, when other women were affecting chignons; and--wonder of wonders--she would "actually smoke cigarettes in public." clearly, a trifle ahead of her period. by the way, while she was in san francisco, lola is said to have renewed her acquaintance with the mysterious jean françois montez, who, during the interval since they last met, had turned over a fresh leaf and was now married. but according to a chronicler: "the family felicity very soon succumbed to the lure of the lovely lola." without, too, any support for the assertion, a contributor of theatrical gossip dashed off an imaginative column, in which he declared her, among other things, to have been "the petted companion of louis napoleon"; and also "the idolised dancer of the swells and wits of the capitals of the old world, with the near relatives of royalty and the beaux of paris for her intimates." this was going too far. lola, much incensed, shook her dog-whip and threatened reprisals. "what's the matter with you?" demanded the journalist, astonished at the outburst, "it's good publicity, isn't it?" "yes, but not the sort i want," was the response. still, whether she wanted it, or not, lola was soon to have a good deal more "publicity." this was because she suddenly appeared with a husband on her arm. although the bridegroom, patrick purdy hull, was a fellow-editor, the _daily alta_, of california, considered that the news value of the event was not worth more than a couple of lines: "on the nd inst. lola montez and p. p. hull, esq., of this city (and late of the _san francisco whig_) were married at the mission dolores." obviously regarding this as a somewhat meagre allowance, a new york journal furnished fuller details: among the recent domestic happenings of the times in california, the marriage of the celebrated lola montez will attract most attention. this distinguished lady has again united herself in the bonds of wedlock, the happy young man being patrick purdy hull, esq., formerly of ohio, and for the past four years employed in the newspaper business in san francisco. mr. hull was a fellow-passenger with the fascinating countess on her trip to california; and the acquaintance then formed fast ripened into an attachment which terminated fatally to his bachelorhood. the nuptials were consummated [_sic_] at the holy church of the mission dolores in the presence of a highly respectable gathering of prominent citizens. [illustration: _the "spider dance." cause of much criticism_] the "prominent citizens" included "governor wainwright, judge wills, captain mcmichael, mr. and mrs. clayton, and beverley saunders, esq." an attempt was made to keep the ceremony secret; and, with this end in view, the invited guests were pledged not to divulge it beforehand. on the previous evening captain mcmichael, being something of a tactician, announced to them: "we do not yet know for certain that the affair will ever come off, and we may all be jolly well sold." when they assembled at the mission church, it looked as if this would happen, as neither of the couple appeared. suddenly, however, they drove up in a carriage and entered the church. the "blushing bride," says a reporter who had hidden behind a pillar, "carried a bouquet of orange blossoms, and the organ played 'the voice that breathed o'er eden'"; and another chronicler adds: "on the conclusion of the ceremony, all adjourned to partake of a splendid spread, with wine and cigars _ad lib._" but this was not all, for: "governor wainwright, giving a significant wink, kissed the new-made bride, mrs. hull. his example was promptly followed by mr. henry clayton, 'just to make the occasion memorable,' he said. 'such is the custom of my country,' remarked madame lola. she was not kissed by anybody else, but she none the less had a pleasant word for all." ii it was at sacramento that lola and her new husband began their married life. the conditions of the town were a little primitive just then; and even in the principal hotel the single guests were expected to sleep in dormitories. the cost of board and lodging (with bed in a bunk) was dollars a week. as for the "board," standing items on the daily menu would be boiled leg of grizzly bear, donkey steak, and jack-rabbit. "no kickshaws" was the proud boast of every chef. in addition to his editorial labours (which were not unduly exacting), hull was employed by the government on census work, preparing statistics of the rapidly increasing population. but lola, much to his annoyance, did not add to his figures for the registrar-general's return. the footlights proved a stronger lure than maternity; and, almost immediately after her marriage, she accepted an engagement at one of the theatres, where she appeared as lady teazle. a countess in that part of the world being a novelty, the public rallied to the box-office in full force and "business" was phenomenal. still, competition there, as elsewhere. some of it, too, of a description that could not be ignored. thus, ole bull was giving concerts at the opera house, and causing hardened diggers to shed tears when he played "home sweet home" to them on his violin; edwin booth, "supported by a powerful company," was mouthing shakespeare, and tearing passion to tatters in the process; and a curious freak, billed as "zoyara, the hermaphrodite" (with a "certificate of genuineness, as to her equestrian skill and her virtues as a lady, from h.m. the king of sardinia") was cramming the circus to capacity every afternoon and evening. yet, notwithstanding his majesty's "certificate," it is a fact that its recipient "married" a woman member of the troupe. "the long sustained deception has been dropped," says a paragraphist, "and the young man who assumed the name of 'madame zoyara' is now to be seen in correct masculine attire." still, despite all this, lola kept her public. after all, a countess was a countess. but, before long, there was a difference of opinion with the manager of the theatre in which she was appearing. lola, who never brooked criticism, had "words" with him. high words, as it happened; and, flourishing her whip in his face, she tore up her contract and walked out of the building. "get somebody else," she said. "i'm through." the difference of opinion appears to have arisen because lola elected to consider herself "insulted" by a member of the audience while she was dancing, and the manager had not taken her part. the next evening, accordingly, she made a speech in public, giving him a "bit of her mind." the result was, declared the _san francisco alta_, "the countess came off the victor, bearing away the _bravas_ and bouquets. at the conclusion of her address she was hailed by thunderous cheers, amid which she smiled sweetly, dropped a curtsey, and retired gracefully." much to their surprise, those who imagined that the honours of the evening went to lola read in the next issue of the _californian_ that "the applause was all sham, the paid enthusiasm of a hired house." this was more than flesh and blood could stand. at any rate, it was more than lola could stand; and she sent the editor a fierce letter, challenging him to a duel. "i must request," was its last passage, "that this affair of honour be arranged by your seconds as soon as possible, as my time is quite as valuable as your own: marie de landsfeld-hull (lola montez)." the editor of the _californian_ did not accept the suggestion. instead, he applied the necessary balm, and the pistols-for-two-and-coffee-for-one order was countermanded. iii a woman of moods, when lola made a change, it was a complete one. she made one now. the artificiality of the towns, with their false standards and atmosphere of pretence, had begun to pall. she wanted to try a fresh _milieu_. everybody was talking just then of grass valley, a newly opened-up district, set amid a background of the rugged sierras, where gangs of miners were delving for gold in the bowels of mother earth, and, if half the accounts were true, amassing fortunes. why not go there and see for herself? it would at least be a novel experience. no sooner said than done. hiring a mule team and wagon, and accompanied by patrick hull, she started off on a preliminary tour of inspection of the district. travelling was unhurried in those leisurely days. there were several stoppages; and the roads were rough, and long detours had to be made to avoid yawning canyons. "at the end of two weeks from the time they left sacramento behind them, pat hull and his charming bride wheeled across the mountains into grass valley." "there were about people in the township of marysville at this period," says a chronicler, "and of them were of the masculine sex. the prospect of sudden riches was the attraction that drew them. england and the continent were represented by some of the first families. a dozen were graduates of oxford and cambridge; there were two young relatives of victor hugo; there were a number of scions of the impoverished nobility of bohemia; and several hundred americans. among the latter was william morris stewart, a marysville lawyer, who was afterwards to become a senator and attorney-general." grass valley at this period (the autumn of ) was little more than a wilderness. the nearest town of any size was nevada city, fringed by the shadows of the lofty sierras. between the gulches had sprung up as if by magic a forest of tented camps and tin-roofed shanties, with gambling-booths and liquor saloons by the hundred, in which bearded men dug hard by day, and played faro and monte and drank deep by night. fortunes were made--and spent--and nuggets were common currency. the cost of living was very high. but it cost still more to be ill, since a grain of gold was the accepted tariff for a grain of quinine. the whole district was a melting-pot. attracted by the prospect of the precious metal that was to be wrung from it, there had drifted into the valley a flotsam and jetsam, representatives of all nations and of all callings. as was natural, americans in the majority; but, with them, englishmen and frenchmen and germans and italians, plus an admixture of chinamen and kanakas; also an undesirable element of deserters from ships and convicts escaped from australia. to keep them in some sort of order, rough justice was the rule. mayors and sheriffs had arbitrary powers, and did not hesitate to employ them. judge lynch was supreme; and a length of hemp dangling from a branch was part of the equipment of every camp. with a full knowledge of all these possible drawbacks, lola montez looked upon grass valley and saw that it was good. perhaps the bret harte atmosphere appealed to her. at any rate, she decided to settle down there temporarily; and, with this end in view, she persuaded hull to buy a six-roomed cottage just above marysville. when lola montez--for all that she had a wedding-ring on her finger, she still stuck to the name--arrived there with her new husband, the conditions of life in grass valley were a little primitive. a telegraph service did not exist; and letters were collected and delivered irregularly. transport with the outer world was by stage coach and mule and pony express. whisky had to come round by cape horn; sugar from china; and meat and vegetables from australia. the fact was, the early settlers were much too busily employed extracting nuggets and gold dust to concern themselves with the production of any other commodity. mrs. dora knapp, a neighbour of lola montez in grass valley at this period, has contributed some reminiscences of her life there: "we, who knew of her gay career among the royalty and nabobs, were astonished that she should have gone to the camp. she frequently had letters from titled gentlemen in europe, begging her to come back and live on their rich bounty. it was simply because she was weary of splendour and fast living that the countess turned with such fondness to life in a mining camp." to patrick hull, however, the attractions of the district were not so obvious. ink was in his blood. he wanted to get back to his editorial desk, preferring the throbbing of printing presses to the rattle of spades and picks and the clanking of drills. nor did "love in a cottage" appeal to him. when lola refused to give up grass valley, he developed a fit of sulks and turned to the whisky bottle for consolation. under the circumstances, matrimonial bliss was impossible. such a life was a cat and dog one. its end arrived very soon. "lola montez and her new husband," says the knowledgeable mrs. knapp, "had not lived together more than a few months before trouble began. when two such spirits came together, there was bound to be a clash. the upshot was that one day lola pushed patrick down the stairs, heaved his grip out of the window and ordered him to quit." mr. hull, who could take a hint as well as any man, did "quit." he did more. he took to his bed and expired. "in his native state," says a tearful obituary, "he was respected and loved by a large circle. the family of manuel guillen (in whose house he lay), inspired by a sentiment of genuine benevolence, bestowed upon him all the tender watchfulness due to a beloved son and brother; and nothing was omitted that promised cure or promoted comfort." but this was not until some time after he had received his abrupt _congé_ from lola montez. once more, lola had drawn a blank in the matrimonial market. iv with adrienne lecouvreur, lola montez must often have asked herself, _que faire au monde sans aimer?_ "living without loving" had no appeal for her. hence, she was soon credited (or discredited) with a fresh _liaison_. this time her choice fell on a german baron, named kirke, who also happened to be a doctor. there was a special bond between them, for he had come from munich, and could thus awaken memories and tell her of ludwig, of fritz peissner and the other good comrades of the _alemannia_, and of the house in the barerstrasse where she had once queened it. "this fourth adventure in matrimony was," says a chronicler, "copiously consummated." an odd choice of words. but, successful or not, it was short-lived. one fine day the baron took his gun with him into the forest. he did not return. "killed in a shooting accident" (a fairly common occurrence in the wild west at that period) was the coroner's verdict. as a result, lola was once more without a masculine protector. the position was not devoid of an element of danger, for the district swarmed with lawless gangs, to whom a woman living by herself was looked upon as fair prey. but lola was not disturbed. she had plenty of courage. she knew, too, that the miners had formed themselves into a "guard of honour," and that it would have gone ill with anybody attempting to molest her. if the diggers were rough, they were chivalrous. in response to a general invitation from the camp, lola more than once gave an exhibition of her quality as a _danseuse_. although the charge for admission was a hundred dollars, the hall where she appeared was always crammed to the doors. she expanded out, too, in other directions; and a picturesque account of her life at this period says that she slept under the stars ("canopy of heaven" was the writer's more poetical way of putting it) and wore woollen underclothing knitted by herself. another detail declares that she held a "weekly soirée in her cottage, attended by the upper circles of the camp, a court of littérateurs and actors and wanderers"; and that among the regular guests were "two nephews of victor hugo, a quartet of cashiered german barons, and a couple of shady french counts." obviously, a somewhat mixed gathering. for all this, however, the receptions were "merely convivial assemblies, with champagne and other wine, served with cake and fruit _ad lib_, and everyone smoked. the two hugo neighbours were always there, as well as a son of preston brooks, the south carolina congressman. a dozen of us looked forward to attending these _salons_, which we called 'experience-meetings.' senator william m. stewart, then a young lawyer in nevada, said he used to count the days between each. every song, every story, every scrap of humour or pathos that any of the young men came across would be preserved for the next gathering. occasionally, our charming hostess would have a little fancy-dress affair at the cottage, and, clad in the fluffy and abbreviated garments she had once worn on the stage, show us that she still remembered her dancing-steps." when not engaged in these innocent relaxations, lola would give herself up to other pursuits. thus, she hunted and fished and shot, and often made long trips on horseback through the forests and sage bush. having a fondness for all sorts of animals, on one such expedition she captured a bear cub, with which she returned to her cabin and set herself to tame. while thus employed, she was visited by a wandering violinist, who, falling a victim to her charms, begged a lock of her hair as a souvenir of the occasion. thereupon, lola, always anxious to oblige, struck a bargain with him. "i have," she said, "a pet grizzly in my orchard. if you will wrestle with him for three minutes, you shall have enough of my hair to make a bow for your fiddle. let me see what you can do." the challenge was accepted; and the amorous violinist, merely stipulating that the animal should be muzzled, set to work and secured the coveted guerdon. something of a risk, perhaps. still, it would have been a more serious one if lola had kept a rattlesnake. appearances are deceptive, and bruin was less domesticated than lola imagined. one day, pining perhaps for fresh diet, he grappled with his mistress and bit her hand. the incident attracted a laureate on the staff of the _california chronicle_, who, in silas wegg fashion, "dropped into verse:" lola and her pet one day when the season was drizzly, and outside amusements were wet, fair lola paid court to her grizzly and undertook petting her pet. but, ah, it was not the bavarian who softened so under her hand, no ermined king octogenarian, but bruin, coarse cub of the land. so, all her caresses combatting he crushed her white slender hand first, refusing his love to her patting, as she had refused hers to _pat_! oh, had her pet been him whose glory and title were won on the field, less bloodless had ended this story, more easy her hand had been _heald_! this doggerel was signed "f.s.", initials which masked the identity of frank soule, the editor of the _chronicle_. v never without her dog-whip, lola took it with her to her cottage in grass valley. there she soon found a use for it. a journalist, in a column account of her career, was ungallant enough to finish by enquiring "if she were the devil incarnate?" as the simplest method of settling the problem, "lola summoned the impertinent scribbler and gave him such a hiding that he had no doubts left at all." shortly afterwards, there was trouble with another representative of the press. this was with one henley shipley, the editor of the _marysville herald_, who, notwithstanding that they were "regularly attended by the _élite_ of the camp," had described her "wednesday soirées" as "disgraceful orgies, inimical to our fair repute." thereupon, says a sympathiser, the aspersed hostess "took her whip to him, and handed out a number of stinging and well merited cuts." the opportunity being too good to miss, the editor of the _sacramento union_ set to work and rushed out a special edition, with a long description of the incident: this forenoon our town was plunged into a state of ludicrous excitement by the spectacle of madame lola montez rushing through mill street, with a lady's delicate riding whip in one hand and a copy of the _marysville herald_ in the other, vowing vengeance on "that scoundrel of an editor," etc. she met him at the golden gate saloon, a crowd, on the _qui vive_, following in her footsteps. having struck at him with her whip, she then applied woman's best weapon--her tongue. meanwhile, her antagonist kept most insultingly cool. all her endeavours being powerless, the "divine lola" appealed to the miners, but the only response was a burst of laughter. mr. shipley, the editor, then retired in triumph, having, by his calmness, completely worn down his fair enemy. the immediate cause of the fracas was the appearance of sundry articles, copied from the _new york times_, referring to the "lola montez-like insolence, bare-faced hypocrisy, and effrontery of queen christina of spain." the entire scene was decidedly rich. one can well imagine it. never prepared to accept hostile criticism without a protest, lola sent her own version of the occurrence to a rival organ: "this morning, november ," she wrote, "the newspaper was handed me as usual. i scanned it over with little interest, saw a couple of abusive articles, not mentioning me by name, but, as i was afterwards told, had been prepared by the clever pen of this great statesman of the future, and present able writer, as a climax and extinguisher to all the past and future glories of lola montez. i wonder if he thought i should come down with a cool thousand or two, to stock up his fortune and cry 'grace, grace!' "this is the only attempt at blackmail i have been subjected to in california, and i hope it will be the last. on i read the paper till i saw my name in good round english, and the allusions to my 'bare-faced hypocrisy and insolence.' europe, hear this! has not the 'hypocrisy' been on the other side? what were you thinking of, alexandra dumas, beringer, méry, and all my friends when you told me my fault lay in my too great kindness? shipley has judged me at last to be a hypocrite. to avenge you, i, bonnet on head and whip in hand--that whip which was never used but on a horse--this time to be disgraced by falling on the back of an ass.... the spirit of my irish ancestors (i being three-quarter irish and spanish and scotch) took possession of my hand; and, on the most approved tom sayers principles, i took his, on which--thanks to some rings i had--i made a cutting impression. this would-be great smiter ended the combat with a certain amount of abuse, of which--to do him justice--he is a perfect master. _sic transit gloria_ shipley! alas, poor yorick!" [illustration: _lola montez, in "lola in bavaria." a "play with a purpose"_] the atmosphere of grass valley could scarcely be described as tranquil. its surface was always being ruffled; and it was not long before lola was again embroiled in a collision with one of her neighbours. this time she had a passage at arms with a methodist minister in the camp, the rev. mr. wilson, who, with a sad lack of christian charity, informed his flock that this new member among them was "a feminine devil devoid of shame, and that the 'spider dance' in her repertoire was an outrage." there were limits to clerical criticism. this was clearly one of them. as she could not take her whip to a clergyman, she took herself. "resolved to teach the rev. wilson a lesson, she called on him in her dancing dress, while he was conducting a confirmation class." "without," says a member of the gathering, "any preliminaries beyond saying 'good afternoon,' she proceeded to execute the dance before the astonished gaze of the company. then turning to the minister, she said, 'the next time you think fit to make me and this dance a subject for a pulpit discourse, perhaps you will know better what you are talking about.' she then took her departure, before the reverend gentleman could sufficiently collect his senses to say or do anything." but, notwithstanding these breaks in its monotony, lola felt that she was not really adapted to the routine of grass valley. once more, the theatre called her. answering the call, she went back to it. but on the return journey she did not take patrick hull. she also shed the name he had given her, and resumed that of countess of landsfeld. "it looks better on the bills," she said, when she discussed plans for a prospective tour. the _grass valley telegraph_ gave her a good "send off" in a fulsome column; and the miners presented her with a "farewell gift" in the form of a nugget. "rough, like ourselves," said their spokesman, "but the genuine article." chapter xv "down under" i this time lola was going further afield. a long way further. two continents had already been exploited. now she would discover what a fresh one held. her plan was to leave the stars and stripes for the southern cross. as an initial step, "she sold her jewels for , dollars to the madam of a fashionable brothel." having thus secured adequate funds, she assembled a number of out-of-work actors and actresses and engaged them to accompany her on a twelve months' tour in australia. except for josephine fiddes (who was afterwards to understudy adah isaacs menken, of _mazeppa_ renown) and, perhaps, her leading man, charles follard, they were of a distinctly inferior calibre. the departure from california was duly notified in a paragraph sent round the press: "we beg to inform our readers and the public generally that on june the celebrated lola montez left san francisco, at the head of a theatrical troupe of exceptional talent, bound for distant australia. the public in the antipodes may confidently look forward to a rare treat." the voyage across the pacific being in a sailing vessel, was a longish one and occupied nearly ten weeks from start to finish. however, anchor was dropped at last; and on august , , a "colossal attraction" was announced in "lola montez in bavaria" at the victoria theatre, sydney. there, thanks to the interest aroused by her exploits in other parts of the world, the newcomer was assured of a good reception. but theatrical stars were always accorded a special measure of deference by the colonists. thus, miss catherine hayes, who was playing at an opposition house, was invited to luncheon by the bishop of sydney and to dinner by the attorney-general; and a scottish conjurer, "professor" anderson, was given an "address of welcome" by the town council. while these particular honours were not enjoyed by lola (who, for some reason best known to herself, had elected to be entered in the passenger-list as "madam landsfeld heald"), she was none the less accorded considerable publicity. "the eccentric and much advertised lola montez," said the _herald_ on the morning after her new south wales début, "pounces upon us direct from california, and the excitement of her visit is emptying the opposition theatre. last night the countess looked positively charming and acted very archly.... on the fall of the curtain, she presented mr. lambert (who played the king of bavaria) with an elegant box of cigarettes." naturally enough, the star was interviewed by the journalists. "at the victoria theatre," says one of them, "i was privileged to have a talk with madame lola after the performance had concluded. i found her--much to my surprise--to be a very simple-mannered, well-behaved, cigar-loving young lady." an odd picture of sydney audiences is given by the author of _southern lights and shadows_. "the young ladies of australia," he says, "are in many respects remarkable. at thirteen they have more ribbons, jewels, and lovers than any other young ladies of the same age. they prattle insipidly from morning to night. the first time i visited a theatre i sat next one of them who had at least half a dozen rings worn over her gloves.... the affectation of _ton_ among them is astonishing. they are special patrons of the drama, and, on the appearance of a star, they flock to the dress circle in hundreds. the pit is generally well filled with a display of shirt-sleeves, pewter pots, and babies. the upper boxes are usually given up to that division of the community partial to pink bonnets and cheeks to match; and flirtations are carried on in the most flagrant and unblushing manner." the author of this sketch also has something to say about sydney as a town: "one part of george street is as much like bond street in london as it is possible for one place to resemble another. like bond street, too, it is hourly paraded by the bucks and brummels of the colony. the café françois is much frequented by the young swells and sprigs of the city. files of _punch_, _the times_, sherry coblers, an entertaining hostess, and a big-bloused lubberly host are the special points left in my recollection. they serve meals a day at this establishment, the rent of which is £ , a year." ii during this sydney engagement, lola, ever interested in the cause of charity, organised a "grand sebastopol matinée performance," the proceeds being "for the benefit of our wounded heroes in the crimea." as the cause had a popular appeal, the house was a bumper one. possibly, it was the success of this _matinée_ that led to an imaginative chronicler adding: "our distinguished visitor, madame lola montez, countess of landsfeld, is, with her full company of thespians, on the point of leaving us for balaclava. there, at the special request of lord raglan and miss florence nightingale, she will inaugurate a theatre for the enjoyment of our gallant warriors and their allies." another odd tit-bit was sent to england by the theatrical correspondent of a london paper. this declared that a masculine member of her company "jumped into the harbour, mortified at discovering that madame lola had turned a more friendly face on a younger brother of the duke of wellington who had followed her to sydney from calcutta." the artistic temperament. at intervals, however, other and better established items of news were received from australia and, as opportunity offered, found a niche in the london papers. from these it would appear that all was not going smoothly with lola's plans, and that the start of the antipodean venture was somewhat tempestuous. "in sydney," says a letter on the subject, "a regrettable fracas recently occurred at the theatre where madame montez has been playing. stepping in front she endeavoured to quell the uproar by announcing that, while she herself 'rather liked a good row,' she would appeal to the gallantry of the _gentlemen_ in the pit and gallery to respect the wishes of a lady and not interfere with the enjoyment of others by interrupting the performance. the request, however, fell on deaf ears. the uproar continued for some time, and was much increased by the actors and actresses squabbling among themselves on the stage." there was a good deal of "squabbling" among the company. its members were not a happy family. they had been engaged by their principal to support her. instead, however, of rendering such support, a number of them did all they could to wreck the tour. thereupon, lola, adopting strong measures, discharged the malcontents and left for melbourne by the next steamer. that she was justified in her action is clear from a letter which her solicitors sent to the press: "our client, madam lola montez, was unwise enough to engage, at enormous cost to herself, a very inferior company in california. before starting, she made large advances to every one of them; paid their passages from america (where they were nearly all heavily in debt) to australia; and trusted that, in return for her immense outlay, she would at least receive efficient assistance from them. but this band of obscure performers not only loaded her with insults while they continued to live on her, but on their arrival in sydney they one and all refused to discharge their allotted tasks." "when madam montez (not unnaturally irritated by such conduct) proposed, through us, to cancel their agreements on reasonable terms, they insisted on the fulfilment of the contract which they themselves had been the first to break, and made claims upon her amounting to about £ , . this _moderate_ demand being very properly refused by our client, they secured an order for her arrest in respect of a number of separate actions. only one of these (a claim for £ ) was lodged in time for a warrant to be issued. when, furnished with this, mr. brown, the sheriff's officer, appeared on board the steamer, madam tendered him £ , which, however, he refused to accept, insisting that she should also settle the various other claims for which he did not have warrants. our client refused to leave the vessel, for which refusal, we, as her solicitors, are quite willing to accept responsibility." the fact that there was talk of instituting proceedings against the captain of the steamer and his subordinates led the solicitors to add a postscript: "those who governed the movements of the _watarah_ are ready to answer for their conduct. they saw a lady threatened with arrest at the last moment for a most unjust claim, tendering five times the amount demanded, and having that offer refused. hence, they did not feel called upon to interfere." another account of the episode is a little different. this declares that, just before starting from sydney, she "dismissed with a blessing" two members of the company. as they wanted something more easily negotiable, they issued a writ of attachment. when the sheriff's officer attempted to serve it: "madame lola, ever ready for the fray, retired to her cabin and sent word that she was quite naked, but that the sheriff could come and take her if he wanted to." an embarrassing predicament; and, unprepared to grapple with it, "poor mr. brown blushed and retired amid roars of laughter." having thus got the better of the sydney lawyers, and filled up the vacancies in her company with fresh and more amenable recruits, lola reached the victorian capital without further adventure. a picture of the city, as it was when she landed there, is given by a contemporary author: "melbourne is splendid. fine wide streets, finer and wider than almost any in london, stretch away for miles in every direction. at any hour of the day thousands of persons may be observed scurrying along them with true cheapside bustle." the melbourne youth, however, appears to have been precocious. "i was delighted," remarks this authority, "with the colonial young stock. the average australian boy is a slim, olive-complexioned young rascal, fond of cavendish, cricket, and chuck-penny, and systematically insolent to girls, policemen, and new chums.... at twelve years of age, having passed through every phase of probationary shrewdness, he is qualified to act as a full-blown bus conductor. in the purlieus of the theatres are supper-rooms (lavish of gas and free-mannered waitresses), and bum-boat shops where they sell play-bills, whelks, oranges, cheroots, and fried fish." but, notwithstanding the existence of these amenities, all was not well where lola was concerned. the sydney correspondent of the _argus_ had injured her chances of making a favourable impression by writing a somewhat imaginative account of her troubles there: "i need not tell you that the montez has gone to melbourne, as she will have arrived before this letter, and is not the sort of woman to keep her arrival secret. it may not, however, be so generally known that she has made what is colonially termed a 'bolt' from here.... thinking, perhaps, that australia was not yet a part of the civilised world, and that a company of players could not be secured here, madame brought a set of comedians from san francisco. they were quite useless. more competent help could have been had on the spot." lola said nothing. her leading man however, mr. follard, had something to say, and wrote a strong letter to the editor: "permit me to state, with all due deference to your correspondent's term 'bolt,' that madame lola montez left quietly and unostentatiously.... the attempt to stop her leaving sydney and prevent her engagement in melbourne was an exhibition of meanness at which every honest heart must feel disgusted. alone, in a strange land, without friends or protector, her position as a woman should in itself have saved her from the unmanly abuse heaped upon her and the contemptible attitude manifested by some of her company." a second adverse factor against which lola had to contend in melbourne was that prices had been doubled for her engagement there. this was considered a grievance by the public. the difficulty, however, adjusted itself, for the programme she offered was one that proved specially attractive. "the highest degree of excitement was," ran the _herald_ criticism, "produced upon visitors to the theatre royal by the actual presence of this extraordinary and gifted being, with the praises of whose beauty and _esprit_ the whole civilised world has resounded.... after curtseying with inimitable grace to the audience, the fair _artiste_ withdrew amidst a fresh volley of cheers." but lola, who never missed an opportunity of airing her opinions, aired them now: "at the end of the performance," says a report, "madame lola montez was vociferously called and addressed the audience in an animated speech, commenting upon some remarks that had been published in a certain journal. when a gentleman ventured to laugh while she was enumerating the political benefits she had conferred on bavaria, the fair orator promptly informed him that such conduct was not usually considered to be courteous." the melbourne engagement finished up with a triple bill. the principal item was a novelty she had, the "spider dance," which lola had brought from america. in this she appeared with hundreds of wire spiders sewn on her attenuated ballet skirts; and, when any of them fell off, she had to indulge in pronounced wriggles and contortions to put them back in position. the accompanying movements of her body were held to be by some standards "daring and suggestive." in fact, so much so that the representative of the _argus_ dubbed the number "the most libertinish and indelicate performance that could possibly be given on the public stage. we feel compelled," he continued solemnly, "to denounce in terms of unmeasured reprobation the performance in which madame montez here figures." yet, sir charles hotham, the governor, together with lady hotham and their guests, had witnessed it without sustaining any serious damage. but perhaps they were made of tougher material. the critic of the _morning herald_ at this period (understood to be r. h. horne, "the jules janin of melbourne") was either less thin-skinned or else more broad-minded than his _argus_ comrade. at any rate, he saw nothing much to call for these strictures. thinking that the newcomer had not been given fair play, he endeavoured to counteract the adverse opinion that had been expressed by publishing a laudatory one of a column length, in which he declared: "madame montez went through the entire measure with marked elegance and precision, and the curtain fell amid salvoes of well merited applause." convinced that here was a critic who really knew his business, and a friend on whom she could rely to do her justice, lola wrote to the editor: grand imperial hotel, _september, ._ sir, a criticism of my performance of the "spider dance" at the theatre royal was published in this morning's _argus_, couched in such language that i must positively answer it. the piety and ultra-puritanism of the _argus_ might prevent the insertion of a letter bearing my signature. therefore, i address myself to you. the "spider dance" is a national one, and is witnessed with delight by all classes in spain, and by both sexes from queen to peasant. i have always looked upon this dance as a work of high art; and i reject with positive scorn the insinuation of your contemporary that i wish to pander to a morbid taste for what is improper or indelicate. i shall be at my post to-morrow evening; and will then adopt a course that will test the value of the opinion advanced by the _argus_. [illustration: _lola as a lecturer. from stage to platform_ autobiography and lectures of lola montez countess of landsfeld] the promised "course" was merely to deliver a long speech from the stage, and ask the audience to decide whether she should give the vexed item, or not. the audience were emphatic that she should; and, when she had finished, "expressed their views on the subject by uttering loud groans for the _argus_ and lusty cheers for the _herald_." honours to lola! but the "spider dance" was still to prove a source of trouble. the next morning a certain dr. milton, who had constituted himself a champion of morals, appeared at the police-court and applied for a warrant for the arrest of lola montez, on the grounds that she had "outraged decency." "i am in a position," he declared, "to produce unquestionable evidence of the indelicacy of her performance." "you must take out a summons in the proper fashion," said the magistrate, who clearly had no sympathy with busybodies. but, before he could do so, dr. milton found himself served with a writ for libel. as a result, nothing more was heard of the matter. in addition to its mawworms, of which it was afflicted with an appreciable number of specimens, the city of melbourne would appear to have had other drawbacks at this period. according to r. h. horne, local society was somewhat curiously constituted. "there is an attempt," he says, "at the nucleus of a 'court circle'; and if the home government think fit to make a few more australian knights and baronets there may be good hopes for the enlargement of the enchanted hoop. the melbourne 'almack's' is to be complimented on the moral courage with which its directors have resisted the claims for admission of some of the wealthy unwashed and other unsuitables. money is not quite everything, even in melbourne." there were further strictures on the morals of victoria, as compared with those of new south wales: "the haunts of villainy in sydney are not surpassed by those in melbourne; but, with regard to drunkenness and prostitution, the latter place is far worse than sydney. the theatre royal contains within itself four separate drinking-bars. the café de paris, in the same building, has two bars. in the theatre itself there is a drinking public every night, especially when the house is crowded. between every act it is the custom of the audience to rush out for a nobbler of brandy. the only exceptions are the occupants of the dress-circle, more especially when the governor is present." by the way, the "list of beverages" shows that, in proof of her popularity, a "lola montez appetiser," consisting of "old tom, ginger, lemon and hot water," was offered to patrons. alcohol was not alone among the objects at which "orion" horne tilted. he also disapproved of cricket. "the mania," he says, "for bats and balls in the boiling sun during last summer exceeded all rational excitement. the newspapers caught the epidemic, and, while scarcely noticing other far more useful games, they devoted columns upon columns to minute accounts of the matches of a hundred different clubs. the very walls of melbourne became infected. on the return of the victorians from sydney, a reporter for the _herald_ designated them 'the laurelled warriors.' if there is no great harm in this, the thing has been carried too far." it is just as well, perhaps, for horne's peace of mind that the present day value attached to "ashes" had not arisen, and that an australian xi did not visit england until another twenty years had passed. iii after melbourne, the next step in lola's itinerary was geelong. the programme she offered there was a generous one, for it included a "stirring drama, entitled, _maidens, beware!_ and the elegant and successful comedy, _the eton boy_," to which were added a "sparkling comedietta" and a "laughable farce." this was good value. the geelong critic, however, did not think very much of the principal item in this bill. "it has," he observed solemnly, "an impossible plot, with situations and sentiments quite beyond the understanding of us barbarians." this supercilious attitude was not shared by the simple-minded diggers, who found _maidens, beware!_ very much to their taste. but nothing else could have been expected, for it offered good measure of all the elements that ensure success every time they are employed. thus, the hero is wrongfully charged with a series of offences committed by the villain; a comic servant unravels the plot when it becomes intricate; and the heroine only avoids "something worse than death" by proving that a baronet, "paying unwelcome addresses," (but nothing else) has forged a will. having a partiality for the society of diggers, with whom she had always got on well, lola next betook herself to ballarat. it was an unpropitious moment for a theatrical venture in that part of the world. the atmosphere was somewhat unsettled. the broad arrows and ticket-of-leave contingent who made up a large section of the community were clamouring for a republic; and there was a considerable amount of rioting. a rebel flag had been run up by the mob; and the military had to be called out to suppress the activities of the "ballarat reform league." still, lola was not the woman to run away from danger. as she had told a sydney audience, she "rather liked a good row." the coming of lola montez to ballarat was heralded by a preliminary paragraph: "our readers will be pleased to learn that the world-renowned lola, a lady who has had kings at her beck, and who has caused nearly as much upheaval in the world as helen of troy, is about to appear among us. on leaving melbourne by coach, she presented the booking clerk with an autographed copy of a work by the famous mrs. harriet beecher stowe. young gentlemen of ballarat, look out for your hearts! havoc will assuredly be played among them." her colourful career attracted the laureates. one of them found in it inspiration for a ballad, "lola, of the rolling black eye!" which was sung at every music-hall in the colony. a second effort regarded the matter in its graver aspects. the first verse ran as follows: she is more to be pitied than censured, she is more to be helped than despised. she is only a lassie who ventured on life's stormy path ill-advised. do not scorn her with words fierce and bitter, do not laugh at her shame and downfall, for a moment just stop to consider _that a man was the cause of it all!_ ludwig of bavaria had done better than this. a lot better. annoyed at the innuendo it contained, lola flourished her whip afresh and threatened the bard with an action for damages. the victoria theatre, ballarat (where lola montez was to give the diggers a sample of her quality), was a newly built house, "reflecting," declared an impressed reporter, "every modern elegance. in front of the boxes," he continued, "are panels, chastely adorned with corinthian festoons, encircling a gilded eagle emblematic of liberty. above the proscenium is an ellipse, exhibiting the australian coat of arms. the ceiling is ornamented by a dome, round which are grouped the nine muses, and the chandelier is the biggest in the colony. from the dress-circle there is direct communication with the adjoining united states hotel, so that first-class refreshments can be procured without the slightest inconvenience. there are six dressing-rooms; and madame lola montez has a private and sumptuously furnished apartment." as the repertoire she offered was to include ("by special request") the "spider dance," she took the precaution of sending a description of it to the _ballarat star_: the characteristic and fascinating spider dance has been performed by madame lola montez with the utmost success throughout the united states of america and before all the crowned heads of europe. this dance, on which malice and envy have endeavoured to fix the stain of immorality, has been given in the other colonies to houses crammed from floor to ceiling with rank and fashion and beauty. in adelaide his excellency the governor-general, accompanied by lady mcdonnell and quite the most select ladies of the city, accorded it their patronage, while the free and accepted masons did madame lola montez the distinguished honour of attending in full regalia. it was on february , , that lola montez opened at ballarat. a generous programme was offered, for it consisted of "the elegant and sparkling comedy, _a morning call_; the laughable farce, _the spittalsfields weaver_; the domestic drama, _raffaelo, the reprobate_; and the shakespearean tragedy, _antony and cleopatra_; all with new and sumptuous scenery, dresses, and appointments." in accordance with the fashion of the period, the star had to recite a prologue. an extract from it was as follows: 'tis only right some hurried words to say as to the name this theatre bears to-day, for i would have you fully understand i seek for patrons men of every land. 'tis not alone through prejudice has been attached the name of britain's virtuous queen. and may your gen'rous presence and applause mutual content and happy evenings cause! but this was merely an introduction. there was more to follow, for the "personal" touch had yet to be delivered. as for _myself_, you'll find in lola montez the study how to please my constant wont is! yet i am vain that i'm the first star here to shine upon this thespian hemisphere. and only hope that when i say "adieu!" you'll grant the same i wish to you-- may rich success reward your daily toil, nor men nor measures present peace despoil, and may i nightly see your pleasant faces with these fair ladies, your attendant graces! iv but, despite this auspicious start, all was not set fair at ballarat. as had happened in other places, lola was to fall foul of a critic who had disparaged her. furiously indignant, and horse-whip in hand, she rushed into the editor's office and executed summary vengeance upon him. "a full account of this remarkable business," announced the opposition journal, "will be given by us to-morrow. our readers may anticipate a perfect treat." they got it, too, if one can trust the report of a "few choice observations" delivered by lola to her audience on the second night of her engagement: "ladies and gentlemen: i am very sure that all of you in this house are my very good friends; and i much regret that i now have a most unpleasant duty to perform. i had imagined that, after all the kindness i have experienced from the miners in california, i should never have had anything painful to say to you. now, however, i am compelled to do so. "i speak to the ladies, as members of my own sex, and to the gentlemen, as my natural protectors. well, what i have to tell you is that there is a certain gentleman in this town called seekamp. just take out the e's, and what is left of his name becomes _skamp_. listen to my story, and then judge between us. this mr. seekamp, who is the editor of the _ballarat times_, actually told me, in the hearing of another lady and two quite respectable gentlemen, that the miners here were a set of ----. no, i really cannot sully my lips with the shocking word he used--and that i was not to believe them. "mr. seekamp called on me, with a certain proposition, and accepted my hospitality. you all know he is just a little fond of drinking. well, while he was at my house the sherry, the port, the champagne, and the brandy were never off the table. he ate with me, and he drank with me. in fact, he drank so freely that it was only my self-respect that prevented me having him removed. but i said to myself, 'after all, he is an editor; perhaps this is his little way.' "well, i did as mr. seekamp wanted, and as a result, i was a ten pound note out of pocket by it. i was green, but i was anxious to avoid making enemies among editors. yet, when his paper next appears, i am referred to in it as being notorious for my immorality. notorious, indeed! why, i defy everybody here, or anywhere else, to say that i am, or ever was, immoral. it's not likely that, if i wanted to be immoral, i should be slaving away and earning my bread by hard work. what do you think? "ladies and gentlemen, i appeal to you. is it fair or generous of this seekamp person to behave to me like this? the truth is, my manager, knowing that he was a good-for-nothing fellow, gave my printing orders to another editor. in revenge, the angry seekamp says he will hound me from this town. ladies and gentlemen, i appeal to you for protection." "and here," adds the report, "the intrepid lola retired amid deafening applause. three hearty cheers were given for madame and three lusty groans for her cowardly traducer." on the following night there was more speech-making. this time, lola complained to the audience that she had been freshly aspersed by the objectionable seekamp. "i offered," she said, "though merely a woman, to meet him with pistols, but the cur who attacks a lady's character runs away from my challenge. he says he will drive me from the diggings. well, i intend to turn the tables, and to make seekamp de-camp. i very much regret," she added, "having been compelled to assert myself at the expense of mr. seekamp, but, really it was not my fault. his attacks on my art were most ungentlemanly. i challenged him to fight a duel, but the poltroon would not accept." in the best tradition of the _eatanswill gazette_, the _ballarat star_ referred to the _ballarat times_ as "our veracious contemporary and doughty opponent," and alluded to the "unblushing profligacy of its editorial columns." the proprietor of the united states hotel and the solicitor for lola montez also sailed into the controversy and challenged mr. seekamp to "eat his words." that individual, however, not caring about such a diet, refused to do anything of the sort. the matter did not end there, and a number of correspondents took up the cudgels on behalf of lola montez. "is it possible," wrote one of them to the editor of the _star_, "that mr. seekamp can, in his endeavour to blacken the fair fame of a woman, insinuate that he is also guilty of the most shocking immorality? i blush to think it." there was also a letter in a similar strain from "john bull," and another from "an eton boy," animadverting upon mr. seekamp's grammar. feeling herself damaged in reputation, lola's next step was to instruct her solicitor to bring an action for libel against seekamp. the magistrate remitted the case to the superior court at geelong. but, as an apology was offered and accepted, nothing more was heard of it. this, however, was not the end of her troubles at ballarat, for horse-whips were again to whistle in the air. but, this time lola got more than she bargained for. she was using her whip on one mr. crosby, the manager of the theatre there, when that individual's spouse--a strong-minded and muscular woman--wrested the weapon from her and laid it across her own back. the account given by an eye-witness is a little different. "at ballarat," he says, "lola pitched into and cross-buttocked a stalwart amazon who had omitted to show her proper respect." "cross-buttocked" would appear to be an expression which, so far, has eluded the dictionary-makers. in other parts of the colony, however, lola's reception more than made up for any little unpleasantnesses at ballarat. "her popularity," says william kelly, an australian squatter, "was not limited to the stage. she was welcomed with rapture on the gold fields, and all the more for the liberal fashion in which she 'shouted' when returning the hospitality of the diggers. her pluck, too, delighted them, for she would descend the deepest shafts with as much nonchalance as if she were entering a boudoir." from sandhurst lola montez travelled to bendigo, where the tour finished. there, says a pressman, "she lived on terms of the most cordial amity with the entire populace, and without a single disturbing incident to ruffle the serenity of the intercourse." v having completed her tour in australia, with considerable profit to herself, lola montez disbanded her company, and, in the autumn of , returned to europe. she had several offers from london; but, feeling that a rest was well earned, she left the ship at marseilles and took a villa at st. jean de luz. while there, she appears to have occupied a certain amount of public attention. at any rate, Émile de girardin, thinking it good "copy," reprinted in _la presse_ a letter she had written to the _estafette_: st. jean de luz, _september , ._ sir: the french and belgian papers are announcing as a positive fact that the suicide of monsieur mauclerc (who deliberately precipitated himself from the top of the pic du midi cliff) was caused by various troubles i had occasioned him. if he were still living, monsieur mauclerc would himself, i feel certain, contradict this calumny. it is true that we were married; but, finding, after eight days, that our union was not likely to turn out a happy one, we parted by mutual consent. the story of my responsibility for the pic du midi business only exists in the imaginative brain of some journalist who revels in supplying tragic details. anyhow, mr. editor, i count upon your sympathy to exculpate me from any share in the melancholy event.--yours, lola montez. mauclerc, however, so far from being dead, was still very much alive, and was sunning himself just then at bayonne. having read this letter, he answered it in the next issue: i have just seen in the columns of _la presse_ a letter from lola montez. this gives an account of a deliberate jump from the top of a cliff and of a marriage with myself as the chief actor in each catastrophe. all i have to say about them is that i know nothing of these important occurrences. i assure you, sir, i have never felt any desire to "precipitate" myself, either from the pic du midi or from anywhere else; nor have i ever had the distinction of being the husband of the famous countess of landsfeld for a matter of even eight days.--mauclerc. artist dramatique. _september , ._ lola ignored this _démenti_. possibly, however, she did not read it, for she was just then arranging another trip to america. chapter xvi farewell to the footlights i having booked a number of engagements there, in december, , lola landed in new york for the second time. directly she stepped off the ship, she was surrounded by a throng of reporters. never losing the chance of making a speech, she gave them just what they wanted. "america," she said, as they pulled out their note-books, "is the last refuge left the victims of tyranny and oppression in the old world. it is the finest monument to liberty ever erected beneath the canopy of heaven." for her reappearance she offered the public _lola montez in bavaria_, which had already done good service. by this time, however, it was a little frayed. "the drama represents her as a coquettish and reckless woman," was the considered opinion of one critic. "we assure our readers she is nothing of the sort." this testimonial was a help. still, it could not infuse fresh life into a piece that had obviously outlived its popularity. hence, she soon changed the bill for a double one, _the eton boy_ and _follies of a night_. but the cash results were not much better; and when she left new york and tried her luck in boston the week's receipts were scarcely two hundred dollars. this, in theatrical parlance, was "not playing to the gas." realising that she was losing her grip, she cast about for some fresh method of attracting the public. it was not long before she hit on one. as she was in a democratic country, she would make capital out of her "title." a plan was soon matured. this was to hold "receptions," where anybody would be welcome who was prepared to pay a dollar. a dollar for ten minutes' chat with a genuine countess, and, for another cents, the privilege of shaking her hand. a bargain. the tariff appealed to thousands. among them charles sumner, the distinguished jurist, who declared of lola montez that, "she was by far the most graceful and delightful woman i ever met." her next scheme for raising the financial wind was to employ her pen. it was true that her "memoirs," strung together in paris, had fallen flat--owing to the pusillanimity of the editor of _le pays_--but a full length "autobiography" would, she thought, stand a better prospect. apart, too, from other considerations, there was now more material on which to draw. an embarrassing amount of it. she could say something--a lot--about the happenings in bavaria, in france, in california, and in australia. all good stuff, and a field hitherto untouched. the pen, however, being still an unaccustomed weapon, she availed herself of outside help; and practically the whole of the _autobiography of lola montez_ was written for her (on a profit-sharing agreement) by a clerical collaborator, the rev. chauncey burr. the tale of the odyssey--as set forth in this joint production--established contact with glittering circles and the breathing of perfumed air. within its chapters emperors and kings and princes jostle one another; scenes shift continually from capital to capital; and plots follow counter-plots in breathless fashion. yet those who purchased the volume in the fond belief that it would turn out to be the analysis of a modern aspasia were disappointed. as a matter of fact, there was next to nothing in it that would have upset a band of hope committee-meeting. this, however, was largely because, an adept at skating over thin ice, the rev. mr. burr ignored, or coloured, such happenings as did not redound to the credit of his subject. [illustration: _lola montez in middle life. a characteristic pose_] the "autobiography" (alleged) finishes on a high note: "ten years have elapsed since the events with which lola montez was connected in bavaria; and yet the malice of the diffusive and ever vigilant jesuits is as fresh and as active as it was at the first hour it assailed her. it is not too much to say that few artists of her profession ever escaped with so little censure; and certainly none ever had the doors of the highest social respectability so universally open to them as she had, up to the time she went to bavaria. and she denies that there was anything in her conduct there which ought to have compromised her before the world. her enemies assailed her, not because her deeds were bad, but because they knew of no other means to destroy her influence." although too modest to acknowledge it, this passage is obviously the rev. chauncey burr verbatim. an offer to serialise part of the "autobiography" in the columns of _le figaro_ was accepted. in correcting the proofs, lola still clung to the earlier account that had already done service in the "memoirs" contributed to _le pays_. but she embellished it with fresh embroideries. thus, to keep up the spanish connection, she now claimed as her aunts the marquise de pavestra and the marquise de villa-palana, together with an equally imaginary uncle juan; and she also, for the first time, gave her schoolgirl friend, fanny nicholls, a sister valerie. the "autobiography" had originally been accepted for _le pays_ by anténon joly. when, however, shortly afterwards, mm. de la guéronnière and de lamartine acquired the journal, they repudiated the contract. hence, its transfer to _le figaro_. but this organ also developed a sudden queasiness, and, after the first few instalments had appeared, declined to print the remainder, on the grounds that they were "too scandalous." some time afterwards, eugéne de mirecourt, thinking he had a bargain, secured the interrupted portions and made them the basis of a chapter on lola montez in his _les contemporains_. this chapter is marked throughout by severe disapproval. thus, it begins: "the woman who revives in the nineteenth century the scandals of jeanne vaubernier belongs to our gallery, and the abject materialism accompanying her misconduct will be revealed in the pages that follow." de mirecourt was not too happy in his self-appointed task. like everything else from his pen, the entire section is distinctly imaginative. thus, he declares that lola, while living in madrid, was "supported by five or six great english lords"; and, among other amorous incidents, says that a brahmin priest fell in love with her; that she conducted a "scandalous intrigue" with a young french diplomat who was carrying despatches to the emperor of china; and that her husband, lieutenant james, once intercepted a tender passage between herself and a rajah. further embroideries assert that lola's father was the son of a lady gilbert, and that her mother was the daughter of a "moorish warrior who abjured paganism." to this rigmarole he adds that she was sent to a boarding-school at bath, kept by a mrs. olridge, where she had an early _liaison_ with the drawing-master. it was perhaps as well for de mirecourt, and others of his kidney, that libel actions had not then been added to the perils of authorship. still, if they had, lola would not have troubled to bring one. to take proceedings in america against a man living in france was difficult. also, by this time she was so accustomed to studied misrepresentation and deliberate falsehoods that she refused to interfere. "it doesn't matter what people choose to say about me," she remarked contemptuously, when she was informed by a friend in paris of the liberties being taken with her name. although (except when she took it into her own hands) she liked to keep clear of the law, this was not always possible. such an instance occurred in march, , when a mr. jobson of new york brought an action against her in respect of an alleged debt. the proceedings would appear to have been conducted in a fashion that must have been peculiar to the time and place; and, in an effort to discredit her, she was subjected to a cross-examination that would now be described as "third degree." "were you not," began the plaintiff's counsel, "born in montrose, the daughter of one molly watson?" when this was denied, he put his next question. "how many intrigues have you had during your career?" "none," was the answer. "we'll see about that, madam," returned the other, consulting his brief. "to begin with, were you not the mistress of king ludwig?" "you are a vulgar villain," exclaimed lola indignantly. "i can swear on the bible, which i read every night, but you don't, that i never had what you call an 'intrigue' with him. as a matter of fact, i did him a lot of good." "in what way?" enquired the judge, looking interested. "well, i moulded his mind to the love of freedom." "before you ran off with your first husband," continued counsel, "were you not employed as a chambermaid?" "never," was the emphatic response. "and, let me tell you, mr. attorney, it is not at all a shameful thing to be a chambermaid. if i had been born one, i should consider myself a much more distinguished woman than i am." when her own counsel, coming to the rescue, dubbed mr. jobson a "fellow," there followed, in the words of a reporter, "an unseemly fracas." from abuse of one another, the rival attorneys took to fisticuffs; the spectators and officials joined in the struggle; and an ink pot was hurled by the furious jobson at the occupants of the jury-box. this being considered contempt of court, he was arrested, and the judge, gathering up his papers, left the bench, announcing that the further hearing would be adjourned. ii after this experience, lola developed a fresh activity. like a modern joan of arc, she suddenly announced that she heard "voices," and that, on their instructions, she was giving up the stage for the platform. her plans were soon completed; and, on february , , she mounted the rostrum and made her début as a lecturer, at the hope chapel, new york. there were beery chuckles from the reporters who were "covering" this effort. "lola montez in the chapel pulpit is good fun," was the conclusion at which one of them arrived; and another headed his column, "a desperado in dimity." judging from his account of this initial sample (a lecture on "beautiful women"), the _tribune_ representative did not regard it very seriously: "temperance, exercise, and cleanliness, preached lola the plucky; light suppers and reasonable hours; jolly long walks in thick boots and snug wrappers for the benefit of the complexion. from these, said lola, come good digestion, good humour, and good sense. and that's the way, my dear flora, to be healthy and wealthy--speaking crinolinely and red-petticoatedly--and wise." lola was before her time. nowadays she would have set up as a "beauty specialist." had she done so, she would have secured a big income from the sale of creams and perfumes, powders and paints, and dyes and unguents, and all the other nostrums with which women endeavour to recover their vanished charms. but, instead of becoming a practitioner, she became an author and compiled a handbook, _the arts of beauty, or secrets of a lady's toilet_. this went very fully into the subject, and had helpful hints on "complexion treatment," "hair culture," "removal of wrinkles," and what was then coyly termed "bust development." importance was also attached to "intellect," as a sovereign specific for repairing the ravages of advancing years. "a beautiful mind," announced the author, "is the first thing required for a beautiful face." lola's light was not hidden under any bushel. an american firm of publishers, convinced that there was money in this sort of thing, made an acceptable offer and issued the work with a prefatory inscription: +--------------------------------------------------------+ | to | | all men and women | | of every land | | who are not afraid of themselves | | who trust so much to their own souls that they dare to | | stand up | | in the might of their | | own individuality | | to meet the tidal currents of the world, this book is | | respectfully dedicated by | | the author | +--------------------------------------------------------+ the title-page of this effort ran as follows: +---------------------------------+ | the | | arts of beauty | | or | | secrets of a lady's toilet | | with hints to gentlemen | | on the | | art of fascination | | by madame lola montez | | countess of landsfeld | | new york | | dick and fitzgerald, publishers | | ann street | +---------------------------------+ a canadian publisher, john lovell, on the look-out for a novelty, read this effort and suggested that a friend of his, Émile chevalier, of paris, should sponsor an edition of lola's _arts of beauty_ for consumption on the boulevards. "i am too much an admirer of the gifted author," was m. chevalier's response, "to undertake the work without consulting her." accordingly, he got into touch with lola, offering to have a translation made. "thank you," she replied, "but i wish to do it myself. you, however, can put in any corrections you think necessary. i have not written anything in french since the death of poor bon-bon [dujarier], and i want to see if i still remember the language." apparently she did so, for, shortly afterwards, the manuscript was sent across the atlantic and delivered to m. chevalier. within another month it was on the bookstalls. "i have retouched it very little," says the editor in his preface, "as i was anxious to preserve madame lola's distinctly original style. her pen is as mordant as her dog-whip." m. chevalier was charmed with the fashion in which lola had acquitted herself, and wrote florid letters of thanks to her in new york. with a supplementary lecture on "instructions for gentlemen in the art of fascination," which was added to fill up the book, he declared himself much impressed. "this," he says, "exhibits a profound knowledge of the human heart, and is altogether one of the finest and most piquant criticisms on american manners with which i am familiar." "who," he continues, warming to his work, "is more thoroughly qualified to discuss the development and preservation of natural beauty than the countess of landsfeld?"; and in an introductory puff he adds: "these observations are very judicious, and as applicable in europe as in america. they should, i feel, be indelibly engraved on the minds of all sensible women." perhaps they were. at any rate, the result of m. chevalier's enterprise was a distinct success, and the paris bookshops soon got rid of , copies. in fact, lola was very nearly a best-seller. in addition to her expert views on "beautiful women," lola had plenty of other subjects up her sleeve, to be incorporated in a series of lectures. the list covered a wide range, for it included such diverse headings as "ladies with pasts," "heroines of history," "romanism," "wits and women of paris," "comic aspects of love," and "gallantry." on all of these matters she had plenty to say. on some of them quite a lot, for they ran to an average of a dozen closely printed pages, and, when delivered in public, took up three hours. in the one on "beautiful women" precise details were given as to the adventitious causes contributing to her own sylph-like figure, glossy hair and pearly teeth, etc., and a number of prescriptions were also offered. these, she recommended, should be manufactured at home. "for a few shillings and a little trouble," she pointed out, "any lady can secure an adequate supply of all such things, composed of materials far superior to the expensive compounds bought from druggists;" and the recipes, she insisted, "had been translated by herself from the original french, spanish, german, and italian." among these were _beaume à l'antique_, _unction de maintenon_, and _pommade de seville_; and "a retired actress at gibraltar" was responsible for a specific for "warding off baldness." lola put it in two words--"avoid nightcaps." but she was sympathetic about scalp troubles. "without a fine head of hair, no woman can be really beautiful.... the dogs would bark at and run away from her in the street." to be well covered on top was, she held, "quite as important for the opposite sex." "how like a fool or a ruffian," she remarked, "do the noblest masculine features appear if the hair of the head is bad. many a dandy who has scarcely brains or courage enough to catch a sheep has enslaved the hearts of a hundred girls with his hyperion locks!" although nominally the author of them, these lectures were, like her previous flight, really strung together by that clerical "ghost," the rev. chauncey burr, with whom she had collaborated in her "memoirs." wielding a ready pen, he gave good value, for the chapters were well sprinkled with choice classical quotations and elegant extracts from the poets, together with allusions to aristotle and theophrastus, to madame de staël and washington irving. in the lecture on "gallantry," lola had a warm encomium for king ludwig. "his majesty," she informed her audience, "is one of the most refined and high-toned gentlemen of the old school of manners. he is also one of the most learned men of genius in all europe. to him art is more indebted than to any other monarch who has ever lived. king ludwig is the author of several volumes of poems, which are evidence of his natural genius and elaborately cultivated taste.... he worships beauty like one of the old troubadours; and his gallantry is caused by his love of art. he was the greatest and best king bavaria ever had." in another passage she had a smack at the catholic church: "an evil hour brought into ludwig's counsels the most despotic and illiberal of the jesuits. through the influence of his ministers the natural liberality of the king was perpetually thwarted; and the government degenerated into a petty tyranny, where priestly influence was sucking out the very life-blood of the people." more than something of a doctrinaire, her observations on "romanism" (which she dubbed "an abyss of superstition and moral pollution") might have fallen from the lips of a hot-gospeller of to-day. "who," she asked her hearers, "shall compute the stupefying and brutalizing effects of such religion? who will dare tell me that this terrible church does not lie upon the bosom of the present time like a vast, unwieldy, and offensive corpse? america does not yet recognise how much she owes to the protestant principle. it is that principle which has given the world the four greatest facts of modern times--steamboats, railroads, telegraphs, and the american republic." this somewhat novel definition of "the four greatest facts of modern times" was received with rapture by its hearers. despite certain jeers from some of the reviewers, the lectures continued to attract the public. the novelty of lola montez at the rostrum drew large audiences everywhere; and she had no difficulty in arranging a long tour. feeling, when it came to an end, that a similar measure of success might be secured on the other side of the atlantic, she resolved to visit england. just before leaving america for this purpose, she wrote to a one-time munich acquaintance, who was then editing a new york magazine: yorkville, _august , ._ my dear mr. leland, i wish to thank you for the very kind notice you gave in your interesting magazine of my first book, and i have requested messrs. dick and fitzgerald, my publishers, to send to your private address a copy of my _arts of beauty_. i hope, as a _critique_, it will be found "not wanting" (i do not mean not wanted). will you give my best and kindest regards to our friend caxton; and, with the hope of hearing from you before i leave for europe, which will be in a couple of months, i remain, far or near, your friend, lola montez. of course, there was a postscript: "the subject of my lectures in europe will be on america. this should prove attractive." another letter suggests that an appointment with leland had not been kept: i should have much liked to have seen you before my departure for ireland on tuesday by pacific, but i cannot control circumstances, you know; and therefore all i ask you until my return next july is a "place in your memory." maybe, i shall write to you, or, maybe, not. but, whatever is, be sure that _you_ will not be forgotten by yrs. lola montez. again the inevitable postscript: "give my best and kindest regards to _our friend_. tell him i shall certainly manage to fill his columns with plenty more newspaper lectures." according to himself, lola looked upon the young american with something more than mere friendship. "once," he says, in his reminiscences, "she proposed to make a bolt with me to europe, which i declined. the secret of my influence," he adds smugly, "was that i always treated her with respect, and never made love." iii it was at the end of november, , that lola landed once more in the united kingdom. she began her campaign there in dublin, where, twenty-four years earlier, she had lived as a young bride, danced at the castle, and flirted with the viceroy's aides-de-camp. during the interval a crowded chapter, and one full of colour and life and movement, had been written. all being in readiness, the public were duly informed of her plans by an advertisement: madame lola montez, countess of landsfeld, will give a lecture on "america and its people," at the round room, rotundo, on wednesday evening, december . reserved seats, s.; unreserved, s. d. the début would appear to have been highly successful. "the announcement of the lecture," said a report the next morning, "created a degree of interest almost unparalleled among the dublin public. the platform was regularly carried by a throng of admirers, giving madame lola montez barely space to reach her desk. she was listened to with enraptured attention and warm manifestations of approval"; and "very properly, an ill-bred fellow, who exclaimed, 'hee-haw' at regular intervals, was loudly hissed." [illustration: _"lectures and life." from stage to platform_] for some reason or other, lola was constantly embroiled with journalists. thus, during this dublin visit she had a passage at arms with one of them, who had published some damaging criticisms about her life in paris. thereupon, she wrote an angry letter to the editor of the _daily express_. as, however, she was alluding to events that had taken place nearly fifteen years earlier, her memory was somewhat at fault. thus, she insisted that, when dujarier met his death, she was living in the house of a dr. and mrs. azan; and also that "the good queen of bavaria wept bitterly when she left munich." but, if lola montez was not very reliable, the editor of the _dublin daily express_ was similarly slipshod in his comments. "it is now," he declared, "well established that lola montez was born in , her father being the son of a baronet." crossing from ireland to england, lola, prior to appearing in london, undertook a tour in the provinces. on january , , she appeared at the free trade hall, manchester, where her subject was "portraits of english and american character." this went down very well, although, to her disappointment, john bright declined to take the chair. at liverpool, however, "the public went almost wild with excitement"; and, as a result, her share of the box-office receipts was £ . but, although she attracted the mob, she managed to upset the susceptibilities of the critics. "some of madam's allusions," declared a shocked hearer, "were in questionable taste, and, as she delivered her address, the epithet 'coarse' fell from several members of the audience." a visit to chester, which followed the liverpool one, was marked by an unfortunate incident: "we learn with sorrow," said an eye-witness, "that on thursday last the lady introduced, if not american, certainly not english, manners into one of our most venerable cathedrals. when, accompanied by a masculine escort, she entered the sacred edifice, the gentleman (?) demurred to removing his hat. while in dispute on this point of etiquette, madam's pet dog attempted to join her. on being informed by the sexton that such canine companionship was inadmissible, her anger was aroused and she withdrew in considerable dudgeon." the provincial tour was an extensive one; and, during it, she encountered a certain amount of competition. thus, at bristol she was sandwiched in between barnum and a quarterly meeting of the bible society. none the less, "the fair lola had a very cordial reception from a number of respectable citizens." but she was to have a set-back in one town that must have held many memories of her girlhood. this was bath, where she appeared in the assembly rooms. the attitude of the press was distinctly inimical. "we must say," was one acid comment, "that a greater _sell_ we have not met with for a very long time. all the audience got for their money were some remarks of the most commonplace and twaddling description. they lasted about an hour, and even this was an hour too much." still, brighton, where the tour finished, more than made up for bath; and she was so successful there that "the pavilion was crammed to the doors, and additional lectures had to be given." thus, all was well that ended well. a provincial triumph was worth having. lola, however, had set her heart on conquering london. with this end in view, accordingly, she despatched an emissary ahead to make the preliminary arrangements. offers of theatres were showered upon her. one was from that remarkable figure, edward tyrell smith. she would probably have done well under his management, for nobody understood showmanship better than this british barnum. in this direction he had nothing to learn from anybody. beginning his career as a sailor, he had soon tired of a life on the ocean wave, and, abandoning the prospect of becoming another nelson, had joined the police force as a humble constable. but he did not remain one long; and became in turn a fleet street publican, the proprietor of a haymarket night-house, an auctioneer, a picture dealer, a bill discounter (with a side line in usury), and the editor of a sunday organ. next, the theatre attracted his energies; and in he secured a lease of drury lane at the moderate rental of £ a week. on boxing-night he offered his first programme there. this consisted of _uncle tom's cabin_ (with "fierce bloodhounds complete"), followed by a full length pantomime and a "roaring farce." value for money in those palmy days. but, as an entrepreneur, mr. smith was always ahead of his period. thus, he abolished the customary charge for booking; and, instead of increasing them, he lowered his prices when he had a success; and it is also to his credit that he introduced matinées. such a manager deserved to go far. this one did go far. having discovered his niche, the pushful smith soon had his fingers in several other pies. thus, from drury lane he went to the alhambra, and from the alhambra to astley's, with intervening spells at the lyceum and the elephant and castle. he also took in his stride her majesty's and cremorne. all was fish that he swept into his net. some, of course, were minnows, but others were tritons. charles mathews and the two keans, together with giuglini and titiens, served under his banner, as did also acrobats, conjurers, and pugilists. he "ran" opera, circuses, gambling hells, and "moral waxworks" simultaneously; and, these fields of endeavour not being enough for him, he added to them by standing for parliament (opposing samuel whitbread) and editing the _sunday times_. always a man of resource, when he was conducting a tavern he put his barmaids into "bloomers." this daring stroke had its reward; and, by swelling the consumption of beer, perceptibly increased his bank balance. hence, it is not perhaps unnatural that such widely spread activities should have inspired a lyrical apostrophe: awake, my muse, with fervour and with pith, to sing the praise of lessee edward smith! yet, shrewd as he was, mr. smith was himself once bitten. during his money-lending interval, he happened to discount (at what he considered a "business" rate) some bills for £ out of which prince louis napoleon, then sheltering in london, had been swindled by some card-sharpers at the notorious judge and jury club. the next morning, the victim, coming to his senses, went to the police, and the police went to the sharpers. as a result, the members of the gang were arrested and the bills were cancelled. feeling that he had a genuine grievance, since he was out of pocket by the transaction, the acceptor waited until a turn of fortune's wheel had established louis napoleon at the tuileries. he then wrote to him for permission to open some pleasure gardens in paris on the lines of those he had conducted at cremorne. the desired permission, however, was withheld. "no gratitude," said the disappointed applicant. iv tempting as were the prospects he offered, lola, after some discussion, felt that she could do better, from a financial point of view, without the help of mr. e. t. smith. accordingly, making her own arrangements, she hired the st. james's hall, where, on april , , she delivered the first of a series of four lectures. although a considerable interval had elapsed since she was last in london, the public had not forgotten the dramatic circumstances under which she had then appeared at marlborough street police court. this fact, combined with the lure of her subject, "beautiful women," was sufficient to cram every portion of the building with an interested and expectant audience. they came from all parts. clapham and highgate were no less anxious for guidance than kensington and belgravia. if an entertainment-tax had been levied at that period the revenue would have benefited substantially. "the appearance on the platform of the fair lecturer," said one account, "was responsible for the most extensive display of opera glasses that has been seen in london since the empress eugénie visited the opera." by an unfortunate coincidence, the st. james's hall _première_ clashed with another attraction elsewhere. this was the confirmation that evening of the dusky king of bonny by the bishop of london. still, a considerable number managed to attend both items; and, of the two, the lecture proved the greater draw. striking a note of warning at the outset, lola began by telling her hearers that, "it is the penalty of nature that young girls must fade and become as wizened as their grandmothers." but she had a message of hope to offer, for, she said, "wrinkles can be warded off and autumn tresses made to preserve their pristine freshness." the cure was merely careful dieting and the "abolition of injurious cosmetics and the health-destroying bodice." taking the measure of her audience, she laid on flattery with a trowel. "you have," she assured them, "only to look into the ranks of the upper classes to see around you the most beautiful women in europe; and where this is concerned, i must give the preference to the nobility of england." among the examples held up for admiration by her were the duchess of sutherland--"the paragon and type of britain's aristocracy"--and "the very voluptuous lady blessington." approval for the duchess of wellington, however, was less pronounced, since, while admitting her physical charms, lola declared her to be "of little intellect, and as cold as a piece of sculpture." claiming to have visited turkey (but omitting to say when), lola offered an item unrecorded in the archives of the british embassy there: "in turkey i saw very few beautiful women. the lords of creation in that part of the world treat the opposite sex as you would geese--stuff them to make them fat. through the politeness of sir stratford canning, english ambassador at constantinople, i was kindly permitted to visit the sultan's harem as often as i pleased and there look upon the 'lights of the world.' these 'lights of the world' consisted of five hundred bodies of unwieldy avoirdupois. the ladies of the harem gazed upon my leanness with commiserating wonder." the lecture finished up on a high note: "it has been my privilege to see some of the most celebrated beauties that shine in the gilded courts of fashion throughout the world--from st. james's to st. petersburg, from paris to india--and yet i am unaware of any quality that can atone for the absence of an unpolished mind and an unlovely heart. a charming activity of soul is the real source of woman's beauty. it is that which gives the sweetest expression to her face and lights up her _personnel_." in the matter of publicity lola had nothing of which to complain; and the next morning descriptive columns were published by the dozen. the début of madame lola montez (announced the _star_), in the presence of a large and fashionable gathering, was a decided success. every portion of the spacious and elegant building was completely filled. madame presented herself in that black velvet costume which seems to be the only alternative to white muslin for ladies who aspire to be considered historic. not marie stuart herself could have become it better than lola montez. her face, air, attitude, and elocution are thoroughly and bewilderingly feminine. perhaps her smartest and happiest remark was the one in which, with a pretty affectation, she says, "if i were a gentleman, i should like an american young lady to flirt with, but a typical english girl for a wife." this dictum was received with much applause. one can well believe it. an anonymous leader, but which, from its florid touches, was evidently penned by george augustus sala, dwelt on lola's personality: some disappointment may have been caused by the appearance of the fair lecturer. a semiramis, a zenobia, a cleopatra, in marvellous robes of gold and silver tissue, might have been looked for; but, in reality, the rostrum was occupied by a very handsome lady, with a very charming voice and a very winning smile.... madame lola montez lectures very well and very naturally. some will go to hear the accomplished elocutionist; others will be envious to see the wife of captain james and silly mr. heald; the friend of dujarier and beauvalon; the _cara sposa_ of king ludwig. phryne went to the bath as venus--and madame lola montez lectures at st. james's hall. taking a professional interest in everything connected, however remotely, with the drama (and having more time in which to do it) the _era_ offered its readers a considered opinion at greater length: if any amongst the full and fashionable auditory that attended her first appearance fancied (with a lively recollection of certain scandalous chronicles in the newspapers touching upon her antecedents) that they were about to behold a formidable-looking woman, of amazonian audacity and palpably strong-wristed as well as strong-minded, their disappointment must have been grievous; greater if they anticipated the legendary bulldog at her side, and the traditionary pistols in her girdle, and the horse-whip in her hand. the lola montez who made a graceful and impressive obeisance to those who gave her on thursday night so cordial and encouraging a reception appeared simply as a good-looking lady in the bloom of womanhood, attired in a plain black dress, with easy unrestrained manners.... the lecture might have been a newspaper article, the first chapter of a book of travels, or the speech of a long-winded american ambassador at a mansion house dinner. all was exceedingly decorous and diplomatic, slightly gilded here and there with those commonplace laudations that stir a british public into the utterance of patriotic plaudits. a more inoffensive entertainment could hardly be imagined; and when the six sections into which the lady had divided her discourse, were exhausted, and her final bow elicited a renewal of the applause that had accompanied her entrance, the impression on the departing visitors must have been that of having spent an hour in company with a well-informed lady who had gone to america, had seen much to admire there, and, coming back, had had over the tea-table the talk of the evening to herself. whatever the future disquisitions of the countess of landsfeld may be, there is little doubt that many will go to hear them for the sake of the peculiar celebrity of the lecturer. to this, the _era_ reporter naïvely added: "her foreign accent might belong to any language from irish to bavarian." lola did not have the field entirely to herself. while she was telling the st. james's hall public how to improve their appearance at very small cost, a rival practitioner, with a _salon_ in bond street, was, in the advertisement columns of the morning papers, announcing her readiness to furnish the necessary requisites at a very high figure. this was a "madame rachel," some of whose dupes parted with as much as five hundred guineas, on the understanding that she would make them "beautiful for ever!" like lola montez, "madame rachel" brought out a puff pamphlet, directing attention to her specifics. this production beat the effort of the rev. chauncey burr, for it bristled with references, to the bible and shakespeare, to grace darling and florence nightingale. among her nostrums was a bottle of "jordan water," which she sold at the modest figure of £ s. a flask. chemical analysis, however, revealed it to have come, not from palestine, but from the river thames. she also supplied, on extortionate terms, various drugs and "medical treatment" of a description upon which the law frowns heavily. as a result, "madame rachel" left bond street for the dock of the old bailey, where she was sent to penal servitude for swindling. in the lecture on "wits and women of paris," lola did not forget her old friends. she had a good word for dumas: "of the literary lights during my residence in paris, alexandre dumas was the first, as he would be in any city anywhere. he was not only the boon companion of princes, but he was the prince of boon companions. he is now about fifty-five years old, a tall, fine-looking man, with intellect stamped on his brow. of all the men i ever met he is the most brilliant in conversation. he is always sought for at convivial suppers, and is always sure to attend them." discretion, perhaps, prevented her saying anything about dujarier and the tragedy of his death. still, she had something to say about roger de beauvoir, whom she declared to be "one of the three men that kept paris alive when i was there." her recollection of jules janin rankled. "he was," she said, "a malicious and caustic critic. everybody feared him, and everybody was civil to him through fear. i do not know anyone (even his wife) who loves him in paris." but eugéne sue was in another category. "he was an honest, sincere, truth-loving man; and it will be long before paris can fill the place which his death has made vacant." in the "heroines of history" lecture the audience were told that "all history is full of startling examples of female heroism, proving that woman's heart is made of as stout a stuff and of as brave a metal as that which beats within the ribs of the coarser sex." but, feminist as she was, lola had no sympathy with any suggestion to grant them the franchise. "women who get together in conventions for the purpose of ousting men will never," she declared, "accomplish anything. they can effect legislation only by quiet and judicious counsel. these convention women are very poor politicians." the last lectures in the series dealt with "comic aspects of love," and "strong-minded women." among the typical specimens offered for consideration were such diverse personalities as semiramis, queen elizabeth, the countess of derby, george sand, and mrs. bloomer. in the discourse on "the comic aspects of love" the range swept from aristotle and plato to mahomet and the mormons. if the b.b.c. had been in existence, lola would undoubtedly have been booked for a "talk." as it was, two of the lectures were reprinted in _the welcome guest_, "a magazine of recreative reading for all," with robert browning, charles kingsley and monckton milnes among its contributors. thinking they had a market, an enterprising publisher rushed out a volume, _the lectures of lola montez_. when a copy reached the editor, it was reviewed in characteristically elephantine fashion by the _athenæum_: "we can imagine the untravelled dames of fifth avenue listening with wonder to a female lecturer who seems to have lived hand in glove with all the crowned heads of europe; and who can tell them, not only who's-who, but also repeat their conversations, criticise their personal appearances, and describe the secret arts by which the men preserve their powers and the women their beauty." chapter xvii the curtain falls i at the end of the year , lola, once more a bird of passage, was on the way back to america, taking with her some fresh material for another lecture campaign. this, entitled "john bull at home," fell very flat; and instead of, as hitherto, addressing crowded halls, she now found scanty gatherings wherever she was booked. even when the charge of admission was reduced from the original figure of a dollar to one of cents, "business" did not improve. uncle sam made it obvious that he took no sort of interest in john bull, either at home or elsewhere. america, however, was, as it happened, taking a very lively interest in something else just then that did happen to be connected with john bull's country. this was the visit of the prince of wales. it had been announced by an imaginative journalist that h.r.h. was to be "piloted" during his tour by john camel heenan, otherwise the "benicia boy." it was, however, under the more rigid tutelage of general bruce that the distinguished guest landed on american shores. mere prose not being adequate to record the historic incident a laureate set to work: he came! a slender youth and fair! a courtly, gentlemanly grace--the grace of god! the tenure of his mother's throne, and great men's fame sat like a sparkling jewel on his brow. ah, albert edward! when you homeward sail take back with you, and treasure in your soul a wholesome lesson which you here may learn! while he was in new york a ball in honour of the prince was given at the opera house by the "committee of welcome." this inspired a second laureate, edmund clarence stedman: but as albert edward, young and fair, stood on the canopied dais-chair, and looked from the circle crowding there to the length and breadth of the outer scene, perhaps he thought of his mother, the queen: (long may her empery be serene! long may the heir of england prove loyal and tender; may he pay no less allegiance to her love than to the sceptre of her sway!) the visit of the prince of wales was not the only attraction challenging the popularity of lola montez at this period. there was another rival, and one in more direct competition with herself. this was sam cowell, a music-hall "star" from england. a comedian of genuine talent, he took america by storm with a couple of ballads, "the rat-catcher's daughter" and "villikins and his dinah." the public flocked to hear him in their thousands. lola's lectures fell very flat. even fresh material and reduced prices failed to serve as a lure. the position was becoming serious. but, while her manager looked glum when he examined the box-office figures, lola was not upset, for she had suddenly developed another activity, and one to which she was giving all her attention. this was the occult. the "voices" at whose bidding she had abandoned the stage a couple of years earlier were now insistent that she should drop the platform; and, casting in her lot with the "spirits," get into touch with a mysterious region vaguely referred to as "the beyond." it was a time when spiritualism was flourishing like a green bay tree. mrs. hayden ("the wife of a respectable journalist") and the fox sisters had been playing their pranks for years and collecting dollars from dupes all over the country; and their rivals, the davenport brothers, with daniel dunglas home (browning's "sludge, the medium") were humbugging harvard professors, financial magnates, and supreme court judges; and, not to be behindhand, other experts were (for a cash consideration) calling up columbus and shakespeare and napoleon, who talked to them at séances as readily as if they were at the end of a telephone, but with pronounced american accents. [illustration: _countess of landsfeld. a favourite portrait_ (_harvard theatre collection_)] lola's first reaction was all that could be desired. there never was a more promising recruit or a more receptive one. quite prepared to take the "voices" on trust, and to contribute liberally to the "cause," she attended a number of psychic circles, arranged by stephen andrews and other charlatans; listened to mysterious rappings and tappings coming out of the darkness; felt inanimate objects being lifted across the room; heard tambourines rattled by invisible hands; and unquestionably swallowed all the traditional tomfoolery that appears to be part and parcel of such "phenomena." this state of things might have continued indefinitely. by, however, an unfortunate mischance, a "medium," from whom much was expected, went, in his endeavour to give satisfaction, a little too far. not keeping a vigilant eye on european happenings, he announced at one such gathering that the "spirit" addressing the assembly was that of ludwig of bavaria. as, however, ludwig was still in the land of the living (where, by the way, he remained for several years to come) it was a bad slip. the result was, lola felt her faith shaken, and, convinced that she was being exploited, shut up her purse, and withdrew from the promised "guidance." ii under stress of emotion, some women take to the bottle; others to the bible. with lola montez, however, it was a case of from bunkum to boanerges, from the circle to the conventicle. spiritualism had been tried and found wanting. casting about for something with which to fill the empty niche and adjust her equilibrium, she turned to religion for consolation. the brand she selected was that favoured by the methodists. one would scarcely imagine that little bethel would have had much appeal to her. but perhaps its very drabness and remoteness from the world of the footlights proved a welcome relief. having "got religion," lola fastened upon it with characteristic fervour. it occupied all her thoughts; and in the process she soon developed what would now be dubbed a marked inferiority-complex. "lord," she wrote at this period, "thy mercies are great to me. oh! how little are they deserved, filthy worm that i am! oh! that the holy spirit may fill my soul with prayer! lord, have mercy on thy weary wanderer, and grant me all i beseech of thee! oh! give me a meek and lowly heart. amen." a doctor, had she consulted one just then, would probably have prescribed a blue pill. there is a theory that the "light" had been vouchsafed as the result of a chance visit to spurgeon's tabernacle when she was last in england. although spurgeon himself never put forward any such claim, a diary that lola kept at the time has a significant entry: london, _september , ._ how many, many years of my life have been sacrificed to satan and my own love of sin! what have i not been guilty of in thought or deed during these years of wretchedness! oh! i dare not think of the past. what have i not been! i only lived for my own passions; and what is there of good even in the best natural human being! what would i not give to have my terrible and fearful experience given as an awful warning to such natures as my own! a week later, things not having improved during the interval, she took stock of her position in greater detail: i am afraid sometimes that i think too well of myself. but let me only look back to the past. oh! how i am humbled.... how manifold are my sins, and how long in years have i lived a life of evil passions without a check! to-morrow (the lord's day) is the day of peace and happiness. once it seemed to me anything but a happy day. but now all is wonderfully changed in my heart.... this week i have principally sinned through hastiness of temper and uncharitableness of feeling towards my neighbour. oh! that i could have only love for others and hatred of myself! another passage ran: to-morrow is sunday, and i shall go into the poor little humble chapel, and there will i mingle my prayers with the fervent pastor, and with the good and true. there is no pomp or ceremony among these. all is simple. no fine dresses, no worldly display, but the honest methodist breathes forth a sincere prayer, and i feel much unity of souls. the "conversion" of lola montez was no flash in the pan, or the result of a sudden impulse. it was a real one, deep and sincere and lasting. her former triumphs on the stage and in the boudoir had become as dust and ashes. compared with her new-found joy in religion, all else was vanity and emptiness. "i can forget my french and german, and everything else i have valued," she is declared to have said to a pressman, who, scenting a "news story," followed hot-foot on her track, "but i cannot forget my christ." she had been "montez the magnificent." now she was "montez the magdalen." the woman whose voluptuous beauty and unbridled passion had upset thrones and fired the hearts of men was now concerned with the saving of souls. as such, she resolved to spread "the word" among others less happily circumstanced. to this end, she preached in conventicles and visited hospitals, asylums, and prisons, offering a helping hand to all who would accept one, and especially to "unfortunates" of her own sex. she had her disappointments. but neither snubs nor setbacks, nor sneers nor jeers could turn her from the path she had elected to tread. "in the course of a long experience as a christian minister," says a clergyman whom she encountered at this period, "i do not think i ever saw deeper penitence and humility, more real contrition of soul, and more bitter self-reproach than in this poor woman." "with," he adds, in an oleaginous little tract on the subject, "a heart full of generous sympathy for the poor outcasts of her own sex, she devoted the last few months of her life to visiting them at the magdalen asylum, near new york.... she strove to impress upon them not only the awful guilt of breaking the divine law, but the inevitable earthly sorrow which those who persisted with thoughtless desperation in sinful courses were assuredly treasuring up for themselves." but, except those who encountered her charity and self-sacrifice, there were few who had a good word for lola montez in her character as a magdalen. people who had fawned upon her in the days of her success now jeered and sneered and affected to doubt the reality of her penitence. "once a sinner, always a sinner," they declared; and "lola in the pulpit is rich!" was another barbed shaft. in thus abandoning the buskin for the bible, lola montez was following one example and setting another. the example she followed was that of mlle gautier, of the comédie française, who, after flashing across the horizon of maurice de saxe (and several others), left the footlights and retired to a convent. "it is true," she says in her memoirs, "that i have encountered during my theatrical career a number of people whose morals have been as irreproachable as their talents, but i myself was not among them." this was putting it--well--mildly, for, according to le d'hoefer, "her stage career was marked by a freedom of manner pushed to the extremity of licence." in the sisterhood that she joined the new name of mlle gautier was sister augustine. as such, she lived a carmelite nun for thirty-two years. but time did not hang heavy on her hands, for, in addition to religious exercises and domestic tasks, she occupied herself with painting miniatures and composing verses. "i am so happy here," she wrote from her cell, "that i much regret having delayed too long entering this holy place. the real calm and peace i have now discovered have made me imagine all my previous life an evil dream." the example that lola montez was setting was to be followed, fifty years later, by another member of her calling. this was eve lavalliére, who, after a distinctly hectic career, cut herself adrift from the footlights of paris and entered the mission-field of north africa. "here at your feet," she says in one of her letters, "lies the vilest, lowest, and most contemptible object on earth, a worm from the dung-heap, the most infamous, the most soiled of all creatures. lord, i am but a poor sheep in your flock!" there is also something of a parallel between the career of lola montez and that of theodora, who, once in the circus ring, and, at the start, a lady of decidedly easy virtue, afterwards became the consort of the emperor justinian and shared his throne. like lola, too, theodora endeavoured to make amends for her early slips by voluntarily abandoning the pomp and power she had once enjoyed and giving herself up to the redemption of "fallen women." iii perhaps the "spirits" resented being abandoned by her in summary fashion; perhaps she had overtaxed her energies addressing outdoor meetings in all weathers. at any rate, and whatever the cause, while she was travelling in the country during the winter of , lola montez was suddenly stricken down by a mysterious illness. as it baffled the hospital doctors, she had to be taken back to new york. there, instead of getting better, she gradually got worse, developing consumption, followed by partial paralysis. "what a study for the thoughtless; what a sermon on the inevitable result of human vanity!" was the ghoulish comment of a scribbler. rufus blake, an entrepreneur, under whose banner she had once starred, has some reminiscences of her at this period. "she lived," he says, "in strict retirement, reading religious books, and steadily, calmly, hopefully preparing for death, fully convinced that consumption had snapped the pillars of her life and that she was soon to make her final exit." after an interval, word of lola's collapse reached england by means of a cutting in a theatrical paper. there it appears to have touched a long slumbering maternal chord. "mrs. craigie," says a paragraphist, "suddenly arrived in america, anxious, as next of kin, to secure her daughter's property. on discovering, however, that none existed, she hurried back again, leaving behind her a sum of three pounds for medicine and other necessities." cast off by her fair-weather friends, bereft of her looks, poverty-stricken, and ravaged by an insidious illness, the situation of lola montez was, during that winter of , one to excite pity among the most severe of judges. under duress, even her new found trust in providence began to falter. was prayer, she wondered forlornly, to fail her like everything else? suddenly, however, and when things were at their darkest, a helping hand was offered. one bitter evening, as she sat brooding in the miserable lodging where she had secured temporary shelter, she was visited by a mrs. buchanan, claiming her as a friend of the long distant past. the years fell back; and, with an effort, lola recognised in the visitor a girl, now a mature matron, whom she had last met in montrose. the sympathy of mrs. buchanan, shared to the full by her husband, a prosperous merchant, was of a practical description. although familiar with the many lapses in lola's career, they counted for nothing beside the fact that she was in sore need. bygones were bygones. insisting that the stricken woman should leave her wretched surroundings, mrs. buchanan took her into her own well-appointed house, provided doctors and nurses, and did all that was possible to smooth her path. deeply religious herself, she soon won back her faltering faith, and summoned a clergyman, the rev. dr. hawks, to prepare her for the inevitable and rapidly approaching end. a smug little booklet, _the story of a penitent: lola montez_, published under the auspices of the "protestant society for the promotion of evangelical knowledge," was afterwards written by this shepherd. since his name did not appear on the title page, he was able to make several unctuous references to himself. "most acceptable," he says in one characteristic passage, "were his ministrations. refreshing, too, to his own spirit were his interviews with her." "it was," he continues, "in the latter part of that i received a message from the unhappy woman so well known to the public under the name of lola montez, earnestly requesting me to visit her and minister to her spiritual wants. she had been stricken down by a paralysis of her left side. for some days she was unconscious, and her death seemed to be at hand. she had, however, rallied, and a most benevolent christian female, who had been her schoolmate in scotland in the days of her girlhood, and knew her well, had stepped forward and provided for the temporal comfort of the afflicted companion of her childhood. the real name of lola montez was eliza g., and she was of respectable family in ireland, where she was born." but neither the rev. mr. hawks, with his oiliness and smug piety, nor mrs. buchanan, with her true womanly sympathy and understanding, could bring lola montez back to health, any more than--for all their pills and purges--could the doctors and nurses round her bed. she lay there, day after day, aware of their presence, but unable to move or speak. yet, able to think. thoughts crowded upon her in a series of flashing pictures; a bewildering phantasmagoria, coming out of the shadows, and beckoning to her. childhood's memories of india; hot suns, marching men, palanquins and elephants; montrose and a dour calvinism; bath and sir jasper nicolls; love's young dream; lieutenant james and the runaway marriage in dublin; another experience of india's coral strand; kind-hearted captain craigie and hard-hearted george lennox; the consistory court proceedings; fiasco at her majesty's theatre; ranelagh and lumley; _wanderjahre_ and odyssey; paris and dujarier; ludwig and the steps of a throne; passion and poetry; intrigues and liaisons; cornet heald and patrick hull; voyages from the old world to the new; mining camps and backwoods; palaces and conventicles; glittering triumphs and abject failures. and now, gasping and struggling for breath, the end. the sands were running out. the days slipped away, and, with them, the last vitality of the woman who had once been so full of life and the joy of living. the doctors did what they could. but it was very little, for lola montez was beyond their help. the end was fast at hand. it came with merciful swiftness. on january , , she turned her face to the wall and drew a last shuddering breath. "i am very tired," she whispered. the funeral took place two days later. "accompanied by some of our most respected citizens and their families," says an eye-witness, "the cortège left the house of mrs. buchanan for green-wood cemetery." "the rev. dr. hawks," adds a second account, "was constantly at the bedside of lola montez, and gave her the benefit of his pastoral care as freely as if she had been a member of his own flock. he conducted her obsequies in an impressive fashion; and mr. brown, his assistant, who had himself attended so many funerals and weddings in his day, was seen to wipe the tears from his eyes, as he heard the reverend gentleman remark to mrs. buchanan that he had never met with an example of more genuine penitence." "is not this a brand plucked from the burning?" enquired the rev. mr. hawks, as he stood addressing the company assembled round the grave. he himself was assured that the description was thoroughly applicable to the woman lying there. "i never saw," he declared, "a more humble penitent. when i prayed with her, nothing could exceed the fervour of her devotion; and never have i had a more watchful and attentive hearer when i read the scriptures.... if ever a repentant soul loathed past sin, i believe hers did." possibly, since it could scarcely have been mrs. buchanan, it was this clerical busybody who was responsible for the inscription on lola's headstone: mrs. eliza gilbert died january , . an odd mask under which to shelter the identity of the gifted woman who, given in baptism the names marie dolores eliza rosanna, had flashed across three continents as lola montez, countess of landsfeld. [illustration: _grave of lola montez, in green-wood cemetery, new york_ (_photo by miss ida u. mellen, new york_)] iv misrepresented as she had been in her life, lola montez was even more misrepresented after her death. the breath was scarcely out of her body, when a flood of cowardly scurrilities was poured from the gutter press. her good deeds were forgotten; only her derelictions were remembered. one such obituary notice began: "a woman who, in the full light of the nineteenth century, renewed all the scandals that disgraced the middle ages, and, with an audacity that is almost unparalleled, seated herself upon the steps of a throne, is worthy of mention; if only to show to what extent vice can sometimes triumph, and to what a fall it can eventually come." an editorial, which was published in one of the new york papers, contained some odd passages: "among the most ardent admirers of lola montez was a young scotsman, a member of the illustrious house of lennox, who was with difficulty restrained by his family from offering her his hand. in london the deceased led a gay life, being courted by the earl of malmesbury and other distinguished noblemen. wherever she went, she was the observed of all observers, conquering the hearts of men of all countries by her beauty and blandishments, and their admiration by her unflinching independence of character and superior intellectual endowments." the death of lola montez did not pass without comment in england. the _athenæum_ necrologist accorded her half a column of obituary, in which she was described as "this pretty, picaroon woman, whose name can never be omitted from any chronicle of bavaria." a grub street hack, employed by the curiously named _gentleman's magazine_, slung together a column of abuse and lies, founded on tap-room gossip: "when not yet sixteen, she ran away from a school near cork with a young officer of the bengal army, lieutenant gilbert (_sic_), who married her and took her to india. in consequence of her bad conduct there, he was soon obliged to send her back to europe. she first tried the stage as a profession, but, failing at it, she eventually adopted a career of infamy." a writer in _temple bar_ has endeavoured, and, on the whole, with fair measure of success, to preserve the balance: "with more of the good and more of the evil in her composition than in that of most of her sisters, lola montez made a wreck of her life by giving reins to the latter; and she stands out as a prominent example of the impossibility of a woman breaking away from the responsibilities of her sex with any permanent gain, either to herself or to society. her passionate, enthusiastic and loving nature was her strength which, by fascinating all who came into contact with her, was also her weakness." cameron rogers, writing on "gay and gallant ladies," sums up the career of lola montez in deft fashion: "thus passed one who has been called the cleopatra and the aspasia of the nineteenth century. a very gallant and courageous lady, certainly; and, though she used her beauty and her mind not in accordance with the decalogue, yet worthy to be remembered as much for the excellent vigour of the latter as for the perfection of the former. individual damnation or salvation in such a case as hers are matters of strict opinion; but for lola's brief to the last judgment there is an ancient tag that might never be more aptly appended. like the moral of her life, it is exceedingly trite--_quia multum amavit._" this is well put. v even after she was in it, and might, one would think, have been left there in peace, the dead woman was not allowed to rest quietly in her grave. some years later her mantle was impudently assumed by an alleged actress, who, dubbing herself "countess of landsfeld," undertook a lecture tour in america. if she had no other gift, this one certainly had that of imagination. "i was born," she said to a reporter, "in florence, and my mother, lola montez, was really married to the king ludwig of bavaria. this marriage was strictly valid, and my mother's title of countess was afterwards conferred on myself. the earliest recollections i have are of being brought up by some nuns in a convent in the black forest. but for the help of the good dr. döllinger, who assisted me to escape, i should still have been kept there, a victim of political interests." this nonsense was eagerly swallowed; and for some time the pseudo-"countess" attracted a following and reaped a rich harvest. it was not until diplomatic representations were made that her career was checked. on christmas day, , a new york obituary announced the death of a woman, alice devereux, the wife of a carpenter in poor circumstances. it further declared that she was the "daughter of the notorious lola montez, and may well have been the grand-daughter of lord byron." to this it added: "society has maintained a studious and charitable reserve as to the parentage of lola montez. all that is definitely known on the subject is that a fox-hunting irish squire, sir edward gilbert, was the husband of her mother." thus is "history" written. nor would the "spirits" leave poor lola in peace. in the year a woman "medium," calling herself madam anna o'delia diss debar (but, under pressure, admitting to several _aliases_) claimed to be a daughter of lola montez. as such, she conducted a number of séances, and, in return for cash down, evoked the spirit of her alleged mother. some of the cash was extracted from the pocket of a credulous lawyer, one luther marsh. thinking he had not had fair value for his dollars, he eventually prosecuted madam for fraud, and had her sent to prison. she was not disturbed again until the winter of , when an austrian "medium," rudi schneider, with, to adopt the jargon of his craft, a "trance-personality" called olga (who professed to be an incarnation of lola montez), gave some séances in london. the extinguishing of the lights and the wheezing of a gramophone were followed by the usual "manifestations." thus, curtains flapped, books fell off chairs, tambourines rattled in locked cupboards, and bells jangled, etc. but lola montez herself was too bashful to appear. none the less, a number of "scientists" (all un-named) afterwards announced that "everything was very satisfactory." thinking that these claims to get into touch with the dead should be subjected to a more adequate test, mr. harry price, director of the national laboratory of psychical research, arranged for rudi schneider to give a sample of his powers to a committee of experts. as a convincing test, major hervey de montmorency (a nephew of the mr. francis leigh with whom lola had once lived in paris) suggested that the accomplished "olga" should be asked the name of his uncle (which was different from his own) and the circumstances under which they had parted. this was done, and "olga" promised to give full details at the next sitting. but the promise was not kept. "she conveniently shelved every question," says the official report. altogether, rudi schneider's stock fell. vi the body of lola montez, countess of landsfeld, and canoness of the order of st. thérèse, has now been crumbling in the dust of a distant grave, far from her own kith and kindred, for upwards of seventy years. her name, however, will still be remembered when that of other women who have filled a niche in history will have been forgotten. lola montez was no common adventuress. by her beauty and intelligence and magnetism she weaved a spell on well nigh all who came within her radius. never any member of her sex quite like this one. had she been born in the middle ages, superstition would have had it that venus herself was revisiting the haunts of men in fresh guise. but she would then probably have perished at the stake, accused of witchcraft by her political opponents. as it was, even in the year a sovereign demanded that a professional exorcist should "drive the devil out of her." to present lola montez at her true worth, to adjust the balance between her merits and her demerits, is a difficult task. a woman of a hundred opposing facets; of rare culture and charm, and of whims and fancies and strange enthusiasms each battling with the other. thus, by turns tender and callous, hot-tempered and soft-hearted; childishly simple in some things, and amazingly shrewd in others; trusting and suspicious; arrogant and humble, yet supremely indifferent to public opinion; grateful for kindness and loyal to her friends, but neither forgetting nor forgiving an injury. men had treated her worse than she had treated them. for the rest, a flashing, vivid personality, full of resource and high courage, and always meeting hard knocks and buffets with equanimity. lola montez had lived every moment of her life. in the course of their career, few women could have cut a wider swath, or one more colourful and glamorous. she had beauty and intelligence much above the average. all the world had been her stage; and she had played many parts on it. some of them she had played better than others; but all of them she had played with distinction. she had boxed the compass as no woman had ever yet boxed it. from adventuress to evangelist; coryphée, courtesan, and convert, each in turn. at the start a mixture of cleopatra and aspasia; and at the finish a feminine pelagian. equally at home in the company of princes and poets and diplomats and demireps, during the twenty years she was before the public she had scaled heights and sunk to depths. thus, she had queened it in palaces and in camps; danced in opera houses and acted in booths; she had bent monarchs and politicians to her will; she had stood on the steps of a throne, and in the curb of a gutter; she had known pomp and power, riches and poverty, dazzling successes and abject failures; she had conducted amours and liaisons and intrigues by the dozen; she had made history in two hemispheres; a king had given up his crown for her; men had lived for her; and men had died for her. as with the rest of us, lola montez had her faults. full measure of them. but she also had her virtues. she was gallant and generous and charitable. at the worst, her heart ruled her head; and if she did many a foolish thing, she never did a mean one. * * * * * in the final analysis, when the last balance is struck, this will surely be placed to her credit. * * * * * appendix i extracts from "arts of beauty" by madame lola montez, countess of landsfeld a beautiful face if it be true "that the face is the index of the mind," the recipe for a beautiful face must be something that reaches the soul. what can be done for a human face that has a sluggish, sullen, arrogant, angry mind looking out of every feature? an habitually ill-natured, discontented mind ploughs the face with inevitable marks of its own vice. however well shaped, or however bright its complexion, no such face can ever become really beautiful. if a woman's soul is without cultivation, without taste, without refinement, without the sweetness of a happy mind, not all the mysteries of art can ever make her face beautiful. and, on the other hand, it is impossible to dim the brightness of an elegant and polished intellect. the radiance of a charming mind strikes through all deformity of features, and still asserts its sway over the world of the affections. it has been my privilege to see the most celebrated beauties that shine in all the gilded courts of fashion throughout the world, from st. james's to st. petersburgh, from paris to hindostan, and yet i have found no art which can atone for an unpolished mind, and an unlovely heart. that chastened and delightful activity of soul, that spiritual energy which gives animation, grace, and living light to the animal frame, is, after all, the real source of beauty in a woman. it is _that_ which gives eloquence to the language of her eyes, which sends the sweetest vermilion mantling to the cheek, and lights up the whole _personnel_ as if her very body thought. that, ladies, is the ensign of beauty, and the herald of charms, which are sure to fill the beholder with answering emotion and irrepressible delight. paints and powders if satan has ever had any direct agency in inducing woman to spoil or deform her own beauty, it must have been in tempting her to use _paints_ and _enamelling_. nothing so effectually writes _memento mori!_ on the cheek of beauty as this ridiculous and culpable practice. ladies ought to know that it is a sure spoiler of the skin, and good taste ought to teach them that it is a frightful distorter and deformer of the natural beauty of the "human face divine." the greatest charm of beauty is in the _expression_ of a lovely face; in those divine flashes of joy, and good-nature, and love, which beam in the human countenance. but what expression can there be in a face bedaubed with white paint and enamelled? no flush of pleasure, no thrill of hope, no light of love can shine through the incrusted mould. her face is as expressionless as that of a painted mummy. and let no woman imagine that the men do not readily detect this poisonous mask upon the skin. many a time have i seen a gentleman shrink from saluting a brilliant lady, as though it was a death's head he were compelled to kiss. the secret was that her face and lips were bedaubed with paints. a violently rouged woman is a disgusting sight. the excessive red on the face gives a coarseness to every feature, and a general fierceness to the countenance, which transforms the elegant lady of fashion into a vulgar harridan. but, in no case, can even _rouge_ be used by ladies who have passed the age of life when roses are natural to the cheek. a _rouged_ old woman is a horrible sight--a distortion of nature's harmony! paints are not only destructive to the skin, but they are ruinous to the health. i have known paralytic affections and premature death to be traced to their use. but alas! i am afraid that there never was a time when many of the gay and fashionable of my sex did not make themselves both contemptible and ridiculous by this disgusting trick. let every woman at once understand that paint can do nothing for the mouth and lips. the advantage gained by the artificial red is a thousand times more than lost by the sure destruction of that delicate charm associated with the idea of "nature's dewy lip." there can be no _dew_ on a painted lip. and there is no man who does not shrink back with disgust from the idea of kissing a pair of painted lips. nor let any woman deceive herself with the idea that the men do not instantly detect paint on the lips. a beautiful bosom i am aware that this is a subject which must be handled with great delicacy; but my book would be incomplete without some notice of this "greatest claim of lovely woman." and, besides, it is undoubtedly true that a proper discussion of this subject will seem _peculiar_ only to the most vulgar minded of both sexes. if it be true, as the old poet sung, that "heaven rests on those two heaving hills of snow," why should not a woman be suitably instructed in the right management of such extraordinary charms? the first thing to be impressed upon the mind of a lady is that very low-necked dresses are in exceeding bad taste, and are quite sure to leave upon the mind of a gentleman an equivocal idea, to say the least. a word to the wise on this subject is sufficient. if a young lady has no father, or brother, or husband to direct her taste in this matter, she will do well to sit down and commit the above statement to memory. it is a charm which a woman, who understands herself, will leave not to the public eye of man, but to his imagination. she knows that _modesty_ is the divine spell that binds the heart of man to her forever. but my observation has taught me that few women are well informed as to the physical management of this part of their bodies. the bosom, which nature has formed with exquisite symmetry in itself, and admirable adaptation to the parts of the figure to which it is united, is often transformed into a shape, and transplanted to a place which deprives it of its original beauty and harmony with the rest of the person. this deforming metamorphosis is effected by means of stiff stays, or corsets, which force the part out of its natural position, and destroy the natural tension and firmness in which so much of its beauty consists. a young lady should be instructed that she is not to allow even her own hand to press it too roughly. but, above all things, to avoid, especially when young, the constant pressure of such hard substances as whalebone and steel; for, besides the destruction to beauty, they are liable to produce all the terrible consequences of abscesses and cancers. even the padding which ladies use to give a full appearance, where there is a deficient bosom, is sure in a little time to entirely destroy all the natural beauty of the parts. as soon as it becomes apparent that the bosom lacks the rounded fullness due to the rest of her form, instead of trying to repair the deficiency with artificial padding, it should be clothed as loosely as possible, so as to avoid the least artificial pressure. not only its growth is stopped, but its complexion is spoiled by these tricks. let the growth of this beautiful part be left as unconfined as the young cedar, or as the lily of the field. beauty of deportment it is essential that every lady should understand that the most beautiful and well-dressed woman will fail to be _charming_ unless all her other attractions are set off with a graceful and fascinating deportment. a pretty face may be seen everywhere, beautiful and gorgeous dresses are common enough, but how seldom do we meet with a really beautiful and enchanting demeanour! it was this charm of deportment which suggested to the french cardinal the expression of "the native paradise of angels." the first thing to be said on the art of deportment is that what is becoming at one age would be most improper and ridiculous at another. for a young girl, for instance, to sit as grave and stiff as "her grandmother cut in alabaster" would be ridiculous enough, but not so much so, as for an old woman to assume the romping merriment of girlhood. she would deservedly draw only contempt and laughter upon herself. indeed a modest mien always makes a woman charming. modesty is to woman what the mantle of green is to nature--its ornament and highest beauty. what a miracle-working charm there is in a blush--what softness and majesty in natural _simplicity_, without which pomp is contemptible, and elegance itself ungraceful. there can be no doubt that the highest incitement to love is in modesty. so well do wise women of the world know this, that they take infinite pains to learn to wear the semblance of it, with the same tact, and with the same motive that they array themselves in attractive apparel. they have taken a lesson from sir joshua reynolds, who says: "men are like certain animals who will feed only when there is but little provender, and that got at with difficulty through the bars of a rack; but refuse to touch it when there is an abundance before them." it is certainly important that all women should understand this; and it is no more than fair that they should practise upon it, since men always treat them with disingenuous untruthfulness in this matter. men may amuse themselves with a noisy, loud-laughing, loquacious girl; it is the quiet, subdued, modest, and seeming bashful deportment which is the one that stands the fairest chance of carrying off their hearts. * * * * * appendix ii extracts from "lola montez' lectures" beautiful women the last and most difficult office imposed on psyche was to descend to the lower regions and bring back a portion of proserpine's beauty in a box. the too inquisitive goddess, impelled by curiosity or perhaps by a desire to add to her own charms, raised the lid, and behold there issued forth--a vapour i which was all there was of that wondrous beauty. in attempting to give a definition of beauty, i have painfully felt the force of this classic parable. if i settle upon a standard of beauty in paris, i find it will not do when i get to constantinople. personal qualities, the most opposite imaginable, are each looked upon as beautiful in different countries, and even by different people of the same country. that which is deformity in new york may be beauty in pekin. at one place the sighing lover sees "helen" in an egyptian brow. in china, black teeth, painted eyelids, and plucked eyebrows are beautiful; and should a woman's feet be large enough to walk upon, their owners are looked upon as monsters of ugliness. with the modern greeks and other nations on the shores of the mediterranean, corpulency is the perfection of form in a woman; the very attributes which disgust the western european form the highest attractions of an oriental fair. it was from the common and admired shape of his countrywomen that reubens, in his pictures, delights in a vulgar and almost odious plumpness. he seems to have no idea of beauty under two hundred pounds. his very graces are all fat. hair is a beautiful ornament of woman, but it has always been a disputed point as to what colour it shall be. i believe that most people nowadays look upon a red head with disfavour--but in the times of queen elizabeth it was in fashion. mary of scotland, though she had exquisite hair of her own, wore red fronts out of compliment to fashion and the red-headed queen of england. that famous beauty, cleopatra, was red-haired also; and the venetian ladies to this day counterfeit yellow hair. yellow hair has a higher authority still. the order of the golden fleece, instituted by philip, duke of burgundy, was in honour of a frail beauty whose hair was yellow. so, ladies and gentlemen, this thing of beauty which i come to talk about, has a somewhat migratory and fickle standard of its own. all the lovers of the world will have their own idea of the thing in spite of me. but where are we to detect this especial source of power? often forsooth in a dimple, sometimes beneath the shade of an eyelid or perhaps among the tresses of a little fantastic curl! i once knew a nobleman who used to try to make himself wise, and to emancipate his heart from its thraldom to a celebrated beauty of the court, by continually repeating to himself: "but it is short-lived," "it won't last--it won't last!" ah, me! that is too true--it won't last. beauty has its date, and it is the penalty of nature that girls must fade and become wizened as their grandmothers have done before them. in teaching a young lady to dress elegantly we must first impress upon her mind that symmetry of figure ought ever to be accompanied by harmony of dress, and that there is a certain propriety in habiliment, adapted to form, complexion, and age. to preserve the health of the human form is the first object of consideration, for without that you can neither maintain its symmetry nor improve its beauty. but the foundation of a just proportion must be laid in infancy. "as the twig is bent the tree's inclined." a light dress, which gives freedom to the functions of life, is indispensable to an unobstructed growth. if the young fibres are uninterrupted by obstacles of art, they will shoot harmoniously into the form which nature drew. the garb of childhood should in all respects be easy--not to impede its movements by ligatures on the chest, the loins, the legs, or the arms. by this liberty we shall see the muscles of the limbs gradually assume the fine swell and insertion which only unconstrained exercise can produce. the chest will sway gracefully on the firmly poised waist, swelling in noble and healthy expanse, and the whole figure will start forward at the blooming age of youth, and early ripen to the maturity of beauty. the lovely form of women, thus educated, or rather thus left to its natural growth, assumes a variety of charming characters. in one youthful figure, we see the lineaments of a wood nymph, a form slight and elastic in all its parts. the shape: "small by degrees, and beautifully less, from the soft bosom to the slender waist!" a foot as light as that of her whose flying step scarcely brushed the "unbending corn," and limbs whose agile grace moved in harmony with the curves of her swan-like neck, and the beams of her sparkling eyes. to repair these ravages, comes the aid of padding to give shape where there is none, stays to compress into form the swelling chaos of flesh, and paints of all hues to rectify the dingy complexion; but useless are these attempts--for, if dissipation, late hours, immoderation, and carelessness have wrecked the loveliness of female charms, it is not in the power of esculapius himself to refit the shattered bark, or of the syrens, with all their songs and wiles, to save its battered sides from the rocks, and make it ride the sea in gallant trim again. the fair lady who cannot so moderate her pursuit of pleasure that the feast, the midnight hour, the dance, shall not recur too frequently, must relinquish the hope of preserving her charms till the time of nature's own decay. after this moderation in the indulgence of pleasure, the next specific for the preservation of beauty which i shall give, is that of gentle and daily exercise in the open air. nature teaches us, in the gambols and sportiveness of the lower animals, that bodily exertion is necessary for the growth, vigour, and symmetry of the animal frame; while the too studious scholar and the indolent man of luxury exhibit in themselves the pernicious consequences of the want of exercise. many a rich lady would give thousands of dollars for that full rounded arm, and that peach bloom on the cheek, possessed by her kitchen-maid. well, might she not have had both, by the same amount of exercise and simple living? but i weary of this subject of cosmetics, as every woman of sense will at last weary of the use of them. it is a lesson which is sure to come; but, in the lives of most fashionable ladies, it has small chance of being needed until that unmentionable time, when men shall cease to make baubles and playthings of them. it takes most women two-thirds of their lifetime to discover that men may be amused by, without respecting, them; and every woman may make up her mind that to be really respected she must possess merit; she must have accomplishments of mind and heart, and there can be no real beauty without these. if the soul is without cultivation, without refinement, without taste, without the sweetness of affection, not all the mysteries of art can make the face beautiful; and, on the other hand, it is impossible to dim the brightness of an elegant and polished mind; its radiance strikes through the encasements of deformity, and asserts its sway over the world of the affections. gallantry a history of the beginning of the reign of gallantry would carry us back to the creation of the world; for i believe that about the first thing that man began to do after he was created, was to make love to woman. there was no discussion, then, about "woman's rights," or "woman's influence"--woman had whatever her soul desired, and her will was the watchword for battle or peace. love was as marked a feature in the chivalric character as valour; and he who understood how to break a lance, and did not understand how to win a lady, was held to be but half a man. he fought to gain her smiles--he lived to be worthy of her love. in those days, to be "a servant of the ladies" was no mere figure of the imagination--and to be in love was no idle pastime; but to be profoundly, furiously, almost ridiculously in earnest. in the mind of the cavalier, woman was a being of mystic power. as in the old forests of germany, she had been listened to like a spirit of the woods, melodious, solemn and oracular. so when chivalry became an institution, the same idea of something supernaturally beautiful in her character threw a shadow over her life, and she was not only loved but revered. and never were men more constant to their fair ladies than in the proudest days of chivalry. there is no such thing as genuine gallantry either in france or england. in france the relation between the sexes is too fickle, variable, and insincere, for any nearer approach to gallantry than flirtation; while in england the aristocracy, which is the only class in that country that could have the genuine feeling of gallantry, are turned shop-owners and tradesmen. the smiths and the joneses who figure on the signboards have the nobility standing behind them as silent partners. the business habits of the united states and the examples of rapid fortunes in this country have quite turned the head of john bull, and he is very fast becoming a sharp, thrifty, money-getting yankee. a business and commercial people have no leisure for the cultivation of that feeling and romance which is the foundation of gallantry. the activities of human nature seek other more practical and more useful channels of excitement. instead of devoting a life to the worship and service of the fair ladies, they are building telegraphs, railroads, steamboats, constructing schemes of finance, and enlarging the area of practical civilization. heroines of history in attempting to give a definition of strong-minded women, i find it necessary to distinguish between just ideas of strength and what is so considered by the modern woman's rights' movement. a very estimable woman by the name of mrs. bloomer obtained the reputation of being strong-minded by curtailing her skirts six inches, a compliment which certainly excites no envious feeling in my heart; for i am philosophically puzzled to know how cutting six inches off a woman's dress can possibly add anything to the height of her head. one or two hundred women getting together in convention and resolving that they are an abused community, and that all the men are great tyrants and rascals, proves plainly enough that they--the women--are somehow discontented, and that they have, perhaps, a certain amount of courage, but i cannot see that it proves them to have any remarkable strength of mind. really strong-minded women are not women of words, but of deeds; not of resolutions, but of actions. history does not teach me that they have ever consumed much time in conventions and in passing resolutions about their rights; but they have been very prompt to assert their rights, and to defend them too, and to take the consequences of defeat. thus all history is full of startling examples of female heroism, which prove that woman's heart is made of as stout a stuff and of as brave a mettle as that which beats within the ribs of the coarser sex. and if we were permitted to descend from this high plane of public history into the private homes of the world, in which sex, think you, should we there find the purest spirit of heroism? who suffers sorrow and pain with the most heroism of heart? who, in the midst of poverty, neglect and crushing despair, holds on most bravely through the terrible struggle, and never yields even to the fearful demands of necessity until death wrests the last weapon of defence from her hands? ah, if all this unwritten heroism of woman could be brought to the light, even man himself would cast his proud wreath of fame at her feet! rousseau asserts that "all great revolutions were owing to women." the french revolution, the last great and stirring event upon which the world looks back, arose, as burke ill-naturedly expresses it, "amidst the yells and violence of women." we accept the compliment which burke here pays to the power of woman, and attribute the coarseness of his language to the bitter repugnance which every englishman of that day had to everything that was french. no, mr. burke, it was not by "yells and violence" that the great women of france helped on that mighty revolution--it was by the combined power of intellect and beauty. nor will women who get together in conventions for the purpose of berating men, ever accomplish anything. they can effect legislation only by quiet and judicious counsel, with such means as control the judgment and the heart of legislators. and the experience of the world has pretty well proved that a man's judgment is pretty easily controlled when his heart is once persuaded. comic aspect of love my subject to-night is the comic aspect of love. no doubt most of you have had some little experience, at least in the sentimental and sighing side of the tender passion; and what i propose to do is to give you the humorous or comic side. perhaps i ought to begin by begging pardon of the ladies for treating so sacred a thing as love in a comic way, or for turning the ludicrous side of so charming a thing as they find love to be, to the gaze of men--but i wish to premise that i shall not so treat sensible or rational love. of that beautiful feeling, less warm than passion, yet more tender than friendship, i shall not for a moment speak irreverently; of that pure disinterested affection--as charming as it is reasonable, which one sex feels for the other, i cannot speak lightly. but there is a certain romantic senseless kind of love, such as poets sometimes celebrate, and men and women feign, which is a legitimate target for ridicule. this kind of love is fanciful and foolish; it is not the offspring of the heart, but of the imagination. i know that generous deeds and contempt of death have sometimes covered this folly with a veil. the arts have twined for it a fantastic wreath, and the muses have decked it with the sweetest flowers: but this makes it none the less ridiculous nor dangerous. love of this romantic sort is an abstraction much too light and subtle to sustain a tangible existence in the midst of the jostling relations of this busy world. it is a mere bubble thrown to the surface by the passions and fancies of men, and soon breaks by contact with the hard facts of daily life. it is a thing which bears but little handling. the german wieland, who was a great disciple of love, was of opinion that "its metaphysical effects began with the first sigh, and ended with the first kiss!" plato was not far out of the way when he called it "a great devil"; and the man or woman who is really possessed of it will find it a very hard one to cast out. of the refinements of love the great mass of men can know nothing. the truth is that sentimental love is so much a matter of the imagination that the uncultivated have no natural field for its display. in america you can hardly realise the full force of this truth, because the distinctions of class are happily nearly obliterated. here intellectual culture seems to be about equally divided among all classes. i suppose it is not singular in this country to find the poorest cobbler, whose little shanty is next to the proud mansion of some millionaire, a man of really more mental attainments than his rich and haughty neighbour; in which case the millionaire will do well to look to it that the cobbler does not make love to his wife; and if he does, nobody need care much, for the millionaire will be quite sure to reciprocate. the great statute, "tit-for-tat," is, i believe, equally the law of all nations; besides, love is a great leveller of distinction, and it is in this levelling mission that it performs some of its most ridiculous antics. when a rich man's daughter runs off with her father's coachman, as occasionally happens, the whole country is in a roar of laughter about it. there is an innate, popular perception of the ridiculous, but everybody sees and feels that in such cases it is misplaced and grotesque. everyone perceives that the woman's heart has taken the bit in its mouth, and run away with her brains. but, as comedy is often nearly allied to tragedy, so sorrow is sure to come as soon as the little honeymoon is over. this romantic love cannot flourish in the soil of poverty and want. indeed, all the stimulants which pride and luxury can administer to it can hardly keep it alive. the rich miss who runs away with a man far beneath her in education and refinement must inevitably awake, after a brief dream, to a state of things which have made her unfortunate for life; and he, poor man, will not be less wretched, unless she has brought him sufficient money to give him leisure and opportunity to indulge his fancies with that society which is on a level with his own tastes and education. wits and women of paris the french wits tell a laughable story of an untravelled englishman who, on landing at calais, was received by a sulky red-haired hostess, when he instantly wrote down in his note-book: "all french women are sulky and red-haired." we never heard whether this englishman afterwards corrected his first impressions of french women, but quite likely he never did, for there is nothing so difficult on earth as for an englishman to get over first impressions, and especially is this the case in relation to everything in france. an aristocratic englishman may live years in paris without really knowing anything about it. in the first place, he goes there with letters of introduction to the faubourg st. germain, where he finds only the fossil remains of the old _noblesse_, intermixed with a slight proportion of the actual intelligence of the country, and here he moves round in the stagnant circles of historical france, and it is a wonder if he gets so much as a glimpse of the living progressive paris. there is nothing on earth, unless it be a three-thousand-year-old mummy, that is so grim and stiff and shrivelled, as the pure old french nobility. france is at present the possessor of three separate and opposing nobilities. first, there is the nobility of the empire, the napoleonic nobility, which is based on military and civil genius; second, there is the orleans nobility, the family of the late louis-philippe, represented in the person of the young comte de paris; third, the legitimists, or the old aristocracy of the bourbon stock, represented in the person of henry v, duc de bordeaux, now some fifty years old, and laid snugly away in exile in italy. no description which i can give can convey a just idea of the fascination of society among such wits as dejazet; and nowhere do you find that kind of society so complete as in paris. nowhere else do you find so many women of wit and genius mingling in the assemblies and festive occasions of literary men; and i may add that in no part of the world is literary society so refined, so brilliant, and charmingly intellectual as in paris. it is a great contrast to literary society in london or america. listen to the following confession of lord byron: "i have left an assembly filled with all the great names of _haut-ton_ in london, and where little but names were to be found, to seek relief from the _ennui_ that overpowered me, in a cider cellar! and have found there more food for speculation than in the vapid circles of glittering dullness i had left." one of the most remarkable and the most noted persons to be met with in paris is madame dudevant, commonly known as georges sand. she is now about fifty years of age (it is no crime to speak of the age of a woman of her genius), a large, masculine, coarse-featured woman, but with fine eyes, and open, easy, frank, and hearty in her manner to friends. to a discerning mind her writings will convey a correct idea of the woman. you meet her everywhere dressed in men's clothes--a custom which she adopts from no mere caprice or waywardness of character, but for the reason that in this garb she is enabled to go where she pleases without exciting curiosity, and seeing and hearing what is most useful and essential for her in writing her books. she is undoubtedly the most masculine mind of france at the present day. through the folly of her relations she was early married to a fool, but she soon left him in disgust, and afterwards formed a friendship with jules sandeau, a novelist and clever critic. it was he who discovered her genius, and first caused her to write. it was the name of this author, jules sandeau, that she altered into georges sand--a name which she has made immortal. georges sand in company is silent, and except when the conversation touches a sympathetic chord in her nature, little given to demonstration. then she will talk earnestly on great matters, generally on philosophy or theology, but in vain will you seek to draw her into conversation on the little matters of ordinary chit-chat. she lives in a small circle of friends, where she can say and do as she pleases. her son is a poor, weak-brained creature, perpetually annoying the whole neighbourhood by beating on a huge drum night and day. she has a daughter married to chlessindur, the celebrated sculptor, but who resembles but little her talented mother. madame georges sand has had a life of wild storms, with few rays of sunshine to brighten her pathway; and like most of the reformers of the present day, especially if it is her misfortune to be a woman, is a target to be placed in a conspicuous position, to be shot at by all dark, unenlightened human beings who may have peculiar motives for restraining the progress of mind; but it is as absurd in this glorious nineteenth century to attempt to destroy freedom of thought and the sovereignty of the individual, as it is to stop the falls of niagara. there was a gifted and fashionable lady (the countess of agoult), herself an accomplished authoress, concerning whom and georges sand a curious story is told. they were great friends, and the celebrated pianist liszt was the admirer of both. things went on smoothly for some time, all _couleur de rose_, when one fine day lizst and georges sand disappeared suddenly from paris, having taken it into their heads to make the tour of switzerland for the summer together. great was the indignation of the fair countess at this double desertion; and when they returned to paris, madame d'agoult went to georges sand, and immediately challenged the great writer to a duel, the weapons to be finger-nails, etc. poor lizst ran out of the room, and locked himself up in a dark closet till the deadly affray was ended, and then made his body over in charge to a friend, to be preserved, as he said, for the remaining assailant. madame d'agoult was married to an old man, a book-worm, who cared for nought else but his library; he did not know even the number of children he possessed, and so little the old philosopher cared about the matter that when a stranger came to the house, he invariably, at the appearance of the family, said: "allow me to present to you my wife's children"; all this with the blandest smile and most contented air. romanism i know not that history has anything more wonderful to show than the part which the catholic church has borne in the various civilizations of the world. what a marvellous structure it is, with its hierarchy ranging through long centuries almost from apostolic days to our own; living side by side with forms of civilisation and uncivilisation, the most diverse and the most contradictory, through all the fifteen hundred years and more of its existence; asserting an effective control over opinions and institutions; with its pontificate (as is claimed) dating from the fisherman of galilee, and still reigning there in the city that heard saint peter preach, and whom it saw martyred; impiously pretending to sit in his chair and to bear his keys; shaken, exiled, broken again and again by schism, by lutheran revolts and french revolutions; yet always righting itself and reasserting a vitality that neither force nor opinion has yet been able to extinguish. once with its foot on the neck of kings, and having the fate of empires in its hands, and even yet superintending the grandest ecclesiastical mechanism that man ever saw; ordering fast days and feast days, and regulating with omnipotent fiat the very diet of millions of people; having countless bands of religious soldiery trained, organized, and officered as such a soldiery never was before nor since; and backed by an infallibility that defies reason, an inquisition to bend or break the will, and a confessional to unlock all hearts and master the profoundest secrets of all consciences. such has been the mighty church of rome, and there it is still, cast down, to be sure, from what it once was, but not yet destroyed; perplexed by the variousness and freedom of an intellectual civilisation, which it hates and vainly tries to crush; laboriously trying to adapt itself to the europe of the nineteenth century, as it once did to the europe of the twelfth; lengthening its cords and strengthening its stakes, enlarging the place of its tent, and stretching forth the curtains of its habitations, even to this republic of the new world. the only wonder is that such a church should be able to push its fortunes so far into the centre of modern civilization, with which it can feel no sympathy, and which it only embraces to destroy. i confess i find it difficult to believe that a total lie could administer comfort and aid to so many millions of souls; and the explanation is, no doubt, that it is all not a total lie; for even its worse doctrines are founded on certain great truths which are accepted by the common heart of humanity. there is such a thing as universal truth, and there is such a thing as apostolic succession, made not by edicts, bulls, and church canons, but by an interior life divine and true. but all these rome has perverted, by hardening the diffusive spirit of truth into so much mechanism cast into a mould in which it has been forcibly kept; and by getting progressively falser and falser as the world has got older and wiser, till the universality became only another name for a narrow and intolerant sectism, while the infallibility committed itself to absurdity, and which reason turns giddy, and faith has no resource but to shut her eyes; and the apostolic succession became narrowed down into a mere dynasty of priests and pontiffs. a hierarchy of magicians, saving souls by machinery, opening and shutting the kingdom of heaven by a "sesame" of incantations which it would have been the labour of a lifetime to make so much as intelligible to st. peter or st. paul. now who shall compute the stupefying and brutalising effects of such a religion? who will dare say that a principle which so debases reason is not like bands of iron around the expanding heart and struggling limbs of modern freedom? who will dare tell me that this terrible church does not lie upon the bosom of the present time like a vast unwieldy and offensive corpse, crushing the life-blood out of the body of modern civilization? it is not as a religious creed that we are looking at this thing; it is not for its theological sins that we are here to condemn it; but it is its effect upon political and social freedom that we are discussing. what must be the ultimate political and social freedom that we are discussing? what must be the ultimate political night that settles upon a people who are without individuality of opinions and independence of will, and whose brains are made tools of in the hands of a clan or an order? look out there into that sad europe, and see it all! see, there, how the catholic element everywhere marks itself with night, and drags the soul, and energies, and freedom of the people backwards and downwards into political and social inaction--into unfathomable quagmires of death! * * * * * index abel, carl von, , , , , , abrahamowicz, colonel, , académie, royale, - acton, adelaide, queen dowager, adelaide, australia, adelbert, prince, _adventuresses and adventurous ladies_, "affair of honour," - afghan campaign, , agra, albany museum, albert, madame, alexander i, , alexandra, princess, alemannia corps, , , , , , , , , alhambra theatre, _allegemeine zeitung_, , _almanach de gotha_, "andalusian woman," anderson, professor, , andrews, stephen, _annual register_, anstruther, sir john, _antony and cleopatra_, _archives de la danse_, aretz, gertrude, , argonaut publishing company, "army of the indus," _arts of beauty_, - , aschaffensberg, assaye, battle of, _assemblée nationale_, astley's theatre, _athenæum_, , , athens, auckland house, auckland, lord, - augsburg, bishop of, _augsburger zeitung_, australia, , austrian legation, _autobiography of lola montez_, , azan, dr., bac, ferdinand, , , baden, baker, mrs. charles, balaclava, ballantine, serjeant, , ballarat, lola montez in, - "ballarat reform league," _ballarat star_, , _ballarat times_, , balzac, honoré de, , bamberg, barcelona, , bareilly, barerstrasse, lola's house in, , , , , , barlow, lucy, barnum, phineas, , bath, lecture at, bath in the 'thirties, - bauer, captain, bavaria, kingdom of, bayersdorf palace, bayonne, beaconsfield, earl of, beauchene, atala, beaujon villa, "beautiful for ever!", "beautiful women," lecture on, , - , - beauvallon, rosemond de, - beauvoir, roger de, , , , , bedford, earl of, beethoven festival, belgium, lola montez in, bendigo, theatre at, beneden, johann, bengal artillery, bengal native infantry, benkendorff, count, berkeley, colonel, berks, herr, , , berlin, lola montez at, , , , berlin, royalty at, berne, bernhard, gustav, bernstorff, count, , , bernstorff, countess, berri, duchesse de, bertrand, arthur, , berryer, maître, , berrymead priory, , best, captain, "betsy watson," , "betsy james," bhurtpore, battle of, bibliothèque d'arsenal, bingham, peregrine, - bishop of london, bismarck, prince, _black book of british aristocracy_, , black forest, blake, rufus, blanchard, edward, blessington, countess of, , bloomer, mrs., , , bloque, m., blot-lequesne, m., blum, hans, bluthenberg, bodkin, william, , boignes, charles de, - , , bois de boulogne, bonaparte, , bonn, - bonny, king of, booth, edwin, bordeaux, borrodaile, mrs., boston, lola montez in, boston public library, _boston transcript_, bright, john, brighton, , , bristol, lecture at, "british raj," brooks, preston, brougham, lady, brougham, lord, , , brown, mrs. general, browning, robert, , bruce, general, bruckenau castle, brussels, , buchanan, mrs., , , , buckingham palace, buffalo, bülow, prince von, bulwer, edward, burns, robert, burr, rev. chauncey, , , , , byron, lord, , , , café anglais, calcutta, , , , , , , , calcutta, bishop of, _calcutta englishman_, calcutta, government house, california in the 'fifties, - _california chronicle_, _californian_, californian pioneers, library of, californian state library, calvinism, , , cambridge, duke of, canitz, freiherr zu, , cannibal islands, king of, canning, sir stratford, , cape of good hope, capon, victorine, cardigan, earl of, carl, prince, carlos, don, carlsbad, caroline-augusta, queen, cassagnac, granier de, , , castle oliver, castlereagh, lord, catalini, angelica, cavendish, frederick, cayley, edward, cerito, mlle, - champs elysées, chanoines de st. thérèse, , charles x, chartist riots, chase, lewis, chatham, chester cathedral, visit to, chevalier, Émile, cholera at dinapore, , chudleigh, elizabeth, churchill, arabella, claggett, horace, clarence, duke of, clark, mary anne, clarkson, william, - claudin, gustave, , clayton, henry, clutton, colonel, coates, "romeo," cole, henry, _cologne gazette_, combermere, lord, comédie française, "comic aspects of love," lecture on, , - conciergerie prison, congress of london, consistory court, action in, , constantinople, , , "corinthians," , corneille, pierre, costa, michael, cotta, baron, coules, m., "countess for an hour," covent garden hotel, covent garden opera house, , , cowell, sam, coyne, stirling, craigie, david, , craigie, misses, craigie, mrs., marries ensign gilbert, ; early widowhood, ; marries patrick craigie, ; returns to england, ; collapse of ambitious schemes, ; quarrels with lola, ; partial reconciliation, ; visit to new york, craigie, patrick, , , , , , , cremorne gardens, "crim. con" action, crimean campaign, crosby, henry, crosby, mrs., cumberland, duke of, cuyla, madame de, dacca, d'agoult, madame, , , _daily alta_, daly, joseph, _dancing times_, "daniel stern," , daughrity, professor, d'auvergne, edmund, , davenport brothers, dawson, nancy, "day of humiliation," debar, anna, d'ecquevillez, vicomte, , - , delta state teachers' college, denman, lord, derby, countess of, deschler, johann, desmaret, maître, "desperado in dimity," _deutsche zeitung_, devereux, alice, devismes, m., , devonshire, duke of, _die deutsche revolution_, diepenbrock, archbishop, , dinapore, cholera at, disraeli, benjamin, disraeli, sarah, döllinger, dr., , , , dost muhammed, "down under," - dresden, - drury lane theatre, , , dublin, , , , , _dublin daily express_, dujarier, charles, lover of lola montez, ; restaurant brawl, , ; fatal duel with de beauvallon, , ; burial at montmartre, dumas, alexandra, , , , , , , dumas _fils_, dumilâtre, adèle, durand, colonel, duval, m., , , east india company, _east india voyage_, ebersdorf, ecclesiastical court, proceedings of, eden, hon. emily, , , _el oleano_, - , _elegant woman_, , elephant and castle theatre, ellenborough, lady, ellenborough, lord, , "elopement in high life," elphinstone, lord, elssler, fanny, , , , elysium hill, englischer garten, enriques, don, _era_, criticism in, , erdmann, dr. paul, erskine, lady jane, estafette, _examiner_, comment in, , "eton boy," , eugénie, empress, ezterhazy, count, "fair impure," , falk, bernard, fane, sir henry, fay, amy, feldberg, fenton, frank, fiddes, josephine, field, kate, letter from, fitzball, edward, benefit performance, - "flare of the footlights," flaubert, gustave, flers, comte de, , folkestone, follard, charles, follett, sir william, "follies of a night," fontblanque, albany, foote, maria, "fops' alley," foreign office, forster, john, fort william, forty-fourth foot, regiment, fox sisters, frankfort, rothschilds' bank at, frays, herr, , frederick william iii, , frederick william iv, , frenzal, fräulein, , frères-provençaux restaurant, fuchs, eduard, , fulda forest, "gallantry," lecture on, , "gallery of beauties," garsia, manuel, gautier, mlle, , gautier, théophile, , _gay and gallant ladies_, geelong, geneva, , _gentleman's magazine_, , george iv, , georges, mlle, gilbert, ensign, runaway marriage, ; service in india, ; death from cholera, gilbert, mrs., , gillingham, harold, gillis, mabel, girardin, Émile de, , , giuglini, antonio, _globe_, glyptothek gallery, "golden west," goodrich, peter, görres, joseph, , , gougaud, dom, granada, granby, marchioness of, granby, marquess of, "grand sebastopol matinée," granville, earl, grass valley, life in, - _grass valley telegraph_, graves _v._ graves, divorce action, gray, police-sergeant, great exhibition of , green, miss, green-wood cemetery, grisi, carlotta, guadaloupe, , "guermann regnier," guéronniere, de la, m., guillen, manuel, guise, dr. de, , guizot, m., gumpenberg, colonel von, hagen, charlotte, halévy, jacques, half moon street, , hall, mrs. lillian, hamon and company, hanover, king of, "hans breitmann," hardwick, william, harré, t. everett, , harrington, countess of, harte, bret, harvard theatre collection, harvard university, hastings, lord, hastings, warren, haussmann, baron, hawks, rev. francis, , , hayden, mrs., hayes, catherine, haymarket theatre, , hayward, abraham, heald, george, heald, george trafford, cornet of horse, ; bigamous marriage with lola montez, ; deprived of commission, ; family interference, ; police-court proceedings, - ; matrimonial jars, ; separation, ; death, heald, susannah, , , _heavenly sinner_, heber, bishop, heenan, john camel, heine, heinrich, henry lxxii, prince of reuss, , , her majesty's theatre, , , , , , , , "heroines of history," , , - hesse-darmstadt, hirschberg, count von, , , _history of theatre in america_, hodgson, miss d. m., hof theatre, munich, , , holden, w. sprague, holland, canon scott, homburg, home, daniel dunglas, "hooking a prince," , hope chapel, lecture at, hornblow, arthur, home, r. h., , horse guards, hotel maulich, hotham, sir charles, household cavalry, , howells, w. dean, hugo, victor, , hull, patrick, , , , huneker, james, _il barbiere di seviglia_, _il lazzarone_, imperial hotel, , india, garrison life in, - india, voyage to, , inferiority-complex, ingram, captain, , ingram, mrs., ireland, - , , _irish ecclesiastical record_, irving, washington, jacguand, claudius, james, rev. john, james, lieutenant thomas, accompanies mrs. craigie to england, ; runaway marriage with lola montez, ; garrison life in dublin, ; service in india, ; drink and gambling, ; crim. con. action, ; judicial separation, ; police-court proceedings, james _v._ james, consistory court trial, james _v._ lennox, janin, jules, , jesuits, activity of, , , , joan of arc, jobson, henry, , _john bull_, "john bull at home," lecture on, john, cecile, guest at tragic supper party ; evidence at rouen trial, "john company," india under, , joly, antenon, _journal des débats_, judd, dr., "judge and jury club," judicial separation, , justinian, emperor, , "just and persevering," karr, alphonse, kean, mrs. charles, kean, edmund, keane, sir john, keeley, mrs., "keepsake annuals," kelly, fanny, kelly, william, kemble, fanny, kemble, john philip, kerner, justinus, khelat, khan of, king of sardinia, kingsley, charles, kingston, duchess of, kingston, duke of, kirke, baron, , klein, dr. tim von, knapp, mrs. dora, , , kobell, luise von, , , kossuth, louis, krüdener, baroness, , kurnaul, , , la biche au bois, _la presse_, , , , "lady of the camelias," , lahore, lamartine, de m., lamb, charles, "lamentation," landon, letitia, landsfeld, countess of, landshut, , larousse, pierre, lasaulx, professor, , , lavallière, eve, lawrence, henry, lawrence, sir walter, _le constitutionnel_, lecouvreur, adrienne, le d'hoefer, _le droit_, _l'estafette_, _le figaro_, _le globe_, _le pays_, , _lectures of lola montez_, "left-handed marriage," legge, professor j. g., leigh, francis, , , leiningen, prince, leland, charles godfrey, , leningrad, lennox, captain, - , , , leen, don diego, _les contemporains_, _les débats_, lesniowski, m., _letters from up-country_, - lever, charles, leveson-gower, hon. frederick, "liberation of greece," lichenthaler, herr, liévenne, anais, - , life guards, , limerick, , , , lind, jenny, lindeau, flight to, "lion of the punjaub," lisbon, lister, lady theresa, liverpool, lecture at, liszt, abbé, _liaison_ with lola montez, - ; opera house, dresden, ; life in paris, , ; visit to bonn, ; correspondence with madame d'agoult, loeb, herr, "lola in bavaria," , , lomer, adjutant, lomer, mrs., , london, lola montez in, - , - , - , - londonderry, marquess of, , lord chamberlain, , lord milton, louis xv, louis napoleon, , , louis-philippe, , , lovell, john, lucerne, lucknow, ludwig i, architectural aspirations, ; lured by lola montez, - ; poetry and passion, , , ; dissentions with cabinet, , - , , ; abdication, ; death and burial, ludwig ii, luitpold, prince, , lumley, sir abraham, , , lumley, benjamin, - , , , lushington, dr., luther, martin, lyceum theatre, lytton, lord, macaulay, lord, macready, w. c., , madeira, madras, , , madrid, , _maga_, magdalen asylum, mahmood, sultan, "maidens, beware!" "maîtresse du roi," malmesbury, earl of, , , , , maltitz, baron, manchester, free trade hall, mangnall, mrs., marden, caroline, marie-antoinette, , marlborough street police court, - "married in haste," marseilles, , marsh, luther, martin, mrs., marysville, _marysville herald_, , mathews, charles, mathews, mrs., mauclerc, m., maurer, georg von, , maurice, edward, mcmichael, captain, mcmullen, major, mcnaghten, mrs., maximilian, prince, max joseph, prince, mazzini, mélanie, princess, , melbourne, , - _melbourne argus_, , , _melbourne herald_, , , melbourne, theatre, , mellen, ida m., _mémoires de m. montholon_, menken, adah isaacs, , , méry, joseph, , , , _mes souvenirs_, metternich, prince, , , metzger, herr, milbanke, sir john, milbanke, lady, milnes, menckton, milton, dr., "ministry of dawn," minto, earl of, mirecourt, eugéne de, , , , , , mission dolores, church of, , molière, jean baptiste, moller, baron, monmouth, duke of, montalva, oliverres de, montez, francisco, montez, jean francois, , , montez, lola, birth and parentage, ; childhood in india, ; sent to montrose and bath, , ; "love's young dream," ; runaway marriage, ; garrison life in dublin, ; return to india, ; _liaison_ with captain lennox, ; consistory court proceedings, ; disastrous début at her majesty's, ; continental wanderings, ; _liaison_ with liszt, ; fiasco at académie royale, ; mistress of dujarier, ; evidence at rouen trial, ; "hooking a prince," - ; career in munich, - ; "maîtresse du roi," - ; created countess of landsfeld, ; expelled from bavaria, ; adventures in switzerland, - ; bigamous union with cornet heald, ; prosecution for bigamy, - ; life in paris, - ; theatrical career in america, ; marriage with patrick hull, ; life in california, - ; theatrical tour in australia, - ; returns to america, ; from stage to platform, - ; lectures in london, - ; returns to america, ; new role as "repentant magdalen," ; illness and death, - ; funeral at green-wood cemetery, ; obituary notices, - "montez the magdalen," montmartre cemetery, montmorency, major de, montrose, , , , , , , "morning call," _morning herald_, _morning star_, morrison, colonel, morton, savile, moscheles, ignatz, mulgrave, earl of, munich, ludwig i, maker of, ; lola montez in, - ; hof theatre, ; public buildings, ; residenz palace, , ; revolution in, ; flight from, by lola montez, ; funeral of ludwig i at, _music study in germany_, naked lady, napier, sir charles, naples, naussbaum, lieutenant, "necrology of the year," _nélida_, nesselrode, karl, nevada city, newcastle, duke of, new york, - , - , - _new york herald_, _new york times_, _new york tribune_, niagara, nice, hiding at, , nicholas i, , , , nicolls, fanny, , , nicolls, sir jasper, , , , , niendorf, emma, nightingale, florence, , nilgiri hills, normanby, marquess of, norton, hon. mrs., nuremberg, nussbaum, lieutenant, nymphenburg park, , ole bull, olga, princess, olridge, mrs., opserman, herr, osborne, bernal, osborne, hon. william, otto, king of greece, osy, alice, palatia corps, , palmerston, viscount, , , , , , papon, auguste, , , , - paris, , , , , - , - parthenon, _pas de fascination_, paskievich, prince, , patna, cantonments at, pavestra de, marquise, "pea green hayne," pechman, baron, , peel, robert, peissner, fritz, , , , , pennsylvania historical society, perth, petersham, lord, pfaff's restaurant, , philadelphia, phoenix park, pillet, léon, , pinakothek gallery, munich, pitti palace, plessis, alphonsine, , poland, lola montez in, , porte st. martin theatre, , , potsdam, pourtales, guy de, preysing, countess, price, harry, , prince consort, , , prince of wales, , princess victoria, prussia, queen of, psychical investigation, council for, _punch_, references to lola montez, , punjaub, garrison life in, queen victoria, , , , , queen's bench division, court of, _questions for the use of young people_, rachel, madame, , rae, mrs., "raffaelo, the reprobate," raglan, lord, ranelagh, viscount, , - , ranjeet sing, , rathbiggon, ratisbon, rechberg, count von, , , reisach, count, _reminiscences of the opera_, residenz palace, , , , , reuss-lobenstein-ebersdorf, principality of, _rhyme and revolution in germany_, richardson, philip, richter, jean paul, rieff, m., _rienzi_, rio, madame, roberts, browne, roberts, emma, , rogers, cameron, "romanism," lecture on, , , , rothmanner, herr, rothschild, baroness de, rotterdam, embarkation of prince metternich at, rouen, assize court, - rourke, constance, roux, m., - _ruff's guide_, russell, w. h., , russia, , , sacramento city, _sacramento union_, "sahib log," saint-agnan, m. de, , sala, george augustus, , , sale, mrs. robert, salveton, m., salzburg, san francisco, - _san francisco alta_, , _san francisco whig_, sand, george, , , sandeau, jules, sandhurst, _satirist_, , , saunders, beverley, saxe, marshal, saxe-weimar, prince edward of, sayers, tom, "scarlet woman," schönheitengalerie, schneider, rudi, , schrenck, count von, schröder, fräulein, schulkoski, prince, schwab, sophie, schwanthaler, franz, second empire, sedley, katherine, seekamp, henry, , senfft, count, , seinsheim, herr von, seville, , , , , , , , , shah shuja, sheridan, francis, shipley, henley, , shore, jane, sicklen, mrs. putnam van, simla, , , sister augustine, _sketches by boz_, "sludge, the medium," smith, e. t., - somnauth, temple of, "song of walhalla," sophie, archduchess, sorel, agnes, soule, frank, southampton, _southern lights and shadows_, , spence, lady theresa, "spider dance," , , , spiritualism, , , "spittalsfield weaver," spurgeon, charles haddon, staël, madame de, stahl, dr., _standard_, stanford university, stanhope, colonel, starenberg, stedman, edmund clarence, steinberg, otto von, steinkeller, mme, stewart, william, , stieler, josef, stocqueler, j., _story of a penitent_, stowe, mrs. harriet beecher, stubenrauch, amalia, sturgis, mrs., , stuttgart, st. george's, hanover square, st. helena, , st. james's hall, st. jean de luz, st. louis, , st. petersburg, , , , , , sue, eugéne, , , sultan of turkey, , , sumner, charles, _sunday times_, sutherland, duchess of, "swedish nightingale," swiss guards, _sydney herald_, sydney, social life in, sydney, victoria theatre, , taglioni, marie, , , talleyrand, baron, _temple bar_, tennyson, alfred, , thackeray, w. m., , , theatiner church, theatrical museum, munich, theodora, empress, , theresa of saxe-hildburghausen, princess, thesiger, frederick, thiersch, friedrich, , thirsch, wilhelm, thirty-eighth native infantry, thompson, edward, thynne, lord edward, tichatschek, josef, _times_, , , , titiens, teresa, tom thumb, general, tourville, letendre de, - treitschke, heinrich von, , , _troupers of the gold coast_, "trousers for women," _troy budget_, tugal, m. pierre, tupper, martin, twenty-fifth foot, regiment, tyree, mrs. annette, _ulner chronik_, ultramontane policy, , , , , _uncle tom's cabin_, "uncrowned queen of bavaria," university, munich, , , , , university students at munich, , , , , , , _up the country_, valley, count arco, , vandam, albert, , , vanderbilt, commodore, _vanity fair_, variétés theatre, st. louis, vaubernier, jeanne, vaudeville theatre, vestris, madame, , , victoria theatre, ballarat, vienna, , , , villa-palava, marquise, vine street police station, vrede, prince, wagner, martin, wagner, richard, , wainwright, governor, _walhalla's genossen_, walkinshaw, mrs., wallerstein, prince, , , , wallinger, antoinette, walters, mrs., ware, c. p. t., warsaw, , , _warsaw gazette_, washington, george, waterloo, battle of, watson, mrs., , weimar, weinsberg, , _welcome guest_, wellington, duchess of, , wellington, duke of, , , "whiff of grapeshot," whitbread, samuel, whitman, walt, wilberforce, edward, william i, of germany, william iv, willis, n. p., willis, richard storrs, wills, judge, wilson, rev. john, windischmann, dr., windsor castle, "wits and women of paris," , , - wittelsbach, house of, "woman of spain," wurtemburg, würzburg, bishop of, ziegler, rudolph, "zoyara the hermaphrodite," zu rhein, freiherr, * * * * * history of friedrich ii. of prussia frederick the great by thomas carlyle book xix.--friedrich like to be overwhelmed in the seven-years war.-- - . chapter i.--preliminaries to a fourth campaign. the posting of the five armies this winter--five of them in germany, not counting the russians, who have vanished to cimmeria over the horizon, for their months of rest--is something wonderful, and strikes the picturesque imagination. such a chain of posts, for length, if for nothing else! from the centre of bohemia eastward, daun's austrians are spread all round the western silesian border and the southeastern saxon; waited on by prussians, in more or less proximity. next are the reichsfolk; scattered over thuringen and the franconian countries; fronting partly into hessen and duke ferdinand's outskirts:--the main body of duke ferdinand is far to westward, in munster country, vigilant upon contades, with the rhine between. contades and soubise,--adjoining on the reichsfolk are these two french armies: soubise's, some , , in frankfurt-ems country, between the mayn and the lahn, with its back to the rhine; then contades, onward to maes river and the dutch borders, with his face to the rhine,--and duke ferdinand observant of him on the other side. that is the "cordon of posts" or winter-quarters this year. "from the giant mountains and the metal mountains, to the ocean;--to the mouth of rhine," may we not say; "and back again to the swiss alps or springs of rhine, that upper-rhine country being all either french or austrian, and a basis for soubise?" [archenholtz, i. .] not to speak of ocean itself, and its winged war-fleets, lonesomely hovering and patrolling; or of the americas and indies beyond! "this is such a chain of mutually vigilant winter-quarters," says archenholtz, "as was never drawn in germany, or in europe, before." chain of about , fighting men, poured out in that lengthy manner. taking their winter siesta there, asleep with one eye open, till reinforced for new business of death and destruction against spring. pathetic surely, as well as picturesque. "three campaigns there have already been," sighs the peaceable observer: "three campaigns, surely furious enough; eleven battles in them," [stenzel, v. . this, i suppose, would be his enumeration: lobositz ( ); prag, kolin, hastenbeck, gross-jagersdorf, rossbach, breslau, leuthen, ( ); crefeld, zorndorf, hochkirch ( ): "eleven hitherto in all."] a prag, a kolin, leuthen, rossbach;--must there still be others, then, to the misery of poor mankind?" thus sigh many peaceful persons. not considering what are, and have been, the rages, the iniquities, the loud and silent deliriums, the mad blindnesses and sins of mankind; and what amount, of calcining these may reasonably take. not calcinable in three campaigns at all, it would appear! four more campaigns are needed: then there will be innocuous ashes in quantity; and a result unexpected, and worth marking in world-history. it is notably one of friedrich's fond hopes,--of which he keeps up several, as bright cloud-hangings in the haggard inner world he now has,--that peace is just at hand; one right struggle more, and peace must come! and on the part of britannic george and him, repeated attempts were made,--one in the end of this year ;--but one and all of them proved futile, and, unless for accidental reasons, need not be mentioned here. many men, in all nations, long for peace; but there are three women at the top of the world who do not; their wrath, various in quality, is great in quantity, and disasters do the reverse of appeasing it. the french people, as is natural, are weary of a war which yields them mere losses and disgraces; "war carried on for austrian whims, which likewise seem to be impracticable!" think they. and their bernis himself, minister of foreign affairs, who began this sad french-austrian adventure, has already been remonstrating with kaunitz, and grumbling anxiously, "could not the swedes, or somebody, be got to mediate? such a war is too ruinous!" hearing which, the pompadour is shocked at the favorite creature of her hands; hastens to dismiss him ("be cardinal then, you ingrate of a bernis; disappear under that red hat!")--and appoints, in his stead, one choiseul (known hitherto as stainville, comte de stainville, french excellency at vienna, but now made duke on this promotion), duc de choiseul; [minister of foreign affairs, " th november, " (barbier, iv. ).] who is a lorrainer, or semi-austrian, by very birth; and probably much fitter for the place. a swift, impetuous kind of man, this choiseul, who is still rather young than otherwise; plenty of proud spirit in him, of shifts, talent of the reckless sort; who proved very notable in france for the next twenty years. french trade being ruined withal, money is running dreadfully low: but they appoint a new controller-general; a m. de silhouette, who is thought to have an extraordinary creative genius in finance. had he but a fortunatus-purse, how lucky were it! with fortunatus silhouette as purse-holder, with a fiery young choiseul on this hand, and a fiery old belleisle on that, pompadour meditates great things this year,--invasions of england; stronger german armies; better german plans, and slashings home upon hanover itself, or the vital point;--and flatters herself, and her poor louis, that there is on the anvil, for , such a french campaign as will perhaps astonish pitt and another insolent king. very fixed, fell and feminine is the pompadour's humor in this matter. nor is the czarina's less so; but more, if possible; unappeasable except by death. imperial maria theresa has masculine reasons withal; great hopes, too, of late. of the war's ending till flat impossibility stop it, there is no likelihood. to pitt this campaign , in spite of bad omens at the outset, proved altogether splendid: but greatly the reverse on friedrich's side; to whom it was the most disastrous and unfortunate he had yet made, or did ever make. pitt at his zenith in public reputation; friedrich never so low before, nothing seemingly but extinction near ahead, when this year ended. the truth is, apart from his specific pieces of ill-luck, there had now begun for friedrich a new rule of procedure, which much altered his appearance in the world. thrice over had he tried by the aggressive or invasive method; thrice over made a plunge at the enemy's heart, hoping so to disarm or lame him: but that, with resources spent to such a degree, is what he cannot do a fourth time: he is too weak henceforth to think of that. prussia has always its king, and his unrivalled talent; but that is pretty much the only fixed item: prussia versus france, austria, russia, sweden and the german reich, what is it as a field of supplies for war! except its king, these are failing, year by year; and at a rate fatally swift in comparison. friedrich cannot now do leuthens, rossbachs; far-shining feats of victory, which astonish all the world. his fine prussian veterans have mostly perished; and have been replaced by new levies and recruits; who are inferior both in discipline and native quality;--though they have still, people say, a noteworthy taste of the old prussian sort in them; and do, in fact, fight well to the last. but "it is observable," says retzow somewhere, and indeed it follows from the nature of the case, "that while the prussian army presents always its best kind of soldiers at the beginning of a war, austria, such are its resources in population, always improves in that particular, and its best troops appear in the last campaigns." in a word, friedrich stands on the defensive henceforth; disputing his ground inch by inch: and is reduced, more and more, to battle obscurely with a hydra-coil of enemies and impediments; and to do heroisms which make no noise in the gazettes. and, alas, which cannot figure in history either,--what is more a sorrow to me here! friedrich, say all judges of soldiership and human character who have studied friedrich sufficiently, "is greater than ever," in these four years now coming. [berenhorst, in _kriegskunst;_ retzow; &c.] and this, i have found more and more to be a true thing; verifiable and demonstrable in time and place,--though, unluckily for us, hardly in this time or this place at all! a thing which cannot, by any method, be made manifest to the general reader; who delights in shining summary feats, and is impatient of tedious preliminaries and investigations,--especially of maps, which are the indispensablest requisite of all. a thing, in short, that belongs peculiarly to soldier-students; who can undergo the dull preliminaries, most dull but most inexorably needed; and can follow out, with watchful intelligence, and with a patience not to be wearied, the multifarious topographies, details of movements and manoeuvrings, year after year, on such a theatre of war. what is to be done with it here! if we could, by significant strokes, indicate, under features true so far as they went, the great wide fire-flood that was raging round the world; if we could, carefully omitting very many things, omit of the things intelligible and decipherable that concern friedrich himself, nothing that had meaning: if indeed--! but it is idle preluding. forward again, brave reader, under such conditions as there are! friedrich's winter in breslau was of secluded, silent, sombre character, this time; nothing of stir in it but from work only: in marked contrast with the last, and its kindly visitors and gayeties. a friedrich given up to his manifold businesses, to his silent sorrows. "i have passed my winter like a carthusian monk," he writes to d'argens: "i dine alone; i spend my life in reading and writing; and i do not sup. when one is sad, it becomes at last too burdensome to hide one's grief continually; and it is better to give way to it by oneself, than to carry one's gloom into society. nothing solaces me but the vigorous application required in steady and continuous labor. this distraction does force one to put away painful ideas, while it lasts: but, alas, no sooner is the work done, than these fatal companions present themselves again, as if livelier than ever. maupertuis was right: the sum of evil does certainly surpass that of good:--but to me it is all one; i have almost nothing more to lose; and my few remaining days, what matters it much of what complexion they be?" ["breslau, st march, ," to d'argens (_oeuvres de frederic,_ xix. ).] the loss of his wilhelmina, had there been no other grief, has darkened all his life to friedrich. readers are not prepared for the details of grief we could give, and the settled gloom of mind they indicate. a loss irreparable and immeasurable; the light of life, the one loved heart that loved him, gone. his passionate appeals to voltaire to celebrate for him in verse his lost treasure, and at least make her virtues immortal, are perhaps known to readers: [ode sur la mort de s. a. s. madame la princesse de bareith (in _oeuvres de voltaire,_ xviii. - ): see friedrich's letter to him ( th november, ); with voltaire's verses in answer (next month); friedrich's new letter (breslau, d january ), demanding something more,--followed by the ode just cited (ib. lxxii. ; lxxviii. , ; or _oeuvres de frederic,_ xxiii. - : &c.) alas, this is a very feeble kind of immortality, and friedrich too well feels it such. all winter he dwells internally on the sad matter, though soon falling silent on it to others. the war is ever more dark and dismal to him; a wearing, harassing, nearly disgusting task; on which, however, depends life or death. this year, he "expects to have , enemies upon him;" and "is, with his utmost effort, getting up , to set against them." of business, in its many kinds, there can be no lack! in the intervals he also wrote considerably: one of his pieces is a sermon on the last judgment; handed to reader de catt, one evening:--to de catt's surprise, and to ours; the voiceless in a dark friedrich trying to give itself some voice in this way! [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xv. - (see preuss's preface there; formey, _souvenirs,_ i. ; &c. &c.)] another piece, altogether practical, and done with excellent insight, brevity, modesty, is on tactics; [reflexions sur la tactique: in _oeuvres de frederic,_ xxviii. - .]--properly it might be called, "serious very private thoughts," thrown on paper, and communicated only to two or three, "on the new kind of tactics necessary with those austrians and their allies," who are in such overwhelming strength. "to whose continual sluggishness, and strange want of concert, to whose incoherency of movements, languor of execution, and other enormous faults, we have owed, with some excuse for our own faults, our escaping of destruction hitherto,"--but had better not trust that way any longer! fouquet is one of the highly select, to whom he communicates this piece; adding along with it, in fouquet's case, an affectionate little note, and, in spite of poverty, some new-year's gift, as usual,--the "widow's mite [ pounds, we find]; receive it with the same heart with which it was set apart for you: a small help, which you may well have need of, in these calamitous times." ["breslau, d december, ;" with fouquet's answer, d january, : in _oeuvres de frederic,_ xx. - .] fouquet much admires the new tactical suggestions;--seems to think, however, that the certainly practicable one is, in particular, the last, that of "improving our artillery to some equality with theirs." for which, as may appear, the king has already been taking thought, in more ways than one. finance is naturally a heavy part of friedrich's problem; the part which looks especially impossible, from our point of vision! in friedrich's country, the war budget does not differ from the peace one. neither is any borrowing possible; that sublime art, of rolling over on you know not whom the expenditure, needful or needless, of your heavy-laden self, had not yet--though england is busy at it--been invented among nations. once, or perhaps twice, from the stande of some willing province, friedrich negotiated some small loan; which was punctually repaid when peace came, and was always gratefully remembered. but these are as nothing, in face of such expenses; and the thought how he did contrive on the finance side, is and was not a little wonderful. an ingenious predecessor, whom i sometimes quote, has expressed himself in these words:-- "such modicum of subsidy [he is speaking of the english subsidy in ], how useful will it prove in a country bred everywhere to spartan thrift, accustomed to regard waste as sin, and which will lay out no penny except to purpose! i guess the prussian exchequer is, by this time, much on the ebb; idle precious metals tending everywhere towards the melting-pot. at what precise date the friedrich-wilhelm balustrades, and enormous silver furnitures, were first gone into, dryasdust has not informed me: but we know they all went; as they well might. to me nothing is so wonderful as friedrich's budget during this war. one day it will be carefully investigated, elucidated and made conceivable and certain to mankind: but that as yet is far from being the case. we walk about in it with astonishment; almost, were it possible, with incredulity. expenditure on this side, work done on that: human nature, especially british human nature, refuses to conceive it. never in this world, before or since, was the like. the friedrich miracles in war are great; but those in finance are almost greater. let dryasdust bethink him; and gird his flabby loins to this enterprise; which is very behooveful in these californian times!"-- the general secret of prussian thrift, i do fear, is lost from the world. and how an army of about , , in field and garrison, could be kept on foot, and in some ability to front combined europe, on about three million sterling annually (" million thalers"= , , pounds, that is the steady war-budget of those years), remains to us inconceivable enough;--mournfully miraculous, as it were; and growing ever more so in the nugget-generations that now run. meanwhile, here are what hints i could find, on the origins of that modest sum, which also are a wonder: [preuss, ii. - ; stenzel, v. - .]-- "the hoarded prussian moneys, or 'treasures' [two of them, kleine schatz, grosse schatz, which are rigidly saved in peace years, for incidence of war], being nearly run out, there had come the english subsidy: this, with saxony, and the home revenues and remnants of schatz had sufficed for ; but will no longer suffice. next to saxony, the english subsidy ( , pounds due the second time this year) was always friedrich's principal resource: and in the latter years of the war, i observe, it was nearly twice the amount of what all his prussian countries together, in their ravaged and worn-out state, could yield him. in and after , besides home income, which is gradually diminishing, and english subsidy, which is a steady quantity, friedrich's sources of revenue are mainly two:-- "first, there is that of wringing money from your enemies, from those that have deserved ill of you,--such of them as you can come at. enemies, open or secret, even ill-wishers, we are not particular, provided only they lie within arm's-length. under this head fall principally three countries (and their three poor populations, in lieu of their governments): saxony, mecklenburg (or the main part of it, mecklenburg-schwerin), and anhalt; from these three there is a continual forced supply of money and furnishings. their demerits to friedrich differ much in intensity; nor is his wringing of them--which in the cases of mecklenburg and saxony increases year by year to the nearly intolerable pitch--quite in the simple ratio of their demerits; but in a compound ratio of that and of his indignation and of his wants. "saxony, as prime author of this war, was from the first laid hold of, collared tightly: 'pay the shot, then, what you can' (in the end it was almost what you cannot)! as to mecklenburg-schwerin, the grudge against prussia was of very old standing, some generations now; and the present duke, not a very wise sovereign more than his ancestors, had always been ill with friedrich; willing to spite and hurt him when possible: in reichs diet he, of all german princes, was the first that voted for friedrich's being put to ban of the reich,--he; and his poor people know since whether that was a wise step! the little anhalt princes, too, all the anhalts, dessau, bernburg, cothen, zerbst [perhaps the latter partially excepted, for a certain russian lady's sake], had voted, or at least had ambiguously half-voted, in favor of the ban, and done other unfriendly things; and had now to pay dear for their bits of enmities. poor souls, they had but one vote among them all four;--and they only half gave it, tremulously pulling it back again. i should guess it was their terrors mainly, and over-readiness to reckon friedrich a sinking ship; and to leap from the deck of him,--with a spurn which he took for insolent! the anhalt-dessauers particularly, who were once of his very army, half prussians for generations back, he reckoned to have used him scandalously ill. "this year the requisition on the four anhalts--which they submit to patiently, as people who have leapt into the wrong ship--is, in precise tale: of money, , thalers (about , pounds); recruits, , ; horses, , . in saxony, besides the fixed taxes, strict confiscation of meissen potteries and every royalty, there were exacted heavy 'contributions,' more and more heavy, from the few opulent towns, chiefly from leipzig; which were wrung out, latterly, under great severities,--'chief merchants of leipzig all clapt in prison, kept on bread-and-water till they yielded,'--as great severities as would suffice, but not greater; which also was noted. unfortunate chief merchants of leipzig,--with bruhl and polish majesty little likely to indemnify them! unfortunate country altogether. an intelligent saxon, who is vouched for as impartial, bears witness as follows: 'and this i know, that the oppressions and plunderings of the austrians and reichsfolk, in saxony, turned all hearts away from them; and it was publicly said, we had rather bear the steady burden of the prussians than such help as these our pretended deliverers bring.' [stenzel (citing from kriegskanzlei, which i have not), v. n.] whereby, on the whole, the poor country got its back broken, and could never look up in the world since. resource first was abundantly severe. "resource second is strangest of all;--and has given rise to criticism enough! it is no other than that of issuing base money; mixing your gold and silver coin with copper,--this, one grieves to say, is the second and extreme resource. a rude method--would we had a better--of suspending cash-payments, and paying by bank-notes instead!' thinks friedrich, i suppose. from his prussian mints, from his saxon [which are his for the present], and from the little anhalt-bernburg mint [of which he expressly purchased the sad privilege,--for we are not a coiner, we are a king reduced to suspend cash-payments, for the time being], friedrich poured out over all germany, in all manner of kinds, huge quantities of bad coin. this, so long as it would last, is more and more a copious fountain of supply. this, for the first time, has had to appear as an item in war-budget : and it fails in no following, but expands more and more. it was done through ephraim, the not lovely berlin jew, whom we used to hear of in voltaire's time;--through ephraim and two others, ephraim as president: in return for a net sum, these shall have privilege to coin such and such amounts, so and so alloyed; shall pay to general tauentzien, army treasurer, at fixed terms, the sums specified: 'go, and do it; our mint-officers sharply watching you; mint-officers, and general tauentzien [with a young herr lessing, as his chief clerk, of whom the king knows nothing]; go, ye unlovely!' and ephraim and company are making a great deal of money by the unlovely job. ephraim is the pair of tongs, the hand, and the unlovely job, are a royal man's. alas, yes. and none of us knows better than king friedrich, perhaps few of us as well, how little lovely a job it was; how shockingly unkingly it was,--though a practice not unknown to german kings and kinglets before his time, and since down almost to ours. [in stenzel (v. ) enumeration of eight or nine unhappy potentates, who were busy with it in those same years.] in fact, these are all unkingly practices;--and the english subsidy itself is distasteful to a proud friedrich: but what, in those circumstances, can any friedrich do? "the first coinages of ephraim had, it seems, in them about - ths of copper; something less than the half, and more than the third,"--your gold sovereign grown to be worth s. d. "but yearly it grew worse; and in [english subsidy having failed] matters had got inverted; and there was three times as much copper as silver. commerce, as was natural, went rocking and tossing, as on a sea under earthquakes; but there was always ready money among friedrich's soldiers, as among no other: nor did the common people, or retail purchasers, suffer by it. 'hah, an ephraimite!' they would say, grinning not ill-humoredly, at sight of one of these pieces; some of which they had more specifically named 'blue-gowns' [owing to a tint of blue perceivable, in spite of the industrious plating in real silver, or at least "boiling in some solution" of it]; these they would salute with this rhyme, then current:-- "von aussen schon, van innen schlimm; von aussen friedrich, von innen ephraim. outside noble, inside slim: outside friedrich, inside ephraim. "by this time, whatever of money, from any source, can be scraped together in friedrich's world, flows wholly into the army-chest, as the real citadel of life. in these latter years of the war, beginning, i could guess, from , all civil expenditures, and wages of officials, cease to be paid in money; nobody of that kind sees the color even of bad coin; but is paid only in 'paper assignments,' in promises to pay 'after the peace.' these paper documents made no pretence to the rank of currency: such holders of them as had money, or friends, and could wait, got punctual payment when the term did arrive; but those that could not, suffered greatly; having to negotiate their debentures on ruinous terms,--sometimes at an expense of three-fourths.--i will add friedrich's practical schedule of amounts from all these various sources; and what friedrich's own view of the sources was, when he could survey them from the safe distance. "schedule of amounts [say for ]. to make up the twenty-five million thalers, necessary for the army, there are:-- "from our prussian countries, ruined, harried as thalers they have been,.......... millions only. from saxony and the other wringings, ..... millions. english subsidy ( of good gold; becoppered into double),........... " from ephraim and his farm of the mint (munz-patent), .......... " in sum twenty-six millions; leaving you one million of margin,--and always a plenty of cash in hand for incidental sundries. [preuss, ii. .] "friedrich's own view of these sad matters, as he closes his _history of the seven-years war_ [at "berlin, th december, "], is in these words: 'may heaven grant,--if heaven deign to look down on the paltry concerns of men,--that the unalterable and flourishing destiny of this country preserve the sovereigns who shall govern it from the scourges and calamities which prussia has suffered in these times of trouble and subversion; that they may never again be forced to recur to the violent and fatal remedies which we (l'on) have been obliged to employ in maintenance of the state against the ambitious hatred of the sovereigns of europe, who wished to annihilate the house of brandenburg, and exterminate from the world whatever bore the prussian name!'" [_oeuvres de frederic,_ v. .] of the small-war in spring, . there are five disruptions of that grand cordon (february-april); and ferdinand of brunswick fights his battle of bergen (april th). friedrich, being denied an aggressive course this year, by no means sits idly expectant and defensive in the interim; but, all the more vigorously, as is observable, from february onwards, strikes out from him on every side: endeavoring to spoil the enemy's magazines, and cripple his operations in that way. so that there was, all winter through, a good deal of small-war (some of it not small), of more importance than usual,--chiefly of friedrich's originating, with the above view, or of ferdinand his ally's, on a still more pressing score. and, on the whole, that immense austrian-french cordon, which goes from the carpathians to the ocean, had by no means a quiet time; but was broken into, and violently hurled back, in different parts: some four, or even five, attacks upon it in all; three of them by prince henri,--in two of which duke ferdinand's people co-operated; the business being for mutual behoof. these latter three were famous in the world, that winter; and indeed are still recognizable as brilliant procedures of their kind; though, except dates and results, we can afford almost nothing of them here. these three, intended chiefly against reichs people and their posts and magazines, fell out on the western and middle part of the cordon. another attack was in the extreme eastward, and was for friedrich's own behoof; under fouquet's management;--intended against the austrian-moravian magazines and preparations, but had little success. still another assault, or invasive outroad, northward against the russian magazines, there also was; of which by and by. besides all which, and more memorable than all, duke ferdinand, for vital reasons of his own, fought a battle this spring, considerable battle, and did not gain it; which made great noise in the world. it is not necessary the reader should load his memory with details of all these preliminary things; on the contrary, it is necessary that he keep his memory clear for the far more important things that lie ahead of these, and entertain these in a summary way, as a kind of foreground to what is coming. perhaps the following fractions of note, which put matters in something of chronological or synoptical form, will suffice him, or more than suffice. he is to understand that the grand tug of war, this year, gradually turns out not to be hereabouts, nor with daun and his adjacencies at all, but with the russians, who arrive from the opposite northern quarter; and that all else will prove to be merely prefatory and nugatory in comparison. january d, : frankfurt-on-mayn, though it is a reichstadt, finds itself suddenly become french. "prince de soubise lies between mayn and lahn, with his , ; beautifully safe and convenient,--though ill off for a place-of-arms in those parts. opulent frankfurt, on his right; how handy would that be, were not reichs law so express! marburg, giessen are outposts of his; on which side one of ferdinand's people, prince von ysenburg, watches him with an or , , capable of mischief in that quarter. "on the eve of new-year's day, or on the auspicious day itself, soubise requests, of the frankfurt authorities, permission for a regiment of his to march through that imperial city. to which, by law and theory, the imperial city can say yes or no; but practically cannot, without grave inconvenience, say other than yes, though most frankfurters wish it could. 'yes,' answer the frankfurt magnates; yes surely, under the known conditions. tuesday, january d, about in the morning, while all is still dark in frankfurt, regiment nassau appears, accordingly, at the sachsenhausen gate, town-guard people all ready to receive it and escort it through; and is admitted as usual. quite as usual: but instead of being escorted through, it orders, in calm peremptory voice, the town-guard, to ground arms; with calm rapidity proceeds to admit ten other regiments or battalions, six of them german; seizes the artillery on the walls, seizes all the other gates:--and poor frankfurt finds itself tied hand and foot, almost before it is out of bed! done with great exactitude, with the minimum of confusion, and without a hurt skin to anybody. the inhabitants stood silent, gazing; the town-guard laid down their arms, and went home. totally against law; but cleverly done; perhaps soubise's chief exploit in the world; certainly the one real success the french have yet had. "soubise made haste to summon the magistrates: 'law of necessity alone, most honored sirs! reichs law is clear against me. but all the more shall private liberties, religions, properties, in this imperial free-town, be sacred to us. defence against any aggression: and the strictest discipline observed. depend on me, i bid you!'--and kept his word to an honorable degree, they say; or in absence, made it be kept, during the four years that follow. most frankfurters are, at heart, anti-french: but soubise's affability was perfect; and he gave evening parties of a sublime character; the magistrates all appearing there, in their square perukes and long gowns, with a mournful joy." [tempelhof, iii. - ; stenzel, v. - .] soubise soon went home, to assist in important businesses,--invasion of england, no less; let england look to itself this summer!--and broglio succeeded him, as army-captain in the frankfurt parts; with laurels accruing, more or less. soubise, like broglio, began with rossbach; soubise ends with frankfurt, for the present; where broglio also gains his chief laurels, as will shortly be seen. frankfurt is a great gain to france, though an illicit one. it puts a bar on duke ferdinand in that quarter; secures a starting-point for attacks on hessen, hanover; for co-operation with contades and the lower rhine. it is the one success france has yet had in this war, or pretty much that it ever had in it. due to prince de soubise, in that illegal fashion.--a highly remarkable little boy, now in his tenth year, johann wolfgang goethe, has his wondering eyes on these things: and, short while hence, meets daily, on the stairs and lobbies at home, a pleasant french official gentlemen who is quartered there; between whom and papa occur rubs,--as readers may remember, and shall hear in april coming. grand cordon disrupted: erfurt country, th february- d march. "about six weeks after this frankfurt achievement, certain reichsfolk and austrian auxiliaries are observed to be cutting down endless timber, ' , palisades, , trees of feet,' and other huge furnishings, from the poor duke of gotha's woods; evidently meaning to fortify themselves in erfurt. upon which prince henri detaches a general knobloch thitherward, duke ferdinand contributing , to meet him there; which combined expedition, after some sharp knocking and shoving, entirely disrooted the austrians and reichsfolk, and sent them packing. had them quite torn out by the end of the month; and had planned to 'attack them on two sides at once' (march d), with a view of swallowing them whole,--when they (these reichs volscians, in such a state of flutter) privately hastened off, one and all of them, the day before." [narrative, in _helden-geschichte,_ v. et seq.] this was breakage first of the grand cordon; an explosive hurling of it back out of those erfurt parts. done by prince henri's people, in concert with duke ferdinand's,--who were mutually interested in the thing. breakage second: erfurt-fulda country, st march- th april. "about the end of march, these intrusive austrian reichsfolk made some attempt to come back into those countries; but again got nothing but hard knocks; and gave up the erfurt project. for, close following on this first, there was a second still deeper and rougher breakage, in those same regions; the hereditary prince of brunswick dashing through, on a special errand of ferdinand's own [of which presently], with an or , , in his usual fiery manner; home into the very bowels of the reich (april d, and for a week onward); and returning with 'above , prisoners' in hand; especially with a reich well frightened behind him;--still in time for duke ferdinand's adventure [in fact, for his battle of bergen, of which we are to hear]. had been well assisted by prince henri, who 'made dangerous demonstrations in the distance,' and was extremely diligent--though the interest was chiefly ferdinand's this time." [tempelhof, iii. - .]--contemporary with that first erfurt business, there went on, miles away from it, in the quite opposite direction, another of the same;--too curious to be omitted. across the polish frontier: february, th-march th. "in the end of february, general wobersnow, an active man, was detached from glogau, over into poland, posen way, to overturn the russian provision operations thereabouts; in particular, to look into a certain high-flying polack, a prince sulkowski of those parts; who with all diligence is gathering food, in expectation of the russian advent; and indeed has formally 'declared war against the king of prussia;' having the right, he says, as a polish magnate, subject only to his own high thought in such affairs. the russians and their wars are dear to sulkowski. he fell prisoner in their cause, at zorndorf, last autumn; was stuck, like all the others, soltikoff himself among them, into the vaulted parts of custrin garrison: 'i am sorry i have no siberia for you,' said friedrich, looking, not in a benign way, on the captive dignitaries, that hot afternoon; 'go to custrin, and see what you have provided for yourselves!' which they had to do; nothing, for certain days, but cellarage to lodge in; king inexorable, deaf to remonstrance. which possibly may have contributed to kindle sulkowski into these extremely high proceedings. "at any rate, wobersnow punctually looks in upon him: seizes his considerable stock of russian proviants; his belligerent force, his high person itself; and in one luckless hour snuffs him out from the list of potentates. his belligerent force, about , polacks, were all compelled, 'by the cudgel, say my authorities, to take prussian service [in garrison regiments, and well scattered about, i suppose]; his own high person found itself sitting locked in glogau, left to its reflections. sat thus 'till the war ended,' say some; certainly till the sulkowski war had been sufficiently exploded by the laughter of mankind." here are, succinctly, the dates of this small memorability:-- "end of february, wobersnow gathers, at glogau, a force of about , horse and foot. marches, th february, over oder bridge, straight into poland; that same night, to the neighborhood of lissa and reisen (sulkowski's dominion), about thirty miles northeast of glogau. sulkowski done next day;--part of the capture is 'fifteen small guns.' wobersnow goes, next, for posen; arrives, th february; destroys russian magazine, ransoms jews. shoots out other detachments on the magazine enterprise;--detaches platen along the warta, where are picked up various items, among others 'eighty tuns of brandy,'--but himself proceeds no farther than posen. march th, sets out again from posen, homewards." [nachricht von der unternehmung des general-majors von wobersnow in polen, im feb. und marz. : in seyfarth, _beylagen,_ ii. - . _helden-geschichte,_ v. .] we shall hear again of wobersnow, in a much more important way, before long. to the polish republic so called, friedrich explained politely, not apologetically: "since you allow the russians to march through you in attack of me, it is evident to your just minds that the attacked party must have similar privilege." "truly!" answered they, in their just minds, generally; and i made no complaint about sulkowski (though polish majesty and primate endeavored to be loud about "invasion" and the like):--and indeed polish republic was lying, for a long while past, as if broken-backed, on the public highway, a nation anarchic every fibre of it, and under the feet and hoofs of travelling neighbors, especially of russian neighbors; and is not now capable of saying much for itself in such cases, or of doing anything at all. frankfurt country, april th: duke ferdinand's battle of bergen. "duke ferdinand, fully aware what a stroke that seizure of frankfurt was to him, resolved to risk a long march at this bad season, and attempt to drive the french out. contades was absent in paris,--no fear of an attack from contades's army; broglio's in frankfurt, grown now to about , , can perhaps be beaten if vigorously attacked. ferdinand appoints a rendezvous at fulda, of various corps, prince ysenburg's and others, that lie nearest, hessians many of them, hanoverians others; proceeds, himself, to fulda, with a few attendants [a drive of about miles];--having left lord george sackville [mark the sad name of him!]--sackville, head of the english, and general sporken, a hanoverian,--to take charge in munster country, during his absence. it was from fulda that he shot out the hereditary prince on that important errand we lately spoke of, under the head of 'breakage second,'--namely, to clear his right flank, and scare the reich well off him, while he should be marching on frankfurt. all which, henri assisting from the distance, the hereditary prince performed to perfection,--and was back (april th) in excellent time for the battle. "ferdinand stayed hardly a day in fulda, ranking himself and getting on the road. did his long march of above miles without accident or loss of time;--of course, scaring home the broglio outposts in haste enough, and awakening broglio's attention in a high degree;--and arrives, thursday, april th, at windecken, a village about fifteen miles northeast of frankfurt; where he passes the night under arms; intending battle on the morrow. broglio is all assembled, , strong; his assailant, with the hereditary prince come in, counts rather under , . broglio is posted in, and on both sides of, bergen, a high-lying village, directly on ferdinand's road to frankfurt. windecken is about fifteen miles from frankfurt; bergen about six:--idle tourists of our time, on their return from homburg to that city, leave bergen a little on their left. the ground is mere hills, woody dales, marshy brooks; broglio's position, with its village, and hill, and ravines and advantages, is the choicest of the region; and broglio's methods, procedures and arrangements in it are applauded by all judges. "friday, th april, , ferdinand is astir by daybreak; comes on, along one of those woody balleys, pickeering, reconnoitring;--in the end, directly up the hill of bergen; straight upon the key-point. it is about a.m., when the batteries and musketries awaken there; very loud indeed, for perhaps two hours or more. prince von ysenburg is leader of ferdinand's attacking party. their attack is hot and fierce, and they stick to it steadily; though garden-hedges, orchards and impediments are many, and broglio, with, much cannon helping, makes vigorous defence. these ysenburgers fought till their cartridges were nearly spent, and ysenburg himself lay killed; but could not take bergen. nor could the hereditary prince; who, in aid of them, tried it in flank, with his own usual impetuosity rekindling theirs, and at first with some success; but was himself taken in flank by broglio's reserve, and obliged to desist. no getting of bergen by that method. "military critics say coolly, 'you should have smashed it well with cannon, first [which ferdinand had not in stock here]; and especially have flung grenadoes into it, till it was well in flame: impossible otherwise!' [mauvillon, ii. .] the ysenburgers and hereditary prince withdraw. no pursuit of them; or almost less than none; for the one or two french regiments that tried it (against order), nearly got cut up. broglio, like a very daun at kolin, had strictly forbidden all such attempts: 'on no temptation quit your ground!' "the battle, after this, lay quiet all afternoon; ferdinand still in sight; motioning much, to tempt french valor into chasing of him. but all in vain: broglio, though his subalterns kept urging, remonstrating, was peremptory not to stir. whereupon, towards evening, across certain woody heights, perhaps still with some hope of drawing him out, ferdinand made some languid attempt on broglio's wing, or wings;--and this also failing, had to give up the affair. he continued cannonading till deep in the night; withdrew to windecken: and about two next morning, marched for home,--still with little or no pursuit: but without hope of frankfurt henceforth. and, in fact, has a painful summer ahead. "ferdinand had lost cannon, and of killed and wounded , ; the french counted their loss at about , . [mauvillon, ii. - ; tempelhof, iii. - .] the joy of france over this immense victory was extraordinary. broglio was made prince of the reich, marechal de france; would have been raised to the stars, had one been able,--for the time being. 'and your immense victory,' so sneered the by-standers, 'consists in not being beaten, under those excellent conditions;--perhaps victory is a rarity just now!'" this is the battle which our boy-friend johann wolfgang watched with such interest, from his garret-window, hour after hour; all frankfurt simmering round him, in such a whirlpool of self-contradictory emotions; till towards evening, when, in long rows of carts, poor wounded hessians and hanoverians came jolting in, and melted every heart into pity, into wailing sorrow, and eagerness to help. a little later, papa goethe, stepping downstairs, came across the official french gentleman; who said radiantly: "doubtless you congratulate yourself and us on this victory to his majesty's arms." "not a whit (keineswegs)," answers papa goethe, a stiff kind of man, nowise in the mood of congratulating: "on the contrary, i wish they had chased you to the devil, though i had had to go too!" which was a great relief to his feelings, though a dangerous one in the circumstances. [goethe's werke (stuttgart und tubingen, ), xxiv. (dichtung und wahrheit, i.), - .] breakage third: over the metal mountains into bohmen (april th- th). "ferdinand's battle was hardly ending, when prince henri poured across the mountains,--in two columns, hulsen leading the inferior or rightmost one,--into leitmeritz-eger country; and made a most successful business of the austrian magazines he found there. magazines all filled; enemy all galloping for prag:--daun himself, who is sitting vigilant, far in the interior, at jaromirtz this month past, was thrown into huge flurry, for some days! speedy henri (almost on the one condition of being speedy) had his own will of the magazines: burnt, hulsen and he, 'about , pounds worth' of austrian provender in those parts, 'what would have kept , men five months in bread' (not to mention hay at all); gave the enemy sore slaps (caught about , of him, not yet got on gallop for prag); burnt his boats on the elbe:--forced him to begin anew at the beginning; and did, in effect, considerably lame and retard certain of his operations through the summer. speedy henri marched for home april th; and was all across the mountains april d: a profitable swift nine days." [tempelhof iii. - ; _helden-geschichte,_ v. - .]--and on the sixth day hence he will have something similar, and still more important, on foot. a swift man, when he must! breakage fourth: into mahren (april th- st). "this is fouquet's attempt, alluded to above; of which--as every reader must be satisfied with small-war--we will give only the dates. fouquet, ranking at leobschutz, in neisse country, did break through into mahren, pushing the austrians before him; but found the magazines either emptied, or too inaccessible for any worth they had;--could do nothing on the magazines; and returned without result; home at leobschutz again on the fifth day." [_ helden-geschichte,_ v. - ; tempelhof, iii. - .] this, however, had a sequel for fouquet; which, as it brought the king himself into those neighborhoods, we shall have to mention, farther on. breakage fifth: into franken (may th-june st). "this was prince henri's invasion of the bamberg-nurnberg countries; a much sharper thing than in any former year. much the most famous, and," luckily for us, "the last of the small-war affairs for the present. started,--from tschopau region, bamberg way,--april th-may th. in three columns: finck leftmost, and foremost (finck had marched april th, pretending to mean for bohemia); after whom knobloch; and (may th) the prince himself. who has an eye to the reichs magazines and preparations, as usual;--nay, an eye to their camp of rendezvous, and to a fight with their miscellaneous selves and auxiliaries, if they will stand fight. 'you will have to leave saxony, and help us with the russians, soon: beat those reichs people first!' urged the king; 'well beaten, they will not trouble saxony for a while.' if they will stand fight? but they would not at all. they struck their tents everywhere; burnt their own magazines, in some cases; and only went mazing hither and thither,--gravitating all upon nurnberg, and an impregnable camp which they have in that neighborhood. supreme zweibruck was himself with them; many croats, austrians, led by maguire and others; all marching, whirling at a mighty rate; with a countenance sometimes of vigor, but always with nurnberg camp in rear. there was swift marching, really beautiful manoeuvring here and there; sharp bits of fighting, too, almost in the battle-form:--maguire tried, or was for trying, a stroke with finck; but made off hastily, glad to get away. [templehof, iii. .] may th, at himmelskron in baireuth, one riedesel of theirs had fairly to ground arms, self and , , and become prisoners of war." much of this manoeuvring and scuffling was in baireuth territory. twice, or even thrice, prince henri was in baireuth town: "marched through baireuth," say the careless old books. through baireuth:--no wilhelmina now there, with her tremulous melodies of welcome! wilhelminn's loves, and terrors for her loved, are now all still. perhaps her poor daughter of wurtemberg, wandering unjustly disgraced, is there; papa, the widower margraf, is for marrying again: [married th september, (a brunswick princess, sister's-daughter of his late wife); died within four years.]--march on, prince henri! "in bamberg," says a note from archenholtz, "the reichs troops burnt their magazine; and made for nurnberg, as usual; but left some thousand or two of croats, who would not yet. knobloch and his prussians appeared shortly after; summoned bamberg, which agreed to receive them; and were for taking possession; but found the croats determined otherwise. fight ensued; fight in the streets; which, in hideousness of noises, if in nothing else, was beyond parallel. the inhabitants sat all quaking in their cellars; not an inhabitant was to be seen: a city dead,--and given up to the demons, in this manner. not for some hours were the croats got entirely trampled out. bamberg, as usual, became a prussian place-of-arms; was charged to pay ransom of , pounds;--'cannot possibly!'--did pay some , pounds, and gave bills for the remainder." [archenholtz. i. - .] which bills, let us mark withal, the kaiser in reichs diet decreed to be invalid: "don't pay them!" a thing not forgotten by friedrich;--though it is understood the bambergers, lest worse might happen, privately paid their bills. "the expedition lasted, in whole, not quite four weeks: june st, prince henri was at the saxon frontier again; the german world all ringing loud,--in jubilation, counter-jubilation and a great variety of tones,--with the noise of what he had done. a sharp swift man; and, sure enough, has fluttered the reichs volscians in their corioli to an unexpected degree." [seyfarth, _beylagen,_ ii. - ; bericht von der unternehmung des prinzen heinrich in franken, im jahr, ; _helden-geschichte,_ v. - ; tempelhof,????, et seq.]---[copy illegible page ,] a colonel wunsch (lieutenant-colonel of the free corps wunsch) distinguished himself in this expedition; the beginning of notably great things to him in the few following months. wunsch is a wurtemberger by birth; has been in many services, always in subaltern posts, and, this year, will testify strangely how worthy he was of the higher. what a year, this of , to stout old wunsch! in the spring, here has he just seen his poor son, lieutenant wunsch, perish in one of these scuffles; in autumn, he will see himself a general, shining suddenly bright, to his king and to all the world; before winter, he will be prisoner to austria, and eclipsed for the rest of this war!--kleist, of the green hussars, also made a figure here; and onwards rapidly ever higher; to the top of renown in his business:--fallen heir to mayer's place, as it were. a note says: "poor mayer of the free corps does not ride with the prince on this occasion. mayer, dangerously worn down with the hard services of last year, and himself a man of too sleepless temper, caught a fever in the new-year time; and died within few days: burnt away before his time; much regretted by his brethren of the army, and some few others. gone in this way; with a high career just opening on him at the long last! mayer was of austrian, of half spanish birth; a musical, really melodious, affectionate, but indignant, wildly stormful mortal; and had had adventures without end. something of pathos, of tragedy, in the wild life of him. [still worth reading: in pauli (our old watery brandenburg-history friend). _leben grosser helden_ (halle, - , vols.), iii. - ;--much the best piece in that still rather watery (or windy) collection, which, however, is authentic, and has some tolerable portraits.] a man of considerable genius, military and other:--genius in the sleepless kind, which is not the best kind; sometimes a very bad kind. the fame of friedrich invites such people from all sides of the world; and this was no doubt a sensible help to him."--but enough of all this. here, surely, is abundance of preliminary small-war, on the part of a friedrich reduced to the defensive!--fouquet's sequel, hinted at above, was to this effect. on fouquet's failing to get hold of the moravian magazines, and returning to his post at leobschutz, a certain rash general deville, who is austrian chief in those parts, hastily rushed through the jagerndorf hills, and invaded fouquet. only for a few days; and had very bad success, in that bit of retaliation. the king, who is in landshut, in the middle of his main cantonments, hastened over to leobschutz with reinforcement to fouquet; in the thought that a finishing-stroke might be done on this deville;--and would have done it, had not the rash man plunged off again (may st, or the night before); homewards, at full speed. so that friedrich, likewise at full speed, could catch nothing of him; but merely cannonade him in the passes of zuckmantel, and cut off his rear-guard of croats. poor forlorn of croats, whom he had left in some bushy chasm; to gain him a little time, and then to perish if they must! as tempelhof remarks. [tempelhof, iii. .] upon which friedrich returned to landshut; and fouquet had peace again. it was from this landshut region, where his main cantonments are, that friedrich had witnessed all these inroads, or all except the very earliest of them; the first erfurt one, and the wobersnow-sulkowski. he had quitted breslau in the end of march, and gone to his cantonments; quickened thither, probably, by a stroke that had befallen him at griefenberg, on his silesian side of the cordon. at griefenberg stood the battalion duringshofen, with its colonel of the same name,--grenadier people of good quality, perhaps near , in whole. which battalion, general beck, after long preliminary study of it, from his bohemian side,--marching stealthily on it, one night (march - th), by two or more roads, with , men, and much preliminary croat-work,--contrived to envelop wholly, and carry off with him, before help could come up. this, i suppose, had quickened friedrich's arrival. he has been in that region ever since,--in landshut for the last week or two; and returns thither after the deville affair. and at landshut,--which is the main pass into bohemia or from it, and is the grand observatory-point at present,--he will have to remain till the first days of july; almost three months. watching, and waiting on the tedious daun, who has the lifting of the curtain this year! daun had come to jaromirtz, to his cantonments, "march th" (almost simultaneously with friedrich to his); expecting friedrich's invasion, as usual. long days sat daun, expecting the king in bohemia:--"there goes he, at last!" thought daun, on prince henri's late flamy appearance there (breakage third we labelled it);--and daun had hastily pushed a division thitherward, double-quick, to secure prag; but found it was only the magazines. "above four millions worth [ , pounds, counting the thalers into sterling], above four millions worth of bread and forage gone to ashes, and the very boats burnt? well; the poor reichsfolk, or our poor auxiliaries to them, will have empty haversacks:--but it is not prag!" thinks daun. at what exact point of time daun came to see that friedrich was not intending invasion, and would, on the contrary, require to be invaded, i do not know. but it must have been an interesting discovery to daun, if he foreshadowed to himself what results it would have on him: "taking the defensive, then? and what is to become of one's cunctatorship in that case!" yes, truly. cunctatorship is not now the trade needed; there is nothing to be made of playing fabius-cunctator:--and daun's fame henceforth is a diminishing quantity. the books say he "wasted above five weeks in corresponding with the russian generals." in fact, he had now weeks enough on hand; being articulately resolved (and even commanded by kriegshofrath) to do nothing till the russians came up;--and also (inarticulately and by command of nature) to do as little as possible after! this year, and indeed all years following, the russians are to be daun's best card. waiting for three months here till the curtain rose, it was friedrich that had to play cunctator. a wearisome task to him, we need not doubt. but he did it with anxious vigilance; ever thinking daun would try something, either on prince henri or on him, and that the play would begin. but the play did not. there was endless scuffling and bickering of outposts; much hitching and counter-hitching, along that bohemian-silesian frontier,--daun gradually hitching up, leftwards, northwards, to be nearer his russians; friedrich counter-hitching, and, in the end, detaching against the russians, as they approached in actuality. the details of all which would break the toughest patience. not till july came, had both parties got into the lausitz; daun into an impregnable camp near mark-lissa (in gorlitz country); friedrich, opposite and eastward of him, into another at schmottseifen:--still after which, as the russians still were not come, the hitching (if we could concern ourselves with it), the maze of strategic shuffling and counter-dancing, as the russians get nearer, will become more intricate than ever. except that of general beck on battalion duringshofen,--if that was meant as retaliatory, and was not rather an originality of beck's, who is expert at such strokes,--daun, in return for all these injurious assaults and breakages, tried little or no retaliation; and got absolutely none. deville attempted once, as we saw; loudon once, as perhaps we shall see: but both proved futile. for the present absolutely none. next year indeed, loudon, on fouquet at landshut--but let us not anticipate! just before quitting landshut for schmottseifen, friedrich himself rode into bohemia, to look more narrowly; and held trautenau, at the bottom of the pass, for a day or two--but the reader has had enough of small-war! of the present loudon attempt, friedrich, writing to brother henri, who is just home from his franconian invasion (breakage fifth), has a casual word, which we will quote. "reich-hennersdorf" is below landshut, farther down the pass; "liebau" still farther down,--and its "gallows," doubtless, is on some knoll in the environs! reich-hennersdorf, th june. "my congratulations on the excellent success you have had [out in frankenland yonder]! your prisoners, we hear, are , ; the desertion and confusion in the reichs army are affirmed to be enormous:--i give those reichs fellows two good months [scarcely took so long] to be in a condition to show face again. as for ourselves, i can send you nothing but contemptibilities. we have never yet had the beatific vision of him with the hat and consecrated sword [papal daun, that is]; they amuse us with the sieur loudon instead;--who, three days ago [ th july, two days] did us the honor of a visit, at the gallows of liebau. he was conducted out again, with all the politeness imaginable, on to near schatzlar," well over the bohemian border; "where we flung a score of cannon volleys into the"--into the "derriere of him, and everybody returned home." [in schoning, ii. : " th june, ."] perhaps the only points now noticeable in this tedious landshut interim, are two, hardly noticed then at all by an expectant world. the first is: that in the king's little inroad down to trautenau, just mentioned, four cannon drawn by horses were part of the king's fighting gear,--the first appearance of horse artillery in the world. "a very great invention," says the military mind: "guns and carriages are light, and made of the best material for strength; the gunners all mounted as postilions to them. can scour along, over hill and dale, wherever horse can; and burst out, on the sudden, where nobody was expecting artillery. devised in ; ready this year, four light six-pounders; tried first in the king's raid down to trautenau [june th- th]. only four pieces as yet. but these did so well, there were yearly more. imitated by the austrians, and gradually by all the world." [seyfarth, ii. .] the second fact is: that herr guichard (author of that fine book on the war-methods of the greeks and romans) is still about friedrich, as he has been for above a year past, if readers remember; and, during those tedious weeks, is admitted to a great deal of conversation with the king. readers will consent to this note on guichard; and this shall be our ultimatum on the wearisome three months at landshut. major quintus icilius. "guichard is by birth a magdeburger, age now thirty-four; a solid staid man, with a good deal of hard faculty in him, and of culture unusual for a soldier. a handy, sagacious, learned and intelligent man; whom friedrich, in the course of a year's experience, has grown to see willingly about him. there is something of positive in guichard, of stiff and, as it were, gritty, which might have offended a weaker taste; but friedrich likes the rugged sense of the man; his real knowledge on certain interesting heads; and the precision with which the known and the not rightly known are divided from one another, in guichard. "guichard's business about the king has been miscellaneous, not worth mention hitherto; but to appearance was well done. of talk they are beginning to have more and more; especially at landshut here, in these days of waiting; a great deal of talk on the wars of the ancients, guichard's book naturally leading to that subject. one night, datable accidentally about the end of may, the topic happened to be pharsalia, and the excellent conduct of a certain centurion of the tenth legion, who, seeing pompey's people about to take him in flank, suddenly flung himself into oblique order [schrage stellung, as we did at leutheu], thereby outflanking pompey's people, and ruining their manoeuvre and them. 'a dexterous man, that quintus icilius the centurion!' observed friedrich. 'ah, yes: but excuse me, your majesty, his name was quintus caecilius,' said guichard. 'no, it was icilius,' said the king, positive to his opinion on that small point; which guichard had not the art to let drop; though, except assertion and counter-assertion, what could be made of it there? or of what use was it anywhere? "next day, guichard came with the book [what "book" nobody would ever yet tell me], and putting his finger on the passage, 'see, your majesty: quintus caecilius!' extinguished his royal opponent. 'hm,' answered friedrich: 'so?--well, you shall be quintus icilius, at any rate!' and straightway had him entered on the army books 'as major quintus icilius;' his majorship is to be dated ' th april, ' (to give him seniority); and from and after this ' th may, ,' he is to command the late du verger's free-battalion. all which was done:--the war-offices somewhat astonished at such advent of an antique roman among them; but writing as bidden, the hand being plain, and the man an undeniable article. onward from which time there is always a 'battalion quintus' on their books, instead of battalion du verger; by degrees two batallions quintus, and at length three, and quintus become a colonel:--at which point the war ended; and the three free-battalions quintus, like all others of the same type, were discharged." this is the authentic origin of the new name quintus, which guichard got, to extinction of the old; substantially this, as derived from quintus himself,--though in the precise details of it there are obscurities, never yet solved by the learned. nicolai, for example, though he had the story from quintus in person, who was his familiar acquaintance, and often came to see him at berlin, does not, with his usual punctuality, say, nor even confess that he has forgotten, what book it was that quintus brought with him to confute the king on their icilius-caecilius controversy; nicolai only says, that he, for his part, in the fields of roman literature and history, knows only three quintus-iciliuses, not one of whom is of the least likelihood; and in fact, in the above summary, i have had to invert my nicolai on one point, to make the story stick together. [nicolai, _anekdoten,_ vi. - .] "quintus had been bred for the clerical profession; carefully, at various universities, leyden last of all; and had even preached, as candidate for license,--i hope with moderate orthodoxy;--though he soon renounced that career. exchanged it for learned and vigorous general study, with an eye to some college professorship instead. he was still hardly twenty-three, when, in , the new stadtholder," prince of orange, whom we used to know, "who had his eye upon him as a youth of merit, graciously undertook to get him placed at utrecht, in a vacancy which had just occurred there,--whither the prince was just bound, on some ceremonial visit of a high nature. the glad quintus, at that time guichard and little thinking of such an alias, hastened to set off in the prince's train; but could get no conveyance, such was the press of people all for utrecht. and did not arrive till next day,--and found quarter, with difficulty, in the garret of some overflowing inn. "in the lower stories of his inn, solitary guichard, when night fell, heard a specific gaudeamus going on; and inquired what it was. 'a company of professors, handselling a newly appointed professor;'--appointed, as the next question taught, to the very chair poor quintus had come for! serene highness could not help himself; the utrechters were so bent on the thing. quintus lay awake, all night, in his truckle-bed; and gloomily resolved to have done with professorships, and become a soldier. 'if your serene highness do still favor me,' said quintus next day, 'i solicit, as the one help for me, an ensign's commission!'--and persisted rigorously, in spite of all counsellings, promises and outlooks on the professorial side of things. so that serene highness had to grant him his commission; and quintus was a soldier thenceforth. fought, more or less, in the sad remainder of that cumberland-saxe war; and after the peace of continued in the dutch service. where, loath to be idle, he got his learned books out again, and took to studying thoroughly the ancient art of war. after years of this, it had grown so hopeful that he proceeded to a book upon it; and, by degrees, determined that he must get to certain libraries in england, before finishing. in , on furlough, graciously allowed and continued, he came to london accordingly; finished his manuscript there (printed at the hague [_memoires militaires sur les &c._ (a la haye, : vols. to);--was in the th edition when i last heard of it.]): and new war having now begun, went over (probably with english introductions) as volunteer to duke ferdinand. by duke ferdinand he was recommended to friedrich, the goal of all his efforts, as of every vagrant soldier's in those times:--and here at last, as quintus icilius, he has found permanent billet, a battalion and gradually three battalions, and will not need to roam any farther. "they say, what is very credible, that quintus proved an active, stout and effectual soldier, in his kind; and perhaps we may hear of some of his small-war adventures by and by: that he was a studious, hard-headed, well-informed man, and had written an excellent book on his subject, is still abundantly clear. readers may look in the famous gibbon's _autobiography,_ or still better in the guichard book itself, if they want evidence. the famous gibbon was drilling and wheeling, very peaceably indeed, in the hampshire militia, in those wild years of european war. hampshire militia served as key, or glossary in a sort, to this new book of guichard's, which gibbon eagerly bought and studied; and it, was guichard, alias quintus icilius, who taught gibbon all he ever knew of ancient war, at least all the teaching he ever had of it, for his renowned decline and fall." [see gibbon's _works_ ( to, london, : _memoirs of my life and writings_], i. ; and (_extraits de mes lectures_), ii. - , of dates may th- th, ,--during which days gibbon is engaged in actual reading of the _memoires militaires;_ and already knows the author by his alias of quintus icilius, "a man of eminent sagacity and insight, who was in the dutch, and is now, i believe, in the prussian service." it was in the last days of june that daun, after many litchings, got into more decisive general movement northward; and slowly but steadily planted himself at mark-lissa in the lausitz: upon which, after some survey of the phenomenon, friedrich got to schmottseifen, opposite him, july th. friedrich, on noticing such stir, had ridden down to trautenau (june th- th), new horse-artillery attending, to look closer into daun's affairs; and, seeing what they were, had thereupon followed. above a month before this, friedrich had detached a considerable force against the russians,--general dohna, of whom in next chapter:--and both daun and he again sit waiting, till they see farther. rapid friedrich is obliged to wait; watching daun and the dohna-russian adventure: slow daun will continue to wait and watch there, long weeks and months, after that is settled, that and much else, fully to his mind! each is in his impregnable camp; and each, daun especially, has his divisions and detachments hovering round him, near or far, on different strategic errands; each main-camp like a planet with various moons--mark-lissa especially, a kind of sun with planets and comets and planetary moons:--of whose intricate motions and counter-motions, mostly unimportant to us, we promised to take no notice, in face of such a crisis just at hand. by the th of july, slow daun had got hitched into his camp of mark-lissa; and four days after, friedrich attending him, was in schmottseifen: where again was pause; and there passed nothing mentionable, even on friedrich's score; and till july was just ending, the curtain did not fairly rise. panse of above two weeks on friedrich's part, and of almost three months on daun's. mark-lissa, an impregnable camp, is on the lausitz border; with saxony, silesia, bohemia all converging hereabouts, and brandenburg itself in the vicinity,--there is not a better place for waiting on events. here, accordingly, till well on in september, daun sat immovable; not even hitching now,--only shooting out detachments, planetary, cometary, at a great rate, chiefly on his various russian errands. daun, as we said, had been uncomfortably surprised to find, by degrees, that invasion was not friedrich's plan this year; that the dramatic parts are redistributed, and that the playing of fabius-cunctator will not now serve one's turn. daun, who may well be loath to believe such a thing, clings to his old part, and seems very lazy to rise and try another. in fact, he does not rise, properly speaking, or take up his new part at all. this year, and all the following, he waits carefully till the russian lion come; will then endeavor to assist,--or even do jackal, which will be safer still. the russians he intends shall act lion; he himself modestly playing the subaltern but much safer part! diligent to flatter the lion; will provide him guidances, and fractional sustenances, in view of the coming hunt; will eat the lion's leavings, once the prey is slaughtered. this really was, in some sort, daun's yearly game, so long as it would last!-- july ending, and the curtain fairly risen, we shall have to look at friedrich with our best eyesight. preparatory to which, there is, on friedrich's part, ever since the middle of june, this anti-russian dohna adventure going on:--of which, at first, and till about the time of getting to schmottseifen, he had great hopes; great, though of late rapidly sinking again:--into which we must first throw a glance, as properly the opening scene. fouquet has been left at landshut, should the daun remnants still in bohemia think of invading. fouquet is about rooting himself rather firmly into that important post; fortifying various select hills round landshut, with redoubts, curtains, communications; so as to keep ward there, inexpugnable to a much stronger force. there for about a year, with occasional short sallies, on errands that arise, fouquet sat successfully vigilant; resisting the devilles, becks, harsches; protecting glatz and the passes of silesia: in about a year we shall hear of his fortunes worsening, and of a great catastrophe to him in that landshut post. friedrich allowed the reichsfolk "two good months," after all that flurrying and havoc done on them, "before they could show face in saxony." they did take about that time; and would have taken more, had not prince henri been called away by other pressing occasions in friedrich's own neighborhood; and saxony, for a good while (end of june to beginning of september), been left almost bare of prussian troops. which encourages the reichs army to hurry afield in very unprepared condition,--still rather within the two months. end of july, light people of them push across to halberstadt or halle country; and are raising contributions, and plundering diligently, if nothing else. of which we can take no notice farther: if the reader can recollect it, well; if not, also well. the poor reichs army nominally makes a figure this year, but nominally only; the effective part of it, now and henceforth, being austrian auxiliaries, and the reichs part as flaccid and insignificant as ever. prince henri's call to quit saxony was this. daun, among the numerous detachments he was making, of which we can take no notice, had shot out two (rather of cometary type, to use our old figure),--which every reader must try to keep in mind. two detachments, very considerable: haddick (who grew at last to , ), and loudon ( , ); who are hovering about mysteriously over the lausitz;--intending what? their intention, friedrich thinks, especially haddick's intention, may be towards brandenburg, and even berlin: wherefore he has summoned henri to look after it. henri, resting in cantonments about tschopau and dresden, after the late fatigues, and idle for the moment, hastens to obey; and is in bautzen neighborhood, from about the end of june and onward. sufficiently attentive to haddick and loudon: who make no attempt on brandenburg; having indeed, as friedrich gradually sees, and as all of us shall soon see, a very different object in view!-- chapter ii.--general dohna; dictator wedell: battle of zullichau. the russian lion, urged by vienna and versailles, made his entry, this year, earlier than usual,--coming now within wind of mark-lissa, as we see;--and has stirred daun into motion, daun and everybody. from the beginning of april, the russians, hibernating in the interior parts of poland, were awake, and getting slowly under way. april th, the vanguard of , quitted thorn; june st, vanguard is in posen; followed by a first division and a second, each of , . they called it "soltikof crossing the weichsel with , men;" but, exclusive of the cossack swarms, there were not above , regulars: nor was soltikof their captain just at first; our old friend fermor was, and continued to be till soltikof, in a private capacity, reached posen (june th), and produced his new commission. at fermor's own request, as fermor pretended,--who was skilled in petersburg politics, and with a cheerful face served thenceforth as soltikof's second. at posen, as on the road thither, they find sulkowski's and the other burnt provenders abundantly replaced: it is evident they intend, in concert with daun, to enclose friedrich between two fires, and do something considerable. whether on brandenburg or silesia, is not yet known to friedrich. friedrich, since the time they crossed weichsel, has given them his best attention; and more than once has had schemes on their magazines and them,--once a new and bigger scheme actually afoot, under wobersnow again, our anti-sulkowski friend; but was obliged to turn the force elsewhither, on alarms that rose. he himself cannot quit the centre of the work; his task being to watch daun, and especially, should daun attempt nothing else, to prevent junction of soltikof and him. daun still lies torpid, or merely hitching about; but now when the russians are approaching posen, and the case becomes pressing, friedrich, as is usual to him, draws upon the anti-swedish resource, upon the force he has in pommern. that is to say, orders general dohna, who has the swedes well driven in at present, to quit stralsund country, to leave the ineffectual swedes with some very small attendance; and to march--with certain reinforcements that are arriving (wobersnow already, hulsen with , out of saxony in few days)--direct against the russians; and at once go in upon them. try to burn their magazines again; or, equally good, to fall vigorously on some of their separate divisions, and cut them off in the vagrant state;--above all, to be vigorous, be rapid, sharp, and do something effectual in that quarter. these were dohna's instructions. dohna has , ; hulsen, with his , , is industriously striding forward, from the farther side of saxony; wobersnow, with at least his own fine head, is already there. friedrich, watching in the anti-junction position, ready for the least chance that may turn up. dohna marched accordingly; but was nothing like rapid enough: an old man, often in ill health too; and no doubt plenty of impediments about him. he consumed some time rallying at stargard; twelve days more at landsberg, on the warta, settling his provision matters: in fine, did not get to posen neighborhood till june d, three weeks after the russian vanguard of , had fixed itself there, and other russian parties were daily dropping in. dohna was , , a wobersnow with him: had he gone at once on posen, as wobersnow urged, it is thought he might perhaps have ruined this vanguard and the russian magazine; which would have been of signal service for the remaining campaign. but he preferred waiting for hulsen and the , , who did not arrive for seven or eight days more; by which time soltikof and most of the russian divisions had got in;--and the work was become as good as hopeless, on those languid terms. dohna did try upon the magazine, said to be ill guarded in some suburb of posen; crossed the warta with that view, found no magazine; recrossed the warta; and went manoeuvring about, unable to do the least good on soltikof or his magazines or operations. friedrich was still in landshut region, just about quitting it,--just starting on that little trautenau expedition, with his four pieces of horse-artillery (june th), when the first ill news of dohna came in; which greatly disappointed friedrich, and were followed by worse, instead of better. the end was, soltikof, being now all ready, winded himself out of posen one day, veiled by cossacks; and, to dohna's horror, had got, or was in the act of getting, between dohna and brandenburg; which necessitated new difficult manoeuvres from dohna. soltikof too can manoeuvre a little: soltikof edges steadily forward; making for crossen-on-oder, where he expects to find austrians (haddick and loudon, if friedrich could yet guess it), with , odd, especially with provision, which is wearing scarce with him. twice or so there was still a pretty opportunity for dohna on him; but dohna never could resolve about it in time. back and ever back goes dohna; facing soltikof; but always hitching back; latterly in brandenburg ground, the russians and he;--having no provision, he either. in fine, july th (one week after friedrich had got to schmottseifen), dohna finds himself at the little town of zullichau (barely in time to snatch it before soltikof could), within thirty miles of crossen; and nothing but futility behind and before. [tempelhof, iii, - ; _ helden-geschichte,_ v. - .] we can imagine friedrich's daily survey of all this; his gloomy calculations what it will soon amount to if it last. he has now no winterfeld, schwerin, no keith, retzow, moritz:--whom has he? his noblest captains are all gone; he must put up with the less noble. one wedell, lieutenant-general, had lately recommended himself to the royal mind by actions of a prompt daring. the royal mind, disgusted with these dohna hagglings, and in absolute necessity of finding somebody that had resolution, and at least ordinary prussian skill, hoped wedell was the man. and determined, the crisis being so urgent, to send wedell in the character of alter-ego, or "with the powers of a roman dictator," as the order expressed it. [given in preuss, ii. , ; in stenzel, v. , other particulars.] dictator wedell is to supersede dohna; shall go, at his own swift pace, fettered by nobody;--and, at all hazards, shall attack soltikof straightway, and try to beat him. "you are grown too old for that intricate hard work; go home a little, and recover your health," the king writes to dohna. and to the dohna army, "obey this man, all and sundry of you, as you would myself;" the man's private order being, "go in upon soltikof; attack him straightway; let us have done with this wriggling and haggling." date of this order is "camp at schmottseifen, th july, ." the purpose of such high-flown title, and solemnity of nomination, was mainly, it appears, to hush down any hesitation or surprise among the dohna generals, which, as wedell was "the youngest lieutenant-general of the army," might otherwise have been possible. wedell, furnished with some small escort and these documents, arrives in camp sunday evening, d july:--poor dohna has not the least word or look of criticism; and every general, suppressing whatever thoughts there may be, prepares to yield loyal obedience to dictator wedell. "wobersnow was the far better soldier of the two!" murmured the opposition party, then and long afterwards, [retzow, &c.]--all the more, as wobersnow's behavior under it was beautiful, and his end tragical, as will be seen. wobersnow i perceive to have been a valiant sharp-striking man, with multifarious resources in his head; who had faithfully helped in these operations, and i believe been urgent to quicken them. but what i remember best of him is his hasty admirable contrivance for field-bakery in pressing circumstances,--the substance of which shall not be hidden from a mechanical age:-- "you construct six slight square iron frames, each hinged to the other; each, say, two feet square, or the breadth of two common tiles, and shaped on the edges so as to take in tiles;--tiles are to be found on every human cottage. this iron frame, when you hook it together, becomes the ghost of a cubic box, and by the help of twelve tiles becomes a compact field-oven; and you can bake with it, if you have flour and water, and a few sticks. the succinctest oven ever heard of; for your operation done, and your tiles flung out again, it is capable of all folding flat like a book." [retzow, ii. n.] never till now had wobersnow's oven been at fault: but in these polish villages, all of mere thatched hovels, there was not a tile to be found; and the bakery, with astonishment, saw itself unable to proceed. wedell arrived sunday evening, d july; had crossed oder at tschischerzig,--some say by crossen bridge; no matter which. dohna's camp is some thirty miles west of crossen; in and near the small town called zullichau, where his head-quarter is. in those dull peaty countries, on the right, which is thereabouts the northern (not eastern), bank of oder; between the oder and the warta; some seventy miles south-by-east of landsberg, and perhaps as far southwest of posen: thither has dohna now got with his futile manoeuvrings. soltikof, drawn up amid scrubby woods and sluggish intricate brooks, is about a mile to east of him. poor dohna demits at once; and, i could conjecture, vanishes that very night; glad to be out of such a thing. painfully has dohna manoeuvred for weeks past; falling back daily; only anxious latterly that soltikof, who daily tries it, do not get to westward of him on the frankfurt road, and so end this sad shuffle. soltikof as yet has not managed that ultimate fatality; dohna, by shuffling back, does at least contrive to keep between frankfurt and him;--will not try attacking him, much as wobersnow urges it. has agreed twice or oftener, on wobersnow's urgency: "yes, yes; we have a chance," dohna would answer; "only let us rest till to-morrow, and be fresh!" by which time the opportunity was always gone again. wedell had arrived with a grenadier battalion and some horse for escort; had picked up russian prisoners by the way. retzow has understood he came in with a kind of state; and seemed more or less inflated; conscious of representing the king's person, and being a roman dictator,--though it is a perilously difficult office too, and requires more than a letter of instructions to qualify you for it! this is not leonidas wedell, whom readers once knew; poor leonidas is dead long since, fell in the battle of sohr, soon after the heroic feat of ziethen's and his at elbe-teinitz (defence of elbe against an army); this is leonidas's elder brother. friedrich had observed his fiery ways on the day of leuthen: "hah, a new winterfeld perhaps?" thought friedrich, "all the winterfeld i now have!"--which proved a fond hope. wedell's dictatorship began this sunday towards sunset; and lasted--in practical fact, it lasted one day. dictator wedell fights his battle (monday, d july, ), without success. monday morning early, wedell is on the heights, reconnoitring soltikof; cannot see much of him, the ground being so woody; does see what he takes to be soltikof's left wing; and judges that soltikof will lie quiet for this day. which was far from a right reading of soltikof; the fact being that soltikof, in long columns and divisions, beginning with his right wing, was all on march since daybreak; what wedell took for soltikof's "left wing" being soltikof's rear-guard and baggage, waiting till the roads cleared. wedell, having settled everything on the above footing, returns to zullichau about o'clock; and about , soltikof, miles long, disengaged from the bushy hollows, makes his appearance on the open grounds of palzig: he, sure enough (though wedell can hardly believe it),--five or six miles to northeast yonder; tramping diligently along, making for crossen and the oder bridge;--and is actually got ahead of us, at last! this is what wedell cannot suffer, cost what it may. wedell's orders were, in such case, attack the russians. wedell instantly took his measures; not unskilfully, say judges,--though the result proved disappointing; and wobersnow himself earnestly dissuaded: "too questionable, i should doubt! soltikof is , , and has no end of artillery; we are , , and know not if we can bring a single gun to where soltikof is!" [tempelhof, iii. - .] wedell's people have already, of their own accord, got to arms again; stand waiting his orders on this new emergency. no delay in wedell or in them. "may not it be another rossbach (if we are lucky)?" thinks wedell: "cannot we burst in on their flank, as they march yonder, those awkward fellows; and tumble them into heaps?" the differences were several-fold: first, that friedrich and seidlitz are not here. many brave men we have, and skilful; but not a master and man like these two. secondly, that there is no janus hill to screen our intentions; but that the russians have us in full view while we make ready. thirdly, and still more important, that we do not know the ground, and what hidden inaccessibilities lie ahead. this last is judged to have been the killing circumstance. between the russians and us there is a paltry little brook, or line of quagmire; scarcely noticeable here, but passable nowhere except at the village-mill of kay, by one poor bridge there. and then, farther inwards, as shelter of the russians, there is another quaggy brook, branch of the above, which is without bridge altogether. hours will be required to get , people marched up there, not to speak of heavy guns at all. the , march with their usual mathematical despatch: manteuffel and the vanguard strike in with their sharpest edge, foot and horse, direct on the head of the russian column, manteuffel leading on, so soon as his few battalions and squadrons are across. head means brain (or life) to this russian column; and these manteuffel people go at it with extraordinary energy. the russian head gives way; infantry and cavalry:--their cavalry was driven quite to rear, and never came in sight again after this of manteuffel. but the russians have abundance of reserves; also of room to manoeuvre in,--no lack of ground open, and ground defensible (palzig village and churchyard, for example);--above all, they have abundance of heavy guns. well in recoil from manteuffel and his furies, the beaten russians succeed in forming "a long line behind palzig village," with that second, slighter or branch quagmire between them and us; they get the village beset, and have the churchyard of it lined with batteries,--say seventy guns. manteuffel, unsupported, has to fall back;--unwillingly, and not chased or in disorder,--towards kay-mill again; where many are by this time across. hulsen, with the centre, attacks now, as the vanguard had done; with a will, he too: wobersnow, all manner of people attack; time after time, for about four hours coming: and it proves all in vain, on that churchyard and new line. without cannon, we are repulsed, torn away by those russian volcano-batteries; never enough of us at once! hulsen, wobersnow, everybody in detail is repulsed, or finds his success unavailing. poor wobersnow did wonders; but he fell, killed. gone he; and has left so few of his like: a man that could ill be spared at present!--day is sinking; we find we have lost, in killed, wounded and prisoners, some , men. "about sunset,"--flaming july sun going down among the moorlands on such a scene,--wedell gives it up; retires slowly towards kay bridge. slowly; not chased, or molested; soltikof too glad to be rid of him. soltikof's one aim is, and was, towards crossen; towards austrian junction, and something to live upon. soltikof's loss of men is reckoned to be heavier even than wedell's: but he could far better afford it. he has gained his point; and the price is small in comparison. next day he enters crossen on triumphant terms. poor wedell had returned over kay-mill bridge, in the night-time after his defeat. on the morrow (tuesday, th, day of soltikof's glad entry), wedell crosses oder; at tschischerzig, the old place of sunday evening last,--in how different a humor, this time!--and in a day more, posts himself opposite to crossen bridge, five or six miles south; and again sits watchful of soltikof there. at crossen, triumphant soltikof has found no austrian junction, nor anything additional to live upon. a very disappointing circumstance to soltikof; "austrian junction still a problem, then; a thing in the air? and perhaps the king of prussia taking charge of it now!" soltikof, more and more impatient, after waiting some days, decided not to cross oder by that bridge;--"shy of crossing anywhere [think the french gentlemen, montazet, montalembert], to the king of prussia's side!" [stenzel, iv. (indistinct, and giving a wrong citation of "montalembert, ii. ").] which is not unlikely, though the king is above miles off him, and has daun on his hands. certain enough, keeping the river between him and any operations of the king, soltikof set out for frankfurt, forty or fifty miles farther down. in the hope probably of finding something of human provender withal? july th, one week after his battle, the vanguard of him is there. thus, in two days, or even in one, has wedell's dictatorship ended. easy to say scoffingly, "would it had never begun!" friedrich knows that, and wedell knows it;--after the event everybody knows it! friedrich said nothing of reproachful; the reverse rather,--"i dreaded something of the kind; it is not your fault;" [to wedell, from the king, "schmottseifen, july th. " (in schoning, ii. ).]--ordered wedell to watch diligently at crossen bridge, and be ready on farther signal. the wedell problem, in such ruined condition, has now fallen to friedrich himself. this is the battle of zullichau (afternoon of d july, ); the beginning of immense disasters in this campaign. battle called also of kay and of palzig, those also being main localities in it. it was lost, not by fault of wedell's people, who spent themselves nobly upon it, nor perhaps by fault of wedell himself, but principally, if not solely, by those two paltry brooks, or threads of quagmire, one of which turns kay-mill; memorable brooks in this campaign, . [tempelhof, iii. - .] close in the same neighborhood, there is another equally contemptible brook, making towards oder, and turning the so-called krebsmuhle, which became still more famous to the whole european public twenty years hence. krebs-muhle (crab-mill), as yet quite undistinguished among mills; belonging to a dusty individual called miller arnold, with a dusty son of his own for miller's lad: was it at work this day? or had the terrible sound from palzig quenched its clacking?-- some three weeks ago ( th- th july), there occurred a sudden sharp thing at havre-de-grace on the french coast, worth a word from us in this place. the montazets, montalemberts, watching, messaging about, in the austrian-russian courts and camps, assiduously keeping their soltikofs in tune, we can observe how busy they are. soubise with his invasion of england, all the french are very busy; they have conquered hessen from duke ferdinand, and promise themselves a glorious campaign, after that seizure of frankfurt. soubise, intent on his new enterprise, is really making ardent preparations: at vanues in the morbihan, such rendezvousing and equipping;--especially at havre, no end of flat-bottomed boats getting built; and much bluster and agitation among the weaker sorts in both nations. whereupon,-- "july st [just in the days while friedrich was first trying horse artillery], rear-admiral rodney sails from portsmouth with a few frigates, and six bomb-ketches [firedrake, basilisk, blast, and such nomenclatures [list of him, in beatson, _naval and military memoirs_ (london, ), ii. ; his despatch excellently brief, ib. ii. ]]; and in the afternoon of tuesday, d, arrives in the frith or bay of havre. steers himself properly into 'the channel of honfleur' before dark; and therefrom, with his firedrake, basilisk and company, begins such a bombardment of havre and the flat-bottomed manufactories as was quite surprising. fifty-two incessant hours of it, before he thought poor havre had enough. poor havre had been on fire six times; the flat manufactory (unquenchable) i know not how many; all the inhabitants off in despair; and the garrison building this battery to no purpose, then that; no salvation for them but in rodney's 'mortars getting too hot.' he had fired of shells , , of carcasses, , : from wednesday about sunrise till friday about a.m.,--about time now for breakfast; which i hope everybody had, after such a stretch of work. 'no damage to speak of,' said the french gazetteers; 'we will soon refit everything!' but they never did; and nothing came of havre henceforth. vannes was always, and is now still more, to be the main place; only that hawke--most unexpectedly, for one fancied all their ships employed in distant parts--rides there with a channel fleet of formidable nature; and the previous question always is: 'cannot we beat hawke? can we! or will not he perhaps go, of himself, when the rough weather comes?'" chapter iii.--friedrich in person attempts the russian problem; not with success. before wedell's catastrophe, the affair of those haddick-loudon detachments had become a little plainer to friedrich. the intention, he begins to suspect, is not for berlin at all; but for junction with soltikof,--at crossen, or wherever it may be. this is in fact their real purpose; and this, beyond almost berlin itself, it is in the highest degree important to prevent! important; and now as if become impossible! prince henri had come to bautzen with his army, specially to look after loudon and haddick; and he has, all this while, had finck with some , diligently patrolling to westward of them, guarding berlin; he himself watching from the southern side,--where, as on the western, there was no danger from them. some time before wedell's affair, friedrich had pushed out eugen of wurtemberg to watch these people on the eastern side;--suspicious that thitherward lay their real errand. eugen had but , ; and, except in conjunction with finck and henri, could do nothing,--nor can, now when friedrich's suspicion turns out to be fatally true. friedrich had always the angry feeling that finck and prince henri were the blameworthy parties in what now ensued; that they, who were near, ought to have divined these people's secret, and spoiled it in time; not have left it to him who was far off, and so busy otherwise. to the last, that was his fixed private opinion; by no means useful to utter,--especially at present, while attempting the now very doubtful enterprise himself, and needing all about him to be swift and zealous. this is one of friedrich's famous labors, this of the haddick-loudon junction with soltikof; strenuous short spasm of effort, of about a week's continuance; full of fiery insight, velocity, energy; still admired by judges, though it was unsuccessful, or only had half success. difficult to bring home, in any measure, to the mind of modern readers, so remote from it. friedrich got the news of zullichau next day, july th;--and instantly made ready. the case is critical; especially this haddick-loudon part of it: add or , austrians to soltikof, how is he then to be dealt with? a case stringently pressing:--and the resources for it few and scattered. for several days past, haddick, and loudon under him, whose motions were long enigmatic, have been marching steadily eastward through the lausitz,--with the evident purpose of joining soltikof; unless wedell could forbid. wedell ahead was the grand opposition;--finck, henri, wurtemberg, as good as useless;--and wedell being now struck down, these austrians will go, especially loudon will, at a winged rate. they are understood to be approaching sagan country; happily, as yet, well to westward of it, and from sagan town well north-westward;--but all accounts of them are vague, dim: they are an obscure entity to friedrich, but a vitally important one. sagan town may be about miles northward of where friedrich now is: from sagan, were they once in the meridian of sagan, their road is free eastward and northward;--to crossen is about miles north-by-east from sagan, to frankfurt near north. sagan is on the bober; bober, in every event, is between the austrians and their aim. friedrich feels that, however dangerous to quit daun's neighborhood, he must, he in person, go at once. and who, in the interim, will watch daun and his enterprises? friedrich's reflections are: "well, in the crisis of the moment, saxony--though there already are marauding bodies of reichsfolk in it--must still be left to itself for a time; or cannot finck and his , look to it? henri, with his army, now useless at bautzen, shall instantly rendezvous at sagan; his army to go with me, against the russians and their haddick-loudons; henri to schmottseifen, instead of me, and attend to daun; henri, i have no other left! finck and his , must take charge of saxony, such charge as he can:--how lucky those spring forays, which destroyed the reichs magazines! whereby there is no reichs army yet got into saxony (nothing but preliminary pulses and splashings of it); none yet, nor like to be quite at once." that is friedrich's swift plan. henri rose on the instant, as did everybody concerned: july th, henri and army were at sagan; army waiting for the king; henri so far on his road to schmottseifen. he had come to sagan "by almost the rapidest marches ever heard of,"--or ever till some others of henri's own, which he made in that neighborhood soon. punctual, he, to his day; as are eugen of wurtemberg's people, and all detachments and divisions: friedrich himself arrives at sagan that same th, "about midnight,"--and finds plenty of work waiting: no sleep these two nights past; and none coming just yet! a most swift rendezvous. the speed of everybody has been, and needs still to be, intense. this rendezvous at sagan--intersection of henri and friedrich, bound different roads (the brothers, i think, did not personally meet, henri having driven off for schmottseifen by a shorter road)--was sunday, july th. following which, are six days of such a hunt for those austrian reynards as seldom or never was! most vehement, breathless, baffling hunt; half of it spent in painfully beating cover, in mere finding and losing. not rightly successful, after all. so that, on the eighth day hence, august th, at mullrose, near frankfurt, miles from sagan, there is a second rendezvous,--rendezvous of wedell and friedrich, who do not now "intersect," but meet after the hunt is done;--and in the interim, there has been a wonderful performance, though an unsuccessful. friedrich never could rightly get hold of his austrians. once only, at sommerfeld, a long march northwest of sagan, he came upon some outskirts of them. and in general, in those latter eight days, especially in the first six of them, there is, in that kotbus-sagan country, such an intersecting, checking, pushing and multifarious simmering of marches, on the part of half a dozen strategic entities, friedrich the centre of them, as--as, i think, nobody but an express soldier-student, well furnished with admiration for this particular soldier, would consent to have explained to him. one of the maziest, most unintelligible whirls of marching; inextricable sword dance, or dance of the furies,--five of them (that is the correct number: haddick, loudon, friedrich, wurtemberg, wedell);--and it is flung down for us, all in a huddle, in these inhuman books (which have several errors of the press, too): let no man rashly insist with himself on understanding it, unless he have need! humanly pulled straight, not inhumanly flung down at random, here the essentials of it are,--in very brief state:-- "sagan, monday, th july. friedrich is at sagan, since midnight last, busier and busier;" beating cover, as we termed it, and getting his hounds (his new henri-army) in leash; "endeavoring, especially, to get tidings of those austrian people; who are very enigmatic,--loudon a dexterous man,--and have hung up such a curtain of pandours between friedrich and them as is nearly impenetrable. in the course of this monday friedrich ascertains that they are verily on the road; coming eastward, for sommerfeld,--'thence for crossen!' he needs no ghost to tell him. wherefore, "tuesday, sagan to naumburg. tuesday before daybreak friedrich too is on the road: northwestward; in full march towards naumburg on bober, meaning to catch the bridge from them there. march of the swiftest; he himself is ahead, as usual, with the vanguard of horse. he reaches naumburg (northward, a march of miles); finds, not haddick or loudon, but a detachment of theirs: which he at once oversets with his cavalry, and chases,--marking withal that 'westward is the way they run.' westward; and that we are still ahead, thank heaven! "before his infantry are all up, or are well rested in naumburg, friedrich ascertains, on more precise tidings, that the austrians are in sommerfeld, to westward (again a miles); and judges that, no doubt, they will bear off more to leftward, by guben probably, and try to avoid him,--unless he can still catch them in sommerfeld. about nightfall he marches for sommerfeld, at his swiftest; arrives wednesday early; finds--alas!-- "sommerfeld, wednesday morning, august st, friedrich finds that loudon was there last night,--preterite tense, alas; the question now being, where is he!" in fact, loudon had written yesterday to daun (letter still extant, "sommerfeld, july st"), that "being swift and light," consisting of horse for most part, "he may probably effect junction this very night;"--but has altered his mind very much, on sight of these fugitives from naumburg, since! and has borne off more to leftward. straight north now, and at a very brisk pace; being now all of horse;--and has an important conference with haddick at guben, when they arrive there. "not in sommerfeld?" thinks friedrich (earnestly surveying, through this slit he has made in the pandour veil): "gone to guben most likely, bearing off from us to leftward?"--which was the fact; though not the whole fact. and indeed the chase is now again fallen uncertain, and there has to be some beating of covers. for one thing, he learns to-day (august st) that the russians are gone to frankfurt: "follow them, you wedell,"--orders friedrich: them we shall have to go into,--however this hunt end!-- "to markersdorf, thursday, august d. friedrich takes the road for guben; reaches markersdorf (twenty miles' march, still seven or eight from guben); falls upon--what phenomenon is this? the austrian heavy train; meal-wagons not a few, and a regiment of foot in charge of it;--but going the wrong way, not towards the russians, but from them! what on earth can this be? this is haddick,--if friedrich could yet clearly know it,--haddick and train, who for his own part has given up the junction enterprise. at guben, some hours ago, he had conference with loudon; and this was the conclusion arrived at: 'impossible, with that king so near! you, herr loudon, push on, without heavy baggage, and with the cavalry altogether: you can get in, almost , strong; i, with the infantry, with the meal and heavy guns, will turn, and make for the lausitz again!' "this mysterious austrian train, going the wrong way, friedrich attacks, whatever it be (hoping, i suppose, it might be the austrians altogether); chases it vigorously; snatches all the meal-wagons, and about , prisoners. uncertain still what it is,--if not the austrians altogether? to his sorrow, he finds, on pushing farther into it, that it is only haddick and the infantry; that loudon, with the , horse, will have gone off for frankfurt;--irretrievably ahead, the swift loudon,--ever careering northward all this while, since that afternoon at sommerfeld, when the fugitives altered his opinion: a now unattainable loudon. in the course of thursday night, friedrich has satisfied himself that the loudon junction is a thing as good as done;--in effect, loudon did get to frankfurt, morning of august d, and joined the russians there; and about the same time, or only a few hours sooner, friedrich, by symptoms, has divined that his hunt has ended, in this rather unsuccessful way; and that chasing of haddick is not the road to go." [tempelhof, iii. - .] not haddick now; with or without their austrians, it shall be the russians now! two days ago (wednesday, as was mentioned), before sight of those enigmatic meal-wagons, friedrich had learned that the russians were to be in frankfurt again; and had ordered wedell to march thitherward, at any rate. which wedell is doing, all this thursday and the four following days. as does likewise, from and after "friday, august d, a.m." (hunt then over), friedrich himself,--renouncing haddick and the hunt. straight towards frankfurt thenceforth; head-quarters beeskow that night; next night, mullrose, whither wedell is appointed, within twelve miles of frankfurt. this is the end of friedrich's sore chase and march; burnt deeply into his own weary brain, if ours still refuse it admittance! here, of utterly fatigued tone, is a note of his, chiefly on business, to minister finkenstein. indeed there are, within the next ten days, three successive notes to finkenstein, which will be worth reading in their due places. this is the first of them:-- the king to graf von finkenstein (at berlin). "beeskow, d august, ." "i am just arrived here, after cruel and frightful marchings [checks himself, however]. there is nothing desperate in all that; and i believe the noise and disquietude this hurly-burly has caused will be the worst of it. show this letter to everybody, that it may be known the state is not undefended. i have made above , prisoners from haddick. all his meal-wagons have been taken. finck, i believe, will keep an eye on him," and secure berlin from attempts of his. "this is all i can say. "to-morrow i march to within two leagues of frankfurt [to mullrose, namely]. katte [the minister who has charge of such things] must send me instantly two hundred wispels [say tons] of meal, and bakers one hundred, to furstenwalde. i shall encamp at wulkow. i am very tired. for six nights i have not closed an eye. farewell.--f." during the above intricate war-dance of five,--the day while friedrich was at sommerfeld, the day before he came in sight of haddick's meal-wagons going the wrong road,--there went on, at minden, on the weser, three hundred miles away, a beautiful feat of war, in the highest degree salutary to duke ferdinand and britannic majesty's ministry; feat which requires a word from us here. a really splendid victory, this of minden, august st: french driven headlong through the passes there; their "conquest of hanover and weser country" quite exploded and flung over the horizon; and duke ferdinand relieved from all his distresses, and lord of the ascendant again in those parts. highly interesting to friedrich;--especially to prince henri; whose apprehensions about ferdinand and the old richelieu hastenbeck-halberstadt time returning on us, have been very great; and who now, at schmottseifen, fires feu-de-joie for it with all his heart. this is a battle still of some interest to english readers. but can english readers consent to halt in this hot pinch of the friedrich crisis; and read the briefest thing which is foreign to it? alas, i fear they can;--and will insert the note here:-- battle of minden: wednesday, august st, .---"ever since bergen, things have gone awry with ferdinand, and in spite of skilful management, of hard struggles and bright sparkles of success, he has had a bad campaign of it. the french, it would seem, are really got into better fighting order; belleisle's exertions as war-minister have been almost wonderful,--in some respects, too wonderful, as we shall hear!--and broglio and contades, in comparison with clermont and soubise, have real soldier qualities. contades, across rhine again, in those weser countries, who is skilful in his way, and is pricked on by emulation of broglio, has been spreading himself out steadily progressive there; while broglio, pushing along from frankfurt-on-mayn, has conquered hessen; is into hanover; on the edge of conquering hanover,--which how is ferdinand to hinder? ferdinand has got two, if not three armies to deal with, and in number is not much superior to one. if he run to save hanover from broglio, he loses westphalia: osnabruck (his magazine)? munster, lippstadt,--contades, if left to himself, will take these, after short siege; and will nestle himself there, and then advance, not like a transitory fever-fit, but like visible death, on hanover. ferdinand, rapid yet wary, manoeuvred his very best among those interests of his, on the left bank of weser; but after the surprisal of minden from him (brilliantly done by broglio, and the aid of a treacherous peasant), especially after the capture of osnabruck, his outlooks are gloomy to a degree: and at versailles, and at minden where contades has established himself, 'the conquest of hanover' (beautiful counterweight to all one's losses in america or elsewhere) is regarded as a certainty of this year. "for the last ten days of july, about minden, the manoeuvring, especially on ferdinand's part, had been intense; a great idea in the head of ferdinand, more or less unintelligible to contades. contades, with some , , which is the better half of his force, has taken one of the unassailablest positions. he lies looking northward, his right wing on the weser with posts to minden (minden perhaps a mile northeastward there), on his left impassable peat-bogs and quagmires; in front a quaggy river or impassable black brook, called the bastau, coming from the westward, which disembogues at minden: [sketch of plan, p. ]--there lies contades, as if in a rabbit-hole, say military men; for defence, if that were the sole object, no post can be stronger. contades has in person say , ; and round him, on both sides of the weser, are broglio with , ; besides other divisions, i know not how many, besieging munster, capturing osnabruck (our hay magazine), attempting lippstadt by surprise (to no purpose), and diligently working forward, day by day, to ferdinand's ruin in those minden regions. three or four divisions busy in that manner;--and above all, we say, he has broglio with a , on the right or east bank of the weser,--who, if ferdinand quit him even for a day, seems to have hanover at discretion, and can march any day upon hanover city, where his light troops have already been more than once. why does n't ferdinand cross weser, re-cross weser; coerce broglio back; and save hanover? cry the gazetteers and a public of weak judgment. pitt's public is inclined to murmur about ferdinand; pitt himself never. ferdinand persists in sticking by minden neighborhood,--and, in a scarcely accountable way, manoeuvring there, shooting out therefrom what mischief he can upon the various contades people in their sieges and the like. "on contades himself he can pretend to do nothing,--except hoodwink him, entice him out, and try to get a chance on him. but for his own subsistence and otherwise, he is very lively;--snatches, by a sudden stroke, bremen city: 'yes truly, bremen is a reichstadt; nor shall you snatch it, as you did frankfurt; but i will, instead; and my english proviant-ships shall have a sure haven henceforth!' snatches bremen by one sudden stroke; re-snatches osnabruck by another ('our magazine considerably increased since you have had it, many thanks!'); does lose munster, to his sorrow; but nevertheless sticks by his ground here;--nay detaches his swift-cutting nephew, the hereditary prince, who is growing famous for such things, to cut out contades's strong post to southward (gohfeld, ten miles up the weser), which guards his meal-wagons, after their long journey from the south. that is contades's one weak point, in this posture of things: his meal is at cassel, seventy miles off. broglio and he see clearly, 'till we can get a new magazine much nearer hanover, or at lowest, can clear out these people from infesting us here, there is no moving northward!' to both contades and broglio that is an evident thing: the corollary to which is, they must fight ferdinand; must watch lynx-like till a chance turn up of beating him in fight. that is their outlook; and ferdinand knows it is,--and manoeuvres accordingly. military men admire much, not his movements only, but his clear insight into contades's and broglio's temper of mind, and by what methods they were to be handled, they and his own affairs together, and brought whither he wanted them. [in mauvillon (ii. - ) minute account of all that.] "this attempt on gohfeld was a serious mischief to contades, if it succeeded. but the detaching of the prince of brunswick on it, and weakening one's too weak army, 'what a rashness, what an oversight!' thinks contades (as ferdinand wished him to do): 'is our skilful enemy, in this extreme embarrassment, losing head, then? look at his left wing yonder [general wangenheim, sitting behind batteries, in his village of todtenhausen, looking into minden from the north]:--wangenheim's left leans on the weser, yes; but wangenheim's right, observe, has no support within three miles of it: tear wangenheim out, ferdinand's flank is bare!' these things seemed to contades the very chance he had been waiting for; and brought him triumphantly out of his rabbit-hole, into the heath of minden, as ferdinand hoped they would do. "and so, tuesday evening, july st, things being now all ripe, upwards of , french are industriously in motion. contades has nineteen bridges ready on the bastau brook, in front of him; tattoo this night, in contades's camp, is to mean general march, 'march, all of you, across these nineteen bridges, to your stations on the plain or heath of minden yonder,--and be punctual, like the clock!' broglio crosses weser by the town bridge, ranks himself opposite todtenhausen; and through the livelong night there is, on the part of the , french, a very great marching and deploying. contades and broglio together are , foot and horse. ferdinand's entire force will be near , ; but on the day of battle he is only , ,--having detached the hereditary prince on gohfeld, in what view we know.--the battle of minden, called also of tonhausen (meaning todtenhausen), which hereupon fell out, has still its fame in the world; and, i perceive, is well worth study by the soldier mind: though nothing but the rough outline of it is possible here. "ferdinand's posts extend from the weser river and todtenhausen round by stemmern, holzhausen, to hartum and the bog of bastau (the chief part of him towards bastau),--in various villages, and woody patches and favorable spots; all looking in upon minden, from a distance of five or seven miles; forming a kind of arc, with minden for centre. he will march up in eight columns; of course, with wide intervals between them,--wide, but continually narrowing as he advances; which will indeed be ruinous gaps, if ferdinand wait to be attacked; but which will coalesce close enough, if he be speedy upon contades. for contades's line is also of arc-like or almost semicircular form, behind it minden as centre; minden, which is at the intersection of weser and the brook; his right flank is on weser, broglio versus wangenheim the extreme right; his left, with infantry and artillery, rests on that black brook of bastau with its nineteen bridges. as the ground on both wings is rough, not so fit for cavalry, contades puts his cavalry wholly in the centre: they are the flower of the french army, about , horse in all; firm open ground ahead of them there, with strong batteries, masses of infantry to support on each flank; batteries to ply with cross-fire any assailant that may come on. broglio, we said, is right wing; strong in artillery and infantry. broglio is to root out waugenheim: after which,--or even before which, if wangenheim is kept busy and we are nimble,--what becomes of ferdinand's left flank, with a gap of three miles between wangenheim and him, and , chosen horse to take advantage of it! had the french been of prussian dexterity and nimbleness in marching, it is very possible something might have come of this latter circumstance: but ferdinand knows they are not; and intends to take good care of his flank. "contades and his people were of willing mind; but had no skill in 'marchiug up:' and, once got across the bastau by their nineteen bridges, they wasted many hours:--'too far, am i? not far enough? too close? not close enough?'--and broiled about, in much hurry and confusion, all night. fight was to have begun at in the morning. broglio was in his place, silently looking into wangenheim, by five o'clock; but unfortunately did nothing upon wangenheim ('not ready you, i see!'), except cannonade a little;--and indeed all through did nothing ('still not ready you others!'); which surely was questionable conduct, though not reckoned so at versailles, when the case came to be argued there. as to the contades people, across those nineteen bridges, they had a baffling confused night; and were by no means correctly on their ground at sunrise, nor at o'clock, nor at ; and were still mending themselves when the shock came, and time was done. "the morning is very misty; but ferdinand has himself been out examining since the earliest daybreak: his orders last night were, 'cavalry be saddled at in the morning,'--having a guess that there would be work, as he now finds there will. from a.m. ferdinand is issuing from his camp, flowing down eastward, beautifully concentric, closing on contades; horse not in centre, but english infantry in centre (six battalions, or six regiments by english reckoning); right opposite those , horse of contades's, the sight of whom seems to be very animating to them. the english cavalry stand on the right wing, at the village of hartum: lord george sackville had not been very punctual in saddling at o'clock; but he is there, ranked on the ground, at ,--in what humor nobody knows; sulky and flabby, i should rather guess. english tourists, idle otherwise, may take a look at hartum on the south side, as the spot where a very ugly thing occurred that day. "soon after the fight begins: attack, by certain hessians, on hahlen and its batteries; attempt to drive the french out of hahlen, as the first thing,--which does not succeed at once (indeed took three attacks in all); and perhaps looks rather tedious to those six english battalions. ferdinand's order to them was, 'you shall march up to attack, you six, on sound of drum;' but, it seems, they read it, 'by sound of drum;' 'beating our own drums; yes, of course!'--and, being weary of this hahlen work, or fancying they had no concern with it, strode on, double-quick, without waiting for hahlen at all! to the horror of their hanoverian comrades, who nevertheless determined to follow as second line. 'the contades cross-fire of artillery, battery of guns on one flank, of on the other, does its best upon this forward-minded infantry, but they seem to heed it little; walk right forward; and, to the astonishment of those french horse and of all the world, entirely break and ruin the charge made on them, and tramp forward in chase of the same. the , horse feel astonished, insulted; and rush out again, furiously charging; the english halt and serry themselves: 'no fire till they are within forty paces;' and then such pouring torrents of it as no horse or man can endure. rally after rally there is, on the part of those , ; mass after mass of them indignantly plunges on,--again, ever again, about six charges in all;--but do not break the english lines: one of them (regiment mestrede-camp, raised to a paroxysm) does once get through, across the first line, but is blown back in dreadful circumstances by the second. after which they give it up, as a thing that cannot be done. and rush rearward, hither, thither, the whole seventy-five squadrons of them; and 'between their two wings of infantry are seen boiling in complete disorder.' "this has lasted about an hour: this is essentially the soul of the fight,--though there wanted not other activities, to right of it and to left, on both sides; artilleries going at a mighty rate on both wings; and counter-artilleries (superlative practice 'by captain phillips' on our right wing); broglio cannonading wangenheim very loudly, but with little harm done or suffered, on their right wing. wangenheim is watchful of that gap between ferdinand and him, till it close itself sufficiently. their right-wing infantry did once make some attempt there; but the prussian horse--(always a small body of prussians serve in this allied army)--shot out, and in a brilliant manner swept them home again. plan of battle here--page ,---- artillery and that pretty charge of prussian horse are all one remembers, except this of the english and hanover foot in the centre: 'an unsurpassable thing,' says tempelhof (though it so easily might have been a fatal!)--which has set contades's centre boiling, and reduced contades altogether to water, as it were. contades said bitterly: 'i have seen what i never thought to be possible,--a single line of infantry break through three lines of cavalry ranked in order of battle, and tumble them to ruin!' [stenzel, v. .] "this was the feat, this hour's work in the centre, the essential soul of the fight:--and had lord george sackville, general of the horse, come on when galloped for and bidden, here had been such a ruin, say all judges, as seldom came upon an army. lord george--everlasting disgrace and sorrow on the name of him--could not see his way to coming on; delayed, haggled; would not even let granby, his lieutenant, come; not for a second adjutant, not for a third; never came on at all; but rode to the prince, asking, 'how am i to come on?' who, with a politeness i can never enough admire, did not instantly kill him, but answered, in mild tone, 'milord, the opportunity is now past!' whereby contades escaped ruin, and was only beaten. by about in the morning all was over. when a man's centre is gone to water, no part of him is far from the fluid state. contades retreated into his rabbit-hole by those nineteen bridges,--well tormented, they say, by captain phillips's artillery, till he got beyond the knolls again. broglio, who had never been in musket-fire at all, but had merely barked on wangenheim all morning, instead of biting, covered the retreat, and withdrew into minden. and we are a beaten army,--thanks to lord george, not an annihilated one. our loss being only , (with heavy guns, colors, cavalry flags and the like); theirs being , ,--full half of it falling on those rash six battalions. [mauvillon, ii. - ; tempelhof, iii. - , &c. &c.: and _proceedings of a court-martial, held at the horse-guards, th- th march and th march- th april, , in trial of lord george sackville_ (london, )]. in knesebeck, _ferdinand wahrend des siebenjahrigen krieges_ (i. ), ferdinand's letter to friedrich of "july st;" and (i. - and ii. - ) many special details about sackville and "august st." "and what is this one hears from gohfeld in the evening? the hereditary prince, busy there on us during the very hours of minden, has blown our rear-guard division to the winds there;--and we must move southward, one and all of us, without a moment's delay! out of this rabbit-hole the retreat by rearward is through a difficult country, the westphalian gates so called; fatal to varus's legions long ago. contades got under way that very night; lost most of his baggage, all his conquests, that shadow-conquest of hanover, and more than all his glories (versailles shrieking on him, 'resign you; let broglio be chief,);--and, on the whole, jumbled homeward hither and thither, gravitating towards the rhine, nothing but wesel to depend on in those parts, as heretofore. broglio retreated frankfurt-way, also as usual, though not quite so far; and at versailles had clearly the victory. zealous belleisle could not protect his contades; it is not known whether he privately blamed contades or blamed broglio for loss of minden. zealous old man, what a loss to himself withal had minden been! that shadow-conquest of hanover is quite vanished: and worse, in ferdinand's spoil were certain letters from belleisle to contades, inculcating strange things;--for example, 'il faut faire un desert du pays [all hessen, i think, lest ferdinand advance on you] devant l'armee,' and the like. which ferdinand saw good to publish, and which resounded rather hideously through the general mind." [were taken at detmold (tempelhof, iii. ); old newspapers full of excerpts from them, in the weeks following.] ignominious sackville was tried by court-martial; cashiered, declared incapable of again serving his majesty "in any military capacity;"--perhaps a mild way of signifying that he wanted the common courage of a soldier? zealous majesty, always particular in soldier matters, proclaimed it officially to be "a sentence worse than death;" and furthermore, with his own royal hand, taking the pen himself, struck out sackville from the list of privy-councillors. proper surely, and indispensable;--and should have been persisted in, like fate; which, in a new reign, it was not! for the rest, there was always, and is, something of enigma in sackville's palpably bad case. it is difficult to think that a sackville wanted common courage. this sackville fought duels with propriety; in private life, he was a surly, domineering kind of fellow, and had no appearance of wanting spirit. it is known, he did not love duke ferdinand; far from it! may not he have been of peculiarly sour humor that morning, the luckless fool; sulky against ferdinand, and his "saddling at one o'clock;" sulky against himself, against the world and mankind; and flabbily disinclined to heroic practices for the moment? and the moment came; and the man was not there, except in that foggy, flabby and forever ruinous condition! archenholtz, alone of writers, judges that he expressly wanted to spoil the battle of minden and ferdinand's reputation, and to get appointed commander in his stead. wonderful; but may have some vestige of basis, too! true, this sackville was as fit to lead the courses of the stars as to lead armies. but such a sackville has ambition, and, what is fatally more peculiar to him, a chance for unfolding it;--any blockhead has an ambition capable, if you encourage it sufficiently, of running to the infinite. enough of this particular blockhead; and may it be long before we see his like again!-- the english cavalry was in a rage with sackville. of the english infantry, historians say, what is not now much heard of in this country, "that these unsurpassable six [in industrious valor unsurpassable, though they mistook orders, and might have fared badly!] are ever since called the minden regiments; that they are the th, th, d, th, th and st of the british line; and carry 'minden' on their colors," [kausler, _schlachter, _ &c. p, .]--with silent profit, i hope! fancy how pitt's public, lately gloomy and dubious, blazed aloft into joyful certainty again! pitt's outlooks have been really gloomy all this season; nor are the difficulties yet ended, though we hope they will end. let us add this other bit of synchronism, which is still of adverse aspect, over seas; and will be pungently interesting to pitt and england, when they come to hear of it. "before quebec, july st, . this same evening, at quebec, on the other side of the atlantic,--evening at quebec, or at night for contades and his nineteen bridges,--there is a difficult affair going on. above and below the falls of montmorenci, and their outflow into the st. lawrence: attempt on general wolfe's part to penetrate through upon the french, under marquis de montcalm, french commander-in-chief, and to get a stroke at quebec and him. from the south side of the st. lawrence, nothing can be done upon quebec, such the distance over. from isle d'orleans and the north side, it is also impossible hitherto. easy enough to batter the lower town, from your ships and redoubts: but the high town towers aloft on its sheer pinnacles, inaccessible even to cannon; looks down on the skilfulest british admiral and fleet as if with an air of indifference,--trying him on dark nights with fire-ships, fire-rafts, the cunningest kinds of pyrotechny, which he skilfully tows aside. "a strenuous thing, this of wolfe's; though an unsuccessful. towards evening, the end of it; all quebec assembled on the southern ramparts, witnessing with intense interest; the sublime falls of montmorenci gushing on, totally indifferent. for about a month past, general wolfe, with the proper equipments, and about , men, naval and military, who was expressly selected by pitt to besiege quebec, and is dying to succeed, has been trying every scheme to get into contact with it:--to no purpose, so lofty, chasmy, rocky is the ground, cut by mountainous precipices and torrent streams, branches of the grand st. lawrence river; so skilfully taken advantage of by montcalm and his people, who are at home here, and in regulars nearly equal wolfe, not to speak of savages and canadians, wolfe's plan of the st was not ill laid; and the execution has been zealous, seamen and landsmen alike of willing mind;--but it met with accidents. accidents in boating; then a still worse accident on landing; the regiment of grenadiers, which crossed below the falls, having, so soon as landed, rushed off on the redoubt there on their own score, without waiting for the two brigades that were to cross and co-operate above the falls! which cut wolfe to the heart; and induced him, especially as the tide was making again, to give up the enterprise altogether, and recall everybody, while it was yet time. [_gentleman's magazine_ for , pp. - ; thackeray, i. .] wolfe is strict in discipline; loves the willing mind, none more, and can kindle it among those about him; but he loves discipline withal, and knows how fatal the too willing may be. for six weeks more there is toil on the back of toil everywhere for poor wolfe. he falls into fevers, into miseries, almost into broken heart;--nothing sure to him but that of doing his own poor utmost to the very death. after six weeks, we shall perhaps hear of him again. gliding swiftly towards death; but also towards victory and the goal of all his wishes." and now, after this flight half round the world, it is time we return to oder country, and a friedrich on the edge of formidable things there. next day after beeskow, where we left him, he duly arrived at mullrose; was joined by wedell there, august th; and is now at wulkow,--"encamped between lebus and wulkow," as we hear elsewhere;--quite in the environs of frankfurt and of great events. friedrich to graf von finkenstein (second note). wulkow, th august, . "if you hear of firing to-morrow, don't be surprised; it is our rejoicing for the battle of minden. i believe i shall have to keep you in suspense some days yet. i have many arrangements to make; i find great difficulties to surmount,--and it is required to save our country, not to lose it: i ought both to be more prudent and more enterprising than ever. in a word, i will do and undertake whatever i find feasible and possible. with all that, i see myself in the necessity of making haste, to check the designs haddick may have on berlin. adieu, mon cher. in a little, you will have either a de profundis or a te deum.--f." [_oeuvres de frederic, _ xxv. , .] chapter iv.--battle of kunersdorf. sunday, july th, at frankfurt-on-oder divine worship was broken in upon, and the poor city thrown into consternation, by actual advent, or as good as advent, of the russians: "on the crossen road, close by; coming, come!" and they did undeniably appear, next morning, in force; on the opposite, eastern or kunersdorf side of the river, on the top of the oder-dam there; and demanded instant admission, under penalty of general death by fire. within the town stood major arnim, a veteran of those parts, with militia; these, with their muskets and with two cannon, are the only defence of frankfurt, the town has gates; but its walls, i doubt, are mainly garden-walls and house-walls. on the eastern side, the river, especially if you have cannon on the bridge, gives it something of protection; but on the western and all other sides, it is overhung by heights. this frankfurt, like its bigger namesake on the mayn, is known as a busy trading place, its fairs much frequented in those eastern parts; and is believed by the russians to be far richer than it is. the reader, as there happens to be ocular testimony extant, [johann zudwig kriele, schlacht bei kunersdorf, mit &c. (berlin, ). kriele was subsequent pastor in the parish, an excellent intelligent man: has compiled in brief form, with an elaborate chart too, a clear account of everything, in the battle and before and after it.] may like to see a little how they behaved there. "arnim, taking survey of the russian party, values it, or what he can see of it, at , [they really were , ]; keeps his drawbridge up; and answers stoutly enough, 'no.' upon which, from the oder-dam, there flies off one fiery grenado; one and no more,--which alighted in the house of 'mrs. thielicke, a baker's widow, who was standing at the door;'--killed poor mrs. thielicke, blew the house considerably to wreck, but did not set fire to it. amim, all the magistrates entreating him for the love of heaven to leave them, is secretly shoving off his two cannon to the northern gate; and in fact is making his packages with full speed: 'push for custrin,' thinks arnim, and save selves and cannon, since no good is to be done here!' "it was about a.m. when the thielicke grenado fell: obstinate arnim would by no means go; only packed all the faster. a second summons came: still, no. for the third and last time the russians then summon: 'grenadoes, a hundred more of them lie ready, unless--!' 'we will, we will; o merciful servant of czarish majesty!' passionately signify the magistrates. but arnim is still negative, still keeps the bridge up. one of the hundred does go, by way of foretaste: this lighted 'near the ober kirche, in the chimney of the town musikus;' brought the chimney crashing down on him [fancy a man with some fineness of ear]; tore the house a good deal to pieces, but again did not set it on fire. 'your obstinate town can be bombarded, then,--cannot it?' observed the russian messenger.--'give us free withdrawal!' proposes amim. 'no; you to be prisoners of war; town at czarish majesty's discretion.' 'never,' answers arnim (to the outward ear).--'go, oh, for the love of heaven, go!' cry all official people. "arnim, deaf to clamor, but steadily diligent in getting ready, does at last go; through the lebus suburb, quick march; steady, yet at his best step;--taking the town-keys in his pocket, and leaving the drawbridge up. one is sorry for poor arnim and his militia; whose conduct was perfect, under difficulties and alarms; but proved unsuccessful. the terrified magistrates, finding their keys gone, and the conflagrative russians at their gates, got blacksmiths on the instant; smote down, by chisel and mallet, the locked drawbridge, smote open the gates: 'enter, o gracious sirs; and may czarish majesty have mercy on us!' so that arnim had small start for marchers on foot; and was overtaken about half-way. would not yield still, though the odds were overwhelming; drew himself out on the best ground discoverable; made hot resistance; hot and skilful; but in vain. about six in the evening, arnim and party were brought back, prisoners, to frankfurt again,--self, surviving men, cannons and all (self in a wounded state);--and 'were locked in various brew-houses;' little of careful surgery, i should fear. poor arnim; man could do no more; and he has been unfortunate." it is by no means our intention to describe the iliad of miseries, the agitations, terrors and disquietudes, the tribulation and utter harrowing to despair, which poor frankfurt underwent, incessantly from that day forward, for about five weeks to come. "the furnishings of victual [russian stock quite out] were to an inconceivable amount; surrender of arms, of linens, cloths, of everything useful to a hungry army; above all things, of horses, so that at last there were but four horses left in all frankfurt; and"--but we must not go into details. "on the second day, besides all this," what will be significant of it all, "there was exacted 'ransom of , thalers ( , pounds), or you shall be delivered to the cossacks!' frankfurt has not above , inhabitants within its bounds; here is a sudden poll-tax of pounds s. per head. frankfurt has not such a sum; the most rigorous collection did not yield above the tenth part of it. and more than once those sanguinary vagabonds were openly drawn out, pitch-link in hand: 'the , pounds or--!' civic presidency office in frankfurt was not a bed of roses. the poor magistrates rushed distractedly about; wrung out moneys to the last drop; moneys, and in the end plate from those that had it; went in tearful deputation to general soltikof,--a severe proud kind of man, capable perhaps of being flattered,--who usually locked them up instead. magistrates were locked in russian ward, at one time, for almost a week; sat in the blazing sun; if you try for the shade of a tree, the sentry handles arms upon you;--and were like to die. to me, kriele, it is a miracle how the most of us lived; nay we never really wanted food, so kind was providence, so generous our poor neighbors out of all the towns round. the utmost of money that could be raised was , pounds; nothing but some little of plate, and our bill for the remainder. soltikof, a high kind of gentleman, saw at last how it stood; let the magistrates out of ward; sent back the plate--'nothing of that!'--nay, czarish majesty was herself generous; and forgave the bill, on our petition, next year. cossacks, indeed, were a plunderous wild crew; but the russians kept them mostly without the gates. the regular russians were civil and orderly, officers and men,--greatly beyond the austrians in behavior." [kriele, _schlacht bei kunersdorf;_ pp. - (in compressed state).] by these few traits conceive frankfurt: this, now forgotten in most books, is a background on which things were transacted still memorable to everybody. "friday, august d, general loudon came to hand: arrived early, in the guben (or western) suburb, his , and he. in high spirits naturally, and somewhat exultant to have evaded friedrich; but found a reception that surprised him. the russians had been living in the hope of junction; but still more vividly in that of meal. 'auxiliaries; humph,--only , of them; how much welcomer had been as many hundredweights of meal!' loudon had pushed his baggage direct into frankfurt; and likewise a requisition of such and such proviants, weights of meal and the like, in exuberant amount, to be furnished straightway by the city: neither of which procedures would the russians hear of for a moment. 'out with you!' said they roughly to the baggage-people: 'quarter in the guben suburb, or where you like; not here!' and with regard to the requisition of proviant, they answered in a scornful angry key, 'proviant? you too without it? you have not brought us meal, according to covenant; instead of meal, you bring us , new eaters, most of them on horse-back,--satan thank you! from frankfurt be very certain you can get no ounce of meal; frankfurt is our own poor meal-bag, dreadfully scanty: stay outside, and feed where and how you can!' "all this, loudon, though of hot temper, easily capable of rising to the fierce point, had to endure in silence, for the common interest. loudon's own table is furnished from frankfurt; no other austrian man's: all others have to shift how they can. sad requisitioning needed, and sad plunder to supplement it: the austrian behavior was very bad, say the frankfurters; 'in particular, they had burnt gradually all the corn-mills in the country; within many miles not one mill standing when they left us,'--and four horses all the conveyance power we had. soltikof lodges in great pomp, much soldiery and cannon parading before his doors; not an undignified man, or an inhuman or essentially foolish, but very high in his ways, and distasteful to austrian dignitaries." the russian army lies mainly across oder; encamped on the judenberg, and eastward there, along the heights, near three miles, to kunersdorf and beyond. they expect friedrich at the gates of frankfurt shortly; know well that they cannot defend frankfurt. they calculate that friedrich will attack them in their judenberg encampment, but hope they are nearly ready for him there. loudon, from the guben suburb, will hasten across, at any moment;--welcome on such fighting occasion, though ill seen when the question is of eating! the russians have their wagenburg on an island southward, farther up the river; they have three pontoon bridges leading thither, a free retreat should they be beaten. and in the mean while are intrenching themselves, as only daun would,--cannon and redoubts all round those heights;--and except it be screwing frankfurt to do its impossible duty, and carting provender with all the horses except four, have not much farther to do but wait till the king come. which will be speedily, it is probable!-- wednesday, august th, russian and austrian generals, a cheerful party of them, had rendezvoused at fischers muhle; a mill not yet burnt, and a pleasant tavern as well; in one of the prettiest valleys in the western environs;--intending to dine there, and have a pleasant day. but the miller's boy runs in upon them, wide-eyed, "himmel und erde, prussian hussars!" it was in verity prussian hussars; the king of prussia with them in person. he is come out reconnoitring,--the day after his arrival in those parts. the pleasuring generals, russian and austrian, sprang to horseback at their swiftest,--hope of dinner gone futile, except to the intervening prussian hussars;--and would have all been captured, but for that miller's boy; whose mill too was burnt before long. this gallop home of the undined generals into frankfurt was the first news we poor frankfurters had of the king's arrival. the king has been punctual to his reckoning: he picked up wedell at mullrose,--not too cordial to wedell's people: "none of you speak to those beaten wretches," ordered he; "till perhaps they wipe off their zullichau stain!" on the th, friedrich advanced to frankfurt neighborhood; took camp between wulkow and lebus;--and has just been out reconnoitring. and has raised, fancy what emotion in poor frankfurt lying under its nightmare! "next day, august th, from wulkow-lebus hand, we" of frankfurt, "heard a great firing; cannon-salvos, musket-volleys: 'nothing of fight,' the russian officers told us; 'it is the king of prussia doing joy-fire for minden,' of which we till now knew nothing." friedrich, on survey of this russian-austrian army, some , in number, with such posts, artilleries, advantages, judges that he, counting only , , is not strong enough. and, indeed, had so anticipated, and already judged; and, accordingly, has finck on march hitherward again,--berlin must take its risk, saxony must shift for itself in the interim. finck is due in two days,--not here at lebus precisely, but at another place appointed; finck will raise him to , ; and then business can begin! contrary to russian expectation, friedrich does not attack frankfurt; seems quite quiet in his cantonments;--he is quietly (if one knew it) making preparations farther down the river. about reitwein, between this and custrin, there arrangements are proceeding, by no means of a showy sort. the russian-austrian army quits frankfurt, leaving only some hundreds of garrison: loudon moves across, soltikof across; to the oder-dam and farther; and lie, powerfully intrenched, on those kunersdorf heights, and sandy moorlands, which go eastward at right-angles to oder-dam. one of the strongest camps imaginable. all round there, to beyond kunersdorf and back again, near three miles each way, they have a ring of redoubts, and artillery without end. and lie there, in order of battle, or nearly so; ready for friedrich, when he shall attack, through frankfurt or otherwise. they face to the north (reitwein way, as it happens); to their rear, and indeed to their front, only not so close, are woods and intricate wilds. loudon has the left flank; that is to say, loudon's left hand is towards the oder-dam and frankfurt; he lies at the rothe vorwerk ("red grange," a farmstead much mentioned just now); rather to northwestward of the jew hill and jew churchyard (judenberg and judenkirchhof, likewise much mentioned); and in advance of the general mass. soltikof's head-quarter, i rather understand, is on the right wing; probably in kunersdorf itself, or beyond that village; there, at least, our highly important russian right wing is; there, elaborately fortified; and, half a mile farther, ends,--on the edge of steep dells; the russian brink of which is strongly fringed with cannon, while beyond, on the farther brink, they have built an abatis; so making assurance doubly sure. looking to the northward all these , ; their left rather southward of frankfurt bridge, over which friedrich will probably arrive. leftward, somewhat to rearward, they have bridges of their own; should anything sinister befall; three bridges which lead into that oder island, and the russian wagenburg there. august th, finck, punctual to time, arrives in the neighborhood of reitwein (which is some ten miles down stream from lebus, from frankfurt perhaps fifteen); friedrich, the same day, is there before him; eager to complete the bridges, and get to business. one bridge is of pontoons; one of "oder-boats floated up from custrin." bridges are not begun till nightfall, lest eyes be abroad; are ready in the minimum of time. and so, during the same night of the th, all the infantry, with their artilleries and battle-furnitures, pour over in two columns; the cavalry, at the due point of time, riding by a ford short way to the right. and at four, in the gray of the august morning (saturday, th august, ), all persons and things find themselves correctly across; ranked there, in those barren, much-indented "pasture-grounds of goritz" or of oetscher; intending towards kunersdorf; ready for unfolding into order of battle there. they leave their heavy baggage at goritz, wunsch to guard the bridges and it; and, in succinct condition, are all under way. at one in the afternoon we are got to leissow and bischofsee; scrubby hamlets (as the rest all are), not above two miles from kunersdorf. the august day is windless, shiny, sultry; man and horse are weary with the labors, and with the want of sleep: we decide to bivouac here, and rest on the scrubby surface, heather or whatever it is, till to-morrow. finck is vanguard, ahead short way, and with his left on a bit of lake or bog; the army is in two lines, with its right on leissow, and has cavalry in the kind of wood which there is to rear. friedrich, having settled the positions, rides out reconnoitring; hither, thither, over the heights of trettin. "the day being still hot, he suffers considerably from thirst [it is our one anecdote] in that arid tract: at last a peasant does bring him, direct from the fountain, a jug of pure cold water; whom, lucky man, the king rewarded with a thaler; and not only so, but, the man being intelligent of the localities, took with him to answer questions." readers too may desire to gain some knowledge of the important ground now under survey. "frankfurt, a very ancient town, not a very beautiful," says my note, "stands on an alluvium which has been ground down from certain clay hills on the left bank of oder. it counted about , inhabitants in friedrich's time; has now perhaps about , ; not half the bulk of its namesake on the mayn; but with three great fairs annually, and much trade of the rough kind. on this left or west bank of oder the country is arable, moderately grassy and umbrageous, the prospect round you not unpleasant; but eastward, over the river, nothing can be more in contrast. oder is of swift current, of turbid color, as it rolls under frankfurt bridge,--wooden bridge, with dam suburb at the end;--a river treeless, desolate, as you look up and down; which has, evidently, often changed its course, since grinding down that alluvium as site for frankfurt; and which, though now holding mainly to northward, is still given to be erratic, and destructive on the eastern low grounds,--had not the frankfurters built an 'oder-dam' on that side; a broad strong earth-mound, running for many miles, and confining its floods. beyond the dam there are traces of an 'old oder (alte oder);' and, in fact, oder, in primeval and in recent time, has gone along, many-streamed; indenting, quarrying, leaving lakelets, quagmires, miscellaneous sandy tumult, at a great rate, on that eastern shore. making of it one of the unloveliest scenes of chaotic desolation anywhere to be met with;--fallen unlovelier than ever in our own more recent times. "what we call the heights of kunersdorf is a broad chain of knolls; coming out, at right-angles, or as a kind of spur, from the eastern high grounds; direct towards oder and frankfurt. mill-hill (muhlberg) is the root or easternmost part of this spur. from the muhlberg, over kunersdorf, to oder-dam, which is the whole length of the spur, or chain of knolls, will be little short of four miles; the breadth of the chain is nowhere one mile,--which is its grand defect as a camp: 'too narrow for manoeuvring in.' here, atop and on the three sides of this block of knolls, was fought the furious battle of kunersdorf [to be fought to-morrow], one of the most furious ever known. a block of knolls memorable ever since. "to all appearance: it was once some big island or chain of islands in the oder deluges: it is still cut with sudden hollows,--kuhgrund (cow-hollow), tiefe weg (deep way), and westernmost of all, and most important for us here, hohle grund (big hollow, let us call it; 'loudon's hollow' people subsequently called it);--and is everywhere strangely tumbled up into knolls blunt or sharp, the work of primeval oder in his rages. in its highest knolls,--of which let readers note specially the spitzberg, the muhlberg, the judenberg,--it rises nowhere to feet; perhaps the general height of it may be about . on each side of it, especially on the north, the country is of most intricate character: bushy, scraggy, with brooklets or muddy oozings wandering about, especially with a thing called the hunerfliess (hen-floss), which springs in the eastern woods, and has inconceivable difficulty to get into oder,--if it get at all! this was a sore floss to friedrich to-morrow. hen-floss struggles, painfully meandering and oozing, along the northern side (sometimes close, sometimes not) of our chain of knolls: along the south side of it (in our time, through the middle of it) goes the highway to reppen ["from that highway will his attack come!" thought the russians, always till to-day]: on the north, to leissow, to trettin," where friedrich is now on survey, "go various wheel-tracks, but no firm road. a most intricate unlovely country. withered bent-grasses, heath, perhaps gorse, and on both sides a great deal of straggling forest-wood, reaching eastward, and especially southward, for many miles. "for the rest," to our ill-luck in this place, "the battlefield of kunersdorf has had a peculiar fate in the world; that of being blown away by the winds! the then scene of things exists no longer; the descriptions in the old books are gone hopelessly irrecognizable. in our time, there is not anywhere a tract more purely of tumbled sand, than all this between kunersdorf and dam vorstadt; and you judge, without aid of record or tradition, that it is greatly altered for the worse since friedrich's time,--some rabbit-colony, or other the like insignificancy, eating out the roots, till all vegetation died, and the wind got hold and set it dancing;--and that, in , when russian human beings took it for a camp, it must have been at least coherent, more or less; covered, held together by some film of scrubby vegetation; not blowing about in every wind as now! kunersdorf stands with its northern end pushed into that kuhgrund (cow-hollow); which must then have been a grassy place. eastward of kunersdorf the ground has still some skin of peat, and sticks together: but westward, all that three miles, it is a mere tumult of sand-hills, tumbled about in every direction (so diligent have the conies been, and then the winds); no gullet, or definite cut or hollow, now traceable anywhere, but only an endless imbroglio of twisted sand-heaps and sand-hollows, which continually alter in the wind-storms. sand wholly, and--except the strong paved highway that now runs through it (to reppen, meseritz and the polish frontier, and is strongly paved till it get through kunersdorf)--chaotic wholly; a scene of heaped barrenness and horror, not to be matched but in sahara; the features of the battle quite blown away, and indecipherable in our time. "a hundred years ago, it would have some tattered skin,--of peat, of heather and dwarf whins, with the sand cropping out only here and there. so one has to figure it in soltikof's day,--before the conies ruined it. which was not till within the last sixty years, as appears. kriele's book (in ) still gives no hint of change: the kuhgrund, which now has nothing but dry sand for the most industrious ruminant, is still a place of succulence and herbage in kriele's time; 'deep way,' where 'at one point two carts could not pass,' was not yet blown out of existence, but has still 'a well in it' for kriele; hohle grund (since called loudon's hollow), with the jew hill and jew churchyard beyond, seem tolerable enough places to kriele. probably not unlike what the surrounding country still is. a country of poor villages, and of wild ground, flat generally, and but tolerably green; with lakelets, bushes, scrubs, and intricate meandering little runlets and oozelets; and in general with more of forest so called than now is:--this is kunersdorf chain of knolls; soltikof's intrenched camp at present; destined to become very famous in the world, after lying so long obscure under oder and its rages." [tourist's note (autumnn, ).] from the knolls of trettin, that saturday afternoon, friedrich takes view of the russian camp. all lying bright enough there; from muhlberg to judenberg, convenient to our glass; between us and the evening sun. batteries most abundant, difficulties great: soltikof just ahead here, , : loudon at the red grange yonder, on their extreme left, with , more. an uncommonly strong position for , against , . one thing strikes friedrich: on front in this northern side, close by the base of the russian camp, runs--for the present away from oder, but intending to join it elsewhere--a paltry little brook, "hen-floss" so called, with at least two successive mills on it (kleine muhle, grosse muhle); and on the northern shore of it, spilling itself out into a wet waste called elsbruch (alder waste), which is especially notable to friedrich. alder waste? watery, scrubby; no passage there, thinks friedrich; which his peasant with the water-jug confirms. "tell me, however," inquires friedrich, with strictness, "from the red grange yonder, where general loudon is, if you wished to get over to the hohle grund, or to the judenberg, would you cross that hen-floss?" "it is not crossable, your majesty; one has to go round quite westward by the dam." "what, from rothe vorwerk to big hollow, no passage, say you; no crossing?" "none, your majesty," insists the peasant;--who is not aware that the russians have made one of firm trestles and logs, and use it daily for highway there; an error of some interest to friedrich within the next twenty-four hours! friedrich himself does not know this bit of ground: but there is with him, besides the peasant, a major linden, whose regiment used to lie in frankfurt, of whom friedrich makes minute questioning. linden answers confidently; has been over all this tract a hundred times; "but knows it only as a hunter," says tempelhof, [tempelhof, iii. .] "not as a soldier," which he ought to have done. his answers are supposed to have misled friedrich on various points, and done him essential damage. friedrich's view of the case, that evening, is by no means so despondent as might be imagined: he regards the thing as difficult, not as impossible,--and one of his anxieties is, that he be not balked of trying it straightway. retiring to his hut in bischofsee, he makes two dispositions, of admirable clearness, brevity, and calculated for two contingencies: [given in tempelhof, iii. , .] that of the enemy retaining his now posture; and that of the enemy making off for reppen;--which latter does not at all concern us, as matters turned! of the former the course will unfold itself to us, in practice, shortly. at a.m. friedrich will be on foot again, at on march again.--the last phenomenon, at bischofsee this night, is some sudden glare of disastrous light rising over the woods:--"russians burning kunersdorf!" as neighbors are sorry to hear. that is the finale of much russian rearranging and tumbling, this day; that barbarous burning of kunersdorf, before going to bed. to-morrow various other poor villages got burnt by them, which they had better have left standing. the russians, on hearing that friedrich was across at goritz, and coming on them from the north side, not from frankfurt by the reppen highway, were in great agitation. not thrown into terror, but into manifold haste, knowing what hasty adversary there was. endless readjustments they have to make; a day of tumultuous business with the russians, this saturday, th, when the news reached them. "they inverted their front [say all the books but friedrich's own]: not coming by the reppen highway, then!" think they. and thereupon changed rear to front, as at zorndorf, but more elaborately;--which i should not mention, were it not that hereby their late "right wing on the muhlberg" has, in strict speech, become their "left," and there is ambiguity and discrepancy in some of the books, should any poor reader take to studying them on this matter. changed their front; which involves much interior changing; readjusting of batteries and the like. that of burning kunersdorf was the barbaric winding up of all this: barbaric, and, in the military sense, absurd; poor kunersdorf could have been burnt at any moment, if needful; and to the russians the keeping of it standing was the profitable thing, as an impediment to friedrich in his advance there. they have laid it flat and permeable; ashes all of it,--except the church only, which is of stone; not so combustible, and may have uses withal. has perhaps served as temporary lock-up, prison for the night, to some of those frankfurt deputations and their troublesome wailings; and may serve as temporary hospital to-morrow, who knows? readjustments in the russian camp were manifold: but these are as nothing, in the tumultuous business of the day. carting of their baggage, every article of value, to that safe wagenburg in the river; driving of cattle,--the very driving of cattle through frankfurt, endless herds of them, gathered by the cossacks from far and wide, "lasted for four-and-twenty hours." oxen in frankfurt that day were at the rate of ten shillings per head. often enough you were offered a full-grown young steer for a loaf of bread; nay the cossacks, when there was absolutely no bidder, would slaughter down the animal, leave its carcass in the streets, and sell the hide for a tympf,--fivepence (very bad silver at present). never before or since was seen in frankfurt such a saturday, for bellowing and braying, and raging and tumulting, all through the day and through the night; ushering in such a sunday too! sunday about in the morning, friedrich is on march again,--russians still in their place; and disposition first, not second at all, to be our rule of action! friedrich, in two columns, marches off, eastward through the woods, as if for reppen quite away from the russians and their muhlberg; but intending to circle round at the due point, and come down upon their right flank there (left flank, as he persists to call it), out of the woods, and clasp it in his arms in an impressive, unexpected way. in two columns; which are meant, as usual, to be the two lines of battle: seidlitz, with chosen cavalry, is at the head of column first, and will be left wing, were we on the ground; eugen of wurtemberg, closing the rear of column first, will, he, or finck and he together, be right wing. that is the order of march;--order of battle, we shall find, had to alter itself somewhat, for reasons extremely valid! finck with his , is to keep his present ground; to have two good batteries got ready, each on its knoll ahead, which shall wait silent in the interim: finck to ride out reconnoitring, with many general officers, and to make motions and ostentations; in a word, to persuade the russians that here is the main army coming on from the north. all which finck does; avoiding, as his orders were, any firing, or serious commencement of business, till the king reappear out of the woods. the russians give finck and his general officers a cannon salvo, here and there, without effect, and get no answer. "the king does not see his way, then, after all?" think the russians. their cossacks go scouring about; on the southern side, "burn schwetig and reipzig," without the least advantage to themselves: most of the cavalry, and a regiment or two of excellent austrian grenadiers, are with loudon, near the red grange, in front of the russian extreme left;--but will have stept over into big hollow at a moment of crisis! the king's march, through the forest of reppen, was nothing like so expeditious as had been expected. there are thickets, intricacies, runlets, boggy oozes; indifferent to one man well mounted, but vitally important to , with heavy cannon to bring on. boggy oozings especially,--there is one dirty stream or floss (hunerfliess, hen-floss) which wanders dismally through those recesses, issuing from the far south, with dirty daughters dismally wandering into it, and others that cannot get into it (being of the lake kind): these, in their weary, circling, recircling course towards oder,--faule laacke (foul lake, lither-mere, as it were), foul bridge, swine's nook (schweinebuckt), and many others,--occasion endless difficulty. whether major linden was shot that day, or what became of him after, i do not know: but it was pity he had not studied the ground with a soldier's eye instead of a hunter's! plumping suddenly, at last, upon hen-floss itself, friedrich has to turn angularly; angularly, which occasions great delay: the heavy cannon (wall-guns brought from custrin) have twelve horses each, and cannot turn among the trees, but have to be unyoked, reyoked, turned round by hand:--in short, it was eight in the morning before friedrich arrived at the edge of the wood, on the klosterberg, walckberg, and other woody bergs or knolls, within reach of muhlberg, and behind the preliminary abatis there (abatis which was rather of service to him than otherwise);--and began privately building his batteries. at eight o'clock he, with column first, which is now becoming line first (centre of line first, if we reckon finck as right-wing), is there; busy in that manner: column second, which was to have been rear line, is still a pretty way behind; and has many difficulties before it gets into kunersdorf neighborhood, or can (having wriggled itself into a kind of left-wing) co-operate on the russian position from the south side. on the north side, finck has been ready these five hours.--friedrich speeds the building of his batteries: "silent, too; the russians have not yet noticed us!" by degrees the russians do notice something; shoot out cossacks to reconnoitre. cossacks in quantity; who are so insolent, and venture so very near, our gunners on the north battery give them a blast of satisfactory grape-shot; one and then another, four blasts in all, satisfactory to the gunner mind,--till the king's self, with a look, with a voice, came galloping: "silence, will you!" the russians took no offence; still considering finck to be the main thing and friedrich some scout party,--till at last, half-past eleven, everything being ready on the walck hill, friedrich's batteries opened there, in a sudden and volcanic way. volcanically answered by the russians, as soon as possible; who have guns on this muhlberg, and are nothing loath. upon whom finck's battery is opening from the north, withal: friedrich has cannon hereabouts; on the walckberg, on the little spitzberg (called seidlitz hill ever since); all playing diligently on the head and south shoulder of this muhlberg: while finck's battery opens on the north shoulder (could he but get near enough). volcanic to a degree all these; nor are the russians wanting, though they get more and more astonished: tempelhof, who was in it, says he never, except at torgau next year, heard a louder cannonade. loud exceedingly; and more or less appalling to the russian imagination: but not destructive in proportion; the distance being too considerable,--" , paces at the nearest," as tempelhof has since ascertained by measuring. friedrich's two batteries, however, as they took the russians in the flank or by enfilade, did good execution. "the russian guns were ill-pointed; the russian batteries wrong-built; batteries so built as did not allow them sight of the hollow they were meant to defend." [tempelhof, iii. , .] after above half an hour of this, friedrich orders storm of the muhlberg: forward on it, with what of enfilading it has had! eight grenadier battalions, a chosen vanguard appointed for the work (names of battalions all given, and deathless in the prussian war-annals), tramp forth on this service: cross the abatis, which the russian grenadoes have mostly burnt; down into the hollow. steady as planets; "with a precision and coherency," says tempelhof, "which even on the parade-ground would have deserved praises. once well in the hollow, they suffer nothing; though the blind russian fire, going all over their heads, rages threefold:" suffered nothing in the hollow; nor till they reached almost the brow of the muhlberg, and were within a hundred steps of the russian guns. these were the critical steps, these final ones; such torrents of grape-shot and musket-shot and sheer death bursting out, here at last, upon the eight battalions, as they come above ground. who advanced, unwavering, all the faster,--speed one's only safety. they poured into the russian gunners and musketry battalions one volley of choicest quality, which had a shaking effect; then, with level bayonets, plunge on the batteries: which are all empty before we can leap into them; artillery-men, musketeer battalions, all on wing; general whirlpool spreading. and so, in ten minutes, the muhlberg and its guns are ours. ever since zorndorf, an idea had got abroad, says tempelhof, that the russians would die instead of yielding; but it proved far otherwise here. down as far as kunersdorf, which may be about a mile westward, the russians are all in a whirl; at best hanging in tatters and clumps, their officers struggling against the flight; "mixed groups you would see huddled together a hundred men deep." the russian left wing is beaten: had we our cannon up here, our cavalry up here, the russian army were in a bad way! this is a glorious beginning; completed, i think, as far almost as kunersdorf by one o'clock: and could the iron continue to be struck while it is at white-heat as now, the result were as good as certain. that was friedrich's calculation: but circumstances which he had not counted on, some which he could not count on, sadly retarded the matter. his left wing (rear line, which should now have been left wing) from southward, his right wing from northward, and finck farther west, were now on the instant to have simultaneously closed upon the beaten russians, and crushed them altogether. the right wing, conquerors of the muhlberg, are here: but neither finck nor the left can be simultaneous with them. finck and his artillery are much retarded with the flosses and poor single bridges; and of the left wing there are only some vanguard regiments capable of helping ("who drove out the russians from kunersdorf churchyard," as their first feat),--no main body yet for a long while. such impediments, such intricacies of bog and bush! the entire wing does at last get to the southeast of kunersdorf, free of the wood; but finds (contrary to linden with his hunter eye) an intricate meshwork of meres and straggling lakes, two of them in the burnt village itself; no passing of these except on narrow isthmuses, which necessitate change of rank and re-change; and our left wing cannot, with all its industry, "march up," that is, arrive at the enemy in fighting line, without the painfulest delays. and then the getting forward of our cannon! on the muhlberg itself the seventy-two russian guns, "owing to difference of calibre," or artillery-men know what, cannot be used by us: a few light guns, tempelhof to one of them, a poor four in all, with perhaps shot to each, did, by the king's order, hasten to the top of the muhlberg; and never did tempelhof see a finer chance for artillery than there. soft sloping ground, with russians simmering ahead of you, all the way down to kunersdorf, a mile long: by horizontal pointing, you had such reboundings (ricochets); and carried beautiful execution! tempelhof soon spent his hundred shots: but it was not at once that any of our sixty heavy guns could be got up thither. twelve horses to each: fancy it, and what baffling delays here and elsewhere;--and how the russian whirlpool was settling more and more, in the interim! and had, in part, settled; in part, got through to the rear, and been replaced by fresh troops! friedrich's activities, and suppressed and insuppressible impatiences in this interval, are also conceivable, though not on record for us. the swiftest of men; tied down, in this manner, with the blaze of perfect victory ahead, were the moments not running out! slower or faster, he thinks (i suppose), the victory is his; and that he must possess his soul till things do arrive. it was in one and more of those embargoed intervals that he wrote to berlin [preuss, ii. n.] (which is waiting, as if for life or death, the issue of this scene, sixty miles distant): "russians beaten; rejoice with me!" four successive couriers, i believe, with messages to that effect; and at last a fifth with dolefully contrary news!-- in proportion as the cannon and other necessaries gradually got in, the fight flamed up from its embers more and more: and there ensued,--the russians being now ranked again (fronting eastward now) "in many lines," and very fierce,--a second still deadlier bout; friedrich furiously diligent on their front and right flank; finck, from the alder waste, battering and charging (uphill, and under difficulties from those flosses and single bridges) on their left flank. this too, after long deadly efforts on the prussian part, ended again clearly in their favor; their enemies broken a second time, and driven not only out of kunersdorf and the kuhgrund, but some say almost to the foot of the judenberg,--what can only be very partially true. broken portions of the russian left flank,--some of finck's people, in their victorious wrath, may have chased these very far: but it is certain the general russian mass rallied again a long way short of the judenberg;--though, the ground being all obliterated by the rabbits and the winds, nobody can now know with exactitude where. and indeed the battle, from this point onwards, becomes blurred and confused to us, only its grosser features visible henceforth. where the "big spitzberg" was (so terribly important soon), nobody can now tell me, except from maps. london's motions too are obscure, though important. i believe his grenadiers had not yet been in the fire; but am certain they are now come out of big hollow; fresh for the rescue; and have taken front rank in this second rally that is made. loudon's cavalry loudon himself has in hand, and waits with them in a fit place. he has , fresh men; and an eye like few others on a field of war. loudon's , are fresh: of the prussians that can by no means be said. i should judge it must be of the afternoon. the day is windless, blazing; one of the hottest august days; and "nobody, for twelve hours past, could command a drink of water:" very fresh the poor prussians cannot be! they have done two bouts of excellent fighting; tumbled the russians well back, stormed many batteries; and taken in all cannon. at this stage, it appears, finck and many generals, seidlitz among the others, were of opinion that, in present circumstances, with troops so tired, and the enemy nearly certain to draw off, if permitted, here had been enough for one day, and that there ought to be pause till to-morrow. friedrich knew well the need of rest; but friedrich, impatient of things half-done, especially of russians half-beaten, would not listen to this proposal; which was reckoned upon him as a grave and tragic fault, all the rest of his life; though favorable judges, who were on the ground, tempelhof for one, [tempelhof, iii. .] are willing to prove that pausing here--at the point we had really got to, a little beyond the kuhgrund, namely; and not a couple of miles westward, at the foot of the jew hill, where vague rumor puts us--was not feasible or reasonable. friedrich considers with himself, "our left wing has hardly yet been in fire!" calls out the entire left wing, foot and horse: these are to emerge from their meshwork of lakes about kunersdorf, and bear a hand along with us on the russian front here,--especially to sweep away that raging battery they have on the big spitzberg, and make us clear of it. the big spitzberg lies to south and ahead of the russian right as now ranked; fatally covers their right flank, and half ruins the attack in front. big spitzberg is blown irrecognizable in our time; but it was then an all-important thing. the left-wing infantry thread their lake-labyrinth, the soonest possible; have to rank again on the hither side, under a tearing fire from that spitzberg; can then at last, and do, storm onwards, upwards; but cannot, with their best efforts, take the spitzberg: and have to fall back under its floods of tearing case-shot, and retire out of range. to friedrich's blank disappointment: "try it you, then, seidlitz; you saved us at zorndorf!" seidlitz, though it is an impossible problem to storm batteries with horse, does charge in for the russian flank, in spite of its covering battery: but the torrents of grape-shot are insufferable; the seidlitz people, torn in gaps, recoil, whirl round, and do not rank again till beyond the lakes of kunersdorf. seidlitz himself has got wounded, and has had to be carried away. and, in brief, from this point onwards all goes aback with the prussians more and more. repeated attempts on that spitzberg battery prove vain; to advance without it is impossible. friedrich's exertions are passionate, almost desperate; rallying, animating, new-ordering; everywhere in the hottest of the fire. "thrice he personally led on the main attack." he has had two horses shot down under him; mounting a third, this too gets a bullet in an artery of the neck, and is about falling, when two adjutants save the king. in his waistcoat-pocket some small gold case (etui) has got smitten flat by a bullet, which would otherwise have ended matters. the people about him remonstrate on such exposure of a life beyond value; he answers curtly, "we must all of us try every method here, to win the battle: i, like every other, must stand to my duty here!" these, and a second brief word or two farther on, are all of articulate that we hear from him this day. friedrich's wearied battalions here on the heights, while the spitzberg to left goes so ill, fight desperately; but cannot prevail farther; and in spite of friedrich's vehement rallyings and urgings, gradually lose ground,--back at last to kunersdorf and the kuhgrund again. the loudon grenadiers, and exclaimed masses of fresh russians, are not to be broken, but advance and advance. fancy the panting death-labors, and spasmodic toilings and bafflings, of those poor prussians and their king! nothing now succeeding; the death-agony now come; all hearts growing hopeless; only one heart still seeing hope. the spitzberg is impossible; tried how often i know not. finck, from the alder waste, with his infantry, attacks, and again attacks; without success: "let the cavalry go round, then, and try there. seidlitz we have not; you eugen of wurtemberg lead them!" eugen leads them (cuirassiers, or we will forget what); round by the eastern end of the muhlberg; then westward, along the alder waste; finally southward, against the russian flank, himself foremost, and at the gallop for charging:--eugen, "looking round, finds his men all gone," and has to gallop the other way, gets wounded to boot. puttkammer, with hussars, then tried it; puttkammer was shot dead, and his hussars too could do nothing. back, slowly back, go the prussians generally, nothing now succeeds with them. back to the kuhgrund again; fairly over the steep brow there; the russians serrying their ranks atop, rearranging their many guns. there, once more, rose frightful struggle; desperate attempt by the fordone prussians to retake that height. "lasted fifteen minutes, line to line not fifty yards asunder;" such musketry,--our last cartridges withal. ardent prussian parties trying to storm up; few ever getting to the top, none ever standing there alive one minute. this was the death-agony of the battle. loudon, waiting behind the spitzberg, dashes forward now, towards the kuhgrund and our left flank. at sight of which a universal feeling shivers through the prussian heart, "hope ended, then!"--and their solid ranks rustle everywhere; and melt into one wild deluge, ebbing from the place as fast as it can. it is towards six o'clock; the sweltering sun is now fallen low and veiled; gray evening sinking over those wastes. "n'y a-t-il donc pas un bougre de boulet qui puisse m'atteindree (is there no one b---- of a ball that can reach me, then)?" exclaimed friedrich in despair. such a day he had never thought to see. the pillar of the state, the prussian army itself, gone to chaos in this manner. friedrich still passionately struggles, exhorts, commands, entreats even with tears, "children, don't forsake me, in this pinch (kinder, verlasset heute mich, euren konig, euren vater, nicht)!" [kriele, p. .]--but all ears are deaf. on the muhlberg one regiment still stood by their guns, covering the retreat. but the retreat is more and more a flight; "no prussian army was ever seen in such a state." at the bridges of that hen-floss, there was such a crowding, all our guns got jammed; and had to be left, of them of various calibre, and the whole of the russian that were once in our hands. had the chase been vigorous, this prussian army had been heard of no more. but beyond the muhlberg, there was little or no pursuit; through the wood the army, all in chaos, but without molestation otherwise, made for its oder bridges by the way it had come. [tempelhof, iii. - ; retzow, ii. - : in seyfarth, _beylagen,_ ii. - , _ bericht von der am august, bey kunersdorf vorgefallenen schlacht_ (official); and ib. - , _beschreibung der &c._ (by a private hand): lucidly accurate both.] friedrich was among the last to quit the ground. he seemed stupefied by the excess of his emotions; in no haste to go; uncertain whether he would go at all. his adjutants were about him, and a small party of ziethen hussars under captain prittwitz. wild swarms of cossacks approached the place. "prittwitz, ich bin verloren (prittwitz, i am lost)!" remarked he. "nein, ihro majestat!" answered prittwitz with enthusiasm; charged fiercely, he and his few, into the swarms of cossacks; cut them about, held them at bay, or sent them else-whither, while the adjutants seized friedrich's bridle, and galloped off with him. at oetscher and the bridges, friedrich found of his late army not quite , men. even wunsch is not there till next morning. wunsch with his party had, early in the afternoon, laid hold of frankfurt, as ordered; made the garrison prisoners, blocked the oder bridge; poor frankfurt tremulously thanking heaven for him, and for such an omen. in spite of their wagenburg and these pontoon-bridges, it appears, there would have been no retreat for the russians except into wunsch's cannon: wagenburg way, latish in the afternoon, there was such a scramble of runaways and retreating baggage, all was jammed into impassability; scarcely could a single man get through. in case of defeat, the russian army would have had no chance but surrender or extermination. [tempelhof, iii. : in retzow (ii. ) is some dubious traditionary stuff on the matter.] at dark, however, wunsch had summons, so truculent in style, he knew what it meant; and answering in words peremptorily, "no" with a like emphasis, privately got ready again, and at midnight disappeared. got to reitwein without accident. friedrich found at oetscher nothing but huts full of poor wounded men, and their miseries and surgeries;--he took shelter, himself, in a hut "which had been plundered by cossacks" (in the past days), but which had fewer wounded than others, and could be furnished with some bundles of dry straw. kriele has a pretty anecdote, with names and particulars, of two poor lieutenants, who were lying on the floor, as he entered this hut. they had lain there for many hours; the surgeons thinking them desperate; which friedrich did not. "ach kinder, alas, children, you are badly wounded, then?" "ja, your majesty: but how goes the battle?" (answer, evasive on this point): "are you bandaged, though? have you been let blood?" "nein, euer majestat, kein teufel will uns verbinden (not a devil of them would bandage us)!" upon which there is a surgeon instantly brought; reprimanded for neglect: "desperate, say you? these are young fellows; feel that hand, and that; no fever there: nature in such cases does wonders!" upon which the leech had to perform his function; and the poor young fellows were saved,--and did new fighting, and got new wounds, and had pensions when the war ended. [kriele, pp. , ; and in all the anecdote-books.] this appears to have been friedrich's first work in that hut at oetscher. here next is a third autograph to finkenstein, written in that hut, probably the first of several official things there:-- the king to graf van finkenstein (at berlin): third note. oetscher, " th august," . "i attacked the enemy this morning about eleven; we beat him back to the judenkirchhof (jew churchyard,"--a mistake, but now of no moment), "near frankfurt. all my troops came into action, and have done wonders. i reassembled them three times; at length, i was myself nearly taken prisoner; and we had to quit the field. my coat is riddled with bullets, two horses were killed under me;--my misfortune is, that i am still alive. our loss is very considerable. of an army of , men, i have, at this moment while i write, not more than , together; and am no longer master of my forces. in berlin you will do well to think of your safety. it is a great calamity; and i will not survive it: the consequences of this battle will be worse than the battle itself. i have no resources more; and, to confess the truth, i hold all for lost. i will not survive the destruction of my country. farewell forever (adieu pour jamais).--f." [in orig. "ce ," no other date (_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxv. ).] another thing, of the same tragic character, is that of handing over this army to finck's charge. order there is to finck of that tenor: and along with it the following notable autograph,--a friedrich taking leave both of kingship and of life. the autograph exists; but has no date,--date of the order would probably be still oetscher, th august; date of the autograph, reitwein (across the river), next day. friedrich to lieut.-general finck (at oetscher or reitwein). "general finck gets a difficult commission; the unlucky army which i give up to him is no longer in condition to make head against the russians. haddick will now start for berlin, perhaps loudon too; if general finck go after these, the russians will fall on his rear; if he continue on the oder, he gets haddick on his flank (so krigt er den hadek diss seit):--however, i believe, should loudon go for berlin, he might attack loudon, and try to beat him: this, if it succeeded, would be a stand against misfortune, and hold matters up. time gained is much, in these desperate circumstances. the news from torgau and dresden, coper my secretary (coper mein segreter," kind of lieutenant to eichel [see preuss, i. , iii. .]) "will send him. you (er) must inform my brother [prince henri] of everything; whom i have declared generalissimo of the army. to repair this bad luck altogether is not possible: but what my brother shall command, must be done:--the army swears to my nephew [king henceforth]. "this is all the advice, in these unhappy circumstances, i am in a condition to give. had i still had resources, i would have stayed by them (so wehre ich darbei geblieben). "friedrich" [exact copy, two exact copies, in preuss (i. , and again, ii. ).] all this done, the wearied friedrich flung himself into his truss of dry straw; and was seen sound asleep there, a single sentry at the door, by some high generals that ventured to look in. on the morrow he crossed to reitwein; by to-morrow night, there had , of his fugitives come in to him;--but this is now to be finck's affair, not his! that day, too (for the paper seems to be misdated), he signed, and despatched to schmettau, commandant in dresden, a missive, which proved more fatal than either of the others; and brought, or helped to bring, very bitter fruits for him, before long:-- to lieutenant-general von schmettau (at dresden). "reitwein, th [probably th] august, . "you will perhaps have heard of the check [l'echec, kunersdorf to wit!] i have met with from the russian army on the th [ th, if you have the almanac at hand] of this month. though at bottom our affairs in regard to the enemy here are not desperate, i find i shall not now be able to make any detachment for your assistance. should the austrians attempt anything against dresden, therefore, you will see if there are means of maintaining yourself; failing which, it will behoove you to try and obtain a favorable capitulation,--to wit, liberty to withdraw, with the whole garrison, moneys, magazines, hospital and all that we have at dresden, either to berlin or else-whither, so as to join some corps of my troops. "as a fit of illness [maladie, alas!] has come on me,--which i do not think will have dangerous results,--i have for the present left the command of my troops to lieutenant-general von finck; whose orders you are to execute as if coming to you directly from myself. on this i pray god to have you in his holy and worthy keeping.--f." [preuss, ii. _urkundenbuch,_ p. .] at berlin, on this th,--with the five couriers coming in successively (and not in the order of their despatch, but the fatal fifth arriving some time ahead of the fourth, who still spoke of progress and victory),--there was such a day as sulzer (ach mein lieber sulzer!) had never seen in the world. "'above , human beings on the palace esplanade and streets about;' swaying hither and thither, in agony of expectation, in alternate paroxysm of joy and of terror and woe; often enough the opposite paroxysms simultaneous in the different groups, and men crushed down in despair met by men leaping into the air for very gladness:" sulzer (whose sympathy is of very aesthetic type) "would not, for any consideration, have missed such a scene." [_briefe der schweitzer bodmer, sulzer, gessner; aus gleim's literarischen nachlasse: herausgegeben von wilhelm korte_ (zurich, ), pp. - .] the "scene" is much obliged to you, mein lieber!-- practically we find, in rodenbeck, or straggling elsewhere, this note: "on the day after kunersdorf, queen and court fly to magdeburg: this is their second flight. their first was on haddick's visit, october, ; but after rossbach they soon returned, and berlin and the court were then extremely gay: different gentlemen, french and others of every nation, fallen prisoners, made the queen's soirees the finest in the world for splendor and variety, at that time." [rodenbeck, i. ; &c. &c.] one other note we save, for the sake of poor major kleist, "poet of the spring," as he was then called. a valiant, punctual soldier, and with a turn for literature as well; who wrote really pleasant fine things, new at that time and rapturously welcome, though too much in the sentimental vein for the times which have followed. major kleist,--there is a general kleist, a colonel kleist of the green hussars (called grune kleist, a terrible cutting fellow):--this is not grune kleist; this is the poet of the spring; whose fate at kunersdorf made a tragic impression in all intelligent circles of teutschland. here is kriele's note (abridged):-- "christian ewald von kleist, 'poet of the spring' [a pommern gentleman, now in his forty-fourth year], was of finck's division; had come on, after those eight battalions took the first russian battery [that is, muhlberg]; and had been assisting, with zeal, at the taking of three other batteries, regardless of twelve contusions, which he gradually got. at the third battery, he was farther badly hurt on the left arm and the right. took his colonel's place nevertheless, whom he now saw fall; led the regiment muthig forward on the fourth battery. a case-shot smashed his right leg to pieces; he fell from his horse [hour not given, shall we say p.m.]; sank, exclaiming: 'kinder, my children, don't forsake your king!' and fainted there. was carried to rear and leftward; laid down on some dry spot in the elsbruch, not far from the kuhgrund, and a surgeon brought. the surgeon, while examining, was torn away by case-shot: kleist lay bleeding without help. a friend of his, pfau [who told kriele], one of finck's generals, came riding that way: kleist called to him; asked how the battle went; uncommonly glad to hear we are still progressive. pfau undertook, and tried his utmost, for a carriage to kleist; did send one of finck's own carriages; but after such delays that the prussians were now yielding: poor kleist's had become russian ground, and the carriage could not get in. "kleist lay helpless; no luck worse than his. in the evening, cossacks came round him; stript him stark-naked; threw him, face foremost, into the nearest swampy place, and went their way. one of these devils had something so absurd and teniers-like in the face of him, that kleist, in his pains, could not help laughing at remembrance of it. in the night some russian hussars, human and not cossack, found kleist in this situation; took him to a dry place; put a cloak over him, kindled a watch-fire for themselves, and gave him water and bread. towards morning they hastened away, throwing an -groschen stuck [ninepenny piece, shilling, say half-crown] on his cloak,--with human farewell. but cossacks again came; again stript him naked and bare. towards noon of the th, kleist contrived to attract some russian cavalry troop passing that way, and got speech of the captain (one fackelberg, a german); who at once set about helping him;--and had him actually sent into frankfurt, in a carriage, that evening. to the house of a professor nikolai; where was plenty of surgery and watchful affection. after near thirty hours of such a lair, his wounds seemed still curable; there was hope for ten days. in the tenth night ( d- d august), the shivered pieces of bone disunited themselves; cut an artery,--which, after many trials, could not be tied. august th, at two in the morning, he died.--great sorrow. august th, there was soldier's funeral; poor kleist's coffin borne by twelve russian grenadiers; very many russian officers attending, who had come from the camp for that end; one russian staff-officer of them unbuckling his own sword to lay on the bier, as there was want of one. king friedrich had kleist's portrait hung in the garnison kirche. freemason lodge, in , set up a monument to him," [kriele, pp. - .]--which still stands on the frankfurt pavement, and is now in sadly ruinous state. the prussian loss, in this battle, was, besides all the cannon and field-equipages: , killed, , wounded (of which latter, , badly, who fell to the russians as prisoners); in all, about , men. nor was the russian loss much lighter; of russians and austrians together, near , , as tempelhof counts: "which will not surprise your majesty," reports soltikof to his czarina; "who are aware that the king of prussia sells his defeats at a dear rate." and privately soltikof was heard to say, "let me fight but another such victory, and i may go to petersburg with the news of it myself, with the staff in my hand." the joy at petersburg, striving not to be braggart or immodest, was solemn, steady and superlative: a great feat indeed for russia, this victory over such a king,--though a kind of grudge, that it was due to loudon, dwelt, in spite of loudon's politic silence on that point, unpleasantly in the background. the chase they had shamefully neglected. it is said, certain russian officers, who had charge of that business stept into a peasant's cottage to consult on it; contrived somehow to find tolerable liquor there; and sat drinking instead. [preuss, ii. .] chapter v.--saxony without defence: schmettau surrenders dresden. friedrich's despair did not last quite four days. on the fourth day,--day after leaving reitwein,--there is this little document, which still exists, of more comfortable tenor: "my dear major-general von wunsch,--your letter of the th to lieutenant-general von finck punctually arrived here: and for the future, as i am now recovered from my illness, you have to address your reports directly to myself.--f." ["madlitz," on the road to furstenwalde, " th august:" in preuss, _friedrich der grosse; eine historische portrait-skizze_ (kind of lecture, so let us call it, if again citing it; lecture delivered, on friedrich's birthday, to majesty and staff-officers as audience, berlin, th january, ), p. .] finding that, except tottleben warily reconnoitring with a few cossacks, no russians showed themselves at reitwein; that the russians were encamping and intrenching on the wine-hills south of frankfurt, not meaning anything immediate,--he took heart again; ranked his , ; sent for general kleist from pommern with his anti-swedish handful (leave the swedes alone, as usual in time of crisis); considered that artilleries and furnishings could come to him from berlin, which is but miles; that there still lay possibility ahead, and that, though only a miracle could save him, he would try it to the very last. a great relief, this of coming to oneself again! "till death, then;--rage on, ye elements and black savageries!" friedrich's humor is not despondent, now or afterwards; though at this time it is very sad, very angry, and, as it were, scorning even to hope: but he is at all times of beautifully practical turn; and has, in his very despair, a sobriety of eyesight, and a fixed steadiness of holding to his purpose, which are of rare quality. his utterances to d'argens, about this time and onward,--brief hints, spontaneous, almost unconscious,--give curious testimony of his glooms and moody humors. of which the reader shall see something. for the present, he is in deep indignation with his poor troops, among other miseries. "actual running away!" he will have it to be; and takes no account of thirst, hunger, heat, utter weariness and physical impossibility! this lasts for some weeks. but in general there is nothing of this injustice to those about him. in general, nothing even of gloom is manifested; on the contrary, cheerfulness, brisk hope, a strangely continual succession of hopes (mostly illusory);--though, within, there is traceable very great sorrow, weariness and misery. a fixed darkness, as of erebus, is grown habitual to him; but is strictly shut up, little of it shown to others, or even, in a sense, to himself. he is as a traveller overtaken by the night and its tempests and rain-deluges, but refusing to pause; who is wetted to the bone, and does not care farther for rain. a traveller grown familiar with the howling solitudes; aware that the storm-winds do not pity, that darkness is the dead earth's shadow:--a most lone soul of a man; but continually toiling forward, as if the brightest goal and haven were near and in view. once more the world was certain of friedrich's ruin;--friedrich himself we have seen certain of it, for some few desperate hours:--but the world and he, as had been repeatedly the world's case, were both disappointed. intrinsically there could be little doubt but friedrich's enemies might now have ruined him, had they been diligent about it. now again, and now more than ever, they have the winning-post in sight. at small distance is the goal and purpose of all these four years' battlings and marchings, and ten years' subterranean plottings and intriguings. he himself says deliberately, "they had only to give him the finishing stroke (coup-de-grace)." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ v. .] but they never gave him that stroke; could not do it, though heartily desirous. which was, and is, matter of surprise to an observant public. the cause of failure may be considered to have been, in good part, daun and his cunctations. daun's zeal was unquestionable; ardent and continual is daun's desire to succeed: but to try it at his own risk was beyond his power. he expected always to succeed by help of others: and to show them an example, and go vigorously to work himself, was what he never could resolve on. could play only fabius cunctator, it would seem; and never was that part less wanted than now! under such a chief figure, the "incoherency of action," instead of diminishing, as friedrich had feared, rose daily towards its maximum; and latterly became extreme. the old lernean hydra had many heads; but they belonged all to one body. the many heads of this anti-friedrich hydra had withal each its own body, and separate set of notions and advantages. friedrich was at least a unity; his whole strength going one way, and at all moments, under his own sole command. the value of this circumstance is incalculable; this is the saving-clause of pitt and his england (pitt also a despotic sovereign, though a temporary one); this, second only to friedrich's great gifts from nature, and the noble use he makes of them, is above all others the circumstance that saved him in such a duel with the hydras. on the back of kunersdorf, accordingly, there was not only no finishing stroke upon friedrich, but for two months no stroke or serious attempt whatever in those neighborhoods where friedrich is. there are four armies hereabouts: the grand russian, hanging by frankfurt; friedrich at furstenwalde (whitherward he marched from reitwein august th), at furstenwalde or farther south, guarding berlin;--then, unhurt yet by battle of any kind, there are the grand daunish or mark-lissa army, and prince henri's of schmottseifen. of which latter two the hitchings and manoeuvrings from time to time become vivid, and never altogether cease; but in no case come to anything. above two months' scientific flourishing of weapons, strategic counter-dancing; but no stroke struck, or result achieved, except on daun's part irreparable waste of time:--all readers would feel it inhuman to be burdened with any notice of such things. one march of prince henri's, which was of a famous and decisive character, we will attend to, when it comes, that is, were the end of september at hand; the rest must be imagined as a general strategic dance in those frontier parts,--silesia to rearward on one side, the lausitz and frankfurt on the other,--and must go on, silently for most part, in the background of the reader's fancy. indeed, saxony is the scene of action; friedrich, henri, soltikof, daun, comparatively inactive for the next six weeks and more. some days before kunersdorf, daun personally, with i will forget how many thousands, had made a move to northward from mark-lissa, miles or so, through sagan country; and lies about priebus, waiting there ever since. priebus is some miles north of gorlitz, about west of glogau, south of frankfurt . this is where the master-smith, having various irons in the fire, may be handiest for clutching them out, and forging at them, as they become successively hot. daun, as master-smith, has at least three objects in view. the first is, as always, reconquest of silesia: this is obstructed by prince henri, who sits, watchful on the threshold, at schmottseifen yonder. the second is, as last year, capture of dresden: which is much the more feasible at present,--there being, except the garrisons, no prussian force whatever in saxony; and a reichs army now actually there at last, after its long haggling about its magazines; and above all, a friedrich with his hands full elsewhere. to keep friedrich's hands full,--in other words, to keep the russians sticking to him,--that is the third object: or indeed we may call it the first, second and third; for daun is well aware that unless soltikof can manage to keep friedrich busy, silesia, saxony and all else becomes impossible. ever since the fortunate junction of loudon with soltikof, daun has sat, and still sits, expectant; elaborately calculative, gathering magazines in different parts, planting out-parties, this way, that way, with an eye to these three objects, all or each,--especially to the third object, which he discerns to be all and each. daun was elaborately calculative with these views: but to try any military action, upon prince henri for example, or bestir himself otherwise than in driving provender forward, and marching detachments hither and thither to the potentially fit and fittest posts, was not in daun's way,--so much the worse for daun, in his present course of enterprise. prince henri had lain quiet at schmottseifen, waiting his brother's adventure; did not hear the least tidings of him till six days after kunersdorf, and then only by rumor; hideous, and, though still dubious, too much of it probable! on the very day of kunersdorf, henri had begun effecting some improvements on his right flank,--always a sharply strategic, most expert creature,--and made a great many motions, which would be unintelligible here. [detailed, every fibre of them (as is the soul-confusing custom there), in tempelhof, iii. et seq.] henri feels now that upon him lies a world of duties; and foremost of all, the instant duty of endeavoring to open communication with his brother. many marches, in consequence; much intricate marching and manoeuvring between daun and him: of which, when we come to henri's great march (of th september), there may be again some hint. for the present, let readers take their map, and endeavor to fix the following dates and localities in their mind. here, in summary, are the king's various marches, and two successive encampments, two only, during those six weeks of forced inaction, while he is obliged to stand watching the russians, and to witness so many complicacies and disasters in the distance; which he struggles much and fruitlessly to hinder or help:-- encampment st (furstenwalde, august th- th). friedrich left reitwein august th; th, he is at madlitz [note to wunsch written there, which we read]; th, to furstenwalde, and encamp. furstenwalde is on the spree, straight between frankfurt and berlin; miles from the former, from the latter. here for near a fortnight. at first, much in alarm about the russians and berlin; but gradually ascertaining that the russians intend nothing. "in effect, all this while soltikof lay at lossow, miles south of frankfurt, with his right on oder; totally motionless, inactive, except listening, often rather gloomily, to daun's and montalembert's suasive eloquences and advices,--and once, august d, in the little town of guben, holding conference with daun [of which by and by]. in consequence of which, august th, soltikof and his russians and austrians got under way again; southward, but only a few marches: first to mullrose, then to lieberose:--whom, the instant he heard of their movements, friedrich, august th, hastened to follow; but had not to follow very far. whereupon ensues, "encampment second (waldau, till september th). august th, friedrich, we say, rose from furstenwalde; hastened to follow this russian movement, and keep within wind of it: up the valley of the spree; first to mullrose neighborhood [where the russians, loitering some time, spoiled the canal-locks of the friedrich-wilhelm canal, if nothing more],--thence to lieberose neighborhood; waldau, the king's new place of encampment,--waldau, with spree forest to rear of it: silent both parties till september th, when soltikof did fairly march, not towards berlin, but quite in the opposite direction." by the middle of september, when the russians did get on foot, and moved eastward; especially on and after september th, when henri made his famous march westward; then it will behoove us to return to friedrich and these localities. for the present we must turn to saxony, where, and not here, the scene of action is. take, farther, only the following bits of note, which will now be readable. first, these utterances to d'argens; direct glimpses into the heavy-laden, indeed hag-ridden and nearly desperate inner man of friedrich, during the first three weeks after his defeat at kunersdorf:-- the king to marquis d'argens (at berlin): six notes. . "madlitz [road from reitwein to furstenwalde], th august, . we have been unfortunate, my dear marquis; but not, by my fault. the victory was ours, and would even have been a complete one, when our infantry lost patience, and at the wrong moment abandoned the field of battle. the enemy to-day is on march to mullrose, to unite with haddick [not to mullrose for ten days yet; haddick had already got united with them]. the russian infantry is almost totally destroyed. of my own wrecks, all that i have been able to assemble amounts to , men; with these i am pushing on to throw myself across the enemy's road, and either perish or save the capital. that is not what you [you berliners] will call a deficiency of resolution. "for the event i cannot answer. if i had more lives than one, i would sacrifice them all to my country. but if this stroke fail, i think i am clear-scores with her, and that it will be permissible to look a little to myself. there are limits to everything. i support my misfortune; courage not abated by it: but i am well resolved, after this stroke, if it fail, to open an outgate for myself [that small glass tube which never quits me], and no longer be the sport of any chance." . furstenwalde, th august.... "remain at berlin, or retire to potsdam; in a little while there will come some catastrophe: it is not fit that you suffer by it. if things take a good turn, you can be back to berlin [from potsdam] in four hours. if ill-luck still pursue us, go to hanover or to zelle, where you can provide for your safety. "i protest to you, that in this late action i did what was humanly possible to conquer; but my people"--oh, your majesty! . furstenwalde, st august.... "the enemy is intrenching himself near frankfurt; a sign he intends no attempt. if you will do me the pleasure to come out hither, you can in all safety. bring your bed with you; bring my cook noel; and i will have you a little chamber ready. you will be my consolation and my hope."-- this day,--let readers mark the circumstance,--friedrich, in better spirits, detaches wunsch with some poor , , to try if he can be of help in saxony; where the reichs army, now arrived in force, and with nothing whatever in the field against them, is taking all the northward garrison-towns, and otherwise proceeding at a high rate. too possibly with an eye towards dresden itself! wunsch sets out august st. [tempelhof, iii. .] and we shall hear of him in those saxon countries before long. . furstenwalde, d august. "yesterday i wrote to you to come; but to-day i forbid it. daun is at kotbus; he is marching on luben and berlin [nothing like so rash!].--fly these unhappy countries!--this news obliges me again to attack the russians between here and frankfurt. you may imagine if this is a desperate resolution. it is the sole hope that remains to me, of not being cut off from berlin on the one side or the other. i will give the discouraged troops some brandy"--alas!--"but i promise myself nothing of success. my one consolation is, that i shall die sword in hand." . same place and day (after a letter from d'argens). "you make the panegyric, mon cher, of an army that does not deserve any. the soldiers had good limbs to run with, none to attack the enemy. [alas, your majesty; after fifteen hours of such marching and fighting!] "for certain i will fight; but don't flatter yourself about the event. a happy chance alone can help us. go, in god's name, to tangermunde [since the royal family went, d'argens and many berliners are thinking of flight], to tangermunde, where you will be well; and wait there how destiny shall have disposed of us. i will go to reconnoitre the enemy to-morrow. next day, if there is anything to do, we will try it. but if the enemy still holds to the wine-hills of frankfurt, i shall never dare to attack him. "no, the torment of tantalus, the pains of prometheus, the doom of sisyphus, were nothing like what i suffer for the last ten days [from kunersdorf till now, when destruction has to be warded off again, and the force wanting]. death is sweet in comparison to such a life. have compassion on me and it; and believe that i still keep to myself a great many evil things, not wishing to afflict or disquiet anybody with them; and that i would not counsel you to fly these unlucky countries, if i had any ray of hope. adieu, mon cher." four days after, august th, from this same furstenwalde, the russians still continuing stagnant, friedrich despatches to schmettau, commandant of dresden (by some industrious hand, for the roads are all blocked), a second letter, "that dresden is of the highest moment; that in case of siege there, relief [wunsch, namely, and perhaps more that may follow] is on the road; and that schmettau must defend himself to the utmost." let us hope this second missive may counteract the too despondent first, which we read above, should that have produced discouragement in schmettau! [second letter is given in _schmettau's leben,_ pp. , .]--d'argens does run to wolfenbuttel; stays there till september th. nothing more from friedrich till th september, when matters are well cooled again. . waldau, th september. "i think berlin is now in safety; you may return thither. the barbarians [russians] are in the lausitz; i keep by the side of them, between them and berlin, so that there is nothing to fear for the capital. the imminency of danger is past; but there will still be many bad moments to get through, before reaching the end of the campaign. these, however, only regard myself; never mind these. my martyrdom will last two months yet; then the snows and the ices will end it." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xix. , , , , .] thus at furstenwalde, then at waldau, keeping guard, forlorn but resolute, against the intrusive russian-austrian deluges, friedrich stands painfully vigilant and expectant,--still for about a fortnight more. with bad news coming to him latterly, as we shall hear. he is in those old moorland wusterhausen countries, once so well known under far other circumstances. thirty years ago, in fine afternoons, we used to gallop with poor duhan de jandun, after school-tasks done, towards mittenwalde, furstenwalde and the furzy environs, far and wide; at home, our sister and mother waiting with many troubles and many loves, and papa sleeping, pan-like, under the shadow of his big tree:--thirty years ago, ah me, gone like a dream is all that; and there is solitude and desolation and the russian-austrian death-deluges instead! these, i suppose, were friedrich's occasional remembrances; silent always, in this locality and time. the sorrows of werter, of the giaour, of the dyspeptic tailor in multifarious forms, are recorded in a copious heart-rending manner, and have had their meed of weeping from a sympathetic public: but there are still a good few sorrows which lie wrapt in silence, and have never applied there for an idle tear!--let us look now into daun's side of things. daum, after negotiation, has an interview with soltikof (at guben, august d).--"daun, who had moved to priebus, with a view to be nearer soltikof, had scarcely got his tent pitched there (august th), when a breathless horseman rode in, with a note from loudon, dated the night before: 'king of prussia beaten, to the very bone, beyond mistake this time,--utterly ruined, if one may judge!' what a vision of the promised land! delighted daun moves forward, one march, to triebel on the morrow; to be one march nearer the scene of glory, and endeavor to forge this biggest of the hot irons to advantage. "at triebel soltikof's own account, elucidated by oral messengers, eye-witnesses, and, in short, complete conspectus of this ever memorable victory, await the delighted daun. who despatches messengers, one and another; lacy, the first, not succeeding quite: to congratulate with enthusiasm the most illustrious of generals; who has beaten king friedrich as none else ever did or could; beaten to the edge of extinction;--especially to urge him upon trampling out this nearly extinct king, before he gleam up again. soltikof understands the congratulations very well; but as to that of trampling out, snorts an indignant negative: 'nay, you, why don't you try it? surely it is more your business than my imperial mistress's or mine. we have wrenched two victories from him this season. kay and kunersdorf have killed near the half of us: go you in, and wrench something!' this is soltikof's logic; which no messenger of daun's, lacy or another, aided by never such melodies and suasions from montalembert and loudon, who are permanently diligent that way, can shake. "and truly it is irrefragable. how can daun, if himself merely speculative, calculative, hope that soltikof will continue acting? men who have come to help you in a heavy job of work need example. if you wish me to weep, be grieved yourself first of all. soltikof angrily wipes his countenance at this point, and insists on a few tears from daun. without metaphor, soltikof has shot away all his present ammunition, his staff of bread is quite precarious in these parts; and soltikof thinks always, 'is it my business, then, or is it yours?' "soltikof has intrenched himself on the wine-hills at lossow, comfortably out of friedrich's way, and contiguous to oder and the provision-routes; sits there, angrily deaf to the voice of the charmer; nothing to be charmed out of him, but gusts of indignation, instead of consent. a proud, high-going, indignant kind of man, with a will of his own. and sees well enough what is what, in all this symphony of the lacys, the montalemberts and surrounding adorers. montalembert, who is here this season, our french best man (unprofitable swedes must put up with an inferior hand), is extremely persuasive, tries all the arts of french rhetoric, but effects nothing. 'to let the austrians come in for the finishing stroke,---excellence, it will be to let them gain, in history, a glory which is of your earning. daun and austria, not soltikof and russia, will be said to have extinguished this pestilent king; whom history will have to remember!' [choiseul's letter (not duc de choiseul, but comte, now minister at vienna) to montalembert, "vienna, th august;" and montalembert's answer, "lieberhausen [means lieberose], st august, :" in montalembert, _correspondance,_ ii. - .] 'with all my heart,' answers soltikof; 'i make the austrians and history perfectly welcome! monsieur, my ammunition is in posen; my bread is fallen scarce; in frankfurt can you find me one horse more?' indignant soltikof is not to be taken by chaff; growls now and then, if you stir him to the bottom: 'why should we, who are volunteer assistants, take all the burden of the work? i will fall back to posen, and home to poland and east preussen, if this last much longer.' "austria has a good deal disgusted these soltikofs and russian chief officers;--who are not so stupid as austria supposes. austria's steady wish is, 'let them do their function of cat's-paw for us; we are here to eat the chestnuts; not, if we can help it, to burn our own poor fingers for them!' after every campaign hitherto, austria has been in use to raise eager accusations at petersburg; and get the apraxins, fermors into trouble: this is not the way to conciliate russian general officers. austria, taught probably by daun, now tries the other tack: heaps soltikof with eulogies, flatteries, magnificent presents. all which soltikof accepts, but with a full sense of what they mean. an unmanageable soltikof; his answer always,--'your turn now to fight a victory! i will go my ways to posen again, if you don't.' and, in these current weeks, in soltikof's audience-room, if anybody were curious about it, we could present a very lively solicitation going on, with answers very gruff and negatory. no suasion of montalembert, lacy, and daun embassies, backed by diamond-hilted swords, and splendor of gifts from vienna itself, able to prevail on the barbarous people. "daun at length resolves to go in person; solicits an interview with the distinguished russian conqueror; gets it, meets soltikof at guben, half-way house between frankfurt and triebel; select suite attending both excellencies (august d); and exerts whatever rhetoric is in him on the barbarous man. the barbarous man is stiff as brass; but daun comes into all his conditions: 'saxony, silesia,--excellenz, we have them both within clutch; such our exquisite angling and manoeuvring, in concert with your immortal victory, which truly gives the life-breath to everything. oh, suffer us to clutch them: keep that king away from us; and see if they are not ours, saxony first, silesia next! provisions of meal? i will myself undertake to furnish bread for you [though i have to cart it from bohemia all the way, and am myself terribly off; but fixed to do the impossible]; ration of bread shall fail no russian man, while you escort us as protective friend. towards saxony first, where the reichs army is, and not a prussian in the field; the very garrisons mostly gone by this time. dresden is to be besieged, within a week; dresden itself is ours, if only you please! come into the lausitz with us, magazines are there, loaves in abundance: saxony done, dresden ours, cannot we turn to silesia together; besiege glogau together (i am myself about trying neisse, by harsch again); capture glogau as well as neisse; and crown the successfulest campaign that ever was? oh, excellenz--!'" in a word, excellenz, strictly fixing that condition of the loaves, consents. will get ready to leave those frankfurt wine-hills in about a week. "but the loaves, you recollect: no bread, no russian!" daun returns to triebel a victorious man,--though with an onerous condition incumbent. tempelhof, minutely computing, finds that to cart from bohemia such a cipher of human rations daily into these parts, will surpass all the vehiculatory power of daun. [tempelhof, iii. .]' the "reichs army" called has entered saxony, under fine omens; does some feats of sieging (august th- d),--with an eye on dresden as the crowning one. the reichs army, though it had been so tumbled about, in spring, with such havoc on its magazines and preparations, could not wait to refit itself, except superficially; and showed face over the mountains almost earlier than usual. the chance was so unique: a saxony left to its mere garrisons,--as it continued to be, for near two months this year. on such golden opportunity the reichs army--first, in light mischievous precursor parties, who roamed as far as halle or even as halberstadt; then the army itself, well or ill appointed, under generalissimo the prince von zweibruck,--did come on, winding through thuringen towards the northwestern towns; various austrian auxiliary-corps making appearance on the dresden side. eight austrian regiments, as a permanency, are in the reichs army itself. commander, or part commander, of the eight is (what alone i find noteworthy in them) "herr general thomas von blonquet:" irish by nation, says a foot-note; [seyfarth, ii. n.]--sure enough some adventurous "thomas plunket," visible this once, soldiering, in those circumstances; never heard of by a sympathetic reader before or after. it was while the king was hunting the haddick-loudon people in sagan country in such vehement fashion, that zweibruck came trumpeting into saxony,--king, prince henri and everybody, well occupied otherwise, far away! the reichs army has a camp at naumburg (rossbach neighborhood): and has light troops out in halle neighborhood; which have seized halle; are very severe upon halle, and other places thereabouts, till chased away. august th, the reichs army begirt leipzig; summoned the weak garrison there. it is a town capable of ruin, but not of defence: "free-withdrawal," proposes the reichs army,--and upon these terms gets hold of leipzig, for the time being. leipzig, torgau, wittenberg; in a fortnight or less, all the prussian posts in those parts fall to the reichs army. its marchings and siegings, among those northwestern places, not one of them capable of standing above a few days' siege, are worth no mention, except to parish history: enough that, by little after the middle of august, zweibruck had got all these places, "free-withdrawal" the terms for all; and that, except it be the following feature in their siege of torgau, feature mainly biographic, and belonging to a certain colonel wolfersdorf concerned, there is not one of those sieges now worth a moment's attention from almost any mortal. this is the torgau feature,--feature of human nature, soldiering under difficulties:-- colonel von wolfersdorf beautifully defends himself in torgau (august th- th). two days after leipzig was had, there appeared at torgau a body of pandours, , and more; who attempted some kind of scalade on torgau and its small garrison (of or so),--where are a magazine, a hospital and other properties: not capable, by any garrison, of standing regular siege; but important to defend till you have proper terms offered. the multitudinous pandours, if i remember, made a rush into the suburbs, in their usual vociferous way; but were met by the silent prussians,--silent except through their fire-arms and field-pieces,--in so eloquent a style as soon convinced the pandour mind, and sent it travelling again. and in the evening of the same day (august th), colonel wolfersdorf arrives, as new commandant, and with reinforcements, small though considerable in the circumstances. wolfersdorf, one dimly gathers, had marched from wittenberg on this errand; the whole force in torgau is now of about , , still with only field-cannon, but with a captain over them;--who, as is evident, sets himself in a very earnest manner to do his utmost in defence of the place. next morning reichs general kleefeld ("cloverfield"), with or , pandour and regular, summons wolfersdorf: "surrender instantly; or--!" "we will expect you!" answers wolfersdorf. whereupon, same morning (august th), general storm; storm no. : beautifully handled by wolfersdorf; who takes it in rear (to its astonishment), as well as in front; and sends it off in haste. on the morrow, saturday, a second followed; and on sunday a third; both likewise beautifully handled. this third storm, readers see, was "sunday, august th:" a very busy stormful day at torgau here,--and also, for some others of us, during the heats of kunersdorf, over the horizon far away! wolfersdorf tumbles back all storms; furthermore makes mischievous sallies: a destructive, skilled person; altogether prompt, fertile in expedients; and evidently is not to be managed by kleefeld. so that prince von stolberg, second to supreme zweibruck himself, has to take it in hand. and, monday, th, at break of day, stolberg arrives with a train of battering guns and , new people; summons wolfersdorf: "no," as before. storms him, a fourth time; likewise "no," as before: attacks, thereupon, his elbe bridge, and his redoubt across the river; finds a wolfersdorf party rush destructively into his rear there. and has to withdraw, and try battering from behind the elbe dam. continues this, violently for about two hours; till again wolfersdorf, whose poor fieldpieces, the only artillery he has, "cannot reach so far with leaden balls" (the iron balls are done, and the powder itself is almost done), manages, by a flank attack, to quench this also. which produces entire silence, and considerable private reflection, on the part of indignant stolberg. stolberg offers him the favorablest terms devisable: "withdraw freely, with all your honors, all your properties; only withdraw!" which wolfersdorf, his powder and ball being in such a state of ebb, and no relief possible, agrees to; with stipulations very strict as to every particular. [in _anonymous of hamburg_ (iii. ) the capitulation, "august th." given in extenso.] colonel von wolfersdorf withdraws, also beautifully (august th). accordingly, wednesday, august th, at eight in the morning, wolfersdorf by the elbe gate moves out; across elbe bridge, and the redoubt which is on the farther shore yonder. near this redoubt, stolberg and many of his general officers are waiting to see him go. he goes in state; flags flying, music playing. battalion hessen-cassel, followed by all our packages, hospital convalescents, king's artillery, and whatever is the king's or ours, marches first. next comes, as rear-guard to all this, battalion grollmann;--along with which is wolfersdorf himself, knowing grollmann for a ticklish article (saxons mainly); followed on the heel by battalion hofmann, and lastly by battalion salmuth, trusty prussians both of these. battalion hessen-cassel and the baggages are through the redoubt, prince of stolberg handsomely saluting as saluted. but now, on battalion grollmann's coming up, stolberg's adjutant cries out with a loud voice of proclamation, many officers repeating and enforcing: "whoever is a brave saxon, whoever is true to his kaiser, or was of the reichs army, let him step out: durchlaucht will give him protection!" at sound of which grollmann quivers as if struck by electricity; and instantly begins dissolving;--dissolves, in effect, nearly all, and is in the act of vanishing like a dream! wolfersdorf is a prompt man; and needs to be so. wolfersdorf, in olympian rage, instantly stops short; draws pistol: "i will shoot dead every man that quits rank!" vociferates he; and does, with his pistol, make instant example of one; inviting every true prussian to do the like: "jagers, hussars, a ducat for every traitor you shoot down!" continues wolfersdorf (and punctually paid it afterwards): unable to prevent an almost total dissolution of grollmann. for some minutes, there is a scene indescribable: storm of vociferation, menace, musket-shot, pistol-shot; grollmann disappearing on every side,--"behind the redoubt, under the bridge, into elbe boats, under the cloaks of the croats;"--in spite of wolfersdorf's olympian rages and efforts. at sight of the shooting, prince stolberg, a hot man, had said indignantly, "herr, that will be dangerous for you (das wird nicht gut gehn)!" wolfersdorf not regarding him a whit; regarding only grollmann, and his own hot business of coercing it at a ducat per head. grollmann gone, and battalion hofmann in due sequence come up, wolfersdorf--who has sent an adjutant, with order, "hessen-cassel, halt"--gives battalion hofmann these three words of command: "whole battalion, halt!--front!--make ready!" (with due simultaneous click of every firelock, on utterance of that last);--and turning to prince stolberg, with a brow, with a tone of voice: "durchlaucht, article of the capitulation is express on this point; 'all desertion strictly prohibited; no deserter to be received either on the imperial or on the prussian side!' [durchlaucht silently gives, we suppose, some faint sniff.] since your durchlaucht does not keep the capitulation, neither will i regard it farther. i will now take you and your suite prisoners, return into the town, and again begin defending myself. be so good as ride directly into that redoubt, or i will present, and give fire!" a dangerous moment for the durchlaucht of stolberg; battalion salmuth actually taking possession of the wall again; hofmann here with its poised firelock on the cock, "ready" for that fourth word, as above indicated. a general lusinsky of stolberg's train, master of those croats, and an austrian of figure, remarks very seriously: "every point of the capitulation must be kept!" upon which durchlaucht has to renounce and repent; eagerly assists in recovering grollmann, restores it (little the worse, little the fewer); will give wolfersdorf "command of the austrian escort you are to have", and every satisfaction and assurance;--wishful only to get rid of wolfersdorf. who thereupon marches to wittenberg, with colors flying again, and a name mentionable ever since. [templehof, iii. - ; seyfarth, ii. n., and _ beylagen,_ ii. ; _militair-lexikon,_ iv. .] this wolfersdorf was himself a pirna saxon; serving polish majesty, as major, in that pirna time; perhaps no admirer of "feldmarschall bruhl" and company?--at any rate, he took prussian service, as then offered him; and this is his style of keeping it. a decidedly clever soldier, and comes out, henceforth, more and more as such,--unhappily not for long. was taken at maxen, he too, as will be seen. rose, in after times, to be lieutenant-general, and a man famous in the prussian military circles; but given always, they say, to take the straight line (or shortest distance between self and object), in regard to military matters, to recruiting and the like, and thus getting himself into trouble with the civil officials. wolfersdorf, at wittenberg or farther on, had a flattering word from the king; applauding his effective procedures at torgau; and ordering him, should wittenberg fall (as it did, august d), to join wunsch, who is coming with a small party to try and help in those destitute localities. wunsch the king had detached ( st august), as we heard already. finck the king finds, farther, that he can detach (from waldau country, september th); [tempelhof, iii. , .] russians being so languid, and saxony fallen into such a perilous predicament. "few days after kunersdorf," says a note, which should be inserted here, "there had fallen out a small naval matter, which will be consolatory to friedrich, and go to the other side of the account, when he hears of it: kunersdorf was sunday, august th; this was saturday and sunday following. besides their grand brest fleet, with new flat-bottoms, and world-famous land-preparations going on at vannes, for invasion of proud albion, all which are at present under hawke's strict keeping, the french have, ever since spring last, a fine subsidiary fleet at toulon, of very exultant hopes at one time; which now come to finis. "sea-fight (properly sea-hunt of miles), in the cadiz waters, august th- th. the fine toulon fleet, which expected at one time, pitt's ships being so scattered over the world, to be 'mistress of the mediterranean,' has found itself, on the contrary (such were pitt's resources and promptitudes); cooped in harbor all summer; boscawen watching it in the usual strict way. no egress possible; till, in the sultry weather ( th july- th august), boscawen's need of fresh provisions, fresh water and of making some repairs, took him to gibraltar, and gave the toulon fleet a transient opportunity, which it made use of. "august th, at in the evening, boscawen, at gibraltar (some of his ships still in deshabille or under repair), was hastily apprised by one of his frigates, that the toulon fleet had sailed; been seen visibly at ceuta point so many hours ago. 'meaning,' as boscawen guesses, 'to be through the straits this very night!' by power of despatch, the deshabille ships were rapidly got buttoned together (in about two hours); and by p.m. all were under sail. and soon were in hot chase; the game, being now in view,--going at its utmost through the straits, as anticipated. at next morning (saturday, august th) boscawen got clutch of the toulon fleet; still well east of cadiz, somewhere in the trafalgar waters, i should guess. here boscawen fought and chased the toulon fleet for hours coming; drove it finally ashore, at lagos on the coast of portugal, with five of its big ships burnt or taken, its crews and other ships flying by land and water, its poor admiral mortally wounded; and the toulon fleet a ruined article. the wind had been capricious, here fresh, there calm; now favoring the hunters, now the hunted; both fleets had dropped in two. de la clue, the french admiral, complained bitterly how his captains lagged, or shore off and forsook him. boscawen himself, who for his own share had gone at it eagle-like, was heard grumbling, about want of speed in some people; and said: 'it is well; but it might have been better!' [beatson, ii. - ; ib. iii. - , de la clue, the french admiral's despatch;--boscawen's despatch, &c., in _gentleman's magazine,_ xxix. .] "de la clue--fallen long ago from all notions of 'dominating the mediterranean'--had modestly intended to get through, on any terms, into the ocean; might then, if possible, have joined the grand 'invasion squadron,' now lying at brest, till vannes and the furnishings are ready, or have tried to be troublesome in the rear of hawke, who is blockading all that. a modest outlook in comparison;--and this is what it also has come to. as for the grand invasion squadron, admiral conflans, commanding it, still holds up his head in brest harbor, and talks big. makes little of rodney's havoc on the flat-bottoms at havre, 'will soon have flat-bottoms again: and you shall see!'--if only hawke, and wind and weather and fortune, will permit." austrian reichs army does its crowning feat (august th-september th): diary of what is called the "siege" of dresden. since the first weeks of, august there have been austrian detachments, wehla's corps, brentano's corps, entering saxony from the northeast or daun-ward side, and posting themselves in the strong points looking towards dresden; waiting there till the reichs army should capture its leipzigs, torgaus, wittenbergs, and roll forward from northwest. to all which it is easy to fancy what an impetus was given by kunersdorf and august th; the business, after that, going on double-quick, and pointing to immediate practical industry on dresden. the reichs army hastens to settle its northwestern towns, puts due garrison in each, leaves a or , movable for general protection, in those parts; and, august d, marches for dresden. there are only some , left of it now; almost half the reichs army drunk up in that manner; were not daun now speeding forth his maguire with a fresh , ; who is to command the wehlas and brentanos as well. and, in effect, to be austrian chief, and as regards practical matters, manager of this important enterprise,--all-important to daun just now. schmettau in dresden sees clearly what mischief is at hand. to daun this siege of dresden is the alpha to whatever omegas there may be: he and his soltikof are to sit waiting this; and can attempt nothing but eating of provender, till this be achieved. as the siege was really important, though not quite the alpha to all omegas, and has in it curious points and physiognomic traits, we will invite readers to some transient inspection of it,--the rather as there exist ample contemporary narratives, diariums and authentic records, to render that possible and easy. [in tempelhof (iii. - - ) complete and careful narrative; in anonymous of hamburg (iii. - ) express "day-book" by some eye-witness in dresden.]' "ever since the rumor of kunersdorf," says one diarium, compiled out of many, "in the last two weeks of august, schmettau's need of vigilance and diligence has been on the increase, his outlooks becoming grimmer and grimmer. he has a poorish garrison for number ( , in all [schmettau's leben (by his son), p. .]), and not of the best quality; deserters a good few of them: willing enough for strokes; fighting fellows all, and of adventurous turn, but uncertain as to loyalty in a case of pinch. he has endless stores in the place; for one item, almost a million sterling of ready money. poor schmettau, if he knew it, has suddenly become the leonidas of this campaign, dresden its thermopylae; and"--but readers can conceive the situation. "august th, schmettau quits the neustadt, or northern part of dresden, which lies beyond the river: unimportant that, and indefensible with garrison not adequate; schmettau will strengthen the river-bank, blow up the stone bridge if necessary, and restrict himself to dresden proper. the court is here; schmettau does not hope that the court can avert a siege from him; but he fails not to try, in that way too, and may at least gain time. "august th, he has a mine put under the main arch of the bridge: 'mine ill-made, uncertain of effect,' reports the officer whom he sent to inspect it. but it was never tried, the mere rumor of it kept off attacks on that side. same day, august th, schmettau receives that unfortunate royal missive [tempelhof, iii. ; schmettau's leben (p. ) has "august th."] written in the dark days of reitwein, morrow of kunersdorf ( th or th august)," which we read above. "that there is another letter on the road for him, indicating 'relief shall be tried,' is unknown to schmettau, and fatally continues unknown. while schmettau is reading this (august th), general wunsch has been on the road four days: wunsch and wolfersdorf with about , , at their quickest pace, and in a fine winged frame of mind withal, are speeding on: will cross elbe at meissen to-morrow night,--did schmettau only know. people say he did, in the way of rumor, understand that kunersdorf had not been the fatal thing it was thought; and that efforts would be made by a king like his. in his place one might have, at least, shot out a spy or two? but he did not, then or afterwards. "already, ever since the arrival of wehla and brentano in those parts, he has been laboring under many uncertainties; too many for a leonidas! hanging between yes and no, even about that of quitting the neustadt, for example: carrying over portions of his goods, but never heartily the whole; unable to resolve; now lifting visibly the bridge pavement, then again visibly restoring it;--and, i think, though the contrary is asserted, he had at last to leave in the neustadt a great deal of stores, horse-provender and other, not needful to him at present, or impossible to carry, when dubiety got ended. he has put a mine under the bridge; but knows it will not go off. "schmettau has been in many wars, but this is a case that tries his soldier qualities as none other has ever done. a case of endless intricacy,--if he be quite equal to it; which perhaps he was not altogether. nobody ever doubted schmettau's high qualities as a man and captain; but here are requisite the very highest, and these schmettau has not. the result was very tragical; i suppose, a pain to friedrich all his life after; and certainly to schmettau all his. this is saturday night, th august: before tuesday week (september th) there will have sad things arrived, irremediable to schmettau. had schmettau decided to defend himself, dresden had not been taken. what a pity schmettau had not been spared this missive, calculated to produce mere doubt! whether he could not, and should not, after a ten days of inquiry and new discernment, have been able to read the king's true meaning, as well as the king's momentary humor, in this fatal document, there is no deciding. sure enough, he did not read the king's true meaning in it, but only the king's momentary humor; did not frankly set about defending himself to the death,--or 'seeing' in that way 'whether he could not defend himself,'--with a good capitulation lying in the rear, after he had. "sunday, august th, trumpet at the gates. messenger from zweibruck is introduced blindfold; brings formal summons to schmettau. summons duly truculent: 'resistance vain; the more you resist, the worse it will be,--and there is a worst [that of being delivered to the croats, and massacred every man], of which why should i speak? especially if in anything you fail of your duty to the kur-prinz [electoral prince and heir-apparent, poor crook-backed young gentleman, who has an excellent sprightly wife, a friend of friedrich's and daughter of the late kaiser karl vii., whom we used so beautifully], imagine what your fate will be!'--to which schmettau answers: 'can durchlaucht think us ignorant of the common rules of behavior to persons of that rank? for the rest, durchlaucht knows what our duties here are, and would despise us if we did not do them;'--and, in short, our answer again is, in polite forms, 'pooh, pooh; you may go your way!' upon which the messenger is blindfolded again; and schmettau sets himself in hot earnest to clearing out his goods from the neustadt; building with huge intertwisted cross-beams and stone and earth-masses a battery at his own end of the bridge, batteries on each side of it, below and above;--locks the gates; and is passionately busy all sunday,--though divine service goes on as usual. "hardly were the prussian guns got away, when croat people in quantity came in, and began building a battery at their end of the bridge, the main defence-work being old prussian meal-barrels, handily filled with earth. 'if you fire one cannon-ball across on us,' said schmettau, 'i will bombard the neustadt into flame in few minutes [i have only to aim at our hay magazine yonder]: be warned! 'nor did they once fire from that side; electoral highness withal and royal palace being quite contiguous behind the prussian bridge-battery. electoral highness and household are politely treated, make polite answer to everything; intend going down into the 'apotheke' (kitchen suite), or vaulted part of the palace, and will lodge there when the cannonade begins. "this same sunday, august th, maguire arrived; and set instantly to building his bridge at pillnitz, a little way above dresden: at uebigau, a little below dresden, the reichsfolk have another. reichsfolk, zweibruck in person, come all in on wednesday; post themselves there, to north and west of the city. what is more important, the siege-guns, a superb stock, are steadily floating, through the pirna regions, hitherward; get to hand on friday next, the fifth day hence. [tempelhof, p. .] korbitz (half-way out to kesselsdorf) is durchlaucht's head-quarter:--chief general is durchlaucht, conspicuously he, at least in theory, and shall have all the glory; though maguire, glancing on these cannon, were it nothing more, has probably a good deal to say. maguire too, i observe, takes post on that north or kesselsdorf side; contiguous for the head general. wehla and brentano post themselves on the south or up-stream side; it is they that hand in the siege-guns: batteries are already everywhere marked out, cannon-batteries and howitzer. in short, from the morrow of that truculent summons, monday morning to thursday, there is hot stir of multifarious preparation on schmettau's part; and continual pouring in of the hostile force, who are also preparing at the utmost. thursday, the siege, if it can be called a siege, begins. gradually, and as follows:-- "thursday morning (august th), schmettau, who is, night and day, 'palisading the river,' and much else,--discloses (that is, break of day discloses on his part) to the dresden public a huge gallows, black, huge, of impressive aspect; labelled 'for plunderers, mutineers and their helpers.' [anonymous of hamburg, iii. .] the austrian heavy guns are not yet in battery; but multitudes of loose croat people go swarming about everywhere, and there is plentiful firing from such artilleries as they have. this same thursday morning, two or three battalions of them rush into the pirna suburb; attack the prussian guard-parties there. schmettau instantly despatches captain kollas and a trumpet:--'durchlaucht, have the goodness to recall these croat parties; otherwise the suburb goes into flame! and directly on arrival of this messenger, may it please durchlaucht. for we have computed the time; and will not wait beyond what is reasonable for his return!' zweibruck is mere indignation and astonishment; 'will burn halle,' burn quedlinburg, berlin itself, and utterly ruin the king of prussia's dominion in general:--the rejoinder to which is, burning of pirna suburb, as predicted; seventy houses of it, this evening, at six o'clock. "onward from which time there is on both sides, especially on schmettau's, diligent artillery practice; cannonade kept up wherever schmettau can see the enemy busy; enemy responding with what artillery he has:--not much damage done, i should think, though a great deal of noise; and for one day (saturday, september st), our diarist notes, 'not safe to walk the streets this day.' but, in effect, the siege, as they call it,--which fell dead on the fifth day, and was never well alive--consists mainly of menace and counter-menace, in the way of bargain-making and negotiation;--and, so far as i can gather, that superb park of austrian artillery, though built into batteries, and talked about in a bullying manner, was not fired from at all. "schmettau affects towards the enemy (and towards himself, i dare say) an air of iron firmness; but internally has no such feeling,--'calls a council of war,' and the like. council of war, on sight of that king's missive, confirms him with one voice: 'surely, surely, excellenz; no defence possible!' which is a prophecy and a fulfilment, both in one. why schmettau did not shoot forth a spy or two, to ascertain for him what, or whether nothing whatever, was passing outside dresden? i never understand! beyond his own walls, the world is a vacancy and blank to schmettau, and he seems content it should be so. "sunday, september d. though schmettau's cannonade was very loud, and had been so all night, divine service was held as usual, streets safe again,--austrians, i suppose, not firing with cannon. about p.m., after a great deal of powder spent, general maguire, stepping out on elbe bridge, blows or beats appeal, three times; 'wishes a moment's conversation with his excellency.' granted at once; witnesses attending on both sides. 'defence is impossible; in the name of humanity, consider!' urges maguire. 'defence to the last man of us is certain,' answers schmettau, from the teeth outwards;--but, in the end, engages to put on paper, in case he, by extremity of ill-luck, have at any time to accept terms, what his terms will inflexibly be. upon which there is 'armistice till to-morrow:' and maguire, i doubt not, reports joyfully on this feeling of the enemy's pulse. zweibruck and maguire are very well aware of what is passing in these neighborhoods (general wunsch back at wittenberg by forced marches; blew it open in an hour); and are growing highly anxious that dresden on any terms were theirs. "monday, september d, the death-day of the siege; an uncommonly busy day,--though armistice lasted perfect till p.m., and soon came back more perfect than ever. a siege not killed by cannon, but by medical industry. let us note with brevity the successive symptoms and appliances. about seven in the morning maguire had his messenger in dresden, 'your excellency's paper ready?' 'nearly ready,' answers schmettau; 'we will send it by a messenger of our own.' and about eleven of the day maguire does get it;--the same captain kollas (whose name we recollect) handing it in; and statue-like waiting answer. 'pshaw, this will never do,' ejaculates maguire; 'terms irrationally high!' captain kollas 'knows nothing of what is in the paper; and is charged only to bring a written answer from excellenz.' excellenz, before writing, 'will have to consult with durchlaucht;' can, however, as if confidentially and from feelings of friendship, can assure you, sir, on my honor, that the garrison will be delivered to the croats, and every man of it put to the sword. 'the garrison will expect that (wird das erwarten),' said kollas, statue-like; and withdrew, with the proper bow. [tempelhof, iii. .] something interesting to us in these military diplomatic passages, with their square-elbowed fashions, and politeness stiff as iron! "not till three of the afternoon does the written answer reach schmettau: 'such terms never could be accepted.'--'good,' answers schmettau: 'to our last breath no others will be offered.' and commences cannonading again, not very violently, but with the order, 'go on, then, night and day!' "about at night, general guasco, a truculent kind of man, whom i have met with up and down, but not admitted to memory, beats appeal on the bridge: 'inform the commandant that there will now straightway batteries of cannon, and ditto of howitzers open on him, unless he bethinks himself!' which dreadful message is taken to schmettau. 'wish the gentleman good-evening,' orders schmettau; 'and say we will answer with guns.' upon which guasco vanishes;--but returns in not many minutes, milder in tone; requests 'a sight of that written paper of terms again.' 'there it still is,' answers schmettau, 'not altered, nor ever shall be.' and there is armistice again:--and the siege, as turns out, has fired its last shot; and is painfully expiring in paroxysms of negotiation, which continue a good many hours. schmettau strives to understand clearly that his terms (of the king's own suggesting, as schmettau flatters himself) are accepted: nor does durchlaucht take upon him to refuse in any point; but he is strangely slow to sign, still hoping to mend matters. "much hithering and thithering there was, till next morning (durchlaucht has important news from torgau, at that moment); till next day; till in the afternoon and later,--guasco and others coming with message after message, hasty and conciliatory: (durchlaucht at such a distance, his signature not yet come; but be patient; all is right, upon my honor!' very great hurry evident on the part of guasco and company; but, nothing suspected by schmettau. till, dusk or darkness threatening now to supervene, maguire and schmettau with respective suites have a conference on the bridge,--'rain falling very heavy.' durchlaucht's signature, maguire is astonished to say, has not yet come; hut maguire pledges his honor 'that all shall be kept without chicane;' and adds 'what to some of us seemed not superfluous afterwards), 'i am incapable of acting falsely or with chicane.' in fact, till in the evening there was no signature by durchlaucht; but about , on such pledge by maguire of his hand and his honor, the siege entirely gave up the ghost; and dresden belonged to austria. tuesday evening, th september, ; sun just setting, could anybody see him for the rain. "schmettau had been over-hasty; what need had schmettau of haste? the terms had not yet got signature, perfection of settlement on every point; nor were they at all well kept, when they did! considerable flurry, temporary blindness, needless hurry, and neglect of symptoms and precautions, must be imputed to poor schmettau; whose troubles began from this moment, and went on increasing. the austrians are already besetting elbe bridge, rooting up the herring-bone balks; and approaching our block-house,--sooner than was expected. but that is nothing. on opening the pirna gate to share it with the austrians, friedrich's spy (sooner had not been possible to the man) was waiting; who handed schmettau that second letter of friedrich's, 'courage; there is relief on the road!' poor schmettau!" what captain kollas and the prussian garrison thought of all this, they were perhaps shy of saying, and we at such distance are not informed,--except by one symptom: that, of colonel hoffman, schmettau's second, whose indignation does become tragically evident. hoffman, a rugged prussian veteran, is indignant at the capitulation itself; doubly and trebly indignant to find the austrians on elbe bridge, busy raising our balks and battery: "how is this sir?" inquires he of captain sydow, who is on guard at the prussian end; "how dared you make this change, without acquainting the second in command? order out your men, and come along with me to clear the bridge again!" sydow hesitates, haggles; indignant hoffman, growing loud as thunder, pulls out a pistol, fatal-looking to disobedient sydow; who calls to his men, or whose men spring out uncalled; and shoot hoffman down,--send two balls through him, so that he died at that night. with noise enough, then and afterwards. was drunk, said schmettau's people. friedrich answered, on report of it: "i think as hoffman did. if he was 'drunk,' it is pity the governor and all the garrison had not been so, to have come to the same judgment, as he." [p.s. in autograph of letter to schmettau, "waldau, th september, " (preuss, ii.; _urkundenbuch,_ p. ).] friedrich's unbearable feelings, of grief and indignation, in regard to all this dresden matter,--which are not expressed except coldly in business form,--can be fancied by all readers. one of the most tragical bits of ill-luck that ever befell him. a very sore stroke, in his present condition; a signal loss and affront. and most of all, unbearable to think how narrowly it has missed being a signal triumph;--missed actually by a single hair's-breadth, which is as good as by a mile, or by a thousand miles! soon after o'clock that evening, durchlaucht in person came rolling through our battery and the herring-bone balks, to visit electoral highness,--which was not quite the legal time either, durchlaucht had not been half an hour with electoral highness, when a breathless courier came in: "general wunsch within ten miles [took torgau in no time, as durchlaucht well knows, for a week past]; and will be here before we sleep!" durchlaucht plunged out, over the herring-bone balks again (which many carpenters are busy lifting); and the electoral highnesses, in like manner, hurry off to toplitz that same night, about an hour after. what a tuesday night! poor hoffman is dead at o'clock; the saxon royalties, since , are galloping for pirna, for toplitz; durchlaucht of zweibruck we saw hurry off an hour before them,--capitulation signature not yet dry, and terms of it beginning to be broken; and wunsch reported to be within ten miles! the wunsch report is perfectly correct. wunsch is at grossenhayn this evening; all in a fiery mood of swiftness, his people and he;--and indeed it is, by chance, one of wolfersdorf's impetuosities that has sent the news so fast. wunsch had been as swift with torgau as he was with wittenberg: he blew out the poor reichs garrison there by instant storm, and packed it off to leipzig, under charge of "an officer and trumpet:"--he had, greatly against his will, to rest two days there for a few indispensable cannon from magdeburg. cannon once come, wunsch, burning for deliverance of dresden, had again started at his swiftest, "monday, d september [death day of the siege], very early." "he is under , ; but he is determined to do it;--and would have done it, think judges, half thinks zweibruck himself: such a fire in that wunsch and his corps as is very dangerous indeed. at this morning, zweibruck heard of his being on march: 'numbers uncertain'--(numbers seemingly not the important point,--blows any number of us about our business!)--and since that moment zweibruck has driven the capitulation at such a pace; though the flurried schmettau suspected nothing. "afternoon of tuesday, th, wunsch, approaching grossenhayn, had detached wolfersdorf with light horse rightwards to grodel, a boating village on elbe shore, to seek news of dresden; also to see if boats are procurable for carrying our artillery up thither. at grodel, wolfersdorf finds no boats that will avail: but certain boat-people, new from dresden, report that no capitulation had been published when they left, but that it was understood to be going on. new spur to wolfersdorf and wunsch. wolfersdorf hears farther in this village, that there are some thirty austrian horse in grossenhayn:--'possible these may escape general wunsch!' thinks wolfersdorf; and decides to have them. takes thirty men of his own; orders the other seventy to hold rightward, gather what intelligence is going, and follow more leisurely; and breaks off for the grossenhayn-dresden highway, to intercept those fellows. "getting to the highway, wolfersdorf does see the fellows; sees also,--with what degree of horror i do not know,--that there are at least of them against his ! horror will do nothing for wolfersdorf, nor are his other now within reach. putting a bold face on the matter, he commands, stentor-like, as if it were all a fact: 'grenadiers, march; dragoons, to right forwards, wheel; hussars, forward: march!'--and does terrifically dash forward with the thirty hussars, or last item of the invoice; leaving the others to follow. the austrians draw bridle with amazement; fire off their carbines; take to their heels, and do not stop for more. wolfersdorf captures of them, for behoof of grossenhayn; and sends the remaining galloping home. [tempelhof, iii. .] who bring the above news to durchlaucht of zweibruck: ' , of them, may it please your durchlaucht; such the accounts we had!'--fancy poor schmettau's feelings! "on the morrow dresden was roused from its sleep by loud firing and battle, audible on the north side of the river: 'before daybreak, and all day.' it is wunsch impetuously busy in the woody countries there. durchlaucht had shot out generals and divisions, brentano, wehla, this general and then that, to intercept wunsch: these the fiery wunsch--almost as if they had been combustible material coming to quench fire--repels and dashes back, in a wonderful manner, general after general of them. and is lord of the field all day:--but cannot hear the least word from dresden; which is a surprising circumstance. "in the afternoon wunsch summons maguire in the neustadt: 'will answer you in two hours,' said maguire. wunsch thereupon is for attacking their two pontoon elbe-bridges; still resolute for dresden,--and orders wolfersdorf on one of them, the uebigau bridge, who finds the enemy lifting it at any rate, and makes them do it faster. but night is now sinking; from schmettau not a word or sign. 'silence over there, all day; not a single cannon to or from,' say wunsch and wolfersdorf to one another. 'schmettau must have capitulated!' conclude they, and withdraw in the night-time, still thunderous if molested; bivouac at grossenhayn, after twenty-four hours of continual march and battle, not time even for a snatch of food. [bericht von der action des general-majors von wunsch, bey reichenberg, den september, in seyfarth, _beylagen,_ ii. - .] "resting at grossenhayn, express reaches wunsch from his commandant at torgau: 'kleefeld is come on me from leipzig with , ; i cannot long hold out, unless relieved.' wunsch takes the road again; two marches, each of twenty miles. reaches torgau late; takes post in the ruins of the north suburb, finds he must fight kleefeld. refreshes his men 'with a keg of wine per company,' surely a judicious step; and sends to wolfersdorf, who has the rear-guard, 'be here with me to-morrow at .' wolfersdorf starts at , is here at : and wunsch, having scanned kleefeld and his position [a position strong if you are dexterous to manoeuvre in it; capable of being ruinous if you are not,--part of the position of a bigger battle of torgau, which is coming],--flies at kleefeld and his , like a cat-o'-mountain; takes him on the left flank:--kleefeld and such overplus of thousands are standing a little to west-and-south of torgau, with the entefang [a desolate big reedy mere, or place of ducks, still offering the idle torgauer a melancholy sport there] as a protection to their right; but with no evolution-talent, or none in comparison to wunsch's;--and accordingly are cut to pieces by wunsch, and blown to the winds, as their fellows have all been." [hofbercht von der am september, , bey torgau, vorgefallenen action: in seyfarth, _ beylagen,_ ii. , . tempelhof, iii. - .] wunsch, absolute fate forbidding, could not save dresden: but he is here lord of the northern regions again,--nothing but leipzig now in the enemy's hand;--and can await finck, who is on march with a stronger party to begin business here. it is reckoned, there are few more brilliant little bits of soldiering than this of wunsch's. all the more, as his men, for most part, were not prussian, but miscellaneous foreign spirits of uncertain fealty: roving fellows, of a fighting turn, attracted by friedrich's fame, and under a captain who had the art of keeping them in tune. wunsch has been soldiering, in a diligent though dim miscellaneous way, these five-and-twenty years; fought in the old turk wars, under disastrous seckendorf,--wunsch a poor young wurtemberg ensign, visibly busy there ( - )) as was this same schmettau, in the character of staff-officer, far enough apart from wunsch at that time!--fought afterwards, in the bavarian service, in the dutch, at roucoux, at lauffeld, again under disastrous people. could never, under such, find anything but subaltern work all this while; was glad to serve, under the eye of friedrich, as colonel of a free corps; which he has done with much diligence and growing distinction: till now, at the long last, his chance does come; and he shows himself as a real general. possibly a high career lying ahead;--a man that may be very valuable to friedrich, who has now so few such left? fate had again decided otherwise for wunsch; in what way will be seen before this campaign ends: "an infernal campaign," according to friedrich, "cette campagne infernale." finck, whom friedrich had just detached from waldau (september th) with a new or , , to command in chief in those parts, and, along with wunsch, put dresden out of risk, as it were,--finck does at least join wunsch, as we shall mention in a little. and these two, with such wolfersdorfs and people under them, did prove capable of making front against reichsfolk in great overplus of number. nor are farther sieges of those northern garrisons, but recaptures of them, the news one hears from saxony henceforth;--only that dresden is fatally gone. irrecoverably, as turned out, and in that unbearable manner. here is the concluding scene:-- dresden, saturday, september th; exit schmettau. "a thousand times over, schmettau must have asked himself, 'why was i in such a hurry? without cause for it i, only maguire having cause!'--the capitulation had been ended in a huddle, without signature: an unwise capitulation; and it was scandalously ill kept. schmettau was not to have marched till monday, th,--six clear days for packing and preparing;--but, practically, he has to make three serve him; and to go half-packed, or not packed at all. endless chicanes do arise, 'upon my honor!'--not even the wagons are ready for us; 'can't your baggages go in boats, then?' 'no, nor shall!' answers schmettau, with blazing eyes, and heart ready to burst; a schmettau living all this while as in purgatory, or worse. such bullyings from truculent guasco, who is now without muzzle. capitulation, most imperfect in itself, is avowedly infringed: king's artillery,--which we had haggled for, and ended by 'hoping for,' to maguire that rainy evening: why were we in such a hurry, too, and blind to maguire's hurry!--king's artillery, according to durchlaucht of zweibruck, when he actually signed within the walls, is 'nicht accordirt (not granted), except the field part.' king's regimental furnishings, all and sundry, were 'accordirt, and without visitation,'--but on second thoughts, the austrian officials are of opinion there must really be visitation, must be inspection. 'may not some of them belong to polish majesty?' in which sad process of inspection there was incredible waste, schmettau protesting; and above half of the new uniforms were lost to us. our pontoons, which were expressly bargained for, are brazenly denied us: ' of them are saxon,' cry the austrians: 'who knows if they are not almost all saxon,'--upon my honor! at this rate, only wait a day or two, and fewer wagons than will be needed! thinks schmettau; and consents to river-boats; boats in part, then; and let us march at once. accordingly, "saturday, th, at in the morning, schmettau, with goods and people, does at last file out: across elbe bridge through the neustadt; prussians five deep; a double rank of austrians, ranged on each side, in 'espalier' they call it,--espalier with gaps in it every here and there, to what purpose is soon evident. the march was so disposed (likewise for a purpose) that, all along, there were one or two companies of prussian foot; and then in the interval, carriages, cannon, cavalry and hussars. schmettau's carriage is with the rear-guard, madam schmettau's well in the van:--in two other carriages are two prussian war-and-domain ministers. [anonymous of hamburg, iii. .] 'managers of saxon finance,' these two;--who will have to manage elsewhere than in dresden henceforth. zinnow, borck, they sit veritably there, with their multiform account papers: of whom i know absolutely nothing,--except (if anybody cared) that zinnow, who 'died of apoplexy in june following,' is probably of pursy red-nosed type; and that borck, for certain, has a very fine face and figure; delicacy, cheerful dignity, perfect gentlemanhood in short, written on every feature of him; as painted by pesne, and engraved by schmidt, for my accidental behoof. [_fredericus wilhelmus borck (pesne pinxit,_ ; _schmidt, sculptur regis, sculpsit, berolini,_ ): an excellent print and portrait.] curious to think of that elaborate court-coat and flowing periwig, with this specific borck, 'old as the devil' (whom i have had much trouble to identify), forming visible part of this dismal procession: the bright eye of borck not smiling as usual, but clouded, though impassive! but that of borck or his limners is not the point. "the prussians have been divided into small sections, with a mass of baggage-wagons and cavalry between every two. and no sooner is the mass got in movement, than there rises from the austrian part, and continues all the way, loud invitation, 'whosoever is a brave saxon, a brave austrian, reichsman, come to us! gaps in the espalier, don't you see!' and schmettau, in the rear, with baggage and cavalry intervening,--nobody can reach schmettau. here is a way of keeping your bargain! the prussian officers struggle stoutly: but are bellowed at, struck at, menaced by bayonet and bullet,--none of them shot, i think, but a good several of them cut and wounded;--the austrian officers themselves in passionate points behaving shamefully, 'yes, shoot them down, the (were it nothing else) heretic dogs;' and being throughout evidently in a hot shivery frame of mind, forgetful of the laws. seldom was such a procession; spite, rage and lawless revenge blazing out more and more. on the whole, there deserted, through those gaps of the espalier, about half of the whole garrison. on madam schmettau's hammercloth there sat, in the schmettau livery, a hard-featured man, recognizable by keen eyes as lately a nailer, of the nailer guild here; who had been a spy for schmettau, and brought many persons into trouble: him they tear down, and trample hither and thither,--at last, into some guard-house near by." [the schmettau diarium in anonymous of hamburg, iii. - (corrected chiefly from tempelhof): protest, and correspondence in consequence, is in seyfarth, _beylagen,_ ii. - ; in _ helden-geschichte,_ &c. &c.] schmettau's protest against all this is vehement, solemnly circumstantial: but, except in regard to the trampled nailer (zweibruck on that point "heartily sorry for the insult to your excellency's livery; and here the man is, with a thousand apologies"), schmettau got no redress. nor had friedrich any, now or henceforth. friedrich did at once, more to testify his disgust than for any benefit, order schmettau: "halt at wittenberg, not at magdeburg as was pretended to be bargained. dismiss your escort of austrians there; bid them home at once, and out of your sight." schmettau himself he ordered to berlin, to idle waiting. never again employed schmettau: for sixteen years that they lived together, never saw his face more. schmettau's ill-fortune was much pitied, as surely it deserved to be, by all men. about friedrich's severity there was, and still occasionally is, controversy held. into which we shall not enter for yes or for no. "you are like the rest of them!" writes friedrich to him; "when the moment comes for showing firmness, you fail in it." ["waldau, th september, :" in preuss, ii. urkunden. p. .] friedrich expects of others what all soldiers profess,--and what is in fact the soul of all nobleness in their trade,--but what only friedrich himself, and a select few, are in the habit of actually performing. tried by the standard of common practice, schmettau is clearly absolvable; a broken veteran, deserving almost tears. but that is not the standard which it will be safe for a king of men to go by. friedrich, i should say, would be ordered by his office, if nature herself did not order him, to pitch his ideal very high; and to be rather rhadamanthine in judging about it. friedrich was never accused of over-generosity to the unfortunate among his captains. after the war, schmettau, his conduct still a theme of argument, was reduced to the invalid list: age now sixty-seven, but health and heart still very fresh, as he pleaded; complaining that he could not live on his retiring pension of pounds a year. "be thankful you have not had your head struck off by sentence of court-martial," answered friedrich. schmettau, after some farther troubles from court quarters, retired to brandenburg, and there lived silent, poor but honorable, for his remaining fifteen years. madam schmettau came out very beautiful in those bad circumstances: cheery, thrifty, full of loyal patience; a constant sunshine to her poor man, whom she had preceded out of dresden in the way we saw. schmettau was very quiet, still studious of war matters; [see _leben_ (by his son, "captain schmettau;" a modest intelligent book), pp. - .] "sent the king" once,--in , while polish prussia, and how it could be fortified, were the interesting subject,--"a journal," which he had elaborated for himself, "of the marches of karl twelfth in west preussen;" which was well received: "apparently the king not angry with me farther?" thought schmettau. a completely retired old man; studious, social,--the best men of the army still his friends and familiars:--nor, in his own mind, any mutiny against his chief; this also has its beauty in a human life, my friend. so long as madam schmettau lived, it was well; after her death, not well, dark rather, and growing darker: and in about three years schmettau followed ( th october, ), whither that good soul had gone. the elder brother--who was a distinguished academician, as well as feldmarschall and negotiator--had died at berlin, in voltaire's time, . each of those schmettaus had a son, in the prussian army, who wrote books, or each a short book, still worth reading. [_bavarian war of ,_ by the feldmarschall's son; ad this _leben_ we have just been citing, by the lieutenant-general's.] but we must return. on the very morrow, september th, daun heard of the glorious success at dresden; had not expected it till about the th at soonest. from triebel he sends the news at gallop to lieberose and soltikof: "rejoice with us, excellenz: did not i predict it? silesia and saxony both are ours; fruits chiefly of your noble successes. oh, continue them a very little!" "umph!" answers soltikof, not with much enthusiasm: "send us meal steadily; and gain you, excellenz's self, some noble success!" friedrich did not hear of it for almost a week later; not till monday, th,--as a certain small anecdote would of itself indicate. sunday evening, th september, general finck, with his new , , hastening on to join wunsch for relief of dresden, had got to grossenhayn; and was putting up his tents, when the outposts brought him in an austrian officer, who had come with a trumpeter inquiring for the general. the austrian officer "is in quest of proper lodgings for general schmettau and garrison [fancy finck's sudden stare!];--last night they lodged at gross-dobritz, tolerably to their mind: but the question for the escort is, where to lodge this night, if your excellency could advise me?" "herr, i will advise you to go back to gross-dobritz on the instant," answers finck grimly; "i shall be obliged to make you and your trumpet prisoners, otherwise!" exit austrian officer. that same evening, too, captain kollas, carrying schmettau's sad news to the king, calls on finck in passing; gives dismal details of the capitulation and the austrian way of keeping it; filling finck's mind with sorrowful indignation. [tempelhof, iii. .] finck--let us add here, though in date it belongs a little elsewhere--pushes on, not the less, to join wunsch at torgau; joins wunsch, straightway recaptures leipzig, garrison prisoners (september th): recaptures all those northwestern garrisons,--multitudinous reichsfolk trying, once, to fight him, in an amazingly loud, but otherwise helpless way ("action of korbitz" they call it); cannonading far and wide all day, and manoeuvring about, here bitten in upon, there trying to bite, over many leagues of country; principally under haddick's leading; [hofbericht von der am september bey korbitz (in meissen country, south of elbe; krogis too is a village in this wide-spread "action") vorgefallenen action (seyfarth, _beylagen,_ ii. - ). tempelhof, iii. , .] who saw good to draw off dresden-ward next day, and leave finck master in those regions. to daun's sad astonishment,--in a moment of crisis,--as we shall hear farther on! so that saxony is not yet conquered to daun; saxony, no, nor indeed will be:--but dresden is. friedrich never could recover dresden; though he hoped, and at intervals tried hard, for a long while to come. chapter vi.--prince henri makes a march of fifty hours; the russians cannot find lodging in silesia. the eyes of all had been bent on dresden latterly; and there had occurred a great deal of detaching thitherward, and of marching there and thence, as we have partly seen. and the end is, dresden, and to appearance saxony along with it, is daun's. has not daun good reason now to be proud of the cunctatory method? never did his game stand better; and all has been gained at other people's expense. daun has not played one trump card; it is those obliging russians that have played all the trumps, and reduced the enemy to nothing. only continue that wise course,--and cart meal, with your whole strength, for the russians!-- safe behind the pools of lieberose, friedrich between them and berlin, lie those dear russians; extending, daun and they, like an impassable military dike, with spurs of outposts and cunningly devised detachments, far and wide,--from beyond bober or utmost crossen on the east, to hoyerswerda in elbe country on the west;--dike of eighty miles long, and in some eastern parts of almost eighty broad; so elaborate is daun's detaching quality, in cases of moment. "the king's broken army on one side of us," calculates daun; "prince henri's on the other; incommunicative they; reduced to isolation, powerless either or both of them against such odds. they shall wait there, please heaven, till saxony be quite finished. zweibruck, and our detachments and maguires, let them finish saxony, while soltikof keeps the king busy. saxony finished, how will either prince or king attempt to recover it! after which, silesia for us;--and we shall then be near our magazines withal, and this severe stress of carting will abate or cease." in fact, these seem sound calculations: friedrich is , ; henri , ; the military dike is, of austrians , , of russians and austrians together , . daun may fairly calculate on succeeding beautifully this year: saxony his altogether; and in silesia some glogau or strong town taken, and russians and austrians wintering together in that country. if only daun do not too much spare his trump cards! but there is such a thing as excess on that side too: and perhaps it is even the more ruinous kind,--and is certainly the more despised by good judges, though the multitude of bad may notice it less. daun is unwearied in his vigilantes, in his infinite cartings of provision for himself and soltikof,--long chains of magazines, big and little, at guben, at gorlitz, at bautzen, zittau, friedland; and does, aided by french montalembert, all that man can to keep those dear stupid russians in tune. daun's problem of carting provisions, and guarding his multifarious posts, and sources of meal and defence, is not without its difficulties. especially with a prince henri opposite; who has a superlative manoeuvring talent of his own, and an industry not inferior to daun's in that way. accordingly, ever since august th- th, when daun moved northward to triebel, and henri shot out detachments parallel to him, "to secure the bober and our right flank, and try to regain communication with the king,"--still more, ever since august d, when daun undertook that onerous cartage of meal for soltikof as well as self, the manoeuvring and mutual fencing and parrying, between henri and him, has been getting livelier and livelier. fain would daun secure his numerous roads and magazines; assiduously does henri threaten him in these points, and try all means to regain communication with his brother. daun has magazines and interests everywhere; henri is everywhere diligent to act on them. daun in person, ever since kunersdorf time, has been at triebel; henri moved to sagan after him, but has left a lieutenant at schmottseifen, as daun has at mark-lissa:--here are still new planets, and secondary ditto, with revolving moons. in short, it is two interpenetrating solar systems, gyrating, osculating and colliding, over a space of several thousand square miles,--with an intricacy, with an embroiled abstruseness ptolemean or more! which indeed the soldier who would know his business--(and not knowing it, is not he of all solecisms in this world the most flagrant?)--ought to study, out of tempelhof and the books; but which, except in its results, no other reader could endure. the result we will make a point of gathering: carefully riddled down, there are withal in the details five or six little passages which have some shadow of interest to us; these let us note, and carefully omit the rest:-- of fouquet at landshut. "fouquet was twice attacked at landshut; but made a lucky figure both times. attack first was by deville: attack second by harsch. early in july, not long after friedrich had left for schmottseifen, rash deville (a rash creature, and then again a laggard, swift where he should be slow, and vice versa) again made trial on landshut and fouquet; but was beautifully dealt with; taken in rear, in flank, or i forget how taken, but sent galloping through the passes again, with a loss of many prisoners, most of his furnitures, and all his presence of mind: whom daun thereupon summoned out of those parts, 'hitherward to mark-lissa with your corps; leave fouquet alone!' [hofbericht von den unternehmungen des fouquetschen corps, im julius : in seyfarth, beylagen, ii. - .] "after which, fouquet, things being altogether quiet round him, was summoned, with most part of his force, to schmottseifen; left general goltz (a man we have met before) to guard landshut; and was in fair hopes of proving helpful to prince henri,--when harsch [harsch by himself this time, not harsch and deville as usual] thought here was his opportunity; and came with a great apparatus, as if to swallow landshut whole. so that fouquet had to hurry off reinforcements thither; and at length to go himself, leaving stutterheim in his stead at schmottseifen. goltz, however, with his small handful, stood well to his work. and there fell out sharp fencings at landshut:--especially one violent attack on our outposts; the austrians quite triumphant; till 'a couple of cannon open on them from the next hill,'--till some violent werner or other charge in upon them with prussian hussars;--a desperate tussle, that special one of werner's; not only sabres flashing furiously on both sides, but butts of pistols and blows on the face: [tempelhof, iii. : st august.] till, in short, harsch finds he can make nothing of it, and has taken himself away, before fouquet come." this goltz, here playing anti-harsch, is the goltz who, with winterfeld, schmettau and others, was in that melancholy zittau march, of the prince of prussia's, in : it was goltz by whom the king sent his finishing compliment, "you deserve, all of you, to be tried by court-martial, and to lose your heads!" goltz is mainly concerned with fouquet and silesia, in late times; and we shall hear of him once again. fouquet did not return to schmottseifen; nor was molested again in landshut this year, though he soon had to detach, for the king's use, part of his landshut force, and had other silesian business which fell to him. fortress of peitz. the poor fortress of peitz was taken again;--do readers remember it, "on the day of zorndorf," last year? "this year, a fortnight after kunersdorf, the same old half-pay gentleman with his five-and-forty invalids have again been set adrift, 'with the honors of war,' poor old creatures; lest by possibility they afflict the dear russians and our meal-carts up yonder. [tempelhof, iii. : th august.] i will forget who took peitz: perhaps haddick, of whom we have lately heard so much? he was captor of berlin in , did the inroad on berlin that year,--and produced rossbach shortly after. peitz, if he did peitz, was haddick's last success in the world. haddick has been most industrious, 'guarding the russian flank,'--standing between the king and it, during that soltikof march to mullrose, to lieberose; but that once done, and the king settled at waldau, haddick was ordered to saxony, against wunsch and finck:--and readers know already what he made of these two in the 'action at korbitz, september st,'--and shall hear soon what befell haddick himself in consequence." colonel hordt is captured. "it was in that final marching of soltikof to lieberose that a distinguished ex-swede, colonel hordt, of the free corps hordt, was taken prisoner. at trebatsch; hanging on soltikof's right flank on that occasion. it was not haddick, it was a swarm of cossacks who laid hordt fast; his horse having gone to the girths in a bog. [_memoires du comte de hordt_ (a berlin, ), ii. - (not dated or intelligible there): in tempelhof (iii. , ) clear account, "trebatsch, september th."] hordt, an ex-swede of distinction,--a royalist exile, on whose head the swedes have set a price (had gone into 'brahe's plot,' years since, plot on behalf of the poor swedish king, which cost brahe his life),--hordt now might have fared ill, had not friedrich been emphatic, 'touch a hair of him, retaliation follows on the instant!' he was carried to petersburg; 'lay twenty-six months and three days' in solitary durance there; and we may hear a word from him again." ziethen almost captured. "prince henri, in the last days of august, marched to sagan in person; [tempelhof, iii. : th august.] ziethen along with him; multifariously manoeuvring 'to regain communication with the king.' of course, with no want of counter-manoeuvring, of vigilant outposts, cunningly devised detachments and assiduous small measures on the part of daun. who, one day, had determined on a more considerable thing; that of cutting out ziethen from the sagan neighborhood. and would have done it, they say,--had not he been too cunctatory. september d, ziethen, who is posted in the little town of sorau, had very nearly been cut off. in sorau, westward, daun-ward, of sagan a short day's march: there sat ziethen, conscious of nothing particular,--with daun secretly marching on him; daun in person, from the west, and two others from the north and from the south, who are to be simultaneous on sorau and the zietheners. a well-laid scheme; likely to have finished ziethen satisfactorily, who sat there aware of nothing. but it all miswent: daun, on the road, noticed some trifling phenomenon (prussian party of horse, or the like), which convinced his cautious mind that all was found out; that probably a whole prussian army, instead of a ziethen only, was waiting at sorau; upon which daun turned home again, sorry that he could not turn the other two as well. the other two were stronger than ziethen, could they have come upon him by surprise; or have caught him before he got through a certain pass, or bit of bad ground, with his baggage. but ziethen, by some accident, or by his own patrols, got notice; loaded his baggage instantly; and was through the pass, or half through it, and in a condition to give stroke for stroke with interest, when his enemies came up. nothing could be done upon ziethen; who marched on, he and all his properties, safe to sagan that night,--owing to daun's over-caution, and to ziethen's own activity and luck." [tempelhof, iii. .] all this was prior to the loss of dresden. during the crisis of that, when everybody was bestirring himself, prince henri made extraordinary exertions: "much depends on me; all on me!" sighed henri. a cautious little man; but not incapable of risking, in the crisis of a game for life and death. friedrich and he are wedged asunder by that dike of russians and austrians, which goes from bober river eastward, post after post, to hoyerswerda westward, eighty miles along the lausitz-brandenburg frontier, rooting itself through the lausitz into bohemia, and the sources of its meal. friedrich and he cannot communicate except by spies ("the first jager," or regular express "from the king, arrived september th" [ib. iii. .]): but both are of one mind; both are on one problem, "what is to be done with that impassable dike?"--and co-operate sympathetically without communicating. what follows bears date after the loss of dresden, but while henri still knew only of the siege,--that jager of the th first brought him news of the loss. "a day or two after ziethen's adventure, henri quits sagan, to move southward for a stroke at the bohemian-lausitz magazines; a stroke, and series of strokes. september th, ziethen and (in fouquet's absence at landshut) stutterheim are pushed forward into the zittau country; first of all upon friedland,--the zittau friedland, for there are friedlands many! september th, stutterheim summons friedland, gets it; gets the bit of magazine there; and next day hastens on to zittau. is refused surrender of zittau; learns, however, that the magazine has been mostly set on wheels again, and is a stage forward on the road to bohemia; whitherward stutterheim, quitting zittau as too tedious, hastens after it, and next day catches it, or the unburnt remains of it. a successful stutterheim. nor is ziethen idle in the mean while; ziethen and others; whom no deville or austrian party thinks itself strong enough to meddle with, prince henri being so near. "here is a pretty tempest in the heart of our bohemian meal-conduit! continue that, and what becomes of soltikof and me? daun is off from triebel country to this dangerous scene; indignantly cashiers deville, 'why did not you attack these ziethen people? had not you , , sir?' cashiers poor deville for not attacking;--does not himself attack: but carts away the important gorlitz magazine, to bautzen, which is the still more important one; sits down on the lid of that (according to wont); shoots out o'donnell (an irish gentleman, deville's successor), and takes every precaution. prince henri, in presence of o'donnell, coalesces again; walks into gorlitz; encamps there, on the landskron and other heights (moys hill one of them, poor winterfeld's hill!),--and watches a little how matters will turn, and whether daun, severely vigilant from bautzen, seated on the lid of his magazine, will not perhaps rise." first and last, daun in this business has tried several things; but there was pretty much always, and emphatically there now is, only one thing that could be effectual: to attack prince henri, and abolish him from those countries;--as surely might have been possible, with twice his strength at your disposal?--this, though sometimes he seemed to be thinking of such a thing, daun never would try: for which the subsequent facts, and all good judges, were and are inexorably severe on daun. certain it is, no rashness could have better spilt daun's game than did this extreme caution. daun, soltikof and company again have a colloquy (bautzen, september th); after which everybody starts on his special course of action. soltikof's disgust at this new movement of daun's was great and indignant. "instead of going at the king, and getting some victory for himself, he has gone to bautzen, and sat down on his meal-bags! meal? is it to be a mere fighting for meal? i will march to-morrow for poland, for preussen, and find plenty of meal!" and would have gone, they say, had not mercury, in the shape of montalembert with his most zealous rhetoric, intervened; and prevailed with difficulty. "one hour of personal interview with excellency daun," urges montalembert; "one more!" "no," answers soltikof.--"alas, then, send your messenger!" to which last expedient soltikof does assent, and despatches romanzof on the errand. september th, at bautzen, at an early hour, there is meeting accordingly; not romanzof, soltikof's messenger, alone, but zweibruck in person, daun in person; and most earnest council is held. "a noble russian gentleman sees how my hands are bound," pleads daun. "will not excellency soltikof, who disdains idleness, go himself upon silesia, upon glogau for instance, and grant me a few days?" "no," answers romanzof; "excellency soltikof by himself will not. let austria furnish siege-artillery; daily meal i need not speak of; , fresh auxiliaries beyond those we have: on these terms excellency soltikof will perhaps try it; on lower terms, positively not." "well then, yes!" answers daun, not without qualms of mind. daun has a horror at weakening himself to that extent; but what can he do? "general campitelli, with the , , let him march this night, then; join with general loudon where you please to order: excellency soltikof shall see that in every point i conform." [tempelhof, iii. - .]--an important meeting to us, this at bautzen; and breaks up the dead-lock into three or more divergent courses of activity; which it will now behoove us to follow, with the best brevity attainable. "bautzen, saturday, th september, early in the morning," that is the date of the important colloquy. and precisely eight-and-forty hours before, "on thursday, th, about a.m.", in the western environs of quebec, there has fallen out an event, quite otherwise important in the history of mankind! of which readers shall have some notice at a time more convenient.-- romanzof returning with such answer, soltikof straightway gathers himself, september th- th, and gets on march. to friedrich's joy; who hopes it may be homeward; waits two days at waldau, for the yes or no. on the second day, alas, it is no: "going for silesia, i perceive; thither, by a wide sweep northward, which they think will be safer!" upon which friedrich also rises; follows, with another kind of speed than soltikof's; and, by one of his swift clutchings, lays hold of sagan, which he, if soltikof has not, sees to be a key-point in this operation. easy for soltikof to have seized this key-point, key of the real road to glogau; easy for loudon and the new , to have rendezvoused there: but nobody has thought of doing it. a few croats were in the place, who could make no debate. from sagan friedrich and henri are at length in free communication; sagan to the landskron at gorlitz is some fifty miles of country, now fallen vacant. from henri, from fouquet (the dangers of landshut being over), friedrich is getting what reinforcement they can spare (september th- th); will then push forward again, industriously sticking to the flanks of soltikof, thrusting out stumbling-blocks, making his march very uncomfortable. strange to say, from sagan, while waiting two days for these reinforcements, there starts suddenly to view, suddenly for friedrich and us, an incipient negotiation about peace! actual proposal that way (or as good as actual, so voltaire thinks it), on the part of choiseul and france; but as yet in voltaire's name only, by a sure though a backstairs channel, of his discovering. of which, and of the much farther corresponding that did actually follow on it, we purpose to say something elsewhere, at a better time. meanwhile voltaire's announcement of it to the king has just come in, through a fair and high hand: how friedrich receives it, what friedrich's inner feeling is, and has been for a fortnight past--here are some private utterances of his, throwing a straggle of light on those points:-- four letters of friedrich's ( th- th september). no. . to prince ferdinand (at berlin). poor little ferdinand, the king's brother, fallen into bad health, has retired from the wars, and gone to berlin; much an object of anxiety to the king, who diligently corresponds with the dear little man,--giving earnest medical advices, and getting berlin news in return. "waldau, th september, . "since my last letter, dresden has capitulated,--the very day while wunsch was beating maguire at the barns (north side of dresden, september th) day after the capitulation]. wunsch went back to torgau, which st. andre, with , reichs-people under him, was for retaking; him too wunsch beat, took all his tents, kettles, haversacks and utensils, prisoners, six cannon and some standards. finck is uniting with wunsch; they will march on the prince of zweibruck, and retake dresden [hopes always, for a year and more, to have dresden back very soon]. i trust before long to get all these people gathered round dresden, and our own country rid of them: that, i take it, will be the end of the campaign. "many compliments to the prince of wurtemberg [wounded at kunersdorf], and to all our wounded generals: i hope seidlitz is now out of danger: that bleeding fit (ebullition de sang) will cure him of the cramp in his jaw, and of his colics; and as he is in bed, he won't take cold. i hope the viper-broth will do you infinite good; be assiduous in patching your constitution, while there is yet some fine weather left: i dread the winter for you; take a great deal of care against cold. i have still a couple of cruel months ahead of me before ending this campaign. within that time, there will be, god knows what upshot." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvi. .]--this is "september th:" the day of captain kollas's arrival with his bad dresden news; daun and soltikof profoundly quiet for three days more. no. . to the duchess of sachsen-gotha (at gotha). voltaire has enclosed his peace-proposal to that serene lady, always a friend of friedrich's and his; to whom friedrich, directly on receipt of it, makes answer:-- "sagan, d september, . "madam,--i receive on all occasions proofs of your goodness, to which i am as sensible as a chivalrous man can be. certainly it is not through your hands, madam, that my correspondence with v. [with voltaire, if one durst write it in full] ought to be made to pass! nevertheless, in present circumstances, i will presume to beg that you would forward to him the answer here enclosed, on which i put no address. the difficulty of transmitting letters has made me choose my brother," ferdinand, at berlin, "to have this conveyed to your hand. "if i gave bridle to my feelings, now would be the moment for developing them; but in these critical times i judge it better not; and will restrict myself to simple assurances of--" f. no. . to voltaire, at the delices (so her serene highness will address it). here is part of the enclosure to "v." friedrich is all for peace; but keeps on his guard with such an ambassador, and writes in a proud, light, only half-believing style:-- "sagan, d september, . "the duchess of sachsen-gotha sends me your letter. i never received your packet of the th: communications all interrupted here; with much trouble i get this passed on to you, if it is happy enough to pass. "my position is not so desperate as my enemies give out. i expect to finish my campaign tolerably; my courage is not sunk:--it appears, however, there is talk of peace. all i can say of positive on this article is, that i have honor for ten; and that, whatever misfortune befall me, i feel myself incapable of doing anything to wound, the least in the world, this principle,--which is so sensitive and delicate for one who thinks like a gentleman (pense en preux chevalier); and so little regarded by rascally politicians, who think like tradesmen. "i know nothing of what you have been telling me about [your backstairs channels, your duc de choiseul and his humors]: but for making peace there are two conditions which i never will depart from: . to make it conjointly with my faithful allies [hessen and england; i have no other]; . to make it honorable and glorious. observe you, i have still honor remaining; i will preserve that, at the price of my blood. "if your people want peace, let them propose nothing to me which contradicts the delicacy of my sentiments. i am in the convulsions of military operations; i do as the gamblers who are in ill-luck, and obstinately set themselves against fortune. i have forced her to return to me, more than once, like a fickle mistress, when she had run away. my opponents are such foolish people, in the end i bid fair to catch some advantage over them: but, happen whatsoever his sacred majesty chance may please, i don't disturb myself about it. up to this point, i have a clear conscience in regard to the misfortunes that have come to me. as to you, the battle of minden, that of cadiz" (boscawen versus de la clue; toulon fleet running out, and caught by the english, as we saw), these things perhaps, "and the loss of canada, are arguments capable of restoring reason to the french, who had got confused by the austrian hellebore. "this is my way of thinking. you do not find me made of rose-water: but henri quatre, louis quatorze,--my present enemies even, whom i could cite [maria theresa, twenty years ago, when your belleisle set out to cut her in four],--were of no softer temper either. had i been born a private man, i would yield everything for the love of peace; but one has to take the tone of one's position. this is all i can tell you at present. in three or four weeks the ways of correspondence will be freer.--f." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxiii. , .] no. . to prince ferdinand. two days later: has got on foot again,--end of his first march upon soltikof again:-- "baunau, th september, . "thank you for the news you send of the wounded officers," wurtemberg, seidlitz and the others. "you may well suppose that in the pass things are at, i am not without cares, inquietudes, anxieties; it is the frightfulest crisis i have had in my life. this is the moment for dying unless one conquer. daun and my brother henri are marching side by side [not exactly!]. it is possible enough all these armies may assemble hereabouts, and that a general battle may decide our fortune and the peace. take care of your health, dear brother.--f." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvi. .] baunau is on silesian ground, as indeed sagan itself is; at baunau friedrich already, just on arriving, has done a fine move on soltikof, and surprisingly flung the toll-gate in soltikof's face. as we shall see by and by;--and likewise that prince henri, who emerges to-morrow morning (september th), has not been "marching side by side with daun," but at a pretty distance from that gentleman!-- soltikof is a man of his word; otherwise one suspects he already saw his siege of glogau to be impossible. russians are not very skilful at the war-minuet: fancy what it will be dancing to such a partner! friedrich, finding they are for glogau, whisks across the oder, gets there before them: "no glogau for you!" they stand agape for some time; then think "well then breslau!" friedrich again whisks across from them, farther up, and is again ahead of them when they cross: "no breslau either!" in effect, it is hopeless; and we may leave the two manoeuvring in those waste parts, astride of oder, or on the eastern bank of it, till a fitter opportunity; and attend to henri, who is now the article in risk. zweibruck's report of himself, on that day of the general colloquy, was not in the way of complaint, like that of the russians, though there did remain difficulties. "dresden gloriously ours; maguire governor there, and everything secure; upon my honor. but in the northwest part, those fincks and wunsches, excellenz?"--and the actual truth is, wunsch has taken leipzig, day before yesterday (september th), as daun sorrowfully knows, by news come in overnight. and six days hence (september st), finck and wunsch together will do their "action of korbitz," and be sending haddick a bad road! these things zweibruck knows only in part; but past experience gives him ominous presentiment, as it may well do; and he thinks decidedly: "excellenz, more austrian troops are indispensable there; in fact, your excellenz's self, were that possible; which one feels it is not, in the presence of these russians!" russians and reichsfolk, these are a pair of thumbscrews on both thumbs of daun; screwing the cunctation out of him; painfully intimating: "get rid of this prince henri; you must, you must!" and, in the course of the next eight days daun has actually girt himself to this great enterprise. goaded on, i could guess, by the "action of korbitz" (done on friday, thirty hours ago); the news of which, and that haddick, instead of extinguishing finck, is retreating from him upon dresden,--what a piece of news! thinks daun: "you, zweibruck, haddick, maguire and company, you are , in saxony; finck has not , in the field: how is this?"--and indignantly dismisses haddick altogether: "go, sir, and attend to your health!" [tempelhof, iii. , - .] news poignantly astonishing to daun, as would seem;--like an ox-goad in the lazy rear of daun. certain it is, daun had marched out to gorlitz in collected form; and, on saturday afternoon, september d is personally on the heights (not moys hill, i should judge, but other points of vision), taking earnest survey of prince henri's position on the landskron there. "to-morrow morning we attack that camp," thinks daun; "storm prince henri and it: be rid of him, at any price!" [ib. iii. - (for the march now ensuing): iii. - , - (for henri's anterior movements).] "to-morrow morning," yes:--but this afternoon, and earlier, prince henri has formed a great resolution, his plans all laid, everything in readiness; and it is not here you will find prince henri to-morrow. this is his famous march of fifty hours, this that we are now come to; which deserves all our attention,--and all daun's much more! prince henri was habitually a man cautious in war; not aggressive, like his brother, but defensive, frugal of risks, and averse to the lion-springs usual with some people; though capable of them, too, in the hour of need. military men are full of wonder at the bold scheme he now fell upon; and at his style of executing it. hardly was daun gone home to his meditations on the storm of the landskron to-morrow, and tattoo beaten in prince henri's camp there, when, at that saturday evening, issuing softly, with a minimum of noise, in the proper marching columns, baggage-columns, henri altogether quitted this camp; and vanished like a dream. into the night; men and goods, every item:--who shall say whitherward? leaving only a few light people to keep up the watch-fires and sentry-cries, for behoof of daun! let readers here, who are in the secret, watch him a little from afar. straight northward goes prince henri, down neisse valley, miles or so, to rothenburg; in columns several-fold, with much delicate arranging, which was punctually followed: and in the course of to-morrow prince henri is bivouacked, for a short rest of three hours,--hidden in unknown space, miles from daun, when daun comes marching up to storm him on the landskron! gone veritably; but whitherward daun cannot form the least guess. daun can only keep his men under arms there, all day; while his scouts gallop far and wide,--bringing in this false guess and the other; and at length returning with the eminently false one, misled by some of henri's baggage-columns, which have to go many routes, that the prince is on march for glogau:--"gone northeast; that way went his wagons; these we saw with our eyes." "northeast? yes, to glogau possibly enough," thinks daun: "or may not he, cunning as he is and full of feints, intend a stroke on bautzen, in my absence?"--and hastens thither again, and sits down on the magazine-lid, glad to find nothing wrong there. this is all that daun hears of henri for the next four days. plenty of bad news from saxony in these four days: the finck-haddick action of korbitz, a dismal certainty before one started,--and haddick on his road to some watering place by this time! but no trace of henri farther; since that of the wagons wending northeast. "gone to glogau, to his brother: no use in pushing him, or trying to molest him there!" thinks daun; and waits, in stagnant humor, chewing the cud of bitter enough thoughts, till confirmation of that guess arrive:--as it never will in this world! read an important note:-- "to northward of bautzen forty miles, and to westward forty miles, the country is all daun's; only towards glogau, with the russians and friedrich thereabouts, does it become disputable, or offer prince henri any chance. nevertheless it is not to glogau, it is far the reverse, that the nimble henri has gone. resting himself at rothenburg 'three hours' (speed is of all things the vitalest), prince henri starts again, sunday afternoon, straight westward this time. marches, with his best swiftness, with his best arrangements, through many sleeping villages, to klitten, not a wakeful one: a march of miles from rothenburg;--direct for the saxon side of things, instead of the silesian, as daun had made sure. "at klitten, monday morning, bivouac again, for a few hours,--'has no camp, only waits three hours,' is archenholtz's phrase: but i suppose the meaning is, waits till the several columns, by their calculated routes, have all got together; and till the latest in arriving has had 'three hours' of rest,--the earliest having perhaps gone on march again, in the interim? there are miles farther, still straight west, to hoyerswerda, where the outmost austrian division is: 'forward towards that; let us astonish general wehla and his , , and our march is over!' all this too prince henri manages; never anything more consummate, more astonishing to wehla and his master. "wehla and brentano, readers perhaps remember them busy, from the pirna side, at the late siege of dresden. siege gloriously done, wehla was ordered to hoyerswerda, on the northwest frontier; brentano to a different point in that neighborhood; where brentano escaped ruin, and shall not be mentioned; but wehla suddenly found it, and will require a word. wehla, of all people on the war-theatre, had been the least expecting disturbance. he is on the remotest western flank; to westward of him nothing but torgau and the finck-wunsch people, from whom is small likelihood of danger: from the eastern what danger can there be? a letter of dauns, some days ago, had expressly informed him that, to all appearance, there was none. "and now suddenly, on the tuesday morning, what is this? prussians reported to be visible in the woods! 'impossible!' answered wehla;--did get ready, however, what he could; croat regiments, pieces of artillery behind the elster river and on good points; laboring more and more diligently, as the news proved true. but all his efforts were to no purpose. general lentulus with his prussians (the mute swiss lentulus, whom we sometimes meet), who has the vanguard this day, comes streaming out of the woods across the obstacles; cannonades wehla both in front and rear; entirely swallows wehla and corps: killed; the general himself, with field-officers, and of subalterns and privates , , falling prisoners to us; and the remainder scattered on the winds, galloping each his own road towards covert and a new form of life. wehla is eaten, in this manner, tuesday, september th:--metaphorically speaking, the march of fifty hours ends in a comfortable twofold meal (military-cannibal, as well as of common culinary meat), and in well-deserved rest." [tempelhof, iii. , ; seyfarth, _beylagen;_ &c.] the turning-point of the campaign is reckoned to be this march of henri's; one of the most extraordinary on record. prince henri had a very fast march into these silesian-lausitz countries, early in july, [seyfarth, ii. .] and another very fast, from bautzen, to intersect with schmottseifen, in the end of july: but these were as nothing compared with the present. tempelhof, the excellent solid man,--but who puts all things, big and little, on the same level of detail, and has unparalleled methods of arranging (what he reckons to be "arranging"), and no vestige of index,--is distressingly obscure on this grand incident; but at length, on compulsion, does yield clear account. [tempelhof, iii. - .] in archenholtz it is not dated at all; who merely says as follows: "most extraordinary march ever made; went through miles of country wholly in the enemy's possession; lasted hours, in which long period there was no camp pitched, and only twice a rest of three hours allowed the troops. during the other fifty hours the march, day and night, continually proceeded. ended (no date) in surprise of general wehla at hoyerswerda, cutting up of his soldiers, and taking , prisoners. kalkreuth, since so famous," in the anti-napoleon wars, "was the prince's adjutant." [archenholtz, i. .] this is probably prince henri's cleverest feat,--though he did a great many of clever; and his brother used to say, glancing towards him, "there is but one of us that never committed a mistake." a highly ingenious dexterous little man in affairs of war, sharp as needles, vehement but cautious; though of abstruse temper, thin-skinned, capricious, and giving his brother a great deal of trouble with his jealousies and shrewish whims. by this last consummate little operation he has astonished daun as much as anybody ever did; shorn his elaborate tissue of cunctations into ruin and collapse at one stroke; and in effect, as turns out, wrecked his campaign for this year. daun finds there is now no hope of saxony, unless he himself at once proceed thither. at once thither;--and leave glogau and the russians to their luck,--which in such case, what is it like to be? probably, to daun's own view, ominous enough; but he has no alternative. to this pass has the march of fifty hours brought us. there is such a thing as being too cunctatory, is not there, your excellency? every mortal, and more especially every feldmarschall, ought to strike the iron while it is hot. the remainder of this campaign, we will hope, can be made intelligible in a more summary manner. friedrich manages (september th-october th) to get the russians sent home; and himself falls lamed with gout. friedrich's manoeuvres against soltikof,--every reader is prepared to hear that soltikof was rendered futile by them: and none but military readers could take delight in the details. two beautiful short-cuts he made upon soltikof; pulled him up both times in mid career, as with hard check-bit. the first time was at zobelwitz: september th, friedrich cut across from sagan, which is string to bow of the russian march; posted himself on the heights of zobelwitz, of baunau, milkau (at baunau friedrich will write a letter this night, if readers bethink themselves; milkau is a place he may remember for rain-deluges, in the first silesian war [supra, p. ; ib. vol. vii. p. .]): "let the russians, if they now dare, try the pass of neustadtel here!" a fortunate hour, when he got upon this ground. quartermaster-general stoffel, our old custrin acquaintance, is found marking out a camp with a view to that pass of neustadtel; [tempelhof, iii. ; retzow, ii. .] is, greatly astonished to find the prussian army emerge on him there; and at once vanishes, with his hussar-cossack retinues. "september th," it is while prince henri was on the last moiety of his march of fifty hours. this severe twitch flung soltikof quite out from glogau,--was like to fling him home altogether, had it not been for montalembert's eloquence;--did fling him across the oder. where, again thanks to montalembert, he was circling on with an eye to breslau, when friedrich, by the diameter, suddenly laid bridges, crossed at koben, and again brought soltikof to halt, as by turnpike suddenly shut: "must pay first; must beat us first!" these things had raised friedrich's spirits not a little. getting on the heights of zobelwitz, he was heard to exclaim, "this is a lucky day; worth more to me than a battle with victory." [retzow, ii. .] astonishing how he blazed out again, quite into his old pride and effulgence, after this, says retzow. had been so meek, so humbled, and even condescended to ask advice or opinion from some about him. especially "from two captains," says the opposition retzow, whose heads were nearly turned by this sunburst from on high. captain marquart and another,--i believe, he did employ them about routes and marking of camps, which retzow calls consulting: a king fallen tragically scarce of persons to consult; all his winterfelds, schwerins, keiths and council of peers now vanished, and nothing but some intelligent-looking captain marquart, or the like, to consult:--of which retzow, in his splenetic opposition humor, does not see the tragedy, but rather the comedy: how the poor captains found their favor to be temporary, conditional, and had to collapse again. one of them wrote an "essay on the coup-d'oeil militaire," over which retzow pretends to weep. this was friedrich's marginal note upon the ms., when submitted to his gracious perusal: "you (er) will do better to acquire the art of marking camps than to write upon the military stroke of eye." beautifully written too, says retzow; but what, in the eyes of this king, is beautiful writing, to knowing your business well? no friend he to writing, unless you have got something really special, and urgent to be written. friedrich crassed the oder twice. took soltikof on both sides of the oder, cut him out of this fond expectation, then of that; led him, we perceive, a bad life. latterly the scene was on the right bank; sophienthal, koben, herrnstadt and other poor places,--on that big eastern elbow, where oder takes his final bend, or farewell of poland. ground, naturally, of some interest to friedrich: ground to us unknown; but known to friedrich as the ground where karl xii. gave schulenburg his beating, ["near guhrau" (while chasing august the strong and him out of poland), " th october, :" vague account of it, dateless, and as good as placeless, in voltaire (_charles douse,_ liv. iii.), _oeuvres,_ xxx. - .] which produced the "beautiful retreat" of schulenburg. the old feldmarschall schulenburg whom we used to hear of once,--whose nephew, a pipeclayed little gentleman, was well known to friedrich and us. for the rest, i do not think he feels this out-manoeuvring of the russians very hard work. already, from zobelwitz country, th september, day of henri at hoyerswerda, friedrich had written to fouquet: "with , your beaten and maltreated servant has hindered an army of , from attacking him, and compelled them to retire on neusatz!" evidently much risen in hope; and henri's fine news not yet come to hand. by degrees, soltikof, rendered futile, got very angry; especially when daun had to go for saxony. "meal was becoming impossible, at any rate," whimpers daun: "o excellency, do but consider, with the nobleness natural to you! our court will cheerfully furnish money, instead of meal."--"money? my people cannot eat money!" growled soltikof, getting more and more angry; threatening daily to march for posen and his own meal-stores. what a time of it has montalembert, has the melancholy loudon, with temper so hot! at sophienthal, october th, friedrich falls ill of gout;--absolutely lamed; for three weeks cannot stir from his room. happily the outer problem is becoming easier and easier; almost bringing its own solution. at sophienthal the lame friedrich takes to writing about charles xii. and his military character,--not a very illuminative piece, on the first perusal, but i intend to read it again; [reflexions sur les talens militaires et sur le caractere de charles xii. (_oeuvres de frederic,_ vii. - ).]--which at least helps him to pass the time. soltikof, more and more straitened, meal itself running low, gets angrier and angrier. his treatment of the country, montalembert rather encouraging, is described as "horrible." one day he takes the whim, whim or little more, of seizing herrnstadt; a small town, between the two armies, where the prussians have a free battalion. the prussian battalion resists; drives soltikof's people back. "never mind," think they: "a place of no importance to us; and excellency soltikof has ridden else-whither." by ill-luck, in the afternoon, excellency soltikof happened to mention the place again. hearing that the prussians still have it, soltikof mounts into a rage; summons the place, with answer still no; thereupon orders instant bombardment of it, fiery storms of grenadoes for it; and has the satisfaction of utterly burning poor herrnstadt; the prussian free-corps still continuing obstinate. it was soltikof's last act in those parts, and betokens a sulphurous state of humor. next morning (october th), he took the road for posen, and marched bodily home. [tempelhof, iii. , - (general account, abundantly minute).] home verily, in spite of montalembert and all men. "and for me, what orders has excellency?" loudon had anxiously inquired, on the eve of that event. "none whatever!" answered excellency: "do your own pleasure; go whithersoever seems good to you." and loudon had to take a wide sweep round, by kalish, through the western parts of poland; and get home to the troppau-teschen country as he best could. by kalish, by czenstochow, cracow, poor loudon had to go: a dismal march of miles or more,--waited on latterly by fouquet, with werner, goltz and others, on the silesian border; whom friedrich had ordered thither for such end. whom loudon skilfully avoided to fight; having already, by desertion and by hardships, lost half his men on the road. glad enough to get home and under roof, with his , gone to , ; and to make bargain with fouquet: "truce, then, through winter; neither of us to meddle with the other, unless after a fortnight's warning given." [tempelhof, iii. - .] november st, a month before this, the king, carried on a litter by his soldiers, had quitted sophienthal; and, crossing the river by koben, got to glogau. [rodenbeck, i. .] the greater part of his force, , under hulsen, he had immediately sent on for saxony; he himself intending to wait recovery in glogau, with this silesian wing of the business happily brought to finis for the present. on the saxon side, too, affairs are in such a course that the king can be patient at glogau till he get well. everything is prosperous in saxony since that march on hoyerswerda; henri, with his fincks and wunsches, beautifully posted in the meissen-torgau region; no dislodging of him, let daun, with his big mass of forces, try as he may. daun, through the month of october, is in various camps, in schilda last of all: henri successively in two; in strehla for some ten days; then in torgau for about three weeks, carefully intrenched, [tempelhof. iii. , , (henri in strehla, october th- th; thence to torgau: d october, daun "quits his camp of belgern" for that of schilda, which was his last in those parts).]--where traces of him will turn up (not too opportunely) next year. daun, from whatever camp, goes laboring on this side and on that; on every side the deft henri is as sharp as needles; nothing to be made of him by the cunning movements and contrivances of daun. very fine manoeuvring it was, especially on henri's part; a charm to the soldier mind;--given minutely in tempelhof, and capable of being followed (if you have maps and patience) into the last details. instructive really to the soldier;--but must be, almost all, omitted here. one beautiful slap to duke d'ahremberg (a poor old friend of daun's and ours) we will remember: "action of pretsch" they call it; defeat, almost capture of poor d'ahremberg; who had been sent to dislodge the prince, by threatening his supplies, and had wheeled, accordingly, eastward, wide away; but, to his astonishment, found, after a march or two, three select prussian corps emerging on him, by front, by rear, by flank, with horse-artillery (quasi-miraculous) bursting out on hill-tops, too,--and, in short, nothing for it but to retreat, or indeed to run, in a considerably ruinous style: poor d'ahremberg! [seyfarth (_beylagen,_ ii. - ), "hofbericht von der am october, , bey meuro [chiefly bey pretsch] vorgefallenen action;" ib. ii. n.] on the whole, daun is reduced to a panting condition; and knows not what to do. his plans were intrinsically bad, says tempelhof; without beating henri in battle, which he cannot bring himself to attempt, he, in all probability, will, were it only for difficulties of the commissariat kind, have to fall back dresden-ward, and altogether take himself away. [tempelhof, iii. - .] after this sad slap at pretsch, daun paused for consideration; took to palisading himself to an extraordinary degree, slashing the schilda forests almost into ruin for this end; and otherwise sat absolutely quiet. little to be done but take care of oneself. daun knows withal of hulsen's impending advent with the silesian , ;--november d, hulsen is actually at muskau, and his , magnified by rumor to , . hearing of which, daun takes the road (november th); quits his gloriously palisaded camp of schilda; feels that retreat on dresden, or even home to bohemia altogether, is the one course left. and now, the important bautzen colloquy of saturday, september th, having here brought its three or more courses of activity to a pause,--we will glance at the far more important thursday, th, other side the ocean:-- above quebec, night of september th- th, in profound silence, on the stream of the st. lawrence far away, a notable adventure is going on. wolfe, from two points well above quebec ("as a last shift, we will try that way"), with about , men, is silently descending in boats; with purpose to climb the heights somewhere on this side the city, and be in upon it, if fate will. an enterprise of almost sublime nature; very great, if it can succeed. the cliffs all beset to his left hand, montcalm in person guarding quebec with his main strength. wolfe silently descends; mind made up; thoughts hushed quiet into one great thought; in the ripple of the perpetual waters, under the grim cliffs and the eternal stars. conversing with his people, he was heard to recite some passages of gray's elegy, lately come out to those parts; of which, says an ear-witness, he expressed his admiration to an enthusiastic degree: "ah, these are tones of the eternal melodies, are not they? a man might thank heaven had he such a gift; almost as we might for succeeding here, gentlemen!" [professor robison, then a naval junior, in the boat along with wolfe, afterwards a well-known professor of natural philosophy at edinburgh, was often heard, by persons whom i have heard again, to repeat this anecdote. see playfair, biographical account of professor robison,--in _transactions_ of royal society of edinburgh, vii. et seq.] next morning (thursday, th september, ), wolfe, with his , , is found to have scrambled up by some woody neck in the heights, which was not quite precipitous; has trailed one cannon with him, the seamen busy bringing up another; and by of the clock stands ranked (really somewhat in the friedrich way, though on a small scale); ready at all points for montcalm, but refusing to be over-ready. montcalm, on first hearing of him, had made haste: "oui, je les vois ou ils ne doivent pas etre; je vais les e'craser (to smash them)!" said he, by way of keeping his people in heart. and marches up, beautifully skilful, neglecting none of his advantages. has numerous canadian sharpshooters, preliminary indians in the bushes, with a provoking fire: "steady!" orders wolfe; "from you not one shot till they are within thirty yards." and montcalm, volleying and advancing, can get no response, more than from druidic stones; till at thirty yards the stones become vocal,--and continue so at a dreadful rate; and, in a space of seventeen minutes, have blown montcalm's regulars, and the gallant montcalm himself, and their second in command, and their third, into ruin and destruction. in about seven minutes more the agony was done; "english falling on with the bayonet, highlanders with the claymore;" fierce pursuit, rout total:--and quebec and canada as good as finished. the thing is yet well known to every englishman; [the military details of it seem to be very ill known (witness colonel beatson's otherwise rather careful pamphlet, the plains of abraham, written quite lately, which we are soon to cite farther); and they would well deserve describing in the seyfarth-beylagen, or even in the tempelhof way,--could an english officer, on the spot as this colonel was, be found to do it!--details are in beatson (quite another "beatson"), _naval and military history,_ ii. - ; in _gentleman's magazine_ for , the despatches and particulars: see also walpole, _george the second,_ iii. - .] and how wolfe himself died in it, his beautiful death. truly a bit of right soldierhood, this wolfe. manages his small resources in a consummate manner; invents, contrives, attempts and re-attempts, irrepressible by difficulty or discouragement, how could a friedrich himself have managed this quebec in a more artistic way? the small battle itself, , to a side, and such odds of savagery and canadians, reminds you of one of friedrich's: wise arrangements; exact foresight, preparation corresponding; caution with audacity; inflexible discipline, silent till its time come, and then blazing out as we see. the prettiest soldiering i have heard of among the english for several generations. amherst, commander-in-chief, is diligently noosing, and tying up, the french military settlements, niagara, ticonderoga; canada all round: but this is the heart or windpipe of it; keep this firm, and, in the circumstances, canada is yours. colonel reatson, in his recent pamphlet, the plains of abraham,--which, especially on the military side, is distressingly ignorant and shallow, though not intentionally incorrect anywhere,--gives extracts from a letter of montcalm's ("quebec, th august, "), which is highly worth reading, had we room. it predicts to a hair's-breadth, not only the way "m. wolfe, if he understands his trade, will take to beat and ruin me if we meet in fight;" but also,--with a sagacity singular to look at, in the years - , and perhaps still more in the years - ,--what will be the consequences to those unruly english, colonial and other. "if he beat me here, france has lost america utterly," thinks montcalm: "yes;--and one's only consolation is, in ten years farther, america will be in revolt against england!" montcalm's style of writing is not exemplary; but his power of faithful observation, his sagacity, and talent of prophecy are so considerable, we are tempted to give the ipsissima verba of his long letter in regard to those two points,--the rather as it seems to have fallen much out of sight in our day:-- montcalm to a cousin in france. "camp before quebec, th august, . "monsieur et cher cousin,--here i am, for more than three months past, at handgrips with m. wolfe; who ceases not day or night to bombard quebec, with a fury which is almost unexampled in the siege of a place one intends to retain after taking it."... will never take it in that way, however, by attacking from the river or south shore; only ruins us, but does not enrich himself. not an inch nearer his object than he was three months ago; and in one month more the equinoctial storms will blow his fleet and him away.--quebec, then, and the preservation of the colony, you think, must be as good as safe?" alas, the fact is far otherwise. the capture of quebec depends on what we call a stroke-of-hand--[but let us take to the original now, for prediction first]:-- "la prise de quebec depend d'un coup de main. les anglais sont maitres de la riviere: ils n'ont qu'a effectuer une descente sur la rive ou cette ville, sans fortifications et sans defense, est situee. les voila en etat de me presenter la bataille; que je ne pourrais plus refuser, et que je ne devrais pas gagner. m. wolfe, en effet, s'il entend son metier, n'a qu'a essuyer le premier feu, venir ensuite a grands pas sur mon armee, faire a bout portant sa decharge; mes canadiens, sans discipline, sourds a la voix du tambour et des instrumens militaires, deranges pa cette escarre, ne sauront plus reprendre leurs rangs. ils sont d'ailleurs sans baionettes pour repondre a celles de l'ennemi: il ne leur reste qu'a fuir,--et me voila battu sans ressource. [this is a curiously exact prediction! i won't survive, however; defeat here, in this stage of our affairs, means loss of america altogether:] il est des situations ou il ne reste plus a un general que de perir avec honneur.... mes sentimens sont francais, et ils le seront jusque dans le tombeau, si dans le tombeau on est encore quelque chose. "je me consolerai du moins de ma defaite, et de la perte de la colonie, par l'intime persuasion ou je suis [prediction second, which is still more curious], que cette defaite vaudra, un jour, a ma patrie plus qu'une victoire; et que le vainqueur, en s'agrandissant, trouvera un tombeau dans son agrandissement meme. "ce que j'avance ici, mon cher cousin, vous paraitra un paradoxe: mais un moment de reflexion politique, un coup d'oeil sur la situation des choses en amerique, et la verite de mon opinion brillera dans tout son jour. [nobody will obey, unless necessity compel him: voila les hommes; gene of any kind a nuisance to them; and of all men in the world les anglais are the most impatient of obeying anybody.] mais si ce sont-la les anglais de l'europe, c'est encore plus les anglais d'amerique. une grande partie de ces colons sont les enfans de ces hommes qui s'expatrierent dans ces temps de trouble ou l'ancienne angleterre, en proie aux divisions, etait attaquee dans ses privileges et droits; et allerent chercher en amerique une terre ou ils pussent vivre et mourir libres et presque independants:--et ces enfans n'ont pas degenere des sentimens republicains de leurs peres. d'autres sont des hommes ennemis de tout frein, de tout assujetissement, que le gouvernement y a transportes pour leurs crimes, d'autres, enfin, sont un ramas de differentes nations de l'europe, qui tiennent tres-peu a l'ancienne angleterre par le coeur et le sentiment; tous, en general, ne ce soucient gueres du roi ni du parlement d'angleterre. "je les connais bien,--non sur des rapports etrangers, mais sur des correspondances et des informations secretes, que j'ai moi-meme menagees; et dont, un jour, si dieu me prete vie, je pourrai faire usage a l'avantage de ma patrie. pour surcroit de bonheur pour eux, tous ces colons sont parvenues, dans un etat tres-florissant; ils sont nombreux et riches:--ils recueillent dans le sein de leur patrie toutes les necessites de la vie. l'ancienne angleterre a ete assez sotte, et assez dupe, pour leur laisser etablir chez eux les arts, les metiers, les manufactures:--c'est a dire, qu'elle leur a laisse briser la chaine de besoins qui les liait, qui les attachait a elle, et qui les fait dependants. aussi toutes ces colonies anglaises auraient-elles depuis longtemps secoue le joug, chaque province aurait forme une petite republique independante, si la crainte de voir les francais a leur porte n'avait ete un frein qui les avait retenu. maitres pour maitres, ils ont pefere leurs compatriotes aux etrangers; prenant cependant pour maxime de n'obeir que le moins qu'ils pourraient. mais que le canada vint a etre conquis, et que les canadiens et ces colons ne fussent plus qu'une seul peuple,--et la premiere occasion ou l'ancienne angleterre semblerait toucher a leurs interets, croyez-vous, mon cher cousin, que ces colons obeiront? et qu'auraient-ils a craindre en se revoltant?... je suis si sur de ce que j'ecris, que je ne donnerais pas dix ans apres la conquete du canada pour en voir l'accomplissement. "voila ce que, comme francais, me console aujourd'hui du danger imminent, que court ma patrie, de voir cette colonie perdue pour elle." [in beatson, lieutenant-colonel r.e., _the plains of abraham; notes original and selected_ (gibraltar, garrison library press, ), pp. et seq.] extract from _"lettres de m. le marquis de montcalm a mm. de berryer et de la mole:_ - (londres, ),"--which is not in the british-museum library, on applying; and seems to be a forgotten book. (note of first edition, .) "a copy is in the boston athenaeum library, new-england: it is a pamphlet rather than a book; contains two letters to berryer ministre de la marine, besides this to mole the cousin: publisher is the noted j. almon,--in french and english." (from _boston sunday courier,_ of th april, , where this letter is reproduced.) in the temple library, london, i have since found a copy: and, on strict survey, am obliged to pronounce the whole pamphlet a forgery,--especially the two letters to "berryer minister of marine;" who was not yet minister of anything, nor thought of as likely to be, for many months after the date of these letters addressed to him as such! internal evidence too, were such at all wanted, is abundant in these berryer letters; which are of gross and almost stupid structure in comparison to the mole one. as this latter has already got into various books, and been argued of in parliaments and high places (lord shelburne asserting it to be spurious, lord mansfield to be genuine: report of parliamentary debates in _gentleman's magazine_ for november and for december, , pp. , ),--it may be allowed to continue here in the condemned state. forger, probably, some ex-canadian, or other american royalist, anxious to do the insurgent party and their british apologists an ill turn, in that critical year;--had shot off his pamphlet to voracious almon; who prints without preface or criticism, and even without correcting the press. (note of july, .) montcalm had been in the belleisle retreat from prag (december, ); in the terrible exilles business (july, ), where the chevalier de belleisle and or , lost their lives in about an hour. captain cook was at quebec, master in the royal navy; "sounding the river, and putting down buoys." bougainville, another famous navigator, was aide-de-camp of montcalm. there have been far-sounding epics built together on less basis than lies ready here, in this capture of quebec;--which itself, as the decision that america is to be english and not french, is surely an epoch in world-history! montcalm was when he perished; wolfe . montcalm's skull is in the ursulines convent at quebec,--shown to the idly curious to this day. [lieutenant-colonel beatson, pp. , .] it was on october th,--while friedrich lay at sophienthal, lamed of gout, and soltikof had privately fixed for home (went that day week),--that this glorious bit of news reached england. it was only three days after that other, bad and almost hopeless news, from the same quarter; news of poor wolfe's repulse, on the other or eastern side of quebec, july st, known to us already, not known in england till october th. heightened by such contrast, the news filled all men with a strange mixture of emotions. "the incidents of dramatic fiction," says one who was sharer in it, "could not have been conducted with more address to lead an audience from despondency to sudden exultation, than accident had here prepared to excite the passions of a whole people. they despaired; they triumphed; and they wept,--for wolfe had fallen in the hour of victory! joy, grief, curiosity, astonishment, were painted in every countenance: the more they inquired, the higher their admiration rose. not an incident but was heroic and affecting." [walpole, iii. .] america ours; but the noble wolfe now not! what pitt himself said of these things, we do not much hear. on the meeting of his parliament, about a month hence, his speech, somebody having risen to congratulate and eulogize him, is still recognizably of royal quality, if we evoke it from the walpole notes. very modest, very noble, true; and with fine pieties and magnanimities delicately audible in it: "not a week all summer but has been a crisis, in which i have not known whether i should not be torn to pieces, instead of being commended, as now by the honorable member. the hand of divine providence; the more a man is versed in business, the more he everywhere traces that!... success has given us unanimity, not unanimity success. for my own poor share, i could not have dared as i have done, except in these times. other ministers have hoped as well, but have not been so circumstanced to dare so much.... i think the stone almost rolled to the top of the hill; but let us have a care; it may rebound, and hideously drag us down with it again." [ib. iii. ; thackeray, i. .] the essential truth, moreover, is, pitt has become king of england; so lucky has poor england, in its hour of crisis, again been. and the difference between an england guided by some kind of friedrich (temporary friedrich, absolute, though of insecure tenure), and by a newcastle and the clack of tongues, is very great! but for pitt, there had been no wolfe, no amherst; duke ferdinand had been the royal highness of cumberland,--and all things going round him in st. vitus, at their old rate. this man is a king, for the time being,--king really of the friedrich type;--and rules, friedrich himself not more despotically, where need is. pitt's war-offices, admiralties, were not of themselves quick-going entities; but pitt made them go. slow-paced lords in office have remonstrated, on more than one occasion: "impossible, sir; these things cannot be got ready at the time you order!" "my lord, they indispensably must," pitt would answer (a man always reverent of coming facts, knowing how inexorable they are); and if the negative continued obstinate in argument, he has been known to add: "my lord, to the king's service, it is a fixed necessity of time. unless the time is kept, i will impeach your lordship!" your lordship's head will come to lie at your lordship's feet! figure a poor duke of newcastle, listening to such a thing;--and knowing that pitt will do it; and that he can, such is his favor with universal england;--and trembling and obeying. war-requisites for land and for sea are got ready with a prussian punctuality,--at what multiple of the prussian expense, is a smaller question for pitt. it is about eighteen months ago that pownal, governor of new england, a kind of half-military person, not without sound sense, though sadly intricate of utterance,--of whom pitt, just entering on office, has, i suppose, asked an opinion on america, as men do of learned counsel on an impending lawsuit of magnitude,--had answered, in his long-winded, intertwisted, nearly inextricable way, to the effect, "sir, i incline to fear, on the whole, that the action will not lie,--that, on the whole, the french will eat america from us in spite of our teeth." [in thackeray, ii. - , pownal's intricate report (his "discourse," or whatever he calls it, "on the defence of the inland frontiers," his &c. &c.), of date " th january, ."] january th, , that is the pownal opinion-of-counsel;--and on september th, , this is what we have practically come to. and on september th, : within twelve months more,--amherst, descending the rapids from ticonderoga side, and two other little armies, ascending from quebec and louisburg, to meet him at montreal, have proved punctual almost to an hour; and are in condition to extinguish, by triple pressure (or what we call noosing), the french governor-general in montreal, a monsieur de vaudreuil, and his montreal and his canada altogether; and send the french bodily home out of those continents. [capitulation between amherst and vaudreuil ("montreal, th september, "), in articles: in beatson, iii. - .] which may dispense us from speaking farther on the subject. from the madras region, too, from india and outrageous lally, the news are good. early in spring last, poor lally,--a man of endless talent and courage, but of dreadfully emphatic loose tongue, in fact of a blazing ungoverned irish turn of mind,--had instantly, on sight of some small succors from pitt, to raise his siege of madras, retire to pondicherry; and, in fact, go plunging and tumbling downhill, he and his india with him, at an ever-faster rate, till they also had got to the abyss. "my policy is in these five words, no englishman in this peninsula," wrote he, a year ago, on landing in india; and now it is to be no frenchman, and there is one word in the five to be altered!--of poor lally, zealous and furious over-much, and nearly the most unfortunate and worst-used "man of genius" i ever read of, whose lion-like struggles against french official people, and against pitt's captains and their sea-fights and siegings, would deserve a volume to themselves, we have said, and can here say, as good as nothing,--except that they all ended, for lally and french india, in total surrender, th january, ; and that lally, some years afterwards, for toils undergone and for services done, got, when accounts came to be liquidated, death on the scaffold. dates i give below. [ th april, , lands at pondicherry; instantly proceeds upon fort st. david. d june, , takes it: meant to have gone now on madras; but finds he has no money;--goes extorting money from black potentates about, rajah of travancore, &c., in a violent and extraordinary style; and can get little. nevertheless, th december, , lays siege to madras.] th february, , is obliged to quit trenches at madras, and retire dismally upon pondicherry,--to mere indigence, mutiny ("ten mutinies"), official conspiracy, and chaos come again. d january, , makes outrush on wandewash, and the english posted there; is beaten, driven back into pondicherry. april, , is besieged in pondicherry. th january, , is taken, pondicherry, french india and he;--to madras he, lest the french official party kill him, as they attempt to do. d september, , arrives, prisoner, in england: thence, on parole, to france and paris, st october. november, , to bastille; waits trial nineteen months; trial lasts two years. th may, , to be beheaded,-- th may was. [see beatson, ii. - , - , &c.; voltaire (fragments sur l'inde) in _oeuvres,_ xxix. - ; biographic universelle, lally.] "gained fontenoy for us," said many persons;--undoubtedly gained various things for us, fought for us berserkir-like on all occasions; hoped, in the end, to be marechal de france, and undertook a championship of india, which issues in this way! america and india, it is written, are both to be pitt's. let both, if possible, remain silent to us henceforth. as to the invasion-of-england scheme, pitt says he does not expect the french will invade us; but if they do, he is ready. [speech, th november, supra.] chapter vii.--friedrich reappears on the field, and in seven days after comes the catastrophe of maxen. november th- th, daun had gone to meissen country: fairly ebbing homeward; henri following, with hulsen joined,--not vehemently attacking the rhinoceros, but judiciously pricking him forward. daun goes at his slowest step: in many divisions, covering a wide circuit; sticking to all the strong posts, till his own time for quitting them: slow, sullenly cautious; like a man descending dangerous precipices back foremost, and will not be hurried. so it had lasted about a week; daun for the last four days sitting restive, obstinate, but henri pricking into him more and more, till the rhinoceros seemed actually about lifting himself,--when friedrich in person arrived in his brother's camp. [tempelhof, iii. - .] at the schloss of herschstein, a mile or two behind lommatsch, which is henri's head-quarter (still to westward of meissen; daun hanging on, seven or eight miles to southeastward ahead; loath to go, but actually obliged),--it was there, tuesday, november th, that the king met his brother again. a king free of his gout; in joyful spirits; and high of humor,--like a man risen indignant, once more got to his feet, after three months' oppressions and miseries from the unworthy. "too high," mourns retzow, in a gloomy tone, as others do in perhaps a more indulgent one. beyond doubt, friedrich's farther procedures in this grave and weighty daun business were more or less imprudent; of a too rapid and rash nature; and turned out bitterly unlucky to him. "had he left the management to henri!" sighed everybody, after the unlucky event. friedrich had not arrived above four-and-twenty hours, when news came in: "the austrians in movement again; actually rolling off dresden-ward again." "haha, do they smell me already!" laughed he: "well, i will send daun to the devil,"--not adding, "if i can." and instantly ordered sharp pursuit,--and sheer stabbing with the ox-goad, not soft and delicate pricking, as henri's lately. [retzow, ii. ; tempelhof, iii. .] friedrich, in fact; was in a fiery condition against daun: "you trampled on me, you heavy buffalo, these three months; but that is over now!"--and took personally the vanguard in this pursuit. and had a bit of hot fighting in the village of korbitz (scene of that finck-haddick "action," st september last, and of poor haddick's ruin, and retirement to the waters);--where the austrians now prove very fierce and obstinate; and will not go, till well slashed into, and torn out by sheer beating:--which was visibly a kind of comfort to the king's humor. "our prussians do still fight, then, much as formerly! and it was all a hideous nightmare, all that, and daylight and fact are come, and friedrich is himself again!" they say prince henri took the liberty of counselling him, even of entreating him: "leave well alone; why run risks?" said henri. daun, it was pretty apparent, had no outlook at the present but that of sauntering home to bohmen; leaving dresden to be an easy prey again, and his whole campaign to fall futile, as the last had. under henri's gentle driving he would have gone slower; but how salutary, if he only went! these were henri's views: but friedrich was not in the slow humor; impatient to be in dresden; "will be quartered there in a week," writes he, "and more at leisure than now." ["wilsdruf, th november, ," and still more " th november," friedrich to voltaire in high spirits that way (_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxiii. ).] he is thinking of leuthen, of rossbach, of campaign , so gloriously restored after ruin; and, in the fire of his soul, is hoping to do something similar a second time. that is retzow's notion: who knows but there may be truth in it? a proud friedrich, got on his feet again after such usage;--nay, who knows whether it was quite so unwise to be impressive on the slow rhinoceros, and try to fix some thorn in his snout, or say (figuratively), to hobble his hind-feet; which, i am told, would have been beautifully ruinous; and, though riskish, was not impossible? [tempelhof, iii. , &c.] ill it indisputably turned out; and we have, with brevity, to say how, and leave readers to their judgment of it. it was in the village of krogis, about six miles forward, on the meissen-freyberg road, a mile or two on from korbitz, and directly after the fierce little tussle in that village,--that friedrich, his blood still up, gave the order for maxen, which proved so unlucky to him. wunsch had been shot off in pursuit of the beaten austrians; but they ran too fast; and wunsch came back without farther result, still early in the day. back as far as krogis, where the next head-quarter is to be;--and finds the king still in a fulminant condition; none the milder, it is likely, by wunsch's returning without result. "go straight to general finck; bid him march at once!" orders the king; and rapidly gives wunsch the instructions finck is to follow. finck and his corps are near nossen, some ten miles ahead of krogis, some twenty west from dresden. there, since yesterday, stands finck, infesting the left or western flank of the austrians,--what was their left, and will be again, when they call halt and face round on us:--let finck now march at once, quite round that western flank; by freyberg, dippoldiswalde, thence east to maxen; plant himself at maxen (a dozen miles south of dresden, among the rocky hills), and stick diligently in the rear of those austrians, cutting off, or threatening to cut off, their communications with bohemia, and block the pirna country for them. friedrich calculates that, if daun is for retreating by pirna country, this will, at lowest, be a method to quicken him in that movement; or perhaps it may prove a method to cut off such retreat altogether, and force daun to go circling by the lausitz hills and wildernesses, exposed to tribulations which may go nigh to ruin him. that is friedrich's proud thought: "an unfortunate campaign; winding up, nevertheless, as did, in blazes of success!" and truly, if friedrich could have made himself into two; and, while flashing and charging in daun's front, have been in command at maxen in daun's rear,--friedrich could have made a pretty thing of this waxen enterprise; and might in good part have realized his proud program. but there is no getting two friedrichs. finck, a general of approved quality, he is the nearest approach we can make to a second friedrich;--and he, ill-luck too super-adding itself, proves tragically inadequate. and sets all the world, and opposition retzow, exclaiming, "see: pride goes before a fall!"-- at in the afternoon, friedrich, intensely surveying from the heights of krogis the new austrian movements and positions, is astonished, not agreeably ("what, still only here, herr general!"), by a personal visit from finck. finck finds the maxen business intricate, precarious; wishes farther instructions, brings forward this objection and that. friedrich at last answers, impatiently: "you know i can't stand making of difficulties (er weiss dass ich die difficultaten nicht leiden kann; mache dass er fort kommt); contrive to get it done!" with which poor comfort finck has to ride back to nossen; and scheme out his dispositions overnight. next morning, thursday, th, finck gets on march; drives the reichsfolk out of freyberg; reaches dippoldiswalde:--"freyberg is to be my magazine," considers finck; "dippoldiswalde my half-way house; four battalions of my poor eighteen shall stand there, and secure the meal-carts." friday, th, finck has his vanguard, wunsch leading it, in possession of maxen and the heights; and on saturday gets there himself, with all his people and equipments. i should think about , men: in a most intersected, intertwisted hill country; full of gullets, dells and winding brooks;--it is forecourt of the pirna rocks, our celebrated camp of gahmig lies visible to north, dohna and the rothwasser bounding us to east;--in grim november weather, some snow falling, or snow-powder, alternating with sleet and glazing frosts: by no means a beautiful enterprise to finck. nor one of his own choosing, had one a choice in such cases. to daun nothing could be more unwelcome than this news of finck, embattled there at maxen in the inextricable hill country, direct on the road of daun's meal-carts and bohemian communications. and truly withal,--what daun does not yet hear, but can guess,--there is gone, in supplement or as auxiliary to finck, a fierce hussar party, under grune kleist, their fiercest hussar since mayer died; who this very day, at aussig, burns daun's first considerable magazine; and has others in view for the same fate. [friedrich's second letter to voltaire, wilsdruf, " th november, ."] an evident thing to daun, that finck being there, meal has ceased. on the instant, daun falls back on dresden; saturday, th, takes post in the dell of plauen (plauen'sche grund); an impassable chasm, with sheer steeps on both sides, stretching southward from dresden in front of the hill country: thither daun marches, there to consider what is to be done with finck. amply safe this position is; none better in the world: a village, plauen, and a brook, weistritz, in the bottom of this exquisite chasm; sheer rock-walls on each side,--high especially on the daun, or south side;--head-quarters can be in dresden itself; room for your cavalry on the plain ground between dresden and the chasm. a post both safe and comfortable; only you must not loiter in making up your mind as to finck; for friedrich has followed on the instant. friedrich's head-quarter is already wilsdruf, which an hour or two ago was daun's: at kesselsdorf vigilant ziethen is vanguard. so that friedrich looks over on you from the northern brow of your chasm; delays are not good near such a neighbor. daun--urged on by lacy, they say--is not long in deciding that, in this strait, the short way out will be to attack finck in the hills. daun is in the hills, as well as finck (this plauen chasm is the boundary-ditch of the hills): daun with , horse and foot, moving on from this western part; , light people (one sincere the leader of them) moving simultaneously from dresden itself, that is, from northward or northwestward; , reichsfolk, horse and foot, part of them already to southeastward of finck, other part stealing on by the elbe bank thitherward: here, from three different points of the compass, are , . these simultaneously dashing in, from west, north, south, upon finck, may surely give account of his , and him! if only we can keep friedrich dark upon it; which surely our pandours will contrive to do. finck, directly on arriving at maxen, had reported himself to the king; and got answer before next morning: "very well; but draw in those four battalions you have left in dippoldiswalde; hit with the whole of your strength, when a chance offers." which order finck, literally and not too willingly, obeys; leaves only some light remnant in dippoldiswalde, and reinforcement to linger within reach, till a certain bread-convoy come to him, which will be due next morning (monday, th); and which does then safely get home, though under annoyances from cannonading in the distance. sunday, th, finck fails not to reconnoitre from the highest hill-top; to inquire by every method: he finds, for certain, that the enemy are coming in upon him. with his own eyes he sees reichsfolk marching, in quantity, southeastward by the elbe shore: "intending towards dohna, as is like?"--and despatched wunsch, who, accordingly, drove them out of dohna. of all this finck, at once, sent word to friedrich. who probably enough received the message; but who would get no new knowledge from it,--vigilant ziethen having, by austrian deserters and otherwise, discovered this of the reichsfolk; and furthermore that sincere with , was in motion, from the north, upon finck. sunday evening, friedrich despatches ziethen's report; which punctually came to finck's hand; but was the last thing he received from friedrich, or friedrich from him. the intervening pandours picked up all the rest. the ziethen report, of two or three lines, most succinct but sufficient, like a cutting of hard iron, is to be read in many books: we may as well give the letter and it:-- friedrich's letter (wilsdruf, th november, ). "my dear general-lieutenant von finck,--i send you the enclosed report from general ziethen, showing what is the lie of matters as seen from this side; and leave the whole to your disposition and necessary measures. i am your well-affectioned king,--f." the enclosure is as follows:-- general ziethen's report (kesselsdorf, th november, ). "to your royal majesty, send [no pronoun "i" allowed] herewith a corporal, who has deserted from the austrians. he says, sincere with the reserve did march with the reichs army; but a league behind it, and turned towards dippoldiswalde. general brentano [wehla's old comrade, luckier than wehla], as this deserter heard last night in daun's head-quarter,--which is in the southern suburb of dresden, in the countess moschinska's garden,--was yesterday to have been in dohlen [looking into our outposts from the hither side of their plauen dell], but was not there any longer," as our deserter passed, "and it was said that he had gone to maxen at three in the afternoon." [tempelhof, iii. .] thus curtly is finck authorized to judge for himself in the new circumstances. marginally is added, in friedrich's own hand: "er wird entweder mit den reichern oder mit siceren einen gang haben,--either with the reichers or with sincere you will have a bout, i suppose." map facing page , book xix goes here---- finck, from his own hill-top, on sunday and monday, sees all this of ziethen, and much more. sees the vanguard of daun himself approaching dippoldiswalde, cannonading his meal-carts as they issue there; on all sides his enemies encompassing him like bees;--and has a sphinx-riddle on his mind, such as soldier seldom had. shall he manoeuvre himself out, and march away, bread-carts, baggages and all entire? there is still time, and perfect possibility, by dippoldiswalde there, or by other routes and methods. but again, did not his majesty expect, do not these words "a bout" still seem to expect, a bit of fighting with somebody or other? finck was an able soldier, and his skill and courage well known; but probably another kind of courage was wanted this day, of which finck had not enough. finck was not king of this matter; finck was under a king who perhaps misjudged the matter. if finck saw no method of doing other than hurt and bad service to his king by staying here, finck should have had the courage to come away, and front the king's unreasonable anger, expecting redress one day, or never any redress. that was finck's duty: but everybody sees how hard it was for flesh and blood. finck, truer to the letter than to the spirit, determined to remain. did, all that monday, his best to prepare himself; called in his outposts ("was not i ordered?" thinks finck, too literally); and sees his multitudes of enemies settle round him;--daun alone has , men, who take camp at dippoldiswalde; and in sum-total they are as to of finck:--a finck still resolute of face, though internally his thoughts may be haggard enough. doubtless he hopes, too, that friedrich will do something:--unaware that none of his messages reach friedrich. as for daun, having seen his people safely encamped here, he returns to dresden for the night, to see that friedrich is quiet. friedrich is quiet enough: daun, at seven next morning (tuesday, th), appeared on the ground again; and from all sides finck is assaulted,--from daun's side nearest and soonest, with daun's best vigor. dippoldiswalde is some seven miles from maxen. difficult hill-road all the way: but the steepest, straitest and worst place is at reinhartsgrimma, the very first hamlet after you are out of dippoldiswalde. there is a narrow gullet there, overhung with heights all round. the roads are slippery, glazed with sleet and frost; cavalry, unroughened, make sad sliding and sprawling; hardly the infantry are secure on their feet: a terrible business getting masses of artillery-wagons, horse and man, through such a pass! it is thought, had finck garnished this pass of reinhartsgrimma, with the proper batteries, the proper musketries, daun never would have got through. finck had not a gun or a man in it: "had not i order?" said he,--again too literally. as it was, daun, sliding and sprawling in the narrow steeps, had difficulties almost too great; and, they say, would have given it up, had it not been that a certain major urged, "can be done, excellenz, and shall!" and that the temper of his soldiers was everywhere excellent. unfortunate finck had no artillery to bear on daun's transit through the pass. nothing but some weak body of hussars and infantry stood looking into it, from the hill of hausdorf: even these might have given him some slight hindrance; but these were played upon by endless pandours, "issuing from a wood near by," with musketries, and at length with cannon batteries, one and another;--and had to fall back, or to be called back, to maxen hill, where the main force is. in the course of yesterday, by continual reconnoitring, by austrian deserters, and intense comparison of symptoms, finck had completely ascertained where the enemy's three attacks were to be,--"on maxen, from dippoldiswalde, trohnitz, dohna, simultaneously three attacks," it appears;--and had with all his skill arranged himself on the maxen summits to meet these. he stands now elaborately divided into three groups against those three simultaneities; forming (sadly wide apart, one would say, for such a force as finck's) a very obtuse-angled triangle:--the obtuse vertex of which (if readers care to look on their map) is trohnitz, the road brentano and sincere are coming. on the base-angles, maxen and dohna, finck expects daun and the reich. from trohnitz to maxen is near two miles; from maxen to dohna above four. at dohna stands wunsch against the reich; finck himself at maxen, expecting daun, as the pith of the whole affair. in this triangular way stands finck at the topmost heights of the country,--"maxen highest, but hausdorf only a little lower,"--and has not thought of disputing the climb upwards. too literal an eye to his orders: alas, he was not himself king, but only king's deputy! the result is, about a.m., as i obscurely gather, daun has conquered the climb; daun's musketries begin to glitter on the top of hausdorf; and or heavy cannon open their throats there; and the three attacks break loose. finck's maxen batteries (scarcely higher than daun's, and far inferior in weight) respond with all diligence, the poor regimental fieldpieces helping what they can. mutual cannonade, very loud for an hour and half; terrific, but doing little mischief; after which daun's musketries (the ground now sufficiently clear to daun), which are the practical thing, begin opening, first from one point, then from another: and there ensues, for five hours coming, at maxen and at the other two points of finck's triangle, such a series of explosive chargings, wheelings, worryings and intricate death-wrestlings, as it would provoke every reader to attempt describing to him. except indeed he were a soldier, bound to know the defence of posts; in which case i could fairly promise him that there are means of understanding the affair, and that he might find benefit in it. [tempelhof, iii. - . journal und nachricht von der gefangennehmung des finck'schen corps bey maxen, im jahre (seyfarth, _beylagen,_ ii. - ).] daun's grenadiers, and infantry generally, are in triumphant spirits; confident of victory, as they may reasonably be. finck's people, too, behave well, some of them conspicuously well, though in gloomier mood; and make stubborn fight, successful here and there, but, as a whole, not capable of succeeding. by in the afternoon, the austrians have forced the maxen post; they "enter maxen with great shoutings;" extrude the obstinate prussian remnants; and, before long, have the poor village "on fire in every part." finck retreating northward to schmorsdorf, towards the obtuse angle of his triangle, if haply there may be help in that quarter for him. daun does not push him much; has maxen safely burning in every part. from schmorsdorf finck pushes out a cavalry charge on brentano. "could we but repulse brentano yonder," thinks he, "i might have those four battalions to hand, and try again!" but brentano makes such cannonading, the cavalry swerve to a hollow on their right; then find they have not ground, and retire quite fruitless. finck's cavalry, and the cavalry generally, with their horses all sliding on the frosty mountain-gnarls, appear to be good for little this day. brentano, victorious over the cavalry, comes on with such storm, he sweeps through the obtuse angle, home upon finck; and sweeps him out of schmorsdorf village to schmorsdorf hill, there to take refuge, as the night sinks,--and to see himself, if his wild heart will permit him to be candid, a ruined man. of the three attacks, two have completely succeeded on him; only wunsch, at dohna, stands victorious; he has held back the reich all day, and even chased it home to its posts on the rothwasser (red water), multitudinous as it was. finck's mood, as the november shadows gathered on him,--the equal heart may at least pity poor finck! his resolution is fixed: "cut ourselves through, this night: dohna is ours: other side that red water there are roads;--perish or get through!" and the generals (who are rallied now "on the heights of falkenhain and bloschwitz," midway between maxen and dohna) get that order from him. and proceed to arrange for executing it,--though with outlook more and more desperate, as their scouts report that every pass and post on the red water is beset by reichsfolk. "wunsch, with the cavalry, he at least may thread his way out, under cloud of night, by the opposite or daun side," calculates finck. and wunsch sets out accordingly: a very questionable, winding, subterranean march; difficult in the extreme,--the wearied slipshod horses going at a snail's pace; and, in the difficult passes, needing to be dragged through with bridle and even to be left altogether:--in which, withal, it will prove of no use for wunsch to succeed! finck's generals endeavoring to rank and rearrange through the night, find that their very cartridges are nearly spent, and that of men, such wounding, such deserting has there been, they have, at this time, by precise count, , rank and file. evidently desperate. at daylight, daun's cannon beginning again from the maxen side, finck sends to capitulate. "absolute surrender," answers daun: "prisoners of war, and you shall keep your private baggage. general wunsch with the cavalry, he too must turn back and surrender!" finck pleaded hard, on this last score: "general wunsch, as head of the cavalry, is not under me; is himself chief in that department." but it was of no use: wunsch had to return (not quite got through daun's lines, after such a night), and to surrender, like everybody else. like eight other generals; like wolfersdorf of torgau, and many a brave officer and man. wednesday morning, st november, : it is finck's fourth day on maxen; his last in the prussian service. that same wednesday afternoon there were ranked in the grosse garten at dresden, of dejected prussian prisoners from maxen, what exact number was never known: the austrians said , ; but nobody well believed them; their last certain instalment being only, in correct numbers, , . besides the killed, wounded and already captured, many had deserted, many had glided clear off. it is judged that friedrich lost, by all these causes, about , men. gone wholly,--with their equipments and appurtenances wholly, which are not worth counting in comparison. finck and the other generals, of them, and officers,--finck, wunsch, wolfersdorf, mosel (of the olmutz convoy), not to mention others of known worth, this is itself a sore loss to friedrich, and in present circumstances an irreparable. [seyfarth, ii. ; in _helden-geschichte,_ (v. ), the vienna account.] the outburst and paroxysm of gazetteer rumor, which arose in europe over this, must be left to the imagination; still more the whirlwind of astonishment, grief, remorse and indignation that raged in the heart of friedrich on first hearing of it. "the caudine forks;" "scene of pirna over again, in reverse form;" "is not your king at last over with it?" said and sang multifariously the gazetteers. as counter-chorus to which, in a certain royal heart: "that miserable purblind finck, unequal to his task;--that overhasty i, who drove him upon it! this disgrace, loss nigh ruinous; in fine, this infernal campaign (cette campagne infemale)!" the anecdote-books abound in details of friedrich's behavior at wilsdruf that day; mythical all, or in good part, but symbolizing a case that is conceivable to everybody. or would readers care to glance into the very fact with their own eyes? as happens to be possible. . before maxen: friedrich to d'argens and others. to d'argens (krogis, th november, order for maxen just given). "yesterday i joined the army [day before yesterday, but took the field yesterday], and daun decamped. i have followed him thus far, and will continue it to the frontiers of bohemia. our measures are so taken [finck, to wit], that he will not get out of saxony without considerable losses. yesterday cost him men taken at korgis here. every movement he makes will cost him as many." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xix. .] to voltaire (wilsdruf, th november). "we are verging on the end of our campaign: and i will write to you in eight days from dresden, with more composure and coherency than now." [ib. xxiii. .] to the same (wilsdruf, th november). "the austrians are packing off to bohemia,--where, in reprisal for the incendiary operations they have done in my countries, i have burnt them two big magazines. i render the beatified hero's retreat as difficult as possible; and i hope he will come upon some bad adventures within a few days." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxiii. .] same day and place, to d'argens. a volley of most rough-paced off-hand rhyming, direct from the heart; "ode [as he afterwards terms it, or irrepressible extempore lilt] to fortune:" "marquis, quel changement, what a change! i, a poor heretic creature, never blessed by the holy father; indeed, little frequenting church, nor serving either baal or the god of israel; held down these many months, and reported by more than one shaven scoundrel [priest-pamphleteer at vienna] to be quite extinct, and gone vagabond over the world,--see how capricious fortune, after all her hundred preferences of my rivals, lifts me with helpful hand from the deep, and packs this hero of the hat and sword,--whom popes have blessed what they could, and who has walked in pilgrimage before now [to marienzell once, i believe, publicly at vienna],--out of saxony; panting, harassed goes he, like a stranger dog from some kitchen where the cook had flogged him out!" [ib. xix. - .]... (a very exultant lilt, and with a good deal more of the chanticleer in it than we are used to in this king!) . after maxen. to d'argens (wilsdruf, d november). "do with that [some small piece of business] whatever you like, my dear marquis. i am so stupefied (e'tourdi) with the misfortune which has befallen general finck, that i cannot recover from my astonishment. it deranges all my measures; it cuts me to the quick. ill-luck, which persecutes my old age, has followed me from the mark [kunersdorf, in the mark of brandenburg] to saxony. i will still strive what i can. the little ode i sent you, addressed to fortune, had been written too soon! one should not sing victory till the battle is over. i am so crushed down by these incessant reverses and disasters, that i wish a thousand times i were dead; and from day to day i grow wearier of dwelling in a body worn out and condemned to suffer. i am writing to you in the first moment of my grief. astonishment, sorrow, indignation, scorn, all blended together, lacerate my soul. let us get to the end, then, of this execrable campaign; i will then write to you what is to become of me; and we will arrange the rest. pity me;--ad make no noise about me; bad news go fast enough of themselves. adieu, dear marquis." [_oeuvres de frederic, _ xix. .] all this, of course, under such pressing call of actualities, had very soon to transform itself into silence; into new resolution, and determinate despatch of business. but the king retained a bitter memory of it all his days. to finck he was inexorable:--ordered him, the first thing on his return from austrian captivity, trial by court-martial; which (ziethen presiding, june, ) censured finck in various points, and gave him, in supplement to the austrian detention, a year's imprisonment in spandau. no ray of pity visible for him, then or afterwards, in the royal mind. so that the poor man had to beg his dismissal; get it, and go to denmark for new promotion and appreciation.--"far too severe!" grumbled the opposition voices, with secret counter-severity. and truly it would have been more beautiful to everybody, for the moment, to have made matters soft to poor finck,--had friedrich ever gone on that score with his generals and delegates; which, though the reverse of a cruel man, he never did. and truly, as we often observe, the laws of fact are still severer than friedrich was:--so that, in the long-run, perhaps it is beautifulest of all for a king, who is just, to be rhadamanthine in important cases. exulting daun, instead of bohemia for winter-quarters, pushes out now for the prize of saxony itself. daun orders beck to attack suddenly another outpost of friedrich's, which stands rearward of him at meissen, under a general dierecke,--the same whom, as colonel dierecke, we saw march out of flamy zittau, summer gone two years. beck goes in accordingly, d december; attacks dierecke, not by surprise, but with overwhelming superiority; no reinforcement possible: dierecke is on the wrong side of the elbe, no retreat or reinforcement for him; has to fight fiercely all day, meissen bridge being in a broken state; then, at night, to ship his people across in elbe boats, which are much delayed by the floating ice, so that daylight found , of them still on that northern side; all of whom, with general dierecke himself, were made prisoners by beck. [tempelhof, iii. : " d- th december, ."] a comfortable supplement to maxen, though not of the same magnificence. after which, daun himself issued minatory from the plauen chasm; expecting, as all the world did, that friedrich, who is , of unfortunate against, say, , of triumphant, will, under penalty, take himself away. but it proved otherwise. "if you beat us, excellency feldmarschall, yes; but till then--!" friedrich draws out in battalia; leo in wild ragged state and temper, versus bos in the reverse: "come on; then!" rhinoceros bos, though in a high frame of mind, dare not, on cool survey; but retires behind the plauen chasm again. will at least protect dresden from recapture; and wait here, in the interim; carting his provision out of bohemia,--which is a rough business, with elbe frozen, and the passes in such a choked wintry state. upon whom friedrich, too, has to wait under arms, in grim neighborhood, for six weeks to come: such a time as poor young archenholtz never had before or after. [archenholtz, ii. - .] it was well beyond new-year's day before friedrich could report of himself, and then only in a sense, as will be seen: "we retired to this poor cottage [cottage still standing, in the little town of freyberg]; daun did the like; and this unfortunate campaign, as all things do, came actually to an end." daun holds dresden and the dell of plauen; but saxony, to the world's amazement, he is as far as ever from holding. "daun's front is a small arc of a circle, bending round from dresden to dippoldiswalde; friedrich is at freyberg in a bigger concave arc, concentric to daun, well overlapping daun on that southward or landward side, and ready for him, should he stir out; kesselsdorf is his nearest post to daun; and the plauen chasm for boundary, which was not overpassed by either." in dresden, and the patch of hill-country to the southeastward of it by elbe side, which is instep or glacis of the pirna rock-country, seventy square miles or so, there rules daun; and this--with its heights of gahmig, valuable as a defence for dresden against austria, but not otherwise of considerable value--was all that daun this year, or pretty much in any coming year, could realize of conquest in saxony. fabius cunctator has not succeeded, as the public expected. in fact, ever since that of hochkirch and the papal hat, he has been a waning man, more and more questionable to the undiscerning public. maxen was his last gleam upwards; a round of applause rose again on maxen, feeble in comparison with hochkirch, but still arguing hope,--which, after this, more and more died out; so that in two years more, poor madam daun, going to imperial levee, "had her state-carriage half filled with nightcaps, thrown into it by the vienna people, in token of her husband's great talent for sleep." [archenholtz (anno , "last siege of schweidnitz").] chapter viii.--miscellanea in winter-quarters, - . friedrich was very loath to quit the field this winter. in spite of maxen and ill-luck and the unfavorablest weather, it still was, for about two months, his fixed purpose to recapture dresden first, and drive daun home. "had i but a , of auxiliaries to guard my right flank, while trying it!" said he. ferdinand magnanimously sent him the hereditary prince with , , who stayed above two months; ["till february th;" list of the regiments (german all), in seyfarth, ii. n.] and friedrich did march about, attempting that way, [_oeuvres de frederic,_ v. . old newspaper rumors: in _gentleman's magazine,_ xxix. , " th december," &c.]--pushed forward to maguire and dippoldiswalde, looked passionately into maguire on all sides; but found him, in those frozen chasms, and rock-labyrinths choked with snow, plainly unattackable; him and everybody, in such frost-element;--and renounced the passionate hope. it was not till the middle of january that friedrich put his troops into partial cantonments, head-quarter freyberg; troops still mainly in the villages from wilsdruf and southward, close by their old camp there. camp still left standing, guarded by six battalions; six after six, alternating week about: one of the grimmest camps in nature; the canvas roofs grown mere ice-plates, the tents mere sanctuaries of frost:--never did poor young archenholtz see such industry in dragging wood-fuel, such boiling of biscuits in broken ice, such crowding round the embers to roast one side of you, while the other was freezing. [archenholtz (ut supra), ii. - .] but daun's people, on the opposite side of plauen dell, did the like; their tents also were left standing in the frozen state, guarded by alternating battalions, no better off than their prussian neighbors. this of the tents, and six frost-bitten battalions guarding them, lasted till april. an extraordinary obstinacy on the part both of daun and of friedrich; alike jealous of even seeming to yield one inch more of ground. the hereditary prince, with his , , marched home again in february; indeed, ever after the going into cantonments, all use of the prince and his force here visibly ceased; and, on the whole, no result whatever followed those strenuous antagonisms, and frozen tents left standing for three months; and things remained practically what they were. so that, as the grand "peace negotiations" also came to nothing, we might omit this of winter-quarters altogether; and go forward to the opening of campaign fifth;--were it not that characteristic features do otherwise occur in it, curious little unveilings of the secret hopes and industries of friedrich:--besides which, there have minor private events fallen out, not without interest to human readers. for whose behoof mainly a loose intercalary chapter may be thrown together here. serene highness of wurtemberg, at fulda (november th, ), is just about "firing victoria," and giving a ball to beauty and fashion, in honor of a certain event;--but is unpleasantly interrupted. november st, the very day while finck was capitulating in the hills of maxen, duke ferdinand, busy ever since his victory at minden, did, after a difficult siege of munster, siege by imhof, with ferdinand protecting him, get munster into hand again, which was reckoned a fine success to him. very busy has the duke been: industriously reaping the fruits of his victory at minden; and this, the conclusive rooting out of the french from that westphalian region, is a very joyful thing; and puts ferdinand in hopes of driving them over the mayn altogether. which some think he would have done; had not he, with magnanimous oblivion of self and wishes, agreed to send the hereditary prince and those , to assist in friedrich's affairs, looking upon that as the vital point in these allied interests. friedrich's attempts, we have said, turned out impossible; nor would the hereditary prince and his , , though a good deal talked about in england and elsewhere, [walpole, _george second,_ iii. (in a sour opposition tone); &c. &c.] require more than mention; were it not that on the road thither, at fulda ("fulda is half-way house to saxony," thinks ferdinand, "should pitt and britannic majesty be pleased to consent, as i dare presume they will"), the hereditary prince had, in his swift way, done a thing useful for ferdinand himself, and which caused a great emotion, chiefly of laughter, over the world, in those weeks. "no enemy of friedrich's," says my note, "is of feller humor than the serenity of wurtemberg, karl eugen, reigning duke of that unfortunate country; for whom, in past days, friedrich had been so fatherly, and really took such pains. 'fatherly? step-fatherly, you mean; and for his own vile uses!' growled the serenity of wurtemberg:--always an ominous streak of gloom in that poor man; streak which is spread now to whole skies of boiling darkness, owing to deliriums there have been! enough, karl eugen, after divorcing his poor wife, had distinguished himself by a zeal without knowledge, beyond almost all the enemies of friedrich;--and still continues in that bad line of industry. his poor wife he has made miserable in some measure; also himself; and, in a degree, his poor soldiers and subjects, who are with him by compulsion in this enterprise. the wurtembergers are protestants of old type; and want no fighting against 'the protestant hero,' but much the reverse! serene karl had to shoot a good few of these poor people, before they would march at all; and his procedures were indeed, and continued to be, of a very crying nature, though his poor populations took them silently. always something of perverse in this serene highness; has it, i think, by kind. "besides his quota to the reich, karl eugen has , more on foot,--and it is of them we are treating at present. in he had lent these troops to the empress queen, for a consideration; it was they that stood on the austrian left, at leuthen; and were the first that got beaten, and had to cease standing,--as the austrians were abundantly loud in proclaiming. to the disgust of serene highness: 'which of you did stand, then? was it their blame, led as they were?' argued he. and next year, , after crefeld, he took his , to the french ('subsidy,' or consideration, 'to be paid in salt,' it appears [_oeuvres de frederic,_ v. .]); with whom they marched about, and did nothing considerable. the serenity had pleaded, 'i must command them myself!' 'you?' said belleisle, and would not hear of it. next year again, however, that is , the duke was positive, 'i must;' belleisle not less so, 'you cannot;'--till minden fell out; and then, in the wreck of contades, belleisle had to consent. serenity of wurtemberg, at that late season, took the field accordingly; and broglio now has him at fulda, 'to cut off ferdinand from cassel;' to threaten ferdinand's left flank and his provision-carts in that quarter. may really become unpleasant there to ferdinand;--and ought to be cut out by the hereditary prince. 'to fulda, then, and cut him out!' "fulda, friday, th november, . serene highness is lying here for a week past; abundantly strong for the task on hand,--has his own , , supplemented by , french light horse;--but is widely scattered withal, posted in a kind of triangular form; his main posts being fulda itself, and a couple of others, each thirty miles from fulda, and five miles from one another,--with 'patrols to connect them,' better or worse. abundantly strong for the task, and in perfect security; and indeed intends this day to 'fire victoria' for the catastrophe at maxen, and in the evening will give a ball in farther honor of so salutary an event:--when, about a.m., news arrives at the gallop, 'brunswickers in full march; are within an hour of the town-bridge!' figure to what flurry of serene highness; of the victoria-shooting apparatus; of busy man-milliner people, and the beauty and fashion of fulda in general! "the night before, a rumor of the french post being driven in by somebody had reached serene highness; who gave some vague order, not thinking it of consequence. here, however, is the fact come to hand in a most urgent and undeniable manner! serene highness gets on horseback; but what can that help? one cannon (has nothing but light cannon) he does plant on the bridge; but see, here come premonitory bomb-shells one and another, terrifying to the mind;--and a single hessian dragoon, plunging forward on the one unready cannon, and in the air making horrid circles,--the gunners leave said cannon to him, take to their heels; and the bridge is open. the rest of the affair can be imagined. retreat at our swiftest, 'running fight,' we would fain call it, by various roads; lost two flags, two cannon; prisoners were above , , many of them officers. 'a merciful providence saved the duke's serene person from hurt,' say the stuttgard gazetteers: which was true,--serene highness having been inspired to gallop instantly to rearward and landward, leaving an order to somebody, 'do the best you can!' "so that the ball is up; dress-pumps and millineries getting all locked into their drawers again,--with abundance of te-hee-ing (i hope, mostly in a light vein) from the fair creatures disappointed of their dance for this time. next day serene highness drew farther back, and next day again farther,--towards frankenland and home, as the surest place;--and was no more heard of in those localities." [buchholz, ii. ; mauvillon, ii. ; _helden-geschichte,_ v. - ; old newspapers, in _gentleman's magazine,_ xxix. .] making his first exit, not yet quite his final, from the war-theatre, amid such tempests of haha-ing and te-hee-ing. with what thoughts in his own lofty opaque mind;--like a crowned mule, of such pace and carriage, who had unexpectedly stepped upon galvanic wires!-- as to those poor wurtembergers, and their notion of the "protestant hero," i remark farther, that there is a something of real truth in it. friedrich's creed, or theory of the universe, differed extremely, in many important points, from that of dr. martin luther: but in the vital all-essential point, what we may call the heart's core of all creeds which are human, human and not simious or diabolic, the king and the doctor were with their whole heart at one: that it is not allowable, that it is dangerous and abominable, to attempt believing what is not true. in that sense, friedrich, by nature and position, was a protestant, and even the chief protestant in the world. what kind of "hero," in this big war of his, we are gradually learning;--in which too, if you investigate, there is not wanting something of "protestant heroism," even in the narrow sense. for it does appear,--maria theresa having a real fear of god, and poor louis a real fear of the devil, whom he may well feel to be getting dangerous purchase over him,--some hope-gleams of acting upon schism, and so meriting heaven, did mingle with their high terrestrial combinations, on this unique opportunity, more than are now supposed in careless history-books. what is perpetual president maupertuis doing, all this while? is he still in berlin; or where in the universe is he? alas, poor maupertuis! in the heat of this campaign, "july th,"--some four days after the battle of zullichau, just while friedrich was hurrying off for that intersection at sagan, and breathless hunt of loudon and haddick,--poor maupertuis had quitted this world. july th, ; at basel, on the swiss borders, in his friend bernouilli's house, after long months of sickness painfully spent there. and our poor perpetual president, at rest now from all his akakia burns, and pains and labors in flattening the earth and otherwise, is gone. many beautifuler men have gone within the year, of whom we can say nothing. but this is one whose grandly silent, and then occasionally fulminant procedures, akakia controversies, olympian solemnities and flamy pirouettings under the contradiction of sinners, we once saw; and think with a kind of human pathos that we shall see no more. from his goose of an adorer, la beaumelle, i have riddled out the following particulars, chiefly chronological,--and offer them to susceptible readers. la beaumelle is, in a sort, to be considered the speaker; or la beaumelle and this editor in concert. final pilgrimage of the perpetual president. "maupertuis had quitted berlin soon after voltaire. that threat of visiting voltaire with pistols,--to be met by 'my syringe and vessel of dishonor' on voltaire's part,--was his last memorability in berlin. his last at that time; or indeed altogether, for he saw little of berlin farther. "end of april, , he got leave of absence; set out homewards, for recovery of health. was at paris through summer and autumn: very taciturn in society; 'preferred pretty women to any man of science;' would sententiously say a strong thing now and then, 'bitter but not without bonhomie,' shaking slightly his yellow wig. disdainful, to how high a degree, of akakia brabbles, and voltaire gossip for or against! in winter went to st. malo; found his good father gone; but a loving sister still there. "june, , the king wrote to him, 'venez vite, come quickly:' july, , he came accordingly, [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xx. .] saw berlin again; did nothing noticeable there, except get worse in health; and after eleven months, june, , withdrew again on leave,--never to return this time, though he well intended otherwise. but at st. malo, when, after a month or two of paris, he got thither (autumn, ), and still more, next summer, , when he thought of leaving st. malo,--what wars, and rumors of war, all over the world! "june, , he went to bordeaux, intending to take ship for hamburg, and return; but the sea was full of english cruisers [pitt's descents lying in store for st. malo itself]. no getting to berlin by the hamburg or sea route! 'never mind, then,' wrote the king: 'improve your health; go to italy, if you can.' "summer, , maupertuis made for italy; got as far as toulouse;--stayed there till may following; sad, tragically stoical; saying, sparingly, and rather to women than men, strong things, admired by the worthier sort. renounced thoughts of italy: 'europe bleeding, and especially france and prussia, how go idly touring?' "may, , maupertuis left toulouse: turned towards berlin; slow, sad, circuitous;--never to arrive. saw narbonne, montpellier, nimes; with what meditations! at lyons, under honors sky-high, health getting worse, stays two months; vomits clots of blood there. thence, july th, to neufchatel and the lord marischal; happy there for three months. hears there of professor konig's death (akakia konig): 'one scoundrel less in the world,' ejaculated he; 'but what is one!'--october th, to the road again, to basel; stays perforce, in bernouilli's house there, all winter; health falling lower and lower. "april, , one day he has his carriage at the door ('homeward, at all rates!'): but takes violent spasms in the carriage; can't; can no farther in this world. lingers here, under kind care, for above three months more: dying slowly, most painfully. with much real stoicism; not without a stiff-jointed algebraic kind of piety, almost pathetic in its sort. 'two capuchins from a neighboring convent daily gave him consolations,' not entirely satisfactory; for daily withal, 'unknown to the capuchins, he made his valet, who was a protestant, read to him from the geneva bible;'--and finds many things hard to the human mind. july th, , he died." [la beaumelle, _vie de maupertuis,_ pp. - .] poor maupertuis; a man of rugged stalwart type; honest; of an ardor, an intelligence, not to be forgotten for la beaumelle's pulings over them. a man of good and even of high talent; unlucky in mistaking it for the highest! his poor wife, a born borck,--hastening from berlin, but again and again delayed by industry of kind friends, and at last driving on in spite of everything,--met, in the last miles, his hearse and funeral company. adieu, a pitying adieu to him forever,--and even to his adoring la beaumelle, who is rather less a blockhead than he generally seems. this of the two capuchins, the last consummation of collapse in man, is what voltaire cannot forget, but crows over with his shrillest mockery; and seldom mentions maupertuis without that last touch to his life-drama. grand french invasion-scheme comes entirely to wreck (quiberon bay, th november, ): of controller-general silhouette, and the outlooks of france, financial and other. on the very day of maxen, tuesday, november th, the grand french invasion found its terminus,--not on the shores of britain, but of brittany, to its surprise. we saw rodney burn the flat-bottom manufactory at havre; boscawen chase the toulon squadron, till it ended on the rocks of lagos. from january onwards, as was then mentioned, hawke had been keeping watch, off brest harbor, on admiral conflans, who presides there over multifarious preparations, with the last fleet france now has. at vannes, where hawke likewise has ships watching, are multifarious preparations; new flat-bottoms, , troops,--could conflans and they only get to sea. at the long last, they did get;--in manner following:-- "november th, a wild gale of wind had blown hawke out of sight; away home to torbay, for the moment. 'now is the time!' thought conflans, and put to sea (november th); met by hawke, who had weighed from torbay to his duty; and who, of course, crowded every sail, after hearing that conflans was out. at break of day, november th [in the very hours when poor finck was embattling himself round maxen, and daun sprawling up upon him through the passes], hawke had had signal, 'a fleet in sight;' and soon after, 'conflans in sight,'--and the day of trial come. "conflans is about the strength of hawke, and france expects much of him; but he is not expecting hawke. conflans is busy, at this moment, in the mouth of quiberon bay, opening the road for vannes and the , ;--in hot chase, at the moment, of a commodore duff and his small squadron, who have been keeping watch there, and are now running all they can. on a sudden, to the astonishment of conflans, this little squadron whirls round, every ship of it (with a sky-rending cheer, could he hear it), and commences chasing! conflans, taking survey, sees that it is hawke; he, sure enough, coming down from windward yonder at his highest speed; and that chasing will not now be one's business!-- "about a.m. hawke is here; eight of his vanward ships are sweeping on for action. conflans, at first, had determined to fight hawke; and drew up accordingly, and did try a little: but gradually thought better of it; and decided to take shelter in the shoaly coasts and nooks thereabouts, which were unknown to hawke, and might ruin him if he should pursue, the day being short, and the weather extremely bad. weather itself almost to be called a storm. 'shoreward, then; eastward, every ship!' became, ultimately, conflans's plan. on the whole, it was in the afternoon before hawke, with those vanward eight, could get clutch of conflans. and truly he did then strike his claws into him in a thunderously fervid manner, he and all hands, in spite of the roaring weather:--a man of falcon, or accipitral, nature as well as name. "conflans himself fought well; as did certain of the others,--all, more or less, so long as their plan continued steady:--thunderous miscellany of cannon and tempest; conflans with his plan steady, or conflans with his plan wavering, versus those vanward eight, for two hours or more. but the scene was too dreadful; this ship sinking, that obliged to strike; things all going awry for conflans. hawke, in his own flagship, bore down specially on conflans in his,--who did wait, and exchange a couple of broadsides; but then sheered off, finding it so heavy. french vice-admiral next likewise gave hawke a broadside; one only, and sheered off, satisfied with the return. some four others, in succession, did the like; 'one blast, as we hurry by' (making for the shore, mostly)! so that hawke seemed swallowed in volcanoes (though, indeed, their firing was very bad, such a flurry among them), and his blue flag was invisible for some time, and various ships were hastening to help him,--till a fifth french ship coming up with her broadside, hawke answered her in particular (la superbe, a seventy-four) with all his guns together; which sent the poor ship to the bottom, in a hideously sudden manner. one other (the thesee) had already sunk in fighting; two (the soleil and the heros) were already running for it,--the heros in a very unheroic manner! but on this terrible plunge-home of the superbe, the rest all made for the shore;--and escaped into the rocky intricacies and the darkness. four of conflans's ships were already gone,--struck, sunk, or otherwise extinct,--when darkness fell, and veiled conflans and his distresses. 'country people, to the number of , ,' crowded on the shore, had been seen watching the battle; and, 'as sad witnesses of the white flag's disgrace,' disappeared into the interior." [beatson, ii. - : and ib. iii. - . in _gentleman's magazine,_ (xxix. ), "a chaplain's letter," &c.] it was such a night as men never witnessed before. walpole says: "the roaring of the elements was redoubled by the thunder from our ships; and both concurred in that scene of horror to put a period to the navy and hopes of france. seven ships of the line got into the river vilaine [lay there fourteen months, under strict watching, till their backs were broken, "thumping against the shallow bottom every tide," and only "three, with three frigates," ever got out again]; eight more escaped to different ports," into the river charente ultimately. "conflans's own ship and another were run on shore, and burnt. one we took." two, with their crews, had gone to the bottom; one under hawke's cannon; one partly by its own mismanagement. "two of ours were lost in the storm [chasing that soleil and heros], but the crews saved. lord howe, who attacked la formidable, bore down on her with such violence, that her prow forced in his lower tier of guns. captain digby, in the dunkirk, received the fire of twelve of the enemy's ships, and lost not a man. keppel's was full of water, and he thought it sinking: a sudden squall emptied his ship; but he was informed all his powder was wet; 'then,' said he, 'i am sorry i am safe.' they came and told him a small quantity was undamaged; 'very well,' said he; 'then attack again.' not above eight of our ships were engaged in obtaining that decisive victory. the invasion was heard of no more." [walpole, _george second,_ iii. .--here is the list, accurately riddled out: . formidable, struck (about p.m.): . thesee, sunk (by a tumble it made, while in action, under an unskilful captain): . superbe, sunk: . heros, struck; could not he boarded, such weather; and recommenced next day, but had to run and strand itself, and be burnt by the english;--as did ( .) the soleil royal (conflans's flagship), conflans and crew (like those of the heros) getting out in time.] invasion had been fully intended, and even, in these final days, considerably expected. in the old london newspapers we read this notice: monday, november th: "to-day there came three expresses,"--three expresses, with what haste in their eyes, testifying successively of conflans's whereabouts. but it was believed that hawke would still manage. and, at any rate, pitt wore such a look,--and had, in fact, made such preparation on the coasts, even in failure of hawke,--there was no alarm anywhere. indignation rather;--and naturally, when the news did come, what an outburst of illumination in the windows and the hearts of men! "hawke continued watching the mouths of the vilaine and charente rivers for a good while after, and without interruption henceforth,--till the storms of winter had plainly closed them for one season. supplies of fresh provisions had come to him from england all summer; but were stopped latterly by the wild weather. upon which, in the fleet, arose this gravely pathetic stave of sea-poetry, with a wrinkle of briny humor grinning in it:-- till hawke did bang monsieur conflans [congflang], you sent us beef and beer; now monsieur's beat, we've nought to eat, since you have nought to fear." [beatson, ii. n.] the french mode of taking this catastrophe was rather peculiar. hear barbier, an eye-witness; dating paris, december, : "since the first days of december, there has been cried, and sold in the streets, a printed detail of all that concerns the grand invasion projected this long while: to wit, the number of ships of the line, of frigates, galiots,--among others flat-bottomed boats, which are to carry over, and land in england, more than , men;--with list of the regiments, and number of the king's guards, that are also to go: there are announced for generals-in-chief, m. le prince de conti [do readers remember him since the broglio-maillebois time, and how king louis prophesied in autograph that he would be "the grand conti" one day?]--prince de conti, prince de soubise [left his conquest of frankfurt for this greater enterprise], and milord thomont [irish jacobite, whom i don't know]. as sequel to this detail, there is a lengthy song on the disembarkment in england, and the fear the english must have of it!" calculated to astonish the practical forensic mind. "it is inconceivable", continues he, "how they have permitted such a piece to be printed; still more to be cried, and sold price one halfpenny (deux liards). this song is indecent, in the circumstances of the actual news from our fleet at brest ( th of last month);--in regard to which bad adventure m. le marquis de conflans has come to versailles, to justify himself, and throw the blame on m. le marquis de beauffremont [his rear-admiral, now safe in the charente, with eight of our poor ships]. such things are the more out of place, as we are in a bad enough position,--no flat-bottoms stirring from the ports, no troops of the maison du roi setting out; and have reason to believe that we are now to make no such attempt." [barbier, iv. .] silhouette, the controller-general, was thought to have a creative genius in finance: but in the eighth month of his gestation, what phenomena are these? october th, there came out four decrees of council, setting forth, that, "as the expenses of the war exceed not only the king's ordinary revenues, but the extraordinaries he has had to lay on his people, there is nothing for it but," in fact, suspension of payment; actual temporary bankruptcy:--"cannot pay you; part of you not for a year, others of you not till the war end; will give you per cent interest instead." coupled with which, by the same creative genius, is a declaration in the king's name, "that the king compels nobody, but does invite all and sundry of loyal mind to send their plate (on loan, of course, and with due receipt for it) to the mint to be coined, lest majesty come to have otherwise no money,"--his very valets, as is privately known, having had no wages from him for ten months past. whereupon the rich princes of the blood, due d'orleans foremost, and official persons, pompadour, belleisle, choiseul, do make an effort; and everybody that has plate feels uneasily that he cannot use it, and that he ought to send it. and, november th, the king's own plate, packed ostentatiously in carts, went to the mint;--the dauphiness, noble saxon lady, had already volunteered with a silver toilet-table of hers, brand-new and of exquisite costly pattern; but the king forbade her. on such examples, everybody had to make an effort, or uneasily try to make one. king friedrich, eight days after maxen, is somewhat amused at these proceedings in the distance:-- "the kettles and spoons of the french seem to me a pleasant resource, for carrying on war!" writes he to d'argens. ["wilsdruf, th november, ," _oeuvres de frederic,_ xix. .] "a bit of mummery to act on the public feeling, i suppose. the result of it will be small: but as the belleisle letters [taken in contades's baggage, after minden, and printed by duke ferdinand for public edification] make always such an outcry about poverty, those people are trying to impose on their enemies, and persuade them that the carved and chiselled silver of the kingdom will suffice for making a vigorous campaign. i see nothing else that can have set them on imagining the farce they are now at. there is munster taken from them by the english-hanoverian people; it is affirmed that the french, on the th, quitted giessen, to march on friedberg and repass the rhine [might possibly have done so;--but the hereditary prince and his , come to be needed elsewhere!]--poor we are opposite our enemies here, cantoned in the villages about; the last truss of straw, the last loaf of bread will decide which of us is to remain in saxony. and as the austrians are extremely squeezed together, and can get nothing out of bohmen,"--one hopes it will not be they! all through november, this sending of plate, i never knew with what net-result of moneys coinable, goes on in paris; till, at the highest tables, there is nothing of silver dishes left;--and a new crockery kind (rather clumsy; "culs noirs," as we derisively call them, pigment of bottom part being black) has had to be contrived instead. under what astonishments abroad and at home, and in the latter region under what execrations on silhouette, may be imagined. "tout le monde jure beaucoup contre m. de silhouette, all the world swears much against him," says barbier;--but i believe probably he was much to be pitied: "a creative genius, you; and this is what you come to?" november d, the poor man got dismissed; france swearing at him, i know not to what depth; but howling and hissing, evidently, with all its might. the very tailors and milliners took him up,--trousers without pockets, dresses without flounce or fold, which they called a la silhouette:--and, to this day, in france and continental countries, the old-fashioned shadow-profile (mere outline, and vacant black) is practically called a silhouette. so that the very dictionaries have him; and, like bad count reinhart, or reynard, of earlier date, he has become a noun appellative, and is immortalized in that way. the first of that considerable series of creative financiers, abbe terray and the rest,--brought in successively with blessings, and dismissed with cursings and hissings,--who end in calonne, lomenie de brienne, and what mirabeau pere called "the general overturn (culbute generale)." thitherward, privately, straight towards the general overturn, is france bound;--and will arrive in about thirty years. friedrich, strange to say, publishes (march-june, ) an edition of his poems. question, "who wrote matinees du roi de prusse?"--for the second, and positively the last time. in this avalanche of impending destructions, what can be more surprising than to hear of the editing of poems on his majesty's part! actual publication of that oeuvre de poesie, for which voltaire, poor gentleman, suffered such tribulation seven years ago. now coming out from choice: reprint of it, not now to the extent of twelve copies for highly special friends, but in copious thousands, for behoof of mankind at large! the thing cost friedrich very little meditating, and had become necessary,--and to be done with speed. readers recollect the oeuvre de poesie, and satirical hits said to be in it. at paris, about new-year's time , some helpful hand had contrived to bring out, under the pretended date "potsdam," a cheap edition of that interesting work. [_"oeuvres du philosophe de sans-souci:"_ vol. mo, "potsdam [paris, in truth], ."] merely in the way of theft, as appeared to cursory readers, to d'argens, for example: [his letter to the king, _oeuvres de frederic,_ xix. .] but, in deeper fact, for the purpose of apprising certain crowned heads, friendly and hostile,--czarish majesty and george ii. of england the main two,--what this poetizing king was pleased to think of them in his private moments. d'argens declares himself glad of this theft, so exquisitely clever is the book. but friedrich knows better: "march th, when a copy of it came to him," friedrich sees well what is meant,--and what he himself has to do in it. he instantly sets about making a few suppressions, changes of phrase; sends the thing to d'argens: "publish at once, with a little prefatory word." and, at the top of his speed, d'argens has, in three weeks' time, the suitable avant-propos, or avis au libraire, "circulating in great quantities, especially in london and petersburg" ("thief editor has omitted; and, what is far more, has malignantly interpolated: here is the poor idle work itself, not a counterfeit of it, if anybody care to read it"), and an orthodox edition ready. [came out april th [see mitchell, ii. ], "and a second finer edition in june:" in _oeuvres de frederic,_ x. p. x, xix. n., ; especially in preuss, i. , (if you will compare him with himself on these different occasions, and patiently wind out his bit of meaning), all manner of minutest details.] the diligent pirate booksellers, at amsterdam, at london, copiously reproduced this authorized berlin edition too,--or added excerpts from it to their reprints of the paris one, by way of various-readings. and everybody read and compared, what nobody will now do; theme, and treatment of theme, being both now so heartily indifferent to us. who the perpetrator of this parisian maleficence was, remained dark;--and would not be worth inquiring into at all, except for two reasons intrinsically trifling, but not quite without interest to readers of our time. first, that voltaire, whom some suspected (some, never much friedrich, that i hear of), appears to have been perfectly innocent;--and indeed had been incapacitated for guilt, by schmidt and freytag, and their dreadful frankfurt procedures! this is reason first; poor voltaire mutely asking us, not to load him with more sins than his own. reason second is, that, by a singular opportunity, there has, in these very months, [spring, .] a glimmering of light risen on it to this editor; illustrating two other points as well, which readers here are acquainted with, some time ago, as riddles of the insignificant sort. the demon newswriter, with his "idea" of friedrich, and the "matinees du roi de prusse:" readers recollect both those productions; both enigmatic as to authorship;--but both now become riddles which can more or less be read. for the surprising circumstance (though in certain periods, when the realm of very chaos re-emerges, fitfully, into upper sunshine now and then, nothing ought to surprise one as happening there) is, that, only a few months ago, the incomparable matinees (known to my readers five years since) has found a new editor and reviver. editor illuminated "by the secretary of the great napoleon," "by discovery of manuscripts," "by the duc de rovigo," and i know not what; animated also, it is said, by religious views. and, in short, the matinees is again abroad upon the world,--"your london edition twice reprinted in germany, by the jesuit party since" (much good may it do the jesuit party!)--a matinees again in comfortable circumstances, as would seem. probably the longest-eared platitude now walking the earth, though there are a good many with ears long. unconscious, seemingly, that it has been killed thrice and four times already; and that indeed, except in the realm of nightmare, it never was alive, or needed any killing; belief in it, doubt upon it (i must grieve to inform the duc de rovigo and honorable persons concerned), being evidence conclusive that you have not yet the faintest preliminary shadow of correct knowledge about friedrich or his habits or affairs, and that you ought first to try and acquire some. to me argument on this subject would have been too unendurable. but argument there was on it, by persons capable and willing, more than one: and in result this surprising brand-new london moon-calf of a matinees was smitten through, and slit in pieces, for the fifth time,--as if that could have hurt it much! "mit der dummheit," sings schiller; "human stupidity is stronger than the very gods." however, in the course of these new inspections into matters long since obsolete, there did--what may truly be considered as a kind of profit by this resuscitating of the moon-calf matinees upon afflicted mankind, and is a net outcome from it, real, though very small--some light rise as to the origin and genesis of matinees; some twinkles of light, and, in the utterly dark element, did disclose other monstrous extinct shapes looming to right and left of said monster: and, in a word, the authorship of matinees, and not of matinees only, becomes now at last faintly visible or guessable. to one of those industrious matadors, as we may call them, slayers of this moon-calf for the fourth or fifth time, i owe the following note; which, on verifying, i can declare to be trustworthy:-- "the author of matinees, it is nearly certain", says my correspondent, "is actually a 'm. de bonneville,'--contrary to what you wrote five years ago. [a.d. (supra, v. , ).] not indeed the bonneville who is found in dictionaries, who is visibly impossible; but a bonneville of the preceding generation, who was marechal de saxe's adjutant or secretary, old enough to have been the uncle or the father of that revolutionary bonneville. marechal de saxe died november th, ; this senior bonneville, still a young man, had been with him to potsdam on visit there. bonneville, conscious of genius, and now out of employment, naturally went thither again; lived a good deal there, or went between france and there: and authentic history knows of him, by direct evidence, and by reflex, the following three facts (the second of them itself threefold), of which i will distinguish the indubitable from the inferentially credible or as good as certain:-- " . indubitable, that bonneville sold to friedrich certain papers, military plans, or the like, of the late marechal and was paid for them; but by no means met the recognition his genius saw itself to merit. these things are certain, though not dated, or datable except as of the year or . after which, for above twenty years, bonneville entered upon a series of adventures, caliginous, underground, for most part; 'soldiering in america,' 'writing anonymous pamphlets or books,' roaming wide over the world; and led a busy but obscure and uncertain life, hanging by berlin as a kind of centre, or by paris and berlin as his two centres; and had a miscellaneous series of adventures, subterranean many of them, unluminous all of them, not courting the light; which lie now in naturally a very dark condition. dimly discernible, however, in the general dusk of bonneville, dim and vague of outline, but definitely steady beyond what could have been expected, it does appear farther,--what alone entitles bonneville to the least memory here, or anywhere in nature now or henceforth,-- " . inferentially credible, that, shortly after that first rebuff in potsdam, he, not another, in , was your 'demon newswriter,' whom we gazed at, some time since, devoutly crossing ourselves, for a little while! "likewise that, in - , after or before his american wanderings, he, the same bonneville, as was suspected at the time, ["nicolai, _ueber zimmermanns fragmente,_ i. , , ii. , . sketch of what is authentically known about bonneville: 'suspected both of matinees and of the stolen edition.'"] stole and edited this surreptitious mischief-making _oeuvres du philosophe de sans-souci_ (paris or lyon, pretending to be 'potsdam,' january, )," which we are now considering!" encouraged, probably enough, by choiseul himself, who, in any case, is now known to have been the promoter of this fine bit of mischief, [choiseul's own note, "to m. de malesherbes, directeur de la libraire, th december, : 'by every method screen the king's government from being suspected;--and get the edition out at once.'" (published in the _constitutionnel, _ d december, , by m. sainte-beuve; copied in preuss, _oeuvres de frederic,_ xix. n.)]--and who may thereupon [or may as probably, not "thereupon," if it were of the least consequence to gods or men] have opened to bonneville a new military career in america? career which led to as good as nothing; french soldiering in america being done for, in the course of . upon which bonneville would return to his old haunts, to his old subterranean industries in paris and berlin. "and that, finally, in , he, as was again suspected at the time, ["nicolai, ueber zimmermanns fragmente, i. , , ii. , . sketch of what is authentically known about bonneville: 'suspected both of matinees and of the stolen edition.'"] he and no other, did write those matinees, which appeared next year in print ( ), and many times since; and have just been reprinted, as a surprising new discovery, at london, in spring, . " . again indubitable, that either after or before those editorial exploits, bonneville had sold the marechal de saxe's plans and papers, which were already the king's, to some second person, and been a second time paid for them. and was, in regard to this swindling exploit, found out; and by reason of that sale, or for what reason is not known, was put into spandau, and, one hopes, ended his life there." ["nicolai, ubi supra;--and besides him, only the two following references, out of half a cart-load: . bachaumont, memoires secretes, ' th february, ' (see barbier, _dictionnaire des anonymes,_ matinees), who calls matinees 'a development of the idee de la personne,' &c. (that is, of your 'demon newswriter;' already known to bachaumont, this 'idee,' it seems, as well as the matinees in manuscript). . letter of grimm to duchess of sachsen-gotha [our duchess], dated 'paris, th april, :' not in printed _correspondance de grimm,_ but still in the archives of gotha, in company with a ms. of matinees, probably the oldest extant (see,--in the grenzboten periodical, leipzig, , pp. - , - ,--k. samwer, who is chief malleus of this new london moon-calf, and will inform the curious of every particular)]." matinees was first printed (no place), and seven or eight times since, in different countries; twice or thrice over, as "an interesting new discovery:"--very wearisome to this editor; who read matinees (in poor london print, that too) many years ago,--with complete satisfaction as to matinees, and sincere wish not to touch it again even with a pair of tongs;--and has since had three "priceless mss. of it" offered him, at low rates, as a guerdon to merit. fact no. , which alone concerns us here,--and which, in its three successive stages, does curiously cohere with itself and with other things,--comes, therefore, not by direct light, which indeed, by the nature of the case, would be impossible. not by direct light, but by various reflex lights, and convergence of probabilities old and new, which become the stronger the better they are examined; and may be considered as amounting to what is called a moral certainty,--"certain" enough for an inquiry of that significance. to a kind of moral certainty: kind of moral consolation too; only one individual of adam's posterity, not three or more, having been needed in these multifarious acts of scoundrelism; and that one receiving payment, or part payment, so prompt and appropriate, in the shape of a permanent cannon-ball at his ankle. this is the one profit my readers or i have yet derived from the late miraculous resuscitation of matinees royales; the other items of profit in that enterprise shall belong, not to us in the least measure, but to bonneville, and to his well or ill disposed coadjutors and copartners in the adventure. adieu to it, and to him and to them, forever and a day! peace-negotiations hopeful to friedrich all through winter; but the french won't. voltaire, and his style of corresponding. this winter there was talk of peace, more specifically than ever. november th, at the hague, as a neutral place, there had been, by the two majesties, britannic and prussian, official declaration, "we, for our part, deeply lament these horrors, and are ready to treat of peace." this declaration was presented november th, , by prince ludwig of brunswick (head general of the dutch, and a brother of prince ferdinand our general's, suitable for such case), to the austrian-french excellencies at the hague. by whom it had been received with the due politeness, "will give it our profoundest consideration;" [declaration (by the two majesties) that they are ready to treat of peace, th november, , presented by, &c. (as above); answer from france, in stingy terms, and not till d april, : are in _london gazette;_ in _gentleman's magazine,_ xxix. , xxx. ; in &c. &c.]--which indeed the french, for some time, privately did; though the austrians privately had no need to do so, being already fixed for a negative response to the proposal. but hereby rose actual talk of a "congress;" and wagging of diplomatic wigs as to where it shall be. "in breda," said some; "breda a place used to congresses." "why not in nanci here?" said poor old ex-polish stanislaus, alive to the calls of benevolence, poor old titular soul. others said "leipzig;" others "augsburg;"--and indeed in augsburg, according to the gazetteers, at one time, there were "upholsterers busy getting ready the apartments." so that, with such rumor in the diplomatic circles, the gazetteer and outer world was full of speculation upon peace; and friedrich had lively hopes of it, and had been hoping three months before, as we transiently saw, though again it came to nothing. all to nothing; and is not, in itself, worth the least attention from us here,--a poor extinct fact, loud in those months and filling the whole world, now silent and extinct to everybody,--except, indeed, that it offers physiognomic traits here and there of a certain king, and of those about him. for which reason we will dwell on it a few minutes longer. nobody, in that winter - , could guess where, or from whom, this big world-interesting peace-negotiation had its birth; as everybody now can, when nobody now is curious on the question! at sagan, in september last, we all saw the small private source of it, its first outspurt into daylight; and read friedrich's answers to voltaire and the noble duchess on it:--for the sake of which two private correspondents, and of friedrich's relation to them, possibly a few more excerpts may still have a kind of interest, now when the thing corresponded on has ceased to have any. to the duchess, a noble-minded lady, beautifully zealous to help if she could, by whose hand these multifarious peace-papers have to pass, this is always friedrich's fine style in transmitting them. out of many specimens, following that of sagan which we gave, here are the next three:-- friedrich to the duchess of sachsen-gotha (three other letters on the "peace"). . "wilsdruf, st november, [day after maxen, surrender was this morning--of which he has not heard]. "madam,--nothing but your generosities and your indulgence could justify my incongruity [incongruite, in troubling you with the enclosed]. you will have it, madam, that i shall still farther abuse those bounties, which are so precious to me: at least remember that it is by your order, if i forward through your hand this letter, which does not merit such honor. "chance, which so insolently mocks the projects of men, and delights to build up and then pull down, has led us about, thus far,--to the end of the campaign [not quite ended yet, if we knew]. the austrians are girt in by the elbe on this side; i have had two important magazines of theirs in bohemia destroyed [kleist's doing]. there have been some bits of fighting (affaires), that have turned entirely to our advantage:--so that i am in hopes of forcing m. daun to repass the elbe, to abandon dresden, and to take the road for zittau and bohemia. "i talk to you, madam, of what i am surrounded with; of what, being in your neighborhood, may perhaps have gained your attention. i could go to much greater length, if my heart dared to explain itself on the sentiments of admiration, gratitude and esteem, with which i am,--madam my cousin,--your most faithful cousin, friend and servant,--f." . "freyberg, th december, . "madam,--you spoil me so by your indulgence, you so accustom me to have obligations to you, that i reproach myself a hundred times with this presumption. certainly i should not continue to enclose these letters to your care, had not i the hope that perhaps the correspondence may be of some use to england, and even to europe,--for without doubt peace is the desirable, the natural and happy state for all nations. it is to accelerate peace, madam, that i abuse your generosities. this motive excuses me to myself for the incongruity of my procedures. "the goodness you have to take interest in my situation obliges me to give you some account of it. we have undergone all sorts of misfortune here [maxen, what not], at the moment we were least expecting them. nevertheless, there remains to us courage and hope; here are auxiliaries [hereditary prince and , ] on the point of arriving; there is reason to think that the end of our campaign will be less frightful than seemed likely three weeks ago. may you, madam, enjoy all the happiness that i wish you. may all the world become acquainted with your virtues, imitate them, and admire you as i do. may you be persuaded that...--f." . "freyberg, th february, . "madam,--it is to my great regret that i importune your highness so often with my letters. your bounties, madam, have spoiled me;--it will teach you to be more chary of them to others. i regard you as an estimable friend, to whose friendship i have recourse in straits. the question is still peace, madam; and were not the object of my importunities so beautiful, madam, i should be inexcusable."--goes then into practical considerations, about "cocceji" (king's aide-de-camp, once keith's, who carries this letter), about a "herr von edelsheim," a "bailli de froulay", and the possible "conditions of peace,"--not of consequence to us just now. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xviii. , , . correspondence on this subject lasts from d september, , to th may, : ib. pp. - . in that final letter of th may is the phrase, hardly worth restoring to its real ownership, though the context considerably redeems it there,--"the prejudice i can't get rid of, that, in war, dieu est pour les gros escadrons."] as to voltaire again, and the new friedrich-voltaire style of correspondence, something more of detail will be requisite. ever since the black days of , when poor wilhelmina, with rossbach and leuthen still hidden from her in a future gloomy as death, desperately brought voltaire to bear upon cardinal tencin in this matter, without success, there has been a kind of regular corresponding between voltaire and friedrich; characteristic on both sides. a pair of lovers hopelessly estranged and divorced; and yet, in a sense, unique and priceless to one another. the past, full of heavenly radiances, which issued, alas, in flames and sooty conflagrations as of erebus,--let us forget it, and be taught by it! the past is painful, and has been too didactic to some of us: but here still is the present with its future; better than blank nothing. pleasant to hear the sound of that divine voice of my loved one, were it only in commonplace remarks on the weather,--perhaps intermixed with secret gibings on myself:--let us hear it while we can, amid those world-wide crashing discords and piping whirlwinds of war. friedrich sends his new verses or light proses, which he is ever and anon throwing off; voltaire sends his, mostly in print, and of more elaborate turn: they talk on matters that are passing round them, round this king, the centre of them,--friedrich usually in a rather swaggering way (lest his correspondent think of blabbing), and always with something of banter audible in him;--as has voltaire too, but in a finer treble tone, being always female in this pretty duet of parted lovers. it rarely comes to any scolding between them; but there is or can be nothing of cordiality. nothing, except in the mutual admiration, which one perceives to be sincere on both sides; and also, in the mutual practical estrangement: "nothing more of you,--especially of you, madam,--as a practical domestic article!" after long reading, with historical views, in this final section of the friedrich-voltaire correspondence, at first so barren otherwise and of little entertainment, one finds that this too, when once you can "read" it (that is to say, when the scene and its details are visible to you), becomes highly dramatic, shakspearean-comic or more, for this is nature's self, who far excels even shakspeare;--and that the inextricably dark condition of these letters is a real loss to the ingenuous reader, and especially to the student of friedrich. among the frequently recurring topics, one that oftenest turns up on voltaire's side is that of peace: oh, if your majesty would but make peace! does it depend on me? thinks friedrich always; and is, at last, once provoked to say so:-- friedrich to voltaire. "reich-hennersdorf, d july, , [shortly before schmottseifen, while waiting daun's slow movements]. "asking me for peace: there is a bitter joke!--[in verse, this; flings off a handful of crackers on the bien-aime, whose chamberlain you are, on the hongroise qui'il adore, on the russian que j'abhorre;--then continues in prose]: "it is to him," the well-beloved louis, "that you must address yourself, or to his amboise in petticoats [his pompadour, acting the cardinal-premier on this occasion]. but these people have their heads filled with ambitious projects: these people are the difficulty; they wish to be the sovereign arbiters of sovereigns;--and that is what persons of my way of thinking will by no means put up with. i love peace quite as much as you could wish; but i want it good, solid and honorable. socrates or plato would have thought as i do on this subject, had they found themselves placed in the accursed position which is now mine in the world. "think you there is any pleasure in leading this dog of a life [chienne, she-dog]? in seeing and causing the butchery of people you know nothing of; in losing daily those you do know and love; in seeing perpetually your reputation exposed to the caprices of chance; in passing year after year in disquietudes and apprehensions; in risking, without end, your life and your fortune? "i know right well the value of tranquillity, the sweets of society, the charms of life; and i love to be happy, as much as anybody whatever. but much as i desire these blessings, i will not purchase them by basenesses and infamies. philosophy enjoins us to do our duty; faithfully to serve our country, at the price of our blood, of our repose, and of every sacrifice that can be required of us. the illustrious zadig went through a good many adventures which were not to his taste, candide the like; and nevertheless took their misfortune in patience. what finer example to follow than that of those heroes? "take my word, our 'curt jackets,' as you call them [habits ecourtes, peculiar to the prussian soldier at that time], are as good as your red heels, as the hungarian pelisses, and the green frocks of the roxelans [russians]. we are actually on the heels of the latter [at least poor dohna is, and poor dictator wedell will be, not with the effect anticipated!]--who by their stupidities give us fine chance. you will see i shall get out of the scrape this year too, and deliver myself both from the greens and the dirty-whites [austrian color of coat]. my neighbor of the sacred hat,--i think, in spite of holy father's benediction, the holy ghost must have inspired him the reverse way; he seems to have a great deal of lead in his bottom.... f." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxiii. .] voltaire in answer. "the delices," guessed to be some time in "august, ." "in whatever state you are, it is very certain that you are a great man. it is not to weary your majesty that i now write; it is to confess myself,--on condition you will give me absolution! i have betrayed you; that is the fact"--(really guilty this time, and have shown something of your writing; as your majesty, oh how unjustly, is often suspecting that i do, and with mischievous intention, instead of good, ah, sire!)--in fact, i have received that fine "marcus-aurelius" letter (letter we have just read); exquisite piece, though with biting "juvenal" qualities in it too; and have shown it, keeping back the biting parts, to a beautiful gillflirt of the court, minaudiere (who seems to be a mistress of choiseul's), who is here attending tissot for her health: minaudiere charmed with it; insists on my sending to choiseul, "he admires the king of prussia, as he does all nobleness and genius; send it!" and i did so;--and look here, what an answer from choiseul (answer lost): and may it not have a fine effect, and perhaps bring peace--oh, forgive me, sire. but read that note of the great man. "try if you can decipher his writing. one may have very honest sentiments, and a great deal of esprit, and yet write like a cat.... "sire, there was once a lion and a mouse (rat); the mouse fell in love with the lion, and went to pay him court. the lion, tired of it, gave him a little scrape with his paw. the mouse withdrew into his mouse-hole (souriciere); but he still loved the lion; and seeing one day a net they were spreading out to catch the lion and kill him, he gnawed asunder one mesh of it. sire, the mouse kisses very humbly your beautiful claws, in all submissiveness:--he will never die between two capuchins, as, at bale, the mastiff (dogue) of st. malo has done [ th july last]. he would have wished to die beside his lion. believe that the mouse was more attached than the mastiff."--v. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxiii. , .] to which we saw the answer, pair of answers, at sagan, in september last. this note from choiseul, conveyed by voltaire, appears to have been the trifling well-spring from which all those wide-spread waters of negotiation flowed. pitt, when applied to, on the strength of friedrich's hopes from this small document of choiseul's, was of course ready, "how welcome every chance of a just peace!" and agreed to the joint declaration at the hague; and took what farther trouble i know not,--probably less sanguine of success than friedrich. friedrich was ardently industrious in the affair; had a great deal of devising and directing on it, a great deal of corresponding with voltaire and the duchess, only small fractions of which are now left. he searched out, or the duchess of sachsen-gotha did it for him, a proper secret messenger for paris: secret messenger, one baron von edelsheim, properly veiled, was to consult a certain bailli de froulay, a friend of friedrich's in paris;--which loyal-hearted bailli did accordingly endeavor there; but made out nothing. only much vague talking; part of it, or most of it, subdolous on choiseul's side. pitt would hear of no peace which did not include prussia as well as england: some said this was the cause of failure;--the real cause was that choiseul never had any serious intention of succeeding. light choiseul, a clever man, but an unwise, of the sort called "dashing," had entertained the matter merely in the optative form,--and when it came nearer, wished to use it for making mischief between pitt and friedrich, and for worming out edelsheim's secrets, if he had any,--for which reason he finally threw edelsheim into the bastille for a few days. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ v. - , detailed account of the affair.] about the end of march i guess it to have been that choiseul, by way of worming out poor edelsheim's secrets, flung him into the bastille for a day or two. already in december foregoing, we have seen choiseul's black-artist busy upon the stolen edition of friedrich's verses. a choiseul full of intrigues; adroit enough, ambitious enough; restlessly industrious in making mischief, if there were nothing else to be made; who greatly disgusted friedrich, now and afterwards. and this was what the grand voltaire pacification came to, though it filled the world with temporary noise, and was so interesting to voltaire and another. what a heart-affecting generosity, humility and dulcet pathos in that of the poor mouse gnawing asunder a mesh of the lion's net! there is a good deal of that throughout, on the voltaire side,--that is to say, while writing to friedrich. but while writing of him, to third parties, sometimes almost simultaneously, the contrast of styles is not a little startling; and the beautiful affectionately chirping mouse is seen suddenly to be an injured wild-cat with its fur up. all readers of voltaire are aware of this; and how voltaire handles his "luc" (mysterious nickname for king friedrich ), when luc's back is turned. for alas, there is no man or thing but has its wrong side too; least of all, a voltaire,--doing treble voice withal, if you consider it, in such a duet of estranged lovers! suppose we give these few specimens,--treble mostly, and a few of bass as well,--to illustrate the nature of this duet, and of the noises that went on round it, in a war-convulsed world? and first of all, concerning the enigma "what is luc?" what the luc in voltaire is? shocking explanations have been hit upon: but wagniere (wagner, an intelligent swiss man), voltaire's old secretary, gives this plain reading of the riddle: "m. de voltaire had, at the delices [near by ferney, till the chateau got built], a big ape, of excessively mischievous turn; who used to throw stones at the passers-by, and sometimes would attack with its teeth friend or foe alike. one day it thrice over bit m. de voltaire's own leg. he had called it luc (luke); and in conversation with select friends, as also in letters to such, he sometimes designated the king of prussia by that nickname: 'he is like my luc here; bites whoever caresses him!'--in m. de voltaire, having still on his heart the frankfurt outrage, wrote curious memoires [ah, yes, vie privee]; and afterwards wished to burn them; but a copy had been stolen from him in ,"--and they still afflict the poor world. to the same effect speaks johannes von muller: "voltaire had an ape called luc; and the spiteful man, in thus naming the king, meant to stigmatize him as the mere ape of greater men; as one without any greatness of his own."--no; luc was mischievous, flung stones after passengers; had, according to clogenson, "bitten voltaire himself, while being caressed by him;" that was the analogy in voltaire's mind. preuss says, this nickname first occurs " th december, ." suppose th december to have been the day of getting one's leg bitten thrice over; and that, in bed next morning,--stiff, smarting, fretful against the sad ape-tricks and offences of this life,--before getting up to one's works and correspondences, the angry similitude had shot, slightly fulgurous and consolatory, athwart the gloom of one's mood? [longchamp et wagniere _memoires,_ i. ; johannes von muller, _works _ ( mo, stuttgard, ), xxxi. (letters to his brother, no, , "july, "); clogenson's note, in _oeuvres de voltaire,_ lxxvii. ; preuss, ii. .] that will account for luc. many of the voltaire-friedrich letters are lost; and the remainder lie in sad disorder in all the editions, their sequence unintelligible without lengthy explanation. so that the following snatches cannot well be arranged here in the way of choral strophe and antistrophe, as would have been desirable. we shall have to group them loosely under heads; with less respect to date than to subject-matter, and to the reader's convenience for understanding them. voltaire on friedrich, to different third-parties, during this war. to d'argental (has not yet heard of leuthen, which happened five days before).... "i have tasted the vengeance of consoling the king of prussia, and that is enough for me. he goes beating on the one side, and getting beaten on the other: except for another miracle [like rossbach], he will be ruined. better have really been a philosopher, as he pretended to be." [_oeuvres de voltaire,_ lxvii. ("the delices, th december, ").] to the reverend comte de bernis (outwardly still our flourishing prime-minister, by grace of pompadour, but soon to be extinguished under a red hat. date is six days before zorndorf).... "i cannot imagine how some people have gone into suspecting that my heart might have the weakness to lean a little towards whom you know, towards my ingrate that was! one is bound to have politeness; but one has memory as well;--and one is attached, as warmly as superfluously, to the good cause, which it belongs only to you to defend. certain it is, poor i am not like the three-fourths of the germans in these days [since rossbach, above all]! i have everywhere seen ladies'-fans with the prussian eagle painted on them, eating the fleur-de-lis; the hanover horse giving a kick to m. de richelieu's bottom; a courier carrying a bottle of queen-of-hungary water to madame de pompadour. my nieces shall certainly not have that fashion of fans, at my poor little delices, whither i am just returning." [ib. lxxvii. ("soleure, th august, ").] to madame d'argental (on occasion of minden: kunersdorf three days ago, but not yet heard of).... "truly, madame, when m. de contades leads to the butchery all the descendants of our ancient chevaliers, and sets them to attack eighty pieces of cannon [not in the least, if you knew it; the reverse, if you knew it],--as don quixote did the windmills! this horrible day pierces my soul. i am french to excess, especially since those new favors [not worth mentioning here], which i owe to my divine angels and to m. le duc de choiseul. "luc--you know who luc is [as do we]--is probably giving battle to the austrians and russians [kunersdorf, th; three days ago, did it, and was beaten to your mind], at the moment while i have the honor of writing to you; at least, he told me such was his royal intention. if they beat him, as may happen, what a shame for us to have been beaten by the duke of brunswick! i wish you knew this duke [as i have done; a duke of no esprit, no gift of tongue, in fact no talent at all that i could discern], you would be much astonished; and would say, 'the people whom he beats must be great blockheads.' the truth of the fact is, that all these troops are better disciplined than ours:" [_oeuvres de voltaire,_ lxxviii, , ("delices, th august, ").]--yes indeed, my esteemed voltaire; and also, perhaps, that esprit, or gift of tongue, is not the sole gift for battles and campaigns?-- to d'argental (seventh day after kunersdorf: "mouse upon lion's net" nearly contemporaneous). "at last, then, i think my russians must be near great glogau [might have been, one thinks, after such a kunersdorf; did not start for a month yet; never could get very near at all]. who would have thought that barberina [mackenzie's dancer once; sent to glogau, cocceji and she, when their marriage became public] was going to be besieged by the russians, and in glogau: o destiny!-- "i don't love luc, far from it: i never will pardon him his infamous procedure with my niece [at frankfurt that time]; nor the face he has to write me flattering things twice a month; without having ever repaired his wrongs. i desire much his entire humiliation, the chastisement of the sinner; whether his eternal damnation. i don't quite know." [ib. lxxviii. (" th august, ").] (hear, hear!) to the same (a month after maxen: "peace" negotiation very lively). ... "meanwhile, if luc could be punished before this happy peace! if, by this last stroke of general beck [tussle with dierecke at meissen, th december, capture of dierecke and , ; stroke not of an overwhelming nature, but let us be thankful for our mercies], which has opened the road from the lausitz to berlin [alas, not in the least], some haddick could pay berlin a visit again! you see, in tragedy i wish always to have crime punished. "there is talk of a great battle fought the th [not a word of truth in it] between luc and him of the consecrated hat: said to have been very murderous. i interest myself very much in this piece" now playing under the sun. "whenever the austrians have any advantage, kaunitz says to madame de bentinck [litigant wandering lady, known to me at berlin and elsewhere], 'write that to our friend voltaire.' whenever luc has the least success, he tells me, 'i have battered the oppressors of mankind. dear angel, in these horrors i am the only one that has room to laugh:--and yet i don't laugh either; owing to the culs-noirs [base crockery; one's dinner plate all vanished [supra, p. .]], to the annuities, lotteries, and to pondicherry,--for i am always afraid about that latter!" (going, that, for certain; going, gone, and your east indies along with it!) [_oeuvres de voltaire,_ lxxviii. (" d december, ").] to perpetual secretary formey (in forwarding a "letter left with me"). "health and peace, monsieur; and be secretaire eternel. your king is always a man unique, astonishing, inimitable. he makes charming verses, in times when another could not write a line of prose; he deserves to be happy: but will he be so? and if not, what becomes of you? for my own part, i will not die between two capuchins. hardly worth while, exalting one's soul for such a future as that. what a stupid and detestable farce this world is!" [ib. lxxviii. (from souvenirs d'un citoyen, i. ), " th january ."] to d'argental ("peace" negotiations still at their briskest),... "but, my dear angel, you will see on tuesday the great man who has turned my head (dont je suis fou), m. le duc de choiseul. the letters he honors me with enchant me. god will bless him, don't doubt it,"--after all! "we have at pondicherry a lally, a devil of an irish spirit,--who will cost me, sooner or later, above , livres annually [have rents in our india company, say , pounds a year, as my angels know], which used to be the readiest item of my pittance. but m. le duc de choiseul will triumph over luc in one way or other; then what joy! i suppose he shows you my impertinent reveries. do you know, luc is so mad, that i don't despair of bringing him to reason [persuading him to give up cleve, and knuckle as he should, in this peace affair]. that were what i should call the true comedy! i should like to have your advices on the conduct of that dramatic piece." [_oeuvres de voltaire,_ lxxviii. ("delices, th february, ").] the late "mouse" gnawing its mesh of net, what a subtle and mighty hunter has it grown! this of cleve, however, and of knuckling, would not do. hear the stiff answer that comes: "'conditions of peace,' do you call them? the people that propose such can have no wish to see peace. what a logic theirs! 'i might yield the country of cleve, because the inhabitants are stupid'! what would your ministers say if one required the province of champagne from them, because the proverb says, ninety-nine sheep and one champagner make a hundred head of cattle?" [friedrich to voltaire, "freyberg, d april, :" _oeuvres de frederic,_ xxiii. , .] again to d'argental (three or four months after; luc having proved obstinate, and still unsuccessful).... "i conjure you make use of all your eloquence to tell him [the supreme duc de choiseul], that if luc misgo, it will be no misfortune to france. that brandenburg will always remain an electorate; that it is good there be no elector in it strong enough to do without the protection of our king; and that all the princes of the empire will always have recourse to that august protection most christian majesty's] contra l'aquila grifagna,--were the prussian kingship but abolished. nota bene, if luc were discomfited this year, we should have peace next winter." [_oeuvres de voltaire,_ lxxix. ("july, ").] to supreme choiseul (a year later).... "he has been a bad man, this luc; and now, if one were to bet,--by the law of probability it would be to that luc will go to pot (sera perdu), with his rhymings and his banterings, and his injustices and politics, all as bad as himself." [ib. lxxx. ("chateau de ferney, th july, ").] voltaire on surrounding objects, chiefly on maupertuis, and the battles. to d'alembert (in the rossbach-leuthen interval: on the battle of breslau, d november, ; called by the austrians "a malplaquet," and believed by voltaire to be a malplaquet and more). ... "the austrians do avenge us, and humble us [us, and our miserable rossbachs], in a terrible manner. thirteen attacks on the prussian intrenchments, lasted six hours; never was victory bloodier, or more horribly beautiful [in the brain of certain men]. we pretty french fellows, we are more expeditious, our job is done in five minutes. the king of prussia is always writing me verses, now like a desperado, now like a hero; and as for me, i try to live like a philosopher in my hermitage. he has obtained what he always wished: to beat the french, to be admired by them, to mock them; but the austrians are mocking him in a very serious way. our shame of november th has given him glory; and with such glory, which is but transient and dearly bought, he must content himself. he will lose his own countries, with those he has seized, unless the french again discover [which they will] the secret of losing all their armies, as they did in ." [ib. lxxvii. , ("delices, th december, ," day after leuthen).] to clairaut, the mathematician (maupertuis lately dead). an excellent treatise, this you have sent me, monsieur! "your war with the geometers on the subject of this comet appears to me like a war of the gods in olympus, while on earth there is going on a fight of dogs and cats.... would to heaven our friend moreau-maupertuis had cultivated his art like you! that he had predicted comets, instead of exalting his soul to predict the future; of dissecting the brains of giants to know the nature of the soul; of japanning people with pitch to cure them of every malady; of persecuting konig; and of dying between two capuchins" (dead three weeks ago, on those terms, poor soul)! [_oeuvres de voltaire,_ lxxviii. ("delices, th august, ").] to d'alembert (a week later).... "what say you of maupertuis dying between two capuchins! he was ill, this long while, of a repletion of pride; but i had not reckoned him either a hypocrite or an imbecile. i don't advise you ever to go and fill his place at berlin; you would repent that. i am astolpho warning roger (ruggiero) not to trust himself to the enchantress alcina; but roger was unadvisable." [ib. lxxviii. ("delices, th august, ").] to the same (two years later: luc, on certain grounds, may as well be saved). "with regard to luc, though i have my just causes of anger against him, i own to you, in my quality of frenchman and thinking being, i am glad that a certain most orthodox house has not swallowed germany, and that the jesuits are not confessing in berlin. over towards the danube superstition is very powerful.... the infame--you are well aware that i speak of superstition only; for as to the christian religion, i respect and love it, like you. courage, brethren! preach with force, and write with address: god will bless you.--protect, you my brother, the widow calas all you can! she is a poor weak-minded huguenot, but her husband was the victim of the white penitents. it is the concern of human nature that the fanatics of toulouse be confounded." (the case of calas, second act of it, getting on the scene: a case still memorable to everybody. stupendous bit of french judicature; and voltaire's noblest outburst, into mere transcendent blaze of pity, virtuous wrath, and determination to bring rescue and help against the whole world.) [_oeuvres de voltaire,_ lxxviii. , ("ferney, th november, ").] friedrich to voltaire, before and during these peace negotiations. at schmottseifen, five days before zullichau, ten days before that hunt of loudon and haddick (voltaire, under rebuke for indiscretion, has been whimpering a little. my discreet niece burnt those last verses, sire; no danger there, at least! truculent bishop something-ac tried to attack your majesty; but was done for by a certain person). friedrich answers: "in truth, you are a singular creature. when i think of scolding you, you say two words, and the reproach expires. impossible to scold you, even when you deserve it.... "as to your niece, let her burn me or roast me, i care little. nor are you to think me so sensitive to what your bishops in ic or in ac may say of me. i have the lot of all actors who play in public; applauded by some, despised by others. one must prepare oneself for satires, for calumnies, for a multitude of lies, which will be sent abroad into currency against one: but need that trouble my tranquillity? i go my road; i do nothing against the interior voice of my conscience; and i concern myself very little in what way my actions paint themselves in the brain of beings, not always very thinking, with two legs and without feathers." ["schmottseifen, th july, ;" _oeuvres de frederic,_ xxiii. , .] at wilsdruf, just before maxen (an exultant exuberant curious letter; too long for insertion,--part of it given above).... "for your tragedy of socrate, thanks. at paris they are going to burn it, the wretched fools,--not aware that absurd fanaticism is their dominant vice. better burn the dose of medicine, however, than the useful doctor. i, can i join myself to that set? if i bite you, as you complain, it is without my knowledge. but i am surrounded with enemies, one hitting me, another pricking me, another daubing me with mud;--patience at last yields, and one flies abroad into a general rage, too indiscriminate perhaps." you talk of my verses on rossbach (my adieu to the hoopers on finding their bridge burnt [supra, p. .]). "this campaign i have had no beatific vision, in the style of moses. the barbarous cossacks and tartars, infamous to look at on any side, have burnt and ravaged countries, and committed atrocious inhumanities. this is all i saw of them. such melancholy spectacles don't tend to raise one's spirits. [breaks off into metre:] la fortune inconstante et fiere, fortune inconstant and proud. does not treat her suitors always in an equal manner. those fools called heroes, who run the country, ces fous nommes heros, et qui courent les champs, couverts de sang et de poussiere, voltaire, n'ont pas tous les ans la faceur de voir le derriere de leurs ennemis insolents. can't expect that pleasure every year"!... maupertuis, say you? "don't trouble the ashes of the dead; let the grave at least put an end to your unjust hatreds. reflect that even kings make peace after long battling; cannot you ever make it? i think you would be capable, like orpheus, of descending to hell, not to soften pluto and bring back your beautiful emilie, but to pursue into that abode of woe an enemy whom your wrath has only too much persecuted in the world: for shame!" [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxiii. - ("wilsdruf, th november, ").]--and rebukes him, more than once elsewhere, in very serious terms. in winter-quarters, on peace and the stolen edition. (starts in verse, which we abridge:) with how many laurels you have covered yourself in all the fields of literature! one laurel yet is wanting to the brow of voltaire. if, as the crown of so many perfect works, he could by a skilful manoeuvre bring back peace, i, and europe with me, would think that his masterpiece! [takes to prose:] "this is my thought and all europe's. virgil made as fine verses as you; but he never made a peace. it will be a distinction you will have over all your brethren of parnassus, if you succeed. "i know not who has betrayed me, and thought of printing [the edition;--not you, surely!] a pack of rhapsodies which were good enough to amuse myself, but were never meant for publication. after all, i am so used to treacheries and bad manoeuvres,"--what matters this insignificant one? "i know not who the bredow is [whom you speak of having met]; but he has told you true. the sword and death have made frightful ravages among us. and the worst is, we are not yet at the end of the tragedy. you may judge what effect these cruel shocks made on me. i wrap myself in my stoicism, the best i can. flesh and blood revolt against such tyrannous command; but it must be followed. if you saw me, you would scarcely know me again: i am old, broken, gray-headed, wrinkled; i am losing my teeth and my gayety: if this go on, there will be nothing of me left, but the mania of making verses, and an inviolable attachment to my duties and to the few virtuous men whom i know." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxiii. ("freyberg, th feb. ").] in winter-quarters, a month later (comes still on "peace" again). ... "i will have you paid that bit of debt [perhaps of postage or the like], that louis of the mill (louis du moulin," at fontenoy, who got upon a windmill with his dauphin, and caught that nickname from the common men) "may have wherewithal to make war on me. add tenth-penny tax to your tax of twentieth-penny; impose new capitations, make titular offices to get money; do, in a word, whatever you like. in spite of all your efforts, you will not get a peace signed by my hands, except on conditions honorable to my nation. your people, blown up with self-conceit and folly, may depend on these words. adieu, live happy; and while you make all your efforts to destroy prussia, think that nobody has less deserved it than i, either of you or of your french." [ib. xxiii. ("freyberg, th march, ").] still in winter-quarters (on "peace" still; but begins with "maupertuis," which is all we will give). "what rage animates you against maupertuis? you accuse him of having published that furtive edition. know that his copy, well sealed by him, arrived here after his death, and that he was incapable of such an indiscretion. [breaks into verse:] leave in peace the cold ashes of maupertuis: truth can defend him, and will. his soul was faithful and noble: he pardoned you that scandalous akakia (ce vil libelle que votre fureur criminelle prit soin chez moi de griffoner); he did:-- and you? shame on such delirium as voltaire's! what, this beautiful, what, this grand genius, whom i admired with transport, soils himself with calumny, and is ferocious on the dead? flocking together, in the air uttering cries of joy, vile ravens pounce down upon sepulchres, and make their prey of corpses:"-- blush, repent, alas! these specimens will suffice. "the king of prussia?" voltaire would sometimes say: "he is as potent and as malignant as the devil; but he is also as unhappy, not knowing friendship,"--having such a chance, too, with some of us! friedrich has sent lord marischal to spain: other fond hopes of friedrich's. in the beginning of this year, , earl marischal had been called out of his neufchatel stagnancy, and launched into the diplomatic field again; sent on mission into spain, namely. the case was this: ferdinand vi. of spain (he who would not pay friedrich the old spanish debt, but sent him merino rams, and a jar of queen-dowager snuff) had fallen into one of his gloomy fits, and was thought to be dying;--did, in fact, die, in a state nearly mad, on the th august following. by treaty of aix-la-chapelle, and by all manner of treaties, carlos of naples, his half-brother (termagant's baby carlos, whom we all knew), was to succeed him in spain; don philip, the next brother, now of parma and piacenza, was to follow as king in naples,--ceding those two litigious duchies to austria, after all. friedrich, vividly awake to every chance, foresaw, in case of such disjunctures in italy, good likelihood of quarrel there. and has despatched the experienced old marischal to be on the ground, and have his eyes open. marischal knows spain very well; and has often said, "he left a dear old friend there, the sun." marischal was under way, about new-year's time; but lingered by the road, waiting how ferdinand would turn,--and having withal an important business of his own, as he sauntered on. did not arrive, i think, till summer was at hand, and his dear old friend coming out in vigor. august th, , ferdinand died; and the same day carlos became king of spain. but, instead of giving naples to don philip, carlos gave it to a junior son of his own; and left poor philip to content himself with parma and piacenza, as heretofore. clear against the rights of austria; treaty of aix-la-chapelle is perfectly explicit on that point! will not austria vindicate its claim? politicians say, austria might have recovered not only parma and piacenza, but the kingdom of naples itself,--no france at present able to hinder it, no spain ever able. but austria, contrary to expectation, would not: a country tenacious enough of its rights, real and imaginary; greedy enough of italy, but of silesia much more! the matter was deliberated in council at vienna; but the result was magnanimously, no. "finish this friedrich first; finish this silesia. nothing else till that!" the marischal's legationary function, therefore, proved a sinecure; no carlos needing anti-austrian assistance from friedrich or another; austria magnanimously having let him alone. doubtless a considerable disappointment to friedrich. industrious friedrich had tried, on the other side of this affair, whether the king of sardinia, once an adventurous fighting kind of man, could not be stirred up, having interests involved? but no; he too, grown old, devotional, apprehensive, held by his rosaries, and answered, no. here is again a hope reasonable to look at, but which proves fallacious. marischal continued in spain, corresponding, sending news (the prussian archives alone know what), for nearly a couple of years. [returned "april, " (friedrich's letter to him, " th april, :" in _oeuvres de frederic,_ xx. ).] his embassy had one effect, which is of interest to us here. on his way out, he had gone by london, with a view of getting legal absolution for his jacobitism,--so far, at least, as to be able to inherit the earldom of kintore, which is likely to fall vacant soon. by blood it is his, were the jacobite incapacities withdrawn. kintore is a cadet branch of the keiths; "john, younger son of william sixth lord marischal," was the first kintore. william sixth's younger son, yes;--and william's father, a man always venerable to me, had (a.d. ) founded marischal college, aberdeen,--where, for a few, in those stern granite countries, the diviner pursuits are still possible (thank god and this keith) on frugal oatmeal. marischal-college keith, or fifth lord marischal, was grandfather's grandfather of our potsdam friend, who is tenth and last. [douglas's _scotch peerage,_ pp. et seq., et seq.] honor to the brave and noble, now fallen silent under foot not of the nobler! in a word, the fourth kintore was about dying childless; and marischal had come by london on that heritage business. he carried, naturally, the best recommendations. britannic majesty, pitt and everybody met him with welcome and furtherance; what he wished was done, and in such a style of promptness and cordiality, pitt pushing it through, as quite gained the heart of old marischal. and it is not doubted, though particulars have not been published, that he sent important spanish notices to pitt, in these years;-and especially informed him that king carlos and the french bourbon had signed a family compact ( th august, ), or solemn covenant, to stand by one another as brothers. which was thenceforth, to pitt privately, an important fact, as perhaps we shall see; though to other men it was still only a painful rumor and dubiety. whether the old marischal informed him, that king carlos hated the english; that he never had, in his royal mind, forgiven that insult of commodore martin's (watch laid on the table, in the bay of naples, long ago), i do not know; but that also was a fact. a diligent, indignant kind of man, this carlos, i am told; by no means an undeserving king of spain, though his portraits declare him an ugly: we will leave him in the discreet marischal's hands, with the dear old friend shining equally on both. singular to see how, in so veracious an intellect as friedrich's, so many fallacies of hope are constantly entertained. war in italy, on quarrel with king carlos; peace with france and the pompadour, by help of edelsheim and the bailli de froulay; peace with russia and the infame catin, by help of english briberies (friedrich sent an agent this winter with plenty of english guineas, but he got no farther than the frontier, not allowed even to try): sometimes, as again this winter, it is hope of denmark joining him (in alarm against the russian views on holstein; but that, too, comes to nothing); above all, there is perennially, budding out yearly, the brighter after every disappointment, a hope in the grand turk and his adherencies. grand turk, or failing him, the cham of tartary,--for certain, some of these will be got to fasten on the heels of austria, of russia; and create a favorable diversion? friedrich took an immense deal of trouble about this latter hope. it is almost pathetic to see with what a fond tenacity he clings to it; and hopes it over again, every new spring and summer. [preuss, ii. et seq., &c.; schoning, ii. iii. passim.] the hope that an infame catin might die some day (for she is now deep in chaotic ailments, deepish even in brandy) seems never to have struck him; at least there is nowhere any articulate hint of it,--the eagle-flight of one's imagination soaring far above such a pettiness! hope is very beautiful; and even fallacious hope, in such a friedrich. the one hope that did not deceive him, was hope in his own best exertion to the very death; and no fallacy ever for a moment slackened him in that. stand to thyself: in the wide domain of imagination, there is no other certainty of help. no other certainty;--and yet who knows through what pettinesses heaven may send help! chapter ix.--preliminaries to a fifth campaign. it was april th before friedrich quitted freyberg, and took camp; not till the middle of june that anything of serious movement came. much discouragement prevails in his army, we hear: and indeed, it must be owned, the horoscope of these campaigns grows yearly darker. only friedrich himself must not be discouraged! nor is;--though there seldom lay ahead of any man a more dangerous-looking year than this that is now dimly shaping itself to friedrich. his fortune seems to have quitted him; his enemies are more confident than ever. this year, it seems, they have bethought them of a new device against him. "we have million population," count they; "he has hardly ; in the end, he must run out of men! let us cease exchanging prisoners with him." at jagerndorf, in april, (just before our march to olmutz), there had been exchange; not without haggles; but this was the last on austria's part. cartel of the usual kind, values punctually settled: a field-marshal is worth , common men, or , pounds; colonel worth men, or pounds; common man is worth s. sterling, not a high figure. [archenholtz, ii. .] the russians haggled still more, no keeping of them to their word; but they tried it a second time, last year (october, ); and by careful urging and guiding, were got dragged through it, and the prisoners on both sides sent to their colors again. after which, it was a settled line of policy, "no more exchanging or cartelling; we will starve him out in that article!" and had friedrich had nothing but his own millions to go upon, though these contributed liberally, he had in truth been starved out. nor could saxony, with mecklenburg, anhalt, erfurt, and their , men a year, have supplied him,--"had not there," says archenholtz (a man rather fond of superlatives),-- "had not there risen a recruiting system," or crimping system, "the like of which for kind and degree was never seen in the earth before. prisoners, captive soldiers, if at all likely fellows, were by every means persuaded, and even compelled, to take prussian service. compelled, cudgel in hand," says archenholtz (who is too indiscriminating, i can see,--for there were pfalzers, wurtembergers, reichsfolk, who had first been compelled the other way): "not asked if they wished to serve, but dragged to the prussian colors, obliged to swear there, and fight against, their countrymen." say at least, against their countrymen's governors, contumacious serene highnesses of wurtemberg, mecklenburg and the like. wurtemberg, we mentioned lately, had to shoot a good few of his first levy against the protestant champion, before they would march at all!--i am sorry for these poor men; and wish the reich had been what it once was, a veracity and practical reality, not an imaginary entity and hideously contemptible wiggery, as it now is! contemptible, and hideous as well;--setting itself up on that, fundamental mendacity; which is eternally tragical, though little regarded in these days, and which entails mendacities without end on parties concerned!--but, apart from all this, certain it is, "the whole german reich was deluged with secret prussian enlisters. the greater part of these were not actual officers at all, but hungry adventurers, who had been bargained with, and who, for their own profit, allowed themselves every imaginable art to pick up men. head and centre of them was the prussian colonel colignon," one of the free-corps people; "a man formed by nature for this business [what a beautiful man!]--who gave all the others their directions, and taught them by his own example. colignon himself," in winter-time, "travelled about in all manner of costumes and characters; persuading hundreds of people into the prussian service. he not only promised commissions, but gave such,--nominating loose young fellows (laffen), students, merchants' clerks and the like, to lieutenancies and captaincies in the prussian army [about as likely as in the seraphim and cherubim, had they known it]: in the infantry, in the cuirassiers, in the hussars,--it is all one, you have only to choose. the renown of the prussian arms was so universal, and combined with the notion of rich booty, that colignon's commission-manufactory was continually busy. no need to provide marching-money, hand-money [shillings for earnest]; colignon's recruits travelled mostly of will and at their own charge. in franken, in schwaben, in the rhine countries, a dissolute son would rob his father,--as shopmen their masters' tills, and managers their cash-boxes,--and hie off to those magnanimous prussian officials, who gave away companies like kreutzers, and had a value for young fellows of spirit. they hastened to magdeburg with their commissions; where they were received as common recruits, and put by force into the regiments suitable. no use in resisting: the cudgel and the drill-sergeant,"--who doubts it?--"till complete submission. by this and other methods colignon and his helpers are reckoned to have raised for the king, in the course of this war, about , recruits." [archenholtz, ii. .] this year, daun, though his reputation is on the decline lately, is to have the chief command, as usual; the grand army, with saxony for field of conquest, and the reichsfolk to assist, is to be daun's. but, what is reckoned an important improvement, loudon is to have a separate command, and army of his own. loudon, hot of temper, melancholic, shy, is not a man to recommend himself to kriegshofrath people; but no doubt imperial majesty has had her own wise eye on him. his merits are so undeniable; the need of some commander not of the cunctator type is become so very pressing. "army of silesia, , ;" that is to be loudon's, with , russians to co-operate and unite themselves with loudon; and try actually for conquest of silesia, this year; while daun, conquering saxony, keeps the king busy. at petersburg, versailles, vienna, much planning there has been, and arduous consulting: first at petersburg, in time and in importance, where montalembert has again been very urgent in regard to those poor swedish people, and the getting of them turned to some kind of use: "stettin in conjunction with the swedes; oh, listen to reason, and take stettin!" "would not dantzig by ourselves be the advisable thing?" answers soltikof: "dantzig is an important town, and the grand baltic haven; and would be so convenient for our preussen, since we have determined to maintain that fine conquest." so thinks czarish majesty, as well as soltikof, privately, though there are difficulties as to dantzig; and, in fine, except colberg over again, there can be nothing attempted of sieging thereabouts. a siege of colberg, however, there is actually to be: second siege,--if perhaps it will prove luckier than the first was, two years since? naval armament swedish-russian, specific land armament wholly russian, are to do this second siege, at a favorable time; except by wishes, soltikof will not be concerned in it; nor, it is to be hoped, shall we,--in such pressure of haste as is probably ahead for us. "silesia would be the place for sieges!" say the vienna people always; and imperial majesty is very urgent; and tries all methods,--eloquence, flatteries, bribes,--to bring petersburg to that view. which is at last adopted; heartily by czarish majesty, ever ready for revenge on friedrich, the more fatal and the more direct, the better. heartily by her; not so heartily by soltikof and her army people, who know the austrian habits; and privately decide on not picking chestnuts from the fire, while the other party's paws keep idle, and only his jaws are ready. of small-war there is nothing or little to be said; indeed there occurs almost none. roving cossack-parties, under one tottleben, whom we shall hear of otherwise, infest pommern, bickering with the prussian posts there; not ravaging as formerly, tottleben being a civilized kind of man. one of these called at the castle of schwedt, one day; found prince eugen of wurtemberg there (nearly recovered of his kunersdorf wounds), who is a son-in-law of the house, married to a daughter of schwedt;--ancestor of the now russian czars too, had anybody then known it. him these cossacks carried off with them, a march or two; then, taking his bond for a certain ransom, let him go. bond and bondholder being soon after captured by the prussians, eugen paid no ransom; so that to us his adventure is without moment, though it then made some noise among the gazetteers. two other little passages, and only two, we will mention; which have in themselves a kind of memorability. first, that of general czetteritz and the manuscript he lost. of posts across the elbe i find none mentionable here, and believe there is none, except only czetteritz's; who stands at cosdorf, well up towards torgau country, as sentry over torgau and the towns there. on czetteritz there was, in february, an attempt made by the active general beck, whom daun had detached for that object. extremely successful, according to the austrian gazetteers; but in reality amounting to as good as nothing:--surprisal of czetteritz's first vedette, in the dawn of a misty february morning (february st, ); non-surprisal of his second, which did give fire and alarm, whereupon debate; and czetteritz springing into his saddle; retreat of his people to rearward, with loss of officers and prisoners;--but ending in re-advance, with fresh force, a few hours after; [seyfarth, ii. .]--in repulse of beck, in recovery of cosdorf, and a general state of as-you-were in that part. a sputter of post-war, not now worth mentioning at all,--except only for one small circumstance: that in the careering and swift ordering, such as there was, on the rear-guard especially, major-general czetteritz's horse happened to fall; whereby not only was the general taken prisoner, but his quarters got plundered, and in his luggage,--what is the notable circumstance,--there was found a small manuscript, militairische instrukzion fur die generale, such as every prussian general has, and is bound to keep religiously secret.[stands now in _oeuvres de frederic,_ xxviii. et. seq.; was finished (the revisal of it was), by the king, " d april, )" see preuss, i. - ; and (_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxviii. preface, for endless indistinct details about the translations and editions of it. london edition, , calls itself the fifth.] this, carried to daun's head-quarters, was duly prized, copied; and in the course of a year came to print, in many shapes and places; was translated into english, under the title, military instructions by the king of prussia, in (and again, hardly so well, in ); and still languidly circulates among the studious of our soldiers. not a little admired by some of them; and unfortunately nearly all they seem to know of this greatest of modern soldiers. [see, for example, in _life of general sir charles napier, by his brother_ (london, ), iii. and elsewhere,--one of the best judges in the world expressing his joy and admiration on discovery of friedrich; discovery, if you read well, which amounts to these instructions, and no more.] next, about a month after, we have something to report of loudon from silesia, or rather of the enemies he meets there; for it is not a victorious thing. but it means a starting of the campaign by an austrian invasion of silesia; long before sieging time, while all these montalembert-soltikof pleadings and counter-pleadings hang dubious at petersburg, and loudon's "silesian army" is still only in a nascent or theoretic state, and only loudon himself is in a practical one. friedrich has always fouquet at landshut, in charge of the silesian frontier; whose outposts, under goltz as head of these, stretch, by neisse, far eastward, through the hills to utmost mahren; fouquet's own head-quarter being generally landshut, the main gate of the country. fouquet, long since, rooted himself rather firmly into that important post; has a beautiful ring of fortified hills around landshut; battery crossing battery, girdling it with sure destruction, under an expert fouquet,--but would require , men to keep it, instead of , , which is fouquet's allotment. upon whom loudon is fully intending a stroke this year. fouquet, as we know, has strenuously managed to keep ward there for a twelvemonth past; in spite, often enough, of new violent invadings and attemptings (violent, miscellaneous, but intermittent) by the devilles and others;--and always under many difficulties of his own, and vicissitudes in his employment: a fouquet coming and going, waxing and waning, according to the king's necessities, and to the intermittency or constancy of pressures on landshut. under loudon, this year, fouquet will have harder times than ever;--in the end, too hard! but will resist, judge how by the following small sample:-- "besides fouquet and his , ," says my note, "the silesian garrisons are all vigilant, are or ought to be; and there are far eastward of him, for guarding of the jagerndorf-troppau border, some or , , scattered about, under lieutenant-general goltz, in various hill posts,--the chief post of which, goltz's own, is the little town of neustadt, northward of jagerndorf [where we have billeted in the old silesian wars]: goltz's neustadt is the chief; and leobschutz, southwestward of it, under 'general le grand' [once the major grant of kolin battle, if readers remember him, "your majesty and i cannot take the battery ourselves!"] is probably the second in importance. loudon, cantoned along the moravian side of the border, perceives that he can assemble , foot and horse; that the prussians are , plus , ; that silesia can be invaded with advantage, were the weather come. and that, in any kind of weather, goltz and his straggle of posts might be swept into the interior, perhaps picked up and pocketed altogether, if loudon were sharp enough. swept into the interior goltz was; by no means pocketed altogether, as he ought to have been! "march th, , loudon orders general muster hereabouts for the th, everybody to have two days, bread and forage; and warns goltz, as bound in honor: 'excellenz, to-morrow is march th; to-morrow our pleasant time of truce is out,--the more the pity for both of us!' 'yea, my esteemed neighbor excellenz!' answers goltz, with the proper compliments; but judges that his esteemed neighbor is intending mischief almost immediately. goltz instantly sends orders to all his posts: 'you, herr general grant, you at leobschutz, and all the rest of you, make your packages; march without delay; rendezvous at steinau and upper glogau [far different from great-glogau], neisse-ward; swift!' and would have himself gone on the th, but could not,--his poor little bakery not being here, nor wagons for his baggages quite to be collected in a moment,--and it was saturday, th, a.m., that goltz appointed himself to march. "the last time we saw general goltz was on the green of bautzen, above two years ago,--when he delivered that hard message to the king's brother and his party, 'you deserve to be tried by court-martial, and have your heads cut off!' he was of that sad zittau business of the late prince of prussia's,--goltz, winterfeld, ziethen, schmettau and others? winterfeld and the prince are both dead; schmettau is fallen into disaster; goltz is still in good esteem with the king. a stalwart, swift, flinty kind of man, to judge by the portraits of him; considerable obstinacy, of a tacitly intelligent kind, in that steady eye, in that droop of the eyebrows towards the strong cheek-bones; plenty of sleeping fire in lieutenant-general goltz. "his principal force, on this occasion, is one infantry regiment; regiment manteuffel:--readers perhaps recollect that stout pommern regiment, manteuffel of foot, and the little dialogue it had with the king himself, on the eve of leuthen: 'good-night, then, fritz! to-morrow all dead, or else the enemy beaten.' their conduct, i have heard, was very shining at leuthen, where everybody shone; and since then they have been plunging about through the death-element in their old rugged way,--and re-emerge here into definite view again, under lieutenant-general goltz, issuing from the north end of neustadt, in the dim dawn of a cold spring morning, march th, a.m.; weather latterly very wet, as i learn. they intend neisse-way, with their considerable stock of baggage-wagons; a company of dragoons is to help in escorting: party perhaps about , in all. goltz will have his difficulties this day; and has calculated on them. and, indeed, at the first issuing, here they already are. "loudon, with about , horse,--four regiments drawn up here, and by and by with a fifth (happily not with the grenadiers, as he had calculated, who are detained by broken bridges, waters all in flood from the rain),--is waiting for him, at the very environs of neustadt. loudon, by a trumpet, politely invites him to surrender, being so outnumbered; goltz, politely thanking, disregards it, and marches on: loudon escorting, in an ominous way; till, at buchelsdorf, the fifth regiment (best in the austrian service) is seen drawn out across the highway, plainly intimating, no thoroughfare to goltz and pommern. loudon sends a second trumpet: 'surrender prisoners; honorablest terms; keep all your baggage: refuse, and you are cut down every man.' 'you shall yourself hear the answer,' said goltz. goltz leads this second trumpet to the front; and, in pommern dialect, makes known what general loudon's proposal is. the pommerners answer, as one man, a no of such emphasis as i have never heard; in terms which are intensely vernacular, it seems, and which do at this day astonish the foreign mind: 'we will for him something, wir wollen ihm was--' but the powers of translation and even of typography fail; and feeble paraphrase must give it: 'we will for him something ineffable concoct,' of a surprisingly contrary kind! 'wir wollen ihm was' (with ineffable dissyllabic verb governing it)! growled one indignant pommerner; 'and it ran like file-fire along the ranks,' says archenholtz; everybody growling it, and bellowing it, in fierce bass chorus, as the indubitable vote of pommern in those circumstances. "loudon's trumpet withdrew. pommern formed square round its baggage; loudon's , came thundering in, fit to break adamant; but met such a storm of bullets from pommern, they stopped about ten paces short, in considerable amazement, and wheeled back. tried it again, still more amazement; the like a third time; every time in vain. after which, pommern took the road again, with vanguard, rearguard; and had peace for certain miles,--loudon gloomily following, for a new chance. how many times loudon tried again, and ever again, at good places, i forget,--say six times in all. between siebenhufen and steinau, in a dirty defile, the jewel of the road for loudon, who tried his very best there, one of our wagons broke down; the few to rear of it, eighteen wagons and some country carts, had to be left standing. nothing more of pommern was left there or anywhere. near steinau there, loudon gave it up as desperate, and went his way. his loss, they say, was killed, wounded; pommern's was killed, and above left wounded or prisoners. one of the stiffest day's works i have known: some twelve miles of march, in every two an attack. pommern has really concocted something surprising, and kept its promise to loudon! 'thou knowest what the pommerners can do,' said they once to their own king. an obstinate, strong-boned, heavy-browed people; not so stupid as you think. more or less of jutish or anglish type; highly deficient in the graces of speech, and, i should judge, with little call to parliamentary eloquence." [preuss, ii. (incorrect in some small points); archenholtz, ii. ; seyfarth, ii. , and _beylagen,_ ii. - ; tempelhof, iv. - ; in anonymous of hamburg (iv. ) the austrian account.] friedrich is, this year, considered by the generality of mankind, to be ruined: "lost , men last campaign; was beaten twice; his luck is done; what is to become of him?" say his enemies, and even the impartial gazetteer, with joy or sorrow. among his own people there is gloom or censure; hard commentaries on maxen: "so self-willed, high, and deaf to counsel from prince henri!" henri himself, they say, is sullen; threatening, as he often does, to resign "for want of health;" and as he quite did, for a while, in the end of this campaign, or interval between this and next. friedrich has, with incredible diligence, got together his finance (copper in larger dose than ever, jew ephraim presiding as usual); and, as if by art-magic, has on their feet , men against his enemy's , . some higher officers are secretly in bad spirits; but the men know nothing of discouragement. friedrich proclaims to them at marching, "for every cannon you capture, ducats; for every flag, ; for every standard (cavalry flag), ;"--which sums, as they fell due, were accordingly paid thenceforth. [stenzel, v. , ; ib. .] but friedrich, too, is abundantly gloomy, if that could help him; which he knows well it cannot, and strictly hides it from all but a few;--or all but d'argens almost alone, to whom it can do no harm. read carefully by the light of contemporary occurrences, not vaguely in the vacant haze, as the editors give it, his correspondence with d'argens becomes interesting almost to a painful degree: an unaffected picture of one of the bravest human souls weighed down with dispiriting labors and chagrins, such as were seldom laid on any man; almost beyond bearing, but incurable, and demanding to be borne. wilhelmina is away, away; to d'argens alone of mortals does he whisper of these things; and to him not wearisomely, or with the least prolixity, but in short sharp gusts, seldom now with any indignation, oftenest with a touch of humor in them, not soliciting any sympathy, nor expecting nearly as much as he will get from the faithful d'argens. "i am unfortunate and old, dear marquis; that is why they persecute me: god knows what my future is to be this year! i grieve to resemble cassandra with my prophecies; but how augur well of the desperate situation we are in, and which goes on growing worse? i am so gloomy to-day, i will cut short.... write to me when you have nothing better to do; and don't forget a poor philosopher who, perhaps to expiate his incredulity, is doomed to find his purgatory in this world." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xix. , ("freyberg, th march, ").]... to another friend, in the way of speech, he more deliberately says: "the difficulties i had, last campaign, were almost infinite: such a multitude of enemies acting against me; pommern, brandenburg, saxony, frontiers of silesia, alike in danger, often enough all at one time. if i escaped absolute destructiou, i must impute it chiefly to the misconduct of my enemies; who gained such advantages, but had not the sense to follow them up. experience often corrects people of their blunders: i cannot expect to profit by anything of that kind; on their part, in the course of this campaign:" judge if it will be a light one, mon cher. [to mitchell, one evening, "camp of schlettau, may d" (mitchell, ii. ).] the symptoms we decipher in these letters, and otherwise, are those of a man drenched in misery; but used to his black element, unaffectedly defiant of it, or not at the pains to defy it; occupied only to do his very utmost in it, with or without success, till the end come. prometheus, chained on the ocean-cliffs, with the new ruling-powers in the upper hand, and their vultures gradually eating him; dumb time and dumb space looking on, apparently with small sympathy: prometheus and other titans, now and then, have touched the soul of some aeschylus, and drawn tones of melodious sympathy, far heard among mankind. but with this new titan it is not so: nor, upon the whole, with the proper titan, in this world, is it usually so; the world being a--what shall we say?--a poorish kind of world, and its melodies and dissonances, its loves and its hatreds worth comparatively little in the long-run. friedrich does wonderfully without sympathy from almost anybody; and the indifference with which he walks along, under such a cloud of sulky stupidities, of mendacities and misconceptions from the herd of mankind, is decidedly admirable to me. but let us look into the campaign itself. perhaps--contrary to the world's opinion, and to friedrich's own when, in ultra-lucid moments, he gazes into it in the light of cold arithmetic, and finds the aspect of it "frightful"--this campaign will be a little luckier to him than the last? unluckier it cannot well be:--or if so, it will at least be final to him! history of friedrich ii. of prussia frederick the great by thomas carlyle book xxi.--afternoon and evening of friedrich's life-- - . chapter i.--prefatory. the twelve hercules-labors of this king have ended here; what was required of him in world-history is accomplished. there remain to friedrich twenty-three years more of life, which to prussian history are as full of importance as ever; but do not essentially concern european history, europe having gone the road we now see it in. on the grand world-theatre the curtain has fallen for a new act; friedrich's part, like everybody's for the present, is played out. in fact, there is, during the rest of his reign, nothing of world-history to be dwelt on anywhere. america, it has been decided, shall be english; prussia be a nation. the french, as finis of their attempt to cut germany in four, find themselves sunk into torpor, abeyance and dry-rot; fermenting towards they know not what. towards spontaneous combustion in the year , and for long years onwards! there, readers, there is the next milestone for you, in the history of mankind! that universal burning-up, as in hell-fire, of human shams. the oath of twenty-five million men, which has since become that of all men whatsoever, "rather than live longer under lies, we will die!"--that is the new act in world-history. new act,--or, we may call it new part; drama of world-history, part third. if part second was , years ago, this i reckon will be part third. this is the truly celestial-infernal event: the strangest we have seen for a thousand years. celestial in one part; in the other, infernal. for it is withal the breaking out of universal mankind into anarchy, into the faith and practice of no-government,--that is to say (if you will be candid), into unappeasable revolt against sham-governors and sham-teachers,--which i do charitably define to be a search, most unconscious, yet in deadly earnest, for true governors and teachers. that is the one fact of world-history worth dwelling on at this day; and friedrich cannot be said to have had much hand farther in that. nor is the progress of a french or european world, all silently ripening and rotting towards such issue, a thing one wishes to dwell on. only when the spontaneous combustion breaks out; and, many-colored, with loud noises, envelops the whole world in anarchic flame for long hundreds of years: then has the event come; there is the thing for all men to mark, and to study and scrutinize as the strangest thing they ever saw. centuries of it yet lying ahead of us; several sad centuries, sordidly tumultuous, and good for little! say two centuries yet,--say even ten of such a process: before the old is completely burnt out, and the new in any state of sightliness? millennium of anarchies;--abridge it, spend your heart's-blood upon abridging it, ye heroic wise that are to come! for it is the consummation of all the anarchies that are and were;--which i do trust always means the death (temporary death) of them! death of the anarchies: or a world once more built wholly on fact better or worse; and the lying jargoning professor of sham-fact, whose name is legion, who as yet (oftenest little conscious of himself) goes tumulting and swarming from shore to shore, become a species extinct, and well known to be gone down to tophet!-- there were bits of anarchies before, little and greater: but till that of france in , there was none long memorable; all were pygmies in comparison, and not worth mentioning separately. in the anarchy of poland, which had been a considerable anarchy for about three hundred years, got itself extinguished,--what we may call extinguished;--decisive surgery being then first exercised upon it: an anarchy put in the sure way of extinction. in , again, there began, over seas, another anarchy much more considerable,--little dreaming that it could be called an anarchy; on the contrary, calling itself liberty, rights of man; and singing boundless io-paeans to itself, as is common in such cases; an anarchy which has been challenging the universe to show the like ever since. and which has, at last, flamed up as an independent phenomenon, unexampled in the hideously suicidal way;--and does need much to get burnt out, that matters may begin anew on truer conditions. but neither the partition of poland nor the american war of independence have much general importance, or, except as precursors of , are worth dwelling on in history. from us here, so far as friedrich is concerned with them, they may deserve some transient mention, more or less: but world-history, eager to be at the general funeral-pile and ultimate burning-up of shams in this poor world, will have less and less to say of small tragedies and premonitory symptoms. curious how the busy and continually watchful and speculating friedrich, busied about his dangers from austrian encroachments, from russian-turk wars, bavarian successions, and other troubles and anarchies close by, saw nothing to dread in france; nothing to remark there, except carelessly, from time to time, its beggarly decaying condition, so strangely sunk in arts, in arms, in finance; oftenest an object of pity to him, for he still has a love for france;--and reads not the least sign of that immeasurable, all-engulfing french revolution which was in the wind! neither voltaire nor he have the least anticipation of such a thing. voltaire and he see, to their contentment, superstition visibly declining: friedrich rather disapproves the heat of voltaire's procedures on the infame. "why be in such heat? other nonsense, quite equal to it, will be almost sure to follow. take care of your own skin!" voltaire and he are deeply alive, especially voltaire is, to the horrors and miseries which have issued on mankind from a fanatic popish superstition, or creed of incredibilities,--which (except from the throat outwards, from the bewildered tongue outwards) the orthodox themselves cannot believe, but only pretend and struggle to believe. this voltaire calls "the infamous;" and this--what name can any of us give it? the man who believes in falsities is very miserable. the man who cannot believe them, but only struggles and pretends to believe; and yet, being armed with the power of the sword, industriously keeps menacing and slashing all round, to compel every neighbor to do like him: what is to be done with such a man? human nature calls him a social nuisance; needing to be handcuffed, gagged and abated. human nature, if it be in a terrified and imperilled state, with the sword of this fellow swashing round it, calls him "infamous," and a monster of chaos. he is indeed the select monster of that region; the patriarch of all the monsters, little as he dreams of being such. an angel of heaven the poor caitiff dreams himself rather, and in cheery moments is conscious of being:--bedlam holds in it no madder article. and i often think he will again need to be tied up (feeble as he now is in comparison, disinclined though men are to manacling and tying); so many helpless infirm souls are wandering about, not knowing their right hand from their left, who fall a prey to him. "l'infame" i also name him,--knowing well enough how little he, in his poor muddled, drugged and stupefied mind, is conscious of deserving that name. more signal enemy to god, and friend of the other party, walks not the earth in our day. anarchy in the shape of religious slavery was what voltaire and friedrich saw all round them. anarchy in the shape of revolt against authorities was what friedrich and voltaire had never dreamed of as possible, and had not in their minds the least idea of. in one, or perhaps two places you may find in voltaire a grim and rather glad forethought, not given out as prophecy, but felt as interior assurance in a moment of hope, how these priestly sham hierarchies will be pulled to pieces, probably on the sudden, once people are awake to them. yes, my much-suffering m. de voltaire, be pulled to pieces; or go aloft, like the awakening of vesuvius, one day,--vesuvius awakening after ten centuries of slumber, when his crater is all grown grassy, bushy, copiously "tenanted by wolves" i am told; which, after premonitory grumblings, heeded by no wolf or bush, he will hurl bodily aloft, ten acres at a time, in a very tremendous manner! [first modern eruption of vesuvius, a.d. , after long interval of rest.] a thought like this, about the priestly sham-hierarchies, i have found somewhere in voltaire: but of the social and civic sham-hierarchies (which are likewise accursed, if they knew it, and indeed are junior co-partners of the priestly; and, in a sense, sons and products of them, and cannot escape being partakers of their plagues), there is no hint, in voltaire, though voltaire stood at last only fifteen years from the fact ( - ); nor in friedrich, though he lived almost to see the fact beginning. friedrich's history being henceforth that of a prussian king, is interesting to prussia chiefly, and to us little otherwise than as the biography of a distinguished fellow-man, friedrich's biography, his physiognomy as he grows old, quietly on his own harvest-field, among his own people: this has still an interest, and for any feature of this we shall be eager enough; but this withal is the most of what we now want. and not very much even of this; friedrich the unique king not having as a man any such depth and singularity, tragic, humorous, devotionally pious, or other, as to authorize much painting in that aspect. extreme brevity beseems us in these circumstances: and indeed there are,--as has already happened in different parts of this enterprise (nature herself, in her silent way, being always something of an artist in such things),--other circumstances, which leave us no choice as to that of detail. available details, if we wished to give them, of friedrich's later life, are not forthcoming: masses of incondite marine-stores, tumbled out on you, dry rubbish shot with uncommon diligence for a hundred years, till, for rubbish-pelion piled on rubbish-ossa, you lose sight of the stars and azimuths; whole mountain continents, seemingly all of cinders and sweepings (though fragments and remnants do lie hidden, could you find them again):---these are not details that will be available! anecdotes there are in quantity; but of uncertain quality; of doubtful authenticity, above all. one recollects hardly any anecdote whatever that seems completely credible, or renders to us the physiognomy of friedrich in a convincing manner. so remiss a creature has the prussian clio been,--employed on all kinds of loose errands over the earth and the air; and as good as altogether negligent of this most pressing errand in her own house. peace be with her, poor slut; why should we say one other hard word on taking leave of her to all eternity!-- the practical fact is, what we have henceforth to produce is more of the nature of a loose appendix of papers, than of a finished narrative. loose papers,--which, we will hope, the reader can, by industry, be made to understand and tolerate: more we cannot do for him. no continuous narrative is henceforth possible to us. for the sake of friedrich's closing epoch, we will visit, for the last time, that dreary imbroglio under which the memory of friedrich, which ought to have been, in all the epochs of it, bright and legible, lies buried; and will try to gather, as heretofore, and put under labels. what dwells with oneself as human may have some chance to be humanly interesting. in the wildest chaos of marine-stores and editorial shortcomings (provided only the editors speak truth, as these poor fellows do) this can be done. part the living from the dead; pick out what has some meaning, leave carefully what has none; you will in some small measure pluck up the memory of a hero, like drowned honor by the locks, and rescue it, into visibility. that friedrich, on reaching home, made haste to get out, of the bustle of joyances and exclamations on the streets; proceeded straight to his music-chapel in charlottenburg, summoning the artists, or having them already summoned; and had there, all alone, sitting invisible wrapt in his cloak, graun's or somebody's grand te-deum pealed out to him, in seas of melody,--soothing and salutary to the altered soul, revolving many things,--is a popular myth, of pretty and appropriate character; but a myth only, with no real foundation, though it has some loose and apparent. [in preuss, ii. , all the details of it.] no doubt, friedrich had his own thoughts on entering berlin again, after such a voyage through the deeps; himself, his country still here, though solitary and in a world of wild shipwrecks. he was not without piety; but it did not take the devotional form, and his habits had nothing of the clerical. what is perfectly known, and much better worth knowing, is the instantaneous practical alacrity with which he set about repairing that immense miscellany of ruin; and the surprising success he had in dealing with it. his methods, his rapid inventions and procedures, in this matter, are still memorable to prussia; and perhaps might with advantage be better known than they are in some other countries. to us, what is all we can do with them here, they will indicate that this is still the old friedrich, with his old activities and promptitudes; which indeed continue unabated, lively in peace as in war, to the end of his life and reign. the speed with which prussia recovered was extraordinary. within little more than a year (june st, ), the coin was all in order again; in , the king had rebuilt, not to mention other things, "in silesia , houses, in pommern , ." [rodenbeck, ii. , .] prussia has been a meritorious nation; and, however cut and ruined, is and was in a healthy state, capable of recovering soon. prussia has defended itself against overwhelming odds,--brave prussia; but the real soul of its merit was that of having merited such a king to command it. without this king, all its valors, disciplines, resources of war, would have availed prussia little. no wonder prussia has still a loyalty to its great friedrich, to its hohenzollern sovereigns generally. without these hohenzollerns, prussia had been, what we long ago saw it, the unluckiest of german provinces; and could never have had the pretension to exist as a nation at all. without this particular hohenzollern, it had been trampled out again, after apparently succeeding. to have achieved a friedrich the second for king over it, was prussia's grand merit. an accidental merit, thinks the reader? no, reader, you may believe me, it is by no means altogether such. nay, i rather think, could we look into the account-books of the recording angel for a course of centuries, no part of it is such! there are nations in which a friedrich is, or can be, possible; and again there are nations in which he is not and cannot. to be practically reverent of human worth to the due extent, and abhorrent of human want of worth in the like proportion, do you understand that art at all? i fear, not,--or that you are much forgetting it again! human merit, do you really love it enough, think you;--human scoundrelism (brought to the dock for you, and branded as scoundrel), do you even abhor it enough? without that reverence and its corresponding opposite-pole of abhorrence, there is simply no possibility left. that, my friend, is the outcome and summary of all virtues in this world, for a man or for a nation of men. it is the supreme strength and glory of a nation;--without which, indeed, all other strengths, and enormities of bullion and arsenals and warehouses, are no strength. none, i should say;--and are oftenest even the reverse. nations who have lost this quality, or who never had it, what friedrich can they hope to be possible among them? age after age they grind down their friedrichs contentedly under the hoofs of cattle on their highways; and even find it an excellent practice, and pride themselves on liberty and equality. most certain it is, there will no friedrich come to rule there; by and by, there will none be born there. such nations cannot have a king to command them; can only have this or the other scandalous swindling copper captain, constitutional gilt mountebank, or other the like unsalutary entity by way of king; and the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children in a frightful and tragical manner, little noticed in the penny newspapers and periodical literatures of this generation. oh, my friends--! but there is plain business waiting us at hand. chapter ii.--repairing of a ruined prussia. that of friedrich's sitting wrapt in a cloud of reflections olympian-abysmal, in the music-chapel at charlottenburg, while he had the ambrosian song executed for him there, as the preliminary step, was a loose myth; but the fact lying under it is abundantly certain. few sons of adam had more reason for a piously thankful feeling towards the past, a piously valiant towards the future. what king or man had seen himself delivered from such strangling imbroglios of destruction, such devouring rages of a hostile world? and the ruin worked by them lay monstrous and appalling all round. friedrich is now fifty-one gone; unusually old for his age; feels himself an old man, broken with years and toils; and here lies his kingdom in haggard slashed condition, worn to skin and bone: how is the king, resourceless, to remedy it? that is now the seemingly impossible problem. "begin it,--thereby alone will it ever cease to be impossible!" friedrich begins, we may say, on the first morrow morning. labors at his problem, as he did in the march to leuthen; finds it to become more possible, day after day, month after month, the farther he strives with it. "why not leave it to nature?" think many, with the dismal science at their elbow. well; that was the easiest plan, but it was not friedrich's. his remaining moneys, million thalers ready for a campaign which has not come, he distributes to the most necessitous: "all his artillery-horses" are parted into plough-teams, and given to those who can otherwise get none: think what a fine figure of rye and barley, instead of mere windlestraws, beggary and desolation, was realized by that act alone. nature is ready to do much; will of herself cover, with some veil of grass and lichen, the nakedness of ruin: but her victorious act, when she can accomplish it, is that of getting you to go with her handsomely, and change disaster itself into new wealth. into new wisdom and valor, which are wealth in all kinds; california mere zero to them, zero, or even a frightful minus quantity! friedrich's procedures in this matter i believe to be little less didactic than those other, which are so celebrated in war: but no dryasdust, not even a dryasdust of the dismal science, has gone into them, rendered men familiar with them in their details and results. his silesian land-bank (joint-stock moneys, lent on security of land) was of itself, had i room to explain it, an immense furtherance. [preuss, iii. ; _oeuvres de frederic,_ vi. .] friedrich, many tell us, was as great in peace as in war: and truly, in the economic and material provinces, my own impression, gathered painfully in darkness, and contradiction of the dismal-science doctors, is much to that effect. a first-rate husbandman (as his father had been); who not only defended his nation, but made it rich beyond what seemed possible; and diligently sowed annuals into it, and perennials which flourish aloft at this day. mirabeau's _monarchie prussienne,_ in thick volumes vo,--composed, or hastily cobbled together, some twenty years after this period,--contains the best tabular view one anywhere gets of friedrich's economics, military and other practical methods and resources:--solid exact tables these are, and intelligent intelligible descriptions, done by mauvillon fils, the same punctual major mauvillon who used to attend us in duke ferdinand's war;--and so far as mirabeau is concerned, the work consists farther of a certain small essay done in big type, shoved into the belly of each volume, and eloquently recommending, with respectful censures and regrets over friedrich, the gospel of free trade, dear to papa mirabeau. the son is himself a convert; far above lying, even to please papa: but one can see, the thought of papa gives him new fire of expression. they are eloquent, ruggedly strong essays, those of mirabeau junior upon free trade:--they contain, in condensed shape, everything we were privileged to hear, seventy years later, from all organs, coach-horns, jews-harps and scrannel-pipes, pro and contra, on the same sublime subject: "god is great, and plugson of undershot is his prophet. thus saith the lord, buy in the cheapest market, sell in the dearest!" to which the afflicted human mind listens what it can;--and after seventy years, mournfully asks itself and mirabeau, "m. le comte, would there have been in prussia, for example, any trade at all, any nation at all, had it always been left 'free'? there would have been mere sand and quagmire, and a community of wolves and bisons, m. le comte. have the goodness to terminate that litany, and take up another!" we said, friedrich began his problem on the first morrow morning; and that is literally true, that or even more. here is how friedrich takes his stand amid the wreck, speedy enough to begin: this view of our old friend nussler and him is one of the pieces we can give,--thanks to herr busching and his _beitrage_ for the last time! nussler is now something of a country gentleman, so to speak; has a pleasant place out to east of berlin; is landrath (county chairman) there, "landrath of nether-barnim circle;" where we heard of the cossacks spoiling him: he, as who not, has suffered dreadfully in these tumults. here is busching's welcome account. landrath nussler and the king ( th march- d april, ). "march th, , friedrich, on his return to berlin, came by the route of tassdorf,"--tassdorf, in nether-barnim circle ( odd miles from frankfurt, and above from berlin);--"and changed horses there. during this little pause, among a crowd assembled to see him, he was addressed by nussler, landrath of the circle, who had a very piteous story to tell. nussler wished the king joy of his noble victories, and of the glorious peace at last achieved: 'may your majesty reign in health and happiness over us many years, to the blessing of us all!'--and recommended to his gracious care the extremely ruined, and, especially by the russians, uncommonly devastated circle, for which," continues busching "this industrious landrath had not hitherto been able to extract any effective help." generally for the provinces wasted by the russians there had already some poor , thalers ( , pounds) been allowed by a helpful majesty, not over-rich himself at the moment; and of this, nether-barnim no doubt gets its share: but what is this to such ruin as there is? a mere preliminary drop, instead of the bucket and buckets we need!--busching, a dull, though solid accurate kind of man, heavy-footed, and yet always in a hurry, always slipshod, has nothing of dramatic here; far from it; but the facts themselves fall naturally into that form,--in three scenes:-- i. tassdorf (still two hours from berlin), king, nussler and a crowd of people, nussler alone daring to speak. king (from his carriage, ostlers making despatch). "what is your circle most short of?" landrath nussler. "of horses for ploughing the seedfields of rye to sow them, and of bread till the crops come." king. "rye for bread, and to sow with, i will give; with horses i cannot assist." nussler. "on representation of privy-councillor van brenkenhof [the minister concerned with such things], your majesty has been pleased to give the neumark and pommern an allowance of artillery and commissariat horses: but poor nether-barnim, nobody will speak for it; and unless your majesty's gracious self please to take pity on it, nether-barnim is lost!" (a great many things more he said, in presence of a large crowd of men who had gathered round the king's carriage as the horses were being changed; and spoke with such force and frankness that the king was surprised, and asked:)-- king. "who are you?" (has forgotten the long-serviceable man!) nussler. "i am the nussler who was lucky enough to manage the fixing of the silesian boundaries for your majesty!" king. "ja, ja, now i know you again! bring me all the landraths of the kurmark [mark of brandenburg proper, electoral mark] in a body; i will speak with them." nussler. "all of them but two are in berlin already." king. "send off estafettes for those two to come at once to berlin; and on thursday," day after to-morrow, "come yourself, with all the others, to the schloss to me: i will then have some closer conversation, and say what i can and will do for helping of the country," (king's carriage rolls away, with low bows and blessings from nussler and everybody). ii. thursday, april st, nussler and assembled landraths at the schloss of berlin. to them, enter king.... nussler (whom they have appointed spokesman).... "your majesty has given us peace; you will also give us well-being in the land again: we leave it to highest-the-same's gracious judgment [no limit to highest-the-same's power, it would seem] what you will vouchsafe to us as indemnification for the russian plunderings." king. "be you quiet; let me speak. have you got a pencil (hat er crayon)? yes! well then, write, and these gentlemen shall dictate to you:-- "'how much rye for bread; how much for seed; how many horses, oxen, cows, their circles do in an entirely pressing way require?' "consider all that to the bottom; and come to me again the day after to-morrow. but see that you fix everything with the utmost exactitude, for i cannot give much." (exit king.) nussler (to the landraths). "meine herren, have the goodness to accompany me to our landschaft house [we have a kind of county hall, it seems]; there we will consider everything." and nussler, guiding the deliberations, which are glad to follow him on every point, and writing as pro-tempore secretary, has all things brought to luminous protocol in the course of this day and next. iii. saturday, april d, in the schloss again: nussler and landraths. to them, the king. nussler. "we deliver to your majesty the written specification you were graciously pleased to command of us. it contains only the indispensablest things that the circles are in need of. moreover, it regards only the stande [richer nobility], who pay contribution; the gentry [adel], and other poor people, who have been utterly plundered out by the russians, are not included in it:--the gentry too have suffered very much by the war and the plundering." king. "what edelleute that are members of stande have you [er] got in your circle?" nussler (names them; and, as finis of the list, adds):... "i myself, too, your majesty, i have suffered more than anybody: i absolutely could not furnish those , bushels of meal ordered of me by the russians; upon which they--" king. "i cannot give to all: but if you have poor nobles in your circle, who can in no way help themselves, i will give them something." nussler (has not any in nether-barnim who are altogether in that extreme predicament; but knows several in lebus circle, names them to the king;--and turning to the landrath of lebus, and to another who is mute): "herr, you can name some more in lebus; and you, in teltow circle, herr landrath, since his majesty permits."... in a word, the king having informed himself and declared his intention, nussler leads the landraths to their old county hall, and brings to protocol what had taken place. next day, the kammer president (exchequer president), van der groben, had nussler, with other landraths, to dinner. during dinner, there came from head secretary eichel (majesty's unwearied clerk of the pells, sheepskins, or papers) an earnest request to von der groben for help,--eichel not being able to remember, with the requisite precision, everything his majesty had bid him put down on this matter. "you will go, herr von nussler; be so kind, won't you?" and nussler went, and fully illuminated eichel.... to the poorest of the nobility, busching tells us, what is otherwise well known, the king gave considerable sums: to one circle , pounds, to another , pounds, , pounds, and so on. by help of which bounties, and of nussler laboring incessantly with all his strength, nieder-barnim circle got on its feet again, no subject having been entirely ruined, but all proving able to recover. [busching, _beitrage_ (nussler), i. - .] this busching fragment is not in the style of the elder dramatists, or for the bankside theatre; but this represents a fact which befell in god's creation, and may have an interest of its own to the practical soul, especially in anarchic countries, far advanced in the "gold-nugget and nothing to buy with it" career of unexampled prosperities. on these same errands the king is soon going on an inspection journey, where we mean to accompany. but first, one word, and one will suffice, on the debased coin. the peace was no sooner signed, than friedrich proceeded on the coin. the third week after his arrival home, there came out a salutary edict on it, april st; king eager to do it without loss of time, yet with the deliberation requisite. not at one big leap, which might shake, to danger of oversetting, much commercial arrangement; but at two leaps, with a halfway station intervening. halfway station, with a new coinage ready, much purer of alloy (and marked how much, for the benefit of parties with accounts to settle), is to commence on trinitatis (whitsunday) instant; from and after whitsunday the improved new coin to be sole legal tender, till farther notice. farther notice comes accordingly, within a year, march th, : "pure money of the standard of [honest silver coinage: readers may remember linsenbarth, the candidatus theologiae, and his sack of batzen, confiscated at the paekhof] shall be ready on the st of june instant;" [rodenbeck, ii. , .]--from and after which day we hear no more of that sad matter. finished off in about fourteen months. here, meanwhile, is the inspection journey. kriegsrath roden and the king ( th- th june, ). june d, , friedrich left potsdam for westphalia; got as far as magdeburg that day. intends seeing into matters with his own eyes in that region, as in others, after so long and sad an absence. there are with him friedrich wilhelm prince of prussia, a tall young fellow of nineteen; general-adjutant von anhalt; and one or two prussian military people. from magdeburg and onwards the great duke ferdinand accompanies,--who is now again governor of magdeburg, and a quiet prussian officer as heretofore, though with excellent pensions from england, and glory from all the world. the royal party goes by halberstadt, which suffered greatly in the war; thence by minden (june th); and the first thing next day, friedrich takes view of the battle-field there,--under ferdinand's own guidance, doubtless; and an interesting thing to both friedrich and him, though left silent to us. this done, they start for lippstadt, are received there under joyous clangorous outburst of all the bells and all the honors, that same afternoon; and towards sunset, hamm being the night-quarter ahead, are crossing vellinghausen battle-ground,--where doubtless ferdinand again, like a dutiful apprentice, will explain matters to his old master, so far as needful or permissible. the conversation, i suppose, may have been lively and miscellaneous: ferdinand mentions a clever business-person of the name of roden, whom he has known in these parts; "roden?" the king carefully makes note;--and, in fact, we shall see roden presently; and his bit of dialogue with the king (recorded by his own hand) is our chief errand on this journey. from hamm, next morning (june th), they get to wesel by a.m. (only sixty miles); wesel all in gala, as lippstadt was, or still more than lippstadt; and for four days farther, they continue there very busy. as roden is our chief errand, let us attend to roden. wesel, monday, june th, "dinner being done," says an authentic third-party, [rodenbeck, ii. .] "the king had kammer-director meyen summoned to him with his register-books, schedules and reports [what they call etats]; and was but indifferently contented with meyen and them." and in short, "ordering meyen to remodel these into a more distinct condition,"--we may now introduce the herr kriegsrath roden, a subaltern, in rank, but who has perhaps a better head than meyen, to judge of these etats. roden himself shall now report. this is the royal dialogue with roden; accurately preserved for us by him;--i wish it had been better worth the reader's trouble; but its perfect credibility in every point will be some recommendation to it. "monday, th june, , about a.m., his majesty arrived in wesel," says roden (confirming to us the authentic third-party); "i waited on adjutant-general colonel von anhalt to announce myself; who referred me to kriegsrath coper ["mein segreter koper" is a name we have heard before], who told me to be ready so soon as dinner should be over. dinner was no sooner over [ p.m. or so], than the herr kammer-director meyen with his etats was called in. his majesty was not content with these, herr meyen was told; and they were to be remodelled into a more distinct condition. the instant herr meyen stept out, i was called in. his majesty was standing with his back to the fire; and said:-- king. "'come nearer [roden comes nearer]. prince ferdinand [of brunswick, whom we generally call duke and great, to distinguish him from a little prussian prince ferdinand] has told me much good of you: where do you come from?' roden. "'from soest' [venerable "stone-old" little town, in vellinghausen region]. king. "'did you get my letter?' roden. "'yea, ihro majestat.' king. "'i will give you some employment. have you got a pencil?' roden. "'yea' [and took out his note-book and tools, which he had "bought in a shop a quarter of an hour before"]. king. "'listen. by the war many houses have got ruined: i mean that they shall be put in order again; for which end,--to those that cannot themselves help, particularly to soest, hamm, lunen and in part wesel, as places that have suffered most,--i intend to give the moneys. now you must make me an exact list of what is to be done in those places. thus [king, lifting his finger, let us fancy, dictates; roden, with brand-new pencil and tablets, writes:] "' . in each of those towns, how many ruined houses there are which the proprietors themselves can manage to rebuild. . how many which the proprietors cannot. . the vacant grounds or steadings of such proprietors as are perhaps dead, or gone else-whither, must be given to others that are willing to build: but in regard to this, law also must do its part, and the absent and the heirs must be cited to say, whether they will themselves build? and in case they won't, the steadings can then be given to others.'" roden having written,-- king. "'in the course of six days you must be ready [what an expeditious king! is to be at cleve the sixth day hence: meet me there, then],--longer i cannot give you.' roden (considering a moment). "'if your majesty will permit me to use estafettes [express messengers] for the towns farthest off,--as i cannot myself, within the time, travel over all the towns,--i hope to be ready.' king. "'that i permit; and will repay you the estafette moneys.--tell me, how comes the decrease of population in these parts? recruits i got none.' roden. "'under favor of your majesty, regiment schenkendorf got, every year, for recompletion, what recruits were wanted, from its canton in the grafschaft mark here.' king. "'there you may be right: but from cleve country we had no recruits; not we, though the austrians had, [with a slight sarcasm of tone]. roden. "'out of cleve, so far as i know, there were no recruits delivered to the austrians.' king. "'you could not know; you were with the allied army' [duke ferdinand's, commissariating and the like, where duke ferdinand recognized you to have a head]. roden. "'there have been many epidemic diseases too; especially in soest;--after the battle of vellinghausen all the wounded were brought thither, and the hospitals were established there.' king. "'epidemic diseases they might have got without a battle [dislikes hearing ill of the soldier trade]. i will have order sent to the cleve kammer, not to lay hindrance in your way, but the contrary. now god keep you (gott bewahre ihn).'"--exit roden;--"darauf retirirte mich," says he;--but will reappear shortly. sunday, th june, is the sixth day hence; later than the end of sunday is not permissible to swift roden; nor does he need it. friday, th, friedrich left wesel; crossed the rhine, intending for cleve; went by crefeld,--at crefeld had view of another battle-field, under good ciceroneship; remarks or circumstances otherwise not given:--and, next day, saturday, th, picked up d'alembert, who, by appointment, is proceeding towards potsdam, at a more leisurely rate. that same saturday, after much business done, the king was at kempen, thence at geldern; speeding for cleve itself, due there that night. at geldern, we say, he picked up d'alembert;--concerning whom, more by and by. and finally, "on saturday night, about half-past , the king entered cleve," amid joyances extraordinary, hut did not alight; drove direct through by the nassau gate, and took quarter "in the neighboring country-house of bellevue, with the dutch general von spaen there,"--an obliging acquaintance once, while lieutenant spaen, in our old crown-prince times of trouble! had his year in spandau for us there, while poor katte lost his head! to whom, i have heard, the king talked charmingly on this occasion, but was silent as to old potsdam matters. [supra, vii. .]-- by his set day, roden is also in cleve, punctual man, finished or just finishing; and ready for summons by his majesty. and accordingly:-- "cleve, monday, june th, at in the morning," records he, "i had audience of the king's majesty. [in spaen's villa of bellevue, shall we still suppose? duke ferdinand, prince of prussia and the rest, have bestowed themselves in other fit houses; d'alembert too,--who is to make direct for potsdam henceforth, by his own route; and will meet us on arriving.]--i handed him my report, with the tabular schedule. his majesty read it carefully through, in my presence; and examined all of it with strictness. was pleased to signify his satisfaction with my work. resolved to allow , thalers ( , pounds) for this business of rebuilding; gave out the due orders to his kammer, in consequence, and commanded me to arrange with the kammer what was necessary. this done, his majesty said:-- king. "'what you were described to me, i find you to be. you are a diligent laborious man; i must have you nearer to me;--in the berlin hammer you ought to be. you shall have a good, a right good salary; your patent i will give you gratis; also a vorspann-pass [standing order available at all prussian post-stations] for two carriages [rapid program of the thing, though yet distant, rising in the royal fancy!]. now serve on as faithfully as you have hitherto done.' roden. "'that is the object of all my endeavors.'" (exit:--i did not hear specially whitherward just now; but he comes to be supreme kammer-president in those parts by and by.) "the herr kriegsrath coper was present, and noted all the orders to he expedited." [preuss, ii. ; rodenbeck, ii. , : in regard to d'alembert, see _oeuvres de frederic,_ xxiv. .] these snatches of notice at first-hand, and what the reader's fancy may make of these, are all we can bestow on this section of friedrich's labors; which is naturally more interesting to prussian readers than to english. he has himself given lucid and eloquent account of it,--two ample chapters, "des finances;" "du militaire," [_oeuvres de frederic,_ vii. - , - .]--altogether pleasant reading, should there still be curiosity upon it. there is something of flowingly eloquent in friedrich's account of this battle waged against the inanimate chaos; something of exultant and triumphant, not noticeable of him in regard to his other victories. on the leuthens, rossbachs, he is always cold as water, and nobody could gather that he had the least pleasure in recording them. not so here. and indeed here he is as beautiful as anywhere; and the reader, as a general son of adam,--proud to see human intellect and heroism slaying that kind of lions, and doing what in certain sad epochs is unanimously voted to be impossible and unattemptable,--exults along with him; and perhaps whispers to his own poor heart, nearly choked by the immeasurable imbroglio of blue-books and parliamentary eloquences which for the present encumber heaven and earth, "meliora spero." to mirabeau, the following details, from first-hand, but already of twenty-three years distance, were not known, [appeared first in tome v. of _"oeuvres posthumes de frederic ii."_ (are in tome vi. of preuss's edition of oeuvres), "berlin, ;"--above a year after mirabeau had left.] while he sat penning those robust essays on the duty of leave-alone. "to form an idea of the general subversion," says the king, in regard to , "and how great were the desolation and discouragement, you must represent to yourself countries entirely ravaged, the very traces of the old habitations hardly discoverable; towns, some ruined from top to bottom, others half destroyed by fire;-- , houses, of which the very vestiges were gone. no field in seed; no grain for the food of the inhabitants; , horses needed, if there was to be ploughing carried on: in the provinces generally half a million population ( , ) less than in ,--that is to say, upon only four millions and a half, the ninth man was wanting. noble and peasant had been pillaged, ransomed, foraged, eaten out by so many different armies; nothing now left them but life and miserable rags. "there was no credit, by trading people, even for the daily necessaries of life." and furthermore, what we were not prepared for, "no police in the towns: to habits of equity and order had succeeded a vile greed of gain and an anarchic disorder. the colleges of justice and of finance had, by these frequent invasions of so many enemies, been reduced to inaction:" no judge, in many places not even a tax-gatherer: the silence of the laws had produced in the people a taste for license; boundless appetite for gain was their main rule of action: the noble, the merchant, the farmer, the laborer, raising emulously each the price of his commodity, seemed to endeavor only for their mutual ruin. such, when the war ended, was the fatal spectacle over these provinces, which had once been so flourishing: however pathetic the description may be, it will never approach the touching and sorrowful impression which the sight of it produced." friedrich found that it would never do to trust to the mere aid of time in such circumstances: at the end of the thirty-years war, "time" had, owing to absolute want of money, been the one recipe of the great elector in a similar case; and time was then found to mean "about a hundred years." friedrich found that he must at once step in with active remedies, and on all hands strive to make the impossible possible. luckily he had in readiness, as usual, the funds for an eighth campaign, had such been needed. out of these moneys he proceeded to rebuild the towns and villages; "from the corn-stores (granaries d'abondance," government establishments gathered from plentiful harvests against scarce, according to old rule) "were taken the supplies for food of the people and sowing of the ground: the horses intended for the artillery, baggage and commissariat," , horses we have heard, "were distributed among those who had none, to be employed in tillage of the land. silesia was discharged from all taxes for six months; pommern and the neumark for two years. a sum of about three million sterling [in thalers , , ] was given for relief of the provinces, and as acquittance of the impositions the enemy had wrung from them. "great as was this expense, it was necessary and indispensable. the condition of these provinces after the peace of hubertsburg recalled what we know of them when the peace of munster closed the famous thirty-years war. on that occasion the state failed of help from want of means; which put it, out, of the great elector's power to assist his people: and what happened? that a whole century elapsed before his successors could restore the towns and champaigns to what they were. this impressive example was admonitory to the king: that to repair the public calamities, assistance must be prompt and effective. repeated gifts (largesses) restored courage to the poor husbandmen, who began to despair of their lot; by the helps given, hope in all classes sprang up anew: encouragement of labor produced activity; love of country rose again with fresh life: in a word [within the second year in a markedly hopeful manner, and within seven years altogether], the fields were cultivated again, manufacturers had resumed their work; and the police, once more in vigor, corrected by degrees the vices that had taken root during the time of anarchy." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ vi. , .] to friedrich's difficulties, which were not inconsiderable, mark only this last additament: "during this war, the elder of the councillors, and all the ministers of the grand directorium [centre of prussian administration], had successively died: and in such time of trouble it had been impossible to replace them. the embarrassment was, to find persons capable of filling these different employments [some would have very soon done it, your majesty; but their haste would not have tended to speed!]--we searched the provinces (on fouilla, sifted), where good heads were found as rare as in the capital: at length five chief ministers were pitched upon,"--who prove to be tolerable, and even good. three of them were, the vons blumenthal, massow, hagen, unknown to readers here: fourth and fifth were, the von wedell as war-minister, once dictator at zullichan; and a von der horst, who had what we might partially call the home department, and who may by accident once or so be namable again. nor was war all, says the king: "accidental fires in different places," while we struggled to repair the ravagings of war, "were of unexampled frequency, and did immense farther damage. from to , here is the list of places burnt: in east preussen, the city of konigsberg twice over; in silesia, the towns of freystadt, ober-glogau [do readers recollect manteuffel of foot and "wir wollen ihm was"!], parchwitz, naumburg-on-queiss, and goldberg; in the mark, nauen; in the neumark, calies and a part of lansberg; in pommern, belgard and tempelburg. these accidents required incessantly new expenditures to repair them." friedrich was not the least of a free trader, except where it suited him: and his continual subventions and donations, guidances, encouragements, commandings and prohibitions, wise supervision and impulsion,--are a thing i should like to hear an intelligent mirabeau (junior or senior) discourse upon, after he had well studied them! for example: "on rendit les pretres utiles, the priests, catholic priests, were turned to use by obliging all the rich abbeys to establish manufactures: here it was weavers making damasks and table-cloths; there oil-mills [oil from linseed]; or workers in copper, wire-drawers; as suited the localities and the natural products,--the flaxes and the metals, with water-power, markets, and so on." what a charming resuscitation of the rich abbeys from their dormant condition! i should like still better to explain how, in lower silesia, "we (on) managed to increase the number of husbandmen by , families. you will be surprised how it was possible to multiply to this extent the people living by agriculture in a country where already not a field was waste. the reason was this. many lords of land, to increase their domain, had imperceptibly appropriated to themselves the holdings (terres) of their vassals. had this abuse been suffered to go on, in time a great"--but the commentary needed would be too lengthy; we will give only the result: "in the long-run, every village would have had its lord, but there would have been no tax-paying farmers left." the landlord, ruler of these landless, might himself (as majesty well knows) have been made to pay, had that been all; but it was not. "to possess something; that is what makes the citizen attached to his country; those who have no property, and have nothing to lose, what tie have they?" a weak one, in comparison!"all these things being represented to the landlord class, their own advantage made them consent to replace their peasants on the old footing."... "to make head against so many extraordinary demands," adds the king (looking over to a new chapter, that of the military, which department, to his eyes, was not less shockingly dilapidated than the civil, and equally or more needed instant repair), "new resources had to be devised. for, besides what was needed for re-establishment of the provinces, new fortifications were necessary; and all our cannon, e'vases (worn too wide in the bore), needed to be refounded; which occasioned considerable new expense. this led us to improvement of the excises,"--concerning which there will have to be a section by itself. of friedrich's new excise system. in his late inspection-journey to cleve country, d'alembert, from paris, by appointment waited for the king; [in (_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxiv. - (d'alembert's fine bits of letters in prospect of potsdam, "paris, th march- th april, ;" and two small notes while there, "sans-souci, th july- th august, ").]--picked up at geldern (june th), as we saw above. d'alembert got to potsdam june d; stayed till middle of august. he had met the king once before, in ; who found him "a bon garcon," as we then saw. d'alembert was always, since that time, an agreeable, estimable little man to friedrich. age now about forty-six; has lately refused the fine russian post of "tutor to the czarowitsh" (czarowitsh paul, poor little boy of eight or nine, whom we, or herr busching for us, saw galloping about, not long since, "in his dressing-gown," under panin's tutorage); refuses now, in a delicate gradual manner, the fine prussian post of perpetual president, or successor to maupertuis;--definitely preferring his frugal pensions at paris, and garret all his own there. continues, especially after this two months' visit of , one of the king's chief correspondents for the next twenty years. [" th october, ," d'alembert died: "born th november, ;"--a foundling, as is well known; "mother a sister of cardinal tencin's; father," accidental, "an officer in the artillery."] a man of much clear intellect; a thought shrieky in his ways sometimes; but always prudent, rational, polite, and loyally recognizing friedrich as a precious article in this world. here is a word of d'alembert's to madame du deffand, at paris, some ten or twelve days after the cleve meeting, and the third day after his arrival here:-- "potsdam, th june, . madame,--... i will not go into the praises of this prince," king friedrich, my now host; "in my mouth it might be suspicious: i will merely send you two traits of him, which will indicate his way of thinking and feeling. when i spoke to him [at geldern, probably, on our first meeting] of the glory he had acquired, he answered, with the greatest simplicity, that there was a furious discount to be deducted from said glory; that chance came in for almost the whole of it; and that he would far rather have done ratine's athalie than all this war:--athalie is the work he likes, and rereads oftenest; i believe you won't disapprove his taste there. the other trait i have to give you is, that on the day [ th february last] of concluding this peace, which is so glorious to him, some one saying, 'it is the finest day of your majesty's life:' 'the finest day of life,' answered he, 'is the day on which one quits it.'...--adieu, madame." [_"oeuvres posthumes de d'alembert_ (paris, ). i. :" cited in preuss, ii. .] the meeting in cleve country was, no doubt, a very pretty passage, with two pretty months following;--and if it be true that helvetius was a consequence, the th of june, , may almost claim to be a kind of epoch in friedrich's later history. the opulent and ingenious m. helvetius, who wrote de l'esprit, and has got banished for that feat (lost in the gloom of london in those months), had been a mighty tax-gatherer as well; d'alembert, as brother philosophe, was familiar with helvetius. it is certain, also, king friedrich, at this time, found he would require annually two million thalers more;--where to get them, seemed the impossibility. a general krockow, who had long been in french service, and is much about the king, was often recommending the french excise system;--he is the krockow of domstadtl, and that siege of olmutz, memorable to some of us:--"a wonderful excise system," krockow is often saying, in this time of straits. "who completely understands it?" the king might ask. "helvetius, against the world!" d'alembert could justly answer. "invite helvetius to leave his london exile, and accept an asylum here, where he may be of vital use to me!" concludes friedrich. helvetius came in march, ; stayed till june, : [rodenbeck, ii. ; preuss, iii. .]--within which time a french excise system, which he had been devising and putting together, had just got in gear, and been in action for a month, to helvetius's satisfaction. who thereupon went his way, and never returned;--taking with him, as man and tax-gatherer, the king's lasting gratitude; but by no means that of the prussian nation, in his tax-gathering capacity! all prussia, or all of it that fell under this helvetius excise system, united to condemn it, in all manner of dialects, louder and louder: here, for instance, is the utterance of herr hamann, himself a kind of custom-house clerk (at konigsberg, in east preussen), and on modest terms a literary man of real merit and originality, who may be supposed to understand this subject: "and so," says hamann, "the state has declared its own subjects incapable of managing its finance system; and in this way has intrusted its heart, that is the purse of its subjects, to a company of foreign scoundrels, ignorant of everything relating to it!" ["hamann to jacobi" (see preuss, iii. - ), "konigsberg, th january, ."] this lasted all friedrich's lifetime; and gave rise to not a little buzzing, especially in its primary or incipient stages. it seems to have been one of the unsuccessfulest finance adventures friedrich ever engaged in. it cost his subjects infinite small trouble; awakened very great complaining; and, for the first time, real discontent,--skin-deep but sincere and universal,--against the misguided vater fritz. much noisy absurdity there was upon it, at home, and especially abroad: "griping miser," "greedy tyrant," and so forth! deducting all which, everybody now admits that friedrich's aim was excellent and proper; but nobody denies withal that the means were inconsiderate, of no profit in proportion to the trouble they gave, and improper to adopt unless the necessity compelled. friedrich is forbidden, or forbids himself, as we have often mentioned, to impose new taxes: and nevertheless now, on calculations deep, minute and no doubt exact, he judges that for meeting new attacks of war (or being ready to meet, which will oftenest mean averting them),--a thing which, as he has just seen, may concern the very existence of the state,--it is necessary that there should be on foot such and such quantities and kinds of soldiery and war-furniture, visible to all neighbors; and privately in the treasury never less than such and such a sum. to which end arithmetic declares that there is required about two million thalers more of yearly revenue than we now have. and where, in these circumstances, are the means of raising such a sum? friedrich imposes no new taxes; but there may be stricter methods of levying the old;--there may, and in fact there must, be means found! friedrich has consulted his finance ministers; put the question seriatim to these wise heads: they answer with one voice, "there are no means." [rodenbeck, ii. .] friedrich, therefore, has recourse to helvetius; who, on due consideration, and after survey of much documentary and tabulary raw-material, is of opinion, that the prussian excises would, if levied with the punctuality, precision and vigilant exactitude of french methods, actually yield the required overplus. "organize me the methods, then; get them put in action here; under french hands, if that be indispensable." helvetius bethought him of what fittest french hands there were to his knowledge,--in france there are a great many hands flung idle in the present downbreak of finance there:--helvetius appears to have selected, arranged and contrived in this matter with his best diligence. de launay, the head-engineer of the thing, was admitted by all prussia, after twenty-two years unfriendly experience of him, to have been a suitable and estimable person; a man of judicious ways, of no small intelligence, prudence, and of very great skill in administering business. head-engineer de launay, one may guess, would be consulted by helvetius in choice of the subaltern officials, the stokers and steerers in this new steam-machinery, which had all to be manned from france. there were four heads of departments immediately under de launay, or scarcely under him, junior brothers rather:--who chose these i did not hear; but these latter, it is evident, were not a superior quality of people. of these four,--all at very high salaries, from de launay downwards; "higher than a prussian minister of state!" murmured the public,--two, within the first year, got into quarrel; fought a duel, fatal to one of them; so that there were now only three left. "three, with de launay, will do," opined friedrich; and divided the vacant salary among the survivors: in which form they had at least no more duelling. as to the subaltern working-parties, the visitateurs, controlleurs, jaugeurs (gaugers), plombeurs (lead-stampers), or the strangest kind of all, called "cellar-rats (commis rats-de-cave), "they were so detested and exclaimed against, by a public impatient of the work itself, there is no knowing what their degree of scoundrelism was, nor even, within amazingly wide limits, what the arithmetical number of them was. about in the whole of prussia, says a quiet prussian, who has made some inquiry; ["beguelin, accise-und zoll-verfassung, s. " (preuss, iii, ).] , says mirabeau; , say other exaggerative persons, or even , ; de launay's account is, not at any time above . but we can all imagine how vexatious they and their business were. nobody now is privileged with exemption: from one and all of you, nobles, clergy, people, strict account is required, about your beers and liquors; your coffee, salt; your consumptions and your purchases of all excisable articles:--nay, i think in coffee and salt, in salt for certain, what you will require, according to your station and domestic numbers, is computed for you, to save trouble; such and such quantities you will please to buy in our presence, or to pay duty for, whether you buy them or not. into all houses, at any hour of the day or of the night, these cellar-rats had liberty,--(on warrant from some higher rat of their own type, i know not how much higher; and no sure appeal for you, except to the king; tolerably sure there, if you be innocent, but evidently perilous if you be only not-convicted!)--had liberty, i say, to search for contraband; all your presses, drawers, repositories, you must open to these beautiful creatures; watch in nightcap, and candle in hand, while your things get all tumbled hither and thither, in the search for what perhaps is not there; nay, it was said and suspected, but i never knew it for certain, that these poisonous french are capable of slipping in something contraband, on purpose to have you fined whether or not. readers can conceive, though apparently friedrich did not, what a world of vexation all this occasioned; and how, in the continual annoyance to all mankind, the irritation, provocation and querulous eloquence spread among high and low. of which the king knew something; but far from the whole. his object was one of vital importance; and his plan once fixed, he went on with it, according to his custom, regardless of little rubs. the anecdote books are full of details, comic mostly, on this subject: how the french rats pounced down upon good harmless people, innocent frugal parsonages, farm-houses; and were comically flung prostrate by native ready wit, or by direct appeal to the king. details, never so authentic, could not be advisable in this place. perhaps there are not more than two authentic passages, known to me, which can now have the least interest, even of a momentary sort, to english readers. the first is, of king friedrich caricatured as a miser grinding coffee. i give it, without essential alteration of any kind, in herr preuss's words, copied from those of one who saw it:--the second, which relates to a princess or ex-princess of the royal house, i must reserve for a little while. herr preuss says:-- "once during the time of the 'regie' [which lasted from to and the king's death: no other date assignable, though , or so, may be imaginable for our purpose], as the king came riding along the jager strasse, there was visible near what is called the furstenhaus," kind of berlin somerset house, [nicolai, i. .] "a great crowd of people. 'see what it is!' the king sent his one attendant, a heiduc or groom, into it, to learn what it was. 'they have something posted up about your majesty,' reported the groom; and friedrich, who by this time had ridden forward, took a look at the thing; which was a caricature figure of himself: king in very melancholy guise, seated on a stool, a coffee-mill between his knees; diligently grinding with the one hand, and with the other picking up any bean that might have fallen. 'hang it lower,' said the king, beckoning his groom with a wave of the finger: 'lower, that they may not have to hurt their necks about it!' no sooner were the words spoken, which spread instantly, than there rose from the whole crowd one universal huzza of joy. they tore the caricature into a thousand pieces, and rolled after the king with loud (lebe hoch, our friedrich forever!' as he rode slowly away." [preuss, iii. ("from berlin conversutionsblatt &c. of , no. ").) that is their friedrich's method with the caricature department. heffner, kapellmeister in upsala, reports this bit of memorability; he was then of the king's music-chapel in berlin, and saw this with his eyes. the king's tendency at all times, and his practice generally, when we hear of it, was to take the people's side; so that gradually these french procedures were a great deal mitigated; and die regie--so they called this hateful new-fangled system of excise machinery--became much more supportable, "the sorrows of it nothing but a tradition to the younger sort," reports dohm, who is extremely ample on this subject. [christian wilhelm von dohm, _denkwurdigkeiten meiner zeit_ (lemgo und hanover, ), iv. et seq.] de launay was honorably dismissed, and the whole regie abolished, a month or two after friedrich's death. with a splenetic satisfaction authentic dohm, who sufficiently condemns the regie, adds that it was not even successful; and shows by evidence, and computation to the uttermost farthing, that instead of two million thalers annually, it yielded on the average rather less than one. the desired overplus of two millions, and a good deal more did indeed come in, says he: but it was owing to the great prosperity of prussia at large, after the seven-years war; to the manifold industries awakening, which have gone on progressive ever since. dohm declares farther, that the very object was in a sort fanciful, nugatory; arguing that nobody did attack friedrich;--but omitting to prove that nobody would have done so, had friedrich not stood ready to receive him. we will remark only, what is very indisputable, that friedrich, owing to the regie, or to other causes, did get the humble overplus necessary for him; and did stand ready for any war which might have come (and which did in a sort come); that he more and more relaxed the regie, as it became less indispensable to him; and was willing, if he found the caricatures and opposition placards too high posted, to save the poor reading people any trouble that was possible. a french eye-witness testifies: "they had no talent, these regie fellows, but that of writing and ciphering; extremely conceited too, and were capable of the most ridiculous follies. once, for instance, they condemned a common soldier, who had hidden some pounds of tobacco, to a fine of thalers. the king, on reviewing it for confirmation, wrote on the margin: 'before confirming this sentence, i should wish to know where the soldier, who gets groschen [ninepence halfpenny] in the days, will find the crowns for paying this fine!'" [laveaux ( d edition), iii. .] innumerable instances of a constant disposition that way, on the king's part, stand on record. "a crown a head on the import of fat cattle, tax on butcher's-meat?" writes he once to de launay: "no, that would fall on the poorer classes: to that i must say no. i am, by office, procurator of the poor (l'avocat du pauvre)." elsewhere it is "avocat dec pauvre et du soldat (of the working-man and of the soldier); and have to plead their cause." [preuss, iii. .] we will now give our second anecdote; which has less of memorability to us strangers at present, though doubtless it was then, in berlin society, the more celebrated of the two; relating, as it did, to a high court-lady, almost the highest, and who was herself only too celebrated in those years. the heroine is princess elizabeth of brunswick, king's own niece and a pretty woman; who for four years ( th july, - th april, ) of her long life was princess royal of prussia,--wife of that tall young gentleman whom we used to see dancing about, whom we last saw at schweidnitz getting flung from his horse, on the day of pirch's saddle there:--his wife for four years, but in the fourth year ceased to be so [rodenbeck, ii. , .] (for excellent reasons, on both sides), and lived thenceforth in a divorced eclipsed state at stettin, where is laid the scene of our anecdote. i understand it to be perfectly true; but cannot ascertain from any of the witnesses in what year the thing happened; or whether it was at stettin or berlin,--though my author has guessed, "stettin, in the lady's divorced state," as appears. "this princess had commissioned, direct from lyon, a very beautiful dress; which arrived duly, addressed to her at stettin. as this kind of stuffs is charged with very heavy dues, the douanier, head custom-house personage of the town, had the impertinence to detain the dress till payment were made. the princess, in a lofty indignation, sent word to this person, to bring the dress instantly, and she would pay the dues on it. he obeyed: but,"--mark the result,--"scarcely had the princess got eye on him, when she seized her lyon dress; and, giving the douanier a couple of good slaps on the face, ordered him out of her apartment and house. "the douanier, thinking himself one and somewhat, withdrew in high choler; had a long proces-verbal of the thing drawn out; and sent it to the king with eloquent complaint, 'that he had been dishonored in doing the function appointed him.' friedrich replied as follows: to the douanier at stettin: 'the loss of the excise-dues shall fall to my score; the dress shall remain with the princess; the slaps to him who has received them. as to the pretended dishonor, i entirely relieve the complainant from that: never can the appliance of a beautiful hand dishonor the face of an officer of customs.--f.'" [laveaux (abridged), iii. .] northern tourists, wraxall and others, passing that way, speak of this princess, down to recent times, as a phenomenon of the place. apparently a high and peremptory kind of lady, disdaining to be bowed too low by her disgraces. she survived all her generation, and the next and the next, and indeed into our own. died th february, : at the age of ninety-six. threescore and eleven years of that eclipsed stettin existence; this of the lyon gown, and caitiff of a custom-houser slapped on the face, her one adventure put on record for us!-- she was signally blamable in that of the divorce; but not she alone, nor first of the two. her crown-prince, friedrich wilhelm, called afterwards, as king, "der dicke (the fat, or the big)," and held in little esteem by posterity,--a headlong, rather dark and physical kind of creature, though not ill-meaning or dishonest,--was himself a dreadful sinner in that department of things; and had begun the bad game against his poor cousin and spouse! readers of discursive turn are perhaps acquainted with a certain "grafin von lichtenau," and her memoirs so called:--not willingly, but driven, i fish up one specimen, and one only, from that record of human puddles and perversities:-- "from the first year of our attachment," says this precious grafin, "i was already the confidant of his," the prince of prussia's, "most secret thoughts. one day [in , second year of his married life, i then fifteen, slim daughter of a player on the french horn, in his majesty's pay], the prince happened to be very serious; and was owning to me with frankness that he had some wrongs towards my sex to reproach himself with,"--alas, yes, some few:--"and he swore that he would never forsake me; and that if heaven disposed of my life before his, none but he should close my eyes. he was fingering with a penknife at the time; he struck the point of it into the palm of his left hand, and wrote with his blood [the unclean creature], on a little bit of paper, the oath which his lips had just pronounced in so solemn a tone. vainly should i undertake to paint my emotion on this action of his! the prince saw what i felt; and took advantage of it to beg that i would follow his example. i hastened to satisfy him; and traced, as he had done, with my blood, the promise to remain his friend to the tomb, and never to forsake him. this promise must have been found among his papers after his death [still in the archives? we will hope not!]--both of us stood faithful to this oath. the tie of love, it is true, we broke: but that was by mutual consent, and the better to fix ourselves in the bonds of an inviolable friendship. other mistresses reigned over his senses; but i"--ach gott, no more of that. [_memoires de la comtesse de lichtenau_ (a londres, chez colburn libraire, conduit-street, bond-street, tomes, small vo, ), i. .] the king's own account of the affair is sufficiently explicit. his words are: "not long ago [about two years before this of the penknife] we mentioned the prince of prussia's marriage with elizabeth of brunswick [his cousin twice over, her mother, princess charlotte of prussia, being his father's sister and mine, and her father his mother's brother,--if you like to count it]. this engagement, from which everybody had expected happy consequences, did not correspond to the wishes of the royal house." only one princess could be realized (subsequently wife to the late duke of york),--she came this same year of the penknife,--and bad outlooks for more. "the husband, young and dissolute (sans moeurs), given up to a crapulous life, from which his relatives could not correct him, was continually committing infidelities to his wife. the princess, who was in the flower of her beauty, felt outraged by such neglect of her charms; her vivacity, and the good opinion she had of herself, brought her upon the thought of avenging her wrongs by retaliation. speedily she gave in to excesses, scarcely inferior to those of her husband. family quarrels broke out, and were soon publicly known. the antipathy that ensued took away all hope of succession [had it been desirable in these sad circumstances!]. prince henri [junior, this hopeful prince of prussia's brother], who was gifted with all the qualities to be wished in a young man [witness my tears for him], had been carried off by small-pox. [" th may, ," age gone; eloge of him by friedrich ("ms. still stained with tears"), in _oeuvres de frederic_, vii. et seq.] the king's brothers, princes henri and ferdinand, avowed frankly that they would never consent to have, by some accidental bastard, their rights of succession to the crown carried off. in the end, there was nothing for it but proceeding to a divorce." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ vi. .] divorce was done in a beautiful private manner; case tried with strictly shut doors; all the five judges under oath to carry into the grave whatever they came to know of it: [preuss, iv. - .] divorce completed th april, ; and, within three months, a new marriage was accomplished, princess frederika luisa of hessen-darmstadt the happy woman. by means of whom there was duly realized a friedrich wilhelm, who became "king friedrich wilhelm iii." (a much-enduring, excellent, though inarticulate man), as well as various other princes and princesses, in spite of interruptions from the lichtenau sisterhood. high-souled elizabeth was relegated to stettin; her amount of pension is not mentioned; her family, after the unhappy proofs communicated to them, had given their consent and sanction;--and she stayed there, idle, or her own mistress of work, for the next seventy-one years.--enough of her lyon dress, surely, and of the excise system altogether!-- the neue palais, in sans-souci neighborhood, is founded and finished ( - ). if d'alembert's visit was the germ of the excise system, it will be curious to note,--and indeed whether or not, it will be chronologically serviceable to us here, and worth noting,--that there went on a small synchronous affair, still visible to everybody: namely, that in the very hours while friedrich and d'alembert were saluting mutually at geldern ( th june, ), there was laid the foundation of what they call the neue palais; new palace of sans-souci: [rodenbeck, ii. .] a sumptuous edifice, in the curious louis-quinze or what is called "rococo" style of the time; palace never much inhabited by friedrich or his successors, which still stands in those ornamental potsdam regions. why built, especially in the then down-pressed financial circumstances, some have had their difficulties to imagine. it appears, this new palace had been determined on before the war broke out; and friedrich said to himself: "we will build it now, to help the mechanical classes in berlin,--perhaps also, in part [think some, and why should not they, a little?] to show mankind that we have still ready money; and are nothing like so ruined as they fancy." "this neue palais," says one recent tourist, "is a pleasant quaint object, nowadays, to the stranger. it has the air degage pococurante; pleasantly fine in aspect and in posture;--spacious expanses round it, not in a waste, but still less in a strict condition; and (in its deserted state) has a silence, especially a total absence of needless flunkies and of gaping fellow-loungers, which is charming. stands mute there, in its solitude, in its stately silence and negligence, like some tadmor of the wilderness in small. the big square of stables, coach-houses, near by, was locked up,--probably one sleeping groom in it. the very custos of the grand edifice (such the rarity of fees to him) i could not awaken without difficulty. in the gray autumn zephyrs, no sound whatever about this new palace of king friedrich's, except the rustle of the crisp brown leaves, and of any faded or fading memories you may have. "i should say," continues he, "it somehow reminds you of the city of bath. it has the cut of a battered beau of old date; beau still extant, though in strangely other circumstances; something in him of pathetic dignity in that kind. it shows excellent sound masonries; which have an over-tendency to jerk themselves into pinnacles, curvatures and graciosities; many statues atop,--three there are, in a kind of grouped or partnership attitude; 'these,' said diligent scandal, 'note them; these mean maria theresa, pompadour and catin du nord' (mere muses, i believe, or of the nymph or hamadryad kind, nothing of harm in them). in short, you may call it the stone apotheosis of an old french beau. considerably weather-beaten (the brown of lichens spreading visibly here and there, the firm-set ashlar telling you, 'i have stood a hundred years');--beau old and weather-beaten, with his cocked-hat not in the fresh condition, all his gold-laces tarnished; and generally looking strange, and in a sort tragical, to find himself, fleeting creature, become a denizen of the architectural fixities and earnest eternities!"-- from potsdam palace to the new palace of sans-souci may be a mile distance; flat ground, parallel to the foot of hills; all through arbors, parterres, water-works, and ornamental gardenings and cottagings or villa-ings,--cottage-villa for lord marischal is one of them. this mile of distance, taking the cottage royal of sans-souci on its hill-top as vertex, will be the base of an isosceles or nearly isosceles triangle, flatter than equilateral. to the cottage royal of sans-souci may be about three-quarters of a mile northeast from this new palace, and from potsdam palace to it rather less. and the whole square-mile or so of space is continuously a garden, not in the english sense, though it has its own beauties of the more artificial kind; and, at any rate, has memories for you, and footsteps of persons still unforgotten by mankind.--here is a notice of lord marischal; which readers will not grudge; the chronology of the worthy man, in these his later epochs, being in so hazy a state:-- lord marischal, we know well and pitt knows, was in england in ,--ostensibly on the kintore heritage; and in part, perhaps, really on that errand. but he went and came, at dates now uncertain; was back in spain after that, had difficult voyagings about; [king's letters to him, in _oeuvres de frederic,_ xx. - .]--and did not get to rest again, in his government of neufchatel, till april, . there is a letter of the king's, which at least fixes that point:-- "breslau, th april, . my nose is the most impertinent nose in the universe, mon cher mylord [queen-dowager snuff, spaniol from the fountain-head, of marischal's providing; quality exquisite, but difficult to get transmitted in the storms of war]; i am ashamed of the trouble it costs you! i beg many pardons;--and should be quite abashed, did i not know how you compassionate the weak points of your friends, and that, for a long time past, you have a singular indulgence for my nose. i am very glad to know you happily returned to your government, safe at colombier (dove-cote) in neufchatel again." this is th april, . there, as i gather, quiet in his dove-cote, marischal continued, though rather weary of the business, for about a year more; or till the king got home,--who delights in companionship, and is willing to let an old man demit for good. it was in summer, (about three months after the above letter from the king), that rousseau made his celebrated exodus into neufchatel country, and found the old governor so good to him,--glad to be allowed to shelter the poor skinless creature. and, mark as curious, it must have been on two of those mornings, towards the end of the siege of schweidnitz, when things were getting so intolerable, and at times breaking out into electricity, into "rebuke all round," that friedrich received that singular pair of laconic notes from rousseau in neufchatel: forwarded, successively, by lord marischal; note first, of date, "motier-travers, neufchatel, september," nobody can guess what day, " :" "i have said much ill of you, and don't repent it. now everybody has banished me; and it is on your threshold that i sit down. kill me, if you have a mind!" and then (after, not death, but the gift of crowns), note second, "october, :"... "take out of my sight that sword, which dazzles and pains me; it has only too well done its duty, while the sceptre is abandoned:" make peace, can't you! [_oeuvres completes de rousseau_ (a geneve, - ), xxxiii. , .]--what curious reading for a king in such posture, among the miscellaneous arrivals overnight! above six weeks before either of these notes, friedrich, hearing of him from lord marischal, had answered: "an asylum? yes, by all means: the unlucky cynic!" it is on september st, that he sends, by the same channel, crowns for his use, with advice to "give them in natura, lest he refuse otherwise;" as friedrich knows to be possible. in words, the rousseau notes got nothing of answer. "a garcon singulier," says friedrich: odd fellow, yes indeed, your majesty;--and has such a pungency of flattery in him too, presented in the way of snarl! his majesty might take him, i suppose, with a kind of relish, like queen-dowager snuff. there was still another shift of place, shift which proved temporary, in old marischal's life: home to native aberdeenshire. the two childless brothers, earls of kintore, had died successively, the last of them november d, : title and heritage, not considerable the latter, fell duly, by what preparatives we know, to old marischal; but his keith kinsfolk, furthermore, would have him personally among them,--nay, after that, would have him to wed and produce new keiths. at the age of ; decidedly an inconvenient thing! old marischal left potsdam "august, ," [letter of his to the king ("londres, aout, "), in _oeuvres de frederic,_ xx. .--in _letters of eminent persons to david hume_ (edinburgh, ), pp. - , are some nine from the old marischal; in curiously mixed dialect, cheerful, but indistinct; the two chief dates of which are: "touch" (guttural tuch, in aberdeenshire), " october, ," and "potsdam, february, ."]--new-palace scaffoldings and big stone blocks conspicuous in those localities; pleasant d'alembert now just about leaving, in the other direction;--much to friedrich's regret, the old marischal especially, as is still finely evident. friedrich to lord marischal (in scotland for the last six months). "sans-souci, th february, . "i am not surprised that the scotch fight to have you among them; and wish to have progeny of yours, and to preserve your bones. you have in your lifetime the lot of homer after death: cities arguing which is your birthplace;--i myself would dispute it with edinburgh to possess you. if i had ships, i would make a descent on scotland, to steal off my cher mylord, and bring him hither. alas, our elbe boats can't do it. but you give me hopes;--which i seize with avidity! i was your late brother's friend, and had obligations to him; i am yours with heart and soul. these are my titles, these are my rights:--you sha'n't be forced in the matter of progeny here (faire l'etalon ici), neither priests nor attorneys shall meddle with you; you shall live here in the bosom of friendship, liberty and philosophy." come to me!...--f. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xx. .] old marischal did come; and before long. i know not the precise month: but "his villa-cottage was built for him," the books say, "in ." he had left d'alembert just going; next year he will find helvetius coming. he lived here, a great treasure to friedrich, till his death, th may, , age . the new palace was not finished till ;--in which year, also, friedrich reckons that the general problem of repairing prussia was victoriously over. new palace, growing or complete, looks down on all these operations and occurrences. in its cradle, it sees d'alembert go, lord marischal go; helvetius come, lord marischal come; in its boyhood or maturity, the excise, and french rats-de-cave, spring up; crown-prince friedrich wilhelm prick his hand for a fit kind of ink; friedrich wilhelm's divorced wife give her douanier two slaps in the face, by way of payment. nay, the same friedrich wilhelm, become "friedrich wilhelm ii., or der dicke," died in it,--his lichtenau and his second wife, jewel of women, nursing him in his last sickness there. ["died th november, ."] the violent stress of effort for repairing prussia, friedrich intimates, was mostly over in : till which date specifically, and in a looser sense till , that may be considered as his main business. but it was not at any time his sole business; nor latterly at all equal in interest to some others that had risen on him, as the next chapter will now show. here, first, is a little fraction of necrology, which may be worth taking with us. readers can spread these fateful specialties over the period in question; and know that each of them came with a kind of knell upon friedrich's heart, whatever he might be employed about. hour striking after hour on the horologe of time; intimating how the afternoon wore, and that night was coming. various meanings there would be to friedrich in these footfalls of departing guests, the dear, the less dear, and the indifferent or hostile; but each of them would mean: "gone, then, gone; thus we all go!" "obituary in friedrich's circle till ." of polish majesty's death ( th october, ), and then ( d december following) of his kurprinz or successor's, with whom we dined at moritzburg so recently, there will be mention by and by. november th, , in the interval between these two, the wretched bruhl had died. april th, , died the wretched pompadour;--"to us not known, je ne la connais pas:"--hapless butterfly, she had been twenty years in the winged condition; age now forty-four: dull louis, they say, looked out of window as her hearse departed, "froidement," without emotion of any visible kind. these little concern friedrich or us; we will restrict ourselves to friends. "died in . at pisa, algarotti ( d may, , age fifty-two); with whom friedrich has always had some correspondence hitherto (to himself interesting, though not to us), and will never henceforth have more. friedrich raised a monument to him; monument still to be seen in the campo-santo of pisa: 'hic jacet ovidii aemulus et neutoni discipulus;' friends have added 'fredericus magnus poni fecit;' and on another part of the monument, 'algarottus non omnis.' [preuss, iv. .] "--in . at the age of eighty, november th, grafin camas, 'ma bonne maman' (widow since ); excellent old lady,--once brilliantly young, german by birth, her name brandt;--to whom the king's letters used to be so pretty." this same year, too, kaiser franz died; but him we will reserve, as not belonging to this select list. "--in . at nanci, d february, age eighty-six, king stanislaus leczinsky: 'his clothes caught fire' (accidental spark or sputter on some damask dressing-gown or the like); and the much-enduring innocent old soul ended painfully his titular career. "died in . october d, the grand-duchess of sachsen-gotha, age fifty-seven; a sad stroke this also, among one's narrowing list of friends.--i doubt if friedrich ever saw this high lady after the visit we lately witnessed. his letters to her are still in the archives of gotha: not hers to him; all lost, these latter, but an accidental two, which are still beautiful in their kind. [given in _oeuvres de frederic,_ xviii. , .] "--in . bielfeld, the fantastic individual of old days. had long been out of friedrich's circle,--in altenburg country, i think;--without importance to friedrich or us: the year of him will do, without search for day or month. "---in . two heavy deaths come this year. january th, , at berlin, dies our valuable old friend excellency mitchell,--still here on the part of england, in cordial esteem as a man and companion; though as minister, i suppose, with function more and more imaginary. this painfully ushers in the year. to usher it out, there is still worse: faithful d'argens dies, th december, , on a visit in his native provence,--leaving, as is still visible, [friedrich's two letters to the widow (ib. xix. - ).] a big and sad blank behind him at potsdam." but we need not continue; at least not at present. long before all these, friedrich had lost friends; with a sad but quiet emotion he often alludes to this tragic fact, that all the souls he loved most are gone. his winterfelds, his keiths, many loved faces, the war has snatched: at monbijou, at baireuth, it was not war; but they too are gone. is the world becoming all a mausoleum, then; nothing of divine in it but the tombs of vanished loved ones? friedrich makes no noise on such subjects: loved and unloved alike must go. we have still to mark kaiser franz's sudden death; a thing politically interesting, if not otherwise. august, , at innspruck, during the marriage-festivities of his second son, leopold (duke of florence, who afterwards, on joseph's death, was kaiser),--kaiser franz, sauntering about in the evening gala, " th august, about p.m.," suddenly tottered, staggered as falling; fell into son joseph's arms; and was dead. above a year before, this same joseph, his eldest son, had been made king of the romans: "elected th march; crowned d april, ;"--friedrich furthering it, wishful to be friendly with his late enemies. [rodenbeck, ii. .] on this innspruck tragedy, joseph naturally became kaiser,--part-kaiser; his dowager-mother, on whom alone it depends, having decided that way. the poor lady was at first quite overwhelmed with her grief. she had the death-room of her husband made into a chapel; she founded furthermore a monastery in innspruck, "twelve canonesses to pray there for the repose of franz;" was herself about to become abbess there, and quit the secular world; but in the end was got persuaded to continue, and take son joseph as coadjutor. [hormayr, oesterreichischer plutarch (º maria theresa), iv. ( tes bandchen) - ; maria theresiens leben, p. .] in which capacity we shall meet the young man again. chapter iii.--troubles in poland. april th, , one year after his seven-years labor of hercules, friedrich made treaty of alliance with the new czarina catharine. england had deserted him; france was his enemy, especially pompadour and choiseul, and refused reconcilement, though privately solicited: he was without an ally anywhere. the russians had done him frightful damage in the last war, and were most of all to be dreaded in the case of any new one. the treaty was a matter of necessity as well as choice. agreement for mutual good neighborhood and friendly offices; guarantee of each other against intrusive third parties: should either get engaged in war with any neighbor, practical aid to the length of , men, or else money in lieu. treaty was for eight years from day of date. as friedrich did not get into war, and catharine did, with the turks and certain loose polacks, the burden of fulfilment happened to fall wholly on friedrich; and he was extremely punctual in performance,--eager now, and all his life after, to keep well with such a country under such a czarina. which proved to be the whole rule of his policy on that russian side. "good that country cannot bring me by any quarrel with it; evil it can, to a frightful extent, in case of my quarrelling with others! be wary, be punctual, magnanimously polite, with that grandiose czarina and her huge territories and notions:" this was friedrich's constant rule in public and in private. nor is it thought his correspondence with the empress catharine, when future generations see it in print, will disclose the least ground of offence to that high-flying female potentate of the north. nor will it ever be known what the silently observant friedrich thought of her, except indeed what we already know, or as good as know, that he, if anybody did, saw her clearly enough for what she was; and found good to repress into absolute zero whatever had no bearing upon business, and might by possibility give offence in that quarter. for we are an old king, and have learned by bitter experiences! no more nicknames, biting verses, or words which a bird of the air could carry; though this poor lady too has her liabilities, were not we old and prudent;--and is entirely as weak on certain points (deducting the devotions and the brandy-and-water) as some others were! the treaty was renewed when necessary; and continued valid and vital in every particular, so long as friedrich ruled. by the end of the first eight years, by strictly following this passive rule, friedrich, in counterbalance of his losses, unexpectedly found himself invested with a very singular bit of gain,--"unjust gain!" cried all men, making it of the nature of gain and loss to him,--which is still practically his, and which has made, and makes to this day, an immense noise in the world. everybody knows we mean west-preussen; partition of poland; bloodiest picture in the book of time, sarmatia's fall unwept without a crime;--and that we have come upon a very intricate part of our poor history. no prudent man--especially if to himself, as is my own poor case in regard to it, the subject have long been altogether dead and indifferent--would wish to write of the polish question. for almost a hundred years the polish question has been very loud in the world; and ever and anon rises again into vocality among able editors, as a thing pretending not to be dead and buried, but capable of rising again, and setting itself right, by good effort at home and abroad. not advisable, beyond the strict limits of compulsion, to write of it at present! the rather as the history of it, any history we have, is not an intelligible series of events, but a series of vociferous execrations, filling all nature, with nothing left to the reader but darkness, and such remedies against despair as he himself can summon or contrive. "rulhiere's on that subject," says a note which i may cite, "is the only articulate-speaking book to which mankind as yet can apply; [cl. rulhiere, _histoire de l'anarchie de pologne_ (paris, ), vols. mo.] and they will by no means find that a sufficient one. rulhiere's book has its considerable merits; but it absolutely wants those of a history; and can be recognized by no mind as an intelligible cosmic portraiture of that chaotic mass of occurrences: chronology, topography, precision of detail by time and place; scene, and actors on scene, remain unintelligible. rulhiere himself knew poland, at least had looked on it from warsaw outwards, year after year, and knew of it what an inquiring secretary of legation could pick up on those terms, which perhaps, after all, is not very much. his narrative is drowned in beautiful seas of description and reflection; has neither dates nor references; and advances at an intolerable rate of slowness; in fact, rather turns on its axis than advances; produces on you the effect of a melodious sonata, not of a lucid and comfortably instructive history. "i forget for how long rulhiere had been in poland, as ambassador's assistant: but the country, the king and leading personages were personally known to him, more or less; events with all details of them were known: 'why not write a history of the anarchy and wreck they fell into?' said the official people to him, on his return home: 'for behoof of the dauphin [who is to be louis xvi. shortly]; may not he perhaps draw profit from it? at the top of the universe, experience is sometimes wanted. here are the archives, here is salary, here are what appliances you like to name: write!' it is well known he was appointed, on a pension of pounds a year, with access to all archives, documents and appliances in possession of the french government, and express charge to delineate this subject for benefit of the dauphin's young mind. nor can i wonder, considering everything, that the process on rulhiere's part, being so full of difficulties, was extremely deliberate; that this book did not grow so steadily or fast as the dauphin did; and that in fact the poor dauphin never got the least benefit from it,--being guillotined, he, in , and the book intended for him never coming to light for fourteen years afterwards, it too in a posthumous and still unfinished condition. "rulhiere has heard the voices of rumor, knows an infinitude of events that were talked of; but has not discriminated which were the vital, which were the insignificant; treats the vital and the insignificant alike; seldom with satisfactory precision; mournfully seldom giving any date, and by no chance any voucher or authority;--and instead of practical terrestrial scene of action, with distances, milestones, definite sequence of occurrences, and of causes and effects, paints us a rosy cloudland, which if true at all, as he well intends it to be, is little more than symbolically or allegorically so; and can satisfy no clear-headed dauphin or man. rulhiere strives to be authentic, too; gives you no suspicion of his fairness. there is really fine high-colored painting in rulhiere! and you hope always he will let you into the secret of the matter: but the sad fact is, he never does. he merely loses himself in picturesque details, philosophic eloquences, elegancies; takes you to a castle of choczim, a monastery of czenstochow, a bay of tschesme, and lets off extensive fire-works that contain little or no shot; leads you on trackless marches, inroads or outroads, through the lithuanian peat-bogs, on daring adventures and hair-breadth escapes of mere pulawski, potocki and the like;--had not got to understand the matter himself, you perceive: how hopeless to make you understand it!" english readers, however, have no other shift; the rest of the books i have seen,--_histoire des revolutions de pologne;_ [ (a warsovie, et se trouve a paris), vols. vo.] _histoire des trois demembremens de la pologne;_ [anonymous (by one ferrand, otherwise unknown to me), paris, , vols. vo.] _letters on poland;_ [anonymous (by a "reverend mr. lindsey," it would seem), letters concerning the present state of poland, together with &c. (london, ; vol. vo): of these letters, or at least of reverend lindsey, author of them, "tutor to king stanislaus's nephew," and a man of painfully loud loose tongue, there may perhaps be mention afterwards.] and many more,--are not worth mentioning at all. comfortable in the mad dance of these is hermann's recent dull volume; [hermann, _geschichte des russischen staats,_ vol. v. (already cited in regard to the peter-catharine tragedy); seems to be compiled mainly from the saxon archives, from despatches written on the spot and at the time.]--commonplace, dull, but steady and faithful; yielding us at least dates, and an immunity from noise. by help of hermann and the others, distilled to caput mortuum, a few dated facts (cardinal we dare not call them) may be extracted;--dimly out of these, to the meditating mind, some outline of the phenomenon may begin to become conceivable. king of poland dies; and there ensue huge anarchies in that country. king of poland dies; and there ensue huge anarchies in that country. the poor old king of poland--whom we saw, on that fall of the curtain at pirna seven years ago, rush off for warsaw with his bruhl, with expressive speed and expressive silence, and who has been waiting there ever since, sublimely confident that his powerful terrestrial friends, austria, russia, france, not to speak of heaven's justice at all, would exact due penalty, of signal and tremendous nature, on the prussian aggressor--has again been disappointed. the poor old gentleman got no compensation for his manifold losses and woes at pirna or elsewhere; not the least mention of such a thing, on the final winding-up of that war of seven years, in which his share had been so tragical; no alleviation was provided for him in this world. his sorrows in poland have been manifold; nothing but anarchies, confusions and contradictions had been his royal portion there: in about forty different diets he had tried to get some business done,--no use asking what; for the diets, one and all, exploded in nie pozwalam; and could do no business, good, bad or indifferent, for him or anybody. an unwise, most idle country; following as chief employment perpetual discrepancy with its idle unwise king and self; russia the virtual head of it this long while, so far as it has any head. february-august, , just while the treaty of hubertsburg was blessing everybody with the return of peace, and for long months after peace had returned to everybody, polish majesty was in sore trouble. trouble in regard to courland, to his poor son karl, who fancied himself elected, under favor and permission of the late czarina our gracious protectress and ally, to the difficult post of duke in courland; and had proceeded, three or four years ago, to take possession,--but was now interrupted by russian encroachments and violences. not at all well disposed to him, these new peters, new catharines. they have recalled their bieren from siberia; declare that old bieren is again duke, or at least that young bieren is, and not saxon karl at all; and have proceeded, czarina catharine has, to install him forcibly with russian soldiers. karl declares, "you shall kill me before you or he get into this palace of mietau!"--and by domestics merely, and armed private gentlemen, he does maintain himself in said palatial mansion; valiantly indignant, for about six months; the russian battalions girdling him on all sides, minatory more and more, but loath to begin actual bloodshed. [rulhiere, ii. (livre v.) et antea; hermann, v. et seq.] a transaction very famed in those parts, and still giving loud voice in the polish books, which indeed get ever noisier from this point onward, till they end in inarticulate shrieks, as we shall too well hear. empress catharine, after the lapse of six months, sends an ambassador to warsaw (kayserling by name), who declares, in tone altogether imperative, that czarish majesty feels herself weary of such contumacy, weary generally of polish majesty's and polish republic's multifarious contumacies; and, in fine, cruelest of all, that she has troops on the frontier; that courland is not the only place where she has troops. what a stab to the poor old man! "contumacies?" has not he been russia's patient stepping-stone, all along; his anarchic poland and he accordant in that, if in nothing else? "let us to saxony," decides he passionately, "and leave all this." in saxony his poor old queen is dead long since; much is dead: saxony and life generally, what a golgotha! he immediately sends word to karl, "give up courland; i am going home!"--and did hastily make his packages, and bid adieu to warsaw, and, in a few weeks after to this anarchic world altogether. died at dresden, th october, . polish majesty had been elected th october, ; died, you observe, th october, ;--was king of poland ("king," save the mark!) for years to a day. was elected--do readers still remember how? leaves a ruined saxony lying round him; a ruined life mutely asking him, "couldst thou have done no better, then?" wretched bruhl followed him in four or five weeks. nay, in about two months, his son and successor, "friedrich christian" (with whom we dined at moritzburg), had followed him; [prince died th december (bruhl, th november), .] leaving a small boy, age , as new kurfurst, "friedrich august" the name of him, with guardians to manage the minority; especially with his mother as chief guardian,--of whom, for two reasons, we are now to say something. reason first is, that she is really a rather brilliant, distinguished creature, distinguished more especially in friedrich's world; whose letters to her are numerous, and, in their kind, among the notablest he wrote;--of which we would gladly give some specimen, better or worse; and reason second, that in so doing, we may contrive to look, for a moment or two, into the preliminary polish anarchies at first-hand; and, transiently and far off, see something of them as if with our own eyes. marie-antoine, or marie-antoinette, electress of saxony, is still a bright lady, and among the busiest living; now in her th year: "born th july, ; second child of kaiser karl vii.;"--a living memento to us of those old times of trouble. papa, when she came to him, was in his th year; this was his second daughter; three years afterwards he had a son (born ; died ), who made the "peace of fussen," to friedrich's disgust, in , if readers recollect;--and who, dying childless, will give rise to another war (the "potato war" so called), for friedrich's behoof and ours. this little creature would be in her teens during that fatal kaisership ( - , her age then - ),--during those triumphs, flights and furnished-lodging intricacies. her mamma, whom we have seen, a little fat bullet given to devotion, was four years younger than papa. mamma died " th december, ," germany all blazing out in war again; she had been a widow eleven years. marie-antoine was wedded to friedrich christian, saxon kurprinz, " th june, ;" her age , his :--chronology itself is something, if one will attend to it, in the absence of all else! the young pair were cousins, their mothers being sisters; polish majesty one's uncle, age now ,--who was very fond of us, poor indolent soul, and glad of our company on an afternoon, "being always in his dressing-gown by o'clock." concerning which the tongue of court scandal was not entirely idle,--hanbury chronicling, as we once noticed. all which i believe to be mere lying wind. the young princess was beautiful; extremely clever, graceful and lively, we can still see for ourselves: no wonder poor polish majesty, always in his dressing-gown by , was charmed to have her company,--the rather as i hope she permitted him a little smoking withal. her husband was crook-backed; and, except those slight, always perfectly polite little passages, in schmettau's siege ( ), in the hubertsburg treaty affair, in the dinner at moritzburg, i never heard much history of him. he became elector th october, ; but enjoyed the dignity little more than two months. our princess had borne him seven children,--three boys, four girls,--the eldest about , a boy, who succeeded; the youngest a girl, hardly . the boy is he who sent gellert the caparisoned horse, and had estafettes on the road while gellert lay dying. this boy lived to be , and saw strange things in the world; had seen napoleon and the french revolution; was the first "king of saxony" so called; saw jena, retreat of moscow; saw the "battle of the nations" (leipzig, th- th october, ), and his great napoleon terminate in bankruptcy. he left no son. a brother, age , succeeded him as king for a few years; whom again a brother would have succeeded, had not he (this third brother, age now ) renounced, in favor of his son, the present king of saxony. enough, enough!-- august th, , while afflicted polish majesty is making his packages at warsaw, far away,--marie-antoinette, in dresden, had sent friedrich an opera of her composing, just brought out by her on her court-theatre there. here is friedrich's answer,--to what kind of opera i know not, but to a letter accompanying it which is extremely pretty. friedrich to the electoral princess (at dresden). "potsdam, th september, . "madam my sister,--the remembrance your royal highness sends is the more flattering to me, as i regret infinitely not to have been spectator and hearer of the fine things [opera thalestris, words and music entirely lost to us] which i have admired for myself in the silent state. "i wish i could send you things as pleasant out of these parts: but, madam, i am obliged to give you a hint, which may be useful if you can have it followed. in saxony, however, my letters get opened;--which obliges me to send this by a special messenger; and him, that he may cause no suspicion, i have charged with fruits from my garden. you will have the goodness to say [if anybody is eavesdropping] that you asked them of me at moritzburg, when i was happy enough to see you there [six months ago, coming home from the seven-years war]. the hint i had to give was this:-- "in petersburg people's minds are getting angry at the stubbornness your friends show in refusing to recognize duke bieren [home from siberia, again duke of courland, by russian appointment, as if russia had that right; polish majesty and his prince karl resisting to the uttermost]. i counsel you to induce the powerful in your circle to have this condescension [they have had it, been obliged to have it, though friedrich does not yet know]; for it will turn out ill to them, if they persist in being obstinately stiff. it begins already to be said that there are more than a million russian subjects at this time refugees in poland; whom, by i forget what cartel, the republic was bound to deliver up. orders have been given to detachments of military to enter certain places, and bring away these russians by force. in a word, you will ruin your affairs forever, unless you find means to produce a change of conduct on the part of him they complain of. take, madam, what i now say as a mark of the esteem and profound regard with which--"--f. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxiv. .] this hint, if the king knew, had been given, in a less kind shape, by necessity itself; and had sent polish majesty, and his bruhls and "powerful people," bodily home, and out of that polish russian welter, in a headlong and tragically passionate condition. electoral princess, next time she writes, is become electress all at once. electress marie-antoine to friedrich. "dresden, th october, . "sire,--your majesty has given me such assurance of your goodness and your friendship, that i will now appeal to that promise. you have assured us, too, that you would with pleasure contribute to secure poland for us. the moment is come for accomplishing that promise. the king is dead [died this very day; see if _i_ lose time in sentimental lamentations!]--with him these grievances of russia [our stiffness on courland and the like] must be extinct; the rather as we [the now reigning] will lend ourselves willingly to everything that can be required of us for perfect reconcilement with that power. "you can do all, if you will it; you can contribute to this reconcilement. you can render it favorable to us. you will, give me that proof of the flattering sentiments i have been so proud of hitherto,"--won't you, now? "russia cannot disapprove the mediation you might deign to offer on that behalf;--our intentions being so honestly amicable, and all ground of controversy having died with the late king. russia reconciled, our views on the polish crown might at once be declared (eclater)." oh, do it, your majesty;--"my gratitude shall only end with life!--m. a." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxiv. .] friedrich, who is busy negotiating his treaty with russia (perfected th april next), and understands that they will mean not to have a saxon, but to have a piast, and perhaps dimly even what piast (stanislaus poniatowski, the emeritus lover), who will be their own, and not saxony's at all,--must have been a little embarrassed by such an appeal from his fair friend at this moment. "wait a little; don't answer yet," would have occurred to the common mind. but that was not friedrich's resource: he answers by return of post, as always in such cases;--and in the following adroit manner brushes off, without hurt to it, with kisses to it rather, the beautiful hand that has him by the button:-- to the electress marie-antoine (at dresden). "berlin, th october, . "madam my sister,--i begin by making my condolences and my congratulations to your electoral highness on the death of the king your father-in-law, and on your accession to the electorate. "your electoral highness will remember what i wrote, not long since, on the affairs of poland. i am afraid, madam, that russia will be more contrary to you than you think. m. de woronzow [famous grand-chancellor of russia; saved himself dexterously in the late peter-catharine overturn; has since fallen into disfavor for his notions about our gregory orlof, and is now on his way to italy, "for health's sake," in consequence], who is just arrived here, ["had his audience th october" (yesterday): rodenbeck, ii. .] told me, too, of some things which raise an ill augury of this affair. if you do not disapprove of my speaking frankly to you, it seems to me that it would be suitable in you to send some discreet diplomatist to that court to notify the king's death; and you would learn by him what you have to expect from her czarish majesty [the empress, he always calls her, knowing she prefers that title]. it seems to me, madam, that it would be precipitate procedure should i wish to engage you in an enterprise, which appears to myself absolutely dubious (hasardee), unless approved by that princess. as to me, madam, i have not the ascendant there which you suppose: i act under rule of all the delicacies and discretions with a court which separated itself from my enemies when all europe wished to crush me: but i am far from being able to regulate the empress's way of thinking. "it is the same with the quarrels about the duke of courland; one cannot attempt mediation except by consent of both parties. i believe i am not mistaken in supposing that the court of russia does not mean to terminate that business by foreign mediation. what i have heard about it (what, however, is founded only on vague news) is, that the empress might prevail upon herself (pourrait se resoudre) to purchase from bruhl the principality of zips [zips, on the edge of hungary; let readers take note of that principality, at present in the hand of bruhl,--who has much disgusted poland by his voracity for lands; and is disgorging them all again, poor soul!], to give it to prince karl in compensation: but that would lead to a negotiation with the court of vienna, which might involve the affair in other contentions. "i conjure you, madam, i repeat it, be not precipitate in anything; lest, as my fear is, you replunge europe into the troubles it has only just escaped from! as to me, i have found, since the peace, so much to do within my own borders, that i have not, i assure you, had time, madam, to think of going abroad. i confine myself to forming a thousand wishes for the prosperity of your electoral highness, assuring you of the high esteem with which i am,--f." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxiv. .] after some farther letters, of eloquently pressing solicitation on the part of the lady, and earnest advising, as well as polite fencing, on the part of friedrich, the latter writes:-- friedrich to electress. "madam my sister,--at this moment i receive a letter from the empress of russia, the contents of which do not appear to me favorable, madam, to your hopes. she requires (exige) that i should instruct my minister in poland to act entirely in concert with the count kayserling; and she adds these very words: 'i expect, from the friendship of your majesty, that you will not allow a passage through your territory, nor the entry into poland, to saxon troops, who are to be regarded there absolutely as strangers.' "unless your letters, madam [madam had said that she had written to the empress, assuring her &c.] change the sentiments of the empress, i do not see in what way the elector could arrive at the throne of poland; and consequently, whether i deferred to the wishes of the empress in this point, or refused to do so, you would not the more become queen; and i might commit myself against a power which i ought to keep well with (menager). i am persuaded, madam, that your electoral highness enters into my embarrassment; and that, unless you find yourself successful in changing the empress's own ideas on this matter, you will not require of me that i should embroil myself fruitlessly with a neighbor who deserves the greatest consideration from me. "all this is one consequence of the course which count bruhl induced his late polish majesty to take with regard to the interests of prince karl in courland; and your electoral highness will remember, that i often represented to you the injury which would arise to him from it. "i will wish, madam, that other opportunities may occur, where it may be in my power to prove to your electoral highness the profound esteem and consideration with which i am--"--f. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxiv. .] electress to friedrich. "dresden, th november, . "sire,--i am not yet disheartened. i love to flatter myself with your friendship, sire, and i will not easily renounce the hope that you will give me a real mark of it in an affair which interests me so strongly. nobody has greater ascendency over the mind of the empress of russia than your majesty; use it, sire, to incline it to our favor. our obligation will be infinite.... why should she be absolutely against us? what has she to fear from us? the courland business, if that sticks with her, could be terminated in a suitable manner."--troops into poland, sire?"my husband so little thinks of sending troops thither, that he has given orders for the return of those already there. he does not wish the crown except from the free suffrages of the nation: if the empress absolutely refuse to help him with her good offices, let her, at least, not be against him. do try, sire." [ib. xxiv. .]--friedrich answers, after four days, or by return of post--but we will give the rest in the form of dialogue. friedrich (after four days).... "if, madam, i had crowns to give away, i would place the first on your head, as most worthy to bear it. but i am far from such a position. i have just got out of a horrible war, which my enemies made upon me with a rage almost beyond example; i endeavor to cultivate friendship with all my neighbors, and to get embroiled with nobody. with regard to the affairs of poland, an empress whom i ought to be well with, and to whom i owe great obligations, requires me to enter into her measures; you, madam, whom i would fain please if i could, you want me to change the sentiments of this empress. do but enter into my embarrassment!... according to all i hear from russia, it appears to me that every resolution is taken there; and that the empress is resolved even to sustain the party of her partisans in poland with the forces she has all in readiness at the borders. as for me, madam, i wish, if possible, not to meddle at all with this business, which hitherto is not complicated, but which may, any day, become so by the neighbors of poland taking a too lively part in it. ready, otherwise, on all occasions, to give to your electoral highness proofs of my--" [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxiv, : "potsdam, th november, ."] electress (after ten days).... "why should the empress be so much against us? we have not deserved her hatred. on the contrary, we seek her friendship. she declares, however, that she will uphold the freedom of the poles in the election of their king. you, sire"--[ib. xxiv. : "dresden, th november, ."] but we must cut short, though it lasts long months after this. great is the electress's persistence,--"my poor husband being dead, cannot our poor boy, cannot his uncle prince xavier try? o sire!" our last word shall be this of friedrich's; actual election-time now drawing nigh:-- friedrich. "i am doing like the dogs who have fought bitterly till they are worn down: i sit licking my wounds. i notice most european powers doing the same; too happy if, whilst kings are being manufactured to right and left, public tranquillity is not disturbed thereby, and if every one may continue to dwell in peace beside his hearth and his household gods." ["sans-souci, th june, " (ib. p. ).] adieu, bright madam. no reader who has made acquaintance with polish history can well doubt but poland was now dead or moribund, and had well deserved to die. anarchies are not permitted in this world. under fine names, they are grateful to the populaces, and to the editors of newspapers; but to the maker of this universe they are eternally abhorrent; and from the beginning have been forbidden to be. they go their course, applauded or not applauded by self and neighbors,--for what lengths of time none of us can know; for a long term sometimes, but always for a fixed term; and at last their day comes. poland had got to great lengths, two centuries ago, when poor john casimir abdicated his crown of poland, after a trial of twenty years, and took leave of the republic in that remarkable speech to the diet of . this john is "casimir v.," last scion of the swedish house of vasa,--with whom, in the great elector's time, we had some slight acquaintance; and saw at least the three days' beating he got (warsaw, th- th july, ) from karl gustav of sweden and the great elector, [supra, v. - .] ancestors respectively of karl xii. and of our present friedrich. he is not "casimir the great" of polish kings; but he is, in our day, casimir the alone remarkable. it seems to me i once had in extenso this valedictory speech of his; but it has lapsed again into the general mother of dead dogs, and i will not spend a week in fishing for it. the gist of the speech, innumerable books and dead dogs tell you, [histoire des trois demembremens does, and many others do;--copied in _biographie universelle,_ vii. (? casimir).] is "lamentation over the polish anarchies" and "a prophecy," which is very easily remembered. the poor old gentleman had no doubt eaten his peck of dirt among those polacks, and swallowed chagrins till he felt his stomach could no more, and determined to have done with it. to one's fancy, in abridged form, the valediction must have run essentially as follows:-- "magnanimous polack gentlemen, you are a glorious republic, and have nie pozwalam, and strange methods of business, and of behavior to your kings and others. we have often fought together, been beaten together, by our enemies and by ourselves; and at last i, for my share, have enough of it. i intend for paris; religious-literary pursuits, and the society of ninon de l'enclos. i wished to say before going, that according to all record, ancient and modern, of the ways of god almighty in this world, there was not heretofore, nor do i expect there can henceforth be, a human society that would stick together on those terms. believe me, ye polish chivalries, without superior except in heaven, if your glorious republic continue to be managed in such manner, not good will come of it, but evil. the day will arrive [this is the prophecy, almost in ipsissimis verbis], the day perhaps is not so far off, when this glorious republic will get torn into shreds, hither, thither; be stuffed into the pockets of covetous neighbors, brandenburg; muscovy, austria; and find itself reduced to zero, and abolished from the face of the world. "i speak these words in sorrow of soul; words which probably you will not believe. which only fate can compel you to believe, one day, if they are true words:--you think, probably, they are not? me at least, or interest of mine, they do not regard. i speak them from the fulness of my heart, and on behest of friendship and conviction alone; having the honor at this moment to bid you and your republic a very long farewell. good-morning, for the last time!" and so exit: to rome (had been cardinal once); to paris and the society of ninon's circle for the few years left him of life. ["died th december, , age ."] this poor john had had his bitter experiences: think only of one instance. in , the incredible law of liberum veto had been introduced, in spite of john and his endeavors. liberum veto; the power of one man to stop the proceedings of polish parliament by pronouncing audibly "nie pozwalam, i don't permit!"--never before or since among mortals was so incredible a law. law standing indisputable, nevertheless, on the polish statute-book for above two hundred years: like an ever-flowing fountain of anarchy, joyful to the polish nation. how they got any business done at all, under such a law? truly they did but little; and for the last thirty years as good as none. but if polish parliament was universally in earnest to do some business, and veto came upon it, honorable members, i observe, gathered passionately round the vetoing brother; conjured, obtested, menaced, wept, prayed; and, if the case was too urgent and insoluble otherwise, the nie pozwalam gentleman still obstinate, they plunged their swords through him, and in that way brought consent. the commoner course was to dissolve and go home again, in a tempest of shrieks and curses. the right of confederation, too, is very curious: do readers know it? a free polack gentleman, aggrieved by anything that has occurred or been enacted in his nation, has the right of swearing, whether absolutely by himself i know not, but certainly with two or three others of like mind, that he will not accept said occurrence or enactment, and is hereby got into arms against its abettors and it. the brightest jewel in the cestus of polish liberty is this right of confederating; and it has been, till of late, and will be now again practised to all lengths: right of every polish, gentleman to confederate with every other against, or for, whatsoever to them two may seem good; and to assert their particular view of the case by fighting for it against all comers, king and diet included. it must be owned, there never was in nature such a form of government before; such a mode of social existence, rendering "government" impossible for some generations past. on the strength of saxony and its resources and connections, the two augusts had contrived to exist with the name of kings; with the name, but with little or nothing more. under this last august, as we heard, there have been about forty diets, and in not one of them the least thing of business done; all the forty, after trying their best, have stumbled on nie pozwalam, and been obliged to vanish in shrieks and curses. [buchholz (_preussisch-brandenburgische geschichte,_ ii. , , &c. &c.) gives various samples, and this enumeration.] as to august the physically strong, such treatment had he met with,--poor august, if readers remember, had made up his mind to partition poland; to give away large sections of it in purchase of the consent of neighbors, and plant himself hereditarily in the central part;--and would have done so, had not grumkow and he drunk so deep, and death by inflammation of the foot suddenly come upon the poor man. some partition of poland has been more than once thought of by practical people concerned. poland, as "a house chronically smoking through the slates," which usually brings a new european war every time it changes king, does require to be taken charge of by its neighbors. latterly, as we observed, there has been little of confederating; indeed, for the last thirty years, as rulhiere copiously informs us, there has been no government, consequently no mutiny needed; little or no national business of any kind,--the forty diets having all gone the road we saw. electing of the judges,--that, says rulhiere, and wearisomely teaches by example again and ever again, has always been an interesting act, in the various provinces of poland; not with the hope of getting fair or upright judges, but judges that will lean in the desirable direction. in a country overrun with endless lawsuits, debts, credits, feudal intricacies, claims, liabilities, how important to get judges with the proper bias! and these once got, or lost till next term,--what is there to hope or to fear? russia does our politics, fights her seven-years war across us; and we, happy we, have no fighting;--never till this of courland was there the least ill-nature from russia! we are become latterly the peaceable stepping-stone of russia into europe and out of it;--what may be called the door-mat of russia, useful to her feet, when she is about paying visits or receiving them! that is not a glorious fact, if it be a safe and "lucky" one; nor do the polish notabilities at all phrase it in that manner. but a fact it is; which has shown itself complete in the late czarina's and late august's time, and which had been on the growing hand ever since peter the great gained his battle of pultawa, and rose to the ascendency, instead of karl and sweden. the poles put fine colors on all this; and are much contented with themselves. the russians they regard as intrinsically an inferior barbarous people; and to this day you will hear indignant polack gentlemen bursting out in the same strain: "still barbarian, sir; no culture, no literature,"--inferior because they do not make verses equal to ours! how it may be with the verses, i will not decide: but the russians are inconceivably superior in respect that they have, to a singular degree among nations, the gift of obeying, of being commanded. polack chivalry sniffs at the mention of such a gift. polack chivalry got sore stripes for wanting this gift. and in the end, got striped to death, and flung out of the world, for continuing blind to the want of it, and never acquiring it. beyond all the verses in nature, it is essential to every chivalry and nation and man. "polite polish society for the last thirty years has felt itself to be in a most halcyon condition," says rulhiere: [rulhiere, i. (a noteworthy passage).] "given up to the agreeable, and to that only;" charming evening-parties, and a great deal of flirting; full of the benevolences, the philanthropies, the new ideas,--given up especially to the pleasing idea of "laissez-faire, and everything will come right of itself." "what a discovery!" said every liberal polish mind: "for thousands of years, how people did torment themselves trying to steer the ship; never knowing that the plan was, to let go the helm, and honestly sit down to your mutual amusements and powers of pleasing!" to this condition of beautifully phosphorescent rot-heap has poland ripened, in the helpless reigns of those poor augusts;--the fulness of time not now far off, one would say? it would complete the picture, could i go into the state of what is called "religion" in poland. dissenterism, of various poor types, is extensive; and, over against it, is such a type of jesuit fanaticism as has no fellow in that day. of which there have been truly savage and sanguinary outbreaks, from time to time; especially one at thorn, forty years ago, which shocked friedrich wilhelm and the whole protestant world. [see supra, vi. (and many old pamphlets on it).] polish orthodoxy, in that time, and perhaps still in ours, is a thing worth noting. a late tourist informs me, he saw on the streets of stettin, not long since, a drunk human creature staggering about, who seemed to be a baltic sailor, just arrived; the dirtiest, or among the dirtiest, of mankind; who, as he reeled along, kept slapping his hands upon his breast, and shouting, in exultant soliloquy, "polack, catholik!" _i_ am a pole and orthodox, ye inferior two-legged entities!.--in regard to the jesuit fanaticisms, at thorn and elsewhere, no blame can attach to the poor augusts, who always leant the other way, what they durst or could. nor is specialty of blame due to them on any score; it was "like people, like king," all along;--and they, such their luck, have lived to bring in the fulness of time. the saxon electors are again aspirants for this enviable throne. we have seen the beautiful electress zealously soliciting friedrich for help in that project; friedrich, in a dexterously graceful manner, altogether declining. hereditary saxons are not to be the expedient this time, it would seem; a grandiose czarina has decided otherwise. why should not she? she and all the world are well aware, russia has been virtual lord of poland this long time. credible enough that russia intends to continue so; and also that it will be able, without very much expenditure of new contrivance for that object. so far as can be guessed and assiduously deduced from rulhiere, with your best attention, russian catharine's interference seems first of all to have been grounded on the grandiose philanthropic principle. astonishing to the liberal mind; yet to appearance true. rulhiere nowhere says so; but that is gradually one's own perception of the matter; no other refuge for you out of flat inconceivability. philanthropic principle, we say, which the voltaires and sages of that epoch are prescribing as one's duty and one's glory: "o ye kings, why won't you do good to mankind, then?" catharine, a kind of she-louis quatorze, was equal to such a thing. to put one's cast lover into a throne,--poor soul, console him in that manner;--and reduce the long-dissentient country to blessed composure under him: what a thing! foolish poniatowski, an empty, windy creature, redolent of macassar and the finer sensibilities of the heart: him she did make king of poland; but to reduce the long-dissentient country to composure,--that was what she could not do. countries in that predicament are sometimes very difficult to compose. the czarina took, for above five years, a great deal of trouble, without losing patience. the czarina, after every new effort, perceived with astonishment that she was farther from success than ever. with astonishment; and gradually with irritation, thickening and mounting towards indignation. there is no reason to believe that the grandiose woman handled, or designed to handle, a doomed poland in the merciless feline-diabolic way set forth with wearisome loud reiteration in those distracted books; playing with the poor country as cat does with mouse; now lifting her fell paw, letting the poor mouse go loose in floods of celestial joy and hope without limit; and always clutching the hapless creature back into the blackness of death, before eating and ending it. reason first is, that the czarina, as we see her elsewhere, never was in the least a cat or a devil, but a mere woman; already virtual proprietress of poland, and needing little contrivance to keep it virtually hers. reason second is, that she had not the gift of prophecy, and could not foreknow the polish events of the next ten years, much less shape them out beforehand, and preside over them, like a devil or otherwise, in the way supposed. my own private conjecture, i confess, has rather grown to be, on much reading of those rulhieres and distracted books, that the czarina,--who was a grandiose creature, with considerable magnanimities, natural and acquired; with many ostentations, some really great qualities and talents; in effect, a kind of she-louis quatorze (if the reader will reflect on that royal gentleman, and put him into petticoats in russia, and change his improper females for improper males),--that the czarina, very clearly resolute to keep poland hers, had determined with herself to do something very handsome in regard to poland; and to gain glory, both with the enlightened philosophe classes and with her own proud heart, by her treatment of that intricate matter. "on the one hand," thinks she, or let us fancy she thinks, "here is poland; a country fallen bedrid amid anarchies, curable or incurable; much tormented with religious intolerance at this time, hateful to the philosophic mind; a hateful fanaticism growing upon it for forty years past [though it is quite against polish law]; and the cries of oppressed dissidents [dissenters, chiefly of the protestant and of the greek persuasion] becoming more and more distressing to hear. and, on the other hand, here is poniatowski who, who--!" readers have not forgotten the handsome, otherwise extremely paltry, young polack, stanislaus poniatowski, whom excellency williams took with him or years ago, ostensibly as "secretary of legation," unostensibly as something very different? handsome stanislaus did duly become lover of the grand-duchess; and has duly, in the course of nature, some time ago (date uncertain to me), become discarded lover; the question rising, what is to be done with that elegant inane creature, and his vaporous sentimentalisms and sublime sorrows and disappointments? "let us make him king of poland!" said the czarina, who was always much the gentleman with her discarded lovers (more so, i should say, than louis quatorze with his;--and indeed it is computed they cost her in direct moneys about twenty millions sterling,--being numerous and greedy; but never the least tiff of scolding or ill language): [castera (_vie de catharine ii._) has an elaborate appendix on this part of his subject.]--"king of poland, with furnishings, and set him handsomely up in the world! we will close the dissident business for him, cure many a curable anarchy of poland, to the satisfaction of voltaire and all leading spirits of mankind. he shall have outfit of russian troops, poor creature; and be able to put down anarchies, and show himself a useful and grateful viceroy for us there. outfit of , troops, a wise russian manager: and the question of the dissidents to be settled as the first glory of his reign!" ingenuous readers are invited to try, in their diffuse vague rulhieres, and unintelligible shrieky polish histories, whether this notion does not rise on them as a possible human explanation, more credible than the feline-diabolic one, which needs withal such a foreknowledge, unattainable by cat or devil? poland must not rise to be too strong a country, and turn its back on russia. no, truly; nor, except by miraculous suspension of the laws of nature, is there danger of that. but neither need poland lie utterly lame and prostrate, useless to russia; and be tortured on its sick-bed with dissident questions and anarchies, curable by a strong sovereign, of whom much is expected by voltaire and the leading spirits of mankind. what we shall have to say with perfect certainty, and what alone concerns us in our own affair, is, first, that catharine did proceed by this method, of crowning, fitting out and otherwise setting up stanislaus; did attempt settlement (and at one time thought she had settled) the dissident question and some curable anarchies,--but stirred up such legions of incurable, waxing on her hands, day after day, year after year, as were abundantly provoking and astonishing:--and that within the next eight years she had arrived, with poland and her cargo of anarchies, at results which struck the whole world dumb. dumb with astonishment, for some time; and then into tempests of vociferation more or less delirious, which have never yet quite ended, though sinking gradually to lower and lower stages of human vocality. fact first is abundantly manifest. nor is fact second any longer doubtful, that king friedrich, in regard to all this, till a real crisis elsewhere had risen, took little or no visible interest whatever; had one unvarying course of conduct, that of punctually following czarish majesty in every respect; instructing his minister at warsaw always to second and reinforce the russian one, as his one rule of policy in that country,--whose distracted procedures, imbecilities and anarchies, are, beyond this point of keeping well with a grandiose czarina concerned in it, of no apparent practical interest to prussia or its king. friedrich, for a long time, passed with the public for contriver of the catastrophe of poland,--"felonious mortal," "monster of maleficence," and what not, in consequence. rulhiere, whose notion of him is none of the friendliest nor correctest, acquits him of this atrocity; declares him, till the very end, mainly or altogether passive in it. which i think is a little more than the truth,--and only a little, as perhaps may appear by and by. beyond dispute, these polish events did at last grow interesting enough to prussia and its king;--and it will be our task, sufficient in this place, to extricate and riddle out what few of these had any cardinal or notable quality, and put them down (dated, if possible, and in intelligible form), as pertinent to throwing light on this distressing matter, with careful exclusion of the immense mass which can throw only darkness. ex-lover poniatowski becomes king of poland ( th sept. ), and is crowned without loss of his hair. warsaw, th september , stanislaus poniatowski, by what management of an imperial catharine upon an anarchic nation readers shall imagine ad libitum, was elected, what they call elected, king of poland. of course there had been preliminary diets of convocation, much dieting, demonstrating and electing of imaginary members of diet,--only "ten persons massacred" in the business. there was a saxon party; but no counter-candidate of that or any other nation. king friedrich, solicited by a charming electress-dowager, decides to remain accurately passive. polish emissaries came entreating him. a certain mockranowski, who had been a soldier under him (never of much mark in that capacity, though now a flamingly conspicuous "general" and politician, in the new scene he has got into), came passionately entreating (potsdam, summer of , is all the date), "donnez nous le prince henri, give us prince henri for a king!" the sound of which almost made friedrich turn pale: "have you spoken or hinted of this to the prince?" "no, your majesty." "home, then, instantly; and not a whisper of it again to any mortal!" [rulhiere, ii. ; hermann, vi. - .] which, they say, greatly irritated prince henri, and left a permanent sore-place in his mind, when he came to hear of it long after. "a question rises here," says one of my notes, which perhaps i had better have burnt: "at or about what dates did this glorious poniatowski become lover of the grand-duchess, and then become ex-lover? nobody will say; or perhaps can? [preuss (iv. ) seems to try, but does not succeed.] would have been a small satisfaction to us, and it is denied! 'ritter williams' (that is, hanbury) must have produced him at petersburg some time in ; ' th january, ,' finding it would suit, poniatowski appeared there on his own footing as 'ambassador from warsaw,'"--(easy to get that kind of credential from a devoted warsaw, if you are succeeding at the court of petersburg; "warsaw watchfully makes that the rule of distributing its honors; and, from freezing-point upwards, is the most delicate thermometer," says hermann somewhere). and this, is our one date, "poniatowski in business, spring, ;" of "poniatowski fallen bankrupt," date is totally wanting. "poniatowski's age is gone;--how long out of russia, readers have to guess. made his first public appearance on the streets of warsaw, in the late election time, as a captain of patriot volunteers,--'independence of poland! shall poland be dictated to!" cried stanislaus and an indignant public at one stage of the affair. his uncles czartoryski were piloting him in; and in that mad element, the cries, and shiftings of tack, had to be many. [in hermann, v. - (still more in rulhiere, ii. - ), wearisome account of every particular.] he is nephew, by his mother, of these czartoryskis; but is not by the father of very high family. 'ought he to be king of poland?' argued some polish emissary at petersburg: 'his grandfather was land-steward to the sapiehas.' 'and if he himself had been it!' said the empress, inflexible, though with a blush.--it seems the family was really good, though fallen poor; and, since that land-steward phasis, had bloomed well out again. his father was conspicuous as a busy, shifting kind of man, in the charles-twelfth and other troubles; had died two years ago, as 'castellan of cracow;' always a dear friend of stanislaus leczinski, who gets his death two years hence [in , as we have seen]. "king stanislaus poniatowski had five brothers: two of them dead long before this time; a third, still alive, was bishop of something, abbot of something; ate his revenues in peace, and demands silence from us. the other two, casimir and andreas, are better worth naming,--especially the son of one of them is. casimir, the eldest, is 'grand crown-chamberlain' in the days now coming, is also 'starost of zips [a country you may note the name of!]--and has a son,' who is not the remarkable one. andreas, the second brother (died ), was in the austrian service, 'ordnance-master,' and a man of parts and weight;--who has been here at warsaw, ardently helping, in the late election time. he too had a son (at this time a child in arms),--who is really the remarkable 'nephew of king stanislaus,' and still deserves a word from us. "this nephew, bred as an austrian soldier, like his father, is the joseph poniatowski, who was very famous in the newspapers fifty years ago. by all appearance, a man of some real patriotism, energy and worth. he had tried to believe (though, i think, never rightly able) what his omnipotent napoleon had promised him, that extinct poland should be resuscitated; and he fought and strove very fiercely, his poles and he, in that faith or half-faith. and perished, fiercely fighting for napoleon, fiercely covering napoleon's retreat when his game was lost: horse and man plunged into the elster river (leipzig country, october th, , evening of the 'battle of the nations' there), and sank forever;--and the last gleam of poland along with him. [_biographie universelle_ (poniatowski, joseph), xxxv. - .] not even a momentary gleam of hope for her, in the sane or half-sane kind, since that,--though she now and then still tries it in the insane: the more to my regret, for her and others! "besides these three brothers, king stanislaus had two sisters still living: one of them wife of a very high zamoiski; the other of a ditto branicki (pronounce branitzki)--him whom our german books call kron-grossfeldherr; (grand crown-general,' if the crown have any soldiers at all; the sublime, debauched old branicki, of whom rulhiere is continually talking, and never reports anything but futilities in a futile manner. so much is futile, and not worth reporting, in this polish element!--king stanislaus himself was born th january, ; played king of shreds and patches till ,--or even farther (not till did catharine pluck the paper tabard quite off him); he died in petersburg, february th or th) ." after such a life!-- stanislaus was crowned th november, . he needs, as preliminary, to be anointed, on the bare scalp of him, with holy oil before crowning; ought to have his head close-shaved with that view. stanislaus, having an uncommonly fine head of hair, shuddered at the barbarous idea; absolutely would not: whereupon delay, consultation; and at length some artificial scalp, or second skull, of pasteboard or dyed leather, was contrived for the poor man, which comfortably took the oiling in a vicarious way, with the ambrosial locks well packed out of sight under it, and capable of flowing out again next day, as if nothing had happened. [rulhiere.] not a sublime specimen of ornamental human nature, this poor stanislaus! ornamental wholly: the body of him, and the mind of him, got up for representation; and terribly plucked to pieces on the stage of the world. you may try to drop a tear over him, but will find mostly that you cannot. for several years the dissident question cannot be got settled; confederation of radom ( d june, - th march, ) pushes it into settlement. for several years after this feat of the false scalp, through long volumes, wearisome even in rulhiere, there turns up nothing which can now be called memorable. the settling of the dissident question proves extremely tedious to an impatient czarina; as to curing of the other curable anarchies, there is absolutely nothing but a knitting up by a, with a ravelling-out again by b, and no progress discernible whatever. impatient czarina ardently pushes on some dissident settlement,--seconded by king friedrich and the chief protestant courts, london included, and by the european leading spirits everywhere,--through endless difficulties: finds native orthodoxy an unexpectedly stiff matter; bishops generally having a fanaticism which is wonderful to think of, and which keeps mounting higher and higher. till at length there will images of the virgin take to weeping,--as they generally do in such cases, when in the vicinity of brew-houses and conveniences; [nicolai, in his travels over germany, doggedly undertook to overhaul one of those weeping virgins (somewhere in austria, i think); and found her, he says, to depend on subterranean percolation of steam from a brewery not far off.]--a carmelite monk go about the country working miracles; and, in short, an extremely ugly phasis of religious human nature disclose itself to the afflicted reader. king friedrich thinks, had it not been for this dissident question, things would have taken their old saxon complexion, and poland might have rotted on as heretofore, perhaps a good while longer. as to the knitting-up and ravelling-out again, which is called curing of the other anarchies, no reader can or need say anything: it seems to be a most painful knitting-up, by the czartoryskis chiefly, then an instant ravelling out by malign opposition parties of various indistinct complexion; the knitting, the ravelling, and the malign opposition parties, alike indistinct and without interest to mankind. a certain drunken, rather brutal phantasm of a prince radzivil, who hates the czartoryskis, and is dreadfully given to drink, to wasteful ambitions and debaucheries, figures much in these businesses; is got banished and confiscated, by some confederation formed; then, by new confederations, is recalled and reinstated,--worse if possible than ever. the thing is reality; but it reads like a phantasmagory produced by lapland witches, under presidency of diabolus (very certainly the devil presiding, as you see at all turns),--and is not worth understanding, were it even easy. much semi-intelligible, wholly forgettable stuff about king stanislaus and his difficulties, and his duplicities and treacherous imbecilities, [hermann, v. , &c.; rulhiere passim.] now of interest to no mortal. stanislaus is at one time out with the uncles czartoryski, at another in with these worthy gentlemen: a man not likely to cure anarchies, unless wishing would do it. on the dissident question itself he needs spurring: a king of liberal ideas, yes; but with such flames of fanaticism under the nose of him. in regard to the dissident and all other curative processes he is languid, evasive, for moments recalcitrant to russian suggestions; a lost imbecile,--forget him, with or without a tear. he has still a good deal of so-called gallantry on his hands; flies to his harem when outside things go contradictory. [hermann, v. , &c.] think of malign journalists printing this bit of letter at one time, to do him ill in a certain quarter: "oh, come to me, my princess! dearer than all empresses:--imperial charms, what were they to thine for a heart that has--" with more of the like stuff, for a czarina's behoof. winter of , imperial majesty, whether after or before that miraculous carmelite monk, i do not remember, became impatient of these tedious languors and tortuosities about the dissident question, and gave express order, "settle it straightway!" to which end, confederations and the other machinery were set agoing: confederations among the protestants and dissidents themselves, about thorn and such places (got up by russian engineering), and much more extensively in the lithuanian parts; confederations of great extent, imperative, minatory; ostensibly for reinstating these poor people in their rights (which, by old polish law, they quite expressly were, if that were any matter), but in reality for bringing back drunken radzivil, who has covenanted to carry that measure. and so, june d, , these multiplex polish-lithuanian confederations, twenty-four of them in all, with their sublime marshals and officials, and above , noblemen in them, meet by deputies at radom, a convenient little town within wind of warsaw (lies miles to south of warsaw); and there coalesce into one general "confederation of radom," [hermann, v. .] with drunken radzivil atop, who, glad to be reinstated in his ample domains and wine-cellars, and willing at any rate to spite the czartoryskis and others, has pledged himself to carry that great measure in diet, and quash any nie pozwalams and difficulties there may be. this is the once world-famous, now dimly discoverable, confederation of radom, which--by preparatory declaring, under its hand and seal, that the law of the land must again become valid, and "free polacks of dissident opinions concerning religion (nos dissidentes de religione)," as the old law phrases it, "shall have equal rights of citizenship"--was beautifully instrumental in achieving that bit of human progress, and pushing it through the diet, and its difficulties shortly ensuing. not that the diet did not need other vigorous treatment as well, the flame of fanaticism being frightfully ardent; many of the poor bishops having run nearly frantic at this open spoliation of mother church, and snatching of the sword from peter. so that imperial majesty had to decide on picking out a dozen, or baker's dozen, of the hottest bishops; and carrying them quietly into russia under lock and key, till the thing were done. done it was, surely to the infinite relief of mankind;--i cannot say precisely on what day: october th- th (locking up of the dozen bishops), was one vital epoch of it; november th, (report of committee on it, under radzivil's and russia's coercion), was another: first and last it took about five months baking in diet. diet met oct. th, , radzivil controlling as grand-marshal, and russia as minatory phantom controlling radzivil; diet, after adjournments, after one long adjournment, disappeared th march, ; and of work mentionable it had done this of the dissidents only. that of contributing to "the sovereign contempt with which king stanislaus is regarded by all ranks of men," is hardly to be called peculiar work or peculiarly mentionable. at this point, to relieve the reader's mind, and, at any rate, as the date is fully come, we will introduce a small newspaper article from a very high hand, little guessed till long afterwards as the writer,--namely, from king friedrich's own. it does not touch on the dissident question, or the polish troubles; but does, in a back-handed way, on prussian rumors rising about them; and may obliquely show more of the king's feeling on that subject than we quite suppose. it seems the king had heard that the berlin people were talking and rumoring of "a war being just at hand;" whereupon--"march th, , in the vossische zeitung (voss's chronicle), no. ," an inquisitive berlin public read as follows:-- "we are advised from potsdam, that, on the th of february, towards evening, the sky began to get overcast; black clouds, presaging a tempest of unexampled fury, covered all the horizon: the thunder, with its lightnings, forked bolts of amazing brilliancy, burst out; and, under its redoubled peals, there descended such a torrent of hail as within man's memory had not been seen. of two bullocks yoked in their plough, with which a peasant was hastening home, one was struck on the head by a piece of it, and killed outright. many of the common people were wounded in the streets; a brewer had his arm broken. roofs are destroyed by the weight of this hail; all the windows that looked windward while it fell were broken. in the streets, hailstones were found of the size of pumpkins (citrouilles), which had not quite melted two hours after the storm ceased. this singular phenomenon has made a very great impression. scientific people say, the air had not buoyancy enough to support these solid masses when congealed to ice; that the small hailstones in these clouds getting so lashed about in the impetuosity of the winds, had united the more the farther they fell, and had not acquired that enormous magnitude till comparatively near the earth. whatever way it may have happened, it is certain that occurrences of that kind are rare, and almost without example." [vossische zeitung, ubi supra: _oeuvres de frederic,_ xv. .] another singularity is, "professor johann daniel titius of wittenberg," who teaches natural philosophy in that famous university, one may judge with what effect, wrote a monograph on this unusual phenomenon! [rodenbeck (ii. ) gives the title of it, "considerations on the potsdam hail of last year (wittenberg, )."] confederation of bar ensues, on the per-contra side (march th, ); and, as first result of its achievements (october th, ), a turk-russian war. the confederation of radom, and its victorious diet, had hardly begun their song of triumph, when there ensued on the per-contra side a flaming confederation of bar;--which, by successive stages, does at last burn out the anarchies of poland, and reduce them to ashes. confederation of bar; and then, as progeny of that, for and against, such a brood of confederations, orthodox, heterodox, big, little, short-lived, long-lived, of all complexions and degrees of noisy fury, potent, at any rate, each of them for murder and arson, within a certain radius, as the earth never saw before. now was the time of those inextricable marchings (as inroads and outroads) through the lithuanian bogs, of those death-defiant, unparalleled exploits, skirmishings, scaladings, riding by the edge of precipices, of pulawski, potocki and others,--in which rulhiere loses himself and turns on his axis, amid impatient readers. for the russian troops (summoned by a trembling stanislaus and his senate, in terms of treaty ), and in more languid manner, the stanislaus soldiery, as per law of the case, proceeded to strike in,--generally, my impression was, with an eye to maintain the king's peace and keep down murder and arson:--and sure enough, the small bodies of drilled russians blew an infuriated orthodox polack chivalry to right and left at a short notice; but as to the constable's peace or king's, made no improvement upon that, far the reverse. it is certain the confederate chivalry were driven about, at a terrible rate,--over the turk frontier for shelter; began to appeal to the grand turk, in desperate terms: "brother of the sun and moon, saw you ever such a chance for finishing russia? polack chivalry is orthodox catholic, but also it is anti-russian!" the turk beginning to give ear to it, made the matter pressing and serious. here, more specifically, are some features and successive phases,--unless the reader prefer to skip. "bar, march, . the confederation of radom, as efficient preliminary, and chief agent in that diet of emancipation to the dissident human mind, might long have been famous over poland and the world; but there instantly followed as corollary to it a confederation of bar, which quite dimmed the fame of radom, and indeed of all confederations prior or posterior! as the confederation of bar and its doings, or rather sufferings and tragical misdoings and undoings, still hang like fitful spectralities, or historical shadows, of a vague ghastly complexion, in the human memory, one asks at least: since they were on this planet, tell us where? bar is in the waiwodship podol (what we call podolia), some miles southeast of warsaw; not far from the dniester river:--not far very from that mystery of the dniester, the zaporavian cossacks,--from those rapids or cataracts (quasi-cataracts of the dniester, with islands in them, where those cossack robbers live unassailable):--across the dniester lies turkey, and its famed fortress of choczim. this is a commodious station for polish gentlemen intending mutiny by law. "march th, , three short days after the diet of radom had done its fine feat, and retired to privacy, news came to warsaw, that podolia and the southern parts are all up, confederating with the highest animation; in hot rage against such decision of a diet, contrary to holy religion and to much else; and that the said decision will have to fight for itself, now that it has done voting. this interesting news is true; and goes on intensifying and enlarging itself, one dreadful confederation springing up, and then another and ever another, day after day; till at last we hear that on the th of the month, march th, , at bar, a little town on the southern or turkish frontier, all these more or less dreadful confederations have met by delegates, and coalesced into one 'confederatiou of bar,'--which did surely prove dreadful enough, to itself especially, in the months now ensuing!" no history of bar confederation shall we dream of; far be such an attempt from us. it consists of many confederations, and out of each, pro and contra, spring many. like the lernean hydra, or even hydras in a plural condition. a many-headed dog: and how many whelps it had,--i cannot give even the cipher of them, or i would! one whelp confederation, that of cracow, is distinguished by having frequently or generally been "drunk;" and of course its procedures had often a vinous character. [in hermann (v. - ); and especially in rulhiere (ii. livre et seq.), details in superabundance.] i fancy to have read somewhere that the number of them was one hundred and twenty-five. the rumor and the furious barking of bar and its whelps goes into all lands: such rabid loud baying at mankind and the moon; and then, under russia's treatment, such shrill yelping and shrieking, was not heard in the world before, though perhaps it has since. poor bar's exploits in the fighting way were highly inconsiderable; all on the same scale; and spread over such a surface of country, mostly unknown, as renders it impossible to give them head-room, were you never so unfurnished. they can be read in eloquent rulhiere; but by no mortal held in memory. anarchy is not a thing to be written of; a lernean hydra, several lernean hydras, in chaotic genesis, getting their heads lopped off, and at the same time sprouting new ones in such ratio, where is the zoologist that will give account of it? there was not anything considerable of fighting; but of bullying, plundering, murdering and being murdered, a frightful amount. there are seizures of castles, convents, defensible houses; marches at a rate like that of antelopes, through the lithuanian parts, boggy, hungry, boundless, opening to the fancy the infinitude of peat, in the solid and the fluid state. this, perhaps, is the finest species of feats, though they never lead to anything. there are heroes famed for these marches. the pulawskis, for example,--four of them, lawyer people,--showed much activity, and a talent for impromptu soldiering, in that kind. the magnates of the confederation, i was surprised to learn, had all quitted it, the instant it came to strokes: "you lawyer people, with your priests and orthodox peasantries, you do the fighting part; ours is the consulting!" and except potocki (and he worse than none), there is presently not a magnate of them left in poland,--the rest all gone across the austrian border, to teschen, to bilitz, a handy little town and domain in that duchy of teschen;--and sit there as "committee of government:" much at their ease in comparison, could they but agree among themselves, which they cannot. bilitz is one of the many domains of magnate sulkowski:--do readers recollect the sulkowski who at one time "declared war" on king friedrich; and was picked up, both war and he, so compendiously by general goltz, and locked in glogau to cool? this is the same sulkowski; much concerned now in these matters; a rich magnate, glad to see his friends about him as governing committee; but gets, and gives, a great deal of vexation in it, the element proving again too hot!-- i said there were four famed pulawskis; [hermann, v. .] a father, once advocate in warsaw, with three sons and a nephew; who, though extremely active people, could do no good whatever. the father pulawski had the fine idea of introducing the british constitution; clothing poland wholly in british tailorage, and so making it a new poland: but he never could get it done. this poor gentleman died in turkish prison, flung into jail at constantinople, on calumnious accusation and contrivance by a rival countryman; his sons and nephew, poor fellows, all had their fame, more or less, in the cause of freedom so called; but no other profit in this world, that i could hear of. casimir, the eldest son, went to america; died there, still in the cause of freedom so called; fort pulawski, in the harbor of charleston (which is at present, on very singular terms, re-engaged in the same so-called cause!), was named in memory of this casimir. he had defended czenstochow (if anybody knew what czenstochow was, or could find it in the polish map); and it was also he that contrived that wonderful plan of suddenly snapping up king stanislaus from the streets of warsaw one night, [" d november, ."] and of locking him away (by no means killing him), as the source of all our woes. o my pulawskis, men not without manhood, what a bedlam of a time have you and i fallen into, and what causes of freedom it has got in hand! bar, a poor place, with no defences but a dry ditch and some miserable earthworks, the confederates had not the least chance to maintain; kaminiec, the only fortress of the province, they never even got into, finding some fraction of royal soldiery who stood for king stanislaus there, and who fired on the confederates when applied to. bar a small russian division, with certain stanislaus soldieries conjoined, took by capitulation; and (date not given) entered in a victorious manner. the war-epic of the confederates, which rulhiere sings at such length, is blank of meaning. of "cloister czenstochow," a famed feat of pulawski's, also without result, i could not from my rulhiere discover (what was altogether an illuminative fact to me!) that the date of czenstochow was not till . a feat of "cloister berdiczow," almost an exact facsimile by the same pulawski, also resultless, i did, under hermann's guidance, at once find;--and hope the reader will be satisfied to accept it instead: cloister berdiczow, which lies in the palatinate of kiow; and which has a miraculous holy virgin, not less venerated far and wide in those eastern parts, than she of cloister czenstochow in the western: this cloister berdiczow and its salutary virgin, pulawski (the casimir, now of charleston harbor) did defend, with about , men, in a really obstinate way, the monastery itself had in it gifts of the faithful, accumulated for ages; and all the richest people in those provinces, confederate or not, had lodged their preciosities there, as in an impregnable and sure place, in those times of trouble. intensely desirous, accordingly, the russians were to take it, but had no cannon; desperately resolute pulawski and his , to defend. pulawski and his , fired intensely, till their cannon-balls were quite done; then took to firing with iron-work, and hard miscellanies of every sort, especially glad when they could get a haul of glass to load with;--and absolutely would not yield till famine came; though the terms offered were good,--had they been kept. so that pulawski, it would appear, did two cloister defences? two, each with a miraculous holy virgin; an eastern, and then a westerly. this of berdiczow, not dated to me farther, is for certain of the year ; and pulawski, owing to famine, did yield here. in , at miraculous cloister czenstochow, in the western parts, pulawski did an external feat, or consented to see it done,--that of trying to snuff out poor king stanislaus on the streets ( d november, p.m., "miraculously" in vain, as most readers know),--which brought its obloquies and troubles on the defender of czenstochow. obloquies and troubles: but as to surrendering czenstochow on call of obloquy, or of famine itself, pulawski would not, not he for his own part; but solemnly left his men to do it, and walked away by circuitous uncertain paths, which end in charleston harbor, as we have seen. [at savannah, in a stricter sense. "perished at the siege [futile attempt to storm, by the french, which they called a siege] of savannah, th october, ."] defence of czenstochow in shall not concern us farther. truly these two small defences of monasteries by pulawski are almost all, i do not say of glorious, but even of creditable or human, that reward the poor wanderer in that polish valley of jehoshaphat, much of it peat-country; wherefore i have, as before, marked the approximate localities, approximate dates, for behoof of ingenuous readers. the russians, ever since , from the beginnings of those stanislaus times, are pledged to maintain peace in poland; and it is they that have to deal with this affair,--they especially, or almost wholly, poor stanislaus having scarcely any power, military or other, and perhaps being loath withal. there was more of investigating and parleying, bargaining and intriguing, than of fighting, on stanislaus's part. "june th, ," says a saxon note from warsaw, "mokranowski, stanislaus's general [the same that was with friedrich], has been sent down to bar to look into those confederates. mokranowski does not think there are above , of them; about , have got their death from russian castigation. the , might be treated with, only russians are so dreadfully severe, especially so intent on wringing money from them. confederates have been complaining to the turk; turk ambiguous; gives them no definite ground of hope. 'what then, is your hope?' i inquired. 'little or none, except in heaven,' several answered: 'it is for our religion and our liberty:' religion cut to pieces by this dissident toleration-blasphemy; liberty ditto by the russian guarantee of peace among us: 'what can we do but trust in god and our own despair?'" ["essen's report, th june, " (in hermann, v. ).] "prave worts, ancient pistol,"--but much destitute of sense, and not to be realized in present circumstances. here is something much more critical:-- june-july, . "the peasants in the southern regions, palatinates podol, kiow, braclaw, called ukraine or border-country by the poles, are mostly of greek and other schismatic creeds. their lords are of an orthodox religion, and not distinguished by mild treatment of such peasantry, upon whom civil war and plunder have been latterly a sore visitation. to complete the matter, the confederates in certain quarters, blown upon by fanatical priests, set about converting these poor peasants, or forcing them, at the point of the bayonet, to swear that they adopt the 'greek united rite,' which i suppose to be a kind of half-way house towards perfect orthodoxy. in one village, which was getting converted in this manner, the military party seemed to be small; the village boiled over upon it; trampled orthodoxy and military both under foot, in a violent and sanguinary manner; and was extremely frightened when it had done. extremely frightened, not the village only, but the schismatic mind generally in those parts, dreading vengeance for such a paroxysm. but the atrocious russians whispered them, 'we are here to protect you in your religions and rights, in your poor consciences and skins.' upon which hint of the atrocious russians, the schismatic mind and population one and all rose; and, 'with the cannibal's ferocity, gave way to their appetite for plunder!'... "nay, the russian government [certain russian officials hard pressed] had invited the zaporavian cossacks to step over from their islands in the dniester, and assist in defending their religion [true greek, of course]; who at once did so; and not only extinguished the last glimmer of confederation there, but overwhelmed the country, thousands on thousands of them, attended by revolted peasants,--say a , of peasants under command of these zaporavians,--who went about plundering and burning. that they plundered the jew pot-houses of their brandy, and drank it, was a small matter. very furious upon jews, upon noblemen, landlords, upon catholic priests. 'on one tree [tree should have been noted] was found hanged a specimen of each of those classes, with a dog adjoined, as fit company.' in one little town, town of human [so called in that foreign dialect], getting some provocation or other, they set to massacring; and if brandy were plentiful, we can suppose they made short work. by the lowest computation the number of slain jews and catholics amounted to , odd [hermann, v. ; rulhiere, iii. .]--rulhiere says ' , , by some accounts , .'" this i guess to have been at its height about the end of june; this leads direct to the catastrophe, as will presently be seen. foreign states don't seem to pay much attention,--indeed, what sane person would like to interfere, or hope to do it with profit? france, austria, both wish well to poland, at least ill to russia; choiseul has no finance, can do nothing but intrigue, and stir up trouble everywhere: a devout kaiserinn goes with holy church, and disapproves of these dissident tolerations: it is remarked that all through the confederates of bar are permitted to retire over the austrian frontier into austrian silesia, and find themselves there in safety. permitted to buy arms, to make preparations, issue orders: at sulkowski's bilitz, in the duchy of teschen, supreme managing committee sits there; no kaunitz or official person meddling with it. about the beginning of next year ( ), it is, ostensibly, a little discountenanced; and obliged to go to eperjes, on the hungarian frontier [see busching: for eperjes, ii. ; for bilitz, viii. .] (as a more decent or less conspicuous place),--such trouble now rising; a turk war having broken out, momentous not to the confederation alone. march, , the ever-intriguing choiseul--fancy with what rapturous effect--had sent some kind of agent or visitor to teschen; vergennes in turkey, from the beginning of these things, has been plying night and day his diplomatic bellows upon every live-coal ("i who myself kindled this turk-war!" brags he afterwards);--not till next year ( ) did choiseul send his dumouriez to the bilitz neighborhoods; not till next again, when choiseul was himself out, [thrown out " d december, ,"--by louis's new pompadour.] did his viomenil come: [hermann, v. - ; in rulhiere (iv. - ) account of dumouries and his fencings and spyings, still more of viomenil, who had "french volunteers," and did some bits of real fighting on the small scale.] neither of whom, by their own head alone, without funds, without troops, could do other than with fine effort make bad worse. it is needless continuing such a subject. here is one glimpse two years later, and it shall be our last: "near lublin, th september, . it is frightful, all this that is passing in these parts,--about the town of labun, for example. the dead bodies remain without burial; they are devoured by the dogs and the pigs. ... everywhere reigns pestilence; nor do we fear contagion so much as famine. offer ducats for a fowl or for a bit of bread, i swear you won't get it. general von essen [russian, we will hope] has had to escape from laticzew, then from" some other place, "pestilence chasing him everywhere." to apply to the turks,--afflicted polish patriots prostrating themselves with the hope of despair, "save us, your sublime clemency; throw a ray of pity on us, brother of the sun and moon: oh, chastise our diabolic oppressors!"--this was one of the first resources of the bar confederates. the turks did give ear; not inattentive, though pretending to be rather deaf. m. de vergennes,--of whose "diplomatic bellows" we just heard (in fact, for diligence in this turk element, in this young time, the like of him was seldom seen; we knew him long afterwards as a diligent old gentleman, in french-revolution days),--m. de vergennes zealously supports; zealous to let loose the turk upon anti-french parties. the turks seem to wag their heads, for some time; and their responses are ambiguous. for some time, not for long. here, fast enough, comes, in disguised shape, the catastrophe itself, ye poor plaintive poles! july-october, . those zaporavian and other cossacks, with , peasants plundering about on both sides of the dniester, had set fire to the little town of balta, which is on the south side, and belongs to the turks: a very grave accident, think all political people, think especially the foreign excellencies at warsaw, when news of it arrives. burning of balta, not to be quenched by the amplest russian apologies, proved a live-coal at constantinople; and vergennes says, he set population and divan on fire by it: a proof that the population and divan had already been in a very inflammable state. not a wise divan, though a zealous. plenty of fury in these people; but a sad deficiency of every other faculty. they made haste, in their hot humor, to declare war ( th october, ); [hermann, v. - .] not considering much how they would carry it on. declared themselves in late autumn,--as if to give the russians ample time for preparing; those poor turks themselves being as yet ready with nothing, and even the season for field-operations being over. king friedrich, who has still a minister at the porte, endeavored to dissuade his old turk friends, in this rash crisis; but to no purpose; they would listen to nothing but vergennes and their own fury. friedrich finds this war a very mad one on the part of his old turk friends; their promptitude to go into it (he has known them backward enough when their chances were better!), and their way of carrying it on, are alike surprising to him. he says: "catharine's generals were unacquainted with the first elements of castrametation and tactic; but the generals of the sultan had a still more prodigious depth of ignorance; so that to form a correct idea of this war, you must figure a set of purblind people, who, by constantly beating a set of altogether blind, end by gaining over them a complete mastery." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ vi. , .] this, as friedrich knows, is what austria cannot suffer; this is what will involve austria and russia, and friedrich along with them, in--friedrich, as the matter gradually unfolds itself, shudders to think what. the beginnings of this war were perhaps almost comical to the old soldier-king; but as it gradually developed itself into complete shattering to pieces of the stupid blind by the ambitious purblind, he grew abundantly serious upon it. it is but six months since polish patriotism, so effulgent to its own eyes in orthodoxy, in love of glorious liberty, confederated at bar, and got into that extraordinary whirlpool, or cesspool, of miseries and deliriums we have been looking at; and now it has issued on a broad highway of progress,--broad and precipitous,--and will rapidly arrive at the goal set before it. all was so rapid, on the polish and on the turkish part. the blind turks, out of mere fanaticism and heat of humor, have rushed into this adventure;--and go rushing forward into a series of chaotic platitudes on the huge scale, and mere tragical disasters, year after year, which would have been comical, had they not been so hideous and sanguinary: constant and enormous blunders on the turk part, issuing in disasters of like magnitude; which in the course of two campaigns had quite finished off their polish friends, in a very unexpected way; and had like to have finished themselves off, had not drowned poland served as a stepping-stone. not till march th, , six months after declaring in such haste, did the blind turks "display their banner of mahomet," that is, begin in earnest to assemble and make ready. nor were the russians shiningly strategic, though sooner in the field,--a prince galitzin commanding them (an extremely purblind person); till replaced by romanzow, our old colberg acquaintance, who saw considerably better. galitzin, early in the season, made a rush on choczim (chotzim), the first turk fort beyond the dniester; and altogether failed,--not by turk prowess, but by his own purblind mal-arrangements (want of ammunition, want of bread, or i will forget what);--which occasioned mighty grumblings in russia: till in a month or two, by favor of fortune and blindness of the turk, matters had come well round again; and galitzin, walking up to choczim the second time, found there was not a turk in the place, and that choczim was now his on those uncommonly easy terms! instead of farther details on such a war,--the shadow or reflex of which, as mirrored in the austrian mind, has an importance to friedrich and us; but the self or substance of which has otherwise little or none,--we will close here with a bit of russian satire on it, which is still worth reading. the date is evidently spring, ; the scene what we are now treating of: galitzin obliged to fall back from choczim; great rumor--"what a galitzin; what a turk war his, in contrast to the last we had!" [turk war of - , under munnich (supra, vii. - ).]--no romanzow yet appointed in his room. and here is a small manuscript, which was then circulating fresh and new in russian society; and has since gone over all the world (though mostly in an uncertain condition, in old jest-books and the like), as a genuine bit of caviare from those northern parts:-- manuscript circulating in russian society. galitzin, much grieved about choczim, could not sleep; and, wandering about in his tent, overheard, one night, a common soldier recounting his dream to the sentry outside the door. "a curious dream," said the soldier: "i dreamt i was in a battle; that i got my head cut off; that i died; and, of course, went to heaven. i knocked at the door: peter came with a bunch of keys; and made such rattling that he awoke god; who started up in haste, asking, 'what is the matter?' 'why,' says peter, 'there is a great war on earth between the russians and the turks.' 'and who commands my russians?' said the supreme being. 'count munnich,' answered peter. 'very well; i may go to sleep again!'--but this was not the end of my dream," continued the soldier; "i fell asleep and dreamt again, the very same as before, except that the war was not count munnich's, but the one we are now in. accordingly, when god asked, 'who commands my russians?' peter answered, 'prince galitzin.' 'galitzin? then get me my boots!' said the [russian] supreme being." [w. richardson (then at petersburg, tutor to excellency cathcart's children; afterwards professor at glasgow, and a man of some reputation in his old age), _anecdotes of the russian empire, in a series of letters written a few years ago from st. petersburg_ (london, ), p. : date of this letter is " th october, ."] chapter iv.--partition of poland. these polish phenomena were beginning to awaken a good deal of attention, not all of it pleasant, on the part of friedrich. from the first he had, as usual, been a most clear-eyed observer of everything; and found the business, as appears, not of tragical nature, but of expensive-farcical, capable to shake the diaphragm rather than touch the heart of a reflective on-looker. he has a considerable poem on it,--war of the confederates by title (in the old style of the palladion, imitating an unattainable jeanne d'arc),--considerable poem, now forming itself at leisure in his thoughts, ["la guerre des confederes [_oeuvres,_ xiv. et seq.], finished in november, ."] which decidedly takes that turn; and laughs quite loud at the rabid fanaticisms, blusterous inanities and imbecilities of these noisy unfortunate neighbors:--old unpleasant style of the palladion and pucelle; but much better worth reading; having a great deal of sharp sense in its laughing guise, and more of real historical discernment than you will find in any other book on that delirious subject. much a laughing-stock to this king hitherto, such a "war of the confederates,"--consisting of the noisiest, emptiest bedlam tumults, seasoned by a proportion of homicide, and a great deal of battery and arson. but now, with a russian-turk war springing from it, or already sprung, there are quite serious aspects rising amid the laughable. by treaty, this war is to cost the king either a , of auxiliaries to the czarina, or a , pounds ( , thalers) annually; [_oeuvres de frederic,_ vi. .]--which latter he prefers to pay her, as the alternative: not an agreeable feature at all; but by no means the worst feature. suppose it lead to russian conquests on the turk, to austrian complicacies, to one knows not what, and kindle the world round one again! in short, we can believe friedrich was very willing to stand well with next-door neighbors at present, and be civil to austria and its young kaiser's civilities. first interview between friedrich and kaiser joseph (neisse, th- th august, ). in , the young kaiser, who has charge of the military department, and of little else in the government, and is already a great traveller, and enthusiastic soldier, made a pilgrimage over the bohemian and saxon battle-fields of the seven-years war. on some of them, whether on all i do not know, he set up memorial-stones; one of which you still see on the field of lobositz;--of another on prag field, and of reverent salutation by artillery to the memory of schwerin there, we heard long ago. coming to torgau on this errand, the kaiser, through his berlin minister, had signified his "particular desire to make acquaintance with the king in returning;" to which the king was ready with the readiest;--only that kaunitz and the kaiserinn, in the interim, judged it improper, and stopped it. "the reported interview is not to take place," friedrich warns the newspapers; "having been given up, though only from courtesy, on some points of ceremonial." ["friedrich to one of his foreign ambassadors" (the common way of announcing in newspapers): preuss, iv. n.] the young kaiser felt a little huffed; and signified to friedrich that he would find a time to make good this bit of uncivility, which his pedagogues had forced upon him. and now, after three years, august, , on occasion of the silesian reviews, the kaiser is to come across from his bohemian businesses, and actually visit him: interview to be at neisse, th august, , for three days. of course the king was punctual, everybody was punctual, glad and cordial after a sort,--no ceremony, the kaiser, officially incognito, is a mere graf von falkenstein, come to see his majesty's reviews. there came with him four or five generals, loudon one of them; lacy had preceded: friedrich is in the palace of the place, ready and expectant. with friedrich are: prince henri; prince of prussia; margraf of anspach: friedrich's nephew (lady craven's margraf, the one remnant now left there); and some generals and military functionaries, seidlitz the notablest figure of these. and so, friday, august th, shortly after noon--but the following two letters, by an eye-witness, will be preferable; and indeed are the only real narrative that can be given:-- no. . engineer lefebvre to perpetual secretary formey (at berlin). "neisse, th [partly th] august, . "my most worthy friend,-i make haste to inform you of the kaiser's arrival here at neisse, this day, th august, , at one in the afternoon. the king had spent the morning in a proof manoeuvre, making rehearsal of the manoeuvre that was to be. when the kaiser was reported just coming, the king went to the window of the grand episcopal saloon, and seeing him alight from his carriage, turned round and said, 'je l'ai vu (i have seen him).' his majesty then went to receive him on the grand staircase [had hardly descended three or four steps], where they embraced; and then his majesty led by the hand his august guest into the apartments designed for him, which were all standing open and ready,"--which, however, the august guest will not occupy except with a grateful imagination, being for the present incognito, mere graf von falkenstein, and judging that the three-kings inn will be suitabler. "arrived in the apartments, they embraced anew; and sat talking together for an hour and half.--[the talk, unknown to lefebvre, began in this strain. kaiser: "now are my wishes fulfilled, since i have the honor to embrace the greatest of kings and soldiers." king: "i look upon this day as the fairest of my life; for it will become the epoch of uniting two houses which have been enemies too long, and whose mutual interests require that they should strengthen, not weaken one another." kaiser: "for austria there is no silesia farther." [preuss, v. ; _oeuvres de frederic,_ vi. , .] talk, it appears, lasted an hour and half.] --"the kaiser [continues our engineer] had brought with him the prince of sachsen-teschen [his august brother-in-law, duke of teschen, son of the late polish majesty of famous memory]: afterwards there came feldmarschall lacy, graf von dietrichstein, general von loudon," and three others of no account to us. "at the king's table were the kaiser, the prince of prussia [dissolute young heir-apparent, of the polygamous tendency], prince henri, the margraf of anspach [king's nephew, unfortunate lady-craven margraf, ultimately of hammersmith vicinity]; the above generals of the austrian suite, and generals seidlitz and tauentzien. the rest of the court was at two other tables." of the dinner itself an outside individual will say nothing. "the kaiser, having expressly requested the king to let him lodge in an inn (three kings), under the name of graf von falkenstein, would not go into the carriage which had stood expressly ready to conduct him thither. he preferred walking on foot [the loftily scornful incognito] in spite of the rain; it was like a lieutenant of infantry stepping out of his quarters. some moments after, the king went to visit him; and they remained together from in the evening till . it was thought they would be present (assister) at a comic opera which was to be played: but after waiting till o'clock, the people received orders to go on with the piece;"--both majesties did afterwards look in; but finding it bad, soon went their way again. (major lefebvre stops writing for the night.) "this morning, th, the manoeuvre [rehearsed yesterday] has been performed before both their majesties; the troops, by way of finish, filing past them in the highest order. the kaiser accompanied the king to his abode; after which he returned to his own. this is all the news i have to-day: the sequel by next post (apparently a week hence). i am, and shall ever be,--your true friend, lefebvre." no. . same to same. "neisse, d september, . "monsieur and dearest friend,--we had, as you heard, our first manoeuvre on saturday, th, in presence of the kaiser and the king, and of the whole court of each. that evening there was opera; which their majesties honored by attending. sunday was our second manoeuvre; operette in the evening. monday, th, was our last manoeuvre; at the end of which the two majesties, without alighting from horseback, embraced each other; and parted, protesting mutually the most constant and inviolable friendship. one took the road for breslau; the other that of konigsgratz. all the time the kaiser was here, they have been continually talking together, and exhibiting the tenderest friendship,--from which i cannot but think there will benefit result. "i am almost in the mind of coming to pass this winter at berlin; that i may have the pleasure of embracing you,--perhaps as cordially as king and kaiser here. i am, and shall always be, with all my heart,--your very good friend, "lefebvre." [formey, _souvenirs d'un citoyen,_ ii. - .] the lefebvre that writes here is the same who was set to manage the last siege of schweidnitz, by globes of compression and other fine inventions; and almost went out of his wits because he could not do it. an expert ingenious creature; skilful as an engineer; had been brought into friedrich's service by the late balbi, during balbi's ascendency (which ended at olmutz long ago). at schweidnitz, and often elsewhere, friedrich, who had an esteem for poor lefebvre, was good to him; and treated his excitabilities with a soft hand, not a rough. once at neisse ( , second year after these letters), on looking round at the works done since last review, in sight of all the garrison he embraced lefebvre, while commending his excellent performance; which filled the poor soul with a now unimaginable joy. "helas," says formey, "the poor gentleman wrote to me of his endless satisfaction; and how he hoped to get through his building, and retire on half-pay this very season, thenceforth to belong to the academy and me; he had been member for twenty years past." with this view, thinks formey, he most likely hastened on his buildings too fast: certain it is, a barrack he was building tumbled suddenly, and some workmen perished in the ruins. "enemies at court suggested," or the accident itself suggested without any enemy, "has not he been playing false, using cheap bad materials?"--and friedrich ordered him arrest in his own apartments, till the question were investigated. excitable lefebvre was like to lose his wits, almost to leap out of his skin. "one evening at supper, he managed to smuggle away a knife; and, in the course of the night, gave himself sixteen stabs with it; which at length sufficed. the king said, 'he has used himself worse than i should have done;' and was very sorry." of lefebvre's scientific structures, globes of compression and the rest, i know not whether anything is left; the above two notes, thrown off to formey, were accidentally a hit, and, in the great blank, may last a long while. the king found this young kaiser a very pretty man; and could have liked him considerably, had their mutual positions permitted. "he had a frankness of manner which seemed natural to him," says the king; "in his amiable character, gayety and great vivacity were prominent features." by accidental chinks, however, one saw "an ambition beyond measure" burning in the interior of this young man, [_oeuvres de frederic,_ (in _memoires de jusqu'a_ , a chapter which yields the briefest, and the one completely intelligible account we yet have of those affairs), vi. .]--let an old king be wary. a three days, clearly, to be marked in chalk; radiant outwardly to both; to a certain depth, sincere; and uncommonly pleasant for the time. king and kaiser were seen walking about arm in arm. at one of the reviews a note was brought to friedrich: he read it, a note from her imperial majesty; and handing it to kaiser joseph, kissed it first. at parting, he had given joseph, by way of keepsake, a copy of marechal de saxe's reveries (a strange military farrago, dictated, i should think, under opium ["mes reveries; ouvrage posthume, par" &c. ( vols. to: amsterdam et leipzig, ).]): this book lay continually thereafter on the kaiser's night-table; and was found there at his death, twenty-one years hence,--not a page of it read, the leaves all sticking together under their bright gilding. [preuss, iv. n.] it was long believed, by persons capable of seeing into millstones, that, under cover of this neisse interview, there were important political negotiations and consultings carried on;--that here, and in a second interview or return-visit, of which presently, lay the real foundation of the polish catastrophe. what of political passed at the second interview readers shall see for themselves, from an excellent authority. as to what passed at the present ("mutual word-of-honor: should england and france quarrel, we will stand neutral" [_oeuvres de frederic,_ ubi supra.]), it is too insignificant for being shown to readers. dialogues there were, delicately holding wide of the mark, and at length coming close enough; but, at neither the one interview nor the other, was poland at all a party concerned,--though, beyond doubt, the turk war was; silently this first time, and with clear vocality on the second occasion. in spite of galitzin's blunders, the turk war is going on at a fine rate in these months; turks, by the hundred thousand, getting scattered in panic rout:--but we will say nothing of it just yet. polish confederation--horror-struck, as may be imagined, at its auxiliary brother of the sun and moon and his performances--is weltering in violently impotent spasms into deeper and ever deeper wretchedness, friedrich sometimes thinking of a burlesque poem on the subject;--though the russian successes, and the austrian grudgings and gloomings, are rising on him as a very serious consideration. "is there no method, then, of allowing russia to prosecute its turk war in spite of austria and its umbrages?" thinks friedrich sometimes, in his anxieties about peace in europe:--"if the ukraine, and its meal for the armies, were but russia's! at present, austria can strike in there, cut off the provisions, and at once put a spoke in russia's wheel." friedrich tells us, "he (on," the king himself, what i do not find in any other book) "sent to petersburg, under the name of count lynar, the seraphic danish gentleman, who, in , had brought about the convention of kloster-zeven, a project, or sketch of plan, for partitioning certain provinces of poland, in that view;"--the lynar opining, so far as i can see, somewhat as follows: "russia to lay hold of the essential bit of polish territory for provisioning itself against the turk, and allow to austria and prussia certain other bits; which would content everybody, and enable russia and christendom to extrude and suppress ad libitum that abominable mass of mahometan sensualism, darkness and fanaticism from the fairest part of god's creation." an excellent project, though not successful! "to which petersburg, intoxicated with its own outlooks on turkey, paid not the least attention," says the king. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ vi. .] he gives no date to this curious statement; nor does anybody else mention it at all; but we may fancy it to have been of winter, - ,--and leave it with the curious, or the idly curious, since nothing came of it now or afterwards. potsdam, th- th october, . only two months after neisse, what kindles potsdam into sudden splendor, electress marie-antoine makes a visit of nine days to the king. "in july last," says a certain note of ours, "the electress was invited to berlin, to a wedding; 'would have been delighted to come, but letter of invitation arrived too late. will, however, not give up the plan of seeing the great friedrich.' comes to potsdam th- th october. stays nine days; much delighted, both, with the visit. 'magnificent palaces, pleasant gardens, ravishing concerts, charming princes and princesses: the pleasantest nine days i ever had in my life,' says the electress. friedrich grants, to her intercession, pardon for some culprit. 'diva antonia' he calls her henceforth for some time; she him, 'plus grand des mortels,' 'salomon du nord,' and the like names." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ (correspondance avec l'electrice marie-antoine), xxiv. - .] next year too (september th-october th, ), the bright lady made a second visit; [rodenbeck, iii. .] no third,--the times growing too political, perhaps; the times not suiting. the correspondence continues to the end; and is really pretty. and would be instructive withal, were it well edited. for example,--if we might look backwards, and shoot a momentary spark into the vacant darkness of the past,--friedrich wrote (the year before this):-- potsdam, d may, .... "jesuits have got all cut adrift: a dim rumor spreads that his holiness will not rest with that first anathema, but that a fulminating bull is coming out against the most christian, the most catholic and the most faithful. if that be so, my notion is, madam, that the holy father, to fill his table, will admit the defender of the faith [poor george iii.] and your servant; for it does not suit a pope to sit solitary.... "a pity for the human race, madam, that men cannot be tranquil,--but they never and nowhere can! not even the little town of neufchatel but has had its troubles; your royal highness will be astonished to learn how. a parson there [this was above seven years ago, in old marischal's reign [see letters to marischal, "leipzig, th march, ," "breslau, th may, :" in _oeuvres de frederic,_ xx. , .]] had set forth in a sermon, that considering the immense mercy of god, the pains of hell could not last forever. the synod shouted murder at such scandal; and has been struggling, ever since, to get the parson exterminated. the affair was of my jurisdiction; for your royal highness must know that i am pope in that country;--here is my decision: let the parsons, who make for themselves a cruel and barbarous god, be eternally damned, as they desire, and deserve; and let those parsons, who conceive god gentle and merciful, enjoy the plenitude of his mercy! however, madam, my sentence has failed to calm men's minds; the schism continues; and the number of the damnatory theologians prevails over the others." ["april d, " (a month before this letter to madam), there is "riot at neufchatel; and avocat gardot [heterodox parson's advocate] killed in it" (rodenbeck, ii. ).]--or again:-- potsdam, st december, . "at present i have with me my niece [sister's daughter, of schwedt], the duchess of wurtemberg; who remembers with pleasure to have had the happiness of seeing your royal highness in former times. she is very unhappy and much to be pitied; her husband [eugen of wurtemberg, whom we heard much of, and last at colberg] gives her a deal of trouble: he is a violent man, from whom she has everything to fear; who gives her chagrins, and makes her no allowances. i try my best to bring him to reason;"--but am little successful. three years after this, "may d, ," we find eugen, who once talked of running his august reigning brother through the body, has ended by returning to stuttgard and him; where, or at mumpelgard, his apanage, he continued thenceforth. and was reigning duke himself, long afterwards, for two years, at the very end of his life. ["succeeded," on his brother karl's death, " th may, ; died d december, , age ."] at this date of , "my poor niece and he" have been married thirteen years, and have half a score of children;--the eldest of them czar paul's second wife that is to be, and mother of the now czars. december th, .... "i have had , houses and barns to rebuild, and am nearly through with that. but how many other wounds remain yet to be healed!" july d, .... "wedding festivities of prince of prussia. duchess of kingston tipsy on the occasion!"--but we must not be tempted farther. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxiv. - .] next year there is a second interview; friedrich making a return-visit during the kaiser's moravian reviews (camp of mahrisch-neustadt, d- th september, ). the russian-turk especially in second campaign of it, "liberation of greece," or, failing that, total destruction of the turk fleet in greek waters; conquest of wallachia, as of moldavia; in a word, imminency of total ruin to the turk by land and sea,--all this is blazing aloft at such a pitch, in summer, , that a new interview upon it may well, to neighbors so much interested, seem more desirable than ever. interview accordingly there is to be: d september, and for four days following. kaunitz himself attends, this time; something of real business privately probable to kaunitz. prince henri is not there; prince henri is gone to sweden; on visit to his sister, whom he has not seen since boyhood: of which visit there will be farther mention. present with the king were: [rodenbeck, iii. .] the prince of prussia (luckier somewhat in his second wedlock, little red-colored son and heir born to him just a month ago); [friedrich wilhelm iii., "born d august, ."] prince ferdinand; two brunswick nephews, erbprinz whom we used to hear of, and leopold a junior, of whom we shall once or so. no seidlitz this time. except lentulus, no general to name. but better for us than all generals, in the kaiser's suite, besides kaunitz, was prince de ligne,--who holds a pen, as will appear. "liberation of the greeks" had kindled many people, voltaire among the number, who is still intermittently in correspondence with friedrich: "a magnificent czarina about to revivify that true temple of mankind, or at least to sweep the blockhead turks out of it; what a prospect!" friedrich is quite cool on greece; not too hot on any part of this subject, though intensely concerned about it. besides his ingenious count-lynar project, and many other businesses, friedrich has just been confuting baron d'holbach's _systeme de la nature;_ ["examen critique du systeme de la nature [in _oeuvres de frederic,_ ix. et seq.], finished july, ."]--writing to voltaire, potsdam, th august, , on this subject among others, he adds: "i am going for silesia, on the reviews. i am to see the kaiser, who has invited me to his camp in mahren. that is an amiable and meritorious prince; he values your works, reads them as diligently as he can; is anything but superstitious: in brief, a kaiser such as germany has not for a great while had. neither he nor i have any love for the blockhead and barbaric sort;--but that is no reason for extirpating them: if it were, your turks [oppressors of greece] would not be the only victims!" [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxiii. , .] in a lengthy letter, written by request, to stanislaus, king of poland, , or at a distance of fifteen years from this interview at neustadt, prince de ligne, who was present there, has left us some record or loose lively reminiscence of it; [prince de ligne, _memoires et melanges historiques_ (par. ), i. - .]--sputtering, effervescing, epigrammatic creature, had he confined himself to a faithful description, and burnt off for us, not like a pretty fire-work, but like an innocent candle, or thing for seeing by! but we must take what we have, and endeavor to be thankful. by great luck, the one topic he insists on is friedrich and his aspect and behavior on the occasion: which is what, of all else in it, we are most concerned with. "you have ordered me, sire [this was written for him in ], to speak to you of one of the greatest men of this age. you admire him, though his neighborhood has done you mischief enough; and, placing yourself at the impartial distance of history, feel a noble curiosity on all that belongs to this extraordinary genius. i will, therefore, give you an exact account of the smallest words that i myself heard the great friedrich speak.... the i (le je) is odious to me; but nothing is indifferent when"--well, your account, then, your account, without farther preambling, and in a more exact way than you are wont!-- "by a singular chance, in [ d- th september, if you would but date], the kaiser was [for the second time] enabled to deliver himself to the personal admiration which he had conceived for the king of prussia; and these two great sovereigns were so well together, that they could pay visits. the kaiser permitted me to accompany; and introduced me to the king: it was at neustadt in moravia [mahrisch-neustadt, short way from austerlitz, which is since become a celebrated place]. i can't recollect if i had, or had assumed, an air of embarrassment; but what i do well remember is, that the kaiser, who noticed my look, said to the king, 'he has a timid expression, which i never observed in him before; he will recover presently.' this he said in a graceful merry way; and the two went out, to go, i believe, to the play. on the way thither, the king for an instant quitting his imperial friend, asked me if my letter to jean jacques [now an entirely forgotten piece], which had been printed in the papers, was really by me? i answered, 'sire, i am not famous enough to have my name forged' [as a certain other name has been, on this same unproductive topic]. he felt what i meant. it is known that horace walpole took the king's name to write his famous lettre a jean jacques [impossible to attend to the like of it at present], which contributed the most to drive mad that eloquent and unreasonable man of genius. "coming out of the play, the kaiser said to the king of prussia: 'there is noverre, the famous composer of ballets; he has been in berlin, i believe.' noverre made thereupon a beautiful dancing-master bow. 'ah, i know him,' said the king: 'we saw him at berlin; he was very droll; mimicked all the world, especially our chief dancing women, to make you split with laughing.' noverre, ill content with this way of remembering him, made another beautiful third-position bow; and hoped possibly the king would say something farther, and offer him the opportunity of a small revenge. 'your ballets are beautiful,' said the king to him; 'your dancing girls have grace; but it is grace in a squattish form (de la grace engoncee). i think you make them raise their shoulders and their arms too much. for, monsieur noverre, if you remember, our principal dancing girl at berlin wasn't so.' 'that is why she was at berlin, sire,' replied noverre [satirically, all he could]. "i was every day asked to sup with the king; too often the conversation addressed itself to me. in spite of my attachment to the kaiser, whose general i like to be, but not whose d'argens or algarotti, i had not beyond reason abandoned myself to that feeling. when urged by the king's often speaking to me, i had to answer, and go on talking. besides, the kaiser took a main share in the conversation; and was perhaps more at his ease with the king than the king with him. one day, they got talking of what one would wish to be in this world; and they asked my opinion. i said, i should like to be 'a pretty woman till thirty; then, till sixty, a fortunate and skilful general;'--and not knowing what more to say, but for the sake of adding something, whatever it might be, 'a cardinal till eighty.' the king, who likes to banter the sacred college, made himself merry on this; and the kaiser gave him a cheap bargain of rome and its upholders (suppots). that supper was one of the gayest and pleasantest i have ever seen. the two sovereigns were without pretension and without reserve; what did not always happen on other days; and the amiability of two men so superior, and often so astonished to see themselves together, was the agreeablest thing you can imagine. the king bade me come and see him the first time he and i should have three or four hours to ourselves. "a storm such as there never was, a deluge compared with which that of deucalion was a summer shower, covered our hills with water [cannot say which day of the four], and almost drowned our army while attempting to manoeuvre. the morrow was a rest-day for that reason. at nine in the morning, i went to the king, and stayed till one. he spoke to me of our generals; i let him say, of his own accord, the things i think of marshals lacy and loudon; and i hinted that, as to the others, it was better to speak of the dead than of the living; and that one never can well judge of a general who has not in his lifetime actually played high parts in war. he spoke to me of feldmarschall daun: i said, 'that against the french i believed he might have proved a great man; but that against him [you], he had never quite been all he was; seeing always his opponent as a jupiter, thunder-bolt in hand, ready to pulverize his army.' that appeared to give the king pleasure: he signified to me a feeling of esteem for daun; he spoke favorably of general brentano [one of the maxen gentlemen]. i asked his reason for the praises i knew he had given to general beck. 'why (mais), i thought him a man of merit,' said the king. 'i do not think so, sire; he didn't do you much mischief.' 'he sometimes took magazines from me.' 'and sometimes let your generals escape.' (bevern at reichenbach, for instance, do you reckon that his blame?)--'i have never beaten him,' said the king. 'he never came near enough for that: and i always thought your majesty was only appearing to respect him, in order that we might have more confidence in him, and that you might give him the better slap some day, with interest for all arrears.' king. "'do you know who taught me the little i know? it was your old marshal traun: that was a man, that one.--you spoke of the french: do they make progress?' ego. "'they are capable of everything in time of war, sire: but in peace,--their chiefs want them to be what they are not, what they are not capable of being.' king. "'how, then; disciplined? they were so in the time of m. de turenne.' ego. "'oh, it isn't that. they were not so in the time of m. de vendome, and they went on gaining battles. but it is now wished that they become your apes and ours; and that does n't suit them.' king. "'perhaps so: i have said of their busy people (faiseurs,' st. germains and army-reformers), 'that they would fain sing without knowing music.' ego. "'oh, that is true! but leave them their natural notes; profit by their bravery, their alertness (legerete), by their very faults,--i believe their confusion might confuse their enemies sometimes.' king. "'well, yes, doubtless, if you have something to support them with.' ego. "'just so, sire,--some swiss and germans.' king. "''t is a brave and amiable nation, the french; one can't help loving them:--but, mon dieu, what have they made of their men of letters; and what a tone has now come up among them! voltaire, for example, had an excellent tone. d'alembert, whom i esteem in many respects, is too noisy, and insists too much on producing effect in society:--was it the men of letters that gave the court of louis xiv. its grace, or did they themselves acquire it from the many amiable persons they found there? he was the patriarch of kings, that one [in a certain sense, your majesty!]. in his lifetime a little too much good was said of him; but a great deal too much ill after his death.' ego. "'a king of france, sire, is always the patriarch of clever people (patriarche des gens d'esprit:' you do not much mean this, monsieur? you merely grin it from the teeth outward?) king. "'that is the bad number to draw: they are n't worth a doit (ne valent pas le diable, these gens d'esprit) at governing. better be patriarch of the greek church, like my sister the empress of russia! that brings her, and will bring, advantages. there's a religion for you; comprehending many countries and different nations! as to our poor lutherans, they are so few, it is not worth while being their patriarch.' ego. "'nevertheless, sire, if one join to them the calvinists, and all the little bastard sects, it would not be so bad a post. [the king appeared to kindle at this; his eyes were full of animation. but it did not last when i said:] if the kaiser were patriarch of the catholics, that too wouldn't be a bad place.' king. "'there, there: europe divided into three patriarchates. i was wrong to begin; you see where that leads us: messieurs, our dreams are not those of the just, as m. le regent used to say. if louis xiv. were alive, he would thank us.' "all these patriarchal ideas, possible and impossible to realize, made him, for an instant, look thoughtful, almost moody. king. "'louis xiv., possessing more judgment than cleverness (esprit), looked out more for the former quality than for the latter. it was men of genius that he wanted, and found. it could not be said that corneille, bossuet, racine and conde were people of the clever sort (des hommes d'esprit).' ego. "'on the whole, there is that in the country which really deserves to be happy, it is asserted that your majesty has said, if one would have a fine dream, one must--' king. "'yes, it is true,--be king of france.' ego. "'if francis i. and henri iv. had come into the world after your majesty, they would have said, "be king of prussia."' king. "'tell me, pray, is there no citable writer left in france?' "this made me laugh; the king asked the reason. i told him, he reminded me of the russe a paris, that charming little piece of verse of m. de voltaire's; and we remembered charming things out of it, which made us both laugh. he said, king. "'i have sometimes heard the prince de conti spoken of: what sort of man is he?' ego. "'he is a man composed of twenty or thirty men. he is proud, he is affable,'"--he is fiddle, he is diddle (in the seesaw epigrammatic way, for a page or more); and is not worth pen and ink from us, since the time old marshal traun got us rid of him,--home across the rhine, full speed, with croats sticking on his skirts. [supra, viii. .] "this portrait seemed to amuse the king. one had to captivate him by some piquant detail; without that, he would escape you, give you no time to speak. the success generally began by the first words, no matter how vague, of any conversation; these he found means to make interesting; and what, generally, is mere talk about the weather became at once sublime; and one never heard anything vulgar from him. he ennobled everything; and the examples of greeks and romans, or of modern generals, soon dissipated everything of what, with others, would have remained trivial and commonplace. "'have you ever,' said he, 'seen such a rain as yesterday's? your orthodox catholics will say, "that comes of having a man without religion among us: what are we to do with this cursed (maudit) king; a protestant at lowest?" for i really think i brought you bad luck. your soldiers would be saying, "peace we have; and still is this devil of a man to trouble us!"' ego. "'certainly, if your majesty was the cause, it is very bad. such a thing is only permitted to jupiter, who has always good reasons for everything; and it would have been in his fashion, after destroying the one set by fire, to set about destroying the others by water. however, the fire is at an end; and i did not expect to revert to it.' king. "'i ask your pardon for having plagued you so often with that; i regret it for the sake of all mankind. but what a fine apprenticeship of war! i have committed errors enough to teach you young people, all of you, to do better. mon dieu, how i love your grenadiers! how well they defiled in my presence! if the god mars were raising a body-guard for himself, i should advise him to take them hand over head. do you know i was well pleased (bien content) with the kaiser last night at supper? did you hear what he said to me about liberty of the press, and the troubling of consciences (la gene des consciences)? there will be bits of difference between his worthy ancestors and him, on some points!' ego. "'i am persuaded, he will entertain no prejudices on anything; and that your majesty will be a great book of instruction to him.' king. "'how adroitly he disapproved, without appearing to mean anything, the ridiculous vienna censorship; and the too great fondness of his mother (without naming her) for certain things which only make hypocrites. by the by, she must detest you, that high lady?' ego. "'well, then, not at all. she has sometimes lectured me about my strayings, but very maternally: she is sorry for me, and quite sure that i shall return to the right path. she said to me, some time ago, "i don't know how you do, you are the intimate friend of father griffet; the bishop of neustadt has always spoken well of you; likewise the archbishop of malines; and the cardinal [name sinzendorf, or else not known to me, dignity and red hat sufficiently visible] loves you much."' "why cannot i remember the hundred luminous things which escaped the king in this conversation! it lasted till the trumpet at head-quarters announced dinner. the king went to take his place; and i think it was on this occasion that, some one having asked why m. de loudon had not come yet, he said, 'that is not his custom: formerly he often arrived before me. please let him take this place next me; i would rather have him at my side than opposite.'" that is very pretty. and a better authority gives it, the king said to loudon himself, on loudon's entering, _"mettez-vous aupres de moi, m. de loudon; j'aime mieux vous avoir a cote de moi que vis-a-vis."_ he was very kind to loudon; "constantly called him m. le feldmarechal [delicate hint of what should have been, but was not for seven years yet]; and, at parting, gave him [as he did to lacy also] two superb horses, magnificently equipped." [pezzl, _vie de loudon,_ ii. .] "another day," continues prince de ligne, "the manoeuvres being over in good time, there was a concert at the kaiser's. notwithstanding the king's taste for music, he was pleased to give me the preference; and came where i was, to enchant me with the magic of his conversation, and the brilliant traits, gay and bold, which characterize him. he asked me to name the general and particular officers who were present, and to tell him those who had served under marshal traun: 'for, enfin,' he said, 'as i think i have told you already, he is my master; he corrected me in the schooling i was at.' ego. "'your majesty was very ungrateful, then; you never paid him his lessons. if it was as your majesty says, you should at least have allowed him to beat you; and i do not remember that you ever did.' king. "'i did not get beaten, because i did not fight.' ego. "'it is in this manner that the greatest generals have often conducted their wars against each other. one has only to look at the two campaigns of m. de montecuculi and m. de turenne, in the valley of the rench [strasburg country, and , two celebrated campaigns, turenne killed by a cannon-shot in the last]. king. "'between traun and the former there is not much difference; but what a difference, bon dieu, between the latter and me!' "i named to him the count d'althan, who had been adjutant-general, and the count de pellegrini. he asked me twice which was which, from the distance we were at; and said, he was so short-sighted, i must excuse him. ego. "'nevertheless, sire, in the war your sight was good enough; and, if i remember right, it reached very far!' king. "'it was not i; it was my glass.' ego. "'ha, i should have liked to find that glass;--but, i fear it would have suited my eyes as little as scanderbeg's sword my arm.' "i forget how the conversation changed; but i know it grew so free that, seeing somebody coming to join in it, the king warned him to take care; that it was n't safe to converse with a man doomed by the theologians to everlasting fire. i felt as if he somewhat overdid this of his 'being doomed,' and that he boasted too much of it. not to hint at the dishonesty of these free-thinking gentlemen (messieurs les esprits forts), who very often are thoroughly afraid of the devil, it is, at least, bad taste to make display of such things: and it was with the people of bad taste whom he has had about him, such as a jordan, a d'argens, maupertuis, la beaumelle, la mettrie, abbe de prades, and some dull sceptics of his own academy, that he had acquired the habit of mocking at religion; and of talking (de parler) dogma, spinoism, court of rome and the like. in the end, i did n't always answer when he touched upon it. i now seized a moment's interval, while he was using his handkerchief, to speak to him about some business, in connection with the circle of westphalia, and a little comte immediat [county holding direct, of the reich] which i have there. the king answered me: 'i, for my part, will do anything you wish; but what thinks the other director, my comrade, the elector of cologne, about it?' ego. "'i was not aware, sire, that you were an ecclesiastical elector.' king. "'i am so; at least on my protestant account.' ego. "'that is not to our account's advantage! those good people of mine believe your majesty to be their protector.' "he continued asking me the names of persons he saw. i was telling him those of a number of young princes who had lately entered the service, and some of whom gave hopes. 'that may be,' said he; 'but i think the breed of the governing races ought to be crossed. i like the children of love: look at the marechal de saxe, and my own anhalt [severe adjutant von anhalt, a bastard of prinz gustav, the old dessauer's heir-apparent, who begot a good many bastards, but died before inheriting: bastards were brought up, all of them to soldiering, by their uncles,---this one by uncle moritz; was thrown from his horse eight years hence, to the great joy of many]; though i am afraid that since [mark this since, alas!] his fall on his head, that latter is not so good as formerly. i should be grieved at it, [not for eight years yet, mon prince, i am sorry to say! adjutant von anhalt did, in reality, get this fall, and damaging hurt on the head, in the "bavarian war" (nicknamed kartoffel-krieg, "potato-war"), - . _militair-lexikon,_ i. : see preuss, ii. , iv. ; &c.] both for his sake and for mine; he is a man full of talents.' "i am glad to remember this; for i have heard it said by silly slanderous people (sots denigrants), who accuse the king of prussia of insensibility, that he was not touched by the accident which happened to the man he seemed to love most. too happy if one had only said that of him! he was supposed to be jealous of the merit of schwerin and of keith, and delighted to have got them killed. it is thus that mediocre people seek to lower great men, to diminish the immense space that lies between themselves and such. "out of politeness, the king, and his suite as well, had put on white [austrian] uniforms, not to bring back on us that blue which we had so often seen in war. he looked as though he belonged to our army and to the kaiser's suite. there was, in this visit, i believe, on both sides, a little personality, some distrust, and perhaps a beginning of bitterness;--as always happens, says philippe de comines, when sovereigns meet. the king took spanish snuff, and brushing it off with his hand from his coat as well as he could, he said, 'i am not clean enough for you, messieurs; i am not worthy to wear your colors.' the air with which he said this, made me think he would yet soil them with powder, if the opportunity arose. "i forgot a little incident which gave me an opportunity of setting off (faire valoir) the two monarchs to each other [incident about the king's high opinion of the kaiser's drill-sergeantry in this day's manoeuvres, and how i was the happy cause of the kaiser's hearing it himself: incident omissible; as the whole sequel is, except a sentence or two].-- ... "on this neustadt occasion, the king was sometimes too ceremonious; which annoyed the kaiser. for instance,--i know not whether meaning to show himself a disciplined elector of the reich, but so it was,--whenever the kaiser put his foot in stirrup, the king was sure to take his majesty's horse by the bridle, stand respectfully waiting the kaiser's right foot, and fit it into its stirrup: and so with everything else. the kaiser had the more sincere appearance, in testifying his great respect; like that of a young prince to an aged king, and of a young soldier to the greatest of captains.... "sometimes there were appearances of cordiality between the two sovereigns. one saw that friedrich ii. loved joseph ii., but that the preponderance of the empire, and the contact of bohemia and silesia, a good deal barred the sentiments of king and kaiser. you remember, sire [ex-sire of poland], their letters [readers shall see them, in ,--or rather refuse to see them!'] on the subject of bavaria; their compliments, the explanations they had with regard to their intentions; all carried on with such politeness; and that from politeness to politeness, the king ended by invading bohemia." well, here is legible record, with something really of portraiture in it, valuable so far as it goes; record unique on this subject;--and substantially true, though inexact enough in details. thus, even in regard to that of anhalt's head, which is so impossible in this first dialogue, friedrich did most probably say something of the kind, in a second which there is, of date ; of which latter de ligne is here giving account as well,--though we have to postpone it till its time come. at this neustadt interview there did something of political occur; and readers ought to be shown exactly what. kaunitz had come with the kaiser; and this something was intended as the real business among the gayeties and galas at neustadt. poland, or its farce-tragedy now playing, was not once mentioned that i hear of; though perhaps, as flebile ludibrium, it might turn up for moments in dinner-conversation or the like: but the astonishing russian-turk war, which has sprung out of poland, and has already filled stamboul and its divans and muftis with mere horror and amazement; and, in fact, has brought the grand turk to the giddy rim of the abyss; nothing but ruin and destruction visible to him: this, beyond all other things whatever, is occupying these high heads at present;--and indeed the two latest bits of russian-turk news have been of such a blazing character as to occupy all the world more or less. readers, some glances into the turk war, i grieve to say, are become inevitable to us! russian-turk war, first two campaigns. "october th, , turks declare war; russian ambassador thrown into the seven towers as a preliminary, where he sat till peace came to be needed. march d, , display their banner of mahomet, all in paroxysm of fanaticism risen to the burning point: 'under pain of death, no giaour of you appear on the streets, nor even look out, of window, this day!' austrian ambassador's wife, a beautiful gossamer creature, venturing to transgress on that point, was torn from her carriage by the populace, and with difficulty saved from destruction: brother of the sun and moon, apologizing afterwards down to the very shoe-tie, is forgiven." first campaign; . "april th- th, galitzin versus choczim; can't, having no provender or powder. falls back over dniester again,--overhears that extraordinary dream, as above recited, betokening great rumor in russian society against such purblind commanders-in-chief. purblind versus blind is fine play, nevertheless; wait, only wait:-- "july d, galitzin slowly gets on the advance again: , turks, still slower, are at last across the donau (sharp enough french officers among them, agents of choiseul; but a mass incurably chaotic);--furiously intending towards poland and extermination of the giaour. do not reach dniester river till september, and look across on poland,--for the first time, and also for the last, in this war. september th: weather has been rainy; dniester, were galitzin nothing, is very difficult for turks; who try in two places, but cannot. [hermann, v. - .] in a third place (name not given, perhaps has no name), about , of them are across; when dniester, raging into flood, carries away their one bridge, and leaves the , isolated there. purblind galitzin, on express order, does attack these , (night of september th- th):--'hurrah' of the devouring russians about midnight, hoarse shriek of the doomed , , wail of their brethren on the southern shore, who cannot, help:--night of horrors 'from midnight till a.m.;' and the , massacred or captive, every man of them; russian loss killed and wounded. whereupon the turk army bursts into unanimous insanity; and flows home in deliquium of ruin. choczim is got on the terms already mentioned ( sick men and women lying in it, and bronze cannon, when we boat across); turk army can by no effort be brought to halt anywhere; flows across the donau, disappears into chaos:--and the whole of moldavia is conquered in this cheap manner. what, perhaps is still better, galitzin ( th september) is thrown out; romanzow, hitherto commander of a second smaller army, kind of covering wing to galitzin, is chief for second campaign. "in the humber, this winter, to the surprise of incredulous mankind, a russian fleet drops anchor for a few days: actual russian fleet intending for the greek waters, for montenegro and intermediate errands, to conclude with 'liberation of greece next spring,'--so grandiose is this czarina." [hermann, v. .] second campaign; . "this is the flower of anti-turk campaigns,--victorious, to a blazing pitch, both by land and sea. romanzow, master of moldavia, goes upon wallachia, and the new or rehabilitated turk army; and has an almost gratis bargain of both. romanzow has some good officers under him ('brigadier stoffeln,' much more 'general tottlenen,' 'general bauer,' once colonel bauer of the wesel free-corps,--many of the superior officers seem to be german, others have swedish or danish names);--better officers; and knows better how to use them than galitzin did. august st, romanzow has a battle, called of kaghul, in pruth country. that is his one 'battle' this summer; and brings him ismail, akkerman, all wallachey, and no turks left in those parts. but first let us attend to sea-matters, and the liberation of greece, which precede in time and importance. "'liberation of greece:' an actual fleet, steering from cronstadt to the dardanelles to liberate greece! the sound of it kindles all the warm heads in europe; especially voltaire's, which, though covered with the snow of age, is still warm internally on such points. as to liberating greece, voltaire's hopes were utterly balked; but the fleet from cronstadt did amazing service otherwise in those waters. february th, , first squadron of the russian fleet anchors at passawa,--not far from calamata, in the gulf of coron, on the antique peloponnesian coast; sparta on your right hand, arcadia on your left, and so many excellent ghosts (greek text) of heroes looking on:--russian squadron has four big ships, three frigates, more soon to follow: on board there are arms and munitions of war; but unhappily only soldiers. admiral-in-chief (not yet come up) is alexei orlof, a brother of lover gregory's, an extremely worthless seaman and man. has under him 'many danes, a good few english too,'--especially three english officers, whom we shall hear of, when alexei and they come up. meanwhile, on the peloponnesian coast are modern spartans, to the number of , , all sitting ready, expecting the russian advent: these rose duly; got russian muskets, cartridges,--only two russian officers:--and attacked the turks with considerable fury or voracity, but with no success of the least solidity. were foiled here, driven out there; in fine, were utterly beaten, russians and they: lost tripolizza, by surprise; whereupon (april th) the russians withdrew to their fleet; and the affair of greece was at an end. [hermann, v. .] it had lasted ( th february- th april) seven weeks and a day. the russians retired to their fleet, with little loss; and rode at their ease again, in navarino bay. but the , modern spartans had nothing to retire to,--these had to retire into extinction, expulsion and the throat of moslem vengeance, which was frightfully bloody and inexorable on them. "greece having failed, the russian fleet, now in complete tale, made for turkey, for constantinople itself. 'into the very dardanelles' they say they will go; an englishman among them--captain elphinstone, a dashing seaman, if perhaps rather noisy, whom rulhiere is not blind to--has been heard to declare, at least in his cups: 'dardanelles impossible? pshaw, i will do it, as easily as drink this glass of wine!' alexei orlof is a sham-admiral; but under him are real sea-officers, one or two. "in the turkish fleet, it seems, there is an ex-algerine, hassan bey, of some capacity in sea-matters; but he is not in chief command, only in second; and can accomplish nothing. the turkish fleet, numerous but rotten, retires daily,--through the famed cyclades, and isles of greece, paros, naxos, apocalyptic patmos, on to scio (old chios of the wines); and on july th takes refuge behind scio, between scio and the coast of smyrna, in tchesme bay. 'safe here!' thinks the chief turk admiral. 'very far from safe!' remonstrates hassan; though to no purpose. and privately puts the question to himself, 'have these giaours a real admiral among them, or, like us, only a sham one?'" tchesme bay, th july, . "nothing can be more imaginary than alexei orlof as an admiral: but he has a captain elphinstone, a captain gregg, a lieutenant dugdale; and these determine to burn poor hassan and his whole fleet in tchesme here:--and do it totally, night of july th; with one single fireship; dugdale steering it; gregg behind him, to support with broadsides; elphinstone ruling and contriving, still farther to rear; helpless turk fleet able to make no debate whatever. such a blaze of conflagration on the helpless turks as shone over all the world--one of rulhiere's finest fire-works, with little shot;--the light of which was still dazzling mankind while the interview at neustadt took place. turk fleet, fifteen ships, nine frigates and above , men, gone to gases and to black cinders,--hassan hardly escaping with i forget how many score of wounds and bruises. [hermann, v. .] "'now for the dardanelles,' said elphinstone: (bombard constantinople, starve it,--to death, or to what terms you will!' 'cannot be done; too dangerous; impossible!' answered the sham admiral, quite in a tremor, they say;--which at length filled the measure of elphinstone's disgusts with such a fleet and admiral. indignant elphinstone withdrew to his own ship, 'adieu, sham-admiral!'--sailed with his own ship, through the impossible dardanelles (turk batteries firing one huge block of granite at him, which missed; then needing about forty minutes to load again); feat as easy to elphinstone as this glass of wine. in sight of constantinople, elphinstone, furthermore, called for his tea; took his tea on deck, under flourishing of all his drums and all his trumpets: tea done, sailed out again scathless; instantly threw up his command,--and at petersburg, soon after, in taking leave of the czarina, signified to her, in language perhaps too plain, or perhaps only too painfully true, some naval facts which were not welcome in that high quarter." [rulhiere, iii. - .] this remarkable elphinstone i take to be some junior or irregular balmerino scion; but could never much hear of him except in rulhiere, where, on vague, somewhat theatrical terms, he figures as above. "august st, romanzow has a 'battle of kaghul,' so they call it; though it is a 'slaughtery' or schlachterei, rather than a 'slaught' or schlacht, say my german friends. kaghul is not a specific place, but a longish river, a branch of the pruth; under screen of which the grand turk army, , strong, with , tartars as second line, has finally taken position, and fortified itself with earthworks and abundant cannon. august st, , romanzow, after study and advising, feels prepared for this grand army and its earthworks: with a select , , under select captains, romanzow, after nightfall, bursts in upon it, simultaneously on three different points; and gains, gratis or nearly so, such a victory as was never heard of before. the turks, on their earthworks, had cannons; these the turk gunners fired off two times, and fled, leaving them for romanzow's uses. the turk cavalry then tried if they could not make some attempt at charging; found they could not; whirled back upon their infantry; set it also whirling: and in a word, the whole , whirled, without blow struck; and it was a universal panic rout, and delirious stampede of flight, which never paused (the very garrisons emptying themselves, and joining in it) till it got across the donau again, and drew breath there, not to rally or stand, but to run rather slower. and had left wallachia, bessarabia, dniester river, donau river, swept clear of turks; all romanzow's henceforth. to such astonishment of an invincible grand turk, and of his moslem populations, fallen on such a set of giaours ["allah kerim, and cannot we abolish them, then?" not we them, it would appear!],--as every reader can imagine." which shall suffice every reader here in regard to the turk war, and what concern he has in the extremely brutish phenomenon. tchesme fell out july th; elphinstone has hardly done his tea in the dardanelles, when (august st) this of kaghul follows: both would be fresh news blazing in every head while the dialogues between friedrich and kaunitz were going on. for they "had many dialogues," friedrich says; "and one of the days" (probably september th) was mainly devoted to politics, to deep private colloquy with kaunitz. of which, and of the great things that followed out of it, i will now give, from friedrich's own hand, the one entirely credible account i have anywhere met with in writing. friedrich's account of kaunitz himself is altogether life-like: a solemn, arrogant, mouthing, browbeating kind of man,--embarrassed at present by the necessity not to browbeat, and by the consciousness that "king friedrich is the only man who refuses to acknowledge my claims to distinction:" [rulhiere (somewhere) has heard this, as an utterance of kaunitz's in some plaintive moment.]--a kaunitz whose arrogances, qualities and claims this king is not here to notice, except as they concern business on hand. he says, "kaunitz had a clear intellect, greatly twisted by perversities of temper (un sens droit, l'esprit rempli de travers), especially by a self-conceit and arrogance which were boundless. he did not talk, but preach. at the smallest interruption, he would stop short in indignant surprise: it has happened that, at the council-board in schonbrunn, when imperial majesty herself asked some explanation of a word or thing not understood by her, kaunitz made his bow (lui tira sa reverence), and quitted the room." good to know the nature of the beast. listen to him, then, on those terms, since it is necessary. the kaunitz sermon was of great length, imbedded in circumlocutions, innuendoes and diplomatic cautions; but the gist of it we gather to have been (abridged into dialogue form) essentially as follows:-- kaunitz. "dangerous to the repose of europe, those russian encroachments on the turk. never will imperial majesty consent that russia possess moldavia or wallachia; war sooner,--all things sooner! these views of russia are infinitely dangerous to everybody. to your majesty as well, if i may say so; and no remedy conceivable against them,--to me none conceivable,--but this only, that prussia and austria join frankly in protest and absolute prohibition of them." friedrich. "i have nothing more at heart than to stand well with austria; and always to be her ally, never her enemy. but your highness sees how i am situated: bound by express treaty with czarish majesty; must go with russia in any war! what can i do? i can, and will with all industry, labor to conciliate czarish majesty and imperial; to produce at petersburg such a peace with the turks as may meet the wishes of vienna. let us hope it can be done. by faithful endeavoring, on my part and on yours, i persuade myself it can. meanwhile, steadfastly together, we two! all our little rubs, custom-house squabbles on the frontier, and such like, why not settle them here, and now? [and does so with his highness.] that there be nothing but amity, helpfulness and mutual effort towards an object so momentous to us both, and to all mankind!" kaunitz. "good so far. and may a not intolerable turk-russian peace prove possible, without our fighting for it! meanwhile, imperial majesty [as she has been visibly doing for some time] must continue massing troops and requisites on the hungarian frontier, lest the contrary happen!" this was the result arrived at. of which friedrich "judged it but polite to inform the young kaiser; who appeared to be grateful for this mark of attention, being much held down by kaunitz in his present state of tutelage." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvi. .] and by a singular chance, on the very morrow there arrived from the divan (dated august th) an express to friedrich: "mediate a peace for us with russia; not you alone, as we have often asked, but austria and you!" for the kaghul slaughtery has come on us; giaour elphinstone has taken tea in the dardanelles; and we know not to what hand to turn!--"the young kaiser did not hide his joy at this overture, as kaunitz did his, which was perhaps still greater:" the kaiser warmly expressed his thanks to friedrich as the author of it; kaunitz, with a lofty indifference (morgue), and nose in air as over a small matter, "merely signified his approval of this step which the turks had taken." "never was mediation undertaken with greater pleasure," adds the king. and both did proceed upon it with all zeal; but only the king as real "mediator," or middleman; kaunitz from the first planting himself immovably upon the turk side of things, which is likewise the austrian; and playing in secret (as friedrich probably expected he would) the strangest tricks with his assumed function. so that friedrich had to take the burden of mediating altogether on himself; and month after month, year after year, it is evident he prosecutes the same with all the industry and faculty that are in him,--in intense desire, and in hope often nearly desperate, to keep his two neighbors' houses, and his own and the whole world along with them, from taking fire. apart from their conflicting interests, the two empresses have privately a rooted aversion to one another. what with russian exorbitancy (a czarina naturally uplifted with her tchesmes and kaghuls); what with austrian cupidity, pride, mulishness, and private trickery of kaunitz; the adroit and heartily zealous friedrich never had such a bit of diplomacy to do. for many months hence, in spite of his intensest efforts and cunningest appliances, no way of egress visible: "the imbroglio must catch fire!" at last a way opens, "ha, at last a way!"--then, for above a twelvemonth longer, such a guiding of the purblind quadrupeds and obstinate austrian mules into said way: and for years more such an urging of them, in pig-driver fashion, along the same, till peace did come!-- and here, without knowing it, we have insensibly got to the topmost summit of our polish business; one small step more, and we shall be on the brow of the precipitous inclined-plane, down which poland and its business go careering thenceforth, down, down,--and will need but few words more from us. actual discovery of "a way out" stands for next section. first, however, we will notice, as prefatory, a curious occurrence in the country of zips, contiguous to the hungarian frontier. zips, a pretty enough district, of no great extent, had from time immemorial belonged to hungary; till, above years ago, it was--by sigismund super grammaticam, a man always in want of money (whom we last saw, in flaming color, investing friedrich's ancestor with brandenburg instead of payment for a debt of money)--pledged to the crown of poland for a round sum to help in sigismund's pressing occasions. redemption by payment never followed; attempt at redemption there had never been, by sigismund or any of his successors. nay, one successor, in a treaty still extant, [preuss, iv. (date ; pawning had beep ).] expressly gave up the right of redeeming: pledge forfeited: a zips belonging to polish crown and republic by every law. well; imperial majesty, as we have transiently seen, is assembling troops on the hungarian frontier, for a special purpose. poor poland is, by this time ( ), as we also saw, sunk in pestilence,--pigs and dogs devouring the dead bodies: not a loaf to be had for a hundred ducats, and the rage of pestilence itself a mild thing to that of hunger, not to mention other rages. so that both austria and prussia, in order to keep out pestilence at least, if they cannot the other rages, have had to draw cordons, or lines of troops along the frontiers. "the prussian cordon," i am informed, "goes from crossen, by frankfurt northward, to the weichsel river and border of warsaw country:" and "is under the command of general belling," our famous anti-swede hussar of former years. the austrian cordon looks over upon zips and other starosties, on the hungarian border: where, independently of pestilence, an alarmed and indignant empress-queen has been and is assembling masses of troops, with what object we know. looking over into zips in these circumstances, indignant kaunitz and imperial majesty, especially his imperial majesty, a youth always passionate for territory, say to themselves, "zips was ours, and in a sense is!"--and (precise date refused us, but after neustadt, and before winter has quite come) push troops across into zips starosty: seize the whole thirteen townships of zips, and not only these, but by degrees tract after tract of the adjacencies: "must have a frontier to our mind in those parts: indefensible otherwise!" and quietly set up boundary-pillars, with the austrian double-eagle stamped on them, and intimation to zips and neighborhood, that it is now become austrian, and shall have no part farther in these polish confederatings, pestilences, rages of men, and pigs devouring dead bodies, but shall live quiet under the double-eagle as others do. which to zips, for the moment, might be a blessed change, welcome or otherwise; but which awoke considerable amazement in the outer world,--very considerable in king stanislaus (to whom, on applying, kaunitz would give no explanation the least articulate);--and awoke, in the russian court especially, a rather intense surprise and provocation. prince henri has been to sweden; is seen at petersburg in masquerade (on or about new-year's day, ); and does get home, with results that are important. prince henri, as we noticed, was not of this second king-and-kaiser interview; henri had gone in the opposite direction,--to sweden, on a visit to his sister ulrique,--off for west and north, just in the same days while the king was leaving potsdam for silesia and his other errand in the southeast parts. henri got to drottingholm, his sister's country palace near stockholm, by the "end of august;" and was there with queen ulrique and husband during these neustadt manoeuvres. a changed queen ulrique, since he last saw her "beautiful as love," whirling off in the dead of night for those remote countries and destinies. [supra, viii. .] she is now fifty, or on the edge of it, her old man sixty,--old man dies within few months. they have had many chagrins, especially she, as the prouder, has had, from their contumacious people,--contumacious senators at least (strong always both in pocket-money french or russian, and in tendency to insolence and folly),--who once, i remember, demanded sight and count of the crown-jewels from queen ulrique: "there, voila, there are they!" said the proud queen; "view them, count them,--lock them up: never more will i wear one of them!" but she has pretty sons grown to manhood, one pretty daughter, a patient good old husband; and time, in sweden too, brings its roses; and life is life, in spite of contumacious bribed senators and doggeries that do rather abound. henri stayed with her six or seven weeks; leaves sweden, middle of october, ,--not by the straight course homewards: "no, verily, and well knew why!" shrieks the indignant polish world on us ever since. it is not true that friedrich had schemed to send henri round by petersburg. on the contrary, it was the czarina, on ground of old acquaintanceship, who invited him, and asked his brother's leave to do it. and if poland got its fate from the circumstance, it was by accident, and by the fact that poland's fate was drop-ripe, ready to fall by a touch.--before going farther, here is ocular view of the shrill-minded, serious and ingenious henri, little conscious of being so fateful a man:--prince henri in white domino. "prince henri of prussia," says richardson, the useful eye-witness cited already, "is one of the most celebrated generals of the present age. so great are his military talents, that his brother, who is not apt to pay compliments, says of him,--that, in commanding an army, he was never known to commit a fault. this, however, is but a negative kind of praise. he [the king] reserves to himself the glory of superior genius, which, though capable of brilliant achievements, is yet liable to unwary mistakes: and allows him no other than the praise of correctness. "to judge of prince henri by his appearance, i should form no high estimate of his abilities. but the scythian ambassadors judged in the same manner of alexander the great. he is under the middle size; very thin; he walks firmly enough, or rather struts, as if he wanted to walk firmly; and has little dignity in his air or gesture. he is dark-complexioned; and he wears his hair, which is remarkably thick, clubbed, and dressed with a high toupee. his forehead is high; his eyes large and blue, with a little squint; and when he smiles, his upper lip is drawn up a little in the middle. his look expresses sagacity and observation, but nothing very amiable; and his manner is grave and stiff rather than affable. he was dressed, when i first saw him, in a light-blue frock with silver frogs; and wore a red waistcoat and blue breeches. he is not very popular among the russians; and accordingly their wits are disposed to amuse themselves with his appearance, and particularly with his toupee. they say he resembles samson; that all his strength lies in his hair; and that, conscious of this, and recollecting the fate of the son of manoah, he suffers not the nigh approaches of any deceitful delilah. they say he is like the comet, which, about fifteen months ago, appeared so formidable in the russian hemisphere; and which, exhibiting a small watery body, but a most enormous train, dismayed the northern and eastern potentates with 'fear of change.' "i saw him a few nights ago [on or about new-year's day, ; come back to us, from his tour to moscow, three weeks before; and nothing but galas ever since] at a masquerade in the palace, said to be the most magnificent thing of the kind ever seen at the russian court. fourteen large rooms and galleries were opened for the accommodation of the masks; and i was informed that there were present several thousand people. a great part of the company wore dominos, or capuchin dresses; though, besides these, some fanciful appearances afforded a good deal of amusement. a very tall cossack appeared completely arrayed in the 'hauberk's twisted mail.' he was indeed very grim and martial. persons in emblematical dresses, representing apollo and the seasons, addressed the empress in speeches suited to their characters. the empress herself, at the time i saw her majesty, wore a grecian habit; though i was afterwards told that she varied her dress two or three times during the masquerade. prince henri of prussia wore a white domino. several persons appeared in the dresses of different nations,--chinese, turks, persians and armenians. the most humorous and fantastical figure was a frenchman, who, with wonderful nimbleness and dexterity, represented an overgrown but very beautiful parrot. he chattered with a great deal of spirit; and his shoulders, covered with green feathers, performed admirably the part of wings. he drew the attention of the empress; a ring was formed; he was quite happy; fluttered his plumage; made fine speeches in russ, french and tolerable english; the ladies were exceedingly diverted; everybody laughed except prince henri, who stood beside the empress, and was so grave and so solemn, that he would have performed his part most admirably in the shape of an owl. the parrot observed him; was determined to have revenge; and having said as many good things as he could to her majesty, he was hopping away; but just as he was going out of the circle, seeming to recollect himself, he stopped, looked over his shoulder at the formal prince, and quite in the parrot tone and french accent, he addressed him most emphatically with 'henri! henri! henri!' and then, diving into the crowd, disappeared. his royal highness was disconcerted; he was forced to smile in his own defence, and the company were not a little amused. "at midnight, a spacious hall, of a circular form, capable of containing a vast number of people, and illuminated in the most magnificent manner, was suddenly opened. twelve tables were placed in alcoves around the sides of the room, where the empress, prince henri, and a hundred and fifty of the chief nobility and foreign ministers sat down to supper. the rest of the company went up, by stairs on the outside of the room, into the lofty galleries placed all around on the inside. such a row of masked visages, many of them with grotesque features and bushy beards, nodding from the side of the wall, appeared very ludicrous to those below. the entertainment was enlivened with a concert of music: and at different intervals persons in various habits entered the hall, and exhibited cossack, chinese, polish, swedish and tartar dances. the whole was so gorgeous, and at the same time so fantastic, that i could not help thinking myself present at some of the magnificent festivals described in the old-fashioned romantes:-- 'the marshal'd feast served up in hall with sewers and seneschals.' the rest of the company, on returning to the rooms adjoining, found prepared for them also a sumptuous banquet. the masquerade began at in the evening, and continued till next morning. "besides the masquerade, and other festivities, in honor of, and to divert prince henri, we had lately a most magnificent show of fire-works. they were exhibited in a wide apace before the winter palace; and, in truth, 'beggared description.' they displayed, by a variety of emblematical figures, the reduction of moldavia, wallachia, bessarabia, and the various conquests and victories achieved since the commencement of the present war. the various colors, the bright green and the snowy white, exhibited in these fire-works, were truly astonishing. for the space of twenty minutes, a tree, adorned with the loveliest and most verdant foliage, seemed to be waving as with a gentle breeze. it was entirely of fire; and during the whole of this stupendous scene, an arch of fire, by the continued throwing of rockets and fire-balls in one direction, formed as it were a suitable canopy. "on this occasion a prodigious multitude of people were assembled; and the empress, it was surmised, seemed uneasy. she was afraid, it was apprehended, lest any accident, like what happened at paris at the marriage of the dauphin, should befall her beloved people. i hope i have amused you; and ever am"--[w. richardson, _anecdotes of the russian empire,_ pp. - : "petersburg, th january, ."] the masquerades and galas in honor of prince henri, from a grandiose hostess, who had played with him in childhood, were many; but it is not with these that we have to do. one day, the czarina, talking to him of the austrian procedures at zips, said with pique, "it seems, in poland you have only to stoop, and pick up what you like of it. if the court of vienna have the notion to dismember that kingdom, its neighbors will have right to do as much." [rulhiere, iv. ; _trois demembremens,_ i. ; above all, henri himself, in _oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvi. , "petersburg, th january, ."] this is supposed, in all books, to be the punctum saliens, or first mention, of the astonishing partition, which was settled, agreed upon, within about a year hence, and has made so much noise ever since. and in effect it was so; the idea rising practically in that high head was the real beginning. but this was not the first head it had been in; far from that. above a year ago, as friedrich himself informed us, it had been in friedrich's own head,--though at the time it went for absolutely nothing, nobody even bestowing a sneer on it (as friedrich intimates), and disappeared through the horn-gate of dreams. friedrich himself appears to have quite forgotten the count-lynar idea; and, on henri's report from russia, was totally incredulous; and even suspected that there might be trickery and danger in this russian proposal. not till henri's return (february th, ) could he entirely believe that the czarina was serious;--and then, sure enough, he did, with his whole heart, go into it: the eureka out of all these difficulties, which had so long seemed insuperable. prince henri "had an interview with the austrian minister next day" (february th), who immediately communicated with his kaunitz,--and got discouraging response from kaunitz; discouraging, or almost negatory; which did not discourage friedrich. "a way out," thinks friedrich: "the one way to save my prussia and the world from incalculable conflagration." and entered on it without loss of a moment. and labored at it with such continual industry, rapidity and faculty for guiding and pushing, as all readers have known in him, on dangerous emergencies: at no moment lifting his hand from it till it was complete. his difficulties were enormous: what a team to drive; and on such a road, untrodden before by hoof or wheel! two empresses that cordially hate one another, and that disagree on this very subject. kaunitz and his empress are extremely skittish in the matter, and as if quite refuse it at first: "zips will be better," thinks kaunitz to himself; "cannot we have, all to ourselves, a beautiful little cutting out of poland in that part; and then perhaps, in league with the turk, who has money, beat the russians home altogether, and rule poland in their stead, or 'share it with the sultan,' as reis-effendi suggests?" and the dismal truth is, though it was not known for years afterward, kaunitz does about this time, in profoundest secret, actually make treaty of alliance with the turk ("so many million piastres to us, ready money, year by year, and you shall, if not by our mediating, then by our fighting, be a contented turk"); and all along at the different russian-turk "peace-congresses," kaunitz, while pretending to sit and mediate along with prussia, sat on that far other basis, privately thwarting everything; and span out the turk pacification in a wretched manner for years coming. ["peace of kainardschi," not till " st july, ,"--after four or five abortive attempts, two of them "congresses," kaunitz so industrious (hermann, v. et antea).] a dangerous, hard-mouthed, high-stalking, ill-given old coach-horse of a kaunitz: fancy what the driving of him might be, on a road he did not like! but he had a driver too, who, in delicate adroitness, in patience and in sharpness of whip, was consummate: "you shall know it is your one road, my ill-given friend!" (i ostentatiously increase my cavalry by , ; meaning, "a new seven-years war, if you force me, and russia by my side this time!") so that kaunitz had to quit his turk courses (never paid the piastres back), and go into what really was the one way out. but friedrich's difficulties on this course are not the thing that can interest readers; and all readers know his faculty for overcoming difficulties. readers ask rather: "and had friedrich no feeling about poland itself, then, and this atrocious partitioning of the poor country?" apparently none whatever;--unless it might be, that deliverance from anarchy, pestilence, famine, and pigs eating your dead bodies, would be a manifest advantage for poland, while it was the one way of saving europe from war. nobody seems more contented in conscience, or radiant with heartfelt satisfaction, and certainty of thanks from all wise and impartial men, than the king of prussia, now and afterwards, in regard to this polish atrocity! a psychological fact, which readers can notice. scrupulous regard to polish considerations, magnanimity to poland, or the least respect or pity for her as a dying anarchy, is what nobody will claim for him; consummate talent in executing the partition of poland (inevitable some day, as he may have thought, but is nowhere at the pains to say),--great talent, great patience too, and meritorious self-denial and endurance, in executing that partition, and in saving it from catching fire instead of being the means to quench fire, no well-informed person will deny him. of his difficulties in the operation (which truly are unspeakable) i will say nothing more; readers are prepared to believe that he, beyond others, should conquer difficulties when the object is vital to him. i will mark only the successive dates of his progress, and have done with this wearisome subject:-- june th, . within four months of the arrival of prince henri and that first certainty from russia, diligent friedrich, upon whom the whole burden had been laid of drawing up a plan, and bringing austria to consent, is able to report to petersburg, that austria has dubieties, reluctances, which it is to be foreseen she will gradually get over; and that here meanwhile (june th, ) is my plan of partition,--the simplest conceivable: "that each choose (subject to future adjustments) what will best suit him; i, for my own part, will say, west-preussen;--what province will czarish majesty please to say?" czarish majesty, in answer, is exorbitantly liberal to herself; claims, not a province, but four or five; will have friedrich, if the austrians attack her in consequence, to assist by declaring war on austria; czarish majesty, in the reciprocal case, not to assist friedrich at all, till her turk war is done! "impossible," thinks friedrich; "surprisingly so, high madam! but, to the delicate bridle-hand, you are a manageable entity." it was with kaunitz that friedrich's real difficulties lay. privately, in the course of this summer, kaunitz, by way of preparation for "mediating a turk-russian peace," had concluded his "subsidy treaty" with the turk, [" th july, " (preuss, iv. ; hermann; &c. &c.).]--treaty never ratified, but the piastres duly paid;--treaty rendering peace impossible, so long as kaunitz had to do with mediating it. and indeed kaunitz's tricks in that function of mediator, and also after it, were of the kind which friedrich has some reason to call "infamous." "your majesty, as co-mediator, will join us, should the russians make war?" said kaunitz's ambassador, one day, to friedrich. "for certain, no!" answered friedrich; and, on the contrary, remounted his cavalry, to signify, "i will fight the other way, if needed!" which did at once bring kaunitz to give up his mysterious turk projects, and come into the polish. after which, his exorbitant greed of territory there; his attempts to get russia into a partitioning of turkey as well,--("a slice of turkey too, your czarish majesty and we?" hints he more than once),--gave friedrich no end of trouble; and are singular to look at by the light there now is. not for about a twelvemonth did friedrich get his hard-mouthed kaunitz brought into step at all; and to the last, perpetual vigilance and, by whip and bit, the adroitest charioteering was needed on him. february th, , russia and prussia, for their own part,--friedrich, in the circumstances, submitting to many things from his czarina,--get their particular "convention" (bargain in regard to poland) completed in all parts, "will take possession th june instant:" sign said convention (february th);--and invite austria to join, and state her claims. which, in three weeks after, march th, austria does;--exorbitant abundantly; and not to be got very much reduced, though we try, for a series of months. till at last:-- august th, , final agreement between the three partitioning powers: "these are our respective shares; we take possession on the st of september instant:"--and actual possession for friedrich's share did, on the th of that month, ensue. a right glad friedrich, as everybody, friend or enemy, may imagine him! glad to have done with such a business,--had there been no other profit in it; which was far from being the case. one's clear belief, on studying these books, is of two things: first, that, as everybody admits, friedrich had no real hand in starting the notion of partitioning poland;--but that he grasped at it with eagerness, as the one way of saving europe from war: second, what has been much less noticed, that, under any other hand, it would have led europe to war;--and that to friedrich is due the fact, that it got effected without such accompaniment. friedrich's share of territory is counted to be in all , english square miles; austria's, , ; russia's, , , [preuss, iv. .] between nine and ten times the amount of friedrich's,--which latter, however, as an anciently teutonic country, and as filling up the always dangerous gap between his ost-preussen and him, has, under prussian administration, proved much the most valuable of the three; and, next to silesia, is friedrich's most important acquisition. september th, , it was at last entered upon,--through such waste-weltering confusions, and on terms never yet unquestionable. consent of polish diet was not had for a year more; but that is worth little record. diet, for that object, got together th april, ; recalcitrant enough, had not russia understood the methods: "a common fund was raised [on se cotisa, says friedrich] for bribing;" the three powers had each a representative general in warsaw (lentulus the prussian personage), all three with forces to rear: diet came down by degrees, and, in the course of five months (september th, ), acquiesced in everything. and so the matter is ended; and various men will long have various opinions upon it. i add only this one small document from maria theresa's hand, which all hearts, and i suppose even friedrich's had he ever read it, will pronounce to be very beautiful; homely, faithful, wholesome, well-becoming in a high and true sovereign woman. the empress-queen to prince kaunitz (undated: date must be vienna, february, ). "when all my lands were invaded, and i knew not where in the world i should find a place to be brought to bed in, i relied on my good right and the help of god. but in this thing, where not only public law cries to heaven against us, but also all natural justice and sound reason, i must confess never in my life to have been in such trouble, and am ashamed to show my face. let the prince [kaunitz] consider what an example we are giving to all the world, if, for a miserable piece of poland, or of moldavia or wallachia, we throw our honor and reputation to the winds. i see well that i am alone, and no more in vigor; therefore i must, though to my very great sorrow, let things take their course." [_"als alle meine lander angefochten wurden und gar nit mehr wusste wo ruhig niederkommen sollte, steiffete ich mich auf mein gutes recht und den beystand gottes. aber in dieser sach, wo nit allein das offenbare recht himmelschreyent wider uns, sondern auch alle billigkeit und die gesunde vernunft wider uns ist, muess bekhennen dass zeitlebens nit so beangstigt mich befunten und mich sehen zu lassen schame. bedenkh der furst, was wir aller welt fur ein exempel geben, wenn wir um ein ellendes stuk von pohlen oder von der moldau und wallachey unser ehr und reputation in die schanz schlagen. ich merkh wohl dass ich allein bin und nit mehr en vigeur, darum lasse ich die sachen, jedoch nit ohne meinen grossten gram, ihren weg gehen."_ (from "hormayr, _taschenbuch,_ , s. :" cited in preuss, iv. .)] and, some days afterwards, here is her majesty's official assent: "placet, since so many great and learned men will have it so: but long after i am dead, it will be known what this violating of all that was hitherto held sacred and just will give rise to." [from _"zietgenossen_ [a biographical periodical], lxxi. :" cited in preuss, iv. .] (hear her majesty!) friedrich has none of these compunctious visitings; but his account too, when he does happen to speak on the subject, is worth hearing, and credible every word. writing to voltaire, a good while after (potsdam, th october, )) this, in the swift-flowing, miscellaneous letter, is one passage:... "to return to your king of poland. i am aware that europe pretty generally believes the late partition made (qu'on a fait) of poland to be a result of the political trickeries (manigances) which are attributed to me; nevertheless, nothing is more untrue. after in vain proposing different arrangements and expedients, there was no alternative left but either that same partition, or else europe kindled into a general war. appearances are deceitful; and the public judges only by these. what i tell you is as true as the forty-seventh of euclid." [_oeuvres de frederic_, xxiii. .] what friedrich did with his new acquisition. considerable obloquy still rests on friedrich, in many liberal circles, for the partition of poland. two things, however, seem by this time tolerably clear, though not yet known in liberal circles: first, that the partition of poland was an event inevitable in polish history; an operation of almighty providence and of the eternal laws of nature, as well as of the poor earthly sovereigns concerned there; and secondly, that friedrich had nothing special to do with it, and, in the way of originating or causing it, nothing whatever. it is certain the demands of eternal justice must be fulfilled: in earthly instruments, concerned with fulfilling them, there may be all degrees of demerit and also of merit,--from that of a world-ruffian attila the scourge of god, conscious of his own ferocities and cupidities alone, to that of a heroic cromwell, sacredly aware that he is, at his soul's peril, doing god's judgments on the enemies of god, in tredah and other severe scenes. if the laws and judgments are verily those of god, there can be no clearer merit than that of pushing them forward, regardless of the barkings of gazetteers and wayside dogs, and getting them, at the earliest term possible, made valid among recalcitrant mortals! friedrich, in regard to poland, i cannot find to have had anything considerable either of merit or of demerit, in the moral point of view; but simply to have accepted, and put in his pocket without criticism, what providence sent. he himself evidently views it in that light; and is at no pains to conceal his great sense of the value of west-preussen to him. we praised his narrative as eminently true, and the only one completely intelligible in every point: in his preface to it, written some years later, he is still more candid. speaking there in the first person, this once and never before or after,--he says:-- "these new pretensions [of the czarina, to assuage the religious putrid-fever of the poles by word of command] raised all poland [into confederation of bar, and war of the confederates, sung by friedrich]; the grandees of the kingdom implored the assistance of the turks: straightway war flamed out; in which the russian armies had only to show themselves to beat the turks in every rencounter." his majesty continues: "this war changed the whole political system of europe [general diplomatic dance of europe, suddenly brought to a whirl by such changes of the music]; a new arena (carriere) came to open itself,--and one must have been either without address, or else buried in stupid somnolence (engourdissement), not to profit by an opportunity so advantageous. i had read bojardo's fine allegory: [signifies only, "seize opportunity;" but here is the passage itself:-- "quante volte le disse: 'o bella dama, conosci l'ora de la tua ventura, dapoi che un tal baron piu the che se t'ama, che non ha il ciel piu vaga creatura. forse anco avrai di questo tempo brama, che'l felice destin sempre non dura; prendi diletto, mentre sei su 'l verde, che l'avuto piacer mai non si perde. questa eta giovenil, ch' e si gioiosa, tutta in diletto consumar si deve, perche quasi in un punto ci e nas cosa: como dissolve 'l sol la bianca neve, como in un giorno la vermiglia rosa perde il vago color in tempo breve, cosi fugge l' eta com' un baleno, e non si puo tener, che non ha freno.'" (bojardo, _orlando innamorato,_ lib. i. cant. .)] i seized by the forelock this unexpected opportunity; and, by dint of negotiating and intriguing [candid king] i succeeded in indemnifying our monarchy for its past losses, by incorporating polish prussia with my old provinces." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ (preface to memoirs depuis jusqu'a ), vi. , : "memoires [chapter first, including all the polish part] were finished in ; preface is of ."] here is a historian king who uses no rouge-pot in his narratives,--whose word, which is all we shall say of it at present, you find to be perfectly trustworthy, and a representation of the fact as it stood before himself! what follows needs no vouching for: "this acquisition was one of the most important we could make, because it joined pommern to east prussia [ours for ages past], and because, rendering us masters of the weichsel river, we gained the double advantage of being able to defend that kingdom [ost-preussen], and to draw considerable tolls from the weichsel, as all the trade of poland goes by that river." yes truly! our interests are very visible: and the interests and wishes and claims of poland,--are they nowhere worthy of one word from you, o king? nowhere that i have noticed: not any mention of them, or allusion to them; though the world is still so convinced that perhaps they were something, and not nothing! which is very curious. in the whole course of my reading i have met with no autobiographer more careless to defend himself upon points in dispute among his audience, and marked as criminal against him by many of them. shadow of apology on such points you search for in vain. in rapid bare summary he sets down the sequel of facts, as if assured beforehand of your favorable judgment, or with the profoundest indifference to how you shall judge them; drops his actions, as an ostrich does its young, to shift for themselves in the wilderness, and hurries on his way. this style of his, noticeable of old in regard to silesia too, has considerably hurt him with the common kind of readers; who, in their preconceived suspicions of the man, are all the more disgusted at tracing in him, not the least anxiety to stand well with any reader, more than to stand ill, as ill as any reader likes! third parties, it would seem, have small temptation to become his advocates; he himself being so totally unprovided with thanks for you! but, on another score, and for the sake of a better kind of readers, there is one third party bound to remark: . that hardly any sovereign known to us did, in his general practice, if you will examine it, more perfectly respect the boundaries of his neighbors; and go on the road that was his own, anxious to tread on no man's toes if he could avoid it: a sovereign who, at all times, strictly and beneficently confined himself to what belonged to his real business and him. . that apparently, therefore, he must have considered poland to be an exceptional case, unique in his experience: case of a moribund anarchy, fallen down as carrion on the common highways of the world; belonging to nobody in particular; liable to be cut into (nay, for sanitary reasons requiring it, if one were a rhadamanthus errant, which one is not!)--liable to be cut into, on a great and critically stringent occasion; no question to be asked of it; your only question the consent of by-standers, and the moderate certainty that nobody got a glaringly disproportionate share! that must have been, on the part of an equitable friedrich, or even of a friedrich accurate in book-keeping by double entry, the notion silently formed about poland. whether his notion was scientifically right, and conformable to actual fact, is a question i have no thought of entering on; still less, whether friedrich was morally right, or whether there was not a higher rectitude, granting even the fact, in putting it in practice. these are questions on which an editor may have his opinion, partly complete for a long time past, partly not complete, or, in human language, completable or pronounceable at all; and may carefully forbear to obtrude it on his readers; and only advise them to look with their own best eyesight, to be deaf to the multiplex noises which are evidently blind, and to think what they find thinkablest on such a subject. for, were it never so just, proper and needful, this is by nature a case of lynch law; upon which, in the way of approval or apology, no spoken word is permissible. lynch being so dangerous a lawgiver, even when an indispensable one!-- for, granting that the nation of poland was for centuries past an anarchy doomed by the eternal laws of heaven to die, and then of course to get gradually buried, or eaten by neighbors, were it only for sanitary reasons,--it will by no means suit, to declare openly on behalf of terrestrial neighbors who have taken up such an idea (granting it were even a just one, and a true reading of the silent but inexorably certain purposes of heaven), that they, those volunteer terrestrial neighbors, are justified in breaking in upon the poor dying or dead carcass, and flaying and burying it, with amicable sharing of skin and shoes! if it even were certain that the wretched polish nation, for the last forty years hastening with especial speed towards death, did in present circumstances, with such a howling canaille of turk janissaries and vultures of creation busy round it, actually require prompt surgery, in the usual method, by neighbors,--the neighbors shall and must do that function at their own risk. if heaven did appoint them to it, heaven, for certain, will at last justify them; and in the mean while, for a generation or two, the same heaven (i can believe) has appointed that earth shall pretty unanimously condemn them. the shrieks, the foam-lipped curses of mistaken mankind, in such case, are mankind's one security against over-promptitude (which is so dreadfully possible) on the part of surgical neighbors. alas, yes, my articulate-speaking friends; here, as so often elsewhere, the solution of the riddle is not logic, but silence. when a dark human individual has filled the measure of his wicked blockheadisms, sins and brutal nuisancings, there are gibbets provided, there are laws provided; and you can, in an articulate regular manner, hang him and finish him, to general satisfaction. nations too, you may depend on it as certain, do require the same process, and do infallibly get it withal; heaven's justice, with written laws or without, being the most indispensable and the inevitablest thing i know of in this universe. no doing without it; and it is sure to come:--and the judges and executioners, we observe, are not, in that latter case, escorted in and out by the sheriffs of counties and general ringing of bells; not so, in that latter case, but far otherwise!-- and now, leaving that vexed question, we will throw one glance--only one is permitted--into the far more profitable question, which probably will one day be the sole one on this matter, what became of poor west-preussen under friedrich? had it to sit, weeping unconsolably, or not? herr dr. freytag, a man of good repute in literature, has, in one of his late books of popular history, [g. freytag, _neue bilder aus dem leben des deutschen volkes_ (leipzig, ).] gone into this subject, in a serious way, and certainly with opportunities far beyond mine for informing himself upon it:--from him these passages have been excerpted, labelled and translated by a good hand:-- acquisition of polish prussia. "during several centuries, the much-divided germans had habitually been pressed upon, and straitened and injured, by greedy conquering neighbors; friedrich was the first conqueror who once more pushed forward the german frontier towards the east; reminding the germans again, that it was their task to carry law, culture, liberty and industry into the east of europe. all friedrich's lands, with the exception only of some old-saxon territory, had, by force and colonization, been painfully gained from the sclave. at no time since the migrations of the middle ages, had this struggle for possession of the wide plains to the east of oder ceased. when arms were at rest, politicians carried on the struggle." persecution of german protestants in poland. "in the very 'century of enlightenment' the persecution of the germans became fanatical in those countries: one protestant church after the other got confiscated; pulled down; if built of wood, set on fire: its church once burnt, the village had lost the privilege of having one. ministers and schoolmasters were driven away, cruelly maltreated. 'vexa lutheranurn, dabit thalerum (wring the lutheran, you will find money in him),' became the current proverb of the poles in regard to germans. a protestant starost of gnesen, a herr von unruh of the house of birnbaum, one of the largest proprietors of the country, was condemned to die, and first to have his tongue pulled out and his hands cut off,--for the crime of having copied into his note-book some strong passages against the jesuits, extracted from german books. patriotic 'confederates of bar,' joined by all the plunderous vagabonds around, went roaming and ravaging through the country, falling upon small towns and german villages. the polish nobleman, roskowski [a celebrated "symbolical" nobleman, this], put on one red boot and one black, symbolizing fire and death; and in this guise rode about, murdering and burning, from places to place; finally, at jastrow, he cut off the hands, feet, and lastly the head of the protestant pastor, willich by name, and threw the limbs into a swamp. this happened in ." in what state friedrich found the polish provinces. "some few only of the larger german towns, which were secured by walls, and some protected districts inhabited exclusively by germans,--as the niederung near dantzig, the villages under the mild rule of the cistercians of oliva, and the opulent german towns of the catholic ermeland,--were in tolerable circumstances. the other towns lay in ruins; so also most of the hamlets (hofe) of the open country. bromberg, the city of german colonists, the prussians found in heaps and ruins: to this hour it has not been possible to ascertain clearly how the town came into this condition. [_"neue preussische provinzialblotter,_ year , no. , p. ."] no historian, no document, tells of the destruction and slaughter that had been going on, in the whole district of the netze there, during the last ten years before the arrival of the prussians, the town of culm had preserved its strong old walls and stately churches; but in the streets, the necks of the cellars stood out above the rotten timber and brick heaps of the tumbled houses: whole streets consisted merely of such cellars, in which wretched people were still trying to live. of the forty houses in the large market-place of culm, twenty-eight had no doors, no roofs, no windows, and no owners. other towns were in similar condition." "the country people hardly knew such a thing as bread; many had never in their life tasted such a delicacy; few villages possessed an oven. a weaving-loom was rare, the spinning-wheel unknown. the main article of furniture, in this bare scene of squalor, was the crucifix and vessel of holy-water under it [and "polack! catholik!" if a drop of gin be added].--the peasant-noble [unvoting, inferior kind] was hardly different from the common peasant: he himself guided his hook plough (hacken-pflug), and clattered with his wooden slippers upon the plankless floor of his hut.... it was a desolate land, without discipline, without law, without a master. on , english square miles lived , souls: not to the square mile." sets to work. "the very rottenness of the country became an attraction for friedrich; and henceforth west-preussen was, what hitherto silesia had been, his favorite child; which, with infinite care, like that of an anxious loving mother, he washed, brushed, new-dressed, and forced to go to school and into orderly habits, and kept ever in his eye. the diplomatic squabbles about this 'acquisition' were still going on, when he had already sent [so early as june th, , and still more on september th of that year [see his new dialogue with roden, our wesel acquaintance, who was a principal captain in this business (in preuss, iv. , : date of the dialogue is " th may, ;"--roden was on the ground th june next; but, owing to austrian delays, did not begin till september th).]] a body of his best official people into this waste-howling scene, to set about organizing it. the landschaften (counties) were divided into small circles; in a minimum of time, the land was valued, and an equal tax put upon it; every circle received its landrath, law-court, post-office and sanitary police. new parishes, each with its church and parson, were called into existence as by miracle; a company of schoolmasters--partly selected and trained by the excellent semler [famous over germany, in halle university and seminarium, not yet in england]--were sent into the country: multitudes of german mechanics too, from brick-makers up to machine-builders. everywhere there began a digging, a hammering, a building; cities were peopled anew; street after street rose out of the heaps of ruins; new villages of colonists were laid out, new modes of agriculture ordered. in the first year after taking possession, the great canal [of bromberg] was dug; which, in a length of fifteen miles, connects, by the netze river, the weichsel with the oder and the elbe: within one year after giving the order, the king saw loaded vessels from the oder, feet in length of keel," and of forty tons burden, "enter the weichsel. the vast breadths of land, gained from the state of swamp by drainage into this canal, were immediately peopled by german colonists. "as his seven-years struggle of war may be called super-human, so was there also in his present labor of peace something enormous; which appeared to his contemporaries [unless my fancy mislead me] almost preternatural, at times inhuman. it was grand, but also terrible, that the success of the whole was to him, at all moments, the one thing to be striven after; the comfort of the individual of no concern at all. when, in the marshland of the wetze, he counted more the strokes of the , spades, than the sufferings of the workers, sick with the marsh-fever in the hospitals which he had built for them; [compare preuss, iv. - .] when, restless, his demands outran the quickest performance,--there united itself to the deepest reverence and devotedness, in his people, a feeling of awe, as for one whose limbs are not moved by earthly life [fanciful, considerably!]. and when goethe, himself become an old man, finished his last drama [second part of faust], the figure of the old king again rose on him, and stept into his poem; and his faust got transformed into an unresting, creating, pitilessly exacting master, forcing on his salutiferous drains and fruitful canals through the morasses of the weichsel." [g. freytag, _neue bilder aus dem leben des deutschen volkes_ (leipzig, ), pp. - .] these statements and pencillings of freytag, apart from here and there a flourish of poetic sentiment, i believe my readers can accept as essentially true, and a correct portrait of the fact. and therewith, con la bocca dolce, we will rise from this supper of horrors. that friedrich fortified the country, that he built an impregnable graudentz, and two other fortresses, rendering the country, and himself on that eastern side, impregnable henceforth, all readers can believe. friedrich has been building various fortresses in this interim, though we have taken no notice of them; building and repairing many things;--trimming up his military quite to the old pitch, as the most particular thing of all. he has his new silesian fortress of silberberg,--big fortress, looking into certain dangerous bohemian doors (in tobias stusche's country, if readers recollect an old adventure now mythical);--his new silesian silberberg, his newer polish graudentz, and many others, and flatters himself he is not now pregnable on any side. a friedrich working, all along, in poland especially, amid what circumambient deluges of maledictory outcries, and mendacious shriekeries from an ill-informed public, is not now worth mentioning. mere distracted rumors of the pamphleteer and newspaper kind: which, after hunting them a long time, through dense and rare, end mostly in zero, and angry darkness of some poor human brain,--or even testify in favor of this head-worker, and of the sense he shows, especially of the patience. for example: that of the "polish towns and villages, ordered" by this tyrant "to deliver, each of them, so many marriageable girls; each girl to bring with her as dowry, furnished by her parents, feather-bed, pillows, cow, swine and ducats,"--in which desirable condition this tyrannous king "sent her into the brandenburg states to be wedded and promote population." [lindsey, letters on poland (letter d). p. : peyssonnel (in some. french book of his, "solemnly presented to louis xvi. and the constituent assembly;" cited in preuss, iv. ); &c. &c.] feather-beds, swine and ducats had their value in brandenburg; but were marriageable girls such a scarcity there? most extraordinary new rape of the sabines; for which herr preuss can find no basis or source,--nor can i; except in the brain of reverend lindsey and his loud letters on poland above mentioned. dantzig too, and the harbor-dues, what a case! dantzig harbor, that is to say, netze river, belongs mainly to friedrich, dantzig city not,--such the czarina's lofty whim, in the late partition treatyings; not good to contradict, in the then circumstances; still less afterwards, though it brought chicanings more than enough. "and she was not ill-pleased to keep this thorn in the king's foot for her own conveniences," thinks the king; though, mainly, he perceives that it is the english acting on her grandiose mind: english, who were apprehensive for their baltic trade under this new proprietor, and who egged on an ambitious czarina to protect human liberty, and an inflated dantzig burgermeister to stand up for ditto; and made a dismal shriekery in the newspapers, and got into dreadful ill-humor with said proprietor of dantzig harbor, and have never quite recovered from it to this day. lindsey's polish letters are very loud again on this occasion, aided by his seven dialogues on poland; concerning which, partly for extinct lindsey's sake, let us cite one small passage, and so wind up. march d, , in answer to voltaire, friedrich writes:... "the polish dialogues you speak of are not known to me. i think of such satires, with epictetus: 'if they tell any truth of thee, correct thyself; if they are lies, laugh at them.' i have learned, with years, to become a steady coach-horse; i do my stage, like a diligent roadster, and pay no heed to the little dogs that will bark by the way." and then, three weeks after:-- "i have at length got the seven dialogues on poland; and the whole history of them as well. the author is an englishman named lindsey, parson by profession, and tutor to the young prince poniatowski, the king of poland's nephew,"--nephew joseph, andreas's son, not the undistinguished nephew: so we will believe for poor loud lindsey's sake! "it was at the instigation of the czartoryskis, uncles of the king, that lindsey composed this satire,--in english first of all. satire ready, they perceived that nobody in poland would understand it, unless it were translated into french; which accordingly was done. but as their translator was unskilful, they sent the dialogues to a certain gerard at dantzig, who at that time was french consul there, and who is at present a clerk in your foreign office under m. de vergennes. this gerard, who does not want for wit, but who does me the honor to hate me cordially, retouched these dialogues, and put them into the condition they were published in. i have laughed a good deal at them: here and there occur coarse things (grossieretes), and platitudes of the insipid kind: but there are traits of good pleasantry. i shall not go fencing with goose-quills against this sycophant. as mazarin said, 'let the french keep singing, provided they let us keep doing.'" [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxiii. - : "potsdam, d march, ," and " th march" following. see preuss, iii. , iv. .] chapter v.--a chapter of miscellanies. after neustadt, kaiser joseph and the king had no more interviews. kaunitz's procedures in the subsequent pacification and partition business had completely estranged the two sovereigns: to friendly visiting, a very different state of mutual feeling had succeeded; which went on, such "the immeasurable ambition" visible in some of us, deepening and worsening itself, instead of improving or abating. friedrich had joseph's portrait hung in conspicuous position in the rooms where he lived; somebody noticing the fact, friedrich answered: "ah, yes, i am obliged to keep that young gentleman in my eye." and, in effect, the rest of friedrich's political activity, from this time onwards, may be defined as an ever-vigilant defence of himself, and of the german reich, against austrian encroachment: which, to him, in the years then running, was the grand impending peril; and which to us in the new times has become so inexpressibly uninteresting, and will bear no narrative, austrian encroachment did not prove to be the death-peril that had overhung the world in friedrich's last years!-- these, accordingly, are years in which the historical interest goes on diminishing; and only the biographical, were anything of biography attainable, is left. friedrich's industrial, economic and other royal activities are as beautiful as ever; but cannot to our readers, in our limits, be described with advantage. events of world-interest, after the partition of poland, do not fall out, or friedrich is not concerned in them. it is a dim element; its significance chiefly german or prussian, not european. what of humanly interesting is discoverable in it,--at least, while the austrian grudge continues in a chronic state, and has no acute fit,--i will here present in the shape of detached fragments, suitably arranged and rendered legible, in hopes these may still have some lucency for readers, and render more conceivable the surrounding masses that have to be left dark. our first piece is of winter, or late autumn, ,--while the solution of the polish business is still in its inchoative stages; perfectly complete in the artist's own mind; russia too adhering; but kaunitz so refractory and contradictory. herr doctor zimmermann, the famous author of the book "on solitude," walks reverentially before friedrich's door in the dusk of an october evening: and has a royal interview next day. friday evening, th october, , is the date of zimmermann's walk of contemplation,--among the pale statues and deciduous gardenings of sans-souci cottage (better than any rialto, at its best),--the eternal stars coming out overhead, and the transitory candle-light of a king friedrich close by. "at sans-souci," says he, in his famed book, "where that old god of war (kriegsgott) forges his thunder-bolts, and writes works of intellect for posterity; where he governs his people as the best father would his house; where, during one half of the day, he accepts and reads the petitions and complaints of the meanest citizen or peasant; comes to help of his countries on all sides with astonishing sums of money, expecting no payment, nor seeking anything but the common weal; and where, during the other half, he is a poet and philosopher:--at sans-souci, i say, there reigns all round a silence, in which you can hear the faintest breath of every soft wind. i mounted this hill for the first time in winter [late autumn, th october, , edge of winter], in the dusk. when i beheld the small dwelling-house of this convulser of the world close by me, and was near his very chamber, i saw indeed a light inside, but no sentry or watchman at the hero's door; no soul to ask me, who i was, or what i wanted. i saw nothing; and walked about as i pleased before this small and silent house." [preuss, i. ("from einsamkeit," zimmermann's solitude, "i. ; edition of leipzig, ").] yes, doctor, this is your kriegsgott; throned in a free-and-easy fashion. in regard to that of sentries, i believe there do come up from potsdam nightly a corporal and six rank-and-file; but perhaps it is at a later hour; perhaps they sit within doors, silent, not to make noises. another gentleman, of sauntering nocturnal habits, testifies to having, one night, seen the king actually asleep in bed, the doors being left ajar. [ib. i. .]--as zimmermann had a dialogue next day with his majesty, which we propose to give; still more, as he made such noise in the world by other dialogues with friedrich, and by a strange book about them, which are still ahead,--readers may desire to know a little who or what the zimmermann is, and be willing for a rough brief note upon him, which certainly is not readier than it is rough:-- johann georg zimmermann: born , at brugg in the canton of bern, where his father seems to have had some little property and no employment, "a rathsherr (town-councillor), who was much respected." of brothers or sisters, no mention. the mother being from the french part of the canton, he learned to speak both languages. went to bern for his latin and high-schooling; then to gottingen, where he studied medicine, under the once great haller and other now dimmed celebrities. haller, himself from bern, had taken zimmermann to board, and became much attached to him: haller, in , came on a summer visit to native bern: zimmermann, who had in the mean time been "for a few months" in france, in italy and england, now returned and joined him there; but the great man, feeling very poorly and very old, decided that he would like to stay in bern, and not move any more;--zimmermann, accordingly, was sent to gottingen to bring mrs. haller, with her daughters, bandboxes and effects, home to bern. which he did;--and not only them, but a soft, ingenious, ingenuous and rather pretty young gottingen lady along with them, as his own wife withal. with her he settled as stadtphysicus (town-doctor) in native brugg; where his beloved hallers were within reach; and practice in abundance, and honors, all that the place yielded, were in readiness for him. here he continued some sixteen years; very busy, very successful in medicine and literature; but "tormented with hypochondria;"--having indeed an immense conceit of himself, and generally too thin a skin for this world. here he first wrote his book on solitude, a book famed over all the world in my young days (and perhaps still famed); he wrote it a second time, much enlarged, about thirty years after: [_betrachtungen uber die einsamkeit, von doctor j. g. zimmermann, stadtphysicus in brugg_ (zurich, ),--as yet only " vol. vo, price d." ( groschen); but it grew with years; and (leipzig, ) came out remodelled into vols.;--was translated into french, "with many omissions," by mercier (paris, ); into english from mercier (london, ). "zurich, - :" by and by, one "dobson did it into english."] i read it (in the curtailed english-mercier form, no scene in it like the above), in early boyhood,--and thank it for nothing, or nearly so. zimmermann lived much alone, at brugg and elsewhere; all his days "hypochondria" was the main company he had:--and it was natural, but unprofitable, that he should say, to himself and others, the best he could for that bad arrangement: poor soul! he wrote also on medical experience, a famed book in its day;" also on national pride; and became famed through the universe, and was member of infinite learned societies. all which rendered dull dead brugg still duller and more dead; unfit utterly for a man of such sublime accomplishments. plenty of counts stadion, kings of poland even, offered him engagements; eager to possess such a man, and deliver him from dull dead brugg; but he had hypochondria, and always feared their deliverance might be into something duller. at length,--in his fortieth year, ,--the place of court-physician (hofmedicus) at hanover was offered him by george the third of pious memory, and this he resolved to accept; and did lift anchor, and accept and occupy accordingly. alas, at the gate of hanover, "his carriage overset;" broke his poor old mother-in-law's leg (who had been rejoicing doubtless to get home into her own country), and was the end of her--poor old soul;--and the beginning of misfortunes continual and too tedious to mention. spleen, envy, malice and calumny, from the hanover medical world; treatment, "by the old buckram hofdames who had drunk coffee with george ii.," "which was fitter for a laquais-de-place" than for a medical gentleman of eminence: unworthy treatment, in fact, in many or most quarters;--followed by hypochondria, by dreadful bodily disorder (kind not given or discoverable), "so that i suffered the pains of hell," sat weeping, sat gnashing my teeth, and could n't write a note after dinner; followed finally by the sickness, and then by the death, of my poor wife, "after five months of torment." upon which, in , zimmermann's friends--for he had many friends, being, in fact, a person of fine graceful intellect, high proud feelings and tender sensibilities, gone all to this sad state--rallied themselves; set his hanover house in order for him (governess for his children, what not); and sent him off to berlin, there to be dealt with by one meckel, an incomparable surgeon, and be healed of his dreadful disorder ("leibesschade, of which the first traces had appeared in brugg"),--though to most people it seemed rather he would die; "and one medical eminency in hanover said to myself [zimmermann] one day: 'dr. so-and-so is to have your pension, i am told; now, by all right, it should belong to me, don't you think so?'" what, "i" thought of the matter, seeing the greedy gentleman thus "parting my skin," may be conjectured!-- the famed meckel received his famed patient with a nobleness worthy of the heroic ages. dodged him in his own house, in softest beds and appliances; spoke comfort to him, hope to him,--the gallant meckel;--rallied, in fact, the due medical staff one morning; came up to zimmermann, who "stripped," with the heart of a lamb and lion conjoined, and trusting in god, "flung himself on his bed" (on his face, or on his back, we never know), and there, by the hands of meckel and staff, "received above , (two thousand) cuts in the space of an hour and half, without uttering one word or sound." a frightful operation, gallantly endured, and skilfully done; whereby the "bodily disorder" (leibesschade), whatever it might be, was effectually and forever sent about its business by the noble meckel. hospitalities and soft, hushed kindnesses and soothing ministrations, by meckel and by everybody, were now doubled and trebled: wise kind madam meckel, young kind mamsell meckel and the son (who "now, in , lectures in gottingen"); not these only, nor schmucker head army-surgeon, and the ever-memorable herr generalchirurgus madan, who had both been in the operation; not these only, but by degrees all that was distinguished in the berlin world, ramler, busching, sulzer, prime minister herzberg, queen's and king's equerries, and honorable men and women,--bore him "on angel-wings" towards complete recovery. talked to him, sang and danced to him (at least, the "muses" and the female meckels danced and sang), and all lapped him against eating cares, till, after twelve weeks, he was fairly on his feet again, and able to make jaunts in the neighborhood with his "life's savior," and enjoy the pleasant autumn weather to his farther profit.--all this, though described in ridiculous superlative by zimmermann, is really touching, beautiful and human: perhaps never in his life was he so happy, or a thousandth part so helped by man, as while under the roof of this thrice-useful meckel,--more power to meckel! head army-surgeon schmucker had gone through all the seven-years war; zimmermann, an ardent hero-worshipper, was never weary questioning him, listening to him in full career of narrative, on this great subject,--only eight years old at that time. among their country drives, meckel took him to potsdam, twenty english miles off; in the end of october, there to stay a night. this was the ever-memorable friday, when we first ascended the hill of sans-souci, and had our evening walk of contemplation:--to be followed by a morrow which was ten times more memorable: as readers shall now see. [jordens, _lexikon_ (zimmermann), v. - (exact and even eloquent account, as these of jordens, unexpectedly, often are); zimmermann himself, unterredungen mit friedrich dem grossen (ubi infra); tissot, _vie de m. zimmermann_ (lausanne, ): &c. &c.] next day, zimmermann has a dialogue. schmucker had his apartments in "little sans-souci," where the king now lived (big sans-souci, or "sans-souci" by itself, means in those days, not in ours at all, "new palace, neue palais," now in all its splendor of fresh finish). de catt, friedrich's reader, whom we know well, was a genevese, and knew zimmermann from of old. schmucker and de catt were privately twitching up friedrich's curiosity,--to whom also zimmermann's name, and perhaps his late surgical operation, might be known: "can he speak french?"--"native to him, your majesty." friedrich had some notion to see zimmermann; and judicious de catt, on this fortunate saturday, " th october, ," morrow after zimmermann's arrival at potsdam, "came to our inn about, p.m. [king's dinner just done]; and asked me to come and look at the beauties of sans-souci [big sans-souci] for a little." zimmermann willingly went: catt, left him in good hands to see the beauties; slipt off, for his own part, to "little sans-souci;" came back, took zimmermann thither; left, him with schmucker, all trembling, thinking perhaps the king might call him. "i trembled sometimes, then again i felt exceeding happiness:" i was in schmucker's room, sitting by the fire, mostly alone for a good while, "the room that had once been marquis d'argens's" (who is now dead, and buried far away, good old soul);--when, at last, about half-past , catt came jumping in, breathless with joy; snatched me up: "his majesty wants to speak with you this very moment!" zimmermann's self shall say the rest. "i hurried, hand-in-hand with catt, along a row of chambers. 'here,' said catt, 'we are now at the king's room!'--my heart thumped, like to spring out of my body. catt went in; but next moment the door again opened, and catt bade me enter. "in the middle of the room stood an iron camp-bed without curtains. there, on a worn mattress, lay king friedrich, the terror of europe, without coverlet, in an old blue roquelaure. he had a big cocked-hat, with a white feather [hat aged, worn soft as duffel, equal to most caps; "feather" is not perpendicular, but horizontal, round the inside of the brim], on his head. "the king took off his hat very graciously, when i was perhaps ten steps from him; and said in french (our whole dialogue proceeded in french): 'come nearer, m. zimmermann.' "i advanced to within two steps of the king; he said in the mean while to catt: 'call schmucker in, too.' herr schmucker came; placed himself behind the king, his back to the wall; and catt stood behind me. now the colloquy began. king. "'i hear you have found your health again in berlin; i wish you joy of that.' ego. "'i have found my life again in berlin; but at this moment, sire, i find here a still greater happiness!' [ach!] king. "'you have stood a cruel operation: you must have suffered horribly?' ego. "'sire, it was well worth while.' king. "'did, you let them bind you before the operation?' ego. "'no: i resolved to keep my freedom.' king (laughing in a very kind manner). "'oh, you behaved like a brave switzer! but are you quite recovered, though?' ego. "'sire, i have seen all the wonders of your creation in sans-souci, and feel well in looking at them.' king. "'i am glad of that. but you must have a care, and especially not get on horseback.' ego. "'it will be pleasant and easy for me to follow the counsels of your majesty.' king. "'from what town in the canton of bern are you originally?' ego. "'from brugg.' king. "'i don't know that town.' [no wonder, thought i!] king. "'where did you study?' ego. "'at gottingen: haller was my teacher.' king. "'what is m. haller doing now?' ego. "'he is concluding his literary career with a romance.' [usong had just come out;--no mortal now reads a word of it; and the great haller is dreadfully forgotten already!] king. "'ah, that is pretty!--on what system do you treat your patients?' ego. "'not on any system.' king. "'but there are some physicians whose methods you prefer to those of others?' ego. "'i especially like tissot's methods, who is a familiar friend of mine.' king. "'i know m. tissot. i have read his writings, and value them very much. on the whole, i love the art of medicine. my father wished me to get some knowledge in it. he often sent me into the hospitals; and even into those for venereal patients, with a view of warning by example.' ego. "'and by terrible example!--sire, medicine is a very difficult art. but your majesty is used to bring all arts under subjection to the force of your genius, and to conquer all that is difficult.' king. "'alas, no: i cannot conquer all that is difficult!' [hard-mouthed kaunitz, for example; stock-still, with his right ear turned on turkey: how get kaunitz into step!]--here the king became reflective; was silent for a little moment, and then asked me, with a most bright smile: 'how many churchyards have you filled?' [a common question of his to members of the faculty.] ego. "'perhaps, in my youth, i have done a little that way! but now it goes better; for i am timid rather than bold.' king. "'very good, very good.' "our dialogue now became extremely brisk. the king quickened into extraordinary vivacity; and examined me now in the character of doctor, with such a stringency as, in the year , at gottingen, when i stood for my degree, the learned professors haller, richter, segner and brendel (for which heaven recompense them!) never dreamed of! all inflammatory fevers, and the most important of the slow diseases, the king mustered with me, in their order. he asked me, how and whereby i recognized each of these diseases; how and whereby distinguished them from the approximate maladies; what my procedure was in simple and in complicated cases; and how i cured all those disorders? on the varieties, the accidents, the mode of treatment, of small-pox especially, the king inquired with peculiar strictness;--and spoke, with much emotion, of that young prince of his house who was carried off, some years ago, by that disorder--[suddenly arrested by it, while on march with his regiment, "near ruppin, th may, ." this is the prince henri, junior brother of the subsequent king, friedrich wilhelm ii., who, among other fooleries, invaded france, in , with such success. both henri and he, as boys, used to be familiar to us in the final winters of the late war. poor henri had died at the age of nineteen,--as yet all brightness, amiability and nothing else: friedrich sent an eloge of him to his academie, [in _oeuvres de frederic,_ vii. et seq.] which is touchingly and strangely filled with authentic sorrow for this young nephew of his, but otherwise empty,--a mere bottle of sighs and tears]. then he came upon inoculation; went along over an incredible multitude of other medical subjects. into all he threw masterly glances; spoke of all with the soundest [all in superlative] knowledge of the matter, and with no less penetration than liveliness and sense. "with heartfelt satisfaction, and with the freest soul, i made my answers to his majesty. it is true, he potently supported and encouraged me. ever and anon his majesty was saying to me: 'that is very good;--that is excellently thought and expressed;--your mode of proceeding, altogether, pleases me very well;--i rejoice to see how much our ways of thinking correspond.' often, too, he had the graciousness to add: 'but, i weary you with my many questions!' his scientific questions i answered with simplicity, clearness and brevity; and could not forbear sometimes expressing my astonishment at the deep and conclusive (tiefen und frappanten) medical insights and judgments of the king. "his majesty came now upon the history of his own maladies. he told me them over, in their series; and asked my opinion and advice about each. on the haemorrhoids, which he greatly complained of, i said something that struck him. instantly he started up in his bed; turned his head round towards the wall, and said: 'schmucker, write me that down!' i started in fright at this word; and not without reason! then our colloquy proceeded:-- king. "'the gout likes to take up his quarters with me; he knows i am a prince, and thinks i shall feed him well. but i feed him ill; i live very meagrely.' ego. "'may gout, thereby get disgusted, and forbear ever calling on your majesty!' king. "'i am grown old. diseases will no longer have pity on me.' ego. "'europe feels that your majesty is not old; and your majesty's look (physiognomie) shows that you have still the same force as in your thirtieth year.' king (laughing and shaking his head). "'well, well, well!' "in this way, for an hour and quarter, with uninterrupted vivacity, the dialogue went on. at last the king gave me the sign to go; lifting his hat very kindly, and saying: 'adieu, my dear m. zimmermann; i am very glad to have seen you.'" towards p.m. now, and friedrich must sign his despatches; have his concert, have his reading; then to supper (as spectator only),--with quintus icilius and old lord marischal, to-night, or whom? [of icilius, and a quarrel and estrangement there had lately been, now happily reconciled, see nicolai, _anekdoten,_ vi. - .] "herr von catt accompanied me into the anteroom, and schmucker followed. i could not stir from the spot; could not speak, was so charmed and so touched, that i broke into a stream of tears [being very weak of nerves at the time!]. herr von catt said: 'i am now going back to the king; go you into the room where i took you up; about eight i will conduct you home.' i pressed my excellent countryman's hand, i"--"schmucker said, i had stood too near his majesty; i had spoken too frankly, with too much vivacity; nay, what was unheard of in the world, i had 'gesticulated' before his majesty! 'in presence of a king,' said herr schmucker, 'one must stand stiff and not stir.' de catt came back to us at eight; and, in schmucker's presence [let him chew the cud of that!], reported the following little dialogue with the king:-- king. "'what says zimmermann?' de catt. "'zimmermann, at the door of your majesty's room, burst into a stream of tears.' king. "'i love those tender affectionate hearts; i love right well those brave swiss people!' "next morning the king was heard to say: 'i have found zimmermann quite what you described him.'--catt assured me furthermore, 'since the seven-years war there had thousands of strangers, persons of rank, come to potsdam, wishing to speak with the king, and had not attained that favor; and of those who had, there could not one individual boast that his majesty had talked with him an hour and quarter at once.' [fourteen years hence, he dismissed mirabeau in half an hour; which was itself a good allowance.] "sunday th, i left potsdam, with my kind meckels, in an enthusiasm of admiration, astonishment, love and gratitude; wrote to the king from berlin, sent him a tissot's book (marked on the margins for majesty's use), which he acknowledged by some word to catt: whereupon i"--in short, i got home to hanover, in a more or less seraphic condition,--"with indescribable, unspeakable," what not,--early in november; and, as a healed man, never more troubled with that disorder, though still troubled with many and many, endeavored to get a little work out of myself again. [zimmermann, _meine unterredungen_ (dialogues) _with friedrich the great_ ( vo, leipzig, ), pp. - .] "zimmermann was tall, handsome of shape; his exterior was distinguished and imposing," says jordens. [ubi supra, p. .] "he had a firm and light step; stood gracefully; presented himself well. he had a fine head; his voice was agreeable; and intellect sparkled in his eyes:"--had it not been for those dreadful hypochondrias, and confused disasters, a very pretty man. at the time of this first visit to friedrich he is years of age, and friedrich is on the borders of . zimmermann, with still more famous dialogues, will reappear on us from hanover, on a sad occasion! meanwhile, few weeks after him, here is a visit of far more joyful kind. sister ulrique, queen-dowager of sweden, revisits her native place (december, -august, ). prince henri was hardly home from petersburg and the swedish visit, when poor adolf friedrich, king of sweden, died. [ th february, .] a very great and sad event to his queen, who had loved her old man; and is now left solitary, eclipsed, in circumstances greatly altered on the sudden. in regard to settlements, accession of the new prince, dowager revenues and the like, all went right enough; which was some alleviation, though an inconsiderable, to the sorrowing widow. her two princes were absent, touring over europe, when their father died, and the elder of them, karl gustav, suddenly saw himself king. they were in no breathless haste to return; visited their uncle, their prussian kindred, on the way, and had an interesting week at potsdam and berlin; [april d- th: rodenbeck, iii. .] karl gustav flying diligently about, still incognito, as "graf von gothland,"--a spirited young fellow, perhaps too spirited;--and did not reach home till may-day was come, and the outburst of the swedish summer at hand. some think the young king had already something dangerous and serious in view, and wished his mother out of the way for a time. certain it is she decided on a visit to her native country in december following: arrived accordingly, december d, ; and till the middle of august next was a shining phenomenon in the royal house and upper ranks of berlin society, and a touching and interesting one to the busy friedrich himself, as may be supposed. she had her own apartments and household at berlin, in the palace there, i think; but went much visiting about, and receiving many visits,--fond especially of literary people. friedrich's notices of her are frequent in his letters of the time, all affectionate, natural and reasonable. here are the first two i meet with: to the electress of saxony (three weeks after ulrique's arrival); "a thousand excuses, madam, for not answering sooner! what will plead for me with a princess who so well knows the duties of friendship, is, that i have been occupied with the reception of a sister, who has come to seek consolation in the bosom of her kindred for the loss of a loved husband, the remembrance of whom saddens and afflicts her." and again, two months later: "... your royal highness deigns to take so obliging an interest in the visit i have had [and still have] from the queen of sweden. i beheld her as if raised from the dead to me; for an absence of eight-and-twenty years, in the short space of our duration, is almost equivalent to death. she arrived among us, still in great affliction for the loss she had had of the king; and i tried to distract her sad thoughts by all the dissipations possible. it is only by dint of such that one compels the mind to shift away from the fatal idea where grief has fixed it: this is not the work of a day, but of time, which in the end succeeds in everything. i congratulate your royal highness on your journey to bavaria [on a somewhat similar errand, we may politely say]; where you will find yourself in the bosom of a family that adores you:" after which, and the sight of old scenes, how pleasant to go on to italy, as you propose! [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxiv. , . " th december ," "february, ." see also, _"eptire a la reine douairiere de suede"_ (poem on the troubles she has had: _oeuvres de frederic,_ xiii. , "written in december, "), and _"vers a la reine de suede,"_ "january, " (ib. ).] queen ulrique--a solid and ingenuous character (in childhood a favorite of her father's, so rational, truthful and of silent staid ways)--appears to have been popular in the berlin circles; pleasant and pleased, during these eight months. formey, especially thiebault, are copious on this visit of hers; and give a number of insipid anecdotes; how there was solemn session of the academy made for her, a paper of the king's to be read there, ["discours de l'utilite des sciences et des arts dam un etat" (in _oeuvres de frederic,_ ix. et seq.): read " th january, ." formey, ii. , &c. &c.]--reading beautifully done by me, thiebault (one of my main functions, this of reading the king's academy papers, and my dates of them always correct); how thiebault was invited to dinner in consequence, and again invited; how formey dined with her majesty "twenty-five times;" and "preached to her in the palace, august th" (should be august th): insipid wholly, vapid and stupid; descriptive of nothing, except of the vapidities and vanities of certain persons. leaving these, we will take an excerpt, probably our last, from authentic busching, which is at least to be depended on for perfect accuracy, and has a feature or two of portraiture. busching, for the last five or six years, is home from russia; comfortably established here as consistorialrath, much concerned with school-superintendence; still more with geography, with copious rugged literature of the undigested kind: a man well seen in society; has "six families of rank which invite him to dinner;" all the dining he is equal to, with so much undigested writing on his hands. busching, in his final section, headed berlin life, section more incondite even than its foregoers, has this passage:-- "on the queen-dowager of sweden, louise ulrique's, coming to berlin, i felt not a little embarrassed. the case was this: most part of the sixth volume of my magazine [meritorious curious book, sometimes quoted by us here, not yet known in english libraries] was printed; and in it, in the printed part, were various things that concerned the deceased sovereign, king adolf friedrich, and his spouse [now come to visit us],--and among these were articles which the then ruling party in sweden could certainly not like. and now i was afraid these people would come upon the false notion, that it was from the queen-dowager i had got the articles in question;--notion altogether false, as they had been furnished me by baron korf [well known to hordt and others of us, at petersburg, in the czar-peter time], now russian minister at copenhagen. however, when duke friedrich of brunswick [one of the juniors, soldiering here with his uncle, as they almost all are] wrote to me, one day, that his lady aunt the queen of sweden invited me to dine with her to-morrow, and that he, the duke, would introduce me,--i at once decided to lay my embarrassment before the queen herself. "next day, when i was presented to her majesty, she took me by the hand, and led me to a window [as was her custom with guests whom she judged to be worth questioning and talking to], and so placed herself in a corner there that i came to stand close before her; when she did me the honor to ask a great many questions about russia, the imperial court especially, and most of all the grand-duke [czar paul that is to be,--a kind of kinsman he, his poor father was my late husband's cousin-german, as perhaps you know]. a great deal of time was spent in this way; so that the princes and princesses, punctual to invitation, had to wait above half an hour long; and the queen was more than once informed that dinner was on the table and getting cold. i could get nothing of my own mentioned here; all i could do was to draw back, in a polite way, so soon as the queen would permit: and afterwards, at table, to explain with brevity my concern about what was printed in the magazine; and request the queen to permit me to send it her to read for herself. she had it, accordingly, that same afternoon. "a few days after, she invited me again; again spoke with me a long while in the window embrasure, in a low tone of voice: confirmed to me all that she had read,--and in particular, minutely explained that letter of the king [one of my pieces] in which he relates what passed between him and count tessin [son's tutor] in the queen's apartment. at table, she very soon took occasion to say: 'i cannot imagine to myself how the herr consistorialrath [busching, to wit] has come upon that letter of my deceased lord the king of sweden's; which his majesty did write, and which is now printed in your magazine. for certain, the king showed it to nobody.' whereupon busching: 'certainly; nor is that to be imagined, your majesty. but the person it was addressed to must have shown it; and so a copy of it has come to my hands.' queen still expresses her wonder; whereupon again, busching, with a courageous candor: 'your majesty, most graciously permit me to say, that hitherto all swedish secrets of court or state have been procurable for money and good words!' the queen, to whom i sat directly opposite, cast down her eyes at these words and smiled;--and the reichsrath graf von schwerin [a swedish gentleman of hers], who sat at my left, seized me by the hand, and said: 'alas, that is true!'"--here is a difficulty got over; magazine number can come out when it will. as it did, "next easter-fair," with proper indications and tacit proofs that the swedish part of it lay printed several months before the queen's arrival in our neighborhood. busching dined with her majesty several times,--"eating nothing," he is careful to mention and was careful to show her majesty, "except, very gradually, a small bit of bread soaked in a glass of wine!"--meaning thereby, "note, ye great ones, it is not for your dainties; in fact, it is out of loyal politeness mainly!" the gloomily humble man. "one time, the queen asked me, in presence of various princes and princesses of the royal house: 'do you think it advisable to enlighten the lower classes by education?' to which i answered: 'considering only under what heavy loads a man of the lower classes, especially of the peasant sort, has to struggle through his life, one would think it was better neither to increase his knowledge nor refine his sensibility. but when one reflects that he, as well as those of the higher classes, is to last through eternity; and withal that good instruction may [or might, if it be not bad] increase his practical intelligence, and help him to methods of alleviating himself in this world, it must be thought advisable to give him useful enlightenment.' the queen accorded with this view of the matter. "twice i dined with her majesty at her sister, princess amelia, the abbess of quedlinburg's:--and the second time [must have been summer, ], professor sulzer, who was also a guest, caught his death there. when i entered the reception-room, sulzer was standing in the middle of a thorough-draught, which they had managed to have there, on account of the great heat; and he had just arrived, all in a perspiration, from the thiergarten: i called him out of the draught, but it was too late." [busching: _beitrage,_ vi. - .] ach, mein lieber sulzer,--alas, dear sulzer: seriously this time! busching has a great deal to say about schools, about the "school commission ," the subjects taught, the methods of teaching devised by busching and others, and the king's continual exertions, under deficient funds, in this province of his affairs. busching had unheard-of difficulty to rebuild the old gymnasium at berlin into a new. tried everybody; tried the king thrice over, but nobody would. "one of the persons i applied to was lieutenant-general von ramin, governor of berlin [surliest of mankind, of whose truculent incivility there go many anecdotes]; to ramin i wrote, entreating that he would take a good opportunity and suggest a new town schoolhouse to his majesty: 'excellenz, it will render you immortal in the annals of berlin!' to which ramin made answer: 'that is an immortality i must renounce the hope of, and leave to the town-syndics and yourself. i, for my own part, will by no means risk such a proposal to his majesty; which he would, in all likelihood, answer in the negative, and receive ill at anybody's hands.'" [ib. vi. .] by subscriptions, by bequests, donations and the private piety of individuals, busching aiding and stirring, the thing was at last got done. here is another glance into school-life: not from busching:-- june th, . "this year the stande of the kurmark find they have an overplus of , thalers ( , pounds); which sum they do themselves the pleasure of presenting to the king for his majesty's uses." king cannot accept it for his own uses. "this money," answers he ( th june), "comes from the province, wherefore i feel bound to lay it out again for advantage of the province. could not it become a means of getting english husbandry [turnips in particular, whether short-horns or not, i do not know] introduced among us? in the towns that follow farming chiefly, or in villages belonging to unmoneyed nobles, we will lend out this , pounds, at per cent, in convenient sums for that object: hereby will turnip-culture and rotation be vouchsafed us; interest at per cent brings us in pounds annually; and this we will lay out in establishing new schoolmasters in the kurmark, and having the youth better educated." what a pretty idea; neat and beautiful, killing two important birds with one most small stone! i have known enormous cannon-balls and granite blocks, torrent after torrent, shot out under other kinds of finance-gunnery, that were not only less respectable, but that were abominable to me in comparison. unluckily, no nobles were found inclined; english husbandry ["turnipse" and the rest of it] had to wait their time. the king again writes: "no nobles to be found, say you? well; put the , pounds to interest in the common way,--that the schoolmasters at least may have solacement: i will add thalers ( pounds) apiece, that we may have a chance of getting better schoolmasters;--send me list of the places where the worst are." list was sent; is still extant; and on the margin of it, in royal autograph, this remark:-- "the places are well selected. the bad schoolmasters are mostly tailors; and you must see whether they cannot be got removed to little towns, and set to tailoring again, or otherwise disposed of, that our schools might the sooner rise into good condition, which is an interesting thing." "eager always our master is to have the schooling of his people improved and everywhere diffused," writes, some years afterwards, the excellent zedlitz, officially "minister of public justice," but much and meritoriously concerned with school matters as well. the king's ideas were of the best, and zedlitz sometimes had fine hopes; but the want of funds was always great. "in ," says preuss, "there came a sad blow to zedlitz's hopes: minister von brenkenhof [deep in west-preussen canal-diggings and expenditures] having suggested, that instead of getting pensions, the old soldiers should be put to keeping school." do but fancy it; poor old fellows, little versed in scholastics hitherto! "friedrich, in his pinch, grasped at the small help; wrote to the war-department: 'send me a list of invalids who are fit [or at least fittest] to be schoolmasters.' and got thereupon a list of , and afterwards more [ invalids in all]; war-department adding, that besides these scholastic sort, there were serving as budner [turnpike-keepers, in a sort], as forest-watchers and the like; and , unversorgt" (shifting for themselves, no provision made for them at all),--such the check, by cold arithmetic and inexorable finance, upon the genial current of the soul!-- the turnips, i believe, got gradually in; and brandenburg, in our day, is a more and more beautifully farmed country. nor were the schoolmasters unsuccessful at all points; though i cannot report a complete educational triumph on those extremely limited terms. [preuss, iii. , , &c.] queen ulrique left, i think, on the th of august, ; there is sad farewell in friedrich's letter next day to princess sophie albertine, the queen's daughter, subsequently abbess of quedlinburg: he is just setting out on his silesian reviews; "shall, too likely, never see your good mamma again." ["potsdam, th august, :" _oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. ii. .] poor king; berlin city is sound asleep, while he rushes through it on this errand,--"past the princess amelia's window," in the dead of night; and takes to humming tender strophes to her too; which gain a new meaning by their date. ["a ma soeur amelie, en passant, la nuit, sous sa fenetre, pour aller en silesie (aout ):" _oeuvres de frederic,_ xiii. .] ten days afterwards ( th august, ),--queen ulrique not yet home,--her son, the spirited king gustav iii., at stockholm had made what in our day is called a "stroke of state,"--put a thorn in the snout of his monster of a senate, namely: "less of palaver, venality and insolence, from you, sirs; we 'restore the constitution of ,' and are something of a king again!" done with considerable dexterity and spirit; not one person killed or hurt. and surely it was the muzzling-up of a great deal of folly on their side,--provided only there came wisdom enough from gustav himself instead. but, alas, there did not, there hardly could. his uncle was alarmed, and not a little angry for the moment: "you had two parties to reconcile; a work of time, of patient endeavor, continual and quiet; no good possible till then. and instead of that--!" gustav, a shining kind of man, showed no want of spirit, now or afterwards: but he leant too much on france and broken reeds;--and, in the end, got shot in the back by one of those beautiful "nobles" of his, and came to a bad conclusion, they and he. [" th- th march, ," death of gustav iii. by that assassination: " th march, ," his son gustav iv, has to go on his travels; "karl xiii.," a childless uncle, succeeds for a few years: after whom &c.] scandinavian politics, thank heaven, are none of our business. queen ulrique was spared all these catastrophes. she had alarmed her brother by a dangerous illness, sudden and dangerous, in ; who writes with great anxiety about it, to another still more anxious: [see "correspondence with gustav iii." (in _oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. ii. , &c.).] of this she got well again; but it did not last very long. july th, , she died;--and the sad friedrich had to say, adieu. alas, "must the eldest of us mourn, then, by the grave of those younger!" wilhelmina's daughter, elizabeth frederike sophie, duchess of wurtemberg, appears at ferney (september, ). of our dear wilhelmina's high and unfortunate daughter there should be some biography; and there will surely, if a man of sympathy and faculty pass that way; but there is not hitherto. nothing hitherto but a few bare dates; bare and sternly significant, as on a tombstone; indicating that she had a history, and that it was a tragic one. welcome to all of us, in this state of matters, is the following one clear emergence of her into the light of day, and in company so interesting too! seven years before her death she had gone to lausanne (july, ) to consult tissot, a renowned physician of those days. from lausanne, after two months, she visited voltaire at ferney. read this letter of voltaire's:-- to elizabeth frederike sophie, duchess of wurtemberg (at lausanne). "feeney, th july, . "madam,--i am informed that your most serene highness has deigned to remember that i was in the world. it is very sad to be there, without paying you my court. i never felt so cruelly the sad state to which old age and maladies have reduced me. "i never saw you except as a child [ , her age then ]: but you were certainly the beautifulest child in europe. may you be the happiest princess [alas!], as you deserve to be! i was attached to madam the margravine [your dear mother] with equal devotedness and respect; and i had the honor to be pretty deep in her confidence, for some time before this world, which was not worthy of her, had lost that adorable princess. you resemble her;--but don't resemble her in--feebleness of health! you are in the flower of your age [coming forty, i should fear]: let such bright flower lose nothing of its splendor; may your happiness be able to equal [puisso egaler] your beauty; may all your days be serene, and the sweets of friendship add a new charm to them! these are my wishes; they are as lively as my regrets at not being at your feet. what a consolation it would be for me to speak of your loving mother, and of all your august relatives! why must destiny send you to lausanne [consulting dr. tissot there], and hinder me from flying thither!--let your most serene highness deign to accept the profound respect of the old moribund philosopher of ferney.--v." [_oeuvres de voltaire,_ xcii. .] the answer of the princess, or farther correspondence on the matter, is not given; evident only that by and by, as voltaire himself will inform us, she did appear at ferney;--and a certain swedish tourist, one bjornstahl, who met her there, enables us even to give the date. he reports this anecdote:-- "at supper, on the evening of th september, , the princess sat next to voltaire, who always addressed her 'votre altesse.' at last the duchess said to him, 'tu es anon papa, je suis ta fille, et je vouz etre appelee ta fille.' voltaire took a pencil from his pocket, asked for a card, and wrote upon it:-- 'ah, le beau titre que voila! vous me donnez la premiere des places; quelle famille j'aurais la! je serais le pere des graces' [_oeuvres de voltaire,_ xviii. .] he gave the card to the princess, who embraced and kissed him for it." [vehse, _geschichte der deutschen hofe_ (hamburg, ), xxv. , .] voltaire to friedrich (a fortnight after). "ferney, d september, . "i must tell you that i have felt, in these late days, in spite of all my past caprices, how much i am attached to your majesty and to your house. madam the duchess of wurtemberg having had, like so many others, the weakness to believe that health is to be found at lausanne, and that dr. tissot gives it if one pay him, has, as you know, made the journey to lausanne; and i, who am more veritably ill than she, and than all the princesses who have taken tissot for an aesculapius, had not the strength to leave my home. madam of wurtemberg, apprised of all the feelings that still live in me for the memory of madam the margravine of baireuth her mother, has deigned to visit my hermitage, and pass two days with us. i should have recognized her, even without warning; she has the turn of her mother's face with your eyes. "you hero-people who govern the world don't allow yourselves to be subdued by feelings; you have them all the same as we, but you maintain your decorum. we other petty mortals yield to all our impressions: i set myself to cry, in speaking to her of you and of madam the princess her mother; and she too, though she is niece of the first captain in europe, could not restrain her tears. it appears to me, that she has the talent (esprit) and the graces of your house; and that especially she is more attached to you than to her husband [i should think so!]. she returns, i believe, to baireuth,--[no mother, no father there now: foolish uncle of anspath died long ago, " d august, :" aunt dowager of anspach gone to erlangen, i hope, to feuchtwang, schwabach or schwaningen, or some widow's-mansion "wittwensitz" of her own; [lived, finally at schwaningen, in sight of such vicissitudes and follies round her, till " th february, " (rodenbeck, iii. ).] reigning son, with his french-actress equipments, being of questionable figure],-- --"returns, i believe, to baireuth; where she will find another princess of a different sort; i mean mademoiselle clairon, who cultivates natural history, and is lady philosopher to monseigneur the margraf,"--high-rouged tragedy-queen, rather tyrannous upon him, they say: a young man destined to adorn hammersmith by and by, and not go a good road. ... "i renounce my beautiful hopes of seeing the mahometans driven out of europe, and athens become again the seat of the muses. neither you nor the kaiser are"--are inclined in the crusading way at all.... "the old sick man of ferney is always at the feet of your majesty; he feels very sorry that he cannot talk of you farther with madam the duchess of wurtemberg, who adores you.--le vieux malade." [_oeuvres de voltaire,_ xcii. .] to which friedrich makes answer: "if it is forevermore forbidden me to see you again, i am not the less glad that the duchess of wurtemberg has seen you. i should certainly have mixed my tears with yours, had i been present at that touching scene! be it weakness, be it excess of regard, i have built for her lost mother, what cicero projected for his tullia, a temple of friendship: her statue occupies the background, and on each pillar stands a mask (mascaron) containing the bust of some hero in friendship: i send you the drawing of it." ["potsdam, th october, :" _oeuvres de frederic,_ xxiii. :--"temple" was built in (ib. p. n.).] which again sets voltaire weeping, and will the duchess when she sees it. [voltaire's next letter: _oeuvres de voltaire,_ xcii. .] we said there hitherto was nearly nothing anywhere discoverable as history of this high lady but the dates only; these we now give. she was "born th august, ,"--her mother's and father's one child;--four years older than her anspach cousin, who inherited baireuth too, and finished off that genealogy. she was "wedded th september, ;" her age then about ; her gloomy duke of wurtemberg, age , all sunshine and goodness to her then: she was "divorced in :" "died th april, ,"--tradition says, "in great poverty [great for her rank, i suppose, proud as she might be, and above complaining],--at neustadt-on-the-aisch" (in the nurnberg region), whither she had retired, i know not how long after her papa's death and cousin's accession. she is bound for her cousin's court, we observe, just now; and, considering her cousin's ways and her own turn of mind, it is easy to fancy she had not a pleasant time there. tradition tells us, credibly enough, "she was very like her mother: beautiful, much the lady (von feinem ton), and of energetic character;" and adds, probably on slight foundation, "but very cold and proud towards the people." [vehse, xxv. .] many books will inform you how, "on first entering stuttgard, when the reigning duke and she were met by a party of congratulatory peasant women dressed in their national costume, she said to her duke," being then only sixteen, poor young soul, and on her marriage-journey, "'was will das geschmeiss (why does that rabble bore us)!'" this is probably the main foundation. that "her ladies, on approaching her, had always to kiss the hem of her gown," lay in the nature of the case, being then the rule to people of her rank. beautiful unfortunate, adieu:--and be voltaire thanked, too!-- it is long since we have seen voltaire before:--a prosperous lord at ferney these dozen years ("the only man in france that lives like a grand seigneur," says cardinal bernis to him once [their correspondence, really pretty of its kind, used to circulate as a separate volume in the years then subsequent.]); doing great things for the pays de gex and for france, and for europe; delivering the calases, the sirvens and the oppressed of various kinds; especially ardent upon the infame, as the real business heaven has assigned him in his day, the sunset of which, and night wherein no man can work, he feels to be hastening on. "couldn't we, the few faithful, go to cleve in a body?" thinks he at one time: "to cleve; and there, as from a safe place, under the philosopher king, shoot out our fiery artilleries with effect?" the philosopher king is perfectly willing, "provided you don't involve me in wars with my neighbors." willing enough he; but they the faithful--alas, the patriarch finds that they have none of his own heroic ardor, and that the thing cannot be done. upon which, "struck with sorrow," say his biographers, "he writes nothing to friedrich for two years." ["nov. ," recommences (_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxiii. . ).] the truth is, he is growing very old; and though a piercing radiance, as of stars, bursts occasionally from the central part of him, the outworks are getting decayed and dim; obstruction more and more accumulating, and the immeasurable night drawing nigh. well does voltaire himself, at all moments, know this; and his bearing under it, one must say, is rather beautiful. there is a tenderness, a sadness, in these his later letters to friedrich; instead of emphasis or strength, a beautiful shrill melody, as of a woman, as of a child; he grieves unappeasably to have lost friedrich; never will forgive maupertuis:--poor old man! friedrich answers in a much livelier, more robust tone: friendly, encouraging, communicative on small matters;--full of praises,--in fact, sincerely glad to have such a transcendent genius still alive with him in this world. praises to the most liberal pitch everything of voltaire's,--except only the article on war, which occasionally (as below) he quizzes a little, to the patriarch or his disciple. as we have room for nothing of all this, and perhaps shall not see voltaire again,--there are two actual interviews with him, which, being withal by englishmen, though otherwise not good for much, we intend for readers here. in these last twenty years d'alembert is friedrich's chief correspondent. of d'alembert to the king, it may be or may not, some opportunity will rise for a specimen; meanwhile here is a short letter of the king's to d'alembert, through which there pass so many threads of contemporaneous flying events (swift shuttles on the loud-sounding loom of time), that we are tempted to give this, before the two interviews in question. date of the letter is two months after that apparition of the duchess of wurtemberg at ferney. of "crillon," an ingenious enough young soldier, rushing ardently about the world in his holiday time, we have nothing to say, except that he is son of that rossbach crillon, who always fancies to himself that once he perhaps spared friedrich's life (by a glass of wine judiciously given) long since, while the bridge of weissenfels was on fire, and rossbach close ahead. [supra, x. .] colonel "guibert" is another soldier, still young, but of much superior type; greatly an admirer of friedrich, and subsequently a writer upon him. [of guibert's visit to friedrich (june, ), see preuss, iv. ; rodenbeck, iii. .] in regard to the "landgravine of darmstadt," notice these points. first, that her eldest daughter is wife, second wife, to the dissolute crown-prince of prussia; and then, that she has three other daughters,--one of whom has just been disposed of in an important way; wedded to the czarowitsh paul of russia, namely. by friedrich's means and management, as friedrich informs us. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ (memoires de jusqu'a ), vi. .] the czarina, he says, had sent out a confidential gentleman, one asseburg, who was prussian by birth, to seek a fit wife for her son: friedrich, hearing of this, suggested to asseburg, "the landgravine of darmstadt, the most distinguished and accomplished of german princesses, has three marriageable daughters; her eldest, married to our crown-prince, will be queen of prussia in time coming;--suppose now, one of the others were to be czarina of russia withal? think, might it not be useful both to your native country and to your adopted?" asseburg took the hint; reported at petersburg, that of all marriageable princesses in germany, the three of darmstadt, one or the other of them, would, in his humble opinion, be the eligiblest. "could not we persuade you to come to petersburg, madam landgravine?" wrote the czarina thereupon: "do us the honor of a visit, your three princesses and you!" the landgravine and daughters, with decent celerity, got under way; [passed through berlin th- th may, : rodenbeck, iii. .] czarowitsh paul took interesting survey, on their arrival; and about two months ago wedded the middle one of the three:--and here is the victorious landgravine bringing home the other two. czarowitsh's fair one did not live long, nor behave well: died of her first child; and czarowitsh, in , had to apply to us again for a wife, whom this time we fitted better. happily, the poor victorious landgravine was gone before anything of this; she died suddenly five months hence; [ th march, .] nothing doubting of her russian adventure. she was an admired princess of her time, die grosse landgrafin, as goethe somewhere calls her; much in friedrich's esteem,--femina sexu, ingenio vir, as the monument he raised to her at darmstadt still bears. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xx. n. his correspondence with her is ib. xxvii ii. - ; and goes from to .] friedrich to d'alembert. "potsdam, th december, . "m. de crillon delivered me your crillonade [lengthy letter of introduction]; which has completed me in the history of all the crillons of the county of avignon. he does n't stop here; he is soon to be off for russia; so that i will take him on your word, and believe him the wisest of all the crillons: assuring myself that you have measured and computed all his curves, and angles of incidence. he will find diderot and grimm in russia [famous visit of diderot], all occupied with the czarina's beautiful reception of them, and with the many things worthy of admiration which they have seen there. some say grimm will possibly fix himself in that country [chose better],--which will be the asylum at once of your fanatic chaumeixes and of the encyclopedistes, whom he used to denounce. [this poor chaumeix did, after such feats, "die peaceably at moscow, as a schoolmaster."] "m. de guibert has gone by ferney; where it is said voltaire has converted him, that is, has made him renounce the errors of ambition, abjure the frightful trade of hired manslayer, with intent to become either capuchin or philosophe; so that i suppose by this time he will have published a 'declaration' like gresset, informing the public that, having had the misfortune to write a work on tactics, he repented it from the bottom of his soul, and hereby assured mankind that never more in his life would he give rules for butcheries, assassinations, feints, stratagems or the like abominations. as to me, my conversion not being yet in an advanced stage, i pray you to give me details about guibert's, to soften my heart and penetrate my bowels. "we have the landgravine of darmstadt here: [rodenbeck, iii. , .] no end to the landgravine's praises of a magnificent czarina, and of all the beautiful and grand things she has founded in that country. as to us, who live like mice in their holes, news come to us only from mouth to mouth, and the sense of hearing is nothing like that of sight. i cherish my wishes, in the mean while, for the sage anaxagoras [my d'alembert himself]; and i say to urania, 'it is for thee to sustain thy foremost apostle, to maintain one light, without which a great kingdom [france] would sink into darkness;' and i say to the supreme demiurgus: 'have always the good d'alembert in thy holy and worthy keeping.'--f." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxiv. .] the boston tea (same day). curious to remark, while friedrich is writing this letter, "thursday, december th, ," what a commotion is going on, far over seas, at boston, new england,--in the "old south meeting-house" there; in regard to three english tea ships that are lying embargoed in griffin's wharf for above a fortnight past. the case is well known, and still memorable to mankind. british parliament, after nine years of the saddest haggling and baffling to and fro, under constitutional stress of weather, and such east-winds and west-winds of parliamentary eloquence as seldom were, has made up its mind, that america shall pay duty on these teas before infusing them: and america, boston more especially, is tacitly determined that it will not; and that, to avoid mistakes, these teas shall never be landed at all. such is boston's private intention, more or less fixed;--to say nothing of the philadelphias, charlestons, new yorks, who are watching boston, and will follow suit of it. "sunday, november th,--that is, nineteen days ago,--the first of these tea ships, the dartmouth, captain hall, moored itself in griffin's wharf: owner and consignee is a broad-brimmed boston gentleman called rotch, more attentive to profits of trade than to the groans of boston:--but already on that sunday, much more on the monday following, there had a meeting of citizens run together,--(on monday, faneuil hall won't hold them, and they adjourn to the old south meeting-house),--who make it apparent to rotch that it will much behoove him, for the sake both of tea and skin, not to 'enter' (or officially announce) this ship dartmouth at the custom-house in any wise; but to pledge his broad-brimmed word, equivalent to his oath, that she shall lie dormant there in griffin's wharf, till we see. which, accordingly, she has been doing ever since; she and two others that arrived some days later; dormant all three of them, side by side, three crews totally idle; a 'committee of ten' supervising rotch's procedures; and the boston world much expectant. thursday, december th: this is the th day since rotch's dartmouth arrived here; if not 'entered' at custom-house in the course of this day, custom-house cannot give her a 'clearance' either (a leave to depart),--she becomes a smuggler, an outlaw, and her fate is mysterious to rotch and us. "this thursday accordingly, by in the morning, in the old south meeting-house, boston is assembled, and country-people to the number of , ;--and rotch never was in such a company of human friends before. they are not uncivil to him (cautious people, heedful of the verge of the law); but they are peremptory, to the extent of--rotch may shudder to think what. "i went to the custom-house yesterday,' said rotch, 'your committee of ten can bear me witness; and demanded clearance and leave to depart; but they would not; were forbidden, they said!' 'go, then, sir; get you to the governor himself; a clearance, and out of harbor this day: had n't you better?' rotch is well aware that he had; hastens off to the governor (who has vanished to his country-house, on purpose); old south meeting-house adjourning till p.m., for rotch's return with clearance. "at no rotch, nor at , nor at ; miscellaneous plangent intermittent speech instead, mostly plangent, in tone sorrowful rather than indignant:--at a quarter to , here at length is rotch; sun is long since set,--has rotch a clearance or not? rotch reports at large, willing to be questioned and cross-questioned: 'governor absolutely would not! my christian friends, what could i or can i do?' there are by this time about , people in old south meeting-house, very few tallow-lights in comparison,--almost no lights for the mind either,--and it is difficult to answer. rotch's report done, the chairman [one adams, "american cato," subsequently so called] dissolves the sorrowful , , with these words: 'this meeting declares that it can do nothing more to save the country.' will merely go home, then, and weep. hark, however: almost on the instant, in front of old south meeting-house, (a terrific war-whoop; and about fifty mohawk indians,)--with whom adams seems to be acquainted; and speaks without interpreter: aha?-- "and, sure enough, before the stroke of , these fifty painted mohawks are forward, without noise, to griffin's wharf; have put sentries all round there; and, in a great silence of the neighborhood, are busy, in three gangs, upon the dormant tea ships; opening their chests, and punctually shaking them out into the sea. 'listening from the distance, you could hear distinctly the ripping open of the chests, and no other sound.' about p.m. all was finished: chests of tea flung out to infuse in the atlantic; the fifty mohawks gone like a dream; and boston sleeping more silently even than usual." ["summary of the advices from america" (in _gentleman's magazine_ for , pp. , ); bancroft, iii. et seq.] "seven in the evening:" this, i calculate, allowing for the earth's rotation, will be about the time when friedrich, well tired with the day's business, is getting to bed; by on the boston clocks, when the process finishes there, friedrich will have had the best of his sleep over. here is montcalm's prophecy coming to fulfilment;--and a curious intersection of a flying event through one's poor letter to d'alembert. we will now give the two english interviews with voltaire; one of which is of three years past, another of three years ahead. no. . dr burney has sight of voltaire (july, ). in the years - , burney, then a famous doctor of music, made his tour through france and italy, on musical errands and researches: [charles burney's _present state of music in france and italy, being the journal of a tour through those countries to collect materials for a general history of music_ (london, ). the _history of music_ followed duly, in four tos (london, - ).] with these we have no concern, but only with one most small exceptional offshoot or episode which grew out of these. enough for us to know that burney, a comfortable, well-disposed, rather dull though vivacious doctor, age near , had left london for paris "in june, ;" that he was on to geneva, intending for turin, "early in july;" and that his "m. fritz," mentioned below, is a veteran brother in music, settled at geneva for the last thirty years, who has been helpful and agreeable to burney while here. our excerpt therefore dates itself, "one of the early days of july, ,"--burney hovering between two plans (as we shall dimly perceive), and not exactly executing either:-- .... "my going to m. fritz broke [was about breaking, but did not quite] into a plan which i had formed of visiting m. de voltaire, at the same hour, along with some other strangers, who were then going to ferney. but, to say the truth, besides the visit to m. fritz being more my business, i did not much like going with these people, who had only a geneva bookseller to introduce them; and i had heard that some english had lately met with a rebuff from m. de voltaire, by going without any letter of recommendation, or anything to recommend themselves. he asked them what they wanted? upon their replying that they wished only to see so extraordinary a man, he said: 'well, gentlemen, you now see me: did you take me for a wild beast or monster, that was fit only to be stared at as a show?' this story very much frightened me; for, not having, when i left london, or even paris, any intention of going to geneva, i was quite unprovided with a recommendation. however, i was determined to see the place of his residence, which i took to be [still les delices], cette maison d'aristippe, ces jardins d'picure, to which he retired in ; but was mistaken [not the delices now at all, but ferney, for nine or ten years back]. "i drove to ferney alone, after i had left m. fritz. this house is three or four miles from geneva, but near the lake. i approached it with reverence, and a curiosity of the most minute kind. i inquired when i first trod on his domain; i had an intelligent and talkative postilion, who answered all my questions very satisfactorily. m. de voltaire's estate is very large here, and he is building pretty farm-houses upon it. he has erected on the geneva side a quadrangular justice, or gallows, to show that he is the seigneur. one of his farms, or rather manufacturing houses,--for he is establishing a manufacture upon his estate,--was so handsome that i thought it was his chateau. "we drove to ferney, through a charming country, covered with corn and vines, in view of the lake, and mountains of gex, switzerland and savoy. on the left hand, approaching the house, is a neat chapel with this inscription:-- 'deo erexit voltaire mdcclxi.' i sent to inquire, whether a stranger might be allowed to see the house and gardens; and was answered in the affirmative. a servant soon came, and conducted me into the cabinet or closet where his master had just been writing: this is never shown when he is at home; but having walked out, i was allowed that privilege. from thence i passed to the library, which is not a very large one, but well filled. here i found a whole-length figure in marble of himself, recumbent, in one of the windows; and many curiosities in another room; a bust of himself, made not two years since; his mother's picture; that of his niece, madam denis; his brother, m. dupuis; the calas family; and others. it is a very neat and elegant house; not large, nor affectedly decorated. "i should first have remarked, that close to the chapel, between that and the house, is the theatre, which he built some years ago; where he treated his friends with some of his own tragedies: it is now only used as a receptacle for wood and lumber, there having been no play acted in it these four years. the servant told me his master was [ gone], but very well. 'il travaille,' said he, 'pendant dix heures chaque jour, he studies ten hours every day; writes constantly without spectacles, and walks out with only a domestic, often a mile or two--et le voila, la bas, and see, yonder he is!' "he was going to his workmen. my heart leaped at the sight of so extraordinary a man. he had just then quitted his garden, and was crossing the court before his house. seeing my chaise, and me on the point of mounting it, he made a sign to his servant who had been my cicerone, to go to him; in order, i suppose, to inquire who i was. after they had exchanged a few words together, he," m. de voltaire, "approached the place where i was standing motionless, in order to contemplate his person as much as i could while his eyes were turned from me; but on seeiug him move towards me, i found myself drawn by some irresistible power towards him; and, without knowing what i did, i insensibly met him half-way. "it is not easy to conceive it possible for life to subsist in a form so nearly composed of mere skin and bone as that of m. de voltaire." extremely lean old gentleman! "he complained of decrepitude, and said, he supposed i was anxious to form an idea of the figure of one walking after death. however, his eyes and whole countenance are still full of fire; and though so emaciated, a more lively expression cannot be imagined. "he inquired after english news; and observed that poetical squabbles had given way to political ones; but seemed to think the spirit of opposition as necessary in poetry as in politics. _'les querelles d'auteurs sont pour le bien de la litterature, comme dans un gouvernement libre les querelles des grands, et les clameurs des petits, sont necessaires a la liberte._' and added, 'when critics are silent, it does not so much prove the age to be correct, as dull.' he inquired what poets we had now; i told him we had mason and gray. 'they write but little,' said he: 'and you seem to have no one who lords it over the rest, like dryden, pope and swift.' i told him that it was one of the inconveniences of periodical journals, however well executed, that they often silenced modest men of genius, while impudent blockheads were impenetrable, and unable to feel the critic's scourge: that mr. gray and mr. mason had both been illiberally treated by mechanical critics, even in newspapers; and added, that modesty and love of quiet seemed in these gentlemen to have got the better even of their love of fame. "during this conversation, we approached the buildings that he was constructing near the road to his chateau. 'these,' said he, pointing to them, 'are the most innocent, and perhaps the most useful, of all my works.' i observed that he had other works, which were of far more extensive use, and would be much more durable, than those. he was so obliging as to show me several farm-houses that he had built, and the plans of others: after which i took my leave." [burney's _present state of music_ (london, ), pp. - . no. . a reverend mr. sherlock sees voltaire, and even dines with him (april, ). sherlock's book of travels, though he wrote it in two languages, and it once had its vogue, is now little other than a dance of will-o'-wisps to us. a book tawdry, incoherent, indistinct, at once flashy and opaque, full of idle excrescences and exuberances;--as is the poor man himself. he was "chaplain to the earl of bristol, bishop of derry;" gyrating about as ecclesiastical moon to that famed solar luminary, what could you expect! [title of his book is, _letters from an english traveller; translated from the french original_ (london, ). ditto, _letters from an english trader; written originally in french;_ by the rev. martin sherlock, a.m., chaplain to the earl of bristol, &c. (a new edition, vols., london, ).] poor sherlock is nowhere intentionally fabulous; nor intrinsically altogether so foolish as he seems: let that suffice us. in his dance of will-o'-wisps, which in this point happily is dated,-- th- th april, ,--he had come to ferney, with proper introduction to voltaire; and here (after severe excision of the flabby parts, but without other change) is credible account of what he saw and heard. in three scenes; with this prologue,--as to costume, which is worth reading twice:-- voltaire's dress. "on the two days i saw him, he wore white cloth shoes, white woollen stockings, red breeches, with a nightgown and waistcoat of blue linen, flowered, and lined with yellow. he had on a grizzle wig with three ties, and over it a silk nightcap embroidered with gold and silver." scene i. the entrance-hall of ferney (friday, th april, ): exuberant sherlock entering, letter of introduction having preceded. "he met in the hall; his nephew m. d'hornoi" (grand-nephew; abbe mignot, famous for burying voltaire, and madame denis, whom we know, were d'hornoi's uncle and aunt)--grand-nephew, "counsellor in the parlement of paris, held him by the arm. he said to me, with a very weak voice: 'you see a very old man, who makes a great effort to have the honor of seeing you. will you take a walk in my garden? it will please you, for it is in the english taste:--it was i who introduced that taste into france, and it is become universal. but the french parody your gardens: they put your thirty acres into three.' "from his gardens you see the alps, the lake, the city of geneva and its environs, which are very pleasant. he said:-- voltaire. "'it is a beautiful prospect.' he pronounced these words tolerably well. sherlock. "'how long is it since you were in england?' voltaire. "'fifty years, at least.' [not quite; in left; in had come.] [supra, vii. .] d'hornoi. "'it was at the time when you printed the first edition of your henriade.' "we then talked of literature; and from that moment he forgot his age and infirmities, and spoke with the warmth of a man of thirty. he said some shocking things against moses and against shakspeare. [like enough!]... we then talked of spain. voltaire. "'it is a country of which we know no more than of the most savage parts of africa; and it is not worth the trouble of being known. if a man would travel there, he must carry his bed, &c. on arriving in a town, he must go into one street to buy a bottle of wine; a piece of a mule [by way of beef] in another; he finds a table in a third,--and he sups. a french nobleman was passing through pampeluna: he sent out for a spit; there was only one in the town, and that was lent away for a wedding.' d'hornoi. "'there, monsieur, is a village which m. de voltaire has built!' voltaire. "'yes, we have our freedoms here. cut off a little corner, and we are out of france. i asked some privileges for my children here, and the king has granted me all that i asked, and has declared this pays de gex exempt from all taxes of the farmers-general; so that salt, which formerly sold for ten sous a pound, now sells for four. i have nothing more to ask, except to live.'--we went into the library" (had made the round of the gardens, i suppose). scene ii. in the library. voltaire. "'there you find several of your countrymen [he had shakspeare, milton, congreve, rochester, shaftesbury, bolingbroke, robertson, hume and others]. robertson is your livy; his charles fifth is written with truth. hume wrote his history to be applauded, rapin to instruct; and both obtained their ends.' sherlock. "'lord bolingbroke and you agreed that we have not one good tragedy.' voltaire. "'we did think so. cato is incomparably well written: addison had a great deal of taste;--but the abyss between taste and genius is immense! shakspeare had an amazing genius, but no taste: he has spoiled the taste of the nation. he has been their taste for two hundred years; and what is the taste of a nation for two hundred years will be so for two thousand. this kind of taste becomes a religion; there are, in your country, a great many fanatics for shakspeare.' sherlock. "'were you personally acquainted with lord bolingbroke?' voltaire. "'yes. his face was imposing, and so was his voice; in his works there are many leaves and little fruit; distorted expressions, and periods intolerably long. [taking down a book.] there, you see the koran, which is well read, at least. [it was marked throughout with bits of paper.] there are historic doubts, by horace walpole [which had also several marks]; here is the portrait of richard iii.; you see he was a handsome youth.' sherlock (making an abrupt transition). "'you have built a church?' voltaire. "'true; and it is the only one in the universe in honor of god [deo erexit voltaire, as we read above]: you have plenty of churches built to st. paul, to st. genevieve, but not one to god.'" exit sherlock (to his inn; makes jotting as above;--is to dine at ferney to-morrow). scene iii. dinner-table of voltaire. "the next day, as we sat down to dinner," our host in the above shining costume, "he said, in english tolerably pronounced:-- voltaire. "'we are here for liberty and property! [parody of some old speech in parliament, let us guess,--liberty and property, my lords!] this gentleman--whom let me present to monsieur sherlock--is a jesuit [old pere adam, whom i keep for playing chess, in his old, unsheltered days]; he wears his hat: i am a poor invalid,--i wear my nightcap.'... "i do not now recollect why he quoted these verses, also in english, by rochester, on charles second:-- 'here lies the mutton-eating king, who never said a foolish thing, nor ever did a wise one.' but speaking of racine, he quoted this couplet (of roscomman's essay on translated verse):-- 'the weighty bullion of one sterling line drawn to french wire would through whole pages shine. sherlock. "'the english prefer corneille to racine.' voltaire. "'that is because the english are not sufficiently acquainted with the french tongue to feel the beauties of racine's style, or the harmony of his versification. corneille ought to please them more because he is more striking; but racine pleases the french because he has more softness and tenderness.' sherlock. "'how did you find [like] the english fare (la chere anglaise?'--which voltaire mischievously takes for 'the dear englishwoman'). voltaire. "'i found her very fresh and white,'--truly! [it should be remembered, that when he made this pun upon women he was in his eighty-third year.] sherlock. "'their language?' voltaire. "'energetic, precise and barbarous; they are the only nation that pronounce their a as e.... [and some time afterwards] though i cannot perfectly pronounce english, my ear is sensible of the harmony of your language and of your versification. pope and dryden have the most harmony in poetry; addison in prose.' [takes now the interrogating side.] voltaire. "'how have you liked (avex-vous trouve) the french?' sherlock. "'amiable and witty. i only find one fault with them: they imitate the english too much.' voltaire. "'how! do you think us worthy to be originals ourselves?' sherlock. "'yes, sir.' voltaire. "'so do i too:--but it is of your government that we are envious.' sherlock. "'i have found the french freer than i expected.' voltaire. "'yes, as to walking, or eating whatever he pleases, or lolling in his elbow-chair, a frenchman is free enough; but as to taxes--ah, monsieur, you are a lucky nation; you can do what you like; poor we are born in slavery: we cannot even die as we will; we must have a priest [can't get buried otherwise; am often thinking of that!]... well, if the english do sell themselves, it is a proof that they are worth something: we french don't sell ourselves, probably because we are worth nothing.' sherlock. "'what is your opinion of the eloise' [rousseau's immortal work]? voltaire. "'that it will not be read twenty years hence.' sherlock. "'mademoiselle de l'enclos wrote some good letters?' voltaire. "'she never wrote one; they were by the wretched crebillon' [my beggarly old "rival" in the pompadour epoch]!... voltaire. "'the italians are a nation of brokers. italy is an old-clothes shop; in which there are many old dresses of exquisite taste.... but we are still to know, whether the subjects of the pope or of the grand turk are the more abject.' [we have now gone to the drawing-room, i think, though it is not jotted.] "he talked of england and of shakspeare; and explained to madame denis part of a scene in henry fifth, where the king makes love to queen catherine in bad french; and of another in which that queen takes a lesson in english from her waiting-woman, and where there are several very gross double-entendres"--but, i hope, did not long dwell on these.... voltaire. "'when i see an englishman subtle and fond of lawsuits, i say, "there is a norman, who came in with william the conqueror." when i see a man good-natured and polite, "that is one who came with the plantagenets;" a brutal character, "that is a dane:"--for your nation, monsieur, as well as your language, is a medley of many others.' "after dinner, passing through a little parlor where there was a head of locke, another of the countess of coventry, and several more, he took me by the arm and stopped me: 'do you know this bust [bust of sir isaac newton]? it is the greatest genius that ever existed: if all the geniuses of the universe were assembled, he should lead the band.' "it was of newton, and of his own works, that m. de voltaire always spoke with the greatest warmth." [sherlock, letters (london, ), i. - .] (exit sherlock, to jot down the above, and thence into infinite space.) general or fieldmarshal conway, direct from the london circles, attends one of friedrich's reviews (august-september, ). now that friedrich's military department is got completely into trim again, which he reckons to have been about , his annual reviews are becoming very famous over europe; and intelligent officers of all countries are eager to be present, and instruct themselves there. the review is beautiful as a spectacle; but that is in no sort the intention of it. rigorous business, as in the strictest of universities examining for degrees, would be nearer the definition. sometimes, when a new manoeuvre or tactical invention of importance is to be tried by experiment, you will find for many miles the environs of potsdam, which is usually the scene of such experiments, carefully shut in; sentries on every road, no unfriendly eye admitted; the thing done as with closed doors. nor at any time can you attend without leave asked; though to foreign officers, and persons that have really business there, there appears to be liberality enough in granting it. the concourse of military strangers seems to keep increasing every year, till friedrich's death. [rodenbeck, iii. in locis.] french, more and more in quantity, present themselves; multifarious german names; generally a few english too,--burgoyne (of saratoga finally), cornwallis, duke of york, marshal conway,--of which last we have something farther to say at present. in summer, , conway--the marshal conway, of whom walpole is continually talking as of a considerable soldier and politician, though he was not in either character considerable, but was walpole's friend, and an honest modest man--had made up his mind, perhaps partly on domestic grounds (for i have noticed glimpses of a "lady c." much out of humor), to make a tour in germany, and see the reviews, both austrian and prussian, prussian especially. two immense letters of his on that subject have come into my hands, [kindly presented me by charles knight, esq., the well-known author and publisher (who possesses a collection by the same hand): these two run to fourteen large pages in my copy!] and elsewhere incidentally there is printed record of the tour; [in keith (sir robert murray), _memoirs and correspondence,_ ii. et, seq.] unimportant as possible, both tour and letters, but capable, if squeezed into compass, of still being read without disadvantage here. sir robert murray keith--that is, the younger excellency keith, now minister at dresden, whom we have sometimes heard of--accompanies conway on this tour, or flies alongside of him, with frequent intersections at the principal points; and there is printed record by sir robert, but still less interesting than this of conway, and perfectly conformable to it:--so that, except for some words about the lord marischal, which shall be given, keith must remain silent, while the diffuse conway strives to become intelligible. indeed, neither conway nor keith tell us the least thing that is not abundantly, and even wearisomely known from german sources; but to readers here, a pair of english eyes looking on the matter (put straight in places by the help there is), may give it a certain freshness of meaning. here are conway's two letters, with the nine parts of water charitably squeezed out of them, by a skilful friend of mine and his. conway to his brother, marquis of hertford (in london). "berlin, july th, . "dear brother,--in the hurry i live in--... leaving brunswick, where, in absence of most of the court, who are visiting at potsdam, my old commander," duke ferdinand, now estranged from potsdam, [had a kind of quarrel with friedrich in (rough treatment by adjutant von anhalt, not tolerable to a captain now become so eminent), and quietly withdrew,--still on speaking terms with the king, but never his officer more.] and living here among works of art, and speculations on free masonry, "was very kind to me, i went to celle, in hanover, to pay my respects to the queen of denmark [unfortunate divorced matilda, saved by my friend keith,--innocent, i will hope!]... she is grown extremely fat.... at magdeburg, the prussian frontier on this side, one is not allowed, without a permit, even to walk on the ramparts,--such the strictness of prussian rule.... driving through potsdam, on my way to berlin, i was stopped by a servant of the good old lord marischal, who had spied me as i passed under his window. he came out in his nightgown, and insisted upon our staying to dine with him--[worthy old man; a word of him, were this letter done]. we ended, on consultation about times and movements of the king, by staying three days at potsdam, mostly with this excellent old lord. "on the third day [yesterday evening, in fact], i went, by appointment, to the new palace, to wait upon the king of prussia. there was some delay: his majesty had gone, in the interim, to a private concert, which he was giving to the princesses [duchess of brunswick and other high guests [rodenbeck (in die) iii. .]]; but the moment he was told i was there, he came out from his company, and gave me a most flattering gracious audience of more than half an hour; talking on a great variety of things, with an ease and freedom the very reverse of what i had been made to expect.... i asked, and received permission, to visit the silesian camps next month, his majesty most graciously telling me the particular days they would begin and end [ th august- d september, schmelwitz near breslau, are time and place [ib. iii. .]]. this considerably deranges my austrian movements, and will hurry my return out of those parts: but who could resist such a temptation!--i saw the foot-guards exercise, especially the splendid 'first battalion;' i could have conceived nothing so perfect and so exact as all i saw:--so well dressed, such men, and so punctual in all they did. "the new palace at potsdam is extremely noble. not so perfect, perhaps, in point of taste, but better than i had been led to expect. the king dislikes living there; never does, except when there is high company about him; for seven or eight months in the year, he prefers little sans-souci, and freedom among his intimates and some of his generals.... his music still takes up a great share of the king's time. on a table in his cabinet there, i saw, i believe, twenty boxes with a german flute in each; in his bed-chamber, twice as many boxes of spanish snuff; and, alike in cabinet and in bed-chamber, three arm-chairs in a row for three favorite dogs, each with a little stool by way of step, that the getting up might be easy.... "the town of potsdam is a most extraordinary and, in its appearance, beautiful town; all the streets perfectly straight, all at right angles to each other; and all the houses built with handsome, generally elegant fronts.... he builds for everybody who has a bad or a small house, even the lowest mechanic. he has done the same at berlin." altogether, his majesty's building operations are astonishing. and "from whence does this money come, after a long expensive war? it is all fairyland and enchantment,"--magnum vectigal parsimonia, in fact!... "at berlin here, i saw the porcelain manufacture to-day, which is greatly improved. i leave presently. adieu, dear brother; excuse my endless letter [since you cannot squeeze the water out of it, as some will!]--yours most sincerely, "henry seymour conway." keith is now minister at dresden for some years back; and has, among other topics, much to say of our brilliant friend the electress there: but his grand diplomatic feat was at copenhagen, on a sudden sally out thither (in ): [in keith, i. &c., nothing of intelligible narrative given, hardly the date discoverable.] the saving of queen matilda, youngest sister of george third, from a hard doom. unfortunate queen matilda; one never knows how guilty, or whether guilty at all, but she was very unfortunate, poor young lady! what with a mad husband collapsed by debaucheries into stupor of insanity; what with a doctor, gradually a prime minister, struensee, wretched scarecrow to look upon, but wiser than most danes about; and finally, with a lynx-eyed step-sister, whose son, should matilda mistake, will inherit,--unfortunate matilda had fallen into the awfulest troubles; got divorced, imprisoned, would have lost her head along with scarecrow struensee had not her brother george iii. emphatically intervened,--excellency keith, with seventy-fours in the distance, coming out very strong on the occasion,--and got her loose. loose from danish axe and jail, at any rate; delivered into safety and solitude at celle in hanover, where she now is,--and soon after suddenly dies of fever, so closing a very sad short history. excellency keith, famed in the diplomatic circles ever since, is at present ahead of conway on their joint road to the austrian reviews. before giving conway's second letter, let us hear keith a little on his kinsman the old marischal, whom he saw at berlin years ago, and still occasionally corresponds with, and mentions in his correspondence. keith loquitur; date is dresden, february, :-- has visited the old marischal at potsdam lately.... "my stay of three days with lord marischal.... he is the most innocent of god's creatures; and his heart is much warmer than his head. the place of his abode," i must say, "is the very temple of dulness; and his female companion [a poor turk foundling, a perishing infant flung into his late brother's hands at the fall of oczakow, [supra, vii. .]--whom the marischal has carefully brought up, and who refuses to marry away from him,--rather stupid, not very pretty by the portraits; must now be two-and-thirty gone] is perfectly calculated to be the priestess of it! yet he dawdles away his day in a manner not unpleasant to him; and i really am persuaded he has a conscience that would gild the inside of a dungeon. the feats of our bare-legged warriors in the late war [berg-schotten, among whom i was a colonel], accompanied by a pibrach [elegiac bagpipe droning more suo] in his outer room, have an effect on the old don, which would delight you." [keith, i. ; "dresden, th february, :" to his sister in scotland.] and then seen him in berlin, on the same occasion.... "lord marischal came to meet me at sir andrew's [mitchell's, in berlin, the last year of the brave mitchell's life], where we passed five days together. my visit to his country residence," as you already know, "was of three days; and i had reason to be convinced that it gave the old don great pleasure. he talked to me with the greatest openness and confidence of all the material incidents of his life; and hinted often that the honor of the clan was now to be supported by our family, for all of whom he had the greatest esteem. his taste, his ideas, and his manner of living, are a mixture of aberdeenshire and the kingdom of valencia; and as he seeks to make no new friends, he seems to retain a strong, though silent, attachment for his old ones. as to his political principles, i believe him the most sincere of converts" to whiggery and orthodoxy.... "since i began this, i have had a most inimitable letter from lord marischal. i had mentioned dr. bailies to him [noted english doctor at dresden, bent on inoculating and the like], and begged he would send me a state of his case and infirmities, that the doctor might prescribe for him. this is a part of his answer:-- "'i thank you for your advice of consulting the english doctor to repair my old carcass. i have lately done so by my old coach, and it is now almost as good as new. please, therefore, to tell the doctor, that from him i expect a good repair, and shall state the case. first, he must know that the machine is the worse for wear, being nearly eighty years old. the reparation i propose he shall begin with is: one pair of new eyes, one pair of new ears, some improvement on the memory. when this is done, we shall ask new legs, and some change in the stomach. for the present, this first reparation will be sufficient; and we must not trouble the doctor too much at once.'--you see by this how easy his lordship's infirmities sit upon him; and it is really so as he says. your friend sir andrew is, i am afraid, less gay; but i have not heard from him these three months." [keith, i. , ; "dresden, th march, :" to his father.] conway to keith, on the late three days at potsdam. [date, "dresden, st july, :" in keith, ii. .] "i stayed three days at potsdam, with much entertainment, for good part of which i am obliged to your excellency's old friend lord marischal, who showed me all the kindness and civility possible. he stopped me as i passed, and not only made me dine with him that day, but in a manner live with him. he is not at all blind, as you imagined; so much otherwise, that i saw him read, without spectacles, a difficult hand i could not easily decipher.... stayed but a day at berlin;" am rushing after you:--here is my second letter:-- conway's second letter (to his brother, as before). "schmelwitz [near breslau] head-quarters, august st, . "dear brother... i left that camp [austrian camp, and reviews in hungary, where the kaiser and everybody had been very gracious to me] with much regret." parted regretfully with keith;--had played, at presburg, in sight of him and fourteen other englishmen, a game with the chess automaton [brand-new miracle, just out]; [account of it, and of this game, in keith too (ii. ; "view, d september, :" keith to his father).]--came on through vienna hitherward, as fast as post-horses could carry us; travelling night and day, without stopping, being rather behind time. "arrived at breslau near dark, last night; where i learnt that the camp was twenty miles off; that the king was gone there, and that the manoeuvres would begin at four or five this morning. i therefore ordered my chaise at twelve at night, and set out, in darkness and rain, to be presented to the king of prussia next morning at five, at the head of his troops.... when i arrived, before five, at the place called 'head-quarters,' i found myself in the middle of a miserable village [this schmelwitz here]; no creature alive or stirring, nor a sentinel, or any military object to be seen.... as soon as anything alive was to be found, we asked, if the king was lodged in that village? 'yes,' they said, 'in that house' (pointing to a clay hovel). but general lentulus soon appeared; and-- "his majesty has been very gracious; asked me many questions about my tour to hungary. i saw all the troops pass him as they arrived in camp. they made a very fine appearance really, though it rained hard the whole time we were out; and as his majesty [age ] did not cloak, we were all heartily wet. and, what was worse, went from the field to orders [giving out of parole, and the like] at his quarters, there to make our bow;--where we stayed in our wet clothes an hour and half [towards a.m. by this time].... how different at the emperor's, when his imperial majesty and everybody was cloaked! [got no hurt by the wet, strange to say.] ... these are our news to this day. and now, having sat up five nights out of the last six, and been in rain and dirt almost all day, i wish you sincerely good-night.--h. s. c. "p.s. breslau, th september.--... my prussian campaign is finished, and as much to my satisfaction as possible. the beauty and order of the troops, their great discipline, their" &c. &c., "almost pass all belief.... yesterday we were on horseback early, at four o'clock. the movement was conducted with a spirit and order, on both sides, that was astonishing, and struck the more delightful (sic) by the variety, as in the course of the action the enemy, conducted by general anhalt [head all right as yet], took three different positions before his final retreat. "the moment it was over [nine o'clock or so], his majesty got a fresh horse, and set out for potsdam, after receiving the compliments of those present, or rather holding a kind of short levee in the field. i can't say how much, in my particular, i am obliged to his majesty for his extraordinary reception, and distinction shown me throughout. each day after the manoeuvre, and giving the orders of the day, he held a little levee at the door, or in the court; at which, i can assure you, it is not an exaggeration of vanity to say, that he not only talked to me, but literally to nobody else at all. it was a good deal each time, and as soon as finished he made his bow, and retired, though all, or most, of the other foreigners were standing by, as well as his own generals. he also called me up, and spoke to me several times on horseback, when we were out, which he seldom did to anybody. "the prince royal also showed me much civility. the second day, he asked me to come and drink a dish of tea with him after dinner, and kept me an hour and half. he told me, among other things, that the king of prussia had a high opinion of me, and that it came chiefly from the favorable manner in which duke ferdinand and the hereditary prince [of brunswick] had spoken of me.... pray let horace walpole know my address, that i may have all the chance i can of hearing from him. but if he comes to paris, i forgive him.--h. s. c." friedrich's reviews, though fine to look upon, or indeed the finest in the world, were by no means of spectacular nature; but of altogether serious and practical, almost of solemn and terrible, to the parties interested. like the strictest college examination for degrees, as we said; like a royal assize or doomsday of the year; to military people, and over the upper classes of berlin society, nothing could be more serious, major kaltenborn, an ex-prussian officer, presumably of over-talkative habits, who sounds on us like a very mess-room of the time all gathered under one hat,--describes in an almost awful manner the kind of terror with which all people awaited these annual assizes for trial of military merit. "what a sight," says he, "and awakening what thoughts, that of a body of from , to , soldiers, in solemn silence and in deepest reverence, awaiting their fate from one man! a review, in friedrich's time, was an important moment for almost the whole country. the fortune of whole families often depended on it: from wives, mothers, children and friends, during those terrible three days, there arose fervent wishes to heaven, that misfortune might not, as was too frequently the case, befall their husbands, fathers, sons and friends, in the course of them. here the king, as it were, weighed the merits of his officers, and distributed, according as he found them light or heavy, praise or blame, rebukes or favors; and often, too often, punishments, to be felt through life. one single unhappy moment [especially if it were the last of a long series of such!] often deprived the bravest officer of his bread, painfully earned in peace and war, and of his reputation and honor, at least in the eyes of most men, who judge of everything only by its issue. the higher you had risen, the easier and deeper your fall might be at an unlucky review. the heads and commanders of regiments were always in danger of being sent about their business (weggejagt)." the fact is, i kaltenborn quitted the prussian service, and took hessian,--being (presumably) of exaggerative, over-talkative nature, and strongly gravitating opposition way!--kaltenborn admits that the king delighted in nothing so much as to see people's faces cheerful about him; provided the price for it were not too high. here is another passage from him:-- "at latest by in the morning the day's manoeuvre had finished, and everything was already in its place again. straight from the ground all heads of regiments, the majors-de-jour, all aides-de-camp, and from every battalion one officer, proceed to head-quarters. it was impossible to speak more beautifully, or instructively, than the king did on such occasions, if he were not in bad humor. it was then a very delight to hear him deliver a military lecture, as it were. he knew exactly who had failed, what caused the fault, and how it might and should have been retrieved. his voice was soft and persuasive (hinreissend); he looked kindly, and appeared rather bent upon giving good advice than commands. "thus, for instance, he once said to general van lossow, head of the black hussars: 'your (seine) attack would have gone very well, had not your own squadron pressed forward too much (vorgeprellt). the brave fellows wanted to show me how they can ride. but don't i know that well enough;--and also that you [covetous lossow] always choose the best horses from the whole remount for your own squadron! there was, therefore, no need at all for that. tell your people not to do so to-morrow, and you will see it will go much better; all will remain closer in their places, and the left wing be able to keep better in line, in coming on.'--another time, having observed, in a certain foot-regiment, that the soldiers were too long in getting out their cartridges, he said to the commandant: 'do you know the cause of this, my dear colonel? look, the cartouche, in the cartridge-box, has holes; into these the fellow sticks his eight cartridges, without caring how: and so the poor devil fumbles and gropes about, and cannot get hold of any. but now, if the officers would look to it that he place them all well together in the middle of the cartouche, he would never make a false grasp, and the loading would go as quick again. only tell your officers that i had made this observation, and i am sure they will gladly attend to it.'" [anonymous (kaltenborn), _briefe eines alten preussischen officiers_ (hohenzollern, ), ii. - .] of humane consolatory anecdotes, in this kind, our opposition kaltenborn gives several; of the rhadamanthine desolating or destructive kind, though such also could not be wanting, if your assize is to be good for anything, he gives us none. and so far as i can learn, the effective punishments, dismissals and the like, were of the due rarity and propriety; though the flashes of unjust rebuke, fulminant severity, lightnings from the gloom of one's own sorrows and ill-humor, were much more frequent, but were seldom--i do not know if ever--persisted in to the length of practical result. this is a rhadamanthus much interested not to be unjust, and to discriminate good from bad! of ziethen there are two famous review anecdotes, omitted and omissible by kaltenborn, so well known are they: one of each kind. at a certain review, year not ascertainable,--long since, prior to the seven-years war,--the king's humor was of the grimmest, nothing but faults all round; to ziethen himself, and the ziethen hussars, he said various hard things, and at length this hardest: "out of my sight with you!" [madame de blumenthal, _life of ziethen,_ i. .] upon which ziethen--a stratum of red-hot kindling in ziethen too, as was easily possible--turns to his hussars, "right about, rechts um: march!" and on the instant did as bidden. disappeared, double-quick; and at the same high pace, in a high frame of mind, rattled on to berlin, home to his quarters, and there first drew bridle. "turn; for heaven's sake, bethink you!" said more than one friend whom he met on the road: but it was of no use. everybody said, "ziethen is ruined;" but ziethen never heard of the thing more. anecdote second is not properly of a review, but of an incidental parade of the guard, at berlin ( th december, ), by the king in person: parade, or rather giving out of the parole after it, in the king's apartments; which is always a kind of military levee as well;--and which, in this instance, was long famous among the berlin people. king is just arrived for carnival season; old ziethen will not fail to pay his duty, though climbing of the stairs is heavy to a man of gone. this is madam blumenthal's narrative (corrected, as it needs, in certain points):-- "saturday, th december, , ziethen, in spite of the burden of eighty-six years, went to the palace, at the end of the parade, to pay his sovereign this last tribute of respect, and to have the pleasure of seeing him after six months' absence. the parole was given out, the orders imparted to the generals, and the king had turned towards the princes of the blood,--when he perceived ziethen on the other side of the hall, between his son and his two aides-de-camp. surprised in a very agreeable manner at this unexpected sight, he broke out into an exclamation of joy; and directly making up to him,--'what, my good old ziethen, are you there!' said his majesty: 'how sorry am i that you have had the trouble of walking up the staircase! i should have called upon you myself. how have you been of late?' 'sire,' answered ziethen, (my health is not amiss, my appetite is good; but my strength! my strength!) 'this account,' replied the king, 'makes me happy by halves only: but you must be tired;--i shall have a chair for you.' [thing unexampled in the annals of royalty!] a chair," on order to ziethen's aides-de-camp, "was quickly brought. ziethen, however, declared that he was not at all fatigued: the king maintained that he was. 'sit down, good father (mein lieber alter papa ziethen, setze er sich doch)!' continued his majesty: 'i will have it so; otherwise i must instantly leave the room; for i cannot allow you to be incommoded under my own roof.' the old general obeyed, and friedrich the great remained standing before him, in the midst of a brilliant circle that had thronged round them. after asking him many questions respecting his hearing, his memory and the general state of his health, he at length took leave of him in these words: 'adieu, my dear ziethen [it was his last adieu!]--take care not to catch cold; nurse yourself well, and live as long as you can, that i may often have the pleasure of seeing you.' after having said this, the king, instead of speaking to the other generals, and walking through the saloons, as usual, retired abruptly, and shut himself up in his closet." [blumenthal, ii. ; _militair-lexikon,_ iv. . chodowiecki has made an engraving of this scene; useful to look at for its military portraits, if of little esteem otherwise. strangely enough, both in blumenthal and in chodowiecki's engraving the year is given as (plainly impossible); _militair-lexikon_ misprints the month; and, one way or other, only rodenbeck (iii. ) is right in both day and year.] following in date these small conway phenomena, if these, so extraneous and insignificant, can have any glimmer of memorability to readers, are two other occurrences, especially one other, which come in at this part of the series, and greatly more require to be disengaged from the dust-heaps, and presented for remembrance. in , the king had a fit of illness; which long occupied certain gazetteers and others. that is the first occurrence of the two, and far the more important. he himself says of it, in his history, all that is essential to us here:-- "towards the end of , the king was attacked by several strong consecutive fits of gout. van swieten, a famous doctor's son, and minister of the imperial court at berlin, took it into his head that this gout was a declared dropsy; and, glad to announce to his court the approaching death of an enemy that had been dangerous to it, boldly informed his kaiser that the king was drawing to his end, and would not last out the year. at this news the soul of joseph flames into enthusiasm; all the austrian troops are got on march, their rendezvous marked in bohemia; and the kaiser waits, full of impatience, at vienna, till the expected event arrives; ready then to penetrate at once into saxony, and thence to the frontiers of brandenburg, and there propose to the king's successor the alternative of either surrendering silesia straightway to the house of austria, or seeing himself overwhelmed by austrian troops before he could get his own assembled. all these things, which were openly done, got noised abroad everywhere; and did not, as is easy to believe, cement the friendship of the two courts. to the public this scene appeared the more ridiculous, as the king of prussia, having only had a common gout in larger dose than common, was already well of it again, before the austrian army had got to their rendezvous. the kaiser made all these troops return to their old quarters; and the court of vienna had nothing but mockery for its imprudent conduct." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ vi. .] the first of these gout-attacks seems to have come in the end of september, and to have lasted about a month; after which the illness abated, and everybody thought it was gone. the kaiser-joseph evolution must have been in october, and have got its mockery in the next months. friedrich, writing to voltaire, october d, has these words:... "a pair of charming letters from ferney; to which, had they been from the great demiurgus himself, i could not have dictated answer. gout held me tied and garroted for four weeks;--gout in both feet and in both hands; and, such its extreme liberality, in both elbows too: at present the pains and the fever have abated, and i feel only a very great exhaustion." [ib. xxv. .] "four consecutive attacks; hope they are now all over;" but we read, within the spring following, that there have been in all twelve of them; and in may, , the newspapers count eighteen quasi-consecutive. so that in reality the king's strength was sadly reduced; and his health, which did not recover its old average till about , continued, for several years after this bad fit, to be a constant theme of curiosity to the gazetteer species, and a matter of solicitude to his friends and to his enemies. of the kaiser's immense ambition there can be no question. he is stretching himself out on every side; "seriously wishing," thinks friedrich, "that he could 'revivify the german reich,'"--new barbarossa in improved fixed form; how noble! certainly, to king friedrich's sad conviction, "the austrian court is aiming to swallow all manner of dominions that may fall within its grasp." wants bosnia and servia in the east; longs to seize certain venetian territories, which would unite trieste and the milanese to the tyrol. is throwing out hooks on modena, on the ferrarese, on this and on that. looking with eager eyes on bavaria,--the situation of which is peculiar; the present kur-baiern being elderly, childless; and his heir the like, who withal is already kur-pfalz, and will unite the two electorates under one head; a thing which austria regards with marked dislike. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ vi. .] these are anxious considerations to a king in friedrich's sick state. in his private circle, too, there are sorrows: death of fouquet, death of quintus icilius, of seidlitz, quantz (good old quantz, with his fine flutings these fifty years, and the still finer memories he awoke! [friedrich's teacher of the flute; procured for him by his mother (supra vi. ).]),--latterly an unusual number of deaths. the ruggedly intelligent quintus, a daily companion, and guest at the supper-table, died few months before this fit of gout; and must have been greatly missed by friedrich. fouquet, at brandenburg, died last year: his benefactor in the early custrin distresses, his "bayard," and chosen friend ever since; how conspicuously dear to friedrich to the last is still evident. a friedrich getting lonely enough, and the lights of his life going out around him;--has but one sure consolation, which comes to him as compulsion withal, and is not neglected, that of standing steadfast to his work, whatever the mood and posture be. the event of is czarowitsh paul's arrival in berlin, and betrothal to a second wife there; his first having died in childbirth lately. the first had been of friedrich's choosing, but had behaved ill,--seduced by spanish-french diplomacies, by this and that, poor young creature:--the second also was of friedrich's choosing, and a still nearer connection: figure what a triumphant event! event now fallen dead to every one of us; and hardly admitting the smallest note,--except for chronology's sake, which it is always satisfactory to keep clear:-- "czarowitsh paul's first wife, the hessen-darmstadt princess of three, died of her first child april th, : everybody whispered, 'it is none of paul's!' who, nevertheless, was inconsolable, the wild heart of him like to break on the occurrence. by good luck, prince henri had set out, by invitation, on a second visit to petersburg; and arrived there also on april th, [rodenbeck, iii. - .] the very day of the fatality. prince henri soothed, consoled the poor czarowitsh; gradually brought him round; agreed with his czarina mother, that he must have a new wife; and dexterously fixed her choice on a 'niece of the king's and henri's.' eldest daughter of eugen of wurtemberg, of whom, as an excellent general, though also as a surly husband, readers have some memory; now living withdrawn at mumpelgard, the wurtemberg apanage [montbeillard, as the french call it], in these piping times of peace:--she is the princess. to king friedrich's great surprise and joy. the mumpelgard principalities, and fortunate princess, are summoned to berlin. czarowitsh paul, under henri's escort, and under gala and festivities from the frontier onward, arrived in berlin st july, ; was betrothed to his wurtemberg princess straightway; and after about a fortnight of festivities still more transcendent, went home with her to petersburg; and was there wedded, th october following;--czar and czarina, she and he, twenty years after, and their posterity reigning ever since. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ vi. - .] "at vienna," says the king, "everybody was persuaded the czarowitsh would never come to berlin. prince kaunitz had been,"--been at his old tricks again, playing his sharpest, in the court of petersburg again: what tricks (about poland and otherwise) let us not report, for it is now interesting to nobody. of the czarowitsh visit itself i will remark only,--what seems to be its one chance of dating itself in any of our memories,--that it fell out shortly after the sherlock dinner with voltaire (in , april th the one event, july st the other);--and that here is, by pure accident, the exuberant erratic sherlock, once more, and once only, emerging on us for a few moments!-- exuberant sherlock and eleven other english are presented to friedrich on a court occasion ( th october, ); and two of them get spoken to, and speak each a word. excellency hugh elliot is their introducer. harris, afterwards earl of malmesbury, succeeded mitchell at berlin; "polish troubles" (heartily indifferent to england), "dantzig squabbles" (miraculously important there),--nothing worth the least mention now. excellency harris quitted berlin in autumn, ; gave place to an excellency hugh elliot (one of the minto elliots, brother of the first earl of minto, and himself considerably noted in the world), of whom we have a few words to say. elliot has been here since april, ; stays some five years in this post;--with not much diplomatic employment, i should think, but with a style of general bearing and social physiognomy, which, with some procedures partly incidental as well, are still remembered in berlin. something of spying, too, doubtless there was; bribing of menials, opening of letters: i believe a great deal of that went on; impossible to prevent under the carefulest of kings. [an ingenious young friend of mine, connected with legationary business, found lately, at the hague, a consecutive series, complete for four or five years (i think, from onwards), of friedrich's letters to his minister in london,--copies punctually filched as they went through the post-office there:--specimens of which i saw; and the whole of which i might have seen, had it been worth the effort necessary. but friedrich's london minister, in this case, was a person of no significance or intimacy; and the king's letters, though strangely exact, clear and even elucidative on english court-politics and vicissitudes, seemed to be nearly barren as to prussian.] hitherto, with one exception to be mentioned presently, his main business seems to have been that of introducing, on different court-days, a great number of travelling english, who want to see the king, and whom the king little wants, but quietly submits to. incoherent sherlock, whom we discover to have been of the number, has, in his tawdry disjointed book, this passage:-- "the last time of my seeing him [this hero-king of my heart] was at berlin [not a hint of the time when]. he came thither to receive the adieus of the baron de swieten, minister from their imperial majesties [thank you; that means th october, [rodenbeck, iii. .]], and to give audience to the new minister, the count cobenzl. the foreign ministers, the persons who were to be presented [we, for instance], and the military, were all that were at court. we were ten english [thirteen by tale]: the king spoke to the first and the last; not on account of their situation, but because their names struck him. the first was major dalrymple. to him the king said: 'you have been presented to me before?' 'i ask your majesty's pardon; it was my uncle' (lord dalrymple, of whom presently). mr. pitt [unknown to me which pitt, subsequent lord camelford or another] was the last. the king: 'are you a relation of lord chatham's?' 'yes, sire.'--'he is a man whom i highly esteem' [read "esteemed"]. "he then went to the foreign ministers; and talked more to prince dolgorucki, the russian ambassador, than to any other. in the midst of his conversation with this prince, he turned abruptly to mr. elliot, the english minister, and asked: 'what is the duchess of kingston's family name?' this transition was less pindaric than it appears; he had just been speaking of the court of petersburg, and that lady was then there." [sherlock, ii. .] whereupon sherlock hops his ways again; leaving us considerably uncertain. but, by a curious accident, here, at first-hand, is confirmation of the flighty creature;--a letter from excellency elliot himself having come our way:-- to william eden, esquire (of the foreign office, london; elliot's brother-in-law; afterwards lord auckland). "berlin, th october, . "my dear eden,--if you are waiting upon the pinnacle of all impatience to give me news from the howes [out on their then famous "seizure of philadelphia," which came to what we know!], i am waiting with no less impatience to receive it, and think every other subject too little interesting to be mentioned. i must, however, tell you, the king has been here; ["came to berlin th october," on the van-swieten errand; "saw princess amelia twice; and on the th returned to potsdam" (rodenbeck, iii. ).] to the astonishment of all croakers, hearty and in high spirits. he was very civil to all of us. i was attended by one dozen english, which nearly completes my half-hundred this season. pitt made one of the twelve, and was particularly distinguished. king: _"monsieur est-il parent de mylord chatham?'_ pitt: _'oui, sire.'_ king: _'c'est un homme que j'ai beaucoup estime.'_ "you have no idea of the joy the people expressed to see the king on horseback,--all the grub-street nonsense of 'a country groaning under the weight of its burdens,' of 'a nation governed with a rod of iron,' vanished before the sincere acclamations of all ranks, who joined in testifying their enthusiasm for their great monarch. i long for harris and company [excellency harris; making for russia, i believe]; they are to pig together in my house; so that i flatter myself with having a near view, if not a taste, of connubial joys. my love to e and _e_ [your big _e_leanor and your little, a baby in arms, who are my sister and niece;--pretty, this!]. your most affectionate, h. e. "p.s. i quite forgot to tell you, i sent out a servant some time ago to england to bring a couple of horses. he will deliver some packets to you; which i beg you will send, with lord marischal's compliments, to their respective addresses. there is also a china cup for mr. macnamara, lawyer, in the temple or lincoln's inn, from the same person [lively old gentleman, age gone; did die next year]. what does eleanor mean about my congratulatory letter to lord suffolk [our foreign secretary, on his marriage lately]? i wished his lordship, most sincerely, every happiness in his new state, as soon as i knew of it. i beg, however, eleanor will do the like;--and although it is not my system to 'congratulate' anybody upon marriage, yet i never fail to wish them what, i think, it is always two to one they do not obtain." [eden-house correspondence (part of which, not this, has been published in late years).] as to the dalrymple of sherlock, read this (friedrich to d'alembert, two years before [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxv. : th august, .]):... "a mylord of wonderful name [lord dalrymple, if i could remember it], of amiable genius (au nom baroque, a l'esprit aimable), gave me a letter on your part. 'ah, how goes the prince of philosophers, then? is he gay; is he busy; did you see him often?' to which the mylord: 'i? no; i am straight from london!'"--"quoi donc--?" in short, knowing my anaxagoras, this mylord preferred to be introduced by him; and was right: "one of the amiablest englishmen i have seen; i except only the name, which i shall never remember [but do, on this new occasion]: why doesn't he get himself unchristened of it, and take that of stair, which equally belongs to him?" (earl of stair by and by; nephew, or grand-nephew, of the great earl of stair, once so well known to some of us. becomes english minister here in , if we much cared.) that word of reminiscence about pitt is worth more attention. not spoken lightly, but with meaning and sincerity; something almost pathetic in it, after the sixteen years separation: "a man whom i much esteemed,"--and had good reason to do so! pitt's subsequent sad and bright fortunes, from the end of the seven-years war and triumphant summing up of the jenkins's-ear question, are known to readers. his burton-pynsent meed of honor (estate of , pounds a year bequeathed him by an aged patriot, "let this bit of england go a noble road!"); his lofty silences, in the world political; his vehement attempts in it, when again asked to attempt, all futile,--with great pain to him, and great disdain from him:--his passionate impatiences on minor matters, "laborers [ornamenting burton-pynsent park, in somersetshire] planting trees by torchlight;" "kitchen people [at hayes in north kent, house still to be seen] roasting a series of chickens, chicken after chicken all day, that at any hour, within ten minutes, my lord may dine!"--these things dwell in the memory of every worthy reader. here, saved from my poor friend smelfungus (nobody knows how much of him i suppress), is a brief jotting, in the form of rough memoranda, if it be permissible:-- "pitt four years king; lost in quicksands after that; off to bath, from gout, from semi-insanity; 'india should pay, but how?' lost in general-warrants, in wilkes controversies, american revolts,--generally, in shallow quicksands;--dies at his post, but his post had become a delirious one. "a delicate, proud, noble man; pure as refined gold. something sensitive, almost feminine in him; yet with an edge, a fire, a steadiness; liker friedrich, in some fine principal points, than any of his contemporaries. the one king england has had, this king of four years, since the constitutional system set in. oliver cromwell, yes indeed,--but he died, and there was nothing for it but to hang his body on the gallows. dutch william, too, might have been considerable,--but he was dutch, and to us proved to be nothing. then again, so long as sarah jennings held the queen's majesty in bondage, some gleams of kinghood for us under marlborough:--after whom noodleism and somnambulism, zero on the back of zero, and all our affairs, temporal, spiritual and eternal, jumbling at random, which we call the career of freedom, till pitt stretched out his hand upon them. for four years; never again, he; never again one resembling him,--nor indeed can ever be. "never, i should think. pitts are not born often; this pitt's ideas could occur in the history of mankind once only. stranger theory of society, completely believed in by a clear, sharp and altogether human head, incapable of falsity, was seldom heard of in the world. for king: open your mouth, let the first gentleman that falls into it (a mass of hanover stolidity, stupidity, foreign to you, heedless of you) be king: supreme majesty he, with hypothetical decorations, dignities, solemn appliances, high as the stars (the whole, except the money, a mendacity, and sin against heaven): him you declare sent-of-god, supreme captain of your england; and having done so,--tie him up (according to pitt) with constitutional straps, so that he cannot stir hand or foot, for fear of accidents: in which state he is fully cooked; throw me at his majesty's feet, and let me bless heaven for such a pillar of cloud by day. "pitt, closely as i could scrutinize, seems never to have doubted in his noble heart but he had some reverence for george ii. 'reverenced his office,' says a simple reader? alas, no, my friend, man does not 'reverence office,' but only sham-reverences it. i defy him to reverence anything but a man filling an office (with or without salary) nobly. filling a noble office ignobly; doing a celestial task in a quietly infernal manner? it were kinder perhaps to run your sword through him (or through yourself) than to take to revering him! if inconvenient to slay him or to slay yourself (as is oftenest likely),--keep well to windward of him; be not, without necessity, partaker of his adventures in this extremely earnest universe!... "no; nature does not produce many pitts:--nor will any pitt ever again apply in parliament for a career. 'your voices, your most sweet voices; ye melodious torrents of gadarenes swine, galloping rapidly down steep places, i, for one; know whither i'"...--enough. about four months before this time, elliot had done a feat, not in the diplomatic line at all, or by his own choice at all, which had considerably astonished the diplomatic world at berlin, and was doubtless well in the king's thoughts during this introduction of the dozen. the american war is raging and blundering along,--a delectable lord george germaine (alias sackville, no other than our old minden friend) managing as war-minister, others equally skilful presiding at the parliamentary helm; all becoming worse and worse off, as the matter proceeds. the revolted colonies have their franklins, lees, busy in european courts: "help us in our noble struggle, ye european courts;, now is your chance on tyrannous england!" to which france at least does appear to be lending ear. lee, turned out from vienna, is at work in berlin, this while past; making what progress is uncertain to some people. i know not whether it was by my lord suffolk's instigation, or what had put the britannic cabinet on such an idea,--perhaps the stolen letters of friedrich, which show so exact a knowledge of the current of events in america as well as england ("knows every step of it, as if he were there himself, the arch-enemy of honest neighbors in a time of stress!")--but it does appear they had got it into their sagacious heads that the bad neighbor at berlin was, in effect, the arch-enemy, probably mainspring of the whole matter; and that it would be in the highest degree interesting to see clearly what lee and he had on hand. order thereupon to elliot: "do it, at any price;" and finally, as mere price will not answer, "do it by any method,--steal lee's despatch-box for us!" perhaps few excellencies living had less appetite for such a job than elliot; but his orders were peremptory, "lee is a rebel, quasi-outlaw; and you must!" elliot thereupon took accurate survey of the matter; and rapidly enough, and with perfect skill, though still a novice in berlin affairs, managed to do it. privily hired, or made his servant hire, the chief housebreaker or pickpocket in the city: "lee lodges in such and such a hostelry; bring us his red-box for a thirty hours; it shall be well worth your while!" and in brief space the red-box arrives, accordingly; a score or two of ready-writers waiting for it, who copy all day, all night, at the top of their speed, till they have enough: which done, the lee red-box is left on the stairs of the lee tavern; box locked again, and complete; only the friedrich-lee secrets completely pumped out of it, and now rushing day and night towards england, to illuminate the supreme council-board there. this astonishing mass of papers is still extant in england; [in the eden-house archives; where a natural delicacy (unaware that the questionable legationary fact stands in print for so many years past) is properly averse to any promulgation of them.]--the outside of them i have seen, by no means the inside, had i wished it;--but am able to say from other sources, which are open to all the world, that seldom had a supreme council-board procured for itself, by improper or proper ways, a discovery of less value! discovery that lee has indeed been urgent at berlin; and has raised in friedrich the question, "have you got to such a condition that i can, with safety and advantage, make a treaty of commerce with you?"--that his minister schulenburg has, by order, been investigating lee on that head; and has reported, "no, your majesty, lee and people are not in such a condition;" that his majesty has replied, "well, let him wait till they are;" and that lee is waiting accordingly. in general, that his majesty is not less concerned in guidance or encouragement of the american war than he is in ditto of the atlantic tides or of the east-wind (though he does keep barometers and meteorological apparatus by him); and that we of the council-board are a--what shall i say! not since the case of poor dr. cameron, in , when friedrich was to have joined the highlanders with , chosen prussians for jacobite purposes,--and the cham of tartary to have taken part in the bangorian controversy,--was there a more perfect platitude, or a deeper depth of ignorance as to adjacent objects on the part of governing men. for shame, my friends!-- this surprising bit of burglary, so far as i can gather from the prussian books, must have been done on wednesday, june th, ; box (with essence pumped out) restored to staircase night of thursday,--police already busy, governor ramin and justice-president philippi already apprised, and suspicion falling on the english minister,--whose servant ("arrest him we cannot without a king's warrant, only procurable at potsdam!") vanishes bodily. friday, th, ramin and philippi make report; king answers, "greatly astonished:" a "garstige sache (ugly business), which will do the english no honor:" "servant fled, say you? trace it to the bottom; swift!" excellency elliot, seeing how matters lay, owned honestly to the official people, that it was his servant (servant safe gone, chief pickpocket not mentioned at all); sunday evening, th, king orders thereupon, "let the matter drop." these official pieces, signed by the king, by hertzberg, ramin and others, we do not give: here is friedrich's own notice of it to his brother henri:-- "potsdam, th june, .... there has just occurred a strange thing at berlin. three days ago, in absence of the sieur lee, envoy of the american colonies, the envoy of england went [sent!] to the inn where lee lodged, and carried off his portfolio; it seems he was in fear, however, and threw it down, without opening it, on the stairs [alas, no, your majesty, not till after pumping the essence out]. all berlin is talking of it. if one were to act with rigor, it would be necessary to forbid this man the court, since he has committed a public theft: but, not to make a noise, i suppress the thing. sha'n't fail, however, to write to england about it, and indicate that there was another way of dealing with such a matter, for they are impertinent" (say, ignorant, blind as moles, your majesty; that is the charitable reading!). [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvi. . in preuss, v. (he calls it "iv." or "urkundenbuch to vol. iv.," but it is really and practically vol. v.) , , are the various official reports.] this was not excellency elliot's burglary, as readers see,--among all the excellencies going, i know not that there is one with less natural appetite for such a job; but sometimes what can a necessitous excellency do? elliot is still remembered in berlin society, not for this only, but for emphatic things of a better complexion which he did; a man more justly estimated there, than generally here in our time. here his chief fame rests on a witty anecdote, evidently apocryphal, and manufactured in the london clubs: "who is this hyder-ali," said the old king to him, one day (according to the london clubs). "hm," answered elliot, with exquisite promptitude, politeness and solidity of information, "c'est un vieux voleur qui commence a radoter (an old robber, now falling into his dotage),"--let his dotard majesty take that. alas, my friends!--ignorance by herself is an awkward lumpish wench; not yet fallen into vicious courses, nor to be uncharitably treated: but ignorance and insolence,--these are, for certain, an unlovely mother and bastard! yes;--and they may depend upon it, the grim parish-beadles of this universe are out on the track of them, and oakum and the correction-house are infallible sooner or later! the clever elliot, who knew a hawk from a hernshaw, never floundered into that platitude. this, however, is a joke of his, better or worse (i think, on his quitting berlin in , without visible resource or outlook): "i am far from having a sans-souci," writes he to the edens; "and i think i am coming to be sans six-sous."--here still are two small fractions, which i must insert; and then rigorously close. kaiser joseph, in these months, is travelling through france to instruct his imperial mind. the following is five weeks anterior to that of lee's red-box:-- . a bit of dialogue at paris (saturday, th may, ). after solemn session of the academie francaise, held in honor of an illustrious comte de falkenstein (privately, kaiser joseph ii.), who has come to look at france, [minute and rather entertaining account of his procedures there, and especially of his two visits to the academy (first was may th), in mayer, _reisen josephs ii._ (leipzig, ), pp. - , et seq.]--comte de falkenstein was graciously pleased to step up to d'alembert, who is perpetual secretary here; and this little dialogue ensued:-- falkenstein. "i have heard you are for germany this season; some say you intend to become german altogether?" d'alembert. "i did promise myself the high honor of a visit to his prussian majesty, who has deigned to invite me, with all the kindness possible: but, alas, for such hopes! the bad state of my health--" falkenstein. "it seems to me you have already been to see the king of prussia?" d'alembert. "two times; once in [ , th- th june,--if you will be exact], at wesel, when i remained only a few days; and again in , when i had the honor to pass three or four months with him. since that time i have always longed to have the honor of seeing his majesty again; but circumstances hindered me. i, above all, regretted not to have been able to pay my court to him that year he saw the emperor at neisse,--but at this moment there is nothing more to be wished on that head" (don't bow: the gentleman is incognito). falkenstein. "it was very natural that the emperor, young, and desiring to instruct himself, should wish to see such a prince as the king of prussia; so great a captain, a monarch of such reputation, and who has played so great a part. it was a scholar going to see his master" (these are his very words, your majesty). d'alembert. "i wish m. le comte de falkenstein could see the letters which the king of prussia did me the honor to write after that interview: it would then appear how this prince judged of the emperor, as all the world has since done." ["d'alembert to friedrich [in _oeuvres de frederic,_ xxv. ], d may, ." ib. xxv. ; " th august, ."] king to d'alembert (three months after. kaiser is home; passed ferney, early in august; and did not call on voltaire, as is well known).... "i hear the comte de falkenstein has been seeing harbors, arsenals, ships, manufactures, and has n't seen voltaire. had i been in the emperor's place, i would not have passed ferney without a glance at the old patriarch, were it only to say that i had seen and heard him. arsenals, ships, manufactures, these you can see anywhere; but it requires ages to produce a voltaire. by the rumors i hear, it will have been a certain great lady theresa, very orthodox and little philosophical, who forbade her son to visit the apostle of tolerance." d'alembert (in answer): "no doubt your majesty's guess is right. it must have been the lady mother. nobody here believes that the advice came from his sister [queen marie antoinette], who, they say, is full of esteem for the patriarch, and has more than once let him know it by third parties." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxv. .] according to friedrich, joseph's reflections in france were very gloomy: "this is all one country; strenuously kneaded into perfect union and incorporation by the old kings: my discordant romish reich is of many countries,--and should be of one, if sovereigns were wise and strenuous!" [_oeuvres de frederic,_ vi. .] . a cabinet-order and actual (fac-simile) signature of friedrich's.--after unknown travels over the world, this poor brown bit of paper, with a signature of friedrich's to it, has wandered hither; and i have had it copied, worthy or not. a royal cabinet-order on the smallest of subjects; but perhaps all the more significant on that account; and a signature which readers may like to see. fordan, or fordon, is in the bromberg department in west preussen,--bromberg no longer a heap of ruins; but a lively, new-built, paved, canalled and industrious trading town. at fordan is a grain-magazine: bein ("leg," der bein, as they slightingly call him) is proviant-master there; and must consider his ways,--the king's eye being on him. readers can now look and understand:-- an den ober-proviantmeister bein, zu fordan. "potsdam, den ten april, . _"seiner koniglicher majestat von preussen, unser allergnadigster herr, lassen dem ober-proviantmeister bein hiebey die getraide-preistabelle des brombergschen departments zufertigen; woraus derselbe ersiehet wie niedrig solche an einigen orthen sind, und dass zu inovraclaw und strezeltnow der scheffel roggen um groschen kostet: da solches nun hier so wohlfeil ist, somuss ja der preis in pohlen noch wohl geringer, und ist daher nicht abzusehen warum die pohlen auf so hohe preise bestehen; der bein muss sich daher nun rechte muhe gebem, und den einkauf so wohlfeil als nur immer mog_ lich zu machen suchen." "his royal majesty of preussen, our most all-gracious lord, lets herewith, to the head proviant-master bein, the grain-prices table of the bromberg department be despatched; wherefrom bein perceives how low in some places these are, and that, at inovraclaw and strezeltnow the bushel of rye costs about pence: now, as it is so cheap there, the price in poland must be still smaller; and therefore it is not to be conceived why the poles demand such high prices," as the said bein reports: "bein therefore is charged to take especial pains, and try not to make the purchase dearer than is indispensable." friedrich's signature here--page , book xxi---- [reference re signature] original kindly furnished me by mr. w. h. doeg, barlow moor, manchester: whose it now is,--purchased in london, a.d. . the frh of german cursiv-schrift (current hand), which the woodcutter has appended, shut off by a square, will show english readers what the king means: an _"frh"_ done as by a flourish of one's stick, in the most compendious and really ingenious manner,--suitable for an economic king, who has to repeat it scores of times every day of his life! chapter vi.--the bavarian war. at the very beginning of , the chronic quarrel with austria passed, by an accident just fallen out, into the acute state; rose gradually, and, in spite of negotiating, issued in a thing called bavarian-succession war, which did not end till spring of the following year. the accident was this. at munchen, december th, , max joseph kurfurst of baiern, only brother of our lively friend the electress-dowager of saxony, died; suddenly, of small-pox unskilfully treated. he was in his fifty-second year; childless, the last of that bavarian branch. his heir is karl theodor, kur-pfalz (elector palatine), who is now to unite the two electorates,--unless austria can bargain with him otherwise. austria's desire to get hold of baiern is of very old standing; and we have heard lately how much it was an object with kaunitz and his young kaiser. with karl theodor they did bargain,--in fact, had beforehand as good as bargained,--and were greatly astonished, when king friedrich, alone of all teutschland or the world, mildly, but peremptorily, interfered, and said no,--with effect, as is well known. something, not much, must be said of this bavarian-succession war; which occupied, at a pitch of tension and anxiety foreign to him for a long time, fifteen months of friedrich's old age (january, -march, ); and filled all europe round him and it, in an extraordinary manner. something; by no means much, now that we have seen the issue of such mountains all in travail. nobody could then say but it bade fair to become a fourth austrian-prussian war, as sanguinary as the seven-years had been; for in effect there stood once more the two nations ranked against each other, as if for mortal duel, near half a million men in whole; parleying indeed, but brandishing their swords, and ever and anon giving mutual clash of fence, as if the work had begun, though there always intervened new parleying first. and now everybody sees that the work never did begin; that parleying, enforced by brandishing, turned out to be all the work there was: and everybody has forgotten it, and, except for specific purposes, demands not to be put in mind of it. mountains in labor were not so frequent then as now, when the penny newspaper has got charge of them; though then as now to practical people they were a nuisance. mountains all in terrific travail-throes, threatening to overset the solar system, have always a charm, especially for the more foolish classes: but when once the birth has taken place, and the wretched mouse ducks past you, or even nothing at all can be seen to duck past, who is there but impatiently turns on his heel? those territories, which adjoin on its own dominions, would have been extremely commodious to austria;--as austria itself has long known; and by repeatedly attempting them on any chance given (as in - , to go no farther back), has shown how well it knows. indeed, the whole of bavaria fairly incorporated and made austrian, what an infinite convenience would it be! "do but look on the map [this note is not by busching, but by somebody of austrian tendencies]: you would say, austria without bavaria is like a human figure with its belly belonging to somebody else. bavaria is the trunk or belly of the austrian dominions, shutting off all the limbs of them each from the other; making for central part a huge chasm. "ober-pfalz,--which used to be kur-pfalz's, which is bavaria's since we took it from the winter-king and bestowed it in that way,--ober-pfalz, the country of amberg, where maillebois once pleased to make invasion of us;--does not it adjoin on the bohemian forest? the ribs there, bohemian all, up to the shoulder, are ours: but the shoulder-blade and left arm, whose are they! austria proper and hungary, these may be taken as sitting-part and lower limbs, ample and fleshy; but see, just above the pelvis, on the south side, how bavaria and its tyrol sticks itself in upon austria, who fancied she also had a tyrol, and far the more important one. our tyrol, our styria, carniola, carinthia,--bavaria blocks these in. then the swabian austria,--breisach, and those upper-rhine countries, from which we invade france,--we cannot reach them except through bavarian ground. swabian austria should be our right arm, fingers of it reaching into switzerland; ober-pfalz our left:--and as to the broad breast between these two; left arm and broad breast are bavaria's, not ours. of the netherlands, which might be called geographically the head of austria, alas, the long neck, lorraine, was once ours; but whose is it? irrecoverable for the present,--perhaps may not always be so!" these are kaunitz's ideas; and the young kaiser has eagerly adopted them as the loadstar of his life. "make the reich a reality again," thinks the kaiser (good, if only possible, think we too); "make austria great; austria is the reich, how else can the reich be real?" in practical politics these are rather wild ideas; but they are really kaunitz's and his kaiser's; and were persisted in long after this bavarian matter got its check: and as a whole, they got repeated checks; being impossible all, and far from the meaning of a time big with french revolution, and with quite other things than world-greatness to austria, and rejuvenescence on such or on any terms to the poor old holy roman reich, which had been a wiggery so long. nobody could guess of what it was that france or the world might be with child: nobody, till the birth in , and even for a generation afterwards. france is weakly and unwieldy, has strange enough longings for chalky, inky, visionary, foolish substances, and may be in the family-way for aught we know. to kaunitz it is pretty clear that france will not stand in his path in this fine little bavarian business; which is all he cares for at present. england in war with its colonies; russia attentive to its turk; foreign nations, what can they do but talk; remonstrate more or less, as they did in the case of poland; and permit the thing with protest? only from one sovereign person, and from him i should guess not much, does kaunitz expect serious opposition: from friedrich of prussia; to whom no enlargement of austria can be matter of indifference. "but cannot we perhaps make it worth his while?" thinks kaunitz: "tush, he is old and broken; thought to be dying; has an absolute horror of war. he too will sit quiet; or we must make it worth his while." in this calculation kaunitz deceived himself; we are now shortly to see how. kaunitz's case, when he brings it before the reich, and general public of mankind and its gazetteers, will by no means prove to be a strong one. his law "title" is this:-- "archduke albert v., of austria, subsequently kaiser albert ii., had married elizabeth, only daughter of kaiser sigismund super-grammaticam: albert is he who got three crowns in one year, hungary, bohemia, romish reich; and 'we hope a fourth,' say the old historians, 'which was a heavenly and eternal one,'--died, in short ( , age forty). from him come the now kaisers. "in , thirteen years before this event of the crowns, sigismund grammaticam had infeoffed him in a thing still of shadowy nature,--the expectancy of a straubingen princedom; pleasant extensive district, only not yet fallen, or like falling vacant: 'you shall inherit, you and yours (who are also my own), so soon as this present line of wittelsbachers die!' said kaiser sigismund, solemnly, in two solemn sheepskins. 'not a whit of it,' would the wittelsbachers have answered, had they known of the affair. 'when we die out, there is another line of wittelsbachers, plenty of other lines; and house-treaties many and old, settling all that, without help of you and albert of the three crowns!' and accordingly there had never come the least fruit, or attempt at fruit, from these two sigismund sheepskins; which were still lying in the vienna archives, where they had lain since the creation of them, known to an antiquary or two, but not even by them thought worthy of mention in this busy world. this was literally all the claim that austria had; and every by-stander admitted it to be, in itself, not worth a rush." "in itself perhaps not," thought kaunitz; "but the free consent of karl theodor the heir, will not that be a title in full? one would hope so; in the present state of europe: france, england, russia, every nation weltering overhead in its own troubles and affairs, little at leisure for ours!" and it is with karl theodor, to make out a full title for himself there, that kaunitz has been secretly busy this long time back, especially in the late critical days of poor kurfurst max. karl theodor of the pfalz, now fallen heir to baiern, is a poor idle creature, of purely egoistic, ornamental, dilettante nature; sunk in theatricals, bastard children and the like; much praised by voltaire, who sometimes used to visit him; and by collini, to whom he is a kind master. karl theodor cares little for the integrity of baiern, much for that of his own skin. very long ago, in , in poor kaiser karl's coronation time, we saw him wedded, him and another, to two fair sister sulzbach princesses, [supra, viii. .] grand-daughters of old karl philip, the then kur-pfalz, whom he has inherited. it was the last act of that never-resting old karl philip, of whom we used to hear so much: "karl theodor to have one of my inestimable grand-daughters; duke clement, younger brother of our blessed new kaiser, to have another; thereby we unite the kindred branches of the pfalz-baiern families, and make the assurance of the heritages doubly sure!" said old karl philip; and died happy, or the happiest he could. readers no doubt have forgotten this circumstance; and, in their total lack of interest in karl theodor and his paltry affairs, may as well be reminded of it;--and furthermore, that these brilliant young wives, "duchess clement" especially, called on wilhelmina during the frankfurt gayeties, and were a charm to kaiser karl albert, striving to look forward across clouds into a glittering future for his house. theodor's princess brought him no children; she and her sister are both still living; a lone woman the latter (duke clement dead these seven years),--a still more lone the former, with such a husband yet living! lone women both, well forward in the fifties; active souls, i should guess, at least to judge by duchess clement, who being a dowager, and mistress of her movements, is emphatic in denouncing such disaster and disgrace; and plays a great part, at munchen, in the agitating scenes now on hand. comes out "like a noble amazon," say the admiring by-standers, on this occasion; stirs whatever faculty she has, especially her tongue; and goes on urging, pushing and contriving all she can, regardless of risks in such an imminency. karl theodor finds his heritages indisputable; but he has no legitimate son to leave them to; and has many illegitimate, whom austria can provide for,--and richly will. his heir is a nephew, karl august christian, of zweibruck; whom perhaps it would not be painful to him to disappoint a little of his high expectations. on the whole, peace; plentiful provision, titular and other, for his illegitimates; and a comfortable sum of ready money over, to enliven the theatricals, dusseldorf picture-galleries and dilettante operations and collections,--how much welcomer to theodor than a baiern never so religiously saved entire at the expense of quarrel, which cannot but be tedious, troublesome and dangerous! honor, indeed--but what, to an old stager in the dilettante line, is honor? old stagers there are who will own to you, like balzac's englishman in a case of conflagration, when honor called on all men to take their buckets, "mais je n'ai point d'honneur!" to whom, unluckily, you cannot answer as in that case, "c'est egal, 't is all one; do as if you had some!" karl theodor scandalously left baiern to its fate. karl theodor's heir, poor august christian of zweibruck, had of course his own gloomy thoughts on this parcelling of his bavarian reversion: but what power has he? none, he thinks, but to take the inevitable patiently. nor generally in the princes of the reich, though one would have thought them personally concerned, were it only for danger of a like mistreatment, was there any emotion publicly expressed, or the least hope of help. "perhaps prussia will quarrel about it?" think they: "austria, prussia, in any of their quarrels we get only crushed; better to keep out of it. we well out of it, the more they quarrel and fight, the better for us!" england, in the shape of hanover, would perhaps have made some effort to interfere, provided france did: on either side, i incline to think,--that is to say, on the side opposite to france. but poor england is engaged with its melancholy american war; france on the point of breaking out into alliance with the insurrection there. neither france nor england did interfere. france is sinking into bankruptcy; intent to have a navy before most things; to assist the cause of human liberty over seas withal, and become a sublime spectacle, and a ruin to england,--not as in the pitt-choiseul time, but by that improved method. russia, again involved in turk business, looks on, with now and then a big word thrown out on the one side and the other.--munchen, in the interval, we can fancy what an agitated city! one note says:-- "kurfurst max joseph being dead ( th december, ), privy councillor johann euchar von obermayr, favorite and factotum minister of the deceased, opened the chatoulle [princely safe, or case of preciosities]; took from it the act, which already lay prepared, for homaging and solemn instalment of karl theodor kur-pfalz, as heir of baiern; with immediate intent to execute the same. euchar orders strict closure of the town-gates; the soldiery to draw out, and beset all streets,--especially that street where imperial majesty's ambassador lives: 'rank close with your backs to that house,' orders euchar; 'and the instant anybody stirs to come out, sound your drums, and, at the same instant, let the rearmost rank of you, without looking round [for one would not give offence, unless imperative] smite the butts of their muskets to the ground' (ready for firing, if imperative). nobody, i think, stirred out from that austrian excellency's house; in any case, obermayr completed his act without the least protest or trouble from anybody; and karl theodor, almost to his terror [for he meant to sell, and satisfy austria, by no means to resist or fight, the paltry old creature, careful of self and skin only], saw himself solemnly secured by all forms of law in all the lands of the deceased. [fischer, _geschichte friedrichs des zweiten_ (halle, ), ii. .] "kaiser joseph, in a fume at this, shot off an express to bohemia: 'such and such regiments, ten or twelve of you, with your artillery and tools, march instantly into straubingen, and occupy that town and district.' at vienna, to the karl-theodor ambassador, the kaunitz officials were altogether loud-voiced, minatory: 'what is this, herr excellenz? bargain already made; lying ready for mere signature; and at munchen such doings. sign this bargain, or there cross your frontier , austrian men, and seize both baiern and the ober-pfalz; bethink you, herr!' the poor herr bethought him, what could he do? signed the bargain, karl theodor sanctioning, d january, ,--the fourth day after obermayr's homaging feat;--and completes the first act of this bad business. the bargain, on theodor's side, was of the most liberal kind: all and sundry the lands and circles of duke johann of straubingen, lordship of mindelheim [marlborough's old place] superadded, and i know not what else; sovereignty of the fiefs in ober-pfalz to lapse to the crown of bohmen on my decease." half bavaria, or better; some reckon it as good as two-thirds. the figure of duchess clement, amazon in hair-powder, driviug incessantly about among the officialities and aristocratic circles; this and the order of "rattle your muskets on the ground;" let these two features represent to us the munchen of those months. munchen, regensburg, vienna are loud with pleading, protocolling; but it is not there that the crisis of the game will be found to lie. friedrich has, for some time back, especially since the late kur-baiern's illness, understood that austria, always eager for a clutch at baiern, had something of that kind in view; but his first positive news of it was a letter from duchess clement (date, january d), which, by the detail of facts, unveiled to his quick eye the true outline, extent and nature of this enterprise of austria's; enterprise which, he could not but agree with duchess clement, was one of great concernment not to baiern alone. "must be withstood; prevented, at whatever risk," thought friedrich on the instant: "the new elector, karl theodor, he probably is dead to the matter; but one ought to ask him. if he answer, dead; then ask his heir, have you no life to it?" heir is a gallant enough young gentleman, of endless pedigree, but small possessions, "karl august christian [karl ii. in official style], duke of zweibruck-birkenfeld," karl theodor's eldest nephew; friedrich judges that he probably will have haggled to sign any austrian convention for dismembering baiern, and that he will start into life upon it so soon as he sees hope. "a messenger to him, to karl theodor and him," thinks friedrich: "a messenger instantly; and who?" for that clearly is the first thing. and a delicate thing it is; requiring to be done in profoundest secrecy, by hint and innuendo rather than speech; by somebody in a cloak of darkness, who is of adroit quality, and was never heard of in diplomatic circles before, not to be suspected of having business of mine on hand. friedrich bethinks him that in a late visit to weimar, he had noticed, for his fine qualities, a young gentleman named gortz; eustace von gortz, [preuss, iv. n. &c.] late tutor to the young duke (karl august, whom readers know as goethe's friend): a wise, firm, adroit-looking young gentleman; who was farther interesting as brother to lieutenant-general von gortz, a respectable soldier of friedrich's. ex-tutor at weimar, we say, and idle for the moment; hanging about court there, till he should find a new function. of this ex-tutor friedrich bethinks him; and in the course of that same day,--for there is no delay,--friedrich, who is at berlin, beckons general gortz to come over to him from potsdam instantly. "hither this evening; and in all privacy meet me in the palace at such an hour" (hour of midnight or thereby); which of course gortz, duly invisible to mankind, does. friedrich explains: an errand to munchen; perfectly secret, for the moment, and requiring great delicacy and address; perhaps not without risk, a timorous man might say: will your brother go for me, think you? gortz thinks he will. "here is his instruction, if so," adds the king, handing him an autograph of the necessary outline of procedure,--not signed, nor with any credential, or even specific address, lest accident happen. "adieu then, herr general-lieutenant; rule is, shoes of swiftness, cloak of darkness: adieu!" and gortz senior is off on the instant, careering towards weimar, where he finds gortz junior, and makes known his errand. gortz junior stares in the natural astonishment; but, after some intense brief deliberation, becomes affirmative, and in a minimum of time is ready and on the road. gortz junior proved to have been an excellent choice on the king's part; and came to good promotion afterwards by his conduct in this affair. gortz junior started for munchen on the instant, masked utterly, or his business masked, from profane eyes; saw this person, saw that, and glided swiftly about, swiftly and with sure aim; and speedily kindled the matter, and had smoke rising in various points. and before january was out, saw the reichs-diet at regensburg, much more the general gazetteerage everywhere, seized of this affair, and thrown into paroxysms at the size and complexion of it: saw, in fact, a world getting into flame,--kindled by whom or what nobody could guess, for a long time to come. gortz had great running about in his cloak of darkness, and showed abundant talent of the kind needed. a pushing, clear-eyed, stout-hearted man; much cleverness and sureness in what he did and forbore to do. his adventures were manifold; he had much travelling about: was at regensburg, at mannheim; saw many persons whom he had to judge of on the instant, and speak frankly to, or speak darkly, or speak nothing; and he made no mistake. one of his best counsellors, i gather, was duchess clement: of course it was not long till duchess clement heard some inkling of him; till, in some of his goings and comings, he saw duchess clement, who hailed him as an angel of light. in one journey more mysterious than ever, "he was three days invisible in duchess clement's garden-house." "ah, madame, que n'etiez-vous electeur, why were not you elector!" writes friedrich to her once: "we should not have seen those shameful events, which every good german must blush for, to the bottom of his heart (dont tout bon allemand doit rougir jusqu'au fond du coeur)!" [preuss, iv. .] we cannot afford the least narrative of gortz and his courses: imagination, from a few traits, will sufficiently conceive them. he had gone first to karl theodor's minister: "dead to it, i fear; has already signed?" alas, yes. upon which to zweibruck the heir's minister; whom his master had distinctly ordered to sign, but who, at his own peril, gallant man, delayed, remonstrated, had not yet done it; and was able to answer: "alive to it, he? yes, with a witness, were there hope in the world!"--which threw gortz upon instant gallop towards zweibruck schloss, in search of said heir, the young duke august christian; who, however, had left in the interim (summoned by his uncle, on austrian urgency, to consent along with him); but whom gortz, by dexterity and intuition of symptoms, caught up by the road, with what a mutual joy! as had been expected, august christian, on sight of gortz, with an armed friedrich looming in the distance, took at once into new courses and activities. from him, no consent now; far other: treaty with friedrich; flat refusal ever to consent: application to the reich, application even to france, and whatever a gallant young fellow could do. it was by friedrich's order that he applied to france; his younger brother, max joseph, was a soldier there, and strove to back him in official and other circles,--who were all friendly, even zealous for him; and gave good words, but had nothing more. this french department of the business was long a delay to friedrich's operations: and in result, poor max's industry there, do what he could, proved rather a minus quantity than otherwise. a good young man, they say; but not the man to kindle into action horses that are dead,--of which he had experience more than once in time coming. he is the same that, years after, having survived his childless elder brother, became king max, first king of baiern; begot ludwig, second king,--who, for his part, has begotten otho king of greece, and done other feats still less worth mentioning. august christian's behavior is praised as excellent,--passively firm and polite; the grand requisite, persistence on your ground of "no:"--but his luck, to find such a friedrich, and also to find such a gortz, was the saving clause for him. friedrich was in very weak health in these months; still considered by the gazetteers to be dying. but it appears he is not yet too weak for taking, on the instant necessary, a world-important resolution; and of being on the road with it, to this issue or to that, at full speed before the day closed. "desist, good neighbor, i beseech you. you must desist, and even you shall:" this resolution was entirely his own; as were the equally prompt arrangements he contrived for executing it, should hard come to hard, and austria prefer war to doing justice. "excellent methods," say the most unfriendly judges, "which must at once have throttled austria into compliance, had he been as prompt in executing them;--which he by no means was. and there lies his error and failure; very lamentable, excusable only by decrepitude of body producing weakness and decay of mind." this is emphatically and wearisomely schmettau's opinion, [f. w. c. graf van schmettau (this is the elder schmettau's son, not the dresdener's whom we used to quote), feldzug der preussischen armee in bohmen im jahre (berlin, ,--simultaneously in french too, with plans): with which--as the completest account by an eager witness and participator--compare always friedrich's own (memoires de la guerre de ), in _oeuvres de frederic,_ vi. - . schoning (vol. iv.), besides his own loose narrative, or summary, has given all the correspondence between henri and the king:--sufficient to quench the sharpest appetite on this subject.] who looks at it only as a military adjutant, intent on honor and rapid feats of war,--with how much reason, readers not prussian or military shall judge as we go on. saxony, we ought to mention, was also aggrieved. the dowager-electress maria antoinette, our sprightly friend, had, as sole surviving sister of the late kurfurst max, the undoubted heirship of kurfurst max's "allodial properties and territories:" territories, i think, mainly in the ober-pfalz (which are not bavaria proper, but were acquired in the thirty-years war), which are important in value, and which austria, regardless of our lively friend, has laid hold of as lapsed fiefs of bohemia. clearly bohemian, says austria; and keeps hold. our lively friend hereupon makes over all her rights in that matter to her son, the reigning elector; with the counsel, if counsel were needed, "ask protection of king friedrich; go wholly with king friedrich." mecklenburg too has an interest. among the lapsed fiefs is one to a duchy called of leuchtenberg;--in regard to which, says mecklenburg, as loud as it can, "that duchy is not lapsed at all; that is now mine, witness this document" (of a valid testamentary nature)! other claims were put in; but these three: zweibruck endlessly important; saxony important too, though not in such degree; mecklenburg unimportant, but just,--were alone recognized in impartial quarters as authentic and worthy of notice. of the pleadings and procedures in the reichs diet no reader would permit me to speak, were i inclined. enough to understand that they went on in the usual voluminous dull-droning way, crescendo always; and deserve, what at present they are sure of, oblivion from all creatures. the important thing was, not those pleadings in the reichs diet, nor the austrian proposals there or elsewhere; but the brandishing of arms in emitting and also in successively answering the same. answer always no by friedrich, and some new flash of handled arms,--the physiognomy of which was the one significant point, austria, which is far from ready with arms, though at each fresh pleading or proposal it tries to give a kind of brandish, says mainly three things, in essence somewhat thus. austria: "cannot two states of the reich come to a mutual understanding, as austria and bavaria have done? and what have third parties to say to it?" friedrich: "much! parties of the reich have much to say to it!" (this several times with variations.) austria: "our rights seem to us valid: zweibruck, saxony, mecklenburg, if aggrieved, can try in the reichs law-courts." friedrich: "law-courts!" with a new brandish; that is, sets more regiments on march, from pommern to wesel all on march, to berlin, to silesia, towards the bohemian frontier. austria, by the voice of kaunitz: "we will not give up our rights without sentence of law. we cannot recognize the king of prussia as law-judge in this matter." friedrich: "the king of prussia is of the jury!" pulse after pulse, this is something like the course things had, crescendo till, in about three months, they got to a height which was evidently serious. nay, in the course of the pleadings it became manifest that on the austrian grounds of claim, not maria theresa could be heir to straubingen, but friedrich himself: "i descend from three-crown albert's daughter," said maria theresa. "and i from an elder daughter of his, and do not claim!" friedrich could have answered, but did not; treating such claim all along as merely colorable and chimerical, not worth attention in serious affairs of fact. till, at length, after about three months, there comes a really serious brandish. sunday, april th, , at berlin, friedrich holds review of his army, all assembled, equipped and in readiness; and (in that upper parole-room of the schloss) makes this speech, which, not without extraneous intention, was printed in the newspapers:-- friedrich's speech to his generals. "gentlemen, i have assembled you here for a public object. most of you, like myself, have often been in arms along with one another, and are grown gray in the service of our country: to all of us is well known in what dangers, toils and renown we have been fellow-sharers. i doubt not in the least that all of you, as myself, have a horror of bloodshed: but the danger which now threatens our countries, not only renders it a duty, but puts us in the absolute necessity, to adopt the quickest and most effectual means for dissipating at the right time the storm which threatens to break out on us. "i depend with complete confidence on your soldierly and patriotic zeal, which is already well and gloriously known to me, and which, while i live, i will acknowledge with the heartiest satisfaction. before all things, i recommend to you, and prescribe as your most sacred duty, that, in every situation, you exercise humanity on unarmed enemies; and be continually attentive that, in this respect too, there be the strictest discipline (mannszucht) kept among those under you. "to travel with the pomp of a king is not among my wishes: and all of you are aware that i have no pleasure in rich field-furniture: but my increasing age, and the weakness it brings, render me incapable of riding as i did in my youth. i shall, therefore, be obliged to make use of a post-chaise in times of marching; and all of you have liberty to do the same. but on the day of battle you shall see me on horseback; and there, also, i hope my generals will follow that example." voltaire smothered under roses. king's speech was on sunday, april th, evening of last monday (march th), at the theatre francais in paris, poor voltaire had that world-famous apotheosis of his; and got "smothered under roses," as he termed it. he had left ferney (such the urgency of niece denis and her unappeasable desire for a sight of paris again) february th; arrived in paris february th; ventured out to see his poor last tragedy, not till the sixth night of it, march th; was beshouted, crowned, raised to the immortal gods by a repentant paris world: "greatest of men,--you were not a miscreant and malefactor, then: on the contrary, you were a spiritual hercules, a heroic son of light; slayer of the nightmare monsters, and foul dragons and devils that were preying on us: to you shall not we now say, long life, with all our throats and all our hearts,"--and so quench you at last! which they managed to do, poor repentant souls. the tottering wayworn voltaire, over-agitated in this way, took to bed; never rose again; and on that day two months was dead. [in duvernet, and still better in longchamp et wagniere, ample account of these interesting occurrences.] his light all done; to king friedrich, or to any of us, no flash of radiancy from him any more forever. april th, friedrich gets on march--perhaps about , strong--for schonwalde, in the neisse-schweidnitz neighborhood; and there, in the course of the week, has cantoned himself, and sits completing his magazines and appliances for actual work of war. this is a considerable brandish; and a good deal astonishes kaunitz and the vienna people, who have not , at present on those frontiers, and nothing whatever in a state of readiness. "dangerous really!" kaunitz admits; and sets new regiments on march from hungary, from the netherlands, from all ends of the earth where they are. tempers his own insolent talk, too; but strives to persuade himself that it is "menace merely. he won't; he abhors war." kaunitz had hardly exaggerated friedrich's abhorrence of war; though it turned out there were things which friedrich abhorred still more. schonwalde, head-quarter of this alarming prussian cantonment, is close on the new fortress of silberberg, a beautiful new impregnability, looking into those valleys of the warta, of the young neisse, which are the road to bohemia or from it,--where the pandour torrents used to issue into the first silesian wars; where friedrich himself was once to have been snapped up, but was not quite,--and only sang mass as extempore abbot, with tobias stusche, in the monastery of camenz, according to the myth which readers may remember. no more can pandours issue that way; only prussians can enter in. friedrich's windows in the schloss of schonwalde,--which are on the left hand, if you be touring in those parts,--look out, direct upon silberberg, and have its battlements between them and the -o'clock sun. [schoning, iv. (introductory part).] in the town of silberberg, friedrich has withal a modest little lodging,--lodging still known,--where he can alight for an hour or a night, in the multifarious businesses that lead him to and fro. "a beautiful place," says schoning; "where the king stayed twelve weeks" or more; waiting till the bavarian-austrian case should ripen better. at schonwalde, what was important in his private circle, he heard of lord marischal's death, then of voltaire's; not to mention that of english pitt, and perhaps others interesting to him. [voltaire died may th; marischal, may th; pitt, may th;--and may th, in the cantonment here, died general von rentzel, the same who, as lieutenant rentzel, sixty years ago, had taught the little crown-prince his drill (rodenbeck, iii. ).] "now was the time," cry schmettau and the unfavorable, "when he might have walked across into eastern bohemia, into mahren, whither you like; to vienna itself, and taken austria by the throat at discretion: 'do justice, then, will you! let go bavaria, or--!' in his young years, would not he have done so? his plan, long since laid down, was grand: to march into mahren, leaving silesia guarded; nay leaving bohemia to be invaded,--for prince henri, and the saxons, who are a willing handful, and will complete henri likewise to , , were to do that, feat the while;--march into mahren, on to vienna if he chose; laying all flat. infallible," say the schmettau people. "he had the fire of head to contrive it all; but worn down and grown old, he could not execute his great thoughts." which is obviously absurd, friedrich's object not being to lay austria flat, or drive animosities to the sanguinary point, and kindle all europe into war; but merely to extract, with the minimum of violence, something like justice from austria on this bavarian matter. for which end, he may justly consider slow pressure preferable to the cutting method. his problem is most ticklish, not allowed for by schmettau. the encampment round schonwalde, especially as there was nothing ready thereabouts on the austrian side, produced a visible and great effect on the negotiations; and notably altered the high kaunitz tone towards friedrich. "must two great courts quarrel, then, for the sake of a small one?" murmured kaunitz, plaintively now, to himself and to the king,--to the king not in a very distinct manner, though to himself the principle is long since clear as an axiom in politics: "great courts should understand one another; then the small would be less troublesome." for a quarter of a century this has been the kaunitz faith. in , when he miraculously screwed round the french into union with the austrians to put down an upstart prussia, this was his grand fulcrum, the immovable rock in which the great engineer fixed down his political capstans, and levered and screwed. he did triumphantly wind matters round,--though whether they much profited him when round, may be a question. but the same grand principle, in the later instance of partitioning poland, has it not proved eminently triumphant, successful in all points? and, doubtless, this king of prussia recognizes it, if made worth his while, thinks kaunitz. in a word, kaunitz's next utterance is wonderfully changed. the great engineer speaks almost like a bishop on this new text. "let the two courts," says he, "put themselves each in the other's place; each think what it would want;" and in fact each, in a christian manner, try to do as it would be done by! how touching in the mouth of a kaunitz, with something of pathos, of plaintiveness, almost of unction in it! "there is no other method of agreeing," urges he: "war is a terrible method, disliked by both of us. austria wishes this of bavaria; but his prussian majesty's turn will come, perhaps now is (let him say and determine); we will make it worth his while." this is of april th; notable change since the cantoning round schonwalde. germany at large, though it lay so silent, in its bedrid condition, was in great anxiety. never had the holy romish reich such a shock before: "meaning to partition us like poland?" thought the reich, with a shudder. "they can, by degrees, if they think good; these two great sovereigns!" courage, your durchlauchts: one of the two great ones has not that in his thoughts; has, and will have, the reverse of that; which will be your anchorages in the storms of fate for a long time to come! nor was it--as will shortly appear to readers--kaunitz's immediate intention at all: enough if poor we can begin it, set it fairly under way; let some unborn happier kaunitz, the last of a series, complete such blessed consummation; in a happier time, far over the practical horizon at present. this we do gather to have been kaunitz's real view; and it throws a light on the vexed partition-of-poland question, and gives weight to dohm's assertion, that kaunitz was the actual beginner there. weeks before friedrich heard of this remarkable memorial, and ten days before it was brought to paper, there came to friedrich another unexpected remarkable document: a letter from kaiser joseph himself, who is personally running about in these parts, over in bohemia, endeavoring to bring army matters to a footing; and is no doubt shocked to find them still in such backwardness, with a friedrich at hand. the kaiser's letter, we perceive, is pilot-balloon to the kaunitz episcopal document, and to an actual meeting of prussian and austrian ministers on the bavarian point; and had been seen to be a salutary measure by an austria in alarm. it asks, as the kaunitz memorial will, though in another style, "must there be war, then? is there no possibility left in negotiation and mutual concession? i am your majesty's friend and admirer; let us try." this was an unexpected and doubtless a welcome thing to friedrich; who answers eagerly, and in a noble style both of courtesy and of business sense: upon which there followed two other imperial letters with their two royal answers; [in _oeuvres de frederic,_ (vi. - ), three successive letters from the kaiser (of dates, "olmutz," "litau," "konigsgratz," th- th april, ), with king's answers ("schonwalde," all of them, and th- th april),--totally without interest to the general reader.] and directly afterwards the small austrian-prussian congress we spoke of, finkenstein and hertzberg on the prussian part, cobenzl on the austrian (congress sitting at berlin), which tried to agree, but could not; and to which kaunitz's memorial of april th was meant as some helpful sprinkling of presidential quasi-episcopal oil. oil merely: for it turned out, kaunitz had no thought at present of partitioning the german reich with friedrich; but intended merely to keep his own seized portion of baiern, and in return for friedrich's assent intended to recompense friedrich with--in fact, with austria's consent, that if anspach and baireuth lapsed home to prussia (as it was possible they might, the present margraf, friedrich's nephew, the lady-craven margraf, having a childless wife), prussia should freely open the door to them! a thing which friedrich naturally maintained to be in need of nobody's consent, and to lie totally apart from this question; but which austria always considered a very generous thing, and always returned to, with new touches of improvement, as their grand recipe in this matter. so that, unhappily, the hertzberg-cobenzl treatyings, kaiser's letters and kaunitz's episcopal oil, were without effect,--except to gain for the austrians, who infinitely needed it, delay of above two months. the letters are without general interest: but, for friedrich's sake, perhaps readers will consent to a specimen? here are parts of his first letter: people meaning to be kings (which i doubt none of my readers are) could not do better than read it, and again read it, and acquire that style, first of knowing thoroughly the object in hand, and then of speaking on it and of being silent on it, in a true and noble manner:-- friedrich to his imperial majesty (at olmutz). "schonwalde, th april, . "sire my brother,--i have received, with all the satisfaction possible, the letter which your imperial majesty has had the goodness to write to me. i have neither minister nor clerk (scribe) about me; therefore your imperial majesty will be pleased to put up with such answer as an old soldier can give, who writes to you with probity and frankness, on one of the most important subjects which have risen in politics for a long time. "nobody wishes more than i to maintain peace and harmony between the powers of europe: but there are limits to everything; and cases so intricate (epineux) arise that goodwill alone will not suffice to maintain things in repose and tranquillity. permit me, sire, to state distinctly what the question seems to me to be. it is to determine if an emperor can dispose at his will of the fiefs of the empire. answer in the affirmative, and, all these fiefs become timars [in the turk way], which are for life only; and which the sultan disposes of again, on the possessor's death. now, this is contrary to the laws, to the customs and constitutions of the german empire."--"i, as member of the empire, and as having, by the treaty of hubertsburg, re-sanctioned the peace of westphalia, find myself formally engaged to support the immunities, the liberties and rights of the germanic body. "this, sire, is the veritable state of things. personal interest i have none: but i am persuaded your majesty's self would regard me as a paltry man, unworthy of your esteem, should i basely sacrifice the rights, immunities and privileges, which the electors and i have received from our ancestors. "i continue to speak to your majesty with the same frankness. i love and honor your person. it will certainly be hard for me to fight against a prince gifted with excellent qualities, and whom i personally esteem. but"--and is there no remedy? anspach and baireuth stand in no need of sanction. i consent to the congress proposed:--being with the &c. &c.--f. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ vi. .] the sittings of this little congress at berlin lasted all through may and june; to the disgust of schmettau and the ardent prussian mess-rooms, "lying ready here, and forbidden to act." for the austrians all the while were at their busiest, improving the moments, marching continually hitherward from hungary, from limburg, from all ends of the earth. both negotiating parties had shown a manifest wish to terminate without war; and both made various attempts or proposals that way; friedrich offering, in the name of european peace, to yield the austrians some small rim or paring of bavaria from the edge adjoining them; the austrians offering anspach-baireuth with some improvements;--always offering friedrich his own baireuth-anspach with some new sauce (as that he might exchange those territories with saxony for a fine equivalent in the lausitz, contiguous to him, which was a real improvement and increase):--but as neither party would in the least give up in essentials, or quit the ground it had taken, the result was nothing. week after week; so many weeks are being lost to friedrich; gained to austria: schmettau getting more and more disgusted. friedrich still waited; not in all points quite ready yet, he said, nor the futile diplomacies quite complete;--evidently in the highest degree unwilling to come to the cutting point, and begin a war which nobody could see the end of. many things he tried; peace so precious to him, try and again try. all through june too, this went on; the result always zero,--obviously certain to be so. as even friedrich had at last to own to himself; and likewise that the campaign season was ebbing away; and that if his grand moravian scheme was to be tried on austria, there was not now a moment to lose. friedrich's ultimate proposal, new modification of what all his proposals had been, "to you some thin rim of baiern; to saxony and mecklenburg some etcetera of indemnity, money chiefly (money always to be paid by karl theodor, who has left baiern open to the spoiler in this scandalous manner)," was of june th; austrians for ten days meditating on it, and especially getting forward their army matters, answer, june th "no we won't." upon which friedrich--to the joy of schmettau and every prussian--actually rises. emits his war-manifesto (july d): "declaration to our brethren (mitstande) of the reich," that austria will listen to nothing but war; [fischer, ii ; dohm, _denkwurdigkeiten,_ i. ; _oeuvres de frederic,_ vi. .] and, on and from that day, goes flowing forward in perfect columns and arrangements, , strong; through the picturesque glatz country, straight towards the bohemian border, hour by hour. flows over the bohemian border by nachod town; his vanguard bursting into field-music and flourishes of trumpeting at that grand moment (july th); flowed bodily over; and encamped that night on bohemian ground, with nachod to rear; thence towards kwalkowitz, and on the second day to jaromirtz ("camp of jaromirtz"), a little town which we have heard of before, but which became more famous than ever during the next ten weeks. jaromirtz, kwalkowitz, konigsgratz: this is the old hill-and-dale labyrinth of an upper-elbe country; only too well known to his majesty and us, for almost forty years past: here again are the austrians waiting the king; watching diligently this new invasion of his out of glatz and the east! in the same days, prince henri, who is also near , , starts from dresden to invade them from the west. loudon, facing westward, is in watch of henri; lacy, or indeed the kaiser himself, back-to-back of loudon, stands in this konigsgratz-jaromirtz part; said to be embattled in a very elaborate manner, to a length of fifty miles on this fine ground, and in number somewhat superior to the king;--the austrians in all counting about , ; of whom lacy has considerably the larger share. the terror at vienna, nevertheless, is very great: "a day of terror," says one who was there; "i will not trust myself to describe the sensation which this news, 'friedrich in bohemia again!' produced among all ranks of people." [cogniazzo, iv. , , ; preuss, iv. , &c.] maria theresa, with her fine motherly heart, in alarm for her country, and trembling "for my two sons [joseph and leopold] and dear son-in-law [of sachsen-teschen], who are in the army," overcomes all scruples of pride; instantly despatches an autograph to the king ("bearer of this, baron von thugut, with full powers"); and on her own strength starts a new negotiation,--which, as will be seen, ended no better than the others. [her letters, four in all, with their appendixes, and the king's answers, in _oeuvres de frederic,_ vi. - .] schmettau says, "friedrich, cheated of his mahren schemes, was still in time; the austrian position being indeed strong, but not being even yet quite ready." friedrich himself, however, on reconnoitring, thought differently. a position such as one never saw before, thinks he; contrived by lacy; masterly use of the ground, of the rivers, of the rocks, woods, swamps; elbe and his branches, and the intricate shoulders of the giant mountains: no man could have done it better than lacy here, who, they say, is the contriver and practical hand. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ vi. .] from konigsgratz, northward, by konigshof, by arnau, up to hohenelbe, all heights are crowned, all passes bristling with cannon. rivers aupa, elbe beset with redoubts, with dams in favorable places, and are become inundations, difficult to tap. there are "ditches feet deep by broad." behind or on the right bank of elbe, it is mere intrenchment for five-and-twenty miles. with bogs, with thickets full of croats; and such an amount of artillery,--i believe they have in battery no fewer than , cannon. a position very considerable indeed:--must have taken time to deliberate, delve and invest; but it is done. near fifty miles of it: here, clear to your glass, has the head of lacy visibly emerged on us, as if for survey of phenomena:--head of lacy sure enough (body of him lying invisible in the heights, passes and points of vantage); and its neck of fifty miles, like the neck of a war-horse clothed with thunder. on which (thinks schmettau privately) you may, too late, make your reflections! schmettau asserts that the position, though strong, was nothing like so infinitely strong; and that friedrich in his younger days would very soon have assaulted it, and turned lacy inside out: but friedrich, we know, had his reasons against hurry. he reconnoitred diligently; rode out reconnoitring "fifteen miles the first day" (july th), ditto the second and following; and was nearly shot by croats,--by one specific croat, says prussian mythology, supported by engraving. an old engraving, which i have never seen; represents friedrich reconnoitring those five-and-twenty miles of elbe, which have so many redoubts on their side of it, and swarm with croat parties on both sides: this is all the truth that is in the engraving. [rodenbeck, p. .] fact says: friedrich ("on the th," if that were all the variation) "was a mark for the austrian sharpshooters for half an hour." myth says, and engraves it, with the date of "july th:" friedrich, skirting some thicket, suddenly came upon a single croat with musket levelled at him, wild creature's finger just on the trigger;--and quietly admonishing, friedrich lifts his finger with a "du, du (ah you!);" upon which, such the divinity that hedges one, the wild creature instantly flings down his murder-weapon, and, kneeling, embraces the king's boot,--with kisses, for anything i know. it is certain, friedrich, about six times over in this paltry war or quasi no-war, set his attendants on the tremble; was namely, from croateries and artilleries, in imminent peril of life; so careless was he, and dangerous to speak to in his sour humor. humor very sour, they say, for most part; being in reality altogether backward and loath for grand enterprise; and yet striving to think he was not; ashamed that any war of his should be a no-war. schmettau says:-- "on the day of getting into jaromirtz [july th], the king, tired of riding about while the columns were slowly getting in, lay down on the ground with his adjutants about him. a young officer came riding past; whom the king beckoned to him;--wrote something with pencil (an order, not of the least importance), and said: 'here; that order to general lossow, and tell him he is not to take it ill that i trouble him, as i have none in my suite that can do anything.'" let the suite take it as they can! a most pungent, severe old king; quite perverse at times, thinks schmettau. thus again, more than once.:-- "on arriving with his column where the officer, a perfectly skilful man, had marked out the camp, the king would lift his spy-glass; gaze to right and left, riding round the place at perhaps a hundred yards' distance; and begin: 'sieht er, herr, but look, herr, what a botching you have made of it again (was er da wieder fur dumm zeug gemacht hat)!' and grumbling and blaming, would alter the camp, till it was all out of rule; and then say, 'see there, that is the way to mark out camps.'" [schmettau, xxv. , .] in a week's time, july th, came another fine excuse for inaction; plenipotentiary thugut, namely, and the kaiserinn's letter, which we spoke of. autograph from maria theresa herself, inspired by the terror of vienna and of her beautiful motherly heart. negotiation to be private utterly: "my son, the kaiser, knows nothing of it; i beg the most absolute secrecy;" which was accordingly kept, while thugut, with finkenstein and hertzberg again, held "congress of braunau" in those neighborhoods,--with as little effect as ever. thugut's name, it seems, was originally tunicotto (tyrolese-italian); which the ignorant vienna people changed into "thu-nicht-gut (do-no-good)," till maria theresa, in very charity, struck out the negative, and made him "do-good." do-good and his congress held friedrich till august th: five more weeks gone; and nothing but reconnoitring,--with of course foraging, and diligently eating the country, which is a daily employment, and produces fencing and skirmishing enough. henri, in the interim, has invaded from the west; seen leitmeritz, lobositz;--prag nobility all running, and i suppose prayers to st. titus going again,--and loudon in alarm. loudon, however, saved prag "by two masterly positions" (not mentionable here); upon which henri took camp at niemes; loudon, the weaker in this part, seizing the iser as a bulwark, and ranking himself behind it, back-to-back of lacy. here for about five weeks sat henri, nothing on hand but to eat the country. over the heads of loudon and lacy, as the crow flies, henri's camp may be about miles from jaromirtz, where the king is. hussar belling, our old anti-swede friend, a brilliant cutting man, broke over the iser once, perhaps twice; and there was pretty fencing by him and the like of him: "but prince henri did nothing," says the king, [_oeuvres de frederic,_ vi. ]--was, in fact, helping the king to do nothing. by the th of september, as henri has computed, this country will be eaten; "forage, i find, will be quite done here on september th," writes henri, after a week or two's experience. there was always talk of henri and the king, who are , each, joining hands by the post of arnau, or some weak point of lacy's well north of konigsgratz; thus of cutting off the meal-carts of that back-to-back copartnery, and so of tumbling it off the ground (which was perfectly possible, says schmettau); and small detachments and expeditious were pushed out, general dahlwig, general anhalt, partly for that object: but not the least of it ever took effect. "futile, lost by loitering, as all else was," groans schmettau. prince henri was averse to attempt, intimates the king,--as indeed (though refusing to own it) was i. "september th, my forage will be out, your majesty," says henri, always a punctual calculating man. the austrians, on their side, were equally stagnant; and, except the continual skirmishing with the prussian foragers, undertook nothing. "shamefully ill-clone our foraging, too," exclaims schmettau again and again: "had we done it with neatness, with regularity, the country would have lasted us twice as long. doing it headlong, wastefully and by the rule-of-thumb, the country was a desert, all its inhabitants fled, all its edibles consumed, before six weeks were over. friedrich is not now himself at all; in great things or in little; what a changed friedrich!" exclaims schmettau, with wearisome iteration. from about august th, or especially august th, when the maria-theresa correspondence, or "congress of braunau," ended likewise in zero, friedrich became impatient for actual junction with prince henri, actual push of business; and began to hint of an excellent plan he had: "burst through on their left flank; blow up their post of hohenelbe yonder: thence is but one march to iser river; junction with prince henri there; and a lacy and a loudon tumbled to the winds." "a plan perfectly feasible," says schmettau; "which solaced the king's humor, but which he never really intended to execute." possibly not; otherwise, according to old wont, he would have forborne to speak of it beforehand. at all events, august th, in the feeling that one ought really to do something, the rather as forage hereabouts was almost or altogether running out, he actually set about this grand scheme. got on march to rightward, namely, up the aupa river, through the gloomy chasms of kingdom-wood, memorable in old days: had his bakery shifted to trautenau; his heavy cannon getting tugged through the mire and the rains, which by this time were abundant, towards hohenelbe, for the great enterprise: and sat encamped on and about the battle-ground of sohr for a week or so, waiting till all were forward; eating sohr country, which was painfully easy to do. the austrians did next to nothing on him; but the rains, the mud and scarcity were doing much. getting on to hohenelbe region, after a week's wet waiting, he, on ocular survey of the ground about, was heard to say, "this cannot be done, then!" "had never meant to do it," sneers schmettau, "and only wanted some excuse." which is very likely. schmettau gives an anecdote of him here: in regard to a certain hill, the key of the austrian position, which the king was continually reconnoitring, and lamenting the enormous height of, "impossible, so high!" one of the adjutants took his theodolite, ascertained the height, and, by way of comforting his majesty, reported the exact number of feet above their present level. "how do you know, herr?" said the king angrily. "measured it by trigonometry, your majesty."--"trigonometry! scher' er sich zum teufel (off with you, sir, to the devil, your trigonometry and you!)"--no believer in mathematics, this king. he was loath to go; and laid the blame on many things. "were prince henri now but across the iser. had that stupid anhalt, when he was upon it [galloping about, to the ruin of his head], only seized arnau, arnau and its elbe-bridge; and had it in hand for junction with prince henri!" in fine, just as the last batch of heavy cannon--twenty or thirty hungered horses to a gun, at the rate of five miles a day in roads unspeakable--were getting in, he ordered them all to be dragged back, back to the trautenau road; whither we must now all go. and, september th, in perfect order, for the austrians little molested him, and got a bad bargain when they did, the great friedrich with his whole army got on march homeward, after such a campaign as we see. climbed the trautenau-landshut pass, with nothing of effective loss except from the rainy elements, the steep miry ways and the starved horses; draught-horses especially starved,--whom, poor creatures, "you would see spring at the ropes [draught-harness], thirty of them to a gun, when started and gee-ho'd to; tug violently with no effect, and fall down in whole rows." prince henri, forage done, started punctually september th, two days after his brother; and with little or no pursuit, from the austrians, and with horses unstarved, got home in comparatively tolerable circumstances. cantoned himself in dresden neighborhood, and sat waiting: he had never approved this war; and now, i suppose, would not want for reflections. friedrich's cantonments were round landshut, and spread out to right and to left, from glatz country and the upper-silesian hills, to silberberg and schweidnitz;--his own quarter is the same region, where he lay so long in summer, , talking on learned subjects with the late quintus icilius, if readers remember, and wearily waiting till cunctator daun (likewise now deceased) took his stand, or his seat, at mark lissa, and the king could follow him to schmottseifen. friedrich himself on this present occasion stayed at schatzlar as rear-guard, to see whether the austrians would not perhaps try to make some winter campaign of it, and if so, whether they would attempt on prince henri or on him. the austrians did not attempt on either; showed no such intention,--though mischievous enough in other small ways. friedrich wrote the eloge of voltaire [_oeuvres de frederic,_ vii. et seq. ("finished nov. th, ").] while he waited here at schatzlar, among the rainy mountains. later on, as prospects altered, he was much at breslau, or running about on civic errands with breslau as centre: at breslau he had many dialogues with professor garve,--in whose good, but oppressively solemn, little book, more a dull-droning preachment than a narrative, no reader need look for them or for him. as to the eulogy of voltaire, we may say that it is generous, ingenious, succinct; and of dialect now obsolete to us. there was (and is, though suppressed) another eulogy, brand-new, by a contemporary of our own,--from which i know not if readers will permit me a sentence or two, in this pause among the rainy mountains? ... "a wonderful talent lay in this man--[in voltaire, to wit; "such an intellect, the sharpest, swiftest of the world," thinks our contemporary; "fathoming you the deepest subject, to a depth far beyond most men's soundings, and coming up with victory and something wise and logically speakable to say on it, sooner than any other man,--never doubting but he has been at the bottom, which is from three to ten miles lower!"] wonderful talent; but observe always, if you look closely, it was in essence a mere talent for speech; which talent bavius and maevius and the jew apella may admire without looking behind it, but this eulogist by no means will. speech, my friend? if your sublime talent of speech consists only in making ignorance appear to be knowledge, and little wisdom appear to be much, i will thank you to walk on with it, and apply at some other shop. the quantity of shops where you can apply with thrice-golden advantage, from the morning newspapers to the national senate, is tremendous at this epoch of the poor world's history;--go, i request you! and while his foot is on the stairs, descending from my garret, i think: o unfortunate fellow-creature in an unfortunate world, why is not there a friedrich wilhelm to 'elect' you, as he did gundling, to his tobacco parliament, and there set fassmann upon you with the pans of burning peat? it were better even for yourself; wholesomely didactic to your poor self, i cannot doubt; and for the poor multitudes to whom you are now to be sacred vates, speaking and singing your dismal gundlingiana as if inspired by heaven, how infinitely better!--courage, courage! i discern, across these hideous jargons, the reign of greater silence approaching upon repentant men; reign of greater silence, i say; or else that of annihilation, which will be the most silent of all.... "voltaire, if not a great man, is a remarkably peculiar one; and did such a work in these ages as will render him long memorable, more or less. he kindled the infinite dry dung-heap of things; set it blazing heaven-high;--and we all thought, in the french revolution time, it would burn out rapidly into ashes, and then there would a clear upper firmament, if over a blackened earth, be once more vouchsafed us. the flame is now done, as i once said; and only the dull dung-heap, smokily burning, but not now blazing, remains,--for it was very damp, except on the surface, and is by nature slow of combustion:--who knows but it may have to burn for centuries yet, poisoning by its villanous mal-odors the life-atmosphere of all men? eternal author of this universe, whose throne is truth, to whom all the true are sons, wilt thou not look down upon us, then!--till this sad process is complete? voltaire is like to be very memorable."... to friedrich the winter was in general tranquil; a friedrich busy preparing all things for his grand mahren enterprise, and for "real work next year." by and by there came to be real peace-prospects instead. meanwhile, the austrians do try a little, in the small pandour way, to dislodge him from the upper-silesian or teschen regions, where the erbprinz of brunswick is in command; a man not to be pricked into gratis by pandours. erbprinz, accordingly, provoked by their pandourings, broke out at last; and about zuckmantel instantly scourged them home, and had peace after. foiled here, they next tried upon glatz; "get into his glatz country, then;--a snatch of that will balance the account" (which was one of newspaper glory only): and a certain wurmser of theirs, expert in such things, did burn the town of habelschwert one morning; [" th january, " (rodenbeck, iii. ; schmettau, &c.).] and tried farther, not wisely this time, a surprisal of glatz fortress itself; but got smitten home by our old friend general wunsch, without profit there. this was the same wurmser who came to bad issues in the napoleon time afterwards; a rising man then; not a dim old-newspaper ghost as now. most shameful this burning of habelschwert by way of mere bravura, thinks friedrich, in a time of actual treaty for peace, when our congress of teschen was just struggling to get together! it was the chief stroke done by the austrians in this war; glorious or shameful, we will not think of inquiring. nor in fact of adding one word more on such a war,--except, what everybody longs for, that, november th, , czarina catharine, by her prince galitzin at vienna, intervened in the matter, in a lofty way; and ended it. czarina catharine,--small thanks to her, it seems, for it was friedrich that by his industries and world-diplomacies, french and other, had got her turks, who had been giving trouble again, compesced into peace for her; and indeed, to friedrich or his interests, though bound by treaty, she had small regard in taking this step, but wished merely to appear in german politics as a she-jove,--czarina catharine signified, in high and peremptory though polite diplomatic terms, at vienna, "imperial madam, how long is such a war to last? be at peace, both of you; or--! i shall, however, mediate, if you like, being the hearty friend of both." [copy of galitzin's "declaration," in fischer, ii. - .] "do," answers maria theresa, whose finance is quite out, whose motherly heart is almost broken, though a young kaiser still prances violently, and kicks against the pricks: "do, your noble czarish majesty; france too is interfering: france and you will decide what is just, and we will end." "congress of teschen" met accordingly, march th, : teschen, in austrian silesia, where we have been;--repnin as russian, breteuil the frenchman, cobentzl and hertzberg as austrian and prussian;--and, may th (in two months' time, not in two weeks', as had been expected, for there rose unexpected haggles), did close everything, firm as diplomacy could do it, into equitable, or approximately equitable finis: "go home, you austria; quit your stolen bavaria (all but a rim or paring, circle of burghausen, since you must have something!): saxony, mecklenburg, these must be satisfied to moderate length; and therewith general as-you-were." russia and france were agreed on the case; and friedrich, bitterly longing to have done with it, had said to himself, "in two weeks or so:" but it proved far otherwise. never were such hagglings, provocations and unreasonable confusions as now rose. the burning of habelschwert was but a type of them. haggles on the part of worthless karl theodor, kindled by joseph and his kaunitz, kicking against the pricks. haggles on saxony's part: "i claimed , , pounds sterling, and you allow me , pounds." "better that than nothing," answered friedrich. haggles with mecklenburg: "instead of my leuchtenberg, i get an improvement in my law-courts, right of judging without appeal; what is that!" haggles with the once grateful duke of zweibruck: "can't part with my burghausen." "suppose you had had to part with your bavaria altogether?" in short, friedrich, who had gained nothing for himself, but such infinity of outlay in all kinds, never saw such a coil of human follies and cupidities before; and had to exhaust his utmost patience, submit to new losses of his own, and try all his dexterities in pig-driving: overjoyed, at last, to get out of it on any terms. outlay of friedrich is about two millions sterling, and above , men's lives (his own narrowly not included), with censures, criticisms, provocations and botherations without end. in return for which, he has, truly, put a spoke in austria's proud wheel for this time, and managed to see fair play in the reich; which had seemed to him, and seems, a considerable thing. by way of codicil, austria agrees not to chicane him in regard to anspach-baireuth,--how generous of austria, after this experience!-- in reality, the war was an imaginary war; deserving on its own score little record anywhere; to readers here requiring almost less than it has got. schmettau, schoning and others have been abundantly minute upon it; but even to soldiers there is little either of interest or instruction; to us, all it yields is certain anecdotes of friedrich's temper and ways in that difficult predicament; which, as coming at first-hand, gathered for us by punctual authentic schmettau, who was constantly about him, with eyes open and note-book ready, have a kind of worth in the biographic point of view. the prussian soldiery, of whom we see a type in schmettau, were disgusted with this war, and called it, in allusion to the foraging, a scramble for potatoes, "der kartoffel-krieg, the potato war;" which is its common designation to this day. the austrians, in a like humor, called it "zwetschken-rummel" (say "three-button loo"); a game not worth playing; especially not at such cost. combined cost counted to have been in sum-total , , pounds and , men. [preuss, iv. .] "the prussian army was full of ardor, never abler for fight" (insists schmettau), which indeed seems to have been the fact on every small occasion;--"but fatally forbidden to try." not so fatally perhaps, had schmettau looked beyond his epaulettes: was not the thing, by that slow method, got done? by the swifter method, awakening a new seven-years business, how infinitely costlier might it have been! schmettau's narrative, deducting the endless lamentings, especially the extensive didactic digressions, is very clear, ocular, exact; and, in contrast with friedrich's own, is really amusing to read. a schmettau giving us, in his haggard light and oblique point of vision, the naked truth, naked and all in a shiver; a friedrich striving to drape it a little, and make it comfortable to himself. those bits of anecdotes in schmettau, clear, credible, as if we had seen them, are so many crevices through which it is curiously worth while to look. chapter vii.--miller arnold's lawsuit. about the second law-reform, after reading and again reading much dreary detail, i can say next to nothing, except that it is dated as beginning in , near thirty years after cocceji's; ["in " cocceji's was completed; "in - ," on occasion of the silesian reviews, von carmer, chancellor of silesia, knowing of the king's impatience at the state of law, presented successively two memorials on the subject; the second of which began " th january, " to have visible fruit.] that evidently, by what causes is not stated, but may be readily enough conjectured (in the absence of cocceji by death, and of a friedrich by affairs of war), the abuses of law had again become more or less unendurable to this king; that said abuses did again get some reform (again temporary, such the law of nature, which bids you sweep vigorously your kitchen, though it will next moment recommence the gathering of dirt upon it); and that, in fine, after some reluctance in the law circles, and debating pro and contra, oral some of it, and done in the king's presence, who is so intent to be convinced and see his practical way in it, [at potsdam, " th january, ," debate, by solemn appointment, in the king's presence (king very unwell), between silesian-chancellor von carmer and grand-chancellor von furst, as to the feasibility of carmer's ideas; old furst strong in the negative;--king, after reflection, determining to go on nevertheless. (rodenbeck, iii. , .)]--there was, as supplement to the mere project or theory of a codex fredericianus in cocceji's time, an actual prussian code set about; von carmer, the silesian chancellor, the chief agent: and a first folio, or a first and partly a second of it, were brought out in friedrich's lifetime, the remainder following in that of his successor; which code is ever since the law of the prussian nation to this day. [not finished and promulgated till " th february, ;" first volume (containing prozess-ordnung, form of procedure, in all its important details) had come out " th april, " (preuss, iii. - ).] of its worth as a code i have heard favorable opinions, comparatively favorable; but can myself say nothing: famed savigny finds it superior in intelligence and law-knowledge to the code napoleon,--upon which indeed, and upon all codes possible to poor hag-ridden and wig-ridden generations like ours, savigny feels rather desperate. unfortunate mortals do want to have their bits of lawsuits settled, nevertheless; and have, on trial, found even the ignorant code napoleon a mighty benefit in comparison to none!-- readers all see how this second prussian law-reform was a thing important to prussia, of liveliest interest to the then king of prussia; and were my knowledge of it greater than it is, this is all i could hope to say of it that would be suitable or profitable at present. let well-disposed readers take it up in their imaginations, as a fact and mass of facts, very serious there and then; and color with it in some degree those five or six last years of this king's life. connected with this second law reform, and indeed partially a source of it, or provocation to go on with it, mending your speed, there is one little lawsuit, called the miller arnold case, which made an immense noise in the world, and is still known by rumor to many persons, who would probably be thankful, as certainly i myself should, for some intelligible word on it. in regard to which, and to which alone, in this place, we will permit ourselves a little more detail. in the sandy moors towards the silesian border of the neumark, southwest of zullichau,--where we once were, with dictator wedell, fighting the russians in a tragic way,--there is, as was casually then indicated, on one of the poor brooks trickling into oder, a mill called krebsmuhle (crabmill); millers of which are a line of dusty arnolds, laboriously for long generations grinding into meal the ryes, pulses, barleys of that dim region; who, and whose crabmill, in the year - , burst into a notoriety they little dreamt of, and became famous in the fashionable circles of this universe, where an indistinct rumor of them lives to this day. we indicated arnold and his mill in wedell's time; wedell's scene being so remote and empty to readers: in fact, nobody knows on what paltriest of moors a memorable thing will not happen;--here, for instance, is withal the birthplace of that rhyming miracle, frau karsch (karschin, karchess as they call her), the berlin literary prodigy, to whom friedrich was not so flush of help as had been expected. the child of utterly poor peasants there; whose poverty, shining out as thrift, unweariable industry and stoical valor, is beautiful to me, still more their poor little girl's bits of fortunes, "tending three cows" in the solitudes there, and gazing wistfully into earth and heaven with her ingenuous little soul,--desiring mainly one thing, that she could get books, any book whatever; having half-accidentally picked up the art of reading, and finding hereabouts absolutely nothing to read. frau karsch, i have no doubt, knows the crabmill right well; and can, to all permissible lengths, inform the berlin circles on this point. [see jordens (karschin), ii. - .] an excellent silesian nobleman lifted her miraculously from the sloughs of misery, landed her from his travelling-carriage in the upper world of berlin, "january, " (age then thirty-nine, husband karsch a wretched drunken tailor at glogau, who thereupon enlisted, and happily got shot or finished): berlin's enthusiasm was, and continued to be, considerable;--karschin's head, i fear, proved weakish, though her rhyming faculty was great. friedrich saw her once, october, , spoke kindly to her (dialogue reported by herself, with a chodowiecki engraving to help, in the musen-almanachs ensuing); and gave her a pounds, but never much more:--"somebody had done me ill with him," thinks the karschin (not thinking, "or perhaps nobody but my poor self, and my weakness of head"). she continued rhyming and living--certain principalities and high people still standing true--till " th october, ." crabmill is in pommerzig township, not far from kay:--zullichau, kay, palzig, crossen, all come to speech again, in this narrative; fancy how they turned up in berlin dinner-circles, to dictator wedell, gray old gentleman, who is now these many years war-minister, peaceable, and well accepted, but remembers the flamy youth he had. landlord of these arnolds and their mill is major graf von schmettau (no connection of our schmettaus),--to what insignificantly small amount of rent, i could not learn on searching; pounds annually is a too liberal guess. innumerable things, of no pertinency to us, are wearisomely told, and ever again told, while the pertinent are often missed out, in that dreary cart-load of arnold law-papers, barely readable, barely intelligible, to the most patient intellect: with despatch let us fish up the small cardinal particles of it, and arrange in some chronological or human order, that readers may form to themselves an outline of the thing. in , we mentioned that this mill was going; miller of it an old arnold, miller's lad a young. here is the subsequent succession of occurrences that concern us. in , young arnold, as i dimly gather, had got married, apparently a wife with portion; bought the mill from his father, he and wife co-possessors thenceforth;--"rosine his spouse" figuring jointly in all these law-papers; and the spouse especially as a most shifty litigant. there they continue totally silent to mankind for about eight years. happy the nation, much more may we say the household, "whose public history is blank." but in the eighth year, in , freyherr baron von gersdorf in kay, who lies farther up the stream, bethinks him of fish-husbandry; makes a fish-pond to himself, and for part supply thereof, lays some beam or weir across the poor brook, and deducts a part of arnold's water. in , the arnolds fall into arrear of rent: "want of water; fish-pond spoils our water," plead they to major graf von schmettau. "prosecute von gersdorf, then," says schmettau: "i must have my rent! you shall have time, lengthened terms; but pay then, or else-!" for four years the arnolds tried more or less to pay, but never could, or never did completely: during which period major von schmettau had them up in his court of pommerzig,--manorial or feudal kind of court; i think it is more or less his, though he does not sit there; and an advocate, not of his appointing, though probably of his accepting, dispenses justice there. schlecker is the advocate's name; acquitted by all official people of doing anything wrong. no appearance that the herr graf von schmettau put hand to the balances of justice in this court; with his eye, however, who knows but he might act on them more or less! and, at any rate, be suspected by distressed arnolds, especially by a distressed frau arnold, of doing so. the frau arnold had a strong suspicion that way; and seems to have risen occasionally upon schlecker, who did once order the poor woman to be locked up for contempt of court: "only two hours!" asseverates schlecker afterwards; after which she came out cool and respectful to court. not the least account survives of those procedures in schlecker's court; but by accident, after many readings, you light upon a little fact which does shed a transient ray over them. namely, that already in , four years before the case became audible in official circles, much more in general society, frau arnold had seized an opportunity, majesty being at crossen in those neighborhoods, and presented a petition: "oh, just king, appoint a military commission to investigate our business; impartial officers will speedily find out the facts, and decide what is just!" [preuss, iii. .] which denotes an irritating experience in schlecker's court. certain it is, schlecker's court did, in this tedious harassing way, decide against frau arnold in every point. "pay herr graf von schmettau, or else disappear; prosecute von gersdorf, if you like!" and, in fine, as the arnolds could not pay up, nor see any daylight through prosecuting baron von gersdorf, the big gentleman in kay,--schlecker, after some five years of this, decreed sale of the mill:--and sold it was. in zullichau, september th, , there is auction of the mill; herr landeinnehmer (cess-collector) kuppisch bought it; knocked down to him for the moderate sum of thalers, or pounds sterling, and the arnolds are an ousted family. "september th,"--potato-war just closing its sad campaign; to-morrow, march for trautenau, thirty horses to a gun.-- the arnolds did make various attempts and appeals to the neumark regierung (college of judges); but it was without the least result. "schlecker right in every point; gersdorf right," answered the college: "go, will you!" a mill forfeited by every law, and fallen to the highest bidder. cess-collector kuppisch, it was soon known, had sold his purchase to von gersdorf: "hah!" said the rural public, smelling something bad. certain it is, von gersdorf is become proprietor both of pond and mill; and it is not to the ruined arnolds that schlecker law can seem an admirable sample. and truly, reading over those barrow-loads of pleadings and relationes, one has to admit that, taken as a reason for seeing oneself ruined, and one's mill become the big gentleman's who fancies carp, they do seem considerably insufficient. the law-pleadings are duly voluminous. barrow-loads of them, dreariest reading in creation, remain; going into all manner of questions, proving, from grotius and others, that landlords have rights upon private rivers, and another sort upon public ditto; that von gersdorf, by law of , had verily the right to put down his fish-pond,--whether schmettau the duty to indemnify arnold for the same? that is not touched upon: nor, singular to say, is it anywhere made out, or attempted to be made out, how much of water arnold lost by the pond, much less what degree of real impediment, by loss of his own time, by loss of his customers (tired of such waiting on a mill), arnold suffered by the pond. this, which you would have thought the soul of the matter, is absolutely left out; altogether unsettled,--after, i think, four, or at least three, express commissions had sat on it, at successive times, with the most esteemed hydraulic sages opining and examining;--and remains, like the part of hamlet, omitted by particular desire. no wonder frau arnold begged for a military commission; that is to say, a decision from rational human creatures, instead of juridical wigs proceeding at this rate. it was some time in that rosine (what we reckoned a very elucidative point!) had given in her petition to the king at crossen, showing how ill schlecker was using them. she now, "about mayday, ," in a new petition, referred to that, and again begged a commission of soldier-people to settle it. may th, ,--king not yet home, but coming, ["arrived at berlin may th" (rodenbeck, iii. ).]--king's cabinet, on order, "sends this to justice-department;" nothing said on it, the existence of the petition sufficiently saying. justice-department thereupon demands the law-records, documentary narrative of res arnold, from custrin; finds all right: "peace, ye arnolds; what would you have?" [preuss, iii. .] same year, (no express date), grand-chancellor von furst, being at custrin, officially examining the condition of law-matters, frau arnold failed not to try there also with a petition: "see, great law-gentleman come to reform abuses, can that possibly be law; or if so, is it not injustice as well?" "tush!" answered furst;--for i believe law-people, ever since this new stringency of royal vigilance upon them, are plagued with such complaints from dorfships and dark greedy peasant people; "tush!" and flung it promptly into his waste-basket. is there no hope at all, then? arnold remembers that a brother of his is a prussian soldier; and that he has for colonel, prince leopold of brunswick, a prince always kind to the poor. the leopold regiment lies at frankfurt: try prince leopold by that channel. prince leopold listened;--the soldier arnold probably known to him as rational and respectable. prince leopold now likewise applies to furst: "a defect, not of law, herr kanzler, but of equity, there does seem. schmettau had a right to his rent; von gersdorf, by deed of , to his pond: but the arnolds had not water and have lost their mill. could not there," suggests leopold, "be appointed, without noise of any kind, a commission of neutral people, strangers to the neumark, to search this matter to the actual root of it, and let equity ensue?" to whom also furst answers, though in a politer shape, "tush, durchlaucht! every man to his trade!" so that prince leopold himself, the king's own nephew, proves futile? some think leopold did, this very autumn, casually, or as if casually, mention the matter to the king,--whose mind is uneasily awake to all such cases, knowing what a buckram set his lawyers are. "at the reviews," as these people say, leopold could not have done it; there being, this year, no reviews, merely return of king and army from the bavarian war. but during august, and on into september this year, it is very evident, there was a visit of the brunswick family at potsdam, [rodenbeck, iii. et seq.] leopold's mamma and certain of his brothers,--of which, colonel prince leopold, though not expressly mentioned in the books, may very possibly have been permitted, for a day or two, to form part, for mamma's behoof and his own; and may have made his casual observation, at some well-chosen moment, with the effect intended. in which case, leopold was by no means futile, but proved, after all, to be the saving clause for the arnolds. gallant young fellow, one loves to believe it of him; and to add it to the one other fact now known of him, which was also beautiful, though tragic. six years after, spring, , oder river, swollen by rains, was in wild deluge; houses in the suburbs like to be washed away. leopold, looking on it from the bridge or shore, perhaps partly with an official eye, saw the inhabitants of some houses like to be drowned; looked wildly for assistance, but found none; and did, himself, in uncontrollable pity, dash off in a little boat, through the wild-eddying surges; and got his own death there, himself drowned in struggling to save others. which occasioned loud lamentation in the world; in his poor mother's heart what unnamable voiceless lamentation! [friedrich's letter to her: _oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. i. (" th may, ").] he had founded a garrison school at frankfurt; spared no expenditure of pains or of money. a man adored in frankfurt. "his brother friedrich, in memory of him, presented, next year, the uniform in which leopold was drowned, to the freemason lodge of berlin, of which he had been member." [_militair-lexikon,_ i. .] sunt lacrymae rerum. but to return to the arnolds, and have done with them: for we are now, by leopold's help or otherwise, got to the last act of that tedious business. august st, (these high brunswickers still at potsdam, if that had any influence), the arnolds again make petition to the king: "alas, no justice yet, your majesty!" "shall we never see the end of this, then?" thinks the king: "some soldier, with human eyes, let him, attended by one of their law-wigs, go upon the ground; and search it!" and, next day, having taken protocol of the arnold complaint, issues cabinet-order, or king's message to the custrin law-wigs: "colonel heucking [whose regiment lies in zullichau district, a punctual enough man], he shall be the soldier; to whom do you adjoin what member of your court you think the fittest: and let, at last, justice be done. and swift, if you please!" the custrin regierung, without delay, name regierungs-rath neumann; who is swiftly ready, as is colonel heucking swiftly,--and they two set out together up the pommerzig brook, over that moor country; investigating, pondering, hearing witnesses, and no doubt consulting, and diligently endeavoring to get to the bottom of this poor arnold question. for how many september days, i know not: everybody knows, however, that they could not agree; in other words, that they saw two bottoms to it,--the law gentleman one bottom, the soldier another. "true bottom is already there," argued the law gentleman: "confirm decision of court in every point." "no; arnold has lost water, has suffered wrong," thinks heucking; "that is the true bottom." and so they part, each with his own opinion. neumann affirmed afterwards, that the colonel came with a predetermination that way, and even that he said, once or oftener, in his eagerness to persuade: "his majesty has got it into his thought; there will be nothing but trouble if you persist in that notion." to which virtuous neumann was deaf. neumann also says, the colonel, acquainted with austrian enemies, but not with law, had brought with him his regiment's-auditor, one bech, formerly a law-practitioner in crossen (readers know crossen, and ex-dictator wedell does),--law-practitioner in crossen; who had been in strife with the custrin regierung, under rebuke from them (too importunate for some of his pauper clients, belike); was a cunning fellow too, and had the said regierung in ill-will. an adroit fellow bech might be, or must have been; but his now office of regiment's-auditor is certificate of honesty,--good, at least, against neumann. neumann's court was silent about these neumann surmises; but said afterwards, "heucking had not gone to the bottom of the thing." this was in a subsequent report, some five or six weeks subsequent. their present report they redacted to the effect, "all correct as it stood," without once mentioning heucking. gave it in, th september; by which time heucking's also was in, and had made a strong impression on his majesty. presumably an honest, intelligible report; though, by ill-luck for the curious, it is now lost; among the barrow-loads of vague wigged stuff, this one piece, probably human, is not to be discovered. friedrich's indignation at the custrin report, "perfectly correct as it stood," and no mention of heucking or his dissent, was considerable: already, th september,--that is, on the very day while those custrin people were signing their provoking report,--friedrich, confident in heucking, had transmitted to his supreme board of justice (kammergericht) the impartial heucking's account of the affair, with order, "see there, an impartial human account, clear and circumstantial (deutliches und ganz umstandliches), going down to the true roots of the business: swift, get me justice for these arnolds!" [preuss, iii. .] scarcely was this gone, when, september th, the custrin impertinence, "perfectly right as it stood," came to hand; kindling the king into hot provocation; "extreme displeasure, ausserstes misfallen," as his answer bore: "rectify me all that straightway, and relieve these arnolds of their injuries!" you pettifogging pedant knaves, bring that arnold matter to order, will you; you had better!-- the custrin knaves, with what feelings i know not, proceed accordingly; appoint a new commission, one or more lawyers in it, and at least one hydraulic gentleman in it, schade the name of him; who are to go upon the ground, hear witnesses and the like. who went accordingly; and managed, not too fast, hydraulic schade rather disagreeing from the legal gentlemen, to produce a report, reported upon by the custrin court, th october: "that there is one error found: pounds s. as value of corn left, clearly arnold's that, when his mill was sold; that, with this improvement, all is now correct to the uttermost; and that heucking had not investigated things to the bottom." by some accident, this report did not come at once to friedrich, or had escaped his attention; so that-- november st, matters hanging fire in this way, frau arnold applies again, by petition to his majesty; upon which is new royal order, [ib. iii. .] far more patient than might have been expected: "in god's name, rectify me that arnold matter, and let us at last see the end of it!" to which the custriners answer: "all is rectified, your majesty. frau arnold, in her petition, has not mentioned that she gained pounds s.;"--important item that; pounds s. for corn left (clearly arnold's that, when his mill was sold)! "our sentence we cannot alter; a court's sentence is alterable only by appeal; your majesty decides where the appeal is to lie!" friedrich's patience is now wearing out; but he does not yet give way: "berlin kammergericht be your appeal court," decides he, th november: and will admit of no delay on the kammergericht's part either. "papers all at custrin, say you? send for them by express; they will come in one day: be swift, i say!" chancellor furst is not a willing horse in this case; but he is obliged to go. december th, kammergericht sits on the arnold appeal; kammergericht's view is: "custrin papers all here, not the least delay permitted; you, judge rannsleben, take these papers to you; down upon them: let us, if humanly possible, have a report by to-morrow." rannsleben takes the papers in hand december th; works upon them all day, and all night following, at a rate of energy memorable among legal gentlemen; and december th attends with lucid report upon them, or couple of reports; one on arnold versus schmettau, in six folios; one on arnold versus gersdorf, in two ditto; draws these two documents from his pocket december th; reads them in assembled court (six of the judges present) [preuss, iii. .],--which, with marked thankfulness to the swift rannsleben, at once adopts his report, and pronounces upon the custrin raths, "right in every particular." witness our hands: every one affixing his signature, as to a matter happily got done with. it was friday, th december, , before friedrich got this fine bit of news; saturday th, before he authentically saw their sentence. he is lying miserably ill of gout in the schloss of berlin; and i suppose, since his father, of blessed memory, took cudgel to certain judges and knocked out teeth from them, and broke the judicial crowns, nobody in that schloss has been in such humor against men of law. "attend me here at p.m. with the three raths who signed in arnold's case:" saturday, about a.m., chancellor furst receives this command; gets rannsleben, and two others, friedel, graun,--and there occurred such a scene--but it will be better to let rannsleben himself tell the story; who has left an autobiography, punctually correct, to all appearance, but except this alone notable passage of it, still unpublished, and like to continue so:-- "berlin, tuesday, th december, ," says rannsleben (let him tell it again in his own words), "the acta, which had arrived from custrin in re miller arnold and his wife versus landrath von gersdorf, as also those, in the same matter, versus count von schmettau, were assigned to me, to be reported on quam primum;--our president von rebeur," president of the supreme kammergericht (king's-chamber tribunal, say exchequer high court, or collegium), whereof i have the honor to be one of the seven judges, or raths,--"our president von rebeur enjoining me to make such utmost despatch that my report on both these sets of papers might be read to the assembled court next day; whereby said court might then and there be enabled to pronounce judgment on the same, i at once set to work; went on with it all night; and on the morrow i brought both my reports (relationes),"--one referring to the gersdorf, the other to the schmettau part of the suit,--"one of six sheets, the other of two sheets, to the kammergericht; where both relationes were read. there were present, besides me, the following six members of the collegium: president von rebeur, raths uhl, friedel, kircheisen, graun, gassler. "appellant," as we all know, "was miller arnold; and along with the acta were various severe cabinet-orders, in which the king, who had taken quite particular notice of the case, positively enjoined, that miller arnold should have justice done him. the king had not, however, given formally any authoritative decision of his own (keinen eigentlichen machtspruch gethan)," which might have given us pause, though not full-stop by any means: "but, in his order to the kammergericht, had merely said, we were to decide with the utmost despatch, and then at once inform his majesty how." with the speed of light or of thought, rannsleben hardly done reading, this kammergericht decided,--it is well known how: "in the king's name; right in every particular, you custrin gentlemen;--which be so good as publish to parties concerned!" report of kammergericht's judgment to this effect, for behoof of custrin, was at once got under way; and kammergericht, in regard to his majesty, agreed merely to announce the fact in that quarter: "judgment arrived at, please your majesty;--judgment already under way for custrin:"--you, rannsleben, without saying what the judgment is, you again write for us. and rannsleben does so; writes the above little message to his majesty, "which got to the king's hand, friday, december th. and the same day," continues rannsleben, "the king despatched a very severe cabinet-order to minister von dornberg,"--head of the department to which the kammergericht belongs,--"demanding a copy of the judgment. which order was at once obeyed. "hereupon, on saturday, about a.m., there came to grand-chancellor von furst," sublime head of us and of all lawyers, "a cabinet-order, 'appear before me here, this day, at o'clock; and bring with you your three kammergericht raths who drew up (minutirt) the judgment in the arnold case.'" message bodeful to furst and the three raths. "nota," says rannsleben here, "the king is under the impression that, in judging a case, three raths are always employed, and therefore demands three of us. but, properly, all the above-named six membra collegii, besides myself, ought to have gone to the palace, or else i alone." on some points an ill-informed king. rannsleben continues:-- "president von rebeur came to me in his carriage, at a quarter to ; told me of the king's order; and said, as the king demanded only three raths, there was nothing for it but to name me and raths friedel and kircheisen, my usual partners in judgment business. finding, however, on looking into the sentence itself, that kircheisen was not amongst the signers of it, he [rebeur] named, instead of him, rath graun, who was. for the herr president apprehended the king might demand to see our sentence in originali, and would then be angry that a person had been sent to him who had not signed the same. president von rebeur instructed me farther, that i, as reporter in the case, was to be spokesman at the palace; and should explain to his majesty the reasons which had weighed with the kammergericht in coming to such decision. "to my dear wife i," as beseemed a good husband, "said nothing of all this; confiding it only to my father-in-law, who tried to cheer me. nor, indeed, did i feel any fear within me, being persuaded in my conscience that, in this decision of the arnold case, i had proceeded according to the best of my knowledge and conviction. "at o'clock i drove to the grand-chancellor's, where i found the raths friedel and graun already arrived. the chancellor," old furst, "instructed us as to what we had to do when we came before the king. and then, towards o'clock, he took us in his carriage to the palace. we entered the room immediately at the end of the great hall. here we found a heyduc [tall porter], by whom the chancellor announced to the king that we were here. heyduc soon came back to inquire, whether the cabinets-rath stellter," a secretary or short-hand writer of his majesty's, "had arrived yet; and whether we [we, what a doubt!] were privy councillors. we were then shortly after shown in to the king. we passed through three rooms, the second of which was that in which stands the confidenz tafel [table that goes by pulleys through the floor, and comes up refurnished, when you wish to be specially private with your friends]. in the fourth, a small room with one window, was the king. the chancellor walked first; i followed him close; behind me came the rath friedel, and then graun. some way within, opposite the door, stood a screen; with our backs to this," the kingward side of this, "we ranged ourselves,"--in respectful row of four, furst at the inward end of us (right or left is no matter). "the king sat in the middle of the room, so that he could look point-blank at us; he sat with his back to the chimney, in which there was a fire burning. he had on a worn hat, of the clerical shape [old-military in fact, not a shovel at all]; cassaquin," short dressing-gown, "of red-brown (mordore) velvet; black breeches, and boots which came quite up over the knee. his hair was not dressed. three little benchlets or stools, covered with green cloth, stood before him, on which he had his feet lying [terribly ill of gout]. in his lap he had a sort of muff, with one of his hands in it, which seemed to be giving him great pain. in the other hand he held our sentence on the arnold case. he lay reclining (lag) in an easy-chair; at his left stood a table, with various papers on it,--and two gold snuffboxes, richly set with brilliants, from which he kept taking snuff now and then. "besides us, there was present in the room the cabinets-rath stellter [of the short-hand], who stood at a desk, and was getting ready for writing. the king looked at us, saying, 'come nearer!' whereupon we advanced another step, and were now within less than two steps of him. he addressed himself to us three raths, taking no notice at all of the grand-chancellor:-- king. "'is it you who drew up the judgment in the arnold case?' we (especially i, with a bow). "'yea.' "the king then turned to the rath friedel [to friedel, as the central figure of the three, perhaps as the portliest, though poor friedel, except signing, had little cognizance of the thing, in which not he but rannsleben was to have been spokesman], and addressed to friedel those questions, of which, with their answers, there is protocol published, under royal authority, in the berlin newspapers of december th, ;" [von seiner koniglichen majestat hochstselbat angehaltenes protocoll: "protocol [minute of proceedings] held by royal majesty's highest-self, on the th december, , concerning the three kammergerichts-raths, friedel, graun and rannsleben:" in preuss, iii. .] shorthand stellter taking down what was said,--quite accurately, testifies rannsleben. from stellter (that is to say from the "protocol" just mentioned), or from stellter and rannsleben together, we continue the dialogue:-- king to friedel [in the tone of a rhadamanthus suffering from gout]. "'to give sentence against a peasant from whom you have taken wagon, plough and everything that enables him to get his living, and to pay his rent and taxes: is that a thing that can be done?' friedel (and the two mutes, bowing). "'no.' king. "'may a miller who has no water, and consequently cannot grind, and, therefore, not earn anything, have his mill taken from him, on account of his not having paid his rent: is that just?' friedel (and mutes as aforesaid). "'no.' king. "'but here now is a nobleman, wishing to make a fish-pond: to get more water for his pond, he has a ditch dug, to draw into it the water from a small stream which drives a water-mill. thereby the miller loses his water, and cannot grind; or, at most, can only grind in the spring for the space of a fortnight, and late in the autumn, perhaps another fortnight. yet, in spite of all this, it is pretended that the miller shall pay his rent quite the same as at the time when he had full water for his mill. of course, he cannot pay his rent; his incomings are gone! and what does the custrin court of justice do? it orders the mill to be sold, that the nobleman may have his rent. and the berlin tribunal'"--chancellor furst, standing painfully mute, unspoken to, unnoticed hitherto, more like a broomstick than a chancellor, ventures to strike in with a syllable of emendation, a small correction, of these words "berlin tribunal"-- furst (suggestively). "'kammergericht [mildly suggestive, and perhaps with something in his tone which means, "i am not a broomstick!"]: kammergericht!' king (to short-hand stellter). "'kammergerichts-tribunal:--[then to furst] go you, sir, about your business, on the instant! your successor is appointed; with you i have nothing more to do. disappear!'"--"ordered," says official rannsleben, "ordered the grand-chancellor, in very severe terms, to be gone! telling him that his successor was already appointed. which order herr von furst, without saying a word, hastily obeyed, passing in front of us three, with the utmost speed." in front,--screen, i suppose, not having room behind it,--and altogether vanishes from friedrich's history; all but some ghost of him (so we may term it), which reappears for an instant once, as will be noticed. king (continues to friedel, not in a lower tone probably):--"'the kammergerichts-tribunal confirms the same. that is highly unjust; and such sentence is altogether contrary to his majesty's landsfatherly intentions:--my name [you give it, "in the king's name," forsooth] cruelly abused!'" so far is set forth in the "royal protocol printed next tuesday," as well as in rannsleben. but from this point, the dialogue--if it can be called dialogue, being merely a rebuke and expectoration of royal wrath against friedel and his two, who are all mute, so far as i can learn, and stand like criminals in the dock, feeling themselves unjustly condemned--gets more and more into conflagration, and cannot be distinctly reported. "my name to such a thing! when was i found to oppress a poor man for love of a rich? to follow wiggeries and forms with solemn attention, careless what became of the internal fact? act of , allowing gersdorf to make his pond? like enough;--and arnold's loss of water, that is not worth the ascertaining; you know not yet what it was, some of you even say it was nothing; care not whether it was anything. could arnold grind, or not, as formerly? what is act of , or any or all acts, in comparison? wretched mortals, had you wigs a fathom long, and law-books on your back, and acts of by the hundredweight, what could it help, if the right of a poor man were left by you trampled under foot? what is the meaning of your sitting there as judges? dispensers of right in god's name and mine? i will make an example of you which shall be remembered!--out of my sight!" whereupon exeunt in haste, all three,--though not far, not home, as will be seen. only the essential sense of all this, not the exact terms, could (or should) any stellter take in short-hand; and in the protocol it is decorously omitted altogether. rannsleben merely says: "the king farther made use of very strong expressions against us,"--too strong to be repeated,--"and, at last, dismissed us without saying what he intended to do with us. we had hardly left the room, when he followed us, ordering us to wait. the king, during the interview with us, held the sentence, of my composition, in his hand; and seemed particularly irritated about the circumstance of the judgment being pronounced in his name, as is the usual form. he struck the paper again and again with his other hand,"--heat of indignation quite extinguishing gout, for the moment,--"exclaiming at the same time repeatedly, 'cruelly abused my name (meinen namen cruel missbraucht)!'" [preuss, iii. - .]--we will now give the remaining part of the protocol (what directly follows the above catechetical or dialogue part before that caught fire),--as taken down by stellter, and read in all the newspapers next tuesday:-- "protocol [of december th, title already given; [supra, p. n.] docketing adds], which is to be printed." ... (catechetics as above,--and then): "the king's desire always is and was, that everybody, be he high or low, rich or poor, get prompt justice; and that, without regard of person or rank, no subject of his fail at any time of impartial right and protection from his courts of law. "wherefore, with respect to this most unjust sentence against the miller arnold of the pommerzig crabmill, pronounced in the neumark, and confirmed here in berlin, his majesty will establish an emphatic example (ein nachdruckliches exempel statuiren); to the end that all courts of justice, in all the king's provinces, may take warning thereby, and not commit the like glaring unjust acts. for, let them bear in mind, that the least peasant, yea, what is still more, that even a beggar, is, no less than his majesty, a human being, and one to whom due justice must be meted out. all men being equal before the law, if it is a prince complaining against a peasant, or vice versa, the prince is the same as the peasant before the law; and, on such occasions, pure justice must have its course, without regard of person: let the law-courts, in all the provinces, take this for their rule. and whenever they do not carry out justice in a straightforward manner, without any regard of person and rank, but put aside natural fairness,--then they shall have to answer his majesty for it (sollen sic es mit seiner koniglichen majestat zu thun kriegen). for a court of law doing injustice is more dangerous and pernicious than a band of thieves: against these one can protect oneself; but against rogues who make use of the cloak of justice to accomplish their evil passions, against such no man can guard himself. these are worse than the greatest knaves the world contains, and deserve double punishment. "for the rest, be it also known to the various courts of justice, that his majesty has appointed a new grand-chancellor." furst dismissed. "yet his majesty will not the less look sharply with his own eyes after the law-proceedings in all the provinces; and he commands you"--that is, all the law-courts--"urgently herewith: firstly,"--which is also lastly,--"to proceed to deal equally with all people seeking justice, be it prince or peasant; for, there, all must be alike. however, if his majesty, at any time hereafter, come upon a fault committed in this regard, the guilty courts can now imagine beforehand how they will be punished with rigor, president as well as raths, who shall have delivered a judgment so wicked and openly opposed to justice. which all colleges of justice in all his majesty's provinces are particularly to take notice of." "mem. by his majesty's special command, measures are taken that this protocol be inserted in all the berlin journals." [in _berlin'sche nachrichten von staats und gelehrten sachen,_ no. , "tuesday, th december, ." preuss, iii. .] the remainder of rannsleben's narrative is beautifully brief and significant.--"we had hardly left the room," said he supra, "when the king followed us," lame as he was, with a fulminant "wait there!" rannsleben continues: "shortly after came an aide-de-camp, who took us in a carriage to the common town-prison, the kalandshof; here two corporals and two privates were set to guard us. on the th december, ," third day of our arrest, "a cabinet-order was published to us, by which the king had appointed a commission of inquiry; but had, at the same time, commanded beforehand that the sentence should not be less than a year's confinement in a fortress, dismissal from office, and payment of compensation to the arnold people for the losses they had sustained." which certainly was a bad outlook for us. precisely the same has befallen our brethren of custrin; all suddenly packed into prison, just while reading our approval of them;--there they sit, their sentence to be like ours. "our arrest in the kalandshof lasted from th december, , till th january, ," three weeks and three days,--when (with two exceptions, to be noted presently) we were all, kammergerichters and custriners alike, transferred to spandau. i spoke of what might be called a ghost of kanzler furst once revisiting the glimpses of the moon, or sun if there were any in the dismal december days. this is it, witness one who saw it: "on the morning of december th, the day after the grand-chancellor's dismissal, the street in which he lived was thronged with the carriages of callers, who came to testify their sympathy, and to offer their condolence to the fallen chancellor. the crowd of carriages could be seen from the windows of the king's palace." the same young legal gentleman, by and by a very old one, who, himself one of the callers at the ex-chancellor's house that day, saw this, and related it in his old age to herr preuss, [preuss, iii. , .] remembers and relates also this other significant fact:-- "during the days that followed" the above event and publication of the royal protocol, "i often crossed, in the forenoon, the esplanade in front of the palace (schlossplatz), at that side where the king's apartments were; the same which his royal highness the crown-prince now [ ] occupies. i remember that here, on that part of the esplanade which was directly under friedrich's windows, there stood constantly numbers of peasants, not ten or twelve, but as many as a hundred at a time; all with petitions in their hands, which they were holding up towards the window; shouting, 'please his majesty to look at these; we have been still worse treated than the arnolds!' and indeed, i have understood the law-courts, for some time after, found great difficulty to assert their authority: the parties against whom judgment went, taking refuge in the arnold precedent, and appealing direct to the king." far graver than this spectre of furst, minister zedlitz hesitates, finally refuses, to pronounce such a sentence as the king orders on these men of law! estimable, able, conscientious zedlitz; zealous on education matters, too;--whom i always like for contriving to attend a course of kant's lectures, while miles away from him (actual course in konigsberg university, by the illustrious kant; every lecture punctually taken in short-hand, and transmitted to berlin, post after post, for the busy man). [kuno fischer, _kant's leben_ (mannheim, ), pp. , .] here is now some painful correspondence between the king and him,--painful, yet pleasant:-- king to minister von zedlitz, who has alarming doubts (berlin, th december, ).--"your report of the th instant in regard to judgment on the arrested raths has been received. but do you think i don't understand your advocate fellows and their quirks; or how they can polish up a bad cause, and by their hyperboles exaggerate or extenuate as they find fit? the goose-quill class (federzeug) can't look at facts. when soldiers set to investigate anything, on an order given, they go the straight way to the kernel of the matter; upon which, plenty of objections from the goose-quill people!--but you may assure yourself i give more belief to an honest officer, who has honor in the heart of him, than to all your advocates and sentences. i perceive well they are themselves afraid, and don't want to see any of their fellows punished. "if, therefore, you will not obey my order, i shall take another in your place who will; for depart from it i will not. you may tell them that. and know, for your part, that such miserable jargon (miserabel styl) makes not the smallest impression on me. hereby, then, you are to guide yourself; and merely say whether you will follow my order or not; for i will in no wise fall away from it. i am your well-affectioned king,--friedrich." marginale (in autograph).--"my gentleman [you, herr von zedlitz, with your dubitatings] won't make me believe black is white. i know the advocate sleight-of-hand, and won't be taken in. an example has become necessary here,--those scoundrels (canaillen) having so enormously misused my name, to practise arbitrary and unheard-of injustices. a judge that goes upon chicaning is to be punished more severely than a highway robber. for you have trusted to the one; you are on your guard against the other." zedlitz to the king (berlin, st december, ).--"i have at all times had your royal majesty's favor before my eyes as the supreme happiness of my life, and have most zealously endeavored to merit the same: but i should recognize myself unworthy of it, were i capable of an undertaking contrary to my conviction. from the reasons indicated by myself, as well as by the criminal-senate [paper of reasons fortunately lost], your majesty will deign to consider that i am unable to draw up a condemnatory sentence against your majesty's servants-of-justice now under arrest on account of the arnold affair. your majesty's till death,--von zedlitz." king to zedlitz (berlin, st january, ).--"my dear state's-minister freiherr von zedlitz,--it much surprises me to see, from your note of yesterday, that you refuse to pronounce a judgment on those servants-of-justice arrested for their conduct in the arnold case, according to my order. if you, therefore, will not, i will; and do it as follows:-- " . the custrin regierungs-rath scheibler, who, it appears in evidence, was of an opposite opinion to his colleagues, and voted that the man up-stream had not a right to cut off the water from the man down-stream; and that the point, as to arnold's wanting water, should be more closely and strictly inquired into,--he, scheibler, shall be set free from his arrest, and go back to his post at custrin. and in like manner, kammergerichts-rath rannsleben--who has evidently given himself faithful trouble about the cause, and has brought forward with a quite visible impartiality all the considerations and dubieties, especially about the condition of the water and the alleged hurtfulness of the pond--is absolved from arrest. " . as for the other arrested servants-of-justice, they are one and all dismissed from office (cassirt), and condemned to one year's fortress-arrest. furthermore, they shall pay to arnold the value of his mill, and make good to him, out of their own pocket, all the loss and damage he has suffered in this business; the neumark kammer (revenue-board) to tax and estimate the same. [damage came to , thalers, groschen, pfennig,--that is, pounds s. and some pence and farthings; the last farthing of which was punctually paid to arnold, within the next eight months;] [preuss, iii. .]--so that " . the miller arnold shall be completely put as he was (in integrum restituirt). "and in such way must the matter, in all branches of it, be immediately proceeded with, got ready, and handed in for my completion (vollziehung) by signature. which you, therefore, will take charge of, without delay. for the rest, i will tell you farther, that i am not ill pleased to know you on the side you show on this occasion [as a man that will not go against his conscience], and shall see, by and by, what i can farther do with you. [left him where he was, as the best thing.] whereafter you are accordingly to guide yourself. and i remain otherwise your well-affectioned king, friedrich." [ib. iii. , ; see ib. n.] this, then, is an impartial account of the celebrated passage between friedrich and the lawyers known by the name of "the miller-arnold case;" which attracted the notice of all europe,--just while the decennium of the french revolution was beginning. in russia, the czarina catharine, the friend of philosophers, sent to her senate a copy of friedrich's protocol of december th, as a noteworthy instance of royal supreme judicature. in france, prints in celebration of it,--"one print by vangelisti, entitled balance de frederic,"--were exhibited in shop-windows, expounded in newspapers, and discoursed of in drawing-rooms. the case brought into talk again an old miller case of friedrich's, which had been famous above thirty years ago, when sans-souci was getting built. readers know it: potsdam miller, and his obstinate windmill, which still grinds on its knoll in those localities, and would not, at any price, become part of the king's gardens. "not at any price?" said the king's agent: "cannot the king take it from you for nothing, if he chose?" "have n't we the kammergericht at berlin!" answered the miller. to friedrich's great delight, as appears;--which might render the windmill itself a kind of ornament to his gardens thenceforth. the french admiration over these two miller cases continued to be very great. [dieulafoi, le meunier de sans-souci (comedy or farce, of i know not what year); andrieux, le moulin de sans-souci ("poem," at institut national germinal, an ), &c. &c.: preuss, iii. , .] as to miller arnold and his cause, the united voice of prussian society condemned friedrich's procedure: such harshness to grand-chancellor furst and respectable old official gentlemen, amounting to the barbarous and tyrannous, according to prussian society. to support which feeling, and testify it openly, they drove in crowds to furst's (some have told me to the prison-doors too, but that seems hypothetic); and left cards for old furst and company. in sight of friedrich, who inquired, "what is this stir on the streets, then?"--and, on learning, made not the least audible remark; but continued his salutary cashierment of the wigged gentlemen, and imprisonment till their full term ran. my impression has been that, in berlin society, there was more sympathy for mere respectability of wig than in friedrich. to friedrich respectability of wig that issues in solemnly failing to do justice, is a mere enormity, greater than the most wigless condition could be. wigless, the thing were to be endured, a thing one is born to, more or less: but in wig,--out upon it! and the wig which screens, and would strive to disguise and even to embellish such a thing: to the gutters with such wig! in support of their feeling for furst and company, berlin society was farther obliged to pronounce the claim of miller arnold a nullity, and that no injustice whatever had been done him. mere pretences on his part, subterfuges for his idle conduct, for his inability to pay due rent, said berlin society. and that impartial soldier-person, whom friedrich sent to examine by the light of nature, and report? "corrupted he!" answer they: "had intrigues with--" i forget whom; somebody of the womankind (perhaps arnold's old hard-featured wife, if you are driven into a corner!)--"and was not to be depended on at all!" in which condemned state, berlin society almost wholly disapproving it, the arnold process was found at friedrich's death (restoration of honors to old furst and company, one of the first acts of the new reign, sure of immediate popularity); and, i think, pretty much continues so still, few or none in berlin society admitting miller arnold's claim to redress, much less defending that onslaught on furst and the wigs. [herr preuss himself inclines that way, rather condemnatory of friedrich; but his account, as usual, is exact and authentic,--though distressingly confused, and scattered about into different corners (preuss, iii. - ; then again, ibid. &c.). on the other hand, there is one segebusch, too, a learned doctor, of altona, who takes the king's side,--and really is rather stupid, argumentative merely, and unilluminative, if you read him: segebusch, _historischrechtliche wurdigung der einmischung friedrich's des grossen in die bekannte rechtssache des mullers arnold, auch fur nicht-juristen_ (altona, ).] who, from the remote distance, would venture to contradict? once more, my own poor impression was, which i keep silent except to friends, that berlin society was wrong; that miller arnold had of a truth lost portions of his dam-water, and was entitled to abatement; and that in such case, friedrich's horror at the furst-and-company phenomenon (horror aggravated by gout) had its highly respectable side withal. when, after friedrich's death, on von gersdorf's urgent reclamations, the case was reopened, and allowed to be carried "into the secret tribunal, as the competent court of appeal in third instance," the said tribunal found, that the law-maxim depended upon by the lower courts, as to "the absolute right of owners of private streams," did not apply in the present case; but that the deed of did; and also that "the facts as to pretended damage [pretence merely] from loss of water, were satisfactorily proved against arnold:" gersdorf, therefore, may have his pond; and arnold must refund the money paid to him for "damages" by the condemned judges; and also the purchase-money of his mill, if he means to keep the latter. all which moneys, however, his majesty friedrich wilhelm ii., friedrich's successor, to have done with the matter, handsomely paid out of his own pocket: the handsome way of ending it. in his last journey to west-preussen, june, , friedrich said to the new regierungs-president (chief judge) there: "i am head commissary of justice; and have a heavy responsibility lying on me,"--as will you in this new office. friedrich at no moment neglected this part of his functions; and his procedure in it throughout, one cannot but admit to have been faithful, beautiful, human. very impatient indeed when he comes upon imbecility and pedantry threatening to extinguish essence and fact, among his law people! this is one marginale of his, among many such, some of them still more stinging, which are comfortable to every reader. the case is that of a murderer,--murder indisputable; "but may not insanity be suspected, your majesty, such the absence of motive, such the--?" majesty answers: "that is nothing but inanity and stupid pleading against right. the fellow put a child to death; if he were a soldier, you would execute him without priest; and because this canaille is a citizen, you make him 'melancholic' to get him off. beautiful justice!" [preuss, iii. .] friedrich has to sign all death-sentences; and he does it, wherever i have noticed, rigorously well. for the rest, his criminal calendar seems to be lighter than any other of his time; "in a population of , , ," says he once, " to are annually condemned to death." chapter viii.--the furstenbund: friedrich's last years. at vienna, on november th, , the noble kaiserinn maria theresa, after a short illness, died. her end was beautiful and exemplary, as her course had been. the disease, which seemed at first only a bad cold, proved to have been induration of the lungs; the chief symptom throughout, a more and more suffocating difficulty to breathe. on the edge of death, the kaiserinn, sitting in a chair (bed impossible in such struggle for breath), leant her head back as if inclined to sleep. one of her women arranged the cushions, asked in a whisper, "will your majesty sleep, then?" "no," answered the dying kaiserinn; "i could sleep, but i must not; death is too near. he must not steal upon me. these fifteen years i have been making ready for him; i will meet him awake." fifteen years ago her beloved franz was snatched from her, in such sudden manner: and ever since, she has gone in widow's dress; and has looked upon herself as one who had done with the world. the th of every month has been for her a day of solitary prayer; th of every august (franz's death-day) she has gone down punctually to the vaults in the stephans-kirche, and sat by his coffin there;--last august, something broke in the apparatus as she descended; and it has ever since been an omen to her. [hormayr, _oesterreichischer plutarch,_ iv. ( tes) ; keith, ii. .] omen now fulfilled. on her death, joseph and kaunitz, now become supreme, launched abroad in their ambitious adventures with loose rein. schemes of all kinds; including bavaria still, in spite of the late check; for which latter, and for vast prospects in turkey as well, the young kaiser is now upon a cunning method, full of promise to him,--that of ingratiating himself with the czarina, and cutting out friedrich in that quarter. summer, , while the kaiserinn still lived, joseph made his famous first visit to the czarina (may-august, ), [hermann, vi. - .]--not yet for some years his thrice-famous second visit (thrice-famous cleopatra-voyage with her down the dnieper; dramaturgic cities and populations keeping pace with them on the banks, such the scenic faculty of russian officials, with potemkin as stage-manager):--in the course of which first visit, still more in the second, it is well known the czarina and joseph came to an understanding. little articulated of it as yet; but the meaning already clear to both. "a frank partnership, high madam: to you, full scope in your glorious notion of a greek capital and empire, turk quite trampled away, constantinople a christian metropolis once more [and your next grandson a constantine,--to be in readiness]: why not, if i may share too, in the donau countries, that lie handy? to you, i say, an eastern empire; to me, a western: revival of the poor old romish reich, so far as may be; and no hindrance upon bavaria, next time. have not we had enough of that old friedrich, who stands perpetually upon status quo, and to both of us is a mere stoppage of the way?" czarina catharine took the hint; christened her next grandson "constantine" (to be in readiness); [this is the constantine who renounced, in favor of the late czar nicholas; and proved a failure in regard to "new greek empire," and otherwise.] and from that time stiffly refused renewing her treaty with friedrich;--to friedrich's great grief, seeing her, on the contrary, industrious to forward every german scheme of joseph's, bavarian or other, and foreshadowing to himself dismal issues for prussia when this present term of treaty should expire. as to joseph, he was busy night and day,--really perilous to friedrich and the independence of the german reich. his young brother, maximilian, he contrives, czarina helping, to get elected co-adjutor of koln; successor of our lanky friend there, to be kur-koln in due season, and make the electorate of koln a bit of austria henceforth. [lengthy and minute account of that transaction, in all the steps of it, in dohm, i. - .] then there came "panis-briefe," [panis (bread) brief is a letter with which, in ancient centuries, the kaiser used to furnish an old worn-out servant, addressed to some monastery, some abbot or prior in easy circumstances: "be so good as provide this old gentleman with panis (bread, or board and lodging) while he lives." very pretty in barbarossa's time;--but now--!]--who knows what?--usurpations, graspings and pretensions without end:--finally, an open pretension to incorporate bavaria, after all. bavaria, not in part now, but in whole: "you, karl theodor, injured man, cannot we give you territory in the netherlands; a king there you shall be, and have your vote as kur-pfalz still; only think! in return for which, bavaria ours in fee-simple, and so finish that?" karl theodor is perfectly willing,--only perhaps some others are not. then and there, these threatening complexities, now gone like a dream of the night, were really life-perils for the kingdom of prussia; never to be lost sight of by a veteran shepherd of the people. they kept a vigilant king friedrich continually on the stretch, and were a standing life-problem to him in those final years. problem nearly insoluble to human contrivance; the russian card having palpably gone into the other hand. problem solved, nevertheless; it is still remembered how. on the development of that pretty bavarian project, the thing became pressing; and it is well known by what a stroke of genius friedrich checkmated it; and produced instead a "furstenbund," or general "confederation of german princes," prussia atop, to forbid peremptorily that the laws of the reich be infringed. furstenbund: this is the victorious summit of friedrich's public history, towards which all his efforts tended, during these five years: friedrich's last feat in the world. feat, how obsolete now,--fallen silent everywhere, except in german parish-history, and to the students of friedrich's character in old age! had no result whatever in european history; so unexpected was the turn things took. a furstenbund which was swallowed bodily within few years, in that world-explosion of democracy, and war of the giants; and--unless napoleon's "confederation of the rhine" were perhaps some transitory ghost of it?--left not even a ghost behind. a furstenbund of which we must say something, when its year comes; but obviously not much. nor are the domesticities, as set forth by our prussian authorities, an opulent topic for us. friedrich's old age is not unamiable; on the contrary, i think it would have made a pretty picture, had there been a limner to take it, with the least felicity or physiognomic coherency;--as there was not. his letters, and all the symptoms we have, denote a sound-hearted brave old man; continually subduing to himself many ugly troubles; and, like the stars, always steady at his work. to sit grieving or desponding is, at all times, far from him: "why despond? won't it be all done presently; is it of much moment while it lasts?" a fine, unaffectedly vigorous, simple and manful old age;--rather serene than otherwise; in spite of electric outbursts and cloudy weather that could not be wanting. of all which there is not, in this place, much more to be said. friedrich's element is itself wearing dim, sombre of hue; and the records of it, too, seem to grow dimmer, more and more intermittent. old friends, of the intellectual kind, are almost all dead; the new are of little moment to us,--not worth naming in comparison, the chief, perhaps, is a certain young marchese lucchesini, who comes about this time, ["chamberlain [titular, with pension, &c.], th may, , age then " (preuss, iv. );-arrived when or how is not said.] and continues in more and more favor both with friedrich and his successor,--employed even in diplomatics by the latter. an accomplished young gentleman, from lucca; of fine intelligence, and, what was no less essential to him here, a perfect propriety in breeding and carriage. one makes no acquaintance with him in these straggling records, nor desires to make any. it was he that brought the inane, ever scribbling denina hither, if that can be reckoned a merit. inane denina came as academician, october, ; saw friedrich, [rodenbeck, iii. , .] at least once ("academician, pension; yes, yes!")--and i know not whether any second time. friedrich, on loss of friends, does not take refuge in solitude; he tries always for something of substitute; sees his man once or twice,--in several instances once only, and leaves him to his pension in sinecure thenceforth. cornelius de pauw, the rich canon of xanten (uncle of anacharsis klootz, the afterwards renowned), came on those principles; hung on for six months, not liked, not liking; and was then permitted to go home for good, his pension with him. another, a frenchman, whose name i forget, sat gloomily in potsdam, after his rejection; silent (not knowing german), unclipt, unkempt, rough as nebuchadnezzar, till he died. de catt is still a resource; steady till almost the end, when somebody's tongue, it is thought, did him ill with the king. alone, or almost alone, of the ancient set is bastiani; a tall, black-browed man, with uncommonly bright eyes, now himself old, and a comfortable abbot in silesia; who comes from time to time, awakening the king into his pristine topics and altitudes. bastiani's history is something curious: as a tall venetian monk (son of a tailor in venice), he had been crimped by friedrich wilhelm's people; friedrich found him serving as a potsdam giant, but discerned far other faculties in the bright-looking man, far other knowledges; and gradually made him what we see. banters him sometimes that he will rise to be pope one day, so cunning and clever is he: "what will you say to me, a heretic, when you get to be pope; tell me now; out with it, i insist!" bastiani parried, pleaded, but unable to get off, made what some call his one piece of wit: "i will say: o royal eagle, screen me with thy wings, but spare me with thy sharp beak!" this is bastiani's one recorded piece of wit; for he was tacit rather, and practically watchful, and did not waste his fine intellect in that way. foreign visitors there are in plenty; now and then something brilliant going. but the old generals seem to be mainly what the king has for company. dinner always his bright hour; from ten to seven guests daily. seidlitz, never of intelligence on any point but soldiering, is long since dead; ziethen comes rarely, and falls asleep when he does; general gortz (brother of the weimar-munchen gortz); buddenbrock (the king's comrade in youth, in the reinsberg times), who has good faculty; prittwitz (who saved him at kunersdorf, and is lively, though stupid); general and head-equerry schwerin, of headlong tongue, not witty, but the cause of wit; major graf von pinto, a magniloquent ex-austrian ditto ditto: these are among his chief dinner-guests. if fine speculation do not suit, old pranks of youth, old tales of war, become the staple conversation; always plenty of banter on the old king's part;--who sits very snuffy (says the privately ill-humored busching) and does not sufficiently abhor grease on his fingers, or keep his nails quite clean. occasionally laughs at the clergy, too; and has little of the reverence seemly in an old king. the truth is, doctor, he has had his sufferings from human stupidity; and was always fond of hitting objects on the raw. for the rest, as you may see, heartily an old stoic, and takes matters in the rough; avoiding useless despondency above all; and intent to have a cheerful hour at dinner if he can. visits from his kindred are still pretty frequent; never except on invitation. for the rest, completely an old bachelor, an old military abbot; with business for every hour. princess amelia takes care of his linen, not very well, the dear old lady, who is herself a cripple, suffering, and voiceless, speaking only in hoarse whisper. i think i have heard there were but twelve shirts, not in first-rate order, when the king died. a king supremely indifferent to small concerns; especially to that of shirts and tailorages not essential. holds to literature, almost more than ever; occasionally still writes; [for one instance: the famous pamphlet, de la litterature allemande (containing his onslaught on shakspeare, and his first salutation, with the reverse of welcome, to goethe's gotz von berlichingen);--printed, under stupid thiebault's care, berlin, . stands now in _oeuvres de frederic,_ vii. - . the last pieces of all are chiefly military instructions of a practical or official nature.] has his daily readings, concerts, correspondences as usual:--readers can conceive the dim household picture, dimly reported withal. the following anecdotes may be added as completion of it, or at least of all i have to say on it:-- you go on wednesday, then?--"loss of time was one of the losses friedrich could least stand. in visits even from his brothers and sisters, which were always by his own express invitation, he would say some morning (call it tuesday morning): 'you are going on wednesday, i am sorry to hear' (what you never heard before)!--'alas, your majesty, we must!' 'well, i am sorry: but i will lay no constraint on you. pleasant moments cannot last forever!' and sometimes, after this had been agreed to; he would say: 'but cannot you stay till thursday, then? come, one other day of it!'--'well, since your majesty does graciously press!' and on thursday, not wednesday, on those curious terms, the visit would terminate. this trait is in the anecdote-books: but its authenticity does not rest on that uncertain basis; singularly enough, it comes to me, individually, by two clear stages, from friedrich's sister the duchess of brunswick, who, if anybody, would know it well!" [my informant is sir george sinclair, baronet, of thurso; his was the distinguished countess of finlater, still remembered for her graces of mind and person, who had been maid-of-honor to the duchess.] dinner with the queen.--the queen, a prudent, simple-minded, worthy person, of perfect behavior in a difficult position, seems to have been much respected in berlin society and the court circles. nor was the king wanting in the same feeling towards her; of which there are still many proofs: but as to personal intercourse,--what a figure has that gradually taken! preuss says, citing those who saw: "when the king, after the seven-years war, now and then, in carnival season, dined with the queen in her apartments, he usually said not a word to her. he merely, on entering, on sitting down at table and on leaving it, made the customary bow; and sat opposite to her. once, in the seventies [years , years now past], the queen was ill of gout; table was in her apartments; but she herself was not there, she sat in an easy-chair in the drawing-room. on this occasion the king stepped up to the queen, and inquired about her health. the circumstance occasioned, among the company present, and all over town as the news spread, great wonder and sympathy (verwunderung und theilnahme). this is probably the last time he ever spoke to her." [preuss, iv. .] the two grand-nephews.--"the king was fond of children; liked to have his grand-nephews about him. one day, while the king sat at work in his cabinet, the younger of the two, a boy of eight or nine [who died soon after twenty], was playing ball about the room; and knocked it once and again into the king's writing operation; who twice or oftener flung it back to him, but next time put it in his pocket, and went on. 'please your majesty, give it me back!' begged the boy; and again begged: majesty took no notice; continued writing. till at length came, in the tone of indignation, 'will your majesty give me my ball, then?' the king looked up; found the little hohenzollern planted firm, hands on haunches, and wearing quite a peremptory air. 'thou art a brave little fellow; they won't get silesia out of thee!' cried he laughing, and flinging him his ball." [fischer, ii. ("year ").] of the elder prince, afterwards friedrich wilhelm iii. (father of the now king), there is a much more interesting anecdote, and of his own reporting too, though the precise terms are irrecoverable: "how the king, questioning him about his bits of french studies, brought down a la fontaine from the shelves, and said, 'translate me this fable;' which the boy did, with such readiness and correctness as obtained the king's praises: praises to an extent that was embarrassing, and made the honest little creature confess, 'i did it with my tutor, a few days since!' to the king's much greater delight; who led him out to walk in the gardens, and, in a mood of deeper and deeper seriousness, discoursed and exhorted him on the supreme law of truth and probity that lies on all men, and on all kings still more; one of his expressions being, 'look at this high thing [the obelisk they were passing in the gardens], its uprightness is its strength (sa droiture fait sa force);' and his final words, 'remember this evening, my good fritz; perhaps thou wilt think of it, long after, when i am gone.' as the good friedrich wilhelm iii. declares piously he often did, in the storms of fate that overtook him." [r. f. eylert, _charakterzuge und historische fragmente aus dem leben des konigs von preussen friedrich wilhelm iii._ (magdeburg, ), i. - . this is a "king's chaplain and bishop eylert:" undoubtedly he heard this anecdote from his master, and was heard repeating it; but the dialect his editors have put it into is altogether tawdry, modern, and impossible to take for that of friedrich, or even, i suppose, of friedrich wilhelm iii.] industrial matters, that of colonies especially, of drainages, embankments, and reclaiming of waste lands, are a large item in the king's business,--readers would not guess how large, or how incessant. under this head there is on record, and even lies at my hand translated into english, what might be called a colonial day with friedrich (day of july d, ; which friedrich, just come home from the bavarian war, spent wholly, from in the morning onward, in driving about, in earnest survey of his colonies and land-improvements in the potsdam-ruppin country); curious enough record, by a certain bailiff or overseer, who rode at his chariotside, of all the questions, criticisms and remarks of friedrich on persons and objects, till he landed at ruppin for the night. taken down, with forensic, almost with religious exactitude, by the bailiff in question; a nephew of the poet gleim,--by whom it was published, the year after friedrich's death; [is in _anekdoten und karakterzuge,_ no. (berlin, ), pp. - .] and by many others since. it is curiously authentic, characteristic in parts, though in its bald forensic style rather heavy reading. luckier, for most readers, that inexorable want of room has excluded it, on the present occasion! [printed now (in edition , for the first time), as appendix to this volume.] no reader adequately fancies, or could by any single document be made to do so, the continual assiduity of friedrich in regard to these interests of his. the strictest husbandman is not busier with his farm, than friedrich with his kingdom throughout;--which is indeed a farm leased him by the heavens; in which not a gate-bar can be broken, nor a stone or sod roll into the smallest ditch, but it is to his the husbandman's damage, and must be instantly looked after. there are meetings with the silesian manufacturers (in review time), dialogues ensuing, several of which have been preserved; strange to read, however dull. there are many scattered evidences;--and only slowly does, not the thing indeed, but the degree of the thing, become fully credible. not communicable, on the terms prescribed us at present; and must be left to the languid fancy, like so much else. here is an ocular view, here are several such, which we yet happily have, of the actual friedrich as he looked and lived. these, at a cheap rate, throw transiently some flare of illumination over his affairs and him: these let me now give; and these shall be all. prince de ligne, after ten years, sees friedrich a second time; time; and reports what was said. in summer, , as we mentioned, kaiser joseph was on his first visit to the czarina. they met at mohilow on the dnieper, towards the end of may; have been roving about, as if in mere galas and amusements (though with a great deal of business incidentally thrown in), for above a month since, when prince de ligne is summoned to join them at petersburg. he goes by berlin, stays at potsdam with friedrich for about a week; and reports to polish majesty these new dialogues of , the year after sending him those of mahrisch-neustadt of , which we read above. those were written down from memory, in ; these in ,--and "towards the end of it," as is internally evident. let these also be welcome to us on such terms as there are. "since your majesty [quasi-majesty, of poland] is willing to lose another quarter of an hour of that time, which you employ so well in gaining the love of all to whom you deign to make yourself known, here is my second interview. it can be of interest only to you, sire, who have known the king, and who discover traits of character in what to another are but simple words. one finds in few others that confidence, or at least that kindliness (bonhomie), which characterizes your majesty. with you, one can indulge in rest; but with the king of prussia, one had always to be under arms, prepared to parry and to thrust, and to keep the due middle between a small attack and a grand defence. i proceed to the matter in hand, and shall speak to you of him for the last time. "he had made me promise to come to berlin. i hastened thither directly after that little war [potato-war], which he called 'an action where he had come as bailiff to perform an execution.' the result for him, as is known, was a great expense of men, of horses and money; some appearance of good faith and disinterestedness; little honor in the war; a little honesty in policy, and much bitterness against us austrians. the king began, without knowing why, to prohibit austrian officers from entering his territories without an express order, signed by his own hand. similar prohibition, on the part of our court, against prussian officers and mutual constraint, without profit or reason. i, for my own part, am of confident humor; i thought i should need no permission, and i think still i could have done without one. but the desire of having a letter from the great friedrich, rather than the fear of being ill-received, made me write to him. my letter was all on fire with my enthusiasm, my admiration, and the fervor of my sentiment for that sublime and extraordinary being; and it brought me three charming answers from him. he gave me, in detail, almost what i had given him in the gross; and what he could not return me in admiration,--for i do not remember to have gained a battle,--he accorded me in friendship. for fear of missing, he had written to me from potsdam, to vienna, to dresden, and to berlin. [in fine, at potsdam i was, saturday, th july, , waiting ready;--stayed there about a week.] [" th (or th) july, " (rodenbeck, iii. ): "stayed till th."] "while waiting for the hour of , with my son charles and m. de lille [abbe de lille, prose-writer of something now forgotten; by no means lyrical de lisle, of les jardins], to be presented to the king, i went to look at the parade;--and, on its breaking up, was surrounded, and escorted to the palace, by austrian deserters, and particularly from my own regiment, who almost caressed me, and asked my pardon for having left me. "the hour of presentation struck. the king received me with an unspeakable charm. the military coldness of a general's head-quarters changed into a soft and kindly welcome. he said to me, 'he did not think i had so big a son.' ego. "'he is even married, sire; has been so these twelve months.' king. "'may i (oserais-je) ask you to whom?' he often used this expression, 'oserais-je;' and also this: 'if you permit me to have the honor to tell you, si vous me permettes d'avoir l'honneur de vous dire.' ego. "'to a polish-lady, a massalska.' king (to my son). "'what, a massalska? do you know what her grandmother did?' "'no, sire,' said charles. king. "'she put the match to the cannon at the siege of dantzig with her own hand; [february, , in poor stanislaus leczinski's second fit of royalty: supra vi. .] she fired, and made others fire, and defended herself, when her party, who had lost head, thought only of surrendering.' ego. "'women are indeed undefinable; strong and weak by turns, indiscreet, dissembling, they are capable of anything.' 'without doubt,' said m. de lille, distressed that nothing had yet been said to him, and with a familiarity which was not likely to succeed; 'without doubt. look--' said he. the king interrupted him. i cited some traits in support of my opinion,--as that of the woman hachette at the siege of beauvais. [a.d. ; burgundians storming the wall had their flag planted; flag and flag-bearer are hurled into the ditch by hachette and other inspired women,--with the finest results.] the king made a little excursion to rome and to sparta: he liked to promenade there. after half a second of silence, to please de lille, i told the king that m. de voltaire died in de lille's arms. that caused the king to address some questions to him; he answered in rather too long-drawn a manner, and went away. charles and i stayed dinner." this is day first in potsdam. "here, for five hours daily, the king's encyclopedical conversation enchanted me completely. fine arts, war, medicine, literature and religion, philosophy, ethics, history and legislation, in turns passed in review. the fine centuries of augustus and of louis xiv.; good society among the romans, among the greeks, among the french; the chivalry of francois i.; the frankness and valor of henri iv.; the new-birth (renaissance) of letters and their revolution since leo x.; anecdotes about the clever men of other times, and the trouble they give; m. de voltaire's slips; susceptibilities of m. de maupertuis; algarotti's agreeable ways; fine wit of jordan; d'argens's hypochondria, whom the king would send to bed for four-and-twenty hours by simply telling him that he looked ill;--and, in fine, what not? everything, the most varied and piquant that could be said, came from him,--in a most soft tone of voice; rather low than otherwise, and no less agreeable than were the movements of his lips, which had an inexpressible grace. "it was this, i believe, which prevented one's observing that he was, in fact, like homer's heroes, somewhat of a talker (un peu babillard), though a sublime one. it is to their voices, their noise and gestures, that talkers often owe their reputation as such; for certainly one could not find a greater talker than the king; but one was delighted at his being so. accustomed to talk to marquis lucchesini, in the presence of only four or five generals who did not understand french, he compensated in this way for his hours of labor, of study, of meditation and solitude. at least, said i to myself, i must get in a word. he had just mentioned virgil. i said:-- ego. "'what a great poet, sire; but what a bad gardener!' king. "'ah, to whom do you tell that! have not i tried to plant, sow, till, dig, with the georgics in my hand? "but, monsieur," said my man, "you are a fool (bete), and your book no less; it is not in that way one goes to work." ah, mon dieu, what a climate! would you believe it, heaven, or the sun, refuse me everything? look at my poor orange-trees, my olive-trees, lemon-trees: they are all starving.' ego. "'it would appear, then, nothing but laurels flourish with you, sire.' (the king gave me a charming look; and to cover an inane observation by an absurd one, i added quickly:) 'besides, sire, there are too many grenadiers [means, in french, pomegranates as well as grenadiers,--peg of one's little joke!] in this country; they eat up everything!' the king burst out laughing; for it is only absurdities that cause laughter. "one day i had turned a plate to see of what, porcelain it was. 'where do you think it comes from?' asked the king. ego. "'i thought it was saxon; but, instead of two swords [the saxon mark], i see only one, which is well worth both of them.' king. "'it is a sceptre.' ego. "'i beg your majesty's pardon; but it is so much like a sword, that one could easily mistake it for one.' and such was really the case. this, it, is known, is the mark of the berlin china. as the king sometimes played king, and thought himself, sometimes, extremely magnificent while taking up a walking-stick or snuffbox with a few wretched little diamonds running after one another on it, i don't quite know whether he was infinitely pleased with my little allegory. "one day, as i entered his room, he came towards me, saying, 'i tremble to announce bad news to you. i have just heard that prince karl of lorraine is dying.' [is already dead, "at brussels, july th;" duke of sachsen-teschen and wife christine succeeded him as joint-governors in those parts.] he looked at me to see the effect this would have; and observing some tears escaping from my eyes, he, by gentlest transitions, changed the conversation; talked of war, and of the marechal de lacy. he asked me news about lacy; and said, 'that is a man of the greatest merit. in former time, count mercy among yourselves [killed, while commanding in chief, at the battle of parma in ], puysegur among the french, had some notions of marches and encampments; one sees from hyginus's book [ancient book] on castrametation, that the greeks also were much occupied with the subject: but your marechal surpasses the ancients, the moderns and all the most famous men who have meddled with it. thus, whenever he was your quartermaster-general, if you will permit me to make the remark to you, i did not gain the least advantage. recollect the two campaigns of and ; you succeeded in everything. i often said to myself, 'shall i never get rid of that man, then?' you yourselves got me rid of him; and--[some liberal or even profuse eulogy of lacy, who is de ligne's friend; which we can omit]. "next day the king, as soon as he saw me, came up; saying with the most penetrated air: 'if you are to learn the loss of a man who loved you, and who did honor to mankind, it will be better that it be from some one who feels it as deeply as i do. poor prince karl is no more. others, perhaps, are made to replace him in your heart; but few princes will replace him with regard to the beauty of his soul and to all his virtues.' in saying this, his emotion became extreme. i said: 'your majesty's regrets are a consolation; and you did not wait for his death to speak well of him. there are fine verses with reference to him in the poem, sur l'art de la guerre.' my emotion troubled me against my will; however, i repeated them to him. ["soutien de mes rivaux, digne appui de ta reine, charles, d'un ennemi sourd aux cris de la haine recois l'eloge"... (for crossing the rhine in ): ten rather noble lines, still worth reading; as indeed the whole poem well is, especially to soldier students (l'art de la guerre, chant vi.: _oeuvres de frederic,_ x. ).] the man of letters seemed to appreciate my knowing them by heart. king. "'his passage of the rhine was a very fine thing;--but the poor prince depended upon so many people! i never depended upon anybody but myself; sometimes too much so for my luck. he was badly served, not too well obeyed: neither the one nor the other ever was the case with me.--your general nadasti appeared to me a great general of cavalry?' not sharing the king's opinion on this point, i contented myself with saying, that nadasti was very brilliant, very fine at musketry, and that he could have led his hussars to the world's end and farther (dans l'enfer), so well did he know how to animate them. king. "'what has become of a brave colonel who played the devil at rossbach? ah, it was the marquis de voghera, i think?--yes, that's it; for i asked his name after the battle.' ego. "'he is general of cavalry.' king. "'perdi! it needed a considerable stomach for fight, to charge like your two regiments of cuirassiers there, and, i believe, your hussars also: for the battle was lost before it began.' ego. "'apropos of m. de voghera, is your majesty aware of a little thing he did before charging? he is a boiling, restless, ever-eager kind of man; and has something of the good old chivalry style. seeing that his regiment would not arrive quick enough, he galloped ahead of it; and coming up to the commander of the prussian regiment of cavalry which he meant to attack, he saluted him as on parade; the other returned the salute; and then, have at each other like madmen.' king. "'a very good style it is! i should like to know that man; i would thank him for it.--your general von ried, then, had got the devil in him, that time at eilenburg [spurt of fight there, in the meissen regions, i think in year , when the d'ahremberg dragoons got so cut up], to let those brave dragoons, who so long bore your name with glory, advance between three of my columns?'--he had asked me the same question at the camp of neustadt ten years since; and in vain had i told him that it was not m. de ried; that ried did not command them at all; and that the fault was marechal daun's, who ought not to have sent them into that wood of eilenburg, still less ordered them to halt there without even sending a patrol forward. the king could not bear our general von ried, who had much displeased him as minister at berlin; and it was his way to put down everything to the account of people he disliked. king. "'when i think of those devils of saxon camps [summer, ],--they were unattackable citadels! if, at torgau, m. de lacy had still been quartermaster-general, i should not have attempted to attack him. but there i saw at once the camp was ill chosen.' ego. "'the superior reputation of camps sometimes causes a desire to attempt them. for instance, i ask your majesty's pardon, but i have always thought you would at last have attempted that of plauen, had the war continued.' king. "'oh, no, indeed! there was no way of taking that one.' ego. "'does n't your majesty think: with a good battery on the heights of dolschen, which commanded us; with some battalions, ranked behind each other in the ravine, attacking a quarter of an hour before daybreak [and so forth, at some length,--excellent for soldier readers who know the plauen chasm], you could have flung us out of that almost impregnable place of refuge?' king. "'and your battery on the windberg, which would have scourged my poor battalions, all the while, in your ravine?' ego. "'but, sire, the night?' king. "'oh, you could not miss us even by grope. that big hollow that goes from burg, and even from potschappel,--it would have poured like a water-spout [or fire-spout] over us. you see, i am not so brave as you think.' "the kaiser had set out for his interview [first interview, and indeed it is now more than half done, a good six weeks of it gone] with the czarina of russia. that interview the king did not like [no wonder]:--and, to undo the good it had done us, he directly, and very unskilfully, sent the prince royal to petersburg [who had not the least success there, loutish fellow, and was openly snubbed by a czarina gone into new courses]. his majesty already doubted that the court of russia was about to escape him:--and i was dying of fear lest, in the middle of all his kindnesses, he should remember that i was an austrian. 'what,' said i to myself, 'not a single epigram on us, or on our master? what a change!' "one day, at dinner, babbling pinto said to the person sitting next him, 'this kaiser is a great traveller; there never was one who went so far.' 'i ask your pardon, monsieur,' said the king; 'charles fifth went to africa; he gained the battle of oran.' and, turning towards me,--who couldn't guess whether it was banter or only history,--'this time,' said he, 'the kaiser is more fortunate than charles twelfth; like charles, he entered russia by mohilow; but it appears to me he will arrive at moscow.' "the same pinto, one day, understanding the king was at a loss whom to send as foreign minister some-whither, said to him: 'why does not your majesty think of sending lucchesini, who is a man of much brilliancy (homme d'esprit)?' 'it is for that very reason,' answered the king, 'that i want to keep him. i had rather send you than him, or a dull fellow like monsieur--' i forget whom, but believe it is one whom he did appoint minister somewhere. "m. de lucchesini, by the charm of his conversation, brought out that of the king's. he knew what topics were agreeable to the king; and then, he knew how to listen; which is not so easy as one thinks, and which no stupid man was ever capable of. he was as agreeable to everybody as to his majesty, by his seductive manners and by the graces of his mind. pinto, who had nothing to risk, permitted himself everything. says he: 'ask the austrian general, sire, all he saw me do when in the service of the kaiser.' ego. "'a fire-work at my wedding, was n't that it, my dear pinto?' king (interrupting). "'do me the honor to say whether it was successful?' ego. "'no, sire; it even alarmed all my relations, who thought it a bad omen. monsieur the major here had struck out the idea of joining two flaming hearts, a very novel image of a married couple. but the groove they were to slide on, and meet, gave way: my wife's heart went, and mine remained.' king. "'you see, pinto, you were not good for much to those people, any more than to me.' ego. "'oh, sire, your majesty, since then, owes him some compensation for the sabre-cuts he had on his head.' king. "'he gets but too much compensation. pinto, did n't i send you yesterday some of my good preussen honey?' pinto. "'oh, surely;--it was to make the thing known. if your majesty could bring that into vogue, and sell it all, you would be the greatest king in the world. for your kingdom produces only that; but of that there is plenty.' "'do you know,' said the king, one day, to me,--'do you know that the first soldiering i did was for the house of austria? mon dieu, how the time passes!'--he had a way of slowly bringing his hands together, in ejaculating these mon-dieus, which gave him quite a good-natured and extremely mild air.--(do you know that i saw the glittering of the last rays of prince eugen's genius?' ego. "'perhaps it was at these rays that your majesty's genius lit itself.' king. "'eh, mon dieu! who could equal the prince eugen?' ego. "'he who excels him;--for instance, he who could win twelve battles!'--he put on his modest air. i have always said, it is easy to be modest, if you are in funds. he seemed as though he had not understood me, and said:-- king. "'when the cabal which, during forty years, the prince had always had to struggle with in his army, were plotting mischief on him, they used to take advantage of the evening time, when his spirits, brisk enough in the morning, were jaded by the fatigues of the day. it was thus they persuaded him to undertake his bad march on mainz' [march not known to me]. ego. "'regarding yourself, sire, and the rhine campaign, you teach me nothing. i know everything your majesty did, and even what you said. i could relate to you your journeys to strasburg, to holland, and what passed in a certain boat. apropos of this rhine campaign, one of our old generals, whom i often set talking, as one reads an old manuscript, has told me how astonished he was to see a young prussian officer, whom he did not know, answering a general of the late king, who had given out the order, not to go a-foraging: "and i, sir, i order you to go; our army needs it; in short, i will have it so (je le veux)!--"' king. "'you look at me too much from the favorable side! ask these gentlemen about my humors and my caprices; they will tell you fine things of me.' "we got talking of some anecdotes which are consigned to, or concealed in, certain obscure books. 'i have been much amused, said i to the king, (with the big cargo of books, true or false, written by french refugees, which perhaps are unknown in france itself.' [discourses a little on this subject.] king. "'where did you pick up all these fine old pieces? these would amuse me on an evening; better than the conversation of my doctor of the sorbonne [one peyrau, a wandering creature, not otherwise of the least interest to us], [nicolai, _anekdoten,_ ii. n.] whom i have here, and whom i am trying to convert.' ego. "'i found them all in a bohemian library, where i sat diverting myself for two winters.' king. "'how, then? two winters in bohemia? what the devil were you doing there! is it long since?' ego. "'no, sire; only a year or two [potato-war time]! i had retired thither to read at my ease.'--he smiled, and seemed to appreciate my not mentioning the little war of , and saving him any speech about it. he saw well enough that my winter-quarters had been in bohemia on that occasion; and was satisfied with my reticence. being an old sorcerer, who guessed everything, and whose tact was the finest ever known, he discovered that i did not wish to tell him i found berlin changed since i had last been there. i took care not to remind him that i was at the capturing of it in , under m. de lacy's orders [m. de lacy's indeed!].--it was for having spoken of the first capture of berlin, by marshal haddick [highly temporary as it was, and followed by rossbach], that the king had taken a dislike to m. de ried. "apropos of the doctor of the sorbonne [uninteresting peyrau] with whom he daily disputed, the king said to me once, 'get me a bishopric for him.' 'i don't think,' answered i, (that my recommendation, or that of your majesty, could be useful to him with us.' 'ah, truly no!' said the king: 'well, i will write to the czarina of russia for this poor devil; he does begin to bore me. he holds out as jansenist, forsooth. mon dieu, what blockheads the present jansenists are! but france should not have extinguished that nursery (foyer) of their genius, that port royal, extravagant as it was. indeed, one ought to destroy nothing! why have they destroyed, too, the depositaries of the graces of rome and of athens, those excellent professors of the humanities, and perhaps of humanity, the ex-jesuit fathers? education will be the loser by it. but as my brothers the kings, most catholic, most christian, most faithful and apostolic, have tumbled them out, i, most heretical, pick up as many as i can; and perhaps, one day, i shall be courted for the sake of them by those who want some. i preserve the breed: i said, counting my stock the other day, "a rector like you, my father, i could easily sell for thalers; you, reverend father provincial, for ; and so the rest, in proportion." when one is not rich, one makes speculations.' "from want of memory, and of opportunities to see oftener and longer the greatest man that ever existed [oh, mon prince!], i am obliged to stop. there is not a word in all this but was his own; and those who have seen him will recognize his manner. all i want is, to make him known to those who have not had the happiness to see him. his eyes are too hard in the portraits: by work in the cabinet, and the hardships of war, they had become intense, and of piercing quality; but they softened finely in hearing, or telling, some trait of nobleness or sensibility. till his death, and but quite shortly before it,--notwithstanding many levities which he knew i had allowed myself, both in speaking and writing, and which he surely attributed only to my duty as opposed to my interest,--he deigned to honor me with marks of his remembrance; and has often commissioned his ministers, at paris and at vienna, to assure me of his good-will. "i no longer believe in earthquakes and eclipses at caesar's death, since there has been nothing of such at that of friedrich the great. i know not, sire, whether great phenomena of nature will announce the day when you shall cease to reign [great phenomena must be very idle if they do, your highness!]--but it is a phenomenon in the world, that of a king who rules a republic by making himself obeyed and respected for his own sake, as much as by his rights" (hear, hear). [prince de ligne, _memoires et melanges,_ i. - .] prince de ligne thereupon hurries off for petersburg, and the final section of his kaiser's visit. an errand of his own, too, the prince had,--about his new daughter-in-law massalska, and claims of extensive polish properties belonging to her. he was the charm of petersburg and the czarina; but of the massalska properties could retrieve nothing whatever. the munificent czarina gave him "a beautiful territory in the crim," instead; and invited him to come and see it with her, on his kaiser's next visit ( , the aquatic visit and the highly scenic). which it is well known the prince did; and has put on record, in his pleasant, not untrue, though vague, high-colored and fantastic way,--if it or he at all concerned us farther. how general von der marwitz, in early boyhood, saw friedrich the great three times ( - ). general von der marwitz, who died not many years ago, is of the old marwitz kindred, several of whom we have known for their rugged honesties, genialities and peculiar ways. this general, it appears, had left a kind of autobiography; which friends of his thought might be useful to the prussian public, after those radical distractions which burst out in and onwards; and a first volume of the marwitz posthumous papers was printed accordingly, [nachlass des general von der marwitz (berlin, ), vol. vo.]--whether any more i have not heard; though i found this first volume an excellent substantial bit of reading; and the author a fine old prussian gentleman, very analogous in his structure to the fine old english ditto; who showed me the per-contra side of this and the other much-celebrated modern prussian person and thing, prince hardenberg, johannes von muller and the like;--and yielded more especially the following three reminiscences of friedrich, beautiful little pictures, bathed in morning light, and evidently true to the life:-- . june, or . "the first time i saw him was in (or it might be , in my sixth year)," middle of june, whichever year, "as he was returning from his annual review in preussen [west-preussen, never revisits the konigsberg region], and stopped to change horses at dolgelin." dolgelin is in mullrose country, westward of frankfurt-on-oder; our marwitz schloss not far from it. "i had been sent with mamsell benezet," my french governess; "and, along with the clergyman of dolgelin, we waited for the king. "the king, on his journeys, generally preferred, whether at midday or for the night, to halt in some country place, and at the parsonages most of all; probably because he was quieter there than in the towns. to the clergyman this was always a piece of luck; not only because, if he pleased the king, he might chance to get promoted; but because he was sure of profitable payment, at any rate; the king always ordering thalers [say guineas] for his noon halt, and for his night's lodging . the little that the king ate was paid for over and above. it is true, his suite expected to be well treated; but this consisted only of one or two individuals. now, the king had been wont almost always, on these journeys homewards, to pass the last night of his expedition with the clergyman of dolgelin; and had done so last year, with this present one who was then just installed; with him, as with his predecessor, the king had talked kindly, and the thalers were duly remembered. our good parson flattered himself, therefore, that this time too the same would happen; and he had made all preparations accordingly. "so we waited there, and a crowd of people with us. the team of horses stood all ready (peasants' horses, poor little cats of things, but the best that could be picked, for there were then no post-horses that could run fast);--the country-fellows that were to ride postilion all decked, and ten head of horses for the king's coach: wheelers, four, which the coachman drove from his box; then two successive pairs before, on each pair a postilion-peasant; and upon the third pair, foremost of all, the king's outriders were to go. "and now, at last, came the feldjager [chacer, hunting-groom], with his big whip, on a peasant's, horse, a peasant with him as attendant. all blazing with heat, he dismounted; said, the king would be here in five minutes; looked at the relays, and the fellows with the water-buckets, who were to splash the wheels; gulped down a quart of beer; and so, his saddle in the interim having been fixed on another horse, sprang up again, and off at a gallop. the king, then, was not to stay in dolgelin! soon came the page, mounted in like style; a youth of or ; utterly exhausted; had to be lifted down from his horse, and again helped upon the fresh one, being scarcely able to stand;--and close on the rear of him arrived the king. he was sitting alone in an old-fashioned glass-coach, what they call a vis-a-vis (a narrow carriage, two seats fore and aft, and on each of them room for only one person). the coach was very long, like all the old carriages of that time; between the driver's box and the body of the coach was a space of at least four feet; the body itself was of pear-shape, peaked below and bellied out above; hung on straps, with rolled knuckles [winden], did not rest on springs; two beams, connecting fore wheels and hind, ran not under the body of the coach, but along the sides of it, the hind-wheels following with a goodly interval. "the carriage drew up; and the king said to his coachman [the far-famed pfund]: 'is this dolgelin?' 'yes, your majesty!'--'i stay here.' 'no,' said pfund; 'the sun is not down yet. we can get on very well to muncheberg to-night [ten miles ahead, and a town too, perfidious pfund!]--and then to-morrow we are much earlier in potsdam.' 'na, hm,--well, if it must be so!'-- "and therewith they set to changing horses. the peasants who were standing far off, quite silent, with reverently bared heads, came softly nearer, and looked eagerly at the king. an old gingerbread-woman (sommelfrau) of lebbenichen [always knew her afterwards] took me in her arm, and held me aloft close to the coach-window. i was now at farthest an ell from the king; and i felt as if i were looking in the face of god almighty (es war mir als ob ich den lieben gott ansahe). he was gazing steadily out before him," into the glowing west, "through the front window. he had on an old three-cornered regimental hat, and had put the hindward straight flap of it foremost, undoing the loop, so that this flap hung down in front, and screened him from the sun. the hat-strings (hut-cordons," trimmings of silver or gold cord) "had got torn loose, and were fluttering about on this down-hanging front flap; the white feather in the hat was tattered and dirty; the plain blue uniform, with red cuffs, red collar and gold shoulder-bands [epaulettes without bush at the end], was old and dusty, the yellow waistcoat covered with snuff;--for the rest, he had black-velvet breeches [and, of course, the perpetual boots, of which he would allow no polishing or blacking, still less any change for new ones while they would hang together]. i thought always he would speak to me. the old woman could not long hold me up; and so she set me down again. then the king looked at the clergyman, beckoned him near, and asked, whose child it was? (herr von marwitz of friedersdorf's.)--'is that the general?' 'no, the chamberlain.' the king made no answer: he could not bear chamberlains, whom he considered as idle fellows. the new horses were yoked; away they went. all day the peasants had been talking of the king, how he would bring this and that into order, and pull everybody over the coals who was not agreeable to them. "afterwards it turned out that all clergymen were in the habit of giving thalers to the coachman pfund, when the king lodged with them: the former clergyman of dolgelin had regularly done it; but the new one, knowing nothing of the custom, had omitted it last year;--and that was the reason why the fellow had so pushed along all day that he could pass dolgelin before sunset, and get his thalers in muncheberg from the burgermeister there." . january, . "the second time i saw the king was at the carnival of berlin in . i had gone with my tutor to a cousin of mine who was a hofdame (dame de cour) to the princess henri, and lived accordingly in the prince-henri palace,--which is now, in our days, become the university;--her apartments were in the third story, and looked out into the garden. as we were ascending the great stairs, there came dashing past us a little old man with staring eyes, jumping down three steps at a time. my tutor said, in astonishment, 'that is prince henri!' we now stept into a window of the first story, and looked out to see what the little man had meant by those swift boundings of his. and lo, there came the king in his carriage to visit him. "friedrich the second never drove in potsdam, except when on journeys, but constantly rode. he seemed to think it a disgrace, and unworthy of a soldier, to go in a carriage: thus, when in the last autumn of his life (this very ) he was so unwell in the windy sans-souci (where there were no stoves, but only hearth-fires), that it became necessary to remove to the schloss in potsdam, he could not determine to drive thither, but kept hoping from day to day for so much improvement as might allow him to ride. as no improvement came, and the weather grew ever colder, he at length decided to go over under cloud of darkness, in a sedan-chair, that nobody might notice him.--so likewise during the reviews at berlin or charlottenburg he appeared always on horseback: but during the carnival in berlin, where he usually stayed four weeks, he drove, and this always in royal pomp,--thus:-- "ahead went eight runners with their staves, plumed caps and runner-aprons [laufer-schurze, whatever these are], in two rows. as these runners were never used for anything except this show, the office was a kind of post for invalids of the life-guard. a consequence of which was, that the king always had to go at a slow pace. his courses, however, were no other than from the schloss to the opera twice a week; and during his whole residence, one or two times to prince henri and the princess amelia [once always, too, to dine with his wife, to whom he did not speak one word, but merely bowed at beginning and ending!]. after this the runners rested again for a year. behind them came the royal carriage, with a team of eight; eight windows round it; the horses with old-fashioned harness, and plumes on their heads. coachman and outriders all in the then royal livery,--blue; the collar, cuffs, pockets, and all seams, trimmed with a stripe of red cloth, and this bound on both sides with small gold-cord; the general effect of which was very good. in the four boots (nebentritten) of the coach stood four pages, red with gold, in silk stockings, feather-hats (crown all covered with feathers), but not having plumes;--the valet's boot behind, empty; and to the rear of it, down below, where one mounts to the valet's boot [bedienten-tritt, what is now become foot-board], stood a groom (stallknecht). thus came the king, moving slowly along; and entered through the portal of the palace. we looked down from the window in the stairs. prince henri stood at the carriage-door; the pages opened it, the king stepped out, saluted his brother, took him by the hand, walked upstairs with him, and thus the two passed near us (we retiring upstairs to the second story), and went into the apartment, where now students run leaping about." . may d, . "the third time i saw him was that same year, at berlin still, as he returned home from the review. ["may st- d" (rodenbeck, iii. ).] my tutor had gone with me for that end to the halle gate, for we already knew that on that day he always visited his sister, princess amelia. he came riding on a big white horse,--no doubt old conde, who, twenty years after this, still got his free-board in the ecole veterinaire; for since the bavarian war ( ), friedrich hardly ever rode any other horse. his dress was the same as formerly at dolgelin, on the journey; only that the hat was in a little better condition, properly looped up, and with the peak (but not with the long peak, as is now the fashion) set in front, in due military style. behind him were a guard of generals, then the adjutants, and finally the grooms of the party. the whole 'rondeel' (now belle-alliance platz) and the wilhelms-strasse were crammed full of people; all windows crowded, all heads bare, everywhere the deepest silence; and on all countenances an expression of reverence and confidence, as towards the just steersman of all our destinies. the king rode quite alone in front, and saluted people, continually taking off his hat. in doing which he observed a very marked gradation, according as the on-lookers bowing to him from the windows seemed to deserve. at one time he lifted the hat a very little; at another he took it from his head, and held it an instant beside the same; at another he sunk it as far as the elbow. but these motions lasted continually; and no sooner had he put on his hat, than he saw other people, and again took it off. from the halle gate to the koch-strasse he certainly took off his hat times. "through this reverent silence there sounded only the trampling of the horses, and the shouting of the berlin street-boys, who went jumping before him, capering with joy, and flung up their hats into the air, or skipped along close by him, wiping the dust from his boots. i and my tutor had gained so much room that we could run alongside of him, hat in hand, among the boys.--you see the difference between then and now. who was it that then made the noise? who maintained a dignified demeanor?--who is it that bawls and bellows now? [nobilities ought to be noble, thinks this old marwitz, in their reverence to nobleness. if nobilities themselves become washed populaces in a manner, what are we to say?] and what value can you put on such bellowing? "arrived at the princess amelia's palace (which, lying in the wilhelms-strasse, fronts also into the koch-strasse), the crowd grew still denser, for they expected him there: the forecourt was jammed full; yet in the middle, without the presence of any police, there was open space left for him and his attendants. he turned into the court; the gate-leaves went back; and the aged lame princess, leaning on two ladies, the oberhofmeisterinn (chief lady) behind her, came hitching down the flat steps to meet him. so soon as he perceived her, he put his horse to the gallop, pulled up, sprang rapidly down, took off his hat (which he now, however, held quite low at the full length of his arm), embraced her, gave her his arm, and again led her up the steps. the gate-leaves went to; all had vanished, and the multitude still stood, with bared head, in silence, all eyes turned to the spot where he had disappeared; and so it lasted a while, till each gathered himself and peacefully went his way. "and yet there had nothing happened! no pomp, no fireworks, no cannon-shot, no drumming and fifing, no music, no event that had occurred! no, nothing but an old man of , ill-dressed, all dusty, was returning from his day's work. but everybody knew that this old man was toiling also for him; that he had set his whole life on that labor, and for five-and-forty years had not given it the slip one day! every one saw, moreover, the fruits of this old man's labor, near and far, and everywhere around; and to look on the old man himself awakened reverence, admiration, pride, confidence,--in short all the nobler feelings of man." [_nachlass des general von der marwitz,_ i. - .] this was may st, ; i think, the last time berlin saw its king in that public manner, riding through the streets. the furstenbund affair is now, secretly, in a very lively state, at berlin and over germany at large; and comes to completion in a couple of months hence,--as shall be noticed farther on. general bouille, home from his west-indian exploits, visits friedrich (august th- th, ). in these last years of his life friedrich had many french of distinction visiting him. in , the abbe raynal (whom, except for his power of face, he admired little); [rodenbeck, iii. n.] in , mirabeau (whose personal qualities seem to have pleased him);--but chiefly, in the interval between these two, various military frenchmen, now home with their laurels from the american war, coming about his reviews: eager to see the great man, and be seen by him. lafayette, segur and many others came; of whom the one interesting to us is marquis de bouille: already known for his swift sharp operation on the english leeward islands; and memorable afterwards to all the world for his presidency in the flight to varennes of poor louis xvi. and his queen, in ; which was by no means so successful. "the brave bouille," as we called him long since, when writing of that latter operation, elsewhere. bouille left memoires of his own: which speak of friedrich: in the _vie de bouille,_ published recently by friendly hands: [rene de bouille, essai sur la vie du marquis de bouille (paris, )] there is summary given of all that his papers say on friedrich; this, in still briefer shape, but unchanged otherwise, readers shall now see. "in july, , marquis de bouille (lately returned from a visit to england), desirous to see the prussian army, and to approach the great friedrich while it was yet time, travelled by way of holland to berlin, through potsdam [no date; got to berlin "august th;" [rodenbeck, iii. .] so that we can guess "august th" for his potsdam day]. saw, at sans-souci, in the vestibule, a bronze bust of charles xii.; in the dining-room, among other pictures, a portrait of the chateauroux, louis xv.'s first mistress. in the king's bedroom, simple camp-bed, coverlet of crimson taffetas,--rather dirty, as well as the other furniture, on account of the dogs. many books lying about: cicero, tacitus, titus livius [in french translations]. on a chair, portrait of kaiser joseph ii.; same in king's apartments in berlin schloss, also in the potsdam new palace: 'c'est un jeune homme que je ne dois pas perdre de vue.' "king entering, took off his hat, saluting the marquis, whom a chamberlain called gortz presented [no chamberlain; a lieutenant-general, and much about the king; his brother, the weimar gortz, is gone as prussian minister to petersburg some time ago]. king talked about the war des isles [my west-india war], and about england. 'they [the english] are like sick people who have had a fever; and don't know how ill they have been, till the fit is over.' fox he treated as a noisy fellow (de brouillon); but expressed admiration of young pitt. 'the coolness with which he can stand being not only contradicted, but ridiculed and insulted, cela parait au-dessus de la patience humaine.' king closed the conversation by saying he would be glad to see me in silesia, whither he was just about to go for reviews [will go in ten days, august th]. "friedrich was ," last january th. "his physiognomy, dress, appearance, are much what the numerous well-known portraits represent him. at court, and on great ceremonies, he appears sometimes in black-colored stockings rolled over the knee, and rose-colored or sky-blue coat (bleu celeste). he is fond of these colors, as his furniture too shows. the marquis dined with the prince of prussia, without previous presentation; so simple are the manners of this soldier court. the heir presumptive lodges at a brewer's house, and in a very mean way; is not allowed to sleep from home without permission from the king." bouille set out for silesia th august; was at neisse in good time. "went, at a.m. [date is august th, review lasts till th], [rodenbeck, iii. .] to see the king mount. all the generals, prince of prussia among them, waited in the street; outside of a very simple house, where the king lodged. after waiting half an hour, his majesty appeared; saluted very graciously, without uttering a word. this was one of his special reviews [that was it!]. he rode (marchait) generally alone, in utter silence; it was then that he had his regard terrible, and his features took the impress of severity, to say no more. [is displeased with the review, i doubt, though bouille saw nothing amiss;--and merely tells us farther:] at the reviews the king inspects strictly one regiment after another: it is he that selects the very corporals and sergeants, much more the upper officers; nominating for vacancies what cadets are to fill them,--all of whom are nobles." yes, with rare exceptions, all. friedrich, democratic as his temper was, is very strict on this point; "because," says he repeatedly, "nobles have honor; a noble that misbehaves, or flinches in the moment of crisis, can find no refuge in his own class; whereas a man of lower birth always can in his." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ (more than once).] bouille continues:-- "after review, dined with his majesty. just before dinner he gave to the assembled generals the 'order' for to-morrow's manoeuvres [as we saw in conway's case, ten years ago]. this lasted about a quarter of an hour; king then saluted everybody, taking off tres-affectueusement his hat, which he immediately put on again. had now his affable mien, and was most polite to the strangers present. at dinner, conversation turned on the wars of louis xiv.; then on english-american war,--king always blaming the english, whom he does not like. dinner lasted three hours. his majesty said more than once to me [in ill humor, i should almost guess, and wishful to hide it]: 'complete freedom here, as if we were in our tavern, sir (ici, toute liberte, monsieur, comme si nous etions au cabaret)!' on the morrow," august th, "dined again. king talked of france; of cardinal richelieu, whose principles of administration he praised. repeated several times, that 'he did not think the french nation fit for free government.' at the reviews, friedrich did not himself command; but prescribed, and followed the movements; criticised, reprimanded and so forth. on horseback six hours together, without seeming fatigued. "king left for breslau th august [ th, if it were of moment]. bouille followed thither; dined again. besides officers, there were present several polish princes, the bishop of the diocese, and the abbot bastiani. king made pleasantries about religion [pity, that]; bastiani not slow with repartees", of a defensive kind. "king told me, on one occasion, 'would you believe it? i have just been putting my poor jesuits' finances into order. they understand nothing of such things, ces bons hommes. they are useful to me in forming my catholic clergy. i have arranged it with his holiness the pope, who is a friend of mine, and behaves very well to me.' pointing from the window to the convent of capuchins, 'those fellows trouble me a little with their bell-ringings. they offered to stop it at night, for my sake: but i declined. one must leave everybody to his trade; theirs is to pray, and i should have been sorry to deprive them of their chimes (carillon).' "the , troops, assembled at breslau, did not gain the king's approval,"--far from it, alas, as we shall all see!" to some chiefs of corps he said, 'vous ressemblez plus a des tailleurs qu'a des militaires (you are more like tailors than soldiers)!' he cashiered several, and even sent one major-general to prison for six weeks." that of the tailors, and major-general erlach clapt in prison, is too true;--nor is that the saddest part of the affair to us. "bouille was bound now on an excursion to prag, to a camp of the kaiser's there. 'mind,' said the king, alluding to bouille's blue uniform,--'mind, in the country you are going to, they don't like the blue coats; and your queen has even preserved the family repugnance, for she does not like them either.' [essai sur la vie du marquis de bouille, pp. l - .] "september th, , bouille arrived at prag. austrian manoeuvres are very different; troops, though more splendidly dressed, contrast unfavorably with prussians;"--unfavorably, though the strict king was so dissatisfied. "kaiser joseph, speaking of friedrich, always admiringly calls him 'le roi.' joseph a great questioner, and answers his own questions. his tone brusque et decide. dinner lasted one hour. "returned to potsdam to assist at the autumn reviews", st- d september, . [rodenbeck, iii. .] "dinner very splendid, magnificently served; twelve handsome pages, in blue or rose-colored velvet, waited on the guests,--these being forty old rude warriors booted and spurred. king spoke of the french, approvingly: 'but,' added he, 'the court spoils everything. those court-fellows, with their red heels and delicate nerves, make very bad soldiers. saxe often told me, in his flanders campaigns the courtiers gave him more trouble than did cumberland.' talked of marechal richelieu; of louis xiv., whose apology he skilfully made. blamed, however, the revocation of the edict of nantes. great attachment of the 'protestant refugees' to france and its king. 'would you believe it?' said he: 'under louis xiv. they and their families used to assemble on the day of st. louis, to celebrate the fete of the king who persecuted them!' expressed pity for louis xv., and praised his good-nature. "friedrich, in his conversation, showed a modesty which seemed a little affected. 's'il m'est permis d'avoir une opinion,' a common expression of his;--said 'opinion' on most things, on medicine among others, being always excellent. thinks french literature surpasses that of the ancients. small opinion of english literature: turned shakspeare into ridicule; and made also bitter fun of german letters,--their language barbarous, their authors without genius.... "i asked, and received permission from the king, to bring my son to be admitted in his academie des gentilshommes; an exceptional favor. on parting, the king said to me: 'i hope you will return to me marechal de france; it is what i should like; and your nation could n't do better, nobody being in a state to render it greater services.'" bouille will reappear for an instant next year. meanwhile he returns to france, "first days of october, ," where he finds prince henri; who is on visit there for three months past. [" d july, ," prince henri had gone (rodenbeck, iii. ).] a shining event in prince henri's life; and a profitable; poor king louis--what was very welcome in henri's state of finance--having, in a delicate kingly way, insinuated into him a "gift of , francs" ( , pounds): [anonymous (de la roche-aymon), _vie privee, politique et militaire du prince henri, frere de frederic ii._ (a poor, vague and uninstructive, though authentic little book: paris, ), pp. - .]--partly by way of retaining-fee for france; "may turn to excellent account," think some, "when a certain nephew comes to reign yonder, as he soon must." what bouille heard about the silesian reviews is perfectly true; and only a part of the truth. here, to the person chiefly responsible, is an indignant letter of the king's: to a notable degree, full of settled wrath against one who is otherwise a dear old friend:-- friedrich to lieutenant-general tauentzien infantry inspector-general of silesia. "potsdam, th september, . "my dear general von tauentzien,--while in silesia i mentioned to you, and will now repeat in writing, that my army in silesia was at no time so bad as at present. were i to make shoemakers or tailors into generals, the regiments could not be worse. regiment thadden is not fit to be the most insignificant militia battalion of a prussian army; rothkirch and schwartz"--bad as possible all of them--"of erlach, the men are so spoiled by smuggling [sad industry, instead of drilling], they have no resemblance to soldiers; keller is like a heap of undrilled boors; hager has a miserable commander; and your own regiment is very mediocre. only with graf von anhalt [in spite of his head], with wendessen and margraf heinrich, could i be content. see you, that is the state i found the regiments in, one after one. i will now speak of their manoeuvring [in our mimic battles on the late occasion]:-- "schwartz; at neisse, made the unpardonable mistake of not sufficiently besetting the height on the left wing; had it been serious, the battle had been lost. at breslau, erlach [who is a major-general, forsooth!], instead of covering the army by seizing the heights, marched off with his division straight as a row of cabbages into that defile; whereby, had it been earnest, the enemy's cavalry would have cut down our infantry, and the fight was gone. "it is not my purpose to lose battles by the base conduct (lachete) of my generals: wherefore i hereby appoint, that you, next year, if i be alive, assemble the army between breslau and ohlau; and for four days before i arrive in your camp, carefully manoeuvre with the ignorant generals, and teach them what their duty is. regiment von arnim and garrison-regiment von kanitz are to act the enemy: and whoever does not then fulfil his duty shall go to court-martial,--for i should think it shame of any country (jeden puissance) to keep such people, who trouble themselves so little about their business. erlach sits four weeks longer in arrest [to have six weeks of it in full]. and you have to make known this my present declared will to your whole inspection.--f." [rodenbeck, iii. .] what a peppering is the excellent old tauentzien getting! here is a case for kaltenborn, and the sympathies of opposition people. but, alas, this king knows that armies are not to be kept at the working point on cheaper terms,--though some have tried it, by grog, by sweetmeats, sweet-speeches, and found it in the end come horribly dearer! one thing is certain: the silesian reviews, next year, if this king be alive, will be a terrible matter; and military gentlemen had better look to themselves in time! kaltenborn's sympathy will help little; nothing but knowing one's duty, and visibly and indisputably doing it, will the least avail. just in the days when bouille left him for france, friedrich ("october, ") had conceived the notion of some general confederation, or combination in the reich, to resist, the continual encroachments of austria; which of late are becoming more rampant than ever. thus, in the last year, especially within the last six months, a poor bishop of passau, quasi-bavarian, or in theory sovereign bishop of the reich, is getting himself pulled to pieces (diocese torn asunder, and masses of it forcibly sewed on to their new "bishopric of vienna"), in the most tragic manner, in spite of express treaties, and of all the outcries the poor man and the holy father himself can make against it. [dohm (denkwurdigkeiten, iii. ,--geschichte der letzten periode friedrichs des zweiten) gives ample particulars. dohm's first volumes call themselves "history of friedrich's last period, - ;" and are full of bavarian war, d vol. mostly of furstenbund;--all in a candid, authentic, but watery and rather wearisome way.] to this of passau, and to the much of panis-briefe and the like which had preceded, friedrich, though studiously saying almost nothing, had been paying the utmost of attention:--part of prince henri's errand to france is thought to have been, to take soundings on those matters (on which france proves altogether willing, if able); and now, in the general emotion about passau, friedrich jots down in a note to hertzberg the above idea; with order to put it into form a little, and consult about it in the reich with parties interested. hertzberg took the thing up with zeal; instructed the prussian envoys to inquire, cautiously, everywhere; fancied he did find willingness in the courts of the reich, in hanover especially: in a word, got his various irons into the fire;--and had not proceeded far, when there rose another case of austrian encroachment, which eclipsed all the preceding; and speedily brought hertzberg's irons to the welding-point. too brief we cannot be in this matter; here are the dates, mostly from dohm:-- new-year's day, , on or about that day, romanzow, son of our old colberg and anti-turk friend, who is russian "minister in the ober-rheinish circle," appears at the little court of zweibruck, with a most sudden and astounding message to the duke there:-- "important bargain agreed upon between your kaiser and his highness of the pfalz and baiern; am commanded by my sovereign lady, on behalf of her friend the kaiser, to make it known to you. baiern all and whole made over to austria; in return for which the now kur-baiern gets the austrian netherlands (citadels of limburg and luxemburg alone excepted); and is a king henceforth, 'king of burgundy' to be the title, he and his fortunate successors for all time coming. to your fortunate self, in acknowledgment of your immediate consent, austria offers the free-gift of , pounds, and to your brother max of , pounds; kur-baiern, for his loyal conduct, is to have , pounds; and to all of you, if handsome, austria will be handsome generally. for the rest, the thing is already settled; and your refusal will not hinder it from going forward. i request to know, within eight days, what your highness's determination is!" his poor highness, thunderstruck as may be imagined, asks: "but--but--what would your excellency advise me?" "have n't the least advice," answers his excellency: "will wait at frankfurt-on-mayn, for eight days, what your highness's resolution is; hoping it may be a wise one;--and have the honor at present to say good-morning." sudden, like a thunder-bolt in winter, the whole phenomenon. this, or january d, when friedrich, by express from zweibruck, first heard of this, may be considered as birthday of a furstenbund now no longer hypothetic, but certain to become actual. zweibruck naturally shot off expresses: to petersburg (no answer ever); to berlin (with answer on the instant);--and in less than eight days, poor zweibruck, such the intelligence from berlin, was in a condition to write to frankfurt: "excellency; no; i do not consent, nor ever will." for king friedrich is broad-awake again;--and hertzberg's smithy-fires, we may conceive how the winds rose upon these, and brought matters to a welding heat!-- the czarina,--on friedrich's urgent remonstrance, "what is this, great madam? to your old ally, and from the guaranty and author of the peace of teschen!"--had speedily answered: "far from my thoughts to violate the peace of teschen; very far: i fancied this was an advantageous exchange, advantageous to zweibruck especially; but since zweibruck thinks otherwise, of course there is an end." "of course;"--though my romanzow did talk differently; and the forge-fires of a certain person are getting blown at a mighty rate! hertzberg's operation was conducted at first with the greatest secrecy; but his envoys were busy in all likely places, his proposal finding singular consideration; acceptance, here, there,--"a very mild and safe-looking project, most mild in tone surely!"--and it soon came to kaunitz's ear; most unwelcome to the new kingdom of burgundy and him! thrice over, in the months ensuing (april th, may th, june d), in the shape of a "circular to all austrian ambassadors", [dohm, iii. , .] kaunitz lifted up his voice in severe dehortation, the tone of him waxing more and more indignant, and at last snuffling almost tremulous quite into alt, "against the calumnies and malices of some persons, misinterpreters of a most just kaiser and his actions." but as the czarina, meanwhile, declared to the reich at large, that she held, and would ever hold, the peace of teschen a thing sacred, and this or any kingdom of burgundy, or change of the reichs laws, impossible,--the kaunitz clangors availed nothing; and furstenbund privately, but at a mighty pace, went forward. and, june th, , after much labor, secret but effective, on the part of dohm and others, three plenipotentiaries, the prussian, the saxon, the hanoverian ("excellent method to have only the principal three!" ) met, still very privately, at berlin; and laboring their best, had, in about four weeks, a furstenbund covenant complete; signed, july d, by these three,--to whom all others that approved append themselves. as an effective respectable number, brunswick, hessen, mainz and others, did, [list of them in dohm.]--had not, indeed, the first three themselves, especially as hanover meant england withal, been themselves moderately sufficient.--here, before the date quite pass, are two clippings which may be worth their room:-- . bouille's second visit (spring, ). may th, ,--just while furstenbund, so privately, was in the birth-throes,--"marquis de bouille had again come to berlin, to place his eldest son in the academie des gentilshommes; where the young man stayed two years. was at potsdam" may th- th; [rodenbeck, iii. .] "well received; dined at sans-souci. informed the king of the duc de choiseul's death [paris, may th). king, shaking his head, 'il n'y a pas grand mal.' seems piqued at the queen of france, who had not shown much attention to prince henri. spoke of peter the great, 'whose many high qualities were darkened by singular cruelty.' when at berlin, going on foot, as his custom was, unattended, to call on king friedrich wilhelm, the people in the streets crowded much about him. 'brother,' said he to the king, 'your subjects are deficient in respect; order one or two of them to be hanged; it will restrain the others!' during the same visit, one day, at charlottenburg; the czar, after dinner, stepped out on a balcony which looked into the gardens. seeing many people assembled below, he gnashed his teeth (grinca des dents), and began giving signs of frenzy. shifty little catharine, who was with him, requested that a certain person down among the crowd, who had a yellow wig, should be at once put away, or something bad would happen. this done, the czar became quiet again. the czarina added, he was subject to such attacks of frenzy; and that, when she saw it, she would scratch his head, which moderated him. 'voila monsieur,' concluded the king, addressing me: 'voila les grands hommes!' "bouille spent a fortnight at reinsberg, with prince henri; who represents his brother as impatient, restless, envious, suspicious, even timid; of an ill-regulated imagination",--nothing like so wise as some of us! "is too apprehensive of war; which may very likely bring it on. on the least alarm, he assembles troops at the frontier; joseph does the like; and so"--a notably splenetic little henri; head of an opposition party which has had to hold its tongue. cherishes in the silent depths of him an almost ghastly indignation against his brother on some points. "bouille returned to paris june, ." [essai sur la vie de bouille (ubi supra).] . comte de segur (on the road to petersburg as french minister) has seen friedrich: january th, . segur says: "with lively curiosity i gazed at this man; there as he stood, great in genius, small in stature; stooping, and as it were bent down under the weight of his laurels and of his long toils. his blue coat, old and worn like his body; his long boots coming up above the knee; his waistcoat covered with snuff, formed an odd but imposing whole. by the fire of his eyes, you recognized that in essentials he had not grown old. though bearing himself like an invalid, you felt that he could strike like a young soldier; in his small figure, you discerned a spirit greater than any other man's.... "if used at all to intercourse with the great world, and possessed of any elevation of mind, you have no embarrassment in speaking to a king; but to a great man you present yourself not without fear. friedrich, in his private sphere, was of sufficiently unequal humor; wayward, wilful; open to prejudices; indulged in mockery, often enough epigrammatic upon the french;--agreeable in a high degree to strangers whom he pleased to favor; but bitterly piquant for those he was prepossessed against, or who, without knowing it, had ill-chosen the hour of approaching him. to me, luck was kind in all these points;" my interview delightful, but not to be reported farther. [_"memoires par m. le comte de segur_ (paris, ), ii. , :" cited in preuss, iv. . for date, see rodenbeck, iii. , .] except mirabeau, about a year after this, segur is the last distinguished french visitor. french correspondence the king has now little or none. october gone a year, his d'alembert, the last intellectual frenchman he had a real esteem for, died. paris and france seem to be sinking into strange depths; less and less worth hearing of. now and then a straggling note from condorcet, grimm or the like, are all he gets there. that of the furstenbund put a final check on joseph's notions of making the reich a reality; his reforms and ambitions had thenceforth to take other directions, and leave the poor old reich at peace. a mighty reformer he had been, the greatest of his day. broke violently in upon quiescent austrian routine, on every side: monkeries, school-pedantries, trade-monopolies, serfages,--all things, military and civil, spiritual and temporal, he had resolved to make perfect in a minimum of time. austria gazed on him, its admiration not unmixed with terror. he rushed incessantly about; hardy as a charles twelfth; slept on his bearskin on the floor of any inn or hut;--flew at the throat of every absurdity, however broad-based or dangerously armed, "disappear, i say!" will hurl you an official of rank, where need is, into the pillory; sets him, in one actual instance, to permanent sweeping of the streets in vienna. a most prompt, severe, and yet beneficent and charitable kind of man. immensely ambitious, that must be said withal. a great admirer of friedrich; bent to imitate him with profit. "very clever indeed," says friedrich; "but has the fault [a terribly grave one!] of generally taking the second step without having taken the first." a troublesome neighbor he proved to everybody, not by his reforms alone;--and ended, pretty much as here in the furstenbund, by having, in all matters, to give in and desist. in none of his foreign ambitions could he succeed; in none of his domestic reforms. in regard to these latter, somebody remarks: "no austrian man or thing articulately contradicted his fine efforts that way; but, inarticulately, the whole weight of austrian vis inertiae bore day and night against him;--whereby, as we now see, he bearing the other way with the force of a steam-ram, a hundred tons to the square inch, the one result was, to dislocate every joint in the austrian edifice, and have it ready for the napoleonic earthquakes that ensued." in regard to ambitions abroad it was no better. the dutch fired upon his scheld frigate: "war, if you will, you most aggressive kaiser; but this toll is ours!" his netherlands revolted against him, "can holy religion, and old use-and-wont be tumbled about at this rate?" his grand russian copartneries and turk war went to water and disaster. his reforms, one and all, had to be revoked for the present. poor joseph, broken-hearted (for his private griefs were many, too), lay down to die. "you may put for epitaph," said he with a tone which is tragical and pathetic to us, "here lies joseph," the grandly attempting joseph, "who could succeed in nothing." [died, at vienna, th february, , still under fifty;--born there th march, . hormayr, _oesterreichischer plutarch,_ iv. ( tes) - (and five or six recent lives of joseph, none of which, that i have seen, was worth reading, in comparison).] a man of very high qualities, and much too conscious of them. a man of an ambition without bounds. one of those fatal men, fatal to themselves first of all, who mistake half-genius for whole; and rush on the second step without having made the first. cannot trouble the old king or us any more. chapter ix.--friedrich's last illness and death. to the present class of readers, furstenbund is become a nothing; to all of us the grand something now is, strangely enough, that incidental item which directly followed, of reviewing the silesian soldieries, who had so angered his majesty last year. "if i be alive next year!" said the king to tauentzien. the king kept his promise; and the fates had appointed that, in doing so, he was to find his--but let us not yet pronounce the word. august th, , some three weeks after finishing the furstenbund, friedrich set out for silesia: towards strehlen long known to him and us all;--at gross-tinz, a village in that neighborhood, the camp and review are to be. he goes by crossen, glogau; in a circling direction: glogau, schweidnitz, silberberg, glatz, all his fortresses are to be inspected as well, and there is much miscellaneous business by the road. at hirschberg, not on the military side, we have sight of him; the account of which is strange to read:-- "thursday, august th," says a private letter from that little town, [given in extenso, rodenbeck, iii. - .] "he passed through here: concourse of many thousands, from all the country about, had been waiting for him several hours. outriders came at last; then he himself, the unique; and, with the liveliest expression of reverence and love, all eyes were directed on one point. i cannot describe to you my feelings, which of course were those of everybody, to see him, the aged king; in his weak hand the hat; in those grand eyes such a fatherly benignity of look over the vast crowd that encircled his carriage, and rolled tide-like, accompanying it. looking round when he was past, i saw in various eyes a tear trembling. ["alas, we sha'n't have him long!"] "his affability, his kindliness, to whoever had the honor of speech with this great king, who shall describe it! after talking a good while with the merchants-deputation from the hill country, he said, 'is there anything more, then, from anybody?' upon which, the president (kaufmannsalteste," merchants'-eldest) "lachmann, from greiffenberg," which had been burnt lately, and helped by the king to rebuild itself, "stepped forward, and said, 'the burnt-out inhabitants of greiffenberg had charged him to express once more their most submissive gratitude for the gracious help in rebuilding; their word of thanks, truly, was of no importance, but they daily prayed god to reward such royal beneficence.' the king was visibly affected, and said, 'you don't need to thank me; when my subjects fall into misfortune, it is my duty to help them up again; for that reason am i here.'"... saturday th, he arrived at tinz; had a small cavalry manoeuvre, next day; and on monday the review proper began. lasted four days,-- d- th august, monday to thursday, both inclusive. "head-quarter was in the dorf-schulze's (village mayor's) house; and there were many strangers of distinction quartered in the country mansions round." gross-tinz is about miles straight north from strehlen, and as far straight east from the zobtenberg: gross-tinz, and its review of august, , ought to be long memorable. how the review turned out as to proficiency recovered, i have not heard; and only infer, by symptoms, that it was not unsatisfactory. the sure fact, and the forever memorable, is, that on wednesday, the third day of it, from in the morning, when the manoeuvres began, till well after , when they ended, there was a rain like noah's; rain falling as from buckets and water-spouts; and that friedrich (and perhaps most others too), so intent upon his business, paid not the least regard to it; but rode about, intensely inspecting, in lynx-eyed watchfulness of everything, as if no rain had been there. was not at the pains even to put on his cloak. six hours of such down-pour; and a weakly old man of past. of course he was wetted to the bone. on returning to head-quarters, his boots were found full of water; "when pulled off, it came pouring from them like a pair of pails." he got into dry clothes; presided in his usual way at dinner, which soon followed; had many generals and guests,--lafayette, lord cornwallis, duke of york;--and, as might be expected, felt unusually feverish afterwards. hot, chill, quite poorly all afternoon; glad to get to bed:--where he fell into deep sleep, into profuse perspiration, as his wont was; and awoke, next morning, greatly recovered; altogether well again, as he supposed. well enough to finish his review comfortably; and start for home. went--round by neisse, inspection not to be omitted there, though it doubles the distance--to brieg that day; a drive of miles, inspection-work included. thence, at breslan for three days more: with dinners of state, balls, illuminations, in honor of the duke of york,--our as yet last duke of york, then a brisk young fellow of twenty-two; to whom, by accident, among his other distinctions, may belong this of having (most involuntarily) helped to kill friedrich the great! back to potsdam, friedrich pushed on with business; and complained of nothing. was at berlin in about ten days (september th), for an artillery review; saw his sister amelia; saw various public works in a state of progress,--but what perhaps is medically significant, went in the afternoon to a kind of spa well they have at berlin; and slept, not at the palace, but at this spa, in the hostelry or lodging-house attached. [rodenbeck, in die.] next day (september th), the artillery manoeuvre was done; and the king left berlin,--little guessing he had seen berlin for the last time. the truth is, his health, unknown to him (though that of taking a night at the spa well probably denotes some guess or feeling of the kind on his part), must have been in a dangerous or almost ruinous state. accordingly, soon afterwards, september th- th, in the night-time, he was suddenly aroused by a fit of suffocation (what they call stickfluss); and, for some hours, till relief was got, everybody feared he would perish. next day, there came gout; which perhaps he regarded almost as a friend: but it did not prove such; it proved the captain of a chaotic company of enemies; and friedrich's end, i suppose, was already inexorably near. at the grand potsdam review ( d- d september), chief review of all, and with such an affluence of strangers to it this autumn, he was quite unable to appear; prescribed the manoeuvres and procedures, and sorrowfully kept his room. [this of d september, , is what print-collectors know loosely as "friedrich's last review;"--one cunningham, an english painter (son of a jacobite ditto, and himself of wandering habitat), and clemens, a prussian engraver, having done a very large and highly superior print of it, by way of speculation in military portraits (berlin, ); in which, among many others, there figures the crediblest likeness known to me of friedrich in old age, though friedrich himself was not there. (see preuss, iv. ; especially see rodenbeck, iii. n.)--as crown-prince, friedrich had sat to pesne: never afterwards to any artist.] friedrich was always something of a doctor himself: he had little faith in professional doctors, though he liked to speak with the intelligent sort, and was curious about their science, and it is agreed he really had good notions in regard to it; in particular, that he very well understood his own constitution of body; knew the effects of causes there, at any rate, and the fit regimens and methods:--as an old man of sense will usually do. the complaint is, that he was not always faithful to regimen; that, in his old days at least, he loved strong soups, hot spicy meats;--finding, i suppose, a kind of stimulant in them, as others do in wine; a sudden renewal of strength, which might be very tempting to him. there has been a great deal of unwise babble on this subject, which i find no reason to believe, except as just said: in the fall of this year, as usual, perhaps rather later than usual,--not till november th (for what reason so delaying, marwitz told us already),--he withdrew from sans-souci, his summer-cottage; shut himself up in potsdam palace (old palace) for the winter. it was known he was very ailing; and that he never stirred out,--but this was not quite unusual in late winters; and the rumors about his health were vague and various. now, as always, he himself, except to his doctors, was silent on that subject. various military doctors, theden, frese and others of eminence, were within reach; but it is not known to me that he consulted any of them. not till january, , when symptoms worse than ever, of asthma, of dropsy, began to manifest themselves, did he call in selle, the chief berlin doctor, and a man of real sagacity, as is still evident; who from the first concluded the disease to be desperate; but of course began some alleviatory treatment, the skilfulest possible to him. [christian gottlieb selle, krankheitsgeschichte des hochstseeligen konigs van preussen friedrichs des zweyten majestat (berlin, ); a very small pamphlet, now very rare;--giving in the most distinct, intelligent, modest and conclusive way, an account of everything pertinent, and rigorously of nothing else.] selle, when questioned, kept his worst fears carefully to himself: but the king noticed selle's real opinion,--which, probably, was the king's own too;--and finding little actual alleviation, a good deal of trouble, and no possibility of a victorious result by this warfare on the outworks, began to be weary of selle; and to turn his hopes--what hopes he yet had--on the fine weather soon due. he had a continual short small cough, which much troubled him; there was fear of new suffocation-fit; the breathing always difficult. but spring came, unusually mild; the king sat on the southern balconies in the genial sun and air, looking over the bright sky and earth, and new birth of things: "were i at sans-souci, amid the gardens!" thought he. april th, he shifted thither: not in a sedan, as marwitz told us of the former journey; but "in his carriage, very early in the morning, making a long roundabout through various villages, with new relays,"--probably with the motive marwitz assigns. here are two contemporaneous excerpts:-- . mirabeau at sans-souci. "this same day," april th, it appears, [preuss: in _oeuvres de frederic,_ xxv. n.] "the king saw mirabeau, for the second and last time. mirabeau had come to berlin th january last; his errand not very precise,--except that he infinitely wanted employment, and that at paris the controller-general calonne, since so famous among mankind, had evidently none to offer him there. he seems to have intended russia, and employment with the czarina,--after viewing berlin a little, with the great flashy eyesight he had. he first saw friedrich january th. there pass in all, between friedrich and him, seven letters or notes, two of them by the king; and on poor mirabeau's side, it must be owned, there is a massively respectful, truthful and manly physiognomy, which probably has mended friedrich's first opinion of him. [... "is coming to me to-day; one of those loose-tongued fellows, i suppose, who write for and against all the world." (friedrich to prince henri, " january, :" _oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvi. .)] this day, april th, , he is at potsdam; so far on the road to france again,--mirabeau senior being reported dangerously ill. 'my dialogue with the king,' say the mirabeau papers, 'was very lively; but the king was in such suffering, and so straitened for breath, i was myself anxious to shorten it: that same evening i travelled on.' "mirabeau senior did not die at this time: and controller-general calonne, now again eager to shake off an importunate and far too clear-sighted mirabeau junior, said to the latter: 'back to berlin, could n't you? their king is dying, a new king coming; highly important to us!'--and poor mirabeau went. left paris again, in may; with money furnished, but, no other outfit, and more in the character of newspaper vulture than of diplomatic envoy," [rodenbeck, iii. . fils adoptif, _memoires de mirabeau_ (paris, ), iv. - , .] as perhaps we may transiently see. . marie antoinette at versailles; to her sister christine at brussels (husband and she, duke and duchess of sachsen-teschen, are governors of the netherlands):-- march th, .... "there has been arrested at geneva one villette, who played a great part in that abominable affair [of the diamond necklace, now emerging on an astonished queen and world]. [carlyle's _miscellanies_ (library edition), v. - ,? diamond necklace. the wretched cardinal de rohan was arrested at versailles, and put in the bastille, "august th, ," the day before friedrich set out for his silesian review; ever since which, the arrestments and judicial investigations have continued,--continue till "may th, ," when sentence was given.] m. target", advocate of the enchanted cardinal, "is coming out with his memoir: he does his function; and god knows what are the lies he will produce upon us. there is a memoir by that quack of a cagliostro, too: these are at this moment the theme of all talk." april th. "the memoirs, the lies, succeed each other; and the business grows darker, not clearer. such a cardinal of the church! he brazenly maintains his distracted story about the bosquet [interview with me in person, in that hornbeam arbor at versailles; to me inconceivable, not yet knowing of a demoiselle d'oliva from the streets, who had acted my part there], and my assent [to purchase the necklace for me]. his impudence and his audacity surpass belief. o sister, i need all my strength to support such cruel assaults.... the king of prussia's condition much engages attention (preoccupe) here, and must do at vienna too: his death is considered imminent. i am sure you have your eyes open on that side."... april th (just while the mirabeau interview at potsdam is going on).... "king of prussia thought to be dying: i am weary of the political discussions on this subject, as to what effects his death must produce. he is better at this moment; but so weak he cannot resist long. physique is gone; but his force and energy of soul, they say, have often supported him, and in desperate crises have even seemed to increase. liking to him i never had: his ostentatious immorality (immoralite affichee," ah, madame!) "has much hurt public virtue [public orthodoxy, i mean], and there have been related to me [by mendacious or ill-informed persons] barbarities which excite horror. he has done us all a great deal of ill. he has been a king for his own country; but a trouble-feast for those about him;--setting up to be the arbiter of europe; always undertaking on his neighbors, and making them pay the expense. as daughters of maria theresa, it is impossible we can regret him, nor is it the court of france that will make his funeral oration." [comte de hunolstein, _correspondance inedite de marie antoinette_ (paris, ), pp. , , .--hunolstein's book, i since find, is mainly or wholly a forgery! (note of .)] from sans-souci the king did appear again on horseback; rode out several times ("conde," a fine english horse, one of his favorites, carrying him,--the conde who had many years of sinecure afterwards, and was well known to touring people): the rides were short; once to the new palace to look at some new vinery there, thence to the gate of potsdam, which he was for entering; but finding masons at work, and the street encumbered, did not, and rode home instead: this, of not above two miles, was his longest ride of all. selle's attendance, less and less in esteem with the king, and less and less followed by him, did not quite cease till june th; that day the king had said to selle, or to himself, "it is enough." that longest of his rides was in the third week after; june d, midsummer-day. july th, he rode again; and it was for the last time. about two weeks after, conde was again brought out; but it would not do: adieu, my conde; not possible, as things are!-- during all this while, and to the very end, friedrich's affairs, great and small, were, in every branch and item, guided on by him, with a perfection not surpassed in his palmiest days: he saw his ministers, saw all who had business with him, many who had little; and in the sore coil of bodily miseries, as hertzberg observed with wonder, never was the king's intellect clearer, or his judgment more just and decisive. of his disease, except to the doctors, he spoke no word to anybody. the body of friedrich is a ruin, but his soul is still here; and receives his friends and his tasks as formerly. asthma, dropsy, erysipelas, continual want of sleep; for many months past he has not been in bed, but sits day and night in an easy-chair, unable to get breath except in that posture. he said one morning, to somebody entering, "if you happened to want a night-watcher, i could suit you well." his multifarious military businesses come first; then his three clerks, with the civil and political. these three he latterly, instead of calling about or o'clock, has had to appoint for each morning: "my situation forces me," his message said, "to give them this trouble, which they will not have to suffer long. my life is on the decline; the time which i still have i must employ. it belongs not to me, but to the state." [preuss, iv. n.] about , business, followed by short surgical details or dressings (sadly insisted on in those books, and in themselves sufficiently sad), being all done,--his friends or daily company are admitted: five chiefly, or (not counting minister hertzberg) four, lucchesini, schwerin, pinto, gortz; who sit with him about one hour now, and two hours in the evening again:--dreary company to our minds, perhaps not quite so dreary to the king's; but they are all he has left. and he talks cheerfully with them "on literature, history, on the topics of the day, or whatever topic rises, as if there were no sickness here." a man adjusted to his hard circumstances; and bearing himself manlike and kinglike among them. he well knew himself to be dying; but some think, expected that the end might be a little farther off. there is a grand simplicity of stoicism in him; coming as if by nature, or by long second-nature; finely unconscious of itself, and finding nothing of peculiar in this new trial laid on it. from of old, life has been infinitely contemptible to him. in death, i think, he has neither fear nor hope. atheism, truly, he never could abide: to him, as to all of us, it was flatly inconceivable that intellect, moral emotion, could have been put into him by an entity that had none of its own. but there, pretty much, his theism seems to have stopped. instinctively, too, he believed, no man more firmly, that right alone has ultimately any strength in this world: ultimately, yes;--but for him and his poor brief interests, what good was it? hope for himself in divine justice, in divine providence, i think he had not practically any; that the unfathomable demiurgus should concern himself with such a set of paltry ill-given animalcules as oneself and mankind are, this also, as we have often noticed, is in the main incredible to him. a sad creed, this of the king's;--he had to do his duty without fee or reward. yes, reader;--and what is well worth your attention, you will have difficulty to find, in the annals of any creed, a king or man who stood more faithfully to his duty; and, till the last hour, alone concerned himself with doing that. to poor friedrich that was all the law and all the prophets: and i much recommend you to surpass him, if you, by good luck, have a better copy of those inestimable documents!--inarticulate notions, fancies, transient aspirations, he might have, in the background of his mind. one day, sitting for a while out of doors, gazing into the sun, he was heard to murmur, "perhaps i shall be nearer thee soon:"--and indeed nobody knows what his thoughts were in these final months. there is traceable only a complete superiority to fear and hope; in parts, too, are half-glimpses of a great motionless interior lake of sorrow, sadder than any tears or complainings, which are altogether wanting to it. friedrich's dismissal of selle, june th, by no means meant that he had given up hope from medicine; on the contrary, two days after, he had a letter on the road for zimmermann at hanover; whom he always remembers favorably since that dialogue we read fifteen years ago. his first note to zimmermann is of june th, "would you consent to come for a fortnight, and try upon me?" zimmermann's overjoyed answer, "yes, thrice surely yes," is of june th; friedrich's second is of june th, "come, then!" and zimmermann came accordingly,--as is still too well known. arrived d june; stayed till th july; had thirty-three interviews or dialogues with him; one visit the last day; two, morning and evening, every preceding day;--and published a book about them, which made immense noise in the world, and is still read, with little profit or none, by inquirers into friedrich. [ritter von zimmermann, _uber friedrich den grossen und meine unterredungen mit ihm kurz von seinem tode_ ( vol. vo: leipzig, );--followed by _fragmente uber friedrich den grossen_ ( vols. mo: leipzig, ); and by &c. &c.] thirty-three dialogues, throwing no new light on friedrich, none of them equal in interest to the old specimen known to us. in fact, the book turns rather on zimmermann himself than on his royal patient; and might be entitled, as it was by a satirist, dialogues of zimmermann i. and friedrich ii. an unwise book; abounding in exaggeration; breaking out continually into extraneous sallies and extravagancies,--the source of which is too plainly an immense conceit of oneself. zimmermann is fifteen years older since we last saw him; a man now verging towards sixty; but has not grown wiser in proportion. in hanover, though miraculously healed of that leibesschade, and full of high hopes, he has had his new tribulations, new compensations,--both of an agitating character. "there arose," he says, in reference to some medical review-article he wrote, "a weiber-epidemik, a universal shrieking combination of all the women against me:"--a frightful accident while it lasted! then his little daughter died on his hands; his son had disorders, nervous imbecilities,--did not die, but did worse; went into hopeless idiotcy, and so lived for many years. zimmermann, being dreadfully miserable, hypochondriac, what not, "his friends," he himself passive, it would seem, "managed to get a young wife for him;" thirty years younger than he,--whose performances, however, in this difficult post, are praised. lastly, not many months ago (leipzig, ), the big final edition of "solitude" (four volumes) has come out; to the joy and enthusiasm of all philanthropic-philosophic and other circulating-library creatures:--a copy of which came, by course of nature, not by zimmermann's help, into the hands of catharine of russia. sublime imperial letter thereupon, with 'valuable diamond ring;' invitation to come to petersburg, with charges borne (declined, on account of health); to be imperial physician (likewise declined);--in fine, continued correspondence with catharine (trying enough for a vain head), and knighthood of the order of st. wladimir,--so that, at least, doctor zimmermann is ritter zimmermann henceforth. and now, here has come his new visit to friedrich the great;--which, with the issues it had, and the tempestuous cloud of tumid speculations and chaotic writings it involved him in, quite upset the poor ritter doctor; so that, hypochondrias deepening to the abysmal, his fine intellect sank altogether,--and only death, which happily followed soon, could disimprison him. at this moment, there is in zimmermann a worse "dropsy" of the spiritual kind, than this of the physical, which he has come in relief of! excerpts of those zimmermann dialogues lie copiously round me, ready long ago,--nay, i understand there is, or was, an english translation of the whole of them, better or worse, for behoof of the curious:--but on serious consideration now, i have to decide, that they are but as a scene of clowns in the elder dramatists; which, even were it not overdone as it is, cannot be admitted in this place, and is plainly impertinent in the tragedy that is being acted here. something of farce will often enough, in this irreverent world, intrude itself on the most solemn tragedy; but, in pity even to the farce, there ought at least to be closed doors kept between them. enough for us to say, that ritter zimmermann--who is a physician and a man of literary genius, and should not have become a tragic zany--did, with unspeakable emotions, terrors, prayers to heaven, and paroxysms of his own ridiculous kind, prescribe "syrup of dandelion" to the king; talked to him soothingly, musically, successfully; found the king a most pleasant talker, but a very wilful perverse kind of patient; whose errors in point of diet especially were enormous to a degree. truth is, the king's appetite for food did still survive:--and this might have been, you would think, the one hopeful basis of zimmermann's whole treatment, if there were still any hope: but no; zimmermann merely, with uncommon emphasis, lyrically recognizes such amazing appetite in an old man overwhelmed by diseases,--trumpets it abroad, for ignorant persons to regard as a crime, or perhaps as a type generally of the man's past life, and makes no other attempt upon it;--stands by his "extract of dandelion boiled to the consistency of honey;" and on the seventeenth day, july th, voiceless from emotion, heart just breaking, takes himself away, and ceases. one of our notes says:-- "zimmermann went by dessau and brunswick; at brunswick, if he made speed thither, zimmermann might perhaps find mirabeau, who is still there, and just leaving for berlin to be in at the death:--but if the doctor and he missed each other, it was luckier, as they had their controversies afterwards. mirabeau arrived at berlin, july st: [mirabeau, histoire secrete de la cour de berlin, tome iii. of _oeuvres de mirabeau:_ paris, , lettre v. p. .] vastly diligent in picking up news, opinions, judgments of men and events, for his calonne;--and amazingly accurate, one finds; such a flash of insight has he, in whatever element, foul or fair. "july th, the day before zimmerman's departure, hertzberg had come out to potsdam in permanence. hertzberg is privately thenceforth in communication with the successor; altogether privately, though no doubt friedrich knew it well enough, and saw it to be right. of course, all manner of poor creatures are diligent about their own bits of interests; and saying to themselves, 'a new reign is evidently nigh!' yes, my friends;--and a precious reign it will prove in comparison: sensualities, unctuous religiosities, ostentations, imbecilities; culminating in jena twenty years hence." zimmermann haggles to tell us what his report was at brunswick; says, he "set the duke [erbprinz, who is now duke these six years past] sobbing and weeping;" though towards the widow duchess there must have been some hope held out, as we shall now see. the duchess's letter or letters to her brother are lost; but this is his answer:-- friedrich to the duchess-dowager of brunswick. "sans-souci, th august, . "my adorable sister,--the hanover doctor has wished to make himself important with you, my good sister; but the truth is, he has been of no use to me (m'a ete inutile). the old must give place to the young, that each generation may find room clear for it: and life, if we examine strictly what its course is, consists in seeing one's fellow-creatures die and be born. in the mean while, i have felt myself a little easier for the last day or two. my heart remains inviolably attached to you, my good sister. with the highest consideration,--my adorable sister,--your faithful brother and servant, "friedrich." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. i. .] this is friedrich's last letter;--his last to a friend. there is one to his queen, which preuss's index seems to regard as later, though without apparent likelihood; there being no date whatever, and only these words: "madam,--i am much obliged by the wishes you deign to form: but a heavy fever i have taken (grosse fievre que j'ai prise) hinders me from answering you." [ib. xxvi. .] on common current matters of business, and even on uncommon, there continue yet for four days to be letters expressly dictated by friedrich; some about military matters (vacancies to be filled, new free-corps to be levied). two or three of them are on so small a subject as the purchase of new books by his librarians at berlin. one, and it has been preceded by examining, is, order to the potsdam magistrates to grant "the baker schroder, in terms of his petition, a free-pass out of preussen hither, for bushels of rye and of wheat, though schroder will not find the prices much cheaper there than here." his last, of august th, is to de launay, head of the excise: "your account of receipts and expenditures came to hand yesterday, th; but is too much in small: i require one more detailed,"--and explains, with brief clearness, on what points and how. neglects nothing, great or small, while life yet is. tuesday, august th, , contrary to all wont, the king did not awaken till o'clock. on first looking up, he seemed in a confused state, but soon recovered himself; called in his generals and secretaries, who had been in waiting so long, and gave, with his old precision, the orders wanted,--one to rohdich, commandant of potsdam, about a review of the troops there next day; order minutely perfect, in knowledge of the ground, in foresight of what and how the evolutions were to be; which was accordingly performed on the morrow. the cabinet work he went through with the like possession of himself, giving, on every point, his three clerks their directions, in a weak voice, yet with the old power of spirit,--dictated to one of them, among other things, an "instruction" for some ambassador just leaving; "four quarto pages, which," says hertzberg, "would have done honor to the most experienced minister;" and, in the evening, he signed his missives as usual. this evening still,--but--no evening more. we are now at the last scene of all, which ends this strange eventful history. wednesday morning, general-adjutants, secretaries, commandant, were there at their old hours; but word came out, "secretaries are to wait:" king is in a kind of sleep, of stertorous ominous character, as if it were the death-sleep; seems not to recollect himself, when he does at intervals open his eyes. after hours of this, [selle (ut sup.); anonymous (kletschke), letzte stunden und leichenbegangniss friedrichs des zweyten, (potsdam, ); preuss, iv. et seq.; rodenbeck, iii. - .] on a ray of consciousness, the king bethought him of rohdich, the commandant; tried to give rohdich the parole as usual; tried twice, perhaps three times; but found he could not speak;--and with a glance of sorrow, which seemed to say, "it is impossible, then!" turned his head, and sank back into the corner of his chair. rohdich burst into tears: the king again lay slumberous;--the rattle of death beginning soon after, which lasted at intervals all day. selle, in berlin, was sent for by express; he arrived about three of the afternoon: king seemed a little more conscious, knew those about him, "his face red rather than pale, in his eyes still something of their old fire." towards evening the feverishness abated (to selle, i suppose, a fatal symptom); the king fell into a soft sleep, with warm perspiration; but, on awakening, complained of cold, repeatedly of cold, demanding wrappage after wrappage ("kissen," soft quilt of the old fashion);--and on examining feet and legs, one of the doctors made signs that they were in fact cold, up nearly to the knee. "what said he of the feet?" murmured the king some time afterwards, the doctor having now stepped out of sight. "much the same as before," answered some attendant. the king shook his head, incredulous. he drank once, grasping the goblet with both hands, a draught of fennel-water, his customary drink; and seemed relieved by it;--his last refection in this world. towards nine in the evening, there had come on a continual short cough, and a rattling in the breast, breath more and more difficult. why continue? friedrich is making exit, on the common terms; you may hear the curtain rustling down. for most part he was unconscious, never more than half conscious. as the wall-clock above his head struck , he asked: "what o'clock?" "eleven," answered they. "at " murmured he, "i will rise." one of his dogs sat on its stool near him; about midnight he noticed it shivering for cold: "throw a quilt over it," said or beckoned he; that, i think, was his last completely conscious utterance. afterwards, in a severe choking fit, getting at last rid of the phlegm, he said, "la montagne est passee, nous irons mieux, we are over the hill, we shall go better now." attendants, hertzberg, selle and one or two others, were in the outer room; none in friedrich's but strutzki, his kammerhussar, one of three who are his sole valets and nurses; a faithful ingenious man, as they all seem to be, and excellently chosen for the object. strutzki, to save the king from hustling down, as he always did, into the corner of his chair, where, with neck and chest bent forward, breathing was impossible,--at last took the king on his knee; kneeling on the ground with his other knee for the purpose,--king's right arm round strutzki's neck, strutzki's left arm round the king's back, and supporting his other shoulder; in which posture the faithful creature, for above two hours, sat motionless, till the end came. within doors, all is silence, except this breathing; around it the dark earth silent, above it the silent stars. at minutes past , the breathing paused,--wavered; ceased. friedrich's life-battle is fought out; instead of suffering and sore labor, here is now rest. thursday morning, th august, , at the dark hour just named. on the st of may last, this king had reigned years. "he has lived," counts rodenbeck, " years, months and days." his death seems very stern and lonely;--a man of such affectionate feelings, too; "a man with more sensibility than other men!" but so had his whole life been, stern and lonely; such the severe law laid on him. nor was it inappropriate that he found his death in that poor silesian review; punctually doing, as usual, the work that had come in hand. nor that he died now, rather than a few years later. in these final days of his, we have transiently noticed arch-cardinal de rohan, arch-quack cagliostro, and a most select company of persons and of actions, like an elixir of the nether world, miraculously emerging into daylight; and all paris, and by degrees all europe, getting loud with the diamond-necklace history. and to eyes of deeper speculation,--world-poet goethe's, for instance,--it is becoming evident that chaos is again big. as has not she proved to be, and is still proving, in the most teeming way! better for a royal hero, fallen old and feeble, to be hidden from such things. "yesterday, wednesday, august th," says a note which now strikes us as curious, "mirabeau, smelling eagerly for news, had ridden out towards potsdam; met the page riding furiously for selle ('one horse already broken down,' say the peasants about); and with beak, powerful beyond any other vulture's, mirabeau perceived that here the end now was. and thereupon rushed off, to make arrangements for a courier, for flying pigeons, and the other requisites. and appeared that night at the queen's soiree in schonhausen [queen has apartment that evening, dreaming of nothing], 'where,' says he, 'i eagerly whispered the french minister,' and less eagerly 'mon ami mylord dalrymple,' the english one;--neither of whom would believe me. nor, in short, what calonne will regret, but nobody else, could the pigeons be let loose, owing to want of funds.'" [mirabeau, histoire secrete, &c. (lettre xiv.), pp. - .]--enough, enough. friedrich was not buried at sans-souci, in the tomb which he had built for himself; why not, nobody clearly says. by his own express will, there was no embalming. two regiment-surgeons washed the corpse, decently prepared it for interment: "at that same evening, friedrich's body, dressed in the uniform of the first battalion of guards, and laid in its coffin, was borne to potsdam, in a hearse of eight horses, twelve non-commissioned officers of the guard escorting. all potsdam was in the streets; the soldiers, of their own accord, formed rank, and followed the hearse; many a rugged face unable to restrain tears: for the rest, universal silence as of midnight, nothing audible among the people but here and there a sob, and the murmur, 'ach, der gute konig!' "all next day, the body lay in state in the palace; thousands crowding, from berlin and the other environs, to see that face for the last time. wasted, worn; but beautiful in death, with the thin gray hair parted into locks, and slightly powdered. and at in the evening [friday, th], he was borne to the garnison-kirche of potsdam; and laid beside his father, in the vault behind the pulpit there," [rodenbeck, iii. (public funeral was not till september th).] where the two coffins are still to be seen. i define him to myself as hitherto the last of the kings;--when the next will be, is a very long question! but it seems to me as if nations, probably all nations, by and by, in their despair,--blinded, swallowed like jonah, in such a whale's-belly of things brutish, waste, abominable (for is not anarchy, or the rule of what is baser over what is nobler, the one life's misery worth complaining of, and, in fact, the abomination of abominations, springing from and producing all others whatsoever?)--as if the nations universally, and england too if it hold on, may more and more bethink themselves of such a man and his function and performance, with feelings far other than are possible at present. meanwhile, all i had to say of him is finished: that too, it seems, was a bit of work appointed to be done. adieu, good readers; bad also, adieu. legends of the rhine by wilhelm ruland with illustrations from paintings by celebrated artists th edition kÖln am rhein verlag von hoursch & bechstedt "o, the pride of the german heart is this noble river! and right it is; for of all the rivers of this beautiful earth there is none so beautiful as this." longfellow. prefatory note. last year i made the journey between mainz and bonn on one of our splendid rhine steamers. our vessel glided along like a great water-bird. on the shore rose mountains, castles, and ruins, and over all the sun shined brightly from a blue august sky. it was twelve years since i had visited the scenes of my youth, and every rhinelander will understand with what pleasure i saw again those smiling landscapes arrayed in their summer beauty. wandering back to my deck-chair, i soon became absorbed in the ever-changing panorama. then the sound of a melodious female voice speaking english fell on my ears. i looked around. a girl was bending over a book, and entertaining her father and mother by reading something of special interest and beauty. i listened and recognised some of my own sentences rendered into the speech of shakespeare. these three were learning to feel the charms of the lorelei legend as i had felt it. i confess my pulse beat quicker as i heard my poor endeavours highly praised, and i could not refrain from advancing and thanking the young reader for her kindly appreciation of my endeavours. she seemed delighted when she discovered that i was the author, and rose to greet me in the most amiable manner. i complimented the travellers that during the past century the rhine had become the home of romance for the english speaking nations, the same as italy for the germans. the girl smiled, and remarked that i must pay that compliment to her mother in particular, as she was by birth an englishwoman. but the head of the family hastened to add that among americans, whom he might speak for, the enthusiasm for the beauties of the rhine was not less than among their anglo-saxon cousins. these two nations which are bound by so many ties to each other, and also to ourselves, were thus represented before me. the english-speaking people undoubtedly form by far the largest contingent of our rhine travellers, and it was pleasant indeed to receive so fine a testimonial to the beauties of my birth place. we had a most interesting conversation, and i was not a little moved, as i observed that these foreigners who had travelled over half the world, and had seen the grandeur of switzerland and the charms of italy, should have such an unaffected admiration for our grand old river. i am rather sorry for those who neglect the rhine. "aren't lohengrin and siegfried, immortalised by the great master of bayreuth, also heroic figures in your rhine legends?" remarked the young anglo-american enthusiastically. it was the first time i had seriously thought of this. i was indeed touched, and my thoughts travelled back to the days of "long, long ago" when as a little chap in my native bonn, i had first listened with interest to the charming voices of the golden-haired daughters of old albion who came in large numbers to reside in the famous beethoven-town. as i separated from my friends at the foot of the drachenfels i gave them a small present to keep as a memento of the rhine and one of its poets. münchen, mai . dr. wilhelm ruland. contents =st. gotthard.= the petrified alp =thusis on the hinter rhine.= the last hohenrätier =bodensee.= the island of mainau =basle.= one hour in advance =castle niedeck.= the toy of the young giantess =strassburg.= the cathedral clock the little man at the angel's pillar =worms.= the nibelungen lied =speyer.= the bells of speyer =frankfort.= the knave of bergen =mayence.= heinrich frauenlob bishop willigis =johannisberg.= =ingelheim.= eginhard and emma =rüdesheim.= the brömserburg =bingen.= the mouse-tower =valley of the nahe. kreuznach.= a mighty draught the foundation of castle sponheim =assmannshausen.= st. clement's chapel =castle rheinstein.= the wooing =castle sooneck.= the blind archer =the ruins of fürstenberg.= the mother's ghost =bacharach.= burg stahleck =kaub.= castle gutenfels =oberwesel.= the seven maidens =st. goar.= lorelei =rheinfels.= st. george's linden =sterrenberg and liebenstein.= the brothers =rhense.= the emperor wenzel =castle lahneck.= the templars of lahneck =coblenz.= riza =valley of the moselle.= the doctor's wine of bernkastel =andernach.= genovefa =hammerstein.= the old knight and his daughters =valley of the ahr.= the last knight of altenahr the minstrel of neuenahr =eifel.= the arrow at prüm =aachen.= the building of the minster the ring of fastrada =rolandseck.= knight roland =siebengebirge.= the drachenfels the monk of heisterbach the origin of the seven mountains the nightingale valley at honnef =godesberg.= the high cross at godesberg =bonn.= lord erich's pledge the roman ghosts =cologne.= richmodis of aducht the goblins jan and griet the cathedral-builder of cologne =xanten.= siegfried =cleve.= lohengrin =zuydersea.= stavoren st. gotthard the petrified alp [illustration: aus dem quellgebiet des rheines--near the source of the rhine--au pays du rhin] in the region where the rhine has its source there towered in ancient times a green alp. this alp belonged to an honest peasant, and along with a neat little house in the valley below formed his only possession. the man died suddenly and was deeply mourned by his wife and child. some days after an unexpected visitor was announced to the widow. he was a man who had much pastureland up in that region, but for a long time his one desire had been to possess the alp of his neighbour now deceased, as by it his property would be rounded off to his satisfaction. quickly making his resolution he declared to the dismayed woman that the alp belonged to him: her husband had secretly pledged it to him in return for a loan, after the bad harvest of the previous year. when the widow angrily accused him of being a liar the man produced a promissory note, spread it out, and with a hard laugh showed her his statement was confirmed in black and white. the distressed woman burst into tears and declared it was impossible that her late husband should have made a secret transaction of such a nature. the alp was the sole inheritance of their son, and never would she willingly surrender it. "i will pay you compensation for the renunciation of your claim, although nothing obliges me to do so," declared the visitor with apparent compassion, in the meantime producing his purse. the weeping woman motioned to him to put back his gold and told him to go, which he did. three days later the widow was summoned before the judge. there the neighbour produced his document and repeated his demand for the possession of the disputed alp. the judge, who had been shamefully bribed, declared the document valid and awarded the alp to the pursuer. the broken-hearted widow staggered home. the new possessor of the alp on the other hand hastened up to the mountains at full gallop. the man could no longer master his impatience to see for the first time as his legally recognised property the pastureland he had acquired by deceit. there, for three days a storm had raged uninterruptedly. as quickly as the soaked ways would permit he ascended to the high country. having arrived he stared around with horrified eyes, and fell in a swoon to the earth, overcome with consternation. upon the soft green alp an unseen hand had rolled a mountain of ice. of the possession which the unjust judge had assigned to him nothing was now to be seen. his own pastures too which adjoined were covered with snow and ice, whilst the meadows of the other alpsmen below, lay spread out in the morning light like a velvet carpet. towards noon a broken man rode home into the valley cursing himself and the wicked magistrate who had consented to such an evil transaction. the people there however said to each other: "the fronfasten mütterli (the little mother of the emberweeks) frau sälga passed over our valley last night with her train of maidens. over the house of that greedy rich man the ghostly company stopped, and by that it is fixed which one must die in the course of the year." and so it happened. up there where the youthful rhine rushes down through deep rocky chasms the petrified alp stands to this day, a silent warning from by-gone days. thusis on the hinter rhine the last hohenrätier [illustration: der letzte hohenrätier--nach dem gemälde von e. stückelberg] the domleschg valley was formerly the scene of bitter feuds, and is mentioned in the struggle for freedom by the swiss peasants of the ancient bund, some five hundred years ago. there stood the castle of the hohenrätier. the last descendant of the degenerate race on the high realt was rightly feared in the whole district. he was the terror of the peaceful inhabitants of the district, and harried not only them but also merchants and pilgrims who passed along the highway below. the wrath against this unchivalrous wickedness increased mightily. one day this man perpetrated a daring deed of violence. whilst on an excursion into the valley he had discovered a charming maid who sought berries in a lonely wood. in his wicked eagerness he dragged the maiden on to his horse and fled. amusing himself with her lamentations, he carried his booty up the steep castle hill. a poacher had observed the occurrence and alarmed the inhabitants of the village. they carried the intelligence without delay into the domleschg. the oppressed people around then rose and joining together approached the castle that very night. having felled giant trees they threw a bridge over the moat, cast firebrands into the interior, and stormed into the castle-yard through gaps in the gates and walls. then the baron appeared mounted on his war-horse, driven out of his abode by tongues of flame. before him he held the captured maiden, and in the light of the conflagration his naked sword glittered in his right hand. dealing mighty blows on both sides he forced his horse forward (the eyes of which had been bound), intending to make a way down the hill. but the living wall of peasants was impenetrable. quickly making his resolution the knight rushed to the side where the wall of rock fell some seven hundred feet sheer into the youthful rhine. the foaming steed stood trembling in front of the yawning abyss. the shout of the multitude echoed into the night. thousands of arms were instantly stretched towards the river and one of them at the last moment succeeded in snatching his prey from the robber, just as the steed tortured and bleeding from sword and spur hurled itself with a mighty spring into the depths below. so ended the last of the hohenrätiers. in the dawn only the smoking ruins of the proud castle remained, and the morning bells announced to the peasants that their long desired freedom had been won. these ruins are situated on the hinter rhine above thusis, and it is said that the last hohenrätier, like many others of the former tyrants of the rätigau, yearly on st. john's eve (when this event occurred) may be seen riding round the fallen walls of his castle, clad in black armour which emits glowing sparks. bodensee the island of mainau for many hundreds of years the names of the masters of bodmann have been very closely connected with the island in the lake of boden. at first the island was in the possession of this noble race, but later on, in the thirteenth century, it passed into the hands of an order of german knights. a legend relates the story to us of how this change came to pass. about this time the whole of this magnificent property was held in possession by a youthful maiden, who had inherited this beautiful island with all its many charms. as may be supposed, the wooers for the lovely maiden's hand and inheritance became very numerous. she, however, had made her own choice, and it had fallen upon a nobleman from langenstein. every evening when the sun was sinking down into the golden waters, this maiden walked along the strand watching and listening for some longed-for sound. then the measured splash of an oar would be heard approaching in the twilight, and a little boat would be drawn up on the shore, a youthful boatman would spring joyfully forth, and lovingly greet the maiden. there this pair of lovers wove dreams about the time from which only a short period now separated them, when they should belong openly to each other before the world. the nobleman landed one evening as usual, but this time his heart was depressed and sorrowful; he informed his betrothed mournfully that his father, who was then suffering agony from gout, had once taken a vow to god and to the emperor that he would go on a crusade to the holy land, but being unable to fulfil his oath, he laid it to his son's charge to carry it out as he meant to have done. the maiden wept bitterly on hearing these unexpected tidings. "trust me and the powers on high, i shall not make this great sacrifice in vain," said her lover consolingly. "i shall return, that i feel confident of." thus with bright hopes in his heart the youthful crusader bade his weeping betrothed good-bye. * * * * * and every evening when the sun was sinking into the golden waters the maiden walked along the strand, looking with longing eyes out into the misty distance. spring came and disappeared, summer followed, and the swallows fled from the lake to warmer climes, the maiden sending many a warm greeting with them. wintry storms blew over the waters, whistling round the lonely island, and the maiden had become as pale as the flakes of snow which fell against the window-panes. news one day reached the castle that the crusaders had returned from the east, but that the nobleman from langenstein was languishing in a turkish prison in a remote castle belonging to the sultan. the maiden was heart-broken by these tidings and now spent her days in prayers and tears. * * * * * within the mighty walls of a gloomy castle in the far-off east, a young hero was sitting pining over his bitter fate. he prayed and groaned aloud in his grief thinking of his betrothed from whom he had been so cruelly separated. the sultan had offered the fair-haired youth his favourite daughter, a seductive eastern beauty, but the prisoner had turned scornfully away, her dark glancing eyes having no charm for him. that night the youth had a strange dream. an angel was soaring over his couch and came down to his side, and a voice whispered, "promise yourself to me, and you will see your native land again." the knight started up and said reverently, "that was the voice of god!" confused thoughts rushed through his soul, he must renounce his love, but at least he would see her again. throwing himself on his knees, he promised with a fervent oath that he would dedicate himself to the lord, if he might only see the beloved maiden once more. an earthquake shook the castle to its very foundations, unfastening the prison doors, thus setting the prisoner at liberty in a marvellous way. he succeeded in reaching the coast without being caught by the guards of the sultan, and a vessel sailing to venice took him on board. but as he approached his native land the struggle in his soul between love and duty was very great; at one moment it seemed to overcome him, and he felt he could no longer keep his vow. but god again admonished him. reaching the lake he steered his boat towards the island, but a sudden storm arose, threatening him with a watery grave. he prayed fervently to heaven, again swearing his oath. the storm subsided, and the little boat having missed its course landed on the other side of the lake, where the grand master of an order of german knights had his seat. the tired way-farer approached, begging to be received, a boon kindly granted to him. then starting off again with his boat the youth reached the island. he there imprinted a sorrowful kiss on his beloved's pure white forehead, bidding her and the world good-bye for ever. the young girl resigned herself at first silently to her fate; but she soon resolved on another plan: this place which had once been such a happy home had no longer any charms to offer her, and she therefore presented the island of mainau to the german order of knights on one condition, that the nobleman from langenstein should be the successor of the grand master. this request was willingly granted, the noble maiden gave up all her rich possession and left the island in the bodensee. it is said that she retired to a convent, but no one ever knew where. the chronicle informs us that hugh of langenstein became one of the most capable grand masters of this order of knights of mainau. he is also known as a great poet, and his poem on the martyr martina still exists in old manuscripts. basle one hour in advance basle was once surrounded by enemies, and very hard pressed on all sides. a troop of discontented citizens made a shameful compact with the besiegers to help them to conquer the town. it was arranged one dark night that exactly as the clock was striking twelve the attack was to be made from within and without. the traitors were all ready, waiting for midnight in great excitement, having no evil presentiments of what was about to happen. the expected hour approached. accidentally the watchman of the tower heard of the proposed attack, and no time being left to warn the commander of the garrison or the guard, he quickly and with great presence of mind determined upon a safe expedient; he put forward the hand of the great clock one hour, so that instead of striking midnight, the clock struck one. the traitors in the town looked at each other aghast, believing the enemies outside had neglected or perhaps betrayed them. general doubt and misunderstanding reigned in both camps. while they were debating what plan they must now adopt, the sharp-witted watchman had time to communicate with the magistrate and with the governor of the town. the alarm was raised, the citizens warned, and the treacherous plan completely wrecked. the enemy at last, tired of the useless siege, retired discouraged. the magistrate in remembrance of this remarkable deed ordered that the town-clock should remain in advance as the courageous watchman had set it that eventful night. this singular regulation continued till the year , and although the honest inhabitants of basle were, as talkative tongues asserted, a century behind-hand in everything else, yet with regard to time they were always one hour in advance. castle niedeck the toy of the young giantess [illustration: das riesenspielzeug--nach dem gemälde von cnopf--the giant's toy--les jouets des géants] in olden times a race of giants is said to have lived in alsace. castle niedeck in the valley of the breusch was their residence, but even the ruins of this fortress have long since disappeared. the legend however remains to tell us that they were a peaceable people, well disposed to mankind. the daughter of the master of the castle was one day leisurely walking through the adjoining wood. on approaching the fields and meadows of the valley, she perceived a peasant ploughing. the young giantess looked in great astonishment at the tiny man who seemed to be so busily engaged trudging along after his little team, and turning up the ground with his small iron instrument. she had never before seen anything so wonderful and was very much amused at the sight. it seemed to her a nice little toy, and she clapped her hands in childish glee, so that the echo sounded among the mountains; then picking up man, horse, and plough, she placed them in her apron and hurried back gaily to the castle. there she showed her father the nice little toy, greatly pleased at what she had found. the giant however shook his enormous head gravely, and said in a displeased tone, "don't you know, child, who this trembling little creature with his struggling tiny animal is, that you have chosen for a plaything? of all the dwarfs down in the valley below, he is the most useful; he works hard and indefatigably in scorching heat as well as in windy cold weather, so that the fields may produce fruit for us. he who scoffs at or maltreats him will be punished by heaven. take the little labourer therefore back to the place he came from." the young giantess, greatly ashamed and deeply blushing with embarrassment, put the amusing little toy back into her apron, and carried it obediently down to the valley. strassburg the cathedral clock the cathedral was finished, and the city magistrates resolved to place an ingenious clock on the upper tower. for a long time they searched in vain, but at last a master was found who offered to create a work of art such as had never been seen in any land. the members of the council were highly satisfied with this proposal, and the master began his work. weeks and months passed, and when at last it was finished there was general astonishment; the clock was indeed so wonderful that nothing to match it could be found in the whole country. it marked not only the hours but the days and months as well; a globe was attached to it which also marked out the rising and the setting of the sun, and the eclipses of that body and the moon could be seen at the same time as they took place in nature. every change was pointed out by mercury's wand, and every constellation appeared at the right time. shortly before the stroke of the clock a figure representing death emerged from the centre and sounded the full hour, while at the quarter and half hours the statue of christ came forth, repelling the destroyer of all life. added to all these wonders was a beautiful chime that played melodious hymns. such was the marvellous clock in the cathedral of strassburg. the magistrates however proved themselves unworthy of their new possession; pride and presumption got the better of them, making them commit a most unjust and ungrateful action. they desired their town to be the only one in the land which possessed such a work of art, and in order to prevent the maker from making another like it, they did not shrink from the vilest of crimes. taking advantage of the rumour that such a wonderful work could only have been made by the aid of witchcraft, they accused the clock-maker of being united with the devil, threw him into prison, and cruelly condemned him to be blinded. the unhappy artist resigned himself to his bitter fate without a murmur. the only favour he asked was that he might be allowed to examine the clock once again before the judgment was carried out. he said he wanted to arrange something in the works which no one else could understand. the crafty magistrates, being anxious to have the clock perfect, granted him this request. the artist filed, sawed, regulated here and there, and then was led away, and in the same hour deprived of his sight. the cruel deed was hardly accomplished, when it was found that the clock had stopped. the artist had destroyed his work with his own hands; his righteous determination that the chimes would never ring again, had become a melancholy truth. up to the present no one has been able again to set the dead works going. an equally splendid clock now adorns the cathedral, but the remains of the first one have been preserved ever since. the little man at the angel's pillar close to the famous clock in the cathedral of strassburg, there is a little man in stone gazing up at the angel's pillar which supports the south wing of the cathedral. long ago the little man who is now sculptured in stone, stood there in flesh and blood. he used to stare up at the pillar with a criticising eye from top to bottom and again from bottom to top. then he would shake his head doubtfully each time. it happened once that a sculptor passed the cathedral and saw the little man looking up, evidently comparing the proportions of the pillar. "it seems to me you are finding fault with the pillar, my good fellow," the stone-cutter remarked, and the little man nodded with a self-satisfied look. "well, what do you think of it? speak out my man," said the master, tapping the fellow's shoulder encouragingly. "the pillar is certainly splendid," began the latter slowly, "the apostles, the angels, and the saviour are most beautiful too. but there is one thing troubling me. that slender pillar cannot support that heavy vault much longer; it will soon totter and fall down, and all will go to pieces." the sculptor looked alternately at the work of art and at its strange fault-finder. a contemptuous smile passed over his features. "you are quite convinced of the truth of your statement, aren't you?" asked he enquiringly. the bold critic repeated his doubts with an important air. "well," cried the stone-cutter, with comical earnestness, "then you will remain there always, gazing at the pillar until it sinks down, crushed by the vault." he went straight off into his workshop, seized hammer and chisel, and formed the little man into stone just as he was, looking upwards with a knowing face and an important air. this little figure is still there at the present day with both hands leaning on the balustrade of st. nicholas' chapel, awaiting the expected fall of the pillar, and most likely he will remain there for many a century to come. worms the nibelungen lied [illustration: siegfried auf der totenbahre--nach dem gemälde von emil lauffer] to-day we are deeply touched, as our forefathers must have been, at the recital of the boundless suffering and the overwhelming concatenation of sin and expiation in the lives of the recken and frauen of the nibelungen legend. that naive singer has remained nameless and unknown, who about the end of the th century wrote down this legend in poetic form, thus preserving forever our most precious relic of germanic folksepic. a powerful story it is of sin and suffering: corresponding to the world itself and just as the primitive mind of a people loves to represent it. the story begins as a lovely idyll but ends in gloomy tragedy. the ancient rhenish town of worms was during the great migrations the seat of authority of the burgundian invaders, an east germanic stock. during the glorious reign of king gunther there appears, attracted by the beauty of chriemhild the king's sister, a young hero, siegfried, by name. he is himself a king's son, his father siegmund reigning in xanten "nieden by dem rine." king gunther receives the fair recken into his service as a vassal. siegfried, exhibiting the fairest loyalty to his overlord, and rendered invisible by magic, conquers for him the redoubtable brunhild, the proud queen of the island kingdom of isenland (iceland) and compels her to wed king gunther. as a reward siegfried receives the hand of chriemhild. in the fulness of his heart the hero presents to chriemhild as a marriage gift, the nibelungen hoard, which he had gained in his early years from the sons of the king of the nibelungen and from dwarf alberich the guardian of the treasure. joy reigns in the king's court at worms, but it was not shared by all. besides chriemhild there was another secretly drawn towards the hero, and in brunhild's heart the bridal happiness of chriemhild awakens such envy that soon no friendly word passes between the women. they become estranged and one day her bad feeling leads brunhild to harsh words. then alas, chriemhild gave unbridled licence to her tongue. in her rash insolence she represents to brunhild that it was not gunther but siegfried who formerly overcame her. as proof of this she produces the ring and girdle which siegfried had taken on that night from the powerful brunhild, and which he had presented to chriemhild. with fierce haughtiness chriemhild taunts her opponent with a hateful name no woman could endure, and forbids her to enter the cathedral. brunhild, weeping, informs king gunther of the contumely heaped upon her. the king is filled with wrath, and his vassal, the gloomy hagen, considers how he may destroy siegfried avowedly to avenge the queen, but secretly for the possession of the nibelungen hoard. during a hunt in the odenwald siegfried was treacherously stabbed by hagen whilst stopping to drink from a well. the intention was to spread the report that siegfried had been slain by robbers whilst hunting alone. so, on the following day they crossed the rhine back to worms. in the night hagen caused the dead body of siegfried to be laid in front of chriemhild's chamber. in the early morning as chriemhild accompanied by her attendants was preparing to go to mass in the cathedral she noticed the corpse of her hero. a wail of sorrow arose. chriemhild threw herself weeping on the body of her murdered husband. "alas!" she cried "thy shield is not hewn by swords: thou hast been foully murdered. did i but know who has done this, i would avenge thy death." chriemhild ordered a magnificent bier for her royal hero, and demanded that an ordeal should be held over the corpse. "for it is a marvellous thing, and to this day it happens, that when the bloodstained murderer approaches wounds bleed anew." so all the princes and nobles of burgundy walked past the dead body, above which was the figure of the crucified redeemer of the world, and lo! when the grim hagen came forward the wounds of the dead man began to flow. in the presence of the astounded men and horrified women chriemhild accused hagen of the assassination of her husband. much treachery and woe accompanied the expiation of this great crime. the nibelungen hoard, the cause of the shameful deed, was sunk in the middle of the rhine in order to prevent future strife arising from human greed. but chriemhild's undying sorrow was not mitigated, nor her unconquerable thirst for revenge appeased. after the burial of his son king siegmund begged in vain that chriemhild should come to the royal city of xanten; she remained at worms for thirteen years constantly near her beloved dead. then the sorrowing woman removed to the abbey of lorch which her mother, frau ute, had founded. thither also, she transferred siegfried's body. when etzel (attila) the ruler of the huns wooed her, chriemhild urged not by love but by very different feelings gave him her hand and accompanied her heathen lord to the ungarland. then she treacherously invited siegfried's murderers to visit her husband, and prepared for them a destruction which fills the mind with horror. the burgundian king and his followers, who, since the hoard had come into their possession, were called the nibelungen, fell slaughtered in the etzelburg under the swords of the huns and their allies, thus atoning for their faithlessness to the hero siegfried. and with this awful holocaust ends the lied of the nibelungen not, the most renowned heroic legend in the german tongue. speyer the bells of speyer the german emperor, henry iv., had much trouble to bear under his purple mantle. through his own and through stranger's faults the crown which he wore was set with thorns, and even into the bosom of his family this unhappy spirit of dissension had crept. the excommunication of the pope, his powerful enemy, was followed by the revolt of the princes, and lastly by the conspiracy of his own sons. his eldest son, conrad, openly rebelled against him, and treated his father most scornfully. when this prince died suddenly, the second son, henry, attempted the deposition of his father and made intrigues against him. thus forced to abdicate his throne the broken-down emperor fled to liège, accompanied by one faithful servant, kurt, and there lay down to his last rest. his body was left for five years in unconsecrated ground in a foreign country. kurt remained faithful, and prayed incessantly at the burial-place of his royal master. at last the pope at henry's request consented to recall the ban. henry ordered his father's remains to be brought to speyer and solemnly interred with the royal family. kurt was allowed to follow the procession to speyer, but wearied out by this long watching the old man died a few days afterwards. just at the moment of his death the bells in the cathedral at speyer tolled without any human hand putting them in motion, as they always did when an imperial death took place. years passed. the german emperor henry v. lay dying on his luxurious couch at speyer. his bodily sufferings were intense, but the agony of his mind was even greater; he had obtained the crown which now pressed so heavily on his head, by shameful treacherous means. the apparition of his father dying in misery appeared to him, and no words of the flatterers at his bed-side could still the voice of his conscience. at last death freed him from all his torments, and at the same hour the bells which were always rung when a poor sinner was led to execution, tolled, set in motion by no human hand. thus were the bells the instrument of that hand which wisely and warningly wrote ... "honour thy father and thy mother...." frankfort the knave of bergen [illustration: der scharfrichter von bergen--nach einer zeichnung von adolf menzel--the knave of bergen--le bourreau de bergen] the emperor was to be crowned at frankfort, and great festivities were to be given in the town in his honour, among them a masquerade, at which knights and noble ladies rivalled each other in splendour. joy was depicted on every face at this great assembly, only one knight among the many guests being noticeable for his gravity and restraint. he wore black armour, and the feather waving above his visor was black too. no one knew him or could guess who he was. he approached the empress with a noble grace, bent his knee, and asked her to dance with him, which she graciously consented to do. he glided gracefully through the splendid halls with the queen of the festival, and soon every eye was turned on them, and everyone was eager to know who he was. the empress was charmed with her excellent partner, and the grace of his refined conversation pleased her so much that she granted him a second and a third dance. everyone became more and more curious to know who this masked knight was. meanwhile the hour struck when every mask had to be raised, and every masked guest must make himself known. more than all the others the empress was anxious to know who her partner was. but he hesitated and even refused to take off his mask until she ordered him peremptorily to do so. the knight obeyed, but none of the high ladies or noble knights recognised him. suddenly two stewards pressed through the crowd, crying out with indignation and horror; "it is the headsman from bergen!" then the emperor in great wrath ordered the shameful offender who had thus degraded the empress and insulted his sovereign to be led to execution. but the culprit, throwing himself at the emperor's feet, said boldly, "i have transgressed, my lord, and offended you and your noble guests, but most heavily have i sinned against my queen. no punishment, not even blood, will be able to wash out the disgrace you have suffered through me. therefore, oh king! allow me to propose a remedy to efface the shame. draw your sword and knight me, and i will throw down my gauntlet to any one who dares to speak disrespectfully of my sovereign." the emperor was taken by surprise at this bold proposal. however it appeared the wisest plan to adopt. "you are a knave," he replied after a moment's consideration, "but your advice is good and displays prudence, just as your offence shows adventurous courage. well then,"--laying his sword on the man's neck--"rise sir knight. you have acted like a knave, and the knave of bergen you shall be called henceforth." a joyful shout of approbation pealed through the halls, and the new knight again glided gracefully through the crowd with the queen of the festival. mayence heinrich frauenlob [illustration: heinrich frauenlob--steinbild im dom zu mainz] the priest or as some say, canon, in the old town of mayence was a very worthy man, and at the same time a heaven-gifted singer. besides devoting himself to science, he composed numerous pious verses which he dedicated to the holy virgin. he also played the harp, and wrote many beautiful songs in honour of the female sex. in contrast to many contemporary poets, he considered "woman" a higher title than "wife," which only signifies a married woman. so on account of the chivalry displayed in his numberless poems and songs, posterity gave him the name of "frauenlob," under which title he is better known than under his own name of heinrich of meissen. the love and veneration which thankful women paid him was very great, not only during his life-time, but even more so after his death. their grief was intense when it became known that the poet's voice would never more be heard in this world. it was agreed to honour him with such a burial as no poet had ever before received. the funeral procession moved slowly and sorrowfully along the streets, the greater part of the cortege being women in deep mourning who prayed for the repose of the poet's soul. eight of the most beautiful among them carried the coffin, which was covered with sweet-scented flowers. at the grave songs of lamentation were heard from women's gentle voices. precious rhine-wine which had been the poet's favourite drink, and which so often had inspired his poetry, was poured by hands of his admirers over his grave, so profusely, the legend relates, that the entrance of the church was flooded by the libation. but still more precious than all these gifts were the tears, which on this memorable day were shed by many a gentle lady. the wanderer can still see the monument erected to this great benefactor in the cathedral at mayence, which represents the figure of a beautiful woman in pure-white marble placing a wreath on the coffin of the great singer, who had honoured women in the most chivalrous of songs. bishop willigis [illustration: bischof willigis in der klosterschule--nach dem gemälde von lindenschmitt] in the year there was a very pious priest in mayence called bishop willigis. he was only the son of a poor wheelwright, but by his perseverance and his own merit he had attained to the dignity of first priest of the kingdom. the honest citizens of mayence loved and honoured the worthy divine, although they did not altogether like having to bow down to one who had been brought up in a simple cottage like themselves. the bishop once reproved them in gentle tones for thinking too much of mere descent. this vexed the supercilious citizens, and one night they determined to play willigis a trick. they took some chalk and drew enormous wheels on all the doors of his house. early next morning as the bishop was going to mass, he noticed the scoffers' malicious work. he stood silently looking at the wheels, the chaplain by his side expecting every moment that the reverend prelate would burst forth in a terrible rage. but a gay smile spread over the bishop's features and, ordering a painter to be sent to him, he told him to paint white wheels on a scarlet back-ground, visible to every eye, just where the chalk wheels had been drawn, and underneath to paint the words, "willigis! willigis! just think what you have risen from." but he did not stop there. he ordered the wheelwright to make him a plough-wheel, and caused it to be placed over his couch in memory of his extraction. thereafter the scoffers were put to silence, and the people of mayence began to honour and esteem their worthy bishop, who, though he had been so exalted, possessed such honest common-sense. white wheels on a red ground have been the arms of the bishops of mayence ever since. johannisberg wherever the german tongue is heard, and even further still, the king of all rhine wines, "johannisberger" is known and sought after. every friend of the grape which grows on the banks of this river is well acquainted with it, but few perhaps know of its princely origin. it is princely, not because princes' hands once kept the key to johannisberg, but rather because princely hands planted the vine in the rhine country, and this royal giver was no other than charlemagne, the all-powerful ruler of the kingdom of the franks. once in early spring charles the great was standing on the balcony of his castle at ingelheim, his eyes straying over the beautiful stretch of country at his feet. snow had fallen during the night, and the hills of rüdesheim were clothed in white. as the imperial ruler was looking thoughtfully over the landscape, he noticed that the snow on one side of johannisberg melted quicker in the sun's rays than on any other part. charles, who was a great and deep thinker, began to reflect that on a spot where the rays of the sun shone so genially, something better than grass would thrive. sending for kunrat, his faithful servant, he bade him saddle his horse the next day at dawn and ride to orleans, a town famous for its good wine. he was to inform the citizens that the emperor had not forgotten the excellent wine they had given him there, and that he would like to grow the same vines on the rhine. he desired the citizens of orleans therefore to send him plants from their country. the messenger set off to do the king's bidding and ere the moon had again gone round her course, was back in the castle at ingelheim. great satisfaction prevailed at court. charles, mighty ruler as he was, even went so far as to cross to rüdesheim, where he planted with his royal hand the french vine in german soil. this was no mere passing whim on the part of the emperor. he sent messengers constantly to bring word how the vines were thriving in rüdesheim and on the flanks of johannisberg, and when the third autumn had come round, the emperor charlemagne set out from his favourite resort, aix-la-chapelle, for the rhine country, and great rejoicing prevailed among the vine-reapers from rüdesheim to johannisberg. the first cup of wine was solemnly offered to the emperor, a golden wine in a golden goblet, a wine worthy of a king. charles took a long deep draught, and with brightened eyes praised the delicious drink. it became his favourite wine, this fiery "johannisberger," making him young again in his old age. what charlemagne then felt when he drank this wine, every one who raises the sparkling grapejuice to his lips is keenly sensible of also. wherever the german tongue is heard, and even further still, the king of all rhine wines is known and sought after, johannisberger wine. * * * * * the legend weaves another wonderful tale about the great emperor blessing his grapes. a poet's pen has fashioned it into a song, which is still often heard among the grapegatherers. every spring when the vines are blossoming on the hills and in the valleys along the river, and their fragrance scents the air, a tall shadow wanders about the vineyards at night, a purple mantle hanging from his stately shoulders, and a crown on his head. it is charlemagne, the great emperor, who planted the grapes long years before. the luscious scent of the blossoms wakens him up from his tomb in aix-la-chapelle, and he comes to bless the grapes. when the full moon gently casts her bright beams on the water, lighting up the emperor's nightly path, he may be seen crossing the golden bridge formed by her rays and then wandering further along the hills, blessing the vines on the other side of the river. at the first crow of the cock he returns to his grave in aix-la-chapelle, and sleeps till the scent of the grapes wakens him next spring, when he again wanders through the countries along the rhine, blessing the vineyards. * * * * * let us now relate another little story which is told of the monks who lived at johannisberg. once the high abbot of fulda came unexpectedly to visit the cloister at johannisberg just about the time when the grapes were ripe. the worthy abbot made many inquiries about his people, showed himself highly pleased with the works of the industrious monks, and as a mark of his continued favour, invited all the inmates of the cloister to a drinking-bout. "wine maketh the heart glad," thus quoting king david's significant words, the holy man began his speech: "god's loving hand will be gracious in future years to your vines. let us profit by his grace, brothers, and drink what he has provided for us in moderation and reverence. but before we refresh ourselves with god's good gifts, take your breviaries and let us begin with a short prayer." "breviaries!" was whispered along the rows, and the eyes of the fat genial faces blinked in helpless embarrassment. "yes, your breviaries," and the white-haired abbot looked silently but sternly at the brothers. they searched and searched. gradually the frown disappeared from the abbot's face, and a smile gradually spread over his withered features. "well, never mind, let us drink," said he. then feeling his pockets, he said with a gleam in his eye, "that's too bad! i ought to have brought a corkscrew with me when i came to the rhine." "a corkscrew!" every one dives his hand into his pocket, and as many corkscrews were produced before the worthy abbot as there were brothers present. then a gleam of merriment beamed in the abbot's eyes. "bravo, ye pious monks! what a plentiful supply of corkscrews! do not all look so embarrassed, we shall not be annoyed about it to-day but--to-morrow! now we shall sing with king david, 'wine maketh the heart glad,'" and the uncorked bottle went the rounds. ingelheim eginhard and emma i. the story which we have now to relate is a very touching one, and it becomes even more interesting when we know that it is based on real fact. in the little town of ingelheim there was a beautiful marble castle, the favourite residence of charlemagne. he often retired to this lonely, peaceful spot accompanied only by a few of his faithful vassals and the members of his own family. eginhard, the emperor's private secretary, was never missing from this little circle. charlemagne thought highly of this man, then in the prime of youth, on account of his profound knowledge and extraordinary talents. the young scholar, so different from the wise councillors not only in his learning but in his cultivated manners, was a great favourite among the ladies of the court. eginhard who was a constant companion of the emperor, had also become an intimate member of the family circle, and charlemagne entrusted him with the education of his favourite child emma, daughter of his wife gismonda. this dark-eyed maiden was considered the most beautiful of her age, and the young scholar could not long remain cold and indifferent to her charms. the undisturbed hours which should have been spent in learning, led to a mutual understanding. eginhard struggled to remind himself of his duty towards his sovereign, but love overcame him, and soon an oath of eternal fidelity united these young hearts. ii. the great emperor ought to have known what would be the consequence of allowing the young scholar to enjoy the society of his dark-eyed, passionate daughter. in the still hours of the night when all the inmates of the castle lay wrapped in sleep, eginhard sought the chamber of his beloved. she listened enchanted to the glowing words of his burning heart, but their love was chaste and pure, no gusts of passion troubling them. but fate was against these lovers. one night they were sitting in emma's chamber talking confidentially together. the great palace was veiled in darkness, no ray of light, no star was to be seen in the heavens. as eginhard was about to leave the chamber, he perceived that the courtyard below was covered with snow. it would have been impossible to pass across it without leaving a trace behind him, but at all risks he must reach his room. what was to be done? love is ingenious. after considering for some time together, they both concluded that there was but one way to prevent their being betrayed. the slender maiden took her lover on her back and carried him across the courtyard, thus leaving behind only her two small foot-prints. it happened that charles the great had not yet sought the repose he needed so much, as care banished sleep from his eyes. he sat at his window and looked out into the silent night. in the courtyard below he perceived a shadow crossing the pavement and, looking carefully, he recognised his favourite daughter emma carrying a man on her back.--yes! and this man was eginhard, his great favourite. pain and anger struggled in his heart. he wanted to rush down and kill him--an emperor's daughter and a mere secretary--but with a great effort he restrained himself, mastered the violent agitation which this unexpected sight caused him, and went back to his chamber to wait wearily for dawn. iii. the next day charles assembled his councillors. they were all horrified to see his ghastly look; his brow was dark, and sorrow was depicted on every feature. eginhard looked at his master apprehending coming evil. charlemagne stood up and spake:-- "what does a royal princess deserve, who receives the visit of a man at night?" the councillors looked at each other speechless. eginhard's countenance became white as death. the councillors soon guessed the name of the royal princess, and they consulted together for some time not knowing what to say, but at last one councillor answered:-- "your majesty, we think that a weak woman must not be punished for anything done out of love." "and what does a favourite of the emperor deserve who creeps into a royal princess' chamber at night?" charlemagne cast a dark look at his secretary, who trembled and became even paler. "alas! all is lost," murmured he to himself. then, raising his voice, he said, "death, my master and emperor!" charles looked at the young man full of astonishment. the wrath in his soul melted at this self-accusation and fervent repentance. deep silence followed this answer, and in a few minutes the emperor dismissed his councillors, making a sign at the same time to eginhard to follow him. without a word charles led him into his private chamber, where in answer to his summons, emma appeared. her heart misgave her as she saw the dark look on her father's face and the troubled features of her beloved. she understood all at once, and with a convulsive cry of pain threw herself at her father's feet. "mercy! mercy! my father, we love each other so dearly!" murmured she, raising her large eyes imploringly. "mercy!" murmured eginhard too, bending his knees. the emperor remained silent. after a time he began to speak earnestly and coldly at first, but his voice changed to a milder tone on hearing the sobs of his favourite child. "i shall not separate you who are bound to each other by love. a priest shall unite you, and at dawn to-morrow you must both be gone from the castle, never to return." he left them, shutting the door behind him. the beautiful maiden sank down on her knees, only half conscious in her grief of what her father had said. but eginhard's soft voice soon whispered in her ear. "do not weep, emma. by thrusting you from him, your father, my master, has only bound us together for ever. come," he continued in a trembling voice, alarmed at her passionate tears, "we must go, but love will be ever with us." the next day two pilgrims left the castle of ingelheim, and took the road in the direction of mayence. iv. time wore on. charles the great had made war on saxony, had set the roman crown upon his own head, and had become famous throughout the whole world. but all his fame had not prevented his hair from becoming grey, nor his heart from being sad. a mournful picture had imprinted itself on his mind, despite all his efforts to forget the past. in the evening when the setting sun glittered on the marble pillars of the royal palace, casting its golden rays into the chamber of the great emperor, it would find him sitting motionless in his carved oak-chair, his grey head buried in his hands, mournful dreams troubling his peace. he was thinking of the days which were past, of the young man whose gentle ways made him so different from the rough warriors of the court, how he used to recite poetry and sing the songs of the old bards so passionately, and the old legends which the emperor prized so much, how he used to read to him from the old gray parchment which he, eginhard, had written so carefully, how his own favourite dark-eyed daughter had so often been present, sitting at his feet listening intently to the reader--all this came back to his memory, saddening his heart, and filling his eyes with tears. v. bugle-horns sounded through the forest, charles and his followers were at the chase. the old emperor, seeking to forget his grief, had seized his spear and had gone out to hunt. in his eagerness to follow a magnificent stag he had become separated from his escort. the sun was already low in the west; the animal, now seeing no way of escape, as his pursuer was close behind him, dashed into a river and swam to the other side. the emperor, in hot pursuit and much exhausted, arrived at the water's edge, and for the first time noticed that he was alone, and in a part of the country quite unknown to him. the river lay before him and the forest behind, but the latter seemed to be quite impenetrable. it was already night, and charles sought in vain to find some path or track. as he was looking round him, he perceived a light in the distance. greatly pleased he started off in that direction, and found a little hut close to the river, but on looking through the window charlemagne saw the room was a very poor one. "perhaps this is the hermitage of some pious man," thought he, and knocked at the door, whereupon a fair-haired man appeared on the threshold. without mentioning his name, the emperor informed him of what had happened, and begged shelter for the night. at the sound of this loved voice, the man trembled, but controlling himself, he invited the emperor to enter. a young woman was sitting on a stool rocking a baby in her arms. she started, became very pale at the sight of the emperor, and then hurried into the next room to hide her emotion; charles sat down, and refusing refreshment from his host leaned his head wearily on his hands. minutes passed, and still he sat there lost in thought, dreaming of those happy by-gone days. at last the sweet prattle of a child roused him, and looking up he saw a little girl about five years old at his side, stretching out her arms to him, bidding him good-night. charles looked closely at the little angel-like creature, his heart throbbing within him. "what is your name, little one?" asked he. "emma," answered the child. "emma," repeated charles with tears in his eyes, and drawing the child closer to him he pressed a kiss on its forehead. in a moment the man and his young wife were at the emperor's feet imploring pardon. "emma! eginhard!" cried he with great emotion, embracing them both. "blessed be the place where i have found you again!" emma and eginhard returned in great pomp to the emperor's court. the latter gave them his beautiful palace at ingelheim, and only felt himself happy when he was with them. he caused a cloister to be built on the spot where he had found them again, which to the present day is called "seligenstadt," "town of the happy." in the church belonging to this little town the tomb of eginhard and emma is still shown, for according to their wishes, their bones were interred in the same coffin. rÜdesheim the brömserburg in the lofty cathedral of spires stood a great assemblage of knights, and on the throne near the altar sat conrad der staufe with his hands resting on the hilt of his sword. all were listening intently to the burning words of bernard of clairvaux who was describing the ruthless manner in which the holy places of palestine had been laid waste. as the saintly preacher ended with a thrilling appeal to the religious feelings of his audience, a great shout, "on, to jerusalem!" rang through the sacred edifice. most of the knights offered to bring as many followers as possible to aid their pious emperor. among those present was hans brömser, the lord of the niederburg at rüdesheim. this noble knight, the last of his race, was not detained at home by family cares. his wife had early been taken from him by death, and mechtildis, the only offspring of their marriage, was left under the protection of the neighbouring falkenstein family. so the pious warriors marched by devious and dangerous routes to that land where our lord lived and suffered. in fierce battle with the saracens many a noble knight closed his eyes forever. many met a harder fate--a living death in the noisome prisons of the unbelievers. after a lost battle sir brömser fell into the hands of the turks, and in a dungeon had to suffer shameful imprisonment. sometimes they would force their knightly foe to turn a millstone, while the crowd jeered. then, in the hour of deepest misery the knight made a vow to god. "give me my freedom again, and i vow that my child mechtildis shall devote her life to the church." and he repeated the solemn words again, and yet a third time. then happened what none of his companions-in-arms had ever hoped for. the brave crusaders stormed this turkish stronghold in the syrian desert, and liberated their fellow-crusaders from captivity. full of gratitude to god, hans brömser again fought valiantly in the holy cause. meanwhile at home in the hospitable keep above the rhine a maiden awaited with anxiety the return of her father. often in the silent hours, with sweetness and sunshine around her, without and within, she stood on the castle-wall and she saw in reverie that blue eastern land, whilst she listened to the wild throbbing of her young heart in which the blossoms of first love were bursting. then one night her father returned to the rhineland. in the moss-covered courtyard of the castle mechtildis embraced her father long and silently. beside the maiden, now in her seventeenth year, stood the young lord of falkenstein. the youth bowed deeply to the lord of the brömserburg, and greeted him kindly with the words, "welcome home, father!" then the vow made in the syrian prison rose like a spectre to pall the joy of the crusader's return. in the banqueting-hall of the castle a large company had assembled to celebrate the happy return of hans brömser and his faithful companions. the praise of the crusaders resounded and many stories were told of the dangers the heroes had encountered. with stirring words the knight related to his listening guests how he himself had fought in the sacred cause, and how he had suffered imprisonment among the heathen. then in a lower tone, and with solemn words, he told his friends of the vow he had made in his hour of deep despair in the syrian dungeon. the painful silence which followed was broken by a stifled cry, and the knight's daughter, pale as the covering on the festive board, sank unconscious to the floor. with burning cheek and flashing eye the young lord of falkenstein rose, and with a firm voice exclaimed, "mechtildis belongs to me; she has solemnly given herself to me forever." the murmur soon subsided before the stern countenance of the lord of the castle. "mechtildis has been dedicated to heaven, not to you, boy. the last of the brömser race has sworn it, and abides by it." the knight said this with suppressed fury, and soon his guests departed in silence. mechtildis lay in her chamber in wild grief. the flickering lamp beside the crucifix threw an unsteady light on the extended form of the maiden who was measuring the tedious night hours in the love-anguish of her young heart. to the distracted maid her chamber seemed to be transformed to an oppressive dungeon. seizing the lamp with a trembling hand she hurried up the narrow winding stair on to the roof of the castle, and there committed her great grief to the listening ear of night. leaning on the wall, she looked away towards the castle where lived the noble young lord to whom she had dedicated her life. "i am thine, my beloved," she sobbed. no star was visible in the sky. a wild autumn wind shrieked and swirled round the keep in accompaniment to the storm in the maiden's breast. a short piercing cry echoed in the darkness. was it the bride of the winds or a human cry? the night swallowed it. from the parapet of the brömserburg a female form had been hurled down into the dark floods of the rhine below. a bright harvest morning followed a stormy night. in the brömserburg they were searching everywhere in vain for their lord's daughter. soon however a mournful procession approached bearing the mortal remains of mechtildis. in the early dawn a young woman had rescued the body from the waters of the river. now the walls of the brömserburg echoed with sounds of woe over the early death of this last fair young flower of the brömser race. hans brömser threw himself on the body and buried his stern features in the snowy linen. not a tear bedewed his eyelids. as a propitiatory offering for the rest of the soul of the maiden who had thus avoided the monastic life, the knight in his deep sorrow vowed to build a chapel on the hill opposite his castle. then hans brömser shut himself up in his chamber, and passed the following days in silent grief, while the grave closed over his wretched child. many months passed, but still not a stone of the promised chapel had been set up. in the bitterness of his sorrow the grief-stricken father had separated himself more and more from the world, and now brooded in gloomy isolation. one day a servant came before him with a likeness of the mother of god which an ox had scraped up while ploughing a field on the hill opposite the castle, and three times the servant declared he had heard the "not gottes" (suffering of god) called out. then hans brömser remembered his vow, and the chapel for the peace of the soul of mechtildis was erected. "not gottes" it is called to this day. bingen the mouse-tower below bingen in the middle of the rhine there is a lonely island on which a stronghold is to be seen. this tower is called "the mouse-tower." for many centuries a very gloomy tale has been told about it in connection with hatto, archbishop of mayence, whose evil deeds were well-known throughout the country. hatto is said to have been ambitious, heartless, and perfidious, as well as cruel towards the poor. he extorted taxes from his people, tolls were imposed, and new burdens invented only to gratify his haughty pride and his love of display. on a little island between bingen and rüdesheim he caused a tower to be built, so that all passing ships could be stopped in the narrow passage, where they were obliged to pay toll. soon after the building of this custom-house there was a very bad harvest in the country round mayence. drought had parched the fields, and the little seed remaining had been destroyed by hail. the scarcity was felt all the more, because the bishop had bought up all the stores of corn that were left from the year before, and had stored them up safely in his granaries. a terrible famine now threatened the land, spreading misery among the poor. the unhappy people implored the cruel bishop to lower the price of the corn in his store-house, which he wished to sell at such exorbitant prices that his subjects could not buy it. all their petitions were in vain. his advisers besought him to have pity on the deplorable condition of the poor, but hatto remained unmoved. when cries of distress and the murmuring voices of the exasperated folk were raised against their hard-hearted master, the bishop gave free vent to the wicked thoughts of his soul. one day a troop of hungry beggars came crowding to the episcopal palace crying for food. hatto and his guests were just sitting down to a luxurious banquet. the bishop had been talking to his companions of these wretched people, and had expressed his opinion that it would be a good thing to do away with them altogether in some drastic way. as the ragged mob of men, women and children, with hollow cheeks and pale faces threw themselves at his feet crying for bread, a still more fiendish plan suggested itself. beckoning to them with hypocritical kindness he promised them corn, and caused them to be led outside the town to a barn, where each one was to receive as much corn as he wished. the unhappy folk hurried forth, their hearts full of gratitude; but when they were all in the barn, hatto ordered the doors to be locked and the barn to be set on fire. the screams of the poor wretches were heart-rending, and could be heard even in the bishop's palace. but cruel hatto called out scornfully to his advisers, "listen! how the mice are squeaking among the corn. this eternal begging is at an end at last. may the mice bite me if it is not true!" but the punishment which heaven sent him was terrible. thousands of mice came out of the burning barn, made their way to the palace, filled every chamber and corner, and at last attacked the bishop himself. his servants killed them by hundreds, but their numbers seemed only to increase, as did their ferocity also. the bishop was seized with horror and, anticipating god's punishment, he fled from the town and went on board a boat hoping to defend himself from his terrible pursuers. but the innumerable horde swam in legions after him, and when he reached his tower on the island thinking at least he would be safe there, the mice followed him, gnawing the tower and tearing for themselves an entrance with their sharp teeth, till at last they reached him whom they sought. the cruel man was devoured by the mice, which attacked him by scores. in his despair he offered his soul to the evil one, if he would release his body from such awful agony. the evil spirit came, freed his body, but took his soul away for himself. thus runs the legend. history however speaks less severely of hatto, the imperious prelate. * * * * * his great ambition was his desire of power. he was the founder of the temporal power which the seat of mayence obtained, and which later on made it the first bishopric of the kingdom, but he was always hated by the citizens, who suffered much owing to his proud, despotic character. it is true that he was the founder of the toll which ships in olden times were obliged to pay on the rhine, so that this fact and many other cruel exactions of his, have helped to evolve the terrible legend of the mouse-tower. the valley of the nahe kreuznach a mighty draught once upon a time in the high castle called rheingrafenstein near kreuznach, the flower of the knights belonging to the rhine country were assembled. they were powerful warriors, these nobles of ancient rank, but the most prominent among them was the host himself, the proud rhine count. many a cup had he already emptied to the health of his distinguished guests, and rising up once more from his richly carved chair he cast a look over the brilliant assembly and said in a boastful tone: "i have got a knight's high boot here, my noble lords. a courier left it behind him once. now i promise on the honour of my house that whoever will drink it empty at one draught, to him i will give the village of hüffelsheim yonder." the count, smiling at the novelty of the challenge, took the boot from his attendant's hand, caused it to be filled to the brim, and held up this novel cup to his guests. "tis a fair challenge! come on whoever will dare!" said he. among the illustrious company present there was one, john of sponheim, a knight well-known in the country for his enormous drinking powers; but he remained unmoved at these defiant words, only looking inquiringly at his neighbour, knight weinhart of dhaun, who in great perplexity, was striving to hide his head behind a large goblet. old flörsheimer, another knight whose thirst usually seemed unquenchable, stroked his gray beard doubtfully, while kunz of stromberg, a tall thin man, shook his head at the thought of the after-effects which such a draught would bring. even the chaplain of the castle, who attributed his effective intoning of high-mass to the virtues of the rhenish wine which he indulged in so freely, looked longingly at the boot, but had not the courage to attempt such a rash act. suddenly a knight, boos of waldeck by name rose. he was a muscular man with the strength of a bear. in a voice of thunder he banged his mighty fist upon the table and said scornfully, "bring me that little boot!" the distinguished company stared at him in great astonishment, but boos of waldeck, taking the boot in his sturdy fist, cried out. "your health, my lords!" then flourishing it in the air, he emptied the boot at one draught. when this act was accomplished, boos threw himself heavily into his chair, and addressing the master of the ceremonies, said with a humorous twinkle in his eye: "did the courier not leave the other boot too? i might possibly win a second bet, and thus acquire the village of roxheim into the bargain." the count looked much abashed, but the noble guests only laughed heartily at the joke. thus stout boos of waldeck became lord of the village of hüffelsheim. the foundation of castle sponheim the following legend tells us about the origin of castle sponheim in the valley of the nahe. once a knight of ravensberg was eagerly wooing the beautiful young countess of heimburg, but there was a serious obstacle in his path to success. some years before a ravensberg had killed a heimburg in a quarrel, and since that time a bitter feud had divided the two houses. the brave knight felt this bitterly, but in spite of it he did not leave off his wooing. the young countess was much touched by his constancy, and one day she spoke thus to her impetuous suitor: "my lord, if you will dare to go to the holy land there to expiate the sins of your fathers, and bring me back a relic from the sepulchre of our redeemer, in that same hour your suit will be heard." the knight in great joy kissed the maiden's slender hand and departed, carrying the memory of her sweet smile away in his heart. just at this time the call of the emperor barbarossa, now an old man, sounded throughout the land, and the knight of ravensberg did not neglect the opportunity, but hastened forth to join the imperial army. the expedition was a long and terrible one, and the troops wearily made their way across the desert plains of palestine. the knight, though a brave man, had no special love for warlike adventures, and during these exhausting marches he thought sorrowfully of his quiet castle on the nahe; of how he used to lie down there in peace and safety at night without being in fear of the saracens who, under cover of darkness would break in waving their scimitars in air, an event which was a nightly occurrence on this expedition. ravensberg however fought bravely in many a battle, and after the deaths of barbarossa and his son, he joined the army of richard the lion-hearted. through all this anxious time he never forgot his dear one at home, and his longing for her became stronger every day, till it seemed to get beyond endurance. king richard was called back to england on some urgent state-affairs, and the knight of ravensberg was among the few companions-in-arms who embarked with him. the brave knight was very happy, and while the king's ship was sailing along the coast of greece and up the blue adriatic sea, he would often stand on deck and weave bright dreams of the future; sometimes when no one was near, he would pull out a little black ebony box set with precious stones, on which a woman's name was written in golden letters; the interior was beautifully lined with costly silk; and a small splinter of wood lay within which the knight would kiss most reverently. he had paid a large sum of money for it in the holy land, where he had bought it from a jewish merchant. this man had sworn to him that this fragment was from the cross to which the son of god had been nailed. the knight was very happy during this long homeward journey, but a great misfortune awaited him. just as the crusaders came in sight of italy their vessel was wrecked. the king of england, the knight of ravensberg, and a few others were saved with great difficulty, and brought to land. but our poor knight was inconsolable; he had held the precious little box high above him in the water, but a mighty wave had torn it from him, and on opening his eyes he found himself on shore. the holy relic had saved him, but he had lost his treasure, and now all hope of his promised happiness was gone. * * * * * one day a weary and dispirited crusader returned to the castle of heimburg. he announced his arrival to the young countess most humbly, but she, her lovely face lighted up by a bright smile, hurried to meet the knight whose sunburnt countenance betokened great hardships. she listened silently to his mournful story, then raising her beautiful head she asked: "was not the little box set with precious stones and was not my name in golden letters on it?" "yes, noble lady," said the knight, the bitterness of his disappointment newly awakened, "and now it lies at the bottom of the sea in spite of my fervent prayers to st. george to save the precious fragment of our saviour's cross." the countess beckoned to a page, and after a few minutes the boy brought her on a velvet cushion a little black ebony box set with precious stones with a woman's name written on it. the knight uttered a cry of joyful surprise, for he recognised the jewel at once. "entreat the holy patron of knighthood to pardon you," said the countess with a smile. "a strange knight brought this to the steward a few days ago, and before i had time to send for him, he had disappeared." "it was st. george himself!" whispered the knight, crossing himself piously, "which proves that the fragment really belonged to the holy cross." then he bent his knee before his charming mistress who, with a deep blush on her cheeks, gave the man she had long but secretly loved love's first kiss. * * * * * a happy marriage was speedily celebrated in heimburg. the knight of ravensberg then called his castle spanheim (span being the german word for chip) in memory of the precious little relic. this name was later on corrupted into sponheim. assmannshausen st. clement's chapel [illustration: gefangener raubritter--nach dem gemälde von konrad weigand (zur sage: die clemenskapelle)] there is a very melancholy legend connected with the foundation of st. clement's church, which was built on the banks of the rhine and which, not long since, was rebuilt and renovated by the generosity of the present great lady of rheinstein castle. rudolphus of habsburg, elected emperor after the terrible anarchy which had reigned in germany when the land was left without a ruler, determined by firm and vigorous government, to put an end to the evil-doings of the robber-knights who held sway along the rhine. he had already threatened these much-dreaded nobles who disturbed the peace of the country and the government of its ruler, and now hearing that they still continued their ravages, the emperor appeared himself in the rhine countries, resolved to annihilate them and to destroy their strongholds. on his way through the land, rudolphus set fire to all the strongholds on the upper rhine. the burning of the castles of reichenstein, sooneck, heimburg and others, was an awful sight to the inhabitants of the valley below. numerous members of these ancient noble races met the death of felons, and their bodies were hung up on trees as a warning to others. through the gates of mainz many a robber baron was led as a prisoner by the soldiers of the emperor. every time that one of these barons and his companions-in-arms were led along with bound hands, towards the imperial tribunal, young and old, rich and poor poured forth from the streets and alleys, and accompanied the highborn malefactors with curses. the windows of the houses around were filled with eager onlookers, admiring the conduct of their emperor. moaning and wailing were then heard throughout the land, mothers, wives, and daughters weeping for their dead. on the other hand the merchants who had endured hardships and sufferings during these years, were now delighted with the stern justice dealt out by the emperor. under cover of darkness stealthy forms could be seen creeping to the place of execution, and silently and mournfully taking away the bodies of their relatives to preserve them from ignominious destruction. they then buried the wretched remains in consecrated ground, hoping thus to satisfy the fears which haunted them of future punishment, for many of their dear ones had stained their swords with the blood of their neighbours. in order to atone for these sins, and in accordance with the wise counsel of a priest, the trees on which the bodies had been hanged were cut down, and the wood used to build a chapel of expiation. stones were also taken from the smoking ruins of the burning castles and employed for the same purpose. the little church was built on the lonely place of execution on the rhine near assmannshausen. the day arrived--a day of great sorrow and weeping--when all was ready, and the priest was to read prayers from the altar for the first time. many funeral barges were to be seen on the river, bringing the dead who were buried in the aisle of the church. the archbishop of mayence absolved the bodies from their sins, and afterwards they were all interred together near the little church for the second time. this occurred towards the end of the thirteenth century. for long years afterwards prayers were offered up in this church in assmannshausen for the souls of the dead. the once proud and mighty races gradually died out, and their strongholds fell into ruins. and time which had demolished the castles on the heights above, began her work of destruction on the little church below; its roof decayed and its walls crumbled. the ancient little church of st. clement has since that time been raised again from its ruins, and now the voice of god's priest is heard chanting in it again, as it was heard six hundred years ago. castle rheinstein the wooing [illustration: der brautzug--nach dem gemälde von l. herterich--(zur sage von burg rheinstein)] in castle rheinstein once lived a knight called diethelm, who devoted himself without restraint to all the excesses of the robber barons. from one of his pillaging expeditions he brought back a charming maiden called jutta. as the delicate ivy twines itself round the rough oak and clothes its knotty stem with shimmering velvet; so in time the gentle conduct of this maiden changed the coarse baron to a noble knight who eschewed pillaging and carousing, and ultimately made the fair jutta the honoured wife of her captor. the first fruit of their love cost the tender mother her life. gerda however, who much resembled her mother, grew to such a noble beauty that soon wooers from far and near came to sue for the hand of the beautiful daughter of the aged diethelm. but the aged knight made a most careful selection, and many gay wooers had to depart in sorrow. one young man was however regarded favourably by the maid, and not unkindly looked upon by the old man. he was the oldest son of the owner of the sternburg. this young man had contrived to win the maiden's heart, and one day, while gerda presided as queen of love and beauty at a tournament held in the courtyard of castle rheinstein, helmbrecht made an avowal of his love. some days thereafter the young lord according to courtly fashion appointed his uncle gunzelin of reichenstein to woo his chosen bride for him. but gunzelin though an old man was full of knavery and falsehood, and so instead of wooing for his nephew he ingratiated himself with gerda's father. moreover, as the old knight was descended from an ancient family and possessed of much wealth diethelm was easily induced to promise him the hand of the fair gerda. to the astonishment of this worthy pair gerda would not listen to the suit of her rich wooer. her heart belonged to the nephew, not to the uncle. now count diethelm was aroused, and with the blind fury of his earlier years swore to his rich companion that gerda belonged to him, and should never wed the young cock-sparrow of the sternburg. in her quiet chamber the unhappy maid wept out her heart's grief, but burning tears did not thaw the ice-cold heart of the father. in vain the young lover tried to gain the old knight's favour, but diethelm merely referred to his knightly word solemnly pledged to the lord of reichenstein. soon the day approached on which gunzelin, with the smiling self-satisfaction of an old roué, and decked out to give himself all the appearance of young manhood, was to lead the fairest maiden in the rhineland to his stately castle. gerda who possessed the mild disposition of her deceased mother had submitted to the inevitable. on a bright summer morning the bridal procession started from the courtyard of castle rheinstein, and moved towards the clement's chapel situated in the neighbourhood. horns blew and trumpets sounded. on a milkwhite palfrey, sat the fair young bride, deadly pale. she was thinking of her absent lover who in this hour must be enduring the greatest anguish on her account. then all at once a swarm of buzzing gadflies came out of the bush and fastened fiercely on the palfrey which bore the fair gerda. the animal reared and broke from the bridal procession. boldly the bridegroom on his grandly caparisoned steed dashed forward to check the frightened animal, but his war-horse missing its footing on the narrow bridle path fell over a precipice carrying its master with it. the dying knight was carried by the wedding-guests back to castle rheinstein. the aged diethelm was also unfortunate in his attempt to stop the runaway steed. the maddened animal had struck him on the shinbone, and wounded him. the servants were thus obliged to carry the moaning greybeard back to his castle as speedily and carefully as possible. the surgeon had a sad time of it during the next week as he attended to the enraged old knight's wounds and bruises. when the runaway horse had disappeared round a bend of the path a man threw himself upon it, and bringing the trembling animal to a standstill clasped the unconscious bride in his arms. helmbrecht, concealed in the brushwood, had been watching the bridal procession, and now came to the rescue of his true love. when the old lord heard of this he came to his senses and gave the lovers his blessing. some weeks later a bridal procession advanced from the clement's chapel up to the festively decorated castle rheinstein. trumpets were blown and horns resounded. much more joyfully than on the previous occasion the musicians marched in front. upon a milkwhite palfrey, as formerly, sat a noble maiden in bridal state, clothed in undulating robes bordered with fur. her head was bent in maiden modesty as she listened to the endearments which the youthful knight whispered in her ear. behind rode the father of the bride sunk in thought, and along with him was his pious sister notburge, the canoness of nonnenwerth. a life of unalloyed married bliss followed this union, and god granted to the noble pair a long and happy life. they rest together in front of the altar in the clement's chapel which is situated across the rhine from assmannshausen. castle rheinstein stands in renewed youthful beauty on the edge of its precipitous cliff overlooking our noble stream. castle sooneck the blind archer in his stronghold at sooneck, siebold, one of the most rapacious of the robber barons presided over a godless revel. wanton women with showy apparel and painted cheeks lolled in the arms of tipsy cavaliers. the music blared, and to complete their carousal wine flowed freely. the lord of sooneck flushed with drinking, and leering on the assembly with evil-looking eyes spoke as follows: "noble ladies (drunken applause from his worthy associates) and much-married nobles (loudly giggled the shameless females), after food and drink, i, as your host will be pleased to entertain you by bringing before you a ferocious animal which i keep confined here." while the ladies pretended to take shelter timidly behind their lords, and the men stared at their host expecting some further explanation, the doors of the room opened, and led by two servants a man in coarse garments, and with unkempt hair and beard stood before them. a suppressed whisper passed round the festive board and all eyes were fixed on the haggard countenance of the prisoner. when for a moment the weary eyelids were raised, two ghastly cavities were visible. again, with the same tone of levity, the lord of the castle spoke, "lovely ladies, and knightly companions, the best marksman on the rhine was hans veit of fürsteneck. like ourselves he was dreaded far and near. he and i entered on a feud of life and death. he went down." "with broken brand and battered shield, bleeding from numerous wounds i lay prostrate before you awaiting manfully the death-thrust," murmured the prisoner, and his voice sounded as if from the grave. "it pained me to finish him off," said siebold flippantly, "i got his two eyes taken out, and thus added to my collection of rarities, the best archer on the rhine." "my murdered eyes behold your scorn," said the prisoner harshly. "but surely chivalry still flourishes on sooneck," said the lord of the castle. "understand then that my servants have informed me, that even blind, you can, guided only by sounds, hit a given mark with a bolt. if you come out of this ordeal successful, freedom shall be the reward." stormy applause greeted these words. "death were dearer to me than life," murmured the blind archer. as he seized the crossbow however, a gleam of joy went over his countenance like a ray of sunshine over a sombre landscape. crowded together in a corner of the room the guests watched the proceedings. the lord of sooneck seized a goblet and ordered the prisoner to draw upon it, after hearing the sound. in the next moment the silver clang resounded, as the goblet fell on the floor. "shoot now," said siebold of sooneck, and immediately an arrow pierced his mouth. with a grunt like a slaughtered ox, siebold sank among the rushes. silent and motionless with the two eye-cavities gaping, stood the blind man. then his shaggy head sank on his heaving breast. like a flock of frightened crows the knights and their paramours fled, and only a few terrified squires and servants muttered prayers over the body of the lord of sooneck. the ruins of fÜrstenberg the mother's ghost lambert of fürstenberg was a hearty jovial knight, and had married wiltrud, a daughter of the florsheim family. he was attached to his gentle wife, who had just presented him with a son and heir. but an evil genius entered the castle in the person of a noble maiden called luckharde. this maiden who had suddenly been left an orphan, belonged to a family long befriended by the house of fürstenberg. she was only eighteen, but possessed a lascivious beauty, very dangerous to men. the lady of the castle, who had been in delicate health since the birth of her child, gave luckharde a warm-hearted welcome into the bosom of her family, trusting that the young woman would be of great service to her in the management of her little realm, and would repay her kindness by sisterly love and sympathy. luckharde however was of a vain and frivolous disposition, and had little love for household affairs, or womanly duties. as the months passed, luckharde's ripening and dangerous beauty gained gradually and almost imperceptibly more and more influence over the susceptible heart of the lord of the castle, and soon the day came when he yielded himself entirely to the charms of this beautiful woman. wiltrud's eyes were by no means blind to the shameful ingratitude of the adulteress, and the godless conduct of her husband. her weakness however, prevented her from calling down the judgment of heaven on the sinners. luckharde, led on by her unbridled passion, now formed a devilish design which would enable her to take the place of the lawful wife of lambert. one night she slipped into the chamber of the lady of the castle, approached the bed of the sleeping woman with a cat-like step, and smothered her with the pillows, the poor invalid offering but a feeble and ineffective resistance. wiltrud's death was deeply mourned by the household, who believed that she had died of a broken heart. lambert too might be grieved, but in the arms of his raven-locked enchantress he soon forgot his deceased wife, and in a few weeks luckharde was made lady of fürstenberg. the little boy whom wiltrud had borne to her unfaithful husband was hateful to the second wife, who fondled her lord, and flattered him with the hope of the children she would bear him. then it was arranged that the knight's first-born should be handed over to the care of an old crone who lived in a remote tower of the castle. one night this old woman awoke suddenly, and was terrified to see a female form dressed in a flowing white robe, bending over the cradle of the little boy, who slept near. the woman seemed to be tending the child, and after blessing him, she vanished. the old woman crossed herself, and in terror muttered many prayers. in the early morning she hurried to her new mistress in great agitation and with white lips told her of her strange visitor. luckharde at first laughed in her usual frivolous manner at this ridiculous ghost story, but soon she became more serious and alarmed. then she ordered the old woman to arrange her bed beside the other servants, but still to leave the child in the tower-chamber. a dreadful fear had taken possession of luckharde's guilty soul. perhaps people were deceived when they believed wiltrud to be dead, and it was thus that she returned at night to nurse her child. then this daring and sinful woman prepared a bed for herself in the lonely tower beside the child. she also brought with her a formidable dagger, and thus she awaited what the night might bring forth. at midnight the female figure dressed in the flowing white robe appeared once more. it approached the cradle of the child, tended him and blessed him. then the terror-stricken luckharde stared motionless at the apparition as it rose and approached her bed. towering there above her were the pallid features of the dead wiltrud, and the lifeless entreating eyes looked steadily at this sinful woman who had taken the place of her benefactress. to luckharde it seemed as if a great precipice was slowly bending over to overwhelm her. with a last mad effort the wretched woman seized the dagger, and struck at the apparition; but she might as well have struck at a misty cloud. now luckharde perceived that she was in the presence of the murdered lady of the fürstenberg, and harrowed with the thought of her guilt she seemed to hear a voice as if from another world saying, "do penance for thy sins." next morning lambert waited in vain for his wife to appear. on looking around however he noticed a piece of parchment. on it luckharde had confessed with deep sorrow, how she had murdered his first wife in order to further her evil designs, and how the spirit of the dead had appeared to her in the night, and warned her of her great guilt. she was going to fly to a cloister to do penance during the remainder of her days, and she recommended her sinful accomplice to do the same. lambert of fürstenberg was deeply grieved on receiving this revelation. he handed over his castle and child to a younger brother, and spent the rest of this life as a solitary hermit. bacharach burg stahleck ancient bacharach was once a famous place, and long before the fiery wine that grows there became famous throughout the world--"it was in the good old times" as our grandmothers say--it was the delight of many a connoisseur abroad. about that time its grateful lovers erected an altar to bacchus who provided them so liberally with wine. the place of sacrifice was on a huge rock projecting out of the rhine, between an island and the right bank of the river, and in honour of the god they gave the town the name it still bears. the inscriptions on the altar-stone have become unintelligible, but the bacharach folk know well to the present day the original meaning of them. fishermen still keep up the old custom but now more as an amusement; they dress up a straw-man as bacchus, place him on the altar, and surround him singing. the ruins of the castle of stahleck are situated on the rhine, above the wild, romantic country of bacharach. about the time of conrad iii., the first emperor of the house of hohenstaufen, a young ambitious knight, palatinate count hermann, inhabited this castle. being a nephew of the emperor, this aspiring knight considered his high and mighty relationship as a sufficient reason for enlarging his dominions. he conceived no less a plan than that of taking possession of part of the property which bordered on his land, belonging to the archbishops of mayence and treves, supporting his claim by declaring that for more than one reason he had a right of possession. the jealousy which at that time existed between the clerical and the secular powers, brought a number of neighbouring knights to his side as allies, and the count began his unprovoked quarrel by taking a castle at treves on the moselle by storm. this castle belonged to the diocese of that town. adalbert of monstereil, a man of an undaunted character, was then bishop both of treves and metz. he at once collected his warriors to drive the bold robber from the conquered castle. the temerity of the count and his superior forces dismayed adalbert, giving him grounds for sober reflections. but the good bishop was a clever man and, not believing himself sufficiently strong to resist the count, he sought refuge in spiritual weapons. when his people were about to assault the stronghold, he made a most enthusiastic speech to his troops. holding up a crucifix in his right hand, he told to them that in the silent hours of the previous night the archangel michael had appeared to him, and had given him this crucifix, at the same time promising him certain victory if each of his warriors attacked the enemy in the firm belief that an invincible higher power was near to help them. the bishop's words inspired his men with a great courage. led on by the holy man carrying the crucifix in his raised hand, they marched on to the assault, stormed the castle, and made hermann's troops flee in great confusion. the ambitious count, now finding himself deserted by his troops, was forced to renounce the feud which he had hoped to carry on against the bishop. * * * * * the disgraceful defeat the count had suffered was most humiliating to him, but it had not killed his ambition. he now directed his thoughts to his other ecclesiastical neighbour. having searched through some ancient documents, he thought he had found full right to a strip of land which arnold of solnhofen, bishop of mayence, then held in possession. he at once sent in his claim to this mighty prince of the church, who received it with a scornful laugh. "oh!" said the bishop, tearing up the written complaint, "i shall be able to manage this little count as well as i have all along managed the stubborn people of mayence, some of whom have bitterly repented of having rebelled against their bishop." hermann was told how solnhofen had treated his claim. in great wrath he swore to take vengeance on the man who had dared to tear up his complaint so contumeliously. his young wife implored him with tears in her eyes not to raise his hand against a servant of the lord again. but he turned contemptuously away. herman was well aware that, through the influence of the bishop's companions-in-arms, he was now hated by the citizens of mayence. this circumstance made him determine to rob arnold of land and dignity, as he ascribed the cause of this deadly dissension to the power the bishop exerted over the people of his diocese. the count, now joined by several daring knights, again prepared to make war against the representative of the church, and marched to attack the bishop in his stronghold. arnold was enraged at this persistent striving against the dominions of the church, and his dark soul conceived a dastardly plan to rid them of their enemy. he hired two villains who treacherously put the count to death. soon afterwards the rebellious citizens of mayence successfully stormed the bishop's palace and turned the cruel prelate out of his episcopal seat, whereupon he was obliged to flee for his life. but arnold was not so easily subdued and he soon returned, breathing vengeance. his friends warned him in vain, and even the famous prophetess, hildegarde of rupertusberg, sent a messenger to him with the words, "turn to the lord whom you have forsaken, your hour is near at hand." but he heeded not this admonition, and at last he was killed by the rebels in the abbey of jacobsberg, some distance from the town where he had taken up his residence. kaub castle gutenfels [illustration: turnier zu köln--zu der sage von burg gutenfels] about the middle of the thirteenth century, there was a stately castle near kaub which was inhabited by count philip of falkenstein. there he lived very happily with his beautiful sister guta, who was as good as she was fair. numerous knights had sought to win her love, but none had achieved this conquest, the castle maiden having no desire to exchange her brother's hospitable home for any other. at that time a magnificent tournament was held at cologne, to which knights from all countries of the kingdom far and near and even from england were invited. a great multitude of spectators were assembled to see the stately knights contending for the prize, which a fair hand would bestow on them. among the nobles present at the tournament was a knight from england, whose graceful figure and splendid armour were particularly striking. he wore a veiled visor, and the stewards of the tournament announced him under the name of "the lion knight," a golden lion ornamenting his shield. soon the majestic knight's master-like manner of fighting created a great sensation, and when he succeeded in unhorsing his opponent, a most formidable combatant, loud rejoicings rang through the lists. count philip and his sister were among the guests. guta had been watching the strange knight with ever increasing interest during the tournament, regretting at the same time that she could not see his face. but an opportunity soon presented itself when the knight was declared victor. when she was selected to present the prize, a golden laurel-wreath, to the winner, she became much embarrassed, and a feeling such as she had never before experienced seized her as she looked at the briton's face for the first time. perhaps the knight may have read in the lovely maiden's countenance what she in vain tried to hide from him, perhaps a spark from that passionate fire which had so suddenly fired her heart, may have flown into his soul as he knelt before her to receive the wreath, which she placed on his head with a trembling hand. who can tell? afterwards when these two were conversing together in subdued whispers, the knight silently admiring her grace and the maiden scarcely able to restrain her feelings, the thoughts which he longed to tell her, flamed in his heart. the same evening in the banqueting hall, when the music was sounding within its walls, he was guta's inseparable companion, and eloquent words flowed from his lips telling her of the love which his eyes betrayed. the proud stranger begged guta for her love and swore to be hers; he told her he must at once return to his country where urgent duty called him, but that he would come back to claim her in three months' time. then he would publicly sue for her hand and declare his name, which circumstances compelled him to keep secret for the time being. love will make any sacrifice; guta accepted her lover's pledge willingly, and thus they parted under the assurance that they would soon meet again. five months had passed. that terrible time ensued when germany became the battle-field of the party-struggles over the election of the emperor. conrad iv., the last of the house of hohenstaufen, had died in italy. in the northern countries there was a great rising against william of holland who was struggling for the imperial throne; alphonso of castile was chosen king in one part of the country, while richard of cornwall, son of john, king of england, was elected in another; but richard, having received most influential votes, was crowned at aix-la-chapelle, and from thence he started on a journey through the rhine provinces, to the favour of which he had been chiefly indebted for his election. * * * * * spring was casting her bright beams over waves and mountains in the valley of the rhine, but in falkenstein castle no ray of sunshine penetrated the gloom. guta, pale and unhappy, sat within its walls, weaving dreams which seemed destined never to be fulfilled. sometimes she saw her lover dying on a terrible battle-field with her name on his lips, then again laughing and bright with a maiden from that far-off island in his arms, talking derisively of his sweetheart on the rhine. she became more and more conscious that she had given him her first love, and that he had cruelly deceived her. sorrow and grief had taken possession of her, and all her brother's efforts to amuse her and to distract her attention were in vain. a great sound of trumpets was heard one day on the highway, and a troop of knights stopped at the castle. guta saw the train of warriors from her window, where she had been sitting weeping. the count with chivalrous hospitality received them, and led them into the banqueting-hall. his astonishment was great, when he recognised the bold briton, the victor at the tournament in cologne, as leader of this brilliant retinue, he who had broken his secret pledge to his beloved sister. a dark glance took the place of the friendly expression on his face. the briton seemed to notice it and pressing philip's hand said cordially, "i am richard of cornwall, elected emperor of germany, and i have come here to solicit the hand of your sister guta, who promised herself to me five months ago in cologne. i come late to redeem my promise, but my love is unchanged. i beg you to announce my arrival to her without betraying my name." philip bowed deeply before the illustrious guest, and the retainers respectfully retired to a distance. the great guest strode up and down the room impatiently. then the doors were suddenly thrown open, and a beautiful figure appeared on the threshold, her face glowing with emotion. with a low cry guta threw herself into her lover's arms, and the first moments of their reunion were passed in silent happiness. philip now entered the room unperceived, and revealed the secret to his sister. the maiden in great confusion and shame stole a look at her lover's eyes, and he, drawing her gently to him, asked her to share all--even his throne with him. shortly afterwards richard celebrated his marriage with imperial magnificence at the castle on the rhine, which philip thence forward called gutenfels, in honour of his sister. oberwesel the seven maidens the scattered ruins of an old knight's tower are still to be seen on one of the heights near oberwesel. the castle was called schönberg, after the seven virgins who once lived there, and whose beauty was renowned throughout all the rhine countries. their father had died early, some say of grief, because heaven had denied him a son, and an elderly aunt had striven in vain to guide the seven wild sisters; but her influence had not been sufficiently strong to lead them in the right way. after the death of this relative the seven beautiful maidens were left to themselves, and now their longing after liberty and the pleasures of the world broke out even stronger than before. many a tale was told about them, how they used to ride out hunting and hawking, how many a magnificent banquet was given by them, and how their beauty, their riches, and the gay and joyous life led by them attracted many knights from near and far; how many a stately noble came to their castle to woo one of the sisters, and how these maidens at first ensnared and enchanted him with a thousand attractive charms, only in the end to reject the enamoured suitor with scorn and mockery. ashamed and very wrathful many a great knight had left the castle, and with indignation and disdain had blotted out of his memory the names of these bewitching sirens who at first had listened with deceitful modesty to his honest wooing, only afterwards to declare with scornful laughter that their liberty was so dear to them, that they would not give it up for the sake of any man. alas! there were always youths to be found who put no faith in such speeches and, trusting to their great names and peculiar merits, sought their happiness among these maidens. but all the trials ended in the same mournful manner; no suitor succeeded in winning the heart of these seductive beings. thus they continued their dangerous and contemptible life for some years. once again there was a great banquet and feasting in the halls of the castle. a circle of knightly figures sat round the brilliant board among the seven sisters, who were quite conscious of their charms, one rivalling the other in gaiety and liveliness. the joyous scene was disturbed for a short time by two knights who were disputing about one of the sisters, and had angered each other by their growing jealousy. the scene excited general attention and was looked on at first as a most amusing one, but when the youths were about to draw their swords, it was thought necessary to separate them. seizing this opportunity one of the other knights proposed that to guard against further discord, the castle maidens should be urged to make a final decision, so that each suitor--they all recognised one another as such--might know what he had to expect. the proposal met with general applause, only the sisters showed discontentment, declaring they could not agree to such a presumptuous plan. however the wooers tried every imaginable means of persuading them, and at last one of the sisters wavered, a second followed her example, and the remaining ones, after whispering to each other for some time, declared with laughing countenances that they would decide the fate of their suitors the next day. the expected hour arrived, and the knights in great suspense assembled in the large hall. every eye was riveted on the door through which these graces should enter, bringing a sweet surprise to some or a bitter disappointment to others. the folding-doors were suddenly thrown open, and an attendant announced that the mistresses of the castle were waiting to receive the knights in the garden near the river. the numerous suitors all hurried out. to their great astonishment they saw the fair ones all seated in a boat on the rhine. with a peculiar smile they beckoned the knights to approach, and the eldest sister standing up in her seat, made the following speech. "you may all throw your hopes to the winds, for not one of us would dream of falling in love with you, much less of marrying you. our liberty is much too precious to us, and we shall not sacrifice it for any man. we are going to sail down to cologne to the property of a relation, and there we shall disappoint other suitors, just as we have misled you, my noble lords. good-bye, good-bye!" the scornful speech was accompanied by a scoffing laugh which was re-echoed by the other sisters, and the boat set sail. the rejected suitors stood speechless with shame and anger. suddenly a terrible storm arose, the boat was agitated violently, and the laughter of the seven sisters was turned to cries for help. but the roaring of the waves drowned their voices, and the billows rushed over the boat, burying it and the seven sisters in the depths below. just on the spot where these stony-hearted maidens met their deaths, seven pointed rocks appeared above the surface of the water, which up to the present day are still to be seen, a salutary warning to all the young maidens of the country. st. goar lorelei [illustration: die loreley--nach dem gemälde von c. begas] i. above coblenz where the rhine flows through hills covered with vineyards, there is a steep rock, round which many a legend has been woven--the lurlei rock. the boatman gazes up at its gigantic summit with awful reverence when his boat glides over the waters at twilight. like chattering children the restless waves whisper round the rock, telling wonderful tales of its doings. above on its gray head, the legend relates that a beautiful but false nymph, clothed in white with a wreath of stars in her flowing hair, used to sit and sing sweet songs, until a sad tragedy drove her forever away. long long ago, when night in her dark garment descended from the hills, and her silent comrade, the pale moon, cast a silver bridge over the deep green stream, the soft voice of a woman was heard from the rock, and a creature of divine beauty was seen on its summit. her golden locks flowed like a queenly mantle from her graceful shoulders, covering her snow-white raiment so that her tenderly-formed body appeared like a cloud of light. woe to the boatsman who passed the rock at the close of day! as of old, men were fascinated by the heavenly song of the grecian hero, so was the unhappy voyager allured by this being to sweet forgetfulness, his eyes, even as his soul, would be dazzled, and he could no longer steer clear of reefs and cliffs, and this beautiful siren only drew him to an early grave. forgetting all else, he would steer towards her, already dreaming of having reached her; but the jealous waves would wash round his boat and at last dash him treacherously against the rocks. the roaring waters of the rhine would drown the cries of agony of the victim who would never be seen again. but the virgin to whom no one had ever approached, continued every night to sing soft and low, till darkness vanished in the first rays of light, and the great star of day drove the gray mists from the valley. ii. ronald was a proud youth and the boldest warrior at the court of his father, the palatinate count. he heard of this divine, enchanting creature, and his heart burned with the desire to behold her. before having seen the water nymph, he felt drawn to her by an irresistible power. under pretence of hunting, he left the court, and succeeded in getting an old sailor to row him to the rock. twilight was brooding over the valley of the rhine when the boat approached the gigantic cliff; the departing sun had long sunk below the mountains, and now night was creeping on in silence; the evening star was twinkling in the deep blue firmament. was it his protecting-angel who had placed it there as a warning to the deluded young man? he gazed at it in rapture for some time, until a low cry from the old man at his side interrupted him. "the lorelei!" whispered he, startled, "do you see her--the enchantress?" the only answer was a soft murmur which escaped from the youth. with wide-open eyes he looked up and lo! there she was. yes, this was she, this wonderful creature! a glorious picture in a dark frame. yes, that was her golden hair, and those were her flowing white garments. she was hovering up above on the rocks combing her beautiful hair; rays of light surrounded her graceful head, revealing her charms in spite of the night and the distance and as he gazed, her lips opened, and a song thrilled through the silence, soft and plaintive like the sweet notes of a nightingale on a still summer evening. from her height she looked down into the hazy distance and cast at the youth a rapturous look which sank down into his soul, thrilling his whole frame. his eyes were fixed on the features of this celestial being where he read the sweet story of love.... rocks, stream, glorious night, all melted into a mist before his eyes, he saw nothing but the figure above, nothing but her radiant eyes. the boat crept along, too slowly for him, he could no longer remain in it, and if his ear did not deceive him, this creature seemed to whisper his name with unutterable sweetness, and calling to her, he dashed into the water. a death-like cry echoed from the rocks ... and the waves sighed and washed over the unhappy youth's corpse. the old boatman moaned and crossed himself, and as he did so, lightning tore the clouds asunder, and a loud peal of thunder was heard over the mountains. then the waves whispered gently below, and again from the heights above, sad and dying away, sounded the lurlei's song. iii. the sad news was soon brought to the palatinate count, who was overpowered with grief and anger. he ordered the false enchantress to be delivered up to him, dead or alive. the next day a boat sailed down the rhine, manned by four hardy bold warriors. the leader looked up sternly at the great rocks which seemed to be smiling silently down at him. he had asked permission to dash the diabolical seducer from the top of the rocks into the foaming whirlpool below, where she would find a certain death, and the count had readily agreed to this plan of revenge. iv. the first shades of twilight were gliding softly over mountain and hill. the rock was surrounded by armed men, and the leader, followed by some daring comrades, was climbing up the side of the mountain the top of which was veiled in a golden mist, which the men thought were the last rays of sunset. it was a bright gleam of light enshrouding the nymph who appeared on the rocks, dreamingly combing her golden hair. she then took a string of pearls from her bosom, and with her slender white hand bound them round her forehead. she cast a mocking glance at the threatening men approaching her. "what are the weak sons of the earth seeking up here on the heights?" said she, moving her rosy lips scornfully. "you sorceress!" cried the leader enraged, adding with a contemptuous smile, "you! we shall dash you down into the river below!" an echoing laugh was heard over the mountain. "oh! the rhine will come himself to fetch me!" cried the maiden. then bending her slender body over the precipice yawning below, she tore the jewels from her forehead, hurling them triumphantly into the waters, while in a low sweet voice she sang:-- "haste thee, haste thee oh father dear! send forth thy steeds from the waters clear. i will ride with the waves and the wind!" then a storm burst forth, the rhine rose, covering its banks with foam. two gigantic billows like snow-white steeds rose out of the depths, and carried the nymph down into the rushing current. v. the terrified messengers returned to the count, bringing him the tidings of this wonderful event. ronald, whose body a chance wave had washed up on the banks of the river, was deeply mourned throughout the country. from this time forth, the lorelei was never seen again. only when night sheds her dark shadow on the hills, and the pale moon weaves a silver bridge over the deep green stream, then the voice of a woman, soft and low, is heard echoing from the weird heights of the rocks. * * * * * the lorelei has vanished, but her charm still remains. thou canst find it, o wanderer, in the eyes of the maidens near the rhine. it blooms on their cheeks, it lingers on their rosy lips, there thou wilt find its traces. arm thy heart, steel thy will, blindfold thine eye! as a poet of the rhine once wisely and warningly sang, "my son, my son, beware of the rhine...." the lorelei has vanished, but her charm still remains. rheinfels st. george's linden the ruins of castle rheinfels, which stand above the pretty little town of st. goar, are the most extensive of their kind on the rhine. the castle was erected in the middle of the th century by count dietherr, a nobleman belonging to the famous rhenish family of katzenelnbogen. it was a strongly fortified burg, and within ten years of its completion the mighty ramparts witnessed several bloody encounters. twenty-six rhenish cities once combined to carry the invulnerable fortress, but though some lives were sacrificed the army retreated baffled. for centuries after this, the banner of the hessian landgraf waved from its battlements, none daring to attack it. then the fanatic gallic forces of the revolution entered the rhineland, and laid the magnificent castle in ruins. there is a legend associated with rheinfels which dates from that age of chivalry when noble knights and their squires trod its courts, and this legend seems touched with the sadness of the history of the castle itself. the count of rheinfels was the proud father of a lovely daughter, and among her numerous wooers it was george brömser of rüdesheim who had won the maiden's heart. no one was more incensed at this than the knight of berg. this knight belonged indeed to a race said to have been descended from an archbishop of cologne, but his disposition was evil, and his covetousness and avarice made him wish to increase what earthly possessions he had. but the lord of rheinfels was shrewd enough and hesitated before entrusting his pretty daughter and her large dowry to such a man. as already remarked this entirely agreed with the maiden's desire. she was really deeply in love with the chivalrous young knight of rüdesheim, but shrank, almost with aversion, from the impetuous wooing of the harsh and selfish knight of berg. some time after the betrothal of the lovers the date of the marriage was fixed. before the marriage had been celebrated however young brömser appeared at rüdesheim in the early dawn on his steaming war-horse, having ridden during the night from rüdesheim to bring the following sad intelligence to his beloved. the emperor albrecht had summoned the nobles to do battle against the swiss confederates, who had renounced their allegiance, driven the imperial representatives from their land, and finally declared war against their overlord. the knights of the rhineland were called upon to suppress the flames of rebellion. on receiving the pressing call of the emperor, brömser did not hesitate for a moment but resolved to obey his feudal superior. at first the young bride wept, but when her lover comforted her with words of endearment, and her father praised the soldierly resolution of the young man, the maiden calmly submitted to the will of god. before the young knight rode off he took a young linden-tree which he had pulled up in a grove, and having removed the soil with his sword, he planted the sapling in front of the castle. then he spoke as follows to his bride. "tend this budding linden which i have planted here to the honour of my patron saint. you shall keep troth with me so long as it flourishes, but if it fade (and may st. george in his grace prevent it) then you may forget me, for i shall be dead." the weeping bride threw herself in her lover's arms, and while he enfolded her gently with his right, with his left he raised his sword, and showed her engraved upon it in ancient letters, for daily repetition, the words: "preserve o everlasting god, the body here, the soul hereafter. help, knight st. george." then, after receiving many kind wishes from his sorrowing friends, the young soldier rode in the morning mist down through the woods to join the imperial forces. several months passed. then the melancholy news got abroad in the german land that something disastrous had happened in the campaign against the swiss peasants. at last came a trustworthy report to the effect that a bloody defeat had overtaken the proud army of albrecht. it was at morgarten, where the noble hero called arnold of winkelried had opened up to his countrymen a pathway to freedom over his spearpierced body. many counts and barons found on that day a grave in the land of the swiss, and sounds of mourning were to be heard in many a german castle. but to castle rheinfels no traveller brought any tidings either of weal or woe, and we can imagine with what sickness of heart the maiden waited, and how her hope faded as the days and weeks slipped past. it was so long since the ill-fated army had set out against the forest cantons, and now the thoughts of men were turned in other directions, while the swiss peasants were quietly allowed to reap the fruits of their bravery. the most sanguine found it difficult to cheer the drooping maiden of castle rheinfels. then one day her former wooer, the mean avaricious dietrich of berg, presented himself. it was certain that george brömser must be dead, and he was come again to sue for the hand of so desirable a young lady. the dejected maiden informed her eager wooer that she had plighted her troth to her absent lover beside the linden-tree flourishing in front of the castle. only when this tree, consecrated to st. george, should fade would she be released from her promise. the knight of berg departed in anger, and immediately betook himself to a wood and there selected a decayed linden, as similar as possible to the green one growing before castle rheinfels. in the night he cautiously approached the castle, tore up the linden, flung it with a curse into the rhine, and then planted in its place the withered sapling. next morning, a morning bright with the promise of spring, the fair daughter of rheinfels stepped out on the lawn. a cry of pain escaped her lips when she perceived the faded tree. the days and weeks that followed were spent in deep grief. after a suitable time had elapsed, the knight of berg again put in an appearance at rheinfels, mightily pleased with himself. again he sought the hand of the maiden now released from her solemn promise. sadly, but firmly however she told her importunate wooer that she would keep troth with her lover in death as in life. then the wrath of the despised knight drove him to commit a horrible deed. in his savage anger he drew his sword and buried it in the maiden's breast. fleeing from the scene of his dreadful crime he was suddenly seized with remorse, and like our lord's avaricious disciple, he went and hanged himself. deep was the sorrow in castle rheinfels over the sacrifice of this innocent young bride, who had kept her troth so nobly. but grief and tears could not replace the lost one. in the midst of the mourning a stranger was announced. he came from the swiss land. after the battle of morgarten a brave swiss had found george brömser with broken limbs and many bleeding wounds amongst a heap of slain. in a peasant's hut the wounded man lay long in pain and weakness. his broken limbs required long and patient attention. finally, after much suffering, george brömser, the last of all the campaigners rode back to the rhineland, with his lover's name on his lips and her image in his heart. with uncovered head the lord of rheinfels showed the young man the grave of his beloved, and there the two men embraced each other long and silently. the young soldier pulled up the faded linden-tree and hurled it into the rhine, while on the newly-made grave he planted white lilies. george brömser did not a second time fall in love, but remained true to his chosen bride to the end of his days. we are told that in the company of knightly minstrels he sought to forget his great sorrow, and that later he composed many pretty songs. one of them has survived the centuries, and was recently discovered, along with the melody, in an old manuscript. it begins: "a linden stands in yonder vale, ah god! what does it there?" sterrenberg and liebenstein the brothers i. in the middle ages, an old knight belonging to the court of the emperor conrad ii. lived in a castle called sternberg, near boppard. the old warrior had two sons left to him. his wife had died many years before, and since her death, merry laughter had seldom been heard in the halls of the beautiful castle. soon a ray of sunshine seemed to break into these solemn rooms; a distant cousin at rüdesheim had died, leaving his only child, a beautiful young girl, to the care of his relative. the golden-haired angela became the pet of the castle, and won the affection and friendship of the two sons by her engaging ways. what had already happened hundred of times now happened among these young people, love replaced the friendship of the two young knights and both tried to win the maiden's favour. the old master of the castle noticed this change, and his father's heart forbode trouble. both sons were equally dear to him, but perhaps his first-born, who had inherited his mother's gentle character, fulfilled his heart's desire more than the fiery spirit of conrad the younger. from the first moment when the orphan appeared at his family seat, he had conceived the thought that his favourite son henry, who was heir to his name and estates, would marry the maiden. henry loved angela with a profound, sincere feeling which he seldom expressed. his brother, on the contrary, made no secret of his ardent love, and soon the old man perceived with sorrow that the beautiful girl returned his younger son's passionate love. henry, too, was not unaware of the happiness of this pair, and in generous self-denial he tried to bury his grief, and to rejoice heartily in his brother's success. the distress of the elder brother did not escape angela. she was much moved when she first remarked that his voice trembled on pronouncing her name, but soon love dazzled her eyes, so that the clouds on his troubled countenance passed unnoticed by her. about this time st. bernhard of clairvaux came from france to the rhine, preaching a second crusade against the infidels. the fiery words of the saintly monk roused many thousands to action; his appeal likewise reached the castle of sternberg. henry, though not envying his brother's happiness, felt that it would be impossible for him to be a constant witness of it, and thus he was glad to answer this call, and to take up the cross. conrad, too, longing for action and dominated by the impulse of the moment, was stirred up by the witching charms which a crusade to palestine offered. his adventurous soul, cramped up in this castle so far removed from the world, thirsted for the adventures, which he imagined were awaiting the crusaders in the far-off east. in vain the tears and prayers of the young girl were shed, in vain was the sorrow of his father who begged him not to desert him. the old man was in despair about the unbending resolutions of his sons. "who will remain at the castle of my forefathers, if you both abandon it now, perhaps never to return," cried he sorrowfully. "i implore you, my eldest son, you, the very image of your mother, to have pity on your father's gray hairs. and you, conrad, have pity on the tears of your betrothed." the brothers remained silent. then the eldest grasped the old man's hand, saying gently. "i shall not leave you, my father." "and you, angela," said the younger to the weeping maiden, "you will try and bear this separation, and will plant a sprig of laurel to make a wreath for me when i return." ii. the next day the young knight left the home of his forefathers. at first the maiden seemed inconsolable in her grief. but soon her love began to slumber like a tired child; on awakening from this drowsiness indignation seized her, whispering complainingly in her ear, and disturbing all the sweet memories in which the picture of her light-hearted lover gleamed forth, he who had parted from her for the sake of empty glory. now left to herself, she began to consider the proud youth who was forced to live under the same roof with his rejected love. she admired his good qualities which all seemed to have escaped her before, his great daring at the chase, his skill with weapons, and his many kind acts of pure friendship to her, with the view of sweetening the bitter separation from which she was suffering. he seemed afraid of rousing the love which was still sleeping in his heart. in the meantime angela felt herself drawn more and more towards the knight; she wished to try and make him understand that her love for his younger brother had only been a youthful passion, which seemed to have flown when he left her. she felt unhappy when she understood that henry, whom she now began really to love, seemed to feel nothing but brotherly affection for her, and she longed in her inmost soul for a word of love from him. henry was not unaware of this change in her affections, but he proudly smothered every rising thought in his heart for his brother's betrothed. the old knight was greatly pleased when, one day, angela came to him, and with tears in her eyes disclosed to him the secret of her heart. he prayed god fervently to bring these two loving hearts together whom he believed were destined for one another by will of god. in his dreams he already saw angela in her castle like his dead wife and his first-born son, rocking her little baby, a blue-eyed, fair-haired child. then he would suddenly recollect his impetuous younger son fighting in the crusades, and his dreams would be hastily interrupted. just opposite to his ancestral hall he caused a proud fort to be built, and called it "liebenstein," intending it for his second son when he returned from the holy land. the castle was hardly finished, when the old man died. the crusade at last was at an end. all the knights from the rhine country brought back the news with them on their return from the holy land, that conrad had married a beautiful grecian woman in the east and was now on his way home with her. henry was beside himself with wrath on hearing this news. such dishonourable conduct and shameful neglect seemed impossible to him, and going to the maiden he informed her of his brother's approaching return. she turned very pale, her lips moved, but her tongue found no words. iii. a large ship was seen one day sailing along the rhine with strange flags waving on its masts. angela saw it from her tower where she now spent many a long day reflecting on her unfortunate destiny, and she hastily called up the elder brother. the ship approached nearer and nearer. soon the cries of the boatmen could be heard, and the faces of the crew could be distinguished. suddenly the maiden uttered a cry, and threw herself weeping into the arms of the knight. the latter gazed at the vessel, his brows contracted. yes! there on board, in shining armour, stood his brother, with a beautiful strange woman clinging to his arm. the ship touched land. one of the first, conrad sprang on shore. the two watchers in the tower disappeared. a man approached conrad and informed him that the new castle was destined for him. the same day the impetuous knight sent notice of his arrival to sternberg castle, but his brother answered him, that he would wait for him on the bridge, but would only meet sword in hand the faithless lover who had deserted his betrothed. twilight was creeping over the two castles. on the narrow ground separating the forts the brothers strove together in a deadly fight. they were equally courageous, equally strong those two opponents, and their swords crossed swiftly, one in righteous anger, the other in wounded pride. but soon the elder received a blow, and the blood began to drop on his breastplate. the bushes were at this moment suddenly pushed asunder, and a maiden, veiled in white, dashed in between the fighters thrusting them from each other. it was angela, who cried out in a despairing voice: "in god's name stop! and for your father's sake cease, ere it be too late. she for whom you have drawn your swords, is now going to take the veil, and will beg god day and night to forgive you, conrad, for your falseness, and will pray him to bless you and your brother for ever." both brothers threw down their arms. conrad, his head deeply bowed, covered his face with his hand. he did not dare to look at the maiden who stood there, a silent reproach to him. henry took the weeping girl's hand. "come sister," said he, "such faithlessness does not deserve your tears." they disappeared among the trees. silently conrad stood gazing after them. a feeling which he had never known seemed to rise up in his heart, and, bending his head, he wept bitterly. iv. the cloister, marienburg, lay in a valley at some distance from the castles, and there angela found peace. a wall was soon built up between the two forts sternberg and liebenstein, a silent witness of the enmity between the two brothers. banquet followed banquet in the newly built castle, and the beautiful grecian won great triumphs among the knights of the rhine. but sorrow seemed to have taken possession of sternberg castle. henry had not wished to move the maiden from her purpose, but from the time of her departure, his strength faded away. at the foot of the mountain he caused a cloister to be built, and a few months later he passed away from this world, just on the same day that the bells were tolling for angela's death. the lord of liebenstein was not granted a lasting happiness with his beautiful wife. she fled with a knight who had long enjoyed the lavish hospitality at castle liebenstein. conrad, overcome by sorrow and disgrace, threw himself from a pinnacle of the castle into the depths below. the strongholds then fell into the hands of knight brömser of rüdesheim, and since that time have fallen into ruins. the church and cloister still remain in the valley, and are the scene of many a pilgrimage. rhense the emperor wenzel in the middle of a beautiful meadow at rhense near coblenz stands the famous historical "king's chair." here, where the lands of the three great prelates of cologne, mayence and treves join together, the princely seven met to choose the new ruler who was to direct the destiny of the holy roman empire. here charles iv. was chosen by the free will of the electors; here also the seven elected wenzeslaus of the house of luxemburg, charles' son, emperor. during his life-time charles had exerted himself very much over the election of his first-born son, and he even made a pilgrimage with him to rhense on the rhine where, at the renowned "königsstuhl," the chancellor of the kingdom, archbishop of mayence, often held important conferences with their graces of treves and cologne, and the count palatine. this wenzeslaus of bohemia had a great predilection for the rhine and its wines, and later on, when, less by his own merits, than by the exertions of his father and the favour of the electors, he became german emperor, his brother inheriting the sandy country of brandenburg, he had even then paid more honours to the rhine wine than any other of its lovers. it afforded him a greater pleasure than the enjoyment of wearing a crown. finding that a good drink tasted better at the place of its origin, he often visited the brave count palatine of the rhine who dwelt in this blissful country, and who had more casks in his cellar than there are saints' days in a year. this proof of imperial confidence was by no means disagreeable to the very noble elector ruprecht of the palatinate, and he neglected no opportunity of striving to ingratiate himself more and more in the emperor's favour. gallant ruprecht would not unwillingly have exchanged his little palatinate crown for an imperial one. sometimes when his royal guest, becoming very jovial from the wine he had taken, confessed that the high dignity of emperor was becoming troublesome to him, the count agreed with him frankly, and never failed to let his imperial master know that the electors were discontented at his careless administration, and would be well pleased if he retired. emperor wenzel listened to all he said with perfect indifference, continuing in the meantime to revel in his wine. one day the emperor was sitting with his gay companions at the königsstuhl in rhense. they were all very merry, as the cup of assmannshäuser wine had already been passed round many times. this delicious vintage was very pleasing to wenzel, and the other drinkers could not find words enough to praise it. while the goblets were being handed round, and sounds of joviality filled the royal hall, the emperor stood up suddenly and, addressing himself to the count, said in a very light-hearted tone. "i think the crown which was set on my head would not be very unsuitable to you. well, i offer it to you, if you are able to place before me and my companions here, a wine which tastes better than this assmannshäuser." there was a cunning twinkle in the count's eyes as he beckoned to his page. after a while a servant rolled in a great cask, from which the cups were at once filled. the count stood up and presented the first goblet to the emperor. "that is my bacharacher wine, noble lords. taste it; i can wait for your judgment without fear." they all drank, and every face beamed with pleasure. the opinions were undivided in favour of the fiery bacharacher. the emperor rose and loudly declared he preferred it to the assmannshäuser. he could not praise it too highly, nor drink enough of it. "this wine is worth more than a thousand crowns!" said he, enthusiastically. wenzel kept his word and ceded his crown to ruprecht of the palatinate who, in his turn, made the emperor a present of six waggon-loads of bacharacher wine. castle lahneck the templars of lahneck on the opposite side of the rhine from coblenz, and towering above lahnstein, rises castle lahneck, a keep shaped somewhat in the form of a pentagon. lahneck succumbed to the hordes of louis xiii. in the same year as the castle of heidelberg was destroyed. the following stirring tale is associated with lahneck. it was the templars of jerusalem who erected this fortress whose imposing watch-tower rises nearly feet above the main building. the riches of the templars led to their destruction. the contemptible french king, philip the fair, by making grave complaints to the pope obtained an order for the abolition of this much-abused order, and dragged the grand master with fifty of his faithful followers to the stake. everywhere a cruel policy of extermination was immediately adopted against the outlawed knights, the chief motive of the persecutors being rather a desire to confiscate the rich possessions of the templars than any religious zeal against heretics and sinners. peter von aspelt, archbishop of mainz, had cast envious eyes on proud lahneck which sheltered twelve knights-templars and their retainers. alleging some faulty conduct on the part of the soldiers of the cross, he gave orders that the castle should be razed, and that the knights should exchange the white mantle with the red cross for the monk's cowl, but to this the twelve as knights _sans peur et sans reproche_ issued a stout defiance. this excited the greed and rage of the archbishop all the more. from the pontiff, whom with his own hands he had successfully nursed on his sick-bed at avignon, peter von aspelt procured full power over the goods and lives of the excommunicated knights of lahneck. he then proceeded down the rhine with many vassals and mercenaries, and presented the pope's letter to the templars, at the same time commanding them to yield. otherwise their castle would be taken by storm, and the inmates as impenitent sinners would die a shameful death on the gallows. the oldest of the twelve, a man with silvery hair, advanced and declared in the name of his brethren, that they were resolved to fight to the last drop of their blood, and further, that they were quite prepared to suffer like their brethren in france. and so the fight between such fearful odds began. many soldiers of the electorate fell under the swords of the knights and their faithful servants, but ever the furious archbishop ordered forward new bands to fill the gaps. day by day the ranks of the defenders became thinner. prominent everywhere in this hand to hand struggle were the heroic forms of the twelve templars, in white mantle with blood-red cross. at last, at a breach which had been defended with leonine courage, one of the noble twelve sank beneath his shattered shield, and closed his eyes in death. a second shared his fate, then a third. the others, bleeding from many wounds and aided by the sorely diminished remnant of their retainers, redoubled their brave efforts, but still death made havoc in their ranks. when, on the evening of the day of fiercest onslaught the victorious besiegers planted their banner on the captured battlement, the silver-haired veteran, the former spokesman, stood with blood-flecked sword among the bodies of his fallen comrades, the last survivor. touched by such noble heroism the archbishop informed him that he would be allowed to surrender; but calling down the curse of heaven on worldly churchmen and their greed of land, he raised on high his sword and rushed upon his foes. pierced with many wounds the last of the twelve sank to the earth, and over the corpse of this noble man the soldiers of mainz pressed into the fortress itself. peter von aspelt preserved lahneck as a place of defence and residence for an officer of the electorate of mainz, and nominated as first holder of the post, hartwin von winningen. the castle remained in the possession of the electorate of mainz for years, but the sad story of the twelve heroic templars is remembered in the neighbourhood of lahneck to this day. coblenz riza in the first quarter of the th century, when the pious ludwig, son of charlemagne, was struggling with his misguided children for the imperial crown, a church was built in coblenz to st. castor, the missionary who had spread christianity in the valley of the moselle. the four-towered edifice arose on a branch of the rhine. the palace of the frankish king stood at this time on the highest south-western point of coblenz, on the site of a former roman fort, and near by was a nunnery, dedicated to st. castor. in this building lived riza, a daughter of ludwig the pious, who had early dedicated her life to the church. every day this king's daughter went to mass in the castor church on the opposite side of the rhine. so great grace had riza found in the sight of our lord, that like his disciple of old on the sea of genesareth, she walked over the rhine dry-footed to the holy sacrament in st. castor's. one day, the sacred legend goes on to say, the stream was agitated by a storm. for the first time doubt entered the maiden's heart as her foot touched the waves. prudently tearing a prop from a neighbouring vineyard, she took it with her for a staff over the troubled waters. but after a few timid steps, she sank like st. peter on the galilean lake. in this wretched plight she became full of remorse for her want of faith in god. she flung the stick far away, and lifting her arms towards heaven, committed herself to the sole protection of the almighty. at once she rose up from the waves, and arrived, with dry feet as heretofore, on the other side. more than ever after this did riza, this saintly daughter of a saintly king, strive to excel in those works which are pleasing to god. she died within the cloister, and her bones were laid in the castor church, near the burial-place of the saint. soon the popular imagination canonised riza, and her marble tomb is still to be seen in the north transept of the castor church at coblenz. valley of the moselle the doctor's wine of bernkastel the wine of bernkastel is called "doctor's wine," or even shorter still "doctor," and it has been known by this singular name for more than five hundred years. about the middle of the fourteenth century bishop bohemund lay ill of a very violent fever at bernkastel. the worthy man was obliged to swallow many a bitter pill and many a sour drink, but all without avail. the poor divine began at last to fear the worst. despite his high calling and his earnest search after holy things, his bishopric on the lovely moselle pleased him better than any seat in heaven. he caused it to be proclaimed throughout the length and breadth of his diocese, that whoever should be able to cure him of this terrible fever, be he layman or learned doctor, should receive his pastoral blessing, and a rich present into the bargain. at that very time, a brave old warrior lived at treves, who heard about the suffering bishop and had pity on him in his great need. moreover this gray-haired veteran, whose name has not come down to posterity, was very much indebted to the bishop, for once, many years before, bohemund had saved him from the hands of the enemy in a skirmish near sponheim. the noble old soldier was much distressed to hear that the holy man was suffering so terribly. he remembered too, that once he himself had been attacked by violent fever and had fought hard with death, and that his friends had talked about pills and certain bitter drinks, but he had sent them all away and had called his servant, desiring him to bring him a good bowl of fiery bernkastler wine. when he had taken a hearty drink,--no small matter for one lying ill of fever--he awoke out of a deep sleep twelve hours later, the fever completely gone. why should not this same bernkastler cure, thought he, have the same effect on the worthy prelate? after considering for a time, the old knight set out quite alone from his castle in the forest of soon to visit his spiritual benefactor, taking only a little cask with him. bohemund, lying on his sick bed, is said to have cast a very suspicious look at the good man who stated that he could cure him, but who carried all his medicines and mixtures in a little cask on his shoulder. the knight however, making a sign to the officious servants and attendants to leave the chamber, informed the reverend gentleman of what he was about to do. he then calmly took the plug out of the cask, and gave the sick man a drink of the sparkling wine which he had brought with him. the bishop readily swallowed the wine at one draught. another was administered to him soon after, and the eminent prelate fell into a deep sleep. the next day the people of treves heard with great joy that the fever had completely disappeared. the bishop on awaking took another stout draught, and sang out of the depths of his grateful heart:-- "this famous wine restored my health, sure, 'tis a splendid doctor." andernach genovefa i. in all the rhine provinces the virtuous spouse of count siegfried of the palatinate was esteemed and venerated. the people called her st. genovefa, which name indeed she was worthy of, as she suffered cruel trials and sorrows. siegfried's castle stood near the old town of andernach, just at the time when charles martel was reigning over the franks. siegfried and his young wife lived in peaceful unity, till a cloud came over their happiness. the much-dreaded arabs from spain had forced their way into gaul, and were now marching northwards, burning and destroying all on their course. the enemies of the cross must be repulsed, unless the west was to share the fate of africa, which had been subdued by the mohametans. the war-cry reached the palatinate, and siegfried had to go forth to the fight. equipped in his armour, and having kissed his weeping wife, he bade farewell to the castle of his fathers. but he was sad at heart at leaving the spot where the happiest days of his life had been spent. he entrusted the administration of his property to golo, his steward, and recommended his beloved wife very earnestly to his protection, begging her in turn to trust him in everything. the poor countess was heart-broken at this bitter separation. she felt the loneliness of the castle deeply, she longed for his happy presence and the sound of his voice. she could never speak to golo as to the friend to whose care her husband had recommended her. her pure eyes shrank from the passionate look which gleamed in his. it seemed to her that he followed her every movement with a look which her childlike soul did not understand. she missed her husband's presence more and more. she would go out on the balcony and weave golden dreams, and while she sat there, looking out over the hazy blue distance, she longed for the moment when siegfried would return, when she could lean her head upon his breast, and tell him of the great happiness in store for them. perhaps the war against the heathens might last so long that she would be able to hold the pledge of their love joyfully out to him from the balcony on his return. and the countess' lovely face would be lit up with a gleam of blissful happiness, and she would while away the time on her favourite spot, dreaming and looking out into the hazy blue distance. the secret aversion which the countess felt towards the steward was not without a reason. her angel-like beauty had awakened lustful passion in golo's breast, which he did not strive to hide. on the contrary his frequent intercourse with her, who was as gracious to him as to all her other inferiors, stirred his passion still more, and one day, losing all control, he threw himself at the countess' feet, declaring his love for her, and imploring her to return it. genovefa was horrified at this confession. with indignation and scorn she rejected his love, forbidding him to appear before her as he had utterly forgotten his duty, and at the same time, threatening to complain of him to her husband. golo's eyes flared up, and a deadly look of hatred gleamed from them. he could hope for no pardon from his angry mistress. besides, his pride would not allow him to seek it, and now his one desire was revenge. it only remained for him to follow his dastardly plan and to avoid siegfried's wrath. hatred raged in his breast. he dismissed all the servants of the castle and put new ones of his own creation in their places. then one day he appeared before the horrified countess, and openly accused her of being unfaithful to her husband far away. shame and wrath robbed genovefa of speech. golo explained to the servants who were standing around in silent amazement, that he had already informed the count of his wife's faithless conduct, and that he, golo, as present administrator of the castle, now condemned the countess to be imprisoned in the dungeon. the unhappy genovefa awakened to find herself in an underground cell of the castle. she covered her face in deep sorrow, imploring him who had sent her this trial, to help her in her present affliction. there after some time a son was born to her. she baptized him with her tears, giving him the name of tristan, which means "full of sorrows." ii. siegfried had already been absent six months. he had fought like a hero in many a desperate battle. the fanatical followers of mohamet having crossed the pyrenees, struggled with wild enthusiasm, hoping to subdue the rest of western europe to the doctrines of islam by fire and sword. in several encounters, the franks had been obliged to give way to their power. these unbridled hordes had already penetrated into the heart of gaul, when charles first appeared and engaged the arabs in the bloody battle of tours. from morning till evening the struggle on which hung the fate of europe raged. and there charles proved himself worthy of the name of martel, "the hammer," which he afterwards received. siegfried fought at the leader's side like a lion; but towards evening a saracen's lance pierced him, and though the wound was not mortal, yet he was obliged to remain inactive for several months on a sick-bed, where he thought with longing in his heart of his loving wife by the rhine. a messenger arrived one day at the camp bearing a parchment from golo, siegfried's steward. the count gazed long at the fateful letter, trying to comprehend its meaning. what he had read, ran thus: "your wife is unfaithful to you and has betrayed you for the sake of drago, a servant, who ran away." the hero crushed the letter furiously in his hand, a groan escaping from his white lips. then he started off accompanied by a few followers, and rode towards the ardennes, never stopping till he reached his own fort. a man stood on the balcony, looking searchingly out into the distance, and seeing a cloud of dust approaching in which a group of horsemen soon became visible, his eyes gleamed triumphantly. a stately knight advanced, his charger stamping threateningly on the drawbridge. golo, with hypocritical emotion stood before the count, who had now alighted from his foaming horse, and informed him again of what had happened. "where is the evil-doer who has stained the honour of my house, where is he, that i may crush his life out?" cried siegfried in a fury. "my lord, i have punished the wretch deservedly and lashed him out of the castle," answered golo in a stern voice, sighing deeply. the count made a sign to golo whose false eyes gleamed with devilish joy, to lead the way. siegfried entered the dungeon, followed by his servants and also by those who had travelled with him. genovefa listened breathlessly in her prison, with a loved name trembling on her lips and a prayer to god in her heart. now the terrible trial would come to an end, now she would leave this dungeon of disgrace triumphantly, and exchange the crown of thorns for the victor's wreath. the bolt was unfastened, firm steps and men's voices were heard, the iron doors were dashed open. she snatched her slumbering child, the pledge of their love, and held it towards her dear husband. his name was on her lips, but before she could utter it, a cry of agony escaped her. he had cast her from him and, his accusations falling like blows from a hammer on her head, the poor innocent countess fell senseless to the ground. the next day two servants led mother and child out into the forest, where with their own hands, they were to kill her who had been so unfaithful to her husband, and her child also. they were to bring back two tongues to the count as a proof that they had obeyed his orders. the servants drove them into the wildest depths of the forest where only the screams of birds of prey broke the silence. they drew their knives. but the poor countess fell on her knees, and holding up her little child, implored them to spare their lives, if not for her sake, at least for the sake of the helpless child. pity entered the two men's hearts and withheld their hands. dragging the mother and child still deeper into the forest, they turned away hastily, leaving their victims to themselves. they brought two harts' tongues to the count, informing him that they had fulfilled his orders. iii. genovefa's tired feet wandered through the unknown forest, her child crying with hunger. she prayed fervently to heaven in her despair, and tears were sent to relieve the dull pain in her heart, after which she felt more composed, and her child was soon sweetly slumbering. to her great astonishment she perceived a cavern near her, where she could take shelter, and as if god wished to show that he had heard her prayer, a white doe came towards the cavern, rubbing herself caressingly against the abandoned woman. willingly the gentle animal allowed the little child to suckle it. the next day the doe came back again, and genovefa thanked god from the depths of her heart. she found roots, berries, and plants, to support herself, and every day the tame doe came back to her, and at last remained always with her. days, weeks, and months passed. her unfaltering faith had rendered her agony less. in time she learned to forgive her husband who had condemned her unjustly, and she even pardoned him who had taken such bitter revenge on her. her lovely cheeks had become thinner, but the forest winds had breathed a soft red into them, and the child who had no cares nor gnawing pain in its heart, grew into a beautiful little boy. iv. at the castle on the rhine, sorrow was a constant guest since this terrible event had happened. siegfried's burning anger had sunk into sorrow, and often when he was wandering restlessly through the rooms so rich in sweet memories, where now a deserted stillness reigned, the agony awoke again in his heart. he now repented of his hastiness, and a voice whispered in his ear that he had been too severe in his cruel punishment, that he had condemned too quickly, and that he should have considered what he could have done to mitigate her punishment. when these haunting voices pursued him, he would hurry away from the castle and its loneliness, not being able to bear the torment of his thoughts. then to forget his trouble, he would follow the chase with the yelping hounds. but he only seldom succeeded in dulling his misery. everywhere he seemed to see the pale face of a woman looking imploringly at him. the state of his master's soul had not escaped golo, and this crafty man cringed the more to the sorrowful count, feigning to care for his welfare. a starving person accepts even the bread which a beggar-man offers, and siegfried, supposing his steward wished to compensate him for his loss, accepted willingly every proof of devotion, and recompensed him with his favour, at the same time hating the man in his inmost soul who had rendered him such a terrible service. one day the count rode out to the chase, accompanied by only a few retainers, one of whom was golo. siegfried pressed deeper than was his custom into the forest. a milkwhite doe sprang up before him and sportsmanlike, he chased this singular animal through the bushes, hoping to shoot it. his spear had just grazed it, when it disappeared suddenly into a cavern. a woman whose ragged garments scarcely covered her nakedness, leading a little boy by the hand, suddenly came out of the opening in the rock, and the doe, seeking protection, rubbed herself against her. she looked at the hunter, but her limbs trembled so that she could scarcely stand, only her large sad eyes gazed wistfully at him. a stifled cry, half triumphant, half a groan, escaped from her lips, and she threw herself at the count's feet. from the voice which for long months had only moved in earnest prayer or in low sweet words to the child, now flowed solemn protestations of her innocence. her words burned like fire into the soul of the count, and drawing her to his breast, he kissed her tears, and then sank at her feet imploring her pardon. he pressed his little boy to his heart, overcome with gratitude and happiness, and wept with joy, calling him by a thousand affectionate names. then at the sound of his bugle-horn his retinue hastened towards him, golo among them. "do you know these two?" thundered out the count to the latter, tearing him from the throng and conducting him to genovefa. the wretch, as if struck by a club, broke down and, clasping his master's knees, he confessed his wickedness and begged for mercy. siegfried thrust him contemptuously from him, refusing sternly, in spite of the countess' intercession, to pardon his crime. golo was bound and led away, and a disgraceful death was his reward. * * * * * now began a time of great happiness for siegfried and his saint-like wife, and they lived in undisturbed peace with their little son. in gratitude to heaven siegfried caused a church to be built on the spot where the white doe had appeared to him first. the countess often made a pilgrimage to this house of god, to thank him who had caused her tears to be turned into joy. then a day came when her corpse was carried into the forest, and was buried in the church. even now in laach, the wanderer is shown the church and the tombstone, also the cavern where she suffered so much. thus the name of st. genovefa will last to all time. hammerstein the old knight and his daughters [illustration: am sarge kaiser heinrich iv.--nach dem gemälde von l. rosenfelder--zur sage von der burg hammerstein] above rheinbrohl, on a dreary sandstone rock, stand the ruins of the old imperial fortress of hammerstein. for a thousand years the storms have beat on those desolate walls. one of the first owners was wolf von hammerstein, a faithful vassal of the emperor. it was henry iv. who then ruled, and partly by his own faults, partly by those of others, the crown had indeed become to this sovereign one of thorns. wolf of hammerstein had made the historic pilgrimage to canossa alone with his master. now, on account of the infirmities of age the venerable knight seldom descended the castle-hill, and only from afar, the loud trumpet call of the world fell upon his ears. his wife, now for several years deceased, had born him six daughters, all attractive maidens and tenderly attached to their surviving parent, but their filial affection met with the roughest and most ungrateful responses from the sour old fellow. it was a sore grievance to wolf of hammerstein that he had no son. he would willingly have exchanged his halfdozen daughters for a single male heir. the girls were only too well aware of this fact, and tried all the more, by constant love and tender care to reconcile their ungracious parent to his lot. one evening it thus befell. the autumn wind grumbled round the castle like a croaking raven, and the old knight, wolf of hammerstein, sat by a cheerful fire and peevishly nursed his gouty limbs. in spite of the most assiduous attentions of his daughters he remained in a most surly mood. the pretty maidens however kept hovering round the ill-tempered old fellow like so many tender doves. then the porter announced two strangers. both were wrapped in their knightly mantles, and in spite of his troubles the hospitable lord of the castle prepared to welcome his guests. into the comfortable room two shivering and weary travellers advanced, and as outlaws they craved shelter and protection for the night. at the sound of one of the voices the knight started up, listening eagerly, and when the stranger raised his visor and threw back his mantle, wolf of hammerstein sank on his knees at the stranger's feet, and seizing his hand he pressed it to his lips, exclaiming: "henry, my lord and king!" then, with trembling voice the emperor told his old comrade-in-arms that he was a fugitive, and before one who had torn from him the imperial crown and mantle. and when the old knight, trembling with excitement, demanded who this impious and dishonourable man might be, the emperor murmured the words, "my son," and then buried his face in his hands. rigid as a marble statue stood the old knight. like a bolt from heaven the consciousness of his past ignoble conduct had flashed upon him. suddenly he seemed to feel how tenderly the loving arms of his daughters had enfolded him. he spread out his hands towards them, as if anxious to atone by the tenderness of a minute for the harshness of years. then the emperor, deeply touched, thus addressed the old man. "dear comrade-in-arms, your position is indeed enviable. the faithful love of your daughters will tend you in your declining years. no misguided son, impatient for your end, will hunt you from your home. alas, for me, to-morrow accompanied by a few faithful followers, i must go down to battle against my own flesh and blood." towards midnight the unhappy monarch was conducted to a room prepared with care for his reception; and, while he sank into a troubled sleep, the old knight overwhelmed his daughters with long-delayed caresses. in his heart, he silently entreated for pardon for the deep grudge he had long cherished against the god who had been pleased to grant him no son. * * * * * three months had passed by. sad news came to the rhine from the netherlands. the emperor henry was dead. in the midst of fresh warlike preparations death claimed him. his faithful partisans were therefore greatly grieved and more especially wolf of hammerstein. but the second part of the tidings made him even sadder. the consecrated earth was denied to the unfortunate dead emperor. his coffin was placed in a cellar in liege without any respect. whoever wished could go there to slander or to pray for the repose of his soul, whenever they desired. when the knight was told of this he swore vehemently and did not close his eyes for several nights. then his mind was made up. all the prayers and weeping of the daughters did not make him alter his decision. one day he stood before the archbishop of cologne and reminded him how he had saved his life more than twenty years ago, and he recalled to his memory that he had promised to grant any wish of the hammersteins. there was a great discussion between the knight and the bishop. but the fidelity of the vassal was rewarded. the strong ecclesiastical protection of the church at cologne facilitated the steps to the priests in liege. surrounded by pious women and earnest men he knelt, a week later, before the sarcophagus, he pressed his lips to it and murmured "henry my master and my king." afterwards he had the body transferred to speyer where it was placed in the royal tomb. when the mournful vessel went up the rhine from cologne, by order of the knight black flags fluttered in the wind and greeted the dead emperor. hammerstein was always known later on as the most faithful vassal of the king. valley of the ahr the last knight of altenahr only a few mouldering ruins now show where one of the proudest strongholds of the rhine country, castle altenahr, once stood. a legend relates the mournful story of the last of the race which had lived there for centuries. this man was a very stubborn knight, and he would not bow down to or even acknowledge the all-powerful archbishop, whom his majesty the emperor had sent into the rhine country as protector of the church. unfortunately the bishop was also of a proud and unyielding character, and he nursed resentment in his heart against this spurner of his authority. it was not long before his smouldering rancour blazed into an open feud, and the mighty bishop, accompanied by a large band of followers, appeared before the proud castle of altenahr. a ring of iron was formed round the offending vassal's hold. but its owner was not disturbed by this formidable array, and only laughed sneeringly at the besiegers' useless trouble, knowing well that they would never be able to storm his rocky stronghold. the warlike priest saw many of his little army bleeding to death in vain. he was very wrathful, but nevertheless undismayed. he had sworn a great oath that he would enter this invincible hold as a conqueror, even if the fight were to last till the judgment day; the lord of altenahr had sworn a similar oath, and these two powerful foes were well matched. thus the siege continued for some months. the besieger's anger grew hotter, for every attack cost him the lives of numbers of his followers, and all his efforts seemed useless. already there was an outburst of discontent in his camp; many servants and vassals deserted from such a dangerous venture. revolt and disobedience seemed on one occasion to threaten a complete dissolution of the besieging army, as a desperate attack had been again repulsed by the hidden inhabitants of the fort. the bishop's allies urged the unrelenting man to desist from his merciless purpose, but he received their protests with a sneer: "when you leave me, my greater ally, hunger, will draw near. it will come, that i am sure of." then followed an uproar of confused voices; mutinous troopers, now become bold by the wine they had taken, fell to brawling with their leader. the bishop's grim smile died away. "wait my men, just wait for one more attack," he cried in a powerful voice, "it will be the fiercest and the last," and with a dark face he turned and strode away. * * * * * dawn was creeping over the valley of the ahr. there was a great stir in the camp on the side of the mountain, and up above, in the castle of altenahr, silence reigned round hazy pinnacles. suddenly a flourish of trumpets was heard, and the drawbridge having been let down, the lord of the castle galloped forth on a milkwhite charger, his tall figure towering over the animal, the feather of his helmet waving above his grey hair, and the first rays of the rising sun irradiating his steel armour. holding his steed with a firm grip, he raised his right hand to the shouting besiegers, signifying that he wished to speak. his voice sounded far and wide. "see here the last man and the last charger of all those who lived in my tower. hunger has snatched them all from me, wife, child, comrades. they all preferred death to slavery. i follow them, unvanquished and free to the last." the noble animal reared up at the spur of its rider ... a great spring, followed by a thundering crash ... then the ahr closed her foaming waters over man and steed. a shudder seized those who were looking on. the dark countenance of their leader became pale as death, and he rode off without a moment's delay, followed by the curses of his mutinous troops. since that time the castle of altenahr has remained deserted; no one dared to enter the chambers hallowed by the memory of this heroic defence. thus it was avoided by mankind, till time gnawed at its walls and destroyed its battlements. the minstrel of neuenahr i. he was called ronald, this tall handsome man, with blue eyes and fair hair; he had a noble bearing and was a master of song. the knight at the castle of neuenahr had made a great feast, and ronald was sitting on the drawbridge playing his harp and singing. the guests stopped their noisy conversation within doors and knights as well as noble ladies listened breathless to the unseen singer. the proud lord of the castle bade his page bring the traveller in. thus the tall handsome man, the blue eyed, fair-haired stranger with the noble bearing, appeared before the high company. the knights looked at him with wonder and many a handsome lady regarded him with admiration covertly. among the high company there was a beautiful young girl, the daughter of the knight, whose birthday was being celebrated. the lord of the castle rose from his richly carved stool, and made a sign to the singer who was bowing graciously to the knights and ladies and lower still to the master of the castle. "give us a song, musician, in honour of our child who is seventeen years old to-day." the musician fixed his glance in silent admiration on the maiden. she dropped her eyes, and a lovely blush covered her cheeks. he seized his harp, and after a few chords, began to sing a song of homage. sweetly sounded the music, and even sweeter the flattering words. the maiden flushed a deeper crimson and cast down her eyes. once when the harper in his song compared her to a star lighting a wanderer's path, she glanced up, and their eyes met; but hers sank quickly again. she seemed to waken out of a dream when the song ended amid loud applause. she saw her father lifting up a massive goblet and handing it to the singer, saw how the latter raised it first to her, afterwards to her father and his guests, and then put it to his own lips. the maiden felt she was no longer mistress of her heart which was beating as it had never done before. ii. "you might teach my rothtraut to play the harp," cried the proud lord of the castle, who was in a very lively humour, having partaken freely of wine. she heard it as in a dream, and the musician bowed, murmuring that he was not worthy to receive so signal an honour. he remained however at the castle. lovely rothtraut felt afraid in her heart like a trembling child crossing a bridge leading to flowery meadows; she had no mother in whom she could confide those fears for which she could find no words. she therefore yielded to her father's desire, wishing to amuse him during the long, lonely evenings by playing and singing. singing came naturally to her, for a nightingale seemed to slumber in her bosom, but she found more difficulty with the harp. her slender fingers drew many a discordant sound from the strings, and often her father, comfortably seated in his armchair, laughed heartily at her, which made the maiden blush with shame. her large eyes would wander from the harp to the musician's face; but her confusion only became worse when her eyes timidly met his. he was very patient with all her imperfect efforts, never blaming her but on the contrary praising all her modest attempts beyond their merits. then he would sing a song of his own and play some deep chords which seemed to thrill the air. the knight would listen entranced, and the maiden felt love's blissful pain in her heart. she did not know what it was, or how he had long since sung himself into her soul, and her tender heart trembled at love's first revelation. the passion possessed her more and more; it spread its power over these two hearts, and soon in the quiet garden of the castle, ronald clasped the daughter of the proud knight to his heart. iii. love's first rapture is often followed by sorrow however, and beautiful rothtraut had yet to experience it. it once happened that the knight surprised his child in the musician's arms. his anger knew no bounds, and like a beast of prey he rushed at the singer, when his daughter, suddenly become a woman, placed herself bravely between her father and her lover. her confession went to his heart like a dagger, for with trembling lips and glowing cheeks, the maiden acknowledged the secret of her love. pale but firm the singer stood before the knight. "i am only a wanderer but not a dishonourable one. do not destroy with a rough hand the flower which god has planted in our hearts, but give me time. i will set out on my journey and will take up arms for my beloved. and when i come back as a nobleman, you will give me your daughter who loves me. either i shall return as a knight, or you will never see me again." the lord of the castle looked at him sternly, while his daughter stood weeping, holding ronald's hand. "good-bye, maiden. do not forget me, rothtraut!" he was gone, and a wailing cry burst from the lips of the unhappy girl. iv. to atone for many a wrong against pope and church, and also to fulfil a solemn vow, the emperor barbarossa started on a crusade in his old age. many knights and heroes joined him, and his great army marched through several countries until they came to the levant. then they journeyed on to syria where the great hero's career ended. barbarossa was drowned, and the eyes of his followers turned to henry, his son, as their leader. the latter, who became emperor under the name of henry vi. was a very capable general; he was also a lover of music, and is said to have composed many a melody which remains with us to the present day. many supposed that it was not the royal minstrel who composed the songs, but that they came from the hand of ronald who was now as skilled with his sword as with his harp, and who had become a great favourite of the emperor. he was a powerful warrior, and had already overthrown many a saracen. once when the crusaders had gained a glorious victory, he composed a song in honour of it, and sang it himself on his harp. the song went the round of the camp, and the singer became a great friend of the emperor. but even such favour did not drive the shadow from ronald's soul, and often when he was singing one of his most beautiful songs to henry, he would suddenly break off and rush out of the tent in great grief. one day the emperor found out what he had long guessed, and made ronald confess his story to him. some days afterwards the crusaders began the storming of acre, the impregnable fortress of the saracens. ronald was fighting by henry's side. a saracen dashed his falchion at the king's head, but ronald with a mighty blow clove the infidel's skull in two. in the evening of the same day henry called all his warriors together, and dubbed the brave champion knight with his own hand. ronald of harfenstein was to be his name, and a lyre lying on a falchion and a sword, were to be his arms. the emperor promised to build him a castle on the borders of the rhine, which was to be called harfeneck. plague broke out in the camp, and many a gallant crusader fell victim to it. among them was the emperor himself, whose death caused unspeakable grief to ronald. v. one day a weary crusader was seen riding along the banks of the rhine. wherever he passed, the people asked him if it were true that barbarossa was not drowned in the holy land, but was living in the kyffhäuser mountain, and would soon come back to his own neglected kingdom. the crusader barely answered their questions, but urged on his tired steed along the rhine. at last the silvery waters of the ahr appeared before him, and he saw the gables of the castle. the rider joyously spurred on his horse, and rode up through the forest to the fortress where once he had sat on the drawbridge as a poor traveller. the late guest was ushered up to the lord of the castle. the knight, now a bent old man, rose from a melancholy reverie to greet the unknown stranger. "i am ronald, and have become a knight through the grace of the emperor henry in the camp at acre, and now i have come to win your daughter rothtraut." "win her from death, for it robbed me of her two months ago," said the proud lord of the castle, turning his head aside in deep grief. then a despairing groan thrilled through the chamber. harsh words passed between those two, one a man in his disconsolate sorrow, the other a repentant father. ronald strode off to the lonely corner of the garden, and the newly dug up earth showed him the place where rothtraut lay. there he remained late into the night, till darkness had surrounded him and black night had settled on his soul. then he turned and went away, never to come back again. in the east whence the crusaders had now returned, everyone talked of the heroic deeds accomplished by richard the lion-hearted. the saracens well knew the fearless leader and the german knight who fought at his side. richard valued his bravery, even though he was still a young knight. he meant to make him one of his vassals when he returned to his own country. but his desire was never fulfilled, for the thrust of a hostile lance which he had so often escaped, pierced the knight's heart. so the minstrel of neuenahr found a grave in the holy land; the race of harfenstein became extinct with the first of the line, and the castle was never built. eifel the arrow at prüm it was in the little town of prüm many a long year ago that lothaire, the degenerate son of st. louis, did penance for his sins. in the church belonging to the town there are two very ancient pictures; one of them represents a knight standing on a huge rock, shooting an arrow, while his wife and retinue are looking devoutedly towards heaven; the other represents a priest at an altar to whom an angel is bringing an arrow. who is the knight? who is the holy man? the knight is nithard, noble lord of guise, who lived in the north of france towards the end of the ninth century. no children having been born to his excellent wife erkanfrida, the knight determined to leave his estate for some pious object. he meant to endow a cloister, where after their deaths, masses would be read for him and his spouse. but it was a difficult matter to select the most worthy from the many cloisters in the neighbourhood, and by the advice of a pious priest he resolved to leave the decision to heaven. he fastened the document bequeathing his possessions to an arrow, and then set out for a great rock near the castle, accompanied by his wife and numerous followers. after a fervent prayer he shot the arrow skyward, and, so the pious story runs, it was borne by angel hands, till it came to prüm--a journey of several days. ansbald, the holy abbot of the cloister, was standing at the altar when the arrow fell at his feet. he read the document with astonishment and gratitude, and in a moved voice, announced its contents to the assembled congregation. knight nithard assigned his estate to the cloister, and from that time forth many pilgrims journeyed to prüm to see the arrow which had been carried there by angel hands. the storms of many centuries have blown over those hallowed walls, but the pictures in the old church belonging to the abbey still remain, thus preserving the legend from oblivion. aachen the building of the minster [illustration: karl der große--nach dem gemälde von albrecht dürer] as charlemagne, the mighty ruler of the franks, rode one day from his stronghold at aix-la-chapelle into the surrounding forest, his horse is said to have suddenly trodden upon a spring. on touching the water, the animal drew its foot back neighing loudly as if in great pain. the rider's curiosity was aroused. he alighted, and dipping his hand into the spring, found to his surprise that the water was very hot. thus charlemagne, as the legend records, discovered the hot spring which was to become the salvation of many thousands of ill and infirm people. the pious emperor recognised in this healthgiving spring the kind gift of providence, and he resolved to erect near the spot a house of god, the round shape of which should remind posterity of the horse's hoof. the building was soon begun, and charlemagne saw with great satisfaction the walls of the new minster rising high into the air. he was not however destined to see its completion. when he died, he had to leave the great empire of the west to a feeble son, lewis the pious. the latter was compelled to draw his sword against his own children in order to assure for himself the crown he had inherited. many a great undertaking that charlemagne had begun, remained unfinished. the building of the minster too was interrupted. the ground was left desolate, and the walls and towers were threatened with decay before they were finished. it was quite useless for the honourable magistrate of the town to apply for money to the charitable christian inhabitants. contributions came in very slowly, and were never sufficient to finish the church. the aldermen of aix-la-chapelle would very often seriously debate the question, and discuss how they could remedy the grievous lack of money and successfully effect the completion of the minster. they found however that good counsel was just as rare as building material. once when they were met thus together, a stranger was announced who said he had most important news to communicate. he was allowed to enter the session room. after having duly saluted the council, he said modestly but without any shyness, "gentlemen, my business, in a word, is to offer you the money for the completion of the church." the worthy aldermen looked in wonder first at the speaker, then at each other. they silently agreed in the opinion that the man before them looked very suspicious in his quaint outlandish clothes and his sharp pointed beard. but the newcomer was not at all abashed by their suspicious looks. on the contrary he repeated politely but firmly his proposal, saying: "honourable sirs, i should like to help you out of your difficulty, and will advance you the necessary thousands without even wishing to be paid back." at this frank offer the councillors pricked up their ears and opened their eyes wide in astonishment. before they could recover from their amazement, the stranger continued: "i know well, you are all far too proud to accept this great offer of mine without giving me a reward of some sort. therefore i require a small compensation. i demand the first living being, body and soul, that enters the new minster on the inauguration day." on hearing this the honourable aldermen rose horrified from their seats. many of them made the sign of the cross or uttered a short prayer, because nobody but the devil himself could require anything so monstrous. the eyes of the chairman shot a reproachful glance at the strange speaker, and he muttered between his teeth: "be off! your words are giving offence." but master satan, the stranger, stood calmly in his place: "sirs," said he, "let me answer you with a word from the scriptures, "why are you so fearful, oh ye of little faith?" on the field of battle the sword mows down thousands of brave men. they fall often as victims to the ravening ambition of a single man. you can even see fathers fighting against their sons, brothers against their brothers, and nobody thinks it unjust. now you cry out, when i only ask for one single living soul to be sacrificed for the welfare of the whole community." the eyes of the stranger looked round in triumphant joy when he had finished, for he read a favourable reply in the puzzled faces of the aldermen. many of them at once gave up their scruples, and after a few minutes even the most cautious among them had no more objections to urge. the offer was closed with, and master satan left the town hall with a proud smile. the next day the council was again gathered together anxiously waiting for the promised sum. it arrived promptly, rightly weighed and in good honest coin. the joy of the aldermen was boundless. * * * * * once more the workmen began the work of building the minster. they worked very busily as if to make up for the long interruption, and after three years the cathedral was finished. on the day when the new church was to be consecrated, a great festival was held in the town. the distinguished company, secular as well as clerical, who appeared at the inauguration ceremony, praised the magnificence of the minster, the great liberality of the citizens, and more than all, the wisdom of the town council. the aldermen listened to the general praise with pleasure, and accepted it as their due. they felt however bound to confess to each other that they did not feel easy when they thought of the inauguration day. none of them had spoken to anybody of master satan's condition. only one of them, a henpecked fellow as malicious people said, confessed the whole transaction to his wife. it is needless to say that from that moment the whole town knew about the affair. on the important day of the consecration of the minster many venerable prelates, abbots, and monks, thousands of noble knights and lords who had come as guests, and the whole population of aix-la-chapelle looked forward to the fatal hour with beating hearts. it was a grand procession indeed that marched on in ceremonious solemnity through the streets. the gaily coloured flags waved merrily in the air, the trumpets and clarions sounded cheerily. the nobility and clergy were in their most gorgeous attire. on every side were the signs of joy and thanksgiving. but the hearts of the people were all oppressed, and many a sorrowful eye gazed at the morning sky, as if expecting to see satan flying down with his bat-like wings. when the aldermen in their bright robes joined the procession, the general anxiety rose to the highest pitch. before the worthy councillors a bulky cage was carried by four stout footmen. what was hidden under the covering nobody knew, but everybody felt sure that it contained the victim. when the procession reached the minster it stopped, the cage being carried foremost. at a sign from the mayor, one of the footmen quickly stripped off the cover and exposed to view a howling hideous wolf. two of the men pushed the church door wide open with their long halberds, and the fourth pushed the wolf skilfully through the open door. a terrible noise arose suddenly within. the devil had been waiting for his spoil, as a tiger that watches for his prey. when the wolf entered the devil darted towards it, but seeing that it was only a beast he burst into a wild howl of rage. he wrung the poor wolf's neck with the quickness of lightning and disappeared suddenly, leaving nothing behind him but a strong smell of sulphur. a few minutes later the bells rang, and the whole magnificent procession thronged into the church, duly to celebrate its consecration. * * * * * while divine service was being held in the new minster and hymns of praise and thanksgiving were offered at god's altar, the devil flew with horrible maledictions over the country. he swore an oath to punish with the utmost severity the population of aix-la-chapelle who had so cunningly outwitted him. in his flight he came to the sea-shore where he stopped a little, in order to consider how he could best destroy the town. as he looked at the sandy dunes the thought struck him, that he might bury the whole town with all its prelates and abbots under such a hill. with a mighty pull he tore one of the dunes from the shore, piled it on his shoulders, and flew rapidly towards the doomed city. but the way was much longer than master satan had thought. he began to perspire very freely under his unwonted burden, and when from time to time the wind blew a rain of loose sand into his eyes, he swore most horribly. in the valley of the soers not far from aix-la-chapelle he was obliged to rest, as he was very tired after his exertions. while he was thus sitting by the wayside wiping his forehead and looking hot and weary, an old wrinkled woman came limping along, who looked with suspicion at the man and his strange burden. she wanted to pass by without saying a word, but the stranger stopped her and said: "how far is it from here to aix-la-chapelle?" the woman cast a sharp look at the speaker. as she had reached years of discretion, being now in her seventy-second year, she was shrewd enough to recognise in the man before her the very devil in person. she was also quite sure, that he must have some wicked plan in his head against the good town, aix-la-chapelle. therefore assuming a very sad expression she answered in a complaining voice: "kind sir, i am so sorry for you, the way to the town is still very long. only look at my boots, they are quite worn from the long way, and yet i got them new from the shoemaker at aix-la-chapelle." master satan uttered something that sounded like a bitter curse. then he shook off the sandy dune from his shoulders and flew away in a fury. the old woman was for a moment terror-stricken, but when she saw the fatal figure of the stranger disappearing, she was inexpressibly glad at having saved the town and outwitted the devil himself. if he had only looked a little more carefully he could have seen the tower of the new minster not a mile off. the sandy dune is still lying in the very same place where the devil dropped it. its name is "losberg" or "ridmountain," so called because the town aix-la-chapelle got rid of a great danger. the memory of the poor wolf is also still preserved. its image is engraved on the middle of the minster door, where you can also see the big cracks produced by the devil's hammering it in his impotent anger. the ring of fastrada this story too leads us back to the time of the great emperor charles, whose life has come down to us with a halo of glory. charlemagne's favourite residence was aix-la-chapelle, but he also held court in helvetia. his imperial stronghold stood on the shores of the lake of zürich. in its neighbourhood there was a high pillar which the emperor had erected to mark the place where felix and regula had died as martyrs for the christian faith. a small bell was attached to this monument, which everybody in distress and want might ring if they wanted relief. as often as charles held his court in zürich he himself appeared at the pillar when the bell was rung, and listened to the complaints and petitions of his subjects. one day the sound of the bell was heard, yet nobody could be perceived near the pillar. on the following day about dinner-time the same thing happened, the bell rang, yet no one was there. the emperor, curious to know what this meant, commanded one of his pages to hide in the bushes behind the pillar. when mid-day approached the boy noticed that a serpent crept out of the sand, wriggled up to the pillar, and set the bell a-ringing. this astonishing fact was at once communicated to the emperor, who came without delay to the spot. he was very much surprised at seeing such an unusual applicant, but he said with great earnestness, "every one who comes to me shall find justice, be it man or beast." the serpent bent low before the monarch, and then crept back into its den. charlemagne followed, anxious to learn the reason of its strange behaviour. he was surprised when, on looking into the dark hole, he saw an ugly toad sitting on the serpent's eggs, and filling nearly the whole space with its hideous form. the emperor bade his attendants kill the intruder at once. in a short time charlemagne had nearly forgotten the strange incident. but one day when he was sitting at dinner the serpent unexpectedly entered the hall, and crept up to the emperor's seat. bowing low three times it lifted its head and dropped a precious stone into the emperor's goblet. it then disappeared as quickly as it had come. charlemagne took the stone out of the cup, and saw to his amazement that it was a precious diamond. he ordered it to be mounted in a golden ring, which he presented to his well-beloved wife, fastrada. the jewel possessed a wonderful quality. fastrada had always been loved tenderly by her imperial husband, but after the diamond ring adorned her slender finger, a sweet charm seemed to bind her still more strongly to him. to many people this great love of the emperor for his wife seemed too absorbing, almost superhuman, and when death ruthlessly snatched her from the side of charlemagne, everybody believed that it was a judgment from heaven. the monarch was inconsolable at this great bereavement. he spent days and nights in unspeakable grief by her corpse. the rumour was, that his sorrow was so intense that he refused to permit the remains of his wife to be duly buried. the charm the living fastrada had exercised over him seemed to linger even after her death. the archbishop of rheims, the pious turpin, heard of the emperor's sorrow, and he offered fervent prayers to god for help. soon afterwards he had a strange dream. he saw the wonderful ring on fastrada's finger glittering with a thousand lovely colours and surrounding the emperor with a magic light. the bishop was now sure that the precious stone was the cause of the superhuman love the emperor bore to his wife. on the following day before sunrise turpin, the venerable old bishop, got up and went into the room where charlemagne had again spent a night in bitter grief by the remains of his beloved wife. he was kneeling by the uncovered bier in fervent prayer when the bishop entered. turpin went straight up to the body, and making the sign of the cross he took the cold waxen hand of fastrada for a moment in his. without being observed by the mourning emperor, he slipped the enchanted ring gently from her finger. as he had guessed the emperor at once rose, and kneeling down before the bishop, kissed his hand in adoration. then he rose and bade turpin have the remains of his wife buried that same day. so it happened that fastrada's remains were brought to their last resting place in the church of st. albans at mayence. from that time the emperor was attached with rare devotion to the old archbishop of rheims. he would not allow him to leave his side, but requested that turpin should always live near him. the pious man was also nominated first councillor of the empire. turpin used his high position only for the welfare of the empire, and did a great many good works. sometimes however he felt a pang of regret at the manner in which he had acquired the high favour of his lord, and it seemed to him very unfair. once when he accompanied the monarch on one of his journeys in western germany, he threw the ring into a spring from which it could never more be brought up again. from that moment charlemagne felt himself irresistibly drawn to that particular part of his extensive dominions. he erected a stronghold there, and a flourishing township soon surrounded this palace. later on it was called aix-la-chapelle, and became the favourite residence of the great emperor. within its walls he liked best to rest from the burden of affairs of state, and sometimes the old ruler could be seen sitting by the margin of the spring in which fastrada's ring lay buried, recalling the sweet memories of past days. rolandseck knight roland [illustration: roland in der schlacht von roncevalles--nach dem gemälde von a. guesnet] i. the emperor charlemagne was surrounded by a circle of proud knights, the flower of whom was count roland of angers, nephew of the king of the franks. the name of no knight was so famous in battle and in tournaments as his. helpless innocency adored him, his friends admired, and his enemies esteemed him. his chivalrous spirit had no love for the luxuries of life, and scorning to remain inactive at the emperor's court, he went to his imperial uncle, begging leave to go and travel in those countries of the mighty kingdom of the franks, which up to that time were unknown to him. in his youthful fervour he longed for adventures and dangers. the emperor was much grieved to part with the brave knight, however, he willingly complied with his request. one day early in the morning the gallant hero left his uncle's palace near the seine, and rode towards the vosges mountains, accompanied by his faithful squire. the first object of his journey was castle niedeck near haslach, and from there he visited attic, duke of alsace. he continued his travels, and one evening as he was riding through the mountains, the glittering waters of the rhine, washing both sides of the plain, greeted him. the river in that part of the country offered him few charms in its savage wildness, but he knew that the scenery would soon change. he moved on down the rhine to where a gigantic mountain shuts the rushing current into a narrow space. its foot stands chained in the floods, which only in places retire a little, thus leaving the poor folk a narrow stretch of land. on the heights there were proud castles, telling the wanderer below of the fame of their illustrious races. thus roland made many a long journey on his adventurous course down the rhine. he passed many a place rich in old memories: the lorelei rock, where the water nymph sang at night: the cheerful little spot where st. goar lived and worked at the time of childebert, the merovingian, (that wonderful saint who once spread a fog over his imperial uncle, compelling him to pass the night in the open air, because his majesty, while journeying from ingelheim to coblenz had neglected to bend his knee in his chapel) and the green meadows near andernach, where genovefa, wife of palatine count siegfried lived. and now roland neared the place where the stream reaches the end of the rhine valley, and where the seven giants are to be seen, the summit of one of which is crowned with a castle; there they stand like the seven knights who in later times stood weeping round the holy remains of the german emperor. a wooded island lay in the deep-blue waters. the setting sun threw a golden light over the hills. on the sides of the mountains there were numberless vineyards, to the left, hedges of beeches ascending to the heights of the rugged summits, to the right, the murmur of the rippling waters, and above, visible among the legendary rocks where once a terrible beast lived, the pinnacles of a knight's castle, and over all, the heavens clothed with a garment of silver stars. the knight paused in silence; his glance rested admiringly on the beautiful picture. his steed pawed the ground uneasily with his bronze-shod hoofs, and his faithful squire looked anxiously at the darkening sky. he reminded his master modestly that it was time to seek shelter for the night. "i should like to beg for it up there," said roland dreamingly, an inexplicable feeling of sweet sadness coming over him for the first time. he bade his squire ask the boatman who was putting out his little bark to cross the river, what was the name of the castle? the castle was the drachenburg, where count heribert sojourned sometimes. thus ran the answer which pleased roland very much. he had been charged with many greetings and messages to the old count at the drachenburg from his friends living near the upper rhine. roland now hesitated no longer, and soon a boat was ploughing the dark waves. ii. in the meantime night had come on. the full moon's soft beams showed them their way through the dark forest. count heribert, a worthy knight in the flower of his age, bade the nephew of his imperial master heartily welcome to his castle. far past midnight they stayed in the count's chambers, engaged in entertaining conversation. the next day count heribert presented his daughter hildegunde to the knight. roland's eyes, full of admiration, rested on the blushing young maiden. never before had the charms of a woman awakened any deep feeling in his heart; he had only thirsted after glory and deeds of daring, after tournaments and feuds. now the bold champion was struck with a shaft from the quiver of love. he who had opposed the dreaded adversary so often, now bowed his fearless head in almost girlish confusion before hildegunde's charms. she, too, stood crimsoning deeply before the celebrated hero whose name was famous, and who was beloved in all the country round. the old knight broke up the scene of embarrassing silence between the youthful couple with gay laughing words, and conducted his guest through the high halls of his castle. roland tarried longer at the friendly castle than he had ever done before in any other place in the country. he seemed bound to the blissful spot by love's indissoluble chains, and so it happened that one day these two found themselves, hand in hand, the deep love in their hearts rushing forth in ardent words. count heribert bestowed his lovely daughter very willingly on the celebrated knight, his only desire being to complete the happiness of his child whom he loved so dearly. a castle should be erected for her on the heights of the rocks on the other side of the rhine, opposite the drachenburg, and this proud fort on the rugged rocky corner of the mountain, should be a watch-tower for the glorious seven mountains and their castle. in later times it became the famous rolandseck. soon the walls could be seen raising themselves up, and every day the lovers stood on the balcony of the drachenburg looking across, where industrious workmen and masons were busily toiling. hildegunde began to weave sweet dreams of the future round her new home, where she meant to chain the adventurous hero with true love. but one day a messenger appeared at the drachenburg on a horse white with foam. he was sent by charlemagne and brought the tidings of a crusade which the emperor had decreed against the infidels beyond the pyrenees. charlemagne desired to have the famous knight among the leaders of his army. roland received the message of his great master in silence. he looked at hildegunde who with a death-like face was standing beside him. grief stabbed cruelly at his heart, but he must obey the call of honour and duty, and, informing the royal messenger that he would arrive at the imperial camp in three days, he turned sorrowfully away, hildegunde sobbing at his side. iii. the cross and the half-moon were fighting furiously for the upper hand in spain. terrible battles were fought, and much blood flowed from both christians and infidels. bloody victories were gained by the emperor's brave knights, the chief of whom was roland. his sword forced a triumphant way for charlemagne, it guarded his army, passing victoriously through the unknown country of the enemies. but the sad day of ronceval, so often sung by german and other poets was yet to come. separated from the main body of the army, roland's brave rearguard was making its way through the dusky forest. suddenly wild shouts sounded from the heights, and the cowardly moor pressed down on the little band, threatening them with destruction. but the noble franks fought like lions. roland's charger, brilliador, flew now here, now there, and many a saracen was hewn down by its noble rider's sword, durant. but numbers conquer bravery. the little army of franks became less and less, and at last roland sank, struck by the lance of a gigantic moor. the combat continued furiously round him. when night spread mournfully over the battle-field, the infidels had already done their terrible work. the franks lay dead; only a few had escaped from the slaughter. "where is roland?" was the frightened cry from pale lips. he was not among the saved. "where is roland?" asked charlemagne anxiously of the messengers. through the whole kingdom their answers seemed to resound, roland the hero had fallen in battle fighting against the saracens; wherever this cry was heard, it awakened deep sorrow. the news soon spread as far as the rhine, and one day the imperial messengers appeared at the drachenburg, bringing the sad tidings and the deepest sympathy of the emperor. heribert sighed deeply on hearing the news and covered his eyes with his hands; hildegunde's grief was heart-breaking. before the altar of the queen of sorrows she lay sobbing her heart out, imploring for comfort in her great need. for days on end she shut herself up in her little bower, and even her father's gentle sympathy could not assuage her bitter grief. weeks passed. then one day the pale maiden entered the knight's chamber, her grief quite transfigured. he drew her softly towards him, and then she revealed the resolution which was in her heart. count heribert was overwhelmed with grief, but he pressed a loving kiss on her pure forehead. the day came, when down below on the island nonnenwert, the convent bells rang solemnly. a new novice, count heribert's lovely daughter, knelt before the altar. in the holy stillness of the convent she sought the peace which she could not find in the castle of her father. with a last great convulsive sob she had torn her lover's name from her heart, had quenched the flame of sorrowing love for him, and now her soul was to be filled ever with the holy fire of the love of god. in vain her afflicted father hoped that the unaccustomed loneliness of the convent would shake her resolution, and that when the first year's trial was over, she would return to him. but no! the pious young maiden fervently begged the bishop, who was a relation of her father, to release her from the year's trial and to allow her after a short time to take her final vows. her longing desire was fulfilled. after a month hildegunde's golden locks were no more, and the lovely daughter of the drachenburg was dedicated to the lord forever. iv. time rolled on. spring had vanished and the sheaves were ripening in the fields. where the river reaches the end of the rhine valley crowned by the seven giants, a knight with his horse stopped to rest. far away in the south, where the valley of ronceval lies bathed in sunshine, he had lain in the hut of a poor herd. there the faithful squire had dragged his master pierced by a moorish lance. the bold hero and leader had remained for weeks and months on his sick-bed struggling with death, till the force of his iron nature had at last conquered. roland was recovering under loving care, while they were mourning him as dead in the land of the franks. then having recovered, he hurried back to the rhine urged by an irresistible longing. a wooded island lay in the deep-blue waters. the setting sun threw a golden light over the hills; numberless vineyards flanked the mountains, hedges of beeches were on one side, the murmur of waters on the other, and above the pinnacles of a knight's castle among the legendary rocks where once a terrible beast lived, over all the heavens clothed with a garment of silver stars. silently the knight paused, his glance resting admiringly on the beautiful picture. now as in months before an inexplicable feeling of sweet sadness came over the dreamer. "hildegunde!" murmured roland, glancing up at the starry heavens. again as formerly a boatman rowed across the stream, and roland soon was striding through the forest towards the drachenburg, accompanied by his faithful squire. the old watchman at the castle stared at the late guest, and crossing himself, he rushed up to the chambers of his master. a man's figure, bent with age and sorrow, tottered forward. "roland!" he gasped forth. the knight supported the broken-down old man in his arms. when roland had departed long ago, his grief had found no tears; now they flowed abundantly down his cheeks. the knight tore himself from the other's arms. "where is she?" he asked in a hoarse voice, "dead?" count heribert looked at him with unspeakable sorrow. "hildegunde, bride of roland whom they supposed dead, is now a bride of heaven." the hero groaned aloud, covering his face with his hands. in spring he left the drachenburg and went to the castle on the rocky corner, and there he laid down his arms for ever; his thirst for action was quenched. day by day he sat over there, looking silently down on the green island in the rhine, where the nun, hildegunde, wandered about among the flowers in the convent garden every morning. sometimes indeed it seemed that she bowed kindly to him, then the knight's face would be lighted up with a gleam of his old happiness. but even this joy was taken from him. one day his beloved did not appear; and soon the death-bell tolled sorrowfully over the island. he saw a coffin which they were carrying to its last resting-place, and he heard the nuns chanting the service for the dead, he saw them all, only one was wanting ... then he covered his face. he knew whom they were carrying to the grave. autumn came, withering the fresh green on hildegunde's tomb. but roland still kept his watch, gazing motionlessly at the little churchyard, and one day his squire found him there, cold and dead, his half-closed eyes turned towards the place where his loved one was sleeping. for many a century the proud castle which they called rolandseck, crowned the mountain. then it fell into ruins, like the mighty drachenburg, the tower of which is still standing. fifty years ago the last arches of roland's castle were blown down one stormy night, but later on they were built up again in memory of this tale of true and faithful love in the olden times. siebengebirge the drachenfels i. when the wanderer has left the "city of the muses," bonn, he perceives to the left the mighty summits of the seven mountains. the rocky point of one of these hills is still crowned by the tower and walls of an old knight's castle. a most touching legend is related of the mountain with the terrible name. in the first centuries after the birth of the world's redeemer, the germans on the left side of the rhine accepted willingly the doctrines of the cross; maternus, a disciple of the great apostle, had brought them over from gaul. at first the pious messenger of christ worked among the heathen tribes in vain. they persisted in their paganism, and even prevented the priests from coming into their country. at that time there was a terrible dragon living in the hollow of the rock which even now is called the dragon's hole. he was of a hideous form, and every day he used to leave his den and rage through the forests and valleys, threatening men and animals. human strength was powerless against this monster; the people thought that an angry deity had his abode in this terrible beast, so they bestowed godlike honours on him, sacrificing criminals and prisoners to him. a tribe of heathens lived at the foot of the mountain. these men, desirous of war, often made raids on the neighbouring countries, carrying fire and sword among their christian brothers. they once crossed the water, plundering the land and making prisoners of the people. among the latter there was one most lovely maiden, whose beauty and grace inflamed two of the leaders so much, that each of them desired to have her for himself. one was called horsrik the elder, a famous chieftain, known to have the strength of a bear and the wildness of a tiger; the other, rinbold, of a less rough nature, but of equal bravery. the beautiful maiden turned aside shuddering when she saw the two chiefs' glaring eyes, contending for possession of her. all round were their men intoxicated with victory. the struggle for the christian maid affected the two leaders more than the division of the booty. soon the angry words of the two opponents found an echo in the hearts of the men standing round. horsrik, the much-feared fighter, claimed her, and was received with cheers. rinbold, the proud young chieftain, claimed her also,--great applause greeted him. the former glared sternly, grasping his club in a threatening manner. the high-priest, an old man with silver-white hair and stern features, stepped in between the two combatants, and in a voice surging with anger he said: "cursed be every dissension for the possession of this stranger! a christian must not disunite the noblest of our tribe. a daughter of those we hate, she shall fall to nobody's share. she, the author of so much strife, shall be sacrificed to the dragon, and shall be dedicated to woden's honour at the next rising of the sun." the men murmured applause, horsrik more than the rest. the maiden held her head upright. rinbold, the proud young chieftain, looked sorrowfully at her angel-like face. ii. early the following day before the sun had poured his bright beams on the earth, the valley showed signs of life. through the dusk of the forest a noisy procession moved upwards towards the highest point, the priest in the middle, behind him the prisoner, pale but resolute. silently, for her lord's sake, she had allowed the priest to bind her forehead as a victim, and to place consecrated flowers in her loose flowing hair. many a sympathetic look from the crowd had been cast at the steadfast maiden. the young chieftain was stricken with pain at the sight of her death-like countenance. there stood the projecting rock which had often been dishonoured by human blood. the fanatical priests wound ropes round the maiden's body, and then tied her to st. woden's tree which overhung the precipice. no complaint escaped the christian's white lips, no tears glistened in her eyes which were glancing up at the morning sky. the throng of people moved off, waiting silently in the distance to see what would happen. the first rays of the sun streamed over the mountain; they lighted up the wreath of flowers in the maiden's hair, playing about her lovely face, and crowning it with glory. the christian maid was awaiting death, as a bride awaits her bridegroom, her lips moving slightly as in prayer. a gloomy sound came up from the depths. the dragon started from his den, spitting fire on his path. he cast a look at his victim there on the spot which his blood-thirsty maw knew so well. he raised his scaly body, thus letting his sharp claws be more visible, moved his snaky tail in a circle, and showed his gaping mouth. snorting the monster crawled along, shooting flames out of his bloodshot eyes. a shudder of death crept over the maiden at the sight of this awful beast. tremblingly she tore a sparkling golden crucifix from her breast, held it towards the monster piteously, and called on her lord in a heart-rending voice. wonder of wonders! raising himself, as if struck by lightning, the monster turned, dashing himself backwards over the jagged stones into the waters below, and disappearing in the river among the falling rocks. wondering cries arose from the waiting heathens. astonishment and wonder were depicted on every face. in quiet submission, her eyes half-closed, the maiden stood praying to him who had saved her. the cords fell from her sides; two strong arms caught her and carried her into the midst of the astonished crowd. she raised her eyes and perceived the younger of the two chieftains. his rough warlike hand had seized hers. the young man bent his knee as if to a heavenly being, and touched her white fingers with his lips. loud applause greeted him on all sides. the old priest came forward, the people waiting in great expectation. "who had saved her from certain destruction? who was the god who so visibly aided his own?" asked he solemnly of the christian. with bright eyes the maiden answered triumphantly: "this picture of christ has crushed the dragon and saved me. the salvation of the world and the welfare of man lies in him." the priest glanced at the crucifix with reverent awe. "may it soon lighten your spirit and those of all these people round," said the maiden earnestly. "it will reveal greater wonders than this to you, for our god is great." the maiden and all the other prisoners were conducted back to their own country. but the former soon returned again, accompanied by a christian priest. the voice of truth and innocence worked wonders in the hearts of the heathens. thousands were converted and baptized. the old priest and rinbold were the first who bowed their heads in submission to the new doctrine. great rejoicings were held among the tribe when the maiden gave her hand to the young chieftain. a christian temple was erected in the valley, and a splendid castle was built on the summit of the rocks for the newly-married couple. for about ten centuries their descendants flourished there, a very powerful race in the rhine countries. the monk of heisterbach in olden times in a lovely valley near the seven mountains, stood a cloister called heisterbach. even now parts of the walls of this old monastery remain, and it was not by the hand of time, but by the barbarism of foolish warfare, that its halls fell into ruins. the monks were driven away, the abbey was pulled down, and the stones were used for the building of a fortress. since that time, so the country folk relate, the spirits of the banished monks wander nightly among the ruins, raising mute accusations against their persecutors and the destroyers of their cells. among them there was one, gebhard, the last prior of heisterbach, who now, they say, wanders about the graves of the monks, and also haunts the burial-places of the masters of löwenburg and drachenburg. in the middle ages the monks of heisterbach were very famous. many a rare copy of the holy scriptures, many a highly learned piece of writing was sent out into the world from this hermitage, telling of the industry and learning of the pious monks. there was one brother, still young in years, who distinguished himself by his learning. he was looked up to by all the other brethren, and even the gray-haired father prior had recourse to his stores of knowledge. but the poisonous worm of doubt began to gnaw at his soul; the mirror of his faith was blurred by his deep meditations. his keen eye would often wander over the faded parchment on which the living word of god was written, while his childlike believing heart, humbly submitting itself, would lamentingly cry out, "lord, i believe, help thou mine unbelief!" like a ghost his restless doubts would hover about him, making his soul the scene of tormenting struggle. one night with flushed face he had been meditating over a parchment. at daybreak he still remained engrossed in his thoughts. the morning sun threw his bright rays over the heavens, casting playful beams on the written roll in the monk's hands. but he saw them not, his thoughts were wholly taken up by a passage which for months past had ever been hidden to him and had been the constant subject of his reflections, "a thousand years are but as a day in thy sight." his brain had already long tormented itself over the obscure words of the psalmist, and with a great effort he had striven to blot it out of his memory, and now the words danced again before his weary eyes, growing larger and larger. those confusing black signs seemed to become a sneering doubt hovering round him: "a thousand years are but as a day in thy sight." he tore himself away from the silent cell, seeking the cool solitude of the cloister-gardens. there with a heavy heart he paced the paths, torturing himself with horrid doubts. his eyes were fixed on the ground, his mind was far away from the peaceful garden, and without being aware of what he was doing, he left the cloister-gardens and wandered out into the neighbouring forest. the birds in the trees greeted him cordially, the flowers opened their eyes at his approach; but the wretched man heard and saw nothing but the words: "a thousand years are but as a day in thy sight." his wandering steps grew feeble, his feverish brain weary from want of sleep. then the monk sank down on a stone, and laid his troubled head against a tree. a sweet, peaceful dream stole over his spirit. he found himself in spheres glowing with light; the waters of eternity were rushing round the throne of the most high; creation appeared and praised his works, and heaven extolled their glory; from the worm in the dust, which no earthly being has been able to create, to the eagle soaring above the heights of the earth: from the grain of sand on the sea-shore, to the gigantic crater, which, at the lord's command, vomits fire out of its throat which has been closed for thousands of years: they all spoke with one voice which is not heard by the haughty, being only manifest and comprehensible to the humble. these were the words of him who created them, be it in six days or in six thousand years, "a thousand years are but as a day in thy sight." with a slight shudder the monk opened his eyes. "i believe lord! help thou my unbelief," murmured he, taking heart. the bell sounded in the distance. they were ringing for vespers; sunset was already gleaming through the forest. the monk hastily turned towards the cloister. the chapel was lighted up, and through the half-opened door he could see the brothers in their stalls. he hurried noiselessly to his place, but to his astonishment he found that another monk was there; he touched him lightly on the shoulder, and strange to tell, the man he saw was unknown to him. the brothers, now one, now another, raised their heads and looked in silent questioning at the new comer. a peculiar feeling seized the poor monk, who saw only strange faces round him. growing pale, he waited till the singing was over. confused questions seemed to pass along the rows. the prior, a dignified old man with snow-white hair, approached. "what is your name, strange brother?" asked he in a gentle, kind tone. the monk was filled with dismay. "maurus," murmured he in a trembling voice. "st. bernhard was the abbot who received my vows, in the sixth year of the reign of king conrad, whom they called the frank." incredulous astonishment was depicted on the brothers' countenances. the monk raised his face to the old prior and confessed to him how he had wandered out in the early morning into the cloister-gardens, how he had fallen asleep in the forest, and had not wakened till the bell for vespers sounded. the prior made a sign to one of the brothers. then turning to the monk he said: "it is almost three hundred years since the death of st. bernhard and of conrad, whom they called the frank." the cloister annals were brought; and it was there found that three hundred years had passed since the days of st. bernhard. the prior also read the following note. "a doubter disappeared one day from the cloister, and no one ever knew what became of him." a shudder ran through the monk's limbs. this was he, this brother maurus who had now come back to the cloister after three hundred years! what the prior had read sounded in his ears as if it were the trumpet of the last judgment. three hundred years! with wide-open eyes he gazed before him, then stretched forth his hands as if seeking for help. the brothers supported him, observing him at the same time with secret dismay; his face had become ashy pale, like that of a dying person, the narrow circle of hair on his head had become snow-white. "my brothers," murmured he in a dying voice, "value the imperishable word of the lord at all times, and never try to fathom what he in his wisdom has veiled from us. may my example never be blotted out of your memory. only to-day the words of the psalmist were revealed to me. 'a thousand years are but as a day in thy sight.' may he have mercy on me, a poor sinner." he sank lifeless to the ground, and the brothers, greatly moved, repeated the prayers for the dead over his body. the origin of the seven mountains in olden times the rhine flowed into a deep mighty lake above the town of königswinter. those who then lived near the eifel mountains or on the heights of the westerwald, were in constant fear of these swelling waters which often overflowed, causing great destruction in the country. they began to consider that some great saviour was necessary, and sent a messenger into the country of the giants, begging some of them to come down and bore through the mountain, which prevented the waters from flowing onward. they would receive valuable presents as a recompense. so one day seven giants arrived in their country bringing enormous spades with them, and with a few good strokes of their tools, they made a gap in the mountain so that in a few days the water washed through the gap which visibly became larger. at last the river streamed through in torrents. the lake gradually dried up and completely disappeared, and the liberated rhine flowed majestically towards the plain. the giants looked at their work with satisfaction. the grateful folk brought them rich treasures, which they had taken out of the mines. having divided them fraternally, the giants shouldered their spades and went their way. these heaps of rocky ground which they had dug out were so great, that ever since they have been called the seven mountains, and will remain there until the giants come again and sweep them away. the nightingale valley at honnef honnef is one of the most lovely little spots on the earth, nestling sweetly at the foot of the old drachenfels. the mountain protects it from the icy winds of the north, and the breezes blow gently in the valley, which may be called the german nice. when the setting sun reminds the wanderer on the drachenfels of coming darkness, and he strolls down through the valley of honnef, the songs of numerous nightingales sound in his ears. this has been the meeting-place of these songsters for many a long year, and there is an old legend which gives us the reason. there was a time when they used to sing in the forest round the old abbey himmerode, as they now do in the valley of honnef. the pious monks, walking about in the cloister gardens in holy contemplation heard their seductive songs: the penitents in their cells, mortifying the flesh heard them also. their alluring warble mingled itself with their murmured prayers; and in the heart of many a monk, who had long since renounced the world and its pleasures, the remembrance of them was gently awakened, and sweet sinful things were whispered into the holy brother's ears. then one day it happened that st. bernhard came to the abbey himmerode, to examine the brother's hearts. he was greatly distressed to find that many a holy soul had turned from the path of peace, and the cause of this also became known to him. in a violent passion the holy man strode out into the forest surrounding the cloister, and raising his hand angrily towards the seductive singers, he cried. "go from here! ye are a curse to us." st. bernhard had spoken threateningly, and lo! with a great stir in the branches, a throng of numberless nightingales rose from the bushes, filled the forest once more with their glorious song, and fled with a great flapping of wings. they settled down in the valley of honnef, and no excommunication has driven them from there. those who wander there are not averse to the pleasures of the world like st. bernhard, and every one after his own manner reads a different meaning in their song. godesberg the high cross at godesberg if you walk on the high road between bonn and godesberg which is not far distant, you perceive on the left side, shimmering white amid the green woodland, a high pillar crowned with a cross known as the "high cross." it is a pleasing sight to him who passes by on a bright day; but in the twilight its glaring white contrasting so sharply with the dark back ground, makes a dismal impression on him, which is still more enhanced by the legend told about it. the story leads us back to the time when instead of the grey ruins, a proud stronghold near godesberg looked down into the wonderful valley of the rhine. an old knight lived there, who was well known far and near for his bravery and generosity. his beloved wife had died, leaving him two sons. the elder was the very image of his mother in body and mind; he had gentle childlike manners, and it was therefore natural that the father's eye rested with more pleasure on him than on the younger son who was very daring, and in spite of his youth had already gone after strange, and not always honourable adventures. yet the old father did not grieve much on his account, hoping that the sooner the reckless youth emptied his cup of pleasure, the sooner he would come to the bitter dregs. then like others he would surely become more serious, and would yet fulfil the longing desire of his late mother. she had fervently wished to see him when a man adorned with st. mathern's ring, which the bishops of cologne wore, while erich, the elder, should become lord of godesberg castle. the father's thoughts lingered with pleasure on the pleasant prospects of his sons' future. he sent up many a fervent prayer to heaven for the fulfilment of his desires, well knowing that the spirit of his beloved wife supported him at the throne of the almighty with her own supplications. the old knight often spoke to his younger son about his vocation in life, but always observed with disappointment that his son avoided any allusion to the subject. when the father felt his death approaching, he imparted once more his wish to his two sons, that the elder should become master of the castle, and the younger, bishop of cologne. with a blessing for them on his lips, he closed his eyes for ever. his death was sincerely deplored by all the poor people of the neighbourhood. * * * * * some time after the two brothers sat as usual in the high banqueting-hall of godesberg. it was a very dismal meal, for they sat opposite to each other, the elder with reproachful looks, the younger with knitted brows. "i only took what the ancient law of my fathers bestowed upon me," said the elder mildly but firmly, in answer to some harsh words of his companion. "i am not master, but only manager of the family possessions. all our ancestors whose pictures look down on us in this hall would curse me, if i did not take good care of their legacy. but you, my dear brother, will receive a higher gift than a castle. you, the offspring of a noble race, shall become a worthy servant of our saviour." "never!" burst forth the younger one in passionate eloquence "never will i bow my neck to an unjust law that compels one to take up arms, and another meekly to accept a monk's cassock. if they offered me now a bishop's ring or a cardinal's hat, i would not become a priest, i shall remain a knight." the elder brother listened sorrowfully to this headstrong speech. "may god, whom you thus blaspheme, enlighten your dark heart. i would willingly share with you whatever i possess, but our father's will forbids it. therefore bend your proud neck humbly, and beware of the judgment that will fall on him who despises the will of his dying father." * * * * * hunting horns and trumpets sounded through the green forest which extended at that time from the town of godesberg to the gates of bonn. this huge wood abounded in noble game. the two brothers were indulging together in the pleasures of the chase, as they had done so often in their father's life-time. count erich had gladly accepted his brother's invitation to accompany him. he was only too glad to see how his dark mood had changed in the last few days and given way to greater cheerfulness. it appeared to lord erich as if his brother had come to reason, and after all had made up his mind to fulfil their parents' wish. he believed all the more in the happy change when he heard that his brother intended presenting himself to the archbishop of cologne, in order to deliver a letter of great importance from his late father to him. count erich's heart was glad. he roamed joyfully through the forest, and his gladness seemed to increase his good luck in the sport. several gigantic boars were pierced through by a spear sent from his hand. a deer also met with a similar doom. the younger brother's success was on the contrary very meagre. his hand was unsteady and his whole bearing betrayed restlessness. a strange subdued fire gleamed in his eyes. while he was following the trail of a mighty boar, count erich met him and offered to pursue the animal in his company. they hunted through thorns and thicket, accompanied by the yelping hounds. suddenly the foliage rustled, and the boar was seen to break wildly through the bushes. a spear from the younger brother whirred towards the beast, but missed its aim and remained sticking in the bark of an oak. "your hand is more fit to bless pious christians," said count erich with a smile. "but still fit enough to rid me of an inconvenient brother!" muttered the younger brother between his teeth, and tearing his hunting knife rapidly from his belt, he plunged the two-edged steel into his brother's breast. a terrible cry at the same time rang through the forest, and the murderer fled in haste. two attendants of the count who were hunting close by, hearing the cry came running to see what was the matter, and found lord erich lying in his blood, dying. they bent down over him to see if they could help him, but alas! it was too late. the man, mortally wounded, was beyond the reach of human aid. with a last effort he opened his lips, muttered lowly but audibly the words, "my brother!" then sank back and closed his eyes for ever. the terrible news that the lord of godesberg had been foully murdered by his own brother, spread swiftly through the country. mourning again filled the castle on the mountain, when they carried the body of the poor slain man to his untimely grave. they buried him in the family vault next to the recent grave of his father. from that time the castle stood desolate. the next relative of the noble family, who lived in a lovely part of the rhine valley near the palatinate, avoided a place where such an unheard of crime had been committed. only an old man kept watch in the empty castle. but even he was soon compelled to leave it. one night the high tower was struck by lightning and the whole building burnt down. nothing remained but blackened ruins, looking mournfully on the gay landscape beneath. * * * * * years went by after this crime. nobody heard or saw anything of the murderer. he seemed to have totally disappeared. some people however whispered that on the day of the black deed, a man was seen fleeing from the forest of godesberg. he was pale and ghastly looking, and darted off, not caring which way he went. it was he who on the previous day had fostered in his burning brain the longing desire to take possession of his brother's heritage, and now he was a murderer, and bore cain's mark on his forehead. the unfortunate youth had rashly contrived this hellish plan to rid himself of his brother and to become lord of godesberg. his plan was to kill him while hunting, and then make the people believe that he had aimed at a boar and hit his brother accidentally instead. but when his victim sank down in agony, the knife dropped from his murderous hand, his courage failed him, and he felt himself driven from the wood as if chased by a demon. after many years had come and gone, a tired wanderer once knocked at the door of the cloister of heisterbach, which had been erected by st. benedict's pious disciples in a remote valley of the seven mountains. the man who desired admission looked more like a beggar than a pilgrim. his garments hung torn and ragged round his thin body, and his face was deeply furrowed by marks of long and cruel suffering. "have pity on me," said he in a trembling voice, "i come from the holy sepulchre, my feet will bear me no further." the door-keeper was moved, and retired to inform the abbot of the poor man's request. he received permission to bring him in. when the beggar appeared before the abbot, he fell on his knees and renewed his demand for food and rest. for some moments the monk looked penetratingly at the man before him, then a sign of recognition passed over his face, and he cried out. "good heavens! is it you sir knight?" the pilgrim trembled, prostrated himself before the abbot, and embraced his knees in overwhelming grief. "have mercy on me," exclaimed he, "it was i who twenty years ago slew my brother in the forest of godesberg. during twenty long years i tried to atone for my cursed deed and obtain forgiveness and peace. as a pilgrim i cried for mercy at the grave of him whom i murdered; as a slave of the infidels, under the weight of heavy chains i prayed incessantly for god's mercy, but i cannot find peace. three months ago the fetters were struck from my hands, and i have again come home, weary unto death. you, oh worthy abbot, have known me from a child. let me rest within the walls of this cloister, that i may daily see the castle where i was an innocent child. i will pray and do penance until death releases me from my wretched life." the abbot felt intense pity for the unhappy man. he bent down, laid his hands on him, and blessed him. * * * * * for many years the poor penitent remained in the cloister trying to atone for his crime with fervent prayers and hard penance. at last god in his grace called him away, and the repenting sinner died hopeful of heaven's forgiveness. the monks buried him in a shady place in their cloister garden. bonn lord erich's pledge on the klochterhof at friesdorf near bonn, a nobleman once lived, who was well known in the whole rhine valley as a great tippler. once lord erich had indulged with great relish in the noble sport of the chase in the forest that surrounded the neighbouring town of godesberg. the day was hot, the chase unsuccessful and rather tedious for him, as he was more than usually tormented by a mighty thirst. the sun had set and his last golden rays were glittering on the waves of the rhine, when lord erich shouldered his blunderbuss and turned homeward with a small bag, consisting of one fat hare. in those days one small inn (now they can be counted by the dozen) stood on the margin of the large forest of godesberg. there lord erich entered to rest his tired limbs, but principally to quench his great thirst. he gave the hare to the landlady, that she might prepare it with skilful hands, and ordered a flowing bumper of golden rhine wine which he emptied at one deep draught. i am sure that the juice of the grapes must have been far better then, than it is now-a-days. the landlady soon prepared the game and placed the tempting meal before the hungry hunter, who enjoyed it thoroughly. but he appreciated still more the delicious, cool wine offered to him. one glass after the other was swallowed by the thirsty lord of klochterhof, and the landlord marked just as many charcoal strokes on the door-post. when night approached, the noble hunter began to think of returning home. sitting there had been agreeable and comfortable, but he found it very difficult to get up and walk. the landlord, perceiving his guest's preparations to take his leave, came forward and said in rather a rough tone, being an outspoken fellow: "twelve bottles, my lord, don't forget to pay before you go." lord erich who was standing very unsteadily on his legs, muttered in a thick voice but very good-humouredly, "dear landlord, i could pay you if i had loaded my blunderbuss with money, but i did not." with this cheerful response he turned to go. the landlord was exceedingly aggravated at this careless answer. his face grew quite purple with anger. "if you have no money, my lord, i shall keep your trousers till you are able to pay for the twelve bottles." so saying he took hold of the tipsy man. whether he liked it or not, lord erich was obliged to leave his inexpressibles with the inexorable landlord, and to walk home without them. the firs in the wood shook their heads in disapproval at such a strange attire. it is not known if lord erich ever came back to the inn to redeem his nether garments. the roman ghosts before the gates of the old roman town of bonn rises a mountain of moderate height, called kreuzberg, or "crossmountain." in early mediaeval times pious pilgrims went to this sacred place, in order to kneel on the holy steps of the old convent church so rich in memories of the martyrs, or to pray in the chapel. on the same spot at the beginning of the fourth century, the great saints of the theban legion, cassius, and his companions florentius and melusius, died for the christian faith. these martyrs were the guardian saints of the country round bonn. many a prayer sent up to them had graciously been fulfilled, since the time when st. helena, the pious mother of constantine, erected a chapel to their honour on kreuzberg. once upon a time a simple peasant from the neighbouring country went on a pilgrimage to st. cassius' burial place. he came to ask the kind martyr for assistance in his distress. dransdorf was his village, formerly called trajan's village, because the general, who later on became emperor trajan, is said to have had a villa there. a bad harvest had brought troubles on the peasant, but he firmly believed that through the intercession of st. cassius he would receive money enough in one way or another to enable him to pay his many debts. on arriving at kreuzberg, he began his religious exercises by confessing his sins to one of the monks belonging to the order of st. francis. then according to custom he knelt in succession on one sacred step after the other till he reached the chapel. his wife had carefully put a candle in his pocket which he now lighted before the image of st. cassius. having thus fulfilled all the duties prescribed by the church, he turned homewards, well content with himself. when he crossed the principal square of the town, where already at the time the magnificent minster stood, he entered this church to pray once more, and to put another coin into the poor-box. twilight was creeping through the aisles, and a pilgrimage being not at all an easy thing, our peasant soon fell asleep over his prayer-book. he only awoke, when, somebody pulled him by his sleeve. it was the sexton with a big bunch of keys. at first the peasant gazed drowsily at the unwelcome intruder, then with astonished eyes he looked round about him, until at last it dawned upon him, that he must get up and leave the church. rousing himself he made the sign of the cross, and left the minster with tottering steps. the night winds rustled in the old limetrees of the square and seemed to whisper strange tales into the ears of the late wanderer. the peasant crossed the open space sulkily, and steered his way towards the sternthor, which led to dransdorf. an ancient roman tower, the remains of the high fortifications erected by the soldiers of drusus eighteen hundred years ago, stands in the narrow lane, leading from the minster-square to the sternthor. to the tired wanderer this tower seemed a splendid shelter, all the more so, as it would not cost him a penny. he entered it, and tired out with the weary day, he was soon fast asleep as if he had never been stirred up from the bench in the minster. no sexton with noisy keys was to be feared, and yet in his sleep the countryman had the sensation of somebody tapping him on the shoulder. he sat up and looked round. to his amazement he beheld a magnificent warrior standing before him, clad in a coat of mail with a roman helmet on his head. two companions in similar array stood by his side. they nodded genially down to him, and it struck him that he had already seen them somewhere else. after some moments he remembered the pictures of st. cassius and his friends in the chapel on kreuzberg. there was no doubt the three holy martyrs stood in person before him. our good peasant was so much awed at this discovery that he could not utter a word, but on a sign from his mysterious visitors, he followed them at a respectful distance. they marched towards the sternthor, straight into the building, the walls of which were as thick as the rooms were long in the peasant's humble little cottage. in the middle of a high vault there was a table covered with sparkling gold. at this unusual sight the peasant opened his eyes very widely indeed; but his astonishment changed into keen delight when one of his ghostly visitors filled his left pocket and another his right with the glittering metal. meanwhile the third man took a tumbler from the middle of the table, and presented it to him with an encouraging smile. he thought their language was very much like that which the vicar of the village church used in reading the service. though the simple man could not understand a word of their conversation, he interpreted the kind invitation quite correctly, and shouting out a merry, "vivat!" as a salute to his hosts, he emptied the tumbler at one big draught. the whole building resounded with the echo, "vivat!" the three warriors looked pleased and answered in a cheerful voice, "vivat, vivat!" all at once it seemed to the peasant as if the vault was filled with a multitude of roman soldiers who all called out to him, "vivat!" as if happy to hear a sound of their native language in the country of the north. the man from dransdorf became quite high-spirited, and kept on shouting, "vivat, vivat!" suddenly startled by the noise he made, he awoke and found himself lying on the floor of the roman tower in the sterngasse. the events of the night only seemed to him like a strange dream. but when he felt in his pockets he found them stuffed with real golden coins of a strange ancient stamp. our friend's joy became quite uproarious. after having sent up a heartfelt thanksgiving to st. cassius, he gave vent to his delight by shouting through the quiet streets at the top of his voice, "vivat, vivat!" a watchman stood on duty by the sternthor, when the jocund peasant passed by. he made a step forward and, reaching out his arm, he gave the merry man a rude knock with his lance. unmindful of this rough admonition, the peasant related the event in the roman tower to the watchman, and finished his story by inviting the stern man of duty to an early draught at the nearest inn. rumours of the wonderful events spread far and wide, and soon every town and village knew the tale. the small lane leading from the minstersquare to the sternthor was called "vivat" lane, and bears that name to the present day. some years ago a heavy winter gale destroyed the old roman tower that had so long withstood the vicissitudes of time. the people of bonn however did not wish to obliterate the memory of this curious story, and therefore named the street running parallel with "vivat" lane--"cassius graben." cologne richmodis of aducht it was about the middle of the fifteenth century. the shadows of death hovered above the holy city of cologne. a strange figure in dark garments hurried with quick steps through the streets and lanes. it was the plague. its poisonous breath penetrated into cottages and palaces, extinguishing the lives of many thousands. the grave-diggers marked innumerable houses with a black cross, to warn the passers-by that the destroying angel had entered there. the roll of the dead rose to such numbers that it was impossible to bury them all in the customary manner. therefore the bodies of the unfortunate people were thrown together into a common grave, covered only scantily with earth and marked with a plain wooden cross. woe and sorrow thus filled the old city of cologne. on the new-market, close to the church of the apostles, in a splendid mansion, the rich magistrate, mengis of aducht lived. wealth could not save his house from the dreadful epidemic, his youthful and lovely wife, richmodis, was seized with the plague and died. the grief of her lord was boundless. he passed the whole night by the remains of his beloved spouse, dressed her himself in the white wedding gown she had worn as a happy bride a few years before, decorated the coffin with sweet white flowers, and covered her with the precious jewels and costly rings she had loved so much. then she was buried. night approached, and the clear starry sky looked peacefully down on the afflicted town. perfect stillness prevailed in god's acre.--suddenly a jarring sound like the opening of an old rusty lock was heard, and two dark shadows glided among the graves, on and on till they stopped before the fresh mound which enclosed the body of richmodis of aducht.--those two knew the spot, and well they might, for they were the grave-diggers, and had prepared this grave themselves on the previous day. they were present when the lid of the coffin was screwed down, and had with hungry looks coveted the glittering precious stones richmodis was to be buried with. now they had come to rob the dead body. with spade and shovel the wreaths and flowers were quickly removed from the mound, the earth dug up, and the coffin laid bare. in feverish haste, spurred on by their greed, they burst the lid open, and the dim light of their lantern fell full on the mild pale face of the dead woman. with haste the bolder of the two wretches loosened the white waxen hands folded together as in prayer, and tried to tear off the rings. suddenly the body quivered, and the white hands spread out. aghast the robbers dropped their tools, scrambled in utmost terror out of the grave, and fled as if chased by the furies. a painful long sigh rose from the depth of the grave, and after some time the white form of richmodis who had been buried alive, emerged from the tomb. with wide open eyes, full of horror, she looked down into the ghastly bed she had just left.--could it really be true, or was it only a frightful dream? god's acre was silent, but for the rustling of the autumn leaves of the weeping willows. stillness of death everywhere!--no answer came to her faint cry for help.--the horror of her situation however wakened her declining strength. she took up the lantern which the robbers had left behind them and with feeble steps reached the entrance of the churchyard. the streets were desolate. the stars overhead alone perceived the slowly moving form, every now and then resting against the walls of the houses.--at last she reached the new-market and stood before the door of her home. dark and quiet it seemed. but from the window in the magistrate's room a faint light shone forth. a quiver ran through the frame of the poor wife, and a wild longing desire seized her to be sheltered by his loving arms and to feel in his embrace that she had really returned to life again. with a last effort she seized the knocker, and listened with newly awakened hope to the tapping sound which rang clear through the night. a few minutes elapsed. then an old servant peeping out of the window in the door, perceived the white ghostly figure of his late mistress. horror seized him, his hair stood on end. richmodis called him by his name and begged him to open the door. at the sound of her voice the old man started, ran upstairs, dashed into his master's room uttering incoherent sounds, and stammering: "o lord, the dead rise; outside stands our good mistress and demands entrance!" but the magistrate shook his head in deep grief: "richmodis, my beloved wife is dead and will never return, never, never," he repeated in unspeakable sorrow; "i will rather believe that my two white horses will burst from their halters in the stable and mount the stairs to the tower." a terrible sound suddenly filled the quiet house, a noise like thunder was heard, and mengis of aducht and his servant saw the two white steeds tearing and tramping in haste upstairs. a moment later two horses looked out of the tower windows into the night, and shortly afterwards the magistrate laughing and crying with joy at the same time, held in his arms his wife who had returned from the grave. for many years richmodis lived happily with her husband, surrounded by several lovely children. deep piety remained the motive power of richmodis' being, and nobody ever saw her smile again. if you come to cologne, reader, you will still see the old house of the aduchts at the new-market, with two white wooden horses' heads looking out of the top window. the goblins this story goes back to the "good old times" of which we modern people always speak with a sigh of regret. it was then when good-natured goblins appeared to mortal eyes, and tried to render the life of the troubled human race a little more cheerful. in groves and dens they had magnificent dwellings and watched there over the enormous mineral treasures of the earth. often these beneficent elves were busy miners or sometimes clever artisans. we all know that they manufactured the precious trinkets and arms of the nibelungen treasure. deep in the interior of the earth they lived happily together, ruled over by a king. they could be called the harmless friends of darkness, because they were not allowed to come into broad daylight. if they did so, they were transformed into stones. the goblins did not always remain underground. on the contrary they often came to the earth's surface through certain holes, called goblin-holes, but they always avoided meeting man. alas! the advance of civilisation has driven these friendly spirits gradually from the places where they used to do so much good. none of us, i am sure has ever had the good luck of meeting one of them. the goblins were of different sizes. sometimes they were as small as one's thumb, sometimes as large as the hand of a child of four years old. the most remarkable feature of these tiny figures was the enormous head and the pointed hump that so often adorned their backs. their look was on the whole more comical than ugly. german people used to call them "heinzchen" or "heinzelmännchen." a long time ago the good town of cologne was inhabited by a host of dwarfs, and the honest population knew a great many stories about them. the workmen and artisans especially had, through the assistance of the little wights, far more holidays than are marked in the calendar. when the carpenters, for instance, were lying on their benches in sweet repose, those little men came swiftly and stealthily along, they took up the tools and chiselled and sawed and hammered with a will, and thus, records the poetical chronicles which i am quoting, before the carpenters woke up, the house stood there finished. in the same way things went on with the baker. while his lads were snoring, the little goblins came to help. they groaned under the load of heavy corn-sacks, they kneaded and weighed the flour, lifted and pushed the bread into the oven, and before the lazy bakers opened their eyes, the morning bread, brown and crisp, was lying in rows on the table. the butchers too could speak of similar agreeable experiences. the good little men chopped, mixed and stirred with all their might, and when the drowsy butcher opened his eyes at last, he found the fresh, steaming sausages adorning the walls of his shop. the cooper enjoyed also the help of the busy dwarfs, and even the tailor could not complain of the goblins having neglected him. once mr. cotton, a clever tailor, had the honour of making a sunday coat for the mayor of the town. he worked diligently at it, but you can easily imagine that in the heat of the summer afternoon, the needle soon dropped from his hand, and he fell fast asleep. hush!--look there. one little goblin after the other crept cautiously from his hiding place. they climbed on the table and began the tailor's work, and stitched and sewed and fitted and pressed, as if they had been masters of the needle all their lives. when master cotton awoke, he found to his great joy the mayor's sunday coat ready made, and so neatly and well done that he could present the magnificent garment with pride to the head of the town. the pretty wife of mr. cotton looked at this masterpiece of her husband's art with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. in the night when her husband had fallen asleep, she rose from her bed without making the slightest noise, and scattered pease all over the floor of the workshop; she then put a half-finished suit on the table. she kept a small lantern hidden under her apron, and waited behind the door listening. soon after the room was full of little men all tumbling, falling, and slipping over the pease. yells and screams rose at the same time. the poor little men were indeed much bruised and hurt. without stopping they ran downstairs and disappeared. the tailor's wife heard the noise, and thought it good sport. when the yells were loudest, she suddenly opened the door to see her visitors, but she came too late. not a single goblin was left behind. since that time the friendly dwarfs have never more been seen in cologne, and in other places also they have entirely disappeared. jan and griet [illustration: jan und griet--steinbild am jan von werth-denkmal in köln] "there lived at cologne on the old farm of kümpchenshof a peasant who had a maid called griet and a man-servant called jan." thus begins the old well-known rhenish song of "jan van werth," the celebrated general of the imperial cavalry at the time when the swedes and french were taking advantage of the civil war in germany. but nobody except the inhabitants of the holy city of cologne, knows that jan van werth was originally a simple labourer, and that he was indebted for his luck in life to his bad luck in love. jan was an industrious farmer-boy with an upright character and a handsome face. many a girl would not have rejected him as a sweetheart, but jan's tender heart had long been captivated by the good looks of pretty griet, the comely maid of the kümpchenshof. his love could not long remain a secret. one day he confessed to her with sobs that he loved her dearly, and would with pleasure work and toil for her twice as much as he then did for his master. he spoke long and earnestly, and taking courage with every word he uttered, he at last put to her the all-important question--would she become his wife? laughingly the pretty girl put her round arms akimbo, tossed her head back and looked at her honest suitor with a mocking twinkle in her eyes. then she shook her head energetically and said: "you are only a farmer's labourer, my dear boy, and will remain one most probably all your life. true, it is not your fault, but all the same i should prefer to marry a rich farmer with cows and oxen and horses." bitter anger rose in jan's breast on hearing her talk so heartlessly, but he controlled himself. "just as you like," he said sadly, and turned away from the haughty maid. from that day he could not endure any longer the life at the farm, and pocketing his wages, he said good-bye for ever to the kümpchenshof and became a soldier. it was a furious war in which the german emperor was engaged against the enemies of his country, and brave soldiers were rare. any valiant warrior might distinguish himself and become an officer at that time. the farmer-boy, jan, soon won by his bravery and intrepidity the esteem of his superiors, and was promoted to the rank of colonel. once when fighting against the swedish troops he showed such determination and courage that he won the battle. after this brilliant act he was made a general. but the name of jan van werth became even more famous when he beat the french in a skirmish at tüttlingen. in another way also his good luck reconciled him to the first bitter disappointment caused for by griet's scornful answer. he married a lovely and noble young lady, who was very proud of becoming the wife of such a celebrated general. let us now look back and see what happened in the meantime to griet. she had waited month after month and year after year for the rich farmer. but the longed-for suitor never made his appearance. even in those by-gone days red cheeks and bright eyes were much less thought of than ducats and glittering gold. as time went on griet grew old, and though she would now have been content with a simple man for her sweetheart, not even such a one condescended to ask her to become his wife. little by little griet gave up all hopes of ever marrying, and had to look out for a living to keep her in her old age from starving. therefore she started a fruit stall at one of the large gateways of cologne. one day the good inhabitants of this town were in great excitement, and crowded in their best sunday-clothes round the gate of st. severin, where griet sat at her apple-stall. they had come to meet jan van werth, the celebrated general, who was returning victorious at the head of his regiment. there he was sitting on a powerful charger which was gorgeously covered with gilded trappings. on his fine head jan wore a broad-brimmed hat with a flowing feather. behind him rode his splendid soldiers. the body-guard of the town beat the drum enthusiastically, and the cologne people called out: "long live our jan van werth!" when the celebrated general passed the gate, he stopped his horse just in front of griet's apple baskets, and looking down upon the old wrinkled woman, met her questioning glance with an odd smile. "ah griet," said he slowly; "whoever would have thought it?" at the sound of his voice an expression of sudden recognition passed over her worn features, and she muttered sorrowfully, but still audibly to the proud rider, "oh, jan, if i had only known it!" a magnificent monument in the form of the statue of jan van werth now stands in the centre of the old market of cologne. it was erected there in memory not only of the heroic deeds of the brave general, but also as a warning to all cologne maidens not to reject their suitors because they are poor, for one day, like jan van werth, they may become famous, and then they will not, like griet, have to sigh over things that "might have been." the cathedral-builder of cologne it was at cologne in the year on the eve of the ascension day of our lord. before the mighty archbishop kunrad of hochstaden stood a simple architect offering the plan of a church, and arrogantly boasting that it would become one of the most beautiful cathedrals in christendom. that man was master gerhard of ryle. the archbishop was greatly astonished at the grandeur of the design, and ordered the execution of the bold plan without delay. on the square which was selected for the erection of the new cathedral, another church had once been standing under the reign of the first king of the franks, but it had been destroyed by the normans. now again gigantic masonry, slender pillars, bold vaults and arches rose to unite into a proud dome. everybody admired the humble man, whose creative genius now employed thousands of industrious workmen, and master gerhard's name was mentioned with great praise at home and abroad. when the choir was finished, crowds of pious pilgrims came from the surrounding suburbs and even from a distance to pray before the relics of the three holy kings which where enshrined there. hymns of praise re-echoed through the unfinished aisles. everybody rejoiced. but he, who ought to have been the most glad, was sad, and dark forebodings damped his spirits. the question if after all he would live to see his proud building finished, or if cruel fate would tear him away before he should have tasted the sweetness of triumph, tormented him day and night. his young wife saw with grief the change in his disposition; but she tried in vain by tender words and caresses to smooth his sorrowful brow. the more he was troubled by his gloomy thoughts, the more he urged his workmen on.--four years had elapsed; it was now . the tower on the north side rose already proudly into the air. the scaffolding reached higher and higher every day. one day master gerhard stood beside the big crane, watching how the gigantic blocks of stone taken from the quarries at the drachenfels, were lifted up. he thought with pride and satisfaction that his work was going on well; and that he surely would see it finished. while thus meditating he did not observe that a stranger stood by his side watching him with an ugly sneer. a burning red cloak hung round his tall figure, a gold chain glittered on his breast, and a cock's feather nodded from a quaint velvet cap. he introduced himself to the somewhat surprised builder as a fellow-architect. "you are building a lovely church," he then said, "but i created a far more magnificent mansion, long long years ago. its stone will never crumble to dust, and it will resist the influence of time and weather forever." in saying this, his eyes glittered strangely under his shaggy brows. this presumptuous speech did not please master gerhard, and without answering he measured the bold speaker scornfully from head to foot. "your church," continued the stranger, "will be a very lovely building, but don't you think that such an enterprise is far too audacious for mortal man. you, master gerhard, you ought to have known at the time when you laid the foundation stone of your church that you never would see your work finished." "who is likely to prevent it?" angrily burst forth the builder. no one had ever dared to use such language towards him, nor to wound his pride so keenly. "death," coolly replied the stranger. "never," cried master gerhard in a great fury, "i will finish what i began, and would even bet with the devil himself to do so." "hallo!" laughed the stranger grimly. "i should like to deal with such an audacious man as you, and make bold to bet with you that i will, in a shorter space of time, finish the digging of a canal from treves to cologne, fill it with water, and have merry ducks swimming on it, than you will take to complete your church." "so be it!" said master gerhard very much startled, taking the outstretched hand of the strange man. at the touch of his cold fingers, a sensation of horror crept into the heart of master gerhard. but the red-cloaked man burst into a yelling laugh and cried out in a formidable voice, "remember we betted for your soul." utmost terror seized the trembling architect, cold perspiration stood on his brow, and he tried in vain to utter a word. suddenly a storm rose, the stranger unfolded his red cloak, and was lifted from the ground in a cloud of dust and vanished. from that day the mind of master gerhard grew more and more gloomy. he kept on wandering restlessly on the scaffoldings of the building. the more he considered the huge dimensions of the cathedral, the more doubtful he felt as to whether he would be able to finish it or not. by daybreak he could be seen among his workmen, and till late in the evening he wandered about on the building-ground, praising the industrious and blaming the idle. he looked out anxiously sometimes in the direction of treves to see if he could discern anything uncommon there. but he never saw the slightest change, nor any sign that the stranger with whom he had betted, had really begun his canal in earnest, and he looked more hopefully into the future. one day he was standing as usual on the top of one of the completed towers, when he felt a hand laid on his shoulder. turning round, he beheld with disagreeable surprise the ghostly stranger. was he a master of the black art or was he the devil himself? "well, master gerhard," began the unwelcome visitor, "how are you getting on with your work? i see it is making good progress. happily i shall soon have finished my canal, else i should run the risk of losing my bet." "i can scarcely believe your boasting speech," answered the builder scornfully, "because i do not perceive the slightest trace of your having begun the canal." "know, my dear man, that i am worth more than a hundred workmen together and, as i told you, my work is nearly ready," said the man in red. "really," said master gerhard a little startled, "i should like to know what magic power could enable you to do so." "come and follow me," replied the stranger, taking the builder by the hand. off they flew through the air with the quickness of lightning, and reached the earth in the district near treves in a few seconds. at the place where they descended, a spring arose from the ground and sent its crystal waters into an opening in a rock. "come with me," said the magic stranger, and bending down he disappeared in this opening. master gerhard followed him and came into a high glittering grotto, where he perceived that the water gushed tumultuously into the mouth of a black underground channel. "you see," said the stranger, "how well i have used my time. if you have the heart for it, we will follow the waters, and see how far my canal reaches already." scarcely had he uttered these words, than a mysterious power seized both and pushed them forward with tremendous rapidity. master gerhard saw now with terror that the work of the evil one was indeed not far from its completion, for when they emerged from the dark canal, they had the city of cologne lying close before them. the cathedral-builder could no longer doubt the great skill of his rival, and he felt sure that he would lose his bet. the red-cloaked man seemed to take great delight in the builder's discomfiture, and he said with an ugly grin: "well, master gerhard, i see you have found more than you expected. i am sure you would like to see the merry ducks which shall swim on my brook, according to our bet." he clapped his hands three times and then listened. some minutes passed, but no ducks appeared. the stranger's face assumed an expression of rage, when he found his summons unsuccessful. he tried again but in vain. after this he gave a frightful yell, and vanished all at once, leaving nothing behind him but a smell of sulphur. the cathedral-builder had looked on in wonder, and new hope began to fill his heart, that after all he could win the bet. "i know well, why the ducks won't appear," thought he, "but i shall never betray my secret to him." after this adventurous journey, master gerhard was a prey to melancholy. he was seen oftener than before on the building ground. it was impossible for him to doubt any longer, that the stranger with whom he had made the fatal bet, was the devil himself. the unfortunate man was well aware that not only was his life at stake, but that the salvation of his soul was likewise in danger, should the master of hell carry out his work. there was only one little hope left for him, namely, that the devil would be unable to find out how to keep the ducks alive while they were swimming through the long underground channel. so master gerhard took courage, saying to himself: "he cannot win and i know why." his young wife was strangely moved at her husband's silence and melancholy. she tried by increased tenderness and love to unstop his silent lips and to make him tell what was lying so heavily on his heart. he appreciated her endeavours to cheer him very much, but could not be brought to tell of his dealings with the evil one, and so he kept his secrets to himself. one day, not long after the mysterious journey of master gerhard, a stranger, apparently a scholar, entered the architect's house, while he was as usual on the building ground. a scarlet cloak enveloped his tall figure, and a cock's feather sat boldly on his black cap. his manners were soft and in general those of a gentleman. hearing that the builder was not at home, he asked for his wife. she came and soon found that she liked talking to him, because he showed not only great eloquence, but also great sympathy for her husband. involuntarily she disclosed to the kind stranger her secret grief about master gerhard's sadness. the scholar listened to her troubles with great attention, and seemed to feel for her in her sorrow. "my dear mistress," said he in a soft voice, "there is surely some secret weighing heavily on his mind, and this and nothing else is the cause of his melancholy. unless we know it, we cannot cure him. you are nearest to his heart. if you are very loving and tender to him, he will not withhold the secret for long from you. be extremely kind to him. after three days i shall come back to see if you have been successful. if not, i will give you a remedy that will unfailingly make him tell you his inmost thoughts." thus speaking he took his leave, and she was unable to find words to express her gratitude. for three days she tried the scholar's advice, but found that her husband, in spite of all her coaxing and caresses, would not tell the cause of his melancholy. on the fourth day, the scholar called again and heard with apparent grief how badly her endeavours had succeeded, "i pity you heartily," said he, "but don't despair. here is a wonderful herb. prepare a beverage with it for your husband and make him drink it before he goes to sleep. he will dream after the draught and betray his secrets in his sleep." she accepted the gift gratefully, and prepared the potion according to his advice. her husband took the beverage willingly, and soon fell into a profound sleep. after some time dreams seemed to trouble him; he tossed restlessly to and fro in his bed murmuring incoherent words. his wife listened anxiously and heard in feverish excitement about the terrible dealings between him and the devil. after a pause master gerhard muttered: "he will never win, because i hold the secret." "what may that be?" whispered she in the dreamer's ear. "he may do what he will," unconsciously answered he, "it is quite impossible that ducks should swim through the underground channel, unless he makes air-holes at every mile. of course this idea will never come into his head." the next morning the scholar called upon the wife and heard how well his scheme had succeeded. she told him every thing. when she had revealed her husband's secret to him, the meek features of her strange guest suddenly changed. he gave a loud shrill scream of joy and disappeared. the poor wife remained on the same spot, pale and terror-stricken. master gerhard was standing the next day by the high crane of the cathedral as usual. the air was sultry, and black clouds were gathering from across the rhine. he felt very restless, and urged his workmen even more than before to hurry on. the builder's heart was strangely filled with dark forebodings. all at once he felt a hand on his shoulder, and turning round, he beheld with terror the fatal stranger. a wondrous gleam of red-like flames seemed to radiate all round his figure. the cathedral builder grew pale as death and trembled from head to foot. he was unable to utter a word. beaming with the joy of triumph, the evil one pointed with his hand downwards, and forced master gerhard to look in the same direction. behold! at the foot of the cathedral a silvery brook was visible running from the direction of treves. merry ducks were swimming on its shining surface. it is impossible to describe the feelings of the builder at the sight of the completed work of his rival. despair and agony made his heart sink within him, but the evil one looked with joy on his victim. when he suddenly tried to grasp him, master gerhard darted to the edge of the scaffolding with a heart-rending scream, and dashed himself down into the depth below, and was instantly killed. a roar of thunder filled the air at that moment and the devil vanished in a blaze of lightning. the thunderstorm grew more and more violent. after a few minutes the unhappy cathedral builder's house was struck by lightning and burnt to ashes in less than an hour. unfortunately, the admirable plan of the splendid church was also destroyed. this was the sad end of master gerhard and his ambition. the cathedral remained untouched for more than six centuries after. its unfinished walls and towers began to decay as if they mourned the terrible death of their builder. the cologne people believed for a long time that the spirit of master gerhard used to hover about midnight round the high towers and the desolated vaults. strange sounds like the sighs of somebody in anguish were often heard in the deserted building, and people said it was master gerhard's ghost complaining that his proud cathedral remained unfinished. generation after generation passed by, and six centuries elapsed before busy workmen began again hammering and building on the ground which had lain so long quiet. in the dome was finished, and towers now in all its majesty high above the dwellings of the people, and can be seen miles away. since that glorious day when the last stone was added to the cathedral of cologne, master gerhard's ghost has never been heard or seen again. xanten siegfried [illustration: siegfried schleppt einen bären ins lager--nach einer lithographie von peter cornelius] siegfried,--and as we pronounce this glorious name, the hero looks forth at us with shining eyes, for was not siegfried the perfect embodiment of all that was beautiful and good? for centuries stories have been told and poems have been sung of the bold adventures of the young hero, whose energy only found satisfaction in victorious fights. the original name of the small town on the lower rhine now called xanten, was "ad santos," "peace for the saints." it was thus named on account of the pious warriors of the theban legion who in the fourth century had boldly died there for their creed under their leader, victor. at the time to which our story refers, a mighty stronghold formed the centre of the little town xanten. a king called siegmund with his wife siegelinde and their son siegfried lived there. while a mere boy, siegfried had already a kingly stature, and an almost untamable disposition of mind. when he was only thirteen years of age, his longing for grand deeds was so great that he found it impossible to remain inactive at home. from old songs and legends which the minstrels recited in his father's castle, he had heard so much of bold adventures and brilliant exploits performed by his forefathers, that he was most anxious to follow in their steps. he felt strong and valiant enough to undertake, like the heroes of old, dangerous journeys. therefore young siegfried left one day his ancestral halls, and wandered southwards along the clear blue river. he soon found an opportunity of testing his courage. at the foot of the seven mountains lived a celebrated armourer called mimer, renowned for making excellent swords. our hero liked this warlike trade, and he asked the master to receive him as an apprentice, that he might learn the praiseworthy art of forging a good sword for himself. the armourer agreed, and siegfried remained at mimer's workshop. the journeymen with whom the youth had to work, soon learned the enormous strength of their new companion. the boy, often not knowing how to give expression to his desire for action, would take up his fellow-workmen, lift them high into the air, and drop them, not always softly, to the ground. or when his anger was roused, he would imprint black and blue marks on their backs with his strong fists. once he even smashed with one stroke of his hammer all the iron bars in the armoury, and knocked the anvil into the ground with a mighty blow. mimer looked on with dismay, amazed at the boy's almost supernatural strength, but fearing that siegfried's wrath might some time turn against him, he thought to rid himself of his dangerous apprentice, and conceived a cunning plan to kill him. a horrible dragon lived in the neighbouring forest, which tore every wanderer to pieces who chanced to cross its way. mimer ordered siegfried to fetch a sack from the charcoal-burner in that forest, well knowing that the boy would never return thence. the youth, without knowing the danger he was about to meet, went cheerfully on his way. in the middle of the thick wood he kindled a charcoal-kiln, and amused himself by putting big burning branches and young trees into the fire. suddenly the monster came swiftly creeping on its huge claws. curving its shimmering body the ugly beast opened wide its jaws to devour the young charcoal-burner. siegfried's eyes brightened up at the prospect of an encounter with the terrible animal before him. without a moment's hesitation, he tore a flaming beam out of the kiln, and pushed its burning end deep into the open mouth of the dragon. roaring with pain the monster turned round beating violently with its prickly tail, trying in its agony to crush siegfried. but he, jumping skilfully aside, rapidly dealt it heavy blows, and succeeded at last in smashing its head with a large piece of rock. he severed the head from the body, and threw it into the blazing flames. to his astonishment he observed how a stream of grease gushed from the burning pile, and collected in a pool at his feet. close by the charcoal-kiln stood an old limetree. a little bird sang merrily in its branches. siegfried, involuntarily listening to the clear strain, made out the following words: "if you would be covered with horn, and become invulnerable, undress yourself and plunge into the pool." siegfried quickly threw his clothes off and anointed his whole body with the dragon's grease. while thus occupied a leaf from the old limetree above dropped between his shoulders. this part of the hero's body remained without horn. when he had finished, he took up the monster's head and returned to mimer's workshop. the nearer he got to the smithy, the more his rage against his wicked master increased. mimer had seen the boy from afar approaching with the trophy of his fight, and had hidden in great fear. siegfried however soon found him out and slew him on the spot. then he forged a good two-edged sword and shining armour for himself, and having saddled the best horse of mimer's stable, he left the smithy to look for new adventures. for a long time he travelled aimlessly about, saw mountains and valleys, rivers and lakes, cities and hamlets, until he at last arrived at the sea-shore. he embarked with his good horse, and was cast by a gale on the rocky coast of an unknown country. the noble animal climbed courageously up the stony beach, and carried its rider to an enchanted castle which was surrounded by a wall of flames. for a moment siegfried stood irresolute. suddenly the voice of the little bird sounded again above him, "break the charm. straight into the flames with a bold dash. a most lovely maiden will be thy reward." the youth took courage, spurred his steed, and with a plunge horse and rider disappeared in the flames, which were at once extinguished. the charm was broken. before him lay a wonderful castle. siegfried penetrated into its interior, and was amazed to find every living creature in a profound sleep within; the horses in their stalls, the grooms in the stables, the cook at the hearth. when he entered the high hall a lovely scene presented itself to his view. on a couch the most exquisite form of a woman lay sleeping. her golden hair was strewn with precious stones, and her limbs were clothed in the most costly garments. the young hero looked for a while, lost in admiration. then bending down to her, he pressed a passionate kiss on her rosy lips. brunhilde, the fair sleeper, opened her eyes, and at the same time every living being in the castle awoke. the old legend depicts in glowing colours the sweet hours of love that followed for siegfried and brunhilde. days and months passed by without the lovers being aware of it. however fond of adventures siegfried was, he felt himself chained to the spot by her subtle charms. while thus undecided he heard one day the bird's voice: "leave the castle and give up a life of ignoble leisure; direct your steps towards the country of the nibelungen, take possession of their immense treasures and of the precious invisible cap." at the prospect of new adventures siegfried could not be kept back any longer by brunhilde. they parted with the solemn promise of meeting again. a great many exploits are recorded of the proud hero which he performed in the country of the nibelungen. after a long and hard struggle with the cunning dwarfs, he took away with him their treasure, as well as the cap which had the gift of making its wearer invisible. years had passed by, and siegfried longed to see the place of his childhood again. so he turned homewards and reached xanten after many adventures. the joy of his noble parents at seeing their valiant son again was indescribable. the legend of siegfried's youthful exploits and his home-coming is full of romance and happiness. but if we listen to the continuation of his story we shall find how every human feeling has its place in the hero's biography, great joy, deep sorrow, passionate love, glowing hatred, heroism and perfidy, cowardice and high courage, until at last the legend of siegfried ends in a pitiful wail of grief. cleve lohengrin [illustration: des schwanenritters abschied--nach dem gemälde von w. von kaulbach--lohengrin's departure--le départ du chevalier au cygne] the weathercock on the ancient stronghold at cleve is a swan, and in olden times the dynasty that ruled over the lovely country round cleve had also a swan in their crest. a legend, tragic and beautiful, preserved to posterity forever in richard wagner's lovely opera, is connected with it,--the legend of lohengrin. long centuries ago deep sorrow brooded over the walls of the castle at cleve. its mistress, the duchess elsa, was in great distress. her beloved husband had died, and his remains had been brought to their last resting-place. as soon as the tomb had closed over them, one of the late duke's vassals, telramund, rose in revolt, and imperiously claimed the right to reign over the dukedom. the audacious man went so far as to ask the widowed duchess to become his wife, declaring that this was the only means of saving her rank, which the death of her husband had deprived her of. elsa, the youthful and lovely mistress, implored the knights of her dominion to assist her in her trouble, and to take up arms against the rebel. but telramund, little disconcerted by this appeal, offered to fight in single combat with anybody who dared to take up the quarrel with him, well knowing that, on account of his immense strength, nobody would dare to become his adversary. the days passed in deepest sorrow for the unfortunate duchess. the moment was approaching when the rebel would make bold to proclaim openly his claims before the whole assembled nobility on the open space before the castle. the fatal hour came. pale, her face covered by her widow's veil, her queenly form enveloped in mourning garments, elsa descended from her castle to the assembly. the large plain was crowded with a throng of people, and glittered with the brilliant armour of the knights. the unfaithful vassal, covered from head to foot in shining armour, came forward with bold steps and claimed in a loud voice the hand and dominion of the duchess. the knights around, deluded by his valiant appearance and the firmness of his voice, broke into loud applause. some of the crowd joined them in their cry of approbation, but most of the people looked on, full of pity and admiration for their youthful mistress. no answer to his first challenge having come, telramund repeated his audacious demand, offering again to fight in single combat anybody who dared to accept it. his eyes glanced defiantly over the brilliant multitude of knights. he perceived with triumphant joy, how they all shrank from fighting with him.--elsa looked still paler than before. for a third time the challenge of telramund was heard. it sounded clearly over the whole plain. but none of the bright warriors came forward to take up the combat for elsa's sake. on the contrary deep silence followed the third challenge, and everybody's eyes were fixed on the forsaken princess who looked in her abandoned position still more lovely. the little hope that had till that moment given her strength to bear her misfortune, had now entirely vanished. in her utter desolation she offered a fervent prayer to heaven. on her rosary, so the legend records, a little silver bell was hanging, which possessed the wonderful gift of giving forth, whenever slightly touched, a clear ringing sound audible even at a great distance. in praying to god for deliverance from her great trouble, she pressed the cross on her rosary fervently to her lips. the silver bell tinkled, and at the same moment a little barge suddenly appeared on the blue river. when it came nearer, everybody looked with astonishment at the strange vessel. its form was light and graceful; but what astonished the people most was that it was not moved by either oar or rudder, but was gently gliding on the blue waves drawn by a snow-white swan. in the middle of the vessel stood a knight in shining silver armour. long golden locks emerged from under his glittering helmet, his bright blue eyes looked boldly over the crowd on the shore, and his hand held the hilt of his broad sword firmly. the strange boat stopped just opposite the plain where the people stood motionless with amazement. the knight landed from the barge, giving a sign with his hand to the swan, which swam gently down the rhine. in silence and awe the multitude made room for the stranger who approached with firm steps towards the middle of the brilliant circle, and saluted the assembly with a solemn grace. then he bent his knees before the duchess and rising, turned towards telramund, challenging him proudly to fight with him for the hand and dominion of elsa of brabant. the bold rebel's temerity seemed to fail him for a few moments, but gathering fresh courage he pulled his sword from its sheath with a loud scornful laugh. the next moment the two knights darted at each other, their blades clashing in rapid strokes. the whole crowd looked with wonder and amazement at the strange knight's great prowess. he parried the blows of his strong adversary skilfully. the combat lasted for some time, and neither of the fighters seemed to give way. suddenly a subdued cry was heard, and at the same time the presumptuous vassal sank to the ground, pierced by the sword of him whom god had sent, and expired. a tremendous shout of joy burst from the gazing crowd, which rang from one end of the plain to the other and was echoed by the glittering waves of the rhine. the people rejoiced in the victory, and thought that god himself had decided the combat in favour of elsa. the duchess felt greatly moved. in her overflowing gratitude she sank down before her deliverer with tears in her eyes. but he bade her rise, and bowing low before her asked her to become his wife. she consented. what a heaven of bliss opened for the duchess of brabant! all her former troubles were forgotten. her gratitude towards her rescuer was transformed into passionate love, to which lohengrin, the virtuous knight, responded with tender adoration. yet though everything seemed now so serene in the life of the duchess, there was a dim cloud which threatened to darken the clear prospect of her happiness. on their wedding-day elsa had to promise her bridegroom that she would never inquire about his name, his home, or his descent. trusting her deliverer's honour and chivalrous bearing, she took the strange oath without a moment's hesitation. many years of bliss and happiness passed, and elsa of brabant had strictly kept the promise she had made on her bridal morning. their happiness was still more enhanced by the birth of three hopeful boys. they were their parents' joy, and promised to become in future shining ornaments of knighthood. it happened however, when the eyes of the duchess were resting with pride on her sons, that her mother's heart thought with grief of the solemn oath she had sworn on her wedding-day. with how much more pride would she have looked upon her sons if she could have known them to be the offspring of a high and noble race. she did not doubt however that her beloved husband's lineage was a most noble one. yet the thought that his sons might never bear their father's name, nor be able to add new glories to it, was lying heavily on her mind, and darkened the radiant image of her husband, that like a deity filled her whole soul. the fatal question she had for so long withheld burst one day forcibly from her lips. when she had pronounced the awful words, the proud hero grew pale, and freeing himself softly from her tender embrace, he cried out in bitter grief: "woe to thee, my beloved wife and woe also to me! now that thou hast uttered the question thou didst sware solemnly never to ask, our happiness is gone for ever. i must part from thee, never to see thee again." a cry of anguish rose from her lips, but she was unable to keep him back. waving his hand to her in a mute farewell her noble husband left the castle. he went to the rhine and blew his silver horn. its sound was echoed from the shore like a long sob. the white swan with the boat soon appeared gliding gently over the river. lohengrin stepped into the boat and soon vanished out of sight and was seen no more. his unhappy wife was inconsolable. her grief was so intense that a short time after her health gave way, and she sank into a premature grave. her sons became the ancestors of a noble and distinguished race in the rhenish country. their badge is a swan. the traveller who visits cleve will still find a tombstone in its church with a knight carved on it, and a swan sitting at his feet. zuydersea stavoren [illustration: stavoren--nach einem stich von holbein] a strange story is still told about the city of stavoren on the zuydersea. it was a wondrous town, but like vineta on the baltic sea it vanished from the earth. the merchants of stavoren were the rulers of the ocean, and the treasures of all known countries were lying in their port. the houses were lovely palaces, furnished in their interior like the marvellous abodes of the sultan haroun al rachid, in the "arabian nights." of all the wealthy people of the town, there was nobody so much blessed with riches as richberta, a proud and beautiful lady. smiling fortune had lavishly poured its gifts upon her, and threw fresh treasures daily at her feet. she seemed to own everything beautiful that this life can bestow, but one thing she did not possess, and that was the soft fire of woman's kindness which lightens and warms the soul, and throws on all its surroundings a mild reflecting gleam. richberta was cold and indifferent to either the pleasures or sorrows of her fellow-men. when night casts her shades upon the earth, all the sweet bright birds and butterflies hide and make room for a host of ghastly animals like owls and bats. so in richberta's soul all her soft qualities had gone to sleep for want of the tender gleam of love, and only dark and harsh feelings haunted her soul. immense pride in her own wealth, a bitter envy towards those who possessed more than she did, were her ruling passions. once richberta gave a grand feast. while the luxurious meal was being served, a stranger entered, who had come from far away to see the wonders of stavoren with his own eyes. "i have seen," said he, bowing low to the lovely hostess, "many countries and many a princely court, but i confess that stavoren surpasses them all in splendour." highly flattered the proud lady bade him welcome to her table. according to the customs of the orient whence he came, he begged for some bread and salt. richberta ordered her servants to bring both, but it was useless to look for such simple fare in her house where only the most luxurious food was to be had. without making any remarks however the stranger sat down and partook of the costly dishes. then he began to relate his journeys, his success and his failures in life, and dwelt with great eloquence on the instability of earthly fortunes. all the guests listened with interest to what he said. only richberta sat gloomily at the head of her table. she felt angry that the stranger dared in her very presence to find fault with wealth and splendour, and to predict its probable destruction. moreover she thought it rude in him that he had no word of praise for her own brilliant beauty, nor a glance of astonishment for her gorgeous palace. her offended vanity induced her at last to force from him the praise he so obstinately withheld. "o, gracious lady," said he rather reluctantly, "marvellous indeed is your home and fit for a queen. if you travelled far and near, you could not find its equal. but, my lady, among your treasures i miss one thing, and that is the noblest that the earth produces." richberta was very anxious to learn what it was, that she might get it, and entreated her guest to name the precious thing. but he avoided any direct answer to her impetuous questions, and soon afterwards took his leave under a slight pretext. * * * * * on the open sea, a proud fleet was sailing. its commander, strange to say, did not himself know the aim of his journey. his mistress, richberta of stavoren, had directed him to travel to all parts of the world to find out and bring home the most costly treasure. according to her command he set out, cruised the ocean to the east, and to the west, and searched everywhere for the unknown gift. in doing so it happened one day that seawater spoiled a part of the provisions of one of the ships. it was the flour and bread, the want of which was keenly felt by the whole crew. in this necessity the captain saw clearly that neither gold nor pearls could outweigh the value of bread, and the meaning of the mysterious words the stranger from the orient had spoken to richberta, dawned upon him. he steered to the coast and took a large cargo of the finest wheat aboard his ships. full of joy at having at last found what he deemed the most costly thing on earth he sailed towards stavoren, where he arrived safely. when richberta learned of the common merchandise her captain had brought home, she summoned him before her and asked him contemptuously: "on which side of the vessel has the cargo of corn been taken in?" "on the right, mistress," answered the faithful servant, doubtful of what she meant. "then," continued she coldly, "throw it from the left into the sea again." * * * * * the day after the return of the fleet an animated scene was witnessed in the port of stavoren. the numerous poor people of the town on hearing of the wicked command of richberta, had come to beg of her not to spoil the precious wheat, but to divide it among those who were so much in want of it. the proud lady appeared herself to see that her will was executed. it was a touching spectacle to see how the crowd of miserable women and children surrounded the noble lady in her costly garments. the sight of so much misery would have moved many a cold heart, but richberta showed no pity. she moved forward impatiently as if she heard not the supplications. but the crowd of women stopped her. they fell on their knees and entreated her with uplifted hands and tears in their eyes for the preservation of god's precious gift. richberta heard but remained unrelenting. her command was fulfilled, and the golden wheat was thrown into the sea. a storm of reproaches rose from the poor on the shore, and many a mother prayed to god on her knees to revenge this wickedness. the curses of the hungry people were fulfilled, far sooner than they expected. in the same year innumerable earless blades of wheat rose from the bottom of the sea like a forest, catching up mud, mire, weed, and remains of animals, so that by and by a dune rose under water which stopped the ships from entering the port of stavoren. the inhabitants of the town who had principally lived by commerce, suddenly found the source of their wealth stopped. want and poverty took possession of the once rich city. richberta, in whom everybody recognised the author of this misfortune, lost everything in the general impoverishment, and was driven by the enraged populace from the town. the once proud and rich lady had now to beg for her bread. she walked wearily from village to village, curses following her wherever she went. she died in utter destitution. the sea that had for so many years been the blessing of stavoren was now the destruction of the voluptuous city. one night it rose with immense power against the dunes, burst through them, and flooding the town with huge waves, buried it forever. to this day, the fishermen on the zuydersea relate the story of the wonderful sunken city that once towered high into the air. when the water is clear they imagine they can see the high steeples of stavoren's churches and the towers of her palaces shimmering up from the bottom of the sea. * * * * * transcriber's notes: illustrations were inserted between pages of the original text. in this e-book they have been moved to the head of the relevant story. obvious printer errors (missing or transposed letters, misspellings, missing punctuation, etc.) have been amended without note. there are some instances of archaic spelling, which have been retained throughout. hyphenation has been made consistent without note. there are some occurrences of 'compound' nouns (for example, folksepic, milkwhite, spearpierced, etc.), which have been retained as part of the charm of the text. there are some variations in the spelling of proper nouns (for example, liege/liège or brunhild/brunhilde). these have been retained throughout, except where there was an obvious error, which has been amended and noted. missing titles or variations between titles and the table of contents have been amended and noted. a complete list of these amendments is included at the end of the text. finally, there are two instances of unusual grammar, which have been retained: in the prefatory note, "... and over all the sun _shined_ brightly ..." and on page , "... his wife and retinue are looking _devoutedly_ towards heaven ...". list of amendments: prefatory note--omitted 'i' added--"i soon became absorbed in the ever-changing panorama." prefatory note--"english" amended to "english"--"... romance for the english speaking nations ..." contents--"the mothers gost" amended to "the mother's ghost" page --title "st. gothard" amended to "st. gotthard" page --title "the mother's ghost" amended to "the mother's ghost" page --title "i." added page --"coblentz" amended to "coblenz"--"... a beautiful meadow at rhense near coblenz ..." page --title "i." added page --"charlemange" amended to "charlemagne"--"... that charlemagne had begun ..." page --title "i." added page --title "i." added page --title "godesberg" inserted, to match the table of contents page --opening quote mark in middle of the first paragraph moved to beginning of paragraph page --"brabrant" amended to "brabant"--"... dominion of elsa of brabant." history of friedrich ii. of prussia frederick the great by thomas carlyle volume ii. (of xxi.) book ii. -- of brandenburg and the hohenzollerns. - - . chapter i. -- brannibor: henry the fowler. the brandenburg countries, till they become related to the hohenzollern family which now rules there, have no history that has proved memorable to mankind. there has indeed been a good deal written under that title; but there is by no means much known, and of that again there is alarmingly little that is worth knowing or remembering. pytheas, the marseilles travelling commissioner, looking out for new channels of trade, somewhat above , years ago, saw the country actually lying there; sailed past it, occasionally landing; and made report to such marseillese "chamber of commerce" as there then was:--report now lost, all to a few indistinct and insignificant fractions. [_memoires de l'academie des inscriptions,_ t. xix. , xxxvii. , &c.] this was "about the year before christ," while alexander of macedon was busy conquering india. beyond question, pytheas, the first writing or civilized creature that ever saw germany, gazed with his greek eyes, and occasionally landed, striving to speak and inquire, upon those old baltic coasts, north border of the now prussian kingdom; and reported of it to mankind we know not what. which brings home to us the fact that it existed, but almost nothing more: a country of lakes and woods, of marshy jungles, sandy wildernesses; inhabited by bears, otters, bisons, wolves, wild swine, and certain shaggy germans of the suevic type, as good as inarticulate to pytheas. after which all direct notice of it ceases for above three hundred years. we can hope only that the jungles were getting cleared a little, and the wild creatures hunted down; that the germans were increasing in number, and becoming a thought less shaggy. these latter, tall suevi semnones, men of blond stern aspect _(oculi truces coerulei)_ and great strength of bone, were known to possess a formidable talent for fighting: [tacitus, _de moribus germanorum,_ c. .] drusus germanicus, it has been guessed, did not like to appear personally among them: some "gigantic woman prophesying to him across the elbe" that it might be dangerous, drusus contented himself with erecting some triumphal pillar on his own safe side of the elbe, to say that they were conquered. in the fourth century of our era, when the german populations, on impulse of certain "huns expelled from the chinese frontier," or for other reasons valid to themselves, began flowing universally southward, to take possession of the rich roman world, and so continued flowing for two centuries more; the old german frontiers generally, and especially those northern baltic countries, were left comparatively vacant; so that new immigrating populations from the east, all of sclavic origin, easily obtained footing and supremacy there. in the northern parts, these immigrating sclaves were of the kind called vandals, or wends: they spread themselves as far west as hamburg and the ocean, south also far over the elbe in some quarters; while other kinds of sclaves were equally busy elsewhere. with what difficulty in settling the new boundaries, and what inexhaustible funds of quarrel thereon, is still visible to every one, though no historian was there to say the least word of it. "all of sclavic origin;" but who knows of how many kinds: wends here in the north, through the lausitz (lusatia) and as far as thuringen; not to speak of polacks, bohemian czechs, huns, bulgars, and the other dim nomenclatures, on the eastern frontier. five hundred years of violent unrecorded fighting, abstruse quarrel with their new neighbors in settling the marches. many names of towns in germany ending in itz (meuselwitz, mollwitz), or bearing the express epithet _windisch_ (wendish), still give indication of those old sad circumstances; as does the word slave, in all our western languages, meaning captured sclavonian. what long-drawn echo of bitter rage and hate lies in that small etymology! these things were; but they have no history: why should they have any? enough that in those baltic regions, there are for the time (year , and till long after charlemagne is out) sclaves in place of suevi or of holstein saxons and angli; that it is now shaggy wends who have the task of taming the jungles, and keeping down the otters and wolves. wends latterly in a waning condition, much beaten upon by charlemagne and others; but never yet beaten out. and so it has to last, century after century; wends, wolves, wild swine, all alike dumb to us. dumb, or sounding only one huge unutterable message (seemingly of tragic import), like the voice of their old forests, of their old baltic seas:--perhaps more edifying to us so. here at last is a definite date and event:-- "a.d. , henry the fowler, marching across the frozen bogs, took brannibor, a chief fortress of the wends;" [kohler, _reichs-historie_ (frankfurth und leipzig, ), p. . michaelis, _chur-und furstlichen hauser in deutschland_ (lemgo, , , ), i. .]--first mention in human speech of the place now called brandenburg: bor or "burg of the brenns" (if there ever was any tribe of brenns,--brennus, there as elsewhere, being name for king or leader); "burg of the woods," say others,--who as little know. probably, at that time, a town of clay huts, with dit&h and palisaded sod-wall round it; certainly "a chief fortress of the wends,"--who must have been a good deal surprised at sight of henry on the rimy winter morning near a thousand years ago. this is the grand old henry, called, "the fowler" _(heinrich der vogler),_ because he was in his _vogelheerde_ (falconry or hawk-establishment, seeing his hawks fly) in the upland hartz country, when messengers came to tell him that the german nation, through its princes and authorities assembled at fritzlar, had made him king; and that he would have dreadful work henceforth. which he undertook; and also did,--this of brannibor only one small item of it,--warring right manfully all his days against chaos in that country, no rest for him thenceforth till he died. the beginning of german kings; the first, or essentially the first sovereign of united germany,--charlemagne's posterity to the last bastard having died out, and only anarchy, italian and other, being now the alternative. "a very high king," says one whose note-books i have got, "an authentically noble human figure, visible still in clear outline in the gray dawn of modern history. the father of whatever good has since been in germany. he subdued his dukes, schwaben, baiern (swabia, bavaria) and others, who were getting too hereditary, and inclined to disobedience. he managed to get back lorraine; made truce with the hungarians, who were excessively invasive at that time. truce with the hungarians; and then, having gathered strength, made dreadful beating of them; two beatings,--one to each half, for the invasive savagery had split itself, for better chance of plunder; first beating was at sondershausen, second was at merseburg, year ;--which settled them considerably. another beating from henry's son, and they never came back. beat wends, before this,--'brannibor through frozen bogs' five years ago. beat, sclavic meisseners (misnians); bohehemian czechs, and took prag; wends again, with huge slaughter; then danes, and made 'king worm tributary' (king _gorm the hard,_ our knut's or canute's great-grand-father, year );--last of all, those invasive hungarians as above. had sent the hungarians, when they demanded tribute or black-mail of him as heretofore, truce being now out,--a mangy hound: there is your black-mail, sirs; make much of that! "he had 'the image of st. michael painted on his standard;' contrary to wont. he makes, or re-makes, markgrafs (wardens of the marches), to be under his dukes,--and not too hereditary. who his markgraves were? dim history counts them to the number of six; [kohler, _reich-historie,_ p. . this is by no means kohler's chief book; but this too is good, and does, in a solid effective way, what it attempts. he seems to me by far the best historical genius the germans have yet, produced, though i do not find much mention of him in their literary histories and catalogues. a man of ample learning, and also of strong cheerful human sense and human honesty; whom it is thrice-pleasant, to meet with in those ghastly solitudes, populous chiefly with doleful creatures.] which take in their order:-- " . sleswig, looking over into the scandinavian countries, and the norse sea-kings. this markgraviate did not last long under that title. i guess, it, became _stade-and-ditmarsch_ afterwards. " . soltwedel,--which grows to be markgraviate of brandenburg by and by. soltwedel, now called salzwedel, an old town still extant, sixty miles to west and north of brandenburg, short way south of the elbe, was as yet headquarters of this second markgraf; and any warden we have at brandenburg is only a deputy of him or some other. " . meissen (which we call misnia), a country at that time still full of wends. " . lausitz, also a very wendish country (called in english maps lusatia,--which is its name in monk-latin, not now a spoken language). did not long continue a markgraviate; fell to meissen (saxony), fell to brandenburg, bohemia, austria, and had many tos and fros. is now (since the thirty-years-war time) mostly saxon again. " . austria (oesterreich, eastern-kingdom, easternrey as we might say); to look after the hungarians, and their valuable claims to black-mail. " . antwerp ('at-the-wharf,' 'on-t'-wharf,' so to speak), against the french; which function soon fell obsolete. "these were henry's six markgraviates (as my best authority enumerates them); and in this way he had militia captains ranked all round his borders, against the intrusive sclavic element. he fortified towns; all towns are to be walled and warded,--to be burgs in fact; and the inhabitants burghers, or men capable of defending burgs. everywhere the ninth man is to serve as soldier in his town; other eight in the country are to feed and support him: _heergeruthe_ (war-tackle, what is called heriot in our old books) descends to the eldest son of a fighting man who had served, as with us. 'all robbers are made soldiers' (unless they prefer hanging); and weapon-shows and drill are kept up. this is a man who will make some impression upon anarchy, and its wends and huns. his standard was st. michael, as we have seen,--whose sword is derived from a very high quarter! a pious man;--founded quedlinburg abbey, and much else in that kind, having a pious wife withal, mechtildis, who took the main hand in that of quedlinburg; whose life is in leibnitz, [leibnitz, _scriptores rerum brunswicensium,_ &c. (hanover, ), i. .] not the legiblest of books.--on the whole, a right gallant king and 'fowler.' died, a.d. (at memmleben, a monastery on the unstrut, not far from schulpforte), age sixty; had reigned only seventeen years, and done so much. lies buried in quedlinburg abbey:--any tomb? i know no life of him but gundling's, which is an extremely inextricable piece, and requires mainly to be forgotten.--hail, brave henry: across the nine dim centuries, we salute thee, still visible as a valiant son of cosmos and son of heaven, beneficently sent us; as a man who did in grim earnest 'serve god' in his day, and whose works accordingly bear fruit to our day, and to all days!"-- so far my rough note-books; which require again to be shut for the present, not to abuse the reader's patience, or lead him from his road. this of markgrafs (grafs of the marches, marked places, or boundaries) was a natural invention in that state of circumstances. it did not quite originate with henry; but was much perfected by him, he first recognizing how essential it was. on all frontiers he had his graf (count, reeve, g'reeve, whom some think to be only grau, gray, or senior, the hardiest, wisest steel-gray man he could discover) stationed on the marck, strenuously doing watch and ward there: the post of difficulty, of peril, and naturally of honor too, nothing of a sinecure by any means. which post, like every other, always had a tendency to become hereditary, if the kindred did not fail in fit men. and hence have come the innumerable markgraves, marquises, and such like, of modern times: titles now become chimerical, and more or less mendacious, as most of our titles are,--like so many burgs changed into "boroughs," and even into "rotten boroughs," with defensive burghers of the known sort: very mournful to discover. once norroy was not all pasteboard! at the heart of that huge whirlwind of his, with its dusty heraldries, and phantasmal nomenclatures now become mendacious, there lay, at first, always an earnest human fact. henry the fowler was so happy as to have the fact without any mixture of mendacity: we are in the sad reverse case; reverse case not yet altogether complete, but daily becoming so,--one of the saddest and strangest ever heard of, if we thought of it!--but to go on with business. markgraviates there continued to be ever after,--six in henry's time:--but as to the number, place, arrangement of them, all this varied according to circumstances outward and inward, chiefly according to the regress or the reintrusion of the circumambient hostile populations; and underwent many changes. the sea-wall you build, and what main floodgates you establish in it, will depend on the state of the outer sea. markgraf of sleswig grows into markgraf of ditmarsch and stade; retiring over the elbe, if norse piracy get very triumphant. antwerp falls obsolete; so does meissen by and by. lausitz and salzwedel, in the third century hence, shrink both into brandenburg; which was long only a subaltern station, managed by deputy from one or other of these. a markgraf that prospered in repelling of his wends and huns had evidently room to spread himself, and could become very great, and produce change in boundaries: observe what oesterreich (austria) grew to, and what brandenburg; meissen too, which became modern saxony, a state once greater than it now is. in old books are lists of the primitive markgraves of brandenburg, from henry's time downward; two sets, "markgraves of the witekind race," and of another: [hubner, _genealogische tabellen_ (leipzig, - ), i. , . a book of rare excellence in its kind.] but they are altogether uncertain, a shadowy intermittent set of markgraves, both the witekind set and the non-witekind; and truly, for a couple of centuries, seem none of them to have been other than subaltern deputies, belonging mostly to lausitz or salzwedel; of whom therefore we can say nothing here, but must leave the first two hundred years in their natural gray state,--perhaps sufficiently conceivable by the reader. but thus, at any rate, was brandenburg (bot or burg of the brenns, whatever these are) first discovered to christendom, and added to the firm land of articulate history: a feat worth putting on record. done by henry the fowler, in the year of grace ,--while (among other things noticeable in this world) our knut's great-grandfather, gormo durus, "henry's tributary," was still king of denmark; when harald bluetooth (blaatand) was still a young fellow, with his teeth of the natural color; and swen with the forked beard (tvaeskaeg, double-beard, "twa-shag") was not born; and the monks of ely had not yet (by about a hundred years) begun that singing, (without note or comment, in the old, book of ely date before the conquest) is preserved this stave;--giving picture, if we consider it, of the fen country all a lake (as it was for half the year, till drained, six centuries after), with ely monastery rising like an island in the distance; and the music of its nones or vespers sounding soft and far over the solitude, eight hundred years ago and more. merie sungen the muneches binnen ely tha cnut ching rew therby: roweth enites near the lant, and here we thes muneches saeng. _merry_ (genially) _sang the monks in ely as knut king rowed_ (rew) _there-by: row, fellows_ (knights), _near the land, and hear we these monks's song._ see bentham's _history of ely_ (cambridge, ), p, .] nor the tide that refusal to retire, on behalf of this knut, in our english part of his dominions. that henry appointed due wardenship in brannibor was in the common course. sure enough, some markgraf must take charge of brannibor,--he of the lausitz eastward, for example, or he of salzwedel westward:--that brannibor, in time, will itself be found the fit place, and have its own markgraf of brandenburg; this, and what in the next nine centuries brandenburg will grow to, henry is far from surmising. brandenburg is fairly captured across the frozen bogs, and has got a warden and ninth-man garrison settled in it: brandenburg, like other things, will grow to what it can. henry's son and successor, if not himself, is reckoned to have founded the cathedral and bishopric of brandenburg,--his clergy and he always longing much for the conversion of these wends and huns; which indeed was, as the like still is, the one thing needful to rugged heathens of that kind. chapter ii. -- preussen: saint adalbert. five hundred miles, and more, to the east of brandenburg, lies a country then as now called preussen (prussia proper), inhabited by heathens, where also endeavors at conversion are-going on, though without success hitherto. upon which we are now called to cast a glance. it is a moory flat country, full of lakes and woods, like brandenburg; spreading out into grassy expanses, and bosky wildernesses humming with bees; plenty of bog in it, but plenty also of alluvial mud; sand too, but by no means so high a ratio of it as in brandenburg; tracts of preussen are luxuriantly grassy, frugiferous, apt for the plough; and the soil generally is reckoned fertile, though lying so far northward. part of the great plain or flat which stretches, sloping insensibly, continuously, in vast expanse, from the silesian mountains to the amber-regions of the baltic; preussen is the seaward, more alluvial part of this,--extending west and east, on both sides of the weichsel (vistula), from the regions of the oder river to the main stream of the memel. bordering-on-russia its name signifies: bor-russia, b'russia, prussia; or--some say it was only on a certain inconsiderable river in those parts, river reussen, that it "bordered" and not on the great country, or any part of it, which now in our days is conspicuously its next neighbor. who knows?-- in henry the fowler's time, and long afterwards, preussen was a vehemently heathen country; the natives a miscellany of rough serbic wends, letts, swedish goths, or dryasdust knows not what;--very probably a sprinkling of swedish goths, from old time, chiefly along the coasts. dryasdust knows only that these preussen were a strong-boned, iracund herdsman-and-fisher people; highly averse to be interfered with, in their religion especially. famous otherwise, through all the centuries, for the amber they had been used to fish, and sell in foreign parts. amber, science declares, is a kind of petrified resin, distilled by pines that were dead before the days of adam; which is now thrown up, in stormy weather, on that remote coast, and is there fished out by the amphibious people,--who can likewise get it by running mine-shafts into the sandhills on their coast;--by whom it is sold into the uttermost parts of the earth, arabia and beyond, from a very early period of time. no doubt pytheas had his eye upon this valuable product, when he ventured into survey of those regions,--which are still the great mother of amber in our world. by their amber-fishery, with the aid of dairy-produce and plenty of beef and leather, these heathen preussen, of uncertain miscellaneous breed, contrived to support existence in a substantial manner; they figure to us as an inarticulate, heavy-footed, rather iracund people. their knowledge of christianity was trifling, their aversion to knowing anything of it was great. as poland, and the neighbors to the south, were already christian, and even the bohemian czechs were mostly converted, pious wishes as to preussen, we may fancy, were a constant feeling: but no effort hitherto, if efforts were made, had come to anything. let some daring missionary go to preach in that country, his reception is of the worst, or perhaps he is met on the frontier with menaces, and forbidden to preach at all; except sorrow and lost labor, nothing has yet proved attainable. it was very dangerous to go;--and with what likelihood of speeding? efforts, we may suppose, are rare; but the pious wish being continual and universal, efforts can never altogether cease. from henry the fowler's capture of brannibor, count seventy years, we find henry's great-grandson reigning as elective kaiser,--otto iii., last of the direct "saxon kaisers," otto wonder of the world;--and alongside of otto's great transactions, which were once called mirabilia mundi and are now fallen so extinct, there is the following small transaction, a new attempt to preach in preussen, going on, which, contrariwise, is still worth taking notice of. about the year or , adalbert, bishop of prag, a very zealous, most devout man, but evidently of hot temper, and liable to get into quarrels, had determined, after many painful experiences of the perverse ungovernable nature of corrupt mankind, to give up his nominally christian flock altogether; to shake the dust off his feet against prag, and devote himself to converting those prussian heathen, who, across the frontiers, were living in such savagery, and express bondage to the devil, worshipping mere stocks and stones. in this enterprise he was encouraged by the christian potentates who lay contiguous; especially by the duke of poland, to whom such next-neighbors, for all reasons, were an eye-sorrow. adalbert went, accordingly, with staff and scrip, two monks attending him, into that dangerous country: not in fear, he; a devout high-tempered man, verging now on fifty, his hair getting gray, and face marred with innumerable troubles and provocations of past time. he preached zealously, almost fiercely,--though chiefly with his eyes and gestures, i should think, having no command of the language. at dantzig, among the swedish-goth kind of heathen, he had some success, or affluence of attendance; not elsewhere that we hear of. in the pillau region, for example, where he next landed, an amphibious heathen lout hit him heavily across the shoulders with the flat of his oar; sent the poor preacher to the ground, face foremost, and suddenly ended his salutary discourse for that time. however, he pressed forward, regardless of results, preaching the evangel to all creatures who were willing or unwilling;--and pressed at last into the sacred circuit, the romova, or place of oak-trees, and of wooden or stone idols (bangputtis, patkullos, and i know not what diabolic dumb blocks), which it was death to enter. the heathen priests, as we may conceive it, rushed out; beckoned him, with loud unintelligible bullyings and fierce gestures, to begone; hustled, shook him, shoved him, as he did not go; then took to confused striking, struck finally a death-stroke on the head of poor adalbert: so that "he stretched out both his arms ('jesus, receive me thou!') and fell with his face to the ground, and lay dead there,--in the form of a crucifix," say his biographers: only the attendant monks escaping to tell. attendant monks, or adalbert, had known nothing of their being on forbidden ground. their accounts of the phenomenon accordingly leave it only half explained: how he was surprised by armed heathen devil's-servants in his sleep; was violently set upon, and his "beautiful bowels (_pulchra viscera_) were run through with seven spears:" but this of the romova, or sacred bangputtis church of oak-trees, perhaps chief romova of the country, rashly intruded into, with consequent strokes, and fall in the form of a crucifix, appears now to be the intelligible account. [baillet, _vies des saints_ (paris, ), iii. . bollandus, _acta sanetorum, aprilis tom. iii (die ; in edition venetiis,_ ), pp. - . voigt, _geschichte preussens_ (konigsberg, - ), i. - .] we will take it for the real manner of adalbert's exit;--no doubt of the essential transaction, or that it was a very flaming one on both sides. the date given is d april, ; date famous in the romish calendar since. he was a czech by birth, son of a heathen bohemian man of rank: his name (adalbert, a'lbert, bright-in-nobleness) he got "at magdeburg, whither he had gone to study" and seek baptism; where, as generally elsewhere, his fervent devout ways were admirable to his fellow-creatures. a "man of genius," we may well say: one of heaven's bright souls, born into the muddy darkness of this world;--laid hold of by a transcendent message, in the due transcendent degree. he entered prag, as bishop, not in a carriage and six, but "walking barefoot;" his contempt for earthly shadows being always extreme. accordingly, his quarrels with the soeculum were constant and endless; his wanderings up and down, and vehement arguings, in this world, to little visible effect, lasted all his days. we can perceive he was short-tempered, thin of skin: a violently sensitive man. for example, once in the bohemian solitudes, on a summer afternoon, in one of his thousand-fold pilgrimings and wayfarings, he had lain down to rest, his one or two monks and he, in some still glade, "with a stone for his pillow" (as was always his custom even in prag), and had fallen sound asleep. a bohemian shepherd chanced to pass that way, warbling something on his pipe, as he wended towards looking after his flock. seeing the sleepers on their stone pillows, the thoughtless czech mischievously blew louder,--started adalbert broad awake upon him; who, in the fury of the first moment, shrieked: "deafness on thee! man cruel to the human sense of hearing!" or words to that effect. which curse, like the most of adalbert's, was punctually fulfilled: the amazed czech stood deaf as a post, and went about so all his days after; nay, for long centuries (perhaps down to the present time, in remote parts), no czech blows into his pipe in the woodlands, without certain precautions, and preliminary fuglings of a devotional nature. [bollandus, ubi supra.]--from which miracle, as indeed from many other indications, i infer an irritable nervous-system in poor adalbert; and find this death in the romova was probably a furious mixture of earth and heaven. at all events, he lies there, beautiful though bloody, "in the form of a crucifix;" zealous adalbert, the hot spirit of him now at last cold;--and has clapt his mark upon the heathen country, protesting to the last. this was in the year , think the best @@@@@ antiquaries. it happened at a place called fischhausen, near pillau, say they; on that, narrow strip of country which lies between the baltic and the frische haf (immense lake, wash, as we should say, or leakage of shallow water, one of two such, which the baltic has spilt out of it in that quarter),--near the fort and haven of pillau; where there has been much stir since; where napoleon, for one thing, had some tough fighting, prior to the treaty of tilsit, fifty years ago. the place--or if not this place, then gnesen in poland, the final burial-place of adalbert, which is better known--has ever since had a kind of sacredness; better or worse expressed by mankind: in the form of canonization, endless pilgrimages, rumored miracles, and such like. for shortly afterwards, the neighboring potentate, boleslaus duke of poland, heart-struck at the event, drew sword on these heathens, and having (if i remember) gained some victory, bargained to have the body of adalbert delivered to him at its weight in gold. body, all cut in pieces, and nailed to poles, had long ignominiously withered in the wind; perhaps it was now only buried overnight for the nonce? being dug up, or being cut down, and put into the balance, it weighed--less than was expected. it was as light as gossamer, said pious rumor, had such an excellent odor too;--and came for a mere nothing of gold! this was adalbert's first miracle after death; in life he had done many hundreds of them, and has done millions since,--chiefly upon paralytic nervous-systems, and the element of pious rumor;--which any devil's-advocate then extant may explain if he can! kaiser otto, wonder of the world, who had known st. adalbert in life, and much honored him, "made a pilgrimage to his tomb at gnesen in the year ;"--and knelt there, we may believe, with thoughts wondrous enough, great and sad enough. there is no hope of converting preussen, then? it will never leave off its dire worship of satan, then? say not, never; that is a weak word. st. adalbert has stamped his life upon it, in the form of a crucifix, in lasting protest against that. chapter iii. -- markgraves of brandenburg. meanwhile our first enigmatic set of markgraves, or deputy-markgraves, at brandenburg, are likewise faring ill. whoever these valiant steel-gray gentlemen might be (which dryasdust does not the least know, and only makes you more uncertain the more he pretends to tell), one thing is very evident, they had no peaceable possession of the place, nor for above a hundred years, a constant one on any terms. the wends were highly disinclined to conversion and obedience: once and again, and still again, they burst up; got temporary hold of brandenburg, hoping to keep it; and did frightful heterodoxies there. so that to our distressed imagination those poor "markgraves of witekind descent," our first set in brandenburg, become altogether shadowy, intermittent, enigmatic, painfully actual as they once were. take one instance, omitting others; which happily proves to be the finish of that first shadowy line, and introduces us to a new set very slightly more substantial. end of the first shadowy line. in the year , near a century after henry the fowler's feat, the wends bursting up in never-imagined fury, get hold of brandenburg again,--for the third and, one would fain hope, the last time. the reason was, words spoken by the then markgraf of brandenburg, dietrich or theodoric, last of the witekind markgraves; who hearing that a cousin of his (markgraf or deputy-markgraf like himself) was about wedding his daughter to "mistevoi king of the wends," said too earnestly: "don't! will you give your daughter to a dog?" word "dog" was used, says my authority. [see michaelis _chur und furstlichen hauser,_ i. - : pauli, _allgemeine preussische staats-geschichte_ (halle, - ), i. - (the "standard work" on prussian history; in eight watery quartos, intolerable to human nature): kloss, _vuterlandische gemalde_ (berlin, ), i. - (a bookseller's compilation, with some curious excerpts):--under which lie modern sagittarius, ancient adam of bremen, _ditmarus merseburgensis, witichindus corbeiensis, arnoldus lubecensis,_ &c. &c. to all lengths and breadths.] which threw king mistevoi into a paroxysm, and raised the wends. their butchery of the german population in poor brandenburg, especially of the priests; their burning of the cathedral, and of church and state generally, may be conceived. the harlungsberg,--in our time marienberg, pleasant hill near brandenburg, with its gardens, vines, and whitened cottages:--on the top of this harlungsherg the wends "set up their god triglaph;" a three-headed monster of which i have seen prints, beyond measure ugly. something like three whale's-cubs combined by boiling, or a triple porpoise dead-drunk (for the dull eyes are inexpressible, as well as the amorphous shape): ugliest and stupidest of all false gods. this these victorious wends set up on the harlungsberg, year ; and worshipped after their sort, benighted mortals,--with joy, for a time. the cathedral was in ashes, priests all slain or fled, shadowy markgraves the like; church and state lay in ashes; and triglaph, like a triple porpoise under the influence of laudanum, stood (i know not whether on his head or on his tail) aloft on the harlungsberg, as the supreme of this universe, for the time being. second shadowy line. whereupon the ditmarsch-stade markgrafs (as some designate them) had to interfere, these shadowy deputies of the witekind breed having vanished in that manner. the ditmarschers recovered the place; and with some fighting, did in the main at least keep triglaph and the wends out of it in time coming. the wends were fiercely troublesome, and fought much; but i think they never actually got hold of brandenburg again. they were beginning to get notions of conversion: well preached to and well beaten upon, you cannot hold out forever. even mistevoi at one time professed tendencies to christianity; perhaps partly for his bride's sake,--the dog, we may call him, in a milder sense! but he relapsed dreadfully, after that insult; and his son worse. on the other hand, mistevoi's grandson was so zealous he went about with the missionary preachers, and interpreted their german into wendish: "oh, my poor wends, will you hear, then, will you understand? this solid earth is but a shadow: heaven forever or else hell forever, that is the reality!" such "difference between right and wrong" no wend had heard of before: quite tremendously "important if true!"--and doubtless it impressed many. there are heavy ditmarsch strokes for the unimpressible. by degrees all got converted, though many were killed first; and, one way or other, the wends are preparing to efface themselves as a distinct people. this stade-and-ditmarsch family (of anglish or saxon breed, if that is an advantage) seem generally to have furnished the salzwedel office as well, of which brandenburg was an offshoot, done by deputy, usually also of their kin. they lasted in brandenburg rather more than a hundred years;--with little or no book-history that is good to read; their history inarticulate rather, and stamped beneficently on the face of things. otto is a common name among them. one of their sisters, too, adelheid (adelaide, nobleness) had a strange adventure with "ludwig the springer:" romantic mythic man, famous in the german world, over whom my readers and i must not pause at this time. in salzwedel, in ditmarsch, or wherever stationed, they had a toilsome fighting life: sore difficulties with their ditmarschers too, with the plundering danish populations; markgraf after markgraf getting killed in the business. "erschlagen, slain fighting with the heathen," say the old books, and pass on to another. of all which there is now silence forever. so many years men fought and planned and struggled there, all forgotten now except by the gods; and silently gave away their life, before those countries could become fencible and habitable! nay, my friend, it is our lot too: and if we would win honor in this universe, the rumor of histories and morning newspapers,--which have to become wholly zero, one day, and fall dumb as stones, and which were not perhaps very wise even while speaking,--will help us little!-- substantial markgraves: glimpse of the contemporary kaisers. the ditmarsch-stade kindred, much slain in battle with the heathen, and otherwise beaten upon, died out, about the year (earlier perhaps, perhaps later, for all is shadowy still); and were succeeded in the salzwedel part of their function by a kindred called "of ascanien and ballenstadt;" the ascanier or analt markgraves; whose history, and that of brandenburg, becomes henceforth articulate to us; a history not doubtful or shadowy any longer; but ascertainable, if reckoned worth ascertaining. who succeeded in ditmarsch, let us by no means inquire. the empire itself was in some disorder at this time, more abstruse of aspect than usual; and these northern markgrafs, already become important people, and deep in general politics, had their own share in the confusion that was going. it was about this same time that a second line of kaisers had died out: the frankish or salic line, who had succeeded to the saxon, of henry the fowler's blood. for the empire too, though elective, had always a tendency to become hereditary, and go in lines: if the last kaiser left a son not unfit, who so likely as the son? but he needed to be fit, otherwise it would not answer,--otherwise it might be worse for him! there were great labors in the empire too, as well as on the sclavic frontier of it: brave men fighting against anarchy (actually set in pitched fight against it, and not always strong enough),--toiling sore, according to their faculty, to pull the innumerable crooked things straight. some agreed well with the pope,--as henry ii., who founded bamberg bishopric, and much else of the like; [kohler, pp. - . see, for instance, _description de la table d'aute en or fin, donnee a la cathedrale de bale, par l'empereur henri ii. en _ (porentruy, ).] "a sore saint for the crown," as was said of david i., his scotch congener, by a descendant. others disagreed very much indeed;--henry iv.'s scene at canossa, with pope hildebrand and the pious countess (year , kaiser of the holy roman empire waiting, three days, in the snow, to kiss the foot of excommunicative hildebrand), has impressed itself on all memories! poor henry rallied out of that abasement, and dealt a stroke or two on hildebrand; but fell still lower before long, his very son going against him; and came almost to actual want of bread, had not the bishop of liege been good to him. nay, after death, he lay four years waiting vainly even for burial,--but indeed cared little about that. certainly this son of his, kaiser henry v., does not shine in filial piety: but probably the poor lad himself was hard bested. he also came to die, a.d. , still little over forty, and was the last of the frankish kaisers. he "left the reichs-insignien [crown, sceptre and coronation gear] to his widow and young friedrich of hohenstauffen," a sister's son of his,--hoping the said friedrich might, partly by that help, follow as kaiser. which friedrich could not do; being wheedled, both the widow and he, out of their insignia, under false pretences, and otherwise left in the lurch. not friedrich, but one lothar, a stirring man who had grown potent in the saxon countries, was elected kaiser. in the end, after waiting till lothar was done, friedrich's race did succeed, and with brilliancy,--kaiser barbarossa being that same friedrich's son. in regard to which dim complicacies, take this excerpt from the imbroglio of manuscripts, before they go into the fire:-- "by no means to be forgotten that the widow we here speak of, kaiser henry v.'s widow, who brought no heir to henry v., was our english henry beauclerc's daughter,--granddaughter therefore of william conqueror,--the same who, having (in , the second year of her widowhood) married godefroi count of anjou, produced our henry ii. and our plantagenets; and thereby, through her victorious controversies with king stephen (that noble peer whose breeches stood him so cheap), became very celebrated as 'the empress maud,' in our old history-books. mathildis, dowager of kaiser henry v., to whom he gave his reichs-insignia at dying: she is the 'empress maud' of english books; and relates herself in this manner to the hohenstauffen dynasty, and intricate german vicissitudes. be thankful for any hook whatever on which to hang half an acre of thrums in fixed position, out of your way; the smallest flint-spark, in a world all black and unrememberable, will be welcome."-- and so we return to brandenburg and the "ascanien and ballenstadt" series of markgraves. chapter iv. -- albert the bear. this ascanien, happily, has nothing to do with brute of troy or the pious aeneas's son; it is simply the name of a most ancient castle (etymology unknown to me, ruins still dimly traceable) on the north slope of the hartz mountains; short way from aschersleben,--the castle and town of aschersleben are, so to speak, a second edition of ascanien. ballenstadt is still older; ballenstadt was of age in charlemagne's time; and is still a respectable little town in that upland range of country. the kindred, called grafs and ultimately herzogs (dukes) of "ascanien and ballenstadt," are very famous in old german history, especially down from this date. some reckon that they had intermittently been markgrafs, in their region, long before this; which is conceivable enough: at all events it is very plain they did now attain the office in salzwedel (straightway shifting it to brandenburg); and held it continuously, it and much else that lay adjacent, for centuries, in a highly conspicuous manner. in brandenburg they lasted for about two hundred years; in their saxon dignities, the younger branch of them did not die out (and give place to the wettins that now are) for five hundred. nay they have still their representatives on the earth: leopold of anhalt-dessau, celebrated "old dessauer," come of the junior branches, is lineal head of the kin in friedrich wilhelm's time (while our little fritzchen lies asleep in his cradle at berlin); and a certain prince of anhalt-zerbst, colonel in the prussian army, authentic prince, but with purse much shorter than pedigree, will have a daughter by and by, who will go to russia, and become almost too conspicuous, as catharine ii., there!-- "brandenburg now as afterwards," says one of my old papers, "was officially reckoned saxon; part of the big duchy of saxony; where certain famed billungs, lineage of an old 'count billung' (connected or not with billings-gate in our country, i do not know) had long borne sway. of which big old billungs i will say nothing at all;--this only, that they died out; and a certain albert, 'count of ascanien and ballenstadt' (say, of anhalt, in modern terms), whose mother was one of their daughters, came in for the northern part of their inheritance. he made a clutch at the southern too, but did not long retain that. being a man very swift and very sharp, at once nimble and strong, in the huge scramble that there then was,--uncle billung dead without heirs, a salic line of emperors going or gone out, and a hohenstauffen not yet come in,--he made a rich game of it for himself; the rather as lothar, the intermediate kaiser, was his cousin, and there were other good cards which he played well. "this is he they call 'albert the bear '_albrecht der bar_;' first of the ascanien markgraves of brandenburg;--first wholly definite markgraf of brandenburg that there is; once a very shining figure in the world, though now fallen dim enough again. it is evident he had a quick eye, as well as a strong hand; and could pick what way was straightest among crooked things. he got the northern part of what is still called saxony, and kept it in his family; got the brandenburg countries withal, got the lausitz; was the shining figure and great man of the north in his day. the markgrafdom of salzwedel (which soon became of brandenburg) he very naturally acquired (a.d. or earlier); very naturally, considering what saxon and other honors and possessions he had already got hold of."-- we can only say, it was the luckiest of events for brandenburg, and the beginning of all the better destinies it has had. a conspicuous country ever since in the world, and which grows ever more so in our late times. he had many wars; inextricable coil of claimings, quarrellings and agreeings: fought much,--fought in italy, too, "against the pagans" (saracens, that is). cousin to one kaiser, the lothar above named; then a chief stay of the hohenstauffen, of the two hohenstauffens who followed: a restless, much-managing, wide-warring man. he stood true by the great barbarossa, second of the hohenstauffen, greatest of all the kaisers; which was a luck for him, and perhaps a merit. he kept well with three kaisers in his time. had great quarrels with "henry the lion" about that "billung" saxon heritage; henry carrying off the better part of it from albert. except that same henry, head of the guelphs or welfs, who had not albert's talent, though wider lands than albert, there was no german prince so important in that time. he transferred the markgrafdom to brandenburg, probably as more central in his wide lands; salzwedel is henceforth the led markgrafdom or marck, and soon falls out of notice in the world. salzwedel is called henceforth ever since the "old marck (_alte marck, altmarck_ );" the brandenburg countries getting the name of "new marck." modern neumark, modern "middle-marck" (in which stands brandenburg itself in our time), "ucker-marck" (outside marck,--word ucker is still seen in ukraine, for instance): these are posterior divisions, fallen upon as brandenburg (under albert chiefly) enlarged itself, and needed new official parcellings into departments. under albert the markgrafdom had risen to be an electorate withal. the markgraf of brandenburg was now furthermore the kurfurst of brandenburg; officially "arch-treasurer of the holy roman empire;" and one of the seven who have a right (which became about this time an exclusive one for those seven) to choose, to kieren the romish kaiser; and who are therefore called kur princes, kurfurste or electors, as the highest dignity except the kaiser's own. in reference to which abstruse matter, likely to concern us somewhat, will the uninstructed english reader consent to the following excerpt, slightly elucidatory of kurfursts and their function? "furst (prince) i suppose is equivalent originally to our noun of number, first. the old verb kieren (participle erkoren still in use, not to mention 'val-kyr' and other instances) is essentially the same word as our choose, being written kiesen as well as kieren. nay, say the etymologists, it is also written kussen (to kiss,--to choose with such emphasis!), and is not likely to fall obsolete in that form.--the other six electoral dignitaries who grew to eight by degrees, and may be worth noting once by the readers of this book; are:-- " . three ecclesiastical, mainz, coln, trier (mentz, cologne, treves), archbishops all, with sovereignty and territory more or less considerable;--who used to be elected as popes are, theoretically by their respective chapters and the heavenly inspirations, but practically by the intrigues and pressures of the neighboring potentates, especially france and austria. " . three secular, sachsen, pfalz, bohmen (saxony, palatinate, bohemia); of which the last, bohmen, since it fell from being a kingdom in itself, to being a province of austria, is not very vocal in the diets. these six, with brandenburg, are the seven kurfursts in old time; septemvirs of the country, so to speak. "but now pfalz, in the thirty-years war (under our prince rupert's father, whom the germans call the `winter-king'), got abrogated, put to the ban, so far as an indignant kaiser could; and the vote and kur of pfalz was given to his cousin of baiern (bavaria),--so far as an indignant kaiser could. however, at the peace of westphalia ( ) it was found incompetent to any kaiser to abrogate pfulz or the like of pfalz, a kurfurst of the empire. so, after jargon inconceivable, it was settled, that pfalz must be reinstated, though with territories much clipped, and at the bottom of the list, not the top as formerly; and that baiern, who could not stand to be balked after twenty years' possession, must be made eighth elector. the ninth, we saw (year ), was gentleman ernst of hanover. there never was any tenth; and the holy romische reich, which was a grand object once, but had gone about in a superannuated and plainly crazy state for some centuries back, was at last put out of pain, by napoleon, ' th august, ,' and allowed to cease from this world." [ms. _penes me._] none of albert's wars are so comfortable to reflect on as those he had with the anarchic wends; whom he now fairly beat to powder, and either swept away, or else damped down into christianity and keeping of the peace. swept them away otherwise; "peopling their lands extensively with colonists from holland, whom an inroad of the sea had rendered homeless there." which surely was a useful exchange. nothing better is known to me of albert the bear than this his introducing large numbers of dutch netherlanders into those countries; men thrown out of work, who already knew how to deal with bog and sand, by mixing and delving, and who first taught brandenburg what greenness and cow-pasture was. the wends, in presence of such things, could not but consent more and more to efface themselves,--either to become german, and grow milk and cheese in the dutch manner, or to disappear from the world. the wendish princes had a taste for german wives; in which just taste the albert genealogy was extremely willing to indulge them. affinities produce inheritances; by proper marriage-contracts you can settle on what side the most contingent inheritance shall at length fall. dim but pretty certain lies a time coming when the wendish princes also shall have effaced themselves; and all shall be german-brandenburgish, not wendish any more.--the actual inhabitants of brandenburg, therefore, are either come of dutch bog-farmers, or are simple lower saxons ("anglo-saxon," if you like that better), platt-teutsch of the common type; an unexceptionable breed of people. streaks of wendish population, extruded gradually into the remoter quagmires, and more inaccessible, less valuable sedgy moors and sea-strands, are scattered about; mecklenburg, which still subsists separately after a sort, is reckoned peculiarly wendish. in mecklenburg, pommern, pommerellen (little pomerania), are still to be seen physiognomies of a wendish or vandalic type (more of cheek than there ought to be, and less of brow; otherwise good enough physiognomies of their kind): but the general mass, tempered with such admixtures, is of the platt-deutsch, saxon or even anglish character we are familiar with here at home. a patient stout people; meaning considerable things, and very incapable of speaking what it means. albert was a fine tall figure himself; der schone, "albert the handsome," was his name as often as "albert the bear." that latter epithet he got, not from his looks or qualities, but merely from his heraldic cognizance: a bear on his shield. as was then the mode of names; surnames being scant, and not yet fixedly in existence. thus too his contemporaries, henry the lion of saxony and welfdom, william the lion of scotland, were not, either of them, specially leonine men: nor had the plantagenets, or geoffrey of anjou, any connection with the plant of broom, except wearing a twig of it in their caps on occasion. men are glad to get some designation for a grand albert they are often speaking of, which shall distinguish him from the many small ones. albert "the bear, der bar," will do as well as another. it was this one first that made brandenburg peaceable and notable. we might call him the second founder of brandenburg; he, in the middle of the twelfth century, completed for it what henry the fowler had begun early in the tenth. after two hundred and fifty years of barking and worrying, the wends are now finally reduced to silence; their anarchy well buried, and wholesome dutch cabbage planted over it: albert did several great things in the world; but, this, for posterity, remains his memorable feat. not done quite easily; but, done: big destinies of nations or of persons are not founded gratis in this world. he had a sore toilsome time of it, coercing, warring, managing among his fellow-creatures, while his day's work lasted,--fifty years or so, for it began early. he died in his castle of ballenstadt, peaceably among the hartz mountains at last, in the year , age about sixty-five. it was in the time while thomas a becket was roving about the world, coming home excommunicative, and finally getting killed in canterbury cathedral;--while abbot samson, still a poor little brown boy, came over from norfolk, holding by his mother's hand, to st. edmundsbury; having seen "santanas s with outspread wings" fearfully busy in this world. chapter v. -- conrad of hohenzollern; and kaiser barbarossa. it was in those same years that a stout young fellow, conrad by name, far off in the southern parts of germany, set out from the old castle of hohenzollern, where he was but junior, and had small outlooks, upon a very great errand in the world. from hohenzollern; bound now towards gelnhausen, kaiserslautern, or whatever temporary lodging the great kaiser barbarossa might be known to have, who was a wandering man, his business lying everywhere over half the world, and needing the master's eye. conrad's purpose is to find barbarossa, and seek fortune under him. this is a very indisputable event of those same years. the exact date, the figure, circumstances of it were, most likely, never written anywhere but on conrad's own brain, and are now rubbed out forevermore; but the event itself is certain; and of the highest concernment to this narrative. somewhere about the year , likeliest a few years before that, [rentsch, _brandenburgischer ceder-hein_ (baireuth, ), pp. - .--see also johann ulrich pregitzern, _teutscher regierungs-und ehren-spiegel, vorbildend &c. des hauses hohenzollern_ (berlin, ), pp. - . a learned and painful book: by a tubingen professor, who is deeply read in the old histories, and gives portraits and other engravings of some value.] this conrad, riding down from hohenzoliern, probably with no great stock of luggage about, him,--little dreams of being connected with brandenburg on the other side of the world; but is unconsciously more so than any other of the then sons of adam. he is the lineal ancestor, twentieth in direct ascent, of the little boy now sleeping in his cradle at berlin; let him wait till nineteen generations, valiantly like conrad, have done their part, and gone out, conrad will find he is come to this! a man's destiny is strange always; and never wants for miracles, or will want, though it sometimes may for eyes to discern them. hohenzollern lies far south in schwaben (suabia), on the sunward slope of the rauhe-alp country; no great way north from constance and its lake; but well aloft, near the springs of the danube; its back leaning on the black forest; it is perhaps definable as the southern summit of that same huge old hercynian wood, which is still called the schwarzwald (black forest), though now comparatively bare of trees. ["there are still considerable spottings of wood (pine mainly, and 'black' enough); holz-handel (timber-trade) still a considerable branch of business there;--and on the streams of the country are cunning contrivances noticeable, for floating down the article into the neckar river, and thence into the rhine and to holland." (_tourist's note._)] fanciful dryasdust, doing a little etymology, will tell you the name zollern is equivalent to tollery or place of tolls. whereby hohenzollern comes to mean the high or upper tollery;--and gives one the notion of antique pedlers climbing painfully, out of italy and the swiss valleys, thus far; unstrapping their pack-horses here, and chaffering in unknown dialect about toll. poor souls;--it may be so, but we do not know, nor shall it concern us. this only is known: that a human kindred, probably of some talent for coercing anarchy and guiding mankind, had, centuries ago, built its burg there, and done that function in a small but creditable way ever since;--kindred possibly enough derivable from "thassilo," charlemagne, king dagobert, and other kings, but certainly from adam and the almighty maker, who had given it those qualities;--and that conrad, a junior member of the same, now goes forth from it in the way we see. "why should a young fellow that has capabilities," thought conrad, "stay at home in hungry idleness, with no estate but his javelin and buff jerkin, and no employment but his hawks, when there is a wide opulent world waiting only to be conquered?" this was conrad's thought; and it proved to be a very just one. it was now the flower-time of the romish kaisership of germany; about the middle or noon of barbarossa himself, second of the hohenstauffens, and greatest of all the kaisers of that or any other house. kaiser fallen unintelligible to most modern readers, and wholly unknown, which is a pity. no king so furnished out with apparatus and arena, with personal faculty to rule and scene to do it in, has appeared elsewhere. a magnificent magnanimous man; holding the reins of the world, not quite in the imaginary sense; scourging anarchy down, and urging noble effort up, really on a grand scale. a terror to evil-doers and a praise to well-doers in this world, probably beyond what was ever seen since. whom also we salute across the centuries, as a choice beneficence of heaven. encamped on the plain of roncaglia [when he entered italy, as he too often had occasion to do], his shield was hung out on a high mast over his tent; and it meant in those old days, "ho, every one that has suffered wrong; here is a kaiser come to judge you, as he shall answer it to his master." and men gathered round him; and actually found some justice,--if they could discern it when found. which they could not always do; neither was the justice capable of being perfect always. a fearfully difficult function, that of friedrich redbeard. but an inexorably indispensable one in this world;--though sometimes dispensed with (to the huge joy of anarchy, which sings hallelujah through all its newspapers) for a season! kaiser friedrich had immense difficulties with his popes, with his milanese, and the like;--besieged milan six times over, among other anarchies;--had indeed a heavy-laden hard time of it, his task being great and the greatest. he made gebhardus, the anarchic governor of milan, "lie chained under his table, like a dog, for three days." for the man was in earnest, in that earnest time:--and let us say, they are but paltry sham-men who are not so, in any time; paltry, and far worse than paltry, however high their plumes may be. of whom the sick world (anarchy, both vocal and silent, having now swoln rather high) is everywhere getting weary.--gebhardus, the anarchic governor, lay three days under the kaiser's table; as it would be well if every anarchic governor, of the soft type and of the hard, were made to do on occasion; asking himself, in terrible earnest, "am i a dog, then; alas, am not i a dog?" those were serious old times. on the other hand, kaiser friedrich had his tourneys, his gleams of bright joyances now and then; one great gathering of all the chivalries at mainz, which lasted for three weeks long, the grandest tourney ever seen in this world. gelnhausen, in the wetterau (ruin still worth seeing, on its island in the kinzig river), is understood to have been one of his houses; kaiserslautern (kaiser's limpid, from its clear spring-water) in the pfalz (what we call palatinate), another. he went on the crusade in his seventieth year; [ , a.d.; saladin having, to the universal sorrow, taken jerusalem.] thinking to himself, "let us end with one clear act of piety:"--he cut his way through the dangerous greek attorneyisms, through the hungry mountain passes, furious turk fanaticisms, like a gray old hero: "woe is me, my son has perished, then?" said he once, tears wetting the beard now white enough; "my son is slain!--but christ still lives; let us on, my men!" and gained great victories, and even found his son; but never returned home;--died, some unknown sudden death, "in the river cydnus," say the most. [kohler (p. ), and the authorities cited by him. bunau's _deutsche kaiser-und reichs-historie_ (leipzig, - ), i., is the express book of barbarossa: an elaborate, instructive volume.] nay german tradition thinks he is not yet dead; but only sleeping, till the bad world reach its worst, when he will reappear. he sits within the hill near salzburg yonder,--says german tradition, its fancy kindled by the strange noises in that hill (limestone hill) from hidden waters, and by the grand rocky look of the place:--a peasant once, stumbling into the interior, saw the kaiser in his stone cavern; kaiser sat at a marble table, leaning on his elbow; winking, only half asleep; beard had grown through the table, and streamed out on the floor; he looked at the peasant one moment; asked him something about the time it was; then dropped his eyelids again: not yet time, but will be soon! [riesebeck's _travels_ (english translation, london, ), i. , busching, _volks-sagen,_ &c. (leipzig, ), i. , &c. &x.] he is winking as if to awake. to awake, and set his shield aloft by the roncalic fields again, with: ho, every one that is suffering wrong;--or that has strayed guideless, devil-ward, and done wrong, which is far fataler! conrad has become burggraf of nurnberg (a.d. ). this was the kaiser to whom conrad addressed himself; and he did it with success; which may be taken as a kind of testimonial to the worth of the young man. details we have absolutely none: but there is no doubt that conrad recommended himself to kaiser redbeard, nor any that the kaiser was a judge of men. very earnest to discern men's worth and capabilities; having unspeakable need of worth, instead of unworth, in those under him! we may conclude he had found capabilities in conrad; found that the young fellow did effective services as the occasion rose, and knew how to work, in a swift, resolute, judicious and exact manner. promotion was not likely on other terms; still less, high promotion. one thing farther is known, significant for his successes: conrad found favor with "the heiress of the vohburg family," desirable young heiress, and got her to wife. the vohburg family, now much forgotten everywhere, and never heard of in england before, had long been of supreme importance, of immense possessions, and opulent in territories, and we need not add, in honors and offices, in those franconian nurnberg regions; and was now gone to this one girl. i know not that she had much inheritance after all; the vast vohburg properties lapsing all to the kaiser, when the male heirs were out. but she had pretensions, tacit claims; in particular, the vohburgs had long been habitual or in effect hereditary burggrafs of nurnberg; and if conrad had the talent for that office; he now, in preference to others, might have a chance for it. sure enough, he got it; took root in it, he and his; and, in the course of centuries, branched up from it, high and wide, over the adjoining countries; waxing towards still higher destinies. that is the epitome of conrad's history; history now become very great, but then no bigger than its neighbors, and very meagrely recorded; of which the reflective reader is to make what he can. there is nothing clearly known of conrad more than these three facts: that he was a cadet of hohenzollern (whose father's name, and some forefathers' names are definitely known in the family archives, but do not concern us); that he married the heiress of the vohburgs, whose history is on record in like manner; and that he was appointed burggraf of nurnberg, year not precisely known,--but before , as would seem. "in a reichstag (diet of the empire) held at regensburg in or about ," he formally complains, he and certain others, all stanch kaiser's friends (for in fact it was with the kaiser's knowledge, or at his instigation), of henry the lion's high procedures and malpractices; of henry's league with the pope, league with the king of denmark, and so forth; the said henry having indeed fallen into opposition, to a dangerous degree;--and signs himself burggraf of nurnberg, say the old chronicles. [rentsch, p. (who cites _aventinus, trittheim,_ &c.).] the old document itself has long since perished, i conclude: but the chronicles may be accepted as reporters of so conspicuous a thing; which was the beginning of long strife in germany, and proved the ruin of henry the lion, supreme welf grown over-big,--and cost our english henry ii., whose daughter he had married, a world of trouble and expense, we may remark withal. conrad therefore is already burggraf of nurnberg, and a man of mark, in : and his marriage, still more his first sally from the paternal castle to seek his fortune, must all be dated earlier. more is not known of conrad: except indeed that he did not perish in barbarossa's grand final crusade. for the antiquaries have again found him signed to some contract, or otherwise insignificant document, a.d. . which is proof positive that he did not die in the crusade; and proof probable that he was not of it,--few, hardly any, of those stalwart , champions of the cross having ever got home again. conrad, by this time, might have sons come to age; fitter for arms and fatigues than he: and indeed at nurnberg, in deutschland generally, as official prince of the empire, and man of weight and judgment, conrad's services might be still more useful, and the kaiser's interests might require him rather to stay at home in that juncture. burggraf of nurnberg he continued to be; he and his descendants, first in a selective, then at length in a directly hereditary way, century after century; and so long as that office lasted in nurnberg (which it did there much longer than in other imperial free-cities), a comes de zolre of conrad's producing was always the man thenceforth. their acts, in that station and capacity, as burggraves and princes of the empire, were once conspicuous enough in german history; and indeed are only so dim now, because the history itself is, and was always, dim to us on this side of the sea. they did strenuous work in their day; and occasionally towered up (though little driven by the poor wish of "towering," or "shining" without need) into the high places of public history. they rest now from their labors, conrad and his successors, in long series, in the old monastery of heilsbronn (between nurnberg and anspach), with tombs to many of them, which were very legible for slight biographic purposes in my poor friend rentsch's time, a hundred and fifty years ago; and may perhaps still have some quasi-use, as "sepulchral brasses," to another class of persons. one or two of those old buried figures, more peculiarly important for our little friend now sleeping in his cradle yonder, we must endeavor, as the narrative proceeds, to resuscitate a little and render visible for moments. of the hohenzollern burggraves generally. as to the office, it was more important than perhaps the reader imagines. we already saw conrad first burggraf, among the magnates of the country, denouncing henry the lion. every burggraf of nurnberg is, in virtue of his office, "prince of the empire:" if a man happened to have talent of his own, and solid resources of his own (which are always on the growing hand with this family), here is a basis from which he may go far enough. burggraf of nurnberg: that means again graf (judge, defender, manager, g'reeve) of the kaiser's burg or castle,--in a word kaiser's representative and alter ego,--in the old imperial free-town of nurnberg; with much adjacent very complex territory, also, to administer for the kaiser. a flourishing extensive city, this old nurnberg, with valuable adjacent territory, civic and imperial, intricately intermixed; full of commercial industries, opulences, not without democratic tendencies. nay it is almost, in some senses, the london and middlesex of the germany that then was, if we will consider it! this is a place to give a man chances, and try what stuff is in him. the office involves a talent for governing, as well as for judging; talent for fighting also, in cases of extremity, and what is still better, a talent for avoiding to fight. none but a man of competent superior parts can do that function; i suppose, no imbecile could have existed many months in it, in the old earnest times. conrad and his succeeding hohenzollerns proved very capable to do it, as would seem; and grew and spread in it, waxing bigger and bigger, from their first planting there by kaiser barbarossa, a successful judge of men. and ever since that time, from "about the year ," down to the year ,--when so much was changed, owing to another (temporary) "kaiser" of new type, napoleon his name,--the hohenzollerns have had a footing in frankenland; and done sovereignty in and round nurnberg, with an enlarging territory in that region. territory at last of large compass; which, under the names margrafdom of anspach, and of baireuth, or in general margrafdom of culmbach, which includes both, has become familiar in history. for the house went on steadily increasing, as it were, from the first day; the hohenzollerns being always of a growing, gaining nature;--as men are that live conformably to the laws of this universe, and of their place therein; which, as will appear from good study of their old records, though idle rumor, grounded on no study, sometimes says the contrary, these hohenzollerns eminently were. a thrifty, steadfast, diligent, clear-sighted, stout-hearted line of men; of loyal nature withal, and even to be called just and pious, sometimes to a notable degree. men not given to fighting, where it could be avoided; yet with a good swift stroke in them, where it could not: princely people after their sort, with a high, not an ostentatious turn of mind. they, for most part, go upon solid prudence; if possible, are anxious to reach the goal without treading on any one; are peaceable, as i often say, and by no means quarrelsome, in aspect and demeanor; yet there is generally in the hohenzollerns a very fierce flash of anger, capable of blazing out in cases of urgency: this latter also is one of the most constant features i have noted in the long series of them. that they grew in frankenland, year after year, and century after century, while it was their fortune to last, alive and active there, is no miracle, on such terms. their old big castle of plassenburg (now a penitentiary, with treadmill and the other furnishings) still stands on its height, near culmbach, looking down over the pleasant meeting of the red and white mayn rivers and of their fruitful valleys; awakening many thoughts in the traveller. anspach schloss, and still more baireuth schloss (mansion, one day, of our little wilhelmina of berlin, fritzkin's sister, now prattling there in so old a way; where notabilities have been, one and another; which jean paul, too, saw daily in his walks, while alive and looking skyward): these, and many other castles and things, belonging now wholly to bavaria, will continue memorable for hohenzollern history. the family did its due share, sometimes an excessive one, in religious beneficences and foundations; which was not quite left off in recent times, though much altering its figure. erlangen university, for example, was of wilhelmina's doing. erlangen university;--and also an opera-house of excessive size in baireuth. such was poor wilhelmina's sad figure of "religion." in the old days, their largest bequest that i recollect was to the teutsche ritter, order of teutonic knights, very celebrated in those days. junior branches from hohenzollern, as from other families, sought a career in that chivalrous devout brotherhood now and then; one pious burggraf had three sons at once in it; he, a very bequeathing herr otherwise, settled one of his mansions, virnsperg, with rents and incomings, on the order. which accordingly had thenceforth a comthurei (commandery) in that country; comthurei of virnsperg the name of it: the date of donation is a.d. ; and two of the old herr's three ritter sons, we can remark, were successively comthurs (commanders, steward-prefects) of virnsperg, the first two it had. [rentsch, p. .] this was in ; the palmy period, or culmination time of the teutsches ritterthum. concerning which, on wider accounts, we must now say a word. chapter vi. -- the teutsch ritters or teutonic order. barbarossa's army of crusaders did not come home again, any more than barbarossa. they were stronger than turk or saracen, but not than hunger and disease; leaders did not know then, as our little friend at berlin came to know, that "an army, like a serpent, goes upon its belly." after fine fighting and considerable victories, the end of this crusade was, it took to "besieging acre," and in reality lay perishing as of murrain on the beach at acre, without shelter, without medicine, without food. not even richard coeur-de-lion, and his best prowess and help, could avert such issue from it. richard's crusade fell in with the fag-end of barbarossa's; and it was richard chiefly that managed to take acre;--at least so richard flattered himself, when he pulled poor leopold of austria's standard from the towers, and trailed it through the gutters: "your standard? you have taken acre?" which turned out ill for richard afterwards. and duke leopold has a bad name among us in consequence; much worse than he deserves. leopold had stuff in him too. he died, for example, in this manner: falling with his horse, i think in some siege or other, he had got his leg hurt; which hindered him in fighting. leg could not be cured: "cut it off, then!" said leopold. this also the leech could not do; durst not, and would not; so that leopold was come quite to a halt. leopold ordered out two squires; put his thigh upon a block the sharp edge of an axe at the right point across his thigh: "squire first, hold you that axe; steady! squire second, smite you on it with forge-hammer, with all your strength, heavy enough!" squire second struck, heavy enough, and the leg flew off; but leopold took inflammation, died in a day or two, as the leech had predicted. that is a fact to be found in current authors (quite exact or not quite), that surgical operation: [mentzel, _geschichte der deutschen_ (stuttgard and tubingen, ), p. .] such a man cannot have his flag trailed through the gutters by any coeur-de-lion.--but we return to the beach at acre, and the poor crusaders, dying as of murrain there. it is the year , acre not yet taken, nor these quarrels got to a height. "the very templars, hospitallers, neglect us," murmured the dying germans; "they have perhaps enough to do, and more than enough, with their own countrymen, whose speech is intelligible to them? for us, it would appear, there is no help!" not altogether none. a company of pious souls--compassionate lubeck ship-captains diligently forwarding it, and one walpot von bassenheim, a citizen of bremen, taking the lead--formed themselves into a union for succor of the sick and dying; "set up canvas tents," medicinal assuagements, from the lubeck ship-stores; and did what utmost was in them, silently in the name of mercy and heaven. "this walpot as not by birth a nobleman," says one of the old chroniclers, "but his deeds were noble." this pious little union proved unconsciously the beginning of a great thing. finding its work prosper here, and gain favor, the little union took vows on itself, strict chivalry forms, and decided to become permanent. "knights hospitallers of our dear lady of mount zion," that or something equivalent was their first title, under walpot their first grand-master; which soon grew to be "german order of st. mary" (teutsche ritter of the marie-orden), or for shortness teutsches ritterthum; under which name it played a great part in the world for above three centuries to come, and eclipsed in importance both the templars and hospitallers of st. john. this was the era of chivalry orders, and gelubde; time for bodies of men uniting themselves by a sacred vow, "gelubde"--which word and thing have passed over to us in a singularly dwindled condition: "club" we now call it; and the vow, if sacred, does not aim very high! templars and hospitallers were already famous bodies; the latter now almost a century old. walpot's new gelubde was of similar intent, only german in kind,--the protection, defence and solacement of pilgrims, with whatever that might involve. head of teutsch order moves to venice. the teutsch ritters earned character in palestine, and began to get bequests and recognition; but did not long continue there, like their two rival orders. it was not in palestine, whether the orders might be aware of it or not, that their work could now lie. pious pilgrims certainly there still are in great numbers; to these you shall do the sacred rites: but these, under a saladin bound by his word, need little protection by the sword. and as for crusading in the armed fashion, that has fallen visibly into the decline. after barbarossa, coeur-de-lion and philippe auguste have tried it with such failure, what wise man will be in haste to try it again? zealous popes continue to stir up crusades; but the secular powers are not in earnest as formerly; secular powers, when they do go, "take constantinople," "conquer sicily," never take or conquer anything in palestine. the teutsch order helps valiantly in palestine, or would help; but what is the use of helping? the teutsch order has already possessions in europe, by pious bequest and otherwise; all its main interests lie there; in fine, after less than thirty years, hermann von der salza, a new sagacious teutschmeister or hochmeister (so they call the head of the order), fourth in the series, a far-seeing, negotiating man, finds that venice will be a fitter place of lodging for him than acre: and accordingly during his long mastership (a.d. - ), he is mostly to be found there, and not at acre or jerusalem. he is very great with the busy kaiser, friedrich ii., barbarossa's grandson; who has the usual quarrels with the pope, and is glad of such a negotiator, statesman as well as armed monk. the usual quarrels this great kaiser had, all along, and some unusual. normans ousted from sicily, who used to be so papal: a kaiser not gone on the crusade, as he had vowed; kaiser at last suspected of freethinking even:--in which matters hermann much serves the kaiser. sometimes he is appointed arbiter between the pope and kaiser;--does not give it in the kaiser's favor, but against him, where he thinks the kaiser is wrong. he is reckoned the first great hochmeister, this hermann von der salza, a thuringer by birth, who is fourth in the series of masters: perhaps the greatest to be found there at all, though many were considerable. it is evident that no man of his time was busier in important public affairs, or with better acceptance, than hermann. his order, both pope and emperor so favoring the master of it, was in a vigorous state of growth all this while; hermann well proving that he could help it better at venice than at acre. but if the crusades are ended,--as indeed it turned out, only one other worth speaking of, st. louis's, having in earnest come to effect, or rather to miserable non-effect, and that not yet for fifty years;--if the crusades are ended, and the teutsch order increases always in possessions, and finds less and less work, what probably will become of the teutsch order? grow fat, become luxurious, incredulous, dissolute, insolent; and need to be burnt out of the way? that was the course of the templars, and their sad end. they began poorest of the poor, "two knights to one horse," as their seal bore; and they at last took fire on very opposite accounts. "to carouse like a templar:" that had become a proverb among men; that was the way to produce combustion, "spontaneous" or other! whereas their fellow hospitallers of st. john, chancing upon new work (anti-turk garrison-duty, so we may call it, successively in cyprus, rhodes, malta, for a series of ages), and doing it well, managed to escape the like. as did the teutsch order in a still more conspicuous manner. teutsch order itself goes to preussen. ever since st. adalbert fell massacred in prussia, stamping himself as a crucifix on that heathen soil, there have been attempts at conversion going on by the christian neighbors, dukes of poland and others: intermittent fits of fighting and preaching for the last two hundred years, with extremely small result. body of st. adalbert was got at light weight, and the poor man canonized; there is even a titular bishop of prussia; and pilgrimages wander to the shrine of adalbert in poland, reminding you of prussia in a tragic manner; but what avails it? missionaries, when they set foot in the country, are killed or flung out again. the bishop of prussia is titular merely; lives in liefland (livonia) properly bishop of riga, among the bremen trading-settlers and converted lieflanders there, which is the only safe place,--if even that were safe without aid of armed men, such as he has there even now. he keeps his schwertbruder (brothers of the sword), a small order of knights, recently got up by him, for express behoof of liefland itself; and these, fighting their best, are sometimes troublesome to the bishop, and do not much prosper upon heathendom, or gain popularity and resources in the christian world. no hope in the schwertbruder for prussia;--and in massacred missionaries what hope? the prussian population continues heathen, untamable to gospel and law; and after two centuries of effort, little or no real progress has been made. but now, in these circumstances, in the year , the titular bishop of prussia, having well considered the matter and arranged it with the polish authorities, opens a communication with hermann von der salza, at venice, on the subject; "crusading is over in the east, illustrious hochmeister; no duty for a teutsch order there at present: what is the use of crusading far off in the east, when heathenism and the kingdom of satan hangs on our own borders, close at hand, in the north? let the teutsch order come to preussen; head a crusade there. the land is fruitful; flows really with milk and honey, not to speak of amber, and was once called the terrestrial paradise"--by i forget whom. [voigt, (if he had an index!) knows.] in fact, it is clear, the land should belong to christ; and if the christian teutsch ritterdom could conquer it from satanas for themselves, it would be well for all parties. hermann, a man of sagacious clear head, listens attentively. the notion is perhaps not quite new to him: at all events, he takes up the notion; negotiates upon it, with titular bishop, with pope, kaiser, duke of poland, teutsch order; and in brief, about two years afterwards (a.d. ), having done the negotiatings to the last item, he produces his actual teutsch ritters, ready, on prussian ground. year , thinks dryasdust, after a struggle. place where, proves also at length discoverable in dryasdust,--not too far across the north polish frontier, always with "masovia" (the now warsaw region) to fall back upon. but in what number; how; nay almost when, to a year,--do not ask poor dryasdust, who overwhelms himself with idle details, and by reason of the trees is unable to see the wood. [voigt, ii. , , .]--the teutsch ritters straightway build a burg for headquarters, spread themselves on this hand and that; and begin their great task. in the name of heaven, we may still say in a true sense; as they, every ritter of them to the heart, felt it to be in all manner of senses. the prussians were a fierce fighting people, fanatically anti-christian: the teutsch ritters had a perilous never-resting time of it, especially for the first fifty years. they built and burnt innumerable stockades for and against; built wooden forts which are now stone towns. they fought much and prevalently; galloped desperately to and fro, ever on the alert. in peaceabler ulterior times, they fenced in the nogat and the weichsel with dams, whereby unlimited quagmire might become grassy meadow,--as it continues to this day. marienburg (mary's burg), still a town of importance in that same grassy region, with its grand stone schloss still visible and even habitable; this was at length their headquarter. but how many burgs of wood and stone they built, in different parts; what revolts, surprisals, furious fights in woody boggy places, they had, no man has counted. their life, read in dryasdust's newest chaotic books (which are of endless length, among other ill qualities), is like a dim nightmare of unintelligible marching and fighting: one feels as if the mere amount of galloping they had would have carried the order several times round the globe. what multiple of the equator was it, then, o dryasdust? the herr professor, little studious of abridgment, does not say. but always some preaching, by zealous monks, accompanied the chivalrous fighting. and colonists came in from germany; trickling in, or at times streaming. victorious ritterdom offers terms to the beaten heathen; terms not of tolerant nature, but which will be punctually kept by ritterdom. when the flame of revolt or general conspiracy burnt up again too extensively, there was a new crusade proclaimed in germany and christendom; and the hochmeister, at marburg or elsewhere, and all his marshals and ministers were busy,--generally with effect. high personages came on crusade to them. ottocar king of bohemia, duke of austria and much else, the great man of his day, came once (a.d. ); johann king of bohemia, in the next century, once and again. the mighty ottocar, [voigt, iii. - .] with his extensive far-shining chivalry, "conquered samland in a month;" tore up the romova where adalbert had been massacred, and burnt it from the face of the earth. a certain fortress was founded at that time, in ottocar's presence; and in honor of him they named it king's fortress, "konigsberg:" it is now grown a big-domed metropolitan city,--where we of this narrative lately saw a coronation going on, and sophie charlotte furtively taking a pinch of snuff. among king ottocar's esquires or subaltern junior officials on this occasion, is one rudolf, heir of a poor swiss lordship and gray hill-castle, called hapsburg, rather in reduced circumstances, whom ottocar likes for his prudent hardy ways; a stout, modest, wise young man,--who may chance to redeem hapsburg a little, if he live? how the shuttles fly, and the life-threads, always, in this "loud-roaring loom of time!"-- along with ottocar too, as an ally in the crusade, was otto iii. ascanier markgraf and elector of brandenburg, great-grandson of albert the bear;--name otto the pious in consequence. he too founded a town in prussia, on this occasion, and called it brandenburg; which is still extant there, a small brandenburg the second; for these procedures he is called otto the pious in history. his wife, withal, was a sister of ottocar's; [michaelis, i. ; hubner, t. .]--which, except in the way of domestic felicity, did not in the end amount to much for him; this ottocar having flown too high, and melted his wings at the sun, in a sad way, as we shall see elsewhere. none of the orders rose so high as the teutonic in favor with mankind. it had by degrees landed possessions far and wide over germany and beyond: i know not how many dozens of balleys (rich bailliwicks, each again with its dozens of comthureis, commanderies, or subordinate groups of estates), and baillies and commanders to match;--and was thought to deserve favor from above. valiant servants, these; to whom heaven had vouchsafed great labors and unspeakable blessings. in some fifty or fifty-three years they had got prussian heathenism brought to the ground; and they endeavored to tie it well down there by bargain and arrangement. but it would not yet lie quiet, nor for a century to come; being still secretly heathen; revolting, conspiring ever again, ever on weaker terms, till the satanic element had burnt itself out, and conversion and composure could ensue. conversion and complete conquest once come, there was a happy time for prussia: ploughshare instead of sword; busy sea-havens, german towns, getting built; churches everywhere rising; grass growing, and peaceable cows, where formerly had been quagmire and snakes. and for the order a happy time? a rich, not a happy. the order was victorious; livonian "sword-brothers," "knights of dobryn," minor orders and authorities all round, were long since subordinated to it or incorporated with it; livonia, courland, lithuania, are all got tamed under its influence, or tied down and evidently tamable. but it was in these times that the order got into its wider troubles outward and inward; quarrels, jealousies, with christian neighbors, poland, pommern, who did not love it and for cause;--wider troubles, and by no means so evidently useful to mankind. the order's wages, in this world, flowed higher than ever, only perhaps its work was beginning to run low! but we will not anticipate. on the whole, this teutsch ritterdom, for the first century and more, was a grand phenomenon; and flamed like a bright blessed beacon through the night of things, in those northern countries. for above a century, we perceive, it was the rallying place of all brave men who had a career to seek on terms other than vulgar. the noble soul, aiming beyond money, and sensible to more than hunger in this world, had a beacon burning (as we say), if the night chanced to overtake it, and the earth to grow too intricate, as is not uncommon. better than the career of stump-oratory, i should fancy, and its hesperides apples, golden and of gilt horse-dung. better than puddling away one's poor spiritual gift of god (loan, not gift), such as it may be, in building the lofty rhyme, the lofty review-article, for a discerning public that has sixpence to spare! times alter greatly.--will the reader take a glimpse of conrad von thuringen's biography, as a sample of the old ways of proceeding? conrad succeeded hermann von der salza as grand-master, and his history is memorable as a teutonic knight. the stuff teutsch ritters were made of. conrad of thuringen: saint elizabeth; town of marburg. conrad, younger brother of the landgraf of thuringen,--which prince lived chiefly in the wartburg, romantic old hill-castle, now a weimar-eisenach property and show-place, then an abode of very earnest people,--was probably a child-in-arms, in that same wartburg, while richard coeur-de-lion was getting home from palestine and into troubles by the road: this will date conrad for us. his worthy elder brother was husband of the lady since called saint elizabeth, a very pious but also very fanciful young woman;--and i always guess his going on the crusade, where he died straightway, was partly the fruit of the life she led him; lodging beggars, sometimes in his very bed, continually breaking his night's rest for prayer, and devotional exercise of undue length; "weeping one moment, then smiling in joy the next;" meandering about, capricious, melodious, weak, at the will of devout whim mainly! however, that does not concern us. [many lives of the saint. see, in particular, _libellus de dictis quatuor ancillarum,_ &c.--(that is, report of the evidence got from elizabeth's four maids, by an official person, devil's-advocate or whatever he was, missioned by the pope to question them, when her canonization came to be talked of. a curious piece):--in meuckenii _scriptores rexum germanicarum_ (lipsia, - ), ii. dd.; where also are other details.] sure enough her poor landgraf went crusading, year (kaiser friedrich ii.'s crusade, who could not put it off longer); poor landgraf fell ill by the road, at brindisi, and died,--not to be driven farther by any cause. conrad, left guardian to his deceased brother's children, had at first much quarrel with saint elizabeth, though he afterwards took far other thoughts. meanwhile he had his own apanage, "landgraf" by rank he too; and had troubles enough with that of itself. for instance: once the archbishop of an mainz, being in debt, laid a heavy tax on all abbeys under him; on reichartsbronn, an abbey of conrad's, among others. "don't pay it!" said conrad to the abbot. abbot refused accordingly; but was put under ban by the pope;--obliged to comply, and even to be "whipt thrice" before the money could be accepted. two whippings at erfurt, from the archbishop, there had been; and a third was just going on there, one morning, when conrad, travelling that way, accidentally stept in to matins. conrad flames into a blazing whirlwind at the phenomenon disclosed. "whip my abbot? and he is to pay, then,--archbishop of beelzebub?"--and took the poor archbishop by the rochets, and spun him hither and thither; nay was for cutting him in two, had hot friends hysterically busied themselves, and got the sword detained in its scabbard and the archbishop away. here is a fine coil like to be, for conrad. another soon follows; from a quarrel he had with fritzlar, imperial free-town in those parts, perhaps a little stiff upon its privileges, and high towards a landgraf. conrad marches, one morning (year ) upon insolent fritzlar; burns the environs; but on looking practically at the ramparts of the place, thinks they are too high, and turns to go home again. whereupon the idle women of fritzlar, who are upon the ramparts gazing in fear and hope, burst into shrill universal jubilation of voice,--and even into gestures, and liberties with their dress, which are not describable in history! conrad, suddenly once more all flame, whirls round; storms the ramparts, slays what he meets, plunders fritzlar with a will, and leaves it blazing in a general fire, which had broken out in the business. here is a pair of coils for conrad; the like of which can issue only in papal ban or worse. conrad is grim and obstinate under these aspects; but secretly feels himself very wicked; knows not well what will come of it. sauntering one day in his outer courts, he notices a certain female beggar; necessitous female of loose life, who tremulously solicits charity of him. necessitous female gets some fraction of coin, but along with it bullying rebuke in very liberal measure; and goes away weeping bitterly, and murmuring about "want that drove me to those courses." conrad retires into himself: "what is her real sin, perhaps, to mine?" conrad "lies awake all that night;" mopes about, in intricate darkness, days and nights; rises one morning an altered man. he makes "pilgrimage to gladbach," barefoot; kneels down at the church-door of fritzlar with bare back, and a bundle of rods beside him. "whip me, good injured christians for the love of jesus!"--in brief, reconciles himself to christian mankind, the pope included; takes the teutsch-ritter vows upon him; [a.d. (voigt, ii. - ).] and hastens off to preussen, there to spend himself, life and life's resources thenceforth, faithfully, till he die. the one course left for conrad. which he follows with a great strong step,--with a thought still audible to me. it was of such stuff that teutsch ritters were then made; ritters evidently capable of something. saint elizabeth, who went to live at marburg, in hessen-cassel, after her husband's death, and soon died there, in a most melodiously pious sort, [a.d. , age .] made the teutsch order guardian of her son. it was from her and the grand-mastership of conrad that marburg became such a metropolis of the order; the grand-masters often residing there, many of them coveting burial there, and much business bearing date of the place. a place still notable to the ingenuous tourist, who knows his whereabout. philip the magnanimous, luther's friend, memorable to some as philip with the two wives, lived there, in that old castle,--which is now a kind of correction-house and garrison, idle blue uniforms strolling about, and unlovely physiognomies with a jingle of iron at their ankles,--where luther has debated with the zwinglian sacramenters and others, and much has happened in its time. saint elizabeth and her miracles (considerable, surely, of their kind) were the first origin of marburg as a town: a mere castle, with adjoining hamlet, before that. strange gray old silent town, rich in so many memories; it stands there, straggling up its rocky hill-edge, towards its old castles and edifices on the top, in a not unpicturesque manner; flanked by the river lahn and its fertile plains: very silent, except for the delirious screech, at rare intervals, of a railway train passing that way from frankfurt-on-mayn to cassel. "church of st. elizabeth,"--high, grand church, built by conrad our hochmeister, in reverence of his once terrestrial sister-in-law,--stands conspicuous in the plain below, where the town is just ending. st. elizabeth's shrine was once there, and pilgrims wending to it from all lands. conrad himself is buried there, as are many hochmeisters; their names, and shields of arms, hermann's foremost, though hermann's dust is not there, are carved, carefully kept legible, on the shafts of the gothic arches,--from floor to groin, long rows of them;--and produce, with the other tombs, tomb-paintings by durer and the like, thoughts impressive almost to pain. st. elizabeth's loculus was put into its shrine here, by kaiser friedrich ii. and all manner of princes and grandees of the empire, "one million two hundred thousand people looking on," say the old records, perhaps not quite exact in their arithmetic. philip the magnanimous, wishing to stop "pilgrimages no-whither," buried the loculus away, it was never known where; under the floor of that church somewhere, as is likeliest. enough now of marburg, and of its teutsch ritters too. they had one or two memorable hochmeisters and teutschmeisters; whom we have not named here, nor shall. [in our excellent kohler's _muntzbelustigungen_ (nurnberg, et seqq. ii. ; v. ; viii. ; &c.) are valuable glimpses into the teutonic order,--as into hundreds of other things. the special book upon it is voigt's, often cited here: nine heavy volumes; grounded on faithful reading, but with a fatal defect of almost every other quality.] there is one hochmeister, somewhere about the fiftieth on the list, and properly the last real hochmeister, albert of hohenzollern-culmbach by name, who will be very memorable to us by and by. or will the reader care to know how culmbach came into the possession of the hohenzollerns, burggraves of nurnberg? the story may be illustrative, and will not occupy us long. chapter vii. -- margraviate of culmbach: baireuth, anspach. in the year , in his castle of plassenburg,--which is now a correction-house, looking down upon the junction of the red and white mayn,--otto duke of meran, a very great potentate, more like a king than a duke, was suddenly clutched hold of by a certain wedded gentleman, name not given, "one of his domestics or dependents," whom he had enraged beyond forgiveness (signally violating the seventh commandment at his expense); and was by the said wedded gentleman there and then cut down, and done to death. "lamentably killed, _jammerlich erstochen,"_ says old rentsch. [p. . kohler, _reichs-historie,_ p. . holle, _alte geschichte der stadt baireuth_ (baireuth, ), pp. - .] others give a different color to the homicide, and even a different place; a controversy not interesting to us. slain at any rate he is; still a young man; the last male of his line. whereby the renowned dukes of meran fall extinct, and immense properties come to be divided among connections and claimants. meran, we remark, is still a town, old castle now abolished, in the tyrol, towards the sources of the etsch (called adige by italian neighbors). the merans had been lords not only of most of the tyrol; but dukes of "the voigtland;"--voigtland, that is baillie-land, wide country between nurnberg and the fichtelwald; why specially so called, dryasdust dimly explains, deducing it from certain counts von reuss, those strange reusses who always call themselves henry, and now amount to henry the eightieth and odd, with side-branches likewise called henry; whose nomenclature is the despair of mankind, and worse than that of the naples lazzaroni who candidly have no names!--dukes of voigtland, i say; likewise of dalmatia; then also markgraves of austria; also counts of andechs, in which latter fine country (north of munchen a day's ride), and not at plassenburg, some say, the man was slain. these immense possessions, which now (a.d. ) all fall asunder by the stroke of that sword, come to be divided among the slain man's connections, or to be snatched up by active neighbors, and otherwise disposed of. active wurzburg, active bamberg, without much connection, snatched up a good deal: count of orlamunde, married to the eldest sister of the slain duke, got plassenburg and most of the voigtland: a tyrolese magnate, whose wife was an aunt of the duke's, laid hold of the tyrol, and transmitted it to daughters and their spouses,--the finish of which line we shall see by and by:--in short, there was much property in a disposable condition. the hohenzollern burggraf of nurnberg, who had married a younger sister of the duke's two years before this accident, managed to get at least baireuth and some adjacencies; big orlamunde, who had not much better right, taking the lion's share. this of baireuth proved a notable possession to the hohenzollern family: it was conrad the first burggraf's great-grandson, friedrich, counted "friedrich iii." among the burggraves, who made the acquisition in this manner, a.d. . onolzbach (on'z-bach or "-brook," now called anspach) they got, some fourscore years after, by purchase and hard money down (" , pounds of farthings," whatever that may be), [a.d. : _stadt anspach,_ by j. b. fischer (anspach, ), p. .] which proved a notable twin possession of the family. and then, in some seven years more (a.d. ), the big orlamunde people, having at length, as was too usual, fallen considerably insolvent, sold plassenburg castle itself, the plassenburg with its town of culmbach and dependencies, to the hohenzollern burggraves, [rentsch, p. .] who had always ready money about them. who in this way got most of the voigtland, with a fine fortress, into hand; and had, independently of nurnberg and its imperial properties, an important princely territory of their own. margraviate or principality of culmbach (plassenburg being only the castle) was the general title; but more frequently in later times, being oftenest split in two between brothers unacquainted with primogeniture, there were two margraviates made of it: one of baireuth, called also "margraviate on the hill;" and one of anspach, "margraviate under the hill:" of which, in their modern designations, we shall by and by hear more than enough. thus are the hohenzollern growing, and never declining: by these few instances judge of many. of their hard labors, and the storms they had to keep under control, we could also say something: how the two young sons of the burggraf once riding out with their tutor, a big hound of theirs in one of the streets of nurnberg accidentally tore a child; and there arose wild mother's-wail; and "all the scythe-smiths turned out," fire-breathing, deaf to a poor tutor's pleadings and explainings; and how the tutor, who had ridden forth in calm humor with two princes, came galloping home with only one,--the smiths having driven another into boggy ground, and there caught and killed him; [rentsch, p. (date not given; guess, about ).] with the burggraf's commentary on that sad proceeding (the same friedrich iii. who had married meran's sister); and the amends exacted by him, strict and severe, not passionate or inhuman. or again how the nurnbergers once, in the burggraf's absence, built a ring-wall round his castle; entrance and exit now to depend on the nurnbergers withal! and how the burggraf did not fly out into battle in consequence, but remedied it by imperturbable countenance and power of driving. with enough of the like sort; which readers can conceive. burggraf friedrich iii.; and the anarchy of nineteen years. this same friedrich iii., great-grandson of conrad the first burggraf, was he that got the burggraviate made hereditary in his family (a.d. ); which thereby rose to the fixed rank of princes, among other advantages it was gaining. nor did this acquisition come gratis at all, but as the fruit of good service adroitly done; service of endless importance as it proved. friedrich's life had fallen in times of huge anarchy; the hohenstauffen line gone miserably out,--boy conradin, its last representative, perishing on the scaffold even (by a desperate pope and a desperate duke of anjou); [at naples, th october, .] germans, sicilian normans, pope and reich, all at daggers-drawn with one another; no kaiser, nay as many as three at once! which lasted from onwards; and is called "the interregnum," or anarchy "of nineteen years," in german history. let us at least name the three kaisers, or triple-elixir of no-kaiser; though, except as chronological landmarks, we have not much to do with them. first kaiser is william count of holland, a rough fellow, pope's protege, pope even raising cash for him; till william perished in the dutch peat-bogs (horse and man, furiously pursuing, in some fight there, and getting swallowed up in that manner); which happily reduces our false kaisers to two: second and third, who are both foreign to germany. second kaiser is alphonso king of castille, alphonso the wise, whose saying about ptolemy's astronomy, "that it seemed a crank machine; that it was pity the creator had not taken advice!" is still remembered by mankind;--this and no other of his many sayings and doings. he was wise enough to stay at home; and except wearing the title, which cost nothing, to concern himself very little about the holy roman empire,--some clerk or two dating "toleti (at toledo)," did languidly a bit of official writing now and then, and that was all. confused crank machine this of the german empire too, your majesty? better stay at home, and date "toleti." the third false kaiser--futile call him rather, wanting clear majority--was the english richard of cornwall; younger son of john lackland; and little wiser than his father, to judge by those symptoms. he had plenty of money, and was liberal with it;--no other call to germany, you would say, except to get rid of his money;--in which he succeeded. he lived actually in germany, twice over for a year or two:--alphonse and he were alike shy of the pope, as umpire; and richard, so far as his money went, found some gleams of authority and comfortable flattery in the rhenish provinces: at length, in , money and patience being both probably out, he quitted germany for the second and last time; came home to berkhamstead in hertfordshire here, [gough's _camden,_ i. .] more fool than he went. till his death (a.d. ), he continued to call himself, and was by many persons called, kaiser of the holy roman empire;--needed a german clerk or two at berkhamstead, we can suppose: but never went back; preferring pleasant berkhamstead, with troubles of simon de montfort or whatever troubles there might be, to anything germany had to offer him. these were the three futile kaisers: and the late kaiser conrad's young boy, who one day might have swept the ground clear of them, perished,--bright young conradin, bright and brave, but only sixteen, and pope's captive by ill luck,--perished on the scaffold; "throwing out his glove" (in symbolical protest) amid the dark mute neapolitan multitudes, that wintry morning. it was october th, ,--dante alighieri then a little boy at florence, not three years old; gazing with strange eyes as the elders talked of such a performance by christ's vicar on earth. a very tragic performance indeed, which brought on the sicilian vespers by and by; for the heavens never fail to pay debts, your holiness!-- germany was rocking down towards one saw not what,--an anarchic republic of princes, perhaps, and of free barons fast verging towards robbery? sovereignty of multiplex princes, with a peerage of intermediate robber barons? things are verging that way. such princes, big and little, each wrenching off for himself what lay loosest and handiest to him, found it a stirring game, and not so much amiss. on the other hand, some voice of the people, in feeble whimperings of a strange intensity, to the opposite effect, are audible to this day. here are three old minstrels (minnesanger) picked from manesse's collection by an obliging hand, who are of this date, and shall speak each a word:-- no. loquitor (in cramp doggerel, done into speech): "to thee, o lord, we poor folk make moan; the devil has sown his seeds in this land! law thy hand created for protection of thy children: but where now is law? widows and orphans weep that the princes do not unite to have a kaiser." no. : "the princes grind in the kaiser's mill: to the reich they fling the siftings; and keep to themselves the meal. not much in haste, they, to give us a kaiser." no. : "like the plague of frogs, there they are come out; defiling the reich's honor. stork, when wilt thou appear, then," and with thy stiff mandibles act upon them a little? [mentzel, _geschichte der deutschen,_ p. .] it was in such circumstances, that friedrich iii., burggraf of nurnberg, who had long moaned and striven over these woes of his country, came to pay that visit, late in the night ( st or d of october, ), to his cousin rudolf lord of hapsburg, under the walls of basel; a notable scene in history. rudolf was besieging basel, being in some feud with the bishop there, of which friedrich and another had been proposed as umpires; and friedrich now waited on his cousin, in this hasty manner,--not about the basel feud, but on a far higher quite unexpected errand,--to say, that he rudolf was elected kaiser, and that better times for the holy roman empire were now probable, with heaven's help. [rentsch, pp. , , .] we call him cousin; though what the kindred actually was, a kindred by mothers, remains, except the general fact of it, disputable by dryasdust. the actual visit, under the walls of basel, is by some considered romantic. but that rudolf, tough steel-gray man, besieging basel on his own quarrel, on the terms just stated, was altogether unexpectedly apprised of this great news, and that cousin friedrich of nurnberg had mainly contributed to such issue, is beyond question. [kohler, pp. , .] the event was salutary, like life instead of death, to anarchic germany; and did eminent honor to friedrich's judgment in men. richard of cornwall having at last died, and his futile german clerks having quitted berkhamstead forever,--alphonso of castille, not now urged by rivalry, and seeing long since what a crank machine the thing was, had no objection to give it up; said so to the pope,--who was himself anxious for a settled kaiser, the supplies of papal german cash having run almost dry during these troubles. whereupon ensued earnest consultations among leading german men; diet of the empire, sternly practical (we may well perceive), and with a minimum of talk, the pope too being held rather well at a distance: the result of which was what we see. [ th september, .] mainly due to friedrich of nurnberg, say all historians; conjoining with him the then archbishop of mainz, who is officially president elector (literally convener of electors): they two did it. archbishop of mainz had himself a pleasant accidental acquaintance with rudolf,--a night's lodging once at hapsburg, with escort over the hills, in dangerous circumstances;--and might the more readily be made to understand what qualities the man now had; and how, in justness of insight, toughness of character, and general strength of bridle-hand, this actually might be the adequate man. kaiser rudolf and burggraf friedrich iii. last time we saw rudolf, near thirty years ago, he was some equerry or subaltern dignitary among the ritters of king ottocar, doing a crusade against the prussian heathen, and seeing his master found konigsberg in that country. changed times now! ottocar king of bohemia, who (by the strong hand mainly, and money to richard of cornwall, in the late troubles) has become duke of austria and much else, had himself expected the kaisership; and of all astonished men, king ottocar was probably the most astonished at the choice made. a dread sovereign, fierce, and terribly opulent, and every way resplendent to such degree; and this threadbare swiss gentleman-at-arms, once "my domestic" (as ottocar loved to term it), preferred to me! flat insanity, king ottocar thought; refused to acknowledge such a kaiser; would not in the least give up his unjust properties, or even do homage for them or the others. but there also rudolf contrived to be ready for him. rudolf invaded his rich austrian territories; smote down vienna, and all resistance that there was; [ (kohler, p. ).] forced ottocar to beg pardon and peace. "no pardon, nor any speech of peace, till you first do homage for all those lands of yours, whatever we may find them to be!" ottocar was very loath; but could not help himself. ottocar quitted prag with a resplendent retinue, to come into the danube country, and do homage to "my domestic" that once was. he bargained that the sad ceremony should be at least private; on an island in the danube, between the two retinues or armies; and in a tent, so that only official select persons might see it. the island is called camberg (near vienna, i conclude), in the middle of the donau river: there ottocar accordingly knelt; he in great pomp of tailorage, rudolf in mere buff jerkin, practical leather and iron;--hide it, charitable canvas, from all but a few! alas, precisely at this moment, the treacherous canvas rushes down,--hung so on purpose, thinks ottocar; and it is a tent indeed; but a tent without walls; and all the world sees me in this scandalous plight! ottocar rode home in deep gloom; his poor wife, too, upbraided him: he straightway rallied into war again; rudolf again very ready to meet him. rudolf met him, friedrich of nurnberg there among the rest under the reichs-banner; on the marchfeld by the donau (modern wagram near by); and entirely beat and even slew and ruined ottocar. [ th august, (kohler, p. .)] whereby austria fell now to rudolf, who made his sons dukes of it; which, or even archdukes, they are to this day. bohemia, moravia, of these also rudolf would have been glad; but of these there is an heir of ottocar's left; these will require time and luck. prosperous though toilsome days for rudolf; who proved an excellent bit of stuff for a kaiser; and found no rest, proving what stuff he was. in which prosperities, as indeed he continued to do in the perils and toils, burggraf friedrich iii. of nurnberg naturally partook: hence, and not gratis at all, the hereditary burggrafdom, and many other favors and accessions he got. for he continued rudolf's steady helper, friend and first-man in all things, to the very end. evidently one of the most important men in germany, and candor will lead us to guess one of the worthiest, during those bad years of interregnum, and the better ones of kaisership. after conrad his great-grandfather he is the second notable architect of the family house;--founded by conrad; conspicuously built up by this friedrich iii., and the first story of it finished, so to speak. then come two friedrichs as burggrafs, his son and his grandson's grandson, "friedrich iv." and "friedrich vi.," by whom it was raised to the second story and the third,--thenceforth one of the high houses of the world. that is the glimpse we can give of friedrich first hereditary burggraf, and of his cousin rudolf first hapsburg kaiser. the latest austrian kaisers, the latest kings of prussia, they are sons of these two men. chapter viii. -- ascanier markgraves in brandenburg. we have said nothing of the ascanier markgraves, electors of brandenburg, all this while; nor, in these limits, can we now or henceforth say almost anything. a proud enough, valiant and diligent line of markgraves; who had much fighting and other struggle in the world,--steadily enlarging their border upon the wends to the north; and adjusting it, with mixed success, against the wettin gentlemen, who are markgraves farther east (in the lausitz now), who bound us to the south too (meissen, misnia), and who in fact came in for the whole of modern saxony in the end. much fighting, too, there was with the archbishops of magdeburg, now that the wends are down: standing quarrel there, on the small scale, like that of kaiser and pope on the great; such quarrel as is to be seen in all places, and on all manner of scales, in that era of the christian world. none of our markgraves rose to the height of their progenitor, albert the bear; nor indeed, except massed up, as "albert's line," and with a history ever more condensing itself almost to the form of label, can they pretend to memorability with us. what can dryasdust himself do with them? that wholesome dutch cabbages continued to be more and more planted, and peat-mire, blending itself with waste sand, became available for christian mankind,--intrusive chaos, and especially divine triglaph and his ferocities being well held aloof:--this, after all, is the real history of our markgraves; and of this, by the nature of the case, dryasdust can say nothing. "new mark," which once meant brandenburg at large, is getting subdivided into mid-mark, into uckermark (closest to the wends); and in old mark and new much is spreading, much getting planted and founded. in the course of centuries there will grow gradually to be "seven cities; and as many towns," says one old jubilant topographer, "as there are days in the year,"--struggling to count up of them. of berlin city. in the year (guessed to be) , one ascanier markgraf "fortifies berlin;" that is, first makes berlin a german burg and inhabited outpost in those parts:--the very name, some think, means "little rampart" (wehrlin), built there, on the banks of the spree, against the wends, and peopled with dutch; of which latter fact, it seems, the old dialect of the place yields traces. [nicolai, _beschreibung der koniglichen residenzstadte berlin und potsdam_ (berlin, ), i. pp. , of "einleitung." nicolai rejects the wehrlin etymology; admits that the name was evidently appellative, not proper, "the berlin," "to the berlin;" finds in the world two objects, one of them at halle, still called "the berlin;" and thinks it must have meant (in some language of extinct mortals) "wild pasture-ground,"--"the scrubs," as we should call it.--possible; perhaps likely.] how it rose afterwards to be chosen for metropolis, one cannot say, except that it had a central situation for the now widened principalities of brandenburg: the place otherwise is sandy by nature, sand and swamp the constituents of it; and stands on a sluggish river the color of oil. wendish fishermen had founded some first nucleus of it long before; and called their fishing-hamlet coln, which is said to be the general wendish title for places founded on piles, a needful method where your basis is swamp. at all events, "coln" still designates the oldest quarter in berlin; and "coln on the spree" (cologne, or coln on the rhine, being very different) continued, almost to modern times, to be the official name of the capital. how the dutch and wends agreed together, within their rampart, inclusive of both, is not said. the river lay between; they had two languages; peace was necessary: it is probable they were long rather on a taciturn footing! but in the oily river you do catch various fish; coln, amid its quagmires and straggling sluggish waters, can be rendered very strong. some husbandry, wet or dry, is possible to diligent dutchmen. there is room for trade also; spree havel elbe is a direct water-road to hamburg and the ocean; by the oder, which is not very far, you communicate with the baltic on this hand, and with poland and the uttermost parts of silesia on that. enough, berlin grows; becomes, in about years, for one reason and another, capital city of the country, of these many countries. the markgraves or electors, after quitting brandenburg, did not come immediately to berlin; their next residence was tangermunde (mouth of the tanger, where little tanger issues into elbe); a much grassier place than berlin, and which stands on a hill, clay-and-sand hill, likewise advantageous for strength. that berlin should have grown, after it once became capital, is not a mystery. it has quadrupled itself, and more, within the last hundred years, and i think doubled itself within the last thirty. markgraf otto iv., or otto with the arrow one ascanier markgraf, and one only, otto iv. by title, was a poet withal; had an actual habit of doing verse. there are certain so-called poems of his, still extant, read by dryasdust, with such enthusiasm as he can get up, in the old _collection of minne-singers,_ made by manesse the zurich burgermeister, while the matter was much fresher than it now is. [rudiger von manesse, who fought the austrians, too, made his _sammlung_ (collection) in the latter half of the fourteenth century; it was printed, after many narrow risks of destruction in the interim, in ,--bodmer and breitinger editing;--at zurich, vols. to.] madrigals all; minne-songs, describing the passion of love; how otto felt under it,--well and also ill; with little peculiarity of symptom, as appears. one of his lines is, _"ich wunsch ich were tot,_ i wish that i were dead:" --the others shall remain safe in manesse's _collection._ this same markgraf otto iv., year , had a dreadful quarrel with the see of magdeburg, about electing a brother of his. the chapter had chosen another than otto's brother; otto makes war upon the chapter. comes storming along; "will stable my horses in your cathedral," on such and such a day! but the archbishop chosen, who had been a fighter formerly, stirs up the magdeburgers, by preaching ("horses to be stabled here, my christian brethren"), by relics, and quasi-miracles, to a furious condition; leads them out against otto, beats otto utterly; brings him in captive, amid hooting jubilations of the conceivable kind: "stable ready; but where are the horses,--serene child of satanas!" archbishop makes a wooden cage for otto (big beams, spars stout enough, mere straw to lie on), and locks him up there. in a public situation in the city of magdeburg;--visible to mankind so, during certain months of that year . it was in the very time while ottocar was getting finished in the marchfeld; much mutiny still abroad, and the new kaiser rudolf very busy. otto's wife, all streaming in tears, and flaming in zeal, what shall she do? "sell your jewels," so advises a certain old johann von buch, discarded ex-official: "sell your jewels, madam; bribe the canons of magdeburg with extreme secrecy, none knowing of his neighbor; they will consent to ransom on terms possible. poor wife bribed as was bidden; canons voted as they undertook; unanimous for ransom,--high, but humanly possible. markgraf otto gets out on parole. but now, how raise such a ransom, our very jewels being sold? old johann von buch again indicates ways and means,--miraculous old gentleman:--markgraf otto returns, money in hand; pays, and is solemnly discharged. the title of the sum i could give exact; but as none will in the least tell me what the value is, i humbly forbear. "we are clear, then, at this date?" said markgraf otto from his horse, just taking leave of the magdeburg canonry. "yes," answered they.--"pshaw, you don't know the value of a markgraf!" said otto. "what is it, then?"--"rain gold ducats on his war-horse and him," said otto, looking up with a satirical grin, "till horse and markgraf are buried in them, and you cannot see the point of his spear atop!"--that would be a cone of gold coins equal to the article, thinks our markgraf; and rides grinning away. [michaelis, i. ; pauli, i. ; kloss; &c.]--the poor archbishop, a valiant pious man, finding out that late strangely unanimous vote of his chapter for ransoming the markgraf, took it so ill, that he soon died of a broken heart, say the old books. die he did, before long;--and still otto's brother was refused as successor. brother, however, again survived; behaved always wisely; and otto at last had his way. "makes an excellent archbishop, after all!" said the magdeburgers. those were rare times, mr. rigmarole. the same otto, besieging some stronghold of his magdeburg or other enemies, got an arrow shot into the skull of him; into, not through; which no surgery could extract, not for a year to come. otto went about, sieging much the same, with the iron in his head; and is called otto mit dem pfoile, otto sagittarius, or otto with the arrow, in consequence. a markgraf who writes madrigals; who does sieges with an arrow in his head; who lies in a wooden cage, jeered by the magdeburgers, and proposes such a cone of ducats: i thought him the memorablest of those forgotten markgraves; and that his jolting life-pilgrimage might stand as the general sample. multiply a year of otto by , you have, on easy conditions, some imagination of a history of the ascanier markgraves. forgettable otherwise; or it can be read in the gross, darkened with endless details, and thrice-dreary, half-intelligible traditions, in pauli's fatal quartos, and elsewhere, if any one needs.--the year of that magdeburg speech about the cone of ducats is : king edward the first, in this country, was walking about, a prosperous man of forty, with very long shanks, and also with a head of good length. otto, as had been the case in the former line, was a frequent name among those markgraves: "otto the pious" (whom we saw crusading once in preussen, with king ottocar his brother-in-law), "otto the tall," "otto the short (parvus);" i know not how many ottos besides him "with the arrow." half a century after this one of the arrow (under his grand-nephew it was), the ascanier markgraves ended, their line also dying out. not the successfulest of markgraves, especially in later times. brandenburg was indeed steadily an electorate, its markgraf a kurfurst, or elector of the empire; and always rather on the increase than otherwise. but the territories were apt to be much split up to younger sons; two or more markgraves at once, the eldest for elector, with other arrangements; which seldom answer. they had also fallen into the habit of borrowing money; pawning, redeeming, a good deal, with teutsch ritters and others. then they puddled considerably,--and to their loss, seldom choosing the side that proved winner,--in the general broils of the reich, which at that time, as we have seen, was unusually anarchic. none of the successfulest of markgraves latterly. but they were regretted beyond measure in comparison with the next set that came; as we shall see. chapter ix. -- burggraf friedrich iv. brandenburg and the hohenzollern family of nurnberg have hitherto no mutual acquaintanceship whatever: they go, each its own course, wide enough apart in the world;--little dreaming that they are to meet by and by, and coalesce, wed for better and worse, and become one flesh. as is the way in all romance. "marriages," among men, and other entities of importance, "are, evidently, made in heaven." friedrich iv. of nurnberg, son of that friedrich iii., kaiser rudolf's successful friend, was again a notable increaser of his house; which finally, under his great-grandson, named friedrich vi., attained the electoral height. of which there was already some hint. well; under the first of these two friedrichs, some slight approximation, and under his son, a transient express introduction (so to speak) of brandenburg to hohenzollern took place, without immediate result of consequence; but under the second of them occurred the wedding, as we may call it, or union "for better or worse, till death do us part."--how it came about? easy to ask, how! the reader will have to cast some glances into the confused reichs-history of the time;--timid glances, for the element is of dangerous, extensive sort, mostly jungle and shaking bog;--and we must travel through this corner of it, as on shoes of swiftness, treading lightly. contested elections in the reich: kaiser albert i.; after whom six non-hapsburg kaisers. the line of rudolf of hapsburg did not at once succeed continuously to the empire, as the wont had been in such cases, where the sons were willing and of good likelihood. after such a spell of anarchy, parties still ran higher than usual in the holy roman empire; and wide-yawning splits would not yet coalesce to the old pitch. it appears too the posterity of rudolf, stiff, inarticulate, proud men, and of a turn for engrossing and amassing, were not always lovely to the public. albert, rudolf's eldest son, for instance, kaiser albert i.,--who did succeed, though not at once, or till after killing rudolf's immediate successor, [adolf of nassau; slain by albert's own hand; "battle" of hasenbuhel "near worms, d july, " (kohler, p. ).]--albert was by no means a prepossessing man, though a tough and hungry one. it must be owned, he had a harsh ugly character; and face to match: big-nosed, loose-lipped, blind of an eye: not kaiser-like at all to an electoral body. _"est homo monoculus, et vultu rustico; non potest esse imperator_ (a one-eyed fellow, and looks like a clown; he cannot be emperor)!" said pope boniface viii., when consulted about him. [kohler, pp. - ; and _muntzbelustigungen, xix. - ._] enough, from the death of rudolf, a.d. , there intervened a hundred and fifty years, and eight successive kaisers singly or in line, only one of whom (this same albert of the unlovely countenance) was a hapsburger,--before the family, often trying it all along, could get a third time into the imperial saddle. where, after that, it did sit steady. once in for the third time, the hapsburgers got themselves "elected" (as they still called it) time after time; always elected,--with but one poor exception, which will much concern my readers by and by,--to the very end of the matter. and saw the holy roman empire itself expire, and as it were both saddle and horse vanish out of nature, before they would dismount. nay they still ride there on the shadow of a saddle, so to speak; and are "kaisers of austria" at this hour. steady enough of seat at last, after many vain trials! for during those hundred and fifty years,--among those six intercalary kaisers, too, who followed albert,--they were always trying; always thinking they had a kind of quasi right to it; whereby the empire often fell into trouble at election-time. for they were proud stout men, our hapsburgers, though of taciturn unconciliatory ways; and rudolf had so fitted them out with fruitful austrian dukedoms, which they much increased by marriages and otherwise,--styria, carinthia, the tyrol, by degrees, not to speak of their native hapsburg much enlarged, and claims on switzerland all round it,--they had excellent means of battling for their pretensions and disputable elections. none of them succeeded, however, for a hundred and fifty years, except that same one-eyed, loose-lipped unbeautiful albert i.; a kaiser dreadfully fond of earthly goods, too. who indeed grasped all round him, at property half his, or wholly not his: rhine-tolls, crown of bohemia, landgraviate of thuringen, swiss forest cantons, crown of hungary, crown of france even:--getting endless quarrels on his hands, and much defeat mixed with any victory there was. poor soul, he had six-and-twenty children by one wife; and felt that there was need of apanages! he is understood (guessed, not proved) to have instigated two assassinations in pursuit of these objects; and he very clearly underwent one in his own person. assassination first was of dietzman the thuringian landgraf, an anti-albert champion, who refused to be robbed by albert,--for whom the great dante is (with almost palpable absurdity) fabled to have written an epitaph still legible in the church at leipzig. [menckenii _scriptores,_ i.?? _fredericus admorsus_ (by tentsel).] assassination second was of wenzel, the poor young bohemian king, ottocar's grandson and last heir. sure enough, this important young gentleman "was murdered by some one at olmutz next year" ( , a promising event for albert then), "but none yet knows who it was." [kohler, p. .] neither of which suspicious transactions came to any result for albert; as indeed most of his unjust graspings proved failures. he at one time had thoughts of the crown of france; "yours _i_ solemnly declare!" said the pope. but that came to nothing;--only to france's shifting of the popes to avignon, more under the thumb of france. what his ultimate success with tell and the forest cantons was, we all know! a most clutching, strong-fisted, dreadfully hungry, tough and unbeautiful man. whom his own nephew, at last, had to assassinate, at the ford of the reus (near windisch village, meeting of the reus and aar; st may, ): "scandalous jew pawnbroker of an uncle, wilt thou flatly keep from me my father's heritage, then, intrusted to thee in his hour of death? regardless of god and man, and of the last look of a dying brother? uncle worse than pawnbroker; for it is a heritage with no pawn on it, with much the reverse!" thought the nephew,--and stabbed said uncle down dead; having gone across with him in the boat; attendants looking on in distraction from the other side of the river. was called johannes parricida in consequence; fled out of human sight that day, he and his henchmen, never to turn up again till doomsday. for the pursuit was transcendent, regardless of expense; the cry for legal vengeance very great (on the part of albert's daughters chiefly), though in vain, or nearly so, in this world. [kohler, p. . hormayr, _oesterreichischer plutarch, oder leben und bild nisse, &c._ ( bandchen; wien, ,--a superior book), i. .] of kaiser henry vii. and the luxemburg kaisers. of the other six kaisers not hapsburgers we are bound to mention one, and dwell a little on his fortunes and those of the family he founded; both brandenburg and our hohenzollerns coming to be much connected therewith, as time went on. this is albert's next successor, henry count of luxemburg; called among kaisers henry vii. he is founder, he alone among these non-hapsburgers, of a small intercalary line of kaisers, "the luxemburg line;" who amount indeed only to four, himself included; and are not otherwise of much memorability, if we except himself; though straggling about like well-rooted briers, in that favorable ground, they have accidentally hooked themselves upon world-history in one or two points. by accident a somewhat noteworthy line, those luxemburg kaisers:--a celebrated place, too, or name of a place, that "luxembourg" of theirs, with its french marshals, grand parisian edifices, lending it new lustre: what, thinks the reader, is the meaning of luzzenburg, luxemburg, luxembourg? merely lutzelburg, wrong pronounced; and that again is nothing but littleborough: such is the luck of names!-- heinrich graf von luxemburg was, after some pause on the parricide of albert, chosen kaiser, "on account of his renowned valor," say the old books,--and also, add the shrewder of them, because his brother, archbishop of trier, was one of the electors, and the pope did not like either the austrian or the french candidate then in the field. chosen, at all events, he was, th november, ; [kohler, p. .] clearly, and by much, the best kaiser that could be had. a puissant soul, who might have done great things, had he lived. he settled feuds; cut off oppressions from the reichstadte (free towns); had a will of just sort, and found or made a way for it. bohemia lapsed to him, the old race of kings having perished out,--the last of them far too suddenly "at olmutz," as we saw lately! some opposition there was, but much more favor especially by the bohemian people; and the point, after some small "siege of prag" and the like, was definitely carried by the kaiser. the now burggraf of nurnberg, friedrich iv., son of rudolf's friend, was present at this siege of prag; [ (rentsch, p. ).] a burggraf much attached to kaiser henry, as all good germans were. but the kaiser did not live. he went to italy, our burggraf of nurnberg and many more along with him, to pull the crooked guelf-ghibelline facts and avignon pope a little straight, if possible; and was vigorously doing it, when he died on a sudden; "poisoned in sacramental wine," say the germans! one of the crowning summits of human scoundrelism, which painfully stick in the mind. it is certain he arrived well at buonconvento near sienna, on the th september, , in full march towards the rebellious king of naples, whom the pope much countenanced. at buonconvento, kaiser henry wished to enjoy the communion; and a dominican monk, whose dark rat-eyed look men afterwards bethought them of, administered it to him in both species (council of trent not yet quite prohibiting the liquid species, least of all to kaisers, who are by theory a kind of "deacons to the pope," or something else [voltaire, _essai sur les moeurs,_ c. ,?? henri vii. _oeuvres,_ xxi. ).]);--administered it in both species: that is certain, and also that on the morrow henry was dead. the dominicans endeavored afterwards to deny; which, for the credit of human nature, one wishes they had done with effect. [kohler, p. (ptolemy of lucca,) himself a dominican, is one of the accusing spirits: muratori, l. xi.?? _ptolomaeus lucensis,_ a.d. ).] but there was never any trial had; the denial was considered lame; and german history continues to shudder, in that passage, and assert. poisoned in the wine of his sacrament: the florentines, it is said, were at the bottom of it, and had hired the rat-eyed dominican;--_"o italia, o firenze!"_ that is not the way to achieve italian liberty, or obedience to god; that is the way to confirm, as by frightful stygian oath, italian slavery, or continual obedience, under varying forms, to the other party! the voice of dante, then alive among men, proclaims, sad and loving as a mother's voice, and implacable as a voice of doom, that you are wandering, and have wandered, in a terrible manner!-- peter, the then archbishop of mainz, says there had not for hundreds of years such a death befallen the german empire; to which kohler, one of the wisest moderns, gives his assent: "it could not enough be lamented," says he, "that so vigilant a kaiser, in the flower of his years, should have been torn from the world in so devilish a manner: who, if he had lived longer, might have done teutschland unspeakable benefit." [kohler, pp. - .] henry's son johann is king of bohemia; and ludwig the bavarian, with a contested election, is kaiser. henry vii. having thus perished suddenly, his son johann, scarcely yet come of age, could not follow him as kaiser, according to the father's thought; though in due time he prosecuted his advancement otherwise to good purpose, and proved a very stirring man in the world. by his father's appointment, to whom as kaiser the chance had fallen, he was already king of bohemia, strong in his right and in the favor of the natives; though a titular competitor, henry of the tyrol, beaten off by the late kaiser, was still extant: whom, however, and all other perils johann contrived to weather; growing up to be a far-sighted stout-hearted man, and potent bohemian king, widely renowned in his day. he had a son, and then two grandsons, who were successively kaisers, after a sort; making up the "luxemburg four" we spoke of. he did crusades, one or more, for the teutsch ritters, in a shining manner;--unhappily with loss of an eye; nay ultimately, by the aid of quack oculists, with loss of both eyes. an ambitious man, not to be quelled by blindness; man with much negotiation in him; with a heavy stroke of fight too, and temper nothing loath at it; of which we shall see some glimpse by and by. the pity was, for the reich if not for him, he could not himself become kaiser. perhaps we had not then seen henry vii.'s fine enterprises, like a fleet of half-built ships, go mostly to planks again, on the waste sea, had his son followed him. but there was, on the contrary, a contested election; austria in again, as usual, and again unsuccessful. the late kaiser's austrian competitor, "friedrich the fair, duke of austria," the parricided albert's son, was again one of the parties. against whom, with real but not quite indisputable majority, stood ludwig duke of bavaria: "ludwig iv.," "ludwig der baier (the bavarian)" as they call him among kaisers. contest attended with the usual election expenses; war-wrestle, namely, between the parties till one threw the other. there was much confused wrestling and throttling for seven years or more ( - ). our nurnberg burggraf, friedrich iv., held with ludwig, as did the real majority, though in a languid manner, and was busy he as few were; the austrian hapsburgs also doing their best, now under, now above. johann king of bohemia was on ludwig's side as yet. ludwig's own brother, kur-pfalz (ancestor of all the electors, and their numerous branches, since known there), an elder brother, was, "out of spite" as men thought, decidedly against ludwig. in the eighth year came a fight that proved decisive. fight at muhldorf on the inn, th september, ,--far down in those danube countries, beyond where marlborough ever was, where there has been much fighting first and last; burggraf friedrich was conspicuously there. a very great battle, say the old books,--says hormayr, in a new readable book, [hormayr, _oesterreichischer plutarch,_ ii. - .] giving minute account of it. ludwig rather held aloof rearward; committed his business to the hohenzollern burggraf and to one schweppermann, aided by a noble lord called rindsmaul ("cowmouth," no less), and by others experienced in such work. friedrich the hapsburger der schone, duke of austria, and self-styled kaiser, a gallant handsome man, breathed mere martial fury, they say: he knew that his brother leopold was on march with a reinforcement to him from the strasburg quarter, and might arrive any moment; but he could not wait,--perhaps afraid ludwig might run;--he rashly determined to beat ludwig without reinforcement. our rugged fervid hormayr (though imitating tacitus and johannes von muller overmuch) will instruct fully any modern that is curious about this big battle: what furious charging, worrying; how it "lasted ten hours;" how the blazing handsome friedrich stormed about, and "slew above fifty with his own hand." to us this is the interesting point: at one turn of the battle, tenth hour of it now ending, and the tug of war still desperate, there arose a cry of joy over all the austrian ranks, "help coming! help!"--and friedrich noticed a body of horse, "in austrian cognizance" (such the cunning of a certain man), coming in upon his rear. austrians and friedrich never doubted but it was brother leopold just getting on the ground; and rushed forward doubly fierce. doubly fierce; and were doubly astonished when it plunged in upon them, sharp-edged, as burggraf friedrich of nurnberg,--and quite ruined austrian friedrich. austrian friedrich fought personally like a lion at bay; but it availed nothing. rindsmaul (not lovely of lip, cowmouth, so-called) disarmed him: "i will not surrender except to a prince!"--so burggraf friedrich was got to take surrender of him; and the fight, and whole controversy with it, was completely won. [_jedem mann ein ey_ (one egg to every man), _dem frommen schweppermann zwey_ (two to the excellent schweppermann): tradition still repeats this old rhyme, as the kaiser's address to his army, or his head captains, at supper, after such a day's work,--in a country already to the bone.] poor leopold, the austrian brother, did not arrive till the morrow; and saw a sad sight, before flying off again. friedrich the fair sat prisoner in the old castle of traussnitz (ober pfalz, upper palatinate, or nurnberg country) for three years; whittling sticks:--tourists, if curious, can still procure specimens of them at the place, for a consideration. there sat friedrich, brother leopold moving heaven and earth,--and in fact they said, the very devil by art magic, [kohler, p. .]--to no purpose, to deliver him. and his poor spanish wife cried her eyes, too literally, out,--sight gone in sad fact. ludwig the bavarian reigned thenceforth,--though never on easy terms. how grateful to friedrich of nurnberg we need not say. for one thing, he gave him all the austrian prisoners; whom friedrich, judiciously generous, dismissed without ransom except that they should be feudally subject to him henceforth. this is the third hohenzollern whom we mark as a conspicuous acquirer in the hohenzollern family, this friedrich iv., builder of the second story of the house. if conrad, original burggraf, founded the house, then (figuratively speaking) the able friedrich iii., who was rudolf of hapsburg's friend, built it one story high; and here is a new friedrich, his son, who has added a second story. it is astonishing, says dryasdust, how many feudal superiorities the anspach and baireuth people still have in austria;--they maintain their own lehnprobst, or official manager for fief-casualties, in that country:--all which proceed from this battle of muhldorf. [rentsch, p. ; pauli; &c.] battle fought on the th of september, :--eight years after babbockburn; while our poor edward ii. and england with him were in such a welter with their spencers and their gavestons: eight years after bannockburn, and four-and-twenty before crecy. that will date it for english readers. kaiser ludwig reigned some twenty-five years more, in a busy and even strenuous, but not a successful way. he had good windfalls, too; for example, brandenburg, as we shall see. he made friends; reconciled himself to his brother kur-pfalz and junior cousinry there, settling handsomely, and with finality, the debatable points between them. enemies, too, he made; especially johann the luxemburger, king of bohemia, on what ground will be seen shortly, who became at last inveterate to a high degree. but there was one supremely sore element in his lot: a pope at avignon to whom he could by no method make himself agreeable. pope who put him under ban, not long after that muhldorf victory; and kept him so; inexorable, let poor ludwig turn as he might. ludwig's german princes stood true to him; declared, in solemn diet, the pope's ban to be mere spent shot, of no avail in imperial politics. ludwig went, vigorously to italy; tried setting up a pope of his own; but that did not answer; nor of course tend to mollify the holiness at avignon. in fine, ludwig had to carry this cross on his back, in a sorrowful manner, all his days. the pope at last, finding johann of bohemia in a duly irritated state, persuaded him into setting up an anti-kaiser,--johann's second son as anti-kaiser,--who, though of little account, and called pfaffen-kaiser (parsons' kaiser) by the public, might have brought new troubles, had that lasted. we shall see some ultimate glimpses of it farther on. chapter x. -- brandenburg lapses to the kaiser. two years before the victory at muhldorf, a bad chance befell in brandenburg: the ascanier line of markgraves or electors ended. magniloquent otto with the arrow, otto the short, hermann the tall, all the ottos, hermanns and others, died by course of nature; nephew waldemar himself, a stirring man, died prematurely (a.d. ), and left only a young cousin for successor, who died few months after: [september, (pauli, i. ). michaelis, i. - .] the line of albert the bear went out in brandenburg. they had lasted there about two hundred years. they had not been, in late times, the successfulest markgraves: territories much split up among younger sons, joint markgraves reigning, which seldom answers; yet to the last they always made stout fight for themselves; walked the stage in a high manner; and surely might be said to quit it creditably, leaving such a brandenburg behind them, chiefly of their making, during the two centuries that had been given them before the night came. there were plenty of ascanier cousins still extant in those parts, saxon dignitaries, anhalt dignitaries, lineal descendants of albert the bear; to some of whom, in usual times, albert's inheritance would naturally have been granted. but the times were of battle, uncertainty, contested election: and the ascaniers, i perceive, had rather taken friedrich of austria's side, which proved the losing one. kaiser ludwig der baier would appoint none of these; anti-kaiser friedrich's appointments, if he made any, could be only nominal, in those distant northern parts. ludwig, after his victory of muhldorf, preferred to consider the electorate of brandenburg as lapsed, lying vacant, ungoverned these three years; and now become the kaiser's again. kaiser, in consequence, gave it to his son; whose name also is ludwig: the date of the investiture is (year after that victory of muhldorf); a date unfortunate to brandenburg. we come now into a line of bavarian markgraves, and then of luxemburg ones; both of which are of fatal significance to brandenburg. the ascanier cousins, high saxon dignitaries some of them, gloomed mere disappointment, and protested hard; but could not mend the matter, now or afterwards. their line went out in saxony too, in course of time; gave place to the wettins, who are still there. the ascanier had to be content with the more pristine state of acquisitions,--high pedigrees, old castles of ascanien and ballenstadt, territories of anhalt or what else they had;--and never rose again to the lost height, though the race still lives, and has qualities besides its pedigree. we said the "old dessauer," leopold prince of anhalt-dessau, was the head of it in friedrich wilhelm's time; and to this day he has descendants. catharine ii. of russia was of anhalt-zerbst, a junior branch. albert the bear, if that is of any use to him, has still occasionally notable representatives. ludwig junior, kaiser ludwig the bavarian's eldest son, was still under age when appointed kurfurst of brandenburg in : of course he had a "stateholder" (viceregent, statthalter); then, and afterwards in occasional absences of his, a series of such, kaiser's councillors, burggraf friedrich iv. among them, had to take some thought of brandenburg in its new posture. who these brandenburg statthalters were, is heartily indifferent even to dryasdust,--except that one of them for some time was a hohenzollern: which circumstance dryasdust marks with the due note of admiration. "what he did there," dryasdust admits, "is not written anywhere;"--good, we will hope, and not evil;--but only the diploma nominating him (of date , not in ludwig's minority, but many years after that ended [rentsch, p. .]) now exists by way of record. a difficult problem he, like the other regents and viceregents, must have had; little dreaming that it was intrinsically for a grandson of his own, and long line of grandsons. the name of this temporary statthalter, the first hohenzollern who had ever the least concern with brandenburg, is burggraf johann ii., eldest son of our distinguished muhldorf friend friedrich iv.; and grandfather (through another friedrich) of burggraf friedrich vi.,--which last gentleman, as will be seen, did doubtless reap the sowings, good and bad, of all manner of men in brandenburg. the same johann ii. it was who purchased plassenburg castle and territory (cheap, for money down), where the family afterwards had its chief residence. hof, town and territory, had fallen to his father in those parts; a gift of gratitude from kaiser ludwig:--most of the voigtland is now hohenzollern. kaiser ludwig the bavarian left his sons electors of brandenburg;--"electors, kurfursts," now becomes the commoner term for so important a country;--electors not in easy circumstances. but no son of his succeeded ludwig as kaiser,--successor in the reich was that pfaffen-kaiser, johann of bohemia's son, a luxemburger once more. no son of ludwig's; nor did any descendant,--except, after four hundred years, that unfortunate kaiser karl vii., in maria theresa's time. he was a descendant. of whom we shall hear more than enough. the unluckiest of all kaisers, that karl vii.; less a sovereign kaiser than a bone thrown into the ring for certain royal dogs, louis xv., george ii. and others, to worry about;--watch-dogs of the gods; apt sometimes to run into hunting instead of warding.--we will say nothing more of ludwig the baier, or his posterity, at present: we will glance across to preussen, and see, for one moment, what the teutsch ritters are doing in their new century. it is the year ; johann ii. at nurnberg, as yet only coming to be burggraf, by no means yet administering in brandenburg; and ludwig junior seven years old in his new dignity there. the teutsch ritters, after infinite travail, have subdued heathen preussen; colonized the country with industrious german immigrants; banked the weichsel and the nogat, subduing their quagmires into meadows, and their waste streams into deep ship-courses. towns are built, konigsberg (king ottocar's town), thoren (thorn, city of the gates), with many others: so that the wild population and the tame now lived tolerably together, under gospel and lubeck law; and all was ploughing and trading, and a rich country; which had made the teutsch ritters rich, and victoriously at their ease in comparison. but along with riches and the ease of victory, the common bad consequences had ensued. ritters given up to luxuries, to secular ambitions; ritters no longer clad in austere mail and prayer; ritters given up to wantonness of mind and conduct; solemnly vowing, and quietly not doing; without remorse or consciousness of wrong, daily eating forbidden fruit; ritters swelling more and more into the fatted-ox condition, for whom there is but one doom. how far they had carried it, here is one symptom that may teach us. in the year , one werner von orseln was grand-master of these ritters. the grand-master, who is still usually the best man they can get, and who by theory is sacred to them as a grand-lama or pope among cardinal-lamas, or as an abbot to his monks,--grand-master werner, we say, had lain down in marienburg one afternoon of this year , to take his siesta, and was dreaming peaceably after a moderate repast, when a certain devil-ridden mortal, johann von endorf, one of his ritters, long grumbling about severity, want of promotion and the like, rushed in upon the good old man; ran him through, dead for a ducat; [voigt, iv. , .]--and consummated a parricide at which the very cross on one's white cloak shudders! parricide worse, a great deal, than that at the ford of reuss upon one-eyed albert. we leave the shuddering ritters to settle it, sternly vengeful; whom, for a moment, it has struck broad-awake to some sense of the very questionable condition they are getting into. chapter xi. -- bayarian kurfursts in brandenburg. young ludwig kurfurst of brandenburg, kaiser ludwig's eldest son, having come of years, the tutors or statthalters went home,--not wanted except in cases of occasional absence henceforth;--and the young man endeavored to manage on his own strength. his success was but indifferent; he held on, however, for a space of twenty years, better or worse. "he helped king edward iii. at the siege of cambray (a.d. );" [michaelis, i. .] whose french politics were often connected with the kaiser's: it is certain, kurfurst ludwig "served personally with horse [on good payment, i conclude] at that siege of cambray;"--and probably saw the actual black prince, and sometimes dined with him, as english readers can imagine. in brandenburg he had many checks and difficult passages, but was never quite beaten out, which it was easy to have been. a man of some ability, as we can gather, though not of enough: he played his game with resolution, not without skill; but from the first the cards were against him. his father's affairs going mostly ill were no help to his, which of themselves went not well. the brandenburgers, mindful of their old ascanier sovereigns, were ill affected to ludwig and the new bavarian sort. the anhalt cousinry gloomed irreconcilable; were never idle, digging pitfalls, raising troubles. from them and others kurfurst ludwig had troubles enough; which were fronted by him really not amiss; which we wholly, or all but wholly, omit in this place. a resuscitated ascanier; the false waldemar. the wickedest and worst trouble of their raising was that of the resuscitated waldemar (a.d. ): "false waldemar," as he is now called in brandenburg books. waldemar was the last, or as good as the last, of the ascanier markgraves; and he, two years before ludwig ever saw those countries, died in his bed, twenty-five good years ago; and was buried, and seemingly ended. but no; after twenty-five years, waldemar reappears: "not buried or dead, only sham-buried, sham-dead; have been in the holy land all this while, doing pilgrimage and penance; and am come to claim my own again,--which strangers are much misusing!" [michaelis, i. .] perkin warbeck, post-mortem richard ii., dimitri of russia, martin guerre of the causes celebres: it is a common story in the world, and needs no commentary now. post-mortem waldemar, it is said, was a miller's man, "of the name of jakob rehback;" who used to be about the real waldemar in a menial capacity, and had some resemblance to him. he showed signets, recounted experiences, which had belonged to the real waldemar. many believed in his pretension, and took arms to assert it; the reich being in much internal battle at the time; poor kaiser ludwig, with his avignon popes and angry kings johann, wading in deep waters. especially the disaffected cousinry, or princes of anhalt, believed and battled for post-mortem waldemar; who were thought to have got him up from the first. kurfurst ludwig had four or five most sad years with him;--all the worse when the pfaffen-kaiser (king johann's son) came on the stage, in the course of them (a.d. ), and kaiser ludwig, yielding not indeed to him, but to death, vanished from it two years after; [elected, ; muhldorf, and election complete, ; died, , age .] leaving kurfurst ludwig to his own shifts with the pfaffen-kaiser. whom he could not now hinder from succeeding to the reich. he tried hard; set up, he and others, an anti-kaiser (gunther of schwartzburg, temporary anti-kaiser, whom english readers can forget again): he bustled, battled, negotiated, up and down; and ran across, at one time, to preussen to the teutsch ritters,--presumably to borrow money:--but it all would not do. the pfaffen-kaiser carried it, in the diet and out of the diet: karl iv. by title; a sorry enough kaiser, and by nature an enemy of ludwig's. it was in this whirl of intricate misventures that kurfurst ludwig had to deal with his false waldemar, conjured from the deeps upon him, like a new goblin, where already there were plenty, in the dance round poor ludwig. of which nearly inextricable goblin-dance; threatening brandenburg, for one thing, with annihilation, and yet leading brandenburg abstrusely towards new birth and higher destinies,--how will it be possible (without raising new ghosts, in a sense) to give readers any intelligible notion?--here, flickering on the edge of conflagration after duty done, is a poor note which perhaps the reader had better, at the risk of superfluity, still in part take along with him:-- "kaiser henry vii., who died of sacramental wine, first of the luxemburg kaisers, left johann still a boy of fifteen, who could not become the second of them, but did in time produce the second, who again produced the third and fourth. "johann was already king of bohemia; the important young gentleman, ottocar's grandson, whom we saw 'murdered at olmutz none yet knows by whom,' had left that throne vacant, and it lapsed to the kaiser; who, the nation also favoring, duly put in his son johann. there was a competitor, 'duke of the tyrol,' who claimed on loose grounds; 'my wife was aunt of the young murdered king,' said he; 'wherefore'--! kaiser, and johann after him, rebutted this competitor; but he long gave some trouble, having great wealth and means. he produced a daughter, margaret heiress of the tyrol,--with a terrible mouth to her face, and none of the gentlest hearts in her body:--that was perhaps his principal feat in the world. he died ; had styled himself 'king of bohemia' for twenty years,--ever since ;--but in the last two years of his life he gave it up, and ceased from troubling, having come to a beautiful agreement with johann. "johann, namely, wedded his eldest son to this competitor's fine daughter with the mouth (year ): 'in this manner do not bohemia and the tyrol come together in my blood and in yours, and both of us are made men?' said the two contracting parties.--alas, no: the competitor duke, father of the bride, died some two years after, probably with diminished hopes of it; and king johann lived to see the hope expire dismally altogether. there came no children, there came no--in fact margaret, after a dozen years of wedlock, in unpleasant circumstances, broke it off as if by explosion; took herself and her tyrol irrevocably over to kaiser ludwig, quite away from king johann,--who, his hopes of the tyrol expiring in such dismal manner, was thenceforth the bitter enemy of ludwig and what held of him." tyrol explosion was in . and now, keeping these preliminary dates and outlines in mind, we shall understand the big-mouthed lady better, and the consequences of her in the world. margaret with the pouch-mouth. what principally raised this dance of the devils round poor ludwig, i perceive, was a marriage he had made, three years before waldemar emerged; of which, were it only for the sake of the bride's name, some mention is permissible. margaret of the tyrol, commonly called, by contemporaries and posterity, maultasche (mouthpoke, pocket-mouth), she was the bride:--marriage done at innspruck, , under furtherance of father ludwig the kaiser:--such a mouth as we can fancy, and a character corresponding to it. this, which seemed to the two ludwigs a very conquest of the golden-fleece under conditions, proved the beginning of their worst days to both of them. not a lovely bride at all, this maultasche; who is verging now towards middle life withal, and has had enough to cross her in the world. was already married thirteen years ago; not wisely nor by any means too well. a terrible dragon of a woman. has been in nameless domestic quarrels; in wars and sieges with rebellious vassals; claps you an iron cap on her head, and takes the field when need is: furious she-bear of the tyrol. but she has immense possessions, if wanting in female charms. she came by mothers from that duke of meran whom we saw get his death (for cause), in the plassenburg a hundred years ago. [antes, p. .] her ancestor was husband to an aunt of that homicided duke: from him, principally from him, she inherits the tyrol, carinthia, styria; is herself an only child, the last of a line: hugest heiress now going. so that, in spite of the mouth and humor, she has not wanted for wooers,--especially prudent fathers wooing her for their sons. in her father's lifetime, johann king of bohemia, always awake to such symptoms of things, and having very peculiar interests in this case, courted and got her for his crown-prince (as we just saw), a youth of great outlooks, outlooks towards kaisership itself perhaps; to whom she was wedded, thirteen years ago, and duly brought the tyrol for heritage: but with the worst results. heritage, namely, could not be had without strife with austria, which likewise had claims. far worse, the marriage itself went awry: johann's crown-prince was "a soft-natured herr," say the books: why bring your big she-bear into a poor deer's den? enough, the marriage came to nothing, except to huge brawlings far enough away from us: and margaret pouch-mouth has now divorced her bohemian crown-prince as a nullity; and again weds, on similar terms, kaiser ludwig's son, our brandenburg kurfurst,--who hopes possibly that he now may succeed as kaiser, on the strength of his father and of the tyrol. which turned out far otherwise. the marriage was done in the church of innspruck, th february, (for we love to be particular), "kaiser ludwig," happy man, "and many princes of the empire, looking on;" little thinking what a coil it would prove. "at the high altar she stript off her veil," symbol of wifehood or widowhood, "and put on a jungfernkranz (maiden's-garland)," symbolically testifying how happy ludwig junior still was. they had a son by and by; but their course otherwise, and indeed this-wise too, was much checkered. king johann, seeing the tyrol gone in this manner, gloomed terribly upon his crown-prince; flung him aside as a nullity, "go to moravia, out of sight, on an apanage, you; be crown-prince no longer!"--and took to fighting kaiser ludwig; colleagued diligently with the hostile pope, with the king of france; intrigued and colleagued far and wide; swearing by every method everlasting enmity to kaiser ludwig; and set up his son karl as pfaffen-kaiser. nay, perhaps he was at the bottom of post-obit waldemar too. in brief, he raised, he mainly, this devils'-dance, in which, kaiser ludwig having died, poor kurfurst ludwig, with maultasche hanging on him, is sometimes near his wits' end. johann's poor crown-prince, finding matters take this turn, retired into mahren (moravia) as bidden; "margrave of mahren;" and peaceably adjusted himself to his character of nullity and to the loss of maultasche;--chose, for the rest, a new princess in wedlock, with more moderate dimensions of mouth; and did produce sons and daughters on a fresh score. produced, among others, one jobst his successor in the apanage or margrafdom; who, as jobst, or jodocus, of mahren, made some noise for himself in the next generation, and will turn up again in reference to brandenburg in this history. as for margaret pouch-mouth, she, with her new husband as with her old, continued to have troubles, pretty much as the sparks fly upwards. she had fierce siegings after this, and explosive procedures,--little short of monk schwartz, who was just inventing gunpowder at the time. we cannot hope she lived in elysian harmony with kurfurst ludwig;--the reverse, in fact; and oftenest with the whole breadth of germany between them, he in brandenburg, she in the tyrol. nor did ludwig junior ever come to be kaiser, as his father and she had hoped; on the contrary, king johann of bohemia's people,--it was they that next got the kaisership and kept it; a new provocation to maultasche. ludwig and she had a son, as we said; prince of the tyrol and appendages, titular margraf of mahren and much else, by nature: but alas, he died about ten; a precocious boy,--fancy the wild weeping of a maternal she-bear! and the father had already died; [in , died kurfurst ludwig; , the boy; , maultasche herself.] a malicious world whispering that perhaps she poisoned them both. the proud woman, now old too, pursed her big coarse lips together at such rumor, and her big coarse soul,--in a gloomy scorn appealing beyond the world; in a sorrow that the world knew not of. she solemnly settled her tyrol and appendages upon the austrian archdukes, who were children of her mother's sister; whom she even installed into the actual government, to make matters surer. this done, she retired to vienna, on a pension from them, there to meditate and pray a little, before death came; as it did now in a short year or two. tyrol and the appendages continue with austria from that hour to this, margaret's little boy having died. margaret of the pouch-mouth, rugged dragoon-major of a woman, with occasional steel cap on her head, and capable of swearing terribly in flanders or elsewhere, remains in some measure memorable to me. compared with pompadour, duchess of cleveland, of kendal and other high-rouged unfortunate females, whom it is not proper to speak of without necessity, though it is often done,--maultasche rises to the rank of historical. she brought the tyrol and appendages permanently to austria; was near leading brandenburg to annihilation, raising such a goblin-dance round ludwig and it, yet did abstrusely lead brandenburg towards a far other goal, which likewise has proved permanent for it. chapter xii. -- brandenburg in kaiser karl's time; end of the bavarian kurfursts. kaiser ludwig died in , while the false waldemar was still busy. we saw karl iv., johann of bohemia's second son, come to the kaisership thereupon, johann's eldest nullity being omitted. this fourth karl,--other three karls are of the charlemagne set, karl the bald, the fat, and such like, and lie under our horizon, while charles fifth is of a still other set, and known to everybody,--this karl iv. is the kaiser who discovered the well of karlsbad (bath of karl), known to tourists of this day; and made the golden bull, which i forbid all englishmen to take for an agricultural prize animal, the thing being far other, as is known to several. there is little farther to be said of karl in reichs-history. an unesteemed creature; who strove to make his time peaceable in this world, by giving from the holy roman empire with both hands to every bull-beggar, or ready-payer who applied. sad sign what the roman empire had come and was coming to. the kaiser's shield, set up aloft in the roncalic plain in barbarossa's time, intimated, and in earnest too, "ho, every one that has suffered wrong!"--intimates now, "ho, every one that can bully me, or has money in his pocket!" unadmiring posterity has confirmed the nickname of this karl iv.; and calls him pfaffen-kaiser. he kept mainly at prag, ready for receipt of cash, and holding well out of harm's way. in younger years he had been much about the french court; in italy he had suffered troubles, almost assassinations; much blown to and fro, poor light wretch, on the chaotic winds of his time,--steering towards no star. johann, king of bohemia, did not live to see karl an acknowledged kaiser. old johann, blind for some time back, had perished two years before that event;--bequeathing a heraldic symbol to the world's history and to england's, if nothing more. poor man, he had crusaded in preussen in a brilliant manner, being fond of fighting. he wrung silesia, gradually by purchase and entreaty (_pretio ac prece_), from the polish king; [ - (kohler, p. ).] joined it firmly to bohemia and germany,--unconsciously waiting for what higher destinies silesia might have. for maultasche and the tyrol he brought sad woes on brandenburg; and yet was unconsciously leading brandenburg, by abstruse courses, whither it had to go. a restless, ostentatious, far-grasping, strong-handed man; who kept the world in a stir wherever he was. all which has proved voiceless in the world's memory; while the casual shadow of a feather he once wore has proved vocal there. world's memory is very whimsical now and then. being much implicated with the king of france, who with the pope was his chief stay in these final anti-ludwig operations, johann--in , pfaffen-kaiser karl just set on foot--had led his chivalry into france, to help against the english edwards, who were then very intrusive there. johann was blind, but he had good ideas in war. at the battle of crecy, th august, , he advised we know not what; but he actually fought, though stone-blind. "tied his bridle to that of the knight next him; and charged in,"--like an old blind war-horse kindling madly at the sound of the trumpet;--and was there, by some english lance or yew, laid low. they found him on that field of carnage (field of honor, too, in a sort); his old blind face looking, very blindly, to the stars: on his shield was blazoned a plume of three ostrich-feathers with "ich dien (i serve)" written under:--with which emblem every english reader is familiar ever since! this editor himself, in very tender years, noticed it on the britannic majesty's war-drums; and had to inquire of children of a larger growth what the meaning might be. that is all i had to say of king johann and his "ich dien." of the luxemburg kaisers (four in number, two sons of karl still to come); who, except him of the sacramental wine, with "ich dien" for son, are good for little; and deserve no memory from mankind except as they may stick, not easily extricable, to the history of nobler men:--of them also i could wish to be silent, but must not. must at least explain how they came in, as "luxemburg kurfursts" in brandenburg; and how they went out, leaving brandenburg not annihilated, but very near it. end of resuscitated waldemar; kurfurst ludwig sells out. imaginary waldemar being still busy in brandenburg, it was natural for kaiser karl to find him genuine, and keep up that goblin-dance round poor kurfurst ludwig, the late kaiser's son, by no means a lover of karl's. considerable support was managed to be raised for waldemar. kaiser karl regularly infeoffed him as real kurfurst, so far as parchment could do it; and in case of his decease, says karl's diploma farther, the princes of anhalt shall succeed,--ludwig in any case is to be zero henceforth. war followed, or what they called war: much confused invading, bickering and throttling, for two years to come. "most of the towns declared for waldemar, and their old anhalt line of margraves:" ludwig and the bavarian sort are clearly not popular here. ludwig held out strenuously, however; would not be beaten. he had the king of denmark for brother-in-law; had connections in the reich: perhaps still better he had the reichs-insignia, lately his father's, still in hand. he stood obstinate siege from the kaiser's people and the anhalters; shouted-in denmark to help; started an anti-kaiser, as we said,--temporary anti-kaiser gunther of schwartzburg, whom the reader can forget a second time:--in brief, ludwig contrived to bring kaiser karl, and imaginary waldemar with his anhalters, to a quietus and negotiation, and to get brandenburg cleared of them. year , they went their ways; and that devils'-dance, which had raged five years and more round ludwig, was fairly got laid or lulled again. imaginary waldemar, after some farther ineffectual wrigglings, retired altogether into private life, at the court of dessau; and happily died before long. died at the court of dessau; the anhalt cousins treating him to the last as head representative of albert the bear, and real prince waldemar; for which they had their reasons. portraits of this false waldemar still turn up in the german print-shops; [in kloss (_vaterlandische gemalde,_ ii. ), a sorry compilation, above referred to, without value except for the old excerpts, &c., there is a copy of it.] and represent a very absurd fellow, much muffled in drapery, mouth partially open, eyes wholly and widely so,--never yet recovered from his astonishment at himself and things in general! how it fared with poor brandenburg, in these chaotic throttlings and vicissitudes, under the bavarian kurfursts, we can too well imagine; and that is little to what lies ahead for it. however, in that same year, , temporary quietus having come, kurfurst ludwig, weary of the matter, gave it over to his brother: "have not i an opulent maultasche, gorgon-wife, susceptible to kindness, in the tyrol; have not i in the reich elsewhere resources, appliances?" thought kurfurst ludwig. and gave the thing over to his next brother. brother whose name also is ludwig (as their father's also had been, three ludwigs at once, for our dear germans shine in nomenclature): "ludwig the roman" this new one;--the elder brother, our acquaintance, being ludwig simply, distinguishable too as kurfurst ludwig, or even as ludwig senior at this stage of the affair. kurfurst ludwig, therefore, year , washes his hands of brandenburg while the quietus lasts; retaining only the electorship and title; and goes his ways, resolving to take his ease in bavaria and the tyrol thenceforth. how it fared with him there, with his loving gorgon and him, we will not ask farther. they had always separate houses to fly to, in case of extremity! they held out, better or worse, twelve years more; and ludwig left his little boy still surviving him, in . second, and then third and last, of the bavarian kurfursts in brandenburg. in brandenburg, the new markgraf ludwig, who we say is called "the roman" (ludwig der romer, having been in rome) to distinguish him, continued warring with the anarchies, fifteen years in a rather tough manner, without much victory on either side;--made his peace with kaiser karl however, delivering up the reichs-insignia; and tried to put down the domestic robbers, who had got on foot, "many of them persons of quality;" [michaelis, i. .] till he also died, childless, a.d. ; having been kurfurst too, since his brother's death, for some four years. whereupon brandenburg, electorship and all titles with it, came to otto, third son of kaiser ludwig, who is happily the last of these bavarian electors. they were an unlucky set of sovereigns, not hitherto without desert; and the unlucky country suffered much under them. by far the unluckiest, and by far the worst, was this otto; a dissolute, drinking, entirely worthless herr; under whom, for eight years, confusion went worse confounded; as if plain chaos were coming; and brandenburg and otto grew tired of each other to the last degree. in which state of matters, a.d. , kaiser karl offered otto a trifle of ready money to take himself away. otto accepted greedily; sold his electorate and big mark of brandenburg to kaiser karl for an old song,-- , thalers (about , pounds, and only half of it ever paid); [michaelis, i. .]--withdrew to his schloss of wolfstein in bavaria; and there, on the strength of that or other sums, "rolled deep as possible in every sort of debauchery." and so in few years puddled himself to death; foully ending the bavarian set of kurfursts. they had lasted fifty years; with endless trouble to the country and to themselves; and with such mutual profit as we have seen. chapter xiii. -- luxemburg kurfursts in brandenburg. if brandenburg suffered much under the bavarian kurfursts for fifty years, it was worse, and approached to the state of worst, under the luxemburgers, who lasted for some forty more. ninety years of anarchy in all; which at length brought it to great need of help from the fates!-- karl iv. made his eldest boy wenzel, still only about twelve, elector of brandenburg; [ (born ).] wenzel shall be kaiser and king of bohemia, one day, thinks karl;--which actually came to pass, and little to wenzel's profit, by and by. in the mean while karl accompanied him to brandenburg; which country karl liked much at the money, and indeed ever after, in his old days, he seemed rather to busy himself with it. he assembled some kind of stande (states) twice over; got the country "incorporated with bohemia" by them, and made tight and handy so far. brandenburg shall rest from its woes, and be a silent portion of bohemia henceforth, thinks karl,--if the heavens so please. karl, a futile kaiser, would fain have done something to "encourage trade" in brandenburg; though one sees not what it was he did, if anything. he built the schloss of tangermunde, and oftenest lived there in time coming; a quieter place than even prag for him. in short, he appears to have fancied his cheap purchase, and to have cheered his poor old futile life with it, as with one thing that had been successful. poor old creature: he had been a kaiser on false terms, "ho every one that dare bully me, or that has money in his pocket;"--a kaiser that could not but be futile! in five years' time he died; [king of bohemia, , on his father's death; kaiser (acknowledged on ludwig the baier's death), ; died, , age .] and doubtless was regretted in brandenburg and even in the reich, in comparison with what came next. in brandenburg he left, instead of one indifferent or even bad governor steadily tied to the place and in earnest to make the best of it, a fluctuating series of governors holding loose, and not in earnest; which was infinitely worse. these did not try to govern it; sent it to the pawnbroker, to a fluctuating series of pawnbrokers; under whom, for the next five-and-thirty years, brandenburg tasted all the fruits of non-government, that is to say, anarchy or government by the pawnbroker; and sank faster and faster, towards annihilation as it seemed. that was its fate under the luxemburg kurfursts, who made even the bavarian and all others be regretted. one thing kaiser karl did, which ultimately proved the saving of brandenburg: made friendship with the hohenzollern burggraves. these, johann ii., temporary "stutthalter" johann, and his brother, who were co-regents in the family domain, when karl first made appearance,--had stood true to kaiser ludwig and his son, so long as that play lasted at all; nay one of these burggraves was talked of as kaiser after ludwig's death, but had the wisdom not to try. kaiser ludwig being dead, they still would not recognize the pfaffen-kaiser karl, but held gloomily out. so that karl had to march in force into the nurnberg country, and by great promises, by considerable gifts, and the "example of the other princes of the empire," ["hallow-eve, , on the field of nurnberg," agreement was come to (rentsch, p. ).] brought them over to do homage. after which, their progress, and that of their successor (johann's son, friedrich v.), in the grace of karl, was something extraordinary. karl gave his daughter to this friedrich v.'s eldest son; appointed a daughter of friedrich's for his own second prince, the famed sigismund, famed that is to be,--which latter match did not take effect, owing to changed outlooks after karl's death. nay there is a deed still extant about marrying children not yet born: karl to produce a princess within five years, and burggraf friedrich v. a prince, for that purpose! [rentsch, p. .] but the burggraf never had another prince; though karl produced the due princess, and was ready, for his share. unless indeed this strange eager-looking document, not dated in the old books, may itself relate to the above wedding which did come to pass?--years before that, karl had made his much-esteemed burggraf friedrich v. "captain-general of the reich;" "imperial vicar," (substitute, if need were), and much besides; nay had given him the landgraviate of elsass (alsace),--so far as lay with him to give,--of which valuable country this friedrich had actual possession so long as the kaiser lived. "best of men," thought the poor light kaiser; "never saw such a man!" which proved a salutary thought, after all. the man had a little boy fritz (not the betrothed to karl's princess), still chasing butterflies at culmbach, when karl died. in this boy lie new destinies for brandenburg: towards him, and not towards annihilation, are karl and the luxemburg kurfursts and pawnbrokers unconsciously guiding it. chapter xiv. -- burggraf friedrich vi. karl left three young sons, wenzel, sigismund, johann; and also a certain nephew much older; all of whom now more or less concern us in this unfortunate history. wenzel the eldest son, heritable kurfurst of brandenburg as well as king of bohemia, was as yet only seventeen, who nevertheless got to be kaiser, [ , on his father's death.]--and went widely astray, poor soul. the nephew was no other than margrave jobst of moravia (son of maultasche's late nullity there), now in the vigor of his years and a stirring man: to him, for a time, the chief management in brandenburg fell, in these circumstances. wenzel, still a minor, and already kaiser and king of bohemia, gave up brandenburg to his two younger brothers, most of it to sigismund, with a cutting for johann, to help their apanages; and applied his own powers to govern the holy roman empire, at that early stage of life. to govern the holy roman empire, poor soul;--or rather "to drink beer, and dance with the girls;" in which, if defective in other things, wenzel had an eminent talent. he was one of the worst kaisers, and the least victorious on record. he would attend to nothing in the reich; "the prag white beer, and girls" of various complexion, being much preferable, as he was heard to say. he had to fling his poor queen's confessor into the river moldau,--johann of nepomuk, saint so called, if he is not a fable altogether; whose statue stands on bridges ever since, in those parts. wenzel's bohemians revolted against him; put him in jail; and he broke prison, a boatman's daughter helping him out, with adventures. his germans were disgusted with him; deposed him from the kaisership; [ th may, (kohler, p. ).] chose rupert of the pfalz; and then after rupert's death, [ (ib. p. ).] chose wenzel's own brother sigismund, in his stead,--left wenzel to jumble about in his native bohemian element, as king there, for nineteen years longer, still breaking pots to a ruinous extent. he ended, by apoplexy, or sudden spasm of the heart; terrible zisca, as it were, killing him at second-hand. for zisca, stout and furious, blind of one eye and at last of both, a kind of human rhinoceros driven mad, had risen out of the ashes of murdered huss, and other bad papistic doings, in the interim; and was tearing up the world at a huge rate. rhinoceros zisca was on the weissenberg, or a still nearer hill of prag since called zisca-berg (zisca hill): and none durst whisper of it to the king. a servant waiting at dinner inadvertently let slip the word:--"zisca there? deny it, slave!" cried wenzel frantic. slave durst not deny. wenzel drew his sword to run at him, but fell down dead: that was the last pot broken by wenzel. the hapless royal ex-imperial phantasm self-broken in this manner. [ th july, (hormayr, vii. ).] poor soul, he came to the kaisership too early; was a thin violent creature, sensible to the charms and horrors of created objects; and had terrible rhinoceros ziscas and unruly horned-cattle to drive. he was one of the worst kaisers ever known,--could have done opera-singing much better;--and a sad sight to bohemia. let us leave him there: he was never actual elector of brandenburg, having given it up in time; never did any ill to that poor country. sigismund is kurfurst of brandenburg, but is king of hungary also. the real kurfurst of brandenburg all this while was sigismund wenzel's next brother, under tutelage of cousin jobst or otherwise;--real and yet imaginary, for he never himself governed, but always had jobst of mahren or some other in his place there. sigismund, as above said, was to have married a daughter of burggraf friedrich v.; and he was himself, as was the young lady, well inclined to this arrangement. but the old people being dead, and some offer of a king's daughter turning up for sigismund, sigismund broke off; and took the king's daughter, king of hungary's,--not without regret then and afterwards, as is believed. at any rate, the hungarian charmer proved a wife of small merit, and a hungarian successor she had was a wife of light conduct even; hungarian charmers, and hungarian affairs, were much other than a comfort to sigismund. as for the disappointed princess, burggraf friedrich's daughter, she said nothing that we hear; silently became a nun, an abbess: and through a long life looked out, with her thoughts to herself, upon the loud whirlwind of things, where sigismund (oftenest like an imponderous rag of conspicuous color) was riding and tossing. her two brothers also, joint burggraves after their father's death, seemed to have reconciled themselves without difficulty. the elder of them was already sigismund's brother-in-law; married to sigismund's and wenzel's sister,--by such predestination as we saw. burggraf johann iii. was the name of this one: a stout fighter and manager for many years; much liked, and looked to, by sigismund. as indeed were both the brothers, for that matter; always, together or in succession, a kind of right-hand to sigismund. friedrich the younger burggraf, and ultimately the survivor and inheritor (johann having left no sons), is the famed burggraf friedrich vi., the last and notablest of all the burggraves. a man of distinguished importance, extrinsic and intrinsic; chief or among the very chief of german public men in his time;--and memorable to posterity, and to this history, on still other grounds! but let us not anticipate. sigismund, if apanaged with brandenburg alone, and wedded to his first love, not a king's daughter, might have done tolerably well there;--better than wenzel, with the empire and bohemia, did. but delusive fortune threw her golden apple at sigismund too; and he, in the wide high world, had to play strange pranks. his father-in-law died in hungary, sigismund's first wife his only child. father-in-law bequeathed hungary to sigismund: [ (sigismund's age then twenty).] who plunged into a strange sea thereby; got troubles without number, beatings not a few,--and had even to take boat, and sail for his life down to constantinople, at one time. in which sad adventure burggraf johann escorted him, and as it were tore him out by the hair of the head. these troubles and adventures lasted many years; in the course of which, sigismund, trying all manner of friends and expedients, found in the burggraves of nurnberg, johann and friedrich, with their talents, possessions and resources, the main or almost only sure support he got. no end of troubles to sigismund, and to brandenburg through him, from this sublime hungarian legacy! like a remote fabulous golden-fleece, which you have to go and conquer first, and which is worth little when conquered. before ever setting out (a.d. ), sigismund saw too clearly he would have cash to raise: an operation he had never done with, all his life afterwards. he pawned brandenburg to cousin jobst of mahren; got " , bohemian gulden,"--i guess, a most slender sum, if dryasdust would but interpret it. this was the beginning of pawnings to brandenburg; of which when will the end be? jobst thereby came into brandenburg on his own right for the time, not as tutor or guardian, which he had hitherto been. into brandenburg; and there was no chance of repayment to get him out again. cousin jobst has brandenburg in pawn. jobst tried at first to do some governing; but finding all very anarchic, grew unhopeful; took to making matters easy for himself. took, in fact, to turning a penny on his pawn-ticket; alienating crown domains, winking hard at robber-barons, and the like;--and after a few years, went home to moravia, leaving brandenburg to shift for itself, under a statthalter (viceregent, more like a hungry land-steward), whom nobody took the trouble of respecting. robber-castles flourished; all else decayed. no highway not unsafe; many a turpin with sixteen quarters, and styling himself eddle herr (noble gentleman), took to "living from the saddle:"--what are hamburg pedlers made for but to be robbed? the towns suffered much; any trade they might have had, going to wreck in this manner. not to speak of private feuds, which abounded _ad libitum._ neighboring potentates, archbishop of magdeburg and others, struck in also at discretion, as they had gradually got accustomed to do, and snapped away (abzwackten) some convenient bit of territory, or, more legitimately, they came across to coerce, at their own hand, this or the other edle herr of the turpin sort, whom there was no other way of getting at, when he carried matters quite too high. "droves of six hundred swine,"--i have seen (by reading in those old books) certain noble gentlemen, "of putlitz," i think, driving them openly, captured by the stronger hand; and have heard the short querulous squeak of the bristly creatures: "what is the use of being a pig at all, if i am to be stolen in this way, and surreptitiously made into ham?" pigs do continue to be bred in brandenburg: but it is under such discouragements. agriculture, trade, well-being and well-doing of any kind, it is not encouragement they are meeting here. probably few countries, not even ireland, have a worse outlook, unless help come. [pauli, i. - . michaelis, i. - .] jobst came back in , after eight years' absence; but no help came with jobst. the neumark part of brandenburg, which was brother johann's portion, had fallen home to sigismund, brother johann having died: but sigismund, far from redeeming old pawn-tickets with the newmark, pawned the newmark too,--the second pawnage of brandenburg. pawned the newmark to the teutsch ritters "for , hungarian gold gulden" (i think, about , pounds): and gave no part of it to jobst; had not nearly enough for himself and his hungarian occasions. seeing which, and hearing such squeak of pigs surreptitiously driven, with little but discordant sights and sounds everywhere, jobst became disgusted with the matter; and resolved to wash his hands of it, at least to have his money out of it again. having sold what of the domains he could to persons of quality, at an uncommonly easy rate, and so pocketed what ready cash there was among them, he made over his pawn-ticket, or properly he himself repawned brandenburg to the saxon potentate, a speculative moneyed man, markgraf of meissen, "wilhelm the rich" so called. pawned it to wilhelm the rich,--sum not named; and went home to moravia, there to wait events. this is the third brandenburg pawning: let us hope there may be a fourth and last. brandenburg in the hands of the pawnbrokers; rupert of the pfalz is kaiser. and so we have now reached that point in brandenburg history when, if some help do not come, brandenburg will not long be a country, but will either get dissipated in pieces and stuck to the edge of others where some government is, or else go waste again and fall to the bisons and wild bears. who now is kurfurst of brandenburg, might be a question. "i unquestionably!" sigismund would answer, with astonishment. "soft, your hungarian majesty," thinks jobst: "till my cash is paid, may it not probably be another?" this question has its interest: the electors just now (a.d. ) are about deposing wenzel; must choose some better kaiser. if they wanted another scion of the house of luxemburg; a mature old gentleman of sixty; full of plans, plausibilities, pretensions,--jobst is their man. jobst and sigismund were of one mind as to wenzel's going; at least sigismund voted clearly so, and jobst said nothing counter: but the kurfursts did not think of jobst for successor. after some stumbling, they fixed upon rupert kur-pfalz (elector palatine, ruprecht von der pfalz) as kaiser. rupert of the pfalz proved a highly respectable kaiser; lasted for ten years ( - ), with honor to himself and the reich. a strong heart, strong head, but short of means. he chastised petty mutiny with vigor; could not bring down the milanese visconti, who had perched themselves so high on money paid to wenzel; could not heal the schism of the church (double or triple pope, rome-avignon affair), or awaken the reich to a sense of its old dignity and present loose condition. in the late loose times, as antiquaries remark, [kohler, p. ; who quotes schilter.] most members of the empire, petty princes even and imperial towns, had been struggling to set up for themselves; and were now concerned chiefly to become sovereign in their own territories. and schilter informs us, it was about this period that most of them attained such rather unblessed consummation; rupert of himself not able to help it, with all his willingness. the people called him "rupert klemm (rupert smith's-vice)" from his resolute ways; which nickname--given him not in hatred, but partly in satirical good-will--is itself a kind of history. from historians of the reich he deserves honorable regretful mention. he had for empress a sister of burggraf friedrich's; which high lady, unknown to us otherwise, except by her tomb at heidelberg, we remember for her brother's sake. kaiser rupert--great-grandson of that kur-pfalz who was kaiser ludwig's elder brother--is the culminating point of the electors palatine; the highest that heidelberg produced. ancestor of those famed protestant "palatines;" of all the palatines or pflazes that reign in these late centuries. ancestor of the present bavarian majesty; kaiser ludwig's race having died out. ancestor of the unfortunate winterkonig, friedrich king of bohemia, who is too well known in english history;--ancestor also of charles xii. of sweden, a highly creditable fact of the kind to him. fact indisputable: a cadet of pfalz-zweibruck (deux-ponts, as the french call it), direct from rupert, went to serve in sweden in his soldier business; distinguished himself in soldiering;--had a sister of the great gustav adolf to wife; and from her a renowned son, karl gustav (christina's cousin), who succeeded as king; who again had a grandson made in his own likeness, only still more of iron in his composition.--enough now of rupert smith's-vice; who died in , and left the reich again vacant. rupert's funeral is hardly done, when, over in preussen, far off in the memel region, place called tannenberg, where there is still "a churchyard to be seen," if little more, the teutsch ritters had, unexpectedly, a terrible defeat: consummation of their polish miscellaneous quarrels of long standing; and the end of their high courses in this world. a ruined teutsch ritterdom, as good as ruined, ever henceforth. kaiser rupert died th may; and on the th july, within two months, was fought that dreadful "battle of tannenberg,"--poland and polish king, with miscellany of savage tartars and revolted prussians, versus teutsch ritterdom; all in a very high mood of mutual rage; the very elements, "wild thunder, tempest and rain-deluges," playing chorus to them on the occasion. [voigt, vii. . busching, _erdbeschreibung_ (hamburg, ), ii. .] ritterdom fought lion-like, but with insufficient strategic and other wisdom; and was driven nearly distracted to see its pride tripped into the ditch by such a set. vacant reich could not in the least attend to it; nor can we farther at present. sigismund, with a struggle, becomes kaiser. jobst and sigismund were competitors for the kaisership; wenzel, too, striking in with claims for reinstatement: the house of luxemburg divided against itself. wenzel, finding reinstatement not to be thought of, threw his weight, such as it was, into the scale of cousin jobst; remembering angrily how brother sigismund voted in the deposition case, ten years ago. the contest was vehement, and like to be lengthy. jobst, though he had made over his pawn-ticket, claimed to be elector of brandenburg; and voted for himself. the like, with still more emphasis, did sigismund, or burggraf friedrich acting for him: "sigismund, sure, is kur-brandenburg though under pawn!" argued friedrich,--and, i almost guess, though that is not said, produced from his own purse, at some stage of the business, the actual money for jobst, to close his brandenburg pretension. both were elected (majority contested in this manner); and old jobst, then above seventy, was like to have given much trouble: but happily in three months he died; ["jodocus barbatus," st july, .] and sigismund became indisputable. jobst was the son of maultasche's nullity; him too, in an involuntary sort, she was the cause of. in his day jobst made much noise in the world, but did little or no good in it. "he was thought a great man," says one satirical old chronicler; "and there was nothing great about him but the beard." "the cause of sigismund's success with the electors," says kohler, "or of his having any party among them, was the faithful and unwearied diligence which had been used for him by the above-named burggraf friedrich vi. of nurnberg, who took extreme pains to forward sigismund to the empire; pleading that sigismund and wenzel would be sure to agree well henceforth, and that sigismund, having already such extensive territories (hungary, brandenburg and so forth) by inheritance, would not be so exact about the reichs-tolls and other imperial incomes. this same friedrich also, when the election fell out doubtful, was sigismund's best support in germany, nay almost his right-hand, through whom he did whatever was done." [kohler, p. .] sigismund is kaiser, then, in spite of wenzel. king of hungary, after unheard-of troubles and adventures, ending some years ago in a kind of peace and conquest, he has long been king of bohemia, too, he at last became; having survived wenzel, who was childless. kaiser of the holy roman empire, and so much else: is not sigismund now a great man? truly the loom he weaves upon, in this world, is very large. but the weaver was of headlong, high-pacing, flimsy nature; and both warp and woof were gone dreadfully entangled!-- this is the kaiser sigismund who held the council of constance; and "blushed visibly," when huss, about to die, alluded to the letter of safe-conduct granted him, which was issuing in such fashion. [ th june, .] sigismund blushed; but could not conveniently mend the matter,--so many matters pressing on him just now. as they perpetually did, and had done. an always-hoping, never-resting, unsuccessful, vain and empty kaiser. specious, speculative; given to eloquence, diplomacy, and the windy instead of the solid arts;--always short of money for one thing. he roamed about, and talked eloquently;--aiming high, and generally missing:--how he went to conquer hungary, and had to float down the donau instead, with an attendant or two, in a most private manner, and take refuge with the grand turk: this we have seen, and this is a general emblem of him. hungary and even the reich have at length become his; but have brought small triumph in any kind; and instead of ready money, debt on debt. his majesty has no money, and his majesty's occasions need it more and more. he is now (a.d. ) holding this council of constance, by way of healing the church, which is sick of three simultaneous popes and of much else. he finds the problem difficult; finds he will have to run into spain, to persuade a refractory pope there, if eloquence can (as it cannot): all which requires money, money. at opening of the council, he "officiated as deacon;" actually did some kind of litanying "with a surplice over him," [ th december, (kohler, p. ).] though kaiser and king of the romans. but this passage of his opening speech is what i recollect best of him there: "right reverend fathers, _date operam ut illa nefanda schisma eradicetur,"_ exclaims sigismund, intent on having the bohemian schism well dealt with,--which he reckons to be of the feminine gender. to which a cardinal mildly remarking, _"domine, schisma est generis neutrius (schisma_ is neuter, your majesty),"--sigismund loftily replies, _"ego sum rex romanus et super grammaticam_ (i am king of the romans, and above grammar)!" [wolfgang mentzel, _geschichte der deutschen,_ i. .] for which reason i call him in my note-books sigismund super grammaticam, to distinguish him in the imbroglio of kaisers. brandenburg is pawned for the last time. how jobst's pawn-ticket was settled i never clearly heard; but can guess it was by burggraf friedrich's advancing the money, in the pinch above indicated, or paying it afterwards to jobst's heirs whoever they were. thus much is certain: burggraf friedrich, these three years and more (ever since th july, ) holds sigismund's deed of acknowledgment "for , gulden lent at various times:" and has likewise got the electorate of brandenburg in pledge for that sum; and does himself administer the said electorate till he be paid. this is the important news; but this is not all. the new journey into spain requires new moneys; this council itself, with such a pomp as suited sigismund, has cost him endless moneys. brandenburg, torn to ruins in the way we saw, is a sorrowful matter; and, except the title of it, as a feather in one's cap, is worth nothing to sigismund. and he is still short of money; and will forever be. why could not he give up brandenburg altogether; since, instead of paying, he is still making new loans from burggraf friedrich; and the hope of ever paying were mere lunacy! sigismund revolves these sad thoughts too, amid his world-wide diplomacies, and efforts to heal the church. "pledged for , gulden," sadly ruminates sigismund; "and , more borrowed since, by little and little; and more ever needed, especially for this grand spanish journey!" these were sigismund's sad thoughts:--"advance me, in a round sum, , gulden more," said he to burggraf friedrich, " , more, for my manifold occasions in this time;--that will be , in whole; [rentsch, pp. , .]--and take the electorate of brandenburg to yourself, land, titles, sovereign electorship and all, and make me rid of it!" that was the settlement adopted, in sigismund's apartment at constance, on the th of april, ; signed, sealed and ratified,--and the money paid. a very notable event in world-history; virtually completed on the day we mention. the ceremony of investiture did not take place till two years afterwards, when the spanish journey had proved fruitless, when much else of fruitless had come and gone, and kaiser and council were probably--more at leisure for such a thing. done at length it was by kaiser sigismund in utmost gala, with the grandees of the empire assisting, and august members of the council and world in general looking on; in the big square or market-place of constance, th april, ;--is to be found described in rentsch, from nauclerus and the old newsmongers of the time. very grand indeed: much processioning on horseback, under powerful trumpet-peals and flourishes; much stately kneeling, stately rising, stepping backwards (done well, zierlich, on the kurfurst's part); liberal expenditure of cloth and pomp; in short, "above , people looking on from roofs and windows," [pauli, _allgemeine preussische staats-geschichte,_ ii. . rentsch, pp. - .] and kaiser sigismund in all his glory. sigismund was on a high platform in the market-place, with stairs to it and from it; the illustrious kaiser,--red as a flamingo, "with scarlet mantle and crown of gold,"--a treat to the eyes of simple mankind. what sum of modern money, in real purchasing power, this " , hungarian gold gulden" is, i have inquired in the likely quarters without result; and it is probable no man exactly knows. the latest existing representative of the ancient gold gulden is the ducat, worth generally about a half-sovereign in english. taking the sum at that latest rate, it amounts to , pounds; and the reader can use that as a note of memory for the sale-price of brandenburg with all its lands and honors,--multiplying it perhaps by four or six to bring out its effective amount in current coin. dog-cheap, it must be owned, for size and capability; but in the most waste condition, full of mutiny, injustice, anarchy and highway robbery; a purchase that might have proved dear enough to another man than burggraf friedrich. but so, at any rate, moribund brandenburg has got its hohenzollern kurfurst; and started on a new career it little dreamt of;--and we can now, right willingly, quit sigismund and the reichs-history; leave kaiser sigismund to sink or swim at his own will henceforth. his grand feat, in life, the wonder of his generation, was this same council of constance; which proved entirely a failure; one of the largest wind-eggs ever dropped with noise and travail in this world. two hundred thousand human creatures, reckoned and reckoning themselves the elixir of the intellect and dignity of europe; two hundred thousand, nay some, counting the lower menials and numerous unfortunate females, say four hundred thousand,--were got congregated into that little swiss town; and there as an ecumenic council, or solemnly distilled elixir of what pious intellect and valor could be scraped together in the world, they labored with all their select might for four years' space. that was the council of constance. and except this transfer of brandenburg to friedrich of hohenzollern, resulting from said council in the quite reverse and involuntary way, one sees not what good result it had. they did indeed burn huss; but that could not be called a beneficial incident; that seemed to sigismund and the council a most small and insignificant one. and it kindled bohemia, and kindled rhinoceros zisca, into never-imagined flame of vengeance; brought mere disaster, disgrace, and defeat on defeat to sigismund, and kept his hands full for the rest of his life, however small he had thought it. as for the sublime four years' deliberations and debates of this sanhedrim of the universe,--eloquent debates, conducted, we may say, under such extent of wig as was never seen before or since,--they have fallen wholly to the domain of dryasdust; and amount, for mankind at this time, to zero plus the burning of huss. on the whole, burggraf friedrich's electorship, and the first hohenzollern to brandenburg, is the one good result. adieu, then, to sigismund. let us leave him at this his culminating point, in the market-place of constance; red as a flamingo; doing one act of importance, though unconsciously and against his will.--i subjoin here, for refreshment of the reader's memory, a synopsis, or bare arithmetical list, of those intercalary non-hapsburg kaisers, which, now that its original small duty is done, may as well be printed as burnt:-- the seven intercalary or non-hapsburg kaisers. rudolf of hapsburg died a.d. , after a reign of eighteen vigorous years, very useful to the empire after its anarchic interregnum. he was succeeded, not by any of his own sons or kindred, but by, l. adolf of nassau, - . a stalwart but necessitous herr; much concerned in the french projects of our edward longshanks: _miles stipendiarius eduardi,_ as the opposition party scornfully termed him. slain in battle by the anti-kaiser, albrecht or albert eldest son of rudolf, who thereupon became kaiser. albert i. (of hapsburg, he), - . parricided, in that latter year, at the ford of the reuss. (a). henry vii. of luxemburg, - ; poisoned ( ) in sacramental wine. the first of the luxemburgers; who are marked here, in their order, by the addition of an alphabetic letter. . ludwig der baier, - (duke of ober-baiern, upper bavaria; progenitor of the subsequent kurfursts of baiern, who are cousins of the pfalz family). (b). karl iv., - , son of johann of bohemia (johann ich-dien), and grandson of henry vii. nicknamed the pfaffen-kaiser (parsons'-kaiser). karlsbad; the golden bull; castle of tangermunde. (c). wenzel (or wenceslaus), - , karl's eldest son. elected , still very young; deposed in , kaiser rupert succeeding. continued king of bohemia till his death (by zisca at second-hand) nineteen years after. had been kaiser for twenty-two years. . rupert of the pfalz, - ; called rupert klemm (pincers, smith's-vice); brother-in-law to burggraf friedrich vi. (afterwards kurfurst friedrich i.), who marched with him to italy and often else-whither, burggraf johann the elder brother-in-law being then oftenest in hungary with sigismund, karl iv.'s second son. (d). sigismund, - , wenzel's younger brother; the fourth and last of the luxemburgers, seventh and last of the intercalary kaisers. sold brandenburg, after thrice or oftener pawning it. sigismund super-grammaticam. super-grammaticam died th december, ; left only a daughter, wedded to the then albert duke of austria; which albert, on the strength of this, came to the kingship of bohemia and of hungary, as his wife's inheritance, and to the empire by election. died thereupon in few months: "three crowns, bohemia, hungary, the reich, in that one year, ," say the old historians; "and then next year he quitted them all, for a fourth and more lasting crown, as is hoped." kaiser albert ii., - : after whom all are hapsburgers,--excepting, if that is an exception, the unlucky karl vii. alone ( - ), who descends from ludwig the baier. ends volume ii history of friedrich ii. of prussia frederick the great by thomas carlyle volume xiii. book xiii. -- first silesian war, leaving the general european one ablaze all round, gets ended. -- may, -july, . chapter i. -- britannic majesty as paladin of the pragmatic. part first of his britannic majesty's sorrows, the britannic or domestic part, is now perhaps conceivable to readers. but as to the second, the germanic or pragmatic part,--articulate history, after much consideration, is content to renounce attempting these; feels that these will remain forever inconceivable to mankind in the now altered times. so small a gentleman; and he feels, dismally though with heroism, that he has got the axis of the world on his shoulder. poor majesty! his eyes, proud as jove's, are nothing like so perspicacious; a pair of the poorest eyes: and he has to scan with them, and unriddle under pain of death, such a waste of insoluble intricacies, troubles and world-perils as seldom was,--even in dreams. in fact, it is of the nature of a long nightmare dream, all this of the pragmatic, to his poor majesty and nation; and wakeful history must not spend herself upon it, beyond the essential. may th, betimes this year, his majesty got across to hanover, harrington with him; anxious to contemplate near at hand that camp of the old dessauer's at gottin, and the other fearful phenomena, french, prussian and other, in that country. his majesty, as natural, was much in germany in those years; scanning the phenomena; a long while not knowing what in the world to make of them. bully belleisle having stept into the ring, it is evident, clear as the sun, that one must act, and act at once; but it is a perfect sphinx-enigma to say how. seldom was sovereign or man so spurred, and goaded on, by the highest considerations; and then so held down, and chained to his place, by an imbroglio of counter-considerations and sphinx-riddles! thrice over, at different dates (which shall be given), the first of them this year, he starts up as in spasm, determined to draw sword, and plunge in; twice he is crushed down again, with sword half drawn; and only the third time (in ) does he get sword out, and brandish it in a surprising though useless manner. after which he feels better. but up to that crisis, his case is really tragical,--had idle readers any bowels for him; which they have not! one or two fractions, snatched from the circumambient paper vortex, must suffice us for the indispensable in this place:-- cunctations, yet incessant and ubiquitous endeavorings, of his britannic majesty ( - ). ... after the wonderful russian partition-treaty, which his english walpoles would not hear of,--and which has produced the camp of gottin, see, your majesty!--george does nothing rashly. far from it: indeed, except it be paying money, he becomes again a miracle of cunctations; and staggers about for years to come, like the--shall we say, like the white hanover horse amid half a dozen sieves of beans? alas, no, like the hanover horse with the shadows of half a dozen damocles'-swords dangling into the eyes of it;--enough to drive any horse to its wit's end!-- "to do, to dare," thinks the britannic majesty;--yes, and of daring there is a plenty: but, "in which direction? what, how?" these are questions for a fussy little gentleman called to take the world on his shoulders. we suppose it was by walpole's advice that he gave her hungarian majesty that , pounds of secret-service money;--advice sufficiently walpolean: "russian partition-treaties; horrible to think of;--beware of these again! give her majesty that cash; can be done; it will keep matters afloat, and spoil nothing!" that, till the late subsidy payable within year and day hence, was all of tangible his majesty had yet done;--truly that is all her hungarian majesty has yet got by hawking the world, pragmatic sanction in hand. and if that were the bit of generosity which enabled neipperg to climb the mountains and be beaten at mollwitz, that has helped little! very big generosities, to a frightful cipher of millions sterling through the coming years, will go the same road; and amount also to zero, even for the receiving party, not to speak of the giving! for men and kings are wise creatures. but wise or unwise, how great are his britannic majesty's activities in this pragmatic business! we may say, they are prodigious, incessant, ubiquitous. they are forgotten now, fallen wholly to the spiders and the dust-bins;--though friedrich himself was not a busier king in those days, if perhaps a better directed. it is a thing wonderful to us, but sorrowful and undeniable. we perceive the britannic majesty's own little mind pulsing with this pragmatic matter, as the biggest volcano would do;--shooting forth dust and smoke (subsidies, diplomatic emissaries, treaties, offers of treaty, plans, foolish futile exertions), at an immense rate. when the celestial balances are canting, a man ought to exert himself. but as to this of saving the house of austria from france,--surely, your britannic majesty, the shortest way to that, if that is so indispensable, were: that the house of austria should consent to give up its stolen goods, better late than never; and to make this king of prussia its friend, as he offers to be! joined with this king, it would manage to give account of france and its balloon projects, by and by. could your britannic majesty but take mr. viner's hint; and, in the interim, mind your own business!--his britannic majesty intends immediate fighting; and, both in england and hanover, is making preparation loud and great. nay, he will in his own person fight, if necessary, and rather likes the thought of it: he saw oudenarde in his young days; and, i am told, traces in himself a talent for generalship. were the britannic majesty to draw his own puissant sword!-his own puissant purse he has already drawn; and is subsidizing to right and left; knocking at all doors with money in hand, and the question, "any fighting done here?" in england itself there goes on much drilling, enlisting; camping, proposing to camp; which is noisy enough in the british newspapers, much more in the foreign. one actual camp there was "on lexden heath near colchester," from may till october of this , [manifold but insignificant details about it, in the old newspapers of those months.]--camp waiting always to be shipped across to the scene of action, but never was:--this actual camp, and several imaginary ones here, which were alarming to the continental gazetteer. in england his majesty is busy that way; still more among his hanoverians, now under his own royal eye; and among his danes and hessians, whom he has now brought over into hanover, to combine with the others. danes and hessians, , of each kind, he for some time keeps back in stall, upon subsidy, ready for such an occasion. their "camp at hameln," "camp at nienburg" (will, with the hanoverians, be , odd); their swashing and blaring about, intending to encamp at hameln, at nienburg, and other places, but never doing it, or doing it with any result: this, with the alarming english camps at lexden and in dreamland, which also were void of practical issue, filled europe with rumor this summer.--eager enough to fight; a noble martial ardor in our little hercules-atlas! but there lie such enormous difficulties on the threshold; especially these two, which are insuperable or nearly so. difficulty first, is that of the laggard dutch; a people apt to be heavy in the stern-works. they are quite languid about pragmatic sanction, these dutch; they answer his britannic majesty's enthusiasm with an obese torpidity; and hope always they will drift through, in some way; buoyant in their own fat, well ballasted astern; and not need such swimming for life. "what a laggard notion," thinks his majesty; "notion in ten pair of breeches, so to speak!" this stirring up of the dutch, which lasts year on year, and almost beats lord stair, lord carteret, and our chief artists, is itself a thing like few! one of his britannic majesty's great difficulties;--insuperable he never could admit it to be. "surely you are a sea-power, ye valiant dutch; the other sea-power? bound by barrier treaty, treaty of vienna, and law of nature itself, to rise with us against the fatal designs of france; fatal to your dutch barrier, first of all; if the liberties of mankind were indifferent to you! how is it that you will not?" the dutch cannot say how. france rocks them in security, by oily-mouthed diplomatists, fenelon and others: "would not touch a stone of your barrier, for the world, ye admirable dutch neighbors: on our honor, thrice and four times, no!" they have an eloquent van hoey of their own at paris; renowned in newspapers: "nothing but friendship here!" reports van hoey always; and the dutch answer his britannic majesty: "hm, rise? well then, if we must!"--but sit always still. nowhere in political mechanics have i seen such a problem as this of hoisting to their feet the heavy-bottomed dutch. the cunningest leverage, every sort of diplomatic block-and-tackle, carteret and stair themselves running over to help in critical seasons, is applied; to almost no purpose. pull long, pull strong, pull all together,--see, the heavy dutch do stir; some four inches of daylight fairly visible below them: bear a hand, oh, bear a hand!--pooh, the dutch flap down again, as low as ever. as low,--unless (by diplomatic art) you have wedged them at the four inches higher; which, after the first time or two, is generally done. at the long last, partially in (upon which his britannic majesty drew sword), completely in , the dutch were got to their feet;--unfortunately good for nothing when they were! without them his britannic majesty durst not venture. hidden in those dust-bins, there is nothing so absurd, or which would be so wearisome, did it not at last become slightly ludicrous, as this of hoisting the dutch. difficulty second, which in enormity of magnitude might be reckoned first, as in order of time it ranks both first and last, is: the case of dear hanover; case involved in mere insolubilities. our own dear hanover, which (were there nothing more in it) is liable, from that camp at gottin, to be slit in pieces at a moment's warning! no drawing sword against a nefarious prussia, on those terms. the camp at gottin holds george in checkmate. and then finally, in this same autumn, , when a maillebois with his or , french (the leftward or western of those two belleisle armies), threatening our hanover from another side, crossed the lower rhine--but let us not anticipate. the case of hanover, which everybody saw to be his majesty's vulnerable point, was the constant open door of france and her machinations, and a never-ending theme of angry eloquences in the english parliament as well. so that the case of hanover proved insoluble throughout, and was like a perpetual running sore. oh the pamphleteerings, the denouncings, the complainings, satirical and elegiac, which grounded themselves on hanover, the case of the hanover forces, and innumerable other hanoverian cases, griefs and difficulties! so pungently vital to somnambulant mankind at that epoch; to us fallen dead as carrion, and unendurable to think of. my friends, if you send for gentlemen from hanover, you must take them with hanover adhering more or less; and ought not to quarrel with your bargain, which you reckoned so divine! no doubt, it is singular to see a britannic majesty neglecting his own spanish war, the one real business he has at present; and running about over all the world; busy, soul, body and breeches-pocket, in other people's wars; egging on other fighting, whispering every likely fellow he can meet, "won't you perhaps fight? here is for you, if so!"--hand to breeches-pocket accompanying the word. but it must be said, and ought to be better known than in our day it is, his majesty's ministers, and the english state-doctors generally, were precisely of the same mind. to them too the austrian quarrel was everything, their own poor spanish quarrel nothing; and the complaint they make of his majesty is rather that he does not rush rapidly enough, with brandished sword, as well as with guineas raining from him, into this one indispensable business. "owing to his fears for hanover!" say they, with indignation, with no end of suspicion, angry pamphleteering and covert eloquence, "within those walls" and without. the suspicion of hanover's checking his majesty's pragmatic velocity is altogether well founded; and there need no more be said on that hanover score. be it well understood and admitted, hanover was the britannic majesty's beloved son; and the british empire his opulent milk-cow. richest of milk-cows; staff of one's life, for grand purposes and small; beautiful big animal, not to be provoked; but to be stroked and milked:--friends, if you will do a glorious revolution of that kind, and burn such an amount of tar upon it, why eat sour herbs for an inevitable corollary therefrom! and let my present readers understand, at any rate, that,--except in wapping, bristol and among the simple instinctive classes (with whom, it is true, go pitt and some illustrious figures),--political england generally, whatever of england had parliamentary discourse of reason, and did pamphlets, despatches, harangues, went greatly along with his majesty in that pragmatic business. and be the blame of delirium laid on the right back, where it ought to lie, not on the wrong, which has enough to bear of its own. and go not into that dust-whirlwind of extinct stupidities, o reader:--what reader would, except for didactic objects? know only that it does of a truth whirl there; and fancy always, if you can, that certain things and human figures, a friedrich, a chatham and some others, have it for their life-element. which, i often think, is their principal misfortune with posterity; said life-element having gone to such an unutterable condition for gods and men. "one other thing surprises us in those old pamphlets," says my constitutional friend: "how the phrase, 'cause of liberty' ever and anon turns up, with great though extinct emphasis, evidently sincere. after groping, one is astonished to find it means support of the house of austria; keeping of the hapsburgs entire in their old possessions among mankind! that, to our great-grandfathers, was the 'cause of liberty;'--said 'cause' being, with us again, electoral suffrage and other things; a notably different definition, perhaps still wider of the mark. "our great-grandfathers lived in perpetual terror that they would be devoured by france; that french ambition would overset the celestial balance, and proceed next to eat the british nation. stand upon your guard then, one would have said: look to your ships, to your defences, to your industries; to your virtues first of all,--your virtutes, manhoods, conformities to the divine law appointed you; which are the great and indeed sole strength to any man or nation! discipline yourselves, wisely, in all kinds; more and more, till there be no anarchic fibre left in you. unanarchic, disciplined at all points, you might then, i should say, with supreme composure, let france, and the whole world at its back, try what they could do upon you and the unique little island you are so lucky as to live in?--foolish mortals: what potentiality of battle, think you (not against france only, but against satanas and the ministers of chaos generally), would a poor friedrich wilhelm, not to speak of better, have got out of such a possession, had it been his to put in drill! and drill is not of soldiers only; though perhaps of soldiers first and most indispensably of all; since 'without being,' as my friend oliver was wont to say, 'well-being is not possible.' there is military drill; there is industrial, economic, spiritual; gradually there are all kinds of drill, of wise discipline, of peremptory mandate become effective everywhere, 'obey the laws of heaven, or else disappear from these latitudes!' ah me, if one dealt in day-dreams, and prophecies of an england grown celestial,--celestial she should be, not in gold nuggets, continents all of beef, and seas all of beer, abolition of pain, and paradise to all and sundry, but in that quite different fashion; and there, i should say, there were the magnificent hope to indulge in! that were to me the 'cause of liberty;' and any the smallest contribution towards that kind of 'liberty' were a sacred thing!-- "belleisle again may, if he pleases, call his the cause of sovereignty. a sovereign louis, it would appear, has not governing enough to do within his own french borders, but feels called to undertake germany as well;--a gentleman with an immense governing faculty, it would appear? truly, good reader, i am sick of heart, contemplating those empty sovereign mountebanks, and empty antagonist ditto, with their causes of liberty and causes of anti-liberty; and cannot but wish that we had got the ashes of that world-explosion, of , well riddled and smelted, and the poor world were quit of a great many things!"-- my constitutional historian of england, musing on belleisle and his anti-pragmatic industries and grandiosities,--"how chief-bully belleisle stept down into the ring as a gay volunteer, and foolish chief-defender george had to follow dismally heroic, as a conscript of fate,"--drops these words: in regard to the wages they respectively had:-- "nations that go into war without business there, are sure of getting business as they proceed; and if the beginning were phantasms,--especially phantasms of the hoping, self-conceited kind,--the results for them are apt to be extremely real! as was the case with the french in this war, and those following, in which his britannic majesty played chief counter-tenor. from , in king friedrich's first war, onwards to friedrich's third war, - , the volunteer french found a great deal of work lying ready for them,--gratuitous on their part, from the beginning. and the results to them came out, first completely visible, in the world-miracles of , and the years following! "nations, again, may be driven upon war by phantasm terrors, and go into it, in sorrow of heart, not gayety of heart; and that is a shade better. and one always pities a poor nation, in such case;--as the very destinies rather do, and judge it more mercifully. nay, the poor bewildered nation may, among its brain-phantasms, have something of reality and sanity inarticulately stirring it withal. it may have a real ordinance of heaven to accomplish on those terms:--and if so, it will sometimes, in the most chaotic circuitous ways, through endless hazards, at a hundred or a hundred thousand times the natural expense, ultimately get it done! this was the case of the poor english in those wars. "they were wars extraneous to england little less than to france; neither nation had real business in them; and they seem to us now a very mad object on the part of both. but they were not gratuitously gone into, on the part of england; far from that. england undertook them, with its big heart very sorrowful, strange spectralities bewildering it; and managed them (as men do sleep-walking) with a gloomy solidity of purpose, with a heavy-laden energy, and, on the whole, with a depth of stupidity, which were very great. yet look at the respective net results. france lies down to rot into grand spontaneous-combustion, apotheosis of sansculottism, and much else; which still lasts, to her own great peril, and the great affliction of neighbors. poor england, after such enormous stumbling among the chimney-pots, and somnambulism over all the world for twenty years, finds on awakening, that she is arrived, after all, where she wished to be, and a good deal farther! finds that her own important little errand is somehow or other, done;--and, in short, that 'jenkins's ear [as she named the thing] has been avenged,' and the ocean highways 'opened' and a good deal more, in a most signal way! for the eternal providences--little as poor dryasdust now knows of it, mumbling and maundering that sad stuff of his--do rule; and the great soul of the world, i assure you once more, is just. and always for a nation, as for a man, it is very behooveful to be honest, to be modest, however stupid!"-- by this time, however,--mollwitz having fallen out, and belleisle being evidently on the steps,--his britannic majesty recognizes clearly, and insists upon it, strengthened by his harringtons and everybody of discernment, that, nefarious or not, this friedrich will require to be bargained with. that, far from breaking in upon him, and partitioning him (how far from it!), there is no conceivable method of saving the celestial balances till he be satisfied, in some way. this is the one step his britannic majesty has yet made, out of these his choking imbroglios; and truly this is one. hyndford, his best negotiator, is on the road for friedrich's camp; robinson at vienna, has been directed to say and insist, "bargain with that man; he must be bargained with, if our cause of liberty is to be saved at all?"-- and now, having opened the dust-bin so far, that the reader's fancy might be stirred without affliction to his lungs and eyes, let us shut it down again,--might we but hope forever! that is too fond a hope. but the background or sustaining element made imaginable, the few events deserving memory may surely go on at a much swifter pace. chapter ii. -- camp of strehlen. friedrich's silesian camps this summer, camp of strehlen chiefly, were among the strangest places in the world. friedrich, as we have often noticed, did not much pursue the defeated austrians, at or near mollwitz, or press them towards flat ruin in their silesian business: it is clear he anxiously wished a bargain without farther exasperation; and hoped he might get it by judicious patience. brieg he took, with that fine outburst of bombardment, which did not last a week: but brieg once his, he fell quiet again; kept encamping, here there, in that mollwitz-neisse region, for above three months to come; not doing much, beyond the indispensable; negotiating much, or rather negotiated with, and waiting on events. [in camp of mollwitz (nearer brieg than the battle-field was) till th may (after the battle seven weeks); then to camp at grotkau ( th may- th june, twelve days); thence ( th june) to friedewalde, herrnsdorf; to strehlen ( st june- th august, nine or ten weeks in all). see _helden-geschichte_, i. , ii. ; rodenbeck, orlich, &c.] both armies were reinforcing themselves; and friedrich's, for obvious reasons, in the first weeks especially, became much the stronger. once in may, and again afterwards, weary of the pace things went at, he had resolved on having neisse at once; on attacking neipperg in his strong camp there, and cutting short the tedious janglings and uncertainties. he advanced to grotkau accordingly, some twelve or fifteen miles nearer neisse ( th may,--stayed till th june), quite within wind of neipperg and his outposts; but found still, on closer inspection, that he had better wait;--and do so withal at a greater distance from neipperg and his pandour swarms. he drew back therefore to strehlen, northwestward, rather farther from neisse than before; and lay encamped there for nine or ten weeks to come. not till the beginning of august did there fall out any military event (pandour skirmishing in plenty, but nothing to call an event); and not till the end of august any that pointed to conclusive results. as it was at strehlen where mostly these diplomacies went on, and the camp of strehlen was the final and every way the main one, it may stand as the representative of these diplomatizing camps to us, and figure as the sole one which in fact it nearly was. strehlen is a pleasant little town, nestled prettily among its granite hills, the steeple of it visible from mollwitz; some twenty-five miles west of brieg, some thirty south of breslau, and about as far northwest of neisse: there friedrich and his prussians lie, under canvas mainly, with outposts and detachments sprinkled about under roofs:--a camp of strehlen, more or less imaginable by the reader. and worth his imagining; such a camp, if not for soldiering, yet for negotiating and wagging of diplomatic wigs, as there never was before. here, strangely shifted hither, is the centre of european politics all summer. from the utmost ends of europe come ambassadors to strehlen: from spain, france, england, denmark, holland,--there are sometimes nine at once, how many successively and in total i never knew. [_helden-geschichte,_ i. .] they lodge generally in breslau; but are always running over to strehlen. there sits, properly speaking, the general secret parliament of europe; and from most countries, except austria, representatives attend at strehlen, or go and come between breslau and strehlen, submissive to the evils of field-life, when need is. a surprising thing enough to mankind, and big as the world in its own day; though gone now to small bulk,--one human figure pretty much all that is left of memorable in it to mankind and us. french belleisle we have seen; who is gone again, long since, on his wide errands; fat valori too we have seen, who is assiduously here. the other figures, except the english, can remain dark to us. of montijos, the eminent spaniard, a brown little man, magnificent as the kingdom of the incas, with half a page of titles (half a peck, five-and-twenty or more, of handles to his little name, if you should ever require it); who, finding matters so backward at frankfurt, and nothing to do there, has been out, in the interim, touring to while away the tedium; and is here only as sequel and corroboration of belleisle,--say as bottle-holder, or as high-wrought peacock's-tail, to belleisle:--of the eminent montijos i have to record next to nothing in the shape of negotiation ("treaty" with the termagant was once proposed by him here, which friedrich in his politest way declined); and shall mention only, that his domestic arrangements were sumptuous and commodious in the extreme. let him arrive in the meanest village, destitute of human appliances, and be directed to the hut where he is to lodge,--straightway from the fourgons and baggage-chests of montijos is produced, first of all, a round of arras hangings, portable tables, portable stove, gold plate and silver; thus, with wax-lights, wines of richest vintage, exquisite cookeries, montijos lodges, a king everywhere, creating an aladdin's palace everywhere; able to say, like the sage bias, omnia mea naecum porto. these things are recorded of montijos. what he did in the way of negotiation has escaped men's memory, as it could well afford to do. of hyndford's appurtenances for lodging we already had a glimpse, through busching once;--pointing towards solid dinner-comforts rather than arras hangings; and justifying the english genius in that respect. the weight of the negotiations fell on hyndford; it is between him and french valori that the matter lies, montijos and the others being mere satellites on their respective sides. much battered upon, this hyndford, by refractory hanoverians pitting george as elector against the same george as king, and egging these two identities to woful battle with each other,--"lay me at his majesty's feet" full length, and let his majesty say which is which, then! a heavy, eating, haggling, unpleasant kind of mortal, this hyndford; bites and grunts privately, in a stupid ferocious manner, against this young king: "one of the worst of men; who will not take up the cause of liberty at all, and is not made in the image of hyndford at all." they are dreadfully stiff reading, those despatches of hyndford: but they have particles of current news in them; interesting glimpses of that same young king;--likewise of hyndford, laid at his majesty's feet, and begging for self and brothers any good benefice that may fall vacant. we can discern, too, a certain rough tenacity and horse-dealer finesse in the man; a broad-based, shrewdly practical scotch gentleman, wide awake; and can conjecture that the diplomatic function, in that element, might have been in worse hands. he is often laid metaphorically at the king's feet, king of england's; and haunts personally the king of prussia's elbow at all times, watching every glance of him, like a british house-dog, that will not be taken in with suspicious travellers, if he can help it; and casting perpetual horoscopes in his dull mind. of friedrich and his demeanor in this strange scene, centre of a world all drawing sword, and jumbling in huge diplomatic and other delirium about his ears, the reader will desire to see a direct glimpse or two. as to the sad general imbroglio of diplomacies which then weltered everywhere, readers can understand that, it has, at this day, fallen considerably obscure (as it deserved to do); and that even friedrich's share of it is indistinct in parts. the game, wide as europe, and one of the most intricate ever played by diplomatic human creatures, was kept studiously dark while it went on; and it has not since been a pleasant object of study. many of the documents are still unpublished, inaccessible; so that the various moves in the game, especially what the exact dates and sequence of them were (upon which all would turn), are not completely ascertainable,--nor in truth are they much worth hunting after, through such an element. one thing we could wish to have out of it, the one thing of sane that was in it: the demeanor and physiognomy of friedrich as there manifested; friedrich alone, or pretty much alone of all these diplomatic conjurers, having a solid veritable object in hand. the rest--the spiders are very welcome to it: who of mortals would read it, were it made never so lucid to him? such traits of friedrich as can be sifted out into the conceivable and indubitable state, the reader shall have; the extinct bedlam, that begirdled friedrich far and wide, need not be resuscitated except for that object. of friedrich's fairness, or of friedrich's "trickiness, machiavelism and attorneyism," readers will form their own notion, as they proceed. on one point they will not be doubtful, that here is such a sharpness of steady eyesight (like the lynx's, like the eagle's), and, privately such a courage and fixity of resolution, as are highly uncommon. april th, , in the same days while belleisle arrived in the camp at mollwitz, and witnessed that fine opening of the cannonade upon brieg, excellency hyndford got to berlin; and on notifying the event, was invited by the king to come along to breslau, and begin business. england has been profuse enough in offering her "good offices with austria" towards making a bargain for his prussian majesty; but is busy also, at the hague, concerting with the dutch "some strong joint resolution,"--resolution, openly to advise friedrich to withdraw his troops from silesia, by way of starting fair towards a bargain. a very strong resolution, they and the gazetteers think it; and ask themselves, is it not likely to have some effect? their high mightinesses have been screwing their courage, and under english urgency, have decided (april th), [_helden-geschichte,_ i. ; the advice itself, a very mild-spoken piece, but of riskish nature think the dutch, is given, ib. , .] "yes, we will jointly so advise!" and friedrich has got inkling of it from rasfeld, his minister there. hyndford's first business (were the dutch excellency once come up, but those dutch are always hanging astern!) is to present said "advice," and try what will come of that, an "advice" now fallen totally insignificant to the universe and to us,--only that readers will wish to see how friedrich takes it, and if any feature of friedrich discloses itself in the affair. excellency hyndford has his first audience (camp of mollwitz, may th); and friedrich makes a most important treaty,--not with hyndford. may d, hyndford arrived in breslau; and after some preliminary flourishings, and difficulties about post-horses and furnitures in a seat of war, got to brieg; and thence, may th, "to the camp [camp of mollwitz still], which is about an english mile off,"--podewils escorting him from brieg, and what we note farther, pollnitz too; our poor old pollnitz, some kind of chief goldstick, whom we did not otherwise know to be on active duty in those rude scenes. belleisle had passed through breslau while hyndford was there:--"am unable to inform your lordship what success he has had." brieg siege is done only three days ago; castle all lying black; and the new trenching and fortifying hardly begun. in a word, may th, , "about a.m.," excellency hyndford is introduced to the king's tent, and has his first audience. goldstick having done his motions, none but podewils is left present; who sits at a table, taking notes of what is said. podewils's notes are invisible to me; but here, in authentic though carefully compressed state, is hyndford's minute narrative:-- excellency hyndford mentioned the instructions he had, as to "good offices," friendship and so forth. "but his prussian majesty had hardly patience to hear me out; and said in a passion [we rise, where possible, hyndford's own wording; readers will allow for the leaden quality in some parts]:--king (in a passion). 'how is it possible, my lord, to believe things so contradictory? it is mighty fine all this that you now tell me, on the part of the king of england; but how does it correspond to his last speech to his parliament [ th april last, when mr. viner was in such minority of one] and to the doings of his ministers at petersburg [a pretty partition-treaty that; and the excellency finch still busy, as i know!] and at the hague [excellency trevor there, and this beautiful joint-resolution and advice which is coming!] to stir up allies against me? i have reason rather to doubt the sincerity of the king of england. they perhaps mean to amuse me. [that is friedrich's real opinion. [his letter to podewils (ranke, ii. ).]] but, by god, they are mistaken! i will risk everything rather than abate the least of my pretensions.'" poor hyndford said and mumbled what he could; knew nothing what instructions finch had, trevor had, and--king. "'my lord, there seems to be a contradiction in all this. the king of england, in his letter, tells me you are instructed as to everything; and yet you pretend ignorance! but i am perfectly informed of all. and i should not be surprised if, after all these fine words, you should receive some strong letter or resolution for me,'"--joint-resolution to advise, for example? hyndford, not in the strength of conscious innocence, stands silent; the king, "in his heat of passion," said to podewils:--king to podewils (on the sudden). "'write down, that my lord would be surprised [as he should be] to receive such instructions!'" (a mischievous sparkle, half quizzical, half practical, considerably in the friedrich style.)--hyndford, "quite struck, my lord, with this strange way of acting," and of poking into one, protests with angry grunt, and "was put extremely upon my guard." of course podewils did net write.... hyndford. "'europe is under the necessity of taking some speedy resolution, things are in such a state of crisis. like a fever in a human body, got to such a height that quinquina becomes necessary.' ... that expression made him smile, and he began to look a little cooler.... 'shall we apply to vienna, your majesty?' friedrich. "'follow your own will in that.' hyndford. "'would your majesty consent now to stand by his excellency gotter's original offer at vienna on your part? agree, namely, in consideration of lower silesia and breslau, to assist the queen with all your troops for maintenance of pragmatic sanction, and to vote for the grand-duke as kaiser?' king. "'yes' [what the reader may take notice of, and date for himself]. hyndford. "'what was the sum of money then offered her hungarian majesty?' "king hesitated, as if he had forgotten; podewils answered, 'three million florins ( , pounds).' king. "'i should not value the money; if money would content her majesty, i would give more.'... here was a long pause, which i did not break;"--nor would the king. podewils reminded me of an idea we had been discoursing of together ("on his suggestion, my lord, which i really think is of importance, and worth your lordship's consideration"); whereupon, on such hint, hyndford. "'would your majesty consent to an armistice?' friedrich. "'yes; but [counts on his fingers, may, june, till he comes to december] not for less than six months,--till december st. by that time they could do nothing,'" the season out by that time. hyndford. "'his excellency podewils has been taking notes; if i am to be bound by them, might i first see that he has mistaken nothing?' king. "'certainly!'"--podewils's note-protocol is found to be correct in every point; hyndford, with some slight flourish of compliments on both sides, bows himself away (invited to dinner, which he accepts, "will surely have that honor before returning to breslau");--and so the first audience has ended. [hyndford's despatches, breslau, th and th may, . are in state-paper office, like the rest of hyndford's; also in british museum (additional mss. , &c.), the rough draughts of them.] baronay and pandours are about,--this is ten days before the ziethen feat on baronay;--but no pandour, now or afterwards, will harm a british excellency. these utterances of friedrich's, the more we examine them by other lights that there are, become the more correctly expressive of what friedrich's real feelings were on the occasion. much contrary, perhaps, to expectation of some readers. and indeed we will here advise our readers to prepare for dismissing altogether that notion of friedrich's duplicity, mendacity, finesse and the like, which was once widely current in the world; and to attend always strictly to what friedrich says, if they wish to guess what he is thinking;--there being no such thing as "mendacity" discoverable in friedrich, when you take the trouble to inform yourself. "mendacity," my friends? how busy have the owls been with friedrich's memory, in different countries of the world;--perhaps even more than their sad wont is in such cases! for indeed he was apt to be of swift abrupt procedure, disregardful of owleries; and gave scope for misunderstanding in the course of his life. but a veracious man he was, at all points; not even conscious of his veracity; but had it in the blood of him; and never looked upon "mendacity" but from a very great height indeed. he does not, except where suitable, at least he never should, express his whole meaning; but you will never find him expressing what is not his meaning. reticence, not dissimulation. and as to "finesse,"--do not believe in that either, in the vulgar or bad sense. truly you will find his finesse is a very fine thing; and that it consists, not in deceiving other people, but in being right himself; in well discerning, for his own behoof, what the facts before him are; and in steering, which he does steadily, in a most vigilant, nimble, decisive and intrepid manner, by monition of the same. no salvation but in the facts. facts are a kind of divine thing to friedrich; much more so than to common men: this is essentially what religion i have found in friedrich. and, let me assure you, it is an invaluable element in any man's religion, and highly indispensable, though so often dispensed with! readers, especially in our time english readers, who would gain the least knowledge about friedrich, in the extinct bedlam where his work now lay, have a great many things to forget, and sad strata of owl-droppings, ancient and recent, to sweep away!-- to friedrich a bargain with austria, which would be a getting into port, in comparison to going with the french in that distracted voyage of theirs, is highly desirable. "shall i join with the english, in hope of some tolerable bargain from austria? shall i have to join with the french, in despair of any?" readers may consider how stringent upon friedrich that question now was, and how ticklish to solve. and it must be solved soon,--under penalty of "being left with no ally at all" (as friedrich expresses himself), while the whole world is grouping itself into armed heaps for and against! if the english would but get me a bargain--? friedrich dare not think they will. nay, scanning these english incoherences, these contradictions between what they say here and what they do and say elsewhere, he begins to doubt if they zealously wish it,--and at last to believe that they sincerely do not wish it; that "they mean to amuse me" (as he said to hyndford)--till my french chance too is over. "to amuse me: but, par dieu--!" his notes to podewils, of which ranke, who has seen them, gives us snatches, are vivid in that sense: "i should be ashamed if the cunningest italian could dupe me; but that a lout of a hanoverian should do it!"--and podewils has great difficulty to keep him patient yet a little; valori being so busy on the other side, and the time so pressing. here are some dates and some comments, which the reader should take with him;--here is a very strange issue to the joint-resolution of a strong nature now on hand! a few days after that first audience, ginkel the dutch excellency, with the due papers in his pocket, did arrive. excellency hyndford, who is not without rough insight into what lies under his nose, discovers clearly that the grand dutch-english resolution, or joint-exhortation to evacuate silesia, will do nothing but mischief; and (at his own risk, persuading ginkel also to delay) sends a courier to england before presenting it. and from england, in about a fortnight, gets for answer, "do harm, think you? hm, ha!--present it, all the same; and modify by assurances afterwards,"--as if these would much avail! this is not the only instance in which st. james's rejects good advice from its hyndford; the pity would be greater, were not the business what it is! podewils has the greatest difficulty to keep friedrich quiet till hyndford's courier get back. and on his getting back with such answer, "present it all the same," friedrich will not wait for that ceremony, or delay a moment longer. friedrich has had his valori at work, all this while; valori and podewils, and endless correspondence and consultation going on; and things hypothetically almost quite ready; so that-- june th, , friedrich, spurring podewils to the utmost speed, and "ordering secrecy on pain of death," signs his treaty with france! a kind of provisional off-and-on treaty, i take it to be; which was never published, and is thought to have had many ifs in it: signs this treaty;--and next day (june th, such is the impetuosity of haste) instructs his rasfeld at the hague, "you will beforehand inform the high mightinesses, in regard to that advice of april th, which they determined on giving me, through the excellency herr von ginkel along with excellency hyndford, that such advice can, by me, only be considered as a blind complaisance to the court of vienna's improper urgencies, improper in such a matter. that for certain i will not quit silesia till my claims be satisfied. and the longer i am forced to continue warring for them here," wasting more resource and risk upon them, "the higher they will rise!" [_helden-geschichte,_ i. .] and this is what comes of that terribly courageous dutch-english "joint-resolution of a strong nature;" it has literally cut before the point: the exhortation is not yet presented, but the treaty with france is signed in virtue of it!-- undoubtedly this of june th is the most important treaty in the austrian-succession war, and the cardinal element of friedrich's procedure in that adventure. and it has never been published; nor, till herr professor ranke got access to the prussian archives, has even the date of signing it been rightly known; but is given two or three ways in different express collections of treaties. [scholl, ii. (copying "flassan, _hist. de la diplom. franc._ v. "), gives " th july" as the date; adelung (ii. , , ) guesses that it was "in august;" valori (i. ), who was himself in it, gives the correct date,--but then his editor (thought inquiring readers) was such a sloven and ignoramus. see stenzel, iv. ; ranke, ii. .] herr ranke knows this treaty, and the correspondences, especially friedrich's correspondence with podewils preparatory to it; and speaks, as his wont is, several exact things about it; thanks to him, in the circumstances. i wish it could be made, even with his help, fully intelligible to the reader! for, were the treaty never so express, surely the mode of keeping it, on both parts, was very strange; and that latter concerns us somewhat. a very fast-and-loose treaty, to all appearance! outwardly it is a mere treaty of alliance, each party guaranteeing the other for fifteen years; without mention made of the joint belleisle adventure now in the wind. but then, like the postscript to a lady's letter, there come "secret articles" bearing upon that essential item: how france, in the course of this current season , is to bring an army across the rhine in support of its friend kur-baiern versus austria; is, in the same term of time, to make sweden declare war on russia (important for friedrich, who is never sure a moment that those russians will not break in upon him); and finally, most important of all, that france "guarantees lower silesia with breslau to his prussian majesty." in return for which his prussian majesty--will do what? it is really difficult to say what: be a true ally and second to france in its grand german adventure? not at all. friedrich does not yet know, nor does belleisle himself quite precisely, what the grand german adventure is; and friedrich's wishes never were, nor will be, for the prosperity of that. support france, at least in its small bavarian anti-austrian adventure? by no means definitely even that. "maintain myself in lower silesia with breslau, and fight my best to such end:" really that, you might say, is in substance the most of what friedrich undertakes; though inarticulately he finds himself bound to much more,--and will frankly go into it, if you do as you have said; and unless you do, will not. never was a more contingent treaty: "unless you stir up sweden, messieurs; unless you produce that rhine army; unless--" such is steadily friedrich's attitude; long after this, he refuses to say whom he will vote for as kaiser: "fortune of war will decide it," answers he, in regard to that and to many other things; and keeps himself to an incomprehensible extent loose; ready, for weeks and months after, to make bargain on his own silesian affair with anybody that can. [ranke, ii. , , .] for indeed the french also are very contingent; fleury hanging one way, belleisle pushing another; and know not how far they will go on the grand german adventure, nor conclusively whether at all. here is an anecdote by friedrich himself. valori was, one night, with him; and, on rising to take leave, the fat hand, sticking probably in the big waistcoat-pocket, twitched out a little diplomatic-looking note; which friedrich, with gentle adroitness (permissible in such circumstances), set his foot upon, till valori had bowed himself out. the note was from amelot, french minister of the foreign department: "don't give his prussian majesty glatz, if it can possibly be helped." very well, thought friedrich; and did not forget the fine little note on burning it. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ ii. .] there went, in french couriers' bags, a great many such, to austria some of them, of far more questionable tenor, within the next twelve months. two things we have to remark: first, that friedrich, with an eye to real business on his part in the bavarian adventure, in which kur-pfalz is sure to accompany, volunteered (like a real man of business, and much to belleisle's surprise) to renounce the berg-julich controversy, and let kur-pfalz have his way, that there might be no quarrelling among allies. this too is contingent; but was gladly accepted by belleisle. second, that belleisle had instructed valori, not to insist on active help from friedrich in the german adventure, but merely to stipulate for his neutrality throughout, in case they could get no more. how joyfully would friedrich have accepted this,--had valori volunteered with it, which he did not! [ranke, ii. .] but, after all, in result it was the same; and had to be,--plus only a great deal of clamor by and by, from the french and the gazetteers, about the article in question. was there ever so contingent a treaty before? it is signed, breslau, th june, , and both parties have their hands loose, and make use of their liberty for months to come; nay, in some sort, all along; feeling how contingent it was! friedrich did not definitely tie himself till th november next, five months after: when he signed the french-bavarian treaty, renounced berg-julich controversies, and fairly went into the french-bavarian, smaller french adventure; into the greater, or wide-winged belleisle one, he never went nor intended to go,--perhaps even the contrary, if needful. readers may try to remember these elucidative items, riddled from the immensities of dryasdust: i have no more to give, nor can afford to return upon it. may not we well say, as above, "a treaty thought to have many ifs in it!"--and now, th june, comes solemnly the joint-resolution itself; like mustard (under a flourish of trumpets) three days after dinner:-- "camp of grotkau, th june. hyndford and ginkel [the same respectable old ginkel whom we used to know in friedrich wilhelm's time], having, according to renewed order, got out from breslau with that formidable dutch-english 'advice' or joint-exhortation in their pocket, did this day in the camp at grotkau present the same. a very mild-spoken piece, though it had required such courage; and which is not now worth speaking of, things having gone as we see. friedrich received it with a gracious mien: 'infinitely sensible to the trouble his britannic majesty and their high mightinesses took with his affairs; document should receive his best consideration,'--which indeed it has already done, and its answer withal: a french treaty signed three days ago, in virtue of it! 'might i request a short private audience of your majesty?' solicits hyndford, intending to modify by new assurances, as bidden.--'surely,' answers friedrich. "the two excellencies dine with the king, who is in high spirits. after dinner, hyndford gets his private audience; does his best in the way of 'new assurances;' which produce what effect we can fancy. among other things, he appeals to the king's 'magnanimity, how grand and generous it will be to accept moderate terms from austria, to--' king (interrupting): 'my lord, don't talk to me of magnanimity, a prince [acting not for himself but for his nation] ought to consult his interest in the first place. i am not against peace: but i expect to have four duchies given me.'" [state-paper office (hyndford, breslau, th june, ).] hyndford and ginkel slept that night in grotkau town: "at next morning the king sent us word, that if we had a mind to see the army on march," just moving off, strehlen way, "we might come out by the north gate." we accordingly saw the whole army leave camp; and march in four columns towards friedewald, where marshal neipperg is encamped. "not a bit of it, your excellency! neipperg is safe at neisse; amid inaccessible embankments and artificial mud: and these are mere hussar-pandour rabble out here; whom a push or two sends home again,--would it could keep them there! but they are of sylvan (or salvage) nature, affecting the shade; and burst out, for theft and arson, sometimes at great distances, no calculating where. the king's army lay all that night upon their arms, and encamped next morning, the th. i believe nothing happened that day, for we were obliged to stay at grotkau, for want of post-horses, a good part of it." hyndford hears (in secret opposition circles, and lays the flattering unction to his soul and your lordship's): "the king of prussia's army, as i am informed, unless he will take counsel, another campaign will go near to ruin. everything is in the greatest disorder; utmost dejection amongst the officers from highest to lowest;"--fact being that the king has important improvements and new drillings in view (to go on at strehlen), cavalry improvements, artillery improvements, unknown to hyndford and the opposition; and will not be ruined next campaign. "i hope the news we have here, of the taking of carthagena, is true," concludes he. alas, your excellency! by a different hand, from the southward hungarian regions, far over the hills, take this other entry; almost of enthusiastic style:-- "presburg, th june. maria theresa, in high spirits about her english subsidy and the bright aspects, left vienna about a week ago for presburg [a drive of fifty miles down the fine donau country]; and is celebrating her coronation there, as queen of hungary, in a very sublime manner. sunday, th june, , that is the day of putting on your crown,--iron crown of st. stephen, as readers know. the chivalry of hungary, from palfy and esterhazy downward, and all the world are there; shining in loyalty and barbaric gold and pearl. a truly beautiful young woman, beautiful to soul and eye, devout too and noble, though ill-informed in political or other science, is in the middle of it, and makes the scene still more noticeable to us. see, as the finish of the ceremonies, she has mounted a high swift horse, sword girt to her side,--a great rider always, this young queen;--and gallops, hungary following like a comet-tail, to the konigsberg [king's-hill so called; no great things of a hill, o reader; made by barrow, you can see], to the top of the konigsberg; there draws sword; and cuts, grandly flourishing, to the four quarters of the heavens: 'let any mortal, from whatever quarter coming, meddle with hungary if he dare!' [adelung, ii. , .] chivalrous hungary bursts into passionate acclaim; old palfy, i could fancy, into tears; and all the world murmurs to itself, with moist-gleaming eyes, 'rex noster!' this is, in fact, the beautifulest king or queen that now is, this radiant young woman; beautiful things have been, and are to be, reported of her; and she has a terrible voyage just ahead,--little dreaming of it at this grand moment. i wish his britannic majesty, or robinson who has followed out hither, could persuade her to some compliance on the silesian matter: what a thing were that, for herself, and for all mankind, just now! but she will not hear of that; and is very obstinate, and her stupid hofraths equally and much more blamably so. deaf to hard facts knocking at their door; ignorant what noah's-deluges have broken out upon them, and are rushing on inevitable." by a notable coincidence, precisely while those sword-flourishings go on at presburg, marechal excellency belleisle is making his public entry into frankfurt-on-mayn: [ th june, (adelung, ii. ).] frankfurt too is in cheery emotion; streets populous with sunday gazers, and critics of the sublime in spectacle! this is not belleisle's first entrance; he himself has been here some time, settling his household, and a good many things: but today he solemnly leads in his countess and appendages (over from metz, where madame and he officially reside in common times, "governor of metz," one of his many offices);--leads in madame, in suitably resplendent manner; to kindle household fire, as it were; and indicate that here is his place, till he have got a kaiser to his mind. twin phenomena, these two; going on miles apart; unconscious of one another, or of what kinship they happen to have!-- excellency robinson busy in the vienna hofrath circles, to produce a compliance. britannic george, both for pragmatic's sake and for dear hanover's, desires much there were a bargain made with friedrich: how is the pragmatic to be saved at all, if friedrich join france in its belleisle machinations, thinks george? and already here is that camp of gottin, glittering in view like a drawn sword pointed at one's throat or at one's hanover. nay, in a month or two hence, as the belleisle schemes got above ground in the shape of facts, this desire became passionate, and a bargain with prussia seemed the one thing needful. for, alas, the reader will see there comes, about that time, a second sword (the maillebois army, namely), pointed at one's throat from the french side of things: so that a paladin of the pragmatic, and hanoverian king of england, knows not which way to turn! george's sincerity of wish is perhaps underrated by friedrich; who indeed knows well enough on which side george's wishes would fall, if they had liberty (which they have not), but much overrates "the astucity" of poor george and his english; ascribing, as is often done, to fine-spun attorneyism what is mere cunctation, ignorance, negligence, and other forms of a stupidity perhaps the most honest in the world! by degrees friedrich understood better; but he never much liked the english ways of doing business. george's desire is abundantly sincere, not wholly resting on sublime grounds; and grows more and more intense every day; but could not be gratified for a good while yet. co-operating with hyndford, from the vienna side, is excellency robinson; who has a still harder job of it there. pity poor robinson, o english reader, if you can for indignation at the business he is in. saving the liberties of europe! thinks robinson confidently: founding the english national debt, answers fact; and doing bottom the weaver, with long ears, in the miserablest pickleherring tragedy that ever was!--this is the same robinson who immortalized himself, nine or ten years ago, by the first treaty of vienna; thrice-salutary treaty, which disjoined austria from bourbon-spanish alliances, and brought her into the arms of the grateful sea-powers again. imminent downfall of the universe was thus, glory to robinson, arrested for that time. and now we have the same robinson instructed to sharpen all his faculties to the cutting pitch, and do the impossible for this new and reverse face of matters. what a change from to ! bugbear of dreadful austrian-spanish alliance dissolves now into sunlit clouds, encircling a beautiful austrian andromeda, about to be devoured for us; and the downfall of the universe is again imminent, from spain and others joining against austria. oh, ye wigs, and eximious wig-blocks, called right-honorable! if a man, sovereign or other, were to stay well at home, and mind his own visible affairs, trusting a good deal that the universe would shift for itself, might it not be better for him? robinson, who writes rather a heavy style, but is full of inextinguishable heavy zeal withal, will have a great deal to do in these coming years. ancestor of certain valuable earls that now are; author of immeasurable quantities of the diplomatic cobwebs that then were. to a modern english reader it is very strange, that austrian scene of things in which poor robinson is puffing and laboring. the ineffable pride, the obstinacy, impotency, ponderous pedantry and helplessness of that dull old court and its hofraths, is nearly inconceivable to modern readers. stupid dilapidation is in all departments, and has long been; all things lazily crumbling downwards, sometimes stumbling down with great plunges. cash is done; the world rising, all round, with plunderous intentions; and hungry ruin, you would say, coming visibly on with seven-league boots: here is little room for carrying your head high among mankind. high nevertheless they do carry it, with a grandly mournful though stolid insolent air, as if born superior to this earth and its wisdoms and successes and multiplication-tables and iron ramrods,--really with "a certain greatness," says somebody, "greatness as of great blockheadism" in themselves and their neighbors;--and, like some absurd old hindoo idol (crockery idol of somnauth, for instance, with the belly of him smashed by battle-axes, and the cart-load of gold coin all run out), persuade mankind that they are a god, though in dilapidated condition. that is our first impression of the thing. but again, better seen into, there is not wanting a certain worthily steadfast, conservative and broad-based high air (reminding you of "kill our own mutton, sir!" and the ancient english tory species), solid and loyal, though stolid ancient austrian tories, that definition will suffice for us;--and toryism too, the reader may rely on it, is much patronized by the upper powers, and goes a long way in this world. nay, without a good solid substratum of that, what thing, with never so many ballot-boxes, stump-orators, and liberties of the subject, is capable of going at all, except swiftly to perdition? these austrians have taken a great deal of ruining, first and last! their relation to the then sea-powers, especially to england embarked on the cause of liberty, fills one with amazement, by no means of an idolatrous nature; and is difficult to understand at all, or to be patient with at all. of disposition to comply with prussia, robinson finds, in spite of mollwitz and the sad experiences, no trace at vienna. the humor at vienna is obstinately defiant; simply to regard friedrich as a housebreaker or thief in the night; whom they will soon deal with, were they once on foot and implements in their hand: "swift, ye sea-powers; where are the implements, the cash, that means implements?" the young hungarian majesty herself is magnificently of that opinion, which is sanctioned by her bartensteins and wisest hofraths, with hardly a dissentient (old sinzendorf almost alone in his contrary notion, and he soon dies). robinson urges the dangers from france. no hofrath here will allow himself to believe them; to believe them would be too horrible. "depend upon it, france's intentions are not that way. and at the worst, if france do rise against us, it is but bargaining with france; better so than bargaining with prussia, surely. france will be contentable with something in the netherlands; what else can she want of us? parings from that outskirt, what are these compared with silesia, a horrid gash into the vital parts? and what is yielding to the king of france, compared with yielding to your prussian king!"-- it is true they have no money, these blind dull people; but are not the sea-powers, england especially, there, created by nature to supply money? what else is their purpose in creation? by nature's law, as the sun mounts in the ecliptic and then falls, these sea-powers, in the cause of liberty, will furnish us money. no surrender; talk not to me of silesia or surrender; i will die defending my inheritances: what are the sea-powers about, that they do not furnish more money in a prompt manner? these are the things poor robinson has to listen to: robinson and england, it is self-evident at vienna, have one duty, that of furnishing money. and in a prompt manner, if you please, sir; why not prompt and abundant? an english soul has small exhilaration, looking into those old expenditures, and bullyings for want of promptitude! but if english souls will solemnly, under high heaven, constitute a duke of newcastle and a george ii. their captains of the march heavenward, and say, without blushing for it, nay rejoicing at it, in the face of the sun, "you are the most godlike two we could lay hold of for that object,"--what have english souls to expect? my consolation is, and, alas, it is a poor one, the money would have been mostly wasted any way. buy men and gunpowder with your money, to be shot away in foreign parts, without renown or use: is that so much worse than buying ridiculous upholsteries, idle luxuries, frivolities, and in the end unbeautiful pot-bellies corporeal and spiritual with it, here at home? i am struck silent, looking at much that goes on under these stars;--and find that misappointment of your captains, of your exemplars and guiding and governing individuals, higher and lower, is a fatal business always; and that especially, as highest instance of it, which includes all the lower ones, this of solemnly calling chief captain, and king by the grace of god, a gentleman who is not so (and seems to be so mainly by malice of the devil, and by the very great and nearly unforgivable indifference of mankind to resist the devil in that particular province, for the present), is the deepest fountain of human wretchedness, and the head mendacity capable of being done!-- as for the brave young queen of hungary, my admiration goes with that of all the world. not in the language of flattery, but of evident fact, the royal qualities abound in that high young lady; had they left the world, and grown to mere costume elsewhere, you might find certain of them again here. most brave, high and pious-minded; beautiful too, and radiant with good-nature, though of temper that will easily catch fire: there is perhaps no nobler woman then living. and she fronts the roaring elements in a truly grand feminine manner; as if heaven itself and the voice of duty called her: "the inheritances which my fathers left me, we will not part with these. death, if it so must be; but not dishonor:--listen not to that thief in the night!" maria theresa has not studied, at all, the history of the silesian duchies; she knows only that her father and grandfather peaceably held them; it was not she that sent out seckendorf to ride , miles, or broke the heart of friedrich wilhelm and his household. pity she had not complied with friedrich, and saved such rivers of bitterness to herself and mankind! but how could she see to do it,--especially with little george at her back, and abundance of money? this, for the present, is her method of looking at the matter; this magnanimous, heroic, and occasionally somewhat female one. her husband, the grand duke, an inert, but good-tempered, well-conditioned duke after his sort, goes with her. him we shall see try various things; and at length take to banking and merchandise, and even meal-dealing on the great scale. "our armies had most part of their meal circuitously from him," says friedrich, of times long subsequent. now as always he follows loyally his wife's lead, never she his: wife being, intrinsically as well as extrinsically, the better man, what other can he do?--of compliance with friedrich in this court, there is practically no hope till after a great deal of beating have enlightened it. out of deference to george and his ardors, they pretend some intention that way; and are "willing to bargain, your excellency;"--no doubt of it, provided only the price were next to nothing! and so, while the watchful edacious hyndford is doing his best at strehlen, poor robinson, blown into triple activity, corresponds in a boundless zealous manner from vienna; and at last takes to flying personally between strehlen and vienna; praying the inexorable young queen to comply a little, and then the inexorable young king to be satisfied with imaginary compliance; and has a breathless time of it indeed. his despatches, passionately long-winded, are exceedingly stiff reading to the like of us. o reader, what things have to be read and carefully forgotten; what mountains of dust and ashes are to be dug through, and tumbled down to orcus, to disengage the smallest fraction of truly memorable! well if, in ten cubic miles of dust and ashes, you discover the tongue of a shoe-buckle that has once belonged to a man in the least heroic; and wipe your brow, invoking the supernal and the infernal gods. my heart's desire is to compress these strehlen diplomatic horse-dealings into the smallest conceivable bulk. and yet how much that is not metal, that is merely cinders, has got through: impossible to prevent,--may the infernal gods deal with it, and reduce dryasdust to limits, one day! here, however, are important public news transpiring through the old gazetteers:-- "munchen, july st [or in effect a few days later, when the letters dated july st had gone through their circuitous formalities], [adelung, ii. .] karl albert kur-baiern publicly declares himself candidate for the kaisership; as, privately, he had long been rumored and believed to be. kur-baiern, they say, has of militias and regulars together about , men on foot, all posted in good places along the austrian frontier; and it is commonly thought, though little credible at vienna, that he intends invading austria as well as contesting the election. to which the vienna hofrath answers in the style of 'pshaw!' "versailles, th july. extraordinary council of state; belleisle being there, home from frankfurt, to take final orders, and get official fiat put upon his schemes. 'all the princes of the blood and all the marechals of france attend;' question is, how the war is to be, nay, whether war is to be at all,--so contingent is the french-prussian bargain, signed five weeks ago. old fleury, to give freedom of consultation and vote, quits the room. some are of opinion, one prince of the blood emphatically so, that pragmatic sanction should be kept, at least war against it be avoided. but the contrary opinion triumphs, king himself being strongly with it; belleisle to be supreme in field and cabinet; shall execute, like a kind of dictator or vice-majesty, by his own magnificent talent, those magnificent devisings of his, glorious to france and to the king. [ib. , ; see also baumer, p. (if you can for his date, which is given in old style as if it were in new; a very eclipsing method!).] these many months, the french have been arming with their whole might. the vienna people hear now, that an 'army of , is rumored to be coming,' or even two armies, , each; but will not imagine that this is certain, or that it can be seriously meant against their high house, precious to gods and men. belleisle having perfected the multiplex army details, rushes back to frankfurt and his endless diplomatic businesses (july th): armies to be on actual march by the th of august coming. 'during this versailles visit, he had such a crowd of officers and great people paying court to him as was like the king's levee itself.' [barbier, ii. .] "passau, st july. passau is the frontier austrian city on the donau (meeting of the inn and donau valleys); a place of considerable strength, and a key or great position for military purposes. austrian, or quasi-austrian; for, like salzburg, it has a bishop claiming some imaginary sovereignties, but always holds with austria. july st, early in the morning, a bavarian exciseman ('salt-inspector') applied at the gate of passau for admission; gate was opened;--along with the exciseman 'certain peasants' (disguised bavarian soldiers) pushed in; held the gate choked, till general minuzzi, karl albert's general, with horse, foot, cannon, who had been lurking close by, likewise pushed in; and at once seized the town. town speedily secured, minuzzi informs the bishop, who lives in his schloss of oberhaus (strongish place on a hill-top, other side the donau), that he likewise, under pain of bombardment, must admit garrison. the poor bishop hesitates; but, finding bombardment actually ready for him, yields in about two hours. karl albert publishes his manifesto, 'in forty-five pages folio' [adelung, ii. .] (to the effect, 'all austria mine; or as good as all,--if i liked!'); and fortifies himself in passau. 'insidious, nefarious!' shrieks austria, in counter-manifesto; calculates privately it will soon settle karl albert,--'unless, o heavens, france with prussia did mean to back him!'--and begins to have misgivings, in spite of itself." misgivings, which soon became fatal certainties. robinson records, doubtless on sure basis, though not dating it, a curious piece of stage-effect in the form of reality; "on hearing, beyond possibility of doubt, that prussia, france, and bavaria had combined, the whole aulic council," vienna hofrath in a body, "fell back into their chairs [and metaphorically into robinson's arms] like dead men!" [raumer, p. .] sat staring there;--the wind struck out of them, but not all the folly by a great deal. now, however, is robinson's time to ply them. excellency robinson has audience of friedrich (camp of strehlen, th august, ). by unheard-of entreaties and conjurations, aided by these strokes of fate, robinson has at length extorted from his queen of hungary, and her wise hofraths, something resembling a phantasm of compliance; with which he hurries to breslau and hyndford; hoping against hope that friedrich will accept it as a reality. gets to breslau on the d of august; thence to strehlen, consulting much with hyndford upon this phantasm of a compliance. hyndford looks but heavily upon it;--from us, in this place, far be it to look at all:--alas, this is the famed scene they two had at strehlen with friedrich, on monday, august th; reported by the faithful pen of robinson, and vividly significant of friedrich, were it but compressed to the due pitch. we will give it in the form of dialogue: the thing of itself falls naturally into the dramatic, when the flabby parts are cut away;--and was perhaps worthier of a shakspeare than of a robinson, all facts of it considered, in the light they have since got. scene is friedrich's tent, prussian camp in the neighborhood of the little town of strehlen: time o'clock a.m. personages of it, two british subjects in the high diplomatic line: ponderous scotch lord of an edacious gloomy countenance; florid yorkshire gentleman with important proposals in his pocket. costume, frizzled peruke powdered; frills, wrist-frills and other; shoe-buckles, flapped waistcoat, court-coat of antique cut and much trimming: all this shall be conceived by the reader. tight young gentleman in prussian military uniform, blue coat, buff breeches, boots; with alert flashing eyes, and careless elegant bearing, salutes courteously, raising his plumed hat. podewils in common dress, who has entered escorting the other two, sits rather to rearward, taking refuge beside the writing apparatus.--first passages of the dialogue i omit: mere pickeerings and beatings about the bush, before we come to close quarters. for robinson, the florid yorkshire gentleman, is charged to offer,--what thinks the reader?--two million guilders, about , pounds, if that will satisfy this young military king with the alert eyes! robinson.... "'two hundred thousand pounds sterling, if your majesty will be pleased to retire out of silesia, and renounce this enterprise!' king. "'retire out of silesia? and for money? do you take me for a beggar! retire out of silesia, which has cost me so much treasure and blood in the conquest of it? no, monsieur, no; that is not to be thought of! if you have no better proposals to make, it is not worth while talking.' these words were accompanied with threatening gestures and marks of great anger;" considerably staggering to the two diplomatic british gentlemen, and of evil omen to robinson's phantasm of a compliance. robinson apologetically hums and hahs, flounders through the bad bit of road as he can; flounderingly indicates that he has more to offer. king. "'let us see then (voyons), what is there more?' robinson (with preliminary flourishings and flounderings, yet confidently, as now tabling his best card).... "'permitted to offer your majesty the whole of austrian guelderland; lies contiguous to your majesty's possessions in the rhine country; important completion of these: i am permitted to say, the whole of austrian guelderland!' important indeed: a dirty stripe of moorland (if you look in busching), about equivalent to half a dozen parishes in connemara. king. "'what do you mean? [turning to podewils]--qu'est-ce que nous manque de toute la gueldre (how much of guelderland is theirs, and not ours already)?' podewils. "'almost nothing (presque rien). king (to robinson). "'voici encore de gueuseries (more rags and rubbish yet)! quoi, such a paltry scraping (bicoque) as that, for all my just claims in silesia? monsieur--!' his majesty's indignation increased here, all the more as i kept a profound silence during his hot expressions, and did not speak at all except to beg his majesty's reflection upon what i had said.--'reflection?'" asks the king, with eyes dangerous to behold;--"my lord," continues robinson, heavily narrative, "his contempt of what i had said was so great," kicking his boot through guelderland and the guilders as the most contemptible of objects, "and was expressed in such violent terms, that now, if ever (as your lordship perceives), it was time to make the last effort;" play our trump-card down at once; "a moment longer was not to be lost, to hinder the king from dismissing us;" which sad destiny is still too probable, after the trump-card. trump-card is this: robinson.... "'the whole duchy of limburg, your majesty! it is a duchy which--' i extolled the duchy to the utmost, described it in the most favorable terms; and added, that 'the elector palatine [old kur-pfalz, on one occasion] had been willing to give the whole duchy of berg for it.' podewils. "'pardon, monsieur: that is not so; the contrary of so; kur-pfalz was not ready to give berg for it!'--[we are not deep in german history, we british diplomatic gentlemen, who are squandering, now and of old, so much money on it! the aulic council, "falls into our arms like dead men;" but it is certain the elector palatine was not ready to give berg in that kind of exchange.] king. "'it is inconceivable to me how austria should dare to think of such a thing. limburg? are there not solemn engagements upon austria, sanctioned and again sanctioned by all the world, which render every inch of ground in the netherlands inalienable?' robinson. "'engagements good as against the french, your majesty. otherwise the barrier treaty, confirmed at utrecht, was for our behoof and holland's.' king. "'that is your present interpretation, but the french pretend it was an arrangement more in their favor than against them.' robinson. "'your majesty, by a little engineer art, could render limburg impregnable to the french or others.' king. "'have not the least desire to aggrandize myself in those parts, or spend money fortifying there. useless to me. am not i fortifying brieg and glogau? these are enough: for one who intends to live well with his neighbors. neither the dutch nor the french have offended me; nor will i them by acquisitions in the netherlands. besides, who would guarantee them?' robinson. "'the proposal is to give guarantees at once.' king. "'guarantees! who minds or keeps guarantees in this age? has not france guaranteed the pragmatic sanction; has not england? why don't you all fly to the queen's succor?'"--robinson, inclined to pout, if he durst, intimates that perhaps there will be succorers one day yet. king. "'and pray, monsieur, who are they?' robinson. "'hm, hm, your majesty.... russia, for example, which power with reference to turkey--' king. "'good, sir, good (beau, monsieur, beau), the russians! it is not proper to explain myself; but i have means for the russians' [a swedish war just coming upon russia, to keep its hand in use; so diligent have the french been in that quarter!]. robinson (with some emphasis, as a britannic gentleman). "'russia is not the only power that has engagements with austria, and that must keep them too! so that, however averse to a breach--' king ("laying his finger on his nose," mark him;--aloud, and with such eyes). "'no threats, sir, if you please! no threats' ["in a loud voice," finger to nose, and with such eyes looking in upon me]. hyndford (heavily coming to the rescue). "'am sure his excellency is far from such meaning, sire. his excellency will advance nothing so very contrary to his instructions.'--podewils too put in something proper" in the appeasing way. robinson. "'sire, i am not talking of what this power or that means to do; but of what will come of itself. to prophesy is not to threaten, sire! it is my zeal for the public that brought me hither; and--' king. "'the public will be much obliged to you, monsieur! but hear me. with respect to russia, you know how matters stand. from the king of poland i have nothing to fear. as for the king of england,--he is my relation [dear uncle, in the pawnbroker sense], he is my all: if he don't attack me, i won't him. and if he do, the prince of anhalt [old dessauer out at gottin yonder] will take care of him.' robinson. "'the common news now is [rumor in diplomatic circles, rather below the truth this time], your majesty, after the th of august, will join the french. [king looks fixedly at him in silence.] sire, i venture to hope not! austria prefers your friendship; but if your majesty disdain austria's advances, what is it to do? austria must throw itself entirely into the hands of france,--and endeavor to outbid your majesty.' [king quite silent.] "king was quite silent upon this head," says robinson, reporting: silence, guesses robinson, founded most probably upon his "consciousness of guilt"--what i, florid yorkshire gentleman, call guilt, as being against the cause of liberty and us!"from time to time he threw out remarks on the advantageousness of his situation:--" king.... "'at the head of such an army, which the enemy has already made experience of; and which is ready for the enemy again, if he have appetite! with the country which alone i am concerned with, conquered and secured behind me; a country that alone lies convenient to me; which is all i want, which i now have; which i will and must keep! shall i be bought out of this country? never! i will sooner perish in it, with all my troops. with what face shall i meet my ancestors, if i abandon my right, which they have transmitted to me? my first enterprise; and to be given up lightly?'"--with more of the like sort; which friedrich, in writing of it long after, seems rather ashamed of; and would fain consider to have been mock fustian, provoked by the real fustian of sir thomas robinson, "who negotiated in a wordy high-droning way, as if he were speaking in parliament," says friedrich (a friedrich not taken with that style of eloquence, and hoping he rather quizzed it than was serious with it, [_oeuvres de frederic,_ ii. .]--though robinson and hyndford found in him no want of vehement seriousness, but rather the reverse!)--he concludes: "have i need of peace? let those who need it give me what i want; or let them fight me again, and be beaten again. have not they given whole kingdoms to spain? [naples, at one swoop, to the termagant; as broken glass, in that polish-election freak!] and to me they cannot spare a few trifling principalities? if the queen does not now grant me all i require, i shall in four weeks demand four principalities more! [nay, i now do it, being in sibylline tune.] i now demand the whole of lower silesia, breslau included;--and with that answer you can return to vienna.' robinson. "'with that answer: is your majesty serious?' king. "'with that.'" a most vehement young king; no negotiating with him, sir thomas! it is like negotiating for the sibyl's books: the longer you bargain, the higher he will rise. in four weeks, time he will demand four principalities more; nay, already demands them, the whole of lower silesia and breslau. a precious negotiation i have made of it! sir thomas, wide-eyed, asks a second time:-- robinson. "'is that your majesty's deliberate answer?' king. "'yes, i say! that is my answer; and i will never give another.' hyndford and robinson (much flurried, to podewils). "'your excellency, please to comprehend, the proposals from vienna were--' king. "'messieurs, messieurs, it is of no use even to think of it.' and taking off his hat," slightly raising his hat, as salutation and finale, "he retired precipitately behind the curtain of the interior corner of the tent," says the reporter: exit king! robinson (totally flurried, to podewils). "'your excellency, france will abandon prussia, will sacrifice prussia to self-interest.' podewils. "'no, no! france will not deceive us; we have not deceived france.'" (scene closes; curtain falls.) [state-paper office (robinson to harrington, breslau, th august, ); raumer, pp. - . compare _oeuvres de frederic,_ ii. ; and valori, i. , .] the unsuccessfulest negotiation well imaginable by a public man. strehlen, monday, th august, :--friedrich has vanished into the interior of his tent; and the two diplomatic gentlemen, the wind struck out of them in this manner, remain gazing at one another. here truly is a young royal gentleman that knows his own mind, while so many do not. unspeakable imbroglio of negotiations, mostly insane, welters over all the earth; the belleisles, the aulic councils, the british georges, heaping coil upon coil: and here, notably, in that now so extremely sordid murk of wiggeries, inane diplomacies and solemn deliriums, dark now and obsolete to all creatures, steps forth one little human figure, with something of sanity in it: like a star, like a gleam of steel,--shearing asunder your big balloons, and letting out their diplomatic hydrogen;--salutes with his hat, "gentlemen, gentlemen, it is of no use!" and vanishes into the interior of his tent. it is to excellency robinson, among all the sons of adam then extant, that we owe this interesting passage of history,--authentic glimpse, face to face, of the young friedrich in those extraordinary circumstances: every feature substantially as above, and recognizable for true. many despatches his excellency wrote in this world,--sixty or eighty volumes of them still left,--but among them is this one: the angriest of mankind cannot say that his excellency lived and embassied quite in vain! the two britannic gentlemen, both on that distressing monday and the day following, had the honor to dine with the king: who seemed in exuberant spirits; cutting and bantering to right and left; upon the court of vienna, among other topics, in a way which i robinson "will not repeat to your lordship." bade me, for example, "as you pass through neisse, make my compliments to marshal neipperg; and you can say, excellency robinson, that i hope to have the pleasure of calling, one of these days!"--podewils, who was civil, pressed us much to stay over wednesday, the th. "on thursday is to be a grand review, one of the finest military sights; to which the excellencies from breslau, one and all, are coming out." but we, having our despatches and expresses on hand, pleaded business, and declined, in spite of podewils's urgencies. and set off for breslau, wednesday, morning,--meeting various excellencies, by degrees all the excellencies, on the road for that review we had heard of. readers must accept this robinsoniad as the last of friedrich's diplomatic performances at strehlen, which in effect it nearly was; and from these instances imagine his way in such things. various letters there are, to jordan principally, some to algarotti; both of whom he still keeps at breslau, and sends for, if there is like to be an hour of leisure. the letters indicate cheerfulness of humor, even levity, in the writer; which is worth noting, in this wild clash of things now tumbling round him, and looking to him as its centre: but they otherwise, though heartily and frankly written, are, to jordan and us, as if written from the teeth outward; and throw no light whatever either on things befalling, or on friedrich's humor under them. reading diligently, we do notice one thing, that the talk about "fame (gloire)" has died out. not the least mention now of gloire;--perception now, most probably, that there are other things than "gloire" to be had by taking arms; and that war is a terribly grave thing, lightly as one may go into it at first! this small inference we do negatively draw, from the friedrich correspondence of those months: and except this, and the levity of humor noticeable, we practically get no light whatever from it; the practical soul and soul's business of friedrich being entirely kept veiled there, as usual. and veiled, too, in such a way that you do not notice any veil,--the young king being, as we often intimate, a master in this art. which useful circumstance has done him much ill with readers and mankind. for if you intend to interest readers,--that is to say, idle neighbors, and fellow-creatures in need of gossip,--there is nothing like unveiling yourself: witness jean-jacques rousseau, and many other poor waste creatures, going off in self-conflagration, for amusement of the parish, in that manner. but may not a man have something other on hand with his existence than that of "setting fire to it [such the process terribly is], to show the people a fine play of colors, and get himself applauded, and pathetically blubbered over?" alas, my friends!-- it is certain there was seldom such a life-element as this of friedrich's in summer, . here is the enormous jumbling of a world broken loose; boiling as in very chaos; asking of him, him more than any other, "how? what?" enough to put gloire out of his head; and awaken thoughts,--terrors, if you were of apprehensive turn! surely no young man of twenty-nine more needed all the human qualities than friedrich now. the threatenings, the seductions, big belleisle hallucinations,--the perils to you infinite, if you miss the road. friedrich did not miss it, as is well known; he managed to pick it out from that enormous jumble of the elements, and victoriously arrived by it, he alone of them all. which is evidence of silent or latent faculty in him, still more wonderful than the loud-resounding ones of which the world has heard. probably there was not, in his history, any chapter more significant of human faculty than this, which is not on record at all. chapter iii. -- grand review at strehlen: neipperg takes aim at breslau, but another hits it. a day or two before that famous audience of hyndford and robinson's, neipperg had quitted his impregnable camp at neisse, and taken the field again; in the hope of perhaps helping robinson's negotiation by an inverse method. should robinson's offers not prove attractive enough, as is to be feared, a push from behind may have good effects. neipperg intends to have a stroke on breslau; to twitch breslau out of friedrich's hands, by a private manoeuvre on new resources that have offered themselves. [_ helden-geschichte,_ i. , and ii. .] in breslau, which is by great majority protestant in creed and warmly prussian in temper, there has been no oppression or unfair usage heard of to any class of persons; and certainly in the matter of protestant and catholic, there has been perfect equality observed. true, the change from favor and ascendency to mere equality, is not in itself welcome to human creatures:--one conceives, for various reasons of lower and higher nature, a minority of discontented individuals in breslau, zealous for their creed and old perquisites sacred and profane; who long in secret, sometimes vocally to one another, for the good old times,--when souls were not liable to perish wholesale, and people guilty only of loyalty and orthodoxy to be turned out of their offices on suspicion. friedrich says, it was mainly certain zealous old ladies of quality who went into this adventure; and from whispering to one another, got into speaking, into meeting in one another's houses for the purpose of concerting and contriving. [_oeuvres,_ ii. , .] zealous old ladies of quality,--these we consider were the talking-apparatus or secret-parliament of the thing: but it is certain one or two official gentlemen (syndic guzmar for instance, and others not yet become ex-official) had active hand in it, and furnished the practical ideas. continual correspondence there was with vienna, by those old ladies; guzmar and the others shy of putting pen to paper, and only doing it where indispensable. zealous addresses go to her hungarian majesty, "oh, may the blessed virgin assist your majesty!"--accompanied, it is said, with subscriptions of money (poor old souls); and what is much more dangerous and feasible, there goes prompt notice to neipperg of everything the prussian army undertakes, and the postscript always, "come and deliver us, your excellency." of these latter documents, i have heard of some with syndic guzmar's and other official hands to them. generally such things can, through accidental pandour channels, were there no other, easily reach neipperg; though they do not always. enough, could neipperg appear at the gates of breslau, in some concerted night-hour, or push out suitable detachment on forced-march that way,--it is evident to him he would be let in; might smother the few prussians that are in the dom island, and get possession of the enemy's principal magazine and the metropolis of the province. might not the enemy grow more tractable to robinson's seductions in such case? neipperg marches from neisse ( st- th august) with his whole army; first some thirty miles westward up the right or southern bank of the neisse; then crosses the neisse, and circles round to northward, giving friedrich wide room: [orlich, i. , .] that night of robinson's audience, when friedrich was so merry at dinner, neipperg was engaged in crossing the river; the second night after, neipperg lay encamped and intrenched at baumgarten (old scene of friedrich's pandour adventure), while hyndford and robinson had got back to breslau. in another day or so, he may hope to be within forced-march of breslau, to detach feldmarschall browne or some sharp head; and to do a highly considerable thing? unluckily for neipperg's adventure, the prussians had wind of it, some time ago. they have got "a false sister smuggled into that old-ladies' committee," who has duly reported progress; nay they have intercepted something in syndic guzmar's own hand: and everything is known to friedrich. the protestant population, and generally the practical quiet part of the breslauers, are harassed with suspicion of some such thing, but can gain no certainty, nor understand what to do. protestants especially, who have been so zealous, "who were seen dropping down on the streets to pray, while the muffled thunder came from mollwitz that day," [ranke, ii. .]--fancy how it would now be, were the tables suddenly turned, and indignant orthodoxy made supreme again, with memory fresh! but, in fact, there is no danger whatever to them. schwerin has orders about breslau; schwerin and the young dessauer are maturely considering how to manage. readers recollect how podewils pressed the two britannic excellencies to stay in strehlen a day or two longer: "grand review, with festivities, just on hand; whole of the foreign ministers in breslau invited out to see it,"--though hyndford and robinson would not consent; but left on the th, meeting the others at different points of the road. next day, thursday, th august, was in fact a great day at strehlen; grand muster, manoeuvring of cavalry above all, whom friedrich is delighted to find so perfect in their new methods; riding as if they were centaurs, horse and man one entity; capable of plunging home, at full gallop, in coherent masses upon an enemy, and doing some good with him. "neipperg's croat-people, and out-pickets on the distant hill-sides, witnessed these manoeuvres," [ranke, ii. .] i know not with what criticism. furthermore, about noon-time, there was heard (mark it, reader) a distant cannon-shot, one and no more, from the northern side; which gave his majesty a lively pleasure, though he treated it as nothing. all the foreign ministers were on the ground; doubtless with praises, so far as receivable; and in the afternoon came festivities not a few. a great day in strehlen:--but in breslau a much greater; which explained, to our two excellencies, why podewils had been so pressing! august th, at six in the morning, schwerin, and under him the young dessauer,--who had arrived in the southwestern suburbs of breslau overnight, with , foot and horse, and had posted themselves in a vigilant anti-neipperg manner there, and laid all their plans,--appear at the nicolai gate; and demand, in the common way, transit for their regiments and baggages: "bound northward," as appears; "to leubus," where something of pandour sort has fallen out. so many troops or companies at a time, that is the rule; one quantity of companies you admit; then close and bolt, till it have marched across and out at the opposite gate; after which, open again for a second lot. but in this case,--owing to accident (very unusual) of a baggage-wagon breaking down, and people hurrying to help it forward,--the whole regiment gets in, escorted as usual by the town-guard. whole regiment; and marches, not straight through; but at a certain corner strikes off leftward to the market-place; where, singular to say, it seems inclined to pause and rearrange itself a little. nay, more singular still, other regiments (owing to like accidents), from other gates, join it;--and--in fact--"herr major of the town-guard, in the king's name, you are required to ground arms!" what can the town major do; prussian grenadiers, cannoneers, gravely environing him? he sticks his sword into the scabbard, an ex-town major; and breslau city is become friedrich's, softly like a movement during drill. [_helden-geschichte,_ i. , n. , ; adelung, ii. ; stenzel, iv. .] not the least mistake occurred. cannon with case-shot planted themselves in all the thoroughfares, horse-patrols went circulating everywhere; town-arsenal, gates, walls, are laid hold of; town-guards all disarmed, rather "with laughter on their part" than otherwise: "majesty perhaps will give us muskets of his own;--well!" the operation altogether did not last above an hour-and-half, and nobody's skin got scratched. towards a.m. schwerin summoned the town dignitaries to their rathhaus to swear fealty; who at once complied; and on his stepping out with proposal, to the general population, of "a cheer for king friedrich, duke of lower silesia," the poor people rent the skies with their "friedrich and silesia forever!" which they repeated, i think, seven times. upon which schwerin fired off his signal-cannon, pointing to the south; where other posts and cannons took up the sound, and pushed it forward, till, as we noticed, it got to friedrich in few minutes, on the review-ground at strehlen; right welcome to him, among the manoeuvrings there. protestant breslau or cordwainer doblin cannot lament such a result; still less dare the devout old ladies of quality openly lament, who are trembling to the heart, poor old creatures, though no evil came of it to them; penitent, let off for the fright; checking even their aspirations henceforth. syndic guzmar and the peccant officials being summoned out to strehlen, it had been asked of them, "do you know this letter?" upon which they fell on their knees, "ach ihro majestat!" unable to deny their handwriting; yet anxious to avoid death on the scaffold, as friedrich said was usual under such behavior; and were sent home, after a few hours of arrest. [orlich, i. ; _helden-geschichte,_ ii. .] schwerin (as king's substitute till the king himself one day arrive) continued to take the homaging, and to make the many new arrangements needful. all which went off in a soft and pleasantly harmonious manner;--only the jesuits scrupling a little to swear as yet; and getting gently sent their ways, with revenues stopt in consequence. otherwise the swearing, which lasted for several days, was to appearance a joyful process, and on the part of the general population an enthusiastic one, "es lebe konig friedrich!" rising to the welkin with insatiable emphasis, seven times over, on the least signal given. neipperg's adventure, and orthodox female parliament, have issued in this sadly reverse manner. robinson and hyndford have to witness these phenomena; robinson to shoot off for presburg again, with the worst news in the world. queen and hofraths have been waiting in agony of suspense, "will friedrich bargain on those gentle terms, and help us with , men?" far from it, my friends; how far! "my most important intelligence," writes the russian envoy there, some days ago, [" august, ," not said to whom (in ranke, ii. n.).] "is, that a bavarian war has broken out, that kur-baiern is in passau. god grant that monsieur robinson may succeed in his negotiation! all here are in the completest irresolution, and total inactivity, till monsieur robinson return, or at least send news of himself." chapter iv. -- friedrich takes the field again, intent on having neisse. this breslau adventure, which had yielded friedrich so important an acquisition, was furthermore the cause of ending these strehlen inactivities, and of recommencing field operations. august th, neipperg, provoked by the grievous news just come from breslau, pushes suddenly forward on schweidnitz, by way of consolation; schweidnitz, not so strong as it might be made, where the prussians have a principal magazine: "one might at least seize that?" thinks neipperg, in his vexed humor. but here too friedrich was beforehand with him; broke out, rapidly enough, to reichenbach, westward, which bars the neipperg road to schweidnitz: upon which,--or even before which (on rumor of it coming, which was not yet true),--neipperg, half done with his first day's march, called halt; prudently turned back, and hastened, baumgarten way, to his strong camp at frankenstein again. his hope in the schweidnitz direction had lasted only a few hours; a hope springing on the mere spur of pique, soon recognizable by him as futile; and now anxieties for self-preservation had succeeded it on neipperg's part. for now friedrich actually advances on him, in a menacing manner, hardly hoping neipperg will fight; but determined to have done with the neisse business, in spite of strong camps and cunctations, if it be possible. [orlich, i. , .] it was august th, when friedrich stirred out of strehlen; august st, when he encamped at reichenbach. till september th, he kept manoeuvring upon neipperg, who counter-manoeuvred with vigilance, good judgment, and would not come to action: september th, friedrich, weary of these hagglings, dashed off for neisse itself, hoped to be across neisse river, and be between neisse town and neipperg, before neipperg could get up. there would then be no method of preventing the siege of neisse, except by a battle: so friedrich had hoped; but neipperg again proved vigilant. accordingly, september th, friedrich's vanguard was actually across the neisse; had crossed at a place called woitz, and had there got two pontoon bridges ready, when friedrich, in the evening, came up with the main army, intending to cross;--and was astonished to find neipperg taking up position, in intricate ground, near by, on the opposite side! ground so intricate, hills, bogs, bushes of wood, and so close upon the river, there was no crossing possible; and friedrich's vanguard had to be recalled. two days of waiting, of earnest ocular study; no possibility visible. on the third day, friedrich, gathering in his pontoons overnight, marched off, down stream: neisse-wards, but on the left or north bank of the river; passed neisse town (the river between him and it); and encamped at gross neundorf, several miles from neipperg and the river. neipperg, at an equal step, has been wending towards his old camp, which lies behind neisse, between neisse and the hills: there, a river in front, dams and muddy inundations all round him, begirt with plentiful pandours, neipperg waits what friedrich will attempt from gross neundorf. from gross neundorf, friedrich persists twelve days ( th- th september), studying, endeavoring; mere impossibility ahead. and by this time (what is much worth noting), hyndford, silently quitting breslau, has got back to these scenes of war, occasionally visible in friedrich's camp again;--on important mysterious business; which will have results. valori also is here in camp; these two excellencies jealously eying one another; both of them with teeth rather on edge,--europe having suddenly got into such a plunge (as if the highest mountains were falling into the deepest seas) since friedrich began this neipperg problem of his;--in which, after twelve days, he sees mere impossibility ahead. on the twelfth day, friedrich privately collects himself for a new method: marches, soon after midnight, [ th september, a.m.: orlich, i. .] fifteen miles down the river (which goes northward in this part, as the reader may remember); crosses, with all his appurtenances, unmolested; and takes camp a few miles inland, or on the right bank, and facing towards neisse again. he intends to be in upon neipperg front the rear quarter; and cut him off from mahren and his daily convoys of food. "daily food cut off,--the thickest-skinned rhinoceros, the wildest lion, cannot stand that: here, for neipperg, is one point on which all his embankments and mud-dams will not suffice him!" thinks friedrich. certain preliminary operations, and military indispensabilities, there first are for friedrich,--town of oppeln to be got, which commands the oder, our rearward highway; castle of friedland, and the country between oder and neisse rivers:--while these preliminary things are being done (september th-october d), friedrich in person gradually pushes forward towards neipperg, reconnoitring, bickering with croats: october d, preliminaries done, neipperg's rear had better look to itself. neipperg, well enough seeing what was meant, has by this time come out of his mud-dams and impregnabilities; and advanced a few miles towards friedrich. neipperg lies now encamped in the hamlet of griesau, a little way behind steinau,--poor steinau, which the reader saw on fire one night, when friedrich and we were in those parts, in spring last. friedrich's camp is about five miles from neipperg's on the other side of steinau. a tolerable champaign country; i should think, mostly in stubble at this season. nearly midway between these two camps is a pretty schloss called klein-schnellendorf, occupied by neipperg's croats just now, of which prince lobkowitz (he, if i remember, but it matters nothing), an austrian general of mark, far away at present, is proprietor. friedrich's oppeln preparations are about complete; and he intends to advance straightway. "hold, for heaven's sake, your majesty!" exclaims hyndford; getting hold of him one day (waylaying him, in fact; for it is difficult, owing to valori); "wait, wait; i have just been to the--to the camp of neipperg," silently gesticulates hyndford: "within a week all shall be right, and not a drop of blood shed!" friedrich answers, by silence chiefly, to the effect, "tush, tush;" but not quite negatively, and does in effect wait. we had better give the snatch of dialogue in primitive authentic form; date is, camp of neundorf, september d:-- friedrich (pausing impatiently, on the way towards his tent). "'milord, de quoi s'agit-il a present (what is it now, then)?' hyndford. "'should much desire to have some assurance from your majesty with regard to that neutrality of hanover you were pleased to promise.' all else is coming right; hastening towards beautiful settlement, were that settled. friedrich. "'have not i great reason to be dissatisfied with your court? britannic majesty, as king of england and as elector of hanover, is wonderful! milord, when you say a thing is white, schweichelt, the hanoverian excellency, calls it black, and vice versa. but i will do your king no harm; none, i say! follow me to dinner; dinner is cold by this time; and we have made more than one person think of us. swift! [and exit].'" [hyndford's despatch, neisse, th october, .] this is a strange motion on the part of hyndford; but friedrich, severely silent to it, understands it very well; as readers soon will, when they hear farther. but marvellous things have happened on the sudden! in these three weeks, since the camp of strehlen broke up, there have been such events; strategic, diplomatic: a very avalanche of ruin, hurling austria down to the nadir; of which it is now fit that the reader have some faint conception, an adequate not being possible for him or me:-- "august l th, . robinson reappears in presburg; and precious surely are the news he brings to an aulic council fallen back in its chairs, and staring with the wind struck out of it. their expected seizure of breslau gone heels over head, in that way; friedrich imperiously resolute, gleaming like the flash of steel amid these murky imbecilities, and without the cession of silesia no peace to be made with him! and all this is as nothing, to news which arrives just on the back of robinson, from another quarter. "august th- st. french army of , men, special army of belleisle, sedulously equipt and completed, visibly crosses the rhine at fort louis (an island fortress in the rhine, thirty miles below strasburg; stones of it are from the old schloss of hagenau);--steps over deliberately there; and on the sixth day is all on german ground. these troops, to be commanded by belleisle, so soon as he can join them, are to be the elector of bavaria's troops, kur-baiern generalissimo over belleisle and them; [_fastes de louis xv.,_ ii. .] and they are on rapid march to join that ambitious kurfurst, in his passau expedition; and probably submerge vienna itself. "and what is this we hear farther, o robinson, o excellencies hyndford, schweichelt and company: that another french army, of the same strength, under maillebois, has in the self-same days gone across the lower rhine (at kaisersworth, an hour's ride below dusseldorf)! at kaisersworth; ostensibly for comforting and strengthening kur-koln (the lanky ecclesiastical gentleman, kur-baiern's brother), their excellent ally, should anybody meddle with him. ostensibly for this; but in reality to keep the sea-powers, and especially george of england quiet. it marches towards osnabruck, this maillebois army; quarters itself up and down, looking over into hanover,--able to eat hanover, especially if joined by the prussians and old leopold, at any moment. "these things happen in this month of august, close upon the rear of that steel-shiny scene in the tent at strehlen, where friedrich lifted his hat, saying, ''t is of no use, messieurs!'--which was followed by the seizure of breslau the wrong way. never came such a cataract of evil news on an aulic council before. the poor proud people, all these months they have been sitting torpid, helpless, loftily stupid, like dumb idols; 'in flat despair,' as robinson says once, 'only without the strength to be desperate.' "sure enough the sea-powers are checkmated now. let them make the least attempt in favor of the queen, if they dare. holland can be overrun, from osnabruck quarter, at a day's warning. little george has his hanoverians, his subsidized hessians, danes, in hanover, his english on lexden heath: let him come one step over the marches, maillebois and the old dessauer swallow him. it is a surprising stroke of theatrical-practical art; brought about, to old fleury's sorrow, by the genius of belleisle, aud they say of madame chateauroux; enough to strike certain governing persons breathless, for some time; and denotes that the universal hurricane, or world-tornado, has broken out. it is not recorded of little george that he fell back in his chair, or stared wider than usual with those fish-eyes: but he discerned well, glorious little man, that here is left no shadow of a chance by fighting; that he will have to sit stock-still, under awful penalties; and that if maria theresa will escape destruction, she must make her peace with friedrich at any price." this fine event, , french actually across the rhine, happened in the very days while friedrich and neipperg had got into wrestle again,--neipperg just off from that rash march for schweidnitz, and whirling back on rumor ( th august), while the first instalment of the french were getting over. friedrich must admit that the french fulfil their promises so far. a week ago or more, they made the swedes declare war against russia, as covenanted. war is actually declared, at stockholm, august th, the faction of hats prevailing over that of nightcaps, after terrible debates and efforts about the mere declaring of it, as if that alone were the thing needed. we mentioned this war already, and would not willingly again. one of the most contemptible wars ever declared or carried on; but useful to friedrich, as keeping russia off his hands, at a critical time, and conclusively forbidding help to austria from that quarter. marechal de belleisle, wrapt in diplomatic and electioneering business, cannot personally take command for the present; but has excellent lieutenants,--one of whom is comte de saxe, moritz our old friend, afterwards marechal de saxe. among the finest french armies, this of belleisle's is thought to be, that ever took the field: so many of our nobility in it, and what best officers, segurs, saxes, future marechal's, we have. army full of spirit and splendor; come to cut germany in four, and put france at last in its place in the universe. here is courage, here is patriotism, of a sort. and if this is not the good sort, the divinely pious, the humanly noble,--fashionable society feels it to be so, and can hit no nearer. new-fashioned "army of the oriflamme," one might call this of belleisle's; kind of sham-sacred french army (quite in earnest, as it thinks);--led on, not by st. denis and the virgin, but by sun-god belleisle and the chateauroux, under these sad new conditions! which did not prosper as expected. "let the holy german reich take no offence," said this army, eager to conciliate: "we come as friends merely; our intentions charitable, and that only. bavarian treaty of nymphenburg ( th may last) binds us especially, this time; treaty of westphalia binds us sacredly at all times. peaceable to you, nay brotherly, if only you will be peaceable!" which the poor reich, all but austria and the sea-powers, strove what it could to believe. on reaching the german shore out of elsass, "every officer put, the bavarian colors, cockade of blue-and-white, on his hat;" [adelung, ii. .] a mere "bavarian army," don't you see? and the , wend steadily forward through schwaben eastward, till they can join karl albert kur-baiern, who is generalissimo, or has the name of such. they march in seven divisions. donauworth (a town we used to know, in marlborough's time and earlier) is to be their first resting-point; ingolstadt their place-of-arms: will readers recollect those two essential circumstances? to donauworth is miles; to passau will be more: five or six long weeks of marching. but after donauworth they are to go, the infantry of them are, in boats; horse, under saxe, marching parallel. forward, ever forward, to passau (properly to scharding, twelve miles up the inn valley, where his bavarian highness is in camp); and thence, under his bavarian highness, and in concert with him, to pour forth, deluge-like, upon linz, probably upon vienna itself, down the donau valley,--why not to vienna itself, and ruin austria at one swoop? [espagnac, _histoire de maurice comte de saxe_ (german translation, leipzig, ), i. :--an excellent military compend. _campagnes des trois marechaux_ (maillebois, broglio, belleisle: armsterdam. ), ii. - :--in nine handy little volumes (or if we include the noailles and the coigny set, making "cing marechaux," nineteen volumes in all, and a twentieth for index); consisting altogether of official letters (brief, rapid, meant for business, not for printing in the newspapers); which are elucidative beyond bargain, and would even be amusing to read,--were the topic itself worth one's time.] the second or maillebois french army spreads itself, by degrees, considerably over westphalia;--straitened for forage, and otherwise not the best of neighbors. but, in theory, in speech, this too was abundantly conciliatory,--to the dutch at least. "nothing earthly in view, nothing, ye magnanimous dutch, except to lodge here in the most peaceable manner, paying our way, and keep down disturbances that might arise in these parts. that might arise; not from you, ye magnanimous high mightinesses, how far from it! nor will we meddle with one broken brick of your respectable barrier, or barrier treaty, which is sacred to us, or do you the shadow of an injury. no; a thousand times, upon our honor, no!" for brevity's sake, i lend them that locution, "no, a thousand times,"--and in actual arithmetic, i should think there are at least four or five hundred times of it,--in those extinct diplomatic eloquences of excellency fenelon and the other french;--vaguely counting, in one's oppressed imagination, during the two years that ensue. for the dutch lazily believed, or strove to believe, this no of fenelon's; and took an obstinate laggard sitting posture, in regard to pragmatic sanction; whereby the task of "hoisting" them (as above hinted), which fell upon a certain king, became so famous in diplomatic history. imagination may faintly picture what a blow this advent of maillebois was to his britannic majesty, over in herrenhausen yonder! he has had of danes six thousand, of hessians six, of hanoverians sixteen,--in all some , men, on foot here since spring last, camping about (in two formidable camps at this moment); not to mention the , of english on lexden heath, eager to be shipped across, would parliament permit; and now--let him stir in any direction if he dare. camp of gottin like a drawn sword at one's throat (at one's hanover) from the east; and lo, here a twin fellow to it gleaming from the south side! maillebois can walk into the throat of hanover at a day's warning. and such was actually the course proposed by maillebois's government, more than once, in these weeks, had not friedrich dissuaded and forbidden. it is a strangling crisis. what is his britannic majesty to do? send orders, "double your diligence, excellency robinson!" that is one clear point; the others are fearfully insoluble, yet pressing for solution: in a six weeks hence (september th), we shall see what they issue in!-- as for robinson, he is duly with the queen at presburg; duly conjuring incessantly, "make your peace with friedrich!" and her majesty will not, on the terms. poor robinson, urged two ways at once, is flurried doubly and trebly; tossed about as diplomatist never was. king of prussia flashes lightning-looks upon him, clapping finger to nose; maria theresa, knowing he will demand cession of silesia, shudders at sight of him; and the aulic council fall into his arms like dead men, murmuring, "money; where is your money?" "august th. while friedrich was pushing into neipperg, in the baumgarten country, and could get no battle out of him, excellency robinson reappears at breslau; maria theresa, after deadly efforts on his part, has mended her offers, in these terrible circumstances; and robinson is here again. 'half of silesia, or almost half, provided his majesty will turn round, and help against the french:' these, secretly, are robinson's rich offers. the queen, on consenting to these new offers, had 'wrung her hands,' like one in despair, and said passionately, 'unless accepted within a fortnight, i will not be bound by them!' 'admit his excellency to the honor of an interview,' solicits hyndford; 'his offers are much mended.' notable to witness, friedrich will not see robinson at all this time, nor even permit podewils to see him; signifies plainly that he wants to hear no more of his offers, and that, in fact, the sooner he can take himself away from breslau, it will be the better. to that effect, robinson, rushing back in mortified astonished manner, reports progress at presburg; to that and no better. 'high madam,' urges robinson, still indefatigable, 'the king of prussia's help would be life, his hostility is death at this crisis. peace must be with him, at any price!' 'price?' answers her majesty once: 'if austria must fall, it is indifferent to me whether it be by kur-baiern or kur-brandenburg!' [stenzel, iv. .] nevertheless, in about a week she again yields to intense conjuring, and the ever-tightening pressure of events;--king george, except it be for counselling, is become stock-still, with maillebois's sword at his throat; and is, without metaphor, sinking towards absolute neutrality: 'cannot help you, madam, any farther; must not try it, or i perish, my hanover and i!'--so that maria theresa again mends her offers: 'give him all lower silesia, and he to join with me!' and robinson post-haste despatches a courier to breslau with them. notable again: king friedrich will not hear of them; answers by a 'no, i tell you! time was, time is not. i have now joined with france; and to join against it in this manner? talk to me no more!'" [friedrich to hyndford: _"au camp [de neuendorf] me septembre," . "milord j'ai recu les nouvelles propositions d'alliance que l'infatigable robinson vous envoie. je les trouve aussi chimeriques que les precedentes."--"ces gens sont-ils fols, milord, de s'imaginer que je commisse la trahison de tourner en leur faveur mes armes, et de"--"je vous prie de ne me plus fatiguer avec de pareilles propositions, et de me croire assez honnete homme pour ne point violer mes engagements.--_ frederic." (british museum: hyndford papers, fol. .)]... here is a catastrophe for the two britannic excellencies, and the cause of freedom! robinson, in dudgeon and amazement, has hurried back to presburg, has ceased sending even couriers; and, in a three weeks hence ( th october, a day otherwise notable), wishes "to come home," the game being up. [his letter, " th october, " (in lord mahon's _history of england,_ iii. appendix, p. iii: edit. london, )]. such is robinson's gloomy view: finished, he, and the game lost,--unless perhaps hyndford could still do something? of which what hope is there! hyndford, who has a rough sagacity in him, and manifests often a strong sense of the practical and the practicable, strikes into--readers, from the following fragments of correspondence, now first made public, will gather for themselves what new course, veiled in triple mystery, hyndford had struck into. four bits of notes, well worth reading, under their respective dates:-- . excellency hyndford to secretary harrington (two notes). "breslau, d september, [on the heel of robinson's second miscarriage].... my lord, all these contretemps are very unlucky at present, when time is so precious; for france is pressing the king of prussia in the strongest manner to declare himself; but whatever eventual preliminaries may be probably agreed between them, i still doubt if they have any treaty signed"--have had one, any time these three months (since th june last); signed sufficiently; but of a most fast-and-loose nature; neither party intending to be rigorous in keeping it. "i wish to god the court of vienna may be brought to think before it is too late." [hyndford papers (brit. mus. additional mss. , ), ii. fol. .] . "breslau, th september.... i am not without hopes of succeeding in a project which has occurred to me on this occasion, and which seems to be pretty well relished by some people [properly by one individual, goltz, the king's adjutant and factotum], who are in great confidence about the king of prussia's person; and i think it is the only thing that now remains to be tried; and as it is the least of two evils, i hope i shall have the king my master's approbation in attempting it; and if the court of vienna will open their eyes, they must see it is the only thing left to save them from utter destruction;"--and, finally, here it is:-- "since mr. robinson left this place,--["sooner you go, the better, sir!"],--"i have been sounding the people afore mentioned, the individual afore hinted at, 'whether the king of prussia would hearken to a neutrality with respect to the queen of hungary, and at the same time fulfil his engagements to his majesty with respect to the defence of his majesty's german dominions, if she would give him the lower silesia with breslau?' at first they rejected it; saying it was a thing they dared not propose. however, i have reason to believe, by a letter i saw this day, that it has been proposed to the king, and that he is not absolutely averse to it. i shall know more in a few days; but if it can be done at all, it must be done in the very greatest secrecy, for neither the king nor his ministers wish to appear in it; and i question if his minister podewils will be informed of it." [_hyndford papers,_ fol. , .] . excellency robinson (in a flutter of excitement, temporary hope and excitement, about goltz) to hyndford, at breslau. "presburg, th september (n.s.), . my lord, i could desire your lordship to summon up, if it were necessary, the spirit of all your lordship's instructions, and the sense of the king, of the parliament, and of the whole british nation. it is upon this great moment that depends the fate, not of the house of austria, not of the empire, but of the house of brunswick, of great britain, and of all europe. i verily believe the king of prussia does not himself know the extent of the present danger. with whatever motive he may act, there is not one, not that of the mildest resentment, that can blind him to this degree, of himself perishing in the ruin he is bringing upon others. with his concurrence, the french will, in less than six weeks, be masters of the german empire. the weak elector of bavaria is but their instrument: prague and vienna may, and probably will, be taken in that short time. will even the king of prussia himself be reserved to the last? "upon this single transaction [of your lordship's affair with the mysterious individual] depend the cita mors, or the victoria laeta of all europe. nothing will equal the glory of your lordship, in the latter case, but that to be acquired by the king of prussia in his immediate imitation of the great sobieski"--reputed "savior of vienna," o your excellency!... "prince lichtenstein will, if found in time upon his estates in bohemia, be, i believe, the person to repair to the king of prussia, the moment your lordship shall have signed the preliminaries. once again, give me leave, my lord, to express my most ardent wishes, my"--t. robinson. [_hyndford papers,_ fol. .] . excellency hyndford to secretary harrington. "breslau, th september,... received a message to meet him,"--him, for we now speak in the singular number, though still without naming goltz,--"one of the persons i mentioned in my former despatch: in a very unsuspected place; for we have agreed to avoid all appearance of familiarity. he told me he had received a letter this morning from the camp,"--prussian majesty's camp, or bivouac (in the munsterberg hill-country), on that march towards woitz, for crossing the neisse upon neipperg, which proved impracticable,--"and that he could with pleasure tell me that the king agreed to this last trial, although he would not, nor could appear in it.... then this person read to me a paper, but i could not see whether it was the king's hand or not; for when i desired to take a copy, he said he could not show me the original; but dictated as follows:-- "'toute la basse silesie, la riviere de neisse pour limite, la ville de neisse a nous, aussi bien que glatz; de l'autre cote de l'oder l'ancien limite entre les duches de brieg et d'oppeln. namslau a nous. les affaires de religion in statu quo. point de dependance de la boheme; cession eternelle. en echange nous n'irons pas plus loin. nous assiegerons neisse pro forma: le commandant se rendra et sortira. nous prendrons les quartiers tranquillement, et ils pourront mener leur armee oh ils voudront. que tout cela soit fini en douze jours.'" that is to say:-- "'the whole of lower silesia, neisse town included; neisse river for boundary:--glatz withal. beyond the oder, for the duchies of brieg and oppeln the ancient limits. namslau ours. affairs of religion to continue in statu quo. no dependence [feudal tie or other, as there used to be] on bohemia; cession of silesia to be absolute and forever.--we, in return, will proceed no farther. we will besiege neisse for form; the commandant shall surrender and depart. we will pass quietly into winter-quarters; and the austrian army may go whither it will. bargain to be concluded within twelve days.'" [coxe (iii. ) gives this translation, not saying whence he had it.]--can his excellency hyndford get vienna, get feldmarschall reipperg with power from vienna, to accept: yes or no? excellency hyndford thinks, yes; will try his very utmost!-- "he (goltz) then tore the paper in very small pieces; and he repeated again, that if the affair should be discovered, both the king and he were determined to deny it.... 'but how about engagements with regard to my master's german dominions; not a word about that?' he answered, 'you have not the least to fear from france;' protested the king of prussia's great regard for his majesty of england, &c. i told him these fine words did not satisfy me; and that if this affair should succeed, i expected there should be some stipulation." [_hyndford papers,_ fol. .] yes; and came, about a fortnight hence, "waylaying his majesty" to get one,--as readers saw above. prussian dryasdust (poor soul, to whom one is often cruel!) shall glad himself with the following two bits of autography from goltz, who had instantly quitted breslau again;--and, to us, they will serve as date for the actual arrival of excellency hyndford in those fighting regions, and commencement of his mysterious glidings about between camp and camp. goltz to the excellency hyndford, at breslau (most private). "au camp de neuendorf, me septembre, a heures du seir. ( .) "milord,--vons savez que je suis porte pour la bonne cause. sur ce pied je prends la liberte de vous conseiller en ami et serviteur, de venir ici incessamment, et de presser votre voyage de sorte que vous puissiez paraitre publiquement lundi [ th] vers midi. vous trouverez (sic) chevaux de postes a olau et a grottkau tout prets. hatez-vous, milord, tout ce que vous pourrez au monde. j'ai l'honneur de" meaning, in brief english:-- "be at neundorf here, publicly, on monday next, th, towards noon." things being ripe. "haste, milord, haste!" "ce me a heures apres-midi. ( ). "je suis an desespoir, milord, de votre maladie. voici le courrier que vous attendiez. venez le plutot que vous pourrez au monde; si non, dites au general marwitz de quoi il s'agit, afin qu'il puisse me le faire savoir.... le courrier serait arrive quatre heures plutot, si nous ne l'avions renvoye au comte neuberg (sic) a cause de votre maladie.--goltz." [_hyndford papers,_ fol. - .]--that is to say:-- "distressed inexpressibly by your lordship's biliary condition. one cannot travel under colic;--and things were so ripe! courier would have reached you four hours sooner, but we had to send him over to neipperg first. come, oh come!"--which hyndford, now himself again, at once does. this is the mystery, which, on september d, had arrived at that stage, indicated above: "tush! follow me: dinner is already falling cold, and there are eyes upon us!" and in about another fortnight--but we shall have to take the luggage with us, too, what minimum of it is indispensable! chapter v. -- klein-schnellendorf: friedrich gets neisse, in a fashion. while these combined mysteries and war-movements go on, in neisse and its environs, the world-phenomena continue,--in upper austria and elsewhere. of which take these select summits, or points chiefly luminous in the dusk of the forgotten past:-- linz, september th. karl albert, being joined some days ago at scharding by the first three french divisions, , men in all (the other four divisions of them are still in the donauworth-ingolstadt quarter, making their manifold arrangements), has pushed forward, sixty miles (land-marches, south side of the donau, which makes a bend here), and this day, september th, appears at linz. pleasant city of linz; where, as readers may remember, mr. john kepler, long ago, busy discovering the system of the world (grandest conquest ever made, or to be made, by the sons of adam), had his poor camera obscura set out, to get himself a livelihood in the interim: here now is karl albert's flag on the winds, and, as it were, the oriflamme with it, on a singularly different adventure. "open gates!" demands karl albert with authority: "admit me to my capital of upper austria!" which cannot be denied him, there being nothing but town-guards in the place. karl albert continued there some weeks, in a serenely victorious posture; doing acts of authority; getting homaged by the stande; pushing out his forces farther and farther down the donau, post after post,--victorious oriflamme-bavarian army may be , strong or so, in those parts. friedrich urged him much to push on without pause, and take opportunity by the forelock; sent schmettau (elder of the two schmettaus, who is much employed on such business) to urge him; wrote an express paper of considerations pressingly urgent: but he would not, and continued pausing. vienna, all in terror, is fortifying itself; citizens toiling at the earthworks, resolute for making some defence; constituted authorities, national archives even, court in a body, and all manner of noble and official people, flying else-whither to covert: chiefly to presburg, where her majesty already is. the archives were carried to gratz; the two dowager empresses (for there are two, maria theresa's mother, and maria theresa's aunt, kaiser joseph's widow) fled different ways,--i forget which. an agitated, paralyzed population. except the diligent wheelbarrows on the ramparts, no vehicle is rolling in vienna but furniture-wagons loading for flight. general khevenhuller with , , who pesides with fine scientific skill, and an iron calmness and clearness, over these fortifyings, is the only force left. [anonymous, _histoire de la derniere guerre de boheme_ (a francfort, - , tomes), i. . a lively succinct little book, vague not false; still readable, though not now, as then, with complete intelligence, to the unprepared reader. said, in dictionaries, to be by mauvillon pere, though it resembles nothing else of his that is known to me.]' neipperg's, our only army in the world, is hundreds of miles away, countermarching and manoeuvring about woitz, and neisse town and river,--pretty sure to be beaten in the end,--and it is high time there were a silesian bargain had, if hyndford can get us any. dresden, september th (excellency hyndford just recovering from his colic, in breslau), kur-sachsen, after many waverings, signs treaty of copartnery with france and bavaria, seduced by "that moravia," and the ticklings of belleisle acting on a weak mind. [adelung, ii. , , .] his troops are , , or rather more; said to be of good quality, and well equipped. in february last we saw him engaged in russian, anti-prussian partition schemes. in april, as these suddenly (on sight of the camp of gottin) extinguished themselves, he agreed to go, in the pacific way, with her hungarian majesty for friend (treaty with her, signed th april); but never went (treaty never ratified); kept his , lying about in camp, in an enigmatic manner,--first about torgau, latterly in the lausitz, much nearer to the erzgebirge (metal-mountains), frontier of bohemia;--and now signs as above; intent to march as soon as possible. is to have four circles of bohemia, imaginary kingships of moravia, and other prizes. belleisle has tickled that big trout: belleisle could now have the election as he wishes it, would the electors but be speedy; but they will not, and he is obliged to push continually. "moriamur pro rege nostro maria theresia," in the poetic, and then also in the prose form. presburg, september st. this is the date (or chief date, for, alas, there turn out to be two!) of the world-famous "moriamur pro rege nostro maria theresia;" of which there are now needed two narratives; the generally received (in part mythical) going first, in the following strain:-- "the queen has been in presburg mainly, where the hungarian diet is sitting, ever since her coronation-ceremony. on the th september [or th and st together], the afflicted lady makes an appearance there, which, for theatrical reality, has become very celebrated. alas, it is but three months since she galloped to the top of the konigsberg, and cut defiantly with bright sabre towards the four points of the universe; and already it has come to this. hungarian magnates in high session, the high queen enters, beautiful and sad,--and among her ministers is noticeable a nurse with the young archduke, some six months old, a fine thriving child, perhaps too wise for his age, who became kaiser joseph ii. in after time. "the hungarian session is not on record for me, hall of meeting, magyar parliamentary eloquence unknown; nor is any point conspicuously visible, exact and certain, except these [alas, not even these]: that it was the th of september; that her majesty coming forward to speak, took the child in her arms, and there, in a clear and melodiously piercing voice, sorrow and courage on her noble face, beautiful as the moon riding among wet stormy clouds, spake, as the hungarian archives still have it, a short latin harangue; in substance as follows:... 'hostile invasion of austria; imminent peril, to this kingdom of hungary, to our person, to our children, to our crown. forsaken by all,--ab omnibus derelicti [britannic majesty himself standing stock-still,--blamably, one thinks, the two swords being only at his throat, and a good way off!]--i have no resource but to throw myself on the loyalty and help of your renowned body, and invoke the ancient hungarian virtue to rise swiftly and save me!' whereat the assembled hungarian synod, their wild magyar hearts touched to the core, start up in impetuous acclaim, flourish aloft their drawn swords, and shout unanimously in passionate tenor-voice, 'moriamur (let us die) for our rex maria theresa!' [_maria theresiens leben_ (which speaks hypothetically), iv, ; coxe, iii. (who is positive, "after examining the documents").] which were not vain words. for a general 'insurrection' was thereupon decreed; what the magyars call their 'insurrection,' which is by no means of rebellious nature; and many noblemen, old count palfy himself a chief among them, though past threescore and ten, took the field at their own cost; and the noise of the hungarian insurrection spread like a voice of hope over all pragmatic countries."-- a very beautiful heroic scene; which has gone about the world, circulating triumphantly through all hearts for above a century past; and has only of late acknowledged itself mythical,--not true, except as toned down to the following stingy prose pitch:-- presburg, september st. maria theresa, since that fine coronation-scene, june th, has had a mixed time of it with her hungarian diet; soft passages alternating with hard: a chivalrous people, most consciously chivalrous; but a constitutional withal, very stiff upon their charter (pacta conventa, or whatever the name is); who wrangle much upon privileges, upon taxes, and are difficult to keep long in tune. ten days ago (september th), her majesty tried them on a new tack; summoned them to her palace; threw herself upon their nobleness, "no allies but you in the world" (and other fine things, authentically, as above, legible in the archives to this day):--so spake the beautiful young queen, her eyes filling with tears as she went on, and yet a noble fire gleaming through them. which melted the hungarian heart a good deal; and produced fine cheering, some persons even shedding tears, and voices of "life and fortune to your majesty!" being heard in it. in which humor the diet returned to its session-house, and voted the "insurrection,"--or general arming of hungary, county by county, each according to its own contingent;--with all speed, in pursuance of her majesty's implied desire. this was voted in rapid manner; but again, in the detail of executing, it was liable to haggles. from this day, however, matters did decidedly improve; pacta conventa, or any remainder of them, are got adjusted,--the good queen yielding on many points. so that, september th, grand-duke franz is elected co-regent,--let him start from vienna instantly, for instalment;--and it is hoped the insurrection will go well, and not prove haggly, or hang fire in the details. at any rate, next day, september st, duke franz, who arrived last night,--and baby with him, or in the train of him (to the joy of mamma!)--is in the palace audience-hall, "at a.m.;" ready for the diet, and what homagings aud mutual oath, as new co-regent, are necessary. grand-duke franz, mamma by his side, with the suitable functionaries; and to rearward nurse and baby, not so conspicuous till needed. diet enters with the stroke of ; solemnity proceeds. at the height of the solemnity, when duke franz, who is really risen now to something of a heroic mood, in these emergencies and perils, has just taken his oath, and will have to speak a fit word or two,--the nurse, doubtless on hint given, steps forward; holds up baby (a fine noticing fellow, i have no doubt,--"weighed sixteen pounds avoirdupois when born"); as if baby too, fine mutual product of the two co-regents, were mutually swearing and appealing. enough to touch any heart. "life and blood (vitam et sanguinem) for our queen and kingdom!" exclaims the grand-duke, among other things. "yes, vitam et sanguinem!" re-echoes the diet, "our life and our blood!" many-voiced, again and again;--and returns to its own place of session, once more in a fine strain of loyal emotion. and there, o reader, is the naked truth, neither more nor less. it was some vienna pamphleteer of theatrical imaginative turn, finding the thing apt, a year or two afterwards--who by kneading different dates and objects into one, boldly annihilating time and space, and adding a little paint,--gave it that seductive mythical form. from whom voltaire adopted it, with improvements, especially in the little harangue; and from voltaire gratefully the rest of mankind. [voltaire, _siecle de louis xv.,_ c. (_oeuvres,_ xxviii. ); coxe, _house of austria,_ iii. ; and innumerable others (who give this myth)]; _maria theresiens leben,_ p. n. (who cites the vienna pamphleteers, without much believing them); mailath (a hungarian), _geschichte des oesterrichischen kaiser-staats_ (hamburg, ), v. - (who explodes the fable). cut down to the practical, it stands as above:--by no means a bad thing still. that of "bringing in baby" was a pretty touch in the domestic-royal way;--and surely very natural; and has no "art" in it, or none to blame and not love rather, on the part of the bright young mother, now girdled in such tragic outlooks, and so glad to have baby back at least, and papa with him! it is certain the "insurrection" was voted with enthusiasm; and even became rapidly a fact. and there was, in few months hence, an immense mounted force of hungarians raised, which galloped and plundered (having almost no pay), and occasionally fenced and fought, very diligently during all these wars. hussars, croats, pandours, tolpatches, warasdins, uscocks, never heard of in war before: who were found very terrible to look upon once, in the imagination or with the naked eye; but whose fighting talent, against regular troops, was next to worthless; and who gradually became hateful rather than terrible in the military world. hanover, september th. britannic majesty, reduced to that frightful pinch, has at last given way. treaty of neutrality for hanover; engagement again to stick one's puissant pragmatic sword into its scabbard, to be perfectly quiescent and contemplative in these french-bavarian anti-austrian undertakings, and digest one's indignation as one can. for our paladin of the pragmatic what a posture! this is the first of three attempts by our puissant little paladin to draw sword;--not till the third could he get his sword out, or do the least fighting (even foolish fighting) with all the , he had kept on pay and subsidy for years back. the neutrality was for hanover only, and had no specific limit as to time. opportunities did rise; but something always rose along with them,--mainly the impossibility of hoisting those lazy dutch,--and checked one's noble rage. his majesty has covenanted to vote for karl albert as kaiser; even he, and will make the thing unanimous! a thoroughly check-mated majesty. passing home to england, this time in a gloomy condition of mind, shortly after these humiliations, he was just issuing from osnabruck by the eastern gate, when maillebois's people entered by the western,--the ugly shoes of them insulting his kibes in this manner. and a furious anti-walpole parliament, most perturbed of national palavers, is waiting him at st. james's. heavy-laden little hercules that he is! karl albert lay at linz for a month longer (till october th, six weeks in all); pausing in uncertainties, in a pleasant dream of victory and sovereignty; not pouncing on vienna, as friedrich urged on the french and him, to cut the matter by the root. he does push forward certain troops, comte de saxe with three horse regiments as vanguard, ever nearer to vienna; at last to within forty miles of it; nay, light-horse parties came within twenty-five miles. and there was skirmishing with mentzel, a sanguinary fellow, of whom we shall hear more; who had got " , tolpatches" under him, and stood ruggedly at bay. karl albert has been sending out sovereign messages from linz: letters to vienna;--one letter addressed "to the arch-duchess maria theresa;" which came back unopened, "no such person known here." october d, he is getting homaged at linz, by the stande of the province,--on summons sent some time before,--many of whom attend, with a willing enough appearance; kur-baiern rather a favorite in upper austria, say some. much fine processioning, melodious haranguing, there now is for karl albert, and a pleasant dream of sovereignty at linz: but if he do not pounce upon vienna till khevenhuller get it fortified? khevenhuller is drawing home italian garrisons, gradually gathering something like an army round him. in khevenhuller's imperturbable military head, one of the clearest and hardest, there is some hope. above all, if neipperg's army were to disengage itself, and be let loose into those parts? excellency hyndford brings about a meeting at klein-schnellendorf ( th october, ). it was the second day after that homaging at linz, when hyndford (sept. d) with mysterious negotiations, now nearly ripe, for disengaging neipperg, waylaid his prussian majesty; and was answered, as we saw, with "tush, tush! dinner is already cold!" it must be owned, these friedrich-hyndford negotiations, following on an express french-prussian treaty of june th, which have to proceed in such threefold mystery now and afterwards, are of questionable distressing nature: nor can the fact that they are escorted copiously enough by a correspondent sort on the french side, and indeed on the austrian and on all sides, be a complete consolation,--far otherwise, to the ingenuous reader. smelfungus indignantly calls it an immorality and a dishonor, "a playing with loaded dice;" which in good part it surely was. nor can even friedrich, who has many pleas for himself, obtain spoken acquittal; unspoken, accompanied with regrets and pity, is all even friedrich can aspire to. my own impression is, smelfungus, if candid, would on clearer information and consideration have revoked much of what he says here in censure of friedrich. at all events, if asked: where then is the specifical not "superstitious" want of "veracity" you ever found in friedrich? and how, otherwise than even as friedrich did, would you, most veracious smelfungus, have plucked out your silesia from such an element and such a time?--he would be puzzled to answer. i give his fragment as i find it, with these deductions:-- "what negotiating we have had, and shall have," exclaims smelfungus, my sad foregoer,--"fit rather to be omitted from a serious history, which intends to be read by human creatures! bargaining, promising, non-performing. false in general as dicers' oaths; false on this side and on that, from beginning to end. intercepted letters from fleury; letter dropping from valori's waistcoat-pocket, upon which friedrich claps his foot: alas, alas, we are in the middle of a whole world of that. friedrich knows that the french are false to him; he by no means intends to be romantically true to them, and that also they know. what is the use to human creatures of recording all that melancholy stuff? if sovereign persons want their diplomacies not to be swept into the ash-pit, there are two conditions, especially one which is peremptory: first, that they should not be lies;--second, that they should be of some importance, some wisdom; which with known lies is not a possible condition. to unravel cobwebs, and register laboriously and date and sort in the sorrow of your soul the oaths of crowned dicers,--what use is it to gods or men? having well dressed and sliced your cucumber, the next clear human duty is: throw it out of window. in that foul lapland-witch world, of seething diplomacies and monstrous wigged mendacities, horribly wicked and despicably unwise, i find nothing notable, memorable even in a small degree, except this aspect of a young king who does know what he means in it. clear as a star, sharp as cutting steel (very dangerous to hydrogen balloons), he stands in the middle of it, and means to extort his own from it by such methods as there are. "magnanimous i can by no means call friedrich to his allies and neighbors, nor even superstitiously veracious, in this business: but he thoroughly understands, he alone, what just thing he wants out of it, and what an enormous wigged mendacity it is he has got to deal with. for the rest, he is at the gaming-table with these sharpers; their dice all cogged;--and he knows it, and ought to profit by his knowledge of it. and in short, to win his stake out of that foul weltering mellay, and go home safe with it if he can." very well, my friend! let us keep to windward of the diplomatic wizard's-caldron; let hyndford, valori and company preside over it, throwing in their eye of newt and limb of toad, as occasion may be. enough, if the reader can be brought to conceive it; and how the young king,--who perhaps alone had real business in this foul element, and did not volunteer into it like the others, though it now unexpectedly envelops him like a world-whirlwind (frightful enough, if one spoke of that to anybody), is struggling with his whole soul to get well out of it. as supremely adroit, all readers already know him; his appearance what we called starlike,--always something definite, fixed and lucid in it. he is dexterously holding aloof from hyndford at present, clinging to french valori as his chosen companion: we may fancy what a time he has of it, like a polygamist amid jealous wives. it will quicken hyndford, he perceives, in these ulterior stages, to leave him well alone. hyndford accordingly, as we have noticed, could not see the king at all; had to try every plan, to watch, waylay the king for a bit of interview, when indispensable. however, hyndford, with his neipperg in sight of the peril, manages better than robinson with his aulic council at a distance: besides he is a long-headed dogged kind of man, with a surly edacious strength, not inexpert in negotiation, nor easily turned aside from any purpose he may have. between the two camps, nearly midway, lies a hamlet called klein-schnellendorf, little schnellendorf, to distinguish it from another schnellendorf called great, which is a mile or two northwestward, out of the straight line. not far from the first of these poor hamlets lies a schloss or noble mansion, likewise called klein-schnellendorf, belonging to a certain count von sternberg, who is not there at present, but whose servants are, and a party of croats over them for some days back: a pleasant airy mansion among pleasant gardens, well shut out from the intrusion of the world. upon this castle of klein-schnellendorf judicious hyndford has cast his eye:--and neipperg, now come to a state of readiness, approves the suggestion of hyndford, and promptly at the due moment converts it into a fact. arrests namely, on a given morning (the last act of his croats there, who withdrew directly with their batch of prisoners), every living soul within or about the mansion;--"suspected of treason;" only for one day;--and in this way, has it reduced to the comfortable furnished solitude of sleeping beauty's castle; a place fit for high persons to hold a meeting in, which shall remain secret as the grave. such a thing was indispensable. for friedrich, keeping shy of hyndford, as he well may with a valori watching every step, has, by words, by silences, when hyndford could waylay him for a moment, sufficiently indicated what he will and what he will not; and, for one indispensable condition, in the present thrice-delicate adventure, he will not sign anything; will give and take word of honor, and fully bind himself, but absolutely not put pen to paper at all. neipperg being willing too, judicious hyndford finds a medium. let the parties meet at klein-schnellendorf, and judicious hyndford be there with pen and paper. [orlich, i. ; _helden-geschichte,_ i. .] monday, th october, , accordingly, there is meeting to be held. hyndford, neipperg with his general lentulus (a swiss-austrian general, whose son served under friedrich afterwards), these wait for friedrich, on the one hand:--"to fix some cartel for exchange of prisoners," it is said;--in these precincts of klein-schnellendorf; which are silent, vacant, yet comfortably furnished, like sleeping beauty's castle. and friedrich, on the other hand, is actually riding that way, with goltz;--visiting outposts, reconnoitring, so to speak. "dine you with prince leopold (the young dessauer), my fine valori; i fear i shan't be home to dinner!" he had said when going off; hoodwinking his fine valori, who suspects nothing. at a due distance from klein-schnellendorf, the very groom is left behind; and friedrich, with goltz only, pushes on to the schloss. all ready there; salutations soon done; business set about, perfected:--and hyndford with pen and ink in his hand, he, by way of protocol, or summary of what had been agreed on, on mutual word of honor, most brief but most clear on this occasion, writes a state paper, which became rather famous afterwards. this is the paper in condensed state; though clear, it is very dull! klein-schnellendorf, th october, . britannic excellency hyndford testifies, that, here and now, his majesty of prussia, and neipperg on behalf of her hungarian majesty do, solemnly though only verbally, agree to the following four things:-- "first, that general neipperg, on the th of the month [this day week] shall have liberty to retire through the mountains, towards moravia; unmolested, or with nothing but sham-attacks in the rear of him. second, that, in consequence, his prussian majesty, on making sham-siege of neisse, shall have the place surrendered to him on the fifteenth day. third, that there shall be, nay in a sense, there hereby is, a peace made; his majesty retaining neisse and silesia [according to the limits known to us:--nothing said of glatz]; and that a complete treaty to that effect shall be perfected, signed and ratified, before the year is out. fourth, that these sham-hostilities, but only sham, shall continue; and that his majesty, wintering in bohemia, and carrying on sham-hostilities [to the satisfaction of the french], shall pay his own expenses, and do no mischief." [given in _helden-geschichte,_ i. ; in &c.] to these four things they pledge their word of honor; and hyndford signs and delivers each a copy. unwritten a fifth thing is settled, that the present transaction in all parts of it shall be secret as death,--his majesty expressly insisting that, if the least inkling of it ooze out, he shall have right to deny it, and refuse in any way to be bound by it. which likewise is assented to. here is a pretty piece of work done for ourself and our allies, while valori is quietly dining with the prince of dessau! the king stayed about two hours; was extremely polite, and even frank and communicative. "a very high-spirited young king," thinks neipperg, reporting of it; "will not stand contradiction; but a great deal can be made of him, if you go into his ideas, and humor him in a delicate dexterous way. he did not the least hide his engagements with france, bavaria, saxony; but would really, so far as i neipperg could judge, prefer friendship with austria, on the given terms; and seems to have secretly a kind of pique at saxony, and no favor for the french and their plans." [orlich, i. (in condensed state).] "business being done [this is hyndford's report], the king, who had been politeness itself, took neipperg aside, beckoning hyndford to be of the party, 'i wish you too, my lord, to hear every word:--his britannic majesty knows or should know my intentions never were to do him hurt, but only to take care of myself; and pray inform him [what is the fact] that i have ordered my army in brandenburg to go into winter-quarters, and break up that camp at gottin.' friedrich's talk to neipperg is, how he may assault the french with advantage: 'join lobkowitz and what force he has in bohmen; go right into your enemies, before they can unite there. if the queen prosper, i shall--perhaps i shall have no objection to join her by and by? if her majesty fail; well, every one must look to himself.'" these words hyndford listened to with an edacious solid countenance, and greedily took them down. [hyndford's despatch, breslau, th october, .] once more, a curious glimpse (perhaps imprudently allowed us, in the circumstances) into the real inner man of friedrich. he had, at this time, now that the belleisle adventure is left in such a state, no essential reason to wish the french ruined,--nor probably did he; but only stated both chances, as in the way of unguarded soliloquy; and was willing to leave neipperg a sweet morsel to chew. secret mode of corresponding with the court of austria is agreed upon; not direct, but through certain commandants, till the peace-treaty be perfected,--at latest "by december th," we hope. and so, "bon voyage, and well across the mountains, m. le marechal; till we meet again! and you, excellency hyndford, be so good you as write to me,--for valori's behoof,--complaining that i am deaf to all proposals, that nothing can be had of me. and other letters, pray, of the like tenor, all round; to presburg, to england, to dresden:--if the couriers are seized, it shall be well. 'your letter to myself, let a trumpet come with it while i am at dinner,' and valori beside me!"--"certainly, your majesty," answers hyndford; and does it, does all this; which produces a soothing effect on valori, poor soul! friedrich takes neisse by sham siege (capture not sham); gets homaged in breslau; and returns to berlin. thus, if the austrians hold to their bargain, has friedrich, in a most compendious manner, got done with a business which threatened to be infinite: by this short cut he, for his part, is quite out of the waste-howling jungle of enchanted forest, and his foot again on the firm free earth. if only the austrians hold to their bargain! but probably he doubts if they will. well, even in that case, he has got neisse; stands prepared for meeting them again; and, in the mean while, has freedom to deny that there ever was such a bargain. of the political morality of this game of fast-and-loose, what have we to say,--except, that the dice on both sides seem to be loaded; that logic might be chopped upon it forever; that a candid mind will settle what degree of wisdom (which is always essentially veracity), and what of folly (which is always falsity), there was in friedrich and the others; whether, or to what degree, there was a better course open to friedrich in the circumstances:--and, in fine, it will have to be granted that you cannot work in pitch and keep hands evidently clean. friedrich has got into the enchanted wilderness, populous with devils and their works;--and, alas, it will be long before he get out of it again, his life waning towards night before he get victoriously out, and bequeath his conquest to luckier successors! it is one of the tragic elements of this king's life; little contemplated by him, when he went lightly into the silesian adventure, looking for honor bright, what he called "gloire," as one principal consideration, hardly a year ago!-- neipperg, according to covenant, broke up punctually that day week, october th; and went over the mountains, through jagerndorf, troppau, towards mahren; prussians hanging on his rear, and skirmishing about, but only for imaginary or ostensible purposes. after a three-weeks march, he gets to a place called frating, [espagnac, i. .] easternmost border of mahren, on the slopes of the mannhartsberg hill-country, which is within wind of vienna itself; where, as we can fancy, his presence is welcome as morning-light in the present dark circumstances. friedrich, on the morrow after neipperg went, invested neisse (october th); set about the siege of neisse with all gravity, as if it had been the most earnest operation; which nobody of mankind, except three or four, doubted but it was. before opening of the trenches, leopold young dessauer took the road for glatz country, and the adjoining circles of bohemia; there to canton himself, peaceably according to contract; and especially to have an eye upon glatz, should the klein-schnellendorf engagement go awry in any point. the king in his dialogue with neipperg had said several things about glatz, and what a sacrifice he made there for the sake of speedy pace, the french having guaranteed him glatz, though he now forbore it. leopold, who has with him some , horse and foot, cantons himself judiciously in those ultramontane parts,--"all the artillery in the glatz country;" [_helden-geschichte,_ ii. ; orlich, i. .]--and we shall hear of him again, by and by, in regard to other business that rises there. neisse is a formidable fortress, much strengthened since last year; but here is a besieger with much better chance! he marked out parallels, sent summonses, reconnoitred, manoeuvred,--in a way more or less surprising to the eye of valori, who is military, and knows about sieges. rather singular, remarks valori; good engineers much wanted here! but the bombardment did finally begin: night of october th- th, the prussiaus opened fire; and, at a terrible rate, cannonaded and bombarded without intermission. in point of fire and noise it is tremendous; valori trusts it may be effective, in spite of faults; goes to breslau in hope: "yes, go to breslau, mon cher valori; wait for me there. neipperg be chased, say you? shall not he,--if we had got this place!" and so the fire continues night and day. [_helden-geschichte,_ i. .] fantastic bielfeld, in his semi-fabulous style, has a letter on this bombardment, attractive to lovers of the picturesque,--(written long afterwards, and dated &c. wrong). as bielfeld is a rapid clever creature of the coxcomb sort, and doubtless did see neisse siege, and entertained seemingly a blazing incorrect recollection of it, his pseudo-neisse letter may be worth giving, to represent approximately what kind of scene it was there at neisse in the october nights:-- "marechal schwerin was lodged in a village about three-quarters of a mile from head-quarters. one day he did me the honor to invite me to dinner; and even offered me a horse to ride thither with him. i found excellent company; a superb repast, and wine of the gods. host and guests were in high spirits; and the pleasures of the table were kept up so late, that it was midnight when we rose. i was obliged to return to head-quarters, having still to wait upon the king, as usual. the marechal was kind enough to lend me another horse; but the groom mischievously gave me the charger which the marechal rode at the battle of mollwitz; a very powerful animal, and which, from that day, had grown very skittish. "i was made aware of this circumstance, before we were fairly out of the village; and the night being of the darkest, i twenty times ran the risk of breaking my neck. we had to pass over a hill, to get to head-quarters. when i reached the top, a shudder came over me, and my hair stood on end. i had nobody with me but a strange groom. the country all around was infested with troops and marauders; i was mounted on an unmanageable horse. under my feet, so to say, i saw the bombardment of the town of neisse. i heard the roar of cannon and doleful shrieks. above our batteries the whole atmosphere was inflamed; and to complete the calamity, i missed the way, and got lost in the darkness. finally, in descending the hill, my horse, frightened, made a terrible swerve or side-jump. i did not know the cause; but after having, with difficulty, got him into the road again, i found myself opposite to a deserter who had been hanged that day! i was horribly disgusted by the sight; the gallows being very low, and the head of the malefactor almost parallel with mine. i spurred on, and galloped away from such unpleasant night-company. at last i arrived at head-quarters, all in a perspiration. i sent my horse back; and went in to the king, who asked me at once, why i was so heated. i made his majesty a faithful report of all my disasters. he laughed much; and advised me seriously not again to go out by night, and alone, beyond the circuit of head-quarters." [bielfeld, ii. , .] after four days and nights of this sublime playhouse thunder (with real bullets in it, which killed some men, and burnt considerable property), the neisse commandant (not roth this time, roth is now in brunn),--his "fortnight of siege," october th to october st, being accomplished or nearly so,--beat chamade; and was, after grave enough treatying, allowed to march away. marched, accordingly, on the correct klein-schnellendorf terms; most of his poor garrison deserting, and taking prussian service. ever since which moment, neisse, captured in this curious manner, has been friedrich's and his prussia's. november st, the prussian soldiers entered the place; and friedrich, after diligent inspection and what orders were necessary, left for brieg on the following day;--where general illuminating and demonstrating awaited him, amid more serious business. after strict examinations, and approval of walrave and his works at brieg, he again takes the road; enters breslau, in considerable state (november th); where many persons of quality are waiting, and the general homaging is straightway to be,--or indeed should have been some days ago, but has fallen behind by delays in the neisse affair. the breslau huldigung,--friedrich sworn to and homaged with the due solemnities as "sovereign duke of lower silesia,"--was an event to throw into fine temporary frenzy the descriptive gazetteers, and breslau city, overflowing with quality people come to act and to see on the occasion. event which can be left to the reader's fancy, at this date. there were corporations out in quantity, "all in cloaks" and with sublime addresses, partly in poetry, happily rather brief. there were beautiful prussian life-guards "first battalion," admirable to the softer sex, not to speak of the harder); much military resonance and splendor. friedrich drove about in carriages-and-six, "nay carriage-and-eight, horses cream-color:" a very high king indeed; and a very busy one, for those four days (november th- th) ), but full of grace and condescension. the huldigung itself took effect on the th; in the fine old rathhaus, which tourists still know,--the surrounding apple-women sweeping themselves clear away for one day. ancient ducal throne and proper apparatus there was; state-sword unluckily wanting: schwerin, who was to act grand-marshal, could find no state-sword, till friedrich drew his own and gave it him. [_helden-geschichte,_ i. , ; ii. .] podewils the minister said something, not too much; to which one prittwitz, head of a silesian family of which we shall know individuals, made pithy and pretty response, before swearing. "there were above four hundred of quality present, all in gala." the customary free-gift of the stande friedrich magnanimously refused: "impossible to be a burden to our silesia in such harassed war-circumstances, instead of benefactor and protector, as we intended and intend!" the ceremony, swearing and all, was over in two hours; hundreds of silver medals, not to speak of the gold ones, flying about; and breslau giving itself up joyfully to dinner and festivities. and, after dinner, that evening, to illumination; followed by balls and jubilations for days after, in a highly harmonious key. of the lamps-festoons, astonishing transparencies, and glad symbolic devices, i could say a great deal; but will mention only two, both of comfortably edible or quasi-edible tendency:-- . that of david schulze, flesher by profession; who had a transparency large as life, representing his own fat person in the act of felling a fat ox; to which was appended this epigraph:-- "wer mir wird den konig in preussen verachten, den will ich wie diesen ochsen schlacten." "who dares me the king of prussia insult, him i will serve like this fat head of nolt." signed "david schuler, a brandenburger."-- and then, . how, in another quarter, there was set aloft in re, by some pastry-cook of patriotic turn: "an actual ox roasted whole; filled with pheasants, partridges, grouse, hares and geese; prussian eagle atop, made of roasted fowls, larks and the like,"--unattainable, i doubt, except for money down. [_helden-geschichte,_ ii. .] on the fifth morning, th november,--after much work done during this short visit, much ceremonial audiencing, latterly, and raising to the peerage,--friedrich rolled on to glogau. took accurate survey of the engineering and other interests there, for a couple of days; thence to berlin (noon of the th), joyfully received by royal family and all the world;--and, as we might fancy, asking himself: "am i actually home, then; out of the enchanted jungles and their devilries; safe here, and listening, i alone in peace, to the universal din of war?" alas, no; that was a beautiful hypothesis; too beautiful to be long credible! before reaching berlin,--or even breslau, as appears,--friedrich, vigilantly scanning and discerning, had seen that fine hope as good as vanish; and was silently busy upon the opposite one. in a fortnight hence, hyndford, who had followed to berlin, got transient sight of the king one morning, hastening through some apartment or other: "'my lord,' said the king, 'the court of vienna has entirely divulged our secret. dowager empress amelia [kaiser joseph's widow, mother of karl albert's wife] has acquainted the court of bavaria with it; wasner [austrian minister at paris] has told fleury; sinzendorf [ditto at petersburg] has told the court of russia; robinson, through mr. villiers [your saxon minister], has told the court of dresden; and several members of your government in england have talked publicly about it!' and, with a shrug of the shoulders, he left me,"--standing somewhat agape there. [hyndford's despatch, berlin, th november, ; ib. breslau, th october (secret already known).] chapter vi. -- new mayor of landshut makes an installation speech. the late general homaging at breslau, and solemn taking possession of the country by king friedrich, under such peaceable omens, had straightway, as we gather, brought about, over silesia at large, or at least where pressingly needful, various little alterations,--rectifications, by the prussian model and new rule now introduced. of which, as it is better that the reader have some dim notion, if easily procurable, than none at all, i will offer him one example;--itself dim enough, but coming at first-hand, in the actual or concrete form, and beyond disputing in whatever light or twilight it may yield us. at landshut, a pleasant little mountain town, in the principality of schweidnitz, high up, on the infant river bober, near the bohemian frontier--(english readers may see quincy adams's description of it, and of the long wooden spouts which throw cataracts on you, if walking the streets in rain [john quincy adams (afterwards president of the united states), _letters on silesia_ (london, ). "the wooden spouts are now gone" (_tourist's note, of_ ).]): at landshut, as in some other towns, it had been found good to remodel the town magistracy a little; to make it partly protestant, for one thing, instead of catholic (and austrian), which it had formerly been. details about the "high controversies and discrepancies" which had risen there, we have absolutely none; nor have the special functions of the magistracy, what powers they had, what work they did, in the least become distinct to us: we gather only that a certain nameless burgermeister (probably austrian and catholic) had, by "most gracious royal special-order," been at length relieved from his labors, and therewith "the much by him persecuted and afflicted herr theodorus spener" been named burgermeister instead. which respectable herr theodorus spener, and along with him herr johann david fischer as raths-senior, and herr johann caspar ruffer, and also herr johann jacob umminger, as new raths (how many of the old being left i cannot say), were accordingly, on the th of december, , publicly installed, and with proper solemnity took their places; all landshut looking on, with the conceivable interest and astonishment, almost as at a change in the obliquity of the ecliptic,--change probably for the better. respectable herr theodorus spener (we hope it is spener, for they print him speer in one of the two places, and we have to go by guess) is ready with an installation speech on the occasion; and his speech was judged so excellent, that they have preserved it in print. us it by no means strikes by its demosthenic or other qualities: meanwhile we listen to it with the closest attention; hoping, in our great ignorance, to gather from it some glimmerings of instruction as to the affairs, humors, disposition and general outlook and condition of landshut, and silesia in that juncture;--and though a good deal disappointed, have made an abstract of it in the english language, which perhaps the reader too, in his great ignorance, will accept, in defect of better. scene is landshut among the giant mountains on the bohemian border of silesia: an old stone town, where there is from of old a busy trade in thread and linen; town consisting, as is common there, of various narrow winding streets comparable to spider-legs, and of a roomy central market-place comparable to the body of the spider; wide irregular market-place with the wooden spouts (dry for the moment) all projecting round it. time, th december, (doubtless in the forenoon); unusual crowd of population simmering about the market-place, and full audience of the better sort gravely attentive in the interior of the rathhaus; burgermeister spener loquitur [_helden-geschichte,_ ii. .] (liable to abridgment here and there, on warning given):-- "i enter, then, in the name of the most holy trinity, upon an office, to which divine providence has appointed, and the gracious and potent hand of a great king has raised me. great as is the dignity [giddy height of mayoralty in landshut], though undeserved, which the ever-merciful has thus conferred upon me, equally great and much greater is the burden connected therewith. i confess"--he confesses, in high-stalking earnest wooden language very foreign to us in every way: ( .) that his shoulders are too weak; but that he trusts in god. for ( .) it is god's doing; and he that has called spener, will give spener strength, the essential work being to do god's will, to promote his honor, and the common weal. ( .) that he comes out of a smaller office (office not farther specified, probably exterior to the raths-college, and subaltern to the late tyrannous mayor and it), and has taken upon him the mayoralty of this town (an evident fact!); but that the labor and responsibility are dreadfully increased; and that the point is not increase of honor, of respectability or income, but of heavy duties. (a sonorous, pious-minded spener; much more in earnest than readers now think!) it is easy, intimates he, to govern a town, if, as some have perhaps done, you follow simply your own will, regardless of the sighs and complaints your subjects utter for injustice undergone,--indifferent to the thought that the caprice of one town sovereign is to be glorified by so many thousand tears (dim glance into the past history of landshut!). such town sovereign persecutes innocence, stops his ears to its cry; flourishes his sharp scourge;--no one shall complain: for is it not justice? thinks such a town sovereign. the reason is, he does not know himself, poor man; has had his eye always on the duties of his subjects towards him, and rarely or never on his towards them. a sovereign mayor that governs by fear,--he must live in continual fear of every one, and of himself withal. a weak basis: and capable of total overturn in one day. on the contrary, the love of your burgher subjects: that, if you can kindle it, will go on like a house on fire (ausbruch eines feures), and streams of water won't put it out.... "and [let us now take spener's very words] if a man keep the fear of god before his eyes, there will be no need for any other kind of fear. "i will therefore, you especially high-honored gentlemen, study to direct all my judicial endeavors to the honor of the great god, and to inviolable fidelity towards my most gracious king and lord [friedrich, by decision of providence--at mollwitz and elsewhere]. "to the citizens of this town, from of old so dear to me, and now by royal grace committed to my charge, and therefore doubly and trebly to be held dear, i mean to devote myself altogether. i will, on every occasion and occurrence, still more expressly than aforetime, stand by them; and when need is, not fail to bring their case before the just throne of our anointed [friedrich, by decision of providence]. justice and fairness i will endeavor, under whatever complexities, to make my loadstar. yes, i shall and will, by means of this my office, equip myself with weapons whereby i may be capable to damp such humors (intelligentien), should such still be (but i believe there are now none such), as may repugn against the royal interest, with possibility of being dangerous; and to put a bridle on mouths that are unruly. and, to say much in little compass, i will be faithful to god, to my king and to this town. "having now the honor and happiness to be put into official friendship with those gentlemen who, as burgermeisters, and as old and as new members of council, have for long years made themselves renowned among us, i will entertain, in respect of the former [the old] a firm confidence that the zeal they have so strongly manifested for behoof of the most serene archducal house of austria will henceforth burn in them for our most beloved land's prince whom god has now given us; that the fire of their lately plighted truth and devotion, towards his royal majesty, shall shine not in words only, but in works, and be extinguished only with their lives. [can that be, o spener or speer? are we alarm-clocks, that need only to be wound up, and told at what hour, and for whom?] god, who puts kings in and casts them out, has given to us a no less potent sovereign than supremely loving land's-father, who, by the renown of his more than royal virtues, had taken captive the hearts of his future subjects and children still sooner than even by his arms, familiar otherwise to victory, he did the land. and who shall be puissant and mighty enough, now to lead men's minds in a contrary direction; to control the most high power, ruler over hearts and lands, who had decreed it should be so; and again to change this change? [hear spener: he has taken great pains with his discourse, and understands composition!] "this change, high-honored gentlemen [of the catholic persuasion], is also for you a not unhappy one. for our now as pious as wise king will, especially in one most vital point, take pattern by the king of all kings; and means to be lord of his subjects only, not of the consciences of his subjects. he requires nothing from you but what you are already bound by god, by conscience, and duty, to render: to wit, obedience and inviolable unbroken fidelity. and by that, and without more asked than that, you will render yourselves worthy of his protection, and become partakers of the royal favor. nay you will render yourselves all the worthier in that high quarter, and the more meritorious towards our civic commonweal, the more you, high-honored gentlemen [of the catholic persuasion], accept, with all frankness of colleague-love and amity, me and the evangelical brother raths now introduced by royal grace and power; and make the new position generously tenable and available to us;--and thereby bind with us the more firmly the band of peace and colleague-unity, for helping up this dear, and for some years greatly fallen, town along with us. "we, for our poor part, will, one and all, strive only to surpass each other in obedience and faith to our most gracious king. we will, as regents of the citizenry committed to us, go before them with a good example; and prove to all and every one, that, little and in war untenable as our landshut is, it shall, in extent and impregnability of faith towards its most dearest land's-prince, approve itself unconquerable. as well i as"--professes now, in the most intricate phraseology, that he, and fischer and umminger (giving not only the titles, but a succinct history of all three, in a single sentence, before he comes to the verb!), bring a true heart, &c. &c.--or would the reader perhaps like to see it in natura, as a specimen of german human-nature, and the art these silesian spinners have in drawing out their yarns? "as well i as [ .] the titular herr johann david fischer, distinguished trader and merchant of this town, who, by his tradings in and beyond our silesian countries, has made himself renowned, and by his merit and address in particular instances [delicate instances known to landshut, not to us] has made himself beloved, who has now been installed as raths-senior; and also as [ .] the titular herr johann caspar ruffer, well-respected citizen, and revenue-office manager here, who for many years has with much fidelity and vigilance managed the revenue-office, and who for his experience in the economic constitution of this town has been all-graciously nominated raths-herr;--and not less [ .] the titular johann jacob umminger, whilom advocate at law in breslau, who, for his good studies in law, and manifested skill in the practice of law, has been an all-graciously nominated supernumerary councillor and notary's-adjunct among us:--as well i as these three not only assure you, high-honored gentlemen, of all imaginable estimation and return of love on our part; but do likewise assure all and sundry these respectable herren town-jurats [specially present], representing here the universal well-beloved citizenry of our town,--that we bring a heart sincere, and intent only on aiming at the welfare of a citizenry so loveworthy. we have the firm purpose by god's grace, so to order our walk, and so to conduct our government that we may, one day, when summoned from our judgment-seats to answer before the universal judgment-seat of christ, be able to say, with that pious king and judge of israel: 'lord, thou knowest if we have walked uprightly before thee.' and we hope to understand that the rewards of justice, in that life, will be much more than those of injustice in this. "we believe that the most high will, in so far, bless these our honest purposes and wholesome endeavors, as that the actual fruits thereof will in time coming, and when peace now soon expected (which god grant) has returned to us, be manifest; and that if, in our office, as is common, we should rather have thorns of persecution than roses of recompense to expect, yet to each of us there will at last accrue praise in the earth and reward in heaven. [hear spener!] "meanwhile we will unite all our wishes, that the almighty may vouchsafe to his royal majesty, our now all-dearest duke and land's-father, many long years of life and of happy reign; and maintain this all-highest royal-prussian and elector-brandenburgic house in supremest splendor and prosperity, undisturbed to the end of all days; and along with it, our town-council, and whole merchantry and citizenry, safe under this prussian sceptre, in perpetual blessing, peace and unity [what a modest prayer!]: to all which may heaven speak its powerful amen!" [_helden-geschichte,_ ii. - .]-- whereupon solemn waving of hats; indistinct sough of loyal murmur from the universal landshut population; after which, continued to the due extent, they return to their spindles and shuttles again. chapter vii. friedrich purposes to mend the klein-schnellendorf failure: fortunes of the belleisle armament. we shall not dwell upon the movements of the french into germany for the purpose of overwhelming austria, and setting up four subordinate little sovereignties to take their orders from louis xv. the plan was of the mad sort, not recognized by nature at all; the diplomacy was wide, expensive, grandiose, but vain and baseless; nor did the soldiering that followed take permanent hold of men's memory. human nature cannot afford to follow out these loud inanities; and, at a certain distance of time, is bound to forget them, as ephemera of no account in the general sum. difficult to say what profit human nature could get out of such transaction. there was no good soldiering on the part of the french except by gleams here and there; bad soldiering for the most part, and the cause was radically bad. let us be brief with it; try to snatch from it, huge rotten heap of old exuviae and forgotten noises and deliriums, what fractions of perennial may turn up for us, carefully forgetting the rest. maillebois with his , , we have seen how they got to osnabruck, and effectually stilled the war-fervor of little george ii.; sent him home, in fact, to england a checkmated man, he riding out of osnabruck by one gate, the french at the same moment marching in by the other. there lies maillebois ever since; and will lie, cantoned over westphalia, "not nearer than three leagues to the boundary of hanover," for a year and more. there let maillebois lie, till we see him called away else-wither, upon which the gallant little george, check-mate being lifted, will get into notable military activity, and attempt to draw his sword again,--though without success, owing to the laggard dutch. which also, as british subjects, if not otherwise, the readers of this book will wish to see something of. maillebois did not quite keep his stipulated distance of "three leagues from the boundary" (being often short of victual), and was otherwise no good neighbor. among his field-officers, there is visible (sometimes in trouble about quarters and the like) a marquis du chatelet,--who, i find, is husband or ex-husband to the divine emilie, if readers care to think of that! [_campagnes_ (i. , ); and french peerage-books,? du chatelat.] other known face, or point of interest for or against, does not turn up in the maillebois operation in those parts. as for the other still grander army, army of the oriflamme as we have called it,--which would be belleisle's, were not he so overwhelmed with embassying, and persuading the powers of germany,--this, since we last saw it, has struck into a new course, which it is essential to indicate. the major part of it (four rear divisions! if readers recollect) lay at ingolstadt, its place of arms; while the vanward three divisions, under maurice comte de saxe, flowed onward, joining with bavaria at passau; down the donau country, to linz and farther, terrifying vienna itself; and driving all the court to presburg, with (fabulous) "moriamur pro rege nostro maria theresia," but with actual armament of tolpatches, pandours, warasdins, uscocks and the like unsightly beings of a predatory centaur nature. which fine hungarian armament, and others still more ominous, have been diligently going on, while karl albert sat enjoying his homagings at linz, his pisgah-views vienna-ward; and asking himself, "shall we venture forward, and capture vienna, then?" the question is intricate, and there are many secret biasings concerned in the solution of it. friedrich, before klein-schnellendorf time, had written eagerly, had sent schmettau with eager message, "push forward; it is feasible, even easy: cut the matter by the root!" this, they say, was karl albert's own notion, had not the french overruled him;--not willing, some guess, he should get austria, and become too independent of them all at once. nay, it appears karl albert had inducements of his own towards bohemia rather. the french have had kur-sachsen to manage withal; and there are interests in bohemia of his and theirs,--clippings of bohemia promised him as bribes, besides that "kingdom of moravia," to get his , set on march. "clippings of bohemia? interests of kur-sachsen's in that country?" asks karl albert with alarm: and thinks it will be safer, were he himself present there, while saxony and france do the clippings in question! sure enough, he did not push on. belleisle, from the distance, strongly opined otherwise; karl albert himself had jealous fears about bohmen. friedrich's importunities and urgencies were useless: and the one chance there ever was for karl albert, for belleisle and the ruin of austria, vanished without return. karl albert has turned off, leftwards, towards his bohemian enterprises: french, bavarians, saxons, by their several routes, since the last days of october, are all on march that way. we will mark an exact date here and there, as fixed point for the reader's fancy. poor karl albert, he had sat some six weeks at linz,--about three weeks since that homaging there (october d);--imaginary sovereign of upper austria; looking over to vienna and the promised land in general. and that fine pisgah-view was all he ever had of it. of austrian or other conquests earthly or heavenly, there came none to him in this adventure;--mere minus quantities they all proved. for a few weeks more, there are, blended with awful portents, an imaginary gleam or two in other quarters; after which, nothing but black horror and disgrace, deepening downwards into utter darkness, for the poor man. belleisle is an imaginary sun-god; but the poor icarus, tempted aloft in that manner into the earnest elements, and melting at once into quills and rags, is a tragic reality!--let us to our dates:-- "october th, the bavarian troops, who had lain at mautern on the donau some time, forty miles from vienna and the promised land, got under way again;--not forward, but sharp to left, or northward, towards the bohemian parts. thither all the belleisle armaments are now bound; and a general rallying of them is to be at prag; for conquest of that country, as more inviting than austria at present. comte de saxe, who had lain at st. polten, a march to southward of mautern, he with the vanward of the great belleisle army, bestirred himself at the same time; and followed steadily (karl albert in person was with saxe), at a handy distance by parallel roads. to prag may be about miles. across the mannhartsberg country, clear out of austria, into bohmen, towards prag. at budweis, or between that and tabor, towns of our old friend zisca's, of which we shall hear farther in these wars; towns important by their intricate environment of rock and bog, far up among the springs of the moldau,--there can these bavarians, and this french vanward of belleisle, halt a little, till the other parties, who are likewise on march, get within distance." for in these same days, as hinted above, the rearward of the belleisle army (four divisions, strength not accurately given) pushes forward from donauworth, well rested, through the bavarian passes, towards bohemia and prag: these have a longer march (say miles)? to northeast; and the leader of them is one polastron, destined unhappily to meet us on a future occasion. with them go certain other bavarians; accompanying or preceding, as in the vanward case. and then the saxons ( , strong, a fine little army, all that saxony has) are, at the same time, come across the metal mountains (erzgebirge), in quest of those bohemian clippings, of that kingdom of moravia: and march from the westward upon prag,--rutowsky leading them. comte de rutowsky, comte de saxe's half-brother, one of the three hundred and fifty-four:--with whom is chevalier de saxe, a second younger ditto; and i think there is still a third, who shall go unnamed. in this grand oriflamme expedition, four of the royal-saxon bastards altogether." who cost us more distinguishing than they are worth! chief general of these saxons, says an authentic author, is rutowsky; got from a polish mother, i should guess: he commands in chief here;--once had a regiment under friedrich wilhelm, for a while; but has not much head for strategy, it may be feared. but mark that fourth individual of the three hundred and fifty-four, who has a great deal. fourth individual, called comte de saxe, who is now in that french vanward a good way to east, was (must i again remind you!) the produce of the fair aurora von konigsmark, sister of the konigsmark who vanished instantaneously from the light of day at hanover long since, and has never reappeared more. it was in search of him that aurora, who was indeed a shining creature (terribly insolvent all her life, whose charms even charles xii. durst not front), came to dresden; and,--in this comte de saxe, men see the result. tall enough, restless enough; most eupeptic, brisk, with a great deal of wild faculty,--running to waste, nearly all. there, with his black arched eyebrows, black swift physically smiling eyes, stands monseigneur le comte, one of the strongest-bodied and most dissolute-minded men now living on our planet. he is now turned of forty: no man has been in such adventures, has swum through such seas of transcendent eupepticity determined to have its fill. in this new quasi-sacred french enterprise, under the banner of belleisle and the chateauroux, he has at last, after many trials, unconsciously found his culmination: and will do exploits of a wonderful nature,--very worthy of said banner and its patrons. "here, then, are three streams or armaments pouring forward upon prag; perhaps some , men in all:--a good deal uncertain what they are to do at prag, except arrive simultaneously so far as possible. belleisle, far off, has fallen sick in these critical days. comte de saxe cannot see his way in the matter at all: 'what are we to live upon,' asks comte de saxe, 'were there nothing more!'--for, simultaneously with these three armaments on march, there is an important austrian one, likewise on the road for prag: that of grand-duke franz, who has left presburg, with say , (including the pandour element); and duly meets the neipperg, or late silesian army;--well capable, now, to do a stroke upon the three armaments, if he be speedy? 'november th' it was when grand-duke franz picked up neipperg, 'at frating' deep in moravia (november th, the very day while friedrich was getting homaged in breslau), and turned him northwestward again. the grand-duke, in such strength, marches rag-ward what he can; might be there before the french, were he swift; and is at any rate in disagreeable proximity to that budmeis-tabor country, appointed as one's halting-place." and belleisle, in these critical days, is--consider it!--"poor belleisle, he has all the election votes ready; he has done unspeakable labors in the diplomatic way; and leaves europe in ebullition and conflagration behind him. he has all these armies in motion, and has got rid of 'that moravia,'--given it to saxony, who adds the title 'king of moravia' to his other dignities, and has set on march those , men. 'would he were ready with them!' belleisle had been saying, ever since the treaty for them,--treaty was, september th. belleisle, to expedite him, came to dresden [what day is not said, but deep in october]; intending next for the prag country, there to commence general, the diplomacies being satisfactorily done. valori ran over from berlin to wait upon him there. alas, the saxons are on march, or nearly so; but the great man himself, worn down with these herculean labors, has fallen into rheumatic fever; is in bed, out at hubertsburg (serene country palace of his moravian polish majesty); and cannot get the least well, to march in person with the three armaments, with the flood of things he has set reeling and whirling at such rate. "the sympathies of valori go deep at this spectacle. the alcides, who was carrying the axis of the world, fallen down in physical rheumatism! but what can sympathies avail? the great man sees the saxons march without him. the great man, getting no alleviation from physicians, determines, in his patriotic heroism, to surrender glory itself; writes home to court, 'that he is lamed, disabled utterly; that they must nominate another general.' and they nominate another; nominate broglio, the fat choleric marshal, of italian breed and physiognomy, whom we saw at strasburg last year, when friedrich was there. broglio will quit strasburg too soon, and come. a man fierce in fighting, skilled too in tactics; totally incompetent in strategy, or the art of leading armies, and managing campaigns;--defective in intelligence indeed, not wise to discern; dim of vision, violent of temper; subject to sudden cranks, a headlong, very positive, loud, dull and angry kind of man; with whose tumultuous imbecilities the great belleisle will be sore tried by and by. 'i reckon this,' valori says, 'the root of all our woes;' this letter which the great belleisle wrote home to court. let men mark it, therefore, as a cardinal point,--and snatch out the date, when they have opportunity upon the archives of france. [see valori, i. .] "monseigneur the comte de saxe, before quitting the vienna countries, had left some , french and bavarians, posted chiefly in linz, under a comte de segur, to maintain those donau conquests, which have cost only the trouble of marching into them. count khevenhuller has ceased working at the ramparts of vienna, nothing of siege to be apprehended now, civic terror joyfully vanishing again; and busies himself collecting an army at vienna, with intent of looking into those same french segurs, before long. it is probable the so-called conquests on the donau will not be very permanent. "november th- st, the three belleisle armaments, karl albert's first, have, simultaneously enough for the case, arrived on three sides of prag; and lie looking into it,--extremely uncertain what to do when there. to comte de saxe, to schmettau, who is still here, the outlook of this grand belleisle army, standing shelterless, provisionless, grim winter at hand, long hundreds of miles from home or help, is in the highest degree questionable, though the others seem to make little of it: 'fight the grand-duke when he comes,' say they; 'beat him, and--' 'or suppose, he won't fight? or suppose, we are beaten by him?' answer saxe and schmettau, like men of knowledge, in the same boat with men of none. (we have no strong place, or footing in this country: what are we to do? take prag!' advises comte de saxe, with earnestness, day after day. [his letters on it to karl albert and others (in espagnac, i. - ).)] 'take prag: but how?' answer they. 'by escalade, by surprise, and sword in hand, answers he: 'ogilvy their general has but , , and is perhaps no wizard at his trade: we can do it, thus and thus, and then farther thus; and i perceive we are a lost army if we don't!' so counsels maurice comte de saxe, brilliant, fervent in his military views;--and, before it is quite too late, schmettau and he persuade karl albert, persuade rutowsky chief of the saxons; and count polastron, gaisson or whatever subaltern counts there are, of french type, have to accede, and be saved in spite of themselves. and so, "saturday night, th november, , brightest of moonshiny nights, our dispositions are all made: several attacks, three if i remember; one of them false, under some polastron, gaisson, from the south side; a couple of them true, from the northwest and the southeast sides, under maurice with his french, and rutowsky with his saxons, these two. and there is great marching 'on the side of the karl-thor (charles-gate),' where rutowsky is; and by count maurice 'behind the wischerad;'--and shortly after midnight the grand game begins. that french-polastron attack, false, though with dreadful cannonade from the south, attracts poor ogilvy with almost all his forces to that quarter; while the couple of saxon captains (rutowsky not at once successful, maurice with his french completely so) break in upon ogilvy from rearward, on the right flank and on the left; and ruin the poor man. military readers will find the whole detail of it well given in espagnac. looser account is to be had in the book they call mauvillon's." [_derniere guerre de boheme,_ i. - . saxe's own account (letter to chevalier de folard) is in espagnac, i. et seqq.] one thing i remember always: the bright moonlight; steeples of prag towering serene in silvery silence, and on a sudden the wreaths of volcanic fire breaking out all round them. the opposition was but trifling, null in some places, poor ogilvy being nothing of a wizard, and his garrison very small. it fell chiefly on rutowsky; who met it with creditable vigor, till relieved by the others. comte maurice, too, did a shifty thing. circling round by the outside of the wischerad, by rural roads in the bright moonshine, he had got to the wall at last, hollow slope and sheer wall; and was putting-to his scaling-ladders,--when, by ill luck, they proved too short! ten feet or so; hopelessly too short. casting his head round, maurice notices the gallows hard by: "there, see you, are a few short ladders: mes enfans, bring me these, and we will splice with rope!" supplemented by the gallows, maurice soon gets in, cuts down the one poor sentry; rushes to the market-place, finds all his brothers rushing, embraces them with "victoire!" and "you see i am eldest; bound to be foremost of you!" "no point in all the war made a finer blaze in the french imagination, or figured better in the french gazettes, than this of the scalade of prag, th november, . and surely it was important to get hold of prag; nevertheless, intrinsically it is no great thing, but an opportune small thing, done by the comte de saxe, in spite of such contradiction as we saw." it was while news of this exploit was posting towards berlin, but not yet arrived there, that friedrich, passing through the apartment, intimated to hyndford, "milord, all is divulged, our klein-schnellendorf mystery public as the house-tops;" and vanished with a shrug of the shoulders,--thinking doubtless to himself, "what is our next move to be, in consequence?" treaty with kur-baiern (november th) he had already signed in consequence, expressly declaring for kur-baiern, and the french intentions towards him. this news from prag--prag handsomely captured, if vienna had been foolishly neglected--put him upon a new adventure, of which in following chapters we shall hear more. the french safe in prag; kaiserwahl just coming on. grand-duke franz, with that respectable amount of army under him, ought surely to have advanced on prag, and done some stroke of war for relief of it, while time yet was. grand-duke franz, his brother karl with him and his old tutor neipperg, both of whom are thought to have some skill in war, did advance accordingly. but then withal there was risk at prag; and he always paused again, and waited to consider. from frating, on the th, [espagnac, i. .] he had got to neuhaus, quite across mahren into bohemian ground, and there joined with lobkowitz and what bohemian force there was; by this time an army which you would have called much stronger than the french. forward, therefore! yes; but with pauses, with considerations. pause of two days at neuhaus; thence to tabor (famed zisca's tabor), a safe post, where again pause three days. from tabor is broad highway to prag, only sixty miles off now:--screwing their resolution to the sticking-point, grand-duke and consorts advance at length with fixed determination, all friday, all saturday (november th, th), part of sunday too, not thinking it shall be only part; and their light troops are almost within sight of prag, when--they learn that prag is scaladed the night before, and quite settled; that there is nothing except destruction to be looked for in prag! back again, therefore, to the tabor-and-budweis land. they strike into that boggy broken country about budweis, some miles south of prag; and will there wait the signs of the times. grand-duke franz had seen war, under seckendorf, under wallis and otherwise, in the disastrous turk countries; but, though willing enough, was never much of a soldier: as to neipperg, among his own men especially, the one cry is, he ought to go about his business out of austrian armies, as an imbecile and even a traitor. "is it conceivable that friedrich could have beaten us, in that manner, except by buying neipperg in the first place? neipperg and the generality of them, in that luckless silesian business? glogau scaladed with the loss of half a dozen men; brieg gone within a week; neisse ditto: and mollwitz, above all, where, in spite of romer and such horse-charging as was never seen, we had to melt, dissolve, and roll away in the glitter of the evening sun!" the common notion is, they are traitors, partial-traitors, one and all. [_guerre de boheme,_ saepius.] poor neipperg he has seen hard service, had ugly work to do: it was he that gave away belgrade to the turks (so interpreting his orders), and the grand vizier, calling him dog of a giaour: spat in his face, not far from hanging him; and the kaiser and vienna people, on his coming home, threw him into prison, and were near cutting off his head. and again, after such sleety marchings through the mountains, he has had to dissolve at mollwitz; float away in military deluge in the manner we saw. and now, next winter, here is he lodged among the upland bogs at budweis, escorted by mere curses. what a life is the soldier's, like other men's; what a master is the world! aulic cabinet is not all-wise; but may readily be wiser than the vulgar, and, with a maria theresa at his head, it is incapable of truculent impiety like that. neipperg, guilty of not being a eugene, is not hanged as a traitor; but placed quietly as commandant in luxemburg, spends there the afternoon of his life, in a more commodious manner. friedrich had, of late, rather admired his movements on the neisse river; and found him a stiff article to deal with. the french, now with prag for their place of arms, stretched themselves as far as pisek, some seventy miles southwestward; occupied pisek, pilsen and other towns and posts, on the southwest side, some seventy miles from prag; looking towards the bavarian passes and homeward succors that might come: the saxons, a while after, got as far as teutschbrod, eighty miles on the southeastward or moravian hand. behind these outposts, prag may be considered to hang on silesia, and have friedrich for security. this, in front or as forecourt of friedrich's silesia, this inconsiderable section, was all of bohemian country the french and confederates ever held, and they did not hold this long. as for karl albert, he had his new pleasant dream of sovereignty at prag; titular of upper austria, and now of bohmen as well; and enjoyed his feast of the barmecide, and glorious repose in the captured metropolis, after difficulty overcome. december th, he was homaged (a good few of the nobility attending, for which they smarted afterwards), with much processioning, blaring and te-deum-ing: on the th he rolled off, home to munchen; there to await still higher romish-imperial glories, which it is hoped are now at hand. a day or two after the capture of prag, marechal de belleisle, partially cured of his rheumatisms, had hastened to appear in that city; and for above four weeks he continued there, settling, arranging, ordering all things, in the most consummate manner, with that fine military head of his. about christmas time, arrived marechal de broglio, his unfortunate successor or substitute; to whom he made everything over; and hastened off for frankfurt, where the final crisis of kaiserwahl is now at hand, and the topstone of his work is to be brought out with shouting. marechal de broglio had an unquiet winter of it in his new command; and did not extend his quarters, but the contrary. broglio has a bivouac of pisek; khevenhuller looks in upon the donau conquests. grand-duke franz edged himself at last a little out of that tabor-budweis region, and began looking prag-ward again;--hung about, for some time, with his hungarian light-troops scouring the country; but still keeping prag respectfully to right, at seventy miles distance. december th, to broglio's alarm, he tried a night-attack on pisek, the chief french outpost, which lies france-ward too, and might be vital. but he found the french (broglio having got warning) unexpectedly ready for him at pisek,--drawn up in the dark streets there, with torrents of musketry ready for his pandours and him;--and entirely failed of pisek. upon which he turned eastward to the budweis-tabor fastnesses again; left brother karl as commander in those parts (who soon leaves lobkowitz as substitute, vienna in the idle winter-time being preferable);--left brother karl, and proceeded in person, south, towards the donau countries, to see how khevenhuller might be prospering, who is in the field there, as we shall hear. of pisek and the night-skirmish at pisek, glorious to france, think all the gazettes, i should have said nothing, were it not that marechal broglio, finding what a narrow miss he had made, established a night-watch there, or bivouac, for six weeks to come; such as never was before or since: cavalry and infantry, in quantity, bivouacking there, in the environs of pisek, on the grim bohemian snow or snow-slush, in the depth of winter, nightly for six weeks, without whisper of an enemy at any time; whereby the marechal did save pisek (if pisek was ever again in danger), but froze horse and man to the edge of destruction or into it; so that the "bivouac of pisek" became proverbial in french messrooms, for a generation coming. [_guerre de boheme,_ ii. , &c.] and one hears in the mind a clangorous nasal eloquence from antique gesticulative mustachio-figures, witty and indignant,--who are now gone to silence again, and their fruitless bivouacs, and frosty and fiery toils, tumbling pell-mell after them. this of pisek was but one of the many unwise hysterical things poor broglio did, in that difficult position; which, indeed, was too difficult for any mortal, and for broglio beyond the average. one other thing we note: graf von khevenhuller, solid austrian man, issued from vienna, december st, last day of the year, with an army of only some , , but with an excellent military head of his own, to look into those conquests on the donau. which he finds, as he expected, to be mere conquests of stubble, capable of being swept home again at a very rapid rate. "khevenhuller, here as always, was consummate in his choice of posts," says lloyd; [general lloyd, _history of seven-years war,_ &c. (incidentally, somewhere).]--discovered where the arteries of the business lay, and how to handle the same. by choice of posts, by silent energy and military skill, khevenhuller very rapidly sweeps segur back; and shuts him up in linz. there segur, since the first days of january, is strenuously barricading himself; "wedging beams from house to house, across the streets;"--and hopes to get provision, the donau and the bavarian streams being still open behind him; and to hold out a little. it will be better if he do,--especially for poor karl albert and his poor bavaria! khevenhuller has also detached through the tyrol a general von barenklau (bear's-claw, much heard of henceforth in these wars), who has , regulars; and much hussar-folk under bloody mentzel:-across the tyrol, we say; to fall in upon bavaria and munchen itself; which they are too like doing with effect. ought not karl albert to be upon the road again? what a thing, were the kaiser elect taken prisoner by pandours! in fine, within a short two weeks or so, karl albert quits munchen, as no safe place for him; comes across to mannheim to his cousin philip, old kur-pfalz, whom we used to know, now extremely old, but who has marriages of grand-daughters, and other gayeties, on hand; which a cousin and prospective kaiser--especially if in peril of his life--might as well come and witness. this is the excuse karl albert makes to an indulgent public; and would fain make to himself, but cannot. barenklau and khevenhuller are too indisputable. nay this rumor of friedrich's "peace with austria," divulged bargain of klein-schnellendorf, if this also (horrible to think) were true--! which friedrich assures him it is not. karl albert writes to friedrich, and again writes; conjuring him, for the love of god, to make some thrust, then, some inroad or other, on those man-devouring khevenhullers; and take them from his, karl albert's, throat and his poor country's. which friedrich, on his own score, is already purposing to do. chapter viii. -- friedrich starts for moravia, on a new scheme he has. the austrian court had not kept friedrich's secret of klein-schnellendorf, hardly even for a day. it was whispered to the dowager empress, or empresses; who whispered it, or wrote it, to some other high party; by whom again as usual:--in fact, the austrian court, having once got their neipperg safe to hand, took no pains to keep the secret; but had probably an interest rather in letting it filter out, to set friedrich and his allies at variance. at all events, in the space of a few weeks, as we have seen, the rumor of a treaty between austria and friedrich was everywhere rife; friedrich, as he had engaged, everywhere denying it, and indeed clearly perceiving that there was like to be no ground for acknowledging it. the austrian court, instead of "completing the treaty before newyear's-day," had broken the previous bargain; evidently not meaning to complete; intent rather to wait upon their hungarian insurrection, and the luck of war. there is now, therefore, a new turn in the game. and for this also friedrich has been getting the fit card ready; and is not slow to play it. some time ago, november th,--properly november st, hardly three weeks since that of klein-schnellendorf,--finding the secret already out ("whispered of at breslau, th october," casually testifies hyndford), he had tightened his bands with france; had, on november th, formally acceded to karl albert's treaty with france. [accession agreed to, "frankfurt, nov. st," ; ratified "nov. th."] glatz to be his: he will not hear of wanting glatz; nor of wanting elsewhere the proper boundary for schlesien, "neisse river both banks" (which neipperg had agreed to, in his late sham-bargain);--quite strict on these preliminaries. and furthermore, kur-sachsen being now a partner in that french-bavarian treaty,--and a highly active one (with , in the field for him), who is "king of moravia" withal, and has some considerable northern paring of bohemia thrown in, by way of "road to moravia,"--friedrich made, at the same time, special treaty with kur-sachsen, on the points specially mutual to them; on the boundary point, first of all. which latter treaty is dated also november st, and was "ratified november th." treaty otherwise not worth reading; except perhaps as it shows us friedrich putting, in his brief direct way, kur-sachsen at once into austria's place, in regard to ober-schlesien. "boundary between your polish majesty and me to be the river neisse plus a full german mile;"--which (to belleisle's surprise) the polish majesty is willing to accept; and consents, farther, friedrich being of succinct turn, that commissioners go directly and put down the boundary-stones, and so an end. "let the silesian matter stand where it stood," thinks friedrich: "since austria will not, will you? put down the boundary-pillars, then!"--an interesting little glance into friedrich's inner man. and a prussian boundary commissioner, our friend nussler the man, did duly appear;--whom perhaps we shall meet,--though no saxon one quite did. [busching, _beitrage,_ i. (? nussler).] it is this boundary clause, it is friedrich's little decision, "put down the pillars, then," that alone can now interest any mortal in this saxon bargain; the clause itself, and the bargain itself, having quite broken down on the saxon side, and proved imaginary as a covenant made in dreams. could not be helped, in the sequel!-- meanwhile, the preliminary diplomacies being done in this manner, friedrich had ordered certain of his own forces to get in motion a little; ordered leopold, who has had endless nicety of management, since the french and saxons came into those bohemian circles of his, to go upon glatz; to lay fast hold of glatz, for one thing. and farther eastward, schwerin, by order, has lately gone across the mountains; seized troppau, friedenthal; nay olmutz itself, the capital of mahren,--in one day (december th), garrison of olmutz being too weak to resist, and the works in disrepair. "in heaven's name, what are your intentions, then?" asked the austrians there. "peaceable in the extreme," answered schwerin, "if only yours are. and if they are not--!" there sits schwerin ever since, busy strengthening himself, and maintains the best discipline; waiting farther orders. "the austrians will not complete their bargain of klein-schnellendorf?" thinks this young king; "very well; we will not press them to completion. we will not ourselves complete, should they now press. we will try another method, and that without loss of time."--it was a pungent reflection with friedrich that karl albert had not pushed forward on vienna, from linz that time, but had blindly turned off to the left, and thrown away his one chance. "cannot one still mend it; cannot one still do something of the like?" thinks friedrich now: "schwerin in olmutz; prussian troops cantoned in the highlands of silesia, or over in bohemia itself, near the scene of action; the saxons eastward as far as teutschbrod, still nearer; the french triumphant at prag, and reinforcement on the road for them: a combined movement on vienna, done instantly and with an impetus!" that is the thing friedrich is now bent upon; nor will he, like karl albert, be apt to neglect the hour of tide, which is so inexorable in such operations. at berlin, accordingly, he has been hurrying on his work, inspection, preparation of many kinds,--marriage of his brother august wilhelm, for one business; [ th january, (in bielfeld, ii. - , exuberant account of the ceremony, and of b.'s part in it).]--and (january th), after a stay of two months, is off fieldward again, on this new project. to dresden, first of all; saxony being an essential element; and valori being appointed to meet him there on the french side. it is january th, , when friedrich arrives; due opera festivities, "triple salute of all the guns," fail not at dresden; but his object was not these at all. polish majesty is here, and certain of the warlike bastard brothers home from winter-quarters, comte de saxe for one; valori also, punctually as due; and little graf von bruhl, highest-dressed of human creatures, who is factotum in this court. "your polish majesty, by treaty and title you are king of moravia withal: now is the time, now or never, to become so in fact! forward with your saxons:" urges friedrich: "the austrians and their lobkowitz are weak in that country: at iglau, just over the moravian border, they have formed a magazine; seize that, snatch it from lobkowitz: that gives us footing and basis there. forward with your saxons; valori gives us so-many french; i myself will join with , : swift, steady, all at once; we can seize moravia, who knows if not vienna itself, and for certain drive a stroke right home into the very bowels of the enemy!" that is friedrich's theme from the first hour of his arrival, and during all the four-and-twenty that he stayed. in one hour, polish majesty, who is fonder of tobacco and pastimes than of business, declared himself convinced;--and declared also that the time of opera was come; whither the two majesties had to proceed together, and suspend business for a while. polish majesty himself was very easily satisfied; but with the others, as valori reports it, the argument was various, long and difficult. "winter time; so dangerous, so precarious," answer bruhl and comte de saxe: there is this danger, this uncertainty, and then that other;--which the king and valori, with all their eloquence, confute. "impossible, for want of victual," answers maurice at last, driven into a corner: "iglau, suppose we get it, will soon be eaten; then where is our provision?"--"provision?" answers valori: "there is m. de sechelles, head of our commissariat in prag; such a commissary never was before." "and you consent, if i take that in hand?" urges friedrich upon them. they are obliged to consent, on that proviso. friedrich undertakes sechelles: the enterprise cannot now be refused. [_oeuvres de frederic_, ii. ; valori, i. ; &c. &c.] "alert, then; not a moment to be lost! good-night; au revoir, my noble friends!"--and to-morrow many hours before daybreak, friedrich is off for prag, leaving dresden to awaken when it can. at prag he renews acquaintance with his old maladroit strasburg friend, marechal de broglio, not with increase of admiration, as would seem; declines the demonstrations and civilities of broglio, business being urgent: finds m. de sechelles to be in truth the supreme of living commissaries (ready, in words which friedrich calls golden, "to make the impossible possible"): "only march, then, noble saxons: swift!"--and dashes off again, next morning, to northeastward, through leopold's bohemian cantonments, glatz-ward by degrees, to be ready with his own share of the affair; no delay in him, for one. january th, after konigsgratz and other prussian posts,--january th, which is elsewhere so notable a day,--his route goes northeast, to glatz, a hundred miles away, among the intricacies of the giant mountains, hither side of the silesian highlands; wild route for winter season, if the young king feared any route. from berlin, hither and farther, he may have gone well-nigh his seven hundred miles within the week; rushing on continually (starts, at say four in the winter morning); doing endless business, of the ordering sort, as he speeds along. glatz, a southwestern mountainous appendage to silesia, abutting on moravia and bohemia, is a small strong country; upon which, ever since the first friedrich times, we have seen him fixed; claiming it too, as expenses from the austrians, since they will not bargain. for he rises sibyl-like: a year ago, you might have had him with his , to boot, for the one duchy of glogau; and now--! at glatz or in these adjacent bohemian parts, the young dessauer has been on duty, busy enough, ever since the late siege of neisse: glatz town the young dessauer soon got, when ordered; town, population, territory, all is his,--all but the high mountain fortress (centre of the town of glatzj), with its stiff-necked austrian garrison shut up there, which he is wearing out by hunger. we remember the little note from valori's waistcoat-pocket, "don't give him glatz, if you can possibly help it!" in his latest treaties with the french and their allies, friedrich has very expressly bargained for the country (will even pay money for it); [_oeuvres de frederic,_ ii. .] and is determined to have it, when the austrians next take to bargaining. of glatz fortress, now getting hungered out by leopold's prussian detachment, i will say farther, though friedrich heeds these circumstances little at present, that it stands on a scarped rock, girt by the grim intricate hills; and that in the arsenal, in dusty fabulous condition, lies a certain drum, which readers may have heard of. drum is not a fable, but an antique reality fallen flaccid; made, by express bequest, as is mythically said, from the skin of zisca, above years ago: altogether mythic that latter clause. drum, fortress, town, villages and territory, all shall be friedrich's, had hunger done its work. [town already, after short scuffle, th january, ; fortress, by hunger (no firing nor being fired on, in the interim), th april following,--when the once , of garrison, worn to about , pale as shadows, marched away to brunn; "only ten of them able for duty on arriving." (orlich, i. .)] friedrich, while at glatz this time, gave a new dress to the virgin, say all the biographers; of which the story is this. holy virgin stood in the main convent of glatz, in rather a threadbare condition, when the prussians first approached; the jesuits, and ardently orthodox of both sexes, flagitating heaven and her with their prayers, that she would vouchsafe to keep the prussians out. in which case pious madame something, wife of the austrian commandant, vowed her a new suit of clothes. holy virgin did not vouchsafe; on the contrary, here the prussians are, and starvation with them. "courage, nevertheless, my new friends!" intimates friedrich: "the prussians are not bugaboos, as you imagined: holy virgin shall have a new coat, all the same!" and was at the expense of the bit of broadcloth with trimmings. he was in the way of making such investments, in his light sceptical humor; and found them answer to him. at glatz, and through those bohemian and silesian cantonments, he sets his people in motion for the moravian expedition; rapidly stirs up the due prussian detachments from their christmas rest among the mountains; and has work enough in these regions, now here now there. schwerin is already in olmutz, for a month past; and towards him, or his neighborhood, the march is to be. january th, friedrich, now with considerable retinue about him, gets from glatz to landskron, some fifty miles olmutz-ward; such a march as general stille never saw,--"through the ice and through the snow, which covered that dreadful chain of mountains between bohmen and mahren: we did not arrive till very late; many of our carriages broken down, and others overturned more than once." [stille (anonymous, friedrich's old-tutor stille), _campagnes du roi de prusse_ (english translation, mo, london, ), p. . an intelligent, desirable little volume,--many misprints in the english form of it.] at landskron next day, friedrich, as appointed, met the chevalier de saxe (chevalier, by no means comte, but a younger bastard, general of the saxon horse); and endeavored to concert everything: prussian rendezvous to be at wischau, on the th next; thence straightway to meet the saxons at trebitsch (convenient for that iglau),--if only the saxons will keep bargain. january th, past midnight, after another sore march, friedrich arrived at olmutz; a pretty town,--with an excellent old bishop, "a graf von lichtenstein, a little gouty man about fifty-two years of age, with a countenance open and full of candor; [stille, p. .] in whose fine palace, most courteously welcomed, the king lodged till near the day of rendezvousing. we will leave him there, and look westward a little; before going farther into the moravian expedition. friedrich himself is evidently much bent on this expedition; has set his heart on paying the austrians for their trickery at klein-schnellendorf, in this handsome way, and still picking up the chance against them which karl albert squandered. if only the french and saxons would go well abreast with friedrich, and thrust home! but will they? here is a surprising bit of news; not of good omen, when it reaches one at olmutz! "linz, th january, [day otherwise remarkable]. after the much barricading, and considerable defiance and bravadoing, by comte de segur and his , , he has lost this city in a scandalous manner [not quite scandalous, but reckoned so by outside observers]; and linz city is not now segur's, but khevenhuller's. to khevenhuller's first summons m. de segur had answered, 'i will hang on the highest gallows the next man that comes to propose such a thing!'--and within a week [khevenhuller having seized the donau river to rear of linz, and blasted off the bavarian party there], m. de segur did himself propose it ('free withdrawal: not serve against you for a year'); and is this day beginning to march out of linz." [_campagnes des trois marechaux,_ iii. , &c.; adelung, iii. a, p. , and p. (a paris street-song on it).] here is an example of defending key-positions! if segur's be the pattern followed, those conquests on the donau are like to go a fine road!--there came to friedrich, in all privacy, during his stay in olmutz at this bishop's, a diplomatic emissary from vienna, one pfitzner; charged with apologies, with important offers probably;--important; but not important enough. friedrich blames himself for being too abrupt on the man; might perhaps have learned something from him by softer treatment. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ ii. .] after three days, pfitzner had to go his ways again, having accomplished nothing of change upon friedrich. chapter ix. -- wilhelmina goes to see the gayeties at frankfurt. on the day when friedrich, overhung by the grim winter mountains, was approaching glatz, same day when segur was evacuating linz on those sad terms, that is, on the th day of january, ,--two gentlemen were galloping their best in the frankfurt-mannheim regions; bearing what they reckoned glad tidings towards mannheim and karl albert; who is there "on a visit" (for good reasons), after his triumphs at prag and elsewhere. the hindmost of the two gentlemen is an official of rank (little conscious that he is preceded by a rival in message-bearing); official gentleman, despatched by the diet of frankfurt to inform karl albert, that he now is actually kaiser of the holy romish empire; votes, by aid of heaven and belleisle, having all fallen in his favor. gallop, therefore, my official gentleman:--alas, another gentleman, non-official, knowing how it would turn, already sat booted and saddled, a good space beyond the walls of frankfurt, waiting till the cannon should fire; at the first burst of cannon, he (cunning dog) gives his horse the spur; and is miles ahead of the toiling official gentleman, all the way. [adelung, iii. a, .] in the dreary mass of long-winded ceremonial nothingnesses, and intricate belleisle cobwebberies, we seize this one poor speck of human foolery in the native state, as almost the memorablest in that stupendous business. stupendous indeed; with which all germany has been in travail these sixteen months, on such terms! and in verity has got the thing called "german kaiser" constituted, better or worse. heavens, was a nation ever so bespun by gossamer; enchanted into paralysis, by mountains of extinct tradition, and the want of power to annihilate rubbish! there are glittering threads of the finest belleisle diplomacy, which seem to go beyond the dog-star, and to be radiant, and irradiative, like paths of the gods: and they are, seem what they might, poor threads of idle gossamer, sunk already to dusty cobweb, unpleasant to poor human nature; poor human nature concerned only to get them well swept into the fire. the quantities of which sad litter, in this universe, are very great!-- karl albert, now at the top-gallant of his hopes: homaged archduke of upper austria, homaged king of bohemia, declared kaiser of the german nation,--is the highest-titled mortal going: and, poor soul, it is tragical, once more, to think what the reality of it was for him. ejection from house and home; into difficulty, poverty, despair; life in furnished lodgings, which he could not pay;--and at last heart-break, no refuge for him but in the grave. all which is mercifully hidden at present; so that he seems to himself a man at the top-gallant of his wishes; and lives pleasantly, among his friends, with a halo round his head to his own foolish sense and theirs. "karl albert, kurfurst of baiern [lazy readers ought to be reminded], whose achievements will concern us to an unpleasant extent, for some years, is now a lean man of forty-five; lean, erect, and of middle stature; a prince of distinguished look, they say; of elegant manners, and of fair extent of accomplishment, as princes go. his experiences in this world, and sudden ups and downs, have been and will be many. note a few particulars of them; the minimum of what are indispensable here. "english readers know a maximilian kurfurst of baiern, who took into french courses in the great spanish-succession war; the anti-marlborough maximilian, who was quite ruined out by the battle of blenheim; put under ban of the empire, and reduced to depend on louis xiv. for a living,--till times mended with him again; till, after the peace of utrecht, he got reinstated in his territories; and lived a dozen years more, in some comparative comfort, though much sunk in debt. well, our karl albert is the son of that anti-marlborough kurfurst maximilian; eldest surviving son; a daughter of the great sobieski of poland was his mother. nay, he is great-grandson of another still more distinguished maximilian, him of the thirty-years war,--(who took the jesuits to his very heart, and let loose ate on his poor country for the sake of them, in a determined manner; and was the first of all the bavarian kurfursts, mere dukes till then; having got for himself the poor winter-king's electorship, or split it into two as ultimately settled, out of that bad business),--great-grandson, we say, of that forcible questionable first kurfurst max; and descends from kaiser ludwig, 'ludwig the baier,' if that is much advantage to him. "in his young time he had a hard upcoming; seven years old at the battle of blenheim, and papa living abroad under louis xiv.'s shelter, the poor boy was taken charge of by the victorious austrian kaisers, and brought up in remote austrian towns, as a young 'graf von wittelsbach' (nothing but his family name left him), mere graf and private nobleman henceforth. however, fortune took the turn we know, and he became prince again; nothing the worse for this spartan part of his breeding. he made the grand tour, italy, france, perhaps more than once; saw, felt, and tasted; served slightly, at a siege of belgrade (one of the many sieges of belgrade);--wedded, in , a daughter of the late kaiser joseph's, niece of the late kaiser karl's, cousin of maria theresa's; making the due 'renunciations,' as was thought; and has been kurfurst himself for the last fourteen years, ever since , when his father died. a thrifty kurfurst, they say, or at least has occasionally tried to be so, conscious of the load of debts left on him; fond of pomps withal, extremely polite, given to devotion and to billets-doux; of gracious address, generous temper (if he had the means), and great skill in speaking languages. likes hunting a little,--likes several things, we see!--has lived tolerably with his wife and children; tolerably with his neighbors (though sour upon the late kaiser now and then); and is an ornament to munchen, and well liked by the population there. a lean, elegaut, middle-sized gentleman; descended direct from ludwig the ancient kaiser; from maximilian the first kurfurst, who walked by the light of father lammerlein (lambkin) and company, thinking it light from heaven; and lastly is son of maximilian the third kurfurst, whom learned english readers know as the anti-marlborough one, ruined out by the battle of blenheim. "his most important transaction hitherto has been the marriage with kaiser joseph's daughter;--of which, in pollnitz somewhere, there is sublime account; forgettable, all except the date (vienna, th october, ), if by chance that should concern anybody. karl albert (kurprinz, electoral prince or heir-apparent, at that time) made free renunciation of all right to austrian inheritances, in such terms as pleased karl vi., the then kaiser; the due complete 'renunciations' of inheriting in austria; and it was hoped he would at once sign the pragmatic sanction, when published; but he has steadily refused to do so; 'i renounced for my wife,' says kurfurst karl, 'and will never claim an inch of austrian land on her account; but my own right, derived from kaiser ferdinand of blessed memory, who was father of my great-grandmother, i did not, do not, never will renounce; and i appeal to his pragmatic sanction, the much older and alone valid one, according to which, it is not you, it is i that am the real and sole heir of austria.' "this he says, and has steadily said or meant: 'it is i that am to be king of bohemia; i that shall and will inherit all your austrias, upper, under, your swabian brisgau or hither austria, and what of the tyrol remained wanting to me. your archduchess will have hungary, the styrian-carinthian territories; florence, i suppose, and the italian ones. what is hers by right i will be one of those that defend for her; what is not hers, but mine, i will defend against her, to the best of my ability!' this was privately, what it is now publicly, his argument; from which he never would depart; refusing always to accept kaiser karl's new pragmatic sanction; getting saxony (who likewise had a ferdinand great-grandmother) to refuse,--till polish election compelled poor saxony, for a time. karl albert had likewise secretly, in past years, got his abstruse old cousin of the pfalz (who mended the heidelberg tun) to back him in a treaty; nay, still better, still more secretly, had got france itself to promise eventual hacking:--and, on the whole, lived generally on rather bad terms with the late kaiser karl, his wife's uncle; any reconciliation they had proving always of temporary nature. in the rhenish war ( ), karl albert, far from assisting the kaiser, raised large forces of his own; kept drilling them, in four or three camps, in an alarming manner; and would not even send his reich's contingent (small body of , he is by law bound to send), till he perceived the war was just expiring. he was in angry controversy with the kaiser, claiming debts,--debts contracted in the last generation, and debts going back to the thirty-years war, amounting to hundreds of millions,--when the poor kaiser died; refusing payment to the last, nay claiming lands left him, he says, by margaret mouthpoke: [michaelis, ii. ; buchholz, ii. ; hormayr, _anemonen,_ ii. ; &c.] 'cannot pay your serene highness (having no money); and would not, if i could!' leaving karl albert to protest to the uttermost;"--which, as we ourselves saw in vienna, he at once honorably did. karl albert's subsequent history is known to readers; except the following small circumstance, which occurred in his late transit, flight, or whatever we may call it, to mannheim, and is pleasantly made notable to us by wilhelmina. "his highness on the way from munchen," intimates our princess, "passed through baireuth in a very bad post-chaise." this, as we elsewhere pick out, was on january th; karl albert in post-haste for the marriage-ceremony, which takes place at mannheim to-morrow. [adelung, iii. a, .] "my margraf, accidentally hearing, galloped after him, came up with him about fifteen miles away: they embraced, talked half an hour; very content, both." [wilhelmina, ii. .] and eight days afterwards, th january, , busy belleisle (how busy for this year past, since we saw him in the oeil-de-boeuf!) gets him elected kaiser;--and segur, in the self-same hours, is packing out of linz; and one's donau "conquests," not to say one's munchen, one's baiern itself, are in a fine way! the marriage-ceremony, witnessed on the th, was one of the sublimest for kur-pfalz and kindred; and it too had secretly a touch of tragedy in it for the poor karl albert. a double marriage: two young princesses, grand-daughters, priceless heiresses, to old kur-pfalz; married, one of them to duke clement of baiern, karl albert's nephew, which is well enough: but married, the other and elder of them, to theodor of deux-ponts, who will one day--could we pierce the merciful veil--be kurfurst of baiern, and succeed our own childless son! [michaelis, ii. .] "kaiser karl vii.," such the style he took, is to be crowned february th; makes sublime public entry into frankfurt, with that view, january st;--both ceremonies splendid to a wonder, in spite of finance considerations. which circumstance should little concern us, were it not that wilhelmina, hearing the great news (though in a dim ill-dated state), decided to be there and see; did go;--and has recorded her experiences there, in a shrill human manner. wishful to see our fellow-creatures (especially if bound to look at them), even when they are fallen phantasmal, and to make persons of them again, we will give this piece; sorry that it is the last we have of that fine hand. how welcome, in the murky puddle of dryasdust, is any glimpse by a lively glib wilhelmina, which we can discern to be human! hear what wilhelmina says (in a very condensed form):-- wilhelmina at the coronation. wilhelmina, in the end of january, ,--karl albert having shot past, one day lately, in a bad post-chaise, and kindled the thought in her,--resolved to go and see him crowned at frankfurt, by way of pleasure-excursion. we will, struggling to be briefer, speak in her person; and indicate withal where the very words are hers, and where ours. the marwitz, elder marwitz, her poor father being wounded at mollwitz, [_militair-lexikon,_ iii. ; and _preussische adels-lexikon,_ iii. .] had gone to berlin to nurse him; but she returned just now,--not much to my joy; i being, with some cause, jealous of that foolish minx. the duchess dowager of wurtemberg also came, sorrow on her; a foolish talking woman, always cutting jokes, making eyes, giggling and coquetting; "has some wit and manner, but wearies you at last: her charms, now on the decline, were never so considerable as rumor said; in the long-run she bores you with her french gayeties and sprightliness: her character for gallantry is too notorious. she quite corrupted marwitz, in this and a subsequent visit; turned the poor girl's head into a french whirligig, and undermined any little moral principle she had. she was on the road to berlin,"--of which anon, for it is not quite nothing to us;--"but she was in no hurry, and would right willingly have gone with us." and it required all our female diplomacy to get her under way again, and fairly out of our course. january th, she off to berlin; we, same day, to frankfurt-on-mayn. [wilhelmina, ii. ; see pp. , , , &c. for the other salient points that follow.] coronation was to have been (or we country-folk thought it was), january st: let us be there incognito, the night before; see it, and return the day after. that was our plan. bad roads, waters all out; we had to go night and day;--reached the gates of frankfurt, th january late. berghover, our legationsrath there, says we are known everywhere; coronation is not to be till february th! i was fatigued to death, a bad cold on me, too: we turned back to the last village; stayed there overnight. back again to berghover, in secret (a la sourdine), next night; will see the public entry of karl albert, which is to be to-morrow (not quite, my princess; january st for certain, [adelung, iii. a, ; &c. &c.] did one the least care). "it was a very grand thing indeed (des plus superbes); but i will not stop describing it. masked ball that night; where i had much amusement, tormenting the masks; not being known to anybody. we next day retired to a small private house, which berghover had got for us, out of town, for fear of being discovered; and lodged there, waiting february th, under difficulties." the weather was bitterly cold; we had brought no clothes; my dames and i nothing earthly but a black andrienne each (whatever that may be), to spare bulk of luggage: strictest incognito was indispensable. the marwitzes, for giggling, raillery, french airs, and absolute impertinence, were intolerable, in that solitary place. we return to frankfurt again; have balls and theatres, at least: "of these latter i missed none. one evening, my head-dress got accidentally shoved awry, and exposed my face for a moment; prince george of hessen-cassel, who was looking that way, recognized me; told the prince of orange of it;--they are in our box, next minute!" prince george of hessen-cassel, did readers ever hear of him before? transiently perhaps, in friedrich's letters to his father; but have forgotten him again; can know him only as the outline of a shadow. a fat solid military man of fifty; junior brother of that solid wilhelm, vice-regent and virtual "landgraf of hessen"--(vice an elder and eldest brother, friedrich, the now majesty of sweden, who is actual hereditary landgraf, but being old, childless, idle, takes no hold of it, and quite leaves it to wilhelm),--of whom english readers may have heard, and will hear. for it is wilhelm that hires us those "subsidized , ," who go blaring about on english pay (prince george merely commandant of them); and wilhelm, furthermore, has wedded his heir-apparent to an english princess lately; [princess mary (age only about seventeen), th june, ; prince's name was friedrich (became catholic, ; wife made family-manager in consequence, &c. &c.).] which also (as the poor young fellow became papist by and by) costs certain english people, among others, a good deal of trouble. uncle george, we say, is merely commandant of those blaring , ; has had his own real soldierings before this; his own labors, contradictions, in his time; but has borne all patiently, and grown fat upon it, not quarrelling with his burdens or his nourishments. perhaps we may transiently meet him again. as to the prince of orange, him we have seen more than once in times past: a young fellow in comparison, sprightly, reckoned clever, but somewhat humpbacked; married an english princess, years ago ("papa, if he were as ugly as a baboon!")--which fine princess, we find, has stopt short at cassel, too fatigued on the present occasion. "his esprit," continues wilhelmina, "and his conversation, delighted me. his wife, he said, was at cassel; he would persuade her to come and make my acquaintance;"--could not; too far, in this cold season. "these two serene highnesses would needs take me home in their carriage; they asked the margraf to let them stay supper: from that hour they were never out of our house. next morning, by means of them, the secret had got abroad. kur-koln [lanky hook-nosed gentleman, richest pluralist in the church] had set spies on us; next evening he came up to me, and said, 'madam, i know your highness; you must dance a measure with me!' that comes of one's head-gear getting awry! we had nothing for it but to give up the incognito, and take our fate!" this dancing elector of koln, a man still only entering his forties, is the new emperor's brother: [clement august (hubner, t. ).] do readers wonder to see him dance, being an archbishop? the fact is certain,--let the three kings and the eleven thousand virgins say to it what they will. "he talked a long time with me; presented to me the princess clemence his niece [that is to say, wife of his nephew clement; one of the two whom his now imperial majesty saw married the other day], [michaelis, ii. , ; hubner, tt. , .] and then the princess"--in fact, presented all the three sulzbach princesses (for there is a youngest, still to wed),--"and then prince theodor [happy husband of the eldest], and prince clement [ditto of the younger];" and was very polite indeed. how keep our incognito, with all these people heaping civilities upon us? let us send to baireuth for clothes, equipages; and retire to our country concealment till they arrive. "just as we were about setting off thither, i waiting till the margraf were ready, the xargraf entered, and a lady with him; who, he informed me, was madame de belleisle, the french ambassador's wife:"--wife of the great belleisle, the soul of all these high congregatings, consultations, coronations, who is not kaiser but maker of kaisers: what is to be done!--"i had carefully avoided her; reckoning she would have pretensions i should not be in the humor to grant. i took my resolution at the moment [being a swift decisive creature]; and received her like any other lady that might have come to me. her visit was not long. the conversation turned altogether upon praises of the king [my brother]. i found madame de belleisle very different from the notion i had formed of her. you could see she had moved in high company (sentait son monde); but her air appeared to me that of a waiting-maid (soubrette), and her manners insignificant." let madame take that. "monseigneur himself," when our equipages had come, "waited on me several times,"--monseigueur the grand marechal de belleisle, among the other principalities and lordships: but of this lean man in black (who has done such famous things, and will have to do the retreat of prag within year and day), there is not a word farther said. old seckendorf too is here; "reich's-governor of philipsburg;" very ill with austria, no wonder; and striving to be well with the new kaiser. doubtless old seckendorf made his visit too (being of baireuth kin withal), and snuffled his respects: much unworthy of mention; not lovely to wilhelmina. prince of orange, hunchbacked, but sprightly and much the prince, bore me faithful company all the coronation time; nor was george of hessen-cassel wanting, good fat man. of the coronation itself, though it was truly grand, and even of an oriental splendor,[_anemonen,_ ubi supra.] i will say nothing. the poor kaiser could not enjoy it much. he was dying of gout and gravel, and could scarcely stand on his feet. poor gentleman; and the french are driven dismally out of linz; and the austrians are spreading like a lava-flood or general conflagration over baiern--demon mentzel, whom they call colonel mentzel, he (if we knew it) is in munchen itself, just as we are getting crowned here! and unless king friedrich, who is falling into mahren, in the flank of them, call back this infernal chase a little, what hope is there in those parts!--the poor kaiser, oftenest in his bed, is courting all manner of german princes,--consulting with seckendorfs, with cunning old stagers. he has managed to lead my margraf into a foolish bargain, about raising men for him. which bargain i, on fairly getting sight of it, persuade my margraf to back out of; and, in the end, he does so. meanwhile, it detains us some time longer in frankfurt, which is still full of principalities, busy with visitings and ceremonials. among other things, by way of forwarding that bargain i was so averse to, our official people had settled that i could not well go without having seen the empress, after her crowning. foolish people; entangling me in new intricacies! for if she is a kaiser's daughter and kaiser's spouse, am not i somewhat too? "how a king's daughter and an empress are to meet, was probably never settled by example: what number of steps down stairs does she come? the arm-chair (fauteuil), is that to be denied me?" and numerous other questions. the official people, baireuthers especially, are in despair; and, in fact, there were scenes. but i held firm; and the berlin ambassadors tempering, a medium was struck: steps of stairs, to the due number, are conceded me; arm-chair no, but the empress to "take a very small arm-chair," and i to have a big common chair (grand dossier). so we meet, and i have sight of this princess, next day. in her place, i confess i would have invented all manner of etiquettes, or any sort of contrivance, to save myself from showing face. "heavens! the empress is below middle size, and so corpulent (puissante), she looks like a ball; she is ugly to the utmost (laide au possible), and without air or grace." kaiser joseph's youngest daughter,--the gods, it seems, have not been kind to her in figure or feature! and her mind corresponds to her appearance: she is bigoted to excess; passes her nights and days in her oratory, with mere rosaries and gaunt superstitious platitudes of that nature; a dark fat dreary little empress. "she was all in a tremble in receiving me; and had so discountenanced an air, she could n't speak a word. we took seats. after a little silence, i began the conversation, in french. she answered me in her austrian jargon, that she did not well understand that language, and begged i would speak to her in german. our conversation was not long. her austrian dialect and my lower-saxon are so different that, till you have practised, you are not mutually intelligible in them. accordingly we were not. a by-stander would have split with laughing at the babel we made of it; each catching only a word here and there, and guessing the rest. this princess was so tied to her etiquette, she would have reckoned it a crime against the reich to speak to me in a foreign language; for she knew french well enough. "the kaiser was to have been of this visit; but he had fallen so ill, he was considered even in danger of his life. poor prince, what a lot had he achieved for himself!" reflects wilhelmina, as we often do. he was soft, humane, affable; had the gift of captivating hearts. not without talent either; but then of an ambition far disproportionate to it. "would have shone in the second rank, but in the first went sorrowfully eclipsed," as they say! he could not be a great man, nor had about him any one that could; and he needed now to be so. this is the service a belleisle can do; inflating a poor man to kaisership, beyond his natural size! crowned kaiser, and mentzel just entering his munchen the while; a kaiser bedrid, stranded; lying ill there of gout and gravel, with the demon mentzels eating him:--well may his poor little bullet of a kaiserinn pray for him night and day, if that will avail!-- the duchess dowager of wurtemberg, returning from berlin favors us with another visit. i am sorry to say this is almost the last scene we shall get out of wilhelmina. she returns to baireuth; breaks there conclusively that unwise frankfurt bargain; receives by and by (after several months, when much has come and gone in the world) the returning duchess of wurtemberg, effulgent dowager "spoken of only as a lais:" and has other adventures, alluded to up and down, but not put in record by herself any farther.--sorrowfully let us hear wilhelmina yet a little, on this lais duchess, who will concern us somewhat. dowager, much too effulgent, of the late karl alexander, a reichs-feldmarschall (or fourth-part of one, if readers could remember) and duke of wurtemberg,--whom we once dined with at prag, in old friedrich-wilhelm and prince-eugene times:-- "this princess, very famous on the bad side, had been at berlin to see her three boys settled there, whose education she [and the stande of wurtemberg, she being regent] had committed to the king. these princes had been with us on their road thither, just before their mamma last time. the eldest, age fourteen, had gone quite agog (s'etoit amourache) about my little girl, age only nine; and had greatly diverted us by his little gallantries [mark that, with an alas!]. the duchess, following somewhat at leisure, had missed the king that time; who was gone for mahren, january th. ... i found this princess wearing pretty well. her features are beautiful, but her complexion is faded and very yellow. her voice is so high and screechy, it cuts your ears; she does not want for wit, and expresses herself well. her manners are engaging for those whom she wishes to gain; and with men are very free. her way of thinking and acting offers a strange contrast of pride and meanness. her gallantries had brought her into such repute that i had no pleasure in her visits." [wilhelmina, ii. .] no pleasure; though she often came; and her eldest prince, and my little girl--well, who knows! besides her three boys (one of whom, as reigning duke, will become notorious enough to wilhelmina and mankind), the lais duchess has left at berlin--at least, i guess she has now left him, in exchange perhaps for some other--a certain very gallant, vagabond young marquis d'argens, "from constantinople" last; originally from the provence countries; extremely dissolute creature, still young (whom papa has had to disinherit), but full of good-humor, of gesticulative loyal talk, and frothy speculation of an anti-jesuit turn (has written many frothy books, too, in that strain, which are now forgotten): who became a very great favorite with friedrich, and will be much mentioned in subsequent times. "in the end of july," continues wilhelmina, "we went to stouccard [stuttgard, capital of wurtemberg, o beautiful glib tongue!], whither the duchess had invited us: but--" and there we are on blank paper; our dear wilhelmina has ceased speaking to us: her memoirs end; and oblivious silence wraps the remainder!-- concerning this effulgent dowager of wurtemberg, and her late ways at berlin, here, from bielfeld, is another snatch, which we will excerpt, under the usual conditions: "berlin, february, [real date of all that is not fabulous in bielfeld, who chaotically dates it " th december" of that year]. ... a day or two after this [no matter what] i went to the german play, the only spectacle which is yet fairly afoot in berlin. in passing in, i noticed the duchess dowager of wurtemberg, who had arrived, during my absence, with a numerous and brilliant suite, as well to salute the king and the queens [king off, on his moravian business, before she came], and to unite herself more intimately with our court, as to see the three princes her children settled in their new place, where, by consent of the states of wurtemberg, they are to be educated henceforth. "as i had not yet had myself presented to the duchess, i did not presume to approach too near, and passed up into the theatre. but she noticed me in the side-scenes; asked who i was [such a handsome fashionable fellow], and sent me order to come immediately and pay my respects. to be sure, i did so; was most graciously received; and, of course, called early next day at her palace. her grand-chamberlain had appointed me the hour of noon. he now introduced me accordingly: but what was my surprise to find the princess in bed; in a negligee all new from the laundress, and the gallantest that art could imagine! on a table, ready to her hand, at the dossier or bed-bead, stood a little basin silver-gilt, filled with holy water: the rest was decorated with extremely precious relics, with a crucifix, and a rosary of rock-crystal. her dress, the cushions, quilt, all was of marseilles stuff, in the finest series of colors, garnished with superb lace. her cap was of alencon lace, knotted with a ribbon of green and gold. figure to yourself, in this gallant deshabille, a charming princess, who has all the wit, perfection of manner--and is still only thirty-seven, with a beauty that was once so brilliant! round the celestial bed were courtiers, doctors, almoners, mostly in devotional postures; the three young princes; and a dame d'atours, who seemed to look slightly ennuyee or bored." i had the honor to kiss her serene highness's hand, and to talk a great many peppered insipidities suitable to the occasion. dinner followed, more properly supper, with lights kindled: "only i cannot dress, you know," her highness had said; "i never do, except for the queen-mother's parties;"--and rang for her maids. so that you are led out to the anteroom, and go grinning about, till a new and still more charming deshabille be completed, and her most serene highness can receive you again: "now messieurs! pshaw, one is always stupid, no esprit at all except by candlelight!"--after which, such a dinner, unmatchable for elegance, for exquisite gastronomy, for attic-paphian brilliancy and charm! and indeed there followed hereupon, for weeks on weeks, a series of such unmatchable little dinners; chief parts, under that charming presidency, being done by "grand-chamberlain baron de" something-or-other, "by your humble servant bielfeld, m. jordan, and a marquis d'argens, famous provencal gentleman now in the suite of her highness:" [bielfeld, ii. - .]--feasts of the barmecide i much doubt, poor bielfeld being in this chapter very fantastic, misdateful to a mad extent; and otherwise, except as to general effect, worth little serious belief. we shall meet this paphian dowager again (crucifix and myrtle joined): meet especially her d'argens, and her three little princes more or less;--wherefore, mark slightly (besides the d'argens as above):-- " . the eldest little prince, karl eugen; made 'reigning duke' within three years hence [mamma falling into trouble with the stande]: a man still gloomily famous in germany [poet schiller's duke of wurtemberg], of inarticulate, extremely arbitrary turn,--married wilhelmina's daughter by and by [with horrible usage of her]; and otherwise gave friedrich and the world cause to think of him. " . the second little prince, friedrich eugen, prussian general of some mark, who will incidentally turn up again, he was afterwards successor to the dukedom [karl eugen dying childless]; and married his daughter to paul of russia, from whom descend the autocrats there to this day. " . youngest little prince, ludwig eugen, a respectable prussian officer, and later a french one: he is that 'duc de wirtemberg' who corresponds with voltaire [inscrutable to readers, in most of the editions]; and need not be mentioned farther." [see michaelis, iii. ; preuss, i. ; &c. &c.] but enough of all this. it is time we were in mahren, where the expedition must be blazing well ahead, if things have gone as expected. chapter x. -- friedrich does his moravian expedition which proves a mere moravian foray. while these coronation splendors had been going on, friedrich, in the moravian regions, was making experiences of a rather painful kind; his expedition prospering there far otherwise than he had expected. this winter expedition to mahren was one of the first friedrich had ever undertaken on the joint-stock principle; and it proved of a kind rather to disgust him with that method in affairs of war. a deeply disappointing expedition. the country hereabouts was in bad posture of defence; nothing between us and vienna itself, in a manner. rushing briskly forward, living on the country where needful, on that iglau magazine, on one's own sechelles resources; rushing on, with the saxons, with the french, emulous on the right hand and the left, a captain like friedrich might have gone far; vienna itself--who knows!--not yet quite beyond the reach of him. here was a way to check khevenhuller in his bavarian operations, and whirl him back, double-quick, for another object nearer home!--but, alas, neither the saxons nor the french would rush on, in the least emulous. the saxons dragged heavily arear; the french detachment (a poor , under polastron, all that a captious broglio could be persuaded to grant) would not rush at all, but paused on the very frontier of moravia, broglio so ordering, and there hung supine, or indeed went home. friedrich remonstrated, argued, turned back to encourage; but it was in vain. the saxon bastard princes "lived for days in any schloss they found comfortable;" complaining always that there was no victual for their troops; that the prussians, always ahead, had eaten the country. no end to haggling; and, except on friedrich's part, no hearty beginning to real business. "if you wish at all to be 'king of moravia,' what is this!" thinks friedrich justly. broglio, too, was unmanageable,--piqued that valori, not broglio, had started the thing;--showed himself captious, dark, hysterically effervescent, now over-cautious, and again capable of rushing blindly headlong. to broglio the fact at linz, which everybody saw to be momentous, was overwhelming. magnanimous segur, and his linz "all wedged with beams," what a road have they gone! said so valiantly they would make defence; and did it, scarcely for four days: january th; before this expedition could begin! true, m. le marechal, too true:--and is that a reason for hanging back in this mahren business; or for pushing on in it, double-quick, with all one's strength? "but our conquests on the donau," thinks broglio, "what will become of them,--and of us!" to broglio, justly apprehensive about his own posture at prag and on the donau, there never was such a chance of at once raking back all austrians homewards, post-haste out of those countries. but broglio could by no means see it so,--headstrong, blusterous, over-cautious and hysterically headlong old gentleman; whose conduct at prag here brought strasburg vividly to friedrich's memory. upon which, as upon the ghost of broglio's breeches, valori had to hear "incessant sarcasms" at this time. in a word, from february th, when friedrich, according to bargain, rendezvoused his prussians at wischau to begin this expedition, till april th, when he re-rendezvoused them (at the same wischau, as chanced) for the purpose of ending it and going home,--friedrich, wrestling his utmost with human stupidity, "mit der dummheit [as schiller sonorously says], against which the very gods are unvictorious," had probably two of the most provoking months of his life, or of this first silesian war, which was fruitful in such to him. for the common cause he accomplished nearly nothing by this moravian expedition. but, to his own mind, it was rich in experiences, as to the joint-stock principle, as to the partners he now had. and it doubtless quickened his steps towards getting personally out of this imbroglio of big french-german wars,--home to berlin, with peace and silesia in his pocket,--which had all along been the goal of his endeavors. as a feat of war it is by no means worth detailing, in this place,--though succinct stille, and bulkier german books give lucid account, should anybody chance to be curious. [stille, _campaigns of the king of prussia,_ i. - ; _helden-geschichte,_ ii. - ; _oeuvres de frederic,_ ii. - ; orlich, ii.; &c. &c.] only under the other aspect, as friedrich's experience of partnership, and especially of his now partners, are present readers concerned to have, in brief form, some intelligible notion of it. iglau is got, but not the magazine at iglau. friedrich was punctual at wischau; head-quarters there (midway between olmutz and brunn), prussians all assembled, th february, . wischau is some eighty miles east or inward of iglau; the french and saxons are to meet us about trebitsch, a couple of marches from that teutschbrod of theirs, and well within one march of iglau, on our route thither. the french and saxons are at trebitsch, accordingly; but their minds and wills seem to be far elsewhere. rutowsky and the chevalier de saxe command the saxons ( , strong on paper, , in reality); comte de polastron the french, who are , , all horse. along with whom, professedly as french volunteer, has come the comte de saxe, capricious maurice (marechal de saxe that will be), who has always viewed this expedition with disfavor. excellency valori is with the french detachment, or rather poor valori is everywhere; running about, from quarter to quarter, sometimes to prag itself; assiduous to heal rents everywhere; clapping cement into manifold cracks, from day to day. through valori we get some interesting glimpses into the secret humors and manoeuvres of comte maurice. it is known otherwise comte maurice was no friend to belleisle, but looked for his promotion from the opposite or noailles party, in the french court: at present, as valori perceives, he has got the ear of broglio, and put much sad stuff into the loud foolish mind of him. to these saxon gentlemen, being bastard-royal and important to conciliate, friedrich has in a high-flown way assigned the schloss of budischau for quarters, an excellent superbly magnificent mansion in the neighborhood of trebitsch, "nothing like it to be seen except in theatres, on the drop-scene of _the enchanted island;"_ [stille, _campaigns,_ p. .] where they make themselves so comfortable, says friedrich, there is no getting them roused to do anything for three days to come. and yet the work is urgent, and plenty of it. "iglau, first of all," urges friedrich, "where the austrians, , or so, under prince lobkowitz, have posted themselves [right flank of that long straggle of winter cantonments, which goes leftwards to budweis and farther], and made magazines: possession of iglau is the foundation-stone of our affairs. and if we would have iglau with the magazines and not without, surely there is not a moment to be wasted!" in vain; the saxon bastard princes feel themselves very comfortable. it was sunday the th of february, when our junction with them was completed: and, instead of next morning early, it is wednesday afternoon before prince dietrich of anhalt-dessau, with the saxon and french party roused to join his prussians and him, can at last take the road for iglau. prince dietrich makes now the reverse of delay; marches all night, "bivouacs in woods near iglau," warming himself at stick-fires till the day break; takes iglau by merely marching into it and scattering , pandours, so soon as day has broken; but finds the magazines not there. lobkowitz carted off what he could, then burnt "seventeen barns yesterday;" and is himself off towards budweis head-quarters and the bohemian bogs again. this comes of lodging saxon royal gentlemen too well. the saxons think iglau enough; the french go home. nay, iglau taken, the affair grows worse than ever. our saxons now declare that they understand their orders to be completed; that their court did not mean them to march farther, but only to hold by iglau, a solid footing in moravia, which will suffice for the present. fancy friedrich; fancy valori, and the cracks he will have to fill! friedrich, in astonishment and indignation, sends a messenger to dresden: "would the polish majesty be 'king of moravia,' then, or not be?" remonstrances at budischau rise higher and higher; valori, to prevent total explosion, flies over once, in the dead of the night, to deal with rutowsky and brothers. rutowsky himself seems partly persuadable, though dreadfully ill of rheumatism. they rouse comte maurice; and valori, by this comte's caprices, is driven out of patience. "he talked with a flippant sophistry, almost with an insolence" says valori; "nay, at last, he made me a gesture in speaking,"--what gesture, thumb to nose, or what, the shuddering imagination dare not guess! but valori, nettled to the quick, "repeated it," and otherwise gave him as good as he brought. "he ended by a gesture which displeased me"--"and went to bed." [valori, i. , .] this is the night of february th; third night after iglau was had, and the magazines in it gone to ashes. which the saxons think is conquest enough. poor polish majesty, poor karl albert, above all, now "kaiser karl vii.," with nothing but those french for breath to his nostrils! with his fine french army of the oriflamme, karl albert should have pushed along last autumn; and not merely "read the paper" which friedrich sent him to that effect, "and then laid it aside." they will never have another chance, his french and he,--unless we call this again a chance; which they are again squandering! linz went by capitulation; january th, the very day of one's "election" as they called it: and ever since that day of linz, the series of disasters has continued rapid and uniform in those parts. linz gone, the rest of the french posts did not even wait to capitulate; but crackled all off, they and our conquests on the donau, like a train of gunpowder, and left the ground bare. and general von barenklau (bear's-claw), with the hideous fellow called mentzel, colonel of pandours, they have broken through into bavaria itself, from the tyrol; climbing by berchtesgaden and the wild salzburg mountains, regardless of winter, and of poor bavarian militia-folk;--and have taken munchen, one's very capital, one's very house and home!--poor karl albert,--and, what is again remarkable, it was the very day while he was getting "crowned" at frankfurt, "with oriental pomp," that mentzel was about entering munchen with his pandours. [coronation was february th; capitulation to mentzel, "munchen, february th," is in _ guerre de boheme,_ ii. - .] and this poor archduke of the austrian, king of bohemia, kaiser of the holy romish reich teutsch by nation, is becoming titular merely, and owns next to nothing in these extensive sovereignties. judge if there is not call for despatch on all sides!--the polish majesty sent instant rather angry order to his saxons, "forward, with you; what else! we would be king in mahren!" the saxons then have to march forward; but we can fancy with what a will. rutowsky flings up his command on this order (let us hope, from rheumatism partly), and goes home; leaving the chevalier de saxe to preside in room of him. as for polastron, he produces order from broglio, "iglau got, return straightway;" must and will cross over into bohemia again; and does. nay, the comte de saxe had, privately in his pocket, a commission to supersede polastron, and take command himself, should polastron make difficulties about turning back. poor polastron made no difficulties: maurice and he vanish accordingly from this adventure, and only the unwilling saxons remain with friedrich. poor polastron ("a poor weak creature," says friedrich, "fitter for his breviary than anything else") fell sick, from the hardships of campaigning; and soon died, in those bohemian parts. maurice is heard of, some weeks hence, besieging eger;--very handsomely capturing eger: [ th april, (_guerre de boheme,_ ii. - ).]--on which service broglio had ordered him after his return. the former commandant of the siege, not very progressive, had just died; and broglio, with reason (all the more for his late moravian procedures) was passionate to have done there. one of the first auspicious exploits of maurice, that of eger; which paved the way to his french fortunes, and more or less sublime glories, in this war. friedrich recognizes his ingenuities, impetuosities, and superior talent in war; wrote high-flown letters of praises, now and then, in years coming; but, we may guess, would hardly wish to meet maurice in the way of joint-stock business again. friedrich submerges the moravian countries; but cannot brunn, which is the indispensable point. february th, these sad iglau matters once settled, friedrich, followed by the saxons, plunges forward into moravia; spreads himself over the country, levying heavy contributions, with strict discipline nevertheless; intent to get hold of brunn and its spielberg, if he could. brunn is the strong place of moravia; has a garrison of or , ; still better, has the valiant roth, whom we knew in neisse once, for commandant: brunn will not be had gratis. schwerin, with a detachment of , horse and foot, posadowsky, ziethen, schmettau junior commanding under him, has dashed along far in the van; towards upper austria, through the town of horn, towards vienna itself; levying, he also, heavy contributions,--with a hand of iron, and not much of a glove on it, as we judge. there is a grim enough proclamation (in the name of a "frightfully injured kaiser," as well as kaiser's ally), still extant, bearing schwerin's signature, and the date "stein, th feb. ." [in _helden-geschichte,_ ii. .] stein is on the donau, a mile or two from krems, and twice as far from mautern, where the now kaiser was in autumn last. forty and odd miles short of vienna: this proved the pisgah of schwerin in that direction, as it had done of karl albert. ziethen, with his hussars coursed some miles farther, on the vienna highway; and got the length of stockerau; a small town, notable slightly, ever since, as the prussian non-plus-ultra in that line. meanwhile, prince lobkowitz is rallying; has quitted budweis and the bohemian bogs, for some check of these insolences. lobkowitz, rallying to himself what vienna force there is, comes, now in good strength, to waidhofen (rearward of horn, far rearward of stein and stockerau), so that ziethen and schwerin have to draw homeward again. lobkowitz fortifies himself in waidhofen; gathers magazines there, as if towards weightier enterprises. for indeed much is rallying, in a dangerous manner; and moravia is now far other than when friedrich planned this expedition. and at vienna, th february last, there was held secret council, and (much to robinson's regret) a quite high resolution come to,--which friedrich gets to know of, and does not forget again. the saxons have no cannon for brunn, cannot afford any; there is a high resolution taken at vienna (february th): friedrich quits the moravian enterprise. friedrich keeps his head-quarter, all this while, closer and closer upon brunn. first, chiefly at a town called znaim, on the river taya; many-branched river, draining all those northwestern parts; which sends its widening waters down to presburg,--latterly in junction with those of the morawa from north, which washes olmutz, drains the northern and eastern parts, and gives the country its name of "moravia." brunn lies northeast of friedrich, while in znaim, some fifty miles; the saxon head-quarter is at kromau, midway towards that city. after znaim, he shifts inward, to selowitz, still in the same taya valley, but much nearer brunn; and there continues. [at znaim, th february- th march; at selowitz, th march- th april (rodenbeck, i. ).] striving hard for brunn; striving hard, under difficulties, for so many things distant and near; we may fancy him busy enough;--and are surprised at the fractions of light jordan correspondence which he still finds time for. pretty bits of letters, in prose and doggerel, from and to those moravian villages; jordan, "twice a week," bearing the main weight; friedrich, oftener than one could hope, flinging some word of answer,--very intent on berlin gossip, we can notice. "vattel is still here, your majesty," [_oeuvres,_ xvii. , &c.] insinuates jordan:--young vattel, afterwards of the droit des gens, whom his majesty might have kept, but did not.--what more of your d'argens, then; anything in your d'argens? friedrich will ask. "for certain, d'argens is full of esprit," answers jordan, in a dexterous way; and how the effulgent of wurtemberg" has quarrelled outright with her d'argens, and will not eat off silver (d'argent), lest she have to name him by accident!"--with other gossip, in a fine brief airy form, at which jordan excels. cheering the rare leisure hour, in one's tent at selowitz, pohrlitz, irrlitz, far away!--there are also orders about cicero and books. of business for most part, or of private feelings, nothing: berlin gossip, and books for one's reading, are the staple. but to return. out from head-quarters, diligent operations shoot forth, far enough, along those taya-morawa valleys, where hungarian "insurgents" are beginning to be dangerous. south of brunn, all round brunn, are diligent operations, frequent skirmishings, constant strict levyings of contributions. the saving operation, friedrich well sees, would be to get hold of brunn: but, unluckily, how? vigilant roth scorns all summoning; sallies continually in a dangerous manner; and at length, when closer pressed, burns all the villages round him: "we counted as many as sixteen villages laid in ashes," says friedrich. here is small comfort of outlook. and then the saxons, at kromau or wherever they may be: no end of trouble and vexation with these saxons. their quarters are not fairly allotted, they say; we make exchange of quarters, without improvement noticeable. "one fine day, on some slight alarm, they came rushing over to us, all in panic; ruined, merely by pandour noises, had not we marched them back, and reinstated them." friedrich sends to silesia for reinforcements of his own, which he can depend upon. sends to silesia, to glatz and the young dessauer;--nay to brandenburg and the old dessauer? ultimately. finding roth would not yield, he has sent to dresden for siege-artillery: polish majesty there, titular "king of moravia," answers that he cannot meet the expense of carriage. "he had just purchased a green diamond which would have carried them thither and back again:" what can be done with such a man?--and by this time, early in march, hungarian "moriamur pro rege" begins to show itself. clouds of hungarian insurgents, of the tolpatch, pandour sort, mount over the carpathians on us, all round the east, from south to north; and threaten to penetrate silesia itself. so that we have to sweep laboriously the morawa-taya valleys; and undertake first one and then another outroad, or sharp swift sally, against those troublesome barbarians. and more serious still, prince karl and the regular army, quickened by such khevenhuller-barenklau successes in the donau countries, are beginning to stir. prince karl, returning from vienna and its consultations, took command, th march; [_helden-geschichte,_ ii. .] with whom has come old graf von konigseck, an experienced head to advise with; prince karl is in motion, skirting us southward, about waidhofen, where lobkowitz lay waiting him with magazines ready. rumor says, the force in those parts is already , , with more daily coming in. friedrich has of his own, apart from the saxons, some , . prince karl, with so many heavy troops, and with unlimited supply of light, is very capable of doing mischief: he has orders (and friedrich now knows of it) to go in upon us;--such their decision in secret council at vienna, on the th of february last, that he must go and fight us:--"better we met him with fewer thrums on our hands!" thinks friedrich; and beckons the old dessauer out of brandenburg withal. "swift, your serenity; hitherward with , !" which the old dessauer (having , to pick from, late camp-of-gottin people) at once sets about. will be a security, in any event! [orlich, i. : date of the order, " th march, ."] to finish with brunn, friedrich has sent for siege-artillery of his own; he urges chevalier de saxe to close with him round brunn, and batter it energetically into swift surrender. is it not the one thing needful? chevalier de saxe admits, half promises; does not perform. being again urged, why have not you performed? he answers, "alas, your majesty, here are orders for me to join marshal broglio at prag, and retire altogether out of this!" "altogether out of it," thinks friedrich to himself: "may all the powers be thanked! then i too, without disgrace, can go altogether out of it;--and it shall be a sharp eye that sees me in joint-stock with you again, m. le chevalier." friedrich has written in his history, and valori used to hear him often say in words, never were tidings welcomer than these, that the saxons were about to desert him in this manner. go: and may all the devils--but we will not fall into profane swearing. it is proper to get out of this enterprise at one's best speed, and never get into the like of it again! friedrich (on this strange saxon revelation, th march) takes instant order for assembling at wischau again, for departing towards olmutz; thence homewards, with deliberate celerity, by the landskron mountain-country, tribau, zwittau, leutomischl, and the way he came. he has countermanded his silesian reinforcements; these and the rest shall rendezvous at chrudim in bohemia; whitherwards the two dessauers are bound:--in brunn, with its wrecked environs, famed spielberg looking down from its conical height, and sixteen villages in ashes, roth shall do his own way henceforth. the saxons pushed straight homewards; did not "rejoin broglio," rejoin anybody,--had, in fact, done with this first silesian war, as it proved; and were ready for the opposite side, on a second falling out! their march, this time, was long and harassing,--sad bloody passage in it, from pandours and hostile village-people, almost at starting, "four companies of our rear-guard cut down to nine men; village burnt, and villagers exterminated (sic), by the rescuing party." [details in _helden-geschichte,_ ii. ; in &c. &c.] they arrived at leitmeritz and their own border, "hardly above , effective." naturally, in a highly indignant humor; and much disposed to blame somebody. to the poor polish non-moravian majesty, enlightened by his bruhls and staff-officers, it became a fixed truth that the blame was all friedrich's,--"starving us, marching us about!"--that friedrich's conduct to us was abominable, and deserved fixed resentment. which accordingly it got, from the simple polish majesty, otherwise a good-natured creature;--got, and kept. to friedrich's very great astonishment, and to his considerable disadvantage, long after! friedrich's look, when valori met him again coming home from this moravian futility, was "farouche," fierce and dark; his laugh bitter, sardonic; harsh mockery, contempt and suppressed rage, looking through all he said. a proud young king, getting instructed in several things, by the stripes of experience. look in that young portrait by pesne, the full cheeks, and fine mouth capable of truculence withal, the brow not unused to knit itself, and the eyes flashing out in sharp diligent inspection, of a somewhat commanding nature. we can fancy the face very impressive upon valori in these circumstances. poor valori has had dreadful work; running to and fro, with his equipages breaking, his servants falling all sick, his invaluable d'arget (valori's chief secretary, whom mark) quite disabled; and valori's troubles are not done. he has been to prag lately; is returning futile, as usual. driving through the mountains to rejoin friedrich, he meets the prussians in retreat; learns that the pandours, extremely voracious, are ahead; that he had better turn, and wait for his majesty about chrudim in the elbe region, upon highways, and within reach of prag. friedrich, on the th of april, is in full march out of the moravian countries,--which are now getting submerged in deluges of pandours; towards the above-said chrudim, whereabouts his magazines lie, where privately he intends to wait for prince karl, and that vienna order of the th february, with hands clearer of thrums. the march goes in proper columns, dislocations; prince dietrich, on the right, with a separate corps, bent else-whither than to chrudim, keeps off the pandours. a march laborious, mountainous, on roads of such quality; but, except baggage-difficulties and the like, nothing material going wrong. "on the th [april], we marched to zwittau, over the mountain of schonhengst. the passage over this mountain is very steep; but not so impracticable as it had been represented; because the cannon and wagons can be drawn round the sides of it." [stille, p. .] yes;--and readers may (in fancy) look about them from the top; for we shall go this road again, sixteen years hence; hardly in happier circumstances! friedrich gets to chrudim, april th; there meets the young dessauer with his forces: by and by the old dessauer, too, comes to an interview there (of which shortly). the old dessauer--his , not with him, at the moment, but resting some way behind, till he return--is to go eastward with part of them; eastward, troppau-jablunka way, and drive those pandour insurgencies to their own side of the mountains: a job old leopold likes better than that of the gottin camp of last year. other part of the , is to reinforce young leopold and the king, and go into cantonments and "refreshment-quarters" here at chrudim. here, living on bohemia, with silesia at their back, shall the troops repose a little; and be ready for prince karl, if he will come on. that is what friedrich looks to, as the main consolation left. in moravia, now overrun with pandours, precursors of prince karl, he has left prince dietrich of anhalt, able still to maintain himself, with olmutz as head-quarters, for a calculated term of days: dietrich is, with all diligence, to collect magazines for that jablunka-troppau service, and march thither to his father with the same (cutting his way through those pandour swarms); and leaving mahren as bare as possible, for prince karl's behoof. all which prince dietrich does, in a gallant, soldier-like, prudent and valiant manner,--with details of danger well fronted, of prompt dexterity, of difficulty overcome; which might be interesting to soldier students, if there were among us any such species; but cannot be dwelt upon here. it is a march of or miles (northeast, not northwest as friedrich's had been), through continual pandours, perils and difficulties:--met in the due way by prince dietrich, whose toils and valors had been of distinguished quality in this moravian business. take one example, not of very serious nature (in the present march to troppau):-- "olischau, evening of april st. just as we were getting into olischau [still only in the environs of olmutz], the vanguard of prince karl's army appeared on the heights. it did not attack; but retired, olmutz way, for the night. prince dietrich, not doubting but it would return next day, made the necessary preparations overnight. nothing of it returned next day; prince dietrich, therefore, in the night of april d, pushed forward his sick-wagons, meal-wagons, heavy baggage, peaceably to sternberg; and, at dawn on the morrow, followed with his army, cavalry ahead, infantry to rear;" nothing whatever happening,--unless this be a kind of thing:--"our infantry had scarcely got the last bridge broken down after passing it, when the roofs of olischau seemed as it were to blow up; the inhabitants simultaneously seizing that moment, and firing, with violent diligence, a prodigious number of shot at us,--no one of which, owing to their hurry and the distance, took any effect;" [stille, p. .] but only testified what their valedictory humor was. or again--(place, this time, is ungarisch-brod, near goding on the moravian-hungarian frontier, date march th; one of those swift outroads, against insurgents or "hungarian militias" threatening to gather):--... "godinq on our moravian side of the border, and then skalitz on their hungarian, being thus finished, we make for ungarisch-brod," the next nucleus of insurgency. and there is the following minute phenomenon,--fit for a picturesque human memory: "as this, from skalitz to ungarisch-brod, is a long march, and the roads were almost impassable, prince dietrich with his corps did not arrive till after dark. so that, having sufficiently blocked the place with parties of horse and foot, he had, in spite of thick-falling snow, to wait under the open sky for daylight. in which circumstances, all that were not on sentry lay down on their arms;" slept heartily, we hope; "and there was half an ell of snow on them, when day broke." [bericht von der unternehmung des &c. (in seyfarth, _beylage,_ i. p. ).] when day broke, and they shook themselves to their feet again,--to the astonishment of ungarisch-brod!... there had been fine passages of arms, throughout, in this business, round brunn, in the march home, and elsewhere; and friedrich is well contented with the conduct of his men and generals,--and dwells afterwards with evident satisfaction on some of the feats they did. [for instance, truchsess von waldburg's fine bit of spartanism ( th march, at lesch, near brunn, near austerlitz withal), which was much celebrated; king himself, from selowitz, heard the cannonading (seyfarth, _beylage,_ i. - ). selchow's feat (ib. ). fouquet's (this is the captain fonquet, with "my two candles, sir," of the old custrin-prison time; who is dear to friedrich ever since, and to the end): "account of fouquet's grenadier battalion, to and at fulnek, january-april, (is in _feldzuge der preussen,_ i. - ); especially his march, from fulnek, homewards, part of prince dietrich's that way (in seyfarth, _beylage,_ i. - ). with various others (in seyfarth and feldzuge): well worth reading till you understand them.] i am sorry to say, general schwerin has taken pique at this preference of the old dessauer for the troppau anti-pandour operation; and is home in a huff: not to reappear in active life for some years to come. "the little marlborough,"--so they call him (for he was at blenheim, and has abrupt hot ways),--will not participate in prince karl's consolatory visit, then! better so, thinks friedrich perhaps (remembering mollwitz): "this is the freak of an imitation anglais!" sneers he, in mentioning it to jordan.--friedrich's synopsis of this moravian failure of an expedition, in answer to jordan's curiosity about it,--curiosity implied, not expressed by the modest jordan, is characteristic:-- "moravia, which is a very bad country, could not be held, owing to want of victual; and the town of brunn could not be taken, because the saxons had no cannon; and when you wish to enter a town, you must first make a hole to get in by. besides, the country has been reduced to such a state: that the enemy cannot subsist in it, and you will soon see him leave it. there is your little military lesson; i would not have you at a loss what to think of our operations; or what to say, should other people talk of them in your presence!" [friedrich to jordan (_oeuvres,_ xvii. ), chrudim, th may, .] "winter campaigns," says friedrich elsewhere, much in earnest, and looking back on this thing long afterwards, "winter campaigns are bad, and should always be avoided, except in cases of necessity. the best army in the world is liable to be ruined by them. i myself have made more winter campaigns than any general of this age; but there were reasons. thus:-- "in ," winter campaign which we saw, "there were hardly above two austrian regiments in silesia, at karl vi.'s death. being determined to assert my right to that duchy, i had to try it at once, in winter, and carry the war, if possible, to the banks of the neisse. had i waited till spring, we must have begun the war between crossen and glogau; what was now to be gained by one march would then have cost us three or four campaigns. a sufficient reason, this, for campaigning in winter. "if i did not succeed in the winter campaign of ," campaign which we have just got out of, "which i made with a design to deliver the elector of bavaria's country, then overrun by austria, it was because the french acted like fools, and the saxons like traitors." mark that deliberate opinion. "in - ," winter campaign which we expect to see, "the austrians having got silesia, it was necessary to drive them out. the saxons and they had formed a design to enter my hereditary dominions, to destroy them with fire and sword. i was beforehand with them. i carried the war into the heart of saxony." [military instructions written by &c. "translated by an officer" (london, ), pp. , . one of the best, or altogether the best, of friedrich's excellent little books written successively (thrice-private, could they have been kept so) for the instruction of his officers. is to be found now in _oeuvres de frederic,_ xxviii. (that is vol. i. of the _"oeuvres militaires,"_ which occupy vols.) pp. et seqq.] digesting many bitter-enough thoughts, friedrich has cantoned about chrudim; expecting, in grim composed humor, the one consolation there can now be. february th, as readers well know, the majesty of hungary and her aulic council had decided, "one stroke more, o excellency robinson; one battle more for our silesian jewel of the crown! if beaten, we will then give it up; oh, not till then!" robinson and hyndford,--imagination may faintly represent their feelings, on the wilful downbreak of klein-schnellendorf; or what clamor and urgency the majesty of britain and they have been making ever since. but they could carry it no further: "one stroke more!" at chrudim, and to the right and the left of it, sprinkled about in long, very thin, elliptic shape (thirty or forty miles long, but capable of coalescing "within eight-and-forty hours"), there lies friedrich: the elbe river is behind him; beyond elbe are his magazines, at konigsgratz, nimburg, podiebrad, pardubitz; the giant mountains, and world of bohemian hills, closing-in the background, far off: that is his position, if readers will consult their map. the consolatory visit, he privately thinks, cannot be till the grass come; that is, not till june, two months hence; but there also he was a little mistaken. chapter xi. --nussler in neisse, with the old dessauer and walrave. the old dessauer with part of his , ,--aided by boy dietrich (knabe, "knave dietrich," as one might fondly call him) and the moravian meal-wagons,--accomplished his troppau-jablunka problem perfectly well; cleaning the mountains, and keeping them clean, of that pandour rabble, as he was the man to do. nor would his expedition require mentioning farther,--were it not for some slight passages of a purely biographical character; first of all, for certain rubs which befell between his majesty and him. for example, once, before that interview at chrudim, just on entering bohemia thitherward, old leopold had seen good to alter his march-route; and--on better information, as he thought it, which proved to be worse--had taken a road not prescribed to him. hearing of which, friedrich reins him up into the right course, in this sharp manner:-- "chrudim, st april. i am greatly surprised that your serenity, as an old officer, does not more accurately follow my orders which i give you. if you were skilfuler than caesar, and did not with strict accuracy observe my orders, all else were of no help to me. i hope this notice, once for all, will be enough; and that in time coming you will give no farther causes to complain." [king to furst leopold (orlich, i. - ).] friedrich, on their meeting at chrudim, was the same man as ever. but the old son of gunpowder stood taciturn, rigorous, in military business attitude, in the king's presence; had not forgotten the passage; and indeed he kept it in mind for long months after. and during all this ober-schlesien time, had the hidden grudge in his heart;--doing his day's work with scrupulous punctuality; all the more scrupulous, they say. friedrich tried, privately through leopold junior, some slight touches of assuagement; but without effect; and left the senior to time, and to his own methods of cooling again. besides that of keeping down hungarian enterprises in the mountains, old leopold had, as would appear, to take some general superintendence in ober-schlesien; and especially looks after the new fortification-work going on in those parts. which latter function brought him often to neisse, and into contact with the ugly walrave, engineer-in-chief there. a much older and much worthier acquaintance of ours, herr boundary-commissioner nussler, happens also to be in neisse;--waiting for those saxon gentlemen; who are unpunctual to a degree, and never come (nor in fact ever will, if nussler knew it). luckily nussler kept a notebook; and busching ultimately got it, condensed it, printed it;--whereby (what is rare, in these dryasdust labyrinths, inane spectralities and cinder-mountains) there is sudden eyesight vouchsafed; and we discern veritably, far off, brought face to face for an instant, this and that! i must translate some passages,--still farther condensed:-- how nussler happened to be in neisse, may, . nussler had been in this country, off and on, almost since christmas last; ready here, if the saxons had been ready. as the saxons were not ready, and always broke their appointment, nussler had gone into the mountains, to pass time usefully, and take preliminary view of the ground. ... "from berlin, th december, ; by breslau,"--where some pause and correspondence;--"thence on, neisse way, as far as lowen [so well known to friedrich, that mollwitz night!]. from berlin to lowen, nussler had come in a carriage: but as there was much snow falling, he here took a couple of sledges; in which, along with his attendants, he proceeded some fifty miles, to jauernik, a stage beyond neisse, to the southwest. jauernik is a little town lying at the foot of a hill, on the top of which is the schloss of johannisberg. here it began to rain; and the getting up the hill, on sledges, was a difficult matter. the drost [steward] of this castle was a nobleman from brunswick-luneburg; who, for the sake of a marriage and this drostship for dowry, had changed from protestant to roman catholic,"--poor soul! "his wife and he were very polite, and showed nussler a great deal of kindness. nussler remarked on the left side of this johannisberg," western side a good few miles off, "the pass which leads from glatz to upper and lower schlesien,"--where the reader too has been, in that baumgarten skirmish, if he could remember it,--"with a little block-house in the bottom," and no doubt prussian soldiers in it at the moment. "nussler, intent always on the useful, did not institute picturesque reflections; but considered that his king would wish to have this pass and block-house; and determined privately, though it perhaps lay rather beyond the boundary-mark, that his master must have it when the bargaining should come.... "on the homeward survey of these borders, nussler arrived at steinau [little village with schloss, which we saw once, on the march to mollwitz, and how accident of fire devoured it that night], and at sight of the burnt schloss standing black there, he remembered with great emotion the story of grafin von callenberg [dead since, with her pistols and brandy-bottle] and of the grafin's daughter, in which he had been concerned as a much-interested witness, in old times.... for the rest, the journey, amid ice and snow, was not only troublesome in the extreme, but he got a life-long gout by it [and no profit to speak of]; having sunk, once, on thin ice, sledge and he, into a half-frozen stream, and got wetted to the loins, splashing about in such cold manner,--happily not quite drowned." the indefatigable nussler; working still, like a very artist, wherever bidden, on wages miraculously low. the saxon gentlemen never came;--privately the saxons were quite off from the silesian bargain, and from friedrich altogether;--so that this border survey of nussler's came to nothing, on the present occasion. but it served him and friedrich well, on a new boundary-settling, which did take effect, and which holds to this day. nussler, during these operations, and vain waitings for the saxons, had neisse for head-quarters; and, going and returning, was much about neisse; walrave, marwitz (father of wilhelmina's baggage marwitz), feldmarschall schwerin (in earlier stages), and other high figures, being prominent in his circle there. "the old prince of dessau came thither: for some days. [busching, _beitrage,_ i. (beginning of may as we guess, but there is no date given).] he was very gracious to nussler, who had been at his court, and known him before this. the old dessauer made use of walrave's plate; usually had walrave, nussler, and other principal figures to dinner. walrave's plate, every piece of it, was carefully marked with a raven on the rim,--that being his crest ["wall-raven" his name]: old dessauer, at sight of so many images of that bird, threw out the observation, loud enough, from the top of the table, 'hah, walrave, i see you are making yourself acquainted with the ravens in time, that they may not be strange to you at last,'"--when they come to eat you on the gibbet! (not a soft tongue, the old dessauer's). "another day, seeing walrave seated between two jesuit guests, the prince said: 'ah, there you are right, walrave; there you sit safe; the devil can't get you there!' as the prince kept continually bantering him in this strain, walrave determined not to come; sulkily absented himself one day: but the prince sent the ordinanz (soldier in waiting) to fetch him; no refuge in sulks. "they had roman-catholic victual for walrave and others of that faith, on the meagre-days; but walrave eat right before him,--evidently nothing but the name of catholic. indeed, he was a man hated by the catholics, for his special rapacity on them. 'he is of no religion at all,' said the catholic prelate of neisse, one day, to nussler; (greedy to plunder the monasteries here; has wrung gold, silver aud jewels from them,--nay from the pope himself,--by threatening to turn protestant, and use the monasteries still worse. and the pope, hearing of this, had to send him a valuable gift, which you may see some day.' nussler did, one day, see this preciosity: a crucifix, ebony bordered with gold, and the body all of that metal, on the smallest of altars,--in walrave's bedroom. but it was the bedroom itself which nussler looked at with a shudder," nussler and we: "in the middle of it stood walrave's own bed, on his right hand that of his wife, and on his left that of his mistress:"--a brutish polygamous walrave! "this mistress was a certain quarter-master's wife,"--quarter-master willing, it is probable, to get rid of such an article gratis, much more on terms of profit. "walrave had begged for him the title of hofrath from king friedrich,"--which, though it was but a clipping of ribbon contemptible to friedrich, and the brute of an engineer had excellent talents in his business, i rather wish friedrich had refused in this instance. but he did not; "he answered in gibing tone, 'i grant you the hofrath title for your quarter-master; thinking it but fit that a general's'--what shall we call her? (friedrich uses the direct word)--'should have some handle to her name.'" [busching, _beitrage,_ i. - .] it was this mistress, one is happy to know, that ultimately betrayed the unbeautiful walrave, and brought him to magdeburg for the rest of his life.--and now let us over the mountains, to chrudim again; a hundred and fifty miles at one step. chapter xii. -- prince karl does come on. it was before the middle of may, not of june as friedrich had expected, that serious news reached chrudim. may th, from that place, there is a letter to jordan, which for once has no verse, no bantering in it: prince karl actually coming on; hussar precursors, in quantity, stealing across to attack our magazines beyond elbe;--and in consequence, orders are out this very day: "cantonments, cease; immediate rendezvous, and encampment at chrudim here!" which takes effect two days hence, monday, th may: one of the finest sights stille ever saw. "his majesty rode to a height; you never beheld such a scene: bright columns, foot and horse, streaming in from every point of the compass, their clear arms glittering in the sun; lost now in some hollow, then emerging, winding out with long-drawn glitter again; till at length their blue uniforms and actual faces come home to you. near upon , of all arms; trim exact, of stout and silently good-humored aspect; well rested, by this time;--likely fellows for their work, who will do it with a will. the king seemed to be affected by so glorious a spectacle; and, what i admired, his majesty, though fatigued, would not rest satisfied with reports or distant view, but personally made the tour of the whole camp, to see that everything was right, and posted the pickets himself before retiring." [stille, p. (or letter x.).] prince karl, since we last heard of him, had hung about in the brunn and other moravian regions, rallying his forces, pushing out croat parties upon prince dietrich's home-march, and the like; very ill off for food, for draught-cattle, in a wasted country. so that he had soon quitted mahren; made for budweis and neighborhood:--dangerous to broglio's outposts there? to a "castle of frauenberg," across the moldau from budweis; which is broglio's bulwark there, and has cost broglio much revictualling, reinforcing, and flurry for the last two months. prince karl did not meddle with brauenberg, or broglio, on this occasion; leaves lobkowitz, with some reserve-party, hovering about in those parts;--and himself advances, by teutschbrod (well known to the poor retreating saxons latcey!) towards chrudim, on his grand problem, that of th february last. cautiously, not too willingly, old konigseck and he. but they were inflexibly urged to it by the heads at vienna; who, what with their bavarian successes, what with their moravian and other, had got into a high key;--and scorned the notion of "peace," when hyndford (getting friedrich's permission, in the late chrudim interval) had urged it again. [orlich, i. .] broglio is in boundless flurry; nothing but spectres of attack looming in from karl, from khevenhuller, from everybody; and eger hardly yet got. [ th april (_guerre de boheme,_ ii. - .) fine reinforcement, , under a due d'harcourt; this and other good outlooks there are; but it is the terrible alone that occupy broglio. and indeed the poor man--especially ever since that moravian business would not thrive in spite of him--is not to be called well off! friedrich and he are in correspondence, by no means mutually pleasant, on the prince-karl phenomenon. "evidently intending towards prag, your majesty perceives!" thinks broglio. "if not towards chrudim, first of all, which is miles nearer him, on his rode to prag!" urges friedrich, at this stage: "help me with a few regiments in this chrudim circle, lest i prove too weak here. is not this the bulwark of your prag just now?" in vain; broglio (who indeed has orders that way) cannot spare a man. "very well," thinks friedrich; and has girded up his own strength for the chrudim phenomenon; but does not forget this new illustration of the joint-stock principle, and the advantages of broglio partnership. friedrich's beautiful encampment at chrudim lasted only two days. precursor tolpatcheries (and, in fact, prince karl's vanguard, if we knew it) come storming about, rifer and rifer; attempting the bridge of kolin (road to our magazines); attempting this and that; meaning to get between us and prag; and, what is worse, to seize the magazines, podiebrad, nimburg, which we have in that quarter! tuesday, may th, accordingly, friedrich himself gets on march, with a strong swift vanguard, horse and foot (grenadiers, hussars, dragoons), prag-ward,--probably as far as kuttenberg, a fine high-lying post, which commands those kodin parts;--will march with despatch, and see how that matter is. the main army is to follow under leopold of anhalt-dessau to-morrow, wednesday," so soon as their loaves have come from konigsgratz,"--for "an army goes on its belly," says friedrich often. loaves do not come, owing to evil chance, on this occasion: leopold's people "take meal instead;" but will follow, next morning, all the same, according to bidding. readers may as well take their map, and accompany in these movements; which issue in a notable conclusive thing. tuesday morning, th may, friedrich marches from chrudim; on which same morning of the th, prince karl, steadily on the advance he too, is starting,--and towards the same point,--from a place called chotieborz, only fifteen miles to southward of chrudim. in this way, mutually unaware, but prince karl getting soonest aware, the vanguards of the two armies (prince karl's vanguard being in many branches, of tolpatch nature) are cast athwart each other; and make, both to friedrich and prince karl, an enigmatic business of it for the next two days. tuesday, th, friedrich marching along, vigilantly observant on both hands, some fifteen miles space, came that evening to a village called podhorzan, with height near by; [stille, pp. , .] height which he judged unattackable, and on the side of which he pitches his camp accordingly,--himself mounting the height to look for news. news sure enough: there, south of us on the heights of ronnow, three or four miles off, are the enemy, camped or pickeering about, or , as we judge. lobkowitz, surely not lobkowitz? he has been gliding about, on the french outskirts, far in the southwest lately: can this be lobkowitz, about to join prince karl in these parts?--truly, your majesty, this is not lobkowitz at all; this is prince karl's vanguard, and prince karl himself actually in it for the moment,--anxiously taking view of your vanguard; recognizing, and admitting to himself, "pooh, they will be at kuttenberg before us; no use in hastening. head-quarters at willimow to-night; here at ronnow to-morrow: that is all we can do!" [orlich, i. .] to-morrow, th may, before sunrise at podhorzan, the supposed lobkowitz is clean vanished: there is no enemy visible to friedrich, at ronnow or elsewhere. leaving friedrich in considerable uncertainty: clear only that there are enemies copiously about; that he himself will hold on for kuttenberg; that young leopold must get hitherward, with steady celerity at the top of his effort,--parts of the ground being difficult; especially a muddy stream, called dobrowa, which has only one bridge on it fit for artillery, the bridge of sbislau, a mile or two ahead of this. instructions are sent leopold to that effect; and farther that leopold must quarter in czaslau (a substantial little town, with bogs about it, and military virtues); and, on the whole, keep close to heel of us, the enemy in force being near, upon which, his majesty pushes on for kuttenberg; prince leopold following with best diligence, according to program. his majesty passed a little place called neuhof that afternoon (wednesday, th may); and encamped a short way from kuttenberg, behind or north of that town,--out of which, on his approach, there fled a considerable cloud of austrian irregulars, and "left a large baking of bread." bread just about ready to their order, and coming hot out of the ovens; which was very welcome to his majesty that night; and will yield refreshment, partial refreshment, next morning, to prince leopold, not too comfortable on his meal-diet just now. poor prince leopold had his own difficulties this day; rough ground, very difficult to pass; and coming on the height of podhorzan where his majesty was yesterday, leopold sees crowds of hussars, needing a cannon-shot or two; sees evident symptoms, to southward, that the whole force of the enemy is advancing upon him! "speed, then, for sbislau bridge yonder; across the dobrowa, with our artillery-wagons, or we are lost!" prince karl, with hussar-parties all about, is fully aware of prince leopold and his movements, and is rolling on, ronnow-ward all day, to cut him off, in his detached state, if possible. prince karl might, with ease, have broken this dobrowa bridge; and leopold and military men recognize it as a capital neglect that he did not. leopold, overloaded with such intricacies and anxieties, sends off three messengers, officers of mark (schmettau junior one of them), to apprise the king: the officers return, unable to get across to his majesty; leopold sends proper detachment of horse with them,--uncertain still whether they will get through. and night is falling; we shall evidently be too late for getting czaslau: well if we can occupy chotusitz and the environs; a small clay hamlet, three miles nearer us. it was at night before the rear-guard got into chotusitz: czaslau, three miles south of us, we cannot attend to till to-morrow morning. [orlich, pp. - .] and the three messengers, despatched with escort, send back no word. have they ever got to his majesty? leopold sends off a fourth. this fourth one does get through; reports to his majesty, that, by all appearance, there will be battle on the morrow early; that not czaslau, but only chotusitz is ours; and that instructions are wanted. deep in the night, this fourth messenger returns; a welcome awakening for prince leopold; who studies his majesty's instructions, and will make his dispositions accordingly. it is or in the morning, [ib. p. .] in leopold's camp,--bivouac rather, with its face to the south, and chotusitz ahead. thursday, th may, ; a furiously important day about to dawn. high problem of the th february last; britannic majesty and his hyndfords and robinsons vainly protesting:--it had to be tried; hungarian majesty having got, from britannic, the sinews for trying it: and this is to be the day. chapter xiii. --battle of chotusitz. kuttenberg, czaslau, chotusitz and all these other places lie in what is called the valley of the elbe, but what to the eye has not the least appearance of a hollow, but of an extensive plain rather, dimpled here and there; and, if anything, rather sloping from the elbe,--were it not that dull bushless brooks, one or two, sauntering to northward, not southward, warn you of the contrary. conceive a flat tract of this kind, some three or four miles square, with czaslau on its southern border, chotusitz on its northern; flanked, on the west, by a straggle of lakelets, ponds and quagmires (which in our time are drained away, all but a tenth part or so of remainder); flanked, on the east, by a considerable puddle of a stream called the dobrowa; and cut in the middle by a nameless poor brook ("brtlinka" some write it, if anybody could pronounce), running parallel and independent,--which latter, of more concernment to us here, springs beyond czaslau, and is got to be of some size, and more intricate than usual, with "islands" and the like, as it passes chotusitz (a little to east of chotusitz);--this is our field of battle. sixty or more miles to eastward of prag, eight miles or more to southward of elbe river and the ford of elbe-teinitz (which we shall hear of, in years coming). a scene worth visiting by the curious, though it is by no means of picturesque character. uncomfortably bare, like most german plains; mean little hamlets, which are full of litter when you enter them, lie sprinkled about; little church-spires (like suffragans to chotusitz spire, which is near you); a ragged untrimmed country: beyond the brook, towards the dobrowa, two or more miles from chotusitz, is still noticeable: something like a deer-park, with umbrageous features, bushy clumps, and shadowy vestiges of a mansion, the one regular edifice within your horizon. schuschitz is the name of this mansion and deer-park; farther on lies sbislau, where leopold happily found his bridge unbroken yesterday. the general landscape is scrubby, littery; ill-tilled, scratched rather than ploughed; physiognomic of czech populations, who are seldom trim at elbows: any beauty it has is on the farther side of the dobrowa, which does not concern prince leopold, prince karl, or us at present. prince leopold's camp lies east and west, short way to north of chotusitz. schuschitz hamlet (a good mile northward of sbislau) covers his left, the chain of lakelets covers his right: and chotusitz, one of his outposts, lies centrally in front. prince karl is coming on, in four columns, from the hills and intricacies south of czaslau,--has been on march all night, intending a night-attack or camisado if he could; but could not in the least, owing to the intricate roadways, and the discrepancies of pace between his four columns. the sun was up before anything of him appeared:--drawing out, visibly yonder, by the east side of czaslau; , strong, they say. friedrich's united force, were friedrich himself on the ground, will be about , . friedrich's orders, which leopold is studying, were: "hold by chotusitz for centre; your left wing, see you lean it on something, towards dobrowa side,--on that intricate brook (brtlinka) or park-wall of schuschitz, [sbislau, friedrich hastily calls it (_oeuvres,_ ii. - ); stille (p. ) is more exact.] which i think is there; then your right wing westwards, till you lean again on something: two lines, leave room for me and my force, on the corner nearest here. i will start at four; be with you between seven and eight,--and even bring a proportion of austrian bread (hot from these ovens of kuttenberg) to refresh part of you." leopold of anhalt, a much-comforted man, waits only for the earliest gray of the morning, to be up and doing. from chotusitz he spreads out leftwards towards the brtlinka brook,--difficult ground that, unfit for cavalry, with its bog-holes, islands, gullies and broken surface; better have gone across the brtlinka with mere infantry, and leant on the wall of that deer-park of schuschitz with perhaps only , horse to support, well rearward of the infantry and this difficult ground? so men think,--after the action is over. [stille, pp. , .] and indeed there was certainly some misarrangement there (done by leopold's subordinates), which had its effects shortly. leopold was not there in person, arranging that left wing; leopold is looking after centre and right. he perceives, the right wing will be his best chance; knows that, in general, cavalry must be on both wings. on a little eminence in front of his right, he sees how the enemy comes on; czaslau, lately on their left, is now getting to rear of them:--"and you, stout old general buddenbrock, spread yourself out to right a little, hidden behind this rising ground; i think we may outflank their left wing by a few squadrons, which will be an advantage." buddenbrock spreads himself out, as bidden: had buddenbrock been reinforced by most of the horse that could do no good on our left wing, it is thought the battle had gone better. buddenbrock in this way, secretly, outflanks the austrians; to his right all forward, he has that string of marshy pools (lakes of czirkwitz so called, outflowings from the brook of neuhof), and cannot be taken in flank by any means. brook of neuhof, which his majesty crossed yesterday, farther north;--and ought to have recrossed by this time?--said brook, hereabouts a mere fringe of quagmires and marshy pools, is our extreme boundary on the west or right; brook of brtlinka (unluckily not wall of the deer-park) bounds us eastward, or on our left, prince karl, drawn up by this time, is in two lines, cavalry on right and left, but rather in bent order; bent towards us at both ends (being dainty of his ground, i suppose); and comes on in hollow-crescent form;--which is not reckoned orthodox by military men. what all these villages, human individuals and terrified deer, are thinking, i never can conjecture! thick-soled peasants, terrified nursing-mothers: better to run and hide, i should say; mount your garron plough-horses, hide your butter-pots, meal-barrels; run at least ten miles or so!-- it is now past seven, a hot may morning, the austrians very near;--and yonder, of a surety, is his majesty coming. majesty has marched since four; and is here at his time, loaves and all. his men rank at once in the corner left for them; one of his horse-generals, lehwald, is sent to the left, to put straight what my be awry there (cannot quite do it, he either);--and the attack by buddenhrock, who secretly outflanks here on the right, this shall at once take effect. no sooner has his majesty got upon the little eminence or rising ground, and scanned the austrian lines for an instant or two, than his cannon-batteries awaken here; give the austrian horse a good blast, by way of morning salutation and overture to the concert of the day. and buddenbrock, deploying under cover of that, charges, "first at a trot, then at a gallop," to see what can be done upon them with the white weapon. old uuddenbrock, surely, did not himself ride in the charge? he is an old man of seventy; has fought at oudenarde, malplaquet, nay at steenkirk, and been run through the body, under dutch william; is an old acquaintance of charles xii.s even; and sat solemnly by friedrich wilhelm's coffin, after so much attendance during life. the special leader of the charge was bredow; also a veteran gentleman, but still only in the fifties; he, i conclude, made the charge; first at a trot, then at a gallop,--with swords flashing hideous, and eyebrows knit. "the dust was prodigious," says friedrich, weather being dry and ground sandy; for a space of time you could see nothing but one huge whirlpool of dust, with the gleam of steel flickering madly in it: however, buddenbrock, outflanking the austrian first line of horse, did hurl them from their place; by and by you see the dust-tempest running south, faster and faster south,--that is to say, the austrian horse in flight; for buddenbrock, outflanking them by three squadrons, has tumbled their first line topsy-turvy, and they rush to rearward, he following away and away. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ ii. .] now were the time for a fresh force of prussian cavalry,--for example, those you have standing useless behind the gullies and quagmires on your left wing (says stille, after the event);--due support to buddenbrock, and all that austrian cavalry were gone, and their infantry left bare. but now again, see, do not the dust-clouds pause? they pause, mounting higher and higher; they dance wildly, then roll back towards us; too evidently back. buddenbrock has come upon the secoud line of austrian horse; in too loose order buddenbrock, by this time, and they have broken him:--and it is a mutual defeat of horse on this wing, the prussian rather the worse of the two. and might have been serious,--had not rothenburg plunged furiously in, at this crisis, quite through to the austrian infantry, and restored matters, or more. making a confused result of it in this quarter. austrian horse-regiments there now were that fled quite away; as did even one or two foot-regiments, while the prussian infantry dashed forward on them, escorted by rothenburg in this manner,--who got badly wounded in the business; and was long an object of solicitude to friedrich. and contrariwise certain prussian horse also, it was too visible, did not compose themselves till fairly arear of our foot. this is shock first in the battle; there are three shocks in all. partial charging, fencing and flourishing went on; but nothing very effectual was done by the horse in this quarter farther. nor did the fire or effort of the prussian infantry in this their right wing continue; austrian fury and chief effort having, by this time, broken out in an opposite quarter. so that the strain of the fight lies now in the other wing over about chotusitz and the brtlinka brook; and thither i perceive his majesty has galloped, being "always in the thickest of the danger" this day. shock second is now on. the austrians have attacked at chotusitz; and are threatening to do wonders there. prince leopold's left wing, as we said, was entirely defective in the eye of tacticians (after the event). far from leaning on the wall of the deer-park, he did not even reach the brook,--or had to weaken his force in chotusitz village for that object. so that when the austrian foot comes storming upon chotusitz, there is but "half a regiment" to defend it. and as for cavalry, what is to become of cavalry, slowly threading, under cannon-shot and musketry, these intricate quagmires and gullies, and dangerously breaking into files and strings, before ever it can find ground to charge? accordingly, the austrian foot took chotusitz, after obstinate resistance; and old konigseck, very ill of gout, got seated in one of the huts there; and the prussian cavalry, embarrassed to get through the gullies, could not charge except piecemeal, and then though in some cases with desperate valor, yet in all without effectual result. konigseck sits in chotusitz;--and yet withal the russians are not out of it, will not be driven out of it, but cling obstinately; whereupon the austrians set fire to the place; its dry thatch goes up in flame, and poor old konigseck, quite lame of gout, narrowly escaped burning, they say. and, see, the austrian horse have got across the brtlinka, are spread almost to the deer-park, and strive hard to take us in flank,--did not the brook, the bad ground and the platoon-firing (fearfully swift, from discipline and the iron ramrods) hold them back in some measure. they make a violent attempt or two; but the problem is very rugged. nor can the austrian infantry, behind or to the west of burning chotusitz, make an impression, though they try it, with levelled bayonets and deadly energy, again and again: the prussian ranks are as if built of rock, and their fire is so sure and swift. here is one austrian regiment, came rushing on like lions; would not let go, death or no-death:--and here it lies, shot down in ranks; whole swaths of dead men, and their muskets by them,--as if they had got the word to take that posture, and had done it hurriedly! a small transitory gleam of proud rage is visible, deep down, in the soul of friedrich as he records this fact. shock second was very violent. the austrian horse, after such experimenting in the brtlinka quarter, gallop off to try to charge the prussians in the rear;--"pleasanter by far," judge many of them, "to plunder the prussian camp," which they descry in those regions; whither accordingly they rush. too many of them; and the hussars as one man. to the sorrowful indignation of prince karl, whose right arm (or wing) is fallen paralytic in this manner. after the fight, they repented in dust and ashes; and went to say so, as if with the rope about their neck; upon which he pardoned them. nor is prince karl's left wing gaining garlands just at this moment. shock third is awakening;--and will be decisive on prince karl. chotusitz, set on fire an hour since (about a.m.), still burns; cutting him in two, as it were, or disjoining his left wing from his right: and it is on his right wing that prince karl is depending for victory, at present; his left wing, ruffled by those first prussian charges of horse, with occasional prussian swift musketry ever since, being left to its own inferior luck, which is beginning to produce impression on it. and, lo, on the sudden (what brought finis to the business), friedrich, seizing the moment, commands a united charge on this left wing: friedrich's right wing dashes forward on it, double-quick, takes it furiously, on front and flank; fifteen field-pieces preceding, and intolerable musketry behind them. so that the austrian left wing cannot stand it at all. the austrian left wing, stormed in upon in this manner, swags and sways, threatening to tumble pell-mell upon the right wing; which latter has its own hands full. no chotusitz or point of defence to hold by, prince karl is eminently ill off, and will be hurled wholly into the brtlinka, and the islands and gullies, unless he mind! prince karl,--what a moment for him!--noticing this undeniable phenomenon, rapidly gives the word for retreat, to avoid worse. it is near upon noon; four hours of battle; very fierce on both the wings, together or alternately; in the centre (westward of chotusitz) mostly insignificant: "more than half the prussians" standing with arms shouldered. prince karl rolls rapidly away, through czaslau towards southwest again; loses guns in czaslau; goes, not quite broken, but at double-quick time for five miles; cavalry, prussian and austrian, bickering in the rear of him; and vanishes over the horizon towards willimow and haber that night, the way he had come. this is the battle of chotusitz, called also of czaslau: thursday, th may, . vehemently fought on both sides;--calculated, one may hope, to end this silesian matter? the results, in killed and wounded, were not very far from equal. nay, in killed the prussians suffered considerably the worse; the exact austrian cipher of killed being , , while that of the prussians was , ,--owing chiefly to those fierce ineffectual horse-charges and bickerings, on the right wing and left; "above , prussian cavalry were destroyed in these." but, in fine, the general loss, including wounded and missing, amounted on the austrian side (prisoners being many, and deserters very many) to near seven thousand, and on the prussian to between four and five. [orlich, i. ; _feldzuge der preussen,_ p. ; stille, pp. - ; friedrich himself, _oeuvres,_ ii. - ; and (ib. pp. - ) the newspaper "relation," written also by him.] two generals friedrich had lost, who are not specially of our acquaintance; and several younger friends whom he loved. rothenburg, who was in that first charge of horse with buddenbrock, or in rescue of buddenbrock, and did exploits, got badly hurt, as we saw,--badly, not fatally, as friedrich's first terror was,--and wore his arm in a sling for a long while afterwards. buddenbrock's charge, i since hear, was ruined by the dust; [_oeuvres de frederic,_ ii. .] the king's vanguard, under rothenburg, a "new-raised regiment of hussars in green," coming to the rescue, were mistaken for austrians, and the cry rose, "enemy to rear!" which brought rothenburg his disaster. friedrich much loved and valued the man; employed him afterwards as ambassador to france and in places of trust. friedrich's ambassadors are oftenest soldiers as well: bred soldiers, he finds, if they chance to have natural intelligence, are fittest for all kinds of work.--some eighteen austrian cannon were got; no standards, because, said the prussians, they took the precaution of bringing none to the field, but had beforehand rolled them all up, out of harm's way.--let us close with this fraction of topography old aud new:-- "king friedrich purchased nine acres of ground, near chotusitz, to bury the slain; rented it from the proprietor for twenty-five years. [_helden-geschichte,_ ii. .] i asked, where are those nine acres; what crop is now upon them? but could learn nothing. a dim people, those poor czech natives; stupid, dirty-skinned, ill-given; not one in twenty of them speaking any german;--and our dragoman a fortuitous jew pedler; with the mournfulest of human faces, though a head worth twenty of those czech ones, poor oppressed soul! the battle-plain bears rye, barley, miscellaneous pulse, potatoes, mostly insignificant crops;--the nine hero-acres in question, perhaps still of slightly richer quality, lie indiscriminate among the others; their very fence, if they ever had one, now torn away. "the country, as you descend by dusty intricate lanes from kuttenberg, with your left hand to the elbe, and at length with your back to it, would be rather pretty, were it well cultivated, the scraggy litter swept off, and replaced by verdure and reasonable umbrage here and there. the field of chotusitz, where you emerge on it, is a wide wavy plain; the steeple of chotusitz, and, three or four miles farther, that of czaslau (pronounce 'kotusitz,' 'chaslau'), are the conspicuous objects in it. the lakes friedrich speaks of, which covered his right, and should cover ours, are not now there,--'all, or mostly all, drained away, eighty years ago,' answered the czechs; answered one wiser czech, when pressed upon, and guessed upon; thereby solving the enigma which was distressful to us. between those lakes and the brtlinka brook may be some two miles; chotusitz is on the crown of the space, if it have a crown. but there is no 'height' on it, worth calling a height except by the military man; no tree or bush; no fence among the scrubby ryes and pulses: no obstacle but that brook, which, or the hollow of which, you see sauntering steadily northward or elbe-ward, a good distance on your left, as you drive for chotusitz and steeple. schuschitz, a peaked brown edifice, is visible everywhere, well ahead and leftwards, well beyond said hollow; something of wood and 'deer-park' still noticeable or imaginable yonder. "chotusitz itself is a poor littery place; standing white-washed, but much unswept: in two straggling rows, now wide enough apart (no konigseck need now get burnt there): utterly silent under the hot sun; not a child looked out on us, and i think the very dogs lay wisely asleep. church and steeple are at the farther or south end of the village, and have an older date than . high up on the steeple, mending the clock-hands or i know not what, hung in mid-air one czech; the only living thing we saw. population may be three or four hundred,--all busy with their teams or otherwise, we will hope. czaslau, which you approach by something of avenues, of human roads (dust and litter still abounding), is a much grander place; say of , or more: shiny, white, but also somnolent; vast market-place, or central square, sloping against you: two shiny hotels on it, with austrian uniforms loitering about;--and otherwise great emptiness and silence. the shiny hotels (shine due to paint mainly) offer little of humanly edible; and, in the interior, smells strike you as--as the oldest you have ever met before. a people not given to washing, to ventilating! many gospels have been preached in those parts, aud abstruse orthodoxies, sometimes with fire and sword, and no end of emphasis; but that of soap-and-water (which surely is as catholic as any, and the plainest of all) has not yet got introduced there!" [tourist's note ( th september, ).] czaslau hangs upon the english mind (were not the ignorance so total) by another tie: it is the resting-place of zisca, whose drum, or the fable of whose drum, we saw in the citadel of glatz. zisca was buried in his skin, at czaslau finally: in the church of st. peter and st. paul there; with due epitaph; and his big mace or battle-club, mostly iron, hung honorable on the wall close by. kaiser ferdinand, karl v.'s brother, on a progress to prag, came to lodge at czaslau, one afternoon: "what is that?" said the kaiser, strolling over this peter-and-paul's church, and noticing the mace. "ugh! faugh!" growled he angrily, on hearing what; and would not lodge in the town, but harnessed again, and drove farther that same night. the club is now gone; but zisca's dust lies there irremovable till doomsday, in the land where his limbs were made. a great behemoth of a war-captain; one of the fiercest, inflexiblest, ruggedest creatures ever made in the form of man. devoured priests, with appetite, wherever discoverable: dishonorers of his sister; murderers of the god's-witness john huss; them may all the devils help! beat kaiser sigismund supra-grammaticam again and ever again, scattering the kitter hosts in an extraordinary manner;--a zisca conquerable only by death, and the pest-fever passing that way. his birthplace, troznow, is a village in the budweis neighborhood, miles to south. there, for three centuries after him, stood "zisca's oak" (under shade of which, his mother, taken suddenly on the harvest-field, had borne zisca): a weird object, gate of heaven and of orcus to the superstitious populations about. at midnight on the hallow-eve, dark smiths would repair thither, to cut a twig of the zisca oak: twig of it put, at the right moment, under your stithy, insures good luck, lends pith to arm and heart, which is already good luck. so that a bishop of those parts, being of some culture, had to cut it down, above a hundred years ago,--and build some chapel in its stead; no oak there now, but an orthodox inscription, not dated that i could see. [hormayr, _oesterreichischer plutarch,_ iii. ( tes), - .] friedrich did not much pursue the austrians after this victory; having cleared the czaslau region of them, he continued there (at kuttenberg mainly); and directed all his industry to getting peace made. his experiences of broglio, and of what help was likely to be had from broglio,--whom his court, as friedrich chanced to know, had ordered "to keep well clear of the king of prussia,"--had not been flattering. beaten in this battle, broglio's charity would have been a weak reed to lean upon: he is happy to inform broglio, that though kept well clear of, he is not beaten. [map goes here---book xiii, page ----missing] blustering broglio might have guessed that he now would have to look to himself. but he did not; his eyes naturally dim and bad, being dazzled at this time, by "an ever-glorious victory" (so broglio thinks it) of his own achieving. broglio, some couple of days after czaslau, had marched hastily out of prag for budweis quarter, where lobkowitz and the austrians were unexpectedly bestirring themselves, and threatening to capture that "castle of frauenberg" (mythic old hill-castle among woods), broglio's chief post in those regions. broglio, may th, has fought a handsome skirmish (thanks partly to belleisle, who chanced to arrive from frankfurt just in the nick of time, and joined broglio): skirmish of sahay; magnified in all the french gazettes into a victory of sahay, victory little short of pharsalia, says friedrich;--the complete account of which, forgotten now by all creatures, is to be read in him they call mauvillon; [_guerre de boheme,_ ii. .] and makes a pretty enough piece of fence, on the small scale. lobkowitz had to give up the frauenberg enterprise; and cross to budweis again, till new force should come. "why not drive him out of budweis," think the two french marshals, "him and whatever force can come? if those lucky prussians would co-operate, and those unlucky saxons, how easy were it!"--belleisle sets off to persuade friedrich, to persuade saxony (and we shall see him on the route); broglio waiting sublime, on the hither side of the moldau, well within wind of budweis, till belleisle prevail, and return with said co-operation, what became of broglio, waiting in this sublime manner, we shall also have to see; but perhaps not for a great while yet (cannot pause on such absurd phenomena yet),--though broglio's catastrophe is itself a thing imminent; and, within some ten days of that astonishing victory of sahay, astonishes poor broglio the reverse way. a man born for surprises! chapter xiv. -- peace of breslau. in actual loss of men or of ground, the results of that chotusitz affair were not of decisive nature. but it had been fought with obstinacy; with great fury on the austrian side (who, as it were, had a bet upon it ever since february th), britannic george, and all the world, looking on: and, in dispiritment and discredit to the beaten party, its results were considerable. the voice of all the world, declaring through its gazetteer editors, "you cannot beat those prussians!" voice confirmed by one's own sad thoughts:--in such sounding of the rams horns round one's jericho, there is always a strange influence (what is called panic, as if pan or some god were in it), and one's jericho is the apter to fall! among the austrian prisoners, there was a general pallandt, mortally wounded too; whom friedrich, according to custom, treated with his best humanity, though all help was hopeless to poor pallandt. calling one day at pallandt's sick-couch, friedrich was so sympathetic, humane and noble, that pallandt was touched by it; and said, "what a pity your noble majesty and my noble queen should ruin one another, for a set of french intruders, who play false even to your majesty!" "false?" friedrich inquires farther: pallandt, a man familiar at court, has seen a letter from fleury to the queen of hungary, conclusive as to fleury's good faith; will undertake, if permitted, to get his majesty a sight of it. friedrich permits; the fleury letter comes; to the effect: "make peace with us, o queen; with your prussian neighbor you shall make--what suits you!" friedrich read; learned conclusively, what perhaps he had already as good as known otherwise; and drew the inference. [_helden-geschichte,_ ii. ; hormayr, _anemonen,_ ii. ; adelung, iii. a, n.] actual copy of this letter the most ardent gazetteer curiosity could not attain to, at that epoch; but the pallandt story seems to have been true;--and as to the fleury letter in such circumstances, copies of various fleury letters to the like purport are still public enough; and fleury's private intentions, already guessed at by friedrich, are in our time a secret to nobody that inquires about them. certain enough, peace with friedrich is now on the way; and cannot well linger:--what prospect has austria otherwise? its very supplies from england will be stopped. hyndford redoubles his diligence; britannic majesty reiterates at vienna: "did not i tell you, madam; there is no hope or possibility till these prussians are off our hands!" to which her hungarian majesty, as the bargain was, now sorrowfully assents; sorrowfully, unwillingly,--and always lays the blame on his britannic majesty afterwards, and brings it up again as a great favor she had done him. "did not i give up my invaluable silesia, the jewel of my crown, for you, cruel britannic majesty with the big purse, and no heart to speak of?" this she urges always, on subsequent occasions; the high-souled lady; reproachful of the patient, big-pursed little gentleman, who never answers as he might, "for me, madam? well--!" in short, hyndford, podewils and the vienna excellencies are busy. of these negotiations which go on at breslau, and of the acres of despatchcs, english, austrian, and other, let us not say one word. enough that the treaty is getting made, and rapidly,--though military offences do not quite cease; clouds of austrian pandours hovering about everywhere in prince karl's rear; pouncing down upon prussian outposts, convoys, mostly to little purpose; hoping (what proves quite futile) they may even burn a prussian magazine here or there. contemptible to the prussian soldier, though very troublesome to him. friedrich regards the pandour sort, with their jingling savagery, as a kind of military vermin; not conceivable a prussian formed corps should yield to any odds of pandour tolpatch tagraggery. nor does the prussian soldier yield; though sometimes, like the mastiff galled by inroad of distracted weasels in too great quantity, he may have his own difficulties. witness colonel retzow and the magazine at pardubitz ("daybreak, may th") versus the infinitude of sudden tolpatchery, bursting from the woods; rabid enough for many hours, but ineffectual, upon pardubitz and retzow. a distinguished colonel this; of whom we shall hear again. whose style of narrative (modest, clear, grave, brief), much more, whose vigilant inexpugnable procedure on the occasion, is much to be commended to the military man. [given in seyfarth, _beylage,_ i. et seqq.] friedrich, the better to cover his magazines, and be out of such annoyances, fell back a little; gradually to kuttenberg again (tolpatchery vanishing, of its own accord); and lay encamped there, head-quarters in the schloss of maleschau near by,--till the breslau negotiations completed themselves. prince karl, fringed with tolpatchery in this manner, but with much desertion, much dispiritment, in his main body,--the hoops upon him all loose, so to speak,--staggers zigzag back towards budweis, and the lobkowitz party there; intending nothing more upon the prussians;--capable now, think some non-prussians, of being well swept out of budweis, and over the horizon altogether. if only his prussian majesty will co-operate! thinks belleisle. "your king of prussia will not, m. le marechal!" answers broglio:--no, indeed; he has tried that trade already, m. le marechal! think broglio and we. the suspicions that friedrich, so quiescent after his chotusitz, is making peace, are rife everywhere; especially in broglio's head and old fleury's; though belleisle persists with emphasis, officially and privately, in the opposite opinion, "husht, messieurs!" better go and see, however. belleisle does go; starts for kuttenberg, for dresden; his beautiful budweis project now ready, french reinforcements streaming towards us, heart high again,--if only friedrich and the saxons will co-operate. belleisle, the two belleisles, with valori and company, arrived june d at kuttenberg, at the schloss of maleschau;--"spoke little of chotusitz," says stille; "and were none of them at the pains to ride to the ground." marechal belleisle, for the next three days, had otherwise speech of friedrich; especially, on june th, a remarkable dialogue. "won't your majesty co-operate?" "alas, monseigneur de belleisle--" how gladly would we give this last dialogue of friedrich's and belleisle's, one of the most ticklish conceivable: but there is not anywhere the least record of it that can be called authentic;--and we learn only that friedrich, with considerable distinctness, gave him to know, "clearly" (say all the books, except friedrich's own), that co-operation was henceforth a thing of the preter-pluperfect tense. "all that i ever wanted, more than i ever demanded, austria now offers; can any one blame me that i close such a business as ours has all along been, on such terms as these now offered me are?" it is said, and is likely enough, the pallandt-fleury letter came up; as probably the moravian foray, and various broglio passages, would, in the train of said letter. to all which, and to the inexorable painful corollary, belleisle, in his high lean way, would listen with a stern grandiose composure. but the rumors add, on coming out into the anteroom, dialogue and sentence now done, monseigneur de belleisle tore the peruke from his head; and stamping on it, was heard to say volcanically, "that cursed parson,--ce maudit calotte [old fleury],--has ruined everything!" perhaps it is not true? if true,--the prompt valets would quickly replace monseigneur's wig; chasing his long strides; and silence, in so dignified a man, would cloak whatever emotions there were. [adelung, iii. a, ; &c. &c. _guerre de boheme,_ (silent about the wig) admits, as all books do, the perfect clearness;--compare, however, _oeuvres de frederic;_ and also broglio's strange darkness, twelve days later, and belleisle now beside him again (_campagnes des trois marechaux,_ v. , , of date th june);--darkness due perhaps to the strange humor broglio was then in?] he rolled off, he and his, straightway to dresden, there to invite co-operation in the budweis project; there also in vain.--"co-operation," m. le marechal? alas, it has already come to operation, if you knew it! aud your broglio is--better hurry back to prag, where you will find phenomena! june th, friedrich has a grand dinner of generals at maleschau; and says, in proposing the first bumper, "gentlemen, i announce to you, that, as i never wished to oppress the queen of hungary, i have formed the resolution of agreeing with that princess, and accepting the proposals she has made me in satisfaction of my rights,"--telling them withal what the chief terms were, and praising my lord hyndford for his great services. upon which was congratulation, cordial, universal; and, with full rummers, "health to the queen of hungary!" followed by others of the like type, "grand-duke of lorraine!" and "the brave prince karl!" especially. brevity being incumbent on us, we shall say only that the hyndford-podewils operations had been speeded, day and night; brought to finis, in the form of signed preliminaries, as "treaty of breslau, th june, ;" and had gone to friedrich's satisfaction in every particular. thanks to the useful hyndford,--to the willing mind of his britannic majesty, once so indignant, but made willing, nay passionately eager, by his love of human liberty and the pressure of events! to hyndford, some weeks hence, [ d august (_helden-geschichte,_ ii. ).]--i conclude, on friedrich's request,--there was order of the thistle sent; and grandest investiture ever seen almost, done by friedrich upon hyndford (jordan, keyserling, schwerin, and the sword of state busy in it; two queens and all the berlin firmament looking on); and, perhaps better still, on friedrich's part there was gift of a silver dinner-service; gift of the royal prussian arms (which do enrich ever since the shield of those scottish carmichaels, as doubtless the dinner-service does their plate-chest); and abundant praise and honor to the useful hyndford, heavy of foot, but sure, who had reached the goal. this welcome treaty, signed at breslau, june th, and confirmed by "treaty of berlin, july th," in more explicit solemn manner, to the self-same effect, can be read by him that runs (if compelled to read treaties); [in _helden-geschichte,_ i. - (treaty of breslau), ib. - (that of berlin); to be found also in wenck, rousset, scholl, adeluug, &c.] the terms, in compressed form, are:-- . "silesia, lower and upper, to beyond the watershed and the oppa-stream,--reserving only the principality of teschen, with pertinents, which used to be reckoned silesian, and the ulterior mountain-tops [mountain-tops good for what? thought friedrich, a year or two afterwards!]--silesia wholly, within those limits, and furthermore the county glatz and its dependencies, are and remain the property of friedrich and of his heirs male or female; given up, and made his, to all intents and purposes, forevermore. with which friedrich, to the like long date, engages to rest satisfied, and claim nothing farther anywhere. . "silesian dutch-english debt [loan of about two millions, better half of it english, contracted by the late kaiser, on silesian security, in that dreadful polish-election crisis, when the sea-powers would not help, but left it to their stockbrokers] is undertaken by friedrich, who will pay interest on the same till liquidated. . "religion to stand where it is. prussian majesty not to meddle in this present or in other wars of her hungarian majesty, except with his ardent wishes that general peace would ensue, and that all his friends, hungarian majesty among others, were living in good agreement around him." this is the treaty of breslau (june th, ), or, in second more solemn edition, treaty of berlin (july th following); signed, ratified, guaranteed by his britannic majesty for one, [treaty of westminster, between friedrich aud george, th ( th) november, (scholl, ii. ).] and firmly planted on the diplomatic adamant (at least on the diplomatic parchment) of this world. and now: homewards, then; march!-- huge huzzaing, herald-trumpeting, bob-majoring, bursts forth from all prussian towns, especially from all silesian ones, in those june days, as the drums beat homewards; elaborate illuminations, in the short nights; with bonfires, with transparencies,--transparency inscribed "frederico magno (to friedrich the great)," in one small instance, still of premature nature. [_helden-geschichte_ (ii. - ) is endless on these illuminations; the jauer case, of frederico magno (jauer in silesia), is of june th (ib. ).] omitting very many things, about silesian fortresses, army-cantons, silesian settlements, military and civil, which would but weary the reader, we add only this from bielfeld: dusty transit of a victorious majesty, now on the threshold of home. precise date (which bielfeld prudently avoids guessing at) is july th, ; "m. de pollnitz and i are in the suite of the king:-- "we never stopped on the road, except some hours at frankfurt-on-oder, where the fair was just going on. on approaching the town, we found the highway lined on both sides with crowds of traders, and other strangers of all nations; who had come out, attracted by curiosity to see the conqueror of silesia, and had ranged themselves in two rows there. his majesty's entry into frankfurt, although a very triumphant one, was far from being ostentatious. we passed like lightning before the eyes of the spectators, and we were so covered with dust, that it was difficult to distinguish the color of our coats and the features of our faces. we made some purchases at frankfurt; and arrived safely in the capital [next day], where the king was received amidst the acclamations of his people." [bielfeld, ii. .] here is a successful young king; is not he? has plunged into the mahlstrom for his jewelled gold cup, and comes up with it, alive, unlamed. will he, like that diver of schiller's, have to try the feat a second time? perhaps a second time, and even a third!-- history of friedrich ii of prussia frederick the great by thomas carlyle volume xii. book xii. -- first silesian war, awakening a general european one, begins. -- december, -may, . chapter i. -- of schlesien, or silesia. schlesien, what we call silesia, lies in elliptic shape, spread on the top of europe, partly girt with mountains, like the crown or crest to that part of the earth;--highest table-land of germany or of the cisalpine countries; and sending rivers into all the seas. the summit or highest level of it is in the southwest; longest diameter is from northwest to southeast. from crossen, whither friedrich is now driving, to the jablunka pass, which issues upon hungary, is above miles; the axis, therefore, or longest diameter, of our ellipse we may call english miles;--its shortest or conjugate diameter, from friedland in bohemia (wallenstein's old friedland), by breslau across the oder to the polish frontier, is about . the total area of schlesien is counted to be some , square miles, nearly the third of england proper. schlesien--will the reader learn to call it by that name, on occasion? for in these sad manuscripts of ours the names alternate--is a fine, fertile, useful and beautiful country. it leans sloping, as we hinted, to the east and to the north; a long curved buttress of mountains ("riesengebirge, giant mountains," is their best-known name in foreign countries) holding it up on the south and west sides. this giant-mountain range,--which is a kind of continuation of the saxon-bohemian "metal mountains (erzgebirge)" and of the straggling lausitz mountains, to westward of these,--shapes itself like a bill-hook (or elliptically, as was said): handle and hook together may be some miles in length. the precipitous side of this is, in general, turned outwards, towards bohmen, mahren, ungarn (bohemia, moravia, hungary, in our dialects); and schlesien lies inside, irregularly sloping down, towards the baltic and towards the utmost east, from the bohemian side of these mountains there rise two rivers: elbe, tending for the west; morawa for the south;--morawa, crossing moravia, gets into the donau, and thence into the black-sea; while elbe, after intricate adventures among the mountains, and then prosperously across the plains, is out, with its many ships, into the atlantic. two rivers, we say, from the bohemian or steep side: and again, from the silesian side, there rise other two, the oder and the weichsel (vistula); which start pretty near one another in the southeast, and, after wide windings, get both into the baltic, at a good distance apart. for the first thirty, or in parts, fifty miles from the mountains, silesia slopes somewhat rapidly; and is still to be called a hill-country, rugged extensive elevations diversifying it: but after that, the slope is gentle, and at length insensible, or noticeable only by the way the waters run. from the central part of it, schlesien pictures itself to you as a plain; growing ever flatter, ever sandier, as it abuts on the monotonous endless sand-flats of poland, and the brandenburg territories; nothing but boundary stones with their brass inscriptions marking where the transition is; and only some fortified town, not far off, keeping the door of the country secure in that quarter. on the other hand, the mountain part of schlesien is very picturesque; not of alpine height anywhere (the schnee-koppe itself is under , feet), so that verdure and forest wood fail almost nowhere among the mountains; and multiplex industry, besung by rushing torrents and the swift young rivers, nestles itself high up; and from wheat husbandry, madder and maize husbandry, to damask-weaving, metallurgy, charcoal-burning, tar-distillery, schlesien has many trades, and has long been expert and busy at them to a high degree. a very pretty ellipsis, or irregular oval, on the summit of the european continent;--"like the palm of a left hand well stretched out, with the riesengebirge for thumb!" said a certain herr to me, stretching out his arm in that fashion towards the northwest. palm, well stretched out, measuring miles; and the crossway . there are still beavers in schlesien; the katzbach river has gold grains in it, a kind of pactolus not now worth working; and in the scraggy lonesome pine-woods, grimy individuals, with kindled mounds of pine-branches and smoke carefully kept down by sods, are sweating out a substance which they inform you is to be tar. historical epochs of schlesien;--after the quads and marchmen. who first lived in schlesien, or lived long since in it, there is no use in asking, nor in telling if one knew. "the quadi and the lygii," says dryasdust, in a groping manner: quadi and consorts, in the fifth or sixth century, continues he with more confidence, shifted rome-ward, following the general track of contemporaneous mankind; weak remnant of quadi was thereupon overpowered by slavic populations, and their country became polish, which the eastern rim of it still essentially is. that was the end of the quadi in those parts, says history. but they cannot speak nor appeal for themselves; history has them much at discretion. rude burial urns, with a handful of ashes in them, have been dug up in different places; these are all the archives and histories the quadi now have. it appears their name signifies wicked. they are those poor quadi (wicked people) who always go along with the marcomanni (marchmen), in the bead-roll histories one reads; and i almost guess they must have been of the same stock: "wickeds and borderers;" considered, on both sides of the border, to belong to the dangerous classes in those times. two things are certain: first, quad and its derivatives have, to this day, in the speech of rustic germans, something of that meaning,--"nefarious," at least "injurious," "hateful, and to be avoided:" for example, quaddel, "a nettle-burn;" quetschen, "to smash" (say, your thumb while hammering); &c. &c. and then a second thing: the polish equivalent word is zle (busching says zlexi); hence zlezien, schlesien, meaning merely badland, quadland, what we might called damagitia, or country where you get into trouble. that is the etymology, or what passes for such. as to the history of schlesien, hitherwards of these burial urns dug up in different places, i notice, as not yet entirely buriable, three epochs. first epoch; christianity: a.d. . introduction of christianity; to the length of founding a bishopric that year, so hopeful were the aspects; "bishopric of schmoger" (schmagram, dim little village still discoverable on the polish frontier, not far from the town of namslau); bishopric which, after one removal farther inward, got across the oder, to "wrutislav," which me now call breslau; and sticks there, as bishopric of breslau, to this day. year : it was in adalbert, our prussian saint and missionary's younger time. preaching, by zealous polacks, must have been going on, while adalbert, bright in nobleness, was studying at magdeburg, and ripening for high things in the general estimation. this was a new gift from the polacks, this of christianity; an infinitely more important one than that nickname of "zlezien," or "damagitia," stuck upon the poor country, had been. second epoch; get gradually cut loose from poland: a.d. - . twenty years of great trouble in poland, which were of lasting benefit to schlesien. in the polack king, a very potent majesty whom we could name but do not, died; and left his dominions shared by punctual bequest among his five sons. punctual bequest did avail: but the eldest son (who was king, and had schlesien with much else to his share) began to encroach, to grasp; upon which the others rose upon him, flung him out into exile; redivided; and hoped now they might have quiet. hoped, but were disappointed; and could come to no sure bargain for the next twenty years,--not till "the eldest brother," first author of these strifes, "died an exile in holstein," or was just about dying, and had agreed to take schlesien for all claims, and be quiet thenceforth. his, this eldest's, three sons did accordingly, in , get schlesien instead of him; their uncles proving honorable. schlesien thereby was happy enough to get cut loose from poland, and to continue loose; steering a course of its own;--parting farther and farther from poland and its habits and fortunes. these three sons, of the late polish majesty who died in exile in holstein, are the "piast dukes," much talked of in silesian histories: of whose merits i specify this only, that they so soon as possible strove to be german. they were progenitors of all the "piast dukes," proprietors of schlesien thenceforth, till the last of them died out in ,--and a certain erbverbruderung they had entered into could not take effect at that time. their merits as sovereign dukes seem to have been considerable; a certain piety, wisdom and nobleness of mind not rare among them; and no doubt it was partly their merit, if partly also their good luck, that they took to germany, and leant thitherward; steering looser and looser from poland, in their new circumstances. they themselves by degrees became altogether german; their countries, by silent immigration, introduction of the arts, the composures and sobrieties, became essentially so. on the eastern rim there is still a polack remnant, its territories very sandy, its condition very bad; remnant which surely ought to cease its polack jargon, and learn some dialect of intelligible teutsch, as the first condition of improvement. in all other parts teutsch reigns; and schlesien is a green abundant country; full of metallurgy, damask-weaving, grain-husbandry.--instead of gasconade, gilt anarchy, rags, dirt, and nie pozwalam. a.d. ; get completely cut loose. the piast dukes, who soon ceased to be polish, and hung rather upon bohemia, and thereby upon germany, made a great step in that direction, when king johann, old ich-dien whom we ought to recollect, persuaded most of them, all of them but two, "pretio ac prece," to become feudatories (quasi-feudatories, but of a sovereign sort) to his crown of bohemia. the two who stood out, resisting prayer and price, were the duke of jauer and the duke of schweidnitz,--lofty-minded gentlemen, perhaps a thought too lofty. but these also johann's son, little kaiser karl iv., "marrying their heiress," contrived to bring in;--one fruitful adventure of little karl's, among the many wasteful he made, in the german reich. schlesien is henceforth a bit of the kingdom of bohemia; indissolubly hooked to germany; and its progress in the arts and composures, under wise piasts with immigrating germans, we guess to have become doubly rapid. [busching, _erdbeschreibung,_ viii. ; hubner, t. .] third epoch; adopt the reformation: a.d. - . schlesien, hanging to bohemia in this manner, extensively adopted huss's doctrines; still more extensively luther's; and that was a difficult element in its lot, though, i believe, an unspeakably precious one. it cost above a century of sad tumults, zisca wars; nay above two centuries, including the sad thirty-years war;--which miseries, in bohemia proper, were sometimes very sad and even horrible. but schlesien, the outlying country, did, in all this, suffer less than bohemia proper; and did not lose its evangelical doctrine in result, as unfortunate bohemia did, and sink into sluttish "fanatical torpor, and big crucifixes of japanned tin by the wayside," though in the course of subsequent years, named of peace, it was near doing so. here are the steps, or unavailing counter-steps, in that latter direction:-- a.d. . occurred, as we know, the erbverbruderung; duke of liegnitz, and of other extensive heritages, making deed of brotherhood with kur-brandenburg;--deed forbidden, and so far as might be, rubbed out and annihilated by the then king of bohemia, subsequently kaiser ferdinand i., karl v.'s brother. duke of liegnitz had to give up his parchments, and become zero in that matter: kur-brandenburg entirely refused to do so; kept his parchments, to see if they would not turn to something. a.d. . schlesien, especially the then duke of liegnitz (great-grandson of the erbverbruderung one), and poor johann george, duke of jagerndorf, cadet of the then kur-brandenburg, went warmly ahead into the winter-king project, first fire of the thirty-years war; sufferings from papal encroachment, in high quarters, being really extreme. warmly ahead; and had to smart sharply for it;--poor johann george with forfeiture of jagerndorf, with reiches-acht (ban of the empire), and total ruin; fighting against which he soon died. act of ban and forfeiture was done tyrannously, said most men; and it was persisted in equally so, till men ceased speaking of it;--jagerndorf duchy, fruit of the act, was held by austria, ever after, in defiance of the laws of the reich. religious oppression lay heavy on protestant schlesien thenceforth; and many lukewarm individualities were brought back to orthodoxy by that method, successful in the diligent skilled hands of jesuit reverend fathers, with fiscals and soldiers in the rear of them. a.d. . treaty of westphalia mended much of this, and set fair limits to papist encroachment;--had said treaty been kept: but how could it? by orthodox authority, anxious to recover lost souls, or at least to have loyal subjects, it was publicly kept in name; and tacitly, in substance, it was violated more and more. of the "blossoming of silesian literature," spoken of in books; of the poet opitz, poets logan, hoffmannswaldau, who burst into a kind of song better or worse at this period, we will remember nothing; but request the reader to remember it, if he is tunefully given, or thinks it a good symptom of schlesien. a.d. . treaty of altranstadt: between kaiser joseph i. and karl xii. swedish karl, marching through those parts,--out of poland, in chase of august the physically strong, towards saxony, there to beat him soft,--was waited upon by silesian deputations of a lamentable nature; was entreated, for the love of christ and his evangel, to "protect us poor protestants, and get the treaty of westphalia observed on our behalf, and fair-play shown!" which karl did; kaiser joseph, with such weight of french war lying on him, being much struck with the tone of that dangerous swede. the pope rebuked kaiser joseph for such compliance in the silesian matter: "holy father," answered this kaiser (not of distinguished orthodoxy in the house), "i am too glad he did not ask me to become lutheran; i know not how i should have helped myself!" [pauli, _ allgemeine preussische staats-geschichte_ (viii. - ); busching, _erdbeschreibung_ (viii. - ); &c.--heinrich wuttke, _friedrichs des grossen besitzergreifung von schlesien_ (seizure of silesia by friedrich, vols. leipzig, ), i mention only lest ingenuous readers should be tempted by the title to buy it. wuttke begins at the creation of the world; and having, in two heavy volumes, at last struggled down close to the besitzergreifung or seizure in question, calls halt; and stands (at ease, we will hope) immovably there for the seventeen years since.] these are the three epochs;--most things, in respect of this third or reformation epoch, stepping steadily downward hitherto. as to the fourth epoch, dating " th dec. ," which continues, up to our day and farther, and is the final and crowning epoch of silesian history,--read in the following chapters. chapter ii. -- friedrich marches on glogau. at what hour friedrich ceased dancing on that famous ball-night of bielfeld's, and how long he slept after, or whether at all, no bielfeld even mythically says: but next morning, as is patent to all the world, tuesday, th december, , at the stroke of nine, he steps into his carriage; and with small escort rolls away towards frankfurt-on-oder; [_helden-geschichte,_ i. ; preuss, _thronbesteigung,_ p. .] out upon an enterprise which will have results for himself and others. two youngish military men, adjutant-generals both, were with him, wartensleben, borck; both once fellow captains in the potsdam giants, and much in his intimacy ever since. wartensleben we once saw at brunswick, on a masonic occasion; borck, whom we here see for the first time, is not the colonel borck (properly major-general) who did the herstal operation lately; still less is he the venerable old minister, marlborough veteran, and now field-marshal borck, whom hotham treated with, on a certain occasion. there are numerous borcks always in the king's service; nor are these three, except by loose cousinry, related to one another. the borcks all come from stettin quarter; a brave kindred, and old enough,--"old as the devil, das ist so old als de borcken und de duwel," says the pomeranian proverb;--the adjutant-general, a junior member of the clan, chances to be the notablest of them at this moment. wartensleben, borck, and a certain colonel von der golz, whom also the king much esteems, these are his company on this drive. for escort, or guard of honor out of berlin to the next stages, there is a small body of hussars, life-guard and other cavalry, "perhaps horse in all." they drive rapidly, through the gray winter; reach frankfurt-on-oder, sixty miles or more; where no doubt there is military business waiting. they are forward, on the morrow, for dinner, forty miles farther, at a small town called crossen, which looks over into silesia; and is, for the present, headquarters to a prussian army, standing ready there and in the environs. standing ready, or hourly marching in, and rendezvousing; now about , strong, horse and foot. a rearguard of ten or twelve thousand will march from berlin in two days, pause hereabouts, and follow according to circumstances: prussian army will then be some , in all. schwerin has been commander, manager and mainspring of the business hitherto: henceforth it is to be the king; but schwerin under him will still have a division of his own. among the regiments, we notice "schulenburg horse-grenadiers,"--come along from landsberg hither, these horse-grenadiers, with little schulenburg at the head of them;--"dragoon regiment bayreuth," "lifeguard carbineers," "derschau of foot;" and other regiments and figures slightly known to us, or that will be better known. [list in _helden-geschichte,_ i. .] rearguard, just getting under way at berlin, has for leaders the prince of holstein-beck ("holstein-vaisselle," say wags, since the principality went all to silver-plate) and the hereditary prince of anhalt-dessau, whom we called the young dessauer, on the strasburg journey lately: rearguard, we say, is of , ; main army is , ; horse and foot are in the proportion of about to . artillery "consists of three-pounders; twelve-pounders; howitzers (haubitzen); big mortars, calibre fifty pounds; and of artillerymen in all." with this force the young king has, on his own basis (pretty much in spite of all the world, as we find now and afterwards), determined to invade silesia, and lay hold of the property he has long had there;--not computing, for none can compute, the sleeping whirlwinds he may chance to awaken thereby. thus lightly does a man enter upon enterprises which prove unexpectedly momentous, and shape the whole remainder of his days for him; crossing the rubicon as it were in his sleep. in life, as on railways at certain points,--whether you know it or not, there is but an inch, this way or that, into what tram you are shunted; but try to get out of it again! "the man is mad, cet homme-la est fol!" said louis xv. when he heard it. [raumer, _beitrage_ (english translation, called _frederick ii. and his times; from british museum and state-paper office:_--a very indistinct poor book, in comparison with whet it might have been), p. ( th dec. ).] friedrich at crossen, and still in his own territory, th- th december;--steps into schlesien. at all events, the man means to try;--and is here dining at crossen, noon of wednesday, the th; certain important persons,--especially two silesian gentlemen, deputed from grunberg, the nearest silesian town, who have come across the border on business,--having the honor to dine with him. to whom his manner is lively and affable; lively in mood, as if there lay no load upon his spirits. the business of these two silesian gentlemen, a baron von hocke one of them, a baron von kestlitz the other, was to present, on the part of the town and amt of grunberg, a solemn protest against this meditated entrance on the territory of schlesien; government itself, from breslau, ordering them to do so. protest was duly presented; friedrich, as his manner is, and continues to be on his march, glances politely into or at the protest; hands it, in silence, to some page or secretary to deposit in the due pigeon-hole or waste-basket; and invites the two silesian gentlemen to dine with him; as, we see, they have the honor to do. "he (er) lives near grunberg, then, mein herr von hocke?" "close to it, ihro majestat. my poor mansion, schloss of deutsch-kessel, is some fifteen miles hence; how infinitely at your majesty's service, should the march prove inevitable, and go that way!"--"well, perhaps!" i find friedrich did dine, the second day hence, with one of these gentlemen; and lodged with the other. government at breslau has ordered such protest, on the part of the frontier populations and official persons: and this is all that comes of it. during these hours, it chanced that the big bell of crossen dropped from its steeple,--fulness of time, or entire rottenness of axle-tree, being at last completed, at this fateful moment. perhaps an ominous thing? friedrich, as caesar and others have done, cheerfully interprets the omen to his own advantage: "sign that the high is to be brought low!" says friedrich. were the march-routes, wagon-trains, and multifarious adjustments perfect to the last item here at crossen, he will with much cheerfulness step into silesia, independent of all grunberg protests and fallen bells. on the second day he does actually cross; "the regiments marching in, at different points; some reaching as far as miles in." it is friday, th december, ; there has a game begun which will last long! they went through the village of lasgen; that was the first point of silesian ground ("circle of schwiebus," our old friend, is on the left near by); and "schwerin's regiment was the foremost." others cross more to the left or right; "marching through the village of lessen," and other dim villages and little towns, round and beyond grunberg; all regiments and divisions bearing upon grunberg and the great road; but artistically portioned out,--several miles in breadth (for the sake of quarters), and, as is generally the rule, about a day's march in length. this evening nearly the whole army was on silesian ground. printed "patent" or proclamation, briefly assuring all silesians, of whatever rank, condition or religion, "that we have come as friends to them, and will protect all persons in their privileges, and molest no peaceable mortal," is posted on church-doors, and extensively distributed by hand. soldiers are forbidden, "under penalty of the rods," officers under that of "cassation with infamy," to take anything, without first bargaining and paying ready money for it. on these terms the silesian villages cheerfully enough accept their new guests, interesting to the rural mind; and though the billeting was rather heavy, "as many as soldiers to a common farmer (gartner)," no complaints were made. in one schloss, where the owners had fled, and no human response was to be had by the wayworn-soldiery, there did occur some breakages and impatient kickings about; which it grieved his majesty to hear of, next morning;--in one, not in more. official persons, we perceive, study to be absolutely passive. this was the burgermeister's course at grunberg to-night; grunberg, first town on the frontier, sets an example of passivity which cannot be surpassed. prussian troops being at the gate of grunberg, burgermeister and adjuncts sitting in a tacit expectant condition in their town-hall, there arrives a prussian lieutenant requiring of the burgermeister the key of said gate. "to deliver such key? would to god i durst, mein herr lieutenant; but how dare i! there is the key lying: but to give it--you are not the queen of hungary's officer, i doubt?"--the prussian lieutenant has to put out hand, and take the key; which he readily does. and on the morrow, in returning it, when the march recommences, there are the same phenomena: burgermeister or assistants dare not for the life of them touch that key: it lay on the table; and may again, in the course of providence, come to lie!--the prussian lieutenant lays it down accordingly, and hurries out, with a grin on his face. there was much small laughter over this transaction; majesty himself laughing well at it. higher perfection of passivity no burgermeister could show. the march, as readers understand, is towards glogau; a strongish garrison town, now some miles ahead; the key of northern schlesien. grunberg (where my readers once slept for the night, in the late king's time, though they have forgotten it) is the first and only considerable town on the hither side of glogau. on to glogau, i rather perceive, the army is in good part provisioned before starting: after glogau,--we must see. bread-wagons, baggage-wagons, ammunition-and-artillery wagons, all is in order; army artistically portioned out. that is the form of march; with glogau ahead. king, as we said above, dines with his baron von hocke, at the schloss of deutsch-kessel, short way beyond grunberg, this first day: but he by no means loiters there;--cuts across, a dozen miles westward, through a country where his vanguard on its various lines of march ought to be arriving;--and goes to lodge, at the schloss of schweinitz, with his other baron, the von kestlitz of wednesday at crossen. [_helden-geschichte,_ i. .] this is friday, th december, his first night on silesian ground. what glogau, and the government at breslau, did upon it. silesia, in the way of resistance, is not in the least prepared for him. a month ago, there were not above , austrian foot and horse in the whole province: neither the military governor count wallis, nor the imperial court, nor any official person near or far, had the least anticipation of such a visit. count wallis, who commands in glogau, did in person, nine or ten days ago, as the rumors rose ever higher, run over to crossen; saw with his eyes the undeniable there; and has been zealously endeavoring ever since, what he could, to take measures. wallis is now shut in glogau; his second, the now acting governor, general browne, a still more reflective man, is doing likewise his utmost; but on forlorn terms, and without the least guidance from court. browne has, by violent industry, raked together, from mahren and the neighboring countries, certain fractions which raise his force to , foot: these he throws, in small parties, into the defensible points; or, in larger, into the chief garrisons. new cavalry he cannot get; the old horse he keeps for himself, all the marching army he has. [particulars in _helden-geschichte,_ i. ; total of austrian force seems to be , horse and foot.] fain would he get possession of breslau, and throw in some garrison there; but cannot. neither he nor wallis could compass that. breslau is a city divided against itself, on this matter; full of emotions, of expectations, apprehensions for and against. there is a supreme silesian government (ober-amt "head-office," kind of austrian vice-royalty) in breslau; and there is, on breslau's own score, a town-rath; strictly catholic both these, vienna the breath of their nostrils. but then also there are forty-four incorporated trades; oppressed protestant in majority; to whom vienna is not breath, but rather the want of it. lastly, the city calls itself free; and has crabbed privileges still valid; a "jus proesidii" (or right to be one's own garrison) one of them, and the most inconvenient just now. breslau is a reich-stadt; in theory, sovereign member of the reich, and supreme over its own affairs, even as austria itself:--and the truth is, old theory and new fact, resolved not to quarrel, have lapsed into one another's arms in a quite inextricable way, in breslau as elsewhere! with a head government which can get no orders from vienna, the very town-rath has little alacrity, inclines rather to passivity like grunberg; and a silent population threatens to become vocal if you press upon it. breslau, that is to say the ober-amt there, has sent courier on courier to vienna for weeks past: not even an answer;--what can vienna answer, with kur-baiern and others threatening war on it, and only , pounds in its national purse? answer at last is, "don't bother! danger is not so near. why spend money on couriers, and get into such a taking?" general wallis came to breslau, after what he had seen at crossen; and urged strongly, in the name of self-preservation, first law of nature, to get an austrian real garrison introduced; wished much (horrible to think of!) "the suburbs should be burnt, and better ramparts raised:" but could not succeed in any of these points, nor even mention some of them in a public manner. "you shall have a protestant for commandant," suggested wallis; "there is count von roth, silesian-lutheran, an excellent soldier!"--"thanks," answered they, "we can defend ourselves; we had rather not have any!" and the breslau burghers have, accordingly, set to drill themselves; are bringing out old cannon in quantity; repairing breaches; very strict in sentry-work: "perfectly able to defend our city,--so far as we see good!"--tuesday last, december th (the very day friedrich left berlin), as this matter of the garrison, long urged by the ober-amt, had at last been got agreed to by the town-rath, "on proviso of consulting the incorporated trades", or at least consulting their guild-masters, who are usually a silent folk,--the guild-masters suddenly became in part vocal; and their forty-four guilds unusually so:--and there was tumult in breslau, in the salz-ring (big central square or market-place, which they call ring) such as had not been; idle population, and guild-brethren of suspicious humor, gathering in multitudes into and round the fine old town-hall there; questioning, answering, in louder and louder key; at last bellowing quite in alt; and on the edge of flaming into one knew not what: [_helden-geschichte,_ i. .]--till the matter of austrian garrison (much more, of burning the suburbs!) had to be dropt; settled in what way we see. head government (ober-amt) has, through its northern official people, sent protest, strict order to the silesian population to look sour on the prussians:--and we saw, in consequence, the two silesian gentlemen did dine with friedrich, and he has returned their visits; and the mayor of grunberg would not touch his keys. head government is now redacting a "patent," or still more solemn protest of its own; which likewise it will affix in the salz-ring here, and present to king friedrich: and this--except "despatching by boat down the river a great deal of meal to glogau", which was an important quiet thing, of wallis's enforcing--is pretty much all it can do. no austrian garrison can be got in ("perfectly able to defend ourselves!")--let government and wallis or browne contrive as they may. and as to burning the suburbs, better not whisper of that again. breslau feels, or would fain feel itself "perfectly able;"--has at any rate no wish to be bombarded; and contains privately a great deal of protestant humor. of all which, friedrich, it is not doubted, has notice more or less distinct; and quickens his march the more. general browne is at present in the southern parts; an able active man and soldier; but, with such a force what can he attempt to do? there are three strong places in the country, glogau, then brieg, both on the oder river; lastly neisse, on the neisse river, a branch of the oder (one of the four neisse rivers there are in germany, mostly in silesia,--not handy to the accurate reader of german books). browne is in neisse; and will start into a strange stare when the flying post reaches him: prussians actually on march! debate with them, if debate there is to be, browne himself must contrive to do; from breslau, from vienna, no government supreme or subordinate can yield his , and him the least help. glogau, as we saw, means to defend itself; at least, general wallis the commandant, does, in spite of the glogau public; and is, with his whole might, digging, palisading, getting in meal, salt meat and other provender;--likewise burning suburbs, uncontrollable he, in the small place; and clearing down the outside edifices and shelters, at a diligent rate. yesterday, th december, he burnt down the "three oder-mills, which lie outside the big suburban tavern, also the ziegel-scheune (tile-manufactory)," and other valuable buildings, careless of public lamentation,--fire catching the town itself, and needing to be quenched again. [_helden-geschichte,_ i. - .] nay, he was clear for burning down, or blowing up, the protestant church, indispensable sacred edifice which stands outside the walls: "prussians will make a block-house of it!" said wallis. a chief protestant, baron von something, begged passionately for only twelve hours of respite,--to lay the case before his prussian majesty. respite conceded, he and another chief protestant had posted off accordingly; and did the next morning (friday, th), short way from crossen, meet his majesty's carriage; who graciously pulled up for a few instants, and listened to their story. "meine herren, you are the first that ask a favor of me on silesian ground; it shall be done you!" said the king; and straightway despatched, in polite style, his written request to wallis, engaging to make no military use whatever of said church, "but to attack by the other side, if attack were necessary." thus his majesty saved the church of glogau; which of course was a popular act. getting to see this church himself a few days hence, he said, "why, it must come down at any rate, and be rebuilt; so ugly a thing!" wallis is making strenuous preparation; forces the inhabitants, even the upper kinds of them, to labor day and night by relays, in his rampartings, palisadings; is for burning all the adjacent villages,--and would have done it, had not the peasants themselves turned out in a dangerous state of mind. he has got together about , men. his powder, they say, is fifty years old; but he has eatable provender from breslau, and means to hold out to the utmost. readers must admit that the austrian military, graf von wallis to begin with,--still more, general browne, who is a younger man and has now the head charge,--behave well in their present forsaken condition. wallis (graf franz wenzel this one, not to be confounded with an older wallis heard of in the late turk war) is of scotch descent,--as all these wallises are; "came to austria long generations ago; reichsgrafs since :"--browne is of irish; age now thirty-five, ten years younger than wallis. read this note on the distinguished browne:-- "a german-irish gentleman, this general (ultimately fieldmarshal) graf von browne; one of those sad exiled irish jacobites, or sons of jacobites, who are fighting in foreign armies; able and notable men several of them, and this browne considerably the most so. we shall meet him repeatedly within the next eighteen years. maximilian-ulysses graf von browne: i said he was born german; basel his birthplace ( d october, ), father also a soldier: he must not be confounded with a contemporary cousin of his, who is also 'fieldmarshal browne,' but serves in russia, governor of riga for a long time in the coming years. this austrian general, fieldmarshal browne, will by and by concern us somewhat; and the reader may take note of him. "who the irish brothers browne, the fathers of these marshals browne, were? i have looked in what irish peerages and printed records there were, but without the least result. one big dropsical book, of languid quality, called _king james's irish army-list,_ has multitudes of brownes and others, in an indistinct form; but the one browne wanted, the one lacy, almost the one lally, like the part of hamlet, are omitted. there are so many irish in the like case with these brownes. a lacy we once slightly saw or heard of; busy in the polish-election time,--besieging dantzig (investing dantzig, that munnich might besiege it);--that lacy, 'governor of riga,' whom the russian browne will succeed, is also irish: a conspicuous russian man; and will have a son lacy, conspicuous among the austrians. maguires, ogilvies (of the irish stock), lieutenants 'fitzgeral;' very many irish; and there is not the least distinct account to be had of any of them." [for browne see "anonymous of hamburg" (so i have had to label a j.f.s. _geschichte des &c._--in fact, history of seven-years war, in successive volumes, done chiefly by the scissors; leipzig and frankfurt, , et seqq.), i. - n.: elaborate note of eight pages there; intimating withal that he, j.f.s., wrote the _"life of browne,"_ a book i had in vain sought for; and can now guess to consist of those same elaborate eight pages, plus water and lathering to the due amount. anonymous "of hamburg" i call my j.f.s.,--having fished him out of the dust-abysses in that city: a very poor take; yet worth citing sometimes, being authentic, as even the darkest germans generally are.--for a glimpse of lacy (the elder lacy) see busching, _beitrage,_ vi. .--for wallis (tombstone note on wallis) see (among others who are copious in that kind of article, and keep large sacks of it, in admired disorder) anonymous seyfarth, _geschichte friedrichs des andern_ (leipzig, - ), i. n.; and anonymous, _leben der &c. marie theresie_ (leipzig, ), n.: laboriously authentic books both; essentialy dictionaries,--stuffed as into a row of blind sacks.] let us attend his majesty on the next few marches towards glogau, to see the manner of the thing a little; after which it will behoove us to be much more summary, and stick by the main incidents. march to weichau (saturday, th, and stay sunday there); to milkau (monday, th); get to herrendorf, within sight of glogau, december d. friedrich's march proceeds with speed and regularity. strict discipline is maintained; all things paid for, damage carefully avoided: "we come, not as invasive enemies of you or of the queen of hungary, but as protective friends of silesia and of her majesty's rights there;--her majesty once allowing us (as it is presumable she will) our own rights in this province, no man shall meddle with hers, while we continue here." to that effect runs the little "patent," or initiatory proclamation, extensively handed out, and posted in public places, as was said above; and the practice is conformable. to all men, coming with protests or otherwise, we perceive, the young king is politeness itself; giving clear answer, and promise which will be kept, on the above principle. nothing angers him except that gentlemen should disbelieve, and run away. that a mansion be found deserted by its owners, is the one evil omen for such mansion. thus, at the schloss of weichau (which is still discoverable on the map, across the "black ochel" and the "white," muddy streams which saunter eastward towards, the oder there, nothing yet running westward for the bober, our other limitary river), next night after schweinitz, second night in silesia, there was no owner to be met with; and the look of his majesty grew finster (dark); remembering what had passed yesternight, in like case, at that other schloss from which the owner with his best portable furniture had vanished. at which schloss, as above noticed, some disorders were committed by angry parties of the march;--doors burst open (doors standing impudently dumb to the rational proposals made them!), inferior remainders of furniture smashed into firewood, and the like,--no doubt to his majesty's vexation. here at weichau stricter measures were taken: and yet difficulties, risks were not wanting; and the amtmann (steward of the place) got pulled about, and once even a stroke or two. happily the young herr of weichau appeared in person on the morrow, hearing his majesty was still there: "papa is old; lives at another schloss; could not wait upon your majesty; nor, till now, could i have that honor."--"well; lucky that you have come: stay dinner!" which the young count did, and drove home in the evening to reassure papa; his majesty continuing there another night, and the risk over. [_helden-geschichte,_ i. .] this day, sunday, th, the army rests; their first sunday in silesia, while the young count pays his devoir: and here in weichau, as elsewhere, it is in the church, catholic nearly always, that the heretic army does its devotions, safe from weather at least: such the royal order, they say; which is taken note of, by the heterodox and by the orthodox. and ever henceforth, this is the example followed; and in all places where there is no protestant church and the catholics have one, the prussian army-chaplain assembles his buff-belted audience in the latter: "no offence, reverend fathers, but there are hours for us, and hours for you; and such is the king's order." there is regular divine-service in this prussian army; and even a good deal of inarticulate religion, as one may see on examining. country gentlemen, town mayors and other civic authorities, soon learn that on these terms they are safe with his majesty; march after march he has interviews with such, to regulate the supplies, the necessities and accidents of the quartering of his troops. clear, frank, open to reasonable representation, correct to his promise; in fact, industriously conciliatory and pacificatory: such is friedrich to all silesian men. provincial authorities, who can get no instructions from head-quarters; vienna saying nothing, breslau nothing, and deputy-governor browne being far south in neisse,--are naturally in difficulties: how shall they act? best not to act at all, if one can help it; and follow the mayor of grunberg's unsurpassable pattern!-- "these silesians," says an excerpt i have made, "are still in majority protestant; especially in this northern portion of the province; they have had to suffer much on that and other scores; and are secretly or openly in favor of the prussians. official persons, all of the catholic creed, have leant heavy, not always conscious of doing it, against protestant rights. the jesuits, consciously enough, have been and are busy with them; intent to recall a heretic population by all methods, fair and unfair. we heard of charles xii.'s interference, three-and-thirty years ago; and how the kaiser, hard bested at that time, had to profess repentance and engage for complete amendment. amendment did, for the moment, accordingly take place. treaty of westphalia in all its stipulations, with precautionary improvements, was re-enacted as treaty of altranstadt; with faithful intention of keeping it too, on kaiser joseph's part, who was not a superstitious man: 'holy father, i was too glad he did not demand my own conversion to the protestant heresy, bested as i am,--with louis quatorze and company upon the neck of me!' some improvement of performance, very marked at first, did ensue upon this altranstadt treaty. but the sternly accurate karl of sweden soon disappeared from the scene; kaiser joseph of austria soon disappeared; and his brother, karl vi., was a much more orthodox person. "the austrian government, and kaiser karl's in particular, is not to be called an intentionally unjust one; the contrary, i rather find; but it is, beyond others, ponderous; based broad on such multiplex formalities, old habitudes; and gravitation has a great power over it. in brief, official human nature, with the best of kaisers atop, flagitated continually by jesuit confessors, does throw its weight on a certain side: the sad fact is, in a few years the brightness of that altranstadt improvement began to wax dim; and now, under long jesuit manipulation, silesian things are nearly at their old pass; and the patience of men is heavily laden. to see your chapel made a soldiers' barrack, your protestant school become a jesuit one,--men did not then think of revolting under injuries; but the poor silesian weaver, trudging twenty miles for his sunday sermon; and perceiving that, unless their mother could teach the art of reading, his boys, except under soul's peril, would now never learn it: such a silesian could not want for reflections. voiceless, hopeless, but heavy; and dwelling secretly, as under nightmare, in a million hearts. austrian officiality, wilfully unjust, or not wilfully so, is admitted to be in a most heavy-footed condition; can administer nothing well. good government in any kind is not known here: possibly the prussian will be better; who can say? "the secret joy of these populations, as friedrich advances among them, becomes more and more a manifest one. catholic officials do not venture on any definite hope, or definite balance of hope and fear, but adopt the mayor of grunberg's course, and study to be passive and silent. the jesuit-priest kind are clear in their minds for austria; but think, perhaps prussia itself will not prove very tyrannous? at all events, be silent; it is unsafe to stir. we notice generally, it is only in the southern or mountain regions of silesia, where the catholics are in majority, that the population is not ardently on the prussian side. passive, if they are on the other side; accurately passive at lowest, this it is prescribed all prudent men to be." on the th, while divine service went on at weichau, there was at breslau another phenomenon observable. provincial government in breslau had, at length, after intense study, and across such difficulties as we have no idea of, got its "patent," or carefully worded protestation against prussia, brought to paper; and does, this day, with considerable solemnity, affix it to the rathhaus door there, for the perusal of mankind; despatching a copy for his prussian majesty withal, by two messengers of dignity. it has needed courage screwed to the sticking-place to venture on such a step, without instruction from head-quarters; and the utmost powers of the official mind have been taxed to couch this document in language politely ambiguous, and yet strong enough;--too strong, some of us now think it. in any case, here it now is; provincial government's bolt, so to speak, is shot. the affixing took place under dark weather-symptoms; actual outburst of thunder and rain at the moment, not to speak of the other surer omens. so that, to the common mind at breslau, it did not seem there would much fruit come of this difficult performance. breslau is secretly a much-agitated city; and prussian hussar parties, shooting forth to great distances ahead, were, this day for the first time, observed within sight of it. and on the same sunday we remark farther, what is still more important: herr von gotter, friedrich's special envoy to vienna, has his first interview with the queen of hungary, or with grand-duke franz the queen's husband and co-regent; and presents there, from friedrich's own hand, written we remember when, brief distinct note of his prussian majesty's actual proposals and real meaning in regard to this silesian affair. proposals anxiously conciliatory in tone, but the heavy purport of which is known to us: gotter had been despatched, time enough, with these proposals (written above a month ago); but was instructed not to arrive with them, till after the actual entrance into silesia. and now the response to them is--? as good as nothing; perhaps worse. let that suffice us at present. readers, on march for glogau, would grudge to pause over state-papers, though we shall have to read this of friedrich's at some freer moment. monday, th, before daybreak, the army is astir again, simultaneously wending forward; spread over wide areas, like a vast cloud (potential thunder in it) steadily advancing on the winds. length of the army, artistically portioned out, may be ten or fifteen miles, breadth already more, and growing more; schwerin always on the right or western wing, close by the bober river as yet, through naumburg and the towns on that side,--liegnitz and other important towns lying ahead for schwerin, still farther apart from the main body, were glogau once settled. so that the march is in two columns; schwerin, with the westernmost small column, intending towards liegnitz, and thence ever farther southward, with his right leaning on the high lands which rise more and more into mountains as you advance. friedrich himself commands the other column, has his left upon the oder, in a country mounting continually towards the south, but with less irregularity of level, and generally flat as yet. from beginning to end, the entire field of march lies between the oder and its tributary the bober; climbing slowly towards the sources of both. which two rivers, as the reader may observe, form here a rectangular or trapezoidal space, ever widening as we go southward. both rivers, coming from the giant mountains, hasten directly north; but oder, bulging out easterly in his sandy course, is obliged to turn fairly westward again; and at glogau, and a good space farther, flows in that direction;--till once bober strikes in, almost at right angles, carrying oder with him, though he is but a branch, straight northward again. northward, but ever slower, to the swollen pommern regions, and sluggish exit into the baltic there. one of the worst features is the state of the weather. on sunday, at breslau, we noticed thunder bursting out on an important occasion; "ominous," some men thought;--omen, for one thing, that the weather was breaking. at weichau, that same day, rain began,--the young herr of weichau, driving home to papa from dinner with majesty, would get his share of it;--and on monday, th, there was such a pour of rain as kept most wayfarers, though it could not the prussian army, within doors. rain in plunges, fallen and falling, through that blessed day; making roads into mere rivers of mud. the prussian hosts marched on, all the same. head-quarters, with the van of the wet army, that night, were at milkau;--from which place we have a note of friedrich's for friend jordan, perhaps producible by and by. his majesty lodged in some opulent jesuit establishment there. and indeed he continued there, not idle, under shelter, for a couple of days. the jesuits, by their two head men, had welcomed him with their choicest smiles; to whom the king was very gracious, asking the two to dinner as usual, and styling them "your reverence." willing to ingratiate himself with persons of interest in this country; and likes talk, even with jesuits of discernment. on the morrow ( th), came to him, here at milkau,--probably from some near stage, for the rain was pouring worse than ever,--that breslau "patent," or strongish protestation, by its two messengers of dignity. the king looked over it "without visible anger" or change of countenance; "handed it," we expressly see, "to a page to reposit" in the proper waste-basket;--spoke politely to the two gentlemen; asked each or one of them, "are you of the ober-amt at breslau, then?"--using the style of er (he).--"no, your majesty; we are only of the land-stande" (provincial parliament, such as it is). "upon which [do you mark!] his majesty became still more polite; asked them to dinner, and used the style of sie." for their patent, now lying safe in its waste-basket, he gave them signed receipt; no other answer. rain still heavier, rain as of noah, continued through this tuesday, and for days afterwards: but the prussian hosts, hastening towards glogau, marched still on. this tuesday's march, for the rearward of the army, , foot and , horse; march of ten hours long, from weichau to the hamlet milkau (where his majesty sits busy and affable),--is thought to be the wettest on record. waters all out, bridges down, the country one wild lake of eddying mud. up to the knee for many miles together; up to the middle for long spaces; sometimes even up to the chin or deeper, where your bridge was washed away. the prussians marched through it, as if they had been slate or iron. rank and file, nobody quitted his rank, nobody looked sour in the face; they took the pouring of the skies, and the red seas of terrestrial liquid, as matters that must be; cheered one another with jocosities, with choral snatches (tobacco, i consider, would not burn); and swashed unweariedly forward. ten hours some of them were out, their march being twenty or twenty-five miles; ten to fifteen was the average distance come. nor, singular to say, did any loss occur; except of almost one poor army-chaplain, and altogether of one poor soldier's wife;--sank dangerously both of them, beyond redemption she, taking the wrong side of some bridge-parapet. poor soldier's wife, she is not named to me at all; and has no history save this, and that "she was of the regiment bredow." but i perceive she washed herself away in a world-transaction; and there was one rough bredower, who probably sat sad that night on getting to quarters. his majesty surveyed the damp battalions on the morrow ( st), not without sympathy, not without satisfaction; allowed them a rest-day here at milkau, to get dry and bright again; and gave them "fifteen thalers a company," which is about ninepence apiece, with some words of praise. [_helden-geschichte,_ i. .] next day, thursday, d, his majesty and they marched on to herrendorf; which is only five miles from glogau, and near enough for head-quarters, in the now humor of the place. wallis has his messenger at herrendorf, "sorry to warn your majesty, that if there be the least hostility committed, i shall have to resist it to the utmost." head-quarters continue six days at herrendorf, army (main body, or left column, of the army) cantoned all round, till we consider what to do. as to the right column, or schwerin's division, that, after a rest-day or two, gathers itself into more complete separation here, tucking in its eastern skirts; and gets on march again, by its own route. steadily southward;--and from liegnitz, and the upland countries, there will be news of schwerin and it before long. rain ending, there ensued a ringing frost;--not favorable for siege-operations on glogau:--and silesia became all of flinty glass, with white peaks to the southwest, whither schwerin is gone. chapter iii. -- problem of glogau. friedrich was over from herrendorf with the first daylight, "reconnoitring glogau, and rode up to the very glacis;" scanning it on all sides. [ib. i. .] since wallis is so resolute, here is an intricate little problem for friedrich, with plenty of corollaries and conditions hanging to it. shall we besiege glogau, then? we have no siege-cannon here. time presses, breslau and all things in such crisis; and it will take time. by what methods could glogau be besieged?--readers can consider what a blind many-threaded coil of things, heaping itself here in wide welters round glogau, and straggling to the world's end, friedrich has on hand: probably those six days, of head-quarters at herrendorf, were the busiest he had yet had. one thing is evident, there ought to be siege-cannon got straightway; and, still more immediate, the right posts and battering-places should be ready against its coming.--"let the young dessauer with that rearguard, or reserve of , , which is now at crossen, come up and assist here," orders friedrich; "and let him be swift, for the hours are pregnant!" on farther reflection, perhaps on new rumors from breslau, friedrich perceives that there can be no besieging of glogau at this point of time; that the reserve, half of the reserve, must be left to "mask" it; to hold it in strict blockade, with starvation daily advancing as an ally to us, and with capture by bombarding possible when we like. that is the ultimate decision;--arrived at through a welter of dubieties, counterpoisings and perilous considerations, which we now take no account of. a most busy week; friedrich incessantly in motion, now here now there; and a great deal of heavy work got well and rapidly done. the details of which, in these exuberant manuscripts, would but weary the reader. choosing of the proper posts and battering-places (post "on the other side of the river," "on this side of it," "on the island in the middle of it"), and obstinate intrenching and preparing of the same in spite of frost; "wooden bridge built" farther up; with "regulation of the river-boats, the polish ferry," and much else: all this we omit; and will glance only at one pregnant point, by way of sample:-- ... "most indispensable of all, the king has to provide subsistences:--and enters now upon the new plan, which will have to be followed henceforth. the provincial chief-men (landes-aeltesten, land's-eldests, their title) are summoned, from nine or ten circles which are likely to be interested: they appear punctually, and in numbers,--lest contumacy worsen the inevitable. king dines them, to start with; as many as 'ninety-five covers,'--day not given, but probably one of the first in herrendorf: not christmas itself, one hopes! "dinner done, the ninety-five land's-eldest are instructed by proper parties, what the infantry's ration is, in meat, in bread, exact to the ounce; what the cavalry's is, and that of the cavalry's horse. tabular statement, succinct, correct, clear to the simplest capacity, shows what quanties of men on foot, and of men on horseback, or men with draught-cattle, will march through their respective circles; lands-eldests conclude what amount of meal and butcher's-meat it will be indispensable to have in readiness;--what lands-eldest can deny the fact? these papers still exist, at least the long-winded summary of them does: and i own the reading of it far less insupportable than that of the mountains of proclamatory, manifesto and diplomatic matter. nay it leaves a certain wholesome impression on the mind, as of business thoroughly well done; and a matter, capable, if left in the chaotic state, of running to all manner of depths and heights, compendiously forced to become cosmic in this manner. "these lands-eldest undertake, in a mildly resigned or even hopeful humor. they will manage as required, in their own circles; will communicate with the circles farther on; and everywhere the due proviants, prestations, furtherances, shall be got together by fair apportionment on the silesian community, and be punctually ready as the army advances. book-keeping there is to be, legible record of everything; on all hands 'quittance' for everything furnished; and a time is coming, when such quittance, presented by any silesian man, will be counted money paid by him, and remitted at the next tax-day, or otherwise made good. which promise also was accurately kept, the hoped-for time having come. it must be owned the prussian army understands business; and, with brevity, reduces to a minimum its own trouble, and that of other people, non-fighters, who have to do with it. non-fighters, i say; to fighters we hope it will give a respectable maximum of trouble when applied to!" [_helden-geschichte,_ i. - .] the gotter negotiation at vienna, which we saw begin there that wet sunday, is now fast ending, as good as ended; without result except of a negative kind. gotter's proposals,--would the reader wish to hear these proposals, which were so intensely interesting at one time? they are fivefold; given with great brevity by friedrich, by us with still greater:-- . "will fling myself heartily into the austrian scale, and endeavor for the interest of austria in this pragmatic matter, with my whole strength against every comer. . "will make treaty with vienna, with russia and the sea-powers, to that effect. . "will help by vote, and with whole amount of interest will endeavor, to have grand-duke franz, the queen's husband, chosen kaiser; and to maintain such choice against all and sundry. feel myself strong enough to accomplish this result; and may, without exaggeration, venture to say it shall be done. . "to help the court of vienna in getting its affairs into good order and fencible condition,--will present to it, on the shortest notice, two million gulden ( , pounds) ready money."--infinitely welcome this fourth proposition; and indeed all the other three are welcome: but they are saddled with a final condition, which pulls down all again. this, which is studiously worded, politely evasive in phrase, and would fain keep old controversies asleep, though in substance it is so fatally distinct,--we give in the king's own words: . "for such essential services as those to which i bind myself by the above very onerous conditions, i naturally require a proportionate recompense; some suitable assurance, as indemnity for all the dangers i risk, and for the part (role) i am ready to play: in short, i require hereby the entire and complete cession of all silesia, as reward for my labors and dangers which i take upon myself in this course now to be entered upon for the preservation and renown of the house of austria;"--silesia all and whole; and we say nothing of our "rights" to it; politely evasive to her hungarian majesty, though in substance we are so fatally distinct. [preuss, _thronbesteigung,_ p. ; "from olenschlager, _geschichte des interegni_ [frankfurt, ], i. ."] these were friedrich's proposals; written down with his own hand at reinsberg, five or six weeks ago (november th is the date of it); in what mood, and how wrought upon by schwerin and podewils, we saw above. gotter has fulfilled his instructions in regard to this important little document; and now the effect of it is--? gotter can report no good effect whatever. "be cautious," friedrich instructs him farther; "modify that fifth proposal; i will take less than the whole, 'if attention is paid to my just claims on schlesien.'" to that effect writes friedrich once or twice. but it is to no purpose; nor can gotter, with all his industry, report other than worse and worse. nay, he reports before long, not refusal only, but refusal with mockery: "how strange that his prussian majesty, whose official post in germany, as kur-brandenburg and kaiser's chamberlain, has been to present ewer and towel to the house of austria, should now set up for prescribing rules to it!" a piece of wit, which could not but provoke friedrich; and warn him that negotiation on this matter might as well terminate. such had been his own thought, from the first; but in compliance with schwerin and podewils he was willing to try. better for maria theresa, and for all the world how much better, could she have accepted this fifth proposition! but how could she,--the high imperial lady, keystone of europe, though by accident with only a few pounds of ready money at present? twenty years of bitter fighting, and agony to herself and all the world, were necessary first; a new fact of nature having turned up, a new european kingdom with real king to it; not recognizable as such, by the young queen of hungary or by any other person, till it do its proofs. what berlin is saying; what friedrich is thinking. what friedrich's own humor is, what friedrich's own inner man is saying to him, while all the world so babbles about his silesian adventure? of this too there are, though in diluted state, some glimmerings to be had,--chiefly in the correspondence with jordan. ingenious jordan, inspector of the poor at berlin,--his thousand old women at their wheels humming pleasantly in the background of our imaginations, though he says nothing of that,--writes twice a week to his majesty: pleasant gossipy letters, with an easy respectfulness not going into sycophancy anywhere; which keep the campaigning king well abreast of the berlin news and rumors: something like the essence of an old newspaper; not without worth in our present enterprise. one specimen, if we had room! jordan to the king (successively from berlin,--somewhat abridged.) no. . "berlin, th december, [day after his majesty left]. everybody here is on tiptoe for the event; of which both origin and end are a riddle to the most. i am charmed to see a part of your majesty's dominions in a state of pyrrhonism; the disease is epidemical here at present. those who, in the style of theologians, consider themselves entitled to be certain, maintain that your majesty is expected with religious impatience by the protestants, and that the catholics hope to see themselves delivered from a multitude of imposts which cruelly tear up the beautiful bosom of their church. you cannot but succeed in your valiant and stoical enterprise, since both religion and worldly interest rank themselves under your flag. "wallis," austrian commandant in glogau, "they say, has punished a silesian heretic of enthusiastic turn, as blasphemer, for announcing that a new messiah is just coming. i have a taste for that kind of martyrdom. critical persons consider the present step as directly opposed to certain maxims in the anti-machiavel. "the word manifesto--[your majesty's little patent on entering silesia, which no reader shall be troubled with at present]--is the burden of every conversation. there is a short piece of the kind to come out to-day, by way of preface to a large complete exposition, which a certain jurisconsult is now busy with. people crowd to the bookshops for it, as if looking out for a celestial phenomenon that had been predicted.--this is the beginning of my gazette; can only come out twice a week, owing to the arrangement of the posts. friday, the day your majesty crosses into silesia, i shall spend in prayer and devotional exercises: astronomers pretend that mars will that day enter"--no matter what. note, the above manifesto rumor is correct; jurisconsult is ponderous herr ludwig, kanzler (chancellor) of halle university, monster of law-learning,--who has money also, and had to help once with a house in berlin for one nussler, a son-in-law of his, transiently known to us;--ponderous ludwig, matchless or difficult to match in learning of this kind, will write ample enough deductions (which lie in print still, to the extent of tons' weight), and explain the erbverbruderung and violence done upon it, so that he who runs may read. postpone him to a calmer time. no. . "berlin, saturday, th december. manifesto has appeared,"--can be seen, under thick strata of cobwebs, in many books; [in _helden-geschichte,_ i. , (what jordan now alludes to); ib. - ["deduction" itself, ludwig in all his strength, some three weeks hence; in olenschlager (doubtless); in &c. &c.] is not worth reading now: incontestable rights which our house has for ages had on schlesien, and which doubtless the hungarian majesty will recognize; not the slightest injury intended, far indeed from that; and so on!--"people are surprised at its brevity; and, studying it as theologians do a passage of scripture, can make almost nothing of it. clear as crystal, says one; dexterously obscure by design, says another. "rumor that the grand-duke of lorraine," maria theresa's husband, "was at reinsberg incognito lately," grand-duke a concerting party, think people looking into the thing with strong spectacles on their nose! "m. de beauvau [french ambassador extraordinary, to whom the aces were promised if they came] said one thing that surprised me: 'what put the king on taking this step, i do not know; but perhaps it is not such a bad one.' surprising news that the elector of saxony, king of poland, is fallen into inconsolable remorse for changing his religion [to papistry, on papa's hest, many long years ago] and that it is not to the pope, but to the king of prussia, that he opens his heart to steady his staggering orthodoxy." very astonishing to jordan. "one thing is certain, all paris rings with your majesty's change of religion" (over to catholicism, say those astonishing people, first conjurers of the universe)! no. . "berlin, th december. m. de beauvau," french ambassador, "is gone. ended, yesterday, his survey of the cabinet of medals; charmed with the same: charmed too, as the public is, with the rich present he has got from said cabinet [coronation medal or medals in gold, i could guess]: people say the king of france's medal given to our m. de camas is nothing to it. "rumor of alliance between your majesty and france with sweden,"--premature rumor. item, "queen of hungary dead in child-birth;"--ditto with still more emphasis! "the day before yesterday, in all churches, was prayer to heaven for success to your majesty's arms; interest of the protestant religion being the one cause of the war, or the only one assigned by the reverend gentlemen. at sound of these words, the zeal of the people kindles: 'bless god for raising such a defender! who dared suspect our king's indifference to protestantism?'" a right clever thing this last (o le beau coup d'etat)! exclaims jordan,--though it is not clever or the contrary, not being dramatically prearranged, as jordan exults to think. jordan, though there are dregs of old devotion lying asleep in him, which will start into new activity when stirred again, is for the present a very unbelieving little gentleman, i can perceive.--this is the substance of public rumor at berlin for one week. friedrich answers:-- to m. jordan, at berlin. "quarter at milkau, towards glogau, th december, [comfortable jesuit-establishment at milkau, friedrich just got in, out of the rain].--seigneur jordan, thy letter has given me a deal of pleasure in regard to all these talkings thou reportest. to-morrow [not to-morrow, nor next day; wet troops need a rest] i arrive at our last station this side glogau, which place i hope to get in a few days. all favors my designs: and i hope to return to berlin, after executing them gloriously and in a way to be content with. let the ignorant and the envious talk; it is not they that shall ever serve as loadstar to my designs; not they, but glory [la gloire; fame, depending not on them]: with the love of that i am penetrated more than ever; my troops have their hearts big with it, and i answer to thee for success. adieu, dear jordan. write me all the ill that the public says of thy friend, and be persuaded that i love and will esteem thee always."--f. jordan to the king. no. ; "berlin, th december. your majesty's letter fills me with joy and contentment. the town declared your majesty to be already in breslau; founding on some letter to a merchant here. ever since they think of your majesty acting for protestantism, they make you step along with strides of achilles to the ends of silesia.--foreign courts are all rating their ambassadors here for not finding you out. "wolf," his negotiations concluded at last, "has entered halle almost like the triumphant entry to jerusalem. a concourse of pedants escorted him to his house. lange [his old enemy, who accused him of atheism and other things] has called to see him, and loaded him with civilities, to the astonishment of the old orthodox." there let him rest, well buttoned in gaiters, and avoiding to mount stairs.... "madame de roucoulles has sent me the three objects adjoined, for your majesty's behoof,"--woollen achievements, done by the needle, good against the winter weather for one she nursed. the good old soul. enough now, of jordan. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xvii. - .] voltaire, who left berlin d or d december, seems to have been stopt by overflow of rivers about cleve, then to have taken boat; and is, about this very time, writing to friedrich "from a vessel on the coasts of zealand, where i am driven mad." (intends, privately, for paris before long, to get his mahomet acted, if possible.) to voltaire, here is a note coming: king to h. de voltaire (at brussels, if once got thither). "quarter of herrendorf in silesia, d december, . "my dear voltaire,--i have received two of your letters; but could not answer sooner; i am like charles twelfth's chess-king, who was always kept on the move. for a fortnight past, we have been continually afoot and under way, in such weather as you never saw. "i am too tired to reply to your charming verses; and shivering too much with cold to taste all the charm of them: but that will come round again. do not ask poetry from a man who is actually doing the work of a wagoner, and sometimes even of a wagoner stuck in the mud. would you like to know my way of life? we march from seven in the morning till four in the afternoon. i dine then; afterwards i work, i receive tiresome visits; with these comes a detail of insipid matters of business. 'tis wrong-headed men, punctiliously difficult, who are to be set right; heads too hot which must be restrained, idle fellows that must be urged, impatient men that must be rendered docile, plunderers to restrain within the bounds of equity, babblers to hear babbling, dumb people to keep in talk: in fine, one has to drink with those that like it, to eat with those that are hungry; one has to become a jew with jews, a pagan with pagans. "such are my occupations;--which i would willingly make over to another, if the phantom they call fame (gloire) did not rise on me too often. in truth, it is a great folly, but a folly difficult to cast away when once you are smitten by it. [phantom of gloire somewhat rampant in those first weeks; let us see whether it will not lay itself again, forevermore, before long!] "adieu, my dear voltaire; may heaven preserve from misfortune the man i should so like to sup with at night, after fighting in the morning! the swan of padua [algarotti, with his big hook-nose and dusky solemnly greedy countenance] is going, i think, to paris, to profit by my absence; the philosopher geometer [big maupertuis, in red wig and yellow frizzles, vainest of human kind] is squaring curves; poor little jordan [with the kindly hazel eyes, and pen that pleasantly gossips to us] is doing nothing, or probably something near it. adieu once more, dear voltaire; do not forget the absent who love you. frederic." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxii. .] schwerin at liegnitz; friedrich hushes up the glogau problem, and starts with his best speed for breslau. meanwhile, on the western road, and along the foot of the snowy peaks over yonder, schwerin with the small right column is going prosperously forwards. two columns always, as the reader recollects,--two parallel military currents, flowing steadily on, shooting out estafettes, or horse-parties, on the right and left; steadily submerging all silesia as they flow forward. left column or current is in slight pause at glogau here; but will directly be abreast again. on tuesday, th, schwerin is within wind of liegnitz; on wednesday morning, while the fires are hardly lighted, or the smoke of liegnitz risen among the hills, schwerin has done his feat with the usual deftness: prussian grenadiers came softly on the sentry, softly as a dream; but with sudden levelling of bayonets, sudden beckoning, "to your guard-house!"--and there, turn the key upon his poor company and him. whereupon the whole prussian column marches in; tramp tramp, without music, through the streets: in the market-place they fold themselves into a ranked mass, and explode into wind-harmony and rolling of drums. liegnitz, mostly in nightcap, looks cautiously out of window: it is a deed done, ihr herren; liegnitz ours, better late than never; and after so many years, the king has his own again. schwerin is sumptuously lodged in the jesuits, palace: liegnitz, essentially a protestant town, has many thoughts upon this event, but as yet will be stingy of speaking them. thus is liegnitz managed. a pleasant town, amid pleasant hills on the rocky katzbach; of which swift stream, and other towns and passes on it, we shall yet hear more. population, silently industrious in weaving and otherwise, is now above , ; was then perhaps about half that number. patiently inarticulate, by no means bright in speech or sentiment; a much-enduring, steady-going, frugal, pious and very desirable people. the situation of breslau, all this while, is very critical. much bottled emotion in the place; no austrian garrison admissible; authorities dare not again propose such a thing, though browne is turning every stone for it,--lest the emotion burst bottle, and take fire. i have dim account that browne has been there, has got austrian dragoons into the dom insel (cathedral island; "not in the city, you perceive!" says general browne: "no, separated by the oder, on both sides, from the rest of the city; that stately mass of edifices, and good military post");--and had hoped to get the suburbs burnt, after all. but the bottled emotion was too dangerous. for, underground, there are anti-brownes: one especially; a certain busy deblin, shoemaker by craft, whom friedrich speaks of, but gives no name to; this zealous cordwainer, deblin, and he is not the only individual of like humor, operates on the guild-brothers and lower populations: [preuss, _thronbesteigung,_ p. ; _oeuvres de frederic,_ ii. . ] things seem to be looking worse and worse for the authorities, in spite of general browne and his activities and dragoons. what the issue will be? judge if friedrich wished the young dessauer come! friedrich's hussar parties (or schwerin's, instructed by friedrich) go to look if the breslau suburbs are burnt. far from it, if friedrich knew;--the suburbs merely sit quaking at such a proposal, and wish the prussians were here. "but there is time ahead of us," said everybody at breslau; "glogau will take some sieging!" browne, in the course of a day or two,--guessing, i almost think, that glogau was not to be besieged,--ranked his austrian dragoons, and rode away; sending the austrian state-papers, in half a score of wagons, ahead of him. "archives of breslau!" cried the general population, at sight of these wagons; and largely turned out, with emotion again like to unbottle itself. "mere tax-ledgers, and records of the government offices; come and convince yourselves!" answered the authorities. and the ten wagons went on; calling at ohlau and brieg, for farther lading of the like kind. which wagons the prussian light-horse chased, but could not catch. on to mahren went these archive-wagons; to brunn, far over the giant mountains;--did not come back for a long while, nor to their former proprietor at all. tuesday, th, leopold the young dessauer does finally arrive, with his reserve, at glogau: never man more welcome; such a fermentation going on at breslau,--known to friedrich, and what it will issue in, if he delay, not known. with despatch, leopold is put into his charge; posts all yielded to him; orders given,--blockade to be strictness itself, but no fighting if avoidable; "starvation will soon do it, two months at most," hopes friedrich, too sanguine as it proved:--and with earliest daylight on the th, friedrich's army, friedrich himself in the van as usual, is on march again; at its best speed for breslau. read this note for jordan:-- friedrich to m. jordan, at berlin. "herrendorf, th dec. . "sieur jordan,--i march to-morrow for breslau; and shall be there in four days [three, it happened; there rising, as would seem, new reason for haste]. you berliners [of the th last] have a spirit of prophecy, which goes beyond me. in fine, i go my road; and thou wilt shortly see silesia ranked in the list of our provinces. adieu; this is all i have time to tell thee. religion [silesian protestantism, and breslau's cordwainer], religion and our brave soldiers will do the rest. "tell maupertuis i grant those pensions he proposes for his academicians; and that i hope to find good subjects for that dignity in the country where i am, withal. give him my compliments. "frederic." the march was of the swiftest,--swifter even than had been expected;--which, as silesia is all ringing glass, becomes more achievable than lately. but certain regiments outdid themselves in marching; "in three marches, near upon seventy miles,"--with their baggage jingling in due proximity. through glasersdorf, thence through parchwitz, neumarkt, lissa, places that will be better known to us;--on saturday, last night of the year, his majesty lodged at a schloss called pilsnitz, five miles to west of breslau; and van-ward regiments, a good few, quartered in the western and southern suburbs of breslau itself; suburbs decidedly glad to see them, and escape conflagration. the town-gates are hermetically shut;--plenty of emotion bottled in the , hearts within. the sentries on the walls presented arms; nay, it is affirmed, some could not help exclaiming, "wilkommen, ihr lieben herren (welcome, dear sirs)!" [_helden-geschichte,_ i. .] colonel posadowsky (active horse colonel whom we have seen before, who perhaps has been in breslau before) left orders "at the scultet garden-house," that all must be ready and the rooms warmed, his majesty intending to arrive here early on the morrow. which happened accordingly; majesty alighting duly at said garden-house, near by the schweidnitz gate,--i fancy almost before break of day. chapter iv. -- breslau under soft pressure. the issue of this breslau transaction is known, or could be stated in few words; nor is the manner of it such as would, for breslau's sake, deserve many. but we are looking into friedrich, wish to know his manners and aspects: and here, ready to our hand, a paper turns up, compiled by an exact person with better leisure than ours, minutely detailing every part of the affair. this paper, after the question, burn or insert? is to have the lot of appearing here, with what abridgments are possible:-- "sunday, st january, . the king having established himself in herrn scultet's garden-house, not far from the schweidnitz gate, there began a delicate and great operation. the prussians, in a soft cautious manner, in the gray of the morning, push out their sentries towards the three gates on this side of the oder; seize any 'excise house,' or the like, that may be fit for a post; and softly put 'twenty grenadiers' in it. all this before sunrise. breslau is rigidly shut; breslau thought always it could stand upon its guard, if attacked;--is now, in official quarters, dismally uncertain if it can; general population becoming certain that it cannot, and waiting anxious on the development of this grand drama. "about a.m. a prussian subaltern advancing within cry of the schweidnitz gate, requests of the town-guard there, to send him out a town-officer. town-officer appears; is informed, 'that colonels posadowsky and borck, commissioners or plenipotentiary messengers from his prussian majesty, desire admittance to the chief magistrate of breslau, for the purpose of signifying what his prussian majesty's instructions are.' town-officer bows, and goes upon his errand. town-officer is some considerable time before he can return; city authorities being, as we know, various, partly imperial, partly civic; elderly; and some of them gone to church,--for matins, or to be out of the way. however, he does at last return; admits the two colonels, and escorts them honorably, to the chief raths-syndic (lord-mayor) old herr von gutzmar's; where the poor old "president of the ober amt" (von schaffgotsch the name of this latter) is likewise in attendance. "prussian majesty's proposals are of the mildest sort: 'nothing demanded of breslau but the plainly indispensable and indisputable, that prussia be in it what austria has been. in all else, status quo. strict neutrality to breslau, respect for its privileges as a free city of the reich; protection to all its rights and privileges whatsoever. shall be guarded by its own garrison; no prussian soldier to enter except with sidearms; only guards for the king's person, who will visit the city for a few days;--intends to form a magazine, with guard of , men, but only outside the city: no requisitions; ready money for everything. chief syndic gutzmar and president schaffgotsch shall consider these points.' [_helden-geschichte,_ i. .] syndic and president answer, surely! cannot, however, decide till they have assembled the town-rath; the two herren colonels will please to be guests of breslau, and lodge in the city till then. "and they lodged, accordingly, in the 'grosse ring' (called also salz-ring, big central square, where the rathhaus is); and they made and received visits,--visited especially the chief president's office, the ober-amt, and signified there, that his prussian majesty's expectation was, they would give some account of that rather high proclamation or 'patent' they had published against him the other day, amid thunder and lightning here, and what they now thought would be expedient upon it? all in grave official terms, but of such a purport as was not exhilarating to everybody in those ober-amt localities. "monday morning, d january. the rath is assembled; and consults,--consults at great length. rath-house and syndic gutzmar, in such crisis, would fain have advice from amt-house or president schaffgotsch; but can get none: considerable coming and going between them: at length, about in the afternoon, the treaty is got drawn up; is signed by the due breslau hands, and by the two prussian colonels,--which latter ride out with it, about of the clock; victorious after thirty hours. straight towards the scultet garden ride they; town-guard presenting arms, at the schweidnitz gate; nay town-band breaking out into music, which is never done but to ambassadors and high people. by thirty hours of steady soft pressure, they have brought it thus far. "friedrich had waited patiently all sunday, keeping steady guard at the gates; but on monday, naturally, the thirty hours began to hang heavy: at all events, he perceived that it would be well to facilitate conclusions a little from without. breslau stands on the west, more strictly speaking, on the south side of the oder, which makes an elbow here, and thus bounds it, or mostly bounds it, on two sides. the big drab-colored river spreads out into islands, of a confused sort, as it passes; which are partly built upon, and constitute suburbs of the town,--stretching over, here and there, into straggles of farther suburb beyond the river, where a road with its bridge happens to cross for the eastern parts. the principal of these islands is the dom insel,"--known to general browne and us,--"on which is the cathedral, and the close with rich canons and their edifices; island filled with strong high architecture; and a superior military post. "friedrich has already as good as possessed himself of the three landward gates, which look to the south and to the west; the riverward gates, or those on the north and the east, he perceives that it were good now also to have; these, and even perhaps something more? 'gather all the river-boats, make a bridge of them across the oder; push across men:' this is done on monday morning, under the king's own eye. this done, 'march up to that riverward gate, and also to that other, in a mild but dangerous-looking manner; hew the beams of said gate in two; start the big locks; fling wide open said gate and gates:' this too is done; town-guard looking mournfully on. this done, 'march forward swiftly, in two halves, without beat of drum,--whitherward you know!' "those three hundred austrian dragoons, we saw them leave the dom island, three days ago; there are at present only six men, of the bishop's guard, walking under arms there,--at the end of the chief bridge, on the townward side of their dom island. see, prussian caps and muskets, ye six men under arms! the six men clutch at their drawbridge, and hastily set about hoisting:--alas, another prussian corps, which has come privately by the eastern (or country-ward) bridge, king himself with it, taps them on the shoulder at this instant; mildly constrains the six into their guard-house: the drawbridge falls; prussian grenadiers take quiet possession of the dom island: king may return to the scultet garden, having quickened the lazy hours in this manner. to such of the canons as he came upon, his majesty was most polite; they most submiss. the six soldiers of the drawbridge, having spoken a little loud,--still more a too zealous beef-eater of old schaffgotsch's found here, who had been very loud,--were put under arrest; but more for form's sake; and were let go, in a day or two." nothing could be gentler on friedrich's part, and on that of his two colonels, than this delicate operation throughout:--and at p.m., after thirty hours of waiting, it is done, and nobody's skin scratched. old syndic gutzmar, and the town-rath, urged by perils and a town population who are protestant, have signed the surrender with good-will, at least with resignation, and a feeling of relief. the ober-amt officials have likewise had to sign; full of all the silent spleen and despondency which is natural to the situation: spleen which, in the case of old schaffgotsch, weak with age, becomes passionately audible here and there. he will have to give account of that injurious proclamation, or queen's "patent," to this king that has now come. king enters breslaw; stays there, gracious and vigilant, four days (jan. d- th, ). in the royal entrance which took place next day, note these points. syndic gutzmar and the authorities came out, in grand coaches, at in the morning; had to wait awhile; the king, having ridden away to look after his manifold affairs, did not get back till . town guard and garrison are all drawn out; gates all flung open, prussian sentries withdrawn from them, and from the excise-houses they had seized: king's kitchen-and-proviant carriages (four mules to each, with bells, with uncommonly rich housings): king's body-coach very grand indeed, and grandly escorted, the thirty body-guards riding ahead; but nothing in it, only a most superfine cloak "lined wholly with ermine" flung upon the seat. other coaches, more or less grandly escorted; head cup-bearers, seneschals, princes, margraves:--but where is the king? king had ridden away, a second time, with chief generals, taking survey of the town walls, round as far as the ziegel-thor (tile-gate, extreme southeast, by the river-edge): he has thus made the whole circuit of breslau;--unwearied in picking up useful knowledge, "though it was very cold," while that procession of coaches went on. at noon, his majesty, thrifty of time, did enter: on horseback, schwerin riding with him; behind him miscellaneous chief officers; borck and posadowsky among others; some miscellany of page-people following. with this natural escort, he rode in; town-major (commandant of town-guard), with drawn sword going ahead;--king wore his usual cocked hat, and practical blue cloak, both a little dimmed by service: but his gray horse was admirable; and four scarlet footmen, grand as galloon and silver fringe could make them, did the due magnificence in dress. he was very gracious; saluting to this side and to that, where he noticed people of condition in the windows. "along schweidnitz street, across the great ring, down albrecht street." he alighted, to lodge, at the count-schlegenberg house; which used to be the austrian cardinal von sinzendorf primate of silesia's hired lodging,--sinzendorf's furniture is put gently aside, on this new occasion. king came on the balcony; and stood there for some minutes, that everybody might see him. the "immense shoutings," dryasdust assures me, have been exaggerated; and i am warned not to believe the kriegs-fama such and such a number, except after comparing it with him.--that day there was dinner of more than thirty covers, chief syndic gutzmar and other such guests; but as to the viands, says my friend, these, owing to the haste, were nothing to speak of. [_helden-geschichte,_ i. - .] dinner, better and better ordered, king more and more gracious, so it continued all the four days of his majesty's stay:--on the second day he had to rise suddenly from table, and leave his guests with an apology; something having gone awry, at one of the gates. awry there, between the town authorities and a general jeetz of his,--who is on march across the river at this moment (on what errand we shall hear), and a little mistakes the terms. his majesty puts jeetz right; and even waits, till he sees his brigade and him clear across. a junior schaffgotsch, [_helden-geschichte,_ ii. .] not the inconsolable schaffgotsch senior, but his nephew, was one of the guests this second day; an ecclesiastic, but of witty fashionable type, and i think a very worthless fellow, though of a family important in the province. dinner falls about noon; does not last above two hours or three, so that there is space for a ride ("to the dom," the first afternoon, "four runners" always), and for much indoor work, before the supper-hour. as the austrian authorities sat silent in their place, and gave no explanation of that "patent," affixed amid thunder and lightning,--they got orders from his majesty to go their ways next day; and went. in behalf of old president von schaffgotsch, a chief of the silesian nobility, and man much loved, the breslau people, and men from every guild and rank of society, made petition that, he should be allowed to continue in his town house here. which "first request of yours" his majesty, with much grace, is sorry to be obliged to refuse. the suppressed, and insuppressible, weak indignation of old schaffgotsch is visible on the occasion; nor, i think, does friedrich take it ill; only sends him out of the way with it, for the time. the austrian ober-amt vanished bodily from breslau in this manner; and never returned. proper "war-commission (feld-kriegs-commissariat)," with munchow, one of those skilful custrin munchows, at the top of it, organized itself instead; which, almost of necessity, became supreme government in a city ungoverned otherwise:--and truly there was little regret of the ober-amt, in breslau; and ever less, to a marked extent, as the years went on. on the th of january (fourth and last night here), his majesty gave a grand ball. had hired, or colonel posadowsky instead of him had hired, the assembly rooms (redouten-saal), for the purpose: "invite all the nobility high and low;"--expense by estimate is a ducat (half-guinea) each; do it well, and his majesty will pay. about in the evening, his majesty in person did us the honor to drive over; opened the ball with madam the countess von schlegenberg (i should guess, a dowager lady), in whose house he lodges. i am not aware that his majesty danced much farther; but he was very condescending, and spoke and smiled up and down;--till, about p.m., an officer came in with a letter. which letter his majesty having read, and seemingly asked a question or two in regard to, put silently in his pocket, as if it were a finished thing. nevertheless, after a few minutes, his majesty was found to have silently withdrawn; and did not return, not even to supper. perceiving which, all the prussian official people gradually withdrew; though the dancing and supping continued not the less, to a late hour. [_helden-geschichte,_ i. .] "open the austrian mail-bag (felleisen); see a little what they are saying over there!" such order had evidently been given, this night. in consequence of which, people wrote by dresden, and not the direct way, in future; wishing to avoid that openable felleisen. next morning, january th, his majesty had left for ohlau,--early, i suppose; though there proved to be nothing dangerous ahead there, after all. chapter v. -- friedrich pushes forward towards brieg and neisse. ohlau is a pleasant little town, two marches southeast of breslau; with the ohlau river on one side, and the oder on the other; capable of some defence, were there a garrison. brieg the important fortress, still on the oder, is some fifteen miles beyond ohlau; after which, bending straight south and quitting oder, neisse the still more important may be thirty miles:--from breslau to neisse, by this route (which is bow, not string), sixty-five or seventy miles. one of my topographers yields this note, if readers care for it:-- "ohlau river, an insignificant drab-colored stream, rises well south of breslau, about strehlen; makes, at first, direct eastward towards the oder; and then, when almost close upon it, breaks off to north, and saunters along, irregularly parallel to oder, for twenty miles farther, before it can fall fairly in. to this circumstance both breslau and a town of ohlau owe their existence; towns, both of them, 'between the waters,' and otherwise well seated; ohlau sheltering itself in the attempted outfall of its little river; breslau clustering itself about the actual outfall: both very defensible places in the old rude time, and good for trade in all times. both oder and ohlau rivers have split and spread themselves into islands and deltas a good deal, at their place of meeting; and even have changed their courses, and cut out new channels for themselves, in the sandy country; making a very intricate watery network of a site for breslau: and indeed the ohlau river here, for centuries back, has been compelled into wide meanderings, mere filling of rampart-ditches, so that it issues quite obscurely, and in an artificial engineered condition, at breslau." ohlau had been expected to make some defence; general browne having thrown men into it, and done what he could for the works. and ohlau did at first threaten to make some; but thought better of it overnight, and in effect made none; but was got (morning of january th) on the common terms, by merely marching up to it in minatory posture. "prisoners of war, if you make resistance; free withdrawal [liberty to march away, arms shouldered, and not serve against us for a year], if you have made none:" this is the common course, where there are austrian soldiers at all; the course where none are, and only a few syndics sit, with their town-key laid on the table, a prey to the stronger hand, we have already seen. from ohlau, proper detachment, under general kleist, is pushed forward to summon brieg; jeetz from the other side of the river (whom we saw crossing at breslau the other day, interrupting his majesty's dinner) is to co-operate with kleist in that enterprise,--were the country once cleared on his, jeetz's, east side of oder; especially were namslau once had, a small town and castle over there, which commands the polish and hungarian road. friedrich's hopes are buoyant; schwerin is swiftly rolling forward to rightward, nothing resisting him; detachment is gone from schwerin, over the hills, to glatz (the grafschaft, or county glatz, an appendage to schlesien), under excellent guidance; under guidance, namely, of colonel camas, who has just come home from his parisian embassy, and got launched among the wintry mountains, on a new operation,--which, however, proves of non-effect for the present. [_helden-geschichte,_ i. ; orlich, _geschichte der beiden schlesischen kriege,_ i. .] indeed, it is observable that southward of breslau, the dispute, what dispute there can be, properly begins; and that general browne is there, and shows himself a shining man in this difficult position. it must be owned, no general could have made his small means go farther. effective garrisons, , each, put into brieg and neisse; works repaired, magazines collected, there and elsewhere; the rest of his poor , thriftily sprinkled about, in what good posts there are, and "capable of being got together in six hours:" a superior soldier, this browne, though with a very bad task; and seems to have inspired everybody with something of his own temper. so that there is marching, detaching, miscellaneous difficulty for friedrich in this quarter, more than had been expected. if the fate of brieg and neisse be inevitable, browne does wonders to delay it. of the prussian marches in these parts, recorded by intricate dryasdust, there was no point so notable to me as this unrecorded one: the stone pillar which, i see, the kleist detachment was sure to find, just now, on the march from ohlau to brieg; last portion of that march, between the village of briesen and brieg. the oder, flowing on your left hand, is hereabouts agreeably clothed with woods: the country, originally a swamp, has been drained, and given to the plough, in an agreeable manner; and there is an excellent road paved with solid whinstone,--quarried in strehlen, twenty miles away, among the hills to the right yonder, as you may guess;--road very visible to the prussian soldier, though he does not ask where quarried. these beautiful improvements, beautiful humanities,--were done by whom? "done in ," say the records, by "george the pious;" duke of liegnitz, brieg and wohlau; years ago. "pious" his contemporaries called this george;--he was son of the erbverbruderung duke, who is so important to us; he was grandfather's grandfather of the last duke of all; after whom it was we that should have got these fine territories; they should all have fallen to the great elector, had not the austrian strong hand provided otherwise. george did these plantations, recoveries to the plough; made this perennial whinstone road across the swamps; upon which, notable to the roughest prussian (being "twelve feet high by eight feet square"), rises a hewn mass with this inscription on it,--not of the name or date of george; but of a thought of his, which is not without a pious beauty to me:--_straverunt alii nobis, nos posteritati; omnibus at christus stravit ad asra viam._ others have made roads for us; we make them for still others: christ made a road to the stars for us all. [zollner, _briefe uber schlesien,_ i. ; hubner, i. t. .] i know not how many brandenburgers of general kleist's detachment, or whether any, read this stone; but they do all rustle past it there, claiming the heritage of this pious george; and their mute dim interview with him, in this manner, is a thing slightly more memorable than orders of the day, at this date. it was on the th, two days after ohlau, that general kleist summoned brieg; and brieg answered resolutely, no. there is a garrison of , here, and a proper magazine: nothing for it but to "mask" brieg too; kleist on this side the river, jeetz on that,--had jeetz once done with namslau, which he has not by any means. namslau's answer was likewise stiffly in the negative; and jeetz cannot do namslau, at least not the castle, all at once; having no siege-cannon. seeing such stiffness everywhere, friedrich writes to glogau, to the young dessauer, "siege-artillery hither! swift, by the oder; you don't need it where you are!" and wishes it were arrived, for behoof of neisse and these stiff humors. friedrich comes across to ottmachau; sits there, in survey of neisse, till his cannon come. the prussians met with serious resistance, for the first time ( th january, same day when ohlau yielded), at a place called ottmachau; a considerable little town and castle on the neisse river, not far west of neisse town, almost at the very south of silesia. it lay on the route of schwerin's column; long distances ahead of liegnitz,--say, by straight highway a hundred miles;--during which, to right and to left, there had been nothing but submission hitherto. no resistance was expected here either, for there was not hope in any; only that browne had been here; industrious to create delay till neisse were got fully ready. he is, by every means, girding up the loins of neisse for a tight defence; has put , men into it, with proper stores for them, with a resolute skilful captain at the top of them: assiduous browne had been at ottmachau, as the outpost of neisse, a day or two before; and, they say, had admonished them "not to yield on any terms, for he would certainly come to their relief." which doubtless he would have done, had it been in his power; but how, except by miracle, could it be? on the th of january, when schwerin comes up, browne is again waiting hereabouts. again in defensive posture, but without force to undertake anything; stands on the southern uplands, with bohmen and mahren and the giant mountains at his back;--stands, so to speak, defensive at his own house-door, in this manner; and will have, after seeing ottmachau's fate and neisse's, to duck in with a slam! at any rate, he had left these towns in the above firm humor, screwed to the sticking-place; and had then galloped else-whither to screw and prepare. and so the ottmachau austrians, " picked grenadiers" ( dragoons there also at first were, who, after flourishing about on the outskirts as if for fighting, rode away), fire "desperat," says my intricate friend; [_helden-geschichte_, i. - ; orlich, i. .] entirely refusing terms from schwerin; kill twelve of his people (major de rege, distinguished engineer major, one of them): so that schwerin has to bring petards upon them, four cannon upon them; and burst in their town gate, almost their castle gate, and pretty much their castle itself;--wasting three days of his time upon this paltry matter. upon which they do signify a willingness for "free withdrawal." "no, ihr herren" answers, schwerin; "not now; after such mad explosion. his majesty will have to settle it." majesty, who is by this time not far off, comes over to ottmachau (january th); gives words of rebuke, rebuke not very inexorable; and admits them prisoners of war. "the officers were sent to custrin, common men to berlin;" the usual arrangement in such case. ottmachau town belongs to the right reverend von sinzendorf, bishop of breslau, and primate; whose especial palace is in neisse; though he "commonly sends his refractory priests to do their penance in the schloss at ottmachau here,"--and, i should say, had better himself make terms, and come out hitherward, under present aspects. friedrich continues at ottmachau; head-quarters there thenceforth, till he see neisse settled. on the morrow, ( th) he learns that the siege artillery is at grotkau; well forward towards neisse; halfway between brieg and it. same day, colonel camas returns to him out of glatz; five of his men lost; and reports that browne has had the roads torn up, that glatz is mere ice and obstruction, and that nothing can be made of it at this season. good news alternating with not so good. the truth is, friedrich has got no strong place in schlesien; all strengths make unexpected defence; paltry little namslan itself cannot be quite taken, castle cannot, till jeetz gets his siege-artillery,--which does not come along so fast as that to neisse does. here is an excerpt from my dryasdust, exact though abridged, concerning jeetz:-- "january th, . prussians, masters of the town for a couple of weeks back, have got into the church at namslau, into the cloister; are preparing plank floors for batteries, cutting loop-holes; diligent as possible,--siege-guns now at last just coming. the castle fires fiercely on them, makes furious sallies, steals six of our oxen,--makes insolent gestures from the walls; at least one soldier does, this day. 'sir, may i give that fellow a shot?' asks the prussian sentry. 'do, then,' answers his major: 'too insolent that one!' and the sentry explodes on him; brings him plunging down, head foremost (herunter purzelte); the too insolent mortal, silent enough thenceforth." [_helden-geschichte,_ i. .]--jeetz did get his cannon, though not till now, this very day i think; and then, in a couple of days more, jeetz finished off namslau ("officers to custrin, common men to berlin"); and thereupon blockades the eastern side of brieg, joining hands with kleist on the western: whereby brieg, like glogau, is completely masked,--till the season mend. friedrich, now that his artillery is come, expects no difficulty with neisse. a "paltry hamlet (bicoque)" he playfully calls it; and, except this, silesia is now his. neisse got (which would be the desirable thing), or put under "mask" as glogau is, and as brieg is being, austria possesses not an inch of land within these borders. here are some epistolary snatches; still in the light style, not to say the flimsy and uplifted; but worth giving, so transparent are they; off hand, like words we had heard his majesty speak, in his high mood:-- king to m. jordan, at berlin (two successive letters). . "ottmachau, th january, [second day after our arrival there]. my dear monsieur jordan, my sweet monsieur jordan, my quiet monsieur jordan, my good, my benign, my pacific, my humanest monsieur jordan,--i announce to thy serenity the conquest of silesia; i warn thee of the bombardment of neisse [just getting ready], and i prepare thee for still more important projects; and instruct thee of the happiest successes that the womb of fortune ever bore. "this ought to suffice thee. be my cicero as to the justice of my cause, and i will be thy caesar as to the execution. adieu: thou knowest whether i am not, with the most cordial regard, thy faithful friend.--f." . "ottmachau, th january, . i have the honor to inform your humanity that we are christianly preparing to bombard neisse; and that if the place will not surrender of good-will, needs must that it be beaten to powder (necessite sera de l'abimer). for the rest, our affairs go the best in the world; and soon thou wilt hear nothing more of us. for in ten days it will all be over; and i shall have the pleasure of seeing you and hearing you, in about a fortnight. "i have seen neither my brother [august wilhelm, not long ago at strasburg with us, and betrothed since then] nor keyserling: i left them at breslau, not to expose them to the dangers of war. they perhaps will be a little angry; but what can i do?--the rather as, on this occasion, one cannot share in the glory, unless one is a mortar! "adieu, m. le conseiller [poor's-rath, so styled]. go and amuse yourself with horace, study pausanias, and be gay over anacreon. as to me, who for amusement have nothing but merlons, fascines and gabions, [merlons are mounds of earth placed behind the solid or blind parts of the parapet (that is, between the embrasures) of a fortification; fascines are bundles of brushwood for filling up a ditch; gabions, baskets filled with earth to be ranged in defence till you get trenches dug.] i pray god to grant me soon a pleasanter and peacefuler occupation, and you health, satisfaction and whatever your heart desires.--f." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xvii. .] king friedrich to m. le comte algarotti (gone on a journey). "ottmachau, th january, [same day as the above to jordan]. i have begun to settle the figure of prussia: the outline will not be altogether regular; for the whole of silesia is taken, except one miserable hamlet (bicoque), which perhaps i shall have to keep blockaded till next spring. "up to this time, the whole conquest has cost only twenty men, and two officers, one of whom is the poor de rege, whom you have seen at berlin,"--de rege, engineer major, killed here at ottmachau, in schwerin's late tussle. "you are greatly wanting to me here. so soon as you have talked that business over, write to me about it. [what is the business? whither is the dusky swan of padua gone?] in all these three hundred miles i have found no human creature comparable to the swan of padua. i would willingly give ten cubic leagues of ground for a genius similar to yours. but i perceive i was about entreating you to return fast, and join me again,--while you are not yet arrived where your errand was. make haste to arrive, then; to execute your commission, and fly back to me. i wish you had a fortunatus hat; it is the only thing defective in your outfit. "adieu, dear swan of padua: think, i pray you, sometimes of those who are getting themselves cut in slices [echiner, chined] for the sake of glory here, and above all do not forget your friends who think a thousand times of you. "frederic." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xviii. .] the object of the dear swan's journey, or even the whereabouts of it, cannot be discovered without difficulty; and is not much worth discovering. "gone to turin," we at last make out, "with secret commissions:" [denina, _la prusse litteraire_ (berlin, ), i. . a poor vague book; only worth consulting in case of extremity.] desirable to sound the sardinian majesty a little, who is doorkeeper of the alps, between france and austria, and opens to the best bidder? no great things of a meaning in this mission, we can guess, or algarotti had not gone upon it,--though he is handy, at least, for keeping it unnoticed by the gazetteer species. nor was the swan successful, it would seem; the more the pity for our swan! however, he comes back safe; attends friedrich in silesia; and in the course of next month readers will see him, if any reader wished it. chapter vi. -- neisse is bombarded. neisse, which friedrich calls a paltry hamlet (bicoque) is a pleasant strongly fortified town, then of perhaps or , inhabitants, now of double that number; stands on the right or south bank of the neisse,--at this day, on both banks. pleasant broad streets, high strong houses, mostly of stone. pleasantly encircled by green hills, northward buttresses of the giant mountains; itself standing low and level, on rich ground much inclined to be swampy. a lesser river, biele, or bielau, coming from the south, flows leisurely enough into the neisse,--filling all the fortress ditches, by the road. orchard-growth and meadow-growth are lordly (herrlich); a land rich in fruit, and flowing with milk and honey. much given to weaving, brewing, stocking-making; and, moreover, trades greatly in these articles, and above all in wine. yearly on st. agnes day, " st january, if not a sunday," there is a wine-fair here; hungarian, of every quality from tokay downward, is gathered here for distribution into germany and all the western countries. while you drink your tokay, know that it comes through neisse. st. agnes day falls but unhandily this year; and i think the fair will, as they say, ausbleiben, or not be held. neisse is a nest of priests (pfaffen-nest), says friedrich once; which came in this way. about years ago, an ill-conditioned heir-apparent of the liegnitz sovereign to whom it then belonged, quarrelled with his father, quarrelled slightly with the universe; and, after moping about for some time, went into the church. having neisse for an apanage already his own, he gave it to the bishop of breslau; whose, in spite of the old father's protestings, it continued, and continues. bishops of breslau are made very grand by it; bishops of breslau have had their own difficulties here. thus once (in our perkin-warbeck time, a.d. ), a duke of oppeln, sitting in some official conclave or meeting of magnates here,--zealous for country privilege, and feeling himself insufferably put upon,--started up, openly defiant of official men; glaring wrathfully into duke casimir of teschen (bohemian-austrian captain of silesia), and into the bishop of breslau himself; nay at last, flashed out his sword upon those sublime dignitaries. for which, by and by, he had to lay his head on the block, in the great square here; and died penitent, we hope. this place, my dryasdust informs me, had many accidents by floodage and by fire; was seized and re-seized in the thirty-years war especially, at a great rate: saxon arnheim, austrian holk, swedish torstenson; no end to the battering and burning poor neisse had, to the big ransoms "in new reichs-thalers and casks of wine." but it always rebuilt itself, and began business again. how happy when it could get under some effectual protector, of the liegnitz line, of the austrian-bohemian line, and this or the other battering, just suffered, was to be the last for some time!--here again is a battering coming on it; the first of a series that are now imminent. the reader is requested to look at neisse; for besides the tokay wine, there will things arrive there.--neisse river, let us again mention, is one of four bearing that name, and all belonging to the oder:--could not they be labelled, then, or numbered, in some way? this neisse, which we could call neisse the first (and which careful readers may as well make acquaintance with on their map, where too they will find neisse the second, "the wuthende or roaring neisse," and two others which concern us less), rises in the "western snow-mountains (schneegebirge)," southwestern or glatz district of the giant mountains; drains glatz county and grows big there; washes the town of glatz; then eastward by ottmachau, by neisse town; whence turning rather abruptly north or northeast, it gets into the oder not far south of brieg. neisse as a place of arms, the chief fortress of silesia and the nearest to austria, is extremely desirable for friedrich; but there is no hope of it without some kind of siege; and friedrich determines to try in that way. from ottmachau, accordingly, and from the other sides, the siege-artillery being now at hand, due force gathers itself round neisse, schwerin taking charge; and for above a week there is demonstrating and posting, summoning and parleying; and then, for three days, with pauses intervening, there is extremely furious bombardment, red-hot at times: "will you yield, then?"--with steady negative from neisse. friedrich's quarter is at ottmachau, twelve miles off; from which he can ride over, to see and superintend. the fury of his bombardment, which naturally grieved him, testifies the intensity of his wish. but it was to no purpose. the commandant, colonel von roth (the same who was proposed for breslau lately, a wise head and a stout, famed in defences) had "poured water on his ramparts," after well repairing them,--made his ramparts all ice and glass;--and done much else. would the reader care to look for a moment? here, from our waste paper-masses, is abundance, requiring only to be abridged:-- "january, : monday, th-wednesday, th. monday, th, day when that sputter at ottmachau began,--prussian light-troops appeared transiently on the heights about neisse, for the first time. directly on sight of whom, commandant roth assembled the burghers of the place; took a new oath of fidelity from one and all; admonished them to do their utmost, as they should see him do. the able-bodied and likeliest of them (say about ) he has had arranged into militia companies, with what drill there could be in the interim; and since his coming, has employed every moment in making ready. wednesday, th, he locks all the gates, and stands strictly on his guard. the inhabitants are mostly catholic; with sumptuous bishops of breslau, with kreuzherren (imaginary teutsch or other ritters with some reality of money), with jesuit dignitaries, church and quasi-church officialities, resident among them: population, high and low, is inclined by creed to the queen of hungary. commandant roth has only , regular soldiers; at the outside , men under arms: but he has gunpowder, he has meal; experience also and courage; and hopes these may suffice him for a time. one of the most determined commandants; expert in the defence of strong places. a born silesian (not saxon, as some think),--and is of the augsburg confession; but that circumstance is not important here, though at breslau browne thought it was. "thursday, th. the prussians, in regular force, appear on the kaninchen berg (cony hill, so called from its rabbits), south of the river, evidently taking post there. roth fires a signal shot; the southern suburbs of neisse, as preappointed, go up in flame; crackle high and far; in a lamentable manner (erbarmlich), through the grim winter air." this is the day friedrich came over to ottmachau, and settled the sputter there. "next day, and next again, the same phenomena at neisse; the prussians edging ever nearer, building their batteries, preparing to open their cannonade. whereupon roth burns the remaining suburbs, with lamentable crackle; on all sides now are mere ashes. bishop's mill, franciscan cloister, bishop's pleasure-garden, with its summer-houses; bishop's hospital, and several churches: roth can spare none of these things, with the prussians nestling there. surely the bishop himself, respectable cardinal graf von sinzendorf, had better get out of these localities while time yet is?" "saturday, th," that was the day friedrich, at ottmachau, wrote as above to jordan (letter no. ), while the neisse suburbs crackled lamentably, twelve miles off, "schwerin gets order to break up, in person, from ottmachan to-morrow, and begin actual business on the kaninchen hill yonder. "sunday, th. schwerin does; marches across the river; takes post on the south side of neisse: notable to the sunday rustics. nothing but burnt villages and black walls for schwerin, in that cony-hill quarter, and all round; and roth salutes him with one twenty-four pounder, which did no hurt. and so the cannonade begins, sunday, th; and intermittently, on both sides of the river, continues, always bursting out again at intervals, till wednesday; a mere preliminary cannonade on schwerin's part; making noise, doing little hurt: intended more to terrify, but without effect that way on roth or the townsfolk. the poor bishop did, on the second day of it, come out, and make application to schwerin; was kindly conducted to his majesty, who happened to be over there; was kept to dinner; and easily had leave to retire to freywalde, a country-house he has, in the safe distance. [_helden-geschichte,_ i. .] there let him be quiet, well out of these confused batterings and burnings of property. "his majesty's head-quarter is at ottmachau, but in two hours he can be here any day; and looks into everything; sorry that the cannonade does not yet answer. and remnants of suburbs are still crackling into flame; high country-houses of kreuzherren, of jesuits; a fanatic people seemingly all set against us. 'if neisse will not yield of good-will, needs is it must be beaten to powder,' wrote his majesty to jordan in these circumstances, as we read above. roth is sorry to observe, the prussians have still one good bishop's-mansion, in a place called the karlau (karl-meadow), with the bishop's winter fuel all ready stacked there; but strives to take order about the same. "wednesday, th. this day two provocations happened. first, in the morning by his majesty's order, colonel borck (the same we saw at herstal) had gone with a trumpeter towards roth; intending to inform roth how mild the terms would be, how terrible the penalty of not accepting them. but roth or roth's people singularly disregard borck and his parley trumpet; answer its blasts by musketry; fire upon it, nay again fire worse when it advances a step farther; on these terms borck and trumpet had to return. which much angered his majesty at ottmachau that evening; as was natural. same evening, our fine quarters in the karlau crackled up in flame, the bishop's winter firewood all along with it: this was provocation second. roth had taken order with the karlau; and got a resolute butcher to do the feat, under pretext of bringing us beef. it is piercing cold; only blackened walls for us now in the karlau or elsewhere. his majesty, naturally much angered, orders for the morrow a dose of bomb-shells and red-hot balls. plant a few mortars on the north side too, orders his majesty. "thursday, th. accordingly, by of the clock, cannon batteries reawaken with a mighty noise, and red-hot balls are noticeable; and at the actual bombarding bursts out, terrible to hear and see;--first shell falling in haubitz the clothier's shop, but being happily got under. roth has his city militia companies, organized with water-hose for quenching of the red-hot balls: in which they became expert. so that though the fire caught many houses, they always put it out. late in the night, hearing no word from roth, the prussians went to bed. "friday, th. still no word; on which, about p.m., the prussian batteries awaken again: volcanic torrent of red-hot shot and shells, for seven hours; still no word from roth. about at night his majesty again sends a drum (parley trumpet or whatever it is) to the gate; formally summons roth; asks him, 'if he has well considered what this can lead to? especially what he, roth, meant by firing on our first trumpet on wednesday last?' roth answered, 'that as to the trumpet, he had not heard of it before. on the other hand, that this mode of sieging by red-hot balls seems a little unusual; for the rest, that he has himself no order or intention but that of resisting to the last.' some say the drum hereupon by order talked of 'pounding neisse into powder, mere child's-play hitherto;' to which roth answered only by respectful dumb-show. "saturday, st-monday, d. midnight of friday-saturday, on this answer coming, the fire-volcanoes open again;--nine hours long; shells, and red-hot material, in terrible abundance. which hit mostly the churches, jesuits' seminariums and collegiums; but produced no change in roth. from a.m. the batteries are silent. silent still, next morning: divine service may proceed, if it like. but at of the afternoon, the batteries awaken worse than ever; from seven to nine bombs going at once. universal rage, of noise and horrid glare, making night hideous, till of the clock; roth continuing inflexible. this is the last night of the siege." friedrich perceived that roth would not yield; that the utter smashing-down of neisse might more concern friedrich than roth;--that, in fine, it would be better to desist till the weather altered. next day, "monday, d, between noon and o'clock," the prussians drew back;--converted the siege into a blockade. neisse to be masked, like brieg and glogau (brieg only half done yet, jeetz without cannon till to-morrow, th, and little namslau still gesticulating): "the only thing one could try upon it was bombardment. a nest of priests (pfaffen-nest); not many troops in it: but it cannot well be forced at present. if spring were here, it will cost a fortnight's work." [friedrich to the old dessauer: fraction of letter (ottmachau, th- st january, ) cited by orlich, i. ;--from the dessau archives, where herr orlich has industriously been. to all but strictly military people these pieces of letters are the valuable feature of orlich's book; and a general reader laments that it does not all consist of such, properly elucidated and labelled into accessibility.] a noisy business; "king's high person much exposed: a bombardier and then a sergeant were killed close by him, though in all he lost only five men." [_helden-geschichte,_ i. - .] browne vanishes in a slight flash of fire. browne all this while has hung on the mountain-side, witnessing these things; sending stores towards glatz southwestward, and "ruining the ways" behind them; waiting what would become of neisse. neisse done, schwerin is upon him; browne makes off southeastward, across the mountains, for moravia and home; schwerin following hard. at a little place called gratz, [the name, in old slavic speech, signifies town; and there are many gratzes: konigingratz (queen's, which for brevity is now generally called konigsgratz, in bohemia); gratz in styria; windischgratz (wendish-town); &c.] on the moravian border, browne faced round, tried to defend the bridge of the oppa, sharply though without effect; and there came (january th) a hot sputter between them for a few minutes:--after which browne vanished into the interior, and we hear, in these parts, comparatively little more of him during this war. friend and foe must admit that he has neglected nothing; and fairly made the best of a bad business here. he is but an interim general, too; his successor just coming; and the vienna board of war is frequently troublesome,--to whose windy speculations browne replies with sagacious scepticism, and here and there a touch of veiled sarcasm, which was not likely to conciliate in high places. had her hungarian majesty been able to retain browne in his post, instead of poor neipperg who was sent instead, there might have been a considerably different account to give of the sequel. but neipperg was tutor (war-tutor) to the grand-duke; browne is still of young standing (age only thirty-five), with a touch of veiled sarcasm; and things must go their course. in schlesien, schwerin is now to command in chief; the king going off to berlin for a little, naturally with plenty of errand there. the prussian troops go into winter-quarters; spread themselves wide; beset the good points, especially the passes of the hills,--from jagerndorf, eastward to the jablunka leading towards hungary;--nay they can, and before long do, spread into the moravian territories, on the other side; and levy contributions, the queen proving unreasonable. it was monday, d, when the siege of neisse was abandoned: on wednesday, friedrich himself turns homeward; looks into schweidnitz, looks into liegnitz; and arrives at berlin as the week ends,--much acclamation greeting him from the multitude. except those three masked fortresses, capable of no defence to speak of, were winter over, silesia is now all friedrich's,--has fallen wholly to him in the space of about seven weeks. the seizure has been easy; but the retaining of it, perhaps he himself begins to see more clearly, will have difficulties! from this point, the talk about gloire nearly ceases in his correspondence. in those seven weeks he has, with gloire or otherwise, cut out for himself such a life of labor as no man of his century had. chapter vii. -- at versailles, the most christian majesty changes his shirt, and belleisle is seen with papers. while friedrich was so busy in silesia, the world was not asleep around him; the world never is, though it often seems to be, round a man and what action he does in it. that sunday morning, first day of the year , in those same hours while friedrich, with energy, with caution, was edging himself into breslau, there went on in the court of versailles an interior phenomenon; of which, having by chance got access to it face to face, we propose to make the reader participant before going farther. readers are languidly aware that phenomena do go on round their friedrich; that their busy friedrich, with his few voltaires and renowned persons, are not the only population of their century, by any means. everybody is aware of that fact; yet, in practice, almost everybody is as good as not aware; and the world all round one's hero is a darkness, a dormant vacancy. how strange when, as here, some waste-paper spill (so to speak) turns up, which you can kindle; and, by the brief flame of it, bid a reader look with his own eyes!--from herr doctor busching, who did the geography and about a hundred other books,--a man of great worth, almost of genius, could he have elaborated his hundred books into ten (or distilled, into flasks of aqua-vitae, what otherwise lies tumbling as tanks of mash and wort, now run very sour and mal-odorous);--it is from herr busching that we gain the following rough piece, illuminative if one can kindle it:-- the titular-herr baron anton von geusau, a gentleman of good parts, scholastic by profession, and of protestant creed, was accompanying as travelling tutor, in those years, a young graf von reuss. graf von beuss is one of those indistinct counts reuss, who always call themselves "henry;" and, being now at the eightieth and farther, with uncountable collateral henrys intertwisted, are become in effect anonymous, or of nomenclature inscrutable to mankind. nor is the young one otherwise of the least interest to us;--except that herr anton, the travelling tutor, punctually kept a journal of everything. which journal, long afterwards, came into the hands of busching, also a punctual man; and was by him abridged, and set forth in print in his _beitrage._ offering at present a singular daguerrotype glimpse of the then actual world, wherever graf von reuss and his geusau happened to be. nine-tenths of it, even in busching's abridgment, are now fallen useless and wearisome; but to one studying the days that then were, even the effete commonplace of it occasionally becomes alive again. and how interesting to catch, here and there, a historical figure on these conditions; historical figure's very self, in his work-day attitude; eating his victuals; writing, receiving letters, talking to his fellow-creatures; unaware that posterity, miraculously through some chink of the travelling tutor's producing, has got its eye upon him. "sunday, st january, , geusau and his young gentleman leave paris, at in the morning, and drive out to versailles; intending to see the ceremonies of new-year's day there. very wet weather it had been, all wednesday, and for days before; [see in _barbier_ (ii. et seqq.) what terrible noah-like weather it had been; big houses, long in soak, tumbling down at last into the seine; chasse of st. genevieve brought out (two days ago), december th, to try it by miracle; &c. &c.] but on this sunday, new-year's morning, all is ice and glass; and they slid about painfully by lamplight,--with unroughened horses, and on the hilly or meudon road, having chosen that as fittest, the waters being out;--not arriving at court till . nor finding very much to comfort them, except on the side of curiosity, when there. ushers, introducteurs, cabinet secretaries, were indeed assiduous to oblige; and the king's levee will be: but if you follow it, to the chapel royal to witness high mass, you must kneel at elevation of the host; and this, as reformed christians, reuss and his tutor cannot undertake to do. they accept a dinner invitation ( the hour) from some good samaritan of quality; and, for sights, will content themselves with the king's levee itself, and generally with what the king's antechamber and the oeil-de-boeuf can exhibit to them. the most christian king's levee [lever, literally here his getting out of bed] is a daily miracle of these localities, only grander on new-year's day; and it is to the following effect:-- "till majesty please to awaken, you saunter in the salle des ambassadeurs; whole crowds jostling one another there; gossiping together in a diligent, insipid manner;" gossip all reported; snatches of which have acquired a certain flavor by long keeping;--which the reader shall imagine. "meanwhile you keep your eye on the grate of the inner court, which as yet is only ajar, majesty inaccessible as yet. behold, at last, grate opens itself wide; sign that majesty is out of bed; that the privileged of mankind may approach, and see the miracles." geusau continues, abridged by busching and us:-- "the whole assemblage passed now into the king's anteroom; had to wait there about half an hour more, before the king's bedroom was opened. but then at last, lo you,--there is the king, visible to geusau and everybody, washing his hands. which effected itself in this way: 'the king was seated; a gentleman-in-waiting knelt, before him, and held the ewer, a square vessel silver-gilt, firm upon the king's breast; and another gentleman-in-waiting poured water on the king's hands.' merely an official washing, we perceive; the real, it is to be hoped, had, in a much more effectual way, been going on during the half-hour just elapsed. after washing, the king rose for an instant; had his dressing-gown, a grand yellow silky article with silver flowerings, pulled off, and flung round his loins; upon which he sat down again, and,"--observe it, ye privileged of mankind,--"the change of shirt took place! 'they put the clean shirt down over his head,' says anton, 'and plucked up the dirty one from within, so that of the naked skin you saw little or nothing.'" here is a miracle worth getting out of bed to look at! "his majesty now quitted chair and dressing-gown; stood up before the fire; and, after getting on the rest of his clothing, which, on account of czarina anne's death [readers remember that], was of violet or mourning color, he had the powder-mantle thrown round him, and sat down at the toilette to have his hair frizzled. the toilette, a table with white cover shoved into the middle of the room, had on it a mirror, a powder-knife, and"--no mortal cares what. "the king," what all mortals note, as they do the heavenly omens, "is somewhat talky; speaks sometimes with the dutch ambassador, sometimes with the pope's nuncio, who seems a jocose kind of gentleman; sometimes with different french lords, and at last with the cardinal fleury also,--to whom, however, he does not look particularly gracious,"--not particularly this time. these are the omens; happy who can read them!--majesty then did his morning-prayer, assisted only by the common almoners-in-waiting (cardinal took no hand, much less any other); majesty knelt before his bed, and finished the business 'in less than six seconds.' after which mankind can ebb out to the anteroom again; pay their devoir to the queen's majesty, which all do; or wait for the transit to morning chapel, and see mesdames of france and the others flitting past in their sedans. "queen's majesty was already altogether dressed," says geusau, almost as if with some disappointment; "all in black; a most affable courteous majesty; stands conversing with the russian ambassador, with the dutch ditto, with the ladies about her, and at last, 'in a friendly and merry tone,' with old cardinal fleury. her ladies, when the queen spoke with them, showed no constraint at all; leant loosely with their arms on the fire-screens, and took things easy. mesdames of france"--geusau saw mesdames. poor little souls, they are the loque, the cochon (rag, pig, so papa would call them, dear papa), who become tragically visible again in the revolution time:--all blooming young children as yet (queen's majesty some thirty-seven gone), and little dreaming what lies fifty years ahead! king louis's career of extraneous gallantries, which ended in the parc-aux-cerfs, is now just beginning: think of that too; and of her majesty's fine behavior under it; so affable, so patient, silent, now and always!--"in a little while, their majesties go along the great gallery to chapel;" whither the protestant mind cannot with comfort accompany. [busching, _beitrage,_ ii. - .] this is the daily miracle done at versailles to the believing multitude; only that on new-year's day, and certain supreme occasions, the shirt is handed by a prince of the blood, and the towel for drying the royal hands by a ditto, with other improvements; and the thing comes out in its highest power of effulgence,--especially if you could see high mass withal. in the antechamber and (oeil-de-boeuf, geusau), among hundreds of phenomena fallen dead to us, saw the four following, which have still some life:-- . many knights of the holy ghost (chevaliers du saint esprit) are about; magnificently piebald people, indistinct to us, and fallen dead to us: but there, among the company, do not we indisputably see, "in full cardinal's costume," fleury the ancient prime minister talking to her majesty? blandly smiling; soft as milk, yet with a flavor of alcoholic wit in him here and there. that is a man worth looking at, had they painted him at all. red hat, red stockings; a serenely definite old gentleman, with something of prudent wisdom, and a touch of imperceptible jocosity at times; mildly inexpugnable in manner: this king, whose tutor he was twenty years ago, still looks to him as his father; fleury is the real king of france at present. his age is eighty-seven gone; the king's is thirty (seven years younger than his queen): and the cardinal has red stockings and red hat; veritably there, successively in both antechambers, seen by geusau, january st, : that is all i know. . the prince de clermont, a prince of the blood, "handed the shirt," teste geusau. some other prince, notable to geusau, and to us nameless, had the honor of the "towel:" but this prince de clermont, a dissolute fellow of wasted parts, kind of priest, kind of soldier too, is seen visibly handing the shirt there;--whom the reader and i, if we cared about it, shall again see, getting beaten by prince ferdinand, at crefeld, within twenty years hence. these are points first and second, slightly noticeable, slightly if at all. of the actual transit to high mass, transit very visible in the great gallery or oeil-de-boeuf, why should a human being now say anything? queen, poor stanislaus's daughter, and her ladies, in their sublime sedans, one flood of jewels, sail first; next sails king louis, shirt warm on his back, with "thirty-four chevaliers of the holy ghost" escorting; next "the dauphin" (boy of eleven, louis xvi.'s. father), and "mesdames of france, with"--but even geusau stops short. protestants cannot enter that chapel, without peril of idolatry; wherefore geusau and pupil kept strolling in the general (oeil-de-boeuf),--and "the dutch ambassador approved of it," he for one. and here now is another point, slightly noticeable:-- . high mass over, his majesty sails back from chapel, in the same magnificently piebald manner; and vanishes into the interior; leaving his knights of the holy ghost, and other courtier multitude, to simmer about, and ebb away as they found good. geusau and his young reuss had now the honor of being introduced to various people; among others "to the prince de soubise." prince de soubise: frivolous, insignificant being; of whom i have no portrait that is not nearly blank, and content to be so;--though herr von geusau would have one, with features and costume to it, when he heard of the beating at rossbach, long after! prince de soubise is pretty much a blank to everybody:--and no sooner are we loose of him, than (what every reader will do well to note) . our herren travellers are introduced to a real notability: monseigneur, soon to be marechal, the comte de belleisle; whom my readers and i are to be much concerned with, in time coming. "a tall lean man (langer hagerer mann), without much air of quality," thinks geusau; but with much swift intellect and energy, and a distinguished character, whatever geusau might think. "comte de belleisle was very civil; but apologized, in a courtly and kind way, for the hurry he was in; regretting the impossibility of doing the honors to the comte de reuss in this country,--his, belleisle's, journey into germany, which was close at hand, overwhelming him with occupations and engagements at present. and indeed, even while he spoke to us," says geusau, "all manner of papers were put into his hand." [busching, ii. ; see barbier, ii. , .] "journey to germany, papers put into his hand:" there is perhaps no human figure in the world, this sunday (except the one figure now in those same moments over at breslau, gently pressing upon the locked gates there), who is so momentous for our silesian operations; and indeed he will kindle all europe into delirium; and produce mere thunder and lightning, for seven years to come,--with almost no result in it, except silesia! a tall lean man; there stands he, age now fifty-six, just about setting out on such errand. whom one is thankful to have seen for a moment, even in that slight manner. of belleisle and his plans. charles louis auguste fouquet, comte de belleisle, is grandson of that intendant fouquet, sumptuous financier, whom louis xiv. at last threw out, and locked into the fortress of pignerol, amid the savoy alps, there to meditate for life, which lasted thirty years longer. it was never understood that the sumptuous fouquet had altogether stolen public moneys, nor indeed rightly what he had done to merit pignerol; and always, though fallen somehow into such dire disfavor, he was pitied and respected by a good portion of the public. "has angered colbert," said the public; "dangerous rivalry to colbert; that is what has brought pignerol upon him." out of pignerol that fouquet never came; but his family bloomed up into light again; had its adventures, sometimes its troubles, in the regency time, but was always in a rising way:--and here, in this tall lean man getting papers put into his hand, it has risen very high indeed. going as ambassador extraordinary to the germanic diet, "to assist good neighbors, as a neighbor and most christian majesty should, in choosing their new kaiser to the best advantage:" that is the official color his mission is to have. surely a proud mission;--and belleisle intends to execute it in a way that will surprise the germanic diet and mankind. privately, belleisle intends that he, by his own industries, shall himself choose the right kaiser, such kaiser as will suit the most christian majesty and him; he intends to make a new french thing of germany in general; and carries in his head plans of an amazing nature! he and a brother he has, called the chevalier de belleisle, who is also a distinguished man, and seconds m. le comte with eloquent fire and zeal in all things, are grandsons of that old fouquet, and the most shining men in france at present. france little dreams how much better it perhaps were, had they also been kept safe in pignerol!-- the count, lean and growing old, is not healthy; is ever and anon tormented, and laid up for weeks, with rheumatisms, gouts and ailments: but otherwise he is still a swift ardent elastic spirit; with grand schemes, with fiery notions and convictions, which captivate and hurry off men's minds more than eloquence could, so intensely true are they to the count himself;--and then his brother the chevalier is always there to put them into the due language and logic, where needed. [voltaire, xxviii. ; xxix. ; &c.] a magnanimous high-flown spirit; thought to be of supreme skill both in war and in diplomacy; fit for many things; and is still full of ambition to distinguish himself, and tell the world at all moments, "me voila; world, i too am here!"--his plans, just now, which are dim even to himself, except on the hither skirt of them, stretch out immeasurable, and lie piled up high as the skies. the hither skirt of them, which will suffice the reader at present, is:-- that your grand-duke franz, maria theresa's husband, shall in no wise, as the world and duke franz expect, be the kaiser chosen. not he, but another who will suit france better: "kur-sachsen perhaps, the so-called king of poland? or say it were karl albert kur-baiern, the hereditary friend and dependent of france? we are not tied to a man: only, at any and at all rates, not grand-duke franz." this is the grand, essential and indispensable point, alpha and omega of points; very clear this one to belleisle,--and towards this the first steps, if as yet only the first, are also clear to him. namely that "the th of february next",--which is the time set by kur-mainz and the native officials for the actual meeting of their reichstag to begin election business, will be too early a time; and must be got postponed. [adelung, ii. (" th february- st march, , at frankfurt-on-mayn," appointed by kur-mainz "arch-chancellor of the reich," under date november d, );--ib. ("delay for a month or two," suggests kur-pfalz, on january th, seconded by others in the french interest);--upon which the appointment, after some arguing, collapsed into the vague, and there ensued delay enough; actual election not till january th, .] postponed; which will be possible, perhaps for long; one knows not for how long: that is a first step definitely clear to belleisle. towards which, as preliminary to it and to all the others in a dimmer state, there is a second thing clear, and has even been officially settled (all but the day): that, in the mean while, and surely the sooner the better, he, belleisle, most christian majesty's ambassador extraordinary to the reichstag coming,--do, in his most dazzling and persuasive manner, make a tour among german courts. let us visit, in our highest and yet in our softest splendor, the accessible german courts, especially the likely or well-disposed: mainz, koln, trier, these, the three called spiritual, lie on our very route; then pfalz, baiern, sachsen:--we will tour diligently up and down; try whether, by optic machinery and art-magic of the mind, one cannot bring them round. in all these preliminary steps and points, and even in that alpha and omega of excluding grand-duke franz, and getting a kaiser of his own, belleisle succeeded. with painful results to himself and to millions of his fellow-creatures, to readers of this history, among others. and became in consequence the most famous of mankind; and filled the whole world with rumor of belleisle, in those years.--a man of such intrinsic distinction as belleisle, whom friedrich afterwards deliberately called a great captain, and the only frenchman with a genius for war; and who, for some time, played in europe at large a part like that of warwick the kingmaker: how has he fallen into such oblivion? many of my readers never heard of him before; nor, in writing or otherwise, is there symptom that any living memory now harbors him, or has the least approach to an image of him! "for the times are babbly," says goethe," and then again the times are dumb:-- denn geschwatzig sind die zeiten, und sie sind auch wieder stumm." alas, if a man sow only chaff, in never so sublime a manner, with the whole earth and the long-eared populations looking on, and chorally singing approval, rendering night hideous,--it will avail him nothing. and that, to a lamentable extent, was belleisle's case. his scheme of action was in most felicitously just accordance with the national sense of france, but by no means so with the laws of nature and of fact; his aim, grandiose, patriotic, what you will, was unluckily false and not true. how could "the times" continue talking of him? they found they had already talked too much. not to say that the french revolution has since come; and has blown all that into the air, miles aloft,--where even the solid part of it, which must be recovered one day, much more the gaseous, which we trust is forever irrecoverable, now wanders and whirls; and many things are abolished, for the present, of more value than belleisle!-- for my own share, being, as it were, forced accidentally to look at him again, i find in belleisle a really notable man; far superior to the vulgar of noted men, in his time or ours. sad destiny for such a man! but when the general life-element becomes so unspeakably phantasmal as under louis xv., it is difficult for any man to be real; to be other than a play-actor, more or less eminent, and artistically dressed. sad enough, surely, when the truth of your relation to the universe, and the tragically earnest meaning of your life, is quite lied out of you, by a world sunk in lies; and you can, with effort, attain to nothing but to be a more or less splendid lie along with it! your very existence all become a vesture, a hypocrisy, and hearsay; nothing left of you but this sad faculty of sowing chaff in the fashionable manner! after friedrich and voltaire, in both of whom, under the given circumstances, one finds a perennial reality, more or less,--belleisle is next; none fails to escape the mournful common lot by a nearer miss than belleisle. beyond doubt, there are in this man the biggest projects any french head has carried, since louis xiv. with his sublime periwig first took to striking the stars. how the indolent louis xv. and the pacific fleury have been got into this sublimely adventurous mood? by belleisle chiefly, men say;--and by king louis's first mistresses, blown upon by belleisle; poor louis having now, at length, left his poor queen to her reflections, and taken into that sad line, in which by degrees he carried it so far. there are three of them, it seems;--the first female souls that could ever manage to kindle, into flame or into smoke: in this or any other kind, that poor torpid male soul: those mailly sisters, three in number (i am shocked to hear), successive, nay in part simultaneous! they are proud women, especially the two younger; with ambition in them, with a bravura magnanimity, of the theatrical or operatic kind; of whom louis is very fond. "to raise france to its place, your majesty; the top of the universe, namely!" "well; if it could be done,--and quite without trouble?" thinks louis. bravura magnanimity, blown upon by belleisle, prevails among these high improper females, and generally in the younger circles of the court; so that poor old fleury has had no choice but to obey it or retire. and so belleisle stalks across the oeil-de-boeuf in that important manner, visibly to geusau; and is the shining object in paris, and much the topic there at present. a few weeks hence, he is farther--a little out of the common turn, but not beyond his military merits or capabilities--made marechal de france; [_fastes de louis xv.,_ i. ( th february, ).] by way of giving him a new splendor in the german political world, and assisting in his operations there, which depend much upon the laws of vision. french epigrams circulate in consequence, and there are witty criticisms; to which belleisle, such a dusky world of possibility lying ahead, is grandly indifferent. marechal de france;--and geusau hears (what is a fact) that there are to be "thirty young french lords in his suite;" his very "livery," or mere plush retinue, "to consist of persons;" such an outfit for magnificence as was never seen before. and in this equipment, "early in march" (exact day not given), magnificence of outside corresponding to grandiosity of faculty and idea, belleisle, we shall find, does practically set off towards germany;--like a kind of french belus, or god of the sun; capable to dazzle weak german courts, by optical machinery, and to set much rotten thatch on fire!-- "there are curious daguerrotype glimpses of old paris to be found in that notebook of geusau's", says another excerpt; "which come strangely home to us, like reality at first-hand;--and a rather unexpected paris it is, to most readers; many things then alive there, which are now deep underground. much jansenist theology afloat; grand french ladies piously eager to convert a young protestant nobleman like reuss; sublime dorcases, who do not rouge, or dress high, but eschew the evil world, and are thrifty for the poor's sake, redeeming the time. there is a cardinal de polignac, venerable sage and ex-political person, of astonishing erudition, collector of antiques (with whom we dined); there is the chevalier ramsay, theological scotch jacobite, late tutor of the young turenne. so many shining persons, now fallen indistinct again. and then, besides gossip, which is of mild quality and in fair proportion,--what talk, casuistic and other, about the moral duties, the still feasible pieties, the constitution unigenitus! all this alive, resonant at dinner-tables of conservative stamp; the miracles of abbe paris much a topic there:--and not a whisper of infidel philosophies; the very name of voltaire not once mentioned in the reuss section of parisian things. "there is rumor now and then of a 'comte de rothenbourg,' conspicuous in the parisian circles; a shining military man, but seemingly in want of employment; who has lost in gambling, within the last four years, upwards of , pounds ( , , livres, the exact cipher given). this is the graf von rothenburg whom friedrich made acquaintance with, in the rhine campaign six years ago, and has ever since had in his eye;--whom, in a few weeks hence, friedrich beckons over to him into the prussian states: 'hither, and you shall have work!' which rothenburg accepts; with manifold advantage to both parties:--one of friedrich's most distinguished friends for the rest of his life. "of cardinal polignac there is much said, and several dinners with him are transacted, dialogue partly given: a pious wise old gentleman really, in his kind (age now eighty-four); looking mildly forth upon a world just about to overset itself and go topsy-turvy, as he sees it will. his anti-lucretius was once such a poem!--but we mention him here because his fine cabinet of antiques came to berlin on his death, friedrich purchasing; and one often hears of it (if one cared to hear) from the prussian dryasdust in subsequent years. [came to charlottenburg, august, (old polignac had died november last, ten months after those geusau times): cost of the polignac cabinet was , thalers ( , pounds) say some, , livres (under , pounds) say others; cheap at either price;--and, by chance, came opportunely, "a fire having just burnt down the academy edifice," and destroyed much ware of that kind. rodenbeck, i. ; seyfarth (anonymous), _geschichte friedrichs des andern,_ i. .] "of friedrich's unexpected invasion of silesia there are also talkings and surmisings, but in a mild indifferent tone, and much in the vague. and in the best-informed circles it is thought belleisle will manage to have grand-duke franz, the queen of hungary's husband, chosen kaiser, and, in some mild good way, put an end to all that;"--which is far indeed from belleisle's intention! chapter viii. -- phenomena in petersburg. i know not whether major winterfeld, who was sent to petersburg in december last, had got back to berlin in february, now while friedrich is there: but for certain the good news of him had, that he had been completely successful, and was coming speedily, to resume his soldier duties in right time. as winterfeld is an important man (nearly buried into darkness in the dull prussian books), let us pause for a moment on this negotiation of his;--and on the mad russian vicissitudes which preceded and followed, so far as they concern us. russia, a big demi-savage neighbor next door, with such caprices, such humors and interests, is always an important, rather delicate object to friedrich; and fortune's mad wheel is plunging and canting in a strange headlong way there, of late. czarina anne, we know, is dead; the autocrat of all the russias following the kaiser of the romans within eight days. iwan, her little nephew, still in swaddling-clothes, is now autocrat of all the russias if he knew it, poor little red-colored creature; and anton ulrich and his mecklenburg russian princess--but let us take up the matter where our notebooks left it, in friedrich wilhelm's time:-- "czarina anne with the big cheek," continues that notebook, [supra, p. .] "was extremely delighted to see little iwan; but enjoyed him only two months; being herself in dying circumstances. she appointed little iwan her successor, his mother and father to be guardians over him; but one bieren (who writes himself biron, and "duke of courland,' being czarina's quasi-husband these many years) to be guardian, as it were, over both them and him. such had been the truculent insatiable bieren's demand on his czarina. 'you are running on your destruction,' said she, with tears; but complied, as she had been wont. "czarina anne died th october, ; leaving a czar in his cradle; little czar ivan of two months, with mother and father to preside over him, and to be themselves presided over by bieren, in this manner. [mannstein, pp. - ( th october, by russian or old style, is " th;" we translate, in this and other cases, russian or english, into new style, unless the contrary is indicated)]. this was the first great change for anton ulrich; but others greater are coming. little anton, readers know, is friedrich's brother-in-law, much patronized by austria; anton's spouse is the half-russian princess catherine of mecklenburg (now wholly russian, and called princess anne), whom friedrich at one time thought of applying for, in his distress about a wife. these two, will they side with prussia, will they side with austria? it was hardly worth inquiry, had not fortune's wheel made suddenly a great cant, and pitched them to the top, for the time being. "bieren lasted only twenty days. he was very high and arbitrary upon everybody; anne and anton ulrich suffering naturally most from him. they took counsel with feldmarschall munnich on the matter; who, after study, declared it a remediable case. friday, th november, munnich had, by invitation, to dine with duke bieren; munnich went accordingly that day, and dined; duke looking a little flurried, they say: and the same evening, dinner being quite over, and midnight come, munnich had his measures all taken, soldiers ready, warrant in hand;--and arrested bieren in his bed; mere siberia, before sunrise, looming upon bieren. never was such a change as this from th day to th with a supreme bieren. our friend mannstein, excellent punctual aide-de-camp of munnich, was the executor of the feat; and has left punctual record of it, as he does of everything,---what bieren said, and what madam bieren, who was a little obstreperous on the occasion. [mannstein, p. .] what side anton ulrich and spouse will take in a quarrel between prussia and austria, is now well worth asking. "anton ulrich and wife anne, that is to say, 'regent anne' and 'generalissimo anton ulrich,' now ruled, with munnich for right-hand man; and these were high times for anton ulrich, generalissimo and czar's-father; who indeed was modest, and did not often interfere in words, though grieved at the foolish ways his wife had. an indolent flabby kind of creature, she, unfit for an autocrat; sat in her private apartments, all in a huddle of undress; had foolish notions,--especially had soubrettes who led her about by the ear. and then there was a 'princess elizabeth,' cousin-german of regent anne,--daughter, that is to say, last child there now was, of peter the great and his little brown catherine:--who should have been better seen to. harmless foolish princess, not without cunning; young, plump, and following merely her flirtations and her orthodox devotions; very orthodox and soft, but capable of becoming dangerous, as a centre of the disaffected. as 'czarina elizabeth' before long, and ultimately as 'infame catin du nord, she--" but let us not anticipate! it was in this posture of affairs, about a month after it had begun, that winterfeld arrived in petersburg; and addressed himself to munnich, on the prussian errand. winterfeld was munnich's son-in-law (properly stepson-in-law, having married munnich's stepdaughter, a fraulein von malzahn, of good prussian kin); was acquainted with the latitudes and longitudes here, and well equipped for the operation in hand. to madam munnich, once madam malzahn, his mother-in-law, he carried a diamond ring of , pounds, "small testimony of his prussian majesty's regard to so high a prussian lady;" to munnich's son and madam's a present of , pounds on the like score: and the wheels being oiled in this way, and the steam so strong (son winterfeld an ardent man, father munnich the like, supreme in russia, and the thing itself a salutary thing), the diplomatic speed obtained was great. winterfeld had arrived in petersburg december th: treaty of alliance to the effect, "firm friends and good neighbors, we two, majesties of prussia and of all the russias; will help each the other, if attacked, with , men,"--was signed on the th: whole transaction, so important to friedrich, complete in eight days. austrian botta, directly on the heel of those unsatisfactory dialogues about silesian roads, about troops that were pretty, but had never looked the wolf in the face,--had rushed off, full speed, for petersburg, in hopes of running athwart such a treaty as winterfeld's, and getting one for austria instead. but he arrived too late; and perhaps could have done nothing had he been in time. botta tried his utmost for years afterwards, above ground and below, to obstruct and reverse this thing; but it was to no purpose, and even to less; and only, in result, brought botta himself into flagrant diplomatic trouble and scandal; which made noise enough in the then gazetteer world, and was the finale of botta's russian efforts, [adelung, iii. ii. ; mannstein, p. ("lapuschin plot," of botta's raising, found out "august, ;"--botta put in arrest, &c.).] though not worth mentioning now. the russian notebook continues:-- "munnich, supreme in russia since bieren's removal, had wise counsels for the regent anne and her husband; though perhaps, being a high old military gentleman, he might be somewhat abrupt in his ways. and there were domestic ostermanns, foreign bottas, la chetardies, and dangerous intriguers and opposition figures, to improve any grudge that might arise. sure enough, in march, , feldmarschall munnich was forbid the court (some ostermann succeeding him there): 'ever true to your two highnesses, though no longer needed;'--and withdrew, in a lofty friendly strain; his son continuing at court, though papa had withdrawn. supreme munnich had lasted about four months; supreme bieren hardly three weeks;--and siberia is still agape. "munnich being gone to his own town-mansion, and regent anne sitting in hers in a huddle of undress; little accessible to her long-headed melancholic ostermann, and too accessible to her livonian maid: with poor little anton ulrich pouting and remonstrating, but unable to help,--this state of matters, with such intrigues undermining it, could not last forever. and had not princess elizabeth been of indolent luxurious nature, intent upon her prayers and flirtations, it would have ended sooner even than it did. princess elizabeth had a surgeon called l'estoc; a marquis de la chetardie, a high-flown french excellency (who used to be at berlin, to our young friedrich's delight), was her--what shall i say? la chetardie himself had no scruple to say it! these two plotted for her; these were ready,--could she have been got ready; which was not so easy. regent anne had her suspicions; but the princess was so indolent, so good: at last, when directly taxed with such a thing, the princess burst into ingenuous weeping; quite disarmed regent anne's suspicions;--but found she had now better take l'estoc's advice, and proceed at once. which she did. "and so, on the morrow morning, th december, , by aid of the preobrazinsky regiment, and the motions usual on such occasions,--in fact by merely pulling out the props from an undermined state of matters,--she reduced said state gently to ruin, ready for carting to siberia, like its foregoers; and was hereby czarina of all the russias, prosperously enough for the rest of her life. twenty years or rather more. an indolent, orthodox, plump creature, disinclined to cruelty; 'not an ounce of nun's flesh in her composition,' said the wits. she maintained the friedrich treaty, indignant at botta and his plots; was well with friedrich, or might have been kept so by management, for there was no cause of quarrel, but the reverse, between the countries,--could friedrich have held his witty tongue, when eavesdroppers were by. but he could not always; though he tried. and sarcastic quizzing (especially if it be truth too), on certain female topics, what improper female, czarina of all the russias, could stand it? the history is but a distressing one, a disgusting one, in human affairs. elizabeth was orthodox, too, and friedrich not, 'the horrid man!' the fact is,--fact dismally indubitable, though it is huddled into discreet dimness, and all details of it (as to what friedrich's witticisms were, and the like) are refused us in the prussian books,--indignation, owing to such dismal cause, became fixed hate on the czarina's part, and there followed terrible results at last: a czarina risen to the cannibal pitch upon a man, in his extreme need;--'infame catin du nord,' thinks the man! friedrich's wit cost him dear; him, and half a million others still dearer, twenty years hence."--till which time we will gladly leave the czarina and it. major von winterfeld had been in russia before this; and had wooed his fair malzahn there. he is the same winterfeld whom we once saw dining by the wayside with the late friedrich wilhelm, on that last review-journey his majesty made. a captain in the potsdam giants at that time; always in great favor with the late king; and in still greater with the present,--who finds in him, we can dimly discover, and pretty much in him alone, a soul somewhat like his own; the one real "peer" he had about him. a man of little education; bred in camps; yet of a proud natural eminency, and rugged nobleness of genius and mind. let readers mark this fiery hero-spirit, lying buried in those dull books, like lightning among clay. here is another anecdote of his russian business:-- "winterfeld had gone, in friedrich wilhelm's time, with a party of prussian drill-sergeants for petersburg [year not given]; and duly delivered them there. he naturally saw much of feldmarschall munnich, naturally saw the step-daughter of the feldmarschall, a shining beauty in petersburg; winterfeld himself a man of shining gifts, and character; and one of the handsomest tall men in the world. mutual love between the fraulein and him was the rapid result. but how to obtain marriage? winterfeld cannot marry, without leave had of his superiors: you, fair malzahn, are hof-dame of princess elizabeth, all your fortune the jewels you wear; and it is too possible she will not let you go! "they agreed to be patient, to be silent; to watch warily till winterfeld got home to prussia, till the fraulein malzahn could also contrive to get home. winterfeld once home, and the king's consent had, the fraulein applied to princess elizabeth for leave of absence: 'a few months, to see my friends in deutschland, your highness!' princess elizabeth looked hard at her; answered evasively this and that. at last, being often importuned, she answered plainly, 'i almost feel convinced thou wilt never come back!' protestations from the fraulein were not wanting:--'well then,' said elizabeth, 'if thou art so sure of it, leave me thy jewels in pledge. why not?' the poor fraulein could not say why; had to leave her jewels, which were her whole fine fortune, 'worth , rubles' ( , pounds); and is now the brave wife of winterfeld;--but could never, by direct entreaty or circuitous interest and negotiation, get back the least item of her jewels. elizabeth, as princess and as czarina, was alike deaf on that subject. now or henceforth that proved an impossible private enterprise for winterfeld, though he had so easily succeeded in the public one." [retzow, _charakteristik des siebenjahrigen krieges_ (berlin, ), i. n.] the new czarina was not unmerciful. munnich and company were tried for life; were condemned to die, and did appear on the scaffold ( th january, ), ready for that extreme penalty; but were there, on the sudden, pardoned or half-pardoned by a merciful new czarina, and sent to siberia and outer darkness. whither bieren had preceded them. to outer darkness also, though a milder destiny had been intended them at first, went anton ulrich and his household. towards native germany at first; they had got as far as riga on the way to germany, but were detained there, for a long while (owing to suspicions, to botta plots, or i know not what), till finally they were recalled into russian exile. strict enough exile, seclusion about archangel and elsewhere; in convents, in obscure uncomfortable places:--little iwan, after vicissitudes, even went underground; grew to manhood, and got killed (partly by accident, not quite by murder), some twenty-three years hence, in his dungeon in the fortress of schlusselburg, below the level of the ladoga waters there. unluckier household, which once seemed the luckiest of the world, was never known. canted suddenly, in this way, from the very top of fortune's wheel to the very bottom; never to rise more;--and did not even die, at least not all die, for thirty or forty years after. [anton ulrich, not till th may, (two daughters of his went, after this, to "horstens, a poor country-house in jutland," whither catherine ii. had manumitted them, with pension;--she had wished anton ulrich to go home, many years before; but he would not, from shame).--iwan had perished th august, (catherine ii. blamed for his death, but without cause); iwan's mother, princess anne, (mercifully) th march, . see russian histories, tooke, castera, &c.,--none of which, except mannstein, is good for much, or to be trusted without scrutiny.] this is the chetardie-l'estoc conspiracy, of th december, ; the pitching up of princess elizabeth, and the pitching down of anton ulrich and his munnichs, who had before pitched bieren down. after which, matters remained more stationary at petersburg: czarina elizabeth, fat indolent soul, floated with a certain native buoyancy, with something of bulky steadiness, in the turbid plunge of things, and did not sink. on the contrary, her reign, so called, was prosperous, though stupid; her big dark countries, kindled already into growth, went on growing rather. and, for certain, she herself went on growing, in orthodox devotions of spiritual type (and in strangely heterodox ditto of nonspiritual!); in indolent mansuetudes (fell rages, if you cut on the raws at all!); in perpetual incongruity; and, alas, at last, in brandy-and-water,--till, as "infame catin du nord," she became terribly important to some persons! at her accession, and for two years following, czarina elizabeth, in spite of real disinclination that way, had a war on her hands: the swedish war (august, -august, ), which, after long threatening on the swedish side, had broken out into unwelcome actuality, in anton ulrich's time; and which could not, with all the czarina's industry, be got rid of or staved off; sweden being bent upon the thing, reason or no reason. war not to be spoken of, except on compulsion, in the most voluminous history! it was the unwisest of wars, we should say, and in practice probably the contemptiblest; if there were not one other swedish war coming, which vies with it in these particulars, of which we shall be obliged to speak, more or less, at a future stage. of this present russian-swedish war, having happily almost nothing to do with it, we can, except in the way of transient chronology, refrain altogether from speaking or thinking. poor sweden, since it shot karl xii. in the trenches at fredericshall, could not get a king again; and is very anarchic under its phantasm king and free national palaver,--senate with subaltern houses;--which generally has french gold in its pocket, and noise instead of wisdom in its head. scandalous to think of or behold. the french, desirous to keep russia in play during these high belleisle adventures now on foot, had, after much egging, bribing, flattering, persuaded vain sweden into this war with russia. "at narva they were , , we , ; and what became of them!" cry the swedes always. yes, my friends, but you had a captain at narva; you had not yet shot your captain when you did narva! "faction of hats," "faction of caps" (that is, night-caps, as being somnolent and disinclined to france and war): seldom did a once-valiant far-shining nation sink to such depths, since they shot their captain, and said to anarchy, "thou art captaincy, we see, and the divine thing!" of the wars and businesses of such a set of mortals let us shun speaking, where possible. mannstein gives impartial account, pleasantly clear and compact, to such as may be curious about this swedish-russian war; and, in the didactic point of view, it is not without value. to us the interesting circumstance is, that it does not interfere with our silesian operations at all; and may be figured as a mere accompaniment of rumbling discord, or vacant far-off noise, going on in those northern parts,--to which therefore we hope to be strangers in time coming. here are some dates, which the reader may take with him, should they chance to illustrate anything:-- "august th, . the swedes declare war: 'will recover their lost portions of finland, will,' &c. &c. they had long been meditating it; they had turk negotiations going on, diligent emissaries to the turk (a certain major sinclair for one, whom the russians waylaid and assassinated to get sight of his papers) during the late turk-russian war; but could conclude nothing while that was in activity; concluded only after that was done,--striking the iron when grown cold. a chief point in their manifesto was the assassination of this sinclair; scandal and atrocity, of which there is no doubt now the russians were guilty. various pretexts for the war:--prime movers to it, practically, were the french, intent on keeping russia employed while their belleisle german adventure went on, and who had even bargained with third parties to get up a war there, as we shall see. "september d, . at wilmanstrand,--key of wyborg, their frontier stronghold in finland, which was under siege,--the swedes (about , of them, for they had nothing to live upon, and lay scattered about in fractions) made fight, or skirmish, against a russian attacking party: swedes, rather victorious on their hill-top, rushed down; and totally lost their bit of victory, their wilmanstrand, their wyborg, and even the war itself;--for this was, in literal truth, the only fighting done by them in the entire course of it, which lasted near two years more. the rest of it was retreat, capitulation, loss on loss without stroke struck; till they had lost all finland, and were like to lose sweden itself,--dalecarlian mutiny bursting out ('ye traitors, misgovernors, worthy of death!'), with invasive danes to rear of it;--and had to call in the very russians to save them from worse. czarina elizabeth at the time of her accession, six months after wilmanstrand, had made truce, was eager to make peace: 'by no means!' answered sweden, taking arms again, or rather taking legs again; and rushing ruin-ward, at the old rate, still without stroke. "june th, . they did halt; made peace of abo (truce and preliminaries signed there, that day: peace itself, august th); czarina magnanimously restoring most of their finland (thinking to herself, 'not done enough for me yet; cook it a little yet!');--and settling who their next king was to be, among other friendly things. and in november following, keith, in his russian galleys, with some , russians on board, arrived in stockholm; protective against danes and mutinous dalecarles: stayed there till june of next year, ." [adelung, ii. . mannstein, pp. (wilmanstrand affair, himself present), (peace), (keith's return with his galleys). comte de hordt (present also, on the swedish side, and subsequently a soldier of friedrich's) _memoires_ (berlin, ), i. - . the murder of sinclair (done by "four russian subalterns, two miles from naumberg in silesia, th june, , about p.m.") is amply detailed from documents, in a late book: weber, _aus vier jahrhunderten_ (leipzig, ), i. - .] is not this a war! on the russian side, general keith, under field-marshal lacy as chief in command (the same keith whom we saw at oczakow under munnich, some time ago), had a great deal of the work and management; which was of a highly miscellaneous kind, commanding fleets of gunboats, and much else; and readers of mannstein can still judge,--much more could king friedrich, earnestly watching the affair itself as it went on,--whether keith did not do it in a solid and quietly eminent and valiant manner. sagacious, skilful, imperturbable, without fear and without noise; a man quietly ever ready. he had quelled, once, walking direct into the heart of it, a ferocious russian mutiny, or uproar from below, which would have ruined everything in few minutes more. (mannstein, p. (no date, april-may, .) he suffered, with excellent silence, now and afterwards, much ill-usage from above withal;--till friedrich himself, in the third year hence, was lucky enough to get him as general. friedrich's sister ulrique, the marriage of princess ulrique,--that also, as it chanced, had something to do with this peace of abo. but we anticipate too far. chapter ix. -- friedrich returns to silesia. friedrich stayed only three weeks at home; moving about, from berlin to potsdam, to reinsberg and back: all the gay world is in berlin, at this carnival time; but friedrich has more to do with business, of a manifold and over-earnest nature, than with carnival gayeties. french valori is here, "my fat valori," who is beginning to be rather a favorite of friedrich's: with excellency valori, and with the other foreign excellencies, there was diplomatic passaging in these weeks; and we gather from valori, in the inverse way (valori fallen sulky), that it was not ill done on friedrich's part. he had some private consultation with the old dessauer, too; "probably on military points," thinks valori. at least there was noticed more of the drill-sergeant than before, in his handling of the army, when he returned to silesia, continues the sulky one. "troops and generals did not know him again,"--so excessively strict was he grown, on the sudden. and truly "he got into details which were beneath, not only a prince who has great views, but even a simple captain of infantry,"--according to my (valori's) military notions and experiences! [valori, i. .]-- the truth is, friedrich begins to see, more clearly than he did with gloire dazzling him, that his position is an exceedingly grave one, full of risk, in the then mood and condition of the world; that he, in the whole world, has no sure friend but his army; and that in regard to it he cannot be too vigilant! the world is ominous to this youngest of the kings more than to another. sounds as of general political earthquake grumble audibly to him from the deeps: all europe likely, in any event, to get to loggerheads on this austrian pragmatic matter; the nations all watching him, to see what he will make of it:--fugleman he to the european nations, just about bursting up on such an adventure. it may be a glorious position, or a not glorious; but, for certain, it is a dangerous one, and awfully solitary!-- fuglemen the world and its nations always have, when simultaneously bent any-whither, wisely or unwisely; and it is natural that the most adventurous spirit take that post. friedrich has not sought the post; but following his own objects, has got it; and will be ignominiously lost, and trampled to annihilation under the hoofs of the world, if he do not mind! to keep well ahead;--to be rapid as possible; that were good:--to step aside were still better! and friedrich we find is very anxious for that; "would be content with the duchy of glogau, and join austria;" but there is not the least chance that way. his special envoy to vienna, gotter, and along with him borck the regular minister, are come home; all negotiation hopeless at vienna; and nothing but indignant war-preparation going on there, with the most animated diligence, and more success than had seemed possible. that is the law of friedrich's silesian adventure: "forward, therefore, on these terms; others there are not: waste no words!" friedrich recognizes to himself what the law is; pushes stiffly forward, with a fine silence on all that is not practical, really with a fine steadiness of hope, and audacity against discouragements. of his anxieties, which could not well be wanting, but which it is royal to keep strictly under lock and key, of these there is no hint to jordan or to anybody; and only through accidental chinks, on close scrutiny, can we discover that they exist. symptom of despondency, of misgiving or repenting about his enterprise, there is none anywhere, friedrich's fine gifts of silence (which go deeper than the lips) are noticeable here, as always; and highly they availed friedrich in leading his life, though now inconvenient to biographers writing of the same!-- it was not on matters of drill, as valori supposes, that friedrich had been consulting with the old dessauer: this time it was on another matter. friedrich has two next neighbors greatly interested, none more so, in the pragmatic question: kur-sachsen, polish king, a foolish greedy creature, who is extremely uncertain about his course in it (and indeed always continued so, now against friedrich, now for him, and again against); and kur-hanover, our little george of england, whose course is certain as that of the very stars, and direct against friedrich at this time, as indeed, at all times not exceptional, it is apt to be. both these potentates must be attended to, in one's absence; method to be gentle but effectual; the old dessauer to do it:--and this is what these consultings had turned upon; and in a month or two, readers, and an astonished gazetteer world, will see what comes of them. it was february th when friedrich left berlin; the st he spends at glogau, inspecting the blockade there, and not ill content with the measures taken: "press that wallis all you can," enjoins he: "hunger seems to be slow about it! summon him again, were your new artillery come up; threaten with bombardment; but spare the town, if possible. artillery is coming: let us have done here, and soon!" next day he arrives, not at breslau as some had expected, but at schweidnitz sidewards; a strong little town, at least an elaborately fortified, of which we shall hear much in time coming. it lies a day's ride west of breslau: and will be quieter for business than a big gazing capital would be,--were breslau even one's own city; which it is not, though perhaps tending to be. breslau is in transition circumstances at present; a little uncertain whose it is, under its munchows and new managers: breslau he did not visit at all on this occasion. to schweidnitz certain new regiments had been ordered, there to be disposed of in reinforcing: there, "in the count hoberg's mansion," he principally lodges for six weeks to come; shooting out on continual excursions; but always returning to schweidnitz, as the centre, again. algarotti, home from turin (not much of a success there, but always melodious for talk), had travelled with him; algarotti, and not long after, jordan and maupertuis, bear him company, that the vacant moments too be beautiful. we can fancy he has a very busy, very anxious, but not an unpleasant time. he goes rapidly about, visiting his posts,--chiefly about the neisse valley; neisse being the prime object, were the weather once come for siege-work. he is in many towns (specified in rodenbeck and the books, but which may be anonymous here); doubtless on many steeples and hill-tops; questioning intelligent natives, diligently using his own eyes: intent to make personal acquaintance with this new country,--where, little as he yet dreams of it, the deadly struggles of his life lie waiting him, and which he will know to great perfection before all is done! neisse lies deep enough in prussian environment; like brieg, like glogau, strictly blockaded; our posts thereabouts, among the mountains, thought to be impregnable. nevertheless, what new thing is this? here are swarms of loose hussar-pandour people, wild austrian irregulars, who come pouring out of glatz country; disturbing the prussian posts towards that quarter; and do not let us want for small war (kleine krieg) so called. general browne, it appears, is got back to glatz at this early season, he and a general lentulus busy there; and these are the compliments they send! a very troublesome set of fellows, infesting one's purlieus in winged predatory fashion; swooping down like a cloud of vulturous harpies on the sudden; fierce enough, if the chance favor; then to wing again, if it do not. communication, especially reconnoitring, is not safe in their neighborhood. prussian infantry, even in small parties, generally beats them; prussian horse not, but is oftener beaten,--not drilled for this rabble and their ways. in pitched fight they are not dangerous, rather are despicable to the disciplined man; but can, on occasion, do a great deal of mischief. thus, it was not long after friedrich's coming into these parts, when he learnt with sorrow that a body of " horse and foot" (or say it were only of each kind, which is the fact [orlich, i. ; _oeuvres de frederic,_ ii. .]) had eluded our posts in the mountains, and actually got into neisse. "the foot will be of little consequence," writes friedrich; "but the horse, which will disturb our communications, are a considerable mischief." this was on the th of march. and about a week before, on the th of february, there had well-nigh a far graver thing befallen,--namely the capture of friedrich himself, and the sudden end of all these operations. skirmish of baumgarten, th february, . in most of the anecdote-books there used to figure, and still does, insisting on some belief from simple persons, a wonderful story in very vague condition: how once "in the silesian wars," the king, in those upper neisse regions, in the wartha district between glatz and neisse, was, one day, within an inch of being taken,--clouds of hussars suddenly rising round him, as he rode reconnoitring, with next to no escort, only an adjutant or so in attendance. how he shot away, keeping well in the shade; and erelong whisked into a convent or abbey, the beautiful abbey of kamenz in those parts; and found tobias stusche, excellent abbot of the place, to whom he candidly disclosed his situation. how the excellent tobias thereupon instantly ordered the bells to be rung for a mass extraordinary, monks not knowing why; and, after bells, made his appearance in high costume, much to the wonder of his monks, with a second abbot, also in high costume, but of shortish stature, whom they never saw before or after. which two abbots, or at least tobias, proceeded to do the so-called divine office there and then; letting loose the big chant especially, and the growl of organs, in a singularly expressive manner. how the pandours arrived in clouds meanwhile; entered, in searching parties, more or less reverent of the mass; searched high and low; but found nothing, and were obliged to take tobias's blessing at last, and go their ways. how the second abbot thereupon swore eternal friendship with tobias, in the private apartments; and rode off as--as a rescued majesty, determined to be more cautious in pandour countries for the future! [hildebrandt, _anekdoten,_ i. - . pandour proper is a foot-soldier (tall raw-boned ill-washed biped, in copious turk breeches, rather barish in the top parts of him; carries a very long musket, and has several pistols and butcher's-knives stuck in his girdle): specifically a footman; but readers will permit me to use him withal, as here, in the generic sense.]--which story, as to the body of it, is all myth; though, as is oftenest the case, there lies in it some soul of fact too. the history-books, which had not much heeded the little fact, would have nothing to do with this account of it. nevertheless the people stuck to their myth; so that dryasdust (in punishment for his sinful blindness to the human and divine significance of facts) was driven to investigate the business; and did at last victoriously bring it home to the small occurrence now called skirmish of baumgarten, which had nearly become so great in the history of the world,--to the following effect. there are two valleys with roads that lead from that southwest quarter of silesia towards glatz, each with a little town at the end of it, looking up into it: wartha the name of the one: silberberg that of the other. through the wartha valley, which is southernmost, young neisse river comes rushing down,--the blue mountains thereabouts very pretty, on a clear spring day, says my touring friend. both at wartha, and at silberberg the little town which looks into the mouth of the northernmost valley, the prussians have a post. old derschau, malplaquet derschau, with headquarters at frankenstein, some seven or eight miles nearer schweidnitz, has not failed in that precaution. friedrich wished to visit silberberg and wartha; set out accordingly, th february, with small escort, carelessly as usual: the pandour people had wind of it; knew his habits on such occasions; and, gliding through other roadless valleys, under an adventurous captain, had determined to whirl him off. and they were in fact not far from succeeding, had not a mistake happened. silberberg, and wartha the southernmost, which stands upon the neisse river (rushing out there into the plainer country), are each about seven or eight miles from frankenstein, the head-quarters; and there are relays of posts, capable of supporting one another, all the way from frankenstein to each. friedrich rode to silberberg first; examined the post, found it right; then rode across to wartha, seven or eight miles southward; examined wartha likewise; after which, he sat down to dinner in that little town, with an officer or two for company,--having, i suppose, found all right in both the posts. in the way hither, he had made some change in the relay arrangements, which at first involved some diminution of his own escort, and then some marching about and redistributing: so that, externally, it seemed as if the principal relay-party were now marching on baumgarten, an intermediate village,--at least so the pandour captain understands the movements going on; and crouches into the due thickets in consequence, not doubting but the king himself is for baumgarten, and will be at hand presently. principal relay-party, a squadron of schulenburg's dragoons, with a stupid major over them, is not quite got into baumgarten, when "with horrible cries the pandour captain with about horse," plunges out of cover, direct upon the throat of it: and friedrich, at wartha, is but just begun dining when tumult of distant musketry breaks in upon him. with friedrich himself, at this time, as i count, there might be horse; in wartha post itself are at least "forty hussars and fifty foot." by no means "nothing but a single adjutant," as the myth bears. the stupid major ought to have beaten this rabble, though above two to one of him. but he could not, though he tried considerably; on the contrary, he was himself beaten; obliged to make off, leaving "ten dragoons killed, sixteen prisoners, one standard and two kettle-drums:"--victory and all this plunder, ye pandour gentry; but evidently no king. the pandour gentry, on the instant, made off too, alarm being abroad; got into some side-valley, with their prisoners and drum-and-standard honors, and vanished from view of mankind. friedrich had started from dinner; got his escort under way, with the forty hussars and the fifty foot, and what small force was attainable; and hurried towards the scene. he did see, by the road, another strongish party of pandours; dashed them across the neisse river out of sight;--but, getting to baumgarten, found the field silent, and ten dead men upon it. "i always told you those schulenburg dragoons were good for nothing!" writes he to the old dessauer; but gradually withal, on comparing notes, finds what a danger he had run, and how rash and foolish he had been. "an etourderie (foolish trick)," he calls it, writing to jordan; "a black eye;" and will avoid the like. vienna got its two kettle-drums and flag; extremely glad to see them; and even sang te-deum upon them, to general edification. [orlich, i. - .] this is the naked primordial substance out of which the above myth grew to its present luxuriance in the popular imagination. place, the little village of baumgarten; day, th february, . of tobias stusche or the convent of kamenz, not one authentic word on this occasion. tobias did get promotions, favors in coming years: a worthy abbot, deserving promotion on general grounds; and master of a convent very picturesque, but twelve miles from the present scene of action. aspects of breslau. friedrich avoided visiting breslau, probably for the reasons above given; though there are important interests of his there, especially his chief magazine; and issues of moment are silently working forward. here are contemporary excerpts (in abridged form), which are authentic, and of significance to a lively reader:-- "breslau, middle of january, . the prussian envoy, herr von gotter, had appeared here, returning from vienna; gotter, and then borck, who made no secret in breslau society, that not the slightest hope of a peaceable result existed, as society might have flattered itself; but that war and battle would have to decide this matter. a saxon ambassador was also here, waiting some time; message thought to be insignificant:--probably some vague admonitory stuff again from kur-sachsen (polish king, son of august the strong, a very insignificant man), who acts as reichs-vicarius in those northern parts." for the reader is to know, there are reichs-vicars more than one (nay more than two on this occasion, with considerable jarring going on about them); and i could say much about their dignities, limits, duties, [adelung, ii. , &c.; kohler, _reichs-historie,_ pp. - .]--if indeed there were any duties, except dramatic ones! but the reich itself, and vicarship along with it, are fallen into a nearly imaginary condition; and the regensburg diet (not princes now, but mere delegates of princes, mostly bombazine people), which, "ever since ," has sat continual, instead of now and then, is become an enchanted piggery, strange to look upon, under those earnest stars. "as king friedrich did not call at greslau," after those neisse bombardments, but rolled past, straight homewards, the three excellencies all departed,--borck and gotter to berlin, the saxon home again with his insignificant message. "january th. schwerin too was here in the course of the winter, to see how the magazines and other war-preparations were going on: breslau outwardly and inwardly is whirling with business, and offers phenomena. for instance, it is known that the army-chest, heaps of silver and gold in it, lies in the scultet garden-house, where the king lodged; and that only one sentry walks there, and that in the guard-house itself, which is some way off, there are only thirty men. january th, about of the clock, [_helden-geschichte,_ i. .] alarm rises, that , diebs-gesindel (collective thief-rabble of breslau and dependencies) are close by; intending a stroke upon said garden-house and army-chest! perhaps this rumor sprang of its own accord;--or perhaps not quite? it had been very rife; and ran high; not without remonstrances in town-hall, and the like, which we can imagine. issue was, the officer on post at scultet's loaded his treasure in carts; conveyed it, that same night, to the interior of the city, in fact to the oberamts-haus (government-house that was);--which doubtless was a step in the right direction. for now the two feld-kriegs-commissariat gentlemen (one of whom is the expert munchow, son of our old custrin friend), supreme prussian authorities here, do likewise shift out of their inns; and take old schaffgotsch's apartments in the same oberamts-haus; mutely symbolling that perhaps they are likely to become a kind of government. and the reader can conceive how, in such an element, the function of governing would of itself fall more and more into their hands. they were consummately polite, discreet, friendly towards all people; and did in effect manage their business, tax-gatherings in money and in kind, with a perfection and precision which made the evil a minimum. "february th.... this day also, there arrived at breslau, by boat up the oder, ten heavy cannon, three mortars, and ammunition of powder, bombshells, balls, as much as loaded fifty wagons; the whole of which were, in like manner, forwarded to ohlau. this day, as on other days before and after. great magazines forming here; the military chiefly at ohlau; at breslau the provender part,--and this latter under noteworthy circumstances. in the dom-island, namely; which is definable (in a case of such necessity) as being 'outside the walls.' especially as the reverend fathers have mostly glided into corners, and left the place vacant. in the dom-island, it certainly is; and such a stock,--all bought for money down, and spurred forward while the roads were under frost,--'such a stock as was not thought to be in all silesia,' says exaggerative wonder. the vacant edifices in the dom-island are filled to the neck with meal and corn; the prussian brigade now quartering there ('without the walls,' in a sense) to guard the same. and in the bishop's garden [poor sinzendorf, far enough away and in no want of it just now] are mere hay-mows, bigger than houses: who can object,--in a case of necessity? no man, unless he politically meddle, is meddled with; politically meddling, you are at once picked up; as one or two are,--clapped into gentle arrest, or, like old schaffgotsch, and even sinzendorf before long, requested to leave the country till it get settled. rigor there is, but not intentional injustice on munchow's part, and there is a studious avoidance of harsh manner. "february-march. considerable recruiting in schlesien: six hundred recruits have enlisted in breslau alone. also his prussian majesty has sent a supply of protestant preachers, ordained for the occasion, to minister where needed;--which is piously acknowledged as a godsend in various parts of silesia. twelve came first, all berliners; soon afterwards, others from different parts, till, in the end, there were about sixty in all. rigorous, punctilious avoidance of offence to the catholic minorities, or of whatever least thing silesian law does not permit, is enjoined upon them; 'to preach in barns or town-halls, where by law you have no church.' their salary is about pounds a year; they are all put under supervision of the chaplain of margraf karl's regiment" (a judicious chaplain, i have no doubt, and fit to be a bishop); and so far as appears, mere benefit is got of them by schlesien as well as by friedrich, in this function. friedrich is careful to keep the balance level between catholic and protestant; but it has hung at such an angle, for a long while past! in general, we observe the catholic dignitaries, and the zealous or fanatic of that creed, especially the jesuits, are apt to be against him: as for the non-fanatic, they expect better government, secular advantage; these latter weigh doubtfully, and with less weight whichever way. in the general population, who are protestant, he recognizes friends;--and has sent them sixty preachers, which by law was their due long since. here follow two little traits, comic or tragi-comic, with which we can conclude:-- "detached jesuit parties, here and there, seem to have mischief in hand in a small way, encouraging deserters and the like;--and we keep an eye on them. no discontent elsewhere, at least none audible; on the contrary, much enlisting on the part of the silesian youth, with other good symptoms. but in the dom, there is, singular to say, a goblin found walking, one night;--advancing, not with airs from heaven, upon the prussian sentry there! the prussian sentry handles arms; pokes determinedly into the goblin, and finding him solid, ever more determinedly, till the goblin shrieked 'jesus maria!' and was hauled to the guard-house for investigation." a weak goblin; doubtless of the valet kind; worth only a little whipping; but testifies what the spirit is. "another time, two deserter frenchmen getting hanged [such the law in aggravated cases], certain polite jesuits, who had by permission been praying and extreme-unctioning about them, came to thank the colonel after all was over. colonel, a grave practical man, needs no 'thanks;' would, however, 'advise your reverences to teach your people that perjury is not permissible, that an oath sworn ought to be kept;' and in fine 'would advise you holy fathers hereabouts, and others, to have a care lest you get into'--and twitching his reins, rode away without saying into what." [_helden-geschichte,_ i. .] austria is standing to arms. schwerin has been doing his best in this interim; collecting magazines with double diligence while the roads are hard, taking up the key-positions far and wide, from the jablunka round to the frontier valleys of glatz again. he was through jablunka, at one time; on into mahren, as far as olmutz; levying contributions, emitting patents: but as to intimidating her hungarian majesty, if that was the intention, or changing her mind at all, that is not the issue got. austria has still strength, and pragmatic sanction and the laws of nature have! very fixed is her hungarian majesty's determination, to part with no inch of territory, but to drive the intrusive prussians home well punished. how she has got the funds is, to this day, a mystery;--unless george and walpole, from their secret-service moneys, have smuggled her somewhat? for the parliament is not sitting, and there will be such jargonings, such delays: a preliminary , pounds, say by degrees , pounds,--we should not miss it, and in her majesty's hands it would go far! hints in the english dryasdust we have; but nothing definite; and we are left to our guesses. [tindal (xx. ) says expressly , pounds, but gives no date or other particular.] a romantic story, first set current by voltaire, has gone the round of the world, and still appears in all histories: how in england there was a subscription set on foot for her hungarian majesty; outcome of the enthusiasm of english ladies of quality,--old sarah duchess of marlborough putting down her name for , pounds, or indeed putting down the ready sum itself; magnanimous veteran that she was. voltaire says, omitting date and circumstance, but speaking as if it were indubitable, and a thing you could see with eyes: "the duchess of marlborough, widow of him who had fought for karl vi. [and with such signal returns of gratitude from the said karl vi.], assembled the principal ladies of london; who engaged to furnish , pounds among them; the duchess herself putting down [en deposa, tabling in corpore] , pounds of it. the queen of hungary had the greatness of soul to refuse this money;--needing only, as she intimated, what the nation in parliament assembled might please to offer her." [voltaire, _oeuvres (siecle de louis xv.,_ c. ), xxviii. .] one is sorry to run athwart such a piece of mutual magnanimity; but the fact is, on considering a little and asking evidence, it turns out to be mythical. one dilworth, an innocent english soul (from whom our grandfathers used to learn arithmetic, i think), writing on the spot some years after voltaire, has this useful passage: "it is the great failing of a strong imagination to catch greedily at wonders. voltaire was misinformed; and would perhaps learn, by a second inquiry, a truth less splendid and amusing. a contribution was, by news-writers upon their own authority, fruitlessly proposed. it ended in nothing: the parliament voted a supply;"--that did it, mr. dilworth; supplies enough, and many of them! "fruitlessly, by news-writers on their own authority;" that is the sad fact. [_the life and heroick actions of frederick iii._ (sic, a common blunder), by w. h. dilworth, m.a. (london, ), p. . a poor little book, one of many coming out on that subject just then (for a reason we shall see on getting thither); which contains, of available now, the above sentence and no more. indeed its brethren, one of them by samnel johnson (impransus, the imprisoned giant), do not even contain that, and have gone wholly to zero.--neither little dilworth nor big voltaire give the least shadow of specific date; but both evidently mean spring, (not ).] it is certain, little george, who considers pragmatic sanction as the keystone of nature in a manner, has been venturing far deeper than purse for that adorable object; and indeed has been diving, secretly, in muddier waters than we expected, to a dangerous extent, on behalf of it, at this very time. in the first days of march, friedrich has heard from his minister at petersburg of a detestable project, [orlich, i. (scrap of note to old dessauer; no date allowed us; "early in march").]--project for "partitioning the prussian kingdom," no less; for fairly cutting into friedrich, and paring him down to the safe pitch, as an enemy to pragmatic and mankind. they say, a treaty, draught of a treaty, for that express object, is now ready; and lies at petersburg, only waiting signature. here is a project! contracting parties (russian signature still wanting) are: kur-sachsen; her hungarian majesty; king george; and that regent anne (mrs. anton ulrich, so to speak), who sits in a huddle of undress, impatient of political objects, but sensible to the charms of handsome men. to the charms of count lynar, especially: the handsomest of danish noblemen (more an ancient roman than a dane), whom the polish majesty, calculating cause and effect, had despatched to her, with that view, in the dead of winter lately. to whom she has given ear;--dismissing her munnich, as we saw above;--and is ready for signing, or perhaps has signed! [_oeuvres de frederic,_ ii. .] friedrich's astonishment, on hearing of this "detestable project," was great. however, he takes his measures on it;--right lucky that he has the old dessauer, and machinery for acting on kur-sachsen and the britannic majesty. "get your machinery in gear!" is naturally his first order. and the old dessauer does it, with effect: of which by and by. never did i hear, before or since, of such a plunge into the muddy unfathomable, on the part of little george, who was an honorable creature, and dubitative to excess: and truly this rash plunge might have cost him dear, had not he directly scrambled out again. or did friedrich exaggerate to himself his uncle's real share in the matter? i always guess, there had been more of loose talk, of hypothesis and fond hope, in regard to george's share, than of determinate fact or procedure on his own part. the transaction, having had to be dropped on the sudden, remains somewhat dark; but, in substance, it is not doubtful; [tindal, xx. .] and parliament itself took afterwards to poking into it, though with little effect. kur-sachsen's objects in the adventure were of the earth, earthy; but on george's part it was pure adoration of pragmatic sanction, anxiety for the keystone of nature, and lest chaos come again. in comparison with such transcendent divings, what is a little secret-service money!-- the count lynar of this adventure, who had well-nigh done such a feat in diplomacy, may turn up transiently again. a conspicuous, more or less ridiculous person of those times. busching (our geographical friend) had gone with him, as excellency's chaplain, in this russian journey; which is a memorable one to busching; and still presents vividly, through his book, those haggard baltic coasts in midwinter, to readers who have business there. such a journey for grimness of outlook, upon pine-tufts and frozen sand; for cold (the count's very tobacco-pipe freezing in his mouth), for hardship, for bad lodging, and extremity of dirt in the unfreezable kinds, as seldom was. they met, one day on the road, a lord hyndford, english ambassador just returning from petersburg, with his fourgons and vehicles, and arrangements for sleep and victual, in an enviably luxurious condition,--whom we shall meet, to our cost. they saw, in the body, old field-marshal lacy, and dined with him, at riga; who advised brandy schnapps; a recipe rejected by busching. and other memorabilia, which by accident hang about this lynar. [busching, _beitrage,_ vi. - .]--all through regent anne's time he continued a dangerous object to friedrich; and it was a relief when elizabeth catin became autocrat, instead of deshabille anne and her lynar. adieu to him, for fifteen years or more. of friedrich's military operations, of his magazines, posts, diligent plannings and gallopings about, in those weeks; of all this the reader can form some notion by looking on the map and remembering what has gone before: but that subterranean growling which attended him, prophetic of earthquake, that universal breaking forth of bedlams, now fallen so extinct, no reader can imagine. bedlams totally extinct to everybody; but which were then very real, and raged wide as the world, high as the stars, to a hideous degree among the then sons of men;--unimaginable now by any mortal. and, alas, this is one of the grand difficulties for my readers and me; friedrich's life-element having fallen into such a dismal condition. most dismal, dark, ugly, that austrian-succession business, and its world-wide battlings, throttlings and intriguings: not dismal swamp, under a coverlid of london fog, could be uglier! a section of "history" so called, which human nature shrinks from; of which the extant generation already knows nothing, and is impatient of hearing anything! truly, oblivion is very due to such an epoch: and from me far be it to awaken, beyond need, its sordid bedlams, happily extinct. but without life-element, no life can be intelligible; and till friedrich and one or two others are extricated from it, dismal swamp cannot be quite filled in. courage, reader!--our constitutional historian makes this farther reflection:-- "english moneys, desperate russian intrigues, treaties made and treaties broken--if instead of pragmatic sanction with eleven potentates guaranteeing, maria theresa had at this time had , soldiers and a full treasury (as prince eugene used to advise the late kaiser), how different might it have been with her, and with the whole world that fell upon one another's throats in her quarrel! some eight years of the most disastrous war; and except the falling of silesia to its new place, no result gained by it. war at any rate inevitable, you object? english-spanish war having been obliged to kindle itself; french sure to fall in, on the spanish side; sure to fall upon hanover, so soon as beaten at sea, and thus to involve all europe? well, it is too likely. but, even in that case, the poor english would have gone upon their necessary spanish war, by the direct road and with their eyes open, instead of somnambulating and stumbling over the chimney-tops; and the settlement might have come far sooner, and far cheaper to mankind.--nay, we are to admit that the new place for silesia was, likewise, the place appointed it by just heaven; and friedrich's too was a necessary war. heaven makes use of shadow-hunting kaisers too; and its ways in this mad world are through the great deep." the young dessauer captures glogau (march th); the old dessauer, by his camp of gottin (april d), checkmates certain designing persons. money somewhere her hungarian majesty has got; that is one thing evident. she has an actual army on foot, "drawn out of italy," or whence she could; formidable army, says rumor, and getting well equipped;--and here are the pandour precursors of it, coming down like storm-clouds through the glatz valleys;--nearly finishing the war for her at a stroke, the other day, had accident favored;--and have thrown reinforcement of into neisse. friedrich is not insensible to these things; and amid such alarms from far and from near, is becoming eager to have, at least, glogau in his hand. glogau, he is of opinion, could now, and should, straightway be done. glogau is not a strong place; after all the repairing, it could stand little siege, were we careless of hurting it. but wallis is obstinate; refuses free withdrawal; will hold out to the uttermost, though his meal is running low. he pretends there is relief coming; relief just at hand; and once, in midnight time, "lets off a rocket and fires six guns," alarming prince leopold as if relief were just in the neighborhood. a tough industrious military man; stiff to his purpose, and not without shift. friedrich thinks the place might be had by assault: "open trenches; set your batteries going, which need not injure the town; need only alarm wallis, and terrify it; then, under cover of this noise and feint of cannonading, storm with vigor." leopold, the young dessauer, is cautious; wants petards if he must storm, wants two new battalions if he must open trenches;--he gets these requisites, and is still cunctatory. friedrich has himself got the notion, "from clear intelligence," true or not, that relief to glogau is actually on way; and under such imminences, russian and other, in so ticklish a state of the world, he becomes more and more impatient that this thing were done. in the first week of march, still hurrying about on inspection-business, he writes, from four or five different places ("mollwitz near brieg" is one of them, a village we shall soon know better), note after note to leopold; who still makes difficulties, and is not yet perfect to the last finish in his preparations. "preparations!" answers friedrich impatiently (date mollwitz, th march, the third or fourth impatient note he has sent); and adds, just while quitting mollwitz for ohlau, this postscript in his own hand:-- p.s. "i am sorry you have not understood me! they have, in bohmen, a regular enterprise on hand for the rescue of glogau. i have infantry enough to meet them; but cavalry is quite wanting. you must therefore, without delay, begin the siege. let us finish there, i pray you!" [orlich, i. .] and next day, monday th, to cut the matter short, he despatches his general-adjutant goltz in person (the distance is above seventy miles), with this note wholly in autograph, which nothing vocal on leopold's part will answer:-- "ohlau, th march. as i am certainly informed that the enemy will make some attempt, i hereby with all distinctness command, that, so soon as the petards are come [which they are], you attack glogau. and you must make your arrangement (disposition) for more than one attack; so that if one fail, the other shall certainly succeed. i hope you will put off no longer;--otherwise the blame of all the mischief that might arise out of longer delay must lie on you alone." [ib. i. .] goltz arrived with this emphatic piece, tuesday evening, after his course of seventy miles: this did at last rouse our cautious young dessauer; and so there is next obtainable, on much compression, the following authentic excerpt:-- "glogau, th march, . his durchlaucht the prince leopold summoned all the generals at noon; and informed them that, this very night, glogau must be won. he gave them their instructions in writing: where each was to post himself; with what detachments; how to proceed. there are to be three attacks: one up stream, coming on with the river to its right; one down stream, river to its left; and a third from the landward side, perpendicular to the other two. the very captains that shall go foremost are specified; at what hour each is to leave quarters, so that all be ready simultaneously, waiting in the posts assigned;--against what points to advance out of these, and storm rampart and wall. places, times, particulars, everything is fixed with mathematical exactitude: 'be steady, be correct, especially be silent; and so far as law of nature will permit, be simultaneous! when the big steeple of glogau peals midnight,--forward, with the first stroke; with the second, much more with the twelfth stroke, be one and all of you, in the utmost silence, advancing! and, under pain of death, two things: not one shot till you are in; no plundering when you are.'--in this manner is the silent three-sided avalanche to be let go. whereupon", says my dryasdust, "the generals retired; and had, for one item, their fire-arms all cleaned and new-loaded." [_helden-geschichte,_ i. ; ii. .] without plans of glogau, and more detail and study than the reader would consent to, there can no narrative be given. glogau has ramparts, due ring-fence, palisaded and repaired by wallis; inside of this is an old town-wall, which will need petards: there are about , men under wallis, and altogether on the works, not to count a mortar or two, fifty-eight big guns. the reader must conceive a poor town under blockade, in the wintry night-time, with its tough count wallis; ill-off for the necessaries of life; town shrouded in darkness, and creeping quietly to its bed. this on the one hand: and on the other hand, prussian battalions marching up, at o'clock or later, with the utmost softness of step; "taking post behind the ordinary field-watches;" and at length, all standing ranked, in the invisible dark; silent, like machinery, like a sleeping avalanche: husht!--no sentry from the walls dreams of such a thing. "twelve!" sings out the steeple of glogau; and in grim whisper the word is, "vorwarts!" and the three-winged avalanche is in motion. they reach their glacises, their ditches, covered ways, correct as mathematics; tear out chevaux-de-frise, hew down palisades, in the given number of minutes: swift, ye regiment's-carpenters; smite your best! four cannon-shot do now boom out upon them; which go high over their heads, little dreaming how close at hand they are. the glacis is thirty feet high, of stiff slope, and slippery with frost: no matter, the avalanche, led on by leopold in person, by margraf karl the king's cousin, by adjutant goltz and the chief personages, rushes up with strange impetus; hews down a second palisade; surges in;--wallis's sentries extinct, or driven to their main guards. there is a singular fire in the besieging party. for example, four grenadiers,--i think of this first column, which succeeded sooner, certainly of the regiment glasenapp,--four grenadiers, owing to slippery or other accidents, in climbing the glacis, had fallen a few steps behind the general body; and on getting to the top, took the wrong course, and rushed along rightward instead of leftward. rightward, the first thing they come upon is a mass of austrians still ranked in arms; fifty-two men, as it turned out, with their captain over them. slight stutter ensues on the part of the four grenadiers; but they give one another the hint, and dash forward: "prisoners?" ask they sternly, as if all prussia had been at their rear. the fifty-two, in the darkness, in the danger and alarm, answer "yes."--"pile arms, then!" three of the grenadiers stand to see that done; the fourth runs off for force, and happily gets back with it before the comedy had become tragic for his comrades. "i must make acquaintance with these four men," writes friedrich, on hearing of it; and he did reward them by present, by promotion to sergeantcy (to ensigncy one of them), or what else they were fit for. grenadiers of glasenapp: these are the men friedrich heard swearing-in under his window, one memorable morning when he burst into tears! at half-past twelve, the ramparts, on all sides, are ours. the gates of the town, under axe and petard, can make little resistance, to leopold's column or the other two. a hole is soon cut in the town-gate, where leopold is; and gallant wallis, who had rallied behind it, with his artillery-general and what they could get together, fires through the opening, kills four men; but is then (by order, and not till then) fired upon, and obliged to draw back, with his artillery-general mortally hurt. inside he attempts another rally, some with him; and here and there perhaps a house-window tries to give shot; but it is to no purpose, not the least stand can be made. poor wallis is rapidly swept back, into the market-place, into the main guard-house; and there piles arms: "glogau yours, ihr herren, and we prisoners of war!" the steeple had not yet quite struck one. here has been a good hour's-work! glogau, as in a dream, or half awake, and timidly peeping from behind window-curtains, finds that it is a town taken. glogau easily consoles itself, i hear, or even is generally glad; prussian discipline being so perfect, and ingress now free for the necessaries of life. there was no plundering; not the least insult: no townsman was hurt; not even in houses where soldiers had tried firing from windows. the prussian battalions rendezvous in the market-place, and go peaceably about their patrolling, and other business; and meddle with nothing else. they lost, in killed, ten men; had of killed and wounded, forty-eight; the austrians rather more. [orlich, i. , ; _helden-geschichte,_ i. ; irreconcilable otherwise, in some slight points.] wallis was to have been set free on parole; but was not,--in retaliation for some severity of general browne's in the interim (picking up of two silesian noblemen, suspected of prussian tendency, and locking them in brunn over the hills),--and had to go to berlin, till that was repaired. to the wounded artillery-general there was every tenderness shown, but he died in few days.--the other prisoners were marched to the custrin-stettin quarter; "and many of them took prussian service." and this is the scalade of glogau: a shining feat of those days; which had great rumor in the gazettes, and over all the then feverish nations, though it has now fallen dim again, as feats do. its importance at that time, its utility to friedrich's affairs, was undeniable; and it filled friedrich with the highest satisfaction, and with admiration to overflowing. done th march, ; in one hour, the very earliest of the day. goltz posted back to schweidnitz with the news; got thither about p.m.; and was received, naturally, with open arms. friedrich in person marched out, next morning, to make feu-de-joie and te-deum-ing;--there was royal letter to leopold, which flamed through all the newspapers, and can still be read in innumerable books; letter omissible in this place. we remark only how punctual the king is, to reward in money as well as praise, and not the high only, but the low that had deserved: to prince leopold he presents , pounds; to each private soldier who had been of the storm, say half a guinea,--doubling and quadrupling, in the special cases, to as high as twenty guineas, of our present money. to the old gazetteers, and their readers everywhere, this of glogau is a very effulgent business; bursting out on them, like sudden bude-light, in the uncertain stagnancy and expectancy of mankind. friedrich himself writes of it to the old dessauer:-- "the more i think of the glogau business, the more important i find it. prince leopold has achieved the prettiest military stroke (die schonste action) that has been done in this century. from my heart i congratulate you on having such a son. in boldness of resolution, in plan, in execution, it is alike admirable; and quite gives a turn to my affairs." [date, th march, (orlich, i. ).] and indeed, it is a perfect example of prussian discipline, and military quality in all kinds; such as it would be difficult to match elsewhere. most potently correct; coming out everywhere with the completeness and exactitude of mathematics; and has in it such a fund of martial fire, not only ready to blaze out (which can be exampled elsewhere), but capable of bottling itself in, and of lying silently ready. which is much rarer; and very essential in soldiering! due a little to the old dessauer, may we not say, as well as to the young? friedrich wilhelm is fallen silent; but his heavy labors, and military and other drillings to prussian mankind, still speak with an audible voice. about three weeks after this of glogau, leopold the old dessauer, over in brandenburg, does another thing which is important to friedrich, and of great rumor in the world. steps out, namely, with a force of , men, horse, foot and artillery, completely equipped in all points; and takes camp, at this early season, at a place called gottin, not far from magdeburg, handy at once for saxony and for hanover; and continues there encamped,--"merely for review purposes." readers can figure what an astonishment it was to kur-sachsen and british george; and how it struck the wind out of their russian partition-dream, and awoke them to a sense of the awful fact!--capable of being slit in pieces, and themselves partitioned, at a day's warning, as it were! it was on april d, that leopold, with the first division of the , , planted his flag near gottin. no doubt it was the "detestable project" that had brought him out, at so early a season for tent-life, and nobody could then guess why. he steadily paraded here, all summer; keeping his , well in drill, since there was nothing else needed of him. the camp at gottin flamed greatly abroad through the timorous imaginations of mankind, that year; and in the newspapers are many details of it. and, besides the important general fact, there is still one little point worth special mention: namely, that old field-marshal katte (father of poor lieutenant katte whom we knew) was of it; and perhaps even got his death by it: "chief commander of the cavalry here," such honor had he; but died at his post, in a couple of months, "at rekahn, may st;" [_militair-lexikon,_ ii. .] poor old gentleman, perhaps unequal to the hardships of field-life at so early a season of the year. friedrich takes the field, with some pomp; goes into the mountains,--but comes fast back. at glogau there was homaging, on the very morrow after the storm; on the second day, the superfluous regiments marched off: no want of vigorous activity to settle matters on their new footing there. general kalkstein (friedrich's old tutor, whom readers have forgotten again) is to be commandant of glogau; an office of honor, which can be done by deputy except in cases of real stress. the place is to be thoroughly new-fortified,--which important point they commit to engineer wallrave, a strong-headed heavy-built dutch officer, long since acquired to the service, on account of his excellence in that line; who did, now and afterwards, a great deal of excellent engineering for friedrich; but for himself (being of deep stomach withal, and of life too dissolute) made a tragic thing of it ultimately. as will be seen, if we have leisure. in seven or eight days, prince leopold having wound up his glogau affairs, and completed the new preliminaries there, joins the king at schweidnitz. in the highest favor, as was natural. kalkstein is to take a main hand in the siege of neisse; for which operation it is hoped there will soon be weather, if not favorable yet supportable. what of the force was superfluous at glogau had at once marched off, as we observed; and is now getting re-distributed where needful. there is much shifting about; strengthening of posts, giving up of posts: the whole of which readers shall imagine for themselves,--except only two points that are worth remembering: first, that kalkstein with about , takes post at grotkau, some twenty-five miles north of neisse, ready to move on, and open trenches, when required: and second, that holstein-beck gets posted at frankenstein (chief place of that baumgarten skirmish), say thirty-five miles west-by-north of neisse; and has some or , horse and foot thereabouts, spread up and down,--who will be much wanted, and not procurable, on an occasion that is coming. friedrich has given up the jablunka pass; called in the jablunka and remoter posts; anxious to concentrate, before the enemy get nigh. that is the king's notion; and surely a reasonable one; the area of the prussian army, as i guess it from the maps, being above , square miles, beginning at breslau only, and leaving out glogau. schwerin thinks differently, but without good basis. both are agreed, "the austrian army cannot take the field till the forage come," till the new grass spring, which its cavalry find convenient. that is the fair supposition; but in that both are mistaken, and schwerin the more dangerously of the two.--meanwhile, the pandour swarms are observably getting rifer, and of stormier quality; and they seem to harbor farther to the east than formerly, and not to come all out of glatz. which perhaps are symptomatic circumstances? the worst effect of these preliminary pandour clouds is, your scout-service cannot live among them; they hinder reconnoitring, and keep the enemy veiled from you. of that sore mischief friedrich had, first and last, ample experience at their hands! this is but the first instalment of pandours to friedrich; and the mere foretaste of what they can do in the veiling way. behind the mountains, in this manner, all is inane darkness to friedrich and schwerin. they know only that neipperg is rendezvousing at olmutz; and judge that he will still spend many weeks upon it; the real facts being: that neipperg--"who arrived in olmutz on the th of march," the very day while glogau was homaging--has been, he and those above him and those under him, driving preparations forward at a furious rate. that neipperg held--i think at steinberg his hithermost post, some twenty miles hither of olmutz--a council of war, "all the generals and even lentulus from glatz, present at it," day not given; where the unanimous decision was, "march straightway; save neisse, since glogau is gone!"--and in fine, that on the th, neipperg took the road accordingly, "in spite of furious snow blowing in his face;" and is ever since ( , strong, says rumor, but perhaps , of them mere pandours) unweariedly climbing the mountains, laboriously jingling forward with his heavy guns and ammunition-wagons; "contending with the steep snowy icy roads;" intent upon saving neisse. this is the fact; profoundly unknown to friedrich and schwerin; who will be much surprised, when it becomes patent to them at the wrong time. schweidnitz, th march. this day friedrich, with considerable apparatus, pomp and processional cymballing, greatly the reverse of his ulterior use and wont in such cases, quitted schweidnitz and his algarottis; solemnly opening campaign in this manner; and drove off for ottmachau, having work there for to-morrow. the siege of neisse is now to proceed forthwith; trenches to be opened april th. friedrich is still of opinion, that his posts lie too wide apart; that especially schwerin, who is spread among the hills in jagerndorf country, ought to come down, and take closer order for covering the siege. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ ii. .] schwerin answers, that if the king will spare him a reinforcement of eight squadrons and nine battalions (say , horse, , foot), he will maintain himself where he is, and no enemy shall get across the mountains at all. that is schwerin's notion; who surely is something of a judge. friedrich assents; will himself conduct the reinforcement to schwerin, and survey matters, with his own eyes, up yonder. friedrich marches from ottmachau, accordingly, th march;--kalkstein, holstein-beck, and others are to be rendezvoused before neisse, in the interim; trenches ready for opening on the sixth day hence;--and in this manner, climbs these mountains, and sees jagerndorf country for the first time. beautiful blue world of hills, ridge piled on ridge behind that neisse region; fruitful valleys lapped in them, with grim stone castles and busy little towns disclosing themselves as we advance: that is jagerndorf country,--which uncle george of anspach, hundreds of years ago, purchased with his own money; which we have now come to lay hold of as his heir! friedrich, i believe, thinks little of all this, and does not remember uncle george at all. but such are the facts; and the country, regarded or not, is very blue and beautiful, with the spring sun shining on it; or with the sudden spring storms gathering wildly on the peaks, as if for permanent investiture, but vanishing again straightway, leaving only a powdering of snow. he met schwerin at neustadt, half-way to jagerndorf; whither they proceeded next day. "what news have you of the enemy?" was friedrich's first question. schwerin has no news whatever; only that the enemy is far off, hanging in long thin straggle from olmutz westward. "i have a spy out," said schwerin; "but he has not returned yet,"--nor ever will, he might have added. if diligent readers will now take to their map, and attend day by day, an invincible predecessor has compelled what next follows into human intelligibility, and into the diary form, for their behoof;--readers of an idler turn can skip: but this confused hurry-scurry of marches issues in something which all will have to attend to. "jagerndorf, d april, . this is the day when the old dessauer makes appearance with the first brigades of his camp at gottin. friedrich is satisfied with what he has seen of jagerndorf matters; and intends returning towards neisse, there to commence on the th. he is giving his final orders, and on the point of setting off, when--seven austrian deserters, 'dragoons of lichtenstein,' come in; and report, that neipperg's army is within a few miles! and scarcely had they done answering and explaining, when sounds rise of musketry and cannon, from our outposts on that side; intimating that here is neipperg's army itself. seldom in his life was friedrich in an uglier situation. in jagerndorf, an open town, are only some three or four thousand men, 'with three field-pieces, and as much powder as will charge them forty times.' happily these proved only the pandour outskirts of neipperg's army, scouring about to reconnoitre, and not difficult to beat; the real body of it is ascertained to be at freudenthal, fifteen miles to westward, southwestward; making towards neisse, it is guessed, by the other or western road, which is the nearer to glatz and to the austrian force there. "had neipperg known what was in jagerndorf--! but he does not know. he marches on, next morning, at his usual slow rate; wide clouds of pandours accompanying and preceding him; skirmishing in upon all places [upon jagerndorf, for instance, though fifteen miles wide of their road], to ascertain if prussians are there. one can judge whether friedrich and schwerin were thankful when the huge alarm produced nothing! 'the mountain,' as friedrich says, 'gave birth to a mouse;'--nay it was a 'mouse' of essential vital use to friedrich and schwerin; a warning, that they must instantly collect themselves, men and goods; and begone one and all out of these parts, double-quick towards neisse. not now with the hope of besieging neisse,--far from that;--but of getting their wide-scattered posts together thereabouts, and escaping destruction in detail! "april th, head-quarters neustadt. by violent exertion, with the sacrifice only of some remote little storehouses, all is rendezvoused at jagerndorf, within two days; and this day they march; king and vanguard reaching neustadt, some twenty-five miles forward, some twenty still from neisse. at neustadt, the posts that had stood in that neighborhood are all assembled, and march with the king to-morrow. of neipperg, except by transitory contact with his pandour clouds, they have seen nothing: his road is pretty much parallel to theirs, and some fifteen miles leftward, glatzward; goes through zuckmantel, ziegenhals, straight upon neisse. [zuckmantel, "twitch-cloak," occurs more than once as a town's name in those regions: name which, says my dryasdust without smile visible, it got from robberies done on travellers, "twitchings of your cloak," with stand-and-deliver, as you cross those wild mountain spaces. (zeiller, _beschreibung des konigreichs boheim,_ frankfurt, ;--a rather worthless old book, like the rest of zeiller's in that kind.)] neipperg's men are wearied with the long climb out of mahren; and he struggles towards neisse as the first object;--holding upon glatz and lentulus with his left. numerous orders have been speeded from the king's quarters, at jagerndorf, and here at neustadt; order especially to holstein-beck at frankenstein, and to kalkstein at grotkau, how they are to unite, first with one another; and then to cross neisse river, and unite with the king,--to which end there is already a bridge laid for them, or about to be laid in good time. "april th, head-quarters steinau. steinau is a little town twenty miles east of neisse, on the road to kosel [strongish place, on the oder, some forty miles farther east]: here friedrich, with the main body, take their quarters; rearguard being still at neustadt. temporary bridge there is, ready or all but ready, at sorgau [twelve miles to north of us, on our left]: by this kalkstein, with his , , comes punctually across; while other brigades from the kosel side are also punctual in getting in; which is a great comfort: but of holstein-beck there is no vestige, nor did there ever appear any. holstein, 'whom none of the repeated orders sent him could reach,' says friedrich, 'remained comfortably in his quarters; and looked at the enemy rushing past him to right and left, without troubling his head with them.' [_oeuvres de frederic,_ ii. .] the too easy-minded holstein! austrian deserters inform us, that general neipperg arrived to-day with his army in neisse; and has there been joined by lentulus with the glatz force, chiefly cavalry, a good many thousands. we may be attacked, then, this very night, if they are diligent? friedrich marks out ground and plan in such case, and how and where each is to rank himself. there came nothing of attack; but the poor little village of steinau, with so many troops in it and baggage-drivers stumbling about, takes fire; burns to ashes; 'and we had great difficulty in saving the artillery and powder through the narrow streets, with the houses all burning on each hand.'" fancy it,--and the poor shrieking inhabitants; gone to silence long since with their shrieks, not the least whisper left of them. "the prussians bivouac on the field, each in the place that has been marked out. night extremely cold." in this poor steinau was a schloss, which also went up in fire; disclosing certain mysteries of an almost mythical nature to the german public. it was the schloss of a grafin von callenberg, a dreadful old dowager of medea-messalina type, who "always wore pistols about her;" pistols, and latterly, with more and more constancy, a brandy-bottle;--who has been much on the tongues of men for a generation back. herr nussler (readers recollect shifty nussler) knew her, in the way of business, at one time; with pity, if also with horror. some weeks ago, she was, by the austrian commandant at neisse, summoned out of this schloss, as in correspondence with prussian officers: peasants breaking in, tied her with ropes to the bed where she was; put bed and her into a farm-cart, and in that scandalous manner delivered her at neisse to the commandant; by which adventure, and its rages and unspeakabilities, the poor old callenberg is since dead. and now the very schloss is dead; and there is finis to a human dust-vortex, such as is sometimes noisy for a time. perhaps nussler may again pass that way, if we wait. [busching, _beitrage,_ ii. et seqq.] "april th, head-quarters friedland. to friedland on the th.,--and do not, as expected, get away next morning. friedland is ten miles down the neisse, which makes a bend of near ninety degrees opposite steinau; and runs thence straight north for the oder, which it reaches some dozen miles or more above brieg. both steinau and friedland are a good distance from the river; friedland, the nearer of the two, with sorgau bridge direct west of it, is perhaps eight miles from that important structure. there, being now tolerably rendezvoused, and in strength for action, friedrich purposes to cross neisse river to-morrow; hoping perhaps to meet holstein-beck, and incorporate him; anxious, at any rate, to get between the austrians and ohlau, where his heavy artillery, his ammunition, not to mention other indispensables, are lying. the peculiarity of neipperg at this time is, that the ground he occupies bears no proportion to the ground he commands. his regular horse are supposed to be the best in the world; and of the pandour kind, who live, horse and man, mainly upon nothing (which means upon theft), his supplies are unlimited. he sits like a volcanic reservoir, therefore, not like a common fire of such and such intensity and power to burn;--casts the ashes of him, on all sides, to many miles distance. "friday th april, friedland (still head-quarters). unluckily, on trying, there is no passage to be had at sorgau. the officer on charge there still holds the bridge, but has been obliged to break away the farther end of it; 'lentulus and dragoons, several thousands strong' (such is the report), having taken post there. friedrich commands that the bridge be reinstated; field-pieces to defend it; prince leopold to cross, and clear the ways. all friday, friedrich waiting at friedland, was spent in these details. leopold in due force started for sorgau, himself with cavalry in the van; leopold did storm across, and go charging and fencing, some space, on the other side; but, seeing that it was in truth lentulus, and dragoons without limit, had to send report accordingly; and then to wind himself to this side again, on new order from the king. what is to be done, then? here is no crossing. friedrich decides to go down the river; he himself to lowen, perhaps near twenty miles farther down, but where there is a bridge and highway leading over; prince leopold, with the heavier divisions and baggages, to michelau, some miles nearer, and there to build his pontoons and cross. which was effected, with success. and so, "saturday, th april, with great punctuality, the king and leopold met at michelau, both well across the neisse. here on pontoons, leopold had got across about noon; and precisely as he was finishing, the king's column, which had crossed at lowen, and come up the left bank again, arrived. the king, much content with leopold's behavior, nominates him general of infantry, a stage higher in promotion, there and then. brieg blockade is, as natural, given up; the blockading body joining with the king, this morning, while he passed that way. from holstein-beck not the least whisper,--nor to him, if we knew it. "neipperg has quitted neisse; but walks invisible within clouds of pandours; nothing but guessing as to neipperg's motions. rightly swift, and awake to his business, neipperg might have done, might still do, a stroke upon us here. but he takes it easy; marches hardly five miles a day, since he quitted neisse again. from michelau, friedrich for his part turns southwestward, in quest of holstein and other interests; marches towards grotkau, not intending much farther that night. thick snow blowing in their faces, nothing to be seen ahead, the prussian column tramps along. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ ii. .] in leipe, a little hamlet sidewards of the road, short way from grotkau, our hussar vanguard had found austrian hussars; captured forty, and from them learned that the austrian army is in grotkau; that they took grotkau half an hour before, and are there! a poor lieutenant mitschepfal (whom i think friedrich used to know in reinsberg) lay in grotkau, 'with some sixty recruits and deserters,' says friedrich,--and with several hundreds of camp-laborers (intended for the trenches, which will not now be opened):--mitschepfal made a stout defence; but, after three hours of it, had to give in: and there is nothing now for us at grotkau. 'halt,' therefore! neipperg is evidently pushing towards ohlau, towards breslau, though in a leisurely way; there it will behoove us to get the start of him, if humanly possible: to the right about, therefore, without delay! the prussians repass leipe (much to the wonder of its simple people); get along, some seven miles farther, on the road for ohlau; and quarter, that night, in what handy villages there are; the king's corps in two villages, which he calls 'pogrel and alsen,'"--which are to be found still on the map as "pogarell and alzenau," on the road from lowen towards ohlau. this is the end of that march into the mountains, with neisse siege hanging triumphant ahead. these are the king's quarters, this wintry spring night, saturday, th april, ; and it is to be guessed there is more of care than of sleep provided for him there. seldom, in his life, was friedrich in a more critical position; and he well knows it, none better. and could have his remorses upon it,--were these of the least use in present circumstances. here are two letters which he wrote that night; veiling, we perceive, a very grim world of thoughts; betokening, however, a mind made up. jordan, prince august wilhelm heir-apparent, and other fine individuals who shone in the schweidnitz circle lately, are in breslau, safe sheltered against this bad juncture; maupertuis was not so lucky as to go with them. the king to prince august wilhelm (in breslau). "pogarell, th april, . "my dearest brother,--the enemy has just got into silesia; we are not more than a mile (quart de mille) from them. to-morrow must decide our fortune. "if i die, do not forget a brother who has always loved you very tenderly. i recommend to you my most dear mother, my domestics, and my first battalion [lifeguard of foot, men picked from his own old ruppin regiment and from the disbanded giants, star of all the battalions]. [see preuss, i. , iv. ; nicolai, _beschreibung von berlin,_ iii, .] eichel and schuhmacher [two of the three clerks] are informed of all my testamentary wishes. remember me always, you; but console yourself for my death: the glory of the prussian arms, and the honor of the house have set me in action, and will guide me to my last moment. you are my sole heir: i recommend to you, in dying, those whom i have the most loved during my life: keyserling, jordan, wartensleben; hacke, who is a very honest man; fredersdorf [factotum], and eichel, in whom you may place entire confidence. i bequeath , crowns ( , pounds, which i have with me), to my domestics; but all that i have elsewhere depends on you. to each of my brothers and sisters make a present in my name; a thousand affectionate regards (amities et compliments) to my sister of baireuth. you know what i think on their score; and you know better than i could tell you, the tenderness and all the sentiments of most inviolable friendship with which i am, dearest brother, "your faithful brother and servant till death, "federic." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvi. ; list of friedrich's testamentary arrangements in note there,--six in all, at different times, besides this.] the king to m. jordan (in breslau). "pogarell, th april, . "my dear jordan,---we are going to fight to-morrow. thou knowest the chances of war; the life of kings not more regarded than that of private people. i know not what will happen to me. "if my destiny is finished, remember a friend, who loves thee always tenderly: if heaven prolong my days, i will write to thee after to-morrow, and thou wilt hear of our victory. adieu, dear friend; i shall love thee till death. "federic." [ib. xvii. .] the king, we incidentally discover somewhere, "had no sleep that night;" none, "nor the next night either,"--such a crisis coming, still not come. chapter x. -- battle of mollwitz. "to-morrow," sunday, did not prove the day of fight, after all. being a day of wild drifting snow, so that you could not see twenty paces, there was nothing for it but to sit quiet. the king makes all his dispositions; sketches out punctually, to the last item, where each is to station himself, how the army is to advance in four columns, ready for neipperg wherever he may be,--towards ohlau at any rate, whither it is not doubted neipperg is bent. these snowy six-and-thirty hours at pogarell were probably, since the custrin time, the most anxious of friedrich's life. neipperg, for his part, struggles forward a few miles, this sunday, april th; the prussians rest under shelter in the wild weather. neipperg's head-quarters, this night, are a small village or hamlet, called mollwitz: there and in the adjacent hamlets, chiefly in laugwitz and gruningen, his army lodges itself:--he is now fairly got between us and ohlau,--if, in the blowing drift, we knew it, or he knew it. but, in this confusion of the elements, neither party knows of the other: neipperg has appointed that to-morrow, monday, th, shall be a rest-day:--appointment which could by no means be kept, as it turned out! friedrich had despatched messengers to ohlau, that the force there should join him; messengers are all captured. the like message had already gone to brieg, some days before, and the blockading body, a good few thousand strong, quitted brieg, as we saw, and effected their junction with him. all day, this sunday, th, it still snows and blows; you cannot see a yard before you. no hope now of holstein-beck. not the least news from any quarter; ohlau uncertain, too likely the wrong way: what is to be done? we are cut off from our magazines, have only provision for one other day. "had this weather lasted," says an austrian reporter of these things, "his majesty would have passed his time very ill." [_feldzuge der preussen_ (the complete title is, _sammlung ungedruckter nachrichten so die geschichte der feldzuge der preussen von bis erlautern,_ or in english words, _collection of unprinted narratives which elucidate the prussian campaigns from to :_ vols. dresden, - ), i. . excellent narratives, modest, brief, effective (from private diaries and the like; many of them given also in seyfarth); well worth perusal by the studious military man, and creditably characteristic of the prussian writers of them and actors in them.] of the battle of mollwitz, as indeed of all friedrich's battles, there are ample accounts new and old, of perfect authenticity and scientific exactitude; so that in regard to military points the due clearness is, on study, completely attainable. but as to personal or human details, we are driven back upon a miscellany of sources; most of which, indeed all of which except nicolai, when he sparingly gives us anything, are of questionable nature; and, without intending to be dishonest, do run out into the mythical, and require to be used with caution. the latest and notablest of these, in regard to mollwitz, is the pamphlet of a dr. fuchs; from which, in spite of its amazing quality, we expect to glean a serviceable item here and there. [_jubelschrift zur feier_ (centenary) _der schlacht bei mollwitz, april, ,_ von dr. medicinae fuchs (brieg, th april, ).] it is definable as probably the most chaotic pamphlet ever written; and in many places, by dint of uncorrected printing, bad grammar, bad spelling, bad sense, and in short, of intrinsic darkness in so vivacious a humor, it has become abstruse as sanscrit; and really is a sharp test of what knowledge you otherwise have of the subject. might perhaps be used in that way, by the examining military boards, in prussia and elsewhere, if no other use lie in it? fuchs's own contributions, mere ignorance, folly and credulity, are not worth interpreting: but he has printed, and in the same abstruse form, one or two curious parish manuscripts, particularly a "history" of this war, privately jotted down by the then schoolmaster of mollwitz, a good simple accurate old fellow-creature; through whose eyes it is here and there worth while to look. in regard to fuchs himself, a late tourist says:-- "this 'centenary-celebration pamphlet' (celebration itself, so obtuse was the country, did not take effect) was by a zealous, noisy but not wise, old medical gentleman of these parts, called dr. fuchs (fox); who had set his heart on raising, by subscription, a proper national monument on the field of mollwitz, and so closing his old career. subscriptions did not take, in that april, , nor in the following months or twelve-months: the zealous doctor, therefore, indignantly drew his own purse; got a big obelisk of granite hewn ready, with suitable inscription on it; carted his big obelisk from the quarries of strehlen; assembled the country round it, on mollwitz field; and passionately discoursed and pleaded, that at least the country should bring block-and-tackle, with proper framework, and set up this obelisk on the pedestal he had there built for it. the country listened cheerfully (for the old doctor was a popular man, clever though flighty); but the country was again obtuse in the way of active furtherance, and would not even bring block-and-tackle. the old doctor had to answer, 'well, then!' and go on his way on more serious errands. the cattle have much undermined, and rubbed down, his poor pedestal, which is of rubble-work; his obelisk still lies mournfully horizontal, uninjured;--and really ought to be set up, by some parish-rate, or effort of the community otherwise." [tourist's note (brieg, ).] from the old mollwitz schoolmaster we distil the following:-- "mollwitz, sunday, th april. country for two days back: was in new alarm by the austrian garrison of brieg now left at liberty, who sallied out upon the villages about, and plundered black-cattle, sheep, grain, and whatever they could come at. but this day (sunday) in mollwitz the whole austrian army was upon us. first, there went hussars through the village to gruningen, who quartered themselves there; and rushed hither and thither into houses, robbing and plundering. from one they took his best horses, from another they took linen, clothes, and other furnitures and victual. general neuburg [neipperg] halted here at mollwitz, with the whole army; before the village, in mind to quarter. and quarter was settled, so that a bauer [plough-farmer] got four to five companies to lodge, and a gartner [spade-farmer] two or three hundred cavalry..the houses were full of officers, the garte [garths] and the fields full of horsemen and baggage; and all round, you saw nothing but fires burning; the zaune [wooden railings] were instantly torn down for firewood; the hay, straw, barley and haver, were eaten away, and brought to nothing; and everything from the barns was carried out. and, as the whole army could not lodge itself with us, , infantry quartered at laugwitz; barzdorf got cavalry; and this day, nobody knew what would come of it." [extract in fuchs, p. .] monday morning, the prussians are up betimes; king friedrich, as above noted, had not, or had hardly at all, slept during those two nights, such his anxieties. this morning, all is calm, sleeked out into spotless white; pogarell and the world are wrapt as in a winding-sheet, near two feet of snow on the ground. air hard and crisp; a hot sun possible about noon season. "by daybreak" we are all astir, rendezvousing, ranking,--into four columns; ready to advance in that fashion for battle, or for deploying into battle, wherever the enemy turn up. the orders were all given overnight, two nights ago; were all understood, too, and known to be rhadamanthine; and, down to the lowest pioneer, no man is uncertain what to do. if we but knew where the enemy is; on which side of us; what doing, what intending? scouts, general-adjutants are out on the quest; to no purpose hitherto. one young general-adjutant, saldern, whose name we shall know again, has ridden northward, has pulled bridle some way north of pogarell; hangs, gazing diligently through his spy-glass, there;--can see nothing but a plain of silent snow, with sparse bearding of bushes (nothing like a hedge in these countries), and here and there a tree, the miserable skeleton of a poplar:--when happily, owing to an austrian dragoon--be pleased to accept (in abridged form) the poor old schoolmaster's account of a small thing:-- "austrian dragoon of the regiment althan, native of kriesewitz in this neighborhood, who was billeted in christopher schonwitz's, had been much in want of a clean shirt, and other interior outfit; and had, last night, imperatively despatched the man scholzke, a farm-servant of the said christopher's, off to his, the dragoon's, father in kriesewitz, to procure such shirt or outfit, and to return early with the same; under penalty of--scholzke and his master dare not think under what penalty. scholzke, floundering homewards with the outfit from kriesewitz, flounders at this moment into saldern's sphere of vision: 'whence, whither?' asks saldern: 'dost thou know where the austrians are?' (recht gut: in mollwitz), whither i am going!' saldern takes him to the king,--and that was the first clear light his majesty had on the matter." [fuchs, pp. , .] that or something equivalent, indisputably was; saldern and "a peasant," the account of it in all the books. the king says to this peasant, "thou shalt ride with me to-day!" and scholzke, ploschke others call him,--heavy-footed rational biped knowing the ground there practically, every yard of it,--did, as appears, attend the king all morning; and do service, that was recognizable long years afterwards. "for always," say the books, "when the king held review here, ploschke failed not to make appearance on the field of pogarell, and get recognition and a gift from his majesty." at break of day the ranking and arranging began. pogarell clock is near striking ten, when the last squadron or battalion quits pogarell; and the four columns, punctiliously correct, are all under way. two on each side of ohlau highway; steadily advancing, with pioneers ahead to clear any obstacle there may be. few obstacles; here and there a little ditch (where ploschke's advice may be good, under the sleek of the snow), no fences, smooth wide plain, nothing you would even call a knoll in it for many miles ahead and around. mollwitz is some seven miles north from pogarell; intermediate lie dusty fractions of villages more than one; two miles or more from mollwitz we come to pampitz on our left, the next considerable, if any of them can be counted considerable. "all these dorfs, and indeed most german ones," says my tourist, "are made on one type; an agglomerate of dusty farmyards, with their stalls and barns; all the farmyards huddled together in two rows; a broad negligent road between, seldom mended, never swept except by the elements. generally there is nothing to be seen, on each hand, but thatched roofs, dead clay walls and rude wooden gates; sometimes a poor public-house, with probable beer in it; never any shop, nowhere any patch of swept pavement, or trim gathering-place for natives of a social gossipy turn: the road lies sleepy, littery, good only for utilitarian purposes. in the middle of the village stands church and churchyard, with probably some gnarled trees around it: church often larger than you expected; the churchyard, always fenced with high stone-and-mortar wall, is usually the principal military post of the place. mollwitz, at the present day, has something of whitewash here and there; one of the farmer people, or more, wearing a civilized prosperous look. the belfry offers you a pleasant view: the roofs and steeples of brieg, pleasantly visible to eastward; villages dotted about, laugwitz, barzdorf, hermsdorf, clear to your inquiring: and to westward, and to southward, tops of hill-country in the distance. westward, twenty miles off, are pleasant hills; and among them, if you look well, shadowy town-spires, which you are assured are strehlen, a place also of interest in friedrich's history.--your belfry itself, in mollwitz, is old, but not unsound; and the big iron clock grunts heavily at your ear, or perhaps bursts out in a too deafening manner, while you study the topographies. pampitz, too, seems prosperous, in its littery way; the church is bigger and newer,"--owing to an accident we shall hear of soon;--"country all about seems farmed with some industry, but with shallow ploughing; liable to drought. it is very sandy in quality; shorn of umbrage; painfully naked to an english eye." that is the big champaign, coated with two feet of snow, where a great action is now to go forward. neipperg, all this while, is much at his ease on this white resting-day, he is just sitting down to dinner at the dorfschulze's (village provost, or miniature mayor of mollwitz), a composed man; when--rockets or projectiles, and successive anxious sputterings from the steeple-tops of brieg, are hastily reported: what can it mean? means little perhaps;--neipperg sends out a hussar party to ascertain, and composedly sets himself to dine. in a little while his hussar party will come galloping back, faster than it went; faster and fewer;--and there will be news for neipperg during dinner! better here looking out, though it was a rest-day?-- the truth is, the prussian advance goes on with punctilious exactitude, by no means rapidly. colonel count van rothenburg,--the same whom we lately heard of in paris as a miracle of gambling,--he now here, in a new capacity, is warily leading the vanguard of dragoons; warily, with the four columns well to rear of him: the austrian hussar party came upon rothenburg, not two miles from mollwitz; and suddenly drew bridle. them rothenburg tumbles to the right-about, and chases;--finds, on advancing, the austrian army totally unaware. it is thought, had rothenburg dashed forward, and sent word to the rearward to dash forward at their swiftest, the austrian army might have been cut in pieces here, and never have got together to try battle at all. but rothenburg had no orders; nay, had orders not to get into fighting;--nor had friedrich himself, in this his first battle, learned that feline or leonine promptitude of spring which he subsequently manifested. far from it! indeed this punctilious deliberation, and slow exactitude as on the review-ground, is wonderful and noteworthy at the first start of friedrich;--the faithful apprentice-hand still rigorous to the rules of the old shop. ten years hence, twenty years hence, had friedrich found neipperg in this condition, neipperg's account had been soon settled!-- rothenburg drove back the hussars, all manner of successive hussar parties, and kept steadily ahead of the main battle, as he had been bidden. pampitz village being now passed, and in rear of them to left, the prussian columns halt for some instants; burst into field-music; take to deploying themselves into line. there is solemn wheeling, shooting out to right and left, done with spotless precision: once in line,--in two lines, "each three men deep," lines many yards apart,--they will advance on mollwitz; still solemnly, field-music guiding, and banners spread. which will be a work of time. that the king's frugal field-dinner was shot away, from its camp-table near pampitz (as fuchs has heard), is evidently mythical; and even impossible, the austrians having yet no cannon within miles of him; and being intent on dining comfortably themselves, not on firing at other people's dinners. fancy neipperg's state of mind, busy beginning dinner in the little schulze's, or town-provost's house, when the hussars dashed in at full gallop, shouting "der feind, the enemy! all in march there; vanguard this side of pampitz; killed forty of us!"--quick, your plan of battle, then? whitherward; how; what? answer or perish! neipperg was infinitely struck; dropt knife and fork: "send for romer, general of the horse!" romer did the indispensable: a swift man, not apt to lose head. romer's battle-plan, i should hope, is already made; or it will fare ill with neipperg and him. but beat, ye drummers; gallop, ye aides-de-camp as for life! the first thing is to get our force together; and it lies scattered about in three other villages besides mollwitz, miles apart. neipperg's trumpets clangor, his aides-de-camp gallop: he has his left wing formed, and the other parts in a state of rapid genesis, horse and foot pouring in from laugwitz, barzdorf, gruningen, before the prussians have quite done deploying themselves, and got well within shot of him. romer, by birth a saxon gentleman, by all accounts a superior soldier and excellent general of horse, commands this austrian left wing, general goldlein, [(anonymous) maria theresa (already cited), p. n.] a swiss veteran of good parts, presiding over the infantry in that quarter. neipperg himself, were he once complete, will command the right wing. neipperg is to be in two lines, as the prussians are, with horse on each wing, which is orthodox military order. his length of front, i should guess, must have been something better than two english miles: a sluggish brook, called of laugwitz, from the village of that name which lies some way across, is on his right hand; sluggish, boggy; stagnating towards the oder in those parts:--improved farming has, in our time, mostly dried the strip of bog, and made it into coarse meadow, which is rather a relief amid the dry sandy element. neipperg's right is covered by that. his left rests on the hamlet of gruningen, a mile-and-half northeast of mollwitz;--meant to have rested on hermsdorf nearly east, but the prussians have already taken that up. the sun coming more and more round to west of south (for it is now past noon) shines right in neipperg's face, and is against him: how the wind is, nobody mentions,--probably there was no wind. his regular cavalry, , , outnumbers twice or more that of the prussians, not to mention their quality; and he has fewer infantry, somewhat in proportion;--the entire force on each side is scarcely above , , the prussians slightly in majority by count. in field-pieces neipperg is greatly outnumbered; the prussians having about threescore, he only eighteen. [kausler, _atlas der merkwurdigsten schlachten,_ p. .] and now here are the prussians, close upon our left wing, not yet in contact with the right,--which in fact is not yet got into existence;--thank heaven they have not come before our left got into existence, as our right (if you knew it) has not yet quite finished doing!-- the prussians, though so ready for deploying, have had their own difficulties and delays. between the boggy brook of laugwitz on their left, and the village of hermsdorf, two miles distant, on which their right wing is to lean, there proves not to be room enough; [_oeuvres de frederic,_ ii. .] and then, owing to mistake of schulenburg (our old pipe-clay friend, who commands the right wing of horse here, and is not up in time), there is too much room. not room enough, for all the infantry, we say: the last three battalions of the front line therefore, the three on the utmost right, wheel round, and stand athwart; en potence (as soldiers say), or at right angles to the first line; hanging to it like a kind of lid in that part,--between schulenburg and them,--had schulenburg come up. thus are the three battalions got rid of at least; "they cap the first prussian line rectangularly, like a lid," says my authority,--lid which does not reach to the second line by a good way. this accidental arrangement had material effects on the right wing. unfortunate schulenburg did at last come up:--had he miscalculated the distances, then? once on the ground, he will find he does not reach to hermsdorf after all, and that there is now too much room! what his degree of fault was i know not; friedrich has long been dissatisfied with these dragoons of schulenburg; "good for nothing, i always told you" (at that skirmish of baumgarten): and now here is the general himself fallen blundering!--in respect of horse, the austrians are more than two to one; to make out our deficiency, the king, imitating something he had read about gustavus adolphus, intercalates the horse-squadrons, on each wing, with two battalions of grenadiers, and so lengthens them;--"a manoeuvre not likely to be again imitated," he admits. all these movements and arrangements are effected above a mile from mollwitz, no enemy yet visible. once effected, we advance again with music sounding, sixty pieces of artillery well in front,--steady, steady!--across the floor of snow which is soon beaten smooth enough, the stage, this day, of a great adventure. and now there is the enemy's left wing, romer and his horse; their right wing wider away, and not yet, by a good space, within cannon-range of us. it is towards two of the afternoon; schulenburg now on his ground, laments that he will not reach to hermsdorf;--but it may be dangerous now to attempt repairing that error? at two of the clock, being now fairly within distance, we salute romer and the austrian left, with all our sixty cannon; and the sound of drums and clarinets is drowned in universal artillery thunder. incessant, for they take (by order) to "swift-shooting," which is almost of the swiftness of musketry in our prussian practice; and from sixty cannon, going at that rate, we may fancy some effect. the austrian horse of the left wing do not like it; all the less as the austrians, rather short of artillery, have nothing yet to reply with. no cavalry can stand long there, getting shivered in that way; in such a noise, were there nothing more. "are we to stand here like milestones, then, and be all shot without a stroke struck?" "steady!" answers romer. but nothing can keep them steady: "to be shot like dogs (wie hunde)! for god's sake (urn gottes willen), lead us forward, then, to have a stroke at them!"--in tones ever more plangent, plaintively indignant; growing ungovernable. and romer can get no orders; neipperg is on the extreme right, many things still to settle there; and here is the cannon-thunder going, and soon their very musketry will open. and--and there is schulenburg, for one thing, stretching himself out eastwards (rightwards) to get hold of hermsdorf; thinking this an opportunity for the manoeuvre. "forward!" cries romer; and his thirty squadrons, like bottled whirlwind now at last let loose, dash upon schulenburg's poor ten (five of them of schulenburg's own regiment),--who are turned sideways too, trotting towards hermsdorf, at the wrong moment,--and dash them into wild ruin. that must have been a charge! that was the beginning of hours of chaos, seemingly irretrievable, in that prussian right wing. for the prussian horse fly wildly; and it is in vain to rally. the king is among them; has come in hot haste, conjuring and commanding: poor schulenburg addresses his own regiment, "oh, shame, shame! shall it be told, then?" rallies his own regiment, and some others; charges fiercely in with them again; gets a sabre-slash across the face,--does not mind the sabre-slash, small bandaging will do;--gets a bullet through the head (or through the heart, it is not said which); [_helden-geschichte, _ i. .] and falls down dead; his regiment going to the winds again, and his care of it and of other things concluding in this honorable manner. nothing can rally that right wing; or the more you rally, the worse it fares: they are clearly no match for romer, these prussian horse. they fly along the front of their own first line of infantry, they fly between the two lines; romer chasing,--till the fire of the infantry (intolerable to our enemies, and hitting some even of our fugitive friends) repels him. for the notable point in all this was the conduct of the infantry; and how it stood in these wild vortexes of ruin; impregnable, immovable, as if every man of it were stone; and steadily poured out deluges of fire,--"five prussian shots for two austrian:"--such is perfect discipline against imperfect; and the iron ramrod against the wooden. the intolerable fire repels romer, when he trenches on the infantry: however, he captures nine of the prussian sixty guns; has scattered their horse to the winds; and charges again and again, hoping to break the infantry too,--till a bullet kills him, the gallant romer; and some other has to charge and try. it was thought, had goldlein with his austrian infantry advanced to support romer at this juncture, the battle had been gained. five times, before romer fell and after, the austrians charged here; tried the second line too; tried once to take prince leopold in rear there. but prince leopold faced round, gave intolerable fire; on one face as on the other, he, or the prussian infantry anywhere, is not to be broken. "prince friedrich", one of the margraves of schwedt, king's cousin, whom we did not know before, fell in these wild rallyings and wrestlings; "by a cannon-ball, at the king's hand," not said otherwise where. he had come as volunteer, few weeks ago, out of holland, where he was a rising general: he has met his fate here,--and margraf karl, his brother, who also gets wounded, will be a mournful man to-night. the prussian horse, this right wing of it, is a ruined body; boiling in wild disorder, flooding rapidly away to rearward,--which is the safest direction to retreat upon. they "sweep away the king's person with them," say some cautious people; others say, what is the fact, that schwerin entreated, and as it were commanded, the king to go; the battle being, to all appearance, irretrievable. go he did, with small escort, and on a long ride,--to oppeln, a prussian post, thirty-five miles rearward, where there is a bridge over the oder and a safe country beyond. so much is indubitable; and that he despatched an aide-de-camp to gallop into brandenburg, and tell the old dessauer, "bestir yourself! here all seems lost!"--and vanished from the field, doubtless in very desperate humor. upon which the extraneous world has babbled a good deal, "cowardice! wanted courage: haha!" in its usual foolish way; not worth answer from him or from us. friedrich's demeanor, in that disaster of his right wing, was furious despair rather; and neither schulenburg nor margraf friedrich, nor any of the captains, killed or left living, was supposed to have sinned by "cowardice" in a visible degree!-- indisputable it is, though there is deep mystery upon it, the king vanishes from mollwitz field at this point for sixteen hours, into the regions of myth, "into fairyland," as would once have been said; but reappears unharmed in to-morrow's daylight: at which time, not sooner, readers shall hear what little is to be said of this obscure and much-disfigured small affair. for the present we hasten back to mollwitz,--where the murderous thunder rages unabated all this while; the very noise of it alarming mankind for thirty miles round. at breslau, which is thirty good miles off, horrible dull grumble was heard from the southern quarter ("still better, if you put a staff in the ground, and set your ear to it"); and from the steeple-tops, there was dim cloudland of powder-smoke discernible in the horizon there. "at liegnitz," which is twice the distance, "the earth sensibly shook," [_helden-geschichte;_ and jordan's letter, infra.]--at least the air did, and the nerves of men. "had goldlein but advanced with his foot, in support of gallant romer!" say the austrian books. but goldlein did not advance; nor is it certain he would have found advantage in so doing: goldlein, where he stands, has difficulty enough to hold his own. for the notable circumstance, miraculous to military men, still is, how the prussian foot (men who had never been in fire, but whom friedrich wilhelm had drilled for twenty years) stand their ground, in this distraction of the horse. not even the two outlying grenadier battalions will give way: those poor intercalated grenadiers, when their horse fled on the right and on the left, they stand there, like a fixed stone-dam in that wild whirlpool of ruin. they fix bayonets, "bring their two field-pieces to flank" (winterfeld was captain there), and, from small arms and big, deliver such a fire as was very unexpected. nothing to be made of winterfeld and them. they invincibly hurl back charge after charge; and, with dogged steadiness, manoeuvre themselves into the general line again; or into contact with the three superfluous battalions, arranged en potence, whom we heard of. those three, ranked athwart in this right wing ("like a lid," between first line and second), maintained themselves in like impregnable fashion,--winterfeld commanding;--and proved unexpectedly, thinks friedrich, the saving of the whole. for they also stood their ground immovable, like rocks; steadily spouting fire-torrents. five successive charges storm upon them, fruitless: "steady, meine kinder; fix bayonets, handle ramrods! there is the horse-deluge thundering in upon you; reserve your fire, till you see the whites of their eyes, and get the word; then give it them, and again give it them: see whether any man or any horse can stand it!" neipperg, soon after romer fell, had ordered goldlein forward: goldlein with his infantry did advance, gallantly enough; but to no purpose. goldlein was soon shot dead; and his infantry had to fall back again, ineffectual or worse. iron ramrods against wooden; five shots to two: what is there but falling back? neipperg sent fresh horse from his right wing, with berlichingen, a new famed general of horse; neipperg is furiously bent to improve his advantage, to break those prussians, who are mere musketeers left bare, and thinks that will settle the account: but it could in no wise be done. the austrian horse, after their fifth trial, renounce charging; fairly refuse to charge any more; and withdraw dispirited out of ball-range, or in search of things not impracticable. the hussar part of them did something of plunder to rearward;--and, besides poor maupertuis's adventure (of which by and by), and an attempt on the prussian baggage and knapsacks, which proved to be "too well guarded,"--"burnt the church of pampitz," as some small consolation. the prussians had stript their knapsacks, and left them in pampitz: the austrians, it was noticed, stript theirs in the field; built walls of them, and fired behind, the same, in a kneeling, more or less protected posture,--which did not avail them much. in fact, the austrian infantry too, all austrians, hour after hour, are getting wearier of it: neither infantry nor cavalry can stand being riddled by swift shot in that manner. in spite of their knapsack walls, various regiments have shrunk out of ball-range; and several cannot, by any persuasion, be got to come into it again. others, who do reluctantly advance,--see what a figure they make; man after man edging away as he can, so that the regiment "stands forty to eighty men deep, with lanes through it every two or three yards;" permeable everywhere to cavalry, if we had them; and turning nothing to the enemy but color-sergeants and bare poles of a regiment! and romer is dead, and goldlein of the infantry is dead. and on their right wing, skirted by that marshy brook of laugwitz,--austrian right wing had been weakened by detachments, when berlichingen rode off to succeed romer,--the austrians are suffering: posadowsky's horse (among whom is rothenburg, once vanguard), strengthened by remnants who have rallied here, are at last prospering, after reverses. and the prussian fire of small arms, at such rate, has lasted now for five hours. the austrian army, becoming instead of a web a mere series of flying tatters, forming into stripes or lanes in the way we see, appears to have had about enough. these symptoms are not hidden from schwerin. his own ammunition, too, he knows is running scarce, and fighters here and there are searching the slain for cartridges:--schwerin closes his ranks, trims and tightens himself a little; breaks forth into universal field-music, and with banners spread, starts in mass wholly, "forwards!" forwards towards these austrians and the setting sun. an intelligent austrian officer, writing next week from neisse, [_feldzuge der preussen_ (above cited), i. .]' confesses he never saw anything more beautiful. "i can well say, i never in my life saw anything more beautiful. they marched with the greatest steadiness, arrow-straight, and their front like a line (schnurgleich), as if they had been upon parade. the glitter of their clear arms shone strangely in the setting sun, and the fire from them went on no otherwise than a continued peal of thunder." grand picture indeed; but not to be enjoyed as a work of art, for it is coming upon us! "the spirits of our army sank altogether", continues he; "the foot plainly giving way, horse refusing to come forward, all things wavering towards dissolution:"--so that neipperg, to avoid worse, gives the word to go;--and they roll off at double-quick time, through mollwitz, over laugwitz bridge and brook, towards grotkau by what routes they can. the sun is just sunk; a quarter to eight, says the intelligent austrian officer,--while the austrian army, much to its amazement, tumbles forth in this bad fashion. they had lost nine of their own cannon, and all of those prussian nine which they once had, except one: eight cannon minus, in all. prisoners of them were few, and none of much mark: two field-marshals, romer and goldlein, lie among the dead; four more of that rank are wounded. four standards too are gone; certain kettle-drums and the like trophies, not in great number. lieutenant-general browne was of these retreating austrians; a little fact worth noting: of his actions this day, or of his thoughts (which latter surely must have been considerable), no hint anywhere. the austrians were not much chased; though they might have been,--fresh cavalry (two ohlau regiments, drawn hither by the sound [interesting correct account of their movements and adventures this day and some previous days, in nicolai, _anekdoten,_ ii. - .]) having hung about to rear of them, for some time past; unable to get into the fight, or to do any good till now. schwerin, they say, though he had two wounds, was for pursuing vigorously: but leopold of anhalt over-persuaded him; urged the darkness, the uncertainty. berlichingen, with their own horse, still partly covered their rear; and the prussians, ohlauers included, were but weak in that branch of the service. pursuit lasted little more than two miles, and was never hot. the loss of men, on both sides, was not far from equal, and rather in favor of the austrian side:--austrians counted in killed, wounded and missing, , men; prussians , ; [orlich, i. ; kansler, p. , correct; _helden-geschichte,_ i. , incorrect.]--but the prussians bivouacked on the ground, or quartered in these villages, with victory to crown them, and the thought that their hard day's work had been well done. besides margraf friedrich, volunteer from holland, there lay among the slain colonel count von finkenstein (old tutor's son), king's friend from boyhood, and much loved. he was of the six whom we saw consulting at the door at reinsberg, during a certain ague-fit; and he now rests silent here, while the matter has only come thus far. such was mollwitz, the first battle for silesia; which had to cost many battles first and last. silesia will be gained, we can expect, by fighting of this kind in an honest cause. but here is something already gained, which is considerable, and about which there is no doubt. a new military power, it would appear, has come upon the scene; the gazetteer-and-diplomatic world will have to make itself familiar with a name not much heard of hitherto among the nations. "a nation which can fight," think the gazetteers; "fight almost as the very swedes did; and is led on by its king too,--who may prove, in his way, a very charles xii., or small macedonia's madman, for aught one knows?" in which latter branch of their prognostic the gazetteers were much out.-- the fame of this battle, which is now so sunk out of memory, was great in europe; and struck, like a huge war-gong, with long resonance, through the general ear. m. de voltaire had run across to lille in those spring days: there is a good troop of players in lille; a niece, madame denis, wife of some military commissariat denis, important in those parts, can lodge the divine emilie and me;--and one could at last see mahomet, after five years of struggling, get upon the boards, if not yet in paris by a great way, yet in lille, which is something. mahomet is getting upon the boards on those terms; and has proceeded, not amiss, through an act or two, when a note from the king of prussia was handed to voltaire, announcing the victory of mollwitz. which delightful note voltaire stopt the performance till he read to the audience: "bravissimo!" answered the audience. "you will see," said m. de voltaire to the friends about him, "this piece at mollwitz will make mine succeed:" which proved to be the fact. [voltaire, _oeuvres (vie privee),_ ii. .] for the french are anti-austrian; and smell great things in the wind. "that man is mad, your most christian majesty?" "not quite; or at any rate not mad only!" think louis and his belleisles now. dimly poring in those old books, and squeezing one's way into face-to-face view of the extinct time, we begin to notice what a clangorous rumor was in mollwitz to the then generation of mankind;--betokening many things; universal european war, as the first thing. which duly came to pass; as did, at a slower rate, the ulterior thing, not yet so apparent, that indeed a new hour had struck on the time horologe, that a new epoch had risen. yes, my friends. new charles xii. or not, here truly has a new man and king come upon the scene: capable perhaps of doing something? slumberous europe, rotting amid its blind pedantries, its lazy hypocrisies, conscious and unconscious: this man is capable of shaking it a little out of its stupid refuges of lies, and ignominious wrappages and bed-clothes, which will be its grave-clothes otherwise; and of intimating to it, afar off, that there is still a veracity in things, and a mendacity in sham-things, and that the difference of the two is infinitely more considerable than was supposed. this mollwitz is a most deliberate, regulated, ponderously impressive (gravitatisch) feat of arms, as the reader sees; done all by regulation methods, with orthodox exactitude; in a slow, weighty, almost pedantic, but highly irrefragable manner. it is the triumph of prussian discipline; of military orthodoxy well put in practice: the honest outcome of good natural stuff in those brandenburgers, and of the supreme virtues of drill. neipperg and his austrians had much despised prussian soldiering: "keep our soup hot," cried they, on running out this day to rank themselves; "hot a little, till we drive these fellows to the devil!" that was their opinion, about noon this day: but that is an opinion they have renounced for all remaining days and years.--it is a victory due properly to friedrich wilhelm and the old dessauer, who are far away from it. friedrich wilhelm, though dead, fights here, and the others only do his bidding on this occasion. his son, as yet, adds nothing of his own; though he will ever henceforth begin largely adding,--right careful withal to lose nothing, for the friedrich wilhelm contribution is invaluable, and the basis of everything;--but it is curious to see in what contrast this first battle of friedrich's is with his latter and last ones. considering the battle of mollwitz, and then, in contrast, the intricate pragmatic sanction, and what their consequences were and their antecedents, it is curious once more! this, then, is what the pragmatic sanction has come to? twenty years of world-wide diplomacy, cunningly devised spider-threads overnetting all the world, have issued here. your congresses of cambray, of soissons, your grumkow-seckendorf machiavelisms, all these might as well have lain in their bed. real pragmatic sanction would have been, a well-trained army and your treasury full. your treasury is empty (nothing in it but those foolish , english guineas, and the passionate cry for more): and your army is not trained as this prussian one; cannot keep its ground against this one. of all those long-headed potentates, simple friedrich wilhelm, son of nature, who had the honesty to do what nature taught him, has come out, gainer. you all laughed at him as a fool: do you begin to see now who was wise, who fool? he has an army that "advances on you with glittering musketry, steady as on the parade-ground, and pours out fire like one continuous thunder-peal;" so that, strange as it seems, you find there will actually be nothing for you but--taking to your heels, shall we say?--rolling off with despatch, as second-best! these things are of singular omen. here stands one that will avenge friedrich wilhelm,--if friedrich wilhelm were not already sufficiently avenged by the mere verdict of facts, which is palpably coming out, as time peels the wiggeries away from them more and more. mollwitz and such places are full of veracity; and no head is so thick as to resist conviction in that kind. of friedrich's disappearance into fairyland, in the interim; and of maupertuis's similar adventure. of the king's flight, or sudden disappearance into fairyland, during this first battle, the king himself, who alone could have told us fully, maintained always rigorous silence, and nowhere drops the least hint. so that the small fact has come down to us involved in a great bulk of fabulous cobwebs, mostly of an ill-natured character, set agoing by voltaire, valori and others (which fabulous process, in the good-natured form, still continues itself); and, except for nicolai's good industry (in his anekdoten-book), we should have difficulty even in guessing, not to say understanding, as is now partly possible. the few real particulars--and those do verify themselves, and hang perfectly together, when the big globe of fable is burnt off from them--are to the following effect. "battle lost," said schwerin: "but what is the loss of a battle to that of your majesty's own person? for heaven's sake, go; get across the oder; be you safe, till this decide itself!" that was reasonable counsel. if defeated, schwerin can hope to retreat upon ohlau, upon breslau, and save the magazines. this side the oder, all will be movements, a whirlpool of hussars; but beyond the oder, all is quiet, open. to ohlau, to glogau, nay home to brandenburg and the old dessauer with his camp at gottin, the road is free, by the other side of the oder.--schwerin and prince leopold urging him, the king did ride away; at what hour, with what suite, or with what adventures (not mostly fabulous) is not known:--but it was towards lowen, fifteen miles off (where he crossed neisse river, the other day); and thence towards oppeln, on the oder, eighteen miles farther; and the pace was swift. leopold, on reflection, ordered off a squadron of gens-d'armes to overtake his majesty, at lowen or sooner; which they never did. passing pampitz, the king threw fredersdorf a word, who was among the baggage there: "to oppeln; bring the purse, the privy writings!" which fredersdorf, and the clerks (and another herr, who became nicolai's father-in-law in after years) did; and joined the king at lowen; but i hope stopped there. the king's suite was small, names not given; but by the time he got to lowen, being joined by cavalry fugitives and the like, it had got to be seventy persons: too many for the king. he selected what was his of them; ordered the gates to be shut behind him on all others, and again rode away. the leopold squadron of gens-d'armes did not arrive till after his departure; and having here lost trace of him, called halt, and billeted for the night. the king speeds silently to oppeln on his excellent bay horse, the worse-mounted gradually giving in. at oppeln is a bridge over the oder, a free country beyond: regiment la motte lay, and as the king thinks, still lies in oppeln;--but in that he is mistaken. regiment la motte is with the baggage at pampitz, all this day; and a wandering hussar party, some sixty austrians, have taken possession of oppeln. the king, and the few who had not yet broken down, arrive at the gate of oppeln, late, under cloud of night: "who goes?" cried the sentry from within. "prussians! a prussian courier!" answer they;--and are fired upon through the gratings; and immediately draw back, and vanish unhurt into night again. "had those hussars only let him in!" said austria afterwards: but they had not such luck. it was at this point, according to valori, that the king burst forth into audible ejaculations of a lamentable nature. there is no getting over, then, even to brandenburg, and in an insolvent condition. not open insolvency and bankrupt disgrace; no, ruin, and an austrian jail, is the one outlook. "o mon dieu, o god, it is too much (c'en est trop)!" with other the like snatches of lamentation; [valori, i. .] which are not inconceivable in a young man, sleepless for the third night, in these circumstances; but which valori knows nothing of, except by malicious rumor from the valet class,--who have misinformed valori about several other points. the king riding diligently, with or without ejaculations, back towards lowen, comes at an early hour to the mill of hilbersdorf, within a mile-and-half of that place. he alights at the mill; sends one of his attendants, almost the only one now left, to inquire what is in lowen. the answer, we know, is: "a squadron of gens-d'armes there; furthermore, a prussian adjutant come to say, victory at mollwitz!" upon which the king mounts again;--issues into daylight, and concludes these mythical adventures. that "in lowen, in the shop at the corner of the market-place, widow panzern, subsequently wife something-else, made his majesty a cup of coffee, and served a roast fowl along with it," cannot but be welcome news, if true; and that his majesty got to mollwitz again before dark that same "day," [fuchs, p. .] is liable to no controversy. in this way was friedrich snatched by morgante into fairyland, carried by diana to the top of pindus (or even by proserpine to tartarus, through a bad sixteen hours), till the battle whirlwind subsided. friendly imaginative spirits would, in the antique time, have so construed it: but these moderns were malicious-valetish, not friendly; and wrapped the matter in mere stupid worlds of cobweb, which require burning. friedrich himself was stone-silent on this matter, all his life after; but is understood never quite to have pardoned schwerin for the ill-luck of giving him such advice. [nicolai, ii. - (the one true account); laveaux, i. ; valori, i. ; &c., &c. (the myth in various stages). most distractedly mythical of all, with the truth clear before it, is the latest version, just come out, in _was sich die schlesier vom alten fritz erzahlen_ (brieg, ), pp. - .] friedrich's adventure is not the only one of that kind at mollwitz; there is another equally indubitable,--which will remain obscure, half-mythical to the end of the world. the truth is, that right wing of the prussian army was fallen chaotic, ruined; and no man, not even one who had seen it, can give account of what went on there. the sage maupertuis, for example, had climbed some tree or place of impregnability ("tree" voltaire calls it, though that is hardly probable), hoping to see the battle there. and he did see it, much too clearly at last! in such a tide of charging and chasing, on that right wing and round all the field in the prussian rear; in such wide bickering and boiling of horse-currents,--which fling out, round all the prussian rear quarters, such a spray of austrian hussars for one element,--maupertuis, i have no doubt, wishes much he were at home, doing his sines and tangents. an austrian hussar-party gets sight of him, on his tree or other standpoint (voltaire says elsewhere he was mounted on an ass, the malicious spirit!)--too certain, the austrian hussars got sight of him: his purse, gold watch, all he has of movable is given frankly; all will not do. there are frills about the man, fine laces, cloth; a goodish yellow wig on him, for one thing:--their slavonic dialect, too fatally intelligible by the pantomime accompanying it, forces sage maupertuis from his tree or standpoint; the big red face flurried into scarlet, i can fancy; or scarlet and ashy-white mixed; and--let us draw a veil over it! he is next seen shirtless, the once very haughty, blustery, and now much-humiliated man; still conscious of supreme acumen, insight and pure science; and, though an austrian prisoner and a monster of rags, struggling to believe that he is a genius and the trismegistus of mankind. what a pickle! the sage maupertuis, as was natural, keeps passionately asking, of gods and men, for an officer with some tincture of philosophy, or even who could speak french. such officer is at last found; humanely advances him money, a shirt and suit of clothes; but can in nowise dispense with his going to vienna as prisoner. thither he went accordingly; still in a mythical condition. of voltaire's laughing, there is no end; and he changes the myth from time to time, on new rumors coming; and there is no truth to be had from him. [voltaire, _oeuvres (vie prive),_ ii. - ; and see his letters for some were after the event.] this much is certain: at vienna, maupertuis, prisoner on parole, glided about for some time in deep eclipse, till the newspapers began babbling of him. he confessed then that he was maupertuis, flattener of the earth; but for the rest, "told rather a blind story about himself," says robinson; spoke as if he had been of the king's suite, "riding with the king," when that hussar accident befell;--rather a blind story, true story being too sad. the vienna sovereignties, in the turn things had taken, were extremely kind; grand-duke franz handsomely pulled out his own watch, hearing what road the maupertuis one had gone; dismissed the maupertuis, with that and other gifts, home:--to brittany (not to prussia), till times calmed for engrafting the sciences. [_helden-geschichte,_ i. ; robinson's despatch (vienna, d april, , n.s.); voltaire, ubi supra.] on wednesday, friedrich writes this note to his sister; the first utterance we have from him since those wild roamings about oppeln and hilbersdorf mill:-- king to wilhelmina (at baireuth; two days after mollwitz). "ohlau, th april, . "my dearest sister,--i have the satisfaction to inform you that we have yesterday [day before yesterday; but some of us have only had one sleep!] totally beaten the austrians. they have lost more than , men, killed, wounded and prisoners. we have lost prince friedrich, brother of margraf karl; general schulenburg, wartensleben of the carabineers, and many other officers. our troops did miracles; and the result shows as much. it was one of the rudest battles fought within memory of man. "i am sure you will take part in this happiness; and that you will not doubt of the tenderness with which i am, my dearest sister,--yours wholly, federic." [_oeuvres,_ xxvii. i. .] and on the same day there comes, from breslau, jordan's answer to the late anxious little note from pogarell; anxieties now gone, and smoky misery changed into splendor of flame: jordan to the king (finds him at ohlau). "breslau, th april, . "sire,--yesterday i was in terrible alarms. the sound of the cannon heard, the smoke of powder visible from the steeple-tops here; all led us to suspect that there was a battle going on. glorious confirmation of it this morning! nothing but rejoicing among all the protestant inhabitants; who had begun to be in apprehension, from the rumors which the other party took pleasure in spreading. persons who were in the battle cannot enough celebrate the coolness and bravery of your majesty. for myself, i am at the overflowing point. i have run about all day, announcing this glorious news to the berliners who are here. in my life i have never felt a more perfect satisfaction. "m. de camas is here, very ill for the last two days; attack of fever--the doctor hopes to bring him through,"--which proved beyond the doctor: the good camas died here three days hence (age sixty-three); an excellent german-frenchman, of much sense, dignity and honesty; familiar to friedrich from infancy onwards, and no doubt regretted by him as deserved. the widow camas, a fine old lady, german by birth, will again come in view. jordan continues:-- "one finds, at the corner of every street, an orator of the plebs celebrating the warlike feats of your majesty's troops. i have often, in my idleness, assisted at these discourses: not artistic eloquence, it must be owned, but spurting rude from the heart...." jordan adds in his next note: "this morning ( th) i quitted m. de camas; who, it is thought, cannot last the day. i have hardly left him during his illness:" [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xvii. .]--and so let that scene close. neipperg, meanwhile, had fallen back on neisse; taken up a strong encampment in that neighborhood; he lies thereabouts all summer; stretched out, as it were, in a kind of vigilant dog-sleep on the threshold, keeping watch over neisse, and tries fighting no more at this time, or indeed ever after, to speak of. and always, i think, with disadvantage, when he does try a little. he had been grand-duke franz's tutor in war-matters; had got into trouble at belgrade once before, and was almost hanged by the turks. george ii. had occasionally the benefit of him, in coming years. be not too severe on the poor man, as the vienna public was; he had some faculty, though not enough. "governor of luxemburg," before long: there, for most part, let him peacefully drill, and spend the remainder of his poor life. friedrich says, neither neipperg nor himself, at this time, knew the least of war; and that it would be hard to settle which of them made the more blunders in their silesian tussle. friedrich, in about three weeks hence, was fully ready for opening trenches upon brieg; did open trenches, accordingly, by moonlight, in a grand nocturnal manner (as readers shall see anon); and, by vigorous cannonading,--marechal de belleisle having come, by this time, to enjoy the fine spectacle,--soon got possession of brieg, and held it thenceforth. neisse now alone remained, with neipperg vigilantly stretched upon the threshold of it. but the marechal de belleisle, we say, had come; that was the weighty circumstance. and before neisse can be thought of, there is a whole europe, bickering aloft into conflict; embattling itself from end to end, in sequel of mollwitz battle; and such a preliminary sea of negotiating, diplomatic finessing, pulse-feeling, projecting and palavering, with friedrich for centre all summer, as--as i wish readers could imagine without my speaking of it farther! but they cannot. [map on page goes hereabouts--missing] chapter xi. -- the bursting forth of bedlams: belleisle and the breakers of pragmatic sanction. the battle of mollwitz went off like a signal-shot among the nations; intimating that they were, one and all, to go battling. which they did, with a witness; making a terrible thing of it, over all the world, for above seven years to come. foolish nations; doomed to settle their jarring accounts in that terrible manner! nay, the fewest of them had any accounts, except imaginary ones, to settle there at all; and they went into the adventure gratis, spurred on by spectralities of the sick brain, by phantasms of hope, phantasms of terror; and had, strictly speaking, no actual business in it whatever. not that mollwitz kindled europe; europe was already kindled for some two years past;--especially since the late kaiser died, and his pragmatic sanction was superadded to the other troubles afoot. but ever since that image of jenkins's ear had at last blazed up in the slow english brain, like a fiery constellation or sign in the heavens, symbolic of such injustices and unendurabilities, and had lighted the spanish-english war, europe was slowly but pretty surely taking fire. france "could not see spain humbled," she said: england (in its own dim feeling, and also in the fact of things) could not do at all without considerably humbling spain. france, endlessly interested in that spanish-english matter, was already sending out fleets, firing shots,--almost, or altogether, putting forth her hand in it. "in which case, will not, must not, austria help us?" thought england,--and was asking, daily, at vienna (with intense earnestness, but without the least result), through excellency robinson there, when the late kaiser died. died, poor gentleman;--and left his big austrian heritages lying, as it were, in the open market-place; elaborately tied by diplomatic packthread and pragmatic sanction; but not otherwise protected against the assembled cupidities of mankind! independently of mollwitz, or of silesia altogether, it was next to impossible that europe could long avoid blazing out; especially unless the spanish-english quarrel got quenched, of which there was no likelihood. but if not as cause, then as signal, or as signal and cause together (which it properly was), the battle of mollwitz gave the finishing stroke, and set all in motion. this was "the little stone broken loose from the mountain;" this, rather than the late kaiser's death, which friedrich defined in that manner. or at least, this was the first leap it took; hitting other stones big and little, which again hit others with their leaping and rolling,--till the whole mountain-side is in motion under law of gravity, and you behold one wide stone-torrent thundering towards the valleys; shivering woods, farms, habitations clean away with it: fatal to any image of composite clay and brass which it may meet! there is, accordingly, from this point, a change in friedrich's silesian adventure; which becomes infinitely more complicated for him,--and for those that write of him, no less! friedrich's business henceforth is not to be done by direct fighting, but rather by waiting to see how, and on what side, others will fight: nor can we describe or understand friedrich's business, except as in connection with the immense, obsolete, and indeed delirious phenomenon called austrian-succession war, upon which it is difficult to say any human word. if history, driven upon dismal swamp with its horrors and perils, can get across unsunk, she will be lucky! for, directly on the back of mollwitz, there ensued, first, an explosion of diplomatic activity such as was never seen before; excellencies from the four winds taking wing towards friedrich; and talking and insinuating, and fencing and fugling, after their sort, in that silesian camp of his, the centre being there. a universal rookery of diplomatists;--whose loud cackle and cawing is now as if gone mad to us; their work wholly fallen putrescent and avoidable, dead to all creatures. and secondly, in the train of that, there ensued a universal european war, the french and the english being chief parties in it; which abounds in battles and feats of arms, spirited but delirious, and cannot be got stilled for seven or eight years to come; and in which friedrich and his war swim only as an intermittent episode henceforth. what to do with such a war; how extricate the episode, and leave the war lying? the war was at first a good deal mad; and is now, to men's imagination, fallen wholly so; who indeed have managed mostly to forget it; only the episode (reduced thereby to an unintelligible state) retaining still some claims on them. it is singular into what oblivion the huge phenomenon called austrian-succession war has fallen; which, within a hundred years ago or little more, filled all mortal hearts! the english were principals on one side; did themselves fight in it, with their customary fire, and their customary guidance ("courageous wooden pole with cocked hat," as our friend called it); and paid all the expenses, which were extremely considerable, and are felt in men's pockets to this day: but the english have more completely forgotten it than any other people. "battle of dettingen, battle of fontenay,--what, in the devil's name, were we ever doing there?" the impatient englishman asks; and can give no answer, except the general one: "fit of insanity; delirium tremens, perhaps furens;--don't think of it!" of philippi and arbela educated englishmen can render account; and i am told young gentlemen entering the army are pointedly required to say who commanded at aigos-potamos and wrecked the peloponnesian war: but of dettingen and fontenoy, where is the living englishman that has the least notion, or seeks for any? the austrian-succession war did veritably rage for eight years, at a terrific rate, deforming the face of earth and heaven; the english paying the piper always, and founding their national debt thereby:--but not even that could prove mnemonic to them; and they have dropped the austrian-succession war, with one accord, into the general dustbin, and are content it should lie there. they have not, in their language, the least approach to an intelligible account of it: how it went on, whitherward, whence; why it was there at all,--are points dark to the english, and on which they do not wish to be informed. they have quitted the matter, as an unintelligible huge english-and-foreign delirium (which in good part it was); delirium unintelligible to them; tedious, not to say in parts, as those of the austrian subsidies, hideous and disgusting to them; happily now fallen extinct; and capable of being skipped, in one's inquiries into the wonders of this england and this world. which, in fact, is a practical conclusion not so unwise as it looks. "wars are not memorable," says sauerteig, "however big they may have been, whatever rages and miseries they may have occasioned, or however many hundreds of thousands they may have been the death of,--except when they have something of world-history in them withal. if they are found to have been the travail-throes of great or considerable changes, which continue permanent in the world, men of some curiosity cannot but inquire into them, keep memory of them. but if they were travail-throes that had no birth, who of mortals would remember them? unless perhaps the feats of prowess, virtue, valor and endurance, they might accidentally give rise to, were very great indeed. much greater than the most were, which came out in that austrian-succession case! wars otherwise are mere futile transitory dust-whirlwinds stilled in blood; extensive fits of human insanity, such as we know are too apt to break out;--such as it rather beseems a faithful son of the house of adam not to speak about again; as in houses where the grandfather was hanged, the topic of ropes is fitly avoided. "never again will that war, with its deliriums, mad outlays of blood, treasure, and of hope and terror, and far-spread human destruction, rise into visual life in any imagination of living man. in vain shall dryasdust strive: things mad, chaotic and without ascertainable purpose or result, cannot be fixed into human memories. fix them there by never so many documentary histories, elaborate long-eared pedantries, and cunning threads, the poor human memory has an alchemy against such ill usage;--it forgets them again; grows to know them as a mere torpor, a stupidity and horror, and instinctively flies from dryasdust and them." alive to any considerable degree, in the poor human imagination, this editor does not expect or even wish the austrian-succession war to be. enough for him if it could be understood sufficiently to render his poor history of friedrich intelligible. for it enwraps friedrich like a world-vortex henceforth; modifies every step of his existence henceforth; and apart from it, there is no understanding of his business or him. "so much as sticks to friedrich:" that was our original bargain! assist loyally, o reader, and we will try to make the indispensable a minimum for you. who was to blame for the austrian-succession war? the first point to be noted is, where did it originate? to which the answer mainly is, with that lean gentleman whom we saw with papers in the oeil-de-boeuf on new-year's day last. with monseigneur the marechal de belleisle principally; with the ambitious cupidities and baseless vanities of the french court and nation, as represented by belleisle. george ii.'s spanish war, if you will examine, had a real necessity in it. jenkins's ear was the ridiculous outside figure this matter had: jenkins's ear was one final item of it; but the poor english people, in their wrath and bellowings about that small item, were intrinsically meaning: "settle the account; let us have that account cleared up and liquidated; it has lain too long!" and seldom were a people more in the right, as readers shall yet see. the english-spanish war had a basis to stand on in this universe. the like had the prussian-austrian one; so all men now admit. if friedrich had not business there, what man ever had in an enterprise he ventured on? friedrich, after such trial and proof as has seldom been, got his claims on schlesien allowed by the destinies. his claims on schlesien;--and on infinitely higher things; which were found to be his and his nation's, though he had not been consciously thinking of them in making that adventure. for, as my poor friend insists, there are laws valid in earth and in heaven; and the great soul of the world is just. friedrich had business in this war; and maria theresa versus friedrich had likewise cause to appear in court, and do her utmost pleading against him. but if we ask, what belleisle or france and louis xv. had to do there? the answer is rigorously, nothing. their own windy vanities, ambitions, sanctioned not by fact and the almighty powers, but by phantasm and the babble of versailles; transcendent self-conceit, intrinsically insane; pretensions over their fellow-creatures which were without basis anywhere in nature, except in the french brain alone: it was this that brought belleisle and france into a german war. and belleisle and france having gone into an anti-pragmatic war, the unlucky george and his england were dragged into a pragmatic one,--quitting their own business, on the spanish main, and hurrying to germany,--in terror as at doomsday, and zeal to save the keystone of nature these. that is the notable point in regard to this war: that france is to be called the author of it, who, alone of all the parties, had no business there whatever. and the wages due to france for such a piece of industry,--the reader will yet see what wages france and the other parties got, at the tail of the affair. for that too is apparent in our day. we have often said, the spanish-english war was itself likely to have kindled europe; and again friedrich's silesian war was itself likely,--france being nearly sure to interfere. but if both these wars were necessary ones, and if france interfered in either of them on the wrong side, the blame will be to france, not to the necessary wars. france could, in no way, have interfered in a more barefacedly unjust and gratuitous manner than she now did; nor, on any terms, have so palpably made herself the author of the conflagration of deliriums that ensued for above seven years henceforth. nay for above twenty years,--the settlement of this silesian pragmatic-antipragmatic matter (and of jenkins's ear, incidentally, along with this!) not having fairly completed itself till . how belleisle made visit to teutschland; and there was no fit henry the fowler to welcome him. it is very wrong to keep enchanted wiggeries sitting in this world, as if they were things still alive! by a species of "conservatism," which gets praised in our time, but which is only a slothful cowardice, base indifference to truth, and hatred to trouble in comparison with lies that sit quiet, men now extensively practise this method of procedure;--little dreaming how bad and fatal it at all times is. when the brains are out, things really ought to die;--no matter what lovely things they were, and still affect to be, the brains being out, they actually ought in all cases to die, and with their best speed get buried. men had noses, at one time; and smelt the horror of a deceased reality fallen putrid, of a once dear verity become mendacious, phantasmal; but they have, to an immense degree, lost that organ since, and are now living comfortably cheek-by-jowl with lies. lies of that sad "conservative" kind,--and indeed of all kinds whatsoever: for that kind is a general mother; and breeds, with a fecundity that is appalling, did you heed it much!-- it was pity that the "holy romish reich, teutsch by nation," had not got itself buried some ages before. once it had brains and life, but now they were out. under the sway of barbarossa, under our old anti-chaotic friend henry the fowler, how different had it been! no field for a belleisle to come and sow tares in; no rotten thatch for a french sun-god to go sailing about in the middle of, and set fire to! henry, when the hungarian pan-slavonic savagery came upon him, had got ready in the interim; and a mangy dog was the "tribute" he gave them; followed by the due extent of broken crowns, since they would not be content with that. that was the due of belleisle too,--had there been a henry to meet him with it, on his crossing the marches, in trier country, in spring, : "there, you anarchic upholstery-belus, fancying yourself god of the sun; there is what teutschland owes you. go home with that; and mind your own business, which i am told is plentiful, if you had eye for it!" but the sad truth is, for above four centuries now,--and especially for three, since little kaiser karl iv. "gave away all the moneys of it," in his pressing occasions, this holy romish reich, teutsch by nation, has been more and ever more becoming an imaginary quantity; the kaisership of it not capable of being worn by anybody, except a hapsburger who had resources otherwise his own. the fact is palpable. and austria, and anti-reformation entity, "conservative" in that bad sense, of slothfully abhorring trouble in comparison with lies, had not found the poison more mal-odorous in this particular than in many others. and had cherished its "holy romish reich" grown unholy, phantasmal, like so much else in austrian things; and had held firm grip of it, these three hundred years; and found it a furthersome and suitable thing, though sensible it was more and more becoming an enchanted wiggery pure and simple. nor have the consequences failed; they never do. belleisle, louis xiv., henri ii., francois i.: it is long since the french have known this state of matters; and been in the habit of breaking in upon it, fomenting internal discontents, getting up unjust wars,--with or without advantage to france, but with endless disadvantage to germany. schmalkaldic war; thirty-years war; louis xiv.'s wars, which brought alsace and the other fine cuttings; late polish-election war, and its lorraine; austrian-succession war: many are the wars kindled on poor teutschland by neighbor france; and large is the sum of woes to europe and to it, chargeable to that score. which appears even yet not to be completed?--perhaps not, even yet. for it is the penalty of being loyal to enchanted wiggeries; of living cheek-by-jowl with lies of a peaceable quality, and stuffing your nostrils, and searing your soul, against the accursed odor they all have!--for i can assure you the curse of heaven does dwell in one and all of them; and the son of adam cannot too soon get quit of their bad partnership, cost him what it may. belleisle's journey as sun-god began in march,--"end of march, ," no date of a day to be had for that memorable thing:--and he went gyrating about, through the german courts, for almost a year afterwards; his course rather erratic, but always in a splendor as of belus, with those hundred and thirty french lords and valets, and the glory of most christian king irradiating him. very diligent for the first six months, till september or october next, which we may call his seed-time; and by no means resting after nine or twelve months, while the harrowing and hoeing went on. in january, , he had the great satisfaction to see a bavarian kaiser got, instead of an austrian; and everywhere the fruit of his diligent husbandry begin to beard fairly above ground, into a crop of facts (like armed men from dragon's teeth), and "the pleasure of the"--whom was it the pleasure of?--"prosper in his hands." belleisle was a pretty man; but i doubt it was not "the lord" he was doing the pleasure of, on this occasion, but a very different personage, disguised to resemble him in poor belleisle's eyes!-- austria was not dangerous to france in late times, and now least of all; how far from it,--humbled by the loss of lorraine; and now as it were bankrupt, itself in danger from all the world. and france, so far as express treaties could bind a nation, was bound to maintain austria in its present possessions. the bitter loss of lorraine had been sweetened to the late kaiser by that solitary drop of consolation;--as his failure of a life had been, poor man: "failure the most of me has been; but i have got pragmatic sanction, thanks to heaven, and even france has signed it!" loss of lorraine, loss of elsass, loss of the three bishoprics; since karl v.'s times, not to speak of earlier, there has been mere loss on loss:--and now is the time to consummate it, think belleisle and france, in spite of treaties. towards humbling or extinguishing austria, belleisle has two preliminary things to do: first, break the pragmatic sanction, and get everybody to break it; second, guide the kaiserwahl (election of a kaiser), so that it issue, not in grand-duke franz, maria theresa's husband, as all expect it will, but in another party friendly to france:--say in karl albert of bavaria, whose family have long been good clients of ours, dependent on us for a living in the political world. belleisle, there is little doubt, had from the first cast his eye on this unlucky karl albert for kaiser; but is uncertain as to carrying him. belleisle will take another if he must; kur-sachsen, for example;--any other, and all others, only not the grand-duke: that is a point already fixed with belleisle, though he keeps it well in the background, and is careful not to hint it till the time come. in regard to pragmatic sanction, belleisle and france found no difficulty,--or the difficulty only (which we hope must have been considerable) of eating their own covenant in behalf of pragmatic sanction; and declaring, which they did without visible blush, that it was a covenant including, if not expressly, then tacitly, as all human covenants do, this clause, "salvo jure tertii (saving the rights of third parties),"--that is, of electors of bavaria, and others who may object, against it! o soul of honor, o first nation of the universe, was there ever such a subterfuge? here is a field of flowering corn, the biggest in the world, begirt with elaborate ring-fence, many miles of firm oak-paling pitched and buttressed;--the poor gentleman now dead gave you his lorraine, and almost his life, for swearing to keep up said paling. and you do keep it up,--all except six yards; through which the biggest team on the highway can drive freely, and the paltriest cadger's ass can step in for a bellyful! it appears, the first nation of the universe had, at an early period of their consultations, hit upon this of salvo jure tertii, as the method of eating their covenant, before an enlightened public. [ th january, , in their note of ceremony, recognizing maria theresa as queen of hungary, note which had been due so very long (adelung, ii. ), there is ominous silence on pragmatic sanction; "beginning of march," there is virtual avowal of salvo jure (ib. );--open avowal on belleisle's advent (ib. ).] and they persisted in it, there being no other for them. an enlightened public grinned sardonically, and was not taken in; but, as so many others were eating their covenants, under equally poor subterfuges, the enlightened public could not grin long on any individual,--could only gape mutely, with astonishment, on all. a glorious example of veracity and human nobleness, set by the gods of this lower world to their gazing populations, who could read in the gazettes! what is truth, falsity, human kingship, human swindlership? are the ten commandments only a figure of speech, then? and it was some beggarly attorney-devil that built this sublunary world and us? questions might rise; had long been rising;--but now there was about enough, and the response to them was falling due; and belleisle himself, what is very notable, had been appointed to get ready the response. belleisle (little as belleisle dreamt of it, in these high enterprises) was ushering in, by way of response, a ragnarok, or twilight of the gods, which, as "french revolution, or apotheosis of sansculottism," is now well known;--and that is something to consider of! downbreak of pragmatic sanction; manner of the chief artists in handling their covenants. the operation once accomplished on its own pragmatic covenant, france found no difficulty with the others. everybody was disposed to eat his covenant, who could see advantage in so doing, after that admirable example. the difficulty of france and belleisle rather was, to keep the hungry parties back: "don't eat your covenant till the proper time; patience, we say!" a most sad miscellany of royalties, coming all to the point, "will you eat your covenant, will you keep it?"--and eating, nearly all; in fact, wholly all that needed to eat. on the first invasion of silesia, maria theresa had indignantly complained in every court; and pointing to pragmatic sanction, had demanded that such law of nature be complied with, according to covenant. what maria theresa got by this circuit of the courts, everybody still knows. except england, which was willing, and holland, which was unwilling, all courts had answered, more or less uneasily: "law of nature,--humph: yes!"--and, far from doing anything, not one of them would with certainty promise to do anything. from england alone and her little king (to whom pragmatic sanction is the palladium of human freedoms and the keystone of nature) could she get the least help. the rest hung back; would not open heart or pocket; waited till they saw. they do now see; now that belleisle has done his feat of covenant-eating!-- eleven great powers, some count thirteen, some twelve, [scholl, ii. ; adelung, list, ii. .]--but no two agree, and hardly one agrees with himself;--enough, the powers of europe, from naples and madrid to russia and sweden, have all signed it, let us say a dozen or a baker's-dozen of them. and except our little english paladin alone, whose interest and indeed salvation seemed to him to lie that way, and who needed no pragmatic covenant to guide him, nobody whatever distinguished himself by keeping it. between december, , when maria theresa set up her cries in all courts, on to april, , england, painfully dragging holland with her, had alone of the baker's-dozen spoken word of disapproval; much less done act of hindrance. two especially (france and bavaria, not to mention spain) had done the reverse, and disowned, and declared against, pragmatic sanction. and after the battle of mollwitz, when the "little stone" took its first leap, and set all thundering, then came, like the inrush of a fashion, throughout that high miscellany or baker's-dozen, the general eating of covenants (which was again quickened in august, for a reason we shall see): and before november of that year, there was no covenant left to eat. of the baker's-dozen nobody remained but little george the paladin, dragging holland painfully along with him;--and pragmatic sanction had gone to water, like ice in a june day, and its beautiful crystalline qualities and prismatic colors were forever vanished from the world. will the reader note a point or two, a personage or two, in this sordid process,--not for the process's sake, which is very sordid and smells badly, but for his own sake, to elucidate his own course a little in the intricacies now coming or come upon him and me? . elector of bavaria.--karl albert of baiern is by some counted as a signer of the pragmatic sanction, and by others not; which occasions that discrepancy of sum-total in the books. and he did once, in a sense, sign it, he and his brother of koln; but, before the late kaiser's death, he had openly drawn back from it again; and counted himself a non-signer. signer or not, he, for his part, lost no moment (but rather the contrary) in openly protesting against it, and signifying that he never would acknowledge it. of this the reader saw something, at the time of her hungarian majesty's accession. date and circumstances of it, which deserve remembering, are more precisely these: october th, , karl albert's ambassador, perusa by name, wrote to karl from vienna, announcing that the kaiser was just dead. from munchen, on the st, karl albert, anticipating such an event, but not yet knowing it, orders perusa, in case of the kaiser's decease, which was considered probable at munchen, to demand instant audience of the proper party (kanzler sinzendorf), and there openly lodge his protest. which perusa did, punctually in all points,--no moment lost, but rather the contrary, as we said! let poor karl albert have what benefit there is in that fact. he was, of all the anti-pragmatic covenant-breakers (if he ever fairly were such), the only one that proceeded honorably, openly and at once, in the matter; and he was, of them all, by far the most unfortunate. this is the poor gentleman whom belleisle had settled on for being kaiser. and kaiser he became; to his frightful sorrow, as it proved: his crown like a crown of burning iron, or little better! there is little of him in the books, nor does one desire much: a tall aquiline type of man; much the gentleman in aspect; and in reality, of decorous serious deportment, and the wish to be high and dignified. he had a kind of right, too, in the anti-pragmatic sense; and was come of imperial kindred,--kaiser ludwig the bavarian, and kaiser rupert of the pfalz, called rupert klemm, or rupert smith's-vice, if any reader now remember him, were both of his ancestors. he might fairly pretend to kaisership and to austrian ownership,--had he otherwise been equal to such enterprises. but, in all ambitions and attempts, howsoever grounded otherwise, there is this strict question on the threshold: "are you of weight for the adventure; are not you far too light for it?" ambitious persons often slur this question; and get squelched to pieces, by bringing the twelve labors of hercules on unherculean backs! not every one is so lucky as our friedrich in that particular,--whose back, though with difficulty, held out. which poor karl albert's never had much likelihood to do. few mortals in any age have offered such an example of the tragedies which ambition has in store for her votaries; and what a matter hope fulfilled may be to the unreflecting son of adam. we said, he had a kind of right to austria, withal. he descended by the female line from kaiser ferdinand i. (as did kur-sachsen, though by a younger daughter than karl albert's ancestress); and he appealed to kaiser ferdinand's settlement of the succession, as a higher than any subsequent pragmatic could be. upon which there hangs an incident; still famous to german readers. karl albert, getting into public argument in this way, naturally instructed perusa to demand sight of kaiser ferdinand's last will, the tenor of which was known by authentic copy in munchen, if not elsewhere among the kindred. after some delay, perusa ( th november, ), summoning the other excellencies to witness, got sight of the will: to his horror, there stood, in the cardinal passage, instead of "munnliche" (male descendants), "eheliche" (lawfully begotten descendants),--fatal to karl albert's claim! nor could he prove that the parchment had been scraped or altered, though he kept trying and examining for some days. he withdrew thereupon, by order, straightway from vienna; testifying in dumb-show what he thought. "it is your copy that is false," cried the vienna people: "it has been foisted on you, with this wrong word in it; done by somebody (your friend, the excellency herr von hartmann, shall we guess?), wishing to curry favor with ambitious foolish persons!" such was the austrian story. perhaps in munchen itself their copyist was not known;--for aught i learn, the copy was made long since, and the copyist dead. hartmann, named as copyist by the vienna people, made emphatic public answer: "never did i copy it, or see it!" and there rose great argument, which is not yet quite ended, as to the question, "original falsified, or copy falsified?"--and the modern vote, i believe, rather clearly is, that the austrian officials had done it--in a case of necessity. [adelung, ii. - ( th- th november, ), gives the public facts, without commentary. hormayr (_anemonen aus dem tagebuch eines alten pilgersmannes,_ jena, , i. - ,--our old hormayr of the austrian plutarch, but now anonymous, and in opposition humor) considers the case nearly proved against austria, and that bartenstein and one bessel, a pillar of the church, were concerned in it.] possible? "but you will lose your soul!" said the parson once to a poor old gentlewoman, english by nation, who refused, in dying, to contradict some domestic fiction, to give up some domestic secret: "but you will lose your soul, madam!"--"tush, what signifies my poor silly soul compared with the honor of the family?"-- . king friedrich;--king friedrich may be taken as the anti-pragmatic next in order of time. he too lost not a moment, and proceeded openly; no quirking to be charged upon him. his account of himself in this matter always was: "by the treaty of wusterhausen, , unquestionably prussia undertook to guarantee pragmatic sanction; the late kaiser undertaking in return, by the same treaty, to secure berg and julich to prussia, and to have some progress made in it within six months from signing. and unquestionably also, the late kaiser did thereupon, or even had already done, precisely the reverse; namely, secured, so far as in him was possible, berg and julich to kur-pfalz. such treaty, having in this way done suicide, is dead and become zero: and i am free, in respect of pragmatic sanction, to do whatever shall seem good to me. my wish was, and would still be, to maintain pragmatic sanction, and even to support it by , men, and secure the election of the grand-duke to the kaisership,--were my claims on silesia once liquidated. but these have no concern with pragmatic sanction, for or against: these are good against whoever may fall heir to the house of austria, or to silesia: and my intention is, that the strong hand, so long clenched upon my rights, shall open itself by this favorable opportunity, and give them out." that is friedrich's case. and in truth the jury everywhere has to find,--so soon as instructed, which is a long process in some sections of it (in england, for example),--that pragmatic sanction has not, except helpless lamentations, "alas that you should be here to insist upon your rights, and to open fists long closed!"--the least, word to say to friedrich. . termagant of spain.--perhaps the most distracted of the anti-pragmatic subterfuges was that used by spain, when the she-dragon or termagant saw good to eat her covenant; which was at a very early stage. the termagant's poor husband is a bourbon, not a hapsburg at all: "but has not he fallen heir to the spanish hapsburgs; become all one as they, an alter-ego of the spanish hapsburgs?" asks she. "and the austrian hapsburgs being out, do not the spanish hapsburgs come in? he, i say, this bourbon-hapsburg, he is the real hapsburg, now that the austrian branch is gone; president he of the golden fleece [which a certain "archduchess," maria theresa, had been meddling with]; proprietor, he, of austrian italy, and of all or most things austrian!"--and produces documentary covenants of philip ii. with his austrian cousins; "to which philip," said the termagant, "we bourbons surely, if you consider it, are heir and alter-ego!" is not, this a curious case of testamentary right; human greed obliterating personal identity itself? belleisle had a great deal of difficulty, keeping the termagant back till things were ripe. her hope practically was, baby carlos being prosperous king of naples this long while, to get the milanese for another baby she has,--baby philip, whom she once thought of making pope;--and she is eager beyond measure to have a stroke at the milanese. "wait!" hoarsely whispers belleisle to her; and she can scarcely wait. maria theresa's note of announcement "new queen of hungary, may it please you!" the french, as we saw, were very long in answering. the termagant did not answer it at all; complained on the contrary, "what is this, madam! golden fleece, you?"--and, early in march, informed mankind that she was spanish hapsburg, the genuine article; and sent off excellency montijos, a little man of great expense, to assist at the election of a proper kaiser, and be useful to belleisle in the great things now ahead. [spain's golden-fleece pretensions, th january, (adelung, ii. , ); "publishes at paris," in march (ib. ); and on the d march accredits montijos (ib. ): italian war, held back by belleisle and the english fleets, cannot get begun till october following.] . king of poland.--the most ticklish card in belleisle's game, and probably the greatest fool of these anti-pragmatic dozen, was kur-sachsen, king of poland. he, like karl albert kur-baiern, derives from kaiser ferdinand, though by a younger daughter, and has a like claim on the austrian succession; claim nullified, however, by that small circumstance itself, but which he would fain mend by one makeshift or another; and thinks always it must surely be good for something. this is august iii., this king of poland, as readers know; son of august the strong: papa made him change to the catholic religion so called,--for the sake of getting poland, which proves a very poor possession to him. who knows what damage the poor creature may have got by that sad operation;--which all saxony sighed to the heart on hearing of; for it was always hoped he had some real religion, and would deliver them from that babylonish captivity again! he married kaiser joseph i.'s daughter,--maria theresa's cousin, and by an elder brother;--this, too, ought surely to be something in the anti-pragmatic line? it is true, kur-baiern has to wife another daughter of kaiser joseph's; but she is the younger: "i am senior there, at least!" thinks the foolish man. too true, he had finally, in past years, to sign pragmatic sanction; no help for it, no hope without it, in that polish-election time. he will have to eat his covenant, therefore, as the first step in anti-pragmatism; and he is extremely in doubt as to the how, sometimes as to the whether. and shifts and whirls, accordingly, at a great rate, in these months and years; now on maria theresa's side, deluded by shadows from vienna, and getting into russian partition-treaties; anon tickled by belleisle into the reverse posture; then again reversing. an idle, easy-tempered, yet greedy creature, who, what with religious apostasy in early manhood, what with flaccid ambitions since, and idle gapings after shadows, has lost helm in this world; and will make a very bad voyage for self and country. his palinurus and chief counsellor, at present and afterwards, is a count von bruhl, once page to august the strong; now risen to such height: bruhl of the three hundred and sixty-five suits of clothes; whom it has grown wearisome even to laugh at. a cunning little wretch, they say, and of deft tongue; but surely among the unwisest of all the sons of adam in that day, and such a palinurus as seldom steered before. kur-sachsen, being reichs-vicar in the northern parts,--(kur-baiern and kur-pfalz, as friends and good wittelsbacher cousins surely ought, in a crisis like this, have agreed to be joint-vicars in the southern parts, and no longer quarrel upon it),--kur-sachsen has a good deal to do in the election preludings, formalities and prearrangements; and is capable, as kur-pfalz and cousin always are, of serving as chisel to belleisle's mallet, in such points, which will plentifully turn up. . king of sardinia.--reichs-vicar in the italian parts is charles amadeus king of sardinia (tough old victor's son, whom we have heard of): an office mostly honorary; suitable to the important individual who keeps the door of the alps. charles amadeus had signed the pragmatic sanction; but eats his covenant, like the others, on example of france;--having, as he now bethinks himself, claims on the milanese. there are two claimants on the milanese, then; the spanish termagant, and he? yes; and they will have their difficulties, their extensive tusslings in italian war and otherwise, to make an adjustment of it; and will give belleisle (at least the doorkeeper will) an immensity of trouble, in years coming. in this way do the pragmatic people eat their own covenant, one after the other, and are not ashamed;--till all have eaten, or as good as eaten; and, almost within year and day, pragmatic sanction is a vanished quantity; and poor kaiser karl's life-labor is not worth the sheepskin and stationery it cost him. history reports in sum, that "nobody kept the pragmatic sanction; that the few [strictly speaking, the one] who acted by it, would have done precisely the same, though there had never been such a document in existence." to george ii., it is, was and will be, the keystone of nature, the true anti-french palladium of mankind; and he, dragging the unwilling dutch after him, will do great things for it: but nobody else does anything at all. might we hope to bid adieu to it, in this manner, and never to mention it again!-- document more futile there had not been in nature, nor will be. friedrich had not yet fought at mollwitz in assertion of his silesian claim, when the poor pope--poor soul, who had no covenant to eat, but took pattern by others--claimed, in solemn allocution, parma and piacenza for the holy see. [adelung, ii. ( th april, )] all the world is claiming. of the court of wurtemberg and its protestings, and "extensive deduction" about nothing at all, we do not speak; [ib. ii. , .] nor of montmorency claiming luxemburg, of which he is titular "duke;" nor of monsignore di guastalla claiming mantua; nor of--in brief, the fences are now down; a broad french gap in those miles of elaborate paling, which are good only as firewood henceforth, and any ass may rush in and claim a bellyful. great are the works of belleisle!-- concerning the imperial election (kaiserwahl) that is to be: candidates for kaisership. at equal step with the ruining of pragmatic sanction goes on that spoiling of grand-duke franz's election to the kaisership: these two operations run parallel; or rather, under different forms, they are one and the same operation. "to assist, as a most christian neighbor ought, in picking out the fit kaiser," was belleisle's ostensible mission; and indeed this does include virtually his whole errand. till three months after belleisle's appearance in the business, grand-duke franz never doubted but he should be kaiser; friedrich's offers to, help him in it he had scorned, as the offer of a fifth wheel to his chariot, already rushing on with four. "here is kur-bohmen, austria's own vote," counts the grand-duke; "kur-sachsen, doing prussian-partition treaties for us; kur-trier, our fat little schonborn, austrian to the bone; kur-mainz, important chairman, regulator of the conclave; here are four electors for us: then also kur-pfalz, he surely, in return for the berg-julich service; finally, and liable to no question kur-hanover, little george of england with his endless guineas and resources, a little jack-the-giantkiller, greater than all giants, paladin of the pragmatic and us: here are six electors of the nine. let brandenburg and the bavarian couple, kur-baiern and kur-koln, do their pleasure!" this was grand-duke franz's calculation. by the time belleisle had been three months in germany, the grand-duke's notion had changed; and he began "applying to the sea-powers," "to russia," and all round. in belleisle's sixth month, the grand-duke, after such demolition of pragmatic, and such disasters and contradictions as had been, saw his case to be desperate; though he still stuck to it, austrian-like,--or rather, austria for him stuck to it, the grand-duke being careless of such things;--and indeed, privately, never did give in, even after the election, as we shall have to note. the reich itself being mainly a phantasm or enchanted wiggery, its "kaiser-choosing" (kaiserwahl),--now getting under way at frankfurt, with preliminary outskirts at regensburg, and in the chancery of mainz--is very phantasmal, not to say ghastly; and forbidding, not inviting, to the human eye. nine kurfursts, choosers of teutschland's real captain, in none of whom is there much thought for teutschland or its interests,--and indeed in hardly more than one of whom (prussian friedrich, if readers will know it) is there the least thought that way; but, in general, much indifference to things divine or diabolic, and thought for one's own paltry profits and losses only! so it has long been; and so it now is, more than usual.--consider again, are enchanted wiggeries a beautiful thing, in this extremely earnest world?-- the kaiserwahl is an affair depending much on processions, proclamations, on delusions optical, acoustic; on palaverings, manoeuvrings, holdings back, then hasty pushings forward; and indeed is mainly, in more senses than one, under guidance of the prince of the power of the air. unbeautiful, like a world-parliament of nightmares (if the reader could conceive such a thing); huge formless, tongueless monsters of that species, doing their "three readings,"--under presidency or chief-pipership as above! belleisle, for his part, is consummately skilful, and manages as only himself could. keeps his game well hidden, not a hint or whisper of it except in studied proportions; spreads out his lines, his birdlime; tickles, entices, astonishes; goes his rounds, like a subtle fowler, taking captive the minds of men; a phoebus-apollo, god of melody and of the sun, filling his net with birds. i believe, old kur-pfalz, for the sake of french neighborhood, and berg-and-julich, were there nothing more, was very helpful to him;--in march past, when the election was to have been, when it would have gone at once in favor of the grand-duke, kur-pfalz got the election "postponed a little." postponing, procrastinating; then again pushing violently on, when things are ripe: belleisle has only to give signal to a fit kur-pfalz. in all kurfurst courts, the french ambassadors sing diligently to the tune belleisle sets them; and courts give ear, or will do, when the charmer himself arrives. kur-sachsen, as above hinted, was his most delicate operation, in the charming or trout-tickling way. and kur-sachsen--and poor saxony, ever since--knows if he did not do it well! "deduct this kur-sachsen from the austrian side," calculates belleisle; "add him to ours, it is almost an equality of votes. kur-baiern, our own imperial candidate; kur-koln, his brother; kur-pfalz, by genealogy his cousin (not to mention berg-julich matters); here are three wittelsbachers, knit together; three sure votes; king friedrich, kur-brandenburg, there is a fourth; and if kur-sachsen would join?" but who knows if kur-sachsen will! the poor soul has himself thoughts of being kaiser; then no thoughts, and again some: thoughts which belleisle knows how to handle. "yes, kaiser you, your majesty; excellent!" and sets to consider the methods: "hm, ha, hm! think, your majesty: ought not that bohemian vote to be excluded, for one thing? kur-bohmen is fallen into the distaff, maria theresa herself cannot vote. surely question will rise, whether distaff can, validly, hand it over to distaff's husband, as they are about doing? whether, in fact, kur-bohmen is not in abeyance for this time?" "so!" answered kur-sachsen, reichs-vicarius. and thereupon meetings were summoned; nightmare committees sat on this matter under the reichs-vicar, slowly hatching it; and at length brought out, "kur-bohmen not transferable by the distaff; kur-bohmen in abeyance for this time." greatly to the joy of belleisle; infinitely to the chagrin of her hungarian majesty,--who declared it a crying injustice (though i believe legally done in every point); and by and by, even made it a plea of nullity, destructive to the election altogether, when her hungarian majesty's affairs looked up again, and the world would listen to austrian sophistries and obstinacies. this was an essential service from kur-sachsen. [began, indistinctly, "in march" ( ); languid "for some months" (adelung, ii. ); "november th," was settled in the negative, "kur-bohmen not to have a vote" (_maria theresiens leben,_ p. n.)]. after which kur-sachsen's own poor kaisership died away into "hm, ha, hm!" again, with a grateful belleisle. who nevertheless dexterously retained kur-sachsen as ally; tickling the poor wretch with other baits. of the kaiser he had really meant all along, there was dead silence, except between the parties; no whisper heard, for six months after it had been agreed upon; none, for two or near three months after formal settlement, and signing and sealing. karl albert's treaty with belleisle was th may, ; and he did not declare himself a candidate till st- th july following. [adelung, ii. , .] belleisle understands the nightmare parliaments, the electioneering art, and how to deal with enchanted wiggeries. more perfect master, in that sad art, has not turned up on record to one's afflicted mind. such a sun-god, and doing such a scavengerism! belleisle, in the sixth month (end of august, ), feels sure of a majority. how belleisle managed, after that, to checkmate george of england, and make even george vote for him, and the kaiserwahl to be unanimous against grand-duke franz, will be seen. great are belleisle's doings in this world, if they were useful either to god or man, or to belleisle himself first of all!-- teutschland to be carved into something of symmetry, should the belleisle enterprises succeed. belleisle's schemes, in the rear of all this labor, are grandiose to a degree. men wonder at the first napoleon's mad notions in that kind. but no napoleon, in the fire of the revolutionary element; no sham-napoleon, in the ashes of it: hardly a parisian journalist of imaginative turn, speculating on the first nation of the universe and what its place is,--could go higher than did this grandiose belleisle; a man with clear thoughts in his head, under a torpid louis xv. let me see, thinks belleisle. germany with our bavarian for kaiser; germany to be cut into, say, four little kingdoms: . bavaria with the lean kaiserhood; . saxony, fattened by its share of austria; . prussia the like; . austria itself, shorn down as above, and shoved out to the remote hungarian parts: voila. these, not reckoning hanover, which perhaps we cannot get just yet, are four pretty sovereignties. three, or two, of these hireable by gold, it is to be hoped. and will not france have a glorious time of it; playing master of the revels there, egging one against the other! yes, germany is then, what nature designed it, a province of france: little george of hanover himself, and who knows but england after him, may one day find their fate inevitable, like the others. o louis, o my king, is not this an outlook? louis le grand was great; but you are likely to be louis the grandest; and here is a world shaped, at last, after the real pattern! such are, in sad truth, belleisle's schemes; not yet entirely hatched into daylight or articulation; but becoming articulate, to himself and others, more and more. reader, keep them well in mind: i had rather not speak of them again. they are essential to our story; but they are afflictively vain, contrary to the laws of fact; and can, now or henceforth, in nowise be. my friend, it was not beelzebub, nor mephistopheles, nor autolyeus-apollo that built this world and us; it was another. and you will get your crown well rapped, m. le marechal, for so forgetting that fact! france is an extremely pretty creature; but this of making france the supreme governor and god's-vicegerent of nations, is, was, and remains, one of the maddest notions. france at its ideal best, and with a demi-god for king over it, were by no means fit for such function; nay of many nations is eminently the unfittest for it. and france at its worst or nearly so, with a louis xv. over it by way of demi-god--o belleisle, what kind of france is this; shining in your grandiose imagination, in such contrast to the stingy fact: like a creature consisting of two enormous wings, five hundred yards in potential extent, and no body bigger than that of a common cock, weighing three pounds avoirdupois. cock with his own gizzard much out of sorts, too! it was "early in march" [adelung, ii. .] when belleisle, the artificial sun-god, quitted paris on this errand. he came by the moselle road; called on the rhine kurfursts, koln, trier, mainz; dazzling them, so far as possible, with his splendor for the mind and for the eye. he proceeded next to dresden, which is a main card: and where there is immense manipulation needed, and the most delicate trout-tickling; this being a skittish fish, and an important, though a foolish. belleisle was at dresden when the battle of mollwitz fell out: what a windfall into belleisle's game! he ran across to friedrich at mollwitz, to congratulate, to consult,--as we shall see anon. belleisle, i am informed, in this preliminary tour of his, speaks only, or hints only (except in the proper quarters), of election business; of the need there perhaps is, on the part of an age growing in liberal ideas, to exclude the austrian grand-duke; to curb that ponderous, harsh, ungenerous house of austria, too long lording it over generous germany; and to set up some better house,--bavaria, for example; saxony, for example? of his plans in the rear of this he is silent; speaks only by hints, by innuendoes, to the proper parties. but ripening or ripe, plans do lie to rear; far-stretching, high-soaring; in part, dark even at versailles; darkly fermenting, not yet developed, in belleisle's own head; only the future kaiser a luminous fixed point, shooting beams across the grandiose creation-process going on there. by the end of august, , belleisle had become certain of his game; th january, , he saw himself as if winner. before august, , he had got his electors manipulated, tickled to his purpose, by the witchery of a phoebus-autolycus or diplomatic sun-god; majority secured for a bavarian kaiser, and against an austrian one. and in the course of that month,--what was still more considerable!--he was getting, under mild pretexts, about a hundred thousand armed frenchmen gently wafted over upon the soil of germany. two complete french armies, , each (plus their reserves), one over the upper rhine, one over the lower; about which we shall hear a great deal in time coming! under mild pretexts: "peaceable as lambs, don't you observe? merely to protect freedom of election, in this fine neighbor country; and as allies to our friend of bavaria, should he chance to be new kaiser, and to persist in his modest claims otherwise." this was his crowning stroke. which finished straightway the remnants of pragmatic sanction and of every obstacle; and in a shining manner swept the roads clear. and so, on january th following, the election, long held back by belleisle's manoeuvrings, actually takes effect,--in favor of karl albert, our invaluable bavarian friend. austria is left solitary in the reich; pragmatic sanction, keystone of nature, which belleisle and france had sworn to keep in, is openly torn out by belleisle and by france and the majority of mankind; and belleisle sees himself, to all appearance, winner. this was the harvest reaped by belleisle, within year and day; after endless manoeuvring, such as only a belleisle in the character of diplomatic sun-god could do. beyond question, the distracted ambitions of several german princes have been kindled by belleisle; what we called the rotten thatch of germany is well on fire. this diligent sowing in the reich--to judge by the , , armed men here, and the counter hundreds of thousands arming--has been a pretty stroke of dragon's-teeth husbandry on belleisle's part. belleisle on visit to friedrich; sees friedrich besiege brieg, with effect. it was april th when marechal de belleisle, with his brother the chevalier, with valori and other bright accompaniment, arrived in friedrich's camp. "camp of mollwitz" so named; between mollwitz and brieg; where friedrich is still resting, in a vigilant expectant condition; and, except it be the taking of brieg, has nothing military on hand. wednesday, th april, the distinguished excellency--escorted for the last three miles by horse, and the other customary ceremonies--makes his appearance: no doubt an interesting one to friedrich, for this and the days next following. their talk is not reported anywhere: nor is it said with exactitude how far, whether wholly now, or only in part now, belleisle expounded his sublime ideas to friedrich; or what precise reception they got. friedrich himself writes long afterwards of the event; but, as usual, without precision, except in general effect. now, or some time after, friedrich says he found belleisle, one morning, with brow clouded, knit into intense meditation: "have you had bad news, m. le marechal?" asks friedrich. "no, oh no! i am considering what we shall make of that moravia?"--"moravia; hm!" friedrich suppresses the glance that is rising to his eyes: "can't you give it to saxony, then? buy saxony into the plan with it!" "excellent," answers belleisle, and unpuckers his stern brow again. friedrich thinks highly, and about this time often says so, of the man belleisle: but as to the man's effulgencies, and wide-winged plans, none is less seduced by them than friedrich: "your chickens are not hatched, m. le marechal; some of us hope they never will be,--though the incubation-process may have uses for some of us!" friedrich knows that the kaisership given to any other than grand-duke franz will be mostly an imaginary quantity. "a grand symbolic cloak in the eyes of the vulgar; but empty of all things, empty even of cash, for the last two hundred years: austria can wear it to advantage; no other mortal. hang it on austria, which is a solid human figure,--so." and friedrich wishes, and hopes always, maria theresa will agree with him, and get it for her husband. "but to hang it on bavaria, which is a lean bare pole? oh, m. le marechal!--and those four kingdoms of yours: what a brood of poultry, those! chickens happily yet unhatched;--eggs addle, i should venture to hope:--only do go on incubating, m. le marechal!" that is friedrich's notion of the thing. belleisle stayed with friedrich "a few days," say the books. after which, friedrich, finding belleisle too winged a creature, corresponded, in preference, with fleury and the head sources;--who are always intensely enough concerned about those "aces" falling to him, and how the same are to be "shared." [details in _helden-geschichte,_ i. , , ; in _oeuvres de frederic,_ ii. , ; &c.] instead of parade or review in honor of belleisle, there happened to be a far grander military show, of the practical kind. the siege of brieg, the opening of the trenches before brieg, chanced to be just ready, on belleisle's arrival:--and would have taken effect, we find, that very night, april th, had not a sudden wintry outburst, or "tempest of extraordinary violence," prevented. next night, night of the th- th, under shine of the full moon, in the open champaign country, on both sides of the river, it did take effect. an uncommonly fine thing of its sort; as one can still see by reading friedrich's strict program for it,--a most minute, precise and all-anticipating program, which still interests military men, as friedrich's first piece in that kind,--and comparing therewith the narratives of the performance which ensued. [_ordre und dispositiones (sic), wornach sich der general-lieutenant von kalckstein bei eroffnung der trancheen, &c. (oeuvres de frederic,_ xxx. - ): the program. _helden-geschichte,_ i. - : the narrative.] kalkstein, friedrich's old tutor, is captain of the siege; under him jeetz, long used to blockading about brieg. the silvery oder has its due bridges for communication; all is in readiness, and waiting manifold as in the slip,--and there is engineer walrave, our glogau dutch friend, who shall, at the right instant, "with his straw-rope (strohseil) mark out the first parallel," and be swift about it! there are , diggers, with the due implements, fascines, equipments; duly divided, into twelve equal parties, and "always two spademen to one pickman" (which indicates soft sandy ground): these, with the escorting or covering battalions, twelve parties they also, on both sides of the river, are to be in their several stations at the fixed moments; man, musket, mattock, strictly exact. they are to advance at midnight; the covering battalions so many yards ahead: no speaking is permissible, nor the least tobacco-smoking; no drum to be allowed for fear of accident; no firing, unless you are fired on. the covering battalions are all to "lie flat, so soon as they get to their ground, all but the officers and sentries." to rear of these stand walrave and assistants, silent, with their straw-rope;--silent, then anon swift, and in whisper or almost by dumb-show, "now, then!" after whom the diggers, fascine-men, workers, each in his kind, shall fall to, silently, and dig and work as for life. all which is done; exact as clock-work: beautiful to see, or half see, and speak of to your belleisle, in the serene moonlight! half an hour's marching, half an hour's swift digging: the town-clock of brieg was hardly striking one, when "they had dug themselves in." and, before daybreak, they had, in two batteries, fifty cannon in position, with a proper set of mortars (other side the river),--ready to astonish piccolomini and his austrians; who had not had the least whisper of them, all night, though it was full moon. graf von piccolomini, an active gallant person, had refused terms, some time before; and was hopefully intent on doing his best. and now, suddenly, there rose round piccolomini such a tornado of cannonading and bombardment, day after day, always "three guns of ours playing against one of theirs," that his guns got ruined; that "his hay-magazines took fire,"--and the schloss itself, which was adjacent to them, took fire (a sad thing to friedrich, who commanded pause, that they might try quenching, but in vain):--and that, in short, piccolomini could not stand it; but on the th of may, precisely after one week's experience, hung out the white flag, and "beat chamade at of the afternoon." he was allowed to march out next morning, with escort to neisse; parole pledged, not to serve against us for two years coming. friedrich in person (i rather guess, belleisle not now at his side) saw the garrison march out;--kept piccolomini to dinner; a gallant piccolomini, who had hoped to do better, but could not. this was a pretty enough piece of siege-practice. torstenson, with his swedes, had furiously besieged brieg in , a hundred years ago; and could do nothing to it. nothing, but withdraw again, futile; leaving , of his people dead. friedrich, the austrian garrison once out, set instantly about repairing the works, and improving them into impregnability,--our ugly friend walrave presiding over that operation too. belleisle, we may believe, so long as he continued, was full of polite wonder over these things; perhaps had critical advices here and there, which would be politely received. it is certain he came out extremely brilliant, gifted and agreeable, in the eyes of friedrich; who often afterwards, not in the very strictest language, calls him a great man, great soldier, and by far the considerablest person you french have. it is no less certain, belleisle displayed, so far as displayable, his magnificent diplomatic ware to the best advantage. to which, we perceive, the young king answered, "magnificent, indeed!" but would not bite all at once; and rather preferred corresponding with fleury, on business points, keeping the matter dexterously hanging, in an illuminated element of hope and contingency, for the present. belleisle, after we know not how many days, returned to dresden; perfected his work at dresden, or shoved it well forward, with "that moravia" as bait. "yes, king of moravia, you, your polish majesty, shall be!"--and it is said the simple creature did so style himself, by and by, in certain rare manifestoes, which still exist in the cabinets of the curious. belleisle next, after only a few days, went to munchen; to operate on karl albert kur-baiern, a willing subject. and, in short, belleisle whirled along incessantly, torch in hand; making his "circuit of the german courts,"--details of said circuit not to be followed by us farther. one small thing only i have found rememberable; probably true, though vague. at munchen, still more out at nymphenburg, the fine country-palace not far off, there was of course long conferencing, long consulting, secret and intense, between belleisle with his people and karl albert with his. karl albert, as we know, was himself willing. but a certain baron von unertl--heavy-built bavarian of the old type, an old stager in the bavarian ministries--was of far other disposition. one day, out at nymphenburg, unertl got to the council-room, while belleisle and company were there: unertl found the apartment locked, absolutely no admittance; and heard voices, the kurfurst's and french voices, eagerly at work inside. "admit me, gracious herr; um gottes willen, me!" no admission. unertl, in despair, rushed round to the garden side of the apartment; desperately snatched a ladder, set it up to the window, and conjured the gracious highness: "for the love of heaven, my allergnadigster, don't! have no trade with those french! remember your illustrious father, kurfurst max, in the eugene-marlborough time, what a job he made of it, building actual architecture on their big promises, which proved mere acres of gilt balloon!" [hormayr, _anemonen_ (cited above), ii. .] words terribly prophetic; but they were without effect on karl albert. the rest of belleisle's inflammatory circuitings and extensive travellings, for he had many first and last in this matter, shall be left to the fancy of the reader. may th, he made formal treaty with karl albert: treaty of nymphenburg, "karl albert to be kaiser; bavaria, with austria proper added to it, a kingdom; french armies, french moneys, and other fine items." [given in adelung, ii. .] treaty to be kept dead secret; king friedrich, for the present, would not accede. [given in adelung, ii. .] june th, after some preliminary survey of the place, belleisle made his entry into frankfurt: magnificent in the extreme. and still did not rest there; but had to rush about, back to versailles, to dresden, hither, thither: it was not till the last day of july that he fairly took up his abode in frankfurt; and--the election eggs, so to speak, being now all laid--set himself to hatch the same. a process which lasted him six months longer, with curious phenomena to mankind. not till the middle of august did he bring those , armed frenchmen across the rhine, "to secure peace in those parts, and freedom of voting." not till november th had kur-sachsen, with the nightmares, finished that important problem of the bohemian vote, "bohemian vote excluded for this time;"--after which all was ready, though still not in the least hurry. november th, came the first actual "election-conference (wahl-conferenz)" in the romer at frankfurt; to which succeeded two months more of conferrings (upon almost nothing at all): and finally, th january, , came the election itself, karl albert the man; poor wretch, who never saw another good day in this world. belleisle during those six months was rather high and airy, extremely magnificent; but did not want discretion: "more like a kurfurst than an ambassador;" capable of "visiting kur-mainz, with servants purposely in old liveries,"--where the case needed old, where kur-mainz needed snubbing; not otherwise. [buchholz, ii. n.] "the marechal de belleisle," says an eye-witness, of some fame in those days, "comes out in a variety of parts, among us here; plays now the general, now the philosopher, now the minister of state, now the french marquis;--and does them all to perfection. surely a master in his art. his brother the chevalier is one of the sensiblest and best-trained persons you can see. he has a penetrating intellect; is always occupied, and full of great schemes; and has nevertheless a staid kind of manner. he is one of the most important personages here; and in all things his brother's right hand." [von loen, _kleine schriften_ (cited in adelung, ii. ).] in frankfurt, both belleisle and his brother were much respected, the brother especially, as men of dignified behavior and shining qualities; but as to their hundred and thirty french lords and other valetry, these by their extravagances and excesses (ausschweifungen) made themselves extremely detestable, it would appear. [buchholz, ii. ; in adelung, ii. n., a french brocard on the subject, of sufficient emphasis.] chapter xii. -- sorrows of his britannic majesty. george ii. did not hear of mollwitz for above a fortnight after it fell out; but he had no need of mollwitz to kindle his wrath or his activity in that matter. [mollwitz first heard of in london, april th ( th); subsidy of , pounds voted same day. _london gazette_ (april th- th, ); _commons journals,_ xxiii. .] george ii. had seen, all along, with natural manifold aversion and indignation, these high attempts of his nephew. "who is this new little king, that will not let himself be snubbed, and laughed at, and led by the nose, as his father did; but seems to be taking a road of his own, and tacitly defying us all? a very high conduct indeed, for a sovereign of that magnitude. aspires seemingly to be the leader among german princes; to reduce hanover and us,--us, with the gold of england in our breeches-pocket,--to the second place? a reverend old bishop of liege, twitched by the rochet, and shaken hither and thither, like a reverend old clothes-screen, till he agree to stand still and conform. and now a silesia seized upon; a pragmatic sanction kicked to the winds: the whole world to be turned topsy-turvy, and hanover and us, with our breeches-pocket, reduced to--?" the emotions, the prognosticatings, and distracted procedures of his britannic majesty, of which we have ourselves seen somewhat, in this fermentation of the elements, are copiously set down for us by the english dryasdust (mostly in unintelligible form): but, except for sane purposes, one must be careful not to dwell on them, to the sorrow of readers. seldom was there such a feat of somnambulism, as that by the english and their king in the next twenty years. to extract the particle of sanity from it, and see how the poor english did get their own errand done withal, and jenkins's ear avenged,--that is the one interesting point; dryasdust and the nightmares shall, to all time, be welcome to the others. here are some excerpts, a select few; which will perhaps be our readiest expedient. these do, under certain main aspects, shadow forth the intricate posture of king george and his nation, when belleisle, as protagonistes or chief bully, stept down into the ring, in that manner; asking, "is there an antagonistes, then, or chief defender?" i will label them, number them; and, with the minimum of needful commentary, leave them to imaginative readers. no. . snatch of parliamentary eloquence by mr. viner ( th april, ). the fuliginous explosions, more or less volcanic, which went on in parliament and in english society, against friedrich's silesian enterprise, for long years from this date, are now all dead and avoidable,--though they have left their effects among us to this day. perhaps readers would like to see the one reasonable word i have fallen in with, of opposite tendency; mr. viner's word, at the first starting of that question: plainly sensible word, which, had it been attended to (as it was not), might have saved us so much nonsense, not of idle talk only, but of extremely serious deed which ensued thereupon! "london, th april, . this day [mollwitz not yet known, camp of gottin too well known!] king george, in his own high person, comes down to the house of lords,--which, like the other house, is sunk painfully in walpole controversies, spanish-war controversies, of a merely domestic nature;--and informs both honorable houses, with extreme caution, naming nobody, that he much wishes they would think of helping him in these alarming circumstances of the celestial balance, ready apparently to go heels uppermost. to which the general answer is, 'yes, surely!'--with a vote of , pounds for her hungarian majesty, a few days hence. from those continents of parliamentary tufa, now fallen so waste and mournful, here is one little piece which ought to be extricated into daylight:-- "mr. viner (on his legs):... 'if i mistake not the true intention of the address proposed,' in answer to his majesty's most gracious speech from the throne, 'we are invited to declare that we will oppose the king of prussia in his attempts upon silesia: a declaration in which i see not how any man can concur who knows not the nature of his prussian majesty's claim, and the laws of the german empire [nor do i, mr. v.]! it ought therefore, sir, to have been the first endeavor of those by whom this address has been so zealously supported, to show that his prussian majesty's claim, so publicly explained [by kauzler ludwig, of halle, who, it seems, has staggered or convinced mr. viner], so firmly urged and so strongly supported, is without foundation and reason, and is only one of those imaginary titles which ambition may always find to the dominions of another.' (hear mr viner!)" [tindal, xx. , gives the royal speech (date in a very slobbery condition); see also coxe, _house of austria,_ iii. . viner's fragment of a speech is in thackeray, _life of chatham,_ i. .]... a most indispensable thing, surely. which was never done, nor can ever be done; but was assumed as either unnecessary or else done of its own accord, by that collective wisdom of england (with a sage george ii. at the head of it); who plunged into dettingen, fontenoy, austrian subsidies, aix-la-chapelle, and foundation of the english national debt, among other strange things, in consequence!-- upon that of kanzler ludwig, and the "so public explanation" (which we slightly heard of long since), here is another note,--unless readers prefer to skip it:-- "that the diplomatic and political world is universally in travail at this time, no reader need be told; europe everywhere in dim anxiety, heavy-laden expectation (which to us has fallen so vacant); looking towards inevitable changes and the huge inane. all in travail;--and already uttering printed manifestoes, patents, deductions, and other public travail-shrieks of that kind. printed; not to speak of the unprinted, of the oral which vanished on the spot; or even of the written which were shot forth by breathless estafettes, and unhappily did not vanish, but lie in archives, still humming upon us, "won't you read me, then?"--alas, except on compulsion, no! life being precious (and time, which is the stuff of life), no!-- "at reinsberg as elsewhere, at reinsberg first of all, it had been felt, in october last, that there would be manifestoes needed; learned proof, the more irrefragable the better, of our right to silesia. it was settled there, let ludwig, kanzler of the university of halle, do it. [herr kanzler ludwig, monster of antiquarian, legal and other learning there: wealthy, too, and close-fisted; whom we have seen obliged to open his closed fist, and to do building in the friedrich strasse, before now; nussler, his son-in-law, having no money:--as careless readers have perhaps forgotten?] ludwig set about his new task with a proud joy. ludwig knows that story, if he know anything. long years ago he put forth a chapter upon it; weighty chapter; in a book of weight, said judges;--book weighing, in pounds avoirdupois and otherwise, none of us now knows what: [title of this weighty performance (see preuss, _thronbesteigung,_ p. ) is, or was (size not given), _germania princeps_ (halae, ). preuss says farther, "that book ii. c. handles the prussian claims: jagerndorf being? ; liegnitz,? ; oppeln and ratibor,? ;--and that ludwig had sent a copy of this argument [weighty performance altogether? or book ii. c. of it, which would have had a better chance?] to king friedrich, on the death of kaiser karl vi."]--but, in after years, it used to be said by flatterers of the kanzler, 'herr kanzler, see the effect of learning. it was you, it was your weighty book, that caused all this world-tumult, and flung the nations into one another's hair!' upon which the old kanzler would blush: 'you do me too much honor!' "ludwig, directly on order given, gathered out his documents again, in the king's name this time; and promised something weighty by new-year's day at latest." doubtless to the joy of nussler, who has still no regular appointment, though well deserving one. "and sure enough, on january th, at berlin, 'in three languages,' ludwig's deduction had come out; an eager public waiting for it: [title is, _rechtsgegrundetes eigenthum_ (in the latin copies, _patrimonium,_ and _propriete fondee en droit_ in the french copies) _des &c.,_--that is to say, _legal right of property in the royal-electoral house of brandenburg to the duchies and principalities of jagerndorf, liegnitz, brieg, wohlau_ (berlin, th january, ).]--and at berlin it was generally thought to be conclusive. i have looked into ludwig's deduction, stern duty urging, in this instance for one: such portions as i read are nothing like so stupid as was expected; and, in fact, are not to be called stupid at all, but fit for their purpose, and moderately intelligible to those who need them,"--which happily we do not in this place. judicious mr. viner availed nothing against the proposed address; any more than he would against the atlantic tide, coming in unanimous, under influence of the moon itself,--as indeed this address, and the triumphant subsidy which was voted in the rear of it, may be said to have done. [coxe, iii. .] subsidy of , pounds to her hungarian majesty; which, with the , pounds already gone that road, makes a handsome half-million for the present year. the first gush of the britannia fountain,--which flowed like an amalthea's horn for seven years to come; refreshing austria, and all thirsty pragmatic nations, to defend the keystone of this universe. unluckily every guinea of it went, at the same time, to encourage austria in scorning king friedrich's offers to it; which perhaps are just offers, thinks mr. viner; which once listened to, pragmatic sanction would be safe. [mr. viner was of pupham, or pupholm, in lincolnshire, for which county he sat then, and for many years before and after,--from about till , when he died. a solid, instructed man, say his contemporaries. "he was a friend of bolingbroke's, and had a house near bolingbroke's battersea one." he is great great-grandfather to the present mr. viner, and to the countess de grey and ripon; which is an interesting little fact.] this parliament is strong for pragmatic sanction, and has high resentments against walpole; in both which points the new parliament, just getting elected, will rival and surpass it,--especially in the latter point, that of uprooting walpole, which the nation is bent on, with a singular fury. pragmatic sanction like to be ruined; and walpole furiously thrown out: what a pair of sorrows for poor george! during his late caroline's time, all went peaceably, and that of "governing" was a mere pleasure; walpole and caroline cunningly doing that for him, and making him believe he was doing it. but now has come the crisis, the collapse; and his poor majesty left alone to deal with it!-- no. . constitutional historian on the phenomenon of walpole in england. "for above ten years, walpole himself", says my constitutional historian (unpublished), "for almost twenty years, walpole virtually and through others, has what they call 'governed' england; that is to say, has adjusted the conflicting parliamentary chaos into counterpoise, by what methods he had; and allowed england, with walpole atop, to jumble whither it would and could. of crooked things made straight by walpole, of heroic performance or intention, legislative or administrative, by walpole, nobody ever heard; never of the least hand-breadth gained from the night-realm in england, on walpole's part: enough if he could manage to keep the parish constable walking, and himself float atop. which task (though intrinsically zero for the community, but all-important to the walpole, of constitutional countries) is a task almost beyond the faculty of man, if the careless reader knew it! "this task walpole did,--in a sturdy, deep-bellied, long-headed, john-bull fashion, not unworthy of recognition. a man of very forcible natural eyesight, strong natural heart,--courage in him to all lengths; a very block of oak, or of oakroot, for natural strength. he was always very quiet with it, too; given to digest his victuals, and be peaceable with everybody. he had one rule, that stood in place of many: to keep out of every business which it was possible for human wisdom to stave aside. 'what good will you get of going into that? parliamentary criticism, argument and botheration? leave well alone. and even leave ill alone:--are you the tradesman to tinker leaky vessels in england? you will not want for work. mind your pudding, and say little!' at home and abroad, that was the safe secret. for, in foreign politics, his rule was analogous: 'mind your own affairs. you are an island, you can do without foreign politics; peace, keep peace with everybody: what, in the devil's name, have you to do with those dog-worryings over seas? once more, mind your pudding!' not so bad a rule; indeed it is the better part of an extremely good one;--and you might reckon it the real rule for a pious rritannic island (reverent of god, and contemptuous of the devil) in times of general down-break and spiritual bankruptcy, when quarrellings of sovereigns are apt to be mere dog-worryings and devil's work, not good to interfere in. "in this manner, walpole, by solid john-bull faculty (and methods of his own), had balanced the parliamentary swaggings and clashings, for a great while; and england had jumbled whither it could, always in a stupid, but also in a peaceable way. as to those same 'methods of his own' they were--in fact they were bribery. actual purchase of votes by money slipt into the hand. go straight to the point. 'the direct real method this,' thinks walpole: 'is there in reality any other?' a terrible question to constitutional countries; which, i hear, has never been resolved in the negative, by the modern improvements of science. changes of form have introduced themselves; the outward process, i hear, is now quite different. according as the fashions and conditions alter,--according as you have a fourth estate developed, or a fourth estate still in the grub stage and only developing,--much variation of outward process is conceivable. "but votes, under pain of death official, are necessary to your poor walpole: and votes, i hear, are still bidden for, and bought. you may buy them by money down (which is felony, and theft simple, against the poor nation); or by preferments and appointments of the unmeritorious man,--which is felony double-distilled (far deadlier, though more refined), and theft most compound; theft, not of the poor nation's money, but of its soul and body so far, and of all its moneys and temporal and spiritual interests whatsoever; theft, you may say, of collops cut from its side, and poison put into its heart, poor nation! or again, you may buy, not of the third estate in such ways, but of the fourth, or of the fourth and third together, in other still more felonious and deadly, though refined ways. by doing clap-traps, namely; letting off parliamentary blue-lights, to awaken the sleeping swineries, and charm them into diapason for you,--what a music! or, without clap-trap or previous felony of your own, you may feloniously, in the pinch of things, make truce with the evident demagogos, and son of nox and of perdition, who has got 'within those walls' of yours, and is grown important to you by the awakened swineries, risen into alt, that follow him. him you may, in your dire hunger of votes, consent to comply with; his anarchies you will pass for him into 'laws,' as you are pleased to term them;--instead of pointing to the whipping-post, and to his wicked long ears, which are so fit to be nailed there, and of sternly recommending silence, which were the salutary thing.--buying may be done in a great variety of ways. the question, how you buy? is not, on the moral side, an important one. nay, as there is a beauty in going straight to the point, and by that course there is likely to be the minimum of mendacity for you, perhaps the direct money-method is a shade less damnable than any of the others since discovered;--while, in regard to practical damage resulting, it is of childlike harmlessness in comparison! "that was walpole's method; with this to aid his great natural faculty, long-headed, deep-bellied, suitable to the english parliament and nation, he went along with perfect success for ten or twenty years. and it might have been for longer,--had not the english nation accidentally come to wish, that it should cease jumbling no-whither; and try to jumble some-whither, at least for a little while, on important business that had risen for england in a certain quarter. had it not been for jenkins's ear blazing out in the dark english brain, walpole might have lasted still a long while. but his fate lay there:--the first business vital to england which might turn up; and this chanced to be the spanish war. how vital, readers shall see anon. walpole, knowing well enough in what state his war-apparatus was, and that of all his apparatuses there was none in a working state, but the parliamentary one,--resisted the spanish war; stood in the door against it, with a rhinoceros determination, nay almost something of a mastiff's; resolute not to admit it, to admit death as soon. doubtless he had a feeling it would be death, the sagacious man;--and such it is now proving; the walpole ministry dying by inches from it; dying hard, but irremediably. "the english nation was immensely astonished, which walpole was not, any more than at the other laws of nature, to find walpole's war-apparatus in such a condition. all his apparatuses, walpole guesses, are in no better, if it be not the parliamentary one. the english nation is immensely astonished, which walpole again is not, to find that his parliamentary apparatus has been kept in gear and smooth-going by the use of oil: 'miraculous scandal of scandals!' thinks the english nation. 'miracle? law of nature, you fools!' thinks walpole. and in fact there is such a storm roaring in england, in those and in the late and the coming months, as threatens to be dangerous to high roofs,--dangerous to walpole's head at one time. storm such as had not been witnessed in men's memory; all manner of counties and constituencies, with solemn indignation, charging their representatives to search into that miraculous scandal of scandals, law of nature, or whatever it may be; and abate the same, at their peril. "to the now reader there is something almost pathetic in these solemn indignations, and high resolves to have purity of parliament and thorough administrative reform, in spite of nature and the constitutional stars;--and nothing i have met with, not even the prussian dryasdust, is so unsufferably wearisome, or can pretend to equal in depth of dull inanity, to ingenuous living readers, our poor english dryasdust's interminable, often-repeated narratives, volume after volume, of the debatings and colleaguings, the tossings and tumults, fruitless and endless, in nation and national palaver, which ensued thereupon. walpole (in about a year hence), [february th ( d), , quitting the house after bad usage there, said he would never enter it again; nor did: february d, resigned in favor of pulteney and company (tindal, xx. ; thackeray, i. ).] though he struck to the ground like a rhinoceros, was got rolled out. and a successor, and series of successors, in the bright brand-new state, was got rolled in; with immense shouting from mankind:--but up to this date we have no reason to believe that the laws of nature were got abrogated on that occasion, or that the constitutional stars have much altered their courses since." that walpole will probably be lost, goes much home to the royal bosom, in these troublous spring months of , as it has done and will do. and here, emerging from the spanish main just now, is a second sorrow, which might quite transfix the royal bosom, and drive majesty itself to despair; awakening such insoluble questions,--furnishing such proof, that walpole and a good few other persons (persons, and also things, and ideas and practices, deep-rooted in the country) stand much in need of being lost, if england is to go a good road! the spanish war being of moment to us here, we will let our constitutional historian explain, in his own dialect, how it was so vital to england; and shall even subjoin what he gives as history of it, such being so admirably succinct, for one quality. no. . of the spanish war, or the jenkins's-ear question. "there was real cause for a war with spain. it is one of the few cases, this, of a war from necessity. spain, by decree of the pope,--some pope long ago, whose name we will not remember, in solemn conclave, drawing accurately 'his meridian line,' on i know not what telluric or uranic principles, no doubt with great accuracy 'between portugal and spain,'--was proprietor of all those seas and continents. and now england, in the interim, by decree of the eternal destinies, had clearly come to have property there, too; and to be practically much concerned in that theoretic question of the pope's meridian. there was no reconciling of theory with fact. 'ours indisputably,' said spain, with loud articulate voice; 'holiness the pope made it ours!'--while fact and the english, by decree of the eternal destinies, had been grumbling inarticulately the other way, for almost two hundred years past, and no result had. "in oliver cromwell's time, it used to be said, 'with spain, in europe, there may be peace or war; but between the tropics it is always war.' a state of things well recognized by oliver, and acted on, according to his opportunities. no settlement was had in oliver's brief time; nor could any be got since, when it was becoming yearly more pressing. bucaniers, desperate naval gentlemen living on boucan, or hung beef; who are also called flibustiers (flibutiers, 'freebooters,' in french pronunciation, which is since grown strangely into filibusters, fillibustiers, and other mad forms, in the yankee newspapers now current): readers have heard of those dumb methods of protest. dumb and furious; which could bring no settlement; but which did astonish the pope's decree, slashing it with cutlasses and sea-cannon, in that manner, and circuitously forwarded a settlement. settlement was becoming yearly more needful: and, ever since the treaty of utrecht especially, there had been an incessant haggle going on, to produce one; without the least effect hitherto. what embassyings, bargainings, bargain-breakings; what galloping of estafettes; acres of diplomatic paper, now fallen to the spiders, who always privately were the real owners! not in the treaty of utrecht, not in the congresses of cambray, of soissons, convention of pardo, by ripperda, horace walpole, or the wagging of wigs, could this matter be settled at all. near two hundred years of chronic misery;--and had there been, under any of those wigs, a head capable of reading the heavenly mandates, with heart capable of following them, the misery might have been briefly ended, by a direct method. with what immense saving in all kinds, compared with the oblique method gone upon! in quantity of bloodshed needed, of money, of idle talk and estafettes, not to speak of higher considerations, the saving had been incalculable. for it was england's one cause of war during the century we are now upon; and poor england's course, when at last driven into it, went ambiguously circling round the whole universe, instead of straight to the mark. had oliver cromwell lived ten years longer;--but oliver cromwell did not live; and, instead of heroic heads, there came in constitutional wigs, which makes a great difference. "the pretensions of spain to keep half the world locked up in embargo were entirely chimerical; plainly contradictory to the laws of nature; and no amount of pope's donation acts, or ceremonial in rota or propaganda, could redeem them from untenability, in the modern days. to lie like a dog in the manger over south america, and say snarling, 'none of you shall trade here, though i cannot!'--what pope or body of popes can sanction such a procedure? had england had a head, instead of wigs, amid its diplomatists, england, as the chief party interested, would have long since intimated gently to such dog in the manger: 'dog, will you be so obliging as rise! i am grieved to say, we shall have to do unpleasant things otherwise. dogs have doors for their hutches: but to pretend barring the tropic of cancer,--that is too big a door for any dog. can nobody but you have business here, then, which is not displeasing to the gods? we bid you rise!' and in this mode there is no doubt the dog, bark and bite as he might, would have ended by rising; not only england, but all the universe being against him. and furthermore, i compute with certainty, the quantity of fighting needed to obtain such result would, by this mode, have been a minimum. the clear right being there, and now also the clear might, why take refuge in diplomatic wiggeries, in assiento treaties, and arrangements which are not analogous to the facts; which are but wigged mendacities, therefore; and will but aggravate in quantity and in quality the fighting yet needed? fighting is but (as has been well said) a battering out of the mendacities, pretences, and imaginary elements: well battered-out, these, like dust and chaff, fly torrent-wise along the winds, and darken all the sky; but these once gone, there remain the facts and their visible relation to one another, and peace is sure. "the assiento treaty being fixed upon, the english ought to have kept it. but the english did not, in any measure; nor could pretend to have done. they were entitled to supply negroes, in such and such number, annually to the spanish plantations; and besides this delightful branch of trade, to have the privilege of selling certain quantities of their manufactured articles on those coasts; quantities regulated briefly by this stipulation, that their assiento ship was to be of tons burden, so many and no more. the assiento ship was duly of tons accordingly, promise kept faithfully to the eye; but the assiento ship was attended and escorted by provision-sloops, small craft said to be of the most indispensable nature to it. which provision-sloops, and indispensable small craft, not only carried merchandise as well, but went and came to jamaica and back, under various pretexts, with ever new supplies of merchandise; converting the assiento ship into a floating shop, the tons burden and tons sale of which set arithmetic at defiance. this was the fact, perfectly well known in england, veiled over by mere smuggler pretences, and obstinately persisted in, so profitable was it. perfectly well known in spain also, and to the spanish guarda-costas and sea-captains in those parts; who were naturally kept in a perennial state of rage by it,--and disposed to fly out into flame upon it, when a bad case turned up! such a case that of jenkins had seemed to them; and their mode of treating it, by tearing off mr. jenkins's ear, proved to be--bad shall we say, or good?--intolerable to england's thick skin; and brought matters to a crisis, in the ways we saw."... the jenkins's-ear question, which then looked so mad to everybody, how sane has it now grown to my constitutional friend! in abstruse ludicrous form there lay immense questions involved in it; which were serious enough, certain enough, though invisible to everybody. half the world lay hidden in embryo under it. colonial-empire, whose is it to be? shall half the world be england's, for industrial purposes; which is innocent, laudable, conformable to the multiplication-table at least, and other plain laws? or shall it be spain's for arrogant-torpid sham-devotional purposes, contradictory to every law? the incalculable yankee nation itself, biggest phenomenon (once thought beautifulest) of these ages,--this too, little as careless readers on either side of the sea now know it, lay involved. shall there be a yankee nation, shall there not be; shall the new world be of spanish type, shall it be of english? issues which we may call immense. among the then extant sons of adam, where was he who could in the faintest degree surmise what issues lay in the jenkins's-ear question? and it is curious to consider now, with what fierce deep-breathed doggedness the poor english nation, drawn by their instincts, held fast upon it, and would take no denial, as if they had surmised and seen. for the instincts of simple guileless persons (liable to be counted stupid, by the unwary) are sometimes of prophetic nature, and spring from the deep places of this universe!--my constitutional friend entitles his next section carthagena; but might more fitly have headed it (for such in reality it is, carthagena proving the evanescent point of that sad business), succinct history of the spanish war, which began in ; and ended--when did it end? . war, and porto-bello (november, -march, ).--"november th, , war was at length (after above four months' obscure quasi-declaring of it, in the shape of orders in council, letters of marque, and so on) got openly declared; 'heralds at arms at the usual places' blowing trumpets upon it, and reading the royal manifesto, date of which is five days earlier, 'kensington, october th ( th).' the principal events that ensue, arrange themselves under three heads, this of porto-bello being the first; and (by intense smelting) are datable as follows:--[_gentleman's magazine,_ ix. , x. , , , ; tindal, xx. - , ; &c.] "tuesday evening, st december, , admiral vernon, our chosen anti-spaniard, finding, a while ago, that he had missed the azogue ships on the coast of spain, and must try america and the spanish main, in that view arrives at porto-bello. next day, december d, vernon attacks porto-bello; attacks certain castles so called, with furious broadsiding, followed by scalading; gets surrender (on the d);--seamen have allowance instead of plunder;--blows up what castles there are; and returns to port royal in jamaica. "never-imagined joy in england, and fame to vernon, when the news came: 'took it with six ships,' cry they; 'the scurvy ministry, who had heard him, in the fire of parliamentary debate, say six, would grant him no more: invincible vernon!' nay, next year, i see, 'london was illuminated on the anniversary of porto-bello:'--day settled in permanence as one of the high-tides of the calendar, it would appear. and 'vernon's birthday' withal--how touching is stupidity when loyal!--was celebrated amazingly in all the chief towns, like a kind of christmas, when it came round; nature having deigned to produce such a man, for a poor nation in difficulties. invincible vernon, it is thought by gazetteers, 'will look in at carthagena shortly;' much more important place, where a certain governor don blas has been insolent withal, and written vernon letters. " . preliminaries to carthagena (march-november, ).--monday, th march, , vernon did, accordingly, look in on carthagena; [_gentleman's magazine,_ x. .] cast anchor in the shallow waste of surfs there, that monday; and tried some bombarding, with bomb-ketches and the like, from thursday till saturday following. vernon hopes he did hit the jesuits' college, south bastion, custom-house and other principal edifices; but found that there was no getting near enough on that seaward side. found that you must force the interior harbor,--a big inland gulf or lake, which gushes in by what they call little-mouth (boca-chica), and has its booms, castles and defences, which are numerous and strongish;--and that, for this end, you must have seven or eight thousand land forces, as well as an addition of ships. on saturday evening, therefore, vernon calls in his bomb-ketches; sails past, examining these things; and goes forth on other small adventures. for example,-- "sunday, d april, , 'about at night' opens cannonade on chagres (place often enough taken, by cutlass and pistol, in the bucanier times); and, on tuesday, th, gets surrender of chagres: 'custom-house crammed with goods, which we set fire to.' on news of which, there is again, in england, joy over the day of small things. the poor english people are set on this business of avenging jenkins's ear, and of having the ocean highway unbarred; and hope always it can be done by the walpole apparatuses, which ought to be in working order, and are not. 'support this hero, you walpole and company, in his carthagena views: it will be better for you!" "walpole and company, aware of that fact, do take some trouble about it; and now, may not we say, paullo majora canamus? all through that summer, ,"--while king friedrich went rushing about, to strasburg, to wesel; doing his herstals and practicalities, with a light high hand, in almost an entertaining manner; and intent, still more, on his voltaires and a life to the muses,--"there was, in england, serious heavy tumult of activity, secret and public. in the dockyards, on the drill-grounds, what a stir: camp in the isle of wight, not to mention portsmouth and the sea-industries; , marines are to be embarked, as well as land regiments,--can anybody guess whither? america itself is to furnish 'one regiment, with scotch officers to discipline it,' if they can. "here is real haste and effort; but by no means such speed as could be wished; multiplex confusions and contradictions occurring, as is usual, when your machinery runs foul. nor are the gazetteers without their guesses, though they study to be discreet. 'here is something considerable in the wind; a grand idea, for certain;'--and to men of discernment it points surely towards carthagena and heroic vernon out yonder? government is dumb altogether; and lays occasional embargo; trying hard (without success), in the delays that occurred, to keep it secret from don blas and others. the outcome of all which was, " . carthagena itself (november, --april, ).--on november th,--by no means 'july d,' as your first fond program bore; which delay was itself likely to be fatal, unless the almanac, and course of the tropical seasons would delay along with you!--we say, on sunday, th november, [kaiser karl's funeral just over, and great thoughts going on at reinsberg], rear-admiral sir chaloner ogle,--so many weeks and months after the set time,--does sail from st. helen's (guessed, for carthagena); all people sending blessings with him. twenty-five big ships of the line, with three half-regiments on board; fireships, bomb-ketches, in abundance; and eighty transports, with , drilled marines: a sea-and-land force fit to strengthen hero vernon with a witness, and realize his carthagena views. a very great day at portsmouth and st. helen's for these sunday folk. [tindal, xx. (lists, &c. there; date wrong, " st october," instead of th (o.s.),--many things wrong, and all things left loose and flabby, and not right! as is poor tindal's way).] "most obscure among the other items in that armada of sir chaloner's, just taking leave of england; most obscure of the items then, but now most noticeable, or almost alone noticeable, is a young surgeon's-mate,--one tobias smollett; looking over the waters there and the fading coasts, not without thoughts. a proud, soft-hearted, though somewhat stern-visaged, caustic and indignant young gentleman. apt to be caustic in speech, having sorrows of his own under lock and key, on this and subsequent occasions. excellent tobias; he has, little as he hopes it, something considerable by way of mission in this expedition, and in this universe generally. mission to take portraiture of english seamanhood, with the due grimness, due fidelity; and convey the same to remote generations, before it vanish. courage, my brave young tobias; through endless sorrows, contradictions, toils and confusions, you will do your errand in some measure; and that will be something!-- "five weeks before ( th september, , which was also several months beyond time set), there had sailed, strictly hidden by embargoes which were little effectual, another expedition, all naval; intended to be subsidiary to this one: commodore anson's, of three inconsiderable ships; who is to go round cape horn, if he can; to bombard spanish america from the other side; and stretch out a hand to vernon in his grand carthagena or ulterior views. together they may do some execution, if we judge by the old bucanier and queen-elizabeth experiences? anson's expedition has become famous in the world, though vernon got no good of it." well! here truly was a business; not so ill-contrived. somebody of head must have been at the centre of this: and it might, in result, have astonished the spaniard, and tumbled him much topsy-turvy in those latitudes,--had the machinery for executing it been well in gear. under friedrich wilhelm's captaincy and management, every person, every item, correct to its time, to its place, to its function, what a thing! but with mere walpole machinery: alas, it was far too wide a plan for machinery of that kind, habitually out of order, and only used to be as correct as--as it could. those delays themselves, first to anson, then to ogle, since the tropical almanac would not delay along with them, had thrown both enterprises into weather such as all but meant impossibility in those latitudes! this was irremediable;--had not been remediable, by efforts and pushings here and there. the best of management, as under anson, could not get the better of this; worst of management, as in the other case, was likely to make a fine thing of it! let us hasten on:-- "january th, , we arrive, through much rough weather and other confused hardships, at port royal in jamaica; find vernon waiting on the slip; the american regiment, tolerably drilled by the scotch lieutenants, in full readiness and equipment; a body of negroes superadded, by way of pioneer laborers fit for those hot climates. one sad loss there had been on the voyage hither: land forces had lost their commander, and did not find another. general cathcart had died of sickness on the voyage; a charles lord cathcart, who was understood to possess some knowledge of his business; and his successor, one wentworth, did not happen to have any. which was reckoned unlucky, by the more observant. vernon, though in haste for carthagena, is in some anxiety about a powerful french fleet which has been manoeuvring in those waters for some time; intent on no good that vernon can imagine. the first thing now is, see into that french fleet. french fleet, on our going to look in the proper island, is found to be all off for home; men 'mostly starved or otherwise dead,' we hear; so that now, after this last short delay,--to carthagena with all sail. "wednesday evening, th march, , we anchor in the playa grande, the waste surfy shallow which washes carthagena seaward: sail of us, big and little. we find don blas in a very prepared posture. don blas has been doing his best, this twelvemonth past; plugging up that boca-chica (little mouth) ingate, with batteries, booms, great ships; and has castles not a few thereabouts and in the interior lake or harbor; all which he has put in tolerable defence, so far as can be judged: not an inactive, if an insolent don. we spend the next five days in considering and surveying these performances of his: what is to be done with them; how, in the first place, we may force boca-chica; and get in upon his interior castles and him. after consideration, and plan fixed: "monday, th march, sir chaloner, with broadsides, sweeps away some small defences which lie to left of boca-chica [to our left, to boca-chica's right, if anybody cares to be particular]. whereupon the troops land, some of them that same evening; and, within the next two days, are all ashore, implements, negroes and the rest; building batteries, felling wood; intent to capture boca-chica castle, and demolish the war-ships, booms, and fry of fascine and other batteries; and thereby to get in upon don blas, and have a stroke at his interior castles and carthagena itself. till april th, here are sixteen days of furious intricate work; not ill done:--the physical labor itself, the building of batteries, with boca-chica firing on you over the woods, is scarcely do-able by europeans in that season; and the negroes who are able for it, 'fling down their burdens, and scamper, whenever a gun goes off.' furious fighting, too, there was, by seamen and landsmen; not ill done, considering circumstances. "on the sixteenth day, april th [king friedrich hurrying from the mountains that same day, towards steinau, which took fire with him at night], boca-chica castle and the intricate war-ships, booms, and castles thereabouts (don blas running off when the push became intense), are at last got. so that now, through boca-chica, we enter the interior harbor or harbors. 'harbors' which are of wide extent, and deep enough: being in fact a lake, or rather pair of lakes, with castles (castillo grande, 'castle grand,' the chief of them), with war-ships sunk or afloat, and miscellaneous obstructions: beyond all which, at the farther shore, some five miles off, carthagena itself does at last lie potentially accessible; and we hope to get in upon don blas and it. there ensue five days of intricate sea-work; not much of broadsiding, mainly tugging out of sunk war-ships, and the like, to get alongside of castle grand, which is the chief obstruction. "april , castle grand itself is got; nobody found in it when we storm. don blas and the spaniards seem much in terror; burning any ships they still have, near carthagena; as if there were no chance now left." this is the very day of mollwitz battle; near about the hour when schwerin broke into field-music, and advanced with thunderous glitter against the evening sun! carthagena expedition is, at length, fairly in contact with its problem,--the question rising, 'do you understand it, then?' "up to this point, mistakes of management had been made good by obstinate energy of execution; clear victory had gone on so far, the capture of carthagena now seemingly at hand. one thing was unfortunate: 'the able mr. moor [meritorious captain of foot, who, by accident, had spent some study on his business], the one real engineer we had,' got killed in that boca-chica struggle: an end to poor moor! so that the siege of carthagena will have to go on without engineer science henceforth. may be important, that,--who knows? another thing was still more palpably important: sea-general vernon had an undisguised contempt for land-general wentworth. 'a mere blockhead, whose brother has a borough,' thinks vernon (himself an opposition member, of high-sniffing, angry, not too magnanimous turn);--and withdraws now to his ships; intimating: 'do your problem, then; i have set you down beside it, which was my part of the affair!'--let us give the attack of fort lazar, and end this sad business. "sunday, th april, wentworth, once master of the uppermost lake or harbor (what the natives call the surgidero, or anchorage proper), had disembarked, high up to the right, a good way south of carthagena; meaning to attack there-from a certain fort lazar, which stands on a hill between carthagena and him: this hill and fort once his, he has carthagena under his cannon; carthagena in his pocket, as it were. 'fort not to be had without batteries,' thinks wentworth; though the sickly rainy season has set in. 'batteries? scaling-ladders, you mean!' answers vernon, with undisguised contempt. for the two are, by this time, almost in open quarrel. wentworth starts building batteries, in spite of the rain-deluges; then stops building;--decides to do it by scalade, after all. and, at two in the morning of this sunday, april th, sets forth, in certain columns,--by roads ill-known, with arrangements that do not fit like clock-work,--to storm said hill and fort. the english are an obstinate people; and strenuous execution will sometimes amend defects of plan,--sometimes not. "the obstinate english, nothing in them but sullen fire of valor, which has to burn unluminous, did, after mistake on mistake, climb the rocks or heights of lazar hill, in spite of the world and don blas's cannonading; but found, when atop, that fort lazar, raining cannon-shot, was still divided from them by chasms; that the scaling-ladders had not come (never did come, owing to indiscipline somewhere),--and that, without wings as of eagles, they could not reach fort lazar at all! for about four hours, they struggled with a desperate doggedness, to overcome the chasms, to wrench aside the laws of nature, and do something useful for themselves; patiently, though sulkily; regardless of the storm of shot which killed of them, the while. at length, finding the laws of nature too strong for them, they descended gloomily: 'in gloomy silence' marched home to their tents again,--in a humor too deep for words. "yes; and we find they fell sick in multitudes, that night; and, 'in two days more, were reduced from , to , effective;' vernon, from the sea, looking disdainfully on:--and it became evident that the big project had gone to water; and that nothing would remain but to return straightway to jamaica, in bankrupt condition. which accordingly was set about. and ten days hence (april th)) the final party of them did get on board,--punctual to take 'three tents,' their last rag of siege-furniture, along with them; 'lest don blas have trophies,' thinks poor wentworth. and sailed away, with their sad siege finished in such fashion. strenuous siege; which, had the war-sciences been foolishness, and the laws of nature and the rigors of arithmetic and geometry been stretchable entities, might have succeeded better!" [smollett's account, _miscellaneous works_ (edinburgh, ), iv. - , is that of a highly intelligent eye-witness, credible and intelligible in every particular.] "evening of april th:"--i perceive it was in the very hours while belleisle arrived in friedrich's camp at mollwitz; eve of that siege of brieg, which we saw performing itself with punctual regard to said laws and rigors, and issuing in so different a manner! nothing that my constitutional historian has said equals in pungent enormity the matter-of-fact picture, left by tobias smollett, of the sick and wounded, in the interim which follow&d that attempt on fort lazar and the laws of nature:-- "as for the sick and wounded", says tobias, "they were, next day, sent on board of the transports and vessels called hospital-ships; where they languished in want of every necessary comfort and accommodation. they were destitute of surgeons, nurses, cooks and proper provision; they were pent up between decks in small vessels, where they had not room to sit upright; they wallowed in filth; myriads of maggots were hatched in the putrefaction of their sores, which had no other dressing than that of being washed by themselves with their own allowance of brandy; and nothing was heard but groans, lamentations and the language of despair, invoking death to deliver them from their miseries. what served to encourage this despondence, was the prospect of those poor wretches who had strength and opportunity to look around them; for there they beheld the naked bodies of their fellow-soldiers and comrades floating up and down the harbor, affording prey to the carrion-crows and sharks, which tore them in pieces without interruption, and contributing by their stench to the mortality that prevailed. "this picture cannot fail to be shocking to the humane reader, especially when he is informed, that while those miserable objects cried in vain for assistance, and actually perished for want of proper attendance, every ship of war in the fleet could have spared a couple of surgeons for their relief; and many young gentlemen of that profession solicited their captains in pain for leave to go and administer help to the sick and wounded. the necessities of the poor people were well known; the remedy was easy and apparent; but the discord between the chiefs was inflamed to such a degree of diabolical rancor, that the one chose rather to see his men perish than ask help of the other, who disdained to offer his assistance unasked, though it might have saved the lives of his fellow-subjects." [smollett, ibid. (anderson's edition), iv. .] in such an amazing condition is the english fighting apparatus under walpole, being important for england's self only; while the talking apparatus, important for walpole, is in such excellent gearing, so well kept in repair and oil! by wentworth's blame, who had no knowledge of war; by vernon's, who sat famous on the opposition side, yet wanted loyalty of mind; by one's blame and another's, whose it is idle arguing, here is how your fighting apparatus performs in the hour when needed. unfortunate general, or general's cocked-hat (a brave heart too, they say, though of brain too vacant, too opaque); unfortunate admiral (much blown away by vanity, in-nature and parliamentary wind);--doubly unfortunate nation, that employs such to lead its armaments! how the english nation took it? the english nation has had much of this kind to take, first and last; and apparently will yet have. "gloomy silence," like that of the poor men going home to their tents, is our only dialect towards it. this is a dreadful business, this of the wrecked carthagena expedition; such a force of war-munitions in every kind,--including the rare kind, human courage and force of heart, only not human captaincy, the rarest kind,--as could have swallowed south america at discretion, had there been captains over it. has gone blundering down into orcus and the shark's belly, in that unutterable manner. might have been didactic to england, more than it was; england's skin being very thick against lessons of that nature. might have broken the heart of a little sovereign gentleman curator of england, had he gone hypochondriacally into it; which he was far from doing, brisk little gentleman; looking out else-whither, with those eyes a fleur de tete, and nothing of insoluble admitted into the brain that dwelt inside. what became subsequently of the spanish war, we in vain inquire of history-books. the war did not die for many years to come, but neither did it publicly live; it disappears at this point: a river niger, seen once flowing broad enough; but issuing--does it issue nowhere, then? where does it issue? except for my constitutional historian, still unpublished, i should never have known where.--by the time these disastrous carthagena tidings reached england, his britannic majesty was in hanover; involved, he, and all his state doctors, english and hanoverian, in awful contemplation on pragmatic sanction, kaiserwahl, celestial balance, and the saving of nature's keystone, should this still prove possible to human effort and contrivance. in which imminency of doomsday itself, the small english-spanish matter, which the official people, and his majesty as much as any, had bitterly disliked, was quite let go, and dropped out of view. forgotten by official people; left to the dumb english nation, whose concern it was, to administer as it could. anson--with his three ships gone to two, gone ultimately to one--is henceforth what spanish war there officially is. anson could not meet those vernon-wentworth gentlemen "from the other side of the isthmus of darien," the gentlemen, with their enterprise, being already bankrupt and away. anson, with three inconsiderable ships, which rotted gradually into one, could not himself settle the spanish war: but he did, on his own score, a series of things, ending in beautiful finis of the acapulco ship, which were of considerable detriment, and of highly considerable disgrace, to spain;--and were, and are long likely to be, memorable among the sea-heroisms of the world. giving proof that real captains, taciturn sons of anak, are still born in england; and sea-kings, equal to any that were. luckily, too, he had some chaplain or ship's-surgeon on board, who saw good to write account of that memorable voyage of his; and did it, in brief, perspicuous terms, wise and credible: a real poem in its kind, or romance all fact; one of the pleasantest little books in the world's library at this date. anson sheds some tincture of heroic beauty over that otherwise altogether hideous puddle of mismanagement, platitude, disaster; and vindicates, in a pathetically potential way, the honor of his poor nation a little. apart from official anson, the spanish war fell mainly, we may say, into the hands of--of mr. jenkins himself, and such friends of his, at wapping, bristol and the seaports, as might be disposed to go privateering. in which course, after some crosses at first, and great complaints of losses to spanish privateers, wapping and bristol did at length eminently get the upper hand; and thus carried on this spanish war (or spanish-french, spain and france having got into one boat), for long years coming; in an entirely inarticulate, but by no means quite ineffectual manner,--indeed, to the ultimate clearance of the seas from both french and spaniard, within the next twenty years. readers shall take this little excerpt, dated three years hence, and set it twinkling in the night of their imaginations:-- bristol, monday, st ( th) september, .... "nothing is to be seen here but rejoicings for the number of french prizes brought into this port. our sailors are in high spirits, and full of money; and while on shore, spend their whole time in carousing, visiting their mistresses, going to plays, serenading, &c., dressed out with laced hats, tossels (sic), swords with sword-knots, and every other way of spending their money." [extract of a letter from bristol, in _gentleman's magazine,_ xiv. .] carthagena, walpole, viners: here are sorrows for a britannic majesty;--and these are nothing like all. but poor readers should have some respite; brief breathing-time, were it only to use their pocket-handkerchiefs, and summon new courage! chapter xiii. -- small-war: first emergence of ziethen the hussar general into notice. after brieg, friedrich undertook nothing military, except strict vigilance of neipperg, for a couple of months or more. military, especially offensive operations, are not the methods just now. rest on your oars; see how this seething ocean of european politics, and peace or war, will settle itself into currents, into set winds; by which of them a man may steer, who happens to have a fixed port in view. neipperg, too, is glad to be quiescent; "my infantry hopelessly inferior," he writes to head-quarters: "could not one hire , saxons, think you,"--or do several other chimerical things, for help? except with his pandour people, working what mischief they can, neipperg does nothing. but this hungarian rabble is extensively industrious, scouring the country far and wide; and gives a great deal of trouble both to friedrich and the peaceable inhabitants. so that there is plenty of small war always going on:--not mentionable here, any passage of it, except perhaps one, at a place called rothschloss; which concerns a remarkable prussian hussar major, their famed ziethen, and is still remembered by the prussian public. we have heard of captain, now major ziethen, how friedrich wilhelm sent him to the rhine campaign, six years ago, to learn the hussar art from the austrians there. one baronay (baroniay, or even baranyai, as others write him), an excellent hand, taught him the art;--and how well he has learned, baronay now sadly experiences. the affair of rothschloss (in abridged form) befell as follows:-- "in these small-war businesses, baronay, austrian major-general of hussars, had been exceedingly mischievous hitherto. it was but the other day, a prussian regular party had to go out upon him, just in time; and to re-wrench 'sixty cart-loads of meal,' wrenched by him from suffering individuals; with which he was making off to neisse, when the prussians [from their camp of mollwitz, where they still are] came in sight. "and now again (may th) news is, that baronay, and , hussars with him, has another considerable set of meal-carts,--in the village of rothschloss, about twenty miles southward, frankenstein way; and means to march with them neisse-ward to-morrow. two marches or so will bring him home; if prussian diligence prevent not. 'go instantly,' orders friedrich,--appointing winterfeld to do it: winterfeld with dragoons, with ziethen and hussars to the amount of ; which is more than one to two of austrians. "winterfeld and ziethen march that same day; are in the neighborhood of rothschloss by nightfall; and take their measures,--block the road to neisse, and do other necessary things. and go in upon baronay next morning, at the due rate, fiery men both of them; sweep poor baronay away, minus the meal; who finds even his road blocked (bridge bursting into cannon-shot upon him, at one point), instead of bridge, a stream, or slow current of quagmire for him,--and is in imminent hazard. ziethen's behavior was superlative (details of it unintelligible off the ground); and baronay fled totally in wreck;--his own horse shot, and at the moment no other to be had; swam the quagmire, or swashed through it, 'by help of a tree;' and had a near miss of capture. recovering himself on the other side, baronay, we can fancy, gave a grin of various expression, as he got into saddle again: 'the arrow so near killing was feathered from one's own wing, too!'--and indeed, a day or two after, he wrote ziethen a handsome letter to that effect." [_helden-geschichte,_ i. ; orlich, i. . _the life of general de zieten_ (english translation, very ill printed, berlin, ), by frau von blumenthal (a vaguish eloquent lady, but with access to information, being a connection of z.'s), p. .] ziethen, for minor good feats, had been made lieutenant-colonel, the very day he marched; his commission dates may th, ; and on the morrow he handsels it in this pretty manner. he is now forty-two; much held down hitherto; being a man of inarticulate turn, hot and abrupt in his ways,--liable always to multifarious obstruction, and unjust contradiction from his fellow-creatures. but winterfeld's report on this occasion was emphatic; and ziethen shoots rapidly up henceforth; colonel within the year, general in ; and more and more esteemed by friedrich during their subsequent long life together. though perhaps the two most opposite men in nature, and standing so far apart, they fully recognized one another in their several spheres. for ziethen too had good eyesight, though in abstruse sort:--rugged simple son of the moorlands; nourished, body and soul, on orthodox frugal oatmeal (so to speak), with a large sprinkling of fire and iron thrown in! a man born poor: son of some poor squirelet in the ruppin country;--"used to walk five miles into ruppin on saturday nights," in early life, "and have his hair done into club, which had to last him till the week following." [_militair-lexikon,_ iv. .] a big-headed, thick-lipped, decidedly ugly little man. and yet so beautiful in his ugliness: wise, resolute, true, with a dash of high uncomplaining sorrow in him;--not the "bleached nigger" at all, as print-collectors sometimes call him! no; but (on those oatmeal terms) the socrates-odysseus, the valiant pious stoic, and much-enduring man. one of the best hussar captains ever built. by degrees king friedrich and he grew to be,--with considerable tiffs now and then, and intervals of gloom and eclipse,--what we might call sworn friends. on which and on general grounds, ziethen has become, like friedrich himself, a kind of mythical person with the soldiery and common people; more of a demi-god than any other of friedrich's captains. friedrich is always eagerly in quest of men like ziethen; specially so at this time. he has meditated much on the bad figure his cavalry made at mollwitz; and is already drilling them anew in multiplex ways, during those leisure days he now has,--with evident success on the next trial, this very summer. and, as his wont is, will not rest satisfied there. but strives incessantly, for a series of summers and years to come, till he bring them to perfection; or to the likeness of his own thought, which probably was not far from that. till at length it can be said his success became world-famous; and he had such seidlitzes and ziethens as were not seen before or since. [map for the first and second silesian war here--missing] end of book none history of friedrich ii of prussia, volume by thomas carlyle book xiv.--the surrounding european war does not end.--august, -july, . chapter i.--friedrich resumes his peaceable pursuits. friedrich's own peace being made on such terms, his wish and hope was, that it might soon be followed by a general european one; that, the live-coal, which had kindled this war, being quenched, the war itself might go out. silesia is his; farther interest in the controversy, except that it would end itself in some fair manner, he has none. "silesia being settled," think many, thinks friedrich for one, "what else of real and solid is there to settle?" the european public, or benevolent individuals of it everywhere, indulged also in this hope. "how glorious is my king, the youngest of the kings and the grandest!" exclaims voltaire (in his letters to friedrich, at this time), and re-exclaims, till friedrich has to interfere, and politely stop it: "a king who carries in the one hand an all-conquering sword, but in the other a blessed olive-branch, and is the arbiter of europe for peace or war!" "friedrich the third [so voltaire calls him, counting ill, or misled by ignorance of german nomenclature], friedrich the third, i mean friedrich the great (frederic le grand)," will do this, and do that;--probably the first emergence of that epithet in human speech, as yet in a quite private hypothetic way. [letters of voltaire, in _oeuvres de frederic,_ xxii. , &c.: this last letter is of date "july, "--almost contemporary with the "jauer transparency" noticed above.] opinions about friedrich's conduct, about his talents, his moralities, there were many (all wide of the mark): but this seemed clear, that the weight of such a sword as his, thrown into either scale, would be decisive; and that he evidently now wished peace. an unquestionable fact, that latter! wished it, yes, right heartily; and also strove to hope,--though with less confidence than the benevolent outside public, as knowing the interior of the elements better. these hopes, how fond they were, we now all know. true, my friends, the live-coal which kindled this incendiary whirlpool (one of the live-coals, first of them that spread actual flame in these european parts, and first of them all except jenkins's ear) is out, fairly withdrawn; but the fire, you perceive, rages not the less. the fire will not quench itself, i doubt, till the bitumen, sulphur and other angry fuel have run much lower! austria has fighting men in abundance, england behind it has guineas; austria has got injuries, then successes:--there is in austria withal a dumb pride, quite equal in pretensions to the vocal vanity of france, and far more stubborn of humor. the first nation of the universe, rashly hurling its fine-throated hunting-pack, or army of the oriflamme, into austria,--see what a sort of badgers, and gloomily indignant bears, it has awakened there! friedrich had to take arms again; and an unwelcome task it was to him, and a sore and costly. we shall be obliged (what is our grand difficulty in this history) to note, in their order, the series of european occurrences; and, tedious as the matter now is, keep readers acquainted with the current of that big war; in which, except friedrich broad awake, and the ear of jenkins in somnambulancy, there is now next to nothing to interest a human creature. it is an error still prevalent in england, though long since exploded everywhere else, that friedrich wanted new wars, "new successful robberies," as our gazetteers called them; and did wilfully plunge into this war again, in the hope of again doing a stroke in that kind. english readers, on consulting the facts a little, will not hesitate to sweep that notion altogether away. shadow of basis, except in their own angry uninformed imaginations, they will find it never had; and that precisely the reverse is manifest in friedrich's history. a perfectly clear-sighted friedrich; able to discriminate shine from substance; and gravitating always towards the solid, the actual. that of "gloire," which he owns to at starting, we saw how soon it died out, choked in the dire realities. that of conquering hero, in the macedonia's-madman style, was at all times far from him, if the reader knew it,--perhaps never farther from any king who had such allurements to it, such opportunities for it. this his first expedition to silesia--a rushing out to seize your own stolen horse, while the occasion answered--was a voluntary one; produced, we may say, by friedrich's own thought and the invisible powers. but the rest were all purely compulsory,--to defend the horse he had seized. clear necessities, and powers very visible, were the origin of all his other expeditions and warlike struggles, which lasted to the end of his life. that recent "moravian foray;" the joint-stock principle in war matters; and the terrible pass a man might reduce himself to, at that enormous gaming-table of the gods, if he lingered there: think what considerations these had been for him! so that "his look became farouche," in the sight of valori; and the spectre of ruin kept him company, and such hell-dogs were in chase of him;--till czaslau, when the dice fell kind again! all this had been didactic on a young docile man. he was but thirty gone. and if readers mark such docility at those years, they will find considerable meaning in it. here are prudence, moderation, clear discernment; very unusual veracity of intellect, as we define it,--which quality, indeed, is the summary and victorious outcome of all manner of good qualities, and faithful performances, in a man. "given up to strong delusions," in the tragical way many are, friedrich was not; and, in practical matters, very seldom indeed "believed a lie." certain it is, he now resumes his old reinsberg program of life; probably with double relish, after such experiences the other way; and prosecutes it with the old ardor; hoping much that his history will be of halcyon pacific nature, after all. would the mad war-whirlpool but quench itself; dangerous for singeing a near neighbor, who is only just got out of it! fain would he be arbiter, and help to quench it; but it will not quench. for a space of two years or more (till august, , twenty-six months in all), friedrich, busy on his own affairs, with carefully neutral aspect towards this war, yet with sword ready for drawing in case of need, looks on with intense vigilance; using his wisest interference, not too often either, in that sense and in that only, "be at peace; oh, come to peace!"--and finds that the benevolent public and he have been mistaken in their hopes. for the next two years, we say:--for the first year (or till about august, ), with hope not much abated, and little actual interference needed; for the latter twelvemonth, with hope ever more abating; interference, warning, almost threatening ever more needed, and yet of no avail, as if they had been idle talking and gesticulation on his part:--till, in august, , he had to--but the reader shall gradually see it, if by any method we can show it him, in something of its real sequence; and shall judge of it by his own light. friedrich's domestic history was not of noisy nature, during this interval:--and indeed in the bewildered records given of it, there is nothing visible, at first, but one wide vortex of simmering inanities; leading to the desperate conclusion that friedrich had no domestic history at all. which latter is by no means the fact! your poor prussian dryasdust (without even an index to help you) being at least authentic, if you look a long time intensely and on many sides, features do at last dawn out of those sad vortexes; and you find the old reinsberg program risen to activity again; and all manner of peaceable projects going on. friedrich visits the baths of aachen (what we call aix-la-chapelle); has the usual inspections, business activities, recreations, visits of friends. he opens his opera-house, this first winter. he enters on law-reform, strikes decisively into that grand problem; hoping to perfect it. what is still more significant, he in private begins writing his memoirs. and furthermore, gradually determines on having a little country house, place of escape from his big potsdam palace; and gets plans drawn for it,--place which became very famous, by the name of sans-souci, in times coming. his thoughts are wholly pacific; of life to minerva and the arts, not to bellona and the battles:--and yet he knows well, this latter too is an inexorable element. about his army, he is quietly busy; augmenting, improving it; the staff of life to prussia and him. silesian fortress-building, under ugly walrave, goes on at a steadily swift rate. much silesian settlement goes on; fixing of the prussian-austrian boundaries without; of the catholic-protestant limits within: rapid, not too rough, remodelling of the province from austrian into prussian, in the financial, administrative and every other respect:--in all which important operations the success was noiseless, but is considered to have been perfect, or nearly so. cannot we, from these enormous paper-masses, carefully riddled, afford the reader a glimpse or two, to quicken his imagination of these things? settles the silesian boundaries, the silesian arrangements; with manifest profit to silesia and himself. in regard to the marches, herr nussler, as natural, was again the person employed. nussler, shifty soul, wide-awake at all times, has already seen this country; "noticed the pass into glatz with its block-house, and perceived that his majesty would want it." from september d to december th, , the actual operation went on; ratified, completely set at rest, th january following. [busching, _beitrage,_? nussler: and busching's _magazin,_ b. x. (halle, ); where, pp. - , is a "geschichte der &c. shlesischen granzscheidung im jahr ," in great amplitude and authenticity.] nussler serves on three thalers (nine shillings) a day. the austrian head-commissioner has pounds (thirty thalers) a day; but he is an elderly fat gentleman, pursy, scant of breath; cannot stand the rapid galloping about, and thousand-fold inspecting and detailing; leaves it all to nussler; who goes like the wind. thus, for example, nussler dictates, at evening from his saddle, the mutual protocol of the day's doings; old pursy sitting by, impatient for supper, and making no criticisms. then at night, nussler privately mounts again; privately, by moonlight, gallops over the ground they are to deal with next day, and takes notice of everything. no wonder the boundary-pillars, set up in such manner, which stand to this day, bear marks that prussia here and there has had fair play!--poor nussler has no fixed appointment yet, except one of about pounds a year: in all my travels i have seen no man of equal faculty at lower wages. nor did he ever get any signal promotion, or the least exuberance of wages, this poor nussler;--unless it be that he got trained to perfect veracity of workmanship, and to be a man without dry-rot in the soul of him; which indeed is incalculable wages. income of pounds a year, and no dry-rot in the soul of you anywhere; income of , pounds a year, and nothing but dry and wet rot in the soul of you (ugly appetites unveracities, blusterous conceits,--and probably, as symbol of all things, a pot-belly to your poor body itself): oh, my friends! in settling the spiritual or internal catholic-protestant limits of silesia, friedrich did also a workmanlike thing. perfect fairness between protestant and catholic; to that he is bound, and never needed binding. but it is withal his intention to be king in catholic silesia; and that no holy father, or other extraneous individual, shall intrude with inconvenient pretensions there. he accordingly nominates the now bishop of neisse and natural primate of silesia,--cardinal von sinzendorf, who has made submission for any late austrian peccadilloes, and thoroughly reconciled himself,--nominates sinzendorf "vicar-general" of the country; who is to relieve the pope of silesian trouble, and be himself quasi-supreme of the catholic church there. "no offence, holy papa of christian mankind! your holy religion is, and shall be, intact in these parts; but the palliums, bulls and other holy wares and interferences are not needed here. on that footing, be pleased to rest content." the holy father shrieked his loudest (which is now a quite calculable loudness, nothing like so loud as it once was); declared he would "himself join the army of martyrs sooner;" and summoned sinzendorf to rome: "what kind of hinge are you, cardinalis of the gates of"--husht! shrieked his loudest, we say; but, as nobody minded it, and as sinzendorf would not come, had to let the matter take its course. [adelung, iii. a. - .] and, gradually noticing what correct observance of essentials there was, he even came quite round, into a high state of satisfaction with this heretic king, in the course of a few years. friedrich and the pope were very polite to each other thenceforth; always ready to do little mutual favors. and it is to be remarked, friedrich's management of his clergy, protestant and catholic, was always excellent; true, in a considerable degree, to the real law of things; gentle, but strict, and without shadow of hypocrisy,--in which last fine particular he is singularly unique among modern sovereigns. he recognizes honestly the uses of religion, though he himself has little; takes a good deal of pains with his preaching clergy, from the army-chaplain upwards,--will suggest texts to them, with scheme of sermon, on occasion;--is always anxious to have, as clerical functionary, the right man in the important place; and for the rest, expects to be obeyed by them, as by his sergeants and corporals. indeed, the reverend men feel themselves to be a body of spiritual sergeants, corporals and captains; to whom obedience is the rule, and discontent a thing not to be indulged in by any means. and it is worth noticing, how well they seem to thrive in this completely submissive posture; how much real christian worth is traceable in their labors and them; and what a fund of piety and religious faith, in rugged effectual form, exists in the armies and populations of such a king. ["in , at berlin, the population being , , there are of ecclesiastic kind only ; that is to the , ;--at munchen there are thirty times as many in proportion" (mirabeau, _monarchie prussienne,_ viii. ; quoting nicolai).]... by degrees the munchows and official persons intrusted with silesia got it wrought in all respects, financial, administrative, judicial, secular and spiritual, into the prussian model: a long tough job; but one that proved well worth doing. [in preuss (i. - ), the various steps (from to ).] in this state, counts one authority, it was worth to prussia "about six times what it had been to austria;"--from some other forgotten source, i have seen the computation "eight times." in money revenue, at the end of friedrich's reign, it is a little more than twice; the "eight times" and the "six times," which are but loose multiples, refer, i suppose, to population, trade, increase of national wealth, of new regiments yielded by new cantons, and the like. [westphalen, in _feldzuge des herzogs ferdinand_ (printed, berlin, , written years before by that well-informed person), i. , says in the rough "six times:" preuss, iv. , gives, very indistinctly, the ciphers of revenue, in and some later year: according to friedrich himself (_oeuvres_, ii. ), the silesian revenue at first was " , , thalers" ( , pounds, little more than half a million); population, a million-and-half.] six or eight times as useful to prussia: and to the inhabitants what multiple of usefulness shall we give? to be governed on principles fair and rational, that is to say, conformable to nature's appointment in that respect; and to be governed on principles which contradict the very rules of cocker, and with impious disbelief of the very multiplication table: the one is a perpetual gospel of cosmos and heaven to every unit of the population; the other a gospel of chaos and beelzebub to every unit of them: there is no multiple to be found in arithmetic which will express that!--certain of these advantages, in the new government, are seen at once; others, the still more valuable, do not appear, except gradually and after many days and years. with the one and the other, schlesien appears to have been tolerably content. from that year to this, schlesien has expressed by word and symptom nothing but thankfulness for the transfer it underwent; and there is, for the last hundred years, no part of the prussian dominion more loyal to the hohenzollerns (who are the authors of prussia, without whom prussia had never been), than this their latest acquisition, when once it too got moulded into their own image. [preuss, i. , and ib. (note from klein, a silesian jurist): "favor not merit formerly;" "magistracies a regular branch of trade;"--"highway robbers on a strangely familiar footing with the old breslau magistrates;" &c. &c.] opening of the opera-house at berlin. ... december th, this winter, carnival being come or just coming, friedrich opens his new opera-house, for behoof of the cultivated berlin classes; a fine edifice, which had been diligently built by knobelsdorf, while those silesian battlings went on. "one of the largest and finest opera-houses in the whole world; like a sumptuous palace rather. stands free on all sides, space for , coaches round it; five great entrances, five persons can walk abreast through each; and inside--you should see, you should hear! boxes more like rooms or boudoirs, free view and perfect hearing of the stage from every point: air pure and free everywhere; water aloft, not only for theatrical cascades, but to drown out any fire or risk of fire." [seyfarth, i. ; nicolai, _beschreibung von berlin,_ i. .] this is seyfarth's account, still capable of confirmation by travelling readers of a musical turn. i have seen operas with much more brilliancy of gas and gilding; but none nearly so convenient to the human mind and sense; or where the audience (not now a gratis one) attended to the music in so meritorious a way. "perhaps it will attract moneyed strangers to frequent our capital?"--some guess, that was friedrich's thought. "at all events, it is a handsome piece of equipage, for a musical king and people; not to be neglected in the circumstances. thalia, in general,--let us not neglect thalia, in such a dearth of worshipable objects." nor did he neglect thalia. the trouble friedrich took with his opera, with his dancing-apparatus, french comedy, and the rest of that affair, was very great. much greater, surely, than this editor would have thought of taking; though, on reflection, he does not presume to blame. the world is dreadfully scant of worshipable objects: and if your theatre is your own, to sweep away intrusive nonsense continually from the gates of it? friedrich's opera costs him heavy sums (surely i once knew approximately what, but the sibylline leaf is gone again upon the winds!)--and he admits gratis a select public, and that only. [preuss, i. ; and preuss, _buch fur jedermann,_ i. .] "this winter, - , was unusually magnificent at court: balls, wirthschaften [kind of mimic fairs], sledge-parties, masquerades, and theatricals of all sorts;--and once even, december d, the new golden table-service [cost of it , pounds] was in action, when the two queens [queen regnant and queen mother] dined with his majesty." friedrich takes the waters at aachen, where voltaire comes to see him. months before that of the opera-house or those silesian settlements, friedrich, in the end of august, what is the first thing visible in his domestic history, makes a visit, for health's sake, to aachen (aix-la-chapelle so called), with a view to the waters there. intends to try for a little improvement in health, as the basis of ulterior things. health has naturally suffered a little in these war-hardships; and the doctors recommend aix. after wesel, and the westphalian inspections, friedrich, accordingly, proceeds to aix; and for about a fortnight ( th august- th september) drinks the waters in that old resting-place of charlemagne;--particulars not given in the books; except that "he lodged with baege" (if any mortal now knew baege), and did an audience or so to select persons now unknown. he is not entirely incognito, but is without royal state; the "guard of twenty men, the escort of men," being no men of his, but presumably mere town-guard of aix coming in an honorary way. aix is proud to see him; he himself is intent on the waters here at old aix:-- aquisgranum, urbs regalis, sedes regni principalis:-- my friend, this was charlemagne's high place; and his dust lies here, these thousand years last past. and there used to soar "a very large gilt eagle," ten feet wide or so, aloft on the cathedral-steeple there; eagle turned southward when the kaiser was in frankenland, eastward when he was in teutsch or teuton-land; in fact, pointing out the kaiser's whereabouts to loyal mankind. [kohler, _reichs-historie._] eagle which shines on me as a human fact; luminously gilt, through the dark dryasdustic ages, gone all spectral under dryasdust's sad handling. friedrich knows farther, that for many centuries after, the "reich's insignia (reichs-kleinodien)" used to be here,--though maria theresa has them now, and will not give them up. the whole of which points are indifferent to him. the practical, not the sentimental, is friedrich's interest;--not to say that werter and the sentimental were not yet born into our afflicted earth. a king thoroughly practical;--yet an exquisite player on the flute withal, as we often notice; whose adagio could draw tears from you. for in himself, too, there were floods of tears (as when his mother died); and he has been heard saying, not bragging but lamenting, what was truly the fact, that "he had more feeling than other men." but it was honest human feeling always; and was repressed, where not irrepressible;--as it behooved to be. friedrich's suite was not considerable, says the french spy at aix on this occasion; pomp of entrance,--a thing to be mute upon! "came driving in with the common post-horses of the country; and such a set of carriages as your lordship, intent on the sublime, has no idea of." [spy-letter, in _campagnes des trois marechaux,_ i. .] rumor was, his britannic majesty was coming (also on pretext of the waters) to confer with him; other rumor is, if king george came in at one gate, king friedrich would go out at the other. a dubious friedrich, to the french spy, at this moment; nothing like so admirable as he once was!-- the french emotions (of which we say little), on friedrich's making peace for himself, had naturally been great. to the french public it was unexpected, somewhat sudden even to the court; and, sure enough, it was of perilous importance in the circumstances. few days ago, broglio (by order given him) "could not spare a man," for the common cause;--and now the common cause has become entirely the broglio one, and broglio will have the full use of all his men! "defection [plainly treasonous to your liege lord and nation]! horrible to think of!" cried the french public; the court outwardly taking a lofty tragic-elegiac tone, with some air of hope that his prussian majesty would perhaps come round again, to the side of his afflicted france! of which, except in the way of helping france and the other afflicted parties to a just peace if he could, his prussian majesty had small thought at this time. more affecting to friedrich were the natural terrors of the poor kaiser on this event. the kaiser has already had his messenger at berlin, in consequence of it; with urgent inquiries, entreaties;--an expert messenger, who knows berlin well. so other than our old friend, the ordnance-master seckendorf, now titular feldmarschall,--whom one is more surprised than delighted to meet again! being out with austria (clamoring for great sums of "arrears," which they will not pay), he has been hanging about this new kaiser, ever since election-time; and is again getting into employment, diplomatic, strategic, for some years,--though we hope mostly to ignore him and it. friedrich's own feeling at sight of him,--ask not about it, more than if there had been none! friedrich gave him "a distinguished reception;" friedrich's answer sent by him to the kaiser was all kindness; emphatic assurance, "that, not 'hostility' by any means, that loyalty, friendship, and aid wherever possible within the limits, should always be his rule towards the now kaiser, lawful head of the reich, in difficult circumstances." ["audience, th july" (adelung, iii. a, ).] which was some consolation to the poor man,--stript of his old revenues, old bavarian dominions, and unprovided with new; this sublime headship of the reich bring moneyless; and one's new "kingdom of bohemia" hanging in so uncertain a state, with nothing but a pharsalia-sahay to show for itself!-- among friedrich's "inconsiderable suite," at aachen, was prince henri (his youngest brother, age now sixteen, a small, sensitive, shivering creature, but of uncommon parts); and another young man, prince ferdinand of brunswick, his wife's youngest brother; a soldier, as all the brothers are; soldier in friedrich's army, this one; in whose fine inarticulate eupeptic character are excellent dispositions and capacities discernible. ferdinand goes generally with the king; much about him in these years. all the brothers follow soldiering; it is the one trade of german princes. when at home, friedrich is still occasionally with his queen; who lives at schonhausen, in the environs of berlin, but goes with him to charlottenburg, to old reinsberg; and has her share of galas in his company, with the queen mother and cognate highnesses. another small fact, still more memorable at present, is, that voltaire now made him a third visit,--privately on fleury's instance, as is evident this time. of which voltaire visit readers shall know duly, by and by, what little is knowable. but, alas, there is first an immense arrear of war-matters to bring up; to which, still more than to voltaire, the afflicted reader must address himself, if he would understand at all what friedrich's environment, or circumambient life-element now was, and how friedrich, well or ill, comported himself in the same. brevity, this editor knows, is extremely desirable, and that the scissors should be merciless on those sad paper-heaps, intolerable to the modern mind; but, unless the modern mind chance to prefer ease and darkness, what can an editor do! chapter ii.--austrian affairs are on the mounting hand. austrian affairs are not now in their nadir-point; a long while now since they passed that. austria, to all appearance dead, started up, and began to strike for herself, with some success, the instant walpole's soup-royal (that first , pounds, followed since by abundance more) got to her lips. touched her poor pale lips; and went tingling through her, like life and fiery elasticity, out of death by inanition! cardinal moment, which history knows, but can never date, except vaguely, some time in ; among the last acts of judicious walpole. austria, thanks to its own khevenhullers and its english guineas, was already rising in various quarters: and now when the prussian affair is settled, austria springs up everywhere like an elastic body with the pressure taken from it; mounts steadily, month after month, in practical success, and in height of humor in a still higher ratio. and in the course of the next two years rises to a great height indeed. here--snatched, who knows with what difficulty, from that shoreless bottomless slough of an austrian-succession war, deservedly forgotten, and avoided by extant mankind--are some of the more essential phenomena, which friedrich had to witness in those months. to witness, to scan with such intense interest,--rightly, at his peril;--and to interpret as actual "omens" for him, as monitions of a most indisputable nature! no haruspex, i suppose, with or without "white beard, and long staff for cutting the heavenly vault into compartments from the zenith downwards," could, in etruria or elsewhere, "watch the flight of birds, now into this compartment, now into that," with stricter scrutiny than, on the new terms, did this young king from his potsdam observatory. war-phenomena in the western parts: king george tries, a second time, to draw his sword; tugs at it violently, for seven months (february- october, ). "the first phenomenon, cheering to austria, is that of the britannic majesty again clutching sword, with evident intent to draw it on her behalf. [tindal, xx. ; old newspapers; &c. &c.] besides his potent soup-royal of half-millions annually, the britannic majesty has a considerable sword, say , , of british and of subsidized;--sword which costs him a great deal of money to keep by his side; and a great deal of clamor and insolent gibing from the gazetteer species, because he is forced to keep it strictly in the scabbard hitherto. this year, we observe, he has determined again to draw it, in the cause of human liberty, whatever follow. from early spring there were symptoms: camps on lexden and other heaths, much reviewing in hyde-park and elsewhere; from all corners a universal marching towards the kent coast; the aspects being favorable. 'we can besiege dunkirk at any rate, cannot we, your high mightinesses? dunkirk, which, by all the treaties in existence, ought to need no besieging; but which, in spite of treatyings innumerable, always does?' the high mightinesses answer nothing articulate, languidly grumble something in optative tone;--'meaning assent,' thinks the sanguine mind. 'dutch hoistable, after all!' thinks he; 'dutch will co-operate, if they saw example set!' and, in england, the work of embarking actually begins. "britannic majesty's purpose, and even fixed resolve to this effect, had preceded the prussian-austrian settlement. may th, [" th" by the old newspapers; but we always translate their o.s.] 'two regiments of foot,' first poor instalment of british troops, had actually landed at ostend;--news of the battle of chotusitz, much more, of the austrian-prussian settlement, or peace of breslau, would meet them there. but after that latter auspicious event, things start into quick and double-quick time; and the gazetteers get vocal, almost lyrical: about howard's regiment, ponsonby's regiment, all manner of regiments, off to flanders, for a stroke of work; how 'ligonier's dragoons [a set of wild swearing fellows, whom guildford is happy to be quit of] rode through bromley with their kettle-drums going, and are this day at gravesend to take ship;'"--or to give one other, more specific example: "yesterday [ d july, ] general campbell's regiment of scotch greys arrived in the borough of southwark, on their march to dover, where they are to embark for flanders. they are fine hardy fellows, that want no seasoning; and make an appearance agreeable to all but the innkeepers,"--who have such billeting to do, of late. [_daily post,_ june d (o.s.), .] "grey dragoons," or royal scots-greys, is the title of this fine regiment; and their colonel is lieutenant-general john campbell, afterwards duke of argyle (fourth duke), cousin of the great second duke of argyle that now is. [douglas, _scotch peerage_ (edinburgh, ), p. .] visibly billeting there, in southwark, with such intentions:--and, by accident, this editor knows twenty of these fine fellows! twenty or so, who had gone in one batch as greys; sons of good annandale yeomen, otherwise without a career open: some two of whom did get back, and lived to be old men; the rumor of whom, and of their unheard-of adventures, was still lingering in the air, when this editor began existence. pardon, o reader!-- "but, all through those hot days, it is a universal drumming, kettle-drumming, coast-ward; preparation of transports at gravesend, at the top of one's velocity. 'all the coopers in london are in requisition for water-casks, so that our very brewers have to pause astonished for want of tubs.' there is pumping in of water day and night, sunday not excepted, then throwing of it out again [owing to new circumstances]: saddle-horses, and sumpter ditto, for his majesty's own use,--these need a deal of water, never to speak of ligonier and the greys. 'for the honor of our country, his majesty will make a grander appearance this campaign than any of his predecessors ever did; and as to the magnificence of his equipage,'--besides the quadrupeds, 'there are above rich portmanteaus getting ready with all expedition.' [_daily post,_ september th (i.e. th).] the fat boy too [royal highness duke of cumberland, one should say] is to go; a most brave-hearted, flaxen-florid, plump young creature; hopeful son of mars, could he once get experience, which, alas, he never could, though trying it for five-and-twenty years to come, under huge expense to this nation! there are to be , troops, perhaps more; ' , sandbags' (empty as yet); demolition of dunkirk the thing aimed at." if only the dutch prove hoistable!-- "and so, from may on to september, it noisily proceeds, at multiplex rates? and often with more haste than speed: and in such five months (seven, strictly counted) of clangorous movement and dead-lift exertion, there were veritably got across, of horse and foot with their equipments, the surprising number of ' , men.' [adelung, iii. a, .] may th it began,--that is, the embarking began; the noise and babble about it, which have been incessant ever since, had begun in february before;--and on september th, ostend, now almost weary of huzzaing over british glory by instalment, had the joy of seeing our final portions of artillery arrive: such a park of siege-and-field artillery," exults the gazetteer, "as"--as these poor creatures never dreamt of before. "magnanimous lord stair, already plenipotentiary to the dutch, is to be king's general-in-chief of this fine enterprise; carteret, another lord of some real brilliancy, and perhaps of still weightier metal, is head of the cabinet; hearty, both of them, for these anti-french intentions: and the public cannot but think, surely something will come of it this time? more especially now that maillebois, about the middle of august, by a strange turn of fortune, is swept out of the way. maillebois, lying over in westphalia with his or , , on 'check to your king' this year past, had, on sight of these anti-dunkirk movements, been ordered to look dunkirk way, and at length to move thitherward, for protection of dunkirk. so that stair, before his dunkirk business, will have to fight maillebois; which stair doubts not may be satisfactorily done. but behold, in august and earlier, come marvellous news from the prag quarter, tragical to france; and maillebois is off, at his best speed, in the reverse direction; on a far other errand!"--of which readers shall soon hear enough. "dunkirk, therefore, is now open. with , british troops, hanoverians to the like number, and hessians , , together near , , not to speak of dutch at all, surely one might manage dunkirk, if not something still better? it is after maillebois's departure that these dreadful exertions, coopering of water-casks, pumping all sunday, go on at gravesend: 'swift, oh, be swift, while time is!' and generalissimo-plenipotentiary stair, who has run over beforehand, is ardent enough upon the dutch; his eloquence fiery and incessant: 'magnanimous high mightinesses, was there, will there again be, such a chance? the cause of human liberty may be secured forever! dunkirk--or what is dunkirk even? between us and paris, there is nothing, now that maillebois is off on such an errand! why should not we play marlborongh again, and teach them a little what invasion means? it is ourselves alone that can hinder it! now, i say, or never!' "stair was a pupil of marlborough's; is otherwise a shining kind of man; and has immense things in his eye, at this time. they say, what is not unlikely, he proposed an interview with friedrich now at aachen; would come privately, to 'take the waters' for a day or two,--while maillebois was on his new errand, and such a crisis had risen. but friedrich, anxious to be neutral and give no offence, politely waived such honor. lord stair was thought to be something of a general, in fact as well as in costume;--and perhaps he was so. and had there been a proper countess of stair, or new sarah jennings,--to cover gently, by art-magic, the britannic majesty and fat boy under a tub; and to put britain, and british parliament and resources, into stair's hand for a few years,--who knows what stair too might have done! a marlborough in the war arts,--perhaps still less in the peace ones, if we knew the great marlborough,--he could not have been. but there is in him a recognizable flash of magnanimity, of heroic enterprise and purpose; which is highly peculiar in that sordid element. and it can be said of him, as of lightning striking ineffectual on the bog of allen or the stygian fens, that his strength was never tried."--for the upshot of him we will wait; not very long. these are fine prospects, if only the dutch prove hoistable. but these are as nothing to what is passing, and has passed, in the eastern parts, in the bohemian-bavarian quarter, since we were there. poor kaiser karl, what an outlook for him! his own real bavaria, much more his imaginary "upper austria" and "conquests on the donau," after that segur adventure, are plunging headlong. as to his once "kingdom of bohemia," it has already plunged; nay, the army of the oriflamme is itself near plunging, in spite of that pharsalia of a sahay! bavaria itself, we say, is mostly gone to khevenhuller; segur with his french on march homeward, and nothing but bavarians left. the belleisle-broglio grand budweis expedition is gone totally heels over head; belleisle and broglio are getting, step by step, shut up in prag and besieged there: while maillebois--let us try whether, by snatching out here a fragment and there a fragment, with chronological and other appliances, it be not possible to give readers some conceivable notion of what friedrich was now looking at with such interest!-- how duc d'harcourt, advancing to reinforce the oriflamme, had to split himself in two; and become an "army of bavaria," to little effect. the poor kaiser, who at one time counted " , bavarians of his own," has all along been ill served by them and the bad generals they had: two generals; both of whom, minuzzi, and old feldmarschall thorring (prime minister withal), came to a bad reputation in this war. beaten nearly always; thorring quite always,--"like a drum, that thorring; never heard of except when beaten," said the wits! of such let us not speak. understand only, first, that the french, reasonably soon after that linz explosion, did, in such crisis, get reinforcements on the road; a duc d'harcourt with some , faring forward, in an intermittent manner, ever since "march th." and secondly, that khevenhuller has fast hold of passau, the austrian-bavarian key-city; is master of nearly all bavaria (of munchen, and all that lies south of the donau); and is now across on the north shore, wrenching and tugging upon kelheim and the ingolstadt-donauworth regions, with nothing but thorring people and small french garrisons to hinder him;--where it will be fatal if he quite prosper; ingolstadt being our place-of-arms, and house on the highway, both for bavaria and bohemia! "for months past, there had been a gleam of hope for kaiser karl, and his new 'kingdom of bohemia,' and old electorate of bavaria, from the rumor of 'd'harcourt's reinforcement,'--a or , new frenchmen marching into those parts, in a very detached intermittent manner; great in the gazettes. but it proved a gleam only, and came to nothing effectual. poor d'harcourt, owing to cross orders [groglio clamorously demanding that the new force should come to prag; karl albert the kaiser, nominally general-in-chief, demanding that it should go down the donau and sweep his bavaria clear], was in difficulty. to do either of these cross orders might have brought some result; but to half-do both of them, as he was enjoined to attempt, was not wise! some half of his force he did detach towards broglio; which got to actual junction, partly before, partly after, that pharsalia-sahay affair, and raised broglio to a strength of , ,--still inadequate against prince karl. which done, d'harcourt himself went down the donau, on his original scheme, with the remainder of his forces,--now likewise become inadequate. he is to join with feldmarschall thorring in the"--and does it, as we shall see presently!... munchen, th may. "rumor of d'harcourt had somewhat cleared bavaria of austrians; but the reality of him, in a divided state, by no means corresponds. thus munchen city, in the last days of april,--d'harcourt advancing, terrible as a rumor,--rejoiced exceedingly to see the austrians march out, at their best pace. and the exultant populace even massacred a loitering tolpatch or two; who well deserve it, think the populace, judging by their experience for the last three months, since barenklau and mentzel became king here.--'rumor of d'harcourt?' answers khevenhuller from the kelheim-passau side of things: 'let us wait for sight of him, at least!' and orders munchen to be reoccupied. so that, alas, 'within a week,' on the th of may, barenklau is back upon the poor city; exacts severe vengeance for the tolpatch business; and will give them seven months more of his company, in spite of d'harcourt, and 'the army of bavaria' as he now called himself:"--new "army of bavaria," when once arrived in those countries, and joined with poor thorring and the kaiser's people there. such an "army of bavaria," first and last, as--as khevenhuller could have wished it! under d'harcourt, joined with old feldmarschall thorring (him whom men liken to a drum, "never heard of except when beaten"), this is literally the sum of what fighting it did: "hilgartsberg (deggendorf donau-country), may th. d'harcourt and thorring, after junction at donauworth several weeks ago, and a good deal of futile marching up and down in those donau countries,--on the left bank, for most part; khevenhuller holding stiffly, as usual, by the inn, the iser, and the rivers and countries on the right,--did at last, being now almost within sight of passau and that important valley of the inn across yonder, seriously decide to have a stroke at passau, and to dislodge khevenhuller, who is weak in force, though obstinate. they perceive that there is, on this left bank, a post in the woods, castle of hilgartsberg, none of the strongest castles, rather a big country mansion than a castle, which it will be necessary first to take. they go accordingly to take it (may th, having well laid their heads together the day before); march through intricate wet forest country, peat above all abundant; see the castle of hilgartsberg towering aloft, picturesque object in the donau valley, left bank;--are met by cannon-shot, case-shot, shot of every kind; likewise by croats apparently innumerable, by cavalry sabrings and levelled bayonets; do not behave too well, being excessively astonished; and are glad to get off again, leaving one of their guns lodged in the mud, and about a hundred unfortunate men. [_guerre de boheme,_ ii. - , , &c.] this quite disgusted d'harcourt with the passau speculation and these grim khevenhuller outposts. he straightway took to collecting magazines; lodging himself in the attainable towns thereabouts, deggendorf the chief strength for him; and gave up fighting till perhaps better times might arrive." we will wish him good success in the victualling department, hope to hear no more of him in this history;--and shall say only that comte de saxe, before long, relieves him of this bavarian army;--and will be seen at the head of it, on a most important business that rises. kaiser karl begins to have real thoughts of recalling this thorring, who is grown so very audible, altogether home; and of appointing seckendorf instead. a course which belleisle has been strongly recommending for some time. seckendorf is at present "gathering meal in the ober-pfalz" (upper palatinate, road from ingolstadt to eger, to bohmen generally), that is, forming magazines, on the kaiser's behalf there: "surely a likelier man than your thorring!" urges belleisle always. with whom the kaiser does finally comply; nominates seckendorf commander,--recalls the invaluable thorring! "to his services in our cabinet council, which more befit his great age." in which safe post poor thorring, like a drum not beaten upon, has thenceforth a silent life of it; seckendorf fighting in his stead,--as we shall have to witness, more or less. khevenhuller's is a changed posture, since he stood in vienna, eight or nine months ago; grimly resolute, drilling his " , of garrison," with the wheelbarrows all busy!--but her hungarian majesty's chief success, which is now opening into outlooks of a quite triumphant nature, has been that over the new oriflamme itself, the belleisle-broglio army,--most sweet to her majesty to triumph over! shortly after chotusitz, shortly after that pharsalia of a sahay, readers remember belleisle's fine project, "conjoined attack on budweis, and sweeping of bohemia clear;"--readers saw belleisle, in the schloss of maleschau, th june last, rushing out (with violence to his own wig, says rumor); hurrying off to dresden for co-operation; equally in vain. "co-operation, m. le marechal; attack on budweis?"--here is another fragment:-- how belleisle, returning from dresden without co-operation found the attack had been done,--in a fatally reverse way. prag expecting siege. colloquy with broglio on that interesting point. prag besieged. budweis, june th,-prag, june th. "broglio, ever since that sahay [which had been fought so gloriously on frauenberg's account], lay in the castle of frauenberg, in and around,--hither side of the moldau river, with his pisek thirty miles to rear, and judicious outposts all about. there lay broglio, meditating the attack on budweis [were co-operation once here],--when, contrariwise, altogether on the sudden, budweis made attack on broglio; tumbled him quite topsy-turvy, and sent him home to prag, uncertain which end uppermost; rolling like a heap of mown stubble in the wind, rather than marching like an army!"... take one glance at him:-- "june th, [day before that of belleisle's "wig" at maleschau, had belleisle known it!]--prince karl, being now free of the prussians, and ready for new work, issued suddenly from budweis; suddenly stept across the moldau,--by the bridge of moldau-tein, sweeping away the french that lay there. prince karl swept away this first french post, by the mere sight and sound of him; swept away, in like fashion, the second and all following posts; swept broglio himself, almost without shot fired, and in huge flurry, home to prag, double-quick, night and day,--with much loss of baggage, artillery, prisoners, and total loss of one's presence of mind. 'poor man, he was born for surprises' [said friedrich's doggerel long ago]! manoeuvred consummately [he asserts] at different points, behind rivers and the like; but nowhere could he call halt, and resolutely stand still. which undoubtedly he could and should have done, say valori and all judges;--nothing quite immediate being upon him, except the waste-howling tagraggery of croats, whom it had been good to quench a little, before going farther. on the third night, june th, he arrived at pisek; marched again before daybreak, leaving a garrison of , ,--who surrendered to prince karl next day, without shot fired. broglio tumbling on ahead, double-quick, with the tagraggery of croats continually worrying at his heels, baggage-wagons sticking fast, country people massacring all stragglers, panted home to prag on the th; with 'the gross of the army saved, don't you observe!' and thinks it an excellent retreat, he if no one-else. [_guerre de boheme,_ ii. , &c.; _ campagnes,_ v. (his own despatch).] "at pisek, prince karl has ceased chasing with his regulars, the pace being so uncommonly swift. from pisek, prince karl struck off towards pilsen, there to intercept a residue of harcourt reinforcements who were coming that way: from broglio, who knew of it, but in such flurry could not mind it, he had no hindrance; and it was by good luck, not management of broglio's, that these poor reinforcements did in part get through to him, and in part seek refuge in eger again. broglio has encamped under the walls of prag; in a ruinous though still blusterous condition; his positions all gone; except prag and eger, nothing in bohemia now his." prag, th june- th august. "it is in this condition that belleisle, returning from the kuttenberg-dresden mission (june th), finds his broglio. most disastrous, belleisle thinks it; and nothing but a siege in prag lying ahead; though broglio is of different opinion, or, blustering about his late miraculous retreat, and other high merits too little recognized, forms no opinion at all on such extraneous points.... from versailles, they had answered belleisle: 'nothing to be made of dresden either, say you? then go you and take the command at prag; send broglio to command the bavarian army. see, you, what can be done by fighting.' on this errand belleisle is come, the heavy-laden man, and valori with him,--if, in this black crisis, valori could do anything. valori at least reports the colloquy the two marshals had [one bit of colloquy, for they had more than one, though as few as possible; broglio being altogether blusterous, sulphurous, difficult to speak with on polite terms]. [valori, i. - ; _campagnes, _ v. , , &c. &c.] 'army of bavaria?' answers broglio; 'i will have those ten battalions of the d'harcourt reinforcement, then. i tell you, yes! prag? prag may go to the--what have i to do with prag? the oldest marechal of france, superseded, after such merits, and on the very heel of such a retreat! nay, but where is your commission to command in prag, m. le marechal?' belleisle, in the haste there was, has no commission rightly drawn out by the war-office; only an order from court. '_i_ have a regular commission, monseigneur: i want a sign-manual before laying it down!' the unreasonable broglio. "belleisle, tormented with rheumatic nerves, and of violent temper at any rate, compresses the immense waste rage that is in him. his answers to broglio are calm and low-voiced; admirable to valori. one thing he wished to ascertain definitely: what m. de broglio's intentions were; and whether he would, or would not, go to bavaria and take charge there? if so, he shall have all the cavalry for escort; cavalry, unless it be dragoons, will only eat victual in case of siege.--no, broglio will not go with cavalry; must have those ten battalions, must have sign-manual; won't, in short!"--will stay, then, thinks belleisle; and one must try to drive him, as men do pigs, covertly and by the rule of contraries, while prag falls under siege. what an outlook for his most christian majesty's service,--fatal altogether, had not belleisle been a high man, and willing to undertake pig-driving!... "discouragement in the army is total, were it not for belleisle; anger against broglio very great. the officers declare openly, 'we will quit, if broglio continue general! our commissions were made out in the name of marechal de belleisle [in the spring of last year, when he had such levees, more crowded than the king's!]--we are not bound to serve another general!'--'you recognize me for your general?' asks belleisle. 'yes!'--'then, i bid you obey m. de broglio, so long as he is here.' [valori, i. .]... "june th. the grand-duke, maria theresa's husband, come from vienna to take command-in-chief, joins the austrian main army and his brother karl, this day: at konigsaal, one march to the south of prag. friedrich being now off their hands, why should not they besiege prag, capture prag! under khevenhuller, with barenklau, and the mentzels, trencks,--poor d'harcourt merely storing victual,--bavaria lies safe enough. and the oriflamme caged in prag:--have at the oriflamme! "prag is begirdled, straitened more and more, from this day. formal siege to begin, so soon [as the artillery can come up' which is not for seven weeks yet]. and so, in fine, 'august th, all at once,' furious bombardment bursts out, from mortars and above big guns, disposed in batteries around. [_guerre de boheme,_ ii. , .] to which the french, belleisle's high soul animating everything, as furiously responded; making continual sallies of a hot desperate nature; especially, on the fifth day of the siege, one sally [to be mentioned by and by] which was very famous at prag and at paris."... concerning the italian war which simultaneously went on, all along. war in italy--the spanish termagant very high in her anti-pragmatic notions--there had been, for eight months past; and it went on, fiercely enough, doggedly enough, on both sides for six years more, till , when the general finis came. war of which we propose to say almost nothing; but must request the reader to imagine it, all along, as influential on our specific affairs. the spanish termagant wished ardently to have the milanese and pertinents, as an apanage for her second infant, don philip; a young gentleman who now needs to be provided for, as don carlos had once done. "cannot get to be pope this one, it appears," said the fond mother (who at one time looked that way for her infant,): "well, here is the milanese fallen loose!" readers know her for a lady of many claims, of illimitable aspirations; and she went very high on the pragmatic question. "headship of the golden fleece, madam; you head of it? i say all austria, german and italian, is mine!"--though she has now magnanimously given up the german part to kaiser karl vii.; and will be content with the italian, as an apanage for don philip. and so there is war in italy, and will be. to be imagined by us henceforth. a war in which these three elements are noticeable as the chief. first, the sardinian majesty, [charles emanuel, victor amadeus's son (hubner, t. ): born th april, ; lived and reigned till th february, (oertel, t. ).] who is very anxious himself for milanese parings and additaments; but, except by skilfully playing off-and-on between the french side and the austrian, has no chance of getting any. for spain he is able to fight; and also (on good british subsidies) against spain. element second is the british navy, cruising always between spain and the seat of war; rendering supplies by sea impossible,--almost impossible. third, the passes of savoy; wild alpine chasms, stone-labyrinths; inexpugnable, with a sardinian majesty defending; which are the one remaining road, for armies and supplies, out of spain or france. the savoy passes are, in fact, the gist of the war; the insoluble problem for don philip and the french. by detours, by circuitous effort and happy accident, your troops may occasionally squeeze through: but without one secure road open behind them for supplies and recruitments, what good is it? battles there are, behind the alps, on what we may call the stage itself of this italian war-theatre; but the grand steady battle is that of france and don philip, struggling spasmodically, year after year, to get a road through the coulisses or side-scenes,--namely, those savoy passes. they try it by this pass and by that; pass of demont, pass of villa-franca or montalban (glorious for france, but futile), pass of exilles or col d'assiette (again glorious, again futile and fatal); sometimes by the way of nice itself, and rocky mule-tracks overhanging the sea-edge (british naval-cannon playing on them);--and can by no way do it. there were fine fightings, in the interior too, under generals of mark; general browne doing feats, excellent old general feldmarschall traun, of whom we shall hear; maillebois, belleisle the younger, of whom we have heard. there was battle of campo-santo, new battle there (traun's); there was battle of rottofreddo; of piacenza (doleful to maillebois),--followed by invasion of provence, by revolt of genoa and other things: which all readers have now forgotten. [two elaborate works on the subject are said to be instructive to military readers: buonamici (who was in it, for a while). _de bello italico commentarii_ (in works of buonamici, lyon, ); and pezay, _campagnes de maillebois_ (our westphalian friend again) _en italie,_ - (paris, ).] readers are to imagine this italian war, all along, as a fact very loud and real at that time, and continually pulsing over into our german events (like half-audible thunder below the horizon, into raging thunder above), little as we can afford to say of it here. one small scene from this italian war;--one, or with difficulty two;--and if possible be silent about all the rest: scene, roads of cadiz, october, : by what astonishing artifice this italian war did, at length, get begun. ... "the spanish court, that is, termagant elizabeth, who rules everybody there, being in this humor, was passionate to begin; and stood ready a good while, indignantly champing the bit, before the sad preliminary obstacles could be got over. at barcelona she had, in the course of last summer, doubly busy ever since mollwitz time, got into equipment some , men; but could not by any method get them across,--owing to the british fleets, which hung blockading this place and that; blockading cadiz especially, where lay her transport-ships and war-ships, at this interesting juncture. fleury's cunctations were disgusting to the ardent mind; and here now, still more insuperable, are the british fleets; here--and a pest to him!--is your admiral haddock, blockading cadiz, with his seventy-fours! "but again, on the other or pragmatic side, there were cunctations. the sardinian majesty, charles emanuel of savoy, holding the door of the alps, was difficult to bargain with, in spite of british subsidies;--stood out for higher door-fees, a larger slice of the milanese than could be granted him; had always one ear open for france, too; in short, was tedious and capricious, and there seemed no bringing him to the point of drawing sword for her hungarian majesty. in the end, he was brought to it, by a stroke of british art,--such to the admiring gazetteer and diplomatic mind it seemed;--equal to anything we have since heard of, on the part of perfidious albion. "one day, 'middle of october last,' the seventy-fours of haddock and perfidious albion,--spanish official persons, looking out from cadiz light-house, ask themselves, 'where are they? vanished from these waters; not a seventy-four of them to be seen!'--have got foul in the underworks, or otherwise some blunder has happened; and the blockading fleet of perfidious albion has had to quit its post, and run to gibraltar to refit. that, i guess, was the machiavellian stroke of art they had done; without investigating haddock and company [as indignant honorable members did], i will wager, that and nothing more! "in any case, the termagant, finding no seventy-fours there, and the wind good, despatches swiftly her transports and war-ships to barcelona; swiftly embarks there her , , france cautiously assisting; and lands them complete, 'by the middle of december,' haddock feebly opposing, on the genoa coast: 'have at the milanese, my men!' which obliges charles emanuel to end his cunctations, and rank at once in defence of that country, [adelung, ii. , (who believes in the "stroke of art"): what kind of "art" it was, learn sufficiently in _gentleman's magazine,_ &c. of those months.] lest he get no share of it whatever. and so the game began. europe admired, with a shudder, the refined stroke of art; for in cunning they equal beelzebub, those perfidious islanders;--and are always at it; hence their greatness in the world. imitate them, ye peoples, if you also would grow great. that is our gazetteer evangel, in this late epoch of man's history."... other scene, bay of naples, th- th august, : king of two sicilies (baby carlos that was), having been assisting mamma, is obliged to become neutral in the italian war. readers will transport themselves to the bay of naples, and beautiful vesuvian scenery seen from sea. the english-spanish war, it would appear, is not quite dead, nor carried on by jenkins and the wapping people alone. here in this bay it blazes out into something of memorability; and gives lively sign of its existence, among the other troubles of the world. "sunday, august th, commodore martin, who had arrived overnight, appears in the bay, with due modicum of seventy-fours, 'dursley galleys,' bomb-vessels, on an errand from his admiral [one matthews] and the britannic majesty, much to the astonishment of naples. commodore martin hovers about, all morning, and at p.m. drops anchor,--within shot of the place, fearfully near;--and therefrom sends ashore a message: 'that his sicilian majesty [baby carlos, our notable old friend, who is said to be a sovereign of merit otherwise], has not been neutral, in this italian war, as his engagements bore; but has joined his force to that of the spaniards, declared enemies of his britannic majesty; which rash step his britannic majesty hereby requires him to retract, if painful consequences are not at once to ensue!' that is martin's message; to which he stands doggedly, without variation, in the extreme flutter and multifarious reasoning of the poor court of naples: 'recall your , men, and keep them recalled,' persists martin; and furthermore at last, as the reasoning threatens to get lengthy: 'your answer is required within one hour,'--and lays his watch on the cabin-table. "the court, thrown into transcendent tremor, with no resource but either to be burnt or comply, answers within the hour: 'yes: in all points.' some eight hours or so of reasoning: deep in the night of sunday, it is all over; everything preparing to get signed and sealed; ships making ready to sail again;--and on tuesday at sunrise, there is no martin there. martin, to the last top-gallant, has vanished clean over the horizon; never to be seen again, though long remembered. [tindal's _rapin,_ xx. (misdates, and is altogether indistinct); _gentleman's magazine,_ xii. :--came, "sunday morning, th august, n.s.;" "anchored about p.m.;" " a.m. of th" all agreed; king carlos's letter is got, ships prepared for sailing;--sail that night, and to-morrow, st, are out of sight.] one wonders, were pipes and hatchway perhaps there, in martin's squadron? in what station commodore trunnion did then serve in the british navy? vanished ghosts of grim mute sea-kings, there is no record of them but what is itself a kind of ghost! ghost, or symbolical phantasm, from the brain of that tobias smollett; an assistant surgeon, who served in the body along with them, his singular value altogether unknown."--king carlos's neutrality, obtained in this manner, lasted for a year-and-half; a sensible alleviation to her hungarian majesty for the time. we here quit the italian war; leaving it to the reader's fancy, on the above terms. ....... the siege of prag contimes. a grand sally there. "prag, d august. in the same hours, while martin lay coercing naples, the army of the oriflamme in prag city was engaged in 'furious sallies;'"--readers may divine what that means for prag and the oriflamme! "prag is begirdled, bombarded from all the wischerads, ziscabergs and hill environments; every avenue blocked, 'above , austrians round it, near , of them regulars:' a place difficult to defend; but with excellent arrangements for defence on belleisle's part, and the garrison with its blood up. garrison makes continual furious sallies,--which are eminently successful, say the french newspapers; but which end, as all sallies do, in returning home again, without conquest, except of honor;--and on this wednesday, d august, comes out with the greatest sally of all. [_campagnes,_ vi. ; _guerre de boheme,_ ii. .] while commodore martin, many a pipes and hatchway standing grimly on the watch unknown to us, is steering towards matthews and the toulon waters again. the equal sun looking down on all. "it was about twelve o'clock, when this prag sally, now all in order, broke out, several thousand strong, and all at the white heat, now a constant temperature. sally almost equal to that pharsalia of a sahay, it would seem;--concerning which we can spend no word in this brief summary. fierce fighting, fiery irresistible onslaught; but it went too far, lost all its captured cannon again; and returned only with laurels and a heavy account of killed and wounded,--the leader of it being himself carried home in a very bleeding state. 'oh, the incomparable troops!' cried paris;--cried voltaire withal (as i gather), and in very high company, in that visit at aachen. a sally glorious, but useless. "the imperial generals were just sitting down to dinner, when it broke out; had intended a council of war, over their wine, in the grand-duke's tent: 'what, won't they let us have our dinner!' cried prince karl, in petulant humor, struggling to be mirthful. he rather likes his dinner, this prince karl, i am told, and does not object to his wine: otherwise a hearty, talky, free-and-easy prince,--'black shallow-set eyes, face red, and much marked with small-pox.' clapping on his hat, faculties sharpened by hunger and impatience, let him do his best, for several hours to come, till the sally abate and go its ways again. leaving its cannon, and trophies. no sally could hope to rout , men; this furious sally, almost equal to sahay, had to return home again, on the above terms. upon which prince karl and the others got some snatch of dinner; and the inexorable pressure of siege, tightening itself closer and closer, went on as before. "the eyes of all europe are turned towards prag; a big crisis clearly preparing itself there.... france, or aid in france, is some miles away. in d'harcourt, merely gathering magazines, with his khevenhuller near, is no help; help, not the question there! the garrison of eger, miles to west of us, across the mountains, barely mans its own works. other strong post, or support of any kind in these countries, we have now none. we are , ; and of available resource have the magazines in prag, and our own right hands. "the flower of the young nobility had marched in that oriflamme;--now standing at bay, they and it, in prag yonder: french honor itself seems shut up there! the thought of it agitates bitterly the days and nights of old fleury, who is towards ninety now, and always disliked war. the french public too,--we can fancy what a public! the young nobility in prag has its spokes-men, and spokes-women, at versailles, whose complaint waxes louder, shriller; the whole world, excited by rumor of those furious sallies, is getting shrill and loud. what can old fleury do but order maillebois: 'leave dunkirk to its own luck; march immediately for relief of prag!' and maillebois is already on march; his various divisions (august th- th) crossing the rhine, in dusseldorf country;"--of whom we shall hear. ... "some time before the actual bombardment, fleury, seeing it inevitable, had ordered belleisle to treat. belleisle accordingly had an interview, almost two interviews, with konigseck. [_guerre de boheme_, ii. (" d july" the actual interview); ib. (the corollary to it, confirmatory of it, which passed by letters).] 'liberty to march home, and equitable peace-negotiations in the rear?' proposed belleisle. 'absolute surrender; prisoners of war!' answered konigseck; 'such is her hungarian majesty's positive order and ultimatum.' the high belleisle responded nothing unpolite; merely some, 'alors, monsieur--!' and rode back to prag, with a spirit all in white heat;--gradually heating all the , white, and keeping them so. "in fact, belleisle, a high-flown lion reduced to silence and now standing at bay, much distinguishes himself in this siege; which, for his sake, is still worth a moment's memory from mankind. he gathers himself into iron stoicism, into concentration of endeavor; suffers all things, broglio's domineering in the first place; as if his own thin skin were that of a rhinoceros; and is prepared to dare all things. like an excellent soldier, like an excellent citizen. he contrives, arranges; leads, covertly drives the domineering broglio, by rule of contraries or otherwise, according to the nature of the beast; animates all men by his laconic words; by his silences, which are still more emphatic.... sechelles, provident of the future, has laid in immense supplies of indifferent biscuit; beef was not attainable: belleisle dismounts his , cavalry, all but dragoons; slaughters horses per day, and boils the same by way of butcher's-meat, to keep the soldier in heart. it is his own fare, and broglio's, to serve as example. at broglio's quarter, there is a kind of ordinary of horse-flesh: officers come in, silent speed looking through their eyes; cut a morsel of the boiled provender, break a bad biscuit, pour one glass of indifferent wine; and eat, hardly sitting the while, in such haste to be at the ramparts again. the , townsfolk, except some jews, are against them to a man. belleisle cares for everything: there is strict charge on his soldiers to observe discipline, observe civility to the townsfolk; there is occasional 'hanging of a prag butcher' or so, convicted of spyship, but the minimum of that, we will hope." maillebois marches, with an "army of redemption" or "of mathurins" (wittily so called), to relieve prag; reaches the bohemian frontier, joined by the comte de saxe; above , strong (august th-september th). maillebois has some , men: ahead of him miles of difficult way; rainy season come, days shortening; uncertain staff of bread ("seckendorf's meal," and what other commissariat there may be): a difficult march, to amberg country and the top of the ober-pfalz. after which are mountain-passes; bohemian forest: and the event--? "cannot be dubious!" thinks france, whatever maillebois think. witty paris, loving its timely joke, calls him army of redemption, "l'armee des mathurins,"--a kind of priests, whose business is commonly in barbary, about christian bondage:--how sprightly! and yet the enthusiasm was great: young princes of the blood longing to be off as volunteers, needing strict prohibition by the king;--upon which, prince de conti, gallant young fellow, leaving his wife, his mistress, and miraculously borrowing , pounds for equipments, rushed off furtively by post; and did join, and do his best. was reprimanded, clapt in arrest for three days; but afterwards promoted; and came to some distinction in these wars. [barbier, ii. (that of conti, ib. ); adelung, &c.] the march goes continually southeast; by frankfurt, thence towards nurnberg country ("be at furth, september th"), and the skirts of the pine-mountains (fichtel-gebirge),--anspach and baireuth well to your left;--end, lastly, in the ober-pfalz (upper palatinate), town of amberg there. before trying the bohemian passes, you shall have reinforcement. best part of the "bavarian army," now under comte de saxe, not under d'harcourt farther, is to cease collecting victual in the donau-iser countries (deggendorf, north bank of donau, its head-quarter); and to get on march,--circling very wide, not northward, but by the donan, and even by the south, bank of it mainly (to avoid the hungry mountains and their tolpatcheries),--and, at amberg, is to join maillebois. this is a wide-lying game. the great marlborough used to play such, and win; making the wide elements, the times and the spaces, hit with exactitude: but a maillebois?"he is called by the parisians, 'vieux petit-maitre (dandy of sixty,' so to speak); has a poor upturned nose, with baboon-face to match, which he even helps by paint."... here is one scene; at frankfurt-on-mayn; fact certain, day not given. frankfurt, "latter end of august," . "at frankfurt, his army having got into the neighborhood,"--not into frankfurt itself, which, as a reichs-stadt, is sacred from armies and their marchings,--"marechal de maillebois, as in duty bound, waited on the kaiser to pay his compliments there: on which occasion, we regret to say, marechal de maillebois was not so reverent to the imperial majesty as he should have been. angry belike at the adventure now forced on him, and harassed with many things; seeing in the imperial majesty little but an unfortunate play-actor majesty, who lives in furnished lodgings paid for by france, and gives france and maillebois an infinite deal of trouble to little purpose. certain it is, he addressed the imperial majesty in the most free-and-easy manner; very much the reverse of being dashed by the sacred presence: and his officers in the ante-chamber, crowding about, all day, for presentation to the imperial majesty, made a noise, and kept up a babble of talk and laughter, as if it had been a mess-room, instead of the forecourt of imperial majesty. so that imperial majesty, barely master of its temper and able to finish without explosion, signified to maillebois on the morrow, that henceforth it would dispense with such visits, poor imperial majesty; a human creature doing play-actorisms of too high a flight. he had the finest palace in germany; a wonder to the great gustavus long ago: and now he has it not; mere meutzels and horrent shaggy creatures rule in munchen and it: and the imperial quasi-furnished lodgings are respected in this manner!" [van loon, _kleine schriften,_ ii. (cited in buchholz, ii. ). campagnes is silent; usually suppressing scenes of that kind.]--the wits say of him, "he would be kaiser or nothing: see you, he is kaiser and nothing!" [_"aut nihil aut caesar, bavarus dux esse volebat; et nihil et caesar factus utrumque simul."_ (barbier, ii. .)]... august th-september th. "comte de saxe is on march, from deggendorf; north bank of the donau, by narrow mountain roads; then crosses the donau to south bank, and a plain country;--making large circuit, keeping the river on his right,--to meet maillebois at amberg; his force, some or , men. seckendorf, now bavarian commander-in-chief, accompanies saxe; with considerable bavarian force, guess , , 'marching always on the left.' accompanies; but only to regensburg, to stadt-am-hof, a suburb of regensburg, where they cross the donau again."--suburb of regensburg, mark that; regensburg itself being a reichs-stadt, very particularly sacred from war;--the very reichs-diet commonly sitting here; though it has gone to frankfurt lately, to be with its kaiser, and out of these continual trumpetings and tumults close by. [went th may, ,--after three months' arguing and protesting on the austrian part (adelung, iii. a, , ).]--"at regensburg, once across, seckendorf with his bavarians calls halt; plants himself down in kelheim, ingolstadt, and the safe garrisons thereabouts,--calculates that, if khevenhuller should be called away prag-ward, there may be a stroke do-able in these parts. saxe marches on; straight northward now, up the valley of the naab; obliged to be a good deal on his guard. mischievous tolpatcheries and trencks, ever since he crossed the donau again, have escorted him, to right, as close as they durst; dashing out sometimes on the magazines." one of the exploits they had done, take only one:--in their road towards saxe, a few days ago:-- ... "september th, trenck with his tolpatcheries had appeared at cham,--a fine trading town on the hither or neutral side of the mountains [not in bohmen, but in ober-pfalz, old kur-pfalz's country, whom the austrians hate];--and summoning and assaulting cham, over the throat of all law, had by fire and by massacre annihilated the same. [adelung, iii a, ; _guerre de boheme;_ &c.] fact horrible, nearly incredible; but true. the noise of which is now loud everywhere. less lovely individual than this trenck [pandour trenck, cousin of the prussian one,] there was not, since the days of attila and genghis, in any war. blusters abominably, too; has written [save the mark!] an 'autobiography,'--having happily afterwards, in prison and even in bedlam, time for such a work;--which is stuffed with sanguinary lies and exaggerations: unbeautifulest of human souls. has a face the color of indigo, too;--got it, plundering in an apothecary's [in this same country, if i recollect]: 'ach gott, your grace, nothing of money here!' said the poor apothecary, accompanying colonel trenck with a lighted candle over house and shop. trenck, noticing one likely thing, snatched the candle, held it nearer:--likely thing proved gunpowder; and trenck, till doomsday, continues deep blue. [_guerre de boheme._] soul more worthy of damnation i have seldom known." "september th (five days after dropping seckendorf), saxe actually gets joined with maillebois;--not quite at amberg, but at vohenstrauss, in that same sulzbach country, a forty miles to eastward, or prag-ward, of amberg. maillebois and he conjoined are between and , . they are got now to the bohemian boundary, edge of the bohemian forest (big bohmische wald, mountainous woody country, miles long); they are within miles of pilsen, within of prag itself,--if they can cross the forest. which may be difficult." prince karl and the grand-duke, hearing of maillebois, go to meet him (september th); and the siege of prag is raised. "september llth, the besieged at prag notice that the austrian fire slackens; that the enemy seems to be taking away his guns. villages and farmsteads, far and wide all round, are going up in fire. a joyful symptom:--since august th, belleisle has known of maillebois's advent; guesses that the austrians now know it.--september th, their firing has quite ceased. grand-duke and prince karl are off to meet this maillebois, amid the intricate defiles, 'better meet him there than here:'--and on this fourth morning, belleisle, looking out, perceives that the siege is raised. [espagnac, i. ; _campagnes,_ v. .] "a blessed change indeed. no enemy here,--perhaps some festititz, with his canaille of tolpatches, still lingering about,--no enemy worth mention. parties go out freely to investigate:--but as to forage? alas, a country burnt, villages black and silent for ten miles round;--you pick up here and there a lean steer, welcome amid boiled horse-flesh; you bundle a load or two of neglected grass together, for what cavalry remains. the genius of sechelles, and help from the saxon side, will be much useful! "perhaps the undeniablest advantage of any is this, that broglio, not now so proud of the situation prag is in, or led by the rule of contraries, willingly quits prag: belleisle will not have to do his function by the medium of pig-driving, but in the direct manner henceforth. 'give me or , foot, and what of the cavalry have horses still uneaten,' proposes broglio; 'i will push obliquely towards eger,--which is towards saxony withal, and opens our food-communications there:--i will stretch out a hand to maillebois, across the mountain passes; and thus bring a victorious issue!' [espagnac, i. .] belleisle consents: 'well, since my broglio will have it so!'--glad to part with my broglio at any rate,--'adieu, then, m. le marechal (and,' sotto voce, 'may it be long before we meet again in partnership)!' broglio marches accordingly ('hand' beautifully held out to maillebois, but not within grasping distance); gets northwestward some miles, as far as toplitz [sadly oblique for eger],--never farther on that errand." the maillebois army of redemption cannot redeem at all;--has to stagger southward again; and becomes an "army of bavaria," under broglio. "september th-october th,,'--scene is, the eger-vohenstrauss country, in and about that bohemian forest of seventy miles.--"for three weeks, maillebois and the comte de saxe, trying their utmost, cannot, or cannot to purpose, get through that bohemian wood. only three practicable passes in it; difficult each, and each conducting you towards more new difficulties, on the farther side;--not surmountable except by the determined mind. a gloomy business: a gloomy difficult region, solitary, hungry; nothing in it but shaggy chasms (and perhaps tolpatchery lurking), wastes, mountain woodlands, dumb trees, damp brown leaves. maillebois and saxe, after survey, shoot leftwards to eger; draw food and reinforcement from the garrison there. they do get through the forest, at one pass, the pass nearest eger;--but find prince karl and the grand-duke ranked to receive them on the other side. 'plunge home upon prince karl and the grand-duke; beat them, with your broglio to help in the rear?' that possibly was friedrich's thought as he watched [now home at berlin again] the contemporaneous theatre of war. "but that was not the maillebois-broglio method;--nay, it is said maillebois was privately forbidden 'to run risks.' broglio, with his stretched-out hand ( , some count him, and indeed it is no matter), sits quiet at toplitz, far too oblique: 'come then, come, o maillebois!' maillebois,--manoeuvring prince karl aside, or hunger doing it for him,--did once push forward prag-ward, by the pass of caaden; which is very oblique to toplitz. by the pass of caaden,--down the eger river, through those mountains of the circle of saatz, past a castle of ellenbogen, key of the same;--and 'could have done it [he said always after], had it not been for comte de saxe!' undeniable it is, saxe, as vanguard, took that castle of ellenbogen; and, time being so precious, gave the tolpatchery dismissal on parole. undeniable, too, the tolpatchery, careless of parole, beset caaden village thereupon, , strong; cut off our foreposts, at caaden village; and--in short, we had to retire from those parts; and prove an army of redemption that could not redeem at all! "maillebois and saxe wend sulkily down the naab valley (having lost, say , , not by fighting, but by mud and hardship); and the rapt european public (shilling-gallery especially) says, with a sneer on its face, 'pooh; ended, then!' sulkily wending, maillebois and saxe (october th-november th) get across the donau, safe on the southern bank again; march for the iser country and the d'harcourt magazines,--and become 'grand bavarian army,' usual refuge of the unlucky."... of seckendorf in the interim. "for belleisle and relief of prag, maillebois in person had proved futile; but to seckendorf, waiting with his bavarians, the shadow and rumor of maillebois had brought famous results,--famous for a few weeks. khevenhuller being called north to help in those anti-maillebois operations, and only barenklau with about , austrians now remaining in baiern, seckendorf, clearly superior (not to speak of that remnant of d'harcourt people, with their magazines), promptly bestirred himself, in the kelheim-ingolstadt country; got on march; and drove the austrians mostly out of baiern. out mostly, and without stroke of sword, merely by marching; out for the time. munchen was evacuated, on rumor of seckendorf (october th): a glad city to see barenklau march off. much was evacuated,--the iser valley, down partly to the inn valley,--much was cleared, by seckendorf in these happy circumstances. who sees himself victorious, for once; and has his fame in the gazettes, if it would last. pretty much without stroke of sword, we say, and merely by marching: in one place, having marched too close, the retreating barenklau people turned on him, 'took prisoners' before going; [espagnac, i. .]--other fighting, in this line 'reconquest of bavaria,' i do not recollect. winter come, he makes for maillebois and the iser countries; cantons himself on the upper inn itself, well in advance of the french [braunau his chief strong-place, if readers care to look on the map]; and strives to expect a combined seizure of passau, and considerable things, were spring come."... and of broglio in the interim. "as for broglio, left alone at toplitz, gazing after a futile maillebois, he sends the better half of his force back to prag; other half he establishes at leitmeritz: good halfway-house to dresden. 'will forward saxon provender to you, m. de belleisle!' (never did, and were all taken prisoners some weeks hence). which settled, broglio proceeded to the saxon court; who answered him: 'provender? alas, monseigneur! we are (to confess it to you!) at peace with austria: [treatying ever since "july th;" treaty actually done, " th september") (adelung, iii. a, , ).] not an ounce of provender possible; how dare we?'--but were otherwise politeness itself to the great broglio. great broglio, after sumptuous entertainments there, takes the road for baiern; circling grandly ('through nurnberg with escort of horse') to maillebois's new quarters;--takes command of the 'bavarian army' (may it be lucky for him!); and sends maillebois home, in deep dudgeon, to the merciless criticisms of men. 'could have done it,' persists the vieux petit-maitre always, 'had not'--one knows what, but cares not, at this date!-- "broglio's quarters in the iser country, i am told, are fatally too crowded, men perishing at a frightful rate per day. [espagnac, i. .] 'things all awry here,--thanks to that maillebois and others!' and broglio's troubles and procedures, as is everywhere usual to broglio, run to a great height in this bavarian command. and poor seckendorf, in neighborhood of such a broglio, has his adoes; eyes sparkling; face blushing slate-color; at times nearly driven out of his wits;--but strives to consume his own smoke, and to have hopes on passau notwithstanding."--and of belleisle in prag, and his meditations on the oriflamme?--patience, reader. meantime, what a relief to kaiser karl, in such wreck of bohemian kingdoms and castles in spain, to have got his own munchen and country in hand again; with the prospect of quitting furnished-lodgings, and seeing the color of real money! april next, he actually goes to munchen, where we catch a glimpse of him. [" th april, ," montijos &c. accompanying (adelung, iii. b, , ).] this same october, the reich, after endless debatings on the question, "help our kaiser, or not help?" [ib. iii a, .] has voted him fifty romer-monate ("romish-months," still so termed, though there is not now any marching of the kaiser to rome on business); meaning fifty of the known quotas, due from all and sundry in such case,--which would amount to about , pounds (could it, or the half of it, be collected from so wide a parish), and would prove a sensible relief to the poor man. voltaire has been on visit at aachen, in the interim,--his third visit to king friedrich. king friedrich had come to the baths of aachen, august th; the maillebois army of redemption being then, to the last man of it, five days across the rhine on its high errand, which has since proved futile. friedrich left aachen, taking leave of his voltaire, who had been lodging with him for a week by special invitation, september th; and witnessed the later struggles and final inability of maillebois to redeem, not at aix, but at berlin, amid the ordinary course of his employments there. we promised something of voltaire's new visit, his third to friedrich. here is what little we have,--if the lively reader will exert his fancy on it. voltaire and his du chatelet had been to cirey, and thence been at paris through this spring and summer, ;--engaged in what to voltaire and paris was a great thing, though a pacific one: the getting of mahomet brought upon the boards. august th, precisely while the first vanguard of the army of redemption got across the rhine at dusseldorf, voltaire's tragedy of mahomet came on the stage. august th, llth, th, paris city was in transports of various kinds; never were such crowds of audience, lifting a man to the immortal gods,--though a part too, majority by count of heads, were dragging him to tartarus again. "exquisite, unparalleled!" exclaimed good judges (as fleury himself had anticipated, on examining the piece):--"infamous, irreligious, accursed!" vociferously exclaimed the bad judges; reverend desfontaines (of sodom, so voltaire persists to define him), reverend desfontaines and others giving cue; hugely vociferous, these latter, hugely in majority by count of heads. and there was such a bellowing and such a shrieking, judicious fleury, or maurepas under him, had to suggest, "let an actor fall sick; let m. de voltaire volunteer to withdraw his piece; otherwise--!" and so it had to be: actor fell sick on the th (playbills sorry to retract their mahomet on the th); and--in fact, it was not for nine years coming, and after dedication to the pope, and other exquisite manoeuvres and unexpected turns of fate, that mahomet could be acted a fourth time in paris, and thereafter ad libitum down to this day. [_oeuvres de voltaire,_ ii. n.; &c. &c.] such tempest in a teapot is not unexampled, nay rather is very frequent, in that anarchic republic called of letters. confess, reader, that you too would have needed some patience in m. de voltaire's place; with such a heaven's own inspiration of a mahomet in your hands, and such a terrestrial doggery at your heels. suppose the bitterest of your barking curs were a reverend desfontaines of sodom, whom you yourself had saved from the gibbet once, and again and again from starving? it is positively a great anarchy, and fountain of anarchies, all that, if you will consider; and it will have results under the sun. you cannot help it, say you; there is no shutting up of a reverend desfontaines, which would be so salutary to himself and to us all? no:--and when human reverence (daily going, in such ways) is quite gone from the world; and your lowest blockhead and scoundrel (usually one entity) shall have perfect freedom to spit in the face of your highest sage and hero,--what a remarkably free world shall we be! voltaire, keeping good silence as to all this, and minded for brussels again, receives the king of prussia's invitation; lays it at his eminency fleury's feet; will not accept, unless his eminency and my own king of france (possibly to their advantage, if one might hint such a thing!) will permit it. [ib. lxxii. (letter to fleury, "paris, aug. d").] "by all means; go, and"--the rest is in dumb-show; meaning, "try to pump him for us!" under such omens, voltaire and his divine emilie return to their honsbruck lawsuit: "silent brussels, how preferable to paris and its mad cries!" voltaire, leaving the divine emilie at brussels, september d, sets out for aix,--aix attainable within the day. he is back at brussels late in the evening, september th:--how he had fared, and what extent of pumping there was, learn from the following excerpts, which are all dated the morrow after his return:-- three letters of voltaire, dated brussels, th sept. . . to cideville (the rouen advocate, who has sometimes troubled us).... "i have been to see the king of prussia since i began this letter [beginning of it dates september st]. i have courageously resisted his fine proposals. he offers me a beautiful house in berlin, a pretty estate; but i prefer my second-floor in madame du chatelet's here. he assures me of his favor, of the perfect freedom i should have;--and i am running to paris [did not just yet run] to my slavery and persecution. i could fancy myself a small athenian, refusing the bounties of the king of persia. with this difference, however, one had liberty [not slavery] at athens; and i am sure there were many cidevilles there, instead of one,"--helas, my cideville! . to marquis d'argenson (worthy official gentleman, not war-minister now or afterwards; war-minister's senior brother,--voltaire's old school-fellows, both these brothers, in the college of louis le grand).... "i have just been to see the king of prussia in these late days [in fact, quitted him only yesterday; both of us, after a week together, leaving aix yesterday]: i have seen him as one seldom sees kings,--much at my ease, in my own room, in the chimney-nook, whither the same man who has gained two battles would come and talk familiarly, as scipio did with terence. you will tell me, i am not terence; true, but neither is he altogether scipio. "i learned some extraordinary things,"--things not from friedrich at all: mere dinner-table rumors; about the , english landing here (" , " he calls them, and farther on, " , ") with the other , plus , of hanoverian-hessian sort, expecting , dutch to join them,--who perhaps will not? "m. de neipperg [governor of luxemburg now] is come hither to brussels; but brings no dutch troops with him, as he had hoped,"--dutch perhaps won't rise, after all this flogging and hoisting?" perhaps we may soon get a useful and glorious peace, in spite of my lord stair, and of m. van haren, the tyrtaeus of the states-general [famed van haren, eyes in a fine dutch frenzy rolling, whose cause-of-liberty verses let no man inquire after]: stair prints memoirs, van haren makes odes; and with so much prose and so much verse, perhaps their high and slow mightinesses [excellency fenelon sleeplessly busy persuading them, and native gravitation sleepily ditto] will sit quiet. god grant it! "the english want to attack us on our own soil [actually stair's plan]; and we cannot pay them in that kind. the match is too unfair! if we kill the whole , of them, we merely send , heretics to--what shall i say?--a l'enfer, and gain nothing; if they kill us, they even feed at our expense in doing it. better have no quarrels except on locke and newton! the quarrel i have on mahomet is happily only ridiculous."... adieu, m. le marquis. . to the cardinal de fleury. "monseigneur,... to give your eminency, as i am bound, some account of my journey to aix-la-chapelle." friedrich's guest there; let us hear, let us look. "i could not get away from brussels till the d of this month. on the road, i met a courier from the king of prussia, coming to reiterate his master's orders on me. the king had me lodged near his own apartment; and he passed, for two consecutive days, four hours at a time in my room, with all that goodness and familiarity which forms, as you know, part of his character, and which does not lower the king's dignity, because one is duly careful not to abuse it [be careful!]. i had abundant time to speak, with a great deal of freedom, on what your eminency had prescribed to me; and the king spoke to me with an equal frankness. "first, he asked me, if it was true that the french nation was so angered against him; if the king was, and if you were? i answered,"--mildly reprobatory, yet conciliative, "hm, no, nothing permanent, nothing to speak of." "he then deigned to speak to me, at large, of the reasons which had induced him to be so hasty with the peace." "extremely remarkable reasons;" "dare not trust them to this paper" (broglio-belleisle discrepancies, we guess, distracted broglio procedures);--they have no concern with that pallandt-letter story,--"they do not turn on the pretended secret negotiations at the court of vienna [which are not pretended at all, as i among others well know], in regard to which your eminency has condescended to clear yourself [by denying the truth, poor eminency; there was no help otherwise]. all i dare state is, that it seems to me easy to lead back the mind of this sovereign, whom the situation of his territories, his interest, and his taste would appear to mark as the natural ally of france." "he said farther [what may be relied on as true by his eminency fleury, and my readers here], that he passionately wished to see bohemia in the emperor's hands [small chance for it, as things now go!]; that he renounced, with the best faith in the world, all claim whatever on berg and julich; and that, in spite of the advantageous proposals which lord stair was making him, he thought only of keeping silesia. that he knew well enough the house of austria would, one day, wish to recover that fine province, but that he trusted he could keep his conquest; that he had at this time , soldiers always ready; that he would make of neisse, glogau, brieg, fortresses as strong as wesel [which he is now diligently doing, and will soon have done]; that besides he was well informed the queen of hungary already owed , , german crowns, which is about millions of our money [about millions sterling]; that her provinces, exhausted, and lying wide apart, would not be able to make long efforts; and that the austrians, for a good while to come, could not of themselves be formidable." of themselves, no: but with britannic soup-royal in quantity?-- "my lord hyndford had spoken to him" as if france were entirely discouraged and done for: how false, monseigneur! "and lord stair in his letters represented france, a month ago, as ready to give in. lord stair has not ceased to press his majesty during this aix excursion even:" and, in spite of what your eminency hears from the hague, "there was, on the th of august, an englishman at aix on the part of milord stair; and he had speech with the king of prussia [croyez moi!] in a little village called boschet [burtscheid, where are hot wells], a quarter of a league from aix. i have been assured, moreover, that the englishman returned in much discontent. on the other hand, general schmettau, who was with the king [elder schmettau, graf samuel, who does a great deal of envoying for his majesty], sent, at that very time, to brussels, for maps of the moselle and of the three bishoprics, and purchased five copies,"--means to examine milord stair's proposed seat of war, at any rate. (here is a pleasant friend to have on visit to you, in the next apartment, with such an eye and such a nose!)... "monseigneur," finely insinuates voltaire in conclusion, "is not there" a certain frenchman, true to his country, to his king, and to your eminency, with perhaps peculiar facilities for being of use, in such delicate case?--"je suis," much your eminency's. [_oeuvres,_ lxxii. p. (to cideville), p. (d'argenson), p. (fleury).] friedrich, on the day while voltaire at brussels sat so busy writing of him, was at salzdahl, visiting his brunswick kindred there, on the road home to his usual affairs. old fleury, age ninety gone, died th january, ,--five months and nineteen days after this letter. war-minister breteuil had died january st. here is room for new ministers and ministries; for the two d'argensons,--if it could avail their old school-fellow, or france, or us; which it cannot much. chapter iii.--carnival phenomena in war-time. readers were anticipating it, readers have no sympathy; but the sad fact is, britannic majesty has not got out his sword; this second paroxysm of his proves vain as the first did! those laggard dutch, dead to the cause of liberty, it is they again. just as the hour was striking, they--plump down, in spite of magnanimous stair, into their mud again; cannot be hoisted by engineering. and, after all that filling and emptying of water-casks, and pumping and puffing, and straining of every fibre for a twelvemonth past, britannic majesty had to sit down again, panting in an olympian manner, with that expensive long sword of his still sticking in the scabbard. tongue cannot tell what his poor little majesty has suffered from those dutch,--checking one's noble rage, into mere zero, always; making of one's own glorious army a mere expensive phantasm! hanoverian, hessian, british: , fighters standing in harness, year after year, at such cost; and not the killing of a french turkey to be had of them in return. patience, olympian patience, withal! he cantons his troops in the netherlands towns; many of the british about ghent (who consider the provisions, and customs, none of the best); [letters of officers, from ghent (_westminster journal,_ oct. d, &c.).] his hanoverians, hessians, farther northward, hanover way;--and, greatly daring, determines to try again, next spring. carteret himself shall go and flagitate the dutch. patience; whip and hoist!--what a conclusion, snorts the indignant british public through its gazetteers. "next year, yes, exclaims one indignant editor: 'if talking will do business, we shall no doubt perform wonders; for we have had as much talking and puffing since february last, as during any ten years of the late administration' [_the daily post,_ december st (o.s.), .] [under poor walpole, whom you could not enough condemn]! the dutch? exclaims another: 'if we were a free people [f-- p-- he puts it, joining caution with his rage], quoere, whether holland would not, at this juncture, come cap in hand, to sue for our protection and alliance; instead of making us dance attendance at the hague?' yes, indeed;--and then the case of the hanover forces (fear not, reader; i understand your terror of locked-jaw, and will never mention said case again); but it is singular to the gazetteer mind, that these hanover forces are to be paid by england, as appears; hanover, as if without interest in the matter, paying nothing! upon which, in covert form of symbolic adumbration, of witty parable, what stinging commentaries, not the first, nor by many thousands the last (very sad reading in our day) on this paltry hanover connection altogether: what immensities it has cost poor england, and is like to cost, 'the lord of the manor' (great george our king) being the gentleman he is; and how england, or, as it is adumbratively called, 'the manor of st. james's,' is become a mere 'fee-farm to mumland.' unendurable to think of. 'bob monopoly, the late tallyman [adumbrative for walpole, late prime minister], was much blamed on this account; and john the carter [john lord carteret], clerk of the vestry and present favorite of his lordship, is not behind robin in his care for the manor of mumland' [in _westminster journal_ (feb. th, n.s., ), a long apologue in this strain.] (that contemptible country, where their very beer is called mum),--and no remedy within view?" retreat from prag; army of the oriflamme, bohemian section bohemian section of it, makes exit. "and belleisle in prag, left solitary there, with his heroic remnant,--gone now to , , the fourth man of them in hospital, with festititz tolpatchery hovering round, and winter and hunger drawing nigh,--what is to become of belleisle? prince karl and the grand-duke had attended maillebois to bavaria; steadily to left of maillebois between austria and him; and are now busy in the passau country, bent on exploding those seckendorf-broglio operations and intentions, as the chief thing now. meanwhile they have detached prince lobkowitz to girdle in belleisle again; for which lobkowitz (say, , , with the festititz tolpatchery included) will be easily able. on the march thither he easily picked up ( th- th november) that new french post of leitmeritz (broglio's fine 'half-way house to saxony and provender'), with its garrison of , : the other posts and outposts, one and all, had to hurry home, in fear of a like fate. beyond the circuit of prag, isolated in ten miles of burnt country, belleisle has no resource except what his own head may furnish. the black landscape is getting powdered with snow; one of the grimmest winters, almost like that of ; belleisle must see what he will do. "belleisle knows secretly what he will do. belleisle has orders to come away from prag; bring his army off, and the chivalry of france home to their afflicted friends. [_campagnes,_ vi. - ; espagnac, i. .] a thing that would have been so feasible two months ago, while maillebois was still wriggling in the pass of caaden; but which now borders on impossibility, if not reaches into it. as a primary measure, belleisle keeps those orders of his rigorously secret. within the garrison, or on the part of lobkowitz, there is a far other theory of belleisle's intentions. lobkowitz, unable to exist in the black circuit, has retired beyond it, and taken the eastern side of the moldau, as the least ruined; leaving the tolpatchery, under one festititz, to caracole round the black horizon on the west. farther, as the moldau is rolling ice, and lobkowitz is afraid of his pontoons, he drags them out high and dry: 'can be replaced in a day, when wanted.' in a day; yes, thinks belleisle, but not in less than a day;--and proceeds now to the consummation. detailed accounts exist, belleisle's own account (rapid, exact, loftily modest); here, compressing to the utmost, let us snatch hastily the main features. "on the th december, , prag gates are all shut: enter if you like; but no outgate. monseigneur le marechal intends to have a grand foraging to-morrow, on the southwestern side of prag. lobkowitz heard of it, in spite of the shut gates; for all prag is against belleisle, and does spy-work for lobkowitz. 'let him forage,' thought lobkowitz; 'he will not grow rich by what he gathers;' and sat still, leaving his pontoons high and dry. so that belleisle, on the afternoon of december th,--between and , men, near , of them cavalry, with cannon, with provision-wagons, baggage-wagons, goods and chattels in mass,--has issued through the two southwestern gates; and finds himself fairly out of prag. on the pilsen road; about nightfall of the short winter day: earth all snow and 'verglas,' iron glazed; huge olive-colored curtains of the dusk going down upon the mountains ahead of him; shutting in a scene wholly grim for belleisle. brigadier chevert, a distinguished and determined man, with some , sick, convalescent and half able, is left in prag to man the works; the marechal has taken hostages, twenty notabilities of prag; and neglected no precaution. he means towards eger; has, at least, got one march ahead; and will do what is in him, he and every soul of those , . the officers have given their horses for the baggage-wagons, made every sacrifice; the word homewards kindles a strange fire in all hearts; and the troops, say my french authorities, are unsurpassable. the marechal himself, victim of rheumatisms, cannot ride at all; but has his light sledge always harnessed; and, at a moment's notice, is present everywhere. sleep, during these ten days and nights, he has little. "eger is miles off, by the shortest highway: there are two bad highways, one by pilsen southerly, one by karlsbad northerly,--with their bridges all broken, infested by hussars:--we strike into a middle combination of country roads, intricate parish lanes; and march zigzag across these frozen wildernesses: we must dodge these festititz hussar swarms; and cross the rivers near their springs. forward! perhaps some readers, for the high belleisle's sake, will look out these localities subjoined in the note, and reduced to spelling. [tachlowitz, lischon (near rakonitz); jechnitz (as if you were for the pilsen road; then turn as if for the karlsbad one); steben (not discoverable, but a despatch from it,--_campagnes,_ v. ), chisch, luditz, theysing (hereabouts you break off into smaller columns, separate parties and patches, cavalry all ahead, among the hills): schonthal and landeck (belleisle passes christmas-day at landeck,--_ campagnes,_ vii. ); einsiedel (and by petschau), lauterbach, konigswart, and likewise by topl, sandau, treunitz (that is, into eger from two sides).] resting-places in this grim wilderness of his: poor snow-clad hamlets,--with their little hood of human smoke rising through the snow; silent all of them, except for the sound of here and there a flail, or crowing cock;--but have been awakened from their torpor by this transit of belleisle. happily the bogs themselves are iron; deepest bog will bear. "festititz tries us twice,--very anxious to get belleisle's army-chest, or money; we give him torrents of sharp shot instead. festititz, these two chief times, we pepper rapidly into the hills again; he is reduced to hang prancing on our flanks and rear. men bivouac over fires of turf, amid snow, amid frost; tear down, how greedily, any wood-work for fire. leave a trumpet to beg quarter for the frozen and speechless;--which is little respected: they are lugged in carts, stript by the savageries, and cruelly used. there were first extensive plains, then boggy passes, intricate mountains; bog and rock; snow and verglas.--on the th, after indescribable endeavors, we got into eger;--some , (about one in ten) left frozen in the wilderness; and half the army falling ill at eger, of swollen limbs, sore-throats, and other fataler diseases, fatal then, or soon after. chevert, at prag, refused summons from prince lobkowitz: 'no, mon prince; not by any means! we will die, every man of us, first; and we will burn prag withal!'--so that lobkowitz had to consent to everything; and escort chevert to eger, with bag and baggage, lobkowitz furnishing the wagons. "comparable to the retreat of xenophon! cry many. every retreat is compared to that. a valiant feat, after all exaggerations. a thing well done, say military men;--'nothing to object, except that the troops were so ruined;'--and the most unmilitary may see, it is the work of a high and gallant kind of man. one of the coldest expeditions ever known. there have been three expeditions or retreats of this kind which were very cold: that of those swedes in the great elector's time (not to mention that of karl xii.'s army out of norway, after poor karl xii. got shot); that of napoleon from moscow; this of belleisle, which is the only one brilliantly conducted, and not ending in rout and annihilation. "the troops rest in eger for a week or two; then homeward through the ober-pfalz:--'go all across the rhine at speyer' ( th february next); the bohemian section of the oriflamme making exit in this manner. not quite the eighth man of them left; five-eighths are dead: and there are about , prisoners, gone to hungary,--who ran mostly to the turks, such treatment had they, and were not heard of again." [_guerre de boheme,_ ii. (for this last fact). ib. , and espagnac, i. (for particulars of the retreat); and still better, belleisle's own despatch and private letter (eger, d january and th january, ), in _campagnes,_ vii. - .]--ah, belleisle, belleisle! the army of the oriflamme gets home in this sad manner; germany not cut in four at all. "implacable austrian badgers," as we call them, "gloomily indignant bears," how have they served this fine french hunting-pack; and from hunted are become hunters, very dangerous to contemplate! at frankfurt, belleisle, for his own part, pauses; cannot, in this entirely down-broken state of body, serve his majesty farther in the military business; will do some needful diplomatics with the kaiser, and retire home to government of metz, till his worn-out health recover itself a little. a glance at vienna, and then at berlin. prince karl had been busy upon braunau (the bavarian braunau, not the bohemian or another, seckendorf's chief post on the inn); had furiously bombarded braunau, with red-hot balls, for some days; [ d- th december (espagnac, i. ).] intent to explode the seckendorf-broglio projects before winter quite came. seckendorf, in a fine frenzy, calls to broglio, "help!" and again calls; both kaiser and he, crescendo to a high pitch, before broglio will come. "relieve braunau? well;--but no fighting farther, mark you!" answers broglio. to the disgust of kaiser and seckendorf; who were eager for a combined movement, and hearty attack on prince karl, with perhaps capture of passau itself. at sight of broglio and seckendorf combined, prince karl did at once withdraw from braunau; but as to attacking him,--"non; mille fois, non!" answered broglio disdainfully bellowing. first grand quarrel of broglio and seckendorf; by no means their last. prince karl put his men in winter-quarters, in those passau regions; postponing the explosion of the broglio-seckendorf projects, till spring; and returned to vienna for the winter gayeties and businesses there. how the high maria theresa is contented, i do not hear;--readers may take this note, which is authentic, though vague, and straggling over wide spaces of time still future. "does her majesty still think of 'taking the command of her armies on herself,' high amazon that she is!" has not yet thought of that, i should guess. "at one time she did seriously think of it, says a good witness; which is noteworthy. [podewils, _der wiener hof _ (court of vienna, in the years , and ; a curious set of reports for friedrich's information, by podewils, his minister there); printed under that title, "by the imperial academy of sciences" (wien, );--may be worth alluding to again, if chance offer.] her husband has been with the armies, once, twice; but never to much purpose (brother karl doing the work, if work were done);--and this is about the last time, or the last but one, this in winter . she loves her husband thoroughly, all along; but gives him no share in business, finding he understands nothing except banking. it is certain she chiefly was the reformer of her army," in years coming; "she, athwart many impediments. an ardent rider, often on horseback, at paces furiously swift; her beautiful face tanned by the weather. very devout too; honest to the bone, athwart all her prejudices. since our own elizabeth! no woman, and hardly above one man, is worth being named beside her as a sovereign ruler;--she is 'a living contradiction of the salic law,' say her admirers. depends on england for money, all hearts and right hands in austria are hers. the loss of schlesien, pure highway robbery, thrice-doleful loss and disgrace, rankles incurable in the noble heart, pious to its fathers withal, and to their heritages in the world,--we shall see with what issues, for the next twenty years, to that 'bose mann,' unpardonably 'wicked man' of brandenburg. and indeed, to the end of her life, she never could get over it. to the last, they say, if a stranger, getting audience, were graciously asked, 'from what country, then?' and should answer, 'schlesien, your majesty!' she would burst into tears.--'patience, high madam!' urges the britannic majesty: 'patience; may not there be compensation, if we hunt well?'" austrian bears, implacable badgers, with britannic mastiffs helping, now that the belleisle pack is down!-- at berlin it was gay carnival, while those tragedies went on: friedrich was opening his opera-house, enjoying the first ballets, while belleisle filed out of prag that gloomy evening. our poor kaiser will not "retain bohemia," then; how far from it! the thing is not comfortable to friedrich; but what help? this is the gayest carnival yet seen in berlin, this immediately following the peace; everybody saying to himself and others, "gaudeamus, what a season!" not that, in the present hurry of affairs, i can dwell on operas, assemblies, balls, sledge-parties; or indeed have the least word to say on such matters, beyond suggesting them to the imagination of readers. the operas, the carnival gayeties, the intricate considerations and diplomacies of this winter, at berlin and elsewhere, may be figured: but here is one little speck, also from the archives, which is worth saving. princess ulrique is in her twenty-third year, princess amelia in her twentieth; beautiful clever creatures, both; ulrique the more staid of the two. "never saw so gay a carnival," said everybody; and in the height of it, with all manner of gayeties going on,--think where the dainty little shoes have been pinching! princesses ulrique and amelia to the king. berlin, " st march, . "my dearest brother,--i know not if it is not too bold to trouble your majesty on private affairs: but the great confidence which my sister [amelia] and i have in your kindness encourages us to lay before you a sincere avowal as to the state of our bits of finances (nos petites finances), which are a good deal deranged just now; the revenues having, for two years and a half past, been rather small; amounting to only crowns ( pounds) a year; which could not be made to cover all the little expenses required in the adjustments of ladies. this circumstance, added to our card-playing, though small, which we could not dispense with, has led us into debts. mine amount to pounds ( , crowns); my sister's to pounds ( , crowns). "we have not spoken of it to the queen-mother, though we are well sure she would have tried to assist us; but as that could not have been done without some inconvenience to her, and she would have retrenched in some of her own little entertainments, i thought we should do better to apply direct to your majesty; being persuaded you would have taken it amiss, had we deprived the queen of her smallest pleasure;--and especially, as we consider you, my dear brother, the father of the family, and hope you will be so gracious as help us. we shall never forget the kind acts of your majesty; and we beg you to be persuaded of the perfect and tender attachment with which we are proud to be all our lives,--your majesty's most humble and most obedient sisters and servants, "louise-ulrique; anne-amelie [which latter adds anxiously as postscript, ulrique having written hitherto], "p.s. i most humbly beg your majesty not to speak of this to the queen-mother, as perhaps she would not approve of the step we are now taking." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. i. .] poor little souls; bankruptcy just imminent! i have no doubt friedrich came handsomely forward on this grave occasion, though dryasdust has not the grace to give me the least information.--"frederic baron trenck," loud-sounding phantasm once famous in the world, now gone to the nurseries as mythical, was of this carnival - ; and of the next, and not of the next again! a tall actuality in that time; swaggering about in sumptuous life-guard uniform, in his mess-rooms and assembly-rooms; much in love with himself, the fool. and i rather think, in spite of his dog insinuations, neither princess had heard of him till twenty years hence, in a very different phasis of his life! the empty, noisy, quasi-tragic fellow;--sounds throughout quasi-tragically, like an empty barrel; well-built, longing to be filled. and it is scandalously false, what loud trenck insinuates, what stupid thiebault (always stupid, incorrect, and the prey of stupidities) confirms, as to this matter,--fit only for the nurseries, till it cease altogether. voltaire, at paris, is made immortal by a kiss. voltaire and the divine emilie are home to cirey again; that of brussels, with the royal aachen excursion, has been only an interlude. they returned, by slow stages, visit after visit, in october last,--some slake occurring, i suppose, in that interminable honsbruck lawsuit; and much business, not to speak of ennui, urging them back. they are now latterly in paris itself, safe in their own "little palace (petit palais) at the point of the isle;" little jewel of a house on the isle st. louis, which they are warming again, after long absence in brussels and the barbarous countries. they have returned hither, on sufferance, on good behavior; multitudes of small interests, small to us, great to them,--death of old fleury, hopeful changes of ministry, not to speak of theatricals and the like,--giving opportunity and invitation. madame, we observe, is marrying her daughter: the happy man a duke of montenero, ill-built neapolitan, complexion rhubarb, and face consisting much of nose. [letter of voltaire, in _ oeuvres,_ lxxiii .] madame never wants for business; business enough, were it only in the way of shopping, visiting, consulting lawyers, doing the pure sciences. as to voltaire, he has, as usual, plays to get acted,--if he can. mahomet, no; mort de cesar, yes or no; for the authorities are shy, in spite of the public. one play voltaire did get acted, with a success,--think of it, reader! the exquisite tragedy merope, perhaps now hardly known to you; of which you shall hear anon. but plays are not all. old pleury being dead, there is again a vacancy in the academy; place among the sacred forty,--vacant for voltaire, if he can get it. voltaire attaches endless importance to this place; beautiful as a feather in one's cap; useful also to the solitary ishmael of literature, who will now in a certain sense have thirty-nine comrades, and at least one fixed house-of-call in this world. in fine, nothing can be more ardent than the wish of m. de voltaire for these supreme felicities. to be of the forty, to get his plays acted,--oh, then were the saturnian kingdoms come; and a man might sing io triumphe, and take his ease in the creation, more or less! stealthily, as if on shoes of felt,--as if on paws of velvet, with eyes luminous, tail bushy,--he walks warily, all energies compressively summoned, towards that high goal. hush, steady! may you soon catch that bit of savory red-herring, then; worthiest of the human feline tribe!--as to the play merope, here is the notable passage: "paris, wednesday, th february, . first night of merope; which raised the paris public into transports, so that they knew not what to do, to express their feelings. 'author! m. de voltaire! author!' shouted they; summoning the author, what is now so common, but was then an unheard-of originality. 'author! author!' author, poor blushing creature, lay squatted somewhere, and durst not come; was ferreted out; produced in the lady villars's box,--dowager marechale de villars, and her son's wife duchesse de villars, being there; known friends of voltaire's. between these two he stands ducking some kind of bow; uncertain, embarrassed what to do; with a theatre all in rapturous delirium round him,--uncertain it too, but not embarrassed. 'kiss him! madame la duchesse de villars, embrassez voltaire!' yes, kiss him, fair duchess, in the name of france! shout all mortals;--and the younger lady has to do it; does it with a charming grace; urged by madame la marechale her mother-in-law. [duvernet (t. j. d. v.), _vie de voltaire, _ p. ; voltaire himself, _oeuvres,_ ii. ; barbier, ii. .] ah, and madame la marechale was herself an old love of voltaire's; who had been entirely unkind to him! "thus are you made immortal by a kiss;--and have not your choice of the kiss, fate having chosen for you. the younger lady was a daughter of marechal de noailles [our fine old marechal, gone to the wars against his britannic majesty in those very weeks]: infinitely clever (infiniment d'esprit); beautiful too, i understand, though towards forty;--hangs to the human memory, slightly but indissolubly, ever since that wednesday night of ." old marechal de noailles is to the wars, we said;--it is in a world all twinkling with watch-fires, and raked coals of war, that these fine carnival things go on. noailles is , strong; posted in the rhine countries, middle and upper rhine; vigilantly patrolling about, to support those staggering bavarian affairs; especially to give account of his britannic majesty. brittanic majesty is thought to have got the dutch hoisted, after all; to have his sword out;--and ere long does actually get on march; up the rhine hitherward, as is too evident, to noailles, to the kaiser and everybody! chapter iv.--austrian affairs mount to a dangerous height. led by fond hopes,--and driven also by that sad fear, of a visit from his britannic majesty,--the poor kaiser, in the rear of those late seckendorf successes, quitted frankfurt, april th; and the second day after, got to munchen. saw himself in munchen again, after a space of more than two years; "all ranks of people crowding out to welcome him;" the joy of all people, for themselves and for him, being very great. next day he drove out to nymphenburg; saw the pandour devastations there,--might have seen the window where the rugged old unertl set up his ladder, "for god's sake, your serenity, have nothing to do with those french!"--and did not want for sorrowful comparisons of past and present. it was remarked, he quitted munchen in a day or two; preferring country palaces still unruined,--for example, wolnzach, a schloss he has, some fifty miles off, down the iser valley, not far from the little town of mosburg; which, at any rate, is among the broglio-seckendorf posts, and convenient for business. broglio and seckendorf lie dotted all about, from braunau up to ingolstadt and farther; chiefly in the iser and inn valleys, but on the north side of the donau too; over an area, say of , square miles; seckendorf preaching incessantly to broglio, what is sun-clear to all eyes but broglio's, "let us concentrate, m. le marechal; let us march and attack! if prince karl come upon us in this scattered posture, what are we to do?" broglio continuing deaf; broglio answering--in a way to drive one frantic. the kaiser himself takes broglio in hand; has a scene with broglio; which, to readers that study it, may be symbolical of much that is gone and that is coming. it fell "about the middle of may" (prior to may th, as readers will guess before long); and here, according to report, was the somewhat explosive finale it had. prince conti, the same who ran to join maillebois, and has proved a gallant fellow and got command of a division, attends broglio in this important interview at wolnzach:-- schloss of wolnzach, may, .... "the kaiser pressed, in the most emphatic manner, that the two armies [french and bavarian] should collect and unite for immediate action. to which broglio declared he could by no means assent, not having any order from paris of that tenor. the kaiser thereupon: 'i give you my order for it; i, by the most christian king's appointment, am commander-in-chief of your army, as of my own; and i now order you!'--taking out his patent, and spreading it before broglio with the sign-manual visible, broglio knew the patent very well; but answered, 'that he could not, for all that, follow the wish of his imperial majesty; that he, broglio, had later orders, and must obey them!' upon which the imperial majesty, nature irrepressibly asserting itself, towered into olympian height; flung his patent on the table, telling conti and broglio, 'you can send that back, then; patents like that are of no service to me!' and quitted them in a blaze." [adelung, iii. b, ; cites ettat politique (annual register of those times), xiii. . nothing of this scene in _campagnes,_ which is officially careful to suppress the like of this.] the indisputable fact is, prince karl is at the door; nay he has beaten in the door in a frightful manner; and has braunau, key of the inn, again under siege. not we getting passau; it is he getting braunau! a week ago ( th may) his vanguard, on the sudden, cut to pieces our poor bavarian , , and their poor minuzzi, who were covering braunau, and has ended him and them;--minuzzi himself prisoner, not to be heard of or beaten more;--and is battering braunau ever since. that is the sad fact, whatever the theory may have been. prince karl is rolling in from the east; lobkowitz (prag now ended) is advancing from the northward, khevenhuller from the salzburg southern quarter: is it in a sprinkle of disconnected fractions that you will wait prince karl? the question of uniting, and advancing, ought to be a simple one for broglio. take this other symbolic passage, of nearly the same date;--posterior, as we guessed, to that interview at wolnzach. "dingelfingen, th may, . at dingelfingen on the iser, a strongish central post of the french, about fifty miles farther down than that schloss of wolnzach, there is a second argument,--much corroborative of the kaiser's reasoning. about sunrise of the th, the austrians, in sufficient force, chiefly of pandours, appeared on the heights to the south: they had been foreseen the night before; but the french covering general, luckier than minuzzi, did not wait for them; only warned dingelfingen, and withdrew across the river, to wait there on the safe left bank. leader of the austrians was one leopold graf von daun, active man of thirty-five, already of good rank, who will be much heard of afterwards; commandant in dingelfingen is a brigadier du chatelet, marquis du chatelet-lamont; whom--after search (in the interest of some idle readers)--i discover to be no other than the husband of a certain algebraic lady! identity made out, mark what a pass he is at. count daun comes on in a tempest of furious fire; 'very heavy,' they say, from great guns and small; till close upon the place, when he summons du chatelet: 'no;' and thereupon attempts scalade. cannot scalade, du chatelet and his people being mettlesome; takes then to flinging shells, to burning the suburbs; town itself catches fire,--town plainly indefensible. 'truce for one hour' proposes du chatelet (wishful to consult the covering general across the river): 'no,' answers daun. so that du chatelet has to jumble and wriggle himself out of the place; courageous to the last; but not in a very parthian fashion,--great difficulty to get his bridge ruined (very partially ruined), behind him;--and joins the covering general, in a flustery singed condition! were not pursued farther by daun:--and prince conti, head general in those parts, called it a fine defence, on examining." [_campagnes,_ viii. ; espagnac, i. ; hormayr, iv. , .] espagnac continues:-- "on the th," after one rest-day, "graf von daun set out for landau [still on the iser, farther down; baiern has its "landau" too, and its "landshut," both on this river], to seize landau; which is another french place of strength. the garrison defended themselves for some time; after which they retired over the river [left bank, or wrong side of the iser, they too]; and set fire to the bridge behind them. the fire of the bridge caught the town; pandours helping it, as our people said; and landau also was reduced to ashes."--poor landau, poor dingelfingen, they cannot have the benefit of louis xv.'s talent for governing germany, quite gratis, it would appear! but where are the divine emilie and voltaire, that morning, while the brigadier is in such taking? sitting safe in "that dainty little palace of madame's (petit palais) at the point of the isle de st. louis," intent on quite other adventures; disgusted with the slavish forty and their methods of election (of which by and by); and little thinking of m. le brigadier and the dangers of war.--prince de conti praised the brigadier's defence: but very soon, alas,-- deggendorf, th may. "prince de conti, at deggendorf [other or north bank of the donau, head-quarters of conti, which was thought to be well secured by batteries and defences on the steep heights to landward], was himself suddenly attacked, the tenth day hence, 'may th, at daybreak,' in a still more furious manner; and was tumbled out of deggendorf amid whirlwinds of fire, in very flamy condition indeed. the austrians, playing on us from the uplands with their heavy artillery, made a breach in our outmost battery: 'not tenable!' exclaimed the captain there: 'this way, my men!'--and withdrew, like a shot, he and party; sliding down the steep face of the mountain [feet foremost, i hope], home to deggendorf in this peculiar manner; leaving the austrians to manage his guns. our two lower batteries, ruled by this upper one, had now to be abandoned; and conti ran, bridge of the town-ditch breaking under him; baggages, even to his own portmanteaus, all lost; and had a neck-and-neck race of it in getting to his donau-bridge, and across to the safe side. with loss of everything, we say,--personal baggage all included; which latter item, prince karl politely returned him next day." [espagnac, p. .] broglio, with prince karl in his bowels going at such a rate, may judge now whether it was wise to lie in that loose posture, scattered over two thousand square miles, and snort on his judicious seckendorf's advices and urgencies as he did! readers anticipate the issue; and shall not be wearied farther with detail. there are, as we said, three austrian armies pressing on this luckless bavaria and its french protectors: khevenhuller, from salzburg and the southern quarter, pushing in his dauns; lobkowitz, hanging over us from the ober-pfalz (naab-river country) on the north; and prince karl, on one or sometimes on both sides of the donau, pricking sharply into the rear of us; saying, by bayonets, burnt bridges, bomb-shells, "off; swift; it will be better for you!" and broglio has lost head, a mere whirlwind of flaming gases; and your ablest comte de saxe in such position, what can he do? broglio writes to versailles, that there will be no continuing in bavaria; that he recommends an order to march homewards;--much to the surprise of versailles. "the court of versailles was much astonished at the message it got from broglio; court of versailles had always calculated that broglio could keep bavaria; and had gone into extensive measures for maintaining him there. experienced old marechal de noailles has a new french army, , or more, assembled in the upper rhine for that and the cognate objects [of whom, more specially, anon]: noailles, by order from court, has detached , , who are now marching their best, to reinforce broglio;--and indeed the court 'had already appointed the generals and staff-officers for broglio's bavarian army,' and gratified many men by promotions, which now went to smoke! [espagnac, i. .] "versailles, however, has to expedite the order: 'come home, then.' order or no order, broglio's posts are all crackling off again, bursting aloft like a chain of powder-mines; broglio is plunging head foremost, towards donauworth, towards ingolstadt, his place of arms; seckendorf now welcome to join him, but unable to do anything when joined. blustering broglio has no steadfastness of mind; explodes like an inflammable body, in this crackling off of the posts, and becomes a mere whirlwind of flaming gases. old snuffling seckendorf, born to ill success in his old days, strong only in caution, how is he to quench or stay this crackling of the posts? broglio blusters, reproaches, bullies; seckendorf quarrels with him outright, as he may well do: 'jarni-bleu, such a delirious whirlwind of a marechal; mere bickering flames and soot!'--and looks out chiefly to keep his own skin and that of his poor bavarians whole. "the unhappy kaiser has run from munchen again, to augsburg for some brief shelter; cannot stay there either, in the circumstances. will he have to hurry back to frankfurt, to bankruptcy and furnished lodgings,--nay to the britannic majesty's tender mercies, whose army is now actually there? those indignant prophesyings to broglio, at the schloss of wolnzach, have so soon come true! and broglio and the french are--what a staff to lean upon! enough, the poor kaiser, after doleful 'council of war held at augsburg, june th,' does on the morrow make off for frankfurt again:--whither else? britannic majesty's intentions, friends tell him, friend wilhelm of hessen tells him, are magnanimous; eager for peace to teutschland; hostile only to the french. poor karl took the road, june th;--and will find news on his arrival, or before it. "on which same day, th of june, as it chances, broglio too has made his packages; left a garrison in ingolstadt, garrison in eger; and is ferrying across at donauworth,--will see the marlborough schellenberg as he passes,--in full speed for the rhine countries, and the finis of this bad business. [adelung, iii. b. .] on the road, i believe at donauworth itself, noailles's , , little foreseeing these retrograde events, met broglio: 'right about, you too!' orders broglio; and speeds rhineward not the less. and the same day of that ferrying at donauworth, and of the kaiser's setting out for frankfurt, seckendorf,--at nieder-schonfeld [an old monastery near the town of rain, in those parts], the kaiser being now safe away,--is making terms for himself with khevenhuller and prince karl: 'will lie quiet as mere reichs-army, almost as troops of the swabian circle, over at wembdingen there, in said circle, and be strictly neutral, if we can but get lived at all!' [ib. iii. b, .] seckendorf concludes on the morrow, th june;--which is elsewhere a memorable day of battle, as will be seen. "broglio marched in five divisions [du chatelet in the second division, poor soul, which was led by comte de saxe]: [espagnac, i. .] always in five divisions, swiftly, half a march apart; through the wurtemberg country;--lost much baggage, many stragglers; tolpatcheries in multitude continually pricking at the skirts of him; prince karl following steadily, rhine-wards also, a few marches behind. here are omens to return with! 'but have you seen a retreat better managed?' thinks broglio to himself:" that is one consoling circumstance. in this manner, then, has the problem of bavaria solved itself. hungarian majesty, in these weeks, was getting crowned in prag; "queen of bohemia, i, not you; in the sight of heaven and of earth!" [crowned th may, (adelung, iii. b, ); "news of prince karl's having taken braunau [incipiency of all these successes] had reached her that very morning."]--and was purifying her bohemia: with some rigor (it is said), from foreign defacements, treasonous compliances and the like, which there had been. to see your bavarian kaiser, false king of bohemia, your broglio with his french, and the bohemian-bavarian question in whole, all rolling rhine-wards at their swiftest, with prince karl sticking in the skirts of them:--what a satisfaction to that high lady! britannic majesty, with sword actually drawn, has marched meanwhile to the frankfurt countries, as "pragmatic army;" ready for battle and treaty alike. add to which fine set of results, simultaneously with them: his britannic majesty, third effort successful, has got his sword drawn, fairly out at last; and in the air is making horrid circles with it, ever since march last; nay does, he flatters himself, a very considerable slash with it, in this current month of june. of which, though loath, we must now take some notice. the fact is, though stair could not hoist the dutch, and our double-quick britannic heroism had to drop dead in consequence, carteret has done it: carteret himself rushed over in that crisis, a fiery emphatic man and chief minister, [arrived at the hague " th october, " (adelung, iii. a, ).]--"eager to please his master's humor!" said enemies. yes, doubtless; but acting on his own turbid belief withal (says fact); and revolving big thoughts in his head, about bringing friedrich over to the cause of liberty, giving french ambition a lesson for once, and the like. carteret strongly pulleying, "all hands, heave-oh!"--and, no doubt, those maillebois-broglio events from prag assisting him,--did bring the high mightinesses to their legs; still in a staggering splay-footed posture, but trying to steady themselves. that is to say, the high mightinesses did agree to go with us in the cause of liberty; will now pay actual subsidies to her hungarian majesty (at the rate of two for our three); and will add, so soon as humanly possible, , men to those wind-bound , of ours;--which latter shall now therefore, at once, as "pragmatic army" (that is the term fixed on), get on march, frankfurt way; and strike home upon the french and other enemies of pragmatic sanction. this is what noailles has been looking for, this good while, and diligently adjusting himself, in those middle-rhine countries, to give account of. pragmatic army lifted itself accordingly,--stair, and the most of his english, from ghent, where the wearisome head-quarters had been; hanoverians, hessians, from we will forget where;--and in various streaks and streams, certain austrians from luxemburg (with our old friend neipperg in company) having joined them, are flowing rhine-ward ever since march st. ["february th," o.s. (old newspapers).] they cross the rhine at three suitable points; whence, by the north bank, home upon frankfurt country, and the noailles-broglio operations in those parts. the english crossed "at neuwied, in the end of april" (if anybody is curious); "lord stair in person superintending them." lord stair has been much about, and a most busy person; general-in-chief of the pragmatic army till his britannic majesty arrive. generalissimo lord stair; and there is general clayton, general ligonier, "general heywood left with the reserve at brussels:"--and, from the ashes of the old newspapers, the main stages and particulars of this surprising expedition (england marching as pragmatic army into distant parts) can be riddled out; though they require mostly to be flung in again. shocking weather on the march, mere boreas and icy tempests; snow in some places two feet deep; rhine much swollen, when we come to it. the austrian chief general--who lies about wiesbaden, and consults with stair, while the english are crossing--is duke d'ahremberg (father of the prince de ligne, or "prince of coxcombs" as some call him): little or nothing of military skill in d'ahremberg; but neipperg is thought to have given much counsel, such as it was. with the hessians there was some difficulty; hesitation on landgraf wilhelm's part; who pities the poor kaiser, and would fain see him back at frankfurt, and awaken the britannic magnanimities for him. "to frankfurt, say you? we cannot fight against the kaiser!"--and they had to be left behind, for some time; but at length did come on, though late for business, as it chanced. general of these hessians is prince george of hessen, worthy stout gentleman, whom wilhelmina met at the frankfurt gayeties lately. george's elder brother wilhelm is manager or vice-landgraf, this long while back; and in seven or eight years hence became, as had been expected, actual landgraf (old king of sweden dying childless);--of which wilhelm we shall have to hear, at hanau (a town of his in those parts), and perhaps slightly elsewhere, in the course of this business. a fat, just man, he too; probably somewhat iracund; not without troubles in his house. his eldest son, heir-apparent of hessen, let me remind readers, has an english princess to wife; princess mary, king george's daughter, wedded two years ago. that, added to the subsidies, is surely a point of union;--though again there may such discrepancies rise! a good while after this, the eldest son becoming catholic (foolish wretch), to the horror of papa,--there rose still other noises in the world, about hessen and its landgraves. of good prince george, who doubtless attended in war councils, but probably said little, we hope to hear nothing more whatever. from neuwied to frankfurt is but a few days' march for the pragmatic army; in a direct line, not sixty miles. frankfurt itself, which is a reichs-stadt (imperial city), they must not enter: "fear not, city or country!" writes stair to it: "we come as saviors, pacificators, hostile to your enemies and disturbers only; we understand discipline and the laws of the reich, and will pay for everything." [letter itself, of brief magnanimous strain, in _campagnes de noailles,_ i. ; date "neuwied, th april, " (adelung, iii. b, ).] for the rest, they are in no hurry. they linger in that frankfurt-mainz region, all through the month of may; not unobservant of noailles and his movements, if he made any; but occupied chiefly with gathering provisions; forming, with difficulty, a magazine in hanau. "what they intended: or intend, by coming hither?" asks the public everywhere: "to go into the donau countries, and enclose broglio between two fires?" that had been, and was still, stair's fine idea; but d'ahremberg had disapproved the methods. d'ahremberg, it seems, is rather given to opposing stair;--and there rise uncertainties, in this pragmatic army: certain only hitherto the magazine in hanau. and in secret, it afterwards appeared, the immediate real errand of this pragmatic army had lain--in the chapter of mainz cathedral, and an election that was going on there. the old kur-mainz, namely, had just died; and there was a new "chief spiritual kurfurst" to be elected by the canons there. kur-mainz is chairman of the reich, an important personage, analogous to speaker of the house of commons; and ought to be,--by no means the kaiser's young brother, as the french and kaiser are proposing; but a man with austrian leanings;--say, graf von ostein, titular dom-custos (cathedral keeper) here; lately ambassador in london, and known in select society for what he is. not much of an archbishop, of a spiritual or chief spiritual herr hitherto; but capable of being made one,--were the pragmatic army at his elbow! it was on this errand that the pragmatic army had come hither, or come so early, and with their plans still unripe. and truly they succeeded; got their ostein chosen to their mind: [" st march, ," mainz vacant; " d april," ostein elected (adelung, iii. b, , ).] a new kur-mainz,--whose leanings and procedures were very manifest in the sequel, and some of them important before long. this was always reckoned one result of his britannic majesty's pragmatic campaign;--and truly some think it was, in strict arithmetic, the only one, though that is far from his majesty's own opinion. friedrich has objections to the pragmatic army; but in vain. of friedrich's many endeavors to quench this war, by "union of independent german princes," by "mediation of the reich," and otherwise; all in vain. friedrich, at an early stage, had inquired of his britannic majesty, politely but with emphasis, "what in the world he meant, then, by invading the german reich; leading foreign armies into the reich: in this unauthorized manner?" to which the britannic majesty had answered, with what vague argument of words we will not ask, but with a look that we can fancy,--look that would split a pitcher, as the irish say! friedrich persisted to call it an invasion of the german reich; and spoke, at first, of flatly opposing it by a reich's army ( , , or even , , for brandenburg's contingent, in such case); but as the poor reich took no notice, and the britannic majesty was positive, friedrich had to content himself with protest for the present. [friedrich's remonstrance and george's response are in _adelung,_ iii. b, (date, "march, "); date of friedrich's first stirring in the matter is "january, ," and earlier (ib. p. , p. , &c.).] the exertions of friedrich to bring about a peace, or at least to diminish, not increase, the disturbance, are forgotten now; wearisome to think of, as they did not produce the smallest result; but they have been incessant and zealous, as those of a man to quench the fire which is still raging in his street, and from which he himself is just saved. "cannot the reich be roused for settlement of this bavarian-austrian quarrel?" thought friedrich always. and spent a great deal of earnest endeavor in that direction; wished a reich's army of mediation; "to which i will myself furnish , ; , , if needed." reich, alas! the reich is a horse fallen down to die,--no use spurring at the reich; it cannot, for many months, on friedrich's proposal (though the question was far from new, and "had been two years on hand"), come to the decision, "well then, yes; the reich will try to moderate and mediate:" and as for a reich's mediation-army, or any practical step at all [the question had been started, "in august, ," by the kaiser himself; " th march, ," again urged by him, after friedrich's offer; " th may, ," "yes, then, we will try; but--" and the result continued zero.]--! "is not germany, are not all the german princes, interested to have peace?" thinks friedrich. "a union of the independent german princes to recommend peace, and even with hand on sword-hilt to command it; that would be the method of producing treaty of peace!" thinks he always. and is greatly set on that method; which, we find, has been, and continues to be, the soul of his many efforts in this matter. a fact to be noted. long poring in those mournful imbroglios of dryasdust, where the fraction of living and important welters overwhelmed by wildernesses of the dead and nugatory, one at length disengages this fact; and readers may take it along with them, for it proves illuminative of friedrich's procedures now and afterwards. a fixed notion of friedrich's, this of german princes "uniting," when the common dangers become flagrant; a very lively notion with him at present. he will himself cheerfully take the lead in such union, but he must not venture alone. [see adelung, iii. a and b, passim; valori, i. ; &c. &c.] the reich, when appealed to, with such degree of emphasis, in this matter,--we see how the reich has responded! later on, friedrich tried "the swabian circle" (chief scene of these austrian-bavarian tusslings); which has, like the other circles, a kind of parliament, and pretends to be a political unity of some sort. "cannot the swabian circle, or swabian and frankish joined (to which one might declare oneself protector, in such case), order their own captains, with military force of their own, say , men, to rank on the frontier; and to inform peremptorily all belligerents and tumultuous persons, french, bavarian, english, austrian: 'no thoroughfare; we tell you, no admittance here!'" friedrich, disappointed of the reich, had taken up that smaller notion: and he spent a good deal of endeavor on that too,--of which we may see some glimpse, as we proceed. but it proves all futile. the swabian circle too is a moribund horse; all these horses dead or moribund. friedrich, of course, has thought much what kind of peace could be offered by a mediating party. the kaiser has lost his bavaria: yet he is the kaiser, and must have a living granted him as such. compensations, aspirations, claims of territory; these will be manifold! these are a world of floating vapor, of greed, of anger, idle pretension: but within all these there are the real necessities; what the case does require, if it is ever to be settled! friedrich discerns this austrian-bavarian necessity of compensation; of new land to cut upon. and where is that to come from! in january last, friedrich, intensely meditating this business, had in private a bright-enough idea: that of secularizing those so-called sovereign bishoprics, austrian-bavarian by locality and nature, passau, salzburg, regensburg, idle opulent territories, with functions absurd not useful;--and of therefrom cutting compensation to right and to left. this notion he, by obscure channels, put into the head of baron von haslang, bavarian ambassador at london; where it germinated rapidly, and came to fruit;--was officially submitted to lord carteret in his own house, in two highly artistic forms, one evening;--and sets the diplomatic heads all wagging upon it. [adelung, iii. b, , , "january-march, ."] with great hope, at one time; till rumor of it got abroad into the orthodox imagination, into the gazetteer world; and raised such a clamor, in those months, as seldom was. "secularize, hah! one sees the devilish heathen spirit of you; and what kind of kaiser, on the religious side, we now have the happiness of having!" so that kaiser karl had to deny utterly, "never heard of such a thing!" carteret himself had, in politeness, to deny; much more, and for dire cause, had haslang himself, over the belly of facts, "never in my dreams, i tell you!"--and to get ambiguous certificate from carteret, which the simple could interpret to that effect. [carteret's letter (ibid. iii, b, ).] it was only in whispers that the name of friedrich was connected with this fine scheme; and all parties were glad to get it soon buried again. a bright idea; but had come a century too soon. of another carteret negotiation with kaiser karl, famed as "conferences of hanau," which had almost come to be a treaty, but did not; and then, failing that, of a famous carteret "treaty of worms," which did come to perfection, in these same localities shortly afterwards; and which were infinitely interesting to our friedrich, both the treaty and the failure of the treaty,--we propose to speak elsewhere, in due time. as to friedrich's own endeavors and industries, at regensburg and elsewhere, for effective mediation of peace; for the reich to mediate, and have "army of mediation;" for a "union of swabian circles" to do it; for this and then for that to do it;--as to friedrich's own efforts and strugglings that way, in all likely and in some unlikely quarters,--they were, and continued to be, earnest, incessant; but without result. like the spurring of horses really dead some time ago! of which no reader wishes the details, though the fact has to be remembered. and so, with slight indication for friedrich's sake,--being intent on the stage of events,--we must leave that shadowy hypothetic region, as a wood in the background; the much foliage and many twigs and boughs of which do authentically take the trouble to be there, though we have to paint it in this summary manner. chapter v.--britannic majesty fights his battle of dettingen; and becomes supreme jove of germany, in a manner. brittanic majesty with his yarmouth, and martial prince of cumberland, arrived at hanover may th; soon followed by carteret from the hague: [_biographia britannica_ (kippin's,? carteret), iii. .] a majesty prepared now for battle and for treaty alike; kind of earthly jove, arbiter of nations, or victorious hercules of the pragmatic, the sublime little man. at herrenhausen he has a fine time; grandly fugling about; negotiating with wilhelm of hessen and others; commanding his pragmatic army from the distance: and then at last, dashing off rather in haste, he--it is well known what enigmatic exploit he did, at least the name of it is well known! here, from the imbroglios, is a rough account; parts of which are introducible for the sake of english readers. battle of dettingen. "after some five leisurely weeks in herrenhausen, george ii. (now an old gentleman of sixty), with his martial fat boy the duke of cumberland, and lord carteret his diplomatist-in-chief, quitted that pleasant sojourn, rather on a sudden, for the actual seat of war. by speedy journeys they got to frankfurt country; to hanau, june th; whence, still up the mayn, twenty or thirty miles farther up, to aschaffenburg,--where the pragmatic army, after some dangerous manoeuvring on the opposite or south bank of the river, has lain encamped some days, and is in questionable posture. whither his majesty in person has hastened up. and truly, if his majesty's head contain any good counsel, there is great need of it here just now. "captains and men were impatient of that long loitering, hanging idle about frankfurt all through may; and they have at length started real business,--with more valor than discretion, it is feared. they are some or , strong: english , ; hanoverians the like number; and of austrians [by theory , ], say, in effect, , or even , : all paid by england. they have hanau for magazine; they have rearguard of , [the , hessians, and , new hanoverians], who at last are actually on march thither, near arriving there: 'forward!' said the captaincy [said stair, chiefly, it was thought]: 'shall the whole summer waste itself to no purpose?'--and are up the river thus far, not on the most considerate terms. "what this pragmatic army means to do? that is, and has been, a great question for all the world; especially for noailles and the french,--not to say, for the pragmatic itself! 'get into lorraine?' think the french: 'get into alsace, and wrest it from us, for behoof of her hungarian majesty,'--plundered goods, which indeed belong to the reich and her, in a sense! els-sass (alsace, outer-seat), with its road-fortress (strasburg) plundered from the holy romish reich by louis xiv., in a way no one can forget; actually plundered, as if by highway robbery, or by highway robbery and attorneyism combined, on the part of that great sovereign. 'to strasburg? to lorraine perhaps? or to the three bishoprics'" (metz, toul, verdun:--readers recollect that siege of metz, which broke the great heart of karl v.? who raged and fired as man seldom did, with , men, against guise and the intrusive french, for six weeks; sound of his cannon heard at strasburg on winter nights, years ago: to no purpose; for his captains of the siege, after trial and second trial, solemnly shook their heads; and the great kaiser, breaking into tears, had to raise the siege of metz; and went his way, never to smile more in this world: and metz, and toul, and verdun, remain with the french ever since):--"to the three bishoprics, possibly enough!" "'or they may purpose for the donau countries, where broglio is crackling off like trains of gunpowder; and lend hand to prince karl, thereby enclosing broglio fires?' this, according to present aspects, is between two the likeliest. and perhaps, had provenders and arrangements been made beforehand for such a march, this had been the feasiblest: and, to my own notion, it was some wild hope of doing this without provenders or prearrangements that had brought the pragmatic into its present quarters at aschaffenburg, which are for the military mind a mystery to this day. "early in the spring, the french government had equipped noailles with , men, to keep watch, and patrol about, in the rhine-mayn countries, and look into those points. which he has been vigilantly doing,--posted of late on the south or left bank of the mayn;--and is especially vigilant, since june th, when the pragmatic army got on march, across the mayn at hochst; and took to offering him battle, on his own south side of the river. noailles--though his force [still , , after that broglio detachment of , ] was greatly the stronger--would not fight; preferred cutting off the enemy's supplies, capturing his river-boats, provision-convoys from hanau, and settling him by hunger, as the cheaper method. impetuous stair was thwarted, by flat protest of his german colleagues, especially by d'ahremberg, in forcing battle on those rash terms: 'we austrians absolutely will not!' said d'ahremberg at last, and withdrew, or was withdrawing, he for his part, across the river again. so that stair also was obliged to recross the river, in indignant humor; and now lies at aschaffenburg, suffering the sad alternative, short diet namely, which will end in famine soon, if these counsels prevail. "stair and d'ahremberg do not well accord in their opinions; nor, it seems, is anybody in particular absolute chief; there are likewise heats and jealousies between the hanoverian and the english troops ('are not we come for all your goods?' 'yes, damn you, and for all our chattels too!')--and withal it is frightfully uncertain whether a high degree of intellect presides over these , fighting men, which may lead them to something, or a low degree, which can only lead them to nothing!--the blame is all laid on stair; 'too rash,' they say. possibly enough, too rash. and possibly enough withal, even to a sound military judgment, in such unutterable puddle of jarring imbecilities, 'rashness,' headlong courage, offered the one chance there was of success? who knows, had all the , been as rash as stair and his english, but luck, and sheer hard fighting, might have favored him, as skill could not, in those sad circumstances! stair's plan was, 'beat noailles, and you have done everything: provisions, opulent new regions, and all else shall be added to you!' stair's plan might have answered,--had stair been the master to execute it; which he was not. d'ahremberg's also, who protested, 'wait till your , join, and you have your provisions,' was the orthodox plan, and might have much to say for itself. but the two plans collapsing into one,--that was the clearly fatal method! magnanimous stair never made the least explanation, to an undiscerning public or parliament; wrapt himself in strict silence, and accepted in a grand way what had come to him. [his papers, to voluminous extent, are still in the family archives;--not inaccessible, i think, were the right student of them (who would be a rare article among us!) to turn up.] clear it is, the pragmatic army had come across again, at aschaffenburg, sunday, june th; and was found there by his majesty on the wednesday following, with its two internecine plans fallen into mutual death; a pragmatic army in truly dangerous circumstances. "the english who were in and round aschaffenburg itself, hanoverians and austrians encamping farther down, had put a battery on the bridge of aschaffenburg; hoping to be able to forage thereby on the other side of the mayn. whereupon noailles had instantly clapt a redoubt, under due cover of a wood, at his end of the bridge, 'no passage this way, gentlemen, except into the cannon's throat!'--so that marshal stair, reconnoitring that way, 'had his hat shot off,' and rapidly drew back again. nay, before long, noailles, at the village of seligenstadt, some eight miles farther down, throws two wooden or pontoon bridges over; [sketch of plan at p. .] can bring his whole army across at seligenstadt; prohibits all manner of supply to us from hanau or our magazines by his arrangement there:"--(notable little seligenstadt, "city of the blessed;" where eginhart and emma, ever since charlemagne's time, lie waiting the resurrection; that is the place of these noailles contrivances!)--"furthermore, we learn, noailles has seized a post twenty miles farther up the river (miltenberg the name of it); and will prevent supplies from coming down to us out of branken or the neckar country. we had forgotten, or our collapse of plans had done it, that 'an army moves on its stomach' (as the king of prussia says), and that we have nothing to live upon in these parts! "such has the unfortunate fact turned out to be, when britannic majesty arrives; and it can now be discovered clearly, by any eyes, however flat to the head. and a terrible fact it is. discordant generals accuse one another; hungry soldiers cannot be kept from plundering: for the horses there is unripe rye in quantity; but what is there for the men? my poor traditionary friends, of the grey dragoons, were wont (i have heard) to be heart-rending on this point, in after years! famine being urgent, discipline is not possible, nor existence itself. for a week longer, george, rather in obstinate hope than with any reasonable plan or exertion, still tries it; finds, after repeated councils of war, that he will have to give it up, and go back to hanau where his living is. wednesday night, th june, , that is the final resolution, inevitably come upon, without argument: and about one on thursday morning, the army (in two columns, austrians to vanward well away from the river, english as rear-guard close on it) gets in motion to execute said resolution,--if the army can. "if the army can: but that is like to be a formidably difficult business; with a noailles watching every step of you, to-day and for ten days back, in these sad circumstances. eyes in him like a lynx, they say; and great skill in war, only too cautious. hardly is the army gone from aschaffenburg, when noailles, pushing across by the bridge, seizes that post,--no retreat now for us thitherward. his majesty, who marches in the rear division, has happily some artillery with him; repels the assaults from behind, which might have been more serious otherwise. as it is, there play cannon across the river upon him:--why not bend to right, and get out of range, asks the reader? the spessart hills rise, high and woody, on the right; and there is in many places no marching except within range. noailles has five effective batteries, at the various good points, on his side of the river:--and that is nothing to what he has got ready for us, were we once at dettingen, within wind of his two bridges a little beyond! noailles has us in a perfect mouse-trap, souriciere as he felinely calls it; and calculates on having annihilation ready for us at dettingen. "dettingen, short way above those pontoons at seligenstadt, is near eight miles westward [northwestward, but let us use the briefer term] from aschaffenburg: dettingen is a poor peasant village, of some size, close on the mayn, and on our side of it. a brook, coming down from the spessart mountains, falls into the mayn there; having formed for itself, there and upwards, a considerable dell or hollow way; chiefly on the western or right bank of which stands the village with its barnyards and piggeries: on both sides of the great high-road, which here crosses the brook, and will lead you to hanau twenty miles off,--or back to aschaffenburg, and even to nurnberg and the donau countries, if you persevere. except that of the high-road, dettingen brook has no bridge. above the village, after coming from the mountains, the banks of it are boggy; especially the western bank, which spreads out into a scrubby waste of moor, for some good space. in which scrubby moor, as elsewhere in this dell or hollow way itself, where the village hangs, with its hedges, piggeries, colegarths,--there is like to be bad enough marching for a column of men! noailles, as we said, has two bridges thrown across the mayn, just below; and the last of his five batteries, from the other side, will command dettingen. his plan of operation is this:-- "by these bridges he has passed , horse and foot across the river, under his nephew the chivalrous duke of grammont: these, with due artillery and equipment, are to occupy the village; and to rank themselves in battle-order to leftward of it, on the moor just mentioned,--well behind that hollow way, with its brook and bogs;--and, one thing they must note well, not to stir from that position, till the english columns have got fairly into said hollow way and brook of dettingen, and are plunging more or less distractedly across the entanglements there. with cannon on their left flank, and such a gullet to pass through, one may hope they will be in rather an attackable condition. across that gullet it is our intention they shall never get. how can they, if grammont do his duty? "this is noailles's plan; one of the prettiest imaginable, say military men,--had the execution but corresponded. noailles had seized aschaffenburg, so soon as the english were out of it; noailles, from his batteries beyond the river, salutes the english march with continuous shot and thunder, which is very discomposing: he sees confidently a really fair likelihood of capturing the britannic majesty and his pragmatic army, unless they prefer to die on the ground. seldom, since that of the caudine forks, did any army, by ill-luck and ill-guidance, get into such a pinfold,--death or flat surrender seemingly their one alternative. "thus march these english, that dewy morning, thursday, june th, , with cannon playing on their left flank; and such a fate ahead of them, had they known it;--very short of breakfast, too, for most part. but they have one fine quality, and britannic george, like all his welf race from henry the lion down to these days, has it in an eminent degree: they are not easily put into flurry, into fear. in all welf sovereigns, and generally in teuton populations, on that side of the channel or on this, there is the requisite unconscious substratum of taciturn inexpugnability, with depths of potential rage almost unquenchable, to be found when you apply for it. which quality will much stead them on the present occasion: and, indeed, it is perhaps strengthened by their 'stupidity' itself, what neighbors call their 'stupidity;'--want of idle imagining, idle flurrying, nay want even of knowing, is not one of the worst qualities just now! they tramp on, paying a minimum of attention to the cannon; ignorant of what is ahead; hoping only it may be breakfast, in some form, before the day quite terminate. the day is still young, hardly o'clock, when their advanced parties find dettingen beset; find a whole french army drawn up, on the scrubby moor there; and come galloping back with this interesting bit of news! pause hereupon; much consulting; in fact, endless hithering and thithering, the affair being knotty: 'fight, yes, now at last! but how?' impetuous stair was not wanting to himself; neipperg too, they say, was useful with advice; d'ahremberg, i should imagine, good for little. "some six hours followed of thrice-intricate deploying, planting of field-pieces, counter-batteries; ranking, re-ranking, shuffling hither and then thither of horse and foot; noailles's cannonade proceeding all the while; the english, still considerably exposed to it, and standing it like stones; chivalrous grammont, and with better reason the english, much wishing these preliminaries were done. a difficult business, that of deploying here. the pragmatic had no room, jammed so against the spessart hills, and obliged to lean from the river and noailles's cannon; had to rank itself in six, some say in eight lines; horse behind foot, as well as on flank; unsatisfactory to the military mind: and i think had not done shuffling and re-shuffling at p.m.,--when the enemy came bursting on, with a peremptory finish to it, 'enough of that, messieur's les anglais!' 'too much of it, a great deal!' thought messieurs grimly, in response. and there ensued a really furious clash of host against host; french chivalry (maison du roi, black mousquetaires, the flower of their horse regiments) dashing, in right gallic frenzy, on their natural enemies,--on the english, that is; who, i find, were mainly on the left wing there, horse and foot; and had mainly (the austrians and they, very mainly) the work to do;--and did, with an effort, and luck helping, manage to do it. "'grammont breaks orders! thrice-blamable grammont!' exclaim noailles and others, sorrowfully wringing their hands. even so! grammont had waited seven mortal hours; one's courage burning all the while, courage perhaps rather burning down,--and not the least use coming of if. grammont had, in natural impatience, gradually edged forward; and, in the end, was being cannonaded and pricked into by the enemy;--and did at last, with his maison-du-roi, dash across that essential hollow way, and plunge in upon them on their own side of it. and 'the, english foot gave their volley too soon;' ad grammont did, in effect, partly repulse and disorder the front ranks of them; and, blazing up uncontrollable, at sight of those first ranks in disorder, did press home upon them more and more; get wholly into the affair, bringing on his infantry as well: 'let us finish it wholly, now that our hand is in!'--and took one cannon from the enemy; and did other feats. "so furious was that first charge of his; 'maison-du-roi covering itself with glory,'--for a short while. maison-du-roi broke three lines of the enemy [three, not "five"]; did in some places actually break through; in others 'could not, but galloped along the front.' three of their lines: but the fourth line would not break; much the contrary, it advanced (austrians and english) with steady fire, hotter and hotter: upon this fourth line maison-du-roi had, itself, to break, pretty much altogether, and rush home again, in ruinous condition. 'our front lines made lanes for them; terribly maltreating them with musketry on right and left, as they galloped through.' and this was the end of grammont's successes, this charge of horse; for his infantry had no luck anywhere; and the essential crisis of the battle had been here. it continued still a good while; plenty of cannonading, fusillading, but in sporadic detached form; a confused series of small shocks and knocks; which were mostly, or all, unfortunate for grammont; and which at length knocked him quite off the field. 'he was now interlaced with the english,' moans noailles; 'so that my cannon, not to shoot grammont as well as the english, had to cease firing!' well, yes, that is true, m. le marechal; but that is not so important as you would have it. the english had stood nine hours in this fire of yours; by degrees, leaning well away from it; answering it with counter-batteries;--and were not yet ruined by it, when the grammont crisis came! noailles should have dashed fresh troops across his bridges, and tried to handle them well. noailles did not do that; or do anything but wring his hands. "the fight lasted four hours; ever hotter on the english part, ever less hot on the french [fire of anthracite-coal versus flame of dry wood, which latter at last sinks ashy!]--and ended in total defeat of the french. the french infantry by no means behaved as their cavalry had done. the gardes francaises [fire burning ashy, after seven hours of flaming], when grammont ordered them up to take the english in flank, would hardly come on at all, or stand one push. they threw away their arms, and plunged into the river, like a drove of swimmers; getting drowned in great numbers. so that their comrades nicknamed them 'canards du mein (ducks of the mayn):' and in english mess-rooms, there went afterwards a saying: 'the french had, in reality, three bridges; one of them not wooden, and carpeted with blue cloth!' such the wit of military mankind. "... the english, it appears, did something by mere shouting. partial huzzas and counter-huzzas between the infantries were going on at one time, when stair happened to gallop up: 'stop that,' said stair; 'let us do it right. silence; then, one and all, when i give you signal!' and stair, at the right moment, lifting his hat, there burst out such a thunder-growl, edged with melodious ire in alt, as quite seemed to strike a damp into the french, says my authority, 'and they never shouted more.... our ground in many parts was under rye,' hedgeless fields of rye, chief grain-crop of that sandy country. 'we had already wasted above , acres of it,' still in the unripe state, so hungry were we, man and horse, 'since crossing to aschaffenburg;'--fighting for your cause of liberty, ye benighted ones! "king friedrich's private accounts, deformed by ridicule, are, that the britannic majesty, his respectable old uncle, finding the french there barring his way to breakfast, understood simply that there must and should be fighting, of the toughest; but had no plan or counsel farther: that he did at first ride up, to see what was what with his own eyes; but that his horse ran away with him, frightened at the cannon; upon which he hastily got down; drew sword; put himself at the head of his hanoverian infantry [on the right wing], and stood,--left foot drawn back, sword pushed out, in the form of a fencing-master doing lunge,--steadily in that defensive attitude, inexpugnable like the rocks, till all was over, and victory gained. this is defaced by the spirit of ridicule, and not quite correct. britannic majesty's horse [one of those fine animals] did, it is certain, at last dangerously run away with him; upon which he took to his feet and his hanoverians. but he had been repeatedly on horseback, in the earlier stages; galloping about, to look with his own eyes, could they have availed him; and was heard encouraging his people, and speaking even in the english language, 'steady, my boys; fire, my brave boys, give them fire; they will soon run!' [_oeuvres de frederic,_ (iii. ): compare anonymous, _life of the duke of cumberland_ (p. n.); henderson's life of ditto; &c.] latterly, there can be no doubt, he stands [and to our imagination, he may fitly stand throughout] in the above attitude of lunge; no fear in him, and no plan; 'sans peur et sans avis,' as me might term it. like a real hanoverian sovereign of england; like england itself, and its ways in those german wars. a typical epitome of long sections of english history, that attitude of lunge!-- "the english officers also, it is evident, behaved in their usual way:--without knowledge of war, without fear of death, or regard to utmost peril or difficulty; cheering their men, and keeping them steady upon the throats of the french, so far as might be. and always, after that first stumble with the french horse was mended, they kept gaining ground, thrusting back the enemy, not over the dettingen brook and moor-ground only, but, knock after knock, out of his woody or other coverts, back and ever back, towards welzheim, kahl, and those two bridges of his. the flamy french [ligneous fire burning lower and lower, versus anthracitic glowing brighter and brighter] found that they had a bad time of it;--found, in fact, that they could not stand it; and tumbled finally, in great torrents, across their bridges on the mayn, many leaping into the river, the english sitting dreadfully on the skirts of them. so that had the english had their cavalry in readiness to pursue, noailles's army, in the humor it had sunk to, was ruined, and the victory would have been conspicuously great. but they had, as too common, nothing ready. impetuous stair strove to get ready; "pushed out the grey dragoons" for one item. but the authorities refused stair's counsel, as rash again; and made no effectual pursuit at all;--too glad that they had brushed their battle-field triumphantly clear, and got out of that fatal pinfold in an honorable manner. map: book xiv, chap v, page goes here-------------------------- "they stayed on the ground till at night; settling, or trying to settle, many things. the surgeons were busy as bees, but able for officers only;--'dress him first!' said the glorious duke of cumberland, pointing to a young frenchman [excellency fenelon's son, grand-nephew of telemaque] who was worse wounded than his highness. quite in the philip-sydney fashion; which was much taken notice of. 'all this while, we had next to nothing to eat' (says one informant).--ten p.m.: after which, leaving a polite letter to noailles, 'that he would take care of our wounded, and bury our slain as well as his own,' we march [through a pour of rain] to hanau, where our victuals are, and , new hessians and hanoverians by this time. "noailles politely bandaged the wounded, buried the dead. noailles, gathering his scattered battalions, found that he had lost , men; no ruinous loss to him,--the enemy's being at least equal, and all his wounded fallen prisoners of war. no ruinous loss to noailles, had it not been the loss of victory,--which was a sore blow to french feeling; and, adding itself to those broglio disgraces, a new discouragement to most christian majesty. victory indisputably lost:--but is it not grammont's blame altogether? grammont bears it, as we saw; and it is heavily laid on him. but my own conjecture is, forty thousand enraged people, of english and other platt-teutsch type, would have been very difficult to pin up, into captivity or death instead of breakfast, in that manner: and it is possible if poor grammont had not mistaken, some other would have done so, and the hungry baresarks (their blood fairly up, as is evident) would have ended in getting through." [espagnac, i. ; _guerre de boheme,_ i. .]--_gentleman's magazine,_ vol. xiii. (for ), pp. - ;--containing carteret's despatch from the field; followed by many other letters and indistinct narrations from officers present (p. , "plan of the battle," blotchy, indecipherable in parts, but essentially rather true),--is worth examining. see likewise anonymous, _memoirs of the late duke of cumberland_ (lond. ; the author an ignorant, much-adoring military-man, who has made some study, and is not so stupid as he looks), pp. - ; and henderson (ignorant he too, much-adoring, and not military), _life of the duke of cumberland_ (lond. ), pp. - . noailles's official account (ingenuously at a loss what to say), in _ campagnes,_ ii. b, - , - . _oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. - (incorrect in many of the details). this was all the fighting that king george got of his pragmatic army; the gain from conquest made by it was, that it victoriously struggled back to its bread-cupboard. stair, about two months hence, in the mere loitering and higgling that there was, quitted the pragmatic; magnanimously silent on his many wrongs and disgusts, desirous only of "returning to the plough," as he expressed himself. the lofty man; wanted several requisites for being a marlborough; wanted a sarah jennings, as the preliminary of all!--we will not attend the lazy movements and procedures of the pragmatic army farther; which were of altogether futile character, even in the temporary gazetteer estimate; and are to be valued at zero, and left charitably in oblivion by a pious posterity. stair, the one brightish-looking man in it, being gone, there remain majesty with his d'ahrembergs, neippergs, and the martial boy; generals cope, hawley, wade, and many of leaden character, remain:--let the leaden be wrapped in lead. it was not a successful army, this pragmatic. dettingen itself, in spite of the rumoring of gazetteers and temporary persons, had no result,--except the extremely bad one, that it inflated to an alarming height the pride and belligerent humor of his britannic, especially of her hungarian majesty; and made peace more difficult than ever. that of getting ostein, with his austrian leanings, chosen kur-mainz,--that too turned out ill: and perhaps, in the course of the next few months, we shall judge that, had ostein leant against austria, it had been better for austria and ostein. of the pragmatic army, silence henceforth, rather than speech!-- one thing we have to mark, his britannic majesty, commander of such an army,--and of such a purse, which is still more stupendous,--has risen, in the gazetteer estimate and his own, to a high pitch of importance. to be supreme jove of teutschland, in a manner; and acts, for the present summer, in that sublime capacity. two diplomatic feats of his,--one a treaty done and tumbled down again, the other a treaty done and let stand ("treaty of worms," and "conferences," or non-treaty "of hanau"),--are of moment in this history and that of the then world. of these two transactions, due both of them to such an army and such a purse, we shall have to take some notice by and by; the rest shall belong to night and her leaden sceptre--much good may they do her! some ten days after dettingen, broglio (who was crackling off from donauwurth, in view of the lines of schellenberg, that very th of june) ended his retreat to the rhine countries; "glorious," though rather swift, and eaten into by the tolpatcheries of prince karl. "july th, at wimpfen" (in the neckar region, some way south of dettingen), broglio delivers his troops to marechal de noailles's care; and, next morning, rushes off towards strasburg, and quiet official life, as governor there. "the day after his arrival," says friedrich, "he gave a grand ball in strasburg:" [_oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. .] "behold your conquering hero safe again, my friends!" an ungrateful court judged otherwise of the hero. took his strasburg government from him, gave it to marechal de coigny; ordered the hero to his estates in the country, normandy, if i remember;--where he soon died of apoplexy, poor man; and will trouble none of us again. "a man born for surprises," said friedrich long since, in the strasburg doggerel. lost his indispensable garnitures, at the ford of secchia once; and now, in these last twelve months, is considered to have done a series of blustery explosions, derogatory to the glory of france, and ruinous to that sublime belleisle enterprise for oue thing. a ruined enterprise that, at any rate; seldom was enterprise better ruined. here, under broglio, amid the titterings of mankind, has the tail of the oriflamme gone the same bad road as its head did;--into zero and outer darkness; leaving the expenses to pay. like a mad tavern-brawl of one's own raising, the biggest that ever was. has cost already, i should guess, some , french drilled men, paid down, on the nail, to the inexorable fates: and of coined millions,--how many? in subsidies, in equipments, in waste, in loss and wreck: dryasdust could not have told me, had he tried. and then the breakages, damages still chargeable; the probable afterclap? for you cannot quite gratuitously tweak people by the nose, in your wanton humor, over your wine!--one willing man, or most christian majesty, can at any time begin a quarrel; but there need always two or more to end it again. most christian majesty is not so sensible of this fact as he afterwards became; but what with broglio and the extinct oriflamme, what with dettingen and the incipient pragmatic, he is heartily disgusted and discouraged; and wishes he had not thought of cutting germany in four. july th, most christian majesty applies to the german diet; signifying "that he did indeed undertake to help the kaiser, according to treaties; but was the farthest in the world from meaning to invade germany, on his own score. that he had and has no quarrel, except with austria as kaiser's enemy; and is ready to be friends even with austria. and now indeed intends to withdraw his troops wholly from the german territory. and can therefore hope that all unpleasantness will cease, between the german nation and him; and that perhaps the kaiser will be able to make peace with her majesty of hungary on softer terms than at one time seemed likely. if only the animosities of sovereign persons would assuage themselves, and each of us would look without passion at the issue really desirable for him!" [espagnac, i. . adelung, iii. b, ( th july); ib. (the answer to it, th august).] that is now, th july, , king louis's story for himself to the diet of the holy roman empire, teutsch by nation, sitting at frankfurt in rather disconsolate circumstances. the diet naturally answered, "ja wohl, ja wohl," in intricate official language,--nobody need know what the diet answered. but what the hungarian majesty answered, strong and high in such britannic backing,--this was of such unexpected tone, that it fixed everybody's attention; and will very specially require to be noted by us, in the course of a week or two. we said, her hungarian majesty was getting crowned in bohemia, getting personally homaged in upper austria, about to get vice-homaged in bavaria itself,--nothing but glorious pomp, but loyalty loudly vocal, in prag, in linz and the once-afflicted countries; at her return to vienna, she has met the news of dettingen; and is ready to strike the stars with her sublime head. "my little paladin become supreme jove, too: aha!" britannic majesty holds his conferences of hanau. britannic majesty stayed two whole months in hanau, brushing himself up again after that fierce bout; and considering, with much dubitation, what is the next thing?"go in upon noailles [who is still hanging about here, with broglio coming on in the exploded state]; wreck broglio and him! go in upon the french!" so urges stair always: rash stair, urgent to the edge of importunity; english officers and martial boy urgently backing stair; while the hanoverian officers and martial parent are steady to the other view. so that, in respect of war, the next thing, for two months coming, was absolutely nothing, and to the end of the campaign was nothing worth a moment's notice from us. but on the diplomatic side, there were two somethings, conferences at hanau with poor kaiser karl, and treaty at worms with the king of sardinia; which--as minus quantities, or things less than nothing--turned out to be highly considerable for his britannic majesty and us. hanau, th july- st august, . "poor kaiser karl had left augsburg june th,--while his broglio was ferrying at donauworth, and his seckendorf treatying for armistice at nieder-schonfeld,--the very day before dettingen. what a piece of news to him, that dettingen, on his return to frankfurt! "a few days after dettingen, july d, noailles, who is still within call, came across to see this poor stepson of fortune; gives piteous account of him, if any one were now curious on that head: how he bitterly complains of broglio, of the no-subsidies sent, and is driven nearly desperate;--not a penny in his pocket, beyond all. upon which latter clause noailles munificently advanced him a $ , . 'draught of , crowns, in my own name; which doubtless the king, in his compassion, will see good to sanction.' [_campagnes de noailles_ (amsterdam, : this is a sequel, or rather vice versa, to that which we have called des trois marechaux, being of the same collection), i. - .] his feelings on the loss of dettingen may be pictured. but he had laid his account with such things;--prepared for the worst, since that interview with broglio and conti; one plan now left, 'peace, cost what it will!' "the poor kaiser had already, as we saw, got into hopes of bargaining with his britannic majesty; and now he instantly sets about it, while hanau is victorious head-quarters. britannic majesty is not himself very forward; but carteret, i rather judge, had taken up the notion; and on his majesty's and carteret's part, there is actually the wish and attempt to pacificate the reich; to do something tolerable for the poor kaiser, as well as satisfactory to the hungarian majesty,--satisfactory, or capable of being (by the purse-holder) insisted on as such. "and so the landgraf of hessen, excellent wilhelm, king george's friend and gossip, is come over to that little town of hanau, which is his own, in the schloss of which king george is lodged: and there, between carteret and our landgraf,--the king of prussia's ambassador (herr klinggraf), and one or two selectly zealous official persons, assisting or watching,--we have 'conferences of hanau' going on; in a zealous fashion; all parties eager for peace to kaiser and reich, and in good hope of bringing it about. the wish, ardent to a degree, had been the kaiser's first of all. the scheme, i guess, was chiefly of carteret's devising; who, in his magnificent mind, regardless of expense, thinks it may be possible, and discerns well what a stroke it will be for the cause of liberty, and how glorious for a britannic majesty's adviser in such circumstances. july th, the conferences began; and, so frank and loyal were the parties, in a week's time matters were advanced almost to completion, the fundamental outlines of a bargain settled, and almost ready for signing. "'give me my bavaria again!' the kaiser had always said: 'i am head of the reich, and have nothing to live upon!' on one preliminary, carteret had always been inexorable: 'have done with your french auxiliaries; send every soul of them home; the german soil once cleared of them, much will be possible; till then nothing.' kaiser: 'well, give me back my bavaria; my bavaria, and something suitable to live upon, as head of the reich: some decent annual pension, till bavaria come into paying condition,--cannot you, who are so wealthy? and bavaria might be made a kingdom, if you wished to do the handsome thing. i will renounce my austrian pretensions, quit utterly my french alliances; consent to have her hungarian majesty's august consort made king of the romans [which means kaiser after me], and in fact be very safe to the house of austria and the cause of liberty.' to all this the thrice-unfortunate gentleman, titular emperor of the world, and unable now to pay his milk-scores, is eager to consent. to continue crossing the abysses on bridges of french rainbow? nothing but french subsidies to subsist on; and these how paid,--noailles's private pocket knows how! 'i consent,' said the kaiser; 'will forgive and forget, and bygones shall be bygones all round!' 'fair on his imperial majesty's part,' admits carteret; 'we will try to be persuasive at vienna. difficult, but we will try.' in a meek matters had come to this point; and the morrow, july th, was appointed for signing. most important of protocols, foundation-stone of peace to teutschland; king friedrich and the impartial powers approving, with britannic george and drawn sword presiding. "king friedrich approves heartily; and hopes it will do. landgraf wilhelm is proud to have saved his kaiser,--who so glad as the landgraf and his kaiser? carteret, too, is very glad; exulting, as he well may, to have composed these world-deliriums, or concentrated them upon peccant france, he with his single head, and to have got a value out of that absurd pragmatic army, after all. a man of magnificent ideas; who hopes 'to bring friedrich over to his mind;' to unite poor teutschland against such oriflamme invasions and intolerable interferences, and to settle the account of france for a long while. he is the only english minister who speaks german, knows german situations, interests, ways; or has the least real understanding of this huge german imbroglio in which england is voluntarily weltering. and truly, had carteret been king of england, which he was not,--nay, had king friedrich ever got to understand, instead of misunderstand, what carteret was,--here might have been a considerable affair! "but it now, at the eleventh hour, came upon magnificent carteret, now seemingly for the first time in its full force, that he carteret was not the master; that there was a bewildered parliament at home, a poor peddling duke of newcastle leader of the same, with his lords of the regency, who could fatally put a negative on all this, unless they were first gained over. on the morrow, july th, carteret, instead of signing, as expected, has to--purpose a fortnight's delay till he consult in england! absolutely would not and could not sign, till a courier to england went and returned. to landgraf wilhelm's, to klinggraf's and the kaiser's very great surprise, disappointment and suspicion. but carteret was inflexible: 'will only take a fortnight,' said he; 'and i can hope all will yet be well!' "the courier came back punctually in a fortnight. his message was presented at hanau, august st,--and ran conclusively to the effect: 'no! we, noodle of newcastle, and my other lords of regency, do not consent; much less, will undertake to carry the thing through parliament: by no manner of means!' so that carteret's lately towering affair had to collapse ignominiously, in that manner; poor carteret protesting his sorrow, his unalterable individual wishes and future endeavors, not to speak of his britannic majesty's,--and politely pressing on the poor kaiser a gift of , pounds (first weekly instalment of the 'annual pension' that had, in theory, been set apart for him); which the kaiser, though indigent, declined. [adelung, iii. b, , - ; see coxe, _memoirs of pelham_ (london, ), i. , .]' "the disgust of landgraf wilhelm was infinite; who, honest man, saw in all this merely an artifice of carteret's, to undo the kaiser with his french allies, to quirk him out of his poor help from the french, and have him at their mercy. 'shame on it!' cried landgraf wilhelm aloud, and many others less aloud, klinggraf and king friedrich among them: 'what a carteret!' the landgraf turned away with indignation from perfidious england; and began forming quite opposite connections. 'you shall not even have my hired , , you perfidious! thing done with such dexterity of art, too!' thought the landgraf,--and continued to think, till evidence turned up, after many months. [carteret papers (in british museum), additional mss. no. , (may, -january, ); in no. , (january-september, ) are other landgraf-wilhelm pieces of correspondence.] this was friedrich's opinion too,--permanently, i believe;--and that of nearly all the world, till the thing and the doer of the thing were contemptuously forgotten. a piece of machiavelism on the part of carteret and perfidious albion,--equal in refined cunning to that of the ships with foul bottom, which vanished from cadiz two years ago, and were admired with a shudder by continental mankind who could see into millstones! "this is the second stroke of machiavellian art by those islanders, in their truly vulpine method. stroke of art important for this history; and worth the attention of english readers,--being almost of pathetic nature, when one comes to understand it! carteret, for this hanau business, had clangor enough to undergo, poor man, from germans and from english; which was wholly unjust. 'his trade,' say the english--(or used to say, till they forgot their considerable carteret altogether)--'was that of rising in the world by feeding the mad german humors of little george; a miserable trade.' yes, my friends;--but it was not quite carteret's, if you will please to examine! and none say, carteret did not do his trade, whatever it was, with a certain greatness,--at least till habits of drinking rather took him, poor man: impatient, probably, of such fortune long continued! for he was thrown out, next session of parliament, by noodle of newcastle, on those strange terms; and never could get in again, and is now forgotten; and there succeeded him still more mournful phenomena,--said noodle or the poor pelhams, namely,--of whom, as of strange minus quantities set to manage our affairs, there is still some dreary remembrance in england. well!"-- carteret, though there had been no duke of newcastle to run athwart this fine scheme, would have had his difficulties in making her hungarian majesty comply. her majesty's great heart, incurably grieved about silesia, is bent on having, if not restoration one day, which is a hope she never quits, at any rate some ample (cannot be too ample) equivalent elsewhere. on the hanau scheme, united teutschland, with england for soul to it, would have fallen vigorously on the throat of france, and made france disgorge: lorraine, elsass, the three bishoprics,--not to think of burgundy, and earlier plunders from the reich,--here would have been "cut and come again" for her hungarian majesty and everybody!--but diana, in the shape of his grace of newcastle, intervenes; and all this has become chimerical and worse. it was while carteret's courier was gone to england and not come back, that king louis made the above-mentioned mild, almost penitent, declaration to the reich, "good people, let us have peace; and all be as we were! i, for my share, wish to be out of it; i am for home!" and, in effect, was already home; every frenchman in arms being, by this time, on his own side of the rhine, as we shall presently observe. for, the same day, july th, while that was going on at frankfurt, and carteret's return-courier was due in five days, his britannic majesty at hanau had a splendid visit,--tending not towards peace with france, but quite the opposite way. visit from prince karl, with khevenhuller and other dignitaries; doing us that honor "till the evening of the th." quitting their army,--which is now in these neighborhoods (broglio well gone to air ahead of it; noailles too, at the first sure sniff of it, having rushed double-quick across the rhine),--these high gentlemen have run over to us, for a couple of days, to "congratulate on dettingen;" or, better still, to consult, face to face, about ulterior movements. "follow noailles; transfer the seat of war to france itself? these are my orders, your majesty. combined invasion of elsass: what a slash may be made into france [right handselling of your carteret scheme] this very year!" "proper, in every case!" answers the britannic majesty; and engages to co-operate. upon which prince karl--after the due reviewing, dinnering, ceremonial blaring, which was splendid to witness [anonymous, _duke of cumberland,_ pp. , .]--hastens back to his army (now lying about baden durlach, , strong); and ought to be swift, while the chance lasts. hungarian majesty answers, in the diet, that french declaration, "make peace, good people; i wish to be out of it!"--in an ominous manner. these are fine prospects, in the french quarter, of an equivalent for schlesien;--very fine, unless diana intervene! diana or not, french prospects or not, her hungarian majesty fastens on bavaria with uncommon tightness of fist, now that bavaria is swept clear; well resolved to keep bavaria for equivalent, till better come. exacts, by her deputy, homage from the population there; strict oath of fealty to her; poor kaiser protesting his uttermost, to no purpose; kaiser's poor printer (at regensburg, which is in bavaria) getting "tried and hanged" for printing such protest! "she draughts forcibly the bavarian militias into her italian army;" is high and merciless on all hands;--in a word, throttles poor bavaria, as if to the choking of it outright. so that the very gazetteers in foreign places gave voice, though bavaria itself, such a grasp on the throat of it, was voiceless. seckendorf's poor bargain for neutrality as a bavarian reich-army, her hungarian majesty disdains to confirm; to confirm, or even to reject; treats seckendorf and his bavarian army little otherwise than as a stray dog which she has not yet shot. and truly the old feldmarschall lies at wembdingen, in most disconsolate moulting condition; little or nothing to live upon;--the english, generous creatures, had at one time flung him something, fancying the armistice might be useful; but now it must be the french that do it, if anybody! [adelung, iii. b, (" d august"), , &c.] hanau conferences having failed, these things do not fail. kaiser karl is become tragical to think of. a spectacle of pity to landgraf wilhelm, to king friedrich, and serious on-lookers;--and perhaps not of pity only, but of "pity and fear" to some of them!--sullen austria taking its sweet revenges, in this fashion. readers who will look through these small chinks, may guess what a world-welter this was; and how friedrich, gazing into phase on phase of it, as into oracles of fate, which to him they were, had a history, in these months, that will now never be known. august th came out her hungarian majesty's response to that mild quasi-penitent declaration of king louis to the reich; and much astonished king louis and others, and the very reich itself. "out of it?" says her hungarian majesty (whom we with regret, for brevity's sake, translate from official into vulgate): "his most christian majesty wishes to be out of it:--does not he, the (what shall i call him) crowned housebreaker taken in the fact? you shall get out of it, please heaven, when you have made compensation for the damage done; and till then not, if it please heaven!" and in this strain (lengthily official, though indignant to a degree) enumerates the wanton unspeakable mischiefs and outrages which austria, a kind of sacred entity guaranteed by law of nature and eleven signatures of potentates, has suffered from the most christian majesty,--and will have compensation for, heaven now pointing the way! [in extenso in adelung, iii. b, et seqq.] a most portentous document; full of sombre emphasis, in sonorous snuffling tone of voice; enunciating, with inflexible purpose, a number of unexpected things: very portentous to his prussian majesty among others. forms a turning-point or crisis both in the french war, and in his prussian majesty's history; and ought to be particularly noted and dated by the careful reader. it is here that we first publicly hear tell of compensation, the necessity austria will have of compensation,--austria does not say expressly for silesia, but she says and means for loss of territory, and for all other losses whatsoever: "compensation for the past, and security for the future; that is my full intention," snuffles she, in that slow metallic tone of hers, irrevocable except by the gods. "compensation for the past, security for the future:" compensation? what does her hungarian majesty mean? asked all the world; asked friedrich, the now proprietor of silesia, with peculiar curiosity! it is the first time her hungarian majesty steps articulately forward with such extraordinary claim of damages, as if she alone had suffered damage;--but it is a fixed point at vienna, and is an agitating topic to mankind in the coming months and years. lorraine and the three bishoprics; there would be a fine compensation. then again, what say you to bavaria, in lieu of the silesia lost? you have bavaria by the throat; keep bavaria, you. give "kur-baiern, kaiser as they call him," something in the netherlands to live upon? will be better out of germany altogether, with his french leanings. or, give him the kingdom of naples,--if once we had conquered it again? these were actual schemes, successive, simultaneous, much occupying carteret and the high heads at vienna now and afterwards; which came all to nothing; but should were it not impossible, be held in some remembrance by readers. another still more unexpected point comes out here, in this singular document, publicly for the first time: austria's feelings in regard to the imperial election itself. namely, that austria, considers, and has all along considered, the said election to be fatally vitiated by that exclusion of the bohemian vote; to be in fact nullified thereby; and that, to her clear view, the present so-called kaiser is an imaginary quantity, and a mere kaiser of french shreds and patches! "der seyn-sollende kaiser," snuffles austria in one passage, "your kaiser as you call him;" and in another passage, instead of "kaiser," puts flatly "kur-baiern." this is a most extraordinary doctrine to an electoral romish reich! is the holy romish reich to declare itself an "enchanted wiggery," then, and do suicide, for behoof of austria?-- "august th, this extraordinary document was delivered to the chancery of mainz; and september d, it was, contrary to expectation, brought to dictatur by said chancery,"--of which latter phrase, and phenomenon, here is the explanation to english readers. had the late kur-mainz (general arch-chairman, speaker of the diet) been still in office and existence, certainly so shocking a document had never been allowed "to come to dictatur,"--to be dictated to the reich's clerks; to have a first reading, as we should call it; or even to lie on the table, with a theoretic chance that way. but austria, thanks to our little george and his pragmatic armament, had got a new kur-mainz;--by whom, in open contempt of impartiality, and in open leaning for austria with all his weight, it was duly forwarded to dictature; brought before an astonished diet (reichstag), and endlessly argued of in reichstag and reich,--with small benefit to austria, or the new kur-mainz. wise kindness to austria had been suppression of this piece, not bringing of it to dictature at all: but the new kur-mainz, called upon, and conscious of face sufficient, had not scrupled. "shame on you, partial arch-chancellor!" exclaims all the world.--"revoke such shamefully partial dictature?" this was the next question brought before the reich. in which, kur-hanover (britannic george) was the one elector that opined, no. majority conclusive; though, as usual, no settlement attainable. this is the famous "dictatur-sache (dictature question)," which rages on us, for about eleven months to come, in those distracted old books; and seems as if it would never end. nor is there any saying when it would have ended;--had not, in august, , something else ended, the king of prussia's patience, namely; which enabled it to end, on the kaiser's then order! [adelung, iii. b, , iv. , &c.] it must be owned, in general, the conduct of maria theresa to the reich, ever since the reich had ventured to reject her husband as kaiser, and prefer another, was all along of a high nature; till now it has grown into absolute contumacy, and a treating of the reich's elected kaiser as a merely chimerical personage. no law of the reich had been violated against her hungarian majesty or husband: "what law?" asked all judges. vicarius kur-sachsen sat, in committee, hatching for many months that question of the kur-bohmen vote; and by the prescribed methods, brought it out in the negative,--every formality and regularity observed, and nobody but your austrian deputy protesting upon it, when requested to go home. but, the high maria had a notion that the reich belonged to her august family and her; and that all elections to the contrary were an inconclusive thing, fundamentally void every one of them. thus too, long before this, in regard to the reichs-archiv question. the archives and indispensablest official records and papers of the reich,--these had lain so long at vienna, the high maria could not think of giving them up. "so difficult to extricate what papers are austrian specially, from what are austrian-imperial;--must have time!" answered she always. and neither the kaiser's more and more pressing demands, nor those of the late kur-mainz, backed by the reich, and reiterated month after month and year after year, could avail in the matter. mere angry correspondences, growing ever angrier;--the archives of the reich lay irrecoverable at vienna, detained on this pretext and on that: nor were they ever given up; but lay there till the reich itself had ended, much more the kaiser karl vii.! these are high procedures. as if the reich had been one's own chattel; as if a non-austrian kaiser mere impossible, and the reich and its laws had, even officially, become phantasmal! that, in fact, was maria theresa's inarticulate inborn notion; and gradually, as her successes on the field rose higher, it became ever more articulate: till this of "the seyn-sollende kaiser" put a crown on it. justifiable, if the reich with its laws were a chattel, or rebellious vassal, of austria; not justifiable otherwise. "hear ye?" answered almost all the reich (eight kurfursts, with the one exception of kur-hanover: as we observed): "our solemnly elected kaiser, karl vii., is a thing of quirks and quiddities, of french shreds and patches; at present, it seems, the reich has no kaiser at all; and will go ever deeper into anarchies and unnamabilities, till it proceed anew to get one,--of the right austrian type!"--the reich is a talking entity: king friedrich is bound rather to silence, so long as possible. his thoughts on these matters are not given; but sure enough they were continual, too intense they could hardly be. "compensation;" "the reich as good as mine:" whither is all this tending? walrave and those silesian fortifyings,--let walrave mind his work, and get it perfected! britannic majesty goes home. the "combined invasion of elsass"--let us say briefly, overstepping the order of date, and still for a moment leaving friedrich--came to nothing, this year. prince karl was , ; britannic george (when once those dutch, crawling on all summer, had actually come up) was , ,--nay , ; karl having lent him that beautiful cannibal gentleman, "colonel mentzel and , tolpatches," by way of edge-trimming. karl was to cross in upper elsass, in the strasburg parts; karl once across, britannic majesty was to cross about mainz, and co-operate from lower elsass. and they should have been swift about it; and were not! all the world expected a severe slash to france; and france itself had the due apprehension of it: but france and all the world were mistaken, this time. prince karl was slow with his preparations; noailles and coigny (broglio's successor) were not slow; "raising batteries everywhere," raising lines, " , elsass peasants," and what not;--so that, by the time prince karl was ready (middle of august), they lay intrenched and minatory at all passable points; and karl could nowhere, in that upper-rhine country, by any method, get across. nothing got across; except once or twice for perhaps a day, butcher trenck and his loose kennel of pandours; who went about, plundering and rioting, with loud rodomontade, to the admiration of the gazetteers, if of no one else. nor was george's seconding of important nature; most dubitative, wholly passive, you would rather say, though the river, in his quarter, lay undefended. he did, at last, cross the rhine about mainz; went languidly to worms,--did an ever-memorable treaty of worms there, if no fighting there or elsewhere. went to speyer, where the dutch joined him (sadly short of numbers stipulated, had it been the least matter);--was at germersheim, at what other places i forget; manoeuvring about in a languid and as if in an aimless manner, at least it was in a perfectly ineffectual one. mentzel rode gloriously to trarbach, into lorraine; stuck up proclamation, "hungarian majesty come, by god's help, for her own again," and the like;--of which document, now fallen rare, we give textually the last line: "and if any of you don't [don't sit quiet at least], i will," to be brief, "first cut off your ears and noses, and then hang you out of hand." the singular champion of christendom, famous to the then gazetteers! [in adelung (iii. b, ) the proclamation at large. i have, or once had, a _life of mentzel_ (dublin, i think, ), "price twopence,"--dear at the money.] nothing farther could george, with his dutch now adjoined, do in those parts, but wriggle slightly to and fro without aim; or stand absolutely still, and eat provision (great uncertainty and discrepancy among the generals, and stair gone in a huff [went, "august th, by worms" (henderson, _life of cumberlund,_ p. ), just while his majesty was beginning to cross.]),--till at length the "combined pragmatic troops" returned to mainz (october th); and thence, dreadfully in ill-humor with each other, separated into their winter-quarters in the netherlands and adjacent regions. prince karl tried hard in several places; hardest at, alt-breisach, far up the river, with swabian freiburg for his place of arms;--an austrian country all that, "hither austria," swabian austria. there, at alt-breisach, lay prince karl ( th august- d september), his left leaning on that venerable sugar-loaf hill, with the towers and ramparts on the top of it; looking wistfully into alsace, if there were no way of getting at it. he did get once half-way across the river, lodging himself in an island called rheinmark; but could get no farther, owing to the noailles-coigny preparations for him. called a council of war; decided that he had not magazines, that it was too late in the season; and marched home again (october th) through the schwabenland; leaving, besides the strong garrison of freiburg, only trenck with , pandours to keep the country open for us, against next year. britannic majesty, as we observed, did then, almost simultaneously, in like manner march home; [adelung, iii. b, , ; anonymous, _cumberland,_ p. .]--one goal is always clear when the day sinks: make for your quarters, for your bed. prince karl was gloriously wedded, this winter, to her hungarian majesty's young sister;--glorious meed of war; and, they say, a union of hearts withal;--wife and he to have brussels for residence, and be "joint-governors of the netherlands" henceforth. stout khevenhuller, almost during the rejoicings, took fever, and suddenly died; to the great sorrow of her majesty, for loss of such a soldier and man. [_maria theresiens leben,_ pp. , .] britannic majesty has not been successful with his pragmatic army. he did get his new kur-mainz, who has brought the austrian exorbitancy to a first reading, and into general view. he did get out of the dettingen mouse-trap; and, to the admiration of the gazetteer mind, and (we hope) envy of most christian majesty, he has, regardless of expense, played supreme jove on the german boards for above three months running. but as to settlement of the german quarrel, he has done nothing at all, and even a good deal less! let me commend to readers this little scrap of note; headed, "methods of pacificating germany:-- . there is one ready method of pacificating germany: that his britannic majesty should firmly button his breeches-pocket, 'not one sixpence more, madam!'--and go home to his bed, if he find no business waiting him at home. has not he always the ear-of-jenkins question, and the cause of liberty in that succinct form. but, in germany, sinews of war being cut, law of gravitation would at once act; and exorbitant hungarian majesty, tired france, and all else, would in a brief space of time lapse into equilibrium, probably of the more stable kind. . or, if you want to save the cause of liberty on there are those hanau conferences,--carteret's magnificent scheme: a united teutschland (england inspiring it), to rush on the throat of france, for 'compensation,' for universal salving of sores. this second method, diana having intervened, is gone to water, and even to poisoned water. so that, ". there was nothing left for poor carteret but a tr worms (concerning which, something more explicit by and by): a teutschland (the english, doubly and trebly inspiring it, as surely they will now need!) to rush as aforesaid, in the disunited and indeed nearly internecine state. which third method--unless carteret can conquer naples for the kaiser, stuff the kaiser into some satisfactory 'netherlands' or the like, and miraculously do the unfeasible (fortune perhaps favoring the brave)--may be called the unlikely one! as poor carteret probably guesses, or dreads;--had he now any choice left. but it was love's last shift! and, by aid of diana and otherwise, that is the posture in which, at mainz, th october, , we leave the german question." "compensation," from france in particular, is not to be had gratis, it appears. somewhere or other it must be had! complaining once, as she very often does, to her supreme jove, hungarian majesty had written: "why, oh, why did you force me to give up silesia!"--supreme jove answers (at what date i never knew, though friedrich knows it, and "has copy of the letter"): "madam, what was good to give is good to take back (cc qui est bon a prendre est bon a rendre)!" [_oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. .] chapter vi.--voltaire visits friedrich for the fourth time. in the last days of august, there appears at berlin m. de voltaire, on his fourth visit:--thrice and four times welcome; though this time, privately, in a somewhat unexpected capacity. come to try his hand in the diplomatic line; to sound friedrich a little, on behalf of the distressed french ministry. that, very privately indeed, is voltaire's errand at present; and great hopes hang by it for voltaire, if he prove adroit enough. poor man, it had turned out he could not get his academy diploma, after all,--owing again to intricacies and heterodoxies. king louis was at first willing, indifferent; nay the chateauroux was willing: but orthodox parties persuaded his majesty; wicked maurepas (the same who lasted till the revolution time) set his face against it; maurepas, and anc. de mirepoix (whom they wittily call "ane" or ass of mirepoix, that sour opaque creature, lately monk), were industrious exceedingly; and put veto on voltaire. a stupid bishop was preferred to him for filling up the forty. two bishops magnanimously refused; but one was found with ambitious stupidity enough: voltaire, for the third time, failed in this small matter, to him great. nay, in spite of that kiss in merope, he could not get his mort de cesar acted; cabals rising; ancien de mirepoix rising; orthodoxy, sour opacity prevailing again. to madame and him (though finely caressed in the parisian circles) these were provoking months;--enough to make a man forswear literature, and try some other jacob's-ladder in this world. which voltaire had actual thoughts of, now and then. we may ask, are these things of a nature to create love of the hierarchy in m. de voltaire? "your academy is going to be a seminary of priests," says friedrich. the lynx-eyed animal,--anxiously asking itself, "whitherward, then, out of such a mess?"--walks warily about, with its paws of velvet; but has, in posse, claws under them, for certain individuals and fraternities. nor, alas, is the du chatelet relation itself so celestial as it once was. madame has discovered, think only with what feelings, that this great man does not love her as formerly! the great man denies, ready to deny on the gospels, to her and to himself; and yet, at bottom, if we read with the microscope, there are symptoms, and it is not deniable. how should it? leafy may, hot june, by degrees comes october, sere, yellow; and at last, a quite leafless condition,--not favonius, but gray northeast, with its hail-storms (jealousies, barren cankered gusts), your main wind blowing. "emilie fait de l'algebre," sneers he once, in an inadvertent moment, to some lady-friend: "emilie doing? emilie is doing algebra; that is emilie's employment,--which will be of great use to her in the affairs of life, and of great charm in society." [letter of voltaire "to madame chambonin," end of (_oeuvres,_ edition in vols., paris, , xxxii. );--is missed in the later edition ( vols., paris, ), to which our habitual reference is.] voltaire (if you read with the microscope) has, on this side also, thoughts of being off. "off on this side?" madame flies mad, becomes megaera, at the mention or suspicion of it! a jealous, high-tempered algebraic lady. they have had to tell her of this secret mission to berlin; and she insists on being the conduit, all the papers to pass through her hands here at paris, during the great man's absence. fixed northeast; that is, to appearance, the domestic wind blowing! and i rather judge, the great man is glad to get away for a time. this quasi-diplomatic speculation, one perceives, is much more serious, on the part both of voltaire and of the ministry, than any of the former had been. and, on voltaire's part, there glitter prospects now and then of something positively diplomatic, of a real career in that kind, lying ahead for him. fond hopes these! but among the new ministers, since fleury's death, are amelot, the d'argensons, personal friends, old school-fellows of the poor hunted man, who are willing he should have shelter from such a pack; and all french ministers, clutching at every floating spar, in this their general shipwreck in germany, are aware of the uses there might be in him, in such crisis. "knows friedrich; might perhaps have some power in persuading him,--power in spying him at any rate. unless friedrich do step forward again, what is to become of us!"--the mutual hintings, negotiatings, express interviews, bargainings and secret-instructions, dimly traceable in voltaire's letters, had been going on perhaps since may last, time of those academy failures, of those broglio despatches from the donau countries, "no staying here, your majesty!"--and i think it was, in fact, about the time when broglio blew up like gunpowder and tumbled home on the winds, that voltaire set out on his mission. "visit to friedrich," they call it;--"invitation" from friedrich there is, or can, on the first hint, at any point of the journey be. voltaire has lingered long on the road; left paris, middle of june; [his letters (_oeuvres,_ lxxiii. , ).] but has been exceedingly exerting himself, in the hague, at brussels, and wherever else present, in the way of forwarding his errand, spying, contriving, persuading; corresponding to right and left,--corresponding, especially much, with the king of prussia himself, and then with "m. amelot, secretary of state," to report progress to the best advantage. there are curious elucidative sparks, in those voltaire letters, chaotic as they are; small sparks, elucidative, confirmatory of your dull history books, and adding traits, here and there, to the image you have formed from them. yielding you a poor momentary comfort; like reading some riddle of no use; like light got incidentally, by rubbing dark upon dark (say voltaire flint upon dryasdust gritstone), in those labyrinthic catacombs, if you are doomed to travel there. a mere weariness, otherwise, to the outside reader, hurrying forward,--to the light french editor, who can pass comfortably on wings or balloons! [_oeuvres,_ lxxiii. pp. - . clogenson, a dane (whose notes, signed "clog.," are in all tolerable recent editions), has, alone among the commentators of voltaire's letters, made some real attempt towards explaining the many passages that are fallen unintelligible. "clog.," travelling on foot, with his eyes open, is--especially on german-history points--incomparable and unique, among his french comrades going by balloon; and drops a rational or half-rational hint now and then, which is meritoriously helpful. unhappily he is by no means well-read in that german matter, by no means always exact; nor indeed ever quite to be trusted without trial had.] voltaire's assiduous finessings with the hague diplomatist people, or with their secretaries if bribable; nay, with the dutch government itself ("through channels which i have opened,"--with infinitesimally small result); his spyings ("young podewils," minister here, nephew of the podewils we have known, "young podewils in intrigue with a dutch lady of rank:" think of that, your excellency); his preparatory subtle correspondings with friedrich: his exquisite manoeuvrings, and really great industries in the small way:--all this, and much else, we will omit. impatient of these preludings, which have been many! thus, at one point, voltaire "took a fluxion" (catarrhal, from the nose only), when friedrich was quite ready; then, again, when voltaire was ready, and the fluxion off, friedrich had gone upon his silesian reviews: in short, there had been such cross-purposes, tedious delays, as are distressing to think of;--and we will say only, that m. de voltaire did actually, after the conceivable adventures, alight in the berlin schloss (last day of august, as i count); welcomed, like no other man, by the royal landlord there;--and that this is the fourth visit; and has (in strict privacy) weightier intentions than any of the foregoing, on m. de voltaire's part. voltaire had a glorious reception; apartment near the king's; king gliding in, at odd moments, in the beautifulest way; and for seven or eight days, there was, at berlin and then at potsdam, a fine awakening of the sphere-harmonies between them, with touches of practicality thrown in as suited. of course it was not long till, on some touch of that latter kind, friedrich discerned what the celestial messenger had come upon withal;--a dangerous moment for m. de voltaire, "king visibly irritated," admits he, with the aquiline glance transfixing him!" alas, your majesty, mere excess of loyalty, submission, devotion, on my poor part! deign to think, may not this too,--in the present state of my king, of my two kings, and of all europe,--be itself a kind of spheral thing?" so that the aquiline lightning was but momentary; and abated to lambent twinklings, with something even of comic in them, as we shall gather. voltaire had his difficulties with valori, too; "what interloping fellow is this?" gloomed valori, "a devoted secretary of your excellency's; on his honor, nothing more!" answered voltaire, bowing to the ground:--and strives to behave as such; giving valori "these poor reports of mine to put in cipher," and the like. very slippery ice hereabouts for the adroit man! his reports to amelot are of sanguine tone; but indicate, to the by-stander, small progress; ice slippery, and a twinkle of the comic. many of them are lost (or lie hidden in the french archives, and are not worth disinterring): but here is one, saved by beaumarchais and published long afterwards, which will sufficiently bring home the old scene to us. in the palace of berlin or else of potsdam (date must be, th- th september, ), voltaire from his apartment hands in a "memorial" to friedrich; and gets it back with marginalia,--as follows: "would your majesty be pleased to have the kind condescension (assez de bonte) to put on the margin your reflections and orders." memorial by voltaire. " . your majesty is to know that the sieur bassecour [signifies backyard], chief burghermaster of amsterdam, has come lately to beg m. de la ville, french minister there, to make proposals of peace. la ville answered, if the dutch had offers to make, the king his master could hear them. marginalia by friedrich. " . this bassecour, or backyard, seems to be the gentleman that has charge of fattening the capons and turkeys for their high mightinesses? memorial by voltaire. " . is it not clear that the peace party will infallibly carry it, in holland,--since bassecour, one of the most determined for war, begins to speak of peace? is it not clear that france shows vigor and wisdom? marginalia by friedrich. " . i admire the wisdom of france; but god preserve me from ever imitating it! memorial by voltaire. " . in these circumstances, if your majesty took the tone of a master, gave example to the princes of the empire in assembling an army of neutrality,--would not you snatch the sceptre of europe from the hands of the english, who now brave you, and speak in an insolent revolting manner of your majesty, as do, in holland also, the party of the bentincks, the fagels, the opdams? i have myself heard them, and am reporting nothing but what is very true. marginalia by friedrich. " . this would be finer in an ode than in actual reality. i disturb myself very little about what the dutch and english say, the rather as i understand nothing of those dialects (patois) of theirs. memorial by voltaire. " . do not you cover yourself with an immortal glory in declaring yourself, with effect, the protector of the empire? and is it not of most pressing interest to your majesty, to hinder the english from making your enemy the grand-duke [maria theresa's husband] king of the romans? marginalia by friedrich. " . france has more interest than prussia to hinder that. besides, on this point, dear voltaire, you are ill informed. for there can be no election of a king of the romans without the unanimous consent of the empire;--so you perceive, that always depends on me. memorial by voltaire. " . whoever has spoken but a quarter of an hour to the duke d'ahremberg [who spilt lord stair's fine enterprises lately, and reduced them to a dettingen, or a getting into the mouse-trap and a getting out], to the count harrach [important austrian official], lord stair, or any of the partisans of austria, even for a quarter of an hour [as i have often done], has beard them say, that they burn with desire to open the campaign in silesia again. have you in that case, sire, any ally but france? and, however potent you are, is an ally useless to you? you know the resources of the house of austria, and how many princes are united to it. but will they resist your power, joined to that of the house of bourbon? marginalia by friedrich. " . _on les y recevra, biribi, a la facon de barbari, mon ami._ we will receive them, twiddledee, in the mode of barbary, don't you see? [form of song, very fashionable at paris (see barbier soepius) in those years: "biribi," i believe, is a kind of lottery-game.] memorial by voltaire. " . if you were but to march a body of troops to cleves, do not you awaken terror and respect, without apprehension that any one dare make war on you? is it not, on the contrary, the one method of forcing the dutch to concur, under your orders, in the pacification of the empire, and re-establishment of the emperor, who will thus a second time he indebted to you for his throne, and will aid in the splendor of yours? marginalia by friedrich. " . _vous voulez qu'en vrai dieu de la machine,_ "you will have me as theatre-god, then, _"j'arrive pour te denouement?_ "swoop in, and produce the catastrophe? _"qu'aux anglais, aux pandours, a ce peuple insolent, "j'aille donner la discipline?--_ "tame to sobriety those english, those pandours, and obstreperous people? _"mais examinez mieux ma mine;_ "examine the look of me better; _"je ne suis pas assez mechant!_ "i have not surliness euough. memorial by voltaire. " . whatever resolution may be come to, will your majesty deign to confide it to me, and impart the result,--to your servant, to him who desires to pass his life at your court? may i have the honor to accompany your majesty to baireuth; and if your goodness go so far, would you please to declare it, that i may have time to prepare for the journey? one favorable word written to me in the letter on that occasion [word favorable to france, ostensible to m. amelot and the most christian majesty], one word would suffice to procure me the happiness i have, for six years, been aspiring to, of living beside you." oh, send it! marginalia by friedrich. " . if you like to come to baireuth, i shall be glad to see you there, provided the journey don't derange your health. it will depend on yourself, then, to take what measures you please. [and about the ostensible word,--nothing!] memorial by voltaire. " . during the short stay i am now to make, if i could be made the bearer of some news agreeable to my court, i would supplicate your majesty to honor me with such a commission. [this does not want for impudence, monsieur! friedrich answers, from aloft!] marginalia by friedrich. " . i am not in any connection with france; i have nothing to fear nor to hope from france. if you would like, i will make a panegyric on louis xv. without a word of truth in it: but as to political business, there is, at present, none to bring us together; and neither is it i that am to speak first. when they put a question to me, it will be time to reply: but you, who are so much a man of sense, you see well what a ridiculous business it would be if, without ground given me, i set to prescribing projects of policy to france, and even put them on paper with my own hand! memorial by voltaire. " . do whatsoever you may please, i shall always love your majesty with my whole heart." marginalia by friedrich. " . i love you with all my heart; i esteem you: i will do all to have you, except follies, and things which would make me forever ridiculous over europe, and at bottom would be contrary to my interests and my glory. the only commission i can give you for france, is to advise them to behave with more wisdom than they have done hitherto. that monarchy is a body with much strength, but without, soul or energy (nerf)." and so you may give it to valori to put in cipher, my illustrious messenger from the spheres. [_oeuvres de voltaire,_ lxxiii. - (see ib. ii. ); _oeuvres de frederic,_ xxii. - .] worth reading, this, rather well. very kingly, and characteristic of the young friedrich. saved by beaumarchais, who did not give it in his famous kehl edition of voltaire, but "had it in autograph ever after, and printed it in his decade philosophique, messidor, an vii. [summer, ]: beaumarchais had several other pieces of the same sort;" which, as bits of contemporary photographing, one would have liked to see. friedrich visits baireuth: on a particular errand;--voltaire attending, and privately reporting. this "biribi" document, i suppose to have been delivered perhaps on the th; and that friedrich had it, but had not yet answered it, when he wrote the following letter:-- "potsdam, th september, [friedrich to voltaire].--i dare not speak to a son of apollo about horses and carriages, relays and such things; these are details with which the gods do not concern themselves, and which we mortals take upon us. you will set out on monday afternoon, if you like the journey, for baireuth, and you will dine with me in passing, if you please [at potsdam here]. "the rest of my memoire [paper before given?] is so blurred and in so bad a state, i cannot yet send it you.--i am getting cantos and of la pucelle copied; i at present have cantos , , , , and : i keep them under three keys, that the eye of mortal may not see them. "i hear you supped yesternight in good company [great gathering in some high house, gone all asunder now]; "the finest wits of the canton all collected in your name, people all who could not but be pleased with you, all devout believers in voltaire, unanimously took you for the god of their paradise. "'paradise,' that you may not be scandalized, is taken here in a general sense for a place of pleasure and joy. see the 'remark' on the last verse of the mondain." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxii. ; voltaire, lxxiii. ] (scandalously misdated in edition , xxxix. ). as to mondain, and "remark" upon it,--the ghost of what was once a sparkle of successful coterie-speech and epistolary allusion,--take this: "in the mondain voltaire had written, 'le paradis terrestre est ou je suis;' and as the priests made outcry, had with airs of orthodoxy explained the phrase away,"--as friedrich now affects to do; obliquely quizzing, in the friedrich manner. voltaire is to go upon the baireuth journey, then, according to prayer. whether voltaire ever got that all-important "word which he could show," i cannot say: though there is some appearance that friedrich may have dashed off for him the panegyric of louis, in these very hours, to serve his turn, and have done with him. under date th september, day before the letter just read, here are snatches from another to the same address:-- "potsdam, th september, [friedrich to voltaire].--you tell me so much good of france and of its king, it were to be wished all sovereigns had subjects like you, and all commonwealths such citizens,--[you can show that, i suppose?] what a pity france and sweden had not had military chiefs of your way of thinking! but it is very certain, say what you will, that the feebleness of their generals, and the timidity of their counsels, have almost ruined in public repute two nations which, not half a century ago, inspired terror over europe."--... "scandalous peace, that of fleury, in ; abandoning king stanislaus, cheating spain, cheating sardinia, to get lorraine! and now this manner of abandoning the emperor [respectable karl vii. of your making]; sacrificing bavaria; and reducing that worthy prince to the lowest poverty,--poverty, i say not, of a prince, but into the frightfulest state for a private man!" ah, monsieur. "and yet your france is the most charming of nations; and if it is not feared, it deserves well to be loved. a king worthy to command it, who governs sagely, and acquires for himself the esteem of all europe,--[there, won't that do!] may restore its ancient splendor, which the broglios, and so many others even more inept, have a little eclipsed. that is assuredly a work worthy of a prince endowed with such gifts! to reverse the sad posture of affairs, nobly repairing what others have spoiled; to defend his country against furious enemies, reducing them to beg peace, instead of scornfully rejecting it when offered: never was more glory acquirable by any king! i shall admire whatsoever this great man [ce grand homme, louis xv., not yet visibly tending to the dung-heap, let us hope better things!] may achieve in that way; and of all the sovereigns of europe none will be less jealous of his success than i:"--there, my spheral friend, show that! [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxii. : see, for what followed, _oeuvres de voltaire,_ lxxiii. (report to amelot, th october).] which the spheral friend does. nor was it "irony," as the new commentators think; not at all; sincere enough, what you call sincere;--voltaire himself had a nose for "irony"! this was what you call sincere panegyric in liberal measure; why be stingy with your measure? it costs half an hour: it will end voltaire's importunities; and so may, if anything, oil the business-wheels withal. for friedrich foresees business enough with louis and the french ministries, though he will not enter on it with voltaire. this journey to baireuth and anspach, for example, this is not for a visit to his sisters, as friedrich labels it; but has extensive purposes hidden under that title,--meetings with franconian potentates, earnest survey, earnest consultation on a state of things altogether grave for germany and friedrich; though he understands whom to treat with about it, whom to answer with a "biribiri, mon ami." that austrian exorbitancy of a message to the diet has come out (august th, and is struggling to dictatur); the austrian procedures in baiern are in their full flagrancy: friedrich intends trying once more, whether, in such crisis, there be absolutely no "union of german princes" possible; nor even of any two or three of them, in the "swabian and franconian circles," which he always thought the likeliest? the journey took effect, tuesday, th september [rodenbeck, i. .] (not the day before, as friedrich had been projecting); went by halle, straight upon baireuth; and ended there on thursday. as usual, prince august wilhelm, and prince ferdinand of brunswick, were of it; voltaire failed not to accompany. what the complexion of it was, especially what friedrich had meant by it, and how ill he succeeded, will perhaps be most directly visible through the following compressed excerpts from voltaire's long letter to secretary amelot on the subject,--if readers will be diligent with them. friedrich, after four days, ran across to anspach on important business; came back with mere failure, and was provokingly quite silent on it; stayed at baireuth some three days more; thence home by gotha (still on "union" business, still mere failure), by leipzig, and arrived at potsdam, september th;--leaving voltaire in wilhelmina's charmed circle (of which unhappily there is not a word said), for about a week more. voltaire, directly on getting back to berlin, "resumes the thread of his journal" to secretary amelot; that is, writes him another long letter:-- voltaire (from berlin, d october, ) to secretary amelot. "... the king of prussia told me at baireuth, on the th or th of last month, he was glad our king had sent the kaiser money;"--useful that, at any rate; noailles's , pounds would not go far. "that he thought m. le marechal de noailles's explanation [of a certain small rumor, to the disadvantage of noailles in reference to the kaiser] was satisfactory: 'but,' added he, 'it results from all your secret motions that you are begging peace from everybody, and there may have been something in this rumor, after all.' "he then told me he was going over to anspach, to see what could be done for the common cause [kaiser's and ours]; that he expected to meet the bishop of wurzburg there; and would try to stir the frankish and swabian circles into some kind of union. and, at setting off [from baireuth, september th, on this errand], he promised his brother-in-law the margraf, he would return with great schemes afoot, and even with great success;" which proved otherwise, to a disappointing degree. "... the margraf of anspach did say he would join a union of princes in favor of the kaiser, if prussia gave example. but that was all. the bishop of wurzburg," a feeble old creature, "never appeared at anspach, nor even sent an apology; and seckendorf, with the imperial army"--seckendorf, caged up at wembdingen (whom friedrich drove off from anspach, twenty miles, to see and consult), was in a disconsolate moulting condition, and could promise or advise nothing satisfactory, during the dinner one took with him. [september th, "under a shady tree, after muster of the troops" (rodenbeck, p. ).] four days running about on those errands had yielded his prussian majesty nothing. "whilst he (prussian majesty) was on this anspach excursion, the margraf of baireuth, who is lately made field-marshal of his circle, spoke much to me of present affairs: a young prince, full of worth and courage, who loves the french, hates the austrians,"--and would fain make himself generally useful. "to whom i suggested this and that" (does your lordship observe?), if it could ever come to anything. "the king of prussia, on returning to baireuth [guess, th september], did not speak the least word of business to the margraf: which much surprised the latter! he surprised him still more by indicating some intention to retain forcibly at berlin the young duke of wurtemberg, under pretext, 'that madam his mother intended to have him taken to vienna,' for education. to anger this young duke, and drive his mother to despair, was not the method for acquiring credit in the circle of swabia, and getting the princes brought to unite! "the duchess of wurtemberg, who was there at baireuth, by appointment, to confer with the king of prussia, sent to seek me. i found her all dissolved in tears. 'ah!' said she,--[but why is our dear wilhelmina left saying nothing; invisible, behind the curtains of envious chance, and only a skirt of them lifted to show us this improper duchess once more!]--'ah!' said she (the improper duchess, at sight of me), 'will the king of prussia be a tyrant, then? to pay me for intrusting my boys to him, and giving him two regiments [for money down], will he force me to implore justice against him from the whole world? i must have my child! he shall not go to vienna; it is in his own country that i will have him brought up beside me. to put my son in austrian hands? [unless, indeed, your highness were driven into financial or other straits?] you know if i love france;--if my design is not to pass the rest of my days there, so soon as my son comes to majority!' ohone, ohoo! "in fine, the quarrel was appeased. the king of prussia told me he would be gentler with the mother; would restore the son if they absolutely wished it; but that he hoped the young prince would of himself like better to stay where he was."...--"i trust your lordship will allow me to draw for those ducats, for a new carriage. i have spent all i had, running about these four months. i leave this for brunswick and homewards, on the evening of the th." [voltaire, lxxiii. - .]... and so the curtain drops on the baireuth journey, on the berlin visit; and indeed, if that were anything, on voltaire's diplomatic career altogether. the insignificant accidents, the dull powers that be, say no. curious to reflect, had they happened to say yes:--"go into the diplomatic line, then, you sharp climbing creature, and become great by that method; write no more, you; write only despatches and spy-letters henceforth!"--how different a world for us, and for all mortals that read and that do not read, there had now been! voltaire fancies he has done his diplomacy well, not without fruit; and, at brunswick,--cheered by the grand welcome he found there,--has delightful outlooks (might i dare to suggest them, monseigneur?) of touring about in the german courts, with some circular hortatorium, or sublime begging-letter from the kaiser, in his hand; and, by witchery of tongue, urging wurtemberg, brunswick, baireuth, anspach, berlin, to compliance with the imperial majesty and france. [ib. lxxiii. .] would not that be sublime! but that, like the rest, in spite of one's talent, came to nothing. talent? success? madame de chateauroux had, in the interim, taken a dislike to m. amelot; "could not bear his stammering," the fastidious improper female; flung amelot overboard,--amelot, and his luggage after him, voltaire's diplomatic hopes included; and there was an end. how ravishing the thing had been while it lasted, judge by these other stray symptoms; hastily picked up, partly at berlin, partly at brunswick; which show us the bright meridian, and also the blaze, almost still more radiant, which proved to be sunset. readers have heard of voltaire's madrigals to certain princesses; and must read these three again,--which are really incomparable in their kind; not equalled in graceful felicity even by goethe, and by him alone of poets approached in that respect. at berlin, autumn , three consummate madrigals:-- . to princess ulrique. "souvent un peu de verite se mele au plus grossier mensonge: cette nuit, dans l'erreur d'un songe, au rang des rois j'etais monte. je vous aimais, princesse, et j'osais vous le dire! les dieux a mon reveil ne m'ont pas tout ote, je n'ai perdu que mon empire." . to princesses ulrique and amelia. "si paris venait sur la terre pour juger entre vos beaux yeux, il couperait la pomme en deux, et ne produirait pas de guerre." . to princesses ulrique, amelia and wilhelmina. "pardon, charmante ulrique; pardon, belle amelie; j'ai cru n'aimer que vous la reste de ma vie, et ne servir que sous vos lois; mais enfin j'entends et je vois cette adorable soeur dont l'amour suit les traces: ah, ce n'est pas outrager les trois graces que de les aimer toutes trois!" [ . "a grain of truth is often mingled with the stupidest delusion. yesternight, in the error of a dream, i had risen to the rank of king; i loved you, princess, and had the audacity to say so! the gods, at my awakening, did not strip me wholly; my kingdom was all they took from me." . "if paris [of troy] came back to decide on the charms of you two, he would halve the apple, and produce no war." . "pardon, charming ulrique; beautiful amelia, pardon: i thought i should love only you for the rest of my life, and serve under your laws only: but at last i hear and see this adorable sister, whom love follows as page:--ah, it is not offending the three graces to love them all three!" --in _oeuvres de voltaire,_ xviii.: no. is, p. (in _oeuvres de frederic,_ xiv. - , the answers to it); no. is, p. ; no. , p. .] brunswick, th october (blazing sunset, as it proved, but brighter almost than meridian), a letter from voltaire to maupertuis (still in france since that horrible mollwitz-pandour business). "in my wanderings i received the letter where my dear flattener of this globe deigns to remember me with so much friendship. is it possible that--... i made your compliments to all your friends at berlin; that is, to all the court." "saw dr. eller decomposing water into elastic air [or thinking he did so, ]; saw the opera of titus, which is a masterpiece of music [by friedrich himself, with the important aid of graun]: it was, without vanity, a treat the king gave me, or rather gave himself; he wished i should see him in his glory. "his opera-house is the finest in europe. charlottenburg is a delicious abode: friedrich does the honors there, the king knowing nothing of it.... one lives at potsdam as in the chateau of a french seigneur who had culture and genius,--in spite of that big battalion of guards, which seems to me the terriblest battalion in this world. "jordan is still the same,--bon garcon et discret; has his oddities, his , crowns ( pounds) of pension. d'argens is chamberlain, with a gold key at his breast-pocket, and louis inside, payable monthly. chasot [whom readers made acquaintance with at philipsburg long since], instead of cursing his destiny, must have taken to bless it: he is major of horse, with income enough. and he has well earned it, having saved the king's baggage at the last battle of chotusitz,"--what we did not notice, in the horse-charges and grand tumults of that scene. "i passed some days [a fortnight in all] at baireuth. her royal highness, of course, spoke to me of you. baireuth is a delightful retreat, where one enjoys whatever there is agreeable in a court, without the bother of grandeur. brunswick, where i am, has another species of charm. 'tis a celestial voyage this of mine, where i pass from planet to planet,"--to tumultuous paris; and, i do hope, to my unique maupertuis awaiting me there at last. [voltaire, lxxiii. - .]' we have only to remark farther, that friedrich had again pressed voltaire to come and live with him, and choose his own terms; and that voltaire (as a second string to his bow, should this fine diplomatic one fail) had provisionally accepted. provisionally; and with one most remarkable clause: that of leaving out madame,--"imagining it would be less agreeable to you if i came with others (avec d'autres); and i own, that belonging to your majesty alone, i should have my mind more at ease:" [_oeuvres de voltaire, _ lxxiii. , (proposal and response, both of them " th october," five days before leaving berlin).]--whew! and then to add a third thing: that madame, driven half delirious, by these delays, and gyratings from planet to planet, especially by that last fortnight at baireuth, had rushed off from paris, to seek her vagabond, and see into him with her own eyes: "could n't help it, my angels!" writes she to the d'argentals (excellent guardian angels, monsieur and madame; and, i am sure, patient both of them, as only monsieur job was, in the old case): "a whole fortnight [perhaps with madrigals to princesses], and only four lines to me!"--and is now in bed, or lately was, at lille, ill of slow fever (petite fievre); panting to be upon the road again. [_lettres inedites de madame du chastelet a m. le comte d'argental_ (paris, ) p. . a curiously elucidative letter this ("brussels, th october, "); a curious little book altogether.] fancy what a greeting for m. de voltaire, from those eyes hagardes et louches; and whether he mentioned that pretty little clause of going to berlin "without others," or durst for the life of him whisper of going at all! after pause in the brussels region, they came back to paris "in december;" resigned, i hope, to inexorable fate,--though with such diplomatic and other fine prospects flung to the fishes, and little but gredins and confusions waiting you, as formerly. chapter vii.--friedrich makes treaty with france; and silently gets ready. though friedrich went upon the bantering tone with voltaire, his private thoughts in regard to the surrounding scene of things were extremely serious; and already it had begun to be apparent, from those britannic-austrian procedures, that some new alliance with france might well lie ahead for him. during voltaire's visit, that extraordinary paper from vienna, that the kaiser was no kaiser, and that there must be "compensation" and satisfactory "assurance," had come into full glare of first-reading; and the dictatur-sache, and denunciation of an evidently partial kur-mainz, was awakening everywhere. voltaire had not gone, when,--through podewils junior (probably with help of the improper dutch female of rank),--friedrich got to wit of another thing, not less momentous to him; and throwing fearful light on that of "compensation" and "assurance." this was the treaty of worms,--done by carteret and george, september th, during those languid rhine operations; treaty itself not languid, but a very lively thing, to friedrich and to all the world! concerning which a few words now. we have said, according to promise, and will say, next to nothing of maria theresa's italian war; but hope always the reader keeps it in mind. big war-clouds waltzing hither and thither, occasionally clashing into bloody conflict; sardinian majesty and infant philip both personally in the field, fierce men both: traun, browne, lobkowitz, lichtenstein, austrians of mark, successively distinguishing themselves; spain, too, and france very diligent;--conti off thither, then in their turns maillebois, noailles:--high military figures, but remote; shadowy, thundering inaudibly on this side and that; whom we must not mention farther. "the notable figure to us," says one of my notes, "is charles emanuel, second king of sardinia; who is at the old trade of his family, and shifts from side to side, making the war-balance vibrate at a great rate, now this scale now that kicking the beam. for he holds the door of the alps, bully bourbon on one side of it, bully hapsburg on the other; and inquires sharply, "you, what will you give me? and you?" to maria theresa's affairs he has been superlatively useful, for these two years past; and truly she is not too punctual in the returns covenanted for. it appears to charles emanuel that the queen of hungary, elated in her high thought, under-rates his services, of late; that she practically means to give him very little of those promised slices from the lombard parts; and that, in the mean while, much too big a share of the war has fallen upon his poor hands, who should be doorholder only. "accordingly he grumbles, threatens: he has been listening to france, 'bourbon, how much will you give me, then?' and the answer is such that he informs the queen of hungary and the britannic majesty, of his intention to close with bourbon, since they on their side will do nothing considerable. george and his carteret, not to mention the hungarian majesty at all, are thunder-struck at such a prospect; bend all their energies towards this essential point of retaining charles emanuel, which is more urgent even than getting elsass. 'madam,' they say to her majesty, (we cannot save italy for you on other terms: vigevanesco, finale [which is genoa's], part of piacenza [when once got]: there must be some slice of the lombard parts to this charles emanuel justly angry!) whereat the high queen storms, and in her high manner scolds little george, as if he were the blamable party,--pretending friendship, and yet abetting mere highway robbery or little better. and his cash paid madam, and his dettingen mouse-trap fought? 'well, he has plenty of cash:--is it my cause, then, or his majesty's and liberty's?' posterity, in modern england, vainly endeavors to conceive this phenomenon; yet sees it to be undeniable. "and so there is a treaty of worms got concocted, after infinite effort on the part of carteret, robinson too laboring and steaming in vienna with boilers like to burst; and george gets it signed th september [already signed while friedrich was looking into seckendorf and wembdingen, if friedrich had known it]: to this effect, that charles emanuel should have annually, down on the nail, a handsome increase of subsidy ( , pounds instead of , pounds) from england, and ultimately beyond doubt some thinnish specified slices from the lombard parts; and shall proceed fighting for, not against; english fleet co-operating, english purse ditto, regardless of expense; with other fit particulars, as formerly. [scholl, ii. - ; adelung, iii. b, - ; coxe, iii. .] maria theresa, very angry, looks upon herself as a martyr, nobly complying to suffer for the whim of england; and robinson has had such labors and endurances, a steam-engine on the point of bursting is but an emblem of him. it was a necessary treaty for the cause of liberty, as george and carteret, and all english ministries and ministers (diana of newcastle very specially, in spite of pitt and a junior opposition party) viewed liberty. it was love's last shift,--diana having intervened upon those magnificent 'conferences of hanau' lately! nevertheless carteret was thrown out, next year, on account of it. and posterity is unable to conceive it; and asks always of little george, what, in the name of wonder, had he to do there, fighting for or against, and hiring everybody he met to fight against everybody? a king with eyes somewhat a fleur-de-tete: yes; and let us say, his nation, too,--which has sat down quietly, for almost a century back, under mountains of nonsense, inwardly nothing but dim scepticism [except in the stomachic regions], and outwardly such a trinacria of hypocrisy [unconscious, for most part] as never lay on an honest giant nation before, was itself grown much of a fool, and could expect no other kind of kings. "but the point intensely interesting to friedrich in this treaty of worms was, that, in enumerating punctually the other treaties, old and recent, which it is to guarantee, and stand upon the basis of, there is nowhere the least mention of friedrich's breslau-and-berlin treaty; thrice-important treaty with her hungarian majesty on the silesian matter! in settling all manner of adjoining and preceding matters, there is nothing said of silesia at all. singular indeed. treaties enough, from that of utrecht downward, are wearisomely mentioned here; but of the berlin treaty, breslau treaty, or any treaty settling silesia,--much less, of any westminster treaty, guaranteeing it to the king of prussia,--there is not the faintest mention! silesia, then, is not considered settled, by the high contracting parties? little george himself, who guaranteed it, in the hour of need, little more than a year ago, considers it fallen loose again in the new whirl of contingencies? 'patience, madam: what was good to give is good to take!' on what precise day or month friedrich got notice of this expressive silence in the treaty of worms, we do not know; but from that day--!" friedrich recollects another thing, one of many others: that of those "ulterior mountains," which austria had bargained for as boundary to schlesien. wild bare mountains; good for what? for invading schlesien from the austrian side; if for nothing else conceivable! the small riddle reads itself to him so, with a painful flash of light. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. .] looking intensely into this matter, and putting things together, friedrich gets more and more the alarming assurance of the fate intended him; and that he will verily have to draw sword again, and fight for silesia, and as if for life. from about the end of (as i strive to compute), there was in friedrich himself no doubt left of it; though his ministers, when he consulted them a good while afterwards, were quite incredulous, and spent all their strength in dissuading a new war; now when the only question was, how to do said war? "how to do it, to make ready for doing it? we must silently select the ways, the methods: silent, wary,--then at last swift; and the more like a lion-spring, like a bolt from the blue, it will be the better!" that is friedrich's fixed thought. the problem was complicated, almost beyond example. the reich, with a kaiser reduced to such a pass, has its potentialities of help or of hindrance,--its thousand-fold formulas, inane mostly, yet not inane wholly, which interlace this matter everywhere, as with real threads, and with gossamer or apparent threads,--which it is essential to attend to. wise head, that could discriminate the dead formulas of such an imbroglio, from the not-dead; and plant himself upon the living facts that do lie in the centre there! "we cannot have a reichs mediation-army, then? nor a swabian-franconian army, to defend their own frontier?" no; it is evident, none. "and there is no union of princes possible; no party, anywhere, that will rise to support the kaiser whom all germany elected; whom austria and foreign england have insulted, ruined and officially designated as non-extant?" well, not quite no, none; yes perhaps, in some small degree,--if prussia will step out, with drawn sword, and give signal. the reich has its potentialities, its formulas not quite dead; but is a sad imbroglio. definite facts again are mainly twofold, and of a much more central nature. fact first: a france which sees itself lamentably trodden into the mud by such disappointments and disgraces; which, on proposing peace, has met insult and invasion;--france will be under the necessity of getting to its feet, and striking for itself; and indeed is visibly rising into something of determination to do it:--there, if prussia and the kaiser are to be helped at all, there lies the one real help. fact second: friedrich's feelings for the poor kaiser and the poor insulted reich, of which friedrich is a member. feelings, these, which are not "feigned" (as the english say), but real, and even indignant; and about these he can speak and plead freely. for himself and his silesia, through the kaiser, friedrich's feelings are pungently real;--and they are withal completely adjunct to the other set of feelings, and go wholly to intensifying of them; the evident truth being, that neither he nor his silesia would be in danger, were the kaiser safe. friedrich's abstruse diplomacies, and delicate motions and handlings with the reich, that is to say, with the kaiser and the kaiser's few friends in the reich, and then again with the french,--which lasted for eight or nine months before closure (october, to june, ),--are considered to have been a fine piece of steering in difficult waters; but would only weary the reader, who is impatient for results and arrivals. ingenious herr professor ranke,--whose history of friedrich consists mainly of such matter excellently done, and offers mankind a wondrously distilled "astral spirit," or ghost-like fac-simile (elegant gray ghost, with stars dim-twinkling through), of friedrich's and other people's diplomatizings in this world,--will satisfy the strongest diplomatic appetite; and to him we refer such as are given that way. [ranke, _neun bucher preussischer geschichte,_ iii. - .]' "france and oneself, as substance of help; but, for many reasons, give it carefully a legal german form or coat:" that is friedrich's method as to finding help. and he diligently prosecutes it;--and, what is still luckier, strives to be himself at all points ready, and capable of doing with a minimum of help from others. before the year was out, friedrich had got into serious diplomatic colloquy with france; suggesting, urging, proposing, hypothetically promising. "february st, ," he secretly despatched rothenburg to paris; who, in a shining manner, consults not only with the amelots, belleisles, but with the chateauroux herself (who always liked friedrich), and with louis xv. in person: and triumphantly brings matters to a bearing. ready here, on the french side; so soon as your reich interests are made the most of; so soon as your patriotic "union of reich's princes" is ready! in march, , the reich side of the affair was likewise getting well forward ("we keep it mostly secret from the poor kaiser, who is apt to blab"):--and on may d, , friedrich, with the kaiser and two other well-affected parties (only two as yet, but we hope for more, and invite all and sundry), sign solemnly their "union of frankfurt;" famous little fourfold outcome of so much diplomatizing. [ranke, ubi supra (treaty is in adelung, iv. - ).] for the well-affected parties, besides friedrich, and the kaiser himself, were as yet two only: landgraf wilhelm of hessen-cassel, disgusted with the late carteret astucities at hanau, he is one (and hires, by and by, his poor , hessians to the french and kaiser, instead of to the english; which is all the help he can give); landgraf wilhelm, and for sole second to him the new kur-pfalz, who also has men to hire. new kur-pfalz: our poor old friend is dead; but here is a new one, karl philip theodor by name, of whom we shall hear again long afterwards; who was wedded (in the frankfurt-coronation time, as readers might have noted) to a grand-daughter of the old, and who is, like the old, a hereditary cousin of the kaiser's, and already helps him all he can. only these two as yet, though the whole reich is invited to join; these, along with friedrich and the kaiser himself, do now, in their general patriotic "union," which as yet consists only of four, covenant, in six articles, to,--in brief, to support teutschland's oppressed kaiser in his just rights and dignities; and to do, with the house of austria, "all imaginable good offices" (not the least whisper of fighting) towards inducing said high house to restore to the kaiser his reichs-archives, his hereditary countries, his necessary imperial furnishings, called for by every law human and divine:--in which endeavor, or innocently otherwise, if any of the contracting parties be attacked, the others will guarantee him, and strenuously help. "all imaginable good offices;" nothing about fighting anywhere,--still less is there the least mention of france; total silence on that head, by friedrich's express desire. but in a secret article (to which france, you may be sure, will accede), it is intimated, "that the way of good offices having some unlikelihoods, it may become necessary to take arms. in which tragic case, they will, besides hereditary baiern (which is inalienable, fixed as the rocks, by reichs-law), endeavor to conquer, to reconquer for the kaiser, his kingdom of bohmen withal, as a proper outfit for teutschland's chief: and that, if so, his prussian majesty (who will have to do said conquest) shall, in addition to his schlesien, have from it the circles of konigsgratz, bunzlau and leitmeritz for his trouble." this is the treaty of union, secret-article and all; done at frankfurt-on-mayn, d may, . done then and there; but no part of it made public, till august following, [" d august , by the kaiser" (adelung, iv. .)] (when the upshot had come); and the secret bohemian article not then made public, nor ever afterwards,--much the contrary; though it was true enough, but inconvenient to confess, especially as it came to nothing. "a hypothetical thing, that," says friedrich carelessly; "wages moderate enough, and proper to be settled beforehand, though the work was never done." to reach down quite over the mountains, and have the elbe for silesian frontier: this, as an occasional vague thought, or day-dream in high moments, was probably not new to friedrich; and would have been very welcome to him,--had it proved realizable, which it did not. that this was "friedrich's real end in going to war again," was at one time the opinion loudly current in england and other uninformed quarters; "but it is not now credible to anybody," says herr ranke; nor indeed worth talking of, except as a memento of the angry eclipses, and temporary dust-clouds, which rise between nations, in an irritated uninformed condition. rapidly progressive in the rear of all this, which was its legalizing german coat, the french treaty, which was the interior substance, or muscular tissue, perfected itself under rothenburg; and was signed june th, (anniversary, by accident, of that first treaty of all, "june th, ");--sanctioning, by france, that bohemian adventure, if needful; minutely setting forth how, and under what contingencies, what efforts made and what successes arrived at, on the part of france, his prussian majesty shall take the field; and try austria, not "with all imaginable good offices" longer, but with harder medicine. of which treaty we shall only say farther, commiserating our poor readers, that friedrich considerably more than kept his side of it; and france very considerably less than hers. so that, had not there been punctual preparation at all points, and good self-help in friedrich, friedrich had come out of this new adventure worse than he did! long months ago, the french--as preliminary and rigorous sine qua non to these friedrich negotiations--had actually started work, by "declaring war on austria, and declaring war on england:"--not yet at war, then, after so much killing? oh no, reader; mere "allies" of belligerents, hitherto. these "declarations" the french had made; [war on england, th march, ; on austria, th april (adelung, iv. , ).] and the french were really pushing forward, in an attitude of indignant energy, to execute the same. as shall be noticed by and by. and through rothenburg, through schmettau, by many channels, friedrich is assiduously in communication with them; encouraging, advising, urging; their affairs being in a sort his, ever since the signing of those mutual engagements, may d, june th. and now enough of that hypothetic diplomatic stuff. war lies ahead, inevitable to friedrich. he has gradually increased his army by , ; inspection more minute and diligent than ever, has been quietly customary of late; walrave's fortification works, impregnable or nearly so, the work at neisse most of all, friedrich had resolved to see completed,--before that french treaty were signed. a cautious young man, though a rapid; vividly awake on all sides. and so the french-austrian, french-english game shall go on; the big bowls bounding and rolling (with velocities, on courses, partly computable to a quick eye);--and at the right instant, and juncture of hits, not till that nor after that, a quick hand shall bowl in; with effect, as he ventures to hope. he knows well, it is a terrible game. but it is a necessary one, not to be despaired of; it is to be waited for with closed lips, and played to one's utmost!-- chapter viii.--perfect peace at berlin, war all round. friedrich, with the spectre of inevitable war daily advancing on him, to him privately evident and certain if as yet to him only, neglects in no sort the arts and business of peace, but is present, always with vivid activity, in the common movement, serious or gay and festive, as the day brings it. during these winter months of , and still more through summer , there are important war-movements going on,--the french vehemently active again, the austrians nothing behindhand,--which will require some slight notice from us soon. but in berlin, alongside of all this, it is mere common business, diligent as ever, alternating with carnival gayeties, with marryings, givings in marriage; in berlin there goes on, under halcyon weather, the peaceable tide of things, sometimes in a high fashion, as if berlin and its king had no concern with the foreign war. the plauen canal, an important navigation-work, canal of some thirty miles, joining havel to elbe in a convenient manner, or even joining oder to elbe, is at its busiest:--"it was begun june st, [all hands diligently digging there, june th, while some others of us were employed at dettingen,--think of it!], and was finished june th, ." [busching, _erdbeschreibung,_ vi. .] this is one of several such works now afoot. take another miscellaneous item or two. january, , friedrich appoints, and briefly informs all his people of it, that any prussian subject who thinks himself aggrieved, may come and tell his story to the king's own self: ["january, " (rodenbeck, i. ).]--better have his story in firm succinct state, i should imagine, and such that it will hold water, in telling it to the king! but the king is ready to hear him; heartily eager to get justice done him. a suitable boon, such permission, till law-reform take effect. and after law-reform had finished, it was a thing found suitable; and continued to the end,--curious to a british reader to consider! again: on friedrich's birthday, th january, , the new academy of sciences had, in the schloss of berlin, its first session. but of this,--in the absence of maupertuis, flattener of the earth, who is still in france, since that mollwitz adventure; by and for behoof of whom, when he did return, and become "perpetual first president," many changes were made,--i will not speak at present. nor indeed afterwards, except on good chance rising;--the new academy, with its perpetual first president, being nothing like so sublime an object now, to readers and me, as it then was to itself and perpetual president and royal patron! vapid formey is perpetual secretary; more power to him, as the irish say. poor goldstick pollnitz is an honorary member;--absent at this time in baireuth, where those giggling marwitzes of wilhelmina's have been contriving a marriage for the old fool. of which another word soon: if we have time. time cannot be spent on those dim small objects: but there are two marriages of a high order, of purport somewhat historical; there is barberina the dancer, throwing a flash through the operatic and some other provinces: let us restrict ourselves to these, and the like of these, and be brief upon them. the succession in russia, and also in sweden, shall not be hostile to us: two royal marriages, a russian and a swedish, are accomplished at berlin, with such view. marriage first, of an eminently historical nature, is altogether russian, or german become russian, though friedrich is much concerned in it. we heard of the mad swedish-russian war; and how czarina elizabeth was kind enough to choose a successor to the old childless swedish king,--landgraf of hessen-cassel by nature; who has had a sorry time in sweden, but kept merry and did not mind it much, poor old soul. czarina elizabeth's one care was, that the prince of denmark should not be chosen to succeed, as there was talk of his being: sweden, denmark, norway, all grasped in one firm hand (as in the old "union-of-calmar" times, only with better management), might be dangerous to russia. "don't choose him of denmark!" said elizabeth, the victorious czarina; and made it a condition of granting peace, and mostly restoring finland, to the infatuated swedes. the person they did choose,--satisfactory to the czarina, and who ultimately did become king of sweden,--was one adolf friedrich; a holstein-gottorp prince, come of royal kin, and cousinry to karl xii.: he is "bishop of lubeck" or of eutin, so styled; now in his thirty-third year; and at least drawing the revenues of that see, though i think, not ecclesiastically given, but living oftener in hamburg, the then fashionable resort of those northern grandees. on the whole, a likely young gentleman; accepted by parties concerned;--and surely good enough for the office as it now is. of whom, for a reason coming, let readers take note, in this place. above a year before this time, czarina elizabeth, a provident female, and determined not to wed, had pitched upon her own successor: [ th november, (michaelis, ii. ).] one karl peter ulrich; who was also of the same holstein-gottorp set, though with russian blood in him. his grandfather was full cousin, and chosen comrade, to karl xii.; got killed in karl's russian wars; and left a poor son dependent on russian peter the great,--who gave him one of his daughters; whence this karl peter ulrich, an orphan, dear to his aunt the czarina. a karl peter ulrich, who became tragically famous as czar peter federowitz, or czar peter iii., in the course of twenty years! his father and mother are both dead; loving aunt has snatched the poor boy out of holstein-gottorp, which is a narrow sphere, into russia, which is wide enough; she has had him converted to the greek church, named him peter federowitz, heir and successor;--and now, wishing to see him married, has earnestly consulted friedrich upon it. friedrich is decidedly interested; would grudge much to see an anti-prussian princess, for instance a saxon princess (one of whom is said to be trying), put into this important station! after a little thought, he fixes,--does the reader know upon whom? readers perhaps, here and there, have some recollection of a prussian general, who is titular prince of anhalt-zerbst on his own score; and is actual commandant of stettin in friedrich's service, and has done a great deal of good fortification there and other good work. instead of titular, he has now lately, by decease of an elder brother, become actual or semi-actual (a brother joined with him in the poor heirship); lives occasionally in the schloss of zerbst; but is glad to retain stettin as a solid supplement. his wife, let the reader note farther, is sister to the above-mentioned adolf friedrich, "bishop of lubeck," now heir-apparent to sweden,--in whom, as will soon appear, we are otherwise interested. wife seems to me an airy flighty kind of lady, high-paced, not too sure-paced,--weak evidently in french grammar, and perhaps in human sense withal:--but they have a daughter, sophie-frederike, now near fifteen, and very forward for her age; comely to look upon, wise to listen to: "is not she the suitable one?" thinks friedrich, in regard to this matter. "her kindred is of the oldest, old as albert the bear; she has been frugally brought up, spartan-like, though as a princess by birth: let her cease skipping ropes on the ramparts yonder, with her young stettin playmates; and prepare for being a czarina of the russias," thinks he. and communicates his mind to the czarina; who answers, "excellent! how did i never think of that myself?" and so, on or about new-year's day, , while the commandant of stettin and his airy spouse are doing christmas at their old schloss of zerbst, there suddenly come estafettes; expresses from petersburg, heralded by express from friedrich:--with the astonishing proposal, "czarina wishing the honor of a visit from madam and daughter; no doubt, with such and such intentions in the rear." [friedrich's letters to madam of zerbst (date of the first of them, th december, ), in _oeuvres,_ xxv. - .] madam, nor daughter, is nothing loath;--the old commandant grumbles in his beard, not positively forbidding: and in this manner, after a letter or two in imperfect grammar, madam and daughter appear in carnival society at berlin, charming objects both; but do not stay long; in fact, stay only till their moneys and arrangements are furnished them. upon which, in all silence, they make for petersburg, for moscow; travel rapidly, arrive successfully, in spite of the grim season. ["at moscow, th ( th) february, ."] conversion to the greek religion, change of name from sophie-frederike to catherine-alexiewna ("let it be catherine," said elizabeth, "my dear mother's name!"--little brown czarina's, whom we have seen):--all this was completed by the th of july following. and, in fine, next year (september st, ), peter federowitz and this same catherine-alexiewna, second-cousins by blood, were vouchsafed the nuptial benediction, and, with invocation of the russian heaven and russian earth, were declared to be one flesh, [ranke, iii. ; _memoires de catherine ii._ (catherine's own very curious bit of autobiography;--published by mr. herzen, london, ), pp. - .]--though at last they turned out to be two fleshes, as my reader well knows! some eighteen or nineteen years hence, we may look in upon them again, if there be a moment to spare. this is marriage first; a purely russian one; built together and launched on its course, so to say, by friedrich at berlin, who had his own interest in it. marriage second, done at berlin in the same months, was of still more interesting sort to friedrich and us: that of princess ulrique to the above-named adolf friedrich, future king of sweden. marriage which went on preparing itself by the side of the other; and was of twin importance with it in regard to the russian question. the swedish marriage was not heard of, except in important whispers, during the carnival time; but a swedish minister had already come to berlin on it, and was busy first in a silent and examining, then in a speaking and proposing way. it seems, the czarina herself had suggested the thing, as a counter-politeness to friedrich; so content with him at this time. a thing welcome to friedrich. and, in due course ("june, "), there comes express swedish embassy, some rodenskjold or tessin, with a very shining train of swedes, "to demand princess ulrique in marriage for our future king." to which there is assent, by no means denial, in the proper quarter. whereupon, after the wide-spread necessary fuglings and preliminaries, there occurs (all by procuration, brother august wilhelm doing the bridegroom's part), "july th, ," the marriage itself: all done, this last act, and the foregoing ones and the following, with a grandeur and a splendor--unspeakable, we may say, in short. [_helden-geschichte,_ ii. - .] fantastic bielfeld taxes his poor rouged muse to the utmost, on this occasion; and becomes positively wearisome, chanting the upholsteries of life;--foolish fellow, spoiling his bits of facts withal, by misrecollections, and even by express fictions thrown in as garnish. so that, beyond the general impression, given in a high-rouged state, there is nothing to be depended on. one scene out of his many, which represents to us on those terms the finale, or actual departure of princess ulrique, we shall offer,--with corrections (a few, not all);--having nothing better or other on the subject:-- "but, in fine, the day of departure did arrive,"--eve of it did: th july, ; hour of starting to be a.m. to-morrow. "the king had nominated grand-marshal graf van gotter [same gotter whom we saw at vienna once: king had appointed gotter and two others; not to say that two of the princess's brothers, with her sister the margravine of schwedt, were to accompany as far as schwedt: six in all; though one's poor memory fails one on some occasions!]--to escort the princess to stralsund, where two swedish senators and different high lords and ladies awaited her. her majesty the queen-mother, judging by the movements of her own heart that the moment of separation would produce a scene difficult to bear, had ordered an opera to divert our chagrin; and, instead of supper, a superb collation en ambigu [kind of supper-breakfast, i suppose], in the great hall of the palace. her majesty's plan was, the princess, on coming from the opera, should, almost on flight, taste a morsel; take her travelling equipment, embrace her kinsfolk, dash into her carriage, and go off like lightning. herr graf von gotter was charged with executing this design, and with hurrying the departure. "but all these precautions were vain. the incomparable ulrique was too dear to her family and to her country, to be parted with forever, without her meed of tears from them in those cruel instants. on entering the opera-hall, i noticed everywhere prevalent an air of sorrow, of sombre melancholy. the princess appeared in amazon-dress [riding-habit, say], of rose-color trimmed with silver; the little vest, turned up with green-blue (celadon), and collar of the same; a little bonnet, english fashion, of black velvet, with a white plume to it; her hair floating, and tied with a rose-colored ribbon. she was beautiful as love: but this dress, so elegant, and so well setting off her charms, only the more sensibly awakened our regrets to lose her; and announced that the hour was come, in which all this appeared among us for the last time. at the second act, young prince ferdinand [youngest brother, father of the jena ferdinand] entered the royal box; and flinging himself on the princess's neck with a burst of tears, said, 'ah, my dear ulrique, it is over, then; and i shall never see you more!' these words were a signal given to the grief which was shut in all hearts, to burst forth with the greatest vehemence. the princess replied only with sobs; holding her brother in her arms. the two queens could not restrain their tears; the princes and princesses followed the example: grief is epidemical; it gained directly all the boxes of the first rank, where the court and nobility were. each had his own causes of regret, and each melted into tears. nobody paid the least attention farther to the opera; and for my own share, i was glad to see it end. "an involuntary movement took me towards the palace. i entered the king's apartments, and found the royal family and part of the court assembled. grief had reached its height; everybody had his handkerchief out; and i witnessed emotions quite otherwise affecting than those that theatric art can produce. the king had composed an ode on the princess's departure; bidding her his last adieus in the most tender and touching manner. it begins with these words:-- 'partez, ma soeur, partez; la suede vous attend, la suede vous desire,' 'go, my sister, go; sweden waits you, sweden wishes you. [does not now exist (see oeuvres de frederic, xiv. , and ib. preface p. xv).] his majesty gave it her at the moment when she was about to take leave of the two queens. [no, monsieur, not then; it came to her hand the second evening hence, at schwedt; [her own letter to friedrich (_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. ; "schwedt, th july, ").] most likely not yet written at the time you fabulously give;--you foolish fantast, and "artist" of the sham-kind!]--the princess threw her eyes on it, and fell into a faint [no, you sham, not for it]: the king had almost done the like. his tears flowed abundantly. the princes and princesses were overcome with sorrow. at last, gotter judged it time to put an end to this tragic scene. he entered the hall, almost like boreas in the ballet of the rose; that is to say, with a crash. he made one or two whirlwinds; clove the press, and snatched away the princess from the arms of the queen-mother, took her in his own, and whisked her out of the hall. all the world followed; the carriages were waiting in the court; and the princess in a moment found herself in hers. i was in such a state, i know not how we got down stairs; i remember only that it was in a concert of lamentable sobbings. madam the margrafin von schwedt, who had been named to attend the princess to stralsund [read schwedt] on the swedish frontier, this high lady and the two dames d'atours who were for sweden itself, having sprung into the same carriage, the door of it was shut with a slam; the postillions cracked, the carriage shot away,--and hid the adorable ulrique from the eyes of king and court, who remained motionless for some minutes, overcome by their feelings." [bielfeld, ii. - .] we said this marriage was like the other, important for public affairs. in fact, security on the russian and swedish side is always an object with friedrich when undertaking war. "that the french bring about, help me to bring about, a triple alliance of prussia, russia, sweden:" this was a thing friedrich had bargained to see done, before joining in the war ahead: but by these two espousals friedrich hopes he has himself as good as done it. of poor princess ulrique and her glorious reception in sweden (after near miss of shipwreck, in the swedish frigate from stralsund), we shall say nothing more at present: except that her glories, all along, were much dashed by chagrins, and dangerous imminencies of shipwreck,--which latter did not quite overtake her, but did her sons and grandsons, being inevitable or nearly so, in that element, in the course of time. sister amelia, whom some thought disappointed, as perhaps, in her foolish thought, she might a little be, was made abbess of quedlinburg, which opulent benefice had fallen vacant; and, there or at berlin, lived a respectable spinster-life, doubtless on easier terms than ulrique's. always much loved by her brother, and loving him (and "taking care of his shirts," in the final times); noted in society, for her sharp tongue and ways. concerning whom thiebault and his trenck romances are worth no notice,--if it be not with horsewhips on opportunity. scandalum magnatum, where your magnates are not fallen quite counterfeit, was and is always (though few now reflect on it) a most punishable crime. glance at the belligerent powers; britannic majesty narrowly misses an invasion that might have been dangerous princess ulrique was hardly yet home in sweden, when her brother had actually gone forth upon the wars again! so different is outside from interior, now and then. "while the dancing and the marriage-festivities went on at court, we, in private, were busily completing the preparations for a campaign," dreamed of by no mortal, "which was on the point of being opened." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. .] july d, three weeks before princess ulrique left, a certain adventure of prince karl's in the rhine countries had accomplished itself (of which in the following book); and friedrich could discern clearly that the moment drew rapidly nigh. on the french side of the war, there has been visible--since those high attempts of britannic george and the hungarian majesty, contumeliously spurning the peace offered them, and grasping evidently at one's lorraines, alsaces, and three bishoprics--a marked change; comfortable to look at from friedrich's side. most christian majesty, from the sad bent attitude of insulted repentance, has started up into the perpendicular one of indignation: "come on, then!"--and really makes efforts, this year, quite beyond expectation. "oriflamme enterprises, private intentions of cutting germany in four; well, have not i smarted for them; as good as owned they were rather mad? but to have my apology spit upon; but to be myself publicly cut in pieces for them?" march th, , most christian majesty did, as we saw, duly declare war against england; against austria, april th: "england," he says, "broke its convention of neutrality (signed th september, ); broke said convention [as was very natural, no term being set] directly after maillebois was gone; england, by its mediterranean admirals and the like, has, to a degree beyond enduring, insulted the french coasts, harbors and royal navy: we declare war on england." and then, six weeks hence, in regard to austria: "austria, refusing to make peace with a virtuous kaiser, whom we, for the sake of peace, had magnanimously helped, and then magnanimously ceased to help;--austria refuses peace with him or us; on the contrary, austria attempts, and has attempted, to invade france itself: we therefore, on and from this th of april, , let the world note it, are at war with austria." [in _adelung,_ iv. , , the two manifestoes given.] both these promises to friedrich are punctually performed. nor, what is far more important, have the necessary preparations been neglected; but are on a quite unheard-of scale. such taxing and financiering there has been, last winter:--tax on your street-lamp, on your fire-wood, increased excise on meat and eatables of all kinds: be patient, ye poor; consider gloire, and an oriflamme so trampled on by the austrian heathen! eatables, street-lamps, do i say? there is , pounds, raised by a tax on--well, on garderobes (not translated)! a small help, but a help: non olet, non oleat. to what depths has oriflamme come down!--the result is, this spring of , indignant france does, by land, and even by sea, make an appearance calculated to astonish gazetteers and men. land-forces , actually on foot: , (grows at last into , , for a little while) as "army of the netherlands,"--to prick into austria, and astonish england and the dutch barrier, in that quarter. of the rest, , under conti are for italy; , (by degrees , ) under coigny for defence of the rhine countries, should prince karl, as is surmisable, make new attempts there. [adelung, iv. ; espagnac, ii. .] and besides all this, there are two strong fleets, got actually launched, not yet into the deep sea, but ready for it: one in toulon harbor, to avenge those mediterranean insults; and burst out, in concert with an impatient spanish fleet (which has lain blockaded here for a year past), on the insolent blockading english: which was in some sort done. [" th february, ," french and spanish fleets run out; d feb. are attacked by matthews and lestock; are rather beaten, not beaten nearly enough (matthews and lestock blaming one another, spaniards and french ditto, ditto: adelung, iv. - ); with the endless janglings, correspondings, court-martialings that ensue (beatson, _naval and military memoirs,_ i. et seqq.; _gentleman's magazine,_ and old newspapers, for ; &c. &c.).] the other strong fleet, twenty sail of the line, under admiral roquefeuille, is in brest harbor,--intended for a still more delicate operation; of which anon. surely king friedrich ought to admit that these are fine symptoms? king friedrich has freely done so, all along; intending to strike in at the right moment. let us see, a little, how things have gone; and how the right moment has been advancing in late months. january th, , there landed at antibes on french soil a young gentleman, by name "conte di spinelli," direct from genoa, from rome; young gentleman seemingly of small importance, but intrinsically of considerable; who hastened off for paris, and there disappeared. disappeared into subterranean consultations with the highest official people; intending reappearance with emphasis at dunkirk, a few weeks hence, in much more emphatic posture. and all through february there is observable a brisk diligence of war-preparation, at dunkirk: transport-ships in quantity, finally four war-ships; , chosen troops, gradually marching in; nearly all on board, with their equipments, by the end of the month. clearly an invading army intended somewhither, england judges too well whither. anti-english armament; to be led by, whom thinks the reader? that same "conte di spinelli," who is charles edward the young pretender,--comte de saxe commanding under him! this is no fable; it is a fact, somewhat formidable; brought about, they say, by one cardinal tencin, an official person of celebrity in the then versailles world; who owes his red hat (whatever such debt really be) to old jacobite influence, exerted for him at rome; and takes this method of paying his debt and his court at once. gets, namely, his proposal, of a charles-edward invasion of england, to dovetail in with the other wide artilleries now bent on little george in the way we see. had not little george better have stayed at home out of these pragmatic wars? fifteen thousand, aided by the native jacobite hosts, under command of saxe,--a saxe against a wade is fearful odds,--may make some figure in england! we hope always they will not be able to land. imagination may conceive the flurry, if not of britannic mankind, at least of britannic majesty and his official people, and what a stir and din they made:--of which this is the compressed upshot. "saturday, st march, . for nearly a week past, there has been seen hanging about in the channel, and dangerously hovering to and fro [had entered by the land's-end, was first noticed on sunday last "nigh the eddistone"] a considerable french fleet, sixteen great ships; with four or five more, probably belonging to it, which now lie off dunkirk: the intention of which is too well known in high quarters. this is the grand brest fleet, admiral roquefeuille's; which believes it can command the channel, in present circumstances, the english channel-fleets being in a disjoined condition,--till comte de saxe, with his charles-edward and , , do ship themselves across! great alarm in consequence; our war-forces, , of them, all in germany; not the least preparation to receive an invasive armament. comte de saxe is veritably at dunkirk, since saturday, march st: busy shipping his , ; equipments mostly shipped, and about , of the men: all is activity there; roquefeuille hanging about dungeness, with four of his twenty great ships detached for more immediate protection of saxe and those dunkirk industries. to meet which, old admiral norris, off and on towards the nore and the forelands, has been doing his best to rally force about him; hopes he will now be match for roquefeuille:--but if he should not? "thursday, th march. afternoon of march th, old admiral norris, hoping he was at length in something like equality, 'tided it round the south foreland;' saw roquefeuille hanging, in full tale, within few miles;--and at once plunged into him? no, reader; not at once, nor indeed at all. a great sea-fight was expected; but our old norris thought it late in the day;--and, in effect, no fight proved needful. daylight was not yet sunk, when there rose from the north-eastward a heavy gale; blew all night, and by six next morning was a raging storm; had blown roquefeuille quite away out of those waters (fractions of him upon the rocks of guernsey); had tumbled comte de saxe's transports bottom uppermost (so to speak), in dunkirk roads;--and, in fact, had blown the enterprise over the horizon, and relieved the official britannic mind in the usual miraculous manner. "m. le comte de saxe--who had, by superhuman activity, saved nearly all his men, in that hideous topsy-turvy of the transports and munitions--returned straightway, and much more m. le comte de spinelli with him, to paris. comte de saxe was directly thereupon made marechal de france; appointed to be colleague of noailles in the ensuing netherlands campaign. 'comte de spinelli went to lodge with his uncle, the cardinal grand-almoner fitz-james' [a zealous gentleman, of influence with the holy father], and there in privacy to wait other chances that might rise. 'the , silver medals, that had been struck for distribution in great britain,' fell, for this time, into the melting-pot again. [tindal, xxi. (mostly a puddle of inaccuracies, as usual); espagnac, i. ; _ gentleman's magazine,_ xiv. , &c.; barbier, ii. , , .] "great stir, in british parliament and public, there had latterly been on this matter: arrestment of suspected persons, banishment of all catholics ten miles from london; likewise registering of horses (to gallop with cannon whither wanted); likewise improvising of cavalry regiments by persons of condition, 'set our plush people on our coach-horses; there!' [yes, there will be a cavalry,--inferior to general ziethen's!]; and were actually drilling them in several places, when that fortunate blast of storm (march th) blew everything to quiet again. field-marshal earl of stair, in regard to the scottish populations, had shown a noble magnanimity; which was recognized: and a general sir john cope rode off, post-haste, to take the chief command in that country;--where, in about eighteen months hence, he made a very shining thing of it!"--take this other cutting from the old newspapers:-- "friday, st ( th) march, , a general press began for recruiting his majesty's regiments, and manning the fleet; when upwards of , men were secured in the jails of london and westminster; being allowed sixpence a head per diem, by the commissioners of the land-tax, who examine them, and send those away that are found fit for his majesty's service. the same method was taken in each county." press ceases; enough being got,--press no more till farther order: th ( th) june. [_gentleman's magazine_ for , pp. , .] britannic majesty shaken by such omens, does not in person visit germany at all this year; nor, by his deputies, at all shine on the fields of war as lately. he, his english and he, did indeed come down with their cash in a prompt and manful manner, but showed little other activity this year. their troops were already in the netherlands, since winter last; led now by a field-marshal wade, of whom one has heard; to whom joined themselves certain austrians, under duc d'ahremberg, and certain dutch, under some other man in cocked-hat: the whole of whom, under marshal wade's chief guidance, did as good as nothing whatever. "inferior in force!" cried marshal wade; an indolent incompetent old gentleman, frightful to see in command of troops: "inferior in force!" cried he, which was not at first quite the case. and when, by additions to himself, and deductions (of a most unexpected nature) from his enemy, he had become nearly double in force, it was all the same: marshal wade (against whom indeed was marechal de saxe, now in sole command, as we shall see) took shelter in safe places, witnessing therefrom the swift destruction of the netherlands, and would attempt nothing. which indeed was perhaps prudent on the marshal's part. much money was spent, and men enough did puddle themselves to death on the clay roads, or bivouacking in the safe swamps; but not the least stroke of battle was got out of them under this old marshal. had perhaps "a divided command, though nominal chief," poor old gentleman;--yes, and a head that understood nothing of his business withal. one of those same astonishing "generals" of the english, now becoming known in natural history; the like of whom, till within these hundred and fifty years, were not heard of among sane nations. saxe versus wade is fearful odds. to judge by the way saxe has of handling wade, may not we thank heaven that it was not here in england the trial came on! lift up both your hands, and bless--not general wade, quite yet. the young duke of wurtemberg gets a valedictory advice; and pollnitz a ditto testimonial (february th; april st, ). february th, , karl eugen, the young duke of wurtemberg,--friedrich having got, from the kaiser, due dispensation (venia aetatis) for the young gentleman, and had him declared duke regnant, though only sixteen,--quitted berlin with great pomp, for his own country, on that errand. friedrich had hoped hereby to settle the wurtemberg matters on a good footing, and be sure of a friend in wurtemberg to the kaiser and himself. which hope, like everybody's hopes about this young gentleman, was entirely disappointed; said young gentleman having got into perverse, haughty, sulky, ill-conditioned ways, and made a bad life and reign of it,--better to lie mostly hidden from us henceforth, at least for many years to come. the excellent parting letter which friedrich gave him got abroad into the world; was christened the mirror of princes, and greatly admired by mankind. it is indeed an almost faultless piece of its kind; comprising, in a flowing yet precise way, with admirable frankness, sincerity, sagacity, succinctness, a whole duty of regnant man; [in _oeuvres de frederic,_ ix. - .]--but i fear it would only weary the reader; perfect advice having become so plentiful in our epoch, with little but "pavement" to a certain locality the consequence!--there is, of the same months, a testimonial to pollnitz, which also got abroad and had its celebrity: this, as specimen of friedrich on the comic side, will perhaps be less afflicting; and it will rid us of pollnitz, poor soul, on handsome terms. goldstick pollnitz is at baireuth in these months; fallen quite disconsolate since we last heard of him. his fine marriage went awry,--rich lady, very wisely, drawing back;--and the foolish old creature has decided on rechanging his religion; which he has changed already thrice or so, in his vagabond straits; for the purpose of "retiring to a convent" this time. friedrich, in candid brief manner, rough but wise, and not without some kindness for an old dog one is used to, has answered, "nonsense; that will never do!" but pollnitz persisting; formally demanding leave to demit, and lay down the goldstick, with that view,--friedrich does at length send him certificate of leave; "which is drawn out with all the forms, and was despatched through eichel to the proper board;" but which bears date april first, and though officially valid, is of quizzical nature:---perhaps already known to some readers; having got into the newspapers, and widely abroad, at a subsequent time. as authentic sample of friedrich in that kind, here it accurately is, with only one or two slight abridgments, which are indicated:-- "whereas the baron de pollnitz, born at berlin [at koln, if it made any matter], of honest parents so far as we know,--after having served our grandfather as gentleman of the chamber, madam d'orleans [wicked regent's mother, a famed german lady] in the same rank, the king of spain in quality of colonel, the deceased kaiser in that of captain of horse, the pope as chamberlain, the duke of brunswick as chamberlain, duke of weimar as ensign, our father as chamberlain, and, in fine, us as grand master of the ceremonies,"--has, in spite of such accumulation of honors, become disgusted with the world; and requests a parting testimony, to support his good reputation,-- "we, remembering his important services to the house, in diverting for nine years long the late king our father, and doing the honors of our court during the now reign, cannot refuse such request; but do hereby certify, that the said baron has never assassinated, robbed on the highway, poisoned, forcibly cut purses, or done other atrocity or legal crime at our court; but has always maintained gentlemanly behavior, making not more than honest use of the industry and talents he has been endowed with at birth; imitating the object of the drama, that is, correcting mankind by gentle quizzing; following, in the matter of sobriety, boerhaave's counsels; pushing christian charity so far as often to make the rich understand that it is more blessed to give than to receive;--possessing perfectly the anecdotes of our various mansions, especially of our worn-out furnitures; rendering himself, by his merits, necessary to those who know him; and, with a very bad head, having a very good heart. "our anger the said baron never kindled but once,"--in atrociously violating the grave of an ancestress (or step ancestress) of ours. [step-ancestress was dorothea, the great elector's second wife; of whom pollnitz, in his _memoirs and letters,_ repeats the rumor that once she, perhaps, tried to poison her stepson friedrich, first king. (see supra, vol. v. p. ).] "but as the loveliest countries have their barren spots, the beautifulest forms their imperfections, pictures by the greatest masters their faults, we are willing to cover with the veil of oblivion those of the said baron; do hereby grant him, with regret, the congee he requires;--and abolish his office altogether, to blot it from men's memory, not judging that anybody after the said baron can be worthy to fill it." "done at potsdam, this st of april, . frederic." [_oeuvres,_ xv. .] the office of grand master of the ceremonies was, accordingly, abolished altogether. but pollnitz, left loose in this manner, did not gallop direct, or go at all, into monkhood, as he had expected; but, in fact, by degrees, crept home to berlin again; took the subaltern post of chamberlain; and there, in the old fashion (straitened in finance, making loans, retailing anecdotes, not witty but the cause of wit), wore out life's gray evening; till, about thirty years hence, he died; "died as he had lived, swindling the very night before his decease," writes friedrich; [letter to voltaire, th august, (_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxiii. ). see preuss, v. (urkundenbuch), the letters of friedrich to pollnitz.] who was always rather kind to the poor old dog, though bantering him a good deal. two conquests for prussia, a gaseous and a solid: conquest first, barberina the dancer. early in may, the berlin public first saw its barberina dance, and wrote ecstatic latin epigrams about that miracle of nature and art; [rodenbeck, pp. , .]--miracle, alas, not entirely omissible by us. here is her story, as the books give it; slightly mythical, i judge, in some of its non-essential parts; but good enough for the subject:-- barberina the dancer had cost friedrich some trouble; the pains he took with her elegant pirouettings and poussettings, and the heavy salary he gave her, are an unexpected item in his history. he wished to favor the arts, yes; but did he reckon opera-dancing a chief one among them? he had indeed built an opera-house, and gave free admissions, supporting the cost himself; and among his other governings, governed the dancer and singer troops of that establishment. took no little trouble about his opera:--yet perhaps he privately knew its place, after all. "wished to encourage strangers of opulent condition to visit his capital," say the cunning ones. it may be so; and, at any rate, he probably wished to act the king in such matters, and not grudge a little money. he really loved music, even opera music, and knew that his people loved it; to the rough natural man, all rhythm, even of a barberina's feet, may be didactic, beneficial: do not higgle, let us do what is to be done in a liberal style. his agent at venice--for he has agents everywhere on the outlook for him--reports that here is a female dancer of the first quality, who has shone in london, paris and the capital cities, and might answer well, but whose terms will probably be dear. "engage her," answers friedrich. and she is engaged on pretty terms; she will be free in a month or two, and then start. [zimmermann, _fragmente uber friedrich den grossen_ (leipzig, ), i. - ; collini, ubi infra; denina; &c.: compare rodenbeck, p. .] well;--but barberina had, as is usual, subsidiary trades to her dancing: in particular, a young english gentleman had followed her up and down, says zimmermann, and was still here in venice passionately attached to her. which fact, especially which young english gentleman, should have been extremely indifferent to me, but for a circumstance soon to be mentioned. the young english gentleman, clear against barberina's prussian scheme, passionately opposes the same, passionately renews his own offers;--induces barberina to inform the prussian agent that she renounces her engagement in that quarter. prussian agent answers that it is not renounceable; that he has legal writing on it, and that it must be kept. barberina rises into contumacy, will laugh at all writing and compulsion. prussian agent applies to doge and senate on the subject, in his king's name; who answer politely, but do nothing: "how happy to oblige so great a king; but--" and so it lasts for certain months; barberina and the young english gentleman contumacious in venice, and doge and senate merely wishing we may get her. meanwhile a venetian ambassador happens to be passing through berlin, in his way to or from some hyperborean state; arrives at some hotel, in berlin;--finds, on the morrow, that his luggage is arrested by royal order; that he, or at least it, cannot get farther, neither advance nor return, till barberina do come. "impossible, signor: a bargain is a bargain; and states ought to have law-courts that enforce contracts entered into in their territories." the venetian doge and senate do now lay hold of barberina; pack her into post-chaises, off towards berlin, under the charge of armed men, with the proper transit-papers,--as it were under the address, "for his majesty of prussia, this side uppermost,"--and thus she actually is conveyed, date or month uncertain, by innspruck or the splugen, i cannot say which, over mountain, over valley, from country to country, and from stage to stage, till she arrives at berlin; ambassador with baggage having been let go, so soon as the affair was seen to be safe. as for the young english gentleman passionately attached, he followed, it is understood; faithful, constant as shadow to the sun, always a stage behind; arrived in berlin two hours after his barberina, still passionately attached; and now, as the rumor goes, was threatening even to marry her, and so save the matter. supremely indifferent to my readers and me. but here now is the circumstance that makes it mentionable. the young english is properly a young scotch gentleman; james mackenzie the name of him,--a grandson of the celebrated advocate, sir george mackenzie; and younger brother of a personage who, as earl of bute, became extremely conspicuous in this kingdom in after years. that makes it mentionable,--if only in the shape of myth. for friedrich, according to rumor, being still like to lose his dancer in that manner, warned the young gentleman's friends; and had him peremptorily summoned home, and the light fantastic toe left free in that respect. which procedure the indignant young gentleman (thinks my author) never forgave; continuing a hater of friedrich all his days; and instilling the same sentiment into the earl of bute at a period which was very critical, as we shall see. this is my author's, the often fallacious though not mendacious dr. zimmermann's, rather deliberate account; a man not given to mendacity, though filled with much vague wind, which renders him fallacious in historical points. readers of walpole's _george the third_ know enough of this mackenzie, "earl's brother, mackinsy," and the sorrowful difficulties about his scotch law-office or benefice; in which matter "mackinsy" behaves always in a high way, and only the ministerial outs and inns higgle pedler-like, vigilant of the liberties of england, as they call them. in the end, mackinsy kept his law-office or got it restored to him; , pounds a year without excess of work; a man much the gentleman, according to the rule then current: in contemplative rare moments, the man, looking back through the dim posterns of the mind, might see afar off a certain pirouetting figure, once far from indifferent, and not yet quite melted into cheerless gray smoke, as so much of the rest is--to mr. mackinsy and us. i have made, in the scotch mackenzie circles, what inquiry was due; find no evidence, but various likelihoods, that this of the barberina and him is fact, and a piece of his biography. as to the inference deduced from it, in regard to friedrich and the earl of bute, on a critical occasion,--that rests entirely with zimmermann; and the candid mind inclines to admit that, probably, it is but rumor and conjecture; street-dust sticking to the doctor's shoes, and demanding merely to be well swept out again. heigho!-- barberina, though a dancer, did not want for more essential graces. very sprightly, very pretty and intelligent; not without piquancy and pungency: the king himself has been known to take tea with her in mixed society, though nothing more; and with passionate young gentlemen she was very successful. not long after her coming to berlin, she made conquest of cocceji, the celebrated chancellor's son; who finding no other resource, at length privately married her. voltaire's collini, when he came to berlin, in , recommended by a signora sister of the barberina's, found the barberina and her mother dining daily with this cocceji as their guest: [collini, _mon sejour aupres de voltaire_ (a paris, ), pp. - .] signora barberina privately informed collini how the matter was; signorina still dancing all the same,--though she had money in the english funds withal; and friedrich had been so generous as give her the fixing of her own salary, when she came to him, this-side-uppermost, in the way we described. she had fixed, too modestly thinks collini, on , thalers (about pounds) a year; having heart and head as well as heels, poor little soul. perhaps her notablest feat in history, after all, was her leading this collini, as she now did, into the service of voltaire, to be voltaire's secretary. as will be seen. whereby we have obtained a loyal little book, more credible than most others, about that notable man. at a subsequent period, barberina decided on declaring her marriage with cocceji; she drew her money from the english funds, purchased a fine mansion, and went to live with the said cocceji there, giving up the opera and public pirouettes. but this did not answer either. cocceji's mother scorned irreconcilably the opera alliance; friedrich, who did not himself like it in his chancellor's son, promoted the young man to some higher post in the distant silesian region. but there, alas, they themselves quarrelled; divorced one another; and rumor again was busy. "you, cocceji yourself, are but a schoolmaster's grandson [barberina, one easily supposes, might have a temper withal]; and it is i, if you will recollect, that drew money from the english funds!" barberina married again; and to a nobleman of sixteen quarters this time, and with whom at least there was no divorce. successful with passionate gentlemen; having money from the english funds. her last name was grafinn--i really know not what. her descendants probably still live, with sixteen quarters, in those parts. it was thus she did her life-journey, waltzing and walking; successfully holding her own against the world. history declares itself ashamed of spending so many words on such a subject. but the dancer of friedrich, and the authoress, prime or proximate, of _collini's voltaire,_ claims a passing remembrance. let us, if we can easily help it, never speak of her more. conquest second is ost-friesland, of a solid nature. may th, , just while barberina began her pirouettings at berlin, poor karl edzard, prince of east friesland, long a weak malingering creature, died, rather suddenly; childless, and the last of his house, which had endured there about years. our clever wilhelmina at baireuth, though readers have forgotten the small circumstance, had married a superfluous sister-in-law of hers to this karl edward; and, they say, it was some fond hope of progeny, suddenly dashed into nothingness, that finished the poor man, that night of may th. in any case, his territory falls to prussia, by reich's settlement of long standing ( - ); which had been confirmed anew to the late king, friedrich wilhelm:--we remember how he returned with it, honest man, from that kladrup journey in , and was sniffed at for bringing nothing better. and in the interim, his royal hanover cousins, coveting east friesland, had clapt up an erbverbruderung with the poor prince there (father, i think, of the one just dead): "a thing ultra vires," argued lawyers; "private, quasi-clandestine; and posterior (in a sense) to reich's conclusum, ." on which ground, however, george ii. now sued fricdrich at reich's law,--friedrich, we need not say, having instantly taken possession of ost-friesland. and there ensued arguing enough between them, for years coming; very great expenditure of parchment, and of mutual barking at the moon (done always by proxy, and easy to do); which doubtless increased the mutual ill-feeling, but had no other effect. friedrich, who had been well awake to ost-friesland for some time back, and had given his official people (cocceji his minister of justice, chancellor by and by, and one or two subordinates) their precise instructions, laid hold of it, with a maximum of promptitude; thereby quashing a great deal of much more dangerous litigation than uncle george's. "in all germany, not excepting even mecklenburg, there had been no more anarchic spot than ost-friesland for the last sixty or seventy years. a country with parliamentary-life in extraordinary vivacity (rising indeed to the suicidal or internecine pitch, in two or three directions), and next to no regent-life at all. a country that had loved freedom, not wisely but too well! ritter party, prince's party, towns' party;--always two or more internecine parties: 'false parliament you: traitors!' 'we? false you, traitors!'--the parish constable, by general consent, kept walking; but for government there was this of the parliamentary eloquences (three at once), and freedom's battle, fancy it, bequeathed from sire to son! 'the late karl edzard never once was in embden, his chief town, though he lived within a dozen miles of it.'--and then, still more questionable, all these energetic little parties had applied to the neighboring governments, and had each its small foreign battalion, 'to protect us and our just franchises!' imperial reich's-safeguard battalion, dutch battalion, danish battalion,--prussian, it first of all was (year , town of embden inviting the great elector), but it is not so now. the prussians had needed to be quietly swift, on that th day of may, . "and truly they were so; cocceji having all things ready; leading party-men already secured to him, troops within call, and the like. the prussians--embden town-councils inviting their astonished dutch battalion not to be at home--marched quietly into embden 'next day,' and took possession of the guns. marched to aurich (official metropolis), danes and imperial safeguard saying nothing; and, in short, within a week had, in their usual exact fashion, got firm hold of chaotic ost-friesland. and proceeded to manage it, in like sort,--with effects soon sensible, and steadily continuing. their parliamentary-life friedrich left in its full vigor: 'tax yourselves; what revenue you like; and see to the outlay of it yourselves. allow me, as landes-herr, some trifle of overplus: how much, then? furthermore a few recruits,--or recruit-money in lieu, if you like better!' and it was astonishing how the parliamentary vitality, not shortened of its least franchise, or coerced in any particular, but merely stroked the right way of the hair, by a gently formidable hand, with good head guiding, sank almost straightway into dove-life, and never gave friedrich any trouble, whatever else it might do. the management was good; the opportunity also was good. 'in one sitting, the prussian agent, arbitrating between embden and the ritters, settled their controversy, which had lasted fifty years.' the poor country felt grateful, which it might well do; as if for the laying of goblins, for the ending of long-continued local typhoon! friedrich's first visit, in , was welcomed with universal jubilation; and poor ost-friesland thanked him in still more solid ways, when occasion rose. [ranke, iii. - .] "it is not an important country:--only about the size of cheshire; wet like it, and much inferior to it in cheese, in resources for leather and live-stock, though it perhaps excels, again, in clover-seeds, rape-seeds, flanders horses, and the flax products. the 'clear overplus' it yielded to friedrich, as sovereign administrator and defender, was only , pounds; for recruit-money, , pounds (no recruits in corpore); in all, little more than , pounds a year. but it had its uses too. embden, bigger than chester, and with a better harbor, was a place of good trade; and brought friedrich into contact with sea-matters; in which, as we shall find, he did make some creditable incipiencies, raising expectations in the world; and might have carried it farther, had not new wars, far worse than this now at hand, interrupted him." friedrich was at pyrmont, taking the waters, while this of friesland fell out; he had gone thither may th; was just arrived there, four days before the death of karl edzard. [rodenbeck, p. .] his officials, well pre-instructed, managed the ost-friesland question mainly themselves. friedrich was taking the waters; ostensibly nothing more. but he was withal, and still more earnestly, consulting with a french excellency (who also had felt a need of the waters), about the french campaign for this season: whether coigny was strong enough in the middle-rhine countries; how their grand army of the netherlands shaped to prosper; and other the like interesting points. [ranke, iii. , .] frankfurt union is just signed (may d). most christian majesty is himself under way to the netherlands, himself going to command there, as we shall see. "good!" answers friedrich: "but don't weaken coigny, think of prince karl on that side; don't detach from coigny, and reduce his , to , !" plenty of mutual consulting, as they walk in the woods there. and how profoundly obscure, to certain official parties much concerned, judge from the following small document, preserved by accident:-- lyttelton (our old soissons friend, now an official in prince fred's household, friend of pitt, and much else) to his father at hagley. argyle street, london, "may th [ th], . "dear sir,--mr. west [gilbert west, of whom there is still some memory] comes with us to hagley; and, if you give me leave, i will bring our friend thomson too"--oh jamie thamson, jamie thamson, oh! "his seasons will be published in about a week's time, and a most noble work they will be. "i have no public news to tell you, which you have not had in the gazettes, except what is said in private letters from germany, of the king of prussia's having drunk himself into direct madness, and being confined on that account; which, if true, may have a great effect upon the fate of europe at this critical time." yes indeed, if true. "those letters say, that, at a review, he caused two men to be taken out of the line, and shot, without any cause assigned for it, and ordered a third to be murdered in the same manner; but the major of the regiment venturing to intercede for him, his majesty drew his sword, and would have killed the officer too, if he, perceiving his madness, had not taken the liberty to save himself, by disarming the king; who was immediately shut up; and the queen, his mother, has taken the regency upon herself till his recovery." papae! i do not give you this news for certain; but it is generally believed in town. lord chesterfield says, 'he is only thought to be mad in germany, because he has more wit than other germans.' "the king of sardinia's retreat from his lines at villa franca, and the loss of that town [ th april, one of those furious tussles, french and spaniard versus sardinian majesty, in the coulisses or side-scenes of the italian war-theatre, neither stage nor side-scenes of which shall concern us in this place], certainly bear a very ill aspect; but it is not considered as"--anything to speak of; nor was it. "we expect with impatience to know what will be the effect of the dutch ambassador to paris,--[to valenciennes, as it turns out, king louis, on his high errand to the netherlands, being got so far; and the "effect" was no effect at all, except good words on his part, and persistence in the battering down of menin and the dutch barrier, of which we shall hear ere long]. "i pray god the summer may be happy to us, by being more easy than usual to you,"--dear father, much suffering by incurable ailments. "it is the only thing wanting to make hagley park a paradise. "poor pope is, i am afraid, going to resign all that can die of him to death;"--did actually die, th may ( th june): a world-tragedy that too, though in small compass, and acting itself next door, at twickenham, without noise; a star of the firmament going out;--twin-star, swift (carteret's old friend), likewise going out, sunk in the socket, "a driveller and a show."... "i am, with the truest respect and affection, dear sir, your most dutiful son,-- "george lyttelton." [ayscough, _lord lyttelton's miscellaneous works,_ (lond., ), iii. .] friedrich returned from pyrmont, th june; saw, with a grief of his own, with many thoughts well hidden, his sister ulrique whirled away from him, th july, in the gray of the summer dawn. in berlin, in prussia, nobody but one is aware of worse just coming. and now the war-drums suddenly awaken again; and poor readers--not to speak of poor prussia and its king!--must return to that uncomfortable sphere, till things mend. history of friedrich ii of prussia frederick the great by thomas carlyle volume ix. book ix. -- last stage of friedrich's apprenticeship: life in ruppin. -- - . chapter i. -- princess elizabeth christina of brunswick-bevern. we described the crown-prince as intent to comply, especially in all visible external particulars, with papa's will and pleasure;--to distinguish himself by real excellence in commandantship of the regiment goltz, first of all. but before ever getting into that, there has another point risen, on which obedience, equally essential, may be still more difficult. ever since the grand catastrophe went off without taking friedrich's head along with it, and there began to be hopes of a pacific settlement, question has been, whom shall the crown-prince marry? and the debates about it in the royal breast and in tobacco-parliament, and rumors about it in the world at large, have been manifold and continual. in the schulenburg letters we saw the crown-prince himself much interested, and eagerly inquisitive on that head. as was natural: but it is not in the crown-prince's mind, it is in the tobacco-parliament, and the royal breast as influenced there, that the thing must be decided. who in the world will it be, then? crown-prince himself hears now of this party, now of that. england is quite over, and the princess amelia sunk below the horizon. friedrich himself appears a little piqued that hotham carried his nose so high; that the english would not, in those life-and-death circumstances, abate the least from their "both marriages or none,"--thinks they should have saved wilhelmina, and taken his word of honor for the rest. england is now out of his head;--all romance is too sorrowfully swept out: and instead of the "sacred air-cities of hope" in this high section of his history, the young man is looking into the "mean clay hamlets of reality," with an eye well recognizing them for real. with an eye and heart already tempered to the due hardness for them. not a fortunate result, though it was an inevitable one. we saw him flirting with the beautiful wedded wreech; talking to lieutenant-general schulenburg about marriage, in a way which shook the pipe-clay of that virtuous man. he knows he would not get his choice, if he had one; strives not to care. nor does he, in fact, much care; the romance being all out of it. he looks mainly to outward advantages; to personal appearance, temper, good manners; to "religious principle," sometimes rather in the reverse way (fearing an overplus rather);--but always to likelihood of moneys by the match, as a very direct item. ready command of money, he feels, will be extremely desirable in a wife; desirable and almost indispensable, in present straitened circumstances. these are the notions of this ill-situated coelebs. the parties proposed first and last, and rumored of in newspapers and the idle brains of men, have been very many,--no limit to their numbers; it may be anybody: an intending purchaser, though but possessed of sixpence, is in a sense proprietor of the whole fair! through schulenburg we heard his own account of them, last autumn;--but the far noblest of the lot was hardly glanced at, or not at all, on that occasion. the kaiser's eldest daughter, sole heiress of austria and these vast pragmatic-sanction operations; archduchess maria theresa herself,--it is affirmed to have been prince eugene's often-expressed wish, that the crown-prince of prussia should wed the future empress [hormayr, _allgemeine geschichte der neueslen zeit_ (wien, ), i. ; cited in preuss, i. .] which would indeed have saved immense confusions to mankind! nay she alone of princesses, beautiful, magnanimous, brave, was the mate for such a prince,--had the good fairies been consulted, which seldom happens:--and romance itself might have become reality in that case: with high results to the very soul of this young prince! wishes are free: and wise eugene will have been heard, perhaps often, to express this wish; but that must have been all. alas, the preliminaries, political, especially religious, are at once indispensable and impossible: we have to dismiss that daydream. a papal-protestant controversy still exists among mankind; and this is one penalty they pay for not having settled it sooner. the imperial court cannot afford its archduchess on the terms possible in that quarter. what the imperial court can do is, to recommend a niece of theirs, insignificant young princess, elizabeth christina of brunswick-bevern, who is niece to the empress; and may be made useful in this way, to herself and us, think the imperial majesties;--will be a new tie upon the prussians and the pragmatic sanction, and keep the alliance still surer for our archduchess in times coming, think their majesties. she, it is insinuated by seckendorf in tobacco-parliament; ought not she, daughter of your majesty's esteemed friend,--modest-minded, innocent young princess, with a brother already betrothed in your majesty's house,--to be the lady? it is probable she will. did we inform the reader once about kaiser karl's young marriage adventures; and may we, to remind him, mention them a second time? how imperial majesty, some five-and-twenty years ago, then only king of spain, asked princess caroline of anspach, who was very poor, and an orphan in the world. who at once refused, declining to think of changing her religion on such a score;--and now governs england, telegraphing with walpole, as queen there instead. how karl, now imperial majesty, then king of spain, next applied to brunswick-wolfenbuttel; and met with a much better reception there. applied to old anton ulrich, reigning duke, who writes big novels, and does other foolish good-natured things;--who persuaded his grand-daughter that a change to catholicism was nothing in such a case, that he himself should not care in the least to change. how the grand-daughter changed accordingly, went to barcelona, and was wedded;--and had to dun old grandpapa, "why don't you change, then?" who did change thereupon; thinking to himself, "plague on it i must, then!" the foolish old herr. he is dead; and his novels, in six volumes quarto, are all dead: and the grand-daughter is kaiserinn, on those terms, a serene monotonous well-favored lady, diligent in her catholic exercises; of whom i never heard any evil, good rather, in her eminent serene position. pity perhaps that she had recommended her niece for this young prussian gentleman; whom it by no means did "attach to the family" so very careful about him at vienna! but if there lay a sin, and a punishment following on it, here or elsewhere, in her imperial position, surely it is to be charged on foolish old anton ulrich; not on her, poor lady, who had never coveted such height, nor durst for her soul take the leap thitherward, till the serene old literary gentleman showed her how easy it was. well, old anton ulrich is long since dead, [ , age . huber, t. .] and his religious accounts are all settled beyond cavil; and only the sad duty devolves on me of explaining a little what and who his rather insipid offspring are, so far as related to readers of this history. anton ulrich left two sons; the elder of whom was duke, and the younger had an apanage, blankenburg by name. only this younger had children,--serene kaiserinn that now is, one of them: the elder died childless, [ , michaelis, i. .] precisely a few months before the times we are now got to; reigning duke of brunswick-wolfenbuttel, ["welf-booths" (hunted camp of the welfs), according to etymology. "brunswick," again, is braun's-wick; "braun" (brown) being an old militant welf in those parts, who built some lodge for himself, as a convenience there,--year , say the uncertain old books. hubner, t. ; michaelis, &c.] all but certain apanages, and does not concern us farther. to that supreme dignity the younger has now come, and his apanage of blankenburg and children with him;--so that there is now only one outstanding apanage (bevern, not known to us yet); which also will perhaps get reunited, if we cared for it. ludwig rudolf is the name of this new sovereign duke of brunswick-wolfenbuttel, or duke in chief; age now sixty; has a shining, bustling, somewhat irregular duchess, says wilhelmina; and a nose--or rather almost no nose, for sad reasons! [wilhelmina, ii. .] other qualities or accidents i know not of him,--except that he is father of the vienna kaiserinn; grandfather of the princess whom seckendorf suggests for our friedrich of prussia. in ludwig rudolf's insipid offspring our readers are unexpectedly somewhat interested; let readers patiently attend, therefore. he had three daughters, never any son. two of his daughters, eldest and youngest, are alive still; the middle one had a sad fate long ago. she married, in , alexius the czarowitz of peter the great: foolish czarowitz, miserable and making others miserable, broke her heart by ill conduct, ill usage, in four years; so that she died; leaving him only a poor small peter ii., who is now dead too, and that matter ended all but the memory of it. some accounts bear, that she did not die; that she only pretended it, and ran and left her intolerable czarowitz. that she wedded, at paris, in deep obscurity, an officer just setting out for louisiana; lived many years there as a thrifty soldier's wife; returned to paris with her officer reduced to half-pay; and told him--or told some select official person after him, under seven-fold oath, being then a widow and necessitous--her sublime secret. sublime secret, which came thus to be known to a supremely select circle at paris; and was published in books, where one still reads it. no vestige of truth in it,--except that perhaps a necessitous soldier's widow at paris, considering of ways and means, found that she had some trace of likeness to the pictures of this princess, and had heard her tragic story. ludwig rudolf's second daughter is dead long years ago; nor has this fable as yet risen from her dust. of ludwig rudolf's other two daughters, we have said that one, the eldest, was the kaiserinn; empress elizabeth christina, age now precisely forty; with two beautiful daughters, sublime maria theresa the elder of them, and no son that would live. which last little circumstance has caused the pragmatic sanction, and tormented universal nature for so many years back! ludwig rudolf has a youngest daughter, also married, and a mother in germany,--to this day conspicuously so;--of whom next, or rather of her husband and family-circle, we must say a word. her husband is no other than the esteemed friend of friedrich wilhelm; duke of brunswick-bevern, by title; who, as a junior branch, lives on the apanage of bevern, as his father did; but is sure now to inherit the sovereignty and be duke of brunswick-wolfenbuttel at large, he or his sons, were the present incumbent, ludwig rudolf, once out. present incumbent, we have just intimated, is his father-in-law; but it is not on that ground that he looks to inherit. he is nephew of old anton ulrich, son of a younger brother (who was also "bevern" in anton's time); and is the evident heir-male; old anton being already fallen into the distaff, with nothing but three grand-daughters. anton's heir will now be this nephew; nephew has wedded one of the grand-daughters, youngest of the three, youngest daughter of ludwig rudolf, sovereign duke that now is; which lady, by the family she brought him, if no otherwise, is memorable or mentionable here, and may be called, a mother in germany. [anton ulrich ( - ). duke in chief; that is, duke of brunswick-wolfenbuttel. august wilhelm, elder son and heir ( , , ); had no children. ludwig rudolf, the younger son ( , , ), apanagad in blankenburg: duke of brunswick-blankenburg; became wolfenbuttel. , died, st march, . no son; so that now the bevern succeeded. three daughters: elizabeth christina, the kaiserinn ( , , ). charlotte christina ( , , ), alexius of russia's, had a fabulous end. antoinette amelia ( , , ); bevern's wife,--a "mother in germany." ferdinand albert ( - ), his younger brother apanaged in bevern; that is, duke of brunswick-bevern. ferdinand albert, eldest son (an elder had perished, , on the schellenberg under marlborough), followed in bevern ( , - , ); kaiser's soldier, friedrich wilhelm's friend; married his cousin, antoinette amelia ("mother in germany," as we call her). duke in chief, st march, , on ludwig rudolf's decease; died himself, d september same year. born , karl the heir (to marry our friedrich's sister). , anton ulrich (russia; tragedy of czar iwan). , th november, elizabeth christina (crown prince's). , ludwig ernst (holland, ). , ferdinand (chatham's and england's) of the seven years war. , , , , four others; boys the youngest two, who were both killed in friedrich's wars.] father bevern her husband, ferdinand albert the name of him, is now just fifty, only ten years younger than his serene father-in-law, ludwig rudolf:--whom, i may as well say here, he does at last succeed, three years hence ( ) and becomes duke of brunswick in general, according to hope; but only for a few months, having himself died that same year. poor duke; rather a good man, by all the accounts i could hear; though not of qualities that shone. he is at present "duke of brunswick-bevern,"--such his actual nomenclature in those ever-fluctuating sibyl's-leaves of german history-books, wilhelmina's and the others;--expectant duke of brunswick in general; much a friend of friedrich wilhelm. a kind of austrian soldier he was formerly, and will again be for brief times; general-feldmarschall so styled; but is not notable in war, nor otherwise at all, except for the offspring he had by this serene spouse of his. insipid offspring, the impatient reader says; but permits me to enumerate one or two of them:-- . karl, eldest son; who is sure to be brunswick in general; who is betrothed to princess charlotte of prussia,--"a satirical creature, she, fonder of my prince than of him," wilhelmina thinks. the wedding nevertheless took effect. brunswick in general duly fell in, first to the father; then, in a few months more, to karl with his charlotte: and from them proceeded, in due time, another karl, of whom we shall hear in this history;--and of whom all the world heard much in the french revolution wars; in , and still more tragically afterwards. shot, to death or worse, at the battle of jena, october, ; "battle lost before it was begun,"--such the strategic history they give of it. he peremptorily ordered the french revolution to suppress itself; and that was the answer the french revolution made him. from this karl, what new queens caroline of england and portentous dukes of brunswick, sent upon their travels through the anarchic world, profitable only to newspapers, we need not say!-- . anton ulrich; named after his august great-grandfather; does not write novels like him. at present a young gentleman of eighteen; goes into russia before long, hoping to beget czars; which issues dreadfully for himself and the potential czars he begot. the reader has heard of a potential "czar iwan," violently done to death in his room, one dim moonlight night of , in the fortress of schlusselburg, middle of lake ladoga; misty moon looking down on the stone battlements, on the melancholy waters, and saying nothing.--but let us not anticipate. . elizabeth christina; to us more important than any of them. namesake of the kaiserinn, her august aunt; age now seventeen; insipid fine-complexioned young lady, who is talked of for the bride of our crown-prince. of whom the reader will hear more. crown-prince fears she is "too religious,"--and will have "cagots" about her (solemn persons in black, highly unconscious how little wisdom they have), who may be troublesome. . a merry young boy, now ten, called ferdinand; with whom england within the next thirty years will ring, for some time, loud enough: the great "prince ferdinand" himself,--under whom the marquis of granby and others became great; chatham superintending it. this really was a respectable gentleman, and did considerable things,--a trismegistus in comparison with the duke of cumberland whom he succeeded. a cheerful, singularly polite, modest, well-conditioned man withal. to be slightly better known to us, if we live. he at present is a boy of ten, chasing the thistle's beard. . three other sons, all soldiers, two of them younger than ferdinand; whose names were in the gazettes down to a late period;--whom we shall ignore in this place. the last of them was marched out of holland, where he had long been commander-in-chief on rather tory principles, in the troubles of . others of them we shall see storming forward on occasion, valiantly meeting death in the field of fight, all conspicuously brave of character; but this shall be enough of them at present. it is of these that ludwig rudolf's youngest daughter, the serene ferdinand albert's wife, is mother in germany; highly conspicuous in their day. if the question is put, it must be owned they are all rather of the insipid type. nothing but a kind of albuminous simplicity noticeable in them; no wit, originality, brightness in the way of uttered intellect. if it is asked, how came they to the least distinction in this world?--the answer is not immediately apparent. but indeed they are welf of the welfs, in this respect as in others. one asks, with increased wonder, noticing in the welfs generally nothing but the same albuminous simplicity, and poverty rather than opulence of uttered intellect, or of qualities that shine, how the welfs came to play such a part, for the last thousand years, and still to be at it, in conspicuous places? reader, i have observed that uttered intellect is not what permanently makes way, but unuttered. wit, logical brilliancy, spiritual effulgency, true or false,--how precious to idle mankind, and to the newspapers and history-books, even when it is false: while, again, nature and practical fact care next to nothing for it in comparison, even when it is true! two silent qualities you will notice in these welfs, modern and ancient; which nature much values: first, consummate human courage; a noble, perfect, and as it were unconscious superiority to fear. and then secondly, much weight of mind, a noble not too conscious sense of what is right and not-right, i have found in some of them;--which means mostly weight, or good gravitation, good observance of the perpendicular; and is called justice, veracity, high-honor, and other such names. these are fine qualities indeed, especially with an "albuminous simplicity" as vehicle to them. if the welfs had not much articulate intellect, let us guess they made a good use, not a bad or indifferent, as is commoner, of what they had. who his majesty's choice is; and what the crown-prince thinks of it. princess elizabeth christina, the insipid brunswick specimen, backed by seckendorf and vienna, proves on consideration the desirable to friedrich wilhelm in this matter. but his son's notions, who as yet knows her only by rumor, do not go that way. insipidity, triviality; the fear of "cagotage" and frightful fellows in black supremely unconscious what blockheads they are, haunts him a good deal. and as for any money coming,--her sublime aunt the kaiserinn never had much ready money; one's resources on that side are likely to be exiguous. he would prefer the princess of mecklenburg, semi-russian catharine or anna, of whom we have heard; would prefer the princess of eisenach (whose name he does not know rightly); thinks there are many princesses preferable. most of all he would prefer, what is well known of him in tobacco-parliament, but known to be impossible, this long while back, to go upon a round of travel,--as for instance the prince of lorraine is now doing,--and look about him a little. these candid considerations the crown-prince earnestly suggests to grumkow, and the secret committee of tobacco-parliament; earnestly again and again, in his correspondence with that gentleman, which goes on very brisk at present. "much of it lost," we hear;--but enough, and to spare, is saved! not a beautiful correspondence: the tone of it shallow, hard of heart; tragically flippant, especially on the crown-prince's part; now and then even a touch of the hypocritical from him, slight touch and not with will: alas, what can the poor young man do? grumkow--whose ground, i think, is never quite so secure since that nosti business--professes ardent attachment to the real interests of the prince; and does solidly advise him of what is feasible, what not, in head-quarters; very exemplary "attachment;" credible to what length, the prince well enough knows. and so the correspondence is unbeautiful; not very descriptive even,--for poor friedrich is considerably under mask, while he writes to that address; and of grumkow himself we want no more "description;" and is, in fact, on its own score, an avoidable article rather than otherwise; though perhaps the reader, for a poor involved crown-prince's sake, will wish an exact excerpt or two before we quite dismiss it. towards turning off the brunswick speculation, or turning on the mecklenburg or eisenach or any other in its stead, the correspondence naturally avails nothing. seckendorf has his orders from vienna: grumkow has his pension,--his cream-bowl duly set,--for helping beckendorf. though angels pleaded, not in a tone of tragic flippancy, but with the voice of breaking hearts, it would be to no purpose. the imperial majesties have ordered, marry him to brunswick, "bind him the better to our house in time coming;" nay the royal mind at potsdam gravitates, of itself, that way, after the first hint is given. the imperial will has become the paternal one; no answer but obedience. what grumkow can do will be, if possible, to lead or drive the crown-prince into obeying smoothly, or without breaking of harness again. which, accordingly, is pretty much the sum of his part in this unlovely correspondence: the geeho-ing of an expert wagoner, who has got a fiery young arab thoroughly tied into his dastard sand-cart, and has to drive him by voice, or at most by slight crack of whip; and does it. can we hope, a select specimen or two of these documents, not on grumkow's part, or for grumkow's unlovely sake, may now be acceptable to the reader? a letter or two picked from that large stock, in a legible state, will show us father and son, and how that tragic matter went on, better than description could. papa's letters to the crown-prince during that final custrin period,--when carzig and himmelstadt were going on, and there was such progress in economics, are all of hopeful ruggedly affectionate tenor; and there are a good few of them: style curiously rugged, intricate, headlong; and a strong substance of sense and worth tortuously visible everywhere. letters so delightful to the poor retrieved crown-prince then and there; and which are still almost pleasant reading to third-parties, once you introduce grammar and spelling. this is one exact specimen; most important to the prince and us. suddenly, one night, by estafette, his majesty, meaning nothing but kindness, and grateful to seckendorf and tobacco-parliament for such an idea, proposes,--in these terms (merely reduced to english and the common spelling):-- "to the crown-prince at custrin (from papa). "potsdam, th february, "my dear son fritz,--i am very glad you need no more physic. but you must have a care of yourself, some days yet, for the severe weather; which gives me and everybody colds; so pray be on your guard (nehmet euch kubsch in acht). "you know, my dear son, that when my children are obedient, i love them much: so, when you were at berlin, i from my heart forgave you everything; and from that berlin time, since i saw you, have thought of nothing but of your well-being and how to establish you,--not in the army only, but also with a right step-daughter, and so see you married in my lifetime. you may be well persuaded i have had the princesses of germany taken survey of, so far as possible, and examined by trusty people, what their conduct is, their education and so on: and so a princess has been found, the eldest one of bevern, who is well brought up, modest and retiring, as women ought to be. "you will without delay (cito) write me your mind on this. i have purchased the von katsch house; the feldmarschall," old wartensleben, poor katte's grandfather, "as governor" of berlin, "will get that to live in: and his government house, [fine enough old house, or palace, built by the great elector; given by him to graf feldmarschall von schomberg, the "duke schomberg" who was killed in the battle of the boyne: "same house, opposite the arsenal, which belongs now ( ) to his royal highness prince friedrich wilhelm of prussia." (preuss, i. ; and _ oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvi. n.)] i will have made new for you, and furnish it all; and give you enough to keep house yourself there; and will command you into the army, april coming [which is quite a subordinate story, your majesty!]. "the princess is not ugly, nor beautiful. you must mention it to no mortal;--write indeed to mamma (der mama) that i have written to you. and when you shall have a son, i will let you go on your travels,--wedding, however, cannot be before winter next. meanwhile i will try aud contrive opportunity that you see one another, a few times, in all honor, yet so that you get acquainted with her. she is a god-fearing creature (gottesfurchtiges mensch), which is all in all; will suit herself to you [be comportable to you] as she does to the parents-in-law. "god give his blessing to it; and bless you and your posterity, and keep thee as a good christian. and have god always before your eyes;--and don't believe that damnable particular tenet [predestination]; and be obedient and faithful: so shall it, here in time and there in eternity, go well with thee;--and whoever wishes that from the heart, let him say amen. "your true father to the death, "friedrich wilhelm. "when the duke of lorraine comes, i will have thee come. i think thy bride will be here then. adieu; god be with you." [_ oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii, part d, p. .] this important missive reached custrin, by estafette, that same midnight, th- th february; when wolden, "hofmarschall of the prince's court" (titular goldstick there, but with abundance of real functions laid on him), had the honor to awaken the crown-prince into the joy of reading. crown-prince instantly despatched, by another estafette, the requisite responses to papa and mamma,--of which wolden does not know the contents at all, not he, the obsequious goldstick;--but doubtless they mean "yes," crown-prince appearing so overjoyed at this splendid evidence of papa's love, as the goldstick could perceive. [wolden's letter to friedrich wilhelm, " th february, :" in preuss, ii. part d (or urkundenouch), p. . mamma's answer to the message brought her by this return estafette, a mere formal very-well, written from the fingers outward, exists (_oeuvres,_ xxvi. ); the rest have happily vanished.] what the prince's actual amount of joy was, we shall learn better from the following three successive utterances of his, confidentially despatched to grumkow in the intermediate days, before berlin or this "duke of lorraine" (whom our readers and the crown-prince are to wait upon), with actual sight of papa and the intended, came in course. grumkow's letters to the crown-prince in this important interval are not extant, nor if they were could we stand them: from the prince's answers it will be sufficiently apparent what the tenor of them was. utterance first is about a week after that of the estafette at midnight:-- to general feldmarschall von grumkow, at potsdam (from the crown-prince). "custrin, th february, . "my dear general and friend,--i was charmed to learn by your letter that my affairs are on so good a footing [papa so well satisfied with my professions of obedience]; and you may depend on it i am docile to follow your advice. i will lend myself to whatever is possible for me; and provided i can secure the king's favor by my obedience, i will do all that is within my power. "nevertheless, in making my bargain with the duke of bevern, manage that the corpus delicti [my intended] be brought up under her grandmother [duchess of brunswick-wolfenbuttel, ludwig rudolf's spouse, an airy coquettish lady,--let her be the tutoress and model of my intended, o general]. for i should prefer being made a"--what shall we say? by a light wife,--"or to serve under the haughty fontange [species of topknot; so named from fontange, an unfortunate female of louis fourteenth's, who invented the ornament.] of my spouse [as ludwig rudolf does, by all accounts], than to have a blockhead who would drive me mad by her ineptitudes? and whom i should be ashamed to produce. "i beg you labor at this affair. when one hates romance heroines as heartily as i do, one dreads those 'virtues' of the ferocious type [les vertus farouches, so terribly aware that they are virtuous]; and i had rather marry the greatest--[unnamable]--in berlin, than a devotee with half a dozen ghastly hypocrites (cagots) at her beck. if it were still moglich [possible, in german] to make her calvinist [reformee; our court-creed, which might have an allaying tendency, and at least would make her go with the stream]? but i doubt that:--i will insist, however, that her grandmother have the training of her. what you can do to help in this, my dear friend, i am persuaded you will do. "it afflicted me a little that the king still has doubts of me, while i am obeying in such a matter, diametrically opposite to my own ideas. in what way shall i offer stronger proofs? i may give myself to the devil, it will be to no purpose; nothing but the old song over again, doubt on doubt.--don't imagine i am going to disoblige the duke, the duchess or the daughter, i beseech you! i know too well what is due to them, and too much respect their merits, not to observe the strictest rules of what is proper,--even if i hated their progeny and them like the pestilence. "i hope to speak to you with open heart at berlin.--you may think, too, how i shall be embarrassed, having to do the amoroso perhaps without being it, and to take an appetite for mute ugliness,--for i don't much trust count seckendorf's taste in this article,"--in spite of his testimonies in tobacco-parliament and elsewhere. "monsieur! once more, get this princess to learn by heart the ecole des maris and the ecole des femmes; that will do her much more good than true christianity by the late mr. arndt! [johann arndt ("late" this long while back), _von wahren christenthum,_ magdeburg, .] if, besides, she would learn steadiness of humor (toujours danser sur un pied), learn music; and, nota bene, become rather too free than too virtuous,--ah then, my dear general, then i should feel some liking for her, and a colin marrying a phyllis, the couple would be in accordance: but if she is stupid, naturally i renounce the devil and her.--it is said she has a sister, who at least has common sense. why take the eldest, if so? to the king it must be all one. there is also a princess christina marie of eisenach [real name being christina wilhelmina, but no matter], who would be quite my fit, and whom i should like to try for. in fine, i mean to come soon into your countries; [did come, th february, as we shall see.] and perhaps will say like caesar, veni, vidi, vici."... paragraph of tragic compliments to grumkow we omit. letter ends in this way:-- "your baireuth news is very interesting; i hope, in september next [time of a grand problem coming there for wilhelmina], my sister will recover her first health. if i go travelling, i hope to have the consolation of seeing her for a fortnight or three weeks; i love her more than my life; and for all my obediences to the king, surely i shall deserve that recompense. the diversions for the duke of lorraine are very well schemed; but"--but what mortal can now care about them? close, and seal. [forster, iii. - ; _oeuvres de frederic,_ xvi, - .] as to this duke of lorraine just coming, he is franz stephan, a pleasant young man of twenty-five, son of that excellent duke leopold joseph, whom young lyttelton of hagley was so taken with, while touring in those parts in the congress-of-soissons time. excellent duke leopold joseph is since dead; and this franz has succeeded to him,--what succession there was; for lorraine as a dukedom has its neck under the foot of france this great while, and is evidently not long for this world. old fleury, men say, has his eye upon it. and in fact it was, as we shall see, eaten up by fleury within four years' time; and this franz proved the last of all the dukes there. let readers notice him: a man of high destiny otherwise, of whom we are to hear much. for ten years past he has lived about vienna, being a born cousin of that house (grandmother was kaiser leopold's own sister); and it is understood, nay it is privately settled he is to marry the transcendent archduchess, peerless maria theresa herself; and is to reap, he, the whole harvest of that pragmatic sanction sown with such travail of the universe at large. may be king of the romans (which means successor to the kaisership) any day; and actual kaiser one day. we may as well say here, he did at length achieve these dignities, though not quite in the time or on the terms proposed. king of the romans old kaiser karl never could quite resolve to make him,--having always hopes of male progeny yet; which never came. for his peerless bride he waited six years still (owing to accidents), "attachment mutual all the while;" did then wed, , and was the happiest of men and expectant kaisers:--but found, at length, the pragmatic sanction to have been a strange sowing of dragon's-teeth, and the first harvest reapable from it a world of armed men!--for the present he is on a grand tour, for instruction and other objects; has been in england last; and is now getting homewards again, to vienna, across germany; conciliating the courts as he goes. a pacific friendly eupeptic young man; crown-prince friedrich, they say, took much to him in berlin; did not quite swear eternal friendship; but kept up some correspondence for a while, and "once sends him a present of salmon."--but to proceed with the utterances to grumkow. utterance second is probably of prior date; but introducible here, being an accidental fragment, with the date lost:-- to the feldmarschall von grumkow (from the crown-prince; exact date lost). "... as to what you tell me of the princess of mecklenburg," for whom they want a brandenburg prince,--"could not i marry her? let her come into this country, and think no more of russia: she would have a dowry of two or three millions of roubles,--only fancy how i could live with that! i think that project might succeed. the princess is lutheran; perhaps she objects to go into the greek church?--i find none of these advantages in this princess of bevern; who, as many people, even of the duke's court, say, is not at all beautiful, speaks almost nothing, and is given to pouting (faisant la fachee). the good kaiserinn has so little herself, that the sums she could afford her niece would be very moderate." [fragment given in _sechendorfs leben,_ iii. u.] "given to pouting," too! no, certainly; your insipidity of brunswick, without prospects of ready money; dangerous for cagotage; "not a word to say for herself in company, and given to pouting:" i do not reckon her the eligible article!-- seckendorf, schulenburg, grumkow and all hands are busy in this matter: geeho-ing the crown-prince towards the mark set before him. with or without explosion, arrive there he must; other goal for him is none!--in the mean while, it appears, illustrious franz of lorraine, coming on, amid the proper demonstrations, through magdeburg and the prussian towns, has caught some slight illness and been obliged to pause; so that berlin cannot have the happiness of seeing him quite so soon as it expected. the high guests invited to meet duke franz, especially the high brunswicks, are already there. high brunswicks, bevern with duchess, and still more important, with son and with daughter:--insipid corpus delicti herself has appeared on the scene; and grumkow, we find, has been writing some description of her to the crown-prince. description of an unfavorable nature; below the truth, not above it, to avert disappointment, nay to create some gleam of inverse joy, when the actual meeting occurs. that is his art in driving the fiery little arab ignominiously yoked to him; and it is clear he has overdone it, for once. this is friedrich's third utterance to him; much the most emphatic there is:-- to the general feldmarschall von grumkow. "custrin, th february, . "judge, my dear general, if i can have been much charmed with the description you give of the abominable object of my desires! for the love of god, disabuse the king in regard to her [show him that she is a fool, then]; and let him remember well that fools commonly are the most obstinate of creatures. "some months ago he wrote a letter to walden," the obsequious goldstick, "of his giving me the choice of several princesses: i hope he will not give himself the lie in that. i refer you entirely to the letter, which schulenburg will have delivered,"--little schulenburg called here, in passing your way; all hands busy. "for there is no hope of wealth, no reasoning, nor chance of fortune that could change my sentiment as expressed there [namely, that i will not have her, whatever become of me]; and miserable for miserable, it is all one! let the king but think that it is not for himself that he is marrying me, but for myself; nay he too will have a thousand chagrins, to see two persons hating one another, and the miserablest marriage in the world;--to hear their mutual complaints, which will be to him so many reproaches for having fashioned the instrument of our yoke. as a good christian, let him consider, if it is well done to wish to force people; to cause divorces, and to be the occasion of all the sins that an ill-assorted marriage leads us to commit! i am determined to front everything in the world sooner: and since things are so, you may in some good way apprise the duke" of bevern "that, happen what may, i never will have her. "i have been unfortunate (malheureux) all my life; and i think it is my destiny to continue so. one must be patient, and take the time as it comes. perhaps a sudden tract of good fortune, on the back of all the chagrins i have made profession of ever since i entered this world, would have made me too proud. in a word, happen what will, i have nothing to reproach myself with. i have suffered sufficiently for an exaggerated crime [that of "attempting to desert;"--heavens!]--and i will not engage myself to extend my miseries (chagrins) into future times. i have still resources:--a pistol-shot can deliver me from my sorrows and my life: and i think a merciful god would not damn me for that; but, taking pity on me, would, in exchange for a life of wretchedness, grant me salvation. this is whitherward despair can lead a young person, whose blood is not so quiescent as if he were seventy. i have a feeling of myself, monsieur; and perceive that, when one hates the methods of force as much as i, our boiling blood will carry us always towards extremities. ... "if there are honest people in the world, they must think how to save me from one of the most perilous passages i have ever been in. i waste myself in gloomy ideas; i fear i shall not be able to hide my grief, on coming to berlin. this is the sad state i am in;--but it will never make me change from being,"--surely to an excessive degree, the illustrious grumkow's most &c. &c. "frederic." "i have received a letter from the king; all agog (bien coiffe) about the princess. i think i may still finish the week here. [ th, did arrive in berlin: preuss (in _oeuvres,_ xxvii. part d, p. n).] when his first fire of approbation is spent, you might, praising her all the while, lead him to notice her faults. mon dieu, has he not already seen what an ill-assorted marriage comes to,--my sister of anspach and her husband, who hate one another like the fire! he has a thousand vexations from it every day.... and what aim has the king? if it is to assure himself of me, that is not the way. madam of eisenach might do it; but a fool not (point une bete);--on the contrary, it is morally impossible to love the cause of our misery. the king is reasonable; and i am persuaded he will understand this himself." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xvi. , .] very passionate pleading; but it might as well address itself to the east-winds. have east-winds a heart, that they should feel pity? jarni-bleu, herr feldzeugmeister,--only take care he don't overset things again! grumkow, in these same hours, is writing a letter to the prince, which we still have, [ib. xvi. .] how charmed his majesty is at such obedience; "shed tears of joy," writes grumkow, "and said it was the happiest day of his life." judge grumkow's feelings soon after, on this furious recalcitration breaking out! grumkow's answer, which also we still have [ib. xvi. pp. - .] is truculence itself in a polite form:--horror-struck as a christian at the suicide notion, at the--in fact at the whole matter; and begs, as a humble individual, not wishful of violent death and destruction upon self and family, to wash his poor hands of it altogether. dangerous for the like of him; "interfering between royal father and royal son of such opposite humors, would break the neck of any man," thinks grumkow; and sums up with this pithy reminiscence: "i remember always what, the king said to me at wusterhausen, when your royal highness lay prisoner in the castle of custrin, and i wished to take your part: _'nein grumkow, denket an diese stelle, gott gebe dass ich nicht wahr rede, aber mein sohn stirht nicht eines naturlichen todes; und gott gebe dass er nicht unter henkers hande komme._ no, grumkow, think of what i now tell you: god grant it do not come true,--but my son won't die a natural death; god grant he do not come into the hangman's hands yet!' i shuddered at these words, and the king repeated them twice to me: that is true, or may i never see god's face, or have part in the merits of our lord."--the crown-prince's "pleadings" may fitly terminate here. duke of lorraine arrives in potsdam and in berlin. saturday, d february, , his serene highness of lorraine did at length come to hand. arrived in potsdam that day; where the two majesties, with the serene beverns, with the prince alexander of wurtemberg, and the other high guests, had been some time in expectation. suitable persons invited for the occasion: bevern, a titular austrian feldmarschall; prince alexander of wurtemberg, an actual one (poor old eberhard ludwig's cousin, and likely to be heir there soon); high quasi-austrian serenities;--not to mention schulenburg and others officially related to austria, or acquainted with it. nothing could be more distinguished than the welcome of duke franz; and the things he saw and did, during his three weeks' visit, are wonderful to fassmann and the extinct gazetteers. saw the potsdam giants do their "exercitia," transcendent in perfection; had a boar-hunt; "did divine service in the potsdam catholic church; "--went by himself to spandau, on the tuesday ( th), where all the guns broke forth, and dinner was ready: king, queen and party having made off for berlin, in the interim, to be ready for his advent there "in the evening about, five." majesties wait at berlin, with their party,--among whom, say the old newspapers, "is his royal highness the crown-prince:" crown-prince just come in from custrin; just blessed with the first sight of his charmer, whom he finds perceptibly less detestable than he expected. serene highness of lorraine arrived punctually at five, with outburst of all the artilleries and hospitalities; balls, soirees, exercitia of the kleist regiment, of the gerns-d'armes; dinners with grumkow, dinners with seckendorf, evening party with the margravine philip (margravine in high colors);--one scenic miracle succeeding another, for above a fortnight to come. the very first spectacle his highness saw, a private one, and of no intense interest to him, we shall mention here for our own behoof. "an hour after his arrival the duke was carried away to his excellency herr creutz the finance-minister's; to attend a wedding there, along with his majesty. wedding of excellency creutz's only daughter to the herr hofjagermeister von hacke."--hofjagermeister (master of the hunt), and more specifically captain hacke, of the potsdam guard or giant regiment, much and deservedly a favorite with his majesty. majesty has known, a long while, the merits military and other of this hacke; a valiant expert exact man, of good stature, good service among the giants and otherwise, though not himself gigantic; age now turned of thirty;--and unluckily little but his pay to depend on. majesty, by way of increment to hacke, small increment on the pecuniary side, has lately made him "master of the hunt;" will, before long, make him adjutant-general, and his right-hand man in army matters, were he only rich;--has, in the mean while, made this excellent match for him; which supplies that defect. majesty was the making of creutz himself; who is grown very rich, and has but one daughter: "let hacke have her!" his majesty advised;--and snatches off the duke of lorraine to see it done. [fassmann, p. .] did the reader ever hear of finance-minister creutz, once a poor regiment's auditor, when his majesty, as yet crown-prince, found talent in him? can readers fish up from their memory, twenty years back, anything of a terrific spectre walking in the berlin palace, for certain nights, during that "stralsund expedition" or famed swedish-war time, to the terror of mankind? terrific spectre, thought to be in swedish pay,--properly a spy scullion, in a small concern of grumkow versus creutz? [antea, vol. v. pp. - ; wilhelmina.] this is the same creutz; of whom we have never spoken more, nor shall again, now that his rich daughter is well married to hacke, a favorite of his majesty's and ours. it was the duke's first sight in berlin; february th; prologue to the flood of scenic wonders there. but perhaps the wonderfulest thing, had he quite understood it, was that of the th march, which he was invited to. last obligation laid upon the crown-prince, "to bind him to the house of austria," that evening. of which take this account, external and internal, from authentic documents in our hand. betrothal of the crown-prince to the brunswick charmer, niece of imperial majesty, monday evening, th march, . document first is of an internal nature, from the prince's own hand, written to his sister four days before:-- to the princess wilhelmina at baireuth. "berlin, th march, . "my dearest sister,--next monday comes my betrothal, which will be done just as yours was. the person in question is neither beautiful nor ugly, not wanting for sense, but very ill brought up, timid, and totally behind in manners and social behavior (manieres du savoir-vivre): that is the candid portrait of this princess. you may judge by that, dearest sister, if i find her to my taste or not. the greatest merit she has is that she has procured me the liberty of writing to you; which is the one solacement i have in your absence. "you never can believe, my adorable sister, how concerned i am about your happiness; all my wishes centre there, and every moment of my life i form such wishes. you may see by this that i preserve still that sincere friendship which has united our hearts from our tenderest years:--recognize at least, my dear sister, that you did me a sensible wrong when you suspected me of fickleness towards you, and believed false reports of my listening to tale-bearers; me, who love only you, and whom neither absence nor lying rumors could change in respect of you. at least don't again believe such things on my score, and never mistrust me till you have had clear proof,--or till god has forsaken me, and i have lost my wits. and being persuaded that such miseries are not in store to overwhelm me, i here repeat how much i love you, and with what respect and sincere veneration,--i am and shall be till death, my dearest sister,--your most humble and faithful brother and valet, friderich." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. part st, p. ] that was on the thursday; betrothal is on the monday following. document second is from poor old fassmann, and quite of external nature; which we much abridge:-- "monday evening, all creatures are in gala, and the royal apartments upstairs are brilliantly alight; duke of lorraine with the other high strangers are requested to take their place up there, and wait for a short while. prussian majesty, queen and crown-prince with him, proceeds then, in a solemn official manner, to the durchlaucht of bevern's apartment, in a lower floor of the palace; where the bevern party, duke, duchess, son and intended charmer are. prussian majesty asks the durchlaucht and spouse, 'whether the marriage, some time treated of, between that their princess here present, and this his crown-prince likewise here, is really a thing to their mind?' serene spouses answer, to the effect, 'yea, surely, very much!' upon which they all solemnly ascend to the royal apartments [upstairs where we have seen wilhelmina dancing before now], where lorraine, wurtemberg and the other sublimities are in waiting. lorraine and the sublimities form a semicircle; with the two majesties, and pair of young creatures, in the centre. you young creatures, you are of one intention with your parents in this matter? alas, there is no doubt of it. pledge yourselves, then, by exchange of rings! said his majesty with due business brevity. the rings are exchanged: majesty embraces the two young creatures with great tenderness;" as do queen and serenities; and then all the world takes to embracing and congratulating; and so the betrothal is a finished thing. bassoons and violins, striking up, whirl it off in universal dancing,--in "supper of above two hundred and sixty persons," princely or otherwise sublime in rank, with "spouses and noble ladies there" in the due proportion. [fassmann, pp. , .] here is fraction of another note from the crown-prince to his sister at baireuth, a fortnight after that event:-- berlin, th march, (to princess wilhelmina).--... "god be praised that you are better, dearest sister! for nobody can love you more tenderly than i do.--as to the princess of bevern [my betrothed], the queen [mamma, whom you have been consulting on these etiquettes] bids me answer, that you need not style her `highness,' and that you may write to her quite as to an indifferent princess. as to 'kissing of the hands,' i assure you i have not kissed them, nor will kiss them; they are not pretty enough to tempt one that way. god long preserve you in perfect health! and you, preserve for me always the honor of your good graces; and believe, my charming sister, that never brother in the world loved with such tenderness a sister so charming as mine; in short, believe, dear sister, that without compliments, and in literal truth, i am yours wholly (tout a vous), "friderich." [ib. xxvii. part st, p. .] this is the betrothal of the crown-prince to an insipidity of brunswick. insipidity's private feelings, perhaps of a languidly glad sort, are not known to us; crown-prince's we have in part seen. he has decided to accept his fate without a murmur farther. against his poor bride or her qualities not a word more. in the schloss of berlin, amid such tempests of female gossip (mamma still secretly corresponding with england), he has to be very reserved, on this head especially. it is understood he did not, in his heart, nearly so much dislike the insipid princess as he wished papa to think he did. duke franz of lorraine went off above a week ago, on the saturday following the betrothal; an amiable serene young gentleman, well liked by the crown-prince and everybody. "he avoided the saxon court, though passing near it," on his way to old kur-mainz; "which is a sign," thinks fassmann, "that mutual matters are on a weak footing in that quarter;"--pragmatic sanction never accepted there, and plenty of intricacies existing. crown-prince friedrich may now go to ruppin and the regiment goltz; his business and destinies being now all reduced to a steady condition;--steady sky, rather leaden, instead of the tempestuous thunder-and-lightning weather which there heretofore was. leaden sky, he, if left well to himself, will perhaps brighten a little. study will be possible to him; improvement of his own faculties, at any rate. it is much his determination. outwardly, besides drilling the regiment goltz, he will have a steady correspondence to keep up with his brunswick charmer;--let him see that he be not slack in that. chapter ii. -- small incidents at ruppin. friedrich, after some farther pause in berlin, till things were got ready for him, went to ruppin. this is in the spring of ; [still in berlin, th march; dates from nauen (in the ruppin neighborhood) for the first time, th april, , among his letters yet extant: preuss, _oeuvres de frederic, _ xxvii. part lst, p. ; xvi. .] and he contin his residence there till august, . four important years of young life; of which we must endeavor to give, in some intelligible condition, what traces go hovering about in such records as there are. ruppin, where lies the main part of the regiment goltz, and where the crown-prince colonel of it dwells, is a quiet dull, little town, in that northwestern region; inhabitants, grown at this day to be , , are perhaps guessable then at , . regiment goltz daily rolls its drums in ruppin: town otherwise lifeless enough, except on market-days: and the grandest event ever known in it, this removal of the crown-prince thither,--which is doubtless much a theme, and proud temporary miracle, to ruppin at present. of society there or in the neighborhood, for such a resident, we hear nothing. quiet ruppin stands in grassy flat country, much of which is natural moor, and less of it reclaimed at that time than now. the environs, except that they are a bit of the earth, and have a bit of the sky over them, do not set up for loveliness. natural woods abound in that region, also peat-bogs not yet drained; and fishy lakes and meres, of a dark complexion: plenteous cattle there are, pigs among them;--thick-soled husbandmen inarticulately toiling and moiling. some glass-furnaces, a royal establishment, are the only manufactures we hear of. not a picturesque country; but a quiet and innocent, where work is cut out, and one hopes to be well left alone after doing it. this crown-prince has been in far less desirable localities. he had a reasonable house, two houses made into one for him, in the place. he laid out for himself a garden in the outskirts, with what they call a "temple" in it,--some more or less ornamental garden-house,--from which i have read of his "letting off rockets" in a summer twilight. rockets to amuse a small dinner-party, i should guess,--dinner of officers, such as he had weekly or twice a week. on stiller evenings we can fancy him there in solitude; reading meditative, or musically fluting;--looking out upon the silent death of day: how the summer gloaming steals over the moorlands, and over all lands; shutting up the toil of mortals; their very flocks and herds collapsing into silence, and the big skies and endless times overarching him and them. with thoughts perhaps sombre enough now and then, but profitable if he face them piously. his father's affection is returning; would so fain return if it durst. but the heart of papa has been sadly torn up: it is too good news to be quite believed, that he has a son grown wise, and doing son-like! rumor also is very busy, rumor and the tobacco-parliament for or against; a little rumor is capable of stirring up great storms in the suspicious paternal mind. all along during friedrich's abode at ruppin, this is a constantly recurring weather-symptom; very grievous now and then; not to be guarded against by any precaution;--though steady persistence in the proper precaution will abate it, and as good as remove it, in course of time. already friedrich wilhelm begins to understand that "there is much in this fritz,"--who knows how much, though of a different type from papa's?--and that it will be better if he and papa, so discrepant in type, and ticklishly related otherwise, live not too constantly together as heretofore. which is emphatically the crown-prince's notion too. i perceive he read a great deal at ruppin: what books i know not specially: but judge them to be of more serious solid quality than formerly; and that his reading is now generally a kind of studying as well. not the express sciences or technologies; not these, in any sort,--except the military, and that an express exception. these he never cared for, or regarded as the noble knowledges for a king or man. history and moral speculation; what mankind have done and been in this world (so far as "history" will give one any glimpse of that), and what the wisest men, poetical or other, have thought about mankind and their world: this is what he evidently had the appetite for; appetite insatiable, which lasted with him to the very end of his days. fontenelle, rollin, voltaire, all the then french lights, and gradually others that lay deeper in the firmament:--what suppers of the gods one may privately have at ruppin, without expense of wine! such an opportunity for reading he had never had before. in his soldier business he is punctual, assiduous; having an interest to shine that way. and is, in fact, approvable as a practical officer and soldier, by the strictest judge then living. reads on soldiering withal; studious to know the rationale of it, the ancient and modern methods of it, the essential from the unessential in it; to understand it thoroughly,--which he got to do. one already hears of conferences, correspondences, with the old dessauer on this head: "account of the siege of stralsund," with plans, with didactic commentaries, drawn up by that gunpowder sage for behoof of the crown-prince, did actually exist, though i know not what has become of it. now and afterwards this crown-prince must have been a great military reader. from caesar's commentaries, and earlier, to the chevalier folard, and the marquis feuquiere; [_memoires sur la guerre_ (specially on the wars of louis xiv., in which feuquiere had himself shone): a new book at this time (amsterdam, ; first complete edition is, paris, , vols. to); at ruppin, and afterwards, a chief favorite with friedrich.] from epaminondas at leuctra to charles xii. at pultawa, all manner of military histories, we perceive, are at his finger-ends; and he has penetrated into the essential heart of each, and learnt what it had to teach him. something of this, how much we know not, began at ruppin; and it did not end again. on the whole, friedrich is prepared to distinguish himself henceforth by strictly conforming, in all outward particulars possible, to the paternal will, and becoming the most obedient of sons. partly from policy and necessity, partly also from loyalty; for he loves his rugged father, and begins to perceive that there is more sense in his peremptory notions than at first appeared. the young man is himself rather wild, as we have seen, with plenty of youthful petulance and longings after forbidden fruit. and then he lives in an element of gossip; his whole life enveloped in a vast dionysius'-ear, every word and action liable to be debated in tobacco-parliament. he is very scarce of money, too, papa's allowance being extremely moderate, "not above , thalers ( pounds)," says seckendorf once. [forster, iii. (seckendorf to prince eugene).] there will be contradictions enough to settle: caution, silence, every kind of prudence will be much recommendable. in all outward particulars the crown-prince will conform; in the inward, he will exercise a judgment, and if he cannot conform, will at least be careful to hide. to do his commandant duties at ruppin, and avoid offences, is much his determination. we observe he takes great charge of his men's health; has the regiment goltz in a shiningly exact condition at the grand reviews;--is very industrious now and afterwards to get tall recruits, as a dainty to papa. knows that nothing in nature is so sure of conciliating that strange old gentleman; corresponds, accordingly, in distant quarters; lays out, now and afterwards, sums far too heavy for his means upon tall recruits for papa. but it is good to conciliate in that quarter, by every method, and at every expense;--argus of tobacco-parliament still watching one there; and rumor needing to be industriously dealt with, difficult to keep down. such, so far as we can gather, is the general figure of friedrich's life at ruppin. specific facts of it, anecdotes about it, are few in those dim books; are uncertain as to truth, and without importance whether true or not. for all his gravity and colonelship, it would appear the old spirit of frolic has not quitted him. here are two small incidents, pointing that way; which stand on record; credible enough, though vague and without importance otherwise. incident first is to the following feeble effect; indisputable though extremely unmomentous: regiment goltz, it appears, used to have gold trimmings; the colonel crown-prince petitioned that they might be of silver, which he liked better. papa answers, yes. regiment goltz gets its new regimentals done in silver; the colonel proposes they shall solemnly burn their old regimentals. and they do it, the officers of them, sub dio, perhaps in the prince's garden, stripping successively in the "temple" there, with such degree of genial humor, loud laughter, or at least boisterous mock-solemnity, as may be in them. this is a true incident of the prince's history, though a small one. incident second is of slightly more significance; and intimates, not being quite alone in its kind, a questionable habit or method the crown-prince must have had of dealing with clerical persons hereabouts when they proved troublesome. here are no fewer than three such persons, or parsons, of the ruppin country, who got mischief by him. how the first gave offence shall be seen, and how he was punished: offences of the second and the third we can only guess to have been perhaps pulpit-rebukes of said punishments: perhaps general preaching against military levities, want of piety, nay open sinfulness, in thoughtless young men with cockades. whereby the thoughtless young men were again driven to think of nocturnal charivari? we will give the story in dr. busching's own words, who looks before and after to great distances, in a way worth attending to. the herr doctor, an endless collector and compiler on all manner of subjects, is very authentic always, and does not want for natural sense: but he is also very crude,--and here and there not far from stupid, such his continual haste, and slobbery manner of working up those hundred and odd volumes of his:--[see his autobiography, which forms _beitrage,_ b. vi. (the biggest and last volume).] "the sanguine-choleric temperament of friedrich," says this doctor, "drove him, in his youth, to sensual enjoyments and wild amusements of different kinds; in his middle age, to fiery enterprises; and in his old years to decisions and actions of a rigorous and vehement nature; yet so that the primary form of utterance, as seen in his youth, never altogether ceased with him. there are people still among us ( ) who have had, in their own experience, knowledge of his youthful pranks; and yet more are living, who know that he himself, at table, would gayly recount what merry strokes were done by him, or by his order, in those young years. to give an instance or two. "while he was at neu-ruppin as colonel of the infantry regiment there, the chaplain of it sometimes waited upon him about the time of dinner,--having been used to dine occasionally with the former colonel. the crown-prince, however, put him always off, did not ask him to dinner; spoke contemptuously of him in presence of the officers. the chaplain was so inconsiderate, he took to girding at the crown-prince in his sermons. 'once on a time,' preached he, one day, 'there was herod who had herodias to dance before him; and he,--he gave her john the baptist's head for her pains!'" this herod, busching says, was understood to mean, and meant, the crown-prince; herodias, the merry corps of officers who made sport for him; john the baptist's head was no other than the chaplain not invited to dinner! "to punish him for such a sally, the crown-prince with the young officers of his regiment went, one night, to the chaplain's house," somewhere hard by, with cow's-grass adjoining to it, as we see: and "first, they knocked in the windows of his sleeping-room upon him [hinge-windows, glass not entirely broken, we may hope]; next there were crackers [schwarmer, "enthusiasts," so to speak!] thrown in upon him; and thereby the chaplain, and his poor wife," more or less in an interesting condition, poor woman, "were driven out into the court-yard, and at last into the dung-heap there;"--and so left, with their head on a charger to that terrible extent! that is busching's version of the story; no doubt substantially correct; of which there are traces in other quarters,--for it went farther than ruppin; and the crown-prince had like to have got into trouble from it. "here is piety!" said rumor, carrying it to tobacco-parliament. the crown-prince plaintively assures grumkow that it was the officers, and that they got punished for it. a likely story, the prince's! "when king friedrich, in his old days, recounted this after dinner, in his merry tone, he was well pleased that the guests, and even the pages and valets behind his back, laughed aloud at it." not a pious old king, doctor, still less an orthodox one! the doctor continues: "in a like style, at nauen, where part of his regiment lay, he had--by means of herr von der groben, his first-lieutenant," much a comrade of his, as we otherwise perceive--"the diaconus of nauen and his wife hunted out of bed, and thrown into terror of their lives, one night:"--offence of the diaconus not specified. "nay he himself once pitched his gold-headed stick through salpius the church inspector's window,"--offence again not specified, or perhaps merely for a little artillery practice?--"and the throw was so dexterous that it merely made a round hole in the glass: stick was lying on the floor; and the prince," on some excuse or other, "sent for it next morning." "margraf heinrich of schwedt," continues the doctor, very trustworthy on points of fact, "was a diligent helper in such operations. kaiserling," whom we shall hear of, "first-lieutenant von der groben," these were prime hands; "lieutenant buddenbrock [old feldmarschall's son] used, in his old days, when himself grown high in rank and dining with the king, to be appealed to as witness for the truth of these stories." [busching, _beitrage zu der lebensgeschichte denkwurdiger personen,_ v. - . vol. v.--wholly occupied with _friedrich ii. king of prussia_ (halle, ),--is accessible in french and other languages; many details, and (as busching's wont is) few or none not authentic, are to be found in it; a very great secret spleen against friedrich is also traceable,--for which the doctor may have had his reasons, not obligatory upon readers of the doctor. the truth is, friedrich never took the least special notice of him: merely employed and promoted him, when expedient for both parties; and he really was a man of considerable worth, in an extremely crude form.] these are the two incidents at ruppin, in such light as they have. and these are all. opulent history yields from a ton of broken nails these two brass farthings, and shuts her pocket on us again. a crown-prince given to frolic, among other things; though aware that gravity would beseem him better. much gay bantering humor in him, cracklings, radiations,--which he is bound to keep well under cover, in present circumstances. chapter iii. -- the salzburgers. for three years past there has been much rumor over germany, of a strange affair going on in the remote austrian quarter, down in salzburg and its fabulous tyrolese valleys. salzburg, city and territory, has an archbishop, not theoretically austrian, but sovereign prince so styled; it is from him and his orthodoxies, and pranks with his sovereign crosier, that the noise originates. strange rumor of a body of the population discovered to be protestant among the remote mountains, and getting miserably ill-used, by the right reverend father in those parts. which rumor, of a singular, romantic, religious interest for the general protestant world, proves to be but too well founded. it has come forth in the form of practical complaint to the corpus evangelicorum at the diet, without result from the corpus; complaint to various persons;--in fine, to his majesty friedrich wilhelm, with result. with result at last; actual "emigration of the salzburgers:" and germany--in these very days while the crown-prince is at berlin betrothing himself, and franz of lorraine witnessing the exercitia and wonders there--sees a singular phenomenon of a touching idyllic nature going on; and has not yet quite forgotten it in our days. salzburg emigration was all in motion, flowing steadily onwards, by various routes, towards berlin, at the time the betrothal took place; and seven weeks after that event, when the crown-prince had gone to ruppin, and again could only hear of it, the first instalment of emigrants arrived bodily at the gates of berlin, " th april, at four in the afternoon;" majesty himself, and all the world going out to witness it, with something of a poetic: almost of a psalmist feeling, as well as with a practical on the part of his majesty. first instalment this; copiously followed by others, all that year; and flowing on, in smaller rills and drippings, for several years more, till it got completed. a notable phenomenon, full of lively picturesque and other interest to brandenburg and germany;--which was not forgotten by the crown-prince in coming years, as we shall transiently find; nay which all germany still remembers, and even occasionally sings. of which this is in brief the history. the salzburg country, northeastern slope of the tyrol (donau draining that side of it, etsch or adige the italian side), is celebrated by the tourist for its airy beauty, rocky mountains, smooth green valleys, and swift-rushing streams; perhaps some readers have wandered to bad-gastein, or ischl, in these nomadic summers; have looked into salzburg, berchtesgaden, and the bavarian-austrian boundary-lands; seen the wooden-clock makings, salt-works, toy-manufactures, of those simple people in their slouch-hats; and can bear some testimony to the phenomena of nature there. salzburg is the archbishop's city, metropolis of his bit of sovereignty that then was. [tolerable description of it in the baron riesbeck's _travels through germany_ (london, , translation by maty, vols. vo), i. - ;--whose details otherwise, on this emigration business, are of no authenticity or value. a kind of play-actor and miscellaneous newspaper-man in that time (not so opulent to his class as ours is); who takes the title of "baron" on this occasion of coming, out with a book of imaginary _"travels."_ had personally lived, practising the miscellaneous arts, about lintz and salzburg,--and may be heard on the look of the country, if on little else.] a romantic city, far off among its beautiful mountains, shadowing (itself in the salza river, which rushes down into the inn, into the donau, now becoming great with the tribute of so many valleys. salzburg we have not known hitherto except as the fabulous resting-place of kaiser barbarossa: but we are now slightly to see it in a practical light; and mark how the memory of friedrich wilhelm makes an incidental lodgment for itself there. it is well known there was extensive protestantism once in those countries. prior to the thirty-years war, the fair chance was, austria too would all become protestant; an extensive minority among all ranks of men in austria too, definable as the serious intelligence of mankind in those countries, having clearly adopted it, whom the others were sure to follow. in all ranks of men; only not in the highest rank, which was pleased rather to continue official and papal. highest rank had its thirty-years war, "its sleek fathers lummerlein and hyacinth in jesuit serge, its terrible fathers wallenstein in chain-armor;" and, by working late and early then and afterwards, did manage at length to trample out protestantism,--they know with what advantage by this time. trample out protestantism; or drive it into remote nooks, where under sad conditions it might protract an unnoticed existence. in the imperial free-towns, ulm, augsburg, and the like, protestantism continued, and under hard conditions contrives to continue: but in the country parts, except in unnoticed nooks, it is extinct. salzburg country is one of those nooks; an extensive crypto-protestantism lodging, under the simple slouch-hats, in the remote valleys there. protestantism peaceably kept concealed, hurting nobody; wholesomely forwarding the wooden-clock manufacture, and arable or grazier husbandries, of those poor people. more harmless sons of adam, probably, did not breathe the vital air, than those dissentient salzburgers; generation after generation of them giving offence to no creature. successive archbishops had known of this crypto-protestantism, and in remote periods had made occasional slight attempts upon it; but none at all for a long time past. all attempts that way, as ineffectual for any purpose but stirring up strife, had been discontinued for many generations; [buchholz, i. - .] and the crypto-protestantism was again become a mythical romantic object, ignored by official persons. however, in , there came a new archbishop, one "firmian", count firmian by secular quality, of a strict lean character, zealous rather than wise; who had brought his orthodoxies with him in a rigid and very lean form. right reverend firmian had not been long in salzburg till he smelt out the crypto-protestantism, and determined to haul it forth from the mythical condition into the practical; and in fact, to see his law-beagles there worry it to death as they ought. hence the rumors that had risen over germany, in : law-terriers penetrating into human cottages in those remote salzburg valleys, smelling out some german bible or devout book, making lists of bible-reading cottagers; haling them to the right reverend father-in-god; thence to prison, since they would not undertake to cease reading. with fine, with confiscation, tribulation: for the peaceable salzburgers, respectful creatures, doffing their slouch-hats almost to mankind in general, were entirely obstinate in that matter of the bible. "cannot, your reverence; must not, dare not!" and went to prison or whithersoever rather; a wide cry rising, let us sell our possessions and leave salzburg then, according to treaty of westphalia, article so-and-so. "treaty of westphalia? leave salzburg?" shrieked the right reverend father: "are we getting into open mutiny, then? open extensive mutiny!" shrieked he. borrowed a couple of austrian regiments,--kaiser and we always on the pleasantest terms,--and marched the most refractory of his salzburgers over the frontiers (retaining their properties and families); whereupon noise rose louder and louder. refractory salzburgers sent deputies to the diet; appealed, complained to the corpus evangelicorum, treaty of westphalia in hand,--without result. corpus, having verified matters, complained to the kaiser, to the right reverend father. the kaiser, intent on getting his pragmatic sanction through the diet, and anxious to offend nobody at present, gave good words; but did nothing: the right reverend father answered a letter or two from the corpus; then said at last, he wished to close the correspondence, had the honor to be,--and answered no farther, when written to. corpus was without result. so it lasted through ; rumor, which rose in , waxing ever louder into practicable or impracticable shape, through that next year; tribulation increasing in salzburg; and noise among mankind. in the end of , the salzburgers sent two deputies to friedrich wilhelm at berlin; solid-hearted, thick-soled men, able to answer for themselves, and give real account of salzburg and the phenomena; this brought matters into a practicable state. "are you actual protestants, the treaty of westphalia applicable to you? not mere fanatic mystics, as right reverend firmian asserts; protectible by no treaty?" that was friedrich wilhelm's first question; and he set his two chief berlin clergymen, learned roloff one of them, a divine of much fame, to catechise the two salzburg deputies, and report upon the point. their report, dated berlin, th november, , with specimens of the main questions, i have read; [fassmann, pp. - .] and can fully certify, along with roloff and friend, that here are orthodox protestants, apparently of very pious peaceable nature, suffering hard wrong;--orthodox beyond doubt, and covered by the treaty of westphalia. whereupon his majesty dismisses them with assurance, "return, and say there shall be help!"--and straightway lays hand on the business, strong swift steady hand as usual, with a view that way. salzburg being now a clear case, friedrich wilhelm writes to the kaiser; to the king of england, king of denmark;--orders preparations to be made in preussen, vacant messuages to be surveyed, moneys to be laid up;--bids his man at the regensburg diet signify, that unless this thing is rectified, his prussian majesty will see himself necessitated to take effectual steps: "reprisals" the first step, according to the old method of his prussian majesty. rumor of the salzburg protestants rises higher and higher. kaiser intent on conciliating every corpus, evangelical and other, for his pragmatic sanction's sake, admonishes right reverend firmian; intimates at last to him, that he will actually have to let those poor people emigrate if they demand it; treaty of westphalia being express. in the end of it has come thus far. "emigrate, says your imperial majesty? well, they shall emigrate," answers firmian; "the sooner the better!" and straightway, in the dead of winter, marches, in convenient divisions, some nine hundred of them over the frontiers: "go about your business, then; emigrate--to the old one, if you like!"--"and our properties, our goods and chattels?" ask they.--"be thankful you have kept your skins. emigrate, i say.!" and the poor nine hundred had to go out, in the rigor of winter, "hoary old men among them, and women coming near their time;" and seek quarters in the wide world mostly unknown to them. truly firmian is an orthodox herr; acquainted with the laws of fair usage and the time of day. the sleeping barbarossa does not awaken upon him within the hill here:--but in the roncalic fields, long ago, i should not have liked to stand in his shoes! friedrich wilhelm, on this procedure at salzburg, intimates to his halberstadt and minden catholic gentlemen, that their establishments must be locked up, and incomings suspended; that they can apply to the right reverend firmian upon it;--and bids his man at regensburg signify to the diet that such is the course adopted here. right reverend firmian has to hold his hand; finds both that there shall be emigration, and that it must go forward on human terms, not inhuman; and that in fact the treaty of westphalia will have to guide it, not he henceforth. those poor ousted salzburgers cower into the bavarian cities, till the weather mend, and his prussian majesty's arrangements be complete for their brethren and them. his prussian majesty has been maturing his plans, all this while;--gathering moneys, getting lands ready. we saw him hanging schlubhut in the autumn of , who had peculated from said moneys; and surveying preussen, under storms of thunder and rain on one occasion. preussen is to be the place for these people; tilsit and memel region, same where the big fight of tannenberg and ruin of the teutsch ritters took place: in that fine fertile country there are homes got ready for this emigration out of salzburg. long ago, at the beginning of this history, did not the reader hear of a pestilence in prussian lithuania? pestilence in old king friedrich's time; for which the then crown-prince, now majesty friedrich wilhelm, vainly solicited help from the treasury, and only brought about partial change of ministry and no help. "fifty-two towns" were more or less entirely depopulated; hundreds of thousands of fertile acres fell to waste again, the hands that had ploughed them being swept away. the new majesty, so soon as ever the swedish war was got rid of, took this matter diligently in hand; built up the fifty-two ruined towns; issued proclamations once and again (years , ) to the wetterau, to switzerland, saxony, schwaben; [buchholz, i. .] inviting colonists to come, and, on favorable terms, till and reap there. his terms are favorable, well-considered; and are honestly kept. he has a fixed set of terms for colonists: their road-expenses thither, so much a day allowed each travelling soul; homesteads, ploughing implements, cattle, land, await them at their journey's end; their rent and services, accurately specified, are light not heavy; and "immunities" from this and that are granted them, for certain years, till they get well nestled. excellent arrangements: and his majesty has, in fact, got about , families in that way. and still there is room for thousands more. so that if the tyrannous firmian took to tribulating salzburg in that manner, heaven had provided remedies and a prussian majesty. heaven is very opulent; has alchemy to change the ugliest substances into beautifulest. privately to his majesty, for months back, this salzburg emigration is a most manageable matter. manage well, it will be a god-send to his majesty, and fit, as by pre-established harmony, into the ancient prussian sorrow; and "two afflictions well put together shall become a consolation," as the proverb promises! go along then, right reverend firmian, with your emigration there: only no foul-play in it,--or halberstadt and minden get locked:--for the rest of the matter we will undertake. and so, february d, , friedrich wilhelm's proclamation [copy of it in mauvillon, february, , ii. .] flew abroad over the world; brief and business-like, cheering to all but firmian;--to this purport: "come, ye poor salzburgers, there are homes provided for you. apply at regensburg, at halle: commissaries are appointed; will take charge of your long march and you. be kind, all christian german princes: do not hinder them and me." and in a few days farther, still early in february (for the matter is all ready before proclaiming), an actual prussian commissary hangs out his announcements and officialities at donauworth, old city known to us, within reach of the salzburg boundaries; collects, in a week or two, his first lot of emigrants, near a thousand strong; and fairly takes the road with them. a long road and a strange: i think, above five hundred miles before we get to halle, within prussian land; and then seven hundred more to our place there, in the utmost east. men, women, infants and hoary grandfathers are here;--most of their property sold,--still on ruinous conditions, think of it, your majesty. their poor bits of preciosities and heirlooms they have with them; made up in succinct bundles, stowed on ticketed baggage-wains; "some have their own poor cart and horse, to carry the too old and the too young, those that cannot walk." a pilgrimage like that of the children of israel: such a pilgrim caravan as was seldom heard of in our western countries. those poor succinct bundles, the making of them up and stowing of them; the pangs of simple hearts, in those remote native valleys; the tears that were not seen, the cries that were addressed to god only: and then at last the actual turning out of the poor caravan, in silently practical condition, staff in hand, no audible complaint heard from it; ready to march; practically marching here:--which of us can think of it without emotion, sad, and yet in a sort blessed! every emigrant man has four groschen a day (fourpence odd) allowed him for road expenses, every woman three groschen, every child two: and regularity itself, in the shape of prussian commissaries, presides over it. such marching of the salzburgers: host after host of them, by various routes, from february onwards; above seven thousand of them this year, and ten thousand more that gradually followed,--was heard of at all german firesides, and in all european lands. a phenomenon much filling the general ear and imagination; especially at the first emergence of it. we will give from poor old authentic fassmann, as if caught up by some sudden photograph apparatus, a rude but undeniable glimpse or two into the actuality of this business: the reader will in that way sufficiently conceive it for himself. glimpse first is of an emigrant party arriving, in the cold february days of , at nordlingen, protestant free-town in bavaria: three hundred of them; first section, i think, of those nine hundred who were packed away unceremoniously by firmian last winter, and have been wandering about bavaria, lodging "in kaufbeuern" and various preliminary towns, till the prussian arrangements became definite. prussian commissaries are, by this time, got to donauworth; but these poor salzburgers are ahead of them, wandering under the voluntary principle as yet. nordlingen, in bavaria, is an old imperial free-town; protestantism not suppressed there, as it has been all round; scene of some memorable fighting in the thirty-years war, especially of a bad defeat to the swedes and bernhard of weimar, the worst they had in the course of that bad business. the salzburgers are in number three hundred and thirty-one; time, "first days of february, , weather very cold and raw." the charitable protestant town has been expecting such an advent:-- "two chief clergymen, and the schoolmaster and scholars, with some hundreds of citizens and many young people" went out to meet them; there, in the open field, stood the salzburgers, with their wives and their little ones, with their bullock-carts and baggage-wains," pilgriming towards unknown parts of the earth. "'come in, ye blessed of the lord! why stand ye without?' said the parson solemnly, by way of welcome; and addressed a discourse to them," devout and yet human, true every word of it, enough to draw tears from any fassmann that were there;--fassmann and we not far from weeping without words. "thereupon they ranked themselves two and two, and marched into the town," straight to the church, i conjecture, town all out to participate; "and there the two reverend gentlemen successively addressed them again, from appropriate texts: text of the first reverend gentleman was, _and every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundred-fold, and shall inherit everlasting life._ [matthew xix. .] text of the second was, _now the lord had said unto abraham, get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that i will show thee."_ [genesis xii. .] excellent texts; well handled, let us hope,--especially with brevity. after which the strangers were distributed, some into public-houses, others taken home by the citizens to lodge. "out of the spital there was distributed to each person, for the first three days, a half-pound of flesh-meat, bread, and a measure of beer. the remaining days they got in money six creutzers (twopence) each, and bread. on sunday, at the church-doors there was a collection; no less than eight hundred gulden [ pounds; population, say, three thousand] for this object. at sermon they were put into the central part of the church," all nordlingen lovingly encompassing them; "and were taught in two sermons," texts not given, _what the true church is built of, and ought to have;_ nordlingen copiously shedding tears the while (viele thranen vergossen), as it well might. "going to church, and coming from it, each landlord walked ahead of his party; party followed two and two. on other days, there was much catechising of them at different parts of the town;"--orthodox enough, you see, nothing of superstition or fanaticism in the poor people;--"they made a good testimony of their evangelical truth. "the baggage-wagons which they had with them, ten in number, upon which some of their old people sat, were brought into the town. the baggage was unloaded, and the packages, two hundred and eighty-one of them in all [for fassmann is photography itself], were locked in the zoll-haus. over and above what they got from the spital, the church-collection and the town-chest, citizens were liberal; daily sent them food, or daily had them by fours and fives to their own houses to meat." and so let them wait for the prussian commissary, who is just at hand: "they would not part from one another, these three hundred and thirty-one," says fassmann, "though their reunion was but of that accidental nature." [fassmann, pp. , .] glimpse second: not dated; perhaps some ten days later; and a prussian commissary with this party:-- "on their getting to the anspach territory, there was so incredible a joy at the arrival of these exiled brothers in the faith (glaubens-bruder) that in all places, almost in the smallest hamlets, the bells were set a-tolling; and nothing was heard but a peal of welcome from far and near." prussian commissary, when about quitting anspach, asked leave to pass through bamberg; bishop of bamberg, too orthodox a gentleman, declined; so the commissary had to go by nurnberg and baireuth. ask not if his welcome was good, in those protestant places. "at erlangen, fifteen miles from nurnberg, where are french protestants and a dowager margravine of baireuth,"--widow of wilhelmina's father-in-law's predecessor (if the reader can count that); daughter of weissenfels who was for marrying wilhelmina not long since!--"at erlangen, the serene dowager snatched up fifty of them into her own house for christian refection; and burghers of means had twelve, fifteen and even eighteen of them, following such example set. nay certain french citizens, prosperous and childless, besieged the prussian commissary to allow them a few salzburg children for adoption; especially one frenchman was extremely urgent and specific: but the commissary, not having any order, was obliged to refuse." [fassmann, p. .] these must have been interesting days for the two young margravines; forwarding papa's poor pilgrims in that manner. "at baireuth," other side of nurnberg, "it was towards good friday when the pilgrims under their commissarius arrived. they were lodged in the villages about, but came copiously into the town; came all in a body to church on good friday; and at coming out, were one and all carried off to dinner, a very scramble arising among the townsfolk to get hold of pilgrims and dine them. vast numbers were carried to the schloss:" one figures wilhelmina among them, figures the hereditary prince and old margraf: their treatment there was "beyond belief," says fassmann; "not only dinner of the amplest quality and quantity, but much money added and other gifts." from baireuth the route is towards gera and thuringen, circling the bamberg territory: readers remember gera, where the gera bond was made?--"at gera, a commercial gentleman dined the whole party in his own premises, and his wife gave four groschen to each individual of them; other two persons, brothers in the place, doing the like. one of the poor pilgrim women had been brought to bed on the journey, a day or two before: the commissarius lodged her in his own inn, for greater safety; commissarius returning to his inn, finds she is off, nobody at first can tell him whither: a lady of quality (vormehme dame) has quietly sent her carriage for the poor pilgrim sister, and has her in the right softest keeping. no end to people's kindness: many wept aloud, sobbing out, 'is this all the help we can give?' commissarius said, 'there will others come shortly; them also you can help.'" in this manner march these pilgrims. "from donauworth, by anspach, nurnberg, baireuth, through gera, zeitz, weissenfels, to halle," where they are on prussian ground, and within few days of berlin. other towns, not upon the first straight route to berlin, demand to have a share in these grand things; share is willingly conceded: thus the pilgrims, what has its obvious advantages, march by a good variety of routes. through augsburg, ulm (instead of donauworth), thence to frankfurt; from frankfurt some direct to leipzig: some through cassel, hanover, brunswick, by halberstadt and magdeburg instead of halle. starting all at salzburg, landing all at berlin; their routes spread over the map of germany in the intermediate space. "weissenfels town and duke distinguished themselves by liberality: especially the duke did;"--poor old drinking duke; very protestant all these saxon princes, except the apostate or pseudo-apostate the physically strong, for sad political reasons. "in weissenfels town, while the pilgrim procession walked, a certain rude foreign fellow, flax-pedler by trade, ["hecheltrager," hawker of flax-combs or heckles;--is oftenest a slavonic austrian (i am told).] by creed papist or worse, said floutingly, 'the archbishop ought to have flung you all into the river, you--!' upon which a menial servant of the duke's suddenly broke in upon him in the way of actuality, the whole crowd blazing into flame; and the pedler would certainly have got irreparable damage, had not the town-guard instantly hooked him away." april st, , the first actual body, a good nine hundred strong, [buchholz, i. .] got to halle; where they were received with devout jubilee, psalm-singing, spiritual and corporeal refection, as at nordlingen and the other stages; "archidiaconus franke" being prominent in it,--i have no doubt, a connection of that "chien de franke," whom wilhelmina used to know. they were lodged in the waisenhaus (old franke's orphan-house); official list of them was drawn up here, with the fit specificality; and, after three days, they took the road again for berlin. useful buchholz, then a very little boy, remembers the arrival of a body of these salzburgers, not this but a later one in august, which passed through his native village, pritzwalk in the priegnitz: how village and village authorities were all awake, with opened stores and hearts; how his father, the village parson, preached at five in the afternoon. the same buchholz, coming afterwards to college at halle, had the pleasure of discovering two of the commissaries, two of the three, who had mainly superintended in this salzburg pilgrimage. let the reader also take a glance at them, as specimens worth notice:-- commissarius first: "herr von reck was a nobleman from the hanover country; of very great piety; who, after his commission was done, settled at halle; and lived there, without servant, in privacy, from the small means he had;--seeking his sole satisfaction in attendance on the theological and ascetic college-lectures, where i used to see him constantly in my student time." commissarius second: "herr gobel was a medical man by profession; and had the regular degree of doctor; but was in no necessity to apply his talents to the gaining of bread. his zeal for religion had moved him to undertake this commission. both these gentlemen i have often seen in my youth," but do not tell you what they were like farther; "and both their christian names have escaped me." a third commissarius was of preussen, and had religious-literary tendencies. i suppose these three served gratis;--volunteers; but no doubt under oath, and tied by strict enough prussian law. physician, chaplain, road-guide, here they are, probably of supreme quality, ready to our hand. [buchholz, _neueste preussisch-brandenburgische geschichte_ (berlin, , vols. to), i. n.] buchholz, after "his student time," became a poor country-schoolmaster, and then a poor country-parson, in his native altmark. his poor book is of innocent, clear, faithful nature, with some vein of "unconscious geniality" in it here and there;--a book by no means so destitute of human worth as some that have superseded it. this was posthumous, this "newest history," and has a life of the author prefixed. he has four previous volumes on the _"ancient history of brandenburg,"_ which are not known to me.--about the year , there were four poor schoolmasters in that region (two at havelberg, one at seehausen, one at werben), of extremely studious turn; who, in spite of the elbe which ran between, used to meet on stated nights, for colloquy, for interchange of books and the like. one of them, the werben one, was this buchholz; another, seehausen, was the winckelmann so celebrated in after years. a third, one of the havelberg pair, "went into mecklenburg in a year or two, as tutor to karl ludwig the prince of strelitz's children,"--whom also mark. for the youngest of these strelitz children was no other than the actual "old queen charlotte" (ours and george iii.'s), just ready for him with her hornbooks about that time: let the poor man have what honor he can from that circumstance! "prince karl ludwig," rather a foolish-looking creature, we may fall in with personally by and by. it was the th april, , seven weeks and a day since crown-prince friedrich's betrothal, that this first body of salzburg emigrants, nine hundred strong, arrived at berlin; "four in the afternoon, at the brandenburg gate;" official persons, nay majesty himself, or perhaps both majesties, waiting there to receive them. yes, ye poor footsore mortals, there is the dread king himself; stoutish short figure in blue uniform and white wig, straw-colored waistcoat, and white gaiters; stands uncommonly firm on his feet; reddish, blue-reddish face, with eyes that pierce through a man: look upon him, and yet live if you are true men. his majesty's reception of these poor people could not but be good; nothing now wanting in the formal kind. but better far, in all the essentialities of it, there had not been hitherto, nor was henceforth, the least flaw. this salzburg pilgrimage has found for itself, and will find, regulation, guidance, ever a stepping-stone at the needful place; a paved road, so far as human regularity and punctuality could pave one. that is his majesty's shining merit. "next sunday, after sermon, they [this first lot of salzburgers] were publicly catechised in church; and all the world could hear their pertinent answers, given often in the very scripture texts, or express words of luther." his majesty more than once took survey of these pilgrimage divisions, when they got to berlin. a pleasant sight, if there were leisure otherwise. on various occasions, too, her majesty had large parties of them over to monbijou, to supper there in the fine gardens; and "gave them bibles," among other gifts, if in want of bibles through firmian's industry. her majesty was charity itself, charity and grace combined, among these pilgrims. on one occasion she picked out a handsome young lass among them, and had painter pesne over to take her portrait. handsome lass, by pesne, in her tyrolese hat, shone thenceforth on the walls of monbijou; and fashion thereupon took up the tyrolese hat, "which has been much worn since by the beautiful part of the creation," says buchholz; "but how many changes they have introduced in it no pen can trace." at berlin the commissarius ceased; and there was usually given the pilgrims a candidatus theologiae, who was to conduct them the rest of the way, and be their clergyman when once settled. five hundred long miles still. some were shipped at stettin; mostly they marched, stage after stage,--four groschen a day. at the farther end they found all ready; tight cottages, tillable fields, all implements furnished, and stock,--even to "federvieh," or chanticleer with a modicum of hens. old neighbors, and such as liked each other, were put together: fields grew green again, desolate scrubs and scrags yielding to grass and corn. wooden clocks even came to view,--for berchtesgaden neighbors also emigrated; and swiss came, and bavarians and french:--and old trades were revived in those new localities. something beautifully real-idyllic in all this, surely:--yet do not fancy that it all went on like clock-work; that there were not jarrings at every step, as is the way in things real. of the prussian minister chiefly concerned in settling this new colony i have heard one saying, forced out of him in some pressure: "there must be somebody for a scolding-stock and scape-goat; i will be it, then!" and then the salzburg officials, what a humor they were in! no letters allowed from those poor emigrants; the wickedest rumors circulated about them: "all cut to pieces by inroad of the poles;" "pressed for soldiers by the prussian drill-sergeant;" "all flung into the lakes and stagnant waters there; drowned to the last individual;" and so on. truth nevertheless did slowly pierce through. and the "grosse wirth," our idyllic-real friedrich wilhelm, was wanting in nothing. lists of their unjust losses in salzburg were, on his majesty's order, made out and authenticated, by the many who had suffered in that way there,--forced to sell at a day's notice, and the like:--with these his majesty was diligent in the imperial court; and did get what human industry could of compensation, a part but not the whole. contradictory noises had to abate. in the end, sound purpose, built on fact and the laws of nature, carried it; lies, vituperations, rumors and delusion sank to zero; and the true result remained. in , the salzburg emigrant community in preussen held, in all their churches, a day of thanksgiving; and admitted piously that heaven's blessing, of a truth, had been upon this king and them. there we leave them, a useful solid population ever since in those parts; increased by this time we know not how many fold. it cost friedrich wilhelm enormous sums, say the old histories; probably "ten tons of gold,"--that is to say, ten hundred thousand thalers; almost , pounds, no less! but he lived to see it amply repaid, even in his own time; how much more amply since;--being a man skilful in investments to a high degree indeed. fancy , pounds invested there, in the bank of nature herself; and a hundred millions invested, say at balaclava, in the bank of newspaper rumor: and the respective rates of interest they will yield, a million years hence! this was the most idyllic of friedrich wilhelm's feats, and a very real one the while. we have only to add or repeat, that salzburgers to the number of about , souls arrived at their place this first year; and in the year or two following, less noted by the public, but faring steadily forward upon their four groschen a day, , more. friedrioh wilhelm would have gladly taken the whole; "but george ii. took a certain number," say the prussian books (george ii., or pious trustees instead of him), "and settled them at ebenezer in virginia,"--read, ebenezer in georgia, where general oglethorpe was busy founding a colony. [petition to parliament, th ( st) may, , by oglethorpe and his trustees, for , pounds to carry over these salzburgers; which was granted; tindal's rapin (london, ), xx. .] there at ebenezer i calculate they might go ahead, too, after the questionable fashion of that country, and increase and swell;--but have never heard of them since. salzburg emigration was a very real transaction on friedrich wilhelm's part; but it proved idyllic too, and made a great impression on the german mind. readers know of a book called _hermann and dorothea?_ it is written by the great goethe, and still worth reading. the great goethe had heard, when still very little, much talk among the elders about this salzburg pilgrimage; and how strange a thing it was, twenty years ago and more. [ was goethe's birth-year.] in middle life he threw it into hexameters, into the region of the air; and did that unreal shadow of it; a pleasant work in its way, since he was not inclined for more. chapter iv. -- prussian majesty visits the kaiser. majesty seeing all these matters well in train,--salzburgers under way, crown-prince betrothed according to his majesty's and the kaiser's (not to her majesty's, and high-flying little george of england my brother the comedian's) mind and will,--begins to think seriously of another enterprise, half business, half pleasure, which has been hovering in his mind for some time. "visit to my daughter at baireuth," he calls it publicly; but it means intrinsically excursion into bohmen, to have a word with the kaiser, and see his imperial majesty in the body for once. too remarkable a thing to be omitted by us here. crown-prince does not accompany on this occasion; crown-prince is with his regiment all this while; busy minding his own affairs in the ruppin quarter;--only hears, with more or less interest, of these salzburg-pilgrim movements, of this excursion into bohmen. here are certain scraps of letters; which, if once made legible, will assist readers to conceive his situation and employments there. letters otherwise of no importance; but worth reading on that score. the first (or rather first three, which we huddle into one) is from "nauen," few miles off ruppin; where one of our battalions lies; requiring frequent visits there:-- . to grumkow, at berlin (from the crown-prince). "nauen, th april, . "monsieur my dearest friend,--i send you a big mass of papers, which a certain gentleman named plotz has transmitted me. in faith, i know not in the least what it is: i pray you present it [to his majesty, or in the proper quarter], and make me rid of it. "to-morrow i go to potsdam [a drive of forty miles southward], to see the exercise, and if we do it here according to pattern. neue besen kehren gut [new brooms sweep clean, in german]; i shall have to illustrate my new character" of colonel; "and show that i am ein tuchtiger officier (a right officer). be what i may, i shall to you always be", &c. &c. nauen, th may, . "... thousand thanks for informing me how everything goes on in the world. things far from agreeable, those leagues [imaginary, in tobacco-parliament] suspected to be forming against our house! but if the kaiser don't abandon us;... if god second the valor of , men resolved to spend their life,... let us hope there will nothing bad happen. "meanwhile, till events arrive, i make a pretty stir here (me tremousse ici d'importance), to bring my regiment to its requisite perfection, and i hope i shall succeed. the other day i drank your dear health, monsieur; and i wait only the news from my cattle-stall that the calf i am fattening there is ready for sending to you. i unite mars and housekeeping, you see. send me your secretary's name, that i may address your letters that way,"--our correspondence needing to be secret in certain quarters. ... "with a" truly infinite esteem, "frederic." nauen, th may, . "you will see by this that i am exact to follow your instruction; and that the schulz of tremmen [village in the brandenburg quarter, with a schulz or mayor to be depended on], becomes for the present the mainspring of our correspondence. i return you all the things (pieces) you had the goodness to communicate to me,--except _charles douze,_ [voltaire's new book; lately come out, "bale, ."] which attaches me infinitely. the particulars hitherto unknown which he reports; the greatness of that prince's actions, and the perverse singularity (bizarrerie) of his fortune: all this, joined to the lively, brilliant and charming way the author has of telling it, renders this book interesting to the supreme degree.... i send you a fragment of my correspondence with the most illustrious sieur crochet," some french envoy or emissary, i conclude: "you perceive we go on very sweetly together, and are in a high strain. i am sorry i burnt one of his letters, wherein he assured me he would in the versailles antechamber itself speak of me to the king, and that my name had actually been mentioned at the king's levee. it certainly is not my ambition to choose this illustrious mortal to publish my renown; on the contrary, i should think it soiled by such a mouth, and prostituted if he were the publisher. but enough of the crochet: the kindest thing we can do for so contemptible an object is to say nothing of him at all." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xvi. , .]--... letter second is to jaagermeister hacke, captain of the potsdam guard; who stands in great nearness to the king's majesty; and, in fact, is fast becoming his factotum in army-details. we, with the duke of lorraine and majesty in person, saw his marriage to the excellency creutz's fraulein daughter not long since; who we trust has made him happy;--rich he is at any rate, and will be adjutant-general before long; powerful in such intricacies as this that the prince has fallen into. the letter has its obscurities; turns earnestly on recruits tall and short; nor have idle editors helped us, by the least hint towards "reading" it with more than the eyes. old dessauer at this time is commandant at magdeburg; buddenbrock, perhaps now passing by ruppin, we know for a high old general, fit to carry messages from majesty,--or, likelier, it may be lieutenant buddenbrock, his son, merely returning to ruppin? we can guess, that the flattering dessauer has sent his majesty five gigantic men from the magdeburg regiments, and that friedrich is ordered to hustle out thirty of insignificant stature from his own, by way of counter-gift to the dessauer;--which friedrich does instantly, but cannot, for his life, see how (being totally cashless) he is to replace them with better, or replace them at all! . to captain hacke, of the potsdam guard. "ruppin, th july, . "mein gott, what a piece of news buddenbrock has brought me! i am to get nothing out of brandenburg, my dear hacke? thirty men i had to shift out of my company in consequence [of buddenbrock's order]; and where am i now to get other thirty? i would gladly give the king tall men, as the dessauer at magdeburg does; but i have no money; and i don't get, or set up for getting, six men for one [thirty short for five tall], as he does. so true is that scripture: to him that hath shall be given; and from him that hath not shall be taken away even that he hath. "small art, that the prince of dessau's and the magdeburg regiments are fine, when they have money at command, and thirty men gratis over and above! i, poor devil, have nothing; nor shall have, all my days. prithee, dear hacke (bitte ihn, lieber hacke), think of all that: and if i have no money allowed, i must bring asmus [recruit unknown to me] alone as recruit next year; and my regiment will to a certainty be rubbish (kroop). once i had learned a german proverb-- 'versprechen und halten (to promise and to keep) ziemt wohl jungen und alten (is pretty for young and for old)!' "i depend alone on you (ihn), dear hacke; unless you help, there is a bad outlook. to-day i have knocked again [written to papa for money]; and if that does not help, it is over. if i could get any money to borrow, it would do; but i need not think of that. help me, then, dear hacke! i assure you i will ever remember it; who, at all times, am my dear herr captain's devoted (ganz ergebener) servant and friend, "friderich." [in german: _oeuvres,_ xxvii. part d, p. .] to which add only this note, two days later, to seckendorf; indicating that the process of "borrowing" has already, in some form, begun,--process which will have to continue: and to develop itself;--and that his majesty, as seckendorf well knows, is resolved upon his bohemian journey:-- . to the general feldzeugmeister graf von seckendorf. "ruppin, th july, . "my very dear general,--i have written to the king, that i owed you , thalers for the recruits; of which he says there are paid: there remain, therefore, , , which he will pay you directly. "the king is going to prague: i shall not be of the party [as you will]. to say truth, i am not very sorry; for it would infallibly give rise to foolish rumors in the world. at the same time, i should have much wished to see the emperor, empress, and prince of lorraine, for whom i have a quite particular esteem. i beg you, monsieur, to assure him of it;--and to assure yourself that i shall always be,--with a great deal of consideration, monsieur, mon tres-cher general, &c. frederic." and now--for the bohemian journey, "visit at kladrup" as they call it;--ruppin being left in this assiduous and wholesome, if rather hampered condition. kaiser karl and his empress, in this summer of , were at karlsbad, taking the waters for a few weeks. friedrich wilhelm, who had long, for various reasons, wished to see his kaiser face to face, thought this would be a good opportunity. the kaiser himself, knowing how it stood with the julich-and-berg and other questions, was not anxious for such an interview; still less were his official people; among whom the very ceremonial for such a thing was matter of abstruse difficulty. seckendorf accordingly had been instructed to hunt wide, and throw in discouragements, so far as possible;--which he did, but without effect. friedrich wilhelm had set his heart upon the thing; wished to behold for once a head of the holy roman empire, and supreme of christendom;--also to see a little, with his own eyes, into certain matters imperial. and so, since an express visit to karlsbad might give rise to newspaper rumors, and will not suit, it is settled, there shall be an accidental intersection of routes, as the kaiser travels homeward,--say in some quiet bohemian schloss or hunting-seat of the kaiser's own, whither the king may come incognito; and thus, with a minimum of noise, may the needful passage of hospitality be done. easy all of this: only the vienna ministers are dreadfully in doubt about the ceremonial, whether the imperial hand can be given (i forget if for kissing or for shaking)?--nay at last they manfully declare that it cannot be given; and wish his prussian majesty to understand that it must be refused. [forster, i. .] "res summae consequentiae," say they; and shake solemnly their big wigs.--nonsense (narrenpossen)! answers the prussian majesty: you, seckendorf, settle about quarters, reasonable food, reasonable lodgings; and i will do the ceremonial. seckendorf--worth glancing into, for biographical purposes, in this place--has written to his court: that as to the victual department, his majesty goes upon good common meat; flesh, to which may be added all manner of river-fish and crabs: sound old rhenish is his drink, with supplements of brown and of white beer. dinner-table to be spread always in some airy place, garden-house, tent, big clean barn,--majesty likes air, of all things;--will sleep, too, in a clean barn or garden-house: better anything than being stifled, thinks his majesty. who, for the rest, does not like mounting stairs. [seckendorf's report (in forster, i. ).] these are the regulations; and we need not doubt they were complied with. sunday, th july, , accordingly, his majesty, with five or six carriages, quits berlin, before the sun is up, as is his wont: eastward, by the road for frankfurt-on-oder; "intends to look at schulenburg's regiment," which lies in those parts,--schulenburg's regiment for one thing: the rest is secret from the profane vulgar. schulenburg's regiment (drawn up for church, i should suppose) is soon looked at; schulenburg himself, by preappointment, joins the travelling party, which now consists of the king and eight:--known figures, seven, buddenbrock, schulenburg, waldau, derschau, seckendorf; grumkow, captain hacke of the potsdam guard; and for eighth the dutch ambassador, ginkel, an accomplished knowing kind of man, whom also my readers have occasionally seen. their conversation, road-colloquy, could it interest any modern reader? it has gone all to dusk; we can know only that it was human, solid, for most part, and had much tobacco intermingled. they were all of the calvinistic persuasion, of the military profession; knew that life is very serious, that speech without cause is much to be avoided. they travelled swiftly, dined in airy places: they are a fact, they and their summer dust-cloud there, whirling through the vacancy of that dim time; and have an interest for us, though an unimportant one. the first night they got to grunberg; a pleasant town, of vineyards and of looms, across the silesian frontier. they are now turning more southeastward; they sleep here, in the kaiser's territory, welcomed by some official persons; who signify that the overjoyed imperial majesty has, as was extremely natural, paid the bill everywhere. on the morrow, before the shuttles awaken, friedrich wilhelm is gone again; towards the glogau region, intending for liegnitz that night. coursing rapidly through the green silesian lowlands, blue giant mountains (riesengebirge) beginning to rise on the southwestward far away. dines, at noon, under a splendid tent, in a country place called polkwitz, ["balkowitz," say pollnitz (ii. ) and forster; which is not the correct name.] with country nobility (sorrow on them, and yet thanks to them) come to do reverence. at night he gets to liegnitz. here is liegnitz, then. here are the katzbach and the blackwater (schwarzwasser), famed in war, your majesty; here they coalesce; gray ashlar houses (not without inhabitants unknown to us) looking on. here are the venerable walls and streets of liegnitz; and the castle which defied baty khan and his tartars, five hundred years ago. [ , the invasion, and battle here, of this unexpected barbarian.]--oh, your majesty, this liegnitz, with its princely castle, and wide rich territory, the bulk of the silesian lowland, whose is it if right were done? hm, his majesty knows full well; in seckendorf's presence, and going on such an errand, we must not speak of certain things. but the undisputed truth is, duke friedrich ii., come of the sovereign piasts, made that erbverbruderung, and his grandson's grandson died childless: so the heirship fell to us, as the biggest wig in the most benighted chancery would have to grant;--only the kaiser will not, never would; the kaiser plants his armed self on schlesien, and will hear no pleading. jagerndorf too, which we purchased with our own money---no more of that; it is too miserable! very impossible too, while we have berg and julich in the wind!-- at liegnitz, friedrich wilhelm "reviews the garrison, cavalry and infantry," before starting; then off for glatz, some sixty miles before we can dine. the goal is towards bohemia, all this while; and his majesty, had he liked the mountain-passes, and unlevel ways of the giant mountains, might have found a shorter road and a much more picturesque one. road abounding in gloomy valleys, intricate rock-labyrinths, haunts of sprite rubezahl, sources of the elbe and i know not what. majesty likes level roads, and interesting rock-labyrinths built by man rather than by nature. majesty makes a wide sweep round to the east of all that; leaves the giant mountains, and their intricacies, as a blue sierra far on his right,--had rather see glatz fortress than the caverns of the elbe; and will cross into bohemia, where the hills are fallen lowest. at glatz during dinner, numerous nobilities are again in waiting. glatz is in jagerndorf region; jagerndorf, which we purchased with our own money, is and remains ours, in spite of the mishaps of the thirty-years war;--ours, the darkest chancery would be obliged to say, from under the immensest wig! patience, your majesty; time brings roses!-- from glatz, after viewing the works, drilling the guard a little, not to speak of dining, and despatching the nobilities, his majesty takes the road again; turns now abruptly westward, across the hills at their lowest point; into bohemia, which is close at hand. lewin, nachod, these are the bohemian villages, with their remnant of czechs; not a prosperous population to look upon: but it is the kaiser's own kingdom: "king of bohemia" one of his titles ever since sigismund super-grammaticam's time. and here now, at the meeting of the waters (elbe one of them, a brawling mountain-stream) is jaromierz, respectable little town, with an imperial officiality in it,--where the official gentlemen meet us all in gala, "thrice welcome to this kingdom, your majesty!"--and signify that they are to wait upon us henceforth, while we do the kaiser's kingdom of bohemia that honor. it is tuesday night, th july, this first night in bohemia. the official gentlemen lead his majesty to superb rooms, new-hung with crimson velvet, and the due gold fringes and tresses,--very grand indeed; but probably not so airy as we wish. "this is the way the kaiser lodges in his journeys; and your majesty is to be served like him." the goal of our journey is now within few miles. wednesday, th july, , his majesty awakens again, within these crimson-velvet hangings with the gold tresses and fringes, not so airy as he could wish; despatches grumkow to the kaiser, who is not many miles off, to signify what honor we would do ourselves. it was on saturday last that the kaiser and kaiserinn, returning from karlsbad, illuminated prag with their serene presence; "attended high-mass, vespers," and a good deal of other worship, as the meagre old newspapers report for us, on that and the sunday following. and then, "on monday, at six in the morning," both the majesties left prag, for a place called chlumetz, southwestward thirty miles off, in the elbe region, where they have a pretty hunting castle; kaiser intending "sylvan sport for a few days," says the old rag of a newspaper, "and then to return to prag." it is here that grumkow, after a pleasant morning's drive of thirty miles with the sun on his back, finds kaiser karl vi.; and makes his announcements, and diplomatic inquiries what next. had friedrich wilhelm been in potsdam or wusterhausen, and heard that kaiser karl was within thirty miles of him, friedrich wilhelm would have cried, with open arms, come, come! but the imperial majesty is otherwise hampered; has his rhadamanthine aulic councillors, in vast amplitude of wig, sternly engaged in study of the etiquettes: they have settled that the meeting cannot be in chlumetz; lest it might lead to night's lodgings, and to intricacies. "let it be at kladrup," say the ample-wigged; kladrup, an imperial stud, or horse-farm, half a dozen miles from this; where there is room for nothing more than dinner. there let the meeting be, to-morrow at a set hour; and, in the mean time, we will take precautions for the etiquettes. so it is settled, and grumkow returns with the decision in a complimentary form. through konigsgratz, down the right bank of the upper elbe, on the morrow morning, thursday, st july, , friedrich wilhelm rushes on towards kladrup; finds that little village, with the horse-edifices, looking snug enough in the valley of elbe;--alights, welcomed by prince eugenio von savoye, with word that the kaiser is not come, but steadily expected soon. prinoe eugenio von savoye: ach gott, it is another thing, your highness, than when we met in the flanders wars, long since;--at malplaquet that morning, when your highness had been to brussels, visiting your lady mother in case of the worst! slightly grayer your highness is grown; i too am nothing like so nimble; the great duke, poor man, is dead!--prince eugenio von savoye, we need not doubt, took snuff, and answered in a sprightly appropriate manner. kladrup is a country house as well as a horse-farm: a square court is the interior, as i gather; the horse-buildings at a reverent distance forming the fourth side. in the centre of this court,--see what a contrivance the aulic councillors have hit upon,--there is a wooden stand built, with three staircases leading up to it, one for each person, and three galleries leading off from it into suites of rooms: no question of precedence here, where each of you has his own staircase and own gallery to his apartment! friedrich wilhelm looks down like a rhinoceros on all those cobwebberies. no sooner are the kaiser's carriage-wheels heard within the court, than friedrich wilhelm rushes down, by what staircase is readiest; forward to the very carriage-door; and flings his arms about the kaiser, embracing and embraced, like mere human friends glad to see one another. on these terms, they mount the wooden stand, majesty of prussia, kaiser, kaiserinn, each by his own staircase; see, for a space of two hours, the kaiser's foals and horses led about,--which at least fills up any gap in conversation that may threaten to occur. the kaiser, a little man of high and humane air, is not bright in talk; the empress, a brunswick princess of fine carriage, grand-daughter of old anton ulrich who wrote the novels, is likewise of mute humor in public life; but old nord-teutschland, cradle of one's existence; brunswick reminiscences; news of your imperial majesty's serene father, serene sister, brother-in-law the feldmarschall and insipid niece whom we have had the satisfaction to betroth lately,--furnish small-talk where needful. dinner being near, you go by your own gallery to dress. from the drawing-room, friedrich wilhelm leads out the kaiserinn; the kaiser, as head of the world, walks first, though without any lady. how they drank the healths, gave and received the ewers and towels, is written duly in the old books, but was as indifferent to friedrich wilhelm as it is to us; what their conversation was, let no man presume to ask. dullish, we should apprehend,--and perhaps better lost to us? but where there are tongues, there are topics: the loom of time wags always, and with it the tongues of men. kaiser and kaiserinn have both been in karlsbad lately; kaiser and kaiserinn both have sailed to spain, in old days, and been in sieges and things memorable: friedrich wilhelm, solid squire western of the north, does not want for topics, and talks as a solid rustic gentleman will. native politeness he knows on occasion; to etiquette, so far as concerns his own pretensions, he feels callous altogether,--dimly sensible that the eighteenth century is setting in, and that solid musketeers and not goldsticks are now the important thing. "i felt mad to see him so humiliate himself," said grumkow afterwards to wilhelmina, "j'enrageais dans ma peau:" why not? dinner lasted two hours; the empress rising, friedrich wilhelm leads her to her room; then retires to his own, and "in a quarter of an hour" is visited there by the kaiser; "who conducts him," in so many minutes exact by the watch, "back to the empress,"--for a sip of coffee, as one hopes; which may wind up the interview well. the sun is still a good space from setting, when friedrich wilhelm, after cordial adieus, neglectful of etiquette, is rolling rapidly towards nimburg, thirty miles off on the prag highway; and kaiser karl with his spouse move deliberately towards chlumetz to hunt again. in nimburg friedrich wilhelm sleeps, that night;--imperial majesties, in a much-tumbled world, of wild horses, ceremonial ewers, and eugenios of savoy and malplaquet, probably peopling his dreams. if it please heaven, there may be another private meeting, a day or two hence. nimburg, ah your majesty, son fritz will have a night in nimburg too;--riding slowly thither amid the wrecks of kolin battle, not to sleep well;--but that happily is hidden from your majesty. kolin, czaslau (chotusitz), elbe teinitz,--here in this kladrup region, your majesty is driving amid poor villages which will be very famous by and by. and prag itself will be doubly famed in war, if your majesty knew it, and the ziscaberg be of bloodier memory than the weissenberg itself!--his majesty, the morrow's sun having risen upon nimburg, rolls into prag successfully about eleven a.m., hill of zisca not disturbing him; goes to the klein-seite quarter, where an aulic councillor with fine palace is ready; all the cannon thundering from the walls at his majesty's advent; and prince eugenio, the ever-present, being there to receive his majesty,--and in fact to invite him to dinner this day at half-past twelve. it is friday, st of august, . by a singular chance, there is preserved for us in fassmann's book, what we may call an excerpt from the old _morning post_ of prag, bringing that extinct day into clear light again; recalling the vanished dinner-party from the realms of hades, as a thing that once actually was. the list of the dinner-guests is given complete; vanished ghosts, whom, in studying the old history-books, you can, with a kind of interest, fish up into visibility at will. there is prince eugenio von savoye at the bottom of the table, in the count-thun palace where he lodges; there bodily, the little man, in gold-laced coat of unknown cut; the eyes and the tempers bright and rapid, as usual, or more; nose not unprovided with snuff, and lips in consequence rather open. be seated, your majesty, high gentlemen all. a big chair-of-state stands for his majesty at the upper end of the table: his majesty will none of it; sits down close by prince eugene at the very bottom, and opposite prince alexander of wurtemberg, whom we had at berlin lately, a general of note in the turkish and other wars: here probably there will be better talk; and the big chair may preside over us in vacancy. which it does. prince alexander, imperial general against the turks, and heir-apparent of wurtemberg withal, can speak of many things,--hardly much of his serene cousin the reigning duke; whose health is in a too interesting state, the good though unlucky man. of the gravenitz sitting now in limbo, or travelling about disowned, toujours un lavement ses trousses, let there be deep silence. but the prince alexander can answer abundantly on other heads. he comes to his inheritance a few months hence; actual reigning duke, the poor serene cousin having died: and perhaps we shall meet, him transiently again. he is ancestor of the czars of russia, this prince alexander, who is now dining here in the body, along with friedrich wilhelm and prince eugene: paul of russia, unbeautiful paul, married the second time, from mumpelgard (what the french call montbeillard, in alsace), a serene grand-daughter of his, from whom come the czars,--thanks to her or not. prince alexander is ancestor withal of our present "kings of wurtemberg," if that mean anything: father (what will mean something) to the serene duke, still in swaddling-clothes, [born st january, ; carl eugen the name of him (michaelis, iii. ).] who will be son-in-law to princess wilhelmina of baireuth (could your majesty foresee it); and will do strange pranks in the world, upon poet schiller and others. him too, and brothers of his, were they born and become of size, we shall meet. a noticeable man, and not without sense, this prince alexander; who is now of a surety eating with us,--as we find by the extinct _morning post_ in fassmann's old book. of the others eating figures, stahrembergs, sternbergs, kinsky ambassador to england, kinsky ambassador to france, high austrian dignitaries, we shall say nothing;--who would listen to us? hardly can the hof-kanzler count von sinzendorf, supreme of aulic men, who holds the rudder of austrian state-policy, and probably feels himself loaded with importance beyond most mortals now eating here or elsewhere,--gain the smallest recognition from oblivious english readers of our time. it is certain he eats here on this occasion; and to his majesty he does not want for importance. his majesty, intent on julich and berg and other high matters, spends many hours next day, in earnest private dialogue with him. we mention farther, with satisfaction, that grumkow and ordnance-master seckendorf are both on the list, and all our prussian party, down to hacke of the potsdam grenadiers, friend schulenburg visibly eating among the others. also that the dinner was glorious (herrlich), and ended about five. [fassmann, p. .] after which his majesty went to two evening parties, of a high order, in the hradschin quarter or elsewhere; cards in the one (unless you liked to dance, or grin idle talk from you), and supper in the other. his majesty amused himself for four other days in prag, interspersing long earnest dialogues with sinzendorf, with whom he spent the greater part of saturday, [pollnitz, ii. .]--results as to julion and berg of a rather cloudy nature. on saturday came the kaiser, too, and kaiserinn, to their high nouse, the schloss in prag; and there occurred, in the incognito form, "as if by accident," three visits or counter-visits, two of them of some length. the king went dashing about; saw, deliberately or in glimpses, all manner of things,--from "the military hospital" to "the tongue of st. nepomuk" again. nepomuk, an imaginary saint of those parts; pitched into the moldau, as is fancied and fabled, by wicked king wenzel (king and deposed-kaiser, whom we have heard of), for speaking and refusing to speak; nepomuk is now become the patron of bridges, in consequence; stands there in bronze on the bridge of prag; and still shows a dried tongue in the world: [_die legende vom heiligen johann von nepomuk, _von d. otto abel (berlin, ); an acute bit of historical criticism.] this latter, we expressly find, his majesty saw. on sunday, his majesty, nothing of a strait-laced man, attended divine or quasi-divine worship in the cathedral church,--where high prince bishops delivered palliums, did histrionisms; "manifested the absurditat of papistry" more or less. coming out of the church, he was induced to step in and see the rooms of the schloss, or imperial palace. in one of the rooms, as if by accident, the kaiser was found lounging:--"extremely delighted to see your majesty!"--and they had the first of their long or considerable dialogues together; purport has not transpired. the second considerable dialogue was on the morrow, when imperial majesty, as if by accident, found himself in the count-nostitz palace, where friedrich wilhelm lodges. delighted to be so fortunate again! hope your majesty likes prag? eternal friendship, oh ja:--and as to julich and berg? particulars have not transpired. prag is a place full of sights: his majesty, dashing about in all quarters, has a busy time; affairs of state (julich and berg principally) alternating with what we now call the lions. zisca's drum, for instance, in the arsenal here? would your majesty wish to see zisca's own skin, which he bequeathed to be a drum when he had done with it?"narrenpossen!"--for indeed the thing is fabulous, though in character with zisca. or the council-chamber window, out of which "the three prag projectiles fell into the night of things," as a modern historian expresses it? three official gentlemen, flung out one morning, [ th ( d) may, (kohler, p. ).] feet, but fell on "sewerage," and did not die, but set the whole world on fire? that is too certain, as his majesty knows: that brought the crowning of the winter-king, battle of the weissenberg, thirty-years war; and lost us jagerndorf and much else. or wallenstein's palace,--did your majesty look at that? a thing worth glancing at, on the score of history and even of natural-history. that rugged son of steel and gunpowder could not endure the least noise in his sleeping-room or even sitting-room,--a difficulty in the soldiering way of life;--and had, if i remember, one hundred and thirty houses torn away in prag, and sentries posted all round in the distance, to secure silence for his much-meditating indignant soul. and yonder is the weissenberg, conspicuous in the western suburban region: and here in the eastern, close by, is the ziscaberg;--o heaven, your majesty, on this zisca-hill will be a new "battle of prag," which will throw the weissenberg into eclipse; and there is awful fighting coming on in these parts again! the third of the considerable dialogues in prag was on this same monday night; when his majesty went to wait upon the kaiserinn, and the kaiser soon accidentally joined them. precious gracious words passed;--on berg and julich nothing particular, that we hear;--and the high personages, with assurances of everlasting friendship, said adieu; and met no more in this world. on his toilet-table friedrich wilhelm found a gold tobacco-box, sent by the highest lady extant; gold tobacco-box, item gold tobacco-stopper or pipe-picker: such the parting gifts of her imperial majesty. very precious indeed, and grateful to the honest heart;--yet testifying too (as was afterwards suggested to the royal mind) what these high people think of a rustic orson king; and how they fling their nose into the air over his tabagies and him. on the morrow morning early, friedrich wilhelm rolls away again homewards, by karlsbad, by baireuth; all the cannon of prag saying thrice, good speed to him. "he has had a glorious time," said the berlin court-lady to queen sophie one evening, "no end of kindness from the imperial majesties: but has he brought berg and julich in his pocket?"--alas, not a fragment of them; nor of any solid thing whatever, except it be the gold tobacco-box; and the confirmation of our claims on east-friesland (cheap liberty to let us vindicate them if we can), if you reckon that a solid thing. these two imperial gifts, such as they are, he has consciously brought back with him;--and perhaps, though as yet unconsciously, a third gift of much more value, once it is developed into clearness: some dim trace of insight into the no-meaning of these high people; and how they consider us as mere orsons and wild bisons, whom they will do the honor to consume as provision, if we behave well! the great king friedrich, now crown-prince at ruppin, writing of this journey long afterwards,--hastily, incorrectly, as his wont is, in regard to all manner of minute outward particulars; and somewhat maltreating, or at least misplacing, even the inward meaning, which was well known to him without investigation, but which he is at no trouble to date for himself, and has dated at random,--says, in his thin rapid way, with much polished bitterness:-- "his [king friedrich wilhelm's] experience on this occasion served to prove that good-faith and the virtues, so contrary to the corruption of the age, do not succeed in it. politicians have banished sincerity (la candeur) into private life: they look upon themselves as raised quite above the laws which they enjoin on other people; and give way without reserve to the dictates of their own depraved mind. "the guaranty of julich and berg, which seckendorf had formally promised in the name of the emperor, went off in smoke; and the imperial ministers were in a disposition so opposed to prussia, the king saw clearly [not for some years yet] that if there was a court in europe intending to cross his interests, it was certainly that of vienna. this visit of his to the emperor was like that of solon to croesus [solon not i recognizable, in the grenadier costume, amid the tobacco-smoke, and dim accompaniments?]--and he returned to berlin, rich still in his own virtue. the most punctilious censors could find no fault in his conduct, except a probity carried to excess. the interview ended as those of kings often do: it cooled [not for some time yet], or, to say better, it extinguished the friendship there had been between the two courts. friedrich wilhelm left prag full of contempt [dimly, altogether unconsciously, tending to have some contempt, and in the end to be full of it] for the deceitfulness and pride of the imperial court: and the emperor's ministers disdained a sovereign who looked without interest on frivolous ceremonials and precedences. him they considered too ambitious in aiming at the berg-and-julich succession: them he regarded [came to regard] as a pack of knaves, who had broken their word, and were not punished for it." very bitter, your majesty; and, in all but the dates, true enough. but what a drop of concentrated absinthe follows next, by way of finish,--which might itself have corrected the dating! "in spite of so many subjects of discontent, the king wedded his eldest son [my not too fortunate self], out of complaisance to the vienna court, with a princess of brunswick-bevern, niece to the empress:"--bitter fact; necessitating change of date in the paragraphs just written. [_oeuvres de frederic (memoires de brandenbourg),_ i. , .] friedrich wilhelm, good soul, cherishes the imperial gifts, tobacco-box included;--claps the arms of east-friesland on his escutcheon; will take possession of friesland, if the present duke die heirless, let george of england say what he will. and so he rolls homeward, by way of baireuth. he stayed but a short while in karlsbad; has warned his wilhelmina that he will be at baireuth on the th of the month. [wilhelmina, ii. .] wilhelmina is very poorly; "near her time," as wives say; rusticating in "the hermitage," a country-house in the vicinity of baireuth; husband and father-in-law gone away, towards the bohemian frontier, to hunt boars. oh, the bustle and the bother that high lady had; getting her little country house stretched out to the due pitch to accommodate everybody,--especially her foolish sister of anspach and foolish brother-in-law and suite,--with whom, by negligence of servants and otherwise, there had like to have risen incurable quarrel on the matter. but the dexterous young wife, gladdest; busiest and weakliest of hopeful creatures, contrived to manage everything, like a female fieldmarshal, as she was. papa was delighted; bullied the foolish anspach people,--or would have done so, had not i intervened, that the matter might die. papa was gracious, happy; very anxious about me in my interesting state. "thou hast lodged me to perfection, good wilhelmina. here i find my wooden stools, tubs to wash in; all things as if i were at potsdam:--a good girl; and thou must take care of thyself, my child (mein kind)." at dinner, his majesty, dreading no ill, but intent only on the practical, got into a quiet, but to me most dreadful, lecture to the old margraf (my father-in-law) upon debt and money and arrears: how he, the margraf, was cheated at every turn, and led about by the nose, and kept weltering in debt: how he should let the young margraf go into the offices, to supervise, and withal to learn tax-matters and economics betimes. how he (friedrich wilhelm) would send him a fellow from berlin who understood such things, and would drill his scoundrels for him! to which the old margraf, somewhat flushed in the face, made some embarrassed assent, knowing it in fact to be true; and accepted the berlin man:--but he made me (his poor daughter-in-law) smart for it afterwards: "not quite dead yet, madam; you will have to wait a little!"--and other foolish speech; which required to be tempered down again by a judicious female mind. grumkow himself was pleasant on this occasion; told us of kladrup, the prag etiquettes; and how he was like to go mad seeing his majesty so humiliate himself. fraulein grumkow, a niece of his, belonging to the austrian court, who is over here with the rest, a satirical intriguing baggage, she, i privately perceive, has made a conquest of my foolish brother-in-law, the anspach margraf here;--and there will be jealousies, and a cat-and-dog life over yonder, worse than ever! tush, why should we talk?--these are the phenomena at baireuth; husband and father-in-law having quitted their boar-hunt and hurried home. after three days, friedrich wilhelm rolled away again; lodged, once more, at meuselwitz, with abstruse seckendorf, and his good old wife, who do the hospitalities well when they must, in spite of the single candle once visible. on the morrow after which, th august, , his majesty is off again, "at four in the morning," towards leipzig, intending to be home that night, though it is a long drive. at leipzig, not to waste time, he declines entering the town; positively will not, though the cannon-salvos are booming all round;--"breakfasts in the suburbs, with a certain horse-dealer (ross-handler) now deceased:" a respectable centaur, capable, no doubt, of bargaining a little about cavalry mountings, while one eats, with appetite and at one's ease. which done, majesty darts off again, the cannon-salvos booming out a second time;--and by assiduous driving gets home to potsdam about eight at night. and so has happily ended this journey to kladrup: [fassmann, pp. - ; wilhelmina, ii. - ; pollnitz, ii. - ; forster, i. - .] chapter v. -- ghost of the double-marriage rises; to no purpose. we little expected to see the "double-marriage" start up into vitality again, at this advanced stage; or, of all men, seckendorf, after riding , miles to kill the double-marriage, engaged in resuscitating it! but so it is: by endless intriguing, matchless in history or romance, the austrian court had, at such expense to the parties and to itself, achieved the first problem of stifling the harmless double-marriage; and now, the wind having changed, it is actually trying its hand the opposite way. wind is changed: consummate robinson has managed to do his thrice-salutary "treaty of vienna;" [ th march, , the tail of it (accession of the dutch, of spain, &c.) not quite coiled up till th february, : scholl, i. - .] to clout up all differences between the sea-powers and the kaiser, and restore the old law of nature,--kaiser to fight the french, sea-powers to feed and pay him while engaged in that necessary job. and now it would be gratifying to the kaiser, if there remained, on this side of the matter, no rent anywhere, if between his chief sea ally and his chief land one, the britannic majesty and the prussian, there prevailed a complete understanding, with no grudge left. the honor of this fine resuscitation project is ascribed to robinson by the vienna people: "robinson's suggestion," they always say: how far it was, or whether at all it was or not, nobody at present knows. guess rather, if necessary, it had been the kaiser's own! robinson, as the thing proceeds, is instructed from st. james's to "look on and not interfere;" [despatches, in state-paper office] prince eugene, too, we can observe, is privately against it, though officially urgent, and doing his best. who knows,--or need know? enough that high heads are set upon it; that the diplomatic wigs are all wagging with it, from about the beginning of october, ; and rumors are rife and eager, occasionally spurting out into the newspapers: double-marriage after all, hint the old rumors: double-marriage somehow or other; crown-prince to have his english princess, prince fred of england to console the brunswick one for loss of her crown-prince; or else prince karl of brunswick to--and half a dozen other ways; which rumor cannot settle to its satisfaction. the whispers upon it, from hanover, from vienna, at berlin, and from the diplomatic world in general, occasionally whistling through the newspapers, are manifold and incessant,--not worthy of the least attention from us here. [forster, iii. , , , , .] what is certain is, seckendorf, in the end of october, is corresponding on it with prince eugene; has got instructions to propose the matter in tobacco-parliament; and does not like it at all. grumkow, who perhaps has seen dangerous clouds threatening to mount upon him, and never been quite himself again in the royal mind since that questionable nosti business, dissuades earnestly, constantly. "nothing but mischief will come of such a proposal," says grumkow steadily; and for his own share absolutely declines concern in it. but prince eugene's orders are express; remonstrances, cunctations only strengthen the determination of the high heads or head: forward with this beautiful scheme! seckendorf, puckered into dangerous anxieties, but summoning all his cunning, has at length, after six weeks' hesitation, to open it, as if casually, in some favorable hour, to his prussian majesty. december th, , as we compute;--a kind of epoch in his majesty's life. prussian majesty stares wide-eyed; the breath as if struck out of him; repeats, "julich and berg absolutely secured, say you? but--hm, na!"--and has not yet taken in the unspeakable dimensions of the occurrence. "what? imperial majesty will make me break my word before all the world? imperial majesty has been whirling me about, face now to the east, face straightway round to the west: imperial majesty does not feel that i am a man and king at all; takes me for a mere machine, to be seesawed and whirled hither and thither, like a rotatory clothes-horse, to dry his imperial majesty's linen upon. tausend himmel--!" the full dimensions of all this did not rise clear upon the intellect of prussian majesty,--a slow intellect, but a true and deep, with terrible earthquakes and poetic fires lying under it,--not at once, or for months, perhaps years to come. but they had begun to dawn upon him painfully here; they rose gradually into perfect clearness: all things seen at last as what they were;--with huge submarine earthquake for consequence, and total change of mind towards imperial majesty and the drying of his pragmatic linen, in friedrich wilhelm. amiable orson, true to the heart; amiable, though terrible when too much put upon! this dawning process went on for above two years to come, painfully, reluctantly, with explosions, even with tears. but here, directly on the back of seckendorf's proposal, and recorded from a sure hand, is what we may call the peep-of-day in that matter: first session of tobacco-parliament, close after that event. event is on the th december, ; tobacco session is of the th;--glimpse of it is given by speaker grumkow himself; authentic to the bone. session of tobacco-parliament, th december, . grumkow, shattered into "headache" by this session, writes report of it to seckendorf before going to bed. look, reader, into one of the strangest political establishments; and how a strange majesty comports himself there, directly after such proposal from vienna to marry with england still!--"schwerin" is incidentally in from frankfurt-on-oder, where his regiment and business usually lie: the other honorable members we sufficiently know. majesty has been a little out of health lately; perceptibly worse the last two days. "syberg" is a gold-cook (alchemical gentleman, of very high professions), came to berlin some time ago; whom his majesty, after due investigation, took the liberty to hang. [forster, iii. .] readers can now understand what speaker grumkow writes, and despatches by his lackey, in such haste:-- "i never saw such a scene as this evening. derschau, schwerin, buddenbrock, rochow, flanz were present. we had been about an hour in the red room [languidly doing our tobacco off and on], when he [the king] had us shifted into the little room: drove out the servants; and cried, looking fixedly at me: 'no, i cannot endure it any longer! es stosset mir das herz ab,' cried he, breaking into german: 'it crushes the heart out of me; to make me do a bit of scoundrelism, me, me! i say; no, never! those damned intrigues; may the devil take them!'-- "ego (grumkow). 'of course, i know of nothing. but i do not comprehend your majesty's inquietude, coming thus on the sudden, after our common indifferent mood.' "king. 'what, make me a villain! i will tell it right out. certain damned scoundrels have been about betraying me. people that should have known me better have been trying to lead me into a dishonorable scrape'--("here i called in the hounds, je rompis les chiens," reports grumkow, "for he was going to blab everything; i interrupted, saying):-- "ego. 'but, your majesty, what is it ruffles you so? i know not what you talk of. your majesty has honorable people about you; and the man who lets himself be employed in things against your majesty must be a traitor.' "king. 'yes, ja, ja. i will do things that will surprise them. i--' "and, in short, a torrent of exclamations: which i strove to soften by all manner of incidents and contrivances; succeeding at last,"--by dexterity and time (but, at this point, the light is now blown out, and we see no more):--"so that he grew quite calm again, and the rest of the evening passed gently enough. "well, you see what the effect of your fine proposal is, which you said he would like! i can tell you, it is the most detestable incident that could have turned up. i know, you had your orders: but you may believe and depend on it, he has got his heart driven rabid by the business, and says, 'who knows now whether that villain syberg' gold-cook, that was hanged the other day, 'was not set on by some people to poison me?' in a word, he was like a madman. "what struck me most was when he repeated, 'only think! think! who would have expected it of people that should have known me; and whom i know, and have known, better than they fancy!'"--pleasant passage for seckendorf to chew the cud upon, through the night-watches! "in fine, as i was somewhat confused; and anxious, above all, to keep him from exploding with the secret, i cannot remember everything, but derschau, who was more at his ease, will be able to give you a full account. he [the king] said more than once: 'this was his sickness; the thing that ailed him, this: it gnawed his heart, and would be the death of him!' he certainly did not affect; he was in a very convulsive condition. [jarni-bleu, here is a piece of work, herr seckendorf!]--adieu, i have a headache." whereupon to bed. "grumkow." [forster, iii. , .] this hansard report went off direct to prince eugene; and ought to have been a warning to the high vienna heads and him. but they persisted not the less to please robinson or themselves; considering his prussian majesty to be, in fact, a mere rotatory clothes-horse for drying the imperial linen on; and to have no intellect at all, because he was without guile, and had no vulpinism at all. in which they were very much mistaken indeed. history is proud to report that the guileless prussian majesty, steadily attending to his own affairs in a wise manner, though hoodwinked and led about by black-artists as he had been, turned out when fact and nature subsequently pronounced upon it, to have had more intellect than the whole of them together,--to have been, in a manner, the only one of them that had any real "intellect," or insight into fact and nature, at all. consummate black-art diplomacies overnetting the universe, went entirely to water, running down the gutters to the last drop; and a prosperous drilled prussia, compact, organic in every part, from diligent plough-sock to shining bayonet and iron ramrod, remained standing. "a full treasury and , well-drilled men would be the one guarantee to your pragmatic sanction," prince eugene had said. but that bit of insight was not accepted at vienna; black-art, and diplomatic spider-webs from pole to pole, being thought the preferable method. enough, seckendorf was ordered to manipulate and soothe down the prussian majesty, as surely would be easy; to continue his galvanic operations on the double-match, or produce a rotation in the purposes of the royal breast. which he diligently strove to do, when once admitted to speech again;--grumkow steadily declining to meddle, and only queen sophie, as we can fancy, auguring joyfully of it. seckendorf, admitted to speech the third day after that explosive session, snuffles his softest, his cunningest;--continues to ride diligently, the concluding portion (such it proved) of his , miles with the prussian majesty up and down through winter and spring; but makes not the least progress, the reverse rather. their dialogues and arguings on the matter, here and elsewhere, are lost in air; or gone wholly to a single point unexpectedly preserved for us. one day, riding through some village, priort some say his majesty calls it, some give another name,--advocate seckendorf, in the fervor of pleading and arguing, said some word, which went like a sudden flash of lightning through the dark places of his majesty's mind, and never would go out of it again while he lived after. in passionate moments, his majesty spoke of it sometimes, a clangorous pathos in his tones, as of a thing hideous, horrible, never to be forgotten, which had killed him,--death from a friend's hand. "it was the th of april, , [all the books (forster, ii. , for one) mention this utterance of his majesty, on what occasion we shall see farther on; and give the date " ," not : but except as amended above, it refuses to have any sense visible at this distance. the village of priort is in the potsdam region.] riding through priort, a man said something to me: it was as if you had turned a dagger about in my heart. that man was he that killed me; there and then i got my death!" a strange passion in that utterance: the deep dumb soul of his majesty, of dumb-poetic nature, suddenly brought to a fatal clearness about certain things. "o kaiser, kaiser of the holy roman empire; and this is your return for my loyal faith in you? i had nearly killed my fritz, my wilhelmina, broken my feekin's heart and my own, and reduced the world to ruins for your sake. and because i was of faith more than human, you took me for a dog? o kaiser, kaiser!"--poor friedrich wilhelm, he spoke of this often, in excited moments, in his later years; the tears running down his cheeks, and the whole man melted into tragic emotion: but if fritz were there, the precious fritz whom he had almost killed for their sake, he would say, flashing out into proud rage, "there is one that will avenge me, though; that one! da steht einer, der mich rachen wird!" [forster, ii. .] yes, your majesty; perhaps that one. and it will be seen whether you were a rotatory clothes-horse to dry their pragmatic linen upon, or something different a good deal. chapter vi. -- king august meditating great things for poland. in the new-year's days of , the topic among diplomatic gentlemen, which set many big wigs wagging, and even tremulously came out in the gray leaves of gazetteers and garreteers of the period, was a royal drama, dimly supposed to be getting itself up in poland at this time. nothing known about it for certain; much guessed. "something in the rumor!" nods this wig; "nothing!" wags that, slightly oscillating; and gazetteers, who would earn their wages, and have a peck of coals apiece to glad them in the cold weather, had to watch with all eagerness the movements of king august, our poor old friend, the dilapidated-strong, who is in saxony at present; but bound for warsaw shortly,--just about lifting the curtain on important events, it is thought and not thought. here are the certainties of it, now clear enough, so far as they deserve a glance from us. january th, , august the dilapidated-strong of poland has been in saxony, looking after his poor electorate a little; and is on the road from dresden homewards again;--will cross a corner of the prussian dominions, as his wont is on such occasions. prussian majesty, if not appearing in person, will as usual, by some official of rank, send a polite well-speed-you as the brother majesty passes. this time, however, it was more than politeness; the polish majesty having, as was thought, such intricate affairs in the wind. let grumkow, the fittest man in all ways, go, and do the greeting to his old patroon: greeting, or whatever else may be needed. patroon left dresden,--"having just opened the carnival" or fashionable season there, opened and nothing more,--january th, ; [fassmann, _leben friedrich augusti des grossen,_ p. .] being in haste home for a polish diet close at hand. on which same day grumkow, we suppose, drives forth from berlin, to intersect him, in the neumark, about crossen; and have a friendly word again, in those localities, over jolly wine. intersection took place duly;--there was exuberant joy on the part of the patroon; and such a dinner and night of drinking, as has seldom been. abstruse things lie close ahead of august the dilapidated-strong, important to prussia, and for which prussia is important; let grumkow try if he can fish the matter into clearness out of these wine-cups. and then august, on his side, wishes to know what the kaiser said at kladrup lately; there is much to be fished into clearness. many are the times august the strong has made this journey; many are the carousals, on such and other occasions, grumkow and he have had. but there comes an end to all things. this was their last meeting, over flowing liquor or otherwise, in the world. satirical history says, they drank all night, endeavoring to pump one another, and with such enthusiasm that they never recovered it; drank themselves to death at crossen on that occasion. [_oeuvres de frederic (memoires de brandenbourg),_ i. .] it is certain august died within three weeks; and people said of grumkow, who lived six years longer, he was never well after this bout. is it worth any human creature's while to look into the plans of this precious pair of individuals? without the least expense of drinking, the secrets they were pumping out of each other are now accessible enough,--if it were of importance now. one glance i may perhaps commend to the reader, out of these multifarious note-books in my possession:-- "august, by change of his religion, and other sad operations, got to be what they called the king of poland, thirty five years ago; but, though looking glorious to the idle public, it has been a crown of stinging-nettles to the poor man,--a sedan-chair running on rapidly, with the bottom broken out! to say nothing of the scourgings he got, and poor saxony along with him, from charles xii., on account of this sovereignty so called, what has the thing itself been to him? in poland, for these thirty-five years, the individual who had least of his real will done in public matters has been, with infinite management, and display of such good-humor as at least deserves credit, the nominal sovereign majesty of poland. anarchic grandees have been kings over him; ambitious, contentious, unmanageable;--very fanatical too, and never persuaded that august's apostasy was more than a sham one, not even when he made his prince apostatize too. their sovereignty has been a mere peck of troubles, disgraces and vexations: for those thirty-five years, an ever-boiling pot of mutiny, contradiction, insolence, hardly tolerable even to such nerves as august's. "august, for a long time back, has been thinking of schemes to clap some lid upon all that. to make the sovereignty hereditary in his house: that, with the good saxon troops we have, would be a remedy;--and in fact it is the only remedy. john casimir (who abdicated long ago, in the great elector's time, and went to paris,--much charmed with ninon de l'enclos there) told the polish diets, with their liberum veto, and 'right of confederation' and rebellion, they would bring the country down under the feet of mankind, and reduce their republic to zero one day, if they persisted. they have not failed to persist. with some hereditary king over it, and a regulated saxony to lean upon: truly might it not be a change to the better? to the worse, it could hardly be, thinks august the strong; and goes intent upon that method, this long while back;--and at length hopes now, in few days longer, at the diet just assembling, to see fruits appear, and the thing actually begin. "the difficulties truly are many; internal and external:--but there are calculated methods, too. for the internal: get up, by bribery, persuasion, some visible minority to countenance you; with these manoeuvre in the diets; on the back of these, the , saxon troops. but then what will the neighboring kings say? the neighboring kings, with their big-mouthed manifestoes, pities for an oppressed republic, overwhelming forces, and invitations to 'confederate' and revolt: without their tolerance first had, nothing can be done. that is the external difficulty. for which too there is a remedy. cut off sufficient outlying slices of poland; fling these to the neighboring kings to produce consent: partition of poland, in fact; large sections of its territory sliced away: that will be the method, thinks king august. "neighboring kings, kaiser, prussia, russia, to them it is not grievous that poland should remain in perennial anarchy, in perennial impotence; the reverse rather: a dead horse, or a dying, in the next stall,--he at least will not kick upon us, think the neighboring kings. and yet,--under another similitude,--you do not like your next-door neighbor to be always on the point of catching fire; smoke issuing, thicker or thinner, through the slates of his roof, as a perennial phenomenon? august will conciliate the neighboring kings. russia, big-cheeked anne czarina there, shall have not only courland peaceably henceforth, but the ukraine, lithuania, and other large outlying slices; that surely will conciliate russia. to austria, on its hungarian border, let us give the country of zips;--nay there are other sops we have for austria. pragmatic sanction, hitherto refused as contrary to plain rights of ours,--that, if conceded to a spectre-hunting kaiser? to friedrich wilhelm we could give west-preussen; west-preussen torn away three hundred years ago, and leaving a hiatus in the very continuity of friedrich wilhelm: would not that conciliate him? of all enemies or friends, friedrich wilhelm, close at hand with , men capable of fighting at a week's, notice, is by far the most important. "these are august's plans: west-preussen for the nearest neighbor; zips for austria; ukraine, lithuania, and appendages for the russian czarina: handsome sections to be sliced off, and flung to good neighbors; as it were, all the outlying limbs and wings of the polish territory sliced off; compact body to remain, and become, by means of august and saxon troops, a kingdom with government, not an imaginary republic without government any longer. in fact, it was the 'partition of poland,' such as took effect forty years after, and has kept the newspapers weeping ever since. partition of poland,--minus the compact interior held under government, by a king with saxon troops or otherwise. compact interior, in that effective partition, forty years after, was left as anarchic as ever; and had to be again partitioned, and cut away altogether,--with new torrents of loud tears from the newspapers, refusing to be comforted to this day. "it is not said that friedrich wilhelm had the least intention of countenancing august in these dangerous operations, still less of going shares with august; but he wished much, through grumkow, to have some glimpse into the dim program of them; and august wished much to know friedrich wilhelm's and grumkow's humor towards them. grumkow and august drank copiously, or copiously pressed drink on one another, all night ( th- th january, , as i compute; some say at crossen, some say at frauendorf a royal domain near by), with the view of mutually fishing out those secrets;--and killed one another in the business, as is rumored." what were grumkow's news at home-coming, i did not hear; but he continues very low and shaky;--refuses, almost with horror, to have the least hand in seckendorf's mad project, of resuscitating the english double-marriage, and breaking off the brunswick one, at the eleventh hour and after word pledged. seckendorf himself continues to dislike and dissuade: but the high heads at vienna are bent on it; and command new strenuous attempts;--literally at the last moment; which is now come. chapter vii. -- crown-prince's marriage. since november last, wilhelmina is on visit at berlin,--first visit since her marriage;--she stays there for almost ten months; not under the happiest auspices, poor child. mamma's reception of her, just off the long winter journey, and extenuated with fatigues and sickly chagrins, was of the most cutting cruelty: "what do you want here? what is a mendicant like you come hither for?" and next night, when papa himself came home, it was little better. "ha, ha," said he, "here you are; i am glad to see you." then holding up a light, to take view of me: "how changed you are!" said he: "what is little frederika [my little baby at baireuth] doing?" and on my answering, continued: "i am sorry for you, on my word. you have not bread to eat; and but for me you might go begging. i am a poor man myself, not able to give you much; but i will do what i can. i will give you now and then a twenty or a thirty shillings (par dix ou douze florins), as my affairs permit: it will always be something to assuage your want. and you, madam," said he, turning to the queen, "you will sometimes give her an old dress; for the poor child has n't a shift to her back." [wilhelmina, ii. .] this rugged paternal banter was taken too literally by wilhelmina, in her weak state; and she was like "to burst in her skin," poor princess. so that,--except her own good hereditary prince, who was here "over from pasewalk" and his regimental duties, waiting to welcome her; in whose true heart, full of honest human sunshine towards her, she could always find shelter and defence,--native country and court offer little to the brave wilhelmina. chagrins enough are here: chagrins also were there. at baireuth our old father margraf has his crotchets, his infirmities and outbreaks; takes more and more to liquor; and does always keep us frightfully bare in money. no help from papa here, either, on the finance side; no real hope anywhere (thinks seckendorf, when we consult him), except only in the margraf's death: "old margraf will soon drink himself dead," thinks seckendorf; "and in the mean while there is vienna, and a noble kaiserinn who knows her friends in case of extremity!" thinks he. [wilhelmina, ii. - .] poor princess, in her weak shattered state, she has a heavy time of it; but there is a tough spirit in her; bright, sharp, like a swift sabre, not to be quenched in any coil; but always cutting its way, and emerging unsubdued. one of the blessings reserved for her here, which most of all concerns us, was the occasional sight of her brother. brother in a day or two [" th november," she says; which date is wrong, if it were of moment (see _oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. part st, where their correspondence is).] ran over from ruppin, on short leave, and had his first interview. very kind and affectionate; quite the old brother again; and "blushed" when, at supper, mamma and the princesses, especially that wicked charlotte (papa not present), tore up his poor bride at such a rate. "has not a word to answer you, but yes or no," said they; "stupid as a block." "but were you ever at her toilette?" said the wicked charlotte: "out of shape, completely: considerable waddings, i promise you: and then"--still worse features, from that wicked charlotte, in presence of the domestics here. wicked charlotte; who is to be her sister-in-law soon;--and who is always flirting with my husband, as if she liked that better!--crown-prince retired, directly after supper: as did i, to my apartment, where in a minute or two he joined me. "to the question, how with the king and you? he answered, 'that his situation was changing every moment; that sometimes he was in favor, sometimes in disgrace;--that his chief happiness consisted in absence. that he led a soft and tranquil life with his regiment at ruppin; study and music his principal occupations; he had built himself a house there, and laid out a garden, where he could read, and walk about.' then as to his bride, i begged him to tell me candidly if the portrait the queen and my sister had been making of her was the true one. 'we are alone,' replied he, 'and i will conceal nothing from you. the queen, by her miserable intrigues, has been the source of our misfortunes. scarcely were you gone when she began again with england; wished to substitute our sister charlotte for you; would have had me undertake to contradict the king's will again, and flatly refuse the brunswick match;--which i declined. that is the source of her venom against this poor princess. as to the young lady herself, i do not hate her so much as i pretend; i affect complete dislike, that the king may value my obedience more. she is pretty, a complexion lily-and-rose; her features delicate; face altogether of a beautiful person. true, she has no breeding, and dresses very ill: but i flatter myself, when she comes hither, you will have the goodness to take her in hand. i recommend her to you, my dear sister; and beg your protection for her.' it is easy to judge, my answer would be such as he desired." [wilhelmina, ii. .] for which small glimpse of the fact itself, at first-hand, across a whirlwind of distracted rumors new and old about the fact, let us be thankful to wilhelmina. seckendorf's hopeless attempts to resuscitate extinct english things, and make the prussian majesty break his word, continue to the very last; but are worth no notice from us. grumkow's drinking-bout with the dilapidated-strong at crossen, which follows now in january, has been already noticed by us. and the dilapidated-strong's farewell next morning,--"adieu, dear grumkow; i think i shall not see you again!" as he rolled off towards warsaw and the diet,--will require farther notice; but must stand over till this marriage be got done. of which latter event,--wilhelmina once more kindling the old dark books into some light for us,--the essential particulars are briefly as follows. monday, th june, , the crown-prince is again over from ruppin: king, queen and crown-prince are rendezvoused at potsdam; and they set off with due retinues towards wolfenbuttel, towards salzdahlum the ducal schloss there; sister wilhelmina sending blessings, if she had them, on a poor brother in such interesting circumstances. mamma was "plunged in black melancholy;" king not the least; in the crown-prince nothing particular to be remarked. they reached salzdahlum, duke ludwig rudolf the grandfather's palace, one of the finest palaces, with gardens, with antiques, with picture-galleries no end; a mile or two from wolfenbuttel; built by old anton ulrich, and still the ornament of those parts;--reached salzdahlum, wednesday the th; where bride, with father, mother, much more grandfather, grandmother, and all the sublimities interested, are waiting in the highest gala; wedding to be on friday next. friday morning, this incident fell out, notable and somewhat contemptible: seckendorf, who is of the retinue, following his bad trade, visits his majesty who is still in bed:--"pardon, your majesty: what shall i say for excuse? here is a letter just come from vienna; in prince eugene's hand;--prince eugene, or a higher, will say something, while it is still time!" majesty, not in impatience, reads the little prince's and the kaiser's letter. "give up this, we entreat you for the last time; marry with england after all!" majesty reads, quiet as a lamb; lays the letter under his pillow; will himself answer it; and does straightway, with much simple dignity, to the effect, "for certain, never, my always respected prince!" [account of the interview by seckendorf, in forster, iii, - ; copy of the answer itself is in the state-paper office here.] seckendorf, having thus shot his last bolt, does not stay many hours longer at salzdahlum;--may as well quit friedrich wilhelm altogether, for any good he will henceforth do upon him. this is the one incident between the arrival at salzdahlum and the wedding there. same friday, th june, , at a more advanced hour, the wedding itself took effect; wedding which, in spite of the mad rumors and whispers, in the newspapers, diplomatic despatches and elsewhere, went off, in all respects, precisely as other weddings do; a quite human wedding now and afterwards. officiating clergyman was the reverend herr mosheim: readers know with approval the _ecclesiastical history_ of mosheim: he, in the beautiful chapel of the schloss, with majesties and brunswick sublimities looking on, performed the ceremony: and crown-prince friedrich of prussia has fairly wedded the serene princess elizabeth christina of brunswick-bevern, age eighteen coming, manners rather awkward, complexion lily-and-rose;--and history is right glad to have done with the wearisome affair, and know it settled on any tolerable terms whatever. here is a note of friedrich's to his dear sister, which has been preserved:-- to princess wilhelmina of baireuth, at berlin. "salzdahlum, noon, th june, . "my dear sister,--a minute since, the whole ceremony was got finished; and god be praised it is over! i hope you will take it as a mark of my friendship that i give you the first news of it. "i hope i shall have the honor to see you again soon; and to assure you, my dear sister, that i am wholly yours (tout a vous). i write in great haste; and add nothing that is merely formal. adieu. [_oeuvres,_ xxvii. part st, p. .] frederic." one keyserling, the prince's favorite gentleman, came over express, with this letter and the more private news; wilhelmina being full of anxieties. keyserling said, the prince was inwardly "well content with his lot; though he had kept up the old farce to the last; and pretended to be in frightful humor, on the very morning; bursting out upon his valets in the king's presence, who reproved him, and looked rather pensive,"--recognizing, one hopes, what a sacrifice it was. the queen's majesty, keyserling reported, "was charmed with the style and ways of the brunswick court; but could not endure the princess-royal [new wife], and treated the two duchesses like dogs (comme des chiens)." [wilhelmina, ii. .] reverend abbot mosheim (such his title; head churchman, theological chief of helmstadt university in those parts, with a couple of extinct little abbacies near by, to help his stipend) preached next sunday, "on the marriage of the righteous,"--felicitous appropriate sermon, said a grateful public; [text, psalm, xcli. ; "sermon printed in mosheim's _works."_]--and in short, at salzdahlum all goes, if not as merry as some marriage-bells, yet without jarring to the ear. on tuesday, both the majesties set out towards potsdam again; "where his majesty," having business waiting, "arrived some time before the queen." thither also, before the week ends, crown-prince friedrich with his bride, and all the serenities of brunswick escorting, are upon the road,--duly detained by complimentary harangues, tedious scenic evolutions at magdeburg and the intervening towns;--grand entrance of the princess-royal into berlin is not till the th, last day of the week following. that was such a day as wilhelmina never saw; no sleep the night before; no breakfast can one taste: between charlottenburg and berlin, there is a review of unexampled splendor; "above eighty carriages of us," and only a tent or two against the flaming june sun: think of it! review begins at four a.m.;--poor wilhelmina thought she would verily have died, of heat and thirst and hunger, in the crowded tent, under the flaming june sun; before the review could end itself, and march into berlin, trumpeting and salvoing, with the princess-royal at the head of it. [wilhelmina, ii. - .] of which grand flaming day, and of the unexampled balls and effulgent festivities that followed, "all berlin ruining itself in dresses and equipages," we will say nothing farther; but give only, what may still have some significance for readers, wilhelmina's portrait of the princess-royal on their first meeting, which had taken place at potsdam two days before. the princess-royal had arrived at potsdam too, on that occasion, across a grand review; majesty himself riding out, majesty and crown-prince, who had preceded her a little, to usher in the poor young creature;--thursday, june th, :-- "the king led her into the queen's apartment; then seeing, after she had saluted us all, that she was much heated and dispowdered (depoudree), he bade my brother take her to her own room. i followed them thither. my brother said to her, introducing me: 'this is a sister i adore, and am obliged to beyond measure. she has had the goodness to promise me that she will take care of you, and help you with her good counsel; i wish you to respect her beyond even the king and queen, and not to take the least step without her advice: do you understand?' i embraced the princess-royal, and gave her every assurance of my attachment; but she remained like a statue, not answering a word. her people not being come, i repowdered her myself, and readjusted her dress a little, without the least sign of thanks from her, or any answer to all my caressings. my brother got impatient at last; and said aloud: 'devil's in the blockhead (peste soit de la bete): thank my sister, then!' she made me a courtesy, on the model of that of agnes in the ecole des femmes. i took her back to the queen's apartment; little edified by such a display of talent. "the princess-royal is tall; her figure is not fine: stooping slightly, or hanging forward, as she walks or stands, which gives her an awkward air. her complexion is of dazzling whiteness, heightened by the liveliest colors: her eyes are pale blue, and not of much promise for spiritual gifts. mouth small; features generally small,--dainty (mignons) rather than beautiful:--and the countenance altogether is so innocent and infantine, you would think this head belonged to a child of twelve. her hair is blond, plentiful, curling in natural locks. teeth are unhappily very bad, black and ill set; which are a disfigurement in this fine face. she has no manners, nor the least vestige of tact; has much difficulty in speaking and making herself understood: for most part you are obliged to guess what she means; which is very embarrassing." [wilhelmina, ii. - .] the berlin gayeties--for karl, heir-apparent of brunswick, brother to this princess-royal, wedded his charlotte, too, about a week hence [ d july, .]--did not end, and the serene guests disappear, till far on in july. after which an inspection with papa; and then friedrich got back to ruppin and his old way of life there. intrinsically the old studious, quietly diligent way of life; varied by more frequent excursions to berlin;--where as yet the princess-royal usually resides, till some fit residence be got ready in the ruppin country for a wedded crown-prince and her. the young wife had an honest guileless heart; if little articulate intellect, considerable inarticulate sense; did not fail to learn tact, perpendicular attitude, speech enough;--and i hope kept well clear of pouting (faire la fachee), a much more dangerous rock for her. with the gay temper of eighteen, and her native loyalty of mind, she seems to have shaped herself successfully to the prince's taste; and growing yearly gracefuler and better-looking was an ornament and pleasant addition to his ruppin existence. these first seven years, spent at berlin or in the ruppin quarter, she always regarded as the flower of her life. [busching (autobiography, _beitrage,_ vi.) heard her say so, in advanced years.] papa, according to promise, has faithfully provided a crown-prince palace at berlin; all trimmed and furnished, for occasional residences there; the late "government house" (originally schomberg house), new-built,--which is, to this day, one of the distinguished palaces of berlin. princess-royal had schonhausen given her; a pleasant royal mansion some miles out of berlin, on the ruppin side. furthermore, the prince-royal, being now a wedded man, has, as is customary in such case, a special amt (government district) set apart for his support; the "amt of ruppin," where his business lies. what the exact revenues of ruppin are, is not communicated; but we can justly fear they were far too frugal,--and excused the underhand borrowing, which is evident enough as a painful shadow in the prince's life henceforth. he does not seem to have been wasteful; but he borrows all round, under sevenfold secrecy, from benevolent courts, from austria, russia, england: and the only pleasant certainty we notice in such painful business is, that, on his accession, he pays with exactitude,--sends his uncle george of england, for example, the complete amount in rouleaus of new coin, by the first courier that goes. [despatch (of adjacent date) in the state-paper office here.] a thought too frugal, his prussian majesty; but he means to be kind, bountiful; and occasionally launches out into handsome munificence. this very autumn, hearing that the crown-prince and his princess fancied reinsberg; an old castle in their amt ruppin, some miles north of them,--his majesty, without word spoken, straightway purchased reinsberg, schloss and territory, from the owner; gave it to his crown-prince, and gave him money to new-build it according to his mind. [ d oct. - th march, (preuss, i. ).] which the crown-prince did with much interest, under very wise architectural advice, for the next three years; then went into it, to reside;--yet did not cease new-building, improving, artistically adorning, till it became in all points the image of his taste. a really handsome princely kind of residence, that of reinsberg:--got up with a thrift that most of all astonishes us. in which improved locality we shall by and by look in upon him again. for the present we must to warsaw, where tragedies and troubles are in the wind, which turn out to be not quite without importance to the crown-prince and us. chapter viii. -- king august dies; and poland takes fire. meanwhile, over at warsaw, there has an event fallen out. friedrich, writing rapidly from vague reminiscence, as he often does, records it as "during the marriage festivities;" [_oeuvres (memoires de brandenbourg),_ i. .] but it was four good months earlier. event we must now look at for a moment. in the end of january last, we left grumkow in a low and hypochondriacal state, much shaken by that drinking-bout at crossen, when the polish majesty and he were so anxious to pump one another, by copious priming with hungary wine. about a fortnight after, in the first days of february following (day is not given), grumkow reported something curious. "in my presence," says wilhelmina, "and that of forty persons," for the thing was much talked about, "grumkow said to the king one morning: 'ah sire, i am in despair; the poor patroon is dead! i was lying broad awake, last night: all on a sudden, the curtains of my bed flew asunder: i saw him; he was in a shroud: he gazed fixedly at me: i tried to start up, being dreadfully taken; but the phantom disappeared!'" here was an illustrious ghost-story for berlin, in a day or two when the courier came. "died at the very time of the phantom; death and phantom were the same night," say wilhelmina and the miraculous berlin public,--but do not say what night for either of them it was. [wilhelmina, ii. . event happened, st february; news of it came to berlin, th february: fassmann (p. ); buchholz; &c.] by help of which latter circumstance the phantom becomes reasonably unmiraculous again, in a nervous system tremulous from drink. "they had been sad at parting," wilhelmina says, "having drunk immensities of hungary wine; the patroon almost weeping over his grumkow: 'adieu, my dear grumkow,' said he; 'i shall never see you more!'" miraculous or not, the catastrophe is true: august, the once physically strong, lies dead;--and there will be no partition of poland for the present. he had the diet ready to assemble; waiting for him, at warsaw; and good trains laid in the diet, capable of fortunate explosion under a good engineer. engineer, alas! the grumkow drinking-bout had awakened that old sore in his foot: he came to warsaw, eager enough for business; but with his stock of strength all out, and death now close upon him. the diet met, th- th january; engineer all alert about the good trains laid, and the fortunate exploding of them; when, almost on the morrow--"inflammation has come on!" said the doctors, and were futile to help farther. the strong body, and its life, was done; and nothing remained but to call in the archbishop, with his extreme unctions and soul-apparatus. august made no moaning or recalcitrating; took, on the prescribed terms, the inevitable that had come. has been a very great sinner, he confesses to the archbishop: "i have not at present strength to name my many and great sins to your reverence," said he; "i hope for mercy on the"--on the usual rash terms. terms perhaps known to august to be rash; to have been frightfully rash; but what can he now do? archbishop thereupon gives absolution of his sins; archbishop does,--a baddish, unlikely kind of man, as august well knows. august "laid his hand on his eyes," during such sad absolution-mummery; and in that posture had breathed his last, before it was well over. ["sunday, st february, , quarter past a.m." (fassmann, _leben frederici augusti konigs in pohlen,_ pp. - ).] unhappy soul; who shall judge him?--transcendent king of edacious flunkies; not without fine qualities, which he turned to such a use amid the temptations of this world! poland has to find a new king. his death brought vast miseries on poland; kindled foolish europe generally into fighting, and gave our crown-prince his first actual sight and experience of the facts of war. for which reason, hardly for another, the thing having otherwise little memorability at present, let us give some brief synopsis of it, the briefer the better. here, excerpted from multifarious old note-books, are some main heads of the affair:-- "on the disappearance of august the strong, his plans of partitioning poland disappeared too, and his fine trains in the diet abolished themselves. the diet had now nothing to do, but proclaim the coming election, giving a date to it; and go home to consider a little whom they would elect. ["interregnum proclaimed," th february; preliminary diet to meet st april;--meets; settles, before may is done, that the election shall begin th august: it must end in six weeks thereafter, by law of the land.] a question weighty to poland. and not likely to be settled by poland alone or chiefly; the sublime republic, with liberum veto, and diets capable only of anarchic noise, having now reached such a stage that its neighbors everywhere stood upon its skirts; asking, 'whitherward, then, with your anarchy? not this way;--we say, that way!'-and were apt to get to battle about it, before such a thing could be settled. a house, in your street, with perpetual smoke coming through the slates of it, is not a pleasant house to be neighbor to! one honest interest the neighbors have, in an election crisis there, that the house do not get on fire, and kindle them. dishonest interests, in the way of theft and otherwise, they may have without limit. "the poor house, during last election crisis,--when august the strong was flung out, and stanislaus brought in; crisis presided over by charles xii., with czar peter and others hanging on the outskirts, as opposition party,--fairly got into flame; [description of it in kohler, _munzbelustigungen,_ vi. - .] but was quenched down again by that stout swede; and his stanislaus, a native pole, was left peaceably as king for the years then running. years ran; and stanislaus was thrown out, charles himself being thrown out; and had to make way for august the strong again:--an ejected stanislaus: king only in title; known to most readers of this time. [stanislaus lesczinsky, "woywode of posen," born : king of poland, charles xii. superintending, (age then ); driven out , went to charles xii. at bender; to zweibruck, ; thence, on charles's death, to weissenburg (alsace, or strasburg country): daughter married to louis xv., . age now .--hubner, t. ; _histoire de stanislas i., roi de pologlne_ (english translation, london, ), pp. - ; &c.] "poor man, he has been living in zweibruck, in weissenburg and such places, in that debatable french-german region,--which the french are more and more getting stolen to themselves, in late centuries:--generally on the outskirts of france he lives; having now connections of the highest quality with france. he has had fine country-houses in that zweibruck (two-bridge, deux-ponts) region; had always the ghost of a court there; plenty of money,--a sinecure country-gentleman life;--and no complaints have been heard from him. charles xii., as proprietor of deux-ponts, had first of all sent him into those parts for refuge; and in general, easy days have been the lot of stanislaus there. "nor has history spoken of him since, except on one small occasion: when the french politician gentlemen, at a certain crisis of their game, chose a daughter of his to be wife for young louis xv., and bring royal progeny, of which they were scarce. this was in - ; duc de bourbon, and other politicians male and female, finding that the best move. a thing wonderful to the then gazetteers, for nine days; but not now worth much talk. the good young lady, it is well known, a very pious creature, and sore tried in her new station, did bring royal progeny enough,--and might as well have held her hand, had she foreseen what would become of them, poor souls! this was a great event for stanislaus, the sinecure country-gentleman, in his french-german rustication. one other thing i have read of him, infinitely smaller, out of those ten years: in zweibruck country, or somewhere in that french-german region, he 'built a pleasure-cottage,' conceivable to the mind, 'and called it schuhflick (shoe-patch),' [busching, _erdbeschreibung,_ v. .]--a name that touches one's fancy on behalf of the innocent soul. other fact i will not remember of him. he is now to quit shoe-patch and his pleasant weissenburg castle; to come on the public stage again, poor man; and suffer a second season of mischances and disgraces still worse than the first. as we shall see presently;--a new polish election crisis having come! "what individual the polish grandees would have chosen for king if entirely left alone to do it? is a question not important; and indeed was never asked, in this or in late elections. not the individual who could have been a king among them were they, for a long time back, in the habit of seeking after; not him, but another and indeed reverse kind of individual,--the one in whom there lay most nourishment, nourishment of any kind, even of the cash kind, for a practical polish grandee. so that the question was no longer of the least importance, to poland or the universe; and in point of fact, the frugal destinies had ceased to have it put, in that quarter. not grandees of poland; but intrusive neighbors, carrying grandees of poland 'in their breeches-pocket' (as our phrase is), were the voting parties. to that pass it was come. under such stern penalty had poland and its grandees fallen, by dint of false voting: the frugal destinies had ceased to ask about their vote; and they were become machines for voting with, or pistols for fighting with, by bad neighbors who cared to vote! nor did the frugal destinies consider that the proper method, either; but had, as we shall see, determined to abolish that too, in about forty years more." of the candidates; of the conditions. how the election went. it was under such omens that the polish election of had to transact itself. austria, russia, prussia, as next neighbors, were the chief voting parties, if they cared to intrude;--which austria and russia were clear for doing; prussia not clear, or not beyond the indispensable or evidently profitable. seckendorf, and one lowenwolde the russian ambassador at berlin, had, some time ago, in foresight of this event, done their utmost to bring friedrich wilhelm into co-operation,--offering fine baits, "berg and julich" again, among others;--but nothing definite came of it: peaceable, reasonably safe election in poland, other interest friedrich wilhelm has not in the matter; and compliance, not co-operation, is what can be expected of him by the kaiser and czarina. co-operating or even complying, these three could have settled it; and would,--had no other neighbor interfered. but other neighbors can interfere; any neighbor that has money to spend, or likes to bully in such a matter! and that proved to be the case, in this unlucky instance. austria aud russia, with prussia complying, had,--a year ago, before the late august's decease, his life seeming then an extremely uncertain one, and foresight being always good,--privately come to an understanding, [ st december, , "treaty of lowenwolde" (which never got completed or became valid): scholl, ii. .] in case of a polish election:-- " . that france was to have no hand in it whatever,--no tool of france to be king; or, as they more politely expressed it, having their eye upon stanislaus, no piast or native pole could be eligible. " . that neither could august's son, the new august, who would then be kurfurst of saxony, be admitted king of poland.--and, on the whole, " . that an emanuel prince of portugal would be the eligible man." emanuel of portugal, king of portugal's brother; a gentleman without employment, as his very title tells us: gentleman never heard of before or since, in those parts or elsewhere, but doubtless of the due harmless quality, as portugal itself was: he is to be the polish king,--vote these intrusive neighbors. what the vote of poland itself may be, the destinies do not, of late, ask; finding it a superfluous question. so had the three neighbors settled this matter:--or rather, i should say, so had two of them; for friedrich wilhelm wanted, now or afterwards, nothing in this election, but that it should not take fire and kindle him. two of the neighbors: and of these two, perhaps we might guess the kaiser was the principal contriver and suggester; france and saxony being both hateful to him,--obstinate refusers of the pragmatic sanction, to say nothing more. what the czarina, anne with the big cheek, specially wanted, i do not learn,--unless it were peaceable hold of courland; or perhaps merely to produce herself in these parts, as a kind of regulating pallas, along with the jupiter kaiser of western europe;--which might have effects by and by. emanuel of portugal was not elected, nor so much as spoken of in the diet. nor did one of these three regulations take effect; but much the contrary,--other neighbors having the power to interfere. france saw good to interfere, a rather distant neighbor; austria, russia, could not endure the french vote at all; and so the whole world got on fire by the business. france is not a near neighbor; but it has a stanislaus much concerned, who is eminently under the protection of france:--who may be called the "father of france," in a sense, or even the "grandfather;" his daughter being mother of a young creature they call dauphin, or "child of france." fleury and the french court decide that stanislaus, grandfather of france, was once king of poland: that it will behoove, for various reasons, he be king again. some say old fleury did not care for stanislaus; merely wanted a quarrel with the kaiser,--having got himself in readiness, "with lorraine in his eye;" and seeing the kaiser not ready. it is likelier the hot young spirits, belleisle and others, controlled old fleury into it. at all events, stanislaus is summoned from his rustication; the french ambassador at warsaw gets his instructions. french ambassador opens himself largely, at warsaw, by eloquent speech, by copious money, on the subject of stanislaus; finds large audience, enthusiastic receptivity;--and readers will now understand the following chronological phenomena of the polish election:-- "august th, . this day the polish election begins. so has the preliminary diet (kind of polish caucus) ordered it;--preliminary diet itself a very stormy matter; minority like to be 'thrown out of window,' to be 'shot through the head,' on some occasions. [_history of stanislaus_ (cited above), p. .] actual election begins; continues sub dio, 'in the field of wola,' in a very tempestuous fashion; bound to conclude within six weeks. kaiser has his troops assembled over the border, in silesia, 'to protect the freedom of election;' czarina has , under marshal lacy, lying on the edge of lithuania, bent on a like object; will increase them to , , as the plot thickens. "so that emanuel of portugal is not heard of; and french interference is, with a vengeance,--and stanislaus, a born piast, is overwhelmingly the favorite. intolerable to austria, to russia; the reverse to friedrich wilhelm, who privately thinks him the right man. and kurfurst august of saxony is the other candidate,--with troops of his own in the distance, but without support in poland; and depending wholly on the kaiser and czarina for his chance. and our 'three settled points' are gone to water in this manner! "august seeing there was not the least hope in poland's own vote, judiciously went to the kaiser first of all: 'imperial majesty, i will accept your pragmatic sanction root and branch, swallow it whole; make me king of poland!'--'done!' answers imperial majesty; [ th july, ; treaty in scholl, ii. - .] brings the czarina over, by good offers of august's and his;--and now there is an effective opposition candidate in the field, with strength of his own, and good backing close at hand. austrian, russian ambassadors at warsaw lift up their voice, like the french one; open their purse, and bestir themselves; but with no success in the field of wola, except to the stirring up of noise and tumult there. they must look to other fields for success. the voice of wola and of poland, if it had now a voice, is enthusiastic for stanislaus. "september th. a couple of quiet-looking merchants arrive in warsaw,--one of whom is stanislaus in person. newspapers say he is in the french fleet of war, which is sailing minatory towards these coasts: and there is in truth a gentleman in stanislaus's clothes on board there;--to make the newspapers believe. stanislaus himself drove through berlin, a day or two ago; gave the sentry a ducat at the gate, to be speedy with the passports,--whom friedrich wilhelm affected to put under arrest for such negligent speed. and so, on the th of the month, stanislaus being now rested and trimmed; makes his appearance on the field of wola itself; and captivates all hearts by the kind look of him. so that, on the second day after, th september, , he is, as it were, unanimously elected; with acclamation, with enthusiasm; and sees himself actual king of poland,--if france send proper backing to continue him there. as, surely, she will not fail?--but there are alarming news that the russians are advancing: marshal lacy with , ; and reinforcements in the rear of him. "september d. russians advancing more and more, no french help arrived yet, and the enthusiastic polish chivalry being good for nothing against regular musketry,--king stanislaus finds that he will have to quit warsaw, and seek covert somewhere. quits warsaw this day; gets covert in dantzig. and, in fact, from this d of september, day of the autumnal equinox, , is a fugitive, blockaded, besieged stanislaus: an imaginary king thenceforth. his real kingship had lasted precisely ten days. "october d. lacy and his russians arrive in the suburbs of warsaw, intent upon 'protecting freedom of election.' bridges being broken, they do not yet cross the river, but invite the free electors to come across and vote: 'a real king is very necessary,--stanislaus being an imaginary one, brought in by compulsion, by threats of flinging people out of window, and the like.' the free electors do not cross. whereupon a small handful, now free enough, and not to be thrown out of window, whom lacy had about him, proceed to elect august of saxony; he, on the th of october, still one day within the legal six weeks, is chosen and declared the real king:--'twelve senators and about six hundred gentlemen' voting for him there, free they in lacy's quarters, the rest of poland having lain under compulsion when voting for stanislaus. that is the polish election, so far as poland can settle it. we said the destinies had ceased, some time since, to ask poland for its vote; it is other people who have now got the real power of voting. but that is the correct state of the poll at warsaw, if important to anybody." august is crowned in cracow before long; "august iii.," whom we shall meet again in important circumstances. lacy and his russians have voted for august; able, they, to disperse all manner of enthusiastic polish chivalry; which indeed, we observe, usually stands but one volley from the russian musketry; and flies elsewhither, to burn and plunder its own domestic enemies. far and wide, robbery and arson are prevalent in poland; stanislaus lying under covert; in dantzig,--an imaginary king ever since the equinox, but well trusting that the french will give him a plumper vote. french war-fleet is surely under way hither. poland on fire; dantzig stands siege. these are the news our crown-prince hears at ruppin, in the first months of his wedded life there. with what interest we may fancy. brandenburg is next neighbor; and these polish troubles reach far enough;--the ever-smoking house having taken fire; and all the street threatening to get on blaze. friedrich wilhelm, nearest neighbor, stands anxious to quench, carefully sweeping the hot coals across again from his own borders; and will not interfere on one or the other side, for any persuasion. dantzig, strong in confidence of french help, refuses to give up stanislaus when summoned; will stand siege rather. stands siege, furious lengthy siege,--with enthusiastic defence; "a lady of rank firing off the first gun," against the russian batteries. of the siege of dantzig, which made the next spring and summer loud for mankind (february-june, ), we shall say nothing,--our own poor field, which also grows loud enough, lying far away from dantzig,---except: first, that no french help came, or as good as none; the minatory war-fleet having landed a poor , men, headed by the comte de plelo, who had volunteered along with them; that they attempted one onslaught on the russian lines, and that plelo was shot, and the rest were blown to miscellaneous ruin, and had to disappear, not once getting into dantzig. secondly, that the saxons, under weissenfels, our poor old friend, with proper siege-artillery, though not with enough, did, by effort (end of may), get upon the scene; in which this is to be remarked, that weissenfels's siege-artillery "came by post;" two big mortars expressly passing through berlin, marked as part of the duke of weissenfels's luggage. and thirdly, that munnich, who had succeeded lacy as besieging general, and was in hot haste, and had not artillery enough, made unheard-of assaults ( , men, some say , , lost in one night-attack upon a post they call the hagelberg; rash attack, much blamed by military men); [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. part d, p. .]--but nevertheless, having now (by russian fleet, middle of june) got siege-artillery enough, advances irrepressibly day by day. so that at length, things being now desperate, stanislaus, disguised as a cattle-dealer, privately quitted dantzig, night of th june, ; got across the intricate mud-and-water difficulties of the weichsel and its mouths, flying perilously towards preussen and friedrich wilhelm's protection. [narrative by himself, in history, pp. - .] whereby the siege of dantzig ended in chamade, and levying of penalties; penalties severe to a degree, though friedrich wilhelm interceded what he could. and with the siege of dantzig, the blazing polish election went out in like manner; [clear account, especially of siege, in mannstein (pp. - ), who was there as munnich's aide-de-damp.]--having already kindled, in quarters far away from it, conflagrations quite otherwise interesting to us. whitherward we now hasten. chapter ix. -- kaiser's shadow-hunt has caught fire. franz of lorraine, the young favorite of fortune, whom we once saw at berlin on an interesting occasion, was about this time to have married his imperial archduchess; kaiser's consent to be formally demanded and given; nothing but joy and splendor looked for in the court of vienna at present. nothing to prevent it,--had there been no polish election; had not the kaiser, in his shadow-hunt (coursing the pragmatic sanction chiefly, as he has done these twenty years past), gone rashly into that combustible foreign element. but so it is: this was the fatal limit. the poor kaiser's shadow-hunt, going scot-free this long while, and merely tormenting other people, has, at this point, by contact with inflammable poland, unexpectedly itself caught fire; goes now plunging, all in mad flame, over precipices one knows not how deep: and there will be a lamentable singeing and smashing before the kaiser get out of this, if he ever get! kaiser karl, from this point, plunges down and down, all his days; and except in that shadow of a pragmatic sanction, if he can still save that, has no comfort left. marriages are not the thing to be thought of at present!-- scarcely had the news of august's election, and stanislaus's flight to dantzig, reached france, when france, all in a state of readiness, informed the kaiser, ready for nothing, his force lying in silesia, doing the election functions on the polish borders there, "that he the kaiser had, by such treatment of the grandfather of france and the polish kingdom fairly fallen to him, insulted the most christian majesty; that in consequence the most christian majesty did hereby declare war against the said kaiser,"--and in fact had, that very day ( th of october, ), begun it. had marched over into lorraine, namely, secured lorraine against accidents; and, more specially, gone across from strasburg to the german side of the rhine, and laid siege to kehl. kehl fortress; a dilapidated outpost of the reich there, which cannot resist many hours. here is news for the kaiser, with his few troops all on the polish borders; minding his neighbors' business, or chasing pragmatic sanction, in those inflammable localities. pacific fleury, it must be owned, if he wanted a quarrel with the kaiser, could not have managed it on more advantageous terms. generals, a duc de berwick, a noailles, belleisle; generals, troops, artillery, munitions, nothing is wanting to fleury; to the kaiser all things. it is surmised, the french had their eye on lorraine, not on stanislaus, from the first. for many centuries, especially for these last two,--ever since that siege of metz, which we once saw, under kaiser karl v. and albert alcibiades,--france has been wrenching and screwing at this lorraine, wriggling it off bit by bit; till now, as we perceived on lyttelton junior of hagley's visit, lorraine seems all lying unscrewed; and france, by any good opportunity, could stick it in her pocket. such opportunity sly fleury contrived, they say;--or more likely it might be belleisle and the other adventurous spirits that urged it on pacific fleury;--but, at all events, he has got it. dilapidated kehl yields straightway: [ th october, . _memoires du marechal de berwick_ (in petitot'e collection, paris, ), ii. .] sardinia, spain, declare alliance with fleury; and not lorraine only, and the swabian provinces, but italy itself lies at his discretion,--owing to your treatment of the grandfather of france, and these polish elective methods. the astonished kaiser rushes forward to fling himself into the arms of the sea-powers, his one resource left: "help! moneys, subsidies, ye sea-powers!" but the sea-powers stand obtuse, arms not open at all, hands buttoning their pockets: "sorry we cannot, your imperial majesty. fleury engages not to touch the netherlands, the barrier treaty; polish elections are not our concern!" and callously decline. the kaiser's astonishment is extreme; his big heart swelling even with a martyr-feeling; and he passionately appeals: "ungrateful, blind sea-powers! no money to fight france, say you? are the laws of nature fallen void?" imperial astonishment, sublime martyr-feeling, passionate appeals to the laws of nature, avail nothing with the blind sea-powers: "no money in us," answer they: "we will help you to negotiate."--"negotiate!" answers he: and will have to pay his own election broken-glass, with a sublime martyr-feeling, without money from the sea-powers. fleury has got the sardinian majesty; "sardinian doorkeeper of the alps," who opens them now this way, now that, for a consideration: "a slice of the milanese, your majesty;" bargains fleury. fleury has got the spanish majesty (our violent old friend the termagant of spain) persuaded to join: "your infant carlos made duke of parma and piacenza, with such difficulty: what is that? naples itself, crown of the two sicilies, lies in the wind for carlos;--and your junior infant, great madam, has he no need of apanages?" the termagant of spain, "offended by pragmatic sanction" (she says), is ready on those terms; the sardinian majesty is ready: and fleury, this same october, with an overwhelming force, spaniards and sardinians to join, invades italy; great marshal villars himself taking the command. marshal villars, an extremely eminent old military gentleman,--somewhat of a friend, or husband of a lady-friend, to m. de voltaire, for one thing;--and capable of slicing italy to pieces at a fine rate, in the condition it was in. never had kaiser such a bill of broken-glass to pay for meddling in neighbors, elections before. the year was not yet ended, when villars and the sardinian majesty had done their stroke on lombardy; taken milan citadel, taken pizzighetone, the milanese in whole, and appropriated it; swept the poor unprepared kaiser clear out of those parts. baby carlos and the spaniards are to do the two sicilies, naples or the land one to begin with, were the winter gone. for the present, louis xv. "sings te deum, at paris, d december, " [_fastes du regne de louis xv._] villars, now above four-score, soon died of those fatigues; various marshals, broglio, coigny, noailles, succeeding him, some of whom are slightly notable to us; and there was one maillebois, still a subordinate under them, whose name also may reappear in this history. subsequent course of the war, in the italian part of it. the french-austrian war, which had now broken out, lasted a couple of years; the kaiser steadily losing, though he did his utmost; not so much a war, on his part, as a being beaten and being stript. the scene was italy and the upper-rhine country of germany; italy the deciding scene; where, except as it bears on germany, our interest is nothing, as indeed in germany too it is not much. the principal events, on both stages, are chronologically somewhat as follows;--beginning with italy:-- march th, . baby carlos with a duke of montemar for general, a difficult impetuous gentleman, very haughty to the french allies and others, lands in naples territory; intending to seize the two sicilies, according to bargain. they find the kaiser quite unprepared, and their enterprise extremely feasible. "may th. baby carlos--whom we ought to call don carlos, who is now eighteen gone, and able to ride the great horse--makes triumphant entry into naples, having easily swept the road clear; styles himself 'king of the two sicilies' (papa having surrendered him his 'right' there); whom naples, in all ranks of it, willingly homages as such. wrecks of kaiser's forces intrench themselves, rather strongly, at a place called bitonto, in apulia, not far off. "may th. montemar, in an impetuous manner, storms them there:--which feat procures for him the title, duke of bitonto; and finishes off the first of the sicilies. and indeed, we may say, finishes both the sicilies: our poor kaiser having no considerable force in either, nor means of sending any; the sea-powers having buttoned their pockets, and the combined fleet of france and spain being on the waters there. "we need only add, on this head, that, for ten months more, baby carlos and montemar went about besieging, gaeta, messina, syracuse; and making triumphal entries;--and that, on the th of june, , baby carlos had himself fairly crowned at palermo. [_fastes de louis xv., i. ._] 'king of the two sicilies' de facto; in which eminent post he and his continue, not with much success, to this day. "that will suffice for the two sicilies. as to lombardy again, now that villars is out of it, and the coignys and broglios have succeeded:-- "june th, . kaiser, rallying desperately for recovery of the milanese, has sent an army thither, graf von mercy leader of it: battle of parma between the french and it ( th june);--totally lost by the kaiser's people, after furious fighting; graf von mercy himself killed in the action. graf von mercy, and what comes nearer us, a prince of culmbach, amiable uncle of our wilhelmina's husband, a brave man and austrian soldier, who was much regretted by wilhelmina and the rest; his death and obsequies making a melancholy court of baireuth in this agitated year. the kaiser, doing his utmost, is beaten at every point. "september th. surprisal of the secchia. kaiser's people rally,--under a general graf von konigseck worth noting by us,--and after some manoeuvring, in the guastalla-modena region, on the secchia and po rivers there, dexterously steal across the secchia that night ( th september), cutting off the small guard-party at the ford of the secchia, then wading silently; and burst in upon the french camp in a truly alarming manner. [hormayr, xx. ; _fastes,_ as it is liable to do, misdates.] so that broglio, in command there, had to gallop with only one boot on, some say 'in his shirt,' till he got some force rallied, and managed to retreat more parthian-like upon his brother marechal's division. artillery, war-chest, secret correspondence, 'king of sardinia's tent,' and much cheering plunder beside broglio's odd boot, were the consequences; the kaiser's one success in this war; abolished, unluckily, in four days!--the broglio who here gallops is the second french marechal of the name, son of the first; a military gentleman whom we shall but too often meet in subsequent stages. a son of this one's, a third marechal broglio, present at the secchia that bad night, is the famous war-god of the bastille time, fifty-five years hence,--unfortunate old war-god, the titans being all up about him. as to broglio with the one boot, it is but a triumph over him till-- "september th. battle of guastalla, that day. battle lost by the kaiser's people, after eight hours, hot fighting; who are then obliged to hurry across the secchia again;--and in fact do not succeed in fighting any more in that quarter, this year or afterwards. for, next year ( ), montemar is so advanced with the two sicilies, he can assist in these northern operations; and noailles, a better marechal, replaces the broglio and coigny there; who, with learned strategic movements, sieges, threatenings of siege, sweeps the wrecks of austria, to a satisfactory degree, into the tyrol, without fighting, or event mentionable thenceforth. "this is the kaiser's war of two campaigns, in the italian, which was the decisive part of it: a continual being beaten, as the reader sees; a being stript, till one was nearly bare in that quarter." course of the war, in the german part of it. in germany the mentionable events are still fewer; and indeed, but for one small circumstance binding on us, we might skip them altogether. for there is nothing comfortable in it to the human memory otherwise. marechal duc de berwick, a cautious considerable general (marlborough's nephew, on what terms is known to readers), having taken kehl and plundered the swabian outskirts last winter, had extensive plans of operating in the heart of germany, and ruining the kaiser there. but first he needs, and the kaiser is aware of it, a "basis on the rhine;" free bridge over the rhine, not by strasburg and kehl alone: and for this reason, he will have to besiege and capture philipsburg first of all. strong town of philipsburg, well down towards speyer-and-heidelberg quarter on the german side of the rhine: [see map] here will be our bridge. lorraine is already occupied, since the first day of the war; trarbach, strong-place of the moselle and electorate of trier, cannot be difficult to get? thus were the rhine country, on the french side, secure to france; and so berwick calculates he will have a basis on the rhine, from which to shoot forth into the very heart of the kaiser. berwick besieged philipsburg accordingly (summer and autumn); kaiser doing his feeble best to hinder: at the siege, berwick lost his life, but philipsburg surrendered to his successor, all the same;--kaiser striving to hinder; but in a most paralyzed manner, and to no purpose whatever. and--and this properly was the german war; the sum of all done in it during those two years. seizure of nanci (that is, of lorraine), seizure of kehl we already heard of; then, prior to philipsburg, there was siege or seizure of trarbach by the french; and, posterior to it, seizure of worms by them; and by the germans there was "burning of a magazine in speyer by bombs." and, in brief, on both sides, there was marching and manoeuvring under various generals (our old rusty seckendorf one of them), till the end of , when the italian decision arrived, and truce and peace along with it; but there was no other action worth naming, even in the newspapers as a wonder of nine days, the siege of philipsburg, and what hung flickering round that operation, before and after, was the sum-total of the german war. philipsburg, key of the rhine in those parts, has had many sieges; nor would this one merit the least history from us; were it not for one circumstance: that our crown-prince was of the opposing army, and made his first experience of arms there. a siege of philipsburg slightly memorable to us, on that one account. what friedrich did there, which in the military way was as good as nothing; what he saw and experienced there, which, with some "eighty princes of the reich," a prince eugene for general, and three months under canvas on the field, may have been something: this, in outline, by such obscure indications as remain, we would fain make conceivable to the reader. indications, in the history-books, we have as good as none; but must gather what there is from wilhelmina and the crown-prince's letters,--much studying to be brief, were it possible! chapter x. -- crown-prince goes to the rhine campaign. the kaiser--with kehl snatched from him, the rhine open, and louis xv. singing te deum in the christmas time for what villars in italy had done--applied, in passionate haste, to the reich. the reich, though fleury tried to cajole it, and apologize for taking kehl from it, declares for the kaiser's quarrel; war against france on his behalf; [ th march, (buchholz, i. ).]--it was in this way that friedrich wilhelm and our crown-prince came to be concerned in the rhine campaign. the kaiser will have a reich's-army (were it good for much, as is not likely) to join to his own austrian one. and if prince eugene, who is reich's-feldmarschall, one of the two feldmarschalls, get the generalship as men hope, it is not doubted but there will be great work on the rhine, this summer of . unhappily the reich's-army, raised from--multifarious contingents, and guided and provided for by many heads, is usually good for little. not to say that old kur-pfalz, with an eye to french help in the berg-and-julich matter; old kur-pfalz, and the bavarian set (kur-baiern and kur-koln, bavaria and cologne, who are brothers, and of old cousinship to kur-pfalz),--quite refuse their contingents; protest in the diet, and openly have french leanings. these are bad omens for the reich's-army. and in regard to the reich's-feldmarschall office, there also is a difficulty. the reich, as we hinted, keeps two supreme feldmarschalls; one catholic, one protestant, for equilibrium's sake; illustrious prince eugenio von savoye is the catholic;--but as to the protestant, it is a difficulty worth observing for a moment. old duke eberhard ludwig of wurtemberg, the unfortunate old gentleman bewitched by the gravenitz "deliver us from evil," used to be the reich's-feldmarschall of protestant persuasion;--commander-in-chief for the reich, when it tried fighting. old eberhard had been at blenheim, and had marched up and down: i never heard he was much of a general; perhaps good enough for the reich, whose troops were always bad. but now that poor duke, as we intimated once or more, is dead; there must be, of protestant type, a new reich's-feldmasschall had. one catholic, unequalled among captains, we already have; but where is the protestant, duke eberhard being dead? duke eberhard's successor in wurtemberg, karl alexander by name, whom we once dined with at prag on the kladrup journey, he, a general of some worth, would be a natural person. unluckily duke karl alexander had, while an austrian officer and without outlooks upon protestant wurtemberg, gone over to papacy, and is now catholic. "two catholic feldmarschalls!" cries the corpus evangelicorum; "that will never do!" well, on the other or protestant side there appear two candidates; one of them not much expected by the reader: no other than ferdinand duke of brunswick-bevern, our crown-prince's father-in-law; whom we knew to be a worthy man, but did not know to be much of a soldier, or capable of these ambitious views. he is candidate first. then there is a second, much more entitled: our gunpowder friend the old dessauer; who, to say nothing of his soldier qualities, has promises from the kaiser,--he surely were the man, if it did not hurt other people's feelings. but it surely does and will. there is ferdinand of bevern applying upon the score of old promises too. how can people's feelings be saved? protestants these two last: but they cannot both have it; and what will wurtemberg say to either of them? the reich was in very great affliction about this preliminary matter. but friedrich wilhelm steps in with a healing recipe: "let there be four reich's-feldmarschalls," said friedrich wilhelm; "two protestant and two catholic: won't that do?"--excellent! answers the reich: and there are four feldmarschalls for the time being; no lack of commanders to the reich's-army. brunswick-bevern tried it first; but only till prince eugene were ready, and indeed he had of himself come to nothing before that date. prince eugene next; then karl alexander next; and in fact they all might have had a stroke at commanding, and at coming to nothing or little,--only the old dessauer sulked at the office in this its fourfold state, and never would fairly have it, till, by decease of occupants, it came to be twofold again. this glimpse into the distracted effete interior of the poor old reich and its politics, with friends of ours concerned there, let it be welcome to the reader. [_leopoldi von anhalt-dessau leben_ (by ranfft), p. ; buchholz, i. .] friedrich wilhelm was without concern in this war, or in what had led to it. practical share in the polish election (after that preliminary theoretic program of the kaiser's and czarina's went to smoke) friedrich wilhelm steadily refused to take: though considerable offers were made him on both sides,--offer of west preussen (polish part of prussia, which once was known to us) on the french side. [by de la chetardie, french ambassador at berlin (buchholz, i. ).] but his primary fixed resolution was to stand out of the quarrel; and he abides by that; suppresses any wishes of his own in regard to the polish election;--keeps ward on his own frontiers, with good military besom in hand, to sweep it out again if it intruded there. "what king you like, in god's name; only don't come over my threshold with his brabbles and him!" but seeing the kaiser got into actual french war, with the reich consenting, he is bound, by treaty of old date (date older than wusterhausen, though it was confirmed on that famous occasion), "to assist the kaiser with ten thousand men;" and this engagement he intends amply to fulfil. no sooner, therefore, had the reich given sure signs of assenting ("reich's assent" is the condition of the ten thousand), than friedrich wilhelm's orders were out, "be in readiness!" friedrich wilhelm, by the time of the reich's actual assent, or declaration of war on the kaiser's behalf, has but to lift his finger: squadrons and battalions, out of pommern, out of magdeburg, out of preussen, to the due amount, will get on march whitherward you bid, and be with you there at the day you indicate, almost at the hour. captains, not of an imaginary nature, these are always busy; and the king himself is busy over them. from big guns and wagon-horses down to gun-flints and gaiter-straps, all is marked in registers; nothing is wanting, nothing out of its place at any time, in friedrich wilhelm's army. from an early period, the french intentions upon philipsburg might be foreseen or guessed: and in the end of march, marechal berwick, "in three divisions," fairly appears in that quarter; his purpose evident. so that the reich's-army, were it in the least ready, ought to rendezvous, and reinforce the handful of austrians there. friedrich wilhelm's part of the reich's-army does accordingly straightway get on march; leaves berlin, after the due reviewing, " th april:" [fassmann, p. .] eight regiments of it, three of horse and five of foot, goltz foot-regiment one of them;--a general roder, unexceptionable general, to command in chief;--and will arrive, though the farthest off, "first of all the reich's-contingents;" th of june, namely. the march, straight south, must be some four hundred miles. besides the official generals, certain high military dignitaries, schulenburg, bredow, majesty himself at their head, propose to go as volunteers;--especially the crown-prince, whose eagerness is very great, has got liberty to go. "as volunteer" he too: as colonel of goltz, it might have had its unsuitabilities, in etiquette and otherwise. few volunteers are more interested than the crown-prince. watching the great war-theatre uncurtain itself in this manner, from dantzig down to naples; and what his own share in it shall be: this, much more than his marriage, i suppose, has occupied his thoughts since that event. here out of ruppin, dating six or seven weeks before the march of the ten thousand, is a small sign, one among many, of his outlooks in this matter. small note to his cousin, margraf heinrich, the ill-behaved margraf, much his comrade, who is always falling into scrapes; and whom he has just, not without difficulty, got delivered out of something of the kind. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. part d, pp. , .] he writes in german and in the intimate style of thou:-- "ruppin. d february, . my dear brother,--i can with pleasure answer that the king hath spoken of thee altogether favorably to me [scrape now abolished, for the time]:--and i think it would not have an ill effect, wert thou to apply for leave to go with the ten thousand whom he is sending to the rhine, and do the campaign with them as volunteer. i am myself going with that corps; so i doubt not the king would allow thee. "i take the freedom to send herewith a few bottles of champagne; and wish" all manner of good things. "friedrich." [ib. xxvii. part d, p. .] this margraf heinrich goes; also his elder brother, margraf friedrich wilhelm,--who long persecuted wilhelmina with his hopes; and who is now about getting sophie dorothee, a junior princess, much better than he merits: betrothal is the week after these ten thousand march; [ th april, (ib. part st, p. n).] he thirty, she fifteen. he too will go; as will the other pair of cousin margraves,--karl, who was once our neighbor in custrin; and the younger friedrich wilhelm, whose fate lies at prag if he knew it. majesty himself will go as volunteer. are not great things to be done, with eugene for general?--to understand the insignificant siege of philipsburg, sum-total of the rhine campaign, which filled the crown-prince's and so many other minds brimful; that summer, and is now wholly out of every mind, the following excerpt may be admissible:-- "the unlucky little town of philipsburg, key of the rhine in that quarter, fortified under difficulties by old bishops of speyer who sometimes resided there, [kohler, _munzbelustigungen,_ vi. .] has been dismantled and refortified, has had its rhine-bridge torn down and set up again; been garrisoned now by this party, now by that, who had 'right of garrison there;' nay france has sometimes had 'the right of garrison;'--and the poor little town has suffered much, and been tumbled sadly about in the succession-wars and perpetual controversies between france and germany in that quarter. in the time we are speaking of, it has a 'flying-bridge' (of i know not what structure), with fortified 'bridge-head (tete-de-pont,)' on the western or france-ward side of the river. town's bulwarks, and complex engineering defences, are of good strength, all put in repair for this occasion: reich and kaiser have an effective garrison there, and a commandant determined on defence to the uttermost: what the unfortunate inhabitants, perhaps a thousand or so in number, thought or did under such a visitation of ruin and bombshells, history gives not the least hint anywhere. 'quite used to it!' thinks history, and attends to other points. "the rhine valley here is not of great breadth: eastward the heights rise to be mountainous in not many miles. by way of defence to this valley, in the eugene-marlborough wars, there was, about forty miles southward, or higher up the river than philipsburg, a military line or chain of posts; going from stollhofen, a boggy hamlet on the rhine, with cunning indentations, and learned concatenation of bog and bluff, up into the inaccessibilities,--lines of stollhofen, the name of it,--which well-devised barrier did good service for certain years. it was not till, i think, the fourth year of their existence, year , that villars, the same villars who is now in italy, 'stormed the lines of stollhofen;' which made him famous that year. "the lines of stollhofen have now, in , fallen flat again; but eugene remembers them, and, i could guess, it was he who suggests a similar expedient. at all events, there is a similar expedient fallen upon: lines of ettlingen this time; one-half nearer philipsburg; running from muhlburg on the rhine-brink up to ettlingen in the hills. [see map] nearer, by twenty miles; and, i guess, much more slightly done. we shall see these lines of ettlingen, one point of them, for a moment:--and they would not be worth mentioning at all, except that in careless books they too are called 'lines of stollhofen,' [wilhelmina (ii. ), for instance; who, or whose printer, call them "lines of stokoff" even.] and the ingenuous reader is sent wandering on his map to no purpose." "lines of ettlingen" they are; related, as now said, to the stollhofen set. duke ferdinand of brunswick-bevern, one of the four feldmarschalls, has some ineffectual handful of imperial troops dotted about, within these lines and on the skirts of philipsburg;--eagerly waiting till the reich's-army gather to him; otherwise he must come to nothing. will at any rate, i should think, be happy to resign in favor of prince eugene, were that little hero once on the ground. on mayday, marechal berwick, who has been awake in this quarter, "in three divisions," for a month past,--very impatient till belleisle with the first division should have taken trarbach, and made the western interior parts secure,--did actually cross the rhine, with his second division, "at fort louis," well up the river, well south of philipsburg; intending to attack the lines of ettlingen, and so get in upon the town. there is a third division, about to lay pontoons for itself a good way farther down, which will attack the lines simultaneously from within,--that is to say, shall come upon the back of poor bevern and his defensive handful of troops, and astonish him there. all prospers to berwick in this matter: noailles his lieutenant (not yet gone to italy till next year), with whom is maurice comte de saxe (afterwards marechal de saxe), an excellent observant officer, marches up to ettlingen, may d; bivouacs "at the base of the mountain" (no great things of a mountain); ascends the same in two columns, horse and foot, by the first sunlight next morning; forms on a little plain on the top; issues through a thin wood,--and actually beholds those same lines of ettlingen, the outmost eastern end of them: a somewhat inconsiderable matter, after all! here is noailles's own account:-- "these retrenchments, made in turk fashion, consisted of big trees set zigzag (en echiquier), twisted together by the branches; the whole about five fathoms thick. inside of it were a small forlorn of austrians: these steadily await our grenadiers, and do not give their volley till we are close. our grenadiers receive their volley; clear the intertwisted trees, after receiving a second volley (total loss seventy-five killed and wounded); and--the enemy quits his post; and the lines of ettlingen are stormed!" [noailles, _memoires_ (in petitot's collection), iii. .] this is not like storming the lines of stollhofen; a thing to make noailles famous in the newspapers for a year. but it was a useful small feat, and well enough performed on his part. the truth is, berwick was about attacking the lines simultaneously on the other or muhlburg end of them (had not noailles, now victorious, galloped to forbid); and what was far more considerable, those other french, to the northward, "upon pontoons," are fairly across; like to be upon the back of duke ferdinand and his handful of defenders. duke ferdinand perceives that he is come to nothing; hastily collects his people from their various posts; retreats with them that same night, unpursued, to heilbronn; and gives up the command to prince eugene, who is just arrived there,--who took quietly two pinches of snuff on hearing this news of ettlingen, and said, "no matter, after all!" berwick now forms the siege, at his discretion; invests philipsburg, th may; [berwick, ii. ; d, says noailles's editor (iii. ).] begins firing, night of the d- th june;--eugene waiting at heilbronn till the reich's-army come up. the prussian ten thousand do come, all in order, on the th: the rest by degrees, all later, and all not quite in order. eugene, the prussians having joined him, moves down towards philipsburg and its cannonading; encamps close to rearward of the besieging french. "camp of wiesenthal" they call it; village of wiesenthal with bogs, on the left, being his head-quarters; village of waghausel, down near the river, a five miles distance, being his limit on the right. berwick, in front, industriously battering philipsburg into the river, has thrown up strong lines behind him, strongly manned, to defend himself from eugene; across the river, berwick has one bridge, and at the farther end one battery with which he plays upon the rear of philipsburg. he is much criticised by unoccupied people, "eugene's attack will ruin us on those terms!"--and much incommoded by overflowings of the rhine; rhine swoln by melting of the mountain-snows, as is usual there. which inundations berwick had well foreseen, though the war-minister at paris would not: "haste!" answered the war-minister always: "we shall be in right time. i tell you there have fallen no snows this winter: how can inundation be?"--"depends on the heat," said berwick; "there are snows enough always in stock up there!" and so it proves, though the war-minister would not believe; and berwick has to take the inundations, and to take the circumstances;--and to try if, by his own continual best exertions, he can but get philipsburg into the bargain. on the th of june, visiting his posts, as he daily does, the first thing, berwick stept out of the trenches, anxious for clear view of something; stept upon "the crest of the sap," a place exposed to both french and austrian batteries, and which had been forbidden to the soldiers,--and there, as he anxiously scanned matters through his glass, a cannon-ball, unknown whether french or austrian, shivered away the head of berwick; left others to deal with the criticisms, and the inundations, and the operations big or little, at philipsburg and elsewhere! siege went on, better or worse, under the next in command; "paris in great anxiety," say the books. it is a hot siege, a stiff defence; prince eugene looks on, but does not attack in the way apprehended. southward in italy, we hear there is marching, strategying in the parma country; graf von mercy likely to come to an action before long. northward, dantzig by this time is all wrapt in fire-whirlwinds; its sallyings and outer defences all driven in; mere torrents of russian bombs raining on it day and night; french auxiliaries, snapt up at landing, are on board russian ships; and poor stanislaus and "the lady of quality who shot the first gun" have a bad outlook there. towards the end of the month, the berlin volunteer generals, our crown-prince and his margraves among them, are getting on the road for philipsburg;--and that is properly the one point we are concerned with. which took effect in manner following. tuesday evening, th june, there is ball at monbijou; the crown-prince and others busy dancing there, as if nothing special lay ahead. nevertheless, at three in the morning he has changed his ball-dress for a better, he and certain more; and is rushing southward, with his volunteer generals and margraves, full speed, saluted by the rising sun, towards philipsburg and the seat of war. and the same night, king stanislaus, if any of us cared for him, is on flight from dantzig, "disguised as a cattle-dealer;" got out on the night of sunday last, town under such a rain of bombshells being palpably too hot for him: got out, but cannot get across the muddy intricacies of the weichsel; lies painfully squatted up and down, in obscure alehouses, in that stygian mud-delta,--a matter of life and death to get across, and not a boat to be had, such the vigilance of the russian. dantzig is capitulating, dreadful penalties exacted, all the heavier as no stanislaus is to be found in it; and search all the keener rises in the delta after him. through perils and adventures of the sort usual on such occasions, [credible modest detail of them, in a letter from stanislaus himself (_history of stanislaus,_ already cited, pp. - ).] stanislaus does get across; and in time does reach preussen; where, by friedrich wilhelm's order, safe opulent asylum is afforded him, till the fates (when this war ends) determine what is to become of the poor imaginary majesty. we leave him, squatted in the intricacies of the mud-delta, to follow our crown-prince, who in the same hour is rushing far elsewhither. margraves, generals and he, in their small string of carriages, go on, by extra-post, day and night; no rest till they get to hof, in the culmbach neighborhood, a good two hundred miles off,--near wilhelmina, and more than half-way to philipsburg. majesty friedrich wilhelm is himself to follow in about a week: he has given strict order against waste of time: "not to part company; go together, and not by anspach or baireuth,"--though they lie almost straight for you. this latter was a sore clause to friedrich, who had counted all along on seeing his dear faithful wilhelmina, as he passed: therefore, as the papa's orders, dangerous penalty lying in them, cannot be literally disobeyed, the question rises, how see wilhelmina and not baireuth? wilhelmina, weak as she is and unfit for travelling, will have to meet him in some neutral place, suitablest for both. after various shiftings, it has been settled between them that berneck, a little town twelve miles from baireuth on the hof road, will do; and that friday, probably early, will be the day. wilhelmina, accordingly, is on the road that morning, early enough; husband with her, and ceremonial attendants, in honor of such a brother; morning is of sultry windless sort; day hotter and hotter;--at berneck is no crown-prince, in the house appointed for him; hour after hour, wilhelmina waits there in vain. the truth is, one of the smallest accidents has happened: the generals "lost a wheel at gera yesterday;" were left behind there with their smiths, have not yet appeared; and the insoluble question among friedrich and the margraves is, "we dare not go on without them, then? we dare;--dare we?" question like to drive friedrich mad, while the hours, at any rate, are slipping on! here are three letters of friedrich, legible at last; which, with wilhelmina's account from the other side, represent a small entirely human scene in this french-austrian war,--nearly all of human we have found in the beggarly affair:-- . to princess wilhelmina, at baireuth, or on the road to berneck. "hof, d july [not long after a.m.], . "my dear sister,--here am i within six leagues [say eight or more, twenty-five miles english] of a sister whom i love; and i have to decide that it will be impossible to see her, after all!"--does decide so, accordingly, for reasons known to us. "i have never so lamented the misfortune of not depending on myself as at this moment! the king being but very sour-sweet on my score, i dare not risk the least thing; monday come a week, when he arrives himself, i should have a pretty scene (serais joliment traite) in the camp, if i were found to have disobeyed orders. "... the queen commands me to give you a thousand regards from her. she appeared much affected at your illness; but for the rest, i could not warrant you how sincere it was; for she is totally changed, and i have quite lost reckoning of her (n'y connais rien). that goes so far that she has done me hurt with the king, all she could: however, that is over now. as to sophie [young sister just betrothed to the eldest margraf whom you know], she also is no longer the same; for she approves all that the queen says or does; and she is charmed with her big clown (gros nigaud) of a bridegroom. "the king is more difficult than ever; he is content with nothing, so as to have lost whatsoever could be called gratitude for all pleasures one can do him,"--marrying against one's will, and the like. "as to his health, it is one day better, another worse; but the legs, they are always swelled, judge what my joy must be to get out of that turpitude,--for the king will only stay a fortnight, at most, in the camp. "adieu, my adorable sister: i am so tired, i cannot stir; having left on tuesday night, or rather wednesday morning at three o'clock, from a ball at monbijou, and arrived here this friday morning at four. i recommend myself to your gracious remembrance; and am, for my own part, till death, dearest sister,"-- your--"friedrich" [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. part st, p. .] this is letter first; written friday morning, on the edge of getting into bed, after such fatigue; and it has, as natural in that mood, given up the matter in despair. it did not meet wilhelmina on the road; and she had left baireuth;--where it met her, i do not know; probably at home, on her return, when all was over. let wilhelmina now speak her own lively experiences of that same friday:-- "i got to berneck at ten. the heat was excessive; i found myself quite worn out with the little journey i had done. i alighted at the house which had been got ready for my brother. we waited for him, and in vain waited, till three in the afternoon. at three we lost patience; had dinner served without him. whilst we were at table, there came on a frightful thunder-storm. i have witnessed nothing so terrible: the thunder roared and reverberated among the rocky cliffs which begirdle berneck; and it seemed as if the world was going to perish: a deluge of rain succeeded the thunder. "it was four o'clock; and i could not understand what had become of my brother. i had sent out several persons on horseback to get tidings of him, and none of them came back. at length, in spite of all my prayers, the hereditary prince [my excellent husband] himself would go in search. i remained waiting till nine at night, and nobody returned. i was in cruel agitations: these cataracts of rain are very dangerous in the mountain countries; the roads get suddenly overflowed, and there often happen misfortunes. i thought for certain, there had one happened to my brother or to the hereditary prince." such a d of july, to poor wilhelmina! "at last, about nine, somebody brought word that my brother had changed his route, and was gone to culmbach [a house of ours, lying westward, known to readers]; there to stay overnight. i was for setting out thither,--culmbach is twenty miles from berneck; but the roads are frightful," white mayn, still a young river, dashing through the rock-labyrinths there, "and full of precipices:--everybody rose in opposition, and, whether i would or not, they put me into the carriage for himmelkron [partly on the road thither], which is only about ten miles off. we had like to have got drowned on the road; the waters were so swoln [white mayn and its angry brooks], the horses could not cross but by swimming. "i arrived at last, about one in the morning. i instantly threw myself on a bed. i was like to die with weariness; and in mortal terrors that something had happened to my brother or the hereditary prince. this latter relieved me on his own score; he arrived at last, about four o'clock,--had still no news farther of my brother. i was beginning to doze a little, when they came to warn me that 'm. von knobelsdorf wished to speak with me from the prince-royal.' i darted out of bed, and ran to him. he," handing me a letter, "brought word that"-- but let us now give letter second, which has turned up lately, and which curiously completes the picture here. friedrich, on rising refreshed with sleep at hof, had taken a cheerfuler view; and the generals still lagging rearward, he thinks it possible to see wilhelmina after all. possible; and yet so very dangerous,--perhaps not possible? here is a second letter written from munchberg, some fifteen miles farther on, at an after period of the same friday: purport still of a perplexed nature, "i will, and i dare not;"--practical outcome, of itself uncertain, is scattered now by torrents and thunderstorms. this is the letter, which knobelsdorf now hands to wilhelmina at that untimely hour of saturday:-- . to princess wilhelmina (by knobelsdorf). "munchberg, d july, . "my dearest sister,--i am in despair that i cannot satisfy my impatience and my duty,--to throw myself at your feet this day. but alas, dear sister, it does not depend on me: we poor princes, "the margraves and i," are obliged to wait here till our generals [bredow, schulenburg and company] come up; we dare not go along without them. they broke a wheel in gera [fifty miles behind us]; hearing nothing of them since, we are absolutely forced to wait here. judge in what a mood i am, and what sorrow must be mine! express order not to go by baireuth or anspach:--forbear, dear sister, to torment me on things not depending on myself at all. "i waver between hope and fear of paying my court to you. i hope it might still be at berneck," this evening,--"if you could contrive a road into the nurnberg highway again; avoiding baireuth: otherwise i dare not go. the bearer, who is captain knobelsdorf [excellent judicious man, old acquaintance from the custrin time, who attends upon us, actual captain once, but now titular merely, given to architecture and the fine arts (seyfarth (anonymous), _lebens-und regierungs-geschichte friedrichs des andern_ (leipzig, ), ii. . _oeuvres de frederic,_ vii. . preuss, _friedrich mit seinen verwandten_ (berlin. ), pp. , .)], will apprise you of every particular: let knobelsdorf settle something that may be possible. this is how i stand at present; and instead of having to expect some favor from the king [after what i have done by his order], i get nothing but chagrin. but what is crueler upon me than all, is that you are ill. god, in his grace, be pleased to help you, and restore the precious health which i so much wish you!... friedrich." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. part lst, p. .] judicious knobelsdorf settles that the meeting is to be this very morning at eight; wilhelmina (whose memory a little fails her in the insignificant points) does not tell us where: but, by faint indications, i perceive it was in the lake-house, pleasant pavilion in the ancient artificial lake, or big ornamental fishpond, called brandenburger weiher, a couple of miles to the north of baireuth: there friedrich is to stop,--keeping the paternal order from the teeth outwards in this manner. eight o'clock: so that wilhelmina is obliged at once to get upon the road again,--poor princess, after such a day and night. her description of the interview is very good:-- "my brother overwhelmed me with caresses; but found me in so pitiable a state, he could not restrain his tears. i was not able to stand on my limbs; and felt like to faint every moment, so weak was i. he told me the king was much angered at the margraf [my father-in-law] for not letting his son make the campaign,"--concerning which point, said son, my husband, being heir-apparent, there had been much arguing in court and country, here at baireuth, and endless anxiety on my poor part, lest he should get killed in the wars. "i told him all the margraf's reasons; and added, that surely they were good, in respect of my dear husband. 'well,' said he, 'let him quit soldiering, then, and give back his regiment to the king. but for the rest, quiet yourself as to the fears you may have about him if he do go; for i know, by certain information, that there will be no blood spilt.'--'they are at the siege of philipsburg, however.'--'yes,' said my brother, 'but there will not be a battle risked to hinder it.' "the hereditary prince," my husband, "came in while we were talking so; and earnestly entreated my brother to get him away from baireuth. they went to a window, and talked a long time together. in the end, my brother told me he would write a very obliging letter to the margraf, and give him such reasons in favor of the campaign, that he doubted not it would turn the scale. 'we will stay together,' said he, addressing the hereditary prince; 'and i shall be charmed to have my dear brother always beside me.' he wrote the letter; gave it to baron stein [chamberlain or goldstick of ours], to deliver to the margraf. he promised to obtain the king's express leave to stop at baireuth on his return;--after which he went away. it was the last time i saw him on the old footing with me: he has much changed since then!--we returned to baireuth; where i was so ill that, for three days, they did not think i should get over it." [wilhelmina, ii. - .] crown-prince dashes off, southwestward, through cross country, into the nurnberg road again; gets to nurnberg that same saturday night; and there, among other letters, writes the following; which will wind up this little incident for us, still in a human manner:-- . to princess wilhelmina at baireuth. "nurnberg, d july, . "my dearest (tres-chere) sister,--it would be impossible to quit this place without signifying, dearest sister, my lively gratitude for all the marks of favor you showed me in the weiherhaus [house on the lake, to-day]. the highest of all that it was possible to do, was that of procuring me the satisfaction of paying my court to you. i beg millions of pardons for so putting you about, dearest sister; but i could not help it; for you know my sad circumstances well enough. in my great joy, i forgot to give you the enclosed. i entreat you, write me often news of your health! question the doctors; and"--and in certain contingencies, the crown-prince "would recommend goat's-milk" for his poor sister. had already, what was noted of him in after life, a tendency to give medical advice, in cases interesting to him?-- "adieu, my incomparable and dear sister. i am always the same to you, and will remain so till my death. "friedrich." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. part lst, p. .] generals with their wheel mended, margraves, prince and now the camp equipage too, are all at nurnberg; and start on the morrow; hardly a hundred miles now to be done,--but on slower terms, owing to the equipage. heilbronn, place of arms or central stronghold of the reich's-army, they reach on monday: about eppingen, next night, if the wind is westerly, one may hear the cannon,--not without interest. it was wednesday forenoon, th july, , on some hill-top coming down from eppingen side, that the prince first saw philipsburg siege, blotting the rhine valley yonder with its fire and counter-fire; and the tents of eugene stretching on this side: first view he ever had of the actualities of war. his account to papa is so distinct and good, we look through it almost as at first-hand for a moment:-- "camp at wiesenthal, wednesday, th july, . "most all-gracious father,--... we left nurnberg [nothing said of our baireuth affair], th early, and did not stop till heilbronn; where, along with the equipage, i arrived on the th. yesterday i came with the equipage to eppingen [twenty miles, a slow march, giving the fourgons time]; and this morning we came to the camp at wiesenthal. i have dined with general roder [our prussian commander]; and, after dinner, rode with prince eugene while giving the parole. i handed him my all-gracious father's letter, which much rejoiced him. after the parole, i went to see the relieving of our outposts [change of sentries there], and view the french retrenchment. "we," your majesty's contingent, "are throwing up three redoubts: at one of them today, three musketeers have been miserably shot [geschossen, wounded, not quite killed]; two are of roder's, and one is of finkenstein's regiment. "to-morrow i will ride to a village which is on our right wing; waghausel is the name of it [busching, v. .] [some five miles off, north of us, near by the rhine]; there is a steeple there, from which one can see the french camp; from this point i will ride down, between the two lines," french and ours, "to see what they are like. "there are quantities of hurdles and fascines being made; which, as i hear, are to be employed in one of two different plans. the first plan is, to attack the french retrenchment generally; the ditch which is before it, and the morass which lies on our left wing, to be made passable with these fascines. the other plan is, to amuse the enemy by a false attack, and throw succor into the town.--one thing is certain, in a few days we shall have a stroke of work here. happen what may, my all-gracious father may be assured that" &c., "and that i will do nothing unworthy of him. "friedrich." [_oeuvres,_ xxvii. part d, p. .] neither of those fine plans took effect; nor did anything take effect, as we shall see. but in regard to that "survey from the steeple of waghausel, and ride home again between the lines,"--in regard to that, here is an authentic fraction of anecdote, curiously fitting in, which should not be omitted. a certain herr van suhm, saxon minister at berlin, occasionally mentioned here, stood in much correspondence with the crown-prince in the years now following: correspondence which was all published at the due distance of time; suhm having, at his decease, left the prince's letters carefully assorted with that view, and furnished with a prefatory "character of the prince-royal _(portrait du prince-royal, par m. de suhm)."_ of which preface this is a small paragraph, relating to the siege of philipsburg; offering us a momentary glance into one fibre of the futile war now going on there. of suhm, and how exact he was, we shall know a little by and by. of "prince von lichtenstein," an austrian man and soldier of much distinction afterwards, we have only to say that he came to berlin next year on diplomatic business, and that probably enough he had been eye-witness to the little fact,--fact credible perhaps without much proving. one rather regretted there was no date to it, no detail to give it whereabout and fixity in our conception; that the poor little anecdote, though indubitable, had to hang vaguely in the air. now, however, the above dated letter does, by accident, date suhm's anecdote too; date "july " as good as certain for it; the siege itself having ended (july ) in ten days more. herr von suhm writes (not for publication till after friedrich's death and his own):-- "it was remarked in the rhine campaign of , that this prince has a great deal of intrepidity (beaucoup de valeur). on one occasion, among others [to all appearance, this very day, "july ," riding home from waghausel between the lines], when he had gone to reconnoitre the lines of philipsburg, with a good many people about him,--passing, on his return, along a strip of very thin wood, the cannon-shot from the lines accompanied him incessantly, and crashed down several trees at his side; during all which he walked his horse along at the old pace, precisely as if nothing were happening, nor in his hand upon the bridle was there the least trace of motion perceptible. those who gave attention to the matter remarked, on the contrary, that he did not discontinue speaking very tranquilly to some generals who accompanied him; and who admired his bearing, in a kind of danger with which he had not yet had occasion to familiarize himself. it is from the prince von lichtenstein that i have this anecdote." [_correspondance de frederic ii. avec m. de suhm _ (berlin, ); avant-propos, p. xviii. (written th april, ). the correspondance is all in _oeuvres de frederic_ (xvi, - ); but the suhm preface not.] on the th arrived his majesty in person, with the old dessauer, buddenbrock, derschau and a select suite; in hopes of witnessing remarkable feats of war, now that the crisis of philipsburg was coming on. many princes were assembled there, in the like hope: prince of orange (honeymoon well ended [had wedded princess anne, george ii.'s eldest, th ( th) march, ; to the joy of self and mankind, in england here.]), a vivacious light gentleman, slightly crooked in the back; princes of baden, darmstadt, waldeck: all manner of princes and distinguished personages, fourscore princes of them by tale, the eyes of europe being turned on this matter, and on old eugene's guidance of it. prince fred of england, even he had a notion of coming to learn war. it was about this time, not many weeks ago, that fred, now falling into much discrepancy with his father, and at a loss for a career to himself, appeared on a sudden in the antechamber at st. james's one day; and solemnly demanded an interview with his majesty. which his indignant majesty, after some conference with walpole, decided to grant. prince fred, when admitted, made three demands: . to be allowed to go upon the rhine campaign, by way of a temporary career for himself; . that he might have something definite to live upon, a fixed revenue being suitable in his circumstances; . that, after those sad prussian disappointments, some suitable consort might be chosen for him,--heart and household lying in such waste condition. poor fred, who of us knows what of sense might be in these demands? few creatures more absurdly situated are to be found in this world. to go where his equals were, and learn soldiering a little, might really have been useful. paternal majesty received fred and his three demands with fulminating look; answered, to the first two, nothing; to the third, about a consort, "yes, you shall; but be respectful to the queen;--and now off with you; away!" [coxe's _walpole,_ i. .] poor fred, he has a circle of hungry parliamenteers about him; young pitt, a cornet of horse, young lyttelton of hagley, our old soissons friend, not to mention others of worse type; to whom this royal young gentleman, with his vanities, ambitions, inexperiences, plentiful inflammabilities, is important for exploding walpole. he may have, and with great justice i should think, the dim consciousness of talents for doing something better than "write madrigals" in this world; infinitude of wishes and appetites he clearly has;--he is full of inflammable materials, poor youth. and he is the fireship those older hands make use of for blowing walpole and company out of their anchorage. what a school of virtue for a young gentleman;--and for the elder ones concerned with him! he did not get to the rhine campaign; nor indeed ever to anything, except to writing madrigals, and being very futile, dissolute and miserable with what of talent nature had given him. let us pity the poor constitutional prince. our fritz was only in danger of losing his life; but what is that, to losing your sanity, personal identity almost, and becoming parliamentary fireship to his majesty's opposition? friedrich wilhelm stayed a month campaigning here; graciously declined prince eugene's invitation to lodge in headquarters, under a roof and within built walls; preferred a tent among his own people, and took the common hardships,--with great hurt to his weak health, as was afterwards found. in these weeks, the big czarina, who has set a price ( , rubles, say , pounds) upon the head of poor stanislaus, hears that his prussian majesty protects him; and thereupon signifies, in high terms, that she, by her feld-marschall munnich, will come across the frontiers and seize the said stanislaus. to which his prussian majesty answers positively, though in proper diplomatic tone, "madam, i will in no wise permit it!" perhaps his majesty's remarkablest transaction, here on the rhine, was this concerning stanislaus. for seckendorf the feldzeugmeister was here also, on military function, not forgetful of the diplomacies; who busily assailed his majesty, on the kaiser's part, in the same direction: "give up stanislaus, your majesty! how ridiculous (lacherlich) to be perhaps ruined for stanislaus!" but without the least effect, now or afterwards. poor stanislaus, in the beginning of july, got across into preussen, as we intimated; and there he continued, safe against any amount of rubles and feldmarschalls, entreaties and menaces. at angerburg, on the prussian frontier, he found a steadfast veteran, lieutenant-general von katte, commandant in those parts (father of a certain poor lieutenant, whom we tragically knew of long ago!)--which veteran gentleman received the fugitive majesty, [_militair-lexikon,_ ii. .] with welcome in the king's name, and assurances of an honorable asylum till the times and roads should clear again for his fugitive majesty. fugitive majesty, for whom the roads and times were very dark at present, went to marienwerder; talked of going "to pillau, for a sea-passage," of going to various places; went finally to konigsberg, and there--with a considerable polish suite of fugitives, very moneyless, and very expensive, most of them, who had accumulated about him--set up his abode. there for almost two years, in fact till this war ended, the fugitive polish majesty continued; friedrich wilhelm punctually protecting him, and even paying him a small pension ( pounds a month),--france, the least it could do for the grandfather of france, allowing a much larger one; larger, though still inadequate. france has left its grandfather strangely in the lurch here; with " , rubles on his head." but friedrich wilhelm knows the sacred rites, and will do them; continues deaf as a door-post alike to the menaces and the entreaties of kaiser and czarina; strictly intimating to munnich, what the laws of neutrality are, and that they must be observed. which, by his majesty's good arrangements, munnich, willing enough to the contrary had it been feasible, found himself obliged to comply with. prussian majesty, like a king and a gentleman, would listen to no terms about dismissing or delivering up, or otherwise, failing in the sacred rites to stanislaus; but honorably kept him there till the times and routes cleared themselves again. [forster, ii. , - .] a plain piece of duty; punctually done: the beginning of it falls here in the camp at philipsburg, july-august ; in may, , we shall see some glimpse of the end!-- his prussian majesty in camp at philipsburg--so distinguished a volunteer, doing us the honor to encamp here--"was asked to all the councils-of-war that were held," say the books. and he did attend, the crown-prince and he, on important occasions: but, alas, there was, so to speak, nothing to be consulted of. fascines and hurdles lay useless; no attempt was made to relieve philipsburg. on the third day after his majesty's arrival, july th, philipsburg, after a stiff defence of six weeks, growing hopeless of relief, had to surrender;--french then proceeded to repair philipsburg, no attempt on eugene's part to molest them there. if they try ulterior operations on this side the river, he counter-tries; and that is all. our crown-prince, somewhat of a judge in after years, is maturely of opinion, that the french lines were by no means inexpugnable; that the french army might have been ruined under an attack of the proper kind. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ i. .] their position was bad; no room to unfold themselves for fight, except with the town's cannon playing on them all the while; only one bridge to get across by, in case of coming to the worse: defeat of them probable, and ruin to them inevitable in case of defeat. but prince eugene, with an army little to his mind (reich's-contingents not to be depended on, thought eugene), durst not venture: "seventeen victorious battles, and if we should be defeated in the eighteenth and last?" it is probable the old dessauer, had he been generalissimo, with this same army,--in which, even in the reich's part of it, we know ten thousand of an effective character,--would have done some stroke upon the french; but prince eugene would not try. much dimmed from his former self this old hero; age now ;--a good deal wearied with the long march through time. and this very summer, his brother's son, the last male of his house, had suddenly died of inflammatory fever; left the old man very mournful: "alone, alone, at the end of one's long march; laurels have no fruit, then?" he stood cautious, on the defensive; and in this capacity is admitted to have shown skilful management. but philipsburg being taken, there is no longer the least event to be spoken of; the campaign passed into a series of advancings, retreatings, facing, and then right-about facings,--painful manoeuvrings, on both sides of the rhine and of the neckar,--without result farther to the french, without memorability to either side. about the middle of august, friedrich wilhelm went away;--health much hurt by his month under canvas, amid rhine inundations, and mere distressing phenomena. crown-prince friedrich and a select party escorted his majesty to mainz, where was a dinner of unusual sublimity by the kurfurst there; [ th august (fassmann, p. .)]--dinner done, his majesty stept on board "the electoral yacht;" and in this fine hospitable vehicle went sweeping through the binger loch, rapidly down towards wesel; and the crown-prince and party returned to their camp, which is upon the neckar at this time. camp shifts about, and crown-prince in it: to heidelberg, to waiblingen, weinheim; close to mainz at one time: but it is not worth following: nor in friedrich's own letters, or in other documents, is there, on the best examination, anything considerable to be gleaned respecting his procedures there. he hears of the ill-success in italy, battle of parma at the due date, with the natural feelings; speaks with a sorrowful gayety, of the muddy fatigues, futilities here on the rhine;--has the sense, however, not to blame his superiors unreasonably. here, from one of his letters to colonel camas, is a passage worth quoting for the credit of the writer. with camas, a distinguished prussian frenchman, whom we mentioned elsewhere, still more with madame camas in time coming, he corresponded much, often in a fine filial manner:-- "the present campaign is a school, where profit may be reaped from observing the confusion and disorder which reigns in this army: it has been a field very barren in laurels; and those who have been used, all their life, to gather such, and on seventeen distinguished occasions have done so, can get none this time." next year, we all hope to be on the moselle, and to find that a fruitfuler field... "i am afraid, dear camas, you think i am going to put on the cothurnus; to set up for a small eugene, and, pronouncing with a doctoral tone what each should have done and not have done, condemn and blame to right and left. no, my dear camas; far from carrying my arrogance to that point, i admire the conduct of our chief, and do not disapprove that of his worthy adversary; and far from forgetting the esteem and consideration due to persons who, scarred with wounds, have by years and long service gained a consummate experience, i shall hear them more willingly than ever as my teachers, and try to learn from them how to arrive at honor, and what is the shortest road into the secret of this profession." ["camp at heidelberg, th september, " (_oeuvres,_ xvi. ).] this other, to lieutenant groben, three weeks earlier in date, shows us a different aspect; which is at least equally authentic; and may be worth taking with us. groben is lieutenant,--i suppose still of the regiment goltz, though he is left there behind;--at any rate, he is much a familiar with the prince at ruppin; was ringleader, it is thought, in those midnight pranks upon parsons, and the other escapades there; [busching, v. .] a merry man, eight years older than the prince,--with whom it is clear enough he stands on a very free footing. philipsburg was lost a month ago; french are busy repairing it; and manoeuvring, with no effect, to get into the interior of germany a little. weinheim is a little town on the north side of the neckar, a dozen miles or so from mannheim;--out of which, and into which, the prussian corps goes shifting from time to time, as prince eugene and the french manoeuvre to no purpose in that rhine-neckar country. "herdek teremtetem" it appears, is a bit of hungarian swearing; should be ordek teremtete; and means "the devil made you!" [map goes here------missing] "weinheim, th august, . "herdek teremtete! 'went with them, got hanged with them,' [_"mitgegangen mitgehangen:"_ letter is in german.] said the bielefeld innkeeper! so will it be with me, poor devil; for i go dawdling about with this army here; and the french will have the better of us. we want to be over the neckar again [to the south or philipsburg side], and the rogues won't let us. what most provokes me in the matter is, that while we are here in such a wilderness of trouble, doing our utmost, by military labors and endurances, to make ourselves heroic, thou sittest, thou devil, at home! "duc de bouillon has lost his equipage; our hussars took it at landau [other side the rhine, a while ago]. here we stand in mud to the ears; fifteen of the regiment alt-baden have sunk altogether in the mud. mud comes of a water-spout, or sudden cataract of rain, there was in these heidelberg countries; two villages, fuhrenheim and sandhausen, it swam away, every stick of them (ganz und gar). "captain van stojentin, of regiment flans," one of our eight regiments here, "has got wounded in the head, in an affair of honor; he is still alive, and it is hoped he will get through it. "the drill-demon has now got into the kaiser's people too: prince eugene is grown heavier with his drills than we ourselves. he is often three hours at it;--and the kaiser's people curse us for the same, at a frightful rate. adieu. if the devil don't get thee, he ought. therefore vale. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. part d, p. .] "friedrich." no laurels to be gained here; but plenty of mud, and laborious hardship,--met, as we perceive, with youthful stoicism, of the derisive, and perhaps of better forms. friedrich is twenty-two and some months, when he makes his first campaign. the general physiognomy of his behavior in it we have to guess from these few indications. no doubt he profited by it, on the military side; and would study with quite new light and vivacity after such contact with the fact studied of. very didactic to witness even "the confusions of this army," and what comes of them to armies! for the rest, the society of eugene, lichtenstein, and so many princes of the reich, and chiefs of existing mankind, could not but be entertaining to the young man; and silently, if he wished to read the actual time, as sure enough he, with human and with royal eagerness, did wish,--they were here as the alphabet of it to him: important for years coming. nay it is not doubted, the insight he here got into the condition of the austrian army and its management--"army left seven days without bread," for one instance--gave him afterwards the highly important notion, that such army could be beaten if necessary!-- wilhelmina says, his chief comrade was margraf heinrich;--the ill margraf; who was cut by friedrich, in after years, for some unknown bad behavior. margraf heinrich "led him into all manner of excesses," says wilhelmina,--probably in the language of exaggeration. he himself tells her, in one of his letters, a day or two before papa's departure: "the camp is soon to be close on mainz, nothing but the rhine between mainz and our right wing, where my place is; and so soon as serenissimus goes [le serenissime, so he irreverently names papa], i mean to be across for some sport," [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. part st, p. ( th august).]--no doubt the ill margraf with me! with the elder margraf, little sophie's betrothed, whom he called "big clown" in a letter we read, he is at this date in open quarrel,--"brouille a toute outrance with the mad son-in-law, who is the wildest wild-beast of all this camp." [ibid.] wilhelmina's husband had come, in the beginning of august; but was not so happy as he expected. considerably cut out by the ill heinrich. here is a small adventure they had; mentioned by friedrich, and copiously recorded by wilhelmina: adventure on some river,--which we could guess, if it were worth guessing, to have been the neckar, not the rhine. french had a fortified post on the farther side of this river; crown-prince, ill margraf, and wilhelmina's husband were quietly looking about them, riding up the other side: wilhelmina's husband decided to take a pencil-drawing of the french post, and paused for that object. drawing was proceeding unmolested, when his foolish baireuth hussar, having an excellent rifle (arquebuse rayee) with him, took it into his head to have a shot at the french sentries at long range. his shot hit nothing; but it awakened the french animosity, as was natural; the french began diligently firing; and might easily have done mischief. my husband, volleying out some rebuke upon the blockhead of a hussar, finished his drawing, in spite of the french bullets; then rode up to the crown-prince and ill margraf, who had got their share of what was going, and were in no good-humor with him. ill margraf rounded things into the crown-prince's ear, in an unmannerly way, with glances at my husband;--who understood it well enough; and promptly coerced such ill-bred procedures, intimating, in a polite impressive way, that they would be dangerous if persisted in. which reduced the ill margraf to a spiteful but silent condition. no other harm was done at that time; the french bullets all went awry, or "even fell short, being sucked in by the river," thinks wilhelmina. [wilhelmina, ii. , ; _oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. part st, p. .] a more important feature of the crown-prince's life in these latter weeks is the news he gets of his father. friedrich wilhelm, after quitting the electoral yacht, did his reviewing at wesel, at bielefeld, all his reviewing in those rhine and weser countries; then turned aside to pay a promised visit to ginkel the berlin dutch ambassador, who has a fine house in those parts; and there his majesty has fallen seriously ill. obliged to pause at ginkel's, and then at his own schloss of moyland, for some time; does not reach potsdam till the th september, and then in a weak, worsening, and altogether dangerous condition, which lasts for months to come. [fassmann, pp. - : september, -january, .] wrecks of gout, they say, and of all manner of nosological mischief; falling to dropsy. case desperate, think all the newspapers, in a cautious form; which is friedrich wilhelm's own opinion pretty much, and that of those better informed. here are thoughts for a crown-prince; well affected to his father, yet suffering much from him which is grievous. to by-standers, one now makes a different figure: "a crown-prince, who may be king one of these days,--whom a little adulation were well spent upon!" from within and from without come agitating influences; thoughts which must be rigorously repressed, and which are not wholly repressible. the soldiering crown-prince, from about the end of september, for the last week or two of this campaign, is secretly no longer quite the same to himself or to others. glimpse of lieutenant chasot, and of other acquisitions. we have still two little points to specify, or to bring up from the rearward whither they are fallen, in regard to this campaign. after which the wearisome campaign shall terminate; crown-prince leading his ten thousand to frankfurt, towards their winter-quarters in westphalia; and then himself running across from frankfurt (october th), to see wilhelmina for a day or two on the way homewards:--with much pleasure to all parties, my readers and me included! first point is, that, some time in this campaign, probably towards the end of it, the crown-prince, old dessauer and some others with them, "procured passports," went across, and "saw the french camp," and what new phenomena were in it for them. where, when, how, or with what impression left on either side, we do not learn. it was not much of a camp for military admiration, this of the french. [_memoires de noailles_ (passim).] there were old soldiers of distinction in it here and there; a few young soldiers diligently studious of their art; and a great many young fops of high birth and high ways, strutting about "in red-heeled shoes," with "commissions got from court" for this war, and nothing of the soldier but the epaulettes and plumages,--apt to be "insolent" among their poorer comrades. from all parties, young and old, even from that insolent red-heel party, nothing but the highest finish of politeness could be visible on this particular occasion. doubtless all passed in the usual satisfactory manner; and the crown-prince got his pleasant excursion, and materials, more or less, for after thought and comparison. but as there is nothing whatever of it on record for us but the bare fact, we leave it to the reader's imagination,--fact being indubitable, and details not inconceivable to lively readers. among the french dignitaries doing the honors of their camp on this occasion, he was struck by the general's adjutant, a "count de rottembourg" (properly von rothenburg, of german birth, kinsman to the rothenburg whom we have seen as french ambassador at berlin long since); a promising young soldier; whom he did not lose sight of again, but acquired in due time to his own service, and found to be of eminent worth there. a count von schmettau, two brothers von schmettau, here in the austrian service; superior men, prussian by birth, and very fit to be acquired by and by; these the crown-prince had already noticed in this rhine campaign,--having always his eyes open to phenomena of that kind. the second little point is of date perhaps two months anterior to that of the french camp; and is marked sufficiently in this excerpt from our confused manuscripts. before quitting philipsburg, there befell one slight adventure, which, though it seemed to be nothing, is worth recording here. one day, date not given, a young french officer, of ingenuous prepossessing look, though much flurried at the moment, came across as involuntary deserter; flying from a great peril in his own camp. the name of him is chasot, lieutenant of such and such a regiment: "take me to prince eugene!" he entreats, which is done. peril was this: a high young gentleman, one of those fops in red heels, ignorant, and capable of insolence to a poorer comrade of studious turn, had fixed a duel upon chasot. chasot ran him through, in fair duel; dead, and is thought to have deserved it. "but duc de boufflers is his kinsman: run, or you are lost!" cried everybody. the officers of his regiment hastily redacted some certificate for chasot, hastily signed it; and chasot ran, scarcely waiting to pack his baggage. "will not your serene highness protect me?"--"certainly!" said eugene;--gave chasot a lodging among his own people; and appointed one of them, herr brender by name, to show him about, and teach him the nature of his new quarters. chasot, a brisk, ingenuous young fellow, soon became a favorite; eager to be useful where possible; and very pleasant in discourse, said everybody. by and by,--still at philipsburg, as would seem, though it is not said,--the crown-prince heard of chasot; asked brender to bring him over. here is chasot's own account: through which, as through a small eyelet-hole, we peep once more, and for the last time, direct into the crown-prince's campaign-life on this occasion:-- "next morning, at ten o'clock the appointed hour, brender having ordered out one of his horses for me, i accompanied him to the prince; who received us in his tent,--behind which he had, hollowed out to the depth of three or four feet, a large dining-room, with windows, and a roof," i hope of good height, "thatched with straw. his royal highness, after two hours' conversation, in which he had put a hundred questions to me [a prince desirous of knowing the facts], dismissed us; and at parting, bade me return often to him in the evenings. "it was in this dining-room, at the end of a great dinner, the day after next, that the prussian guard introduced a trumpet from monsieur d'asfeld [french commander-in-chief since berwick's death], with my three horses, sent over from the french army. prince eugene, who was present, and in good humor, said, 'we must sell those horses, they don't speak german; brender will take care to mount you some way or other.' prinoe lichtenstein immediately put a price on my horses; and they were sold on the spot at three times their worth. the prince of orange, who was of this dinner [slightly crook-backed witty gentleman, english honeymoon well over], said to me in a half-whisper, 'monsieur, there is nothing like selling horses to people who have dined well.' "after this sale, i found myself richer than i had ever been in my life. the prince-royal sent me, almost daily, a groom and led horse, that i might come to him, and sometimes follow him in his excursions. at last, he had it proposed to me, by m. de brender, and even by prince eugene, to accompany him to berlin." which, of course, i did; taking ruppin first. "i arrived at berlin from ruppin, in , two days after the marriage of friedrich wilhelm margraf of schwedt [ill margraf's elder brother, wildest wild-beast of this camp] with the princess sophie,"--that is to say, th of november; marriage having been on the th, as the books teach us. chasot remembers that, on the th, "the crown-prince gave, in his berlin mansion, a dinner to all the royal family," in honor of that auspicious wedding. [kurd vou schlozer, _ chasot_ (berlin, ), pp. - . a pleasant little book; tolerably accurate, and of very readable quality.] thus is chasot established with the crown-prince. he will turn up fighting well in subsequent parts of this history; and again duelling fatally, though nothing of a quarrelsome man, as he asserts. crown-prince's visit to baireuth on the way home. october th, the crown-prince has parted with prince eugene,--not to meet again in this world; "an old hero gone to the shadow of himself," says the crown-prince; [_oeuvres (memoires de brandebourg),_ i. .]--and is giving his prussian war-captains a farewell dinner at frankfurt-on-mayn; having himself led the ten thousand so far, towards winter-quarters, and handing them over now to their usual commanders. they are to winter in westphalia, these ten thousand, in the paderborn-munster country; where they are nothing like welcome to the ruling powers; nor are intended to be so,--kur-koln (proprietor there) and his brother of bavaria having openly french leanings. the prussian ten thousand will have to help themselves to the essential, therefore, without welcome;--and things are not pleasant. and the ruling powers, by protocolling, still more the commonalty if it try at mobbing, [" th march, " (fassmann, p. ); buchholz, i. .] can only make them worse. indeed it is said the ten thousand, though their bearing was so perfect otherwise, generally behaved rather ill in their marches over germany, during this war,--and always worst, it was remarked by observant persons, in the countries (bamberg and wurzburg, for instance) where their officers had in past years been in recruiting troubles. whereby observant persons explained the phenomenon to themselves. but we omit all that; our concern lying elsewhere. "directly after dinner at frankfurt," the crown-prince drives off, rapidly as his wont is, towards baireuth. he arrives there on the morrow; "october th," says wilhelmina,--who again illuminates him to us, though with oblique lights, for an instant. wilhelmina was in low spirits:--weak health; add funeral of the prince of culmbach (killed in the battle of parma), illness of papa, and other sombre events:--and was by no means content with the crown-prince, on this occasion. strangely altered since we met him in july last! it may be, the crown-prince, looking, with an airy buoyancy of mind, towards a certain event probably near, has got his young head inflated a little, and carries himself with a height new to this beloved sister;--but probably the sad humor of the princess herself has a good deal to do with it. alas, the contrast between a heart knowing secretly its own bitterness, and a friend's heart conscious of joy and triumph, is harsh and shocking to the former of the two! here is the princess's account; with the subtrahend, twenty-five or seventy-five per cent, not deducted from it:-- "my brother arrived, the th of october. he seemed to me put out (decontenance); and to break off conversation with me, he said he had to write to the king and queen. i ordered him pen and paper. he wrote in my room; and spent more than a good hour in writing a couple of letters, of a line or two each. he then had all the court, one after the other, introduced to him; said nothing to any of them, looked merely with a mocking air at them; after which we went to dinner. "here his whole conversation consisted in quizzing (turlupiner) whatever he saw; and repeating to me, above a hundred times over, the words 'little prince,' 'little court.' i was shocked; and could not understand how he had changed so suddenly towards me. the etiquette of all courts in the empire is, that nobody who has not at the least the rank of captain can sit at a prince's table: my brother put a lieutenant there, who was in his suite; saying to me, 'a king's lieutenants are as good as a margraf's ministers.' i swallowed this incivility, and showed no sign. "after dinner, being alone with me, he said,"--turning up the flippant side of his thoughts, truly, in a questionable way:--"'our sire is going to end (tire a sa fin); he will not live out this month. i know i have made you great promises; but i am not in a condition to keep them. i will give you up the half of the sum which the late king [our grandfather] lent you; [supra, pp. , .] i think you will have every reason to be satisfied with that.' i answered, that my regard for him had never been of an interested nature; that i would never ask anything of him, but the continuance of his friendship; and did not wish one sou, if it would in the least inconvenience him. 'no, no,' said he, 'you shall have those , thalers; i have destined them for you.--people will be much surprised,' continued he, 'to see me act quite differently from what they had expected. they imagine i am going to lavish all my treasures, and that money will become as common as pebbles at berlin: but they will find i know better. i mean to increase my army, and to leave all other things on the old footing. i will have every consideration for the queen my mother, and will sate her (rassasierai) with honors; but i do not mean that she shall meddle in my affairs; and if she try it, she will find so.'" what a speech; what an outbreak of candor in the young man, preoccupied with his own great thoughts and difficulties,--to the exclusion of any other person's! "i fell from the clouds, on hearing all that; and knew not if i was sleeping or waking. he then questioned me on the affairs of this country. i gave him the detail of them. he said to me: 'when your goose (benet) of a father-in-law dies, i advise you to break up the whole court, and reduce yourselves to the footing of a private gentleman's establishment, in order to pay your debts. in real truth, you have no need of so many people; and you must try also to reduce the wages of those whom you cannot help keeping. you have been accustomed to live at berlin with a table of four dishes; that is all you want here: and i will invite you now and then to berlin; which will spare table and housekeeping.' "for a long while my heart had been getting big; i could not restrain my tears, at hearing all these indignities. 'why do you cry?' said he: 'ah, ah, you are in low spirits, i see. we must dissipate that dark humor. the music waits us; i will drive that fit out of you by an air or two on the flute.' he gave me his hand, and led me into the other room. i sat down to the harpsichord; which i inundated (inondai) with my tears. marwitz [my artful demoiselle d'atours, perhaps too artful in time coming] placed herself opposite me, so as to hide from the others what disorder i was in." [wilhelmina, ii. - .] for the last two days of the visit, wilhelmina admits, her brother was a little kinder. but on the fourth day there came, by estafette, a letter from the queen, conjuring him to return without delay, the king growing worse and worse. wilhelmina, who loved her father, and whose outlooks in case of his decease appeared to be so little flattering, was overwhelmed with sorrow. of her brother, however, she strove to forget that strange outbreak of candor; and parted with him as if all were mended between them again. nay, the day after his departure, there goes a beautifully affectionate letter to him; which we could give, if there were room: [_oeuvres,_ xxvii. part st, p. .] "the happiest time i ever in my life had;" "my heart so full of gratitude and so sensibly touched;" "every one repeating the words 'dear brother' and 'charming prince-royal:'"--a letter in very lively contrast to what we have just been reading. a prince-royal not without charm, in spite of the hard practicalities he is meditating, obliged to meditate!-- as to the outbreak of candor, offensive to wilhelmina and us, we suppose her report of it to be in substance true, though of exaggerated, perhaps perverted tone; and it is worth the reader's note, with these deductions. the truth is, our charming princess is always liable to a certain subtrahend. in , when she wrote those _memoires,_ "in a summer-house at baireuth," her brother and she, owing mainly to go-betweens acting on the susceptible female heart, were again in temporary quarrel (the longest and worst they ever had), and hardly on speaking terms; which of itself made her heart very heavy;--not to say that marwitz, the too artful demoiselle, seemed to have stolen her husband's affections from the poor princess, and made the world look all a little grim to her. these circumstances have given their color to parts of her narrative, and are not to be forgotten by readers. the crown-prince--who goes by dessau, lodging for a night with the old dessauer, and writes affectionately to his sister from that place, their letters crossing on the road--gets home on the th to potsdam. october th, , he has ended his rhine campaign, in that manner;--and sees his poor father, with a great many other feelings besides those expressed in the dialogue at baireuth. chapter xi. -- in papa's sick-room; prussian inspections: end of war. it appears, friedrich met a cordial reception in the sickroom at potsdam; and, in spite of his levities to wilhelmina, was struck to the heart by what he saw there. for months to come, he seems to be continually running between potsdam and ruppin, eager to minister to his sick father, when military leave is procurable. other fact, about him, other aspect of him, in those months, is not on record for us. of his young madam, or princess-royal, peaceably resident at berlin or at schonhausen, and doing the vacant officialities, formal visitings and the like, we hear nothing; of queen sophie and the others, nothing: anxious, all of them, no doubt, about the event at potsdam, and otherwise silent to us. his majesty's illness comes and goes; now hope, and again almost none. margraf of schwedt and his young bride, we already know, were married in november; and lieutenant chasot (two days old in berlin) told us, there was dinner by the crown-prince to all the royal family on that occasion;--poor majesty out at potsdam languishing in the background, meanwhile. his carnival the crown-prince passes naturally at berlin. we find he takes a good deal to the french ambassador, one marquis de la chetardie; a showy restless character, of fame in the gazettes of that time; who did much intriguing at petersburg some years hence, first in a signally triumphant way, and then in a signally untriumphant; and is not now worth any knowledge but a transient accidental one. chetardie came hither about stanislaus and his affairs; tried hard, but in vain, to tempt friedrich wilhelm into interference;--is naturally anxious to captivate the crown-prince, in present circumstances. friedrich wilhelm lay at potsdam, between death and life, for almost four months to come; the newspapers speculating much on his situation; political people extremely anxious what would become of him,--or in fact, when he would die; for that was considered the likely issue. fassmann gives dolorous clippings from the _leyden gazette,_ all in a blubber of tears, according to the then fashion, but full of impertinent curiosity withal. and from the seckendorf private papers there are extracts of a still more inquisitive and notable character: seckendorf and the kaiser having an intense interest in this painful occurrence. seckendorf is not now himself at berlin; but running much about, on other errands; can only see friedrich wilhelm, if at all, in a passing way. and even this will soon cease;--and in fact, to us it is by far the most excellent result of this french-austrian war, that it carries seckendorf clear away; who now quits berlin and the diplomatic line, and obligingly goes out of our sight henceforth. the old ordnance-master, as an imperial general of rank, is needed now for war-service, if he has any skill that way. in those late months, he was duly in attendance at philipsburg and the rhine-campaign, in a subaltern torpid capacity, like brunswick-bevern and the others; ready for work, had there been any: but next season, he expects to have a division of his own, and to do something considerable.--in regard to berlin and the diplomacies, he has appointed a nephew of his, a seckendorf junior, to take his place there; to keep the old machinery in gear, if nothing more; and furnish copious reports during the present crisis. these reports of seckendorf junior--full of eavesdroppings, got from a kammermohr (nigger lackey), who waits in the sick-room at potsdam, and is sensible to bribes--have been printed; and we mean to glance slightly into them. but as to seckendorf senior, readers can entertain the fixed hope that they have at length done with him; that, in these our premises, we shall never see him again;--nay shall see him, on extraneous dim fields, far enough away, smarting and suffering, till even we are almost sorry for the old knave!-- friedrich wilhelm's own prevailing opinion is, that he cannot recover. his bodily sufferings are great: dropsically swollen, sometimes like to be choked: no bed that he can bear to lie on;--oftenest rolls about in a bath-chair; very heavy-laden indeed; and i think of tenderer humor than in former sicknesses. to the old dessauer he writes, few days after getting home to potsdam: "i am ready to quit the world, as your dilection knows, and has various times heard me say. one ship sails faster, another slower; but they come all to one haven. let it be with me, then, as the most high has determined for me." [orlich, _geschichte der schlesischen kriege_ (berlin, ), i. . "from the dessau archives; date, st september, ."] he has settled his affairs, fassmann says, so far as possible; settled the order of his funeral, how he is to be buried, in the garrison church of potsdam, without pomp or fuss, like a prussian soldier; and what regiment or regiments it is that are to do the triple volley over him, by way of finis and long farewell. his soul's interests too,--we need not doubt he is in deep conference, in deep consideration about these; though nothing is said on that point. a serious man always, much feeling what immense facts he was surrounded with; and here is now the summing up of all facts. occasionally, again, he has hopes; orders up "two hundred of his potsdam giants to march through the sick-room," since he cannot get out to them; or old generals, buddenbrock, waldau, come and take their pipe there, in reminiscence of a tabagie. here, direct from the fountain-head, or nigger lackey bribed by seckendorf junior, is a notice or two:-- "potsdam, september th, . yesterday, for half an hour, the king could get no breath: he keeps them continually rolling him about" in his bath-chair, "over the room, and cries 'luft, luft (air, air)!' "october d. the king is not going to die just yet; but will scarcely see christmas. he gets on his clothes; argues with the doctors, is impatient; won't have people speak of his illness;--is quite black in the face; drinks nothing but moll [which we suppose to be small bitter beer], takes physic, writes in bed. "october th. the nigger tells me things are better. the king begins to bring up phlegm; drinks a great deal of oatmeal water [hafergrutzwasser, comfortable to the sick]; says to the nigger: 'pray diligently, all of you; perhaps i shall not die!'" october th: this is the day the crown-prince arrives at baireuth; to be called away by express four days after. how valuable, at vienna or elsewhere, our dark friend the lackey's medical opinion is, may be gathered from this other entry, three weeks farther on,--enough to suffice us on that head:-- "the nigger tells me he has a bad opinion of the king's health. if you roll the king a little fast in his bath-chair, you hear the water jumble in his body,"--with astonishment! "king gets into passions; has beaten the pages [may we hope, our dark friend among the rest?], so that it was feared apoplexy would take him." this will suffice for the physiological part; let us now hear our poor friend on the crown-prince and his arrival:-- "october th. return of the prince-royal to potsdam; tender reception.--october st. things look ill in potsdam. the other leg is now also begun running; and above a quart (maas) of water has come from it. without a miracle, the king cannot live,"--thinks our dark friend. "the prince-royal is truly affected (veritablement attendri) at the king's situation; has his eyes full of water, has wept the eyes out of his head: has schemed in all ways to contrive a commodious bed for the king; wouldn't go away from potsdam. king forced him away; he is to return saturday afternoon. the prince-royal has been heard to say, 'if the king will let me live in my own way, i would give an arm to lengthen his life for twenty years.' king always calls him fritzchen. but fritzchen," thinks seckendorf junior, "knows nothing about business. the king is aware of it; and said in the face of him one day: 'if thou begin at the wrong end with things, and all go topsy-turvy after i am gone, i will laugh at thee out of my grave!'" [seckendorf (baron), _journal secret;_ cited in forster, ii. .] so friedrich wilhelm; laboring amid the mortal quicksands; looking into the inevitable, in various moods. but the memorablest speech he made to fritzchen or to anybody at present, was that covert one about the kaiser and seckendorf, and the sudden flash of insight he got, from some word of seckendorf's, into what they had been meaning with him all along. riding through the village of priort, in debate about vienna politics of a strange nature, seckendorf said something, which illuminated his majesty, dark for so many years, and showed him where he was. a ghastly horror of a country, yawning indisputable there; revealed to one as if by momentary lightning, in that manner! this is a speech which all the ambassadors report, and which was already mentioned by us,--in reference to that opprobrious proposal about the crown-prince's marriage, "marry with england, after all; never mind breaking your word!" here is the manner of it, with time and place:-- "sunday last," sunday, th october, , reports seckendorf, junior, through the nigger or some better witness, "the king said to the prince-royal: 'my dear son, i tell thee i got my death at priort. i entreat thee, above all things in the world, don't trust those people (denen leuten), however many promises they make. that day, it was april th, , there was a man said something to me: it was as if you had turned a dagger round in my heart.'" [seckendorf (baron), _journal secret;_ cited in forster, ii. .]-- figure that, spoken from amid the dark sick whirlpools, the mortal quicksands, in friedrich wilhelm's voice, clangorously plaintive; what a wild sincerity, almost pathos, is in it; and whether fritzchen, with his eyes all bewept even for what papa had suffered in that matter, felt lively gratitudes to the house of austria at this moment!-- it was four months after, " st january, ," [fassmann, p. .] when the king first got back to berlin, to enlighten the eyes of the carnival a little, as his wont had been. the crisis of his majesty's illness is over, present danger gone; and the carnival people, not without some real gladness, though probably with less than they pretend, can report him well again. which is far from being the fact, if they knew it. friedrich wilhelm is on his feet again; but he never more was well. nor has he forgotten that word at priort, "like the turning of a dagger in one's heart;"--and indeed gets himself continually reminded of it by practical commentaries from the vienna quarter. in april, prince lichtenstein arrives on embassy with three requests or demands from vienna: " . that, besides the ten thousand due by treaty, his majesty would send his reich's contingent," not comprehended in those ten thousand, thinks the kaiser. " . that he would have the goodness to dismiss marquis de la chetardie the french ambassador, as a plainly superfluous person at a well-affected german court in present circumstances;"--person excessively dangerous, should the present majesty die, crown-prince being so fond of that chetardie. " . that his prussian majesty do give up the false polish majesty stanislaus, and no longer harbor him in east preussen or elsewhere." the whole of which demands his prussian majesty refuses; the latter two especially, as something notably high on the kaiser's part, or on any mortal's, to a free sovereign and gentleman. prince lichtenstein is eloquent, conciliatory; but it avails not. he has to go home empty-handed; manages to leave with herr von suhm, who took care of it for us, that anecdote of the crown-prince's behavior under cannon-shot from philipsburg last year; and does nothing else recordable, in berlin. the crown-prince's hopes were set, with all eagerness, on getting to the rhine-campaign next ensuing; nor did the king refuse, for a long while, but still less did he consent; and in the end there came nothing of it. from an early period of the year, friedrich wilhelm sees too well what kind of campaigning the kaiser will now make; at a certain wedding-dinner where his majesty was,--precisely a fortnight after his majesty's arrival in berlin,--seckendorf junior has got, by eavesdropping, this utterance of his majesty's: "the kaiser has not a groschen of money. his army in lombardy is gone to twenty-four thousand men, will have to retire into the mountains. next campaign [just coming], he will lose mantua and the tyrol. god's righteous judgment it is: a war like this! comes of flinging old principles overboard,--of meddling in business that was none of yours;" and more, of a plangent alarming nature. [forster, ii. (and date it from _militair-lexikon,_ ii. ).] friedrich wilhelm sends back his ten thousand, according to contract; sends, over and above, a beautiful stock of "copper pontoons" to help the imperial majesty in that river country, says fassmann;--sends also a supernumerary troop of hussars, who are worth mentioning, "six-score horse of hussar type," under one captain ziethen, a taciturn, much-enduring, much-observing man, whom we shall see again: these are to be diligently helpful, as is natural; but they are also, for their own behoof, to be diligently observant, and learn the austrian hussar methods, which his majesty last year saw to be much superior. nobody that knows ziethen doubts but he learnt; hussar-colonel baronay, his austrian teacher here, became too well convinced of it when they met on a future occasion. [_life of ziethen_ (veridical but inexact, by the frau von blumenthal, a kinswoman of his; english translation, very ill printed, berlin, ), p. .] all this his majesty did for the ensuing campaign: but as to the crown-prince's going thither, after repeated requests on his part, it is at last signified to him, deep in the season, that it cannot be: "won't answer for a crown-prince to be sharer in such a campaign;--be patient, my good fritzchen, i will find other work for thee." [friedrich's letter, th september, ; friedrich wilhelm's answer next day (_oeuvres de frederic_, xxvii. part d, - ).] fritzchen is sent into preussen, to do the reviewings and inspections there; papa not being able for them this season; and strict manifold inspection, in those parts, being more than usually necessary, owing to the russian-polish troubles. on this errand, which is clearly a promotion, though in present circumstances not a welcome one for the crown-prince, he sets out without delay; and passes there the equinoctial and autumnal season, in a much more useful way than he could have done in the rhine-campaign. in the rhine-moselle country and elsewhere the poor kaiser does exert himself to make a campaign of it; but without the least success. having not a groschen of money, how could he succeed? noailles, as foreseen, manoeuvres him, hitch after hitch, out of italy; french are greatly superior, more especially when montemar, having once got carlos crowned in naples and put secure, comes to assist the french; kaiser has to lean for shelter on the tyrol alps, as predicted. italy, all but some sieging of strong-places, may be considered as lost for the present. nor on the rhine did things go better. old eugene, "the shadow of himself," had no more effect this year than last: nor, though lacy and ten thousand russians came as allies, poland being all settled now, could the least good be done. reich's feldmarschall karl alexander of wurtemberg did "burn a magazine" (probably of hay among better provender) by his bomb-shells, on one occasion. also the prussian ten thousand--old dessauer leading them, general roder having fallen ill--burnt something: an islet in the rhine, if i recollect, "islet of larch near bingen," where the french had a post; which and whom the old dessauer burnt away. and then seckendorf, at the head of thirty thousand, he, after long delays, marched to trarbach in the interior moselle country; and got into some explosive sputter of battle with belleisle, one afternoon,--some say, rather beating belleisle; but a good judge says, it was a mutual flurry and terror they threw one another into. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ i. .] seckendorf meant to try again on the morrow: but there came an estafette that night: "preliminaries signed (vienna, d october, );--try no farther!" ["cessation is to be, th november for germany, th for italy; preliminaries" were, vienna, " d october," (scholl, ii. ).] and this was the second rhine-campaign, and the end of the kaiser's french war. the sea-powers, steadily refusing money, diligently run about, offering terms of arbitration; and the kaiser, beaten at every point, and reduced to his last groschen, is obliged to comply. he will have a pretty bill to pay for his polish-election frolic, were the settlement done! fleury is pacific, full of bland candor to the sea-powers; the kaiser, after long higgling upon articles, will have to accept the bill. the crown-prince, meanwhile, has a successful journey into preussen; sees new interesting scenes, salzburg emigrants, exiled polish majesties; inspects the soldiering, the schooling, the tax-gathering, the domain-farming, with a perspicacity, a dexterity and completeness that much pleases papa. fractions of the reports sent home exist for us: let the reader take a glance of one only; the first of the series; dated marienwerder (just across the weichsel, fairly out of polish preussen and into our own), th september, , and addressed to the "most all-gracious king and father;"--abridged for the reader's behoof:-- ... "in polish preussen, lately the seat of war, things look hideously waste; one sees nothing but women and a few children; it is said the people are mostly running away,"--owing to the russian-polish procedures there, in consequence of the blessed election they have had. king august, whom your majesty is not in love with, has prevailed at this rate of expense. king stanislaus, protected by your majesty in spite of kaisers and czarinas, waits in konigsberg, till the peace, now supposed to be coming, say what is to become of him: once in konigsberg, i shall have the pleasure to see him. "a detachment of five-and-twenty saxon dragoons of the regiment arnstedt, marching towards dantzig, met me: their horses were in tolerable case; but some are piebald, some sorrel, and some brown among them," which will be shocking to your majesty, "and the people did not look well."... "got hither to marienwerder, last night: have inspected the two companies which are here, that is to say, lieutenant-col. meier's and rittmeister haus's. in very good trim, both of them; and though neither the men nor their horses are of extraordinary size, they are handsome well-drilled fellows, and a fine set of stiff-built horses (gedrungenen pferden). the fellows sit them like pictures (reiten wie die puppen); i saw them do their wheelings. meier has some fine recruits; in particular two;"--nor has the rittmeister been wanting in that respect. "young horses" too are coming well on, sleek of skin. in short, all is right on the military side. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. part d, p. .] civil business, too, of all kinds, the crown-prince looked into, with a sharp intelligent eye;--gave praise, gave censure in the right place; put various things on a straight footing, which were awry when he found them. in fact, it is papa's second self; looks into the bottom of all things quite as papa would have done, and is fatal to mendacities, practical or vocal, wherever he meets them. what a joy to papa: "here, after all, is one that can replace me, in case of accident. this apprentice of mine, after all, he has fairly learned the art; and will continue it when i am gone!"-- yes, your majesty, it is a prince-royal wise to recognize your majesty's rough wisdom, on all manner of points; will not be a devil's-friend, i think, any more than your majesty was. here truly are rare talents; like your majesty and unlike;--and has a steady swiftness in him, as of an eagle, over and above! such powers of practical judgment, of skilful action, are rare in one's twenty-third year. and still rarer, have readers noted what a power of holding his peace this young man has? fruit of his sufferings, of the hard life he has had. most important power; under which all other useful ones will more and more ripen for him. this prince already knows his own mind, on a good many points; privately, amid the world's vague clamor jargoning round him to no purpose, he is capable of having his mind made up into definite yes and no,--so as will surprise us one day. friedrich wilhelm, we perceive, [his letter, th october, . (ib. p. ).] was in a high degree content with this performance of the prussian mission: a very great comfort to his sick mind, in those months and afterwards. here are talents, here are qualities,--visibly the friedrich-wilhelm stuff throughout, but cast in an infinitely improved type:--what a blessing we did not cut off that young head, at the kaiser's dictation, in former years!-- at konigsberg, as we learn in a dim indirect manner, the crown-prince sees king stanislaus twice or thrice,--not formally, lest there be political offence taken, but incidentally at the houses of third-parties;--and is much pleased with the old gentleman; who is of cultivated good-natured ways, and has surely many curious things, from charles xii. downwards, to tell a young man. [came th october, went st (_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. part d, p. ).] stanislaus has abundance of useless refugee polish magnates about him, with their useless crowds of servants, and no money in pocket; konigsberg all on flutter, with their draperies and them, "like a little warsaw:" so that stanislaus's big french pension, moderate prussian monthly allowance, and all resources, are inadequate; and, in fact, in the end, these magnates had to vanish, many of them, without settling their accounts in konigsberg. [_history of stanislaus. _] for the present they wait here, stanislaus and they, till fleury and the kaiser, shaking the urn of doom in abstruse treaty after battle, decide what is to become of them. friedrich returned to dantzig: saw that famous city, and late scene of war; tracing with lively interest the footsteps of munnich and his siege operations,--some of which are much blamed by judges, and by this young soldier among the rest. there is a pretty letter of his from dantzig, turning mainly on those points. letter written to his young brother-in-law, karl of brunswick, who is now become duke there; grandfather and father both dead; [grandfather, st march, ; father (who lost the _lines of ettlingen_ lately in our sight), d september, . supra, vol. vi. p. .] and has just been blessed with an heir, to boot. congratulation on the birth of this heir is the formal purport of the letter, though it runs ever and anon into a military strain. here are some sentences in a condensed form:-- "dantzig, th october, .... thank my dear sister for her services. i am charmed that she has made you papa with so good a grace. i fear you won't stop there; but will go on peopling the world"--one knows not to what extent--"with your amiable race. would have written sooner; but i am just returning from the depths of the barbarous countries; and having been charged with innumerable commissions which i did not understand too well, had no good possibility to think or to write. "i have viewed all the russian labors in these parts; have had the assault on the hagelsberg narrated to me; been on the grounds;--and own i had a better opinion of marshal munnich than to think him capable of so distracted an enterprise. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. part d, p. . pressed for time, and in want of battering-cannon, he attempted to seize this hagelsberg, one of the outlying defences of dantzig, by nocturnal storm; lost two thousand men; and retired, without doing "what was flatly impossible," thinks the crown-prince. see mannstein, pp. - , for an account of it.]... adieu, my dear brother. my compliments to the amiable young mother. tell her, i beg you, that her proof-essays are masterpieces (coups d'essai sont des coups de maitre)."... "your most," &c., "frederic." the brunswick masterpiece, achieved on this occasion, grew to be a man and duke, famous enough in the newspapers in time coming: champagne, ; jena, ; george iv.'s queen caroline; these and other distracted phenomena (pretty much blotting out the earlier better sort) still keep him hanging painfully in men's memory. from his birth, now in this prussian journey of our crown-prince, to his death-stroke on the field of jena, what a seventy-one years!-- fleury and the kaiser, though it is long before the signature and last finish can take place, are come to terms of settlement, at the crown-prince's return; and it is known, in political circles, what the kaiser's polish-election damages will probably amount to. here are, in substance, the only conditions that could be got for him:-- " . baby carlos, crowned in naples, cannot be pulled out again: naples, the two sicilies, are gone without return. that is the first loss; please heaven it be the worst! on the other hand, baby carlos will, as some faint compensation, surrender to your imperial majesty his parma and piacenza apanages; and you shall get back your lombardy,--all but a scantling which we fling to the sardinian majesty; who is a good deal huffed, having had possession of the milanese these two years past, in terms of his bargain with fleury. pacific fleury says to him: 'bargain cannot be kept, your majesty; please to quit the milanese again, and put up with this scantling.' " . the crown of poland, august iii. has got it, by russian bombardings and other measures: crown shall stay with august,--all the rather as there would be no dispossessing him, at this stage. he was your imperial majesty's candidate; let him be the winner there, for your imperial majesty's comfort. " . and then as to poor stanislaus? well, let stanislaus be titular majesty of poland for life;--which indeed will do little for him:--but in addition, we propose, that, the dukedom of lorraine being now in our hands, majesty stanislaus have the life-rent of lorraine to subsist upon; and--and that lorraine fall to us of france on his decease!--'lorraine?' exclaim the kaiser, and the reich, and the kaiser's intended son-in-law franz duke of lorraine. there is indeed a loss and a disgrace; a heavy item in the election damages! " . as to duke franz, there is a remedy. the old duke of florence, last of the medici, is about to die childless: let the now duke of lorraine, your imperial majesty's intended son-in-law, have florence instead.--and so it had to be settled. 'lorraine? to stanislaus, to france?' exclaimed the poor kaiser, still more the poor reich, and poor duke franz. this was the bitterest cut of all; but there was no getting past it. this too had to be allowed, this item for the election breakages in poland. and so france, after nibbling for several centuries, swallows lorraine whole. duke franz attempted to stand out; remonstrated much, with kaiser and hofrath, at vienna, on this unheard-of proposal: but they told him it was irremediable; told him at last (one bartenstein, a famed aulic official, told him), 'no lorraine, no archduchess, your serenity!'--and franz had to comply, lorraine is gone; cunning fleury has swallowed it whole. 'that was what he meant in picking this quarrel!' said teutschland mournfully. fleury was very pacific, candid in aspect to the sea-powers and others; and did not crow afflictively, did not say what he had meant. " . one immense consolation for the kaiser, if for no other, is: france guarantees the pragmatic sanction,--though with very great difficulty; spending a couple of years, chiefly on this latter point as was thought. [treaty on it not signed till th november, (scholl, ii. ).] how it kept said guarantee, will be seen in the sequel." and these were the damages the poor kaiser had to pay for meddling in polish elections;--for galloping thither in chase of his shadows. no such account of broken windows was ever presented to a man before. this may be considered as the consummation of the kaiser's shadow-hunt; or at least its igniting and exploding point. his duel with the termagant has at last ended; in total defeat to him on every point. shadow-hunt does not end; though it is now mostly vanished; exploded in fire. shadow-hunt is now gone all to pragmatic sanction, as it were: that now is the one thing left in nature for a kaiser; and that he will love, and chase, as the summary of all things. from this point he steadily goes down, and at a rapid rate;--getting into disastrous turk wars, with as little preparation for war or fact as a life-long hunt of shadows presupposes; eugene gone from him, and nothing but seckendorfs to manage for him;--and sinks to a low pitch indeed. we will leave him here; shall hope to see but little more of him. in the summer of , in consequence of these arrangements,--which were completed so far, though difficulties on pragmatic sanction and other points retarded the final signature for many months longer,--the titular majesty stanislaus girt himself together for departure towards his new dominion or life-rent; quitted konigsberg; traversed prussian poland, safe this time, "under escort of lieutenant-general von katte [our poor katte of custrin's father] and fifty cuirassiers;" reached berlin in the middle of may, under flowerier aspects than usual. he travelled under the title of "count" something, and alighted at the french ambassador's in berlin: but friedrich wilhelm treated him like a real majesty, almost like a real brother; had him over to the palace; rushed out to meet him there, i forget how many steps beyond the proper limits; and was hospitality itself and munificence itself;--and, in fact, that night and all the other nights, "they smoked above thirty pipes together," for one item. may st, , [forster (i. ), following loose pollnitz (ii. ), dates it : a more considerable error, if looked into, than is usual in herr forster; who is not an ill-informed nor inexact man;--though, alas, in respect of method (that is to say, want of visible method, indication, or human arrangement), probably the most confused of all the germans!] ex-majesty stanislaus went on his way again; towards france,--towards meudon, a quiet royal house in france,--till luneville, nanci, and their lorraine palaces are quite ready. there, in these latter, he at length does find resting-place, poor innocent insipid mortal, after such tossings to and fro: and m. de voltaire, and others of mark, having sometimes enlivened the insipid court there, titular king stanislaus has still a kind of remembrance among mankind. of his prussian majesty we said that, though the berlin populations reported him well again, it was not so. the truth is, his majesty was never well again. from this point, age only forty-seven, he continues broken in bodily constitution; clogged more and more with physical impediments; and his history, personal and political withal, is as that of an old man, finishing his day. to the last he pulls steadily, neglecting no business, suffering nothing to go wrong. building operations go on at berlin; pushed more than ever, in these years, by the rigorous derschau, who has got that in charge. no man of money or rank in berlin but derschau is upon him, with heavier and heavier compulsion to build: which is felt to be tyrannous; and occasions an ever-deepening grumble among the moneyed classes. at potsdam his majesty himself is the builder; and gives the houses away to persons of merit. [pollnitz, ii. .] nor is the army less an object, perhaps almost more. nay, at one time, old kur-pfalz being reckoned in a dying condition, friedrich wilhelm is about ranking his men, prepared to fight for his rights in julich and berg; kaiser having openly gone over, and joined with france against his majesty in that matter. however, the old kur-pfalz did not die, and there came nothing of fight in friedrich wilhelm's time. but his history, on the political side, is henceforth mainly a commentary to him on that "word" he heard in priort, "which was as if you had turned a dagger in my heart!" with the kaiser he has fallen out: there arise unfriendly passages between them, sometimes sarcastic on friedrich wilhelm's part, in reference to this very war now ended. thus, when complaint rose about the prussian misbehaviors on their late marches (misbehaviors notable in countries where their recruiting operations had been troubled), the kaiser took a high severe tone, not assuaging, rather aggravating the matter; and, for his own share, winded up by a strict prohibition of prussian recruiting in any and every part of the imperial dominions. which friedrich wilhelm took extremely ill. this is from a letter of his to the crown-prince, and after the first gust of wrath had spent itself: "it is a clear disadvantage, this prohibition of recruiting in the kaiser's countries. that is our thanks for the ten thousand men sent him, and for all the deference i have shown the kaiser at all times; and by this you may see that it would be of no use if one even sacrificed oneself to him. so long as they need us, they continue to flatter; but no sooner is the strait thought to be over, and help not wanted, than they pull off the mask, and have not the least acknowledgment. the considerations that will occur to you on this matter may put it in your power to be prepared against similar occasions in time coming." [ th february, : _oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. part d, p. .] thus, again, in regard to the winter-quarters of the ziethen hussars. prussian majesty, we recollect, had sent a supernumerary squadron to the last campaign on the rhine. they were learning their business, friedrich wilhelm knew; but also were fighting for the kaiser,--that was what the kaiser knew about them. somewhat to his surprise, in the course of next year, friedrich wilhelm received, from the vienna war-office, a little bill of , florins ( , pounds shillings) charged to him for the winter-quarters of these hussars. he at once paid the little bill, with only this observation: "heartily glad that i can help the imperial aerarium with that , pounds shillings. with the sincerest wishes for hundred-thousandfold increase to it in said aerarium; otherwise it won't go very far!" [letter to seckendorf (senior): forster, ii. .] at a later period, in the course of his disastrous turk war, the kaiser, famishing for money, set about borrowing a million gulden ( , pounds) from the banking house splittgerber and daun at berlin. splittgerber and daun had not the money, could not raise it: "advance us that sum, in their name, your majesty," proposes the vienna court: "there shall be three-per-cent bonus, interest six per cent, and security beyond all question!" to which fine offer his majesty answers, addressing seckendorf junior: "touching the proposal of my giving the bankers splittgerber and daun a lift, with a million gulden, to assist in that loan of theirs,--said proposal, as i am not a merchant accustomed to deal in profits and percentages, cannot in that form take effect. out of old friendship, however, i am, on their imperial majesty's request, extremely ready to pay down, once and away (a fond perdu), a couple of million gulden, provided the imperial majesty will grant me the conditions known to your uncle [fulfilment of that now oldish julich-and-berg promise, namely!] which are fair. in such case the thing shall be rapidly completed!" [forster, ii. (without date there).] in a word, friedrich wilhelm falls out with the kaiser more and more; experiences more and more what a kaiser this has been towards him. queen sophie has fallen silent in the history books; both the majesties may look remorsefully, but perhaps best in silence, over the breakages and wrecks this kaiser has brought upon them. friedrich wilhelm does not meanly hate the kaiser: good man, he sometimes pities him; sometimes, we perceive, has a touch of authentic contempt for him. but his thoughts, in that quarter, premature old age aggravating them, are generally of a tragic nature, not to be spoken without tears; and the tears have a flash at the bottom of them, when he looks round on fritz and says, "there is one, though, that will avenge me!" friedrich wilhelm, to the last a broad strong phenomenon, keeps wending downward, homeward, from this point; the kaiser too, we perceive, is rapidly consummating his enormous spectre-hunts and duels with termagants, and before long will be at rest. we have well-nigh done with both these majesties. the crown-prince, by his judicious obedient procedures in these four years at ruppin, at a distance from papa, has, as it were, completed his apprenticeship; and, especially by this last inspection-journey into preussen, may be said to have delivered his proof-essay with a distinguished success. he is now out of his apprenticeship; entitled to take up his indentures, whenever need shall be. the rugged old master cannot but declare him competent, qualified to try his own hand without supervision:--after all those unheard-of confusions, like to set the shop on fire at one time, it is a blessedly successful apprenticeship! let him now, theoretically at least, in the realms of art, literature, spiritual improvement, do his wanderjahre, over at reinsberg, still in the old region,--still well apart from papa, who agrees best not in immediate contact;--and be happy in the new domesticities, and larger opportunities, provided for him there; till a certain time come, which none of us are in haste for. history of friedrich ii. of prussia frederick the great by thomas carlyle volume vii. book viii. -- crown-prince reprieved: life at custrin -- november, -february, . chapter i. -- chaplain muller waits on the crown-prince. friedrich's feelings at this juncture are not made known to us by himself in the least; or credibly by others in any considerable degree. as indeed in these confused prussian history-books, copulent in nugatory pedantisms and learned marine-stores, all that is human remains distressingly obscure to us; so seldom, and then only as through endless clouds of ever-whirling idle dust, can we catch the smallest direct feature of the young man, and of his real demeanor or meaning, on the present or other occasions! but it is evident this last phenomenon fell upon him like an overwhelming cataract; crushed him down under the immensity of sorrow, confusion and despair; his own death not a theory now, but probably a near fact,--a welcome one in wild moments, and then anon so unwelcome. frustrate, bankrupt, chargeable with a friend's lost life, sure enough he, for one, is: what is to become of him? whither is he to turn, thoroughly beaten, foiled in all his enterprises? proud young soul as he was: the ruling powers, be they just, be they unjust, have proved too hard for him! we hear of tragic vestiges still traceable of friedrich, belonging to this time: texts of scripture quoted by him, pencil-sketches of his drawing; expressive of a mind dwelling in golgothas, and pathetically, not defiantly, contemplating the very worst. chaplain muller of the gens-d'armes, being found a pious and intelligent man, has his orders not to return at once from custrin; but to stay there, and deal with the prince, on that horrible predestination topic and his other unexampled backslidings which have ended so. muller stayed accordingly, for a couple of weeks, intensely busy on the predestination topic, and generally in assuaging, and mutually mollifying, paternal majesty and afflicted son. in all which he had good success; and especially on the predestination point was triumphantly successful. muller left a little book in record of his procedures there; which, had it not been bound over to the official tone, might have told us something. his correspondence with the king, during those two weeks, has likewise been mostly printed; [forster, i. - .] and is of course still more official,--teaching us next to nothing, except poor friedrich wilhelm's profoundly devotional mood, anxieties about "the claws of satan" and the like, which we were glad to hear of above. in muller otherwise is small help for us. but, fifty years afterwards, there was alive a son of this muller's; an innocent country parson, not wanting in sense, and with much simplicity and veracity; who was fished out by nicolai, and set to recalling what his father used to say of this adventure, much the grandest of his life. in muller junior's letter of reminiscences to nicolai we find some details, got from his father, which are worth gleaning:-- "when my father first attempted, by royal order, to bring the crown-prince to acknowledgment and repentance of the fault committed, crown-prince gave this excuse or explanation: 'as his father could not endure the sight of him, he had meant to get out of the way of his displeasure, and go to a court with which his father was in friendship and relationship,'"--clearly indicating england, think the mullers junior and senior. "for proof that the intention was towards england this other circumstance serves, that the one confidant--herr van keith, if i mistake not [no, you don't mistake], had already bespoken a ship for passage out."--here is something still more unexpected:-- "my father used to say, he found an excellent knowledge and conviction of the truths of religion in the crown-prince. by the prince's arrangement, my father, who at first lodged with the commandant, had to take up his quarters in the room right above the prince; who daily, often as early as six in the morning, rapped on the ceiling for him to come down; and then they would dispute and discuss, sometimes half-days long, about the different tenets of the christian sects;--and my father said, the prince was perfectly at home in the polemic doctrines of the reformed (calvinistic) church, even to the minutest points. as my father brought him proofs from scripture, the prince asked him one time, how he could keep chapter and verse so exactly in his memory? father drew from his pocket a little hand-concordance, and showed it him as one help. this he had to leave with the prince for some days. on getting it back, he found inside on the fly-leaf, sketched in pencil,"--what is rather notable to history,--"the figure of a man on his knees, with two swords hanging crosswise over his head; and at the bottom these words of psalm seventy-third (verses , ), _whom have i in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that i desire besides thee. my flesh and my heart fainteth and faileth; but god is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever."_--poor friedrich, this is a very unexpected pen-sketch on his part; but an undeniable one; betokening abstruse night-thoughts and forebodings in the present juncture!-- "whoever considers this fine knowledge of religion, and reflects on the peculiar character and genius of the young herr, which was ever struggling towards light and clearness (for at that time he had not become indifferent to religion, he often prayed with my father on his knees),--will find that it was morally impossible this young prince could have thought [as some foolish persons have asserted] of throwing himself into the arms of papal superstition [seeking help at vienna, marrying an austrian archduchess, and i know not what] or allow the intrigues of catholic priests to"--oh no, herr muller, nobody but very foolish persons could imagine such a thing of this young herr. "when my father, herr von katte's execution being ended, hastened to the crown-prince; he finds him miserably ill (sehr alterirt); advises him to take a cooling-powder in water, both which materials were ready on the table. this he presses on him: but the prince always shakes his head." suspects poison, you think? "hereupon my father takes from his pocket a paper, in which he carried cooling-powder for his own use; shakes out a portion of it into his hand, and so into his mouth; and now the crown-prince grips at my father's powder, and takes that." privately to be made away with; death resolved upon in some way! thinks the desperate young man? [nicolai, _anekdoten,_ vi. - .] that scene of katte's execution, and of the prince's and other people's position in regard to it, has never yet been humanly set forth, otherwise the response had been different. not humanly set forth,--and so was only barked at, as by the infinitude of little dogs, in all countries; and could never yet be responded to in austere vox humana, deep as a de profundis, terrible as a chorus of aeschylus,--for in effect that is rather the character of it, had the barking once pleased to cease. "king of prussia cannot sleep," writes dickens: "the officers sit up with him every night, and in his slumbers he raves and talks of spirits and apparitions." [despatch, d october, .] we saw him, ghost-like, in the night-time, gliding about, seeking shelter with feekin against ghosts; ginkel by daylight saw him, now clad in thunderous tornado, and anon in sorrowful fog. here, farther on, is a new item,--and joined to it and the others, a remarkable old one:-- "in regard to wilhelmina's marriage, and whether a father cannot give his daughter in wedlock to whom he pleases, there have been eight divines consulted, four lutheran, four reformed (calvinist); who, all but one [he of the garrison church, a rhadamanthine fellow in serge], have answered, 'no, your majesty!' it is remarkable that his majesty has not gone to bed sober for this month past." [dickens, th and th december, .] what seckendorf and grumkow thought of all these phenomena? they have done their job too well. they are all for mercy; lean with their whole weight that way,--in black qualms, one of them withal, thinking tremulously to himself, "what if his now majesty were to die upon us, in the interim!" chapter ii. -- crown-prince to repent and not perish. in regard to friedrich, the court-martial needs no amendment from the king; the sentence on friedrich, a lieutenant-colonel guilty of desertion, is, from president and all members except two, death as by law. the two who dissented, invoking royal clemency and pardon, were major-generals by rank,--schwerin, as some write, one of them, or if not schwerin, then linger; and for certain, donhof,--two worthy gentlemen not known to any of my readers, nor to me, except as names, the rest are all coldly of opinion that the military code says death. other codes and considerations may say this and that, which it is not in their province to touch upon; this is what the military code says: and they leave it there. the junius brutus of a royal majesty had answered in his own heart grimly, well then! but his councillors, old dessauer, grumkow, seckendorf, one and all interpose vehemently. "prince of the empire, your majesty, not a lieutenant-colonel only! must not, cannot;"--nay good old buddenbrock, in the fire of still unsuccessful pleading, tore open his waistcoat: "if your majesty requires blood, take mine; that other you shall never get, so long as i can speak!" foreign courts interpose; sweden, the dutch; the english in a circuitous way, round by vienna to wit; finally the kaiser himself sends an autograph; [date, th october, (forster, i. ).] for poor queen sophie has applied even to seckendorf, will be friends with grumkow himself, and in her despair is knocking at every door. junius brutus is said to have had paternal affections withal. friedrich wilhelm, alone against the whispers of his own heart and the voices of all men, yields at last in this cause. to seckendorf, who has chalked out a milder didactic plan of treatment, still rigorous enough, [his letter to the king, st november, (in forster, i. , ).] he at last admits that such plan is perhaps good; that the kaiser's letter has turned the scale with him; and the didactic method, not the beheading one, shall be tried. that donhof and schwerin, with their talk of mercy, with "their eyes upon the rising sun," as is evident, have done themselves no good, and shall perhaps find it so one day. but that, at any rate, friedrich's life is spared; katte's execution shall suffice in that kind. repentance, prostrate submission and amendment,--these may do yet more for the prodigal, if he will in heart return. these points, some time before the th of november, we find to be as good as settled. the unhappy prodigal is in no condition to resist farther. chaplain muller had introduced himself with katte's dying admonition to the crown-prince to repent and submit. chaplain muller, with his wholesome cooling-powders, with his ghostly counsels, and considerations of temporal and eternal nature,--we saw how he prospered almost beyond hope. even on predestination, and the real nature of election by free grace, all is coming right, or come, reports muller. the chaplain's reports, friedrich wilhelm's grimly mollified responses on the same: they are written, and in confused form have been printed; but shall be spared the english reader. and grumkow has been out at custrin, preaching to the same purport from other texts: grumkow, with the thought ever present to him, "what if friedrich wilhelm should die?" is naturally an eloquent preacher. enough, it has been settled (perhaps before the day of katte's death, or at the latest three days after it, as we can see), that if the prince will, and can with free conscience, take an oath ("no mental reservation," mark you!) of contrite repentance, of perfect prostrate submission, and purpose of future entire obedience and conformity to the paternal mind in all things, "gnadenwahl" included,--the paternal mind may possibly relax his durance a little, and put him gradually on proof again. [king's letter to muller, th november (forster, i. ).] towards which issue, as chaplain muller reports, the crown-prince is visibly gravitating, with all his weight and will. the very gnadenwahl is settled; the young soul (truly a lover of truth, your majesty) taps on his ceiling, my floor being overhead, before the winter sun rises, as a signal that i must come down to him; so eager to have error and darkness purged away. believes himself, as i believe him, ready to undertake that oath; desires, however, to see it first, that he may maturely study every clause of it.--say you verily so? answers majesty. and may my ursine heart flow out again, and blubber gratefully over a sinner saved, a poor son plucked as brand from the burning?"god, the most high, give his blessing on it, then!" concludes the paternal majesty: "and as he often, by wondrous guidances, strange paths and thorny steps, will bring men into the kingdom of christ, so may our divine redeemer help that this prodigal son be brought into his communion. that his godless heart be beaten till it is softened and changed; and so he be snatched from the claws of satan. this grant us the almighty god and father, for our lord jesus christ and his passion and death's sake! amen!--i am, for the rest, your well-affectioned king, friedrich wilhelm (wusterhausen, th november, )." [forster, i. .] crown-prince begins a new course. it was monday, th november, when poor katte died. within a fortnight, on the second sunday after, there has a select commission, grumkow, borck, buddenbrock, with three other soldiers, and the privy councillor thulmeyer, come out to custrin: there and then, sunday, november th, [nicolai, exactest of men, only that documents were occasionally less accessible in his time, gives (anekdoten, vi. ), "saturday, november th," as the day of the oath; but, no doubt, the later inquirers, preuss (i. ) and others, have found him wrong in this small instance.] these seven, with due solemnity, administer the oath (terms of oath conceivable by readers); friedrich being found ready. he signs the oath, as well as audibly swears it: whereupon his sword is restored to him, and his prison-door opened. he steps forth to the town church with his commissioners; takes the sacrament; listens, with all custrin, to an illusive sermon on the subject; "text happily chosen, preacher handling it well." text was psalm seventy-seventh, verse eleventh (tenth of our english version), _and i said, this is my infirmity; but i will remember the years of the right hand of the host high;_ or, as luther's version more intelligibly gives it, _this i have to suffer; the right hand of the most high can change all._ preacher (not muller but another) rose gradually into didactic pathos; prince, and all custrin, were weeping, or near weeping, at the close of the business. [preuss, i. .] straight from church the prince is conducted, not to the fortress, but to a certain town mansion, which he is to call his own henceforth, under conditions: an erring prince half liberated, and mercifully put on proof again. his first act here is to write, of his own composition, or helped by some official hand, this letter to his all-serenest papa; which must be introduced, though, except to readers of german who know the "dere" (theiro), "allerdurchlauchtigster," and strange pipe-clay solemnity of the court-style, it is like to be in great part lost in any translation:-- "custrin, th november, . "all-serenest and all-graciousest father,--to your royal majesty, my all-graciousest father, have,"--i.e. "i have," if one durst write the "i,"--"by my disobedience as theiro [youro] subject and soldier, not less than by my undutifulness as theiro son, given occasion to a just wrath and aversion against me. with the all-obedientest respect i submit myself wholly to the grace of my most all-gracious father; and beg him, most all-graciously to pardon me; as it is not so much the withdrawal of my liberty in a sad arrest (malheureusen arrest), as my own thoughts of the fault i have committed, that have brought me to reason: who, with all-obedientest respect and submission, continue till my end, "my all-graciousest king's and father's faithfully obedientest servant and son, "friedrich." [preuss, i. , ; and anonymous, _friedrichs des grossen briefe an seinen vater_ (berlin, posen und bromberg, ), p. .] this new house of friedrich's in the little town of custrin, he finds arranged for him on rigorously thrifty principles, yet as a real household of his own; and even in the form of a court, with hofmarschall, kammerjunkers, and the other adjuncts;--court reduced to its simplest expression, as the french say, and probably the cheapest that was ever set up. hafmarschall (court-marshal) is one wolden, a civilian official here. the kammerjunkers are rohwedel and natzmer; matzmer junior, son of a distinguished feldmarschall: "a good-hearted but foolish forward young fellow," says wilhelmina; "the failure of a coxcomb (petit-maitre manque)." for example, once, strolling about in a solemn kaiser's soiree in vienna, he found in some quiet corner the young duke of lorraine, franz, who it is thought will be the divine maria theresa's husband, and kaiser himself one day. foolish natzmer found this noble young gentleman in a remote corner of the soiree; went up, nothing loath, to speak graciosities and insipidities to him: the noble young gentleman yawned, as was too natural, a wide long yawn; and in an insipid familiar manner, foolish natzmer (wilhelmina and the berlin circles know it) put his finger into the noble young gentleman's mouth, and insipidly wagged it there. "sir, you seem to forget where you are!" said the noble young gentleman; and closing his mouth with emphasis, turned away; but happily took no farther notice. [wilhelmina, i. .] this is all we yet know of the history of natzmer, whose heedless ways and slap-dash speculations, tinted with natural ingenuity and good-humor, are not unattractive to the prince. hofmarschall and these two kammerjunkers are of the lawyer species; men intended for official business, in which the prince himself is now to be occupied. the prince has four lackeys, two pages, one valet. he wears his sword, but has no sword-tash (porte epee), much less an officer's uniform: a mere prince put upon his good behavior again; not yet a soldier of the prussian army, only hoping to become so again. he wears a light-gray dress, "hechtgrauer (pike-gray) frock with narrow silver cordings;" and must recover his uniform, by proving himself gradually a new man. for there is, along with the new household, a new employment laid out for him in custrin; and it shall be seen what figure he makes in that, first of all. he is to sit in the domanen-kammer or government board here, as youngest rath; no other career permitted. let him learn economics and the way of managing domain lands (a very principal item of the royal revenues in this country): humble work, but useful; which he had better see well how he will do. two elder raths are appointed to instruct him in the economic sciences and practices, if he show faculty and diligence;--which in fact he turns out to do, in a superior degree, having every motive to try. this kind of life lasted with him for the next fifteen months, all through the year and farther; and must have been a very singular, and was probably a highly instructive year to him, not in the domain sciences alone. he is left wholly to himself. all his fellow-creatures, as it were, are watching him. hundred-eyed argus, or the ear of dionysius, that is to say, tobacco-parliament with its spies and reporters,--no stirring of his finger can escape it here. he has much suspicion to encounter: papa looking always sadly askance, sadly incredulous, upon him. he is in correspondence with grumkow; takes much advice from grumkow (our prompter-general, president in the dionysius'-ear, and not an ill-wisher farther); professes much thankfulness to grumkow, now and henceforth. thank you for flinging me out of the six-story window, and catching me by the coat-skirts!--left altogether to himself, as we said; has in the whole universe nothing that will save him but his own good sense, his own power of discovering what is what, and of doing what will be behooveful therein. he is to quit his french literatures and pernicious practices, one and all. his very flute, most innocent "princess," as he used to call his flute in old days, is denied him ever since he came to custrin;--but by degrees he privately gets her back, and consorts much with her; wails forth, in beautiful adagios, emotions for which there is no other utterance at present. he has liberty of custrin and the neighborhood; out of custrin he is not to lodge, any night, without leave had of the commandant. let him walk warily; and in good earnest study to become a new creature, useful for something in the domain sciences and otherwise. chapter iii. -- wilhelmina is to wed the prince of baireuth. crown-prince friedrich being settled so far, his majesty takes up the case of wilhelmina, the other ravelled skein lying on hand. wilhelmina has been prisoner in her apartment at berlin all this while: it is proper wilhelmina be disposed of; either in wedlock, filially obedient to the royal mind; or in some much sterner way, "within four walls," it is whispered, if disobedient. poor wilhelmina never thought of disobeying her parents: only, which of them to obey? king looks towards the prince of baireuth again, agreed on before those hurly-burlies now past; queen looks far otherwards. queen sophie still desperately believes in the english match for wilhelmina; and has subterranean correspondences with that court; refusing to see that the negotiation is extinct there. grumkow himself, so over-victorious in his late task, is now heeling towards england; "sincere in his wish to be well with us," thinks dickens: grumkow solaces her majesty with delusive hopes in the english quarter: "be firm, child; trust in my management; only swear to me, on your eternal salvation, that never, on any compulsion, will you marry another than the prince of wales;--give me that oath!" [wilhelmina, i. .] such was queen sophie's last proposal to wilhelmina,--night of the th of january, , as is computable,--her majesty to leave for potsdam on the morrow. they wept much together that night, but wilhelmina dexterously evaded the oath, on a religious ground. prince of baireuth, whom papa may like or may not like, has never yet personally made appearance: who or what will make appearance, or how things can or will turn, except a bad road, is terribly a mystery to wilhelmina. what with chagrin and confinement, what with bad diet (for the very diet is bad, quality and quantity alike unspeakable), wilhelmina sees herself "reduced to a skeleton;" no company but her faithful sonsfeld, no employment but her books and music;--struggles, however, still to keep heart. one day, it is in february, , as i compute, they are sitting, her sonsfeld and she, at their sad mess of so-called dinner, in their remote upper story of the berlin schloss, tramp of sentries the one thing audible; and were "looking mournfully at one another, with nothing to eat but a soup of salt and water, and a ragout of old bones full of hairs and slopperies [nothing else; that was its real quality, whatever fine name they might give it, says the vehement princess], we heard a sharp tapping at the window; and started up in surprise, to see what it could be. it was a raven, carrying in its beak a bit of bread, which it left on the window-sill, and flew away." [ib. i. .] "tears came into our eyes at this adventure." are we become as hebrew elijahs, then; so that the wild ravens have to bring us food? truth is, there was nothing miraculous, as wilhelmina found by and by. it was a tame raven,--not the soul of old george i., which lives at isleworth on good pensions; but the pet raven of a certain margravine, which lost its way among the intricate roofs here. but the incident was touching. "well," exclaimed wilhelmina, "in the roman histories i am now reading, it is often said those creatures betoken good luck." all berlin, such the appetite for gossip, and such the famine of it in berlin at present, talked of this minute event: and the french colony--old protestant colony, practical considerate people--were so struck by it, they brought baskets of comfortable things to us, and left them daily, as if by accident, on some neutral ground, where the maid could pick them up, sentries refusing to see unless compelled. which fine procedure has attached wilhelmina to the french nation ever since, as a dexterous useful people, and has given her a disposition to help them where she could. the omen of the raven did not at once bring good luck: however, it did chance to be the turning-point, solstice of this long greenland winter; after which, amid storms and alarms, daylight came steadily nearer. storms and alarms: for there came rumors of quarrels out at potsdam, quarrels on the old score between the royal spouses there; and frightful messages, through one eversmann, an insolent royal lackey, about wedding weissenfels, about imprisonment for life and other hard things; through all which wilhelmina studied to keep her poor head steady, and answer with dignity yet discreetly. on the other hand, her sisters are permitted to visit her, and perceptible assuagements come. at length, on the th of may, there came solemn deputation, borck, grumkow, thulmeyer in it, old real friends and pretended new; which set poor wilhelmina wringing her hands (having had a letter from mamma overnight); but did bring about a solution. it was friday, th of may; a day of crisis in wilhelmina's history; queen commanding one thing, king another, and the hour of decision come. entering, announcing themselves, with dreadful solemnity, these gentlemen, grumkow the spokesman, in soft phrase, but with strict clearness, made it apparent to her, that marry she must,--the hereditary prince of baireuth,--and without the consent of both her parents, which was unattainable at present, but peremptorily under the command of one of them, whose vote was the supreme. do this (or even say that you will do it, whisper some of the well-affected), his majesty's paternal favor will return upon you like pent waters;--and the queen will surely reconcile herself (or perhaps turn it all her own way yet! whisper the well-affected). refuse to do it, her majesty, your royal brother, you yourself royal highness, god only knows what the unheard-of issue will be for you all! do it, let us advise you: you must, you must!--wilhelmina wrung her hands; ran distractedly to and fro; the well-affected whispering to her, the others "conversing at a window." at length she did it. will marry whom her all-gracious papa appoints; never wished or meant the least disobedience; hopes, beyond all things, his paternal love will now return, and make everybody blessed;--and oh, reconcile mamma to me, ye well-affected! adds she.--bravissimo! answer they: her majesty, for certain, will reconcile herself; crown-prince get back from custrin, and all will be well. [wilhelmina, i. - .] friedrich wilhelm was overjoyed; queen sophie dorothee was in despair. with his majesty, who "wept" like a paternal bear, on re-embracing wilhelmina the obedient some days hence, it became a settled point, and was indicated to wilhelmina as such, that the crown-prince would, on her actual wedding, probably get back from custrin. but her majesty's reconcilement,--this was very slow to follow. her majesty was still in flames of ire at their next interview; and poor wilhelmina fainted, on approaching to kiss her hand. "disgraced, vanquished, and my enemies triumphing!" said her majesty; and vented her wrath on wilhelmina; and fell ill (so soon as there was leisure), ill, like to die, and said, "why pretend to weep, when it is you that have killed me!"--and indeed was altogether hard, bitter, upon the poor princess; a chief sorrow to her in these trying months. can there be such wrath in celestial minds, venting itself so unreasonably?--at present there is no leisure for illness; grand visitors in quantity have come and are coming; and the court is brilliant exceedingly;--his majesty blazing out into the due magnificence, which was very great on this occasion, domestic matters looking up with him again. the serenities of brunswick are here, young and old; much liked by friedrich wilhelm; and almost reckoned family people,--ever since their eldest son was affianced to the princess charlotte here, last visit they made. to princess charlotte, wilhelmina's second junior,--mischievous, coquettish creature she, though very pretty and insinuating, who seems to think her intended rather a phlegmatic young gentleman, as wilhelmina gradually discovers. then there is old duke eberhard ludwig, of wurtemberg, whom we saw at ludwigsburg last year, in an intricate condition with his female world and otherwise, he too announces himself,--according to promise then given. old duke eberhard ludwig comes, stays three weeks in great splendor of welcome;--poor old gentleman, his one son is now dead; and things are getting earnest with him. on his return home, this time, he finds, according to order, the foul witch gravenitz duly cleared away; reinstates his injured duchess, with the due feelings, better late than never; and dies in a year or two, still childless.-- these are among the high guests at berlin; and there are plenty of others whom we do not name. magnificent dining; with "six-and-twenty blackamoors," high-colored creatures, marching up the grand staircase, round the table, round it, and then down again, melodious, doing "janizary music," if you happen to prefer that kind;--trained creatures these blackamoors, all got when boys, and set to cymballing and fifing betimes, adds my authority. [fassmann, p. , &c.] dining, boar-hunting (if the boar be huntable), especially reviewing, fail not in those fine summer days. one evening, it is sunday, th of may, latish, while the high guests, with queen and wilhelmina, are just passing in to supper (king's majesty having "gone to bed at seven," to be well astir for the review to-morrow), a sound of wheels is heard in the court. modest travelling-equipage rolls up into the inner court; to the foot of the grand staircase there, whither only princes come:--who can it be? the queen sends to inquire. heavens, it is the hereditary prince of baireuth! "medusa's head never produced such effect as did this bit of news: queen sat petrified; and i," by reflex, was petrified too! wilhelmina passed the miserablest night, no wink of sleep; and felt quite ill in the morning;--in dread, too, of papa's rough jests,--and wretched enough. she had begged much, last night! to be excused from the review. but that could not be: "i must go," said the queen after reflection, "and you with me." which they did;--and diversified the pomp and circumstance of mock-war by a small unexpected scene. queen, princess and the proper dames had, by his majesty's order, to pass before the line: princess in much trouble, "with three caps huddled on me, to conceal myself," poor soul. margraf of schwedt, at the head of his regiment, "looked swollen with rage," high hopes gone in this manner;--and saluted us with eyes turned away. as for his mother, the dessau margravine in high colors, she was "blue in the face" all day. lines passed, and salutations done, her majesty and dames withdrew to the safe distance, to look on:--such a show, for pomp and circumstance, wilhelmina owns, as could not be equalled in the world. such wheeling, rhythmic coalescing and unfolding; accurate as clock-work, far and wide; swift big column here, hitting swift big column there, at the appointed place and moment; with their volleyings and trumpeting, bright uniforms and streamers and field-music,--in equipment and manoeuvre perfect all, to the meanest drummer or black kettle-drummer:--supreme drill-sergeant playing on the thing, as on his huge piano, several square miles in area! comes of the old dessauer, all this; of the "equal step;" of the abstruse meditations upon tactics, in that rough head of his. very pretty indeed.--but in the mean while an official steps up: cap in hand, approaches the queen's carriage; says, he is ordered to introduce his highness the prince of baireuth. prince comes up accordingly; a personable young fellow; intelligent-looking, self-possessed; makes obeisance to her majesty, who answers in frosty politeness; and--and wilhelmina, faint, fasting, sleepless all night, fairly falls aswoon. could not be helped: and the whole world saw it; and guy dickens and the diplomatists wrote home about it, and there rose rumor and gossip enough! [dickens, of d june, (in pathetic terms); wilhelmina, i. (without pathos).] but that was the naked truth of it: hot weather, agitation, want of sleep, want of food; not aversion to the hereditary prince, nothing of that. rather the contrary, indeed; and, on better acquaintance, much the contrary. for he proved a very rational, honorable and eligible young prince: modest, honest, with abundance of sense and spirit; kind too and good, hot temper well kept, temper hot not harsh; quietly holds his own in all circles; good discourse in him, too, and sharp repartee if requisite,--though he stammered somewhat in speaking. submissive wilhelmina feels that one might easily have had a worse husband. what glories for you in england! the queen used to say to her in old times: "he is a prince, that frederick, who has a good heart, and whose genius is very small. rather ugly than handsome; slightly out of shape even (un peu contrefait). but provided you have the complaisance to suffer his debaucheries, you will quite govern him; and you will be more king than he, when once his father is dead. only see what a part you will play! it will be you that decide on the weal or woe of europe, and give law to the nation," [wilhelmina, i. .]--in a manner! which wilhelmina did not think a celestial prospect even then. who knows but, of all the offers she had, "four" or three "crowned heads" among them, this final modest honest one may be intrinsically the best? take your portion, if inevitable, and be thankful!-- the betrothal follows in about a week: sunday, d june, ; with great magnificence, in presence of the high guests and all the world: and wilhelmina is the affianced bride of friedrich of baireuth:--and that enormous double-marriage tragi-comedy, of much ado about nothing, is at last ended. courage, friends; all things do end!-- the high guests hereupon go their ways again; and the court of berlin, one cannot but suppose, collapses, as after a great effort finished. do not friedrich wilhelm and innumerable persons--the readers and the writer of this history included--feel a stone rolled off their hearts?--it is now, and not till now, that queen sophie falls sick, and like to die; and reproaches wilhelmina with killing her. friedrich wilhelm hopes confidently, not; waits out at potsdam, for a few days, till this killing danger pass; then departs, with double impetuosity, for preussen, and despatch of public business; such a mountain of domestic business being victoriously got under. poor king, his life, this long while, has been a series of earthquakes and titanic convulsions. narrow miss he has had, of pulling down his house about his ears, and burying self, son, wife, family and fortunes, under the ruin-heap,--a monument to remote posterity. never was such an enchanted dance, of well-intentioned royal bear with poetic temperament, piped to by two black-artists, for the kaiser's and pragmatic sanction's sake! let tobacco-parliament also rejoice; for truly the play was growing dangerous, of late. king and parliament, we may suppose, return to public business with double vigor. chapter iv. -- criminal justice in preussen and elsewhere. not that his majesty, while at the deepest in domestic intricacies, ever neglects public business. this very summer he is raising hussar squadrons; bent to introduce the hussar kind of soldiery into his army;--a good deal of horse-breaking and new sabre-exercise needed for that object. [fassmann, pp. , .] the affairs of the reich have at no moment been out of his eye; glad to see the kaiser edging round to the sea-powers again, and things coming into their old posture, in spite of that sad treaty of seville. nay, for the last two years, while the domestic volcanoes were at their worst, his majesty has been extensively dealing with a new question which has risen, that of the salzburg protestants; concerning which we shall hear more anon. far and wide, in the diets and elsewhere, he has been diligently, piously and with solid judgment, handling this question of the poor salzburgers; and has even stored up moneys in intended solace of them (for he foresees what the end will be);--moneys which, it appears about this time, a certain official over in preussen has been peculating! in the end of june, his majesty sets off to preussen on the usual inspection tour; which we should not mention, were it not in regard to that same official, and to something very rhadamanthine and particular which befell him; significant of what his majesty can do in the way of prompt justice. case of schlubhut. the konigsberg domain-board (kriegs-und domanen-kammer) had fallen awry, in various points, of late; several things known to be out-at-elbows in that country; the kammer raths evidently lax at their post; for which reason they have been sharply questioned, and shaken by the collar, so to speak. nay there is one rath, a so-called nobleman of those parts, by name schlubhut, who has been found actually defaulting; peculating from that pious hoard intended for the salzburgers: he is proved, and confesses, to have put into his own scandalous purse no less than , thalers, some say , (almost , pounds), which belonged to the public treasury and the salzburg protestants! these things, especially this latter unheard-of schlubhut thing, the supreme court at berlin (criminal-collegium) have been sitting on, for some time; and, in regard to schlubhut, they have brought out a result, which friedrich wilhelm not a little admires at. schlubhut clearly guilty of the defamation, say they; but he has moneys, landed properties: let him refund, principal and interest; and have, say, three or four years' imprisonment, by way of memento. "years' imprisonment? refund? is theft in the highest quarters a thing to be let off for refunding?" growls his majesty; and will not confirm this sentence of his criminal-collegium; but leaves it till he get to the spot, and see with his own eyes. schlubhut, in arrest or mild confinement all this while, ought to be bethinking himself more than he is! once on the spot, judge if the konigsberg domain-kammer had not a stiff muster to pass; especially if schlubhut's drill-exercise was gentle! schlubhut, summoned to private interview with his majesty, carries his head higher than could be looked for: is very sorry; knows not how it happened; meant always to refund; will refund, to the last penny, and make all good.--"refund? does he (er) know what stealing means, then? how the commonest convicted private thief finds the gallows his portion; much more a public magistrate convicted of theft? is he aware that he, in a very especial manner, deserves hanging, then?"--schlubhut looks offended dignity; conscious of rank, if also of quasi-theft: "es ist nicht manier (it is not the polite thing) to hang a prussian nobleman on those light terms!" answers schlubhut, high mannered at the wrong time: "i can and will pay the money back!"--noble-man? money back? "i will none of his scoundrelly money." to strait prison with this schurke!--and thither he goes accordingly: unhappiest of mortals; to be conscious of rank, not at the right place, when about to steal the money, but at the wrong, when answering to rhadamanthus on it! and there, sure enough, schlubhut lies, in his prison on the schlossplatz, or castle square, of konigsberg, all night; and hears, close by the domanen-kammer, which is in the same square, domanen-kammer where his office used to be, a terrible sound of carpentering go on;--unhappiest of prussian noblemen. and in the morning, see, a high gallows built; close in upon the domain-kammer, looking into the very windows of it;--and there, sure enough, the unfortunate schlubhut dies the thief's death, few hours hence, speaking or thinking what, no man reports to me. death was certain for him; inevitable as fate. and so he vibrates there, admonitory to the other raths for days,--some say for weeks,--till by humble petition they got the gallows removed. the stumps of it, sawed close by the stones, were long after visible in that schlossplatz of konigsberg. here is prompt justice with a witness! did readers ever hear of such a thing? there is no doubt about the fact, [benekendorf (anonymous), _karakterzuge aus dem leben konig friedrich wilhelm i._ (berlin, ), vii. - ; forster (ii. ), &c. &c.] though in all prussian books it is loosely smeared over, without the least precision of detail; and it was not till after long searching that i could so much as get it dated: july, , while friedrich crown-prince is still in eclipse at custrin, and some six weeks after wilhelmina's betrothal. and here furthermore, direct from the then schlubhut precincts, is a stray note, meteorological chiefly; but worth picking up, since it is authentic. "wehlau," we observe, is on the road homewards again,--on our return from uttermost memel,--a day's journey hitherwards of that place, half a day's thitherwards of konigsberg:-- "tuesday, th july, . king dining with general dockum at wehlau,"--where he had been again reviewing, for about forty hours, all manner of regiments brought to rendezvous there for the purpose, poor "general katte with his regiment" among them;--king at dinner with general dockum after all that, "took the resolution to be off to konigsberg; and arrived here at the stroke of midnight, in a deluge of rain." this brings us within a day, or two days, of schlubhut's death, terrible "combat of bisons (uri, or auerochsen, with such manes, such heads), of two wild bisons against six wild bears," then ensued; and the schlubhut human tragedy; i know not in what sequence,--rather conjecture the schlubhut had gone first. pillau, road to dantzig, on the narrow strip between the frische haf and baltic, is the next stage homewards; at pillau, general finkenstein (excellent old tutor of the crown-prince) is commandant, and expects his rapid majesty, day and hour given, to me not known, majesty goes in three carriages; old dessauer, grumkow, seckendorf, ginkel are among his suite; weather still very electric:-- "at fischhausen, half-way to pillau, majesty had a bout of elk-hunting; killed sixty elks [melton-mowbray may consider it],--creatures of the deer sort, nimble as roes, but strong as bulls, and four palms higher than the biggest horse,--to the astonishment of seckendorf, ginkel and the strangers there. half an hour short of pillau, furious electricity again; thunder-bolt shivered an oak-tree fifteen yards from majesty's carriage. and at pillau itself, the battalion in garrison there, drawn out in arms, by count finkenstein, to receive his majesty [rain over by this time, we can hope], had suddenly to rush forward and take new ground; frische haf, on some pressure from the elements, having suddenly gushed out, two hundred paces beyond its old watermark in that place." [see mauvillon, ii. - ;--correcting by fassmann, p. .] pillau, fischhausen,--this is where the excellent old adalbert stamped the earth with his life "in the shape of a crucifix" eight hundred years ago: and these are the new phenomena there!--the general dockum, colonel of dragoons, whom his majesty dined with at wehlau, got his death not many months after. one of dockum's dragoon lieutenants felt insulted at something, and demanded his discharge: discharge given, he challenged dockum, duel of pistols, and shot him dead. [ th april, (_militair-lexikon,_ i. ).] nothing more to be said of dockum, nor of that lieutenant, in military annals. case of the criminal-collegium itself. and thus was the error of the criminal-collegium rectified in re schlubhut. for it is not in name only, but in fact, that this sovereign is supreme judge, and bears the sword in god's stead,--interfering now and then, when need is, in this terrible manner. in the same dim authentic benekendorf (himself a member of the criminal-collegium in later times), and from him in all the books, is recorded another interference somewhat in the comic vein; which also we may give. undisputed fact, again totally without precision or details; not even datable, except that, on study, we perceive it may have been before this schlubhut's execution, and after the criminal-collegium had committed their error about him,--must have been while this of schlubhut was still vividly in mind; here is the unprecise but indubitable fact, as the prussian dryasdust has left us his smear of it:-- "one morning early" (might be before schlubhut was hanged, and while only sentence of imprisonment and restitution lay on him), general graf von donhof, colonel of a musketeer regiment, favorite old soldier,--who did vote on the mild side in that court-martial on the crown-prince lately; but i hope has been forgiven by his majesty, being much esteemed by him these long years past;--this donhof, early one morning, calls upon the king, with a grimly lamenting air. "what is wrong, herr general?"--"your majesty, my best musketeer, an excellent soldier, and of good inches, fell into a mistake lately,--bad company getting round the poor fellow; they, he among them, slipt into a house and stole something; trifle and without violence: pay is but three halfpence, your majesty, and the devil tempts men! well, the criminal-collegium have condemned him to be hanged; an excellent soldier and of good inches, for that one fault. nobleman schlubhut was 'to make restitution,' they decreed: that was their decree on schlubhut, one of their own set; and this poor soldier, six feet three, your majesty, is to dance on the top of nothing for a three-halfpenny matter!"--so would donhof represent the thing,--"fact being," says my dryasdust, "it was a case of house-breaking with theft to the value of , thalers and this musketeer the ringleader!"--well; but was schlubhut sentenced to hanging? do you keep two weights and two measures, in that criminal-collegium of yours, then? friedrich wilhelm feels this sad contrast very much; the more, as the soldier is his own chattel withal, and of superlative inches: friedrich wilhelm flames up into wrath; sends off swift messengers to bring these judges, one and all instantly into his presence. the judges are still in their dressing-gowns, shaving, breakfasting; they make what haste they can. so soon as the first three or four are reported to be in the anteroom, friedrich wilhelm, in extreme impatience has them called in; starts discoursing with them upon the two weights and two measures. apologies, subterfuges do but provoke him farther; it is not long till he starts up, growling terribly: "ihr schurken (ye scoundrels), how could you?" and smites down upon the crowns of them with the royal cudgel itself. fancy the hurry-scurry, the unforensic attitudes and pleadings! royal cudgel rains blows, right and left: blood is drawn, crowns cracked, crowns nearly broken; and "several judges lost a few teeth, and had their noses battered," before they could get out. the second relay meeting them in this dilapidated state, on the staircases, dashed home again without the honor of a royal interview. [benekendorf, vii. ; forster, ii. .] let them learn to keep one balance, and one set of weights, in their law-court hence forth.--this is an actual scene, of date berlin, , or thereby; unusual in the annals of themis. of which no constitutional country can hope to see the fellow, were the need never so pressing.--i wish his majesty had been a thought more equal, when he was so rhadamanthine! schlubhut he hanged, schlubhut being only schlubhut's chattel; this musketeer, his majesty's own chattel, he did not hang, but set him shouldering arms again, after some preliminary dusting!-- his majesty was always excessively severe on defalcations; any chancellor, with his exchequer-bills gone wrong, would have fared ill in that country. one treasury dignitary, named wilke (who had "dealt in tall recruits," as a kind of by-trade, and played foul in some slight measure), the king was clear for hanging; his poor wife galloped to potsdam, shrieking mercy; upon which friedrich wilhelm had him whipt by the hangman, and stuck for life into spandau. still more tragical--was poor hesse's case. hesse, some domain rath out at konigsberg, concerned with moneys, was found with account-books in a state of confusion, and several thousands short, when the outcome was cleared up. what has become of these thousands, sir? poor old hesse could not tell: "god is my witness, no penny of them eyer stuck to me," asseverated poor old hesse; "but where they are--? my account-books are in such a state;--alas, and my poor old memory is not what it was!" they brought him to berlin; in the end they actually hanged the poor old soul;--and then afterwards in his dusty lumber-rooms, hidden in pots, stuffed into this nook and that, most or all of the money was found! [forster (ii. ), &c. &c.] date and document exist for all these cases, though my dryasdust gives none; and the cases are indubitable; very rhadamanthine indeed. the soft quality of mercy,--ah, yes, it is beautiful and blessed, when permissible (though thrice-accursed, when not): but it is on the hard quality of justice, first of all, that empires are built up, and beneficent and lasting things become achievable to mankind, in this world!-- skipper jenkins in the gulf of florida. a couple of weeks before schlubhut's death, the english newspapers are somewhat astir,--in the way of narrative merely, as yet. ship rebecca, captain robert jenkins master, has arrived in the port of london, with a strange story in her log-book. of which, after due sifting, this is accurately the substance:-- "london, d- th june, . captain jenkins left this port with the rebecca, several months ago; sailed to jamaica, for a cargo of sugar. he took in his cargo at jamaica; put to sea again, th april, , and proceeded on the voyage homewards; with indifferent winds for the first fortnight. april th, with no wind or none that would suit, he was hanging about in the entrance of the gulf of florida, not far from the havana,"--almost too near it, i should think; but these baffling winds!--"not far from the havana, when a spanish guarda-costa hove in sight; came down on jenkins, and furiously boarded him: 'scoundrel, what do you want; contrabanding in these seas? jamaica, say you? sugar? likely! let us see your logwood, hides, spanish pieces-of-eight!' and broke in upon jenkins, ship and person, in a most extraordinary manner. tore up his hatches; plunged down, seeking logwood, hides, pieces-of-eight; found none,--not the least trace of contraband on board of jenkins. they brought up his quadrants, sextants, however; likewise his stock of tallow candles: they shook and rummaged him, and all things, for pieces-of-eight; furiously advised him, cutlass in hand, to confess guilt. they slashed the head of jenkins, his left ear almost off. order had been given, 'scalp him!'--but as he had no hair, they omitted that; merely brought away the wig, and slashed:--still no confession, nor any pieces-of-eight. they hung him up to the yard-arm,--actual neck-halter, but it seems to have been tarry, and did not run:--still no confession. they hoisted him higher, tied his cabin-boy to his feet; neck-halter then became awfully stringent upon jenkins; had not the cabin-boy (without head to speak of) slipt through, noose being tarry; which was a sensible relief to jenkins. before very death, they lowered jenkins, 'confess, scoundrel, then!' scoundrel could not confess; spoke of 'british majesty's flag, peaceable english subject on the high seas.'--'british majesty; high seas!' answered they, and again hoisted. thrice over they tried jenkins in this manner at the yard-arm, once with cabin-boy at his feet: never had man such a day, outrageous whiskerando cut-throats tossing him about, his poor rebecca and him, at such rate! sun getting low, and not the least trace of contraband found, they made a last assault on jenkins; clutched the bloody slit ear of him; tore it mercilessly off; flung it in his face, 'carry that to your king, and tell him of it!' then went their way; taking jenkins's tallow candles, and the best of his sextants with them; so that he could hardly work his passage home again, for want of latitudes;--and has lost in goods pounds, not to speak of his ear. strictly true all this; ship's company, if required, will testify on their oath." [daily journal (and the other london newspapers), th- th june (o.s.), . coxe's _walpole,_ i. , (indistinct, and needing correction).] these surely are singular facts; calculated to awaken a maritime public careful of its honor. which they did,--after about eight years, as the reader will see! for the present, there are growlings in the coffee-houses; and, "thursday, th june," say the newspapers, "this day captain jenkins with his owners," ear in his pocket, i hope, "went out to hampton court to lay the matter before his grace of newcastle:" "please your grace, it is hardly three months since the illustrious treaty of vienna was signed; dutch and we leading in the termagant of spain, and nothing but halcyon weather to be looked for on that side!" grace of newcastle, anxious to avoid trouble with spain, answers i can only fancy what; and nothing was done upon jenkins and his ear; ["the spaniards own they did a witty thing, who cropt our ears, and sent them to the king." --pope (date not given me).] --may "keep it in cotton," if he like; shall have "a better ship" for some solacement. this is the first emergence of jenkins and his ear upon negligent mankind. he and it will marvellously re-emerge, one day!-- baby carlos gets his apanage. but in regard to that treaty of vienna, seventh and last of the travail-throes for baby carlos's apanage, let the too oblivious reader accept the following extract, to keep him on a level with public "events," as they are pleased to denominate themselves:-- "by that dreadful treaty of seville, cardinal fleury and the spaniards should have joined with england, and coerced the kaiser vi et armis to admit spanish garrisons [instead of neutral] into parma and piacenza, and so secure baby carlos his heritage there, which all nature was in travail till he got. 'war in italy to a certainty!' said all the newspapers, after seville: and crown-prince friedrich, we saw, was running off to have a stroke in said war;--inevitable, as the kaiser still obstinately refused. and the english, and great george their king, were ready. nevertheless, no war came. old fleury, not wanting war, wanting only to fish out something useful for himself,--lorraine how welcome, and indeed the smallest contributions are welcome!--old fleury manoeuvred, hung back; till the spaniards and termagant elizabeth lost all patience, and the very english were weary, and getting auspicious. whereupon the kaiser edged round to the sea-powers again, or they to him; and comfortable as-you-were was got accomplished: much to the joy of friedrich wilhelm and others. here are some of the dates to these sublime phenomena: "march th, , treaty of vienna, england and the kaiser coalescing again into comfortable as-you-were. treaty done by robinson [sir thomas, ultimately earl of grantham, whom we shall often hear of in time coming]; was confirmed and enlarged by a kind of second edition, d july, ; dutch joining, spain itself acceding, and all being now right. which could hardly have been expected. "for before the first edition of that treaty, and while robinson at vienna was still laboring like hercules in it,--the poor duke of parma died. died; and no vestige of a 'spanish garrison' yet there, to induct baby carlos according to old bargain. on the contrary, the kaiser himself took possession,--'till once the duke's widow, who declares herself in the family-way, be brought to bed! if of a son, of course he must have the duchies; if of a daughter only, then carlos shall get them, let not robinson fear.' the due months ran, but neither son nor daughter came; and the treaty of vienna, first edition and also second, was signed; and, "october th, , spanish garrisons, no longer an but a bodily fact, , strong, 'convoyed by the british fleet,' came into leghorn, and proceeded to lodge themselves in the long-litigated parma and piacenza;--and, in fine, the day after christmas, blessed be heaven. "december th, baby carlos in highest person came in: baby carlos (more power to him!) got the duchies, and we hope there was an end. no young gentleman ever had such a pother to make among his fellow-creatures about a little heritable property. if baby carlos's performance in it be anything in proportion, he will be a supereminent sovereign!-- "there is still some haggle about tuscany, the duke of which is old and heirless; last of the medici, as he proved. baby carlos would much like to have tuscany too; but that is a fief of the empire, and might easily be better disposed of, thinks the kaiser. a more or less uncertain point, that of tuscany; as many points are! last of the medici complained, in a polite manner, that they were parting his clothes before he had put them off: however, having no strength, he did not attempt resistance, but politely composed himself, 'well, then!' [scholl, ii. - ; coxe's _walpole,_ i. ; coxe's _house of austria_ (london, ), iii. .] do readers need to be informed that this same baby carlos came to be king of naples, and even ultimately to be carlos iii. of spain, leaving a younger son to be king of naples, ancestor of the now majesty there?" and thus, after such diplomatic earthquakes and travail of nature, there is at last birth; the seventh travail-throe has been successful, in some measure successful. here actually is baby carlos's apanage; there probably, by favor of heaven and of the sea-powers, will the kaiser's pragmatic sanction be, one day. treaty of seville, most imminent of all those dreadful imminencies of war, has passed off as they all did; peaceably adjusts itself into treaty of vienna: a termagant, as it were, sated; a kaiser hopeful to be so, pragmatic sanction and all: for the sea-powers and everybody mere halcyon weather henceforth,--not extending to the gulf of florida and captain jenkins, as would seem! robinson, who did the thing,--an expert man, bred to business as old horace walpole's secretary, at soissons and elsewhere, and now come to act on his own score,--regards this treaty of vienna (which indeed had its multiform difficulties) as a thing to immortalize a man. crown-prince has, long since, by papa's order, written to the kaiser, to thank imperial majesty for that beneficent intercession, which has proved the saving of his life, as papa inculcates. we must now see a little how the saved crown-prince is getting on, in his eclipsed state, among the domain sciences at custrin. chapter v. -- interview of majesty and crown-prince at custrin. ever since the end of november last year, crown-prince friedrich, in the eclipsed state, at custrin, has been prosecuting his probationary course, in the domain sciences and otherwise, with all the patience, diligence and dexterity he could. it is false, what one reads in some foolish books, that friedrich neglected the functions assigned him as assessor in the kriegs-und domanen-kammer. that would not have been the safe course for him! the truth still evident is, he set himself with diligence to learn the friedrich-wilhelm methods of administering domains, and the art of finance in general, especially of prussian finance, the best extant then or since;--finance, police, administrative business;--and profited well by the raths appointed as tutors to him, in the respective branches. one hille was his finance-tutor; whose "kompendium," drawn up and made use of on this occasion, has been printed in our time; and is said to be, in brief compass, a highly instructive piece; throwing clear light on the exemplary friedrich-wilhelm methods. [preuss, i. n.] these the prince did actually learn; and also practise, all his life,--"essentially following his father's methods," say the authorities,--with great advantage to himself, when the time came. solid nicolai hunted diligently after traces of him in the assessor business here; and found some: order from papa, to "make report, upon the glass-works of the neumark:" autograph signatures to common reports, one or two; and some traditions of his having had a hand in planning certain farm-buildings still standing in those parts:--but as the kammer records of custrin, and custrin itself, were utterly burnt by the russians in , such traces had mostly vanished thirty years before nicolai's time. [nicolai, _anekdoten,_ vi. .] enough have turned up since, in the form of correspondence with the king and otherwise: and it is certain the crown-prince did plan farm-buildings;--"both carzig and himmelstadt (carzig now called friedrichsfelde in consequence)," [see map] dim mossy steadings, which pious antiquarianism can pilgrim to if it likes, were built or rebuilt by him:--and it is remarkable withal how thoroughly instructed friedrich wilhelm shows himself in such matters; and how paternally delighted to receive such proposals of improvement introducible at the said carzig and himmelstadt, and to find young graceless so diligent, and his ideas even good. [forster, ii. , , .] perhaps a momentary glance into those affairs may be permitted farther on. the prince's life, in this his eclipsed state, is one of constraint, anxiety, continual liability; but after the first months are well over, it begins to be more supportable than we should think. he is fixed to the little town; cannot be absent any night, without leave from the commandant; which, however, and the various similar restrictions, are more formal than real. an amiable crown-prince, no soul in custrin but would run by night or by day to serve him. he drives and rides about, in that green peaty country, on domain business, on visits, on permissible amusement, pretty much at his own modest discretion. a green flat region, made of peat and sand; human industry needing to be always busy on it: raised causeways with incessant bridges, black sedgy ditch on this hand and that; many meres, muddy pools, stagnant or flowing waters everywhere; big muddy oder, of yellowish-drab color, coming from the south, big black warta (warthe) from the polish fens in the east, the black and yellow refusing to mingle for some miles. nothing of the picturesque in this country; but a good deal of the useful, of the improvable by economic science; and more of fine productions in it, too, of the floral, and still more interesting sorts, than you would suspect at first sight. friedrich's worst pinch was his dreadful straitness of income; checking one's noble tendencies on every hand: but the gentry of the district privately subscribed gifts for him (se cotisirent, says wilhelmina); and one way and other he contrived to make ends meet. munchow, his president in the kammer, next to whom sits friedrich, "king's place standing always ready but empty there," is heartily his friend; the munchows are diligent in getting up balls, rural gayeties, for him; so the hilles,--nay hille, severe finance tutor, has a mamsell hille whom it is pleasant to dance with; [preuss, i. .] nor indeed is she the only fascinating specimen, or flower of loveliness, in those peaty regions, as we shall see. on the whole, his royal highness, after the first paroxysms of royal suspicion are over, and forgiveness beginning to seem possible to the royal mind, has a supportable time of it; and possesses his soul in patience, in activity and hope. unpermitted things, once for all, he must avoid to do: perhaps he will gradually discover that many of them were foolish things better not done. he walks warily; to this all things continually admonish. we trace in him some real desire to be wise, to do and learn what is useful if he can here. but the grand problem, which is reality itself to him, is always, to regain favor with papa. and this, papa being what he is, gives a twist to all other problems the young man may have, for they must all shape themselves by this; and introduces something of artificial,--not properly of hypocritical, for that too is fatal if found out,--but of calculated, reticent, of half-sincere, on the son's part: an inevitable feature, plentifully visible in their correspondence now and henceforth. corresponding with papa and his grumkow, and watched, at every step, by such an argus as the tobacco-parliament, real frankness of speech is not quite the recommendable thing; apparent frankness may be the safer! besides mastery in the domain sciences, i perceive the crown-prince had to study here another art, useful to him in after life: the art of wearing among his fellow-creatures a polite cloak-of-darkness. gradually he becomes master of it as few are: a man politely impregnable to the intrusion of human curiosity; able to look cheerily into the very eyes of men, and talk in a social way face to face, and yet continue intrinsically invisible to them. an art no less essential to royalty than that of the domain sciences itself; and,--if at all consummately done, and with a scorn of mendacity for help, as in this case,--a difficult art. it is the chief feature in the two or three thousand letters we yet have of friedrich's to all manner of correspondents: letters written with the gracefulest flowing rapidity; polite, affable,--refusing to give you the least glimpse into his real inner man, or tell you any particular you might impertinently wish to know. as the history of friedrich, in this custrin epoch, and indeed in all epochs and parts, is still little other than a whirlpool of simmering confusions, dust mainly, and sibylline paper-shreds, in the pages of poor dryasdust, perhaps we cannot do better than snatch a shred or two (of the partly legible kind, or capable of being made legible) out of that hideous caldron; pin them down at their proper dates; and try if the reader can, by such means, catch a glimpse of the thing with his own eyes. here is shred first; a piece in grumkow's hand. this treats of a very grand incident; which forms an era or turning-point in the custrin life. majesty has actually, after hopes long held out of such a thing, looked in upon the prodigal at custrin, in testimony of possible pardon in the distance;--sees him again, for the first time since that scene at wesel with the drawn sword, after year and day. grumkow, for behoof of seckendorf and the vienna people, has drawn a rough "protocol" of it; and here it is, snatched from the dust-whirlwinds, and faithfully presented to the english reader. his majesty is travelling towards sonnenburg, on some grand knight-of-malta ceremony there; and halts at custrin for a couple of hours as he passes:-- grumkow's "protokoll" of the th august, ; or summary of what took place at custrin that day. "his majesty arrived at custrin yesterday [gestern monday th,--hour not mentioned], and proceeded at once to the government house, with an attendance of several hundred persons. major-general lepel," commandant of custrin, "colonel derschau and myself are immediately sent for to his majesty's apartment there. privy-councillor walden," prince's hofmarschall, a solid legal man, "is ordered by his majesty to bring the crown-prince over from his house; who accordingly in a few minutes, attended by rohwedel and natzmer," the two kammerjunkers, "entered the room where his majesty and we were. "so soon as his majesty, turning round, had sight of him, the crown-prince fell at his feet. having bidden him rise, his majesty said with a severe mien:-- "'you will now bethink yourself what passed year and day ago; and how scandalously you saw fit to behave yourself, and what a godless enterprise you took in hand. as i have had you about me from the beginning, and must know you well, i did all in the world that was in my power, by kindness and by harshness, to make an honorable man of you. as i rather suspected your evil purpose, i treated you in the harshest and sharpest way in the saxon camp,' at radewitz, in those gala days, 'in hopes you would consider yourself, and take another line of conduct; would confess your faults to me, and beg forgiveness. but all in vain; you grew ever more stiffnecked. when a young man gets into follies with women, one may try to overlook it as the fault of his age: but to do with forethought basenesses (lacheteen) and ugly actions; 'that is unpardonable. you thought to carry it through with your headstrong humor: but hark ye, my lad (hore, mein kerl), if thou wert sixty or seventy instead of eighteen, thou couldst not cross my resolutions.' it would take a bigger man to do that, my lad! 'and as, up to this date (bis dato) i have managed to sustain myself against any comer, there will be methods found of bringing thee to reason too!-- "'how have not i, on all occasions, meant honorably by you! last time i got wind of your debts, how did i, as a father, admonish you to tell me all; i would pay all, you were only to tell me the truth. whereupon you said, there were still two thousand thalers beyond the sum named. i paid these also at once; and fancied i had made peace with you. and then it was found, by and by, you owed many thousands more; and as you now knew you could not pay, it was as good as if the money had been stolen;--not to reckon how the french vermin, montholieu and partner, cheated you with their new loans.' pfui!--'nothing touched me so much [continues his majesty, verging towards the pathetic], as that you had not any trust in me. all this that i was doing for aggrandizement of the house, the army and finances, could only be for you, if you made yourself worthy of it! i here declare i have done all things to gain your friendship;--and all has been in vain!' at which words the crown-prince, with a very sorrowful gesture, threw himself at his majesty's feet,"--tears (presumably) in both their eyes by this time. "'was it not your intention to go to england?' asked his majesty farther on. the prince answered 'ja!'--'then hear what the consequences would have been. your mother would have got into the greatest misery; i could not but have suspected she was the author of the business. your sister i would have cast, for life, into a place where she never would have seen sun and moon again. then on with my army into hanover, and burn and ravage; yes, if it had cost me life, land and people. your thoughtless and godless conduct, see what it was leading to. i intended to employ you in all manner of business, civil, military; but how, after such an action, could i show the face of you to my officers (soldiers) and other servants?--the one way of repairing all this is, that you seek, regardless of your very life in comparison, to make the fault good again!' at which words the crown-prince mournfully threw himself at his royal majesty's feet; begging to be put upon the hardest proofs: he would endure all things, so as to recover his majesty's grace and esteem. "whereupon the king asked him: 'was it thou that temptedst katte; or did katte tempt thee?' the crown-prince without hesitation answered, 'i tempted him.'--'i am glad to hear the truth from you, at any rate.'" the dialogue now branches out, into complex general form; out of which, intent upon abridging, we gather the following points. king loquitur:-- "how do you like your custrin life? still as much aversion to wusterhausen, and to wearing your shroud [sterbekittel, name for the tight uniform you would now be so glad of, and think quite other than a shroud!] as you called it?" prince's answer wanting.--"likely enough my company does not suit you: i have no french manners, and cannot bring out bon-mots in the petit-maitre way; and truly regard all that as a thing to be flung to the dogs. i am a german prince, and mean to live and die in that character. but you can now say what you have got by your caprices and obstinate heart; hating everything that i liked; and if i distinguished any one, despising him! if an officer was put in arrest, you took to lamenting about him. your real friends, who intended your good, you hated and calumniated; those that flattered you, and encouraged your bad purpose, you caressed. you see what that has come to. in berlin, in all prussia for some time back, nobody asks after you, whether you are in the world or not; and were it not one or the other coming from custrin who reports you as playing tennis and wearing french hair-bags, nobody would know whether you were alive or dead." hard sayings; to which the prince's answers (if there were any beyond mournful gestures) are not given. we come now upon predestination, or the gnadenwahl; and learn (with real interest, not of the laughing sort alone) how his "majesty, in the most conclusive way, set forth the horrible results of that absolute-decree notion; which makes out god to be the author of sin, and that jesus christ died only for some! upon which the crown-prince vowed and declared (hoch und theuer), he was now wholly of his majesty's orthodox opinion." the king, now thoroughly moved, expresses satisfaction at the orthodoxy; and adds with enthusiasm, "when godless fellows about you speak against your duties to god, the king and your country, fall instantly on your knees, and pray with your whole soul to jesus christ to deliver you from such wickedness, and lead you on better ways. and if it come in earnest from your heart, jesus, who would have all men saved, will not leave you unheard." no! and so may god in his mercy aid you, poor son fritz. and as for me, in hopes the time coming will show fruits, i forgive you what is past.--to which the crown-prince answered with monosyllables, with many tears; "kissing his majesty's feet;"--and as the king's eyes were not dry, he withdrew into another room; revolving many things in his altered soul. "it being his majesty's birthday [ th august by old style, th by new, forty-third birthday], the prince, all bewept and in emotion, followed his father; and, again falling prostrate, testified such heartfelt joy, gratitude and affection over this blessed anniversary, as quite touched the heart of papa; who at last clasped him in his arms [poor soul, after all!], and hurried out to avoid blubbering quite aloud. he stept into his carriage," intending for sonnenburg (chiefly by water) this evening, where a serene cousin, one of the schwedt margraves, head knight of malta, has his establishment. "the crown-prince followed his majesty out; and, in the presence of many hundred people, kissed his majesty's feet" again (linen gaiters, not day-and-martin shoes); "and was again embraced by his majesty, who said, 'behave well, as i see you mean, and i will take care of you,' which threw the crown-prince into such an ecstasy of joy as no pen can express;" and so the carriages rolled away,--towards the knights-of-malta business and palace of the head knight of malta, in the first place. [forster, iii. - .] these are the main points, says grumkow, reporting next day; and the reader must interpret them as he can, a crown-prince with excellent histrionic talents, thinks the reader. well; a certain exaggeration, immensity of wish becoming itself enthusiasm; somewhat of that: but that is by no means the whole or even the main part of the phenomenon, o reader. this crown-prince has a real affection to his father, as we shall in time convince ourselves. say, at lowest, a crown-prince loyal to fact; able to recognize overwhelming fact, and aware that he must surrender thereto. surrender once made, the element much clears itself; papa's side of the question getting fairly stated for the first time. sure enough, papa, is god's vicegerent in several undeniable respects, most important some of them: better try if we can obey papa. dim old fassmann yields a spark or two,--as to his majesty's errand at sonnenburg. majesty is going to preside to-morrow "at the installation of young margraf karl, new herrmeister (grand-master) of the knights of st. john" there; "the office having suddenly fallen vacant lately." office which is an heirloom;--usually held by one of the margraves, half-uncles of the king,--some junior of them, not provided for at schwedt or otherwise. margraf albert, the last occupant, an old gentleman of sixty, died lately, "by stroke of apoplexy while at dinner;" [ st june, : fassmann, p. ; pollnitz, ii. .]--and his eldest son, margraf karl, with whom his majesty lodges to-night, is now herrmeister. "majesty came at p.m. to sonnenburg [must have left custrin about five]; forty-two ritters made at sonnenburg next day,"--a certain colonel or lieutenant-general von wreech, whom we shall soon see again, is one of them; seckendorf another. "fresh ritter-schlag ["knight-stroke," batch of knights dubbed] at sonnenburg, th september next," which shall not the least concern us. note margraf karl, however, the new herrmeister; for he proves a soldier of some mark, and will turn up again in the silesian wars;--as will a poor brother of his still more impressively, "shot dead beside the king," on one occasion there. we add this of dickens, for all the diplomatists, and a discerning public generally, are much struck with the event at custrin; and take to writing of it as news;--and "mr. ginkel," dutch ambassador here, an ingenious, honest and observant man, well enough known to us, has been out to sup with the prince, next day; and thus reports of him to dickens: "mr. ginkel, who supped with the prince on thursday last," day after the interview, "tells me that his royal highness is extremely improved since he had seen him; being grown much taller; and that his conversation is surprising for his age, abounding in good sense and the prettiest turns of expression." [despatch, th august, .] here are other shreds, snatched from the witch-caldron, and pinned down, each at its place; which give us one or two subsequent glimpses:-- potsdam, st august, (king to wolden the hofmarschall).... "crown-prince shall travel over, and personally inspect, the following domains: quartschen, himmelstadt, carzig, massin, lebus, gollow and wollup," dingy moor-farms dear to antiquarians; "travel over these and not any other. permission always to be asked, of his royal majesty, in writing, and mention made to which of them the crown-prince means to go. some one to be always in attendance, who can give him fit instruction about the husbandry; and as the crown-prince has yet only learned the theory, he must now be diligent to learn the same practically. for which end it must be minutely explained to him, how the husbandry is managed,--how ploughed, manured, sown, in every particular; and what the differences of good and bad husbandry are, so that he may be able of himself to know and judge the same. of cattle-husbandry too, and the affairs of brewing (viehzucht und brauwesen), the due understanding to be given him; and in the matter of brewing, show him how things are handled, mixed, the beer drawn off, barrelled, and all how they do with it (wie uberall dabei verfahren); also the malt, how it must be prepared, and what like, when good. useful discourse to be kept up with him on these journeys; pointing out how and why this is and that, and whether it could not be better:"--o king of a thousand!--"has liberty to shoot stags, moorcocks (huhner) and the like; and a small-hunt [kleine jagd, not a parforce or big one] can be got up for his amusement now and then;" furthermore "a little duck-shooting from boat," on the sedgy waters there,--if the poor soul should care about it. wolden, or one of the kammerjunkers, to accompany always, and be responsible. "no madchen or frauensmensch," no shadow of womankind;--"keep an eye on him, you three!" these things are in the prussian archives; of date the week after that interview. in two weeks farther, follows the prince's speculation about carzig and the building of a farmstead there; with papa's "real contentment that you come upon such proposals, and seek to make improvements. only"-- wusterhausen, th september (king to crown-prince).... "only you must examine whether there is meadow-ground enough, and how many acres can actually be allotted to that farm. [hear his majesty!] take a land-surveyor with you; and have all well considered; and exactly inform yourself what kind of land it is, whether it can only grow rye, or whether some of it is barley-land: you must consider it yourself, and do it all out of your own head, though you may consult with others about it. in grazing-ground (huthung) i think it will not fail; if only the meadow-land"--in fact, it fails in nothing; and is got all done ("wood laid out to season straightway," and "what digging and stubbing there is, proceeded with through the winter"): done in a successful and instructive manner, both carzig and himmelstadt, though we will say nothing farther of them. [forster, i. - .] custrin, d september (crown-prince to papa).... "have been at lebus; excellent land out there; fine weather for the husbandman." "major roder," unknown major, "passed this way; and dined with me, last wednesday. he has got a pretty fellow (schonen kerl) for my most all-gracious father's regiment [the potsdam giants, where i used to be]; whom i could not look upon without bleeding heart. i depend on my most all-gracious father's grace, that he will be good to me: i ask for nothing and no happiness in the world but what comes from you; and hope you will, some day, remember me in grace, and give me the blue coat to put on again!" [briefwechsel mit vater (oeuvres, xxvii. part d, p. ).]--to which papa answers nothing, or only "hm, na, time may come!" carzig goes on straightway; papa charmed to grant the moneys; "wood laid out to season," and much "stubbing and digging" set on foot, before the month ends. carzig; and directly on the heel of it, on like terms, himmelstadt,--but of all this we must say no more. it is clear the prince is learning the domain sciences; eager to prove himself a perfect son in the eyes of papa. papa, in hopeful moments, asks himself: "to whom shall we marry him, then; how settle him?" but what the prince, in his own heart, thought of it all; how he looked, talked, lived, in unofficial times? here has a crabbed dim document turned up, which, if it were not nearly undecipherable to the reader and me, would throw light on the point:-- schulenburg's three letters to grumkow, on visits to the crown-prince, during the custrin time. the reader knows lieutenant-general schulenburg; stiff little military gentleman of grave years, nephew of the maypole emerita who is called duchess of kendal in england. "had a horse shot under him at malplaquet;" battlings and experiences enough, before and since. has real sense, abundant real pedantry; a prussian soldier every inch. he presided in the copenick court-martial; he is deeply concerned in these crown-prince difficulties. his majesty even honors him by expecting he should quietly keep a monitorial eye upon the crown-prince;--being his neighbor in those parts; colonel-commandant of a regiment of horse at landsberg not many miles off. he has just been at vienna [september, (_militair-lexikon,_ iii. ).] on some "business", (quasi-diplomatic probably, which can remain unknown to us); and has reported upon it, or otherwise finished it off, at berlin;--whence rapidly home to landsberg again. on the way homewards, and after getting home, he writes these three letters; off-hand and in all privacy, and of course with a business sincerity, to grumkow;--little thinking they would one day get printed, and wander into these latitudes to be scanned and scrutinized! undoubtedly an intricate crabbed document to us; but then an indubitable one. crown-prince, schulenburg himself, and the actual figure of time and place, are here mirrored for us, with a business sincerity, in the mind of schulenburg,--as from an accidental patch of water; ruffled bog-water, in sad twilight, and with sedges and twigs intervening; but under these conditions we do look with our own eyes! could not one, by any conceivable method, interpret into legibility this abstruse dull document; and so pick out here and there a glimpse, actual face-to-face view, of crown-prince friedrich in his light-gray frock with the narrow silver tresses, in his eclipsed condition there in the custrin region? all is very mysterious about him; his inward opinion about all manner of matters, from the gnadenwahl to the late double-marriage question. even his outward manner of life, in its flesh-and-blood physiognomy,--we search in vain through tons of dusty lucubration totally without interest, to catch here and there the corner of a feature of it. let us try schulenburg. we shall know at any rate that to grumkow, in the autumn , these words were luculent and significant: consciously they tell us something of young friedrich; unconsciously a good deal of lieutenant-general schulenburg, who with his strict theologies, his military stiffnesses, his reticent, pipe-clayed, rigorous and yet human ways, is worth looking at, as an antique species extinct in our time. he is just home from vienna, getting towards his own domicile from berlin, from custrin, and has seen the prince. he writes in a wretched wayside tavern, or post-house, between custrin and landsberg,--dates his letter "wien (vienna)," as if he were still in the imperial city, so off-hand is he. no. . to his excellenz (add a shovelful of other titles) lieutenant-general herr baron von grumkow, president of the krieges-und domanen-directorium, of the (in fact, vice-president of the tobacco-parliament) in berlin. "wien [properly berlin-landsberg highway, other side of custrin], th october, . "i regret much to have missed the pleasure of seeing your excellency again before i left berlin. i set off between seven and eight in the morning yesterday, and got to custrin [seventy miles or so] before seven at night. but the prince had gone, that day, to the bailliage of himmelstadt" (up the warta country, eastward some five-and-thirty miles, much preparatory digging and stubbing there); and he "slept at massin [circuitous road back], where he shot a few stags this morning. as i was told he might probably dine at kammin [still nearer custrin, twelve miles from it; half that distance east of zorndorf,--mark that, o reader (see map)] with madam colonel schoning, i drove thither. he had arrived there a moment before me." and who is madam schoning, lady of kammin here?--patience, reader. "i found him much grown; an air of health and gayety about him. he caressed me greatly (me gracieusa fort); afterwards questioned me about my way of life in vienna; and asked, if i had diverted myself well there? i told him what business had been the occasion of my journey, and that this rather than amusements had occupied me; for the rest, that there had been great affluence of company, and no lack of diversions. he spoke a long time to madam de wreech "-- "wrochem" schulenburg calls her: young wife of lieutenant-general von wreech, a marlborough campaigner, made a knight of malta the other day; [_militair-lexikon,_ iv. .]--his charming young wife, and daughter of madam colonel schoning our hostess here; lives at tamsel, in high style, in these parts: mark the young lady well,--"who did not appear indifferent to him." no!--"and in fact she was in all her beauty; a complexion of lily and rose." charming creature; concerning whom there are anecdotes still afloat, and at least verses of this prince's writing; not too well seen by wreech, lately made a knight of malta, who, though only turning forty, is perhaps twice her age. the beautifulest, cleverest,--fancy it; and whether the peaty neumark produces nothing in the floral kind! "we went to dinner; he asked me to sit beside him. the conversation fell, among other topics, on the elector palatine's mistress," crotchety old gentleman, never out of quarrels, with heidelberg protestants, heirs of julich and berg, and in general with an unreasonable world, whom we saw at mannheim last year; has a mistress,--"elector valatine's mistress, called taxis. crown-prince said: 'i should like to know what that good old gentleman does with a mistress?' i answered, that the fashion had come so much in vogue, princes did not think they were princes unless they had mistresses; and that i was amazed at the facility of women, how they could shut their eyes on the sad reverse of fortune nearly inevitable for them;--and instanced the example of madam gravenitz"-- "gravenitz;" example lately fallen out at wurtemberg, as we predicted. prayers of the country, "deliver us from evil," are now answered there: gravenitz quite over with it! alas, yes; lately fallen from her high estate in wurtemberg, and become the topic of dinner-tables; seized by soldiers in the night-time; vain her high refusals, assurances of being too unwell to dress, "shall go in your shift, then,"--is in prison, totally eclipsed. [michaelis, iii. ; pollnitz, i. .] calming her fury, she will get out; and wearisomely wander about in fashionable capitals, toujours un lavement a ses trousses! "there were other subjects touched upon; and i always endeavored to deduce something of moral instruction from them," being a military gentleman of the old school. "among other things, he said, he liked the great world, and was charmed to observe the ridiculous weak side of some people. 'that is excellent,' said i, 'if one profit by it oneself: but if it is only for amusement, such a motive is worth little; we should rather look out for our own ridiculous weak side.' on rising, hofmarschall wolden said to me," without much sincerity, "'you have done well to preach a little morality to him.' the prince went to a window, and beckoned me thither. "'you have learned nothing of what is to become of me?' said he. i answered: 'it is supposed your royal highness will return to berlin, when the marriage [wilhelmina's] takes place; but as to what will come next, i have heard nothing. but as your highness has friends, they will not fail to do their endeavor; and m. de grumkow has told me he would try to persuade the king to give you a regiment, in order that your highness might have something to do.' it seemed as if that would give him pleasure. i then took the liberty of saying: 'monseigneur, the most, at present, depends on yourself.--'how so?' asked he. i answered, 'it is only by showing good conduct, and proofs of real wisdom and worth, that the king's entire favor can be gained first of all, to fear god'"--and, in fact, i launched now into a moral preachment, or discursive dialogue, of great length; much needing to have the skirts of it tucked up, in a way of faithful abridgment, for behoof of poor english readers. as follows:-- "schulenburg: if your highness behave well, the king will accord what you want: but it is absolutely necessary to begin by that.--prince: i do nothing that can displease the king.--schulenburg: it would be a little soon yet! but i speak of the future. your highness, the grand thing i recommend is to fear god! everybody says, you have the sentiments of an honest man; excellent, that, for a beginning; but without the fear of god, your highness, the passions stifle the finest sentiments. must lead a life clear of reproach; and more particularly on the chapter of women! need not imagine you can do the least thing without the king's knowing it: if your highness take the bad road, he will wish to correct it; the end will be, he will bring you back to live beside him; which will not be very agreeable.--prince: hmph, no!--schulenburg: of the ruin to health i do not speak; i--prince: pooh, one is young, one is not master of that;"--and, in fact, on this delicate chapter, which runs to some length, prince answers as wildish young fellows will; quizzing my grave self, with glances even at his majesty, on alleged old peccadilloes of ours. which allegations or inferences i rebutted with emphasis. "but, i confess, though i employed all my rhetoric, his mind did not seem to alter; and it will be a miracle if he change on this head." alas, general! can't be helped, i fear! "he said he was not afraid of anything so much as of living constantly beside the king.--schulenburg: arm yourself with patience, monseigneur, if that happen. god has given you sense enough; persevere to use it faithfully on all occasions, you will gain the good graces of the king.--prince: impossible; beyond my power, indeed, said he; and made a thousand objections.--schulenburg: your highness is like one that will not learn a trade because you do not already know it. begin; you will certainly never know it otherwise! before rising in the morning, form a plan for your day,"--in fact, be moral, oh, be moral! his highness now got upon the marriages talked of for him; an important point for the young man. he spoke, hopefully rather, of the marriage with the princess of mecklenburg,--niece of the late czar peter the great; daughter of that unhappy duke who is in quarrel with his ritters, and a trouble to all his neighbors, and to us among the number. readers recollect that young lady's serene mother, and a meeting she once had with her uncle peter,--at magdeburg, a dozen years ago, in a public drawing-room with alcove near; anecdote not lightly to be printed in human types, nor repeated where not necessary. the mother is now dead; father still up to the eyes in puddle and trouble: but as for the young lady herself, she is niece to the now czarina anne; by law of primogeniture heiress of all the russias; something of a match truly! "but there will be difficulties; your highness to change your religion, for one thing?--prince: won't, by any means:--schulenburg: and give up the succession to prussia?--prince: a right fool if i did!--schulenburg: then this marriage comes to nothing.--thereupon next he said, if the kaiser is so strong for us, let him give me his second daughter;" lucky franz of lorraine is to get the first.--"schulenburg: are you serious?--prince: why not? with a duchy or two it would do very well.--schulenburg: no duchies possible under the pragmatic sanction, your highness: besides, your change of religion?--prince: oh, as to that, never!--then this marriage also comes to nothing of the english, and their double-marriage, and their hotham brabble, he spoke lightly, as of an extinct matter,--in terms your excellency will like. "but, said i, since you speak so much of marriages, i suppose you wish to be married?--prince: no; but if the king absolutely will have it, i will marry to obey him. after that, i will shove my wife into the corner (planterai la ma femme), and live after my own fancy.--schulenburg: horrible to think of! for, in the first place, your highness, is it not written in the law of god, adulterers shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven?" and in the second place; and in the third and fourth place!--to all which he answered as wild young fellows do, especially if you force marriage on them. "i can perceive, if he marries, it will only be to have more liberty than now. it is certain, if he had his elbows free, he would strike out (s'en donnerait a gauche). he said to me several times: 'i am young; i want to profit by my youth.'" a questionable young fellow, herr general; especially if you force marriage on him. "this conversation done," continues the general, "he set to talking with the madam wreech," and her complexion of lily and rose; "but he did not stay long; drove off about five [dinner at the stroke of twelve in those countries], inviting me to see him again at custrin, which i promised." and so the prince is off in the autumn sunset, driving down the peaty hollow of the warta, through unpicturesque country, which produces wreechs and incomparable flowers nevertheless. yes; and if he look a six miles to the right, there is the smoke of the evening kettles from zorndorf, rising into the sky; and across the river, a twenty miles to the left, is kunersdorf: poor sleepy sandy hamlets; where nettles of the devil are to be plucked one day!-- "the beautiful wreech drove off to tamsel," her fine house; i to this wretched tavern; where, a couple of hours after that conversation, i began writing it all down, and have nothing else to do for the night. your excellency's most moral, stiff-necked, pipe-clayed and extremely obedient, "von schulenbubg." [forster, iii. - .] this young man may be orthodox on predestination, and outwardly growing all that a papa could wish; but here are strange heterodoxies, here is plenty of mutinous capricious fire in the interior of him, herr general! in fact, a young man unfortunately situated; already become solitary in creation; has not, except himself, a friend in the world available just now. tempestuous papa storms one way, tempestuous mamma nature another; and between the outsids and the inside there are inconsistencies enough. concerning the fair wreech of tamsel, with her complexion of lily and rose, there ensued by and by much whispering, and rumoring underbreath; which has survived in the apocryphal anecdote-books, not in too distinct a form. here, from first hand, are three words, which we may take to be the essence of the whole. grumkow reporting, in a sordid, occasionally smutty, spy manner, to his seckendorf, from berlin, eight or ten months hence, has this casual expression: "he [king friedrich wilhelm] told me in confidence that wreech, the colonel's wife, is--to p. r. (prince-royal); and that wreech vowed he would not own it for his. and his majesty in secret is rather pleased," adds the smutty spy. [grumkow to seckendorf, berlin, th august, (forster, iii. ).] elsewhere i have read that the poor object, which actually came as anticipated (male or female, i forget), did not live long;--nor had friedrich, by any opportunity, another child in this world. domestic tamsel had to allay itself as it best could; and the fair wreech became much a stranger to friedrich,--surprisingly so to friedrich the king, as perhaps we may see.-- predestination, gnadenwahl, herr general: what is orthodoxy on predestination, with these accompaniments! [for wreech, see _benekendorf,_ v. ; for schulenburg, ib. ;--and _militair-lexikon,_ iii. , , and iv. , . vacant on the gossiping points; cautiously official, both these.] we go now to the second letter and the third,--from landsberg about a fortnight later:-- no. . to his excellency (shovelful of titles) von grumkow, in berlin. "landsberg, th october, . "the day before yesterday [that is, wednesday, th october] i received an order, to have only fifty horse at that post, and"--order which shows us that there has fallen out some recruiting squabble on the polish frontier hereabouts; that the polack gentlemen have seized certain corporals of ours, but are about restoring them; order and affair which we shall omit. "corporals will be got back: but as these polack gentlemen: will see, by the course taken, that we have no great stomach for biting, i fancy they will grow more insolent; then, 'ware who tries to recruit there for the future! "on the same day i was apprised, from custrin, that the prince-royal had resolved on an excursion to carzig, and thence to the bailliage of himmelstadt [digging and stubbing now on foot at himmelstadt too], which is but a couple of miles ["demi-mille" german.] from this; that there would be a little hunt between the two bailliages; and that if i chose to come, i might, and the prince would dine with me."--which i did; and so, here again, thursday, th october, , in those remote warta-oder countries, is a glimpse of his royal highness at first hand. schulenburg continues; not even taking a new paragraph, which indeed he never does:-- "they had shut up a couple of spiesser (young roes), and some stags, in the old wreck of a saugarten [boar-park, between carzig and himmelstadt; fast ruinirten saugarten, he calls it, daintily throwing in a touch of german here]: the prince shot one or two of them, and his companions the like; but it does not seem as if this amusement were much to his taste. he went on to himmelstadt; and at noon he arrived here," in my poor domicile at landsberg. "at one o'clock we went to table, and sat till four. he spoke only of very indifferent things; except saying to me: 'do you know, the king has promised , crowns ( , pounds) towards disengaging those bailliages of the margraf of baireuth's,'"--old margraf, bailliages pawned to raise ready cash; readers remember what interminable law-pleading there was, till friedrich wilhelm put it into a liquid state, "pay me back the moneys, then!" [supra, pp. - .]--"' , thalers to the old margraf, in case his prince (wilhelmina's now bridegroom) have a son by my sister.' i answered, i had heard nothing of it.--'but,' said he, 'that is a great deal of money! and some hundred thousands more have gone the like road, to anspach, who never will be able to repay. for all is much in disorder at anspach. give the margraf his heron-hunt (chasse au heron), he cares for nothing; and his people pluck him at no allowance.' i said: that if these princes would regulate their expenditure, they might, little by little, pay off their debts; that i had been told at vienna the baireuth bailliages were mortgaged on very low terms, those who now held them making eight or ten per cent of their money;"--that the margraf ought to make an effort; and so on. "i saw very well that these loans the king makes are not to his mind. "directly on rising from table, he went away; excusing himself to me, that he could not pass the night here; that the king would not like his sleeping in the town; besides that he had still several things to complete in a report he was sending off to his majesty. he went to nassin, and slept there. for my own share, i did not press him to remain; what i did was rather in the way of form. there were with him president munchow," civil gentleman whom we know, "an engineer captain reger, and the three gentlemen of his court," wolden, rohwedel, katzmer who once twirled his finger in a certain mouth, the insipid fellow. [map goes here----------------missing] "he is no great eater; but i observed he likes the small dishes (petits plats) and the high tastes: he does not care for fish; though i had very fine trouts, he never touched them. he does not take brown soup (soupe au bouillon). it did not seem to me he cared for wine: he tastes at all the wines; but commonly stands by burgundy with water. "i introduced to him all the officers of my regiment who are here; he received them in the style of a king [en roi, plenty of quiet pride in him, herr general]. it is certain he feels what he is born to; and if ever he get to it, will stand on the top of it. as to me, i mean to keep myself retired; and shall see of him as little as i can. i perceive well he does not like advice," especially when administered in the way of preachment, by stiff old military gentlemen of the all-wise stamp;--"and does not take pleasure except with people inferior to him in mind. his first aim is to find out the ridiculous side of every one, and he loves to banter and quiz. it is a fault in a prince: he ought to know people's faults, and not to make them known to anybody whatever,"--which, we perceive, is not quite the method with private gentlemen of the all-wise type!-- "i speak to your excellency as a friend; and assure you he is a prince who has talent, but who will be the slave of his passions (se fera dominer par ses passions,"--not a felicitous prophecy, herr general); "and will like nobody but such as encourage him therein. for me, i think all princes are cast in the same mould; there is only a more and a less. "at parting, he embraced me twice; and said, 'i am sorry i cannot stay longer; but another time i will profit better.' wolden [one of the three] told me he could not describe how well-intentioned for your excellency the prince-royal is [cunning dog!], who says often to wolden [doubtless guessing it will be re-said], 'if i cannot show him my gratitude, i will his posterity:'"--profoundly obliged to the grumkow kindred first and last!--"i remain your excellency's" most pipe-clayed "von schulenburg." [forster, iii. - .] and so, after survey of the spademen at carzig and himmelstadt (where colonel wreech, by the way, is amts-hauptmann, official head-man), after shooting a spiesser or two, and dining and talking in this sort, his royal highness goes to sleep at massin; and ends one day of his then life. we proceed to letter no. . a day or two after no. , it would appear, his majesty, who is commonly at wusterhausen hunting in this season, has been rapidly out to crossen, in these landsberg regions (to south, within a day's drive of landsberg), rapidly looking after something; grumkow and another official attending him;--other official, "truchsess," is truchsess von waldburg, a worthy soldier and gentleman of those parts, whom we shall again hear of. in no. there is mention likewise of the "kurfurst of koln,"--elector of cologne; languid lanky gentleman of bavarian breed, whom we saw last year at bonn, richest pluralist of the church; whom doubtless our poor readers have forgotten again. mention of him; and also considerable sulky humor, of the majesty's-opposition kind, on schulenburg's part; for which reason, and generally as a poor direct reflex of time and place,--reflex by ruffled bog-water, through sedges, and in twilight; dim but indubitable,--we give the letter, though the prince is little spoken of in it:-- no. . to the excellency grumkow (as above), in berlin. "landsberg, d october (monday), . "monsieur,--i trust your excellency made your journey to crossen with all the satisfaction imaginable. had i been warned sooner, i would have come; not only to see the king, but for your excellency's sake and truchsess's: but i received your excellency's letter only yesterday morning; so i could not have arrived before yesternight, and that late; for it is fifty miles off, and one has to send relays beforehand; there being no post-horses on that road. "we are,--not to make comparisons,--like harlequin! no sooner out of one scrape, than we get into another; and all for the sake of those big blockheads (l'amour de ces grands colosses). what the kurfurst of koln has done, in his character of bishop of osnabruck,"--a deed not known to this editor, but clearly in the way of snubbing our recruiting system,--"is too droll: but if we avenge ourselves, there will be high play, and plenty of it, all round our borders! if such things would make any impression on the spirit, of our master: but they do not; they"--in short, this recruiting system is delirious, thinks the stiff schulenburg; and scruples not to say so, though not in his place in parliament, or even tobacco-parliament. for there is a majesty's opposition in all lands and times. "we ruin the country," says the honorable member, "sending annually millions of money out of it, for a set of vagabond fellows (gens a sac et a corde), who will never do us the least service. one sees clearly it is the hand of god," darkening some people's understanding; "otherwise it might be possible their eyes would open, one time or another!"--a stiff pipe-clayed gentleman of great wisdom, with plenty of sulphur burning in the heart of him. the rest of his letter is all in the opposition strain (almost as if from his place in parliament, only far briefer than is usual "within these walls"); and winds up with a glance at victor amadeus's strange feat, or rather at the son's feat done upon victor, over in sardinia; preceded by this interjectionary sentence on a prince nearer home:-- "as to the prince-royal, depend on it he will do whatever is required of him [marry anybody you like &c.], if you give him more elbow-room, for that is whither he aims.--not a bad stroke that, of the king of sardinia"--grand news of the day, at that time; now somewhat forgotten, and requiring a word from us: old king victor amadeus of sardinia had solemnly abdicated in favor of his son; went, for a twelvemonth or more, into private felicity with an elderly lady-love whom he had long esteemed the first of women;--tired of such felicity, after a twelvemonth; demanded his crown back, and could not get it! lady-love and he are taken prisoners; lodged in separate castles: [ d september, abdicated, went to chambery; reclaims, is locked in rivoli, th october, (news of it just come to schulenburg); dies there, st october, , his th year.] and the wrath of the proud old gentleman is olympian in character,--split an oak table, smiting it while he spoke (say the cicerones);--and his silence, and the fiery daggers he looks, are still more emphatic. but the young fellow holds out; you cannot play handy-dandy with a king's crown, your majesty! say his new ministers. is and will continue king. "not a bad stroke of him," thinks schulenburg,----"especially if his father meant to play him the same trick," that is, clap him in prison. not a bad stroke;--which perhaps there is another that could imitate, "if his papa gave him the opportunity! but this papa will take good care; and the queen will not forget the sardinian business, when he talks again of abdicating," as he does when in ill-humor.-- "but now had not we better have been friends with england, should war rise upon that sardinian business? general schulenburg,"--the famed venetian field-marshal, bruiser of the turks in candia, [same who was beaten by charles xii. before; a worthy soldier nevertheless, say the authorities: life of him by varnhagen von ense (_biographische denkmale,_ berlin, ).] my honored uncle, who sometimes used to visit his sister the maypole, now emerita, in london, and sip beer and take tobacco on an evening, with george i. of famous memory,--he also "writes me this victor-amadeus news, from paris;" so that it is certain; ex-king locked in rivoli near a fortnight ago: "he, general schulenburg, says farther, to judge by the outside, all appears very quiet; but many think, at the bottom of the bag it will not be the same."-- "i am, with respect," your excellency's much in buckram, "le comte de schoulenbourg." [forster, iii. - .] so far lieutenant-general schulenburg; whom we thank for these contemporary glimpses of a young man that has become historical, and of the scene he lived in. and with these three accidental utterances, as if they (which are alone left) had been the sum of all he said in the world, let the lieutenant-general withdraw now into silence: he will turn up twice again, after half a score of years, once in a nobler than talking attitude, the close-harnessed, stalwart, slightly atrabiliar military gentleman of the old prussian school. these glimpses of the crown-prince, reflected on us in this manner, are not very luculent to the reader,--light being indifferent, and mirror none of the best:--but some features do gleam forth, good and not so good; which, with others coming, may gradually coalesce into something conceivable. a prince clearly of much spirit, and not without petulance; abundant fire, much of it shining and burning irregularly at present; being sore held down from without, and anomalously situated. pride enough, thinks schulenburg, capricious petulance enough,--likely to go into "a reign of the passions," if we live. as will be seen!-- wilhelmina was betrothed in june last: wilhelmina, a bride these six months, continues to be much tormented by mamma. but the bridegroom, prince of baireuth, is gradually recommending himself to persons of judgment, to wilhelmina among others. one day he narrowly missed an unheard-of accident: a foolish servant, at some boar-hunt, gave him a loaded piece on the half-cock; half-cock slipped in the handling; bullet grazed his majesty's very temple, was felt twitching the hair there;--ye heavens! whereupon impertinent remarks from some of the dessau people (allies of schwedt and the margravine in high colors); which were well answered by the prince, and noiselessly but severely checked by a well-bred king. [wilhelmina, i. .] king has given the prince of baireuth a regiment; and likes him tolerably, though the young man will not always drink as could be wished. wedding, in spite of clouds from her majesty, is coming steadily on. his majesty's building operations. "this year," says fassmann, "the building operations both in berlin and stettin,"--in stettin where new fortifications are completed, in berlin where gradually whole new quarters are getting built,--"were exceedingly pushed forward (ausserst poussirt)." alas, yes; this too is a questionable memorable feature of his majesty's reign. late majesty, old king friedrich i., wishful,--as others had been, for the growth of berlin, laid out a new quarter, and called it friedrichs stadt; scraggy boggy ground, planned out into streets, friedrichs strasse the chief street, with here and there a house standing lonesomely prophetic on it. but it is this present majesty, friedrich wilhelm, that gets the plan executed, and the friedrichs strasse actually built, not always in a soft or spontaneous manner. friedrich wilhelm was the aedile of his country, as well as the drill-sergeant; berlin city did not rise of its own accord, or on the principle of leave-alone, any more than the prussian army itself. wreck and rubbish friedrich wilhelm will not leave alone, in any kind; but is intent by all chances to sweep them from the face of the earth, that something useful, seemly to the royal mind, may stand there instead. hence these building operations in the friedrich street and elsewhere, so "exceedingly pushed forward." the number of scraggy waste places he swept clear, first and last, and built tight human dwellings upon, is almost uncountable. a common gift from him (as from his son after him) to a man in favor, was that of a new good house,--an excellent gift. or if the man is himself able to build, majesty will help him, incite him: "timber enough is in the royal forests; stone, lime are in the royal quarries; scraggy waste is abundant: why should any man, of the least industry or private capital, live in a bad house?" by degrees, the pressure of his majesty upon private men to build with encouragement became considerable, became excessive, irresistible; and was much complained of, in these years now come. old colonel derschau is the king's agent, at berlin, in this matter; a hard stiff man; squeezes men, all manner of men with the least capital, till they build. nussler, for example, whom we once saw at hanover, managing a certain contested heritage for friedrich wilhelm; adroit nussler, though he has yet got no fixed appointment, nor pay except by the job, is urged to build;--second year hence, , occurs the case of nussler, and is copiously dwelt upon by busching his biographer: "build yourself a house in the friedrichs strasse!" urges derschau. "but i have no pay, no capital!" pleads nussler.--"tush, your father-in-law, abstruse kanzler von ludwig, in halle university, monster of law-learning there, is not he a monster of hoarded moneys withal? he will lend you, for his own and his daughter's sake. [busching, _beitrage,_ i. .] or shall his majesty compel him?" urges derschau. and slowly, continually turns the screw upon nussler, till he too raises for himself a firm good house in the friedrichs stadt,--friedrichs strasse, or street, as they now call it, which the tourist of these days knows. substantial clear ashlar street, miles or half-miles long; straight as a line:--friedrich wilhelm found it scrag and quagmire; and left it what the tourist sees, by these hard methods. thus herr privy-councillor klinggraf too, nussler's next neighbor: he did not want to build; far from it; but was obliged, on worse terms than nussler. you have such work, founding your house;--for the nussler-klinggraf spot was a fish-pool, and "carps were dug up" in founding;--such piles, bound platform of solid beams; " , thalers gone before the first stone is laid:" and, in fact, the house must be built honestly, or it will be worse for the house and you. "cost me , thalers ( , pounds) in all, and is worth perhaps , !" sorrowfully ejaculates nussler, when the job is over. still worse with privy-councillor klinggraf: his house, the next to nussler's, is worth mere nothing to him when built; a soap-boiler offers him thalers ( pounds) for it; and nussler, to avoid suffocation, purchases it himself of klinggraf for that sum. derschau, with his slow screw-machinery, is very formidable;--and busching knows it for a fact, "that respectable berlin persons used to run out of the way of burgermeister koch and him, when either of them turned up on the streets!" these things were heavy to bear. truly, yes; where is the liberty of private capital or liberty of almost any kind, on those terms? liberty to annihilate rubbish and chaos, under known conditions, you may have; but not the least liberty to keep them about you, though never so fond of doing it! what shall we say? nussler and the soap-boiler do both live in houses more human than they once had. berlin itself, and some other things, did not spring from free-trade. berlin city would, to this day, have been a place of scrubs ("the berlin," a mere appellative noun to that effect), had free-trade always been the rule there. i am sorry his majesty transgresses the limits;--and we, my friends, if we can make our chaos into cosmos by firing parliamentary eloquence into it, and bombarding it with blue-books, we will much triumph over his majesty, one day!-- thus are the building operations exceedingly pushed forward, the ear of jenkins torn off, and victor amadeus locked in ward, while our crown-prince, in the eclipsed state, is inspected by a sage in pipe-clay, and wilhelmina's wedding is coming on. chapter vi. -- wilhelmina's wedding. tuesday, th november, , wilhelmina's wedding-day arrived, after a brideship of eight months; and that young lady's troublesome romance, more happily than might have been expected, did at last wind itself up. mamma's unreasonable humors continued, more or less; but these also must now end. old wooers and outlooks, "the four or three crowned heads,"--they lie far over the horizon; faded out of one's very thoughts, all these. charles xii., peter ii. are dead; weissenfels is not, but might as well be. prince fred, not yet wedded elsewhere, is doing french madrigals in leicester house; tending forwards the "west wickham" set of politicians, the pitt-lyttelton set; stands ill with father and mother, and will not come to much. august the dilapidated-strong is deep in polish troubles, in anti-kaiser politics, in drinking-bouts;--his great-toe never mended, never will mend. gone to the spectral state all these: here, blooming with life in its cheeks, is the one practical fact, our good hereditary prince of baireuth,--privately our fate all along;--which we will welcome cheerfully; and be thankful to heaven that we have not died in getting it decided for us!-- wedding was of great magnificence; berlin palace and all things and creatures at their brightest: the brunswick-beverns here, and other high guests; no end of pompous ceremonials, solemnities and splendors,--the very train of one's gown was "twelve yards long." eschewing all which, the reader shall commodiously conceive it all, by two samples we have picked out for him: one sample of a person, high guest present; one of an apartment where the sublimities went on. the duchess dowager of sachsen-meiningen, who has come to honor us on this occasion, a very large lady, verging towards sixty; she is the person. a living elderly daughter of the great elector himself; half-sister to the late king, half-aunt to friedrich wilhelm; widow now of her third husband: a singular phenomenon to look upon, for a moment, through wilhelmina's satirical spectacles. one of her three husbands, "christian ernst of baireuth" (margraf there, while the present line was but expectant), had been a kind of welsh-uncle to the prince now bridegroom; so that she has a double right to be here. "she had found the secret of totally ruining baireuth," says wilhelmina; "baireuth, and courland as well, where her first wedlock was;"--perhaps meiningen was done to her hand? here is the portrait of "my grand-aunt;" dashed off in very high colors, not by a flattering pencil:-- "it is said she was very fond of pleasing, in her youth; one saw as much still by her affected manners. she would have made an excellent actress, to play fantastic parts of that kind. her flaming red countenance, her shape, of such monstrous extent that she could hardly walk, gave her the air of a female bacchus. she took care to expose to view her"--a part of her person, large but no longer beautiful,--"and continually kept patting it with her hands, to attract attention thither. though sixty gone,"--fifty-seven in point of fact,--"she was tricked out like a girl; hair done in ribbon-locks (marronnes), all filled with gewgaws of rose-pink color, which was the prevailing tint in her complexion, and so loaded with colored jewels, you would have taken her for the rainbow." [wilhelmina, i. .] this charming old lady, daughter of the grosse kurfurst, and so very fat and rubicund, had a son once: he too is mentionable in his way,--as a milestone (parish milestone) in the obscure chronology of those parts. her first husband was the duke of courland; to him she brought an heir, who became duke in his turn,--and was the final duke, last of the "kettler" or native line of dukes there. the kettlers had been teutsch ritters, commandants in courland; they picked up that country, for their own behoof, when the ritterdom went down; and this was the last of them. he married anne of russia with the big cheek (czar peter's niece, who is since become czarina); and died shortly after, twenty years ago; with tears doubtless from the poor rose-pink mother, far away in baireuth and childless otherwise; and also in a sense to the sorrow of courland, which was hereby left vacant, a prey to enterprising neighbors. and on those terms it was that saxons moritz (our dissolute friend, who will be marechal de saxe one day) made his clutch at courland, backed by moneys of the french actress; rumor of which still floats vaguely about. moritz might have succeeded, could he have done the first part of the feat, fallen in love with swoln-cheeked anne, dowager there; but he could not; could only pretend it: courland therefore (now that the swoln-cheek is become czarina) falls to one bieren, a born courlander, who could. [last kettler, anne's husband, died (leaving only an old uncle, fallen into papistry and other futility, who, till his death some twenty years after, had to reside abroad and be nominal merely), ; moritz's attempt with adrienne lecouvreur's cash was, ; anne became sovereign of all the russias (on her poor cousin peter ii.'s death), ; bieren (biron as he tried to write himself, being of poor birth) did not get installed till ; and had, he and courland both, several tumbles after that before getting to stable equilibrium.]--we hurry to the "grand apartment" in berlin schloss, and glance rapidly, with wilhelmina (in an abridged form), how magnificent it is:-- royal apartment, third floor of the palace at berlin, one must say, few things equal it in the world. "from the outer saloon or antechamber, called salle des suisses [where the halberdier and valet people wait] you pass through six grand rooms, into a saloon magnificently decorated: thence through two rooms more, and so into what they call the picture-gallery, a room ninety feet long. all this is in a line." grand all this; but still only common in comparison. from the picture-gallery you turn (to right or left is not said, nor does it matter) into a suite of fourteen great rooms, each more splendid than the other: lustre from the ceiling of the first room, for example, is of solid silver; weighs, in pounds avoirdupois i know not what, but in silver coin " , crowns:" ceilings painted as by correggio; "wall-mirrors between each pair of windows are twelve feet high, and their piers (trumeaux) are of massive silver; in front of each mirror, table can be laid for twelve;" twelve serenities may dine there, flanked by their mirror, enjoying the correggiosities above, and the practical sublimities all round. "and this is but the first of the fourteen;" and you go on increasing in superbness, till, for example, in the last, or superlative saloon, you find "a lustre weighing , crowns; the globe of it big enough to hold a child of eight years; and the branches (gueridons) of it," i forget how many feet or fathoms in extent: silver to the heart. nay the music-balcony is of silver; wearied fiddler lays his elbow on balustrades of that precious metal. seldom if ever was seen the like. in this superlative saloon the nuptial benediction was given. [wilhelmina, i. ; nicolai, ii. .] old king friedrich, the expensive herr, it was he that did the furnishing and correggio-painting of these sublime rooms: but this of the masses of wrought silver, this was done by friedrich wilhelm,--incited thereto by what he saw at dresden in august the strong's establishment; and reflecting, too, that silver is silver, whether you keep it in barrels in a coined form, or work it into chandeliers, mirror-frames and music-balconies.--these things we should not have mentioned, except to say that the massive silver did prove a hoard available, in after times, against a rainy day. massive silver (well mixed with copper first) was all melted down, stamped into current coins, native and foreign, and sent wandering over the world, before a certain prince got through his seven-years wars and other pinches that are ahead!-- in fine, wilhelmina's wedding was magnificent; though one had rubs too; and mamma was rather severe. "hair went all wrong, by dint of overdressing; and hung on one's face like a boy's. crown-royal they had put (as indeed was proper) on one's head: hair was in twenty-four locks the size of your arm: such was the queen's order. gown was of cloth-of-silver, trimmed with spanish gold-lace (avec un point d'espagne d'or); train twelve yards long;--one was like to sink to the earth in such equipment." courage, my princess!--in fact, the wedding went beautifully off; with dances and sublimities, slow solemn torch-dance to conclude with, in those unparalleled upper rooms; grand-aunt meiningen and many other stars and rainbows witnessing; even the margravine of schwedt, in her high colors, was compelled to be there. such variegated splendor, such a dancing of the constellations; sublunary berlin, and all the world, on tiptoe round it! slow torchdance, winding it up, melted into the shades of midnight, for this time; and there was silence in berlin. but, on the following nights, there were balls of a less solemn character; far pleasanter for dancing purposes. it is to these, to one of these, that we direct the attention of all readers. friday, d, there was again ball and royal evening party--"grand apartment" so called. immense ball, "seven hundred couples, all people of condition:" there were "four quadrilles," or dancing places in the big sea of quality-figures; each at its due distance in the grand suite of rooms: wilhelmina presides in quadrille number one; place assigned her was in the room called picture-gallery; queen and all the principalities were with wilhelmina, she is to lead off their quadrille, and take charge of it. which she did, with her accustomed fire and elasticity;--and was circling there, on the light fantastic toe, time six in the evening, when grumkow, whom she had been dunning for his bargain about friedrich the day before, came up:-- "i liked dancing," says she, "and was taking advantage of my chances. grumkow came up, and interrupted me in the middle of a minuet: 'eh, mon dieu madame!' said grumkow, 'you seem to have got bit by the tarantula! don't you see those strangers who have just come in?' i stopt short; and looking all round, i noticed at last a young man dressed in gray, whom i did not know. 'go, then, embrace the priuce-royal; there he is before you!' said grumkow. all the blood in my body went topsy-turvy for joy. 'o heaven, my brother?' cried i: 'but i don't see him; where is he? in god's name, let me see him!' grumkow led me to the young man in gray. coming near, i recognized him, though with difficulty: he had grown amazingly stouter (prodigieusement engraisse), shortened about the neck; his face too had much changed, and was no longer so beautiful as it had been. i sprang upon him with open arms (sautai au cou); i was in such a state, i could speak nothing but broken exclamations: i wept, i laughed, like one gone delirious. in my life i have never felt so lively a joy. "the first sane step was to throw myself at the feet of the king: king said, 'are you content with me? you see i have kept my word!' i took my brother by the hand; and entreated the king to restore him his friendship. this scene was so touching, it drew tears from the eyes of everybody. i then approached the queen. she was obliged to embrace me, the king being close opposite; but i remarked that her joy was only affected."--why then, o princess? guess, if you can, the female humors of her majesty!-- "i turned to my brother again; i gave him a thousand caresses, and said the tenderest things to him: to all which he remained cold as ice, and answered only in monosyllables. i presented the prince (my husband); to whom he did not say one word. i was astonished at this fashion of procedure! but i laid the blame of it on the king, who was observing us, and who i judged might be intimidating my brother. but even his countenance surprised me: he wore a proud air, and seemed to look down on everybody." a much-changed crown-prince. what can be the meaning of it? neither king nor he appeared at supper: they were supping elsewhere, with a select circle; and the whisper ran among us, his majesty was treating him with great friendliness. at which the queen, contrary to hope, could not conceal her secret pique. "in fact," says wilhelmina, again too hard on mamma, "she did not love her children except as they served her ambitious views." the fact that it was i, and not she, who had achieved the prince's deliverance, was painful to her majesty: alas, yes, in some degree! "ball having recommenced, grumkow whispered to me, 'that the king was pleased with my frank kind ways to my brother; and not pleased with my brother's cold way of returning it: does he simulate, and mean still to deceive me? or is that all the thanks he has for wilhelmina? thinks his majesty. go on with your sincerity, madam; and for god's sake admonish the crown-prince to avoid finessing!' crown-prince, when i did, in some interval of the dance, report this of grumkow, and say, why so changed and cold, then, brother of my heart? answered, that he was still the same; and that he had his reasons for what he did." wilhelmina continues; and cannot understand her crown-prince at all:-- "next morning, by the king's order, he paid me a visit. the prince," my husband, "was polite enough to withdraw, and left me and sousfeld alone with him. he gave me a recital of his misfortunes; i communicated mine to him,"--and how i had at last bargained to get him free again by my compliance. "he appeared much discountenanced at this last part of my narrative. he returned thanks for the obligations i had laid on him,--with some caressings, which evidently did not proceed from the heart. to break this conversation, he started some indifferent topic; and, under pretence of seeing my apartment, moved into the next room, where the prince my husband was. him he ran over with his eyes from head to foot, for some time; then, after some constrained civilities to him, went his way. "what to make of all this?" madam sonsfeld shrugged her shoulders; no end of madam sousfeld's astonishment at such a crown-prince. alas, yes, poor wilhelmina; a crown-prince got into terrible cognizance of facts since we last met him! perhaps already sees, not only what a height of place is cut out for him in this world, but also in a dim way what a solitude of soul, if he will maintain his height? top of the frozen schreckhorn;--have you well considered such a position! and even the way thither is dangerous, is terrible in this case. be not too hard upon your crown-prince. for it is certain he loves you to the last! captain dickens, who alone of all the excellencies was not at the wedding,--and never had believed it would be a wedding, but only a rumor to bring england round,--duly chronicles this happy reappearance of the prince-royal: "about six, yesterday evening, as the company was dancing,--to the great joy and surprise of the whale court;"--and adds: "this morning the prince came to the public parade; where crowds of people of all ranks flocked to see his royal highness, and gave the most open demonstrations of pleasure." [despatch th november, .] wilhelmina, these noisy tumults, not all of them delightful, once done, gets out of the perplexed hurly-burly, home towards still baireuth, shortly after new-year. [ th january, (wilhelmina, ii. .] "berlin was become as odious to me as it had once been dear. i flattered myself that, renouncing grandeurs, i might lead a soft and tranquil life in my new home, and begin a happier year than the one that had just ended." mamma was still perverse; but on the edge of departure wilhelmina contrived to get a word of her father, and privately open her heart to him. poor father, after all that has come and gone:-- "my discourse produced its effect; he melted into tears, could not answer me for sobs; he explained his thoughts by his embracings of me. making an effort, at length, he said: 'i am in despair that i did not know thee. they had told me such horrible tales, i hated thee as much as i now love thee. if i had addressed myself direct to thee, i should have escaped much trouble, and thou too. but they hindered me from speaking; said thou wert ill-natured as the devil, and wouldst drive me to extremities i wanted to avoid. thy mother, by her intriguings, is in part the cause of the misfortunes of the family; i have been deceived and duped on every side. but my hands are tied; and though my heart is torn in pieces, i must leave these iniquities unpunished!'"--the queen's intentions were always good, urged wilhelmina. "let us not enter into that detail," answered he: "what is past is past; i will try to forget it;" and assured wilhelmina that she was the dearest to him of the family, and that he would do great things for her still,--only part of which came to effect in the sequel. "i am too sad of heart to take leave of you," concluded he: "embrace your husband on my part; i am so overcome that i must not see him." [wilhelmina, ii. ; who dates th january, .] and so they rolled away. crown-prince was back to custrin again, many weeks before. back to custrin; but under totally changed omens: his history, after that first emergence in wilhelmina's dance " d november about six p.m.," and appearance at parade on the morrow (saturday morning), had been as follows. (monday november th) there was again grand ball, and the prince there, not in gray this time. next day, the old dessauer and all the higher officers in berlin petitioned, "let us have him in the army again, your majesty!" majesty consented: and so, friday, th, there was grand dinner at seckendorf's, crown-prince there, in soldier's uniform again; a completely pardoned youth. his uniform is of the goltz regiment, infantry: goltz regiment, which lies at ruppin,--at and about, in that moory country to the northeast, some thirty or forty miles from berlin;--whither his destination now is. crown-prince had to resume his kammer work at custrin, and see the buildings at carzig, for a three months longer, till some arrangements in the regiment goltz were perfected, and finishing improvements given to it. but "on the last day of february" ( th) ( being leap-year), his royal highness's commission to be colonel commandant of said regiment is made out; and he proceeds, in discharge of the same, to ruppin, where his men lie. and so puts off the pike-gray coat, and puts on the military blue one, [preuss, i. .]--never to quit it again, as turned out. ruppin is a little town, in that northwest fehrbellin region: regiment goltz had lain in detached quarters hitherto; but is now to lie at ruppin, the first battalion of it there, and the rest within reach. here, in ruppin itself, or ultimately at reinsberg in the neighborhood, was friedrich's abode, for the next eight years. habitual residence: with transient excursions, chiefly to berlin in carnival time, or on other great occasions, and always strictly on leave; his employment being that of colonel of foot, a thing requiring continual vigilance and industry in that country. least of all to be neglected, in any point, by one in his circumstances. he did his military duties to a perfection satisfactory even to papa; and achieved on his own score many other duties and improvements, for which papa had less value. these eight years, it is always understood, were among the most important of his life to him. end of book viii. note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original illustrations. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/ / / / / / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/ / / / / / -h.zip) supplement to "punch, or the london charivari" september , . the new rake's progress cartoons from "punch" illustrating the kaiser's career, - . "punch" office, , bouverie street, london, e.c. * * * * * illustration: _german kaiser._ "let us prey." _sept. , ._ * * * * * illustration: a wise warning. dÆdalus bismarck (_political parent of_ wilhelm icarus). "my son, observe the middle path to fly, and fear to sink too low, or rise too high. here the sun melts, there vapours damp your force, between the two extremes direct your course." "nor on the bear, nor on boÖtes gaze, nor on sword-arm'd orion's dangerous rays: but follow me, thy guide, with watchful sight, and, as i steer, direct thy cautious flight." ovid, _"metamorphoses," book viii., fable iii._ _october , ._ * * * *** =the kaiser is warned by the great chancellor.= * * * * * illustration: l'enfant terrible. chorus in the stern. "don't go on like that--or you'll upset us all!" _may , ._ * * * *** =the kaiser begins to alarm his fellow rulers.= * * * * * illustration: the imperial jack-in-the-box. _chorus_ (_everybody_). "everything in order everywhere! o! what a surprise! sold again!" _january , ._ * * * *** =the kaiser has a finger in every german pie.= * * * * * illustration: the modern alexander's feast; or, the power of sound. "with ravished ears, the monarch hears, assumes the god, affects to nod, and seems to shake the spheres!" _march , ._ * * * *** =the kaiser feels his feet. this cartoon caused _punch_ to be excluded for a while from the imperial palace.= * * * * * illustration: the story of fidgety wilhelm. (_up-to-date version of "struwwelpeter."_) "let me see if wilhelm can be a little gentleman; let me see if he is able to sit still for once at table!" "but fidgety will he _won't_ sit still." just like any bucking horse. "wilhelm! we are getting cross!" _february , ._ * * * *** =the kaiser worries his friends of the triple alliance.= * * * * * illustration: a new rÔle. _imperial "manager-actor"_ (_who has cast himself for a leading part in "un voyage en chine," sotto voce_). "um--ha! with just a few additional touches here and there, i shall make a first-rate emperor of china!" _january , ._ * * * *** =the kaiser prepares for china.= * * * * * cook's crusader. _imperial knight templar_ (_the german emperor--to_ saladin). "_what!!_ the christian powers putting pressure upon _you_, my dear friend!! horrible! i can't think how people can do such things!" _october , ._ * * * *** =the kaiser sympathises with the turk.= * * * * * illustration: on tour. (_tangier, march ._) kaiser wilhelm (_as the moor of potsdam_) _sings_:-- "'unter den linden'--always at home, 'under the lime-light' wherever i roam!" _april , ._ * * * *** =the kaiser woos morocco.= * * * * * illustration: not in the picture. scene--_on shore, during the visit of the british fleet to brest._ mr. punch (_photographer, suavely, to the_ kaiser). "just a leetle further back, please, sir. your shadow still rather interferes with the group." _july , ._ * * * *** =the kaiser (not for the first time) is out of it with england and france.= * * * * * illustration: the sower of tares. (_after millais._) _august , ._ * * * *** =the kaiser as enemy of europe.= * * * * * illustration: "isolation." peace (_attending the inter-parliamentary congress at berlin_). "everybody else seems to be my friend; why do you stand aloof?" german kaiser. "but haven't i always said that i was your friend?" peace. "yes; but can't you do something to prove it?" _september , ._ * * * *** =the kaiser as the platonic friend of peace.= * * * * * illustration: the teutonising of turkey. german kaiser. "good bird!" _october , ._ * * * *** =the kaiser takes turkey in hand.= * * * * * illustration: harmony. [the german emperor has been patronising the centenary of krupp's gun factory.] _august , ._ * * * *** =the kaiser prepares for the millennium (prussian version).= * * * * * illustration: the coming of the cossacks. wilhelm ii. "what is this distant rumbling that i hear? doubtless the plaudits of my people!" _august , ._ * * * *** =the kaiser deludes himself.= * * * * * illustration: the world's enemy. the kaiser. "who goes there?" spirit of carnage. "a friend--your only one." _august , ._ * * * *** =the kaiser as the foe of humanity.= * * * * * bradbury, agnew & co., printers. london & tonbridge. history of friedrich ii. of prussia frederick the great by thomas carlyle volume vii. book vii. -- fearful shipwreck of the double-marriage project. -- feb.-nov., . chapter i. -- england sends the excellency hotham to berlin. things, therefore, are got to a dead-lock at berlin: rebellious womankind peremptorily refuse weissenfels, and take to a bed of sickness; inexpugnable there, for the moment. baireuth is but a weak middle term; and there are disagreements on it. answer from england, affirmative or even negative, we have yet none. promptly affirmative, that might still avail, and be an honorable outcome. perhaps better pause till that arrive, and declare itself?--friedrich wilhelm knows nothing of the villa mission, of the urgencies that have been used in england: but, in present circumstances, he can pause for their answer. majesty and crown-prince with him make a run to dresden to outward appearance, friedrich wilhelm, having written that message to baireuth, seems easier in mind; quiet with the queen; though dangerous for exploding if wilhelmina and the prince come in view. wilhelmina mostly squats; prince, who has to be in view, gets slaps and strokes "daily (journellement)," says the princess,--or almost daily. for the rest, it is evident enough, weissenfels, if not got passed through the female parliament, is thrown out on the second reading, and so is at least finished. ought we not to make a run to dresden, therefore, and apprise the polish majesty? short run to dresden is appointed for february th; [fassmann, p. .] and the prince-royal, perhaps suspected of meditating something, and safer in his father's company than elsewhere, is to go. wilhelmina had taken leave of him, night of the th, in her majesty's apartment; and was in the act of undressing for bed, when,--judge of a young princess's terror and surprise,-- "there stept into the anteroom," visible in the half-light there, a most handsome little cavalier, dressed, not succinctly as colonel of the potsdam giants, but "in magnificent french style.--i gave a shriek, not knowing who it was; and hid myself behind a screen. madam de sonsfeld, my governess, not less frightened than myself, ran out" to see what audacious person, at such undue hour, it could be. "but she returned next moment, accompanying the cavalier, who was laughing heartily, and whom i recognized for my brother. his dress so altered him, he seemed a different person. he was in the best humor possible. "'i am come to bid you farewell once more, my dear sister,' said he: 'and as i know the friendship you have for me, i will not keep you ignorant of my designs. i go, and do not come back. i cannot endure the usage i suffer; my patience is driven to an end. it is a favorable opportunity for flinging off that odious yoke; i will glide out of dresden, and get across to england; where i do not doubt i shall work out your deliverance too, when i am got thither. so i beg you, calm yourself, we shall soon meet again in places where joy shall succeed our tears, and where we shall have the happiness to see ourselves in peace, and free from these persecutions.'" [wilhelmina, i. .] wilhelmina stood stupefied, in silence for some moments;--argued long with her brother; finally got him to renounce those wild plans, or at least postpone them; and give her his word that he would attempt nothing on the present occasion. this small dresden excursion of february, , passed, accordingly, without accident, it was but the prelude to a much grander visit now agreed upon between the neighboring majesties. for there is a grand thing in the wind. something truly sublime, of the scenic-military kind, which has not yet got a name; but shall soon have a world-wide one,--"camp of muhlberg," "camp of radewitz," or however to be named,--which his polish majesty will hold in those saxon parts, in a month or two. a thing that will astonish all the world, we may hope; and where the king and prince of prussia are to attend as chief guests. it was during this brief absence in february, or directly after friedrich wilhelm had returned, that queen sophie had that fit of real sickness we spoke of. scarcely was his majesty got home, when the queen, rather ambiguous in her sicknesses of late, fell really and dangerously ill: so that friedrich wilhelm, at last recognizing it for real, came hurrying in from potsdam; wept loud and abundantly, poor man; declared in private, "he would not survive his feekin;" and for her sake solemnly pardoned wilhelmina, and even fritz,--till the symptoms mended. [wilhelmina, i. .] how villa was received in england. meanwhile dr. villa, in england, has sped not ill. villa's eloquence of truth; the grumkow-reichenbach correspondence in st. mary axe: these two things produce their effect. these on the one hand; and then on the other, certain questionable aspects of fleury, after that fine soissons catastrophe to the kaiser; and certain interior quarrels in the english ministry, partly grounded thereon:--"on the whole, why should not we detach friedrioh wilhelm from the kaiser, if we could, and comply with a royal sister?" think they at st. james's. political men take some interest in the question; "why neglect your prince of wales?" grumbles the public: "it is a solid protestant match, eligible for prince fred and us!"--"why bother with the kaiser and his german puddles?" asks walpole: "once detach prussia from him, the kaiser will perhaps sit still, and leave the world and us free of his pragmatics and his sanctions and apanages."--"quit of him? german puddles?" answers townshend dubitatively,--who has gained favor at headquarters by going deeply into said puddles; and is not so ardent for the prussian match; and indeed is gradually getting into quarrel with walpole and queen caroline. [coxe, i. - .] these things are all favorable to dr. villa. in fact, there is one of those political tempests (dreadful to the teapot, were it not experienced in them) going on in england, at this time,--what we call a change of ministry;--daily crisis laboring towards fulfilment, or brewing itself ripe. townshend and walpole have had (how many weeks ago coxe does not tell us) that meeting in colonel selwyn's, which ended in their clutching at swords, nay almost at coat-collars: [ib. p. .] honorable brothers-in-law: but the good sister, who used to reconcile them, is now dead. their quarrels, growing for some years past, are coming to a head. "when the firm used to be townshend and walpole, all was well; when it had to become walpole and townshend, all was not well!" said walpole afterwards. things had already gone so far, that townshend brought chesterfield over from the hague, last autumn;--a baron de montesquieu, with the esprit de lois in his head, sailed with lord chesterfield on that occasion, and is now in england "for two years;"--but chesterfield could not be made secretary; industrious duke of newcastle stuck so close by that office, and by the skirts of walpole. chesterfield and townshend versus walpole, colonel stanhope (harrington) and the pelhams: the prussian match is a card in that game; and dr. villa's eloquence of truth is not lost on queen caroline, who in a private way manages, as always, to rule pretty supreme in it. there lies in the state-paper office, [close by despatch (prussian): "london, th february (o.s.) - ."] without date or signature, a loose detached bit of writing, in scholastic style, but brief and to the purpose, which is evidently the memorial of villa; but as it teaches us nothing that we do not already know, it need not be inserted here. the man, we can perceive farther, continued useful in those official quarters, answering questions about prussia, helping in the st.-mary-axe decipherings, and in other small ways, for some time longer; after which he vanishes again from all record,--whether to teach english farther, or live on some modicum of pension granted, no man knows. poor old dove, let out upon the deluge in serge gown: he did bring back a bit of olive, so to speak;--had the presage but held, as it did in noah's case! in a word, the english sovereignties and ministries have determined that an envoy extraordinary (one hotham, they think of), with the due solemnity, be sent straightway to berlin; to treat of those interesting matters, and officially put the question there. whom dubourgay is instructed to announce to his prussian majesty, with salutation from this court. as dubourgay does straightway, with a great deal of pleasure. [despatches: london, th february; berlin, d march, ] how welcome to his majesty we need not say. and indeed, after such an announcement ( st march, , the day of it), they fell into cheerful dialogue; and the brigadier had some frank conversation with his majesty about the "arbitration commission" then sitting at brunswick, and european affairs in general. conversation which is carefully preserved for us in the brigadier's despatch of the morrow. it never was intrinsically of much moment; and is now fallen very obsolete, and altogether of none: but as a glance at first-hand into the dim old thoughts of friedrich wilhelm, the reader may take it with him:-- "the king said next, that though we made little noise, yet he knew well our design--was to kindle a fire in other parts of lower germany. to which i answered, that if his majesty would give me favorable hearing, i could easily persuade him of the peaceable intentions of our allies. 'well,' says he, 'the emperor will abandon the netherlands, and who will be master of them? i see the day when you will make france so powerful, that it will be difficult to bring them to reason again.'--dubourgay: 'if the emperor abandoned the netherlands, they would be governed by their own magistrate, and defended by their own militia. as to the french, we are too well persuaded of the benefit of our allies, to--' upon which the king of prussia said, 'it appeared plainly we had a mind to dispose as we pleased of kingdoms and provinces in italy, so that probably our next thought would be to do the same in germany.'--dubourgay: 'the allotments made in favor of don carlos have been made with the consent of the emperor and the whole empire. we could not suffer a longer interruption of our commerce with spain, for the sake of the small difference between the treaty of seville and the quadruple alliance, in regard to the garrison,'"--to the introducing of spanish garrisons, at once, into parma and piacenza; which was the special thunder-bolt of the late soissons catastrophe, or treaty of seville.--"'well, then,' says his prussian majesty, 'you must allow, then, there is an infraction of the quadruple alliance, and that the emperor will make war!' 'i hope not,' said i: 'but if so, a ten-years war, in conjunction with the allies of seville, never would be so bad as the interruption of our commerce with old and new spain for one year.' "the king of prussia's notion about our disposing of provinces in germany," adds dubourgay, "is, i believe, an insinuation of seckendorf, who, i doubt not, has made him believe we intended to do so with respect to berg and julich." very probably:--but hotham is getting under way, hopeful to spoil that game. prussian majesty, we see, is not insensible to so much honor; and brightens into hopefulness and fine humor in consequence. what radiancy spread over the queen's side of the house we need not say. the tobacco-parliament is like to have a hard task.--friedrich wilhelm privately is well inclined to have his daughter married, with such outlooks, if it can be done. the marriage of the crown-prince into such a family would also be very welcome; only--only--there are considerations on that side. there are reasons; still more there are whims, feelings of the mind towards an unloved heir-apparent: upon these latter chiefly lie the hopes of seckendorf and the tobacco-parliament. what the tobacco-parliament's specific insinuations and deliberations were, in this alarming interim, no hansard gives us a hint. faint and timid they needed, at first, to be; such unfavorable winds having risen, blowing off at a sad rate the smoke of that abstruse institution.--"jarni-bleu!" snuffles the feldzeugmeister to himself. but "si deus est nobiscum," as grumkow exclaims once to his beautiful reichenbach, or nosti as he calls him in their slang or cipher language, "if god is with us, who can prevail against us?" for the grumkow can quote scripture; nay solaces himself with it, which is a feat beyond what the devil is competent to. excellency hotham arrives in berlin. the special envoy to be sent to berlin on this interesting occasion is a dignified yorkshire baronet; sir charles hotham, "colonel of the horse-grenadiers;" he has some post at court, too, and is still in his best years. his wife is chesterfield's sister; he is withal a kind of soldier, as we see;--a man of many sabre-tashes, at least, and acquainted with cavalry-drill, as well as the practices of goldsticks: his father was a general officer in the peterborough spanish wars. these are his eligibilities, recommending him at berlin, and to official men at home. family is old enough: hothams of scarborough in the east riding; old as wilhelmus bastardus; and subsists to our own day. this sir charles is lineal son of the hothams who lost their heads in the civil war; and he is, so to speak, lineal uncle of the lords hotham that now are. for the rest, a handsome figure, prompt in french, and much the gentleman. so far has villa sped. hotham got to berlin on sunday, d april, . he had lingered a little, waiting to gather up some skirts of that reichenbach-grumkow correspondence, and have them ready to show in the proper quarter. for that is one of the chief arrows in his quiver. but here he is at last: and on monday, he is introduced at charlottenburg to the prussian majesty; and finds an abundant welcome to himself and his preliminaries. "marriage into that fine high country (magnifike land) will be welcome to my daughter, i believe, as flowers in may: to me also how can it be other than welcome!--'farther instructions,' you say? yes, surely; and terms honorable on both sides. only say nothing of it, i had rather tell the girl myself." [ranke, i. .] to that frank purport spoke his majesty;--and invites the excellency hotham to stay dinner. great dinner at charlottenburg, accordingly; monday, d april, : the two english excellencies hotham and dubourgay, then general borck, knyphausen, grumkow, seckendorf and others;--"where," says hotham, giving despatch about it, "we all got immoderately drunk." of which dinner there is sordid narrative, from grumkow to his nosti (to his reichenbach, in cant speech), still visible through st. mary axe, were it worth much attention from us. passages of wit, loaded with allusion, flew round the table: "a german ducat is change for an english half-guinea," and the like sprightly things. nay at one time, hotham's back being turned, they openly drink,--his majesty in a state of exhilaration, having blabbed the secret:--"to the health of wilhelmina princess of wales!" upon which the whole palace of charlottenburg now bursts into tripudiation; the very valets cutting capers, making somersets,--and rushing off with the news to berlin. observable, only, that hotham and dubourgay sat silent in the tripudiation; with faces diplomatically grave. several points to be settled first; no hallooing till we are out of the wood. news came to berlin schloss, doubtless at full gallop, which would only take a quarter of an hour. this is wilhelmina's experience of it. afternoon of monday, d of april, , in the schloss of berlin,--towards sunset, some ornamental seam in one's hand:-- "i was sitting quiet in my apartment, busy with work, and some one reading to me, when the queen's ladies rushed in, with a torrent of domestics in the rear; who all bawled out, putting one knee to the ground, 'they were come to salute the princess of wales.' i fairly believed these poor people had lost their wits; they would not cease overwhelming me with noise and tumult, their joy was so great they knew not what they did. when the farce had lasted some time, they at last told me"--what our readers know. what the demure wilhelmina professes she cared next to nothing about. "i was so little moved by it, that i answered, going on with my work, 'is that all?' which greatly surprised them. a while afterwards my sisters and several ladies came also to congratulate me. i was much loved; and i felt more delighted at the proofs each gave me of that than at what occasioned them. in the evening i went to the queen's: you may readily conceive her joy. on my first entrance, she called me 'her dear princess of wales;' and addressed madam de sonsfeld as 'milady.' this latter took the liberty of hinting to her, that it would be better to keep quiet; that the king having yet given no notice of this business, might be provoked at such demonstration, and that the least trifle could still ruin all her hopes. the countess finkenstein joining her remonstrances to sonsfeld's, the queen, though with regret, promised to moderate herself." [wilhelmina, i. .] this is the effulgent flaming-point of the long-agitated english match, which we have so often caught in a bitterly smoking condition. "the king indeed spoke nothing of it to us, on his return to berlin in a day or two," says wilhelmina; "which we thought strange." but everybody considered it certain, nothing but the details left to settle. "hotham had daily conferences with the king." "every post brought letters from the prince of wales:" of which wilhelmina saw several,--this for one specimen, general purport of the whole: "i conjure you, my dear hotham, get these negotiations finished! i am madly in love (amoureux comme un fou), and my impatience is unequalled." [ib. i. .] wilhelmina thought these sentiments "very, romantic" on the part of prince fred, "who had never seen me, knew me only by repute:"--and answered his romances and him with tiffs of laughter, in a prettily fleecing manner. effulgent flame-point;--which was of very brief duration indeed, and which sank soon into bitterer smoke than ever, down almost to the choking state. there are now six weeks of diplomatic history at the court of berlin, which end far otherwise than they began. weeks well-nigh indecipherable; so distracted are they, by black-art and abstruse activities above ground and below, and so distractedly recorded for us: of which, if it be humanly possible, we must try to convey some faint notion to mankind. chapter ii. -- language of birds: excellency hotham proves unavailing. already next morning, after that grand dinner at charlottenburg, friedrich wilhelm, awakening with his due headache, thought, and was heard saying, he had gone too far! those gloomy looks of hotham and dubourgay, on the occasion; they are a sad memento that our joyance was premature. the english mean the double-marriage; and friedrich wilhelm is not ready, and never fairly was, for more than the single. "wilhelmina princess of wales, yes with all my heart; but friedrich to an english princess--hm, na;"--and in a day more: ["instruction to his ministers, th april," cited by ranke, i. n.] plainly "no." and there it finally rests; or if rocked about, always settles there again. and why, no?--truly, as regarded crown-prince friedrich's marriage, the question had its real difficulties: and then, still more, it had its imaginary; and the subterranean activities were busy! the witnesses, contemporaneous and other, assign three reasons, or considerations and quasi-reasons, which the tobacco-parliament and friedrich wilhelm's lively fancy could insist upon it till they became irrefragable:-- first, his rooted discontent with the crown-prince, some even say his jealousy of the crown-prince's talents, render it unpleasant to think of promoting him in any way. second, natural german loyalty, enlivened by the hope of julich and berg, attaching friedrich wilhelm to the kaiser's side of things, repels him with a kind of horror from the anti-kaiser or french-english side. "marry my daughter, if you like; i shall be glad to salute her as princess of wales; but no union in your treaty-of-seville operations: in politics go you your own road, if that is it, while i go mine; no tying of us, by double or other marriages, to go one road." third, the magnificence of those english. "regardless of expense," insinuates the tobacco-parliament; "they will send their grand princess hither, with no end of money; brought up in grandeur to look down on the like of us. she can dazzle, she can purchase: in the end, may there not be a crown-prince party, capable of extinguishing your majesty here in your own court, and making prussia a bit of england; all eyes being turned to such sumptuous princess and her crown-prince,--heir-apparent, or 'rising sun' as we may call him!"-- these really are three weighty almost dreadful considerations to a poetic-tempered king and smoking parliament. out of which there is no refuge except indeed this plain fourth one: "no hurry about fritz's marriage; [friedrich wilhelm to reichenbach ( th may), infra.] he is but eighteen gone; evidently too young for housekeeping. thirty is a good time for marrying. 'there is, thank god, no lack of royal lineage; i have two other princes,'"--and another just at hand, if i knew it. to all which there is to be added that ever-recurring invincible gravitation towards the kaiser, and also towards julich and berg, by means of him,--well acted on by the tobacco-parliament for the space of those six weeks. during which, accordingly, almost from the first day after that hotham dinner of april d, the answer of the royal mind, with superficial fluctuations, always is: "wilhelmina at once, if you choose; likely enough we might agree about crown-prince friedrich too, if once all were settled; but of the double-marriage, at this present time, hore nit, [ranke, i. n.] i will have nothing to say." and as the english answer steadily, "both or none!"--meaning indeed to draw prussia away from the kaiser's leading-strings, and out of his present enchanted condition under the two black-artists he has about him, the negotiation sinks again into a mere smoking, and extinct or plainly extinguishing state. the grumkow-nosti cipher correspondence might be reckoned as another efficient cause; though, in fact, it was only a big concomitant symptom, much depended on by both parties, and much disappointing both. in the way of persuading or perverting friedrich wilhelm's judgment about england, this deep-laid piece of machinery does not seem to have done much, if anything; and hotham, who with the english court had calculated on it (on their detection of it) as the grand means of blowing grumkow out of the field, produced a far opposite result on trying, as we shall see! that was a bit of heavy ordnance which disappointed everybody. seized by the enemy before it could do any mischief; enemy turned it round on the inventor; fired it off on the inventor, and--it exploded through the touch-hole; singeing some people's whiskers: nothing more!-- a peep into the nosti-grumkow correspondence caught up in st. mary axe. would the reader wish to look into this nosti-grumkow correspondence at all? i advise him, not. good part of it still lies in the paper-office here; [prussian despatches, vols. xl. xli.: in a fragmentary state; so much of it as they had caught up, and tried to make use of;--far too much.] likely to be published by the prussian dryasdust in coming time: but a more sordid mass of eavesdroppings, kitchen-ashes and floor-sweepings, collected and interchanged by a pair of treacherous flunkies (big bullying flunky and little trembling cringing one, grumkow and reichenbach), was never got together out of a gentleman's household. to no idlest reader, armed even with barnacles, and holding mouth and nose, can the stirring-up of such a dust-bin be long tolerable. but the amazing problem was this editor's, doomed to spell the event into clearness if he could, and put dates, physiognomy and outline to it, by help of such flunky-sanscrit!--that nosti-grumkow correspondence, as we now have it in the paper-office,--interpretable only by acres of british despatches, by incondite dateless helpless prussian books ("printed blotches of human stupor," as smelfungus calls them): how gladly would one return them all to st. mary axe, there to lie through eternity! it is like holding dialogue with a rookery; asking your way (perhaps in flight for life, as was partly my own case) by colloquy with successive or even simultaneous rookeries. reader, have you tried such a thing? an adventure, never to be spoken of again, when once done! wilhelmina pretends to give quotations [wilhelmina, i. - .] from this subterranean grumkow-reichenbach correspondence; but hers are only extracts from some description or remembrance; hardly one word is close to the original, though here and there some outline or shadow of a real passage is traceable. what fractional elements, capable of gaining some vestige of meaning when laid together in their cosmic order, i could pick from the circumambient immensity not cosmic, are here for the reader's behoof. let him skip, if, like myself, he is weary; for the substance of the story is elsewhere given. or perhaps he has the curiosity to know the speech of birds? with abridgment, by occasional change of phrase, above all by immense omission,--here, in specimen, is something like what the rookery says to poor friedrich wilhelm and us, through st. mary axe and the copyists in the foreign office! friedrich wilhelm reads it (hotham gives him reading of it) some weeks hence; we not till generations afterwards. i abridge to the utmost;--will mark in single commas what is not abridgment but exact translation;--with rigorous attention to dates, and my best fidelity to any meaning there may be:-- to nosti (the so-called excellenz reichenbach) in london: gumkow from berlin loquitur, reichenbach listening with both his ears (words caught up in st. mary axe). berlin, d march, . "the time has now come when reichenbach must play his game. let him write that the heads of the opposition, who play austria as a card in parliament, 'are in consternation, walpole having hinted to them that he was about to make friends with the king of prussia;' 'that by means of certain ministers at berlin, and by other subterranean channels (autres souterrains), his prussian majesty had been brought to a disposition of that kind' [knyphausen, borck and others will be much obliged to reichenbach for so writing!], that reichenbach knows they intend sending a minister to berlin; but is certain enough, as perhaps they are, his prussian majesty will not let himself be lured or caught in the trap: but that the very rumor of its being possible for him to change" from austria, "would be an infinite gain to the english ministry,"--salvation of them, in fact, in the parliamentary cockpit. "that they had already given out in the way of rumor, how sure they were of the court of berlin whenever it came to the point. that reichenbach had tried to learn from [an indecipherable.] what the real result from berlin was; and did not think it much, though the walpole people," all hanging so perilously upon prussia for their existence, 'affected a great gayety; and indeed felt what a gain it was even to have renewed the negotiation with his prussian majesty.' here is a king likely to get himself illuminated at first-hand upon english affairs; by ministers lying abroad for him, and lying at home!-- 'and so the king,' concludes grumkow, 'will think reichenbach is a witch (sorvier) to be so well informed about all that, and will redouble the good opinion he has of reichenbach. and so, if reichenbach second my ideas, we will pack borck and knyphausen about their business; and will do the king faithful service,'--having, some of us, our private pounds a year from austria for doing it. 'the king perceives only too well that the queen's sickness is but sham (momerie): judge of the effect that has! i am yours entirely (tout a vous). i wait in great impatience to hear your news upon all this: for i inform you accurately how the land lies here; so that it only depends upon yourself to shine, and to pass for a miracle of just insight,'--"sorcier," or witch at guessing mysteries, grumkow calls it again. he continues in another missive:-- berlin, th march. (let us give the original for a line or two): 'queen sophie will soon rise from her bed of sickness, were this marriage done; _la mere du prince-royal affecte toujours d'etre bien mal; mais des que l'affaire entre le prince de galles et la princesse-royale sera faite, on la verra bientot sur pied.'_ "it will behoove that reichenbach signify to the prince-royal's father that all this affair has been concocted at berlin with borck and by [an indecipherable.] with knyphausen and . [an indecipherable.] that they never lose sight of an alliance with the english princess and the prince of prussia; and flatter themselves the prince-royal of prussia will accompany the princess-royal," wilhelmina, "on her marriage there." "in a word, that all turns on this latter point," marriage of the prince-royal as well; and "that villa has given so favorable a description of this prince, that the english princess will have him at what price soever. nosti can also allege the affair of ,"--whom we at last decipher to be lord harrington, once colonel stanhope, of soissons, of the madrid embassy, of the descent on vigo; a distinguished new lord, with whom newcastle hopes to shove out townshend,--"lord harrington, and the division among the ministers:"--great question, shall the firm be townshend and walpole, or walpole and townshend? just going on; brewing towards decision; in which the prussian double-marriage is really a kind of card, and may by nosti be represented as a trump card. "the whole town of berlin said, this villa was dismissed by order of the king, for he taught the eldest princess english; but i see well it was borck, , [an indecipherable.] knyphausen and dubourgay that despatched him, to give a true picture of the situation here. and if nosti has written to his majesty to the same effect as he does to his friend [despatch to majesty has not yet come under friend's eye] on the queen of england's views about the prince-royal of prussia, it will answer marvellously (cela vient a merveille). i have apprised seckendorf of all that nosti writes to me." 'for the rest, nosti may perfectly assure himself that the king never will abandon reichenbach; and if the prince-royal,' sudden fate interfering, 'had the reins in his hand,--in that case, seckendorf promises to reichenbach, on the part of the kaiser, all or more than all he can lose by the accession of the prince. monsieur reichenbach may depend upon that.' [prussian despatches, vol. xl. the second of these two letters is copied, we perceive, by villa; who transmits it to hotham's secretary at berlin, with great hopes from it. letter "unsigned," adds villa (point signee). first was transmitted by townshend.--following are transmitted by &c. &c. it is in that way they have got into the state-paper office,--as enclosures in the varions despatches that carried them out to berlin to serve as diplomatic ammunition there.] slave reichenbach at london, when this missive comes to hand, is busy copying scandal according to former instructions for behoof of his prussian majesty, and my bashaw grumkow; for example:-- to the herr grumkow at berlin: excellenz reichenbach loquitur;--snatched in st. mary axe. london, th march, . "... reichenbach has told his prussian majesty to-day by a courier who is to pass through brussels [austrian kinsky's courier, no doubt], what amours the prince of wales," dissolute fred, "has on hand at present with actresses and opera-girls. the king of prussia will undoubtedly be astonished. the affair merits some attention at present,"--especially from an excellenz like me.-- [missive (body of important grumkow instructions just read by us) comes to hand.] london, th march, . 'reichenbach will write by the first, ordinary [so they name post, in those days] all that glumkow orders. reichenbach sees well, they mean to play the deuce here (_jouent le diable a quatre ici_): but reichenbach will tell his prussian majesty what grumkow finds fit.' good excellenz reichenbach 'flatters himself the king will remain firm, and not let his enemies deceive him. if grumkow and seckendorf have opportunity they may tell his prussian majesty that the whole design of this court is to render his country a province dependent on england. when once the princess-royal of england shall be wedded to the prince-royal of prussia, the english, by that means, will form such a party at berlin, that they will altogether tie his prussian majesty's hands.' a comfortable piece of news to his prussian majesty in tobacco-parliament. 'reichenbach will assuredly be vigilant; depend on his answering grumkow always by the first post.' continues;--turning his rook-bill towards majesty now. same date ( th march), same time, place and bird:-- to his prussian majesty (from excellenz reichenbach). '... p.s. i had closed this letter when a person of confidence came in [the fact being, my grumkow's missive of instructions came in, or figuratively speaking, my grumkow himself], and undertook to give me in a few days a thorough insight into the intrigues which are concealed under the sending of this new minister,' hotham, 'to berlin; which, and how they have been concocted, he says, it will astonish me to hear. of all this i shall immediately inform your majesty in a letter of my own hand; being ever eager to serve your majesty alone.' hotham is now fairly gone, weeks ago; concluded to be now in berlin,--to the horror of both rooks. here is a croak from nosti:-- to the herr grumkow at berlin. london, april, . "... hotham is no such conjurer as they fancy in berlin;--singular enough, how these english are given to undervalue the germans; whilst we in germany overvalue them" (_avons une idee trop vaste,_ they _trap petite_). 'there is, for instance, lord chesterfield, passes here for a fair-enough kind of man (bon homme), and is a favorite with the king [not with walpole or the queen, if nosti knew it]; but nobody thinks him such a prodigy as you all do in germany,'--which latter bit of germanism is an undoubted fact; curious enough to the english, and to the germans that now read in extinct books. hotham, as we said, got to berlin on the d of april. from berlin comes thereupon, at great length, sordid description by grumkow, of that initiatory hotham dinner, april third, with fearful details of the blazing favor hotham is in. which his majesty (when hotham hands it to him, in due time) will read with painful interest; as reichenbach now does;--but which to us is all mere puddle, omissible in this place. to which sad strophe, there straightway follows due anti-strophe, reichenbach croaking responsive;--and we are to note, the rooks always speak in the third person and by ambiguous periphrasis; never once say "i" or "you," unless forced by this editor, for brevity's sake, to do it. reichenbach from his perch thus hoarsely chants:-- to the herr grumkow at berlin. london, th april. 'reichenbach est coup-de-foudre,--is struck by lightning,--to hear these berlin news;'--and expresses, in the style of a whipt dog, his sorrows, uncertainties and terrors, on the occasion. "struck with lightning. feel myself quite ill, and not in a condition to write much today. it requires another head than mine to veer round so often (_changer si souvent de systame_). in fine, _nosti est au bout de son latin_ (is at his wit's end, poor devil)! both majesties have spoken openly of the favorable news from berlin; funds rose in consequence. new minister [walpole come to the top of the firm, townshend soon to withdraw, impatient of the bottom] is all-powerful now: o tempora, o mores!" "i receive universal congratulations, and have to smile" in a ghastly manner. "the king and queen despise me. i put myself in their way last levee, bowing to the ground; but they did not even condescend to look." _'notre grand petit-maitre,'_ little george, the olympian jove of these parts, "passed on as if i had not been there." 'chesterfield, they say, is to go, in great pomp, as ambassador extraordinary, and fetch the princess over. and'--alas, in short, once i was hap-hap-happy, but now i'm meeserable! london, th april. "slave reichenbaoh cannot any longer write secret letters to his prussian majesty according to the old strain, of your prescribing; but must stand by his vacant official despatches: the scene being entirely changed, he also must change his manner of writing"--poor knave. "he will have to inform his majesty, however, by and by, though it is not safe at present,"--for example,--'that his britannic majesty is becoming from day to day more hated by all the world; and that the prince of wales is no longer liked by the public, as at first; because he begins to give himself airs, and takes altogether the manners of his britannic majesty, that is to say of a puppy (petit-maitre); let my amiable [grumkow] be aware of that'-- yes, let him be aware of that, to his comfort,--and still more, and all readers along with him, of what follows:-- 'reichenbach likewise with great confidence informs the greatest confidant he has in the world [same amiable glumkow], that he has discovered within this day or two,' a tremendous fact, known to our readers some time ago, 'that the prince-royal of prussia has given his written assurances to the queen here, never to many anybody in the world except the princess amelia of england, happen what will [prussian majesty will read this with a terrible interest! much nearer to him than it is to us]. in consideration of which promise, the queen of england is understood,' falsely, 'to have answered that they should, at present, ask only the princess-royal of prussia for their prince of wales,' and let the double-marriage be, seemingly, as his prussian majesty wishes it. 'monsieur de reichenbaoh, did not speak of this to his prussian majesty; feeling it too dangerous just now.-- 'lord townshend is still at his place in the country [rainham in norfolk]: but it is said he will soon come to town; having heard the great news that they had already got his prussian majesty by the nose. reichenbach forgets if he already told grumkow that the rumor runs, lord chesterfield, in quality of ambassador to berlin, is to bring the princess wilhelmina over hither:'--you did already, poor confused wretch; unusually bewildered, and under frightful eclipse at present. continues after four days:-- april th. "... lord stratford [to me an unknown lordship] and heads of opposition would like to ascertain what hotham's offer to the king of prussia is." truly, yes; they mean to ask in parliament (as poor gamblers in that cockpit are wont), 'and why did not you make the offer sooner, then? friendship with his prussian majesty, last year, would have saved the whole of that large waterspout about the meadows of clamei! nay need we, a few months ago, have spent such loads of gold subsidizing those hessians and danes against him? the treasures of this country go a strange road, mr. speaker! what is the use of our industries and riches?' heavens, yes, what! but we continue to excerpt and interpret:-- reichenbach "has said nothing of this to his prussian majesty, reichenbach has not; too dangerous in own present down-pressed state:--though amazingly exact always in news, and attached to his prussian majesty as mortal seldom was. need he fear their new hotham, then? does not fear hotham, not he him, being a man so careful of truth in his news. dare not, however, now send any intelligence about the royal family here; prussian majesty having ordered him not to write gossip like a spiteful woman: what is he to do? instruct him, o my amiable. "know for the rest, and be aware of it, o amiable, that queen caroline here is of opinion, the amiable grumkow should be conciliated; and that queen sophie and hotham are understood to have been trying it. do not abandon me, o amiable; nay i know you will not, you and seckendorf, never, though i am a poor man. "have found out a curious story, histoire fort crieuse,--about one of prince fred's amourettes." story which this editor, in the name of the whole human species, will totally suppress, and sweep into the cesspool, to herald reichenbach thither. except only that this corollary by the duchess of kendal may be appended to the thing:-- "duchess of kendal [hop-pole emerita, now gone to devotion, whom we know, piously turns up her eyes at such doings], thinks the princess wilhelmina will have a bad life of it with fred, and that she 'will need the wisdom of solomon to get on here.' not a good bargain, this prince fred and his sister. a dissolute fellow he, not liked by the public" (i should hope). 'then as to princess amelia, she, who was always haughty, begins to give herself airs upon the prince-royal of prussia; she is as ill-tempered as her father, and still more given to backbiting (plus railleuse), and will greatly displease the potsdam majesty.' these are cheering thoughts. "but what is to become of nosti? faithful to his grumkow, to his seckendorf--to his pair of sheep-stealers, poor dog. but if trouble rise;--oh, at least do not hang me, ye incomparable pair!"-- the hotham despatches. slave nosti's terrors, could he see behind the scenes, are without foundation! the tremendous hotham negotiation, all ablaze at that charlottenburg dinner, is sunk low enough into the smoking state, threatening to go out altogether. smoke there may still be, perceptible vestiges of smoke; which indeed, for a long time, fitfully continued: but, at the time while nosti, quaking in every joint of him, writes these terrors, hotham perceives that his errand is vain; that properly there has as good as extinction supervened. april d was the flame-point; which lasted in its brightness only for a few days or hours. april is not gone, or half gone, when flaming has quite ceased, and the use of bellows, never so judicious, is becoming desperate: and long before the end of may, no red is to be seen in the affair at all, and the very bellows are laid down. here--are the epochs: riddled out of such a mass of extinct rubbish as human nature seldom had to deal with;--here are certain extracts in a greatly condensed state, from the authentic voluminous hotham despatches and responses;--which may conveniently interrupt the nosti babblement at this point. to my lord townshend at london: excellency hotham loquitur (in a greatly condensed form). berlin, th april, . "... of one or two noteworthy points i have to apprise your lordship. so soon as his majesty was sober, he found that he had gone too far at that grand dinner of monday d; and was in very bad humor in consequence. crown-prince has written from potsdam to his sister, 'no doubt i am left here lest the english wind get at me (_de peur que le vent anglais ne me touchat_).' saw king at parade, who was a little vague; 'is giving matters his consideration.' majesty has said to borck and knyphausen, 'if they want the double-marriage, and to detach me from the kaiser, let them propose something about julich and berg.' sits the wind in that quarter? king has said since, to one marschall, a private-secretary who is in our interest: 'i hate my son, and my son hates me: we are best asunder;--let them make him statthalter (vice-regent) of hanover, with his princess!' commission might be made out in the princess amelia's name; proper conditions tied, and so on:--knyphausen suggests it could be done. knyphausen is true to us; but he stands alone [not alone, but cannot much help]; does not even stir in the nosti or st.-mary-axe affair as yet." prince friedrich to be statthalter in hanover with his english princess? that would save the expense of an establishment for him at home. that has been suggested by the knyphausen or english party: and no doubt it looked flattering to his prussian majesty for moments. this may be called epoch first, after that grand charlottenburg dinner. then as to the nosti affair, in which knyphausen "does not stir as yet,"--the fact is, it was only put into knyphausen's hands the day before yesterday, as we soon discover; and knyphausen is not so sure about it as some are! that hotham despatch is of wednesday, th april. and not till yesterday could guy dickens report performance of the other important thing. captain guy dickens, a brisk handy military man, secretary to dubourgay this good while past, "has duly received from headquarters the successive nosti-grumkow documents, caught up in st. mary axe; has now delivered them to knyphausen, to be laid before his prussian majesty in a good hour; and would fain (tuesday, april th) hope some result from this step." not for almost a month does hotham himself say anything of it to the prussian majesty, good hour for knyphausen not having come. but now, in regard to that hanover statthaltership, hear townshend,--condensed, but not nearly so much so, my lord being a succinct man who sticks always creditably to the point:-- to the excellency hotham at berlin (from lord townshend). london, th april. "yes, you shall have the hanover vice-regency. we will set up the crown-prince friedrich in hanover as desired; but will give the commission to our own princess, that being more convenient for several reasons: crown-prince, furthermore, must promise to come over to england when we require him; item may repay us our expenses hereafter, as to marriage-portions, we will give none with our princess, nor ask any with theirs. both marriages or none." ann so enough. alas, nothing came of this; prussian majesty, in spite of thrift, perceiving that, for several reasons, it would not do. meanwhile grumkow, we learn from a secret source, [nosti, supra ( th april), p. ; infra, p. .] has been considerably courted by botham and her prussian majesty; queen caroline having signified from england, that they ought to gain that knave,--what price did he charge for himself? but this also proves quite unavailing; never came to pricing. and so,--hear hotham once more:-- to lord townshend at london (from excellency hotham). berlin, th april. "... grumkow is a thorn in my side: one would like to do him some service in return." 'cannot you stop an original letter of his' (we have only deciphered copies as yet) to that reichenbach or nosti, 'strong enough to break his back?--they will try. hotham continues in next despatch:-- berlin, d april. "dined with the king again; crown-prince was present: dreadfully dejected,--'at which one cannot help being moved; there is something so engaging in the prince, and everybody says so much good of him.'" hear hotham! who again, three days after, says of our fritz: 'if i am not much mistaken, this young prince will one day make a very considerable figure.' "wish we could manage the marriage; but this grumkow, this"--cannot they contrive to send an original strong enough? alas, from the same secret source we learn, within a week, that grumkow's back is very strong; the tobacco-parliament in full blast again, and seckendorf's couriers galloping to vienna with the best news. nay his majesty looks expressly "sour upon hotham," or does not look at all; will not even speak when he sees him;--for a reason we shall hear. [nosti, infra ( th april), p. .] can it, be thought that any liberality in use of the bellows or other fire-implements will now avail with his majesty? second and last peep into the nosti-grumkow correspondence caught up in st. mary axe. but at this point let our two rooks recommence a little: nosti, on the th, we left quaking in every joint of him;--and good news was almost at the door, had afflicted nosti known it. grumkow's strain (suppressed by us here), all this while, is in general, almost ever since the blaze of that hotham dinner went off into repentant headache: 'pshaw, don't fear!' nay after a fortnight or so, it is again: 'steady! we are all right?' tobacco-parliament and the royal imagination making such progress. this is still but the third week since that grand dinner at charlottenburg:-- to the excellenz reichenbach at london (from grumkow). berlin, d april. 'king wants to get rid of the princess' wilhelmina, 'who is grown lean, ugly, with pimples on her face (_qui est devenue maigre, laide, couperosee,'_ [this is one of the sentences wilhelmina has got hold of (wilhelmina, i. ).]--dog: will nobody horsewhip that lie out of him!)--'judge what a treat that will be to a prince of wales, who has his amourettes!' all is right, nosti, is it not? berlin, th april. "king declared to seckendorf yesterday again, he might write to the kaiser, that while he lived, nothing should ever part his majesty from the kaiser and his cause; that the french dare not attack luxembourg, as is threatened; and if they do--! upon which seckendorf despatched a courier to vienna. "as to hotham, he explains himself upon nothing,"--stalks about with his nose in the air, as if there were nothing farther to be explained. "i spoke yesterday of the single match, wilhelmina and prince of wales; king answered, even of the single match, devil fly away with it!"--or a still coarser phrase. 'meanwhile the queen, though at the end of her eighth month, is cheery as a fish in water; [wilhelmina has this too, in a disfigured state (i. ).] and always forms grand project of totally ruining seckendorf, by knyphausen's and other help.' "hotham yesterday, glancing at nosti no doubt, said to the sieur de potsdam [cant phrase for the king], 'that great princes were very unlucky to have ministers that durst not show themselves in good society; for the result was, they sent nothing but false news and rumors picked up in coffee-houses.'" "coffee-houses?" answers reichenbach, by and by: "reichenbach is in english society of the first distinction, and receives visits from lords and dukes. this all the world knows"--to be nothing like the case, as townshend too has occasionally mentioned. at any rate, continues grumkow, "the queen's husband said, aside, to nosti's friend, 'i see he is glancing at reichenbach; but he won't make much of that (cynically speaking, _ne fera que de l'eau claire).'_ hotham is by no means a man of brilliant mind, and his manners are rough: but ginkel," the dutchman, "is cleverer (plus souple), and much better liked by nosti's master." antistrophe soon follows; london raven is himself again;--nosti loquitur:-- london, th april. "... king has written to me, i am to report to him any talk there may be in the court here about his majesty! my amiable and his seckendorf, need they ask if nosti will, and in a way to give them pleasure?"... strophe (allegro by the berlin raven or rook, who has not yet heard the above);--grumkow loquitur:-- berlin, th april. "... wrong not to write entertaining news of the english court as heretofore. king likes it. "what you say of the prince-royal of prussia's writing to the queen of england, is very curious; and you did well to say nothing of it to the father; the thing being of extreme delicacy, and the proof difficult. but it seems likely. and i insinuated something of it to his majesty, the day before yesterday [ th april, , therefore? one momentary glance of hansard into the tobacco-parliament], as of a thing i had learned from a spy" (such my pretence, o nosti)--spy "who is the intimate friend of knyphausen and plays traitor: you may fancy that it struck terribly. "yes!" and his majesty has looked sour upon hotham ever since; and passed above an hour in colloquy with seckendorf and me, in sight both of english hotham and dutch ginkel without speaking to them. "it was true enough what nosti heard of the queen's fair speeches, and hotham's, to the friend of nosti. but it is all ended: the queen's, weeks ago, being in vain: hotham too, after some civilities, seems now indifferent. 'enfin ['afin' he always writes it, copying the indistinct gurgle of his own horse-dialect]--afin filouterie tout pure' (whole of it thimblerig, on their part). "admirable story, that of prince fred's amourette [sent to the cesspool by us, herald of reichenbach thither]: let his majesty know it, by all means. what the duchess of kendal [lean tall female in expensive brocades, with gilt prayer-books, visible in the body to nosti at that time], what the duchess of kendal says to you is perfectly just; and as the princess wilhelmina is very ill-looking [laide,--how dare you say so, dog?], i believe she will have a bad life of it, the prince of wales being accustomed to daintier meats. yes truly, she will, as the duchess says, 'need to be wiser than solomon' to conciliate the humors down there (la bas) with the genius of his prussian majesty and queen.--'as for your princess amelia, depend upon it, while the commandant of potsdam lives, she will never get hold of the prince-royal, though he is so furiously taken with the britannic majesties.'" [continues; in answer to a nosti "caw! caw!" which we omit.] berlin, d may.--"wish you had not told the king so positively that the english say, it shall be double match or none. hotham said to the swedish ambassador: 'reichenbach, walking in the dark, would give himself a fine knock on the nose (_aurait un furieux pied de nez_), when,' or if, 'the thing was done quite otherwise.' have a caution what you write." pooh, pooh! hotham must have said "if," not "when;" swede is quite astray!--and indeed we will here leave off, and shut down this magazine of rubbish; right glad to wash ourselves wholly from it (in three waters) forevermore. possibly enough the prussian dryasdust will, one day, print it in extenso, and with that lucidity of comment and arrangement which is peculiar to him; exasperated readers will then see whether i have used them ill or not, according to the opportunity there was!--here, at any rate, my reader shall he free of it. indeed he may perceive, the negotiation was by this time come to a safe point, the nosti-grumkows triumphant, and the interest of the matter mainly out. farther transient anxieties this amiable couple had,--traceable in that last short croak from grumkow,--lest the english might consent to that of the "single-marriage in the mean time" (which the english never did, or meant to do). for example, this other screech of nosti, which shall be his final last-screech:-- london, th may.--"lord townshend alarmingly hinted to me: better have done with your grumkow-and-seckendorf speculations: the ill-intentioned are perfectly sure to be found out at the end of the account; and their tools will get ruined along with them. nosti endeavored to talk big in reply: but he shakes in his shoes nevertheless; and with a heart full of distraction exclaims now, save yourselves, save me!--if hotham speak of the single-marriage only, it is certain the prince-royal must mean to run away," and so make it a double one in time. yes, indeed! but these were transient terrors. the day is our own, my grumkow; yes, our own, my nosti:--and so our colloquy of rookeries shall be suppressible henceforth. his majesty gets sight of the st.-mary-axe documents; but nothing follows from it. we have only to add what hotham reports (berlin, may th), that he "has had an interview with his majesty, and spoken of the st.-mary-axe affair; knyphausen having found a moment to lay it before his majesty." so that the above excerpts from st. mary axe (all but the last two),--the above, and many more suppressed by us,--are in his majesty's hands: and he is busy studying them; will, it is likely, produce them in an amazed tobacco-parliament one of these evenings!-- what the emotions of the royal breast were during the perusal of this extraordinary dialogue of birds, which has come to him through st. mary axe--? manifold probably: manifold, questionable; but not tragical, or not immediately so. certainly it is definable as the paltriest babble; no treason visible in it, nor constructive treason; but it painfully indicates, were his majesty candid, that his majesty is subject to spies in his own house; nay that certain parties do seem to fancy they have got his majesty by the nose, and are piping tunes with an eye to his dancing, thereto. this is a painful thought, which, i believe, does much agitate his majesty now and afterwards.--a painful thought or suspicion, rising sometimes (in that temperament of his) to the pitch of the horrible. i believe it occasionally, ever henceforth, keeps haunting the highly poetic temperament of his majesty, nor ever quits him again at all; stalking always, now and then, through the vacant chambers of his mind, in what we may call the night-season (or time of solitude and hypochondriacal reflection),--though in busy times again (in daylight, so to speak) he impatiently casts it from him. poor majesty! but figure grumkow, figure the tobacco-parliament when majesty laid these papers on the table! a hansard of that night would be worth reading. there is thunderous note of interrogation on his majesty's face;--what a glimmer in the hard puckery eyes of feldzeugmeister seckendorf, "jarni-bleu!" no doubt, an excessively astonished parliament. nothing but brass of face will now serve the principal honorable gentleman there; but in that happily he is not wanting. of course grumkow denies the letters point-blank: mere forgeries, these, of the english court, plotting to ruin your majesty's faithful servant, and bring in other servants they will like better! may have written to reichenbach, nay indeed has, this or that trifling thing: but those copyists in st. mary axe, "deciphering,"--garbling, manufacturing, till they make a romance of it,--alas, your majesty? nay, at any rate, what are the letters? grumkow can plead that they are the foolishest insignificant rubbish of court-gossip, not tending any bad road, if they have a tendency. that they are adapted to the nature of the beast, and of the situation,--this he will carefully abstain from remarking. we have no hansard of this session; all is conjecture and tobacco-smoke. what we know is, not the least effect, except an internal trouble, was produced on the royal mind by the st.-mary-axe discovery. some question there might well be, inarticulately as yet, of grumkow's fidelity, at least of his discretion; seeds of suspicion as to grumkow, which may sprout up by and by; resolution to keep one's eye on grumkow. but the first practical fruit of the matter is, fierce jealousy that the english and their clique do really wish to interfere in our ministerial appointments; so that, for the present, grumkow is firmer in his place than ever. and privately, we need not doubt, the matter continues painful to his majesty. one thing is certain, precisely a week after, his majesty,--much fluctuating in mind evidently, for the document "has been changed three or four times within forty-eight hours,"--presents his final answer to hotham. which runs to this effect ("outrageous," as hotham defines it):-- " . for hanover and your great liberality on that score, much obliged; but upon reconsideration think it will not do. . marriage first, prince of wales to wilhelmina,--consent with pleasure. . marriage second, crown-prince friedrich with your amelia,--for that also we are extremely wishful, and trust it will one day take effect: but first these seville-treaty matters, and differences between the kaiser and allied english and french will require to be pulled straight; that done, we will treat about the terms of marriage second. one indispensable will be,--that the english guarantee our succession in julich and berg." [hotham's despatch, th may, .] "outrageous" indeed!--crown-prince sends, along with this, a loving message by hotham, of earnestly deprecating tenor, to the britannic majesty; "begs his britannic majesty not to reject the king's proposals, whatever they may be,--this for poor sister wilhelmina's sake. 'for though he, the crown-prince, was determined to lose his life sooner than marry anybody but the princess amelia, yet if this negotiation were broken off, his father would go to extremities to force him and his poor sister into other engagements.'"--which, alas, what can it avail with the britannic majesty, in regard to such outrageous propositions from the prussian? britannic majesty's ministry, as always, answers by return of courier:--"may d. both marriages, or none: seville has no concern with both, more than with one: ditto julich and berg,--of which latter indeed we know nothing,--nor (aside to hotham) mean to know." [despatch, whitehall, th may ( d by n.s.)]. whereby hotham perceives that it is as good to throw away the bellows, and consider the matter extinct. hotham makes ready for an excursion into saxony, to a thing called camp of radewitz, or encampment of radewitz; a military spectacle of never-imagined magnificence, to be given by august the strong there, whither all the world is crowding;--and considers any business he had at berlin to be as good as done. evidently friedrich wilhelm has not been much wrought upon by the st.-mary-axe documents! one week they have been revolving in the royal mind; part of a week in the smoking parliament (we know not what day they were laid on the table there, but it must have been a grand occurrence within those walls!)--and this already (may th) is the result arrived at: propositions, changed three or four times within forty-eight hours, and definable at last as "outrageous;" which induce hotham to lay down the bellows, and prepare to go his ways. our st.-mary-axe discovery seems to have no effect at all!-- one other public result there is from it, and as yet one only: reichenbach, "from certain causes thereto moving us (_aus gewissen uns dazu bewegenden grunden_)," gets a formal letter of recall. ostensible letter, dated berlin, th may, and signed friedrich wilhelm; which the english may read for their comfort. only that along with this, of the same date and signature, intended for reichenbach's comfort, the same leather bag brings a private letter (which dickens or another has contrived to get sight of and copy), apprising reichenbach, that, unostensibly, his proceedings are approved of; that he is to continue at his post till further orders, all the same, "and keep watch on these marriages, about which there is such debating in the world (_wovon in der welt so viel debattirt wird_); things being still in the same state as half a year ago. that is to say, i am ready for my daughter's marriage with the prince of wales: but for my son, he is too young yet; _und hat es damit keine eile, weil ich gottlob noch zwei sohne hab_ (nor is there any haste, as i have, thank god, two other sons,"--and a third coming, if i knew it):--"besides one indispensable condition will be, that the english guarantee julich and berg," which perhaps they are not in the least hurry for, either!-- what does the english court think of that? dated "berlin, th may:" it is the same day when his majesty's matured proposals, "changed thrice or oftener within the forty-eight hours," were handed to hotham for transmission to his court. an interesting leather bag, this ordinary from berlin. reichenbach, we observe, will get his share of it some ten days after that alarming rebuke from townshend; and it will relieve the poor wretch from his worst terrors: "go on with your eavesdroppings as before, you alarmed wretch!"--there does one degenfeld by and by, a man of better quality (and on special haste, as we shall see) come and supersede poor nosti, and send him home:--there they give nosti some exiguous pension, with hint to disappear forevermore. which he does; leaving only these st.-mary-axe documents for his lifemark in the history of mankind. what the english answer to his majesty's proposals of berlin, may th, was, we have already seen;--dated "london, d may," probably few hours after the courier arrived. hotham, well anticipating what it would be, had already, as we phrased it, "laid down the bellows;" left the negotiation, as essentially extinct;--and was preparing for the "camp at radewitz," britannic majesty being anxious to hear what friedrioh wilhelm and august the strong have on hand there. "the king of prussia's unsteadiness and want of resolution," writes hotham (berlin, th may), "will hinder him from being either very useful to his friends, or very formidable to his enemies." and from the same place, just about quitting it for radewitz, he writes again, exactly a week after ("berlin, th may"), to enclose copy of a remarkable letter; remarkable to us also;--but which, he knows and we, cannot influence the english answer now close at hand. here is the copied letter; copied in guy dickens's hand; from which we translate,--and also will give the original french in this instance, for behoof of the curious:-- to his excellency the chevalier hotham. [potsdam, end of may, .] "monsieur,--je crois que c'est de la derniere importance que je vous ecrive; et je suis assez triste d'avoir des chases a vous dire que je devrois cacher a toute la terre: mais il faut franchir ce mauvais pas la; et vous comptant de mes amis, je me resouds plus facilement a vous le dire. c'est que je suis traite d'une maniere inouie du roi, et que je sais qu'a present ils se trament de terribles choses contre moi, touchant certaines lettres que j'ai ecrites l'hiver passe, dont je crois que vous serez informe. enfin pour vous parler franchement, la vraie raison que le roi a de ne vouloir point donner les mains a ce mariage est, qu'il me veut toujours tenir sur un bas pied, et me faire enrager toute sa vie, quand l'envie lui en prend; ainsi il ne l'accordera jamais. si l'on consent de votre cote que cette princesse soit aussi traitee ainsi, vous pouvez comprendre aisement que je serai fort triste de rendre malheureuse une personne que j'estime, et de rester toujours dans le meme etat ou je suis. pour moi done je crois qu'il vaudroit mieux finir le mariage de ma soeur ainsi auparavant, et ne point demander au roi seulement des assurances sur mon sujet, d'autant plus que sa parole n'y fait rien: suffit que je reitere les promesses que j'ai deja fait au roi mon oncle, de ne prendre jamais d'autre epouse que sa seconde fille la princess amelie. je suis une personne de parole, qui pourra faire reussir ce que j'avance, pourvu que l'on se fie a moi. je vous le promets, et a present vous pouvez en avertir votre cour; et je saurai tenir ma promesse. je suis toujours tout a vous, frederic." [state-paper office: prussian despatches, vol. xli. (enclosed in sir charles hotham's despatch, berlin, th- th may, ).] "monsieur,--i believe it is of the last importance that i should write to you; and i am very sad to have things to say which i ought to conceal from all the earth. but one must take that bad leap; and reckoning you among my friends, i the more easily resolve to open myself to you. "the case is this: i am treated in an unheard-of manner by the king; and i know there are terrible things in preparation against me, touching certain letters which i wrote last winter, of which i believe you are informed. in a word, to speak frankly to you, the real secret reason why the king will not consent to this marriage is, that he wishes to keep me on a low footing constantly, and to have the power of driving me mad, whenever the whim takes him, throughout his life; thus he never will give his consent. if it were possible that you on your side could consent that your princess too should be exposed to such treatment, you may well comprehend that i should be very sad to bring misery on a person whom i esteem, and to remain always in the same state as now. "for my own part, therefore, i believe it would be better to conclude my sister's marriage in the first place, and not, even to ask from the king any assurances in regard to mine; the rather as his word has nothing to do with it: it is enough that i here reiterate the promises which i have already made to the king my uncle, never to take another wife than his second daughter the princess amelia. i am a person of my word; and shall be able to bring about what i set forth, provided there is trust put in me. i promise it you; and now you may give your court notice of it; and i shall manage to keep my promise. i remain yours always." the crown-prince, for wilhelmina's sake and everybody's, is extremely anxious they should agree to the single marriage in the interim: but the english court--perhaps for no deep reason, perhaps chiefly because little george had the whim of standing grandly immovable upon his first offer--never would hear of that. which was an angry thought to the crown-prince in after times, as we sometimes notice. here, to the like effect, is another fragment from his royal highness, copied in the dickens hand, and enclosed in the same despatch from hotham;--giving us a glance into the inner workshop of his royal highness, and his hidden assiduities and endeavorings at that time:-- "... vous pouvez croire que je ferai tout ce que je peux pour faire reussir mon plan; mais l'on n'en remarquera rien em dehors;--que l'on m'en laisse agir en suite, je ferai bien moi seul reussir le reste. je finis la par vous assurer encore, monsieur, que je suis tout a vous. "frederic prince r." "... you may believe i will exert all my resources to succeed in my plan; but there will be no outward sign visible:--leave me to act in this way, i will myself successfully bring it through. i end by again assuring you, monsieur, that i am yours always."--which again produces no effect; the english answer being steadily, "both marriages, or none." and this, then, is what the hotham mission is come to? good dubourgay is home, recalled about a month ago, "for the sake of his health," [townshend's polite despatch to him, whitehall, st april, .]--good old gentleman, never to be heard of in diplomatic history more. dubourgay went in the first days of may; and the month is not out, when hotham is off to the camp of radewitz; leaving his negotiation, as it were, extinct. to the visible regret of the berlin public generally; to the grievous disappointment of queen sophie, of the crown-prince and some others,--not to speak of wilhelmina's feelings, which are unknown to us. regretful berlin, wilhelmina and mamma among the others, had, by accident, in these dejected circumstances, a strange sign from the heavens provided them, one night,--if we may be permitted to notice it here. monday, th may;--and poor queen sophie, we observe withal, is in the hands of the monthly nurse since tuesday last! ["prince ferdinand (her last child, father of him whose fate lay at jenz seventy-six years afterwards), born d may, ."] st. peter's church in berlin has an accident. monday th may, , friedrich wilhelm and the crown-prince and party were at potsdam, so far on their way towards radewitz. all is peaceable at potsdam that night: but it was a night of wild phenomena at berlin; or rather of one wild phenomenon, the "burning of the sanct-peters kirche," which held the whole city awake and in terror for its life. dim fassmann becomes unusually luminous on this affair (probably an eye-witness to it, poor old soul); and enables us to fish up one old night of berlin city and its vanished populations into clear view again, if we like. for two years back berlin had been diligently building a non-plus-ultra of steeples to that fine church of st. peter's. highest steeple of them all; one of the steeples of the world, in a manner;--and berlin was now near ending it. tower, or shaft, has been complete some time, interior fittings going on; and is just about to get its ultimate apex, a "crown-royal" set on it by way of finis. for his majesty, the great aedile, was much concerned in the thing; and had given materials, multifarious helps: three incomparable bells, especially, were his gift; melodious old bells, of distinguished tone, "bigger than the great bell of erfurt," than tom of lincoln,--or, as brief popular rumor has it, the biggest bells in the world, at least of such a tone. these bells are hung, silent but ready in their upper chamber of the tower, and the gigantic crown or apex is to go on; then will the basket-work of scaffolding be peeled away, and the steeple stretch, high and grand, into the air, for ages it is hoped. far otherwise. on monday evening, between eight and nine, there gathered thunder over berlin; wild tumult of the elements: thunder-bolt "thrice in swift succession" struck the unfinished steeple; in the "hood" of which men thereupon noticed a light, as of a star, or sparkle of the sun; and straight-way, in spite of the rain-torrents, there burst out blazes of flame. blazes unquenchable; grand yet perilous to behold. the fire-drums beat, the alarm-bells clanged, and ceased not; all berlin struggling there, all night, in vain. such volumes of smoke: "the heavens were black as if you had hung them with mortcloth:" such roaring cataracts of flame, "you could have picked up a copper doit at the distance of yards."--"hiss-s-s!" what hissing far aloft is that? that is the incomparable big bells melting. there they vanish, their fine tones never to be tried more, and ooze through the red-hot ruin, "hush-sh-sht!" the last sound heard from them. and the stem for holding that immense crown-royal,--it is a bar and bars of iron, "weighing sixteen hundred-weight;" down it comes thundering, crashing through the belly of st. peter's, the fall of it like an earthquake all round. and still the fire-drums beat, and from all surviving steeples of berlin goes the clangor of alarm; "none but the very young children can have slept that night," says our vigilant old friend. wind was awake, too; kindling the neighboring streets;--storming towards the powder-magazine; where labor innumerable artillerymen, "busy with hides from the tan-pits, with stable-dung, and other material;" speed to them, we will say! forty dwelling-houses went; but not the powder-magazine; not berlin utterly (so to speak) by the powder-magazine. on the morrow st. peter's and neighborhood lay black, but still inwardly burning; not for three days more could the ruins be completely quenched. that was the news for friedrich wilhelm, before sunrise, on the point of his departure for muhlberg and king august's scenic exhibitions. "hm;--but we must go, all the same! we will rebuild it!" said he.--and truly he did so. and the polite king august, sorry to hear of the peterskirche, "gave him excellent sandstone from the quarries of pirna," says: fassmann: "great blocks came boating down the elbe" from that notable saxon switzerland country, notable to readers here in time coming; and are to be found, as ashlar, in the modern st. peter's at berlin; a fact which the reader, till pirna be better known to him, may remember if he likes. [fassmann, pp. - .] and now let us to radewitz without delay. chapter iii. -- camp of radewitz. the camp of muhlberg, called more properly the camp of radewitz, towards which friedrich wilhelm, with english hotham and many dignitaries are now gone, was one of the sublimest scenic military exhibitions in the history of the world; leaving all manner of imitation tournaments, modern "tin-tournaments," out of sight; and perhaps equalling the field of the cloth of gold, or barbarossa's mainz tournament in ancient times. it lasted for a month, regardless of expense,--june month of the year ;--and from far and wide the idle of mankind ran, by the thousand, to see it. shall the thing be abolished utterly,--as perhaps were proper, had not our crown-prince been there, with eyes very open to it, and yet with thoughts very shut;--or shall some flying trace of the big zero be given? riddling or screening certain cart-loads of heavy old german printed rubbish, [chiefly the terrible compilation called _helden-staats und lebens-geschichte des, &c. friedrichs des andern_ (history heroical, political and biographical of friedrich the second), frankfurt and leipzig, - , vol, i. first half, pp. - . there are ten thick and thin half-volumes, and perhaps more. one of the most hideous imbroglios ever published under the name of book,--without vestige of index, and on paper that has no margin and cannot stand ink,--yet with many curious articles stuffed blindly into the awful belly of it, like jewels into a rag-sack, or into ten rag-sacks all in one; with far more authenticity than you could expect in such case. let us call it, for brevity, _helden-geschichte,_ in future references.] to omit the hotham despatches, we obtained the following shovelful of authentic particulars, perhaps not quite insupportable to existing mankind. the exact size of the camp of radewitz i nowhere find measured; but to judge on the map, [at p. .] it must have covered, with its appendages, some ten or twelve square miles of ground. all on the elbe, right bank of the elbe; town of muhlberg, chief town of the district, lying some ten miles northwest; then, not much beyond it, torgau; and then famed wittenberg, all on the northwest, farther down the river: and on the other side, meissen with its potteries not far to the southeast of you, up the river, on the dresden hand. nay perhaps many of my readers have seen the place, and not known, in their touring expeditions; which are now blinder than ever, and done by steam, without even eyesight, not to say intelligence. precisely where the railway from leipzig to dresden crosses the elbe,--there, if you happen to have daylight, is a flat, rather clayey country, dirty-greenish, as if depastured partly by geese; with a big full river elbe sweeping through it, banks barish for a mile or two; river itself swift, sleek and of flint-color; not unpleasant to behold, thus far on its journey from the bohemian giant-mountains seaward: precisely there, when you have crossed the bridge, is the south-most corner of august the strong's encampment,--vanished now like the last flock of geese that soiled and nibbled these localities;--and, without knowing it, you are actually upon memorable ground. actually, we may well say; apart from august and his fooleries. for here also it was, on the ground now under your eye, that kurfurst johann friedrich the magnanimous, having been surprised the day before at public worship in the abovementioned town of muhlberg, and completely beaten by kaiser karl the fifth and his spaniards and duke of alba, did, on monday th april, , ride forth as prisoner to meet the said kaiser; and had the worst reception from him, poor man. "take pity on me, o god! this is what it is come to?" the magnanimous beaten kurfurst was heard murmuring as he rode. at sight of the kaiser, he dismounted, pulled off his iron-plated gloves, knelt, and was: for humbly taking the kaiser's hand, to kiss it. kaiser would not; kaiser looked thunderous tornado on him, with hands rigidly in the vertical direction. the magnanimous kurfurst arose therefore; doffed his hat: "great-mightiest (grossmachtigster) all-gracious kaiser, i am your majesty's prisoner," said he, confining himself to the historical. "i am kaiser now, then?" answered the sullen tornado, with a black brow and hanging under-jaw.--"i request my imprisonment may be prince-like," said the poor prince. "it shall be as your deserts have been!"--"i am in your power; you will do your pleasure on me," answered the other;--and was led away, to hard durance and peril of life for five years to come; his cousin moritz, having expertly jockeyed his electoral dignities and territories from him in the interim; [de wette, _kursgefasste lebensgeschichte der herzoge zu sachsen_ (weimar, ), pp. i, , .]--as was told above, long since. expert cousin moritz: in virtue of which same moritz, or rather perhaps in vice of him, august the strong is even now elector of saxony; papist, pseudo-papist apostate king of poland, and non-plus-ultra of "gluttonous royal flunkies;" doomed to do these fooleries on god's earth for a time. for the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children,--in ways little dreamt of by the flunky judgment,--to the sixth generation and farther. truly enough this is memorable ground, little as king august, thinks of it; little as the idle tourists think, or the depasturing geese, who happen to be there. the ten square miles have been industriously prepared for many months past; shaved, swept by the best engineer science: every village of it thoroughly cleaned, at least; the villages all let lodgings at a californian rate; in one village, moritz by name, [map at page .] is the slaughter-house, killing oxen night and day; and the bakehouee, with mealy bakers who never rest: in another village, strohme, is the playhouse of the region; in another, glaubitz, the post-office: nothing could excel the arrangements; much superior, i should judge, to those for the siege of troy, and other world-great enterprises. worthy really of admiration, had the business not been zero. foreign courts: european diplomacy at large, wondered much what cunning scheme lay hidden here. no scheme at all, nor purpose on the part of poor august; only that of amusing himself, and astonishing the flunkies of creation,--regardless of expense. three temporary bridges, three besides the regular ferry of the country, cross the elbe; for the high officers, dames, damosels and lordships of degree, and thousandfold spectators, lodge on both sides of the elbe: three bridges, one of pontoons, one of wood-rafts, one of barrels; immensely long, made for the occasion. the whole saxon army, , horse and foot with their artillery, all in beautiful brand-new uniforms and equipments, lies beautifully encamped in tents and wooden huts, near by zeithayn, its rear to the elbe; this is the "armee lager (camp of the army)" in our old rubbish books. northward of which,--with the heath of gorisch still well beyond, and bluish to you, in the farther north,--rises, on favorable ground, a high "pavilion" elaborately built, elaborately painted and gilded, with balcony stages round it; from which the whole ground, and everything done in it, is surveyable to spectators of rank. eastward again, or from the pavilion southeastward, at the right flank of the army, where again rises a kind of height, hard by radewitz, favorable for survey,--there, built of sublime silk tents, or solid well-painted carpentry, the general color of which is bright green, with gilt knobs and gilt gratings all about, is the: "haupt-lager," head-quarters, main lager, heart of all the lagers; where his prussian majesty, and his polish ditto, with their respective suites, are lodged. kinglike wholly, in extensive green palaces ready gilt and furnished; such drawing-rooms, such bedrooms, "with floors of dyed wicker-work;" the gilt mirrors, pictures, musical clocks; not even the fine bathing-tubs for his prussian majesty have been forgotten. never did man or flunky see the like. such immense successful apparatus, without and within; no end of military valetaille, chiefly "janizaries," in turk costume; improvised flower-gardens even, and walks of yellow sand,--the whole hill of radewitz made into a flower-garden in that way. nay, in the army lager too, many of the captains have made little improvised flower-gardens in that camp of theirs, up and down. for other captains not of a poetical turn, there are billiards, coffee-houses, and plenty of excellent beer and other liquor. but the mountains of cavalry hay, that stand guarded by patrols in the rearward places, and the granaries of cavalry oats, are not to be told. eastward, from their open porticos and precincts, with imitation "janizaries" pacing silent lower down, the two majesties oversee the army, at discretion; can survey all things,--even while dining, which they do daily, like very kings! fritz is lodged there; has a magnificent bed: poor young fellow, he alone now makes the business of any meaning to us. he is curious enough to see the phenomena, military and other; but oppressed with black care: "my amelia is not here, and the tyrant father is--tyrannous with his rattan: ye gods!" we could insist much on the notable people that were there; for the lists of them are given. many high lordships; some of whom will meet us again. weissenfels, wilhelmina's unfavored lover, how busy is he, commanding gallantly (in the terrific sham-battle) against wackerbarth; general wackerbarth, whose house we saw burnt on a dresden visit, not so long ago. old leopold of anhalt-dessau is there, the old dessauer; with four of his princes; instructed in soldiering, left without other instruction; without even writing, unless they can pick it up for themselves. likely young fellows too, with a good stroke of work in them, of battle in them, when called for. young anspach, lately wedded, comes, in what state he can, poor youth; lodges with the prussian majesty his father-in-law; should keep rather quiet, his share of wisdom being small. seckendorf with his grumkow, they also are here, in the train of friedrich wilhelm. grumkow shoves the bottle with their polish and prussian majesties: in jolly hours, things go very high there. i observe they call king august "le patron," the captain, or "patroon;" a fine jollity dwelling in that man of sin. or does the reader notice holstein-beck, prussian major-general; prince of holstein-beck; a solid dull man; capable of liquor, among other things: not wiser than he should be; sold all his apanage or princeship; for example, and bought plate with it, wherefore they call him ever since "holstein-vaisselle (holstein plate)" instead of holstein-beck. [busching's _beitrage,_ iv. .] his next brother, here likewise i should think, being major-general in the saxon service, is still more foolish. he, poor soul, is just about to marry the orzelska; incomparable princess known to us, who had been her father's mistress:--marriage, as was natural, went asunder again ( ) after a couple of years.--but mark especially that middle-aged heavy gentleman, prince of anhalt-zerbst, prussian commandant of stettin. not over rich (would not even be rich if he came to be reigning duke, as he will do); attentive at his post in those parts, ever since the siege-of-stralsund time; has done his orders, fortified stettin to perfection; solid, heavy taciturn man:--of whom there is nothing notable but this only, that last year his wife brought him a little daughter, catharine the name of her. his wife is a foolish restless dame, highborn and penniless; let her nurse well this little catharine: little catharine will become abundantly distinguished in a thirty years hence; empress of all the russias that little girl; the fates have so appointed it, mocking the prophecies of men! here too is our poor unmentionable duke of mecklenburg: poor soul, he has left his quarrels with the ritterschaft for a week or two, and is here breathing the air of the elbe heaths. his wild russian wife, wild peter's niece and more, we are relieved to know is dead; for her ways and peter's have been very strange! to this unmentionable duke of mecklenburg she has left one daughter, a princess elizabeth-catherine, who will be called princess anne, one day: whose fortunes in the world may turn out to be tragical. potential heiress of all the russias, that little elizabeth or anne. heiress by her wily aunt, anne of courland,--anne with the swollen cheek, whom moritz, capable of many things, and of being marechal de saxe by and by, could not manage to fall in love with there; and who has now just quitted courland, and become czarina: [peter ii., her cousin-german, died january, (mannstein's _russia_).]--if aunt anne with the big cheek should die childless, as is likely, this little niece were heiress. was thut's, what matter!-- in the train of king august are likewise splendors of a sort, if we had time for them. dukes of sachsen-gotha, dukes of meiningen, most of the dukes that put sachsen to their name;--sachsen-weimar for one; who is grandfather of goethe's friend, if not otherwise distinguished. the lubomirskis, czartoryskis, and others of polish breed, shall be considered as foreign to us, and go unnoticed. nor are high dames wanting, as we see: vast flights of airy bright-hued womankind, crown-princess at the head of them, who lodges in tiefenau with her crown-prince,--and though plain-looking, and not of the sweetest temper, is a very high lady indeed. niece of the present kaiser karl, daughter of the late kaiser, joseph of blessed memory;--for which reason august never yet will sign the pragmatic sanction, his crown-prince having hereby rights of his own in opposition thereto. she is young; to her is tiefenau, northward, on the edge of the gorisch heath, probably the choicest mansion in these circuits, given up: also she is lady of "the bucentaur," frigate equal to cleopatra's galley in a manner; and commands, so to speak, by land and water. supreme lady, she, of this sublime world-foolery regardless of expense: so has the gallantry of august ordered it. our friedrich and she will meet again, on occasions not like this!--what the other princesses and countesses, present on this occasion, were to crown-prince friedrich, except a general flower-bed of human nature,--ask not; nor even whether the orzelska was so much as here! the orzelska will be married, some two months hence, [ th august, (sir t. robinson: despatch from dresden; in state-paper office).] to a holstein-beck; not to holstein plate, but to his brother the unfortunate saxon major-general: a man surely not of nice tastes in regard to marriage;--and i would recommend him to keep his light wife at home on such occasions. they parted, as we said, in a year or two, mutually indignant; and the orzelska went to avignon, to venice and else-whither, and settled into catholic devotion in cheap countries of agreeable climate. [see pollnitz ( _memoirs,_ &c.), whoever is curious about her.] crown-prince friedrich, doubtless, looking at this flower-bed of human nature, and the reward of happy daring paid by beauty, has vivid images of princess amelia and her vice-regency of hanover; bright princess and vice-regency, divided from him by bottomless gulfs, which need such a swim as that of leander across the material hellespont was but a trifle to!--in which of the villages hotham and dickens lodged, i did not learn or inquire; nor are their copious despatches, chronicling these sublime phenomena from day to day for behoof of st. james's, other than entirely inane to us at this time. but one thing we do learn from them: our crown-prince, escaping the paternal vigilance, was secretly in consultation with dickens, or with hotham through dickens; and this in the most tragic humor on his side. in such effulgences of luxury and scenic grandeur, how sad an attendant is black care,--nay foul misusage, not to be borne by human nature! accurate professor ranke has read somewhere,--does not comfortably say where, nor comfortably give the least date,--this passage, or what authorizes him to write it. "in that pleasure-camp of muhlberg, where the eyes of so many strangers were directed to him, the crown-prince was treated like a disobedient boy, and one time even with strokes (korperlich misshandelt), to make him feel he was only considered as such. the enraged king, who never weighed the consequences of his words, added mockery to his manual outrage. he said, 'had i been treated so by my father, i would have blown my brains out: but this fellow has no honor, he takes all that comes!'" [ranke, _neun bucher preussischer geschichte_ (berlin, ), i. .] einmal korperlich misshandelt: why did not the professor give us time, occasion, circumstances, and name of some eye-witness? for the fact, which stands reported in the like fashion in all manner of histories, we shall otherwise find to be abundantly certain; and it produced conspicuous definite results. it is, as it were, the one fact still worth human remembrance in this expensive radewitz and its fooleries; and is itself left in that vague inert state,--irremediable at present. beaten like a slave; while lodged, while figuring about, like a royal highness, in this sumptuous manner! it appears clearly the poor prince did hereupon, in spite of his word given to wilhelmina, make up his mind to run. ingenious ranke, forgetting again to date, knows from the archives, that friedrich went shortly afterwards to call on graf von hoym, one day. speaking to graf von hoym, who is saxon first-minister, and factotum of the arrangements here, he took occasion cursorily to ask, could not a glimpse of leipzig, among all these fine things, be had? order for horses to or at leipzig, for "a couple of officers" (lieutenant keith and self),--quietly, without fuss of passes and the like, herr graf?--the herr graf glances into it with eyes which have a twinkle in them: schwerlich, royal highness. they are very strict about passes. do not try it, royal highness! [ranke, ib.; forster, i. , and more especially iii. (seckendorf's narrative there).] and friedrich did desist, in that direction, poor youth; but tried it the more in others. very busy, in deep secrecy, corresponding with lieutenant katte at berlin, consulting tragically with captain guy dickens here.--whether any hint or whisper came to the prussian majesty from graf von hoym? lieutenant keith was, shortly after, sent to wesel to mind his soldiering there, far down the rhine country in the garrison of wesel; [wilhelmina told us lately (supra, p. ), keith had been sent to wesel; but she has misdated as usual.] better there than colleaguing with a fritz, and suggesting to him idle truancies or worse. with katte at berlin the desperate prince has concocted another scheme of flight, this hoym one being impossible; scheme executable by katte and him, were this radewitz once over. and as for his consultations with guy dickens, the result of them is: captain dickens, on the th of june, with eyes brisk enough, and lips well shut, sets out from radewitz express for london. this is what i read as abstract of hotham's despatch, th june, , which dickens is to deliver with all caution at st. james's: "crown-prince has communicated to dickens his plan of escape; 'could no longer bear the outrages of his father.' is to attend his father to anspath shortly (journey to the reich, of which we shall hear anon), and they are to take a turn to stuttgard: which latter is not very far from strasburg on the french side of the rhine. to strasburg he will make his escape; stay six weeks or a couple of months (that his mother be not suspected); and will then proceed to england. hopes england will take such measures as to save his sister from ruin." these are his fixed resolutions: what will england do in such abstruse case?--captain dickens speeds silently with his despatch; will find lord harrington, not townshend any more; [resigned th may, : despatch to hotham, as farewell, of that date.] will copiously open his lips to harrington on matters prussian. a brisk military man, in the prime of his years; who might do as prussian envoy himself, if nothing great were going on? harrington's final response will take some deliberating. hotham, meanwhile, resumes his report, as we too must do, of the scenic exhibitions;--and, we can well fancy, is getting weary of it; wishing to be home rather, "as his business here seems ended." [preceding despatch (of th june).] one day he mentions a rumor (inane high rumors being prevalent in such a place); "rumor circulated here, to which i do not give the slightest credit, that the prince-royal of prussia is to have one of the archduchesses," perhaps maria theresa herself! which might indeed have saved immensities of trouble to the whole world, as well as to the pair in question, and have made a very different history for germany and the rest of us. fancy it! but for many reasons, change of religion, had there been no other, it was an impossible notion. "may be," thinks hotham, "that the court of vienna throws out this bait to continue the king's delusion,"--or a snuffle from seckendorf, without the court, may have given it currency in so inane an element as radewitz. of the terrific sham-battles, conducted by weissenfels on one side and wackerbarth on the other; of the charges of cavalry, play of artillery, threatening to end in a very doomsday, round the pavilion and the ladies and the royalties assembled on the balconies there (who always go to dinner safe, when victory has declared itself), i shall say nothing. nor of that supreme "attack on the intrenchments:" blowing-up of the very bridges; cavalry posted in the woods; host doing its very uttermost against host, with unheard-of expenditure of gunpowder and learned manoeuvre; in which "the fleet" (of shallops on the elbe, rigged mostly in silk) took part, and the bucentaur with all its cannon. words fail on such occasions. i will mention only that assiduous king august had arranged everything like the king of playhouse-managers; was seen, early in the morning, "driving his own curricle" all about, in vigilant supervision and inspection; crossed the tub-bridge, or perhaps the float-bridge (not yet blown up), "in a wurstwagen;" giving himself (what proved well founded) the assurance of success for this great day;--and finally that, on the morrow, there occurred an illumination and display of fire-works, the like of which is probably still a desideratum. for the bucentaur and fleet were all hung with colored lamplets; headquarters (haupt-lager) and army-lager ditto ditto; gleaming upwards with their golden light into the silver of the summer twilight:--and all this is still nothing to the scene there is across the elbe, on our southeast corner. you behold that palace of the genii; wings, turrets, mainbody, battlements: it is "a gigantic wooden frame, on which two hundred carpenters have been busy for above six months," ever since christmas last. two hundred carpenters; and how many painters i cannot say: but they have smeared "six thousand yards of linen canvas;" which is now nailed up; hung with lamps, begirt with fire-works, no end of rocket-serpents, catherine-wheels; with cannon and field-music, near and far, to correspond;--and is now (evening of the th june, ) shining to men and gods. pinnacles, turrets, tablatures, tipt with various fires and emblems, all is there: [small map in here------missing] symbolic painting, six hundred yards of it, glowing with inner light, and legible to the very owls! arms now piled useless; pax, with her appurtenances; mars resting (in that canvas) on trophies of laurel honorably won: and there is an inscription, done in lamplets, every letter taller than a man, were you close upon it, "sic fulta manebit (thus supported it will stand),"--the it being either pax (peace) or domus (the genii-palace itself), as your weak judgment may lead you to interpret delicate allusions. every letter bigger than a man: it may be read almost at wittenberg, i should think; flaming as pica written on the sky, from the steeple-tops there. thus supported it will stand; and pious mortals murmur, "hope so, i am sure!"--and the cannons fire, almost without ceasing; and the field-music, guided by telegraphs, bursts over all the scene, at due moments; and the catherine-wheels fly hissing; and the bucentaur and silk brigantines glide about like living flambeaus;--and in fact you must fancy such a sight. king august, tired to the bone, and seeing all successful, retired about midnight. friedrich wilhelm stood till the finale; saxon crown-prince and he, "in a window of the highest house in promnitz;" our young fritz and the margraf of anspach, they also, in a neighboring window, [ th- th june: _helden-geschichte_ (above spoken of), i. ] stood till the finale: two in the morning, when the very sun was not far from rising. or is not the ultimate closing day perhaps still notabler; a day of universal eating? debauchee king august had a touch of genuine human good-humor in him; poor devil, and had the best of stomachs. eighty oxen, fat as christmas, were slain and roasted, subsidiary viands i do not count; that all the world might have one good dinner. the soldiers, divided into proper sections, had cut trenches, raised flat mounds, laid planks; and so, by trenching and planking, had made at once table and seat, wood well secured on turf. at the end of every table rose a triglyph, two strong wooden posts with lintel; on the lintel stood spiked the ox's head, ox's hide hanging beneath it as drapery: and on the two sides of the two posts hung free the four roasted quarters of said ox; from which the common man joyfully helped himself. three measures of beer he had, and two of wine;--which, unless the measures were miraculously small, we may take to be abundance. thus they, in two long rows, , of them by the tale, dine joyfully sub dio. the two majesties and two crown-princes rode through the ranks, as dinner went on: "king of prussia forever!" and caps into the air;--at length they retire to their own haupt-quartier, where, themselves dining, they can still see the soldiers dine, or at least drink their three measures and two. dine, yea dine abundantly: let all mortals have one good dinner!-- royal dinner is not yet done when a new miracle appears on the field: the largest cake ever baked by the sons of adam. drawn into the head-quarter about an hour ago, on a wooden frame with tent over it, by a team of eight horses; tent curtaining it, guarded by cadets; now the tent is struck and off;--saw mortals ever the like? it is fourteen ells (kleine ellen) long, by six broad; and at the centre half an ell thick. baked by machinery; how otherwise could peel or roller act on such a cake? there are five thousand eggs in it; thirty-six bushels (berlin measure) of sound flour; one tun of milk, one tun of yeast, one ditto of butter; crackers, gingerbread-nuts, for fillet or trimming, run all round. plainly the prince of cakes! a carpenter with gigantic knife, handle of it resting on his shoulder,--head of the board of works, giving word of command,--enters the cake by incision; cuts it up by plan, by successive signal from the board of works. what high person would not keep for himself, to say nothing of eating, some fraction of such a nonpareil? there is cut and come again for all. carpenter advances, by main trench and by side trenches, steadily to word of command. i mention, as another trait of the poor devil of an august, full of good-humor after all, that he and his royalties and big lordships having dined, he gave the still groaning table with all its dishes, to be scrambled for by "the janizaries." janizaries, imitation-turk valetaille; who speedily made clearance,--many a bit of precious meissen porcelain going far down in society by that means. royal dinner done, the colonel and officers of every regiment, ranked in high order, with weapons drawn, preceded by their respective bands of music, came marching up the hill to pay their particular respects to the majesty of prussia. majesty of prussia promised them his favor, everlasting, as requested; drank a glass of wine to each party (steady, your majesty!), who all responded by glasses of wine, and threw the glasses aloft with shouts. sixty pieces of artillery speaking the while, and the bands of music breathing their sweetest;--till it was done, and his majesty still steady on his feet. he could stand a great deal of wine. and now--? well, the cake is not done, many cubic yards of cake are still left, and the very corporals can do no more: let the army scramble! army whipt it away in no time. and now, alas now--the time is come for parting. it is ended; all things end. not for about an hour could the herrschaften (lordships and minor sovereignties) fairly tear themselves away, under wailing music, and with the due emotion. the prussian royalties, and select few, took boat down the river, on the morrow; towards lichtenburg hunting-palace, for one day's slaughtering of game. they slaughtered there about one thousand living creatures, all driven into heaps for them,--"six hundred of red game" (of the stag species), "four hundred black," or of the boar ditto. they left all these creatures dead; dined immensely; then did go, sorrowfully sated; crown-prince friedrich in his own carriage in the rear; papa in his, preceding by a few minutes; all the wood horns, or french horns, wailing sad adieu;--and hurried towards berlin through the ambrosial night. [ th june, : _helden-geschichte,_ i. .] and so it is all ended. and august the strong--what shall we say of august? history must admit that he attains the maximum in several things. maximum of physical strength; can break horse-shoes, nay half-crowns with finger and thumb. maximum of sumptuosity; really a polite creature; no man of his means so regardless of expense. maximum of bastards, three hundred and fifty-four of them; probably no mortal ever exceeded that quantity. lastly, he has baked the biggest bannock on record; cake with , eggs in it, and a tun of butter. these things history must concede to him. poor devil, he was full of good-humor too, and had the best of stomachs. his amputated great-toe does not mend: out upon it, the world itself is all so amputated, and not like mending! august the strong, dilapidated at fifty-three, is fast verging towards a less expensive country: and in three years hence will be lodged gratis, and need no cook or flunky of either sex. "this camp of radewitz," says smelfungus, one of my antecessors, finishing his long narrative of it, "this camp is nothing; and after all this expense of king august's and mine, it flies away like a dream. but alas, were the congresses of cambrai and soissons, was the life-long diplomacy of kaiser karl, or the history of torpid moribund europe in those days, much of a something? the pragmatic sanction, with all its protocolling, has fled, like the temporary playhouse of king august erected there in the village of strohme. much talk, noise and imaginary interest about both; but both literally have become zero, were always zero. as well talk about the one as the other."---then why not silence about both, my friend smelfnngus? he answers: "that truly is the thing to be aimed at;--and if we had once got our own out of both, let both be consumed with fire, and remain a handful of inarticulate black ashes forevermore." heavens, will i, of all men, object! smelfungus says elsewhere:-- "the moral to be derived, perhaps the chief moral visible at present, from all this section of melancholy history is: modern diplomacy is nothing; mind well your own affairs, leave those of your neighbors well alone. the pragmatic sanction, breaking fritz's, friedrich wilhelm's, sophie's, wilhelmina's, english amelia's and i know not how many private hearts, and distracting with vain terrors and hopes the general soul of europe for five-and-twenty years, fell at once into dust and vapor, and went wholly towards limbo on the storm-winds, doing nothing for or against any mortal. friedrich wilhelm's , well-drilled troops remained very actual with their firelocks and iron ramrods, and did a thing or two, there being a captain over them. friedrich wilhelm's directorium, well-drilled prussian downing street, every man steady at his duty, and no wind to be wasted where silence was better, did likewise very authentically remain,--and still remains. nothing of genuine and human that friedrich wilhelm did but remained and remains an inheritance, not the smallest item of it lost or losable;--and the rude foolish boor-king (singular enough!) is found to be the only one that has gained by the game."-- chapter iv. -- excellency hotham quits berlin in haste. while the camp at radewitz is dissolving itself in this manner, in the last days of june, captain guy dickens, the oracles at windsor having given him their response as to prince friedrich's wild project, is getting under way for berlin again,--whither also hotham has returned, to wait for dickens's arrival, and directly thereupon come home. dickens is henceforth to do the british diplomacy here, any diplomacy there can well be; dickens once installed, hotham will, right gladly, wash his hands of this negotiation, which he considers to be as good as dead for a longish while past. first, however, he has one unexpected adventure to go through in berlin; of most unexpected celebrity in the world: this once succinctly set forth, history will dismiss him to the shades of private life. guy dickens, arriving we can guess about the th or th of july, brings two important documents with him to berlin, first, the english response (in the shape of "instructions" to himself, which may be ostensible in the proper quarter) in regard to the crown-prince's project of flight into england. response which is no other than might have been expected in the circumstances: "britannic majesty sorry extremely for the crown-prince's situation; ready to do anything in reason to alleviate it. better wait, however: prussian majesty will surely perhaps relent a little: then also the affairs of europe are in a ticklish state. better wait. as to that of taking temporary refuge in france, britannic majesty thinks that will require a mature deliberation (mure deliberation). not even time now for inquiry of the french court how they would take it; which his britannic majesty thinks an indispensable preliminary,"--and so terminates. the meaning, we perceive, is in sum: "hm, you won't, surely? don't; at least don't yet!" but dryasdust, and any readers who have patience, can here take the original paper; which is written in french (or french of stratford at the bow), probably that the crown-prince, if needful, might himself read it, one of these days:-- "monsieur guy dickens pourrait donner au prince les assurances les plus fortes de la compassion que le roi a du triste etat ou il se trouve, et du desir sincere de sa majeste de concourir par tout ce qui dependra d'elle a l'en tirer. m. guy dickens pourrait lui communiquer en meme terns les instructions donnees a monsieur hotham [_our answer to the outrageous propositions, which amounts to nothing, and may be spared the reader_], et lui marquer qu'on avait lieu d'esperer que sa majeste prussienne ne refuserait pas au moins de s'expliquer un peu plus en detail qu'elle n'a fait jusqu'ici. qu'en attendant les suites que cette negociation pourrait avoir, sa majeste etait d'avis que le prince ferait bien de differer un peu l'execution de son dessein connu: que la situation ou les affaires de l'europe se trouvaient dans ce moment critique ne paraissait pas propre a l'execution d'un dessein de cette nature: que pour ce qui est de l'intention ou le prince a temoigne etre, de se retirer en france, sa majeste croit qu'elle demande une mure deliberation, et que le peu de tems qui reste ne promet pas meme qu'on puisse s'informer de ce que la cour de france pourrait penser la-dessus; dont sa majeste trouvait cependant absolument necessaire de l'assurer, avant de pouvoir conseiller a un prince qui lui est si cher de se retirer en ce pays la." [prussian despatches, vol. xii.: no date or signature; bound up along with harrington's despatch, "windsor, th june [ st july] ,"--on the morrow of which day we may fancy captain dickens took the road for berlin again,--where we auspiciously see him on monday, th july, probably a night or two after his arrival.] this is document first; of no concernment to hotham at this stage; but only to us and our crown-prince. document second would at one time have much interested hotham: it is no other than a grumkow original seized at st. mary axe, such as hotham once solicited, "strong enough to break grumkow's back." hotham now scarcely hopes it will be "strong enough." no matter; he presents it as bidden. on introducing dickens as successor, monday, th july, he puts the document into his prussian majesty's hand: and--the result was most unexpected! here is hotham's despatch to lord harrington; which it will be our briefest method to give, with some minimum of needful explanation intercalated here and there:-- "to the lord harrington (from sir charles hotham). "berlin, th june ( th july), . "my lord,--though the conduct of his prussian majesty has been such, for some time past, that one ought to be surprised at nothing he does,--it is nevertheless with great concern that i now have to acquaint your lordship with an extravagancy of his which happened yesterday," monday, th july, . "the king of prussia, had appointed me to be with him about noon, with captain guy dickens [who has just returned from england, on what secret message your lordship knows!].--we both attended his prussian majesty, and i presented captain guy dickens to him, who delivered his credentials: after which the king talked to us a quarter of an hour about indifferent matters. seeing him in a very good humor, i took that opportunity of telling him, 'that as general grumkow had denied his having held a secret correspondence with reichenbach, or having written the letters i had some time ago delivered to his majesty, i was now ordered by the king my master to put into his hands an original letter of general grumkow'"----where is that original letter? ask some minute readers. minute readers, the ipsissimum corpus of it is lost to mankind. official copy of it lies safe here in the state-paper office (prussian despatches, volume xli.; without date of its own, but near a despatch dated th june, ); has, adjoined to it, an autograph jotting by george second to the effect, "yes, send it," and also some preliminary scribbles by newcastle, to the like purport. no date of its own, we say, though, by internal evidence and light of fassmann, [p. .] it is conclusively datable "berlin, th may," if anybody cared to date it. the letter mentions lightly that "pretended discovery [the st.-mary-axe one, laid on the table of tobacco-parliament, th may or soon after], innocent trifles all _i_ wrote; hope you burnt them, nevertheless, according to promise: yours to me i did burn as they came, and will defy the devil to produce;" brags of his majesty's fine spirits;--and is, jotting and all, as insignificant a letter as any other portion of the "rookery colloquy," though its fate was a little more distinguished. prussian dryasdust is expected to give it in fac-simile, one day,--surely no british under-secretary will exercise an unwise discretion, and forbid him that small pleasure!--"which was an undeniable proof of all the rest, and could not but convince his prussian majesty of the truth of them."--well? "he took the letter from me, cast his eye upon it; and seeing it to be grumkow's hand, said to me with all the anger imaginable [fancy the thunder-burst!], _'messieurs, j'ai eu assez de ces choses la;'_ threw the letter upon the ground, and immediately turning his back went out of the room, and shut the door upon us,"--probably with a slam! and that is the naked truth concerning this celebrated intercepted letter. majesty answered explosively,--his poor heart being in a burdened and grieved condition, not unlike growing a haunted one,--"i have had enough of that stuff before!" pitched the new specimen away, and stormily whirled out with a slam of the door. that he stamped with his foot, is guessable. that he "lifted his foot as if to kick the honorable english excellency," [wilhelmina, i. .] which the english excellency never could have stood, but must have died on the spot,--of this, though several books have copied it from wilhelmina, there is no vestige of evidence: and the case is bad enough without this. "your lordship will easily imagine that captain guy dickens and i were not a little astonished at this most extraordinary behavior. i took up the letter he had thrown upon the floor [ipsissimum corpus of it lost to mankind, last seen going into hotham's pocket in this manner]; and returning home, immediately wrote one to his prussian majesty, of which a copy is here enclosed."--let us read that essential piece: sound substance, in very stiff indifferent french of stratford,--which may as well be made english at once:-- "to his majesty the king of prussia. "sire,--it is with the liveliest grief that i find myself under the necessity,--after what has passed today at the audience i had of your majesty, where i neither did nor said anything in regard to that letter of monsieur grumkow's or to putting it into your majesty's hands, that was not by my master's order,--it is, i say, sire, with the liveliest grief that i am obliged to inform your majesty of the necessity there lies on me to despatch a courier to london to apprise the king my master of an incident so surprising as the one that has just happened. for which reason i beg (supplie) your majesty will be pleased to cause the necessary orders for post-horses to be furnished me, not only for the said courier, but also for myself,--since, after what has just happened, it is not proper for me to prolong my stay here (_faire un plus long sejour ici_). "i have the honor to be, your majesty's, &c. &c. &c. "charles hotham." "about two hours afterwards, general borck came to me; and told me he was in the utmost affliction for what had happened; and beseeched me to have a little patience, and that he hoped means would be found to make up the matter to me. afterwards he communicated to me, by word of mouth, the answer the king of prussia had given to the last orders i had received by captain guy dickens,"--orders, "come home immediately," to which the "answer" is conceivable. "i told him that, after the treatment i had received at noon, and the affront put upon the king my master's character, i could no longer receive nor charge myself with anything that came from his prussian majesty. that as to what related to me personally, it was very easily made up; but having done nothing but in obedience to the king my master's orders, it belonged to him only to judge what satisfaction was due for the indignity offered to his character. wherefore i did not look upon myself as authorized to listen to any expedients till i knew his majesty's pleasure upon the matter. "in the evening, general borck wrote a letter to captain guy dickens and two to me, the copies of which are enclosed,"--fear not, reader! "the purport of them was to desire that i would take no farther notice of what had happened, and that the king of prussia desired i would come and dine with him next day."--engaged otherwise, your majesty, next day!" the answer to these letters i also enclose to your lordship,"--reader not to be troubled with it. "i excused myself from dining with the king of prussia, not thinking myself at liberty to appear any more at court till i received his majesty's," my own king's, "commands, and told general borck that i looked upon myself as indispensably obliged to acquaint the king my master with everything that had passed, it being to no purpose to think of concealing it, since the thing was already become public, and would soon be known in all the courts of europe. "this, my lord, is the true state of this unaccountable accident. you will see, by general borck's letter, that the king of prussia, being now returned to his senses, is himself convinced of the extravagancy of this proceeding; and was very desirous of having it concealed;--which was impossible; for the whole town knew it an hour after it had happened. "as to my own part, i am not a little concerned at this unfortunate incident. as it was impossible to foresee this fit of madness in the king of prussia, there was no guarding against it: and after it had happened, i thought i could do no less than resent it in the manner i have done,--without prostituting the character with which the king has been pleased to honor me. i hope, however, this affair will be attended with no ill consequences: for the king of prussia himself is at present so ashamed of his behavior, that he says, he will order count degenfeld [graf von degenfeld, going at a leisurely pace to remove nosti from his perch among you] [supra, p. .] to hasten his journey to england, with orders to endeavor to make up the affair immediately. "as i had already received the king's orders, by captain guy dickens, to return home forthwith, i thought, after what had happened, the sooner i left this place the better; and the rather because it might be proper i should make a report of it to his majesty. i shall therefore set out a few hours after this messenger; and will make all the expedition possible. "the king of prussia sets out for anspach on saturday next,"-- th july is tuesday, saturday next will be th july, which proves correct. [fassmann, p. .] "i am, with the utmost respect, my lord, your lordship's most obedient and most humble servant, charles hotham." [state-paper office: prussian despatches, vol. xli.] no sooner was the door slammed to than his majesty began to repent. at sight of the demand for post-horses, he repented bitterly; sent borck to ask hotham to dinner, with what success we have seen. sent borck to negotiate, to correspond, to consult with dickens, to do his utmost in pacifying hotham. all which correspondence exists, but is not worth giving. borck's remonstrances are in rugged soldier-like style, full of earnestness and friendliness. do not wreck, upon trifles, a noble interest we have in common; king is jealous about foreign interference with his ministers, but meant nothing; i tell you it is nothing i--hotham is polite, good-tempered; but remains inflexible: with myself, on my own score, it were soon settled, or is already settled; but with the king my master,--no expedient but post-horses! the diplomatist world of berlin is in a fuss; queen sophie and "the minister of denmark," with other friendly ministers, how busy! "all day," this day and the next, "they spent in comings and goings" [wilhelmina, i. , .] advising hotham to relent: hotham could not relent. the crown-prince himself writes, urged by a message from his mother; crown-prince sends katte off from potsdam with this billet [ib. i. .] (if this be a correct copy to translate from) to his excellency monsieur the chevalier hotham. "potsdam, th july, . "monsieur,--having learned by m. de leuvener," the danish minister, a judicious well-affected man, "what the king my father's ultimate intentions are, i cannot doubt but you will yield to his desires. think, monsieur, that my happiness and my sister's depend on the resolution you shall take, and that your answer will mean the union or the disunion forever of the two houses! i flatter myself that it will be favorable, and that you will yield to my entreaties. i never shall forget such a service, but recognize it all my life by the most perfect esteem," with which i now am, tout a vous, "frederic." this billet katte delivers: but to this also hotham remains inexorable; polite, hopeful even: no harm will come; degenfeld will go, i myself will help when at home; but for the present, no resource but post-horses! which they at last yield him, the very post-horses ready to weep. and so hotham, spirited judicious english gentleman, rolls off homewards, ["wednesday," th (dickens).] a few hours after his courier,--and retires honorably into the shades of private life, steady there thenceforth. he has not been successful in berlin: surely his negotiation is now out in all manner of senses! long ago (to use our former ignoble figure) he had "laid down the bellows, though there was still smoke traceable:" but now, by this grumkow letter, he has, as it were, struck the poker through the business; and that dangerous manoeuvre, not proving successful, has been fatal and final! queen sophie and certain others may still flatter themselves; but it is evident the negotiation is at last complete. what may lie in flight to england and rash desperate measures, which queen sophie trembles to think of, we do not know: but by regular negotiation this thing can never be. it is darkly apprehended the crown-prince still meditates flight; the maternal heart and wilhelmina's are grieved to see lieutenant katte so much in his confidence--could wish him a wiser councillor in such predicaments and emergencies! katte is greatly flattered by the prince's confidence; even brags of it in society, with his foolish loose tongue. poor youth, he is of dissolute ways; has plenty of it "unwise intellect," little of the "wise" kind; and is still under the years of discretion. towards wilhelmina there is traceable in him something,--something as of almost loving a bright particular star, or of thrice-privately worshipping it for his own behoof. and wilhelmina, during the late radewitz time, when mamma "gave four apartments (or royal soirees) weekly," was severe upon him, and inaccessible in these court soirees. a rash young fool; carries a loose tongue:--still worse, has a miniature, recognizable as wilhelmina; and would not give it up, either for the queen's majesty or me!--"thousand and thousand pardons, high ladies both; my loose tongue shall be locked: but these two miniatures, the prince and princess royal, i copied them from two the prince had lent me and has got back, ask me not for these;--never, oh, i cannot ever!"--upon which wilhelmina had to take a high attitude, and pass him speechless in the soirees. the foolish fellow:--and yet one is not heartily angry either; only reserved in the soirees; and anxious about one's brother in such hands. friedrich wilhelm repents much that hotham explosion; is heard saying that he will not again treat in person with any envoy from foreign parts, being of too hot temper, but will leave his ministers to do it. [dickens's despatch, berlin, d july (n.s.), .] to queen sophie he says coldly, "wilhelmina's marriage, then, is off; an end to it. abbess of herford [good protestant refuge for unprovided females of quality, which is in our gift], let her be abbess there;"--and writes to the then extant abbess to make wilhelmina "coadjutress," or heir-apparent to that chief-nunship! nay what is still more mortifying, my brother says, "on the whole, i had better, had not i?" the cruel brother; but indeed the desperate!--for things are mounting to a pitch in this household. queen sophie's thoughts,--they are not yet of surrender; that they will never be, while a breath of life is left to queen sophie and her project: we may fancy queen sophie's mood. nor can his majesty be in a sweet temper; his vexations lately have been many. first, england is now off, not off-and-on as formerly: that comfortable possibility, hanging always in one's thoughts, is fairly gone; and now we have nothing but the kaiser to depend on for julich and berg, and the other elements of our salvation in this world! then the st.-mary-axe discoveries, harassing shadows of suspicion that will rise from them, and the unseemly hotham catastrophe and one's own blame in it; womankind and household still virtually rebellious, and all things going awry; majesty is in the worst humor;--bullies and outrages his poor crown-prince almost worse than ever. there have been rattan-showers, hideous to think of, descending this very week [guy dickens's despatch, th july, .] on the fine head, and far into the high heart of a royal young man; who cannot, in the name of manhood, endure, and must not, in the name of sonhood, resist, and vainly calls to all the gods to teach him what he shall do in this intolerable inextricable state of matters. fate and these two black-artists have driven friedrich wilhelm nearly mad; and he, in turn, is driving everybody so. he more than suspects friedrich of an intention to fly; which is horrible to friedrich wilhelm: and yet he bullies him occasionally, as a spiritless wretch, for bearing such treatment. "cannot you renounce the heir-apparentship, then; your little brother is a fine youth. give it up; and go, unmolested, to the--in fact to the devil: cannot you?"--"if your majesty, against the honor of my mother, declare that i am not your eldest son: yes, so; not otherwise, ever!" modestly but steadily persists the young man, whenever this expedient is proposed to him,--as perhaps it already sometimes is. whereat the desperate father can only snort indignantly futile. a case growing nearly desperate. desperate, yes, on all hands: unless one had the "high mast" above alluded to, with two pulleys and ropes; and could see a certain pair of scoundrels mount rapidly thither, what hope is there for anybody? a violent crisis does not last, however; that is one certainty in it. either these agonistic human beings, young and old, will all die, all go to bedlam, with their intolerable woes; or else something of explosive nature will take place among them. the maddest boil, unless it kill you with its torments, does at length burst, and become an abscess. of course captain dickens, the instant hotham was gone, hastened privily to see the crown-prince; saw katte and him "at the gate of the potsdam palace at midnight," [wilhelmina; ranke, i. .] or in some other less romantic way;--read him the windsor paper of "instructions" known to us; and preached from that text. no definite countenance from england, the reverse rather, your highness sees;--how can there be? give it up, your highness; at least delay it!--crown-prince does not give it up a whit; whether he delays it, we shall see. a busy week for the crown-prince and katte, this of the hotham catastrophe; who have many consultations, the journey to anspach being on saturday next! crown-prince has given him in keeping a writing-case with private letters; , ducats of money, money raised by loan, by picking jewels off some miniatures of honor, and the like sore methods. katte has his very coat, a gray top-coat or travelling roquelaure, in keeping;--and their schemes are many. off we must and will be, by some opportunity. could not katte get a "recruiting furlough," leave to go into the reich on that score; and join one there? lieutenant keith is at wesel; ready, always ready. into france, into holland, england? if the english would not,--there is war to be in italy, say all the newspapers: why not a campaign as volunteers in italy, till we saw how matters went? anything and all things are preferable to ignominy like this. no dog could, endure it! chapter v. -- journey to the reich. on saturday the th july, , early in the morning as his wont was, friedrich wilhelm, with a small train of official military persons, rolled off from potsdam, towards leipzig, on that same journey of his, towards anspach and the reich. to anspach, to see our poor young daughter, lately married there; therefrom we can have a run into the reich, according to circumstances. in this wide route there lie many courts and scenes, which it might behoove us to look into; courts needing to be encouraged to stand for the kaiser's rights, against those english, french and intrusive foreigners of the seville treaty. we may hope at least to ease our own heavy mind, and have the chaff somewhat blown out of it, by this rushing through the open atmosphere.--such, so far as i can gather, were friedrich wilhelm's objects in this journey; which turned out to be a more celebrated one than he expected. the authentic records of it are slight, the rumors about it have been many. [forster (iii. - ) contains seckendorf's narrative, as sent to vienna; preuss (iv. ), a prussian relatio ex actis: these are the only two original pieces which i have seen; excerpts of others (correct doubtless, but not in a very distinct condition) occur in ranke, i. - .] after painful sifting through mountains of dust and ashes for a poor cinder of a fact here and there, our duty is, to tell the english reader one good time, what certainties, or available cinders, have anywhere turned up. crown-prince friedrich, it has been decided, after some consultation, shall go with his majesty. better he go with us, to be under our own eyes, lest he run away, or do other mischief. old general buddenbrock, old colonel waldau, and lieutenant-colonel rochow travel in the same carriage with the prince; are to keep a strict watch over him, one of them at least to be always by him. old general buddenbrock, a grim but human old military gentleman, who has been in all manner of wars: he fought at steenkirk even, and in the siege of namur, under dutch william; stood, through malplaquet and much else, under marlborough; did the siege of stralsund too, and descent on rugen there, which was not his first acquaintance with karl of sweden; and is a favorite old friend of friedrich wilhelm's. a good old gentleman, though very strict; now hard on sixty. he is chief of the three. old waldau, not younger, though still only colonel of horse, likewise celebrates the malplaquet anniversary; a pomeranian man, and silent smoker in the tabagie, well seen by the master there. to these two elderly authorities, lieutenant-colonel rochow, still only about forty, and probably sharper of eye, is adjoined as active partner. i conclude, the prince and buddenbrock ride face forward; buddenbrock can tell him about so many things, if he is conversable: about dutch william; about charles xii., whose polish fights he witnessed, as an envoy from berlin, long ago. a colonel krocher, i find, is general manager of the journey;--and it does not escape notice that friedrich, probably out of youthful curiosity, seems always very anxious to know, to the uttermost settled point, where our future stages are to be. his royal highness laid in a fair stock of district maps, especially of the rhine countries, at leipzig, too; [forster, iii. .] and is assiduous in studying them,--evidently very desirous to know the face of germany, the rhine countries in particular? potsdam, wittenberg, leipzig, the wheels rush rapidly on, stage succeeding stage; and early in the afternoon we are at leipzig,--never looking out at luther's vestiges, or karl v.'s, or thinking about luther, which thou and i, good english reader, would surely have done, in crossing wittenberg and the birthplace of protestantism. at leipzig we were thinking to have dined. at the peter's gate there,--where at least fresh horses are, and a topographic crown-prince can send hastily to buy maps,--a general hopfgarten, commandant of the town, is out with the military honors; he has, as we privately know, an excellent dinner ready in the pleissenburg fortress yonder, [fassmann, p. .]--but he compliments to a dreadful extent! harangues and compliments in no end of florid inflated tautologic ornamental balderdash; repeating and again repeating, what a never-imagined honor it is; in particular saying three times over, how the majesty of saxony, king august, had he known, would have wished for wings to fly hither; and bowing to the very ground, "as if, in the polish manner, he wished to clasp your feet," said friedrich wilhelm afterwards. i can fancy friedrich wilhelm somewhat startled! how, at the first mention of this idea of big august, with his lame foot, taking wing, and coming like a gigantic partridge, with lame foot and cocked-hat, friedrich wilhelm grinned. how, at the second mention, and polish threat of your feet, friedrich wilhelm, who hates all lies, and cares not for salutations in the market-place, jerks himself impatiently and saves his feet. at the third mention, clear it is, friedrich wilhelm utters the word, "anspannen, horses!"--and in very truth takes to the road again; hungry indeed, but still angrier; leaving hopfgarten bent into the shape of a parabola, and his grand dinner cooling futile, in what tragic humor we can imagine. [ib. p. .] why has no prussian painter done that scene? let another chodowiecki, when another comes, try whether he cannot. friedrich wilhelm regretted the dinner, regretted to hurt the good man's feelings; but could stand it no longer. he rushes off for meuselwitz, where seckendorf, with at least silence, and some cold collation instead of dinner, is awaiting him. twenty miles off is meuselwitz; up the flat valley of the pleisse river towards altenburg; through a region memorable, were we not so hungry. famed fights have had their arena here; lutzen, the top of its church-steeple visible on your right, it is there where the great gustavus fell two hundred years ago: on that wide champaign, a kind of bull-ring of the nations, how many fights have been, and will be! altenburg one does not see to-night: happy were we but at meuselwitz, a few miles nearer; and had seen what dinner the old feldzeugmeister has. dinner enough, we need not doubt. the old feldzeugmeister has a big line schloss at meuselwitz; his by unexpected inheritance; with uncommonly fine gardens; with a good old wife, moreover, blithe though childless;--and he is capable of "lighting more than one candle" when a king comes to visit him. doubtless the man hurls his thrift into abeyance; and blazes out with conspicuous splendor, on this occasion. a beautiful castle indeed, this meuselwitz of his; the towers of altenburg visible in the distance; altenburg, where kunz von kauffungen stole the two little princes; centuries ago;--where we do not mean to pause at this time. on the morrow morning,--unless they chose to stay over sunday; which i cannot affirm or deny,--seckendorf also has made his packages; and joins himself to friedrich. wilhelm's august travelling party. doing here a portion of the long space (length of the terrestrial equator in all) which he is fated to accomplish in the way of riding with that monarch. from meuselwitz, through altenburg, gera, saalfeld, to coburg, is our next day's journey. up one fork of the leipzig pleisse, then across the leipzig elster, these streams now dwindling to brooks; leading us up to the water-shed or central hill-countries between the mayn and saale rivers; where the same shower will run partly, on this hand, northward by the elster, pleisse or other labyrinthic course, into the saale, into the elbe; and partly, on the other hand, will flow southward into the mayn; and so, after endless windings in the fir mountains (fichtel-gebirge), get by frankfurt into the rhine at mainz. mayn takes the south end of your shower; saale takes the north,--or farther east yonder, shower will roll down into the same grand elbe river by the mulde (over which the old dessauer is minded to build a new stone bridge; wallenstein and others, as well as time, have ruined many bridges there). that is the line of the primeval mountains, and their ever-flowing rain-courses, in those parts. at gera, dim, old town,--does not your royal highness well know the "gera bond (geraische vertrag)"? duhan: did not forget to inform you of that? it is the corner-stone of the house of brandenburg's advancement in the world. here, by your august ancestors, the law of primogeniture was settled, and much rubbish was annihilated in the house of brandenburg: eldest son always to inherit the electorate unbroken; after anspach and baireuth no more apanages, upon any cause or pretext whatsoever; and these themselves to lapse irrevocable to the main or electoral house, should they ever fall vacant again. fine fruit of the decisive sense that was in the hohenzollerns; of their fine talent for annihilating rubbish,--which feat, if a man can do it, and keep doing it, will more than most others accelerate his course in this world. it was in this dim old town of gera, in the year , by him that had the twenty-three children, that the "gera bond" was brought to parchment. but indeed it was intrinsically only a renewal, more solemnly sanctioned, of albert achilles's haus ordnung (house-order), done in , above a century earlier.-- but see, we are under way again. his prussian majesty rushes forward without pause; will stop nowhere, except where business demands; no majesty of his day travels at such a speed. orlamunde an hour hence,--your royal highness has heard of orlamunde and its famed counts of a thousand years back, when kaiser redbeard was in the world, and the junior hohenzollern, tired of hawking, came down from the hills to him? orlamunde (orlamouth) is not far off, on our right; and this itself is the orla; this pleasant streamlet we are now quitting, which has borne us company for some time: this too will get into the saale, and be at magdeburg, quite beyond the dessauer's bridge, early to-morrow. ha, here at last is saalfeld, town and schloss, and the incipient saal itself: his serene highness saalfeld-coburg's little rezidenz;--probably his majesty will call on him, in passing? i have no doubt he does; and transacts the civilities needful. christian ernst, whose schloss this is, a gentleman of his majesty's age (born ), married an amiable fraulein not of quality, whom indeed the kaiser has ennobled: he lives here,--i think, courting the shade rather; and rules conjointly with his younger brother, or half-brother, franz josias, who resides at coburg. dukes of saalfeld-coburg, such is their style, and in good part their possession; though, it is well known to this travelling party and the world, there has been a lawsuit about coburg this half-century and more; and though somewhere about "conclusa," [michaelis, i. , ; busching, _erdbeschreibung, _ vi. ; oertel, t. ; hubner, t. .] or decrees of aulic council, have been given in favor of the saalfelders, their rivals of meiningen never end. nor will end yet, for five years more to come; till, in , " conclusa being given," they do end, and leave the saalfelders in peaceable possession; who continue so ever since to this day. [carlyle's _ miscellanies,_ vi.? prinzenraub.] how long his majesty paused in that schloss of saalfeld, or what he there did, or what he spake,--except perhaps encourage christian ernst to stand by a kaiser's majesty against these french insolences, and the native german, spanish, english derelictions of duty,--we are left to the vaguest guess of fancy, and must get on to coburg for the night. at coburg, in its snug valley, under the festung or hill castle,--where martin luther sat solitary during the diet of augsburg (diet known to us, our old friend margraf george of anspach hypothetically "laying his head on the block? there, and the great kaiser, karl v., practically burning daylight, with pitiable spilling of wax, in the corpus-christi procession there), [antea, vol. v. p. .]--where martin luther sat solitary, and wrote that celebrated letter about crows holding their parliament all round," and how "the pillars of the world were never seen by anybody, and yet the world is held up, in these dumb continents of space;"--at coburg, we will not doubt, his majesty found franz josias at home, and illuminated to receive him. franz josias, a hearty man of thirty-five, he too will stand by the kaiser in these coming storms? with a weak contingent truly, perhaps some score or two of fighters: but many a little makes a mickle!--remark, however; two points, of a merely genealogical nature. first, that franz josias has, or rather is going to have, a younger son, [friedrich josias: - .] who in some sixty years hence will become dreadfully celebrated in the streets of paris, as "austrian coburg." the austrian coburg of robes-pierre and company. an immeasurable terror and portent,--not much harm in him, either, when he actually comes, with nothing but the duke of york and dunkirk for accompaniment,--to those revolutionary french of - . this is point first. point second is perhaps still more interesting; this namely: that franz josias has an eldest son (boy of six when friedrich wilhelm makes his visit),--a grandson's grandson of whom is, at this day, prince of wales among the english people, and to me a subject of intense reflection now and then!-- from coburg, friedrich wilhelm, after pause again unknown, rushed on to bamberg; new scenes and ever new opening on the eyes of our young hero and his papa. the course is down the valley of the itz, one of the many little valleys in the big slope of the rodach; for the waters are now turned, and all streams and brooks are gurgling incessantly towards the mayn. towards frankfurt, mainz and the rhine,--far enough from the saale, mulde, or the old dessauer's bridge to-day; towards rotterdam and the uttermost dutch swamps today. near upon bamberg we cross the mayn itself; red mayn and white conjoined, coming from culmbach and baireuth,--mark that, your highness. a country of pleasant hills and vines: and in an hour hence, through thick fir woods,--each side of your road horribly decked with gibbeted thieves swinging aloft, [pollnitz, _memoirs and letters_ (english translation, london, ), i. . let me say again, this is a different book from the "memoirs of pollnitz;" and a still different from the memoiren, or "memoirs of brandenburg by pollnitz:" such the excellence of nomenclature in that old fool!]--you arrive at bamberg, chief of bishoprics, the venerable town; whose bishop, famous in old times, is like an archbishop, and "gets his pallium direct from the pope,"--much good may it do him! "is bound, however, to give up his territory, if the kaiser elected is landless,"--far enough from likely now. and so you are at last fairly in the mayn valley; river mayn itself a little step to north;--long course and many wide windings between you and mainz or frankfurt, not to speak of rotterdam, and the ultimate dutch swamps. at bamberg why should a prussian majesty linger, except for picturesque or for mere baiting purposes? at bamberg are certain fat catholic canons, in indolent, opulent circumstances; and a couple of sublime palaces, without any bishop in them at present. nor indeed does one much want papist bishops, wherever they get their pallium; of them as well keep to windward! thinks his majesty. and indeed there is no bishop here. the present bishop of bamberg--one of those von schonborns, counts, sometimes cardinals, common in that fat office,--is a kaiser's minister of state; lives at vienna, enveloped in red tape, as well as red hat and stockings; and needs no exhortation in the kaiser's favor. let us yoke again, and go.--fir woods all round, and dead malefactors blackening in the wind: this latter point i know of the then bamberg; and have explanation of it. namely, that the prince-bishop, though a humane catholic, is obliged to act so. his small domain borders on some six or seven bigger sovereignties; and, being ecclesiastical, is made a cesspool to the neighboring scoundrelism; which state of things this prince bishop has said shall cease. young friedrich may look, therefore, and old friedrich wilhelm and suite; and make of it what they can. "bamberg, through erlangen, to nurnberg;" so runs the way. at erlangen there loiters now, recruiting, a certain rittmeister von katte, cousin to our potsdam lieutenant and confidant; to him this transit of the majesty and crown-prince must be an event like few, in that stagnant place. french refugees are in erlangen, busy building new straight streets; no university as yet;--nay a high dowager of baireuth is in it, somewhat exuberant lady (friend weissenfels's sister) on whom friedrich wilhelm must call in passing. this high widow of baireuth is not mother of the present heir-apparent there, who will wed our wilhelmina one day;--ah no, his mother was "divorced for weighty reasons;"[hubner, t. .] and his father yet lives, in the single state; a comparatively prosperous gentleman these four years last past; successor, since four years past, of this lady's husband, who was his cousin-german. dreadfully poor before that, the present margraf of baireuth, as we once explained; but now things are looking up with him again, some jingle of money heard in the coffers of the man; and his eldest prince, a fine young fellow, only apt to stammer a little when agitated, is at present doing the return part of the grand tour,--coming home by geneva they say. rittmeister von katte, i doubt not, witnesses this transit of the incognito majesty, this call upon the exuberant dowager; but can have little to say to it, he. i hope he is getting tall recruits here in the reich; that will be the useful point for him. he is our lieutenant katte's cousin, an elder and wiser man than the lieutenant. a reichsgraf's and field-marshal's nephew, he ought to get advanced in his profession;--and can hope to do so when he has deserved it, not sooner at all, in that thrice-fortunate country. let the rittmeister here keep himself well apart from what is not his business, and look out for tall men. bamberg is halfway-house between coburg and nurnberg; whole distance of coburg and nurnberg,--say a hundred and odd miles,--is only a fair day's driving for a rapid king. and at nurnberg, surely, we must lodge for a night and portion of a day, if not for more. on the morrow, it is but a thirty-five miles drive to anspach; pleasant in the summer evening, after all the sights in this old nurnberg, "city of the noricans (noricorum burgun)." trading staple of the german world in old days; toy-shop of the german world in these new. albert durer's and hans sach's city,--mortals infinitely indifferent to friedrich wilhelm. but is it not the seed-ground of the hohenzollerns, this nurnberg, memorable above cities to a prussian majesty? yes, there in that old white castle, now very peaceable, they dwelt; considerably liable to bickerings and mutinous heats; and needed all their skill and strength to keep matters straight. it is now upon seven hundred years since the cadet of hohenzollern gave his hawk the slip, patted his dog for the last time, and came down from the rough-alp countries hitherward. and found favor, not unmerited i fancy, with the great kaiser redbeard, and the fair heiress of the vohburgs; and in fact, with the earth and with the heavens in some degree. a loyal, clever, and gallant kind of young fellow, if your majesty will think? much has grown and waned since that time: but the hohenzollerns, ever since, are on the waxing hand;--unless this accursed treaty of seville and these english matches put a stop to them? alas, it is not likely friedrich wilhelm, in the hurry and grating whirl of things, had many poetic thoughts in him, or pious aurora memories from the past ages, instead of grumbly dusty provocations from the present,--his feeling, haste mainly, and need of getting through! the very crown-prince, i should guess, was as good as indifferent to this antique cadet of the hohenzollerns; and looked on nurnberg and the old white castle with little but ennui: the princess of england, and black cares on her beautiful account and his own, possess him too exclusively. but in truth we do not even know what day they arrived or departed; much less what they did or felt in that old city. we know only that the pleasant little town of anspach, with its huge unfinished schloss, lay five-and-thirty miles away; and that thither was the next and quasi-final bit of driving. southwestward thirty-five miles; through fine summer hills and dales; climbing always, gently, on the southward hand; still drained by the mayn river, by the regnitz and other tributaries of the mayn:--half-way is heilsbronn, [not heilbronn, the well-known, much larger town, in wurtemberg, or miles to westward. both names (which are applied to still other places) signify health-well, or even holy-well,--these two words, healthy and holy (what is very remarkable), being the same in old teutonic speech.] with its old monastery; where the bones of our hohenzollern forefathers rest, and albert achilles's "skull, with no sutures visible." on the gloomy church-walls their memorials are still legible: as for the monastery itself, margraf george, tour memorable reformation friend, abolished that,--purged the monks away, and put schoolmasters in their stead; who were long of good renown in those parts, but have since gone to erlangen, so to speak. the july sunset streaming over those old spires of heilsbronn might awaken thoughts in a prussian majesty, were he not in such haste. at anspach, what a thrice-hospitable youthfully joyful welcome from the young married couple there! margravine frederika is still not quite sixteen; "beautiful as day," and rather foolish: fancy her joy at sight of papa's majesty and brother fritz; and how she dances about, and perhaps bakes "pastries of the finest anspach flour." ah, did you send me berlin sausages, then, you untrue papa? well, i will bake for you, won't i;--sarah herself not more loyally {whom we read of in genesis), that time the angels entered her tent in a hungry condition!-- anspach, as we hint, has an unfinished palace, of a size that might better beseem paris or london; palace begun by former margraves, left off once and again for want of cash; stands there as a sad monument of several things;--the young family living meanwhile in some solid comfortable wing, or adjacent edifice, of natural dimensions. they are so young, as we say, and not too wise. by and by they had a son, and then a second son; which latter came to manhood, to old age; and made some noise in the foolish parts of the newspapers,--winding up finally at hammersmith, as we often explain;--and was the last of the anspach-baireuth margraves. i have heard farther that frederika did not want for temper, as the hohenzollerns seldom do; that her husband likewise had his own stock of it, rather scant of wisdom withal; and that their life was not quite symphonious always,--especially cash being short. the dowager margravine, margraf's mother, had governed with great prudence during her son's long minority. i think she is now, since the marriage, gone to reside at her wittwensitz (dowager-seat) of feuchtwang (twenty miles southwest of us); but may have come up to welcome the majesties into these parts. very beautiful, i hear; still almost young and charming, though there is a mortal malady upon her, which she knows of. [pollnitz, _memoirs and letters,_ i. (date, th september, ;--needs watching before believing).] here are certain seckendorfs too, this is the feldzeugmeister's native country;--and there are resources for a royal travelling-party. how long the royal party stayed at anspach i do not know; nor what they did there,--except that crown-prince friedrich is said to have privately asked the young margraf to lend him a pair of riding-horses, and say nothing of it; who, suspecting something wrong, was obliged to make protestations and refuse. as to the crown-prince, there is no doubt but here at last things are actually coming to a crisis with him. to say truth, it has been the young man's fixed purpose ever since he entered on this journey, nay was ever since that ignominy in the camp of radewitz, to run away;--and indeed all this while he has measures going on with katte at berlin of the now-or-never sort. rash young creatures, elder of them hardly above five-and-twenty yet: not good at contriving measures. but what then? human nature cannot stand this always; and it is time there were an end of deliberating. can we ever have such a chance again?--what i find of certain concerning friedrich while at anspach is, that there comes by way of erlangen, guided forward from that place by the rittmeister von katte, a certain messenger and message, which proved of deep importance to his royal highness. the messenger was lieutenant katte's servant: who has come express from berlin hither. he inquired, on the road, as he was bidden, at erlangen, of master's cousin, the experienced rittmeister, where his royal highness at present was, that he might deliver a letter to him? the master's cousin, who answered naturally, "at anspach," knew nothing, and naturally could get to know nothing, of what the message in this letter was. but he judged, from cross-questionings, added to dim whispering rumors he had heard, that it was questionable, probably in an extreme degree. wherefore, along with his cousin the lieutenant's messenger to anspach, the rittmeister forwarded a note of his own to lieutenant-colonel rochow, of this purport, "as a friend, i warn you, have a watchful eye on your high charge!"--and, for his own share, determined to let nothing escape him in his corner of the matter. this note to rochow, and the berlin letter for the crown-prince reach anspach by the same hand; lieutenant katte's express, conscious of nothing, delivering them both. rochow and the rittmeister, though the poor prince does not know it, are broad awake to all movements he and the rash lieutenant may make. lieutenant katte, in this letter now arrived, complains: "that he never yet can get recruiting furlough; whether it be by accident, or that rochow has given my colonel a hint, no furlough yet to be had: will, at worst, come without furlough and in spite of all men and things, whenever wanted. only--wesel still, if i might advise!" this is the substance of katte's message by express. date must be the end of july, ; but neither date nor letter is now anywhere producible, except from hearsay. deeply pondering these things, what shall the poor prince do? from canstatt, close by stuttgard, a town on our homeward route,--from canstatt, where katte was to "appear in disguise," had the furlough been got, one might have slipt away across the hills. it is but eighty miles to strasburg, through the kniebiss pass, where the murg, the kinzig, and the intricate winding mountain streams and valleys start rhine-ward: a labyrinthic rock-and-forest country, where pursuit or tracking were impossible. near by strasburg is count rothenburg's chateau; good rothenburg, long minister in berlin,--who saw those profossen, or scavenger-executioners in french costume long since, and was always good to me:--might not that be a method? lieutenant keith indeed is in wesel, waiting only a signal. suppose he went to the hague, and took soundings there what welcome we should have? no, not till we have actually run; beware of making noise!--the poor prince is in unutterable perplexity; can only answer katte by that messenger of his, to the effect (date and letter burnt like the former): "doubt is on every hand; doubt,--and yet certainty. will write again before undertaking anything." and there is no question he did write again; more than once: letters by the post, which his faithful lieutenant katte in berlin received; one of which, however, stuck on the road; and this one,--by some industry of postmasters spirited into vigilance, as is likeliest, though others say by mere misaddressing, by "want of berlin on the address,"--fell into the hands of vigilant rittmeister katte at erlangen. who grew pale in reading it, and had to resolve on a painful thing! this was, i suppose, among the last letters of the series; and must have been dated, as i guess, about the th of july, ; but they are now all burnt, huddled rapidly into annihilation, and one cannot say!-- certain it is that the royal travelling-party left anspach in a few days, to go, southward still, "by the oettingen country towards augsburg." [fassmann, p. .] feuchtwang (wet wang, not durrwang or dry wang) is the first stage; here lives the dowager margravine of anspach: here the prince does some inconceivably small fault "lets a knife, which he is handing to or from the serene lady, fall," [ranke, i. ("from a letter the prince had written to katte").] who, as she is weak, may suffer by the jingle; for which friedrich wilhelm bursts out on him like the irish rebellion,--to the silent despair of the poor prince. the poor prince meditates desperate resolutions, but has to keep them strictly to himself. doubtless the buddenbrock trio, good old military gentlemen, would endeavor to speak comfort to him, when they were on the road again. here is nordlingen, your highness, where bernhard of weimar, for his over-haste, got so beaten in the thirty-years war; would not wait till the swedes were rightly gathered: what general, if he have reinforcement at hand, would not wait for it? the waters now, you observe, run all into the wornitz, into the donau: it is a famed war-country this; known to me well in my young eugene-marlborough days!--"hm, ha, yes!" for the prince is preoccupied with black cares; and thinks blenheim and the schellenberg businesses befell long since, and were perhaps simple to what he has now on hand. that feuchtwang scene, it would appear, has brought him to a resolution. there is a young page keith of the party, lieutenant keith of wesel's brother; of this page keith, who is often busy about horses, he cautiously makes question, what help may be in him? a willing mind traceable in this poor lad, but his terrors great. to donauworth from anspach, through feuchtwang and nordlingen, is some seventy or eighty miles. at donauworth one surely ought to lodge, and see the schellenberg on the morrow; nay drive to the field of hochstadt (blenheim, blindheim), which is but a few miles farther up the river? buddenbrock was there, and anhalt-dessau: for their very sake, were there nothing farther, one surely ought to go? such was the probability, a visit to blenheim field in passing. and surely, somewhere in those heart-rending masses of historical rubbish, i did at last find express evanescent mention of the fact,--but cannot now say where;--the exact record, or conceivable image of which, would have been a perceptible pleasure to us. alas, in those dim dreary books, all whirling dismal round one's soul, like vortices of dim brandenburg sand, how should anything human be searched out and mentioned to us; and a thousand, things not-human be searched out, and eternally suppressed from us, for the sake of that? i please myself figuring young friedrich looking at the vestiges of marlborough, even in a preoccupied uncertain manner. your majesty too, this is the very "schellenberg (or jingle-hill)," this hill we are now skirting, on highways, on swift wheels; which overhangs donauworth, our resting-place this hot july evening. yes, your majesty, here was a feat of storming done,--pang, pang!--such a noise as never jingled on that hill before: like doomsday come; and a hero-head to rule the doomsday, and turn it to heroic marching music. a very pretty feat of war, your majesty! his majesty well knows it; feat of his marlborough's doing, famed everywhere for the twenty-six years last past; and will go to see the schellenberg and its lines. the great duke is dead four years; sank sadly, eclipsed under tears of dotage of his own, and under human stupidity of other men's! but buddenbrock is still living, anhalt-dessau and others of us are still alive a little while! hochstadt itself--blenheim, as the english call it, meaning blindheim, the other village on the field--is but a short way up the river; well worth such a detour. by what way they drove to the field of honor and back from it, i do not know. but there, northward, towards the heights, is the little wood where anhalt-dessau stood at bay like a molossian dog, of consummate military knowledge; and saved the fight in eugene's quarter of it. that is visible enough; and worth looking at. visible enough the rolling donau, marlborough's place; the narrow ground, the bordering hills all green at this season;--and down old buddenbrock's cheek, end anhalt's, there would roll an iron tear or two. augsburg is but some thirty miles off, once we are across the donau,--by the bridge of donauworth, or the ferry of hochstadt,--swift travellers in a long day, the last of july, are soon enough at augsburg. as for friedrich, haunted and whipt onwards by that scene at feuchtwang, he is inwardly very busy during this latter part of the route. probably there is some progress towards gaining page keith, lieutenant keith of wesel's brother; some hope that page keith, at the right moment, can be gained: the lieutenant at wesel is kept duly advised. to lieutenant katte at berlin friedrich now writes, i should judge from donauworth or augsburg, "that he has had a scene at feuchtwang; that he can stand it no longer. that canstatt being given up, as katte cannot be there to go across the kniebiss with us, we will endure till we are near enough the rhine. once in the rhineland, in some quiet town there, handy for speyer, for french landau,"--say sinzheim; last stage hitherward of heidelberg, but this we do not write,--"there might it not be? be, somewhere, it shall and must! you, katte, the instant you hear that we are off, speed you towards the hague; ask for 'm. le comte d'alberville;' you will know that gentleman when you see him: keith, our wesel friend, will have taken the preliminary soundings;--and i tell you, count d'alberville, or news of him, will be there. bring the great-coat with you, and the other things, especially the , gold ducats. count d'alberville at the hague, if all have gone right:--nay if anything go wrong, cannot he, once across the rhine, take refuge in the convents in those catholic regions? nobody, under the scapulary, will suspect such a heretic as him. speed, silence, vigilance! and so adieu!" a letter of such purport friedrich did write; which letter, moreover, the lieutenant katte received: it was not this, it was another, that stuck upon the road, and fell into the rittmeister's hand. this is the young prince's ultimate fixed project, brought to birth by that slight accident of dropping the knife at feuchtwang; [ranke, i. .] and hanging heavy on his mind during this augsburg drive. at augsburg, furthermore, "he bought, in all privacy, red cloth, of quantity to make a top-coat;" red, the gray being unattainable in katte's hands: in all privacy; though the watchful rochow had full knowledge of it, all the same. chapter vi. -- journey homewards from the reich; catastrophe on journey homewards the travelling majesty of prussia went diligently up and down, investigating ancient augsburg: saw, i doubt not, the fuggerei, or ancient hospice of the fuggers,--who were once weavers in those parts, and are now princes, and were known to entertain charles v. with fires of cinnamon, nay with transient flames of bank-bills on one old occasion. saw all the fuggeries, i doubt not; the ancient luther-and-melanchthon relics, diet-halls and notabilities of this renowned free town;--perhaps remembered margraf george, and loud-voiced kurfurst joachim with the bottle-nose (our direct ancestor, though mistaken in opinion on some points!), who were once so audible there. one passing phenomenon we expressly know he saw; a human, not a historically important one. driving through the streets from place to place, his majesty came athwart some questionable quaint procession, ribbony, perhaps musical; majesty questioned it: "a wedding procession, your majesty!"--"will the bride step out, then, and let us see how she is dressed!" "vom herzen gern; will have the honor." bride stept out, with blushes,--handsome we will hope; majesty surveyed her, on the streets of augsburg, having a human heart in him; and (says fassmann, as if with insidious insinuation) "is said to have made her a present." she went her way; fulfilled her destiny in an anonymous manner: friedrich wilhelm, loudly named in the world, did the like; and their two orbits never intersected again.--some forty-five miles south of augsburg, up the wertach river, more properly up the mindel river, lies mindelheim, once a name known in england and in prussia; once the duke of marlborough's "principality:" given him by a grateful kaiser joseph; taken from him by a necessitous kaiser karl, joseph's brother, that now is. i know not if his majesty remembers that transaction, now while in these localities; but know well, if he does, he must think it a shabby one. on the same day, st august, , we quit augsburg; set out fairly homewards again. the route bends westward this time; towards frankfurt-on-mayn; there yachts are to be ready; and mere sailing thenceforth, gallantly down the rhine-stream,--such a yacht-voyage, in the summer weather, with no tourists yet infesting it,--to end, happily we will hope, at wesel, in the review of regiments, and other business. first stage, first pause, is to be at ludwigsburg, and the wicked old duke of wurtemberg's; thither first from augsburg. we cross the donau at dillingen, at gunzberg, or i know not where; and by to-morrow's sunset, being rapid travellers, find ourselves at ludwigsburg,--clear through canstatt, stuttgard, and certainly no katte waiting there! safe across the intermediate uplands, here are we fairly in the neckar country, in the basin of the rhine again; and old duke eberhard ludwig of wurtemberg bidding us kindly welcome, poor old bewildered creature, who has become the talk of germany in those times. will english readers consent to a momentary glance into his affairs and him? strange things are going on at lndwigsburg; nay the origin of ludwigsburg, and that the duke should be there and not at stuttgard, is itself strange. let us take this excerpt, headed ludwigsburg in , and then hasten on:-- ludwigsburg in . "duke eberhard ludwig, now an elderly gentleman of fifty-four, has distinguished himself in his long reign, not by political obliquities and obstinacies, though those also were not wanting, but by matrimonial and amatory; which have rendered him conspicuous to his fellows-creatures, and still keep him mentionable in history, briefly and for a sad reason. duke eberhard ludwig was duly wedded to an irreproachable princess of baden-durlach (johanna elizabeth) upwards of thirty years ago; and he duly produced one son in consequence, with other good results to himself and her. but in course of time duke eberhard ludwig took to consorting with bad creatures; took, in fact, to swashing about at random in the pool of amatory iniquity, as if there had been no law known, or of the least validity, in that matter. "perceiving which, a certain young fellow, gravenitz by name, who had come to him from the mecklenbnrg regions, by way of pushing fortune, and had got some pageship or the like here in wurtemberg, recollected that he had a young sister at home; pretty and artful, who perhaps might do a stroke of work here. he sends for the young sister; very pretty indeed, and a gentlewoman by birth, though penniless. he borrows clothes for her (by onerous contract with the haberdashers, it is said, being poor to a degree); he easily gets her introduced to the ducal soirees; bids her--she knows what to do? right well she knows what; catches, with her piquant face, the dull eye of eberhard ludwig, kindles eberhard ludwig, and will not for something quench him. not she at all: how can she; your serene highness, ask her not! a virtuous young lady, she, and come of a stainless family!--in brief, she hooks, she of all the fishes in the pool, this lumber of a duke; enchants him, keeps him hooked; and has made such a pennyworth of him, for the last twenty years and more, as germany cannot match. [michaelis, iii. .] her brother gravenitz the page has become count gravenitz the prime minister, or chief of the governing cabal; she countess gravenitz and autocrat of wurtemberg. loaded with wealth, with so-called honors, she and hers, there go they, flaunting sky-high; none else admitted to more than the liberty of breathing in silence in this duchy;--the poor duke eberhard ludwig making no complaint; obedient as a child to the bidding of his gravenitz. he is become a mere enchanted simulacrum of a duke; bewitched under worse than thessalian spells; without faculty of willing, except as she wills; his people and he the plaything of this circe or hecate, that has got hold of him. so it has lasted for above twenty years. gravenitz has become the wonder of germany; and requires, on these bad grounds, a slight mention in human history for some time to come. certainly it is by the gravenitz alone that eberhard ludwig is remembered; and yet, down since ulrich with the thumb, [ulricus pollex (right thumb bigger than left); died a.d. (michaelis, iii. ).] which of those serene abstruse beutelsbachers, always an abstruse obstinate set, has so fixed himself in your memory?-- "most persons in wurtemberg, for quiet's sake, have complied with the gravenitz; though not without protest, and sometimes spoken protest. thus the right reverend osiander (let us name osiander, head of the church in wurtemberg) flatly refused to have her name inserted in the public prayers; 'is not she already prayed for?' said osiander: 'do we not say, deliver us from evil?' said the indignant protestant man. and there is one other person that never will comply with her: the lawful wife of eberhard ludwig. serene lady, she has had a sad existence of it; the voice of her wrongs audible, to little purpose, this long while, in heaven and on earth. but it is not in the power of reward or punishment to bend her female will in the essential point: 'divorce, your highness? when _i_ am found guilty, yes. till then, never, your highness, never, never,' in steady crescendo tone:--so that his highness is glad to escape again, and drop the subject. on which the serene lady again falls silent. gravenitz, in fact, hopes always to be wedded with the right, nay were it only with the left hand: and this serene lady stands like a fateful monument irremovably in the way. the serene lady steadily inhabits her own wing of the ducal house, would not exchange it for the palace of aladdin; looks out there upon the grand equipages, high doings, impure splendors of her duke and his gravenitz with a clear-eyed silence, which seems to say more eloquently than words, 'mene, mene, you are weighed!' in the land of wurtemberg, or under the sun, is no reward or punishment that can abate this silence. speak of divorce, the answer is as above: leave divorce lying, there is silence looking forth clear-eyed from that particular wing of the palace, on things which the gods permit for a time. "clear-eyed silence, which, as there was no abating of it, grew at last intolerable to the two sinners. 'let us remove,' said the gravenitz, 'since her serene highness will not: build a new charming palace,--say at our hunting seat, among those pleasant hills in the waiblingen region,--and take the court, out thither.' and they have done so, in these late bad years; taking out with them by degrees all the courtier gentry, all the raths, government boards, public businesses; and building new houses for them, there. ["from to " was this latter removal. a hunting-lodge, of eberhard ludwig's building, and named by him lugwigsburg, stood here since ; nucleus of the subsequent palace, with its "pheasantries," its "favoritas," &c. &c. the place had originally been monastic (busching, _erdbeschreibung,_ vi. ).] founding, in fact, a second capital for wurtemberg, with what distress, sulky misery and disarrangement, to stuttgard and the old capital, readers can fancy. there it stands, that ludwigsburg, the second capital of wurtemberg, some ten or twenty miles from stuttgard the first: a lasting memorial of circe gravenitz and her ludwig. has not she, by her incantations, made the stone houses dance out hither? it remains to this day a pleasant town, and occasional residence of sovereignty. waiblingen, within an hour's ride, has got memorability on other grounds;--what reader has not heard of ghibellines, meaning waiblingens? and in another hour up the river, you will come to beutelsbach itself, where ulrich with the thumb had his abode (better luck to him!), and generated this lover of the gravenitz, and much other nonsense loud now and then for the last four centuries in the world!-- "there is something of abstruse in all these beutelsbachers, from ulrich with the thumb downwards: a mute ennui, an inexorable obstinacy; a certain streak of natural gloom which no illumination can abolish. veracity of all kinds is great in them; sullen passive courage plenty of it; active courage rarer; articulate intellect defective: hence a strange stiff perversity of conduct visible among them, often marring what wisdom they have;--it is the royal stamp of fate put upon these men. what are called fateful or fated men; such as are often seen on the top places of the world, making an indifferent figure there. something of this, i doubt not, is concerned in eberhard ludwig's fascination; and we shall see other instances farther down in this history. "but so, for twenty years, the absurd duke, transformed into a mere porcus by his circe in that scandalous miraculous manner, has lived; and so he still lives. and his serene wife, equally obstinate, is living at stuttgard, happily out of his sight now. one son, a weakly man, who had one heir, but has now none, is her only comfort. his wife is a prussian margravine (friedrich wilhelm's half-aunt), and cultivates calvinism in the lutheran country: this husband of hers, he too has an abstruse life, not likely to last. we need not doubt 'the fates' are busy, and the evil demons, with those poor fellow-beings! nay it is said the circe is becoming much of a hecate now; if the bewitched duke could see it. she is getting haggard beyond the power of rouge; her mind, any mind she has, more and more filled with spleen, malice, and the dregs of pride run sour. a disgusting creature, testifies one ex-official gentleman, once a hofrath under her, but obliged to run for life, and invoke free press in his defence: [_apologie de monsieur forstner de breitembourg, &c._ (paris, ; or "a londres, aux depens de la compagnie, "): in spittler, _geschichte wurtembergs_ (spittlers werke, stuttgard und tubingen, ; vol. v.), - . michaelis, iii. - , gives (in abstruse chancery german) a sequel to this fine affair of forstner's.] no end to the foul things she will say, of an unspeakable nature, about the very duke her victim, testifies this ex-official: malicious as a witch, says he, and as ugly as one in spite of paint,--'toujours un lavement a ses trousses.' good heavens!" but here is the august prussian travelling-party: shove aside your bewitchments and bewilderments; hang a decent screen over many things! poor eberhard ludwig, who is infinitely the gentleman, bestirs himself a good deal to welcome old royal friends; nor do we hear that the least thing went awry during this transit of the royalties. "field of blenheim, says your majesty? ah me!"--for eberhard ludwig knows that ground; stood the world-battle there, and so much has come and gone since then: ah me indeed! friedrich wilhelm and he have met before this, and have much to tell one another; treaty of seville by no means their only topic. nay the flood of cordiality went at length so far, that at last friedrich wilhelm, the conscientious king, came upon the most intimate topics: gravenitz; the word of god; scandal to the protestant religion: no likely heir to your dukedom; clear peril to your own soul. is not her serene highness an unexceptionable lady, heroic under sore woes; and your wedded wife above all?--'m-na, and might bring heirs too: only forty come october:--ah duke, ah friend! avisez la fin, eberhard ludwig; consider the end of it all; we are growing old fellows now! the duke, i conceive, who was rather a fat little man, blushed blue, then red, and various colors; at length settling into steady pale, as it were, indicating anthracitic white-heat: it is certain he said at length, with emphasis, "i will!" and he did so, by and by. friedrich wilhelm sent a messenger to stuttgard to do his reverence to the high injured lady there, perhaps to show her afar off some ray of hope if she could endure. eberhard ludwig, raised to a white-heat, perceives that in fact he is heartily tired of this circe-hecate; that in fact she has long been an intolerable nightmare to him, could he but have known it. and his royal highness the crown-prince all this while? well, yes; his royal highness has got a court tailor at ludwigsburg; and, in all privacy (seen well by rochow), has had the augsburg red cloth cut into a fine upper wrappage, over coat or roquelaure for himself; intending to use the same before long. thus they severally, the father and the son; these are their known acts at ludwigsburg, that the father persuaded eberhard ludwig of the gravenitz enormity, and that the son got his red top-coat ready. on thursday, d of august (late in the afternoon, as i perceive), they, well entertained, depart towards mannheim, kur-pfalz (elector palatine) old karl philip of the pfalz's place; hope to be there on the morrow some time, if all go well. gloomy much enlightened eberhard takes leave of them, with abstruse but grateful feelings; will stand by the kaiser, and dismiss that gravenitz nightmare by the first opportunity. as accordingly he did. next summer, going on a visit northward, specially to berlin, [there for some three weeks, "till th june, , with a suite of above fifty persons" (fassmann, pp. , ).] he left order that the gravenitz was to be got out of his sight, safe stowed away, before his return. which by the proper officers, military certain of them, was accomplished,--by fixed bayonets at last, and not without futile demur on the part of the gravenitz. poor eberhard ludwig, "he published in the pulpits, that he was now minded to lead a better life,"--had time now been left him. same year, , november being come, gloomy eberhard ludwig lost, not unexpectedly, his one son,--the one grandson was gone long since. the serene steadfast duchess now had her duke again, what was left of him: but he was fallen into the sere and yellow leaf; in two years more, he died childless; [ st october, : michaelis, iii. .] and his cousin, karl alexander, an austrian feldmarschall of repute, succeeded in wurtemberg. with whom we may transiently meet, in time coming; with whom, and perhaps less pleasantly with certain of his children; for they continue to this day,--with the old abstruse element still too traceable in them. old karl philip, kurfurst of the pfalz, towards whom friedrich wilhelm is now driving, with intent to be there to-morrow evening, is not quite a stranger to readers here; and to friedrich wilhelm he is much the reverse, perhaps too much. this is he who ran away with poor prince sobieski's bride from berlin, at starting in life; who fell upon his own poor protestant heidelbergers and their church of the holy ghost (being himself papist, ever since that slap on the face to his ancestor); and who has been in many quarrels with friedrich wilhelm and others. a high expensive sovereign gentleman, this old karl philip; not, i should suppose, the pleasantest of men to lodge with. one apprehends, he cannot be peculiarly well disposed to friedrich wilhelm, after that sad heidelberg passage of fence, twelve or eleven years ago. not to mention the inextricable julich-and-berg business, which is a standing controversy between them. poor old kurfurst, he is now within a year of seventy. he has had crosses and losses; terrible campaignings against the turk, in old times; and always such a stock of quarrels, at home, as must have been still worse to bear. a life of perpetual arguing, squabbling and battling,--one's neighbors being such an unreasonable set! brabbles about heidelberg catechism, and church of the holy ghost, so that foreign kings interfered, shaking their whips upon us. then brabbles about boundaries; about inheritances, and detached properties very many,--clearly mine, were the neighbors reasonable! in fact this sovereign old gentleman has been in the kaiser's courts, or even on the edge of fight, oftener than most other men; and it is as if that first adventure, of the sobieski wedding turned topsy-turvy, had been symbolical of much that followed in his life. we remember that unpleasant heidelberg affair: how hopeful it once looked; fact done, church of the holy ghost fairly ours; your corpus evangelicorum fallen quasi-dead; and nothing now for it but protocolling by diplomatists, pleading in the diets by men in bombazine, never like ending at all;--when friedrich wilhelm did suddenly end it; suddenly locked up his own catholic establishments and revenues, and quietly inexorable put the key in his pocket; as it were, drew his own whip, with a "will you whip my jew?"--and we had to cower out of the affair, kaiser himself ordering us, in a most humiliated manner! readers can judge whether kur-pfalz was likely to have a kindly note of friedrich wilhelm in that corner of his memory. the poor man felt so disgusted with heidelberg, he quitted it soon after. he would not go to dusseldorf (in the berg-and-julich quarter), as his forefathers used to do; but set up his abode at mannheim, where he still is. friedrich wilhelm, who was far from meaning harm or insolence in that heidelberg affair, hopes there is no grudge remaining. but so stand the facts: it is towards mannheim, not towards heidelberg that we are now travelling!--for the rest, this scheme of reprisals, or whipping your jew if you whip mine, answered so well, friedrich wilhelm has used it, or threatened to use, as the real method, ever since, where needful; and has saved thereby much bombazine eloquence, and confusion to mankind, on several occasions. but the worst between these two high gentlemen is that julich-and-berg controversy; which is a sore still running, and beyond reach of probable surgery. old karl philip has no male heir; and is like to be (what he indeed proved) the last of the neuberg electors palatine. what trouble there rose with the first of them, about that sad business; and how the then brandenburger, much wrought upon, smote the then neuburger across the very face, and drove him into catholicism, we have not forgotten; how can we ever?--it is one hundred and sixteen years since that after-dinner scene; and, o heavens, what bickering and brabbling and confused negotiation there has been; lawyers' pens going almost continually ever since, shadowing out the mutual darkness of sovereignties; and from time to time the military implements brandishing themselves, though loath generally to draw blood! for a hundred and sixteen years:--but the final bargain, lying on parchment in the archives of both parties, and always acknowledged as final, was to this effect: "you serene neuburg keep what you have got; we serene brandenburg the like: cleve with detached pertinents ours; julich-and-berg mainly yours. and let us live in perpetual amity on that footing. and, note only furthermore, when our line fails, the whole of these fine duchies shall be yours: if your line fail, ours." that was the plain bargain, done solemnly in , and again more solemnly and brought to parchment with signature in , as friedrich wilhelm knows too well. and now the very case is about to occur; this old man, childless at seventy, is the last of the neuburgs. may not one reasonably pretend that a bargain should be kept? "tush," answers old karl philip always: "bargain?" and will not hear reason against himself on the subject; not even when the kaiser asks him,--as the kaiser really did, after that wusterhausen treaty, but could get only negatives. karl philip has no romantic ideas of justice, or of old parchments tying up a man. karl philip had one daughter by that dear radzivil princess, sobieski's stolen bride; and he never, by the dear radzivil or her dear successor, [see buchholz, i. n.] had any son, or other daughter that lived to wed. one daughter, we say; a first-born, extremely precious to him. her he married to the young fortunate sulzbach cousin, karl joseph heir-apparent of sulzbach, who, by all laws, was to succeed in the pfalz as well,--karl philip thinking furthermore, "he and she, please heaven, shall hold fast by dusseldorf too, and that fine julich-and-berg territory, which is mine. bargains?" such was, and is, the old man's inflexible notion. alas, this one daughter died lately, and her husband lately; [she in ; he in : their eldest daughter was born (hubner, t. ; michaelis, ii. , ).] again leaving only daughters; will not this change the notion? not a whit,--though friedrich wilhelm may have fondly hoped it by possibility might, not a whit: karl philip cherishes his little grand-daughter, now a child of nine, as he did her mother and her mother's mother; hopes one day to see her wedded (as he did) to a new heir-apparent of the pfalz and sulzbach; and, for her behoof, will hold fast by berg and julich, and part with no square inch of it for any parchment. what is friedrich wilhelm to do? seek justice for himself by his , men and the iron ramrods? apparently he will not get it otherwise. he is loath to begin that terrible game. if indeed europe do take fire, as is likely at seville or elsewhere--but in the meanwhile how happy if negotiation would but serve! alas, and if the kaiser, england; holland and the others, could be brought to guarantee me,--as indeed they should (to avoid a casus belli), and some of them have said they will! friedrich wilhelm tried this julich-and-berg problem by the pacific method, all his life; strenuously, and without effect. result perhaps was coming nevertheless; at the distance of another hundred years!--one thing i know: whatever rectitude and patience, whatever courage, perseverance, or other human virtue he has put into this or another matter, is not lost; not it nor any fraction of it, to friedrich wilhelm and his sons' sons; but will well avail him and them, if not soon, then later, if not in berg and julich, then in some other quarter of the universe, which is a wide entity and a long-lived! courage, your majesty! so stand matters as friedrich wilhelm journeys towards mannheim: human politeness will have to cloak well, and keep well down, a good many prickly points in the visit ahead. alas, poor friedrich wilhelm has got other matter to think of, by the time we arrive in mannheim. catastrophe on journey homewards. the royal party, quitting ludwigsburg,--on thursday, d august, , some hours after dinner, as i calculate it,--had but a rather short journey before them: journey to a place called sinzheim, some fifty or sixty miles; a long way short of heidelberg; the king's purpose being to lodge in that dilapidated silent town of sinzheim, and leave both heidelberg and mannheim, with their civic noises, for the next day's work. sinzheim, such was the program, as the prince and others understood it; but by some accident, or on better calculation, it was otherwise decided in the royal mind: not at sinzheim, intricate decayed old town, shall we lodge to-night, but five or six miles short of it, in the naturally silent village of steinfurth, where good clean empty barns are to be found. which latter is a favorite method of his majesty, fond always of free air and the absence of fuss. shake-downs, a temporary cooking apparatus, plenty of tobacco, and a tub to wash in: this is what man requires, and this without difficulty can be got. his majesty's tastes are simple; simple, and yet good and human. here is a small royal order, which i read once, and ever since remember,--though the reference is now blown away, and lost in those unindexed sibylline farragos, the terror of human nature;--let us copy it from memory, till some deliverer arise with finger on page. [probably in rodenbeck's _beitrage,_--but long sad searching there, and elsewhere, proves unavailing at present. historical farragos without index; a hundred, or several hundred, blind sacks of historical clippings, generally authentic too if useless, and not the least scrap of label on them:--are not these a handy article!] "at magdeburg, on this review-journey, have dinner for me, under a certain tree you know of, outside the ramparts." dinner of one sound portion solid, one ditto liquid, of the due quality; readied honestly,--and to be eaten under a shady tree; on the review-ground itself, with the summer sky over one's head. could jupiter tonans, had he been travelling on business in those parts, have done better with his dinner?-- "at sinzheim?" thinks his royal highness; and has spoken privily to the page keith. to glide out of their quarters there, in that waste negligent old town (where post-horses can be had), in the gray of the summer's dawn? across the rhine to speyer is but three hours riding; thence to landau, into france, into--? enough, page keith has undertaken to get horses, and the flight shall at last be. husht, husht. to-morrow morning, before the sparrow wake, it is our determination to be upon the road! ruins of the tower of stauffen, hohen or high stauffen, where kaiser barbarossa lived once, young and ruddy, and was not yet a myth, "winking and nodding under the hill at salzburg,"--yes, it is but a few miles to the right there, were this a deliberate touring party. but this is a rapid driving one; knows nothing about stauffen, cares nothing.--we cannot fancy friedrich remembered barbarossa at all; or much regarded heilbronn itself, the principal and only famous town they pass this day. the st. kilian's church, your highness, and big stone giant at the top of the steeple yonder,--adventurous masons and slater people get upon the crown of his head, sometimes, and stand waving flags. [buddaus, _lexicon,_ ii.? heilbronn.] the townhouse too (rathhaus), with its amazing old clock? and gotz von berlichingen, the town-councillors once had him in prison for one night, in the "gotz's tower" here; your highness has heard of "gotz with the iron hand"? berlichingens still live at jaxthausen, farther down the neckar valley, in these parts; and show the old hand, considerably rusted now. heilbronn, the most famous city on the neckar; and its old miraculous holy well--? what cares his highness! weinsberg again, which is but a few miles to the right of us,--there it was that the besieged wives did that astonishing feat, years ago; coming out, as the capitulation bore, "with their most valuable property," each brought her husband on her back (were not the fact a little uncertain!)--whereby the old castle has, to this day, the name "weibertreue, faithfulness of women." welf's duchess, husband on back, was at the head of those women; a hohenzollern ancestor of yours, i think i have heard, was of the besieging party. [siege is notorious enough; a.d. : kohler _reichshistorie,_ p. , who does not mention the story of the women; menzel (wolfgang), _geschichte der deutschen,_ p. , who takes no notice that it is a highly mythical story,--supported only by the testimony of one poor monk in koln, vaguely chronicling fifty years after date and at that good distance.] alas, thinks his royal highness, is there not a flower of welfdom now in england; and i, unluckiest of hohenzollerns, still far away from her here! it is at windsor, not in weinsberg, or among the ruins of weibertreue, that his highness wishes to be. at heilbronn our road branches off to the left; and we roll diligently towards sinzheim, calculating to be there before nightfall. whew! something has gone awry at sinzheim: no right lodging in the waste inns there; or good clean barns, of a promising character, are to be had nearer than there: we absolutely do not go to sinzheim to-night; we are to stop at steinfurth, a small quiet hamlet with barns, four or five miles short of that! this was a great disappointment to the prince,--and some say, a highly momentous circumstance in his history: ["might perhaps have succeeded at sinzheim" (seckendorf's _relation of the crown-prince's meditated flight,_ p. ;--addressed to prince eugene few days afterwards; given in forster, iii. - ).]--however, he rallies in the course of the evening; speaks again to page keith. "steinfurth [stony-ford, over the brook here]; be it at steinfurth, all the same!" page keith will manage to get horses for us here, no less. and speyer and the ferry of the rhine are within three hours. favor us, silence and all ye good genii!-- on friday morning, th august, , "usual hour of starting, a.m.," not being yet came, the royal party lies asleep in two clean airy barns, facing one another, in the village of steinfurth; barns facing one another, with the heidelberg highway and village green asleep in front between them; [compare wilhelmina, i. (her account of the flight: "heard it from my brother,"--and report it loosely after a dozen years!).] for it is little after two in the morning, the dawn hardly beginning to break. prince friedrich, with his trio of vigilance, buddenbrock, waldau, rochow, lies in one barn; majesty, with his seckendorf and party, is in the other: apparently all still locked in sleep? not all: prince friedrich, for example, is awake;--the trio is indeed audibly asleep; unless others watch for them, their six eyes are closed. friedrich cautiously rises; dresses; takes his money, his new red roquelaure, unbolts the barn-door, and walks out. trio of vigilance is sound asleep, and knows nothing: alas, trio of vigilance, while its own six eyes are closed, has appointed another pair to watch. gummersbach the valet comes to rochow's bolster: "hst, herr oberst-lieutenant, please awaken! prince royal is up, has on his top-coat, and is gone out of doors!" rochow starts to his habiliments, or perhaps has them ready on; in a minute or two, rochow also is forth into the gray of the morning;--finds the young prince actually on the green there; in his red roquelaure, leaning pensively on one of the travelling carriages. _"guten morgen, ihro konigliche hoheit!_" [ranke, . .]--fancy such a salutation to the young man! page keith, at this moment, comes with a pair of horses, too: "whither with the nags, sirrah?" rochow asked with some sharpness. keith, seeing how it was, answered without visible embarrassment, "herr, they are mine and kunz the page's horses" (which, i suppose, is true); "ready at the usual hour!" keith might add.--"his majesty does not go till five this morning;--back to the stables!" beckoned rochow; and, according to the best accounts, did not suspect anything, or affected not to do so. page keith returned, trembling in his saddle. friedrich strolled towards the other barn,--at least to be out of rochow's company. seckendorf emerges from the other barn; awake at the common hour: "how do you like his royal highness in the red roquelaure?" asks rochow, as if nothing had happened. was there ever such a baffled royal highness; or young bright spirit chained in the bear's den in this manner? our steinfurth project has gone to water; and it is not to-day we shall get across the rhine!--not to-day; nor any other day, on that errand, strong as our resolutions are! for new light, in a few hours afterwards, pours in upon the project; and human finesse, or ulterior schemes, avail nothing henceforth. "the crown-prince's meditated flight" has tried itself, and failed. here and so that long meditation ends; this at steinfurth was all the over-act it could ever come to. in few hours more it will melt into air; and only the terrible consequences will remain!-- by last night's arrangement, the prince with his trio was to set out an hour before his father, which circumstance had helped page keith in his excuses. naturally the prince had now no wish to linger on the green of steinfurth, in such a posture of affairs: "towards heidelberg, then; let us see the big tun there: allons!" how the young prince and his trio did this day's journey; where he loitered, what he saw, said or thought, we have no account: it is certain only that his father, who set out from steinfurth an hour after him, arrived in mannheim several hours before him; and, in spite of kurfurst karl philip's welcome, testified the liveliest inquietude on that unaccountable circumstance. beautiful rhine-stream, thrice-beautiful trim mannheim;--yes, all is beautiful indeed, your serenity! but where can the prince be? he kept ejaculating. and karl philip had to answer what he could. of course the prince may be lingering about heidelberg, looking at the big tun and other miracles:--"i had the pleasure to repair that world-famous tub or tun, as your majesty knows; which had lain half burnt, ever since louis xiv. with his firebrand robberies lay upon us, and burnt the pfalz in whole, small honor to him! i repaired the tun: [kohler, _munzbelustigungen_ (viii. - ; - ), who gives a view of the world's wonder, lying horizontal with stairs running up to it. big tuns of that kind were not uncommon in germany; and had uses, if multiplex dues of wine were to be paid in natura: the heidelberg, the biggest of them, is small to the whitbread-and-company, for porter's-ale, in our time.] it is probably the successfulest feat i did hitherto; and well worth looking at, had your majesty had time!"--"ja wohl;--but he came away an hour before me!"--the polite karl philip, at length, sent off one of his own equerries to ride towards heidelberg, or even to steinfurth if needful, and see what was become of the prince. this official person met the prince, all in order, at no great distance; and brought him safe to papa's presence again. why papa was in such a fuss about this little circumstance? truly there has something come to papa's knowledge since he started, perhaps since he arrived at mannheim. page keith, who rides always behind the king's coach, has ridden this day in an agony of remorse and terror; and at length (probably in mannheim, once his majesty is got to his apartments, or now that he finds his majesty so anxious there) has fallen on his knees, and, with tears and obtestations, made a clean breast. page keith has confessed that the crown-prince and he were to have been in speyer, or farther, at this time of the day; flying rapidly into france. "god's providence alone prevented it! pardon, pardon: slay me, your majesty; but there is the naked truth, and the whole of it, and i have nothing more to say!" hereupon ensues despatch of the equerry; and hereupon, as we may conjecture, the equerry's return with fritz and the trio is an unspeakable relief to friedrich wilhelm. friedrich wilhelm now summons buddenbrock and company straightway; shows, in a suppressed-volcanic manner, with questions and statements,--obliged to suppress oneself in foreign hospitable serene houses,--what atrocity of scandal and terror has been on the edge of happening: "and you three, rochow, waldau, buddenbrock, mark it, you three are responsible; and shall answer, i now tell you, with your heads. death the penalty, unless you bring him to our own country again,--'living or dead,'" added the suppressed-volcano, in low metallic tone; and the sparkling eyes of him, the red tint, and rustling gestures, make the words too credible to us. [ranke, i. .] what friedrich wilhelm got to speak about with the old kur-pfalz, during their serene passages of hospitality at mannheim, is not very clear to me; his prussian majesty is privately in such a desperate humor, and the old kur-pfalz privately so discrepant on all manner of points, especially on the julich-and-berg point. they could talk freely about the old turk campaigns, battle of zentha, [ th september, ; eugene's crowning feat;--breaking of the grand turk's back in this world; who has staggered about, less and less of a terror and outrage, more and more of a nuisance growing unbearable, ever since that day. see hormayr (iii. - ) for some description of this useful bit of heroism.] and prince eugene; very freely about the heidelberg tun. but it is known old karl philip had his agents at the congress of soissons, to secure that berg-and-julich interest for the sulzbachs and him: directly in the teeth of friedrich wilhelm. how that may have gone, since the treaty of seville broke out to astonish mankind,--will be unsafe to talk about. for the rest, old karl philip has frankly adopted the pragmatic sanction; but then he has, likewise, privately made league with france to secure him in that julich-and-berg matter, should the kaiser break promise;--league which may much obstruct said sanction. nay privately he is casting glances on his bavarian cousin, elegant ambitious karl albert. kurfurst of baiern,--are not we all from the same wittelsbach stock, cousins from of old?--and will undertake, for the same julich-and-bergobject, to secure bavaria in its claims on the austrian heritages in defect of heirs male in austria. [michaelis, ii. - .] which runs directly into the throat of said pragmatic sanction; and engages to make it, mere waste sheepskin, so to speak! truly old karl philip has his abstruse outlooks, this way, that way; most abstruse politics altogether:--and in fact we had better speak of the battle of zentha and the heidelberg tun, while this visit lasts. on the morrow, saturday, august th, certain frenchmen from the garrison of landau come across to pay their court and dine. which race of men friedrich wilhelm does not love; and now less than ever, gloomily suspicious they may be come on parricide fritz's score,--you rochow and company keep an eye! by night and by day an eye upon him! friedrich wilhelm was, no doubt, glad to get away on the morrow afternoon; fairly out into the berg-strasse, into the summer breezes and umbrageous woods, with all his pertinents still safe about him; rushing towards darmstadt through the sunday stillness, where he will arrive in the evening, time enough. ["sunday evening arrive at darmstadt," says seckendorf (in forster, iii. ), but by mistake calls it the " th" instead of " th."] the old prince of darmstadt, ernst ludwig, landgraf of hessen-darmstadt, age now sixty-three, has a hoary venerable appearance, according to pollnitz, "but sits a horse well, walks well, and seems to enjoy perfect health,"--which we are glad to hear of. what more concerns us, "he lives usually, quite retired, in a small house upon the square," in this extremely small metropolis of his, "and leaves his heir-apparent to manage all business in the palace and elsewhere." [pollnitz, _memoirs and letters,_ ii. .] poor old gentleman, he has the biggest palace almost in the world; only he could not finish it for want of funds; and it lies there, one of the biggest futilities, vexatious to look upon. no doubt the old gentleman has had vexations, plenty of them, first and last. he is now got disgusted with the affairs of public life, and addicts himself very much to "turning ivory," as the more eligible employment. he lives in that small house of his, among his turning-lathes and ivory shavings; dines in said small house, "at a table for four persons:" only on sunday, and above all on this sunday, puts off his apron; goes across to the palace; dines there in state, with his heir and the grandees. he has a kinship by affinity to friedrich wilhelm; his wife (dead long years since), mother of this heir-apparent, was an anspach princess, aunt to the now queen caroline of england. poor old fellow, these insignificancies, and that he descends direct from philip the magnanimous of hessen (luther's philip, who insisted on the supplementary wife), are all i know of him; and he is somewhat tragic to me there, turning ivory in this extremely anarchic world. what the passages between him and friedrich wilhelm were, on this occasion, shall remain conjectural to all creatures. friedrich wilhelm said, this sunday evening at darmstadt to his own prince: "still here, then? i thought you would have been in paris by this time!"--to which the prince, with artificial firmness, answered, he could certainly, if he had wished; [seckendorf (in forster, iii.), p. .] and being familiar with reproaches, perhaps hoped it was nothing. from darmstadt to frankfurt-on-mayn is not quite forty miles, an easy morning drive; through the old country called of katzen-ellenbogen; cats-elbow, a name ridiculous to hear. [cattimelibocum, that is, cattum-melibocum (catti a famed nation, melibocus the chief hill or fortress of their country), is said to be the original;--which has got changed; like aballaba into "appleby," or god encompass us into "the goat and compasses," among ourselves.] berg-strasse and the odenwald (forest of the otti) are gone; but blue on the northeast yonder, if your royal highness will please to look, may be seen summits of the spessart, a much grander forest,--tall branchy timbers yonder, one day to be masts of admirals, when floated down as far as rotterdam, whitherward one still meets them going. spessart;--and nearer, well hidden on the right, is an obscure village called dettingen, not yet become famous in the newspapers of an idle world; of an england surely very idle to go thither seeking quarrels! all which is, naturally, in the highest degree indifferent to a crown-prince so preoccupied.--they reach frankfurt, monday, still in good time. behold, at frankfurt, the trio of vigilance, buddenbrock and company (horrible to think of!) signify, "that we have the king's express orders not to enter the town at all with your royal highness. we, for our part, are to go direct into one of the royal yachts, which swing at anchor here, and to wait in the same till his majesty have done seeing frankfurt, and return to us." here is a message for the poor young prince: detected, prisoner, and a volcanic majesty now likely to be in full play when he returns!--gilt weathercock on the mayn bridge (which one goethe used to look at, in the next generation)--this, and the steeple-tops of frankfurt, especially that steeple-top with the grinning skull of the mutinous malefactor on it, warning to mankind what mutiny leads to; this, then, is what we are to see of frankfurt; and with such a symphony as our thoughts are playing in the background. unhappy son, unhappy father, once more! nay friedrich wilhelm got new lights in frankfurt: rittmeister katte had an estafette waiting for him there. estafette with a certain letter, which the rittmeister had picked up in erlangen, and has shot across by estafette to wait his majesty here. majesty has read with open eyes and throat: letter from the crown-prince to lieutenant katte in berlin: treasonous flight-project now indisputable as the sun at noon!--his majesty stept on board the yacht in such humor as was never seen before: "detestable rebel and deserter, scandal of scandals--!"--it is confidently written everywhere (though seckendorf diplomatically keeps silence), his majesty hustled and tussled the unfortunate crown-prince, poked the handle of his cane into his face and made the nose bleed,--"never did a brandenburg face suffer the like of this!" cried the poor prince, driven to the edge of mad ignition and one knows not what: when the buddenbrocks, at whatever peril interfered; got the prince brought on board a different yacht; and the conflagration moderated for the moment. the yachts get under way towards mainz and down the rhine-stream. the yachts glide swiftly on the favoring current, taking advantage of what wind there may be: were we once ashore at wesel in our own country,--wait till then, thinks his majesty! and so it was on these terms that friedrich made his first acquaintance with the beauties of the rhine;--readers can judge whether he was in a temper very open to the picturesque. i know not that they paused at mainz, or recollected barbarossa's world-tournament, or the hochheim vineyards at all: i see the young man's yacht dashing in swift gallop, not without danger, through the gap of bingen; dancing wildly on the boiling whirlpools of st. goar, well threading the cliffs;--the young man gloomily insensible to danger of life, and charm of the picturesque. coblenz (confluentia), the moselle and ehrenbreitstein: majesty, smoking on deck if he like, can look at these through grimly pacifying tobacco; but to the crown-prince life itself is fallen haggard and bankrupt. over against coblenz, nestled in between the rhine and the foot of ehrenbreitstein, [pollnitz, _memoirs and letters,_ iii. .] there, perhaps even now, in his hunting lodge of kerlich yonder, is his serene highness the fat little kurfurst of trier, one of those austrian schonborns (brother to him of bamberg); upon whom why should we make a call? we are due at bonn; the fortunate young kurfurst of koln, richest pluralist in the church, expects us at his residence there. friedrich wilhelm views the fine fortress of ehrenbreitstein:--what would your majesty think if this were to be yours in a hundred years; this and much else, by way of compound-interest for the berg-and-julich and other outstanding debts? courage, your majesty!--on the fat little kurfurst, at kerlich here, we do not call: probably out hunting; "hunts every day," [busching, _beitrage,_ iv. .] as if it were his trade, poor little soul. at bonn, where we do step ashore to lodge with a lean kurfurst, friedrich wilhelm strictly charges, in my (seckendorf's) hearing, the trio of vigilance to have an eye; to see that they bring the prince on board again, "living or dead."--no fear, your majesty. prince listened with silent, almost defiant patience, "mit grosser geduld." [seckendorf (in forster, iii. ).] at bonn the prince contrived to confide to seckendorf, "that he had in very truth meant to run away: he could not, at the age he was come to, stand such indignities, actual strokes as in the camp of radewitz;--and he would have gone long since, had it not been for the queen and the princess his sister's sake. he could not repent what he had done: and if the king did not cease beating him in that manner, &c., he would still do it. for loss of his own life, such a life as his had grown, he cared little; his chief misery was, that those officers who had known of the thing should come to misfortune by his means. if the king would pardon these poor gentlemen, he would tell him everything. for the rest, begged seckendorf to help him in this labyrinth;--nothing could ever so oblige him as help now;" and more of the like sort. these things he said, at bonn, to seckendorf, the fountain of all his woes. [ibid.] what seckendorf's reflections on this his sad handiwork now were, we do not know. probably he made none, being a strong-minded case-hardened old stager; but resolved to do what he could for the poor youth. somewhere on this route, at bonn more likely than elsewhere, friedrich wrote in pencil three words to lieutenant keith at wesel, and got it to the post-office: "sauvez-vous, tout est decouvert (all is found out;--away)!" [wilhelmina (i. ) says it was a page of the old dessauer's, a comrade of keith's, who, having known in time, gave him warning. certain it is, this note of friedrich's, which the books generally assign as cause, could not have done it (infra, p. , and the irrefragable date there).] clement august, expensive kurfurst of koln (elector of cologne, as we call it), who does the hospitalities here at bonn, in a grand way, with "above a hundred and fifty chamberlains" for one item,--glance at him, reader; perhaps we shall meet the man again. he is younger brother of the elegant ambitious karl albert, kurfurst of bavaria, whom we have transiently heard of: sons both of them are of that "elector of bavaria" who haunts us in the marlborough histories,--who joined louis xiv. in the succession war, and got hunted about at such a rate, after blenheim especially. his boys, prisoners of the kaiser, were bred up in a confiscated state, as sons of a mere private gentleman; nothing visibly ahead of them, at one time, but an obscure and extremely limited destiny of that kind;--though now again, on french favor, and the turn of fortune's inconstant wheel, they are mounting very high. bavaria came all back to the old elector of bavaria; even marlborough's "principality of mindelheim" came. [at the peace of baden (corollary to utrecht), . elector had been "banned" (geachtet, solemnly drummed out), ; nothing but french pay to live upon, till he got back: died th february, , when karl albert succeeded (michaelis, ii. ).] and the present kurfurst, who will not do the pragmatic sanction at all,--kurfurst karl albert of baiern, our old karl philip of mannheim's genealogical "cousin;"--we heard of abstruse colleaguings there, tendencies to break the pragmatic sanction altogether, and reduce it to waste sheepskin! not impossible karl albert will go high enough. and this clement august the cadet, he is kurfurst of koln; by good election-tactics, and favor of the french, he has managed to succeed an uncle here: has succeeded at osnabruck in like fashion;--poor old ernst august of osnabruck (to whom we once saw george i. galloping to die, and who himself soon after died), his successor is this same clement august, the turn for a catholic bishop being come at osnabruck, and the french being kind. kurfurst of koln, bishop of osnabruck, ditto of paderborn and munster, ditto now of hildesheim; richest pluralist of the church. goes about here in a languid expensive manner; "in green coat trimmed with narrow silver-lace, small bag-wig done with french garniture (schleife) in front; and has red heels to his shoes." a lanky indolent figure, age now thirty; "tall and slouching of person, long lean face, hook-nose, black beard, mouth somewhat open." [busching (_beitrage,_ iv. - : from a certain travelling tutor's ms. diary of ; where also is detail of the kurfurst's mode of dining,--elaborate but dreary, both mode and detail). his schloss is now the bonn university.] has above one hundred and fifty chamberlains;--and, i doubt not, is inexpressibly wearisome to friedrich wilhelm in his majesty's present mood. patience for the moment, and politeness above all things!--the trio of vigilance had no difficulty with friedrich; brought him on board safe again next day, and all proceeded on their voyage; the kurfurst in person politely escorting as far as koln. koln, famed old city of the three kings, with its famed cathedral where those three gentlemen are buried, here the kurfurst ceases escorting; and the flat old city is left, exciting what reflections it can. the architectural dilettanti of the world gather here; st. ursula and her eleven thousand virgins were once massacred here, your majesty; an english princess she, it is said. "narren-possen (pack of nonsense)!" grumbles majesty.--pleasant dusseldorf is much more interesting to his majesty; the pleasant capital of berg, which ought to be ours, if right could be done; if old pfalz would give up his crotchets; and the bowls, in the big game playing at seville and elsewhere, would roll fair! dusseldorf and that fine palace of the pfalzers, which ought to be mine;--and here next is kaiserswerth, a place of sieges, cannonadings, known to those i knew. 'm-na, from father to son and grandson it goes on, and there is no end to trouble and war!-- his majesty's next lodging is at mors; old gaunt castle in the town of mors, which (thanks to leopold of anhalt-dessau and the iron ramrods) is now his majesty's in spite of the dutch. there the lodging is, at an hour's drive westward from the rhine-shore:--where his majesty quitted the river, i do not know; nor whether the crown-prince went to mors with him, or waited in his yacht; but guess the latter. his majesty intends for geldern on the morrow, on matters of business thither, for the town is his: but what would the prince, in the present state of things, do there?--at mors, seckendorf found means to address his majesty privately, and snuffled into him suggestions of mercy to the repentant prince, and to the poor officers whom he was so anxious about. "well, if he will confess everything, and leave off his quirks and concealments: but i know he won't!" answered majesty. in that dilapidated castle of mors,--look at it, reader, though in the dark; we may see it again, or the shadow of it, perhaps by moonlight. a very gaunt old castle; next to nothing living in it, since the old dessauer (by stratagem, and without shot fired) flung out the dutch, in the treaty-of-utrecht time; mors castle and territory being indisputably ours, though always withheld from us on pretexts. [narrative of the march thither (night of th november, ), and dexterous surprisal of the place, in _leopoldi von anhalt-dessau leben und thaten_ (anonymous, by ranfft), pp. - ;--where the despatch of the astonished dutch commandant himself, to their high mightinesses, is given. part of the orange heritage, this mors,--came by the great elector's first wife;--but had hung sub lite (though the parchments were plain enough) ever since our king william's death, and earlier. neuchatel, accepted instead of orange, and not even of the value of mors, was another item of the same lot. besides which, we shall hear of old palaces at loo and other dilapidated objects, incidentally in time coming.] at geldern, in the pressure of business next day, his majesty got word from wesel, that lieutenant keith was not now to be found in wesel. "was last seen there (that we can hear of) certain hours before your majesty's all-gracious order arrived. had saddled his own horse; came ambling through the brunen gate, 'going out to have a ride,' he said; and did not return."--"keith gone, scandalous keith, whom i pardoned only few weeks ago; he too is in the plot! will the very army break its oath, then?" his majesty bursts into fire and flame, at these new tidings; orders that colonel dumoulin (our expertest rogue-tracer) go instantly on the scent of keith, and follow him till found and caught. also, on the other hand, that the crown-prince be constituted prisoner; sail down to wesel, prisoner in his yacht, and await upon the rhine there his majesty's arrival. formidable omens, it is thought. his majesty, all business done in geldern, drives across to wesel; can see fritz's yacht waiting duly in the river, and black care hovering over her. it is on the evening of the th of august, . and so his majesty ends this memorable tour into the reich; but has not yet ended the gloomy miseries, for himself and others, which plentifully sprung out of that. chapter vii. -- catastrophe, and majesty, arrive in berlin. at berlin dark rumors of this intended flight, and actual arrest of the crown-prince, are agitating all the world; especially lieutenant katte, and the queen and wilhelmina, as we may suppose. the first news of it came tragically on the young princess. [apparently some rumor from frankfurt, which she confuses in her after-memory with the specific news from wesel; for her dates here, as usual, are all awry (wilhelmina, i. ; preuss, i. , iv. ; seckendorf, in forster, iii. ).] "mamma had given a ball in honor of papa's birthday,"--tuesday, th august, ;--and we were all dancing in the fine saloons of monbijou, with pretty intervals in the cool boscages and orangeries of the place: all of us as happy as could be; wilhelmina, in particular, dancing at an unusual rate. "we recommenced the ball after supper. for six years i had not danced before; it was new fruit, and i took my fill of it, without heeding much what was passing. madame bulow, who with others of them had worn long faces all night, pleading 'illness' when one noticed it, said to me several times: 'it is late, i wish you had done,'--'eh, mon dieu!' i answered, 'let me have enough of dancing this one new time; it may be long before it comes again.'--'that may well be!' said she. i paid no regard, but continued to divert myself. she returned to the charge half an hour after: 'will you end, then!' said she with a vexed air: 'you are so engaged, you have eyes for nothing.'--'you are in such a humor,' i replied, 'that i know not what to make of it.'--'look at the queen, then, madam; and you will cease to reproach me!' a glance which i gave that way filled me with terror. there sat the queen, paler than death, in a corner of the room, in low conference with sonsfeld and countess finkenstein. as my brother was most in my anxieties, i asked, if it concerned him? bulow shrugged her shoulders, answering, 'i don't know at all!' a moment after, the queen gave good-night; and got into her carriage with me,--speaking no word all the way to the schloss; so that i thought my brother must be dead, and i myself took violent palpitations, and sonsfeld, contrary to orders, had at last to tell me in the course of the night." poor wilhelmina, and poor mother of wilhelmina! the fact, of arrest, and unknown mischief to the prince, is taken for certain; but what may be the issues of it; who besides the prince have been involved in it, especially who will be found to have been involved, is matter of dire guess to the three who are most interested here. lieutenant katte finds he ought to dispose of the prince's effects which were intrusted to him; of the thousand gold thalers in particular, and, beyond and before all, of the locked writing-desk, in which lies the prince's correspondence, the very queen and princess likely to be concerned in it! katte despatches these two objects, the money and the little desk, in all secrecy, to madam finkenstein, as to the surest hand, with a short note shadowing out what he thinks they are: countess finkenstein, old general von finkenstein's wife, and a second mother to the prince, she, like her husband, a sworn partisan of the prince and his mother, shall do with these precious and terrible objects what, to her own wise judgment, seems best. madam finkenstein carries them at once, in deep silence, to the queen. huge dismay on the part of the queen and princess. they know too well what letters may be there: and there is a seal on the desk, and no key to it; neither must it, in time coming, seem to have been opened, even if we could now open it. a desperate pinch, and it must be solved. female wit and wilhelmina did solve it, by some pre-eminently acute device of their despair; [wilhelmina, i. - .] and contrived to get the letters out: hundreds of letters, enough to be our death if read, says wilhelmina. these letters they burnt; and set to writing fast as the pen would go, other letters in their stead. fancy the mood of these two royal women, and the black whirlwind they were in. wilhelmina's despatch was incredible; pen went at the gallop night and day: new letters, of old dates and of no meaning, are got into the desk again; the desk closed, without mark of injury, and shoved aside while it is yet time.--time presses; his majesty too, and the events, go at gallop. here is a letter from his majesty, to a trusty mistress of the robes, or whatever she is; which, let it arrive through what softening media it likes, will complete the poor queen's despair:-- "my dear frau von kamecke,--fritz has attempted to desert. i have been under the necessity to have him arrested. i request you to tell my wife of it in some good way, that the news may not terrify her. and pity an unhappy father. "friedrich wilhelm." [no date: "arrived" (from wesel, we conclude), sunday, " th august," at the palace of berlin (preuss, i. ).] the same post brought an order to the colonel of the gerns-d'armes to put that lieutenant katte of his under close confinement:--we hope the thoughtless young fellow has already got out of the way? he is getting his saddle altered: fettling about this and that; does not consider what danger he is in. this same sunday, his major met him on the street of berlin; said, in a significant tone, "you still here, katte!"--"i go this night," answered katte; but he again put it off, did not go this night; and the order for his arrest did come in. on the morrow morning, colonel pannewitz, hoping now he was not there, went with the rhadamanthine order; and finding the unlucky fellow, was obliged to execute it. katte lies in ward, awaiting what may be prepared for him. friedrich wilhelm at wesel has had rough passages with the prince and others. on the saturday evening, th august , [preuss, iv. ; seckendorf (forster, iii. ) says th, but wrong.] his majesty had the culprit brought on shore, to the commandant's house, for an interview. culprit proving less remorseful than was expected, and evidently not confessing everything, a loud terrible scene ensued; which friedrich wilhelm, the unhappy father, winded up by drawing his sword to run the unnatural son through the body. old general mosel, commandant of wesel, sprang between them, "sire, cut me to death, but spare your son!" and the sword was got back to its scabbard; and the prince lodged in a separate room, two sentries with fixed bayonets keeping watch over him. friedrich wilhelm did not see his face again for twelve months to come,--"twelve months and three days." military gentlemen of due grimness interrogated the prince next evening, [seckendorf (in forster, iii. ).] from a paper drawn up by his majesty in the interim. prince confesses little: did design to get across the rhine to landau; thence to strasburg, paris, in the strictest incognito; intended to volunteer there, thought he might take french service, profoundly incognito, and signalize himself in the italian war (just expected to break out), which might have recovered him some favor from his majesty: does not tell clearly where his money came from; shy extremely of elucidating katte and keith;--in fact, as we perceive, struggles against mendacity, but will not tell the whole truth. "let him lie in ward, then; and take what doom the laws have appointed for the like of him!" divine laws, are they not? well, yes, your majesty, divine and human;--or are there perhaps no laws but the human sort, completely explicit in this case? "he is my colonel at least," thinks friedrich wilhelm, "and tried to desert and make others desert. if a rebellious crown-prince, breaking his father's heart, find the laws still inarticulate; a deserting colonel of the potsdam regiment finds them speak plain enough. let him take the answer they give him?" dumoulin, in the mean while, can make nothing of keith, the runaway lieutenant. dumoulin, with his sagacious organ, soon came upon the scent of keith; and has discovered these things about him: one evening, a week before his majesty arrived, sunday evening, th august, , [relatio ex actis: in preuss, iv. .] lieutenant keith, doubtless smelling something, saddled his horse as above mentioned, decided to have a ride in the country this fine evening, and issued out at the brunen gate of wesel. he is on the right bank of the rhine; pleasant yellow fields on this hand and that. he ambles slowly, for a space; then gradually awakens into speed, into full speed; arrives, within a couple of hours, at dingden, a village in the munster territory, safe over the prussian border, by the shortest line: and from dingden rides at more leisure, but without losing time, into the dutch overyssel region, straight towards the hague. he must be in the hague? said dumoulin to the official persons, on arriving there,--to meinertshagen the prussian ambassador there, [seckendorf (forster, iii. ).] and to keppel, dutch official gentleman who was once ambassador at berlin. prussian ambassador applies, and again applies, in the highest quarters; but we fear they are slack. dumoulin discovers that the man was certainly here; keppel readily admits, he had keith to dinner a few days ago: but where keith now is, keppel cannot form the least guess. dumoulin suspects he is with lord chesterfield, the english ambassador here. a light was seen, for a night or two, in one of the garret-rooms of lord chesterfield's house,--probably keith reading?--but keith is not to be heard of, on inquiry there; and the very light has now gone out. the colonel at least, distinguished english lord is gone to england in these days; but his german secretary is not gone: the house is inviolable, impregnable to prussia. who knows, in spite of the light going out, but keith is still there, merely with a window shutter to screen him? one morning, it becomes apparent keith is not there. one morning, a gentleman at the seaside is admiring dutch fishing-skiffs, and how they do sail, "pooh, sir, that is nothing!" answers a man in multiplex breeches: "the other night i went across to england in one, with an excellency's messenger who could not wait!"--truth is, the chesterfield secretary, who forbade lights, took the first good night for conveying keith to scheveningen and the seaside; where a fisher-boat was provided for him; which carried him, frail craft as it was, safe across to england. once there, the authorities took pity on the poor fellow;--furnished the modicum of cash and help; sent him with admiral norris to assist the portuguese, menaced with spanish war at this time; among whom he gradually rose to be major of horse. friedrich wilhelm cited him by tap of drum three times in wesel, and also in the gazettes, native and dutch; then, as he did not come, nailed an effigy of him (cut in four, if i remember) on the gallows there; and confiscated any property he had. keith had more pedigree than property; was of poberow in pommern; son of poor gentlefolks there. he sent no word of himself to prussia, for the next ten years; so that he had become a kind of myth to many people; to his poor mother among the rest, who has her tragical surmises about him. he will appear again; but not to much purpose. his brother, the page keith, is packed into the fusileer regiment, at wesel here; and there walks sentry, unheard of for the rest of his life. so much for the keiths. [preuss: _friedrich mit seinen verwandten und freunden,_ pp. , .--see, on this and the other points, pollnitz, _memoiren, _ ii. - (and correct his many blunders).] other difficulty there is as to the prison of the prince. wesel is a strong town; but for obvious reasons one nearer berlin, farther from the frontier, would be preferable. towards berlin, however, there is no route all on prussian ground: from these divided cleve countries we have to cross a bit of hanover, a bit of hessen-cassel: suppose these serene highnesses were to interfere? not likely they will interfere, answer ancient military men, of due grimness; at any rate, we can go a roundabout road, and they need not know! that is the method settled on; neighborhood of berlin, clearly somewhere there, must be the place? old castle of mittenwalde, in the wusterhausen environs, let that be the first resting-point, then; rochow, waldau, and the wesel fusileer-colonel here, sure men, with a trooper or two for escort, shall conduct the prisoner. by treuenbrietzen, by circuitous roads: swift, silent, steady,--and with vigilance, as you shall answer!--these preliminaries settled, friedrich wilhelm drives off homewards, black care riding behind him. he reaches berlin, sunday, th august; finds a world gone all to a kind of doomsday with him there, poor gentleman. scene at berlin on majesty's arrival. on sunday evening, th august, , his majesty, who had rested overnight at potsdam from his rapid journey, drove into berlin between four and five in the afternoon. deserter fritz is following, under escort of his three military gentlemen, at a slower rate and by circuitous routes, so as to avoid the territories of hanover and hessen,--towards mittenwalde in the wusterhausen neighborhood. the military gentlemen are vigilant as argus, and, though pitying the poor prince, must be rigorous as rhadamanthus. his attempts at escape, of which tradition mentions more than one, they will not report to papa, nor even notice to the prince himself; but will take care to render futile, one and all: his majesty may be secure on that score. the scenes that follow are unusual in royal history; and having been reported in the world with infinite noise and censure, made up of laughter and horror, it will behoove us to be the more exact in relating them as they actually befell. very difficult to pull, out of that ravelled cart-load of chaotic thrums, here a thread and there a thread, capable of being brought to the straight state, and woven into legible narrative! but perhaps, by that method the mingled laughter and horror will modify itself a little. what we can well say is, that pity also ought not to be wanting. the next six months were undoubtedly by far the wretchedest of friedrich wilhelm's life. the poor king, except that he was not conscious of intending wrong, but much the reverse, walked in the hollow night of gehenna, all that while, and was often like to be driven mad by the turn things had taken. here is scene first: wilhelmina reports his majesty's arrival that sunday afternoon, to the following effect; she was present in the adventure, and not a spectatress only:-- "the queen was alone in his majesty's apartment, waiting for him as he approached. at sight of her, in the distance, he called out: 'your losel of a son (votre indigne fils) has ended at last; you have done with him,' or words to that effect. 'what,' cried the queen, 'you have had the barbarity to kill him?' 'yes, i tell you,--but where is the sealed desk?' the queen went to her own apartment to fetch it; i ran in to her there for a moment: she was out of herself, wringing her hands, crying incessantly, and said without ceasing: 'mon dieu, mon fils (o god, my son)!' breath failed me; i fell fainting into the arms of madame de sonsfeld."--the queen took away the writing-case; king tore out the letters, and went off; upon which the queen came down again to us. "we learned from some attendant that, at least, my brother was not dead. the king now came back. we all ran to kiss his hands; but me he no sooner noticed than rage and fury took possession of him. he became black in the face, his eyes sparkling fire, his mouth foaming. 'infamous canaille,' said he; 'darest thou show thyself before me? go, keep thy scoundrel of a brother company!' and so saying, he seized me with one hand, slapping me on the face with the other,'--clenched as a fist (poing),--'several blows; one of which struck me on the temple, so that i fell back, and should have split my head against a corner of the wainscot, had not madame de sonsfeld caught me by the head-dress and broken the fall. i lay on the ground without consciousness. the king, in a frenzy, was for striking me with his feet; had not the queen, my sisters, and the rest, run between, and those who were present prevented him. they all ranked themselves round me, which gave mesdames de kamecke and sonsfeld time to pick me up. they put me in a chair in the embrasure of a window; threw water on my face to bring me to life: which care i lamentably reproached them with, death being a thousand times better, in the pass things had come to. the queen kept shrieking, her firmness had quite left her: she wrung her hands, and ran in despair up and down the room. the king's face was so disfigured with rage, it was frightful to look upon. the little ones were on their knees, begging for me,"--[wilhelmina, i. - .]--poor little beings, what a group: amelia, the youngest girl, about six; henri, in his bits of trousers, hardly over four!--for the rest, i perceive, this room was on the first or a lower floor, and such noises were very audible. the guard had turned out at the noise; and a crowd was collecting to see and hear: "move on! move on!" "the king had now changed his tune: he admitted that my brother was still alive; but vowed horribly he would put him to death, and lay me fast within four walls for the rest of my life. he accused me of being the prince's accomplice, whose crime was high treason;--also of having an intrigue of love with katte, to whom, he said, i had borne several children." the timid gouvernante flamed up at this unheard-of insult: "'that is not true,' said she, fiercely; 'whoever has told your majesty such a thing has told a lie!' 'oh, spare my brother, and i will marry the duke of weissenfels,' whimpered i; but in the great noise he did not hear; and while i strove to repeat it louder, sonsfeld clapt her handkerchief on my face. "hustling aside to get rid of the handkerchief, i saw katte crossing the square. four soldiers were conducting him to the king; trunks, my brother's and his own, sealed, were coming on in the rear. pale and downcast, he took off his hat to salute me,"--poor katte, to me always so prostrate in silent respect, and now so unhappy! a moment after, the king, hearing he was come, went out exclaiming, 'now i shall have proof about the scoundrel fritz and the offscouring (canaille) wilhelmina; clear proofs to cut the heads off them.'"--the two hofdames again interfered; and one of them, kamecke it was, rebuked him; told him, in the tone of a prophetess, to take care what he was doing. whom his majesty gazed into with astonishment, but rather with respect than with anger, saying, "your intentions are good!" and so his majesty flung out, seeking katte; and vanished: wilhelmina saw no more of him for about a year after; being ordered to her room, and kept prisoner there on low diet, with sentries guarding her doors, and no outlook but the worst horror her imagination pleased to paint. this is the celebrated assault of paternal majesty on wilhelmina; the rumor of which has gone into all lands, exciting wonder and horror, but could not be so exact as this account at first hand. naturally the crowd of street-passengers, once dispersed by the guard, carried the matter abroad, and there was no end of sympathetic exaggerations. report ran in berlin, for example, that the poor princess was killed, beaten or trampled to death; which we clearly see she was not. voltaire, in that mass of angry calumnies, very mendacious indeed, which he calls vie privee du roi de prusse, mentions the matter with emphasis; and says farther, the princess once did him (voltaire) the "honor to show him a black mark she carried on her breast ever after;"--which is likelier to be false than true. captain guy dickens, the legationary captain, who seems a clear, ingenuous and ingenious man, and of course had access to the highest circles of refined rumor, reports the matter about ten days after, with several errors, in this manner:-- "berlin, th september, . four or five days ago [by the almanac nine, and directly on his majesty's return, which dickens had announced a week ago without that fact attached], the king dreadfully ill-treated wilhelmina in bed [not in bed at all]; whole castle (schloss or palace) was alarmed; guard turned out,"--to clear away the crowd, as we perceive. not properly a crowd, such was not permissible there: but a stagnation of the passers-by would naturally ensue on that esplanade; till the guard turned out, and indicated with emphasis, "move on!" dickens hears farther that "the queen fares no better;"--such is the state of rumor in berlin at present. poor katte had a hard audience of it too. he fell at friedrich wilhelm's feet; and was spurned and caned;--for the rest, beyond what was already evident, had little or nothing to confess: intention of flight and of accompanying in flight very undeniable; although preliminaries and ulterior conditions of said flight not perfectly known to katte; known only that the thought of raising trouble in foreign courts, or the least vestige of treason against his majesty, had not entered even into their dreams. a name or two of persons who had known, or guessed, of these operations, is wrung from katte;--name of a lieutenant spaen, for one; who, being on guard, had admitted katte into potsdam once or twice in disguise:--for him and for the like of him, of whatever rank or whichever sex, let arrests be made out, and the scent as with sleuth-hounds be diligently followed on all sides; and katte, stript of his uniform, be locked up in the grimmest manner. berlin, with the rumor of these things, is a much-agitated city. chapter viii. -- sequel to crown-prince and friends. as for the crown-prince, prosecuting his circuitous route, he arrives safe at mittenwalde; is lodged in the old castle there, i think, for two nights (but the date, in these indexless books, is blown away again), in a room bare of all things, with sentries at the door; and looks out, expecting grumkow and the officials to make assault on him. one of these officials, a certain "gerber, fiscal general," who, as head of prussian fiscals (kind of public prosecutor, or supreme essence of bailiffs, catchpoles and grand-juries all in one), wears a red cloak,--gave the prince a dreadful start. red cloak is the berlin hangman's or headsman's dress; and poor friedrich had the idea his end had summarily come in this manner. soon seeing it was otherwise, his spirits recovered, perhaps rose by the shock. he fronted grumkow and the officials, with a high, almost contemptuous look; answered promptly,--if possible, without lying, and yet without telling anything;--showed self-possession, pride; retorted sometimes, "have you nothing more to ask?" grumkow finding there was no way made into anything, not even into the secret of the writingcase and the royal women's operations there, began at last, as wilhelmina says, to hint, that in his majesty's service there were means of bringing out the truth in spite of refractory humors; that there was a thing called the rack, not yet abolished in his prussian majesty's dominions! friedrich owned afterwards, his blood ran cold. however, he put on a high look: "a hangman, such as you, naturally takes pleasure in talking of his tools and his trade: but on me they will not produce any effect. i have owned everything;--and almost regret to have done so. for it is not my part to stand questionings and bandy responses with a coquin comme vous, scoundrel like you," reports wilhelmina, [i. .] though we hope the actual term was slightly less candid!--grumkow gathered his notes together; and went his ways, with the man in red cloak and the rest; thus finishing the scene in mittenwalde. mittenwalde, which we used to know long since, in our wusterhausen rides with poor duhan; little thinking what awaited us there one day. mittenwalde being finished, friedrich, on monday, th september, , is sent forward to custrin, a strong little town in a quiet country, some sixty or seventy miles eastward of berlin. on the evening of the th he finds himself lodged in a strong room of the fortress there,--room consisting af bare walls lighted from far up; no furniture, not even the needfulest; everything indicating that the proud spirit and the iron laws shall here have their duel out at leisure, and see which is stronger. his sword was taken from him at wesel; sword, uniform, every mark of dignity, all are now gone: he is clad in brown prison-dress of the plainest cut and cloth; his diet is fixed at tenpence a day ("to be got from the cook's shop, six groschen for dinner, four for supper"); [order, th september, (in forster, i. ).] food to be cut for him, no knife allowed. room is to be opened, morning, noon and evening, "on the average not above four minutes each time;" lights, or single tallow-light, to be extinguished at seven p.m. absolute solitude; no flute allowed, far from it; no books allowed, except the bible and a prayer-book,--or perhaps noltenius's manual, if he took a hankering for it. there, shut out from the babble of fools, and conversing only with the dumb veracities, with the huge inarticulate meanings of destiny, necessity and eternity, let the fool of a fritz bethink himself, if there is any thought in him! there, among the bogs of the oder, the very sedges getting brown all round him, and the very curlews flying off for happier climes, let him wait, till the question of his doom, rather an abstruse question, ripen in the royal breast. as for wilhelmina, she is close prisoner in her apartments in the berlin palace, sentries pacing at every outlet, for many months to come. wilhelmina almost rather likes it, such a dog of an existence has she had hitherto, for want of being well let alone. she plays, reads; composes music; smuggles letters to and from mamma,--one in pencil, from my brother even, o heavens! wilhelmina weeps, now and then, with her good sonsfeld; hopes nevertheless there will be some dawn to this ragnarok, or general "twilight of the gods." friedrich wilhelm, convinced that england has had a hand in this treason, signifies officially to his excellency captain dickens, that the english negotiations are concluded; that neither in the way of single-marriage nor of double-marriage will he have anything more to do with england. "well," answers england, "who can help it? negotiation was not quite of our seeking. let it so end!" [dickens's despatch, th september, ; and harrington's answer to it, of th october: seckendorf (in forster, iii. ), d september.]--nay at dinner one day (seckendorf reports, while fritz was on the road to custrin) he proposes the toast, "downfall of england!" [seckendorf (in forster, iii. ).] and would have had the queen drink it; who naturally wept, but i conjecture could not be made to drink. her majesty is a weeping, almost broken-hearted woman; his majesty a raging, almost broken-hearted man. seckendorf and grumkow are, as it were, too victorious; and now have their apprehensions on that latter score. but they look on with countenances well veiled, and touch the helm judiciously in tobacco-parliament, intent on the nearest harbor of refuge. her majesty nevertheless steadily persists; merely sinks deeper out of sight with her english schemes; ducking till the wave go by. messages, desperate appeals still go, through mamsell bulow, wilhelmina's hofdame, and other channels; nay wilhelmina thinks there were still intentions on the part of england, and that the non-fulfilment of them at the last moment turned on accident; english "courier arrived some hours too late," thinks wilhelmina. [wilhelmina (i. , ), and preuss and others after her.] but that is a mistake. the negotiation, in spite of her majesty's endeavors, was essentially out; england, after such a message, could not, nor did, stir farther in the matter. in that writing-case his majesty found what we know; nothing but mysterious effects of female art, and no light whatever. it is a great source of wrath and of sorrow to him, that neither in the writing-case, nor in katte's or the prince's so-called "confessions," can the thing be seen into. a deeper bottom it must have, thinks his majesty, but knows not what or where. to overturn the country, belike; and fling the kaiser, and european balance of power, bottom uppermost? me they presumably meant to poison! he tells seckendorf one day. [dickens's despatch, th september, .] was ever father more careful for his children, soul and body? anxious, to excess, to bring them up in orthodox nurture and admonition: and this is how they reward me, herr feldzeugmeister! "had he honestly confessed, and told me the whole truth, at wesel, i would have made it up with him quietly there. but now it must go its lengths; and the whole world shall be judge between us." [seckendorf (forster, ubi supra), d september.] his majesty is in a flaming height. he arrests, punishes and banishes, where there is trace of cooperation or connection with deserter fritz and his schemes. the bulows, brother and sister, brother in the king's service, sister in wilhelmina's, respectable goldstick people, originally of hanover, are hurled out to lithuania and the world's end: let them live in memel, and repent as they can. minister knyphausen, always of english tendencies, he, with his wife,--to whom it is specially hard, while general schwerin, gallant witty kurt, once of mecklenburg, stays behind,--is ordered to disappear, and follow his private rural business far off; no minister, ever more. the lieutenant spaen of the giant regiment, who kept false watch, and did not tell of katte, gets cashiering and a year in spandau. he wandered else-whither, and came to something afterwards, poor spaen. [preuss, i. , .] bookseller hanau with this bad fritz's books: to memel with him also; let him deal in more orthodox kinds of literature there. it is dangerous to have lent the crown-prince money, contrary to the royal edict; lucky if loss of your money will settle the account. witness french montholieu, for one; count, or whatever he styled himself; nailed to the gallows (in effigy) after he had fled. it is dangerous to have spoken kindly to the crown-prince, or almost to have been spoken to by him. doris ritter, a comely enough good girl, nothing of a beauty, but given to music, potsdam cantor's (precentor's) daughter, has chanced to be standing in the door, perhaps to be singing within doors, once or twice, when the prince passed that way: prince inquired about her music, gave her music, spoke a civility, as young men will,--nothing more, upon my honor; though his majesty believes there was much more; and condemns poor doris to be whipt by the beadle, and beat hemp for three years. rhadamanthus is a strict judge, your majesty; and might be a trifle better informed!--poor doris got out of this sad pickle, on her own strength; and wedded, and did well enough,--prince and king happily leaving her alone thenceforth. voltaire, twenty years after, had the pleasure of seeing her at berlin: "wife of one shommers, clerk of the hackney-coach office,"--read, schomer, farmer of the berlin hackney-coach enterprise in general; decidedly a poor man. wife, by this time, was grown hard enough of feature: "tall, lean; looked like a sibyl; not the least appearance how she could ever have deserved to be whipt for a prince." [voltaire, _oeuvres_ (calumnious _vie privee du roi de prusse_), ii. , . preuss, i. , .] the excellent tutor of the crown-prince, good duhan de jandun, for what fault or complicity we know not, is hurled off to memel; ordered to live there,--on what resources is equally unknown. apparently his fault was the general one, of having miseducated the prince, and introduced these french literatures, foreign poisonous elements of thought and practice into the mind of his pupil, which have ruined the young man. for his majesty perceives that there lies the source of it; that only total perversion of the heart and judgment, first of all, can have brought about these dreadful issues of conduct. and indeed his majesty understands, on credible information, that deserter fritz entertains very heterodox opinions; opinion on predestination, for one;--which is itself calculated to be the very mother of mischief, in a young mind inclined to evil. the heresy about predestination, or the "freie gnadenwahl (election by free grace)," as his majesty terms it, according to which a man is preappointed from all eternity either to salvation or the opposite (which is fritz's notion, and indeed is calvin's, and that of many benighted creatures, this editor among them), appears to his majesty an altogether shocking one; nor would the whole synod of dort, or calvin, or st. augustine in person, aided by a thirty-editor power, reconcile his majesty's practical judgment to such a tenet. what! may not deserter fritz say to himself, even now, or in whatever other deeps of sin he may fall into, "i was foredoomed to it: how could i, or how can i, help it?" the mind of his majesty shudders, as if looking over the edge of an abyss. he is meditating much whether nothing can be done to save the lost fritz, at least the soul of him, from this horrible delusion:--hurls forth your fine duhan, with his metaphysics, to remote memel, as the first step. and signifies withal, though as yet only historically and in a speculative way, to finkenstein and kalkstein themselves, that their method of training up a young soul, to do god's will, and accomplish useful work in this world, does by no means appear to the royal mind an admirable one! [his letter to them ( d december, ) in forster, ii. .] finkenstein and kalkstein were always covertly rather of the queen's party, and now stand reprimanded, and in marked disfavor. that the treasonous mystery of this crown-prince (parricidal, it is likely, and tending to upset the universe) must be investigated to the very bottom, and be condignly punished, probably with death, his majesty perceives too well; and also what terrible difficulties, formal and essential, there will be, but whatever become of his perishable life, ought not, if possible, the soul of him to be saved from the claws of satan! "claws of satan;" "brand from the burning;" "for christ our saviour's sake;" "in the name of the most merciful god, father, son and holy ghost, amen:"--so friedrich wilhelm phrases it, in those confused old documents and cabinet letters of his; [forster, i. , , &c.] which awaken a strange feeling in the attentive reader; and show us the ruggedest of human creatures melted into blubbering tenderness, and growling huskily something which we perceive is real prayer. here has a business fallen out, such as seldom occurred before!-- chapter ix. -- court-martial on crown-prince and consorts. the rumor of these things naturally fills all minds, and occupies all human tongues, in berlin and prussia, though an edict threatens, that the tongues shall be cut out which speak of them in any way, [dickens, of th november, .] and sounds far and wide into foreign courts and countries, where there is no such edict. friedrich wilhelm's conduct, looked at from without, appears that of a hideous royal ogre, or blind anthropophagous polyphemus fallen mad. looked at from within, where the polyphemus has his reasons, and a kind of inner rushlight to enlighten his path; and is not bent on man-eating, but on discipline in spite of difficulties,--it is a wild enough piece of humanity, not so much ludicrous as tragical. never was a royal bear so led about before by a pair of conjuring pipers in the market, or brought to such a pass in his dancing for them! "general ginkel, the dutch ambassador here," writes dickens, "told me of an interview he had with the king;" being ordered by their high mightinesses to solicit his majesty in this matter. king "harbors 'most monstrous wicked designs, not fit to be spoken of in words,' reports ginkel. 'it is certain,' added he, 'if the king of prussia continue in the mind he is in at present, we shall see scenes here as wicked and bloody as any that were ever heard of since the creation of the world.' 'will sacrifice his whole family,' not the crown-prince alone; 'everybody except grumkow being, as he fancies, in conspiracy against him.' poor enchanted king!--'and all these things he said with such imprecations and disordered looks, foaming at the mouth all the while, as it was terrible either to see or hear.'" that is ginkel's report, as dickens conveys it. [despatch, th september, .] another time, on new order, a month later, when ginkel went again to speak a word for the poor prisoner, he found his majesty clothed not in delirious thunder, but in sorrowful thick fog; ginkel "was the less able to judge what the king of prussia meant to do with his son, as it was evident the king himself did not know." [ib. th october.] poor friedrich wilhelm, through these months, wanders about, shifting from room to room, in the night-time, like a man possessed by evil fiends; "orders his carriage for wusterhausen at two in the morning," but finds he is no better there, and returns; drinks a great deal, "has not gone to bed sober for a month past." [ib. th december, .] one night he comes gliding like a perturbed ghost, about midnight, with his candle in his hand, into the queen's apartment; says, wildly staring, "he thinks there is something haunting him:"--o feekin, erring disobedient wife, wilt not thou protect me, after all? whither can i fly when haunted, except to thee? feekin, like a prudent woman, makes no criticism; orders that his majesty's bed be made up in her apartment till these phenomena cease. [ib. th february, .] a much-agitated royal father. the question what is to be done with this unhappy crown-prince, a deserter from the army, a rebel against the paternal majesty, and a believer in the doctrine of election by free grace, or that a man's good or ill conduct is foredoomed upon him by decree of god,--becomes more intricate the longer one thinks of it. seckendorf and grumkow, alarmed at being too victorious, are set against violent high methods; and suggest this and that consideration: "who is it that can legally try, condemn, or summon to his bar, a crown-prince? he is prince of the empire, as well as your majesty's son!"--"well, he is heir of the sovereign majesty in prussia, too; and colonel in the potsdam guards!" answers friedrich wilhelm. at length, after six or seven weeks of abstruse meditation, it is settled in tobacco-parliament and the royal breast, that katte and the crown-prince, as deserters from the prussian army, can and shall be tried by court-martial; to that no power, on the earth or out of it, can have any objection worth attending to. let a fair court-martial of our highest military characters be selected and got ready. let that, as a voice of rhadamanthus, speak upon the two culprits; and tell us what is to be done. by the middle of october, things on friedrich wilhelm's side have got so far. crown-prince in custrin. poor friedrich meanwhile has had a grim time of it, these two months back; left alone, in coarse brown prison-dress, within his four bare walls at custrin; in uninterrupted, unfathomable colloquy with the destinies and the necessities there. the king's stern orders must be fulfilled to the letter; the crown-prince is immured in that manner. at berlin, there are the wildest rumors as to the state he has fallen into; "covered with rags and vermin, unshaven, no comb allowed him, lights his own fire," says one testimony, which captain dickens thinks worth reporting. for the truth is, no unofficial eye can see the crown-prince, or know what state he is in. and we find, in spite of the edict, "tongues," not "cut out," kept wagging at a high rate. "people of all ranks are unspeakably indignant" at certain heights of the business: "margravine albert said publicly, 'a tyrant as bad as nero!'" [dickens, th november, d december, .] how long the crown-prince's defiant humor held out, we are not told. by the middle of october there comes proposal of "entire confession" from the prince; and though, when papa sends deputies accordingly, there is next to nothing new confessed, and papa's anger blazes out again, probably we may take this as the turning-point on his son's part. with him, of course, that mood of mind could not last. there is no wildest lion but, finding his bars are made of iron, ceases to bite them. the crown-prince there, in his horror, indignation and despair, had a lucid human judgment in him, too; loyal to facts, and well knowing their inexorable nature, just sentiments are in this young man, not capable of permanent distortion into spasm by any form of injustice laid on them. it is not long till he begins to discern, athwart this terrible, quasi-infernal element, that so the facts are; and that nothing but destruction, and no honor that were not dishonor, will be got by not conforming to the facts. my father may be a tyrant, and driven mad against me: well, well, let not me at least go mad! grumkow is busy on the mild side of the business; of course grumkow and all official men. grumkow cannot but ask himself this question among others: how if the king should suddenly die upon us! grumkow is out at custrin, and again out; explaining to the prince, what the enormous situation is; how inflexible, inexorable, and of peril and horror incalculable to mother and sister and self and royal house; and that there is one possibility of good issue, and only one: that of loyally yielding, where one cannot resist. by degrees, some lurid troublous but perceptible light-gleam breaks athwart the black whirlwind of our indignation and despair; and saner thoughts begin to insinuate themselves. "obey, thou art not the strongest, there are stronger than thou! all men, the highest among them, are called to learn obedience." moreover, the first sweep of royal fury being past, his majesty's stern regulations at custrin began to relax in fulfilment; to be obeyed only by those immediately responsible, and in letter rather than in spirit even by those. president von munchow who is head of the domain-kammer, chief representative of government at custrin, and resides in the fortress there, ventures after a little, the prince's doors being closed as we saw, to have an orifice bored through the floor above, and thereby to communicate with the prince, and sympathetically ask, what he can do for him? many things, books among others, are, under cunning contrivance, smuggled in by the judicious munchow, willing to risk himself in such a service. for example, munchow has a son, a clever boy of seven years old; who, to the wonder of neighbors, goes into child's-petticoats again; and testifies the liveliest desire to be admitted to the prince, and bear him company a little! surely the law of no-company does not extend to that of an innocent child? the innocent child has a row of pockets all round the inside of his long gown; and goes laden, miscellaneously, like a ship of the desert, or cockboat not forbidden to cross the line. then there are stools, one stool at least indispensable to human nature; and the inside of this, once you open it, is a chest-of-drawers, containing paper, ink, new literature and much else. no end to munchow'a good-will, and his ingenuity is great. [preuss, i. .] a captain fouquet also, furthered i think by the old dessauer, whose man he is, comes to custrin garrison, on duty or as volunteer, by and by. he is an old friend of the prince's;--ran off, being the dessauer's little page, to the siege of stralsund, long ago, to be the dessauer's little soldier there:--a ready-witted, hot-tempered, highly estimable man; and his real duty here is to do the prince what service may be possible. he is often with the prince; their light is extinguished precisely at seven o'clock: "very well, lieutenant," he would say, "you have done your orders to the crown-prince's light. but his majesty has no concern with captain fouquet's candles!" and thereupon would light a pair. nay, i have heard of lieutenants who punctually blew out the prince's light, as a matter of duty and command; and then kindled it again, as a civility left free to human nature. in short, his majesty's orders can only be fulfilled to the letter; commandant lepel and all officers are willing not to see where they can help seeing. even in the letter his majesty's orders are severe enough. sentence of court-martial. meanwhile the court-martial, selected with intense study, installs itself at copenick; and on the th of october commences work. this deserter crown-prince and his accomplices, especially katte his chief accomplice, what is to be done with them? copenick lies on the road to custrin, within a morning's drive of berlin; there is an ancient palace here, and room for a court-martial. "que faire? ils ont des canons!" said the old prussian raths, wandering about in these woods, when gustavus and his swedes were at the door. "que faire?" may the new military gentlemen think to themselves, here again, while the brown leaves rustle down upon them, after a hundred years! the court consists of a president, lieutenant-general schulenburg, an elderly malplaquet gentleman of good experience; one of the many schulenburgs conspicuous for soldiering, and otherwise, in those times. he is nephew of george i.'s lean mistress; who also was a schulenburg originally, and conspicuous not for soldiering. lean mistress we say; not the fat one, or cataract of tallow, with eyebrows like a cart-wheel, and dim coaly disks for eyes, who was george i.'s half-sister, probably not his mistress at all; and who now, as countess of darlington so called, sits at isleworth with good fat pensions, and a tame raven come-of-will,--probably the soul of george i. in some form. [see walpole, _reminiscences._] not this one, we say:--but the thread-paper duchess of kendal, actual ex-mistress; who tore her hair on the road when apoplexy overtook poor george, and who now attends chapel diligently, poor old anatomy or lean human nail-rod. for the sake of the english reader searching into what is called "history," i, with indignation, endeavor to discriminate these two beings once again; that each may be each, till both are happily forgotten to all eternity. it was the latter, lean may-pole or nail-rod one, that was aunt of schulenburg, the elderly malplaquet gentleman who now presides at copenick. and let the reader remember him; for he will turn up repeatedly again. the court consisted farther of three major-generals, among whom i name only grumkow (major-general by rank though more of a diplomatist and black-artist than a soldier), and schwerin, kurt von schwerin of mecklenburg (whom madam knyphausen regrets, in her now exile to the country); three colonels, derschau one of them; three lieutenant-colonels, three majors and three captains, all of whom shall be nameless here. lastly come three of the "auditor" or the judge-advocate sort: mylius, the compiler of sad prussian quartos, known to some; gerber, whose red cloak has frightened us once already; and the auditor of katte's regiment. a complete court-martial, and of symmetrical structure, by the rule of three;--of whose proceedings we know mainly the result, nor seek much to know more. this court met on wednesday, th october, , in the little town of copenick; and in six days had ended, signed, sealed and despatched to his majesty; and got back to berlin on the tuesday next. his majesty, who is now at wusterhausen, in hunting time, finds conclusions to the following effect:-- accomplices of the crown-prince are two: first, lieutenant keith, actual deserter (who cannot be caught): to be hanged in effigy, cut in four quarters, and nailed to the gallows at wesel:--good, says his majesty. secondly, lieutenant katte of the gens-d'armes, intended deserter, not actually deserting, and much tempted thereto: all things considered, perpetual fortress arrest to lieutenant katte:--not good this; bad this, thinks majesty; this provokes from his majesty an angry rebuke to the too lax court-martial. rebuke which can still be read, in growling, unlucid phraseology; but with a rhadamanthine idea clear enough in it, and with a practical purport only too clear: that katte was a sworn soldier, of the gens-d'armes even, or body-guard of the prussian majesty; and did nevertheless, in the teeth of his oath, "worship the rising sun" when minded to desert; did plot and colleague with foreign courts in aid of said rising sun, and of an intended high crime against the prussian majesty itself on rising sun's part; far from at once revealing the same, as duty ordered lieutenant katte to do. that katte's crime amounts to high-treason (crimen loesoe majestatis); that the rule is, fiat justitia, et pereat mundus;--and that, in brief, katte's doom is, and is hereby declared to be, death. death by the gallows and hot pincers is the usual doom of traitors; but his majesty will say in this case, death by the sword and headsman simply; certain circumstances moving the royal clemency to go so far, no farther. and the court-martial has straightway to apprise katte of this same: and so doing, "shall say, that his majesty is sorry for katte: but that it is better he die than that justice depart out of the world." [preuss, i. .] this is the iron doom of katte; which no prayer or influence of mortal will avail to alter,--lest justice depart out of the world. katte's father is a general of rank, commandant of konigsberg at this moment; katte's grandfather by the mother's side, old fieldmarshal wartensleben, is a man in good favor with friedrich wilhelm, and of high esteem and mark in his country for half a century past. but all this can effect nothing. old wartensleben thinks of the daughter he lost; for happily katte's mother is dead long since. old wartensleben writes to friedrich wilhelm; his mournful letter, and friedrich wilhelm's mournful but inexorable answer, can be read in the histories; but show only what we already know. katte's mother, fieldmarshal wartensleben's daughter, died in ; leaving katte only two years old. he is now twenty-six; very young for such grave issues; and his fate is certainly very hard. poor young soul, he did not resist farther, or quarrel with the inevitable and inexorable. he listened to chaplain muller of the gens-d'armes; admitted profoundly, after his fashion, that the great god was just, and the poor katte sinful, foolish, only to be saved by miracle of mercy; and piously prepared himself to die on these terms. there are three letters of his to his grandfather, which can still be read, one of them in wilhelmina's book, [wilhelmina, i. .] the sound of it like that of dirges borne on the wind, wilhelmina evidently pities katte very tenderly; in her heart she has a fine royal-maiden kind of feeling to the poor youth. he did heartily repent and submit; left with chaplain muller a paper of pious considerations, admonishing the prince to submit. these are katte's last employments in his prison at berlin, after sentence had gone forth. katte's end, th november, . on sunday evening, th november, it is intimated to him, unexpectedly at the moment, that he has to go to custrin, and there die;--carriage now waiting at the gate. katte masters the sudden flurry; signifies that all is ready, then; and so, under charge of his old major and two brother officers, who, and chaplain muller, are in the carriage with him, a troop of his own old cavalry regiment escorting, he leaves berlin (rather on sudden summons); drives all night, towards custrin and immediate death. words of sympathy were not wanting, to which katte answered cheerily; grim faces wore a cloud of sorrow for the poor youth that night. chaplain muller's exhortations were fervent and continual; and, from time to time, there were heard, hoarsely melodious through the damp darkness and the noise of wheels, snatches of "devotional singing," led by muller. it was in the gray of the winter morning, th november, , that katte arrived in custrin garrison. he took kind leave of major and men: adieu, my brothers; good be with you evermore!--and, about nine o'clock he is on the road towards the rampart of the castle, where a scaffold stands. katte wore, by order, a brown dress exactly like the prince's; the prince is already brought down into a lower room to see katte as he passes (to "see katte die," had been the royal order; but they smuggled that into abeyance); and katte knows he shall see him. faithful muller was in the death-car along with katte: and he had adjoined to himself one besserer, the chaplain of the garrison, in this sad function, since arriving. here is a glimpse from besserer, which we may take as better than nothing:-- "his (katte's) eyes were mostly directed to god; and we (muller and i), on our part, strove to hold his heart up heavenwards, by presenting the examples of those who had died in the lord,--as of god's son himself, and stephen, and the thief on the cross,--till, under such discoursing, we approached the castle. here, after long wistful looking about, he did get sight of his beloved jonathan," royal highness the crown-prince, "at a window in the castle; from whom he, with the politest and most tender expression, spoken in french, took leave, with no little emotion of sorrow." [letter to katte's father (extract, in preuss, _friedrich mit freunden und verwandten,_ p. ).] president munchow and the commandant were with the prince; whose emotions one may fancy; but not describe. seldom did any prince or man stand in such a predicament. vain to say, and again say: "in the name of god, i ask you, stop the execution till i write to the king!" impossible that; as easily stop the course of the stars. and so here katte comes; cheerful loyalty still beaming on his face, death now nigh. "pardonnez-moi, mon cher katte!" cried priedrich in a tone: pardon me, dear katte; oh, that this should be what i have done for you!--"death is sweet for a prince i love so well," said katte, "la mort est douce pour un si aimable prince;" [wilhelmina, i. ; preuss, i. .] and fared on,--round some angle of the fortress, it appears; not in sight of friedrich; who sank into a faint, and had seen his last glimpse of katte in this world. the body lay all day upon the scaffold, by royal order; and was buried at night obscurely in the common churchyard; friends, in silence, took mark of the place against better times,--and katte's dust now lies elsewhere, among that of his own kindred. "never was such a transaction before or since, in modern history," cries the angry reader: "cruel, like the grinding of human hearts under millstones, like--" or indeed like the doings of the gods, which are cruel, though not that alone? this is what, after much sorting and sifting, i could get to know about the definite facts of it. commentary, not likely to be very final at this epoch, the reader himself shall supply at discretion. end of book history of friedrich ii of prussia frederick the great by thomas carlyle book v.--double-marriage project, and what element it fell into.-- - . chapter i. -- double-marriage is decided on. we saw george i. at berlin in october, , looking out upon his little grandson drilling the cadets there; but we did not mention what important errand had brought his majesty thither. visits between hanover and berlin had been frequent for a long time back; the young queen of prussia, sometimes with her husband, sometimes without, running often over to see her father; who, even after his accession to the english crown, was generally for some months every year to be met with in those favorite regions of his. he himself did not much visit, being of taciturn splenetic nature: but this once he had agreed to return a visit they had lately made him,--where a certain weighty business had been agreed upon, withal; which his britannic majesty was to consummate formally, by treaty, when the meeting in berlin took effect. his britannic majesty, accordingly, is come; the business in hand is no other than that thrice-famous "double-marriage" of prussia with england; which once had such a sound in the ear of rumor, and still bulks so big in the archives of the eighteenth century; which worked such woe to all parties concerned in it; and is, in fact, a first-rate nuisance in the history of that poor century, as written hitherto. nuisance demanding urgently to be abated;--were that well possible at present. which, alas, it is not, to any great degree; there being an important young friedrich inextricably wrapt up in it, to whom it was of such vital or almost fatal importance! without a friedrich, the affair could be reduced to something like its real size, and recorded in a few pages; or might even, with advantage, be forgotten altogether, and become zero. more gigantic instance of much ado about nothing has seldom occurred in human annals;--had not there been a friedrich in the heart of it. crown-prince friedrich is still very young for marriage-speculations on his score: but mamma has thought good to take matters in time. and so we shall, in the next ensuing parts of this poor history, have to hear almost as much about marriage as in the foolishest three-volume novel, and almost to still less purpose. for indeed, in that particular, friedrich's young life may be called a romance flung hells-over-head; marriage being the one event there, round which all events turn,--but turn in the inverse or reverse way (as if the devil were in them); not only towards no happy goal for him or mamma, or us, but at last towards hardly any goal at all for anybody! so mad did the affair grow;--and is so madly recorded in those inextricable, dateless, chaotic books. we have now come to regions of narrative, which seem to consist of murky nothingness put on boil; not land, or water, or air, or fire, but a tumultuously whirling commixture of all the four;--of immense extent too. which must be got crossed, in some human manner. courage, patience, good reader! queen sophie dorothee has taken time by the forelock. already, for a dozen years, this matter has been treated of. queen sophie dorothee, ever since the birth of her wilhelmina, has had the notion of it; and, on her first visit afterwards to hanover, proposed it to "princess caroline,"--queen caroline of england who was to be, and who in due course was;--an excellent accomplished brandenburg-anspach lady, familiar from of old in the prussian court: "you, caroline, cousin dear, have a little prince, fritz, or let us call him fred, since he is to be english; little fred, who will one day, if all go right, be king of england. he is two years older than my little wilhelmina: why should not they wed, and the two chief protestant houses, and nations, thereby be united?" princess caroline was very willing; so was electress sophie, the great-grandmother of both the parties; so were the georges, father and grandfather of fred: little fred himself was highly charmed, when told of it; even little wilhelmina, with her dolls, looked pleasantly demure on the occasion. so it remained settled in fact, though not in form; and little fred (a florid milk-faced foolish kind of boy, i guess) made presents to his little prussian cousin, wrote bits of love-letters to her; and all along afterwards fancied himself, and at length ardently enough became, her little lover and intended,--always rather a little fellow:--to which sentiments wilhelmina signifies that she responded with the due maidenly indifference, but not in an offensive manner. after our prussian fritz's birth, the matter took a still closer form: "you, dear princess caroline, you have now two little princesses again, either of whom might suit my little fritzchen; let us take amelia, the second of them, who is nearest his age?" "agreed!" answered princess caroline again. "agreed!" answered all the parties interested: and so it was settled, that the marriage of prussia to england should be a double one, fred of hanover and england to wilhelmina, fritz of prussia to amelia; and children and parents lived thenceforth in the constant understanding that such, in due course of years, was to be the case, though nothing yet was formally concluded by treaty upon it. [pollnitz, _memoiren,_ ii. .] queen sophie dorothee of prussia was always eager enough for treaty, and conclusion to her scheme. true to it, she, as needle to the pole in all weathers; sometimes in the wildest weather, poor lady. nor did the hanover serene highnesses, at any time, draw back or falter: but having very soon got wafted across to england, into new more complex conditions, and wider anxieties in that new country, they were not so impressively eager as queen sophie, on this interesting point. electress sophie, judicious great-grandmother, was not now there: electress sophie had died about a month before queen anne; and never saw the english canaan, much as she had longed for it. george i., her son, a taciturn, rather splenetic elderly gentleman, very foreign in england, and oftenest rather sulky there and elsewhere, was not in a humor to be forward in that particular business. george i. had got into quarrel with his prince of wales, fred's father,--him who is one day to be george ii., always a rather foolish little prince, though his wife caroline was wisdom's self in a manner:--george i. had other much more urgent cares than that of marrying his disobedient foolish little prince of wales's offspring; and he always pleaded difficulties, acts of parliament that would be needed, and the like, whenever sophie dorothee came to visit him at hanover, and urge this matter. the taciturn, inarticulately thoughtful, rather sulky old gentleman, he had weighty burdens lying on him; felt fretted and galled, in many ways; and had found life, electoral and even royal, a deceptive sumptuosity, little better than a more or less extensive "feast of shells," next to no real meat or drink left in it to the hungry heart of man. wife sitting half-frantic in the castle of ahlden, waxing more and more into a gray-haired megaera (with whom sophie dorothee under seven seals of secrecy corresponds a little, and even the prince of wales is suspected of wishing to correspond); a foolish disobedient prince of wales; jacobite pretender people with their mar rebellions, with their alberoni combinations; an english parliament jangling and debating unmelodiously, whose very language is a mystery to us, nothing but walpole in dog-latin to help us through it: truly it is not a heaven-on-earth altogether, much as mother sophie and her foolish favorite, our disobedient prince of wales, might long for it! and the hanover tail, the robethons, bernstorfs, fabrices, even the blackamoor porters,--they are not beautiful either, to a taciturn majesty of some sense, if he cared about their doings or them. voracious, plunderous, all of them; like hounds, long hungry, got into a rich house which has no master, or a mere imaginary one. "menteris impudentissime," said walpole in his dog-latin once, in our royal presence, to one of these official plunderous gentlemen, "you tell an impudent lie!"--at which we only laughed. [horace walpole, _reminiscences of george i. and george ii._ (london, .)] his britannic majesty by no means wanted sense, had not his situation been incurably absurd. in his young time he had served creditably enough against the turks; twice commanded the reichs-army in the marlborough wars, and did at least testify his indignation at the inefficient state of it. his foreign politics, so called, were not madder than those of others. bremen and verden he had bought a bargain; and it was natural to protect them by such resources as he had, english or other. then there was the world-spectre of the pretender, stretching huge over creation, like the brocken-spectre in hazy weather;--against whom how protect yourself, except by cannonading for the kaiser at messina; by rushing into every brabble that rose, and hiring the parties with money to fight it out well? it was the established method in that matter; method not of george's inventing, nor did it cease with george. as to domestic politics, except it were to keep quiet, and eat what the gods had provided, one does not find that he had any.--the sage leibnitz would very fain have followed him to england; but, for reasons indifferently good, could never be allowed. if the truth must be told, the sage leibnitz had a wisdom which now looks dreadfully like that of a wiseacre! in mathematics even,--he did invent the differential calculus, but it is certain also he never could believe in newton's system of the universe, nor would read the principia at all. for the rest, he was in quarrel about newton with the royal society here; ill seen, it is probable, by this sage and the other. to the hanover official gentlemen devouring their english dead-horse, it did not appear that his presence could be useful in these parts. [guhrauer, _gottfried freiherr von leibnitz, eine biographie_ (breslau, ); ker of kersland, _memoirs of secret transactions_ (london, )]. nor are the hanover womankind his majesty has about him, quasi-wives or not, of a soul-entrancing character; far indeed from that. two in chief there are, a fat and a lean: the lean, called "maypole" by the english populace, is "duchess of kendal," with excellent pension, in the english peeragy; schulenburg the former german name of her; decidedly a quasi-wife (influential, against her will, in that sad konigsmark tragedy, at hanover long since), who is fallen thin and old. "maypole,"--or bare hop-pole, with the leaves all stript; lean, long, hard;--though she once had her summer verdures too; and still, as an old quasi-wife, or were it only as an old article of furniture, has her worth to the royal mind, schulenburgs, kindred of hers, are high in the military line; some of whom we may meet. then besides this lean one, there is a fat; of whom walpole (horace, who had seen her in boyhood) gives description. big staring black eyes, with rim of circular eyebrow, like a coach-wheel round its nave, very black the eyebrows also; vast red face; cheeks running into neck, neck blending indistinguishably with stomach,--a mere cataract of fluid tallow, skinned over and curiously dizened, according to walpole's portraiture. this charming creature, kielmannsegge by german name, was called "countess of darlington" in this country--with excellent pension, as was natural. they all had pensions: even queen sophie dorothee, i have noticed in our state-paper office, has her small pension, " pounds a year on the irish establishment:" irish establishment will never miss such a pittance for our poor child, and it may be useful over yonder!--this kielmannsegge, countess of darlington was, and is, believed by the gossiping english to have been a second simultaneous mistress of his majesty's; but seems, after all, to have been his half-sister and nothing more. half-sister (due to gentleman ernst and a countess platen of bad hanover fame); grown dreadfully fat; but not without shrewdness, perhaps affection; and worth something in this dull foreign country, mere cataract of animal oils as she has become. these two are the amount of his britannic majesty's resources in that matter; resources surely not extensive, after all!-- his britannic majesty's day, in st. james's, is not of an interesting sort to him; and every evening he comes precisely at a certain hour to drink beer, seasoned with a little tobacco, and the company of these two women. drinks diligently in a sipping way, says horace; and smokes, with such dull speech as there may be,--not till he is drunk, but only perceptibly drunkish; raised into a kind of cloudy narcotic olympus, and opaquely superior to the ills of life; in which state he walks uncomplainingly to bed. government, when it can by any art be avoided, he rarely meddles with; shows a rugged sagacity, where he does and must meddle: consigns it to walpole in dog-latin,--laughs at his "mentiris." this is the first george; first triumph of the constitutional principle, which has since gone to such sublime heights among us,--heights which we at last begin to suspect might be depths, leading down, all men now ask: whitherwards? a much-admired invention in its time, that of letting go the rudder, or setting a wooden figure expensively dressed to take charge of it, and discerning that the ship would sail of itself so much more easily! which it will, if a peculiarly good seaboat, in certain kinds of sea,--for a time. till the sinbad "magnetic mountains" begin to be felt pulling, or the circles of charybdis get you in their sweep; and then what an invention it was!--this, we say, is the new sovereign man, whom the english people, being in some perplexity about the pope and other points, have called in from hanover, to walk before them in the ways of heroism, and by command and by example guide heavenwards their affairs and them. and they hope that he will do it? or perhaps that their affairs will go thither of their own accord? always a singular people!-- poor george, careless of these ulterior issues, has always trouble enough with the mere daily details, parliamentary insolences, jacobite plottings, south-sea bubbles; and wishes to hunt, when he gets over to hanover, rather than to make marriage-treaties. besides, as wilhelmina tells us, they have filled him with lies, these hanover women and their emissaries: "your princess wilhelmina is a monster of ill-temper, crooked in the back and what not," say they. if there is to be a marriage, double or single, these improper females must first be persuaded to consent. [_memoires de bareith._] difficulties enough. and there is none to help; friedrich wilhelm cares little about the matter, though he has given his yes,--yes, since you will. but sophie dorothee is diligent and urgent, by all opportunities;--and, at length, in , the conjuncture is propitious. domestic jacobitism, in the shape of bishop atterbury, has got, itself well banished; alberoni and his big schemes, years ago they are blown into outer darkness; charles xii. is well dead, and of our bremen and verden no question henceforth; even the kaiser's spectre-hunt, or spanish duel, is at rest for the present, and the congress of cambrai is sitting, or trying all it can to sit: at home or abroad, there is nothing, not even wood's irish halfpence, as yet making noise. and on the other hand, czar peter is rumored (not without foundation) to be coming westward, with some huge armament; which, whether "intended for sweden" or not, renders a prussian alliance doubly valuable. and so now at last, in this favorable aspect of the stars, king george, over at herrenhausen, was by much management of his daughter sophie's, and after many hitches, brought to the mark. and friedrich wilhelm came over too; ostensibly to bring home his queen, but in reality to hear his father-in-law's compliance to the double-marriage,--for which his prussian majesty is willing enough, if others are willing. praised be heaven, king george has agreed to everything; consents, one propitious day (autumn , day not otherwise dated),--czar peter's armament, and the questionable aspects in france, perhaps quickening his volitions a little. upon which friedrich wilhelm and queen sophie have returned home, content in that matter; and expect shortly his britannic majesty's counter-visit, to perfect the details, and make a treaty of it. his britannic majesty, we say, has in substance agreed to everything. and now, in the silence of nature, the brown leaves of october still hanging to the trees in a picturesque manner, and wood's halfpence not yet begun to jingle in the drapier's letters of dean swift,--his britannic majesty is expected at berlin. at berlin; properly at charlottenburg a pleasant rural or suburban palace (built by his britannic majesty's late noble sister, sophie charlotte, "the republican queen," and named after her, as was once mentioned), a mile or two southwest of that city. there they await king george's counter-visit. poor wilhelmina is in much trepidation about it; and imparts her poor little feelings, her anticipations and experiences, in readable terms:-- "there came, in those weeks, one of the duke of gloucester's gentlemen to berlin,"--duke of gloucester is fred our intended, not yet prince of wales, and if the reader should ever hear of a duke of edinburgh, that too is fred,--"duke of gloucester's gentlemen to berlin," says wilhelmina: "the queen had soiree (appartement); he was presented to her as well as to me. he made me a very obliging compliment on his master's part; i blushed, and answered only by a courtesy. the queen, who had her eye on me, was very angry i had answered the duke's compliments in mere silence; and rated me sharply (me lava la tete d'importance) for it; and ordered me, under pain of her indignation, to repair that fault to-morrow. i retired, all in tears, to my room; exasperated against the queen and against the duke; i swore i would never marry him, would throw myself at the feet--" and so on, as young ladies of vivacious temper, in extreme circumstances, are wont:--did speak, however, next day, to my hanover gentleman about his duke, a little, though in an embarrassed manner. alas, i am yet but fourteen, gone the d of july last: tremulous as aspen-leaves; or say, as sheet-lightning bottled in one of the thinnest human skins; and have no experience of foolish dukes and affairs!-- "meanwhile," continues wilhelmina, "the king of england's time of arrival was drawing nigh. we repaired, on the th of october, to charlottenburg to receive him. the heart of me kept beating, and i was in cruel agitations. king george [my grandfather, and grand uncle] arrived on the th, about seven in the evening;"--dusky shades already sinking over nature everywhere, and all paths growing dim. abundant flunkies, of course, rush out with torches or what is needful. "the king of prussia, the queen and all their suite received him in the court of the palace, the 'apartments' being on the ground-floor. so soon as he had saluted the king and queen, i was presented to him. he embraced me; and turning to the queen said to her, 'your daughter is very big of her age!' he gave the queen his hand, and led her into her apartment, whither everybody followed them. as soon as i came in, he took a light from the table, and surveyed me from head to foot. i stood motionless as a statue, and was much put out of countenance. all this went on without his uttering the least word. having thus passed me in review, he addressed himself to my brother, whom he caressed much, and amused himself with, for a good while." pretty little grandson this, your majesty;--any future of history in this one, think you? "i," says wilhelmina, "took the opportunity of slipping out;"--hopeful to get away; but could not, the queen having noticed. "the queen made me a sign to follow her; and passed into a neighboring apartment, where she had the english and germans of king george's suite successively presented to her. after some talk with these gentlemen, she withdrew; leaving me to entertain them, and saying: 'speak english to my daughter; you will find she speaks it very well.' i felt much less embarrassed, once the queen was gone; and picking up a little courage, i entered into conversation with these english. as i spoke their language like my mother-tongue, i got pretty well out of the affair, and everybody seemed charmed with me. they made my eulogy to the queen; told her i had quite the english air, and was made to be their sovereign one day. it was saying a great deal on their part: for these english think themselves so much above all other people, that they imagine they are paying a high compliment when they tell any one he has got english manners. "their king [my grandpapa] had got spanish manners, i should say: he was of an extreme gravity, and hardly spoke a word to anybody. he saluted madam sonsfeld [my invaluable thrice-dear governess] very coldly; and asked her 'if i was always so serious, and if my humor was of the melancholy turn?' 'anything but that, sire,' answered the other: 'but the respect she has for your majesty prevents her from being as sprightly as she commonly is.' he wagged his head, and answered nothing. the reception he had given me, and this question, of which i heard, gave me such a chill, that i never had the courage to speak to him,"--was merely looked at with a candle by grandpapa. "we were summoned to supper at last, where this grave sovereign still remained dumb. perhaps he was right, perhaps he was wrong; but i think he followed the proverb, which says, better hold your tongue than speak badly. at the end of the repast he felt indisposed. the queen would have persuaded him to quit table; they bandied compliments a good while on the point; but at last she threw down her napkin, and rose. the king of england naturally rose too; but began to stagger; the king of prussia ran up to help him, all the company ran bustling about him; but it was to no purpose: he sank on his knees; his peruke falling on one side, and his hat [or at least his head, madam!] on the other. they stretched him softly on the floor; where he remained a good hour without consciousness. the pains they took with him brought back his senses, by degrees, at last. the queen and the king [of prussia] were in despair all this while. many have thought this attack was a herald of the stroke of apoplexy which came by and by,"--within four years from this date, and carried off his majesty in a very gloomy manner. "they passionately entreated him to retire now," continues wilhelmina; "but he would not by any means. he led out the queen, and did the other ceremonies, according to rule; had a very bad night, as we learned underhand;" but persisted stoically nevertheless, being a crowned majesty, and bound to it. he stoically underwent four or three other days, of festival, sight-seeing, "pleasure" so called;--among other sights, saw little fritz drilling his cadets at berlin;--and on the fourth day ( th october, , so thinks wilhelmina) fairly "signed the treaty of the double-marriage," english townshend and the prussian ministry having settled all things. [wilhelmina, _memoires de bareith,_ i. , ,--in coxe (_memoirs of sir robert walpole,_ london, ), ii. , , , are some faint hints, from townshend, of this berlin journey.] "signed the treaty," thinks wilhelmina, "all things being settled." which is an error on the part of wilhelmina. settled many or all things were by townshend and the others: but before signing, there was parliament to be apprised, there were formalities, expenditure of time; between the cup and the lip, such things to intervene;--and the sad fact is, the double-marriage treaty never was signed at all!--however, all things being now settled ready for signing, his britannic majesty, next morning, set off for the gohrde again, to try if there were any hunting possible. this authentic glimpse, one of the few that are attainable, of their first constitutional king, let english readers make the most of. the act done proved dreadfully momentous to our little friend, his grandson; and will much concern us! thus, at any rate, was the treaty of the double-marriage settled, to the point of signing,--thought to be as good as signed. it was at the time when czar peter was making armaments to burn sweden; when wood's halfpence (on behalf of her improper grace of kendal, the lean quasi-wife, "maypole" or hop-pole, who had run short of money, as she often did) were about beginning to jingle in ireland; [coxe (i. , , and supply the dates); walpole to townshend, th october, (ib. ii. ): _"the drapier's letters"_ are of .] when law's bubble "system" had fallen, well flaccid, into chaos again; when dubois the unutterable cardinal had at length died, and d'orleans the unutterable regent was unexpectedly about to do so,--in a most surprising sodom-and-gomorrah manner. [ d december, : barbier, _journal historique du regne de louis xv. _ (paris, ), i. , ; lacretelle, _histoire de france, me siecle;_ &c.] not to mention other dull and vile phenomena of putrid fermentation, which were transpiring, or sluttishly bubbling up, in poor benighted rotten europe here or there;--since these are sufficient to date the transaction for us; and what does not stick to our fritz and his affairs it is more pleasant to us to forget than to remember, of such an epoch. hereby, for the present, is a great load rolled from queen sophie dorothee's heart. one, and, that the highest, of her abstruse negotiations, cherished, labored in, these fourteen years, she has brought to a victorious issue,--has she not? her poor mother, once so radiant, now so dim and angry, shut in the castle of ahlden, does not approve this double-marriage; not she for her part;--as indeed evil to all hanoverian interests is now chiefly her good, poor lady; and she is growing more and more of a megaera every day. with whom sophie dorothee has her own difficulties and abstruse practices; but struggles always to maintain, under seven-fold secrecy, some thread of correspondence and pious filial ministration wherever possible; that the poor exasperated mother, wretchedest and angriest of women, be not quite cut off from the kinship of the living, but that some soft breath of pity may cool her burning heart now and then. [in _memoirs of sophia dorothea_ (london, ), ii. , , are certain fractions of this correspondence, "edited" in an amazing manner.] a dark tragedy of sophie's, this; the bluebeard chamber of her mind, into which no eye but her own must ever look. princess amelia comes into the world. in reference to queen sophie, and chronologically if not otherwise connected with this double-marriage treaty, i will mention one other thing. her majesty had been in fluctuating health, all summer; unaccountable symptoms turning up in her majesty's constitution, languors, qualms, especially a tendency to swelling or increase of size, which had puzzled and alarmed her doctors and her. friedrich wilhelm, on conclusion of the marriage-treaty, had been appointed to join his father-in-law, britannic george, at the gohrde, in some three weeks' time, and have a bout of hunting. on the th of november, bedtime being come, he kissed his wilhelmina and the rest, by way of good-by; intending to start very early on the morrow:--long journey ( miles or so), to be done all in one day. in the dead of the night, queen sophie was seized with dreadful colics,--pangs of colic or who knows what;--friedrich wilhelm is summoned; rises in the highest alarm; none but the maids and he at hand to help; and the colic, or whatever it may be, gets more and more dreadful. colic? o poor sophie, it is travail, and no colic; and a clever young princess is suddenly the result! none but friedrich wilhelm and the maid for midwives; mother and infant, nevertheless, doing perfectly well. friedrich wilhelm did not go on the morrow, but next day; laughed, ever and anon in loud hahas, at the part he had been playing; and was very glad and merry. how the experienced sophie, whose twelfth child this is, came to commit such an oversight is unaccountable; but the fact is certain, and made a merry noise in court circles. [pollnitz, ii. ; wilhelmina, i. , .] the clever little princess, now born in this manner, is known by name to idle readers. she was christened amelia; and we shall hear of her in time coming. but there was, as the circulating libraries still intimate, a certain loud-spoken braggart of the histrionic-heroic sort, called baron trenck, windy, rash, and not without mendacity, who has endeavored to associate her with his own transcendent and not undeserved ill-luck; hinting the poor princess into a sad fame in that way. for which, it would now appear, there was no basis whatever! most condemnable trenck;--whom, however, robespierre guillotined finally, and so settled that account and others. of sophie dorothee's twelve children, including this amelia, there are now eight living, two boys, six girls; and after amelia, two others, boys, are successively to come: ten in all, who grew to be men and women. of whom perhaps i had better subjoin a list; now that the eldest boy and girl are about to get settled in life; and therewith close this chapter. friedrich wilhelm's ten children. marriage to sophie dorothee, th november, . a little prince, born d november, , died in six months. then came, . frederika sophie wilhelmina, ultimately margravine of baireuth, after strange adventures in the marriage-treaty way. wrote her _memoires_ there, about . of whom we shall hear much. left a daughter, her one child; daughter badly married, to "karl reigning duke of wurtemberg" (poet schiller's famous serene highness there), from whom she had to separate, &c., with anger enough, by and by. after wilhelmina in the family series came a second prince, who died in the eleventh month. then, th january, , . friedrich. after whom ( ) a little princess, who died in few months. and then, . frederika louisa, born th september, ; age now about nine. margravine of anspach, th may, ; widow . her one son, born , was the lady-craven's anspach. frederika louisa died th february, . . philippina charlotte, born th of march, ; became duchess of brunswick (her husband was eldest brother of the "prince ferdinand" so famous in england in the seven-years war); her son was the duke who invaded france in , and was tragically hurled to ruin in the battle of jena, . the mother lived till ; widow since . after whom, in , again a little prince, who died within two years (our fritz then seven,--probably the first time death ever came before him, practically into his little thoughts in this world): then, . sophie dorothee maria, born th january, ; margravine of schwedt, (eldest magraf of schwedt, mentioned above as a comrade of the crown-prince). her life not very happy; she died . left no son (brother-in-law succeeded, last of the schwedt margraves): her daughter, wedded to prince friedrich eugen, a prussian officer, cadet of wurtemberg and ultimately heir there, is ancestress of the wurtemberg sovereignties that now are, and also (by one of her daughters married to paul of russia) of all the czar kindred of our time. [preuss, iv. ; erman, _vie de sophie charlotte,_ p. .] . louisa ulrique, born th july, ; married adolf friedrich, heir-apparent, subsequemly king of sweden, th july, ; queen (he having acceded) th april, ; widow ; died, at stockholm, th july, . mother of the subsequent kings; her grandson the deposed> [oertel, p. ; hubner, tt. , .] . august wilhelm, born th august, ; heir-apparent after friedrich (so declared by friedrich, th june, ); father of the kings who have since followed. he himself died, in sad circumstances, as we shall see, th june, . . anna amelia, born th november, ,--on the terms we have seen. . friedrich heinrich ludwig, born th january, ;--the famed prince henri, of whom we shall hear. . august ferdinand, born d may, : a brilliant enough little soldier under his brother, full of spirit and talent, but liable to weak health;--was father of the "prince louis ferdinand," a tragic failure of something considerable, who went off in liberalism, wit, in high sentiment, expenditure and debauchery, greatly to the admiration of some persons; and at length rushed desperate upon the frenoh, and found his quietus ( th october, ), four days before the battle of jena. chapter ii. -- a kaiser hunting shadows. treaty of double-marriage is ready for signing, once the needful parliamentary preludings are gone through; treaty is signed, thinks wilhelmina,--forgetting the distance between cup and lip!--as to signing, or even to burning, and giving up the thought of signing, alas, how far are we yet from that! imperial spectre-huntings and the politics of most european cabinets will connect themselves with that; and send it wandering wide enough,--lost in such a jungle of intrigues, pettifoggings, treacheries, diplomacies domestic and foreign, as the course of true-love never got entangled in before. the whole of which extensive cabinet operations, covering square miles of paper at this moment,--having nevertheless, after ten years of effort, ended in absolute zero,--were of no worth even to the managers of them; and are of less than none to any mortal now or henceforth. so that the method of treating them becomes a problem to history. to pitch them utterly out of window, and out of memory, never to be mentioned in human speech again: this is the manifest prompting of nature;--and this, were not our poor crown-prince and one or two others involved in them, would be our ready and thrice-joyful course. surely the so-called "politics of europe" in that day are a thing this editor would otherwise with his whole soul, forget to all eternity! "putrid fermentation," ending, after the endurance of much mal-odor, in mere zero to you and to every one, even to the rotting bodies themselves:--is there any wise editor that would connect himself with that? these are the fields of history which are to be, so soon as humanly possible, suppressed; which only mephistopheles, or the bad genius of mankind, can contemplate with pleasure. let us strive to touch lightly the chief summits, here and there, of that intricate, most empty, mournful business,--which was really once a fact in practical europe, not the mere nightmare of an attorney's dream;--and indicate, so far as indispensable, how the young friedrich, friedrich's sister, father, mother, were tribulated, almost heart-broken and done to death, by means of it. imperial majesty on the treaty of utrecht. kaiser karl vi., head of the holy romish empire at this time, was a handsome man to look upon; whose life, full of expense, vicissitude, futile labor and adventure, did not prove of much use to the world. describable as a laborious futility rather. he was second son of that little leopold, the solemn little herr in red stockings, who had such troubles, frights, and runnings to and fro with the sieging turks, liberative sobieskis, acquisitive louis fourteenths; and who at length ended in a sea of futile labor, which they call the spanish succession war. this karl, second son, had been appointed "king of spain" in that futile business; and with much sublimity, though internally in an impoverished condition, he proceeded towards spain, landing in england to get cash for the outfit;--arrived in spain; and roved about there as titular-king for some years, with the fighting peterboroughs, galways, stahrembergs; but did no good there, neither he nor his peterboroughs. at length, his brother joseph, father leopold's successor, having died, [ th april, .] karl came home from spain to be kaiser. at which point, karl would have been wise to give up his titular kingship in spain; for he never got, nor will get, anything but futile labor from hanging to it. he did hang to it nevertheless; and still, at this date of george's visit and long afterwards, hangs,--with notable obstinacy. to the woe of men and nations: punishment doubtless of his sins and theirs!-- kaiser karl shrieked mere amazement and indignation, when the english tired of fighting for him and it. when the english said to their great marlborough: "enough, you sorry marlborough! you have beaten louis xiv. to the suppleness of wash-leather, at our bidding; that is true, and that may have had its difficulties: but, after all, we prefer to have the thing precisely as it would have been without any fighting. you, therefore, what is the good of you? you are a--person whom we fling out like sweepings, now that our eyesight returns, and accuse of common stealing. go and be--!" nothing ever had so disgusted and astonished kaiser karl as this treatment,--not of marlborough, whom he regarded only as he would have done a pair of military boots or a holster-pistol of superior excellence, for the uses that were in him,--but of the kaiser karl his own sublime self, the heart and focus of political nature; left in this manner, now when the sordid english and dutch declined spending blood and money for him farther. "ungrateful, sordid, inconceivable souls," answered karl, "was there ever, since the early christian times, such a martyr as you have now made of me!" so answered karl, in diplomatic groans and shrieks, to all ends of europe. but the sulky english and allies, thoroughly tired of paying and bleeding, did not heed him; made their peace of utrecht [peace of utrecht, th april, ; peace of rastadt (following upon the preliminaries of baden), th march, .] with louis xiv., who was now beaten supple; and karl, after a year of indignant protests and futile attempts to fight louis on his own score, was obliged to do the like. he has lost the spanish crown; but still holds by the shadow of it; will not quit that, if he can help it. he hunts much, digests well; is a sublime kaiser, though internally rather poor, carrying his head high; and seems to himself, on some sides of his life, a martyred much-enduring man. imperial majesty has got happily wedded. kaiser karl, soon after the time of going to spain had decided that a wife would be necessary. he applied to caroline of anspach, now english princess of wales, but at that time an orphaned brandenburg-anspach princess, very beautiful, graceful, gifted, and altogether unprovided for; living at berlin under the guardianship of friedrich the first king. her young mother had married again,--high enough match (to kur-sachsen, elder brother of august the strong, august at that time without prospects of the electorate);--but it lasted short while: caroline's mother and saxon stepfather were both now, long since, dead. so she lived at berlin brilliant though unportioned;--with the rough cub friedrich wilhelm much following her about, and passionately loyal to her, as the beast was to beauty; whom she did not mind except as a cub loyal to her; being five years older than he. [forster, i. .] indigent bright caroline, a young lady of fine aquiline features and spirit, was applied for to be queen of spain; wooer a handsome man, who might even be kaiser by and by. indigent bright caroline at once answered, no. she was never very orthodox in protestant theology; but could not think of taking up papistry for lucre's and ambition's sake: be that always remembered on caroline's behalf. the spanish majesty next applied at brunswick wolfenbuttel; no lack of princesses there: princesa elizabeth, for instance; protestant she too, but perhaps not so squeamish? old anton ulrich, whom some readers know for the idle books, long-winded novels chiefly, which he wrote, was the grandfather of this favored princess; a good-natured old gentleman, of the idle ornamental species, in whose head most things, it is likely, were reduced to vocables, scribble and sentimentality; and only a steady internal gravitation towards praise and pudding was traceable as very real in him. anton ulrich, affronted more or less by the immense advancement of gentleman ernst and the hanoverian or younger brunswick line, was extremely glad of the imperial offer; and persuaded his timid grand-daughter, ambitious too, but rather conscience-stricken, that the change from protestant to catholic, the essentials being so perfectly identical in both, was a mere trifle; that he himself, old as he was, would readily change along with her, so easy was it. whereupon the young lady made the big leap; abjured her religion; [ st may, , at bamberg.]--went to spain as queen (with sad injury to her complexion, but otherwise successfully more or less);--and sits now as empress beside her karl vi. in a grand enough, probably rather dull, but not singularly unhappy manner. she, a brunswick princess, with nephews and nieces who may concern us, is kaiserinn to kaiser karl: for aught i know of her, a kindly simple wife, and unexceptionable sovereign majesty, of the sort wanted; whom let us remember, if we meet her again one day. i add only of this poor lady, distinguished to me by a daughter she had, that her mind still had some misgivings about the big leap she had made in the protestant-papist way. finding anton ulrich still continue protestant, she wrote to him out of spain:--"why, o honored grandpapa, have you not done as you promised? ah, there must be a taint of mortal sin in it, after all!" upon which the absurdly situated old gentleman did change his religion; and is marked as a convert in all manner of genealogies and histories;--truly an old literary gentleman ducal and serene, restored to the bosom of the church in a somewhat peculiarly ridiculous manner. [michaelis, i. .]--but to return. imperial majesty and the termagant of spain. ever after the peace of utrecht, when england and holland declined to bleed for him farther, especially ever since his own peace of rastadt made with louis the year after kaiser karl had utterly lost hold of the crown of spain; and had not the least chance to clutch that bright substance again. but he held by the shadow of it, with a deadly hapsburg tenacity; refused for twenty years, under all pressures, to part with the shadow: "the spanish hapsburg branch is dead; whereupon do not i, of the austrian branch, sole representative of kaiser karl the fifth, claim, by the law of heaven, whatever he possessed in spain, by law of ditto? battles of blenheim of malplaquet, court-intrigues of mrs. masham and the duchess: these may bring treaties of utrecht, and what you are pleased to call laws of earth;--but a hapsburg kaiser knows higher laws, if you would do a thousand utrechts; and by these, spain is his!" poor kaiser karl: he had a high thought in him really though a most misguided one. titular king of men; but much bewildered into mere indolent fatuity, inane solemnity, high sniffing pride grounded on nothing at all; a kaiser much sunk in the sediments of his muddy epoch. sure enough, he was a proud lofty solemn kaiser, infinitely the gentleman in air and humor; spanish gravities, ceremonials, reticences;--and could, in a better scene, have distinguished himself by better than mere statuesque immovability of posture, dignified endurance of ennui, and hapsburg tenacity in holding the grip. it was not till , after tusslings and wrenchings beyond calculation, that he would consent to quit the shadow of the crown of spain; and let europe be at peace on that score. the essence of what is called the european history of this period, such history as a period sunk dead in spirit, and alive only in stomach, can have, turns all on kaiser karl, and these his clutchings at shadows. which makes a very sad, surprising history indeed; more worthy to be called phenomena of putrid fermentation, than struggles of human heroism to vindicate itself in this planet, which latter alone are worthy of recording as "history" by mankind. on the throne of spain, beside philip v. the melancholic new bourbon, louis xiv.'s grandson, sat elizabeth farnese, a termagant tenacious woman, whose ambitious cupidities were not inferior in obstinacy to kaiser karl's, and proved not quite so shadowy as his. elizabeth also wanted several things: renunciation of your (kaiser karl's) shadowy claims; nay of sundry real usurpations you and your treaties have made on the actual possessions of spain,--kingdom of sicily, for instance; netherlands, for instance; gibraltar, for instance. but there is one thing which, we observe, is indispensable throughout to elizabeth farnese: the future settlement of her dear boy carlos. carlos, whom as spanish philip's second wife she had given to spain and the world, as second or supplementary infant there,--a troublesome gift to spain and others. "this dear boy, surely he must have his italian apanages, which, you have provided for him: duchies of parma and piacenza, which will fall heirless soon. security for these italian apanages, such as will satisfy a mother: let us introduce spanish garrisons into parma and piacenza at once! how else can we be certain of getting those indispensable apanages, when they fall vacant?" on this point elizabeth farnese was positive, maternally vehement; would take no subterfuge, denial or delay: "let me perceive that i shall have these duchies: that, first of all; or else not that only, but numerous other things will be demanded of you!" upon which point the kaiser too, who loved his duchies, and hoped yet to keep them by some turn of the game, never could decide to comply. whereupon elizabeth grew more and more termagant; listened to wild counsels; took up an alberoni, a ripperda, any wandering diplomatic bull-dog that offered; and let them loose upon the kaiser and her other gainsayers. to the terror of mankind, lest universal war should supervene. she held the kaiser well at bay, mankind well in panic; and continually there came on all europe, for about twenty years, a terror that war was just about to break out, and the whole world to take fire. the history so called of europe went canting from side to side; heeling at a huge rate, according to the passes and lunges these two giant figures, imperial majesty and the termagant of spain, made at one another,--for a twenty years or more, till once the duel was decided between them. there came next to no war, after all; sputterings of war twice over,-- , byng at messina, as we saw; and then, in , a second sputter, as we are to see:--but the neighbors always ran with buckets, and got it quenched. no war to speak of; but such negotiating, diplomatizing, universal hope, universal fear, and infinite ado about nothing, as were seldom heard of before. for except friedrich wilhelm drilling his , soldiers ( , gradually, and gradually even twice that number), i see no crowned head in europe that is not, with immeasurable apparatus, simply doing zero. alas, in an age of universal infidelity to heaven, where the heavenly sun has sunk, there occur strange spectre-huntings. which is a fact worth laying to heart.--duel of twenty years with elizabeth farnese, about the eventualities of parma and piacensa, and the shadow of the lost crown of spain; this was the first grand spectrality of kaiser karl's existence; but this was not the whole of them. imperial majesty's pragmatic sanction. kaiser karl meanwhile was rather short of heirs; which formed another of his real troubles, and involved him in much shadow-hunting. his wife, the serene brunswick empress whom we spoke of above, did at length bring him children, brought him a boy even; but the boy died within the year; and, on the whole, there remained nothing but two daughters; maria theresa the elder of them, born ,--the prettiest little maiden in the world;--no son to inherit kaiser karl. under which circumstances kaiser karl produced now, in the year , a document which he had executed privately as long ago as , only his privy councillors and other official witnesses knowing of it then; [ th april, (stenzel, iii. ).] and solemnly publishes it to the world, as a thing all men are to take notice of. all men had notice enough of this imperial bit of sheepskin, before they got done with it, five-and-twenty years hence. [peace of aix-la-chapelle, .] a very famous pragmatic sanction; now published for the world's comfort! by which document, kaiser karl had formally settled, and fixed according to the power he has, in the shape of what they call a pragmatic sanction, or unalterable ordinance in his imperial house, "that, failing heirs-male, his daughters, his eldest daughter, should succeed him; failing daughters, his nieces; and in short, that heirs-female ranking from their kinship to kaiser karl, and not to any prior kaiser, should be as good as heirs-male of karl's body would have been." a pragmatic sanction is the high name he gives this document, or the act it represents; "pragmatic sanction" being, in the imperial chancery and some others, the received title for ordinances of a very irrevocable nature, which a sovereign makes, in affairs that belong wholly to himself, or what he reckons his own rights. [a rare kind of deed, it would seem; and all the more solemn. in , charles vi. of france, conceding the gallican church its liberties, does, it by "sanction pragmatique;" carlos iii. of spain (in , "settling the kingdom of the two sicilies on his third son") does the like,--which is the last instance of "pragmatic sanction" in this world.] this pragmatic sanction of kaiser karl's, executed th april, , was promulgated, "gradually," now here now there, from to , [stenzel, pp. , .]--in which later year it became universally public; and was transmitted to all courts and sovereignties, as an unalterable law of things imperial. thereby the good man hopes his beautiful little theresa, now seven years old, may succeed him, all as a son would have done, in the austrian states and dignities; and incalculable damages, wars, and chances of war, be prevented, for his house and for all the world. the world, incredulous of to-morrow, in its lazy way, was not sufficiently attentive to this new law of things. some who were personally interested, as the saxon sovereignty, and the bavarian, denied that it was just: reminded kaiser-karl that he was not the noah or adam of kaisers; and that the case of heirs-female was not quite a new idea on sheepskin. no; there are older pragmatic sanctions and settlements, by prior kaisers of blessed memory; under which, if daughters are to come in, we, descended from imperial daughters of older standing, shall have a word to say!--to this kaiser karl answers steadily, with endless argument, that every kaiser is a patriarch, and first man, in such matters; and that so it has been pragmatically sanctioned by him, and that so it shall and must irrevocably be. to the other powers, and indolent impartial sovereigns of the world, he was lavish in embassies; in ardent representations; and spared no pains in convincing them that to-morrow would surely come, and that then it would be a blessedness to have accepted this pragmatic sanction, and see it lying for you as a law of nature to go by, and avoid incalculable controversies. this was another vast shadow, or confused high-piled continent of shadows, to which our poor kaiser held with his customary tenacity. to procure adherences and assurances to this dear pragmatic sanction, was, even more than the shadow of the spanish crown, and above all after he had quitted that, the one grand business of his life henceforth. with which he kept all europe in perpetual travail and diplomacy; raying out ambassadors, and less ostensible agents, with bribes, and with entreaties and proposals, into every high sovereign court and every low; negotiating unweariedly by all methods, with all men. for it was his evening-song and his morning-prayer; the grand meaning of life to him, till life ended. you would have said, the first question he asks of every creature is, "will you covenant for my pragmatic sanction with me? oh, agree to it; accept that new law of nature: when the morrow comes, it will be salutary for you!" most of the foreign potentates idly accepted the thing,--as things of a distant contingent kind are accepted;--made treaty on it, since the kaiser seemed so extremely anxious. only bavaria, having heritable claims, never would. saxony too (august the strong), being in the like case, or a better, flatly refused for a long time; would not, at all,--except for a consideration. bright little prince eugene, who dictated square miles of letters and diplomacies on the subject (letters of a steady depth of dulness, which at last grows almost sublime), was wont to tell his majesty: "treatying, your majesty? a well-trained army and a full treasury; that is the only treaty that will make this pragmatic sanction valid!" but his majesty never would believe. so the bright old eugene dictated,--or, we hope and guess, he only gave his clerks some key-word, and signed his name (in three languages, "eugenio von savoye") to these square miles of dull epistolary matter,--probably taking spanish snuff when he had done. for he wears it in both waistcoat-pockets;--has (as his portraits still tell us) given up breathing by the nose. the bright little soul, with a flash in him as of heaven's own lightning; but now growing very old and snuffy. shadow of pragmatic sanction, shadow of the spanish crown,--it was such shadow-huntings of the kaiser in vienna, it was this of the pragmatic sanction most of all, that thwarted our prussian double-marriage, which lay so far away from it. this it was that pretty nearly broke the hearts of friedrich, wilhelmina, and their mother and father. for there never was such negotiating; not for admittance to the kingdom of heaven, in the pious times. and the open goings-forth of it, still more the secret minings and mole-courses of it, were into all places. above ground and below, no sovereign mortal could say he was safe from it, let him agree or not. friedrich wilhelm had cheerfully, and with all his heart, agreed to the pragmatic sanction; this above ground, in sight of the sun; and rashly fancied he had then done with it. till, to his horror, he found the imperial moles, by way of keeping assurance doubly sure, had been under the foundations of his very house for long years past, and had all but brought it down about him in the most hideous manner!-- third shadow: imperial majesty's ostend company. another object which kaiser karl pursued with some diligence in these times, and which likewise proved a shadow, much disturbance as it gave mankind, was his "ostend east-india company." the kaiser had seen impoverished spain, rich england, rich holland; he had taken up a creditable notion about commerce and its advantages. he said to himself, why should not my netherlands trade to the east, as well as these english and dutch, and grow opulent like them? he instituted (octroya) an "ostend east-india company," under due patents and imperial sheepskins, of date th december, , [buchholz, i. ; pfeffel, _abrege chronologique de l'histoire d'allemagne_ (park, ), ii. .] gave it what freedom he could to trade to the east. "impossible!" answered the dutch, with distraction in their aspect; "impossible, we say; contrary to treaty of westphalia, to utrecht, to barrier treaty; and destructive to the best interests of mankind, especially to us and our trade-profits! we shall have to capture your ships, if you ever send any." to which the kaiser counterpleaded, earnestly, diligently, for the space of seven years,--to no effect. "we will capture your ships if you ever send any," answered the dutch and english. what ships ever could have been sent from ostend to the east, or what ill they could have done there, remains a mystery, owing to the monopolizing maritime powers. the kaiser's laudable zeal for commerce had to expend itself in his adriatic territories,--giving privileges to the ports of trieste and fiume; [hormayr, _oesterreichischer plutarch,_ x. .] making roads through the dalmatian hill-countries, which are useful to this day;--but could not operate on the netherlands in the way proposed. the kaiser's imperial ostend east-india company, which convulsed the diplomatic mind for seven years to come, and made europe lurch from side to side in a terrific manner, proved a mere paper company; never sent any ships, only produced diplomacies, and "had the honor to be." this was the third grand shadow which the kaiser chased, shaking all the world, poor crank world, as he strode after it; and this also ended in zero, and several tons of diplomatic correspondence, carried once by breathless estaffettes, and now silent, gravitating towards acheron all of them, and interesting to the spiders only. poor good kaiser: they say he was a humane stately gentleman, stately though shortish; fond of pardoning criminals where he could; very polite to muratori and the antiquaries, even to english rymer, in opening his archives to them,--and made roads in the dalmatian hill-country, which remain to this day. i do not wonder he grew more and more saturnine, and addicted to solid taciturn field-sports. his political "perforce-hunt (parforce jagd)," with so many two-footed terriers, and legationary beagles, distressing all the world by their baying and their burrowing, had proved to be of shadows; and melted into thin air, to a very singular degree! chapter iii. -- the seven crises or european travail-throes. in process of this so terrific duel with elizabeth farnese, and general combat of the shadows, which then made europe quake, at every new lunge and pass of it, and which now makes europe yawn to hear the least mention of it, there came two sputterings of actual war. byng's sea-victory at messina, ; spanish "siege of gibraltar," , are the main phenomena of these two wars,--england, as its wont is, taking a shot in both, though it has now forgotten both. and, on the whole, there came, so far as i can count, seven grand diplomatic spasms or crises,--desperate general european treatyings hither and then thither, solemn congresses two of them, with endless supplementary adhesions by the minor powers. seven grand mother-treaties, not to mention the daughters, or supplementary adhesions they had; all europe rising spasmodically seven times, and doing its very uttermost to quell this terrible incubus; all europe changing color seven times, like a lobster boiling, for twenty years. seven diplomatic crises, we say, marked changings of color in the long-suffering lobster; and two so-called wars,--before this enormous zero could be settled. which high treaties and transactions, human nature, after much study of them, grudges to enumerate. apanage for baby carlos, ghost of a pragmatic sanction; these were a pair of causes for mankind! be no word spoken of them, except with regret and on evident compulsion. for the reader's convenience we must note the salient points; but grudge to do it. salient points, now mostly wrapt in orcus, and terrestrially interesting only to the spiders,--except on an occasion of this kind, when part of them happens to stick to the history of a memorable man, to us they are mere bubblings-up of the general putrid fermentation of the then political world; and are too unlovely to be dwelt on longer than indispensable. triple alliance, quadruple alliance, congress of cambrai, congress of soissons; conference of pardo, treaty of hanover, treaty of wusterhausen, what are they? echo answers, what? ripperda and the queen of spain, kaiser karl and his pragmatic sanction, are fallen dim to every mind. the troubles of thorn (sad enough papist-protestant tragedy in their time),--who now cares to know of them? it is much if we find a hearing for the poor salzburg emigrants when they get into preussen itself. afflicted human nature ought to be, at last, delivered from the palpably superfluous; and if a few things memorable are to be remembered, millions of things unmemorable must first be honestly buried and forgotten! but to our affair,--that of marking the chief bubblings-up in the above-said universal putrid fermentation, so far as they concern us. congress of cambrai. we already saw byng sea fighting in the straits of messina; that was part of crisis second,--sequel, in powder-and-ball, of crisis first, which had been in paper till then. the powers had interfered, by triple, by quadruple alliance, to quench the spanish-austrian duel (about apanage for baby carlos, and a quantity of other shadows): "triple alliance" [ th january, .] was, we may say, when france, england, holland laboriously sorted out terms of agreement between kaiser and termagant: "quadruple" [ th july, .] was when kaiser, after much coaxing, acceded, as fourth party; and said gloomily, "yes, then." byng's sea-fight was when termagant said, "no, by--the plots of alberoni! never will i, for my part, accede to such terms!" and attacked the poor kaiser in his sicilies and elsewhere. byng's sea-fight, in aid of a suffering kaiser and his sicilies, in consequence. furthermore, the french invaded spain, till messina were retaken; nay the english, by land too, made a dash at spain, "descent on vigo" as they call it,--in reference to which take the following stray note:-- "that same year [ , year after byng's sea-fight, messina just about recaptured], there took effect, planned by the vigorous colonel stanhope, our minister at madrid, who took personal share in the thing, a 'descent on vigo,' sudden swoop-down upon town and shipping in those gallician, north-west regions. which was perfectly successful,--lord cobham leading;--and made much noise among mankind. filled all gazettes at that time;--but now, again, is all fallen silent for us,--except this one thrice-insignificant point, that there was in it, 'in handyside's regiment,' a lieutenant of foot, by name sterne, who had left, with his poor wife at plymouth, a very remarkable boy called lorry, or lawrence; known since that to all mankind. when lorry in his life writes, 'my father went on the vigo expedition,' readers may understand this was it. strange enough: that poor lieutenant of foot is now pretty much all that is left of this sublime enterprise upon vigo, in the memory of mankind;--hanging there, as if by a single hair, till poor tristram shandy be forgotten too." [_memoirs of laurence sterne, written by himself for his daughter (see annual register,_ year , pp. - ).] in short, the french and even the english invaded spain; english byng and others sank spanish ships: termagant was obliged to pack away her alberoni, and give in. she had to accede to "quadruple alliance," after all; making it, so to speak, a quintuple one; making peace, in fact, [ th february, .]--general congress to be held at cambrai and settle the details. congress of cambrai met accordingly; in ,--"in the course of the year," delegates slowly raining in,--date not fixable to a day or month. congress was "sat," as we said,--or, alas, was only still endeavoring to get seated, and wandering about among the chairs,--when george i. came to charlottenburg that evening, october, , and surveyed wilhelmina with a candle. more inane congress never met in this world, nor will meet. settlement proved so difficult; all the more, as neither of the quarrelling parties wished it. kaiser and termagant, fallen as if exhausted, had not the least disposition to agree; lay diplomatically gnashing their teeth at one another, ready to fight again should strength return. difficult for third parties to settle on behalf of such a pair. nay at length the kaiser's ostend company came to light: what will third parties, dutch and english especially, make of that? this poor congress---let the reader fancy it--spent two years in "arguments about precedencies," in mere beatings of the air; could not get seated at all, but wandered among the chairs, till "february, ." nor did it manage to accomplish any work whatever, even then; the most inane of human congresses; and memorable on that account, if on no other. there, in old stagnant cambrai, through the third year and into the fourth, were delegates, spanish, austrian, english, dutch, french, of solemn outfit, with a big tail to each,--"lord whitworth" whom i do not know, "lord polwarth" (earl of marchmont that will be, a friend of pope's), were the english principals: [scholl, ii. .]--there, for about four years, were these poor fellow-creatures busied, baling out water with sieves. seen through the horn-gate of dreams, the figure of them rises almost grand on the mind. a certain bright young frenchman, francois arouet,--spoiled for a solid law-career, but whose oedipe we saw triumphing in the theatres, and who will, under the new name of voltaire, become very memorable to us,--happened to be running towards holland that way, one of his many journeys thitherward; and actually saw this congress, then in the first year of its existence. saw it, probably dined with it. a letter of his still extant, not yet fallen to the spiders, as so much else has done, testifies to this fact. let us read part of it, the less despicable part,--as a piece supremely insignificant, yet now in a manner the one surviving document of this extraordinary congress; congress's own works and history having all otherwise fallen to the spiders forever. the letter is addressed to cardinal dubois;--for dubois, "with the face like a goat," [herzogin von orleans, briefe.] yet lived (first year of this congress); and regent d'orleans lived, intensely interested here as third party:--and a goat-faced cardinal, once pimp and lackey, ugliest of created souls, archbishop of this same cambrai "by divine permission" and favor of beelzebub, was capable of promoting a young fellow if he chose:-- "to his eminence cardinal dubois (from arouet junior). "cambrai, july, . "... we are just arrived in your city, monseigneur; where, i think, all the ambassadors and all the cooks in europe have given one another rendezvous. it seems as if all the ministers of germany had assembled here for the purpose of getting their emperor's health drunk. as to messieurs the ambassadors of spain, one of them hears two masses a day, and the other manages the troop of players. the english ministers [a lord polwarth and a lord whitworth] send many couriers to champagne, and few to london. for the rest, nobody expects your eminence here; it is not thought you will quit the palais-royal to visit the sheep of your flock in these parts [no!], it would be too bad for your eminence and for us all.... think sometimes, monseigneur, of a man who [regards your goat-faced eminence as a beautiful ingenious creature; and such a hand in conversation as never was]. the one thing i will ask [of your goat-faced eminence] at paris will be, to have the goodness to talk to me." [_oeuvres de voltaire,_ vols. (paris, - ), lxviii. , .] alas, alas!--the more despicable portions of this letter we omit, as they are not history of the congress, but of arouet junior on the shady side. so much will testify that this congress did exist; that its wiggeries and it were not always, what they now are, part of a nightmare-vision in human history.-- elizabeth farnese, seeing at what rate the congress of cambrai sped, lost all patience with it; and getting more and more exasperations there, at length employed one ripperda, a surprising dutch black-artist whom she now had for minister, to pull the floor from beneath it (so to speak), and send it home in that manner. which ripperda did. an appropriate enough catastrophe, comfortable to the reader; upon which perhaps he will not grudge to read still another word? congress of cambrai gets the floor pulled from under it. termagant elizabeth had now one ripperda for minister; a surprising dutch adventurer, once secretary of some dutch embassy at madrid; who, discerning how the land lay, had broken loose from that subaltern career, had changed his religion, insinuated himself into elizabeth's royal favor; and was now "duke de ripperda," and a diplomatic bull-dog of the first quality, full of mighty schemes and hopes; in brief, a new alberoni to the termagant queen. this ripperda had persuaded her (the third year of our inane congress now running out, to no purpose), that he, if he were sent direct to vienna, could reconcile the kaiser to her majesty, and bring them to treaty, independently of congresses. he was sent accordingly, in all privacy; had reported himself as laboring there, with the best outlooks, for some while past; when, still early in , there occurred on the part of france,--where regent d'orleans was now dead, and new politics bad come in vogue,--that "sending back," of the poor little spanish: infanta, [" th april, , quitted paris" (barbier, _journal du regne de louis xv.,_ i. ).] and marrying of young louis xv. elsewhere, which drove elizabeth and the court of spain, not unnaturally, into a very delirium of indignation. why they sent the poor little lady home on those shocking terms? it seems there was no particular reason, except that french louis was now about fifteen, and little spanish theresa was only eight; and that, under duc de bourbon, the new premier, and none of the wisest, there was, express or implicit, "an ardent wish to see royal progeny secured." for which, of course, a wife of eight years would not answer. so she was returned; and even in a blundering way, it is said,--the french ambassador at madrid having prefaced his communication, not with light adroit preludings of speech, but with a tempest of tears and howling lamentations, as if that were the way to conciliate king philip and his termagant elizabeth. transport of indignation was the natural consequence on their part; order to every frenchman to be across the border within, say eight-and-forty hours; rejection forever of all french mediation at cambrai or elsewhere; question to the english, "will you mediate for us, then?" to which the answer being merely "hm!" with looks of delay,--order by express to ripperda, to make straightway a bargain with the kaiser; almost any bargain, so it were made at once. ripperda made a bargain: treaty of vienna, th april, : [scholl, ii. ; coxe, _walpole,_ i. - .] "titles and shadows each of us shall keep for his own lifetime, then they shall drop. as to realities again, to parma and piacenza among the rest, let these be as in the treaty of utrecht; arrangeable in the lump;--and indeed, of parma and piacenza perhaps the less we say, the better at present." this was, in substance, ripperda's treaty; the third great european travail-throe, or change of color in the long-suffering lobster. whereby, of course, the congress of cambrai did straightway disappear, the floor miraculously vanishing under it; and sinks--far below human eye-reach by this time--towards the bottomless pool, ever since. such was the beginning, such the end of that congress, which arouet le jeune, in , saw as a contemporary fact, drinking champagne in ramillies wigs, and arranging comedies for itself. france and the britannic majesty trim the ship again: how friedrich wilhelm came into it. treaty of hanover, . the publication of this treaty of vienna ( th april, ),--miraculous disappearance of the congress of cambrai by withdrawal of the floor from under it, and close union of the courts of spain and vienna as the outcome of its slow labors,--filled europe, and chiefly the late mediating powers, with amazement, anger, terror. made europe lurch suddenly to the other side, as we phrased it,--other gunwale now under water. wherefore, in heaven's name, trim your ship again, if possible, ye high mediating powers. this the mediating powers were laudably alert to do. duc de bourbon, and his young king about to marry, were of pacific tendencies; anxious for the balance: still more was fleury, who succeeded duc de bourbon. cardinal fleury (with his pupil louis xv. under him, producing royal progeny and nothing worse or better as yet) began, next year, his long supremacy in france; an aged reverend gentleman, of sly, delicately cunning ways, and disliking war, as george i. did, unless when forced on him: now and henceforth, no mediating power more anxious than france to have the ship in trim. george and bourbon laid their heads together, deeply pondering this little less than awful state of the terrestrial balance; and in about six months they, in their quiet way, suddenly came out with a fourth crisis on the astonished populations, so as to right the ship's trim again, and more. "treaty of hanover," this was their unexpected manoeuvre; done quietly at herrenhausen, when his majesty next went across for the hanover hunting-season. mere hunting:--but the diplomatists, as well as the beagles, were all in readiness there. even friedrich wilhelm, ostensibly intent on hunting, was come over thither, his abstruse ilgens, with their inkhorns, escorting him: friedrich wilhelm, hunting in unexpected sort, was persuaded to sign this treaty; which makes it unusually interesting to us. an exceptional procedure on the part of friedrich wilhelm, who beyond all sovereigns stays well at home, careless of affairs that are not his:--procedure betokening cordiality at hanover; and of good omen for the double-marriage? yes, surely;--and yet something more, on friedrich wilhelm's part. his rights on the cleve-julich countries; reversion of julich and berg, once karl philip shall decease:--perhaps these high powers, for a consideration, will guarantee one's undoubted rights there? it is understood they gave promises of this kind, not too specific. nay we hear farther a curious thing: "france and england, looking for immediate war with the kaiser, advised friedrich wilhelm to assert his rights on silesia." which would have been an important procedure! friedrich wilhelm, it is added, had actual thoughts of it; the kaiser, in those matters of the ritter-dienst, of the heidelberg protestants, and wherever a chance was, had been unfriendly, little less than insulting, to friedrich wilhelm: "give me one single hanoverian brigade, to show that you go along with me!" said his prussian majesty;--but the britannic never altogether would. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ i. .] certain it is, friedrich wilhelm signed: a man with such fighting-apparatus as to be important in a hanover treaty. "balance of power, they tell me, is in a dreadful way: certainly if one can help the balance a little, why not? but julich and berg, one's own outlook of reversion there, that is the point to be attended to:--balance, i believe, will somehow shift for itself!" on these principles, friedrich wilhelm signed, while ostensibly hunting. [fassmann, p. ; forster, _ urkundenbuch,_ p. .] treaty of hanover, which was to trim the ship again, or even to make it heel the other way, dates itself d september, , and is of this purport: "we three, france, england, prussia to stand by each other as one man, in case any of us is attacked,--will invite holland, denmark, sweden and every pacific sovereignty to join us in such convention,"--as they all gradually did, had friedrich wilhelm but stood firm. for it is a state of the balances little less than awful. rumor goes that, by the ripperda bargain, fatal to mankind, don carlos was to get the beautiful young maria theresa to wife: that would settle the parma-piacenza business and some others; that would be a compensation with a witness! spain and austria united, as in karl v.'s time; or perhaps some succession war, or worse, to fight over again!-- fleury and george, as duc de bourbon and george had done, though both pacific gentlemen, brandished weapons at the kaiser; strongly admonishing him to become less formidable, or it would be worse for him. possible indeed, in such a shadow-hunting, shadow-hunted hour! fleury and george stand looking with intense anxiety into a certain spectral something, which they call the balance of power; no end to their exorcisms in that matter. truly, if each of the royal majesties and serene highnesses would attend to his own affairs,--doing his utmost to better his own land and people, in earthly and in heavenly respects, a little,--he would find it infinitely profitabler for himself and others. and the balance of power would settle, in that case, as the laws of gravity ordered: which is its one method of settling, after all diplomacy!--fleury and george, by their manifestoing, still more by their levying of men, george i. shovelling out his english subsidies as usual, created deadly qualms in the kaiser; who still found it unpleasant to "admit spanish garrisons in parma;" but found likewise his termagant friend inexorably positive on that score; and knew not what would become of him, if he had to try fighting, and the sea-powers refused him cash to do it. hereby was the ship trimmed, and more; ship now lurching to the other side again. george i. goes subsidying hessians, danes; sounding manifestoes, beating drums, in an alarming manner: and the kaiser, except it were in russia, with the new czarina catherine i. (that brown little woman, now become czarina [ th february, . treaty with kaiser ( th august, ) went to nothing on her death, th may, .]), finds no ally to speak of. an unlucky, spectre-hunting, spectre-hunted kaiser; who, amid so many drums, manifestoes, menaces, is now rolling eyes that witness everywhere considerable dismay. this is the fourth grand crisis of europe; crisis or travail-throe of nature, bringing forth, and unable to do it, baby carlos's apanage and the pragmatic sanction. fourth conspicuous change of color to the universal lobster, getting itself boiled on those sad terms, for twenty years. for its sins, we need not doubt; for its own long-continued cowardices, sloths and greedy follies, as well as those of kaiser karl!-- at this fourth change we will gladly leave the matter, for a time; much wishing it might be forever. alas, as if that were possible to us! meanwhile, let afflicted readers, looking before and after, readier to forget than to remember in such a case, accept this note, or summary of all the seven together, by way of help:-- travail-throes of nature for baby carlos's italian apanage; seven in number. . triple alliance, english, dutch, french ( th january, ), saying, "peace, then! no alberoni-plotting; no duel-fighting permitted!" same powers, next year, proposing terms of agreement; kaiser gloomily accepting them; which makes it quadruple alliance ( th july, ); termagant indignantly refusing,--with attack on the kaiser's sicilies. . first sputter of war; byng's sea-fight, and the other pressures, compelling termagant: peace ( th january, ); congress of cambrai to settle the apanage and other points. . congress of cambrai, a weariness to gods and men, gets the floor pulled from under it (ripperda's feat, th april, ); so that kaiser and termagant stand ranked together, apanage wrapt in mystery,--to the terror of mankind. . treaty of hanover (france, england, prussia, d september, ) restores the balances, and more. war imminent. prussia privately falls off,--as we shall see. [these first four lie behind us, at this point; but there are three others still ahead, which we cannot hope to escape altogether; namely:] . second sputter of war: termagant besieges gibraltar ( th march, -- th march, ): peace at that latter date;--congress of soissons to settle the apanage and other points, as formerly. . congress of soissons ( th june, -- th november, ), as formerly, cannot in the least: termagaut whispers england;--there is treaty of seville ( th november, ), france and england undertaking for the apanage. congress vanishes; kaiser is left solitary, with the shadow of pragmatic sanction, in the night of things. pause of an awful nature:--but fleury does not hasten with the apanage, as promised. whereupon, at length, . treaty of vienna ( th march, ): sea-powers, leading termagant by the hand, sea-powers and no france, unite with kaiser again, according to the old laws of nature;--and baby carlos gets his apanage, in due course;--but does not rest content with it, mamma nor he, very long! huge spectres and absurd bugaboos, stalking through the brain of dull thoughtless pusillanimous mankind, do, to a terrible extent, tumble hither and thither, and cause to lurch from side to side, their ship of state, and all that is embarked there, breakfast-table, among other things. nevertheless, if they were only bugaboos, and mere shadows caused by imperial hand-lanterns in the general night of the world,--ought they to be spoken of in the family, when avoidable? chapter iv. -- double-marriage treaty cannot be signed. hitherto the world-tides, and ebbs and flows of external politics, had, by accident, rather forwarded, than hindered the double-marriage. in the rear of such a treaty of hanover, triumphantly righting the european balances by help of friedrich wilhelm, one might have hoped this little domestic treaty would, at last, get itself signed. queen sophie did hasten off to hanover, directly after her husband had left it under those favorable aspects: but papa again proved unmanageable; the treaty could not be achieved. alas, and why not? parents and children, on both sides, being really desirous of it, what reason is there but it should in due time come to perfection, and, without annihilating time and space, make four lovers happy? no reason. rubs doubtless had arisen since that visit of george i., discordant procedures, chiefly about friedrich wilhelm's recruiting operations in the hanover territory, as shall be noted by and by: but these the ever-wakeful enthusiasm of queen sophie, who had set her whole heart with a female fixity on this double-marriage project, had smoothed down again: and now, papa and husband being so blessedly united in their world politics, why not sign the marriage-treaty? honored majesty-papa, why not!--"tush, child, you do not understand. in these tremendous circumstances, the celestial sign of the balance just about canting, and the obliquity of the ecliptic like to alter, how can one think of little marriages? wait till the obliquity of the ecliptic come steadily to its old pitch!"-- truth is, george was in general of a slow, solemn, spanish turn of manners; "intolerably proud, too, since he got that english dignity," says wilhelmina: he seemed always tacitly to look down on friedrich wilhelm, as if the prussian majesty were a kind of inferior clownish king in comparison. it is certain he showed no eagerness to get the treaty perfected. again and again, when specially applied to by queen sophie, on friedrich wilhelm's order, he intimated only: "it was a fixed thing, but not to be hurried,--english parliaments were concerned in it, the parties were still young," and so on;--after which brief answer he would take you to the window, and ask, "if you did not think the herrenhausen gardens and their leibnitz waterworks, and clipped-beech walls were rather fine?" [pollnitz, _ memoiren,_ ii. , , &c.] in fact, the english parliaments, from whom money was so often demanded for our fat improper darlingtons, lean improper kendals and other royal occasions, would naturally have to make a marriage-revenue for this fine grandson of ours;--grandson fred, who is now a young lout of, eighteen; leading an extremely dissolute life, they say, at hanover; and by no means the most beautiful of mortals, either he or the foolish little father of him, to our old sad heart. they can wait, they can wait! said george always. but undoubtedly he did intend that both marriages should take effect: only he was slow; and the more you hurried him, perhaps the slower. he would have perfected the treaty "next year," say the authorities; meant to do so, if well let alone: but townshend whispered withal, "better not urge him." surly george was always a man of his word; no treachery intended by him, towards friedrich wilhelm or any man. it is very clear, moreover, that friedrich wilhelm, in this autumn , was, and was like to be, of high importance to king george; a man not to be angered by dishonorable treatment, had such otherwise been likely on george's part. nevertheless george did not sign the treaty "next year" either,--such things having intervened;--nor the next year after that, for reasons tragically good on the latter occasion! these delays about the double-marriage treaty are not a pleasing feature of it to friedrich wilhelm; who is very capable of being hurt by slights; who, at any rate, dislikes to have loose thrums flying about, or that the business of to-day should be shoved over upon to-morrow. and so queen sophie has her own sore difficulties; driven thus between the barbarians (that is, her husband), and the deep sea (that is, her father), to and fro. nevertheless, since all parties to the matter wished it, sophie and the younger parties getting even enthusiastic about it; and since the matter itself was good, agreeable so far to prussia and england, to protestant germany and to heaven and earth,--might not sophie confidently hope to vanquish these and other difficulties; and so bring all things to a happy close? had it not been for the imperial shadow-huntings, and this rickety condition of the celestial balance! alas, the outer elements interfered with queen sophie in a singular manner. huge foreign world-movements, springing from vienna and a spectre-haunted kaiser, and spreading like an avalanche over all the earth, snatched up this little double-marriage question; tore it along with them, reeling over precipices, one knew not whitherward, at such a rate as was seldom seen before. scarcely in the minerva press is there record of such surprising, infinite and inextricable obstructions to a wedding or a double-wedding. time and space, which cannot be annihilated to make two lovers happy, were here turned topsy-turvy, as it were, to make four lovers,--four, or at the very least three, for wilhelmina will not admit she was ever the least in love, not she, poor soul, either with loose fred or his english outlooks,--four young creatures, and one or more elderly persons, superlatively wretched; and even, literally enough, to do all but kill some of them. what is noteworthy too, it proved wholly inane, this huge world-ocean of intrigues and imperial necromancy; ran dry at last into absolute nothing even for the kaiser, and might as well not have been. and mother and father, on the prussian side, were driven to despair and pretty nearly to delirium by it; and our poor young fritz got tormented, scourged, and throttled in body and in soul by it, till he grew to loathe the light of the sun, and in fact looked soon to have quitted said light at one stage of the business. we are now approaching act second of the double-marriage, where imperial ordnance-master graf von seckendorf, a black-artist of supreme quality, despatched from vienna on secret errand, "crosses the palace esplanade at berlin on a summer evening of the year ;" and evokes all the demons on our little crown-prince and those dear to him. we must first say something of an important step, shortly antecedent thereto, which occurred in the crown-prince's educational course. chapter v. -- crown-prince goes into the potsdam guards. amid such commotion of the foreign elements and the domestic, an important change occurs in the crown-prince's course of schooling. it is decided that, whatever be his progress in the speculative branches, it is time he should go into the army, and practically learn soldiering. in his fourteenth year, d may, , [preuss, i. ; ; and _buch fur jedermann_ (a minor book of his, on the same subject, berlin, ), ii. .] not long before the treaty of hanover, he was formally named captain, by papa in war-council. grenadier guards, potsdam lifeguards, to be the regiment; and next year he is nominated major, and, a vacancy occurring, appointed to begin actual duty. it is on the " th of august, , that he first leads out his battalion to the muster," on those terms. his age is not yet fifteen by four months;--a very tiny major among those potsdam giants; but by rank, we observe, he rides; and his horse is doubtless of the due height. and so the tiny cadet-drillings have ended; long files of giants, splendent in gold-lace and grenadier-caps, have succeeded; and earnest work instead of mimic, in that matter, has begun. however it may have fared with his other school-lessons, here now is a school-form he is advanced to, in which there will be no resource but learning. bad spelling might be overlooked by those that had charge of it; bad drilling is not permissible on any terms. we need not doubt the crown-prince did his soldier-duty faithfully, and learned in every point the conduct of an officer: penalty as of rhadamanthus waited upon all failure there. that he liked it is by no means said; he much disliked it, and his disgusts were many. an airy young creature:--and it was in this time to give one instance, that that shearing of his locks occurred: which was spoken of above, where the court-chirurgus proved so merciful. to clog the winged psyche in ever-returning parade-routine and military pipe-clay,--it seems very cruel. but it is not to be altered: in spite of one's disgusts, the dull work, to the last item of it, has daily to be done. which proved infinitely beneficial to the crown-prince, after all. hereby, to his athenian-french elegancies, and airy promptitudes and brilliancies, there shall lie as basis an adamantine spartanism and stoicism; very rare, but very indispensable, for such a superstructure. well exemplified, through after life, in this crown-prince. of the potsdam giants, as a fact. his regiment was the potsdam grenadier guard; that unique giant-regiment, of which the world has heard so much in a vague half-mythical way. the giant-regiment was not a myth, however, but a big-boned expensive fact, tramping very hard upon the earth at one time, though now gone all to the ghostly state. as it was a class-book, so to speak, of our friedrich's,--class-book (printed in huge type) for a certain branch of his schooling, the details of which are so dim, though the general outcome of it proved so unforgettable,--readers, apart from their curiosity otherwise, may as well take a glimpse of it on this occasion. vanished now, and grown a giant phantom, the like of it hardly again to be in this world; and by accident, the very smallest figure ever ranked in it makes it memorable there!-- with a wise instinct, friedrich wilhelm had discerned that all things in prussia must point towards his army; that his army was the heart and pith; the state being the tree, every branch and leaf bound, after its sort, to be nutritive and productive for the army's behoof. that, probably for any nation in the long-run, and certainly for the prussian nation straightway, life or death depends on the army: friedrich wilhelm's head, in an inarticulate manner, was full of this just notion; and all his life was spent in organizing it to a practical fact. the more of potential battle, the more of life is in us: a maximum of potential battle, therefore; and let it be the optimum in quality! how friedrich wilhelm cared, day and night, with all his heart and all his soul, to bring his army to the supreme pitch, we have often heard; and the more we look into his ways, the more we are impressed with that fact. it was the central thing for him; all other things circulating towards it, deriving from it: no labor too great, and none too little, to be undergone for such an object. he watched over it like an argus, with eyes that reached everywhere. discipline shall be as exact as euclid;--short of perfection we do not stop! discipline and ever better discipline; enforcement of the rule in all points, improvement of the rule itself where possible, were the great drill-sergeant's continual care. daily had some loop fallen, which might have gone ravelling far enough; but daily was he there to pick it up again, and keep the web unrent and solidly progressive. we said, it was the "poetic ideal" of friedrich wilhelm; who is a dumb poet in several particulars,--and requires the privileges of genius from those that read his dumb poem. it must be owned he rises into the fantastic here and there; and has crotchets of ultraperfection for his army, which are not rational at all. crotchets that grew ever madder, the farther he followed them. this lifeguard regiment of foot, for instance, in which the crown-prince now is,--friedrich wilhelm got it in his father's time, no doubt a regiment then of fair qualities; and he has kept drilling it, improving it, as poets polish stanzas, unweariedly ever since:--and see now what it has grown to! a potsdam giant regiment, such as the world never saw, before or since. three battalions of them,--two always here at potsdam doing formal lifeguard duty, the third at brandenburg on drill; to the battalion,-- , sons of anak in all. sublime enough, hugely perfect to the royal eye, such a mass of shining giants, in their long-drawn regularities and mathematical manoeuvrings,--like some streak of promethean lightning, realized here at last, in the vulgar dusk of things! truly they are men supreme in discipline, in beauty of equipment; and the shortest man of them rises, i think, towards seven feet, some are nearly nine feet high. men from all countries; a hundred and odd come annually, as we saw, from russia,--a very precious windfall: the rest have been collected, crimped, purchased out of every european country, at enormous expense, not to speak of other trouble to his majesty. james kirkman, an irish recruit of good inches, cost him , pounds before he could be got inveigled, shipped and brought safe to hand. the documents are yet in existence; [forster, _handbuch der geschichte, geographie und statistik des preussischen reichs_ (berlin, ), iv. , ;--not in a very lucid state.] and the portrait of this irish fellow-citizen himself, who is by no means a beautiful man. indeed, they are all portrayed; all the privates of this distinguished regiment are, if anybody cared to look at them--redivanoff from moscow seems of far better bone than kirkman, though still more stolid of aspect. one hohmann, a born prussian, was so tall, you could not, though yourself tall, touch his bare crown with your hand; august the strong of poland tried, on one occasion, and could not. before hohmann turned up, there had been "jonas the norwegian blacksmith,", also a dreadfully tall monster. giant "macdoll,"--who was to be married, no consent asked on either side, to the tall young woman, which latter turned out to be a decrepit old woman (all jest-books know the myth),--he also was an irish giant; his name probably m'dowal. [forster, _ preussens helden im krieg und frieden_ (berlin, l ), i. ; no date to the story, no evidence what grain of truth may be in it.] this hohmann was now flugelmann ("fugleman" as we have named it, leader of the file), the tallest of the regiment, a very mountain of pipe-clayed flesh and bone. here, in reference to one other of those poor giants, is an anecdote from fassmann (who is very full on this subject of the giants; abstruse historical fassmann, often painfully cited by us): a most small anecdote, but then an indisputably certain one;--which brings back to us, in a strange way, the vanished time and its populations; as the poorest authentic wooden lucifer may do, kindling suddenly, and' peopling the void night for moments, to the seeing eye!-- fassmann, a very dark german literary man, in obsolete costume and garniture, how living or what doing we cannot guess, found himself at paris, gazing about, in the year ; where, among other things, the fair of st. germain was going on. loud, large fair of st. germain, "which lasts from candlemas to the monday before easter;" and fassmann one day took a walk of contemplation through the same. much noise, gesticulation, little meaning. show-booths, temporary theatres, merry-andrews, sleight-of-hand men; and a vast public, drinking, dancing, gambling, flirting, as its wont is. nothing new for us there; new only that it all lies five generations from us now. did "the old pretender," who was then in his expectant period, in this same village of st. germain, see it too, as fassmann did? and louis xiv., he is at versailles; drooping fast, very dull to his maintenon. and our little fritz in berlin is a child in arms;--and the world is all awake as usual, while fassmann strolls through this noisy inanity of show-booths, in the year . strolling along, fassmann came upon a certain booth with an enormous picture hung aloft in front of it: "picture of a very tall man, in heyduc livery, coat reaching to his ankles, in grand peruke, cap and big heron-plume, with these words, 'le geant allemand (german giant),' written underneath. partly from curiosity, partly "for country's sake," fassmann expended twopence; viewed the gigantic fellow-creature; admits he had never seen one so tall; though "bentenrieder, the imperial diplomatist," thought by some to be the tallest of men, had come athwart him once. this giant's name was muller; birthplace the neighborhood of weissenfels;--"a saxon like myself. he had a small german wife, not half his size. he made money readily, showing himself about, in france, england, holland;"--and fassmann went his way, thinking no more of the fellow.--but now, continues fassmann:-- "coming to potsdam, thirteen years after, in the spring of , by his majesty's order, to"--in fact, to read the newspapers to his majesty, and be generally useful, chiefly in the tobacco-college, as we shall discover,--"what was my surprise to find this same 'geant allemand' of st. germain ranked among the king's grenadiers! no doubt of the identity: i renewed acquaintance with the man; his little german wife was dead; but he had got an english one instead, an uncommonly shifty creature. they had a neat little dwelling-house [as most of the married giants had], near the palace: here the wife sold beer [brandy not permissible on any terms], and lodged travellers;--i myself have lodged there on occasion. in the course of some years, the man took swelling in the legs; good for nothing as a grenadier; and was like to fall heavy on society. but no, his little wife snatched him up, easily getting his discharge; carried him over with her to england, where he again became a show-giant, and they were doing very well, when last heard of,"--in the country-wakes of george ii.'s early time. and that is the real biography of one potsdam giant, by a literary gentleman who had lodged with him on occasion. [fassmann, pp. - .] the pay of these sublime footguards is greatly higher than common; they have distinguished privileges and treatment: on the other hand, their discipline is nonpareil, and discharge is never to be dreamt of, while strength lasts. poor kirkman, does he sometimes think of the hill of howth, and that he will never see it more? kirkman, i judge, is not given to thought;--considers that he has tobacco here, and privileges and perquisites; and that howth, and heaven itself, is inaccessible to many a man. friedrich wilhelm's recruiting difficulties. tall men, not for this regiment only, had become a necessary of life to friedrich wilhelm. indispensable to him almost as his daily bread, to his heart there is no road so ready as that of presenting a tall man or two. friedrich wilhelm's regiments are now, by his exact new regulations, levied and recruited each in its own canton, or specific district: there all males as soon as born are enrolled; liable to serve, when they have grown to years and strength. all grown men (under certain exceptions, as of a widow's eldest son, or of the like evidently ruinous cases) are liable to serve; captain of the regiment and amtmann of the canton settle between them which grown man it shall be. better for you not to be tall! in fact it is almost a kindness of heaven to be gifted with some safe impediment of body, slightly crooked back or the like, if you much dislike the career of honor under friedrich wilhelm. a general shadow of unquiet apprehension we can well fancy hanging over those rural populations, and much unpleasant haggling now and then;--nothing but the king's justice that can be appealed to. king's justice, very great indeed, but heavily checked by the king's value for handsome soldiers. happily his value for industrial laborers and increase of population is likewise great. townsfolk, skilful workmen as the theory supposes, are exempt; the more ingenious classes, generally, his majesty exempts in this respect, to encourage them in others. for, on the whole, he is not less a captain of work, to his nation, than of other things. what he did for prussia in the way of industries, improvements, new manufactures, new methods; in settling "colonies," tearing up drowned bogs and subduing them into dry cornfields; in building, draining, digging, and encouraging or forcing others to do so, would take a long chapter. he is the enemy of chaos, not the friend of it, wherever you meet with him. for example, potsdam itself. potsdam, now a pleasant, grassy, leafy place, branching out extensively in fine stone architecture, with swept pavements; where, as in other places, the traveller finds land and water separated into two firmaments,--friedrich wilhelm found much of it a quagmire, land and water still weltering in one. in these very years, his cuttings, embankments, buildings, pile-drivings there, are enormous; and his perseverance needs to be invincible. for instance, looking out, one morning after heavy rain, upon some extensive anti-quagmire operations and strong pile-drivings, he finds half a furlong of his latest heavy piling clean gone. what in the world has become of it? pooh, the swollen lake has burst it topsy-turvy; and it floats yonder, bottom uppermost, a half-furlong of distracted liquid-peat. whereat his majesty gave a loud laugh, says bielfeld, [baron de bielfeld, _lettres familieres_ (second edition, a leide, ), i. .] and commenced anew. the piles now stand firm enough, like the rest of the earth's crust, and carry strong ashlar houses and umbrageous trees for mankind; and trivial mankind can walk in clean pumps there, shuddering or sniggering at friedrich wilhelm, as their humor may be. no danger of this "canton-system" of recruitment to the more ingenious classes, who could do better than learn drill. nor, to say truth, does the poor clayey peasant suffer from it, according to his apprehensions. often perhaps, could he count profit and loss, he might find himself a gainer: the career of honor turns out to be, at least, a career of practical stoicism and spartanism; useful to any peasant or to any prince. cleanliness, of person and even of mind; fixed rigor of method, sobriety, frugality, these are virtues worth acquiring. sobriety in the matter of drink is much attended to here: his majesty permits no distillation of strong-waters in potsdam, or within so many miles; [fassmann, p. .] nor is sale of such allowed, except in the most intensely select manner. the soldier's pay is in the highest degree exiguous; not above three halfpence a day, for a common foot-soldier, in addition to what rations he has:--but it is found adequate to its purpose, too; supports the soldier in sound health, vigorously fit for his work; into which points his majesty looks with his own eyes, and will admit no dubiety. often, too, if not already oftenest (as it ultimately grew to be), the peasant-soldier gets home for many months of the year, a soldier-ploughman; and labors for his living in the old way. his captain (it is one of the captain's perquisites, who is generally a veteran of fifty, with a long spartan training, before he gets so high) pockets the pay of all these furloughs, supernumerary to the real work of the regiment;--and has certain important furnishings to yield in return. at any rate, enrolment, in time of peace, cannot fall on many: three or four recruits in the year, to replace vacancies, will carry the canton through its crisis. for we are to note withal, the third part of every regiment can, and should by rule, consist of "foreigners,"--men not born prussians. these are generally men levied in the imperial free-towns; "in the reich" or empire, as they term it; that is to say, or is mainly to say, in the countries of germany that are not austrian or prussian. for this foreign third-part too, the recruits must be got; excuses not admissible for captain or colonel; nothing but recruits of the due inches will do. captain and colonel (supporting their enterprise on frugal adequate "perquisites," hinted of above) have to be on the outlook; vigilantly, eagerly; and must contrive to get them. nay, we can take supernumerary recruits; and have in fact always on hand, attached to each regiment, a stock of such. any number of recruits, that stand well on their legs, are welcome; and for a tall man there is joy in potsdam, almost as if he were a wise man or a good man. the consequence is, all countries, especially all german countries, are infested with a new species of predatory two-legged animals: prussian recruiters. they glide about, under disguise if necessary; lynx-eyed, eager almost as the jesuit hounds are; not hunting the souls of men, as the spiritual jesuits do, but their bodies in a merciless carnivorous manner. better not to be too tall, in any country, at present! irish kirkman could not be protected by the aegis of the british constitution itself. in general, however, the prussian recruiter, on british ground, reports, that the people are too well off, that there is little to be done in those parts. a tall british sailor, if we pick him up strolling about memel or the baltic ports, is inexorably claimed by the diplomatists; no business do-able till after restoration of him; and he proves a mere loss to us. [despatches in the state-paper office.] germany, holland, switzerland, the netherlands, these are the fruitful fields for us, and there we do hunt with some vigor. for example, in the town of julich there lived and worked a tall young carpenter: one day a well-dressed positive-looking gentleman ("baron von hompesch," the records name him) enters the shop; wants "a stout chest, with lock on it, for household purposes; must be of such and such dimensions, six feet six in length especially, and that is an indispensable point,--in fact it will be longer than yourself, i think, herr zimmermann: what is the cost; when can it be ready?" cost, time, and the rest are settled. "a right stout chest, then; and see you don't forget the size; if too short, it will be of no use to me: mind;"--"ja wohl! gewiss!" and the positive-looking, well-clad gentleman goes his ways. at the appointed day he reappears; the chest is ready;--we hope, an unexceptionable article? "too short, as i dreaded!" says the positive gentleman. "nay, your honor," says the carpenter, "i am certain it is six feet six!" and takes out his foot-rule.--"pshaw, it was to be longer than yourself." "well, it is."--"no it isn't!" the carpenter, to end the matter, gets into his chest; and will convince any and all mortals. no sooner is he in, rightly flat, than the positive gentleman, a prussian recruiting officer in disguise, slams down the lid upon him; locks it; whistles in three stout fellows, who pick up the chest, gravely walk through the streets with it, open it in a safe place; and find-horrible to relate--the poor carpenter dead; choked by want of air in this frightful middle-passage of his. [forster, ii. , ; pollnitz, ii. , .] name of the town is given, julich as above; date not. and if the thing had been only a popular myth, is it not a significant one? but it is too true; the tall carpenter lay dead, and hompesch got "imprisoned for life" by the business. burgermeisters of small towns have been carried off; in one case, "a rich merchant in magdeburg," whom it cost a large sum to get free again. [stenzel, iii. .] prussian recruiters hover about barracks, parade-grounds, in foreign countries; and if they see a tall soldier (the dutch have had instances, and are indignant at them), will persuade him to desert,--to make for the country where soldier-merit is understood, and a tall fellow of parts will get his pair of colors in no-time. but the highest stretch of their art was probably that done on the austrian ambassador,--tall herr von bentenrieder; tallest of diplomatists; whom fassmann, till the fair of st. germain, had considered the tallest of men. bentenrieder was on his road as kaiser's ambassador to george i., in those congress-of-cambrai times; serenely journeying on; when, near by halberstadt, his carriage broke. carriage takes some time in mending; the tall diplomatic herr walks on, will stretch his long legs, catch a glimpse of the town withal, till they get it ready again. and now, at some guard-house of the place, a prussian officer inquires, not too reverently of a nobleman without carriage, "who are you?" "well," answered he smiling, "i am botschafter (message-bearer) from his imperial majesty. and who may you be that ask?"--"to the guard-house with us!" whither he is marched accordingly. "kaiser's messenger, why not?" being a most tall handsome man, this kaiser's botschafter, striding along on foot here, the guard-house officials have decided to keep him, to teach him prussian drill-exercise;--and are thrown into a singular quandary, when his valets and suite come up, full of alarm dissolving into joy, and call him "excellenz!" [pollnitz, ii. - .] tall herr von bentenrieder accepted the prostrate apology of these guard-house officials. but he naturally spoke of the matter to george i.; whose patience, often fretted by complaints on that head, seems to have taken fire at this transcendent instance of prussian insolency. in consequence of this adventure, he commenced, says pollnitz, a system of decisive measures; of reprisals even, and of altogether peremptory, minatory procedures, to clear hanover of this nuisance; and to make it cease, in very fact, and not in promise and profession merely. these were the first rubs queen sophie met with, in pushing on the double-marriage; and sore rubs they were, though she at last got over them. coming on the back of that fine charlottenburg visit, almost within year and day, and directly in the teeth of such friendly aspects and prospects, this conduct on the part of his britannic majesty much grieved and angered friedrich wilhelm; and in fact involved him in considerable practical troubles. for it was the signal of a similar set of loud complaints, and menacing remonstrances (with little twinges of fulfilment here and there) from all quarters of germany; a tempest of trouble and public indignation rising everywhere, and raining in upon friedrich wilhelm and this unfortunate hobby of his. no riding of one's poor hobby in peace henceforth. friedrich wilhelm always answered, what was only superficially the fact, that he knew nothing of these violences and acts of ill-neighborship; he, a just king, was sorrier than any man to hear of them; and would give immediate order that they should end. but they always went on again, much the same; and never did end. i am sorry a just king, led astray by his hobby, answers thus what is only superficially the fact. but it seems he cannot help it: his hobby is too strong for him; regardless of curb and bridle in this instance. let us pity a man of genius, mounted on so ungovernable a hobby; leaping the barriers, in spite of his best resolutions. perhaps the poetic temperament is more liable to such morbid biases, influxes of imaginative crotchet, and mere folly that cannot be cured? friedrich wilhelm never would or could dismount from his hobby: but he rode him under much sorrow henceforth; under showers of anger and ridicule;--contumelious words and procedures, as it were saxa et faeces, battering round him, to a heavy extent; the rider a victim of tragedy and farce both at once. queen sophie's troubles: grumkow with the old dessauer, and grumkow without him. queen sophie had, by delicate management, got over those first rubs, aud arrived at a treaty of hanover, and clear ground again; far worse rubs lay ahead; but smooth travelling, towards such a goal, was not possible for this queen. poor lady, her court, as we discern from wilhelmina and the books, is a sad welter of intrigues, suspicions; of treacherous chambermaids, head-valets, pickthank scouts of official gentlemen and others striving to supplant one another. satan's invisible world very busy against queen sophie! under any terms, much more under those of the double-marriage, her place in a kindly but suspicious husband's favor was difficult to maintain. restless aspirants, climbing this way or that, by ladder-steps discoverable in this abstruse element, are never wanting, and have the due eavesdropping satellites, now here, now there. queen sophie and her party have to walk warily, as if among precipices and pitfalls. of all which wide welter of extinct contemptibilities, then and there so important, here and now become minus quantities, we again notice the existence, but can undertake no study or specification whatever. two incidents, the latter of them dating near the point where we now are, will sufficiently instruct the reader what a welter this was, in which queen sophie and her bright little son, the new major of the potsdam giants, had to pass their existence. incident first fell out some six years ago or more,--in , year of the heidelberg protestants, of clement the forger, when his majesty "slept for weeks with a pistol under his pillow," and had other troubles. his majesty, on one of his journeys, which were always many, was taken suddenly ill at brandenburg, that year: so violently ill, that thinking himself about to die, he sent for his good queen, and made a will appointing her regent in case of his decease. his majesty quite recovered before long. but grumkow and the old dessauer, main aspirants; getting wind of this will, and hunting out the truth of it,--what a puddling of the waters these two made in consequence; stirring up mire and dirt round the good queen, finding she had been preferred to them! [wilhelmina, i. , .] nay wilhelmina, in her wild way, believes they had, not long after, planned to "fire a theatre" about the king, one afternoon, in berlin city, and take his life, thereby securing for themselves such benefit in prospect as there might be! not a doubt of it, thinks wilhelmina: "the young margraf, [born (see vol. v. p. .)] our precious cousin, of schwedt, is not he sister's-son of that old dessauer? grandson of the great elector, even as papa is. papa once killed (and our poor crown-prince also made away with),--that young margraf, and his blue fox-tiger of an uncle over him, is king in prussia! obviously they meant to burn that theatre, and kill papa!" this is wilhelmina's distracted belief; as, doubtless, it was her mother's on the day in question: a jealous, much-suffering, transcendently exasperated mother, as we see. incident second shows us those, two rough gentlemen fallen out of partnership, into open quarrel and even duel. "duel at the copenick gate," much noised of in the dull old prussian books,--though always in a reserved manner; not even the date, as if that were dangerous, being clearly given! it came in the wake of that hanover treaty, as is now guessed; the two having taken opposite sides on that measure, and got provoked into ripping up old sores in general. dessau was against king george and the treaty, it appears; having his reasons, family-reasons of old standing: grumkow, a bribable gentleman, was for,--having also perhaps his reasons. enough, it came to altercations, objurgations between the two; which rose ever higher,--rose at length to wager-of-battle. indignant challenge on the part of the old dessauer; which, however, grumkow, not regarded as a baresark in the fighting way, regrets that his christian principles do not, forsooth, allow him to accept. the king is appealed to; the king, being himself, though an orthodox christian, yet a still more orthodox soldier, decides that, on the whole, general grumkow cannot but accept this challenge from the field-marshal prince of dessau. dessau is on the field, at the copenick gate, accordingly,--late-autumn afternoon (i calculate) of the year ;--waits patiently till grumkow make his appearance. grumkow, with a chosen second, does at last appear; advances pensively with slow steps. gunpowder dessau, black as a silent thunder-cloud, draws his sword: and grumkow--does not draw his; presents it undrawn, with unconditional submission and apology: "slay me, if you like, old friend, whom i have injured!" whereat dessau, uttering no word, uttering only some contemptuous snort, turns his back on the phenomenon; mounts his horse and rides home. [pollnitz, ii. , .] a divided man from this grumkow henceforth. the prince waited on her majesty; signified his sorrow for past estrangements; his great wish now to help her, but his total inability, being ousted by grumkow: we are for halle, madam, where our regiment is; there let us serve his majesty, since we cannot here! [wilhelmina, i. , .]--and in fact the old dessauer lives mostly there in time coming; sunk inarticulate in tactics of a truly deep nature, not stranding on politics of a shallow;--a man still memorable in the mythic traditions of that place. better to drill men to perfection, and invent iron ramrods, against the day they shall be needed, than go jostling, on such terms, with cattle of the grumkow kind! and thus, we perceive, grumkow is in, and the old dessauer out; and there has been "a change of ministry," change of "majesty's-advisers," brought about;--may the advice going be wiser now! what the young crown-prince did, said, thought, in such environment, of backstairs diplomacies, female sighs and aspirations, grumkow duels, drillings in the giant regiment, is not specified for us in the smallest particular, in the extensive rubbish-books that have been written about him. ours is, to indicate that such environment was: how a lively soul, acted on by it, did not fail to react, chameleon-like taking color from it, and contrariwise taking color against it, must be left to the reader's imagination--one thing we have gathered and will not forget, that the old dessauer is out, and grumkow in, that the rugged son of gunpowder, drilling men henceforth at halle, and in a dumb way meditating tactics as few ever did, has no share in the foul enchantments that now supervene at court. chapter vi. -- ordnance-master seckendorf crosses the palace esplanade. the kaiser's terror and embarrassment at the conclusion of the hanover treaty, as we saw, were extreme. war possible or likely; and nothing but the termagant caprices of elizabeth farnese to depend on: no cash from the sea-powers; only cannonshot, invasion and hostility, from their cash and them: what is to be done? to "caress the pride of spain;" to keep alive the hopes, in that quarter, of marrying their don carlos, the supplementary infant, to our eldest archduchess; which indeed has set the sea-powers dreadfully on fire, but which does leave parma and piacenza quiet for the present, and makes the pragmatic sanction too an affair of spain's own: this is one resource, though a poor one, and a dangerous. another is, to make alliance with russia, by well flattering the poor little brown czarina there: but is not that a still poorer? and what third is there!-- there is a third worth both the others, could it be got done: to detach friedrich wilhelm from those dangerous hanover confederates, and bring him gently over to ourselves. he has an army of , , in perfect equipment, and money to maintain them so. against us or for us,-- , plus or , minus;--that will mean , fighting men; a most weighty item in any field there is like to be. if it lie in the power of human art, let us gain this wild irritated king of prussia. dare any henchman of ours venture to go, with honey-cakes, with pattings and cajoleries, and slip the imperial muzzle well round the snout of that rugged ursine animal? an iracund bear, of dangerous proportions, and justly irritated against us at present? our experienced feldzeugmeister, ordnance-master and diplomatist, graf von seckendorf, a conscientious protestant, and the cunningest of men, able to lie to all lengths,--dare he try it? he has fought in all quarters of the world; and lied in all, where needful; and saved money in all: he will try it, and will succeed in it too! [pollnitz, ii. ; stenzel, iii. ; forster, ii. , iii. , .] the second act, therefore, of this foolish world-drama of the double-marriage opens,--on the th may, , towards sunset, in the tabagie of the berlin palace, as we gather from laborious comparison of windy pollnitz with other indistinct witnesses of a dreary nature,--in the following manner:-- prussian majesty sits smoking at the window; nothing particular going on. a square-built shortish steel-gray gentleman, of military cut, past fifty, is strolling over the schlossplatz (spacious square in front of the palace), conspicuous amid the sparse populations there; pensively recreating himself, in the yellow sunlight and long shadows, as after a day's hard labor or travel. "who is that?" inquires friedrich wilhelm, suspending his tobacco. grumkow answers cautiously, after survey: he thinks it must be ordnance-master seckendorf; who was with him to-day; passing on rapidly towards denmark, on business that will not wait.--"experienced feldzeugmeister graf von seckendorf, whom we stand in correspondence with, of late, and were expecting about this time? whom we have known at the siege of stralsund, nay ever since the marlborough times and the siege of menin, in war and peace; and have always reckoned a solid reasonable man and soldier: why has he not come to us?"--"your majesty," confesses grumkow, "his business is so pressing! business in denmark will not wait. seckendorf owned he had come slightly round, in his eagerness to see our grand review at tempelhof the day after to-morrow: what soldier would omit the sight (so he was pleased to intimate) of soldiering carried to the non-plus-ultra? but he hoped to do it quite incognito, among the general public;--and then to be at the gallop again: not able to have the honor of paying his court at this time."--"court? narren-possen (nonsense)!" answers friedrich wilhelm,--and opening the window, beckons seckendorf up, with his own royal head and hand. the conversation of a man who had rational sense, and could tell him anything, were it only news af foreign parts in a rational manner, was always welcome to friedrich wilhelm. and so seckendorf, how can he help it, is installed in the tabagie; glides into pleasant conversation there. a captivating talker; solid for religion, for the rights of germany against intrusive french and others: such insight, orthodoxy, sense and ingenuity; pleasant to hear; and all with the due quantity of oil, though he "both snuffles and lisps;" and has privately, in case of need, a capacity of lying,--for he curiously distils you any lie, in his religious alembics, till it become tolerable to his conscience, or even palatable, as elixirs are;--capacity of double-distilled lying probably the greatest of his day.--seckendorf assists at the grand review, th may, ; witnesses with unfeigned admiration the non-plus-ultra of manoeuvring, and, in fact, the general management, military and other, of this admirable king. [pollnitz, ii. ; fassmann, pp. , .] seckendorf, no question of it, will do his denmark business swiftly, then, since your majesty is pleased so to wish. seckendorf, sure enough, will return swiftly to such a king, whose familiar company, vouchsafed him in this noble manner, he likes,--oh, how he likes it! in a week or two, seckendorf is back to berlin; attends his majesty on the annual military tour through preussen; attends him everywhere, becoming quite a necessary of life to his majesty; and does not go away at all. seckendorf's business, if his majesty knew it, will not lead him "away;" but lies here on this spot; and is now going on; the magic-apparatus, grumkow the mainspring of it, getting all into gear! grumkow was once clear for king george and the hanover treaty, having his reasons then; but now he has other reasons, and is clear against those foreign connections. "hm, hah--yes, my estimable, justly powerful herr von grumkow, here is a little pension of , ducats (only pounds as yet), which the imperial majesty, thinking of the service you may do prussia and germany and him, graciously commands me to present;--only pounds by the year as yet; but there shall be no lack of money if we prosper!" [forster, iii. , ; see also iv. , , , &c.] and so there are now two black-artists, of the first quality, busy on the unconscious friedrich wilhelm; and seckendorf, for the next seven years, will stick to friedrich wilhelm like his shadow; and fascinate his whole existence and him, as few wizards could have done. friedrich wilhelm, like st. paul in melita, warming his innocent hands at the fire of dry branches here kindled for him,--that miracle of a venomous serpent is this that has fixed itself upon his finger? to friedrich wilhelm's enchanted sense it seems a bird-of-paradise, trustfully perching there; but it is of the whip-snake kind, or a worse; and will stick to him tragically, if also comically, for years to come. the world has seen the comedy of it, and has howled scornful laughter upon friedrich wilhelm for it: but there is a tragic side, not so well seen into, where tears are due to the poor king; and to certain others horsewhips, and almost gallows-ropes, are due!--yes, had seckendorf and grumkow both been well hanged, at this stage of the affair, whereby the affair might have soon ended on fair terms, it had been welcome to mankind; welcome surely to the present editor; for one; such a saving to him, of time wasted, of disgust endured! and indeed it is a solacement he has often longed for, in these dreary operations of his. but the fates appointed otherwise; we have all to accept our fate!-- grumkow is sworn to imperial orthodoxy, then,--probably the vulpine mind (so to term it) went always rather that way, and only his interest the other;--grumkow is well bribed, supplied for bribing others where needful; stands orthodox now, under peril of his very head. all things have been got distilled into the palatable state, spiritual and economic, for oneself and one's grand trojan-horse of a grumkow; and the adventure proceeds apace. seckendorf sits nightly in the tabagie (a kind of "smoking parliament," as we shall see anon); attends on all promenades and journeys: one of the wisest heads, and so pleasant in discourse, he is grown indispensable, and a necessary of life to us. seckendorf's biographer computes, "he must have ridden, in those seven years, continually attending his majesty, above , german miles," [anonymous (seckendorf's grand-nephew) _versuch einer lebensbeschreibung des feldmarschalls grafen von seckendorf_ (leipzig, , ), i. .]--that is , english miles; or a trifle more than the length of the terrestrial equator. in a month or two, [ th august, (preuss, i. ).] seckendorf--since majesty vouchsafes to honor us by wishing it--contrives to get nominated kaiser's minister at berlin: unlimited prospects of tabagie, and good talk, now opening on majesty. and impartial grumkow, in tabagie or wherever we are, cannot but admit, now and then, that the excellenz herr graf ordnance-master has a deal of reason in what he says about foreign politics, about intrusive french and other points. "hm, na," muses friedrich wilhelm to himself, "if the kaiser had not been so lofty on us in that heidelberg-protestant affair, in the ritter-dienst business, in those damned 'recruiting' brabbles; always a very high-sniffing surly kaiser to us!" for in fact the kaiser has, all along, used friedrich wilhelm bitterly ill; and contemplates no better usage of him, except in show. usage? thinks the kaiser: a big prussian piece of cannon, whom we wish to enchant over to us! did lazy peg complain of her "usage"?--so that the excellenz and grumkow have a heavy problem of it; were they not so diligent, and the cannon itself well disposed. "those blitz franzosen (blasted french)!" growls friedrich wilhelm sometimes, in the tobacco-parliament: [forster, ii. , &c.] for he hates the french, and would fain love his kaiser; being german to the bone, and of right loyal heart, though counted only a piece of cannon by some. for one thing, his prussian majesty declines signing that treaty of hanover a second time: now when the dutch accede to it, after almost a year's trouble with them, the prussian ambassador, singular to observe, "has no orders to sign;" leaves the english with their hollanders and blitz franzosen to sign by themselves, this time. [ th august, . (boyer, _the political state of great rrilain,_ a monthly periodical, vol. xxxii. p. , which is the number for july, .)] "we will wait, we will wait!" thinks his prussian majesty:--"who knows?" "but then julich and berg!" urges he always; "britannic majesty and the blitz franzosen were to secure me the reversion there. that was the essential point!"--for this too excellenz has a remedy; works out gradually a remedy from headquarters, the amiable dexterous man: "kaiser will do the like, your majesty; kaiser himself will secure it you!"--in brief, some three months after seckendorf's instalment as kaiser's minister, not yet five months since his appearance in the schlossplatz that may evening,--it is now hunting-season, and we are at wusterhausen; majesty, his two black-artists and the proper satellites on both sides all there,--a new and opposite treaty, in extreme privacy, on the th of october, , is signed at that sequestered hunting-schloss: "treaty of wusterhausen" so called; which was once very famous and mysterious, and caused many wigs to wag. wigs to wag, in those days especially, when knowledge of it was first had; the rather as only half knowledge could be had of it;--or can, mourns dryasdust, who has still difficulties about some "secret articles" in the document. [buchholz, i. n.] courage, my friend; they are now of no importance to any creature. the essential purport of this treaty, [given in extenso (without the secret articles) in forster, iv. - .] legible to all eyes, is, "that friedrich wilhelm silently drops the hanover treaty and blitz franzosen; and explicitly steps over to the kaiser's side; stipulates to assist the kaiser with so many thousand, if attacked in germany by any blitz franzose or intrusive foreigner whatever. in return for which, the kaiser, besides assisting prussia in the like case with a like quantity of thousands, engages, in circuitous chancery language, to be helpful, and humanly speaking effectual, in that grand matter of julich and berg;--somewhat in the following strain: 'to our imperial mind it does appear the king of prussia has manifest right to the succession in julich and berg; right grounded on express erbvergleich of , not to speak of deeds subsequent: the imperial mind, as supreme judge of such matters in the reich, will not fail to decide this cause soon and justly, should it come to that. but we hope it may take a still better course: for the imperial mind will straightway set about persuading kur-pfalz to comply peaceably; and even undertakes to have something done, that way, before six months pass.'" [art. v. in forster, ubi supra.] humanly speaking, surely the imperial mind will be effectual in the julich and berg matter. but it was very necessary to use circuitous chancery language,--inasmuch as the imperial mind, desirous also to secure kur-pfalz's help in this sore crisis, had, about three months ago, [treaty with kur-pfalz, th august, (forster, ii. ).] expressly engaged to kur-pfalz, that julich and berg should not go to friedrich wilhelm in terms of the old deed, but to kur-pfalz's cousins of sulzbach, whom the old gentleman (in spite of deeds) was obstinate to prefer! there is no doubt about that fact, about that self-devouring pair of facts. to such straits is a kaiser driven when he gets deep into spectre-hunting. this is the once famous, now forgotten, "treaty of wusterhausen, th october, ;" which proved so consolatory to the kaiser in that dread crisis of his spectre-hunt; and the effects of which are very visible in this history, if nowhere else. it caught up the prussian-english double-marriage; launched it into the huge tide of imperial spectre politics, into the awful swaggings and swayings of the terrestrial libra in general; and nearly broke the heart of several royal persons; of a memorable crown-prince, among others. which last is now, pretty much, its sole claim to be ever mentioned again by mankind. as there was no performance, nor an intention of any, in that julich-berg matter, excellenz seckendorf had the task henceforth of keeping, by art-magic or the preternatural method,--that is, by mere help of grumkow and the devil,--his prussian majesty steady to the kaiser nevertheless. always well divided from the english especially. which the excellency seckendorf managed to do. for six or seven years coming; or, in fact, till these spectre-chasings ended, or ran else-whither for consummation. steady always, jealous of the english; sometimes nearly mad, but always ready as a primed cannon: so friedrich wilhelm was accordingly managed to be kept;--his own household gone almost into delirium; he himself looking out, with loyally fierce survey, for any anti-kaiser war: "when do we go off, then?"--though none ever came. and indeed nothing came; and except those torments to young friedrich and others, it was all nothing. one of the strangest pieces of black-art ever done. excellenz seckendorf, whom friedrich wilhelm so loves, is by no means a beautiful man; far the reverse. bodily,--and the spirit corresponds,--a stiff-backed, petrified, stony, inscrutable-looking, and most unbeautiful old intriguer. portraits of him, which are frequent, tell all one story. the brow puckered together, in a wide web of wrinkles from each temple, as if it meant to hide the bad pair of eyes, which look suspicion; inquiry, apprehension, habit of double-distilled mendacity; the indeterminate projecting chin, with its thick, chapped under-lip, is shaken out, or shoved out, in mill-hopper fashion,--as if to swallow anything there may be, spoken thing or other, and grind it to profitable meal for itself. spiritually he was an old soldier let for hire; an old intriguer, liar, fighter, what you like. what we may call a human soul standing like a hackney-coach, this half-century past, with head, tongue, heart, conscience, at the hest of a discerning public and its shilling. there is considerable faculty, a certain stiff-necked strength in the old fellow; in fact, nature had been rather kind to him; and certainly his uncle and guardian--the distinguished seckendorf who did the historia lutheranismi, a ritter, and man of good mark, in ernst the pious of saxe-gotha's time--took pains about his education. but nature's gifts have not prospered with him: how could they, in that hackney-coach way of life? considerable gifts, we say; shrunk into a strange bankruptcy in the development of them. a stiff-backed, close-fisted old gentleman, with mill-hopper chin,--with puckery much-inquiring eyes, which have never discovered any noble path for him in this world. he is a strictly orthodox protestant; zealous about external points of moral conduct; yet scruples not, for the kaiser's shilling, to lie with energy to all lengths; and fight, according to the reichs-hofrath code, for any god or man. he is gone mostly to avarice, in these mature years; all his various strengths turned into strength of grasping. he is now fifty-four; a man public in the world, especially since he became the kaiser's man: but he has served various masters, in various capacities, and been in many wars;--and for the next thirty years we shall still occasionally meet him, seldom to our advantage. he comes from anspach originally; and has kindred seckendorfs in office there, old ritters in that country. he inherited a handsome castle and estate, meuselwitz, near altenburg in the thuringen region, from that uncle, ernst of saxe-gotha's man, whom we spoke of; and has otherwise gained wealth; all which he holds like a vice. once, at meuselwitz, they say, he and some young secretary, of a smartish turn, sat working or conversing, in a large room with only one candle to illuminate it: the secretary, snuffing the candle, snuffed it out: "pshaw," said seckendorf impatiently, "where did you learn to handle snuffers?" "excellenz, in a place where there were two lights kept!" replied the other. [_ sechendorje leben_ (already cited), i. .]--for the rest, he has a good old wife at meuselwitz, who is now old, and had never any children; who loves him much, and is much loved by him, it would appear: this is really the best fact i ever knew of him,--poor bankrupt creature; gone all to spiritual rheumatism, to strict orthodoxy, with unlimited mendacity; and avarice as the general outcome! stiff-backed, close-fisted strength, all grown wooden or stony; yet some little well of human sympathy does lie far in the interior: one wishes, after all (since he could not be got hanged in time for us), good days to his poor old wife and him! he both lisps and snuffles, as was mentioned; writes cunningly acres of despatches to prince eugene; never swears, though a military man, except on great occasions one oath, jarni-bleu,--which is perhaps some flash-note version of chair-de-dieu, like parbleu, 'zounds and the rest of them, which the devil cannot prosecute you for; whereby an economic man has the pleasure of swearing on cheap terms. herr pollnitz's account of seckendorf is unusually emphatic; babbling pollnitz rises into a strain of pulpit eloquence, inspired by indignation, on this topic: "he affected german downrightness, to which he was a stranger; and followed, under a deceitful show of piety, all the principles of machiavel. with the most sordid love of money he combined boorish manners. lies [of the distilled kind chiefly] had so become a habit with him, that he had altogether lost notion of employing truth in speech. it was the soul of a usurer, inhabiting now the body of a war-captain, now transmigrating into that of a huckster. false oaths, and the abominablest basenesses, cost him nothing, so his object might be reached. he was miserly with his own, but lavish with his master's money; daily he gave most striking proofs of both these habitudes. and this was the man whom we saw, for a space of time, at the head of the kaiser's armies, and at the helm of the state and of the german empire," [pollnitz, ii. .]--having done the prussian affair so well. this cunning old gentleman, to date from the autumn of , may be said to have taken possession of friedrich wilhelm; to have gone into him, grumkow and he, as two devils would have done in the old miraculous times: and, in many senses, it was they, not the nominal proprietor, that lived friedrich wilhelm's life. for the next seven years, a figure went about, not doubting it was friedrich wilhelm; but it was in reality seckendorf-and-grumkow much more. these two, conjurer and his man, both invisible, have caught their royal wild bear; got a rope round his muzzle;--and so dance him about; now terrifying, now exhilarating all the market by the pranks he plays! grumkow, a very machiavel after his sort, knew the nature of the royal animal as no other did. grumkow, purchased by his pension of pounds, is dog-cheap at the money, as seckendorf often urges at vienna, is he not? and they add a touch of extraordinary gift now and then, , florins ( , pounds) on one occasion: [in : forster, iii. .] for "grumkow dienet ehrlich (serves honorably)," urges seckendorf; and again, "if anybody deserves favor [gnade, meaning extra pay], it is this gentleman;"--wahrlich! purchased grumkow has ample money at command, to purchase other people needed; and does purchase; so that all things and persons can be falsified and enchanted, as need is. by and by it has got so far, that friedrich wilhelm's ambassador at london maintains a cipher-correspondence with grumkow; and writes to friedrich wilhelm, not what is passing in city or court there, but what grumkow wishes friedrich wilhelm to think is passing. of insinuations, by assent or contradiction, potent if you know the nature of the beast; of these we need not speak. tabaks-collegium has become a workshop:--human nature can fancy it! nay human nature can still read it in the british state-paper office, to boundless stupendous extent;--but ought mostly to suppress it when read. this is a very strange part of friedrich wilhelm's history; and has caused much wonder in the world: wilhelmina's book rather aggravating than assuaging that feeling, on the part of intelligent readers. a book written long afterwards, from her recollections, from her own oblique point of view; in a beautifully shrill humor; running, not unnaturally, into confused exaggerations and distortions of all kinds. not mendaciously written anywhere, yet erroneously everywhere. wilhelmina had no knowledge of the magical machinery that was at work: she vaguely suspects grumkow and seckendorf; but does not guess, in the mad explosions of papa, that two devils have got into papa, and are doing the mischief. trusting to memory alone, she misdates, mistakes, misplaces; jumbles all things topsy-turvy;--giving, on the whole, an image of affairs which is altogether oblique, dislocated, exaggerative; and which, in fine, proves unintelligible, if you try to construe it into a fact or thing done. yet her human narrative, in that wide waste of merely pedant maunderings, is of great worth to us. a green tree, a leafy grove, better or worse, in the wilderness of dead bones and sand,--how welcome! many other books have been written on the matter; but these to my experience, only darken it more and more. pull wilhelmina straight, the best you can; deduct a twenty-five or sometimes even a seventy-five per cent, from the exaggerative portions of her statement; you will find her always true, lucid, charmingly human; and by far the best authority on this part of her brother's history. state-papers to some extent have also been printed on the matter; and of written state-papers, here in england and elsewhere, this editor has, had several hundred-weights distilled for him: but except as lights hung out over wilhelmina, nothing yet known, of published or manuscript, can be regarded as good for much. o heavens, had one but seven-league boots, to get across that inane country,--a bottomless whirlpool of dust and cobwebs in many places;--where, at any rate, we had so little to do! elucidating, rectifying, painfully contrasting, comparing, let us try to work out some conceivable picture of this strange imperial much ado about nothing; and get our unfortunate crown-prince, and our unfortunate selves, alive through it. chapter vii. -- tobacco-parliament. in these distressing junctures, it may cheer the reader's spirits, and will tend to explain for him what is coming, if we glance a little into the friedrich-wilhelm tabagie (tabaks-collegium or smoking college), more worthy to be called tobacco-parliament, of which there have already been incidental notices. far too remarkable an institution of the country to be overlooked by us here. friedrich wilhelm, though an absolute monarch, does not dream of governing without law, still less without justice, which he knows well to be the one basis for him and for all kings and men. his life-effort, prosecuted in a grand, unconscious, unvarying and instinctive way, may be defined rather as the effort to find out everywhere in his affairs what was justice; to make regulations, laws in conformity with that, and to guide himself and his prussia rigorously by these. truly he is not of constitutional turn; cares little about the wigs and formalities of justice, pressing on so fiercely towards the essence and fact of it; he has been known to tear asunder the wigs and formalities, in a notably impatient manner, when they stood between him and the fact. but prussia has its laws withal, tolerably abundant, tolerably fixed and supreme: and the meanest prussian man that could find out a definite law, coming athwart friedrich wilhelm's wrath, would check friedrich wilhelm in mid-volley,--or hope with good ground to do it. hope, we say; for the king is in his own and his people's eyes, to some indefinite extent, always himself the supreme ultimate interpreter, and grand living codex, of the laws,--always to some indefinite extent;--and there remains for a subject man nothing but the appeal to philip sober, in some rash cases! on the whole, however, friedrich wilhelm is by no means a lawless monarch; nor are his prussians slaves by any means: they are patient, stout-hearted, subject men, with a very considerable quantity of radical fire, very well covered in; prevented from idle explosions, bound to a respectful demeanor, and especially to hold their tongues as much as possible. friedrich wilhelm has not the least shadow of a constitutional parliament, nor even a privy-council, as we understand it; his ministers being in general mere clerks to register and execute what he had otherwise resolved upon: but he had his tabaks-collegium, tobacco-college, smoking congress, tabagie, which has made so much noise in the world, and which, in a rough natural way: affords him the uses of a parliament, on most cheap terms, and without the formidable inconveniences attached to that kind of institution. a parliament reduced to its simplest expression, and, instead of parliamentary eloquence, provided with dutch clay-pipes and tobacco: so we may define this celebrated tabagie of friedrich wilhelm's. tabagies were not uncommon among german sovereigns of that epoch: george i. at hanover had his smoking-room, and select smoking party on an evening; and even at london, as we noticed, smoked nightly, wetting his royal throat with thin beer, in presence of his fat and of his lean mistress, if there were no other company. tobacco,--introduced by the swedish soldiers in the thirty-years war, say some; or even by the english soldiers in the bohemian or palatinate beginnings of said war, say others;--tobacco, once shown them, was enthusiastically adopted by the german populations, long in want of such an article; and has done important multifarious functions in that country ever since. for truly, in politics, morality, and all departments of their practical and speculative affairs, we may trace its influences, good and bad, to this day. influences generally bad; pacificatory but bad, engaging you in idle cloudy dreams;--still worse, promoting composure among the palpably chaotic and discomposed; soothing all things into lazy peace; that all things may be left to themselves very much, and to the laws of gravity and decomposition. whereby german affairs are come to be greatly overgrown with funguses in our time; and give symptoms of dry and of wet rot, wherever handled. george i., we say, had his tabagie; and other german sovereigns had: but none of them turned it to a political institution, as friedrich wilhelm did. the thrifty man; finding it would serve in that capacity withal. he had taken it up as a commonplace solace and amusement: it is a reward for doing strenuously the day's heavy labors, to wind them up in this manner, in quiet society of friendly human faces, into a contemplative smoke-canopy, slowly spreading into the realm of sleep and its dreams. friedrich wilhelm was a man of habitudes; his evening tabagie became a law of nature to him, constant as the setting of the sun. favorable circumstances, quietly noticed and laid hold of by the thrifty man, developed this simple evening arrangement of his into a sort of smoking parliament, small but powerful, where state-consultations, in a fitful informal way, took place; and the weightiest affairs might, by dexterous management, cunning insinuation and manoeuvring from those that understood the art and the place, he bent this way or that, and ripened towards such issue as was desirable. to ascertain what the true course in regard to this or the other high matter will be; what the public will think of it; and, in short, what and how the executive-royal shall do therein: this, the essential function of a parliament and privy-council, was here, by artless cheap methods, under the bidding of mere nature, multifariously done; mere taciturnity and sedative smoke making the most of what natural intellect there might be. the substitution of tobacco-smoke for parliamentary eloquence is, by some, held to be a great improvement. here is smelfungus's opinion, quaintly expressed, with a smile in it, which perhaps is not all of joy:-- "tobacco-smoke is the one element in which, by our european manners, men can sit silent together without embarrassment, and where no man is bound to speak one word more than he has actually and veritably got to say. nay, rather every man is admonished and enjoined by the laws of honor, and even of personal ease, to stop short of that point; at all events, to hold his peace and take to his pipe again, the instant he has spoken his meaning, if he chance to have any. the results of which salutary practice, if introduced into constitutional parliaments, might evidently be incalculable. the essence of what little intellect and insight there is in that room: we shall or can get nothing more out of any parliament; and sedative, gently soothing, gently clarifying tobacco-smoke (if the room were well ventilated, open atop, and the air kept good), with the obligation to a minimum of speech, surely gives human intellect and insight the best chance they can have. best chance, instead of the worst chance as at present: ah me, ah me, who will reduce fools to silence again in any measure? who will deliver men from this hideous nightmare of stump-oratory, under which the grandest nations are choking to a nameless death, bleeding (too truly) from mouth and nose and ears, in our sad days?" this tobacco-college is the grumkow-and-seckendorf chief field of action. these two gentlemen understand thoroughly the nature of the prussian tobacco-parliament; have studied the conditions of it to the most intricate cranny: no english whipper-in or eloquent premier knows his st. stephen's better, or how to hatch a measure in that dim hot element. by hint, by innuendo; by contemplative smoke, speech and forbearance to speak; often looking one way and rowing another,--they can touch the secret springs, and guide in a surprising manner the big dangerous fireship (for such every state-parliament is) towards the haven they intend for it. most dexterous parliament-men (smoke-parliament); no walpole, no dundas, or immortal pitt, first or second, is cleverer in parliamentary practice. for their fireship, though smaller than the british, is very dangerous withal. look at this, for instance: seckendorf, one evening, far contrary to his wont, which was prostrate respect in easy forms, and always judicious submission of one's own weaker judgment, towards his majesty,--has got into some difficult defence of the kaiser; defence very difficult, or in reality impossible. the cautious man is flustered by the intricacies of his position, by his majesty's indignant counter-volleys, and the perilous necessity there is to do the impossible on the spur of the instant;--gets into emphasis, answers his majesty's volcanic fire by incipient heat of his own; and, in short, seems in danger of forgetting himself, and kindling the tobacco-parliament into a mere conflagration. that will be an issue for us! and yet who dare interfere? friedrich wilhelm's words, in high clangorous metallic plangency, and the pathos of a lion raised by anger into song, fall hotter and hotter; seckendorf's puckered brow is growing of slate-color; his shelf-lip, shuttling violently, lisps and snuffles mere unconciliatory matter:--what on earth will become of us?--"hoom! boom!" dexterous grumkow has drawn a humming-top from his pocket, and suddenly sent it spinning. there it hums and caracoles, through the bottles and glasses; reckless what dangerous breakage and spilth it may occasion. friedrich wilhelm looked aside to it indignantly. "what is that?" inquired he, in metallic tone still high. "pooh, a toy i bought for the little prince august, your majesty: am only trying it!" his majesty understood the hint, seckendorf still better; and a jolly touch of laughter, on both sides, brought the matter back into the safe tobacco-clouds again. [forster, ii. .] this smoking parliament or tabaks-collegium of his prussian majesty was a thing much talked of in the world; but till seckendorf and grumkow started their grand operations there, its proceedings are not on record; nor indeed till then had its political or parliamentary function become so decidedly evident. it was originally a simple smoking-club; got together on hest of nature, without ulterior intentions:--thus english parliamenta themselves are understood to have been, in the old norman time, mere royal christmas-festivities, with natural colloquy or parleying between king and nobles ensuing thereupon, and what wisest consultation concerning the arduous things of the realm the circumstances gave rise to. such parleyings or consultations,--always two in number in regard to every matter, it would seem, or even three; one sober, one drunk, and one just after being drunk,--proving of extreme service in practice, grew to be parliament, with its three readings, and what not. a smoking-room,--with wooden furniture, we can suppose,--in each of his majesty's royal palaces, was set apart for this evening service, and became the tabagie of his majesty. a tabagie-room in the berlin schloss, another in the potsdam, if the cicerone had any knowledge, could still be pointed out:--but the tobacco-pipes that are shown as friedrich wilhelm's in the kunstkammer or museum of berlin, pipes which no rational smoker, not compelled to it, would have used, awaken just doubt as to the cicerones; and you leave the locality of the tabagie a thing conjectural. in summer season, at potsdam and in country situations, tabagie could be held under a tent: we expressly know, his majesty held tabagie at wusterhausen nightly on the steps of the big fountain, in the outer court there. issuing from wusterhausen schloss, and its little clipped lindens, by the western side; passing the sentries, bridge and black ditch, with live prussian eagles, vicious black bears, you come upon the royal tabagie of wusterhausen; covered by an awning, i should think; sending forth its bits of smoke-clouds, and its hum of human talk, into the wide free desert round. any room that was large enough, and had height of ceiling, and air-circulation and no cloth-furniture, would do: and in each palace is one, or more than one, that has been fixed upon and fitted out for that object. a high large room, as the engravings (mostly worthless) give it us: contented saturnine human figures, a dozen or so of them, sitting round a large long table, furnished for the occasion; long dutch pipe in the mouth of each man; supplies of knaster easily accessible; small pan of burning peat, in the dutch fashion (sandy native charcoal, which burns slowly without smoke), is at your left hand; at your right a jug, which i find to consist of excellent thin bitter beer. other costlier materials for drinking, if you want such, are not beyond reach. on side-tables stand wholesome cold-meats, royal rounds of beef not wanting, with bread thinly sliced and buttered: in a rustic but neat and abundant way, such innocent accommodations, narcotic or nutritious, gaseous, fluid and solid, as human nature, bent on contemplation and an evening lounge, can require. perfect equality is to be the rule; no rising, or notice taken, when anybody enters or leaves. let the entering man take his place and pipe, without obligatory remarks: if he cannot smoke, which is seckendorf's case for instance, let him at least affect to do so, and not ruffle the established stream of things. and so, puff, slowly pff!--and any comfortable speech that is in you; or none, if you authentically have not any. old official gentlemen, military for most part; grumkow, derschau, old dessauer (when at hand), seckendorf, old general flans (rugged platt-deutsch specimen, capable of tocadille or backgammon, capable of rough slashes of sarcasm when he opens his old beard for speech): these, and the like of these, intimate confidants of the king, men who could speak a little, or who could be socially silent otherwise,--seem to have been the staple of the institution. strangers of mark, who happened to be passing, were occasional guests; ginckel the dutch ambassador, though foreign like seckendorf, was well seen there; garrulous pollnitz, who has wandered over all the world, had a standing invitation. kings, high princes on visit, were sure to have the honor. the crown-prince, now and afterwards, was often present; oftener than he liked,--in such an atmosphere, in such an element. "the little princes were all wont to come in," doffing their bits of triangular hats, "and bid papa good-night. one of the old generals would sometimes put them through their exercise; and the little creatures were unwilling to go away to bed." in such assemblage, when business of importance, foreign or domestic, was not occupying the royal thoughts,--the talk, we can believe, was rambling and multifarious: the day's hunting, if at wusterhausen; the day's news, if at berlin or potsdam; old reminiscences, too, i can fancy, turning up, and talk, even in seckendorf's own time, about siege of menin (where your majesty first did me the honor of some notice), siege of stralsund, and--duly on september th at least--malplaquet, with marlborough and eugene: what marlborough said, looked: and especially lottum, late feldmarschall lottum; [died .] and how the prussian infantry held firm, like a wall of rocks, when the horse were swept away,--rocks highly volcanic, and capable of rolling forward too; and "how a certain adjutant [derschau smokes harder, and blushes brown] snatched poor tettau on his back, bleeding to death, amid the iron whirlwinds, and brought him out of shot-range." [_ militair-lexikon,_ iv. ,? major-general von tettau, and i. ,? derschau. this was the beginning of derschau's favor with friedrich wilhelm, who had witnesssed this piece of faithful work.]--"hm, na, such a day, that, herr feldzeugmeister, as we shall not see again till the last of the days!" failing talk, there were newspapers in abundance; scraggy dutch courants, journals of the rhine, famas, frankfurt zeitungs; with which his majesty exuberantly supplied himself;--being willing to know what was passing in the high places of the world, or even what in the dark snuffy editor's thoughts was passing. this kind of matter, as some picture of the actual hour, his majesty liked to have read to him, even during meal-time. some subordinate character, with clear windpipe,--all the better too, if he be a book-man, cognizant of history, geography, and can explain everything,--usually reads the newspaper from some high seat behind backs, while his majesty and household dine. the same subordinate personage may be worth his place in the tabagie, should his function happen to prove necessary there. even book-men, though generally pedants and mere bags of wind and folly, are good for something, more especially if rich mines of quizzability turn out to be workable in them. of gundling, and the literary men in tobacco-parliament. friedrich wilhelm had, in succession or sometimes simultaneously, a number of such nondescripts, to read his newspapers and season his tabagie;--last evanescent phasis of the old court-fool species;--who form a noticeable feature of his environment. one very famous literary gentleman of this description, who distanced every competitor, in the tabagie and elsewhere, for serving his majesty's occasions, was jakob paul gundling; a name still laughingly remembered among the prussian people. gundling was a country-clergyman's son, of the nurnberg quarter; had studied, carrying off the honors, in various universities; had read, or turned over, whole cartloads of wise and foolish books (gravitating, i fear, towards the latter kind); had gone the grand tour as travelling tutor, "as companion to an english gentleman." he had seen courts, perhaps camps, at lowest cities and inns; knew in a manner, practically and theoretically, all things, and had published multifarious books of his own. [list of them, twenty-one in number, mostly on learned antiquarian subjects,--in forster, ii. , .] the sublime long-eared erudition of the man was not to be contested; manifest to everybody; thrice and four times manifest to himself, in the first place. in the course of his roamings, and grand and little tours, he had come to berlin in old king friedrich's time; had thrown powder in the eyes of men there, and been appointed to professorships in the ritter-academy, to chief-heraldships,--"historiographer royal," and perhaps other honors and emoluments. the whole of which were cut down by the ruthless scythe of friedrich wilhelm, ruthlessly mowing his field clear, in the manner we saw at his accession. whereby learned grandiloquent gundling, much addicted to liquor by this time, and turning the corner of forty, saw himself cast forth into the general wilderness; that is to say, walking the streets of berlin, with no resources but what lay within himself and his own hungry skin. much given to liquor too. how he lived, for a year or two after this,--erudite pen and braggart tongue his only resources,--were tragical to say. at length a famous tavern-keeper, the "leipzige polter-hans (leipzig kill-cow, or boisterous-jack)," as they call him, finding what a dungeon of erudite talk this gundling was, and how gentlemen got entertained by him, gave gundling the run of his tavern (or, i fear, only a seat in the drinking-room); and it was here that general grumkow found him, talking big, and disserting de omni scibili, to the ancient berlin gentlemen over their cups. a very dictionary of a man; who knows, in a manner, all things; and is by no means ignorant that he knows them: would not this man suit his majesty? thought grumkow; and brought him to majesty, to read the newspapers and explain everything. date is not given, or hinted at; but incidentally we find gundling in full blast "in the year ;" [von loen, _kleine schriften_, i. (cited in forster, i. ).] and conclude his instalment was a year or two before. gundling came to his majesty from the tap-room of boisterous-jack; read the newspapers, and explained everything: such a dictionary-in-breeches (much given to liquor) as his majesty had got, was never seen before. working into the man, his majesty, who had a great taste for such things, discovered in him such mines of college-learning, court-learning, without end; self-conceit, and depth of appetite, not less considerable: in fine, such chaotic blockheadism with the consciousness of being wisdom, as was wondrous to behold,--as filled his majesty, especially, with laughter and joyful amazement. here are mines of native darkness and human stupidity, capable of being made to phosphoresce and effervesce,--are there not, your majesty? omniscient gundling was a prime resource in the tabagie, for many years to come. man with sublimer stores of long-eared learning and omniscience; man more destitute of mother-wit, was nowhere to be met with. a man, bankrupt of mother-wit;--who has squandered any poor mother-wit he had in the process of acquiring his sublime long-eared omniscience; and has retained only depth of appetite,--appetite for liquor among other things, as the consummation and bottomless cesspool of appetites:--is not this a discovery we have made, in boisterous-jack's, your majesty! the man was an eldorado for the peculiar quizzing humor of his majesty; who took immense delight in working him, when occasion served. in the first years, he had to attend his majesty on all occasions of amusement; if you invite his majesty to dinner, gundling too must be of the party. daily, otherwise, gundling was at the tabagie; getting drunk, if nothing better. vein after vein, rich in broad fun (very broad and brobdignagian, such as suits there), is discovered in him: without wit himself, but much the cause of wit. none oftener shook the tabagie with inextinguishable hahas: daily, by stirring into him, you could wrinkle the tabagie into grim radiance of banter and silent grins. he wore sublime clothes: friedrich wilhelm, whom we saw dress up his regimental scavenger-executioners in french costume, for count rothenburg's behoof, made haste to load gundling with rathships, kammerherrships, titles such as fools covet;--gave him tolerable pensions too, poor devil, and even functions, if they were of the imaginary or big insignificant sort. above all things, his majesty dressed him, as the pink of fortunate ambitious courtiers. superfine scarlet coat, gold buttonholes, black-velvet facings and embroideries without end: "straw-colored breeches; red silk stockings," with probably blue clocks to them, "and shoes with red heels:" on his learned head sat an immense cloud-periwig of white goat's-hair (the man now growing towards fifty); in the hat a red feather:--in this guise he walked the streets, the gold key of kammerherr (chamberlain) conspicuously hanging at his coat-breast; and looked proudly down upon the world, when sober. alas, he was often not sober; and fiends in human shape were ready enough to take advantage of his unguarded situation. no man suffered ruder tarring-and-feathering;--and his only comfort was his bane withal, that he had, under such conditions, the use of the royal cellars, and could always command good liquor there. his illustrious scarlet coat, by tumblings in the ditch, soon got dirty to a degree; and exposed him to the biting censures of his majesty, anxious for the respectability of his hofraths. one day, two wicked captains, finding him prostrate in some lone place, cut off his kammerherr key; and privately gave it to his majesty. majesty, in tabagie, notices gundling's coat-breast: "where is your key, then, herr kammerherr?" "hm, hah--unfortunately lost it, ihro majestat!"--"lost it, say you?" and his majesty looks dreadfully grave.--"key lost?" thinks tabagie, grave seckendorf included: "jarni-bleu, that is something serious!" "as if a soldier were to drink his musket!" thinks his majesty: "and what are the laws, if an ignorant fellow is shot, and a learned wise one escapes?" here is matter for a deliberative tabagie; and to poor gundling a bad outlook, fatal or short of fatal. he had better not even drink much; but dispense with consolation, and keep his wits about him, till this squall pass. after much deliberating, it is found that the royal clemency can be extended; and an outlet devised, under conditions. next tabagie, a servant enters with one of the biggest trays in the world, and upon it a "wooden key gilt, about an ell long;" this gigantic implement is solemnly hung round the repentant kammerherr; this he shall wear publicly as penance, and be upon his behavior, till the royal mind can relent. figure the poor blockhead till that happen! "on recovering his metal key, he goes to a smith, and has it fixed on with wire." what gundling thought to himself, amid these pranks and hoaxings, we do not know. the poor soul was not born a fool; though he had become one, by college-learning, vanity, strong-drink, and the world's perversity and his own. under good guidance, especially if bred to strict silence, he might have been in some measure a luminous object,--not as now a phosphorescent one, shining by its mere rottenness! a sad "calamity of authors" indeed, when it overtakes a man!--poor gundling probably had lucid intervals now and then; tragic fits of discernment, in the inner-man of him. he had a brother, also a learned man, who retained his senses; and was even a rather famed professor at halle; whose portrait, looking very academic, solemn and well-to-do, turns up in old printshops; whose books, concerning "henry the fowler (_de henrico aucupe_)," "kaiser conrad i.," and other dim historical objects, are still consultable,--though with little profit, to my experience. the name of this one was nicolaus hieronymus; ours is jakob paul, the senior brother,--once the hope of the house, it is likely, and a fond father's pride,--in that poor old nurnberg parsonage long ago! jakob paul likewise continued to write books, on brandenburg heraldries, topography, genealogies: even a "life" or two of some old brandenburg electors are still extant from his hand; but not looked at now by any mortal. he had been, perhaps was again, historiographer royal; and felt bound to write such books: several of them he printed; and we hear of others still manuscript, "in five folio volumes written fair." he held innumerable half-mock titles and offices; among others, was actual president of the berlin royal society, or academie des sciences, leibnitz's pet daughter,--there gundling actually sat in office; and drew the salary, for one certainty. "as good he as another," thought friedrich wilhelm: "what is the use of these solemn fellows, in their big perukes, with their crabbed x+y's, and scientiflc pedler's-french; doing nothing that i can see, except annually the _berlin almanac,_ which they live upon? let them live upon it, and be thankful; with gundling for their head man." academy of sciences makes its almanac, and some peculium of profit by it; lectures perhaps a little "on anatomy" (good for something, that, in his majesty's mind); but languishes--without encouragement during the present reign. has his majesty no prize questions to propose, then? none, or worse. he once officially put these learned associates upon ascertaining for him "why champagne foamed?" they, with a hidden vein of pleasantry, required "material to experiment upon." friedrich wilhelm sent them a dozen, or certain dozens; and the matter proved insoluble to this day. no king, scarcely any man, had less of reverence for the sciences so called; for academic culture, and the art of the talking-schoolmaster in general! a king obtuse to the fine arts, especially to the vocal arts, in a high degree. literary fame itself he regards as mountebank fame; the art of writing big admirable folios is little better to him than that of vomiting long coils of wonderful ribbon, for the idlers of the market-place; and he bear-baits his gundling, in this manner, as phosphorescent blockhead of the first magnitude, worthy of nothing better. nay, it is but lately ( the exact year) that he did his ever-memorable feat in regard to wolf and his philosophy, at halle. illustrious wolf was recognized, at that time, as the second greater leibnitz, and head-philosopher of nature, who "by mathematical method" had as it were taken nature in the fact, and illuminated everything, so that whosoever ran might read,--which all manner of people then tried to do, but, have now quite ceased trying "by the wolf-method:"--immortal wolf, somewhat of a stiff, reserved humor, inwardly a little proud, and not wanting in private contempt of the contemptible, had been accused of heterodoxy by the halle theologians. immortal wolf, croakily satirical withal, had of course defended himself; and of course got into a shoreless sea of controversy with the halle theologians; pestering his majesty with mere wars, and rumors of war, for a length of time, from that halle university. [in busching (_beitrage,_ i. l- ) is rough authentic account of wolf, and especially of all that,--with several curious letters of wolf's.] so that majesty, unable to distinguish top or bottom in such a coil of argument; or to do justice in the case, however willing and anxious, often passionately asked: "what, in god's name, is the real truth of it?" majesty appointed commissions to inquire; read reports; could for a long while make out nothing certain. at last came a decision on the sudden;--royal mind suddenly illuminated, it is a little uncertain how. some give the credit of it to gundling, which is unlikely; others to "two generals" of pious orthodox turn, acquainted with halle;--and i have heard obscurely that it was the old dessauer, who also knew halle; and was no doubt wearied to hear nothing talked of there but injured philosopher wolf, and injuring theologian lange, or vice versa. some practical military man, not given to take up with shadows, it likeliest was. "in god's name, what is the real truth of all that?" inquired his majesty, of the practical man: "does wolf teach hellish doctrines; as lange says, or heavenly, as himself says?" "teaches babble mainly, i should think, and scientific pedler's french," intimated the practical man: "but they say he has one doctrine about oaths, and what he calls foundation of duty, which i did not like. not a heavenly doctrine that. follow out that, any of your majesty's grenadiers might desert, and say he had done no sin against god!" [busching, i. ; benekendorf, _karakterzilge aus dem leben konig friedrich wilhelm i._ (anonymous, berlin, ), ii. .] friedrich wilhelm flew into a paroxysm of horror; instantly redacted brief royal decree [ th november (busching says th), .] (which is still extant among the curiosities of the universe), ordering wolf to quit halle and the prussian dominions, bag and baggage, forevermore, within eight-and-forty hours, "bey strafe des stranges, under pain of the halter!" halter: the head-philosopher of nature, found too late, will be hanged, as if he were a sheep-stealer; hanged, and no mistake! poor wolf gathered himself together, wife and baggage; girded up his loins; and ran with the due despatch. he is now found sheltered under hessen-darmstadt, at marburg, professing something there; and all the intellect of the world is struck with astonishment, and with silent or vocal pity for the poor man.--it is but fair to say, friedrich wilhelm, gradually taking notice of the world's humor in regard to this, began to have his own misgivings; and determined to read some of wolf's books for himself. reading in wolf, he had sense to discern that here was a man of undeniable talent and integrity; that the practical military judgment, loading with the iron ramrod, had shot wide of the mark, in this matter; and, in short, that a palpable bit of foul-play had been done. this was in ;--ten years after the shot, when his majesty saw, with his own eyes, how wide it had gone. he applied to wolf earnestly, more than once, to come back to him: halle, frankfurt, any prussian university with a vacancy in it, was now wide open to wolf. but wolf knew better: wolf, with bows down to the ground, answered always evadingly;--and never would come back till the new reign began. friedrich wilhelm knew little of book-learning or book-writing; and his notion of it is very shocking to us. but the fact is, o reader, book-writing is of two kinds: one wise, and may be among the wisest of earthly things; the other foolish, sometimes far beyond what can be reached by human nature elsewhere. blockheadism, unwisdom, while silent, is reckoned bad; but blockheadism getting vocal, able to speak persuasively,--have you considered that at all? human opacity falling into phosphorescence; that is to say, becoming luminous (to itself and to many mortals) by the very excess of it, by the very bursting of it into putrid fermentation;--all other forms of chaos are cosmic in comparison!--our poor friedrich wilhelm had seen only gundlings among the book-writing class: had he seen wiser specimens, he might have formed, as he did in wolf's case, another judgment. nay in regard to gundling himself, it is observable how, with his unutterable contempt, he seems to notice in him glimpses of the admirable (such acquirements, such dictionary-faculties, though gone distracted!),--and almost has a kind of love for the absurd dog. gundling's pensions amount to something like pounds; an immense sum in this court. [forster, i. , (if you can reconcile the two passages).] a blockhead admirable in some sorts; and of immense resource in tobacco-parliament when business is slack!-- no end to the wild pranks, the houyhnhnm horse-play they had with drunken gundling. he has staggered out in a drunk state, and found, or not clearly found till the morrow, young bears lying in his bed;--has found his room-door walled up; been obliged to grope about, staggering from door to door and from port to port, and land ultimately in the big bears' den, who hugged and squeezed him inhumanly there. once at wusterhausen, staggering blind-drunk out of the schloss towards his lair, the sentries at the bridge (instigated to it by the houyhnhnms, who look on) pretend to fasten some military blame on him: why has he omitted or committed so-and-so? gundling's drunk answer is unsatisfactory. "arrest, herr kammerrath, is it to be that, then!" they hustle him about, among the bears which lodge there;--at length they lay him horizontally across two ropes;--take to swinging him hither and thither, up and down, across the black acherontic ditch, which is frozen over, it being the dead of winter: one of the ropes, lower rope, breaks; gundling comes souse upon the ice with his sitting-part; breaks a big hole in the ice, and scarcely with legs, arms and the remaining rope, can be got out undrowned. [forster (i. - ); founding, i suppose, on _leben und thaten des freiherrn paul von gundling_ (berlin, ); probably not one of the exactest biographies.] if, with natural indignation, he shut his door, and refuse to come to the tabagie, they knock in a panel of his door; and force him out with crackers, fire-works, rockets and malodorous projectiles. once the poor blockhead, becoming human for a moment, went clean away; to halle where his brother was, or to some safer place: but the due inveiglements, sublime apologies, increase of titles, salaries, were used; and the indispensable phosphorescent blockhead, and president of the academy of pedler's-french, was got back. drink remained always as his consolation; drink, and the deathless volumes he was writing and printing. sublime returns came to him;--kaiser's portrait set in diamonds, on one occasion,--for his presentation-copies in high quarters: immortal fame, is it not his clear portion; still more clearly abundance of good wine. friedrich wilhelm did not let him want for titles;--raised him at last to the peerage; drawing out the diploma and armorial blazonry, in a truly friedrich-wilhelm manner, with his own hand. the gundlings, in virtue of the transcendent intellect and merits of this founder gundling, are, and are hereby declared to be, of baronial dignity to the last scion of them; and in "all ritter-rennen (tournaments), battles, fights, camp-pitchings, sealings, sightings, shall and may use the above-said shield of arms,"--if it can be of any advantage to them. a prussian majesty who gives us pounds yearly, with board and lodging and the run of his cellar, and honors such as these, is not to be lightly sneezed away, though of queer humors now and then. the highest personages, as we said, more than once made gifts to gundling; miniatures set in diamonds; purses of a hundred ducats: even gundling, it was thought, might throw in a word, mad or otherwise, which would bear fruit. it was said of him, he never spoke to harm anybody with his majesty. the poor blown-up blockhead was radically not ill-natured,--at least, if you let his "phosphorescences" alone. but the grandest explosions, in tobacco-parliament, were producible, when you got two literary fools; and, as if with leyden-jars, positive and negative, brought their vanities to bear on one another. this sometimes happened, when tobacco-parliament was in luck. friedrich wilhelm had a variety of merry-andrew raths of the gundling sort, though none ever came up to gundling, or approached him, in worth as a merry-andrew. herr fassmann, who wrote books, by patronage or for the leipzig booksellers, and wandered about the world as a star or comet of some magnitude, is not much known to my readers:--but he is too well known to me, for certain dark books of his which i have had to read. [_life of friedrich wilhelm,_ occasionally cited here; _life of august the strong; _ &c.] a very dim literary figure; undeniable, indecipherable human fact, of those days; now fallen quite extinct and obsolete; his garniture, equipment, environment all very dark to us. probably a too restless, imponderous creature, too much of the gundling type; structure of him gaseous, not solid; perhaps a little of the coxcomb naturally; much of the sycophant on compulsion,--being sorely jammed into corners, and without elbow-room at all, in this world. has, for the rest, a recognizable talent for "magazine writing,"--for newspaper editing, had that rich mine, "california of the spiritually vagabond," been opened in those days. poor extinct fassmann, one discovers at last a vein of weak geniality in him; here and there, real human sense and eyesight, under those strange conditions; and his poor books, rotted now to inanity, have left a small seed-pearl or two, to the earnest reader. alas, if he was to become "spiritually vagabond" ("spiritually" and otherwise), might it not perhaps be wholesome to him that the california was not discovered?-- fassmann was by no means such a fool as gundling; but, he was much of a fool too. he had come to berlin, about this time, [ , as he himself says (supra p. ).] in hopes of patronage from the king or somebody; might say to himself, "surely i am a better man than gundling, if the berlin court has eyesight." by the king, on some wise general's recommending it, he was, as a preliminary, introduced to the tabagie at least. here is the celebrated gundling; there is the celebrated fassmann. positive leyden-jar, with negative close by: in each of these two men lodges a full-charged fiery electric virtue of self-conceit; destructive each of the other;--could a conductor be discovered. conductors are discoverable, conductors are not wanting; and many are the explosions between these mutually-destructive human varieties;--welcomed with hilarious, rather vacant, huge horse-laughter, in this tobacco-parliament and synod of the houyhnhnms. of which take this acme; and then end. fassmann, a fellow not without sarcasm and sharpness, as you may still see, has one evening provoked gundling to the transcendent pitch,--till words are weak, and only action will answer. gundling, driven to the exploding point, suddenly seizes his dutch smoking-pan, of peat-charcoal ashes and red-hot sand; and dashes it in the face of fassmann; who is of course dreadfully astonished thereby, and has got his very eyebrows burnt, not to speak of other injuries. stand to him, fassmann! fassmann stands to him tightly, being the better man as well as the more satirical; grasps gundling by the collar, wrenches him about, lays him at last over his knee, sitting-part uppermost; slaps said sitting-part (poor sitting-part that had broken the ice of wusterhausen) with the hot pan,--nay some say, strips it and slaps. amid the inextinguishable horse-laughter (sincere but vacant) of the houyhnhnm olympus. after which, his majesty, as epilogue to such play, suggests, that feats of that nature are unseemly among gentlemen; that when gentlemen have a quarrel, there is another way of settling it. fassmann thereupon challenges gundling; gundling accepts; time and place are settled, pistols the weapon. at the appointed time and place gundling stands, accordingly, pistol in hand; but at sight of fassmann, throws his pistol away; will not shoot any man, nor have any man shoot him. fassmann sternly advances; shoots his pistol (powder merely) into gundling's sublime goat's-hair wig: wig blazes into flame; gundling falls shrieking, a dead man, to the earth; and they quench and revive him with a bucket of water. was there ever seen such horse-play? roaring laughter, huge, rude, and somewhat vacant, as that of the norse gods over their ale at yule time;--as if the face of the sphinx were to wrinkle itself in laughter; or the fabulous houyhnhnms themselves were there to mock in their peculiar fashion. his majesty at length gave gundling a wine-cask, duly figured; "painted black with a white cross," which was to stand in his room as memento-mori, and be his coffin. it stood for ten years; gundling often sitting to write in it; a good screen against draughts. and the poor monster was actually buried in this cask; [died th april, , age : description of the burial "at bornstadt near potsdam," in forster, i. .] fassmann pronouncing some funeral oration,--and the orthodox clergy uttering, from the distance, only a mute groan. "the herr baron von gundling was a man of many dignities, of much book-learning; a man of great memory," admits fassmann, "but of no judgment," insinuates he,--"looking for the judgment (expectans judicium)," says fassmann, with a pleasant wit. fassmann succeeded to all the emoluments and honors; but did not hold them; preferred to run away before long: and after him came one and the other, whom the reader is not to be troubled with here. enough if the patient reader have seen, a little, into that background of friedrich wilhelm's existence; and, for the didactic part, have caught up his real views or instincts upon spiritual phosphorescence, or stupidity grown vocal, which are much sounder than most of us suspect. these were the sports of the tobacco-parliament; and it was always meant primarily for sport, for recreation: but there is no doubt it had a serious function as well. "business matters," adds beneckendorf, who had means of knowing, [benekendorf, _karakterzuge,_ i. - ; vi. .] "were often a subject of colloquy in the tabaks-collegium. not that they were there finished off, decided upon, or meant to be so. but friedrich wilhelm often purposely brought up such things in conversation there, that he might learn the different opinions of his generals and chief men, without their observing it,"--and so might profit by the collective wisdom, in short. chapter viii. -- seckendorf's retort to her majesty. the treaty of wusterhausen was not yet known to queen sophie, to her father george, or to any external creature: but that open flinching, and gradual withdrawal, from the treaty of hanover was too well known; and boded no good to her pet project. female sighs, male obduracies, and other domestic phenomena, are to be imagined in consequence. "a grand britannic majesty indeed; very lofty father to us, madam, ever since he came to be king of england: stalking along there, with his nose in the air; not deigning the least notice of us, except as of a thing that may be got to fight for him! and he does not sign the double-marriage treaty, madam; only talks of signing it,--as if we were a starved coach-horse, to be quickened along by a wisp of hay put upon the coach-pole close ahead of us always!"--"jarni-bleu!" snuffles seckendorf with a virtuous zeal, or looks it; and things are not pleasant at the royal dinner-table. excellenz seckendorf, we find at this time, "often has his majesty to dinner:" and such dinners; fitting one's tastes in all points,--no expense regarded (which indeed is the kaiser's, if we knew it)! and in return, excellenz is frequently at dinner with his majesty; where the conversation; if it turn on england, which often happens, is more and more an offence to queen sophie. seckendorf studies to be polite, reserved before the queen's majesty at her own table; yet sometimes he lisps out, in his vile snuffling tone, half-insinuations, remarks on our royal kindred, which are irritating in the extreme. queen sophie, the politest of women, did once, says pollnitz, on some excessive pressure of that lisping snuffling unendurability, lose her royal patience and flame out. with human frankness, and uncommonly kindled eyes, she signified to seckendorf, that none who was not himself a kind of scoundrel could entertain such thoughts of kings and gentlemen! which hard saying kindled the stiff-backed rheumatic soul of seckendorf (excellenz had withal a temper in him, far down in the deeps); who answered: "your majesty, that is what no one else thinks of me. that is a name i have never permitted any one to give me with impunity." and verily, he kept his threat in that latter point, says pollnitz. [ii. .] at this stage, it is becoming, in the nature of things, unlikely that the projected double-marriage, or any union with england, can ever realize itself for queen sophie and her house. the kaiser has decreed that it never shall. here is the king already irritated, grown indisposed to it; here is the kaiser's seckendorf, with preternatural apparatus, come to maintain him in that humor. to queen sophie herself, who saw only the outside of seckendorf and his apparatus, the matter doubtless seemed big with difficulties; but to us, who see the interior, the difficulties are plainly hopeless. unless the kaiser's mind change, unless many fixed things change, the double-marriage is impossible. one thing only is a sorrow; and this proved an immeasurable one: that they did not, that queen sophie did not, in such case, frankly give it up: double-marriage is not a law of nature; it is only a project at hanover that has gone off again. there will be a life for our crown-prince, and princess, without a marriage with england!-it is greatly wise to recognize the impossible, the unreasonably difficult, when it presents itself: but who of men is there, much more who of women that can always do it? queen sophie dorothee will have this double-marriage, and it shall be possible. pour lady, she was very obstinate; and her husband was very arbitrary. a rough bear of a husband, yet by no means an unloving one; a husband who might have been managed. she evidently made a great mistake in deciding not to obey this man; as she had once vowed. by perfect prompt obedience she might have had a very tolerable life with the rugged orson fallen to her lot; who was a very honest-hearted creature. she might have done a pretty stroke of female work, withal, in taming her orson; might have led him by the muzzle far enough in a private way,--by obedience. but by disobedience, by rebellion open or secret? friedrich wilhelm was a husband; friedrich wilhelm was a king; and the most imperative man then breathing. disobedience to friedrich wilhelm was a thing which, in the prussian state, still more in the berlin schloss and vital heart of said state, the laws of heaven and of earth had not permitted, for any man's or any woman's sake, to be. the wide overarching sky looks down on no more inflexible sovereign man than him in the red-collared blue coat and white leggings, with the bamboo in his hand. a peaceable, capacious, not ill-given sovereign man, if you will let him have his way. but to bar his way; to tweak the nose of his sovereign royalty, and ignominiously force him into another way: that is an enterprise no man or devil, or body of men or devils, need attempt. seckendorf and grumkow, in tobacco-parliament, understand it better. that attempt is impossible, once for all. the first step in such attempt will require to be assassination of friedrich wilhelm; for you may depend on it, royal sophie, so long as he is alive, the feat cannot be done. o royal sophie, o pretty feekin, what a business you are making of it! the year was throughout a troublous one to queen sophie. seckendorf's advent; king george's manifestoing; alarm of imminent universal war, nay sputters of it actually beginning (gibraltar invested by the spaniards, ready for besieging, it is said): nor was this all. sophie's poor mother, worn to a tragic megaera, locked so long in the castle of ahlden, has taken up wild plans of outbreak, of escape by means of secretaries, moneys in the bank of amsterdam, and i know not what; with all which sophie, corresponding in double and triple mystery, has her own terrors and sorrows, trying to keep it down. and now, in the depth of the year, the poor old mother suddenly dies. [ th november, : _memoirs of sophia dorothea, consort of george i._ (i. ),--where also some of her concluding letters ("edited" as if by the nightmares) can be read, but next to no sense made of them.] burnt out in this manner, she collapses into ashes and long rest; closing so her nameless tragedy of thirty years' continuance:--what a bluebeard-chamber in the mind of sophie! nay there rise quarrels about the heritage of the deceased, which will prove another sorrow. end of book v history of friedrich ii. of prussia frederick the great by thomas carlyle volume xi. book xi. -- friedrich takes the reins in hand. -- june-december, . chapter i. -- phenomena of friedrich's accession. in berlin, from tuesday, st may, , day of the late king's death, till the thursday following, the post was stopped and the gates closed; no estafette can be despatched, though dickens and all the ambassadors are busy writing. on the thursday, regiments, officers, principal officials having sworn, and the new king being fairly in the saddle, estafettes and post-boys shoot forth at the top of their speed; and rumor, towards every point of the compass, apprises mankind what immense news there is. [dickens (in state-paper office), th june, .] a king's accession is always a hopeful phenomenon to the public; more especially a young king's, who has been talked of for his talents and aspirings,--for his sufferings, were it nothing more,--and whose anti-machiavel is understood to be in the press. vaguely everywhere there has a notion gone abroad that this young king will prove considerable. here at last has a lover of philosophy got upon the throne, and great philanthropies and magnanimities are to be expected, think rash editors and idle mankind. rash editors in england and elsewhere, we observe, are ready to believe that friedrich has not only disbanded the potsdam giants; but means to "reduce the prussian army one half" or so, for ease (temporary ease which we hope will be lasting) of parties concerned; and to go much upon emancipation, political rose-water, and friendship to humanity, as we now call it. at his first meeting of council, they say, he put this question, "could not the prussian army be reduced to , ?" the excellent young man. to which the council had answered, "hardly, your majesty! the julich-and-berg affair is so ominous hitherto!" these may be secrets, and dubious to people out of doors, thinks a wise editor; but one thing patent to the day was this, surely symbolical enough: on one of his majesty's first drives to potsdam or from it, a thousand children,--in round numbers a thousand of them, all with the red string round their necks, and liable to be taken for soldiers, if needed in the regiment of their canton,--a thousand children met this young king at a turn of his road; and with shrill unison of wail, sang out: "oh, deliver us from slavery,"--from the red threads, your majesty. why should poor we be liable to suffer hardship for our country or otherwise, your majesty! can no one else be got to do it? sang out the thousand children. and his majesty assented on the spot, thinks the rash editor. [_gentleman's magazine_ (london, ), x. ; newspapers, &c.] "goose, madam?" exclaimed a philanthropist projector once, whose scheme of sweeping chimneys by pulling a live goose down through them was objected to: "goose, madam? you can take two ducks, then, if you are so sorry for the goose!"--rash editors think there is to be a reign of astraea redux in prussia, by means of this young king; and forget to ask themselves, as the young king must by no means do, how far astraea may be possible, for prussia and him? at home, too, there is prophesying enough, vague hope enough, which for most part goes wide of the mark. this young king, we know, did prove considerable; but not in the way shaped out for him by the public;--it was in far other ways! for no public in the least knows, in such cases: nor does the man himself know, except gradually and if he strive to learn. as to the public,--"doubtless," says a friend of mine, "doubtless it was the atlantic ocean that carried columbus to america; lucky for the atlantic, and for columbus and us: but the atlantic did not quite vote that way from the first; nay its votes, i believe, were very various at different stages of the matter!" this is a truth which kings and men, not intending to be drift-logs or waste brine obedient to the moon, are much called to have in mind withal, from perhaps an early stage of their voyage. friedrich's actual demeanor in these his first weeks, which is still decipherable if one study well, has in truth a good deal of the brilliant, of the popular-magnanimous; but manifests strong solid quality withal, and a head steadier than might have been expected. for the berlin world is all in a rather auroral condition; and friedrich too is,--the chains suddenly cut loose, and such hopes opened for the young man. he has great things ahead; feels in himself great things, and doubtless exults in the thought of realizing them. magnanimous enough, popular, hopeful enough, with voltaire and the highest of the world looking on:--but yet he is wise, too; creditably aware that there are limits, that this is a bargain, and the terms of it inexorable. we discern with pleasure the old veracity of character shining through this giddy new element; that all these fine procedures are at least unaffected, to a singular degree true, and the product of nature, on his part; and that, in short, the complete respect for fact, which used to be a quality of his, and which is among the highest and also rarest in man, has on no side deserted him at present. a trace of airy exuberance, of natural exultancy, not quite repressible, on the sudden change to freedom and supreme power from what had gone before: perhaps that also might be legible, if in those opaque bead-rolls which are called histories of friedrich anything human could with certainty be read! he flies much about from place to place; now at potsdam, now at berlin, at charlottenburg, reinsberg; nothing loath to run whither business calls him, and appear in public: the gazetteer world, as we noticed, which has been hitherto a most mute world, breaks out here and there into a kind of husky jubilation over the great things he is daily doing, and rejoices in the prospect of having a philosopher king; which function the young man, only twenty-eight gone, cannot but wish to fulfil for the gazetteers and the world. he is a busy man; and walks boldly into his grand enterprise of "making men happy," to the admiration of voltaire and an enlightened public far and near. bielfeld speaks of immense concourses of people crowding about charlottenburg, to congratulate, to solicit, to &c.; tells us how he himself had to lodge almost in outhouses, in that royal village of hope, his emotions at reinsberg, and everybody's, while friedrich wilhelm lay dying, and all stood like greyhounds on the slip; and with what arrow-swiftness they shot away when the great news came: all this he has already described at wearisome length, in his fantastic semi-fabulous way. [bielfeld, i. - ; ib. .]' friedrich himself seemed moderately glad to see bielfeld; received his high-flown congratulations with a benevolent yet somewhat composed air; and gave him afterwards, in the course of weeks, an unexpectedly small appointment: to go to hanover, under truchsess von waldburg, and announce our accession. which is but a simple, mostly formal service; yet perhaps what bielfeld is best equal to. the britannic majesty, or at least his hanover people have been beforehand with this civility; baron munchhausen, no doubt by orders given for such contingency, had appeared at berlin with the due compliment and condolence almost on the first day of the new reign; first messenger of all on that errand; britannic majesty evidently in a conciliatory humor,--having his dangerous spanish war on hand. britannic majesty in person, shortly after, gets across to hanover; and friedrich despatches truchsess, with bielfeld adjoined, to return the courtesy. friedrich does not neglect these points of good manners; along with which something of substantial may be privately conjoined. for example, if he had in secret his eye on julich and berg, could anything be fitter than to ascertain what the french will think of such an enterprise? what the french; and next to them what the english, that is to say, hanoverians, who meddle much in affairs of the reich. for these reasons and others he likewise, probably with more study than in the bielfeld case, despatches colonel camas to make his compliment at the french court, and in an expert way take soundings there. camas, a fat sedate military gentleman, of advanced years, full of observation, experience and sound sense,--"with one arm, which he makes do the work of two, and nobody can notice that the other arm resting in his coat-breast is of cork, so expert is he,"--will do in this matter what is feasible; probably not much for the present. he is to call on voltaire, as he passes, who is in holland again, at the hague for some months back; and deliver him "a little cask of hungary wine," which probably his majesty had thought exquisite. of which, and the other insignificant passages between them, we hear more than enough in the writings and correspondences of voltaire about this time. in such way friedrich disposes of his bielfelds; who are rather numerous about him now and henceforth. adventurers from all quarters, especially of the literary type, in hopes of being employed, much hovered round friedrich through his whole reign. but they met a rather strict judge on arriving; it cannot be said they found it such a goshen as they expected. favor, friendly intimacy, it is visible from the first, avails nothing with this young king; beyond and before all things he will have his work done, and looks out exclusively for the man ablest to do it. hence bielfeld goes to hanover, to grin out euphuisms, and make graceful courtbows to our sublime little uncle there. on the other hand, friedrich institutes a new knighthood, order of merit so called; which indeed is but a small feat, testifying mere hope and exuberance as yet; and may even be made worse than nothing, according to the knights he shall manage to have. happily it proved a successful new order in this last all-essential particular; and, to the end of friedrich's life, continued to be a great and coveted distinction among the prussians. beyond doubt this is a radiant enough young majesty; entitled to hope, and to be the cause of hope. handsome, to begin with; decidedly well-looking, all say, and of graceful presence, though hardly five feet seven, and perhaps stouter of limb than the strict belvedere standard. [height, it appears, was five feet five inches (rhenish), which in english measure is five feet seven or a hair's-breadth less. preuss, twice over, by a mistake unusual with him, gives "five feet two inches three lines" as the correct cipher (which it is of napoleon's measure in french feet); then settles on the above dimensions from unexceptionable authority (preuss, _buch fur jedermann,_ i. ; preuss, _fredrich der grosse,_ i. and ).] has a fine free expressive face; nothing of austerity in it; not a proud face, or not too proud, yet rapidly flashing on you all manner of high meanings. [wille's engraving after pesne (excellent, both picture and engraving) is reckoned the best likeness in that form.] such a man, in the bloom of his years; with such a possibility ahead, and voltaire and mankind waiting applausive!--let us try to select, and extricate into coherence and visibility out of those historical dust-heaps, a few of the symptomatic phenomena, or physiognomic procedures of friedrich in his first weeks of kingship, by way of contribution to some portraiture of his then inner-man. friedrich will make men happy: corn-magazines. on the day after his accession, officers and chief ministers taking the oath, friedrich, to his officers, "on whom he counts for the same zeal now which he had witnessed as their comrade," recommends mildness of demeanor from the higher to the lower, and that the common soldier be not treated with harshness when not deserved: and to his ministers he is still more emphatic, in the like or a higher strain. officially announcing to them, by letter, that a new reign has commenced, he uses these words, legible soon after to a glad berlin public: "our grand care will be, to further the country's well-being, and to make every one of our subjects (einen jeden unserer unterthanen) contented and happy. our will is, not that you strive to enrich us by vexation of our subjects; but rather that you aim steadily as well towards the advantage of the country as our particular interest, forasmuch as we make no difference between these two objects," but consider them one and the same. this is written, and gets into print within the month; and his majesty, that same day (wednesday, d june), when it came to personal reception, and actual taking of the oath, was pleased to add in words, which also were printed shortly, this comfortable corollary: "my will henceforth is, if it ever chance that my particular interest and the general good of my countries should seem to go against each other,--in that case, my will is, that the latter always be preferred." [dickens, despatch, th june, : preuss, _friedrichs jugend und thronbesteigung_ (berlin, ), p. ;--quoting from the berlin newspapers of th june and d july, .] this is a fine dialect for incipient royalty; and it is brand-new at that time. it excites an admiration in the then populations, which to us, so long used to it and to what commonly comes of it, is not conceivable at once. there can be no doubt the young king does faithfully intend to develop himself in the way of making men happy; but here, as elsewhere, are limits which he will recognize ahead, some of them perhaps nearer than was expected. meanwhile his first acts, in this direction, correspond to these fine words. the year , still grim with cold into the heart of summer, bids fair to have a late poor harvest, and famine threatens to add itself to other hardships there have been. recognizing the actualities of the case, what his poor father could not, he opens the public granaries,--a wise resource they have in prussian countries against the year of scarcity;--orders grain to be sold out, at reasonable rates, to the suffering poor; and takes the due pains, considerable in some cases, that this be rendered feasible everywhere in his dominions. "berlin, d june," is the first date of this important order; fine program to his ministers, which, we read, is no sooner uttered, than some performance follows. an evident piece of wisdom and humanity; for which doubtless blessings of a very sincere kind rise to him from several millions of his fellow-mortals. nay furthermore, as can be dimly gathered, this scarcity continuing, some continuous mode of management was set on foot for the poor; and there is nominated, with salary, with outline of plan and other requisites, as "inspector of the poor," to his own and our surprise, m. jordan, late reader to the crown-prince, and still much the intimate of his royal friend. inspector who seems to do his work very well. and in the november coming this is what we see: "one thousand poor old women, the destitute of berlin, set to spin," at his majesty's charges; vacant houses, hired for them in certain streets and suburbs, have been new-planked, partitioned, warmed; and spinning is there for any diligent female soul. there a thousand of them sit, under proper officers, proper wages, treatment;--and the hum of their poor spindles, and of their poor inarticulate old hearts, is a comfort, if one chance to think of it.--of "distressed needlewomen" who cannot sew, nor be taught to do it; who, in private truth, are mutinous maid-servants come at last to the net upshot of their anarchies; of these, or of the like incurable phenomena, i hear nothing in berlin; and can believe that, under this king, indigence itself may still have something of a human aspect, not a brutal or diabolic as is commoner in some places.--this is one of friedrich's first acts, this opening of the corn-magazines, and arrangements for the destitute; [_helden-geschichte,_ i. . rodenbeck, _tagebuch aus friedrichs des grossen regentenleben_ (berlin, ), i. , ( d june, october, ): a meritorious, laborious, though essentially chaotic book, unexpectedly futile of result to the reader; settles for each day of friedrich's reign, so far as possible, where friedrich was and what doing; fatally wants all index &c., as usual.] and of this there can be no criticism. the sound of hungry pots set boiling, on judicious principles; the hum of those old women's spindles in the warm rooms: gods and men are well pleased to hear such sounds; and accept the same as part, real though infinitesimally small, of the sphere-harmonies of this universe! abolition of legal torture. friedrich makes haste, next, to strike into law-improvements. it is but the morrow after this of the corn-magazines, by kabinets-ordre (act of parliament such as they can have in that country, where the three estates sit all under one three-cornered hat, and the debates are kept silent, and only the upshot of them, more or less faithfully, is made public),--by cabinet order, d june, , he abolishes the use of torture in criminal trials. [preuss, _friedrichs jugend und thronbesteigung_ (berlin, ,--a minor book of preuss's), p. . rodenbeck, i. (" d june").] legal torture, "question" as they mildly call it, is at an end from this date. not in any prussian court shall a "question" try for answer again by that savage method. the use of torture had, i believe, fallen rather obsolete in prussia; but now the very threat of it shall vanish,--the threat of it, as we may remember, had reached friedrich himself, at one time. three or four years ago, it is farther said, a dark murder happened in berlin: man killed one night in the open streets; murderer discoverable by no method,--unless he were a certain candidatus of divinity to whom some trace of evidence pointed, but who sorrowfully persisted in absolute and total denial. this poor candidatus had been threatened with the rack; and would most likely have at length got it, had not the real murderer been discovered,--much to the discredit of the rack in berlin. this candidatus was only threatened; nor do i know when the last actual instance in prussia was; but in enlightened france, and most other countries, there was as yet no scruple upon it. barbier, the diarist at paris, some time after this, tells us of a gang of thieves there, who were regularly put to the torture; and "they blabbed too, ils ont jase," says barbier with official jocosity. [barbier, _journal historique du regne de louis xv._ (paris, ), ii. (date "dec. ").] friedrich's cabinet order, we need not say, was greeted everywhere, at home and abroad, by three rounds of applause;--in which surely all of us still join; though the per contra also is becoming visible to some of us, and our enthusiasm grows less complete than formerly. this was friedrich's first step in law-reform, done on his fourth day of kingship. a long career in that kind lies ahead of him; in reform of law, civil as well as criminal, his efforts ended with life only. for his love of justice was really great; and the mendacities and wiggeries, attached to such a necessary of life as law, found no favor from him at any time. will have philosophers about him, and a real academy of sciences to neglect the philosophies, fine arts, interests of human culture, he is least of all likely. the idea of building up the academy of sciences to its pristine height, or far higher, is evidently one of those that have long lain in the crown-prince's mind, eager to realize themselves. immortal wolf, exiled but safe at marburg, and refusing to return in friedrich wilhelm's time, had lately dedicated a book to the crown-prince; indicating that perhaps, under a new reign, he might be more persuadable. friedrich makes haste to persuade; instructs the proper person, reverend herr reinbeck, head of the consistorium at berlin, to write and negotiate. "all reasonable conditions shall be granted" the immortal wolf,--and friedrich adds with his own hand as postscript: "i request you (ihn) to use all diligence about wolf. a man that seeks truth, and loves it, must be reckoned precious in any human society; and i think you will make a conquest in the realm of truth if you persuade wolf hither again." [in _oeuvres de frederic_ (xxvii. ii. ), the letter given.] this is of date june th; not yet a week since friedrich came to be king. the reinbeck-wolf negotiation which ensued can be read in busching by the curious. [busching's _beitrage_ (? freiherr von wolf), i. - .] it represents to us a croaky, thrifty, long-headed old herr professor, in no haste to quit marburg except for something better: "obliged to wear woollen shoes and leggings;" "bad at mounting stairs;" and otherwise needing soft treatment. willing, though with caution, to work at an academy of sciences;--but dubious if the french are so admirable as they seem to themselves in such operations. veteran wolf, one dimly begins to learn, could himself build a german academy of sciences, to some purpose, if encouraged! this latter was probably the stone of stumbling in that direction. veteran wolf did not get to be president in the new academy of sciences; but was brought back, "streets all in triumph," to his old place at halle; and there, with little other work that was heard of, but we hope in warm shoes and without much mounting of stairs, lived peaceably victorious the rest of his days. friedrich's thoughts are not of a german home-built academy, but of a french one: and for this he already knows a builder; has silently had him in his eye, these two years past,--voltaire giving hint, in the letter we once heard of at loo. builder shall be that sublime maupertuis; scientific lion of paris, ever since his feat in the polar regions, and the charming narrative he gave of it. "what a feat, what a book!" exclaimed the parisian cultivated circles, male and female, on that occasion; and maupertuis, with plenty of bluster in him carefully suppressed, assents in a grandly modest way. his portraits are in the printshops ever since; one very singular portrait, just coming out (at which there is some laughing): a coarse-featured, blusterous, rather triumphant-looking man, blusterous, though finely complacent for the nonce; in copious dressing-gown and fur cap; comfortably squeezing the earth and her meridians flat (as if he had done it), with his left hand; and with the other, and its outstretched finger, asking mankind, "are not you aware, then?"--"are not we!" answers voltaire by and by, with endless waggeries upon him, though at present so reverent. friedrich, in these same days, writes this autograph; which who of men or lions could resist? to monsieur de maupertuis, at paris. (no date;--datable, june, .) "my heart and my inclination excited in me, from the moment i mounted the throne, the desire of having you here, that you might put our berlin academy into the shape you alone are capable of giving it. come, then, come and insert into this wild crab-tree the graft of the sciences, that it may bear fruit. you have shown the figure of the earth to mankind; show also to a king how sweet it is to possess such a man as you. "monsieur de maupertuis,--votre tres-affectionne "federic" (sic). [_oeuvres,_ xvii. i. . the fantastic "federic," instead of "frederic," is, by this time, the common signature to french letters.] this letter--how could maupertuis prevent some accident in such a case?--got into the newspapers; glorious for friedrich, glorious for maupertuis; and raised matters to a still higher pitch. maupertuis is on the road, and we shall see him before long. and every one shall get to heaven in his own way. here is another little fact which had immense renown at home and abroad, in those summer months and long afterwards. june d, , the geistliche departement (board of religion, we may term it) reports that the roman-catholic schools, which have been in use these eight years past, for children of soldiers belonging to that persuasion, "are, especially in berlin, perverted, directly in the teeth of royal ordinance, , to seducing protestants into catholicism;" annexed, or ready for annexing, "is the specific report of fiscal-general to this effect:"--upon which, what would it please his majesty to direct us to do? his majesty writes on the margin these words, rough and ready, which we give with all their grammatical blotches on them; indicating a mind made up on one subject, which was much more dubious then, to most other minds, than it now is:-- "die religionen musen (mussen) alle tollerirt (tolerirt) werden, und mus (muss) der fiscal nuhr (nur) das auge darauf haben, das (dass) keine der andern abrug tuhe (abbruch thue), den (denn) hier mus (muss) ein jeder nach seiner fasson selich (facon selig) werden." [preuss, _thronbesteigung,_ p. ; rodenbeck, in die.] which in english might run as follows:-- "all religions must be tolerated (tollerated), and the fiscal must have an eye that none of them make unjust encroachment on the other; for in this country every man must get to heaven in his own way." wonderful words; precious to the then leading spirits, and which (the spelling and grammar being mended) flew abroad over all the world: the enlightened public everywhere answering his majesty, once more, with its loudest "bravissimo!" on this occasion. with what enthusiasm of admiring wonder, it is now difficult to fancy, after the lapse of sixscore years! and indeed, in regard to all these worthy acts of human improvement which we are now concerned with, account should be held (were it possible) on friedrich's behalf how extremely original, and bright with the splendor of new gold, they then were: and how extremely they are fallen dim, by general circulation, since that. account should be held; and yet it is not possible, no human imagination is adequate to it, in the times we are now got into. free press, and newspapers the best instructors. toleration, in friedrich's spiritual circumstances, was perhaps no great feat to friedrich: but what the reader hardly expected of him was freedom of the press, or an attempt that way! from england, from holland, friedrich had heard of free press, of newspapers the best instructors: it is a fact that he hastens to plant a seed of that kind at berlin; sets about it "on the second day of his reign," so eager is he. berlin had already some meagre intelligenz-blatt (weekly or thrice-weekly advertiser), perhaps two; but it is a real newspaper, frondent with genial leafy speculation, and food for the mind, that friedrich is intent upon: a "literary-political newspaper," or were it even two newspapers, one french, one german; and he rapidly makes the arrangements for it; despatches jordan, on the second day, to seek some fit frenchman. arrangements are soon made: a bookselling printer, haude, bookseller once to the prince-royal,--whom we saw once in a domestic flash-of-lightning long ago, [antea, book vi. c. .]--is encouraged to proceed with the improved german article, mercury or whatever they called it; vapid formey, a facile pen, but not a forcible, is the editor sought out by jordan for the french one. and, in short, no. of formey shows itself in print within a month; [" d july, :" preuss, _thronbesteigung,_ p. ; and formey, _souvenirs,_ i. , rectified by the exact herr preuss.] and haude and he, haude picking up some grand editor in hamburg, do their best for the instruction of mankind. in not many months, formey, a facile and learned but rather vapid gentleman, demitted or was dismissed; and the journals coalesced into one, or split into two again; and went i know not what road, or roads, in time coming,--none that led to results worth naming. freedom of the press, in the case of these journals, was never violated, nor was any need for violating it. general freedom of the press friedrich did not grant, in any quite official or steady way; but in practice, under him, it always had a kind of real existence, though a fluctuating, ambiguous one. and we have to note, through friedrich's whole reign, a marked disinclination to concern himself with censorship, or the shackling of men's poor tongues and pens; nothing but some officious report that there was offence to foreign courts, or the chance of offence, in a poor man's pamphlet, could induce friedrich to interfere with him or it,--and indeed his interference was generally against his ministers for having wrong informed him, and in favor of the poor pamphleteer appealing at the fountain-head. [anonymous (laveaux), _vie de frederic ii., roi de prusse_ (strasbourg, ), iv. . a worthless, now nearly forgotten book; but competent on this point, if on any; laveaux (a handy fellow, fugitive ex-monk, with fugitive ex-nun attached) having lived much at berlin, always in the pamphleteering line.] to the end of his life, disgusting satires against him, _vie privee_ by voltaire, _matinees du roi de prusse,_ and still worse lies and nonsenses, were freely sold at berlin, and even bore to be printed there, friedrich saying nothing, caring nothing. he has been known to burn pamphlets publicly,--one pamphlet we shall ourselves see on fire yet;--but it was without the least hatred to them, and for official reasons merely. to the last, he would answer his reporting ministers, "le presse est libre (free press, you must consider)!"--grandly reluctant to meddle with the press, or go down upon the dogs barking at his door. those ill effects of free press (first stage of the ill effects) he endured in this manner; but the good effects seem to have fallen below his expectation. friedrich's enthusiam for freedom of the press, prompt enough, as we see, never rose to the extreme pitch, and it rather sank than increased as he continued his experiences of men and things. this of formey and the two newspapers was the only express attempt he made in that direction; and it proved a rather disappointing one. the two newspapers went their way thenceforth, friedrich sometimes making use of them for small purposes, once or twice writing an article himself, of wildly quizzical nature, perhaps to be noticed by us when the time comes; but are otherwise, except for chronological purposes, of the last degree of insignificance to gods or men. "freedom of the press," says my melancholic friend, "is a noble thing; and in certain nations, at certain epochs, produces glorious effects,--chiefly in the revolutionary line, where that has grown indispensable. freedom of the press is possible, where everybody disapproves the least abuse of it; where the 'censorship' is, as it were, exercised by all the world. when the world (as, even in the freest countries, it almost irresistibly tends to become) is no longer in a case to exercise that salutary function, and cannot keep down loud unwise speaking, loud unwise persuasion, and rebuke it into silence whenever printed, freedom of the press will not answer very long, among sane human creatures: and indeed, in nations not in an exceptional case, it becomes impossible amazingly soon!"-- all these are phenomena of friedrich's first week. let these suffice as sample, in that first kind. splendid indications surely; and shot forth in swift enough succession, flash following flash, upon an attentive world. betokening, shall we say, what internal sea of splendor, struggling to disclose itself, probably lies in this young king; and how high his hopes go for mankind and himself? yes, surely;--and introducing, we remark withal, the "new era," of philanthropy, enlightenment and so much else; with french revolution, and a "world well suicided" hanging in the rear! clearly enough, to this young ardent friedrich, foremost man of his time, and capable of doing its inarticulate or dumb aspirings, belongs that questionable honor; and a very singular one it would have seemed to friedrich, had he lived to see what it meant! friedrich's rapidity and activity, in the first months of his reign, were wonderful to mankind; as indeed through life he continued to be a most rapid and active king. he flies about; mustering troops, ministerial boards, passing edicts, inspecting, accepting homages of provinces;--decides and does, every day that passes, an amazing number of things. writes many letters, too; finds moments even for some verses; and occasionally draws a snatch of melody from his flute. his letters are copiously preserved; but, as usual, they are in swift official tone, and tell us almost nothing. to his sisters he writes assurances; to his friends, his suhms, duhans, voltaires, eager invitations, general or particular, to come to him. "my state has changed," is his phrase to voltaire and other dear intimates; a tone of pensiveness, at first even of sorrow and pathos traceable in it; "come to me,"--and the tone, in an old dialect, different from friedrich's, might have meant, "pray for me." an immense new scene is opened, full of possibilities of good and bad. his hopes being great, his anxieties, the shadow of them, are proportionate. duhan (his good old tutor) does arrive, algarotti arrives, warmly welcomed, both: with voltaire there are difficulties; but surely he too will, before long, manage to arrive. the good suhm, who had been saxon minister at petersburg to his sorrow this long while back, got in motion soon enough; but, alas, his lungs were ruined by the russian climate, and he did not arrive. something pathetic still in those final letters of suhm. passionately speeding on, like a spent steed struggling homeward; he has to pause at warsaw, and in a few days dies there,--in a way mournful to friedrich and us! to duhan, and duhan's children afterwards, he was punctually, not too lavishly, attentive; in like manner to suhm's nephews, whom the dying man had recommended to him.--we will now glance shortly at a second and contemporaneous phasis of friedrich's affairs. intends to be practical withal, and every inch a king. friedrich is far indeed from thinking to reduce his army, as the foreign editor imagines. on the contrary, he is, with all industry, increasing it. he changed the potsdam giants into four regiments of the usual stature; he is busy bargaining with his brother-in-law of brunswick, and with other neighbors, for still new regiments;--makes up, within the next few months, eight regiments, an increase of, say, , men. it would appear he means to keep an eye on the practicalities withal; means to have a fighting-apparatus of the utmost potentiality, for one thing! here are other indications. we saw the old dessauer, in a sad hour lately, speaking beside the mark; and with what olympian glance, suddenly tearless, the new king flashed out upon him, knowing nothing of "authority" that could reside in any dessauer. nor was that a solitary experience; the like befell wherever needed. heinrich of schwedt, the ill margraf, advancing with jocose countenance in the way of old comradeship, in those first days, met unexpected rebuff, and was reduced to gravity on the sudden: "jetzt bin ich konig,--my cousin, i am now king!" a fact which the ill margraf could never get forgotten again. lieutenant-general schulenburg, too, the didactic schulenburg, presuming, on old familiarity, and willing to wipe out the misfortune of having once condemned us to death, which nobody is now upbraiding him with, rushes up from landsberg, unbidden, to pay his congratulations and condolences, driven by irresistible exuberance of loyalty: to his astonishment, he is reminded (thing certain, manner of the thing not known), that an officer cannot quit his post without order; that he, at this moment, ought to be in landsberg! [stenzel, iv. ; preuss, _thronbesteigung;_ &c.] schulenburg has a hard old military face; but here is a young face too, which has grown unexpectedly rigorous. fancy the blank look of little schulenburg; the light of him snuffed out in this manner on a sudden. it is said he had thoughts of resigning, so indignant was he: no doubt he went home to landsberg gloomily reflective, with the pipe-clay of his mind in such a ruinous condition. but there was no serious anger, on friedrich's part; and he consoled his little schulenburg soon after, by expediting some promotion he had intended him. "terribly proud young majesty this," exclaim the sweet voices. and indeed, if they are to have a saturnian kingdom, by appearance it will be on conditions only! anticipations there had been, that old unkindnesses against the crown-prince, some of which were cruel enough, might be remembered now: and certain people had their just fears, considering what account stood against them; others, vice versa, their hopes. but neither the fears nor the hopes realized themselves; especially the fears proved altogether groundless. derschau, who had voted death in that copenick court-martial, upon the crown-prince, is continued in his functions, in the light of his king's countenance, as if nothing such had been. derschau, and all others so concerned; not the least question was made of them, nor of what they had thought or had done or said, on an occasion once so tragically vital to a certain man. nor is reward much regulated by past services to the crown-prince, or even by sufferings endured for him. "shocking ingratitude!" exclaim the sweet voices here too,--being of weak judgment, many of them! poor katte's father, a faithful old soldier, not capable of being more, he does, rather conspicuously, make feldmarschall, make reichsgraf; happy, could these honors be a consolation to the old man. the munchows of custrin,--readers remember their kindness in that sad time; how the young boy went into petticoats again, and came to the crown-prince's cell with all manner of furnishings,--the munchows, father and sons, this young gentleman of the petticoats among them, he took immediate pains to reward by promotion: eldest son was advanced into the general directorium; two younger sons, to majorship, to captaincy, in their respective regiments; him of the petticoats "he had already taken altogether to himself," [preuss, i. .] and of him we shall see a glimpse at wilhelmina's shortly, as a "milkbeard (jeune morveux)" in personal attendance on his majesty. this was a notable exception. and in effect there came good public service, eminent some of it, from these munchows in their various departments. and it was at length perceived to have been, in the main, because they were of visible faculty for doing work that they had got work to do; and the exceptional case of the munchows became confirmatory of the rule. lieutenant keith, again, whom we once saw galloping from wesel to save his life in that bad affair of the crown-prince's and his, was nothing like so fortunate. lieutenant keith, by speed on that wesel occasion, and help of chesterfield's secretary, got across to england; got into the portuguese service; and has there been soldiering, very silently, these ten years past,--skin and body safe, though his effigy was cut in four quarters and nailed to the gallows at wesel;--waiting a time that would come. time being come, lieutenant keith hastened home; appealed to his effigy on the gallows;--and was made a lieutenant-colonel merely, with some slight appendages, as that of stallmeister (curator of the stables) and something else; income still straitened, though enough to live upon. [preuss, _friedrich mit verwandten und freunden,_ p. .] small promotion, in comparison with hope, thought the poor lieutenant; but had to rest satisfied with it; and struggle to understand that perhaps he was fit for nothing bigger, and that he must exert himself to do this small thing well. hardness of heart in high places! friedrich, one is glad to see, had not forgotten the poor fellow, could he have done better with him. some ten years hence, quite incidentally, there came to keith, one morning, a fine purse of money from his majesty, one pretty gift in keith's experience;--much the topic in berlin, while a certain solemn english gentleman happened to be passing that way (whom we mean to detain a little by and by), who reports it for us with all the circumstances. [sir jonas hanway, _travels,_ &c. (london, ), ii. . date of the gift is .] lieutenant spaen too had got into trouble for the crown-prince's sake, though we have forgotten him again; had "admitted katte to interviews," or we forget what;--had sat his "year in spandau" in consequence; been dismissed the prussian service, and had taken service with the dutch. lieutenant spaen either did not return at all, or disliked the aspects when he did, and immediately withdrew to holland again. which probably was wise of him. at a late period, king friedrich, then a great king, on one of his cleve journeys, fell in with spaen; who had become a dutch general of rank, and was of good manners and style of conversation: king friedrich was charmed to see him; became his guest for the night; conversed delightfully with him, about old prussian matters and about new; and in the colloquy never once alluded to that interesting passage in his young life and spaen's. [nicolai, _anekdoten,_ vi. .] hard as polished steel! thinks spaen perhaps; but, if candid, must ask himself withal, are facts any softer, or the laws of kingship to a man that holds it?--keith silently did his lieutenant-colonelcy with the appendages, while life lasted: of the page keith, his brother, who indeed had blabbed upon the prince, as we remember, and was not entitled to be clamorous, i never heard that there was any notice taken; and figure him to myself as walking with shouldered firelock, a private fusileer, all his life afterwards, with many reflections on things bygone. [these and the other prussian keiths are all of scotch extraction; the prussians, in natural german fashion, pronounce their name kah-it (english "kite" with nothing of the y in it), as may be worth remembering in a more important instance.] old friendship, it would seem, is without weight in public appointments here: old friends are somewhat astonished to find this friend of theirs a king every inch! to old comrades, if they were useless, much more if they were worse than useless, how disappointing! "one wretched herr [name suppressed, but known at the time, and talked of, and whispered of], who had, like several others, hoping to rise that way, been industrious in encouraging the crown-prince's vices as to women, was so shocked at the return he now met, that in despair he hanged himself in lobejun." (lobegun, magdeburg country): here is a case for the humane! [kuster, _characterzuge des &c. von saldern_ (berlin, ), p. .] friend keyserling himself, "caesarion" that used to be, can get nothing, though we love him much; being an idle topsy-turvy fellow with revenues of his own. jordan, with his fine-drawn wit, french logics, literary travels, thin exactitude; what can be done for jordan? him also his new majesty loves much; and knows that, without some official living, poor jordan has no resource. jordan, after some waiting and survey, is made "inspector of the poor;"--busy this autumn looking out for vacant houses, and arrangements for the thousand spinning women;--continues to be employed in mixed literary services (hunting up of formey, for editor, was one instance), and to be in much real intimacy. that also was perhaps about the real amount of amiable jordan. to get jordan a living by planting him in some office which he could not do; to warm jordan by burning our royal bed for him: that had not entered into the mind of jordan's royal friend. the munchows he did promote; the finks, sons of his tutor finkenstein: to these and other old comrades, in whom he had discovered fitness, it is no doubt abundantly grateful to him to recognize and employ it. as he notably does, in these and in other instances. but before all things he has decided to remember that he is king; that he must accept the severe laws of that trust, and do it, or not have done anything. an inverse sign, pointing in the same way, is the passionate search he is making in foreign countries for such men as will suit him. in these same months, for example, he bethinks him of two counts schmettau, in the austrian service, with whom he had made acquaintance in the rhine campaign; of a count von rothenburg, whom he saw in the french camp there; and is negotiating to have them if possible. the schmettaus are prussian by birth, though in austrian service; them he obtains under form of an order home, with good conditions under it; they came, and proved useful men to him. rothenburg, a shining kind of figure in diplomacy as well as soldiership, was alsatian german, foreign to prussia; but him too friedrich obtained, and made much of, as will be notable by and by. and in fact the soul of all these noble tendencies in friedrich, which surely are considerable, is even this, that he loves men of merit, and does not love men of none; that he has an endless appetite for men of merit, and feels, consciously and otherwise, that they are the one thing beautiful, the one thing needful to him. this, which is the product of all fine tendencies, is likewise their centre or focus out of which they start again, with some chance of fulfilment;--and we may judge in how many directions friedrich was willing to expand himself, by the multifarious kinds he was inviting, and negotiating for. academicians,--and not maupertuis only, but all manner of mathematical geniuses (euler whom he got, at gravesande, muschenbroek whom he failed of); and literary geniuses innumerable, first and last. academicians, musicians, players, dancers even; much more soldiers and civil-service men: no man that carries any honest "can do" about with him but may expect some welcome here. which continued through friedrich's reign; and involved him in much petty trouble, not always successful in the lower kinds of it. for his court was the cynosure of ambitious creatures on the wing, or inclined for taking wing: like a lantern kindled in the darkness of the world;--and many owls impinged upon him; whom he had to dismiss with brevity. perhaps it had been better to stand by mere prussian or german merit, native to the ground? or rather, undoubtedly it had! in some departments, as in the military, the administrative, diplomatic, friedrich was himself among the best of judges: but in various others he had mainly (mainly, by no means blindly or solely) to accept noise of reputation as evidence of merit; and in these, if we compute with rigor, his success was intrinsically not considerable. the more honor to him that he never wearied of trying. "a man that does not care for merit," says the adage, "cannot himself have any." but a king that does not care for merit, what shall we say of such a king!-- behavior to his mother; to his wife. one other fine feature, significant of many, let us notice: his affection for his mother. when his mother addressed him as "your majesty," he answered, as the books are careful to tell us: "call me son; that is the title of all others most agreeable to me!" words which, there can be no doubt, came from the heart. fain would he shoot forth to greatness in filial piety, as otherwise; fain solace himself in doing something kind to his mother. generously, lovingly; though again with clear view of the limits. he decrees for her a title higher than had been customary, as well as more accordant with his feelings; not "queen dowager," but "her majesty the queen mother." he decides to build her a new palace; "under the lindens" it is to be, and of due magnificence: in a month or two, he had even got bits of the foundation dug, and the houses to be pulled down bought or bargained for; [rodenbeck, p. ( th june- d aug. ); and correct stenzel (iv. ).]--which enterprise, however, was renounced, no doubt with consent, as the public aspects darkened. nothing in the way of honor, in the way of real affection heartily felt and demonstrated, was wanting to queen sophie in her widowhood. but, on the other hand, of public influence no vestige was allowed, if any was ever claimed; and the good kind mother lived in her monbijou, the centre and summit of berlin society; and restricted herself wisely to private matters. she has her domesticities, family affections, readings, speculations; gives evening parties at monbijou. one glimpse of her in we get, that of a perfectly private royal lady; which though it has little meaning, yet as it is authentic, coming from busching's hand, may serve as one little twinkle in that total darkness, and shall be left to the reader and his fancy:-- a count henkel, a thuringian gentleman, of high speculation, high pietistic ways, extremely devout, and given even to writing of religion, came to berlin about some silesian properties,--a man i should think of lofty melancholic aspect; and, in severe type, somewhat of a lion, on account of his book called "death-bed scenes, in four volumes." came to berlin; and on the th august, , towards evening (as the ever-punctual busching looking into henkel's papers gives it), "was presented to the queen mother; who retained him to supper; supper not beginning till about ten o'clock. the queen mother was extremely gracious to henkel; but investigated him a good deal, and put a great many questions," not quite easy to answer in that circle, "as, why he did not play? what he thought of comedies and operas? what preachers he was acquainted with in berlin? whether he too was a writer of books? [covertly alluding to the death-bed scenes, notes busching]. and abundance of other questioning. she also recounted many fantastic anecdotes (viel abenteuerliches) about count von zinzendorf [founder of hernnhuth, far-shining spiritual paladin of that day, whom her majesty thinks rather a spiritual quixote]; and declared that they were strictly true." [busching's _beitrage,_ iv. .]' upon which, exit henkel, borne by busching, and our light is snuffed out. this is one momentary glance i have met with of queen sophie in her dowager state. the rest, though there were seventeen years of it in all, is silent to mankind and me; and only her death, and her son's great grief about it, so great as to be surprising, is mentioned in the books. actual painful sorrow about his father, much more any new outburst of weeping and lamenting, is not on record, after that first morning. time does its work; and in such a whirl of occupations, sooner than elsewhere: and the loved dead lie silent in their mausoleum in our hearts,--serenely sad as eternity, not in loud sorrow as of time. friedrich was pious as a son, however he might be on other heads. to the last years of his life, as from the first days of his reign, it was evident in what honor he held friedrich wilhelm's memory; and the words "my father," when they turned up in discourse, had in that fine voice of his a tone which the observers noted. "to his mother he failed no day, when in berlin, however busy, to make his visit; and he never spoke to her, except hat in hand." with his own queen, friedrich still consorts a good deal, in these first times; is with her at charlottenburg, berlin, potsdam, reinsberg, for a day or two, as occasion gives; sometimes at reinsberg for weeks running, in the intervals of war and business: glad to be at rest amid his old pursuits, by the side of a kind innocent being familiar to him. so it lasts for a length of time. but these happy intervals, we can remark, grow rarer: whether the lady's humor, as they became rarer, might not sink withal, and produce an acceleration in the rate of decline? she was thought to be capable of "pouting (faire la fachee)," at one period! we are left to our guesses; there is not anywhere the smallest whisper to guide us. deep silence reigns in all prussian books.--to feel or to suspect yourself neglected, and to become more amiable thereupon (in which course alone lies hope), is difficult for any queen! enough, we can observe these meetings, within two or three years, have become much rarer; and perhaps about the end of the third or fourth year, they altogether cease; and pass merely into the formal character. in which state they continued fixed, liable to no uncertainty; and were transacted, to the end of friedrich's life, with inflexible regularity as the annual reviews were. this is a curious section of his life; which there will be other opportunities of noticing. but there is yet no thought of it anywhere, nor for years to come; though fables to the contrary were once current in books. [laveaux, &c.] no change in his father's methods or ministries. in the old mode of administration, in the ministries, government boards, he made no change. these administrative methods of his wise father's are admirable to friedrich, who knows them well; and they continue to be so. these men of his father's, them also friedrich knows, and that they were well chosen. in methods or in men, he is inclined to make the minimum of alteration at present. one finance hofrath of a projecting turn, named eckart, who had abused the last weak years of friedrich wilhelm, and much afflicted mankind by the favor he was in: this eckart friedrich appointed a commission to inquire into; found the public right in regard to eckart, and dismissed him with ignominy, not with much other punishment. minister boden, on the contrary, high in the finance department, who had also been much grumbled at, friedrich found to be a good man: and friedrich not only retained boden, but advanced him; and continued to make more and more use of him in time coming. his love of perfection in work done, his care of thrift, seemed almost greater than his late father's had been,--to the disappointment of many. in the other departments, podewils, thulmeyer and the rest went on as heretofore;--only in general with less to do, the young king doing more himself than had been usual. valori, "mon gros valori (my fat valori)," french minister here, whom we shall know better, writes home of the new king of prussia: "he begins his government, as by all appearance he will carry it on, in a highly satisfactory way: everywhere traits of benevolence, sympathy for his subjects, respect shown to the memory of the deceased," [_memoires des negociations du marquis de valori_ (a paris, ), i. ("june th, "). a valuable book, which we shall often have to quote: edited in a lamentably ignorant manner.]--no change made, where it evidently is not for the better. friedrich's "three principal secretaries of state," as we should designate them, are very remarkable. three clerks he found, or had known of, somewhere in the public offices; and now took, under some advanced title, to be specially his own private clerks: three vigorous long-headed young fellows, "eichel, schuhmacher, lautensack" the obscure names of them; [rodenbeck, th june, .] out of whom, now and all along henceforth, he got immensities of work in that kind. they lasted all his life; and, of course, grew ever more expert at their function. close, silent; exact as machinery: ever ready, from the smallest clear hint, marginal pencil-mark, almost from a glance of the eye, to clothe the royal will in official form, with the due rugged clearness and thrift of words. "came punctually at four in the morning in summer, five in winter;" did daily the day's work; and kept their mouths well shut. a very notable trio of men; serving his majesty and the prussian nation as principal secretaries of state, on those cheap terms;--nay almost as houses of parliament with standing committees and appendages, so many acts of parliament admittedly rather wise, being passed daily by his majesty's help and theirs!--friedrich paid them rather well; they saw no society; lived wholly to their work, and to their own families. eichel alone of the three was mentioned at all by mankind, and that obscurely; an "abstruse, reserved, long-headed kind of man;" and "made a great deal of money in the end," insinuates busching, [_beitrage,_ v. , &c.] no friend of friedrich's or his. in superficial respects, again, friedrich finds that the prussian king ought to have a king's establishment, and maintain a decent splendor among his neighbors,--as is not quite the case at present. in this respect he does make changes. a certain quantity of new pages, new goldsticks; some considerable, not too considerable, new furbishing of the royal household,--as it were, a fair coat of new paint, with gilding not profuse,--brought it to the right pitch for this king, about "a hundred and fifty" new figures of the page and goldstick kind, is the reckoning given. [_helden geschichte,_ i. .] so many of these; and there is an increase of , to one's army going on: that is the proportion noticeable. in the facts as his father left them friedrich persisted all his life; in the semblances or outer vestures he changed, to this extent for the present.--these are the phenomena of friedrich's accession, noted by us. readers see there is radiance enough, perhaps slightly in excess, but of intrinsically good quality, in the aurora of this new reign. a brilliant valiant young king; much splendor of what we could call a golden or soft nature (visible in those "new-era" doings of his, in those strong affections to his friends); and also, what we like almost better in him, something of a steel-bright or stellar splendor (meaning, clearness of eyesight, intrepidity, severe loyalty to fact),--which is a fine addition to the softer element, and will keep it and its philanthropies and magnanimities well under rule. such a man is rare in this world; how extremely rare such a man born king! he is swift and he is persistent; sharply discerning, fearless to resolve and perform; carries his great endowments lightly, as if they were not heavy to him. he has known hard misery, been taught by stripes; a light stoicism sits gracefully on him. "what he will grow to?" probably to something considerable. very certainly to something far short of his aspirations; far different from his own hopes; and the world's concerning him. it is not we, it is father time that does the controlling and fulfilling of our hopes; and strange work he makes of them and us. for example, has not friedrich's grand "new era," inaugurated by him in a week, with the leading spirits all adoring, issued since in french revolution and a "world well suicided,"--the leading spirits much thrown out in consequence! new era has gone to great lengths since friedrich's time; and the leading spirits do not now adore it, but yawn over it, or worse! which changes to us the then aspect of friedrich, and his epoch and his aspirations, a good deal.--on the whole, friedrich will go his way, time and the leading spirits going theirs; and, like the rest of us, will grow to what he can. his actual size is not great among the kingdoms: his outward resources are rather to be called small. the prussian dominion at that date is, in extent, about four-fifths of an england proper, and perhaps not one-fifth so fertile: subject population is well under two millions and a half; revenue not much above one million sterling,' [the exact statistic cipher is, at friedrich's accession: prussian territories, , square miles german ( , english); population, , , ; annual revenue, , , thalers groschen ( , , pounds without the pence). see prenss, _buch fur jedermann,_ i. ; stenzel, iii. ; &c.]--very small, were not thrift such a vectigal. this young king is magnanimous; not much to be called ambitious, or not in the vulgar sense almost at all,--strange as it may sound to readers. his hopes at this time are many;--and among them, i perceive, there is not wanting secretly, in spite of his experiences, some hope that he himself may be a good deal "happier" than formerly. nor is there any ascetic humor, on his part, to forbid trial. he is much determined to try. probably enough, as we guess and gather, his agreeablest anticipations, at this time, were of reinsberg: how, in the intervals of work well done, he would live there wholly to the muses; have his chosen spirits round him, his colloquies, his suppers of the gods. why not? there might be a king of intellects conceivable withal; protecting, cherishing, practically guiding the chosen illuminative souls of this world. a new charlemagne, the smallest new charlemagne of spiritual type, with his paladins round him; how glorious, how salutary in the dim generations now going!--these too were hopes which proved signally futile. rigorous time could not grant these at all;--granted, in his own hard way, other things instead. but, all along, the life-element, the epoch, though friedrich took it kindly and never complained, was ungenial to such a man. "somewhat of a rotten epoch, this into which friedrich has been born, to shape himself and his activities royal and other!"--exclaims smelfungus once: "in an older earnest time, when the eternally awful meanings of this universe had not yet sunk into dubieties to any one, much less into levities or into mendacities, into huge hypocrisies carefully regulated,--so luminous, vivid and ingenuous a young creature had not wanted divine manna in his pilgrimage through life. nor, in that case, had he come out of it in so lean a condition. but the highest man of us is born brother to his contemporaries; struggle as he may, there is no escaping the family likeness. by spasmodic indignant contradiction of them, by stupid compliance with them,--you will inversely resemble, if you do not directly; like the starling, you can't get out!--most surely, if there do fall manna from heaven, in the given generation, and nourish in us reverence and genial nobleness day by day, it is blessed and well. failing that, in regard to our poor spiritual interests, there is sure to be one of two results: mockery, contempt, disbelief, what we may call short-diet to the length of very famine (which was friedrich's case); or else slow-poison, carefully elaborated and provided by way of daily nourishment. "unhappy souls, these same! the slow-poison has gone deep into them. instead of manna, this long while back, they have been living on mouldy corrupt meats sweetened by sugar-of-lead; or perhaps, like voltaire, a few individuals prefer hunger, as the cleaner alternative; and in contemptuous, barren, mocking humor, not yet got the length of geniality or indignation, snuff the east-wind by way of spiritual diet. pilgriming along on such nourishment, the best human soul fails to become very ruddy!--tidings about heaven are fallen so uncertain, but the earth and her joys are still interesting: 'take to the earth and her joys;--let your soul go out, since it must; let your five senses and their appetites be well alive.' that is a dreadful 'sham-christian dispensation' to be born under! you wonder at the want of heroism in the eighteenth century. wonder rather at the degree of heroism it had; wonder how many souls there still are to be met with in it of some effective capability, though dieting in that way,--nothing else to be had in the shops about. carterets, belleisles, friedrichs, voltaires; chathams, franklins, choiseuls: there is an effective stroke of work, a fine fire of heroic pride, in this man and the other; not yet extinguished by spiritual famine or slow-poison; so robust is nature the mighty mother!-- "but in general, that sad gospel, 'souls extinct, stomachs well alive!' is the credible one, not articulately preached, but practically believed by the abject generations, and acted on as it never was before. what immense sensualities there were, is known; and also (as some small offset, though that has not yet begun in ) what immense quantities of physical labor and contrivance were got out of mankind, in that epoch and down to this day. as if, having lost its heaven, it had struck desperately down into the earth; as if it were a beaver-kind, and not a mankind any more. we had once a barbaossa; and a world all grandly true. but from that to karl vi., and his holy romish reich in such a state of 'holiness'--!" i here cut short my abstruse friend. readers are impatient to have done with these miscellaneous preludings, and to be once definitely under way, such a journey lying ahead. yes, readers; a journey indeed! and, at this point, permit me to warn you that, where the ground, where dryasdust and the destinies, yield anything humanly illustrative of friedrich and his work, one will have to linger, and carefully gather it, even as here. large tracts occur, bestrewn with mere pedantisms, diplomatic cobwebberies, learned marine-stores, and inhuman matter, over which we shall have to skip empty-handed: this also was among the sad conditions of our enterprise, that it has to go now too slow and again too fast; not in proportion to natural importance of objects, but to several inferior considerations withal. so busy has perverse destiny been on it; perverse destiny, edacious chance;--and the dryasdusts, too, and nightmares, in prussia as elsewhere, we know how strong they are! friedrich's character in old age has doubtless its curious affinities, its disguised identities, with these prognostic features and indications of his youth: and to our readers,--if we do ever get them to the goal, of seeing friedrich a little with their own eyes and judgments,--there may be pleasant contrasts and comparisons of that kind in store, one day. but the far commoner experience (which also has been my own),--here is smelfungus's stern account of that:-- "my friend, you will be luckier than i, if, after ten years, not to say, in a sense, twenty years, thirty years, of reading and rummaging in those sad prussian books, ancient and new (which often are laudably authentic, too, and exact as to details), you can gather any character whatever of friedrich, in any period of his life, or conceive him as a human entity at all! it is strange, after such thousand-fold writing, but it is true, his history is considerably unintelligible to mankind at this hour; left chaotic, enigmatic, in a good many points,--the military part of it alone being brought to clearness, and rendered fairly conceivable and credible to those who will study. and as to the man himself, or what his real physiognomy can have been--! well, it must be owned few men were of such rapidity of face and aspect; so difficult to seize the features of. in his action, too, there was such rapidity, such secrecy, suddenness: a man that could not be read, even by the candid, except as in flashes of lightning. and then the anger of by-standers, uncandid, who got hurt by him; the hasty malevolences, the stupidities, the opacities: enough, in modern times, what is saying much, perhaps no man's motives, intentions, and procedure have been more belied, misunderstood, misrepresented, during his life. nor, i think, since that, have many men fared worse, by the limner or biographic class, the favorable to him and the unfavorable; or been so smeared of and blotched of, and reduced to a mere blur and dazzlement of cross-lights, incoherences, incredibilities, in which nothing, not so much as a human nose, is clearly discernible by way of feature!"--courage, reader, nevertheless; on the above terms let us march according to promise. chapter ii. -- the homagings. young friedrich, as his father had done, considers it unnecessary to be crowned. old friedrich, first of the name, and of the king series, we did see crowned, with a pinch of snuff tempering the solemnities. that coronation once well done suffices all his descendants hitherto. such an expense of money,--of diluted mendacity too! such haranguing, gesturing, symbolic fugling, all grown half false:--avoid lying, even with your eyes, or knees, or the coat upon your back, so far as you easily can! nothing of coronation: but it is thought needful to have the huldigungen (homagings) done, the fealties sworn; and the young majesty in due course goes about, or gives directions, now here now there, in his various provinces, getting that accomplished. but even in that, friedrich is by no means strait-laced or punctilious; does it commonly by deputy: only in three places, konigsberg, berlin, cleve, does he appear in person. mainly by deputy; and always with the minimum of fuss, and no haranguing that could be avoided. nowhere are the old stande (provincial parliaments) assembled, now or afterwards: sufficient for this and for every occasion are the "permanent committees of the stande;" nor is much speaking, unessential for despatch of business, used to these. "stande--of ritterschaft mainly, of gentry small and great--existed once in all those countries, as elsewhere," says one historian; "and some of them, in preussen, for example, used to be rather loud, and inclined to turbulence, till the curb, from a judicious bridle-hand, would admonish them. but, for a long while past,--especially since the great elector's time, who got an 'excise law' passed, or the foundations of a good excise law laid; [preuss, iv. ; and _thronbesteigung,_ pp. - .] and, what with excise, what with domain-farms, had a fixed annual budget, which he reckoned fair to both parties,--they have been dying out for want of work; and, under friedrich wilhelm, may be said to have gone quite dead. what work was left for them? prussian budget is fixed, many things are fixed: why talk of them farther? the prussian king, nothing of a fool like certain others,"--which indeed is the cardinal point, though my author does not say so,--"is respectfully aware of the facts round him; and can listen to the rumors too, so far as he finds good. the king sees himself terribly interested to get into the right course in all things, and avoid the wrong one! probably he does, in his way, seek 'wise advice concerning the arduous matters of the kingdom;' nay i believe he is diligent to have it of the wisest:--who knows if stande would always give it wiser; especially stande in the haranguing condition?"--enough, they are not applied to. there is no freedom in that country. "no freedom to speak of," continues he: "but i do a little envy them their fixed budget, and some other things. what pleasure there can be in having your household arrangements tumbled into disorder every new year, by a new-contrived scale of expenses for you, i never could ascertain!"-- friedrich is not the man to awaken parliamentary sleeping-dogs well settled by his ancestors. once or twice, out of preussen, in friedrich wilhelm's time, there was heard some whimper, which sounded like the beginning of a bark. but friedrich wilhelm was on the alert for it: are you coming in with your nie pozwalam (your liberum veto), then? none of your polish vagaries here. "tout le pays sera ruine (the whole country will be ruined)," say you? (such had been the poor marshal or provincial speaker's remonstrance on one occasion): "i don't believe a word of that. but i do believe the government by junkers [country squires] and nie pozwalam will be ruined,"--as it is fully meant to be! "i am establishing the king's sovereignty like a rock of bronze (ich stabilire die souverainetat wie einen rocher von bronze)," some extremely strong kind of rock! [forster, b. iii. (_urkundenbuch,_ i. ); preuss, iv. n. "nie pozwalam" (the formula of liberum veto) signifies "i don't permit!"] this was one of friedrich wilhelm's marginalia in response to such a thing; and the mutinous whimper died out again. parliamentary assemblages are sometimes collective wisdoms, but by no means always so. in magdeburg we remember what trouble friedrich wilhelm had with his unreasonable ritters. ritters there, in their assembled capacity, had the reich behind them, and could not be dealt with like preussen: but friedrich wilhelm, by wise slow methods, managed magdeburg too, and reduced it to silence, or to words necessary for despatch of business. in each province, a permanent committee--chosen, i suppose, by king and knights assenting; chosen i know not how, but admitted to be wisely chosen--represents the once parliament or stande; and has its potency for doing good service in regard to all provincial matters, from roads and bridges upwards, and is impotent to do the least harm. roads and bridges, church matters, repartition of the land-dues, army matters,--in fact they are an effective non-haranguing parliament, to the king's deputy in every such province; well calculated to illuminate and forward his subaltern amtmen and him. nay, we observe it is oftenest in the way of gifts and solacements that the king articulately communicates with these committees or their ritterschafts. projects for draining of bogs, for improved highways, for better husbandry; loans granted them, loan-banks established for the province's behoof:--no need of parliamentary eloquence on such occasions, but of something far different. it is from this quiescent, or busy but noiseless kind of stande and populations that friedrich has his huldigung to take;--and the operation, whether done personally or by deputy, must be an abundantly simple one. he, for his part, is fortunate enough to find everywhere the sovereignty established; "rock of bronze" not the least shaken in his time. he will graciously undertake, by written act, which is read before the stande, king or king's deputy witnessing there, "to maintain the privileges" of his stande and populations; the stande answer, on oath, with lifted hand, and express invocation of heaven, that they will obey him as true subjects; and so--doubtless with something of dining superadded, but no whisper of it put on record--the huldigung will everywhere very quietly transact itself. the huldigung itself is nothing to us, even with friedrich there,--as at konigsberg, berlin, cleve, the three exceptional places. to which, nevertheless, let us briefly attend him, for the sake of here and there some direct glimpse we may get of the then friedrich's actual physiognomy and ways. other direct view, or the chance of such, is not conceded us out of those sad prussian books; which are very full on this of the huldigung, if silent on so many other points. [preuss, _thronbesteigung,_ p. .] friedrich accepts the homages, personally, in three places. to konigsberg is his first excursion on this errand. preussen has perhaps, or may be suspected of having, some remnants of sour humors left in it, and remembrances of stande with haranguings and even mutinies: there if anywhere the king in person may do good on such an occasion, he left berlin, july th, bound thitherward; here is note of that first royal tour,--specimen of several hundreds such, which he had to do in the course of the next forty-five years. "friend algarotti, charming talker, attended him; who else, official and non-official, ask not. the journey is to be circuitous; to combine various businesses, and also to have its amusements. they went by custrin; glancing at old known country, which is at its greenest in this season. by custrin, across the neumark, into pommern; after that by an intricate winding route; reviewing regiments, inspecting garrisons, now here now there; doing all manner of inspections; talking i know not what; oftenest lodging with favored generals, if it suited. distance to konigsberg, by the direct road, is about miles; by this winding one, it must have been : journey thither took nine days in all. obliquely through pommern, almost to the coast of the baltic; their ultimatum there a place called coslin, where they reviewed with strictness,--omitting colberg, a small sea-fortress not far rearward, time being short. thence into west-preussen, into polish territory, and swiftly across that; keeping dantzig and its noises wide enough to the left: one night in poland; and the next they are in ost-preussen, place called liebstadt,--again on home-ground, and diligently reviewing there. "the review at liebstadt is remarkable in this, that the regiments, one regiment especially, not being what was fit, a certain grenadier-captain got cashiered on the spot; and the old commandant himself was soon after pensioned, and more gently sent his ways. so strict is his majesty. contrariwise, he found lieutenant-general von katte's garrison, at angerburg, next day, in a very high perfection; and colonel posadowsky's regiment specially so; with which latter gentleman he lodged that night, and made him farther happy by the order of merit: colonel posadowsky, garrison of angerburg, far off in east-preussen, chevalier of the order of merit henceforth, if we ever meet him again. to the good old lieutenant-general von katte, who no doubt dined with them, his majesty handed, on the same occasion, a patent of feldmarschall;--intends soon to make him graf; and did it, as readers know. both colonel and general attended him thenceforth, still by a circuitous route, to konigsberg, to assist in the solemnities there. by gumbinnen, by trakehnen,--the stud of trakehnen: that also his majesty saw, and made review of; not without emotion, we can fancy, as the sleek colts were trotted out on those new terms! at trakehnen, katte and the colonel would be his majesty's guests, for the night they stayed. this is their extreme point eastward; konigsberg now lies a good way west of them. but at trakehnen they turn; and, saturday, th july, , after another hundred miles or so, along the pleasant valley of the pregel, get to konigsberg: ready to begin business on monday morning,--on sunday if necessary." [from preuss, _thronbesteigung,_ pp. , ; rodenbeck, p. ; &c.] on sunday there did a kind of memorability occur: the huldigungs-predigt (homage sermon)--by a reverend herr quandt, chief preacher there. which would not be worth mentioning, except for this circumstance, that his majesty exceedingly admired quandt, and thought him a most demosthenic genius, and the best of all the germans. quandt's text was in these words: _"thine are we, david, and on thy side, thou son of jesse; peace, peace be unto thee, and peace be to thine helpers; for thy god helpeth thee." _[_first chronicles,_ xii. .] quandt began, in a sonorous voice, raising his face with respectful enthusiasm to the king, "thine are we, o friedrich, and on thy side, thou son of friedrich wilhelm;" and so went on: sermon brief, sonorous, compact, and sticking close to its text. friedrich stood immovable, gazing on the eloquent demosthenic quandt, with admiration heightened by surprise;--wrote of quandt to voltaire; and, with sustained enthusiasm, to the public long afterwards; and to the end of his days was wont to make quandt an exception, if perhaps almost the only one, from german barbarism, and disharmony of mind and tongue. so that poor quandt cannot ever since get entirely forgotten, but needs always to be raked up again, for this reason when others have ceased: an almost melancholy adventure for poor quandt and another!-- the huldigung was rather grand; harangue and counter-harangue permitted to the due length, and proper festivities following: but the stande could not manage to get into vocal covenanting or deliberating at all; friedrich before leaving berlin had answered their hint or request that way, in these words: "we are likewise graciously inclined to give to the said stande, before their homaging, the same assurance which they got from our herr father's majesty, who is now with god,"--general assurance that their, and everybody's, "rights shall be maintained [as we see they are],--with which, it is hoped (hoffentlich), they will be content, and get to peace upon this matter (sich dabei beruhigen werden)." [preuss, _thronbesteigung,_ p. .] it will be best for them! friedrich gave away much corn here; that is, opened his corn-granaries, on charitable terms, and took all manner of measures, here as in other places, for relief of the scarcity there was. of the illuminations, never so grand, the reader shall hear nothing. a "torch-procession of the students" turned out a pretty thing:--students marching with torches, with fine wind-music, regulated enthusiasm, fine succinct address to his majesty; and all the world escorting, with its "live forever!" friedrich gave the students "a trink-gelag (banquet of liquors)," how arranged i do not know: and to the speaker of the address, a likely young gentleman with von to his name, he offered an ensigncy of foot ("in camas's fusileer regiment,"--camas now gone to paris, embassying), which was joyfully accepted. joyfully accepted;--and it turned out well for all parties; the young gentleman having risen, where merit was the rule of rising, and become graf and lieutenant-general, in the course of the next fifty years. [preuss, _thronbesteigung,_ p. .] huldigung and torch-procession over, the royal party dashed rapidly off, next morning ( st july), homewards by the shortest route; and, in three days more, by frankfurt-on-oder (where a glimpse of general schwerin, a favorite general, was to be had), were safe in berlin; received with acclamation, nay with "blessings and even tears" some say, after this pleasant fortnight's tour. general schwerin, it is rumored, will be made feldmarschall straightway, the munchows are getting so promoted as we said; edicts are coming out, much business speeding forward, and the tongues of men keep wagging. berlin huldigung--and indeed, by deputy, that of nearly all the other towns--was on tuesday, august d. at berlin his majesty was present in the matter: but, except the gazing multitudes, and hussar regiments, ranked in the schloss-platz and streets adjoining, there was little of notable in it; the upholstery arrangements thrifty in the extreme. his majesty is prone to thrift in this of the huldigung, as would appear; perhaps regarding the affair as scenic merely. here, besides this of berlin, is another instance just occurring. it appears, the quedlinburg people, shut out from the light of the actual royal countenance, cannot do their homaging by deputy, without at least a portrait of the king and of the queen: how manage? asks the official person. "have a couple of daubs done in berlin, three guineas apiece; send them these," answers the king! [_"on doit faire barbouiller de mauvaises copies a berlin, la piece a ecus._--fr." preuss, ii. (_urkundenbuch,_ s. ).] here in the berlin schloss, scene the large hall within doors, there is a "platform raised three steps; and on this, by way of a kind of throne, an arm-chair covered with old black velvet;" the whole surmounted by a canopy also of old black velvet: not a sublime piece of upholstery; but reckoned adequate. friedrich mounted the three steps; stood before the old chair, his princes standing promiscuously behind it; his ritters in quantity, in front and to right and left, on the floor. some minister of the interior explains suitably, not at too great length, what they are met for; some junior official, junior but of quality, responded briefly, for himself and his order, to the effect, "yea, truly:" the huldigungens-urkunde (deed of homage) was then read by the proper clerk, and the ritters all swore; audibly, with lifted hands. this is the ritter huldigung. his majesty then steps out to the balcony, for oath and homage of the general population. general population gave its oath, and "three great shouts over and above." "es lebe der konig!" thrice, with all their throats. upon which a shower of medals, "homage-medals," gold and silver (quantity not mentioned) rained down upon them, in due succession; and were scrambled for, in the usual way. "his majesty," they write, and this is perhaps the one point worth notice, "his majesty, contrary to custom and to etiquette, remained on the balcony, some time after the ceremony, perhaps a full half-hour;"--silent there, "with his look fixed attentively on the immeasurable multitude before the schloss; and seemed sunk in deep reflection (betrachtung):"--an almost awfully eloquent though inarticulate phenomenon to his majesty, that of those multitudes scrambling and huzzaing there! [preuss, _thronbesteigung,_ p. .] these, with the cleve one, are all the hornagings friedrich was personally present at; the others he did by deputy, all in one day ( d august); and without fuss. scenic matters these; in which, except where he can, as in the konigsberg case, combine inspections and grave businesses with them, he takes no interest. however, he is now, for the sake chiefly of inspections and other real objects, bent on a journey to cleve;--the fellow of that to konigsberg: konigsberg, preussen, the easternmost outlying wing of his long straggling dominions; and then cleve-julich, its counterpart on the southwestern side,--there also, with such contingencies hanging over cleve-julich, it were proper to make some mustering of the frontier garrisons and affairs. [in regard to the day of huldigung at cleve, which happily is not of the least moment to us, preuss (_thronbesteigung,_ p, ) and _helden-geschichte,_ (i. ) seem to be in flat contradiction.] his majesty so purposes: and we purpose again to accompany,--not for inspection and mustering, but for an unexpected reason. the grave journey to cleve has an appendage, or comic side-piece, hanging to it; more than one appendage; which the reader must not miss!--before setting out, read these two fractions, snatched from the diplomatist wastebag; looking well, we gain there some momentary view of friedrich on the business side. of friedrich, and also of another:-- sunday, th august, , dickens, who has been reporting hitherto in a favorable, though in a languid exoteric manner, not being in any height of favor, england or he,--had express audience of his majesty; being summoned out to potsdam for that end: "sunday evening, about p.m."--majesty intending to be off on the cleve journey to-morrow. let us accompany dickens. readers may remember, george ii. has been at hanover for some weeks past; bielfeld diligently grinning euphemisms and courtly graciosities to him; truchsess hinting, on opportunity, that there are perhaps weighty businesses in the rear; which, however, on the britannic side, seem loath to start. britannic majesty is much at a loss about his spanish war, so dangerous for kindling france and the whole world upon him. in regard to which prussia might be so important, for or against.--this, in compressed form, is what dickens witnesses at potsdam that sunday evening from p.m.:-- "audience lasted above an hour: king turned directly upon business; wishes to have 'categorical answers' as to three points already submitted to his britannic majesty's consideration. clear footing indispensable between us. what you want of me? say it, and be plain. what i want of you is, these three things:-- " . guarantee for julich and berg. all the world knows whose these duchies are. will his britannic majesty guarantee me there? and if so, how, and to what lengths, will he proceed about it? " . settlement about ost-friesland. expectancy of ost-friesland soon to fall heirless, which was granted me long since, though hanover makes hagglings, counter-claimings: i must have some settlement about that. " . the like about those perplexities in mecklenburg. no difficulty there if we try heartily, nor is there such pressing haste about it. "these are my three claims on england; and i will try to serve england as far in return, if it will tell me how. 'ah, beware of throwing yourself into the arms of france!' modestly suggests dickens.--'well, if france will guarantee me those duchies, and you will not do anything?' answers his majesty with a fine laugh: 'england i consider my most natural friend and ally; but i must know what there is to depend on there. princes are ruled by their interest; cannot follow their feelings. let me have an explicit answer; say, at wesel, where i am to be on the th,'" ten days hence. britannic majesty is at hanover, and can answer within that time. "this he twice told me, 'wesel, th,' in the course of our interview. permit me to recommend the matter to your lordship,"--my lord harrington, now attending the britannic majesty. "during the whole audience," adds dickens, "the king was in extreme good humor; and not only heard with attention all the considerations i offered, but was not the least offended at any objections i made to what he said. it is undoubtedly the best way to behave with frankness to him." these last are dickens's own words; let them modestly be a memorandum to your lordship. this king goes himself direct to the point; and straightforwardness, as a primary condition, will profit your lordship with him. [dickens (in state-paper office, th august, ).] most true advice, this;--and would perhaps be followed, were it quite easy! but things are very complicated. and the britannic majesty, much plagued with spanish war and parliamentary noises in that unquiet island, is doubtless glad to get away to hanover for a little; and would fain be on holiday in these fine rural months. which is not well possible either. jenkins's ear, rising at last like a fiery portent, has kindled the london fog over yonder, in a strange way, and the murky stagnancy is all getting on fire; the english intent, as seldom any nation was, to give the spaniards an effectual beating. which they hope they can,--though unexpected difficulties will occur. and, in the mean while, what a riddle of potentialities for his poor majesty to read, and pick his way from!-- bielfeld, in spite of all this, would fain be full of admiration for the britannic majesty. confesses he is below the middle size, in fact a tiny little creature, but then his shape is perfect; leg much to be commended,--which his majesty knows, standing always with one leg slightly advanced, and the order of the garter on it, that mankind may take notice. here is bielfeld's description faithfully abridged:-- "big blue eyes, perhaps rather of parboiled character, though proud enough; eyes flush with his face or more, rather in relief than on a level with it,"--a fleur de tete, after the manner of a fish, if one might say so, and betokening such an intellect behind them! "attitude constrained, leg advanced in that way; his courtiers call it majestic. biggish mouth, strictly shut in the crescent or horse-shoe form (fermee en croissant); curly wig (a noeuds, reminding you of lamb's-wool, color not known); eyebrows, however, you can see are ashy-blond; general tint is fundamentally livid; but when in good case, the royal skin will take tolerably bright colors (prend d'assez belles couleurs). as to the royal mind and understanding, what shall bielfeld say? that his majesty sometimes makes ingenious and just remarks, and is laudably serious at all times, and can majestically hold his tongue, and stand with advanced leg, and eyes rather more than flush. sense of his dignity is high, as it ought to be; on great occasions you see pride and a kind of joy mantling in the royal countenance. has been known to make explosions, and to be very furious to prince fred and others, when pricked into:--but, my friend, what mortal is exempt from failings? majesty reads the english newspapers every morning in bed, which are often biting. majesty has his walmoden, a hanoverian improper female, countess of yarmouth so called; quiet, autumnal, fair complexioned, stupid; who is much a comfort to him. she keeps out of mischief, political or other; and gives bielfeld a gracious nod now and then." [bielfeld, i. .] harrington is here too;--and britannic majesty and he are busy governing the english nation on these terms.--we return now to the prussian majesty. about six weeks after that of dickens,--cleve journey and much else now ended,--praetorius the danish envoy, whom we slightly knew at reinsberg once, gives this testimony; writing home to an excellency at copenhagen, whose name we need not inquire into:-- "to give your excellency a just idea of the new government here, i must observe that hitherto the king of prussia does as it were everything himself; and that, excepting the finance minister von boden, who preaches frugality, and finds for that doctrine uncommon acceptance, almost greater even than in the former reign, his majesty allows no counselling from any minister; so that herr von podewils, who is now the working hand in the department of foreign affairs, has nothing given him to do but to expedite the orders he receives from the cabinet, his advice not being asked upon any matter; and so it is with the other ministers. people thought the loss of herr von thulmeyer," veteran foreign minister whom we have transiently heard of in the double-marriage time, and perhaps have even seen at london or elsewhere, [died th august (rodenbeck, p. ).] "would be irreparable; so expert was he, and a living archive in that business: however, his post seems to have vanished with himself. his salary is divided between herr von podewils," whom the reader will sometimes hear of again, "kriegsrath (councillor of war) von ilgen," son of the old gentleman we used to know, "and hofrath sellentin who is rendant of the legations-kasse" (ambassadors' paymaster, we could guess, ambassador body having specialty of cash assigned it, comparable with the specialty of value received from it, in this strict frugal country),--neither of which two latter names shall the reader be troubled with farther. "a good many resolutions, and responses by the king, i have seen: they combine laconic expression with an admirable business eye (geschaftsblick). unhappily,"--at least for us in the diplomatic line, for your excellency and me unhappily,--"there is nobody about the king who possesses his complete confidence, or whom we can make use of in regard to the necessary introductions and preliminary movements. hereby it comes that,--as certain things can only be handled with cautious foresight and circumlocution, and in the way of beginning wide,--an ambassador here is more thrown out of his course than in any other court; and knows not, though his object were steadily in sight, what road to strike into for getting towards it." [preuss, _thronbesteigung,_ p. ( d october, ).] chapter iii. -- friedrich makes an excursion, not of direct sort into the cleve countries. king friedrich did not quite keep his day at wesel; indeed this th was not the first day, but the last of several, he had appointed to himself for finis to that journey in the cleve countries; journey rather complex to arrange. he has several businesses ahead in those parts; and, as usual, will group them with good judgment, and thrift of time. not inspections merely, but amusements, meetings with friends, especially french friends: the question is, how to group them with skill, so that the necessary elements may converge at the right moment, and one shot kill three or four birds. this is friedrich's fine way, perceptible in all these journeys. the french friends, flying each on his own track, with his own load of impediments, voltaire with his madame for instance, are a difficult element in such problem; and there has been, and is, much scheming and corresponding about it, within the last month especially. voltaire is now at brussels, with his du chatelet, prosecuting that endless "lawsuit with the house of honsbruck,"--which he, and we, are both desirous to have done with. he is at the hague, too, now and then; printing, about to print, the anti-machiavel; corresponding, to right and left, quarrelling with van duren the printer; lives, while there, in the vieille cour, in the vast dusky rooms with faded gilding, and grand old bookshelves "with the biggest spider-webs in europe." brussels is his place for law-consultations, general family residence; the hague and that old spider-web palace for correcting proof-sheets; doing one's own private studies, which we never quite neglect. fain would friedrich see him, fain he friedrich; but there is a divine emilie, there is a maupertuis, there are--in short, never were such difficulties, in the cooking of an egg with water boiling; and much vain correspondence has already been on that subject, as on others equally extinct. correspondence which is not pleasant reading at this time; the rather as no reader can, without endless searching, even understand it. correspondence left to us, not in the cosmic, elucidated or legible state; left mainly as the editorial rubbish-wagons chose to shoot it; like a tumbled quarry, like the ruins of a sacked city;--avoidable by readers who are not forced into it! [herr preuss's edition (_oeuvres de frederic,_ vols. xxi. xxii. xxiii.) has come out since the above was written: it is agreeably exceptional; being, for the first time, correctly printed, and the editor himself having mostly understood it,--though the reader still cannot, on the terms there allowed.] take the following select bricks as sample, which are of some use; the general heading is, king friederic to m. de voltaire (at the hague, or at brussels). "charlottenburg, th june, .--... my dear voltaire, resist no longer the eagerness i have to see you. do in my favor whatever your humanity allows. in the end of august, i go to wesel, and perhaps farther. promise that you will come and join me; for i could not live happy, nor die tranquil, without having embraced you! thousand compliments to the marquise," divine emilie. "i am busy with both hands [corn-magazines, free press, abolition of torture, and much else]; working at the army with the one hand, at the people and the fine arts with the other." "berlin, th august, .--... i will write to madame du chatelet, in compliance with your wish:" mark it, reader. "to speak to you frankly concerning her journey, it is voltaire, it is you, it is my friend that i desire to see; and the divine emilie with all her divinity is only the accessory of the apollo newtonized. "i cannot yet say whether i shall travel [incognito into foreign parts a little] or not travel;" there have been rumors, perhaps private wishes; but--... "adieu, dear friend; sublime spirit, first-born of thinking beings. love me always sincerely, and be persuaded that none can love and esteem you more than i. vale. federic." "berlin, th august [which is next day].--you will have received a letter from me dated yesterday; this is the second i write to you from berlin; i refer you to what was in the other. if it must be (faut) that emilie accompany apollo, i consent; but if i could see you alone, that is what i would prefer. i should be too much dazzled; i could not stand so much splendor all at once; it would overpower me. i should need the veil of moses to temper the united radiance of your two divinities."... in short, don't bring her, if you please. "remusberg [poetic for reinsberg], th august, .--... my dear voltaire, i do believe van duren costs you more trouble and pains than you had with henri quatre. in versifying the life of a hero, you wrote the history of your own thoughts; but in coercing a scoundrel you fence with an enemy who is not worthy of you." to punish him, and cut short his profits, "print, then, as you wish [your own edition of the anti-machiavel, to go along with his, and trip the feet from it]. faites rouler la presse; erase, change, correct; do as you see best; your judgment about it shall be mine."--"in eight days i leave for [where thinks the reader? "dantzig" deliberately print all the editors, careful preuss among them; overturning the terrestrial azimuths for us, and making day night!]--for leipzig, and reckon on being at frankfurt on the d. in case you could be there, i expect, on my passage, to give you lodging! at cleve or in holland, i depend for certain on embracing you." [preuss, _oeuvres de frederic,_ xx. pp. , - ; voltaire, _oeuvres,_ lxxii. , &c. (not worth citing, in comparison).] intrinsically the friedrich correspondence at this time, with voltaire especially, among many friends now on the wing towards berlin and sending letters, has,--if you are forced into struggling for some understanding of it, and do get to read parts of it with the eyes of friedrich and voltaire,--has a certain amiability; and is nothing like so waste and dreary as it looks in the chaotic or sacked-city condition. friedrich writes with brevity, oftenest on practicalities (the anti-machiavel, the coming interview, and the like), evidently no time to spare; writes always with considerable sincerity; with friendliness, much admiration, and an ingenuous vivacity, to m. de voltaire. voltaire, at his leisure in brussels or the old palace and its spider-webs, writes much more expansively; not with insincerity, he either;--with endless airy graciosities, and ingenious twirls, and touches of flattering unction, which latter, he is aware, must not be laid on too thick. as thus:-- in regard to the anti-machiavel,--sire, deign to give me your permissions as to the scoundrel of a van duren; well worth while, sire,--"it is a monument for the latest posterity; the only book worthy of a king for these fifteen hundred years." this is a strongish trowelful, thrown on direct, with adroitness; and even this has a kind of sincerity. safer, however, to do it in the oblique or reflex way,--by ambassador cumas, for example:-- "i will tell you boldly, sir [you m. de camas], i put more value on this book (anti-machiavel) than on the emperor julian's caesar, or on the maxims of marcus aurelius,"--i do indeed, having a kind of property in it withal! [voltaire, _oeuvres,_ lxxii. (to camas, th october, ).] in fact, voltaire too is beautiful, in this part of the correspondence; but much in a twitter,--the queen of sheba, not the sedate solomon, in prospect of what is coming. he plumes himself a little, we perceive, to his d'argentals and french correspondents, on this sublime intercourse he has got into with a crowned head, the cynosure of mankind:---perhaps even you, my best friend, did not quite know me, and what merits i had! plumes himself a little; but studies to be modest withal; has not much of the peacock, and of the turkey has nothing, to his old friends. all which is very naive and transparent; natural and even pretty, on the part of m. de voltaire as the weaker vessel.--for the rest, it is certain maupertuis is getting under way at paris towards the cleve rendezvous. brussels, too, is so near these cleve countries; within two days' good driving:--if only the times and routes would rightly intersect? friedrich's intention is by no means for a straight journey towards cleve: he intends for baireuth first, then back from baireuth to cleve,--making a huge southward elbow on the map, with baireuth for apex or turning-point:--in this manner he will make the times suit, and have a convergence at cleve. to baireuth;--who knows if not farther? all summer there has gone fitfully a rumor, that he wished to see france; perhaps paris itself incognito? the rumor, which was heard even at petersburg, [raumer's _beitrage_ (english translation, london, ), p. (finch's despatch, th june, ).] is now sunk dead again; but privately, there is no doubt, a glimpse of the sublime french nation would be welcome to friedrich. he could never get to travelling in his young time; missed his grand tour altogether, much as he wished it; and he is capable of pranks!--enough, on monday morning, th august, , [rodenbeck, p. , slightly in error: see dickens's interview, supra, p. .] friedrich and suite leave potsdam; early enough; go, by leipzig, by the route already known to readers, through coburg and the voigtland regions; wilhelmina has got warning, sits eagerly expecting her brother in the hermitage at baireuth, gladdest of shrill sisters; and full of anxieties how her brother would now be. the travelling party consisted, besides the king, of seven persons: prince august wilhelm, king's next brother, heir-apparent if there come no children, now a brisk youth of eighteen; leopold prince of anhalt-dessau, old dessauer's eldest, what we may call the "young dessauer;" colonel von borck, whom we shall hear of again; colonel von stille, already heard of (grave men of fifty, these two); milk-beard munchow, an adjutant, youngest of the promoted munchows; algarotti, indispensable for talk; and fredersdorf, the house-steward and domestic factotum, once private in schwerin's regiment, whom bielfeld so admired at reinsberg, foreseeing what he would come to. one of friedrich's late acts was to give factotum fredersdorf an estate of land (small enough, i fancy, but with country-house on it) for solace to the leisure of so useful a man,--studious of chemistry too, as i have heard. seven in all, besides the king. [rodenbeck, p. (and for chamberlain fredersdorf's estate, p. ).] direct towards baireuth, incognito, and at the top of their speed. wednesday, th, they actually arrive. poor wilhelmina, she finds her brother changed; become a king in fact, and sternly solitary; alone in soul, even as a king must be! [wilhelmina, ii. , .]-- "algarotti, one of the first beaux-esprits of this age," as wilhelmina defines him,--friend algarotti, the young venetian gentleman of elegance, in dusky skin, in very white linen and frills, with his fervid black eyes, "does the expenses of the conversation." he is full of elegant logic, has speculations on the great world and the little, on nature, art, papistry, anti-papistry, and takes up the opera in an earnest manner, as capable of being a school of virtue and the moral sublime. his respectable books on the opera and other topics are now all forgotten, and crave not to be mentioned. to me he is not supremely beautiful, though much the gentleman in manners as in ruffles, and ingeniously logical:--rather yellow to me, in mind as in skin, and with a taint of obsolete venetian macassar. but to friedrich he is thrice-dear; who loves the sharp faceted cut of the man, and does not object to his yellow or extinct-macassar qualities of mind. thanks to that wandering baltimore for picking up such a jewel and carrying him northward! algarotti himself likes the north: here in our hardy climates,--especially at berlin, and were his loved friedrich not a king,--algarotti could be very happy in the liberty allowed. at london, where there is no king, or none to speak of, and plenty of free intelligences, carterets, lytteltons, young pitts and the like, he is also well, were it not for the horrid smoke upon one's linen, and the little or no french of those proud islanders. wilhelmina seems to like him here; is glad, at any rate, that he does the costs of conversation, better or worse. in the rest is no hope. stille, borck are accomplished military gentlemen; but of tacit nature, reflective, practical, rather than discursive, and do not waste themselves by incontinence of tongue. stille, by his military commentaries, which are still known to soldiers that read, maintains some lasting remembrance of himself: borck we shall see engaged in a small bit of business before long. as to munchow, the jeune morveux of an adjutant, he, though his manners are well enough, and he wears military plumes in his hat, is still an unfledged young creature, "bill still yellow," so to speak;--and marks himself chiefly by a visible hankering after that troublesome creature marwitz, who is always coquetting. friedrich's conversation, especially to me wilhelmina, seems "guinde, set on stilts," likewise there are frequent cuts of banter in him; and it is painfully evident he distinguishes my sister of anspach and her foolish husband, whom he has invited over hither in a most eager manner, beyond what a poor wilhelmina with her old love can pretend to. patience, my shrill princess, beauty of baireuth and the world; let us hope all will come right again! my shrill princess--who has a melodious strength like that of war-fifes, too--knows how to be patient; and veils many things, though of a highly unhypocritical nature. these were three great days at baireuth; wilhelmina is to come soon, and return the visit at berlin. to wait upon the king, known though incognito, "the bishop of bamberg" came driving over: [_helden-geschichte,_ i. .] schonborn, austrian kanzler, or who? his old city we once saw (and plenty of hanged malefactors swinging round it, during that journey to the reich);--but the bishop himself never to our knowledge, bishop being absent then, i hope it is the same bishop of bamberg, whom a friend of busching's, touring there about that same time, saw dining in a very extraordinary manner, with medieval trumpeters, "with waiters in spurs and buff-belts;" [busching's _beitrage;_--schlosser (_history of the eighteenth century_) also quotes the scene.] if it is not, i have not the slightest shadow of acquaintance with him,--there have been so many bishops of bamberg with whom one wishes to have none! on the third day friedrich and his company went away, towards wurzburg; and wilhelmina was left alone with her reflections. "i had had so much to say to him; i had got nothing said at all:" alas, it is ever so. "the king was so changed, grown so much bigger (grandi), you could not have known him again;" stands finely erect and at full breadth, every inch a king; his very stature, you would say, increased.--adieu, my princess, pearl of princesses; all readers will expect your return-visit at berlin, which is to be soon. friedrich strikes off to the left, and has a view of strasburg for two days. through wurzburg, frankfurt-on-mayn, speeds friedrich;--wilhelmina and mankind understand that it is homewards and to cleve; but at frankfurt, in deepest privacy, there occurs a sudden whirl southward,--up the rhine-valley; direct towards strasburg, for a sight of france in that quarter! so has friedrich decided,--not quite suddenly, on new letters here, or new computations about cleve; but by forethought taken at baireuth, as rather appears. from frankfurt to strasburg, say miles; from strasburg home, is not much farther than from frankfurt home: it can be done, then; husht! the incognito is to be rigorous: friedrich becomes comte dufour, a prussian-french gentleman; prince august wilhelm is graf von schaffgotsch, algarotti is graf von pfuhl, germans these two; what leopold, the young dessauer, called himself,--still less what the others, or whether the others were there at all, and not shoved on, direct towards wesel, out of the way as is likelier,--can remain uncertain to readers and me. from frankfurt, then, on monday morning, d august, , as i compute, through old known philipsburg campaign country, and the lines of ettlingen and stollhofen; there the royal party speeds eagerly (weather very bad, as appears): and it is certain they are at kehl on tuesday evening; looking across the long rhine bridge, strasburg and its steeples now close at hand. this looks to be a romantic fine passage in the history of the young king;--though in truth it is not, and proves but a feeble story either to him or us. concerning which, however, the reader, especially if he should hear that there exists precise account of it, two accounts indeed, one from the king's own hand, will not fail of a certain craving to become acquainted with details. this craving, foolish rather than wise, we consider it thriftiest to satisfy at once; and shall give the king's narrative entire, though it is a jingling lean scraggy piece, partly rhyme, "in the manner of bachaumont and la chapelle;" written at the gallop, a few days hence, and despatched to voltaire:--"you," dear voltaire, "wish to know what i have been about, since leaving berlin; annexed you will find a description of it," writes friedrich. [_oeuvres,_ xxii. (wesel, d septemher, ).] out of voltaire's and other people's waste-baskets, it has at length been fished up, patch by patch, and pasted together by victorious modern editors; and here it is again entire. the other narrative, which got into the newspapers soon after, is likewise of authentic nature,--fassmann, our poor old friend, confirming it, if that were needful,--and is happily in prose. [given in _helden-geschichte,_ i. - ;--see likewise fassmann's _merkwurdigster regierungs-antritt_ (poor old book on friedrich's accession); preuss (_thronbesteigung,_ pp. - ); &c. &c.] holding these two pieces well together, and giving the king's faithfully translated, in a complete state, it will be possible to satisfy foolish cravings, and make this strasburg adventure luminous enough. king friedrich to voltaire (from wesel, d september, ), chiefly in doggerel, concerning the run to strasburg. part of it, incorrect, in voltaire, _oeuvres_ (scandalous piece now called _memoires,_ once _vie privee du roi de prusse_), ii. - ; finally, in preuss, _oeuvres de frederic,_ xiv. - , the real and complete affair, as fished up by victorious preuss and others. "i have just finished a journey, intermingled with singular adventures, sometimes pleasant, sometimes the reverse. you know i had set out for baireuth,"--bruxelles the beautiful french editor wrote, which makes egyptian darkness of the piece!--"to see a sister whom i love no less than esteem. on the road [thither or thence; or likeliest, there], algarotti and i consulted the map, to settle our route for returning by wesel. frankfurt-on-mayn comes always as a principal stage;--strasburg was no great roundabout: we chose that route in preference. the incognito was decided, names pitched upon [comte dufour, and the others]; story we were to tell: in fine, all was arranged and concerted to a nicety as well as possible. we fancied we should get to strasburg in three days [from baireuth]. but heaven, which disposes of all things, differently regulated this thing. with lank-sided coursers, lineal descendants from rosinante, with ploughmen in the dress of postilions, blockheads of impertinent nature; our carriages sticking fast a hundred times in the road, we went along with gravity at a leisurely pace, knocking against the crags. the atmosphere in uproar with loud thunder, the rain-torrents streaming over the earth threatened mankind with the day of judgment [very bad weather], and in spite of our impatience, four good days are, in penance, lost forever in these jumblings. mais le ciel, qui de tout dispose, regla differemment la chose. avec de coursiers efflanques, en ligne droites issus de rosinante, et des paysans en postillons masques, dutors de race impertinente, notre carrosse en cent lieux accroche, nous allions gravement, d'une allure indolente, gravitant contre les rochers. les airs emus par le bruyant tonnerre, les torrents d'eau repandus sur la terre, du dernier jour menacaient les humains; et malgre notre impatience, quatre bons jours en penitence sont pour jamais perdus dans les charrains. "had all our fatalities been limited to stoppages of speed on the journey, we should have taken patience; but, after frightful roads, we found lodgings still frightfuler. for greedy landlords seeing us pressed by hunger did, in a more than frugal manner, in their infernal hovels, poisoning instead of feeding, steal from us our crowns. o age different [in good cheer] from that of lucullus! car des hotes interesses, de la faim nous voyant presses, d'une facon plus que frugale, dans une chaumiere infernale, en nous empoisonnant, nous volaient nos ecus. o siecle different des temps de lucullus! "frightful roads; short of victual, short of drink: nor was that all. we had to undergo a variety of accidents; and certainly our equipage must have had a singular air, for in every new place we came to, they took us for something different. some took us for kings, some for pickpockets well disguised; others for old acquaintances. at times the people crowded out, looked us in the eyes, like clowns impertinently curious. our lively italian [algarotti] swore; for myself i took patience; the young count [my gay younger brother, eighteen at present] quizzed and frolicked; the big count [heir-apparent of dessau] silently swung his head, wishing this fine journey to france, in the bottom of his heart, most christianly at the devil. les uns nous prenaient pour des rois, d'autres pour des filous courtois, d'autrespour gens de connaissance; parfois le peuple s'attroupait, entre les yeux nous regardait en badauds curieux, remplis d'impertinence. notre vif italien jurait, pour moi je prenais patience, le jeune comte folatrait, le grand comte se dandinait, et ce beau vogage de france dans le fond de son coeur chretiennement damnait. "we failed not, however, to struggle gradually along; at last we arrived in that stronghold, where [as preface to the war of , known to some of us]-- where the garrison, too supple, surrendered so piteously after the first blurt of explosion from the cannon of the french. ou a garrison, troupe flasque, se rendit si piteusement apres la premiere bourasque du canon francais foudroyant. you recognize kehl in this description. it was in that fine fortress,--where, by the way, the breaches are still lying unrepaired [reich being a slow corpus in regard to such things],--that the postmaster, a man of more foresight than we, asked if we had got passports? no, said i to him; of passports we never had the whim. strong ones i believe it would need to recall, to our side of the limit, subjects of pluto king of the dead: but, from the germanic empire into the gallant and cynical abode of messieurs your pretty frenchmen,--a jolly and beaming air, rubicund faces, not ignorant of wine, these are the passports which, legible if you look on us, our troop produces to you for that end. non, lui dis-je, des passe-ports nous n'eumes jamais la folie. il en faudrait, je crois, de forts pour ressusciter a la vie de chez pluton le roi des morts; mais de l'empire germanique au sejour galant et cynique de messieurs vos jolis francais, un air rebondissant et frais, une face rouge et bachique, sont les passe-ports qu'en nos traits vous produit ici notre clique. "no, messieurs, said the provident master of passports; no salvation without passport. seeing then that necessity had got us in the dilemma of either manufacturing passports ourselves or not entering strasburg, we took the former branch of the alternative and manufactured one;--in which feat, the prussian arms, which i had on my seal, were marvellously furthersome." this is a fact, as the old newspapers and confirmatory fassmann more directly apprise us. "the landlord [or postmaster] at kehl, having signified that there was no crossing without passport," friedrich, at first, somewhat taken aback, bethought him of his watch-seal with the royal arms on it; and soon manufactured the necessary passport, signeted in due form;--which, however, gave a suspicion to the innkeeper as to the quality of his guest. after which, tuesday evening, d august, "they at once got across to strasburg," says my newspaper friend, "and put up at the sign of the raven, there." or in friedrich's own jingle:-- "we arrived at strasburg; and the custom-house corsair, with his inspectors, seemed content with our evidences. these scoundrels spied us, with one eye reading our passport, with the other ogling our purse. gold, which was always a resource, which brought, jove to the enjoyment of danae whom he caressed; gold, by which caesar governed the world happy under his sway; gold, more a divinity than mars or love; wonder-working gold introduced us that evening, within the walls of strasburg." [given thus far, with several slight errors, in voltaire, ii. - ;--the remainder, long unknown, had to be fished up, patch by patch (preuss, _oeuvres de frederic,_ xiv. - ).] ces scelerats nous epiaient, d'un oeil le passe-port lisaient, de l'autre lorgnaient notre bourse. l'or, qui toujours fut de ressource, par lequel jupin jouissait de danae, qu'il caressait; l'or, par qui cesar gouvernait le monde heureux sous son empire; l'or, plus dieu que mars et l'amour, le soir, dans les murs de strasbourg. sad doggerel; permissible perhaps as a sample of the friedrich manufacture, surely not otherwise! there remains yet more than half of it; readers see what their foolish craving has brought upon them! doggerel out of which no clear story, such story as there is, can be had; though, except the exaggeration and contortion, there is nothing of fiction in it. we fly to the newspaper, happily at least a prose composition, which begins at this point; and shall use the doggerel henceforth as illustration only or as repetition in the friedrich-mirror, of a thing otherwise made clear to us:-- having got into strasburg and the raven hotel; friedrich now on french ground at last, or at least on half-french, german-french, is intent to make the most of circumstances. the landlord, with one of friedrich's servants, is straightway despatched into the proper coffee-houses to raise a supper-party of officers; politely asks any likely officer, "if he will not do a foreign gentleman [seemingly of some distinction, signifies boniface] the honor to sup with him at the raven?"--"no, by jupiter!" answer the most, in their various dialects: "who is he that we should sup with him?" three, struck by the singularity of the thing, undertake; and with these we must be content. friedrich--or call him m. le comte dufour, with pfuhl, schaffgotsch and such escort as we see--politely apologizes on the entrance of these officers: "many pardons, gentlemen, and many thanks. knowing nobody; desirous of acquaintance:--since you are so good, how happy, by a little informality, to have brought brave officers to keep me company, whom i value beyond other kinds of men!" the officers found their host a most engaging gentleman: his supper was superb, plenty of wine, "and one red kind they had never tasted before, and liked extremely;"--of which he sent some bottles to their lodging next day. the conversation turned on military matters, and was enlivened with the due sallies. this foreign count speaks french wonderfully; a brilliant man, whom the others rather fear: perhaps something more than a count? the officers, loath to go, remembered that their two battalions had to parade next morning, that it was time to be in bed: "i will go to your review," said the stranger count: the delighted officers undertake to come and fetch him, they settle with him time and method; how happy! on the morrow, accordingly, they call and fetch him; he looks at the review; review done, they ask him to supper for this evening: "with pleasure!" and "walks with them about the esplanade, to see the guard march by." before parting, he takes their names, writes them in his tablets; says, with a smile, "he is too much obliged ever to forget them." this is wednesday, the th of august, ; field-marshal broglio is commandant in strasburg, and these obliging officers are "of the regiment piedmont,"--their names on the king's tablets i never heard mentioned by anybody (or never till the king's doggerel was fished up again). field-marshal broglio my readers have transiently seen, afar off;--"galloping with only one boot," some say "almost in his shirt," at the ford of secchia, in those italian campaigns, five years ago, the austrians having stolen across upon him:--he had a furious gallop, with no end of ridicule, on that occasion; is now commandant here; and we shall have a great deal more to do with him within the next year or two. "this same day, th, while i [the newspaper volunteer reporter or own correspondent, seemingly a person of some standing, whose words carry credibility in the tone of them] was with field-marshal broglio our governor here, there came two gentlemen to be presented to him; 'german cavaliers' they were called; who, i now find, must have been the prince of prussia and algarotti. the field-marshal,"--a rather high-stalking white-headed old military gentleman, bordering on seventy, of piedmontese air and breed, apt to be sudden and make flounderings, but the soul of honor, "was very polite to the two cavaliers, and kept them to dinner. after dinner there came a so-styled 'silesian nobleman,' who likewise was presented to the field-marshal, and affected not to know the other two: him i now find to have been the prince of anhalt." of his majesty's supper with the officers that wednesday, we are left to think how brilliant it was: his majesty, we hear farther, went to the opera that night,--the polichinello or whatever the "italian comodie" was;--"and a little girl came to his box with two lottery-tickets fifteen pence each, begging the foreign gentleman for the love of heaven to buy them of her; which he did, tearing them up at once, and giving the poor creature four ducats," equivalent to two guineas, or say in effect even five pounds of the present british currency. the fame of this foreign count and his party at the raven is becoming very loud over strasburg, especially in military circles. our volunteer own correspondent proceeds (whom we mean to contrast with the royal doggerel by and by):-- "next morning," thursday, th august, "as the marshal with above two hundred officers was out walking on the esplanade, there came a soldier of the regiment luxemburg, who, after some stiff fugling motions, of the nature of salutation partly, and partly demand for privacy, intimated to the marshal surprising news: that the stranger in the raven was the king of prussia in person; he, the soldier, at present of the regiment luxemburg, had in other days, before he deserted, been of the prussian crown-prince's regiment; had consequently seen him in berlin, potsdam and elsewhere a thousand times and more, and even stood sentry where he was: the fact is beyond dispute, your excellency! said this soldier."--whew! whereupon a certain colonel, marquis de loigle, with or without a hint from broglio, makes off for the raven; introduces himself, as was easy; contrives to get invited to stay dinner, which also was easy. during dinner the foreign gentleman expressed some wish to see their fortress. colonel loigle sends word to broglio; broglio despatches straightway an officer and fine carriage: "will the foreign gentleman do me the honor?" the foreign gentleman, still struggling for incognito, declines the uppermost seat of honor in the carriage; the two officers, loigle and this new one, insist on taking the inferior place. alas, the incognito is pretty much out. calling at some coffee-house or the like on the road, a certain female, "madame de fienne," named the foreign gentleman "sire,"--which so startled him that, though he utterly declined such title, the two officers saw well how it was. "after survey of the works, the two attendant officers had returned to the field-marshal; and about p.m. the high stranger made appearance there. but the thing had now got wind, 'king of prussia here incognito!' the place was full of officers, who came crowding about him: he escaped deftly into the marechal's own cabinet; sat there, an hour, talking to the marechal [little admiring the marechal's talk, as we shall find], still insisting on the incognito,"--to which broglio, put out in his high paces by this sudden thing, and apt to flounder, as i have heard, was not polite enough to conform altogether. "what shall i do, in this sudden case?" poor broglio is thinking to himself: "must write to court; perhaps try to detain--?" friedrioh's chief thought naturally is, one cannot be away out of this too soon. "sha'n't we go to the play, then, monsieur le marechal? play-hour is come!"--own correspondent of the newspaper proceeds:-- "the marechal then went to the play, and all his officers with him; thinking their royal prize was close at their heels. marechal and officers fairly ahead, coast once clear, their royal prize hastened back to the raven, paid his bill; hastily summoning schaffgotsch and the others within hearing; shot off like lightning; and was seen in strasburg no more. algarotti, who was in the box with broglio, heard the news in the house; regretful rumor among the officers, 'he is gone!' in about a quarter of an hour algarotti too slipped out; and vanished by extra post"--straight towards wesel; but could not overtake the king (whose road, in the latter part of it, went zigzag, on business as is likely), nor see him again till they met in that town. [from _helden-geschichte_ (i. - ), &c.] this is the prose truth of those fifty or eight-and-forty hours in strasburg, which were so mythic and romantic at that time. shall we now apply to the royal doggerel again, where we left off, and see the other side of the picture? once settled in the raven, within strasburg's walls, the doggerel continues:-- "you fancy well that there was now something to exercise my curiosity; and what desire i had to know the french nation in france itself. there i saw at length those french, of whom you have sung the glories; a people despised by the english, whom their sad rationality fills with black bile; those french, whom our germans reckon all to be destitute of sense; those french, whose history consists of love-stories, i mean the wandering kind of love, not the constant; foolish this people, headlong, high-going, which sings beyond endurance; lofty in its good fortune, crawling in its bad; of an unpitying extent of babble, to hide the vacancy of its ignorant mind. of the trifling it is a tender lover; the trifling alone takes possession of its brain. people flighty, indiscreet, imprudent, turning like the weathercock to every wind. of the ages of the caesars those of the louises are the shadow; paris is the ghost, of rome, take it how you will. no, of those vile french you are not one: you think; they do not think at all. la je vis enfin ces francais dont vous avez chante la gloire; peuple meprise' des anglais, que leur triste raison remplit de bile noire; ces francais, que nos allemands pensent tous prives de bon sens; ces francais, do nt l'amour pourrait dicter l'histoire, je dis l'amour volage, et non l'amour constant; ce peuple fou, brusque et galant, chansonnier insupportable, superbe en sa fortune, en son malheur rampant, d'un bavardage impitoyable, pour cacher le creux d'un esprit ignorant, tendre amant de la bagatelle, elle entre seule en sa cervelle; leger, indiscret, imprudent, comme ume girouette il revire a tout vent. des siecles des cesars ceux des louis sont l'ombre; rome efface paris en tout sens, en tout point. non, des vils francais vous n'etes pas du nombre; vous pensez, ils ne pensent point. "pardon, dear voltaire, this definition of the french; at worst, it is only of those in strasburg i speak. to scrape acquaintance, i had to invite some officers on our arrival, whom of course i did not know. three of them came at once, gayer, more content than kings; singing with rusty voice. in verse, their amorous exploits, set to a hornpipe. trois d'eux s'en vinrent a la fois, plus gais, plus contents que des rois, chantant d'une voix enrouee, en vers, leurs amoureux exploits, ajustes sur une bourree. "m. de la crochardiere and m. malosa [two names from the tablets, third wanting] had just come from a dinner where the wine had not been spared. of their hot friendship i saw the flame grow, the universe would have taken us for perfect friends: but the instant of good-night blew out the business; friendship disappeared without regrets, with the games, the wine, the table and the viands. de leur chaude amitie je vis croitre le flamme, l'univers nous eut pris pour des amis parfaits; mais l'instant des adieux en detruisit la trame, l'amitie disparut, ssns causer des regrets, avec le jeu, le vin, et la table, et les mets. "next day, monsieur the gouverneur of the town and province, marechal of france, chevalier of the orders of the king, &c. &c.,--marechal duc de broglio, in fact," who was surprised at secchia in the late war,-- this general always surprised. whom with regret, young louis [your king] saw without breeches in italy ["with only one boot," was the milder rumor; which we adopted (supra, vol. vi. p. ), but this sadder one, too, was current; and "broglio's breeches," or the vain aspiration after them, like a vanished ghost of breeches, often enough turn up in the old pamphlets.] galloping to hide away his life from the germans, unpolite fighters;-- ce general toujours surpris, qu'a regret le jeune louis vit sans culottes en italie, courir pour derober sa vie aux germains, guerriers impolis. this general wished to investigate your comte dufour,--foreign count, who the instant he arrives sets about inviting people to supper that are perfect strangers. he took the poor count for a sharper; and prudently advised m. de la crochardiere not to be duped by him. it was unluckily the good marechal that proved to be duped. he was born for surprise. his white hair, his gray beard, formed a reverend exterior. outsides are often deceptive: he that, by the binding, judges of a book and its author may, after a page of reading, chance to recognize his mistake. il etait ne pour la surprise. ses cheveux blancs, sa barbe grise, formaient un sage exterieur. le dehors est souvent trompeur; qui juge par la reliure d'un ouvrage et de son auteur dans une page de lecture peut reconnaitre son erreur. "that was my own experience; for of wisdom i could find nothing except in his gray hair and decrepit appearance. his first opening betrayed him; no great well of wit this marechal, who, drunk with his own grandeur, informs you of his name and his titles, and authority as good as unlimited. he cited to me all the records where his name is registered, babbled about his immense power, about his valor, his talents so salutary to france;--he forgot that, three years ago [six to a nearness,--" th september, ," if your majesty will be exact.] men did not praise his prudence. qui, de sa grandeur enivre; decline son nom et ses titres, et son pouvoir a rien borne. il me cita tous les registres ou son nom est enregistre; bavard de son pouvoir immense, de sa valeur, de ces talents si salutaires a la france: il oubliait, passe trois ans, qu'on ne louait pas sa prudence. "not satisfied with seeing the marechal, i saw the guard mounted by these frenchmen, burning with glory, who, on four sous a day, will make of kings and of heroes the memory flourish: slaves crowned by the hands of victory, unlucky herds whom the court tinkles hither and thither by the sound of fife and drum. a ces francais brulants de gloire, dotes de quatre sous par jour, qui des rois, des heros font fleurir la memoire, esclaves couronnes des mains de la victoire, troupeaux malheureux que la cour dirige au seul bruit du tambour. "that was my fated term. a deserter from our troops got eye on me, recognised me and denounced me. this wretched gallows-bird got eye on me; such is the lot of all earthly things; and so of our fine mystery the whole secret came to light." ce malheureux pendard me vit, c'est le sort de toutes les choses; ainsi de motre pot aux roses tout le secret se decouvrit. well; we must take this glimpse, such as it is, into the interior of the young man,--fine buoyant, pungent german spirit, roadways for it very bad, and universal rain-torrents falling, yet with coruscations from a higher quarter;--and you can forget, if need be, the "literature" of this young majesty, as you would a staccato on the flute by him! in after months, on new occasion rising, "there was no end to his gibings and bitter pleasantries on the ridiculous reception broglio had given him at strasburg," says valori, [_memoires,_ i. .]--of which this doggerel itself offers specimen. "probably the weakest piece i ever translated?" exclaims one, who has translated several such. nevertheless there is a straggle of pungent sense in it,--like the outskirts of lightning, seen in that dismally wet weather, which the royal party had. its wit is very copious, but slashy, bantery, and proceeds mainly by exaggeration and turning topsy-turvy; a rather barren species of wit. of humor, in the fine poetic sense, no vestige. but there is surprising veracity,--truthfulness unimpeachable, if you will read well. what promptitude, too;--what funds for conversation, when needed! this scraggy piece, which is better than the things people often talk to one another, was evidently written as fast as the pen could go.--"it is done, if such a hand could have done it, in the manner of bachaumont and la chapelle," says voltaire scornfully, in that scandalous vie privee;--of which phrase this is the commentary, if readers need one:-- "some seventy or eighty years before that date, a m. bachaumont and a m. la chapelle, his intimate, published, in prose skipping off into dancings of verse every now and then, 'a charming relation of a certain voyage or home tour' (whence or whither, or correctly when, this editor forgets), ["first printed in ," say the bibliographies; "but known to la fontaine some time before." good!--bachaumont, practically an important and distinguished person, not literary by trade, or indeed otherwise than by ennui, was he that had given (some fifteen years before) the nickname fronde (bickering of schoolboys) to the wretched historical object which is still so designated in french annals.] which they had made in partnership. 'relation' capable still of being read, if one were tolerably idle;--it was found then to be charming, by all the world; and gave rise to a new fashion in writing; which voltaire often adopts, and is supremely good at; and in which friedrich, who is also fond of it, by no means succeeds so well." enough, friedrich got to wesel, back to his business, in a day or two; and had done, as we forever have, with the strasburg escapade and its doggerel. friedrich finds m. de maupertuis; not yet m. de voltaire. friedrich got to wesel on the th; found maupertuis waiting there, according to appointment: an elaborately polite, somewhat sublime scientific gentleman; ready to "engraft on the berlin crab-tree," and produce real apples and academics there, so soon as the king, the proprietor, may have leisure for such a thing. algarotti has already the honor of some acquaintance with maupertuis. maupertuis has been at brussels, on the road hither; saw voltaire and even madame,--which latter was rather a ticklish operation, owing to grudges and tiffs of quarrel that had risen, but it proved successful under the delicate guidance of voltaire. voltaire is up to oiling the wheels: "there you are, monsieur, like the [don't name what, though profane voltaire does, writing to maupertuis a month ago]--three kings running after you!" a new pension to you from france; russia outbidding france to have you; and then that letter of friedrich's, which is in all the newspapers: "three kings,"--you plainly great man, trismegistus of the sciences called pure! madame honors you, has always done: one word of apology to the high female mind, it will work wonders;--come now! [voltaire, _oeuvres,_ lxxii. , , (hague, st july, , and brussels, th aug. &c).] no reader guesses in our time what a shining celestial body the maupertuis, who is now fallen so dim again, then was to mankind. in cultivated french society there is no such lion as m. maupertuis since he returned from flattening the earth in the arctic regions. "the exact sciences, what else is there to depend on?" thinks french cultivated society: "and has not monsieur done a feat in that line?" monsieur, with fine ex-military manners, has a certain austere gravity, reticent loftiness and polite dogmatism, which confirms that opinion. a studious ex-military man,--was captain of dragoons once, but too fond of study,--who is conscious to himself, or who would fain be conscious, that he is, in all points, mathematical, moral and other, the man. a difficult man to live with in society. comes really near the limit of what we call genius, of originality, poetic greatness in thinking;--but never once can get fairly over said limit, though always struggling dreadfully to do so. think of it! a fatal kind of man; especially if you have made a lion of him at any time. of his envies, deep-hidden splenetic discontents and rages, with voltaire's return for them, there will be enough to say in the ulterior stages. he wears--at least ten years hence he openly wears, though i hope it is not yet so flagrant--"a red wig with yellow bottom (criniere jaune);" and as flattener of the earth, is, with his own flattish red countenance and impregnable stony eyes, a man formidable to look upon, though intent to be amiable if you do the proper homage. as to the quarrel with madame take this note; which may prove illustrative of some things by and by:-- maupertuis is well known at cirey; such a lion could not fail there. all manner of bernouillis, clairauts, high mathematical people, are frequent guests at cirey: reverenced by madame,--who indeed has had her own private professor of mathematics; one konig from switzerland (recommended by those bernouillis), diligently teaching her the pure sciences this good while back, not without effect; and has only just parted with him, when she left on this brussels expedition. a bon garcon, voltaire says; though otherwise, i think, a little noisy on occasion. there has been no end of madame's kindness to him, nay to his brother and him,--sons of a theological professorial syriac-hebrew kind of man at berne, who has too many sons;--and i grieve to report that this heedless konig has produced an explosion in madame's feelings, such as little beseemed him. on the road to paris, namely, as we drove hitherward to the honsbruck lawsuit by way of paris, in autumn last, there had fallen out some dispute, about the monads, the vis viva, the infinitely little, between madame and konig; dispute which rose crescendo in disharmonious duet, and "ended," testifies m. de voltaire, "in a scene tresdesagreable." madame, with an effort, forgave the thoughtless fellow, who is still rather young, and is without malice. but thoughtless konig, strong in his opinion about the infinitely little, appealed to maupertuis: "am not i right, monsieur?" "he is right beyond question!" wrote maupertuis to madame; "somewhat dryly," thinks voltaire: and the result is, there is considerable rage in one celestial mind ever since against another male one in red wig and yellow bottom; and they are not on speaking terms, for a good many months past. voltaire has his heart sore ("j'en ai le coeur perce") about it, needs to double-dose maupertuis with flattery; and in fact has used the utmost diplomacy to effect some varnish of a reconcilement as maupertuis passed on this occasion. as for konig, who had studied in some dutch university, he went by and by to be librarian to the prince of orange; and we shall not fail to hear of him again,--once more upon the infinitely little. [from _oeuvres de voltaire,_ ii. , lxxii. ( , , ), lxiii. ( - ), &c. &c.] voltaire too, in his way, is fond of these mathematical people; eager enough to fish for knowledge, here as in all elements, when he has the chance offered: this is much an interest of his at present. and he does attain sound ideas, outlines of ideas, in this province,--though privately defective in the due transcendency of admiration for it;--was wont to discuss cheerily with konig, about vis viva, monads, gravitation and the infinitely little; above all, bows to the ground before the red-wigged bashaw, flattener of the earth, whom for madame's sake and his own he is anxious to be well with. "fall on your face nine times, ye esoteric of only impure science!"--intimates maupertuis to mankind. "by all means!" answers m. de voltaire, doing it with alacrity; with a kind of loyalty, one can perceive, and also with a hypocrisy grounded on love of peace. if that is the nature of the bashaw, and one's sole mode of fishing knowledge from him, why not? thinks m. de voltaire. his patience with m. de maupertuis, first and last, was very great. but we shall find it explode at length, a dozen years hence, in a conspicuous manner!-- "maupertuis had come to us to cirey, with jean bernouilli," says voltaire; "and thenceforth maupertuis, who was born the most jealous of men, took me for the object of this passion, which has always been very dear to him." [vie privee.] husht, monsieur!--here is a poor rheumatic kind of letter, which illustrates the interim condition, after that varnish of reconcilement at brussels:-- voltaire to m. de maupertuis (at wesel, waiting for the king, or with him rather). "brussels, th august ( ), _ d year since the world flattened._ "how the devil, great philosopher, would you have had me write to you at wesel? i fancied you gone from wesel, to seek the king of sages on his journey somewhere. i had understood, too, they were so delighted to have you in that fortified lodge (bouge fortifie) that you must be taking pleasure there, for he that gives pleasure gets it. "you have already seen the jolly ambassador of the amiablest monarch in the world,"--camas, a fattish man, on his road to versailles (who called at brussels here, with fine compliments, and a keg of hungary wine, as you may have heard whispered). "no doubt m. de camas is with you. for my own share, i think it is after you that he is running at present. but in truth, at the hour while i say this, you are with the king;"--a lucky guess; king did return to wesel this very day. "the philosopher and the prince perceive already that they are made for each other. you and m. algarotti will say, faciamus hic tria tabernacula: as to me, i can only make duo tabernacula,"--profane voltaire! "without doubt i would be with you if i were not at brussels; but my heart is with you all the same; and is the subject, all the same, of a king who is, formed to reign over every thinking and feeling being. i do not despair that madame du chatelet will find herself somewhere on your route: it will be a scene in a fairy tale;--she will arrive with a sufficient reason [as your leibnitz says] and with monads. she does not love you the less though she now believes the universe a plenum, and has renounced the notion of void. over her you have an ascendant which you will never lose. in fine, my dear monsieur, i wish as ardently as she to embrace you the soonest possible. i recommend myself to your friendship in the court, worthy of you, where you now are."--tout a vous, somewhat rheumatic! [voltaire, lxxii. p. .] always an anxious almost tremulous desire to conciliate this big glaring geometrical bully in red wig. through the sensitive transparent being of m. de voltaire, you may see that feeling almost painfully busy in every letter he writes to the flattener of the earth. chapter iv. -- voltaire's first interview with friedrich. at wesel, in the rear of all this travelling and excitement, friedrich falls unwell; breaks down there into an aguish feverish distemper, which, for several months after, impeded his movements, would he have yielded to it. he has much business on hand, too,--some of it of prickly nature just now;--but is intent as ever on seeing voltaire, among the first things. diligently reading in the voltaire-friedrich correspondence (which is a sad jumble of misdates and opacities, in the common editions), [preuss (the recent latest editor, and the only well-informed one, as we said) prints with accuracy; but cannot be read at all (in the sense of understood) without other light.] this of the aguish condition frequently turns up; "quartan ague," it seems; occasionally very bad; but friedrich struggles with it; will not be cheated of any of his purposes by it. he had a busy fortnight here; busier than we yet imagine. much employment there naturally is of the usual inspection sort; which fails in no quarter of his dominions, but which may be particularly important here, in these disputed berg-julich countries, when the time of decision falls. how he does his inspections we know;--and there are still weightier matters afoot here, in a silent way, of which we shall have to speak before long, and all the world will speak. business enough, parts of it grave and silent, going on, and the much that is public, miscellaneous, small: done, all of it, in a rapid-punctual precise manner;--and always, after the crowded day, some passages of supper with the sages, to wind up with on melodious terms. a most alert and miscellaneously busy young king, in spite of the ague. it was in these cleve countries, and now as probably as afterwards, that the light scene recorded in laveaux's poor history, and in all the anecdote-books, transacted itself one day. substance of the story is true; though the details of it go all at random,--somewhat to this effect:-- "inspecting his finance affairs, and questioning the parties interested, friedrich notices a certain convent in cleve, which appears to have, payable from the forest-dues, considerable revenues bequeathed by the old dukes, 'for masses to be said on their behalf.' he goes to look at the place; questions the monks on this point, who are all drawn out in two rows, and have broken into te-deum at sight of him: 'husht! you still say those masses, then?' 'certainly, your majesty!'--'and what good does anybody get of them?' 'your majesty, those old sovereigns are to obtain heavenly mercy by them, to be delivered out of purgatory by them.'--'purgatory? it is a sore thing for the forests, all this while! and they are not yet out, those poor souls, after so many hundred years of praying?' monks have a fatal apprehension, no. 'when will they be out, and the thing complete?' monks cannot say. 'send me a courier whenever it is complete!' sneers the king, and leaves them to their te-deum." [c. hildebrandt's modern edition of the (mostly dubious) _anekdoten und charakterzuge aus dem leben friedrichs des grossen_ (and a very ignorant and careless edition it is; vols. mo, halberstadt, ), ii. ; laveaus (whom we already cited), _vie de frederic;_ &c. &c. nicolai's _anekdoten_ alone, which are not included in this hildebrandt collection, are of sure authenticity; the rest, occasionally true, and often with a kind of mythic truth in them worth attending to, are otherwise of all degrees of dubiety, down to the palpably false and absurd.] mournful state of the catholic religion so called! how long must these wretched monks go on doing their lazy thrice-deleterious torpid blasphemy; and a king, not histrionic but real, merely signify that he laughs at them and it? meseems a heavier whip than that of satire might be in place here, your majesty? the lighter whip is easier;--ah yes, undoubtedly! cry many men. but horrible accounts are running up, enough to sink the world at last, while the heavier whip is lazily withheld, and lazy blasphemy, fallen torpid, chronic, and quite unconscious of being blasphemous, insinuates itself into the very heart's-blood of mankind! patience, however; the heavy whip too is coming,--unless universal death be coming. king friedrich is not the man to wield such whip. quite other work is in store for king friedrich; and nature will not, by any suggestion of that terrible task, put him out in the one he has. he is nothing of a luther, of a cromwell; can look upon fakirs praying by their rotatory calabash, as a ludicrous platitude; and grin delicately as above, with the approval of his wiser contemporaries. speed to him on his own course! what answer friedrich found to his english proposals,--answer due here on the th from captain dickens,--i do not pointedly learn; but can judge of it by harrington's reply to that despatch of dickens's, which entreated candor and open dealing towards his prussian majesty. harrington is at herrenhausen, still with the britannic majesty there; both of them much at a loss about their spanish war, and the french and other aspects upon it: "suppose his prussian majesty were to give himself to france against us!" we will hope, not. harrington's reply is to the effect, "hum, drum:--berg and julich, say you? impossible to answer; minds not made up here:--what will his prussian majesty do for us?" not much, i should guess, till something more categorical come from you! his prussian majesty is careful not to spoil anything by over-haste; but will wait and try farther to the utmost, whether england or france is the likelier bargain for him. better still, the prussian majesty is intent to do something for himself in that berg-julich matter: we find him silently examining these wesel localities for a proper "entrenched camp," camp say of , , against a certain contingency that may be looked for. camp which will much occupy the gazetteers when they get eye on it. this is one of the concerns he silently attends to, on occasion, while riding about in the cleve countries. then there is another small item of business, important to do well, which is now in silence diligently getting under way at wesel; which also is of remarkable nature, and will astonish the gazetteer and diplomatic circles. this is the affair with the bishop of liege, called also the affair of herstal, which his majesty has had privately laid up in the corner of his mind, as a thing to be done during this excursion. of which the reader shall hear anon, to great lengths,--were a certain small preliminary matter, voltaire's arrival in these parts, once off our hands. friedrich's first meeting with voltaire! these other high things were once loud in the gazetteer and diplomatic circles, and had no doubt they were the world's history; and now they are sunk wholly to the nightmares, and all mortals have forgotten them,--and it is such a task as seldom was to resuscitate the least memory of them, on just cause of a friedrich or the like, so impatient are men of what is putrid and extinct:--and a quite unnoticed thing, voltaire's first interview, all readers are on the alert for it, and ready to demand of me impossibilities about it! patience, readers. you shall see it, without and within, in such light as there was, and form some actual notion of it, if you will co-operate. from the circumambient inanity of old newspapers, historical shot-rubbish, and unintelligible correspondences, we sift out the following particulars, of this first meeting, or actual osculation of the stars. the newspapers, though their eyes were not yet of the argus quality now familiar to us, have been intent on friedrich during this baireuth-cleve journey, especially since that sudden eclipse of him at strasburg lately; forming now one scheme of route for him, now another; newspapers, and even private friends, being a good deal uncertain about his movements. rumor now ran, since his reappearance in the cleve countries, that friedrich meant to have a look at holland before going home, and that had, in fact, been a notion or intention of friedrich's. "holland? we could pass through brussels on the way, and see voltaire!" thought he. in brussels this was, of course, the rumor of rumors. as voltaire's letters, visibly in a twitter, still testify to us. king of prussia coming! madame du chatelet, the "princess tour" (that is, tour-and-taxis), all manner of high dames are on the tiptoe. princess tour hopes she shall lodge this unparalleled prince in her palace: "you, madame?" answers the du chatelet, privately, with a toss of her head: "his majesty, i hope, belongs more to m. de voltaire and me: he shall lodge here, please heaven!" voltaire, i can observe, has sublime hostelry arrangements chalked out for his majesty, in case he go to paris; which he does n't, as we know. voltaire is all on the alert, awake to the great contingencies far and near; the chatelet-voltaire breakfast-table,--fancy it on those interesting mornings, while the post comes round! [voltaire, xxii. - (letters d august- d september, ).] alas, in the first days of september,--friedrich's letter is dated "wesel, d" (and has the strasburd doggerel enclosed in it),--the brussels postman delivers far other intelligence at one's door; very mortifying to madame: "that his majesty is fallen ill at wesel; has an aguish fever hanging on him, and only hopes to come:" voila, madame!--next letter, wesel, monday, th september, is to the effect: "do still much hope to come; to-morrow is my trembling day; if that prove to be off!"--out upon it, that proves not to be off; that is on: next letter, tuesday, september th, which comes by express (courier dashing up with it, say on the thursday following) is,--alas, madame!--here it is:-- king friedrich to m. de voltaire at brussels. "wesel, th september, . "my dear voltaire,--in spite of myself, i have to yield to the quartan fever, which is more tenacious than a jansenist; and whatever desire i had of going to antwerp and brussels, i find myself not in a condition to undertake such a journey without risk. i would ask of you, then, if the road from brussels to cleve would not to you seem too long for a meeting; it is the one means of seeing you which remains to me. confess that i am unlucky; for now when i could dispose of my person, and nothing hinders me from seeing you, the fever gets its hand into the business, and seems to intend disputing me that satisfaction. "let us deceive the fever, my dear voltaire; and let me at least have the pleasure of embracing you. make my best excuses [polite, rather than sincere] to madame the marquise, that i cannot have the satisfaction of seeing her at brussels. all that are about me know the intention i was in; which certainly nothing but the fever could have made me change. "sunday next i shall be at a little place near cleve,"--schloss of moyland, which, and the route to which, this courier can tell you of;--"where i shall be able to possess you at my ease. if the sight of you don't cure me, i will send for a confessor at once. adieu; you know my sentiments and my heart. [preuss, _oeuvres de frederic,_ xxii. .] frederic." after which the correspondence suddenly extinguishes itself; ceases for about a fortnight,--in the bad misdated editions even does worse;--and we are left to thick darkness, to our own poor shifts; dryasdust being grandly silent on this small interest of ours. what is to be done? particulars of first interview, on severe scrutiny. here, from a painful predecessor whose papers i inherit, are some old documents and studies on the subject,--sorrowful collection, in fact, of what poor sparks of certainty were to be found hovering in that dark element;--which do at last (so luminous are certainties always, or "sparks" that will shine steady) coalesce into some feeble general twilight, feeble but indubitable; and even show the sympathetic reader how they were searched out and brought together. we number and label these poor patches of evidence on so small a matter; and leave them to the curious:-- no. . date of the first interview. it is certain voltaire did arrive at the little schloss of moyland, september th, sunday night,--which is the "sunday" just specified in friedrich's letter. voltaire had at once decided on complying,--what else?--and lost no time in packing himself: king's courier on thursday late; voltaire on the road on saturday early, or the night before. with madame's shrill blessing (not the most musical in this vexing case), and plenty of fuss. "was wont to travel in considerable style," i am told; "the innkeepers calling him 'your lordship' (m. le comte)." arrives, sure enough, sunday night; old schloss of moyland, six miles from cleve; "moonlight," i find,--the harvest moon. visit lasted three days. [rodenbeck, p. ; preuss, &c. &c.] no. . voltaire's drive thither. schloss moyland: how far from brussels, and by what route? by louvain, tillemont, tongres to maestricht; then from maestricht up the maas (left bank) to venlo, where cross; through geldern and goch to cleve: between the maas and rhine this last portion. flat damp country; tolerably under tillage; original constituents bog and sand. distances i guess to be: to tongres miles and odd; to maestricht or , from maestricht ; in all miles english. two days' driving? there is equinoctial moon, and still above twelve hours of sunlight for "m. le comte." no. . of the place where. voltaire, who should have known, calls it "petit chateau de meuse;" which is a castle existing nowhere but in dreams. other french biographers are still more imaginary. the little schloss of moyland--by no means "meuse," nor even mors, which voltaire probably means in saying chateau de meuse--was, as the least inquiry settles beyond question, the place where voltaire and friedrich first met. friedrich wilhelm used often to lodge there in his cleve journeys: he made thither for shelter, in the sickness that overtook him in friend ginkel's house, coming home from the rhine campaign in ; lay there for several weeks after quitting ginkel's. any other light i can get upon it, is darkness visible. busching pointedly informs me, [_erdbeschreibung_, v. , .] "it is a parish [or patch of country under one priest], and till and it are a jurisdiction" (pair of patches under one court of justice):--which does not much illuminate the inquiring mind. small patch, this of moyland, size not given; "was bought," says he, "in , by friedrich afterwards first king, from the family of spaen,"--we once knew a lieutenant spaen, of those dutch regions,--"and was named a royal mansion ever thereafter." who lived in it; what kind of thing was it, is it? altum silentium, from busching and mankind. belonged to the spaens, fifty years ago;--some shadow of our poor banished friend the lieutenant resting on it? dim enough old mansion, with "court" to it, with modicum of equipment; lying there in the moonlight;--did not look sublime to voltaire on stepping out. so that all our knowledge reduces itself to this one point: of finding moyland in the map, with date, with reminiscence to us, hanging by it henceforth! good. [stieler's _deutschland_ (excellent map in pieces), piece .--till is a mile or two northeast from moyland; moyland about or southeast from cleve.] mors--which is near the town of ruhrort, about midway between wesel and dusseldorf--must be some forty miles from moyland, forty-five from cleve; southward of both. so that the place, "a deux lieues de cleves," is, even by voltaire's showing, this moyland; were there otherwise any doubt upon it. "chateau de meuse"--hanging out a prospect of mors to us--is bad usage to readers. of an intelligent man, not to say a trismegistus of men, one expects he will know in what town he is, after three days' experience, as here. but he does not always; he hangs out a mere "shadow of mars by moonlight," till we learn better. duvernet, his biographer, even calls it "sleus-meuse;" some wonderful idea of sluices and a river attached to it, in duvernet's head! [duvernet ( d form of him,--that is, _vie de voltaire_ par t. j. d. v.), p. .] what voltaire thought of the interview twenty years afterwards of the interview itself, with general bird's-eye view of the visit combined (in a very incorrect state), there is direct testimony by voltaire himself. voltaire himself, twenty years after, in far other humor, all jarred into angry sarcasm, for causes we shall see by and by,--voltaire, at the request of friends, writes down, as his friedrich reminiscences, that scandalous vie privee above spoken of, a most sad document; and this is the passage referring to "the little place in the neighborhood of cleve," where friedrich now waited for him: errors corrected by our laborious friend. after quoting something of that strasburg doggerel, the whole of which is now too well known to us, voltaire proceeds:-- "from strasburg he," king friedrich, "went to see his lower german provinces; he said he would come and see me incognito at brussels. we prepared a fine house for him,"--were ready to prepare such hired house as we had for him, with many apologies for its slight degree of perfection (error first),--"but having fallen ill in the little mansion-royal of meuse (chateau de meuse), a couple of leagues from cleve,"--fell ill at wesel; and there is no chateau de meuse in the world (errors d and d),--"he wrote to me that he expected i would make the advances. i went, accordingly, to present my profound homages. maupertuis, who already had his views, and was possessed with the rage of being president to an academy, had of his own accord,"--no, being invited, and at my suggestion (error th),--"presented himself there; and was lodged with algarotti and keyserling [which latter, i suppose, had come from berlin, not being of the strasburg party, he] in a garret of this palace. "at the door of the court, i found, by way of guard, one soldier. privy-councillor rambonet, minister of state--[very subaltern man; never heard of him except in the herstal business, and here] was walking in the court; blowing in his fingers to keep them warm." sunday night, th september, ; world all bathed in moonshine; and mortals mostly shrunk into their huts, out of the raw air. "he" rambonet "wore big linen ruffles at his wrists, very dirty [visibly so in the moonlight? error th extends ad libitum over all the following details]; a holed hat; an old official periwig,"--ruined into a totally unsymmetric state, as would seem,--"one side of which hung down into one of his pockets, and the other scarcely crossed his shoulder. i was told, this man was now intrusted with an affair of importance here; and that proved true,"--the herstal affair. "i was led into his majesty's apartment. nothing but four bare walls there. by the light of a candle, i perceived, in a closet, a little truckle-bed two feet and a half broad, on which lay a man muffled up in a dressing-gown of coarse blue duffel: this was the king, sweating and shivering under a wretched blanket there, in a violent fit of fever. i made my reverence, and began the acquaintance by feeling his pulse, as if i had been his chief physician. the fit over, he dressed himself, and took his place at table. algarotti, keyserling, maupertuis, and the king's envoy to the states-general"--one rasfeld (skilled in herstal matters, i could guess),--"we were of this supper, and discussed, naturally in a profound manner, the immortality of the soul, liberty, fate, the androgynes of plato [the androgynoi, or men-women, in plato's convivium; by no means the finest symbolic fancy of the divine plato],--and other small topics of that nature." [voltaire, _oeuvres,_ (piece once called vie privee), ii. , .] this is voltaire's account of the visit,--which included three "suppers," all huddled into one by him here;--and he says nothing more of it; launching off now into new errors, about herstal, the anti-machiavel, and so forth: new and uglier errors, with much more of mendacity and serious malice in them, than in this harmless half-dozen now put on the score against him. of this supper-party, i know by face four of the guests: maupertuis, voltaire, algarotti, keyserling;--rasfeld, rambonet can sit as simulacra or mute accompaniment. voltaire arrived on sunday evening; stayed till wednesday. wednesday morning, th of the month, the party broke up: voltaire rolling off to left hand, towards brussels, or the hague; king to right, on inspection business, and circuitously homewards. three suppers there had been, two busy days intervening; discussions about fate and the androgynoi of plato by no means the one thing done by voltaire and the rest, on this occasion. we shall find elsewhere, "he declaimed his mahomet" (sublime new tragedy, not yet come out), in the course of these three evenings, to the "speechless admiration" of his royal host, for one; and, in the daytime, that he even drew his pen about the herstal business, which is now getting to its crisis, and wrote one of the manifestoes, still discoverable. and we need not doubt, in spite of his now sneering tone, that things ran high and grand here, in this paltry little schloss of moyland; and that those three were actually suppers of the gods, for the time being. "councillor rambonet," with the holed hat and unsymmetric wig, continues voltaire in the satirical vein, "had meanwhile mounted a hired hack (cheval de louage;" mischievous voltaire, i have no doubt he went on wheels, probably of his own): "he rode all night; and next morning arrived at the gates of liege; where he took act in the name of the king his master, whilst , men of the wesel troops laid liege under contribution. the pretext of this fine marching of troops,"--not a pretext at all, but the assertion, correct in all points, of just claims long trodden down, and now made good with more spirit than had been expected,--"was certain rights which the king pretended to, over a suburb of liege. he even charged me to work at a manifesto; and i made one, good or bad; not doubting but a king with whom i supped, and who called me his friend, must be in the right. the affair soon settled itself by means of a million of ducats,"--nothing like the sum, as we shall see,--"which he exacted by weight, to clear the costs of the tour to strasburg, which, according to his complaint in that poetic letter [doggerel above given], were so heavy." that is voltaire's view; grown very corrosive after twenty years. he admits, with all the satire: "i naturally felt myself attached to him; for he had wit, graces; and moreover he was a king, which always forms a potent seduction, so weak is human nature. usually it is we of the writing sort that flatter kings: but this king praised me from head to foot, while the abbe desfontaines and other scoundrels (gredins) were busy defaming me in paris at least once a week." what voltaire thought of the interview at the time. but let us take the contemporary account, which also we have at first hand; which is almost pathetic to read; such a contrast between ruddy morning and the storms of the afternoon! here are two letters from voltaire; fine transparent human letters, as his generally are: the first of them written directly on getting back to the hague, and to the feeling of his eclipsed condition. voltaire to m. de maupertuis (with the king). "the hague, th september, . "i serve you, monsieur, sooner than i promised; and that is the way you ought to be served. i send you the answer of m. smith,"--probably some german or dutch schmidt, spelt here in english, connected with the sciences, say with water-carriage, the typographies, or one need not know what; "you will see where the question stands. "when we both left cleve,"-- th of the month, wednesday last; th is sunday, in this old cobwebby palace, where i am correcting anti-machiavel,--"and you took to the right,"--king, homewards, got to ham that evening,--"i could have thought i was at the last judgment, where the bon dieu separates the elect from the damned. divus fredericus said to you, 'sit down at my right hand in the paradise of berlin;' and to me, 'depart, thou accursed, into holland.' "here i am accordingly in this phlegmatic place of punishment, far from the divine fire which animates the friedrichs, the maupertuis, the algarottis. for god's love, do me the charity of some sparks in these stagnant waters where i am,"--stiffening, cooling,--"stupefying to death. instruct me of your pleasures, of your designs. you will doubtless see m. de valori,"--readers know de valori; his book has been published; edited, as too usual, by a human nightmare, ignorant of his subject and indeed of almost all other things, and liable to mistakes in every page; yet partly readable, if you carry lanterns, and love "mon gros valori:"--"offer him, i pray you, my respects. if i do not write to him, the reason is, i have no news to send: i should be as exact as i am devoted, if my correspondence could be useful or agreeable to him. "won't you have me send you some books? if i be still in holland when your orders come, i will obey in a moment. i pray you do not forget me to m. de keyserling,"--caesarion whom we once had at cirey; a headlong dusky little man of wit (library turned topsy-turvy, as wilhelmina called him), whom we have seen. "tell me, i beg, if the enormous monad of volfius--[wolf, would the reader like to hear about him? if so, he has only to speak!] is arguing at marburg, at berlin, or at hall [halle, which is a very different place]. "adieu, monsieur: you can address your orders to me 'at the hague:' they will be forwarded wherever i am; and i shall be, anywhere on earth,--yours forever (a vous pour jamais)." [voltaire, lxxii. .] letter second, of which a fragment may be given, is to one cideville, a month later; all the more genuine as there was no chance of the king's hearing about this one. cideville, some kind of literary advocate at rouen (who is wearisomely known to the reader of voltaire's letters), had done, what is rather an endemical disorder at this time, some verses for the king of prussia, which he wished to be presented to his majesty. the presentation, owing to accidents, did not take place; hear how voltaire, from his cobweb palace at the hague, busy with anti-machiavel, van duren and many other things,-- th october, , on which day we find him writing many letters,--explains the sad accident:-- voltaire to m. de cideville (at rouen). "at the hague, king of prussia's palace, th october, . "... this is my case, dear cideville. when you sent me, enclosed in your letter, those verses (among which there are some of charming and inimitable turn) for our marcus aurelius of the north, i did well design to pay my court to him with them. he was at that time to have come to brussels incognito: we expected him there; but the quartan fever, which unhappily he still has, deranged all his projects. he sent me a courier to brussels,"--mark that point, my cideville;--"and so i set out to find him in the neighborhood of cleve. "it was there i saw one of the amiablest men in the world, who forms the charm of society, who would be everywhere sought after if he were not king; a philosopher without austerity; full of sweetness, complaisance and obliging ways (agremens); not remembering that he is king when he meets his friends; indeed so completely forgetting it that he made me too almost forget it, and i needed an effort of memory to recollect that i here saw sitting at the foot of my bed a sovereign who had an army of , men. that was the moment to have read your amiable verses to him:"--yes; but then?--"madame du chatelet, who was to have sent them to me, did not, ne l'a pa fait." alas, no, they are still at brussels, those charming verses; and i, for a month past, am here in my cobweb palace! but i swear to you, the instant i return to brussels, i, &c. &c. [voltaire, lxii. .] finally, here is what friedrich thought of it, ten days after parting with voltaire. we will read this also (though otherwise ahead of us as yet); to be certified on all sides, and sated for the rest of our lives, concerning the friedrich-voltaire first interview. king friedrich to m. jordan (at berlin). potsdam, th september, . "most respectable inspector of the poor, the invalids, orphans, crazy people and bedlams,--i have read with mature meditation the very profound jordanic letter which was waiting here;"--and do accept your learned proposal. "i have seen that voltaire whom i was so curious to know; but i saw him with the quartan hanging on me, and my mind as unstrung as my body. with men of his kind one ought not to be sick; one ought even to be specially well, and in better health than common, if one could. "he has the eloquence of cicero, the mildness of pliny, the wisdom of agrippa; he combines, in short, what is to be collected of virtues and talents from the three greatest men of antiquity. his intellect is at work incessantly; every drop of ink is a trait of wit from his pen. he declaimed his mahomet to us, an admirable tragedy which he has done,"--which the official people smelling heresies in it ("toleration," "horrors of fanaticism," and the like) will not let him act, as readers too well know:--"he transported us out of ourselves; i could only admire and hold my tongue. the du chatelet is lucky to have him: for of the good things he flings out at random, a person who had no faculty but memory might make a brilliant book. that minerva has just published her work on physics: not wholly bad. it was konig"--whom we know, and whose late tempest in a certain teapot--"that dictated the theme to her: she has adjusted, ornamented here and there with some touch picked from voltaire at her suppers. the chapter on space is pitiable; the"--in short, she is still raw in the pure sciences, and should have waited.... "adieu, most learned, most scientific, most profound jordan,--or rather most gallant, most amiable, most jovial jordan;--i salute thee, with assurance of all those old feelings which thou hast the art of inspiring in every one that knows thee. vale. "i write the moment of my arrival: be obliged to me, friend; for i have been working, i am going to work still, like a turk, or like a jordan." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xvii. .] this is hastily thrown off for friend jordan, the instant after his majesty's circuitous return home. readers cannot yet attend his majesty there, till they have brought the affair of herstal, and other remainders of the cleve journey, along with them. chapter v. -- affair of herstal. this rambonet, whom voltaire found walking in the court of the old castle of moyland, is an official gentleman, otherwise unknown to history, who has lately been engaged in a public affair; and is now off again about it, "on a hired hack" or otherwise,--with very good instructions in his head. affair which, though in itself but small, is now beginning to make great noise in the world, as friedrich wends homewards out of his cleve journey. he has set it fairly alight, voltaire and he, before quitting moyland; and now it will go of itself. the affair of herstal, or of the bishop of liege; friedrich's first appearance on the stage of politics. concerning which some very brief notice, if intelligible, will suffice readers of the present day. heristal, now called herstal, was once a castle known to all mankind; king pipin's castle, who styled himself "pipin of heristal," before he became king of the franks and begot charlemagne. it lies on the maas, in that fruitful spa country; left bank of the maas, a little to the north of liege; and probably began existence as a grander place than liege (luttich), which was, at first, some monastery dependent on secular herstal and its grandeurs:--think only how the race has gone between these two entities; spiritual liege now a big city, black with the smoke of forges and steam-mills; herstal an insignificant village, accidentally talked of for a few weeks in , and no chance ever to be mentioned again by men. herstal, in the confused vicissitudes of a thousand years, had passed through various fortunes, and undergone change of owners often enough. fifty years ago it was in the hands of the nassau-orange house; dutch william, our english protestant king, who probably scarce knew of his possessing it, was lord of herstal till his death. dutch william had no children to inherit herstal: he was of kinship to the prussian house, as readers are aware; and from that circumstance, not without a great deal of discussion, and difficult "division of the orange heritage," this herstal had, at the long last, fallen to friedrich wilhelm's share; it and neuchatel, and the cobweb palace, and some other places and pertinents. for dutch william was of kin, we say; friedrich i. of prussia, by his mother the noble wife of the great elector, was full cousin to dutch william: and the marriage contracts were express,--though the high mightinesses made difficulties, and the collateral orange branches were abundantly reluctant, when it came to the fulfilling point. for indeed the matter was intricate. orange itself, for example, what was to be done with the principality of orange? clearly prussia's; but it lies imbedded deep in the belly of france, that will be a caesarean-operation for you! had not neuchatel happened just then to fall home to france (or in some measure to france) and be heirless, prussia's heritage of orange would have done little for prussia! principality of orange was, by this chance, long since, mainly in the first king's time, got settled: [neuchatel, d november, , to friedrich i., natives preferring him to "fifteen other claimants;" louis xiv. loudly protesting: not till treaty of utrecht ( th march , first month of friedrich wilhelm's reign) would louis xiv., on cession of orange, consent and sanction.] but there needed many years more of good waiting, and of good pushing, on friedrich wilhelm's part; and it was not till that friedrich wilhelm got the dutch heritages finally brought to the square: neuchatel and valengin, as aforesaid, in lieu of orange; and now furthermore, the old palace at loo (that vieille cour and biggest cobwebs), with pertinents, with garden of honslardik; and a string of items, bigger and less, not worth enumerating. of the items, this herstal was one;--and truly, so far as this went, friedrich wilhelm often thought he had better never have seen it, so much trouble did it bring him. how the herstallers had behaved to friedrich wilhelm. the herstal people, knowing the prussian recruiting system and other rigors, were extremely unwilling to come under friedrich wilhelm's sway, could they have helped it. they refused fealty, swore they never would swear: nor did they, till the appearance, or indubitable foreshine, of friedrich wilhelm's bayonets advancing on them from the east, brought compliance. and always after, spite of such quasi-fealty, they showed a pig-like obstinacy of humor; a certain insignificant, and as it were impertinent, deep-rooted desire to thwart, irritate and contradict the said friedrich wilhelm. especially in any recruiting matter that might arise, knowing that to be the weak side of his prussian majesty. all this would have amounted to nothing, had it not been that their neighbor, the prince bishop of liege, who imagined himself to have some obscure claims of sovereignty over herstal, and thought the present a good opportunity for asserting these, was diligent to aid and abet the herstal people in such their mutinous acts. obscure claims; of which this is the summary, should the reader not prefer to skip it:-- "the bishop of liege's claims on herstal (which lie wrapt from mankind in the extensive jungle of his law-pleadings, like a bedlam happily fallen extinct) seem to me to have grown mainly from two facts more or less radical. "fact first. in kaiser barbarossa's time, year , herstal had been given in pawn to the church of liege, for a loan, by the then proprietor, duke of lorraine and brabant. loan was repaid, i do not learn when, and the pawn given back; to the satisfaction of said duke, or duke's heirs; never quite to the satisfaction of the church, which had been in possession, and was loath to quit, after hoping to continue. 'give us back herstal; it ought to be ours!' unappeasable sigh or grumble to this effect is heard thenceforth, at intervals, in the chapter of liege, and has not ceased in friedrich's time. but as the world, in its loud thoroughfares, seldom or never heard, or could hear, such sighing in the chapter, nothing had come of it,--till-- "fact second. in kaiser karl v.'s time, the prince bishop of liege happened to be a natural son of old kaiser max's;--and had friends at headquarters, of a very choice nature. had, namely, in this sort, kaiser karl for nephew or half-nephew; and what perhaps was still better, as nearer hand, had karl's aunt, maria queen of hungary, then governess of the netherlands, for half-sister. liege, in these choice circumstances, and by other good chances that turned up, again got temporary clutch or half-clutch of herstal, for a couple of years (date - , the prince of orange, real proprietor, whose ancestor had bought it for money down, being then a minor); once, and perhaps a second time in like circumstance; but had always to renounce it again, when the prince of orange came to maturity. and ever since, the chapter of liege sighs as before, 'herstal is perhaps in a sense ours. we had once some kind of right to it!'--sigh inaudible in the loud public thoroughfares. that is the bishop's claim. the name of him, if anybody care for it, is 'georg ludwig, titular count of berg,' now a very old man: bishop of liege, he, and has been snatching at herstal again, very eagerly by any skirt or tagrag that might happen to fly loose, these eight years past, in a rash and provoking manner; [_delices du pais de liege_ (liege, ); _helden-geschichte,_ ii. - .]--age eighty-two at present; poor old fool, he had better have sat quiet. there lies a rod in pickle for him, during these late months; and will be surprisingly laid on, were the time come!" "i have law authority over herstal, and power of judging there in the last appeal," said this bishop:--"you!" thought friedrich wilhelm, who was far off, and had little time to waste.--"any prussian recruiter that behaves ill, bring him to me!" said the bishop, who was on the spot. and accordingly it had been done; one notable instance two years ago: a prussian lieutenant locked in the liege jail, on complaint of riotous herstal; thereupon a prussian officer of rank (colonel kreutzen, worthy old malplaquet gentleman) coming as royal messenger, not admitted to audience, nay laid hold of by the liege bailiff instead; and other unheard-of procedures. [_helden-geschichte,_ ii. - .] so that friedrich wilhelm had nothing but trouble with this petty herstal, and must have thought his neighbor bishop a very contentious high-flying gentleman, who took great liberties with the lion's whiskers, when he had the big animal at an advantage. the episcopal procedures, eight years ago, about the first homaging of herstal, had been of similar complexion; nor had other such failed in the interim, though this last outrage exceeded them all. this last began in the end of ; and span itself out through , when friedrich wilhelm lay in his final sickness, less able to deal with it than formerly. being a peaceable man, unwilling to awaken conflagrations for a small matter, friedrich wilhelm had offered, through kreutzen on this occasion, to part with herstal altogether; to sell it, for , thalers, say , pounds, to the high-flying bishop, and honestly wash his hands of it. but the high-flying bishop did not consent, gave no definite answer; and so the matter lay,--like an unsettled extremely irritating paltry little matter,--at the time friedrich wilhelm died. the gazetteers and public knew little about these particulars, or had forgotten them again; but at the prussian court they were in lively remembrance. what the young friedrich's opinion about them had been we gather from this succinct notice of the thing, written seven or eight years afterwards, exact in all points, and still carrying a breath of the old humor in it. "a miserable bishop of liege thought it a proud thing to insult the late king. some subjects of herstal, which belongs to prussia, had revolted; the bishop gave them his protection. colonel kreutzen was sent to liege, to compose the thing by treaty; credentials with him, full power, and all in order. imagine it, the bishop would not receive him! three days, day after day, he saw this envoy apply at his palace, and always denied him entrance. these things had grown past endurance." [preuss, _oeuvres (memoires de brandebourg)_, end ii. .] and friedrich had taken note of herstal along with him, on this cleve journey; privately intending to put herstal and the high-flying bishop on a suitabler footing, before his return from those countries. for indeed, on friedrich's accession, matters had grown worse, not better. of course there was fealty to be sworn; but the herstal people, abetted by the high-flying bishop, have declined swearing it. apology for the past, prospect of amendment for the future, there is less than ever. what is the young king to do with this paltry little hamlet of herstal? he could, in theory, go into some reichs-hofrath, some reichs-kammergericht (kind of treble and tenfold english court-of-chancery, which has lawsuits years old),--if he were a theoretic german king. he can plead in the diets, and the wetzlar reichs-kammergericht without end: "all german sovereigns have power to send their ambassador thither, who is like a mastiff chained in the back-yard [observes friedrich elsewhere] with privilege of barking at the moon,"--unrestricted privilege of barking at the moon, if that will avail a practical man, or king's ambassador. or perhaps the bishop of liege will bethink him, at last, what considerable liberty he is taking with some people's whiskers? four months are gone; bishop of liege has not in the least bethought him: we are in the neighborhood in person, with note of the thing in our memory. friedrich takes the rod out of pickle. accordingly the rath rambonet, whom voltaire found at moyland that sunday night, had been over at liege; went exactly a week before; with this message of very peremptory tenor from his majesty:-- to the prince bishop of liege. "wesel, th september, . "my cousin,--knowing all the assaults (atteintes) made by you upon my indisputable rights over my free barony of herstal; and how the seditious ringleaders there, for several years past, have been countenanced (bestarket) by you in their detestable acts of disobedience against me,--i have commanded my privy councillor rambonet to repair to your presence, and in my name to require from you, within two days, a distinct and categorical answer to this question: whether you are still minded to assert your pretended sovereignty over herstal; and whether you will protect the rebels at herstal, in their disorders and abominable disobedience? "in case you refuse, or delay beyond the term, the answer which i hereby of right demand, you will render yourself alone responsible, before the world, for the consequences which infallibly will follow. i am, with much consideration,--my cousin,-- "your very affectionate cousin, "friedrich." [_helden-geschichte,_ ii. , .] rambonet had started straightway for liege, with this missive; and had duly presented it there, i guess on the th,--with notice that he would wait forty-eight hours, and then return with what answer or no-answer there might be. getting no written answer, or distinct verbal one; getting only some vague mumblement as good as none, rambonet had disappeared from liege on the th; and was home at moyland when voltaire arrived that sunday evening,--just walking about to come to heat again, after reporting progress to the above effect. rambonet, i judge, enjoyed only one of those divine suppers at moyland; and dashed off again, "on hired hack" or otherwise, the very next morning; that contingency of no-answer having been the anticipated one, and all things put in perfect readiness for it. rambonet's new errand was to "take act," as voltaire calls it, "at the gates of liege,"--to deliver at liege a succinct manifesto, pair of manifestoes, both in print (ready beforehand), and bearing date that same sunday, "wesel, th september;" much calculated to amaze his reverence at liege. succinct good manifestoes, said to be of friedrich's own writing; the essential of the two is this:-- _exposition of the reasons which have induced his majesty the king of prussia to make just reprisals on the prince bishop of liege._ "his majesty the king of prussia, being driven beyond bounds by the rude proceedings of the prince bishop of liege, has with regret seen himself forced to recur to the method of arms, in order to repress the violence and affront which the bishop has attempted to put upon him. this resolution has cost his majesty much pain; the rather as he is, by principle and disposition, far remote from whatever could have the least relation to rigor and severity. "but seeing himself compelled by the bishop of liege to take new methods, he had no other course but to maintain the justice of his rights (la justice de ses droits), and demand reparation for the indignity done upon his minister von kreuzen, as well as for the contempt with which the bishop of liege has neglected even to answer the letter of the king. "as too much rigor borders upon cruelty, so too much patience resembles weakness. thus, although the king would willingly have sacrificed his interests to the public peace and tranquillity, it was not possible to do so in reference to his honor; and that is the chief motive which has determined him to this resolution, so contrary to his intentions. "in vain has it been attempted, by methods of mildness, to come to a friendly agreement: it has been found, on the contrary, that the king's moderation only increased the prince's arrogance; that mildness of conduct on one side only furnished resources to pride on the other; and that, in fine, instead of gaining by soft procedure, one was insensibly becoming an object of vexation and disdain. "there being no means to have justice but in doing it for oneself, and the king being sovereign enough for such a duty,--he intends to make the prince of liege feel how far he was in the wrong to abuse such moderation so unworthily. but in spite of so much unhandsome behavior on the part of this prince, the king will not be inflexible; satisfied with having shown the said prince that he can punish him, and too just to overwhelm him. frederic. "wesel, september th, ." [_helden-geschichte,_ ii. . said to be by friedrich himself (stenzel, iv. ).] whether rambonet insinuated his paper-packet into the palace of seraing, left it at the gate of liege (fixed by nail, if he saw good), or in what manner he "took act," i never knew; and indeed rambonet vanishes from human history at this point: it is certain only that he did his formality, say two days hence;--and that the fact foreshadowed by it is likewise in the same hours, hour after hour, getting steadily done. for the manifestoes printed beforehand, dated wesel, th september, were not the only thing ready at wesel; waiting, as on the slip, for the contingency of no-answer. major-general borck, with the due battalions, squadrons and equipments, was also ready. major-general borck, the same who was with us at baireuth lately, had just returned from that journey, when he got orders to collect , men, horse and foot, with the due proportion of artillery, from the prussian garrisons in these parts; and to be ready for marching with them, the instant the contingency of no-answer arrives,--sunday, th, as can be foreseen. borck knows his route: to maaseyk, a respectable town of the bishop's, the handiest for wesel; to occupy maaseyk and the adjoining "counties of lotz and horn;" and lie there at the bishop's charge till his reverence's mind alter. borck is ready, to the last pontoon, the last munition-loaf; and no sooner is signal given of the no-answer come, than borck, that same "sunday, th," gets under way; marches, steady as clock-work, towards maaseyk (fifty miles southwest of him, distance now lessening every hour); crosses the maas, by help of his pontoons; is now in the bishop's territory, and enters maaseyk, evening of "wednesday, th,"--that very day voltaire and his majesty had parted, going different ways from moyland; and probably about the same hour while rambonet was "taking act at the gate of liege," by nail-hammer or otherwise. all goes punctual, swift, cog hitting pinion far and near, in this small herstal business; and there is no mistake made, and a minimum of time spent. borck's management was throughout good: punctual, quietly exact, polite, mildly inflexible. fain would the maaseyk town-baths have shut their gates on him; desperately conjuring him, "respite for a few hours, till we send to liege for instructions!" but it was to no purpose. "unbolt, ihr herren; swift, or the petard will have to do it!" borck publishes his proclamation, a mild-spoken rigorous piece; signifies to the maaseyk authorities, that he has to exact a contribution of , thalers ( , pounds) here, contribution payable in three days; that he furthermore, while he continues in these parts, will need such and such rations, accommodations, allowances,--"fifty louis (say guineas) daily for his own private expenses," one item;--and, in mild rhadamanthine language, waves aside all remonstrance, refusal or delay, as superfluous considerations: unless said contribution and required supplies come in, it will be his painful duty to bring them in. [_helden-geschichte,_ i. ; ii. .] the high-flying bishop, much astonished, does now eagerly answer his prussian majesty, "was from home, was ill, thought he had answered; is the most ill-used of bishops;" and other things of a hysteric character. [ib. ii. , (date, th september).] and there came forth, as natural to the situation, multitudinous complainings, manifestoings, applications to the kaiser, to the french, to the dutch, of a very shrieky character on the bishop of liege's part; sparingly, if at all noticed on friedrich's: the whole of which we shall consider ourselves free to leave undisturbed in the rubbish-abysses, as henceforth conceivable to the reader. "sed spem stupende fefellit eventus," shrieks the poor old bishop, making moan to the kaiser: "ecce enim, praemissa duntaxat una litera, one letter," and little more, "the said king of borussia has, with about , horse and foot, and warlike engines, in this month of september, entered the territory of liege;" [_helden-geschichte,_ ii. .] which is an undeniable truth, but an unavailing. borck is there, and " , good arguments with him," as voltaire defines the phenomenon. friedrich, except to explain pertinently what my readers already know, does not write or speak farther on the subject; and readers and he may consider the herstal affair, thus set agoing under borck's auspices, as in effect finished; and that his majesty has left it on a satisfactory footing, and may safely turn his back on it, to wait the sure issue at berlin before long. what voltaire thought of herstal. voltaire told us he himself "did one manifesto, good or bad," on this herstal business:--where is that piece, then, what has become of it? dig well in the realms of chaos, rectifying stupidities more or less enormous, the piece itself is still discoverable; and, were pieces by voltaire much a rarity instead of the reverse, might be resuscitated by a good editor, and printed in his works. lies buried in the lonesome rubbish-mountains of that _helden-geschichte,_--let a siste viator, scratched on the surface, mark where. [ib. ii. - .] apparently that is the piece by voltaire? yes, on reading that, it has every internal evidence; distinguishes itself from the surrounding pieces, like a slab of compact polished stone, in a floor rammed together out of ruinous old bricks, broken bottles and mortar-dust;--agrees, too, if you examine by the microscope, with the external indications, which are sure and at last clear, though infinitesimally small; and is beyond doubt voltaire's, if it were now good for much. it is not properly a manifesto, but an anonymous memoir published in the newspapers, explaining to impartial mankind, in a legible brief manner, what the old and recent history of herstal, and the troubles of herstal, have been, and how chimerical and "null to the extreme of nullity (nulles de tout nullite)" this poor bishop's pretensions upon it are. voltaire expressly piques himself on this piece; [letter to friedrich: dateless, datable "soon after th september;" which the rash dark editors have by guess misdated "august; "or, what was safer for them, omitted it altogether. _oeuvres de voltaire_ (paris, , vols.) gives the letter, xxxix. (see also ibid. , ); later editors, and even preuss, take the safer course.] brags also how he settled "m. de fenelon [french ambassador at the hague], who came to me the day before yesterday," much out of square upon the herstal business, till i pulled him straight. and it is evident (beautifully so, your majesty) how voltaire busied himself in the gazettes and diplomatic circles, setting friedrich's case right; voltaire very loyal to friedrich and his liege cause at that time;--and the contrast between what his contemporary letters say on the subject, and what his ulterior pasquil called vie privee says, is again great. the dull stagnant world, shaken awake by this liege adventure, gives voice variously; and in the gazetteer and diplomatic circles it is much criticised, by no means everywhere in the favorable tone at this first blush of the business. "he had written an anti-machiavel," says the abbe st. pierre, and even says voltaire (in the pasquil, not the contemporary letters), "and he acts thus!" truly he does, monsieur de voltaire; and all men, with light upon the subject, or even with the reverse upon it, must make their criticisms. for the rest, borck's " , arguments" are there; which borck handles well, with polite calm rigor: by degrees the dust will fall, and facts everywhere be seen for what they are. as to the high-flying bishop, finding that hysterics are but wasted on friedrich and borck, and produce no effect with their , validities, he flies next to the kaiser, to the imperial diet, in shrill-sounding latin obtestations, of which we already gave a flying snatch: "your humilissimus and fidelissimus vassallus, and most obsequient servant, georgius ludovicus; meek, modest, and unspeakably in the right: was ever member of the holy roman empire so snubbed, and grasped by the windpipe, before? oh, help him, great kaiser, bid the iron gripe loosen itself!" [_helden-geschichte,_ ii, - .] the kaiser does so, in heavy latin rescripts, in german dehortatoriums more than one, of a sulky, imperative, and indeed very lofty tenor; "let georgius ludovicus go, foolish rash young dilection (liebden, not majesty, we ourselves being the only majesty), and i will judge between you; otherwise--!" said the kaiser, ponderously shaking his olympian wig, and lifting his gilt cane, or sceptre of mankind, in an olympian manner. here are some touches of his second sublimest dehortatorium addressed to friedrich, in a very compressed state: [_helden-geschichte,_ ii. ; a first and milder (ibid. ).]-- we karl the sixth, kaiser of (titles enough),... "considering these, in the holy roman reich, almost unheard-of violent doings (thatlichkeiten), which we, in our supreme-judge office, cannot altogether justify, nor will endure... we have the trust that you yourself will magnanimously see how evil counsellors have misled your dilection to commence your reign, not by showing example of obedience to the laws appointed for all members of the reich, for the weak and for the strong alike, but by such doings (thathandlungen) as in all quarters must cause a great surprise. "we give your dilection to know, therefore, that you must straightway withdraw those troops which have broken into the liege territory; make speedy restitution of all that has been extorted;--especially general von borck to give back at once those louis d'or daily drawn by him, to renounce his demand of the , thalers, to make good all damage done, and retire with his whole military force (militz) over the liege boundaries;--and in brief, that you will, by law or arbitration, manage to agree with the prince bishop of liege, who wishes it very much. these things we expect from your dilection, as kurfurst of brandenburg, within the space of two months from the issuing of this; and remain,"--yours as you shall demean yourself,--karl. "given at wien, th of october, ."--the last dehortatorium ever signed by karl vi. in two weeks after he ate too many mushrooms,--and immense results followed! dehortatoriums had their interest, at berlin and elsewhere, for the diplomatic circles; but did not produce the least effect on borck or friedrich; though friedrich noted the kaiser's manner in these things, and thought privately to himself, as was evident to the discerning, "what an amount of wig on that old gentleman!" a notable kaiser's ambassador, herr botta, who had come with some accession compliments, in these weeks, was treated slightingly by friedrich; hardly admitted to audience; and friedrich's public reply to the last dehortatorium had almost something of sarcasm in it: evil counsellors yourself, most dread kaiser! it is you that are "misled by counsellors, who might chance to set germany on fire, were others as unwise as they!" which latter phrase was remarkable to mankind.--there is a long account already run up between that old gentleman, with his seckendorfs, grumkows, with his dull insolencies, wiggeries, and this young gentleman, who has nearly had his heart broken and his father's house driven mad by them! borck remains at his post; rations duly delivered, and fifty louis a day for his own private expenses; and there is no answer to the kaiser, or in sharp brief terms (about "chances of setting germany on fire"), rather worse than none. readers see, as well as friedrich did, what the upshot of this affair must be;--we will now finish it off, and wash our hands of it, before following his majesty to berlin. the poor bishop had applied, shrieking, to the french for help;--and there came some colloquial passages between voltaire and fenelon, if that were a result. he had shrieked in like manner to the dutch, but without result of any kind traceable in that quarter: nowhere, except from the kaiser, is so much as a dehortatorium to be got. whereupon the once high-flying, now vainly shrieking bishop discerns clearly that there is but one course left,--the course which has lain wide open for some years past, had not his flight gone too high for seeing it. before three weeks are over, seeing how dehortatoriums go, he sends his ambassadors to berlin, his apologies, proposals: [ambassadors arrived th september; last dehortatorium not yet out. business was completed th october (rodenbeck, in diebus).] "would not your majesty perhaps consent to sell this herstal, as your father of glorious memory was pleased to be willing once?"-- friedrich answers straightway to the effect: "certainly! pay me the price it was once already offered for: , thalers, plus the expenses since incurred. that will be , thalers, besides what you have spent already on general borck's days' wages. to which we will add that wretched little fraction of old debt, clear as noon, but never paid nor any part of it; , thalers, due by the see of liege ever since the treaty of utrecht; , , for which we will charge no interest: that will make , thalers,-- , pounds, instead of the old sum you might have had it at. produce that cash; and take herstal, and all the dust that has risen out of it, well home with you." [stenzel, iv. , who counts in gulden, and is not distinct.] the bishop thankfully complies in all points; negotiation speedily done (" th oct." the final date): bishop has not, i think, quite so much cash on hand; but will pay all he has, and per centum interest till the whole be liquidated. his ambassadors "get gold snuffboxes;" and return mildly glad! and thus, in some six weeks after borck's arrival in those parts, borck's function is well done. the noise of gazettes and diplomatic circles lays itself again; and herstal, famous once for king pipin, and famous again for king friedrich, lapses at length into obscurity, which we hope will never end. hope;--though who can say? roucoux, quite close upon it, becomes a battle-ground in some few years; and memorabilities go much at random in this world! chapter vi. -- returns by hanover; does not call on his royal uncle there. friedrich spent ten days on his circuitous journey home; considerable inspection to be done, in minden, magdeburg, not to speak of other businesses he had. the old newspapers are still more intent upon him, now that the herstal affair has broken into flame: especially the english newspapers; who guess that there are passages of courtship going on between great george their king and him. here is one fact, correct in every point, for the old london public: "letters from hanover say, that the king of prussia passed within a small distance of that city the th inst. n.s., on his return to berlin, but did not stop at herrenhausen;"--about which there has been such hoping and speculating among us lately. [_daily post,_ d september, ; other london newspapers from july st downwards.] a fact which the extinct editor seems to meditate for a day or two; after which he says (partly in italics), opening his lips the second time, like a friar bacon's head significant to the public: "letters from hanover tell us that the interview, which it was said his majesty was to have with the king of prussia, did not take place, for certain private reasons, which our correspondent leaves us to guess at!" it is well known friedrich did not love his little uncle, then or thenceforth; still less his little uncle him: "what is this prussia, rising alongside of us, higher and higher, as if it would reach our own sublime level!" thinks the little uncle to himself. at present there is no quarrel between them; on the contrary, as we have seen, there is a mutual capability of helping one another, which both recognize; but will an interview tend to forward that useful result? friedrich, in the intervals of an ague, with herstal just broken out, may have wisely decided, no. "our sublime little uncle, of the waxy complexion, with the proudly staring fish-eyes,--no wit in him, not much sense, and a great deal of pride,--stands dreadfully erect, 'plumb and more,' with the garter-leg advanced, when one goes to see him; and his remarks are not of an entertaining nature. leave him standing there: to him let truchsess and bielfeld suffice, in these hurries, in this ague that is still upon us." upon which the dull old newspapers, owls of minerva that then were, endeavor to draw inferences. the noticeable fact is, friedrich did, on this occasion, pass within a mile or two of his royal uncle, without seeing him; and had not, through life, another opportunity; never saw the sublime little man at all, nor was again so near him. i believe friedrich little knows the thick-coming difficulties of his britannic majesty at this juncture; and is too impatient of these laggard procedures on the part of a man with eyes a fleur-de-tete. modern readers too have forgotten jenkins's ear; it is not till after long study and survey that one begins to perceive the anomalous profundities of that phenomenon to the poor english nation and its poor george ii. the english sent off, last year, a scanty expedition, "six ships of the line," only six, under vernon, a fiery admiral, a little given to be fiery in parliamentary talk withal; and these did proceed to porto-bello on the spanish main of south america; did hurl out on porto-bello such a fiery destructive deluge, of gunnery and bayonet-work, as quickly reduced the poor place to the verge of ruin, and forced it to surrender with whatever navy, garrison, goods and resources were in it, to the discretion of fiery vernon,--who does not prove implacable, he or his, to a petitioning enemy. yes, humble the insolent, but then be merciful to them, say the admiring gazetteers. "the actual monster," how cheering to think, "who tore off mr. jenkins's ear, was got hold of [actual monster, or even three or four different monsters who each did it, the "hold got" being mythical, as readers see], and naturally thought he would be slit to ribbons; but our people magnanimously pardoned him, magnanimously flung him aside out of sight;" [_gentleman's magazine,_ x. , (date of the event is d december n.s., ).] impossible to shoot a dog in cold blood. whereupon vernon returned home triumphant; and there burst forth such a jubilation, over the day of small things, as is now astonishing to think of. had the termagant's own thalamus and treasury been bombarded suddenly one night by red-hot balls, madrid city laid in ashes, or baby carlos's apanage extinguished from creation, there could hardly have been greater english joy (witness the "porto-bellos" they still have, new towns so named); so flamy is the murky element growing on that head. and indeed had the cipher of tar-barrels burnt, and of ale-barrels drunk, and the general account of wick and tallow spent in illuminations and in aldermanic exertions on the matter, been accurately taken, one doubts if porto-bello sold, without shot fired, to the highest bidder, at its floweriest, would have covered such a sum. for they are a singular nation, if stirred up from their stagnancy; and are much in earnest about this spanish war. it is said there is now another far grander expedition on the stocks: military this time as well as naval, intended for the spanish main;--but of that, for the present, we will defer speaking. enough, the spanish war is a most serious and most furious business to those old english; and, to us, after forced study of it, shines out like far-off conflagration, with a certain lurid significance in the then night of things. night otherwise fallen dark and somniferous to modern mankind. as britannic majesty and his walpoles have, from the first, been dead against this spanish war, the problem is all the more ominous, and the dreadful corollaries that may hang by it the more distressing to the royal mind. for example, there is known, or as good as known, to be virtually some family compact, or covenanted brotherhood of bourbonism, french and spanish: political people quake to ask themselves, "how will the french keep out of this war, if it continue any length of time? and in that case, how will austria, europe at large? jenkins's ear will have kindled the universe, not the spanish main only, and we shall be at a fine pass!" the britannic majesty reflects that if france take to fighting him, the first stab given will probably be in the accessiblest quarter and the intensely most sensitive,--our own electoral dominions where no parliament plagues us, our dear native country, hanover. extremely interesting to know what friedrich of prussia will do in such contingency? well, truly it might have been king george's best bargain to close with friedrich; to guarantee julich and berg, and get fredrich to stand between the french and hanover; while george, with an england behind him, in such humor, went wholly into that spanish business, the one thing needful to them at present. truly; but then again, there are considerations: "what is this friedrich, just come out upon the world? what real fighting power has he, after all that ridiculous drilling and recruiting friedrich wilhelm made? will he be faithful in bargain; is not, perhaps, from of old, his bias always toward france rather? and the kaiser, what will the kaiser say to it?" these are questions for a britannic majesty! seldom was seen such an insoluble imbroglio of potentialities; dangerous to touch, dangerous to leave lying;--and his britannic majesty's procedures upon it are of a very slow intricate sort; and will grow still more so, year after year, in the new intricacies that are coming, and be a weariness to my readers and me. for observe the simultaneous fact. all this while, robinson at vienna is dunning the imperial majesty to remember old marlborough days and the laws of nature; and declare for us against france, in case of the worst. what an attempt! imperial majesty has no money; imperial majesty remembers recent days rather, and his own last quarrel with france (on the polish-election score), in which you sea-powers cruelly stood neuter! one comfort, and pretty much one only, is left to a nearly bankrupt imperial heart; that france does at any rate ratify pragmatic sanction, and instead of enemy to that inestimable document has become friend,--if only she be well let alone. "let well alone," says the sad kaiser, bankrupt of heart as well as purse: "i have saved the pragmatic, got fleury to guarantee it; i will hunt wild swine and not shadows any more: ask me not!" and now this herstal business; the imperial dehortatoriums, perhaps of a high nature, that are like to come? more hopeless proposition the britannic majesty never made than this to the kaiser. but he persists in it, orders robinson to persist; knocks at the austrian door with one hand, at the prussian or anti-austrian with the other; and gazes, with those proud fish-eyes, into perils and potentialities and a sea of troubles. wearisome to think of, were not one bound to it! here, from a singular constitutional history of england, not yet got into print, are two excerpts; which i will request the reader to try if he can take along with him, in view of much that is coming:-- . a just war.--"this war, which posterity scoffs at as the war of jenkins's ear, was, if we examine it, a quite indispensable one; the dim much-bewildered english, driven into it by their deepest instincts, were, in a chaotic inarticulate way, right and not wrong in taking it as the commandment of heaven. for such, in a sense, it was; as shall by and by appear. not perhaps since the grand reformation controversy, under oliver cromwell and elizabeth, had there, to this poor english people (who are essentially dumb, inarticulate, from the weight of meaning they have, notwithstanding the palaver one hears from them in certain epochs), been a more authentic cause of war. and, what was the fatal and yet foolish circumstance, their constitutional captains, especially their king, would never and could never regard it as such; but had to be forced into it by the public rage, there being no other method left in the case. "i say, a most necessary war, though of a most stupid appearance; such the fatality of it:--begun, carried on, ended, as if by a people in a state of somnambulism! more confused operation never was. a solid placid people, heavily asleep (and snoring much, shall we say, and inarticulately grunting and struggling under indigestions, constitutional and other? do but listen to the hum of those extinct pamphlets and parliamentary oratories of theirs!),--yet an honestly intending people; and keenly alive to any commandment from heaven, that could pierce through the thick skin of them into their big obstinate heart. such a commandment, then and there, was that monition about jenkins's ear. upon which, so pungent was it to them, they started violently out of bed, into painful sleep-walking; and went, for twenty years and more, clambering and sprawling about, far and wide, on the giddy edge of precipices, over house-tops and frightful cornices and parapets; in a dim fulfilment of the said heaven's command. i reckon that this war, though there were intervals, treaties of peace more than one, and the war had various names,--did not end till . and then, by degrees, the poor english nation found that (at, say, a thousand times the necessary expense, and with imminent peril to its poor head, and all the bones of its body) it had actually succeeded,--by dreadful exertions in its sleep! this will be more apparent by and by; and may be a kind of comfort to the sad english reader, drearily surveying such somnambulisms on the part of his poor ancestors." . two difficulties.--"there are two grand difficulties in this farce-tragedy of a war; of which only one, and that not the worst of the pair, is in the least surmised by the english hitherto. difficulty first, which is even worse than the other, and will surprisingly attend the english in all their wars now coming, is: that their fighting-apparatus, though made of excellent material, cannot fight,--being in disorganic condition; one branch of it, especially the 'military' one as they are pleased to call it, being as good as totally chaotic, and this in a quiet habitual manner, this long while back. with the naval branch it is otherwise; which also is habitual there. the english almost as if by nature can sail, and fight, in ships; cannot well help doing it. sailors innumerable are bred to them; they are planted in the ocean, opulent stormy neptune clipping them in all his moods forever: and then by nature, being a dumb, much-enduring, much-reflecting, stout, veracious and valiant kind of people, they shine in that way of life, which specially requires such. without much forethought, they have sailors innumerable, and of the best quality. the english have among them also, strange as it may seem to the cursory observer, a great gift of organizing; witness their arkwrights and others: and this gift they may often, in matters naval more than elsewhere, get the chance of exercising. for a ship's crew, or even a fleet, unlike a land army, is of itself a unity, its fortunes disjoined, dependent on its own management; and it falls, moreover, as no land army can, to the undivided guidance of one man,--who (by hypothesis, being english) has now and then, from of old, chanced to be an organizing man; and who is always much interested to know and practise what has been well organized. for you are in contact with verities, to an unexampled degree, when you get upon the ocean, with intent to sail on it, much more to fight on it;--bottomless destruction raging beneath you and on all hands of you, if you neglect, for any reason, the methods of keeping it down, and making it float you to your aim! "the english navy is in tolerable order at that period. but as to the english army,--we may say it is, in a wrong sense, the wonder of the world, and continues so throughout the whole of this history and farther! never before, among the rational sons of adam, were armies sent out on such terms,--namely without a general, or with no general understanding the least of his business. the english have a notion that generalship is not wanted; that war is not an art, as playing chess is, as finding the longitude, and doing the differential calculus are (and a much deeper art than any of these); that war is taught by nature, as eating is; that courageous soldiers, led on by a courageous wooden pole with cocked-hat on it, will do very well. in the world i have not found opacity of platitude go deeper among any people. this is difficulty first, not yet suspected by an english people, capable of great opacity on some subjects. "difficulty second is, that their ministry, whom they had to force into this war, perhaps do not go zealously upon it. and perhaps even, in the above circumstances, they totally want knowledge how to go upon it, were they never so zealous; difficulty second might be much helped, were it not for difficulty first. but the administering of war is a thing also that does not come to a man like eating.--this second difficulty, suspicion that walpole and perhaps still higher heads want zeal, gives his britannic majesty infinite trouble; and"----and so, in short, he stands there, with the garter-leg advanced, looking loftily into a considerable sea of troubles,--that day when friedrich drove past him, friday, th september, , and never came so near him again. the next business for friedrich was a visit at brunswick, to the affinities and kindred, in passing; where also was an important little act to be done: betrothal of the young prince, august wilhelm, heir-presumptive whom we saw in strasburg, to a princess of that house, louisa amelia, younger sister of friedrich's own queen. a modest promising arrangement; which turned out well enough,--though the young prince, father to the kings that since are, was not supremely fortunate otherwise. [betrothal was th september, ; marriage, th january, (buchholz, i. ).] after which, the review at magdeburg; and home on the th, there to "be busy as a turk or as a m. jordan,"--according to what we read long since. chapter vii. -- withdraws to reinsberg, hoping a peaceable winter. by this herstal token, which is now blazing abroad, now and for a month to come, it can be judged that the young king of prussia intends to stand on his own footing, quite peremptorily if need be; and will by no means have himself led about in imperial harness, as his late father was. so that a dull public (herrenhausen very specially), and gazetteer owls of minerva everywhere, may expect events. all the more indubitably, when that spade-work comes to light in the wesel country. it is privately certain (the gazetteers not yet sure about it, till they see the actual spades going), this new king does fully intend to assert his rights on berg-julich; and will appear there with his iron ramrods, the instant old kur-pfalz shall decease, let france and the kaiser say no to it or say yes. there are, in fact, at a fit place, "buderich in the neighborhood of wesel," certain rampart-works, beginnings as of an entrenched camp, going on;--"for review purposes merely," say the gazetteers, in italics. here, it privately is friedrich's resolution, shall a prussian army, of the due strength (could be well-nigh , strong if needful), make its appearance, directly on old kur-pfalz's decease, if one live to see such event. [stenzel, iv. .] france and the kaiser will probably take good survey of that buderich phenomenon before meddling. to do his work like a king, and shun no peril and no toil in the course of what his work may be, is friedrich's rule and intention. nevertheless it is clear he expects to approve himself magnanimous rather in the peaceable operations than in the warlike; and his outlooks are, of all places and pursuits, towards reinsberg and the fine arts, for the time being. his public activity meanwhile they describe as "prodigious," though the ague still clings to him; such building, instituting, managing: opera-house, french theatre, palace for his mother;--day by day, many things to be recorded by editor formey, though the rule about them here is silence except on cause. no doubt the ague is itself privately a point of moment. such a vexatious paltry little thing, in this bright whirl of activities, public and other, which he continues managing in spite of it; impatient to be rid of it. but it will not go: there it reappears always, punctual to its "fourth day,"--like a snarling street-dog, in the high ball-room and work-room. "he is drinking pyrmont water;" has himself proposed quinquina, a remedy just come up, but the doctors shook their heads; has tried snatches of reinsberg, too short; he intends soon to be out there for a right spell of country, there to be "happy," and get quit of his ague. the ague went,--and by a remedy which surprised the whole world, as will be seen! wilhelmina's return-visit. monday, th october, came the baireuth visitors; wilhelmina all in a flutter, and tremor of joy and sorrow, to see her brother again, her old kindred and the altered scene of things. poor lady, she is perceptibly more tremulous than usual; and her narrative, not in dates only, but in more memorable points, dances about at a sad rate; interior agitations and tremulous shrill feelings shivering her this way and that, and throwing things topsy-turvy in one's recollection. like the magnetic needle, shaky but steadfast (agitee mai constante). truer nothing can be, points forever to the pole; but also what obliquities it makes; will shiver aside in mad escapades, if you hold the paltriest bit of old iron near it,--paltriest clack of gossip about this loved brother of mine! brother, we will hope, silently continues to be pole, so that the needle always comes back again; otherwise all would go to wreck. here, in abridged and partly rectified form, are the phenomena witnessed:-- "we arrived at berlin the end of october [monday, th, as above said]. my younger brothers, followed by the princes of the blood and by all the court, received us at the bottom of the stairs. i was led to my apartment, where i found the reigning queen, my sisters [ulrique, amelia], and the princesses [of the blood, as above, schwedt and the rest]. i learned with much chagrin that the king was ill of tertian ague [quartan; but that is no matter]. he sent me word that, being in his fit, he could not see me; but that he depended on having that pleasure to-morrow. the queen mother, to whom i went without delay, was in a dark condition; rooms all hung with their lugubrious drapery; everything yet in the depth of mourning for my father. what a scene for me! nature has her rights; i can say with truth, i have almost never in my life been so moved as on this occasion." interview with mamma--we can fancy it--"was of the most touching." wilhelmina had been absent eight years. she scarcely knows the young ones again, all so grown;--finds change on change: and that time, as he always is, has been busy. that night the supper-party was exclusively a family one. her brother's welcome to her on the morrow, though ardent enough, she found deficient in sincerity, deficient in several points; as indeed a brother up to the neck in business, and just come out of an ague-fit, does not appear to the best advantage. wilhelmina noticed how ill he looked, so lean and broken-down (maigre et defait) within the last two months; but seems to have taken no account of it farther, in striking her balances with friedrich. and indeed in her narrative of this visit, not, we will hope, in the visit itself, she must have been in a high state of magnetic deflection,--pretty nearly her maximum of such, discoverable in those famous memoirs,--such a tumult is there in her statements, all gone to ground-and-lofty tumbling in this place; so discrepant are the still ascertainable facts from this topsy-turvy picture of them, sketched by her four years hence (in ). the truest of magnetic needles; but so sensitive, if you bring foreign iron near it! wilhelmina was loaded with honors by an impartial berlin public that is court public; "but, all being in mourning, the court was not brilliant. the queen mother saw little company, and was sunk in sorrow;--had not the least influence in affairs, so jealous was the new king of his authority,--to the queen mother's surprise," says wilhelmina. for the rest, here is a king "becoming truly unpopular [or, we fancy so, in our deflected state, and judging by the rumor of cliques]; a general discontent reigning in the country, love of his subjects pretty much gone; people speaking of him in no measured terms [in certain cliques]. cares nothing about those who helped him as prince royal, say some; others complain of his avarice [meaning steady vigilance in outlay] as surpassing the late king's; this one complained of his violences of temper (emportemens); that one of his suspicions, of his distrust, his haughtinesses, his dissimulation" (meaning polite impenetrability when he saw good). several circumstances, known to wilhelmina's own experience, compel wilhelmina's assent on those points. "i would have spoken to him about them, if my brother of prussia [young august wilhelm, betrothed the other day] and the queen regnant had not dissuaded me. farther on i will give the explanation of all this,"--never did it anywhere. "i beg those who may one day read these memoirs, to suspend their judgment on the character of this great prince till i have developed it." [wilhelmina, ii. .] o my princess, you are true and bright, but you are shrill; and i admire the effect of atmospheric electricity, not to say, of any neighboring marine-store shop, or miserable bit of broken pan, on one of the finest magnetic needles ever made and set trembling! wilhelmina is incapable of deliberate falsehood; and this her impression or reminiscence, with all its exaggeration, is entitled to be heard in evidence so far. from this, and from other sources, readers will assure themselves that discontents were not wanting; that king friedrich was not amiable to everybody at this time,--which indeed he never grew to be at any other time. he had to be a king; that was the trade he followed, not the quite different one of being amiable all round. amiability is good, my princess; but the question rises, "to whom?--for example, to the young gentleman who shot himself in lobegun?" there are young gentlemen and old sometimes in considerable quantities, to whom, if you were in your duty, as a king of men (or even as a "king of one man and his affairs," if that is all your kingdom), you should have been hateful instead of amiable! that is a stern truth; too much forgotten by wilhelmina and others. again, what a deadening and killing circumstance is it in the career of amiability, that you are bound not to be communicative of your inner man, but perpetually and strictly the reverse! it may be doubted if a good king can be amiable; certainly he cannot in any but the noblest ages, and then only to a select few. i should guess friedrich was at no time fairly loved, not by those nearest to him. he was rapid, decisive; of wiry compact nature; had nothing of his father's amplitudes, simplicities; nothing to sport with and fondle, far from it. tremulous sensibilities, ardent affections; these we clearly discover in him, in extraordinary vivacity; but he wears them under his polished panoply, and is outwardly a radiant but metallic object to mankind. let us carry this along with us in studying him; and thank wilhelmina for giving us hint of it in her oblique way.--wilhelmima's love for her brother rose to quite heroic pitch in coming years, and was at its highest when she died. that continuation of her memoirs in which she is to develop her brother's character, was never written: it has been sought for in modern times; and a few insignificant pages, with evidence that there is not, and was not, any more, are all that has turned up. [pertz, _ueber die denkwurdigkeiten der markgrafin van bayreuth_ (paper read in the _akademie der wissenschaften,_ berlin, th april, )]. incapable of falsity prepense, we say; but the known facts, which stand abundantly on record if you care to search them out, are merely as follows: friedrich, with such sincerity as there might be, did welcome wilhelmina on the morrow of her arrival; spoke of reinsberg, and of air and rest, and how pleasant it would be; rolled off next morning, having at last gathered up his businesses, and got them well in hand, to reinsberg accordingly; whither wilhelmina, with the queen regnant and others of agreeable quality, followed in two days; intending a long and pleasant spell of country out there. which hope was tolerably fulfilled, even for wilhelmina, though there did come unexpected interruptions, not of friedrich's bringing. unexpected news at reinsberg. friedrich's pursuits and intended conquests, for the present, are of peaceable and even gay nature. french theatre, italian opera-house, these are among the immediate outlooks. voltaire, skilled in french acting, if anybody ever were, is multifariously negotiating for a company of that kind,--let him be swift, be successful. [letters of voltaire (passim, in these months).] an italian opera there shall be; the house is still to be built: captain knobelsdorf, who built reinsberg, whom we have known, is to do it. knobelsdorf has gone to italy on that errand; "went by dresden, carefully examining the opera-house there, and all the famed opera-houses on his road." graun, one of the best judges living, is likewise off to italy, gathering singers. our opera too shall be a successful thing, and we hope, a speedy. such are friedrich's outlooks at this time. a miscellaneous pleasant company is here; truchsess and bielfeld, home from hanover, among them; wilhelmina is here;--voltaire himself perhaps coming again. friedrich drinks his pyrmont waters; works at his public businesses all day, which are now well in hand, and manageable by couriers; at evening he appears in company, and is the astonishment of everybody; brilliant, like a new-risen sun, as if he knew of no illness, knew of no business, but lived for amusement only. "he intends private theatricals withal, and is getting ready voltaire's mort de cesar." [preuss, _thronbesteigung,_ p. .] these were pretty days at reinsberg. this kind of life lasted seven or eight weeks,--in spite of interruptions of subterranean volcanic nature, some of which were surely considerable. here, in the very first week, coming almost volcanically, is one, which indeed is the sum of them all. tuesday forenoon, th october, , express arrives at reinsberg; direct from vienna five days ago; finds friedrich under eclipse, hidden in the interior, laboring under his ague-fit: question rises, shall the express be introduced, or be held back? the news he brings is huge, unexpected, transcendent, and may agitate the sick king. six or seven heads go wagging on this point,--who by accident are namable, if readers care: "prince august wilhelm," lately betrothed; "graf truchsess," home from hanover; "colonel graf von finkenstein," old tutor's son, a familiar from boyhood upwards; "baron pollnitz" kind of chief goldstick now, or master of the ceremonies, not too witty, but the cause of wit; "jordan, bielfeld," known to us; and lastly, "fredersdorf," major-domo and factotum, who is grown from valet to be purse-keeper, confidential manager, and almost friend,--a notable personage in friedrich's history. they decide, "better wait!" they wait accordingly; and then, after about an hour, the trembling-fit being over, and fredersdorf having cautiously preluded a little, and prepared the way, the despatch is delivered, and the king left with his immense piece of news. news that his imperial majesty karl vi. died, after short illness, on thursday, the th last. kaiser dead: house of hapsburg, and its five centuries of tough wrestling, and uneasy dominancy in this world, ended, gone to the distaff:--the counter-wrestling ambitions and cupidities not dead; and nothing but pragmatic sanction left between the fallen house and them! friedrich kept silence; showed no sign how transfixed he was to hear such tidings; which, he foresaw, would have immeasurable consequences in the world. one of the first was, that it cured friedrich of his ague. it braced him (it, and perhaps "a little quinquina which he now insisted on") into such a tensity of spirit as drove out his ague like a mere hiccough; quite gone in the course of next week; and we hear no more of that importunate annoyance. he summoned secretary eichel, "be ready in so many minutes hence;" rose from his bed, dressed himself; [preuss, _thronbesteigung,_ p. .]--and then, by eichel's help, sent off e for schwerin his chief general, and podewils his chief minister. a resolution, which is rising or has risen in the royal mind, will be ready for communicating to these two by the time they arrive, on the second day hence. this done, friedrich, i believe, joined his company in the evening; and was as light and brilliant as if nothing had happened. chapter viii. -- the kaiser's death. the kaiser's death came upon the public unexpectedly; though not quite so upon observant persons closer at hand. he was not yet fifty-six out; a firm-built man; had been of sound constitution, of active, not intemperate habits: but in the last six years, there had come such torrents of ill luck rolling down on him, he had suffered immensely, far beyond what the world knew of; and to those near him, and anxious for him, his strength seemed much undermined. five years ago, in summer , robinson reported, from a sure hand: "nothing can equal the emperor's agitation under these disasters [brought upon him by fleury and the spaniards, as after-clap to his polish-election feat]. his good empress is terrified, many times, he will die in the course of the night, when singly with her he gives a loose to his affliction, confusion and despair." sea-powers will not help; fleury and mere ruin will engulf! "what augments this agitation is his distrust in every one of his own ministers, except perhaps bartenstein," [robinson to lord warrington, th july, (in state-paper office).]--who is not much of a support either, though a gnarled weighty old stick in his way ("professor at strasburg once"): not interesting to us here. the rest his imperial majesty considers to be of sublimated blockhead type, it appears. prince eugene had died lately, and with eugene all good fortune. and then, close following, the miseries of that turk war, crashing down upon a man! they say, duke franz, maria theresa's husband, nominal commander in those campaigns, with the seckendorfs and wallises under him going such a road, was privately eager to have done with the business, on any terms, lest the kaiser should die first, and leave it weltering. no wonder the poor kaiser felt broken, disgusted with the long shadow-hunt of life; and took to practical field-sports rather. an army that cannot fight, war-generals good only to be locked in fortresses, an exchequer that has no money; after such wagging of the wigs, and such privy-councilling and such war-councilling:--let us hunt wild swine, and not think of it! that, thank heaven, we still have; that, and pragmatic sanction well engrossed, and generally sworn to by mankind, after much effort!-- the outer public of that time, and voltaire among them more deliberately afterwards, spoke of "mushrooms," an "indigestion of mushrooms;" and it is probable there was something of mushrooms concerned in the event, another subsequent frenchman, still more irreverent, adds to this of the "excess of mushrooms," that the kaiser made light of it. "when the doctors told him he had few hours to live, he would not believe it; and bantered his physicians on the sad news. 'look me in the eyes,' said he; 'have i the air of one dying? when you see my sight growing dim, then let the sacraments be administered, whether i order or not.'" doctors insisting, the kaiser replied: "'since you are foolish fellows, who know neither the cause nor the state of my disorder, i command that, once i am dead, you open my body, to know what the matter was; you can then come and let me know!"' [_anecdotes germaniques_ (paris, ), p. .]--in which also there is perhaps a glimmering of distorted truth, though, as monsieur mistakes even the day (" th october," says he, not th), one can only accept it as rumor from the outside. here, by an extremely sombre domestic gentleman of great punctuality and great dulness, are the authentic particulars, such as it was good to mention in vienna circles. [(anonymous) _des &c. romischen kaisers carl vi. leben und thaten_ (frankfurt und leipzig, ), pp. - .] an extremely dull gentleman, but to appearance an authentic; and so little defective in reverence that he delicately expresses some astonishment at death's audacity this year, in killing so many crowned heads. "this year ," says he, "though the weather throughout europe had been extraordinarily fine," or fine for a cold year, "had already witnessed several deaths of sovereigns: pope clement xii., friedrich wilhelm of prussia, the queen dowager of spain [termagant's old stepmother, not termagant's self by a great way]. but that was not enough: unfathomable destiny ventured now on imperial heads (wagte sich auch an kaiser-kronen): karl vi., namely, and russia's great, monarchess;"--an audacity to be remarked. of russia's great monarchess (czarina anne, with the big cheek) we will say nothing at present; but of karl vi. only,--abridging much, and studying arrangement. "thursday, october th, returning from halbthurn, a hunting seat of his," over in hungary some fifty miles, "to the palace favorita at vienna, his imperial majesty felt slightly indisposed,"--indigestion of mushrooms or whatever it was: had begun at halbthurn the night before, we rather understand, and was the occasion of his leaving. "the doctors called it cold on the stomach, and thought it of no consequence. in the night of saturday, it became alarming;" inflammation, thought the doctors, inflammation of the liver, and used their potent appliances, which only made the danger come and go; "and on the tuesday, all day, the doctors did not doubt his imperial majesty was dying. ["look me in the eyes; pack of fools; you will have to dissect me, you will then know:" any truth in all that? no matter.] "at noon of that tuesday he took the sacrament, the pope's nuncio administering. his majesty showed uncommonly great composure of soul, and resignation to the divine will;" being indeed "certain,"--so he expressed it to "a principal official person sunk in grief" (bartenstein, shall we guess?), who stood by him--"certain of his cause," not afraid in contemplating that dread judgment now near: "look at me! a man that is certain of his cause can enter on such a journey with good courage and a composed mind (mit gutem und delassenem muth)." to the doctors, dubitating what the disease was, he said, "if gazelli" my late worthy doctor, "were still here, you would soon know; but as it is, you will learn it when you dissect me;"--and once asked to be shown the cup where his heart would lie after that operation. "sacrament being over," tuesday afternoon, "he sent for his family, to bless them each separately. he had a long conversation with grand duke franz," titular of lorraine, actual of tuscany, "who had assiduously attended him, and continued to do so, during the whole illness." the grand duke's spouse,--maria theresa, the noble-hearted and the overwhelmed; who is now in an interesting state again withal; a little kaiserkin (joseph ii.) coming in five months; first child, a little girl, is now two years old;--"had been obliged to take to bed three days ago; laid up of grief and terror (vor schmerzen und schrecken), ever since sunday the th. nor would his imperial majesty permit her to enter this death-room, on account of her condition, so important to the world; but his majesty, turning towards that side where her apartment was, raised his right hand, and commanded her husband, and the archduchess her younger sister, to tell his theresa, that he blessed her herewith, notwithstanding her absence." poor kaiser, poor theresa! "most distressing of all was the scene with the kaiserin. the night before, on getting knowledge of the sad certainty, she had fainted utterly away (starke ohnmacht), and had to be carried into the grand duchess's [maria theresa's] room. being summoned now with her children, for the last blessing, she cried as in despair, 'do not leave me, your dilection, do not (ach euer liebden verlassen mich doch nicht)!'" poor good souls! "her imperial majesty would not quit the room again, but remained to the last. "wednesday, th, all day, anxiety, mournful suspense;" poor weeping kaiserin and all the world waiting; the inevitable visibly struggling on. "and in the night of that day [night of th- th oct., ], between one and two in the morning, death snatched away this most invaluable monarch (den preiswurdigsten monarchen) in the th year of his life;" and kaiser karl vi., and the house of hapsburg and its five tough centuries of good and evil in this world had ended. the poor kaiserin "closed the eyes" that could now no more behold her; "kissed his hands, and was carried out more dead than alive." [anonymous, ut supra, pp. - .--adelung, _pragmatische staatsgeschichte_ (gotha, - ), ii. . johann christoph adelung; the same who did the dictionary and many other deserving books; here is the precise title: _"pragmatische staatsgeschichte europens,"_ that is, "documentary history of europe, from kaiser karl's death, , till peace of paris, ." a solid, laborious and meritorious work, of its kind; extremely extensive ( vols. to, some of which are double and even treble), mostly in the undigested, sometimes in the quite uncooked or raw condition; perhaps about a fifth part of it consists of "documents" proper, which are shippable. it cannot help being dull, waste, dreary, but is everywhere intelligible (excellent indexes too),--and offers an unhappy reader by far the best resource attainable for survey of that sad period.] a good affectionate kaiserin, i do believe; honorable, truthful, though unwitty of speech, and converted by grandpapa in a peculiar manner, for her kaiser too, after all, i have a kind of love. of brilliant articulate intellect there is nothing; nor of inarticulate (as in friedrich wilhelm's case) anything considerable: in fact his shadow-hunting, and duelling with the termagant, seemed the reverse of wise. but there was something of a high proud heart in it, too, if we examine; and even the pragmatic sanction, though in practice not worth one regiment of iron ramrods, indicates a profoundly fixed determination, partly of loyal nature, such as the gods more or less reward. "he had been a great builder," say the histories; "was a great musician, fit to lead orchestras, and had composed an opera,"--poor kaiser. there came out large traits of him, in maria theresa again, under an improved form, which were much admired by the world. he looks, in his portraits, intensely serious; a handsome man, stoically grave; much the gentleman, much the kaiser or supreme gentleman. as, in life and fact, he was; "something solemn in him, even when he laughs," the people used to say. a man honestly doing his very best with his poor kaisership, and dying of chagrin by it. "on opening the body, the liver-region proved to be entirely deranged; in the place where the gall-bladder should have been, a stone of the size of a pigeon's egg was found grown into the liver, and no gall-bladder now there." that same morning, with earliest daylight, "thursday, th, six a.m.," maria theresa is proclaimed by her heralds over vienna: "according to pragmatic sanction, inheritress of all the," &c. &c.;--sovereign archduchess of austria, queen of hungary and bohemia, for chief items. "at seven her majesty took the oath from the generals and presidents of tribunals,--said, through her tears, 'all was to stand on the old footing, each in his post,'"--and the other needful words. couriers shoot forth towards all countries;--one express courier to regensburg, and the enchanted wiggeries there, to say that a new kaiser will be needed; reichs-vicar or vicars (kur-sachsen and whoever more, for they are sometimes disagreed about it) will have to administer in the interim. a second courier we saw arrive at reinsberg; he likewise may be important. the bavarian minister, karl albert kur-baiern's man, shot off his express, like the others; answer is, by return of courier, or even earlier (for a messenger was already on the road), make protest! "we kur-baiern solemnly protest against pragmatic sanction, and the assumption of such titles by the daughter of the late kaiser. king of bohemia, and in good part even of austria, it is not you, madam, but of right we; as, by heaven's help, it is our fixed resolution to make good!" protest was presented, accordingly, with all the solemnities, without loss of a moment. to which bartenstein and the authorities answered "pooh-pooh," as if it were nothing. it is the first ripple of an immeasurable tide or deluge in that kind, threatening to submerge the new majesty of hungary;--as had been foreseen at reinsberg; though bartenstein and the authorities made light of it, answering "pooh-pooh," or almost "ha-ha," for the present. her hungarian majesty's chief generals, seckendorf, wallis, neipperg, sit in their respective prison-wards at this time (from which she soon liberates them): kur-baiern has lodged protest; at reinsberg there will be an important resolution ready:--and in the austrian treasury (which employs , persons, big and little) there is of cash or available, resource, , florins, that is to say, , pounds net. [mailath, _geschichte des oestreichischen kaiserstaats_ (hamburg, ), v. .] and unless pragmatic sheepskin hold tighter than some persons expect, the affairs of austria and of this young archduchess are in a threatening way. his britannic majesty was on the road home, about helvoetsluys or on the sea for harwich, that night the kaiser died; of whose illness he had heard nothing. at london, ten days after, the sudden news struck dismally upon his majesty and the political circles there: "no help, then, from that quarter, in our spanish war; perhaps far other than help!"--nay, certain gazetteers were afraid the grand new anti-spanish expedition itself, which was now, at the long last, after such confusions and delays, lying ready, in great strength, naval and military, would be countermanded,--on pragmatic-sanction considerations, and the crisis probably imminent. [london newspapers ( st oct.- th nov., )]. but it was not countermanded; it sailed all the same, "november th" (seventh day after the bad news); and made towards--shall we tell the reader, what is officially a dead secret, though by this time well guessed at by the public, english and also spanish?--towards carthagena, to reinforce fiery vernon, in the tropical latitudes; and overset spanish america, beginning with that important town! commodore anson, he also, after long fatal delays, is off, several weeks ago; [ th ( th) september, .] round cape horn; hoping (or perhaps already not hoping) to co-operate from the other ocean, and be simultaneous with vernon,--on these loose principles of keeping time! commodore anson does, in effect, make a voyage which is beautiful, and to mankind memorable; but as to keeping tryst with vernon, the very gods could not do it on those terms! chapter ix. -- resolution formed at reinsberg in consequence. thursday, th october, two days after the expresses went for them, schwerin and podewils punctually arrived at reinsberg. they were carried into the interior privacies, "to long conferences with his majesty that day, and for the next four days; majesty and they even dining privately together;" grave business of state, none guesses how grave, evidently going on. the resolution friedrich laid before them, fruit of these two days since the news from vienna, was probably the most important ever formed in prussia, or in europe during that century: resolution to make good our rights on silesia, by this great opportunity, the best that will ever offer. resolution which had sprung, i find, and got to sudden fixity in the head of the young king himself; and which met with little save opposition from all the other sons of adam, at the first blush and for long afterwards. and, indeed, the making of it good (of it, and of the immense results that hung by it) was the main business of this young king's life henceforth; and cost him labors like those of hercules, and was in the highest degree momentous to existing and not yet existing millions of mankind,--to the readers of this history especially. it is almost touching to reflect how unexpectedly, like a bolt out of the blue, all this had come upon friedrich; and how it overset his fine program for the winter at reinsberg, and for his life generally. not the peaceable magnanimities, but the warlike, are the thing appointed friedrich this winter, and mainly henceforth. those "golden or soft radiances" which we saw in him, admirable to voltaire and to friedrich, and to an esurient philanthropic world,--it is not those, it is "the steel-bright or stellar kind," that are to become predominant in friedrich's existence: grim hail-storms, thunders and tornado for an existence to him, instead of the opulent genialities and halcyon weather, anticipated by himself and others! indisputably enough to us, if not yet to friedrich, "reinsberg and life to the muses" are done. on a sudden, from the opposite side of the horizon, see, miraculous opportunity, rushing hitherward,--swift, terrible, clothed with lightning like a courser of the gods: dare you clutch him by the thundermane, and fling yourself upon him, and make for the empyrean by that course rather? be immediate about it, then; the time is now, or else never!--no fair judge can blame the young man that he laid hold of the flaming opportunity in this manner, and obeyed the new omen. to seize such an opportunity, and perilously mount upon it, was the part of a young magnanimous king, less sensible to the perils, and more to the other considerations, than one older would have been. schwerin and podewils were, no doubt, astonished to learn what the royal purpose was; and could not want for commonplace objections many and strong, had this been the scene for dwelling on them, or dressing them out at eloquent length. but they knew well this was not the scene for doing more than, with eloquent modesty, hint them; that the resolution, being already taken, would not alter for commonplace; and that the question now lying for honorable members was, how to execute it? it is on this, as i collect, that schwerin and podewils in the king's company did, with extreme intensity, consult during those four days; and were, most probably, of considerable use to the king, though some of their modifications adopted by him turned out, not as they had predicted, but as he. on all the military details and outlines, and on all the diplomacies of this business, here are two oracles extremely worth consulting by the young king. to seize silesia is easy: a country open on all but the south side; open especially on our side, where a battalion of foot might force it; the three or four fortresses, of which only two, glogau and neisse, can be reckoned strong, are provided with nothing as they ought to be; not above , fighting men in the whole province, and these little expecting fight. silesia can be seized: but the maintaining of it?--we must try to maintain it, thinks friedrich. at reinsberg it is not yet known that kur-baiern has protested; but it is well guessed he means to do so, and that france is at his back in some sort. kur-baiern, probably kur-sachsen, and plenty more, france being secretly at their back. what low condition austria stands in, all its ready resources run to the lees, is known; and that france, getting lively at present with its belleisles and adventurous spirits not restrainable by fleury, is always on the watch to bring austria lower; capable, in spite of pragmatic sanction, to snatch the golden moment, and spring hunter-like on a moribund austria, were the hunting-dogs once out and in cry. to friedrich it seems unlikely the pragmatic sanction will be a law of nature to mankind, in these circumstances. his opinion is, "the old political system has expired with the kaiser." here is europe, burning in one corner of it by jenkins's ear, and such a smoulder of combustible material awakening nearer hand: will not europe, probably, blaze into general war; pragmatic sanction going to waste sheepskin, and universal scramble ensuing? in which he who has , good soldiers, and can handle them, may be an important figure in urging claims, and keeping what he has got hold of!-- friedrich's mind, as to the fact, is fixed: seize silesia we will: but as to the manner of doing it, schwerin and podewils modify him. their counsel is: "do not step out in hostile attitude at the very first, saying, 'these duchies, liegnitz, brieg, wohlau, jagerndorf, are mine, and i will fight for them;' say only, 'having, as is well known, interests of various kinds in this silesia, i venture to take charge of it in the perilous times now come, and will keep it safe for the real owner.' silesia seized in this fashion," continue they, "negotiate with the queen of hungary; offer her help, large help in men and money, against her other enemies; perhaps she will consent to do us right?"--"she never will consent," is friedrich's opinion. "but it is worth trying?" urge the ministers.--"well," answers friedrich, "be it in that form; that is the soft-spoken cautious form: any form will do, if the fact be there." that is understood to have been the figure of the deliberation in this conclave at reinsberg, during the four days. [stenzel (from what sources he does not clearly say, no doubt from sources of some authenticity) gives this as summary of it, iv. - .] and now it remains only to fix the military details, to be ready in a minimum of time; and to keep our preparations and intentions in impenetrable darkness from all men, in the interim. adieu, messieurs. and so, on the st of november, fifth morning since they came, schwerin and podewils, a world of new business silently ahead of them, return to berlin, intent to begin the same. all the kings will have to take their resolution on this matter; wisely, or else unwisely. king friedrich's, let it prove the wisest or not, is notably the rapidest,--complete, and fairly entering upon action, on november st. at london the news of the kaiser's death had arrived the day before; britannic majesty and ministry, thrown much into the dumps by it, much into the vague, are nothing like so prompt with their resolution on it. somewhat sorrowfully in the vague. in fact, they will go jumbling hither and thither for about three years to come, before making up their minds to a resolution: so intricate is the affair to the english nation and them! intricate indeed; and even imaginary,--definable mainly as a bottomless abyss of nightmare dreams to the english nation and them! productive of strong somnambulisms, as my friend has it!-- mystery in berlin, for seven weeks, while the preparations go on; voltaire visits friedrich to decipher it, but cannot. podewils and schwerin gone, king friedrich, though still very busy in working-hours, returns to his society and its gayeties and brilliancies; apparently with increased appetite after these four days of abstinence. still busy in his working-hours, as a king must be; couriers coming and going, hundreds of businesses despatched each day; and in the evening what a relish for society,--praetorius is quite astonished at it. music, dancing, play-acting, suppers of the gods, "not done till four in the morning sometimes," these are the accounts praetorius hears at berlin. "from all persons who return from reinsberg," writes he, "the unanimous report is, that the king works, the whole day through, with an assiduity that is unique; and then, in the evening, gives himself to the pleasures of society, with a vivacity of mirth and sprightly humor which makes those evening-parties charming." [excerpt, in preuss, _thronbesteigung, _ p. .] so it had to last, with frequent short journeys on friedrich's part, and at last with change to berlin as head-quarters, for about seven weeks to come,--till the beginning of december, and the day of action, namely. a notable little interim in friedrich's history and that of europe. friedrich's secret, till almost the very end, remained impenetrable; though, by degrees, his movements excited much guessing in the gazetteer and diplomatic world everywhere. military matters do seem to be getting brisk in prussia; arsenals much astir; troops are seen mustering, marching, plainly to a singular degree. marching towards the austrian side, towards silesia, some note. yes; but also towards cleve, certain detachments of troops are marching,--do not men see? and the intrenchment at buderich in those parts, that is getting forward withal,--though privately there is not the least prospect of using it, in these altered circumstances. friedrich already guesses that if he could get silesia, so invaluable on the one skirt of him, he mill probably have to give up his berg-julich claims on the other; i fancy he is getting ready to do so, should the time come for such alternative. but he labors at buderich, all the same, and "improves the roads in that quarter,"--which at least may help to keep an inquisitive public at bay. these are seven busy weeks on friedrich's part, and on the world's: constant realities of preparation, on the one part, industriously veiled; on the other part, such shadows, guessings, spyings, spectral movements above ground and below; diplomatic shadows fencing, gazetteer shadows rumoring;--dreams of a world as if near awakening to something great! "all officers on furlough have been ordered to their posts," writes bielfeld, on those vague terms of his: "on arriving at berlin, you notice a great agitation in all departments of the state. the regiments are ordered to prepare their equipages, and to hold themselves in readiness for marching. there are magazines being formed at frankfurt-on-oder and at crossen,"--handy for silesia, you would say? "there are considerable trains of artillery getting ready, and the king has frequent conferences with his generals." [bielfeld, i. (berlin, th november, is the date he puts to it).] the authentic fact is: "by the middle of november, troops, to the extent of , and more, had got orders to be ready for marching in three weeks hence; their public motions very visible ever since, their actual purpose a mystery to all mortals except three." towards the end of november, it becomes the prevailing guess that the business is immediate, not prospective; that silesia may be in the wind, not julich and berg. which infinitely quickens the shadowy rumorings and diplomatic fencings of mankind. the french have their special ambassador here; a marquis de beauvau, observant military gentleman, who came with the accession compliment some time ago, and keeps his eyes well open, but cannot see through mill-stones. fleury is intensely desirous to know friedrich's secret; but would fain keep his own (if he yet have one), and is himself quite tacit and reserved. to fleury's marquis de beauvau friedrich is very gracious; but in regard to secrets, is for a reciprocal procedure. could not voltaire go and try? it is thought fleury had let fall some hint to that effect, carried by a bird of the air. sure enough voltaire does go; is actually on visit to his royal friend; "six days with him at reinsberg;" perhaps near a fortnight in all ( november- december or so), hanging about those berlin regions, on the survey. here is an unexpected pleasure to the parties;--but in regard to penetrating of secrets, an unproductive one! voltaire's ostensible errand was, to report progress about the anti-machiavel, the van duren nonsense; and, at any rate, to settle the money-accounts on these and other scores; and to discourse philosophies, for a day or two, with the first of men. the real errand, it is pretty clear, was as above. voltaire has always a wistful eye towards political employment, and would fain make himself useful in high quarters. fleury and he have their touches of direct correspondence now and then; and obliquely there are always intermediates and channels. small hint, the slightest twinkle of fleury's eyelashes, would be duly speeded to voltaire, and set him going. we shall see him expressly missioned hither, on similar errand, by and by; though with as bad success as at present. of this his first visit to berlin, his second to friedrich, voltaire in the vie privee says nothing. but in his siecle de louis xv. he drops, with proud modesty, a little foot-note upon it: "the author was with the king of prussia at that time; and can affirm that cardinal de fleury was totally astray in regard to the prince he had now to do with." to which a date slightly wrong is added; the rest being perfectly correct. [_oeuvres_ (siecle de louis xv., c. ), xxviii. .] no other details are to be got anywhere, if they were of importance; the very dates of it in the best prussian books are all slightly awry. here, by accident, are two poor flint-sparks caught from the dust whirlwind, which yield a certain sufficing twilight, when put in their place; and show us both sides of the matter, the smooth side and the seamy:-- . friedrich to algarotti, at berlin. from "reinsberg, st nov.," showing the smooth side. "my dear swan of padua,--voltaire has arrived; all sparkling with new beauties, and far more sociable than at cleve. he is in very good humor; and makes less complaining about his ailments than usual. nothing can be more frivolous than our occupations here:" mere verse-making, dancing, philosophizing, then card-playing, dining, flirting; merry as birds on the bough (and silesia invisible, except to oneself and two others). [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xviii. .] . friedrich to jordan, at berlin. "ruppin, th november."... thy miser [voltaire, now gone to berlin, of whom jordan is to send news, as of all things else], thy miser shall drink to the lees of his insatiable desire (sic) to enrich himself: he shall have the , thalers ( pounds). he was with me six days: that will be at the rate of thalers ( pounds) a day. that is paying dear for one's merry-andrew (c'est bien payer un fou); never had court-fool such wages before." [ib. xvii. . particulars of the money-payment (travelling expenses chiefly, rather exorbitant, and this journey added to the list; and no whisper of the considerable van-duren moneys, and copyright of anti-machiavel, in abatement) are in rodenbeck, i. . exact sum paid is , thalers; , a good while ago, , at this time, which settles the greedy bill.] which latter, also at first hand, shows us the seamy side. and here, finally, with date happily appended, is a poetic snatch, in voltaire's exquisite style, which with the response gives us the medium view:-- voltaire's adieu (_"billet de conge,_ december, "). "non, malgre vos vertus, non, malgre vos appas, mon ame n'est point satisfaite; non, vous n'etes qu'une coquette, qui subjuguez les coeurs, et ne rous donnez pas." friedrich's response. "mon ame sent le prix de vos divins appas; mais ne presumez point qu'elle soit satisfaite. traitre, vous me quittez pour suivre une coquette; moi je ne vous quitterais pas." [_oeuvres de frederic_ (xiv. ); _oeuvres de voltaire;_ &c. &c.] --meaning, perhaps, in brief english: v. "ah, you are but a beautiful coquette; you charm away our hearts, and do not give your own [won't tell me your secret at all]!" f. "treacherous lothario, it is you that quit me for a coquette [your divine emilie; and won't stay here, and be of my academy]; but however--!" friedrich looked hopingly on the french, but could not give his secret except by degrees and with reciprocity. some days hence he said to marquis de beauvau, in the audience of leave, a word which was remembered. view of friedrich behind the veil. as to friedrich himself, since about the middle of november his plans seem to have been definitely shaped out in all points; troops so many, when to be on march, and how; no important detail uncertain since then. november th, he jots down a little note, which is to go to vienna, were the due hour come, by a special ambassador, one count gotter, acquainted with the ground there; and explain to her hungarian majesty, what his exact demands are, and what the exact services he will render. of which important little paper readers shall hear again. gotter's demands are at first to be high: our four duchies, due by law so long; these and even more, considering the important services we propose; this is to be his first word;--but, it appears, he is privately prepared to put up with two duchies, if he can have them peaceably: duchies of sagan and glogau, which are not of the four at all, but which lie nearest us, and are far below the value of the four, to austria especially. this intricate point friedrich has already settled in his mind. and indeed it is notably the habit of this young king to settle matters with himself in good time: and in regard to all manner of points, he will be found, on the day of bargaining about them, to have his own resolution formed and definitely fixed;--much to his advantage over conflicting parties, who have theirs still flying loose. another thing of much concernment is, to secure himself from danger of russian interference. to this end he despatches major winterfeld to russia, a man well known to him;--day of winterfeld's departure is not given; day of his arrival in petersburg is " th december" just coming. russia, at present, is rather in a staggering condition; hopeful for winterfeld's object. on the th of october last, only eight days after the kaiser, czarina anne of russia, she with the big cheek, once of courland, had died; "audacious death," as our poor friend had it, "venturing upon another crowned head" there. bieren her dear courlander, once little better than a horse-groom, now duke of courland, quasi-husband to the late big cheek, and thereby sovereign of russia, this long while past, is left official head in russia. poor little anton ulrich and his august spouse, well enough known to us, have indeed produced a czar iwan, some months ago, to the joy of mankind: but czar iwan is in his cradle: father and mother's function is little other than to rock the cradle of iwan; bieren to be regent and autocrat over him and them in the interim. to their chagrin, to that of feldmarschall munnich and many others: the upshot of which will be visible before long. czarina anne's death had seemed to friedrich the opportune removal of a dangerous neighbor, known to be in the pay of austria: here now are new mutually hostile parties springing up; chance, surely, of a bargain with some of them? he despatches winterfeld on this errand;--probably the fittest man in prussia for it. how soon and perfectly winterfeld succeeded, and what winterfeld was, and something of what a russia he found it, we propose to mention by and by. these, and all points of importance, friedrich has settled with himself some time ago. what his own private thoughts on the silesian adventure are, readers will wish to know, since they can at first hand. hear friedrich himself, whose veracity is unquestionable to such as know anything of him:-- "this silesian project fulfilled all his (the king's) political views,"--summed them all well up into one head. "it was a means of acquiriug reputation; of increasing the power of the state; and of terminating what concerned that long-litigated question of the berg-julich succession;"--can be sure of getting that, at lowest; intends to give that up, if necessary. "meanwhile, before entirely determining, the king weighed the risks there were in undertaking such a war, and the advantages that were to be hoped from it. on one side, presented itself the potent house of austria, not likely to want resources with so many vast provinces under it; an emperor's daughter attacked, who would naturally find allies in the king of england, in the dutch republic, and so many princes of the empire who had signed the pragmatic sanction." russia was--or had been, and might again be--in the pay of vienna. saxony might have some clippings from bohemia thrown to it, and so be gained over. scanty harvest, , threatened difficulties as to provisioning of troops. "the risks were great. one had to apprehend the vicissitudes of war. a single battle lost might be decisive. the king had no allies; and his troops, hitherto without experience, would have to front old austrian soldiers, grown gray in harness, and trained to war by so many campaigns. "on the other side were hopeful considerations,"--four in number: first, weak condition of the austrian court, treasury empty, war-apparatus broken in pieces; inexperienced young princess to defend a disputed succession, on those terms. second, there will be allies; france and england always in rivalry, both meddling in these matters, king is sure to get either the one or the other.--third, silesian war lies handy to us, and is the only kind of offensive war that does; country bordering on our frontier, and with the oder running through it as a sure high-road for everything. fourth, "what suddenly turned the balance," or at least what kept it steady in that posture,--"news of the czarina's death arrives:" russia has ceased to count against us; and become a manageable quantity. on, therefore!-- "add to these reasons," says the king, with a candor which has not been well treated in the history books, "add to these reasons, an army ready for acting; funds, supplies all found [lying barrelled in the schloss at berlin];--and perhaps the desire of making oneself a name," from which few of mortals able to achieve it are exempt in their young time: "all this was cause of the war which the king now entered upon." [_oeuvres de frederic_ (histoire de mon temps), i. .] "desire to make himself a name; how shocking!" exclaim several historians. "candor of confession that he may have had some such desire; how honest!" is what they do not exclaim. as to the justice of his silesian claims, or even to his own belief about their justice, friedrich affords not the least light which can be new to readers here. he speaks, when business requires it, of "those known rights" of his, and with the air of a man who expects to be believed on his word; but it is cursorily, and in the business way only; and there is not here or elsewhere the least pleading:--a man, you would say, considerably indifferent to our belief on that head; his eyes set on the practical merely. "just rights? what are rights, never so just, which you cannot make valid? the world is full of such. if you have rights and can assert them into facts, do it; that is worth doing!"-- we must add two notes, two small absinthine drops, bitter but wholesome, administered by him to the old dessauer, whose gloomy wonder over all this military whirl of prussian things, and discontent that he, lately the head authority, has never once been spoken to on it, have been great. guessing, at last, that it was meant for austria, a power rather dear to leopold, he can suppress himself no longer; but breaks out into cassandra prophesyings, which have piqued the young king, and provoke this return:-- . "reinsberg, th november, .--i have received your letter, and seen with what inquietude you view the approaching march of my troops. i hope you will set your mind at ease on that score; and wait with patience what i intend with them and you. i have made all my dispositions; and your serenity will learn, time enough, what my orders are, without disquieting yourself about them, as nothing has been forgotten or delayed."--friedrich. old dessauer, cut to the bone, perceives he will have to quit that method and never resume it; writes next how painful it is to an old general to see himself neglected, as if good for nothing, while his scholars are allowed to gather laurels. friedrich's answer is of soothing character:-- . "berlin, d december, .--you may be assured i honor your merits and capacity as a young officer ought to honor an old one, who has given the world so many proofs of his talent (dexteritat); nor will i neglect your serenity on any occasion when you can help me by your good counsel and co-operation." but it is a mere "bagatelle" this that i am now upon; though, next year, it may become serious. for the rest, saxony being a neighbor whose intentions one does not know, i have privately purposed your serenity should keep an outlook that way, in my absence. plenty of employment coming for your serenity. "but as to this present expedition, i reserve it for myself alone; that the world may not think the king of prussia marches with a tutor to the field."--friedrich. [orlich, _geschichte der schlesischen kriege_ (berlin, ), i. , .] and therewith leopold, eagerly complying, has to rest satisfied; and beware of too much freedom with this young king again. "berlin, december d," is the date of that last note to the dessauer; date also of voltaire's adieu with the response;--on which same day, "friday, december d," as i find from the old books, his majesty, quitting the reinsberg sojourn, "had arrived in berlin about p.m.; accompanied by prince august wilhelm [betrothed at brunswick lately]; such a crowd on the streets as if they had never seen him before." he continued at berlin or in the neighborhood thenceforth. busy days these; and berlin a much whispering city, as regiment after regiment marches away. king soon to follow, as is thought,--"who himself sometimes deigns to take the regiments into highest own eyeshine, hochst-eigenen augenschein" (that is, to review them), say the reverential editors. december th--but let us follow the strict sequence of phenomena at berlin. excellency botta has audience; then excellency dickens, and others: december th, the mystery is out. of course her hungarian majesty, and her bartensteins and ministries, heard enough of those prussian rumors, interior military activities, and enigmatic movements; but they seem strangely supine on the matter; indeed, they seem strangely supine on such matters; and lean at ease upon the sea-powers, upon pragmatic sanction and other laws of nature. but at length even they become painfully interested as to friedrich's intentions; and despatch an envoy to sift him a little: an expert marchese di botta, genoese by birth, skilful in the russian and other intricacies; who was here at berlin lately, doing the accession compliment (rather ill received at that time), and is fit for the job. perhaps botta will penetrate him? that is becoming desirable, in spite of the gay private theatricals at reinsberg, and the berlin carnival balls he is so occupied with. england is not less interested, and the diligent sir guy is doing his best; but can make out nothing satisfactory;--much the reverse indeed; and falls into angry black anticipations. "nobody here, great or small," says his excellency, "dares make any representation to this young prince against the measures he is pursuing; though all are sensible of the confusion which must follow. a prince who had the least regard to honor, truth and justice, could not act the part he is going to do." alas, no, excellency dickens! "but it is plain his only view was, to deceive us all, and conceal for a while his ambitious and mischievous designs." [despatch, th november- d december, : raumer, p. .] "never was such dissimulation!" exclaims the diplomatic world everywhere, being angered at it, as if it were a vice on the part of a king about to invade silesia. dissimulation, if that mean mendacity, is not the name of the thing; it is the art of wearing a polite cloak of darkness, and the king is little disturbed what name they call it. botta did not get to berlin till december st, had no audience till the th;--by which time it is becoming evident to excellency dickens, and to everybody, that silesia is the thing meant. botta hints as much in that first audience, december th: "terrible roads, those silesian ones, your majesty!" says botta, as if historically merely, but with a glance of the eye. "hm," answers his majesty in the same tone, "the worst that comes of them is a little mud!"--next day, dickens had express audience, "berlin, tuesday th:" a smartish, somewhat flurried colloquy with the king; which, well abridged, may stand as follows:-- dickens.... "indivisibility of the austrian monarchy, sire!"--king. "indivisibility? what do you mean?"--dickens. "the maintenance of the pragmatic sanction."--king. "do you intend to support it? i hope not; for such is not my intention." (there is for you!)... dickens. "england and holland will much wonder at the measures your majesty was taking, at the moment when your majesty proposed to join with them, and were making friendly proposals!" (has been a deceitful man, sir guy, at least an impenetrable;--but this latter is rather strong on your part!) "what shall i write to england?" ("when i mentioned this," says dickens, "the king grew red in the face," eyes considerably flashing, i should think.) king. "you can have no instructions to ask that question! and if you had, i have an answer ready for you. england has no right to inquire into my designs. your great sea-armaments, did i ask you any questions about them? no; i was and am silent on that head; only wishing you good luck, and that you may not get beaten by the spaniards." (dickens hastily draws in his rash horns again; after a pass or two, king's natural color returns.)... king. "austria as a power is necessary against the turks. but in germany, what need of austria being so superlative? why should not, say, three electors united be able to oppose her?... monsieur, i find it is your notion in england, as well as theirs in france, to bring other sovereigns under your tutorage, and lead them about. understand that i will not be led by either.... tush, you are like the athenians, who, when philip of macedon was ready to invade them, spent their time in haranguing!" dickens.... "berg and julich, if we were to guarantee them?"--king. "hm. don't so much mind that rhine country: difficulties there,--dutch always jealous of one. but, on the other frontier, neither england nor holland could take umbrage,"--points clearly to silesia, then, your excellency dickens? [raumer, (from state-paper office), pp. , .] alas, yes! troops and military equipments are, for days past, evidently wending towards frankfurt, towards crossen, and even the newspapers now hint that something is on hand in that quarter. nay, this same day, tuesday, th december, there has come out brief official announcement, to all the foreign ministers at berlin, excellency dickens among them, "that his royal majesty, our most all-gracious herr, has taken the resolution to advance a body of troops into schlesien,"--rather out of friendly views towards austria (much business lying between us about schlesien), not out of hostile views by any means, as all excellencies shall assure their respective courts. [copy of the paper in _helden-geschichte,_ i. .] announcement which had thrown the excellency dickens into such a frame of mind, before he got his audience to-day!-- saturday following, which was december th, marquis de beauvau had his audience of leave; intending for paris shortly: audience very gracious; covertly hinting, on both sides, more than it said; ending in these words, on the king's side, which have become famous: "adieu, then, m. le marquis. i believe i am going to play your game; if the aces fall to me, we will share (_je vais, je crois, jouer votre jeu: si les as me viennent, nous partagerons)!_" [voltaire, _oeuvres_ (siecle de louis xv., c. ), xxviii. .] to botta, all this while, friedrich strove to be specially civil; took him out to charlottenburg, that same saturday, with the queen and other guests; but botta, and all the world, being now certain about silesia, and that no amount of mud, or other terror on the roads, would be regarded, botta's thoughts in this evening party are not of cheerful nature. next day, sunday, december th, he too gets his audience of leave; and cannot help bursting out, when the king plainly tells him what is now afoot, and that the prussian ambassador has got instructions what to offer upon it at vienna. "sire, you are going to ruin the house of austria," cried botta, "and to plunge yourself into destruction (vous abimer) at the same time!"--"depends on the queen," said friedrich, "to accept the offers i have made her." botta sank silent, seemed to reflect, but gathering himself again, added with an ironical air and tone of voice, "they are fine troops, those of yours, sire. ours have not the same splendor of appearance; but they have looked the wolf in the face. think, i conjure you, what you are getting into!" friedrich answered with vivacity, a little nettled at the ironical tone of botta, and his mixed sympathy and menace: "you find my troops are beautiful; perhaps i shall convince you they are good too." yes, excellency botta, goodish troops; and very capable "to look the wolf in the face,"--or perhaps in the tail too, before all end! "botta urged and entreated that at least there should be some delay in executing this project. but the king gave him to understand that it was now too late, and that the rubicon was passed." [friedrich's own account (_oeuvres,_ ii. ).] the secret is now out, therefore; invasion of silesia certain and close at hand. "a day or two before marching," may have been this very day when botta got his audience, the king assembled his chief generals, all things ready out in the frankfurt-crossen region yonder; and spoke to them as follows; briefly and to the point:-- "gentlemen, i am undertaking a war, in which i have no allies but your valor and your good-will. my cause is just; my resources are what we ourselves can do; and the issue lies in fortune. remember continually the glory which your ancestors acquired in the plains of warsaw, at fehrbellin, and in the expedition to preussen [across the frische haf on ice, that time]. your lot is in your own hands: distinctions and rewards wait upon your fine actions which shall merit them. "but what need have i to excite you to glory? it is the one thing you keep before your eyes; the sole object worthy of your labors. we are going to front troops who, under prince eugene, had the highest reputation. though prince eugene is gone, we shall have to measure our strength against brave soldiers: the greater will be the honor if we can conquer. adieu, go forth. i will follow you straightway to the rendezvous of glory which awaits us." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ ii. .] masked ball, at berlin, th- th december. on the evening of monday, th, there was, as usual, masked (or half-masked) ball, at the palace. as usual; but this time it has become mentionable in world-history. bielfeld, personally interested, gives us a vivid glance into it;--which, though pretending to be real and contemporaneous, is unfortunately mythical only, and done at a great interval of years (dates, and even slight circumstances of fact, refusing to conform);--which, however, for the truth there is in it, we will give, as better than nothing. bielfeld's pretended date is, "berlin, th december;" should have been th,--wrong by a day, after one's best effort! "berlin, th december, . as for me, dear sister, i am like a shuttlecock whom the kings of prussia and of england hit with their rackets, and knock to and fro. the night before last, i was at the palace evening party (assemblee); which is a sort of ball, where you go in domino, but without mask on the face. the queen was there, and all the court. about eight o'clock the king also made his appearance. his majesty, noticing m. de g---[that is de guidiken, or guy dickens], english minister, addressed him; led him into the embrasure of a window, and talked alone with him for more than an hour [uncertain, probably apocryphal this]. i threw, from time to time, a stolen glance at this dialogue, which appeared to me to be very lively. a moment after, being just dancing with madame the countess de--three asterisks,--i felt myself twitched by the domino; and turning, was much surprised to see that it was the king; who took me aside, and said, 'are your boots oiled (vos bottes sont-elles graissies, are you ready for a journey)?' i replied, 'sire, they will always be so for your majesty's service.'--'well, then, truchsess and you are for england; the day after to-morrow you go. speak to m. de podewils!'--this was said like a flash of lightning. his majesty passed into another apartment; and i, i went to finish my minuet with the lady; who had been not less astonished to see me disappear from her eyes, in the middle of the dance, than i was at what the king said to me." [bielfeld, i. , .] next morning, i-- the fact is, next morning, truchsess and i began preparation for the court of london,--and we did there, for many months afterwards, strive our best to keep the britannic majesty in some kind of tune, amid the prevailing discord of events;--fact interesting to some. and the other fact, interesting to everybody, though bielfeld has not mentioned it, is, that king friedrich, the same next morning, punctually "at the stroke of ," rolled away frankfurt-ward,--into the first silesian war! tuesday, " th december, this morning, the king, privately quitting the ball, has gone [after some little snatch of sleep, we will hope] for frankfurt, to put himself at the head of his troops." [dickens (in state-paper office), th december, ; see also _helden-geschichte,_ i. ; &c. &c.] bellona his companion for long years henceforth, instead of minerva and the muses, as he had been anticipating. hereby is like to be fulfilled (except that friedrich himself is perhaps this "little stone") what friedrich prophesied to his voltaire, the day after hearing of the kaiser's death: "i believe there will, by june next, be more talk of cannon, soldiers, trenches, than of actresses, and dancers for the ballet. this small event changes the entire system of europe. it is the little stone which nebuchadnezzar saw, in his dream, loosening itself, and rolling down on the image made of four metals, which it shivers to ruin." [friedrich to voltaire, busy gathering actors at that time, th october, (_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxii. ).] history of friedrich ii. of prussia frederick the great by thomas carlyle volume vi. book vi.--double-marriage project, and crown-prince, going adrift under the storm-winds.-- - . chapter i. -- fifth crisis in the kaiser's spectre-hunt. the crown-prince's young life being, by perverse chance, involved and as it were absorbed in that foolish question of his english marriage, we have nothing for it but to continue our sad function; and go on painfully fishing out, and reducing to an authentic form, what traces of him there are, from that disastrous beggarly element,--till once he get free of it, either dead or alive. the winds (partly by art-magic) rise to the hurricane pitch, upon this marriage project and him; and as for the sea, or general tide of european politics--but let the reader look with his own eyes. in the spring of , war, as anticipated, breaks out; spaniards actually begin battering at gibraltar; kaiser's ambassador at london is angrily ordered to begone. causes of war were many: . duke de ripperda--tumbled out now, that illustrious diplomatic bulldog, at madrid--sought asylum in the english ambassador's house; and no respect was had to such asylum: that is one cause. . then, you english, what is the meaning of these war-fleets in the west indies; in the mediterranean, on the very coast of spain? we demand that you at once take them home again:--which cannot be complied with. . but above all things, we demand gibraltar of you:--which can still less be complied with. termagant elizabeth has set her heart on gibraltar: that, in such opportunity as this unexpected condition of the balances now gives her, is the real cause of the war. cession of gibraltar: there had been vague promises, years ago, on the kaiser's part; nay george himself, raw to england at that date, is said to have thought the thing might perhaps be done.--"do it at once, then!" said the termagant queen, and repeated, with ever more emphasis;--and there being not the least compliance, she has opened parallels before the place, and begun war and ardent firing there; [ d february, (scholl, ii. ). salmon, _chronological historian_ (london, ; a very incorrect dark book, useful only in defect of better), ii. . coxe, _memoirs of walpole,_ i. , ; ii. - .] preceded by protocols, debates in parliament; and the usual phenomena. it is the fifth grand crisis in the kaiser's spectre-huntings; fifth change in the color of the world-lobster getting boiled in that singular manner;--second sputter of actual war. which proved futile altogether; and amounts now, in the human memory; to flat zero,--unless the following infinitesimally small fraction be countable again:-- "sputtering of war; that is to say, siege of gibraltar. a siege utterly unmemorable, and without the least interest, for existing mankind with their ungrateful humor,--if it be not; once more, that the father of tristram shandy was in it: still a lieutenant of foot, poor fellow; brisk, small, hot-tempered, loving, 'liable to be cheated ten times a day if nine will not suffice you.' he was in this siege; shipped to the rock to make stand there; and would have done so with the boldest,--only he got into duel (hot-tempered, though of lamb-like innocence), and was run through the body; not entirely killed, but within a hair's breadth of it; and unable for service while this sputtering went on. little lorry is still living; gone to school in yorkshire, after pranks enough, and misventures,--half-drowning 'in the mill-race at annamoe in ireland,' for one. [laurence sterne's _autobiography_ (cited above).] the poor lieutenant father died, soldiering in the west indies; soon after this; and we shall not mention him again. but history ought to remember that he is 'uncle toby,' this poor lieutenant, and take her measures!--the siege of gibraltar, we still see with our eyes, was in itself nothing." truly it might well enough have grown to universal flame of war. but this always needs two parties; and pacific george would not be second party in it. george, guided by pacific walpole, backed by pacific fleury, answers the ardent firing by phlegmatic patience and protocolling; not by counter-firing, except quite at his convenience, from privateers, from war-ships here and there, and in sulky defence from gibraltar itself. probably the termagant, with all the fire she has, will not do much damage upon gibraltar? such was george's hope. whereby the flame of war, ardent only in certain spanish batteries upon the point of san roque, does not spread hitherto,--though all mortals, and friedrich wilhelm as much as any, can see the imminent likelihood there is. in such circumstances, what a stroke of policy to have disjoined friedrich wilhelm from the hanover alliance, and brought him over to our own! is not grumkow worth his pension? "grumkow serves honorably." let the invaluable seckendorf persevere. crown-prince seen in dryasdust's glass, darkly. to know the special figure of the crown-prince's way of life in those years, who his friends, companions were, what his pursuits and experiences, would be agreeable to us; but beyond the outline already given, there is little definite on record. he now resides habitually at potsdam, be the court there or not; attending strictly to his military duties in the giant regiment; it is only on occasion, chiefly perhaps in "carnival time," that he gets to berlin, to partake in the gayeties of society. who his associates there or at potsdam were? suhm, the saxon resident, a cultivated man of literary turn, famed as his friend in time coming, is already at his diplomatic post in berlin, post of difficulty just now; but i know not whether they have yet any intimacy. [preuss, _friedrich mit seinen verwandten und freunden_, p. .] this we do know, the crown-prince begins to be noted for his sprightly sense, his love of literature, his ingenuous ways; in the court or other circles, whatsoever has intelligence attracts him, and is attracted by him. the roucoulles soirees,--gone all to dim backram for us, though once so lively in their high periwigs and speculations,--fall on wednesday. when the finkenstein or the others fall,--no doubt his royal highness knows it. in the tabaks-collegium, there also, driven by duty, he sometimes appears; but, like seckendorf and some others, he only affects to smoke, and his pipe is mere white clay. nor is the social element, any more than the narcotic vapor which prevails there, attractive to the young prince,--though he had better hide his feelings on the subject. out at potsdam, again, life goes very heavy; the winged psyche much imprisoned in that pipe-clay element, a prey to vacancy and many tediums and longings. daily return the giant drill-duties; and daily, to the uttermost of rigorous perfection, they must be done:--"this, then, is the sum of one's existence, this?" patience, young "man of genius," as the newspapers would now call you; it is indispensably beneficial nevertheless! to swallow one's disgusts, and do faithfully the ugly commanded work, taking no council with flesh and blood: know that "genius," everywhere in nature, means this first of all; that without this, it means nothing, generally even less. and be thankful for your potsdam grenadiers and their pipe-clay!-- happily he has his books about him; his flute: duhan, too, is here, still more or less didactic in some branches; always instructive and companionable, to him. the crown-prince reads a great deal; very many french books, new and old, he reads; among the new, we need not doubt, the _henriade_ of m. arouet junior (who now calls himself voltaire), which has risen like a star of the first magnitude in these years. [london, , in surreptitious incomplete state, _la ligue_ the title; then at length, london, , as _henriade,_ in splendid to,--by subscription (king, prince and princess of wales at the top of it), which yielded , pounds: see voltaire, _oeuvres completes,_ xiii. .] an incomparable piece, patronized by royalty in england; the delight of all kindred courts. the light dancing march of this new "epic," and the brisk clash of cymbal music audible in it, had, as we find afterwards, greatly captivated the young man. all is not pipe-clay, then, and torpid formalism; aloft from the murk of commonplace rise glancings of a starry splendor, betokening--oh, how much! out of books, rumors and experiences, young imagination is forming to itself some picture of the world as it is, as it has been. the curtains of this strange life-theatre are mounting, mounting,--wondrously as in the case of all young souls; but with what specialties, moods or phenomena of light and shadow, to this young soul, is not in any point recorded for us. the "early letters to wilhelmina, which exist in great numbers," from these we had hoped elucidation: but these the learned editor has "wholly withheld as useless," for the present. let them be carefully preserved, on the chance of somebody's arising to whom they may have uses!-- the worst feature of these years is friedrich wilhelm's discontent with them. a crown-prince sadly out of favor with papa. this has long been on the growing hand; and these double-marriage troubles, not to mention again the new-fangled french tendencies (blitz franzosen!), much aggravate the matter, and accelerate its rate of growth. already the paternal countenance does not shine upon him; flames often; and thunders, to a shocking degree;--and worse days are coming. chapter ii. -- death of george i. gibraltar still keeps sputtering; ardent ineffectual bombardment from the one side, sulky, heavy blast of response now and then from the other: but the fire does not spread; nor will, we may hope. it is true, sweden and denmark have joined the treaty of hanover, this spring; and have troops on foot, and money paid them; but george is pacific; gibraltar is impregnable; let the spaniards spend their powder there. as for the kaiser, he is dreadfully poor; inapt for battle himself. and in the end of this same may, , we hear, his principal ally, czarina catherine, has died;--poor brown little woman, lithuanian housemaid, russian autocrat, it is now all one;--dead she, and can do nothing. probably the kaiser will sit still? the kaiser sits still; with eyes bent on gibraltar, or rolling in grand imperial inquiry and anxiety round the world; war-outlooks much dimmed for him since the end of may. alas, in the end of june, what far other job's-post is this that reaches berlin and queen sophie? that george i., her royal father, has suddenly sunk dead! with the solstice, or summer pause of the sun, st or d june, almost uncertain which, the majesty of george i. did likewise pause,--in his carriage, on the road to osnabruck,--never to move more. whereupon, among the simple people, arose rumors of omens, preternaturalisms, for and against: how his desperate megaera of a wife, in the act of dying, had summoned him (as was presumable), to appear along with her at the great judgment-bar within year and day; and how he has here done it. on the other hand, some would have it noted, how "the nightingales in herrenhausen gardens had all ceased singing for the year, that night he died,"--out of loyalty on the part of these little birds, it seemed presumable. [see kohler, _munzbelustigungen,_ x. .] what we know is, he was journeying towards hanover again, hopeful of a little hunting at the gorhde; and intended seeing osnabruck and his brother the bishop there, as he passed. that day, st june, , from some feelings of his own, he was in great haste for osnabruck; hurrying along by extra-post, without real cause save hurry of mind. he had left his poor old maypole of a mistress on the dutch frontier, that morning, to follow at more leisure. he was struck by apoplexy on the road,--arm fallen powerless, early in the day, head dim and heavy; obviously an alarming case. but he refused to stop anywhere; refused any surgery but such as could be done at once. "osnabruck! osnabruck!" he reiterated, growing visibly worse. two subaltern hanover officials, "privy-councillor von hardenberg, kammerherr (chamberlain) von fabrice, were in the carriage with him;" [gottfried, _historische chronik_ (frankfurt, ), iii. . boyer, _the political state of great britain,_ vol. xxxiii. pp. , .] king chiefly dozing, and at last supported in the arms of fabrice, was heard murmuring, "c'est fait de moi ('t is all over with me)!" and "osnabruck! osnabruck!" slumberously reiterated he: to osnabruck, where my poor old brother, bishop as they call him, once a little boy that trotted at my knee with blithe face, will have some human pity on me! so they rushed along all day, as at the gallop, his few attendants and he; and when the shades of night fell, and speech had now left the poor man, he still passionately gasped some gurgle of a sound like "osnabruck;"--hanging in the arms of fabrice, and now evidently in the article of death. what a gallop, sweeping through the slumber of the world: to osnabruck, osnabruck! in the hollow of the night (some say, one in the morning), they reach osnabruck. and the poor old brother,--ernst august, once youngest of six brothers, of seven children, now the one survivor, has human pity in the heart of him full surely. but george is dead; careless of it now. [coxe (i. ) is "indebted to his friend nathaniel wraxall" for these details,--the since famous sir nathaniel, in whose _memoirs_ (vague, but not mendacious, not unintelligent) they are now published more at large. see his _memoirs of the courts of berlin, dresden,_ &c. (london. ), i. - ; also _historical memoirs_ (london, ), iv. - .] after sixty-seven years of it, he has flung his big burdens,--english crowns, hanoverian crownlets, sulkinesses, indignations, lean women and fat, and earthly contradictions and confusions,--fairly off him; and lies there. the man had his big burdens, big honors so called, absurd enough some of them, in this world; but he bore them with a certain gravity and discretion: a man of more probity, insight and general human faculty than he now gets credit for. his word was sacred to him. he had the courage of a welf, or lion-man; quietly royal in that respect at least. his sense of equity, of what was true and honorable in men and things, remained uneffaced to a respectable degree; and surely it had resisted much. wilder puddle of muddy infatuations from without and from within, if we consider it well,--of irreconcilable incoherences, bottomless universal hypocrisies, solecisms bred with him and imposed on him,--few sons of adam had hitherto lived in. he was, in one word, the first of our hanover series of english kings; that hitherto unique sort, who are really strange to look at in the history of the world. of whom, in the english annals, there is hitherto no picture to be had; nothing but an empty blur of discordant nonsenses, and idle, generally angry, flourishings of the pen, by way of picture. the english nation, having flung its old puritan, sword-and-bible faith into the cesspool,--or rather having set its old bible-faith, minus any sword, well up in the organ-loft, with plenty of revenue, there to preach and organ at discretion, on condition always of meddling with nobody's practice farther,--thought the same (such their mistake) a mighty pretty arrangement; but found it hitch before long. they had to throw out their beautiful nell-gwynn defenders of the faith; fling them also into the cesspool; and were rather at a loss what next to do. "where is our real king, then? who is to lead us heavenward, then; to rally the noble of us to him, in some small measure, and save the rest and their affairs from running devilward?"--the english nation being in some difficulty as to kings, the english nation clutched up the readiest that came to hand; "here is our king!" said they,--again under mistake, still under their old mistake. and, what was singular, they then avenged themselves by mocking, calumniating, by angrily speaking, writing and laughing at the poor mistaken king so clutched!--it is high time the english were candidly asking themselves, with very great seriousness indeed, what it was they had done, in the sight of god and man, on that and the prior occasion? and above all, what it is they will now propose to do in the sequel of it! dig gold-nuggets, and rally the ignoble of us?-- george's poor lean mistress, coming on at the usual rate of the road, was met, next morning, by the sad tidings. she sprang from her carriage into the dusty highway; tore her hair (or headdress), half-frantic; declared herself a ruined woman; and drove direct to berlin, there to compose her old mind. she was not ill seen at court there; had her connections in the world. fieldmarshal schulenburg, who once had the honor of fighting (not to his advantage) with charles xii., and had since grown famous by his anti-turk performances in the venetian service, is a brother of this poor maypole's; and there is a nephew of hers, one of friedrich wilhelm's field-officers here, whom we shall meet by and by. she has been obliging to queen sophie on occasions; they can, and do, now weep heartily together. i believe she returned to england, being duchess of kendal, with heavy pensions there; and "assiduously attended divine ordinances, according to the german protestant form, ever afterwards." poor foolish old soul, what is this world, with all its dukeries!-- the other or fat mistress, "cataract of fluid tallow," countess of darlington, whom i take to have been a half-sister rather, sat sorrowful at isleworth; and kept for many years a black raven, which had come flying in upon her; which she somehow understood to be the soul, or connected with the soul, of his majesty of happy memory. [horace walpole, _reminiscences._] good heavens, what fat fluid-tallowy stupor, and entirely sordid darkness, dwells among mankind; and occasionally finds itself lifted to the very top, by way of sample!-- friedrich wilhelm wept tenderly to brigadier dubourgay, the british minister at berlin (an old military gentleman, of diplomatic merit, who spells rather ill), when they spoke of this sad matter. my poor old uncle; he was so good to me in boyhood, in those old days, when i blooded cousin george's nose! not unkind, ah, only proud and sad; and was called sulky, being of few words and heavy-laden. ah me, your excellenz; if the little nightingales have all fallen silent, what may not i, his son and nephew, do?--and the rugged majesty blubbered with great tenderness; having fountains of tears withal, hidden in the rocky heart of him, not suspected by every one. [dubourgay's despatches, in the state-paper office.] i add only that the fabrice, who had poor george in his arms that night, is a man worth mentioning. the same fabrice (fabricius, or perhaps goldschmidt in german) who went as envoy from the holstein-gottorp people to charles xii. in his turkish time; and stayed with his swedish majesty there, for a year or two, indeed till the catastrophe came. his official letters from that scene are in print, this long while, though considerably forgotten; [_anecdotes du sejour du roi de suide a bender, ou lettres de m. le baron de fabrice pour servir d'elaircissement a l'histoire de charles xii._ (hambourg, , vo).] a little volume, worth many big ones that have been published on that subject. the same fabrice, following hanover afterwards, came across to london in due course; and there he did another memorable thing: made acquaintance with the monsieur arouet, then a young french exile there, arouet junior ("le jeune or l. j."), who,--by an ingenious anagram, contrived in his indignation at such banishment,--writes himself voltaire ever since; who has been publishing a henriade, and doing other things. now it was by questioning this fabrice, and industriously picking the memory of him clean, that m. de voltaire wrote another book, much more of an "epic" than henri iv.,--a history, namely, of charles xii.; [see voltaire, _oeuvres completes_, ii. , xxx. , . came out in (ib. xxx. avant-propos, p. ii).] which seems to me the best-written of all his books, and wants nothing but truth (indeed a dreadful want) to make it a possession forever. voltaire, if you want fine writing; adlerfeld and fabrice, if you would see the features of the fact: these three are still the books upon charles xii. his prussian majesty falls into one of his hypochondriacal fits. before this event, his majesty was in gloomy humor; and special vexations had superadded themselves. early in the spring, a difficult huff of quarrel, the consummation of a good many grudges long subsisting, had fallen out with his neighbor of saxony, the majesty of poland, august, whom we have formerly heard of, a conspicuous majesty in those days; called even "august the great" by some persons in his own time; but now chiefly remembered by his splendor of upholstery, his enormous expenditure in drinking and otherwise, also by his three hundred and fifty-four bastards (probably the maximum of any king's performance in that line), and called august der starke, "august the physically strong." this exemplary sovereign could not well be a man according to friedrich wilhelm's heart: accordingly they had their huffs and little collisions now and then: that of the protestant directorate and heidelberg protestants, for instance; indeed it was generally about protestantism; and more lately there had been high words and correspondings about the "protestants of thorn" (a bad tragedy, of jesuit intrusion and polish ferocity, enacted there in ); [account of it in buchholz, i. - .]--in which sad business friedrich wilhelm loyally interfered, though britannic george of blessed memory and others were but lukewarm; and nothing could be done in it. nothing except angry correspondence with king august; very provoking to the poor soul, who had no hand but a nominal one in the thorn catastrophe, being driven into it by his unruly diet alone. in fact, august, with his glittering eyes and excellent physical constitution, was a very good-humored fellow; supremely pleasant in society; and by no means wishful to cheat you, or do you a mischief in business,--unless his necessities compelled him; which often were great. but friedrich wilhelm always kept a good eye on such points; and had himself suffered nothing from the gay eupeptic son of belial, either in their old stralsund copartnery or otherwise. so that, except for these protestant affairs,--and alas, one other little cause,--friedrich wilhelm had contentedly left the physically strong to his own course, doing the civilities of the road to him when they met; and nothing ill had fallen out between them. this other little cause--alas, it is the old story of recruiting; one's poor hobby again giving offence! special recruiting brabbles there had been; severe laws passed in saxony about these kidnapping operations: and always in the diets, when question rose of this matter, august had been particularly loud in his denouncings. which was unkind, though not unexpected. but now, in the spring of , here has a worse case than any arisen. captain natzmer, of i know not what prussian regiment, "sachsen-weimar cuirassiers" [_militair-lexikon,_ iii. .] or another, had dropt over into saxony, to see what could be done in picking up a tall man or two. tall men, one or two, captain natzmer did pick up, nay a tall deserter or two (saxon soldier, inveigled to desert); but finding his operations get air, he hastily withdrew into brandenburg territory again. saxon officials followed him into brandenburg territory; snapt him back into saxon; tried him by saxon law there;--saxon law, express in such case, condemns him to be hanged; and that is his doom accordingly. "captain natzmer to swing on the gallows? taken on brandenburg territory too, and not the least notice given me?" friedrich wilhelm blazes into flaming whirlwind; sends an official gentleman, one katsch, to his excellenz baron von suhm (the crown-prince's cultivated friend), with this appalling message: "if natzmer be hanged, for certain i will use reprisals; you yourself shall swing!" whereupon suhm, in panic, fled over the marches to his master; who bullied him for his pusillanimous terrors; and applied to friedrich wilhelm, in fine frenzy of indignant astonishment, "what, in heaven's name, such meditated outrage on the law of nations, and flat insult to the majesty of kings, can have meant?" friedrich wilhelm, the first fury being spent, sees that he is quite out of square; disavows the reprisals upon suhm. "message misdelivered by my official gentleman, that stupid katsch; never did intend to hang suhm; oh, no;" with much other correspondence; [in mauvillon (ii. - ) more of it than any one will read.]--and is very angry at himself, and at the natzmer affair, which has brought him into this bad pass. into open impropriety; into danger of an utter rupture, had king august been of quarrelsome turn. but king august was not quarrelsome; and then seckendorf and the tobacco-parliament,--on the kaiser's score, who wants pragmatic sanction and much else out of these two kings, and can at no rate have them quarrel in the present juncture,--were eager to quench the fire. king august let natzmer go; suhm returned to his post; [pollnitz, ii. .] and things hustled themselves into some uneasy posture of silence again;--uneasy to the sensitive fancy of friedrich wilhelm above all. this is his worst collision with his neighbor of saxony; and springing from one's hobby again!-- these sorrows, the death of george i., with anxieties as to george ii. and the course he might take; all this, it was thought, preyed upon his majesty's spirits;--wilhelmina says it was "the frequent carousals with seckendorf," and an affair chiefly of the royal digestive-apparatus. like enough;--or both might combine. it is certain his majesty fell into one of his hypochondrias at this time; talked of "abdicating" and other gloomy things, and was very black indeed. so that seckendorf and grumkow began to be alarmed. it is several months ago he had franke the halle methodist giving ghostly counsel; his majesty ceased to have the newspapers read at dinner; and listened to lugubrious franke's exhortations instead. did english readers ever hear of franke? let them make a momentary acquaintance with this famous german saint. august hermann franke, a lubeck man, born ; professor of theology, of hebrew, lecturer on the bible; a wandering, persecuted, pious man. founder of the "pietists," a kind of german methodists, who are still a famed sect in that country; and of the waisenhaus, at halle, grand orphan-house, built by charitable beggings of franke, which also still subsists. a reverend gentleman, very mournful of visage, now sixty-four; and for the present, at berlin, discoursing of things eternal, in what wilhelmina thinks a very lugubrious manner. well; but surely in a very serious manner! the shadows of death were already round this poor franke; and in a few weeks more, he had himself departed. [died th june, .] but hear wilhelmina, what account she gives of her own and the young grenadier-major's behavior on these mournful occasions. seckendorf's dinners she considers to be the cause; all spiritual, sorrows only an adjunct not worth mentioning. it is certain enough. "his majesty began to become valetudinary; and the hypochondria which tormented him rendered his humor very melancholy. monsieur franke, the famous pietist, founder of the orphan-house at halle university, contributed not a little to exaggerate that latter evil. this reverend gentleman entertained the king by raising scruples of conscience about the most innocent matters. he condemned all pleasures; damnable all of them, he said, even hunting and music. you were to speak of nothing but the word of god only; all other conversation was forbidden. it was always he that carried on the improving talk at table; where he did the office of reader, as if it had been a refectory of monks. the king treated us to a sermon every afternoon; his valet-de-chambre gave out a psalm, which we all sang; you had to listen to this sermon with as much devout attention as if it had been an apostle's. my brother and i had all the mind in the world to laugh; we tried hard to keep from laughing; but often we burst out. thereupon reprimand, with all the anathemas of the church hurled out on us; which we had to take with a contrite penitent air, a thing not easy to bring your face to at the moment. in a word, this dog of a franke [he died within few months, poor soul, ce chien de franke] led us the life of a set of monks of la trappe. "such excess of bigotry awakened still more gothic thoughts in the king. he resolved to abdicate the crown in favor of my brother. he used to talk, he would reserve for himself , crowns a year; and retire with the queen and his daughters to wusterhausen. there, added he, i will pray to god; and manage the farming economy, while my wife and girls take care of the household matters. you are clever, he said to me; i will give you the inspection of the linen, which you shall mend and keep in order, taking good charge of laundry matters. frederika [now thirteen, married to anspach two years hence], who is miserly, shall have charge of all the stores of the house. charlotte [now eleven, duchess of brunswick by and by] shall go to market and buy our provisions; and my wife shall take charge of the little children, [says friedrich wilhelm], and of the kitchen." [little children are: . sophie dorothee, now eight, who married margraf of schwedt, and was unhappy; . ulrique, a grave little soul of seven, queen of sweden afterwards; . august wilhelm, age now five, became father of a new friedrich wilhelm, who was king by and by, and produced the kings that still are; . amelia, now four, born in the way we saw; and . henri, still in arms, just beginning to walk. there will be a sixth and no more (son of this sixth, a berlin roue was killed, in , at the battle of jena, or a day or two before); but the sixth is not yet come to hand.] poor friedrich wilhelm; what an innocent idyllium;--which cannot be executed by a king. "he had even begun to work at an instruction, or farewell advice, for my brother; and to point towards various steps, which alarmed grumkow and seckendorf to a high degree." [wilhelmina, _memoires de bareith,_ i. .] "abdication," with a crown-prince ready to fall into the arms of england, and a sudden finis to our black-art, will by no means suit seckendorf and grumkow! yet here is winter coming; solitary wusterhausen, with the misty winds piping round it, will make matters worse: something must be contrived; and what? the two, after study, persuade fieldmarshal flemming over at warsaw (august the strong's chief man, the flemming of voltaire's charles xii.; prussian by birth, though this long while in saxon service), that if he the fieldmarshal were to pay, accidentally, as it were, a little visit to his native brandenburg just now, it might have fine effects on those foolish berlin-warsaw clouds that had risen. the fieldmarshal, well affected in such a case, manages the little visit, readily persuading the polish majesty; and dissipates the clouds straightway,--being well received by friedrich wilhelm, and seconded by the tobacco-parliament with all its might. out at wusterhausen everything is comfortably settled. nay madam flemming, young, brilliant, and direct from the seat of fashion; it was she that first "built up" wilhelmina's hair on just principles, and put some life into her appearance. [wilhelmina, i. .] and now the fieldmarshal (tobacco-parliament suggesting it) hints farther, "if his prussian majesty, in the mere greatness of his mind, were to appear suddenly in dresden when his royal friend was next there,--what a sunburst after clouds were that; how welcome to the polish majesty!"--"hm, na, would it, then?"--the polish majesty puts that out of question; specially sends invitation for the carnival-time just coming; and friedrich wilhelm will, accordingly, see dresden and him on that occasion. [ib. i. , ; pollnitz, ii. ; fassman, p. .] in those days, carnival means "fashionable season," rural nobility rallying to head-quarters for a while, and social gayeties going on; and in protestant countries it means nothing more. this, in substance, was the real origin of friedrich wilhelm's sudden visit to dresden, which astonished the world, in january next. it makes a great figure in the old books. it did kindle dresden carnival and the physically strong into supreme illumination, for the time being; and proved the seal of good agreement, and even of a kind of friendliness between this heteroclite pair of sovereigns,--if anybody now cared for those points. it is with our crown-prince's share in it that we are alone concerned; and that may require a chapter to itself. chapter iii. -- visit to dresden. one of the most important adventures, for our young crown-prince, was this visit of his, along with papa, to dresden in the carnival of . visit contrived by seckendorf and company, as we have seen, to divert the king's melancholy, and without view to the crown-prince at all. the crown-prince, now sixteen, and not in the best favor with his father, had not been intended to accompany; was to stay at potsdam and diligently drill: nevertheless an estafette came for him from the gallant polish majesty;--wilhelmina had spoken a word to good suhm, who wrote to his king, and the hospitable message came. friedrich made no loitering,--to dresden is but a hundred miles, one good day;--he arrived there on the morrow after his father; king "on the th january, ," dates fassmann; "crown-prince on the th," which i find was thursday. the crown-prince lodged with fieldmarshal flemming; friedrich wilhelm, having come in no state, refused king august's pressings, and took up his quarters with "the general fieldmarshal wackerbarth, commandant in dresden,"--pleasant old military gentleman, who had besieged stralsund along with him in times gone. except grumkow, derschau and one or two of less importance, with the due minimum of valetry, he had brought no retinue; the crown-prince had finkenstein and kalkstein with him, tutor and sub-tutor, officially there. and he lodges with old count flemming and his clever fashionable madam,--the diligent but unsuccessful flemming, a courtier of the highest civility, though iracund, and "with a passion for making treaties," whom we know since charles xii.'s time. amongst the round of splendors now set on foot, friedrich wilhelm had, by accident of nature, the spectacle of a house on fire,--rather a symbolic one in those parts,--afforded him, almost to start with. deep in the first saturday night, or rather about two in the morning of sunday, wackerbarth's grand house, kindling by negligence somewhere in the garrets, blazed up, irrepressible; and, with its endless upholsteries, with a fine library even, went all into flame: so that his majesty, scarcely saving his chatoulle (box of preciosities), had to hurry out in undress;--over to flemming's where his son was; where they both continued thenceforth. this was the one touch of rough, amid so much of dulcet that occurred: no evil, this touch, almost rather otherwise, except to poor wackerbarth, whose fine house lay wrecked by it. the visit lasted till february th, four weeks and a day. never was such thrice-magnificent carnival amusements: illuminations, cannon-salvoings and fire-works; operas, comedies, redoubts, sow-baitings, fox and badger-baiting, reviewing, running at the ring:--dinners of never-imagined quality, this, as a daily item, needs no express mention. to the young soldier-apprentice all this was, of course, in pleasant contrast with the potsdam guard-house; and friedrich wilhelm himself is understood to have liked at least the dinners, and the airy courteous ways, light table-wit and extreme good humor of the host. a successful visit; burns off like successful fire-works, piece after piece: and what more is to be said? of all this nothing;--nor, if we could help it, of another little circumstance, not mentioned by the newspapers or fassmann, which constitutes the meaning of this visit for us now. it is a matter difficult to handle in speech. an english editor, chary of such topics, will let two witnesses speak, credible both, though not eye-witnesses; and leave it to the reader so. babbling pollnitz is the first witness; he deposes, after alluding to the sumptuous dinings and drinkings there:-- "one day the two kings, after dinner, went in domino to the redoubt [ridotto, what we now call rout or evening party]. august had a mind to take an opportunity, and try whether the reports of friedrich wilhelm's indifference to the fair sex were correct or not. to this end, he had had a young damsel (junge person) of extraordinary beauty introduced into some side-room; where they now entered. she was lying on a bed, in a loose gauzy undress; and though masked, showed so many charms to the eye that the imagination could not but judge very favorably of the rest. the king of poland approached, in that gallant way of his, which had gained him such favor with women. he begged her to unmask; she at first affected reluctance, and would not. he then told her who he was; and said, he hoped she would not refuse, when two kings begged her to show them this complaisance. she thereupon took off her mask, and showed them one of the loveliest faces in the world. august seemed quite enchanted; and said, as if it had been the first time he ever saw her, he could not comprehend how so bewitching a beauty had hitherto remained unknown to him. "friedrich wilhelm could not help looking at her. he said to the king of poland, 'she is very beautiful, it must be owned;'--but at the same instant turned his eyes away from her; and left the room, and the ridotto altogether without delay; went home, and shut himself in his room. he then sent for herr von grumkow, and bitterly complained that the king of poland wanted to tempt him. herr von grumkow, who was neither so chaste nor so conscientious as the king, was for making a jest of the matter; but the king took a very serious tone; and commanded him to tell the king of poland in his name, 'that he begged him very much not to expose him again to accidents of that nature, unless he wished to have him quit dresden at once.' herr von grumkow did his message. the king of poland laughed heartily at it; went straight to friedrich wilhelm, and excused himself. the king of prussia, however, kept his grim look; so that august ceased joking, and turned the dialogue on some other subject." [pollnitz, ii. .] this is pollnitz's testimony, gathered from the whispers of the tabagie, or rumors in the court-circles, and may be taken as indisputable in the main. wilhelmina, deriving from similar sources, and equally uncertain in details, paints more artistically; nor has she forgotten the sequel for her brother, which at present is the essential circumstance:-- "one evening, when the rites of bacchus had been well attended to, the king of poland led the king [my father], strolling about, by degrees, into a room very richly ornamented, all the furniture and arrangements of which were in a quite exquisite taste. the king, charmed with what he saw, paused to contemplate the beauties of it a little; when, all on a sudden, a curtain rose, and displayed to him one of the most extraordinary sights. it was a girl in the condition of our first parents, carelessly lying on a bed. this creature was more beautiful than they paint venus and the graces; she presented to view a form of ivory whiter than snow, and more gracefully shaped than the venus de' medici at florence. the cabinet which contained this treasure was lighted by so many wax-candles that their brilliancy dazzled you, and gave a new splendor to the beauties of the goddess. "the authors of this fine comedy did not doubt but the object would make an impression on the king's heart; but it was quite otherwise. no sooner had he cast his eyes on the beauty than he whirled round with indignation; and seeing my brother behind him, he pushed him roughly out of the room, and immediately quitted it himself; very angry at the scene they had been giving him, he spoke of it, that same evening, to grumkow, in very strong terms; and declared with emphasis that if the like frolics were tried on him again, he would at once quit dresden. "with my brother it was otherwise. in spite of the king's care, he had got a full view of that cabinet venus; and the sight of her did not inspire in him so much horror as in his father." [wilhelmina, i. .]--very likely not!--and in fact, "he obtained her from the king of poland, in a rather singular way _(d'une facon assez singuliere)"_--describable, in condensed terms, as follows:-- wilhelmina says, her poor brother had been already charmed over head and ears by a gay young baggage of a countess orzelska; a very high and airy countess there; whose history is not to be touched, except upon compulsion, and as if with a pair of tongs,--thrice famous as she once was in this saxon court of beelzebub. she was king august's natural daughter; a french milliner in warsaw had produced her for him there. in due time, a male of the three hundred and fifty-four, one rutowski, soldier by profession, whom we shall again hear of, took her for mistress; regardless of natural half-sisterhood, which perhaps he did not know of. the admiring rutowski, being of a participative turn, introduced her, after a while, to his honored parent and hers; by whom next--heavens, human language is unequal to the history of such things! and it is in this capacity she now shines supreme in the saxon court; ogling poor young fritz, and driving him distracted;--which phenomenon the beelzebub parent-lover noticed with pain and jealousy, it would appear. "his polish majesty distinguished her extremely," says pollnitz, [_memoires,_ ii. .] "and was continually visiting her; so that the universal inference was"--to the above unspeakable effect. "she was of fine figure; had something grand in her air and carriage, and the prettiest humor in the world. she often appeared in men's clothes, which became her very well. people said she was extremely open-handed;" as indeed the beelzebub parent-lover was of the like quality (when he had cash about him), and to her, at this time, he was profuse beyond limit. truly a tempting aspect of the devil, this expensive orzelska: something beautiful in her, if there are no laws in this universe; not so beautiful, if there are! enough to turn the head of a poor crown-prince, if she like, for some time. he is just sixteen gone; one of the prettiest lads and sprightliest; his homage, clearly enough, is not disagreeable to the baggage. wherefore jealous august, the beelzebub-parent, takes his measures; signifies to fritz, in direct terms, or by discreet diplomatic hints and innuendoes, that he can have the cabinet venus (formera her name, of opera-singer kind);--hoping thereby that the orzelska will be left alone in time coming. a _"facon assez singuliere"_ for a sovereign majesty and beelzebub parent-lover, thinks wilhelmina. thus has our poor fritz fallen into the wake of beelzebub; and is not in a good way. under such and no better guidance, in this illicit premature manner, he gets his introduction to the paradise of the world. the formera, beautiful as painted chaos; yes, her;--and why not, after a while, the orzelska too, all the same? a wonderful armida-garden, sure enough. and cannot one adore the painted divine beauties there (lovely as certain apples of the dead sea), for some time?--the miseries all this brought into his existence,--into his relations with a father very rigorous in principle, and with a universe still more so,--for years to come, were neither few nor small. and that is the main outcome of the dresden visitings for him and us.-- great pledges pass between the two kings; prussian crown-prince decorated with the order of the saxon eagle, or what supreme distinction they had: rutowski taken over to berlin to learn war and drill, where he did not remain long: in fact a certain liking seems to have risen between the two heteroclite individualities, which is perhaps worth remembering as a point in natural history, if not otherwise. one other small result of the visit is of pictorial nature. in the famed dresden gallery there is still a picture, high up, visible if you have glasses, where the saxon court-painter, on friedrich wilhelm's bidding it is said, soon after these auspicious occurrences, represents the two majesties as large as life, in their respective costumes and features (short potsdam grenadier-colonel and tall saxon darius or sardanapalus), in the act of shaking hands; symbolically burying past grudges, and swearing eternal friendship, so to speak. [forster, i. .] to this editor the picture did not seem good for much; but friedrich wilhelm's portrait in it, none of the best, may be of use to travelling friends of his who have no other. the visit ended on the th of february, as the newspapers testify. long before daybreak, at three in the morning, friedrich wilhelm, "who had smoked after dinner till nine the night before," and taken leave of everybody, was on the road; but was astonished to find king august and the electoral prince or heir-apparent (who had privately sat up for the purpose) insist on conducting him to his carriage. [boyer, xxxv. .] "great tokens of affection," known to the newspapers, there were; and one token not yet known, a promise on king august's part that he would return this ever-memorable compliment in person at potsdam and berlin in a few months. remember, then!-- as for the poor crown-prince, whom already his father did not like, he now fell into circumstances more abstruse than ever in that and other respects. bad health, a dangerous lingering fit of that, soon after his return home, was one of the first consequences. frequent fits of bad health, for some years coming; with ominous rumors, consultations of physicians, and reports to the paternal majesty, which produced small comfort in that quarter. the sad truth, dimly indicated, is sufficiently visible: his life for the next four or five years was "extremely dissolute." poor young man, he has got into a disastrous course; consorts chiefly with debauched young fellows, as lieutenants katte, keith, and others of their stamp, who lead him on ways not pleasant to his father, nor conformable to the laws of this universe. health, either of body or of mind, is not to be looked for in his present way of life. the bright young soul, with its fine strengths and gifts; wallowing like a young rhinoceros in the mud-bath:--some say, it is wholesome for a human soul; not we! all this is too certain; rising to its height in the years we are now got to, and not ending for four or five years to come: and the reader can conceive all this, and whether its effects were good or not. friedrich wilhelm's old-standing disfavor is converted into open aversion and protest, many times into fits of sorrow, rage and despair, on his luckless son's behalf;--and it appears doubtful whether this bright young human soul, comparable for the present to a rhinoceros wallowing in the mud-bath, with nothing but its snout visible, and a dirty gurgle all the sound it makes, will ever get out again or not. the rhinoceros soul got out; but not uninjured; alas, no; bitterly polluted, tragically dimmed of its finest radiances for the remainder of life. the distinguished sauerteig, in his springwurzeln, has these words: "to burn away, in mad waste, the divine aromas and plainly celestial elements from our existence; to change our holy-of-holies into a place of riot; to make the soul itself hard, impious, barren! surely a day is coming, when it will be known again what virtue is in purity and continence of life; how divine is the blush of young human cheeks; how high, beneficent, sternly inexorable if forgotten, is the duty laid, not on women only, but on every creature, in regard to these particulars? well; if such a day never come again, then i perceive much else will never come. magnanimity and depth of insight will never come; heroic purity of heart and of eye; noble pious valor, to amend us and the age of bronze and lacquer, how can they ever come? the scandalous bronze-lacquer age, of hungry animalisms, spiritual impotencies and mendacities, will have to run its course, till the pit swallow it."-- in the case of friedrich, it is certain such a day never fully came. the "age of bronze and lacquer," so as it then stood,--relieved truly by a backbone of real spartan iron (of right battle steel when needed): this was all the world he ever got to dream of. his ideal, compared to that of some, was but low; his existence a hard and barren, though a genuine one, and only worth much memory in the absence of better. enough of all that. the physically strong pays his counter-visit. august the strong paid his return-visit in may following. of which sublime transaction, stupendous as it then was to the journalistic mind, we should now make no mention, except for its connection with those points,--and more especially for a foolish rumor, which now rose about prince fred and the double-marriage, on occasion of it. the magnificence of this visit and reception being so extreme,--king august, for one item, sailing to it, with sound of trumpet and hautbois, in silken flotillas gayer than cleopatra's, down the elbe,--there was a rush towards berlin of what we will not call the scum, but must call the foam of mankind, rush of the idle moneyed populations from all countries; and such a crowd there, for the three weeks, as was seldom seen. foam everywhere is stirred up, and encouraged to get under way. prince frederick of hanover and england, "duke of edinburgh" as they now call him, "duke of gloucester" no longer, it would seem, nor "prince of wales" as yet; he, foamy as another, had thoughts of coming; and rumor of him rose very high in berlin,--how high we have still singular proof. here is a myth, generated in the busy court-imagination of berlin at this time; written down by pollnitz as plain fact afterwards; and from him idly copied into coxe [coxe's _walpole_ (london, ), i. .] and other english books. we abridge from watery pollnitz, taking care of any sense he has. this is what ran in certain high-frizzled heads then and there: and was dealt out in whispers to a privileged few, watery pollnitz's informers among them, till they got a myth made of it. frederick duke of edinburgh, second hope of england at this time, he is the hero. it appears, this loose young gentleman, standing in no favor with his sovereign father, had never yet been across to england, the royal parent preferring rather not to have him in sight; and was living idle at hanover; very eager to be wedded to wilhelmina, as one grand and at present grandest resource of his existence. it is now may, ; and frederick duke of edinburgh is twenty-one. he writes to his aunt and intended mother-in-law, queen sophie (date not ascertainable to a day, note burnt as soon as read): "that he can endure this tantalizing suspense no longer; such endless higgling about a supreme blessedness, virtually agreed upon, may be sport to others, but is death to him. that he will come privately at once, and wed his wilhelmina; and so make an end; the big-wigs to adjust it afterwards as they can and may." whereupon sophie dorothee, gladdest of women, sends for dubourgay the british ambassador (brigadier dubourgay, the respectable old gentleman who spells ill, who is strong for the double-marriage always), to tell him what fine news there is, and what answer she has sent. respectable dubourgay stands silent, with lengthening face: "your majesty, how unfortunate that i of all men now hear it! i must instantly despatch a courier with the news to london!" and the respectable man, stoically deaf to her majesty's entreaties, to all considerations but that of his evident duty, "sends the courier" (thinks pollnitz);--nips thereby that fine hanover speculation in the bud, sees prince fred at once summoned over to england, and produces several effects. nearly the whole of which, on examining the documents, [dubourgay's despatches ( : may, june, october), in the state-paper office here.] proves to be myth. pollnitz himself adds two circumstances, in regard to it, which are pretty impossible: as, first, that friedrich wilhelm had joyfully consented to this clandestine marriage, and was eagerly waiting for it; second, that george ii. too had privately favored or even instigated the adventure, being at heart willing to escape the trouble of messages to parliament, to put his son in the wrong, and i know not what. [pollnitz, ii. - .] the particles of fact in the affair are likewise two: first, that queen sophie, and from her the courtier public generally, expected the hanover royal highness, who probably had real thoughts of seeing berlin and his intended, on this occasion; dubourgay reports daily rumors of the royal highness being actually "seen" there in an evanescent manner; and wilhelmina says, her mother was so certain of him, "she took every ass or mule for the royal highness,"--heartily indifferent to wilhelmina. this is the first particle of fact. the second is, that a subaltern official about the royal highness, one lamothe of hanover, who had appeared in berlin about that time, was thrown into prison not long after, for what misbehavior none knew,--for encouraging dissolute royal highness in wild schemes, it was guessed. and so the myth grew, and was found ready for pollnitz and his followers. royal highness did come over to england; not then as the myth bears, but nine months afterwards in december next; and found other means of irritating his imperative, flighty, irascible and rather foolish little father, in an ever-increasing degree. "very coldly received at court," it is said: ill seen by walpole and the powers; being too likely to become a focus of opposition there. the visit, meanwhile, though there came no duke of edinburgh to see it, was sublime in the extreme; polish majesty being magnificence itself; and the frugal friedrich wilhelm lighting up his dim court into insurpassable brilliancy, regardless of expense; so that even the smoking parliament (where august attended now and then) became luminous. the crown-prince, who in late months had languished in a state of miserable health, in a manner ominous to his physicians, confined mostly to his room or his bed, was now happily on foot again;--and wilhelmina notes one circumstance which much contributed to his recovery: that the fair orzelska had attended her natural (or unnatural) parent, on this occasion; and seemed to be, as wilhelmina thinks, uncommonly kind to the crown-prince. the heir-apparent of saxony, a taciturn, inoffensive, rather opaque-looking gentleman, now turned of thirty, and gone over to papistry long since, with views to be king of poland by and by, which proved effectual as we shall find, was also here: count bruhl, too, still in a very subaltern capacity, and others whom we and the crown-prince shall have to know. the heir-apparent's wife (actual kaiser's niece, late kaiser joseph's daughter, a severe austrian lady, haughtier than lovely) has stayed at home in dresden. but here, at first hand, is a slight view of that unique polish majesty, the saxon man of sin; which the reader may be pleased to accept out of idle curiosity, if for no better reason. we abridge from wilhelmina; [i. .] whom fassmann, kindled to triple accuracy by this grand business, is at hand to correct where needful: [_des glorwurdigsten fursten und herrn, herrn friedrich augusti des grossen leben und helden-thaten_ (of that most glorious prince and lord, lord friedrich august the great, king of poland, &c., the life and heroic deeds), by d. f. (david fassmann), frankfurt and leipzig, ; mo, pp. . a work written with upturned eyes of prostrate admiration for "dero majestat ('theiro' majesty) august the great;" exact too, but dealing merely with the clothes of the matter, and such a matter: work unreadable, except on compulsion, to the stupidest mortal. the same fassmann, who was at the fair of st. germain, who lodged sometimes with the potsdam giant, and whose ways are all fallen dark to us.] "the king of poland arrived upon us at berlin on the th of may," says wilhelmina; had been at potsdam, under friedrich wilhelm's care, for three days past: saturday afternoon, th may, ; that is with exactitude the ever-memorable date. he paid his respects in her majesty's apartment, for an instant, that evening; but made his formal visit next day. very grand indeed. carried by two shining parti-colored creatures, heyducs so-called, through double rows of mere peerages and sublimities, in a sublime sedan (being lame of a foot, foot lately amputated of two toes, sore still open): "in a sedan covered with red velvet gallooned with gold," says the devout fassmann, tremblingly exact, "up the grand staircase along the grand gallery;" in which supreme region (apartments of the late king friedrich of gorgeous memory) her majesty now is for the occasion. "the queen received him at the door of her third antechamber," says wilhelmina; third or outmost antechamber, end of that grand gallery and its peerages and shining creatures: "he gave the queen his hand, and led her in." we princesses were there, at least the grown ones of us were. all standing, except the queen only. "he refused to sit, and again refused;" stoically talked graciosities, disregarding the pain of his foot; and did not, till refusal threatened to become uncivil, comply with her majesty's entreaties. "how unpolite!" smiled he to us young ones. "he had a majestic port and physiognomy; an affable polite air accompanied all his movements, all his actions." kind of stereotyped smile on his face; nothing of the inner gloom visible on our charles ii. and similar men of sin. he looked often at wilhelmina, and was complimentary to a degree,--for reasons undivinable to wilhelmina. for the rest, "much broken for his age;" the terrible debaucheries (les debauches terribles) having had their effect on him. he has fallen widower last year. his poor wife was a brandenburg-baireuth princess; a devout kind of woman; austerely witnessing the irremediable in her lot. he has got far on with his three hundred and fifty-four; is now going fifty-five;--lame of a foot, as we see, which the great petit of paris cannot cure, neither he nor any surgeon, but can only alleviate by cutting off two toes. pink of politeness, no doubt of it; but otherwise the strangest dilapidated hulk of a two-legged animal without feathers; probably, in fact, the chief natural solecism under the sun at that epoch;--extremely complimentary to us princesses, to me especially. "he quitted her majesty's apartment after an hour's conversation: she rose to reconduct him, but he would by no manner of means permit that,"--and so vanished, carried off doubtless by the shining creatures again. the "electoral prince" heir-apparent, next made his visit; but he was a dry subject in comparison, of whom no princess can say much. prince friedrich will know him better by and by. young maurice, "count of saxony," famed afterwards as marechal de saxe, he also is here with his half-sister orzelska and the others, in the train of the paternal man of sin; and makes acquaintance with friedrich. he is son of the female konigsmark called aurora ("who alone of mortals could make charles twelfth fly his ground"); nephew, therefore, of the male konigsmark who was cut down long ago at hanover, and buried in the fireplace. he resembles his father in strength, vivacity, above all things in debauchery, and disregard of finance. they married him at the due years to some poor rich woman; but with her he has already ended; with her and with many others. courland, adrienne lecouvreur, anne iwanowna with the big cheek:--the reader has perhaps searched out these things for himself from the dull history-books;--or perhaps it was better for him if he never sought them? dukedom of courland, connected with polish sovereignty, and now about to fall vacant, was one of count maurice's grand sallies in the world. adrienne lecouvreur, foolish french actress, lent him all the , pounds she had gathered by holding the mirror up to nature and otherwise, to prosecute this courland business; which proved impossible for him. he was adventurous enough, audacious enough; fought well; but the problem was, to fall in love with the dowager anne iwanowna, cousin of czar peter ii.; big brazen russian woman (such a cheek the pictures give her, in size and somewhat in expression like a westphalia ham!), who was widow of the last active duke:--and this, with all his adventurous audacity, count maurice could not do. the big widow discovered that he did not like westphalia hams in that particular form; that he only pretended to like them; upon which, in just indignation, she disowned and dismissed him; and falling herself to be czarina not long afterwards, and taking bieren the courlander for her beloved, she made bieren duke, and courland became impossible for count maurice. however, he too is a dashing young fellow; "circular black eyebrows, eyes glittering bright, partly with animal vivacity, partly with spiritual;" stands six feet in his stockings, breaks horse-shoes with his hands; full of irregular ingenuity and audacity; has been soldiering about, ever since birth almost; and understands many a thing, though the worst speller ever known. with him too young fritz is much charmed: the flower, he, of the illegitimate three hundred and fifty-four, and probably the chief achievement of the saxon man of sin in this world, where he took such trouble. friedrich and he maintained some occasional correspondence afterwards; but, to judge by friedrich's part of it (mere polite congratulations on fontenoy, and the like), it must have been of the last vacuity; and to us it is now absolute zero, however clearly spelt and printed. [given altogether in _oeuvres de frederic le grand,_ xvii. - . see farther, whoever has curiosity, preuss, _friedrichs lebensgeschichte,_ iii. - ; espagnac, _vie du comte de saxe_ (a good little military book, done into german, leipzig, , vols.); cramer, _denkwurdigkeiten der grafin aurora von konigsmark_ (leipzig, ); &c. &c.] the physically strong, in some three weeks, after kindling such an effulgence about berlin as was never seen before or since in friedrich wilhelm's reign, went his way again,--"towards poland for the diet," or none of us cares whither or for what. here at berlin he has been sublime enough. some of the phenomena surpassed anything wilhelmina ever saw: such floods and rows of resplendent people crowding in to dinner; and she could not but contrast the splendor of the polish retinues and their plumages and draperies, with the strait-buttoned prussian dignitaries, all in mere soldier uniform, succinct "blue coat, white linen gaiters," and no superfluity even in the epaulettes and red facings. at table, she says, they drank much, talked little, and bored one another a great deal (s'ennuyoient beaucoup). of princess whilhelmina's four kings and other ineffectual suitors. dilapidated polish majesty, we observed, was extremely attentive to wilhelmina; nor could she ascertain, for long after, what the particular reason was. long after, wilhelmina ascertained that there had been the wonderfulest scheme concocting, or as good as concocted, in these swearings of eternal friendship: no other than that of marrying her, wilhelmina, now a slim maiden coming nineteen, to this dilapidated saxon man of sin going (or limping) fifty-five, and broken by debauches terribles (rivers of champagne and tokay, for one item), who had fallen a widower last year! they had schemed it all out, wilhelmina understands: friedrich wilhelm to advance such and such moneys as dowry, and others furthermore as loan, for the occasions of his polish majesty, which are manifold; wilhelmina to have the lausitz (lusatia) for jointure, lausitz to be friedrich wilhelm's pledge withal; and other intricate conditions; [wilhelmina, i. .] what would wilhelmina have thought? one shudders to contemplate;--hopes it might mostly be loose brain-web and courtier speculation, never settled towards fact. it is certain, the dilapidated polish majesty having become a widower, questions would rise, will not he marry again? and with whom? certain also, he wants friedrich wilhelm's alliance; having great schemes on the anvil, which are like to be delicate and perilous,--schemes of "partitioning poland," no less; that is to say, cutting off the outskirts of poland, flinging them to neighboring sovereigns as propitiation, or price of good-will, and rendering the rest hereditary in his family. pragmatic sanction once acceded to, would probably propitiate the kaiser? for which, and other reasons, polish majesty still keeps that card in his hand. friedrich wilhelm's alliance, with such an army and such a treasury, the uses of that are evident to the polish majesty.--by the blessing of heaven, however, his marriage with wilhelmina never came to anything: his electoral prince, heir-apparent, objected to the jointures and alienations, softly, steadily; and the project had to drop before wilhelmina ever knew of it. and this man is probably one of the "four kings" she was to be asked by? a swedish officer, with some skill in palmistry, many years ago, looked into her innocent little hand, and prophesied, "she was to be in terms of courtship, engagement or as good as engagement, with four kings, and to wed none of them." wilhelmina counts them in her mature days. the first will surprise everybody,--charles xii. of sweden;--who never can have been much of a suitor, the rather as the young lady was then only six gone; but who, might, like enough, be talked of, by transient third-parties, in those old stralsund times. the second,--cannot we guess who the second is? the third is this august the dilapidated strong. as to the second, wilhelmina sees already, in credulous moments, that it may be hanover fred, whom she will never marry either;--and does not see (nor did, at the time of writing her _memoires,_ "in " say the books) that fred never would come to kingship, and that the palmistry was incomplete in that point. the fourth, again, is clearly young czar peter ii.; of whom there was transient talk or project, some short time after this of the dilapidated third. but that too came to nothing; the poor young lad died while only fifteen; nay he had already "fallen in love with his aunt elizabeth" (infame catin du nord in time coming), and given up the prussian prospect. [he was the great peter's grandson (son having gone a tragical road )]; czar, may, --january, : anne iwanowna (great peter's niece, elder brother's daughter), our courland friend with the big cheek, succeeded; till her death, october, : then, after some slight shock of revolution, the elizabeth just mentioned, who was daughter of the great peter by his little brown czarina catherine whom we once met. see mannstein, _memoirs of russia_ (london, ), pp. - , for some account of peter ii.; and the rest of the volume for a really intelligent history of this anne, at least of her wars, where mannstein himself usually had part. all which would be nothing, or almost less, to wilhelmina, walking fancy-free there,--were it not for papa and mamma, and the importunate insidious by-standers. who do make a thing of it, first and last! never in any romance or stage-play was young lady, without blame, without furtherance and without hindrance of her own, so tormented about a settlement in life;--passive she, all the while, mere clay in the hands of the potter; and begging the universe to have the extreme goodness only to leave her alone!-- thus too, among the train of king august in this berlin visit, a certain soldier official of his, duke of sachsen weissenfels, johann adolf by name, a poor cadet cousin of the saxon house,--another elderly royal highness of small possibility,--was particularly attentive to wilhelmina; now and on subsequent occasions. titular duke of weissenfels, brother of the real duke, and not even sure of the succession as yet; but living on king august's pay; not without capacity of drink and the like, some allege:--otherwise a mere betitled, betasselled elderly military gentleman, of no special qualities, evil or good;--who will often turn up again in this history; but fails always to make any impression on us except that of a serene highness in the abstract; unexceptionable human mask, of polite turn, behung with titles, and no doubt a stomach in the inside of it: he now, and afterwards, by all opportunities, diligently continued his attentions in the wilhelmina quarter. for a good while it was never guessed what he could be driving at; till at last queen sophie, becoming aware of it, took him to task; with cold severity, reminded him that some things are on one's level, and some things not. to which humbly bowing, in unfeigned penitence, he retired from the audacity, back foremost: would never even in dreams have presumed, had not his prussian majesty authorized; would now, since her prussian majesty had that feeling, withdraw silently, and live forgotten, as an obscure royal highness in the abstract (though fallen widower lately) ought to do. and so at least there was an end of that matter, one might hope,--though in effect it still abortively started up now and then, on papa's part, in his frantic humors, for years to come. then there is the margraf of schwedt, friedrich wilhelm by name, chief prince of the blood, his majesty's cousin, and the old dessauer's nephew; none of the likeliest of men, intrinsically taken: he and his dowager mother--the dessauer's sister, a high-going, tacitly obstinate old dowager (who dresses, if i recollect, in flagrant colors)--are very troublesome to wilhelmina. the flagrant dame--she might have been "queen-mother" once forsooth, had papa and my brother but been made away with!--watches her time, and is diligent by all opportunities. chapter iv. -- double-marriage project is not dead. and the double-marriage, in such circumstances, are we to consider it as dead, then? in the soul of queen sophie and those she can influence, it lives flame-bright; but with all others it has fallen into a very dim state. friedrich wilhelm is still privately willing, perhaps in a degree wishful; but the delays, the supercilious neglects have much disgusted him; and he, in the mean while, entertains those new speculations. george ii., never a lover of the prussian majesty's nor loved by him, has been very high and distant ever since his accession; offensive rather than otherwise. he also is understood to be vaguely willing for the thing; willing enough, would it be so kind as accomplish itself without trouble to him. but the settlements, the applications to parliament:--and all for this perverse fred, who has become unlovely, and irritates our royal mind? george pushes the matter into its pigeon-holes again, when brought before him. higher thoughts occupy the soul of little george. congress of soissons, convention of the pardo, [or, in effect, "treaty of madrid," th march, . this was the preface to soissons; termagant at length consenting there, "at her palace of the pardo" (kaiser and all the world urging her for ten months past), to accept the peace, and leave off besieging gibraltar to no purpose (coxe, i. ).] treaty of seville; a part to be acted on the world-theatre, with applauses, with envies, almost from the very demi-gods? great kaisers, overshadowing nature with their pragmatic sanctions, their preternatural diplomacies, and making the terrestrial balance reel hither and thither;--kaisers to be clenched perhaps by one's dexterity of grasp, and the balance steadied again? prussian double-marriage! one royal soul there is who never will consent to have the double-marriage die: queen sophie. she had passed her own private act-of-parliament for it; she was a very obstinate wife, to a husband equally obstinate. "je bouleverserai l'empire," writes she once; "i will overturn the german empire," if they drive me to it, in this matter. [letter copied by dubourgay (in despatch, marked private, to lord townshend, d- th may, ); no clear address given,--probably to dubourgay himself, conveyed by "a lady" (one of the queen's ladies), as he dimly intimates.] what secret manoeuvring and endeavoring went on unweariedly on royal sophie's part, we need not say; nor in what bad element, of darkness and mendacity, of eavesdropping, rumoring, backstairs intriguing, the affair now moved. she corresponds on it with queen caroline of england; she keeps her two children true to it, especially her son, the more important of them. crown-prince friedrich writes certain letters. queen sophie did not overturn the empire, but she did almost overturn her own and her family's existence, by these courses; which were not wise in her case. it is certain she persuaded crown-prince friedrich, who was always his mother's boy, and who perhaps needed little bidding in this instance, "to write to queen caroline of england;" letters one or several: thrice-dangerous letters; setting forth (in substance), his deathless affection to that beauty of the world, her majesty's divine daughter the princess amelia (a very paragon of young women, to judge by her picture and one's own imagination); and likewise the firm resolution he, friedrich crown-prince, has formed, and the vow he hereby makes, either to wed that celestial creature when permitted, or else never any of the daughters of eve in this world. congresses of soissons, smoking parliaments, preliminaries of the pardo and treaties of seville may go how they can. if well, it shall be well: if not well, here is my vow, solemn promise and unchangeable determination, which your gracious majesty is humbly entreated to lay up in the tablets of your royal heart, and to remember on my behalf, should bad days arise!-- it is clear such letters were sent; at what date first beginning, we do not know;--possibly before this date? nor would matters rise to the vowing pitch all at once. one letter, supremely dangerous should it come to be known, wilhelmina has copied for us, [wilhelmina, i. .]--in official style (for it is the mother's composition this one) and without date to it:--the guessable date is about two years hence; and we will give the poor document farther on, if there be place for it. such particulars are yet deeply unknown to friedrich wilhelm; but he surmises the general drift of things in that quarter; and how a disobedient son, crossing his father's will in every point, abets his mother's disobedience, itself audacious enough, in regard to this one. it is a fearful aggravation of friedrich wilhelm's ill-humor with such a son, which has long been upon the growing hand. his dislikes, we know, were otherwise neither few nor small. mere "dislikes" properly so called, or dissimilarities to friedrich wilhelm, a good many of them; dissimilarities also to a higher pattern, some! but these troubles of the double-marriage will now hurry them, the just and the unjust of them, towards the flaming pitch. the poor youth has a bad time; and the poor father too, whose humor we know! surly gusts of indignation, not unfrequently cuffs and strokes; or still worse, a settled aversion, and rage of the chronic kind; studied neglect and contempt,--so as not even to help him at table, but leave him fasting while the others eat; [dubourgay, scapius.] this the young man has to bear. the innumerable maltreatments, authentically chronicled in wilhelmina's and the other books, though in a dateless, unintelligible manner, would make a tragic sum!--here are two billets, copied from the prussian state-archives, which will show us to what height matters had gone, in this the young man's seventeenth year. to his majesty (from the crown-prince). "wusterhausen, th september, . my dear papa,--i have not, for a long while, presumed to come to my dear papa; partly because he forbade me; but chiefly because i had reason to expect a still worse reception than usual: and, for fear of angering my dear papa by my present request, i have preferred making it in writing to him. i therefore beg my dear papa to be gracious to me; and can here say that, after long reflection, my conscience has not accused me of any the least thing with which i could reproach myself. but if i have, against my will and knowledge, done anything that has angered my dear papa, i herewith most submissively beg forgiveness; and hope my dear papa will lay aside that cruel hatred which i cannot but notice in all his treatment of me. i could not otherwise suit myself to it; as i always thought i had a gracious papa, and now have to see the contrary. i take confidence, then, and hope that my dear papa will consider all this, and again be gracious to me. and, in the mean while, i assure him that i will never, all my days, fail with my will; and, notwithstanding his disfavor to me, remain "my dear papa's "most faithful and obedient servant and son, "friedrich." to which friedrich wilhelm, by return of messenger, writes what follows. very implacable, we may perceive;--not calling his petitioner "thou," as kind paternity might have dictated; infinitely less by the polite title "they (sie)," which latter indeed, the distinguished title of "sic," his prussian majesty, we can remark, reserves for foreigners of the supremest quality, and domestic princes of the blood; naming all other prussian subjects, and poor fritz in this place, "he (er)," in the style of a gentleman to his valet,--which style even a valet of these new days of ours would be unwilling to put up with. "er, he," "his" and the other derivatives sound loftily repulsive in the german ear; and lay open impassable gulfs between the speaker and the spoken-to. "his obstinate"--but we must, after all, say thy and thou for intelligibility's sake:-- "thy obstinate perverse disposition [kopf, head], which does not love thy father,--for when one does everything [everything commanded] and really loves one's father, one does what the father requires, not while he is there to see it, but when his back is turned too [his majesty's style is very abstruse, ill-spelt, intricate, and in this instance trips itself, and falls on its face here, a mere intricate nominative without a verb!]--for the rest, thou know'st very well that i can endure no effeminate fellow (efeminirten kerl), who has no human inclination in him; who puts himself to shame, cannot ride nor shoot; and withal is dirty in his person; frizzles his hair like a fool, and does not cut it off. and all this i have, a thousand times, reprimanded; but all in vain, and no improvement in nothing (keine besserung in nits ist). for the rest, haughty, proud as a churl; speaks to nobody but some few, and is not popular and affable; and cuts grimaces with his face, as if he were a fool; and does my will in nothing unless held to it by force; nothing out of love;--and has pleasure in nothing but following his own whims [own kopf],--no use to him in anything else. this is the answer. "friedrich wilhelm." [preuss, i. ; from cramer, pp. , .] double-marriage project re-emerges in an official shape. these are not favorable outlooks for the double-marriage. nevertheless it comes and goes; and within three weeks later, we are touched almost with a kind of pity to see it definitely emerging in a kind of official state once more. for the question is symbolical of important political questions. the question means withal, what is to be done in these dreadful congress-of-soissons complexities, and mad reelings of the terrestrial balance? shall we hold by a dubious and rather losing kaiser of this kind, in spite of his dubieties, his highly inexplicit, procedures (for which he may have reasons) about the promise of julich and berg? or shall we not clutch at england, after all,--and perhaps bring him to terms? the smoking parliament had no hansard; but, we guess its debates (mostly done in dumb-show) were cloudy, abstruse and abundant, at this time! the prussian ministers, if they had any power, take different sides; old ilgen, the oldest and ablest of them, is strong for england. enough, in the beginning of october, queen sophie, "by express desire of his majesty," who will have explicit, yes or no on that matter, writes to england, a letter "private and official," of such purport,--letter (now invisible) which dubourgay is proud to transmit. [despatch, th october, , in state-paper office.] dubourgay is proud; and old ilgen, her majesty informed me on the morrow, "wept for joy," so zealous was he on that side. poor old gentleman,--respectable rusty old iron safe with seven locks, which nobody would now care to pick,--he died few weeks after, at his post as was proper; and saw no double-marriage, after all. but dubourgay shakes out his feathers; the double-marriage being again evidently alive. for england answers, cordially enough, if not, with all the hurry friedrich wilhelm wanted, "yea, we are willing for the thing;"--and meets, with great equanimity and liberality, the new whims, difficulties and misgivings, which arose on friedrich wilhelm's part, at a wearisome rate, as the negotiation went on; and which are always frankly smoothed away again by the cooler party. why did not the bargain close, then? alas, one finds, the answer yea had unfortunately set his prussian majesty on viewing, through magnifiers, what advantages there might have been in no: this is a difficulty there is no clearing away! probably, too, the tobacco-parliament was industrious. friedrich wilhelm, at last, tries if half will not do; anxious, as we all too much are, "to say yes and no;" being in great straits, poor man:--"your prince of wales to wed wilhelmina at once; the other match to stand over?" to which the english government answers always briefly, "no; both the marriages or none!"--will the reader consent to a few compressed glances into the extinct dubourgay correspondence; much compressed, and here and there a rushlight stuck in it, for his behoof. dubourgay, at berlin, writes; my lord townshend, in st. james's reads, usually rather languid in answering:-- berlin, th november, . "prussian majesty much pleased with english answers" to the yes-or-no question: "will send a minister to our court about the time his britannic majesty may think of coming over to his german dominions. would finkenstein (head tutor), or would knyphausen (distinguished official here), be the agreeable man?" "either," answer the english; "either is good." berlin, same date. "queen sent for me just now; is highly content with the state of things. 'i have now,' said her majesty, 'the pleasure to tell you that i am free, god be blessed, of all the anguish i have labored under for some time past, which was so great that i have several times been on the point of sending for you to procure my brother's protection for my son, who, i thought, ran the greatest danger from the artifices of seckendorf and'"--poor queen! nov, th. "queen told me: when the court was at wusterhausen," two months ago, hunting partridges and wild swine, [fassmann, p. .] "seckendorf and grumkow intrigued for a match between wilhelmina and the prince of weissenfels," elderly royal highness in the abstract, whom we saw already, "thereby to prevent a closer union between the prussian and english courts,--and grumkow having withal the private view of ousting his antagonist the prince of anhalt [old dessauer, whom he had to meet in duel, but did not fight], as weissenfels, once son-in-law, would certainly be made commander-in-chief," [dubourgay, in state-paper office (prussian despatches, vol. xxxv.)] to the extrusion of anhalt from that office. which notable piece of policy her majesty, by a little plain speech, took her opportunity of putting an end to, as we saw. for the rest, "the dutch minister and also the french secretaries here," greatly interested about the peace of europe, and the congress of soissons in these weeks, "have had a communication from this court, of the favorable disposition ours is in with respect to the double match,"--beneficent for the terrestrial balance, as they and i hope. so that things look well? alas,-- december th. "queen sent for me yesterday: hopes she does no wrong in complaining of her husband to her brother. king shows scruples about the marriages; does not relish the expense of an establishment for the prince; hopes, at all events, the marriage will not take place for a year yet;--would like to know what dowry the english princess is to bring?"--"no dowry with our princess," the english answer; "nor shall you give any with yours." new-year's day, . "queen sent for me: king is getting intractable about the marriages; she reasoned with him from two o'clock till eight," without the least permanent effect. "it is his covetousness," i dubourgay privately think!--knyphausen, who knows the king well, privately tells me, "he will come round." "it is his avarice," thinks knyphausen too; "nay it is also his jealousy of the prince, who is very popular with the army. king does everything to mortify him, uses him like a child; crown-prince bears it with admirable patience." this is knyphausen's weak notion; rather a weak creaky official gentleman, i should gather, of a cryptosplenetic turn. "queen told me some days later, his majesty ill-used the crown-prince, because he did not drink hard enough; makes him hunt though ill;" is very hard upon the poor crown-prince,--who, for the rest, "sends loving messages to england," as usual; [dubourgay, th january.] covertly meaning the princess amelia, as usual. "some while ago, i must inform your lordship, the prince was spoken to," by papa as would appear, "to sound his inclination as to the princess caroline," princess likewise of england, and whose age, some eighteen months less than his own, might be suitabler, the princess amelia being half a year his elder; [caroline born th june ; amelia, th july, .] "but,"--mark how true he stood,--"his royal highness broke out into such raptures of love and passion for the princess amelia, and showed so much impatience for the conclusion of that match, as gave the king of prussia a great deal of surprise, and the queen as much satisfaction." truth is, if an old brigadier diplomatist may be judge, "the great and good qualities of that young prince, both of person and mind, deserve a distinct and particular account, with which i shall trouble your lordship another day;" [despatch, th december, .]--which unluckily i never did; his lordship townshend having, it would seem, too little curiosity on the subject. and so the matter wavers; and in spite of dubourgay's and queen sophie's industry, and the crown-prince's willing mind, there can nothing definite be made of it at this time. friedrich wilhelm goes on visits, goes on huntings; leaves the matter to itself to mature a little. thus the negotiation hangs fire; and will do so,--till dreadful waterspouts come, and perhaps quench it altogether? his majesty slaughters , head of wild swine. his majesty is off for a hunting visit to the old dessauer,--crown-prince with him, who hates hunting. then, " th january, ," says the reverential fassmann, he is off for a grand hunt at copenick; then for a grander in pommern (crown-prince still with him): such a slaughter of wild swine as was seldom heard of, and as never occurred again. no fewer than " , head (stuck) of wild swine, of them of uncommon magnitude," in the stettin and other pommern regions; "together with , stuck in the mark brandenburg, once in a day: in all, , stuck." never was his majesty in better spirits: a very nimrod or hunting centaur; trampling the cobwebs of diplomacy, and the cares of life, under his victorious hoofs. all this slaughter of swine, , stuck by tale, was done in the season . "from which," observes the adoring fassmann, [p. .] "is to be inferred the importance," at least in wild swine, "of those royal forests in pommern and the mark;" not to speak of his majesty's supreme talent in hunting, as in other things. what friedrich wilhelm did with such a mass of wild pork? not an ounce of it was wasted, every ounce of it brought money in. for there exist official schedules, lists as for a window-tax or property-tax, drawn up by his majesty's contrivance, in the chief localities: every man, according to the house he keeps, is bound to take, at a just value by weight, such and such quotities of suddenly slaughtered wild swine, one or so many,--and consume them at his leisure, as ham or otherwise,--cash payable at a fixed term, and no abatement made. [forster, beneckendorf (if they had an index i).] for this is a king that cannot stand waste at all; thrifty himself, and the cause of thrift. falls ill, in consequence; and the double-marriage cannot get forward. this was one of friedrich wilhelm's grandest hunting-bouts, this of january, ; at all events, he will never have another such. by such fierce riding, and defiance of the winter elements and rules of regimen, his majesty returned to potsdam with ill symptoms of health;--symptoms never seen before; except transiently, three years ago, after a similar bout; when the doctors, shaking their heads, had mentioned the word "gout."--"narren-possen!" friedrich wilhelm had answered, "gout?"--but now, february, , it is gout in very deed. his poor majesty has to admit: "i am gouty, then! shall have gout for companion henceforth. i am breaking up, then?" which is a terrible message to a man. his majesty's age is not forty-one till august coming; but he has hunted furiously. adoring fassmann gives a quite touching account of friedrich wilhelm's performances under gout, now and generally, which were begun on this occasion. how he suffered extremely, yet never neglected his royal duties in any press of pain. could seldom get any sleep till towards four or five in the morning, and then had to be content with an hour or two; after which his official secretaries came in with their papers, and he signed, despatched, resolved, with best judgment,--the top of the morning always devoted to business. at noon, up if possible; and dines, "in dressing-gown, with queen and children." after dinner, commonly to bed again; and would paint in oil; sometimes do light joiner-work, chiselling and inlaying; by and by lie inactive with select friends sitting round, some of whom had the right of entry, others not, under penalties. buddenbrock, derschau, rough old marlborough stagers, were generally there; these, "and two other persons,"--grumkow and seckendorf, whom fassmann does not name, lest he get into trouble,--"sat, well within earshot, round the bed. and always at the head was theiro majesty the queen, sometimes with the king's hand laid in hers, and his face turned up to her, as if he sought assuagement"--o my dim old friend, let us dry our tears! "sometimes the crown-prince read aloud in some french book," title not given; crown-prince's voice known to me as very fine. generally the princess louisa was in the room, too; louisa, who became of anspach shortly; not wilhelmina, who lies in fever and relapse and small-pox, and close at death's door, almost since the beginning of these bad days. the crown-prince reads, we say, with a voice of melodious clearness, in french more or less instructive. "at other times there went on discourse, about public matters, foreign news, things in general; discourse of a cheerful or of a serious nature," always with some substance of sense in it,--"and not the least smut permitted, as is too much the case in certain higher circles!" says adoring fassmann; who privately knows of "courts" (perhaps the glorwurdigste, glory-worthiest, august the great's court, for one?) "with their hired tom-fools," not yet an extinct species attempting to ground wit on that bad basis. prussian majesty could not endure any "zoten:" profanity and indecency, both avaunt. "he had to hold out in this way, awake till ten o'clock, for the chance of night's sleep." earlier in the afternoon, we said, he perhaps does a little in oil-painting, having learnt something of that art in young times;--there is a poor artist in attendance, to mix the colors, and do the first sketch of the thing. specimens of such pictures still exist, portraits generally; all with this epigraph, fredericus wilhelmus in tormentis pinxit (painted by friedrich wilhelm in his torments); and are worthy the attention of the curious. [fassmann, p. ; see forster, &c.] is not this a sublime patient? fassmann admits, "there might be spurts of impatience now and then; but how richly did majesty make it good again after reflection! he was also subject to whims even about people whom he otherwise esteemed. one meritorious gentleman, who shall be nameless, much thought of by the king, his majesty's nerves could not endure, though his mind well did: 'makes my gout worse to see him drilling in the esplanade there; let another do it!'--and vouchsafed an apologetic assurance to the meritorious gentleman afflicted in consequence."--o my dim old friend, these surely are sublimities of the sick-bed? "so it lasted for some five weeks long," well on towards the summer of this bad year . wilhelmina says, in briefer business language, and looking only at the wrong side of the tapestry, "it was a hell-on-earth to us, _les peines du purgatoire ne pouvaient egaler celles que nous endurions;"_ [i. .] and supports the statement by abundant examples, during those flamy weeks. for, in the interim, withal, the english negotiation is as good as gone out; nay there are waterspouts brewing aloft yonder, enough to wash negotiation from the world. of which terrible weather-phenomena we shall have to speak by and by: but must first, by way of commentary, give a glance at soissons and the terrestrial libra, so far as necessary for human objects,--not far, by any means. chapter v. -- congress of soissons, sixth crisis in the spectre-hunt. the so-called spanish war, and dangerous futile siege of gibraltar, had not ended at the death of george i.; though measures had already been agreed upon, by the kaiser and parties interested, to end it,--only the king of spain (or king's wife, we should say) made difficulties. difficulties, she; and kept firing, without effect, at the fortress for about a year more; after which, her humor or her powder being out, spanish majesty signed like the others. peace again for all and sundry of us: "preliminaries" of peace signed at paris, st may, , three weeks before george's death; "peace" itself finally at the pardo or at madrid, the termagant having spent her powder, th march, ; [scholl, ii. , .] and a "congress" (bless the mark!) to settle on what terms in every point. congress, say at aix-la-chapelle; say at cambrai again,--for there are difficulties about the place. or say finally at soissons; where fleury wished it to be, that he might get the reins of it better in hand; and where it finally was,--and where the ghost or name of it yet is, an empty enigma in the memories of some men. congress of soissons did meet, th june, ; opened itself, as a corporeal entity in this world; sat for above a year;--and did nothing; fleury quite declining the pragmatic sanction, though the anxious kaiser was ready to make astonishing sacrifices, give up his ostend company (paper shadow of a company), or what you will of that kind,--if men would have conformed. these diplomatic gentlemen,--say, are they aught? they seem to understand me, by each at once his choppy finger laying on his skinny lips! princes of the powers of the air, shall we define them? it is certain the solid earth or her facts, except being held in perpetual terror by such workings of the shadow-world, reaped no effect from those twenty years of congressing; seckendorf himself might as well have lain in bed, as ridden those , miles, and done such quantities of double-distillations. no effect at all: only some futile gunpowder spent on gibraltar, and splinters of shot and shells (salable as old iron) found about the rocks there; which is not much of an effect for twenty years of such industry. the sublime congress of soissons met, as we say, at the above date (just while the polish majesty was closing his berlin visit); but found itself no abler for work than that of cambrai had been. the deputies from france i do not mention; nor from spain, nor from austria. the deputies from england were colonel or now properly brigadier-general stanhope, afterwards lord harrington; horace walpole (who is robert's brother, and whose secretary is sir thomas robinson, "quoi done, crusoe?" whom we shall hear of farther); and stephen poyntz, a once bright gentleman, now dim and obsolete, whom the readers of coxe's _walpole_ have some nominal acquaintance with. here, for chronology's sake, is a clipping from the old english newspapers to accompany them: "there is rumor that polly peachum is gone to attend the congress at soissons; where, it is thought, she will make as good a figure, and do her country as much service, as several others that shall be nameless." [_mist's weekly journal,_ th june, .] their task seemed easy to the sanguine mind. the kaiser has agreed with spain in the italian-apanage matter; with the sea-powers in regard to his ostend company, which is abolished forever: what then is to prevent a speedy progress, and glad conclusion? the pragmatic sanction. "accept my pragmatic sanction," said the kaiser, "let that be the preliminary of all things."--"not the preliminary," answered fleury; "we will see to that as we go on; not the preliminary, by any means!" there was the rub. the sly old cardinal had his private treaties with sardinia; views of his own in the mediterranean, in the rhine quarter; and answered steadily, "not the preliminary, by any means!" the kaiser was equally inflexible. whereupon immensities of protocolling, arguing, and the congress "fell into complete languor," say the histories. [scholl, ii. .] congress ate its dinner heartily, and wrote immensely, for the space of eighteen months; but advanced no hair's-breadth any-whither; no prospect before it, but that of dinner only, for unlimited periods. kaiser will have his pragmatic sanction, or not budge from the place; stands mulelike amid the rain of cudgellings from the by-standers; can be beaten to death, but stir he will not.--hints, glances of the eye, pass between elizabeth farnese and the other by-standers; suddenly, th november, , it is found they have all made a "treaty of seville" with elizabeth farnese; france, england, holland, spain, have all closed,--italian apanages to be at once secured, ostend to be at once suppressed, with what else behooves;--and the kaiser is left alone; standing upon his pragmatic sanction there, nobody bidding him now budge! at which the kaiser is naturally thrice and four times wroth and alarmed;--and seckendorf in the tabaks-collegium had need to be doubly busy. as we shall find he is (though without effect), when the time comes round:--but we have not yet got to november of this year ; there are still six or eight important months between us and that. important months; and a prussian-english "waterspout," as we have named it, to be seen, with due wonder, in the political sky!-- congress of soissons, now fallen mythical to mankind, and as inane as that of cambrai, is perhaps still memorable in one or two slight points. first, it has in it, as one of the austrian deputies, that baron von bentenrieder, tallest of living diplomatists, who was pressed at one time for a prussian soldier;--readers recollect it? walking through the streets of halberstadt, to stretch his long limbs till his carriage came up, the prussian sentries laid hold of him, "excellent potsdam giant, this one!"--and haled him off to their guard-house; till carriage and lackeys came; then, "thousand humblest pardons, your excellenz!" who forgave the fellows. barely possible some lighter readers might wish to see, for one moment, an excellenz that has been seized by a press-gang? which perhaps never happened to any other excellenz;--the like of which, i have been told, might merit him a soiree from strong-minded women, in some remoter parts of the world. not to say that he is the tallest of living diplomatists; another unique circumstance!--bentenrieder soon died; and had his place at soissons filled up by an excellenz of the ordinary height, who had never been pressed. but nothing can rob the congress of this fact, that it once had bentenrieder for member; and, so far, is entitled to the pluperfect distinction in one particular. another point is humanly interesting in this congress; but cannot fully be investigated for want of dates. always, we perceive, according to the news of it that reach berlin,--of england going right for the kaiser or going wrong for him,--his prussian majesty's treatment of his children varies. if england go right for the kaiser, well, and his majesty is in good-humor with queen, with crown-prince and wilhelmina. if england go wrong for the kaiser, dark clouds gather on the royal brow, in the royal heart; explode in thunder-storms; and at length crockery goes flying through the rooms, blows descend on the poor prince's back; and her majesty is in tears, mere chaos come again. for as a general rule, unless the english negotiation have some prospering fit, and produce exceptional phenomena, friedrich wilhelm, ever loyal in heart, stands steadfast by his kaiser; ever ready "to strike out (los zu schlagen," as he calls it) with his best strength in behalf of a cause which, good soul, he thinks is essentially german;--all the readier if at any time it seem now exclusively german, the french, spanish, english, and other unlovely foreign world being clean cut loose from it, or even standing ranked against it. "when will it go off, then (wann geht es los)?" asks friedrich wilhelm often; diligently drilling his sixty thousand, and snorting contempt on "ungermanism (undeutschheit)," be it on the part of friends or of enemies. good soul, and whether he will ever get julich and berg out of it, is distractingly problematical, and the tobacco-parliament is busy with him! curious to see, so far as dates go, how friedrich wilhelm changes his tune to wife and children in exact correspondence to the notes given out at soissons for a kaiser and his pragmatic sanction. poor prussian household, poor back, and heart, of crown-prince; what a concert it is in this world, smoking parliament for souffleur! let the big diplomatist bassoon of the universe go this way, there are caresses for a young soldier and his behavior in the giant regiment; let the same bassoon sound that way, bangs and knocks descend on him; the two keep time together,--so busy is the smoking parliament with his majesty of prussia. the world has seen, with horror and wonder, friedrich wilhelm's beating of his grown children: but the pair of meerkatzen, or enchanted demon-apes, disguised as loyal councillors, riding along with him the length of a terrestrial equator, have not been so familiar to the world. seckendorf, grumkow: we had often heard of devil-diplomatists; and shuddered over horrible pictures of them in novels; hoping it was all fancy: but here actually is a pair of them, transcending all novels;--perhaps the highest cognizable fact to be met with in devil-diplomacy. and it may be a kind of comfort to readers, both to know it, and to discern gradually what the just gods make of it withal. devil-diplomatists do exist, at least have existed, never doubt it farther; and their astonishingly dexterous mendacities and enchanted spider-webs,--can these go any road but one in this universe? that the congress of cambrai was not a myth, we convinced ourselves by a letter of voltaire's, who actually saw it dining there in the year , as he passed that way. here, for soissons, in like manner, are two letters, by a less celebrated but a still known english hand; which, as utterances in presence of the fact itself, leave no doubt on the subject. these the afflicted reader will perhaps consent to take a glance of. if the congress of soissons, for the sake of memorable objects concerned there, is still to be remembered, and believed in, for a little while,--the question arises, how to do it, then? the writer of these letters is a serious, rather long-nosed young english gentleman, not without intelligence, and of a wholesome and honest nature; who became lord lyttelton, first of those lords, called also "the good lord," father of "the bad:" a lineal descendant of that lyttelton upon whom coke sits, or seems to sit, till the end of things: author by and by of a _history of henry the second_ and other well-meant books: a man of real worth, who attained to some note in the world. he is now upon the grand tour,--which ran, at that time, by luneville and lorraine, as would appear; at which point we shall first take him up. he writes to his father, sir thomas, at hagley among the pleasant hills of worcestershire,--date shortly after the assembling of that congress to rear of him;--and we strive to add a minimum of commentary. the "piece of negligence," the "mr. d.,"--none of mortals now knows who or what they were:-- to sir thomas lyttelton, bart., at hagley. "luneville st july" . "dear sir,--i thank you for so kindly forgiving the piece of negligence i acquainted you of in my last. young fellows are often guilty of voluntary forgetfulness in those affairs; but i assure you mine was quite accidental:"--never mind it, my son! "mr. d. tells you true that i am weary of losing money at cards; but it is no less certain that without them i shall soon be weary of lorraine. the spirit of quadrille [obsolete game at cards] has possessed the land from morning till midnight; there is nothing else in every house in town. "this court is fond of strangers, but with a proviso that strangers love quadrille. would you win the hearts of the maids of honor, you must lose your money at quadrille; would you be thought a well-bred man, you must play genteelly at quadrille; would you get a reputation of good sense, show judgment at quadrille. however in summer one may pass a day without quadrille; because there are agreeable promenades, and little parties out of doors. but in winter you are reduced to play at it, or sleep, like a fly, till the return of spring. "indeed in the morning the duke hunts,"--mark that duke, and two sons he has. "but my malicious stars have so contrived it, that i am no more a sportsman than a gamester. there are no men of learning in the whole country; on the contrary, it is a character they despise. a man of quality caught me, the other day, reading a latin author; and asked me, with an air of contempt, whether i was designed for the church? all this would be tolerable if i was not doomed to converse with a set of english, who are still more ignorant than the french; and from whom, with my utmost endeavors, i cannot be absent six hours in the day. lord" blank--baltimore, or heaven-knows-who,--"is the only one among them who has common sense; and he is so scandalously debauched, in his principles as well as practice, that his conversation is equally shocking to my morals and my reason."--could not one contrive to get away from them; to soissons, for example, to see business going on; and the terrestrial balance settling itself a little? "my only improvement here is in the company of the duke," who is a truly distinguished duke to his bad country; "and in the exercise of the academy,"--of horsemanship, or what? "i have been absent from the latter near three weeks, by reason of a sprain i got in the sinews of my leg. my duty to my dear mother; i hope you and she continue well. i am, sir, your dutiful son.--g. l." [_the works of lord george lyttelton,_ by ayscough (london, ), iii. .] these poor lorrainers are in a bad way; their country all trampled to pieces by france, in the louis-fourteenth and still earlier times. indeed, ever since the futile siege of metz; where we saw the great kaiser, karl v., silently weeping because he could not recapture metz, [antea, vol. v. p. .] the french have been busy with this poor country;--new sections of it clipt away by them; "military roads through it, ten miles broad," bargained for; its dukes oftenest in exile, especially the father of this present duke: [a famed soldier in his day;] under kaiser leopold, "the little kaiser in red stockings," one of whose daughters he had to wife. he was at the rescue of vienna (sobieski's), and in how many far fiercer services; his life was but a battle and a march. here is his famed letter to the kaiser, when death suddenly called, halt! "wels near linz on the donau, th april, . "sacred majesty,--according to your orders, i set out from innspruck to come to vienna; but i am stopped here by a greater master. i go to render account to him of a life which i had wholly consecrated to you. remember that i leave a wife with whom you are concerned [qui rous touche,--who is your lawful daughter]; children to whom i can bequeath nothing but my sword; and subjects who are under oppression. "charles of lorraine." (henault, _abrege chronologique,_ paris, , p. ).[--charles "v." the french uniformly call this one; charles "iv." the germans, who, i conclude, know better.]--and they are now waiting a good opportunity to swallow it whole, while the people are so busy with quadrille parties. the present duke, returning from exile, found his land in desolation, much of it "running fast to wild forest again;" and he has signalized himself by unwearied efforts in every direction to put new life into it, which have been rather successful. lyttelton, we perceive, finds improvement in his company. the name of this brave duke is leopold; age now forty-nine; life and reign not far from done: a man about whom even voltaire gets into enthusiasm. [siecle de louis xiv. (_oeuvres,_ xxvi. - ); hubner, t. .] the court and country of lorraine, under duke leopold, will prove to deserve this brief glance from lyttelton and us. two sons duke leopold has: the elder, franz, now about twenty, is at vienna, with the highest outlooks there: kaiser karl is his father's cousin-german; and kaiser karl's young daughter, high beautiful maria theresa,--the sublimest maiden now extant,--yes, this lucky franz is to have her: what a prize, even without pragmatic sanction! with the younger son, karl of lorraine, lyttelton may have made acquaintance, if he cared: a lad of sixteen; by and by an austrian general, as his father had been; general much noised of,--whom we shall often see beaten, in this world, at the head of men.--but let us now get to soissons itself, skipping an intermediate letter or two:-- to sir thomas lyttelton, bart., at hagley. "soissons, th october," . "i thank you, my dear sir, for complying so much with my inclinations as to let me stay some time at soissons: but as you have not fixed how long, i wait for farther orders. "one of my chief reasons for disliking luneville was the multitude of english there; who, most of them, were such worthless fellows that they were a dishonor to the name and nation. with these i was obliged to dine and sup, and pass a great part of my time. you may be sure i avoided it as much as possible; but malgre moi i suffered a great deal. to prevent any comfort from other people, they had made a law among themselves, not to admit any foreigner into their company: so that there was nothing but english talked from june to january.--on the contrary, my countrymen at soissons are men of virtue and good sense; they mix perpetually with the french, and converse for the most part in that language. i will trouble you no more upon this subject: but give me leave to say that, however capricious i may have been on other subjects, my sentiments in this particular are the strongest proofs i ever gave you of my strong and hereditary aversion to vice and folly. "mr. stanhope," our minister, the colonel or brigadier-general, "is always at fontainebleau. i went with mr. poyntz," poyntz not yet a dim figure, but a brilliant, who hints about employing me, "to paris for four days, when the colonel himself was there, to meet him; he received me with great civility and kindness. we have done expecting mr. walpole," fixed he in the court regions; "who is obliged to keep strict guard over the cardinal," sly old fleury, "for fear the german ministers should take him from us. they pull and haul the poor old gentleman so many ways, that he does not know where to turn, or into whose arms to throw himself." never fear him!-- "ripperda's escape to england,"--grand diplomatic bulldog that was, who took refuge in colonel stanhope's at madrid to no purpose, and kindled the sputtering at gibraltar, is now got across to england, and will go to morocco and farther, to no purpose,--"will very much embroil affairs; which did not seem to want another obstacle to hinder them from coming to an accommodation. if the devil is not very much wanting to his own interests in this business, it is impossible that the good work of peace, should go on much longer. after all, most young fellows are of his party; and wish he may bring matters to a war; for they make but ill ministers at a congress, but would make good soldiers in a campaign. "no news from madam "blank" and her beloved husband. their unreasonable fondness for each other can never last: they will soon grow as cold to one another as the town to _the beggars' opera._ and cannot warm again, you think? pray heaven i may prove a false prophet; but married love and english music are too domestic to continue long in favor."... november th, soissons still. "this is one of the agreeablest towns in france. the people are infinitely obliging to strangers: we are of all their parties, and perpetually share with them in their pleasures. i have learnt more french since i came hither, than i should have picked up in a twelvemonth in lorraine.... "a fool with a majority on his side is the greatest tyrant in the world:--how can i go back to loiter in lorraine, honored father, where fools are in such majority? then the extraordinary civilities i receive from mr. poyntz: he has in a manner taken me into his family; will evidently make an apprentice of me. the first packet that comes from fontainebleau, i expect to be employed. which is no small pleasure to me: and will i hope be of service."... december th. "a sudden order to mr. poyntz has broken all my measures. he goes to-morrow to paris, to stay there in the room of messrs. stanhope and walpole, who are on their return for england." congress falling into complete languor, if we knew it! but ought not i to accompany this friendly and distinguished mr. poyntz, "who has already given me papers to copy;"--in fact i am setting off with him, honored father!... "prince frederick's journey,"--first arrival in england of dissolute fred from hanover, who had not been to berlin to get married last summer,--"was very secret: mr. poyntz did not hear of it till friday last; at least he had no public notice of it." why should he? "there will be fine struggling for places" in this prince's new household. "i hope my brother will come in for one." [ayscough's _lyttelton,_ iii. - .]-- but here we pull the string of the curtain upon lyttelton, and upon his congress falling into complete languor; congress destined, after dining for about a year more, to explode, in the treaty of seville, and to leave the kaiser sitting horror-struck, solitary amid the wreck of political nature,--which latter, however, pieces itself together again for him and others. beneficent treaty of vienna was at last achieved; treaty and treaties there, which brought matters to their old bearing again,--austria united with the sea-powers, pragmatic sanction accepted by them, subsidies again to be expected from them; baby carlos fitted with his apanages, in some tolerable manner; and the problem, with which creation had groaned for some twenty years past, finally accomplished better or worse. lyttelton himself will get a place in prince frederick's household, and then lose it; place in majesty's ministry at last, but not for a long while yet. he will be one of prince frederick's men, of the carterets, chesterfields, pitts, who "patronize literature," and are in opposition to dark walpole; one of the "west-wickham set;"--and will be of the opposition party, and have his adventures in the world. meanwhile let him go to paris with mr. poyntz; and do his wisest there and elsewhere. "who's dat who ride astride de pony, so long, so lean, so lank and bony? oh, he be de great orator, little-ton-y." [caricature of , on lyttelton's getting into the ministry, with carteret, chesterfield, argyll, and the rest: see phillimore's _lyttelton_ (london, ), i. ; johnson's _lives of the poets,_ ? lyttelton; &c. &c.] for now we are round at friedrich wilhelm's pomeranian hunting again, in the new-year's time of ; and must look again into the magnanimous sick-room which ensued thereon; where a small piece of business is going forward. what a magnanimous patient friedrich wilhelm was, in fassmann's judgment, we know: but, it will be good to show both sides of the tapestry, and let wilhelmina also speak. the small business is only, a treaty of marriage for one of our princesses: not wilhelmina, but louisa the next younger, who has been asked, and will consent, as appears. fassmann makes a very touching scene of it. king is in bed, ill of his gout after that slaughter of the , wild swine: attendants are sitting round his majesty, in the way we know; queen sophie at his head, "seckendorf and several others" round the bed. letters arrive; princess frederika louisa, a very young lady, has also had a letter; which, she sees by the seal, will be interesting, but which she must not herself open. she steps in with it; "beautiful as an angel, but rather foolish, and a spoilt child of fifteen," says wilhelmina: trips softly in with it; hands it to the king. "give it to thy mother, let her read it," says the king. mother reads it, with audible soft voice: formal demand in marriage from the serenity of anspach, as foreseen. "hearken, louisa (hore, luise), it is still time," said the king: "tell us, wouldst thou rather go to anspach, now, or stay with me? if thou choose to stay, thou shalt want, for nothing, either, to the end of thy life. speak!"--"at such unexpected question," says fassmann, "there rose a fine blush over the princess's face, who seemed to be at a loss for her answer. however, she soon collected herself; kissed his majesty's hand, and said: 'most gracious papa, i will to anspach!' to which the king: 'very well, then; god give thee all happiness and thousand blessings!--but, hearken, louisa,' the king's majesty was pleased at the same time to add, 'we will make a bargain, thou and i. you have excellent, flour at anspach (schones mehl); but in hams and smoked sausages you don't, come up, either in quality or quantity, to us in this country. now i, for my part, like good pastries. so, from time to time, thou shalt send me a box of nice flour, and i will keep thee in hams and sausages. wilt thou, louisa?' that the princess answered yea," says poor fassmann with the tear in his eye, "may readily be supposed!" nay all that heard the thing round the royal bed there--simple humanities of that kind from so great, a king--had almost or altogether tears in their eyes. [fassmann, pp. , .] this surely is a very touching scene. but now listen to wilhelmina's account of another on the same subject, between the same parties. "at table;" no date indicated, or a wrong one, but evidently after this: in fact, we find it was about the beginning of march, ; and had sad consequences for wilhelmina. "at table his majesty told the queen that he had letters from anspach; the young margraf to be at berlin in may for his wedding; that m. bremer his tutor was just coming with the ring of betrothal for louisa. he asked my sister, if that gave her pleasure? and how she would regulate her housekeeping when married? my sister had got into the way of telling him whatever she thought, and home-truths sometimes, without his taking it ill. she answered with her customary frankness, that she would have a good table, which should be delicately served; and, added she, 'which shall be better than yours. and if i have children, i will not maltreat them like you, nor force them to eat what they have an aversion to.'--'what do you mean by that?' replied the king: 'what is there wanting at my table?'--'there is this wanting,' she said, 'that one cannot have enough; and the little there is consists of coarse potherbs that nobody can eat.' the king," as was not unnatural, "had begun to get angry at her first answer: this last put him quite in a fury; but all his anger fell on my brother and me. he first threw a plate at my brother's head, who ducked out of the way; he then let fly another at me, which i avoided in like manner. a hail-storm of abuse followed these first hostilities. he rose into a passion against the queen; reproaching her with the bad training she gave her children; and, addressing my brother: 'you have reason to curse your mother,' said he, 'for it is she that causes your being an ill-governed fellow (un mal gouverne). i had a preceptor,' continued he, 'who was an honest man. i remember always a story he told me in my youth. there was a man, at carthage, who had been condemned to die for many crimes he had committed. while they were leading him to execution, he desired he might speak to his mother. they brought his mother: he came near, as if to whisper something to her;--and bit away a piece of her ear. i treat you thus, said he, to make you an example to all parents who take no heed to bring up their children in the practice of virtue!--make the application,' continued he, always addressing my brother: and getting no answer from him, he again set to abusing us till he could speak no longer. we rose from table. as we had to pass near him in going out, he aimed a great blow at me with his crutch; which, if i had not jerked away from it, would have ended me. he chased me for a while in his wheel-chair, but the people drawing it gave me time to escape into the queen's chamber." [wilhelmina, i. .] poor wilhelmina, beaten upon by papa in this manner, takes to bed in miserable feverish pain, is ordered out by mamma to evening party, all the same; is evidently falling very ill. "ill? i will cure you!" says papa next day, and makes her swallow a great draught of wine. which completes the thing: "declared small-pox," say all the doctors now. so that wilhelmina is absent thenceforth, as fassmann already told us, from the magnanimous paternal sick-room; and lies balefully eclipsed, till the paternal gout and some other things have run their course. "small-pox; what will prince fred think? a perfect fright, if she do live!" say the english court-gossips in the interim. but we are now arrived at a very singular prussian-english phenomenon; and ought to take a new chapter. chapter vi. -- imminency of war or duel between the britannic and prussian majesties. the double-marriage negotiation hung fire, in the end of ; but everybody thought, especially queen sophie thought, it would come to perfection; old ilgen, almost the last thing he did, shed tears of joy about it. these fine outlooks received a sad shock in the year now come; when secret grudges burst out into open flame; and berlin, instead of scenic splendors for a polish majesty, was clangorous with note of preparation for imminent war. probably queen sophie never had a more agitated summer than this of . we are now arrived at that thrice-famous quarrel, or almost duel, of friedrich wilhelm and his britannic brother-in-law little george ii.; and must try to riddle from those distracted paper-masses some notice of it, not wholly unintelligible to the reader. it is loudly talked of, loudly, but alas also loosely to a degree, in all manner of dull books; and is at once thrice-famous and extremely obscure. the fact is, nature intended it for eternal oblivion;--and that, sure enough, would have been its fate long since, had not persons who were then thought to be of no importance, but are now seen to be of some, stood connected with it more or less. friedrich wilhelm, for his own part, had seen in the death of george i. an evil omen from the english quarter; and all along, in spite of transient appearances to the contrary, had said to himself, "if the first george, with his solemnities and tacit sublimities, was offensive now and then, what will the second george be? the second george has been an offence from the beginning!" in which notions the smoking parliament, vitally interested to do it, in these perilous soissons times, big with the fate of the empire and universe, is assiduous to confirm his majesty. the smoking parliament, at potsdam, at berlin, in the solitudes of wusterhausen, has been busy; and much tobacco, much meditation and insinuation have gone up, in clouds more abstruse than ever, since the death of george i. it is certain, george ii. was a proud little fellow; very high and airy in his ways; not at all the man to friedrich wilhelm's heart, nor reciprocally. a man of some worth, too; "scrupulously kept his word," say the witnesses: a man always conscious to himself, "am not i a man of honor, then?" to a punctilious degree. for the rest, courageous as a welf; and had some sense withal,--though truly not much, and indeed, as it were, none at all in comparison to what he supposed he had!--one can fancy the aversion of the little dapper royalty to this heavy-footed prussian barbarian, and the prussian barbarian's to him. the bloody nose in childhood was but a symbol of what passed through life. in return for his bloody nose, little george, five years the elder, had carried off caroline of anspach; and left friedrich wilhelm sorrowing, a neglected cub,--poor honest beast tragically shorn of his beauty. offences could not fail; these two cousins went on offending one another by the mere act of living simultaneously. a natural hostility, that between george ii. and friedrich wilhelm; anterior to caroline of anspach, and independent of the collisions of interest that might fall out between them. enmity as between a glancing self-satisfied fop, and a loutish thick-soled man of parts, who feels himself the better though the less successful. house-mastiff seeing itself neglected, driven to its hutch, for a tricksy ape dressed out in ribbons, who gets favor in the drawing-room. george, i perceive by the very state-papers, george and his english lords have a provoking slighting tone towards friedrich wilhelm; they answer his violent convictions, and thoroughgoing rapid proposals, by brief official negation, with an air of superiority,--traces of, a polite sneer perceptible, occasionally. a mere clown of a king, thinks george; a mere gesticulating coxcomb, thinks friedrich wilhelm. "mein bruder der comodiant, my brother the play-actor" (parti-colored merry-andrew, of a high-flying turn)! was friedrich wilhelm's private name for him, in after days. which george repaid by one equal to it, "my brother the head-beadle of the holy roman empire,"--"erz-sandstreuer," who solemnly brings up the sandbox (no blotting-paper yet in use) when the holy roman empire is pleased to write. "erz-sandstreuer, arch-sandbox-beadle of the heilige romische reich;" it is a lumbering nickname, but intrinsically not without felicity, and the wittiest thing i know of little george. special cause of quarrel they had none that was of the least significance; and, at this time, prudent friends were striving to unite them closer and closer, as the true policy for both; english townshend himself rather wishing it, as the best prussian officials eagerly did; queen sophie passionate for it; and only a purchased grumkow, a seckendorf and the tobacco-parliament set against it. the treaty of wusterhausen was not known; but the fact of some treaty made or making, some imperial negotiation always going on, was too evident; and friedrich wilhelm's partialities to the kaiser and his seckendorf could be a secret nowhere. negotiation always going on, we say; for such indeed was the case,--the kaiser striving always to be loose again (having excellent reasons, a secret bargain to the contrary, to wit!) in regard to that julich-and-berg succession; proposing "substitutes for julich and berg;" and friedrich wilhelm refusing to accept any imaginable substitute, anything but the article itself. so that, i believe, the treaty of wusterhausen was never perfectly ratified, after all; but hung, for so many years, always on the point of being so. these are the uses of your purchased grumkow, and of riding the length of a terrestrial equator keeping a majesty in company. if, by a double-marriage with england, that intricate web of chicanery had been once fairly slit in two, and new combinations formed, on a basis not of fast-and-loose, could it have been of disadvantage to either of the countries, or to either of their kings?--real and grave causes for agreement we find; real or grave causes for quarrel none anywhere. but light or imaginary causes, which became at last effectual, can be enumerated, to the length of three or four. cause first: the hanover joint-heritages, which are not in a liquid state. first, the "ahlden heritage" was one cause of disagreement, which lasted long. the poor mother of george ii. and of queen sophie had left considerable properties; "three million thalers," that is , pounds, say some; but all was rather in an unliquid state, not so much as her will was to be had. the will, with a , pounds or so, was in the hands of a certain graf von bar, one of her confidants in that sad imprisonment: "money lent him," busching says, [_beitrage zur lebensgeschichte denkwurdiger personen_ (halle, - ), i. , ? nussler. some distracted fractions of business correspondence with this bar, in _memoirs of sophia dorothea, _--unintelligible as usual there.] "to set up a wax-bleachery at cassel:"--and the said count von bar was off with it, testamentary paper and all; gone to the reichshofrath at vienna, supreme judges, in the empire, of such matters. who accordingly issued him a "protection," to start with: so that when the hanover people attempted to lay hold of the questionable wax-bleaching count, at frankfurt-on-mayn,--secretly sending "a lieutenant and twelve men" for that object,--he produces his protection paper, and the lieutenant and twelve men had to hasten home again. [ibid.] count von bar had to be tried at law,--never ask with what results;--and this itself was a long story. then as to the other properties of the poor duchess, question arises, are they allodia, or are they feuda,--that is to say, shall the son have them, or the daughter? in short, there was no end to questions. friedrich wilhelm has an envoy at hanover, one kannegiesser, laboring at hanover, the second of such he has been obliged to send; who finds plenty of employment in that matter. "my brother the comodiant quietly put his father's will in his pocket, i have heard; and paid no regard to it (except what he was compelled to pay, by chesterfield and others): will he do the like with his poor mother's will?" patience, your majesty: he is not a covetous man, but a self-willed and a proud,--always conscious to himself that he is the soul of honor, this poor brother king! nay withal, before these testamentary bickerings are settled, here has a new joint-heritage fallen: on which may rise discussions. poor uncle ernst of osnabruck--to whom george i., chased by death, went galloping for shelter that night, and who could only weep over his poor brother dead--has not survived him many months. the youngest brother of the lot is now gone too. electress sophie's seven are now all gone. she had six sons: four became austrian soldiers, three of whom perished in war long since; the other three, the bishop, the king, the eldest of the soldiers, have all died within two years ( - ): [michaelis, i. . see feder, _kurfurstinn sophie;_ hoppe, _geschichte der stadt hannover;_ &c.] sophie charlotte, "republican queen" of prussia, friedrich wilhelm's mother, whom we knew long since, was the one daughter. her also uncle ernst saw die, in his youth, as we may remember. they are all dead. and now the heritages are to settle, at least the recent part of them. let kannegiesser keep his eyes open. kannegiesser is an expert high-mannered man; but said to be subject to sharpness of temper; and not in the best favor with the hanover people. that is cause first. cause second: the troubles of mecklenburg. then, secondly, there is the business of mecklenburg; deplorable business for mecklenburg, and for everybody within wind of it,--my poor readers included. readers remember--what reader can ever forget?--that extraordinary duke of mecklenburg, the "unique of husbands," as we had to call him, who came with his extraordinary duchess, to wait on her uncle peter, the russian (say rather samoeidic) czar, at magdeburg, a dozen years ago? we feared it was in the fates we might meet that man again; and so it turns out! the unique of husbands has proved also to be the unluckiest of misgoverning dukes in his epoch; and spreads mere trouble all round him. mecklenburg is in a bad way, this long while, especially these ten years past. "owing to the charles-twelfth wars," or whatever it was owing to, this unlucky duke had fallen into want of more money; and impoverished mecklenburg alleged that it was in no condition to pay more. almost on his accession, while the tar-barrels were still blazing, years before we ever saw him, he demanded new subvention from his ritters (the "squires" of the country); subvention new in mecklenburg, though common in other sovereign german states, and at one time in mecklenburg too. the ritters would not pay; the duke would compel them: ritters appeal to kaiser in reichshofrath, who proves favorable to the ritters. duke still declines obeying kaiser; asserts that "he is himself in such matter the sovereign:" kaiser fulminates what of rusty thunder he has about him; to which the duke, flung on his back by it, still continues contumacious in mind and tongue: and so between thunder and contumacy, as between hammer and stithy, the poor country writhes painfully ever since, and is an affliction to everybody near it. for ten years past, the unluckiest of misgoverning dukes has been in utter controversy with his ritters;--at law with them before the courts of the empire, nay occasionally trying certain of them himself, and cutting off their heads; getting russian regiments, and then obliged to renounce russian regiments;--in short, a very great trouble to mankind thereabouts. [michaelis, ii. - .] so that the kaiser in reichshofrath, about the date indicated (year ), found good to send military coercion on him; and intrusted that function to the hanover-brunswick people, to george i. more especially; to whom, as "kreis-hauptmann" ("captain of the circle," circle of lower-saxony, where the contumacy had occurred), such function naturally fell. the hanover sovereignty, sending , men, horse, foot and artillery into mecklenburg, soon did their function, with only some slight flourishes of fighting on the part of the contumacious duke,--in which his chief captain, one schwerin, distinguishes himself: kurt von schwerin, whom we shall know better by and by, for he went into the prussian service shortly after. colonel von schwerin did well what was in him; but could not save a refractory duke, against such odds. the contumacious duke was obliged to fly his country;--deposed, or, to begin with, suspended, a brother of his being put in as interim duke:--and the unique of husbands and paragon of mismanaging dukes lives about dantzig ever since, on a pension allowed him by his interim brother; contumacious to the last; and still stirring up strife, though now with diminished means, uncle peter being now dead, and russian help much cut off. the hanover sovereignties did their function soon enough: but their "expenses for it," these they have in vain demanded ever since. no money to be got from mecklenburg; and mecklenburg owes us "ten tons of gold,"--that is to say, , , thalers, "tou" being the tenth part of a million in that coin. hanover, therefore, holds possession--and has held ever since, with competent small military force--of certain districts in mecklenburg: taxes of these will subsist our soldiery in the interim, and yield interest; the principal once paid, we at once give them up; principal, by these schedules, if you care to count them, is one million thalers (ten tonnen goldes, as above said), or about , pounds. and so it has stood for ten years past; mecklenburg the most anarchic of countries, owing to the kind of ritters and kind of duke it has. poor souls, it is evident they have all lost their beaten road, and got among the ignes fatui and peat-pools: none knows the necessities and sorrows of this poor idle duke himself! in his young years, before accession, he once tried soldiering; served one campaign with charles xii., but was glad to "return to hamburg" again, to the peaceable scenes of fashionable life there. [see _german spy_ (london, , by lediard, biographer of marlborough) for a lively picture of the then hamburg,--resort of northern moneyed idleness, as well as of better things.] then his russian unique of wives:--his probable adventures, prior and subsequent, in uncle peter's sphere, can these have been pleasant to him? the angry ritters, too, their country had got much trampled to pieces in the charles-twelfth wars, stralsund sieges: money seemed necessary to the duke, and the ritters were very scarce of it. add, on both sides, pride and want of sense, with mutual anger going on crescendo; and we have the sad phenomenon now visible: a duke fled to dantzig, anarchic ritters none the better for his going; duke perhaps threatening to return, and much flurrying his poor interim brother, and stirring up the anarchies:--in brief, mecklenburg become a house on fire, for behoof of neighbors and self. in these miserable brabbles friedrich wilhelm did not hitherto officially interfere; though not uninterested in them; being a next neighbor, and even, by known treaties, "eventual heir," should the mecklenburg line die out. but we know he was not in favor with the kaiser, in those old years; so the military coercion had been done by other hands, and he had not shared in the management at all. he merely watched the course of things; always advised the duke to submit to law, and be peaceable; was sometimes rather sorry for him, too, as would appear. last year, however ( ),--doubtless it was one of seckendorf's minor measures, done in tobacco-parliament,--friedrich wilhelm, now a pet of the kaiser's, is discovered to be fairly concerned in that matter; and is conjoined with the hanover-brunswick commissioners for mecklenburg; kaiser specially requiring that his prussian majesty shall "help in executing imperial orders" in the neighboring anarchic country. which rather huffed little george,--hitherto, since, his father's death, the principal, or as good as sole commissioner,--if so big a britannic majesty could be huffed by paltry slights of that kind! friedrich wilhelm, who has much meditated mecklenburg, strains his intellect, sometimes to an intense degree, to find out ways of settling it: george, who has never cared to meditate it, nor been able if he had, is capable of sniffing scornfully at friedrich wilhelm's projects on the matter, and dismissing them as moonshine. [dubourgay despatches and the answers to them (more than once).] to a wise much-meditative house-mastiff, can that be pleasant, from an unthinking dizened creature of the ape species? the troubles of mecklenburg, and discrepancies thereupon, are capable of becoming a second source of quarrel. causes third and fourth:--and cause fifth, worth all the others. cause third is the old story of recruiting; a standing cause between prussia and all its neighbors. and the fourth cause is the tiniest of all: the "meadow of clamei." meadow of clamei, some square yards of boggy ground; which, after long study, one does find to exist in the obscurest manner, discoverable in the best maps of germany,--some twenty miles south of the elbe river, on the boundary between hanover-luneburg and prussia-magdeburg, dubious on which side of the boundary. lonesome unknown patch of meadow, lying far amid peaty wildernesses in those salzwedel regions: unknown to all writing mortals as yet; but which threatens, in this summer of , to become famous as runnymead among the meadows of history! and the fifth cause--in short, there was no real "cause" of the least magnitude; the effect was produced by the combination of many small and imaginary ones. for if there is a will to quarrel, we know there is a way. and perhaps the fifth namable cause, in efficiency worth all the others together, might be found in the debates of the smoking parliament that season, were the journal of its proceedings extant! we gather symptoms, indisputable enough, of very diligent elaborations and insinuations there; and conclude that to have been the really effective cause. clouds had risen between the two courts; but except for the tobacco-parliament, there never could have thunder come from them. very soon after george's accession there began clouds to rise; the perfectly accomplished little george assuming a severe and high air towards his rustic brother-in-law. "we cannot stand these prussian enlistments and encroachments; rectify these, in a high and severe manner!" says george to his hanover officials. george is not warm on his throne till there comes in, accordingly, from the hanover officials a complaint to that effect, and even a list of hanoverian subjects who are, owing to various injustices, now serving in the prussian ranks: "your prussian majesty is requested to return us these men!" this list is dated d january, ; george only a few months old in his new authority as yet. the prussian majesty grumbles painfully responsive: "will, with eagerness, do whatever is just; most surely! but is his britannic majesty aware? hanover officials are quite misinformed as to the circumstances;"--and does not return any of the men. merely a pacific grumble, and nothing done in regard to the complaints. then there is the meadow of clamei which we spoke of: "that belongs to brandenburg, you say? nevertheless the contiguous parts of hanover have rights upon it. some 'eight cart-loads of hay,' worth say almost pounds or pounds sterling: who is to mow that grass, i wonder?"-- friedrich wilhelm feels that all this is a pettifogging vexatious course of procedure; and that his little cousin the comodiant is not treating him very like a gentleman. "is he, your majesty!" suggests the smoking parliament.--about the middle of march, dubourgay hears borck, an official not of the grumkow party, sulkily commenting on "the constant hostility of the hanover ministry to us" in all manner of points;---inquires withal, could not mecklenburg be somehow settled, his prussian majesty being somewhat anxious upon it? [despatch, th march, .] anxious, yes: his poor majesty, intensely meditative of such a matter in the night-watches, is capable of springing out of bed, with an "eureka! i have found what will do!" and demanding writing materials. he writes or dictates in his shirt, the good anxious majesty; despatches his eureka by estafette on the wings of the wind: and your townshend, your unmeditative george, receives it with curt official negative, and a polite sneer. [dubourgay, th- th april, ; and the answer from st. james's.] a few weeks farther on, this is what the newspapers report of mecklenburg, in spite of his prussian majesty's desire to have some mercy shown the poor infatuated duke: "the elector of hanover and the duke of brunswick-wolfenbuttel," his britannic majesty and squire in that sad business, "refuse to withdraw their forces out of mecklenburg, or part with the chest of the revenues thereof, until an entire satisfaction be given them for the arrears of the charges they have been at in putting the sentence of the aulic council [kaiser's reichshofrath and rusty thunder] into execution against the said duke." [salmon's _chronological historian_ (london, ,--a book never to be quoted without caution), ii. ;--date (translated into new style), th july, .] matters grew greatly worse when george paid his first visit to hanover in character of king, early in the summer of . part of his road lies through prussian territory: "shall he have free post-horses, as his late majesty was wont?" asks the prussian official person. "if he write to request them, yes," answers friedrich wilhelm; "if he don't write, no." george does not write; pays for his post-horses;--flourishes along to hanover, in absolute silence towards his clownish brother-in-law. you would say he looks over the head of him, as if there were no such clown in existence;--he has never yet so much as notified his arrival. "what is this? there exists no prussia, then, for little george?" friedrich wilhelm's inarticulate, interjectionary utterances, in clangorous metallic tone, we can fancy them, now and then; and the tobacco-parliament is busy! british minister dubourgay, steady old military gentleman, who spells imperfectly, but is intent to keep down mischief, writes at last to hanover, submissively suggesting, "could not, as was the old wont, some notification of the king's arrival be sent hither, which would console his prussian majesty?" to which my lord townshend answers, "has not been the custom, i am informed [wrong informed, your lordship]; not necessary in the circumstances." which is a high course between neighbors and royal gentlemen and kinsfolk. the prussian court hereupon likewise shuts its lips; no mention of the hanoverian court, not even by her majesty and to englishmen, for several weeks past. [dubourgay.] some inarticulate metallic growl, in private, at dinner or in the tabaks-collegium: the rest is truculent silence. nor are our poor hanover recruits (according to our list of pressed hanoverians) in the least sent back; nor the clamei meadows settled; "big meadow" or "little one," both of which the brandenburgers have mown in the mean time. hanover pressed men not coming home,--i think, not one of them,--the hanover officials decide to seize such prussian soldiers as happen to be seizable, in hanover territory. the highway in that border-country runs now on this side of the march, now on that;--watch well, and you will get prussian soldiers from time to time! which the hanover people do; and seize several, common men and even officers. here is once more a high course of proceeding. here is coal to raise smoke enough, if well blown upon,--which, with seckendorf and grumkow working the bellows, we may well fancy it was! but listen to what follows, independently of bellows. on the th june, , hay lying now quite dry upon the meadow of clamei, lo, the bailiff of hanoverian buhlitz, unpicturesque traveller will find the peat-smoky little village of buhlitz near by a dusty little town called luchow, midway from hamburg to magdeburg; altogether peaty, mossy country; in the salzwedel district, where used to be wendic populations, and a marck or border fortress of salzwedel set up against them:--bailiff of buhlitz, i say, sallies forth with several carts, with all the population of the village, with a troop of horse to escort, and probably flags flying and some kind of drums beating;--publicly rakes together the hay, defiant of the prussian majesty and all men; loads it on his carts, and rolls home with it; leaving to the brandenburgers nothing but stubble and the memory of having mown for hanover to eat. this is the th june, ; king of prussia is now at magdeburg, reviewing his troops; within a hundred miles of these contested quag-countries: who can blame him that he flames up now into clear blaze of royal indignation? the correspondence henceforth becomes altogether lively: but in the britannic archives there is nothing of it,--dubourgay having received warning from my lord townshend to be altogether ignorant of the matter henceforth, and let the hanover officials manage it. his prussian majesty returns home in the most tempestuous condition. we may judge what a time queen sophie had of it; what scenes there were with crown-prince friedrich and wilhelmina, in her majesty's apartment and elsewhere! friedrich wilhelm is fast mounting to the red-hot pitch. the bullyings, the beatings even, of these poor children, love-sick one of them, are lamentable to hear of, as all the world has heard:--"disobedient unnatural whelps, biting the heels of your poor old parent mastiff in his extreme need, what is to be done with you?" fritz he often enough beats, gives a slap to with his rattan; has hurled a plate at him, on occasion, when bad topics rose at table; nay at wilhelmina too, she says: but the poor children always ducked, and nothing but a little noise and loss of crockery ensued. fritz he deliberately detests, as a servant of the devil, incorrigibly rebelling against the paternal will, and going on those dissolute courses: a silly french cockatoo, suspected of disbelief in scripture; given to nothing but fifing and play-books; who will bring prussia aud himself to a bad end. "god grant he do not finish on the gallows!" sighed the sad father once to grumkow. the records of these things lie written far and wide, in the archives of many countries as well as in wilhelmina's book. to me there was one undiplomatic reflection continually present: heavens, could nobody have got a bit of rope, and hanged those two diplomatic swindlers; clearly of the scoundrel genus, more than common pickpockets are? thereby had certain young hearts, and honest old ones too, escaped being broken; and many a thing might have gone better than it did. jarni-bleu, herr feldzeugmeister, though you are an orthodox protestant, this thousand-fold perpetual habit of distilled lying seems to me a bad one. i do not blame an old military gentleman, with a brow so puckered as yours, for having little of the milk of human kindness so called: but this of breaking, by force of lies merely, and for your own uses, the hearts of poor innocent creatures, nay of grinding them slowly in the mortar, and employing their father's hand to do it withal; this--herr general, forgive me, but there are moments when i feel as if the extinction of probably the intensest scoundrel of that epoch might have been a satisfactory event!--alas, it could not be. seckendorf is lying abroad for his kaiser; "the only really able man we have," says eugene sometimes. snuffles and lisps; and travels in all, as they count, about , miles, keeping his majesty in company. here are some glimpses into the interior, dull but at first-hand, which are worth clipping and condensing from dubourgay, with their dates:-- th july, . to the respectable old brigadier, this day or yesterday, "her majesty, all in tears, complained of her situation: king is nigh losing his senses on account of the differences with hanover; goes from bed to bed in the night-time, and from chamber to chamber, 'like one whose brains are turned.' took a fit, at two in the morning, lately, to be off to wusterhausen:"--about a year ago seckendorf and grumkow had built a lodge out there, where his majesty, when he liked, could be snug and private with them: thither his majesty now rushed, at two in the morning; but seemingly found little assuagement. "since his return, he gives himself up entirely to drink:--seckendorf," the snuffling belial, "is busy, above ground and below; has been heard saying he alone could settle these businesses, double-marriage and all, would her majesty but trust him!"-- "the king will not suffer the prince-royal to sit next his majesty at table, but obliges him to go to the lower end; where things are so ordered," says the sympathetic dubourgay, "that the poor prince often rises without getting one bit,"--woe's me! "insomuch that the queen was obliged two days ago [ th july, , let us date such an occurrence] to send, by one of the servants who could be trusted, a box of cold fowls and other eatables for his royal highness's subsistence!" [dubourgay, th july, .] in the first blaze of the outrage at clamei, friedrich wilhelm's ardent mind suggested to him the method of single combat: defiance of george, by cartel, to give the satisfaction of a gentleman. there have been such instances on the part of sovereigns; though they are rare: karl ludwig of the pfalz, winter-king's son, for example, did, as is understood, challenge turenne for burning the pfalz (first burning that poor country got); but nothing came of it, owing to turenne's prudence. friedrich wilhelm sees well that it all comes from george's private humor: why should human blood be shed except george's and mine? friedrich wilhelm is decisive for sending off the cartel; he has even settled the particulars, and sees in his glowing poetic mind how the transaction may be: say, at hildesheim for place; derschau shall be my second; brigadier sutton (if anybody now know such a man) may be his. seconds, place and general outline he has schemed out, and fixed, so far as depends on one party; will fairly fence and fight this insolent little royal gentleman; give the world a spectacle (which might have been very wholesome to the world) of two kings voiding their quarrel by duel and fair personal fence. in england the report goes, "not without foundation," think lord hervey and men of sarcastic insight in the higher circles, that it was his britannic majesty who "sent or would have sent a challenge of single combat to his prussian majesty," the latter being the passive party! report flung into an inverse posture, as is liable to happen; "going" now with its feet uppermost; "not without foundation," thinks lord hervey. "but whether it [the cartel] was carried and rejected, or whether the prayers and remonstrances of lord townshend prevented the gauntlet being actually thrown down, is a point which, to me [lord hervey] at least, has never been cleared." [lord hervey, _memoirs of george ii._ (london, ), i. .] the prussian ministers, no less than townshend would, feel well that this of duel will never do. astonishment, flebile lulibrium, tragical tehee from gods and men, will come of the duel! but how to turn it aside? for the king is determined. his truculent veracity of mind points out this as the real way for him; reasoning, entreating are to no purpose. "the true method, i tell you! as to the world and its cackling,--let the world cackle!" at length borck hits on a consideration: "your majesty has been ill lately; hand perhaps not so steady as usual? now if it should turn out that your majesty proved so inferior to yourself as to--good heavens!" this, it is said, was the point that staggered his majesty. tobacco-parliament, and borck there, pushed its advantage: the method of duel (prevalent through the early part of july, i should guess) was given up. [bielfeld, _lettres familieres et autres_ (second edition, vols. leide, ), i. , .] why was there no hansard in that institution of the country? patience, idle reader! we shall get some scraps of the debates on other subjects, by and by.--but hear dubourgay again, in the absence of morning newspapers:-- august th, . "berlin looks altogether warlike. at magdeburg they are busy making ovens to bake ammunition-bread; artillery is getting hauled out of the arsenal here;" all is clangor, din of preparation. "it is said the king will fall on mecklenburg;" can at once, if he like. "these intolerable usages from england [seckendorf is rumored to have said], can your majesty endure them forever? why not marry the prince-royal, at once, to another princess, and have done with them!"--or words to that effect, as reported by court-rumor to her majesty and dubourgay. and there is a princess talked of for this match, russian princess, little czar's sister (little czar to have wilhelmina, double-marriage to be with russia, not with england); but the little czar soon died, little czar's sister went out of sight, or i know not what happened, and only brief rumor came of that. as for the crown-prince, he has not fallen desperate; no; but appears to have strange schemes in him, deep under cover. "he has said to a confidant [wilhelmina, it is probable], 'as to his ill-treatment, he well knew how to free himself of that [will fly to foreign parts, your highness?], and would have done so long since, were it not for his sister, upon whom the whole weight of his father's resentment would then fall. happen what will, therefore, he is resolved to share with her all the hardships which the king his father may be pleased to put upon her." [dubourgay, th august, .] means privately a flight to england, dubourgay sees, and in a reticent diplomatic way is glad to see. i possess near a dozen hanoverian and prussian despatches upon this strange business; but should shudder to inflict them on any innocent reader. clear, grave despatches, very brief and just, especially on the prussian side: and on a matter too, which truly is not lighter than any other despatch matter of that intrinsically vacant epoch:--o reader, would i could bury all vacant talk and writing whatsoever, as i do these poor despatches about the "eight cart-loads of hay"! friedrich wilhelm is fair-play itself; will do all things, that earth or heaven can require of him. only, he is much in a hurry withal; and of this the hanover officials take advantage, perhaps unconsciously, to keep him in provocation. he lies awake at night, his heart is sore, and he has fled to drink. towards the middle of august,--here again is a phenomenon,--"he springs out of bed in the middle of night," has again an eureka as to this of clamei: "eureka, i see now what will bring a settlement!" and sends off post-haste to kannegiesser at hanover. to kannegiesser,--herr reichenbach, the special envoy in this matter, being absent at the moment, gone to the gohrde, i believe, where britannic majesty itself is: but kannegiesser is there, upon the ahlden heritages; acquainted with the ground, a rather precise official man, who will serve for the hurry we are in. post-haste; dove with olive-branch cannot go too quick;--kannegiesser applying for an interview, not with the britannic majesty, who is at gohrde, hunting, but with the hanover council, is--refused admittance. here are herr kannegiesser's official reports; which will themselves tell the rest of the story, thank heaven:-- to his prussian majesty (from herr kannegiesser). no. . "done at hanover, th august, . "on the th day of august, at ten o'clock in the morning, i received two orders of council [these are the eureka, never ask farther what they are]; despatched on the th instant at seven in the evening; whereupon i immediately went to the council-chamber here; and informed the herr von hartoff, private secretary, who met me in a room adjoining, 'that, having something to propose to his ministry [now sitting deliberative in the interior here; something to propose to his ministry] on the part of the prussian ministers, it was necessary i should speak to them.' herr von hartoff, after having reported my demand, let me know, 'he had received orders from the ministry to defer what i had to say to another time.' "i replied, 'that, since i could not be allowed the honor of an audience at that time, i thought myself obliged to acquaint him i had received an order from berlin to apply to the ministry of this place, in the name of the ministers of prussia, and make the most pressing instances for a speedy answer to a letter lately delivered to them by herr hofrath reichenbath [my worthy assistant here; answer to his letter in the first place]; and to desire that the answer might be lodged in my hands, in order to remit it with safety.' "herr von hartoff returned immediately to the council-chamber; and after having told the ministers what i had said, brought me the following answer, in about half-a-quarter of an hour [seven minutes by the watch]: 'that the ministers of this court would not fail answering the said letter as soon as possible; and would take care to give me notice of it, and send the answer to me.'" that was all that the punctual kannegiesser could get out of them. "but," continues he, "not thinking this reply sufficient, i added, 'that delays being dangerous, i would come again the next day for a more precise answer.'" rather a high-mannered positive man, this kannegiesser, of the ahlden heritages; not without sharpness of temper, if the hanover officials drive it too far. no. .--"at hanover, th august, . "according to the orders received from the king my master, and pursuant of my promise of yesterday, i went at noon this day to the castle (schloss), for the purpose, of making appearance in the council-chamber, where the ministers were assembled. "i let them know i was there, by van hartoff, privy secretary; and, in the mildest terms, desired to be admitted to speak with them. which was refused me a second time; and the following answer delivered me by van hartoff: 'that since the prussian ministers had intrusted me with this commission, the ministers of this court had directed him to draw up my yesterday's proposals in writing, and report them to the council.' "whereupon i said, 'i could not conceive any reason why i was the only person who could not be admitted to audience. that, however, as the ministers of this court were pleased to authorize him, herr von hartoff, to receive my proposals, i was obliged to tell him,' as the first or preliminary point of my commission, 'i had received orders to be very pressing with the said ministers of this court, for an answer to a letter from the prussian ministry, lately delivered by herr legationsrath von reichenbach; and finding that the said answer was not yet finished, i would stay two days for it, that i might be more secure of getting it. but that then i should come to put them in mind of it, and desire audience in order to acquit myself of the rest of my commission.' "the privy secretary drew up what i said in writing. immediately afterwards he reported it to the ministry, and brought me this answer: 'that the ministers of this court would be as good as their word of yesterday, and answer the above-mentioned letter with all possible expedition.' after which we parted." no. .--"at hanover, th august, "at two in the afternoon, this day, herr von hartoff came to my house; and let me know 'he had business of consequence from the ministry, and that he would return at five.' by my direction he was told, 'i should expect him.' "at the time appointed he came; and told me, 'that the ministers of the court, understanding from him that i designed to ask audience to-morrow, did not doubt but my business would be to remind them of the answer which i had demanded yesterday and the day before. that such applications were not customary among sovereign princes; that they, the ministers; 'dared not treat farther in that affair with me; that they desired me not to mention it to them again till they had received directions from his britannic majesty, to whom they had made their report; and that as soon as they received their instructions, the result of these should be communicated to me.' "to this i replied, 'that i did not expect the ministers of this court would refuse me the audience which i designed to ask to-morrow; and that therefore i would not fail of being at the council-chamber at eleven, next day,' according to bargain, 'to know their answer to the rest of my proposals.'--secretary von hartoff would not hear of this resolution; and assured me positively he had orders to listen to nothing more on the subject from me. after which he left me?" no. .--"at hanover, th august, . "at eleven, this day, i went to the council-chamber, for the third time; and desired secretary hartoff 'to prevail with the ministry to allow me to speak with them, and communicate what the king of prussia had ordered me to propose.' "herr von hartoff gave them an account of my request; and brought me for answer, 'that i must wait a little, because the ministers were not yet all assembled.'" which i did. "but after having made me stay almost an hour, and after the president of the council was come, herr von hartoff came out to me; and repeated what he had said yesterday, in very positive and absolute terms, 'that the ministers were resolved not to see me, and had expressly forbid him taking any paper at my hands.' "to which i replied, 'that this was very hard usage; and the world would see how the king of prussia would relish it. but having strict orders from his majesty, my most gracious master, to make a declaration to the ministers of hanover in his name; and finding herr von hartoff would neither receive it, nor take a copy of it, i had only to tell him that i was under the necessity of leaving it in writing,--and had brought the paper with me,'" let herr von hartoff observe!--"'and that now, as the council were pleased to refuse to take it, i was obliged to leave the said declaration on a table in an adjoining room, in the presence of herr von hartoff and other secretaries of the council, whom i desired to lay it before the ministry.' "after this i went home; but had scarcely entered my apartment, when a messenger returned me the declaration, still sealed as i left it, by order of the ministers: and perceiving i was not inclined to receive it, he laid it on my table, and immediately left the house." [a letter from an english traveller to his friend at london, relating to the differences betwixt the courts of prussia and hanover, with copies of, &c. translated from the french (london, a. millar, at buchanan's head, ), pp. - . an excellent distinct little pamphlet; very explanatory in this matter,--like the smallest rushlight in a dark cellar of shot-lumber.] whereupon kannegiesser, without loss of a moment, returns to berlin, th august; and reports progress. simple honest orson of a prussian majesty, what a bepainted, beribboned insulting play-actor majesty has he fallen in with!--"hm, so? hm, na!" and i see the face of him, all colors of the prism, and eyes in a fine frenzy; betokening thundery weather to some people! instantly he orders , men to get on march; [friedrich wilhelm's "manifesto" is in _mauvillon,_ ii. - , dated " th august, " (the day after kannegieseer's return).] and these instantly begin to stir; small preparation needed, ever-ready being the word with them. from heavy guns, ammunition-wagons and draught-horses, down to the last buckle of a spatterdash, things are all ticketed and ready in his majesty's country; things, and still more evidently men. within a week, the amazed gazetteers (newspaper editors we now call them) can behold the actual advent of horse, foot and artillery regiments at magdeburg; actual rendezvous begun, and with a frightful equable velocity going on day after day. on the th day of september, if fate's almanac hold steady, there will be , of them ready there. such a mass of potential-battle as george or the hanover officiality are--ready to fight? alas, far enough from that. forces of their own they have, after a sort; subsidized hessians, danes, these they can begin to stir up; but they have not a regiment ready for fighting; and have nothing, if all were ready, which this , cannot too probably sweep out of the world. i suppose little george must have exhibited some prismatic colors of countenance, too. this insulted orson is swinging a tremendous club upon the little peruked ribboned high gentleman, promenading loftily in his preserves yonder! the prussian forces march, steady, continual; crown-prince friedrich's regiment of giants is on march, expressly under charge of friedrich himself:--the young man's thoughts are not recorded for us; only that he gets praise from his father, so dexterous and perfect is he with the giants and their getting into gear. nor is there, says our foreign correspondent, the least truth, in your rumor that the prussian forces, officers or men, marched with bad will; "conspicuously the reverse is the truth, as i myself can testify." [pamphlet cited above.] and his britannic majesty, now making a dreadful flutter to assemble as fast as possible, is like to get quite flung into the bogs by this terrible orson!-- what an amazement, among the gazetteers: thunder-clouds of war mounting up over the zenith in this manner, and blotting out the sun; may produce an effect on the congress of soissons? presumably: and his imperial majesty, left sitting desolate on his pragmatic sanction, gloomily watching events, may find something turn up to his advantage? prussia and england are sufficiently in quarrel, at any rate; perhaps almost too much.--the pope, in these circumstances, did a curious thing. the pope, having prayed lately for rain and got it, proceeds now, in the end of september, while such war-rumors are still at their height in rome, to pray, or even do a public mass, or some other so-called pontificality, "in the chapel of philip neri in the new church," by way of still more effectual miracle. prays, namely, that heaven would be graciously pleased to foment, and blow up to the proper degree, this quarrel between the two chief heretic powers, heaven's chief enemies, whereby holy religion might reap a good benefit, if it pleased heaven. but, this time, the miracle did not go off according to program. ["extract of a letter from rome, th september, ," in townshend's despatch, whitehall, th outober, .] for at this point, before the pope had prayed, but while the troops and artillery were evidently all on march ("such an artillery as i," who am kaiser's artillery-master, "for my poor part, never had the happiness to see before in any country," snuffles seckendorf in the smoking parliament), and now swords are, as it were, drawn, and in the air make horrid circles,--the neighbors interfere: "heavens i put up your swords!"--and the huge world-wide tumult suddenly (i think, in the very first days of this month september) collapses, sinks into something you can put into a snuff-box. of course it could never come to actual battle, after all. too high a pickle-herring tragedy that. here is a comodiant not wanting to be smitten into the bogs; an honest orson who wants nothing, nor has ever wanted, but fair-play. fair-play; and not to be insulted on the streets, or have one's poor hobby quite knocked from under one!--neighbors, as we say, struck in; france, holland, all the neighbors, at this point: "do it by arbitration; wolfenbuttel for the one, sachsen-gotha for the other; commissioners to meet at brunswick!" and that, accordingly, was the course fixed upon; and settlement, by that method, was accomplished, without difficulty, in some six months hence. [ th april, (forster, ii. ).] whether clamei was awarded to hanover or to brandenburg, i never knew, or how the hay of it is cut at this moment. i only know there was no battle on the subject; though at one time there was like to be such a clash of battle as the old markgraves never had with their old wends; not if we put all their battlings into one. seckendorf's radiant brow has to pucker itself again: this fine project, of boiling the kaiser's eggs by setting the world on fire, has not prospered after all. the gloomy old villain came to her majesty one day, [dubourgay, th july, .] while things were near the hottest; and said or insinuated, he was the man that could do these businesses, and bring about the double-marriage itself, if her majesty were not so harsh upon him. whereupon her majesty, reporting to dubourgay, threw out the hint, "what if we (that is, you) did give him a forty or fifty thousand thalers verily, for he will do anything for money?" to which townshend answers from the gohrde, to the effect: "pooh, he is a mere bag of noxious futilities; consists of gall mainly, and rusty old lies and crotchets; breathing very copperas through those old choppy lips of his: let him go to the--!" next spring, at the happy end of the arbitration, which he had striven all he could to mar and to retard, he fell quite ill; took to his bed for two days,--colics, or one knows not what;--"and i can't say i am very sorry for him," writes the respectable dubourgay. [ th april, .] on the th day of september, , friedrich crown-prince re-enters potsdam [ib. th sept. .] with his two battalions of giants; he has done so well, the king goes out from berlin to see him march in with them; rejoicing to find something of a soldier in the young graceless, after all. "the king distributed , thalers ( , pounds) among his army;" being well pleased with their behavior, and doubtless right glad to be out of such a business. the ahlden heritages will now get liquidated; mecklenburg,--our knyphausen, with the hanover consorts, will settle mecklenburg; and all shall be well again, we hope!-- the fact, on some of these points, turned out different; but it was now of less importance. as to knyphausen's proceedings at mecklenburg, after the happy peace, they were not so successful as had been hoped. need of quarrel, however, between the majesties, there henceforth was not in mecklenburg; and if slight rufflings and collisions did arise, it was not till after our poor double-marriage was at any rate quite out of the game, and they are without significance to us. but the truth is, though knyphausen did his best, no settlement came; nor indeed could ever come. shall we sum up that sorry matter here, and wash our hands of it? troubles of mecklenburg, for the last time. knyphausen, we say, proved futile; nor could human wit have succeeded. the exasperated duke was contumacious, irrational; the two majesties kept pulling different ways upon him. matters grew from very bad to worse; and mecklenburg continued long a running sore. not many months after this (i think, still in ), the irrational duke, having got money out of russia, came home again from dantzig; to notable increase of the anarchies in mecklenburg, though without other result for himself. the irrational duke proved more contumacious than ever, fell into deeper trouble than ever;--at length ( ) he made proclamation to the peasantry to rise and fight for him; who did turn out, with their bill-hooks and bludgeons, under captains named by him, "to the amount of , peasants,"--with such riot as may be fancied, but without other result. so that the hanover commissioners decided to seize the very residenz cities (schwerin and domitz) from this mad duke, and make the country clear of him,--his brother being interim manager always, under countenance of the commissioners. which transactions, especially which contemplated seizure of the residence cities, friedrich wilhelm, eventual heir, could not see with equanimity at all. but having no forces in the country, what could he do? being "joint-commissioner" this long while past, though without armed interference hitherto, he privately resolves that he will have forces there; the rather as the poor duke professes penitence, and flies to him for help. poor soul, his russian unique of wives has just died, far enough away from him this long while past: what a life they have had, these two uniques!-- enough, "on the th of october, , lieutenant-general schwerin,"--the same who was colonel schwerin, the duke's chief captain here, at the beginning of these troubles, now lientenant-general and a distinguished prussian officer,--"marches into mecklenburg with three regiments, one of foot, two of horse:" [buchholz, i. , ; michaelis, ii. , .] he, doubtless, will help in quelling those peasant and other anarchies? privately his mission is most delicate. he is not to fight with the hanoverians; is delicately but effectually to shove them well away from the residence cities, and fasten himself down in those parts. which the lieutenant-general dexterously does. "a night's quarter here in parchim,"--such is the lieutenant-general's request, polite but impressive, from the outskirts of that little town, a town essential to certain objects, and in fact the point he is aiming at: "night's quarter; you cannot refuse it to this prussian company marching under the kaiser's commission?" no, the hanoverian lieutenant of foot dare not take upon him to refuse:--but next morning, he is himself invited to withdraw, the prussians having orders to continue here in parchim! and so with the other points and towns, that are essential in the enterprise on hand. a dexterous lieutenant-general this schwerin:--his two horse-colonels are likewise men to be noted; colonel wreech, with a charming young wife, perhaps a too charming; colonel truchsess von waldburg, known afterwards, with distinction, in london society and widely otherwise. and thus, in the end of , the mecklenburg residence cities, happen what may, are secured for their poor irrational duke. these things may slightly ruffle some tempers at hanover; but it is now , and our poor double-marriage is clean out of the game by that time!-- the irrational duke could not continue in his residence cities, with the brother administering over him; still proving contumacious, he needed absolutely to be driven out, to wismar or i know not whither; went wandering about for almost twenty years to come; disturbed, and stirring up disturbance. died , still in that sad posture; interim brother, with posterity, succeeding. [michaelis, ii. - .] but hanover and prussia interfered no farther; the brother administered on his own footing, "supported by troops hired from hamburg. hanover and prussia, hanoverians, prussians, merely retained hold of their respective hypothecs [districts held in pawn] till the expenses should be paid,"--million of thalers, and by those late anarchies a new heavy score run up. prussia and hanover retained hold of their hypothecs; for as to the expenses, what hope was there? fifty years hence we find the prussian hypothecs occupied as at first; and "rights of enlistment exercised." never in this world were those expenses paid;--nor could be, any part of them. the last accounts were: george iii. of england, on marrying, in , a mecklenburg princess,--"old queen charlotte," then young enough,--handsomely tore up the bill; and so ended that part of a desperate debt. but of the prussian part there was no end, nor like to be any: "down to this day [says buchholz, in ], two squadrons of the ziethen hussars usually lie there," and rights of enlisting are exercised. i conclude, the french revolution and its wars wiped away this other desperate item. and now let us hope that mecklenburg is better off than formerly,--that, at least, our hands are clear of it in time coming. i add only, with satisfaction, that this unique of dukes was no ancestor of old queen charlotte's, but only a remote welsh-uncle, far enough apart;--cannot be too far. one nussler settles the ahlden heritages; sends the money home in boxes. knyphausen did not settle mecklenburg, as we perceive! neither did kannegiesser and the unliquidated heritages prosper, at hanover, quite to perfection. one heritage, that of uncle osnabruck, little george flatly refused to share: feudum the whole of that, not allodium any part of it, so that a sister cannot claim. which, i think, was confirmed by the arbitrators at brunswick; thereby ending that. then as to the ahlden allodia or feuda,--kannegiesser, blamably or not, never could make much of the business. a precise strict man, as we saw at the hanover council-room lately; whom the hanover people did not like. so he made little of it. nay at the end of next year (december, ), sending in his accounts to berlin, he demands, in addition to the three thalers (or nine shillings) daily allowed him, almost a second nine shillings for sundries, chiefly for "hair-powder and shoe-blacking"! and is instantly recalled; and vanishes from history at this point. [busching, _beitrage,_ i. , &c.? nussler.] upon which friedrich wilhelm selects another; "sends deal boxes along with him," to bring home what cash there is. this one's name is nussler; an expectant prussian official, an adroit man, whom we shall meet again doing work. he has the nine shillings a day, without hair-powder or blacking, while employed here; at berlin no constant salary whatever,--had to "borrow pounds for outfit on this business;"--does a great deal of work without wages, in hope of effective promotion by and by. which did follow, after tedious years; friedrich wilhelm finding him, on such proof (other proof will not do), fit for promoting to steady employment. nussler was very active at hanover, and had his deal boxes; but hardly got them filled according to hope. however, in some eighteen months he had actually worked out, in difficult instalments, about , pounds, and dug the matter to the bottom. he came home with his last instalment, not disapproved of, to berlin (may, ); six years after the poor duchess's death, so the ahlden allodia too had their end. chapter vii. -- a marriage: not the double-marriage: crown-prince deep in trouble. while the hanover imminency was but beginning, and horrid crisis of war or duel--was yet in nobody's thoughts, the anspach wedding [ th may, ] had gone on at berlin. to friedrich wilhelm's satisfaction; not to his queen's, the match being but a poor one. the bride was frederika louisa, not the eldest of their daughters, but the next-eldest: younger than wilhelmina, and still hardly fifteen; the first married of the family. very young she: and gets a very young margraf,--who has been, and still is a minor; under his mother's guardianship till now: not rich, and who has not had a good chance to be wise. the mother--an excellent magnanimous princess, still young and beautiful, but laboring silently under some mortal disease--has done her best to manage for him these last four or five years; [pollnitz, _memoirs and letters_ (english translation, london, ), i. - . there are "memoirs of pollnitz," then "memoirs and letters," besides the "memoirs of brandenburg" (posthumous, which we often cite); all by this poor man. only the last has any historical value, and that not much. the first two are only worth consulting, cautiously, as loose contemporary babble,--written for the dutch booksellers, one can perceive.] and, as i gather, is impatient to see him settled, that she may retire and die. friday forenoon, th may, , the young margraf arrived in person at berlin,--just seventeen gone saturday last, poor young soul, and very foolish. sublime royal carriage met him at the prussian frontier; and this day, what is more interesting, our "crown-prince rides out to meet him; mounts into the royal carriage beside him;" and the two young fools drive, in such a cavalcade of hoofs and wheels,--talking we know not what,--into potsdam; met by his majesty and all the honors. what illustrious gala there then was in potsdam and the court world, read,--with tedium, unless you are in the tailor line,--described with minute distinctness by the admiring fassmann. [pp. - .] there are generals, high ladies, sons of bellona and latona; there are dinners, there are hautboys,--"two-and-thirty blackamoors," in flaming uniforms, capable of cymballing and hautboying "up the grand staircase, and round your table, and down again," in a frightfully effective manner, while you dine. madame kamecke is to go as oberhofmeisterinn to anspach; and all the lackeys destined thither are in their new liveries, blue turned up with red velvet. which is delightful to see. review of the giant grenadiers cannot fail; conspicuous on parade with them our crown-prince as lieutenant-colonel: "the beauty of this corps as well as the perfection of their exercitia,"--ah yes, we know it, my dim old friend. the marriage itself followed, at berlin, after many exercitia, snipe-shootings, feastings, hautboyings; on the th of the month; with torch-dance and the other customary trimmings; "bride's garter cut in snips" for dreaming upon "by his royal majesty himself." the lustbarkeiten, the stupendous public entertainments having ended, there is weeping and embracing (more humano); and the happy couple, so-called happy, retire to anspach with their destinies and effects. a foolish young fellow, this new brother-in-law, testifies wilhelmina in many places. finances in disorder; mother's wise management, ceasing too soon, has only partially availed. king "has lent some hundreds of thousands of crowns to anspach [says friedrich at a later period], which there is no chance of ever being repaid. all is in disorder there, in the finance way; if the margraf gets his hunting and his heroning, he laughs at all the rest; and his people pluck him bare at every hand." [schulenburg's letter (in forster, iii. ).] nor do the married couple agree to perfection;--far from it: "hate one another like cat and dog (like the fire, comme le feu)," says friedrich: [correspondence (more than once).] "his majesty may see what comes of ill-assorted marriages!"--in fact, the union proved none of the most harmonious; subject to squalls always;--but to squalls only; no open tempest, far less any shipwreck: the marriage held together till death, the husband's death, nearly thirty years after, divided it. there was then left one son; the same who at length inherited baireuth too,--inherited lady craven,--and died in bubb doddington's mansion, as we often teach our readers. last year, the third daughter was engaged to the heir-apparent of brunswick; will be married, when of age. wilhelmina, flower of them all, still hangs on the bush, "asked," or supposed to be "asked by four kings," but not attained by any of them; and one knows not what will be her lot. she is now risen out of the sickness she has had,--not small-pox at all, as malicious english rumor gave it in england;--and "looks prettier than ever," writes dubourgay. here is a marriage, then; first in the family;--but not the double-marriage, by a long way! the late hanover tornado, sudden waterspout as we called it, has quenched that negotiation; and one knows not in what form it will resuscitate itself. the royal mind, both at berlin and st. james's, is in a very uncertain state after such a phenomenon. friedrich wilhelm's favor for the crown-prince, marching home so gallantly with his potsdam giants, did not last long. a few weeks later in the autumn we have again ominous notices from dubourgay. and here, otherwise obtained, is a glimpse into the interior of the berlin schloss; momentary perfect clearness, as by a flash of lightning, on the state of matters there; which will be illuminative to the reader. crown-prince's domesticities seen in a flash of lightning. this is another of those tragi-comic scenes, tragic enough in effect, between father and son; son now about eighteen,--fit to be getting through oxford, had he been an english gentleman of private station. it comes from the irrefragable nicolai; who dates it about this time, uncertain as to month or day. fritz's love of music, especially of fluting, is already known to us. now a certain quantz was one of his principal instructors in that art, and indeed gave him the last finish of perfection in it. quantz, famed saxon music-master and composer, leader of the court-band in saxony, king of flute-players in his day,--(a village-farrier's son from the gottingen region, and himself destined to shoe horses, had not imperative nature prevailed over hindrances);--quantz, ever from fritz's sixteenth year, was wont to come occasionally, express from dresden, for a week or two, and give the young man lessons on the flute. the young man's mother, good queen feekin, had begged this favor for him from the saxon sovereignties; and pleaded hard for it at home, or at worst kept it secret there. it was one of the many good maternities, clandestine and public, which she was always ready to achieve for him where possible;--as he also knew full well in his young grateful heart, and never forgot, however old he grew! illustrious quantz, we say, gives fritz lessons on the flute; and here is a scene they underwent;--they and a certain brisk young soldier fellow, lieutenant von katte, who was there too; of whom the reader will tragically hear more in time. on such occasions fritz was wont to pull off the tight prussian coat or coatie, and clap himself into flowing brocade of the due roominess and splendor,--bright scarlet dressing-gown, done in gold, with tags and sashes complete;--and so, in a temporary manner, feel that there was such a thing as a gentleman's suitable apparel. he would take his music-lessons, follow his clandestine studies, in that favorable dress:--thus buffon, we hear, was wont to shave, and put on clean linen, before he sat down to write, finding it more comfortable so. though, again, there have been others who could write in considerable disorder; not to say litter, and palpable imperfection of equipment: samuel johnson, for instance, did some really grand writing in a room where there was but one chair, and that one incapable of standing unless you sat on it, having only three feet. a man is to fit himself to what is round him: but surely a crown-prince may be indulged in a little brocade in his leisure moments!-- fritz and quantz sat doing music, an unlawful thing, in this pleasant, but also unlawful costume; when lieutenant katte, who was on watch in the outer room, rushes in, distraction in his aspect: majesty just here! quick, double quick! katte snatches the music-books and flutes, snatches quantz; hurries with him and them into some wall-press, or closet for firewood, and stands quaking there. our poor prince has flung aside his brocade, got on his military coatie; and would fain seem busy with important or indifferent routine matters. but, alas, he cannot undo the french hairdressing; cannot change the graceful french bag into the strict prussian queue in a moment. the french bag betrays him; kindles the paternal vigilance,--alas, the paternal wrath, into a tornado pitch. for his vigilant suspecting majesty searches about; finds the brocade article behind a screen; crams it, with loud indignation, into the fire; finds all the illicit french books; confiscates them on the spot, confiscates all manner of contraband goods:--and there was mere sulphurous whirlwind in those serene spaces for about an hour! if his majesty had looked into the wood-closet? his majesty, by heaven's express mercy, omitted that. haude the bookseller was sent for; ordered to carry off that poisonous french cabinet-library in mass; sell every book of it, to an undiscerning public, at what price it will fetch. which latter part of his order, haude, in deep secrecy, ventured to disobey, being influenced thereto. haude, in deep secrecy, kept the cabinet-library secure; and "lent" the prince book after book from it, as his royal highness required them. friedrich, it is whispered in tobacco-parliament, has been known, in his irreverent impatience, to call the grenadier uniform his "shroud (sterbekittel, or death-clothes);" so imprisoning to the young mind and body! paternal majesty has heard this blasphemous rumor; hence doubtless, in part, his fury against the wider brocade garment. it was quantz himself that reported this explosion to authentic nicolai, many years afterwards; confessing that he trembled, every joint of him, in the wood-closet, during that hour of hurricane; and the rather as he had on "a red dress-coat," whioh color, foremost of the flaring colors, he knew to be his majesty's aversion, on a man's back. [nicolai, _anekdoten_ (berlin, ), ii. .] of incomparable quantz, and his heart-thrilling adagios, we hope to hear again, under joyfuler circumstances. of lieutenant von katte,--a short stout young fellow, with black eyebrows, pock-marked face, and rather dissolute manners,--we shall not fail to hear. chapter viii. -- crown-prince getting beyond his depth in trouble. it is not certain that the late imminency of duel had much to do with such explosions. the hanover imminency, which we likened to a tropical waterspout, or sudden thunderous blotting-out of the sky to the astonished gazetteers, seems rather to have passed away as waterspouts do,--leaving the earth and air, if anything, a little refreshed by such crisis. leaving, that is to say, the two majesties a little less disposed for open quarrel, or rash utterance of their ill humor in time coming. but, in the mean while, all mutual interests are in a painful state of suspended animation: in berlin there is a privately rebellious spouse and household, there is a tobacco-parliament withal;--and the royal mind, sensitive, imaginative as a poet's, as a woman's, and liable to transports as of a norse baresark, is of uncertain movement. such a load of intricacies and exaggerated anxieties hanging on it, the royal mind goes like the most confused smoke-jack, sure only to have revolutions; and we know how, afar from soissons, and at home in tobacco-parliament, the machine is influenced! enough, the explosive procedures continue, and are on the increasing hand. majesty's hunting at wusterhausen was hardly done, when that alarming treaty of seville came to light ( th november, ), france and england ranked by the side of spain, disposing of princes and apanages at their will, and a kaiser left sitting solitary,--which awakens the domestic whirlwinds at berlin, among other results. "canaille anglaise, english doggery!" and similar fine epithets, addressed to wilhelmina and the crown-prince, fly about; not to speak of occasional crockery and other missiles. friedrich wilhelm has forbidden these two his presence altogether, except at dinner: out of my sight, ye canaille anglaise; darken not the sunlight for me at all! this is in the wusterhausen time,--hanover imminency only two months gone. and mamma sends for us to have private dialogues in her apartment there, with spies out in every direction to make signal of majesty's return from his hunt,--who, however, surprises as on one occasion, so that we have to squat for hours, and almost get suffocated. [wilhelmina, i. .] whereupon the crown-prince, who will be eighteen in a couple of months, and feels the indignity of such things, begs of mamma to be excused in future. he has much to suffer from his father again, writes dubourgay in the end of november: "it is difficult to conceive the vile stratagems that are made use of to provoke the father against the son." [dubourgay, th november, .] or again, take this, as perhaps marking an epoch in the business, a fortnight farther on:-- december th . "his prussian majesty cannot bear the sight of either the prince or princess royal: the other day, he asked the prince: 'kalkstein makes you english; does not he?' kalkstein, your old tutor, borck, knyphausen, finkenstein, they are all of that vile clique!" to which the prince answered, 'i respect the english because i know the people there love me;' upon which the king seized him by the collar, struck him fiercely with his cane," in fact rained showers of blows upon him; "and it was only by superior strength," thinks dubourgay, "that the poor prince escaped worse. there is a general apprehension of something tragical taking place before long." truly the situation is so violent, it cannot last. and in effect a wild thought, not quite new, ripens to a resolution in the crown-prince under such pressures: in reference to which, as we grope and guess, here is a billet to mamma, which wilhelmina has preserved. wilhelmina omits all trace of date, as usual; but dubourgay, in the above excerpt, probably supplies that defect:-- friedrich to his mother (potsdam, december, ). "i am in the uttermost despair. what i had always apprehended has at last come on me. the king has entirely forgotten that i am his son. this morning i came into his room as usual; at the first sight of me," or at the first passage of kalkstein-dialogue with me, "he sprang forward, seized me by the collar, and struck me a shower of cruel blows with his rattan. i tried in vain to screen myself, he was in so terrible a rage, almost out of himself; it was only weariness," not my superior strength, "that made him give up." "i am driven to extremity. i have too much honor to endure such treatment; and i am resolved to put an end to it in one way or another." [wilhelmina, i. .] is not this itself sufficiently tragical? not the first stroke he had got, we can surmise; but the first torrent of strokes, and open beating like a slave;--which to a proud young man and prince, at such age, is indeed intolerable. wilhelmina knows too well what he meaus by "ending it in one way or another;" but strives to reassure mamma as to its meaning "flight," or the like desperate resolution. "mere violence of the moment," argues wilhelmina; terribly aware that it is deeper-rooted than that. flight is not a new idea to the crown-prince; in a negative form we have seen it present in the minds of by-standers: "a crown-prince determined not to fly," whispered they. [dubourgay ( th august, ), supra, p. .] some weeks ago, wilhelmina writes: "the king's bad treatments began again on his reappearance" at potsdam after the hunting; "he never saw my brother without threatening him with his cane. my brother told me day after day, he would endure everything from the king, only not blows; and that if it ever came to such extremity, he would be prepared to deliver himself by running off." and here, it would seem, the extremity has actually come. wilhelmina, pitying her poor brother, but condemning him on many points, continues: [i. , .] "lieutenant keith," that wild companion of his, "had been gone some time, stationed in wesel with his regiment." which fact let us also keep in mind. "keith's departure had been a great joy to me; in the hope my brother would now lead a more regular life: but it proved quite otherwise. a second favorite, and a much more dangerous, succeeded keith. this was a young man of the name of katte, captain-lieutenant in the regiment gens-d'armes. he was highly connected in the army; his mother had been a daughter of feldmarschall graf von wartensleben,"--a highest dignitary of the last generation. katte's father, now a general of distinction, rose also to be feldmarschall; cousins too, sons of a kammer-president von katte at magdeburg, rose to army rank in time coming; but not this poor katte,--whom let the reader note! "general katte his father," continues wilhelmina, "had sent him to the universities, and afterwards to travel, desiring he should be a lawyer. but as there was no favor to expect out of the army, the young man found himself at last placed there, contrary to his expectation. he continued to apply himself to studies; he had wit, book-culture, acquaintance with the world; the good company which he continued to frequent had given him polite manners, to a degree then rare in berlin. his physiognomy was rather disagreeable than otherwise. a pair of thick black eyebrows almost covered the eyes of him; his look had in it something ominous, presage of the fate he met with: a tawny skin, torn by small-pox, increased his ugliness. he affected the freethinker, and carried libertinism to excess; a great deal of ambition and headlong rashness accompanied this vice." a dangerous adviser here in the berlin element, with lightnings going!"such a favorite was not the man to bring back my brother from his follies. this i learned at our [mamma's and my] return to berlin," from the wusterhausen and the potsdam tribulations;--and think of it, not without terror, now that the extremity seems coming or come. chapter ix. -- double-marriage shall be or shall not be. for one thing, friedrich wilhelm, weary of all this english pother and futility, will end the double-marriage speculation; wilhelmina shall be disposed of, and so an end. friedrich wilhelm, once the hunting was over at wusterhausen, ran across, southward,--to "lubnow," wilhelmina calls it,--to lubben in the nether lausitz, [ th october, (fassmann, p. ).] a short day's drive; there to meet incognito the jovial polish majesty, on his route towards dresden; to see a review or so; and have a little talk with the ever-cheerful man of sin. grumkow and seckendorf, of course these accompany; majesty's shadow is not surer. review was held at lubben, weissenfels commander-in-chief taking charge; dinner also, a dinner or two, with much talk and drink;--and there it was settled, wilhelmina has since known, that weissenfels, royal highness in the abstract, was to be her husband, after all. weissenfels will do; either weissenfels or else the margraf of schwedt, thinks friedrich wilhelm; somebody shall marry the baggage out of hand, and let us have done with that. grumkow, as we know, was very anxious for it; calculating thereby to out the ground from under the old dessauer, and make this weissenfels generalissimo of prussia; a patriotic thought. polish majesty lent hand, always willing to oblige. friedrich wilhelm, on his return homewards, went round by dahme for a night:--not "dam," o princess, there is no such town or schloss! round by dahme, a little town and patch of territory, in the saxon countries, which was weissenfels's apanage;--"where plenty of tokay" cheered the royal heart; and, in such mood, it seemed as if one's daughter might do very well in this extremely limited position. and weissenfels, though with dark misgivings as to queen sophie, was but too happy to consent: the foolish creature; a little given to liquor too! friedrich wilhelm, with this fine project in his head, drove home to potsdam;--and there laid about him, on the poor crown-prince, in the way we have seen; terrifying queen and princess, who are at berlin till christmas and the carnival be over. friedrich wilhelm means to see the polish majesty again before long,--probably so soon as this of weissenfels is fairly got through the female parliament, where it is like there will be difficulties. christmas came to berlin, and the king with it; who did the gayeties for a week or two, and spoke nothing about business to his female parliament. dubourgay saw him, at parade, on new-year's morning; whither all manner of foreign dignitaries had come to pay their respects: "well," cried the king to dubourgay, "we shall have a war, then,"--universa deadly tug at those italian apanages, for and against an insulted kaiser,--"war; and then all that is crooked will be pulled straight!" so spake friedrich wilhelm on the new-year's morning; war in italy, universal spasm of wrestle there, being now the expectation of foolish mankind: crooked will be pulled straight, thinks friedrich wilhelm; and perhaps certain high majesties, deaf to the voice of should-not, will understand that of can-not, excellenz!--crooked will become straight? "indeed if so, your majesty, the sooner the better!" i ventured to answer. [dubourgay, th january, .] new year's day is not well in, and the ceremonial wishes over, when friedrich wilhelm, his mind full of serious domestic and foreign matter, withdraws to potsdam again; and therefrom begins fulminating in a terrible manner on his womankind at berlin, what we called his female parliament,--too much given to opposition courses at present. intends to have his measures passed there, in defiance of opposition; straightway; and an end put to this inexpressible double-marriage higgle-haggle. speed to him! we will say.--three high crises occur, three or even four, which can now without much detail be made intelligible to the patient reader: on the back of which we look for some catastrophe and finis to the business;--any catastrophe that will prove a finis, how welcome will it be! wilhelmina to be married out of hand. crisis first: england shall say yes or say no. still early in january, a few days after his majesty's return to potsdam, three high official gentlemen, count fink van finkenstein, old tutor to the prince, grumkow and general borck announce themselves one morning; "have a pressing message from the king to her majesty." [wilhelmina, i. .] queen is astonished; expecting anything sooner.--"this regards me, i have a dreading!" shuddered wilhelmina to mamma. "no matter," said the queen, shrugging her shoulders; "one must have firmness; and that is not what i shall want;"--and her majesty went into the audience-chamber, leaving wilhelmina in such tremors. finkenstein, a friendly man, as borck too is, explains to her majesty, "that they three have received each a letter overnight,--letter from the king, enjoining in the first place 'silence under pain of death;' in the second place, apprising them that he, the king, will no longer endure her majesty's disobedience in regard to the marriage of his daughter, but will banish daughter and mother 'to oranienburg,' quasi-divorce, and outer darkness, unless there be compliance with his sovereign will; thirdly, that they are accordingly to go, all three, to her majesty, to deliver the enclosed royal autograph [which finkenstein presents], testifying what said sovereign will is, and on the above terms expect her majesty's reply;"--as they have now sorrowfully done, finkenstein and borck with real sorrow; grumkow with the reverse of real. sovereign will is to the effect: "write to england one other time, will you at once marry, or not at once; yea or no? answer can be here within a fortnight; three weeks, even in case of bad winds. if the answer be not yea at once; then you, madam, you at once choose weissenfels or schwedt, one or the other,--under what penalties you know; oranienburg and worse!" here is a crisis. but her majesty did not want firmness. "write to england? yes, willingly. but as to weissenfels and schwedt, whatever answer come from england,--impossible!" steadily answers her majesty. there was much discourse, suasive, argumentative; grumkow "quoting scripture on her majesty, as the devil can on occasion," says wilhelmina. express scriptures, _wives, be obedient to your husbands,_ and the like texts: but her majesty, on the scripture side too, gave him as good as he brought. "did not bethuel the son of milcah, [genesis xxiv. - .] when abraham's servant asked his daughter in marriage for young isaac, answer, _we will call the damsel and inquire of her mouth. and they called rebecca, and said unto her, wilt thou go with this man? and she said, i will go."_ scripture for scripture, herr von grumkow! "wives must obey their husbands; surely yes. but the husbands are to command things just and reasonable. the king's procedure is not accordant with that law. he is for doing violence to my daughter's inclination, and rendering her unhappy for the rest of her days;--will give her a brutal debauchee," fat weissenfels, so describable in strong language; "a younger brother, who is nothing but the king of poland's officer; landless, and without means to live according to his rank. or can it be the state that will profit from such a marriage? if they have a household, the king will have to support it.--write to england; yes; but whatever the answer of england, weissenfels never! a thousand times sooner see my child in her grave than hopelessly miserable!" here a qualm overtook her majesty; for in fact she is in an interesting state, third month of her time: "i am not well; you should spare me, gentlemen, in the state i am in.--i do not accuse the king," concluded she: "i know," hurling a glance at grumkow, "to whom i owe all this;"--and withdrew to her interior privacies; reading there with wilhelmina "the king's cruel letter," and weeping largely, though firm to the death. [wilhelmina, i. - . dubourgay has nothing,--probably had heard nothing, there being "silence under pain of death" for the moment.] what to do in such a crisis? assemble the female parliament, for one thing: good madam finkenstein (old tutor's wife), good mamsell bulow, mamsell sonsfeld (wilhelmina's governess), and other faithful women:--well if we can keep away traitresses, female spies that are prowling about; especially one "ramen," a queen's soubrette, who gets trusted with everything, and betrays everything; upon whom wilhelmina is often eloquent. never was such a traitress; took dubourgay's bribe, which the queen had advised; and, all the same, betrays everything,--bribe included. and the queen, so bewitched, can keep nothing from her. female parliament must, take precautions about the ramen!--for the rest, female parliament advises two things: . pressing letter to england; that of course, written with the eloquence of despair: and then . that in case of utter extremity, her majesty "pretend to fall ill." that is crisis first; and that is their expedient upon it. letter goes to england, therefore; setting forth the extremity of strait, and pinch: "now or never, o my sister caroline!" many such have gone, first and last; but this is the strongest of all. nay the crown-prince too shall write to his aunt of england: you, wilhelmina, draw out, a fit brief letter for him: send it to potsdam, he will copy it there! [wilhelmina, i. .] so orders the mother: wilhelmina does it, with a terrified heart; crown-prince copies without scruple: "i have already given your majesty my word of honor never to wed any one but the princess amelia your daughter; i here reiterate that promise, in case your majesty will consent to my sister's marriage,"--should that alone prove possible in the present intricacies. "we are all reduced to such a state that"--wilhelmina gives the letter in full; but as it is professedly of her own composition, a loose vague piece, the very date of which you have to grope out for yourself, it cannot even count among the several letters written by the crown-prince, both before and after it, to the same effect, which are now probably all of them lost, [trace of one, copy of answer from queen caroline to what seems to have been one, answer rather of dissuasive tenor, is in state-paper office: _prussian despatches,_ vol. xl,--dateless; probably some months later in .] without regret to anybody; and we will not reckon it worth transcribing farther. such missive, such two missives (not now found in any archive) speed to england by express; may the winds be favorable. her majesty waits anxious at berlin; ready to take refuge in a bed of sickness, should bad come to worse. dubourgay strikes a light for the english court. in england, in the mean while, they have received a curious little piece of secret information. one reichenbach, prussian envoy at london--dubourgay has long marvelled at the man and at the news he sends to berlin. here, of date th january, , is a letter on that subject from dubourgay, official but private as yet, for "george tilson, esq.:"--tilson is under-secretary in the foreign office, whose name often turns up on such occasions in the dubourgay, the robinson and other extinct paper-heaps of that time. dubourgay dates doubly, by old and new style; in general we print by the new only, unless the contrary be specified. "to george tilson, esq. (private.) "berlin, th jan. (by new style, th jan. ). "sir,--i believe you may remember that we have for a long time suspected that most of reichenbach's despatches were dictated by some people here. about two days ago a paper fell into my hands," realized quietly for a consideration, "containing an account of money charged to the 'brothers jourdan and lautiers,' merchants here, by their correspondent in london, for sending letters from," properly in, or through, "your city to reichenbach. "jourdan and lautiers's london correspondents are mr. thomas greenhill in little bell alley and mr. john motteux in st. mary axe. mr. guerin my agent knows them very well; having paid them several little bills on my account:"--better ask mr. guerin. "i know not through the hands of which of those merchants the above-mentioned letters have passed; but you have ways enough to find it out, if you think it worth while. i make no manner of doubt but grumkow and his party make use of this conveyance to (sic) their instructions to reichenbach. in the account which i have seen, 'eighteen-pence' is charged for carrying each letter to reichenbach: the charge in general is for 'thirty-two letters;' and refers to a former account." so that they must have been long at it. "i am, with the greatest truth, "dubourgay." here is a trail which tilson will have no difficulty in running down. i forget whether it was in bell alley or st. mary axe that the nest was found; but found it soon was, and the due springes were set; and game came steadily dropping in,--letters to and letters from,--which, when once his britannic majesty had, with reluctance, given warrant to open and decipher them, threw light on prussian affairs, and yielded fine sport and speculation in the britannic majesty's apartment on an evening. this is no other than the celebrated "cipher correspondence between grumkow and reichenbach;" grumkow covertly instructing his slave reichenbach what the london news shall be: reichenbach answering him, to hear is to obey! correspondence much noised of in the modern prussian books; and which was, no doubt, very wonderful to tilson and company;--capable of being turned to uses, they thought. the reader shall see specimens by and by; and he will find it unimportant enough, and unspeakably stupid to him. it does show grumkow as the extreme of subtle fowlers, and how the dirty-fingered seckendorf and he cooked their birdlime: but to us that is not new, though at st. james's it was. perhaps uses may lie in it there? at all events, it is a pretty topic in queen caroline's apartment on an evening; and the little majesty and she, with various laughters and reflections, can discern, a little, how a poor king of prussia is befooled by his servants, and in what way a fierce bear is led about by the nose, and dances to grumkow's piping. poor soul, much of his late raging and growling, perhaps it was only grumkow's and not his! does not hate us, he, perhaps; but only grumkow through him? this doleful enchantment, and that the royal wild bear dances only to tunes, ought to be held in mind, when we want anything with him.--those, amid the teheeings, are reflections that cannot escape queen caroline and her little george, while the prussian express, unknown to them, is on the road. wilhelmina to be married out of hand. crisis second: england shall have said no. the prussian express, queen sophie's courier to england, made his best speed: but he depends on the winds for even arriving there; and then he depends on the chances for an answer there; an uncertain courier as to time: and it was not in the power of speed to keep pace with friedrich wilhelm's impatience. "no answer yet?" growls friedrich wilhelm before a fortnight is gone. "no answer?"--and january has not ended till a new deputation of the same three gentlemen, finkenstein, borck, grumkow, again waits on the queen, for whom there is now this other message. "wednesday, th january, ," so dubourgay dates it; so likewise wilhelmina, right for once: "a day i shall never forget," adds she. finkenstein and borck, merciful persons, and always of the english party, were again profoundly sorry. borck has a blaze of temper in him withal; we hear he apprised grumkow, at one point of the dialogue, that he, grumkow, was a "scoundrel," so dubourgay calls it,--which was one undeniable truth offered there that day. but what can anything profit? the message is: "whatever the answer now be from england, i will have nothing to do with it. negative, procrastinative, affirmative, to me it shall be zero. you, madam, have to choose, for wilhelmina, between weissenfels and schwedt; otherwise i myself will choose: and upon you and her will alight oranienburg, outer darkness, and just penalties of mutiny against the authority set over you by god and men. weissenfels or schwedt: choose straightway." this is the king's message by these three. "you can inform the king," replied her majesty, [wilhelmina, i. .] "that he will never make me consent to render my daughter miserable; and that, so long as a breath of life (un souffle de vie) remains in me, i will not permit her to take either the one or the other of those persons." "is that enough? for you, sir," added her majesty, turning to grumkow, "for you, sir, who are the author of my misfortunes, may my curse fall upon you and your house! you have this day killed me. but i doubt not, heaven will hear my prayer, and avenge these wrongs." [dubourgay, th january, ; wilhelmina, i. (who suppresses the maledictory part).]--and herewith to a bed of sickness, as the one refuge left! her majesty does now, in fact, take to bed at berlin; "fallen very ill," it would appear; which gives some pause to friedrich wilhelm till he ascertain. "poorly, for certain," report the doctors, even friedrich wilhelm's doctor. the humane doctors have silently given one another the hint; for berlin is one tempest of whispers about her majesty's domestic sorrows, "poorly, for interesting reasons:--perhaps be worse before she is better, your majesty!"--"hmph!" thinks friedrich wilhelm out at potsdam. and then the treacherous ramen reports that it is all shamming; and his majesty, a bear, though a loving one, is driven into wrath again; and so wavers from side to side. it is certain the queen held, faster or looser, by her bed of sickness, as a main refuge in these emergencies: the last shift of oppressed womankind;--sanctioned by female parliament, in this instance. "has had a miscarriage!" writes dubourgay, from berlin gossip, at the beginning of the business. nay at one time she became really ill, to a dangerous length; and his majesty did not at first believe it; and then was like to break his heart, poor bear; aud pardoned wilhelmina and even fritz, at the mother's request,--till symptoms mended again. [wilhelmina, i. .] jarni-bleu, herr seckendorf, "grumkow serves us honorably (dienet ehrlich)"--does not he!--ambiguous bed of sickness, a refuge in time of trouble, did not quite terminate till may next, when her majesty's time came; a fine young prince the result; [ d may, , august ferdinand; her last child.] and this mode of refuge in trouble ceased to be necessary. wilhelmina to be married out of hand. crisis third: majesty himself will choose, then. directly on the back of that peremptory act of disobedience by the womankind on wednesday last, friedrich wilhelm came to berlin himself. he stormfully reproached his queen, regardless of the sick-bed; intimated the infallible certainty, that wilhelmina nevertheless would wed without delay, and that either weissenfels or schwedt would be the man. and this said, he straightway walked out to put the same in execution. walked, namely, to the mother margravine of schwedt, the lady in high colors, old dessauer's sister; and proposed to her that wilhelmina should marry her son.--"the supreme wish of my life, your majesty," replied she of the high colors: "but, against the princess's own will, how can i accept such happiness? alas, your majesty, i never can!"--and flatly refused his majesty on those terms: a thing wilhelmina will ever gratefully remember of her. [wilhelmina, i. .] so that the king is now reduced to weissenfels; and returns still more indignant to her majesty's apartment. weissenfels, however, it shall be; and frightful rumors go that he is written to, that he is privately coming, and that there will be no remedy. [wilhelmina, i. .] wilhelmina, formerly almost too florid, is gone to a shadow; "her waist hardly half an ell;" worn down by these agitations. the prince and she, if the king see either of them,--it is safer to run, or squat behind screens. how friedrich prince of baireuth came to be the man, after all. in this high wind of extremity, the king now on the spot and in such temper, borck privately advises, "that her majesty bend a little,--pretend to give up the english connection, and propose a third party, to get rid of weissenfels."--"what third party, then?"--"well, there is young brandenburg-culmbach, for example, heir-apparent of baireuth; friedrich, a handsome enough young prince, just coming home from the grand tour, we hear; will have a fine territory when his father dies: age is suitable; old kinship with the house, all money-quarrels settled eight or ten years ago: why not him?"--"excellent!" said her majesty; and does suggest him to the king, in the next schwedt-weissenfels onslaught. friedrich wilhelm grumbles an assent, "well, then:--but i will be passive, observe; not a groschen of dowry, for one thing!"-- and this is the first appearance of the young margraf friedrich, heir-apparent of baireuth; who comes in as a hypothetic figure, at this late stage;--and will carry off the fair prize, as is well known. still only doing the grand tour; little dreaming of the high fortune about to drop into his mouth. so many wooers, "four kings" among them, suing in vain; him, without suing, the fates appoint to be the man. not a bad young fellow at all, though no king. wilhelmina, we shall find, takes charmingly to him, like a good female soul; regretless of the four kings;--finds her own safe little island there the prettiest in the world, after such perils of drowning in stormy seas.--of his brandenburg genealogy, degree of cousinship to queen caroline of england, and to the lately wedded young gentleman of anspach queen caroline's nephew, we shall say nothing farther, having already spoken of it, and even drawn an abstruse diagram of it, [antea, vol. v. p. c.] sufficient for the most genealogical reader. but in regard to that of the peremptory "not a groschen of dowry" from friedrich wilhelm (which was but a bark, after all, and proved the reverse of a bite, from his majesty), there may a word of explanation be permissible. the ancestor of this baireuth prince friedrich,--as readers knew once, but doubtless have forgotten again,--was a younger son; and for six generations so it stood: not till the father of this friedrich was of good age, and only within these few years, did the elder branch die out, and the younger, in the person of said father, succeed to baireuth. friedrich's grandfather, as all these progenitors had done, lived poorly, like cadets, on apanages and makeshifts. so that the young prince's father, george friedrich, present incumbent, as we may call him, of baireuth, found himself--with a couple of brothers he has, whom also we may transiently see by and by--in very straitened circumstances in their young years. their father, son of younger sons as we saw, was himself poor, and he had fourteen of them as family. now, in old king friedrich i.'s time, it became apparent, as the then reigning margraf of baireuth's children all died soon after birth, that one of these necessitous fourteen was likely to succeed in baireuth, if they could hold out. old king friedrich thereupon said, "you have chances of succession; true enough,--but nobody knows what will become of that. sell your chance to me, who am ultimate heir of all: i will give you a round sum,--the little 'domain of weverlingen' in the halberstadt country, and say 'half a million thalers;' there you can live comfortably, and support your fourteen children,"--"done," said the necessitous cousin; went to weverlingen accordingly; and there lived the rest of his days, till ; leaving his necessitous fourteen, or about ten of them that were alive and growing up, still all minors, and necessitous enough. the young men, george friedrich at the top of them, kept silence in weverlingen, and conformed to papa; having nothing to live upon elsewhere. but they had their own thoughts; especially as their cousin of baireuth was more and more likely to die childless. and at length, being in the kaiser's service as soldiers some of them, and having made what interest was feasible, they, early in friedrich wilhelm's reign, burst out. that is to say, appealed to the reichshofrath (imperial aulic council at vienna; chief court of the empire in such cases); openly protesting there, that their papa had no power to make such a bargain, selling their birthright for immediate pottage; and that, in brief, they would not stand by it at all;--and summoned friedrich wilhelm to show cause why they should. long lawsuit, in consequence; lengthy law-pleadings, and much parchment and wiggery, in that german triple-elixir of chancery;--little to the joy of friedrich wilhelm. friedrich wilhelm, from the first, was fairness itself: "pay me back the money; and let it be, in all points, as you say!" answered friedrich wilhelm, from the first. alas, the money was eaten; how could the money be paid back? the reichshofrath dubitatively shook its wig, for years: "bargain bad in law; but money clearly repayable: the money was and is good;--what shall be done about the money!" at length, in , friedrich wilhelm, of himself, settled with this present margraf, then heir-presumptive, how, by steady slow instalments, it could be possible, from the revenues of baireuth, thriftily administered, to pay back that half-million and odd thalers; and the now margraf, ever since his accession in , has been annually doing it. so that there is, at this time, nothing but composed kinship and friendship between the two courts, the little and the big: only friedrich wilhelm, especially with his will crossed in this matter of the baireuth marriage, thinks to himself, "throw more money into such a gulf? the , thalers had better be got out first!" and says, he will give no dowry at all, nor take any charge, not so much as give away the bride, but be passive in the matter. queen sophie, delighted to conquer grumkow at any rate, is charmed with this notion of baireuth; and for a moment forgets all other considerations: should england prove slack and fail, what a resource will baireuth be, compared with weissenfels! and wilhelmina entering, her majesty breaks forth into admiration over the victory, or half-victory, just gained: what a husband for you this, my dear, in comparison! and as wilhelmina cannot quite join in the rapture on a sudden; and cannot even consent, unless papa too give his real countenance to the match, mamma flies out upon the poor young lady: [wilhelmina, i. .] "take the grand turk or the great mogul, then," said the queen, "and follow your own caprice! i should not have brought so many sorrows on myself, had i known you better. follow the king's bidding, then; it is your own affair. i will no longer trouble myself about your concerns;--and spare me, please, the sorrow of your odious presence, for i cannot stand it!" wilhelmina wished to reply, but the answer was, "silence! go, i tell you!" "and i retired all in tears." "all in tears." the double-marriage drifting furiously this long while, in such a sea as never was; and breakers now close a-lee,--have the desperate crew fallen to staving-in the liquor-casks, and quarrelling with one another?--evident one thing is, her majesty cannot be considered a perfectly wise mother! we shall see what her behavior is, when wilhelmina actually weds this respectable young prince. ungrateful creature, to wish papa's consent as well as mine! that is the maternal feeling at this moment; and wilhelmina weeps bitterly, as one of the unluckiest of young ladies. nay, her brother himself, who is sick of this permanent hurricane, and would fain see the end of it at any price, takes mamma's part; and wilhelmina and he come to high words on the matter. this was the unkindest cut of all:--but, of course, this healed in a day. poor prince, he has his own allowance of insults, disgraces, blows; has just been found out in some plan, or suspicion of a plan; found out to be in debt at least, and been half miraculously pardoned;--and, except, in flight, he still sees no deliverance ahead. five days ago, d january, , there came out a cabinet-order (summary act of parliament, so to speak) against "lending money to princes of the blood, were it even to the prince-royal." a crime and misdemeanor, that shall now be; and forfeiture of the money is only part of the penalty, according to this cabinet-order. rumor is, the crown-prince had purchased a vehicle and appurtenances at leipzig, and was for running off. certainty is, he was discovered to have borrowed , thalers from a certain moneyed man at berlin (money made from french scrip, in mississippi law's time);--which debt friedrich wilhelm instantly paid. "your whole debt, then, is that? tell me the whole!"--"my whole debt," answered the prince; who durst not own to about , other thalers ( , pounds) he has borrowed from other quarters, first and last. friedrich wilhelm saw perhaps some premonition of flight, or of desperate measures, in this business; and was unexpectedly mild: paid the , thalers instantly; adding the cabinet-order against future contingencies. [ranke, i. ; forster, &c.] the prince was in this humor when he took mamma's side, and redoubled wilhelmina's grief. double-marriage, on the edge of shipwreck, flies off a kind of carrier-pigeon, or noah's-dove, to england, with cry for help. faithful mamsell bulow consoles the princess: "wait, i have news that will put her majesty in fine humor!"--and she really proved as good as her word. her news is, dubourgay and knyphausen, in this extremity of pinch, have decided to send off not letters merely; but a speaking messenger to the english court. one dr. villa; some kind of "english chaplain" here, [wilhelmina, i. ; dubourgay's despatch, th january, .] whose chief trade is that he teaches wilhelmina english; rev. dr. villa, who honors wilhelmina as he ought, shall be the man. is to go instantly; will explain what the fatal pass we are reduced to is, and whether princess wilhelmina is the fright some represent her there or not. her majesty is overjoyed to hear it: who would not be? her majesty "writes letters" of the due vehemency, thinks wilhelmina,--dare not write at all, says dubourgay;--but loads villa with presents, with advices; with her whole heart speeds him under way. "dismissed, turned off for some fault or other--or perhaps because the princess knows enough of english?" so the rumor goes, in villa's berlin circle. "the chaplain set out with his despatches," says wilhelmina, who does not name him, but is rather eloquent upon his errand; "loaded with presents from the queen. on taking leave of me he wept warm tears. he said, saluting in the english fashion,"--i hope with bended knee, and the maiden's fingers at his lips--"'he would deny his country, if it did not do its duty on this occasion.'" and so hastened forth on his errand. like a carrier-pigeon sent in extremity;--like noah's-dove in the deluge: may he revisit our perishing ark with olive in his bill! end of book vi. history of friedrich ii. of prussia frederick the great by thomas carlyle book xv.--second silesian war, important episode in the general european one.-- th aug. - th dec. . chapter i.--preliminary: how the moment arrived. battle being once seen to be inevitable, it was friedrich's plan not to wait for it, but to give it. thanks to friedrich wilhelm and himself, there is no army, nor ever was any, in such continual preparation. military people say, "some countries take six months, some twelve, to get in motion for war: but in three weeks prussia can be across the marches, and upon the throat of its enemy." which is an immense advantage to little prussia among its big neighbors. "some countries have a longer sword than prussia; but none can unsheathe it so soon:"--we hope, too, it is moderately sharp, when wielded by a deft hand. the french, as was intimated, are in great vigor, this year; thoroughly provoked; and especially since friedrich sent his rothenburg among them, have been doing their very utmost. their main effort is in the netherlands, at present;--and indeed, as happened, continues all through this war to be. they by no means intend, or ever did, to neglect teutschland; yet it turns out, they have pretty much done with their fighting there. and next year, driven or led by accidents of various kinds, they quit it altogether; and turning their whole strength upon the netherlands and italy, chiefly on the netherlands, leave friedrich, much to his astonishment, with the german war hanging wholly round his neck, and take no charge of it farther! in which, to friedrich's biographers, there is this inestimable benefit, if far the reverse to friedrich's self: that we shall soon have done with the french, then; with them and with so much else; and may, in time coming, for most part, leave their huge sorcerer's sabbath of a european war to dance itself out, well in the distance, not encumbering us farther, like a circumambient bedlam, as it has hitherto done. courage, reader! let us give, in a glance or two, some notion of the course things took, and what moment it was when friedrich struck in;--whom alone, or almost alone, we hope to follow thenceforth; "dismal swamp" (so gracious was heaven to us) lying now mostly to rearward, little as we hoped it! it was mere accident, a series of bad accidents, that led king louis and his ministers into gradually forsaking friedrich. they were the farthest in the world from intending such a thing. contrariwise, what brain-beating, diplomatic spider-weaving, practical contriving, now and afterwards, for that object; especially now! rothenburg, noailles, belleisle, cardinal tencin, have been busy; not less the mistress chateauroux, who admires friedrich, being indeed a high-minded unfortunate female, as they say; and has thrown out amelot, not for stammering alone. they are able, almost high people, this new chateauroux ministry, compared with some; and already show results. nay, what is most important of all, france has (unconsciously, or by mere help of noailles and luck) got a real general to her armies: comte de saxe, now marechal de saxe; who will shine very splendent in these netherland operations,--counter-shone by mere wades, d'ahrembergs, cumberlands,--in this and the four following years. noailles had always recognized comte de saxe; had long striven for him, in official quarters; and here gets the light of him unveiled at last, and set on a high place: loyal noailles. this was the year, this , when louis xv., urged by his chateauroux, the high-souled unfortunate female, appeared in person at the head of his troops: "go, sire, go, mon chou (and i will accompany); show yourself where a king should be, at the head of your troops; be a second louis-le-grand!" which he did, his chateauroux and he; actually went to the netherlands, with baggage-train immeasurable, including not cooks only, but play-actors with their thunder-barrels (off from paris, may d), to the admiration of the universe. [adelung, iv. ; barbier, ii. , ; dulaure, _hist. de paris;_ &c.] took the command, nominal-command, first days of june; and captured in no-time menin, ipres, furnes, and the fort of knock, and as much of the austrian netherlands as he liked,--that is to say, saw noailles and saxe do it;--walking rapidly forward from siege to siege, with a most thundering artillery; old marshal wade and consorts dismally eating their victuals, and looking on from the distance, unable to attempt the least stroke in opposition. so that the dutch barrier, if anybody now cared for it, did go all flat; and the balance of power gets kicked out of its sacred pivot: to such purpose have the dutch been hoisted! terrible to think of;--had not there, from the opposite quarter, risen a surprising counterpoise; had not there been a prince karl, with his , , pressing victoriously over the rhine; which stayed the french in these sacrilegious procedures. prince karl gets across the rhine ( june- july, ). prince karl, some weeks ago, at heilbronn, joined his rhine army, which had gathered thither from the austrian side, through baiern, and from the hither-austrian or swabian winter-quarters; with full intent to be across the rhine, and home upon elsass and the compensation countries, this summer, under what difficulties soever. karl, or, as some whisper, old marshal traun, who is nominally second in command, do make a glorious campaign of it, this year;--and lift the cause of liberty, at one time, to the highest pitch it ever reached. here, in brief terms, is prince karl's operation on the rhine, much admired by military men:-- "stockstadt, june th, . some thirty and odd miles north of mannheim, the rhine, before turning westward at mainz, makes one other of its many islands (of which there are hundreds since the leap at schaffhausen): one other, and i think the biggest of them all; perhaps two miles by five; which the germans call kuhkopf (cowhead), from the shape it has,--a narrow semi-ellipse; river there splitting in two, one split (the western) going straight, the other bending luxuriantly round: so that the hind-head or straight end of the island lies towards france, and the round end, or cow-lips (so to speak) towards native teutschland, and the woody hills of the berg-strasse thereabouts. stockstadt, chief little town looking over into this cowhead island, lies under the chin: understand only farther that the german branch carries more than two-thirds of the river; that on the island itself there is no town, or post of defence; and that stockstadt is the place for getting over. coigny and the french, some , , are guarding the river hereabouts, with lines, with batteries, cordons, the best they can; seckendorf, with , more ('imperial' old bavarian troops, revivified, recruited by french pay), is in his garrison of philipsburg, ready to help when needed:"--not moulting now, at wembdingen, in that dismal manner; new-feathered now into "kaiser's army;" waiting in his philipsburg to guard the river there. "coigny's french have ramparts, ditches, not quite unfurnished, on their own shore, opposite this cowhead island (isle de heron, as they call it); looking over to the hind-head, namely: but they have nothing considerable there; and in the island itself, nothing whatever. 'if now stockstadt were suddenly snatched by us,' thinks karl;--'if a few pontoons were nimbly swung in?' "june th,--coigny's people all shooting feu-de-joie, for that never enough to be celebrated capture of menin and the dutch barrier a fortnight ago,--this is managed to be done. the active general barenklau, active brigadier daun under him, pushes rapidly across into kuhkopf; rapidly throws up intrenchments, ramparts, mounts cannon, digs himself in,--greatly to coigny's astonishment; whose people hereabouts, and in all their lines and posts, are busy shooting feu-de-joie for those immortal dutch victories, at the moment, and never dreaming of such a thing. fresh force floods in, prince karl himself arrives next day, in support of barenklau; coigny (head-quarters at speyer, forty miles south) need not attempt dislodging him; but must stand upon his guard, and prepare for worse. which he does with diligence; shifting northward into those stockstadt-mainz parts; calling seckendorf across the river, and otherwise doing his best,--for about ten days more, when worse, and almost worst, did verily befall him. "no attempt was made on barenklau; nor, beyond the alarming of the coigny-seckendorf people, did anything occur in cowhead island,--unless it were the finis of an ugly bully and ruffian, who has more than once afflicted us: which may be worth one word. colonel mentzel [copper-faced colonel, originally play-actor, "spy in persia," and i know not what] had been at the seizure of kuhkopf; a prominent man. whom, on the fifth day after ('june th'), prince karl overwhelmed with joy, by handing him a patent of generalcy: 'just received from court, my friend, on account of your merits old and late.'--'aha,' said barenklau, congratulating warmly: 'dine with me, then, herr general mentzel, this very day. the prince himself is to be there, highness of hessen-darmstadt, and who not; all are impatient to drink your health!' mentzel had a glorious dinner; still more glorious drink,--prince karl and the others, it is said, egging him into much wild bluster and gasconade, to season their much wine. eminent swill of drinking, with the loud coarse talk supposable, on the part of mentzel and consorts did go on, in this manner, all afternoon: in the evening, drunk mentzel came out for air; went strutting and staggering about; emerging finally on the platform of some rampart, face of him huge and red as that of the foggiest rising moon;--and stood, looking over into the lorraine country; belching out a storm of oaths, as to his taking it, as to his doing this and that; and was even flourishing his sword by way of accompaniment; when, lo, whistling slightly through the summer air, a rifle-ball from some sentry on the french side (writers say, it was a french drummer, grown impatient, and snatching a sentry's piece) took the brain of him, or the belly of him; and he rushed down at once, a totally collapsed monster, and mere heap of dead ruin, never to trouble mankind more." [_guerre de boheme,_ iii. .] for which my readers and i are rather thankful. voltaire, and perhaps other memorable persons, sometimes mention this brute (miraculous to the plebs and gazetteers); otherwise eternal oblivion were the best we could do with him. trenck also, readers will be glad to understand, ends in jail and bedlam by and by. "prince karl had not the least intention of crossing by this cowhead island. nevertheless he set about two other bridges in the neighborhood, nearer mainz (few miles below that city); kept manoeuvring his force, in huge half-moon, round that quarter, and mysteriously up and down; alarming coigny wholly into the mainz region. for the space of ten days; and then, stealing off to schrock, a little rhine village above philipsburg, many miles away from coigny and his vigilantes, he-- "night of th june- st july, suddenly shot pandour trenck, followed by nadasti and , , across at schrock who scattered seckendorf's poor outposts thereabouts to the winds; 'built a bridge before morning, and next day another.' next day prince karl in person appeared; and on the d of july, had his whole army with its luggages across; and had seized the lines of lauterburg and weissenburg (celebrated northern defence of elsass),--much to coigny's amazement; and remained inexpugnable there, with elsass open to him, and to coigny shut, for the present! [adelung, iv. - .] coigny made bitter wail, accusation, blame of seckendorf, blame of men and of things; even tried some fighting, seckendorf too doing feats, to recover those lines of weissenburg: but could not do it. and, in fact, blazing to and fro in that excited rather than luminous condition, could not do anything; except retire into the strong posts of the background; and send express on express, swifter than the wind if you can, to a victorious king overturning the dutch barrier: 'help, your majesty, or we are lost; and france is--what shall i say!'" "admirable feat of strategy! what a general, this prince karl!" exclaimed mankind,--cause-of-liberty mankind with special enthusiasm; and took to writing lives of prince karl, [for instance, _the life of his highness prince charles of &c., with &c. &c._ (london, ); one of the most distracted blotches ever published under the name of book;--wakening thoughts of a public dimness very considerable indeed, to which this could offer itself as lamp!] as well as tar-burning and te-deum-ing on an extensive scale. for it had sent the cause of liberty bounding up again to the top of things, this of crossing the rhine, in such fashion. and, in effect, the cause of liberty, and prince karl himself, had risen hereby to their acme or culminating point in world-history; not to continue long at such height, little as they dreamt of that, among their tar-burnings. the feat itself--contrived by nadasti, people say, and executed (what was the real difficulty) by traun--brought prince karl very great renown, this year; and is praised by friedrich himself, now and afterwards, as masterly, as julius caesar's method, and the proper way of crossing rivers (when executable) in face of an enemy. and indeed prince karl, owing to traun or not, is highly respectable in the way of generalship at present; and did in these five months, from june onward, really considerable things. at his very acme of life, as well as of generalship; which, alas, soon changed, poor man; never to culminate again. he had got, at the beginning of the year, the high maria theresa's one sister, archduchess maria anna, to wife; [age then twenty-five gone: "born th september, ; married to prince karl th january, ; died, of childbirth, th december same year" (hormayr, _oesterreichischer plutarch,_ iv. erstes baudchen, ).] the crown of long mutual attachment; she safe now at brussels, diligent co-regent, and in a promising family-way; he here walking on victorious:--need any man be happier? no man can be supremely happy long; and this general's strategic felicity and his domestic were fatally cut down almost together. the cause of liberty, too, now at the top of its orbit, was--but let us stick by our excerpting: "dunkirk, th july, [princess ulrique's wedding, just two days ago]. king louis, on hearing of the job's-news from elsass, instantly suspended his conquests in flanders; detached noailles, detached this one and that, double-quick, division after division (leaving saxe, with , , to his own resources, and the fatuities of marshal wade); and, th july, himself hastens off from dunkirk (leaving much of the luggage, but not the chateauroux behind him), to save his country, poor soul. but could not, in the least, save it; the reverse rather. august th, he got to metz, belleisle's strong town, about miles from the actual scene; his detached reinforcements, say , men or so, hanging out ahead like flame-clouds, but uncertain how to act;--noailles being always cunctatious in time of crisis, and poor louis himself nothing of a cloud-compeller;--and then, "metz, august th, the most christian king fell ill; dangerously, dreadfully, just like to die. which entirely paralyzed noailles and company, or reduced them to mere hysterics, and excitement of the unluminous kind. and filled france in general, paris in particular, with terror, lamentation, prayers of forty hours; and such a paroxysm of hero-worship as was never seen for such an object before." [espagnac, ii. ; adelung, iv. ; _fastes de louis xv.,_ ii. ; &c. &c.] for the cause of liberty here, we consider, was the culminating moment; elsass, lorraine and the three bishoprics lying in their quasi-moribund condition; austrian claims of compensation ceasing to be visions of the heated brain, and gaining some footing on the earth as facts. prince karl is here actually in elsass, master of the strong passes; elate in heart, he and his; france, again, as if fallen paralytic, into temporary distraction; offering for resistance nothing hitherto but that universal wailing of mankind, hero-worship of a thrice-lamentable nature, and the prayers of forty-hours! most christian majesty, now in extremis, centre of the basest hubbub that ever was, is dismissing chateauroux. noailles, coigny and company hang well back upon the hill regions, and strong posts which are not yet menaced; or fly vaguely, more or less distractedly, hither and thither; not in the least like fighting karl, much less like beating him. karl has germany free at his back (nay it is a german population round him here); neither haversack nor cartridge-box like to fail: before him are only a noailles and consorts, flying vaguely about;--and there is in karl, or under the same cloak with him at present, a talent of manoeuvring men, which even friedrich finds masterly. if old marshal wade, at the other end of the line, should chance to awaken and press home on saxe, and his remnant of french, with right vigor? in fact, there was not, that i can see, for centuries past, not even at the siege of lille in marlborough's time, a more imminent peril for france. friedrich decides to intervene. king friedrich, on hearing of these rhenish emergencies and of king louis's heroic advance to the rescue, perceived that for himself too the moment was come; and hastened to inform heroic louis, that though the terms of their bargain were not yet completed, sweden, russia and other points being still in a pendent condition, he, friedrich,--with an eye to success of their joint adventure, and to the indispensability of joint action, energy, and the top of one's speed now or never,--would, by the middle of this same august, be on the field with , men. "an invasion of bohemia, will not that astonish prince karl; and bring him to his rhine-bridges again? over which, if your most christian majesty be active, he will not get, except in a half, or wholly ruined state. follow him close; send the rest of your force to threaten hanover; sit well on the skirts of prince karl. him as he hurries homeward, ruined or half-ruined, him, or whatever austrian will fight, i do my best to beat. we may have bohemia, and a beaten austria, this very autumn: see,--and, in one campaign, there is peace ready for us!" this is friedrich's scheme of action; success certain, thinks he, if only there be energy, activity, on your side, as there shall be on mine;--and has sent count schmettau, filled with fiery speed and determination, to keep the french full of the like, and concert mutual operations. "magnanimous!" exclaim noailles and the paralyzed french gentlemen (king louis, i think, now past speech, for schmettau only came august th): "most sublime behavior, on his prussian majesty's part!" own they. and truly it is a fine manful indifference (by no means so common as it should be) to all interests, to all considerations, but that of a joint enterprise one has engaged in. and truly, furthermore, it was immediate salvation to the paralyzed french gentlemen, in that alarming crisis; though they did not much recognize it afterwards as such: and indeed were conspicuously forgetful of all parts of it, when their own danger was over. maria theresa's feelings may be conceived; george ii's feelings; and what the cause of liberty in general felt, and furiously said and complained, when--suddenly as a deus ex machina, or supernal genie in the minor theatres--friedrich stept in. precisely in this supreme crisis, th august, , friedrich's minister, graf von dohna, at vienna, has given notice of the frankfurt union, and solemn engagement entered into: "obliged in honor and conscience; will and must now step forth to right an injured kaiser; cannot stand these high procedures against an imperial majesty chosen by all the princes of the reich, this unheard-of protest that the kaiser is no kaiser, as if all germany were but austria and the queen of hungary's. prussian majesty has not the least quarrel of his own with the queen of hungary, stands true, and will stand, by the treaty of berlin and breslau;--only, with certain other german princes, has done what all german princes and peoples not austrian are bound to do, on behalf of their down-trodden kaiser, formed a union of frankfurt; and will, with armed hand if indispensable, endeavor to see right done in that matter." [in _adelung,_ iv. , , the declaration itself (audience, " th august, ." dohna off homeward "on the second day after").] this is the astonishing fact for the cause of liberty; and no clamor and execration will avail anything. this man is prompt, too; does not linger in getting out his sword, when he has talked of it. prince karl's operation is likely to be marred amazingly. if this swift king (comparable to the old serpent for devices) were to burst forth from his silesian strengths; tread sharply on the tail of prince karl's operation, and bring back the formidably fanged head of it out of alsace, five hundred miles all at once,--there would be a business! we will now quit the rhine operations, which indeed are not now of moment; friedrich being suddenly the key of events again. i add only, what readers are vaguely aware of, that king louis did not die; that he lay at death's door for precisely one week ( th- th august), symptoms mending on the th. in the interim,--grand-almoner fitz-james (uncle of our conte di spinelli) insisting that a certain cardinal, who had got the sacraments in hand, should insist; and endless ministerial intrigue being busy,--moribund louis had, when it came to the sacramental point, been obliged to dismiss his chateauroux. poor chateauroux; an unfortunate female; yet, one almost thinks, the best man among them: dismissed at metz here, and like to be mobbed! that was the one issue of king louis's death-sickness. sublime sickness; during which all paris wept aloud, in terror and sorrow, like a child that has lost its mother and sees a mastiff coming; wept sublimely, and did the prayers of forty-hours; and called king louis le bien-aime (the well-beloved):--merely some obstruction in the royal bowels, it turned out;--a good cathartic, and the prayers of forty-hours, quite reinstated matters. nay reinstated even chateauroux, some time after,--"the devil being well again," and, as the proverb says, quitting his monastic view. reinstated chateauroux: but this time, poor creature, she continued only about a day:--"sudden fever, from excitement," said the doctors: "fever? poison, you mean!" whispered others, and looked for changes in the ministry. enough, oh, enough!-- old marshal wade did not awaken, though bawled to by his ligoniers and others, and much shaken about, poor old gentleman. "no artillery to speak of," murmured he; "want baggage-wagons, too!" and lay still. "here is artillery!" answered the official people; "with my own money i will buy you baggage-wagons!" answered the high maria anna, in her own name and her prince karl's, who are joint-governors there. possibly he would have awakened, had they given him time. but time, in war especially, is the thing that is never given. once friedrich had struck in, the moment was gone by. poor old wade! of him also enough. chapter ii.--friedrich marches upon prag, captures prag. it was on saturday, "early in the morning," th august, , that friedrich set out, attended by his two eldest brothers, prince of prussia and prince henri, from potsdam, towards this new adventure, which proved so famous since. sudden, swift, to the world's astonishment;--actually on march here, in three columns (two through saxony by various routes southeastward, one from silesia through glatz southwestward), to invade bohemia: rumor says , strong, fact itself says upwards of , , on their various routes, converging towards prag. [--helden-geschichte,--ii. . orlich (ii. , ) enumerates the various regiments.] his columns, especially his saxon columns, are already on the road; he joins one column, this night, at wittenberg; and is bent, through saxony, towards the frontiers of bohemia, at the utmost military speed he has. through saxony about , go: he has got the kaiser's order to the government of saxony, "our august ally, requiring on our imperial business a transit through you;"--and winterfeld, an excellent soldier and negotiator, has gone forward to present said order. a document which flurries the dresden officials beyond measure. their king is in warsaw; their king, if here, could do little; and indeed has been inclining to maria theresa this long while. and winterfeld insists on such despatch;--and not even the duke of weissenfels is in town, dresden officials "send off five couriers and thirteen estafettes" to the poor old duke; [_helden-geschichte,_ ii. .] get him at last; and--the march is already taking effect; they may as well consent to it: what can they do but consent! in the uttermost flurry, they had set to fortifying dresden; all hands driving palisades, picking, delving, making coupures (trenches, or sunk barricades) in the streets;--fatally aware that it can avail nothing. is not this the kaiser's order? prussians, to the amount of , , are across our frontiers, rapidly speeding on. "friedrich's manifesto--under the modest title, 'anzeige der ursachen (advertisement of the causes which have induced his prussian majesty to send the romish kaiser's majesty some auxiliary troops)'--had appeared in the berlin newspapers thursday, th, only two days before. an astonishment to all mankind; which gave rise to endless misconceptions of friedrich: but which, supporting itself on proofs, on punctually excerpted foot-notes, is intrinsically a modest, quiet piece; and, what is singular in manifestoes, has nothing, or almost nothing, in it that is not, so far as it goes, a perfect statement of the fact. 'auxiliary troops, that is our essential character. no war with her hungarian majesty, or with any other, on our own score. but her hungarian majesty, how has she treated the romish kaiser, her and our and the reich's sovereign head, and to what pass reduced him; refusing him peace on any terms, except those of self-annihilation; denying that he is a kaiser at all;'--and enumerates the various imperial injuries, with proof given, quiet footnotes by way of proof; and concludes in these words: 'for himself his majesty requires nothing. the question here is not of his majesty's own interest at all [everything his majesty required, or requires, is by the treaty of berlin solemnly his, if the reich and its laws endure]: and he has taken up arms simply and solely in the view of restoring to the reich its freedom, to the kaiser his headship of the reich, and to all europe the peace which is so desirable.' [given in seyfarth, _beylage,_ i. - , with date "august, ."] "'pretences, subterfuges, lies!' exclaimed the austrian and allied public everywhere, or strove to exclaim; especially the english public, which had no difficulty in so doing;--a public comfortably blank as to german facts or non-facts; and finding with amazement only this a very certain fact, that hereby is their own pragmatic thunder checked in mid-volley in a most surprising manner, and the triumphant cause of liberty brought to jeopardy again. 'perfidious, ambitious, capricious!' exclaimed they: 'a prince without honor, without truth, without constancy;'--and completed, for themselves, in hot rabid humor, that english theory of friedrich which has prevailed ever since. perhaps the most surprising item of which is this latter, very prominent in those old times, that friedrich has no 'constancy,' but follows his 'caprices,' and accidental whirls of impulse:--item which has dropped away in our times, though the others stand as stable as ever. a monument of several things! friedrich's suddenness is an essential part of what fighting talent he has: if the public, thrown into flurry, cannot judge it well, they must even misjudge it: what help is there? "that the above were actually friedrich's reasons for venturing into this big game again, is not now disputable. and as to the rumor, which rose afterwards (and was denied, and could only be denied diplomatically to the ear, if even to the ear), that friedrich by secret article was 'to have for himself the three bohemian circles, konigsgratz, bunzlau, leitmeritz, which lie between schlesien and sachsen,' [_helden-geschichte,_ i. ; scholl, ii. .]--there is not a doubt but friedrich had so bargained, 'very well, if we can get said circles!' and would right cheerfully have kept and held them, had the big game gone in all points completely well (game, to reinstate the kaiser both in bohemia and bavaria) by friedrich's fine playing. not a doubt of all this:--nor of what an extremely hypothetic outlook it then and always was; greatly too weak for enticing such a man." friedrich goes in three columns. one, on the south or left shore of the elbe, coming in various branches under friedrich himself; this alone will touch on dresden, pass on the south side of dresden; gather itself about pirna (in the saxon switzerland so called, a notable locality); thence over the metal mountains into bohmen, by toplitz, by lowositz, leitmeritz, and the highway called the pascopol, famous in war. the second column, under leopold the young dessauer, goes on the other or north side of the elbe, at a fair distance; marching through the lausitz (rendezvous or starting-point was bautzen in the lausitz) straight south, to meet the king at leitmeritz, where the grand magazine is to be; and thence, still south, straight upon prag, in conjunction with his majesty or parallel to him. [_helden-geschichte,_ i. .] these are the two saxon columns. the third column, under schwerin, collects itself in the interior of silesia; is issuing, by glatz country, through the giant mountains, bohmische kamme (bohemian combs as they are called, which tourists know), by the pass of braunau,--disturbing the dreams of rubezahl, if rubezahl happen to be there. this, say , , will come down upon prag from the eastern side; and be first on the ground ( st august),--first by one day. in the home parts of silesia, well eastward of glatz, there is left another force of , , which can go across the austrian border there, and hang upon the hills, threatening olmutz and the moravian countries, should need be. and so, in its three columns, from west, from north, from east, the march, with a steady swiftness, proceeds. important especially those two saxon columns from west and north: , of them, "with a frightful (entsetzlich) quantity of big guns coming up the elbe." much is coming up the elbe; indispensable highway for this enterprise. three months' provisions, endless artillery and provender, is on the elbe; big boats, with immense vorspann (of trace-horses, dreadful swearing, too, as i have heard), will pass through the middle of dresden: not landing by any means. "no, be assured of it, ye dresdeners, all flurried, palisaded, barricaded; no hair of you shall be harmed." after a day or two, the flurry of saxony subsided; prussians, under strict discipline, molest no private person; pay their way; keep well aloof, to south and to north, of dresden (all but the necessary ammunition-escorts do);--and require of the official people nothing but what the law of the reich authorizes to "imperial auxiliaries" in such case. "the saxons themselves," friedrich observes, "had some , , but scattered about; king in warsaw:--dreadful terror; making coupures and tetes-de-pont;--could have made no defence." had we diligently spent eight days on them! reflects he afterwards. "to seize saxony [and hobble it with ropes, so that at any time you could pin it motionless, and even, if need were, milk the substance out of it], would not have detained us eight days." [ _oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. .] which would have been the true plan, had we known what was getting ready there! certain it is, friedrich did no mischief, paid for everything; anxious to keep well with saxony; hoping always they might join him again, in such a cause. "cause dear to every patriot german prince," urges friedrich,--though bruhl, and the polish, once "moravian," majesty are of a very different opinion:-- "maria theresa, her thoughts at hearing of it may be imagined: 'the evil genius of my house afoot again! my high projects on elsass and lorraine; husband for kaiser, elsass for the reich and him, lorraine for myself and him; gone probably to water!' nevertheless she said (an official person heard her say), 'my right is known to god; god will protect me, as he has already done.' [ _helden-geschichte,_ ii. .] and rose very strong, and magnanimously defiant again; perhaps, at the bottom of her heart, almost glad withal that she would now have a stroke for her dear silesia again, unhindered by paladin george and his treaties and notions. what measures, against this nefarious prussian outbreak, hateful to gods and men, are possible, she rapidly takes: in bohemia, in bavaria and her other countries, that are threatened or can help. and abates nothing of heart or hope;--praying withal, immensely, she and her people, according to the mode they have. sending for prince karl, we need not say, double-quick, as the very first thing. "of maria theresa in hungary,--for she ran to presburg again with her woes (august th, diet just assembling there),--let us say only that hungary was again chivalrous; that old palfy and the general hungarian nation answered in the old tone,--vivat maria; ad arma, ad arma! with tolpatches, pandours, warasdins;--and, in short, that great and small, in infinite 'insurrection,' have still a stroke of battle in them pro rege nostro. scarcely above a district or two (as the jaszers and kauers, in their over-cautious way) making the least difficulty. much enthusiasm and unanimity in all the others; here and there a hungarian gentleman complaining scornfully that their troops, known as among the best fighters in nature, are called irregular troops,--irregular, forsooth! in one public consultation [district not important, not very spellable, though doubtless pronounceable by natives to it], a gentleman suggests that 'winter is near; should not there be some slight provision of tents, of shelter in the frozen sleety mountains, to our gallant fellows bound thither?' upon which another starts up, 'when our ancestors came out of asia minor, over the palus maeotis bound in winter ice; and, sabre in hand, cut their way into this fine country which is still ours, what shelter had they? no talk of tents, of barracks or accommodation there; each, wrapt in his sheep skin, found it shelter sufficient. tents!' [ _helden-geschichte,_ ii. .] and the thing was carried by acclamation. "wide wail in bohemia that war is coming back. nobility all making off, some to vienna or the intermediate towns lying thitherward, some to their country-seats; all out of prag. willing mind on the part of the common people; which the government strains every nerve to make the most of. here are fasts, processions, prayers of forty-hours; here, as in vienna and elsewhere. in vienna was a three days' solemn fast: the like in prag, or better; with procession to the shrine of st. vitus,--little likely to help, i should fear. 'rise, all fencible men,' exclaims the government,--'at least we will ballot, and make you rise:'--militia people enter prag to the extent of , ; like to avail little, one would fear. general harsch, with reinforcement of real soldiers, is despatched from vienna; harsch, one of our ablest soldiers since khevenhuller died, gets in still in time; and thus increases the garrison of regulars to , , with a vigorous captain to guide it. old count ogilvy, the same whom saxe surprised two years ago in the moonlight, snatching ladders from the gallows,--ogilvy is again commandant; but this time nominal mainly, and with better outlooks, harsch being under him. in relays, , of the militia men dig and shovel night and day; repairing, perfecting the ramparts of the place. then, as to provisions, endless corn is introduced,--farmers forced, the unwilling at the bayonet's point, to deliver in their corn; much of it in sheaf, so that we have to thrash it in the market-place, in the streets that are wide: and thus in prag is heard the sound of flails, among the militia-drums and so many other noises. with the great church-organs growling; and the bass and treble miserere of the poor superstitious people rising, to st. vitus and others. in fact, it is a general dance of st. vitus,--except that of the flails, and militia-men working at the ramparts,--mostly not leading any-whither." ["letter from a citizen of prag," date, st sept. (in _helden-geschichte,_ ii. ), which gives several curious details.] meanwhile friedrich's march from west, from north, from east, is flowing on; diligent, swift; punctual to its times, its places; and meets no impediment to speak of. at tetschen on the saxon-bohemian frontier,--a pleasant schloss perched on its crags, as tourists know, where the elbe sweeps into saxon switzerland and its long stone labyrinths,--at tetschen the austrians had taken post; had tried to block the river, driving piles into it, and tumbling boulders into it, with a view to stop the prussian boats. these people needed to be torn out, their piles and they: which was done in two days, the soldier part of it; and occupied the boatmen above a week, before all was clear again. prosperous, correct to program, all the rest; not needing mention from us;--here are the few sparks from it that dwell in one's memory:-- "august th, , king left potsdam; joined his first column that night, at wittenberg. through mieissen, torgau, freyberg; is at peterswalde, eastern slope of the metal mountains, august th; all the columns now on bohemian ground. "friedrich had crossed elbe by the bridge of meissen: on the southern shore, politely waiting to receive his majesty, there stood feldmarschall the duke of weissenfels; to whom the king gave his hand," no doubt in friendly style, "and talked for above half an hour,"--with such success! thinks friedrich by and by. we have heard of weissenfels before; the same poor weissenfels who was wilhelmina's wooer in old time, now on the verge of sixty; an extremely polite but weakish old gentleman; accidentally preserved in history. one of those conspicuous "human clothes-horses" (phantasmal all but the digestive part), which abound in that eighteenth century and others like it; and distress your historical studies. poor old soul; now feldmarschall and commander-in-chief here. has been in turk and other wars; with little profit to himself or others. used to like his glass, they say; is still very poor, though now duke in reality as well as title (succeeded two egregious brothers, some years since, who had been spendthrift): he has still one other beating to get in this world,--from friedrich next year. died altogether, two years hence; and wilhelmina heard no more of him. "at meissen bridge, say some, was this half-hour's interview; at pirna, the bridge of pirna, others say; [see orlich, ii. ; and _helden-geschichte,_ ii. .]--quite indifferent to us which. at pirna, and hither and thither in saxon switzerland, friedrich certainly was. 'who ever saw such positions, your majesty?' for friedrich is always looking out, were it even from the window of his carriage, and putting military problems to himself in all manner of scenery, 'what would a man do, in that kind of ground, if attacking, if attacked? with that hill, that brook, that bit of bog?' and advises every officer to be continually doing the like. [military instructions? rules for a good commander of &c.?--i have, for certain, read this passage; but the reference is gone again, like a sparrow from the house-top!] that is the value of picturesque or other scenery to friedrich, and their effect on good prussian officers and him. "... at tetschen, colonel kahlbutz," diligent prussian colonel, "plucks out those austrians from their rock nest there; makes them prisoners of war;--which detained the leitmeritz branch of us two days. august th, junction at leitmeritz thereupon. magazine established there. boats coming on presently. friedrich himself camped at lobositz in this part,"--lobositz, or lowositz, which he will remember one day. "august th, march to budin; that is, southward, across the eger, arrive within forty miles of prag. austrian bathyani, summoned hastily out of his bavarian posts, to succor in this pressing emergency, has arrived in these neighborhoods,--some , regulars under him, preceded by clouds of hussars, whom ziethen smites a little, by way of handsel;--no other austrian force to speak of hereabouts; and we are now between bathyani and prag. "september st, to mickowitz, near welwarn, twenty miles from prag. september d, camp on the weissenberg there." [ _helden-geschichte,_ i. .] and so they are all assembled about prag, begirdling the poor city,--third siege it has stood within these three years (since that moonlight november night in );--and are only waiting for their heavy artillery to begin battering. the poor inhabitants, in spite of three sieges; the , raw militia-men, mostly of hungarian breed; the , regulars, and harsch and old ogilvy, are all disposed to do their best. friedrich is naturally in haste to get hold of prag. but he finds, on taking survey: that the sword-in-hand method is not now, as in , feasible at all; that the place is in good posture of strength; and will need a hot battering to tear it open. owing to that accident at tetschen, the siege-cannon are not yet come up: "build your batteries, your moldau-bridges, your communications, till the cannon come; and beware of bathyani meddling with your cannon by the road!" "bathyani is within twenty miles of us, at beraun, a compact little town to southwest; gathering a magazine there; and ready for enterprises,--in more force than friedrich guesses. 'drive him out, seize that magazine of his!' orders friedrich (september th); and despatches general hacke on it, a right man,"--at whose wedding we assisted (wedding to an heiress, long since, in friedrich wilhelm's time), if anybody now remembered. "and on the morrow there falls out a pretty little 'action of beraun,' about which great noise was made in the gazettes pro and contra: which did not dislodge bathyani by airy means; but which might easily have ruined the impetuous hacke and his , , getting into masked batteries, pandour whirlwinds, charges of horses 'from front, from rear, and from both flanks,'--had not he, with masterly promptitude, whirled himself out of it, snatched instantly what best post there was, and defended himself inexpugnably there, for six hours, till relief came." [die bey beraun vorgefallene action (in seyfarth, _beylage,_ i. , ).] brilliant little action, well performed on both sides, but leading to nothing; and which shall not concern us farther. except to say that bathyani did now, more at his leisure, retire out of harm's way; and begin collecting magazines at pilsen far rearward, which may prove useful to prince karl, in the route prince karl is upon. siege-cannon having at last come (september th), the batteries are all mounted:--on wednesday, th, late at night, the artillery, "in enormous quantity," opens its dread throat; poor prag is startled from its bed by torrents of shot, solid and shell, from three different quarters; and makes haste to stand to its guns. from three different quarters; from bubenetsch northward; from the upland of st. lawrence (famed weissenberg, or white-hill) westward; and from the ziscaberg eastward (hill of zisca, where iron zisca posted himself on a grand occasion once),--which latter is a broad long hill, west end of it falling sheer over prag; and on another point of it, highest point of all, the praguers have a strong battery and works. the prag guns otherwise are not too effectual; planted mostly on low ground. by much the best prag battery is this of the ziscaberg. and this, after two days' experience had of it, the prussians determine to take on the morrow. september th, schwerin, who commands on that side, assaults accordingly; with the due steadfastness and stormfulness: throwing shells and balls by way of prelude. friedrich, with some group of staff-officers and dignitaries, steps out on the bubenetsch post, to see how this affair of the ziscaberg will prosper: the praguers thereabouts, seeing so many dignitaries, turn cannon on them. "disperse, ihr herren; have a care!" cried friedrich; not himself much minding, so intent upon the ziscaberg. and could have skipt indifferently over your cannon-balls ploughing the ground,--had not one fateful ball shattered out the life of poor prince wilhelm; a good young cousin of his, shot down here at his hand. doubtless a sharp moment for the king. prince margraf wilhelm and a poor young page, there they lie dead; indifferent to the ziscaberg and all coming wars of mankind. lamentation, naturally, for this young man,--brother to the one who fell at mollwitz, youngest brother of the margraf karl, who commands in this bubenetsch redoubt:--but we must lift our eye-glass again; see how schwerin is prospering. schwerin, with due steadfastness and stormfulness, after his prelude of bomb-shells, rushes on double-quick; cannot be withstood; hurls out the praguers, and seizes their battery; a ruinous loss to them. their grand zisca redoubt is gone, then; and two subsidiary small redoubts behind it withal, which the french had built, and named "the magpie-nests (nids a pie);" these also are ours. and we overhang, from our zisca hill, the very roofs, as it were; and there is nothing but a long bare curtain now in this quarter, ready to be battered in breach, and soon holed, if needful. it is not needful,--not quite. in the course of three days more, our bubenetsch battery, of enormous power, has been so diligent, it has set fire to the water-mill; burns irretrievably the water-mill, and still worse, the wooden sluice of the moldau; so that the river falls to the everywhere wadable pitch. and governor harsch perceives that all this quarter of the town is open to any comer;--and, in fact, that he will have to get away, the best he can. white flag accordingly (tuesday, th): "free withdrawal, to the wischerad; won't you?" "by no manner of means!" answers friedrich. bids schwerin from his ziscaberg make a hole or two in that "curtain" opposite him; and gets ready for storm. upon which harsch, next morning, has to beat the chamade, and surrender prisoner of war. and thus, wednesday, th, it is done: a siege of one week, no more,--after all that thrashing of grain, drilling of militia, and other spirited preparation. harsch could not help it; the prussian cannonading was so furious. [orlich, ii. - ; _helden-geschichte,_ i. , and ii. ; _oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. ; &c. &c.] prag has to swear fealty to the kaiser; and "pay a ransom of , pounds." drilled militia, regulars, hungarians, about , ,--only that many of the tolpatches contrived to whisk loose,--are marched prisoners to glatz and other strong places. prag city, with plenty of provision in it, is ours. a brilliant beginning of a campaign; the eyes of all europe turned again, in very various humor, on this young king. if only the french do their duty, and hang well on the skirts of marshal traun (or of prince karl, the cloak of traun), who is hastening hitherward all he can. chapter iii.--friedrich, diligent in his bohemian conquests, unexpectedly comes upon prince karl, with no french attending him. this electrically sudden operation on prag was considered by astonished mankind, whatever else they might think about it, a decidedly brilliant feat of war: falling like a bolt out of the blue,--like three bolts, suddenly coalescing over prag, and striking it down. friedrich himself, though there is nothing of boast audible here or anywhere, was evidently very well satisfied; and thought the aspects good. there is prince karl whirling instantly back from his strasburg prospects; the general st. vitus dance of austrian things rising higher and higher in these home parts:--reasonable hope that "in the course of one campaign," proud obstinate austria might feel itself so wrung and screwed as to be glad of peace with neighbors not wishing war. that was the young king's calculation at this time. and, had france done at all as it promised,--or had the young king himself been considerably wiser than he was,--he had not been disappointed in the way we shall see! friedrich admits he did not understand war at this period. his own scheme now was: to move towards the southwest, there to abolish bathyani and his tolpatches, who are busy gathering magazines for prince karl's advent; to seize the said magazines, which will be very useful to us; then advance straight towards the passes of the bohemian mountains. towns of furth, waldmunchen, unfortunate town of cham (burnt by trenck, where masons are now busy); these stand successive in the grand pass, through which the highway runs; some hundred miles or so from where we are: march, at one's swiftest, thitherward, bathyani's magazines to help; and there await prince karl? it was friedrich's own notion; not a bad one, though not the best. the best, he admits, would have been: to stay pretty much where he was; abolish bathyani's tolpatch people, seizing their magazines, and collecting others; in general, well rooting and fencing himself in prag, and in the circles that lie thereabouts upon the elbe,--bounded to southward by the sazawa (branch of the moldau), which runs parallel to the elbe;--but well refusing to stir much farther at such an advanced season of the year. that second plan would have been the wisest:--then why not, follow it? too tame a plan for the youthful mind. besides, we perceive, as indeed is intimated by himself, he dreaded the force of public opinion in france. "aha, look at your king of prussia again. gone to conquer bohemia; and, except the three circles he himself is to have of it, lets bohemia go to the winds!" this sort of thing, friedrich admits, he dreaded too much, at that young period; so loud had the criticisms been on him, in the time of the breslau treaty: "out upon your king of prussia; call you that an honorable ally!" undoubtedly a weakness in the young king; inasmuch, says he, as "every general [and every man, add we] should look to the fact, not to the rumor of the fact." well; but, at least, he will adopt his own other notion; that of making for the passes of the bohemian mountains; to abolish bathyani at least, and lock the door upon prince karl's advent? that was his own plan; and, though second-best, that also would have done well, had there been no third. but there was, as we hinted, a third plan, ardently favored by belleisle, whose war-talent friedrich much respected at this time: plan built on belleisle's reminiscences of the old tabor-budweis businesses, and totally inapplicable now. belleisle said, "go southeast, not southwest; right towards the austrian frontier itself; that will frighten austria into a fine tremor. shut up the roads from austria: budweis, neuhaus; seize those two highroad towns, and keep them, if you would hold bohemia; the want of them was our ruin there." your ruin, yes: but your enemy was not coming from alsace and the southwest then. he was coming from austria; and your own home lay on the southwest: it is all different now! friedrich might well think himself bewitched not to have gone for cham and furth, and the passes of the bohmer-wald, according to his own notion. but so it was; he yielded to the big reputation of belleisle, and to fear of what the world would say of him in france; a weakness which he will perhaps be taught not to repeat. in fact, he is now about to be taught several things;--and will have to pay his school-wages as he goes. friedrich, leaving small garrison in prag, rushes swiftly up the moldau valley, upon the tabor-budweis country; to please his french friends. friedrich made no delay in prag; in haste at this late time of year. september th, on the very morrow of the siege, the prussians get in motion southward; on the th, friedrich, from his post to north of the city, defiles through prag, on march to kunraditz,--first stage on that questionable expedition up the moldau valley, right bank; towards tabor, budweis, neuhaus; to threaten austria, and please belleisle and the french. prag is left under general einsiedel with a small garrison of , ;--einsiedel, a steady elderly gentleman, favorite of friedrich wilhelm's, has brief order, or outline of order to be filled up by his own good sense. posadowsky follows the march, with as many meal-wagons as possible,--draught-cattle in very ineffectual condition. our main magazine is at leitmeritz (should have been brought on to prag, thinks friedrich); commissariat very ill-managed in comparison to what it ought to be,--to what it shall be, if we ever live to make another campaign. heavy artillery is left in prag (another fault); and from each regiment, one of its baggage-wagons. [ _helden-geschichte,_ i. ; orlich, ii. et seqq.; _frederic,_ iii. ; &c.] "we rest a day here at kunraditz: st september, get to the sazawa river;-- d, to bistritz (rest a day);-- th, to miltschin; and th, to tabor:"--but the diary would be tedious. friedrich goes in two columns; one along the great road towards tabor, under schwerin this, and friedrich mainly with him; the other to the right, along the river's bank, under leopold, young dessauer, which has to go by wild country roads, or now and then roads of its own making; and much needs the pioneer (a difficult march in the shortening days). posadowsky follows with the proviant, drawn by cattle of the horse and ox species, daily falling down starved: great swearing there too, i doubt not! general nassau is vanguard, and stretches forward successfully at a much lighter pace. there are two rivers, considerable branches of the moldau, coming from eastward; which, and first of them the sazawa, concern us here. after mounting the southern uplands from prag for a day or two, you then begin to drop again, into the hollow of a river called sazawa, important in bohemian wars. it is of winding course, the first considerable branch of the moldau, rising in teutschbrod country, seventy or eighty miles to east of us: in regard to sazawa, there is, at present, no difficulty about crossing; the country being all ours. after the sazawa, mount again, long miles, day after day, through intricate stony desolation, rocks, bogs, untrimmed woods, you will get to miltschin, thence to tabor: miltschin is the crown of that rough moor country; from prag to tabor is some sixty miles. after miltschin the course of those brown mountain-brooks is all towards the luschnitz, the next considerable branch of the moldau; branch still longer and more winding than the sazawa; tabor towers up near this branch; budweis, on the moldau itself, is forty miles farther; and there at last you are out of the stony moors, and in a rich champaign comfortable to man and horse, were you but once there, after plodding through the desolations. but from that sazawa by the luschnitz on to budweis, mounting and falling in such fashion, there must be ninety miles or thereby. plod along; and keep a sharp eye on the whirling clouds of pandours, for those too have got across upon us,--added to the other tempests of autumn. on the ninth day of their march, the prussians begin to descry on the horizon ahead the steeples and chimney-tops of tabor, on its high scarped rock, or "hill of zisca,"--for it was zisca and his hussites that built themselves this bit of inexpugnability, and named it tabor from their bibles,--in those waste mountain regions. on the tenth day ( th september), the prussians without difficulty took tabor; walls being ruined, garrison small. we lie at tabor till the th, last day of september. thence, d october, part of us to moldau-tein rightwards; where cross the moldau by a bridge,--"bridge" one has heard of, in old broglio times;--cross there, with intent (easily successful) to snatch that "castle of frauenberg," darling of broglio, for which he fought his pharsalia of a sahay to no purpose! both columns got united at tabor; and paused for a day or two, to rest, and gather up their draggled skirts there. the expedition does not improve in promise, as we advance in it; the march one of the most untowardly; and posadowsky comes up with only half of his provision-carts,--half of his cattle having fallen down of bad weather, hill-roads and starvation; what could he do? that is an ominous circumstance, not the less. three things are against the prussians on this march; two of them accidental things. first, there is, at this late season too, the intrinsic nature of the country; which friedrich with emphasis describes as boggy, stony, precipitous; a waste, hungry and altogether barren country,--too emphatically so described. but then secondly, what might have been otherwise, the population, worked upon by austrian officials, all fly from the sight of us; nothing but fireless deserted hamlets; and the corn, if they ever had any, all thrashed and hidden. no amount of money can purchase any service from them. poor dark creatures; not loving austria much, but loving some others even less, it would appear. of bigoted papist creed, for one thing; that is a great point. we do not meddle with their worship more or less; but we are heretics, and they hate us as the night. which is a dreadful difficulty you always have in bohemia: nowhere but in the circle of konigsgraz, where there are hussites (far to the rear of us at this time), will you find it otherwise. this is difficulty second. then, thirdly, what much aggravates it,--we neglected to abolish bathyani! and here are bathyani's pandours come across the moldau on us. plenty of pandours;--to whom " , fresh hungarians," of a new insurrection which has been got up there, are daily speeding forward to add themselves:--such a swarm of hornets, as darkens the very daylight for you. vain to scourge them down, to burn them off by blaze of gunpowder: they fly fast; but are straightway back again. they lurk in these bushy wildernesses, scraggy woods: no foraging possible, unless whole regiments are sent out to do it; you cannot get a letter safely carried for them. they are an unspeakable contemptible grief to the earnest leader of men.--let us proceed, however; it will serve nothing to complain. let us hope the french sit well on the skirts of prince karl: these sorrowful labors may all turn to good, in that case. friedrich pushes on from tabor; shoots partly (as we have seen) across the moldau, to the left bank as well; captures romantic frauenberg on its high rock, where broglio got into such a fluster once. we could push to pisek, too, and make a "bivouac of pisek," if we lost our wits! nassau is in budweis, in neuhaus; and proper garrisons are gone thither: nothing wanting on our side of the business. but these pandours, these , insurrection hungarians, with their trencks spurring them! a continual unblessed swarm of hornets, these; which shut out the very light of day from us. too literally the light of day: we can get no free messaging from part to part of our own army even. "as many as six orderlies have been despatched to an outlying general; and not one of them could get through to him. they have snapt up three letter-bags destined for the king himself. for four weeks he is absolutely shut out from the rest of europe;" knows not in the least what the kaiser, or the most christian or any other king, is doing; or whether the french are sitting well on prince karl's skirts, or not attempting that at all. this also is a thing to be amended, a thing you had to learn, your majesty? an army absolutely shut out from news, from letters, messages to or fro, and groping its way in darkness, owing to these circumambient thunder-clouds of tolpatches, is not a well-situated army! and alas, when at last the letter-bag did get through, and--but let us not anticipate! at tabor there arose two opinions; which, in spite of the king's presence, was a new difficulty. south from tabor a day's march, the highway splits; direct way for vienna; left-hand goes to neuhaus, right-hand, or straightforward rather, goes to budweis, bearing upon linz: which of these two? nassau has already seized budweis; and it is a habitable champaign country in comparison. neuhaus, farther from the moldau and its uses, but more imminent on austria, would be easy to seize; and would frighten the enemy more. leopold the young dessauer is for budweis; rapid schwerin, a hardy outspoken man, is emphatic for the other place as head-quarter. so emphatic are both, that the two generals quarrel there; and friedrich needs his authority to keep them from outbreaks, from open incompatibility henceforth, which would be destructive to the service. for the rest, friedrich seizes both places; sends a detachment to neuhaus as well; but holds by budweis and the moldau region with his main army; which was not quite gratifying to the hardy schwerin. on the opposite or left bank, holding frauenberg, the renowned hill-fortress there, we make inroads at discretion: but the country is woody, favorable to pandours; and the right bank is our chief scene of action. how we are to maintain ourselves in this country? to winter in these towns between the sazawa and the luschnitz? unless the french sit well on prince karl's skirts, it will not be possible. the french are little grateful for the pleasure done them at such ruinous expense. french sitting well on prince karl's skirts? they are not molesting prince karl in the smallest; never tried such a thing;--are turned away to the brisgan, to the upper rhine country; gone to besiege freyburg there, and seize towns; about the lake of constance, as if there were no friedrich in the game! it must be owned the french do liberally pay off old scores against friedrich,--if, except in their own imagination, they had old scores against him. no man ever delivered them from a more imminent peril; and they, the rope once cut that was strangling them, magnificently forget who cut it; and celebrate only their own distinguished conduct during and after the operation. to a degree truly wonderful. it was moonlight, clear as day that night, d august, when prince karl had to recross the rhine, close in their neighborhood; [_guerre de boheme,_ iii. .]--and instead of harassing prince karl "to half or to whole ruin," as the bargain was, their distinguished conduct consisted in going quietly to their beds (old marechal de noailles even calling back some of his too forward subalterns), and joyfully leaving prince karl, then and afterwards, to cross the rhine, and march for bohmen, at his own perfect convenience. "seckendorf will sit on karl's skirts," they said: "too late for us, this season; next season, you shall see!" such was their theory, after louis got that cathartic, and rose from bed. schmettau, with his importunities, which at last irritated everybody, could make nothing more of it. "let the king of france crown his glories by the siege of freyburg, the conquest of brisgau:--for behoof of the poor kaiser, don't you observe? hither austria is the kaiser's;--and furthermore, were freyburg gone, there will be no invading of elsass again" (which is another privately very interesting point)! and there, at freyburg, the most christian king now is, and his army up to the knees in mud, conquering hither austria; besieging freyburg, with much difficulty owing to the wet,--besieging there with what energy; a spectacle to the world! and has, for the present, but one wife, no mistress either! with rapturous eyes france looks on; with admiration too big for words. voltaire, i have heard, made pilgrimage to freyburg, with rhymed panegyric in his pocket; saw those miraculous operations of a most christian king miraculously awakened; and had the honor to present said panegyric; and be seen, for the first time, by the royal eyes,--which did not seem to relish him much. [the panegyric (epitre au roi devant fribourg) is in _oeuvres de voltaire,_ xvii. .] since the first days of october, freyburg had been under constant assault; "amid rains, amid frosts; a siege long and murderous" (to the besieging party);--and was not got till november th; not quite entirely, the citadels of it, till november th; majesty gone home to paris, to illuminations and triumphal arches, in the interim. [adelung, iv. ; barbier, ii. ( th november, &c.), for the illuminations, grand in the extreme, in spite of wild rains and winds.] it had been a difficult and bloody conquest to him, this of freyburg and the brisgau country; and i never heard that either the kaiser or he got sensible advantage by it,--though prince karl, on the present occasion, might be said to get a great deal. "seckendorf will do your prince karl," they had cried always: "seckendorf and his prussian majesty! are not we conquering hither austria here, for the kaiser's behoof?" seckendorf they did officially appoint to pursue; appoint or allow;--and laid all the blame on seckendorf; who perhaps deserved his share of it. very certain it is, seckendorf did little or nothing to prince karl; marched "leisurely behind him through the ober-pfalz,"--skirting baireuth country, karl and he, to wilhelmina's grief; [her letters ( _oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. i. , &c.).]--"leisurely behind him at a distance of four days," knew better than meddle with prince karl. so that prince karl, "in twenty-one marches," disturbed only by the elements and bad roads, reached waldmunchen th september, in the furth-cham country; [ranke, iii. .] and was heard to exclaim: "we are let off for the fright, then (nous voila quittes pour la peur)!"--seckendorf, finding nothing to live upon in ober-pfalz, could not attend prince karl farther; but turned leftwards home to bavaria; made a kind of second "reconquest of bavaria" (on exactly the same terms as the first, austrian occupants being all called off to assist in bohmen again);--concerning which, here is an excerpt:-- "seckendorf, following at his leisure, and joined by the hessians and pfalzers, so as now to exceed , , leaves prince karl and the rest of the enterprise to do as it can; and applies himself, for his own share, as the needfulest thing, to getting hold of bavaria again, that his poor kaiser may have where to lay his head, and pay old servants their wages. dreadfully exclaimed against, the old gentleman, especially by the french co-managers: 'why did not the old traitor stick in the rear of prince karl, in the difficult passes, and drive him prone,--while we went besieging freyburg, and poaching about, trying for a bit of the brisgau while chance served!' a traitor beyond doubt; probably bought with money down: thinks valori. but, after all, what could seckendorf do? he is now of weight for barenklau and bavaria, not for much more. he does sweep barenklau and his austrians from bavaria, clear out (in the course of this october), all but ingolstadt and two or three strong towns,--passau especially, 'which can be blockaded, and afterwards besieged if needful.' for the rest, he is dreadfully ill-off for provisions, incapable of the least, attempt on passau (as friedrich urged, on hearing of him again); and will have to canton himself in home-quarters, and live by his shifts till spring. "the noise of french censure rises loud, against not themselves, but against seckendorf:--friedrich, before that tolpatch eclipse of correspondence [when three of his letter-bags were seized, and he fell quite dark], had too well foreboded, and contemptuously expressed his astonishment at the blame both were well earning: passau, said he, cannot you go at least upon passau; which might alarm the enemy a little, and drag him homewards? 'adieu, my dear seckendorf, your officer will tell you how we did the siege of prag. you and your french are wetted hens (poules mouillees),'--cowering about like drenched hens in a day of set rain. 'as i hear nothing of either of you, i must try to get out of this business without your help;'"--otherwise it will be ill for me indeed! [excerpted fragment of a letter from friedrich,--(exact date not given, date of excerpt is, donanworth country, d september, ),--which the french agent in seckendorf's army had a reading of (_campagnes de coigny,_ iv. - ; ib. - : cited in adelung, iv. ).] "which latter expression alarmed the french, and set them upon writing and bustling, but not upon doing anything." "prince karl had crossed the rhine unmolested, in the clearest moonlight, august d- th; seckendorf was not wholly got to heilbronn, september th: a pretty way behind prince karl! the , hessians, formerly in english pay, indignant landgraf wilhelm [who never could forgive that machiavellian conduct of carteret at hanau, never till he found out what it really was] has, this year, put into french pay. and they have now joined seckendorf; [espagnac, ii. ; buchholz, ii. .] prince friedrich [britannic majesty's son-in-law], not good fat uncle george, commanding them henceforth:--with extreme lack of profit to prince friedrich, to the hessians, and to the french, as will appear in time. these , , and certain thousands of pfalzers likewise in french pay, are now with seckendorf, and have raised him to above , ;--it is the one fruit king friedrich has got by that 'union of frankfurt,' and by all his long prospective haggling, and struggling for a 'union of german princes in general.' two pears, after that long shaking of the tree; both pears rotten, or indeed falling into seckendorf, who is a basket of such quality! 'seckendorf, increased in this munificent manner, can he still do nothing?' cry the french: 'the old traitor!'--'i have no magazines,' said seckendorf, 'nothing to live upon, to shoot with; no money!' and it is a mutual crescendo between the 'perfidious seckendorf' and them; without work done. in the nurnberg country, some hussars of his picked up lord holderness, an english ambassador making for venice by that bad route. 'prisoner, are not you?' but they did not use him ill; on consideration, the heads of imperial departments gave him a pass, and he continued his venetian journey (result of it zero) without farther molestation that i heard of. [adelung, iv. .] "these french-seckendorf cunctations, recriminations and drenched-hen procedures are an endless sorrow to poor kaiser karl; who at length can stand it no longer; but resolves, since at least bavaria, though moneyless and in ruins, is his, he will in person go thither; confident that there will be victual and equipment discoverable for self and army were he there. remonstrances avail not: 'ask me to die with honor, ask me not to lie rotting here;' [ib. iv. .]--and quits frankfurt, and the reich's-diet and its babble, th october, (small sorrow, were it for the last time),--and enters his munchen in the course of a week. [ th october, , leaves frankfurt; arrives in munchen d (adelung, iv. - ).] munchen is transported with joy to see the legitimate sovereign again; and blazes into illuminations,--forgetful who caused its past wretchednesses, hoping only all wretchedness is now ended. let ruined huts, and cham and the burnt towns, rebuild themselves; the wasted hedges make up their gaps again: here is the king come home! here, sure enough, is an unfortunate kaiser of the holy romish reich, who can once more hope to pay his milk-scores, being a loved kurfurst of bavaria at least. very dear to the hearts of these poor people;--and to their purses, interests and skins, has not he in another sense been dear? what a price the ambitions and cracked phantasms of that weak brain have cost the seemingly innocent population! population harried, hungered down, dragged off to perish in italian wars; a country burnt, tribulated, torn to ruin, under the harrow of fate and ruffian trenck and company. britannic george, rather a dear morsel too, has come much cheaper hitherto. england is not yet burnt; nothing burning there,--except the dull fire of deliriums; natural stupidities all set flaming, which (whatever it may be in the way of loss) is not felt as a loss, but rather as a comfort for the time being;--and in fact there are only, say, a forty or fifty thousand armed englishmen rotted down, and scarcely a hundred millions of money yet spent. nothing to speak of, in the cause of human liberty. why populations suffer for their guilty kings? my friend, it is the populations too that are guilty in having such kings. reverence, sacred respect for human worth, sacred abhorrence of human unworth, have you considered what it means? these poor populations have it not, or for long generations have had it less and less. hence, by degrees, this sort of 'kings' to them, and enormous consequences following!"-- karl vii. got back to munchen d october, ; and the tar-barrels being once burnt, and indispensable sortings effected, he went to the field along with seckendorf, to encourage his men under seckendorf, and urge the french by all considerations to come on. and really did what he could, poor man. but the cordage of his life had been so strained and torn, he was not now good for much; alas, it had been but little he was ever good for. a couple of dear kurfursts, his father and he; have stood these bavarian countries very high, since the battle of blenheim and downwards! chapter iv.--friedrich reduced to straits; cannot maintain his moldau conquests against price karl. one may fancy what were friedrich's reflections when he heard that prince karl had, prosperously and unmolested, got across, by those passes from the ober-pfalz, into bohmen and the circle of pilsen, into junction with bathyani and his magazines; ["at mirotitz, october d" (ranke, iii. ); orlich, ii. .] heard, moreover, that the saxons, , strong, under weissenfels, crossing the metal mountains, coming on by eger and karlsbad regions, were about uniting with him (bound by treaty to assist the hungarian majesty when invaded);--and had finally, what confirms everything, that the said prince karl in person (making for budweis, "just seen his advanced guard," said rumor under mistake) was but few miles off. few miles off, on the other side of the moldau;--of unknown strength, hidden in the circumambient clouds of pandours. suppressing all the rages and natural reflections but those needful for the moment, friedrich (october th, by moldau-tein) dashes across the moldau, to seek prince karl, at the place indicated, and at once smite him down if possible;--that will be a remedy for all things. prince karl is not there, nor was; the indication had been false; friedrich searches about, for four days, to no purpose. prince karl, he then learns for certain, has crossed the moldau farther down, farther northward, between prag and us. means to cut us off from prag, then, which is our fountain of life in these circumstances? that is his intention:--"old traun, who is with him, understands his trade!" thinks friedrich. traun, or the prince, is diligently forming magazines, all the country carrying to him, in the town of beneschau, hither side of the sazawa, some seventy miles north of us, an important town where roads meet:--unless we can get hold of beneschau, it will be ill with us here! across the river again, at any rate; and let us hasten thither. that is an affair which must be looked to; and speed is necessary! october th, after four days' search ending in this manner, friedrich swiftly crosses towards tabor again, to bechin (over on the luschnitz, one march), there to collect himself for beneschau and the other intricacies. towards tabor again, by his bridge of moldau-tein;--clouds of pandour people, larger clouds than usual, hanging round; hidden by the woods till friedrich is gone. friedrich being gone, there occurs the affair of moldau-tein, much talked of in prussian books. of which, in extreme condensation, this is the essence:-- "october th. friedrich once off to bechin, the pandour clouds gather on his rearguard next day at tein bridge here, to the number of about , [rumor counts , ]; and with desperate intent, and more regularity than usual, attack the tein-bridge party, which consists of perhaps , grenadiers and hussars, the whole under ziethen's charge,--obliged to wait for a cargo of bread-wagons here. 'defend your bridge, with cannon, with case-shot:' that is what the grenadiers do. the pandour cloud, with horrid lanes cut in it, draws back out of this; then plunges at the river itself, which can be ridden above or below; rides it, furious, by the thousand: 'off with your infantry; quit the bridge!' cries ziethen to his captain there: 'retire you, parthian-like; thrice-steady,' orders ziethen: 'it is to be hoped our hussars can deal with this mad-doggery!' and they do it; cutting in with iron discipline, with fierceness not undrilled; a wedge of iron hussars, with ditto grenadiers continually wheeling, like so many reapers steady among wind-tossed grain; and gradually give the pandours enough. seven hours of it, in all: 'of their sixty cartridges the grenadiers had fired fifty-four,' when it ended, about p.m. the coming bread-wagons, getting word, had to cast their loaves into the river (sad to think of); and make for bechin at their swiftest. but the rearguard got off with its guns, in this victorious manner: thanks to major-general ziethen, colonel reusch and the others concerned. [_feldzuge der preussen,_ i. ; orlich, ii. .] "ziethen handsels his major-generalcy in this fine way: [patent given him " d october, ," only a week ago, "and ordered to be dated eight months back" (rodenbeck, i. ).] a man who has had promotion, and also has had none, and may again come to have none;--and is able to do either way. never mind, my excellent tacit friend! ziethen is five-and-forty gone; has a face which is beautiful to me, though one of the coarsest. face thrice-honest, intricately ploughed with thoughts which are well kept silent (the thoughts, indeed, being themselves mostly inarticulate; thoughts of a simple-hearted, much-enduring, hot-tempered son of iron and oatmeal);--decidedly rather likable, with its lazily hanging under-lip, and respectable bearskin cylinder atop." friedrich tries to have battle from prince karl, in the moldau countries; cannot, owing to the skill of prince karl or of old feldmarschall traun;--has to retire behind the sazawa, and ultimately behind the elbe, with much labor in vain. october th- th: retreat from bechin-tabor country to beneschau. ... "these pandours give us trouble enough; no magazine here, no living to be had in this country beside them. unfortunate colonel jahnus went out from tabor lately, to look after requisitioned grains: infinite pandours set upon him [muhlhausen is the memorable place]; jahnus was obstinate (too obstinate, thinks friedrich), and perished on the ground, he and of his. [ _oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. .] nay, next, a swarm of them came to tabor itself, nadasti at their head; to try whether tabor, with its small garrison, could not be escaladed, and perhaps prince henri, who lies sick there, be taken? tabor taught them another lesson; sent them home with heads broken;--which friedrich thinks was an extremely suitable thing. but so it stands: here by the thousand and the ten thousand they hang round us; and prince karl--it is of all things necessary we get hold of that beneschau, and the magazine he is gathering there! "rapidity is indispensable,--and yet how quit tabor? we have detachments out at neuhaus, at budweis, and in tabor men in hospital, whom there are no means of carrying. to leave them to the tolpaches? friedrich confesses he was weak on this occasion; he could not leave these men, as was his clear duty, in this extremity of war. he ordered in his neuhaus detachment; not yet any of the others. he despatched schmerin towards beneschau with all his speed; schwerin was lucky enough to take beneschau and its provender,--a most blessed fortune,--and fences himself there. hearing which, friedrich, having now got the neuhaus detachment in hand, orders the other three, the budweis, the tabor here, and the frauenberg across the river, to maintain themselves; and then, leaving those southern regions to their chance, hastens towards beneschau and schwerin; encamps (october th) near beneschau,--'camp of konopischt,' unattackable camp, celebrated in the prussian books;--and there, for eight days, still on the south side of sazawa, tries every shift to mend the bad posture of affairs in that luschnitz-sazawa country. his three garrisons ( , men in them, besides the sick) he now sees will not be able to maintain themselves; and he sends in succession 'eight messengers,' not one messenger of whom could get through, to bid them come away. his own hope now is for a battle with prince karl; which might remedy all things. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. - .]" that is friedrich's wish; but it is by no means traun's, who sees that hunger and wet weather will of themselves suffice for friedrich. there ensues accordingly, for three weeks to come, in that confused country, a series of swift shufflings, checkings and manoeuvrings between these two, which is gratifying and instructive to the strategic mind, but cannot be inflicted upon common readers. two considerable chess-players, an old and a young; their chess-board a bushy, rocky, marshy parallelogram, running fifty miles straight east from prag, and twenty or fewer south, of which prag is the northwest angle, and beneschau, or the impregnable konopischt the southwest: the reader must conceive it; and how traun will not fight friedrich, yet makes him skip hither and thither, chiefly by threatening his victuals. friedrich's main magazine is now at pardubitz, the extreme northeast angle of the parallelogram. parallelogram has one river in it, with the innumerable rocks and brooks and quagmires, the river sazawa; and on the north side, where are kuttenberg, czaslau, chotusitz, places again become important in this business, it is bounded by another river, the elbe. intricate manoeuvring there is here, for three weeks following: "old traun an admirable man!" thinks friedrich, who ever after recognized traun as his schoolmaster in the art of war. we mark here and there a date, and leave it to readers. "radicz, october st- d. at radicz, a march to southwest of us, and on our side of the moldau, the saxons, under weissenfels, , effective, join prince karl; which raises his force to , men, some , more than friedrich is master of. [orlich, ii. .] prospect of wintering between the luschnitz and the sazawa there is now little; unless they will fight us, and be beaten. friedrich, from his inaccessible camp of konopischt, manoeuvres, reconnoitres, in all directions, to produce this result; but to no purpose. an austrian detachment did come, to look after beneschau and the magazines there; but rapidly drew back again, finding konopischt on their road, and how matters were. friedrich will guard the door of this sazawa-elbe tract of country; hope of the sazawa-luschnitz tract has, in few days, fallen extinct. here is news come to konopischt: our three poor garrisons, budweis, tabor, frauenberg, already all lost; guns and men, after defence to the last cartridge,--in frauenberg their water was cut off, it was eight-and-forty hours of thirst at frauenberg:--one way or other, they are all three gone; eight couriers galloping with message, 'come away,' were all picked up by the pandours; so they stood, and were lost. 'three thousand fighting men gone, for the weak chance of saving three hundred who were in hospital!' thinks friedrich: war is not a school of the weak pities. for the chance of ten, you lose a hundred and the ten too. sazawa-elbe tract of country, let us vigilantly keep the door of that! "saturday, october th, friedrich out reconnoitring from konopischt discovers of a certainty that the whole austrian-saxon force is now advaucing towards beneschau, and will, this night, encamp at marschowitz, to southwest, only one march from us! on the instant friedrich hurries back; gets his army on march thitherward, though the late october sun is now past noon; off instantly; a stroke yonder will perhaps be the cure of all. such roads we had, says friedrich, as never army travelled before: long after nightfall, we arrive near the austrian camp, bivouac as we can till daylight return. at the first streak of day, friedrich and his chief generals are on the heights with their spy-glasses: austrian army sure enough; and there they have altered their posture overnight (for traun too has been awake); they lie now opposite our right flank; 'on a scarped height, at the foot of which, through swamps and quagmires, runs a muddy stream.' unattackable on this side: their right flank and foot are safe enough. creep round and see their left:--nothing but copses, swampy intricacies! we may shoulder arms again, and go back to konopischt: no fight here! [_oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. , ; orlich, ii. .] speaking of defensive campaigns, says friedrich didactically, years afterwards, 'if such situations are to answer the purpose intended, the front and flanks must be equally strong, but the rear entirely open. such, for instance, are those heights which have an extensive front, and whose flanks are covered by morasses:--as was prince karl's camp at marschowitz in the year , with its front covered by a stream, and the wings by deep hollows; or that which we ourselves then occupied at konopischt,--as you well remember. [_military instructions_ (above cited), p. .] "october th-november st. the sazawa-luschnitz tract of country is quite lost, then; lost with damages: the question now is, can we keep the sazawa-elbe tract? for about three weeks more, friedrich struggles for that object; cannot compass that either. want of horse-provender is very great:--country entirely eaten, say the peasants, and not a truss remaining. october th, friedrich has to cross the sazawa; we must quit the door of that tract (hunger driving us), and fight for the interior in detail. traun gets to beneschau in that cheap way; and now, in behalf of traun, the peasants find forage enough, being zealous for queen and creed. pandours spread themselves all over this sazawa-elbe country; endanger our subsistences, make our lives miserable. it is the old story: friedrich, famine and mud and misery of pandours compelling, has to retire northward, elbe-ward, inch by inch; whither the austrians follow at a safe distance, and, in spite of all manoeuvring, cannot be got to fight. "brave general nassau, who much distinguishes himself in these businesses, has (though friedrich does not yet know it) dexterously seized kolin, westward in those elbe parts,--ground that will be notable in years coming. important little feat of nassau's; of which anon. on the other hand, our magazine at pardubitz, eastward on the elbe, is not out of danger: pandours and regulars , and odd, 'sixty of the pandour kind disguised as peasants leading hay-carts,' made an attempt there lately; but were detected by the vigilant colonel, and blown to pieces, in the nick of time, some of them actually within the gate. [ _oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. .] nay, a body of austrian regulars were in full march for kolin lately, intending to get hold of the elbe itself at that point (midway between prag and pardubitz): but the prompt general nassau, as we remarked, had struck in before them; and now holds kolin;--though, for several days, friedrich could not tell what had become of nassau, owing to the swarms of pandours. "friedrich, standing with his back to prag, which is fifty miles from him, and rather in need of his support than able to give him any; and drawing his meal from the uncertain distance, with pandours hovering round,--is in difficult case. while old traun is kept luminous as mid-day; the circumambient atmosphere of pandours is tenebrific to friedrich, keeps him in perpetual midnight. he has to read his position as with flashes of lightning, for most part. a heavy-laden, sorely exasperated man; and must keep his haggard miseries strictly secret; which i believe he does. were valori here, it is very possible he might find the countenance farouche again; eyes gloomy, on damp november mornings! schwerin, in a huff, has gone home: since your majesty is pleased to prefer his young durchlaucht of anhalt's advice, what can an elderly servant (not without rheumatisms) do other?--'well!' answers friedrich, not with eyes cheered by the phenomenon. the elbe-sazawa tract, even this looks as if it would be hard to keep. a world very dark for friedrich, enveloped so by the ill chances and the pandours. but what help? "from the french camp far away, there comes, dated th october (third week of their siege of freyburg), by way of help to friedrich, magnanimous promise: 'so soon as this siege is done, which will be speedily, though it is difficult, we propose to send fifty battalions and a hundred squadrons,'"--say only , horse and foot (not a hoof or toe of which ever got that length, on actually trying it),--"towards westphalia, to bring the elector of koln to reason [poor kaiser's lanky brother, who cannot stand the french procedures, and has lately sold himself, that is sold his troops, to england], and keep the king of england and the dutch in check,"--by way of solacement to your majesty. will you indeed, you magnanimous allies?--this was picked up by the pandours; and i know not but friedrich was spared the useless pain of reading it. [orlich, ii. .] "november st- th: friedrich loses sazawa-elbe country too. on the first day of november, here is a lightning-flash which reveals strange things to friedrich. traun's late manoeuvrings, which have been so enigmatic, to right and to left, upon prag and other points, issue now in an attempt towards pardubitz; which reveals to friedrich the intention traun has formed, of forcing him to choose one of those two places, and let go the other. formidable, fatal, thinks friedrich; and yet admirable on the part of traun: 'a design beautiful and worthy of admiration.' if we stay near prag, what becomes of our communication with silesia; what becomes of silesia itself? if we go towards pardubitz, prag and bohmen are lost! what to do? 'despatch reinforcement to pardubitz; thanks to nassau, the kolin-pardubitz road is ours!' that is done, pardubitz saved for the moment. could we now get to kuttenberg before the old marshal, his design were overset altogether. alas, we cannot march at once, have to wait a day for the bread. forward, nevertheless; and again forward, and again; three heavy marches in november weather: let us make a fourth forced march, start to-morrow before dawn,--kuttenberg above all things! in vain; to-morrow, th november, there is such a fog, dark as london itself, from six in the morning onwards, no starting till noon: and then impossible, with all our efforts, to reach kuttenberg. we have to halt an eight miles short of it, in front of kolin; and pitch tents there. on the morrow, th november, traun is found encamped, unattackable, between us and our object; sits there, at his ease in a friendly country, with pandour whirlpools flowing out and in; an irreducible case to friedrich. november th, and for three days more, friedrich, to no purpose, tries his utmost;--finds he will have to give up the elbe-sazawa region, like the others. monday, november th, friedrich gathers himself at kolin; crosses the elbe by kolin bridge, that day. point after point of the game going against him." kolin was, of course, attacked, that monday evening, so soon as the main army crossed: but, so soon as the army left, general nassau had taken his measures; and, with his great guns and his small, handled the pandours in a way that pleased us. [ _oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. .] thursday night following, they came back, with regular grenadiers to support; under cloud of night, in great force, ruffian trenck at the head of them: a frightful phenomenon to weak nerves. but this also nassau treated in such a fiery fashion that it vanished without return; three hundred dead left on the ground, and ruffian trenck riding off with his own crown broken,--beautiful indigo face streaking itself into gingham-pattern, for the moment! except pardubitz, where also the due battalions are left, friedrich now holds no post south of the elbe in this quarter; elbe-sazawa tract is gone like the others, to all appearance. and we must now say, silesia or prag? prince leopold, council-of-war being held on the matter, is for keeping hold of prag: "pity to lose all the excellent siege-artillery we brought thither," says he. true, too true; an ill-managed business that of prag! thinks friedrich sadly to himself: but what is prag and artillery, compared to silesia? parthian retreat into silesia; and let prag and the artillery go: that, to friedrich, is clearly the sure course. or perhaps the fatal alternative will not actually arrive? so long as pardubitz and kolin hold; and we have the elbe for barrier? truth is, prince karl has himself written to court that, having now pushed his enemy fairly over the elbe, and winter being come with its sleets and slushes, ruinous to troops that have been so marched about, the campaign ought to end;--nay, his own young wife is in perilous interesting circumstances, and the poor prince wishes to be home. to which, however, it is again understood, maria theresa has emphatically answered, "no,--finish first!" november th- th: we defend the elbe river. friedrich has posted himself on the north shore of the elbe, from pardubitz to the other side of kolin; means to defend that side of the river, where go the silesian roads. at bohdenetz, short way across from pardubitz, he himself is; prince leopold is near kolin: thirty miles of river-bank to dispute. the controversy lasts ten days; ends in elbe-teinitz, a celebrated "passage," in books and otherwise. friedrich is in shaggy, intricate country; no want of dingles, woods and quagmires; now and then pleasant places too,--here is kladrup for example, where our father came three hundred miles to dine with the kaiser once. the grooms and colts are all off at present; father and kaiser are off; and much is changed since then. grim tussle of war now; sleety winter, and the giant mountains in the distance getting on their white hoods! friedrich doubtless has his thoughts as he rides up and down, in sight of kladrup, among other places, settling many things; but what his thoughts were, he is careful not to say except where necessary. much is to be looked after, in this river controversy of thirty miles. detachments lie, at intervals, all the way; and mounted sentries, a sentry every five miles, patrol the river-bank; vigilant, we hope, as lynxes. nothing can cross but alarm will be given, and by degrees the whole prussian force be upon it. this is the circle of konigsgratz, this that now lies to rear; and happily there are a few hussites in it, not utterly indisposed to do a little spying for us, and bring a glimmering of intelligence, now and then. it is now the second week that frietrich has lain so, with his mounted patrols in motion, with his hussite spies; guarding argus-like this thirty miles of river; and the austrians attempt nothing, or nothing with effect. if the austrians go home to their winter-quarters, he hopes to issue from kolin again before spring, and to sweep the elbe-sazawa tract clear of them, after all. maria theresa having answered no, it is likely the austrians will try to get across: be vigilant therefore, ye mounted sentries. or will they perhaps make an attempt on prag? einsiedel, who has no garrison of the least adequacy, apprises us that "in all the villages round prag people are busy making ladders,"--what can that mean? friedrich has learned, by intercepted letters, that something great is to be done on wednesday, th: he sends rothenburg with reinforcement to einsiedel, lest a scalade of prag should be on the cards. rothenburg is right welcome in the lines of prag, though with reinforcement still ineffectual; but it is not prag that is meant, nor is wednesday the day. through wednesday, friedrich, all eye and ear, could observe nothing: much marching to and fro on the austrian side of the river; but apparently it comes to nothing? the mounted patrols had better be vigilant, however. on the morrow, a.m., what is this that is going on? audible booming of cannon, of musketry and battle, echoing through the woods, penetrates to friedrich's quarters at bohdenetz in the pardubitz region: attack upon kolin, nassau defending himself there? out swift scouts, and see! many scouts gallop out; but none comes back. friedrich, for hours, has to remain uncertain; can only hope nassau will defend himself. boom go the distant volleyings; no scout comes back. and it is not nassau or kolin; it is something worse: very glorious for prussian valor, but ruinous to this campaign. the austrians, at o'clock this morning, austrians and saxons, came in great force, in dead silence, to the south brink of the river, opposite a place called teinitz (elbe-teinitz), ten miles east of kolin; that was the fruit of their marching yesterday. they sat there forbidden to speak, to smoke tobacco or do anything but breathe, till all was ready; till pontoons, cannons had come up, and some gleam of dawn had broken. at the first gleam of dawn, as they are shoving down their pontoon boats, there comes a "wer-da, who goes?" from our prussian patrol across the river. receiving no answer, he fires; and is himself shot down. one wedell, wedell and ziethen, who keep watch in this part, start instantly at sound of these shots; and make a dreadful day of it for these invasive saxon and austrian multitudes. naturally, too, they send off scouts, galloping for more help, to the right and to the left. but that avails not. wild doggery of pandours, it would seem, have already swum or waded the river, above teinitz and below:--"want of vigilance!" barks friedrich impatiently: but such a doggery is difficult to watch with effect. at any rate, to the right and to the left, the woods are already beset with pandours; every scout sent out is killed: and to east or to west there comes no news but an echoing of musketry, a boom of distant cannon. [orlich, ii. - .] saxon-austrian battalions, four or five, with unlimited artillery going, versus wedell's one battalion, with musketry and ziethen's hussars: it is fearful odds. the prussians stand to it like heroes; doggedly, for four hours, continue the dispute,--till it is fairly desperate; "two bridges of the enemy's now finished;"--whereupon they manoeuvre off, with parthian or prussian countenance, into the woods, safe, towards kolin; "despatching definite news to friedrich, which does arrive about a.m., and sets him at once on new measures." this is a great feat in the prussian military annals; for which, sad as the news was, wedell got the name of leonidas attached to him by friedrich himself. and indeed it is a gallant passage of war; "forcing of the elbe at teinitz;" of which i could give two narratives, one from the prussian, and one from the saxon side; [seyfarth, _beylage,_ i. - ; _helden-geschichte,_ ii. - .] didactic, admonitory to the military mind, nay to the civic reader that has sympathy with heroisms, with work done manfully, and terror and danger and difficulty well trampled under foot. leonidas wedell has an admirable silence, too; and ziethen's lazily hanging under-lip is in its old attitude again, now that the spasm is over. "was thuts? they are across, without a doubt. we would have helped it, and could not. steady!"-- friedrich's retreat; especially einsiedel's from prag. seeing, then, that they are fairly over, friedrich, with a creditable veracity of mind, sees also that the game is done; and that same night he begins manoeuvring towards silesia, lest far more be lost by continuing the play. one column, under leopold the young dessauer, goes through glatz, takes the magazine of pardubitz along with it: good to go in several columns, the enemy will less know which to chase. friedrich, with another column, will wait for nassau about konigsgratz, then go by the more westerly road, through nachod and the pass of braunau. nassau, who is to get across from kolin, and join us northwards, has due rendezvous appointed him in the konigsgratz region. einsiedel, in prag, is to spike his guns, since he cannot carry them; blow up his bastions, and the like; and get away with all discretion and all diligence,--northwestward first, to leitmeritz, where our magazines are; there to leave his heavier goods, and make eastward towards friedland, and across the "silesian combs" by what passes he can. will have a difficult operation; but must stand to it. and speed; steady, simultaneous, regular, unresting velocity; that is the word for all. and so it is done,--though with difficulty, on the part of poor einsiedel for one. it was thursday, th november, when the austrians got across the elbe: on monday, d, the prussian rendezvousings are completed; and friedrich's column, and the glatz one under leopold, are both on march; infinite baggage-wagons groaning orderly along ("sick-wagons well ahead," and the like precautions and arrangements), on both these highways for silesia: and before the week ends, thursday, th, even einsiedel is under way. let us give something of poor einsiedel, whose disasters made considerable noise in the world, that winter and afterwards. "the two main columns were not much molested; that which went by glatz, under leopold, was not pursued at all. on the rear of friedrich's own column, going towards braunau, all the way to nachod or beyond, there hung the usual doggery of pandours, which required whipping off from time to time; but in the defiles and difficult places due precaution was taken, and they did little real damage. truchsess von waldburg [our old friend of the spartan feat near austerlitz in the moravian-foray time, whom we have known in london society as prussian envoy in bygone years] was in one of the divisions of this column; and one day, at a village where there was a little river to cross (river mietau, konigsgratz branch of the elbe), got provoked injudiciously into fighting with a body of these people. intent not on whipping them merely, but on whipping them to death, truchsess had already lost some forty men, and the business with such crowds of them was getting hot; when, all at once a loud squeaking of pigs was heard in the village,"--apprehensive swineherd hastily penning his pigs belike, and some pig refractory;--"at sound of which, the pandour multitude suddenly pauses, quits fighting, and, struck by a new enthusiasm, rushes wholly into the village; leaving truchsess, in a tragi-comic humor, victorious, but half ashamed of himself. [ _oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. .] in the beginning of december, friedrich's column reached home, by braunau through the mountains, the same way part of it had come in august; not quite so brilliant in equipment now as then. "it was upon einsiedel's poor garrison, leaving prag in such haste, that the real stress of the retreat fell; its difficulties great indeed, and its losses great. einsiedel did what was possible; but all things are not possible on a week's warning. he spiked great guns, shook endless hundredweights of powder, and , stand of arms, into the river; he requisitioned horses, oxen, without number; put mines under the bastions, almost none of which went off with effect. he kept prag accurately shut, the praguers accurately in the dark; took his measures prudently; and labored night and day. one measure i note of him: stringent proclamation to the inhabitants of prag, 'provision yourselves for three months; nothing but starvation ahead otherwise.' alas, we are to stand a fourth siege, then? say the praguers. but where are provisions to be had? at such and such places; from the royal magazines only, if you bring a certificate and ready money! whereby einsiedel got delivered of his meal-magazine, for one thing. but his difficulties otherwise were immense. "on the thursday morning, th november, , he marched. his wagons had begun the night before; and went all night, rumbling continuous (anonymous of prag [second "letter from a citizen, &c." (date, th november, see supra, p. ), in _helden-geschichte,_ ii. - .] hearing them well), through the karlthor, northwest gate of prag, across the moldau rridge. all night across that bridge,--leitmeritz road, great road to the northwest:--followed finally by the march of horse and foot. but news had already fled abroad. five hundred pandours were in the city, backed by the butchers' lads and other riotous gesindel, before the rear-guard got away. sad tugging and wriggling in consequence, much firing from windows, and uproarious chaos;--so that rothenburg had at last to remount a couple of guns, and blow it off with case-shot. a drilled prussian rear-guard struggling, with stern composure, through a real bit of burning chaos. with effect, though not without difficulty. here is the scene on the noldau bridge, and past that high hradschin [old palace of the bohemian kings (pronounce radsheen); one of the steepest royal sites in the world.] mass of buildings; all prag, not the hradschin only, struggling to give us fatal farewell if it durst. river is covered with pandours firing out of boats; bridge encumbered to impassability by forsaken wagons, the drivers of which had cut traces and run; shot comes overhead from the hradschin on our left, much shot, infinite tumult all round; thoroughfare impossible for two-wheeled vehicle, or men in rank. 'halt!' cries colonel brandes, who has charge of the thing; divides them in three: 'first one party, deal with these river-boats, that pandour doggery; second party, pull these stray wagons to right and left, making the way clear; third party, drag our own wagons forward, shoulder to shaft, and yoke them out of shot-range;--you, captain carlowitz,' and calls twenty volunteers to go with carlowitz, and drag their own cannon, 'step you forward, keep the gate of that hradschin till we all pass!' in this manner, rapid, hard of stroke, clear-headed and with stern regularity, drilled talent gets the burning nessus'-shirt wriggled off; and tramps successfully forth with its baggages. about a.m., this rearguard of brandes's did; should have been at seven,--right well that it could be at all. "einsiedel, after this, got tolerably well to leitmeritz; left his heavy baggage there; then turned at an acute angle right eastward, towards the silesian combs, as ordered: still a good seventy miles to do, and the weather getting snowy and the days towards their shortest. worse still; old weissenfels, now in prag with his saxons, is aware that einsiedel, before ending, will touch on a wild high-lying corner of the lausitz which is saxon country; and thitherward weissenfels has despatched chevalier de saxe (in plenty of time, november th), with horse and foot, to waylay einsiedel, and block the entrance of the silesian mountains for him. whereupon, in the latter end of his long march, and almost within sight of home, ensues the hardest brush of all for einsiedel. and, in the desolation of that rugged hill country of the lausitz, 'hochwald (upper weld),' twenty or more miles from bohemian friedland, from his entrance on the mountain barrier and silesian combs, there are scenes--which gave rise to a court-martial before long. for unexpectedly, on the winter afternoon (december th), einsiedel, struggling among the snows and pathless hills, comes upon chevalier de saxe and his saxon detachment,--intrenched with trees, snow-redoubts, and a hollow bog dividing us; plainly unassailable;--and stands there, without covering, without 'food, fire, or salt,' says one eye-witness, 'for the space of fourteen hours.' gazing gloomily into it, exchanging a few shots, uncertain what more to do; the much-dubitating einsiedel. 'at which the men were so disgusted and enraged, they deserted [the foreign part of them, i fancy] in groups at a time,' says the above eye-witness. not to think what became of the equipments, baggage-wagons, sick-wagons:--too evident einsiedel's loss, in all kinds, was very considerable. nassau, despatched by leopold out of glatz, from the other side of the combs, is marching to help einsiedel;--who knows, at this moment, where or whitherward? for the peasants are all against us; our very guides desert, and become spies. 'push to the left, over the hochwald top, must not we?' thinks einsiedel: 'that is lausitz, a saxon country; and saxony, though the saxons stand intrenched here, with the knife at our throat, are not at war with us, oh no, only allies of her majesty of hungary, and neutral otherwise!' and here, it is too clear, the chevalier de saxe stands intrenched behind his trees and snow; and it is the fourteenth hour, men deserting by the hundred, without fire and without salt; and nassau is coming,--god knows by what road! "einsiedel pushes to the left, the hochwald way; finds, in the hochwald too, a saxon commandant waiting him, with arms strictly shouldered. 'and we cannot pass through this moor skirt of lausitz, say you, then?' 'unarmed, yes; your muskets can come in wagons after you,' replies the saxon commandant of lausitz. 'thousand thanks, herr commandant; but we will not give you all that trouble,' answer einsiedel and his prussians; 'and march on, overwhelming him with politenesses,' says friedrich;--the approach of nassau, above all, being a stringent civility. of course, despatch is very requisite to einsiedel; the chevalier, with his force, being still within hail. the prussians march all night, with pitch-links flaring,--nights (i think) of the th- th december, , up among the highlands there, rugged buttresses of the silesian combs: a sight enough to astonish rubezahl, if he happened to be out! as good chance would have it, nassau and einsiedel, by preconcert, partly by lucky guess of their own, were hurrying by the same road: three heaven-rending cheers (december th) when we get sight of nassau; and find that here is land! december th, we are across,--by ruckersdorf, not far from friedland (bohmisch friedland, not the silesian town of that name, once wallenstein's);--and rejoice now to look back on labor done." [ _helden-geschichte,_ ii. - , - ;--feldzuge,--i. - .] these were intricate strange scenes, much talked of at the time: rothenburg, ugly walrave, hacke, and other known figures, concerned in them. scenes in which friedrich is not well informed; who much blames einsiedel, as he is apt to do the unsuccessful. accounts exist, both from the prussian and from the saxon side, decipherable with industry; not now worth deciphering to english readers. only that final scene of the pitch-links, the night before meeting with nassau, dwells voluntarily in one's memory. and is the farewell of einsiedel withal. friedrich blames him to the last: though a court-martial had sat on his case, some months after, and honorably acquitted him. good solid, silent einsiedel;--and in some months more, he went to a still higher court, got still stricter justice: i do not hear expressly that it was the winter marches, or strain of mind; but he died in ; and that flare of pitch-links in rubezahl's country is the last scene of him to us,--and the end of friedrich's unfortunate first expedition in the second silesian war. "foiled, ultimately, then, on every point; a totally ill-ordered game on our part! evidently we, for our part, have been altogether in the wrong, in various essential particulars. amendment, that and no other, is the word now. let us take the scathe and the scorn candidly home to us;--and try to prepare for doing better. the world will crow over us. well, the world knows little about it; the world, if it did know, would be partly in the right!"--wise is he who, when beaten, learns the reasons of it, and alters these. this wisdom, it must be owned, is friedrich's; and much distinguishes him among generals and men. veracity of mind, as i say, loyal eyesight superior to sophistries; noble incapacity of self-delusion, the root of all good qualities in man. his epilogue to this campaign is remarkable;--too long for quoting here, except the first word of it and the last:-- "no general committed more faults than did the king in this campaign.... the conduct of m. de traun is a model of perfection, which every soldier that loves his business ought to study, and try to imitate, if he have the talent. the king has himself admitted that he regarded this campaign as his school in the art of war, and m. de traun as his teacher." but what shall we say? "bad is often better for princes than good;--and instead of intoxicating them with presumption, renders them circumspect and modest." [_oeuvres,_ iii. , .] let us still hope!-- chapter v.--friedrich, under difficulties, prepares for a new campaign. to the court of vienna, especially to the hungarian majesty, this wonderful reconquest of bohemia, without battle fought,--or any cause assignable but traun's excellent manoeuvring and friedrich's imprudences and trust in the french,--was a thing of heavenly miracle; blessed omen that providence had vouchsafed to her prayers the recovery of silesia itself. all the world was crowing over friedrich: but her majesty of hungary's views had risen to a clearly higher pitch of exultation and triumphant hope, terrestrial and celestial, than any other living person's. "silesia back again," that was now the hope and resolution of her majesty's high heart: "my wicked neighbor shall be driven out, and smart dear for the ill he has done; heaven so wills it!" "very little uplifts the austrians," says valori; which is true, under such a queen; "and yet there is nothing that can crush them altogether down," adds he. no sooner is bohemia cleared of friedrich, than maria, winter as it is, orders that there be, through the giant-mountains, vigorous assault upon silesia. highland snows and ices, what are these to pandour people, who, at their first entrance on the scene of history, "crossed the palus-maeotis itself [father of quagmires, so to speak] in a frozen state," and were sufficiently accommodated each in his own dirty sheepskin? "prosecute the king of prussia," ordered she; "take your winter-quarters in silesia!"--and traun, in spite of the advanced season, and prior labors and hardships, had to try, from the southwestern bohemian side, what he could do; while a new insurrection, coming through the jablunka, spread itself over the southeast and east. seriously invasive multitudes; which were an unpleasant surprise to friedrich; and did, as we shall see, require to be smitten back again, and re-smitten; making a very troublesome winter to the prussians and themselves; but by no means getting winter-quarters, as they once hoped. in a like sense, maria theresa had already (december d) sent forth her manifesto or patent, solemnly apprising her ever-faithful silesian populations, "that the treaty of breslau, not by her fault, is broken; palpably a treaty no longer. that they, accordingly, are absolved from all oaths and allegiance to the king of prussia; and shall hold themselves in readiness to swear anew to her majesty, which will be a great comfort to such faithful creatures; suffering, as her majesty explains to them that they have done, under prussian tyranny for these two years past. immediate dead-lift effort there shall be; that is certain: and 'the almighty god assisting, who does not leave such injustices unpunished, we have the fixed christian hope, omnipotence blessing our arms, of almost immediately (ehestens) delivering you from this temporary bondage (bisherigen joch).' you can pray, in the mean while, for the success of her majesty's arms; good fighting, aided by prayer, in a cause clearly heaven's, will now, to appearance, bring matters swiftly round again, to the astonishment and confusion of bad men." [in _helden-geschichte,_ ii. - ; ib. - , is friedrich's answer, " th december, ."] these are her majesty's views; intensely true, i doubt not, to her devout heart. robinson and the english seem not to be enthusiastic in that direction; as indeed how can they? they would fain be tender of silesia, which they have guaranteed; fain, now and afterwards, restrain her majesty from driving at such a pace down hill: but the declivity is so encouraging, her majesty is not to be restrained, and goes faster and faster for the time being. and indeed, under less devout forms, the general impression, among pragmatic people, saxon, austrian, british even, was, that friedrich had pretty much ruined himself, and deserved to do so; that this of his being mere "auxiliary" to a kaiser in distress was an untenable pretext, now justly fallen bankrupt upon him. the evident fact, that he had by his "frankfurt union," and struggles about "union," reopened the door for french tribulations and rough-ridings in the reich, was universally distasteful; all chance of a "general union of german princes, in aid of their kaiser," was extinct for the present. friedrich's rapidity had served him ill with the public, in this as in some other instances! friedrich, contemplating his situation, not self-delusively, but with the candor of real remorse, was by no means yet aware how very bad it was. for six months coming, partly as existing facts better disclosed themselves, as france, saxony and others showed what spirit they were of; partly as new sinister events and facts arrived one after the other,--his outlook continued to darken and darken, till it had become very dark indeed. there is perennially the great comfort, immense if you can manage it, of making front against misfortune; of looking it frankly in the face, and doing with a resolution, hour by hour, your own utmost against it. friedrich never lacked that comfort; and was not heard complaining. but from december th, , when he hastened home to berlin, under such aspects, till june th, , when aspects suddenly changed, are probably the worst six months friedrich had yet had in the world. during which, his affairs all threatening to break down about him, he himself, behooving to stand firm if the worst was not to realize itself, had to draw largely on what silent courage, or private inexpugnability of mind, was in him,--a larger instalment of that royal quality (as i compute) than the fates had ever hitherto demanded of him. ever hitherto; though perhaps nothing like the largest of all, which they had upon their books for him, at a farther stage! as will be seen. for he was greatly drawn upon in that way, in his time. and he paid always; no man in his century so well; few men, in any century, better. as perhaps readers may be led to guess or acknowledge, on surveying and considering. to see, and sympathetically recognize, cannot be expected of modern readers, in the present great distance, and changed conditions of men and things. friedrich, after despatching nassau to cut out einsiedel, had delivered the silesian army to the old dessauer, who is to command in chief during winter; and had then hastened to berlin,--many things there urgently requiring his presence; preparations, reparations, not to speak of diplomacies, and what was the heaviest item of all, new finance for the coming exertions. in schweidnitz, on leopold's appearance, there had been an interview, due consultings, orderings; which done, friedrich at once took the road; and was at berlin, monday, december th,--precisely in the time while nassau and einsiedel were marching with torchlights in rubezahl's country, and near ending their difficult enterprise better or worse. friedrich, fastening eagerly on home business, is astonished and provoked to learn that the austrians, not content with pushing him out of bohmen, are themselves pushing into schlesien,--so old leopold reports, with increasing emphasis day by day; to whom friedrich sends impatient order: hurl them out again; gather what force you need, ten thousand, or were it twenty or thirty thousand, and be immediate about it; "i will as soon be pitched (herausgeschmissen) out of the mark of brandenburg as out of schlesien:" no delay, i tell you! and as the old dessauer still explains that the ten or fifteen thousand he needs are actually assembling, and cannot be got on march quite in a moment, friedrich dashes away his incipient berlin operations; will go himself and do it. haggle no more, you tedious old dessauer:-- berlin, " th december," . "on the st [monday, one week after my arriving], i leave berlin, and mean to be at neisse on the th at latest. your serenity will in the interim make out the order-of-battle [which is also order-of-march] for what regiments are come in. for i will, on the th, without delay, cross the neisse, and attack those people, cost what it may,--to chase them out of schlesien and glatz, and follow them so far as possible. your serenity will therefore take your measures, and provide everything, so far as in this short time you can, that the project may be executable the moment i arrive." [friedrich to the old dessauer (_orlich,_ ii. ).] and rushed off accordingly, in a somewhat flamy humor; but at schweidnitz, where the old dessauer met him again, became convinced that the matter was weightier than he thought; not one of tolpatchery alone, but had traun himself in it. upon which friedrich candidly drew bridle; hastened back, and, with a loss of four days, was at his potsdam affairs again. to which he stuck henceforth, ardently, and i think rather with increase of gloom, though without spurt of impatience farther, for three months to come. before his return,--nay, had he known, it was the night before he went away,--a strange little thing had happened in the opposite or western parts: surprising accident to marechal de belleisle; which now lies waiting his immediate consideration. but let us finish silesia first. old dessauer repels the silesian invasion (winter, - ). "this silesian affair includes due inroad of pandours; or indeed two inroads, southwest and southeast; and in the southwest, or traun quarter, regulars are the main element of it. traun, , strong, plus stormy-enough pandour accompaniment, is by this time through into glatz; in three columns;--is master of all glatz, except the rock-fortress itself; and has spread himself, right and left, along the neisse river, and from the southwest northwards, in a skilful and dangerous manner. in concert with whom, far to the east, are pandour whirlwinds on their own footing (brand-new 'insurrection' of them, got thus far) starting from olmutz and brunn; scouring that eastern country, as far as namslau northward [a place we were at the taking of, in old brieg times]; much more, infesting the mountains of the south. a rather serious thing; with traun for general manager of it." with traun, we say: poor prince karl is off, weeks ago; on the saddest of errands. his beautiful young wife,--hungarian majesty's one sister, vice-regents of the netherlands he and she, conspicuous among the bright couples of the world,--she had a bad lying-in (child still-born), while those grand moldau operations went on; has been ill, poor lady, ever since; and, at brussels, on december th, she herself lies dead, prince karl weeping over her and the days that will not return. prince karl's felicities, private and public, had been at their zenith lately, which was very high indeed; but go on declining from this day. never more the happiest of husbands (did not wed again at all); still less the greatest of captains, equal or superior to caesar in the gazetteer judgment, with distracted eulogies, biographies and such like filling the air: before long, a war-captain of quite moderate renown; which we shall see sink gradually into no renown at all, and even (unjustly) into minus quantities, before all end. a mad world, my masters! "between traun on the southwest hand, and his pandours on the southeast, the small prussian posts have all been driven in upon troppau-jagerndorf region; more and more narrowed there;--and, in fine (two days before this new interview of leopold and the impatient king at schweidnitz), have had to quit the troppau-jagerndorf position; to quit the hills altogether, and are now in full march towards brieg. of which march i should say nothing, were it not that marwitz, father of wilhelmina's giggling marmitzes, commanded;--and came by his death in the course of it; though our wilhelmina is not now there, pen in hand, to tell us what the effects at baireuth were. marwitz had been left for dead on the field of mollwitz; lay so all night, but was nursed to some kind of strength again by those giggling young women; and came back to schlesien, to posts of chief trust, for the last year or two,--was guarding the mountains, and even invading mahren, during the late campaign;--but saw himself reduced latterly to jagerndorf and troppau; and had even to retreat out of these. and in the whirlpool of hurries thereupon,--how is not very clear; by apoplexy, say some; by accidental pistol from a servant of his own; in actual skirmish with pandours,--too certainly, one way or the other, on december d (just during that second interview at schweidnitz), brave old marwitz did suddenly sink dead, and is ended. [_helden-geschichte,_ ii. .] even so, ye poor giggling creatures, and your loud weeping will not mend it at all! "friedrich, looking candidly into these phenomena, could not but see that: what with tolpatcheries, what with traun's , regulars, and the whole army at their back, his silesian border is girt in by a very considerable inroad of austrians,--huge chain of them, in horse-shoe form, miles long, pressing in; from beyond glatz and landshut, round by the southern mountains, and up eastward again as far as namslau, nothing but war whirlwinds in regular or irregular form, in the centre of them traun;--and that the old dessauer really must have time to gird himself for dealing with traun and them. "it was not till january th that old leopold, , strong, equipped to his mind, which was a difficult matter, crossed the neisse river; and marched direct upon traun, with ziethen charging ahead. actually marched; after which the main wrestle was done in a week. january th, old leopold got to jagerndorf; found the actual traun concentrated at jagerndorf; and drew up, to be ready for assault to-morrow morning,--had not traun, candidly computing, judged it better to glide wholly away in the night-time, diligently towards mahren, breaking the bridges behind him. and so, in effect, to give up the silesian invasion for this time. after which, though there remained a good deal of rough tussling with pandour details, and some rugged exploits of fight, there is--except that of lehwald in clearing of glatz--nothing farther that we can afford to speak of. lehwald's exploit, lehwald versus wallis (same wallis who defended glogau long since), which came to be talked of, and got name and date, 'action of habelschwert, february th,' something almost like a pitched fight on the small scale, is to the following effect:-- "plomnitz, near habelschwert, th february, . old general lehwald, marching in the hollow ground near habelschwert (hollow of the young neisse river, twenty miles south of glatz), with intent to cut that country free; the enemy, whom he is in search of, appears in great force,--posted on the uphill ground ahead, half-frozen difficult stream in front of them, cannon on flank, pandour multitude in woods; all things betokening inexpugnability on the part of the enemy. so that lehwald has to take his measures; study well where the vital point is, the root of that extensive austrian junglery, and cut in upon the same. by considerable fire of effort, the uphill ground, half-frozen stream, sylvan pandours, cannon-batteries, and what inexpugnabilities there may be, are subdued; austrian wide junglery, the root of it slit asunder rolls homeward simultaneously, not too fast: nay it halted, and re-ranked itself twice over, finding woods and quaggy runlets to its mind; but was always slit out again, disrooted, and finally tumbled home, having had enough. 'wenzel wallis,' friedrich asserts with due scorn, 'was all this while in a chapel; praying ardently,' to st. vitus, or one knows not whom; 'without effect; till they shouted to him, "beaten, sir! off, or you are lost!" upon which he sprang to saddle, and spurred with both heels (piqua des deux).' [ _oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. . .] that was the feat of lehwald, clearing the glatz country with one good cut: a skilful captain; now getting decidedly oldish, close on sixty; whom we shall meet again a dozen years hence, still in harness. "the old serene highness himself, face the color of gun-powder, and bluer in the winter frost, went rushing far and wide in an open vehicle, which he called his 'cart;' pushing out detachments, supervising everything; wheeling hither and thither as needful; sweeping out the pandour world, and keeping it out: not much of fighting needed, but 'a great deal of marching [murmurs friedrich], which in winter is as bad, and wears down the force of the battalions.' of all which we give no detail: sufficient to fancy, in this manner, the old dessauer flapping his wide military wings in the faces of the pandour hordes, with here and there a hard twitch from beak or claws; tolerably keeping down the pandour interest all winter. his sons, leopold and dietrich, were under him, occasionally beside him; the junior leopold so worn down with feverish gout he could hardly sit on horseback at all, while old papa went tearing about in his cart at that rate." [_unternehmung in ober-schlesien, unter dem fursten leopold von anhalt-dessau, im januar und februar,_ (seyfarth, _beylage,_ i. - ); stenzel, iv. ; &c.] there was, on the st of february, te-deum sung in the churches of berlin "for the deliverance of silesia from invasion." not that even yet the pandours would be quite quiet, or allow old leopold to quit his cart; far from it. and they returned in such increased and tempestuous state, as will again require mention, with the earliest spring:--precursors to a second, far more serious and deadly "invasion of silesia;" for which it hangs yet on the balance whether there will be a te-deum or a miserere to sing! hungarian majesty, disappointed of silesia,--which, it seems, is not to be had "all at once (ehestens)," in the form of miracle,--makes amends by a rush upon seckendorf and bavaria; attacks seckendorf furiously ("bathyani pressing up the donau valley, with browne on one hand, and barenklau on the other") in midwinter; and makes a terrible hand of him; reducing his "reconquest of bavaria" to nothing again, nay to less. of which in due time. the french fully intend to behave better next season to friedrich and their german allies;--but are prevented by various accidents (november, -april, ; april-august, ). it is not divine miracle, friedrich knows well, that has lost him his late bohemian conquests without battle fought: it was rash choosing of a plan inexecutable without french co-operation,--culpable blindness to the chance that france would break its promises, and not co-operate. had your majesty forgotten the joint-stock principle, then? his majesty has sorrowful cause to remember it, from this time, on a still larger scale! reflections, indignant or exculpatory, on the conduct of the french in this business are useless to friedrich, and to us. the performance, on their part, has been nearly the worst;--though their intentions, while the austrian dragon had them by the throat, were doubtless enthusiastically good! but, the big austrian dragon being jerked away from elsass, by friedrich's treading on his tail, miles off, they were charmed, quite into new enthusiasm, to be rid of said dragon: and, instead of chasing him according to bargain, took to destroying his den, that he might be harmless thenceforth. freyburg is a captured town, to the joy and glory of admiring france; and friedrich's campaign has gone the road we see! the freyburg illuminations having burnt out, there might rise, in the triumphant mind, some thought of friedrich again,--perhaps almost of a remorseful nature? certain it is, the french intentions are now again magnanimous, more so than ever; coupled now with some attempts at fulfilment, too; which obliges us to mention them here. they were still a matter of important hope to friedrich; hope which did not quite go out till august coming. though, alas, it did then go out, in gusts of indignation on friedrich's part! and as the whole of these magnanimous french intentions, latter like former, again came to zero, we are interested only in rendering them conceivable to readers for friedrich's sake,--with the more brevity, the better for everybody. two grand french attempts there were; listen, on the threshold, a little:-- ... "it is certain the french intend gloriously; regardless of expense. they are dismantling freyburg, to render it harmless henceforth. but, withal, in answer to the poor kaiser's shrieks, they have sent segur [our old linz friend], with , , to assist seckendorf; 'the bravest troops in the world,'"--who did bravely take one beating (at pfaffenhofen, as will be seen), and go home again. ("they have coigny guarding those fine brisgau conquests. and are furthermore diplomatizing diligently, not to say truculently, in the rhine countries; bullying poor little fat kur-trier, lean kur-koln and others, 'to join the frankfurt union' not one of whom would, under menace),--though 'it is the clear duty of all reich's-princes with a kaiser under oppression:'--and have marched maillebois, directly after freyburg, into the middle-rhine countries, to koln country, to mainz country, and to and fro, in support of said compulsory diplomacies;--but without the least effect." to the "middle-rhine countries," observe, and under maillebois, then under conti, little matter under whom: only let readers recollect the name of it;--for it is the first of the french attempts to do something of a joint-stock nature; something for self and allies, instead of for self only. it caused great alarm in those months, to britannic george and others; and brought out poor duc d'ahremberg with portions (no english included) of the poor pragmatic army, to go marching about in the winter slushes, instead of resting in bed, [adelung, iv. , ("december, -june, ").]--and is indeed a very loud business in the old gazettes and books, till august coming. business which almost broke poor d'ahremberg's heart, he says, "till once i got out of it" (was turned out, in fact): business of pragmatic army, under d'ahremberg, versus middle-rhine army under maillebois, under conti; business now wholly of zero versus zero to us,--except for a few dates and reflex glimmerings upon king friedrich. result otherwise--we shall see the result! "attempt second was still more important to friedrich; being directed upon the kaiser and bavaria. belleisle is to go thither and take survey; belleisle thither first: you may judge if the intention is sincere! valori is quite eloquent upon it. directly after freyburg, says he, sechelles, that first of commissaries, was sent to munchen. sechelles cleared up the chaos of accounts; which king louis then instantly paid. 'your imperial majesty shall have magazines also,' said louis, regardless of expense; 'and your army, with auxiliaries (segur and , of them french), shall be raised to , .' belleisle then came: 'we will have ingolstadt, the first thing, in spring.' alas, belleisle had his accident in the harz; and all went aback, from that time." [valori, i. - .] aback, too indisputably, all!--"and belleisle's accident?" patience, readers. "the truth is, attempt second, and chief, broke down at once [bathyani beating it to pieces, as will be seen],--the ruins of it painfully reacting on attempt first; which had the like fate some months later;--and there was no third made. and, in fact, from the date of that latter down-break, august, or end of july, [and quite especially from "september th," by which time several irrevocable things had happened, which we shall hear of], the french withdrew altogether out of german entanglements; and concentrated themselves upon the netherlands, there to demolish his britannic majesty, as the likelier enterprise. this was a course to which, ever since the exit of broglio and the oriflamme, they had been more and more tending and inclining, 'nothing for us but loss on loss, to be had in germany!' and so they at last frankly gave up that bad country. they fought well in the netherlands, with great splendor of success, under saxe versus cumberland and company. they did also some successful work in italy;--and left friedrich to bear the brunt in germany; too glad if he or another were there to take germany off their hand! friedrich's feelings on his arriving at this consummation, and during his gradual advance towards it, which was pretty steady all along from those first 'drenched-hen (poules mouillees)' procedures, were amply known to excellency valori, and may be conceived by readers,"--who are slightly interested in the dates of them at farthest. and now for the belleisle accident, with these faint preliminary lights. strange accident to marechal de belleisle in the harz mountains ( th december, ). siege of freyburg being completed, and the river and most other things (except always the bastions, which we blow up) being let into their old channels there, marechal de belleisle, who is to have a chief management henceforth,--the most christian king recognizing him again as his ablest man in war or peace,--sets forth on a long tour of supervision, of diplomacy and general arrangement, to prepare matters for the next campaign. need enough of a belleisle: what a business we have made of it, since friedrich trod on the serpent's tail for us.! nothing but our own freyburg to show for ourselves; elsewhere, mere down-rush of everything whitherward it liked;--and king friedrich got into such a humor! friedrich must be put in tune again; something real and good to be agreed on at berlin: let that be the last thing, crown of the whole. the first thing is, look into bavaria a little; and how the kaiser, poor gentleman, in want of all requisites but good-will, can be put into something of fighting posture. "in the end of november, marechal duc de belleisle, with his brother the chevalier (now properly the count, there having been promotions), and a great retinue more, alights at munchen; holds counsel with the poor kaiser for certain days:--money wanted; many things wanted; and all things, we need not doubt, much fallen out of square. 'those seckendorf troops in their winter-quarters,' say our french inspectors and segur people, as usual, 'do but look on it, your excellency! scattered, along the valleys, into the very edge of austria; austria will swallow them, the first thing, next year; they will never rendezvous again except in the austrian prisons. surely, monseigneur, only a man ignorant of war, or with treasonous intention [or ill-off for victuals],--could post troops in that way? seckendorf is not ignorant of war!' say they. [valori, i. .] for, in fact, suspicion runs high; and there is no end to the accusations just and unjust; and seckendorf is as ill treated as any of us could wish. poor old soul. probably nobody in all the earth, but his old wife in the schloss of altenburg, has any pity for him,--if even she, which i hope. he has fought and diplomatized and intrigued in many countries, very much; and in his old days is hard bested. monseigueur, whose part is rather that of jove the cloud-compeller, is studious to be himself noiseless amid this noise; and makes no alteration in the seckendorf troops; but it is certain he meant to do it, thinks valori." and indeed seckendorf, tired of the bavarian bed-of-roses, had privately fixed with himself to quit the same;--and does so, inexorable to the very kaiser, on new-year arriving. [_seckendorfs leben,_ p. .] succeeded by thorring (our old friend drum thorring), if that be an improvement. marechal de belleisle has still a long journey ahead, and infinitely harder problems than these,--assuagement of the king of prussia, for example. let us follow his remarkable steps. "wednesday, th december, , the marechal leaves munchen, northwards through oettingen and the bamberg-anspach regions towards cassel;--journey of some three hundred and fifty miles: with a great retinue of his own; with an escort of two hundred horse from the kaiser; these latter to prevent any outfall or insult in the ingolstadt quarter, where the austrians have a garrison, not at all very tightly blocked by the seckendorf people thereabouts. no insult or outfall occurring, the marechal dismisses his escort at oettingen; fares forward in his twenty coaches and fourgons, some score or so of vehicles:--mere neutral imperial countries henceforth, where the kaiser's agent, as marechal de belleisle can style himself, and titular prince of the german empire withal, has only to pay his way. by donauworth, by oettingen; over the donau acclivities, then down the pleasant valley of the mayn. [see review of the case of marshal belleisle (or abstract of it, _gentleman's magazine,_ , pp. - ); &c. &c.] "sunday, th december, marechal de belleisle arrives at hanau [where we have seen conferences held before now, and carteret, prince karl and great george our king very busy], there to confer with marshals coigny, maillebois and other high men, commanders in those rhine parts. who all come accordingly, except marechal maillebois, who is sorry that he absolutely cannot; but will surely do himself the honor as monseigneur returns." as monseigneur returns! "and so, on monday, th, monseigneur starts for cassel; say a hundred miles right north; where we shall meet prince wilhelm of hessen-cassel, a zealous ally; inform him how his troops, under seckendorf, are posted [at vilshofen yonder; hiding how perilous their post is, or promising alterations]; perhaps rest a day or two, consulting as to the common weal: how the king of prussia takes our treatment of him? how to smooth the king of prussia, and turn him to harmony again? we are approaching the true nodus of our business, difficulty of difficulties; and wilhelm, the wise landgraf, may afford a hint or two. thus travels magnanimous belleisle in twenty vehicles, a man loaded with weighty matters, in these deep winter months; suffering dreadfully from rheumatic neuralgic ailments, a doctor one of his needfulest equipments; and has the hardest problem yet ahead of him. "prince wilhelm's consultations are happily lost altogether; buried from sight forever, to the last hint,--all except as to what road to berlin would be the best from cassel. by leipzig, through low-lying country, is the great highway, advisable in winter; but it runs a hundred and thirty miles to right, before ever starting northward; such a roundabout. not to say that the saxons are allies of austria,--if there be anything in that. enemies, they, to the most christian king: though surely, again, we are on kaiser's business, nay we are titular 'prince of the reich,' for that matter, such the kaiser's grace to us? well; it is better perhaps to avoid the saxon territory. and, of course, the hanoverian much more; through which lies the other great road! 'go by the harz,' advises landgraf wilhelm: 'a rugged hill country; but it is your hypotenuse towards berlin; passes at once, or nearly so, from cassel territory into prussian: a rugged road, but a shorter and safer.' that is the road belleisle resolves upon. twenty carriages; his brother the chevalier and himself occupy one; and always the courier rides before, ordering forty post-horses to be ready harnessed. "sunday, th december, . in this way they have climbed the eastern shin of the harz range, where the harz is capable of wheel-carriages; and hope now to descend, this night, to halberstadt; and thence rapidly by level roads to berlin. it is sinking towards dark; the courier is forward to elbingerode, ordering forty horses to be out. roughish uphill road; winter in the sky and earth, winter vapors and tumbling wind-gusts: westward, in torn storm-cloak, the bracken, with its witch-dances; highland goslar, and ghost of henry the fowler, on the other side of it. a multifarious wizard country, much overhung by goblin reminiscences, witch-dances, sorcerers'-sabbaths and the like,--if a rheumatic gentleman cared to look on it, in the cold twilight. brrh! waste chasmy uplands, snow-choked torrents; wild people, gloomy firs! here at last, by one's watch p.m., is elbingerode, uncomfortable little town; and it is to be hoped the forty post-horses are ready. "behold, while the forty post-horses are getting ready, a thing takes place, most unexpected;--which made the name of elbingerode famous for eight months to come. of which let us hastily give the bare facts, fancy making of them what she can. was monseigneur aware that this elbingerode, with a patch of territory round it, is hanoverian ground; one of those distracted patches or ragged outskirts frequent in the german map? prussia is not yet, and hessen-cassel has ceased to be. undoubtedly hanoverian! apparently the landgraf and monseigneur had not thought of that. but munchhausen of hanover, spies informing him, had. the bailiff (vogt, advocatus) has gathered twenty jager [official game-keepers] with their guns, and a select idle sunday population of the place with or without guns: the vogt steps forward, and inquires for monseigneur's passport. 'no passport, no need of any!'--'pardon!' and signifies to monseigneur, on the part of george elector of hanover, king of great britain, france and ireland, that monseigneur is arrested! "monseigneur, with compressed or incompressible feelings, indignantly complies,--what could he else, unfortunate rheumatic gentleman?--and is plucked away in such sudden manner, he for one, out of that big german game of his raising. the twenty vehicles are dragged different roads; towards scharzfels, osterode, or i know not where,--handiest roads to hanover;--and monseigneur himself has travelling treatment which might be complained of, did not one disdain complaint: 'my brother parted from me, nay my doctor, and my interpreter;'"--not even speech possible to me. [letter of belleisle next morning, "neuhof, st december, a.m." (in _valori,_ i. ), to munchhausen at hanover,--by no possibility "to valori," as the distracted french editor has given it!] that was the belleisle accident in the harz, sunday evening, th december, . "afflicted indignant valori, soon enough apprised, runs to friedrich with the news,--greets friedrich with it just alighting from that silesian run of his own. friedrich, not without several other things to think of, is naturally sorry at such news; sorry for his own sake even; but not overmuch. friedrich refuses 'to despatch a party of horse,' and cut out marechal de belleisle. "that will never do, mon cher!'--and even gets into froides plaisanteries: 'perhaps the marechal did it himself? tallard, prisoner after blenheim, made peace, you know, in england?'--and the like; which grieved the soul of valori, and convinced him of friedrich's inhumanity, in a crying case. "belleisle is lugged on to hanover; his case not doubtful to munchhausen, or the english ministry,--though it raised great argument, (was the capture fair, was it unfair? is he entitled to exchange by cartel, or not entitled?' and produced, in the next eight months, much angry animated pamphleteering and negotiation. for we hear by and by, he is to be forwarded to stade, on the hamburg sea-coast, where english seventy-fours are waiting for him; his case still undecided;--and, in effect, it was not till after eight months that he got dismissal. 'lodged handsomely in windsor palace,' in the interim; free on his parole, people of rank very civil to him, though the gazetteers were sometimes ill-tongued,--had he understood their patois, or concerned himself about such things ["tuesday, th february [ st march, ], marshal belleisle landed at harwich; lay at greenwich palace, having crossed thames at the isle of dogs: next morning, about , set out, in a coach-and-six, colonel douglas and two troops of horse escorting; arrived p.m.,--by camberwell, clapham, wandsworth, over kingston and staines bridges,--at windsor castle, and the apartments ready for him." (_gentleman's magazine,_ , p .) was let go th ( th) august, again with great pomp and civilities (ib. p. ). see adelung, iv. , ; v. , .] "it was a current notion among contemporary mankind, this of friedrich, that belleisle's capture might be a mere collusion, meant to bring about a peace in that tallard fashion,--wide of the truth as such a notion is, far as any peace was from following. to britannic george and his hanoverians it had merely seemed, here was a chief war-captain and diplomatist among the french; the pivot of all these world-wide movements, as valori defines him; which pivot, a chance offering, it were well to twitch from its socket, and see what would follow. perhaps nothing will follow; next to nothing? a world, all waltzing in mad war, is not to be stopped by acting on any pivot; your waltzing world will find new pivots, or do without any, and perhaps only waltz the more madly for wanting the principal one." this withdrawal of belleisle, the one frenchman respected by friedrich, or much interested for his own sake in things german, is reckoned a main cause why the french alliance turned out so ill for friedrich; and why french effort took more and more a netherlands direction thenceforth, and these new french magnanimities on friedrich's behalf issued in futility again. probably they never could have issued in very much: but it is certain that, from this point, they also do become zero; and that friedrich, from his french alliance, reaped from first to last nothing at all, except a great deal of obloquy from german neighbors, and from the french side endless trouble, anger and disappointment in every particular. which 'might be a joy (though not unmixed) to britannic majesty and the subtle followers who had ginned this fine belleisle bird in its flight over the harz range? though again, had they passively let him wing his way, and he had got "to be commander and manager," as was in agitation,--he, belleisle and in germany, instead of marechal de saxe with the netherlands as chief scene,--what an advantage might that have been to them! the kaiser karl vii. gets secured from oppressions, in a tragic way. friedrich proposes peace, but to no purpose. a still sadder cross for friedrich, in the current of foreign accidents and diplomacies, was the next that befell; exactly a month later,--at munchen, th january, . hardly was belleisle's back turned, when her hungarian majesty, by her bathyani and company, broke furiously in upon the poor kaiser and his seckendorf-segur defences. belleisle had not reached the harz, when all was going topsy-turvy there again, and the donau-valley fast falling back into austrian hands. nor is that the worst, or nearly so. "munchen, th january, . this day poor kaiser karl laid down his earthly burden here, and at length gave all his enemies the slip. he had been ill of gout for some time; a man of much malady always, with no want of vexations and apprehensions. too likely the austrians will drive him out of munchen again; then nothing but furnished lodgings, and the french to depend upon. he had been much chagrined by some election, just done, in the chapter of salzburg. [adelung, iv. , , .] the archbishop there--it was firmian, he of the salzburg emigration, memorable to readers--had died, some while ago. and now, in flat contradiction to imperial customs, prerogatives, these people had admitted an austrian garrison; and then, in the teeth of our express precept, had elected an austrian to their benefice: what can one account it but an insult as well as an injury? and the neuralgic maladies press sore, and the gouty twinges; and belleisle is seized, perhaps with important papers of ours; and the seckendorf-segur detachments were ill placed; nay here are the austrians already on the throat of them, in midwinter! it is said, a babbling valet, or lord-in-waiting, happened to talk of some skirmish that had fallen out (called a battle, in the valet rumor), and how ill the french and bavarians had fared in it, owing to their ill behavior. and this, add they, proved to be the ounce-weight too much for the so heavy-laden back. "the kaiser took to bed, not much complaining; patient, mild, though the saddest of all mortals; and, in a day or two, died. adieu, adieu, ye loved faithful ones; pity me, and pray for me! he gave his wife, poor little fat devout creature, and his poor children (eldest lad, his heir, only seventeen), a tender blessing; solemnly exhorted them, to eschew ambition, and be warned by his example;--to make their peace with austria; and never, like him, try com' e duro calle, and what the charity of christian kings amounts to. this counsel, it is thought, the empress dowager zealously accedes to, and will impress upon her son. that is the austrian and cause-of-liberty account: king friedrich, from the other side, has heard a directly opposite one. how the kaiser, at the point of death, exhorted his son, 'never forget the services which the king of france and the king of prussia have done us, and do not repay them with ingratitude.' [ _oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. ;--and see (per contra) in adelung, iv. a; in coxe, &c.] the reader can choose which he will, or reject both into the region of the uncertain. 'karl albert's pious and affectionate demeanor drew tears from all eyes,' say the by-standers: 'the manner in which he took leave of his empress would have melted a heart of stone.' he was in his forty-eighth year; he had been, of all men in his generation, the most conspicuously unhappy." what a down-rush of confusion there ensued on this event, not to bavaria alone, but to all the world, and to king friedrich more than another, no reader can now take the pains of conceiving. the "frankfurt union," then, has gone to air! here is now no "kaiser to be delivered from oppression:" here is a new kaiser to be elected,--"grand-duke franz the man," cry the pragmatic potentates with exultation, "no belleisle to disturb!"--and questions arise innumerable thereupon, will france go into electioneering again? the new kur-baiern, only seventeen, poor child, cannot be set up as candidate. what will france do with him; what he with france? whom can the french try as candidate against the grand-duke? kur-sachsen, the polish majesty again? belleisle himself must have paused uncertain over such a welter,--and probably have done, like the others, little or nothing in it, but left it to collapse by natural gravitation. hungarian majesty checked her bavarian armaments a little: "if perhaps this young kur-baiern will detach himself from france, and on submissive terms come over to us?" whereupon, at munchen, and in the cognate quarters, such wriggling, dubitating and diplomatizing, as seldom was,--french, anti-french (seckendorf busiest of all), straining every nerve in that way, and for almost three months, nothing coming of it,--till hungarian majesty sent her barenklaus and bathyanis upon them again; and these rapidly solved the question, in what way we shall see! friedrich has still his hopes of bavaria, so grandiloquent are the french in regard to it; who but would hope? the french diplomatize to all lengths in munchen, promising seas and mountains; but they perform little; in an effectual manner, nothing. bavarian "army raised to , ;" counts in fact little above half that number; with no general to it but an imaginary one; segur's actual french contingent, instead of , , is perhaps , ;--and so of other things. add to all which, seckendorf is there, not now as war-general, but as extra-official "adviser;" busier than ever,--"scandalous old traitor!" say the french;--and friedrich may justly fear that bavaria will go, by collapse, a bad road for him. friedrich, a week or two after the kaiser's death, seeing bavarian and french things in such a hypothetic state, instructs his ambassador at london to declare his, friedrich's, perfect readiness and wish for peace: "old treaty of breslau and berlin made indubitable to me; the rest of the quarrel has, by decease of the kaiser, gone to air." to which the britannic majesty, rather elated at this time, as all pragmatic people are, answers somewhat in a careless way, "well, if the others like it!" and promises that he will propose it in the proper quarter. so that henceforth there is always a hope of peace through england; as well as contrariwise, especially till bavaria settle itself (in april next), a hope of great assistance from the french. here are potentialities and counter-potentialities, which make the bavarian intricacy very agitating to the young king, while it lasts. and indeed his world is one huge imbroglio of potentialities and diplomatic intricacies, agitating to behold. concerning which we have again to remark how these huge spectres of diplomacy, now filling friedrich's world, came mostly in result to nothing;--shaping themselves wholly, for or against, in exact proportion, direct or inverse, to the actual quantity of battle and effective performance that happened to be found in friedrich himself. diplomatic spectralities, wide fatamorganas of hope, and hideous big bugbears blotting out the sun: of these, few men ever had more than friedrich at this time. and he is careful, none carefuler, not to neglect his diplomacies at any time;--though he knows, better than most, that good fighting of his own is what alone can determine the value of these contingent and aerial quantities,--mere lapland witchcraft the greater part of them. a second grand intricacy and difficulty, still more enigmatic, and pressing the tighter by its close neighborhood, was that with the saxons. "are the saxons enemies; are they friends? neutrals at lowest; bound by treaty to lend austria troops; but to lend for defence merely, not for offence! could not one, by good methods, make friends with his polish majesty?" friedrich was far from suspecting the rages that lurked in the polish majesty, and least of all owing to what. owing to that old moravian-foray business; and to his, friedrich's, behavior to the saxons in it; excellent saxons, who had behaved so beautifully to friedrich! that is the sad fact, however. stupid polish majesty has his natural envies, jealousies, of a brandenburg waxing over his head at this rate. but it appears, the moravian foray entered for a great deal into the account, and was the final overwhelming item. bruhl, by much descanting on that famous expedition,--with such candid eye-witnesses to appeal to, such corroborative staff-officers and appliances, powerful on the idle heart and weak brain of a polish majesty,--has brought it so far. fixed indignation, for intolerable usage, especially in that moravian-foray time: fixed; not very malignant, but altogether obstinate (as, i am told, that of the pacific sheep species usually is); which carried bruhl and his polish majesty to extraordinary heights and depths in years coming! but that will deserve a section to itself by and by. a third difficulty, privately more stringent than any, is that of finance. the expenses of the late bohemian expedition, "friedrich's army costing , pounds a month," have been excessive. for our next campaign, if it is to be done in the way essential, there are, by rigorous arithmetic, " , pounds" needed. a frugal prussia raises no new taxes; pays its wars from "the treasure," from the fund saved beforehand for emergencies of that kind; fund which is running low, threatening to be at the lees if such drain on it continue. to fight with effect being the one sure hope, and salve for all sores, it is not in the army, in the fortresses, the fighting equipments, that there shall be any flaw left! friedrich's budget is a sore problem upon him; needing endless shift and ingenuity, now and onwards, through this war:--already, during these months, in the berlin schloss, a great deal of those massive friedrich-wilhelm plate sumptuosities, especially that unparalleled music-balcony up stairs, all silver, has been, under fredersdorf's management, quietly taken away; "carried over, in the night-time, to the mint." [orlich, ii. - .] and, in fact, no modern reader, not deeper in that distressing story of the austrian-succession war than readers are again like to be, can imagine to himself the difficulties of friedrich at this time, as they already lay disclosed, and kept gradually disclosing themselves, for months coming; nor will ever know what perspicacity, patience of scanning, sharpness of discernment, dexterity of management, were required at friedrich's hands;--and under what imminency of peril, too; victorious deliverance, or ruin and annihilation, wavering fearfully in the balance for him, more than once, or rather all along. but it is certain the deeper one goes into that hideous medea's caldron of stupidities, once so flamy, now fallen extinct, the more is one sensible of friedrich's difficulties; and of the talent for all kinds of captaincy,--by no means in the field only, or perhaps even chiefly,--that was now required of him. candid readers shall accept these hints, and do their best:--friedrich himself made not the least complaint of men's then misunderstanding him; still less will he now! we, keeping henceforth the diplomacies, the vaporous foreshadows, and general dance of unclean spirits with their intrigues and spectralities, well underground, so far as possible, will stick to what comes up as practical performance on friedrich's part, and try to give intelligible account of that. valori says, he is greatly changed, and for the better, by these late reverses of fortune. all the world notices it, says valori. no longer that brief infallibility of manner; that lofty light air, that politely disdainful view of valori and mankind: he has now need of men. complains of nothing, is cheerful, quizzical;--ardently busy to "grind out the notches," as our proverb is; has a mild humane aspect, something of modesty, almost of piety in him. help me, thou supreme power, maker of men, if my purposes are manlike! though one does not go upon the prayers of forty-hours, or apply through st. vitus and such channels, there may be something of authentic petition to heaven in the thoughts of that young man. he is grown very amiable; the handsomest young bit of royalty now going. he must fight well next summer, or it will go hard with him! chapter vi.--valori goes on an electioneering mission to dresden. some time in january, a new frenchman, a "chevalier de courten," if the name is known to anybody, was here at berlin; consulting, settling about mutual interests and operations. since belleisle is snatched from us, it is necessary some courten should come; and produce what he has got: little of settlement, i should fear, of definite program that will hold water; in regard to war operations chiefly a magazine of clouds. [specimens of it, in ranke, iii. .] for the rest, the bavarian question; and very specially, who the new emperor is to be?"king of poland, thinks your majesty?"--"by all means," answers friedrich, "if you can! detach him from austria; that will be well!" which was reckoned magnanimous, at least public-spirited, in friedrich; considering what saxony's behavior to him had already been. "by all means, his polish majesty for kaiser; do our utmost, excellencies valori, courten and company!" answers friedrich,--and for his own part, i observe, is intensely busy upon army matters, looking after the main chance. and so valori is to go to dresden, and manage this cloud or cobwebbery department of the thing; namely, persuade his polish majesty to stand for the kaisership: "baiern, pfalz, koln, brandenburg, there are four votes, sire; your own is five: sure of carrying it, your polish majesty; backed by the most christian king, and his allies and resources!" and polish majesty does, for his own share, very much desire to be kaiser. but none of us yet knows how he is tied up by austria, anti-friedrich, anti-french considerations; and can only "accept if it is offered me:" thrice-willing to accept, if it will fall into my mouth; which, on those terms, it has so little chance of doing!--saxony and its mysterious affairs and intentions having been, to friedrich, a riddle and trouble and astonishment, during all this campaign, readers ought to know the fact well;--and no reader could stand the details of such a fact. here, in condensed form, are some scraps of excerpt; which enable us to go with valori on this dresden mission, and look for ourselves:-- . friedrich's position towards saxony. "... by known treaty, the polish majesty is bound to assist the hungarian with , men, 'whenever invaded in her own dominions.' polish majesty had , in the field for that object lately,--part of them, , of them, hired by britannic subsidy, as he alleges. the question now is, will saxony assist austria in invading silesia, with or without britannic subsidy? friedrich hopes that this is impossible! friedrich is deeply unaware of the humor he has raised against himself in the saxon court-circles; how the polish majesty regards that moravian foray; with what a perfect hatred little bruhl regards him, friedrich; and to what pitch of humor, owing to those moravian-foray starvings, marchings about and inhuman treatment of the poor saxon army, not to mention other offences and afflictive considerations, bruhl has raised the simple polish majesty against friedrich. these things, as they gradually unfolded themselves to friedrich, were very surprising. and proved very disadvantageous at the present juncture and for a long time afterwards. to friedrich disadvantageous and surprising; and to saxony, in the end, ruinous; poor saxony having got its back broken by them, and never stood up in the world since! ruined by this wretched little bruhl; and reduced, from the first place in northern teutschland, to a second or third, or no real place at all." . there is a, "union of warsaw" ( th january, ); and still more specially a "treaty of warsaw" ( th january- th may, ). "january th, , before the old dessauer got ranked in schlesien against traun, there had concluded itself at warsaw, by way of counterpoise to the 'frankfurt union,' a 'union of warsaw,' called also 'quadruple alliance of warsaw;' the parties to which were polish majesty, hungarian ditto, prime-movers, and the two sea-powers as purseholders; stipulating, to the effect: 'we four will hold together in affairs of the reich versus that dangerous frankfurt union; we will'--do a variety of salutary things; and as one practical thing, 'there shall be, this season, , saxons conjoined to the austrian force, for which we sea-powers will furnish subsidy.'--this was the one practical point stipulated, january th; and farther than this the sea-powers did not go, now or afterwards, in that affair. "but there was then proposed by the polish and hungarian majesties, in the form of secret articles, an ulterior project; with which the sea-powers, expressing mere disbelief and even abhorrence of it, refused to have any concern now or henceforth. polish majesty, in hopes it would have been better taken, had given his , soldiers at a rate of subsidy miraculously low, only , pounds for the whole: but the sea-powers were inexorable, perhaps almost repented of their , pounds; and would hear nothing farther of secret articles and delirious projects. "so that the 'union of warsaw' had to retire to its pigeon-hole, content with producing those , saxons for the immediate occasion; and there had to be concocted between the polish and hungarian majesties themselves what is now, in the modern pamphlets, called a 'treaty of warsaw,'--much different from the innocent, 'union of warsaw;' though it is merely the specifying and fixing down of what had been shadowed out as secret codicils in said 'union,' when the sea-power parties obstinately recoiled. treaty of warsaw let us continue to call it; though its actual birth-place was leipzig (in the profoundest secrecy, th may, ), above four months after it had tried to be born at warsaw, and failed as aforesaid. warsaw union is not worth speaking of; but this other is a treaty highly remarkable to the reader,--and to friedrich was almost infinitely so, when he came to get wind of it long after. "treaty which, though it proved abortional, and never came to fulfilment in any part of it, is at this day one of the remarkablest bits of sheepskin extant in the world. it was signed th may, ; [scholl, ii. .] and had cost a great deal of painful contriving, capable still of new altering and retouching, to hit mutual views: treaty not only for reconquering silesia (which to the two majesties, though it did not to the sea-powers, seems infallible, in friedrich's now ruined circumstances), but for cutting down that bad neighbor to something like the dimensions proper for a brandenburg vassal;--in fact, quite the old 'detestable project' of spring, , only more elaborated into detail (in which britannic george knows better than to meddle!)--saxony to have share of the parings, when we get them. 'what share?' asked saxony, and long keeps asking. 'a road to warsaw; strip of country carrying us from the end of the lausitz, which is ours, into poland, which we trust will continue ours, would be very handy! duchy of glogau; some small paring of silesia, won't your majesty?' 'of my silesia not one hand-breadth,' answered the queen impatiently (though she did at last concede some outlying hand-breadths, famed old 'circle of schwiebus,' if i recollect); and they have had to think of other equivalent parings for saxony's behoof (magdeburg, halberstadt, saale-circle, or one knows not what); and have had, and will have, their adoes to get it fixed. excellent bearskin to be slit into straps; only the bear is still on his feet!--polish majesty and hungarian, polish with especial vigor, bruhl quite restless upon it, are--little as valori or any mortal could dream of it--engaged in this partition of the bearskin, when valori arrives. of their innocent union of warsaw, there was, from the first, no secret made; but the document now called 'treaty of warsaw' needs to lie secret and thrice-secret; and it was not till that friedrich, having unearthed it by industries of his own, and studied it with great intensity for some years, made it known to the world." [adelung, v. . ; ranke, iii. (who, for some reason of his own, dates " d may" instead of th]. treaties, vaporous foreshadows of events, have oftenest something of the ghost in them; and are importune to human nature, longing for the events themselves; all the more if they have proved abortional treaties, and become doubly ghost-like or ghastly. nevertheless the reader is to note well this treaty of warsaw, as important to friedrich and him; and indeed it is perhaps the remarkablest treaty, abortional or realized, which got to parchment in that century. for though it proved abortional, and no part of it, now or afterwards, could be executed, and even the subsidy and , saxons (stipulated in the "union of warsaw") became crow's-meat in a manner,--this preternatural "treaty of warsaw," trodden down never so much by the heel of destiny, and by the weight of new treaties, superseding it or presupposing its impossibility or inconceivability, would by no means die (such the humor of bruhl, of the two majesties and others); but lay alive under the ashes, carefully tended, for ten or twenty years to come;--and had got all europe kindled again, for destruction of that bad neighbor, before it would itself consent to go out! and did succeed in getting saxony's back broken, if not the bad neighbor's,--in answer to the humor of little bruhl; unfortunate saxony to possess such a bruhl! in those beautiful saxon-austrian developments of the treaty of warsaw, czarina elizabeth, bobbing about in that unlovely whirlpool of intrigues, amours, devotions and strong liquor, which her history is, took (ask not for what reason) a lively part:--and already in this spring of , they hope she could, by "a gift of two millions for her pleasures" (gift so easy to you sea-powers), be stirred up to anger against friedrich. and she did, in effect, from this time, hover about in a manner questionable to friedrich; though not yet in anger, but only with the wish to be important, and to make herself felt in foreign affairs. whether the sea-powers gave her that trifle of pocket-money ("for her pleasures"), i never knew; but it is certain they spent, first and last, very large amounts that way, upon her and hers; especially the english did, with what result may be considered questionable. as for graf von bruhl, most rising man of saxony, once a page; now by industry king august iii.'s first favorite and factotum; the fact that he cordially hates friedrich is too evident; but the why is not known to me. except indeed, that no man--especially no man with three hundred and sixty-five fashionable suits of clothes usually about him, different suit each day of the year--can be comfortable in the evident contempt of another man. other man of sarcastic bantering turn, too; tongue sharp as needles; whose sayings many birds of the air are busy to carry about. year after year, bruhl (doubtless with help enough that way, if there had needed such) hates him more and more; as the too jovial czarina herself comes to do, wounded by things that birds have carried. and now we will go with valori,--seeing better into some things than valori yet can. . valori's account of his mission (in compressed form). [valori, i. - .] "valori [i could guess about the th of february, but there is no date at all] was despatched to dresden with that fine project, polish majesty for kaiser: is authorized to offer , men, with money corresponding, and no end of brilliant outlooks;--must keep back his offers, however, if he find the people indisposed. which he did, to an extreme degree; nothing but vague talk, procrastination, hesitation on the part of bruhl. this wretched little bruhl has twelve tailors always sewing for him, and three hundred and sixty-five suits of clothes: so many suits, all pictured in a book; a valet enters every morning, proposes a suit, which, after deliberation, with perhaps amendments, is acceded to, and worn at dinner. vainest of human clothes-horses; foolishest coxcomb valori has seen: it is visibly his notion that it was he, bruhl, by his saxon auxiliaries, by his masterly strokes of policy, that checkmated friedrich, and drove him from bohemia last year; and, for the rest, that friedrich is ruined, and will either shirk out of silesia, or be cut to ribbons there by the austrian force this summer. to which valori hints dissent; but it is ill received. valori sees the king; finds him, as expected, the fac-simile of bruhl in this matter; jesuit guarini the like: how otherwise? they have his majesty in their leash, and lead him as they please. "at four every morning, this guarini, jesuit confessor to the king and queen, comes to bruhl; bruhl settles with him what his majesty shall think, in reference to current business, this day; guarini then goes, confesses both majesties; confesses, absolves, turns in the due way to secular matters. at nine, bruhl himself arrives, for privy council: 'what is your majesty pleased to think on these points of current business?' majesty serenely issues his thoughts, in the form of orders; which are found correct to pattern. this is the process with his majesty. a poor majesty, taking deeply into tobacco; this is the way they have him benetted, as in a dark cocoon of cobwebs, rendering the whole world invisible to him. which cunning arrangement is more and more perfected every year; so that on all roads he travels, be it to mass, to hunt, to dinner, any-whither in his palace or out of it, there are faithful creatures keeping eye, who admit no unsafe man to the least glimpse of him by night or by day. in this manner he goes on; and before the end of him, twenty years hence, has carried it far. nothing but disgust to be had out of business;--mutinous polish diets too, some forty of them, in his time, not one of which did any business at all, but ended in liberum veto, and billingsgate conflagration, perhaps with swords drawn: [see buchholz, ; &c.]--business more and more disagreeable to him. what can valori expect, on this heroic occasion, from such a king? "the queen herself, maria theresa's cousin, an ambitious hard-favored majesty,--who had sense once to dislike bruhl, but has been quite reconciled to him by her jesuit messenger of heaven (which latter is an oily, rather stupid creature, who really wishes well to her, and loves a peaceable life at any price),--even she will not take the bait. valori was in dresden nine days (middle part of february, it is likely); never produced his big bait, his , men and other brilliancies, at all. he saw old feldmarschall konigseck passing from vienna towards the netherlands camp; where he is to dry-nurse (so they irreverently call it, in time coming) his royal highness of cumberland, that magnificent english babe of war, and do feats with him this summer." konigseck, though valori did not know it, has endless diplomacies to do withal; inspections of troops, advisings, in hanover, in holland, in dresden here; [anonymous,--duke of cumberland,--p. .]--and secures the saxon electoral-vote for his grand-duke in passing. "the welcome given to konigseck disgusted valori; on the ninth day he left; said adieu, seeing them blind to their interest; and took post for berlin,"--where he finds friedrich much out of humor at the saxon reception of his magnanimities. [valori, i. - ; _oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. - . for details on bruhl, see _graf von bruhl, leben und charakter_ ( , no place): anonymous, by one justi, a noted pamphleteer of the time: exists in english too, or partly exists; but is unreadable, except on compulsion; and totally unintelligible till after very much inquiry elsewhere.] this saxon intricacy, indecipherable, formidable, contemptible, was the plague of friedrich's life, one considerable plague, all through this campaign. perhaps nothing in the diplomatic sphere of things caused him such perplexity, vexation, indignation. an insoluble riddle to him; extremely contemptible, yet,--with a huge russia tacked to it, and looming minatory in the distance,--from time to time, formidable enough. let readers keep it in mind, and try to imagine it. it cost friedrich such guessing, computing, arranging, rearranging, as would weary the toughest reader to hear of in detail. how friedrich did at last solve it (in december coming), all readers will see with eyes!-- middle-rhine army in a staggering state; the bavarian intricacy settles itself, the wrong way. early in march it becomes surmisable that maillebois's middle-rhine army will not go a good road. maillebois has been busy in those countries, working extensive discontent; bullying mankind "to join the frankfurt union," to join france at any rate, which nobody would consent to; and exacting merciless contributions, which everybody had to consent to and pay.--and now, on d'ahremberg's mere advance, with that poor fraction of pragmatic army, roused from its winter sleep, maillebois, without waiting for d'ahremberg's attack, rapidly calls in his truculent detachments, and rolls confusedly back into the frankfurt regions. [adelung, iv. - (december, -march, ).] upon which d'ahremberg--if by no means going upon maillebois's throat--sets, at least, to coercing wilhelm of hessen, our only friend in those parts; who is already a good deal disgusted with the maillebois procedures, and at a loss what to do on the kaiser's death, which has killed the frankfurt union too. wise wilhelm consents, under d'ahremberg's menaces, to become neutral; and recall his , out of baiern,--wishes he had them home beside him even now! with an election in the wind, it is doubly necessary for the french, who have not even a candidate as yet, to stand supreme and minatory in the frankfurt country; and to king friedrich it is painfully questionable, whether maillebois can do it. "do it we will; doubt not that, your majesty!" answer valori and the french;--and study to make improvements, reinforcements, in their rhine army. and they do, at least, change the general of their middle-rhine army,--that is to say, recall prince conti out of italy, where he has distinguished himself, and send maillebois thither in his stead,--who likewise distinguishes himself there, if that could be a comfort to us! whether the distinguished conti will maintain that frankfurt country in spite of the austrians and their election movements, is still a question with friedrich, though valori continued assuring him (always till july came) that, it was beyond question. "siege of tournay, vigorous campaign in the netherlands (for behoof of britannic george)!" this is the grand french program for the year. this good intention was achieved, on the french part; but this, like aaron's rod among the serpents, proved to have eaten the others as it wriggled along!-- those maillebois-d'ahremberg affairs throw a damp on the bavarian question withal;--in fact, settle the bavarian question; her hungarian majesty, tired of the delays, having ordered bathyani to shoulder arms again, and bring a decision. bathyani, with barenklau to right of him, and browne (our old silesian friend) to left, goes sweeping across those seckendorf-segur posts, and without difficulty tumbles everything to ruin, at a grand rate. the traitor seckendorf had made such a choice of posts,--left unaltered by drum thorring;--what could french valor do? nothing; neither french valor, nor bavarian want of valor, could do anything but whirl to the right-about, at sight of the austrian sweeping-apparatus; and go off explosively, as in former instances, at a rate almost unique in military annals. finished within three weeks or so!--we glance only at two points of it. march st, bathyani stood to arms (to besoms we might call it), browne on the left, barenklau on the right: it was march st when bathyani started from passau, up the donau countries;--and within the week coming, see:-- "vilshofen, th march, . here, at the mouth of the vils river (between inn and iser), is the first considerable post; garrison some , ; hessians and prince friedrich the main part,--who have their share of valor, i dare say; but with such news out of hessen, not to speak of the prospects in this country, are probably in poorish spirits for acting. general browne summons them in vilshofen, this day; and, on their negative, storms in upon them, bursts them to pieces; upon which they beat chamade. but the croats, who are foremost, care nothing for chamade: go plundering, slaughtering; burn the poor town; butcher [in round numbers] , of the poor hessians; and wound general browne himself, while he too vehemently interferes." [adelung, iv. , and the half-intelligible foot-note in ranke, iii. .] this was the finale of those , hessians, and indeed their principal function, while in french pay;--and must have been, we can judge how surprising to prince friedrich, and to his papa on hearing of it! note another point. precisely about this time twelvemonth, "march th, ," the same prince friedrich, with remainder of those hessians, now again completed to , , and come back with emphasis to the britannic side of things, was--marching out of edinburgh, in much state, with streamers, kettle-drums, highness's coaches, horses, led-horses, on an unexpected errand. [henderson (whig eye-witness). _history of the rebellion,_ and (london, , reprint from the edinburgh edition), pp. , , .] toward stirling, perth; towards killiecrankie, and raising of what is called "the siege of blair in athol" (most minute of "sieges," but subtending a great angle there and then);--much of unexpected, and nearer home than "tournay and the netherlands campaign," having happened to britannic george in the course of this year, ! "really very fine troops, those hessians [observes my orthodox whig friend]: they carry swords as well as guns and bayonets; their uniform is blue turned up with white: the hussar part of them, about , have scimitars of a great length; small horses, mostly black, of swedish breed; swift durable little creatures, with long tails." honors, dinners, to his serene highness had been numerous, during the three weeks we had him in edinburgh; "especially that ball, february st (o.s.), eve of his consort the princess mary's birthday [eve of birthday, "let us dance the auspicious morning in] was, for affluence of nobility and gentry of both sexes," a sublime thing...." pfaffenhofen, april th. "unfortunate segur, the segur of linz three years ago,--whose conduct was great, according to valori, but powerless against traitors and fate!--was again, once more, unfortunate in those parts. unfortunate segur drew up at pfaffenhofen (centre of the country, many miles from vilshofen) to defend himself, when fallen upon by barenklau, in that manner; but could not, though with masterly demeanor; and had to retreat three days, with his face to the enemy, so to speak, fighting and manoeuvring all the way: no shelter for him either but munchen, and that, a most temporary one. instead of taking straubingen, taking passau, perhaps of pushing on to vienna itself, this is what we have already come to. no rhine army, middle-rhine army, coigny, maillebois, conti, whoever it was, should send us the least reinforcement, when shrieked to. no outlook whatever but rapid withdrawal, retreat to the rhine army, since it will not stir to help us." [adelung, iv. .] "the young kur-baiern is still polite, grateful [to us french], overwhelms us with politeness; but flies to augsburg, as his father used to do. notable, however, his poor fat little mother won't, this time: 'no, i will stay here, i for one, and have done with flying and running; we have had enough of that!' seckendorf, quite gone from court in this crisis, reappears, about the middle of april, in questionable capacity; at a place called fussen, not far off, at the foot of the tyrol hills;--where certain austrian dignitaries seem also to be enjoying a picturesque easter! yes indeed: and, on april d, there is signed a 'peace of fussen' there; general amicable as-you-were, between austria and bavaria ('renounce your anti-pragmatic moonshine forevermore, vote for our grand-duke; there is your bavaria back, poor wretches!')--and seckendorf, it is presumable, will get his turkish arrears liquidated. "the bavarian intricacy, which once excelled human power, is settled, then. carteret and haslang tried it in vain [dreadful heterodox intentions of secularizing salzburg, secularizing passau, regensburg, and loud tremulous denial of such];--carteret and wilhelm of hesseu [conferences of hanau, which ruined carteret], in vain; king friedrich, and many kings, in vain: a thing nobody could settle;--and it has at last settled itself, as the generality of ill-guided and unlucky things do, by collapse. delirium once out, the law of gravity acts; and there the mad matter lies." "bought by austria, that old villain!" cry the french. friedrich does not think the austrians bought seckendorf, having no money at present; but guesses they may have given him to understand that a certain large arrear of payment due ever since those turkish wars,--when seckendorf, instead of payment, was lodged in the fortress of gratz, and almost got his head cut off,--should now be paid down in cash, or authentic paper-money, if matters become amicable. [ _oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. ; _seckendorfs leben,_ pp. - .] as they have done, in friedrich's despite;--who seems angrier at the old stager for this particular ill-turn than for all the other many; and long remembers it, as will appear. chapter vii.--friedrich in silesia; unusually busy. here, sure enough, are sad new intricacies in the diplomatic, hypothetic sphere of things; and clouds piling themselves ahead, in a very minatory manner to king friedrich. let king friedrich, all the more, get his fighting arrangements made perfect. diplomacy is clouds; beating of your enemies is sea and land. austria and the gazetteer world consider friedrich to be as good as finished: but that is privately far from being friedrich's own opinion;--though these occurrences are heavy and dismal to him, as none of us can now fancy. herr ranke has got access, in the archives, to a series of private utterances by friedrich,--letters from him, of a franker nature than usual, and letting us far deeper into his mind;--which must have been well worth reading in the original, in their fully dated and developed condition. from herr ranke's fragmentary excerpts, let us, thankful for what we have got, select one or two. the letters are to minister podewils at berlin; written from silesia (neisse and neighborhood), where, since the middle of march, friedrich has been, personally pushing on his army preparations, while the above sinister things befell. king friedrich to podewils, in berlin (under various dates, march-april, ). neisse, th march.... "we find ourselves in a great crisis. if we don't, by mediation of england, get peace, our enemies from different sides [saxony, austria, who knows if not russia withal!] will come plunging in against me. peace i cannot force them to. but if they must have war, we will either beat them, or none of us will see berlin again." [ranke, iii. et seqq.] april (no day given).... "in any case, i have my troops well together. the sicknesses are ceasing; the recruitments are coming in: shortly all will be complete. that does not hinder us from making peace, if it will only come; but, in the contrary case, nobody can accuse me of neglecting what was necessary." april th (still from neisse).... "i toil day and night to improve our situation. the soldiers will do their duty. there is none among us who will not rather have his backbone broken than give up one foot-breadth of ground. they must either grant us a good peace, or we will surpass ourselves by miracles of daring; and force the enemy to accept it from us." april th. "our situation is disagreeable; constrained, a kind of spasm: but my determination is taken. if we needs must fight, we will do it like men driven desperate. never was there a greater peril than that i am now in. time, at its own pleasure, will untie this knot; or destiny, if there is one, determine the event. the game i play is so high, one cannot contemplate the issue with cold blood. pray for the return of my good luck."--two days hence, the poor young kur-baiern, deaf to the french seductions and exertions, which were intense, had signed his "peace of fussen" ( d april ),--a finale to france on the german field, as may be feared! the other fragments we will give a little farther on. friedrich had left berlin for silesia march th; rather sooner than he counted on,--old leopold pleading to be let home. at glogau, at breslau, there had been the due inspecting: friedrich got to neisse on the d (bathyani just stirring in that bavarian business, vilshofen and the hessians close ahead); and on the th, had dismissed old leopold, with thanks and sympathies,--sent him home, "to recover his health." leopold's health is probably suffering; but his heart and spirits still more. poor old man, he has just lost--the other week, " th february" last--his poor old wife, at dessau; and is broken down with grief. the soft silk lining of his hard existence, in all parts of it, is torn away. apothecary fos's daughter, reich's princess, princess of dessau, called by whatever name, she had been the truest of wives; "used to attend him in all his campaigns, for above fifty years back." "gone, now, forever gone!"--old leopold had wells of strange sorrow in the rugged heart of him,--sorrow, and still better things,--which he does not wear on his sleeve. here is an incident i never can forget;--dating twelve or thirteen years ago (as is computable), middle of july, . "louisa, leopold's eldest daughter, wife of victor leopold, reigning prince of anhalt-bernburg, lay dying of a decline." still only twenty-three, poor lady, though married seven years ago;--the end now evidently drawing nigh. "a few days before her death,--perhaps some attendant sorrowfully asking, 'can we do nothing, then?'--she was heard to say, 'if i could see my father at the head of his regiment, yet once!'"--halle, where the regiment lies, is some thirty or more miles off; and king friedrioh wilhelm, i suppose, would have to be written to:--leopold was ready the soonest possible; and, "at a set hour, marched, in all pomp, with banner flying, music playing, into the schloss-hof (palace court) of bernburg; and did the due salutations and manoeuvrings,--his poor daughter sitting at her window, till they ended;"--figure them, the last glitter of those muskets, the last wail of that band-music!--"the regiment was then marched to the waisenhaus (orphan-house), where the common men were treated with bread and beer; all the officers dining at the prince's table. all the officers, except leopold alone, who stole away out of the crowd; sat himself upon the balustrade of the saale bridge, and wept into the river." [leben ( mo; not rannft's, but anonymous like his), p. n.]--leopold is now on the edge of seventy; ready to think all is finished with him. perhaps not quite, my tough old friend; recover yourself a little, and we shall see! old leopold is hardly home at dessau, when new pandour tempests, tides of ravaging war, again come beating against the giant mountains, pouring through all passes; from utmost jablunka, westward by jagerndorf to glatz, huge influx of wild riding hordes, each with some support of austrian grenadiers, cannoniers; threatening to submerge silesia. precursors, friedrich need not doubt, of a strenuous regular attempt that way, hungarian majesty's fixed intention, hope and determination is, to expel him straightway from silesia. her patent circulates, these three months; calling on all men to take note of that fixed fact, especially on all silesian men to note it well, and shift their allegiance accordingly. silesian men, in great majority,--our friend the mayor of landshut, for example?--are believed to have no inclination towards change: and whoever has, had clearly better not show any till he see! [in ranke (iii. ), there is vestige of some intended "voluntary subscription by the common people of glatz," for friedrich's behoof;--contrariwise, in orlich (ii. , " th february, ," from the dessau archives), notice of one individual, suspected of stirring for austria, whom "you are to put under lock and key;"--but he runs off, and has no successor, that i hear of.]-- friedrich's thousand-fold preliminary orderings, movements, rearrangings in his army matters, must not detain us here;--still less his dealings with the pandour element, which is troublesome, rather than dangerous. vigilance, wise swift determination, valor drilled to its work, can deal with phenomena of that nature, though never so furious and innumerable. not a cheering service for drilled valor, but a very needful one. continual bickerings and skirmishings fell out, sometimes rising to sharp fight on the small scale:--austrian grenadiers with cannon are on that height to left, and also on this to right, meaning to cut off our march; the difficult landscape furnished out, far and wide, with pandour companies in position: you must clash in, my burschen; seize me that cannon-battery yonder; master such and such a post,--there is the heart of all that network of armed doggery; slit asunder that, the network wholly will tumble over the hills again. which is always done, on the part of the prussian burschen; though sometimes not, without difficulty.--his majesty is forming magazines at neisse, brieg, and the principal fortresses in those parts; driving on all manner of preparations at the rapidest rate of speed, and looking with his own eyes into everything. the regiments are about what we may call complete, arithmetically and otherwise; the cavalry show good perfection in their new mode of manoeuvring;--it is to be hoped the fighting apparatus generally will give fair account of itself when the time comes. our one anchor of hope, as now more and more appears. on the pandour element he first tried (under general hautcharmoi, with winterfeld as chief active hand) a direct outburst or two, with a view to slash them home at once. but finding that it was of no use, as they always reappeared in new multitudes, he renounced that; took to calling in his remoter outposts; and, except where magazines or the like remained to be cared for, let the pandours baffle about, checked only by the fortified towns, and more and more submerge the hill country. prince karl, to be expected in the form of lion, mysteriously uncertain on which side coming to invade us,--he, and not the innumerable weasel kind, is our important matter! by the end of april (news of the peace of fussen coming withal), friedrich had quitted neisse; lay cantoned, in neisse valley (between frankenstein and patschkau, "able to assemble in forty-eight hours"); studying, with his whole strength, to be ready for the mysterious prince karl, on whatever side he might arrive;--and disregarding the pandours in comparison. the points of inrush, the tideways of these pandour deluges seem to be mainly three. direct through the jablunka, upon ratibor country, is the first and chief; less direct (partly supplied by refluences from ratibor, when ratibor is found not to answer), a second disembogues by jagerndorf; a third, the westernmost, by landshut. three main ingresses: at each of which there fall out little fights; which are still celebrated in the prussian books, and indeed well deserve reading by soldiers that would know their trade. in the ratibor parts, the invasive leader is a general karoly, with , under him, who are the wildest horde of all: "karoly lodges in a wood: for himself there is a tent; his companions sleep under trees, or under the open sky, by the edge of morasses." [ranke, iii. .] it was against this karoly and his horde that hautcharmoi's little expedition, or express attacking party to drive them home again, was shot out ( th- lst april). which did its work very prettily; winterfeld, chief hand in it, crowning the matter by a "fight of wurbitz," [orlich, ii. ( st april).]--where winterfeld, cutting the taproot, in his usual electric way, tumbles karoly quite into the morasses, and clears the country of him for a time. for a time; though for a time only;--karoly or others returning in a week or two, to a still higher extent of thousands; mischievous as ever in those ratibor-namslau countries. upon which, friedrich, finding this an endless business, and nothing like the most important, gives it up for the present; calls in his remoter detachments; has his magazines carted home to the fortress towns,--karoly trying, once or so, to hinder in that operation, but only again getting his crown broken. ["fight of mocker," may th (orlich, ii. ).] or if carting be too difficult, still do not waste your magazine:--margraf karl, for instance, is ordered to jagerndorf with his detachment, "to eat the magazine;" hungry pandours looking on, till he finish. on which occasion a renowned little fight took place (fight of neustadt, or of jagerndorf-neustadt), as shall be mentioned farther on. so that, for certain weeks to come, the tolpatcheries had free course, in those frontier parts; and were left to rove about, under check only of the garrison towns; friedrich being obliged to look elsewhere after higher perils, which were now coming in view. in which favorable circumstances, karoly and consorts did, at last, make one stroke in those ratibor countries; that of kosel, which was greatly consolatory. [ th may, (orlich, ii. - ).] "by treachery of an ensign who had deserted to them [provoked by rigor of discipline, or some intolerable thing], they glided stealthily, one night, across the ditches, into kosel" (a half-fortified place, prussian works only half finished): which, being the key of the oder in those parts, they reckoned a glorious conquest; of good omen and worthy of te-deums at vienna. and they did eagerly, without the least molestation, labor to complete the prussian works at kosel: "one garrison already ours!"--which was not had from them without battering (and i believe, burning), when general von nassau came to inquire after it; in autumn next. friedrich had always hoped that the saxons, who are not yet in declared war with him, though bound by treaty to assist the queen of hungary under certain conditions, would not venture on actual invasion of his territories; but in this, as readers anticipate, friedrich finds himself mistaken. weissenfels is hastening from the leitmeritz northwestern quarter, where he has wintered, to join prince karl, who is gathering himself from olmutz and his southeastern home region; their full intention is to invade silesia together, and they hope now at length to make an end of friedrich and it. these pandour hordes, supported by the necessary grenadiers and cannoniers, are sent as vanguard; these cannot themselves beat him; but they may induce him (which they do not) to divide his force; they may, in part, burn him away as by slow fire, after which he will be the easier to beat. instead of which, friedrich, leaving the pandours to their luck, lies concentrated in neisse valley; watching, with all his faculties, prince karl's own advent (coming on like fate, indubitable, yet involved in mysteries hitherto); and is perilously sensible that only in giving that a good reception is there any hope left him. prince karl "who arrived in olmutz april th," commands in chief again,--saddened, poor man, by the loss of his young wife, in december last; willing to still his grief in action for the cause she loved;--but old traun is not with him this year: which is a still more material circumstance. traun is to go this year, under cloak not of prince karl, but of grand-duke franz, to clear those frankfurt countries for the kaiserwahl and him. prince conti lies there, with his famous "middle-rhine army" (d'ahremberg, from the western parts, not nearly so diligent upon him as one could wish); and must, at all rates, be cleared away. traun, taking command of bathyani's army (now that it has finished the bavarian job), is preparing to push down upon conti, while bathyani (who is to supersede the laggard d'ahremberg) shall push vigorously up;--and before summer is over, we shall hear of traun again, and conti will have heard!-- friedrich's indignation, on learning that the saxons were actually on march, and gradually that they intended to invade him, was great; and the whole matter is portentously enigmatic to him, as he lies vigilant in neisse valley, waiting on the when and the how. indignation;--and yet there is need of caution withal. to be ready for events, the old dessauer has, as one sure measure, been requested to take charge, once more, of a "camp of observation" on the saxon frontier (as of old, in ); and has given his consent: ["april th" consents (orlich, ii. ).] "camp of magdeburg," "camp of dieskau;" for it had various names and figures; checkings of your hand, then layings of it on, heavier, lighter and again heavier, according to one's various readings of the saxon mystery; and we shall hear enough about it, intermittently, till december coming: when it ended in a way we shall not forget!--on which take this note:-- "the camp of observation was to have begun may st; did begin somewhat later, 'near magdeburg,' not too close on the frontier, nor in too alarming strength; was reinforced to about , ; in which state [middle of august] it stept forward to wieskau, then to dieskau, close on the saxon border; and became,--with a saxon camp lying close opposite, and war formally threatened, or almost declared, on saxony by friedrich,--an alarmingly serious matter. friedrich, however, again checked his hand; and did not consummate till november-december. but did then consummate; greatly against his will; and in a way flamingly visible to all men!" [orlich, ii. , , : _helden-geschichte,_ ii. - ; i. .] friedrich's own incidental utterances (what more we have of fractions from the podewils letters), in such portentous aspect of affairs, may now be worth giving. it is not now to jordan that he writes, gayly unbosoming himself, as in the first war,--poor jordan lies languishing, these many months; consumptive, too evidently dying:--not to jordan, this time; nor is the theme "gloire" now, but a far different! friedrich to podewils (as before, april-may, ). april th or so, orders are come to berlin (orders, to podewils's horror at such a thought), whitherward, should berlin be assaulted, the official boards, the preciosities and household gods are to betake themselves:--to magdeburg, all these, which is an impregnable place; to stettin, the two queens and royal family, if they like it better. podewils in horror, "hair standing on end," writes thereupon to eichel, that he hopes the management, "in a certain contingency," will be given to minister boden; he podewils, with his hair in that posture, being quite unequal to it. friedrich answers:-- "april th.... 'i can understand how you are getting uneasy, you berliners. i have the most to lose of you all; but i am quiet, and prepared for events. if the saxons take part,' as they surely will, 'in the invasion of silesia, and we beat them, i am determined to plunge into saxony. for great maladies, there need great remedies. either i will maintain my all, or else lose my all. [hear it, friend; and understand it,--with hair lying flat!] it is true, the disaffection of the russian court, on such trifling grounds, was not to be expected; and great misfortune can befall us. well; a year or two sooner, a year or two later,--it is not worth one's while to bother about the very worst. if things take the better turn, our condition will be surer and firmer than it was before. if we have nothing to reproach ourselves with, neither need we fret and plague ourselves about bad events, which can happen to any man.'--'i am causing despatch a secret order for boden [on you know what], which you will not deliver him till i give sign.'"--on hearing of the peace of fussen, perhaps a day or so later, friedrich again writes:-- "april [no distinct date; neisse still? quits neisse, april th]. ... peace of fussen, bavaria turned against me? 'i can say nothing to it,--except, there has come what had to come. to me remains only to possess myself in patience. if all alliances, resources, and negotiations fail, and all conjunctures go against me, i prefer to perish with honor, rather than lead an inglorious life deprived of all dignity. my ambition whispers me that i have done more than another to the building up of my house, and have played a distinguished part among the crowned heads of europe. to maintain myself there, has become as it were a personal duty; which i will fulfil at the expense of my happiness and my life. i have no choice left: i will maintain my power, or it may go to ruin, and the prussian name be buried under it. if the enemy attempt anything upon us, we will either beat him, or we will all be hewed to pieces, for the sake of our country, and the renown of brandenburg. no other counsel can i listen to.'" same letter, or another? (herr ranke having his caprices!)... "you are a good man, my podewils, and do what can be expected of you" (podewils has been apologizing for his terrors; and referring hopefully "to providence"): "perform faithfully the given work on your side, as i on mine; for the rest, let what you call 'providence' decide as it likes [une providence aveugle? ranke, who alone knows, gives "blinde vorsehung." what an utterance, on the part of this little titan! consider it as exceptional with him, unusual, accidental to the hard moment, and perhaps not so impious as it looks!]--neither our prudence nor our courage shall be liable to blame; but only circumstances that would not favor us.... "i prepare myself for every event. fortune may be kind or be unkind, it shall neither dishearten me nor uplift me. if i am to perish, let it be with honor, and sword in hand. what the issue is to be--well, what pleases heaven, or the other party (j'ai jete le bonnet par dessus les moulins)! adieu, my dear podewils; become as good a philosopher as you are a politician; and learn from a man who does not go to elsner's preaching [fashionable at the time], that one must oppose to ill fortune a brow of iron; and, during this life, renounce all happiness, all acquisitions, possessions and lying shows, none of which will follow us beyond the grave." [ranke, iii. pp. - .] "by what points the austrian-saxon armament will come through upon us? together will it be, or separately? saxons from the lausitz, austrians from bohmen, enclosing us between two fires?"--were enigmatic questions with friedrich; and the saxons especially are an enigma. but that come they will, that these pandours are their preliminary veiling-apparatus as usual, is evident to him; and that he must not spend himself upon pandours; but coalesce, and lie ready for the main wrestle. so that from april th, as above noticed, friedrich has gone into cantonments, some way up the neisse valley, westward of neisse town; and is calling in his outposts, his detachments; emptying his frontier magazines;--abandoning his upper-silesian frontier more and more, and in the end altogether, to the pandour hordes; a small matter they, compared to the grand invasion which is coming on. here, with shiftings up the neisse valley, he lies till the end of may; watching argus-like, and scanning with every faculty the austrian-saxon motions and intentions, until at length they become clear to him, and we shall see how he deals with them. his own lodging, or head-quarter, most of this time ( th may- th may), is in the pleasant abbey of camenz (mythic scene of that baumgarten-skirmish business, in the first silesian war). he has excellent tobias stusche for company in leisure hours; and the outlook of bright spring all round him, flowering into gorgeous summer, as he hurries about on his many occasions, not of an idyllic nature. [orlich, ii. ; ranke, iii. - .] but his army is getting into excellent completeness of number, health, equipment, and altogether such a spirit as he could wish. may d, here is another snatch from some note to podewils, from this balmy locality, potential with such explosions of another kind. camenz, may d.... "the enemies are making movements; but nothing like enough as yet for our guessing their designs. till we see, therefore, the thunder lies quiet in us (la foudre repose en mes mains). ah, could we but have a day like that may eleventh!" [ranke, iii. n.] what "that may eleventh" is or was? readers are curious to know; especially english readers, who guess fontenoy. and historic art, if she were strict, would decline to inform them at any length; for really the thing is no better than a "victory on the scamander, and a siege of pekin" (as a certain observer did afterwards define it), in reference to the matter now on hand! well, pharsalia, arbela, the scamander, armageddon, and so many battles and victories being luminous, by study, to cultivated englishmen, and one's own fontenoy such a mystery and riddle,--art, after consideration, reluctantly consents to be indulgent; will produce from her paper imbroglios a slight piece on the subject, and print instead of burning. chapter viii.--the martial boy and his english versus the laws of nature. "glorious campaign in the netherlands, siege of tournay, final ruin of the dutch barrier!" this is the french program for season ,--no belleisle to contradict it; belleisle secure at windsor, who might have leant more towards german enterprises. and to this his britannic majesty (small gain to him from that adroitness in the harz, last winter!) has to make front. and is strenuously doing so, by all methods; especially by heroic expenditure of money, and ditto exposure of his martial boy. poor old wade, last year,--perhaps wade did suffer, as he alleged, from "want of sufficient authority in that mixed army"? well, here is a prince of the blood, royal highness of cumberland, to command in chief. with a konigseck to dry-nurse him, may not royal highness, luck favoring, do very well? luck did not favor; britannic majesty, neither in the netherlands over seas, nor at home (strange new domestic wool, of a tarry highland nature, being thrown him to card, on the sudden!), made a good campaign, but a bad. and again a bad ( ) and again ( ), ever again, till he pleased to cease altogether. of which distressing objects we propose that the following one glimpse be our last. battle of fontenoy ( th may, ). ... "in the end of april, marechal de saxe, now become very famous for his sieges in the netherlands, opened trenches before tournay; king louis, with his dauphin, not to speak of mistresses, play-actors and cookery apparatus (in wagons innumerable), hastens to be there. a fighting army, say of , , besides the garrisons; and great things, it is expected, will be done; tournay, in spite of strong works and dutch garrison of , , to be taken in the first place. "of the siege, which was difficult and ardent, we will remember nothing, except the mischance that befell a certain 'marquis de talleyrand' and his men, in the trenches, one night. night of the th- th may, by carelessness of somebody, a spark got into the marquis's powder, two powder-barrels that there were; and, with horrible crash, sent eighty men, marquis talleyrand and engineer du mazis among them, aloft into the other world; raining down their limbs into the covered way, where the dutch were very inhuman to them, and provoked us to retaliate. [espagnac, ii. .] du mazis i do not know; but marquis de talleyrand turns out, on study of the french peerages, to be uncle of a lame little boy, who became right reverend tallyrand under singular conditions, and has made the name very current in after-times!-- "hearing of this siege, the duke of cumberland hastened over from england, with intent to raise the same. mustered his 'allied army' (once called 'pragmatic'),--self at the head of it; old count konigseck, who was not burnt at chotusitz, commanding the small austrian quota [austrians mainly are gone laggarding with d'ahremberg up the rhine]; and a prince of waldeck the dutch,--on the plain of anderlecht near brussels, may th; [anonymous, _life of cumberland,_ p. ; espagnac, ii. .] and found all things tolerably complete. upon which, straightway, his royal highness, , strong let us say, set forth; by slowish marches, and a route somewhat leftward of the great tournay road [no place on it, except perhaps steenkerke, ever heard of by an english reader]; and on sunday, th may, [espagnac, ii. .] precisely on the morrow after poor talleyrand had gone aloft, reached certain final villages: vezon, maubray, where he encamps, briffoeil to rear; camp looking towards tournay and the setting sun,--with fontenoy short way ahead, and antoine to left of it, and barry with its woods to right:--small peaceable villages, which become famous in the newspapers shortly after. [patch of map at p. .] royal highness, resting here at vezon, is but some six or seven miles from tournay; in low undulating country, woody here and there, not without threads of running water, and with frequent villages and their adjuncts: the part of it now interesting to us lies all between the brussels-tournay road and the scheld river,--all in immediate front of his royal highness,--to southeastward from beleaguered tournay, where said road and river intersect. how shall he make some impression on the siege of tournay? that is now the question; and his royal highness struggles to manoeuvre accordingly. "marechal de saxe, whose habit is much that of vigilance, forethought, sagacious precaution, singular in so dissolute a man, has neglected nothing on this occasion. he knows every foot of the ground, having sieged here, in his boyhood, once before. leaving the siege-trenches at tournay, under charge of a ten or fifteen thousand, he has taken camp here; still with superior force ( , as they count, royal highness being only , ranked), barring royal highness's way. tournay, or at least the marechal's trenches there, are on the right bank of the scheld; which flows from southeast, securing all on that hand. the broad brussels highway comes in to him from the east;--north of that he has nothing to fear, the ground being cut with bogs; no getting through upon him, that way, to tournay and what he calls the 'under scheld.' the 'upper scheld' too, avail them nothing. there is only that triangle to the southeast, between road and river, where the enemy is now manoeuvring in front of him, from which damage can well come; and he has done his best to be secure there. four villages or hamlets, close to the scheld and onwards to the great road,--antoine, fontenoy, barry, ramecroix, with their lanes and boscages,--make a kind of circular base to his triangle; base of some six or eight miles; with hollows in it, brooks, and northward a considerable wood [bois de barry, enveloping barry and ramecroix, which do not prove of much interest to us, though the bois does of a good deal]. in and before each of those villages are posts and defences; in antoine and fontenoy elaborate redoubts, batteries, redans connecting: in the wood (bois de barry), an abattis, or wall of felled trees, as well as cannon; and at the point of the wood, well within double range of fontenoy, is a redoubt, called of eu (redoute d'eu, from the regiment occupying it), which will much concern his royal highness and us. saxe has a hundred pieces of cannon [say the english, which is correct], consummately disposed along this space; no ingress possible anywhere, except through the cannon's throat; torrents of fire and cross-fire playing on you. he is armed to the teeth, as they say; and has his , arranged according to the best rules of tactics, behind this murderous line of works. if his royal highness think of breaking in, he may count on a very warm reception indeed. "saxe is only afraid his royal highness will not. outside of these lines, with a , dashing fiercely round us, under any kind of leading; pouncing on our convoys; harassing and sieging us,--our siege of toumay were a sad outlook. and this is old austrian konigseck's opinion, too; though, they say, waldeck and the dutch (impetuous in theory at least) opined otherwise, and strengthened royal highness's view. two young men against one old: 'be it so, then!' his royal highness, resolute for getting in, manoeuvres and investigates, all monday th; his cannon is not to arrive completely till night; otherwise he would be for breaking in at once: a fearless young man, fearless as ever his poor father was; certainly a man sans peuy, this one too; whether of much avis, we shall see anon. "tuesday morning early, th may, , cannon being up, and dispositions made, his royal highness sallies out; sees his men taking their ground: dutch and austrians to the left, chiefly opposite antoine; english, with some hanoverians, in the centre and to the right; infantry in front, facing fontenoy, cavalry to rear flanking the wood of barry,--konigseck, ligonier and others able, assisting to plant them advantageously; cannon going, on both sides, the while; radiant enthusiasm, sans peur et sans avis, looking from his royal highness's face. he has been on horseback since two in the morning; cannon started thundering between five and six,--has killed chivalrous grammont over yonder (the grammont of dettingen), almost at the first volley. and now about the time when ploughers breakfast (eight a.m., no ploughing hereabouts to-day!), begins the attack, simultaneously or in swift succession, on the various batteries which it will be necessary to attack and storm. "the attacks took place; but none of them succeeded. dutch and austrians, on the extreme left, were to have stormed antoine by the edge of the river; that was their main task; right skirt of them to help us meanwhile with fontenoy. and they advanced, accordingly; but found the shot from antoine too fierce: especially when a subsidiary battery opened from across the river, and took them in flank, the dutch and austrians felt astonished; and hastily drew aside, under some sheltering mound or earthwork they had found for themselves, or prudently thrown up the night before. there, under their earthwork, stood the dutch and austrians; patiently expecting a fitter time,--which indeed never occurred; for always, the instant they drew out, the batteries from antoine, and from across the river, instantly opened upon them, and they had to draw in again. so that they stood there, in a manner, all day; and so to speak did nothing but patiently expect when it should be time to run. for which they were loudly censured, and deservedly. antoine is and remains a total failure on the part of the dutch and austrians. "royal highness in person, with his english, was to attack fontenoy;--and is doing so, by battery and storm, at various points; with emphasis, though without result. as preliminary, at an early stage he had sent forward on the right, by the wood of barry, a brigadier ingoldsby 'with semple's highlanders' and other force, to silence 'that redoubt yonder at the point of the wood,'--redoubt, fort, or whatever it be (famous redoute d'eu, as it turned out!),--which guards fontenoy to north, and will take us in flank, nay in rear, as we storm the cannon of the village. ingoldsby, speed imperative on him, pushed into the wood; found french light-troops ('god knows how many of them!') prowling about there; found the redoubt a terribly strong thing, with ditch, drawbridge, what not; spent thirty or forty of his highlanders, in some frantic attempt on it by rule of thumb;--and found 'he would need artillery' and other things. in short, ingoldsby, hasten what he might, could not perfect the preparations to his mind, had to wait for this and for that; and did not storm the redoubt d'eu at all; but hung fire, in an unaccountable manner. for which he had to answer (to court-martial, still more to the newspapers) afterwards; and prove that it was misfortune merely, or misfortune and stupidity combined. too evident, the redoute d'eu was not taken, then or thenceforth; which might have proved the saving of the whole affair, could ingoldsby have managed it. royal highness attacked fontenoy, and re-attacked, furiously, thrice over; and had to desist, and find fontenoy impossible on those terms. "here is a piece of work. repulsed at all those points; and on the left and on the right, no spirit visible but what deserves repulse! his royal highness blazes into resplendent platt-deutsch rage, what we may call spiritual white-heat, a man sans peur at any rate, and pretty much sans avis; decides that he must and will be through those lines, if it please god; that he will not be repulsed at his part of the attack, not he for one; but will plunge through, by what gap there is [ yards voltaire measures it (_oeuvres,_ xxviii. (siecle de louis quinze, c. xv. "bataille de fontenoi,"--elaborately exact on all such points).)] between fontenoy and that redoubt with its laggard ingoldsby; and see what the french interior is like! he rallies rapidly, rearranges; forms himself in thin column or columns [three of them, i think,--which gradually got crushed into one, as they advanced, under cannon-shot on both hands),--wheeling his left round, to be rear, his right to be head of said column or columns. in column, the cannon-shot from fontenoy on the left, and redoubt d'eu on our right, will tell less on us; and between these two death-dealing localities, by the hollowest, least shelterless way discoverable, we mean to penetrate: (forward, my men, steady and swift, till we are through the shot-range, and find men to grapple with, instead of case-shot and projectile iron!' marechal de saxe owned afterwards, 'he should have put an additional redoubt in that place, but he did not think any army would try such a thing' (cannon batteries playing on each hand at yards distance);--nor has any army since or before! "these columns advance, however; through bushy hollows, water-courses, through what defiles or hollowest grounds there are; endure the cannon-shot, while they must; trailing their own heavy guns by hand, and occasionally blasting out of them where the ground favors;--and do, with indignant patience, wind themselves through, pretty much beyond direct shot-range of either d'eu or fontenoy. and have actually got into the interior mystery of the french line of battle,--which is not a little astonished to see them there! it is over a kind of blunt ridge, or rising ground, that they are coming: on the crown of this rising ground, the french regiment fronting it (gardes francaises as it chanced to be) notices, with surprise, field-cannon pointed the wrong way; actual british artillery unaccountably showing itself there. regiment of gardes rushes up to seize said field-pieces: but, on the summit, perceives with amazement that it cannot; that a heavy volley of musketry blazes into it (killing sixty men); that it will have to rush back again, and report progress: huge british force, of unknown extent, is readjusting itself into column there, and will be upon us on the instant. here is news! "news true enough. the head of the english column comes to sight, over the rising ground, close by: their officers doff their hats, politely saluting ours, who return the civility: was ever such politeness seen before? it is a fact; and among the memorablest of this battle. nay a certain english officer of mark--lord charles hay the name of him, valued surely in the annals of the hay and tweeddale house--steps forward from the ranks, as if wishing something. towards whom [says the accurate espagnac] marquis d'auteroche, grenadier-lieutenant, with air of polite interrogation, not knowing what he meant, made a step or two: 'monsieur,' said lord charles (lord charles-hay), 'bid your people fire (faites tirer vos gens)!' 'non, monsieur, nous ne tirons jamais les premiers (we never fire first).' [espagnac, ii. (of the original, toulouse, ); ii. of the german translation (leipzig, ), our usual reference. voltaire, endlessly informed upon details this time, is equally express: "milord charles hay, capitaine aux gardes anglaises, cria: 'messieurs des gardes francaises, tirez!' to which count d'auteroche with a loud voice answered" &c. (_oeuvres,_ vol. xxviii. p. .) see also _souvenirs du marquis de valfons_ (edited by a grand-nephew, paris, ), p. ;--a poor, considerably noisy and unclean little book; which proves unexpectedly worth looking at, in regard to some of those poor battles and personages and occurrences: the bohemian belleisle-broglio part, to my regret, if to no other person's, has been omitted, as extinct, or undecipherable by the grand-nephew.] after you, sirs! is not this a bit of modern chivalry? a supreme politeness in that sniffing pococurante kind; probably the highest point (or lowest) it ever went to. which i have often thought of." it is almost pity to disturb an elegant historical passage of this kind, circulating round the world, in some glory, for a century past: but there has a small irrefragable document come to me, which modifies it a good deal, and reduces matters to the business form. lord charles hay, "lieutenant-colonel," practical head, "of the first regiment of foot-guards," wrote, about three weeks after (or dictated in sad spelling, not himself able to write for wounds), a letter to his brother, of which here is an excerpt at first hand, with only the spelling altered:... "it was our regiment that attacked the french guards: and when we came within twenty or thirty paces of them, i advanced before our regiment; drank to them [to the french, from the pocket-pistol one carries on such occasions], and told them that we were the english guards, and hoped that they would stand till we came quite up to them, and not swim the scheld as they did the mayn at dettingen [shameful third-bridge, not of wood, though carpeted with blue cloth there]! upon which i immediately turned about to our own regiment; speeched them, and made them huzza,"--i hope with a will. "an officer [d'auteroche] came out of the ranks, and tried to make his men huzza; however, there were not above three or four in their brigade that did." ["ath, may ye th, o.s." (to john, fourth marquis of tweeddale, last "secretary of state for scotland," and a man of figure in his day): letter is at yester house, east lothian; excerpt penes me.]... very poor counter-huzza. and not the least whisper of that sublime "after you, sirs!" but rather, in confused form, of quite the reverse; hay having been himself fired into ("fire had begun on my left;" hay totally ignorant on which side first),--fired into, rather feebly, and wounded by those d'auteroche people, while he was still advancing with shouldered arms;--upon which, and not till which, he did give it them: in liberal dose; and quite blew them off the ground, for that day. from all which, one has to infer, that the mutual salutation by hat was probably a fact; that, for certain, there was some slight preliminary talk and gesticulation, but in the homeric style, by no means in the espagnac-french,--not chivalrous epigram at all, mere rough banter, and what is called "chaffing;"--and in short, that the french mess-rooms (with their eloquent talent that way) had rounded off the thing into the current epigrammatic redaction; the authentic business-form of it being ruggedly what is now given. let our manuscript proceed. "d'auteroche declining the first fire,"--or accepting it, if ever offered, nobody can say,--"the three guards regiments, lord charles's on the right, give it him hot and heavy, 'tremendous rolling fire;' so that d'auteroche, responding more or less, cannot stand it; but has at once to rustle into discontinuity, he and his, and roll rapidly out of the way. and the british column advances, steadily, terribly, hurling back all opposition from it; deeper and deeper into the interior mysteries of the french host; blasting its way with gunpowder;--in a magnificent manner. a compact column, slowly advancing,--apparently of some , foot. pauses, readjusts itself a little, when not meddled with; when meddled with, has cannon, has rolling fire,--delivers from it, in fact, on both hands such a torrent of deadly continuous fire as was rarely seen before or since. 'feu infernal,' the french call it. the french make vehement resistance. battalions, squadrons, regiment after regiment, charge madly on this terrible column; but rush only on destruction thereby. regiment this storms in from the right, regiment that from the left; have their colonels shot, 'lose the half of their people;' and hastily draw back again, in a wrecked condition. the cavalry-horses cannot stand such smoke and blazing; nor indeed, i think, can the cavaliers. regiment du roi rushing on, full gallop, to charge this column, got one volley from it [says espagnac] which brought to the ground men. natural enough that horses take the bit between their teeth; likewise that men take it, and career very madly in such circumstances! map chap. viii, book , page goes about here-------- "the terrible column with slow inflexibility advances; cannon (now in reversed position) from that redoubt d'eu ('shame on you, ingoldsby!'), and irregular musketry from fontenoy side, playing upon it; defeated regiments making barriers of their dead men and firing there; column always closing its gapped ranks, and girdled with insupportable fire. it ought to have taken fontenoy and redoubt d'eu, say military men; it ought to have done several things! it has now cut the french fairly in two;--and saxe, who is earnestly surveying it a hundred paces ahead, sends word, conjuring the king to retire instantly,--across the scheld, by calonne bridge and the strong rear-guard there,--who, however, will not. king and dauphin, on horseback both, have stood 'at the justice (gallows, in fact) of our lady of the woods,' not stirring much, occasionally shifting to a windmill which is still higher,--ye heavens, with what intrepidity, all day!--'a good many country-folk in trees close behind them.' country-folk, i suppose, have by this time seen enough, and are copiously making off: but the king will not, though things do look dubious. "in fact, the battle hangs now upon a hair; the battle is as good as lost, thinks marechal de saxe. his battle-lines torn in two in that manner, hovering in ragged clouds over the field, what hope is there in the battle? fontenoy is firing blank, this some time; its cannon-balls done. officers, in antoine, are about withdrawing the artillery,--then again (on new order) replacing it awhile. all are looking towards the scheld bridge; earnestly entreating his majesty to withdraw. had the dutch, at this point of time, broken heartily in, as waldeck was urging them to do, upon the redoubts of antoine; or had his royal highness the duke, for his own behoof, possessed due cavalry or artillery to act upon these ragged clouds, which hang broken there, very fit for being swept, were there an artillery-and-horse besom to do it,--in either of these cases the battle was the duke's. and a right fiery victory it would have been; to make his name famous; and confirm the english in their mad method of fighting, like baresarks or janizaries rather than strategic human creatures. [see, in busching's _magazin,_ xvi. ("your illustrious 'column,' at fontenoy? it was fortuitous, i say; done like janizaries;" and so forth), a criticism worth reading by soldiers.] "but neither of these contingencies had befallen. the dutch-austrian wing did evince some wish to get possession of antoine; and drew out a little; but the guns also awoke upon them; whereupon the dutch-austrians drew in again, thinking the time not come. as for the duke, he had taken with him of cannon a good few; but of horse none at all (impossible for horse, unless fontenoy and the redoubt d'eu were ours!)--and his horse have been hanging about, in the wood of barry all this while, uncertain what to do; their old commander being killed withal, and their new a dubitative person, and no orders left. the duke had left no orders; having indeed broken in here, in what we called a spiritual white-heat, without asking himself much what he would do when in: 'beat the french, knock them to powder if i can!'--meanwhile the french clouds are reassembling a little: royal highness too is readjusting himself, now got ' yards ahead of fontenoy,'--pauses there about half an hour, not seeing his way farther. "during which pause, duc de richelieu, famous blackguard man, gallops up to the marechal, gallops rapidly from marechal to king; suggesting, 'were cannon brought ahead of this close deep column, might not they shear it into beautiful destruction; and then a general charge be made?' so counselled richelieu: it is said, the jacobite irishman, count lally of the irish brigade, was prime author of this notion,--a man of tragic notoriety in time coming. ["thomas arthur lally comte de tollendal," patronymically "o'mulally of tullindally" (a place somewhere in connaught, undiscoverable where, not material where): see our dropsical friend (in one of his wheeziest states), _king james's irish army-list_ (dublin, ), pp. - .] whoever was author of it, marechal de saxe adopts it eagerly, king louis eagerly: swift it becomes a fact. universal rally, universal simultaneous charge on both flanks of the terrible column: this it might resist, as it has done these two hours past; but cannon ahead, shearing gaps through it from end to end, this is what no column can resist;--and only perhaps one of friedrich's columns (if even that) with friedrich's eye upon it, could make its half-right-about (quart de conversion), turn its side to it, and manoeuvre out of it, in such circumstances. the wrathful english column, slit into ribbons, can do nothing at manoeuvring; blazes and rages,--more and more clearly in vain; collapses by degrees, rolls into ribbon-coils, and winds itself out of the field. not much chased,--its cavalry now seeing a job, and issuing from the wood of barry to cover the retreat. not much chased;--yet with a loss, they say, in all, of , killed and wounded, and about , prisoners; french loss being under , . "the dutch and austrians had found that the fit time was now come, or taken time by the forelock,--their part of the loss, they said, was a thousand and odd hundreds. the battle ended about two o'clock of the day; had begun about eight. tuesday, th may, : one of the hottest half-day's works i have known. a thing much to be meditated by the english mind.--king louis stept down from the gallows-hill of our lady; and kissed marechal de saxe. saxe was nearly dead of dropsy; could not sit on horseback, except for minutes; was carried about in a wicker bed; has had a lead bullet in his mouth, all day, to mitigate the intolerable thirst. tournay was soon taken; the dutch garrison, though strong, and in a strong place, making no due debate. "royal highness retired upon ath and brussels; hovered about, nothing daunted, he or his: 'dastard fellows, they would not come out into the open ground, and try us fairly!' snort indignantly the gazetteers and enlightened public. [old newspapers.] nothing daunted;--but, as it were, did not do anything farther, this campaign; except lose gand, by negligence versus vigilance, and eat his victuals,--till called home by the rebellion business, in an unexpected manner! fontenoy was the nearest approach he ever made to getting victory in a battle; but a miss too, as they all were. he was nothing like so rash, on subsequent occasions; but had no better luck; and was beaten in all his battles--except the immortal victory of culloden alone. which latter indeed, was it not itself (in the gazetteer mind) a kind of apotheosis, or lifting of a man to the immortal gods,--by endless tar-barrels and beer, for the time being? "old marechal de noailles was in this battle; busy about the redans, and proud to see his saxe do well. chivalrous grammont, too, as we saw, was there,---killed at the first discharge. prince de soubise too (not killed); a certain lord george sackville (hurt slightly,--perhaps had better have been killed!)--and others known to us, or that will be known. army-surgeon la mettrie, of busy brain, expert with his tourniquets and scalpels, but of wildly blusterous heterodox tongue and ways, is thrice-busy in hospital this night,--'english and french all one to you, nay, if anything, the english better!' those are the royal orders:--la mettrie will turn up, in new capacity, still blusterous, at berlin, by and by. "the french made immense explosions of rejoicing over this victory of fontenoy; voltaire (now a man well at court) celebrating it in prose and verse, to an amazing degree ( , copies sold in one day); the whole nation blazing out over it into illuminations, arcs of triumph and universal three-times-three:--in short, i think, nearly the heartiest national huzza, loud, deep, long-drawn, that the nation ever gave in like case. now rather curious to consider, at this distance of time. miraculous anecdotes, true and not true, are many. not to mention again that surprising offer of the first fire to us, what shall we say of the 'two camp-sutlers whom i noticed,' english females of the lowest degree; 'one of whom was busy slitting the gold-lace from a dead officer, when a cannon-ball came whistling, and shore her head away. upon which, without sound uttered, her neighbor snatched the scissors, and deliberately proceeded.' [de hordt, _memoires,_ i. . a french officer's account (translated in _gentleman's magazine,_ ; where, pp. , , , , &c., are many confused details and speculations on this subject).] a deliberate gloomy people;--unconquerable except by french prowess, glory to that same!" britannic majesty is not successful this season; highland rebellions rising on him, and much going awry. he is founding his national debt, poor majesty; nothing else to speak of. his poor army, fighting never so well in foreign quarrels,--and generally itself standing the brunt, with the co-partners looking on till it is time to run (as at roucoux again next season, and at lauffeld next),--can win nothing but hard knocks and losses. and is defined by mankind,--in phraseology which we have heard again since then!--as having "the heart of a lion and the head of an ass." [old pamphlets, soepius.] portentous to contemplate!-- cape breton was besieged this summer, in a creditable manner; and taken. the one real stroke done upon france this year, or indeed (except at sea) throughout the war. "ruin to their fisheries, and a clear loss of , , pounds a year." compared with which all these fine "victories in flanders" are a bottle of moonshine. this was actually a kind of stroke;--and this, one finds, was accomplished, under presidency of a small squadron of king's ships, by ('new-england volunteers," on funds raised by subscription, in the way of joint-stock. a shining colonial feat; said to be very perfectly done, both scrip part of it, and fighting part;) [adelung, v. - (" th june, , after a siege of forty-nine days"): see "gibson, _journal of the siege;"_ "mr. prince (of the south church, boston), thanksgiving sermon (price fourpence);" &c. &c.: in the old newspapers, , , multifarious notices about it, and then about the "repayment" of those excellent "joint-stock" people.]--and might have yielded, what incalculable dividends in the fishery way! but had to be given up again, in exchange for the netherlands, when peace came. alas, your majesty! would it be quite impossible, then, to go direct upon your own sole errand, the jenkins's-ear one, instead of stumbling about among the foreign chimney-pots, far and wide, under nightmares, in this terrible manner?--let us to silesia again. chapter ix.--the austrian-saxon army invades silesia, across the mountains. valori, who is to be of friedrich's campaign this year, came posting off directly in rear of the glorious news of fontenoy; found friedrich at camenz, rather in spirits than otherwise; and lodged pleasantly with abbot tobias and him, till the campaign should begin. two things surprise valori: first, the great strength, impregnable as it were, to which neisse has been brought since he saw it last,--superlative condition of that fortress, and of the army itself, as it gathers daily more and more about frankenstein here:--and then secondly, and contrariwise, the strangely neglected posture of mountainous or upper silesia, given up to pandours. quite submerged, in a manner: margraf karl lies quiet among them at jagerndorf, "eating his magazine;" general hautcharmoi (winterfeld's late chief in that wurben affair), with his small detachment, still hovers about in those ratibor parts, "with the strong towns to fall-back upon," or has in effect fallen back accordingly; and nothing done to coerce the pandours at all. while prince karl and weissenfels are daily coming on, in force , , their intention certain; force, say, about , regular! very singular to valori. "sire, will not you dispute the passes, then?" asks valori, amazed: "not defend your mountain rampart, then?" "mon cher; the mountain rampart is three or four hundred miles long; there are twelve or twenty practicable roads through it. one is kept in darkness, too; endless pandour doggery shutting out your daylight:--ill defending such a rampart," answers friedrich. "but how, then," persists valori; "but--?" "one day the king answered me," says valori, "'mon ami, if you want to get the mouse, don't shut, the trap; leave the trap open (on laisse la souriciere ouverte)!'" which was a beam of light to the inquiring thought of valori, a military man of some intelligence. [see valori, i. , , .] that, in fact, is friedrich's purpose privately formed. he means that the austrians shall consider him cowed into nothing, as he understands they already do; that they shall enter silesia in the notion of chasing him; and shall, if need be, have the pleasure of chasing him,--till perhaps a right moment arrive. for he is full of silent finesse, this young king; soon sees into his man, and can lead him strange dances on occasion. in no man is there a plentifuler vein of cunning, nor of a finer kind. lynx-eyed perspicacity, inexhaustible contrivance, prompt ingenuity,--a man very dangerous to play with at games of skill. and it is cunning regulated always by a noble sense of honor, too; instinctively abhorrent of attorneyism and the swindler element: a cunning, sharp as the vulpine, yet always strictly human, which is rather beautiful to see. this is one of friedrich's marked endowments. intellect sun-clear, wholly practical (need not be specially deep), and entirely loyal to the fact before it; this--if you add rapidity and energy, prompt weight of stroke, such as was seldom met with--will render a man very dangerous to his adversary in the game of war.--here is the last of our pandour adventures for the present:-- "from may th, friedrich had been gathering closer and closer about frankenstein; by the end of the month ( th, as it proved) he intends that all detachments shall be home, and the army take camp there. the most are home; margraf karl, at jagerndorf, has not yet done eating his magazine; but he too must come home. summon the margraf home:--it is not doubted he will cut himself through, he and his , ; but such is the swarm of pandours hovering between him and us, no estafette, or cleverest letter-bearer, can hope to get across to him. ziethen with hussars, he must take the letter; there is no other way. ziethen mounts; fares swiftly forth, towards neustadt, with his letter; lodges in woods; dodges the thick-crowding tolpatcheries (passes himself off for a tolpatchery, say some, and captures hungarian staff-officers who come to give him orders [frau van blumenthal, _life of de ziethen,_ pp. - (extremely romantic; now given up as mythical, for most part): see orlich (ii. ); but also ranke (iii. ), preuss, &c.]); is at length found out, and furiously set upon, 'ziethen, hah!'--but gets to jagerndorf, margraf karl coming out to the rescue, and delivers his letter. 'home, then, all of us to-morrow!' and so, saturday, d may, before we get to neustadt on the way home, there is an authentic passage of arms, done very brilliantly by margraf karl against pandours and others. "to right of us, to left, barring our road, the enemy, , of them, stand ranked on heights, in chosen positions; cannon-batteries, grenadiers, dragoons of gotha and infinite pandours: military jungle bristling far and wide. and you must push it heartily, and likewise cut the tap-root of it (seize its big guns), or it will not roll away. margraf karl shoots forth his steady infantry ('silent till you see the whites of their eyes!'),--his cavalry with new manoeuvres; whose behavior is worthy of ziethen himself:--in brief, the jungle is struck as by a whirlwind, the tap-root of it cut, and rolls simultaneously out of range, leaving only the regiment of gotha, regiment of ogilvy and some regulars, who also get torn to shreds, and utterly ruined. seeing which, the pandour jungle plunges wholly into the woods, uttering horrible cries (en poussant des cris terribles), says friedrich. [ _oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. . more specially berichte von der am mai, bey neustadt in ober-schlesien vorgefallener action (seyfarth, _beylage,_ i. - ).] our new cavalry-manoeuvres deserve praise. margraf karl had the honor to gain his cousin's approbation this day; and to prove himself, says the cousin, (worthy of the grandfather he came from,'--my own great-grandfather; great elector, friedrich-wilhelm; whose style of motion at fehrbellin, or on the ice of the frische haf (soldiers all in sledges, tearing along to be at the swedes), was probably somewhat of this kind."... "some days ago, winterfeld had been pushed out to landshut, with detachment of , , to judge a little for himself which way the austrians were coming, and to scare off certain uhlans (the saxon species of tolpatchery), who were threatening to be mischievous thereabouts. the uhlans, at sound of winterfeld, jingled away at once: but, in a day or two, there came upon him, on the sudden, pandour outburst in quite other force;--and in the very hours while ziethen was struggling into jagerndorf, and still more emphatically next day, while margraf karl was handling his pandours,--colonel winterfeld, a hundred miles to westward lapped among the mountains, chanced to be dealing again with the same article. very busy with it, from o'clock this morning; likely to give a good account of the job. steadily defending landshut and himself, against the grenadier battalions, cannon and furious overplus of pandours ( , or , , it is said, six to one or so in the article of cavalry), which general nadasti, a scientific leader of men or pandours, skilfully and furiously hurls upon landshut and him, in an unexpected manner. colonel winterfeld had need of all his heart and energy, in the intricate ground; against the furious overplus well manoeuvred: but in him too there are manoeuvres; if he fall back here, it is to rush on double strong there; hour after hour he inexpugnably defends himself,--till general stille, friedrich's old tutor, our worthy writing friend, whom we occasionally quote, comes up with help; and nadasti is at once brushed home again, with sore smart of failure, and 'the loss of killed,' among other items. [_bericht von der am mai, bey landshut rorgefallener action, in feldzuge,_ i. - (or in seyfarth, _beylage,_ i. - ); _oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. ; stille, pp. - (who misdates, " d may" for d).] colonel winterfeld was made major-general next day, for this action. colonel winterfeld is cutting out a high course for himself, by his conduct in these employments; solidity, brilliant effectuality, shining through all he does; his valor and value, his rapid just insight, fiery energy and nobleness of mind more and more disclosing themselves,--to one who is a judge of men, and greatly needs for his own use the first-rate quality in that article." friedrich has left the mouse-trap open;--and latterly has been baiting it with a pleasant spicing of toasted cheese. one of his spies, reporting from prince karl's quarters, friedrich has at this time discovered to be a double-spy, reporting thither as well. double-spy, there is an ugly fact;--perhaps not quite convenient to abolish it by hemp and gibbet; perhaps it could be turned to use, as most facts can? "very good, my expert herr von schonfeld [that was the knave's name]; and now of all things, whenever the prince does get across,--instant word to us of that! nothing so important to us. if he should get between us and breslau, for example, what would the consequence be!" to this purport friedrich instructs his double-spy; sends him off, unhanged, to prince karl's camp, to blab this fresh bit of knowledge. "we likewise," says friedrich, "ordered some repairs on the roads leading to breslau;"--last turn of the hand to our bit of toasted fragrancy. and prince karl is actually striding forward, at an eager pace:--and nadasti versus winterfeld, the other day, could winterfeld have guessed it, was the actual vanguard of the march; and will be up again straightway! whereupon winterfeld too is called home; and all eyes are bent on the landshut side. prince karl, under these fine omens, had been urgent on the saxons to be swift; saxons under weissenfels did at last "get their cannon up," and we hear of them for certain, in junction with the austrians, at schatzlar, on the bohemian side of the giant-mountains; climbing with diligence those wizard solitudes and highland wastes. in a word, they roll across into silesia, to landshut ( th may); nothing doubting but friedrich has cowered into what retreats he has, as good as desperate of silesia, and will probably be first heard of in breslau, when they get thither with their sieging guns. no cautious sagacious old feldmarschall traun is in that host at present; nothing but a prince karl, and a poor duke of weissenfels; who are too certain of several things;--very capable of certainty, and also of doubt, the wrong way of the facts. their force is, by strict count, , ; and they march from landshut, detained a little by provender concerns, on the last day of may. [orlich, ii. ; ranke, iii. ; stenzel, iv. .] may th, friedrich had encamped at frankenstein; may th, he sets forth northwestward, to be nearer the new scene; encamps at reichenbach, that night; pushes forward again, next day, for schweidnitz, for striegau (in all, a shift northwest of some forty miles);--and from june st, lies stretched out between schweidnitz and striegau, nine miles long; well hidden in the hollows of the little rivers thereabouts (schweidnitz water, striegau water), with their little knolls and hills; watching prince karl's probable place of egress from the mountain country opposite. his main camp is from schweidnitz to jauernik, some five miles long; but he has his vanguard up as far as striegau, dumoulin and winterfeld as vanguard, in good strength, a little way behind or westward of that town and stream; nassau and his division are screened in the wood called nonnenbusch (nun's bush), and there are outposts sprinkled all about, and vedettes watching from the hill-tops, from the stanowitz foxhill; the zedlitz "cowhill," "winchill:" an army not courting observation, but intent very much to observe. nadasti has appeared again; at freyburg, few miles off, on this side of the mountains; goes out scouting, reconnoitring; but is "fired at from the growing corn," and otherwise hoodwinked by false symptoms, and makes little of that business. friedrich's army we will compute at , . [general-lieutenant freiherr leo von lutzow, _die schlacht von hohenfriedbeg_ (potsdam, ), pp. , .] not quite equal in number to prince karl's; and, in other particulars, willing and longing that prince karl would arrive, and try its quality. friedrich's head-quarter is at jauernik: he goes daily riding hither, thither; to the top of the fuchsberg (foxhill at stanowitz) with eager spy-glass; daily many times looks with his spy-glass to the ragged peaks about bolkenhayn, kauder, rohnstock; expecting the throw of the dice from that part. on thursday, d june: do you notice that cloud of dust rising among the peaks over yonder? dust-cloud mounting higher and higher. there comes the big crisis, then! there are the combined weissenfels and karl with their austrian saxons, issuing proudly from their stone labyrinth; guns, equipments, baggages, all perfectly brought through; rich silesian plain country now fairly at their feet, breslau itself but a few marches off:--at sight of all which, the austrian big host bursts forth into universal field-music, and shakes out its banners to the wind. thursday, d june, ; a dramatic entry of something quite considerable on the stage of history. friedrich, with nassau and generals round, stands upon the fuchsberg,--his remarks not given, his looks or emotions not described to us, his thought well known,--and looks at it through his tubus (or spy-glass): there they are, then, and the big moment is come! friedrich had seen the dust and the manoeuvring of them, deeper in the hills, from this same fuchsberg yesterday, and inferred what was coming; calculated by what roads or hill-tracks they could issue: and how he, in each case, was to deal with them; his march-routes are all settled, plank-bridges repaired, all privately is ready for these proud austrian musical gentlemen, here in the hollow. friedrich has been upon this fuchsberg with his tubus daily, many times since monday last: it is our general observatorium, says stille, and commands a fine view into the interior of these hills. a fuchsberg which has become notable in the prussian maps: "the stanowitz fuchsberg," east side of striegau water,--let no tourist mistake himself; for there are two or even three other fuchsbergs, a mile or so northward on the western side of that stream, which need to be distinguished by epithets, as the striegau fuchsberg, the graben fuchsberg, and perhaps still others: comparable to the four neisse rivers, three besides the one we know, which occur in this piece of country! our german cousins, i have often sorrowed to find, have practically a most poor talent for giving names; and indeed much, for ages back, is lying in a sad state of confusion among them. many confused things, rotting far and wide, in contradiction to the plainest laws of nature; things as well as names! all the welcomer this prussian army, this young friedrich leading it; they, beyond all earthly entities of their epoch, are not in a state of confusion, but of most strict conformity to the laws of arithmetic and facts of nature: perhaps a very blessed phenomenon for germany in the long-run. prince karl with weissenfels, general berlichingen and many plumed dignitaries, are dining on the hill-top near hohenfriedberg: after having given order about everything, they witness there, over their wine, the issue of their columns from the mountains; which goes on all afternoon, with field-music, spread banners; and the oldest general admits he never saw a finer review-manoeuvre, or one better done, if so well. thus sit they on the hill-top (galgenberg, not far from the gallows of the place, says friedrich), in the beautiful june afternoon. silesia lying beautifully azure at their feet; the zobtenberg, enchanted mountain, blue and high on one's eastern horizon; prussians noticeable only in weak hussar parties four or five miles off, which vanish in the hollow grounds again. all intending for breslau, they, it is like;--and here, red wine and the excellent manoeuvre going on. "the austrian-and-saxon army streamed out all afternoon," says a country schoolmaster of those parts, whose day-book has been preserved, [in lutzow, pp. - .] "each regiment or division taking the place appointed it; all afternoon, till late in the night, submerging the country as in a deluge," five miles long of them; taking post at the foot of the hills there, from hohenfriedberg round upon striegau, looking towards the morrow's sunrise. to us poor country-folk not a beautiful sight; their light troops flying ahead, and doing theft and other mischief at a sad rate. on the other hand, the austrian and saxon gentlemen, from their gallows-hill at hohenfriedberg, notice, four or five miles in the distance, opposite them, or a little to the left of opposite, a body of prussian horse and foot, visibly wending northward; like a long glittering serpent, the glitter of their muskets flashing back yonder on the afternoon sun and us, as they mount from hollow to height. ten or twelve thousand of them; making for striegau, to appearance. intending to bivouac or billet there, and keep some kind of watch over us; belike with an eye to being rear-guard, on the retreat towards breslau to-morrow? or will they retreat without attempting mischief? serenity of weissenfels engages to seize the heights and proper posts, over yonder, this night yet; and will take striegau itself, the first thing, to-morrow morning. yes, your serenities, those are prussians in movement: vanguard corps of dumoulin, winterfeld;--rittmeister seydlitz rides yonder:--and it is not their notion to retreat without mischief. for there stands, not so far off, on the stanowitz fuchsberg, a brisk little gentleman, if you could notice him; with his eyes fixed on you, and plans in the head of him now getting nearly mature. for certain, he is pushing out that column of men; and all manner of other columns are getting order to push out, and take their ground; and to-morrow morning--you will not find him in retreat! such are the phenomena in that striegau-hohenfriedberg region, while the sun is bending westward, on thursday, d june, . "from hohenfriedberg, which leans against the higher mountains, there may be, across to striegau northeast, which stands well apart from them, among lower hills of its own, a distance of about five english miles. the intervening country is of flat, though upland nature: the first broad stage, or stair-step, so to speak, leading down into the general interior levels of silesia in those parts. a tract which is now tolerably dried by draining, but was then marshy as well as bushy:--flat to the eye, yet must be imperceptibly convexed a little, for the line of watershed is hereabouts: walk from hohenfriedberg to striegau, the water on your left hand flows, though mainly in ditches or imperceptible oozings, to the north and west,--there to fall into an eastern fork of the roaring neisse [one of our three new neisses, which is a very quiet stream here; runs close by the mountain base, fed by many torrents, and must get its name, wuthende or roaring, from the suddenness of its floods]: into this, bound northward and westward, run or ooze all waters on your left hand, as you go to striegau. right hand, again, or to eastward, you will find all sauntering, or running in visible brooks into striegau water [little river notable to us], which comes circling from the mountains, past hohenfriedberg, farther south; and has got to some force as a stream before it reaches striegau, and turns abruptly eastward;--eastward, to join schweidnitz water, and form with it the second stair-step downwards to the plain country. has its fuchsbergs, kuhbergs and little knolls and heights interspersed, on both sides of it, in the conceivable way. "so that, looking eastward from the heights of hohenfriedberg, our broad stage or stair-step has nothing of the nature of a valley, but rather is a kind of insensibly swelling plain between two valleys, or hollows, of small depth; and slopes both ways. both ways; but more towards the striegau-water valley or hollow; and thence, in a lazily undulating manner, to other hollows and waters farther down. friedrich's camp lies in the next, the schweidnitz-water hollow; and is five, or even nine miles long, from schweidnitz northward;--much hidden from the austrian-saxon gentlemen at present. no hills farther, mere flat country, to eastward of that. but to the north, again, about striegau, the hollow deepens, narrows; and certain hills," much notable at present, "rise to west of striegau, definite peaked hills, with granite quarries in them and basalt blocks atop:--striegau, it appears, is, in old czech dialect, trziza, which means triple hill, the 'town of the three hills.' [lutzow, p. .] an ancient quaint little town, of perhaps , souls: brown-gray, the stones of it venerably weathered; has its wide big market-place, piazza, plain-stones, silent enough except on market-days: nestles itself compactly in the shelter of its three hills, which screen it from the northwest; and has a picturesque appearance, its hills and it, projected against the big mountain range beyond, as you approach it from the plain country. "hohenfriedberg, at the other corner of our battle-stage, on the road to landshut, is a village of no great compass; but sticks pleasantly together, does not straggle in the usual way; climbs steep against its gallows-hill (now called 'siegesberg, victory hill,' with some tower or steeple-monument on it, built by subscription); and would look better, if trimmed a little and habitually well swept. the higher mountain summits, landshut way, or still more if you look southeastward, glatz-ward, rise blue and huge, remote on your right; to left, the roaring neisse range close at hand, is also picturesque, though less alpine in type." [tourist's note ( ).]... and of all hills, the notablest, just now to us, are those "three" at striegau. those three hills of striegau his serenity of weissenfels is to lay hold of, this night, with his extreme left, were it once got deployed and bivouacked. those hills, if he can: but prussian dumoulin is already on march thither; and privately has his eye upon them, on friedrich's part!--for the rest, this upland platform, insensibly sloping two ways, and as yet undrained, is of scraggy boggy nature in many places; much of it damp ground, or sheer morass; better parts of it covered, at this season, with rank june grass, or greener luxuriance of oats and barley. a humble peaceable scene; peaceable till this afternoon; dotted, too, with six or seven poor hamlets, with scraggy woods, where they have their fuel; most sleepy littery ploughman hamlets, sometimes with a schloss or mansion for the owner of the soil (who has absconded in the present crisis of things), their evening smoke rising rather fainter than usual; much cookery is not advisable with uhlans and tolpatchcs flying about. northward between striegau and the higher mountains there is an extensive teichwirthschaft, or "pond-husbandry" (gleaming visible from hohenfriedberg gallows-hill just now); a combination of stagnant pools and carp-ponds, the ground much occupied hereabouts with what they name carp-husbandry. which is all drained away in our time, yet traceable by the studious:--quaggy congeries of sluices and fish-ponds, no road through them except on intricate dams; have scrubby thickets about the border;--this also is very strong ground, if weissenfels thought of defence there. which weissenfels does not, but only of attack. he occupies the ground nevertheless, rearward of this carp-husbandry, as becomes a strategic man; gradually bivouacking all round there, to end on the three hills, were his last regiments got up. the carp-husbandry is mainly about eisdorf hamlet:--in pilgramshayn, where weissenfels once thought of lodging, lives our writing schoolmaster. the mountains lie to westward; flinging longer shadows, as the invasive troops continually deploy, in that beautiful manner; and coil themselves strategically on the ground, a bent rope, cordon, or line (three lines in depth), reaching from the front skirts of hohenfriedberg to the hills at striegau again,--terrible to behold. in front of hohenfriedberg, we say, is the extremity or right wing of the austrian-saxon bivouac, or will be when the process is complete; five miles to northeast, sweeping round upon striegau region, will be their left, where mainly are the saxons,--to nestle upon those three hills of striegau: whitherward however, dumoulin, on friedrich's behalf, is already on march. austrian-saxon bivouac, as is the way in regulated hosts, can at once become austrian-saxon order-of-battle: and then, probably, on the chord of that arc of five miles, the big fight will roll to-morrow; striegau one end of it, hohenfriedbcrg the other. flattish, somewhat elliptic upland, stair-step from the mountains, as we called it; tract considerably cut with ditches, carp-husbandries, and their tufts of wood; line from striegau to hohenfriedberg being axis or main diameter of it, and in general the line of watershed: there, probably, will the tug of war be. friedrich, on his fuchsberg, knows this; the austrian-saxon gentlemen, over their wine on the gallows-hill, do not yet know it, but will know. it was about four in the afternoon, when valori, with a companion, waiting a good while in the king's tent at jauernik, at last saw his majesty return from the fuchsberg observatory. valori and friend have great news: "tournay fallen; siege done, your majesty!" valori's friend is one de latour; who had brought word of fontenoy ("important victory on the scamander," as friedrich indignantly defined it to himself); and was bid wait here till this siege-of-tournay consummation ("as helpful to me as the siege of pekin!") should supervene. they hasten to salute his majesty with the glorious tidings, hmph! thinks friedrich: and we are at death-grips here, little to be helped by your taking pekin! however, he lets wit of nothing. "i make my compliments; mean to fight to-morrow." [valori, i. .] valori, as old soldier and friend, volunteers to be there and assist:--good. friedrich, i presume, at this late hour of four, may bc snatching a morsel of dinner; his orderlies are silently speeding, plans taken, orders given: to start all, at eight in the evening, for the bridge of striegau; there to cross, and spread to the right and to the left. silent, not a word spoken, not a pipe lighted: silently across the striegau water there. a march of three miles for the nearest, who are here at jauernik; of nine miles for the farthest about schweidnitz; at schweidnitz leave all your baggage, safe under the guns there. to the bridge of striegau, diligently, silently march along; bridge of striegau, there cross striegau water, and deploy to right and to left, in the way each of you knows. these are friedrich's orders. late in the dusk, dumoulin and winterfeld, whom we saw silently on march some hours ago, have silently glided past striegau, and got into the three-hill region, which is some furlong or so farther north:--to his surprise, dumoulin finds saxon parties posting themselves thereabouts. he attacks said saxon parties; and after some slight tussle, drives them mostly from their three hills; mostly, not altogether; one saxon hill is precipitous on our hither side of it, and we must leave that till the dawn break. of the other heights dumoulin takes good possession, with cannon too, to be ready against dawn;--and ranks himself out to leftward withal, along the plain ground; for he is to be right wing, had the other troops come up. these are now all under way; astir from jauernik and schweidnitz, silently streaming along; and dumoulin bivouacs here,--very silent he: not so silent the saxons; who are still marching in, over yonder, to westward of dumoulin, their rear-guard groping out its posts as it best can in the dark. elsewhere, miles and miles along the foot of the mountains, austrian-saxon watch-fires flame through the ambrosial night; and it is an impressive sight for dumoulin,--still more for the poor schoolmaster at pilgramshayn and others, less concerned than dumoulin. "it was beautiful," says stille, who was there, "to see how the plain about rohnstock, and all over that way, was ablaze with thousands of watch-fires (tausend und aber tausend); by the light of these, we could clearly perceive the enemy's troops continually defile from the hills the whole night through." [cited in seyfarth, i. .] serenity of weissenfels, after all, does not lodge at pilgramshayn; far in the night, he goes to sleep at rohnstock, a schloss and hamlet on that fork of roaring neisse, by the foot of the mountains; three or four miles off, yet handy enough for picking up striegau the first thing to-morrow. his highness prince karl lies in hausdorf, tolerable quarters, pretty much in the centre of his long bivouac; day's business well done, and bottle (as one's wont rather is) well enjoyed. nadasti has been out scouting; but was pricked into by hussar parties, fired into from the growing corn; and could make out little, but the image of his own ideas. nadasti's ultimate report is, that the prussians are perfectly quiet in their camp; from jauernik to schweidnitz, watch-fires all alight, sentries going their rounds. and so they are, in fact; sentries and watch-fires,--but now nothing else there, a mere shell of a camp; the men of it streaming steadily along, without speech, without tobacco; and many of them are across striegau bridge by this time!-- it was past eleven, so close and continuous went this march, before valori and his latour, with their carriages and furnitures, could find an interval, and get well into it. never will valori forget the discipline of these prussians, and how they marched. difficult ways; the hard road is for their artillery; the men march on each side, sometimes to mid-leg in water,--never mind. wholly in order, wholly silent; valori followed them three leagues close, and there was not one straggler. every private man, much more every officer, knows well what grim errand they are on; and they make no remarks. steady as time; and, except that their shoes are not of felt, silent as he. the austrian watch-fires glow silent manifold to leftward yonder; silent overhead are the stars:--the path of all duty, too, is silent (not about striegau alone) for every well-drilled man. to-morrow;--well, to-morrow? a grimmish feeling against the saxons is understood to be prevalent among these men. bruhl, weissenfels himself, have been reported talking high,--"reduce our king to the size of an elector again," and other foolish things;--indeed, grudges have been accumulating for some time. "kein pardon (no quarter)!" we hear has been a word among the saxons, as they came along; the prussians growl to one another, "very well then, none!" nay friedrich's general order is, "no prisoners, you cavalry, in the heat of fight; cavalry, strike at the faces of them: you infantry, keep your fire till within fifty steps; bayonet withal is to be relied on." these were friedrich's last general orders, given in the hollow of the night, near the foot of that fuchsberg where he had been so busy all day; a widish plain space hereabouts, striegau bridge now near: he had lain snme time in his cloak, waiting till the chief generals, with the heads of their columns, could rendezvous here. he then sprang on horseback; spoke briefly the essential things (one of them the above);--"had meant to be more minute, in regard to positions and the like; but all is so in darkness, embroiled by the flare of the austrian watch-fires, we can make nothing farther of localities at present: striegau for right wing, left wing opposite to hohenfriedberg,--so, and striegau water well to rear of us. be diligent, exact, all faculties awake: your own sense, and the order of battle which you know, must do the rest. forward; steady: can i doubt but you will acquit yourselves like prussian men?" and so they march, across the bridge at striegau, south outskirt of the town,--plank bridge, i am afraid;--and pour themselves, to right and to left, continually the livelong night. to describe the battle which ensued, battle named of striegau or hohenfriedberg, excels the power of human talent,--if human talent had leisure for such employment. it is the huge shock and clash of , against , , placed in the way we said. an enormous furious simaltas (or "both-at-once," as the latins phrase it), spreading over ten square miles. rather say, a wide congeries of electric simultaneities; all electric, playing madly into one another; most loud, most mad: the aspect of which is smoky, thunderous, abstruse; the true sequences of which, who shall unravel? there are five accounts of it, all modestly written, each true-looking from its own place: and a thrice-diligent prussian officer, stationed on the spot in late years, has striven well to harmonize them all. [five accounts: . the prussian official account, in _helden-geschichte,_ i. - . . the saxon, ib. - . . the austrian, ib. - . . stille's (ii. - , of english translation). . friedrich's own, _oeuvres,_ iii. - . lutzow, above cited, is the harmonizer. besides which, two of value, in _feldzuge,_ i. - , - ; not to mention cogniazzo, _confessions of an austrian veeran_ (breslau, - : strictly anonymous at that time, and candid, or almost more, to prussian merit;--still worth reading, here and throughout), ii. - ; &c. &c.] well worth the study of military men;--who might make tours towards this and the other great battle-field, and read such things, were they wise. for us, a feature or two, in the huge general explosion, to assist the reader's fancy in conceiving it a little, is all that can be pretended to. chapter x.--battle of hohenfriedberg. with the first streak of dawn, the dispute renewed itself between those prussians and saxons who are on the heights of striegau. the two armies are in contact here; they lie wide apart as yet at the other end. cannonading rises here, on both sides, in the dim gray of the morning, for the possession of these heights. the saxons are out-cannonaded and dislodged, other saxons start to arms in support: the cry "to arms!" spreads everywhere, rouses weissenfels to horseback; and by sunrise a furious storm of battle has begun, in this part. hot and fierce on both sides; charges of horse, shock after shock, bayonet-charges of foot; the great guns going like jove's thunder, and the continuous tearing storm of small guns, very loud indeed: such a noise, as our poor schoolmaster, who lives on this spot, thinks he will hear only once again, when the last trumpet sounds! it did indeed, he informs us, resemble the dissolution of nature: "for all fell dark too;" a general element of sulphurous powder-smoke, streaked with dull blazes; and death and destruction very nigh. what will become of poor pacific mortals hereabouts? rittmeister seydlitz, winterfeld his patron ride, with knit brows, in these horse-charges; fiery rothenburg too; truchsess von waldburg, at the head of his division,--poor truchsess known in london society, a cannon-ball smites the life out of him, and he ended here. at the first clash of horse and foot, the saxons fancied they rather had it; at the second, their horse became distressed; at the third, they rolled into disorderly heaps. the foot also, stubborn as they were, could not stand that swift firing, followed by the bayonet and the sabre; and were forced to give ground. the morning sun shone into their eyes, too, they say; and there had risen a breath of easterly wind, which hurled the smoke upon them, so that they could not see. decidedly staggering backwards; getting to be taken in flank and ruined, though poor weissenfels does his best. about five in the morning, friedrich came galloping hitherward; valori with him: "mon ami, this is looking well! this will do, won't it?" the saxons are fast sinking in the scale; and did nothing thenceforth but sink ever faster; though they made a stiff defence, fierce exasperation on both sides; and disputed every inch. their position, in these scraggy woods and villages, in these morasses and carp-husbandries, is very strong. it had proved to be farther north, too, than was expected; so that the prussians had to wheel round a little (right wing as a centre, fighting army as radius) before they could come parallel, and get to work: a delicate manoeuvre, which they executed to valori's admiration, here in the storm of battle; tramp, tramp, velocity increasing from your centre outwards, till at the end of the radius, the troops are at treble-quick, fairly running forward, and the line straight all the while. admirable to valori, in the hot whirlwind of battle here. for the great guns go, in horrid salvos, unabated, and the crackling thunder of the small guns; "terrible tussling about those carp-ponds, that quaggy carp-husbandry," says the schoolmaster, "and the heavens blotted out in sulphurous fire-streaked smoke. what had become of us pacific? some had run in time, and they were the wisest; others had squatted, who could find a nook suitable. most of us had gathered into the nursery-garden at the foot of our village; we sat quaking there,--our prayers grown tremulously vocal;--in tears and wail, at least the women part. enemies made reconcilement with each other," says he, "and dear friends took farewell." [his narrative, in lutzow, ubi supra.] one general alleleu; the last day, to all appearance, having come. friedrich, seeing things in this good posture, gallops to the left again, where much urgently requires attention from him. on the austrian side, prince karl, through his morning sleep at hausdorf, had heard the cannonading: "saxons taking striegau!" thinks he; a pleasant lullaby enough; and continues to sleep and dream. agitated messengers rush in, at last; draw his curtains: "prussians all in rank, this side striegau water; saxons beaten, or nearly so, at striegau: we must stand to arms, your highness!"--"to arms, of course," answers karl; and hurries now, what he can, to get everything in motion. the bivouac itself had been in order of battle; but naturally there is much to adjust, to put in trim; and the austrians are not distinguished for celerity of movement. all the worse for them just now. on friedrich's side, so far as i can gather, there have happened two cross accidents. first, by that wheeling movement, done to valori's admiration in the striegau quarter, the prussian line has hitched itself up towards striegau, has got curved inward, and covers less ground than was counted on; so that there is like to be some gap in the central part of;--as in fact there was, in spite of friedrich's efforts, and hitchings of battalions and squadrons: an indisputable gap, though it turned to rich profit for friedrich; prince karl paying no attention to it. upon such indisputable gap a wakeful enemy might have done friedrich some perilous freak; but karl was in his bed, as we say;--in a terrible flurry, too, when out of bed. nothing was done upon the gap; and friedrich had his unexpected profit by it before long. the second accident is almost worse. striegau bridge (of planks, as i feared), creaking under such a heavy stream of feet and wheels all night, did at last break, in some degree, and needed to be mended; so that the rearward regiments, who are to form friedrich's left wing, are in painful retard;--and are becoming frightfully necessary, the austrians as yet far outflanking us, capable of taking us in flank with that right wing of theirs! the moment was agitating to a general-in-chief: valori will own this young king's bearing was perfect; not the least flurry, though under such a strain. he has aides-de-camp, dashing out every-whither with orders, with expedients; prince henri, his younger brother: galloping the fastest; nay, at last, he begs valori himself to gallop, with orders to a certain general gessler, in whose brigade are dragoons. which valori does,--happily without effect on gessler; who knows no valori for an aide-de-camp, and keeps the ground appointed him; rearward of that gap we talked of. happily the austrian right wing is in no haste to charge. happily ziethen, blocked by that incumbrance of the bridge mending, "finds a ford higher up," the assiduous ziethen; splashes across, other regiments following; forms in line well leftward; and instead of waiting for the austrian charge, charges home upon them, fiercely through the difficult grounds, no danger of the austrians outflanking us now; they are themselves likely to get hard measure on their flank. by the ford and by the bridge, all regiments, some of them at treble-quick, get to their posts still in time. accident second has passed without damage. forward, then; rapid, steady; and reserve your fire till within fifty paces!--prinoe ferdinand of brunswick (friedrich's brother-in-law, a bright-eyed steady young man, of great heart for fight) tramps forth with his division:--steady!--all manner of divisions tramp forth; and the hot storm, ziethen and cavalry dashing upon that right wing of theirs, kindles here also far and wide. the austrian cavalry on this wing and elsewhere, it is clear, were ill off. "we could not charge the prussian left wing, say they, partly because of the morasses that lay between us; and partly [which is remarkable] because they rushed across and charged us." [austrian report, _helden-geschichte,_ i. .] prince karl is sorry to report such things of his cavalry; but their behavior was bad and not good. the first shock threw them wavering; the second,--nothing would persuade them to dash forth and meet it. high officers commanded, obtested, drew out pistols, prince karl himself shot a fugitive or two,--it was to no purpose; they wavered worse at every new shock; and at length a shock came (sixth it was, as the reporter counts) which shook them all into the wind. decidedly shy of the prussians with their new manoeuvres, and terrible way of coming on, as if sure of beating. in the saxon quarter, certain austrian regiments of horse would not charge at all; merely kept firing from their carbines, and when the time came ran. as for the saxons, they have been beaten these two hours; that is to say, hopeless these two hours, and getting beaten worse and worse. the saxons cannot stand, but neither generally will they run; they dispute every ditch, morass and tuft of wood, especially every village. wrecks of the muddy desperate business last, hour after hour. "i gave my men a little rest under the garden walls," says one saxon gentleman, "or they would have died, in the heat and thirst and extreme fatigue: i would have given gulden [ pounds sterling] for a glass of water." [ _helden-geschichte,_ ubi supra.] the prussians push them on, bayonet in back; inexorable, not to be resisted; slit off whole battalions of them (prisoners now, and quarter given); take all their guns, or all that are not sunk in the quagmires;--in fine, drive them, part into the mountains direct, part by circuit thither, down upon the rear of the austrian fight: through hausdorf, seifersdorf and other mountain gorges, where we hear no more of them, and shall say no more of them. a sore stroke for poor old weissenfels; the last public one he has to take, in this world, for the poor man died before long. nobody's blame, he says; every saxon man did well; only some austrian horse-regiments, that we had among us, were too shy. adieu to poor old weissenfels. luck of war, what else,--thereby is he in this pass. and now new prussian force, its saxons being well abolished, is pressing down upon prince karl's naked left flank. yes;--prince karl too will have to go. his cavalry is, for most part, shaken into ragged clouds; infantry, steady enough men, cannot stand everything. "i have observed," says friedrich, "if you step sharply up to an austrian battalion [within fifty paces or so], and pour in your fire well, in about a quarter of an hour you see the ranks beginning to shake, and jumble towards indistinctness;" [_military instructions._ ] a very hopeful symptom to you! it was at this moment that lieutenant-general gessler, under whom is the dragoon regiment baireuth, who had kept his place in spite of valori's message, determined on a thing,--advised to it by general schmettau (younger schmettau), who was near. gessler, as we saw, stood in the rear line, behind that gap (most likely one of several gaps, or wide spaces, left too wide, as we explained); gessler, noticing the jumbly condition of those austrian battalions, heaped now one upon another in this part,--motions to the prussian infantry to make what farther room is needful; then dashes through, in two columns (self and the dragoon-colonel heading the one, french chasot, who is lieutenant-colonel, heading the other), sabre in hand, with extraordinary impetus and fire, into the belly of these jumbly austrians; and slashes them to rags, "twenty battalions of them," in an altogether unexampled manner. takes "several thousand prisoners," and such a haul of standards, kettle-drums and insignia of honor, as was never got before at one charge. sixty-seven standards by the tale, for the regiment (by most all-gracious permission) wears, ever after, " " upon its cartridge-box, and is allowed to beat the grenadier march; [orlich, ii. ( n., n., slightly wrong); _militair-lexikon,_ ii. , iv. , . see preuss, i. ; _oeuvres de frederic;_ &c. &c.]--how many kettle-drums memory does not say. prince karl beats retreat, about in the morning; is through hohenfriedberg about (cannon covering there, and nadasti as rear-guard): back into the mountains; a thoroughly well-beaten man. towards bolkenhayn, the saxons and he; their heavy artillery and baggage had been left safe there. not much pursued, and gradually rearranging himself; with thoughts,--no want of thoughts! came pouring down, triumphantly invasive, yesterday; returns, on these terms, in about fifteen hours. not marching with displayed banners and field-music, this time; this is a far other march. the mouse-trap had been left open, and we rashly went in!--prince karl's loss, including that of the saxons (which is almost equal, though their number in the field was but half), is , dead and wounded, , prisoners, cannon, flags and standards; the prussian is about , dead and wounded. [in orlich (ii. ) all the details.] friedrich, at sight of valori, embraces his gros valori; says, with a pious emotion in voice and look, "my friend, god has helped me wonderfully this day!" actually there was a kind of devout feeling visible in him, thinks valori: "a singular mixture, this prince, of good qualities and of bad; i never know which preponderates." [valori, soepius.] as is the way with fat valoris, when they come into such company. friedrich is blamed by some military men, and perhaps himself thought it questionable, that he did not pursue prince karl more sharply. he says his troops could not; they were worn out with the night's marching and the day's fighting. he himself may well be worn out. i suppose, for the last four-and-twenty hours he, of all the contemporary sons of adam, has probably been the busiest. let us rest this day; rest till to-morrow morning, and be thankful. "so decisive a defeat," writes he to his mother (hastily, misdating " th" june for th), "has not been since blenheim" [letter in _oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvi. .] (which is tolerably true); and "i have made the princes sign their names," to give the good mother assurance of her children in these perils of war. seldom has such a deliverance come to a man. chapter xi.--camp of chlum: friedrich cannot achieve peace. friedrich marched, on the morrow, likewise to bolkenhayn; which the enemy have just left; our hussars hanging on their rear, and bickering with nadasti. then again on the morrow, sunday,--"twelve hours of continuous rain," writes valori; but there is no down-pour, or distress, or disturbance that will shake these men from their ranks, writes valori. and so it goes on, march after march, the austrians ahead, dumoulin and our hussars infesting their rear, which skilfully defended itself: through landshut down into bohemia; where are new successive marches, the prussian quarterstaff stuck into the back of defeated austria, "home with you; farther home!"--and shogging it on,--without pause, for about a fortnight to come. and then only with temporary pause; that is to say, with intricate manoeuvrings of a month long, which shove it to konigsgratz, its ultimatum, beyond which there is no getting it. the stages and successive campings, to be found punctually in the old books and new, can interest only military readers. here is a small theological thing at landshut, from first hand:-- june th, . "the army followed dumoulin's corps, and marched upon landshut. on arriving in that neighborhood, the king was surrounded by a troop of , peasants,"--of protestant persuasion very evidently! (which is much the prevailing thereabouts),--"who begged permission of him 'to massacre the catholics of these parts, and clear the country of them altogether.' this animosity arose from the persecutions which the protestants had suffered during the austrian domination, when their churches used to be taken from them and given to the popish priests,"--churches and almost their children, such was the anxiety to make them orthodox. the patience of these peasants had run over; and now, in the hour of hope, they proposed the above sweeping measure. "the king was very far from granting them so barbarous a permission. he told them, 'they ought rather to conform to the scripture precept, to bless those that cursed them, and pray for those that despitefully used them; such was the way to gain the kingdom of heaven.' the peasants," rolling dubious eyes for a moment, "answered, his majesty was right; and desisted from their cruel pretension." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ ii. .]...--"on hohenfriedberg day," says another witness, "as far as the sound of the cannon was heard, all round, the protestants fell on their knees, praying for victory to the prussians;" [in ranke, iii. .] and at breslau that evening, when the "thirteen trumpeting postilions" came tearing in with the news, what an enthusiasm without limit! prince karl has skill in choosing camps and positions: his austrians are much cowed; that is the grievous loss in his late fight. so, from june th, when they quit silesia,--by two roads to go more readily,--all through that month and the next, friedrich spread to the due width, duly pricking into the rear of them, drives the beaten hosts onward and onward. they do not think of fighting; their one thought is to get into positions where they can have living conveyed to them, and cannot be attacked; for the former of which objects, the farther homewards they go, it is the better. the main pursuit, as i gather, goes leftward from landshut, by friedland,--the silesian friedland, once wallenstein's. through rough wild country, the southern slope of the giant mountains, goes that slow pursuit, or the main stream of it, where friedrich in person is; intricate savage regions, cut by precipitous rocks and soaking quagmires, shaggy with woods: watershed between the upper elbe and middle oder; glatz on our left,--with the rain of its mountains gathering to a neisse river, eastward, which we know; and on their west or hither side, to a mietau, adler, aupa and other many-branched feeders of the elbe. most complex military ground, the manoeuvrings on it endless,--which must be left to the reader's fancy here. about the end of june, karl and his austrians find a place suitable to their objects: konigsgratz, a compact little town, in the nook between the elbe and adler; covered to west and to south by these two streams; strong enough to east withal; and sure and convenient to the southern roads and victual. against which friedrich's manoeuvres avail nothing; so that he at last ( th july) crosses elbe river; takes, he likewise, an inexpugnable camp on the opposite shore, at a village called chlum; and lies there, making a mutual dead-lock of it, for six weeks or more. of the prior camps, with their abundance of strategic shufflings, wheelings, pushings, all issuing in this of chlum, we say nothing: none of them,--except the immediately preceding one, called of nahorzan, called also of drewitz (for it was in parts a shifting entity, and flung the limbs of it about, strategically clutching at konigsgratz),--had any permanency: let us take chlum (the longest, and essentially the last in those parts) as the general summary of them, and alone rememberable by us. ["camp of gross-parzitz [across the mietau, to dislodge prince karl from his shelter behind that stream], june th:" "camp of nahorzan, june th [and abstruse manoeuvrings, of a month, for konigsgratz]: th july," cross elbe for chlum; and lie, yourself also inexpugnable, there. see _oeuvres de frederic,_ (iii. et seq.); especially see orlich (ii. pp. , , , &c. &c.),--with an amplitude of inorganic details, sufficient to astonish the robustest memory!] friedrich's purposes, at chlum or previously, are not towards conquests in bohemia, nor of fighting farther, if he can help it. but, in the mean while, he is eating out these bohemian vicinages; no invasion of silesia possible from that quarter soon again. that is one benefit: and he hopes always his enemies, under screw of military pressure with the one hand, and offer of the olive-branch with the other, will be induced to grant him peace. britannic majesty, after fontenoy and hohenfriedberg, not to mention the first rumors of a jacobite rebellion, with france to rear of it, is getting eager to have friedrich settled with, and withdrawn from the game again;--the rather, as friedrich, knowing his man, has ceased latterly to urge him on the subject. peace with george the purseholder, does not that mean peace with all the others? friedrich knows the high queen's indignation; but he little guesses, at this time, the humor of bruhl and the polish majesty. he has never yet sent the old dessauer in upon them; always only keeps him on the slip, at magdeburg; still hoping actualities may not be needed. he hopes too, in spite of her indignation, the hungarian majesty, with an election on hand, with the netherlands at such a pass, not to speak of italy and the middle rhine, will come to moderate views again. on which latter points, his reckoning was far from correct! within three months, britannic majesty and he did get to explicit agreement (convention of hanover, th august): but in regard to the polish majesty and the hungarian there proved to be no such result attainable, and quite other methods necessary first! "of military transactions in this camp of chlum, or in all these bohemian-silesian camps, for near four months, there is nothing, or as good as nothing: chlum has no events; chlum vigilantly guards itself; and expects, as the really decisive to it, events that will happen far away. we are to conceive this military business as a dead-lock; attended with hussar skirmishes; attacks, defences, of outposts, of provision-wagons from moravia or silesia:--friedrich has his food from silesia chiefly, by several routes, 'convoys come once in the five days.' his horse-provender he forages; with tolpatches watching him, and continual scufflings of fight: 'for hay and glory,' writes one prussian officer, 'i assure you we fight well!' endless enterprising, manoeuvring, counter-manoeuvring there at first was; and still is, if either party stir: but here, in their mutually fixed camps, tacit mutual observances establish themselves; and amid the rigorous armed vigilantes, there are traits of human neighborship. as usual in such cases. the guard-parties do not fire on one another, within certain limits: a signal that there are dead to bury, or the like, is strictly respected. on one such occasion it was (june th, camp-of-nahorzan time) that prince ferdinand of brunswick--prince ferdinand, with a young brother albert volunteering and learning his business here, who are both prussian--had a snatch of interview with a third much-loved brother, ludwig, who is in the austrian service. a prussian officer, venturing beyond the limits, had been shot; ferdinand's message, 'grant us burial of him!' found, by chance, brother ludwig in command of that austrian outpost; who answers: 'surely;--and beg that i may embrace my brothers!' and they rode out, those three, to the space intermediate; talked there for half an hour, till the burial was done. [mauvillon, _geschichte ferdinands von braunschweig-luneburg,_ i. .] fancy such an interview between the poor young fellows, the soul of honor each, and tied in that manner! "trenck of the life-guard was not quite the soul of honor. it was in the nahorzan time too that trenck, who had, in spite of express order to the contrary, been writing to his cousin the indigo pandour, was put under arrest when found out. 'wrote merely about horses: purchase of horses, so help me god!' protests the blusterous life-guardsman, loud as lungs will,--whether with truth in them, nobody can say. 'arrest for breaking orders!' answers friedrich, doubting or disbelieving the horses; and loud trenck is packed over the hills to glatz; to governor fouquet, or substitute;--where, by not submitting and repenting, by resisting and rebelling, and ever again doing it, he makes out for himself, with fouquet and his other governors, what kind of life we know! 'gardez e'troitement ce drole-la, il a voulu devenir pandour aupres de son oncle (keep a tight hold of this fine fellow; he wanted to become pandour beside his uncle)!' writes friedrich:--'uncle' instead of 'cousin,' all one to friedrich. this he writes with his own hand, on the margin: th june, ; the inexorable records fix that date. [rodenbeck. iii. . copy of the warrant, once penes me.] which i should not mention, except for another inexorable date ( th september), that is coming; and the perceptible slight comfort there will be in fixing down a loud-blustering, extensively fabulous blockhead, still fit for the nurseries, to one undeniable premeditated lie, and tar-marking him therewith, for benefit of more serious readers." as shall be done, were the th of september come! here is still something,--if it be not rather nothing, by a great hand! date uncertain; camp-of-chlum time, pretty far on:... "there are continual foragings, on both sides; with parties mutually dashing out to hinder the same. the prussians have a detached post at smirzitz; which is much harassed by hungarians lurking about, shooting our sentry and the like. an inventive head contrives this expedient. stuff a prussian uniform with straw; fix it up, by aid of ropes and check-strings, to stand with musket shouldered, and even to glide about to right and left, on judicious pulling. so it is done: straw man is made; set upon his ropes, when the tolpatches approach; and pensively saunters to and fro,--his living comrades crouching in the bushes near by. tolpatches fire on the walking straw sentry; straw sentry falls flat; tolpatches rush in, esurient, triumphant; are exploded in a sharp blast of musketry from the bushes all round, every wounded man made prisoner;--and come no more back to that post." friedrich himself records this little fact: "slight pleasantry to relieve the reader's mind," says he, in narrating it. [_oeuvres,_ iii. .]--enough of those small matters, while so many large are waiting. june th, a month before chlum, general nassau had been detached, with some or , , across glatz country, into upper silesia, to sweep that clear again. hautcharmoi, quitting the frontier towns, has joined, raising him to , ; and nassau is giving excellent account of the multitudinous pandour doggeries there; and will retake kosel, and have upper silesia swept before very long. [kosel, "september th:" excellent, lucid and even entertaining account of nassau's expedition, in the form of diary (a model, of its kind), in _feldzuge,_ iv. , , .] on the other hand, the election matter (kaiserwahl, a most important point) is obviously in threatening, or even in desperate state! that famed middle-rhine army has gone to the--what shall we say? july th- th, middle-rhine country. "the first election-news that reaches friedrich is from the middle-rhine country, and of very bad complexion. readers remember traun, and his bathyanis, and his intentions upon conti there. in the end of may, old traun, things being all completed in bavaria, had got on march with his bavarian army, say , , to look into prince conti down in those parts; a fact very interesting to the prince. traun held leftward, westward, as if for the neckar valley,--'perhaps intending to be through upon elsass, in those southern undefended portions of the rhine?' conti, and his segur, and middle-rhine army stood diligently on their guard; got their forces, defences, apparatuses, hurried southward, from frankfurt quarter where they lay on watch, into those neckar regions. which seen to be done, traun whirled rapidly to rightward, to northward; crossed the mayn at wertheim, wholly leaving the neckar and its conti; having weighty business quite in the other direction,--on the north side of the mayn, namely; on the kinzig river, where bathyani (who has taken d'ahremberg's command below frankfurt, and means to bestir himself in another than the d'ahremberg fashion) is to meet him on a set day. traun having thus, by strategic suction, pulled the middle-rhine army out of his and bathyani's way, hopes they two will manage a junction on the kinzig; after junction they will be a little stronger than conti, though decidedly weaker taken one by one. traun, in the long june days, had such a march, through the spessart forest (mayn river to his left, with our old friends dettingen, aschaffenburg, far down in the plain), as was hardly ever known before: pathless wildernesses, rocky steeps and chasms; the sweltering june sun sending down the upper snows upon him in the form of muddy slush; so that 'the infantry had to wade haunch-deep in many of the hollow parts, and nearly all the cavalry lost its horse-shoes.' a strenuous march; and a well-schemed. for at the kinzig river (conti still far off in the neckar country), bathyani punctually appeared, on the opposite shore; and traun and he took camp together; july th, at langen-selbord (few miles north of hanau, which we know);--and rest there; calculating that conti is now a manageable quantity;--and comfortably wait till the grand-duke arrives. [adelung, iv. ; v. .] for this is, theoretically, his army; grand-duke franz being the commander's cloak, this season; as karl was last,--a right lucky cloak he, while traun lurked under him, not so lucky since! july th, franz arrived; and traun, under franz, instantly went into conti (now again in those frankfurt parts); clutched at conti, briareus-like, in a multiform alarming manner: so that conti lost head; took to mere retreating, rushing about, burning bridges;--and in fine, july th, had flung himself bodily across the rhine (clouds of tolpatches sticking to him), and left old traun and his grand-duke supreme lord in those parts. who did not invade elsass, as was now expected; but lay at heidelberg, intending to play pacifically a surer card. all french are out of teutschland again; and the game given up. in what a premature and shameful manner! thinks friedrich. "nominally it was the grand-duke that flung conti over the rhine; and delivered teutschland from its plagues. after which fine feat, salvatory to the cause of liberty, and destructive to french influence, what is to prevent his election to the kaisership? friedrich complains aloud: 'conti has given it up; you drafted , from him (for imaginary uses in the netherlands),--you have given it up, then! was that our bargain?' 'we have given it up,' answers d'argenson the war-minister, writing to valori; 'but,'--and supplies, instead of performance according to the laws of fact, eloquent logic; very superfluous to friedrich and the said laws!--valori, and the french minister at dresden, had again been trying to stir up the polish majesty to stand for kaiser; but of course that enterprise, eager as the polish majesty might be for such a dignity, had now to collapse, and become totally hopeless. a new offer of friedrich's to co-operate had been refused by bruhl, with a brevity, a decisiveness--'thinks me finished (aux abois),' says friedrich; 'and not worth giving terms to, on surrendering!' the foolish little creature; insolent in the wrong quarter!" [ _oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. .] 'the german burden, then,--which surely was mutual, at lowest, and lately was french altogether,--the french have thrown it off; the french have dropped their end of the bearing-poles (so to speak), and left friedrich by himself, to stand or stagger, under the beweltered broken harness-gear and intolerable weight! that is one's payment for cutting the rope from their neck last year!--long since, while the present campaign was being prepared for, under such financial pressures, friedrich had bethought him, "the french might, at least give me money, if they can nothing else?"--and he had one day penned a letter with that object; but had thrown it into his desk again, "no; not till the very last extremity, that!" friedrich did at last despatch the unpleasant missive: "service done you in elsass, let us say little of it; but the repayment has been zero hitherto: your bavarian expenses (poor kaiser gone, and peace of fussen come!) are now ended:--a round sum, say of , pounds, is becoming indispensable here, if we are to keep on our feet at all!" herr ranke, who has seen the most christian king's response (though in a capricious way), finds "three or four successive redactions" of the difficult passage; all painfully meaning, "impossible, alas!"--painfully adding, "we will try, however!" and, after due cunctations, friedrich waiting silent the while,--louis, most christian king, who had failed in so many things towards friedrich, does empower valori to offer him a subsidy of , livres a month, till we see farther. twenty thousand pounds a month; he hopes this will suffice, being himself run terribly low. friedrich's feeling is to be guessed: "such a dole might answer to a landgraf of hessen-darmstadt; but to me is not in the least suitable;"--and flatly refuses it; fierement, says valori. [ranke, iii. , n. (not the least of date allowed us in either case); valori. i. .] mon gros valori, who could not himself help all this, poor soul, "falls now into complete disgrace;" waits daily upon friedrich at the giving out of the parole, "but frequently his majesty does not speak to me at all." hardly looks at me, or only looks as if i had suddenly become zero incarnate. it is now in these days, i suppose, that friedrich writes about the "scamander battle" (of fontenoy), and "capture of pekin," by way of helping one to fight the austrians according to treaty. and has a touch of bitter sarcasm in uttering his complaints against, such treatment,--the heart of him, i suppose, bitter enough. most christian king has felt this of the scamander, friedrich perceives; louis's next letter testifies pique;--and of course we are farther from help, on that side, than ever. "from the stande of the kur-mark [brandenburg] friedrich was offered a considerable subsidy instead; and joyfully accepted the same, 'as a loan:'"--paid it punctually back, too; and never, all his days, forgot it of those stande. [stenzel, iv. ; ranke, &c.] camp of dieskau: britannic majesty makes peace, for himself, with friedrich; but cannot for austria or saxony. about the middle of august, there are certain saxon phenomena which awaken dread expectation in the world. friedrich, watching, argus-like, near and far, in his chlum observatory, has noticed that prince karl is getting reinforced in konigsgratz; , lately, , more coming;--and contrariwise that the saxons seem to be straggling off from him; ebbing away, corps after corps,--towards saxony, can it be? there are whispers of "bavarian auxiliaries" being hired for them, too. and little bruhl's late insolence; bruhl's evident belief that "we are finished (aux abois)"? putting all this together, friedrich judges--with an indignation very natural--that there is again some insidious saxon mischief, most likely an attack on brandenburg, in the wind. friedrich orders the old dessauer, "march into them, delay no longer!" and publishes a clangorously indignant manifesto (evidently his own writing, and coming from the heart): [in adelung, v. - (no date; "middle of august," say the books).] "how they have, not bound by their austrian treaty, wantonly invaded our silesia; have, since and before, in spite of our forbearance, done so many things:--and, in fact, have finally exhausted our patience; and are forcing us to seek redress and safety by the natural methods," which they will see how they like!-- old leopold advances straightway, as bidden, direct for the saxon frontier. to whom friedrich shoots off detachments,--prince dietrich, with so many thousands, to reinforce papa; then general gessler with so many,--till papa is , odd; and could eat saxony at a mouthful; nothing whatever being yet ready there on bruhl's part, though he has such immense things in the wind!--nevertheless friedrich again paused; did not yet strike. the saxon question has russian bug-bears, no end of complications. his britannic majesty, now at hanover, and his prudent harrington with him, are in the act of laboring, with all earnestness, for a general agreement with friedrich. without farther bitterness, embroilment and bloodshed: how much preferable for friedrich! old dessauer, therefore, pauses: "camp of dieskau," which we have often heard of, close on the saxon border; stands there, looking over, as with sword drawn, , good swords,--but no stroke, not for almost three months more. in three months, wretched bruhl had not repented; but, on the contrary, had completed his preparations, and gone to work;--and the stroke did fall, as will be seen. that is bruhl's posture in the matter. [ranke, iii. , .] to britannic george, for a good while past, it has been manifest that the pragmatic sanction, in its original form, is an extinct object; that reconquest of silesia, and such like, is melancholy moonshine; and that, in fact, towards fighting the french with effect, it is highly necessary to make peace with friedrich of prussia again. this once more is george's and his harrington's fixed view. friedrich's own wishes are known, or used to be, ever since the late kaiser's death,--though latterly he has fallen silent, and even avoids the topic when offered (knowing his man)! herrington has to apply formally to friedrich's minister at hanover. "very well, if they are in earnest this time," so friedrich instructs his minister: "my terms are known to you; no change admissible in the terms;--do not speak with me on it farther: and, observe, within four weeks, the thing finished, or else broken off!" [ranke, iii. - .] and in this sense they are laboring incessantly, with austria, with saxony,--without the least success;--and excellency robinson has again a panting uncomfortable time. here is a scene robinson transacts at vienna, which gives us a curious face-to-face glimpse of her hungarian majesty, while friedrich is in his camp at chlum. schonbrunn, d august, , robinson has audience of her hungarian majesty. robinson, in a copious sonorous speech (rather apt to be copious, and to fall into the parliamentary canto-fermo), sets forth how extremely ill we allies are faring on the french hand; nothing done upon silesia either; a hopeless matter that,--is it not, your majesty? and your majesty's forces all lying there, in mere dead-lock; and we in such need of them! "peace with prussia is indispensable."--to which her majesty listened, in statuesque silence mostly; "never saw her so reserved before, my lord."... robinson.... "'madam, the dutch will be obliged to accept neutrality' [and plump down again, after such hoisting]! queen. "'well, and if they did, they? it would be easier to accommodate with france itself, and so finish the whole matter, than with prussia." my army could not get to the netherlands this season. no general of mine would undertake conducting it at this day of the year. peace with prussia, what good could it do at present?' robinson. "'england has already found, for subsidies, this year, , , pounds. cannot go on at that rate. peace with prussia is one of the returns the english nation expects for all it has done.' queen. "'i must have silesia again: without silesia the kaiserhood were an empty title. "or would you have us administer it under the guardiancy of prussia!"'... robinson. "'in bohemia itself things don't look well; nothing done on friedrich: your saxons seem to be qnarrelling with you, and going home.' queen. "'prince karl is himself capable of fighting the prussians again. till that, do not speak to me of peace! grant me only till october!' robinson. "'prussia will help the grand-duke to kaisership.' queen. "'the grand-duke is not so ambitions of an empty honor as to engage in it under the tutelage of prussia. consider farther: the imperial dignity, is it compatible with the fatal deprivation of silesia? "one other battle, i say! good god, give me only till the month of october!"' robinson. "'a battle, madam, if won, won't reconquer silesia; if lost, your majesty is ruined at home.' queen. "'dusse'je conclure avec lui le lendemain, je lui livrerais bataille ce soir (had i to agree with him to-morrow, i would try him in a battle this evening)!'" [robinson's despatch, th august, . ranke, iii. ; raumer, pp. , .] her majesty is not to be hindered; deaf to robinson, to her britannic george who pays the money. "cruel man, is that what you call keeping the pragmatic sanction; dismembering me of province after province, now in germany, then in italy, on pretext of necessity? has not england money, then? does not england love the cause of liberty? give me till october!" her majesty did take till october, and later, as we shall see; poor george not able to hinder, by power of the purse or otherwise: who can hinder high females, or low, when they get into their humors? much of this austrian obstinacy, think impartial persons, was of female nature. we shall see what profit her majesty made by taking till october. as for george, the time being run, and her majesty and saxony unpersuadable, he determined to accept friedrich's terms himself, in hope of gradually bringing the others to do it. august th, at hanover, there is signed a convention of hanover between friedrich and him: "peace on the old breslau-berlin terms,--precisely the same terms, but britannic majesty to have them guaranteed by all the powers, on the general peace coming,--so that there be no snake-procedure henceforth." silesia friedrich's without fail, dear hanover unmolested even by a thought of friedrich's;--and her hungarian majesty to be invited, nay urged by every feasible method, to accede. [adelung, v. ; is "in rousset, xix. ;" in &c. &c.] which done, britannic majesty--for there has hung itself out, in the scotch highlands, the other day ("glenfinlas, august th"), a certain standard "tandem triumphans," and unpleasant things are imminent!--hurries home at his best pace, and has his hands full there, for some time. on austria, on saxony, he could not prevail: "by no manner of means!" answered they; and went their own road,--jingling his britannic subsidies in their pocket; regardless of the once supreme jove, who is sunk now to a very different figure on the german boards. friedrich's outlook is very bad: such a war to go on, and not even finance to do it with. his intimates, his rothenburg one time, have "found him sunk in gloomy thought." but he wears a bright face usually. no wavering or doubting in him, his mind made up; which is a great help that way. friedrich indicates, and has indicated everywhere, for many months, that peace, precisely on the old footing, is all he wants: "the kaiser being dead, whom i took up arms to defend, what farther object is there?" says he. "renounce silesia, more honestly than last time; engage to have it guaranteed by everybody at the general peace (or perhaps hohenfriedberg will help to guarantee it),--and i march home!" my money is running down, privately thinks he; guarantee silesia, and i shall be glad to go. if not, i must raise money somehow; melt the big silver balustrades at berlin, borrow from the stande, or do something; and, in fact, must stand here, unless silesia is guaranteed, and struggle till i die. that latter withal is still privately friedrich's thought. under his light air, he carries unspoken that grimly clear determination, at all times, now and henceforth; and it is an immense help to the guidance of him. an indispensable, indeed. no king or man, attempting anything considerable in this world, need expect to achieve it except, tacitly, on those same terms, "i will achieve it or die!" for the world, in spite of rumors to the contrary, is always much of a bedlam to the sanity (so far as he may have any) of every individual man. a strict place, moreover; its very bedlamisms flowing by law, as do alike the sudden mud-deluges, and the steady atlantic tides, and all things whatsoever: a world inexorable, truly, as gravitation itself;--and it will behoove you to front it in a similar humor, as the tacit basis for whatever wise plans you lay. in friedrich, from the first entrance of him on the stage of things, we have had to recognize this prime quality, in a fine tacit form, to a complete degree; and till his last exit, we shall never find it wanting. tacit enough, unconscious almost, not given to articulate itself at all;--and if there be less of piety than we could wish in the silence of it, there is at least no play-actor mendacity, or cant of devoutness, to poison the high worth of it. no braver little figure stands on the earth at that epoch. ready, at the due season, with his mind silently made up;--able to answer diplomatic robinsons, bartensteins and the very destinies when they apply. if you will withdraw your snakish notions, will guarantee silesia, will give him back his old treaty of berlin in an irrefragable shape, he will march home; if not, he will never march home, but be carried thither dead rather. that is his intention, if the gods permit. grand-duke franz is elected kaiser ( th september, ); friedrich, the season and forage being done, makes for silesia. there occurred at frankfurt--the clear majority, seven of the nine electors, bavaria itself (nay bohemia this time, "distaff" or not), and all the others but friedrich and kur-pfalz, being so disposed or so disposable, traun being master of the ground--no difficulty about electing grand-duke franz stephan of tuscany? joint-king of bohemia, to be kaiser of the holy romish reich. friedrich's envoy protested;--as did kur-pfalz's, with still more vehemence, and then withdrew to hanau: the other seven voted september th : and it was done. a new kaiser, franz stephan, or franz i.,--with our blessing on him, if that can avail much. but i fear it cannot. upon such mendacious empty-case of kaiserhood, without even money to feed itself, not to speak of governing, of defending and coercing; upon such entities the blessings of man avail little; the gods, having warned them to go, do not bless them for staying!--however, tar-barrels burn, the fountains play (wine in some of them, i hope); franz is to be crowned in a fortnight hence, with extraordinary magnificence. at this last part of it maria theresa will, in her own high person, attend; and proceeds accordingly towards frankfurt, in the end of september (say the old books), so soon as the election is over. hungarian majesty's bearing was not popular there, according to friedrich,--who always admires her after a sort, and always speaks of her like a king and gentleman:--but the high lady, it is intimated, felt somewhat too well that she was high. not sorry to have it known, under the due veils, that her kaiser-husband is but of a mimetic nature; that it is she who has the real power; and that indeed she is in a victorious posture at present. very high in her carriage towards the princes of the reich, and their privileges:--poor kur-pfalz's notary, or herald, coming to protest (i think, it was the second time) about something, she quite disregarded his tabards, pasteboards, or whatever they were, and clapt him in prison. the thing was commented upon; but kur-pfalz got no redress. need we repeat,--lazy readers having so often met him, and forgotten him again,--this is a new younger kur-pfalz: karl theodor, this one; not friedrich wilhelm's old friend, but his successor, of the sulzbach line; of whom, after thirty years or so, we may again hear. he can complain about his violated tabard; will get his notary out of jail again, but no redress. highish even towards her friends, this "empress-queen" (kaiserin-konigin, such her new title), and has a kind of "thank-you-for-nothing" air towards them. prussian majesty, she said, had unquestionable talents; but, oh, what a character! too much levity, she said, by far; heterodox too, in the extreme; a boser mann;--and what a neighbor has he been! as to silesia, she was heard to say, she would as soon part with her petticoat as part with it. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. , .]--so that there is not the least prospect of peace here? "none," answer friedrich's emissaries, whom he had empowered to hint the thing. which is heavy news to friedrich. early in august, not long after that audience of robinson's, her majesty, after repeated written messages to prince karl, urging him to go into fight again or attempt something, had sent two high messengers: prince lobkowitz, duke d'ahremberg, high dignitaries from court, have come to konigsgratz with the latest urgencies, the newest ideas; and would fain help prince karl to attempt something. daily they used to come out upon a little height, in view of friedrich's tent, and gaze in upon him, and round all nature, "with big tubes," he says, "as if they had been astronomers;" but never attempted anything. we remember d'ahremberg, and what part he has played, from the dettingen times and onward. "a debauched old fellow," says friedrich; "gone all to hebetude by his labors in that line; agrees always with the last speaker." prince karl seems to have little stomach himself; and does not see his way into (or across) another battle. lobkowitz, again, is always saying: "try something! we are now stronger than they, by their detachings, by our reinforcings" (indeed, about twice their number, regular and irregular), though most of the saxons are gone home. after much gazing through their tubes, the austrians (august d) do make a small shift of place, insignificant otherwise; the prussians, next day, do the like, in consequence; quit chlum, burning their huts; post themselves a little farther up the elbe,--their left at a place called jaromirz, embouchure of the aupa into elbe, [ _oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. .]--and are again unattackable. the worst fact is the multitude of pandours, more and more infesting our provision-roads; and that horse-forage itself is, at last, running low. detachments lie all duly round to right and left, to secure our communications with silesia, especially to left, out of glatz, where runs one of the chief roads we have. but the service is becoming daily more difficult. for example:-- "neustadt, th september. in that left-hand quarter, coming out of glatz at a little bohemian town called neustadt, the prussian commander, tauenzien by name, was repeatedly assaulted; and from september th, had to stand actual siege, gallantly repulsing a full , with their big artillery, though his walls were all breached, for about a week, till friedrich sent him relief. prince lobkowitz, our old anti-belleisle friend, who is always of forward fiery humor, had set them on this enterprise; which has turned out fruitless. the king is much satisfied with tauenzien; [ib. .] of whom we shall hear again. who indeed becomes notable to us, were it only for getting one lessing as secretary, by and by: gotthold ephraim lessing, whose fame has since gone into all countries; the man having been appointed a 'secretary' to the very destinies, in some sort; that is to say, a writer of books which have turned out to have truth in them! tauenzien, a grimmish aquiline kind of man, of no superfluous words, has distinguished himself for the present by defending neustadt, which the austrians fully counted to get hold of." let us give another little scene; preparatory to quitting this country, as it is evident the king and we will soon have to do; country being quite eaten out, pandours getting ever rifer, and the season done:-- jaromirz, "early in september," . "jaromirz is a little bohemian town on the aupa, or between the aupa and metau branches of the upper elbe; four or five miles north of semonitz, where friedrich's quarter now is. valori, so seldom spoken to, is lodged in a suburb there: 'had not you better go into the town itself?' his majesty did once say; but valori, dreading nothing, lodged on,--'landlord a burgher whom i thought respectable.' respectable, yes he; but his son had been dealing with franquini the pandour, and had sold valori,--night appointed, measures all taken; a miracle if valori escape. franquini, chief of , pandours, has come in person to superintend this important capture; and lies hidden, with a strong party, in the woods to rearward. prussians about , scattered in posts, occupy the hedges in front, for guard of the ovens; to rear, jaromirz being wholly ours, there is no suspicion. "in the dead of the night, franquini emerges from the woods; sends forward a party of sixty, under the young judas; who, by methods suitable, gets them stealthily conducted into papa's barn, which looks across a courtyard into valori's very windows. from the barn it is easy, on paws of velvet, to get into the house, if you have a judas to open it. which you have:--bolts all drawn for you, and even beams ready for barricading if you be meddled with. 'upstairs is his excellency asleep; excellency's room is--to right, do you remember; or to left'--'pshaw, we shall find it!' the pandours mount; find a bedroom, break it open,--some fifteen or sixteen of them, and one who knows a little french;--come crowding forward: to the horror and terror of the poor inhabitant.' 'que voulez-vous donc?' 'his excellency valori!' 'well, no violence; i am your prisoner: let me dress!' answers the supposed excellency,--and contrives to secrete portfolios, and tear or make away with papers. and is marched off, under a select guard, who leave the rest to do the pillage. and was not valori at all; was valori's secretary, one d'arget, who had called himself valori on this dangerous occasion! valori sat quaking behind his partition; not till the pandours began plundering the stables did the prussian sentry catch sound of them, and plunge in." friedrich had his amusement out of this adventure; liked d'arget, the clever secretary; got d'arget to himself before long, as will be seen;--and, in quieter times, dashed off a considerable explosion of rhyme, called le palladion (valori as prussia's "palladium," with devils attempting to steal him, and the like), which was once thought an exquisite burlesque,--kings coveting a sight of it, in vain,--but is now wearisome enough to every reader. [valori, i. ; _oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. : for the fact. exquisite burlesque, palladion itself, is in _oeuvres,_ xi. - (see ib. ): a bad copy of that very bad original, jeanne d'arc,--the only thing now good in it, friedrich's polite yet positive refusal to gratify king louis and his pompdour with a sight of it (see ib. preface, x-xiv, friedrich's letter to louis; date of request and of refusal, march, ).]--let us attend his majesty's exit from bohemia. chapter xii.--battle of sohr. the famed beautiful elbe river rises in romantic chasms, terrible to the picturesque beholder, at the roots of the riesengebirge; overlooked by the hohe-kamms, and highest summits of that chain. "out of eleven wells," says gentle dulness, "eilf or elf quellen, whence its name, elbe for elf." sure enough, it starts out of various wells; [description, in zollner, _briefe uber schlesien,_ ii. ; in &c. &c.] rushes out, like a great peacock's or pasha's tail, from the roots of the giant mountains thereabouts; and hurries southward,--or even rather eastward, at first; for (except the iser to westward, which does not fall in for a great while) its chief branches come from the eastern side: aupa, metau, adler, the drainings of glatz, and of that rugged country where friedrich has been camping and manoeuvring all summer. on the whole, its course is southward for the first seventy or eighty miles, washing jaromirz, konigshof, konigsgratz, down to pardubitz: at pardubitz it turns abruptly westward, and holds on so, bending even northward, by hill and plain, through the rest of its five or six hundred miles. its first considerable branch, on that eastern or left bank, is the aupa, which rises in the pass of schatzlar (great struggling there, for convoys, just now); goes next by trautenau, which has lately been burnt; and joins the elbe at jaromirz, where valori was stolen, or nearly so, from under the prussian left wing. the aupa runs nearly straight south; the elbe, till meeting it, has run rather southeast; but after joining they go south together, augmented by the metau, by the adler, down to pardubitz, where the final turn to west occurs. jaromirz, which lies in the very angle of elbe and aupa, is the left wing of friedrich's camp; main body of the camp lies on the other side of the elbe, but of course has bridges (as at smirzitz, where that straw sentry did his pranks lately); bridges are indispensable, part of our provision coming always by that bohemian neustadt, from the northeast quarter out of silesia; though the main course of our meal (and much fighting for it) is direct from the north, by the pass of schatzlar,--"chaslard," as poor valori calls it. thus friedrich lay, when valori escaped being stolen; when tauenzien was assailed by the , pandours with siege artillery, and stood inexpugnable in the breach till friedrich relieved him. those pandours "had cut away his water, for the last two days;" so that, except for speedy relief, all valor had been in vain. water being gone, not recoverable without difficulties, neustadt was abandoned (september th, as i guess);--one of our main silesian roads for meal has ceased. we have now only schatzlar to depend on; where franquini--lying westward among the glens of the upper elbe, and possessed of abundant talent in the tolpatch way (witness valori's narrow miss lately)--gives us trouble enough. friedrich determines to move towards schatzlar. homewards, in fact; eating the country well as he goes. saturday, th september, friedrich crosses the elbe at jaromirz. entirely unopposed; the austrians were all busy firing feu-de-joie for the election of their grand-duke: election done five days ago at frankfurt, and the news just come. so they crackle about, and deliver rolling fire, at a great rate; proud to be "imperial army" henceforth, as if that could do much for them. there was also vast dining, for three days, among the high heads, and a great deal of wine spent. that probably would have been the chance to undertake something upon them, better than crossing the elbe, says friedrich looking back. but he did not think of it in time; took second-best in place of best. he is now, therefore, over into that triangular piece of country between elbe and aupa (if readers will consult their map); in that triangle, his subsequent notable operations all lie. he here proposes to move northward, by degrees,--through trautenau, schatzlar, and home; well eating this bit of country too, the last uneaten bit, as he goes. this well eaten, there will be no harbor anywhere for invasion, through the winter coming. one of my old notes says of it, in the topographic point of view:-- "it is a triangular patch of country, which has lain asleep since the creation of the world; traversed only by boii (boi-heim-ers, bohemians), czechs and other such populations, in human history; but which friedrich has been fated to make rather notable to the moderns henceforth. let me recommend it to the picturesque tourist, especially to the military one. lovers of rocky precipices, quagmires, brawling torrents and the unadulterated ruggedness of nature, will find scope there; and it was the scene of a distinguished passage of arms, with notable display of human dexterity and swift presence of mind. for the rest, one of the wildest, and perhaps (except to the picturesque tourist) most unpleasant regions in the world. wild stony upland; topmost upland, we may say, of europe in general, or portion of such upland; for the rainstorms hereabouts run several roads,--into the german ocean and atlantic by the elbe, into the baltic by the oder, into the black sea by the donau;--and it is the waste outfield whither you rise, by long weeks-journeys, from many sides. "much of it, towards the angle of elbe and aupa, is occupied by a huge waste wood, called 'kingdom forest' (konigreich sylva or wald, peculium of old czech majesties, i fancy); may be sixty square miles in area, the longer side of which lies along the elbe. a country of rocky defiles; lowish hills chaotically shoved together, not wanting their brooks and quagmires, straight labyrinthic passages; shaggy with wild wood. some poor hamlets here and there, probably the sleepiest in nature, are scattered about; there may be patches ploughable for rye [modern tourist says snappishly, there are many such; whole region now drained; reminded me of yorkshire highlands, with the western sun gilding it, that fine afternoon!]--ploughable for rye, buckwheat; boggy grass to be gathered in summer; charcoaling to do; pigs at least are presumable, among these straggling outposts of humanity in their obscure hamlets: poor ploughing, moiling creatures, they little thought of becoming notable so soon! none of the books (all intent on mere soldiering) take the least notice of them; not at the pains to spell their hamlets right: no more notice than if they also had been stocks and moss-grown stones. nevertheless, there they did evidently live, for thousands of years past, in a dim manner;--and are much terrified to have become the seat of war, all on a sudden. their poor hamlets, sohr, staudentz, prausnitz, burgersdorf and others still send up a faint smoke; and have in them, languidly, the live-coal of mysterious human existence, in those woods,--to judge by the last maps that have come out. a thing worth considering by the passing tourist, military or other." it is in this kingdom forest (which he calls royaume de silva, instead of sylva de royaume) that friedrich now marches; keeping the body of the forest well on his left, and skirting the southern and eastern sides of it. rough marching for his majesty; painfully infested by nadastian tolpatches; who run out on him from ambushes, and need to be scourged; one ambush in particular, at a place called liebenthal (second day's march, and near the end of it),--where our prussian hussars, winding like fiery dragons on the dangerous precipices, gave them better than they brought, and completely quenched their appetite for that day. after liebenthal, the march soon ends; three miles farther on, at the dim wold-hamlet of staudentz: here a camp is pitched; here, till the country is well eaten out, or till something else occur, we propose to tarry for a time. horse-forage abounds here; but there is no getting of it without disturbance from those dogs; you must fight for every truss of grass: if a meal-train is coming, as there does every five days, you have to detach , foot and , horse to help it safe in. a fretting fatiguing time for regular troops. our bakery is at trautenau,--where valori is now lodging. the tolpatchery, unable to take trautenau, set fire to it, though it is their own town, their own queen's town; thatchy trautenau, wooden too in the upper stories of it, takes greedily to the fire; goes all aloft in flame, and then lies black. a scandalous transaction, thinks friedrich. the prussian corn lay nearly all in cellars; little got, even of the prussians, by such an atrocity: and your own poor fellow-subjects, where are they? valori was burnt out here; again exploded from his quarters, poor man;--seems to have thought it a mere fire in his own lodging, and that he was an unfortunate diplomatist. happily he got notice (privatissime, for no officer dare whisper in such cases) that there is an armed party setting out for silesia, to guard meal that is coming: valori yokes himself to this armed party, and gets safe over the hills with it,--then swift, by extra post, to breslau and to civilized (partially civilized) accommodation, for a little rest after these hustlings and tossings. friedrich had lain at staudentz, in this manner, bickering continually for his forage, and eating the country, for about ten days: and now, as the latter process is well on, and the season drawing to a close: he determines on a shift northward. thursday, th september next, let there be one other grand forage, the final one in this eaten tract, then northward to fresh grounds. that, it appears, was the design. but, on wednesday, there came in an austrian deserter; who informs us that prince karl is not now in konigsgratz, but in motion up the elbe; already some fifty miles up; past jaromirz: his rear at konigshof, his van at arnau,--on a level with burnt trautenau, and farther north than we ourselves are. this is important news. "intending to block us out from schatzlar? hmh!" single scouts, or small parties, cannot live in this kingdom wood, swarming with pandours: friedrich sends out a colonel katzler, with light horse, to investigate a little. katzler pushes forward, on such lane or forest road-track as there is, towards konigshof; beats back small hussar parties;--comes, in about an hour's space, not upon hussars merely, but upon dense masses of heavy horse winding through the forest lanes; and, with that imperfect intelligence, is obliged to return. the deserter spake truth, apparently; and that is all we can know. forage scheme is given up; the order is, "baggage packed, and march to-morrow morning at ten." long before ten, there had great things befallen on the morrow!--try to understand this note a little:-- "the camp of staudentz-which two persons (the king, and general stille, a more careful reporter, who also was an eye-witness) have done their best to describe--will, after all efforts, and an ordnance map to help, remain considerably unintelligible to the reader; as is too usual in such cases. a block of high-lying ground; friedrich's camp on it, perhaps two miles long, looks to the south; small village of staudentz in front; hollow beyond that, and second small village, deutsch prausnitz, hanging on the opposite slope, with shaggy heights beyond, and the kingdom forest there beginning: on the left, defiles, brooks and strait country, leading towards the small town of eypel: that is our left and front aspect, a hollow well isolating us on those sides. hollow continues all along the front; hollow definite on our side of it, and forming a tolerable defence:--though again, i perceive, to rightward at no great distance, there rise high grounds which considerably overhang us." a thing to be marked! "these we could not occupy, for want of men; but only maintain vedettes upon them. over these heights, a mile or two westward of this hollow of ours, runs the big winding hollow called georgengrund (george's bottom), which winds up and down in that kingdom forest, and offers a road from konigshof to trautenau, among other courses it takes. "from the crown of those heights on our right flank here, looking to the west, you might discern (perhaps three miles off, from one of the sheltering nooks in the hither side of that georgengrund), rising faintly visible over knolls and dingles, the smoke of a little forest village. that village is sohr; notable ever since, beyond others, in the kingdom wood. sohr, like the other villages, has its lane-roads; its road to trautenau, to konigshof, no doubt; but much nearer you, on our eastern slope of the heights, and far hitherward of sohr, which is on the western, goes the great road [what is now the great road], from konigshof to trautenau, well visible from friedrich's camp, though still at some distance from it. could these heights between us and sohr, which lie beyond the great road, be occupied, we were well secured; isolated on the right too, as on the other sides, from kingdom forest and its ambushes. 'should have been done,' admits friedrich; 'but then, as it is, there are not troops enough:' with , men you cannot do everything!" here, however, is the important point. in sohr, this night, th september, in a most private manner, the austrians, , of them and more, have come gliding through the woods, without even their pipe lit, and with thick veil of hussars ahead! outposts of theirs lie squatted in the bushes behind deutsch prausnitz, hardly yards from friedrich's camp. and eastward, leftward of him, in the defiles about eypel, lie nadasti and ruffian trenck, with ten or twelve thousand, who are to take him in rear. his "camp of staudentz" will be at a fine pass to-morrow morning. the austrian gentlemen had found, last week, a certain bare height in the forest (height still known), from which they could use their astronomer tubes day after day; [orlich, ii. .] and now they are about attempting something! thursday morning, very early, th september, , friedrich was in his tent, busy with generals and march-routes,--when a rapid orderly comes in, from that vedette, or strong piquet, on the heights to our right: "austrians visibly moving, in quantity, near by!" and before he has done answering, the officer himself arrives: "regular cavalry in great force; long dust-cloud in kingdom forest, in the gray dawn; and, so far as we can judge, it is their army coming on." here is news for a poor man, in the raw of a september morning, by way of breakfast to him! "to arms!" is, of course, friedrich's instant order; and he himself gallops to the piquet on the heights, glass in hand. "austrian army sure enough, thirty to thirty-five thousand of them, we only eighteen. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. .] coming to take us on the right flank here; to attack our camp by surprise: will crush us northward through the defiles, and trample us down in detail? hmh! to run for it, will never do. we must fight for it, and even attack them, as our way is, though on such terms. quick, a plan!" the head of friedrich is a bank you cannot easily break by coming on it for plans: such a creature for impromptu plans, and unexpected dashes swift as the panther's, i have hardly known,--especially when you squeeze him into a corner, and fancy he is over with it! friedrich gallops down, with his plan clear enough; and already the austrians, horse and foot, are deploying upon those heights he has quitted; fifty squadrons of horse for left wing to them, and a battery of twenty-eight big guns is establishing itself where friedrich's piquet lately stood. friedrich's right flank has to become his front, and face those formidable austrian heights and batteries; and this with more than prussian velocity, and under the play of those twenty-eight big guns, throwing case-shot (grenades royales) and so forth, all the while. to valori, when he heard of the thing, it is inconceivable how mortal troops could accomplish such a movement; friedrich himself praises it, as a thing honorably well done. took about half an hour; case-shot raining all the while; soldier honorably never-minding: no flurry, though a speed like that of spinning-tops. and here we at length are, staudentz now to rear of us, behind our centre a good space; burgersdorf in front of us to right, our left reaching to prausnitz: austrian lines, three deep of them, on the opposite height; we one line only, which matches them in length. they, that left wing of horse, should have thundered down on us, attacking us, not waiting our attack, thinks friedrich; but they have not done it. they stand on their height there, will perhaps fire carbines, as their wont is. "you, buddenbrock, go into them with your cuirassiers!" buddenbrock and the cuirassiers, though it is uphill, go into them at a furious rate; meet no countercharge, mere sputter of carbines;--tumble them to mad wreck, back upon their second line, back upon their third: absurdly crowded there on their narrow height, no room to manoeuvre; so that they plunge, fifty squadrons of them, wholly into the georgengrund rearward, into the kingdom wood, and never come on again at all. buddenbrock has done his job right well. seeing which, our infantry of the right wing, which stood next to buddenbrock, made impetuous charge uphill, emulous to capture that battery of twenty-eight; but found it, for some time, a terrible attempt. these heights are not to be called "hills," still less "mountains" (as in some careless books); but it is a stiff climb at double-quick, with twenty-eight big guns playing in the face of you. storms of case-shot shear away this infantry, are quenching its noble fury in despair; infantry visibly recoiling, when our sole three regiments of reserve hurry up to support. round these all rallies; rushes desperately on, and takes the battery,--of course, sending the austrian left wing rapidly adrift, on loss of the same. this, i consider, is the crisis of the fight; the back of the austrian enterprise is already broken, by this sad winging of it on the left. but it resists still; comes down again,--the reserve of their left wing seen rapidly making for burgersdorf, intending an attack there; which we oppose with vigor, setting burgersdorf on fire for temporary screen; and drive the austrian reserve rapidly to rearward again. but there is rally after rally of them. they rank again on every new height, and dispute there; loath to be driven into kingdom wood, after such a flourish of arms. one height, "bushy steep height," the light-limbed valiant prince, little ferdinand of brunswick, had the charge of attacking; and he did it with his usual impetus and irresistibility:--and, strangely enough, the defender of it chanced to be that brother of his, prince ludwig, with whom he had the little interview lately. prince ludwig got a wound, as well as lost his height. the third brother, poor prince albrecht, who is also here, as volunteer apprentice, on the prussian side, gets killed. there will never be another interview, for all three, between the camps! strange times for those poor princes, who have to seek soldiering for their existence. meanwhile the cavalry of buddenbrock, that is to say of the right wing, having now no work in that quarter, is despatched to reinforce the left wing, which has stood hitherto apart on its own ground; not attacked or attacking,--a left wing refused, as the soldiers style it. reinforced by buddenbrock, this left wing of horse does now also storm forward;--"near the village of prausnitz" (prausnitz a little way to rear of it), thereabouts, is the scene of its feat. feat done in such fashion that the austrians opposite will not stand the charge at all; but gurgle about in a chaotic manner; then gallop fairly into kingdom wood, without stroke struck; and disappear, as their fellows had done. whereupon the prussian horse breaks in upon the adjoining infantry of that flank (austrian right flank, left bare in this manner); champs it also into chaotic whirlpools; cuts away an outskirt of near , prisoners, and sets the rest running. this seems to have been pretty much the coup-de-grace of the fight; and to have brought the austrian dispute to finis. from the first, they had rallied on the heights; had struggled and disputed. two general rallies they made, and various partial, but none had any success. they were driven on, bayonet in back, as the phrase is: with this sad slap on their right, added to that old one on their left, what can they now do but ebb rapidly; pour in cataracts into kingdom wood, and disappear there? [ _oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. - ; stille, pp. - ; orlich, ii. - ; _feldzuge,_ i. , , .] prince karl's scheme was good, says friedrich; but it was ill executed. he never should have let us form; his first grand fault was that he waited to be attacked, instead of attacking. parts of his scheme were never executed at all. duke d'ahremberg, for instance, it is said, had so dim a notion of the ground, that he drew up some miles off, with his back to the prussians. such is the rumor,--perhaps only a rumor, in mockery of the hebetated old gentleman fallen unlucky? on the other hand, that nadasti made a failure which proved important, is indubitable. nadasti, with some thousands of tolpatchery, was at liebenthal, four miles to southeast of the action; ruffian trenck lay behind eypel, perhaps as far to east, of it: trenck and nadasti were to rendezvous, to unite, and attack the prussian camp on its rear,--"camp," so ran the order, for it was understood the prussians would all be there, we others attacking it in front and both flanks;--which turned out otherwise, not for nadasti alone! nadasti came to his rendezvous in time; ruffian trenck did not: nadasti grew tired of waiting for trenck, and attacked the camp by himself:--camp, but not any men; camp being now empty, and the men all fighting, ranked at right angles to it, furlongs and miles away. nadasti made a rare hand of the camp; plundered everything, took all the king's camp-furniture, ready money, favorite dog biche,--likewise poor eichel his secretary, who, however, tore the papers first. tolpatchery exultingly gutted the camp; and at last set fire to it,--burnt even some eight or ten poor prussian sick, and also "some women whom they caught. we found the limbs of these poor men and women lying about," reports old general lehwald; who knew about it. a doggery well worthy of the gallows, think lehwald and i. "could n't help it; ferocity of wild men," says nadasti. "well; but why not attack, then, with your ferocity?" confused court-martial put these questions, at vienna subsequently; and ruffian trenck, some say, got injustice, nadasti shuffling things upon him; for which one cares almost nothing. lehwald, lying at trautenau, had heard the firing at sunrise; and instantly marched to help: he only arrived to give nadasti a slash or two, and was too late for the fight. one schlichtling, on guard with a weak party, saved what was in the right wing of the camp,--small thanks to him, the main fight being so near: friedrich's opinion is, an officer, in schlichtling's place, ought to have done more, and not have been so helpless. this was the battle of sohr; so called because the austrians had begun there, and the prussians ended there. the prussian pursuit drew bridle at that village; unsafe to prosecute austrians farther, now in the deeps of kingdom forest. the battle has lasted five hours. it must be now getting towards noon; and time for breakfast, if indeed any were to be had; but that is next to impossible, nadasti having been so busy. not without extreme difficulty is a manchet of bread, with or without a drop of wine, procured for the king's majesty this day. many a tired hero will have nothing but tobacco, with spring-water, to fall back upon. never mind! says the king, says everybody. after all, it is a cheap price to pay for missing an attack from pandours in the rear, while such crisis went on ahead. lying cousin trenck, of the life-guard, who is now in glatz, gives vivid eye-witness particulars of these things, time of the morning and so on; says expressly he was there, and what he did there, [frederic baron de trenck, _memoires, traduits par lui-meme_ (strasburg and paris, ), i. - , .]--though in glatz under lock and key, three good months before. "how could i help mistakes," said he afterwards, when people objected to this and that in his blusterous mendacity of a book: "i had nothing but my poor agitated memory to trust to!" a man's memory, when it gets the length of remembering that he was in the battle of sohr while bodily absent, ought it not to--in fact, to strike work; to still its agitations altogether, and call halt? trenck, some months after, got clambered out of glatz, by sewers, or i forget how; and leaped, or dropped, from some parapet into the river neisse,--sinking to the loins in tough mud, so that he could not stir. map to go here----book --page ---- "fouquet let me stand there half a day, before he would pick me out again." rigorous bouquet, human mercy forbidding, could not let him stand there in permanence,--as we, better circumstanced, may with advantage try to do, in time coming! friedrich lay at sohr five days; partly for the honor of the thing, partly to eat out the country to perfection. prince karl, from konigshof, soon fell back to konigsgratz; and lay motionless there, nothing but his tolpatcheries astir, sohr country all eaten, friedrich, in the due divisions, marched northward. through trautenau, schatzlar, his own division, which was the main one;--and, fencing off the tolpatches successfully with trouble, brings all his men into silesia again. a good job of work behind them, surely! cantons them to right and left of landshut, about rohnstock and hohenfriedberg, hamlets known so well; and leaving the young dessauer to command, drives for berlin ( th october),--rapidly, as his wont is. prince karl has split up his force at konigsgratz; means, one cannot doubt, to go into winter-quarters. if he think of invading, across that eaten country and those bad mountains,--well, our troops can all be got together in six hours' time. at trautenau, a week after sohr, friedrich had at last received the english ratification of that convention of hanover, signed th august, almost a month ago; not ratified till september d. about which there had latterly been some anxiety, lest his britannic majesty himself might have broken off from it. with austria, with saxony, britannic majesty has been entirely unsuccessful:--"may not sohr, perhaps, be a fresh persuasive?" hopes friedrich;--but as to britannic majesty's breaking off, his thoughts are far from that, if we knew! poor majesty: not long since, supreme jove of germany; and now--is like to be swallowed in ragamuffin street-riots; not a thunder-bolt within clutch of him (thunder-bolts all sticking in the mud of the netherlands, far off), and not a constable's staff of the least efficacy! consider these dates in combination. battle of sohr was on thursday, september th:-- "sunday preceding, september th, was such a lord's-day in the city of edinburgh, as had not been seen there,--not since jenny geddes's stool went flying at the bishop's head, above a hundred years before. big alarm-bell bursting out in the middle of divine service; emptying all the churches ('highland rebels just at hand!')--into general meeting of the inhabitants, into chaos come again, for the next forty hours. till, in the gaunt midnight, tuesday, a.m., lochiel with about , camerons, waiting slight opportunity, crushed in through the netherbow port; and"--and, about noon of that day, a poor friend of ours, loitering expectant in the road that leads by st. anthony's well, saw making entry into paternal holyrood,--the young pretender, in person, who is just being proclaimed prince of wales, up in the high-street yonder! "a tall slender young man, about five feet ten inches high; of a ruddy complexion, high-nosed, large rolling brown eyes; long-visaged, red-haired, but at that time wore a pale periwig. he was in a highland habit [coat]; over the shoulder a blue sash wrought with gold; red velvet breeches; a green velvet bonnet, with white cockade on it and a gold lace. his speech seemed very like that of an irishman; very sly [how did you know, my poor friend?];--spoke often to o'sullivan [thought to be a person of some counsel; had been tutor to maillebois's boys, had even tried some irregular fighting under maillebois]--to o'sullivan and" [henderson, _highland rebellion,_ p. .]... and on saturday, in short, came prestonpans. enough of such a supreme jove; good for us here as a timetable chiefly, or marker of dates! sunday, d october, king's adjutant, captain mollendorf, a young officer deservedly in favor, arrives at berlin with the joyful tidings of this sohr business ("prausnitz" we then called it): to the joy of all prussians, especially of a queen mother, for whom there is a letter in pencil. after brief congratulation, mollendorf rushes on; having next to give the old dessauer notice of it in his camp at dieskau, in the halle neighborhood. mollendorf appears in halle suddenly next morning, monday, about ten o'clock, sixteen postilions trumpeting, and at their swiftest trot, in front of him;--shooting, like a melodious morning-star, across the rusty old city, in this manner,--to dieskau camp, where he gives the old dessauer his good news. excellent victory indeed; sharp striking, swift self-help on our part. halle and the camp have enough to think of, for this day and the next. whither mollendorf went next, we will not ask: perhaps to brunswick and other consanguineous places?--certain it is, "on wednesday, the th, about two in the afternoon, the old dessauer has his whole army drawn out there, with green sprigs in their hats, at dieskau, close upon the saxon frontier; and, after swashing and manoeuvring about in the highest military style of art, ranks them all in line, or two suitable lines, , of them; and then, with clangorous outburst of trumpet, kettle-drum and all manner of field-music, fires off his united artillery a first time; almost shaking the very hills by such a thunderous peal, in the still afternoon. and mark, close fitted into the artillery peal, commences a rolling fire, like a peal spread out in threads, sparkling strangely to eye and ear; from right to left, long spears of fire and sharp strokes of sound, darting aloft, successive simultaneous, winding for the space of miles, then back by the rear line, and home to the starting-point: very grand indeed. again, and also again, the artillery peal, and rolling small-arms fitted into it, is repeated; a second and a third time, kettle-drums and trumpets doing what they can. that was the old dessauer's bonfiring (what is called feu-de-joie), for the victory of sohr; audible almost at leipzig, if the wind were westerly. overpowering to the human mind; at least, to the old newspaper reporter of that day. but what was strangest in the business," continues he "(das curieuseste dabey), was that the saxon uhlans, lying about in the villages across the border, were out in the fields, watching the sight, hardly yards off, from beginning to end; and little dreamed that his high princely serenity," blue of face and dreadful in war, "was quite close to them, on the height called bornhock; condescending to 'take all this into high-serene eye-shine there; and, by having a white flag waved, deigning to give signal for the discharges of the artillery.'" [_helden-geschichte,_ i. .] by this the reader may know that the old dessauer is alive, ready for action if called on; and bruhl ought to comprehend better how riskish his game with edge-tools is. bruhl is not now in an unprepared state:--here are uhlans at one's elbow looking on. rutowski's uhlans; who lies encamped, not far off, in good force, posted among morasses; strongly entrenched, and with schemes in his head, and in bruhl's, of an aggressive, thrice-secret and very surprising nature! i remark only that, in heidelberg country, victorious old traun is putting his people into winter-quarters; himself about to vanish from this history, [went to siebenburgen (transylvania) as governor; died there february, , age seventy-one (_maria theresiens leben,_ p. n.).]--and has detached general grune with , men; who left heidelberg october th, on a mysterious errand, heeded by nobody; and will turn up in the next chapter. chapter xiii.--saxony and austria make a surprising last attempt. after this strenuous and victorious campaign, which has astonished all public men, especially all pragmatic gazetteers, and with which all europe is disharmoniously ringing, friedrich is hopeful there will be peace, through england;--cannot doubt, at least, but the austrians have had enough for one year;--and looks forward to certain months, if not of rest, yet of another kind of activity. negotiation, peace through england, if possible; that is the high prize: and in the other case, or in any case, readiness for next campaign;--which with the treasury exhausted, and no honorable subsidy from france, is a difficult problem. that was friedrich's, and everybody's, program of affairs for the months coming: but in that friedrich and everybody found themselves greatly mistaken. bruhl and the austrians had decided otherwise. "open mouse-trap," at striegau; claws of the sleeping cat, at sohr: these were sad experiences; ill to bear, with the sea-powers grumbling on you, and the world sniffing its pity on you;--but are not conclusive, are only provoking and even maddening, to the sanguine mind. two sad failures; but let us try another time. "a tricky man; cunning enough, your king of prussia!" thinks bruhl, with a fellness of humor against friedrich which is little conceivable to us now: "cunning enough. but it is possible cunning may be surpassed by deeper cunning!"--and decides, bartenstein and an indignant empress-queen assenting eagerly, that there shall, in the profoundest secrecy till it break out, be a third, and much fiercer trial, this winter yet. the bruhl-bartenstein plan (owing mainly to the russian bugbear which hung over it, protective, but with whims of its own) underwent changes, successive redactions or editions; which the reader would grudge to hear explained to him. [account of them in orlich, ii. - (from various rutowski papers; and from the contemporary satirical pamphlet, "mondscheinwurfe, mirror-castings of moonshine, by zebedaus cuckoo,) beaten captain of a beaten army."] of the final or acted edition, some loose notion, sufficient for our purpose, may be collected from the following fractions of notes:-- november th (interior of germany).... "feldmarschall-lieutenant von grune, a general of mark, detached by traun not long since, from the rhine country, with a force of , men, why is he marching about: first to baireuth country, 'at hof, november th,' as if for bohemia; then north, to gera ('lies at gera till the th'), as if for saxony proper? prince karl, you would certainly say, has gone into winter-quarters; about konigsgratz, and farther on? gone or going, sure enough, is prince karl, into the convenient bohemian districts,--uncertain which particular districts; at least the young dessauer, watching him from the silesian side, is uncertain which. better be vigilant, prince leopold!--grune, lying at gera yonder, is not intending for prince karl, then? no, not thither. then perhaps towards saxony, to reinforce the saxons? or some-whither to find fat winter-quarters: who knows? indeed, who cares particularly, for such inconsiderable grune and his , !-- "the saxons quitted their inexpugnable camp towards halle, some time ago; went into cantonments farther inland;--the old dessauer (middle of october) having done the like, and gone home: his force lies rather scattered, for convenience of food and forage. from the silesian side, again, prince leopold, whose head-quarters are about striegau, intimates, that he cannot yet say, with certainty, what districts prince karl will occupy for winter-quarters in bohemia. prince karl is vaguely roving about; detaching pandours to the silesian mountains, as if for checking our victorious nassau there;--always rather creeping northward; skirting western silesia with his main force; , or better, with lobkowitz and nadasti ahead. meaning what? be vigilant, my young friend. "the private fact is, prince karl does not mean to go into winter-quarters at all. in private fact, prince karl is one of three mysterious elements or currents, sent on a far errand: grune is another: rutowski's saxon camp (now become cantonment) is a third. three currents instinct with fire and destruction, but as yet quite opaque; which have been launched,--whitherward thinks the reader? on berlin itself, and the mark of brandenburg; there to collide, and ignite in a marvellous manner. there is their meeting-point: there shall they, on a sudden, smite one another into flame; and the destruction blaze, fiery enough, round friedrich and his own brandenburg homesteads there!-- "it is a grand scheme; scheme at least on a grand scale. for the legs of it, grune's march and prince karl's, are about miles long! plan due chiefly, they say, to the yellow rage of bruhl; aided by the contrivance of rutowski, and the counsel of austrian military men. for there is much consulting about it, and redacting of it; polish majesty himself very busy. to bruhl's yellow rage it is highly solacing and hopeful. 'rutowski, lying close in his cantonments, and then suddenly springing out, will overwhelm the old dessauer, who lies wide;--can do it, surely; and grune is there to help if necessary. dessauer blown to pieces, grune, with rutowski combined, push in upon brandenburg,--grune himself upon berlin,--from the west and south, nobody expecting him. prince karl, not taking into winter-quarters in bohemia, as they idly think; but falling down the valley of the bober, or bober and queiss, into the lausitz (to gorlitz, guben, where we have magazines for him), comes upon it from the southeast,--nobody expecting any of them. three simultaneous armies hurled on the head of your friedrich; combustible deluges flowing towards him, as from the ends of germany; so opaque, silent, yet of fire wholly: will not that surprise him!' thinks bruhl. these are the schemes of the little man." bruhl, having constituted himself rival to friedrich, and fallen into pale or yellow rage by the course things took, this plan is naturally his chief joy, or crown of joys; a bubbling well of solace to him in his parched condition. he should, obviously, have kept it secret; thrice-secret, the little fool;--but a poor parched man is not always master of his private bubbling wells in that kind! wolfstierna is swedish envoy at dresden; rudenskjold, swedish envoy at berlin, has run over to see him in the dim november days. swedes, since ulrique's marriage, are friendly to prussia. bruhl has these two men to dinner; talks with them, over his wine, about friedrich's insulting usage of him, among other topics. "insulting; how, your excellency?" asks rudenskjold, privately a friend of friedrich. bruhl explains, with voice quivering, those cuts in the friedrich manifesto of august last, and other griefs suffered; the two swedes soothing him with what oil they have ready. "no matter!" hints bruhl; and proceeds from hint to hint, till the two swedes are fully aware of the grand scheme: grune, prince karl; and how destruction, with legs miles long, is steadily advancing to assuage one with just revenge. "right, your excellency!"--only that rudenskjold proceeds to berlin; and there straightway (" th november") punctually makes friedrich also aware. [stenzel, iv. ; ranke, iii. - ; friedrich's own narrative of it, _oeuvres,_ iii. .] foolish bruhl: a man that has a secret should not only hide it, but hide that he has it to hide. friedrich goes out to meet his three-legged monster; cuts one leg of it in two (fight of hennersdorf, d november, ). friedrich, having heard the secret, gazes into it with horror and astonishment: "what a time i have! this is not living; this is being killed a thousand times a day!" [ranke (iii. n.): to whom said, we are not told.]--with horror and astonishment; but also with what most luminous flash of eyesight is in him; compares it with prince karl's enigmatic motions, grune's open ones and the other phenomena;--perceives that it is an indisputable fact, and a thrice-formidable; requiring to be instantly dealt with by the party interested! whereupon, after hearty thanks to rudenskjold, there occur these rapidly successive phases of activity, which we study to take up in a curt form. first (probably th or th november), there is council held with minister podewils and the old dessauer; council from which comes little benefit, or none. podewils and old leopold stare incredulous; cannot be made to believe such a thing. "impossible any saxon minister or man would voluntarily bring the theatre of war into his own country, in this manner!" thinks the old dessauer, and persists to think,--on what obstinate ground friedrich never knew. to which podewils, "who has properties in the lausitz, and would so fain think them safe," obstinately, though more covertly, adheres. "impossible!" urge both these councillors; and friedrich cannot even make them believe it. believe it; and, alas, believing it is not the whole problem! happily friedrich has the privilege of ordering, with or without their belief. "you, podewils, announce the matter to foreign courts. you, serene highness of anhalt, at your swiftest, collect yonder, and encamp again. your eye well on grune and rutowski; and the instant i give you signal--! i am for silesia, to look after prince karl, the other long leg of this business." old leopold, according to friedrich's account, is visibly glad of such opportunity to fight again before he die: and yet, for no reason except some senile jealousy, is not content with these arrangements; perversely objects to this and that. at length the king says,--think of this hard word, and of the eyes that accompany it!--"when your highness gets armies of your own, you will order them according to your mind; at present, it must be according to mine." on, then; and not a moment lost: for of all things we must be swift! old leopold goes accordingly. friedrich himself goes in a week hence. orders, correspondences from podewils and the rest, are flying right and left;--to young leopold in silesia, first of all. young leopold draws out his forces towards the silesian-lausitz border, where prince karl's intentions are now becoming visible. and,--here is the second phase notable,-- "on monday, th, [" th," _feldzuge,_ i. (see rodenbeck, i. ).] at a.m.," friedrich rushes off, by crossen, full speed for liegnitz; "with rothenburg, with the prince of prussia and ferdinand of brunswick accompanying." with what thoughts,--though, in his face, you can read nothing; all berlin being already in such tremor! friedrich is in liegnitz next day; and after needful preliminaries there, does, on the thursday following, "at nieder-adelsdorf," not far off, take actual command of prince leopold's army, which had lain encamped for some days, waiting him. and now with such force in hand,-- , , soldiers every man of them, and freshened by a month's rest,--one will endeavor to do some good upon prince karl. probably sooner than prince karl supposes. for there is great velocity in this young king; a panther-like suddenness of spring in him: cunning, too, as any felis of them; and with claws like the felis leo on occasion. here follows the brief campaign that ensued, which i strive greatly to abridge. prince karl's intentions towards frankfurt-on-oder country, through the lausitz, are now becoming practically manifest. there is a magazine for him at guben, within thirty miles of frankfurt; arrangements getting ready all the way. a winter march of miles;--but what, say the spies, is to hinder? prince karl dreams not that friedrich is on the ground, or that anybody is aware. which notion friedrich finds that it will be extremely suitable to maintain in prince karl. friedrich is now at adelsdorf, some thirty miles eastward of the lausitz border, perhaps forty or more from the route prince karl will follow through that province. "it is a high-lying irregularly hilly country; hilly, not mountainous. various streams rise out of it that have a long course,--among others, the spree, which washes berlin;--especially three valleys cross it, three rivers with their valleys: bober, queiss, neisse (the third neisse we have come upon); all running northward, pretty much parallel, though all are branches of the oder. this is neisse third, we say; not the neisse of neisse city, which we used to know at the north base of the giant mountains, nor the roaring neisse, which we have seen at hohenfriedberg; but a third [and the fourth and last, "black neisse," thank heaven, is an upper branch of this, and we have, and shall have, nothing to do with it!]--third neisse, which we may call the lausitz neisse. on which, near the head of it, there is a fine old spinning, linen-weaving town called zittau,--where, to make it memorable, one tourist has read, on the town-house, an inscription worth repeating: 'bene facere et male audire regium est, to do good and have evil said of you, is a kingly thing.' other towns, as gorlitz, and seventy miles farther the above-said guben, lie on this same neisse,--shall we add that herrnhuth stands near the head of it? the wondrous town of herrnhuth (lord's-keeping), founded by count zinzendorf, twenty years before those dates; ["in , the first tree felled" (lives of zinzendorf).] where are a kind of german methodist-quakers to this day, who have become very celebrated in the interim. an opulent enough, most silent, strictly regular, strange little town. the women are in uniform; wives, maids, widows, each their form of dress. missionaries, speaking flabby english, who have been in the west indies or are going thither, seem to abound in the place; male population otherwise, i should think, must be mainly doing trade elsewhere; nothing but prayers, preachings, charitable boarding-schooling and the like, appeared to be going on. herrnhuth is 'a sabbath petrified; calvinistic sabbath done into stone,' as one of my companions called it." [tourist's note (autumn, ).] herrnhuth, of which all englishmen have heard, stands near the head of this our third neisse; as does zittau, a few miles higher up. i can do nothing more to give it mark for them. bober valley, then queiss valley, which run parallel though they join at last, and become bober wholly before getting into the oder,--these two valleys and rivers lie in friedrich's own territory; and are between him and the lausitz, queiss river being the boundary of silesia and the lausitz here. it is down the neisse that prince karl means to march. there are saxons already gathering about zittau; and down as far as guben they are making magazines and arrangements,--for it is all their own country in those years, though most of it is prussia's now. prince karl's march will go parallel to the bober and the queiss; separated from the queiss in this part by an undulating hill-tract of twenty miles or more. friedrich has had somewhat to settle for the southern frontier of silesia withal, which new doggeries of pandours are invading,--to lie ready for prince karl on his return thither, whose grand meaning all this while (as friedrich well knows), is "silesia in the lump" again, had he once cut us off from brandenburg and our supplies! general nassau, far eastward, who is doing exploits in moravia itself,--him friedrich has ordered homeward, westward to his own side of the mountains, to attend these new pandour gentlemen; winterfeld he has called home, out of those southern mountains, as likely to be usefuler here on this western frontier. winterfeld arrived in camp the same day with friedrich; and is sent forward with a body of , light troops, to keep watch about the lausitz frontier and the river queiss; "careful not to quit our own side of that stream,"--as we mean to hoodwink prince karl, if we can! friedrich lies strictly within his own borders, for a day or two; till prince karl march, till his own arrangements are complete. friedrich himself keeps the bober, winterfeld the queiss; "all pass freely out of the lausitz; none are allowed to cross into it: thereby we hear notice of prince karl, he none of us." perfectly quiescent, we, poor creatures, and aware of nothing! thus, too, friedrich--in spite of his warlike manifesto, which the saxons are on the eve of answering with a formal declaration of war--affects great rigor in considering the saxons as not yet at war with him: respects their frontier, winterfeld even punishes hussars "for trespassing on lausitz ground." friedrich also affects to have roads repaired, which he by no means intends to travel:--the whole with a view of lulling prince karl; of keeping the mouse-trap open, as he had done in the striegau case. it succeeded again, quite as conspicuously, and at less expense. prince karl--whose tolpatch doggery winterfeld will not allow to pass the queiss, and to whom no traveller or tidings can come from beyond that river--discerns only, on the farther shore of it, winterfeld with his , light troops. behind these, he discerns either nothing, or nothing immediately momentous; but contentedly supposes that this, the superficies of things, is all the solid-content they have. prince karl gets under way, therefore, nothing doubting; with his saxons as vanguard. down the neisse valley, on the right or queiss-ward side of it: saturday, th november, is his first march in lusatian territory. he lies that night spread out in three villages, schonberg, schonbrunn, kieslingswalde; [_feldzuge,_ i. (bericht von der action bey katholisch-hennersdorf, &c.).] some ten miles long; parallel to the neisse river, and about four miles from it, east or queiss-ward of it. karl himself is rear, at schonberg; fierce lobkowitz is centre; the saxons are vanguard, , in all, posted in villages, which again are some ten or twelve miles ahead of prince karl's forces; the queiss on their right hand, and the naumburg bridge of queiss, where winterfeld now is, about fifteen miles to east. their uhlans circulate through the intervening space (were much patrolling needed, in such quiet circumstances), and maintain the due communication. there lies prince karl, on saturday night, th november, ; an army of perhaps , , dnngerously straggling out above twenty miles long; and appears to see no difficulty ahead. the saxons, i think, are to continue where they are; guarding the flank, while the prince and lobkowitz push forward, closer by neisse river. in four marches more, they can be in brandenburg, with guben and their magazines at hand. seeing which state of matters, winterfeld gives friedrich notice of it; and that he, winterfeld, thinks the moment is come. "pontoons to naumburg, then!" orders friedrich. winterfeld, at the proper moment, is to form a bridge there. one permanent bridge there already is; and two fords, one above it, one below: with a second bridge, there will be roadway for four columns, and a swift transit when needful. sunday, st, friedrich quits the bober, diligently towards naumburg; marches sunday, monday; tuesday, d, about eleven a.m., begins to arrive there; winterfeld and passages all ready. forward, then, and let us drive in upon prince karl; and either cut him in two, or force him to fight us; he little thinks where or on what terms. sure enough, in the worst place we can choose for him! friedrich begins crossing in four columns at one p.m.; crosses continuously for four hours; unopposed, except some skirmishing of uhlans, while his cavalry is riding the fords to right and left; uhlans were driven back swiftly, so soon as the cavalry got over. at five in the evening, he has got entirely across, , horse and foot: ziethen is chasing the uhlans at full speed; who at least will show us the way,--for by this time a mist has begun falling, and the brief daylight is done. friedrich himself, without waiting for the rear of his force, and some while before this mist fell (as i judge), is pushing forward, "a miller lad for his guide," across to hennersdorf,--katholisch-hennersdorf, a long straggling village, eight or ten miles off, and itself two miles long,--where he understands the saxons are. miller lad guides us, over height and hollow, with his best skill, at a brisk pace;--through one hollow, where he has known the cattle pasture in summer time; but which proves impassable, and mere quagmire, at this season. no getting through it, you unfortunate miller lad (garcon de meunier). nevertheless, we did find passage through the skirts of it: nay this quagmire proved the luck of us; for the enemy, trusting to it, had no outguard there, never expecting us on that side. so that the vanguard, ziethen and rapid hussars, made an excellent thing of it. ziethen sends us word, that he has got into the body of hennersdorf,--"found the saxon quartermaster quietly paying his men;"--that he, ziethen, is tolerably master of hennersdorf, and will amuse the enemy till the other force come up. of course friedrich now pushes on, double speed; detaches other force, horse and foot: which was lucky, says my informant; for the ziethen hussars, getting good plunder, had by no means demolished the saxons; but had left them time to draw up in firm order, with a hedge in front, a little west of the village;--from which post, unassailable by ziethen, they would have got safe off to the main body, with little but an affront and some loss of goods. the new force--a rapid katzler with light horse in the van, cuirassiers and foot rapidly following him--sweeps past the long village, "through a thin wood and a defile;" finds the enemy firmly ranked as above said; cavalry their left, infantry on right, flanked by an impenetrable hedge; and at once strikes in. at once, katzler does, on order given; but is far too weak. charges, he; but is counter-charged, tumbled back; the saxons, horse and foot, showing excellent fight. at length, more prussian force coming up, cuirassiers charge them in front, dragoons in flank, hussars in rear; all attacking at once, and with a will; and the poor saxon cavalry is entirely cut to shreds. and now there remains only the infantry, perhaps about , men (if one must guess); who form a square; ply vigorously their field-pieces and their fire-arms; and cannot be broken by horse-charges. in fact, these saxons made a fierce resistance;--till, before long, prussian infantry came up; and, with counter field-pieces and musketries, blasted gaps in them; upon which the cavalry got admittance, and reduced the gallant fellows nearly wholly to annihilation either by death or capture. there are prisoners in this action, big guns, and i know not how many kettle-drums, standards and the like,--all that were there, i suppose. the number of dead not given. [orlich, ii. ; _feldzuge,_i. - .] but, in brief, this saxon force is utterly cut to pieces; and only scattered twos and threes of it rush through the dark mist; scattering terror to this hand and that. the prussians take their post at and round hennersdorf that night;--bivouacking, though only in sack trousers, a blanket each man:--"we work hard, my men, and suffer all things for a day or two, that it may save much work afterwards," said the king to them; and they cheerfully bivouacked. this was the action of katholisch-hennersdorf, fought on tuesday, d november, ; and still celebrated in the prussian annals, and reckoned a brilliant passage of war. katholisch-hennersdorf, some ten miles southwest of naumburg on the queiss (for there are, to my knowledge, twenty-five other villages called hennersdorf, and three several towns of naumburg, and many castles and hamlets so named in dear germany of the nomenclatures):--katholisch-hennersdorf is the place, and tuesday about dusk the time. a sharp brush of fighting; not great in quantity, but laid in at the right moment, in the right place. like the prick of a needle, duly sharp, into the spinal marrow of a gigantic object; totally ruinous to such object. never, or rarely, in the annals of war, was as much good got of so little fighting. you may, with labor and peril, plunge a hundred dirks into your boaconstrictor; hack him with axes, bray him with sledge-hammers; that is not uncommon: but the one true prick in the spinal marrow, and the artist that can guide you well to that, he and it are the notable and beneficent phenomena. prince karl, cut in two, tumbles home again double-quick. next morning, wednesday, th, the prussians are early astir again; groping, on all manner of roads, to find what prince karl is doing, in a world all covered in thick mist. they can find nothing of him, but broken tumbrils, left baggage-wagons, rumor of universal marching hither and marching thither;--evidences of an army fallen into universal st. vitus's-dance; distractedly hurrying to and fro, not knowing whitherward for the moment, except that it must be homewards, homewards with velocity. prince karl's farther movements are not worth particularizing. ordering and cross-ordering; march this way; no, back again: such a scene in that mist. prince karl is flowing homeward; confusedly deluging and gurgling southward, the best he can. next afternoon, near gorlitz, and again one other time, he appears drawn up, as if for fighting; but has himself no such thought; flies again, without a shot; leaves gorlitz to capitulate, that afternoon; all places to capitulate, or be evacuated. we hear he is for zittau; winterfeld with light horse hastens after him, gets sight of him on the heights at zittau yonder, [ _oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. ; orlich, ii. .] "about two in the morning:" but the prince has not the least notion to fight. prince leaves zittau to capitulate,--quits silently the heights of zittau at two a.m. (winterfeld, very lively in the rear of him, cutting off his baggage);--and so tumbles, pell-mell, through the passes of gabel, home to bohemia again. let us save this poor note from the fire: "on saturday night, november th, the prussians, pursuing prince karl, were cantoned in the herrnhuth neighborhood,--my informant's regiment in the town of herrnhuth itself. [_feldzuge,_ i. ubi supra.] yes, there lay the prussians over sunday; and might hear some weighty expounder, if they liked. considerably theological, many of these poor prussian soldiers; carrying a bible in their knapsack, and devout psalms in the heart of them. two-thirds of every regiment are landeskinder, native prussians; each regiment from a special canton,--generally rather religious men. the other third are recruits, gathered in the free towns of the reich, or where they can be got; not distinguished by devotion these, we may fancy, only trained to the uttermost by spartan drill." before the week is done, that "first leg" of the grand enterprise (the prince-karl leg) is such a leg as we see. "silesia in the lump,"--fond dream again, what a dream! old dessauer getting signal, where now, too probably, is saxony itself?--ranking again at aussig in bohemia, prince karl-- , of his men lost, and all impetus and fire gone--falls gently down the elbe, to join rutowski at least; and will reappear within four weeks, out of saxon switzerland, still rather in dismal humor. the prussian troops, in four great divisions, are cantoned in that lausitz country, now so quiet; in and about bautzen and three other towns of the neighborhood; to rest and be ready for the old dessauer, when we hear of him. the "magazine at guben in wagons," the gorlitz and other magazines of prince karl in the due number of wagons, supply them with comfortable unexpected provender. thus they lie cantoned; and have with despatch effectually settled their part of the problem. question now is, how will it stand with the old dessauer and his part? or, better still, would not perhaps the saxons, in this humiliated state, accept peace, and finish the matter? chapter xiv.--battle of kesselsdorf. a "correspondence" of a certain excellency villiers, english minister at dresden,--sir thomas villiers, grandfather of the present earl of clarendon,--was very famous in those weeks; and is still worth mention, as a trait of friedrich's procedure in this crisis. friedrich, not intoxicated with his swift triumph over prince karl, but calculating the perils and the chances still ahead,--miserably off for money too,--admits to himself that not revenge or triumph, that peace is the one thing needful to him. november th, old leopold is entering saxony; and in the same hours, podewils at berlin, by order of friedrich, writes to villiers who is in dresden, about peace, about mediating for peace: "my king ready and desirous, now as at all times, for peace; the terms of it known; terms not altered, not alterable, no bargaining or higgling needed or allowable. convention of hanover, let his polish majesty accede honestly to that, and all these miseries are ended." ["correspondance du roi avec sir thomas villiers;" commences, on podewils's part, th november; on friedrich's, th december; ends, on villier's, th december; fourteen pieces in all, four of them friedrich's: given in _oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. - (see ib, ), and in many other books.] villiers starts instantly on this beneficent business; "goes to court, on it, that very night;" villiers shows himself really diligent, reasonable, loyal; doing his very best now and afterwards; but has no success at all. polish majesty is obstinate,--i always think, in the way sheep are, when they feel themselves too much put upon;--and is deaf to everybody but bruhl. bruhl answers: "let his prussian majesty retire from our territory;--what is he doing in the lausitz just now! retire from our territory; then we will treat!" bruhl still refuses to be desperate of his bad game;--at any rate, bruhl's rage is yellower than ever. that, very evening, while talking to villiers, he has had preparations going on;--and next morning takes his master, polish majesty august iii., with some comfortable minimum of apparatus (cigar-boxes not forgotten), off to prag, where they can be out of danger till the thing decide itself. villiers follows to prag; desists not from his eloquent letters, and earnest persuasions at prag; but begins to perceive that the means of persuading bruhl will be a much heavier kind of artillery. on the whole, negotiations have yet done little. britannic george, though purseholder, what is his success here? as little is the russian bugbear persuasive on friedrich himself. the czarina of the russias, a luxurious lady, of far more weight than insight, has just notified to him, with more emphasis than ever, that he shall not attack saxony; that if he do, she with considerable vigor will attack him! that has always been a formidable puzzle for friedrich: however, he reflects that the russians never could draw sword, or be ready with their army, in less than six months, probably not in twelve; and has answered, translating it into polite official terms: "fee-faw-fum, your czarish majesty! question is not now of attacking, but of being myself attacked!"--and so is now running his risks with the czarina. still worse was the result he got from louis xv. lately, "for form's sake," as he tells us, "and not expecting anything," he had (november th) made a new appeal to france: "ruin menacing your most christian majesty's ally, in this huge sudden crisis of invasive austrian-saxons; and for your majesty's sake, may i not in some measure say?" to which louis's answer is also given. a very sickly, unpleasant document; testifying to considerable pique against friedrich;--ranke says, it was a joint production, all the ministers gradually contributing each his little pinch of irony to make it spicier, and louis signing when it was enough;--very considerable pique against friedrich; and something of the stupid sulkiness as of a fat bad boy, almost glad that the house is on fire, because it will burn his nimble younger brother, whom everybody calls so clever: "sorry indeed, sir my brother, most sorry:--and so you have actually signed that hanover convention with our worst enemy? france is far from having done so; france has done, and will do, great things. our royal heart grieves much at your situation; but is not alarmed; no, your majesty has such invention, vigor and ability, superior to any crisis, our clever younger brother! and herewith we pray god to have you in his holy keeping." this is the purport of king louis's letter;--which friedrich folds together again, looking up from perusal of it, we may fancy with what a glance of those eyes. [louis's original, in _oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. , (with a much more satirical paraphrase than the above), and friedrich's answer adjoined,--after the events had come.] he is getting instructed, this young king, as to alliances, grand combinations, french and other. his third note to villiers intimates, "it being evident that his polish majesty will have nothing from us but fighting, we must try to give it him of the best kind we have." ["bautzen, th december, " (ubi supra).] yes truly; it is the ultimate persuasive, that. here, in condensed form, are the essential details of the course it went, in this instance:--general grune, on the road to berlin, hearing of the rout at hennersdorf, halted instantly,--hastened back to saxony, to join rutowski there, and stand on the defensive. not now in that halle-frontier region (rutowski has quitted that, and all the intrenchments and marshy impregnabilities there); not on that halle-frontier, but hovering about in the interior, rutowski and grune are in junction; gravitating towards dresden;--expecting prince karl's advent; who ought to emerge from the saxon switzerland in few days, were he sharp; and again enable us to make a formidable figure. be speedy, old dessauer: you must settle the grune-rutowski account before that junction, not after it! the old dessauer has been tolerably successful, and by no means thinks he has been losing time. november th, "at three in the morning," he stept over into saxony with its impregnable camps; drove rutowski's rear-guard, or remnant, out of the quagmires, canals and intrenchments, before daylight; drove it, that same evening, or before dawn of the morrow, out of leipzig: has seized that town,--lays heavy contribution on it, nearly , pounds (such our strait for finance), "and be sure you take only substantial men as sureties!" [orlich, ii. .]--and will, and does after a two days' rest, advance with decent celerity inwards; though "one must first know exactly whither; one must have bread, and preparations and precautions; do all things solidly and in order," thinks the old dessauer. friedrich well knows the whither; and that dresden itself is, or may be made, the place for falling in with rutowski. friedrich is now himself ready to join, from the bautzen region; the days and hours precious to him; and spurs the old dessauer with the sharpest remonstrances. "all solidly and in order, your majesty!" answers the old dessauer: solid strong-boned old coach-horse, who has his own modes of trotting, having done many a heavy mile of it in his time; and whose skin, one hopes, is of the due thickness against undue spurring. old dessauer wishes two things: bread to live upon; and a sure bridge over the elbe whereby friedrich may join him. old dessauer makes for torgau, far north, where is both an elbe bridge and a magazine; which he takes; torgau and pertinents now his. but it is far down the elbe, far off from bautzen and friedrich: "a nearer bridge and rendezvous, your highness! meissen [where they make the china, only fifty miles from me, and twenty from dresden], let that be the bridge, now that you have got victual. and speedy; for heaven's sake, speedy!" friedrich pushes out general lehwald from bautzen, with , men, towards meissen bridge; lehwald does not himself meddle with the bridge, only fires shot across upon the saxon party, till the old dessauer, on the other bank, come up;--and the old dessauer, impatience thinks, will never come. "three days in torgau, yes, your majesty: i had bread to bake, and the very ovens had to be built." a solid old roadster, with his own modes of trotting; needs thickness of skin. [friedrich's letters to leopold, in orlich, ii. , ( th- th december, ).] at long last, on sunday, th december, about two p.m., the old dessauer does appear; or general gessler, his vanguard, does appear,--gessler of the sixty-seven standards,--"always about an hour ahead." gessler has summoned meissen; has not got it, is haggling with it about terms, when, towards sunset of the short day, old dessauer himself arrives. whereupon the saxon commandant quits the bridge (not much breaking it); and glides off in the dark, clear out of meissen, towards dresden,--chased, but successfully defending himself. [see plan, p. .] "had he but stood out for two days!" say the saxons,--"prince karl had then been up, and much might have been different." well, friedrich too would have been up, and it had most likely been the same on a larger scale. but the saxon commandant did not stand out; he glided off, safe; joined rutowski and grune, who are lying about wilsdruf, six or seven miles on the hither side of dresden, and eagerly waiting for prince karl. "bridge and town of meissen are your majesty's," reports the old dessauer that night: upon which friedrich instantly rises, hastening thitherward. lehwald comes across meissen bridge, effects the desired junction; and all monday the old dessauer defiles through meissen town and territory; continually advances towards dresden, the saxons harassing the flanks of him a little,--nay in one defile, being sharp strenuous fellows, they threw his rear into some confusion; cut off certain carts and prisoners, and the life of one brave general, lieutenant-general roel, who had charge there. "spurring one's trot into a gallop! this comes of your fast marching, of your spurring beyond the rules of war!" thinks old leopold; and friedrich, who knows otherwise, is very angry for a moment. but indeed the crisis is pressing. prince karl is across the metal mountains, nearing dresden from the east; friedrich strikes into march for the same point by meissen, so soon as the bridge is his. old leopold is advancing thither from the westward,--steadily hour by hour; dresden city the fateful goal. there,--in these middle days of december, (highland rebellion just whirling back from derby again, "the london shops shut for one day"),--it is clear there will be a big and bloody game played before we are much older. very sad indeed: but count bruhl is not persuadable otherwise. by slumbering and sluggarding, over their money-tills and flesh-pots; trying to take evil for good, and to say, "it will do," when it will not do, respectable nations come at last to be governed by bruhls; cannot help themselves;--and get their backs broken in consequence. why not? would you have a nation live forever that is content to be governed by bruhls? the gods are wiser!--it is now the th; old dessauer tramping forward, hour by hour, towards dresden and some field of fate. on tuesday, th, by break of day, old dessauer gets on march again; in four columns, in battle order; steady all day,--hard winter weather, ground crisp, and flecked with snow. the pass at neustadt, "his cavalry went into it at full gallop;" but found nobody there. that night he encamps at a place called rohrsdorf; which may be eight miles west-by-north from dresden, as the crow flies; and ten or more, if you follow the highway round by wilsdruf on your right. the real direct highway from meissen to dresden is on the other side of the elbe, and keeps by the river-bank, a fine level road; but on this western side, where leopold now is, the road is inland, and goes with a bend. leopold, of course, keeps command of this road; his columns are on both sides of it, river on their left at some miles distance; and incessantly expect to find rutowski, drawn out on favorable ground somewhere. the country is of fertile, but very broken character; intersected by many brooks, making obliquely towards the elbe (obliquely, with a leaning meissen-wards); country always mounting, till here about rohrsdorf we seem to have almost reached the watershed, and the brooks make for the elbe, leaning dresden way. good posts abound in such broken country, with its villages and brooks, with its thickets, hedges and patches of swamp. but rutowski has not appeared anywhere, during this tuesday. our four columns, therefore, lie all night, under arms, about rohrsdorf: and again by morrow's dawn are astir in the old order, crunching far and wide the frozen ground; and advance, charged to the muzzle with potential battle. slightly upwards always, to the actual watershed of the country; leaving wilsdruf a little to their right. wilsdruf is hardly past, when see, from this broad table-land, top of the country: "yonder is rutowski, at last;--and this new wednesday will be a day!" yonder, sure enough: drawn out three or four miles long; with his right to the elbe, his left to that intricate village of kesselsdorf; bristling with cannon; deep gullet and swampy brook in front of him: the strongest post a man could have chosen in those parts. the village of kesselsdorf itself lies rather in a hollow; in the slight beginning, or uppermost extremity, of a little valley or dell, called the tschonengrund,--which, with its quaggy brook of a tschone, wends northeastward into the elbe, a course of four or five miles: a little valley very deep for its length, and getting altogether chasmy and precipitous towards the elbe-ward or lower end. kesselsdorf itself, as we said, is mainly in a kind of hollow: between old leopold and kesselsdorf the ground rather mounts; and there is perceptibly a flat knoll or rise at the head of it, where the village begins. some trees there, and abundance of cannon and grenadiers at this moment. it is the southwestern or left-most point of rutowski's line; impregnable with its cannon-batteries and grenadiers. rightward rutowski extends in long lines, with the quaggy-dell of tschonengrund in front of him, parallel to him; dell ever deepening as it goes. northeastward, at the extreme right, or elbe point of it, where grune and the austrians stand, it has grown so chasmy, we judge that grune can neither advance nor be map/plan goes here--book continuation --page -- advanced upon:e,--which he did all day, in a purely meditative posture. rutowski numbers , , now on this ground, with immensity of cannon; , we, with only the usual field-artillery, and such a tschonengrund, with its half-frozen quagmires ahead. a ticklish case for the old man, as he grimly reconnoitres it, in the winter morning. grim old dessauer having reconnoitred, and rapidly considered, decides to try it,--what else?--will range himself on the west side of that tschonengrund, horse and foot; two lines, wide as rutowski opposite him; but means to direct his main and prime effort against kesselsdorf, which is clearly the key of the position, if it can be taken. for which end the old dessauer lengthens himself out to rightward, so as to outflank kesselsdorf;--neglecting grune (refusing grune, as the soldiers say):--"our horse of the right wing reached from the wood called lerchenbusoh (larch-bush) rightward as far as freyberg road; foot all between that lerchenbusch and the big birch-tree on the road to wilsdruf; horse of the left wing, from there to roitsch." [stille (p. ), who was present. see plan.] it was about two p.m. before the old man got all his deployments completed; what corps of his, deploying this way or that, came within wind of kesselsdorf, were saluted with cannon, thirty pieces or more, which are in battery, in three batteries, on the knoll there; but otherwise no fighting as yet. at two, the old dessauer is complete; he reverently doffs his hat, as had always been his wont, in prayer to god, before going in. a grim fervor of prayer is in his heart, doubtless; though the words as reported are not very regular or orthodox: "o herr gott, help me yet this once; let me not be disgraced in my old days! or if thou wilt not help me, don't help those hundsvogte [damned scoundrels, so to speak], but leave us to try it ourselves!" that is the old scandinavian of a dessauer's prayer; a kind of godur he too, priest as well as captain: prayer mythically true as given; mythically, not otherwise. [ranke, iii. n.] which done, he waves his hat once, "on, in god's name!" and the storm is loose. prussian right wing pushing grandly forward, bent in that manner, to take kesselsdorf and its fire-throats in flank. the prussians tramp on with the usual grim-browed resolution, foot in front, horse in rear; but they have a terrible problem at that kesselsdorf, with its retrenched batteries, and numerous grenadiers fighting under cover. the very ground is sore against them; uphill, and the trampled snow wearing into a slide, so that you sprawl and stagger sadly. thirty-one big guns, and about , small, pouring out mere death on you, from that knoll-head. the prussians stagger; cannot stand it; bend to rightwards, and get out of shot-range; cannot manage it this bout. rally, reinforce; try it again. again, with a will; but again there is not a way. the prussians are again repulsed; fall back, down this slippery course, in more disorder than the first time. had the saxons stood still, steadily handling arms, how, on such terms, could the prussians ever have managed it? but at sight of this second repulse, the saxon grenadiers, and especially one battalion of austrians who were there (the only austrians who fought this day), gave a shout "victory!"--and in the height of their enthusiasm, rushed out, this austrian battalion first and the saxons after them, to charge these prussians, and sweep the world clear of them. it was the ruin of their battle; a fatal hollaing before you are out of the woods. old leopold, quick as thought, noticing the thing, hurls cavalry on these victorious down-plunging grenadiers; slashes them asunder, into mere recoiling whirlpools of ruin; so that "few of them got back unwounded;" and the prussians storming in along with them,--aided by ever new prussians, from beyond the tschonengrund even,--the place was at length carried; and the saxon battle became hopeless. for, their right being in such hurricane, the prussians from the centre, as we hint, storm forward withal; will not be held back by the tschonengrund. they find the tschonengrund quaggy in the extreme, "brook frozen at the sides, but waist-deep of liquid mud in the centre;" cross it, nevertheless, towards the upper part of it,--young moritz of dessau leading the way, to help his old father in extremity. they climb the opposite side,--quite slippery in places, but "helping one another up;"--no saxons there till you get fairly atop, which was an oversight on the saxon part. fairly atop, moritz is saluted by the saxons with diligent musket-volleys; but moritz also has musket-volleys in him, bayonet-charges in him; eager to help his old papa at this hard pinch. old papa has the saxons in flank; sends more and ever more other cavalry in on them; and in fact, the right wing altogether storms violently through kesselsdorf, and sweeps it clean. whole regiments of the saxons are made prisoners; roel's light horse we see there, taking standards; cutting violently in to avenge roel's death, and the affront they had at meissen lately. furious moritz on their front, from across the tschonengrund; furious roel (ghost of roel) and others in their flank, through kesselsdorf: no standing for the saxons longer. about nightfall,--their horse having made poorish fight, though the foot had stood to it like men,--they roll universally away. the prussian left wing of horse are summoned through the tschonengrund to chase: had there remained another hour of daylight, the saxon army had been one wide ruin. hidden in darkness, the saxon army ebbed confusedly towards dresden: with the loss of , prisoners and , killed and wounded: a completely beaten army. it is the last battle the saxons fought as a nation,--or probably will fight. battle called of kesselsdorf: wednesday, th december, . prince karl had arrived at dresden the night before; heard all this volleying and cannonading, from the distance; but did not see good to interfere at all. too wide apart, some say; quartered at unreasonably distant villages, by some irrefragable ignorant war-clerk of bruhl's appointing,--fatal bruhl. others say, his highness had himself no mind; and made excuses that his troops were tired, disheartened by the two beatings lately,--what will become of us in case of a third or fourth! it is certain, prince karl did nothing. nor has grime's corps, the right wing, done anything except meditate:--it stood there unattacked, unattacking; till deep in the dark night, when rutowski remembered it, and sent it order to come home. one austrian battalion, that of grenadiers on the knoll at kesselsdorf, did actually fight;--and did begin that fatal outbreak, and quitting of the post there; "which lost the battle to us!" say the saxons. had those grenadiers stood in their place, there is no prussian but admits that it would have been a terrible business to take kesselsdorf and its batteries. but they did not stand; they rushed out, shouting "victory;" and lost us the battle. and that is the good we have got of the sublime austrian alliance; and that is the pass our grand scheme of partitioning prussia has come to? fatal little bruhl of the three hundred and sixty-five clothes-suits; valet fatally become divine in valet-hood,--are not you costing your country dear! old dessauer, glorious in the last of his fields, lay on his arms all night in the posts about; three bullets through his roquelaure, no scratch of wound upon the old man. young moritz too "had a bullet through his coat-skirt, and three horses shot under him; but no hurt, the almighty's grace preserving him." [_feldzuge,_i. .] this moritz is the third of the brothers, age now thirty-three; and we shall hear considerably about him in times coming. a lean, tall, austere man; and, "of all the brothers, most resembled his father in his ways." prince dietrich is in leipzig at present; looking to that contribution of , pounds; to that, and to other contributions and necessary matters;--and has done all his fighting (as it chanced), though he survived his brothers many years. old papa will now get his discharge before long (quite suddenly, one morning, by paralytic stroke, th april, ); and rest honorably with the sons of thor. [young leopold, the successor, died th december, , age fifty-two; dietrich (who had thereupon quitted soldiering, to take charge of his nephew left minor, and did not resume it), died d december, ; moritz (soldier to the last), th april, . see _militair-lexikon,_i. , , , .] chapter xv.--peace of dresden: friedrich does march home. friedrich himself had got to meissen, tuesday, th; no enemy on his road, or none to speak of: friedrich was there, or not yet far across, all wednesday; collecting himself, waiting, on the slip, for a signal from old leopold. sound of cannon, up the elbe dresden-ward, is reported there to friedrich, that afternoon: cannon, sure enough, notes friedrich; and deep dim-rolling peals, as of volleying small-arms; "the sky all on fire over there," as the hoar-frosty evening fell. old leopold busy at it, seemingly. that is the glare of the old dessauer's countenance; who is giving voice, in that manner, to the earthly and the heavenly powers; conquering peace for us, let us hope! friedrich, as may be supposed, made his best speed next morning: "all well!" say the messengers; all well, says old leopold, whom he meets at wilsdruf, and welcomes with a joyful embrace; "dismounting from his horse, at sight of leopold, and advancing to meet him with doffed hat and open arms,"--and such words and treatments, that day, as made the old man's face visibly shine. "your highness shall conduct me!" and the two made survey together of the actual field of kesselsdorf; strewn with the ghastly wrecks of battle,--many citizens of dresden strolling about, or sorrowfully seeking for their lost ones among the wounded and dead. no hurt to these poor citizens, who dread none; help to them rather: such is friedrich's mind,--concerning which, in the anecdote-books, there are narratives (not worth giving) of a vapidly romantic character, credible though inexact. [for the indisputable pa so we leave him standing therrt, see orlich, ii. , ; and _oeuvres de frederic,_ iii. .] friedrich, who may well be profuse of thanks and praises, charms the old dessauer while they walk together; brave old man with his holed roquelaure. for certain, he has done the work there,--a great deal of work in his time! joy looks through his old rough face, of gunpowder color: the herr gott has not delivered him to those damned scoundrels in the end of his days.--on the morrow, friday, leopold rolled grandly forward upon dresden; rutowski and prince karl vanishing into the metal mountains, by pirna, for bohemia, at sound of him,--as he had scarcely hoped they would. on the saturday evening, dresden, capable of not the least defence, has opened all its gates, and friedrich and the prussians are in dresden; austrians and wrecked saxons falling back diligently towards the metal mountains for bohemia, diligent to clear the road for him. queen and junior princes are here; to whom, as to all men, friedrich is courtesy itself; making personal visit to the royalties, appointing guards of honor, sacred respect to the royal houses; himself will lodge at the princess lubomirski's, a private mansion. "that ferocious, false, ambitious king of prussia"--well, he is not to be ruined in open fight, on the contrary is ruinous there; nor by the cunningest ambuscades, and secret combinations, in field or cabinet: our overwhelming winter invasion of him--see where it has ended! bruhl and polish majesty--the nocturnal sky all on fire in those parts, and loud general doomsday come--are a much-illuminated pair of gentlemen. from the time meissen bridge was lost, prince karl too showing himself so languid, even bruhl had discerned that the case was desperate. on the very day of kesselsdorf,--not the day before, which would have been such a thrift to bruhl and others!--friedrich had a note from villiers, signifying joyfully that his polish majesty would accept peace. thanks to his polish majesty:--and after kesselsdorf, perhaps the empress-queen too will! friedrich's offers are precisely what they were, what they have always been: "convention of hanover; that, in all its parts; old treaty of breslau, to be guaranteed, to be actually kept. to me silesia sure;--from you, polish majesty, one million crowns as damages for the trouble and cost this triple ambuscade of yours has given me; one million crowns, , pounds we will say; and all other requisitions to cease on the day of signature. these are my terms: accept these; then wholly, as you were, empress-queen and you, and all surviving creatures: and i march home within a week." villiers speeds rapidly from prag, with the due olive-branch; with count harrach, experienced austrian, and full powers. harrach cannot believe his senses: "such the terms to be still granted, after all these beatings and rebeatings!"--then at last does believe, with stiff thankfulness and austrian bows. the negotiation need not occupy many hours. "his majesty of prussia was far too hasty with this peace," says valori: "he had taken a threap that he would have it finished before the year was done:"--in fact, he knows his own mind, mon gros valori, and that is what few do. you shear through no end of cobwebs with that fine implement, a wisely fixed resolution of your own. a peace slow enough for valori and the french: where could that be looked for?--valori is at berlin, in complete disgrace; his most christian king having behaved so like a turk of late. valori, horror-struck at such peace, what shall he do to prevent it, to retard it? one effort at least. d'arget his secretary, stolen at jaromirz, is safe back to him; ingenious, ingenuous d'arget was always a favorite with friedrich: despatch d'arget to him. d'arget is despatched; with reasons, with remonstrances, with considerations. d'arget's narrative is given: an ingenuous off-hand piece;--poor little crevice, through which there is still to be had, singularly clear, and credible in every point, a direct glimpse of friedrich's own thoughts, in that many-sounding dresden,--so loud, that week, with dinner-parties, with operas, balls, prussian war-drums, grand-parades and peace-negotiations. the sieur d'arget to excellency valori (at berlin). "dresden, " (dateless otherwise, must be december, between th and th). "monseigneur,--i arrived yesterday at p.m.; as i had the honor of forewarning you, by the word i wrote to the abbe [never mind what abbe; another valori-clerk] from sonnenwalde [my half-way house between berlin and this city]. i went, first of all, to m. de vaugrenand," our envoy here; "who had the goodness to open himself to me on the business now on hand. in my opinion, nothing can be added to the excellent considerations he has been urging on the king of prussia and the count de podewils. "at half-past , i went to his prussian majesty's; i found he was engaged with his concert,"--lodges in the lubomirski palace, has his snatch of melody in the evening of such discordant days,--"and i could not see him till after half-past . i announced myself to m. eichel; he was too overwhelmed with affairs to give me audience. i asked for count rothenburg; he was at cards with the princess lubomirski. at last, i did get to the king: who received me in the most agreeable way; but was just going to supper; said he must put off answering till to-morrow morning, morning of this day. m. de vaugrenand had been so good as prepare me on the rumors of a peace with saxony and the queen of hungary. i went to m. podewils; who said a great many kind things to me for you. i could only sketch out the matter, at that time; and represented to podewils the brilliant position of his master, who had become arbiter of the peace of europe; that the moment was come for making this peace a general one, and that perhaps there would be room for repentance afterwards, if the opportunity were slighted. he said, his master's object was that same; and thus closed the conversation by general questions. "this morning, i again presented myself at the king of prussia's. i had to wait, and wait; in fine, it was not till half-past in the evening that he returned, or gave me admittance; and i stayed with him till after ,"--when concert-time was at hand again. listen to a remarkable dialogue, of the conquering hero with a humble friend whom he likes. "his majesty condescended (a daigne) to enter with me into all manner of details; and began by telling me, "that m. de valori had done admirably not to come, himself, with that letter from the king [most christian, our king; letter, the sickly document above spoken of]; that there could not have been an answer expected,--the letter being almost of ironical strain; his majesty [most christian] not giving him the least hope, but merely talking of his fine genius, and how that would extricate him from the perilous entanglement, and inspire him with a wise resolution in the matter! that he had, in effect, taken a resolution the wisest he could; and was making his peace with saxony and the queen of hungary. that he had felt all the dangers of the difficult situations he had been in,"--sheer destruction yawning all round him, in huge imminency, more than once, and no friend heeding;--"that, weary of playing always double-or-quits, he had determined to end it, and get into a state of tranquillity, which both himself and his people had such need of. that france could not, without difficulty, have remedied his mishaps; and that he saw by the king's letter, there was not even the wish to do it. that his, friedrich's, military career was completed,"--so far as he could foresee or decide! "that he would not again expose his country to the caprices of fortune, whose past constancy to him was sufficiently astonishing to raise fears of a reverse (hear!). that his ambitions were fulfilled, in having compelled his enemies to ask peace from him in their own capital, with the chancellor of bohemia [harrach, typifying fallen austrian pride] obliged to co-operate. "that he would always be attached to our king's interests, and set all the value in the world on his friendship; but that he had not been sufficiently assisted to be content. that, observing henceforth an exact neutrality, he might be enabled to do offices of mediation; and to carry, to the one side and to the other, words of peace. that he offered himself for that object, and would be charmed to help in it; but that he was fixed to stop there. that in regard to the basis of general peace, he had two ideas [which the reader can attend to, and see where they differed from the event, and where not]:--one was, that france should keep ypres, furnes, tournay [which france did not], giving up the netherlands otherwise, with ostend, to the english [to the english!] in exchange for cape breton. the other was, to give up more of our conquests [we gave them all up, and got only the glory, and our cod-fishery, cape breton, back, the english being equally generous], and bargain for liberty to re-establish dunkirk in its old condition [not a word of your dunkirk; there is your cape breton, and we also will go home with what glory there is,--not difficult to carry!]. but that it was by england we must make the overtures, without addressing ourselves to the court of vienna; and put it in his, friedrich's, power to propose a receivable project of peace. that he well conceived the great point was the queen of spain [termagant and jenkins's ear; termagant's husband, still living, is a lappet of termagant's self]: but that she must content herself with parma and piacenza for the infant, don philip [which the termagant did]; and give back her hold of savoy [partial hold, of no use to her without the passes] to the king of sardinia." and of the jenkins's-ear question, generous england will say nothing? next to nothing; hopes a modicum of putty and diplomatic varnish may close that troublesome question,--which springs, meanwhile, in the centre of the world!-- "these kind condescensions of his majesty emboldened me to represent to him the brilliant position he now held; and how noble it would be, after having been the hero of germany, to become, instead of one's own pacificator, the pacificator of europe. 'i grant you,' said he, (mon cher d'arget; but it is too dangerous a part for playing. a reverse brings me to the edge of ruin: i know too well the mood of mind i was in, last time i left berlin with that three-legged immensity of atropos, not yet mown down at hennersdorf by a lucky cut), ever to expose myself to it again! if luck had been against me there, i saw myself a monarch without throne; and my subjects in the cruelest oppression. a bad game that: always, mere check to your king; no other move;--i refer it to you, friend d'arget:--in fine, i wish to be at peace.' "i represented to him that the house of austria would never, with a tranquil eye, see his house in possession of silesia. 'those that come after me,' said he, 'will do as they like; the future is beyond man's reach. those that come after will do as they can. i have acquired; it is theirs to preserve. i am not in alarm about the austrians;--and this is my answer to what you have been saying about the weakness of my guarantees. they dread my army; the luck that i have. i am sure of their sitting quiet for the dozen years or so which may remain to me of life;--quiet till i have, most likely, done with it. what! are we never to have any good of our life, then (ne dois-je donc jamais jouir)? there is more for me in the true greatness of laboring for the happiness of my subjects, than in the repose of europe. i have put saxony out of a condition to do hurt. she owes , , crowns of debt [two millions and a quarter sterling]; and by the defensive alliance which i form with her, i provide myself [but ask bruhl withal!] a help against austria. i would not henceforth attack a cat, except to defend myself.' ["these are his very words," adds d'arget;--and well worth noting.] (ambition (gloire) and my interests were the occasion of my first campaigns. the late kaiser's situation, and my zeal for france [not to mention interests again], gave rise to these second: and i have been fighting always since for my own hearths,--for my very existence, i might say! once more, i know the state i had got into:--if i saw prince karl at the gates of paris, i would not stir.'--'and us at the gates of vienna,' answered i promptly, 'with the same indifference?'--'yes; and i swear it to you, d'arget. in a word, i want to have some good of my life (veux jouir). what are we, poor human atoms, to get up projects that cost so much blood? let us live, and help to live.' "the rest of the conversation passed in general talk, about literature, theatres and such objects. my reasonings and objectings, on the great matter, i need not farther detail: by the frank discourse his prussian majesty was kind enough to go into, you may gather perhaps that my arguments were various, and not ill-chosen;--and it is too evident they have all been in vain."--your excellency's (really in a very faithful way)-- d'arget. [valori, i. - (no date, except "dresden, ,"--sleepy editor feeling no want of any).] d'arget, about a month after this, was taken into friedrich's service; valori consenting, whose occupation was now gone;--and we shall hear of d'arget again. take this small note, as summary of him: "d'arget ( th january, ) had some title, 'secretary at orders (secretaire des commandements),' bit of pension; and continued in the character of reader, or miscellaneous literary attendant and agent, very much liked by his master, for six years coming. a man much heard of, during those years of office. march, , having lost his dear little prussian wife, and got into ill health and spirits, he retired on leave to paris; and next year had to give up the thought of returning;--though he still, and to the end, continued loyally attached to his old master, and more or less in correspondence with him. had got, before long, not through friedrich's influence at paris, some small appointment in the ecole militaire there. he is, of all the frenchmen friedrich had about him, with the exception of d'argens alone, the most honest-hearted. the above letter, lucid, innocent, modest, altogether rational and practical, is a fair specimen of d'arget: add to it the prompt self-sacrifice (and in that fine silent way) at jaromirz for valori, and readers may conceive the man. he lived at paris, in meagre but contented fashion, rue de l'ecole militaire, till ; and seems, of all the ex-prussian frenchmen, to have known most about friedrich; and to have never spoken any falsity against him. duvernet, the 'm----' biographer of voltaire, frequented him a good deal; and any true notions, or glimmerings of such, that he has about prussia, are probably ascribable to d'arget." [see _oeuvres de frederic,_ xx. (p. xii of preface to the d'arget correspondence there).] the treaty of dresden can be read in scholl, flassan, rousset, adelung; but, except on compulsion, no creature will now read it,--nor did this editor, even he, find it pay. peace is made. peace of dresden is signed, christmas day, : "to me silesia, without farther treachery or trick; you, wholly as you were." europe at large, as friedrich had done, sees "the sky all on fire about dresden." the fierce big battles done against this man have, one and all of them, become big defeats. the strenuous machinations, high-built plans cunningly devised,--the utmost sum-total of what the imperial and royal potencies can, for the life of them, do: behold, it has all tumbled down here, in loud crash; the final peal of it at kesselsdorf; and the consummation is flame and smoke, conspicuous over all the nations. you will let him keep his own henceforth, then, will you? silesia, which was not yours nor ever shall be? silesia and no afterthought? the saxons sign, the high plenipotentiaries all; in the eyes of villiers, i am told, were seen sublimely pious tears. harrach, bowing with stiff, almost incredulous, gratitude, swears and signs;--hurries home to his sovereign lady, with peace, and such a smile on his face; and on her imperial majesty's such a smile!--readers shall conceive it. there are but two new points in the treaty of dresden,--nay properly there is but one point, about which posterity can have the least care or interest; for that other, concerning "the toll of schidlo," and settlement of haggles on the navigation of the elbe there, was not kept by the saxons, but continued a haggle still: this one point is the eleventh article. inconceivably small; but liable to turn up on us again, in a memorable manner. that let us translate,--for m. de voltaire's sake, and time coming! steuer means land-tax; ober-steuer-einnahme will be something like royal exchequer, therefore; and steuer-schein will be approximately equivalent to exchequer bill. article eleventh stipulates: "all subjects and servants of his majesty the king of prussia who hold bonds of the saxon ober-steuer-einnahme shall be paid in full, capital and interest, at the times, and to the amount, specified in said steuer-scheine or bonds." that is article eleventh.--"the saxon exchequer," says an old note on it, "thanks to bruhl's extravagance, has been as good as bankrupt, paying with inconvertible paper, with scheine (things to be shown), for some time past; which paper has accordingly sunk, let us say, per cent below its nominal amount in gold. all prussian subjects, who hold these bonds, are to be paid in gold; saxons, and others, will have to be content with paper till things come round again, if things ever do." yes;--and, by ill chance, the matter will attract m. de voltaire's keen eye in the interim! friedrich stayed eight days in dresden, the loud theme of gazetteers and rumors; the admired of two classes, in all countries: of the many who admire success, and also of the few who can understand what it is to deserve success. among his own countrymen, this last winter has kindled all their admirations to the flaming pitch. saved by him from imminent destruction; their enemies swept home as if by one invincible; nay, sent home in a kind of noble shame, conquered by generosity. these feelings, though not encouraged to speak, run very high. the dresdeners in private society found him delightful; the high ladies especially: "could you have thought it; terrific mars to become radiant apollo in this manner!" from considerable collections of anecdotes illustrating this fact, in a way now fallen vapid to us,--i select only the introduction:-- "do readers recollect friedrich's first visit to dresden [in ], seventeen years ago; and a certain charming young countess flemming, at that time only fourteen; who, like a hebe as she was, contrived beautiful surprises for him, and among other things presented him, so gracefully, on the part of august the strong, with his first flute?"--no reader of this history can recollect it; nor indeed, except in a mythic sense, believe it! a young countess flemming (daughter of old feldmarschall flemming) doubtless there might be, who presented him a flute; but as to his first flute--? "that same charming young countess flemming is still here, age now thirty-one; charming, more than ever, though now under a changed name; having wedded a von racknitz (supreme gentleman-usher, or some such thing) a few years ago, and brought him children and the usual felicities. how much is changed! august the strong, where is he; and his famous three hundred and fifty-four, enchantress orzelska and the others, where are they? enchantress orzelska wedded, quarrelled, and is in a convent: her charming destiny concluded. rutowski is not now in the prussian army: he got beaten, wednesday last, at kesselsdorf, fighting against that army. and the chevalier de saxe, he too was beaten there;--clambering now across the metal mountains, ask not of him. and the marechal de saxe, he takes cities, fights battles of fontenoy, 'mumbling a lead bullet all day;' being dropsical, nearly dead of debaucheries; the most dissolute (or probably so) of all the sons of adam in his day. august the physically strong is dead. august the spiritually weak is fled to prag with his bruhl. and we do not come, this time, to get a flute; but to settle the account of victories, and give peace to nations. strange, here as always, to look back,--to look round or forward,--in the mad huge whirl of that loud-roaring loom of time!--one of countess racknitz's sons happened to leave manuscript diaries [rather feeble, not too exact-looking], and gives us, from mamma's reminiscences"... not a word more. [rodenbeck, _beitrage,_ i. , et seq.] the peace, we said, was signed on christmas-day. next day, sunday, friedrich attended sermon in the kreuzkirche (protestant high-church of dresden), attended opera withal; and on monday morning had vanished out of dresden, as all his people had done, or were diligently doing. tuesday, he dined briefly at wusterhausen (a place we once knew well), with the prince of prussia, whose it now is; got into his open carriage again, with the said prince and his other brother ferdinand; and drove swiftly homeward. berlin, drunk with joy, was all out on the streets, waiting. on the heath of britz, four or five miles hitherward of berlin, a body of young gentlemen ("merchants mostly, who had ridden out so far") saluted him with "vivat friedrich der grosse (long live friedrich the great)!" thrice over;--as did, in a less articulate manner, berlin with one voice, on his arrival there; burgher companies lining the streets; population vigorously shouting; pupils of the koln gymnasium, with clerical and school functionaries in mass, breaking out into latin song:-- "vivat, vivat fridericus rex; vivat augustus, magnus, felix, pater, patri-ae--!" --and what not. [preuss, i. ; who cites _beschreibung_ ("description of his majesty's triumphant entry, on the" &c.) and other contemporary pamphlets. rodenbeck, i. .] on reaching the portal of the palace, his majesty stept down; and, glancing round the schloss-platz and the crowded windows and simmering multitudes, saluted, taking off his hat; which produced such a shout,--naturally the loudest of all. and so exit king, into his interior. tuesday, - p.m., th december, : a king new-christened in the above manner, so far as people could. illuminated berlin shone like noon, all that night (the beginning of a gaudeamus which lasted miscellaneously for weeks):--but the king stole away to see a friend who was dying; that poor duhan de jaudun, his early schoolmaster, who had suffered much for him, and whom he always much loved. duhan died, in a day or two. poor jordan, poor keyserling (the "cesarion" of young days): them also he has lost; and often laments, in this otherwise bright time. (in _oeuvres,_ xvii. ; xviii. ; ib. --painfully tender letters to frau von camas and others, on these events). from images provided by the million book project. secret memoirs william ii and francis joseph volume i [illustration: _william ii emperor of germany_ _from life_] secret memoirs of the courts of europe william ii _germany_ francis joseph _austria hungary_ by mme. la marquise de fontenoy in two volumes vol. i illustrated publishers' note the essential qualifications for an author of such a work as the present are an actual acquaintance with the persons mentioned, an intimate knowledge of their daily lives, and a personal familiarity with the scenes described. the author of william ii. and francis-joseph, sheltered under the _nom de plume_ of marquise de fontenoy, is a lady of distinguished birth and title. her work consists largely of personal reminiscences, and descriptions of events with which she is perfectly familiar; a sort of panoramic view of the characteristic happenings and striking features of court life, such as will best give a true picture of persons and their conduct. there has been no attempt to trammel the subject,--which embraces religious, official, social and domestic life,--by following a strictly sequential form in the narrative, but the writer's aim has been to present her facts in a familiar way, impressing them with characteristic naturalness and lifelike reality. to this task the author has brought the habits of a watchful observer, the candor of a conscientious narrator, and the refinement of a writer who respects her subject. hence she presents a true, vivid and interesting picture of court life in germany and austria. if such merely sensational, and too often fictitious, unsavory tales as crowd the so-called court narratives expressly concocted for the "society" columns of the periodical press are not the most prominent features of the present work, it is because they receive only a truthful recognition and place in its pages. william ii and francis-joseph chapter i "if only emperor william would be true to himself--be natural, in fact!" exclaimed count s----, a prussian nobleman, high in the diplomatic service of his country, with whom i was discussing the german emperor a year or so ago. then my friend, who had, a short time previously, been brought into frequent personal contact with his sovereign, in connection with his official duties, went on to say: "there are really two distinct characters, one might almost say two personalities, in the kaiser. when he is himself he is the most charming companion that it is possible to conceive. his manners are as genial and as winning as those of his father and grandfather, both of whom he surpasses in brilliancy of intellect, and in quickness of repartee, as well as in a keen sense of humor. he gives one the impression of possessing a heart full of the most generous impulses,--aye, of a generosity carried even to excess, and this, together with a species of indescribable magnetism which appears to radiate from him in these moments, contributes to render him a most sympathetic man." "but," interposed an englishman who was present, "that is not how he is portrayed to the outer world. nor is that the impression which he made upon me and upon others when he was at cowes." "that is precisely why i deplore so much that the emperor should fail to appear in his true colors," continued count s----. "all the qualities which i have just now ascribed to him are too often concealed beneath a mantle of reserve, self-consciousness, nay, even pose. during my recent interviews with his majesty, whenever we happened to be alone, he would show himself in the light which i have just described to you. but let a third person appear upon the scene--be it even a mere servant--at once his entire manner would change. the magnetic current so pleasantly established between us would be cut through, his eyes would lose their kindly, friendly light, and become hard, his attitude self-conscious and constrained, the very tone of his speech sharp, abrupt, commanding, i would almost say arrogant. in fact he would give one the impression that he was playing a rôle--the rôle of emperor--that he was, in one word, posing, even if it were only for the benefit of the menial who had interrupted us. but when the intruder had vanished, william would, like a flash, become his own charming self again. that is what made me exclaim just now, 'if only the kaiser would be true to himself!--be natural, in fact.'" "i fully agree with you, my dear s----," i remarked, after a short pause. "if the emperor has remained anything like what he was prior to his ascension to the throne, your estimate of his character is correct." and i went on to relate a little incident which occurred on the occasion of my first meeting with the emperor many years ago. this meeting took place on that particular spot where the empires of germany, austria, and russia may be said to meet, the frontier guards of each of those three nations being within hail of one another. the great autumnal military manoeuvres were in progress, and a merry party, including a number of ladies, were riding home from the mimic battlefield. we passed through a narrow lane, bordered on each side by groups of stunted willows and birch trees, under the sparse shadow of which nestled a few cottages painted in blue, pink, or yellow, in true polish fashion. suddenly our progress was arrested by terrifying screams proceeding from one of these hovels. several of us were out of our saddles in an instant and rushed in at the low door. before the hearth, where a huge peat-fire was burning, stood a young peasant woman, her face distorted with agonized grief, and holding in her arms a bundle of blackened rags. we found that her baby had fallen into the glowing embers, while she herself was occupied out of doors, and the poor mite was so badly burned that there seemed but little hope of its ever reviving from its state of almost complete coma. we were all busying ourselves eagerly about the child and its distraught mother, when raising my eyes from the palpitating form of the child, i caught sight of "prince william," as the kaiser was then called, standing near the door, apparently quite undisturbed and unmoved by this tragedy in lowly life. it even seemed to me in the dim light as if he were smiling derisively at our efforts to relieve the sufferings of the little one, and to soothe the grief of its mother. but my indignation vanished quickly when a slanting ray of the setting sun, piercing through the grime of the little window, revealed the presence on his cheek of two very large and _bona-fide_ tears, which had welled up in his eyes, to which the lad was endeavoring to impart an expression of callous indifference; and when at last we left the hut to seek a doctor for the tiny sufferer it was prince william's own military coat, none too new, and even, to say the truth, much worn, that remained as an additional coverlet upon the roughly-hewn wooden cot, over which the sobbing mother was bending. "nobody," i added, "will, therefore, make me believe that emperor william has not got a very soft spot in his heart, and that beneath the mannerisms which he considers it necessary to affect in order to maintain the dignity of his position as emperor,--those mannerisms which have given rise to so much misapprehension about his character,--there is not concealed a very kindly spirit, literally brimming over with generous impulses, which, if more widely known, would serve to render the kaiser the most popular, as he is the most interesting figure of old world royalty." it is because emperor francis-joseph and the veteran king of saxony are so thoroughly acquainted with his real nature, that they are truly and honestly fond of him. both of them old men, with no sons in whom to seek support for the eventide of lives that have been saddened by many a public and private sorrow, they entertain a fatherly affection for william, who as emperor treats them in public as brother sovereigns, and as equals, but accords to them in private the most touching filial deference and regard, remembering full well the kindness which both of them showed to him when he was still the much-snubbed, and not altogether justly-treated "prince william." they on their side are led by his behavior towards them to regard him in the light of a son. of course they cannot be blind to his faults, but they are disposed to treat them with an indulgence that is even more than paternal, and to see in them relatively trivial defects, due to the manner in which he was brought up, and which are certain to disappear with advancing years and experience. during his early manhood, prince william was by no means a favorite either at his grandfather's court or at that of any other foreign sovereign which he was occasionally allowed to visit. pale-faced and delicate-looking, very severely treated by his mother, who is what one is bound to call _une maîtresse femme_, the boy at seventeen was by no manner of means prepossessing, and his efforts to assert himself, and to crush down a good deal of natural awkwardness and timidity added to his singularly unlikeable appearance. in those days it could clearly be seen that everything that he did or said was meant to create an impression of dignity and of grandeur, to which his physique did not lend itself very easily, and the contrast between him and his bosom friend the courteous, graceful and dashing crown prince of austria, was very marked. good-hearted and endowed with a great many truly generous instincts the young fellow was, however, sorely handicapped by his education, the abnormal strictness displayed towards him at the court of berlin, and also by a continually and most distressingly empty purse. it is a hard and almost pitiful thing for the heir apparent of a great empire to find himself often without the necessary amount with which to cut the figure which his social rank forces him to adopt, and it must have been especially galling to the overbearing and proud nature of this boy to be continually obliged to borrow from his friends, nay even from his _aides de camp_, small sums wherewith to pay his way wherever he went. nevertheless his father and mother, then crown prince and crown princess of germany, believed it to be a thoroughly wholesome thing for the young man to have to humble his pride, should he not be content with the very small allowance made to him, this unfortunate idea being, however, the cause of a great deal of bitterness, which to this day has not completely faded from the heart of the now omnipotent ruler of the german empire. it is undeniable that many eccentricities and false moves on the part of william ii. have been grossly exaggerated and placed before the public in a false light, showing him up as a conceited, bumptious and silly person, whereas not only his state of health, but his _entourage_ should have been blamed for whatever he did that was out of place. during a great many years the young prince suffered from what is called technically _otitis media_, namely, a disease of the middle ear, very painful, exasperating and even somewhat humiliating to endure, and which he must have inherited in some extraordinary way from his great-uncle, king william iv. of prussia, who died insane. there are certainly some traits of resemblance between this hapless monarch and the present occupant of the german throne, for in both there exists and has existed the same exaggerated and narrow-minded religious beliefs, bordering on mysticism, and also an all-embracing faith in their absolute and unquestionable infallibility. it has long since become a well-anchored creed that william ii. has occasional fits of insanity. this is by no means the case, but it must be admitted that the peculiar malady to which i referred above, and which is as yet not eradicated from his system, causes him, at times, days of the most excruciating pains all over the back and side of his head, and it is scarcely surprising that at such moments the emperor should act in a way which astonishes the uninitiated. indeed, william ii. displays extraordinary force of character in suppressing physical agony, when the duties he owes to the state force him to come forward when unfit for anything else but the sick room. the truth of the matter is that there are but few who can boast of knowing him well, and the masses as well as the classes both at home and abroad seem to take a peculiarly keen delight in accepting for gospel truth any sweeping statements made about him by the press of all civilized countries. although twenty-nine years of age when he ascended the throne on june , , he may be said to have been at that time still but a raw youth, continually kept in the background, and treated more or less like a child, without any consequence or weight. it is, therefore, not remarkable that the first years of his reign should have been signalized by many errors of judgment; for it is not with impunity that one suddenly releases a person, locked up for years in a dark room and drives him into dazzlingly-lighted spaces without a guide, a philosopher, or a friend by his side to lead him on the way. the mental, as well as the physical optic has to gradually become accustomed to so complete a change, and this fact was not sufficiently taken into consideration by all the detractors of the young monarch, when he, to speak very familiarly, leaped over the saddle in his anxiety to secure for himself a firm seat on the throne of his forefathers. it is well to mention also that emperor frederick iii., who reigned alas! but for a few weeks, was positively worshipped by the german people, and not without cause, for he was undoubtedly one of the finest personalities of this century. his appearance, his demeanor, his unaffected dignity, kindness of heart, and loftiness of purpose were difficult to surpass, and it was a bitter disappointment to his subjects when death snatched him away before he had had time to carry out the grand plans and ideas which he had long cherished and reserved for the time when he would have the reins of government in his own hands. speaking with all kindness and good-will, one cannot but after a fashion understand the disappointment of the germans when this towering military figure, this magnificent specimen of perfect physical and mental manhood, vanished from their ken, to be replaced by the slender, pale-faced, somewhat arrogant and despotic young man, who resembled this father so little. emperor william ii. is an extremely intelligent personage, in spite of all that may have been said to the contrary. he thinks for himself when he has a mind to do so, and, what is more, thinks logically, and is quite capable of following a thus logically-attained conclusion to its furthermost point. he feels keenly his enormous responsibilities, and the tremendous international importance of his position as the ruler of over , , people, for he well knows that any man wearing on his head the double crown of king of prussia, and of german emperor, is a being endowed with powers which are bound to compel attention from every point of the european continent. being given, as i have just remarked, that his health and his physique are neither of them of a kind to aid him in the tremendous task which belongs to him by right of birth, it is easily explainable that his self-assertive ways and imperious manners should often be mistaken for posing and posturing. moreover, his imperfect left arm--a misfortune which has been a source of great distress to him ever since his birth--is but another one of those physical troubles which his pride makes him anxious to conceal, this only adding to his stilted and repellent attitude. in spite of all these drawbacks, the emperor fences exceedingly well, rides with pluck, and even skill, managing to hold his reins with his poor withered left hand when in uniform, in order to keep his sword-arm free, and during his visit to austrian poland, which i referred to at the beginning of this chapter, i more than once saw him with my own eyes, whilst we were riding across country, take obstacles which would have made a far older and more experienced hunter pause and reflect on. nobody, even the best-intentioned, can deny that emperor william has many faults; those are, however, either ignored altogether, or else exaggerated to an extent that eclipses all his good qualities, by his various biographers. very few pen-portraits of royal personages that pass through the hands of the publishers can be said to present a true picture of their subject. either the writer holds up the object of his literary effort as a person so blameless as to suggest the idea that he is an impossible prig, or else every piece of malevolent gossip is construed into a positive fact, his shortcomings magnified until they lose all touch of resemblance, while every word and action capable of misrepresentation is construed in the manner most detrimental to his reputation. in one word, he is either glorified as a preposterous saint, or else held up to public execration as an equally impossible villain. now, in pictorial art, a portrait, in order to present a satisfactory and successful resemblance to its subject, must contain lights and shadows. you cannot have all light, or all shadow, but it is necessary to have a judicious mixture of both. so it is with the art of biography. if one wishes to give in print a true, and above all, a human picture of one's subject, it is necessary to mingle the shadows with the lights. in fact, the former may be said to set off the latter, and there are many shortcomings, especially those which the french, so graphically describe as _petits vices_,--small vices--which, resulting from a generous and impulsive temperament, serve, like the rembrandt shadow of a portrait, to render the subject more attractive to the eye. it is my object, not to give a definitive biography of either of the two kaisers, or even a mere record of their _vie intime_, but rather to present to my readers a series of incidents, full of lights and full of shadows, showing their surroundings, describing as far as possible the atmosphere in which they move, the conditions of life which they are obliged to consider, the temptations to which they are exposed--and to which they sometimes succumb--and when i have completed my task i venture to believe that the readers of these volumes, while they may find the two emperors neither quite so blameless, nor yet quite so bad as they expected, may nevertheless experience a greater degree of sympathy and regard for them as being after all so extremely human. chapter ii while emperor francis-joseph is justly reputed to have played sad havoc with the hearts of the fair sex in his dominions, especially in his younger days, having inherited that frivolity with regard to women which is a traditional characteristic of the illustrious house of hapsburg, he has never at any moment during his long reign permitted his susceptibility to feminine charms to go to the length of influencing his political conduct, or the action of his government. emperor william, on the other hand, whose married life has been, from a domestic point of view, singularly blameless, and who has been an exceptionally faithful husband, has, in at least two instances, permitted himself to be swayed in his rôle of sovereign by ladies, who for a time figured as his "egerias." one of them was a woman of extraordinary cleverness, and an american by birth, who while she has long since ceased to exercise any influence upon him, has retained the affection and the regard of both his consort and himself. she is the countess waldersee, daughter of the late david lee, a wholesale grocer of new york, and who at the time that she became the wife of field-marshal count waldersee, was the widow of the present german empress's uncle, prince frederick of schleswig-holstein. the latter abandoned his royal rank and titles, and assumed the merely nobiliary status of a prince of noer, in order to make her his consort. the countess is treated as an aunt by both william and the kaiserin, and she may be said to have swayed her imperial nephew by her cleverness and intellectual brilliancy, rather than by her looks, for she is a woman already well-advanced in years. different in this respect was the influence of the emperor's other egeria, namely, the polish baroness, jenny koscielska, a woman of rare elegance and beauty, whose political importance during the time she reigned supreme at the court of berlin, was attributable to her personal fascination rather than to her sagacity or statecraft. she is the wife of that baron kosciol-koscielski, who was one of the most celebrated leaders of the polish party in the russian house of lords, and perhaps, also, the most popular of all modern polish poets and playwrights. it would be going too far to assert that william was infatuated by her loveliness. yet there is no doubt that as long as she figured at the court of berlin, he not only paid her the most marked attention, but likewise allowed himself to be advised by her in political matters. it was during the so-called "reign of the baroness" that the kaiser showed such an extraordinary degree of favor to his polish subjects as to excite the jealousy and ill-will of the people in many other parts of his dominions. he reestablished the polish language in the schools and churches of posen, that is of prussian-poland, nominated a polish ecclesiastic to the archbishopric of that province, and conferred so many court dignities, government offices, and decorations upon the compatriots of the fair jenny, as to give rise to the remark that the best road to imperial preferment at berlin was to add the polish and feminine termination of "ska" to one's name. old prince bismarck, who was at the time at daggers-drawn with his young sovereign, at length gave public utterance to the popular ill-will, excited by the rôle of egeria, which the baroness was accused of playing to the "numa pompilius" of emperor william. for, in the course of an address delivered by the old ex-chancellor at friedrichsrüh, and reproduced in extenso in the press, he declared among other things that: "the polish influence in political affairs increases always in the measure that some polish family obtains of more or less influence at court. i need not allude here to the rôle formerly played by the princely house of radziwill. to-day we have exactly the same state of affairs, which is to be deplored!" bismarck's allusion to the radziwills was an ungenerous reference to the romantic attachment of old emperor william for that princess elize radziwill, whom he was so determined to marry that he offered his father to abandon his rights of succession to the throne on her account. this king frederick-william would not permit, and william was compelled to wed goethe's pupil, princess augusta of saxe-weimar. a loveless match in every sense of the word, for he remained until the day of princess elize's death her most devoted friend and admirer, seeking her advice in many a difficulty, to the great annoyance of prince bismarck, who detested her, and after her death the old emperor continued to show the utmost favor and good-will to the members of her family in honor of her memory. of course this speech of prince bismarck created no end of a sensation throughout the empire, as well as abroad, the press being encouraged thereby to print in cold type what had until that time been merely whispered in official and court circles. it is possible that the young emperor might have remained indifferent to popular clamor about the matter, had not two other incidents occurred about the same time to cool his liking for the fair jenny. in the first place, she felt herself so much encouraged by the influence which she believed that she exercised over the emperor, that when during the annual army manoeuvres field marshal prince george of saxony, and other prussian and foreign royalties were quartered under her roof, she absolutely declined to hoist either the german flag, or the royal saxon standard, but insisted upon flying the national colors of poland from the flag staff that surmounted the turret of her château. naturally, prince george and his fellow royal guests complained of this breach of etiquette to the kaiser, and protested strongly against it. almost at the same time, her husband, the baron, having been invited to attend the opening of a provincial exhibition in the neighboring empire of austria, was so carried away by enthusiasm, due to the kindness with which the poles present were treated by emperor francis-joseph, that forgetting all he owed to emperor william, he publicly hailed francis-joseph as "sole sovereign of all polish hearts," and as "poland's future king!" about this time too, the empress paid a couple of rather mysterious visits to her mother-in-law at friedrichkron. court gossip ascribed these hurried trips to the fact that the empress had been prompted by her jealousy of the baroness to invoke the intervention of the strong-minded widow of frederick the noble. but it is far more likely that the empress visited the dowager kaiserin in order that she should call the attention of her son to the harm which the association of the name of the baroness with his own was doing him in a political sense both at home and abroad. whatever the cause of these consultations between the two empresses may have been, the fact remains that almost immediately afterwards baron and baroness koscielski received from the grand-master-of-the-court, count eulenburg, an official intimation that their presence at court was not desired in highest quarters until further notice, and that under the circumstances they would do well to remain at their country seat. in fact they were virtually banished, and when both husband and wife travelled all the way to berlin with the object of asking for an explanation from the emperor, he declined to receive either the one or the other. he had apparently come to the conclusion that the game was not worth the candle, and that in view of the fact that his intimacy with the baroness had never gone beyond platonic friendship and mild flirtation, it was ridiculous to incur the ill-will of his subjects and expose himself to slanderous stories concocted by his enemies on her account. the influence of the american born countess waldersee was of a far more lasting character, and may be said to have been inaugurated very shortly after his marriage. prior to becoming a benedict, prince william was as gay as his very limited financial means would permit. in fact, he was charged with playing the rôle of don juan to at least half a dozen beauties of the prussian court, while at vienna he became involved in a scandal of a feminine character, from which he was only extricated with the utmost difficulty by the then german ambassador to the austrian court, namely, prince reuss. the presumption is that he had allowed himself to become the prey of an adventuress, and with the object of avoiding publicity he was practically compelled to provide for the welfare and future of a child which may or may not have been his offspring. but as soon as he married, he turned over a new leaf, and became the very model of husbands. it has always been my conviction that this was due in part to the influence of the countess waldersee, and largely also to the unkindly treatment which his consort received during the early years of her marriage at the hands of his family. although a nice and gentle-looking girl, augusta-victoria was far from shining either by her beauty or her elegance at a court which is one of the most cruelly critical and satirical in all europe. moreover, she labored under the disadvantage of being the daughter of the duchess of augustenburg, who is not credited with a robust intellect, and, in fact has passed the greater part of her life in retirement, and of the duke of augustenburg, who was famed thirty years ago for the dullness of his mind. in fact, after prussia had undertaken in his behalf the conquest of the duchy of schleswig-holstein, to which he was entitled by right of inheritance, and which had been unlawfully seized by denmark, prince bismarck refused to permit the duke to assume the sovereignty thereof, on the publicly expressed ground that it would be an act of the most outrageous tyranny to subject any state to the rule of so intensely stupid a man as the duke. this utterance on the part of bismarck, which may be found in most of the german histories printed prior to the accession of the present emperor, was naturally recalled to mind at the court of berlin, when the daughter of the duke became the bride of prince william, and the widespread belief in her inherited dullness of intellect was further increased by the mingled impatience and pity which characterized the behavior of her husband's mother and sisters towards her. there is much that is chivalrous in the nature of the present german emperor, and it was precisely the unkindness and slights to which his bride was subjected that had the effect of drawing him more closely to her. he did not conceal the fact that he strongly resented the attitude of his family towards her, and his friendship with countess waldersee owes its origin to the motherly way in which she behaved to his wife, acting as her mentor, as her adviser and guide in the intricate maze of berlin society, and of court life. debarred from all intimacy with her sisters-in-law, who were ever ready to scoff at, and to make fun of her, augusta-victoria was wont to have recourse to the countess in all her difficulties, and inasmuch as count waldersee himself is the most brilliant soldier of the german army, and was designated at the time by the great moltke as his successor and his principal lieutenant, prince william and his wife ended by becoming very intimate indeed with the waldersees, and almost daily visitors at their house. the countess is of a deeply religious turn of mind, with a strong disposition towards evangelism, and already before the marriage of prince william, she had become conspicuous as one of the most influential leaders of the anti-semite party in prussia. it was in her salons at berlin that the great jew-baiter stoecker was wont to hold his politico-religious meetings, denouncing the jews, and it was through her influence, too, that he obtained appointment as court chaplain, in spite of the opposition of the father and the mother of prince william. it was also under the roof of the countess waldersee that the present emperor became imbued with that very religious,--one might almost say pietist--disposition, which has since been so marked a feature of his character. true, the hereditary tendency of the sovereign house of prussia is distinctly religious, leaning in fact towards fanaticism, and king frederick-william iii., his son frederick-william iv., and likewise old emperor william, entertained the most extraordinary ideas on the subject of providence, with which they believed themselves to be in constant communion, as well as its principal agent here on earth. in fact, there is hardly a public utterance of any of these three sovereigns, which is not marked throughout by a deep religious tone, and by a degree of familiarity with the almighty which would be blasphemous were it not so manifestly sincere. this hereditary tendency towards religion was, to a certain extent, obliterated by the education which william received, and which was of a nature to dispose him to be both a materialist and a free-thinker. he may be said in fact to have been brought up in an atmosphere of renan-ism and strauss-ism, for which his extraordinary and mercilessly clever mother, empress frederick, was largely responsible, and at the moment of his marriage it looked as if he were destined to figure in history as quite as much of a philosopher, and even atheist, as frederick the great, for whom he professed the most profound veneration. it was countess waldersee who revived all the inherited and latent religious tendencies of his character. up to the time when he ascended the throne, prince william and his consort were constant and devout attendants at the prayer-meetings held in the salons of the countess, and if he remains to this day a remarkably religious man, with a sufficient regard for scriptural commands to have shown himself a more faithful husband than any other prince of his house, either living or dead--if, to-day, piety is fashionable at the court of berlin instead of being bad form, if the building or endowment of a church, or of a charitable institution, is regarded as the surest road to imperial favor, it is due to the influence of william's american aunt, the daughter of that new york grocer, the first princess noer, and who is to-day countess of waldersee. it is natural that the influence exercised over william and his wife by the countess should have given rise to the utmost jealousy, especially on the part of his mother, empress frederick, and during the hundred days' reign of her lamented husband, she availed herself of her brief spell of power to secure the virtual banishment of the count and the countess from berlin, by causing the field marshal to be transferred from the chieftaincy of the headquarter staff to the command of the army stationed in altona. moreover, she did not hesitate to denounce the influence of the waldersees as disastrous, as illiberal, and in every sense of the word reactionary, and if her husband, emperor frederick, was led to share her views concerning them, it was because of his disapproval of the movement against the jews in which the countess had figured so conspicuously. it is a peculiar fact that although emperor william has always remained on the most affectionate terms with the waldersees, and never loses any opportunity of manifesting the warmth of his affection for them, he has never repealed the decree of banishment to which they were virtually subjected during his father's reign. he has transferred the field marshal from one post to another, but he has never appointed him to one which would admit of his coming back to live in berlin. i cannot help thinking that the emperor resented the imputation that he was subject to the sway of his wife's aunt, and was offended by the articles which appeared at one moment both in the german and foreign press intimating that she was the power behind the throne. he is sufficiently jealous of his dignity to object to be considered as subject to the influence of anyone, be it man or woman, and one of the chief causes of the dismissal of old prince bismarck was precisely because so long as he remained in office there was a disposition to regard the kaiser as a mere puppet in the hands of the old statesman. it is this aversion to being considered as swayed by any other influence than his own that has led the emperor on so many occasions to adopt a course diametrically opposed to that urged upon him by his clever and masterful mother, a woman with the most powerful intellect and the least tact to be found in all old world royalties. it was this, too, that led the emperor to banish, just a trifle unjustly, the pretty and dashing countess hohenau from his court. she had been guilty of no indiscretion with regard to him. she had done nothing wrong, and she was not only a brilliant ornament of the imperial _entourage_, but likewise a relative of the family. but he banished both her husband and herself almost at a moment's notice, owing to the fact that in the anonymous letters circulated at the time of the so-called kotze scandal, he was mentioned as altogether infatuated and subjugated by her beauty. count hohenau is the half-brother of that prince albert of prussia, who is now regent of the grand duchy of brunswick. old prince albert of prussia, his father, was married to the eccentric and half-crazy princess marianne of the netherlands. not long after the birth of the present prince albert, she lost her heart to such an extent to a chamberlain in her household that her husband was compelled to divorce her, whereupon she contracted a morganatic marriage with the gentleman in question, and lived and died at an advanced age only about twelve years ago. prince albert, the elder, thereupon married morganatically a young girl of noble birth of the name of baroness rauch, whose family had for more than one hundred and fifty years occupied leading positions at the court of berlin. on the occasion of her marriage to the prince, she received from the prussian crown the title of countess of hohenau, and the children whom she bore to prince albert the elder are now known as counts and countesses of hohenau. the elder of these counts hohenau bears the name of fritz, and his wife, before their banishment from the capital, was one of the most dashing and brilliant figures in the ultra-aristocratic society of berlin. no entertainment was regarded as complete without her presence, and in every social enterprise, no matter whether it was a flower corso, a charity fair, a hunt, a picnic, or amateur theatricals, she was always to the fore, besides being the leader in every new fashion, and in every new extravagance. although eccentric--she was the first member of her sex to show herself astride on horseback in the thiergarten--and in spite of her being famed as a thorough-paced coquette, and as a flirt, yet no one ventured to impugn her good name, until the disgraceful anonymous letter scandal; and both her husband and herself naturally resent most keenly that without any hearing or explanation they should have been banished from the court, and sent to live, first at hanover, then at dresden, but always away from berlin and potsdam, solely on account of an anonymous letter. the sympathy of society in the affair was all with the hohenaus, who although absent from berlin, may be said to have taken the leading part in that great controversy which is known to this day as "the anonymous letter scandal," and which not only divided all berlin society into separate hostile camps, but led to innumerable duels, some of them with fatal results; to the imprisonment of some great personages; to the ruin of others, and in one word to one of the most talked of court scandals of the present century. in fact, the anonymous letter affair, many of the features of which remain shrouded in mystery to this day, played so important a part in the history of the court of berlin during the first decade of the present emperor's reign, that it deserves a chapter to itself. what, however, i wish specially to impress upon my readers is that in spite of the many scurrilous stories that have been circulated on both sides of the ocean concerning the alleged intrigues of emperor william with the fair sex, since his marriage, nearly eighteen years ago, his wedded life has been singularly free from storms, and exceptionally happy. in fact, there are few more thoroughly-devoted couples than william and augusta-victoria, who is to-day far more comely as a woman than she was as a young girl. so domestic, indeed, are the tastes of the kaiser, so excellent is he both as a husband and a father, that his home life may be said to atone for many of his political errors and shortcomings as a monarch. his loyalty towards his consort is all the more to his credit, as the anointed of the lord in the old world are exposed to feminine temptations in a degree of which no conception can be formed in this country. in most of the capitals of europe it is in the power of the sovereign to make or mar the social position of any man, and of any woman. social ambitions coupled with an exaggerated degree of loyalty will lead many a beautiful woman to cross that border line which separates mere indiscretion from something worse, all the more that the reputation of being the fair favorite of a monarch, and able to influence his conduct, is regarded as a title to prestige, and has the effect of converting the fair one into one of the acknowledged powers of the land. for an ambitious woman it is something to be treated by statesmen and the representatives of foreign governments, as the power behind the throne, and provided this power is wisely exercised, the intimacy of the lady with the monarch is regarded by high and low with something more than mere indulgence. history has given so lofty a pedestal to madame de maintenon, that there are many women who are eager to emulate her rôle in present times, and to likewise figure in history. that is why royal personages, and especially kings and emperors, are exposed to such extraordinary temptations. most women put forth all their charms and powers of fascination to captivate the attention, and, if possible, the heart of their sovereign, who is, after all, but human. that is why emperor william deserves so much credit for having remained true to his wife, and why emperor francis-joseph of austria merits so much indulgence in connection with the indiscretions which had the effect of keeping him for so many years parted and estranged from his lovely consort, the late empress elizabeth. while on this subject, it should be stated that for many years past, probably for the last decade, the life of francis-joseph has been free from affairs of this kind, for it is hardly possible to treat in the light of a scandal his association with that now elderly actress, mlle. schratt, since it is virtually tolerated, accepted and, so to speak, recognized both by the imperial family and by the austrian people. indeed the only persons who have ever taken exception to this intimacy have been herr schoenerer, and some of his anti-semite colleagues who, to the indignation of every one, gave vent three years ago to their spite against their kindly old sovereign by calling attention in the reichsrath to the alleged questionable relations between the sovereign and the popular and veteran star-actress of the burg theatre. herr schoenerer, who was formerly a baron, but who was deprived of his title by the emperor at the time when he was sentenced to a year's imprisonment for a violent and unprovoked assault upon a jewish newspaper proprietor, declared in the legislature, to which he had been elected on emerging from jail, that public opinion was becoming outraged by the impropriety of the conduct of the emperor. the scene which ensued defied description. schoenerer was suspended, and had not steps been taken to assure his protection, would have been subjected to very violent treatment by the vast majority of the house, which is intensely loyal to the emperor, and the members of which resented criticism of his majesty's twenty years' friendship with old frau schratt even the late empress herself did not regard as serious or dangerous her husband's association with the actress. this is shown by the fact that on two separate occasions she honored frau schratt with a visit at the actress's villa near ischl. at the austrian court it is generally understood that whatever may have been the nature of the intimacy of the monarch and the actress in the past, it is now nothing more than a platonic affection between two old friends, the emperor being accustomed to spend half an hour or so with this witty and amiable lady nearly every day. the actress is a great favorite with the people at large, on account of her devotion to the emperor, and for her tact in declining to take any undue advantage of the favor which he accords to her. indeed, the degree of indulgence with which austrian society, as well as the masses, look upon this intimacy maybe gathered from the fact that one of the most--popular photographs on exhibition in the windows of the leading picture-shops at vienna, and at pesth, is a snapshot, showing the kindly-faced old emperor and the sunny-tempered old actress seated in the most domestic fashion opposite one another at a breakfast table with the actress's pet dog on a chair midway between stage and throne. chapter iii it was on the evening of june th, , that a carriage, the servants of which wore court liveries, drew up at the entrance of that old building on the avenue known as "unter den linden," which serves as a military prison of the berlin garrison. from this equipage alighted two men, each of them a well-known figure in the great world of the prussian metropolis. the one in uniform was general count von hahnke, chief of the military household of the emperor, while the other, who was in civilian attire, was baron von kotze, master of ceremonies at the court of berlin, one of the most well-to-do and jovial of _bons vivants_, and who up to that time had stood so high in the favor of the reigning family that his sovereign was accustomed to address him by his christian name, and by the so familiar equivalent pronoun in german of "thou." shortly afterwards general von hahnke reappeared alone, entered the carriage hurriedly, and drove back to the palace. on the following morning it became known that baron von kotze had been suddenly arrested, and lodged in the military prison by personal order of the kaiser, and without the warrant of any tribunal or magistrate, either military or civil. while the general public was speculating as to the cause of this mysterious and startling disciplinary measure against a nobleman so well known and so prominent in every way as baron von kotze, the court gossips were rubbing their hands, chuckling with satisfaction, and congratulating themselves on the fact that success had at length crowned the efforts made to bring to book the author of the hundreds of anonymous letters that had been circulated in the great world of berlin during the two preceding years. gradually the circumstances which had led to the arrest of baron kotze became public property, and people both at home and abroad were made aware for the first time of the existence of a scandal which for over four-and-twenty months had set court and society by the ears, and which had caused every man and woman to regard with suspicion not merely their acquaintances, but even their most intimate friends and nearest relatives. no one, with the exception of the emperor, the empress, and the widow of emperor frederick, can be said to have been altogether exempt from this reflection on their honor. for among those who were at one time most strongly suspected of being the author of these letters were the eldest sister of the kaiser, princess charlotte, and the only brother of the empress, duke ernest-gunther of schleswig-holstein. color was given to these suspicions by the fact that many of the anonymous letters contained remarks and information that manifestly emanated from the imperial family, while some of the views expressed in the letters were known not merely to have been shared, but even to have been uttered in conversation by the prince and princess in question. what gave still further weight to these suppositions was the extraordinary fact that incidents which had occurred within what may be described as the most intimate circle of the court,--incidents, indeed, of which no one could be aware, save royal personages themselves and those few chosen friends and associates who were with them at the time when the incidents in question occurred,--were revealed a few days later in the anonymous letters, twisted and distorted in such a manner as to admit only of the most shameful interpretation. added to this was the knowledge that there are few women at the court of berlin more cruelly satirical or have a keener sense of ridicule than princess charlotte, or any more inveterate gossip than duke ernest-gunther of schleswig-holstein. the anonymous letters had literally spared no one, not even that most blameless and excellent of women, the empress augusta-victoria; nor was there anybody of mark who had not received at least several of them. but for some reason or other which was not understood at the time, they seemed to be imbued with an especially relentless and savage animosity against the charming countess "fritz" von hohenau, who must not be confounded with her less attractive sister-in-law, countess "willy" von hohenau; for whereas the latter is by birth a princess of hohenlohe and a niece of the imperial chancellor of that ilk, countess fritz is by birth a countess von der decken, and rejoices in the christian name of charlotte. if countess fritz has one weakness which in any degree lends itself to unfriendly criticism and ridicule it is the pride which she manifests in her relationship through marriage to the reigning house of prussia, and in her being the sister-in-law of that prince albert of prussia, who is regent of the duchy of brunswick, her husband, count fritz von hohenau, being a half-brother to prince albert. it is owing to this very innocent weakness of the countess that she was nicknamed "_lottchen von preussen_," or "_die preussiche lotte_" that is to say "_lotte of prussia_" and at least a third of the hundreds of anonymous letters confided to the mails during the period extending between and were filled with the most scurrilous remarks concerning the unfortunate "_lottchen von preussen_." the letters imputed to the countess almost every crime under the sun. inasmuch as her husband's principal friend was baron schrader, who was of course frequently seen in her company at the races and at the opera, it naturally followed that she was charged with an altogether questionable intimacy with him. in fact, she was accused of sharing her favors between him and the emperor, and in the letters that reached both the kaiser and his consort, it was asserted that she was, moreover, in the habit of constantly boasting among her friends about the influence which as "_sultana"_ she was able to exercise over the ruler of the german empire. it was on the receipt of one of these letters that the emperor without a moment's warning abruptly ordered count and countess fritz hohenau to leave berlin and to transfer their residence to hanover. the count and countess were not long in discovering the cause of their disgrace, and bitterly incensed, at once resolved to leave no stone unturned in their efforts to discover the culprit. in this determination they were supported by the "willy" von hohenaus, by the various members of the hohenlohe family, by baron schrader, baron hugo reischach, chamberlain to the empress frederick, prince and princess aribert of anhalt, the latter being a granddaughter of queen victoria, prince and princess albert of saxe-altenburg, and last, but not least, baron von tausch, the chief of the secret police attached to the particular service of the emperor. i have already mentioned that suspicions had at first been directed against the empress's only brother, duke ernest-gunther of schleswig-holstein. somehow or other, probably through reading the detective novels of gaboriau, baron schrader became imbued with the idea that the most successful manner of discovering the identity of the suspected writer of the anonymous letters would be to carefully examine the blotting-pads which either he or she were in the habit of using. accordingly, countess fritz von hohenau took advantage of the admiration and devotion entertained for her by count augustus bismarck to induce him to bring to her the blotting-pad habitually used by the duke, to whose household he belonged, as chief aid-de-camp. the count, very reluctantly, it is true, brought to madame von hohenau, the said blotting-pad, and it was immediately submitted to a most careful and even microscopical examination by her husband, herself, and their friends. but in spite of every effort it was impossible to discover the slightest analogy between the writing of the anonymous letters and the impressions left on the blotting-pad of the duke. the countess and her assistants in this queer task, therefore, came to the conclusion that they would have to search in a different direction. it is impossible to say with any degree of certainty how suspicion was then directed towards baron kotze. but i am under the impression that his name was first mentioned in connection with the affair by baron schrader, who like himself was a master of ceremonies of the court of berlin. the vast wealth enjoyed by the kotzes, as well as the extraordinary favor manifested towards them by the emperor and the members of the reigning family, had not unnaturally rendered them objects of no little jealousy on the part of other personages belonging to the court circle. the exceedingly sarcastic and malevolent tongue of the baroness kotze, and the somewhat coarse flavor of the ever-ready jest and quip of her jovial, loud-voiced, hail-fellow-well-met mannered husband did not tend to render the couple very popular. baron kotze's mother had been an heiress in her own right as the daughter of the court banker, krause, while the baron's wife is the daughter of that extraordinary old general von treskow, who for so long commanded the division of guards, and whose reputation as one of the bravest and most dashing officers of the war of , alone saved him from the ridicule which his corseted waist, his painted cheeks, his dyed moustache, and his youthful wig, would otherwise have excited. while he himself has no drop of jewish blood in his veins, both his daughter, madame kotze, and her brother possess the facial features of the semitic race in a most marked degree, and despite their protestations to the contrary, have undoubtedly hebrew ancestors, if not on the father's side, at any rate on that of the mother. old general treskow was very rich indeed, his country seat at friedrichsfeld being one of the most magnificent country seats in the neighborhood of berlin. during the early years of the reign of emperor william, his eldest sister, princess charlotte, and her husband, prince bernhardt of saxe-meiningen, occupied a lovely little palace, or rather, i should say large and roomy villa on the outskirts of the thiergarten, at berlin. among their near neighbors were baron and baroness kotze. little ursula kotze, the daughter of the baroness, was precisely of the same age as princess fedora of saxe-meiningen, the only child of princess charlotte, and the two young girls soon became inseparable friends. the relations thus established soon extended to the parents, and while princess charlotte,--herself disposed to satirizing and ridiculing everybody, and like many royal personages, passionately fond of gossip, especially when spiced with scandal,--found never-ceasing entertainment in the witty comments of the baroness about the social events of the day, and in her reports of the latest stories current concerning mutual acquaintances and friends, prince bernhardt, in spite of his seriousness, and his fond predilection for hellenic research, could not help laughing and enjoying the merry sallies of baron kotze. in fact, the kotzes ended by becoming the most intimate friends of the princely saxe-meiningen couple, whose taste for their society was eventually shared by the empress frederick to a degree that excited the utmost jealousy and ill-will of her chamberlain, baron reischach. the latter was, therefore, only too ready to accept the view expressed by his friend. baron schrader, to the effect that baron kotze was the author of the anonymous letters. i think that it was in the latter part of that the prince and princess of saxe-meiningen, having made up their minds to visit greece and the holy land, invited baron and baroness kotze to accompany them. some quarrel, however, took place between the princess and the baroness during this trip, which they did not complete together, and when they took up their residence once more at berlin the formerly so intimate relations between the two families ceased absolutely. it was about this time that it became known that princess charlotte either during her trip to the orient, or just before she started, had in some unexplainable manner lost the diary in which she had, like so many members of the fair sex, been accustomed to describe her daily impressions, and to the pages of which she was wont to impart sentiments and opinions that she did not venture to confide to anybody else. for a considerable time after the return of the princess from the orient the anonymous letters contained phrases and peculiarities of expression that clearly indicated princess charlotte, and to such an extent was this the case that those in pursuit of the sender of the missives would have ascribed their authorship to the princess, had it not been that she herself was referred to in many of the letters in a particularly savage and scurrilous manner. baron schrader, the hohenaus and their friends, being aware of the existence of the quarrel between the kotzes and the saxe-meiningens, naturally became more convinced than ever that it was either baron kotze, or his "viper-tongued" wife, as they described her, who were the culprits, and insisted that it was the baroness who had taken advantage of her intimacy with the princess to get possession of her royal highness's diary, the contents of which were now being used in so many of the letters. what has now become of the diary it is impossible to say, but judging by the excerpts used in the anonymous letters, it must have constituted a particularly piquant volume or series of volumes! thus there was one remark about the emperor which ridiculed "his intolerable swagger." there were also some comical references to princess victoria of prussia, who was jilted by the late prince alexander of battenberg, on the very eve of the day appointed for the wedding, and that for the sake of a little actress. this princess has since then married prince adolph of schaumburg, who was recently ousted from the regency of the tiny principality of lippe. "_poor vicky_" was described as being "_many-sided_" owing to the number of her _affaires de coeur_, notably those with baron hugo von reischach, at that time a very handsome lieutenant of the "garde-du-corps," but who afterward became gentleman-in-waiting to the widowed empress frederick, and married one of the princesses of hohenlohe. this flirtation between baron reischach and princess victoria formed the theme of quite a number of the anonymous letters, in which the princess was charged with every kind of indelicacy, while the unfortunate baron was ridiculed in connection with the modernity of his nobility. other love affairs of "_poor vicky_" were likewise discussed in no friendly manner, and she was represented as being to such a degree infatuated for count andrassy, the eldest son of the famous austro-hungarian statesman, that the young fellow, it is declared, was forced to resign his secretaryship to the austro-hungarian embassy, at berlin, and to flee from the prussian court, in order to escape from the demonstrative attentions of the princess: "if it is like this now," said one of the letters, "what in heaven's name will it be when '_vicky_' marries!" there were, moreover, all sorts of matters relating to the _vie intime_ of the imperial family discussed in these anonymous communications, such as bickerings between the emperor and his mother, quarrels with his english relatives, flirtations of the younger princesses, etc., which no one could possibly have known about, save members of the imperial family, and which were just the sort of thing that princess charlotte would have written in her diary, in her witty and sarcastic manner. in fact there was so much of the phraseology and style habitual to princess charlotte in the letters, that they would inevitably have been, as i remarked above, positively ascribed to her had it not been for the grossly improper and even disgusting twist and construction that was invariably added to her well-known manner of writing. although a terrible flirt as well as a daring coquette, the princess has never been charged with anything more serious than trivial _affaires de coeur_, excepting by the writer of the anonymous letters. then too, as i have also already stated many of these letters assailed the princess herself, in the most unscrupulous fashion; an abominable and impossible story, picked up from the filthiest of berlin gutters, impugning the legitimacy of the only child of the princess, being thus circulated far and wide. this vile fabrication alleged that charlotte had been married off in a hurry to prince bernhardt of saxe-meiningen, in order to avoid a public scandal. it is only necessary to recall the fact that the sole child of princess charlotte, princess fedora, now married to prince henry of reuss, was born twelve months after her mother's marriage, in order to show how utterly without foundation was this shameful slander. at least a dozen anonymous letters sent to the emperor and to various other personages dealt with an episode said to have taken place during a trip undertaken by the princess in norway and sweden. she was attended on that occasion by a captain von berger, and his wife, who were her gentleman and lady-in-waiting, and there was also in her suite a diminutive officer holding the rank of lieutenant, and bearing the old silesian name of count schack, who acted as aid-de-camp. according to the anonymous letters, princess charlotte made a kind of toy of the little officer, and behaved in a most volatile manner. there was evidence of such intense malignity in these letters against princess charlotte that they were attributed to a jealous woman, and that if not actually written by one, they had at any rate been inspired by a member of the fair sex. there can be no doubt that princess charlotte and her husband ended by sharing the opinion entertained by the schrader-hohenau clique, about the letters being inspired by baroness kotze, and written by her husband, and it must be confessed that there was a certain amount of ground for their doing so. the blotting pads used by baron kotze, both at the union club and elsewhere, were subjected to much the same microscopic examination as those of duke ernest-gunther of schleswig-holstein, and when at length a distinct degree of similarity was discovered to exist between the caligraphy of the anonymous letter writer and the impressions which figured on the blotting pads habitually used by baron kotze, baron schrader drew up a report on the subject, charging baron kotze with being the author of the letters, and presented it to the emperor. the latter hesitated a little before taking any action in the matter, and would doubtless have yielded to the advice of the minister of the imperial household, prince stolberg-wernigrode, who urged him to institute a very careful secret investigation of his own before rushing the _denouement_, cautioning him that baron schrader's evidence was inadequate, had it not been for the pressure brought to bear upon his majesty by the saxe-meiningens and other members of his family, who were all convinced that baron kotze was the guilty party. it was due entirely to this pressure that the kaiser, incensed beyond measure at the persistency and the malignity of these letters, took the extraordinary step of having baron von kotze arrested by the chief of his military household, general von hahnke merely on the strength of his imperial order, dispensing with any legal warrant. that count hahnke should have been selected for this duty, and that a military prison, rather than the ordinary house of detention, should have been chosen for the incarceration of baron kotze, must be ascribed to the fact that the latter was at the time a captain of cavalry on the reserve lists, and that in a military prison the authority of the emperor, as head of the army, is supreme and absolute, which cannot be said of the ordinary civil prisons, the officers of which are subject above everything else to the tribunals and to the laws of the land. of course, from the very moment when the baron was arrested, the entire scandal, that is to say the existence of a conspiracy for the writing and distribution of anonymous letters, became public, and served to furnish material for articles both in the german and the foreign press on the alleged moral rottenness of the court of berlin. at first there is no doubt that society, and even the ordinary public, accepted the guilt of baron kotze as assured, and were further led to believe the story about the baroness having been the instigator of many of the letters, by her at once withdrawing to her country-seat at friedrichsfeld, and refusing to receive anyone. doubts as to the baron's guilt, however, commenced to arise when it was found that in spite of his incarceration, the anonymous letters continued to be sent as before, without any interruption, while all efforts to bring home the guilt to the baron completely failed in every sense of the word. not only did the famous expert in caligraphy, langenbuch, declare that the handwriting of the letters had nothing whatsoever in common with that of baron kotze, but that those written during his incarceration were exactly similar to the others. the emperor himself received anonymous letters, describing him to be a fool for having unjustly imprisoned an altogether innocent man, and recommending him to look after his brother-in-law, duke ernest-gunther of schleswig-holstein. at the end of a fortnight, therefore, the military governor of berlin, old field marshal count pape, declared to his majesty that he would do well to immediately set baron kotze at liberty, since there was no adequate ground for keeping him under arrest. the field marshal, however, suggested that in view of the seriousness of the charge that had been made against the baron, the only thing to do would be to hold a court-martial, permitting the baron meanwhile to reside "_on parole_" at friedrichsfeld. the whole matter was thereupon turned over to general prince frederick of hohenzollern, brother of the king of roumania, commanding the metropolitan division of troops, to the reserve force of which baron kotze belonged. nine months after his arrest. baron kotze appeared before a court-martial, composed of a colonel, who acted as president, and eight other officers, and after a lengthy trial, during the course of which baron schrader acted not merely as witness against kotze, but likewise as prosecutor, endeavoring to show analogy between the writing of the anonymous letters, and the caligraphy, not merely of baron kotze, but also of the baroness, the court-martial acquitted the prisoner, and the emperor not only signified his approval of the verdict, but a week later took the occasion of the easter festivities to send to his former favorite kotze, a huge floral piece in the shape of an easter egg, bound with ribbons in the national colors. william, however, refrained from intimating to kotze his desire that he should resume his service at court as master of ceremonies, and this taken in conjunction with the fact that the procedure of the court-martial remained a secret, left a painful degree of suspicion resting upon the character of the unfortunate baron kotze. it is perfectly true that many of those members of the court, and of society, who had been most bitter in their denunciation of him, left cards at his residence, but the hohenau clique still remained obdurate, and in spite of every possible intervention, persisted in regarding baron kotze as having been unable to clear himself completely. his most obdurate detractor remained baron schrader. kotze learning the part which schrader had played in the entire affair, after having consulted with his friends, came to the conclusion that the injury done to him by his fellow master of ceremonies, was far too great to admit of its being expiated, or atoned for by a mere exchange of bullets on the duelling field, and he accordingly instituted criminal proceedings against him. the preliminaries to this sort of thing are exceedingly intricate and tedious in germany, and the legal authorities having received the impression in one way or another that the public trial in connection with the scandal would be viewed with displeasure in high quarters, naturally placed every obstacle in baron kotze's way. of course, having instituted legal proceedings against schrader, he was debarred by the so-called code of honor from challenging schrader, a circumstance of which the latter took advantage to insinuate that if kotze had refrained from calling him to account on the field of honor, it was because he did not feel sufficiently sure of his ground. this insinuation was taken up by kotze's cousin, captain dietrich kotze, who challenged schrader and fought a duel with him, slightly wounding him. kotze himself meanwhile challenged, and fought a duel with another of his persecutors, baron hugo reischach, the chamberlain of empress frederick, and received a rather severe wound, which kept him in bed for several weeks. as legal proceedings were pending, which were expected to eventually clear up the entire scandal, and show who was the author of the anonymous letters, it was generally assumed that baron von kotze could not be regarded as altogether cleared from the suspicion which rested upon him, until the case had come up for trial. meanwhile poor kotze remained under a cloud. nearly nine months elapsed before the criminal authorities declared that there was no ground for a criminal suit against schrader. kotze thereupon endeavored to institute a civil suit, this requiring still more time, and when at length the matter came into court, kotze was non-suited virtually without any hearing, on the ground that the statutes of limitation had disqualified him from any civil redress against baron schrader. kotze being thus frustrated in his efforts to obtain punishment for his foe and persecutor through the courts of law, came to the conclusion that there was no other means left him to vindicate his honor, but a challenge to fight a duel. his demand for satisfaction, however, was declined by baron schrader, on the ground that it was too late for kotze to resort to arms, and that if he had stood in need of satisfaction of this kind, he should not have allowed so long a period to elapse before demanding it. the matter was referred to a so-called court of honor, which sustained the contention of baron schrader, and declared that inasmuch as baron kotze had by his dilatoriness placed himself beyond the power of exacting satisfaction from baron schrader for the indignities to which he had been subjected, he was no longer worthy to wear the uniform of a prussian officer. this decision of the court of honor was ratified by prince frederick of hohenzollern, the general commanding the division of guards, to the reserve force of which baron kotze belonged, but it was annulled by the emperor, an action on the part of his majesty which led prince frederick to resign his command, and to withdraw for the time from the court of berlin. the emperor thereupon entrusted the affair to another jury of honor at hanover, which rendered a decision, blaming baron kotze for his dilatoriness in demanding satisfaction of baron schrader, but authorizing him to continue to wear the uniform, and to remain in the service of the emperor as an officer. this verdict was ratified by the emperor himself and on the strength thereof the long delayed duel took place between the two barons. in june, , baron schrader was wounded in the abdomen by baron kotze, a wound to which he succumbed on the following day. that seemed to settle, in the minds of all, the innocence of baron kotze, for after spending the customary few months in nominal imprisonment for infraction of the civil laws, which prohibit the fighting of those very duels which are prescribed by the military code, he was invited to resume his service as master of the ceremonies at court, was treated once more with the utmost distinction by the emperor, while his wife spent several weeks in the autumn of that year as the guest of princess charlotte of saxe-meiningen, at the latter's country seat. but who was the author of the anonymous letters? that is a question with which i propose to deal in the following chapter, at the same time showing how this most sensational court scandal of the latter half of the nineteenth century led to the exodus from berlin, and the desertion of its court by numerous royal personages and great nobles. chapter iv to this day the identity of the writer of the anonymous letters remains a secret to the general public in germany, as well as abroad, but it is pretty generally known in court circles at berlin and at vienna; and if steps have been taken by the authorities to prevent the true facts from getting into print, and the writer was merely expelled from germany, instead of being brought to justice and sentenced to a long term of imprisonment, it is only because the culprit could not have been tried and convicted without the name of one of the greatest personages in germany being dragged into the case. needless to add that the anonymous letter writer was a woman--a foreign lady of title--who for a time was one of the most admired beauties at the court of berlin, where, thanks to her inimitable chic, elegance and brilliancy of wit, everybody, men and women alike, were charmed. old emperor william, who was always very attentive to the fair sex, up to the very last, and easily smitten by a pretty face, had introduced the lady to his court without taking much trouble to investigate her antecedents or character, and of course, with such a sponsor, everyone took it for granted that she was above reproach, socially, as well as morally. she became very intimate with many of the court people, notably with the hohenaus, the kotzes, etc., and was even admitted to the intimacy of princess charlotte of saxe-meiningen, the emperor's eldest sister. she possibly might have, in spite of all, retained her social eminence, had she not allowed herself to be compromised, first, in the eyes of a few, and subsequently, in a more general fashion, by the only brother of the empress, duke ernest-gunther of schleswig-holstein-augustenburg. the association of their names ultimately became such that the great ladies of the berlin court, commenced to cut adrift from the fair foreigner, whose resentment at this treatment naturally became particularly bitter against precisely those with whom she had been most intimate. her animosity against countess fritz hohenau was especially intensified by the particularly offensive manner in which she was cut by "charlotte of prussia," whose bitter and contemptuous remarks concerning her were naturally communicated to the foreign lady by the men who still frequented her salons. through these noblemen and princes she was kept _au courant_ of everything that went on at court, and there is no doubt that she was able to extract much information concerning the emperor and his family from the duke, who visited her daily, and who was infatuated by her potent and undeniable charms beyond all reason. of course, no one dreams to-day of accusing the duke of having knowingly played any part in the fabrication of the anonymous letters; but there is no doubt that, with his utter absence of discretion, his lack of intellectual brilliancy, and the thoroughly royal predilection for gossip and tittle-tattle, which monopolize to this day his interest, he imparted to her, in the course of his daily visits, a vast amount of news and information which she could not possibly have obtained from any one else. dissipated, foolish and indiscreet to an incredible extent, the duke is nevertheless an honorable man, and in spite of the suspicions entertained at one time concerning him by the schraders, the hohenaus, the anhalts, and the reischachs, there is no doubt that he had not the slightest conception of the manner in which the gossip which he retailed day by day to his _inamorata_ was used by her for the fabrication of her anonymous letters. it was baron von kotze's cousin, captain dietrich kotze, mentioned in the preceding chapter as having espoused the cause of his unfortunate relative with particular vigor, to whom belongs the credit of having discovered the culprit. he accomplished this more through a piece of good fortune than by design, for he was put on the right scent by a mere chance remark which he happened to overhear at a dinner party in paris. the information which he obtained was imparted to the emperor, and the latter without a moment's hesitation gave orders that his palace police should visit the "grande dame's" residence during the following night, take possession of all her papers and correspondence, and convey her to a small town, near the belgian frontier, where she was to be kept by the police under strict surveillance, without being permitted to see any one, until further orders. it is impossible to say exactly what was discovered among these papers, but it is generally understood that the police recovered possession of the missing diary of princess charlotte, and obtained ample proofs of the fact that the fair foreigner was the author of all the anonymous letters. after a twenty-four hours' detention, she was conducted to the frontier by the police, and warned against returning to germany. if no severer measures were taken against her, it is because it would have resulted in a more or less public disclosure of the indiscreet rôle played by the duke in the matter, and likewise because she really knew too much! in fact, there is scarcely a secret pertaining to the reigning family, or to the court of prussia, with which she is not acquainted, and the fact that she should have refrained from making any attempt to publish them to the world, gives rise to the presumption that means of a financial character, or else some threats of terrorism, have been used to insure her silence. at the time of the descent of the police upon her house, duke ernest-gunther was staying at lowther castle, in westmoreland, england, as the guest of lord lonsdale, and was to have gone on at the end of the week to sandringham, to stay with the prince and princess of wales. on receiving telegrams, however, from his beautiful friend, notifying him of her expulsion from germany, he left lowther castle, literally at an hour's notice, and without taking leave of his host, proceeded immediately to paris for the purpose of meeting her, in order to find out to what extent the situation was compromised. there is every reason to believe that it was not until then that he realized that the writer of the long series of anonymous letters was no other than the lady by whose fascinations he had been so completely captivated. a considerable time elapsed before he returned to berlin. in fact, a very serious estrangement between himself and the emperor ensued, william declining to hold any intercourse with a relative whose susceptibility to feminine charms, and whose extraordinary absence of even the most elementary discretion, had contributed to one of the most painful scandals that have overtaken the prussian court since the close of the last century. not even the kaiser's fondness for his wife, nor his anxiety to please her, could soften the anger which he felt against his brother-in-law, and when after a prolonged voyage to india and elsewhere, the duke on landing at trieste, ran over from there to the neighboring seaside resort of abbazia, for the purpose of visiting the german imperial couple, who were spending the early spring there with their children, the kaiser declined to receive his brother-in-law and went out shooting, so as to avoid an interview with him, the princely prodigal meeting with no one except his sister, the empress, with whom he had an interview of a couple of hours. it is generally believed that princess charlotte's missing diary is to-day in the possession of the emperor, after having been seized by the police among the correspondence of duke ernest-gunther's fair friend; for the former very warm affection manifested by william for his eldest sister, arising from the belief that she had been subjected to as harsh treatment as he imagined himself to have received at the hands of their mother, the imperious, masterful and immensely clever empress frederick, appears since the anonymous letter episode to have given way to feelings of distrust, and even dislike. princess charlotte and her husband have been ever since that time virtually banished from the court of berlin, at which they are rarely if ever seen. prince bernhardt of saxe-meiningen, was transferred to the command of the troops at breslau, although he has but little taste for a military career, and is far more devoted to art, literature, music, and the drama, than to soldiering. at berlin his duties as a general were more or less titular, and he had all the leisure which he required for the researches into the affairs of modern and ancient greece, which have won for him celebrity as one of the most erudite hellenists of the present time. he was surrounded by a congenial circle of friends possessed of the same disposition as himself, and had access to some of the finest libraries and museums in the world, while his still charming wife was the most conspicuous figure in a circle composed of all that was most elegant, witty, brilliant and clever in the so-called "_athens on the spree_" indeed, her palace in the thiergarten was the centre of everything that was eclectic and brilliant, and her salons were the rendezvous of all that was best in berlin society. imagine, therefore, a prince and princess with tastes and dispositions such as these compelled to close up their lovely home, to bid adieu to all their friends, and to take up their residence in the dullest, most uninteresting and provincial of cities, situated in the least picturesque portion of the empire; where the only society consists of bureaucrats of the most starchy description, with no ideas beyond their office, or of impoverished landowners, belonging to the district, whose nobiliary pretensions can only be compared with the paucity of their resources, and whose conversation and even intellect is restricted to mangelwurzels, potatoes, and the different grades of fertilizers. breslau, to say the whole truth, is a city utterly without any attractions, either social or intellectual; the only other royal personage in the place is an eccentric wurtemberg princess, a cousin of the now reigning king of wurtemberg. this lady sacrificed her royal rank and prerogatives in order to marry a physician of the name of dr. willim, who had attended her father in his last illness. she could not, however, bring herself to descend to the social level of her husband, who is of plebeian origin, and a mere commoner, but thought that she had done enough in that direction when she contented herself with the name and title of baroness kirchbach, which she now bears. of late years she has become a convert to socialism, much to the dismay and distress of her eminently respectable husband, and at the last socialist congress held at breslau, took a very prominent part in the proceedings, arrayed in a blouse of flaming red. i am very sorry to have to destroy the romance by which the name of this princess wilhelmina of wurtemberg has until now been surrounded, especially that portion thereof which represents her as a lovely and interesting woman. the truth is that she is fearfully homely, both in face and figure, while her eccentricities are such that in america, for instance, she would be described as a "crank." thus she distinguishes herself through her inordinate fondness for cats, goats and rabbits; escorted by whole herds of which she is wont to wander through the gloomy streets of breslau. her costumes are invariably as queer as the one in which she appeared on the platform of the socialist congress. compare this strange figure so utterly unfeminine in its lack of all elegance, with the dainty, spirituelle princess charlotte! yet baroness von kirchbach is the only lady of sufficiently lofty birth either in breslau or in the vicinity to associate with princess charlotte on terms of any thing like equality! it is probable that princess charlotte and her husband will be kept at breslau, virtually exiled from the court of berlin, until the accession of prince bernhardt to the throne of saxe-meiningen, through the death of his aged father. it is naturally surprising that prince bernhardt, as heir to his father's crown, should not take up his residence in the capital of the duchy of saxe-meiningen, instead of being condemned to vegetate at breslau. the fact of the matter is, however, that the atmosphere of the saxe-meiningen capital is even less congenial than that of breslau to prince bernhardt and princess charlotte, for the old duke is morganatically married to an actress of the local theatre, upon whom he has conferred the title of baroness helburg, and the princess finds it difficult to associate with this person. how unrelenting william remains with regard to his sister, may be gathered from the fact that when her only daughter, princess fedora, was married the other day at breslau, he himself, and the empress, pointedly avoided being present at the ceremony, although they were within a couple of hours' distance of breslau at the time, spending the day in shooting. the slight thus placed upon princess charlotte and her husband was all the more marked, as not only were all the other members of the reigning house of prussia present, but even the aged king of saxony, the king of wurtemberg and the grand duke of hesse, had all three taken the trouble to come from long distances in order to attend the wedding, at which queen victoria was represented by several members of her family, who had travelled from england for the purpose. the sensation created, not only over all germany, but even throughout europe by the absence of the emperor and empress from the wedding of the only child of the hereditary prince and princess of saxe-meiningen, when they were actually in the neighborhood, was so great that it can only be assumed that the emperor intended to give a public manifestation of his continued ill-will towards his sister; and that his so kind-hearted and good-natured consort should have thus joined him in this act of public discourtesy, can be explained by a story current at berlin to the effect that she, too, feels that she can neither forget nor forgive the mingled ridicule, satire and even downright contempt expressed not only about herself, but about the emperor, her sisters, and her mother in the missing diary of princess charlotte. another reason why princess charlotte and her husband are forced to conform themselves to the command, by means of which the sovereign keeps them almost permanently at breslau, is that prince bernhardt has little or no money at all, as long as his father lives, and that the couple are, therefore, almost entirely dependent upon the allowance which the princess receives as a member of the reigning house of prussia. now it is the kaiser who, as chief of the family of hohenzollern, controls all its vast private possessions, and, if at any time, a member of the house of prussia declines to yield obedience to his orders, he is empowered by the statutes of the hohenzollern family to suspend the allowances of those guilty of such insubordination. thus it is greatly because they are so poor that the prince and princess invariably travel incognito when they go abroad, although it has been asserted that the kaiser carries his irritation against his sister to the extent of declining to permit her to leave germany, save on the understanding that neither she nor her husband will anywhere exact, or receive the honors due to their royal rank. at the time of the visit of the emperor and empress of germany to rome, during the silver-wedding festivities of king humbert and queen marguerite of italy, prince bernhardt and princess charlotte were in the eternal city, entirely ignored by the italian court, as well as by all the foreign royalties present. indeed, while the emperor, and even the pettiest foreign princelets invited for the occasion, were driving about the streets and parks in royal equipages, the kaiser's sister and brother-in-law had to content themselves with the dingiest of hack cabs, and also with the rôle of ordinary sight-seers. those who imagine that princess charlotte prefers an incognito rôle to that of a royal princess are singularly mistaken. no one is fonder than she is of the prerogatives of rank, and like all clever and pretty women, she is ever eager to be the centre of attraction, and the object of much homage. she cannot, therefore, be said to relish the treatment and neglect to which she is subjected through her brother's displeasure. in the berlin great world the princess has always been popular, not merely by reason of her devotion to society, but because a certain amount of sympathy was felt for her in connection with the treatment which she had received at the hands of her mother. for some strange reason or other, princess charlotte was never appreciated by her mother, who showed her preference for her younger daughters in a very marked manner. charlotte was always treated with a far greater degree of strictness than any of the other girls, in spite of her being vastly superior to them in intellect and in looks. princess charlotte is still a very charming woman, and was in her younger days a singularly attractive girl, one of the fairest indeed of all queen victoria's numerous descendants, but her sisters are inclined to be homely, absolutely deficient in feminine elegance or chic, and, while accomplished, are extremely dull, and not a bit sparkling or witty. empress frederick always declared that her daughter charlotte was frivolous, and as much inclined to be forward and rebellious to discipline and control as her eldest son, the present emperor. therefore, as i have already stated, charlotte and william were treated by their mother with exceptional severity, were snubbed on every occasion, often in the most humiliating manner, and were made to feel that prince henry and their younger sisters held a higher place in the maternal heart than they. sad is it to add that the youth of neither william nor charlotte was a particularly happy one, and thus it is not astonishing that one as well as the other should have felt inclined to run a bit wild, like young colts, when first emancipated from the school-room. it was during the very few years that intervened between his leaving the university at bonn and his marriage, that william obtained his reputation for dissipation. his shortcomings, due to the exuberance of youth, were exaggerated until they were transformed from very venial offences into the most mortal of sins, while in the same way the delight manifested by princess charlotte at the admiration and homage to which her comeliness gave rise--a very natural feeling when one recalls the snubbings and humiliations to which she had been subjected until then--were construed into frivolity and deep-dyed coquetry, altogether unworthy of a royal princess. she was taxed, too, with an absence of that simpering modesty, more or less affected, which is _de mise_ with so many young girls in germany and in france, when they make their début in society, and even her most harmless flirtations were condemned by her mother as grave indiscretions. empress frederick became very soon imbued with the idea that it was necessary to marry off charlotte without delay, in order to avert the danger, as she conceived it, of one or another of these girlish flirtations developing into something calculated to compromise both her dignity and her fair name. had the princess been less hurried in this matter, it is probable that she would have found a more suitable husband, and above all one calculated to capture the fancy of a young girl, reared at a court which can boast of some of the finest specimens of manhood in the world. but she was married to the first princelet who happened to catch the eye of empress frederick, namely prince bernhardt of saxe-meiningen--aye, and she was hustled into matrimony in such a hurry, too, as to give a sort of foundation for some shameful and base slanders, cruelly unmerited, but which one hears even germans who profess loyalty to the crown repeating to this day. prince bernhardt, though an excellent man in his way, was very far from meeting the requirements of the "prince charmant" fit to be mated to a princess so gay and so brilliant as charlotte of hohenzollern. his appearance is effeminate, his manner finicky and old-maidish to a degree. he is neither stalwart nor good-looking; he excels neither as a dancer nor as a rider, nor yet as an athlete, and he gives one at first sight the impression of being an artist or a composer, rather than a son of that grand looking old fellow, the reigning duke of saxe-meiningen. indeed, there was at the time of the marriage but one voice in berlin society, condemning it as having been forced upon princess charlotte against her inclinations by her mother. and after the marriage the poverty of the prince rendered him to such an extent dependent upon the financial assistance of his mother-in-law, that he, as well as his wife, was compelled to remain subservient in every respect to her wishes. nor was it until william came to the throne and availed himself of his position as head of the family to grant princess charlotte an allowance suitable to her rank, that the princess and her husband were emancipated from the strict control of her mother, empress frederick. young married folks in america can form no conception of the extent of such tyranny, and when, some time after the wedding, prince bernhardt and princess charlotte secured permission from empress frederick--then only crown princess--to visit paris, and to make a stay there of three weeks, she only gave her consent on the condition that they should be accompanied by one of her chamberlains, and one of her ladies-in-waiting who had known the princess from childhood, and whose behests the prince and princess were obliged to obey throughout their sojourn in the french capital, just as if they had been a little boy and girl, instead of grown-up and married people. probably the happiest time of princess charlotte's life was the period which elapsed between the death of her lamented father and her exile to breslau. she amused herself to her heart's content, fluttered about in berlin like a butterfly, took a leading part in every social movement, was admired, fêted and petted by everyone, but gave her worthy husband no cause whatsoever for uneasiness, and avoided all scandals, save those contained in the anonymous letters, for which she cannot really be held responsible. to-day she must feel that she has exchanged the unbearable tyranny of empress frederick for the yet infinitely more oppressive despotism of her eldest brother, emperor william,--a despotism so harsh that it has won for her, somewhat late it is true, the kindly sympathy of her own mother,--a severity which may be said to have its source in that most dangerous of all the intimate friends and confidants of the princess, namely, that diary of hers which was stolen from her, and which is believed to be now in the possession of the kaiser. chapter v i am thoroughly aware that the point which is likely to excite the attention of my readers to a greater degree than any other in the previous chapter, is the reference contained therein to the tyranny exercised by the monarchs of the old world upon their relatives. in fact, it is far better in europe to be a mere subject than a kinsman or kinswoman of the sovereign. even the lowliest of the lieges of the anointed of the lord has certain constitutional rights and prerogatives which may be said to safeguard him from oppression and persecution, but princes and princesses of the blood have no such rights, and are exposed to every caprice and every whim of the head of their family, defiance of whose wishes entails exile, loss of property, even poverty and outlawry, without any redress. royal and imperial personages, in addition to being subjected to the ordinary laws of the land, are expected to yield blind and unquestioned obedience to another code, comprising what are officially styled the "family statutes" of the dynasty to which they belong. these are administered by the head of the family, who is free to construe them as he sees fit, and while they are binding upon the members of his house, they in no way can be said to constitute any limitation to the exercise of his authority. in fact, the latter is absolutely unrestricted, and extends to every phase of the life of a royal personage. thus, a prince or princess of the blood is debarred from contracting a marriage without the consent of the sovereign, and if any union has taken place without the sanction of the head of the family, it is regarded, not only at court, but even by the tribunals of the land, as invalid, and children that may be born of the marriage bear the stigma of illegitimacy. if a marriage has received the full authorization of the ruler, and there is any issue, the children cannot be educated without the sovereign's wishes being consulted. the parents, in fact, are regarded much as if they were either minors, outlaws, or demented people, unfitted to be entrusted with the control and bringing up of their offspring, for the sovereign is _ex officio_ the guardian of all children who are under age, belonging to the married members of his family, and his rights over the children are superior to those of the latter's father and mother. if the boy is to have a tutor, or the girl a governess, the appointment cannot be made by the parents without their previously obtaining the permission of the sovereign, and he has it in his power to reject their nominee, and to assign some candidate of his own, who may possibly be regarded as most objectionable to the unfortunate parents, for the duty of taking charge of the education of the young people in question. the royal or imperial mother, indeed, may esteem herself fortunate if the sovereign does not insist on personally selecting the nurses of her infants: when the present kaiser was born, not merely the late empress augusta, but likewise all the other members of the reigning house of prussia, and of the court of berlin, thought it quite right and natural that the old emperor william should exercise his authority for the purpose of prohibiting the young mother from herself nursing her baby; on the ground that it was contrary to the traditions of the house of hohenzollern, and a quite undignified proceeding. fortunately, the late emperor frederick, who had spent much of his time at the court of his mother-in-law, queen victoria, and who was aware that she had nursed every one of her numerous children herself, without permitting this motherly duty to interfere with the arduous official business of the state, expostulated with his father, and persuaded him to withdraw his prohibition, much to the horror of the courtiers, and greatly to the satisfaction of the royal lady, who is now empress frederick. in austria one of the principal sources of the domestic unhappiness of the lamented empress of austria, was the small voice that she was allowed by the sovereign--her husband--to have in the management and the control of her own children, as long as her mother-in-law, the late archduchess sophia, was alive. it was only after the demise of the archduchess that empress elizabeth first realized in their full measure the joys of motherhood. while on the subject of austria, i may cite the case of the widowed crown princess stephanie as another illustration of the extent to which royal parents are deprived of all authority over their children. thus when crown prince rudolph died at mayerling, his little daughter, at that time barely six years of age, was assigned to the guardianship, not of her widowed mother, but of her grandfather. a very general belief prevails that this arrangement about the care of the little archduchess elizabeth, was due to a piece of animosity on the part of the ill-fated crown prince against his wife, and i have seen it stated in print that he had left a will confiding his only child to his father, and directing that its mother should be allowed no voice in its education. there is no official authority for any such statement, but no matter whether the crown prince expressed any such testamentary wish or not, the fact remains that at his death his child was bound by the statutes of the house of hapsburg, to become the ward of the sovereign, who in this case happened to be her grandfather. gentle and soft-hearted as is emperor francis-joseph, he nevertheless exercised his authority over his grandchild in a way that cannot but have been galling in the extreme to its mother, a way, in fact, which i imagine would be beyond the endurance of any american woman. thus he insisted upon himself appointing and selecting her governesses and teachers; he nominated her entire household without consulting her mother, and its members, as well as the girl's instructors made their reports not to crown princess stephanie, but to him, from whom, also, they alone took their instructions. it was the emperor who decided where his grandchild was to stay, where she was to spend this part of the year, and where another season, and finally he strictly prohibited her from leaving his dominions. the position of the crown princess of austria since the death of her husband has been so extremely unpleasant and painful, that she has spent much of her time--indeed, at least nine months of the year--in foreign travel. the imperial family, the court and the people, hold her responsible for that domestic wretchedness which drove her so universally popular husband to his tragic death at mayerling. of a jealous disposition and of a temper that even at its best is difficult, she is generally understood to have driven him by her violence and injustice to seek, away from his home, the pleasures that he could not find by his own fireside. it had been known that she had been strangely lacking in dignity in her complaints concerning his behavior, and after his death she gave cruel offence both to his parents and to the people of her adopted country by her indifference to his terrible fate, and by the frivolity with which she bore her widowhood, not a little of which was spent at the gaming tables of monte-carlo in the gayest mourning costumes possible; a circumstance which horrified queen victoria, who was at that time at nice, and naturally cruelly embittered the bereaved and sorrowing mother, empress elizabeth, who, robed in deepest black, was at cap-martin, endeavoring to recover her health, which had been absolutely shattered by the tragedy. all these things led to the crown princess being regarded with deep disfavor in austria. difficulties were raised with regard to her rank and precedence at court, and the animosity manifested towards her was such at vienna, and elsewhere in the dual empire, that she found it preferable to spend the greater part of her time abroad. she was not, however, permitted to take her little daughter with her, and thus the young archduchess may be said to have grown up altogether away from her mother, whom she saw for barely two months of the year, and then more as a visitor and a stranger, than as a relative who had any voice in the ordering of her life. if, then, this control of the minor princes and princesses of his dynasty is insisted upon to such an extent by the aged emperor of austria, the kindliest, most warm-hearted and sympathetic of old men, always prone to patient forbearance and indulgence, it will be readily understood that it is exercised to its fullest extent by emperor william, in whose character the tendency to autocracy, and the spirit of command, is far more developed than in his brother monarch. indeed, he not only claims the right to act as the chief guardian of the junior members of the reigning house of prussia, of which he is the head, but likewise of the children of all those sovereign families of germany which have acknowledged him as their emperor. thus he insisted upon having entire control of his young cousin, the only son of the reigning duke of saxe-coburg and gotha, declaring that his own authority must be substituted for that of the lad's father, in spite of the latter being himself a reigning sovereign, and an ally rather than a vassal. the tragic fate of the young prince will be too fresh in the memory of my readers to need more than passing reference here. the boy, removed from parental care, was transferred by emperor william to berlin, with the avowed purpose of being under his own imperial eye. unfortunately, the duties and occupations of william are so multifarious that he was unable to fulfil his very excellent intentions with regard to prince alfred. the latter fell into bad hands, squandered large sums of money at cards, became involved in pecuniary difficulties, and in his endeavors to retrieve them, sunk deeper and deeper into the mire, until finally emperor william, suddenly alive to the results of his wholly-unintentional neglect of the royal lad, sent him back to his heart-broken parents, discredited, implicated in all sorts of unpleasant gambling transactions, and shattered alike in health and mind. in the midst of their silver-wedding festivities, they were forced to send their only boy off to a sanitarium in austria, where, in spite of the close restraint under which he was kept, he managed to put an end to his life, only a few days after his arrival, prompted thereto by either physical or mental agony, no one knows which. small wonder, when it became necessary to find a likely successor to the present reigning duke of saxe-coburg, and his younger brother, prince arthur of great britain, duke of connaught, was proclaimed heir, that the prince decided that it would be preferable to sacrifice his rights to this throne, rather than his rights over his only son. on being given to understand that if he accepted the position of heir apparent, his sixteen-year-old boy would become the ward of emperor william, and that the authority of the kaiser would be superior to his own over the lad, prince arthur declined to have anything to do with the saxe-coburg succession, and abandoned both his own claims thereto and those of his son, in favor of his young nephew, the fatherless duke of albany. it was precisely on the same ground that the duke of cumberland declined to complete the agreement whereby a reconciliation was to be effected between himself and the kaiser. born crown prince of the now defunct kingdom of hanover, he should have succeeded to the throne of the duchy of brunswick on the death of his kinsman, the late duke of brunswick, in . the german emperor, however, decided that he could not be permitted to take possession of the sovereignty of the duchy, nor to assume the status of one of the federal rulers of the confederation known as the german empire, unless he recognized the latter, as now constituted, that is to say with his father's kingdom of hanover incorporated with prussia. for a long time he refused to do this, but was ultimately persuaded by his brother-in-law, the late czar, and the prince of wales, to consent to a reconciliation with prussia, and to accept the present condition of affairs. the arrangements were on the eve of being completed when a conflict arose between the duke and the kaiser, as to the education of the former's eldest son, prince george. the duke wished to send him to the vizhum college, at dresden, where so many members of the sovereign families, and of the great houses of the nobility, have received their instruction, while the kaiser objected to this particular school on the ground that its teachings were calculated to increase instead of to diminish particularist and anti-prussian sentiments. the duke thereupon declared that he alone was competent to judge and determine how his boy should be educated, whereupon the kaiser put forth his pretension to the guardianship of all the junior members of the sovereign houses comprised in the german empire. rather than consent to this, the duke of cumberland, who has inherited much of the obstinacy for which his great-grandfather, king george iii. of great britain, was so celebrated, broke off all negotiations with emperor william, and refused to have anything more to do with him, for, like his cousin, the duke of connaught, he would rather sacrifice his rights to a german throne than his parental rights over a much-loved boy. but the despotism of the monarchs of the old world is by no means restricted to this question of the control and custody of the junior members of their respective families. every prince and princess of the latter, no matter what his or her age, or superiority in point of years to the sovereign may be, is subjected to the will of the head of the house. for instance, no russian grand duke or grand duchess can leave the muscovite empire without previously asking and obtaining the permission of the czar, and in the same way, the austrian archdukes and archduchesses have to crave the sanction of emperor francis-joseph, and the prussian princes and princesses, that of the kaiser, before they can leave their respective countries for a foreign trip. even empress frederick is compelled to obtain the permission of her son, the emperor, before taking her departure from germany for england or italy, and a few years ago when quietly enjoying herself in paris, she was forced by a peremptory command from her son to suddenly cut short her stay in the french capital, and to betake herself to england. to such an extent is this despotism carried that when prince henry of prussia was stationed at kiel, he had to ask his elder brother's permission before he could run up to berlin, although kiel is only a few hours' trip from the capital; and, as stated in the previous chapter, princess charlotte of saxe-meiningen and her husband, are kept at breslau, except when their brother william graciously condescends to permit them to leave their home. two years ago the emperor, for reasons which can only be surmised, and which were of a personal rather than of a political character--of which more anon--suddenly ordered his only brother henry off to china, and a little later, possibly with the object of showing to the world that his authority extended to the ladies of his house, as well as to the men, he directed princess henry to join her husband at hong kong. as the two little boys of the princess are exceedingly delicate, owing possibly to the fact that their parents are first cousins, the poor mother was very reluctant to undertake the trip, but she was forced by the emperor to go, and had scarcely reached hong kong before she learnt by cable that both her little ones were prostrated by a terrible attack of diphtheria. she was not, however, permitted to return, but was kept out in china away from her children until late in the spring, and reached home well on towards autumn, to find her little ones--the youngest was but two years old--more delicate than ever, but fortunately alive. in the memoirs of bismarck published by dr. busch, there is reproduced one of emperor william's letters, written prior to his accession to the throne, in the course of which he asks the great chancellor whether he approves of his "commanding" (the german word is "_befehlen_") his brother prince henry to make certain inquiries of the late prince alexander of battenberg. william in this letter does not talk of "requesting" his brother, but of ordering him to do this. if then william, as crown prince, already took upon himself the right of ordering his brother and his sisters to do this and to do that, it may be readily imagined that he is not less peremptory in his dealings with them now that he is their emperor and king. if they disobey him, he has various means of punishment at his command. he can banish them from court for a long term; he can deprive them temporarily, or for all time, of the prerogatives, the privileges, and the honors due to their rank; he can suspend their allowances from the national treasury, or from the family property, or can stop it altogether; he can take from them the control of any estates which they may have inherited, and confide the administration thereof to curators appointed for the purpose; finally, he can subject them to various forms of arrest, as he once did in the case of his brother-in-law, prince frederick-leopold; while in very extreme cases he can place the offending relative under restraint in an asylum for the insane on the pretext of dementia, as has been done in the case of princess louise of coburg, daughter of king leopold of belgium, and mother of princess "dolly" of coburg, who is now the wife of duke ernest-gunther of schleswig-holstein. "_aux arrêts_," or confinement to one's quarters, is the most common form of punishment inflicted by old world monarchs upon those of their kith and kin who have failed to comply with their behests, and there is scarcely a single sovereign or prince of the blood, who has not been subjected to this species of discipline at one time or another of his career. thus the late emperor frederick, prior to his accession to the throne, but long after his marriage, was sentenced to several weeks' detention in his palace under strict arrest, as a punishment for a little joke which he had played during the course of a military inspection. he had been protesting for a long time against the tightness of the uniforms, and of the belts of the rank and file of the infantry, declaring that it impeded the movements and play of the muscles of the men, to such an extent as to deprive them of more than fifty per cent, of their usefulness. one day, during an inspection of the division of guards at potsdam, while the troops happened to be standing at ease, he walked along the front rank of the first regiment, accompanied by a number of officers, with whom he had just been discussing this very question of equipment; suddenly, he stopped short in his walk, and extracting a piece of gold from his pocket, dropped it on the ground, and told the men nearest him to pick it up, adding that whoever got hold of it first, might keep it! several of them made frantic attempts to bend down in order to get the money, but so tight were their uniforms and belts that they found it absolutely impossible to reach, the coin, which emperor frederick ultimately picked up himself, and handed to them. "and how do you expect to win battles with soldiers hampered to such an extent as that in their movements?" he exclaimed contemptuously to the officers around him. "what greater demonstration than this is needed to prove the justice of my argument?" the incident was reported to the then minister of war, who immediately lodged a complaint with frederick's father, the result being that "unser fritz," at that time crown prince of prussia, was placed by old emperor william for several weeks under arrest in his palace! prince rupert of bavaria, the heir apparent to the ancient throne of the wittelsbachs, was sentenced by his grandfather, the prince regent, to no less than three months' close arrest in his quarters at munich, for having left the kingdom without permission, in order to spend three days at paris, in fair but frail company; while the widowed duchess of aosta on one occasion was placed under arrest in her palace of turin by her brother-in-law, king humbert, because she had ventured to appear in public on her wheel wearing a pair of bloomers! prince and princess frederick-leopold, the latter a younger sister of the empress of germany, have both been condemned on several occasions by the kaiser to close confinement in their palace under the most stringent kind of arrest, for having disobeyed his majesty's commands with regard to the management of their household. duke ernest-gunther of schleswig-holstein, the brother of the empress, has been subjected to more numerous orders of arrest by his imperial kinsman than any prince of the blood now living. severe as are european monarchs nowadays in punishing the disobedience of the members of their families, they do not, however, venture any longer to proceed to such extremities as the father of frederick the great, who when the latter was still crown prince, cast his son into prison, and ordered him to be shot, merely because he discovered that he was about to leave the kingdom without his permission for the purpose of undertaking a trip to england; and there is no doubt that the crown prince would have been put to death, and thus shared the fate of his two aids-de-camp, who were beheaded before his very eyes, in the fortress prison of küstrin, had it not been for the intervention of the ambassadors of austria, great britain, russia and france in behalf of his royal highness. yet another phase of this despotism, which the two kaisers,--namely their majesties of germany and of austria,--exercise over the members of their respective families, is the right which they claim to select and appoint the officers and ladies-in-waiting of every prince and princess of the blood. in order to appreciate what this means it must be explained that it is not merely contrary to etiquette, but absolutely forbidden by the rules and regulations instituted by emperor william and his brother sovereigns, that any such princes or princesses should venture to appear anywhere in public without being escorted either by a gentleman or a lady-in-waiting. these attendants, who are, it is needless to state, of noble birth, may be said to constitute the very shadow of the personage to whose household they are attached. in fact a royal or imperial prince or princess cannot even cross the street, far less leave home for a ride, a drive, a walk, or for the purpose of paying a visit, or of doing some shopping without being escorted, if a prince, by a gentleman-in-waiting, and if a princess, by a lady-in-waiting, and possibly by a chamberlain as well. nor are the duties of the ladies and gentlemen-in-waiting confined to attendance upon their royal charges in public, for they form part and parcel of the royal or imperial household to which they are attached, and if they do not occupy quarters in the palace, at any rate they take all their meals there, since their duties commence in the early morning, and only cease late at night. now, human shadows of this kind are all very well when one is at liberty to choose them one's self; but it is very different when one has no voice whatsoever in the matter, and when one is forced to submit to close and intimate attendance of this kind by ladies and gentlemen whom one neither likes nor trusts. in such cases as these, the gentlemen or ladies-in-waiting are apt to be regarded in the light of spies by their royal charges, and as people appointed by the sovereign to keep watch upon their actions. it is probable that no one has suffered so cruelly in this connection as the widowed empress frederick of germany. possessed of extremely liberal views in political matters--ideas which she imparted to her consort, she found herself, within a few years after her marriage, in complete opposition to prince bismarck. the latter regarded her as a very dangerous opponent, and responded to her openly avowed disapproval of his political methods by using his influence with her father-in-law, old emperor william, urging him to interfere with her management of her children; and above all, to appoint as members of her household personages with whom she could have no possible sympathy, political or otherwise, and who were, in every sense of the word, devoted to the iron chancellor. in fact, prince bismarck acknowledges in his reminiscences, as published by his boswell, dr. busch, that he caused the crown princess--as empress frederick was then--to shed many a bitter tear, by his interference, through her father-in-law, in her domestic affairs. bismarck made no secret of his enmity towards empress frederick and her husband before the latter ascended the throne, and it is on record that he even officially insisted that secrets of state should not be confided to "unser fritz," for fear that the latter's consort might communicate them to her english relatives. he even went so far as to accuse her of having, during the war of , betrayed to non-german relatives prussian military secrets, which were used by the french against her adopted country, and served to prolong the conflict. these odious charges, "_which have been abundantly disproved_" and for which "_there was not even the shadow of a foundation_," are merely referred to here in order to show the intense bitterness of the personal animosity entertained by the chancellor towards empress frederick. yet it was he, bismarck, who, through the old emperor, had the right of selecting and nominating, not merely the instructors and attendants of her boys, but her own gentlemen and ladies-in-waiting--nay, even the physicians and surgeons to be called in cases of illness. chapter vi it is to the part played by prince bismarck in selecting the attendants and tutors of the present emperor that must be ascribed the strained relations that notoriously existed between the kaiser and his mother during the few years immediately preceding and following his accession to the throne; while there is no doubt whatsoever that the last eighteen months of emperor frederick's so prematurely-ended life, were saddened and embittered by the feeling that a conspiracy was on foot to prevent his succession to the throne on the ground of the incurable malady from which he was suffering--a conspiracy in which some of the principal participants were members of his household and physicians who had been forced upon him by his father at instigation of prince bismarck. if i mention this, it is not so much with the idea of evoking a very painful chapter of the history of the court berlin, as it is for the purpose of explaining, and in a measure of excusing, the charges of unfilial conduct brought against the present emperor, and which contributed so much to his unpopularity both at home and abroad during the early years of his reign. i have related in a previous chapter how william, while a boy, was snubbed by his parents, and treated with considerable strictness. his father, like so many good-looking giants, utterly free from affectation and pose, believed that he saw in his eldest boy a tendency to posture, a forwardness of manner, and a disposition towards pride of rank, amounting to arrogance, which it was necessary, at all costs, to repress. prince william, therefore, was constantly receiving setbacks, often of a most humiliating character, from his parents, and i am sorry to say that this practice of regarding him as a presumptuous youth whom it was necessary to check, extended to other european courts, so that poor william can not be said to have had an altogether enjoyable time; and in this connection it is just as well to state that the prince of wales and his other english relatives, took their cue from his mother in their treatment of him, a circumstance which he has neither forgiven nor forgotten. indeed the notorious absence of cordiality between the prince of wales and his imperial nephew of berlin originates with the snubs which the british heir apparent, in his capacity of uncle, felt it necessary to administer to william, when the latter was a lad, and even when he had reached manhood. yet it would be unfair to ascribe any undue blame in the matter to the parents of emperor william. the responsibility must rest rather with those people with whom prince bismarck, acting through the old emperor, surrounded the young prince. the mission of these nominees of the chancellor was to counteract the influence of the then crown prince and crown princess over their eldest son, and this was achieved by setting the boy against his parents. every direction or command given by frederick or by his consort to their son was made the subject of critical discussion by the personages with whom bismarck had surrounded him, until the latter became convinced that the judgment of his parents was at fault in almost everything that could be imagined, and that all their views, political as well as social, were thoroughly out of keeping with prussian traditions and german patriotism. this in itself was bad enough: but what made matters infinitely worse, was that whenever william was subjected to any reproof or discipline by either his father or mother, those composing his immediate _entourage_ at once impressed upon the royal youth that he was the victim of the most gross and unpardonable injustice, that both his father and mother were inordinately jealous of his striking individuality, that the unmerited severity to which he was subjected was brought about by their consciousness that his intellect was superior to theirs, and that his ideas were too thoroughly prussian to constitute anything but a serious danger to their english liberalism. the effect of influences such as these upon a high-spirited and impulsive youth, at the time entirely devoid of experience or of knowledge of the world, may readily be conceived. it naturally led to an increase of what his parents regarded as his presumptuousness and forwardness of manner, and consequently to a growth of their severity towards him. he, on the other hand, became more and more embittered by the unduly harsh and rather unjust treatment to which he was being subjected by both his father and his mother. the persons in attendance on the imperial family, with the conspicuous exceptions of count seckendorff and countess hedwig brühl, were careful to fan the embers of bitterness rankling in the bosom of young william whenever any opportunity offered, and thus it happened that when emperor frederick, while still crown prince, was discovered to be suffering from that cancer of the larynx which ultimately carried him off, the relations between parents and son were so strained as to give rise to the very widespread belief that william was the ally of his father's enemies, and a participator in the disgraceful conspiracy which ensued for the purpose of barring him from succession to the throne on the ground of his fearful malady. as soon as the nature of the disease from which frederick was suffering had been ascertained, his opponents, prince bismarck first and foremost, dug out from the most remote recesses of the family archives of the house of hohenzollern an obsolete and forgotten law barring from the succession to the throne of prussia any prince of the blood who was afflicted with an incurable malady. of course, the original object of the statute in question was to enable the elimination from the line of succession of princes afflicted with hopeless insanity, or some such disease as would prevent them from administering the government, thus rendering the institution of a regency necessary. in one word, the purpose of the measure was to prevent such a situation from arising in prussia as prevails now in bavaria, where, since the throne has been occupied by a lunatic prince, who was incurably insane for many years before his accession to the crown, and whose dementia takes that peculiar form, which is described in the bible as having overtaken nebuchadnezzar. king otto of bavaria imagines himself to be alternately a quadruped or a bird, and when he is not browsing on leaves and grass in the gardens of his prison palace at fürstenried, under the impression that he is a sheep or goat, he will stand on one leg in the centre of a shallow pond, firmly convinced that he is a stork, occasionally flapping his long coat-tails in lieu of wings, and greedily attempting to devour any frogs or tadpoles that may come within his reach, unless prevented by his attendants from doing so. there have been, alas! numerous cases of insanity in the reigning house of prussia. old emperor william's elder brother and predecessor, king frederick-william iv., spent the last few years of his life under restraint, hopelessly insane, his brother and ultimate successor administering the government as regent. the late princess frederick of prussia was afflicted like her brother, the last duke of anhalt-bernburg, with a peculiar kind of lunacy which took the form of an invincible objection to clothing of any kind whatsoever; while one of her two sons, prince alexander, who died only a few months ago, suffered from a species of good-natured imbecility, which led him to offer his heart and his hand to every woman or young girl that he encountered, no matter what her age, or looks, or rank, sometimes making as many as thirty or forty offers of marriage in the same day! the above-mentioned law was created for the purpose of preventing a prince thus situated from ascending the throne of prussia, but the family statutes evoked by prince bismarck and his followers certainly never contemplated the deprival of a prince of his hereditary rights of succession to the throne because of some physical ailment or infirmity. this would have been entirely contrary to the spirit and ethics of the monarchical system of the old world; as will be readily seen when attention is called to the fact that both the late king of hanover, and the present reigning grand duke of mecklenburg-strelitz, were absolutely and totally blind at the time they succeeded to their present thrones. prince bismarck took the view, however, that the statute in question was sufficient to bar "unser fritz" from succeeding to his father, if it were once medically admitted that his malady was incurable, or if curable, that it was liable to permanently destroy the vocal chords, thus abolishing forever the power of speech. prince bismarck declared that in a matter of such extreme importance, where the succession to the throne, and the life of the heir apparent were at stake, the surgeons and physicians should be selected by the state--that is, by himself--and that their verdict should be final. chief among the medical experts whom he nominated for the purpose, was the celebrated german surgeon, professor von bergmann, who is as famed for his skill in the use of the knife as for his fondness in applying it in cases where it might possibly be dispensed with. having convinced himself that the malady from which crown prince frederick suffered was a cancer, he decreed that the only manner of saving the life of the illustrious patient was the extremely dangerous and almost certainly fatal operation of removing the entire portion of the larynx that was affected. this, as stated above, would have left the crown prince dumb for the remainder of his days, and according to the views of prince bismarck would have barred him from succession to the throne. it is related in court circles at berlin, that professor bergmann was on the point of operating upon the crown prince unknown to the crown princess, and under the pretext of making a very radical examination, for which anaesthetics were necessary, when, he was prevented at the very last moment by her imperial highness. it is even stated that she tore the instruments from his hands, and turned him out of the room with the most bitter and cutting reproaches. whatever may be true in this bit of court gossip, it is certain that a fierce quarrel did take place between the crown princess and the great surgeon, and that the cause of this quarrel was the decision taken by the latter to operate upon the crown prince as the only means of saving his life. [illustration: _the crown princess and professor von bergmann_ _after a drawing by oreste cortazzo_] the crown princess thereupon summoned to her assistance sir morel mackenzie, the greatest throat specialist in england, who throughout his long career was consulted by all the leading singers and orators of his day. mackenzie came to berlin, examined the crown prince, and utterly rejected the diagnosis of professor bergmann, and of the german physicians. he declared that the affection of the larynx, while cancerous, would not be bettered by using the knife, at any rate at that time, and that he believed the malady to be curable by treatment. needless to add that his opinion was reviled in germany as that of a charlatan, and that the teuton specialists declared that the crown prince was doomed to certain death within six months, unless the operation was performed. fearing that some further attempt might be made at berlin to operate upon her husband without her knowledge, or in spite of her opposition, the crown princess took him off to england, and from thence to the tyrol, from which place they eventually migrated to san remo. meanwhile, the german newspapers, that is to say, those which were believed to be receiving their inspiration from bismarckian sources, were filled with abuse of the crown princess, who was charged openly with being willing to sacrifice the life of her husband rather than her chances of becoming german empress. meanwhile the crown prince became worse and worse, and while at san remo had several fits of agonizing suffocation, to which he almost succumbed, and from the worst of which he was virtually saved by the late dr. thomas evans, of philadelphia, who displayed the utmost devotion and intelligence of treatment in the case of the imperial sufferer. it was at this juncture that one of the most dramatic scenes which can be imagined took place in the antechamber of the illustrious patient. the crown princess received letters which informed her that prince bismarck had submitted to the old emperor, then himself near death, a decree for signature, transferring the succession of the throne from crown prince frederick to the latter's son, prince william, a decree which, by the by, the old emperor could not bring himself to sign. furthermore, she learnt through the same sources that one of the principal members of her household at san remo, in fact, one of the chamberlains in attendance, was sending daily reports of the most venomous character to berlin, and to prince bismarck particularly, about everything that went on around the unhappy crown prince. not a thing was said, not a thing done, not a change for the worse or the better in the condition of the hapless crown prince, that was not instantly reported to the chancellor, in a sense most detrimental and inimical to the imperial couple at san remo. this traitor in the camp owed his appointment to the imperial household to prince bismarck, but by his charming manners, his professions of loyalty and of devotion, and his denunciations of prince bismarck, and of the latter's policy and ways, had completely captured the confidence of both the crown prince and crown princess. empress frederick has inherited from her mother, queen victoria, a singularly fiery temper. her passionate anger when she realized the base treachery to which her sick husband and herself had been subjected in their time of cruel tribulation and trouble can only be imagined by those who have the privilege of knowing her, and the scene that took place between herself and the offending chamberlain was not merely dramatical, but tragical in its fierce intensity. it was very shortly after this that the old emperor died. if prince bismarck entertained any further hopes of preventing the accession of crown prince frederick to the throne, they were frustrated by prince william, who declined to be a party to any such conspiracy. indeed, in spite of all that has been said to the contrary, i am firmly convinced that william at no time took any part, either directly or indirectly, in the bismarckian plot to oust his so sadly afflicted father from his rights to the crown. but, on the other hand, it is certain that he was suspected by his parents and relatives of being privy to the scheme, and that he was treated with still greater hostility and lack of affection by them than previously, which naturally served to embitter him more than ever before. emperor frederick's reign lasted not quite one hundred days, and throughout that period a conflict may be said to have raged around the bedside of the dying man. both he and his wife, aware how brief his tenure of the throne was destined to be, were bent on inaugurating some of those liberal reforms and popular measures which had been the dream of their entire married life, and which they wished to see put in force, as a lasting memorial of that monarch who figures in german history to-day as "frederick the noble." prince bismarck, and all the leading statesmen of prussia, it must be admitted, ranged themselves against the imperial couple in the matter. they expressed profound pity for the dying emperor, but they denounced the empress with the utmost virulence for taking advantage, as they described it, of his condition to endow germany with some of the most pernicious features of english political life, which, while all very well for britons, were destined to prove disastrous in the extreme if applied to prussia. the fiercer the opposition, the more resolute did both the emperor and empress become in their determination to attain their aim, before death once more rendered the throne vacant; and the position of william, who was now crown prince, became even more difficult than it had hitherto been. his political sympathies were, it is impossible to deny, with prince bismarck and his followers, and he could not with his training and with the influences by which he had been surrounded, ever since he had left school, but disapprove of the measures which his father and mother wished to adopt. this very naturally added to their distrust of him, and while they lavished every token of affection upon their other children, he was treated by them more as a political adversary and a personal foe than as a friend or a son. at length the end came. the pitiful sufferings of "unser fritz," uncomplainingly and patiently borne, were brought to a close by a death which in his case must have been a longed-for release; and within an hour afterwards, william, the present emperor, had startled his subjects and the entire civilized world, by taking an extraordinary step, which for a long time afterwards served as a theme for the denunciation of unfilial character hurled against him both in germany and abroad; this step being the giving of an order to the effect that the guards placed at all the entrances of the palace of potsdam, in which his father had breathed his last, should be doubled, that a cordon of troops should be drawn around the park walls, and that no one should be allowed to enter or leave the palace without his permission. while there is every reason to believe that this measure was suggested to him by prince bismarck, yet it must be admitted that it was to a certain extent justified by the circumstances. emperor frederick was known to have kept a most exhaustive diary throughout his entire married life, dealing day by day with all the political questions of the hour, the secrets of the prussian state, the incidents of court life, etc., just as they occurred. from a german point of view it was a matter of the most extreme importance that this collection of diaries should not be permitted to leave prussia, or to reach a foreign country, for it would practically have meant the placing at the mercy of a foreign land all the state secrets of prussia during the previous thirty years. emperor william and prince bismarck had both been led to believe that empress frederick had made arrangements to have these books conveyed to england by sir morel mackenzie, whom they both disliked as much as they distrusted him. the idea that these volumes should be in the care of mackenzie, even during the twenty-four hours journey separating berlin from london, was to them quite intolerable. before many hours had elapsed, however, the measures were relaxed. it was discovered that the diaries were no longer in the palace, and that they had been taken over to england either knowingly or unknowingly by queen victoria on the occasion of her visit to potsdam, when she came to bid adieu to her dying son-in-law. let me add that some time later, after a considerable amount of explanation and negotiation, queen victoria, of her own accord, returned the cases containing emperor frederick's diaries to her grandson at berlin, with the seals unbroken, taking the very sensible ground that inasmuch as there were many prussian state secrets therein contained, their place was in the archives of the house of hohenzollern, rather than in england. emperor william has never forgotten the course adopted by his grandmother in the matter, and by his manner towards her has repeatedly shown since then that he feels how greatly he can rely upon having his actions appreciated with perfect impartiality and all absence of prejudice at windsor. empress frederick was naturally deeply offended by the precautionary measures adopted by the emperor on his father's death, and saw therein a new and most insulting indication of his unfilial conduct towards herself. nor were the relations between the mother and the son improved, but on the contrary rather aggravated by the presence of the prince of wales at berlin. the latter remained in the prussian capital for a number of weeks after the funeral of emperor frederick, and the english newspapers, which had been most outspoken in their criticisms of the young emperor's attitude towards his parents, did not hesitate to declare openly that if the prince was continuing his stay in berlin, it was for the purpose of championing the interests of his favorite sister, and of protecting her from the insults of her son, and of the latter's mentor and chief counsellor, prince bismarck. there were all sorts of troublesome questions cropping up between the mother and the son during the first few months of her widowhood, many of which were inevitable; for certain courses of policy upon which emperor frederick had embarked were disapproved by the young sovereign's constitutional advisers. then, too, it would appear that frederick iii. had taken advantage of his brief tenure of power to unduly favor his wife and his younger children at the expense of the hohenzollern family property in a manner that was not in consonance with the traditions of the reigning house. it was also whispered that the late emperor had lent a very large sum of money to his brother-in-law, the prince of wales, and it was further asserted that the then minister of the imperial household had preferred resigning his post to countenancing such a use of the money belonging to the hohenzollern family. there was the question, moreover, of the distribution of the palaces. while william was perfectly ready to permit his mother to keep her residence at berlin, he felt that he was entitled, as emperor and chief of the family, to the new palace of potsdam, the finest of the lot, and the only one roomy enough for the abode of a reigning sovereign. it was, therefore, necessary that he should have possession thereof. his mother, on the other hand, took the ground that inasmuch as it had been her principal home throughout her married life, that nearly all her children had been born there, and that it was in many respects a creation of her husband's, she ought to be allowed to retain it. of course the emperor had his way, and this but served to increase the bitterness, particularly when he issued an order to the effect that its old name of "neues palais" should be restored in the place of "friedrichskron," which had been given to it by the widowed empress during her husband's brief reign. of course all these differences of opinion between the mother and the son were carefully intensified by prince bismarck, and aggravated by the continued presence of the prince of wales, who was regarded, probably unjustly, as largely responsible for the animosity which it was claimed was entertained and manifested by the imperial widow for her son. the newspapers took sides in the matter, and the press being very active, there is every reason to believe, in view of the wide field of german and foreign journalism over which the influences of the chancellor extended at the time, that he had a finger, not alone in the denunciation on the one hand of empress frederick as grasping, mercenary, and too much of an englishwoman to be a patriotic german, but likewise in the abuse of emperor william for unfilial conduct. every act of his that could possibly be construed as such, was painted in the blackest of colors, especially in the english press, manifestly with the idea of conveying to the kaiser the impression that the attacks originated with his english relatives, possibly with his mother herself; and i can recall seeing at the time a story to which the london papers devoted columns, and which was made the theme of editorials, the subject of which was that the emperor had sold to a carpenter the pony-carriage and pony used by his father daring the few weeks immediately preceding his death, for his drives in the palace gardens. the story related with much detail about how the pony trap was to be seen during the week in the streets of potsdam, laden with window-sashes, etc., while on sunday and holidays the seat where formerly the dying emperor reclined was occupied by the "herr tischlermeister" and his frowsy, vulgar-looking "frau." yet there was not a word of truth in this story. the pony-carriage used by "unser fritz" during the closing days of his life is preserved as a species of sacred relic in the imperial coach-house at potsdam, while the pony leads a life of ease, idleness and equine luxury, out of regard for the fact that it had the honor of drawing the moribund monarch around the grounds of charlottenburg and potsdam. inasmuch as this precious story about emperor william's selling the pony-carriage in question first made its appearance in a london newspaper, which, as long as bismarck remained in office, was regarded as his particular organ in the british press, being owned by a gentleman bearing a distinctly german name, there is every reason to believe that the tale in question originated with some of the journalistic myrmidons employed by the chancellor, and that its object was to embitter william against the english, against his british kinsfolk, and, above all, against his mother. it is not without significance that the mother and the eldest son have understood one another only since the dismissal from office of prince bismarck. from that time the relations between the two have been of the most affectionate and cordial character. perhaps at first there was at times a little difference of opinion, owing to the difficulty experienced by a woman of the imperious character of empress frederick in realizing the fact that her eldest son was no longer "her boy willie," to be ordered about and controlled, but that he had become, not merely emancipated from her control, but her sovereign master, whose commands she is now forced to obey, and whose wishes she is obliged to consult and consider. but every year since the fall of bismarck has had the effect of bringing the mother and the son nearer to each other. the empress seems to have come to the conclusion that she has judged her son harshly and unjustly, prejudiced by appearances which were frequently against him; while he, on the other hand, demonstrated to prince bismarck that, while he was grateful to him for his services to the empire, he found difficulty in pardoning him for the advantage which he had taken of his--the emperor's--youth and inexperience to estrange him from both his father and his mother. if i have repeated in this chapter some history that may be regarded as ancient, since it dates back to eleven and twelve years ago, it is for the purpose of relieving emperor william of much unmerited reproach heaped upon him, as the most unfilial of royal and imperial princes in modern times. william has a warm heart, and an affectionate disposition. he shows this in the happiness of his home life, and by the tenderness of his devotion to his wife and children. if he was for a time estranged from his parents, and in particular from his mother, it was less through any fault of his, or of theirs--i repeat it--than through the intrigues of bismarck, and of the latter's friends within and without the imperial household, who fondly imagined that they were serving the "vaterland" by keeping the parents and their son estranged from one another. chapter vii everyone, i presume, is acquainted with that old french saying, "_dis moi qui tu hantes et je te dirai qui tu es!_" which may be rendered in english: "tell me with whom you associate and i will tell you who you are!" while this adage is almost invariably true in the case of ordinary people, it would hardly be just to apply it where monarchs and princes of the blood are concerned. given that every form of pleasure, of entertainment and of amusement is always within their reach, thanks to the loftiness of their station, their wealth, and facilitated furthermore by the anxiety of their courtiers both to please them and to retain their favor, they naturally soon become blasé to such an extent that they become a prey to ennui--a thoroughly royal malady, from which few, if any, of the scions of the reigning houses of europe are exempt. "ennui," like "chic," is a french word difficult to translate and subject to much misinterpretation, especially in the united states, where it is practically unknown. the majority of americans are far too busy, and are environed by too much bustle and activity to experience such a thing as ennui, and even the american leisure class, still in an embryo condition, as a rule are too new to their privileges to have that feeling. to suffer from ennui implies so deep a knowledge of life, and a corresponding satiety of its pleasures, that all the ordinary routine events of existence have no longer any power to interest the mind. ennui is not weariness nor tediousness, as described in the dictionary; neither is it boredom, for the latter differs therefrom in its not necessarily being the outcome of a high degree of civilization, which ennui certainly is. an untutored savage of central africa, or of the wilds of australia may be bored; so are many of the ignorant houris of oriental harems and zenanas. nay, even an energetic business man may feel temporarily bored by enforced bodily or mental inaction, or by dreary associations; but that can scarcely be described as _ennui_, a feeling which in the true sense of the word means being thoroughly _blasé_ and oppressed by moral and physical satiety. you must know everything, have tried everything, have had all your personal wishes and desires satisfied, all obstacles removed from your path, and pass your way through life with the firm conviction that there remains nothing to interest or arouse your ambition in order to be a victim of _ennui_. the greatest sufferers from this disagreeable sensation are, as i have just remarked, the royal and imperial personages of europe, and although the emperors of germany and austria have the greater portion of their time taken up by the business of the state, and the administration of the government of their respective countries, yet neither of them is exempt from ennui. indeed, there are no princes whose features betray to such an extent unmistakable evidence of ennui, as those of the imperial house of hapsburg, while emperor william's choice of many of his friends is guided by the powers which they may possess to entertain him, and to deliver him in his hours of leisure from that dreaded complaint. of course there are exceptions to this rule, and there are several of emperor william's cronies who owe the friendship of their sovereign to kindnesses which they rendered, and devotion which they displayed to him, in the days prior to his accession to the throne. but in the majority of instances, the sometimes strange selection of friends made by the emperor is attributable to the fact that the personages to whom he accords his favor succeed in amusing and entertaining him during the time that he is not occupied with the cares of his empire. conspicuous among friends of this particular character, is baron von kiderlen-waechter, who holds the rank of minister plenipotentiary in the diplomatic service of germany, and who was recently, and possibly still remains, prussian envoy to the court of denmark, but who is known in the imperial circle at berlin by the nickname of "august," that being the "sobriquet" given to the clowns belonging to variety-shows and circuses in england, austria, and france. in fact, he certainly occupies among william's immediate circle of cronies and associates the position of court jester, and the emperor makes a point of taking the baron along with him whenever he goes on his annual yachting trips along the coast of sweden and norway. the latter is the life and soul of these imperial yachting parties, his witticisms, his antics, and, above all, his inimitable talent for mimicry keeping even the sailors of the _hohenzollern_ in continual roars of laughter. yet he can be grave and dignified on state occasions, and when one sees him at the court of berlin arrayed in full uniform, his breast covered with decorations, it is difficult to realize that this imposing-looking diplomat is the principal partner of the autocrat of germany in such juvenile games as "hot cockles," which is a very favorite game on board the _hohenzollern_, and in which the kneeling and blindfolded victim receives a terrific spank or smack, and then has to guess, under the penalty of ridiculous forfeits, who it is that struck him! no one would ever have dreamt of finding any fault with this intimacy between the emperor and the baron, had it not been for the fact that the latter laid himself open to charges of having taken advantage of the imperial favor won by mimicry and practical joking, to further political and personal intrigues in which he was interested. indeed, he was repeatedly accused in the german press of being largely responsible for the manifestation of animosity between the court of berlin and friedrichsrüh that characterized the last eight or nine years of the life of prince bismarck. the newspapers did not hesitate to assert that the baron, who had formerly been one of the confidential secretaries of the old chancellor, had deliberately fomented the irritation of the kaiser against the veteran statesman, believing that any reconciliation between the monarch and his former chancellor would entail the baron's disgrace. finally, the abuse of the baron in the berlin press became so pronounced that he was virtually obliged to challenge the editor of one of the most vituperative of the metropolitan sheets, and very gallantly lodged a bullet through the shoulder of this "knight of the quill!" for this escapade the baron was condemned to three months' imprisonment by the courts, duelling, as has been intimated already, being forbidden by law in germany. his incarceration in the military fortress of ehrenbreitstein on the rhine was absolutely unprecedented. ambassadors and envoys have in times gone by been imprisoned by sovereigns to whose courts they were accredited, in defiance of all the laws of international right regulating the intercourse between civilized powers, but this was the first occasion of a government taking the unheard-of step of jailing one of its own envoys. fortunately for the baron, the king of denmark was, before his accession to the throne, an officer of the german army, and as such was disposed to regard with the utmost leniency the offence for which his excellency was condemned to imprisonment. he realized that the baron had no alternative but to fight, his honor having been questioned by the paper whose editor he challenged. although duelling is forbidden by the criminal law of germany, under the penalty of imprisonment, yet, had the baron failed to fight, and taken shelter behind the law, he would not only have been compelled to resign his diplomatic office, his position at court, and his rank in the army, but he would have subjected himself to such odium as to have become to all intents and purposes a social outcast, and compelled to leave germany. appreciating this, old king christian raised no objections to the appointment of a chargé d'affaires, to represent the diplomatic interests of germany at his court, during the term of imprisonment served by the minister plenipotentiary, and from the moment when the latter completed his term, and was liberated from prison, he resumed his duties as envoy at the court of copenhagen, just as if nothing had happened. another intimate friend of the kaiser, who possesses much the same _talents de société_ as baron kiderlen-waechter, and whose position in the high favor of the kaiser has been a subject of much unfavorable comment, and even of open abuse in berlin, is baron holstein, popularly known as the "_austern-freund"_ or "oyster-friend," owing to his altogether phenomenal capacity for the absorption of bivalves, and his strongly developed fondness for good cheer! baron holstein, like baron kiderlen-waechter, was formerly one of the confidential secretaries of prince bismarck, and a daily guest at his table, and was treated as a member of the old chancellor's family for years, yet he became one of the most relentless foes of the bismarck family as soon as the prince was dismissed from office. prince bismarck was not the sort of man to submit in silence to the enmity of his former secretary, and a few years after his retirement to friedrichsrüh he took occasion, during the course of a public discussion of the circumstances which led to the disgrace and ruin of count harry arnim, for a long time german ambassador at paris, to disclose for the first time in speech, and in print, the part which baron holstein had played in the affair. according to the prince, baron holstein, while first secretary of the german embassy at paris, and though treated by count arnim as an inmate of his home, living in fact under his roof, and eating at his table, was in the habit throughout an entire year of sending secret reports to berlin against the chief under whom he was serving--reports which subsequently furnished the basis of the charges upon which count arnim was tried, convicted and disgraced. it is true that some mention was made in the parisian and english press at the time of the arnim trial of the questionable rôle which baron holstein had played in the affair, and there were a number of parisian papers that did not hesitate to hold up the baron to, at any rate, french obloquy, as a man guilty of the base betrayal of the kindest and most indulgent of chiefs. the only person on that occasion who had the courage to take up the baron's defence was m. de blowitz, french correspondent of the london _times_, of which he is described on the banks of the seine, as the "ambassador," and who possesses an immense amount of influence with the parisian press. blowitz's championship of the baron's cause was sincerely appreciated by the latter. he called upon the correspondent, thanked him effusively, and declared that it was his intervention alone that had made his stay at paris possible. during the conversation that followed, blowitz opened his heart to his visitor, telling him that his own position as the paris correspondent of the _times_ was in danger owing to some changes in the administration of the london office. a fortnight later, blowitz received from the managing editor of the _times_ in london a letter sixteen pages long, addressed to printing-house square, and entirely written and signed by baron holstein. it denounced blowitz as being one of the creatures of the late duc decazes, as wilfully ignoring and concealing for interested purposes of his own, a number of matters that should have found their way into the columns of the _times_, and urging the managers of the latter to send to paris some fitter and more impartial person, who would be better able to keep the great english newspaper _au courant_ of what was going on below as well as above the surface, than so unscrupulous a person as m. de blowitz. this letter was dated exactly three days after the latter's visit of gratitude to the correspondent, and the incident may be regarded as being in perfect harmony with the behavior of this favorite of the kaiser to both count harry arnim and subsequently to prince bismarck. the third of these cronies of the kaiser, to whom his subjects take objection on the ground that they are in the habit of using the favor shown to them by his majesty to further their own interests, and to injure those who, for one reason or another, have incurred their animosity, is count philip eulenburg, who has been again and again referred to in the berlin newspapers as "the troubadour." he is at the present moment german ambassador at vienna, whence his predecessor, prince reuss, was ousted in spite of the eminent services of a personal character which he had rendered to the emperor, in order to make way for the count. the latter's intimacy with his sovereign is largely due to his cleverness as a poet, a dramatist, and a composer, and while he has furnished the words to many of the musical compositions of the kaiser, william has, in turn, had much of his own poetry set to music by the count. philip eulenburg has been clever enough to foster william's very pardonable weakness as to his gifts as a musician and a poet, and being a man of the most charming manners, possessed of an unusual supply of tact, and extremely accomplished in many respects, he has acquired an extraordinary degree of influence over his sovereign. indeed it may be doubted whether there is any member of the imperial entourage who stands as high in the good graces of the german ruler as does his ambassador to the court of vienna. each year the emperor makes a point of spending a week at liebenberg, the country-seat of the count, and it has long been a matter of comment that these visits are invariably signalized by the inauguration of some political or administrative move on the part of the kaiser. it was, indeed, at liebenberg that the emperor decided upon the dismissal from the chancellorship of general count caprivi, who had been unfortunate enough to incur the enmity of the eulenburgs. count philip, who possesses a fine voice, and who during the annual yachting trip of the emperor on board the _hohenzollern_, is accustomed to sing duets with the monarch, and to play the latter's accompaniments, is not, as is generally supposed, the brother, but merely the cousin of botho, augustus, and the late count wend eulenburg. his career was almost wrecked at its very outset by an incident which developed into an international question. while stationed as a young sub-lieutenant of cavalry at bonn, he was one day inadvertently jostled in the street by a gray-haired and rather portly stranger, whom he at once addressed in the most insulting manner. upon the stranger responding in kind, the count drew his sabre and cut the man down, inflicting upon him such a wound that he expired a short time afterwards at the hospital. there it was discovered that he was one ott, a frenchman, and one of the chefs of queen victoria, momentarily detached from his duties at windsor castle, in order to attend her majesty's second son, the duke of edinburgh,--now the reigning sovereign of saxe-coburg-gotha,--during his stay on the continent. both the queen and prince alfred were indignant at the outrage, which was made the subject of an acrimonious correspondence between the english, french and prussian governments, the result being that count philip was sentenced to pay heavy damages to the widow and to the orphaned children of his victim, and to undergo a year's imprisonment in a fortress. he only joined the diplomatic profession in , when he was appointed as third secretary to the german embassy at paris, and he occupied very inferior rôles in the diplomatic service of his country until the accession to the throne of his friend and patron, emperor william, who promoted him a few weeks later, at one bound, from the post of second secretary of the legation at munich to the rank of prussian minister-plenipotentiary at aldenberg, whence he was transferred a year later to stuttgart, then, to the hague, and then back to munich, as chief of the legation, which post he retained until his nomination in to the german ambassadorship at vienna, that is to say, to the blue ribbon of the diplomatic service of the kaiser. he is generally regarded as destined in course of time to become chancellor of the empire, in spite of the human blood with which his hands are stained. both the court and the public object far less to the intimacy that exists between count augustus eulenburg and his imperial friend, for augustus, who is the grand master of the imperial household and the chief executive dignitary of the court, has been the closest associate of william since the latter's earliest boyhood. he was one of those officials whom prince bismarck forced upon the then crown prince and crown princess, in order to keep watch over their actions and to counteract their influence on their eldest son. it was he, count augustus, who acted as the comforter of william whenever he was subjected to reproof or to disciplinary measures by his father or mother; who invariably espoused the lad's cause, and who contributed more than anyone else to convince william that he was a victim of the most cruel and unmerited form of parental severity and persecution. he constituted himself the mentor and the guide of the prince, initiated him into all the intricacies of the imperial court, as well as into the secrets of its most prominent members. in one word, he rendered himself so indispensable to the prince, that as soon as the latter succeeded to the throne he at once appointed count augustus eulenburg to the grand mastership of the court and household. to what extent emperor and empress frederick were aware of the spirit characterizing the count's relations with their eldest son, it is difficult to say, but there is no doubt that during the last two or three years of emperor frederick's life, the position of augustus in the household of "unser fritz" was vastly improved and facilitated by the sensational quarrels of his elder brother, count botho eulenburg, the celebrated statesman, with prince bismarck, for both frederick and his wife, from, that time forth, ceased to look upon augustus as a creature and a spy of the chancellor. how great was the intimacy between william and the count, may be gathered from the fact that augustus was the invariable and sole companion of the emperor in that species of haroun-al-raschid nocturnal expeditions which his majesty was wont to undertake in the slums of his capital, for the purpose of learning what his people were saying about him. at that time, his features were far less familiar to the public than they are to-day, and by giving his moustache a different twist, and his hair another turn, he experienced no difficulty in disguising himself. the adventures which he met with during the course of these nightly prowls in the company of count augustus are numerous enough to fill a book. still, while they furnished plenty of amusement, excitement, and experiences not altogether unpleasant, they involved his majesty, on one or two occasions, in so much personal danger, that the count, realizing the responsibility which would rest upon his shoulders in the eyes not merely of the nation, but of the entire world, if anything untoward happened to the monarch, induced him, though with difficulty, to abandon this species of pastime so dear to crowned heads. let me add that it was on the occasion of one of these expeditions that the emperor met with a very severe injury to his hand. there is an old established usage in berlin, on new year's eve, which prescribed that any man appearing in the street in a high or stiff hat should be incontinently bonneted, that is to say, have his hat crushed down over his eyes and ears by a blow of the fist. emperor william, who is somewhat fond of rough horse-play, used to delight in this form of amusement, and on the first new year's eve after his accession to the throne, he sallied forth with augustus eulenburg in search of adventures. catching sight of a portly citizen of mature years walking along under the shadows of the trees that line the magnificent avenue known as "unter den linden," he immediately proceeded to crush the high silk hat which the man wore by a tremendous blow from his imperial fist! he was unable, however, to refrain from a cry of pain, and his companion the count, on seeing that his sovereign's hand was drenched with blood, at once summoned the two detectives who were following discreetly in the rear, and caused them to arrest the citizen. the man on being searched at the palace police station, was found to be a merchant of high standing, who, determined to get even with the practical jokers from whose brutality he himself had suffered on previous new year's eves, had devised a sort of thick leather hat-lining, armed with long and sharp prongs, pointed outward like the quills of a porcupine. the emperor, on smashing the hat, naturally had his hand dreadfully lacerated. the citizen was kept under arrest for twenty-four hours, during which the question was discussed as to whether he should be prosecuted and punished for inflicting personal injury upon the sovereign, or not. finally, william himself, with that good sense which so often characterizes him, gave orders for his liberation, on the ground that he could not possibly have dreamt that he would be bonneted by his sovereign, that he was, therefore, quite innocent of any intention to inflict injury upon the person of the emperor, and that he, william, had, after all, got nothing but what he deserved for playing such a prank. moreover, in order to show the citizen that he bore him no grudge, he sent him, by way of consolation for his arrest and the destruction of his hat, a portrait bearing the autograph signature of the kaiser, as well as the words: "in memory of _sylvester-nacht_."--new year's eve is sacred to saint sylvester. count botho eulenburg, the elder brother of augustus, has repeatedly held the offices of cabinet minister and premier of prussia. he happened to be at the head of the department of the interior at the time when the attempts were made by nobiling to assassinate old emperor william, and ever since that time has been the sworn foe of socialism, and identified with everything that is reactionary and despotic in prussian legislation. his influence with the emperor is very great, and there is no doubt that he has contributed in a great measure to the somewhat extravagant views which the kaiser entertains with regard to the divine rights of monarchs, and especially concerning their responsibility, not towards their people alone, but also towards the almighty. count botho's quarrel with prince bismarck, originated in the following manner. the count, in accordance with a decision reached at a cabinet meeting, spoke as minister of the interior in the prussian diet in favor of placing the communal councils under the provincial board, instead of under the central government. he had no sooner sat down than a member arose and said that he was instructed by the prime minister, prince bismarck, to disavow the view taken by the minister of the interior. this extraordinary action of the prince was due to the fact that he had suddenly decided upon coquetting with the liberals, for the sake of obtaining their support upon the subject of another of his little inaugurations. count botho immediately sent in his resignation, and did not resume office until after the disgrace of prince bismarck. previous to this quarrel, however, as i have already stated, the most intimate relations had subsisted between the eulenburgs and the bismarcks. indeed, countess marie, only daughter of prince bismarck, was at one time betrothed to wend, the youngest of the three eulenburg brothers. three days before the day fixed for the wedding, the young man was suddenly seized with typhus, and forty-eight hours later succumbed to this awful disease. countess marie, it may be added, subsequently married count rantzau, after having been between times engaged to baron eisendecker, once german envoy at washington, and now the kaiser's adviser in yachting matters, whom she jilted in consequence of differences of religious opinion. so much for the eulenburgs, who may be said to constitute the most influential family at the court of berlin, and without a description of whom no history of the life and surroundings of emperor william could possibly be regarded as complete. other cronies of the kaiser, who are less influential in a political sense, and, therefore, less obnoxious to the people, are counts douglas, count dohna, and count goertz. public attention, however, has often been drawn to the friendship of the kaiser for the dohnas by the frequency of the imperial visit with which count richard dohna is honored at his superb old château of schlobitten, and likewise by reason of the fact that on two occasions william almost lost his life through carriage accidents which he sustained while out driving with the count. [illustration: _the runaway at proeckelwitz_ _after a drawing by oreste cortazzo_] the dohnas are one of the most ancient houses of the old german nobility, and schlobitten, with its grand old park, shaded by glorious trees, has been in the possession of the family since the fourteenth century. the castle, as now arranged, is only two hundred years old, having been reconstructed on the site, and with the ruins, of an ancient monastery and dwelling. the name of dohna is recorded in the most important pages of prussian history. statesmen, generals, and in particular, confidants and cronies of their successive rulers have borne that name, and there is not a king who has reigned over prussia, and previous to that an elector who has ruled over brandenburg, who has not stayed at the castle of schlobitten and occupied the antiquated four-poster bed, in which the present emperor sleeps whenever he makes a visit there. count richard dohna is a great breeder of blooded horses, a magnificent whip, and the accidents which happened to the kaiser, while out driving with him, were merely due to the fact that in each case the horses were too young, and not sufficiently broken in. on one occasion, the drag was upset into a ditch not far from schlobitten, the kaiser and the count being severely bruised and shaken up; while at another time a splendid team got beyond the control of the count, smashed harnesses and pole, and dashed helter-skelter into the little town of proeckelwitz, where they were fortunately stopped without further mishap. the intimacy of the kaiser with the dohna family serves to recall the fact that there was a daughter of this house, countess anna dohna, who claimed to have become the wife of the late emperor william. she lived for a time in london, geneva, and then in new york, and was wont to style herself countess dohna-brandenburg, having added the name of brandenburg to that of dohna by reason of this alleged marriage. while in new york she lived in a large house in lexington avenue, which she furnished handsomely, and she never seemed to be in want of money. according to her own story she met the late emperor william in , during the lifetime of his father, king frederick-william iii., when she was sixteen years of age. after several clandestine meetings, she claimed that they were married late one night at clegnitz, in silesia, by a young country parson. the latter did not know the prince, who gave the name of william count brandenburg, and his occupation as that of an officer of the royal guards. the marriage certificate was duly made out, and then her husband told her that it would be expedient to keep their union secret for a time. to this she reluctantly assented. when at length, urged by her entreaties, her husband revealed their marriage to his father, king frederick-william iii., he flew into a terrible rage, forced him to sign a renunciation of the countess's hand, and she was conveyed to a small castle near königsberg, in east-prussia, where she was kept a close prisoner for years. in , always according to her story, she succeeded in escaping, and crossing the polish frontier reached warsaw, where in the following year she was recognized at a state performance of the opera given by czar nicholas, in honor of the king of prussia and prince william, who were visiting the russian court. she was arrested at the theatre, and on the following morning conveyed to eastern russia, where she was kept under strict surveillance until the death of frederick-william iii., in , led to her release. she was then permitted to return to prussia, and the new king, frederick-william iv., offered to compromise the matter with her. this she refused to do. her father's death placed her in possession of a large fortune, and she spent several years in travelling. in she intended to appeal to the prussian national assembly for justice, but the police got wind of it, and she was interned in her château in silesia. on william becoming king of prussia, she was given the alternative of leaving the country or of becoming an inmate of a lunatic asylum, so she transferred her abode to paris, and after living for awhile in london and geneva, came to new york in . the truth of this story having been questioned, it may be mentioned that the prussian _staats anzeiger_, or official berlin gazette, of june , , contains the following royal decree: "by order of his majesty the king, anna countess dohna having claimed to be the wife of prince william of prussia, i hereby decree that such a union if it ever took place, be null and void. "frederick william, rex. "anthony von altenstein, "secretary of state." i have seen it mentioned both in german and foreign publications that the three counts of brandenburg, two of them distinguished generals, and the third for many years prussian envoy at brussels, were the issue of the union of countess anna dohna and old emperor william of germany. but this is not true; for their father, a famous premier and soldier, of whom a fine statue exists at berlin, was the son of king frederick-william ii. of prussia, and his morganatic wife, the countess of dohenhoff. with regard to count douglas, i may state that the kaiser's intimacy with him dates back to many years prior to his accession to the throne. like his twin brother, count louis douglas, the swedish statesman, who until a few weeks ago occupied the post of minister of foreign affairs at stockholm, count willie douglas may be said to have royal blood in his veins, for his father, old count douglas, now dead, married the morganatic daughter of a royal princess of the reigning house of baden. on the old count's death, william, the elder of the twins, inherited his mother's vast property, while louis, the younger, took possession of his father's estates in sweden. william was educated in germany, is an officer of the prussian army, as well as a member of the prussian house of lords: louis was brought up in sweden, entered the swedish army, became chamberlain to the crown prince of sweden, married the daughter of count ehrensward, late minister of foreign affairs at stockholm, and eventually succeeded to his father-in-law's post at the head of sweden's foreign office. like his twin brother in prussia, he is exceedingly conservative, imbued with the necessity of retaining the old feudal prerogatives, and of placing every obstacle in the way of the rising tide of democracy. indeed, whatever influence he exercises over the king and crown prince of sweden, is as reactionary as any influence which his german brother may be said to enjoy over the kaiser. the douglas twins are descended from the great scotch family of douglas, and are therefore allied to the duke of hamilton and the marquis of queensberry. their ancestors emigrated to prussia from scotland at the time of the thirty years' war, fought under gustavus-adolphus, and afterwards returned with him to sweden, where they became members of the swedish nobility. count willie, like his brother, displays all the hereditary traits of the scotch house that bears his name, having the peculiar jaw, falling underlip, and dark complexion of the celebrated "black douglas." yet neither of the twins speaks a word of english, nor has ever visited the land of his sire, though they bear the douglas motto of "do or die." count willie has few british sympathies, but some british tastes, being famous as a four-in-hand whip, and as a magnificent shot. he is also very hospitable, and entertains at berlin in a right royal fashion, his wealth, derived from the mines which he owns in the hartz mountains, enabling him to do so without hesitation on the score of expense. it is no secret that emperor william has, on two or three occasions, offered a cabinet office to his friend william douglas, who has, however, invariably declined it, much to the relief of those who are convinced that the same peculiar moral and psychological affinity exists between the douglas twins as that attributed to the corsican brothers. it would have been, they declare, a dangerous experiment to have had one of them directing the foreign policy of germany, and the other that of the kingdoms of sweden and norway. it may interest my american readers to add that a few years ago count willie douglas was the defendant in an extraordinary lawsuit at berlin which had an american end to it. it seems that some thirty years ago a man of the name of brandt died in the united states, leaving a fortune of several millions of dollars. having no near relatives in america, the lawyers advertised for any heirs that he might have left behind him in germany. the father of count douglas was at the time burgomaster of the little town of aschersleben, and one day some of the inhabitants of the place bearing the name of brandt placed a lot of papers in his hands, asking him to glance over them, and to see whether there was any truth in the statement that they were heirs to an immense fortune in america. the old count, in his capacity of burgomaster, declared that the affair looked to him very questionable, that he believed it was a mere swindle, and that there was surely nothing in it for them. whether he returned to them the papers or not, is unknown, but he declared to the day of his death that he had restored them, whereas the brandts of aschersleben swear that he did not. eventually, they brought suit against his son, not merely for the recovery of the documents, but likewise for the fortune, actually alleging that the latter had been appropriated by old count douglas, with the connivance of the late prince bismarck, who had received a large share of the plunder. it is scarcely necessary to state that they were non-suited. emperor william's intimacy with count and countess goertz may be said to be a sort of inherited friendship, the count's father, president of the hessian house of lords, and his consort, a princess of sayn-wittgenstein, having been the most intimate friends of emperor and empress frederick, whose acquaintance they made through the late grand duke and grand duchess of hesse. in order to show the affectionate relations existing between the parents of the kaiser and those of the present head of the ancient and illustrious house of goertz, it is merely necessary to state that professor hintzpeter, who for a number of years directed the education of emperor william and his brother henry, and who, as their old tutor, retains much influence over both the imperial brothers, was selected by emperor and empress frederick for the purpose, on the personal recommendation of the late count and countess goertz, in whose family he had resided for a number of years as tutor to their son. in fact, the present count goertz, who is some eight or nine years the senior of the emperor, can boast, like the latter, of having been a pupil of old hintzpeter, who in some respects is the german counterpart of the late czar alexander's tutor, m. pobietnotzoff. that william shares the confidence placed by his parents in the goertz family is shown by the fact that when he found it necessary, at one time, to obtain the services of a tutor for one of his young relatives, in a case, it must be added, of particular delicacy, he at once nominated to the post professor krenge, who at the time was tutoring the sons of the present count goertz. countess goertz is a woman of great beauty, which she may be said to have inherited from her mother, the so-celebrated countess of villeneuve, wife to the brazilian envoy to the court of brussels, and renowned throughout europe on account of her loveliness. although the admiration which the kaiser displays for the fascinating countess is of the most undisguised character, it fails to excite the jealousy either of his consort or the count, and the relations between the empress and the countess are so close that the former has been known to lend to her friend articles of jewelry, and even of dress, for use at fancy dress balls and elsewhere. the emperor and the count are also as united and unrestrained with each other as two men can be who have the same tastes, who have been intimately acquainted since childhood, and whose parents have been close friends before them. it is doubtful whether william ever enjoys himself so much, or feels so thoroughly at home, as when visiting the goertzes at schlitz. there his days are spent in shooting and hunting with the count, and the evenings in composing new melodies, and setting songs to music with the countess. the emperor's children and the young goertzes are bound by equal ties of affection, and are old-time playmates, so that there seems every likelihood of this friendship between the hohenzollerns and the former reigning sovereign house of goertz being continued in the third generation. no account of the emperor's private life can be properly written without including a brief sketch of general count von hahnke, and of baron von lucanus. the former is the chief of the military cabinet of the emperor, and the other is at the head of his civil cabinet, that is to say, he occupies the post of principal private secretary. both of them accompany the emperor wherever he goes, and in fact constitute his very shadow, enjoying by reason of their proximity to the sovereign, and by their close association with him, a far greater degree of power and influence than any cabinet minister. baron lucanus is an extremely good-looking man, whose popular nickname at berlin, namely, "the emperor's blackie man," is in nowise due to any swarthiness of complexion, but to the fact that among the great dignitaries in attendance on the emperor, he is the only one in civilian attire, while moreover he is invariably selected by the sovereign to convey to any cabinet minister, whose resignation is required, the imperial intimation "_that he has ceased to please_." it was baron von lucanus who communicated to prince bismarck the emperor's request and subsequent peremptory command for the surrender of the chancellorship of the empire, and it was he, too, who was sent to ask bismarck's successor, general count caprivi, for his resignation; in fact, there has not been a single ministerial head to fall during the last ten years--and they have been very numerous during the present reign--where herr von lucanus has not been the imperial emissary of these evil tidings. this is so well known in berlin that the moment the baron is seen to be calling at the residence of any distinguished statesman who happens to be in office, it is at once taken for granted that the axe has once more fallen, and that it is another case of a ministerial downfall. the berliners declare that emperor william pitches upon lucanus for these particular jobs in consequence of his being the son of a halberstadt druggist, and as such, more likely to be proficient in the art of sugar-coating the bitter pills than any mere military officer! he owes his patent of nobility to the late emperor frederick, who entertained a very high opinion of his intelligence, and it is worthy of note that he first came to the fore in the entourage of the emperor when prince bismarck's power as chancellor commenced to wane. he is a man of about fifty, and served for a quarter of a century in the department of public worship. it was, however, as an expert in art matters, and as an intelligent assistant in the organization of the imperial museum of science and art at berlin, that he first attracted the notice and good-will of the late emperor, and particularly of the empress frederick. his military colleague, general count von hahnke, although a charming man, is, nevertheless, one of the most bitterly-hated officers of the german army; this is due to the fact that he has virtually usurped the prerogatives and the power of the minister of war, who has been reduced to a mere instrument of his wishes. this is not altogether the fault of the general, for the emperor insists on retaining absolute control of the army in his own hands, and of exercising its command in every particular, no appointment being made without his initiative and sanction, while everything is done through count hahnke as supreme head of the military cabinet of his majesty. a few years ago the general lost his son under singularly tragical and somewhat mysterious circumstances. the misfortune occurred during one of the annual yachting trips of the kaiser, young hahnke being a lieutenant on board the yacht. according to the official version, the young officer met with his death while coasting down a mountain road at one of the norwegian ports at which the yacht had touched, his bicycle getting beyond his control, and precipitating itself with its rider over a low stone parapet into a fierce torrent hundreds of feet below. the emperor happened at the time to have a bruise on the face, caused by a block and tackle swinging against him during a squall, while on deck, and on the strength of this temporary disfigurement, a story most painful to the emperor was circulated to the effect that his black eye was due to a blow from young hahnke, who resented some indignity in connection with the practical jokes and rough horse-play so frequent on board the _hohenzollern_ during the emperor's annual holiday. it was added that the young officer had been given by military and naval etiquette the alternative of blowing out his brains, or of taking his life in some other way, as the only means of saving his name from disgrace and his honor from loss; and a certain degree of color was given to the tale by the fact that it was published at full length in a london society newspaper, at the very time when its proprietor and editor was sojourning at marienbad with the prince of wales, and in daily intercourse with the british heir apparent, who was naturally supposed to know the truth about young hahnke's death. perhaps the most striking and convincing evidence of the absurd fabrication of this story, which has given much sorrow, both to the emperor and empress, is to be found in the fact that the young officer's father remained at the head of the emperor's military cabinet, and has never abandoned, even temporarily, his service near the kaiser; this the general would certainly not have done had william been in any sense of the word responsible for the death of his boy. in fact it was the kindly and tactful sympathy of both the emperor and the empress that enabled the bereaved father to bear his loss with fortitude, and his gratitude for the kindness shown to him by his sovereign is of a deep and undying quality. chapter viii great is the contrast between the court of berlin to-day and the aspect which it presented during the closing years of the reign of old emperor william, and were any of the latter's familiars to return to the place where so much of their existence had been spent, they would indeed find themselves amidst strange surroundings and strange faces. in those days, grey and white hair were the rule rather than the exception. to-day the contrary is the case, and not merely do the dignitaries of the court and of the army belong to a younger generation, but also the members of the imperial circle, that is to say, the princes and princesses of the blood, with whom the emperor and empress associate as kinsfolk and near relatives. the few older members of the reigning house of prussia who survive--the contemporaries of the grandfather and father of william ii.--find the atmosphere of the court so different from what they have been accustomed to in the past, so out of keeping with their ideas--in one word, feel themselves so little at home there, that they prefer to stay away as much as they can. thus prince albert of prussia, one of the grandest looking soldiers of the imperial army, and certainly one of the most gigantic in stature, divides his time between brunswick, where he holds a court of his own as regent, and england, where he is accustomed to spend his holidays. the widowed princess frederick-charles lives nearly all the year round in italy with her chamberlain, baron wangenheim, whom she is understood to have morganatically married, and in whose company she occasionally visits the pope, a circumstance which has led to the rumor that she has joined the church of rome. the widowed empress frederick is either at her lovely castle of kronberg, near homburg, which is stocked from garret to cellar with those art treasures of which she is one of the finest _connaisseuses_ in europe, or else is traveling about in italy, austria or england. indeed the only contemporary of the old emperor who still remains at berlin, and who is occasionally to be seen at court, giving one the impression of a spectre of the past, is prince george, who bears a startling resemblance to the old kaiser particularly when arrayed in uniform. while slightly eccentric, he is remarkably accomplished, and has not only written a number of german plays over the pen-name of "george conrad," which have been successfully staged in germany, but is even the author of a drama written in the purest and most exquisitely correct french, sparkling with parisian wit and brilliancy, which has had long runs in many theatres without either the actors or the public being aware that it was from the pen of a prince of prussia. until the war of , prince george was on terms of the utmost intimacy with the de goncourts, the dumases, de girardin, and all the principal literary lights of france, with whom he was wont to foregather on a footing of artistic equality each year at ems, a german watering-place much frequented by the french prior to the great struggle of ; of course, since that time his intercourse with french people has been much more restricted, and through a feeling of delicacy and tact, with which he is not usually credited, he has refrained from visiting paris, or even from setting his foot on french territory since the war. this, however, has not prevented him from keeping himself _au courant_ of every literary and dramatic event that takes place on the banks of the seine, and a french academician of my acquaintance who was presented to him last summer at ems, and who spent several days there in his company, could not sufficiently express his amazement, not merely at the extraordinary purity of the prince's french, but likewise at the amazing manner in which he seems to have kept track of everything that has happened at paris in the world of letters and art, as well as of the french idioms, figures of speech, and even witticisms of the present day. the delicacy which prince george manifests with regard to the french people, and his fear lest his admiration for them should be misinterpreted, is largely due to the treatment that he received at the hands of empress eugénie at carlsbad, in or . having been a frequent and welcome guest at the tuileries during the reign of napoleon iii., the prince, when he found that the widowed empress had arrived at carlsbad, and had taken up her residence at the very hotel at which he was staying, naturally considered that he could not do otherwise than take some notice of her presence; if he affected to ignore her, he would have exposed himself to the reproach of gross discourtesy; at the same time he felt that any public form of attention might prove unwelcome to her, and might possibly serve to impair her son's prospects of recovering his father's throne; so he contented himself with sending her every day magnificent baskets of flowers, and with bowing to her with the utmost deference, but without attempting to accost her when he met her in the gardens or park. he likewise caused it to be intimated to her secretary, m. pietri, that if at any moment she felt disposed to accord him an audience, he would be only too glad of the opportunity to "lay his homage at the feet of her majesty." that was all. yet such as it was, the empress managed to turn it to political account, for she suddenly left carlsbad, making it known throughout france, by means of the press, that she had been compelled to quit the baths, and to interrupt the cure, in consequence of the undesirable attentions which prince george of prussia persisted in forcing upon her. naturally, the newspapers made the most of her story, and were filled with denunciations and abuse of the prince, some of the sheets asserting, by way of explanation of his conduct, that he was mentally unbalanced, his mother having been an acknowledged lunatic, and his brother. prince alexander, an imbecile. nothing can be further from the truth. it cannot be denied that he has a few harmless and kindly eccentricities which would attract no attention whatever in an ordinary septuagenarian, but which excite comment merely by reason of his rank as a prince of the blood. he is a gentle, brilliantly accomplished, chivalrous old fellow, without an enemy in the world, and is a great favorite with the emperor's children, who will deeply miss him when he passes over to the majority, and is laid to rest in the family vault of the house of hohenzollern. with this exception, the princes and princesses of the blood of the court of berlin are all of much the same age as the emperor. they comprise prince henry, his only brother, who is due home from china in the spring of , and his consort, princess irene of hesse, sister of the young czarina. then there is prince frederick-leopold, the extremely wealthy son of prussia's celebrated cavalry general, prince frederick-charles, to whom belonged the credit of taking the french stronghold of metz, in the war of . he is married to a younger sister of the empress, and is, therefore, not only the cousin, but likewise the brother-in-law of the kaiser. prince adolph, of schaumburg-lippe, although nominally stationed at bonn, is also accustomed to spend the entire season at berlin, with his wife, princess victoria of prussia, a sister of the kaiser. the latter is credited with the intention of investing prince adolph with the regency of brunswick, should it be vacated by prince albert, or else of appointing him viceroy of alsace-lorraine. princess aribert of anhalt and her husband, too, are very conspicuous figures in the imperial circle, the princess being a special favorite of the kaiser. she is his first cousin, being the offspring of queen victoria's daughter helena, who married prince christian of schleswig-holstein, the guardian of the present empress, who spent much of her girlhood in england with prince and princess christian, so that her friendship with princess aribert may be said to date from childhood. duke ernest-gunther of schleswig-holstein, the only brother of the empress, has quieted down to a great extent since his marriage a year ago to princess dorothy of coburg, and inasmuch as his eighteen-year-old wife appears to be supremely happy, there is every reason to believe that he has demonstrated the truth of the good old adage, according to which "reformed rakes make the best husbands!" the only daughter of the king of wurtemberg has made her home at potsdam and at berlin since her marriage to the prince of wied, and as she is not only the cousin, but likewise the most intimate friend of the young queen of holland, the kaiser finds considerable political advantage in lavishing tokens of his affection and regard upon both her and her husband. another young couple belonging to the court of berlin are prince and princess william of hohenzollern. the princess is a daughter of the sicilian branch of the house of bourbon, while her husband is the eldest son of that leopold of hohenzollern, on account of whose election to the throne of spain in , france embarked upon her disastrous war with germany. young prince william of hohenzollern, it may be added, figured for a time as crown prince of roumania, and as heir to the throne of his uncle, king charles; but after living for some time at bucharest, he came to the conclusion that life in roumania as crown prince was infinitely less agreeable than that of a scion of the house of hohenzollern at berlin, so he renounced his rights to the roumanian throne, and came back to berlin to live. his younger brother, charles of hohenzollern, divides his time between berlin and potsdam; he is married to princess josephine of belgium, daughter of that count of flanders, who is brother and next heir to king leopold. besides these, there are prince and princess albert of saxe-altenburg, and several other young couples belonging to the junior sovereign houses of the german empire, who prefer to make their home at berlin, and at potsdam, rather than in the smaller and infinitely less brilliant capitals of their respective countries. moreover, it has now become the fashion among the various non-prussian rulers of the german confederation, to send the junior members of their families--the young men--to berlin for a time, in order to complete their military education under the eyes of the kaiser, and to be in touch with that general staff which is virtually the supreme council of war of the german army. it is for this reason that prince louis of bavaria, although he notoriously dislikes the kaiser and resents his assumption of superiority, claiming that the members of the wittelsbach family are not the vassals, but the allies of the emperor, nevertheless has sent first his eldest son, and then each of his younger ones in turn, to spend a year or two at the court of berlin, under the immediate direction and eye of the kaiser. prince louis was particularly anxious that his eldest son, rupert, as future king of bavaria, should get in touch with the emperor, and become thoroughly acquainted, not only with prussian methods, but also with the leading statesmen and generals, and with the trend of political aims and aspirations at berlin. the example of prince louis has been followed by all the other petty german sovereigns, so that there are always about a score of non-prussian but german young princes of the blood, giving life and gayety to the courts of berlin, and potsdam, and taking a leading part in berlin society. among the princes there is none, however, who possesses so striking an individuality as william's only brother, henry. his assignment to the command of the german naval forces in the far orient a couple of years ago, created much comment and speculation, being construed by many, both in germany and abroad, as a banishment resulting from the kaiser's jealousy and dislike of the very popular sailor prince. i do not believe for one moment that this supposed jealousy exists, although everything that can possibly be conceived has been done, unintentionally and intentionally, to create it, in a manner which i will describe a little further on. the reason of prince henry's being sent to the far orient was of a twofold character. in the first place, the chinese empire seemed to be on the eve of a break-up, and each of the various great powers of europe, was exerting its utmost energies to secure the lion's share in the game of grab in progress at pekin. scions of european royalty who visit china and japan are few and far between, and the emperor very naturally thought that the presence of prince henry at the head of the german naval forces in chinese waters--a prince who in addition to being the kaiser's only brother, is brother-in-law to the russian czar, and a grandson of the queen of england,--would have the effect of giving to the cause of germany in the orient an importance and a prestige which would atone for the inferiority of its naval strength in that part of the globe. then, too, the emperor is generally believed to have foreseen the conflict between spain and the united states, and to have known beforehand of the intention of the latter to make a dash upon manila, in order to secure possession of the rich and fertile philippine archipelago at the first outbreak of hostilities. germany's navy is of such relatively recent origin that its flag-officers are far from possessing either the spirit of resource, or the cleverness and diplomacy for which the commanding generals of the german army are so distinguished. they are men who, officially, intellectually, and socially, are of an inferior calibre, the majority of them being of plebeian birth. the emperor held, therefore, that it was all-important that germany's squadron in the far orient should be, at that particular juncture, under the command of an officer such as prince henry, who, by reason of his royal rank and his intimate knowledge of his brother's views and wishes, would have the necessary boldness, tact, and presence of mind to know exactly how to deal with any crisis that might arise. i am perfectly aware that there is a disposition in the united states to blame prince henry for the bad feeling which was caused by the attitude of the german warships at manila during the few months that followed the great american naval victory gained under the guns of that city, but the trouble was due to the prussian rear-admiral, diederichs, who, to use the expressive phrase of the english captain, sir edward chichester, in endeavoring to excuse him in the eyes of admiral dewey, "had no sea-manners," and there is no doubt that had prince henry been at manila, instead of diederichs, at that moment, there would have been no friction whatsoever, either between the naval commanders, or subsequently between the two nations, for prince henry possesses precisely those qualities which would have resulted in feelings of good-will and friendship with admiral dewey. he is modest, honest, broad-minded, speaks english perfectly, and is entirely free from any affectation or pose. he is a man, indeed, who has so many qualities in common with dewey that it is impossible that they should not have understood each other, and under the circumstances it is most unfortunate that the prince happened to be in the northernmost portion of the china seas at the very time that the battle of manila was fought. it may be remembered that matters went on very much more smoothly between the germans and the americans at manila after the withdrawal of admiral diederichs. there was another very important reason for sending prince henry to manila; he is, of all the members of his house, the one most strongly imbued with liberal and progressive ideas in political affairs. in fact, he seems to have inherited all those political views of his father, emperor frederick, which were a source of so much concern and apprehension to the late prince bismarck. to tell the truth, the political views and aspirations of henry are diametrically opposed to those of his elder brother, a circumstance which does not, however, in any way impair the affection existing between the two. at the time when he sent off prince henry to china, the kaiser was far from well, and was suffering more than usually from the painful malady of the ear already referred to, and which is identical with the disease which first of all wrecked the mind and then killed his grand-uncle, king frederick william iv. added to this, he is firmly imbued with the idea that he is destined to meet with a sudden death at the hands of an assassin, a conviction which never leaves him, and which is perhaps responsible for that species of stern and even aggressive air with which he, gazes at the cheering crowds when he rides home at the head of his troops through the streets of berlin or of potsdam after a day spent in military manoeuvres on the great plains of tempelhof. if any of my readers feel disposed to condemn him for this apprehension,--it would be unjust to style it fear,--let them try to imagine how they themselves would feel if they knew that there were scores of desperate men and women who had sworn to take their lives by means of bullets or explosive bombs, fired or hurled from the centre of some dense crowd, which would destroy the life of the victim of such an outrage without a moment's warning, or without being able to even so much as raise a hand in self-defense. now at the time when prince henry sailed for china, the young crown prince was sixteen years of age; that is to say, he lacked two years of the attainment of his majority. had anything untoward happened to the kaiser during the minority of the crown prince, prince henry would, according to the laws of the house of hohenzollern and of the prussian constitution, have been appointed as regent until his nephew came of age. prince henry's right to the regency, as nearest male relative, was one of which he could not be deprived, save by altogether exceptional and questionable methods, which both policy and fraternal affection forbade the emperor to employ. yet he realized that were henry to be entrusted with the regency he would change in the most radical fashion the course of the ship of state; would introduce measures dear to the late emperor frederick, but to which he, the kaiser, was unalterably opposed, and would, in short, undo everything that he himself had done; so that when eventually the crown prince came of age there would be no longer any possibility of his continuing his father's policy, a policy which the emperor has been at great pains to inculcate into his boy. with prince henry at the antipodes, there was an excuse for vesting the regency either in the harmless hands of frederick-leopold, or in those of prince albert, whose ideas on the subject of government are to a great extent in keeping with those of the kaiser. that was one of the reasons why henry was sent off to china, and any doubt upon the subject will be removed by remembering the fact that his sojourn in the far east will terminate with the eighteenth birthday,--the coming of age--of his nephew, the young crown prince. that such real and lasting affection should subsist between william and henry is indeed surprising, and speaks volumes for the warm-heartedness, and i might almost say magnanimity of the kaiser's character. for everything that could possibly have contributed to render him jealous of his brother, has been done, as i remarked above. henry was always favored at the expense of william by his father and mother, as well as by the entire imperial family. in fact, the late emperor gave a striking expression of his preference for his younger son, when at the time of the prince's marriage to princess irene of hesse, he pressed into henry's hand a slip of paper--he could not speak any longer, owing to the awful malady which carried him off,--on which he had written, "_you at least have never given me a moment's sorrow, and will make as good a husband as you have been a loving son_;" and when soon after this emperor frederick breathed his last, it was found that he had left the major part of his fortune either to henry directly, or to empress frederick, in trust for this, his favorite son. this privileged position in the affection of his parents, aye, and it may be added in the hearts of the german people, is due in a large measure to prince henry's education. he was brought up, so to speak, at sea, and the moral profession is of all others the one which calls forth all the best qualities of a man, develops manliness, and diminishes pride and affectation. before he was twenty years of age, he had twice circumnavigated the globe, visiting every corner of the earth, and carrying the flag of germany into regions where it had never been seen before. this in itself was sufficient to interest germans in the young prince, the first of his house to seek adventures in such far distant climes; and this healthy, manly, interesting mode of life was compared to his advantage with the somewhat dissipated existence of a young army officer, which his elder brother, prior to his marriage, indulged in at berlin. occasionally, stories reached the public through the press of feats of gallantry performed by the royal sailor, such as the plunging overboard once in a squall, and at another time in shark-infested waters, to save drowning sailors; while every incident which thus became known concerning the young prince served to confirm his countrymen in the belief that he was endowed in an altogether exceptional degree with those qualities which we are so fond of ascribing to "those who go down to the sea in ships." these long sea voyages had, moreover, the effect of keeping him clear of all those court and political intrigues with which emperor william was surrounded, as if with a very network, prior to his accession to the throne; intrigues, i may add, which since william became emperor, have been devoted to many a futile endeavor designed to create mischief between the two brothers. it is probable that they will have less effect than ever from henceforth, since william, now that his eldest boy has attained his majority, will have no longer any reason to apprehend the possibility of henry's undoing, in the capacity of regent, all the work that he, the kaiser, has accomplished during the eleven years of his reign; indeed, now that this danger is eliminated, the two brothers are likely to become more intimate than ever, and the court of berlin will probably see much more of the sailor prince than heretofore. henry is the very life of his brother's court, as he is not only extremely fond of making fun, even at the expense sometimes of his majesty, especially about the excessively earnest attitude which the emperor assumes, with regard to the most trivial questions. absolutely unconventional, save on his own quarter-deck, he carries about with him an atmosphere of brightness and breeziness which is almost as infectious and as bracing as a whiff of sea air. for all his love of skylarking, and the freedom of his manners, his name has never been associated with any questionable story, save by the gutter element of the parisian press, which endeavored to drag him into the dreyfus case by declaring that germany's strange attitude in the affair was due to the alleged knowledge the french war department of terrible immorality proved to have been committed by prince henry during frequent secret visits to paris. of course there is not a word of truth in these contemptible stories, and the prince's reputation as a perfect husband and a healthy-minded gentleman, stands high, even in berlin, where people are overfond of scandalous gossip. certainly there are plenty of stories current about the pranks that he has played, but these are all of an innocent and boyish character. the prince creates the impression of the most complete wholesomeness; his six feet of well set up manhood, his bright eyes and clear, tanned skin, seem the outward and visible sign of a thoroughly clean and sound mind; common sense, frankness, fearlessness, dignity and kindness, are written in his every feature in a way that reminds people vividly of his lamented father; while the easy movements of an athletic body, always apparently in the pink of condition, are evidently allied to the smooth serenity of a mind confident in itself, but modest with the humility of knowledge. after having said so much that is pleasant of the prince, i must, in pursuance of my determination to give the shadows as well as the lights of my portraits, admit that there are two particulars in which prince henry cannot be said to shine. one of these is public speaking, and the other is shooting; he is as unfortunate in the one respect as in the other. his only public utterance of any importance was made at the time of his departure for china, when he addressed the emperor in such extravagant terms, referring to his "consecrated majesty," and so on, that it created mingled feelings of amazement and amusement from one end of the civilized world to the other! there has always been an impression in my mind that there was in this extraordinary speech just a suspicion of a disposition to guy his brother: for not only were the terms that he used entirely foreign to his character,--their _outré_ tenor bordering on the ridiculous,--but it is impossible for anyone who has ever heard him chaffing his seasick brother while out yachting, putting his head in at the cabin door every now and again, and calling out, "well, willie, how do you feel now, and what has become of your imperial dignity?" to believe that he was really serious when he so solemnly ascribed divine attributes to this selfsame willie. i heard that after the prince's arrival in china, where banquets were given in his honor by the german and english leading colonists, he was repeatedly asked to make a few remarks in reply to the toasts drunk in his honor, but that on each occasion he politely informed his hosts that he would see them in jericho before he got on his feet to address them. "only once in my life," he was wont to say, "did i make a speech, and i shall never hear the end of that to the close of my days!" a little later on, when the shanghai correspondent of the london _times_ was presented to him, he himself referred to this most celebrated and oft-quoted speech by inquiring good-humoredly, and withal plaintively, "by the way, don't you think your newspapers have roasted me enough about it?" with regard to his shooting, there is no scion of royalty who has been the cause of more gun accidents than the prince. he had not attained his majority before he managed, while shooting in the game preserves of his uncle, the grand duke of baden, to wound a gamekeeper so severely that the man was crippled for life, and has since been in the receipt of a generous pension from the prince. then in corfu, while clambering up a steep hill, he had the misfortune to unintentionally discharge his gun, the lead lodging in a greek gentleman who was following a few feet behind him and grievously injuring him; while at a later period he succeeded in inflicting serious damage upon a turkish dignitary appointed by the sultan to attend him during his shooting trips in syria. it is of him, too, that is related the story of how, when asked as a youth of twenty, by queen victoria, during one of his stays at balmoral, what sport he had had while out deer stalking, he replied proudly: "well, grandma, i did not succeed in killing a stag, but i hit quite a number." it is recorded that there was a painful silence after this remark, and that the prince was not again urged to go out deer stalking during his stay at balmoral! princess henry is probably the least favored, both as to beauty and brilliancy of intellect, of the daughters of the late grand duke of hesse, and of his consort, princess alice, second daughter of queen victoria. her three sisters, the grand duchess sergius of russia, princess louis of battenberg, and the young czarina, are renowned for their loveliness and their cleverness, the latter inherited from their talented mother; whereas princess irene and her brother, the reigning grand duke of hesse, take far more after their father. princess irene was born in , during the seven weeks' war, when her father was called upon to fight his own brothers in the prussian army, and his brother-in-law, the late emperor frederick, then crown prince of prussia. her baptismal sponsors were the officers and men belonging to the two cavalry regiments under her father's special command during that war:--there is no other princess in europe who has ever had two entire regiments of cavalry for godfathers! the name of irene was bestowed upon her by way of gratitude for the restoration of peace, and she used always to be known in her young days at darmstadt as the "friedenskind," or "child of peace." after her mother's death from diphtheria, it was the latter's eldest sister, the now widowed empress frederick, who endeavored, as far as possible, to look after the children, and it was perhaps this that led to prince henry's falling in love with his cousin. the match was strongly opposed by prince bismarck, partly upon the ground of the close relationship of the parties, but mainly on account of his hatred for the reigning house of hesse. but when prince henry declared that he would remain single all his life unless he were allowed to marry princess irene, consent was given, and the wedding took place at charlottenburg in the presence of the dying emperor frederick, this being the last public ceremony at which he was present. one of the saddest of sights, indeed, was that presented by "unser fritz," almost too weak to stand, giving his voiceless blessing after the ceremony to his favorite son, and to his new daughter-in-law, who, having been born in a time of war and misery, was entering upon her new life as a wife at a time when the whole nation was once more sorrowing. while princess irene is perhaps less attractive than her sisters, she is more interested in philanthropic movements than any other member of her family, and at kiel, where she makes her home, she is greatly liked, especially by the poor. she is a magnificent equestrienne, and a very clever shot, being infinitely more successful in this respect than her husband, who is so devoted to her that he bears this superiority with the greatest equanimity. although prince frederick-leopold has certainly relieved himself from any imputation of effeminacy by the conspicuous part he took in the long-distance rides between berlin and vienna, and by his magnificent horsemanship, yet he does not convey to people the impression of manliness that constitutes so distinguishing a characteristic of his cousins, prince henry and the kaiser. he is lacking alike in virility and intellect, and seems to have no other aim and aspiration in life than to live up to his name and reputation as the leader of masculine fashion or "gigerl könig," which may be rendered into english as "king of the dudes." they say at the court of berlin that he is so particular about the fit of his clothes that he will never remain seated for more than five minutes at a time, not even when traveling, for fear of spoiling the crease in his trousers or of making them baggy at the knees! he does not attempt to disguise the fact that the faultlessness of his coats or of his uniforms is an object of paramount importance. these are, however, very harmless weaknesses, which are more than atoned for by the fact that he is an excellent father and husband, but the obstinacy of his temper and his vagaries as a leader of masculine fashion at berlin have often been a source of impatience and irritation to the kaiser. it is only just to lay stress on his excellence both as a husband and a father, as all sorts of stories have been circulated, not merely in the foreign press, but also in the german newspapers, charging him with intemperance and with brutality towards his wife, who is a younger sister of the empress, such as to necessitate the intervention of the kaiser. these stories are pure calumnies, and originate in a confusion between the prince and his father, the celebrated cavalry general. the latter, popularly known as the "red prince," was the commander to whom metz capitulated in , and was not only noted for his hard drinking, but likewise for his rough usage of his amiable and formerly lovely consort when he was in his cups. he is credited with having frequently beaten her, either with his fist or with his riding whip, when crazed with drink; and it is no secret that she left him on three occasions with the avowed intention of securing a separation and even divorce, and was only persuaded to return to her husband by the entreaties of the old emperor. of course all this was a matter of court gossip at the time, and three or four years ago the stories formerly current concerning the father, who has been dead for more than a decade, were revived with regard to his son, for no other reason than that the prince had quite frequently rendered himself subject to disciplinary measures by the kaiser. if the latter has, however, ordered him to remain under arrest in his palace at various times, it has not been as a punishment for having horsewhipped his wife when drunk, as some foreign illustrated papers would have the world believe, but only because the prince had been guilty of some neglect in military duty, or had disobeyed the wishes of the emperor in connection with the management of his household. thus, some two or three winters ago, princess frederick-leopold was almost drowned while out skating near potsdam; she broke through the ice, was completely unconscious when miraculously rescued by four peasants who happened to be in the neighborhood, and was only brought back to life with the utmost difficulty. the emperor and empress were naturally much concerned and distressed by this accident; but william's sympathy changed into very serious anger when he learnt that the princess had remained so long under the ice and had been dependent on the courage and bravery of the peasants who rescued her, only because neither her husband nor any of the gentlemen of his household had been in attendance upon her. in fact, she was quite alone with a lady-in-waiting, who lost her head, and was completely unable to offer any assistance when the mishap occurred. the emperor also discovered that on the previous day the princess had, without any escort whatsoever, skated alone all the way from potsdam to brandenburg and back, a remarkable feat, calling for much endurance and attended by no little danger. now, as i have already stated, it is contrary to the rules of court etiquette and usage for any prince or princess of the blood to leave their residence, unattended, and it was on account of the infraction of this regulation that the kaiser sentenced both the prince and his consort to several weeks' arrest in their palace. it was this circumstance that gave rise to the ridiculous and sensational tale of the prince having been punished by the emperor in consequence of the latter having caught him in the act of beating the princess while in a fit of drunken fury. prince frederick-leopold is a great traveller, and has not only spent a considerable time in india as the guest of his brother-in-law, the duke of connaught, when the latter was in military command at bombay, but, moreover, he has visited china and japan, and devoted several months to a tour in the united states, which was wound up by some rather exciting events at coney island before his return home to berlin. [illustration: _scene in duke ernest gunther's quarters_ _after a drawing by oreste cortazzo_] of the bachelorhood days of the kaiser's other brother-in-law, duke ernest-gunther of schleswig-holstein, already mentioned several times in these pages, especially in connection with the anonymous letter scandal, the least said the better. a hard-drinking, dissipated, and somewhat coarse-mannered cavalry officer, he has often been a source of perpetual anger to the kaiser and of distress to his sister, the excellent empress. he managed to get his name involved in all sorts of unsavory speculations on the stock exchange and in gambling scandals, invariably, it is true, as a victim; while at least three foreign footlight favorites were expelled from germany by the police on account of the scandals created by his association with them. on one occasion, he even had the audacity to appear at charlottenburg with a notorious american "_demi-mondaine_" seated beside him on the box of his drag, although his sister, the empress, was present at the races, as well as a large number of ladies of the court and many great dignitaries. seeing the servants of his coach arrayed in the familiar liveries of his house, they all naturally imagined that the lady beside the duke was one of his sisters, either princess frederick-leopold or princess fedora, and accorded to her the homage which would have belonged by right to either of these two princesses, but which was totally misplaced when conceded to a woman of such unenviable notoriety as the fair stranger who sat beside the duke. needless to add that the emperor was furious when he heard of the affair, and after giving orders for the immediate expulsion of the woman, directed the prince to leave berlin, and to remain at his castle of prinkenau until he had expiated his gross and flagrant breach of the proprieties. duke ernest-gunther was a suitor for the hand of quite a large number of princesses, and among those to whom he proposed were the daughters of the prince of wales and of the latter's brother, the duke of coburg, his suit being rejected with touching unanimity in each instance, in consequence of his unenviable reputation. yet strangely enough, as stated previously, he seems to have developed into an exemplary husband, although his marriage was contracted under circumstances which, verged on a tragedy; for his wife, a mere seventeen-year-old girl, just issuing from the school-room when he made an offer for her hand, was literally flung into his arms by both her parents, who were determined to separate from each other, and who had been informed by emperor francis-joseph of austria, and by king leopold of belgium, that no such step could be tolerated until after the marriage of little princess "dolly," the only daughter of this ill-matched couple. the betrothal took place in due course at vienna. but before the marriage could follow, the young girl's mother, namely, princess louise of coburg and of belgium, deliberately eloped from the austrian capital with her husband's chamberlain, the hungarian count keglewitch; and what was worse, took her daughter with her. the trio fled to nice, where they were visited by king leopold, who after endeavoring in vain to persuade the princess to return to her husband at vienna, discarded her in hot anger, declaring that she was no longer his daughter! the next act in the drama was a challenge issued by prince philip of coburg against count keglewitch, who left nice for the encounter: the duel was fought in the army riding-school at vienna, the commander of the metropolitan garrison and the minister of war acting as seconds to prince philip, although duelling is strictly forbidden by law in austria, as it is in germany. prince philip received a painful wound in the hand, and the count forthwith left to rejoin the princess at nice. the publicity given to this duel had the unfortunate result, however, of calling attention to the presence of poor little princess dorothy at nice with her misguided mother and the count, and the princess having been warned by the austrian authorities and the french police that her daughter would be taken from her by force unless she relinquished her hold upon the child, she sent her back to vienna, whence the girl was immediately dispatched to dresden and placed under the care of the mother and the unmarried sister of the german empress, with whom she remained until her marriage. shortly after her departure from nice, her mother was forced to take flight in consequence of the persecution to which she was subjected by her creditors; and with a shamelessness that can only be explained on the score of an unbalanced mind, she deliberately returned to austria with her lover, and coolly took up her residence at his castle near agram, where the count actually made preparations for a siege, in order to resist by force any attempt on the part of the authorities to take the princess from him. ultimately, both were captured by strategy, and while the princess was conveyed under police escort to vienna, and lodged at the request of her husband in a lunatic asylum, on the sworn statements of two court physicians concerning her insanity, the count was placed under close arrest at agram on the charge of grossly immoral conduct, unbecoming an officer and a gentleman. before he had been very long in the military prison, this charge was changed to one of forgery; for it was discovered that there were notes in circulation at vienna and paris to the extent of more than a million dollars, which the count had negotiated, and which bore the forged signature of princess louise's sister, the widowed crown princess stephanie of austria. the count of course denied that he had forged the signature, but as the fact remains that he negotiated the notes, and that princess louise, who, failing himself, can alone have been the culprit, is officially declared insane, and legally irresponsible, he has had to bear the brunt of the affair, and is now, after having undergone the terrible ceremony of military degradation, working out a sentence of five years' penal servitude in a fortress; doubtless comparing his fate with that of the celebrated baron trench, who was imprisoned for years in the dungeons of spandau, and of magdeburg, for having compromised the fair name of the sister of frederick the great by indiscreet attentions. princess louise is now under strict restraint in an asylum for the insane near dresden, and inasmuch as both her father, king leopold of the belgians, and her husband, have declined to pay any of her debts, public sales of her belongings, even of her dresses and her under-garments, were permitted to take place at vienna and at nice for the benefit of her creditors. it is only fair to the unfortunate princess to state that her entire married life has been one of uninterrupted misery, owing to the brutality and drunken habits of her husband, who is noted as one of the most dissolute princes in all europe. in fact if court gossip at berlin and vienna is to be believed, the princess first became enamored of count keglewitch when the latter, in attendance on the princely couple as their chamberlain, interfered one day to protect her from the blows of her husband. it was amidst circumstances such as these that princess dorothy was married to duke ernest-gunther of schleswig-holstein, neither her father nor her mother being present at her marriage; the reigning duke of coburg, as chief of the coburg family figuring in the place of her parents, and giving her away at the altar. that with such a father, such a mother, and with a husband of such a past reputation for dissipation and wildness, the little princess should have found happiness in marriage, is, to say the least, surprising. but the duke seems devoted to his little wife, while she on her side is completely wrapped up in her husband, and thinks him perfect, in every way. yet another brother-in-law of the kaiser who is a conspicuous figure at the court of berlin, is prince adolphus of schaumburg-lippe, married to princess victoria, the least attractive and least popular of william's sisters. after several flirtations of a rather sensational character with young count andrassy, and several other gay diplomats and noblemen, which were a source of amusement to the court, although of great concern to her mother, she ultimately fell in love with prince alexander of battenburg, who at the time had just been forced to abandon the throne of bulgaria, and who was certainly one of the handsomest and most fascinating of european princes. the prince, who was at the time, to put matters plainly, out of a job, being without fortune or future, was persuaded by his relatives, notably by his brother henry, who had married princess beatrice of england, to apply for her hand; this he did, on the understanding that his marriage to her would facilitate his restoration to the german army, from which he had resigned on ascending the throne of bulgaria; for as a general of the prussian army, he anticipated retrieving the prestige and fame which he had lost as ruler of bulgaria. prince bismarck, however, set his face strongly against the match on the ground that it would impair the friendly relations between the courts of berlin and st. petersburg, prince alexander being for personal reasons an object of the most intense animosity to the late czar. indeed, it was this hatred on the part of the late emperor of russia that had rendered it impossible for prince alexander to retain his throne of bulgaria. old emperor william, supported his chancellor in the matter, and while the late emperor frederick, at that time merely crown prince, remained quite passive, the cause of princess victoria and prince alexander was strongly championed by empress frederick and queen victoria. the controversy continued even after the death of old emperor william, and finally, in face of the persistent hostility in the matter displayed by prince bismarck, and by the present kaiser, it was arranged that the couple should be married, not in germany, but in england, at windsor castle, and that they should make their home elsewhere than in germany. this, however, did not meet the views of prince alexander, who thus saw all his ambition for a military career in the german army frustrated instead of promoted by the union. so at the very last moment, within a few days of the date appointed for the wedding at windsor, and after all the trousseau had been purchased and the wedding presents bought, he deliberately jilted his royal fiancee, and married at nice, an actress named mlle. lösinger, an offspring of the valet and the cook of the old austrian general faviani. the prince, it may be remembered, subsequently abandoned the title and status of a prince battenberg, secured the title of count hartenau from his father's old friend and comrade, the emperor of austria, as well as a colonelcy in the austrian army, and died as major-general in command of a brigade at gratz. it was more than a year after this, that princess victoria found a husband in the insignificant-looking and inoffensive prince adolph of schaumburg-lippe, son of prince george of that ilk, the prince at that time serving as captain of hussars at bonn. soon afterwards, emperor william learning that prince waldemar of lippe was dying, took advantage of the fact that he was rather weak-minded to induce him to sign a species of will bequeathing the regency of the principality at his death to prince adolph of schaumburg-lippe, the next heir to the throne of lippe; his brother alexander of lippe being an incurable lunatic. on the strength of this document, which was of a purely personal character, and which was neither ratified by the legislature of the principality of lippe, nor recognized by the federal council of the german empire, prince adolph, with the assistance of a couple of prussian regiments, coolly took possession of the principality of lippe, proclaimed himself regent, and assumed the reins of government. according to the laws of germany governing the succession of its sovereign houses, the regency in such a case as that presented by the principality of lippe, should have fallen to the lot of the nearest living agnate. the latter happened to be count ernest of lippe, chief of the beisterfeld branch of the lippe family. prince adolph, however, and his brother-in-law, emperor william, took the ground that count ernest was debarred from the regency, and from succession to the throne on the death of the crazy prince alexander, by the fact that sometime in the early part of the last century one of his male ancestors had contracted a mésalliance, and thus brought a plebeian strain into the family. this contention was accepted neither by the people of lippe, nor by the count; they appealed to the tribunals of the empire, and to every reigning family of germany in turn, the entire non-prussian press, as well as many newspapers in prussia itself, espousing their cause. finally, the emperor and his brother-in-law were forced by popular clamor to consent to bring the matter before a tribunal of arbitration, composed of the principal judges of the supreme federal court at leipzig, presided over for the occasion by the dean and veteran of german sovereigns, king albert of saxony. the tribunal, after due deliberation, rendered a decision against the emperor and prince adolph; directing the latter to at once surrender the regency and the lippe estates, which are immensely valuable, yielding an income of eight hundred thousand dollars, to count ernest of lippe, on the ground that if a mésalliance such as the one contracted by the count's eighteenth-century ancestor were to be considered sufficient to invalidate his rights to the regency and to the succession to the throne, as the nearest living male relative of the crazy reigning prince, half the thrones of germany would have to be vacated by their present occupants. it was pointed out by the arbitrators that if the contention of prince adolph and the kaiser were admitted, the grand duke of baden would have to abandon his throne; the branch of the baden family to which he belonged being descended from a prince of baden who contracted a mésalliance at the close of the last century; that all the children of the emperor himself would be barred from succession to the throne of germany, since the great-grandfather of the present empress of germany was the offspring of a terrible mésalliance; while last, but not least, prince adolph himself was descended from a prince of lippe who towards the close of the last century, fell in love with and married the daughter of a mere writ-server, whose blood flows in the veins of the emperor's brother-in-law. emperor william and prince adolph bitterly resented the setback to which they were subjected by this decree of the king of saxony; and although they were forced to yield in the present instance, they threatened to reopen the entire question should anything untoward happen to the present regent, count lippe, for they insist that under no circumstances can any of his sons be permitted to inherit either his rights or his honors, owing to the fact that his wife, the countess of lippe, is also the issue of a mésalliance, her mother having been an american girl, a native of philadelphia, who married count leopold wartensleben. on the strength of this, prussian authorities, military as well as civilian, while directed to accord to the count of lippe the honors due to the regent of a german sovereignty, are forbidden to recognize in any way either the count's consort or his children, on the ground that these can only be regarded as morganatic, and as such debarred from the tokens of respect due to full-fledged members of a sovereign house. naturally, all this has served to render prince adolph and his wife extremely unpopular throughout the length and breadth of germany; and when a short time ago there was a question of appointing the prince as regent of the duchy of brunswick in succession to prince albert of prussia, who is tired of the post, or as a stadtholder of alsace-lorraine in the place of prince herman hohenlohe, the press throughout germany, and even in prussia, raised its voice in protest against the emperor's forcing his brother-in-law into places for which he was in no sense of the word fitted, either by his talents, his administrative skill, his tact, or his intellectual abilities. chapter ix although germany's young crown prince has until now been more or less of a stranger to court functions and gaieties at berlin, his time being absorbed by his studies at the military academy of plön, and his holidays spent in travel and alpine expeditions, yet, as he is about to celebrate his majority, and has passed from the stages of boyhood to those of manhood, he will be from henceforth a personage of the utmost importance--second only in rank to the emperor. destined, in course of time, to succeed to the throne and to the immense responsibilities of his father, and to become virtually the autocratic ruler of a nation of fifty million people, as well as the absolute master of the greatest military power on the face of the globe, every scrap of information concerning this youth must naturally be of vast interest, not only to his future subjects, but also to the entire civilized world. under the circumstances, therefore, it is satisfactory to be able to say truthfully that germany's future kaiser is a fine, healthy-minded, healthy-bodied lad, disposed to take an extremely serious view of his duties and his obligations, and who, thanks to the excellent education which he has received both from his parents and his teachers, seems destined to prove a wise as well as a popular monarch. it seems but the other day that the young crown prince, as a chubby ten-year-old lad, was being introduced by his father to the officers and men of the first regiment of foot guards at potsdam, to which, in accordance with traditional usage, he was appointed on his tenth birthday as lieutenant. there may be some of my readers who were present on that occasion, and who may remember the spectacle presented by the little fellow, vainly endeavoring to keep step with the giant strides of these huge grenadiers, the tallest men in the german army, during the march-past that followed the ceremony. since then there have been so many portraits of the crown prince published, as he appeared at that time, that this taken in conjunction with the rapid flight of years, renders it difficult to realize that he is now no longer a little boy, but a youth considerably taller and almost as broad and stalwart as his father, whose best friend he has become. william and his eldest boy are fondly devoted to each other. to the crown prince, his father is in every sense of the word "william second to none;" while the kaiser himself is entirely wrapped up in his heir. for the last few years the emperor has given every spare moment that he could snatch away from his multifarious occupations to the task of instilling his ideas and views into the crown prince. in talking and reasoning with him, he has treated the lad as far older than his years, has discussed with him, in fact, as if he were a man; and it is due to this that germany's future emperor is at the present moment remarkably mature for his age, and really in a position to view matters with a degree of experience and knowledge that are unrivalled in so young a man. as a general rule, young people are unwilling to accept the advice of their elders, or to benefit by their experience, convinced that their seniors are behind the spirit of the age, and in no sense of the word up to date. but with the german crown prince this is different: he is so imbued with the idea that his father is wiser and better than anyone else in the world, that he is willing and glad to accept the paternal recommendations and to benefit by paternal advice. yet with all this the lad is not a prig, nor is he forward or presumptuous. true, he has a keen sense of his own dignity, but it takes the form of an extreme simplicity, and of an absolute lack of affectation, since he is intelligent enough to realize that his rank and position are sufficiently assured to render it unnecessary that he should call attention thereto either by his manner or by his speech. he is modest too, very frank, particularly courteous to old people, boyishly chivalrous to women, and firmly convinced that there is no member of the fair sex in the entire world who is so ideally perfect in appearance, as well as in character, as his mother. i would not for all the world that this description of the crown prince should in any way convey the impression to my readers that he is a milksop or an overgrown child! devoted to every form of sport, a splendid gymnast, a clever oarsman, a skilful driver and a bold rider, an excellent shot, he is in every sense of the word a manly young fellow, who, however, has been kept free from all contact with the darker sides of life, and who still retains, therefore, mingled with the experience of a grown man, much of the innocence and freshness of mind of a mere boy. indeed, he is a son of whom any father and mother might well be proud! fair-haired and blue-eyed, with the down of a blond moustache upon his upper lip, the young prince is a typical hohenzollern, and resembles his grandfather, emperor frederick, more than he does his father. he is passionately devoted to everything military, and keenly relishes the idea that the six months following the attainment of his majority are to be devoted to military duties at potsdam, for although he has held a commission of lieutenant of the first regiment of foot guards since his tenth year, he is only now about to be called upon to fulfil the duties of his rank with the regiment. it will be in every sense of the word an arduous training, for the first regiment of guards being considered all the world over as the crack corps of the german army, and as the embodiment of military perfection in every sense of the word, its officers, realizing that it is, so to speak, the star phalanx of germany, are engaged, morning, noon and night, in maintaining it at its proper standard, and there are no officers anywhere in europe who are so hard worked as those of the first regiment of prussian guards;--that regiment which in the days of frederick the great's father was composed entirely of giants, recruited, or rather purchased often, at a cost of several thousand dollars apiece, from all parts of the world! the prince must be on the drill grounds and the manoeuvre fields as early as four o'clock in the morning, returning for a sort of luncheon towards ten or eleven; he must devote his afternoon to military studies of one kind or another; while from four o'clock till seven his time will be taken up by barrack-room inspections, company reports, and the other thousand and one duties incidental to regimental life in germany. in the case of the crown prince the work will be exceptionally heavy, as he is expected to acquire in the course of six months an experience which other subalterns take years to obtain. at the end of the term in question he is to go to bonn, there to take his seat, like his father before him, on the benches of the celebrated university as an ordinary student. from his eighteenth birthday the crown prince will have an establishment and a civil list of his own. he will have his court marshal, who will be at the same time the treasurer, governor, and chief officer of his household. he will have his aids-de-camp, who will, as far as possible, be young men of his own age and alive to the responsibilities of their office; he will also have a palace of his own, stables of his own, and his own shooting. indeed the forest of spandau has already been for some time past strictly preserved in view of his coming of age. this particular forest has from time immemorial been assigned as the particular game-park of the heir to the crown. the crown prince is to make his home in the so-called "stadtschloss" at potsdam, where he will occupy the same suite of apartments that was tenanted by his parents during the alterations that recently took place at the "neues palais." this palace was erected at the close of the seventeenth century, and contains, among other objects of interest, the furniture used by frederick the great, the coverings of which were nearly all torn to shreds by the claws of his dog; his writing-table covered with ink-stains, his library filled with trench books, music composed by himself, etc. the various halls and rooms are kept nearly in the same manner, indeed, as when he used them. adjoining his bedroom there is a small cabinet, where he used to dine alone or with voltaire, without attendants, everything coming through the floor on a dumbwaiter, the king himself placing the dishes on the table. it is in this palace, haunted, one might almost say, at every point by memories and by the spirit of the most famous of prussian kings, a monarch distinguished as a general, as an administrator and as a philosopher, that germany's future emperor will from henceforth make his home until he in turn, on the death of his father, will migrate, as did the latter, from the so-called stadtschloss to the "neues palais," two miles and a half distant. the crown prince is also to have a residence of his own at berlin, where he is to occupy the bellevue palace during the court season. among other characteristics of the young crown prince is his fondness for animals, and the extraordinary influence which, even as a child, he has always seemed to exercise over them. he succeeded in training his ponies, his dogs and other domestic pets to perform such clever tricks that on several occasions he managed, with the assistance of his brothers, to organize very creditable circus performances, usually in honor of the birthday of his father or his mother. there was one instance especially that i may recall, which took place some years ago. this particular performance began in the afternoon at three, with a prologue spoken by prince august william, in which he mentioned the different items of the programme. then each of the royal lads led his pony in front of the box in which the imperial couple sat with their guests, and the crown prince put his horse "daretz," through all kinds of tricks, of a high school character, winding up by making the horse kneel in token of salute before the emperor and empress. more trick riding on another horse named "puck," belonging to the crown prince, followed, and thereupon there was a comical _intermezzo_, in which prince adalbert and prince eitel took the part of two clowns. later on, the crown prince's dogs were brought on the scene, and his favorite "tom" went through some extraordinary antics, walking about all over the ring on his hind legs, tolling bells, driving other of the prince's dogs with reins, and jumping through hoops covered with tissue paper. the whole affair lasted over two hours, was very entertaining, even to grown-up people who did not happen to be related to the organizers of the entertainment, and did great credit to the cleverness of the crown prince, and above all to the marvellous influence which he exercises over animals of every description. military tastes in the royal lad have been developed by the games and pastimes in which he and his brothers were encouraged to indulge; hence, in the grounds of the bellevue palace at berlin, as well as in a corner of the great park of the neues palais at potsdam, the boys constructed full-fledged forts with water-filled moats, and cleverly constructed bastions, which were stormed from time to time in due form, and being defended with the utmost tenacity, hard knocks were ofttimes given and received. the playmates of the crown prince and his brothers have been not merely the sons of nobles forming part of the imperial household and court, but likewise the children of employés of much less exalted rank, such as the sons of lodge-keepers, gardeners, game-keepers, etc., who all played and tumbled with the young princes on a footing of the most perfect equality, drubbing one another totally irrespective of rank. it is a pleasant thing to know that friendships thus formed subsist in after life; as an instance, when the kaiser's sister, now crown princess of greece, sent to germany some time ago for a nursery governess for her young children, she was able to acquire the services of her old girlhood playmate, the daughter of one of the gardeners employed at the "neues palais." the crown prince may be said to have traveled over all germany, and that, too, in the most democratic and sensible fashion. in germany, and, in fact, all over the continent of europe, a pedestrian tour, domestic and foreign, constitutes part and parcel of the education of every youth, especially those of the industrial classes. no apprenticeship is considered complete without the accomplishment of a trip of this kind, which is usually performed with a knapsack on the back, and in the most economical manner imaginable. this portion of the youth's life is known as his "_wanderjahr_" and the traveler is known by the name of "_wanderbürsche_" the trip serves to broaden the mind of the "_bürsche,_" to render him self-reliant, and to give him a knowledge and experience of the world--aye, and of his craft as well--that he could never obtain if he remained at home. emperor william, who in many things is so exceedingly reactionary, and so apparently assured that royalty is constructed of an entirely different clay than that used for ordinary folks, gave a manifestation of those democratic notions which constitute such a paradox to the remainder of his character by sending forth his three eldest boys each year during their holidays on a pedestrian tour through the length and breadth of his dominions, just as if they were the sons of artisans, and were compelled to learn a trade for a living. the crown prince and his brothers traveled, not in a palace-car, nor in carriages, but on foot, with knapsacks on their backs, and spending the nights at mere roadside inns. they had no servant with them, only their military governor, colonel von falkenheyn, and his assistant, the latter a lieutenant of the guards, and the name tinder which they journeyed was an incognito one; indeed, so cleverly did they manage to conceal their identity that it was hardly ever revealed. it is difficult to imagine anything that appealed more to the masses in germany than this manner adopted by the kaiser for making his sons acquainted with the world. it was felt that the royal lads, with their knapsacks on their backs, afoot, and with no indication of their rank, would obtain by actual experience a contact with the people and a knowledge which they could never hope to acquire if they had toured through the land in special trains, on horseback, or in splendidly-appointed carriages. moreover, it makes every german youth, trudging along the dusty roads, and ignorant for the most part of where and how he is to sup and sleep that night, feel that after all his lot is not such a very unenviable one, since even his future monarch has been a "_wanderbürsche_," like himself. it is probable that before the education of the crown prince is considered complete, he will be sent on a trip around the world, mainly with the object of endowing him with that breadth of mind which foreign travel alone can give, and partly also with the idea of reviving the dormant loyalty of germans who have settled in foreign lands. emperor william has frequently expressed the opinion that among the hitherto unused factors in german politics, are the germans established in the united states, in australia, and in other equally distant climes. while he does not in any way expect or imagine that germans who have thus emigrated from the fatherland, will render themselves guilty of any disloyalty to the land of their adoption, yet he believes that by keeping alive their memories of the old country, and their affection for its reigning house they may help germany by using their political influence in their new home for the benefit of germany. thus william, in spite of all that has been said to the contrary, has in contemplation an eventual understanding if not an actual alliance with the united states; this result to be brought about largely through the influence of the immense and prosperous german population in america, and he believes that the project is likely to be promoted and fostered by a visit of his eldest son, the crown prince, to the united states for the purpose of making himself acquainted, not only with the country, but above all with its german inhabitants. in making the grand tour of the world, the crown prince will be but following in the footsteps of the heirs to the thrones of austria and belgium, who have both visited the united states for the purpose of improving their minds, and of fitting themselves more thoroughly for their duties as twentieth century rulers. the present emperor of russia, and his younger brother, the late czarevitch george, likewise started on a tour round the world, which in the case of george was cut short at bombay by that sickness to which he subsequently succumbed, while the globe-trotting tour of nicholas was brought to a sudden close through his attempted assassination in japan. no pen-sketch of the young crown prince of germany would be complete without a reference to his remarkable skill as a violinist, an instrument which he has been studying steadily ever since his eighth year, under the direction of the berlin court violinist von exner. he seems to have inherited all the musical talent for which the reigning house of prussia is so celebrated, and to which i propose to devote at least a part of the following chapter. chapter x if it is observable that the taste, ear, and talent for music prevail among the inhabitants of the mountain districts of the world far more extensively than among the populations of the plains, it is no less true that nearly all persons belonging to the exalted spheres of life, for instance, emperors and kings and their consorts, as well as princes and princesses of the blood, are not only passionately fond of music, but frequently absolute melomaniacs. in none of the reigning houses, however, is this particular branch of art developed to such an extent as in the hohenzollern family. thus the collection of the compositions for the flute by frederick the great discovered some ten years ago in the lumber rooms of the "neues palais" at potsdam, and recently published after being edited by professor spitta, proves that the royal patron of voltaire, and the founder of prussia's military power was no mere dilettante, but a real genius in the art of composition. prince louis ferdinand, the son of frederick the great's brother, who courted and met with a premature death at saalfeld, while rashly engaging the french enemy, against strict orders, showed, with all his eccentricities, remarkable musical gifts, leaving in fact behind him a variety of compositions for orchestras. he also wrote a march which is published under his name. among the collection of marches constantly used in the prussian army, is one composed by frederick-william iii. in , which occupies a place between that of frederick the great, written in , and the well-known dessauer march. in that very same collection are the so-called _"geschwind marsch," no. , for infantry_, the _"parade marsch" no. , for cavalry_, and the _"marsch für cavallerie" no. _, which emanate from the pen of princess charlotte of prussia, niece of old emperor william, and first wife of the present reigning duke of saxe-meiningen. it is doubtless from her that prince bernhardt of saxe-meiningen, married to the eldest sister of the present kaiser, has inherited his powers of composition, for his name figures on the title page of many a piece of music; and among his other more important works has been the setting to music of _"the persians of aeschylus,"_ which has been most successfully staged at athens. this is published under the initials of _"e.b." (erbprinz bernhardt)_. though king frederick-william iv. did not himself add anything to royal musical literature, as did his predecessors on the throne, he devoted much attention to ecclesiastical melody and song. the berlin cathedral choir of men and boys--trained to sing without musical accompaniments--owes its origin to his ambition for having a choir in his own protestant basilica at berlin, corresponding more or less to the pope's in the sistine chapel of rome. it was he who engaged mendelssohn as director of this choir, as well as composer; and it was the latter's successor, the director of the music of the chapel royal at the prussian court, who compiled a collection of volumes containing settings of many of the psalms of david, most beautifully arranged. among living hohenzollerns, musical talent is most strongly developed. prince albert, regent of brunswick, is not only a composer of rare genius, but likewise a most talented organist. his son, prince joachim, has inherited his talent for composition, and is the author of some eight works, which have been printed for circulation, in court circles only, and have not become the property of the public; the cleverest of them being a festal march, written for his father's birthday, and a grand funeral march. he shares his father's intense devotion to bach and handel, as well as his fondness for the works of mendelssohn, beethoven and mozart, and is a most accomplished performer on the violoncello, being a pupil of the well-known master of that instrument, professor luedemann. prince albert's sister, the widowed duchess william of mecklenberg-schwerin, has been particularly active as a composer of songs for mezzo soprano, but none of her works, which are printed for private circulation under the initials of "a.h.m.", have been placed on public sale. her songs, some thirty in number, are melodious and full of feeling. she seems to thoroughly understand how to bring out the meaning of the words of her composition, the melody of one of them, _"ein duerres blatt"_ furnishing a particularly striking illustration of this peculiarity; they left a very lasting impression upon my mind. among her collections is an english song, beginning with the words: "no ditch is too deep, and no wall is too high, if two love each other they'll meet by-and-by." the music of this is particularly sweet, graceful and tender. prince henry, the sailor brother of the kaiser, has written a number of pieces, one of the best known and most popular of which is called the _"matrosen marsch,"_ which is to be purchased in all large music stores. he also holds his own as a first-class amateur performer, both on the violin and the piano. his sister, the crown princess of greece, a pupil of rufer, excels on the organ, as does also the widowed empress frederick, while there is not one of the children of the present kaiser who does not possess musical gifts of a high order, which are being developed both in theory and in practice by celebrated professors and masters. there is no doubt that, but for the weakness of his left arm, emperor william would have been as skilful a performer as the other members of his family. as it is, his devotion to music is restricted to composition and to conducting. the kaiser is very fond of acting as bandmaster during the musical soirées given at court, and other entertainments of this kind honored by the presence of the reigning family. it has been claimed that he is the first prussian ruler to thus wield the bâton since the days of frederick the great. but this is not the case, for i recall being present, many years ago, at a dinner at the palace of koblenz, given by empress augusta in honor of her consort, old emperor william, who had come over from ems for the purpose, when during the dinner the old emperor remarked that the band of the augusta regiment, which was playing at the further end of the white hall, had played the ballet melody of _"satanella"_ in too fast a time. rising from his seat, and pushing aside the screen which concealed the band from view, he took the bâton from the hand of the bandmaster, and after exclaiming: "very quietly and slowly, gentlemen, if you please," he tapped twice on the music-stand in front of him, and then commenced to conduct with as much skill and art as if he had never done anything else in his life. several times during the course of the piece he exclaimed "noch rühiger," (still more gently) and when the end of the piece was reached he laid down the bâton with the remark, "now, that was fine," and, thanking the band with a very friendly and kindly smile, returned to his seat at table. the present kaiser's principal contribution to music is undoubtedly his composition of the melody to the "_sang am aegir,_" a poem of considerable power by his friend count philipp eulenburg. the composition begins as follows: [illustration: o ae-gir herr der flu-then dem nix und nex sich beugt!] the words may be rendered as: "of aegir, lord of the waves, whom mermaids and mermen revere." the bars that follow rivet the attention of the listener on account of their weird originality. they are full of feeling, very melodious, and easily caught by the ear. towards the close, the melody breaks off into a purely military strain, so that the final bars are suggestive of the sound of trumpets, recalling to mind some ancient martial fanfare. william has a very marked predilection for wagnerian music, and is the life and soul of the "potsdam-berlin wagner society," which is one of the most influential social institutions of the prussian capital. his principal lieutenant and adlatus in the management of this association, which is in every sense of the word a court institution, is major von chelius, who holds a commission in the kaiser's own body regiment of hussars of the guard. the major is a particular favorite of both the emperor and the empress, and he takes a very prominent part in all the musical entertainments at court, almost invariably playing the piano accompaniments for the singing of princess albert of saxe-altenburg, and of prince max of baden, who possesses a rich baritone voice. the major is the composer of the popular opera "_haschisch,_" and has inherited his musical talents from his mother, a hamburger by birth. his father is a dignitary of the court of baden, while his wife, a most charming woman, was, prior to her marriage, a fraulein von puttkamer, a member, therefore, of the same family as the late princess bismarck. but although manifesting a preference for wagner, the kaiser is not averse to mozart, or to the italian school. "_der freischuetz_" is one of his favorite operas, and while he does not care for falstaff, he is very fond of "_i medici_," and greatly admires leon cavallo. he possesses a very correct ear, and a most pleasing voice, and many of his evenings are passed in trying new songs, his wife, who is an excellent pianist, playing the accompaniment. though quite as passionately fond of music as the hohenzollerns, the hapsburgs have achieved less distinction as composers, and even as performers. indeed, there are but two scions of the reigning house of austria, who can be said to have won any kind of fame as composers, namely, the missing archduke john, who was the author of an exceedingly pretty and catchy ballet that still figures on the repertoire of the imperial opera, and archduke joseph, so well known by the name of the "gypsy archduke," who has done more than anyone else in europe to place on record, both in writing and in print, the weird music and extraordinary quaint melodies of the tziganes, melodies which he has arranged exquisitely for orchestral use. true, there is not a single archduke or archduchess in austria and hungary, who does not play with taste and feeling. indeed, music seems to be inborn in them, and while the widowed crown princess is devoted to her piano, on which her performances are characterized by a superb technique, but coupled alas! with a complete absence of sentiment, her husband, the lamented crown prince rudolph, was a composer of no mean power and seemed at times to pour forth his entire soul in the melodies which he coaxed from this instrument. indeed he often sat at the piano for hours, playing, in a manner indescribably expressive and touching, airs improvised on the spur of the moment, which, while they remained impressed on the minds and ears of those present, would seem to fade at once from the memory of the prince himself. his was what may be called a true genius for music. the member of the house of hapsburg most famous in the annals of music of the present century, was undoubtedly that archduke rudolph, son of emperor leopold ii., who died a cardinal. he was the protector, the friend and disciple of beethoven, many of whose most famous works, would assuredly have remained unwritten had it not been for the fact that he received the same powerful support, both material and moral, from the imperial cardinal as richard wagner obtained from king louis of bavaria. with regard to archduke joseph, the above-mentioned "gypsy archduke," there is no doubt that without him the outer world would still have been left in ignorance of the incalculably rich mine of tzigane music. he is only distantly related to emperor francis-joseph, being the senior member of a branch of the house of hapsburg which has been settled for more than one hundred years in hungary. his father's entire life was spent there, where he held the office of viceroy, and it is there that archduke joseph himself was entirely brought up, and where he has spent his whole existence. at an early age he was attracted to the gypsies by their music, and it was this that led him to think of their welfare, and to devote himself to the study of the characteristics, the history and the origin of these mysterious nomads. until he took them under his protection, they were regarded more or less as pariahs of central and southern europe, the hand of every man being against them, and the authorities and people at large combining to subject them to persecution of the most cruel character. their gratitude to the archduke when he obtained better treatment for them knew no bounds, and was shown, among other instances, in a notable manner during the austro-prussian. war, when joseph was at the head of a division of magyar troops. "our retreat," so the archduke tells the story, "before the advance of the prussian army, immediately preceding the battle of sadowa, led us to camp one night in the neighborhood of a town in bohemia. i was lodged in a peasant's cottage, when about midnight i heard the sentry at my door hoarsely challenging some new-comer. my aid-de-camp entered, and reported that a gypsy wanted to see me in private. "on my asking the dusky visitor in romani what was the matter, he told me that the enemy was approaching to surprise us. "'the outposts have not heard anything suspicious?' i remarked. "'no, your imperial highness,' he replied, 'because the enemy is still a long way off.' "'but how do you know this?' i asked. "'come to the window,' replied the zingari, leading me forward to the narrow glazed opening in the rough wall, and directing my gaze to the dark sky, lighted by the silver rays of the moon. 'do you see those birds flying over the woods towards the south?' "'yes, i see them. what of it?' "'what of it? do not birds sleep as well as men? they would certainly not fly about at night-time thus had they not been disturbed. the enemy is marching through the wood southwards, and has frightened and driven the birds before it.' "i at once ordered the outposts to be reinforced, and the camp to be alarmed. two hours later, the outposts were fighting fiercely with the foe, and i was able to realize that my camp and my division had been saved from surprise and destruction only by the keen observation and sagacity of a grateful gypsy." the archduke spent a large sum of money, some years ago, in endeavoring to turn the gypsies from their nomadic life, and to induce them to settle down, in order to devote their time and energies to the practice of the wonderful art of working metal, which they possess to so marked a degree, instead of roaming aimlessly about, and sometimes thieving, as is unfortunately their habit. he built a number of villages for them in the district surrounding presburg, and organized gypsy settlements. but the scheme proved a failure. the tziganes, true to the instincts that they have inherited from countless generations, abandoned the comfortable houses, the fields and blossoming gardens with which they had been provided by their imperial benefactor. they refused to till the soil, and commenced once more their interminable wanderings. in spite of this fiasco, the archduke still continues to consider himself as the protector of the romanys, and remains proud of his title of "gypsy prince," being sagacious enough to realize that it is impossible for a race to eradicate from their character, in a comparatively short space of time, traits that have been theirs for hundreds, nay thousands of years; for the origin of these gypsies is still shrouded in mystery and lost in the gloom of prehistoric ages, although it is probable that they are of persian descent. while emperor william's taste as regards music meets with very widespread approval, and his gifts as a composer are very generally recognized, he has been less fortunate with regard to other branches of art; notably in the matter of painting, where he finds himself in frequent conflict with his people, especially with the great painters of his empire. of all the muses there is none so truly democratic as that of pictorial art. the pictorial muse displays a truly republican intolerance of control on the part of either king or government. hence it is only natural that germany, which has produced in the past, and still possesses, so many world-famed painters and architectural designers, should strongly resent the kaiser's assumption of the supreme arbitership in all matters relating to art. his subjects submitted to his claim of "_regis voluntas suprema lex_," in matters connected with the administration of the government, in diplomacy, in the drama, in music, and in literature, but they deny his power to impose upon them his taste in pictorial art. it is no exaggeration to state that the emperor is in almost perpetual conflict, and at open war with the great majority of german painters and designers--a notable exception being the case of professor von menzel. indeed, their discontent occasionally breaks forth with an intensity altogether new in the annals of german loyalty to the throne. a very remarkable instance thereof is the means which they adopted to show their disapproval of the emperor's treatment of wallot, the designer of the palace of the imperial parliament. wallot is universally recognized as the foremost architect of the age in germany, and his original design for the building, as accepted by the authorities, was a very grandiose and magnificent conception. financial considerations necessitated the modification of some of the features of the building, while others were forced upon the architect sorely against his will by the emperor, with the result that the palace is not quite so superb as originally projected. it remains, however, a magnificent and imposing pile, well worthy of the purpose for which it has been erected, and in no way a displeasing monument of german art and architecture as understood in the nineteenth century. all the recognized authorities, both teuton and foreign, in questions of art and architecture, have pronounced themselves in this sense, the only discordant note being that to which the emperor has given utterance. not only has he publicly declared the new reichshaus to be "the very acme of bad taste," but he even went to the length of striking the designer's name from the list of gold medalists at the exhibition of art and architecture held at berlin shortly after the completion and inauguration of the building. the gold medal had been voted to herr wallot by a jury composed of all the most celebrated artists in germany, whose verdict, representing that of the nation, might have been considered as definite and final. the kaiser, however, when the list was submitted to him for final approval, substituted, in lieu of the name of professor wallot, that of his favorite portrait painter, madame palma parlaghy, whose work is, in the eyes of germany's leading artists, so execrable that the hanging committee of the berlin academy have repeatedly refused to accord places to any of her pictures on its walls. madame parlaghy is a pupil of makart and of lenbach, and a native of hadji-dóròg, in hungary. she is between thirty and forty, possessed of glittering, enigmatic eyes, highly-colored cheeks and lips, and the almost too profuse head of hair that one sees so often on the shores of the danube. her beauty may, nevertheless, be described as majestic, and she conveys the idea of being a woman possessed of considerable strength of mind, as well as much diplomacy. she was first recommended to the emperor by the present czarina of russia, to whom she gave drawing lessons, prior to the marriage of the empress, and after william had obtained an idea of her skill by a very pleasing portrait which she painted of field marshal von moltke, which was, however, rejected by the hanging committee of an art exhibition at berlin, he purchased the picture in question for a large sum, and likewise gave her an order to paint several portraits of himself, declaring openly that if the judgment of the leading berlin artists were to be final in the matter of admitting paintings to public galleries and exhibitions, there would never be a single work of art worthy of the name on view. madame parlaghy's portraits of the emperor, though questionable as works of art, are, it must be confessed, very flattering likenesses of his majesty. it was shortly after this slight inflicted by the emperor on professor wallot, and the honor conferred upon madame parlaghy, that the national society of architects and the national association of artists, the two principal organizations of the kind in germany--composed of all that is most eminent in the realms of architecture and art--jointly invited professor wallot to a great banquet in berlin, at which over six hundred guests were present, in the course of which william was guyed in a most merciless manner! the chief ornament on the principal table was a model of the reichshaus in "schwarzbrod," cheese and confectionery. the dome consisted of a dutch cheese, the "germania" on the top was represented by a smartly aproned chambermaid on horseback, the horse being led by a footman in imperial livery, while the whole was labeled "der gipfel des geschmack,"--the acme of taste. another item of the programme was a sort of automatic machine, which, when a gold medal was placed in the slot, would perform "der gesang an ihr,"--the song to her--meaning, of course, madame parlaghy. the joke, i need hardly say, consisted in the parodying of the title of the emperor's musical composition "sang am aegir!" the lustre hanging from the ceiling, which is known in germany as a "kronleuchter" was in the form of an old crinoline. at the entrance to the banqueting hall hung the representation of a gold medal, which a lady painter was trying in vain to grasp. the tone of the speeches throughout the evening was in thorough keeping with the decorations, and it is doubtful whether such a bold exhibition of independence, and even disloyalty towards the sovereign, has ever been seen in the prussian capital. it speaks well for william's good sense that he should have refrained from proceeding against any of the organizers of the entertainment on the ground of _lése majesté_. there is, as i stated above, one prussian painter, however, of whom the kaiser is exceedingly fond, whose eminence in art is acknowledged, not only in germany, but all the world over, and upon whom william has lavished the highest honors that it is in his power to bestow. the painter in question is professor von menzel; popularly known in berlin as "his little excellency," owing to his diminutive size, his stature being about four feet nine inches! professor menzel, who is of the most humble origin, is to-day a knight of the order of the black eagle, which is the prussian equivalent of the english order of the garter, or of the austrian order of the golden fleece, this decoration carrying with it a patent of hereditary nobility. he is now considerably over eighty, but from his twelfth year he has earned his living by means of his brush and palette. all his principal paintings are devoted to the illustration of historic episodes of prussian history and of the reigning house of hohenzollern. one of his masterpieces is entitled "the flute concert," and represents frederick the great in his palace at sans-souci, at a concert with the principal members of court and his household around him. one evening the emperor sent for old menzel, and asked him to join the royal family at sans-souci. when the little painter alighted he was conducted to the imperial presence, and was somewhat astonished to notice that the sentinels at the various doors instead of being arrayed in their ordinary uniform, wore the military garb of the time of frederick the great. but his surprise developed into downright amazement, when at length two folding-doors were thrown open, and he found himself in the same apartment which had furnished the scene of his painting of "the flute concert." the room was lighted, as in olden times, with wax candles, the old-time furniture was disposed identically as represented in his painting, and, moreover, the company assembled was composed of men in the costumes of the time of frederick the great, and of ladies attired in the picturesque dress of the middle of the last century. there advanced to welcome the astounded artist a personage who, but for the moustache, was the very image of frederick the great, and in whom the little professor had some difficulty to recognize the kaiser. william greeted him with old-fashioned courtesy, using the elaborate politeness of our great grandfathers, and after having presented the little painter to all the guests, the ladies curtsying deeply in the fashion of the court of versailles, and the men bowing low, menzel was led by the emperor to a seat beside the empress, and the emperor's private band, whose uniforms were in perfect keeping with the costumes of the guests, played first of all several of frederick the great's compositions for the flute, and then a few of bach's loveliest _morceaux_. the emperor himself remained standing beside the little painter's chair throughout the entire concert, the empress alone and some of her ladies being seated, while the remainder of the fair guests, as well as all the men, stood about the apartment endeavoring as far as possible to group themselves in the same way as the personages figuring in menzel's painting. after the concert was finished, the company adjourned to an adjoining room, menzel occupying the place of honor to the right of the empress, while the emperor toasted the little fellow with more than ordinary eloquence and cordiality. it is doubtful whether any sovereign has ever gone to such lengths in order to honor the leading artist of his dominions, and it is difficult to speak too highly of the delicacy of the compliment, or of its originality. it might have been sufficient to turn the head of any other painter than menzel. but while he is devoted to the reigning family there is certainly no one who is less of a courtier. in fact he is terribly outspoken, and never hesitates to speak to his sovereign with the fearless sincerity of a diogenes. of a truth, there is no end to the stories current, illustrating his independence of character. once, having been commissioned by the grandfather of the present kaiser, namely, old emperor william, to paint a picture of his coronation as king of prussia, he reproduced with too much exactitude, and too little flattery, the features of the emperor's exceedingly vain and by no means youthful consort, empress augusta. her majesty insisted that he should alter his portrait of her, and render it more attractive, but this menzel absolutely refused to do, and the consequence was that the empress on numerous occasions made him feel the weight of her displeasure. the old painter bided his time, and eventually got even with her in a very characteristic fashion. being entrusted with the task of reproducing on canvas the scene of the emperor's departure for the seat of war in , he portrayed the empress augusta with her face entirely concealed in her handkerchief, as if weeping, although she prided herself on not having shed a single tear on that occasion. another time during the life of old field marshal wrangel, a lady of the court, more famous for her vanity than her beauty, complained to him that menzel had done her scant justice in a large picture representing some important event of contemporary court history. wrangel, who was famous as a brow-beating bully of the good old prussian type,--people trembling at the mere sight of him,--promised to see menzel, and to make him change the portrait of the lady to a more flattering likeness. greatly to his surprise, however, when he broached the subject to menzel, he discovered that the latter greatly resented such meddlesomeness. indeed, menzel even had the temerity to suggest that field marshals would do far better to attend to subjects that they knew something about than to the art of painting, of which they knew nothing. wrangel flared up, so did menzel, and soon the air was blue with finely characterized and bona-fide prussian oaths, punctuated with the angry sarcasms of the enraged painter. the upshot of the interview was that wrangel, who had never before turned his back on an enemy, was compelled to beat an ignominious retreat without having accomplished his object; but before disappearing through the door of the studio, he turned and positively yelled at the painter: "you are a disgusting little toad, and your picture is vile." while most of the members of the house of hapsburg paint and sketch with a good deal of cleverness and skill, there is only one, namely, the now widowed archduchess maria-theresa, who can be regarded as an artist in every sense of the word. she excels alike with the chisel and the brush, while during the lifetime of her husband, her salon became, in spite of the strictness of austrian court etiquette, the one place where eminent artists were certain to find a cordial welcome, irrespective of birth or social status. the studio of the archduchess is situated on the second floor of her palace, in the favoritenstrasse, and is a very lofty, long and narrow apartment, looking out on the street. it is particularly remarkable for its simplicity, presenting therein a powerful contrast to the magnificence of the two salons through which it is necessary to pass in order to reach it. the few stools, tabourets, armchairs and divans therein contained, are upholstered with soft-toned oriental rugs, the walls are hidden by some sort of olive-colored velvety fabric, and the wall opposite the windows is divided in the middle by a species of gallery, the exquisite wood carvings of which were brought by the archduchess herself from meran. the parqueted floors are partly concealed by the skins of tigers and polar bears, shot in the arctic regions and in india by her brother, dom miguel, duke of braganza, the legitimist pretender to the throne of portugal, while on easels, and suspended from the walls, are oil-color portraits by the archduchess of baroness c. kolmossy, to whom she is indebted for her knowledge of painting, of her husband, the late archduke charles-louis, and of her sister-in-law, the lamented empress elizabeth, in riding habit and in ball-dress. there is also a very pretty picture of a cat in the act of effecting its escape from the basket in which it had been confined, and a wonderful crayon sketch of maria-theresa's stepson, archduke francis-ferdinand, the heir to the austro-hungarian throne. the colossal fire-place niched in one of the corners of the studio, is surmounted, not by a mirror, but by a panel of well-nigh priceless oriental embroidery, the brilliant colors of which have been softened and rendered harmonious and mellow by age. the doors are draped by portieres of flemish tapestry, and shielded by mucharabieh screens of curiously-carved wood from cairo. preserved from dust and damage beneath plate-glass are some unique pieces of antique venetian point lace, presented by another brother-in-law, don alfonso of spain, the younger brother of the pretender don carlos, while on a huge square writing-table, the equipments of which are of oriental gold filigree-work, richly jewelled, are usually found letters either to or from the favorite brother-in-law of the archduchess, duke charles-theodore of bavaria, the celebrated oculist, who during the course of his practice has performed more than three thousand successful operations for cataract without accepting a single penny-piece by way of remuneration. true, the patients of this royal physician are nearly all of them poor people, and it is for their benefit that he has converted one of his castles into an ophthalmic hospital, and another palace into a species of convalescent home and resort, where poor gentlefolk and government servants with inadequate means can spend a couple of weeks in the country free of all cost. it is difficult to refrain from a deep degree of sympathy for this so brilliant and accomplished archduchess maria-theresa, whose character is best illustrated by the fact that she is literally worshipped by her grown-up step-children. the sudden death of her husband was not only a cruel bereavement, but was also the destruction of great and much-cherished ambitions. through the death of crown prince rudolph, her husband, as next brother to emperor francis-joseph, became heir to the throne, and owing to the refusal of empress elizabeth to take any part whatsoever in court life, the archduchess was from that moment, to all intents and purposes, the "first lady in the land." it was she who presided at all court ceremonies and official functions, who received the presentations, and who filled the post of empress alike at vienna and at pesth. her husband was entirely swayed by her, and completely subject to her influence, and it is notorious that she looked for the day when, through his accession to the throne, she would become the virtual ruler of the great dual empire, and be in a position to inaugurate all sorts of political ideas, peculiar to herself, notably in connection with a reversal of austria's present foreign policy. she has never made any secret of her disapproval of the austrian alliance with italy, and has even gone so far as to attend with her husband public meetings in favor of the restoration of the temporal power of the papacy, at which king humbert was bitterly denounced and abused as a usurper! there seemed no reason whatsoever why her consort should not live to succeed his elder brother, and as the archduke possessed a singularly strong constitution, and had scarcely suffered a single hour's illness since his childhood, there was no cause to fear any untoward event. indeed he might have been alive at the present moment had it not been for his unfortunate pilgrimage to jerusalem, where in some way he contracted the malady which carried him off so very suddenly. he enjoys the distinction of being the only member of his house whose whole body reposes in the vault of the capuchin church at vienna, where so many hundred hapsburgs sleep, some in coffins of silver and gold, others in caskets of exquisitely ornamented copper. according to a very gruesome custom in vogue with the reigning house of austria for many centuries, the heart is extracted from the body of the imperial dead within twenty-four hours after their demise, placed in a silver urn filled with spirits of wine, hermetically sealed, and then conveyed with the utmost pomp and ceremony, though at night, to the old cathedral of st. stephen, where it is received with much solemnity by the clergy, and placed in niches of the wall, near the high altar. the entrails are in the same way removed, and conveyed with identically the same ceremonies to the ancient church of the augustines, and it is only what is left that is buried in the vaults of the capuchin church. archduke charles-louis did not relish this extraordinary yet traditional treatment of his remains after death, and fervently believing in the resurrection of the body in the flesh, thought it distinctly uncanny that his heart and his entrails should each have to go hunting through the city for his body on the day of judgment. accordingly, he was laid to rest just as he died, instead of being entombed, like all the other members of the house of hapsburg, in sections. chapter xi if i have refrained in the preceding chapter from making any mention of the attainments of the dowager empress frederick, either as a sculptor or as a painter, it is because she is so immeasurably superior to all other royal personages in the realms of art that she can no longer be regarded as a mere amateur, no matter how clever. besides this, her individuality is so strong, her intellectual gifts so great, and the part which she has played in german politics so important that she really deserves separate treatment. if i link her name with that of her daughter-in-law, empress augusta-victoria, it is because the latter's influence on german affairs has been even still more weighty, though she is far less brilliant and clever than her husband's mother. indeed my readers after perusing this chapter may feel disposed to ask themselves whether ordinary intelligence in high places does not work more successfully than genius. it is difficult to describe empress frederick as anything else than a genius. certainly i have never known a more gifted woman. the diversity, the scope, and the depth of her knowledge are simply amazing. in conversation it is difficult to broach any subject, no matter what it is, that she has not mastered. her acquaintance with the mediaeval, renaissance and modern schools of painting, and with every form and work of art industry is unsurpassed even by those men who have devoted their entire lives to these studies. i have on one and the same evening heard her converse on venetian art with ludovic passini, proving herself his equal in her astounding knowledge of venice, past and present; talk with a distinguished physician, who was amazed by the theoretical knowledge which she displayed of the throat and breathing organs, and who declared that if she had only had practical experience, she would have been the finest throat specialist in the world; and discuss literature with a celebrated englishman of letters, chiding him upon his admitting his inability to cap a passage from pope, which she quoted! the late sir richard wallace, than whom no one possessed a more profound knowledge of the masterpieces of the painters, goldsmiths, jewelers and potters of bygone centuries, was wont to declare that empress frederick surpassed him as an expert, although, with unlimited wealth at his disposal, he had devoted more than half a century of his life to the collection of "chefs d'oeuvre" in all parts of the world. the depth of her researches into chemical science exceeds that of lord salisbury, who is her most intimate personal friend in england, and at whose elizabethan country seat she invariably visits when in her native country, most of her time while under his roof being spent with him in his laboratory. but it is particularly as an artist, both with brush and chisel, that she excels, and while as a painter she ranks with some of the leading professional masters of the present day, as a sculptor she surpasses anything achieved or even attempted as yet by a woman. the subject which naturally stimulates her most to artistic effort is the portraiture of her fondly-loved husband. his memory, although he has been dead eleven years, is so fresh in her mind, her eye is so capable of recalling his image, and her hand is so well trained to follow her impressions, and to reproduce what she can visualize, that no sculptor could vie with her in reproducing his splendid form and manly features. she once gave a commission to the celebrated german sculptor uphues for a colossal statue of "unser fritz," and calling at the artists' studio, whilst he was at work on his clay model, she pointed out to him some points in which he had not caught the right expression. verbal explanations not adequately conveying her meaning, she asked permission to use the roughing chisel, set to work, and in half an hour with a touch here and a touch there, modified the features to such a degree that the sculptor was astounded at the striking improvement. the model has since been transferred to marble, and is universally considered to be the best portrait extant of emperor frederick. no greater tribute to her brilliancy and penetration in the matter of statecraft could possibly be given than the undisguised and openly acknowledged animosity with which she was, throughout her married life, regarded by the late prince bismarck, who feared her more than all his masculine rivals and opponents together. she was a political foe worthy in every respect of his steel, for she repeatedly checkmated his moves; and if he sometimes spoke of her with a brutality and a degree of vehemence altogether out of place, this must be regarded as more in the light of a compliment than as an intentional piece of discourtesy, as it was a virtual admission of the fact that her opposition to his projects was of altogether too masculine and virile a character to admit for one moment of his according to her that forbearance and chivalrous deference which men as a rule are wont to concede to women as a tribute to their sex. she fought him unceasingly, from the time when he violated the prussian constitution, shortly before the war with denmark, until the day when through her efforts and statecraft he was driven from office,--a vanquished foe. he had used in vain every weapon against her that his ingenuity could devise. he had even gone so far as to publicly charge her with treason in betraying to the english, and through them to the french, military secrets which had been imparted to her by her husband, during the war of . he had, in short, done everything that lay in his power to prevent her husband from succeeding to the crown, mainly, as he admitted, with the object of preventing her from sharing the throne as empress; and after having grossly insulted her in the presence of her dying, voiceless and helpless husband by refusing to transact any state business, or to communicate any confidential reports to the monarch as long as she was in the room, he incited her eldest son, whose mind he had deliberately poisoned against her, to take steps which could only intensify the sorrow of the grief-stricken woman immediately after her so fondly loved husband had been taken from her. yet she carried the day in the end, and her son is now the very first to acknowledge his mother's cleverness and the fact that she showed herself more than a match in statecraft for the man reputed as the greatest statesman of the century, namely, bismarck. one of the cleverest of the many clever things that she did, was the manner in which she brought about the fall of bismarck. she was too shrewd to dream of exercising any direct pressure on her son. it was done indirectly, and with so much diplomacy, that william never dreamt at the time of dismissing the iron chancellor that he was playing his mother's game. abstaining from any steps towards a reconciliation with her son, she merely took advantage of the kaiser's visit to westphalia, to place in his path his old tutor, professor hintzpeter, a pedagogue of whom william had been very fond, and whose teachings had left a deep impression upon the mind of his imperial pupil. the empress knew the professor's characteristics, his fads, and his views. she likewise recognized and understood, as only a mother can do, the complex character of her son, and she foresaw the effects that were likely to be achieved by bringing the two men once more into communication with each other. like william ii., hintzpeter is full of contrasts, for while on the one hand he has always professed the most advanced radical and even socialistic doctrines,--doctrines with which he impregnated the mind of his princely charge,--yet he would tolerate no familiarity or condescension on his part towards inferiors, and was even wont to force william to wash his hands when he had so far forgotten himself as to shake hands with anyone of a subordinate or menial rank. another trait of character of professor hintzpeter, is his firm conviction that difficulties, no matter how vast and intricate, are always capable of being settled and satisfactorily arranged by means of eloquent phrases and good intentions. at the time when william renewed his acquaintance, in the capital of westphalia, with his old tutor, the socialistic and labor problems were engaging the attention not merely of germany, but likewise of all europe. prince bismarck was in favor of a continuance of harsh measures with regard to labor, and of persecution of the most resentless nature so far as the socialists were concerned. hintzpeter, full of his former sympathies for autocracy and socialism at one and the same time, called william's attention to the fact that bismarck's policy had merely had the effect of vastly increasing the strength of the socialists as a factor in german politics, and of rendering the labor difficulties more acute. he, therefore, suggested to the emperor the idea that he should endeavor to solve both problems by means of an international congress, under his own presidency, at which means should be devised for reconciling the interests of socialism with the state, and those of capital with labor. william, with all his common-sense and cleverness, has inherited from his ancestress, queen louise, and one might almost say from his grand-uncle, king frederick william iv., a very strongly developed tendency towards idealism. it was to this phase of his nature that the recommendation of professor hintzpeter particularly appealed, and the more he considered the matter, the more he discussed it with his old tutor, the more convinced he became that it was in his power to solve the difficulties of both socialism and labor, and thus to earn the gratitude, not only of his own people, but of the entire civilized world. of course, prince bismarck immediately realized the utopian character of the scheme, saw its impracticability, and proceeded to condemn it with more than his ordinary irritability and _brusquerie_. finding, however, that the emperor was not to be argued out of the idea of holding a labor conference, he proceeded to ridicule it, and what was worse, to cause it to be scoffed at and treated with derision as the vaporings of an inexperienced and altogether too generous-minded youth, in german as well as foreign papers, which william knew derived their inspiration from the chancellor's palace in the wilhelmstrasse. all this served to embitter the relations between the emperor and the prince. the latter perceived that the kaiser was getting beyond his control, and was subject to other influences, while the emperor now commenced to appreciate the extent to which, he had been made subservient to the policy and to the wishes of his chancellor. meanwhile the necessity became apparent of taking some immediate step, one way or another, in connection with the prolongation of the exceptional measures against the socialists which were just expiring. the chancellor was determined that they should be renewed, while the emperor felt that, with the international congress coming on, he would be handicapped in his rôle of arbitrator, and his good faith would justly be suspected by the socialists were he to consent to the continuance of repressive measures against them that were extra-legal, that is to say, beyond the laws of the land, and as such, strictly speaking, unconstitutional. finally, william discovering that bismarck was negotiating with the various party leaders, notably with the late dr. windhorst, leader of the catholic party in the reichstag, with a view to the prolongation of the anti-socialist measures, made up his mind to dismiss him, and called for his resignation for having ventured to negotiate with the opposition leaders in the reichstag, without his knowledge or consent, in order to obtain their support to a measure about which he had expressed his disapproval. that was the real cause of bismarck's fall, despite all other stories current on the subject, and had not empress frederick engineered the meeting in the westphalian capital between her son and his former tutor, it is possible that prince bismarck might have died in office. it is scarcely necessary to remind my readers that, as predicted by the old chancellor, the international labor congress resulted in a fiasco, while the emperor ultimately became so embittered by the failure of the socialists to appreciate his kindly intentions towards them, that he now regards them as his most bitter enemies, and practically calls upon every soldier who joins the army to be prepared to use his rifle, not only against the enemies from without, but also against the enemies within--that is, the socialists. naturally william to-day regrets that he permitted himself to be talked into any such schemes as the reconciliation of the socialists with the crown, and of capital with labor, and professor hintzpeter, while retaining the affection of his former pupil, has long ceased to enjoy his confidence as a political adviser. he is no longer looked upon in the light of a german richelieu, as the foreign newspapers were wont to describe him when he was at the climax of his power, and he no longer possesses anything in common with his russian counterpart, professor pobiedenotsoff, except in a singular peculiarity of appearance. indeed, hintzpeter's looks invite caricature. he is lanky, ungainly and lantern-jawed, and seems like a man who has never been young, and who has not yet obtained the venerability of old age. his manners are exceedingly ungracious, and even repellent, but when once he becomes interested in a discussion he seems to undergo an entire transformation. he is no longer the same man, and gives one at that moment the impression of being nothing but a bundle of seething nerves, the vibrations of which seem to extend to, as well as to influence, all those who are within range of his voice. the empress frederick was shrewd enough to keep in the background all the time! she took no part in the fight between her son and prince bismarck, and was particularly careful to avoid identifying herself in any way with professor hintzpeter. the result was that the kaiser did not dream of ascribing to her any responsibility for the mistake into which he had been led by his former tutor. as foreseen by empress frederick, with prince bismarck once in retirement and disgrace, and the emperor disposed to reverse the entire bismarckian policy, it commenced to dawn upon his majesty that among other errors into which he had been led by his ex-chancellor was his own harshness and unfriendliness towards his mother. it was while under this impression that he took the first steps towards a reconciliation with the imperial widow, who, by showing herself particularly affectionate and amiable, made her son feel still more bitterly the unfilial nature of the conduct which he had been led by bismarck to adopt until then towards his mother. the friendly relations thus established between mother and son have subsisted ever since, and the emperor does not disdain now to seek empress frederick's advice in a number of matters, having realized how clever she is, while there is no one whose approval he values more highly than hers. most people are in the habit of portraying the empress frederick as a woman embittered and soured by disappointment. yet if the truth were known, there are few whose existence at the present moment is of a more ideal character, she has lost a noble and devoted husband, but this bereavement must, to a certain extent, have been softened by the genuine sorrow manifested by all, not only in his own country, but throughout the civilized world, when he died. her marriage was a singularly happy one, unclouded by even the faintest difference of opinion with her consort, and she is now enjoying a delightfully contented eventide of life. she resides during the greater part of the year in a home constructed in one of the loveliest portions of germany, near homburg, according to her own designs, and her own ideas; she possesses a vast fortune, which renders her independent of all her relatives, and which she is free to spend as she wishes. with all her sons and daughters married, she has no domestic cares of her own, and is at liberty to order her mode of existence as she pleases, unhampered by any obligations or restrictions, save those which her son may see fit to impose. her rank is of the highest, for she is the eldest daughter of queen victoria, and the mother of the present german emperor, besides which she has the status and title of an empress-queen. in fact, she has the rank of a sovereign, without any of the responsibilities that are attached thereto, and while she may have experienced, at one moment, disappointment at being deprived by her husband's premature death of engineering a number of political, social and economic reforms in germany, upon which she had set her heart, yet she cannot but have realized by this time that her existence as an empress-dowager is infinitely more agreeable than that of an empress-regent would have been, for had she been at the present moment seated by her husband's side on the throne, she would have found no time to devote to those arts and sciences to which she is so passionately devoted, and which nowadays occupy the greater portion of her life. in spite of being a great-grandmother, empress frederick is still in splendid bodily health and vigor. she rides on horseback daily in summer, and in winter spends a considerable amount of time skating on the ice. she is not handsome, and, in fact, has never been even pretty, but has always had a bright, intelligent and pleasing face. moreover, she has inherited her mother's peculiarly melodious voice. unfortunately, she is imperious, and intolerant of stupidity; it is this, coupled with her lack of tact, which is responsible for her unpopularity. in spite of all her philanthropy, her generosity, and her cleverness, and notwithstanding the blamelessness of her life, she is not liked by the people of her adopted country, and this, while it has not prevented her from playing a preponderant rôle in german politics, as above described, has proved an obstacle to her exercise of any influence upon the german people. after all, this absence of tact may be excused, for it is usually wanting in people of genius. she is very tender-hearted, and will not, if she can prevent it, allow any living thing on the estate to be disturbed or killed. no description of empress frederick seems complete without adding thereto a brief reference to the grand-master of her court, count seckendorff, who may be said to have devoted his entire life to her service, and to that of her husband. a scion of one of the oldest houses of the prussian aristocracy, and bearing a name that figures frequently in the pages of german history, he was attached to the household of empress frederick as chamberlain in the early days of her marriage, and the only time since then when he has been absent from her side was during the war; for the count is no mere drawing-room soldier, as is the case with so many military men who are in attendance on royalty. he has seen active service in the wars of , and , winning the iron cross for bravery in the latter campaign, and was likewise attached to lord napier's expedition to abyssinia, which found its climax in the storming of magdala, and in the death of emperor theodore. as an artist he may be said to be almost as gifted as empress frederick is herself, and his paintings have won distinctions of the highest order at many national and foreign exhibitions. indeed, it is this sympathy of artistic tastes that has contributed in no small measure to the altogether exceptional position which he enjoys in the favor and confidence of the widowed empress. he has seen all her children grow up around her, has been the confidant of many of her sorrows, and at a moment when both she and her dying husband were surrounded by chamberlains and officers who were devoted to the interests of bismarck, and virtually traitors in the camp, he alone remained loyal in evil as well as in happier days. being a bachelor, he makes his home with the empress, attends her wherever she goes, and, after having been the object of much abuse and even calumny,--the latter originated and circulated by the so-called "reptile press,"--that is to say, the newspapers, domestic and foreign, drawing pay and inspiration from prince bismarck,--he now enjoys the regard and the good-will of everyone at the courts of berlin and windsor, particularly at the latter, where his lifelong devotion to the widowed empress is keenly appreciated by her mother, queen victoria. no greater contrast can be conceived than that which exists between empress frederick and her daughter-in-law, the empress-regnant. far less brilliant than either her husband's mother or grandmother, she has nevertheless managed to achieve, as i have remarked before, not only an infinitely greater degree of popularity, but likewise a more extensive influence upon the german people. experience and history show that ordinary sense on the throne is far more beneficial to the population than a lofty order of intellect, and empress augusta-victoria merely offers another illustration of the truth of this assertion. none of the queens of prussia, nor either of the first german empresses, can be said to have left any impress upon the subjects of their respective husbands. there is no doubt that the so celebrated queen louise of prussia was the cause of prussia's receiving infinitely harsher treatment at the hands of napoleon than the kingdom would otherwise have experienced; while the consort of old emperor william, a pupil of goethe, and famed for her culture and accomplishments, was disliked by the people, and was just as little in touch with them as her still more talented daughter-in-law, empress frederick. for empress augusta-victoria, however, a most profound sympathy extends throughout the length and breadth of germany. every housewife, every mother, looks to her as to a model, knows that she is satisfied to excel in her purely domestic duties, and that she does, not strive to render herself superior to her sex by intellectual brilliancy and scientific attainments. thanks to this sympathy which she inspires, and to the fact that she is looked upon by men and women alike in her husband's dominions as the ideal of what a german "_hausfrau_" should be, she has been able to exercise an influence of infinitely greater importance upon the nation at large than any other consort of a prussian sovereign can have boasted to achieve. it is to this estimable woman, whom some were disposed at first to denounce as narrow-minded and witless, that must be attributed the very strongly developed religious revival apparent throughout protestant germany since the present emperor came to the throne. prior to the present reign, church-going was as a rule eschewed by the male sex, women constituting the backbone of the congregation, while the clergy of the lutheran persuasion was looked down upon, being treated by the territorial nobility much in the same way as upper servants, that is to say, on a par with the farm bailiffs, the stewards and the housekeepers in a word, religion and everything pertaining thereto was not considered fashionable. to-day all this is changed. under the guidance of the empress, her husband, reared by his broad-minded mother in the ideas of strauss and of renan, has become a strict churchman, and court, nobility, bureaucracy and in fact the middle and lower classes too, have followed suit. free-thinking and neglect of religious duties are at present considered the acme of bad form in germany. everybody professes the most profound interest in questions and enterprises relating to the church, and a large number of daughters of the most illustrious houses of the german nobility have conferred their hands and their hearts upon penniless lutheran pastors, whose social status has thereby been entirely changed. moreover, if during the past ten years more churches have been built, particularly in berlin, than had been the case in the entire previous half-century, this is because every one has become aware that the most facile way of winning the good graces of the empress, and the favor of her consort is by building a church, or endowing some hospital. the empress is ever ready to help in every good work, and her private charities are very great, but she does not approve of the higher education or the emancipation of women, and entertains a holy horror of everything pertaining to the female suffrage movement. women, according to her views, should remain in their own sphere, and should regard their duties to their husbands, their children, and their homes as their first and foremost obligations; the nursing of the sick, the training of young people, and the organization and direction of charitable institutions, affording plenty of scope for those members of the fair sex who have no domestic tasks to occupy their time. [illustration: _auguste victoria empress of germany_] _from life_ she claims that in this way a woman is able to exercise a far more important and beneficial influence than by endeavoring to supplant men in professions essentially masculine, and certainly she herself constitutes a striking illustration of the truth of her contention, for the influence of the present german empress is felt throughout the length and breadth of the land--a gracious womanly influence in every sense of the word. among the many philanthropic organizations which owe their origin to the empress, is the central association of german actresses, which has of late years done more towards elevating the stage than has ever been accomplished by members of the aristocracy who have seen fit to join the dramatic profession with that avowed object in view. the work of this society is to enable actresses to provide themselves, at the lowest possible cost, with the costumes considered necessary by the managers of the theatres. it is well known that while in germany the pieces are beautifully put on the stage, the salaries paid to the actresses do not in many cases cover the expenses of the stage dresses. the empress makes a point of giving all her court and evening gowns, which were formerly the perquisites of her dressers and maids, to the association, and has invited the ladies of the court of berlin to follow her example. those ladies who feel that they cannot afford to give the dresses, are asked to sell them to the association as cheaply as possible, and the latter then turns them over at a merely nominal cost to such ladies of the dramatic profession as are considered worthy of support and assistance. this organization is managed entirely by great ladies, the empress herself acting as president, and in this manner they are brought into personal contact with actresses both of high and low degree. the intercourse thus established has been most beneficial, for it has not only helped to place the social status of the stage on a more agreeable basis, but it also constitutes an incentive to actresses to keep their names and reputations free from blemish, since they naturally understand that the empress and the great ladies of the aristocracy can only treat them as friends, so long as they live up to the same standard of respectability as that which prevails in the highest circles of society, and at court. one of the most valuable qualities of empress augusta-victoria is her extraordinary tact. it is due to this, more than anything else, that she has been able to retain, not only a hold upon the affection and regard of her impulsive and brilliant husband, but also an influence over him without his being aware of the fact. by the leading members of his court, and by his principal ministerial advisers, she is regarded not merely in the light of his guardian angel, but as his most sensible counsellor. she may be relied upon at all times to soothe his anger, soften any bitterness which he may entertain towards this or that person, and call forth at critical moments the most generous and chivalrous phases of his, on the whole, very attractive character. she is claimed by those who know the true state of affairs to act in the capacity of a brake and a safety-valve to her husband, and it is no secret that both the classes and the masses feel an additional sense of security when they know their popular empress to be by the emperor's side; for every mistake that he has made since he ascended the throne has taken place during her absence, and he himself is the first to acknowledge that she is largely responsible for every success that he has achieved. the sentiments of the empress towards bismarck have been much misunderstood and misconstrued. it is perfectly true that she was brought up from her earliest childhood to regard him as the enemy of her house, the prince having, as i have already related, been the author of the indefensible act of spoliation, by means of which her father had been deprived of the duchies of schleswig and holstein, now forming part of the kingdom of prussia. the manner in which the iron chancellor was viewed in the home of the empress when a young girl, may best be gathered from the fact that whenever her nurses and governesses were desirous of putting a stop to her naughtiness and of frightening her into obedience, they would exclaim: "_bismarck's coming! wow! wow!_" this childhood impression has continued so deep that even to this day, whenever the empress shows any signs of reluctance to comply with her husband's wishes, or betrays irritation, the kaiser is in the habit of springing upon her the familiar old cry of "_bismarck's coming! wow! wow!_" which at first always makes her start as she did in infancy and girlhood, and then causes her to burst into laughter, and restores her to good humor. these sentiments of aversion to bismarck were to a great extent modified at the time of her marriage by the knowledge that it was the chancellor who had contributed more than anybody else to facilitate and bring about the match. the latter was opposed by many of emperor william's kinsfolk, as well as by influential people at court, on the ground that her rank was inadequate to render her a suitable match for the heir to the throne of germany. bismarck, however, took the ground that a marriage between the heir presumptive and the eldest daughter of the _de jure_ duke of schleswig-holstein would go a long way to reconcile the inhabitants of the above-named duchies to their annexation by prussia, while at the same time it would constitute the reparation of an act which he himself admitted was extremely unjust, but to which he was compelled by imperative considerations of policy. empress augusta-victoria has been so supremely happy in her married life that she has always felt a certain amount of gratitude to bismarck, which tended to obliterate her childhood's impressions against him; and no more striking indication of her sentiments towards the famous statesman can be given than the fact that she travelled all the way to friedrichsrüh at a moment when the sickness of her children demanded her presence by their bedside, in order to attend the private and home funeral of the man who had publicly described her father as the most stupid prince in all europe; who had deprived him of his throne, and who had sent him to an early grave as a broken-spirited and thoroughly embittered man. while the empress takes but little part in politics, on her favorite ground, that women should have no concern whatsoever in the conduct thereof, she has at least on two occasions, to my knowledge, intervened in important crises. thus in , when general count caprivi, having differed with william on the subject of the new education laws, had written to tender his resignation of the office of chancellor, the empress at once indicted an autograph letter, in which, with expressions of mingled pathos and dignity, she appealed to him so strongly not to desert her husband, or to subject the latter to the anxiety, the trouble, and even the odium of another ministerial crisis, that he at once traveled down to hübertüsstock, where the emperor was staying, and informed him that he withdrew his resignation, and would remain in office. two years later, when caprivi again resigned, it was largely the personal entreaties contained in the letters which she addressed to old princess hohenlohe which led to the latter's withdrawal of the opposition that, until then, had stood in the way of prince hohenlohe's acceptance of the chancellorship. like most other consorts of reigning sovereigns and princesses of the blood, empress augusta-victoria holds the colonelcy of a number of prussian and russian regiments, whose uniform she occasionally wears in a somewhat feminized form at those grand military reviews of which the kaiser is so fond. her favorite garb of this kind is the uniform of the second regiment of pomeranian cuirassiers, one of the oldest and most celebrated corps of cavalry of the prussian army. the regimental tunic is of snow-white cloth, and held in its place by the silver shoulder-straps of a colonel is the orange ribbon of the order of the black eagle, which crosses her breast to the left hip, where the jewel of the order is attached by a large rosette. the star of the order is worn on the left breast, while just above it are a number of smaller decorations. with this white tunic, with its silver buttons, its silver embroidery and scarlet facings, a white cloth skirt is worn, while in lieu of the helmet now in use by the regiment, the empress has adopted the old-fashioned, broad-brimmed cavalier hat, with the flowing white ostrich plumes which the officers of the corps were wont to don in the early part of the last century. thus attired, the empress takes her place by the side of her husband at the saluting point at any of the grand reviews at which she may happen to be present, and as soon as a regiment of which she happens to be colonel approaches, she at once canters, takes her place at its head as commanding officer, and leads it past her husband in true military fashion, saluting with her riding whip before returning to his side. sometimes she is accompanied by one or another of the emperor's sisters, or else by the handsome young grand duchess of hesse, all of whom hold honorary colonelcies, and who appear on such occasions on horseback and in uniform. the grand duchess of hesse, who holds the command of an infantry regiment, wears not merely the tunic, but likewise the helmet of the corps in question, and looks particularly fascinating on these occasions. empress augusta-victoria and her mother-in-law, the empress frederick, are the only two women who have ever been admitted to the order of the black eagle, the highest order of the kingdom of prussia, and neither the consort of old emperor william nor any of the earlier queens of prussia, not even queen louise, ever received this distinction. the innovation dates from the time of the late emperor frederick. the first thing he did on becoming emperor was to take the ribbon of the order from his own uniform and hang it across the shoulders of his wife, in token of gratitude, and in recognition of the fact that, had it not been for her championship and faithful guard of his interests, bismarck would have carried the day, and debarred him from accession to the crown. while the emperor's action, of course, excited a good deal of criticism amongst the older dignitaries of the order, and among the members of the government and court, it was heartily approved of by the world at large, as being not only well deserved, but also a singularly pathetic demonstration on the part of the dying monarch of his profound sense of obligation to his most devoted consort. when emperor william in turn ascended the throne, he at once proceeded to follow his father's example, and to invest his own wife with the black eagle, in order to place her, as the reigning empress, upon the same level in this particular respect, as her mother-in-law, the dowager empress. it may be taken for granted that henceforth the order of the black eagle will remain a prerogative of all the consorts of the kings of prussia and emperors of germany. the whole youth of the empress was spent at prinkenau, the fine country seat of her parents, which is now owned by her brother. those days were varied only by visits to her uncle, prince christian of schleswig-holstein, who makes his home in england, where he is married to queen victoria's daughter helena, and to her relatives, the prince and princess hohenlohe. the emperor first made her acquaintance during a day's shooting at prinkenau. he was _en route_ to the château, when, having lost his way in the forest, he met a young girl, of whom he inquired his whereabouts and how to proceed. this was the princess augusta-victoria, and he always declared that he fell in love with her from that moment. she was, therefore, a total stranger to berlin court life and berlin society at the time of her marriage, and at first found it very difficult to adapt herself to the formal etiquette by which royal personages are surrounded at berlin. it was here that her american aunt, countess waldersee, came to her assistance, instructed her, and acted as her mentor, not only in matters of etiquette and manner, but in the attitude to be observed towards the various members of berlin society as well. it is as a mother that the empress shows herself in one of her most charming lights. she is, indeed, an ideal mother, and, in spite of her manifold duties, personally supervises, not merely the education of her children, but even every little detail connected with their comfort and well-being. in fact the empress, as well as the emperor, are at their best when surrounded by their children, in whose company they spend far more time than fashionable people in less exalted spheres of society consider it necessary or pleasant to do. the empress is extremely economical as regards the clothing of her children, and the suits of the elder princes are cut down to fit their younger brothers. with her own wardrobe the empress is equally careful, and she has a staff of dressmakers who are always at work remodelling her gowns, so that it is possible for her to appear in them several times without their being recognized. on state occasions she is always superbly dressed, and covered with the most gorgeous jewels, but when in the country she delights in the simplest costumes; a serge skirt, a pretty blouse, and a plain straw hat, being her favorite garb. her grand court costumes, as a rule, hail from vienna, and empress augusta-victoria probably shares with her grandmother, queen victoria, the distinction of being one of the two ladies, occupants of thrones, who do not patronize any of the great parisian couturiers. the empress never orders her dresses herself. that is done by her principal lady-in-waiting, who has patterns sent to the palace, from which she selects a certain number to show the empress. when the imperial lady has made her choice, she settles from plates the way in which the gown is to be made, after invariably submitting her selections to the emperor, who has excellent taste in such matters. the empress usually breakfasts alone with the emperor. in summer, often at the unearthly hour of six in the morning! the meal is a substantial one, american and english, rather than continental in fashion, and she is apt to declare that it is the only time throughout the entire day when she is able to discuss matters of a private or domestic character with her husband. the imperial couple often ride out on horseback together in the early morning, after breakfast, before the kaiser repairs to the palace to begin his day's work at nine o'clock. the empress looks very well on horseback, as she has an excellent seat, and the plain habit suits her rounded figure extremely well. her stable is quite distinct from that of the emperor, and with the exception of one white horse all the mounts that she uses are brown in color. at luncheon the emperor and empress generally have a few guests, and it is the same at dinner, which takes place at seven in the evening. on rising from the table, the empress frequently takes her place at the piano to accompany the emperor, who has a fine baritone and most expressive voice. it is asserted by those who know the empress best, that she has kept a diary since her earliest girlhood, in which she has set down her daily experiences, although it is claimed that these diaries have been seen by no one, not even by the emperor. the empress, who never fails to write her diary every evening, keeps the precious volumes under lock and key in a large cabinet situated in her bedroom. perhaps some day the personal experiences of empress augusta-victoria will be published, and while they may possibly throw light on many dark places in the history both of the nation and the court, there is no doubt that their revelations will be characterized by that kindliness of heart, that forbearance, and, above all, that sound common sense which are so conspicuous in empress augusta-victoria. chapter xii since the days of the canonized rulers of hungary, bohemia, russia, and france, there have been no sovereigns of the old world who have been so distinguished for their piety and for the fervor of their religious belief as the present emperors of germany and austria, for they both take very seriously to heart their official and liturgical designation as the anointed of the lord. it is no mere cant or hypocrisy in their case, but a profound belief in the teachings of the scripture in which they truly believe is to be found the most powerful bulwark of the throne against the ever rising tide of democracy, and the fundamental basis of the entire monarchical system. save for this, their manifestations of christianity may be said to differ. francis-joseph, now in the eventide of a singularly sad and stormy life, and of a reign that was inaugurated by a most sanguinary civil war, reminds one, in spite of the hereditary title of "_apostolic majesty_" conferred upon his forbears by the papacy, of nothing so much as of the publican of the parable going up to the temple to pray, so deep and unaffected is the humility with which he approaches the altar or kneels at the priedieu in the chapel of his palace, or beside the tombs of those most near and dear to him. emperor william's piety, while equally fervent, does not give one the same idea of self-abasement in the sight of the almighty. it would be unfair to compare him to that other personage of the parable, namely, the pharisee, for the latter was obviously lacking in sincerity; but at the same time, william in his moments of religious fervor, invariably recalls to mind that pretty story told by the late alphonse daudet, entitled the "dauphin's deathbed," in which the little boy-prince, on the eve of his departure for a happier world, responds to the exhortations of his chaplain with the exclamation: "but one thing consoles me, m. l'abbé, and that is that up there in the paradise of the stars i shall still be the dauphin. i know that the good god is my cousin, and cannot fail to treat me according to my rank!" emperor francis-joseph will be prepared, in, a future existence, to take his place among the very humblest of his subjects, realizing that in the eyes of the divinity all human creatures are equal, whereas emperor william, on the other hand, in his heart of hearts, is certainly convinced that there will be a special place reserved for him above--a place in keeping with his rank here on earth. true, he has never actually said this in so many words, but he has assuredly indicated this belief both by his utterances and his actions. he makes no attempt to conceal his conviction that personages of royal birth, and, in particular, reigning sovereigns, are fashioned by the almighty with clay of a quality vastly superior to that employed for the composition of ordinary human creatures. notwithstanding all the spartan rigor and severity to which he was subjected in his youth, for the purpose of dispelling exaggerated pride of birth and station, he feels assured that the rights and privileges which he enjoys above his fellow-men are of divine origin. although a constitutional sovereign, he is never tired of declaring that he is responsible for the performance of his duties as ruler of germany to the almighty alone, and that god alone is able to appreciate and to pass judgment upon his actions. that emperor william considers himself to be far nearer to the throne of god, and in an infinitely closer degree of communion with the almighty than any ordinary being, is apparent from many of his public utterances. in fact, the amazing intimacy which he professes with his maker, and the strange manner in which he implies that he and the creator have interests in common, and joint understandings that are beyond the comprehension of ordinary mankind, would savor of downright blasphemy, were it not for the undeniable sincerity of his teutonic majesty, who really regards himself as a divine instrument. indeed, there is no doubt that it is this belief which he honestly entertains that has served to keep his private life, since he ascended the throne, so thoroughly blameless. for there is no doubt that william does his utmost to live up to the teachings of his faith, to order every phase of his existence in conformity with the precepts of christianity, and to avoid everything that could tend to impair his status as a vice-regent of providence in the eyes of the devout. few are the incidents and events of his reign to which he does not impart a religious flavor. thus it was only last summer, on the completion of a new fort at metz, that he insisted on its inauguration taking place with much religious pomp and ceremony, and he himself christened the fortress in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy ghost, thus calling down the blessing of the trinity on a stronghold, the guns of which are pointed against france, and the success of which can only consist in the destruction of innumerable french foes! it is he, too, who has originated the practice of christening with religious ceremonies the great guns furnished by krupp for use afloat and ashore against germany's enemies; and on the blades of the swords which he has presented to his elder sons, and to his favorite generals and officers, there is invariably inscribed on the one side, "in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy ghost," and on the other, averse from the bible, surmounted by the imperial cypher. william has even gone to the length of drawing up an extraordinary argument in defence of duelling based upon quotations taken from the bible. the emperor takes as the text of his argument that verse of the writings of st. paul, in which the apostle declares that he would rather die than that anyone should rob him of his good name. william infers from this that the most eloquent and forcible of all the fathers of the church was prepared to fight to the death for the honor of his name. "nowhere in the bible," adds his majesty, "is there any prohibition of duelling, not even in the new testament, which, unlike the old testament, is not a book of law. indeed, every attempt to use the new testament as the basis for a new code of law has resulted in failure." with regard to the use made by the opponents of duelling of that law in the old testament which proclaims, "thou shalt not kill," the emperor draws attention to another portion of the old testament, wherein is mentioned that the sword shall not be carried in vain. then invoking st. paul's epistle to the galatians, in which the apostle exclaims: "oh! ye foolish galatians. this only would i learn of you. received ye the spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of the faith? are ye so foolish, having begun in the spirit, that ye wish to perfect yourselves in the flesh?" the emperor declares that to twist the word of god into a prohibition of duelling is nothing else than to perfect one's self by the flesh--that is to say to attribute an altogether material and common-place interpretation to what is meant spiritually. he adds that this is just as reprehensible in the eyes of the almighty as the attempts by the pharisees to adapt the mosaic law to their own convenience, attempts which were so bitterly denounced by christ. finally, the emperor generally concludes this extraordinary exposition of his views by the following exordium: "he who after careful self-examination finds himself compelled to fight a duel, and whose conscience is clear of sentiments of hatred and of vengeance, may do so in the conviction that he is in no wise acting contrary to the word of god, to the obligations of honor, or to the accepted customs of society. as in battle, so also in the duel, which has been forced upon him in one way or another, he may say to himself: _if we live, we live in the lord, and if we die, we die in the lord, amen_." it must be borne in mind that emperor william delivered himself of these utterances, not merely in his capacity of emperor of germany, king of prussia, and commander-in-chief of the entire german army, but also in his self-assumed rôle of _summus-episcopus,_ or spiritual as well as temporal chief of the lutheran church throughout the empire. such a speech was delivered on the occasion of the endeavor made by certain members of the court circles to induce the lutheran synod to institute disciplinary measures against the potsdam pastor who had declined to accord the rites of christian burial to baron von schrader, killed in a duel by baron kotze, the encounter being the outcome of the anonymous letter scandal already described. the synod, however, thoroughly endorsed the attitude of the lutheran minister in question, and availed itself of the opportunity to pass a resolution to the effect that no person killed in a combat of this kind, or even dying from wounds received in a duel, could be regarded as having met his death as a christian, and as such entitled to christian burial. curiously enough this view was endorsed by the gallant old general bronsart von schellendorf, at that time minister of war, who, in expressing his approval of the resolution, called upon the emperor as commander-in-chief to take more radical steps for checking the phenomenal growth of the practice of duelling. william, however, declined to comply with the request, dismissed the general shortly afterwards from office, and, on the contrary, proceeded to condemn both the action of the synod and of the potsdam pastor who had declined to officiate at baron schrader's obsequies, giving as the reason for his position in the matter the argument from which i have just given some extracts. this was by no means the first time that william found himself in conflict with the provincial synods of the lutheran church in his dominions. on one occasion the consistory of the lutheran church of the province of east prussia, in which the imperial game preserves of rominten are situated, passed a unanimous vote of censure upon the kaiser for having desecrated the sabbath, and violated the secular laws with regard to its observance, by giving a big hunting-party on sunday at rominten. it was understood at the time that the consistory would have abstained from taking this extreme step had it not been for the comment excited throughout germany by the somewhat malicious juxtaposition in most of the newspapers of two articles, one of which gave an elaborate description of the sunday shooting-party of the emperor at rominten, while in a parallel column was a proclamation just issued by the civil governor of the province of westphalia, calling attention to the lax observance of the sunday laws, and reiterating the pains and penalties that are prescribed by statute for those who shoot, sing, dance, play skittles or indulge in any recreation, whether in public or in private, that is inconsistent with repose on sunday. of course, the vote of the consistory of eastern prussia was eventually quashed, and its members disciplined. but the publicity given to the affair served to call the attention of the people at large to the emperor's disregard of the laws which he himself had caused to be enacted. previous to his reign, sunday had been looked upon as a day of recreation, revelry, and festivity throughout germany. in the days of the old emperor all the finest performances of the court theatres were reserved for sunday, the principal state banquets took place on that day, as well as the imperial hunting parties and battues. among the _bourgeoisie_, dances, balls and picnics were the order of the lord's day, while the lower classes thronged the beer gardens and the beer halls that constitute so important a feature of german life. regattas, parades, race-meetings, and popular entertainments and festivals of one kind or another, were, in fact, all reserved for sunday. all this was changed when the emperor came to the throne, and among the earliest laws enacted on his initiative, were those to which the governor of westphalia called attention in the proclamation just described, and which prohibited every form of revelry on the sabbath. for instance, a few months after william's accession he was invited by the berlin yacht club to attend the annual regatta, which was to take place on the following sunday morning, but he declined on the ground that it would prevent his going to church, and when the committee offered to postpone the races until the afternoon he declared that his principles would not permit him to regard sunday as a day to be devoted to regattas, and analogous forms of popular entertainment. it must be explained that he was at the time strongly imbued with the evangelistic views which he had derived from his wife's aunt, the american countess of waldersee, and from her protégé, ex-court chaplain stoecker, who combined with his strict and puritanical views on the subject of the sabbath, the most intense animosity towards the jews, and a virulent hatred for the late emperor frederick. this strange divine, so famous for many years as the leader of the so-called "jüdenhetz" movement, is one of the most displeasing figures in german public life, and emperor william, who has long since turned his back upon him, and dismissed him from his court chaplaincy, must bitterly regret that he ever accorded him any favor or intimacy, and permitted himself to be influenced by his views. how is it possible to speak with any patience of a minister of the church who, in a weekly paper, "the ecclesiastical review," of december , , actually had the audacity to write in an editorial article signed with his name the following cruel sentence? "let us pray every day and every hour for our royal family, and in particular for the old man (the old kaiser) and for the young man (the present emperor) of this race of heroes. may god in his mercy grant that the terrible punishment which has overtaken the sick prince frederick (the late emperor frederick) bear fruit, and may it bring resignation to his mind, and peace to his conscience." at the moment when the article appeared, in which it was publicly intimated that the crown prince's malady was a just and well-merited punishment for his sins, the imperial patient, so sorely afflicted, whose life had been so blameless, was at death's door, a fact over which the court chaplain openly rejoiced, proclaiming that "a brilliant future is about to open up before us." since william has cut himself adrift from pastor stoecker, the strictness of his views with regard to the observance of sunday, has undergone a change. at any rate, he has modified them in so far as he himself is concerned, and while he is very regular in his attendance at church on sunday morning, he no longer seems to consider it a sin to go out sailing, shooting or hunting on sunday afternoons, or to attend theatrical performances or other kinds of entertainment in the evening. inasmuch as the sunday observance laws have not been repealed, one can only take it for granted that he considers himself and his consort as being above the law of the land, and in no wise bound thereby. yet neither of their majesties has a legal right to any such immunity. according to the terms of the prussian constitution the emperor and empress are just as amenable to the laws that figure in the statute book, and equally required to obey them as any ordinary german citizen. the only advantage that the emperor enjoys is that he possesses certain prerogatives in connection with the giving of evidence, and with the punishment of offences that are directed against his person and his honor. in this obligation to submit to the laws of the land he differs from his grandmother queen victoria, and from his ally, emperor francis-joseph, the tenure of whose thrones was originally based on what in olden times was known as the divine right of kings. thus, in england, as in austria, and even in spain and portugal, the mediaeval theory still prevails that "_the king can do no wrong!_" queen victoria, for instance, is not below the law like emperor william, but above it. no court has jurisdiction over her, and legally speaking there is no jurisdiction upon earth to try her in a civil or criminal way, much less to condemn her to punishment. of all the prerogatives enjoyed by queen victoria, the one, however, of which the kaiser is the most envious is her supremacy of the state church of england. his ambition is to acquire the same position with regard to the whole lutheran church as she enjoys over the anglican denomination. this dream, difficult of execution for reasons which i will proceed to explain, originated with his great-grandfather, king frederick-william iii., who first conceived the idea of a species of lutheran kaliphate, with its headquarters at berlin, and its mecca at jerusalem. his successor, king frederick-william iv., took up the notion with all the enthusiasm natural to his mystic character, and kept one of his most trusted statesmen and confidants busily employed for years in endeavoring to federate all the reformed churches, with the exception of that of england, under the protectorate and supremacy of the hohenzollerns. emperor william goes still further. he aspires to become, not merely the temporal head of the lutheran church throughout the world, but likewise its spiritual chief, its pontiff, in fact, in the same manner that the czar is the chief ecclesiastical dignitary and the duly consecrated spiritual head of the national church of russia. william bases his claims to the dignity of a _summus-episcopus_ on the fact that he is a titular bishop and archbishop, some nineteen times over, for his ancestors, when annexing the various petty states and sovereignties in bygone times, always made a point of getting the mitre with the crown, and the crozier with the purple and ermine. many of the petty states of germany in mediaeval days were ruled, not by temporal rulers, but by archbishops possessing the rank of sovereign and the title of prince. the ecclesiastical dignity was, in fact, inherent, and part and parcel of the sovereignty. consequently, when emperor william's ancestors acquired the one, they likewise secured possession of the other, and thus among his many ecclesiastical titles is that of prince archbishop of silesia, and it is in his ecclesiastical capacity that he has conferred canonries and deaneries upon the military and civil members of his household. of course, the difficulty in the way of the emperor's recognition as the supreme head of the lutheran church is the fact that the lutheran faith is by no means confined to his dominions. lutherans constitute the major part of the population in würtemberg, saxony and baden, as well as in all the other non-prussian states of the confederation, save bavaria. besides this, there are millions of lutherans in austro-hungary, the netherlands, russia and scandinavia, who could not recognize his supremacy without disloyalty to their own rulers, all of whom, with the exception of the king of saxony, the czar and the austrian emperor, are, like himself, members of the reformed church. his celebrated pilgrimage to jerusalem a year ago, the first pilgrimage of a german emperor to the holy land since the days of the crusades, clearly showed the trend of the kaiser's aspirations. he had invited all his fellow-protestant monarchs to accompany him to jerusalem, either in person or to send one of the princes of their houses as their representatives, and to ride in his train when he made his entry into the holy city of christendom. but not one of the sovereigns thus invited responded to the invitation tendered, and william had no german or foreign prince with him during this memorable pilgrimage. it was the most extraordinary thing of the kind that has ever been seen, the strangeness of the affair being intensified by that same mixture of the mediaeval with the intensely modern and up-to-date ways which constitutes so peculiar a phase of william's character. the emperor rode into jerusalem by the same route as that followed by the founder of christianity on the first palm sunday, wearing a flowing white mantle, and mounted on a milk-white steed. he prayed at dusk with the members of his suite in the garden of gethsemane, piously kneeling on the ground, pronounced a religious discourse on the mount of olives, received the holy communion in the coenaculum, that is to say, the house in which, according to tradition, christ celebrated the last supper,--nay, he even preached a full-fledged sermon on the occasion of the dedication of the church of the saviour at jerusalem, and traveled by road from jerusalem to damascus! and yet, destroying all the romance and old-time glamor that might otherwise have surrounded this imperial crusade, was the fact that he was a "_personally conducted" cook's tourist_, that his meals were prepared by french chefs, that champagne was the ordinary beverage at his table, and that, while tramcars were used to go about damascus, the railroad was selected by him to get back from jerusalem to jaffa! emperor william has a weakness for preaching, and it must be confessed that he does it well. he possesses a very ready gift of speech, and his fervent religious belief seems to serve as a species of inspiration to his eloquence. thus on board the hohenzollern, during his annual yachting cruise along the coast of norway, he invariably conducts divine service on sunday morning, taking his place in front of an altar erected on deck, upon which the german war-flag is spread, in lieu of an altar-cloth. luther's hymns, accompanied by the trombones of the band, are sung. then the emperor reads the epistle and the gospel with great feeling, and recites the liturgical prayers with considerable fervor. next he preaches a sermon, which, as a rule, is of his own composition, and extemporary, though occasionally he will read the sermon of some well-known pulpit orator. it has been observed that he is always much more indulgent in cases of inattention on the part of the congregation when he reads a sermon than when he preaches one of his own. any sailor who has the misfortune to fall asleep during the discourse is disciplined, and his name figures, of course, on the punishment roll on the following morning, when the day's report is presented to the emperor as the commanding officer of the ship. if the sermon has been one of his majesty's own composition, as a rule he allows the punishment to stand. but if the discourse happens to have been of less illustrious origin, he will almost invariably order the penalty to be remitted, adding, with a smile of indulgence, that "the sermon was rather dreary, wasn't it?" at berlin and at potsdam the kaiser keeps his court chaplains under very strict discipline, and they expose themselves to a stern reprimand if they presume to extend their pulpit orations beyond the term of ten or, at the most, fifteen minutes. emperor william very justly takes the ground that if they are sufficiently concise in their remarks, they can say all that they have to say within that space of time, and if their discourse is prolonged beyond the stipulated period it loses its force and its power of retaining the interest and the attention of the congregation. the emperor does not hesitate to call the divines to account when they enunciate doctrines of which he does not approve, and whereas in former reigns a court chaplaincy was regarded in the light of an office for life, it is now considered as a merely temporary appointment, so frequent are the dismissals. at the dome at berlin, and at the garrison church at potsdam, the emperor follows the service with an air of mingled devotion and authority that is rather amusing. while most devout and fervent in his prayers, and joining in the hymns in such a manner that his ringing baritone voice is easily discernible above the rest, his eyes wander in a stern fashion around the church, quick to note any member of the congregation who is not behaving with proper decorum and reverence. he conveys the impression that he considers it to be his duty to keep the congregation in proper order, and if he finds that either he, or the imperial party is being stared at with any degree of persistency or curiosity, he at once sends off one of his officers to sharply warn the offenders. indeed, he has more than once caused it to be made known through official communications to the press that he thoroughly disapproves of being stared at when attending church, and engaged in his devotions. like william, francis-joseph has made a pilgrimage to jerusalem and the holy land, but it was without any fuss or pomp. in fact, there are few persons, save those connected with the court of austria, who are aware that austria's ruler ever visited the holy land. he went there in , traveling in the strictest incognito, and attended only by two of his gentlemen-in-waiting and two servants, after the inauguration of the suez canal, at which he had been present. there was no solemn entry on horseback into the city that witnessed the foundation of christianity, and while he prayed at the holy places like emperor william, he did so quietly and unobtrusively, without attracting any attention. his pilgrimage was characterized by the same unaffected humility that distinguishes his religion from that of his brother monarch at berlin. william's faith still retains the enthusiasm and, if i may use the word, the exuberance of youth, whereas that of francis-joseph, though even more fervent, is chastened, humbled and mellowed by the experience of many a cruel sorrow and many a hard blow. to some of these he would have succumbed had it not been for his religious belief. there have been at least three different occasions during his fifty years' reign when he would have abandoned his throne, and abdicated his crown had it not been pointed out to him by his spiritual adviser that it was his duty--his religious duty--to remain at his post, and to bear with bravery the trials with which he was overwhelmed. the first of these occasions was at the close of the disastrous wars of , when the march of the prussians on vienna was only stayed within a few hours' distance of the capital by the ignominious peace of nicolsburg. the second time was when he lost his only son by the frightful tragedy of mayerling, and he saw his boy's body refused even christian rites of burial by the church, until he had been able to convince the kindly old pontiff at rome that the poor lad's mind was unbalanced at the time that he took his life. the third occasion was when his lovely consort, to whom, in spite of all that is said to the contrary, he was so deeply devoted, was taken from him by the hand of an assassin in a foreign land, and under peculiarly heartrending circumstances. moreover, he saw the body of his brother maximilian brought home from the mexican plain of queretaro, where he had been shot down by a file of soldiers as if a vulgar criminal; he stood by the deathbed of a favorite niece, burnt to death before his eyes in the palace of schoenbrunn, when her dress had caught fire from a lighted cigarette which she was endeavoring to conceal from him and from her father; he followed to the grave another favorite of his, a nephew, accidentally killed while out shooting. indeed, there is no end to the tragedies which have gone to sadden the life of this now septuagenarian monarch, and while on ordinary occasions, especially when engaged in military inspections or in great court functions, he appears to retain the elasticity, vigor and temperament of a man still in his prime, yet when in church or chapel, attending divine service, and so wrapped up in his devotions that he becomes oblivious to his surroundings, the restraint which he puts upon his feelings at other times disappears, and one is able to realize the extent of his sufferings, and how supreme is the consolation that he finds in his religion. vienna is the only capital in the world where one can see a full-fledged monarch kneeling bareheaded in the streets, and offering up prayers in the most fervent manner, the spectacle exciting not ridicule, but sentiments of profound reverence and sympathy on the part of the people--christians, jews, and mohammedans from herzegovina and bosnia--who throng the thoroughfares of the beautiful city on the danube. the sight is witnessed each year, on the occasion of the _corpus christi_ procession. this glorious procession starts out from the cathedral of st. stephen at an early hour in the morning, and the entire route through the various streets which it traverses is kid with boards, over which grass is strewn. at various points along the way there are altars, or so-called _reposoirs_, where the sacred host is placed for a few moments, the emperor and the great personages with him kneeling piously on the ground and offering up prayers. the procession is opened by choristers, then come priests and monks with hands crossed upon their breasts, next the rectors of the various metropolitan parishes, displaying their distinctive banners like the knights of old. the municipal authorities, the officers of the imperial household, the knights grand cross of the various orders, the cabinet ministers, and the principal dignitaries of the army, of the navy, and of the crown. finally, comes a magnificent canopy borne by generals, under which walks the tall and stately cardinal archbishop of vienna, carrying the host, to which the troops lining the route bend the knee while presenting arms, the civilians behind them baring their heads, while the women cross themselves. immediately behind the host, bareheaded and alone, with a lighted candle in his hand, and wearing the full uniform of an austrian field marshal,--a snow-white cloth tunic with scarlet and gold facings,--strides the aged emperor, still erect as a dart, with all the slender, shapely elegance of a man of thirty, in spite of his three-score years and ten. he is followed by the archdukes, conspicuous among them the gigantic archduke eugene, grand master of the teutonic order, in the semi-ecclesiastical habits of his rank, while the procession is brought to a close by escorts of the superbly arrayed archer and hungarian body guards. the spectacle is impressive, and the silence along the route, save for the chanting of the choristers, and the recitation of prayers in an undertone by the clergy, adds to the solemnity of the occasion. in days gone by, the murdered empress used to figure in the procession in full court dress and followed by her ladies, but now women take no part therein. another remarkable religious ceremony in which the emperor plays the leading part, and which is only to be witnessed nowadays at the court of vienna, is the washing of the feet of twelve aged men on the thursday of holy week, in memory of the washing of the feet of the twelve apostles on the first holy thursday by the founder of christianity. the ceremony takes place at the imperial palace, in the presence of the entire court. the twelve old men, each carefully dressed for the occasion, who have been brought from their homes to the palace in imperial carriages, are seated in a row, and, after a brief religious service celebrated by the cardinal archbishop, the emperor kneels in front of each, and washes his feet in a golden basin filled with rose water, the ewer being carried by the heir to the throne, while the prelate who holds the office of court chaplain hands to his majesty the gold-embroidered towel with which the feet are dried after having been washed. when the emperor has reached the end of the line there are more prayers, and the blessing; then a banquet is served to the old men, at which they are waited on in person by the emperor, the various dishes being handed to him by the archdukes and princes of the blood. the old people are finally sent home, each with a purse containing gold pieces, and a large hamper, wherein are placed several bottles of fine wine and the remains of the various dishes and gastronomical masterpieces which have figured on the table during the banquet. as a rule, the old men dispose of these for considerable sums of money to wealthy viennese, who are only too delighted to purchase them, and thus to be able to boast of having partaken of the emperor's hospitality! brought up by parents who axe renowned for their religious bigotry, in the absolutist school of the great prince metternich, emperor francis-joseph has experienced the utmost difficulty in reconciling his religions belief with his obligations as a constitutional monarch, for he has been repeatedly obliged to give his sanction as a sovereign to reforms enacted by the legislature of austria, and particularly of hungary, which were strongly opposed by the roman catholic church, fiercely denounced by the clergy, and condemned by the vatican. that he should in matters such as these have sacrificed his religious prejudices and conscientious scruples to what he conceived to be his duty as a constitutional monarch, speaks volumes for his strength of character, and for his uprightness as a ruler. there is only one thing that he has declined to do, in spite of all the pressure brought to bear upon him by his ministers and by his allies: he has absolutely declined to visit rome so long as the pope remains deprived of his temporal sovereignty. ordinarily the most chivalrous and courteous of monarchs, and extremely punctilious in the fulfilment of all the obligations imposed by etiquette, he has up to the present moment refrained from returning the visit paid to his court at vienna by king humbert and queen marguerite nearly twenty years ago. leo xiii., like his predecessor, has intimated that he would regard any visit paid to the king of italy in the former papal palace of the quirinal at rome, by a catholic sovereign, as a cruel affront to the occupant of the chair of st. peter. the only catholic ruler who has visited king humbert at the quirinal, in spite of this papal protest, is prince ferdinand of bulgaria, who was at the time subject to the ban of the church, in consequence of the conversion of his little son from catholicism to the greek orthodox rite, in order to insure his own (ferdinand's) recognition by russia as ruler of bulgaria. but francis-joseph has never consented to set his foot in rome, although it has been pointed out to him that the existence of the triple alliance was imperilled by this slight placed upon king humbert and queen marguerite. he did not hesitate to declare that he would rather forego the alliance than affront the pope by visiting rome under the present circumstances. one little scene, in conclusion, which i witnessed at vienna, has always remained impressed upon my mind, illustrating as it does the democracy of the catholic church, if i may use that expression, and demonstrating the good old emperor's belief,--so different from that of emperor william,--that in the eyes of the almighty all men are equal. it transpired at the funeral of cardinal gangelbauer, the popular and universally venerated archbishop of vienna. the obsequies took place in the ancient cathedral of st. stephen. military and ecclesiastical pomp were combined with the magnificent ceremonial of the austrian court for the purpose of rendering the last honors to the dead prelate. the entire metropolitan garrison was under arms, and lined the streets through which the funeral procession passed. the bells of all the churches in the metropolis were tolling throughout the ceremony, and added to the solemnity of the occasion. the stately papal nuncio performed the funeral service in the most impressive manner, and when he stood on the step of the high altar, and raised his hands aloft to pronounce the absolution, the whole of the vast assemblage bowed down, the wintry sunlight streaming through the rich stained glass windows, falling alike upon the reverently bent head of the monarch, and those of the peasant mourners who stood by his side at the head of the bier. for the dead cardinal was the son of an old farmer, and his brothers, his sisters, and his nephews, all of them plain, humble peasants of upper austria, were kneeling there in their peasant garb with the emperor in their midst, and surrounded by the glittering uniforms of the archdukes, the princes, the generals, cabinet ministers and ambassadors assembled around the coffin. there was no undue exaltation or timidity on the part of the peasants, no undue condescension or contempt on the part either of emperor or dignitaries for the lowly rank of their fellow mourners. all seemed thoroughly to realize that they were equal in the face of death, and in the presence of their creator. it is only in a metaphorical sense that william can be described as an anointed of the lord. for whereas francis-joseph was both anointed and crowned as king of hungary in , emperor william has never been the object of either of these ceremonies. the fact of the matter is that there is a good deal of difference of opinion concerning the dignity of a german emperor; for while william claims that it is identical with the status of the emperors of austria and russia, the non-prussian states of germany insist that it is merely titular, inasmuch as he has no control or jurisdiction in the various federal states which constitute the empire, such as bavaria, saxony and würtemberg, each of which has an independent king in nowise subject, but merely allied to the prussian monarch. it is only in time of war, and for the sake of successful co-operation that the supreme command of the united german military forces is by special agreement vested in the hands of the german emperor--a tribute to the superiority and pre-eminence of the prussian military reorganizations. it is true that prussia has since then, by degrees, endeavored to encroach upon the independence of the federal states. but this is strongly resented, to-day more than ever, and william is constantly being reminded by the non-prussian press, by the non-prussian governments, and even by the non-prussian reigning dynasties that they are not vassals, but allies of prussia. the german emperor has no crown as such, nor any civil list, and with the solitary exception of his eldest son, all the members of his family figure merely as royal prussian, not imperial german princes. thus, for instance, prince henry, the brother of the emperor, is addressed not as imperial highness, but only as royal highness. had william attempted to have himself crowned as german emperor, it would merely have had the effect of attracting public attention to the difference existing between his own status as emperor and that of his fellow-sovereigns of austria and russia, besides which it would have raised all sorts of troublesome questions with the non-prussian courts, and intensified their sensibilities and prejudices. if, on the other hand, he had caused himself to be crowned king of prussia in the ancient city of königsberg, where all prussian kings have been crowned, the ceremony would have had the effect of impressing upon the world at large the fact that the only real crown to which william can lay claim, and which he is entitled to wear, is the crown of the kings of prussia. that is why he has never been either crowned or anointed, differing in this respect from francis-joseph, emperor nicholas and queen victoria, all of whom have experienced both ceremonies, which by the masses of europe, especially among the uneducated and ignorant, are considered indispensable to endow the majesty of the sovereign with a sacred character. the hungarians did not consider francis-joseph as entitled to their allegiance and loyalty until he had been crowned at pesth with the crown of st. stephen, and anointed with the sacred oil, and there is no doubt that the bohemians would be transformed from the most turbulent, malcontent, and troublesome of his subjects into his most devoted lieges, were he to comply with their demands, and have himself anointed and crowned as king of bohemia, with the crown of saint wenceslaus. nor was emperor nicholas of russia considered a full-fledged czar of russia, nor his consort a czarina, until he had been anointed and crowned at moscow, nearly two years after his accession to the throne. in fact, until the time of his coronation, his mother, the dowager empress, enjoyed precedence of his wife on all official occasions, on the ground that she was the widow of a crowned czar, and had herself been solemnly crowned as the consort of alexander iii., by her imperial husband, whereas her daughter-in-law, the younger empress, had enjoyed no such advantage up to that time. only those who know william well can realize how deeply he feels this difference which exists between himself and the rulers of more ancient dynasties, or how glad he would be to find some means of being crowned and anointed, not as a mere titular german emperor, but as emperor of germany. it is difficult to see how this ambition of his could be fulfilled so long as the austrian empire remains in existence. the dignity of emperor of germany belonged for centuries to the house of hapsburg, in relation to the head of which the chief of the hohenzollern family ranked merely as a cup-bearer, being compelled to stand behind the chair of the hapsburg monarch at all state banquets, and to keep his cup supplied with wine. the whole of the ancient insignia of the former emperors of germany, including the sceptre, the orb, and the sword of state, are in the possession of emperor francis-joseph at vienna, and are comprised in the imperial austrian regalia. indeed, at the time when king william of prussia was proclaimed german emperor at the palace of versailles, in , the emperor of austria wrote to the then widowed queen marie of bavaria, that he protested, "from the very bottom of his heart, against the dignity and crown of his father being vested in persons without a shadow of right thereto, and that he had placed his rights in the hands of providence." although he entertains the friendliest sentiments towards emperor william, there is no reason to believe that either he or the members of his house have modified their resentment in connection with this quasi-usurpation of the dignity of emperor of germany by the prussian family of hohenzollern. chapter xiii there is no more restless man in all europe than the kaiser. it is related of him at the court of berlin that when on one occasion he inquired of his brother, prince henry, if he could suggest to him anything new wherewith to startle both his own subjects and the world in general, the sailor prince, with a merry laugh, proposed that his majesty should remain perfectly quiet, without saying or doing anything, for an entire week! that, he assured his imperial brother, would amaze and dumbfound the entire universe more than anything else that could possibly be conceived. while this lack of repose on the part of william is the source of a good deal of fun both at home and abroad, there is no doubt that it has had the effect of strengthening the monarchial system in prussia to a far greater degree than in any previous reign. it is not that the kaiser is more popular than his predecessors on the throne. on the contrary, it may be doubted whether he holds the same place in the affections of the german people as did his father and grandfather. but while it is possible to imagine a prussia without either of them, it is difficult to picture to oneself a germany without william! it seems as if he were indispensable to the existence of the nation, and that if anything untoward were to happen to him, everything in germany would suddenly stop working, precisely as if the mainspring of a watch were to break. he conveys the impression of being the source from which proceeds every action, every phase of activity and every enterprise, no matter what its character. to such an extent is this the case, that practically nothing seems to be done throughout the length and breadth of his dominions without his influence in the matter being both felt and apparent. there is nothing so trivial that it does not interest him. he will turn from the greatest and most important matters of state to the most petty question concerning court etiquette or domestic mismanagement, and will not hesitate to interrupt an interview with the chancellor of the empire, or with some foreign ambassador, to spank one of his youngsters if he happens to have been misbehaving himself! he keeps absolute personal control over the army, the navy, the state administration, and his court, and yet finds time to supervise his children's lessons and amusements. he attends even to the pulling out of the milk teeth of his little ones and permits no one else to do it, as the following little anecdote, concerning prince oscar, his fifth son, will illustrate. the boys had, and i believe still have, an english governess, who is very strict and independent with them, and who just on that account, probably, is highly esteemed and liked by her young pupils, as well as by their parents. on the occasion of her last anniversary, the empress with her usual kindness prepared a pretty birthday table for her, decked out with all kinds of presents from the imperial couple, and from each of the children. prince oscar's gift, which he had carefully done up himself in ribbons and tinted paper, and inscribed with his name, turned out to be a small and empty cardboard box. on being taken to task by his mother as to what he meant by this, he informed her that the box was destined to hold the first tooth, which he was about to lose, and which his father, the emperor, was to pull for him with a string that very afternoon, at the conclusion of a "kronrath," or council of the crown, at which his majesty was to preside. the little prince regarding that tooth as the greatest treasure at his disposal, was convinced that he could bestow upon his governess no more acceptable gift. she now wears it in a gold bangle presented to her by the empress. among other domestic affairs which have occupied the kaiser's attention, has been the tendency of his boys to dyspepsia and digestive troubles, owing to their habit of eating too rapidly, a fault which they have certainly inherited from their father, for he has subjected them to the same process that was adopted in his case when a child, to make him eat slowly; to wit, whenever apples or pears are given to the boys they are not permitted to get them whole, and to munch them, like any ordinary boy, but only to receive them cut into quarters, each bit being wrapped in a number of pieces of tissue paper, the unfolding of which requires time, thus preventing the young princes from eating too fast! the kaiser often alludes to the fact that he was subjected to the same formalities and will add: "you see nothing was made easy for me in my youth. even the matter of eating an apple was rendered as difficult for me as possible!" the kaiser is followed wherever he goes by an extremely clever stenographer, dr. weiss, who was formerly official shorthand writer to the imperial parliament. he now forms part of the emperor's household, and accompanies his majesty on all his numerous travels. it is the doctor's duty to place on record and preserve all the pearls that drop from the imperial lips, or perhaps, to put it more correctly, to give the emperor and his advisers an opportunity of editing and revising his public utterances before they find their way into print. dr. weiss has several assistants who help him in the transcription of his shorthand notes, and none of the emperor's public speeches or casual remarks find their way into print nowadays except through dr. weiss. thanks to the tact of this precious secretary, there exists, very often, a considerable diversity between what the emperor says, and what he is represented as having said, and it is in consequence of this wise provision that the imperial speeches appear to have become so much more discreet, and at the same time less sensational, than was the case during the early part of his reign. quick-tempered, passionate, generous-hearted, and extremely impulsive, the emperor, often speaking on the spur of the moment, frequently said more than he intended to say, and thus laid himself open to both domestic and foreign criticism and abuse. he has not yet outgrown this fault, although he has become much more cautious than formerly, and moreover, with dr. weiss at his elbow, and with the care that is observed by the authorities to let none of the imperial utterances reach the public in print, save through dr. weiss, after being duly edited by him, most of the former perils have been averted. the emperor is very particular, indeed, about having dr. weiss by his side, and frequently at public functions himself directs the doctor where to stand and where to sit, so that he may not lose a word of what his imperial master says. like the aged pontiff at rome, william manifests a great predilection for the telephone. there are telephonic instruments in his library, in his workroom, and even in his bed-chamber, and quite a considerable portion of the day is spent talking over the wires to his ministers, government officials, relatives, courtiers or mere friends. he seems to find the same pleasure in calling up the various government departments that he does in alarming the various garrisons at night time, being evidently under the impression that by so doing he keeps the officials strictly attentive to their duties, and convinced that if not the eye, at any rate the ear of the emperor is on the _qui vive!_ nor are the government offices safe from being rung up by his majesty over the wires even at night time. for the past two or three years he has insisted that at the ministry of foreign affairs, at the ministry of the interior, and at the war and naval departments, at least one of the divisional chiefs and half a dozen clerks should be kept on duty all night long, in order to attend to any business or to communicate to him without delay anything that they may regard as needing his immediate attention. berlin is the only capital where the principal government offices are thus kept open for official business all night long, and the circumstance serves to furnish another illustration of the extraordinary activity, energy, and impatience of delay that distinguish the emperor, who wants everything done right away, without a moment's waiting! emperor william gives the telephone companies at berlin and at potsdam far more trouble than any other of their subscribers, for when he telephones to any of the government departments, or to dignitaries or officials of high rank, the operators at the central office are under the strictest orders to abstain from listening to the conversation, and are forced to rise from their seats and remove to a distance from the wires. anyone caught disobeying in this particular is subject not only to dismissal, but to serious unpleasantness on the part of the police. when the emperor rings up anybody, he does not announce his identity, taking it for granted that the tones of his voice are sufficiently well known to reveal it. it has been noted, moreover, that he commences all his conversations over the wire with the pronoun "i," while the verb "command," either in the past or in the present tense, almost invariably follows. this is quite sufficient to show who is talking. william is the first sovereign of his line to accept the hospitality of his subjects. prior to his advent to the throne, such a thing as the monarch attending any private entertainment or dinner given by one of his lieges was altogether unknown. neither king frederick-william iii., king frederick-william iv., nor old emperor william, whose reigns extended over nearly ninety years of the nineteenth century, ever once honored any member of the nobility, no matter how high in rank, with their presence for a single evening or night, except during the course of the annual manoeuvres, when the monarch, as commander-in-chief of the army, was quartered in some château, much in the same manner as the officers of minor rank and the soldiers. emperor william, however, following the example of his british relatives, and greatly to the dismay of all the old-fashioned authorities on the etiquette of the court of berlin, has adopted the practice of inviting himself out to dinner in town, and to shooting-parties in the country, in a manner that is absolutely startling, even to his english relatives; for whereas the latter never dine out anywhere, unless the list of guests invited to meet them is previously submitted to them for consideration and revision, in order to avoid being brought into contact with people that are not congenial, the kaiser, on the other hand, when he hears that a dinner is about to be given by one of his friends or followers, frequently invites himself either at the last moment, an hour or two before the time fixed for the meal, or else arrives unannounced and uninvited, knowing full well that he will always be welcome, since his coming can only be regarded as a particular mark of imperial regard and favor toward the giver of the entertainment. thus, while count shuvaloff was still russian ambassador at berlin, the emperor was in the habit of dropping in unannounced about luncheon time, and of sitting down with the count and countess, the latter being as often as not in the négligée of a mere tea-gown, and more than once when he had sat with them longer than he intended, and found that there was no time left to return to the palace before proceeding to the railroad station to take his departure for potsdam or some other place, he would ask leave of the count to use his telephone, ring up the empress, and not only bid her adieu, but also dispatch her a kiss over the wires, in the most charmingly domestic fashion. william prides himself in no small degree on his descent through queen victoria in an unbroken line from the biblical king david, and claims that he, therefore, belongs to the same family as the founder of christianity. hanging in a conspicuous position in his workroom in the "neues-palais" at potsdam, is a copy of the royal family tree, showing the name of king david engrossed at the root of it, with that of emperor william at the top. according to this tree, the reigning house of england is descended from king david through the eldest daughter of zedekiah, who, with her sister, fled to ireland in charge of the prophet jeremiah,--then an old man,--to be married to heremon, the king of ulster of the period. curiously enough, a mr. glover, a clergyman of the church of england, who had devoted the greater portion of his life to the study of genealogy, wrote to queen victoria a letter in , informing her that he had discovered her to be descended in an unbroken line from king david. her majesty sent for him to come to windsor, and to his astonishment informed him that what he thought he had been the first to discover had been known to herself and to the prince consort for many years. naturally, william, with his religious ideas, has always been deeply interested in this family tree, and soon after his accession to the throne requested his grandmother to let him have a copy thereof, which was sent to him most handsomely engrossed and magnificently framed. its contemplation has, of course, tended to increase his belief in the divine origin of his authority, since, if he does not, like the old kings of france, describe himself as "first cousin of the almighty," he can at any rate claim to be a near kinsman of the founder of christianity. notwithstanding all the emperor's manifest desire to render himself agreeable to the french, and his evident eagerness to assuage by gracious and chivalrous courtesy the bitterness resulting from the war of and the annexation of alsace-lorraine, he has absolutely declined since he ascended the throne to permit france's national hymn, "the marseillaise," to be played at his court, at any of the imperial and royal theatres, or by any german military or naval band. when he entertains the french ambassador at dinner or receives him in state and wishes to pay him musical honors, he causes the old "march of st. denis," in use at versailles prior to the great revolution, which is in every sense of the word a bourbon hymn, to be played. the ambassador who now represents france is the marquis de noailles, a scion of one of the oldest ducal houses of the french nobility, whose origin dates back to the crusades. this being the case, the envoy naturally offers no objection to the attitude of the emperor with regard to the "marseillaise." the kaiser, after all, acts in the matter with a far greater degree of logic and reason than any of his fellow-sovereigns, for the strains of the "marseillaise" are familiar in the palace of the czar at st. petersburg, at windsor castle, in the royal palace of madrid, in the imperial hofburg at vienna, and even at the vatican, and it is difficult to conceive anything more paradoxical than a royal band of music playing for the delectation of royal and imperial ears a national hymn, the words of which passionately call upon the people to rise up and to put to death all kings and emperors, queens and empresses, denounced as bloodthirsty tyrants. emperor william, even before his accession to the throne, manifested such a pronounced hostility towards the practice of gambling at cards, which is one of the curses of the corps of officers of the german army, that a very widespread impression prevails to the effect that he objects to card games in any shape or form. this is a mistake. it is the gambling and not the game itself to which the kaiser is opposed. in fact, he is very fond of a game of cards, provided the stakes are merely nominal, and i have known him to play an entire evening after a dinner at the castle of kuckelna, which marked the close of a great pheasant "drive" organized in his honor by prince lichnòwski. the game which the emperor played was the german one called _skat_, and the point was a german penny. the emperor was the principal loser, having had poor hands dealt to him throughout the entire game, and when he arose from the table he was out of pocket exactly six cents. in thus limiting the stakes to a merely nominal amount he has followed the example of his old friend and adviser, the veteran king of saxony, who is accustomed to play every night his game of _skat_ after dinner, his stakes, like those of the kaiser, never exceeding one penny. i have often wished that i could see the face of the kaiser's uncle, the prince of wales, were such truly regal stakes as these proposed to him. his ordinary points and stakes are any sum from five guineas to fifty, and even a hundred, and the only time that i can recollect his having played for less than a guinea was at hughenden when on a visit to the earl of beaconsfield. bernal osborne, father of the duchess of st. albans, was one of the party when the prince proposed a game of whist at five-guinea points. lord beaconsfield was a poor man, obliged to count every penny, and bernal osborne caught sight of the manner in which his face fell when the proposal was made. grasping the situation, and remembering that lord beaconsfield had but a few weeks previously added the imperial crown of india to the british regalia, by causing queen victoria to be proclaimed empress of india, he turned to the prince and remarked: "would it not be more appropriate, sir, to play for crown stakes?" the prince grasped the situation at once, made a flattering reference to the old premier, and the points played for were, as suggested, five shillings instead of five guineas! apropos of this question of cards, william has done everything in his power to check gambling, especially among the army officers, and before succeeding to the throne, while still only prince of prussia, he actually went to the length of issuing a stringent order to the officers of the hussar regiment, of which he was colonel, forbidding them to cross the threshold of the union club, on account of the high play for which that institution was notorious. the club deeply resented being thus placed under a ban, and sent its president, the late duke of ratibor, to the aged emperor to entreat him to rescind his grandson's order, on the ground that it was a reflection upon the most aristocratic and exclusive club of all germany, besides being unjust to the officers of the regiment, some of whom were among the most brilliant and popular members of that institution. old emperor william, after inquiring whether prince william had really issued such an order, shook his head rather seriously for a few minutes, and then told the duke that he would see what he could do, but that knowing his grandson well, he feared that there would be a good deal of difficulty about the matter. on the following morning, when young prince william came to pay his daily visit to his grandfather, the latter broached the subject to him with the utmost caution, and with manifest expectation of encountering a refusal. nor was he disappointed. for no sooner had he mentioned the matter than the young prince declared in the most positive manner that nothing would induce him to rescind his order, and that rather than give way, he would resign command of the regiment, arguing that in such a matter especially he could brook no interference. the old emperor admitted in a rather shame-faced way that his grandson was in the right, excused himself for having mentioned the matter, did all that he could to soothe what he believed to be the ruffled feelings of the prince, and on the following day told the duke of ratibor that he was very sorry, but that, in spite of all his efforts, he had been unable to accomplish anything with his grandson in the way desired. immediately after he came to the throne he requested the resignation of a number of officers, some of them bearing the greatest names in the empire, for instance, the late prince fürstenberg and prince george radziwill, for no other reason than their fondness for cards, and in consequence of the large sums of money which they were accustomed to stake. all the princes and nobles thus forced to leave the army also quitted berlin, in token of their disapproval of an emperor who took upon himself to interfere with what they were pleased to regard as their private amusements, and there is no doubt that for a time the brilliancy of the berlin court and the prosperity of trade in the prussian capital suffered through the closing of so many princely palaces and grand houses. it is strange that in spite of all that the emperor has done to stop gambling, the play has been higher, and the card-scandals more frequent since he became emperor than during any previous reign, with the exception of that of his grand-uncle, king frederick-william iv. the latter's crusade against gambling culminated in the tragic death of his chief of police, and most intimate friend and crony, baron von hinkelday, whose spectre he was wont to see before him during his moments of temporary dementia, previous to his becoming entirely insane. emperor william's reign has been saddened much in the same way through the suicide of his young cousin, prince alfred of coburg; the self-destruction of the young prince, who had been placed under the immediate care and guardianship of his majesty, having been due, as i have intimated, to enormous losses at the card tables of berlin and potsdam. in spite of all the well-meant efforts of the kaiser, and notwithstanding all his threats and disciplinary measures, gambling is more rampant to-day among the officers of the german army, and overwhelming a greater number of illustrious names with ruin and disgrace than ever before. with all his keen sense of dignity, his shortness of temper, and his impulsiveness, the emperor is nevertheless more easily diverted from anger to good humor by means of a piece of wit than most of his fellow sovereigns. some time ago, when old baron boetticher, secretary of state for the interior, was discussing with his majesty the most suitable nominations to be made in the case of a number of vacant offices, the latter became greatly irritated by the old statesman's unanswerable objections to the candidate for whom he himself desired to obtain a certain post, his anger grew quite violent, and when the baron inquired if there were no other person upon whom he would like to confer the appointment, william replied, curtly, "oh, confer it on the devil if you like!" "very well," replied the old minister, with a twinkle in his eye, but in his most suave and courtly manner, and with a most unruffled demeanor: "and shall i allow the patent signed by your majesty in that case to go out in the usual form, 'to my trusted and well-beloved cousin and counsellor?'" the kaiser saw the joke at once, burst into a loud peal of laughter, his ill-temper having vanished in a moment. another amusing incident in which the devil was called upon to play a part occurred on the occasion of the emperor's inspection of a number of newly-joined recruits for the first regiment of foot guards. in accordance with his invariable custom, he was examining-them as to what they would do in this or that emergency. addressing one burly pomeranian grenadier, he inquired what he would say to a man who annoyed him while on sentry duty. "go to the devil! get out! your majesty," responded the man. "all right, my friend," exclaimed the emperor, laughing, "i'll get out; but i'll be hanged if i'll go to the devil," and with that he turned to the next man. military inspections very often furnish the occasion for amusing and sometimes rather disconcerting episodes. i can recall as an illustration an inspection of recruits for the navy at kiel. on that day the emperor had been holding forth, as he so often does, about the duty of sailors as well as soldiers to defend the crown against the foes beyond the frontiers of the empire, as well as against the enemies within the boundaries of the latter. he then singled out a stolid-looking recruit, and having ascertained that he was the son of a bavarian farmer, with a strongly developed taste for the sea, he proceeded to question him with regard to the address which he had just delivered. "and who are our foreign foes, my good fellow?" he inquired. "the russians and the french, your majesty," replied the recruit. "and who are the enemies within the empire?" proceeded the emperor, expecting of course that the sailor would say that they were the socialists. "the prussians, your majesty," answered the jack-tar that was to be, without apparently realizing that he had said anything wrong or impolite, and merely giving a frank utterance to the sentiment in which he, like all his countrymen in bavaria, had been brought up. one of the most pleasing features about emperor william is his readiness to forgive and forget, and his inability to bear a grudge for any length of time against those who have either insulted or injured him. no more striking instance of this can be given than his treatment of general baron von krosick, who expected to be dismissed from the army, possibly even banished, when william ascended the throne, but who instead has been overwhelmed by his sovereign with every conceivable honor, having received not merely his promotion from the rank of brigadier-general to that of inspector-general of the army, but also investiture with the exceedingly rare distinction of the order of the black eagle, which, as i have already stated before, is the prussian equivalent to the english order of the garter, and the austrian order of the golden fleece. the baron enjoys the well-deserved reputation of being the most phenomenally rude and rough-spoken man in the german army, and was at one time colonel in command of the hussar regiment in which william, prior to becoming emperor, received his cavalry training. on one occasion an almost incredible scene took place. it was at a regimental mess banquet, to which william, at that time only a captain, had invited crown prince rudolph of austria, then on a visit at berlin. during the course of the dinner, the conversation turned upon some projected reforms in cavalry drill and movements, which ultimately turned out to be impracticable and were not carried into effect. william, in his impulsive, impetuous, and somewhat arrogant way, declaimed in a loud tone of voice on their superlative merits, declared himself in their favor, and added that he would do his utmost to see them carried through, as he regarded them as indispensable to raise the standard and tone of the german cavalry. colonel von krosick, like the remainder of the officers, had drunk his fair share of wine. he never liked his royal subaltern, and took no pains to conceal his sentiments. the arrogance of the prince's utterances, as well as his assumption of superiority, exasperated him beyond measure, and, breaking into the conversation, he exclaimed in tones that were heard throughout the apartment: "_aber das ist ja der blödste unsinn_ [but that is the most ridiculous nonsense];" and then proceeded to contemptuously ridicule william's arguments. much nettled, and quite as short-tempered as his colonel, william called out, half jokingly, half bitterly: "that is all very well, colonel. you are my superior officer at present, and i am bound to defer to your opinion. but our positions may change one of these days, and then you will see." perfectly frantic and purple in the face, colonel von krosick thundered forth: "when that day comes to pass, prince, i will rather break my sabre across my knee than serve under your command." immediately the whole place was in an uproar. the austrian crown prince being the first to jump from his seat, and a minute later both princes had left the mess-room and the barracks. contrary to general expectation, prince william made no report about the matter, either to his father or grandfather, and colonel von krosick heard nothing more about the affair. of course he expected to receive his discharge when william ascended the throne. but to his amazement, he has ever since been made the object of the most signal favor, kindliness and respect: the respect that is frequently entertained by a man after he has grown up toward the head master who caned him when he was at school. indeed, william seems never to be able to forget that he was for several years under the old martinet's direct command. in spite of emperor william being at the present moment over forty years of age, he still retains a great store of boyishness, and in particular, a liking for practical jokes, though never when they are at his own expense! it is not so very long ago that he had notified a number of generals and military dignitaries to meet him at the railroad station at potsdam, at half-past eleven in the evening, in order to accompany him to manoeuvres that were to be held at a place several hours' distance on the following day. leaving the palace on foot shortly after eleven, he entered the railroad station by a back door, and managed to slip in without being recognized. shielded by the darkness, he made his way unobserved to the special train, which was in waiting, got into his carriage by the door on the opposite side from the platform. for at least half an hour he amused himself by peeping at the officers on the platform, whose faces expressed surprise and vexation that his majesty, ordinarily so punctual, should be so long in coming. suddenly he raised the blind, opened the window, and intimated by loud and prolonged laughter his presence in the carriage, and the success of his little trick. the astonishment and the dismay depicted on the visages of those on the platform can be more easily imagined than described. emperor william is not fond of the press, and has never taken any trouble to conceal his dislike for that branch of the literary profession. it is true that he has been subjected to a good deal of abuse at its hands, and that he has been made the object of calumny sufficient to drive a man so hypersensitive to public comment into a lunatic asylum. many of the most intricate troubles and most annoying episodes of his life and his reign have been in a large measure due to the press, inasmuch as they were either originated or envenomed by the newspapers. william is as nervous about what the papers will say as a young débutante on the stage. not only does he keep an anxious watch upon the utterances of all german editors, but he ordains a vigilant scrutiny of the articles printed in foreign countries from the pens of correspondents stationed in berlin, who, if any unfriendly mention of his name is brought home to them, are ultimately driven out of the country. one of the first acts of emperor william's reign was the expulsion from berlin of a number of foreign journalists, whose criticisms and comments on his attitude towards his mother, as well as on his opposition to the political views of his dead father, had been distasteful to the imperial eye. a year later he caused a new series of press laws to be presented to the reichstag, which contained such arbitrary provisions for stamping out the remaining liberties of the press that even the _cologne gazette_ denounced it as "putting a frightful weapon into the hands of the government for suppressing freedom of speech and silencing opposition." this measure did not pass, in spite of all the efforts of his majesty, and its rejection merely served to embitter the emperor still further against the press. as far as the german press is concerned william manages to get even with it by insisting upon the strict execution of the laws concerning the crime of _lése majesté_ with a severity that savors of the middle ages rather than of modern times. indeed, while there are few prominent journalists in germany who have not undergone imprisonment since he ascended the throne, for writing of him in a manner that he considered disrespectful, there are some newspapers that are literally obliged to employ distinguished members of their staff for no other purpose than doing time in jail, as the penalty of too free utterances of the sheet with which they are connected. of course, william has no such means of dealing with the foreign press, which being more fearless, thanks to its immunity, has naturally subjected him to worse treatment than that of germany. occasionally though, he gets even with some of his foreign assailants, and the following story is told of the manner in which he dealt with a newspaper proprietor in new york, who after rendering his journal conspicuous above all others for its personal attacks on his majesty, had the audacity to write him a letter, asking him for a brief article from his, the kaiser's, pen. the editor in question gave as a pretext for his request, the alleged existence of a widespread belief in the united states that his majesty was not quite right in his mind, and suggested that a brief message, for which a check of five thousand dollars was enclosed, might relieve the anxiety of millions of germans in america, and convince them that the kaiser was quite sane. some weeks later the enterprising editor received a visit from the german consul-general in new york. on being admitted to the august presence of the editor the consul-general extracted an envelope from his pocket, and from the envelope the five-thousand-dollar check, to the order of his majesty, the german emperor, and bearing the signature of the editor; the consul-general then made a bow to the latter, handed him the check, made another bow, and withdrew without having said a single word, or opened his mouth, even to greet him! chapter xiv emperor william, like his brother monarch at vienna, is seldom seen out of uniform. soldiers above everything else by profession, it constitutes the garb to which they have been accustomed from their boyhood, and both look ill at ease and uncomfortable in civilian clothes. francis-joseph, in fact, never wears "mufti" except when abroad, and it is doubtful whether anyone in switzerland or in the south of france would have recognized the emperor of austro-hungary in the elderly gentleman who was there on several occasions, and who wore a black round hat, and a rather badly-fitting morning or sack suit of dark cloth, had it not been for the striking appearance of the beautiful and slender black-garbed empress by his side. in the same way, emperor william, although he gets his civilian clothes from some of the leading london tailors, invariably looks by no means to advantage in them, and suggests the french description of _endimanché_, that is to say, like a young man in his sunday, go-to-meeting attire. the uniforms ordinarily affected by francis-joseph are the undress regimentals of an austrian general, the blue-gray short tunic, faced with scarlet and gold, trousers with broad red stripes, and that peculiar, oval-shaped, rather high-crowned soft cap, with a small vizor, which constitutes the undress headgear of officers belonging to every rank of the austrian army. the only token of his imperial rank is the small badge of the order of the golden fleece peeping forth from between the first and second buttons of his tunic, the cross of maria-theresa, and the medal accorded to every officer and soldier who has served fifty years in the army attached to his breast. on state occasions at vienna the emperor dons the full-dress uniform of an austrian general, consisting of a white short tunic or "atilla," faced with gold and scarlet, scarlet trousers, with broad gold stripes, and a general's three-cornered _chapeau_, surmounted by a big tuft of green plumes. when francis-joseph is in hungary he invariably wears either the undress or full-dress uniform of a hungarian general, and it must be confessed that, in spite of the somewhat theatrical appearance of the gold embroidered, tight-fitting scarlet pantaloons and gold-topped high boots, the scarlet gold-laced tunic of the full dress, with the heron-plumed kálpàk, or the slightly less gorgeous "shako," and blue-grey, gold-laced tunic of the undress uniform, he looks remarkably well, thanks to the extraordinary elasticity and elegance which he has retained in spite of his three-score years and ten. emperor william's ordinary garb is the familiar undress uniform of a prussian general, the dark-blue long frock coat, with its double row of silver buttons, its scarlet collar, and its silver shoulder-straps. the trousers are of the same hue as the coat, with broad scarlet stripes, the latter being worn only by generals. hanging from the collar is usually the cross of the brandenburg langue of the order of st. john of jerusalem, while on the breast is fastened a sort of star, consisting of the letter "w" encircled by gold laurel leaves, which has been accorded to all the officers who formed part of the household of old emperor william. the cap is the ordinary flat, black vizored undress headgear of all the officers of the german army. the uniforms which the emperor wears on state occasions are either the full-dress uniform of a prussian general, richly-embroidered, dark-blue tunic, and epaulets, with a helmet surmounted by the white plumes of a field officer, or else the regimentals of a colonel-in-chief of the gardes-du-corps. in the latter, the emperor looks exceedingly well, especially on horseback. the helmet is surmounted by a silver eagle with outstretched wings, the white tunic is partly concealed by a silver cuirass, adorned with a gold sun, and with the white, tight-fitting knee-breeches are worn high jack-boots. in fact, it is no flattery to emperor william to declare that his appearance in this uniform invariably suggests "lohengrin." at court entertainments, in the evening, he frequently wears the so-called gala, or court dress of this regiment. the coat is scarlet instead of white, while the cuirass is abandoned. sometimes the emperor attires himself in the uniform of a colonel of the hussar regiment which he commanded at the time of his accession to the throne. it is scarlet, gold-laced, and the tight-fitting scarlet pantaloons are worn with knee-boots, topped with gold. the emperor is likewise very fond of donning naval attire, being particularly proud of his connection with the fleet of germany and those of a number of foreign countries. indeed, it may be safely asserted that if there is any one foreign dignity which he cherishes extremely, it is that of admiral of the fleet in the british navy, conferred upon him by his grandmother, queen victoria. emperor william was only a brigadier-general at the time of his accession to the throne. it was not until several months after becoming emperor that he assumed the insignia of a general of division. inasmuch as some curiosity exists as to how a monarch can promote himself, it may be stated that old field marshal moltke, who was then possessed of the highest rank in the german army, called one day upon william, and, presenting him with a pair of silver shoulder-straps, adorned with the insignia of a general of division, entreated his majesty in the name of the entire army, and in particular on behalf of the corps of officers, to assume the rank of a full general. the same request was presented to the present czar at the time of his coronation, but met with a refusal on the part of his muscovite majesty, for he pointed out that peter the great had throughout his entire reign contented himself with the rank of colonel. there is also another reason which nicholas did not mention officially, but which is well known to the members of his immediate _entourage_. at the present moment his name figures on the army list as the principal orderly officer and personal adjutant of the late czar. this is an office which can only be held by military men below the rank of general. the moment young nicholas acquires that rank his name _ipso-facto_ disappears from the list of his dead father's adjutants, and he is far too attached to his memory to desire this, preferring the minor rank of colonel and the association with his beloved predecessor, to all the pomp and glory of a generalissimo. of all the other sovereigns in europe there is not one who travels with such an immense amount of luggage as emperor william. he seldom undertakes a trip without taking along at least one hundred huge trunks of the so-called saratoga pattern, which fill several wagons of the imperial train; indeed, an entire special train is not infrequently chartered solely for the conveyance of his luggage. like some french _élégantes_ at a fashionable seaside resort, he changes his garb five, six, and even seven times a day. the consequence is that it is necessary to have at hand not only a vast number of naval and military uniforms, but also a diversity of shooting suits, hunting suits, civilian clothes, tyrolese jäger costumes, and even the kilt, sporran and tartan of a highlander, for he is very proud of the fact that stuart blood flows in his veins, and considers that he is quite as much entitled to wear the stuart tartan as his uncle, the prince of wales. all these clothes are not under the charge of a mere valet, but of a grand dignitary of the court of berlin,--count perponcher-sedlinzky,--who holds the rank of privy councillor, and who is addressed as "your excellency." the count has a perfect army of dressers and valets under his orders, but it is he who is responsible, not only for the uniforms being in good trim, but likewise for their being on hand whenever the emperor happens to need them. in order to understand what this entails, it must be remembered that the kaiser is not only colonel of some hundred or more german regiments, but also of a very great many foreign corps, belonging to every country in europe, except turkey, bulgaria and france. now for each regiment, there are sometimes six, sometimes eight different uniforms--one each for parade, fatigue duty, court wear, an undress uniform, and others too numerous to mention. when the emperor travels and is likely to be brought into contact with english princes, with russians or with austrians, it is necessary that he should have within his reach, not merely one of his english, austrian or russian uniforms, but all of them--that is to say, thirty or forty at least, in addition to his german uniforms and ordinary clothes. an immense amount of importance is attached to these sumptuary questions by the reigning families of europe. on one occasion an imperial meeting between the kaiser and the late czar was delayed for three whole days, while government stocks all over the world declined in value, and the utmost apprehension prevailed on the score of peace, merely because the prince who held the office of grand-master of the czar's wardrobe had neglected to bring with him the german uniforms of his master. it may be added that he lost his office in consequence. this peculiar form of royal and imperial courtesy, consisting in the sovereign and royal princes of one country donning the uniforms or livery of the foreign monarch whom they wish to compliment, originated with frederick the great. in , he had to pay a visit to the emperor of austria at the castle of neustadt, in moravia. only seven years before, prussia had been engaged in her great struggle with the empire, and had thoroughly beaten austria. frederick feared that the too familiar blue prussian uniform might awaken unpleasant memories on the part of the emperor and his court. so, with the utmost delicacy, he and all his staff appeared at neustadt in the white austrian uniforms, an act of courtesy on the part of the victor to the vanquished which was warmly appreciated both by emperor joseph and all his austrian _entourage_. the fashion thus inaugurated has remained in existence ever since, being facilitated by the fact that every sovereign in europe, including even queen victoria, the queen regent of spain, and the two queens of holland, holds honorary commands in a number of foreign regiments. during the reign of old emperor william, those who did not possess the right to wear any civil or military uniform were permitted to make their appearance at court in ordinary evening dress, which ultimately had the effect of giving a sort of _bourgeois_ flavor to imperial entertainments. the present kaiser, however, proceeded to change all this before he had been very long on the throne, and having noticed that at the court of his english grandmother, no one is allowed to appear at any of the state entertainments or functions in ordinary evening dress,--the only exception made being in favor of the united states embassy,--he inaugurated similar regulations at berlin. according to these sumptuary decrees gentlemen who are invited to entertainments at court, and who for any reason have no right to military, naval or civil service uniform, are compelled to appear in a species of court dress, consisting of a coat cut after the fashion of the last, rather than of the present century. its color is black, or dark blue, as are also the revers, the collar and the cuffs; with it are worn black, tight fitting knee breeches, black silk stockings, and low patent leather shoes with gold buckles. a three-cornered _chapeau_, without feathers, and a court sword, complete this costume. the emperor likewise directed that all officials of the court and the civil service, namely, every man who did not happen to belong either to the army or to the navy, should wear at court balls and at all great state entertainments, white knee breeches, and white silk stockings, with low, gold-buckled shoes, in lieu of the blue, black, or white gold-laced trousers that had until then been habitually worn with the gold-embroidered swallow-tail coat, which constitutes the uniform of the german civil service, and of court officialdom. until that time, the only european court at which knee breeches had been insisted upon at court and state entertainments, was that of great britain. they were likewise _de rigueur_ at the tuileries during the reign of napoleon iii. the kaiser, however, came to the conclusion that continuations of this kind gave a more brilliant and dressy appearance to court functions than long trousers, and accordingly the latter are barred, save in the case of officers of the army and navy. at the imperial court of berlin there are four types of receptions or _cours_, the latter being the french word which has clung to these state functions ever since the reign of frederick the great. they are the "défiler-cour," the "spiel-cour," the "sprech-cour" and the "trauer-cour." the first, namely, the "défiler cour"--from the french word _défiler_, to file past--is the berlin counterpart of queen victoria's drawing-rooms at buckingham palace in london, and is held once a year for the purpose of presenting débutantes, brides and ladies whose husbands have recently been promoted, or raised to the rank of nobility. they pass one by one before the throne, curtsy profoundly to each of their majesties, while the grand chamberlain mentions their names, and then leave the imperial presence by a side exit. no one kisses the empress's hand, as is the case with queen victoria in england, nor are the presentees compelled to back out of the imperial presence, as at buckingham palace. the court dress of débutantes at berlin is not necessarily white, though that is the hue most affected. the long court train may be of an entirely different material and color from the dress itself, if the wearer pleases, the only stipulation made being that the richness and splendor of the fabric must be beyond question. an indispensable feature of the toilette is the so-called "barbe," a sort of tiny lace veil, suspended on each side of the coiffure, about two inches in width. the lace of course must be real, though the kind is left to the wearer's choice. it is generally white spanish point, alençon, or _point d'angleterre_. the "défiler-cour" almost invariably takes place on new year's day, immediately after divine service. this service begins at ten o'clock, the men being in full uniform, and during the benediction a battery of artillery, stationed in the "lust-garten," fires a royal salute of one hundred and one guns. as soon as the last gun has been fired, the royal and imperial procession forms, headed by the grand marshal of the court, count augustus eulenburg, bearing his wand of office, and leaves the court chapel. when it reaches the "weisse-saal"--one of the grandest apartments of this ancient palace--the band stationed in the gallery commences to play, generally the hohenzollern march. the emperor and empress thereupon take their places on the dais beneath the great escutcheoned golden canopy, and in front of the two chairs of state that represent the thrones. at the right and left are grouped the various royal and imperial personages present, while at the foot of the dais stands the grand master of the ceremonies for the purpose of mentioning to their majesties the names of those who pass before them. at the back of the royal and imperial party are ranged the palace guard in their quaint, old-fashioned, and exceedingly picturesque uniforms. the first to pass before the throne is invariably the chancellor of the empire, and while the emperor and empress merely respond with an inclination of the head to the salutations of those of minor rank, they invariably approach to the edge of the dais in order to give their hands to be kissed by the octogenarian prince of hohenlohe, who has held the office of chancellor ever since the retirement of general count caprivi. the band plays throughout the entire ceremony, which is a most magnificent affair. the so-called "spiel-cour" still keeps its name, implying card playing, although, as a matter of fact, cards are never played at court now. in former times they constituted a very important feature of court entertainment, and the "spiel-cour," or "le jeu de leurs majestés," was the function to which those whom the anointed of the lord desired to honor were most frequently bidden. in earlier days, as soon as the guests had made their bows to the sovereign and to the princes and princesses of the blood, card-tables were set out, and gambling commenced, those to whom their majesties wished to accord special distinction and honor receiving royal commands, through the chamberlains-in-waiting to take their places at the card-tables of the king, or of the queen, as the case might be. it was these royal games of cards at the court of versailles which contributed in no small measure to the downfall of the old french monarchy, and to the outbreak of the great revolution in paris a hundred years ago. the ill-fated queen marie-antoinette of france became an inveterate gambler. it was her craze for high play that led her to admit not only to her court, but also to her card-table, parvenus of doubtful reputation and of questionable antecedents, such as the infamous cagliostro, _soi-disant_ count of st. germain, and others of his class, whose only merit in her eyes was that they were rich and willing to lose their money without counting it. indeed, the celebrated diamond necklace scandal, which compromised to such a terrible degree the reputation of this french queen, and precipitated the overthrow of the throne, would have been impossible had it not been for her gambling propensities. [illustration: in the white hall _after a drawing by oreste cortazzo_] the "spiel-cour" only takes place on the eve of the wedding of a member of the hohenzollern family. it is held in the _weisse-saal_ of the berlin _schloss_, or palace. the kaiser and the kaiserin, with the bridal pair, seat themselves at a card table under a canopy of gold brocade, adorned with the imperial arms. the other royal personages sit at card-tables lower down on the dais on each side. the invited guests then pass before their majesties, precisely as at the "défiler-cour." the "sprech-cour" is, as its name signifies, a kind of _conversazione_. the persons invited are partitioned off, according to their ranks, in different rooms, through which their majesties promenade. those not personally known to the emperor and empress are introduced by the masters of ceremonies in attendance, and others with whom their majesties are already acquainted are honored by a short conversation. "trauer-cours," or mourning levées, are held immediately after the death of the reigning sovereign, and are exceedingly impressive, mainly by reason of the flowing robes and peculiar sable-hued attire which the ladies of the royal family of prussia and of their courts are compelled by tradition and etiquette to adopt. moreover, all the apartments are draped in black, the gilded ornaments being shrouded in crape. the last of these mourning courts was held by empress frederick, in the place of her dying husband, on the demise of old emperor william, and so painful and depressing was this occasion, that at her urgent request, no ceremony of the kind was held when "_unser fritz_" in his turn, was gathered to his fathers. very stately are the court balls, of which a number are given in the early part of each year, between the first of january and the beginning of lent. in fact, court balls at berlin are infinitely less amusing, at any rate to young people, than are analogous entertainments at the hofburg, at vienna, or at buckingham palace, in london. this is due partly to the fact that hohenzollern tradition and etiquette require that the proceedings should be inaugurated with the polonaise, and furthermore, because the waltz has, for nearly forty years, been denied a place in the programme of terpsichorean entertainments at court. in fact, waltzes have been forbidden ever since an accident which happened to empress frederick at a court ball not long after her marriage. she was waltzing with a young nobleman, when suddenly she was tripped up inadvertently by her partner, and precipitated to the floor at the very feet of old empress augusta, her mother-in-law. the latter, who was a terrible despot on the score of etiquette, could not bear the idea of a dance which could have the effect of placing a princess of the blood in such an undignified position, and turning a deaf ear to all arguments about the mishap being due to the awkwardness of the dancers, rather than to the dance itself, she vetoed the inclusion of waltzes thenceforth in all programmes of court balls. fortunately, no such regulation prevails at the court of vienna, where strauss's waltzes invariably form the most attractive feature of the so-called "hofball" and "ball-bei-hof." there is a great difference in the character of these two state balls at vienna. to the first, all sorts of people are commanded who are entitled solely by virtue of their official position to appear at court. the second, and far more brilliant one, is restricted to what is known as the court circle, or the _elite_,--the old blue-blooded aristocracy,--alone. so far emperor william has resisted all the pressure brought to bear upon him by the princesses and ladies of his court to revive the waltz, taking the ground that it is more conducive than any other dance to ridiculous mishaps on the highly polished and parqueted floors of the royal and imperial palaces. even with the polka, the schottische and the mazurka, to which the round dances are now limited, there are so many accidents that some time ago the kaiser summoned the generals commanding the various troops stationed in and around berlin, and instructed them to direct those officers who were not able to dance properly, to abstain from attempting to do so at the imperial entertainments. the result is that young officers are now put through their paces by their seniors, and have to display a certain proficiency in dances around the billiard or mess table before they are allowed to dance at court. i remember on one occasion at a court ball at berlin when a young subaltern incurred the anger of the late prince frederick-charles by tripping up his partner. the red prince assailed the young officer so bitterly that the crown prince was obliged to intervene. at a viennese court ball i once saw the young secretary of a foreign embassy fall so unfortunately while dancing with one of the archduchesses that he actually came down in a sitting position on her face, and caused her nose to bleed. it need scarcely be added that he left vienna the next day, and a week later obtained his transfer to another post. a short time before the tragedy of mayerling, crown princess stephanie had a very nasty fall, owing to the gaucherie of a cavalry officer with whom she was waltzing. the emperor was terribly annoyed, and crown prince rudolph spoke his mind in no measured tones to the offender. far more polite was emperor napoleon iii. when at a tuileries ball a middle-aged officer and his fair partner came to grief. as the mortified warrior scrambled to his feet, the emperor extended a hand to help him, and turning to the lady, remarked: "_madame, c'est la deuxième fois que j'ai vu tomber monsieur le colonel. la première fois c'était sur le champ de bataille de magenta_." (madame, this is the second time i have seen the colonel fall. the first time was on the battlefield of magenta.) in order to see the polonaise danced in all its glory, it must be witnessed on the occasion of the wedding of some princess of the reigning house of prussia, when the dance is headed by a procession of cabinet ministers, bearing candles or torches, whence it is styled the "fackel-tanz," (torch-dance). on such an occasion the emperor, the empress and the royal guests having taken up their places on the dais, under the baldaquin, and immediately in front of the throne, the less exalted guests ranging themselves to the right and left of the great white hall, according to rank and precedence, the court marshal receives orders from his majesty for the dance to begin. the count thereupon approaches the royal bride and bridegroom, and bowing low to them, invites them to take part in the dance. the bridegroom extends his hand to his consort, and to the sound of a very slow and stately march conducts her around the hall, preceded by the twelve ministers of state, walking two by two, those highest in rank coming last. each, minister bears in his hand a lighted torch of white perfumed wax. when the procession returns to the point from which it started, in front of the throne, the bride approaches the emperor, and with a curtsy invites his majesty to take part in the dance, and is conducted around the room by him, the bridegroom going through the same formality with the empress. as soon as these first three rounds are concluded, the twelve ministers hand over their wax torches to twelve pages of honor, each lad being of noble birth, and the bridegroom then similarly invites the remaining princesses of the blood, two at a time, leading one with each hand, while the bride goes through the same procedure with two princes of the blood, until the total list of royal personages has been exhausted. when the number of royal guests is very large this dance sometimes lasts nearly two hours. on ordinary cases, of course, the torches are dispensed with, and the polonaise only continues long enough to enable the emperor and empress to march once round, the hall with those guests whom they wish particularly to honor. on such occasions they are preceded by the court marshal bearing the wand of grand marshal, by several masters of the ceremonies, and by picturesquely attired pages of honor. court ceremonies have been few and far between during the last ten or twelve years at vienna owing to the circumstance that the imperial family have been almost uninterruptedly in mourning, consequent upon the successive deaths of crown prince rudolph, archduke charles-louis and empress elizabeth, in addition to a number of less important members of the imperial family. the ceremonial is very different from that which prevails at berlin, and it must be confessed that the guests are more select, since the court of vienna is infinitely more exclusive than that of berlin, and requires much more stringent genealogical qualifications on the part of women admitted to the honor of presentation. indeed, there is no court in europe more exclusive than that of emperor francis-joseph, and the threshold of the hofburg may be regarded as barred without hope of admission to any lady who is not endowed with the necessary ancestry, free from all plebeian strain for at least eight generations on both the father's and the mother's side. the presentation of débutantes and of brides ordinarily takes place prior to the commencement of court balls, and there are no such things as state concerts or "défiler-cours," as at berlin, and in england, at which latter court guests receive their invitations to state balls by means of large lithographed cards emblazoned with the royal or imperial arms, on which it is stated that the grand-master of the court at berlin, or the lord chamberlain in london, has been directed by their majesties, or her majesty, as the case may be, to "command" the attendance of such and such a person to a ball at court. these commands are usually sent out about a week or more in advance: but in vienna, where it is taken for granted that all the people having a right to invitations belong to the same intimate circle, cards are dispensed with, and on the day before the entertainment, sometimes on the very morning on which it is given, one of the court messengers, or so-called hofcouriers, calls at the residence of invited guests with a long sheet of paper, on which is inscribed the list of _invités._ on this list, opposite his or her name, the invited person writes yes or no, indicating thereby acceptance of the imperial command or prevention by some grave event. the guests are already assembled in the hall of ceremonies before the imperial party makes its appearance. the ladies all wear court trains, and in almost every case the bodice of their dress is adorned with the insignia of the "sternkreutz" [star cross], an order restricted exclusively to women, of which the late empress was grand-mistress, and to possess which even still greater ancestral qualifications are needed than for presentation at court. the men are all in uniform, either civilian, military or naval. indeed it is impossible to find in austria any man that has the right to appear at court who does not possess some sort of uniform. if he happens to be a hungarian, he wears the picturesque dress of the great magyar kingdom, bordered with priceless furs, adorned with jewels and composed of costly velvets and silks. shortly before the arrival of the imperial procession the grand-master of ceremonies taps on the floor with his ivory wand of office to attract attention, and the guests thereupon range themselves along the two sides of the hall, the ladies to the right and the gentlemen to the left. suddenly the folding-doors at the further end of the hall are flung open, and to the sound of the most inspiriting march that the conductor of the court orchestra, edouard strauss, can devise, the imperial cortege makes its appearance, preceded by count hunyadi, in his uniform of a cavalry general, and prince rudolph leichtenstein, each armed with a wand of office. since the disappearance of the empress from court life--a disappearance which may be said to have preceded her death by several years--the emperor has been in the habit on these occasions of offering his arm to the duchess of cumberland, daughter of king christian of denmark, and _de jure_ sovereign duchess of brunswick, as the principal foreign royal lady present. immediately after him follows the archduke next in the line of succession, now francis-ferdinand, or, failing him, otto, leading the archduchess designated to take the place of the first lady of the land, and who at the present time is archduchess maria-josepha, wife of archduke otto. the imperial procession, consisting of all the archdukes and archduchesses--there are nearly one hundred of them--and of the principal members of their households, marches along the avenue thus formed by the guests, and are welcomed by low curtsies on the part of the women, and by profound bows on the part of the men. the brilliant pageant then disappears in the room set apart for the imperial party, and thereupon the emperor and archduchess maria-josepha return, and while the emperor passes along in front of the male guests, preceded by one of the principal dignitaries of his court, either count kalmàn hunyadi or prince montenuovo, the archduchess, escorted by the grand-mistress of her court, makes her way along the front rank of the ladies, bowing to some, extending her hand to be kissed by others, and chatting familiarly to those who are old friends. as soon as the emperor and the archduchess reach the end of the line the emperor passes over to the ladies' side, while the archduchess in her turn passes along the front rank of the men. the archduchess then proceeds to the so-called "rittersaal," and taking her seat on a sofa, sends her ladies-in-waiting and her chamberlains to bring to her presence ladies who have presentations to make. with each débutante the archduchess converses for a few seconds before dismissing her, the wives of the foreign ambassadors being on these occasions invited to take a seat beside the archduchess on her sofa while presenting their countrywomen. meanwhile the ball has commenced in the hall of ceremonies, and is usually opened with a waltz. while the dancing is in progress the emperor strolls about, talking from time to time to some guest. foreign ambassadors and envoys usually avail themselves of this opportunity to present their countrymen to his majesty. of course no one is permitted to invite any of the archduchesses or foreign princesses of the blood who may happen to be present to dance. it is they who have the privilege of taking the first step in the matter. whenever they desire to dance with any man they cause him to be notified of their wish by their chamberlain in attendance. the cavalier thus honored is obliged to consider this intimation in the nature of a command, and all engagements with fair partners of a less exalted rank, are annulled thereby. refreshments are served for the ordinary guests in the "pietra-dura" room, where a superb buffet is set, the tables glittering with gold plate and venetian glass. for the imperial princes and princesses the hall of mirrors is generally reserved, and there the scene is even still more magnificent. by midnight all is over. the court has retired with the same ceremonial that marked its arrival, and the guests are looking for their wraps and cloaks. all court entertainments at vienna begin early and end early, so as not to interfere unduly with the emperor's practice of rising at about five o'clock in the morning. one of the features of the great court functions at berlin, as well as at vienna, which excites the greatest surprise of americans visiting europe for the first time, is that particular form of homage accorded to royalty which consists in the kissing of the hand or "handkuss." not only the hands of the royal and imperial ladies are required by etiquette to be kissed when offered to gentlemen, but it is also considered necessary for both men and women to kiss the hand of the sovereign when he condescends to extend it for the purpose. this seems, perhaps, less odd at vienna, as the emperor is a septuagenarian with snow-white hair and a sad and kindly face, inspiring feelings of sympathy and loyal affection. indeed there is nothing out of the way in a young girl, and even a man of mature years, kissing the hand of a veteran of the age of francis-joseph, just as if he were their father. but it certainly does appear strange to those from across the atlantic who are obtaining their first insight into european court life, to see not only grey-haired generals, and white-whiskered statesmen, but also venerable ladies,--grandmothers perhaps--and belonging to the highest ranks of the nobility kissing the hand of emperor william. it has always seemed to me that william must have realized for the first time his altered rank when old field-marshal moltke, and the late prince bismarck, on hailing him as emperor within a few hours after his father's death, bent down to kiss his hand. this took place more or less in private. but shortly afterwards, when he opened the imperial parliament for the first time as emperor, in the presence of most of the german sovereigns who had come to berlin for the purpose, and had finished reading his speech, and handed it to the chancellor of the empire, old bismarck, as he took it, bent almost double to kiss the hand that was tendering the document to him, in the presence of the princes and representatives of the entire german empire. kissing, it may be added, forms a great feature of court etiquette in germany and austria. it is, for instance, _de rigueur_ that two sovereigns of equal rank visiting each other, should embrace at least thrice, no matter how deeply they may detest each other privately! a petty sovereign will have to content himself with being embraced merely twice by a monarch such as francis-joseph or emperor william, while a crown prince or heir apparent will receive only one hug. mere princes of the blood receive no kisses at all, but only a hearty hand-shake, with which they have to be satisfied, and which is, after all, perhaps the most sensible fashion of greeting. chapter xv all royal and imperial people are more or less superstitious, and neither emperor william nor his brother monarch at vienna are exceptions to the rule. striking evidence thereof is furnished by the presence of a large horseshoe cemented into the wall just outside the fourth window of the first story of empress frederick's palace at berlin. one day, some time before his accession to the throne, and before his father was seized with that terrible malady to which he eventually succumbed, william was invited to dine with his parents. finding that he was very late, and knowing the strictness of his father and mother on the score of punctuality, william directed his coachman to drive as fast as he could, and the carriage positively raced up the incline to the portal. suddenly one of the big mecklenburg horses lost his shoe, which in some extraordinary manner, flew up into the air, dashed through the first-story window and fell upon the dinner table, right in front of frederick and the then crown princess, who, declining to wait any longer, had just sat down to table. the shoe is reported to have grazed the nose of the late emperor. at any rate, the fact that it should have failed to seriously injure anyone is a miracle. it was so regarded by frederick, his wife and his children, who deemed the queer advent of the shoe, and the escape of everybody from injury, as an indication of good luck. at the suggestion of the present kaiser, it was thereupon cemented into the wall just outside the window through which it had come, and was fastened upside down, in order to prevent the luck from dropping out. it is not altogether astonishing that royal personages should be prone to superstition, for in almost every case they are compelled to make their homes in palaces and castles that have been stained with the blood of one or more of their ancestors. ordinary people experience an uncanny feeling when forced by circumstances to live in houses which have been the scene of suicide or murder, even when the victims of the tragedy, or the perpetrators thereof are in no way, even the most remotely, connected with them. what wonder, then, that royal and imperial personages should entertain the same kind of superstition and sentiments with regard to their palaces, when it is borne in mind that the participants in the drama have been members of their own families! for months prior to the assassination of empress elizabeth, forebodings of an impending catastrophe were prevalent at the court of vienna, and so imbued was emperor francis-joseph with ominous presentiments, that he repeatedly exclaimed in the hearing of his entourage: "oh, if only this year were at an end!" these apprehensions on the part of the monarch and his court were due to an incident which took place on the night of april , , and which was of sufficient importance to be comprised in the regular report made on the following morning to his military superiors by the officer of the guard at the hofburg. it seems that the sentinel posted in the corridor or hall leading to the chapel was startled almost out of his senses by seeing the form of a white-clad woman approaching him, soon after one o'clock in the morning. he at once challenged her, whereupon the figure turned round, and passed back into the chapel, where the soldier then observed a light. hastily summoning assistance, a strict search was instituted, but the chapel was explored without any result. the sentinel in question was a stolid, rather dull-minded styrian peasant, who was possessed of but little power of imagination or of education, and who was entirely ignorant, therefore, of the tradition according to which a woman in white makes her appearance by night in the hofburg at vienna, either in the chapel or in the adjoining corridors and halls, whenever any misfortune is about to overtake the imperial house of hapsburg. on each occasion, this spectral appearance to the sentinel on duty has been described in the report of the officer of the guard on the following morning, and is absolutely a matter of official record. the previous visitations of the "white lady" had taken place on the eve of the shocking tragedy of mayerling; a few weeks previous to the shooting of emperor maximilian of mexico; and prior to the burning to death of the daughter of old archduke albert, at schoenbrunn; while the very fact that there should have been no supernatural appearance of this kind at the time when archduke john vanished from human ken, leads the imperial family and the court of austria to still doubt the story, according to which he perished at sea while on his way round cape horn, from la plata to valparaiso. i do not know the origin of the "white lady" tradition at vienna, nor have i ever been able to ascertain anything definite about her history, but there is plenty of documentary evidence, as well as a wonderful array of records concerning "the white lady of the hohenzollerns," who makes her appearance in the old palace at berlin whenever death is about to overtake a member of the reigning house of prussia. the late emperor frederick--the most matter-of-fact and least imaginative prince of his line--was particularly interested in the matter, and collected all the evidence that he could upon the subject, for the purpose of depositing it in the archives of his family. perhaps the most important testimony in this connection are the sworn statements signed by prince frederick of prussia, and a number of his fellow officers, to all of whom the "white lady" is declared to have appeared as they sat together on the eve of the prince's death at the battle of saalfeld in . moreover, thomas carlyle went to no little trouble to procure evidence when writing the history of frederick the great, that the "white lady" had appeared to that famous monarch on the eve of his death. the king, it is asserted, was on the high road to recovery from his illness, when suddenly one morning he declared that he had seen the white-clad spectre during the night, that his hour had come, and that it was useless to ward off death any longer. so he refused to take any further medicine or nourishment, turned his face to the wall, and died. the "white lady" is considered sufficiently real by the hard-headed matter-of-fact commanders of the prussian army, to lead to their adopting special measures whenever her appearance is reported. the moment she is seen, the sentinels within and around the royal palace are at once doubled. the object of this is not so much to protect the royal family from harm, as to prevent the sentinels themselves from following the example of the two who shot themselves while on guard at the palace in the year , one, shortly before the death of old emperor william, the other, a few days before the demise of emperor frederick, the men in each case declaring before they expired that they had seen the "white lady," their story being in a measure borne out by the fact that their faces even after death seemed to be distorted with terror. the appearances of the "white lady" are kept as quiet as possible, the matter is never mentioned at court, save in whispers, and nothing concerning her is ever permitted to appear in print in the berlin papers. this dread apparition that forebodes evil to the reigning house of prussia, is supposed to be the spectre of countess agnes orlamunde, who murdered her first husband, as well as her two children, who constituted an obstacle to her marriage with, one of the ancestors of the kaiser. the palace in which the spectre of this historic murderess appears is a huge and massive structure of grey stone, the walls of which are pierced by over one thousand windows, and which contains over six hundred rooms. commenced four hundred and fifty years ago by one of the earliest electors of brandenburg, it has been added to by each sovereign in turn, until it has attained its present enormous dimensions. there is probably no structure of the kind in the world the building of which has cost so many lives. indeed the very mortar used in its construction may be said to have been mixed with blood. the people of berlin, who from time immemorial have been noted for their democracy and their spirit of independence, have opposed from the very outset the erection of this building in their midst as calculated to endanger their liberty, and many were the attempts that they made to arrest the undertaking, and to destroy the work already accomplished. bloody fights took place between the mob and the troops appointed to protect the workmen, and on two occasions the populace even went so far as to cut the dams, and destroy the flood gates, deluging the foundations with the waters of the river spree, and drowning each time many hundreds of workmen. even at the present moment emperor william is engaged in an angry fight with, the people of berlin in connection with this palace. he wishes to surround it with a terrace and a garden, which will naturally add to its beauty. at present the windows look onto the public streets, a fact which, in these days of bombs and dynamite outrages, renders it difficult to protect with any degree of efficiency. the municipality and people of berlin, however, absolutely decline to consent to the expropriations necessary in order to enable the destruction and removal of the existing houses and buildings which interfere with the execution of his majesty's project. like his uncle, the prince of wales, the kaiser is very superstitious on the subject of the number thirteen in the case of any entertainment, and more than once has a mere subaltern who happened to be on duty at the palace as an officer of the guard, been commanded at a moment's notice to join the imperial party in order to avoid there being thirteen at the table. this superstition is perhaps partly due to the fact that the emperor is aware of the old scandinavian custom, from which it originates, and which still subsists among the peasantry of the west coast of france. in the pagan days of scandinavia, the hardy norsemen were accustomed at all their banquets to invite the spirit of the last of their male relatives or friends to participate in the feast, and the food that he would have eaten and the mead that he would have drunk was cast into the fire, the supposed resting-place of the soul. when the norsemen embraced christianity, on ceremonious occasions they sat down to the banquet in parties of twelve, doing this in honor of the twelve apostles; but unable entirely to disassociate themselves from their old heathen custom of inviting the spirit of a dead relative or friend, they constituted him,--the spectre,--the thirteenth guest at table, and his health was always drunk in solemn silence. in course of time people came to forget the traditional custom of considering a spectre to be the thirteenth guest. he was, however, associated in their minds with the notion of death, and thus the belief has grown that though a thirteenth person at table is no longer a corpse, one of the party is destined, at any rate, to speedily become one. throughout brittany on the eve of the day sacred to the memory of the dead "la toussaint," the family all sit down to a festive repast, and there is invariably a place laid at table, the plate filled with the choicest viands, and the glass filled with the finest wine or cider, for the one or more members of the family who have died during the previous twelve months. the peasantry are convinced that the spirits of their dear ones take part in this repast at one time or another during the course of the night. it is for this reason that they consider it their duty to sit up till daybreak, the women chiefly praying, the men talking in undertones about the qualities and the characteristics of the mourned ones. wearied with watching, imbued with the most fervent and devout faith, blended with a belief in old-time legends, what wonder is it that towards dawn both the men and the women, especially the latter, should imagine that they see the spirits of their dead glide into the room, take their place at the family board, and then, after a brief sojourn in their midst, vanish with the light of the breaking day. it is a pretty and a touching idea, which is not combated by the clergy, and of which, indeed, no one possessed of any heart would seek to disabuse the minds of the poor, simple-minded peasant folks. of course emperor francis-joseph and emperor william are imbued with all the old superstitions peculiar to nimrods. as an instance, they will give up an entire day's shooting, no matter how elaborate the arrangements made for it, if a hare is seen to cross their path, for this is always looked upon as being a very bad omen. both emperors also attach much importance to dreams, and claim to have been furnished by them with premonitions of each misfortune that has overtaken them, and regard friday as the most unlucky day of the week. there is no colder, more unemotional and level-headed woman in the-world than the young empress of russia, who is a german princess by birth, and a first cousin of emperor william, yet she too believes in dreams, since the following incident, which enjoys the fullest degree of credence on the part of the emperors of germany and austria. it seems that during the coronation festivities she was resting one afternoon, and had dropped off into a doze, when she suddenly found herself awakened by one of her ladies who had been frightened by the manner in which she moaned and even wailed in her sleep. the empress then related that her slumbers had been disturbed by a bad dream. an old gray-haired moujik, or peasant, all covered with blood, had appeared to her, and had exclaimed: "i have come all the way from siberia, czaritza, to see your day of honor, and now your cossacks have killed me." the vision had been so real that the empress hastened to her husband to inquire if any misfortune had happened. nicholas laughed at his wife's fears, but to soothe her, telephoned to the minister of the imperial household, asking whether anything untoward had occurred, and only then learnt of the terrible disaster that had taken place in connection with the open-air banquet, where over two thousand lives were lost, through a panic that had seized upon the vast concourse of people, the terrible catastrophe being aggravated by the unfortunate attempts of large bodies of mounted cossacks to restore order by riding into the crowd and using their whips and even their swords against the terrified masses of penned-up moujiks. it must be borne in mind that the entire monarchial system of the old world is largely based on legend and superstition, and that a belief in the supernatural, therefore, is to be expected in such personages as the anointed of the lord, who are firmly convinced that there is a considerable amount of the supernatural in their authority and in the origin of their power. another manner in which emperor william displays his superstition, is his absolute refusal to permit any steps to be taken to clear up the mystery which has existed throughout this entire century in connection with the hunting château of grünewald, which, like the great palace at berlin, is popularly believed to be haunted. indeed, it is regarded with considerable misgiving by the peasantry of the surrounding district. it is an old castle, built almost two centuries ago, by the father of the first king of prussia, and has been the scene of several tragedies. the one which is supposed to have led to the haunting of the palace is the murder by one of the princes of the house of hohenzollern, in a fit of passion, of a prussian nobleman who was his guest at the time. the prince is reported to have run the nobleman through the back with his sword while following him down one of the staircases from the upper story to the ground floor. endeavors have repeatedly been made to obtain permission from the sovereign to tear down the brick wall so as to give access to this staircase, not only for the sake of convenience, but also with the object of setting at rest forever the popular superstitions and rumors on the subject. neither king frederick-william iv., nor the late emperor william would ever hear of such a thing, and the late emperor frederick, who was the least superstitious and most matter-of-fact of men, grew grave and silent, when it was suggested to him that he should give the desired permission. as for the present emperor, he has sternly forbidden that the matter should even be mentioned in his presence. this extraordinary reluctance displayed by both the kaiser and his predecessors to discover what there is behind that brick wall leads to the conviction that the mouldering remains of the victim of the treacherous hospitality of a prince of prussia lie concealed there. chapter xvi it is among the crowned heads and princes of the blood in the old world that st. hubert, the patron of the chase, finds his most fervent devotees, and nowhere is his cult followed with a greater degree of pomp and ceremoniousness, and, i might almost add, religious sentiment, than at the courts of berlin and vienna. the foremost nimrod of europe is undoubtedly old emperor francis-joseph, who finds his only relaxation from the cares of state in stalking the chamois, and who is celebrated in the annals of sport as the most successful and fearless hunter of that excessively shy and difficult quarry. no man living possesses a larger collection of gemsbock beards, which constitute the hunter's trophy of this form of the chase. they number nearly three thousand, and the only person whose score at all approximates the emperor's is his intimate friend and crony, the aged king albert of saxony. both monarchs are now old men, with hair, whiskers and moustache, of a snowy white, but neither their years, nor their sorrows, which have contributed so much towards aging them prematurely, have been permitted until now to interfere with their chamois-hunting expeditions in the styrian alps. on these occasions the two sovereigns make their headquarters at francis-joseph's picturesque shooting-lodge, or rather château, at mürzsteg. they are usually accompanied by the emperor's eldest son-in-law, prince leopold of bavaria, archduke francis-ferdinand, heir apparent to the throne, some younger members of the imperial family, and a few of the dignitaries of the court who have been the longest attached to the service of his majesty, prominent among whom is baron gudemus, grand huntsman of the empire. the latter, by virtue of his office, holds a seat in the privy council, ranks higher than the cabinet ministers, has under his control all the game preserves, the hunting equipages, and the shooting lodges of the crown in the various parts of the empire, and is the generalissimo of the army of game-keepers, and jägers, many thousands in number, who wear the livery of the house of hapsburg. usually, the first three or four days of the stay at mürzsteg are devoted to stalking the chamois, the two sovereigns generally remaining together, attended only by the grand huntsman, and by a few jägers and guides, while the other members of the shooting party follow their individual devices. the start is made each morning about an hour before dawn, so as to enable the sportsmen to be well up on the mountain side by daybreak, that being the time when it is least difficult to get within range of a chamois. all day long the two old sovereigns, alpenstock in hand, and short, stocky rifles slung over the shoulder, go toiling up and down the mountains, along the edges of great precipices, tracing their steps along paths that to the uninitiated would seem to afford no foothold to any living thing, save a goat or a chamois. sometimes they are overtaken by snowstorms while up in the mountains, and are unable to see their way, or to move either backwards or forwards, for whole hours together, while at other times they are forced to lie down flat on their stomachs and to cling with hand and foot to any friendly piece of projecting rock in order to avoid being blown down the precipices, or into the deep crevasses, by the terrible winds which without warning suddenly sweep through the alpine gorges and valleys, with a force that can only be described as cyclonic. all the party, emperor, king, princes, and attendants, down to the humblest jäger, wear the same kind of styrian dress, consisting of a sort of yoppe, or austrian jacket of grey homespun, with green collar and facings, and buttons of rough stag-horn, homespun breeches, cut off above the knees, which are left entirely uncovered, thick woollen stockings rolled below the knee, and heavy, hob-nailed, laced boots. the head gear is that known in this country as the tyrolese hat, adorned by a chamois beard, which is inserted between the ribbon and the felt. by nightfall, which comes early in the mountains, everybody is back at the "jagdschloss," and dinner is served at five, in a room panelled with wood and decorated with trophies. the emperor and the king sit next to each other, while baron gudemus, as grand huntsman, faces them on the opposite table. the attendants are not liveried footmen, but jägers and game-keepers. on arising from the table the party as a rule descends into the courtyard, where all the game killed during the day is laid out on a layer of pine branches, the jägers forming three sides of a square, lighting up the scene with great pine torches, while the huntsmen sound the _curée-chaude_ on their hunting horns. by eight or nine o'clock, everybody is in bed, and the whole château is wrapped in slumber. during the last three or four days of the stay, the so-called "treibjagds," or "battues" take the place of stalking. they are far more ceremonious, but infinitely less fatiguing and interesting affairs, and as they begin between eight and nine, and last till four, they do not involve getting out of bed at the unearthly hour of three or four in the morning. they necessitate, however, an enormous amount of preparation and organization on the part of the grand huntsman. for at least forty-eight hours previously, a vast corps of "treibers," or styrian mountaineers engaged for the purpose have been employed in surrounding a district of mountain and valley many miles in area. the circle is gradually narrowed down until the whole of the game is driven from the heights into the valley, where the emperor and his guests have taken up their positions. the selection of the positions of the party is regarded as a matter of the utmost importance, and on the evening before, the grand huntsman submits to the emperor a carefully drawn up plan of the locality. his majesty thereupon designates with his own hand the spot where each of his guests is to take up his position on the following morning. he himself and the king of saxony generally await the game in the lowest part of the valley, the remaining guests and officials being spread up the mountain side on each hand according to their degree of rank and the imperial favor, those who enjoy the greatest share of the latter being the nearest to the sovereign down the valley, while those of less importance are posted higher up on the mountain side. by nine o'clock, every member of the party must be in the place assigned to him on the plan, and the beaters, who have kept the game carefully within the circle of their lines, now proceed to drive it down towards the shooting party. usually, great nets are stretched a hundred yards to the rear of the two monarchs, with the object of forcing the game which may have got past their majesties to retrace its steps, and to face the royal and imperial sportsmen once more. sometimes curious scenes result in connection with these nets. on one occasion a magnificent gemsbock had managed to get past the king of saxony, and finding a net in the way, charged it full tilt with a flying leap. its horns got entangled in the meshes, seven or eight feet high, and there it remained hanging and kicking until a couple of jägers in attendance on the king disentangled it and carefully placed it on the ground. for a moment it stood as if transfixed with amazement, gazing steadfastly at the net, and then deliberately charged head down, and with a tremendous bound, at the obstacle once more, with the same result, of course. again the jägers disengaged it, but in its struggles to recover its liberty the gemsbock left its beard torn out by the very roots in the hand of one of the men who had grabbed it for the purpose of holding the animal fast. a third time the gallant buck charged the net, and cleared it in magnificent style and made good its escape. the beard which it left behind it figures to this day on the alpine hat of king albert, who is probably the only man living who can boast of wearing the beard of a chamois that may still be roaming over the styrian alps. emperor william's favorite form of sport is wild-boar hunting. this species of game abounds in the imperial preserves of königs-wusterhausen, letzlingen, gohrde and springe, the latter being quite near to the ancient city of hamelin, celebrated in legendary lore for its "_pied-piper_" and for its rats! the preserves at gohrde are liked best by the kaiser, as they were by his grandfather, the old emperor, for they are alive with wild boars. persons invited for the first time to these imperial shooting parties have to go through a regular form of initiation, somewhat akin to that practised in the case of people crossing the line for the first time at sea. on the eve of the day on which the hunt is to begin, and when the party are assembled in the smoking and card-rooms of the jagdschloss, after dinner, the great oak table in the dining-room is cleared and ornamented with several lines of chalk; thereupon, the deputy grand huntsman, baron heintze weissenrode, after receiving the emperor's final instructions, selects a dozen members of the party, and conducts them to the dining-room, where they take their places around the table, each armed with a wooden spoon of a different size from those of his neighbors. at a given signal the huntsman in charge of the imperial pack of boar-hounds, who has been stationed at the entrance leading into the dining-room, sounds the "view-halloo!" on his horn, and immediately every one of the wooden spoons is rubbed up and down the oaken table in a manner that produces a sound similar to that of the noise made by a pack in full pursuit. the person about to be initiated is then seized and blindfolded, after which the doors are thrown open, and he is carried into the dining-room, and laid upon the table athwart the chalk lines. the emperor immediately draws his short hunting-knife, and after making several mystic passes with it in the air, strikes the prostrate body of the neophyte a smart blow with the flat of the broad blade. the huntsman toots forth the signal of "dead! dead!" which is used to call the pack off the quarry, and the new-fledged "weide-man" is permitted to struggle off the table and onto the ground. i may add that the emperor's blow with the hunting-knife is not the only one which the neophyte receives while stretched on the table on his face, nor does it constitute the sum total of the initiation, but only the conclusion thereof. indeed, there is sometimes a good deal of rough horse-play on these occasions, in which the emperor, who delights therein, takes a prominent part. the boar hunt on the following day partakes of the nature of the chamois drives already described, the only difference being that the beaters are assisted in their work by a carefully trained pack of boar-hounds, which are accustomed to obey the horn signals of the huntsman in charge, and are of much service in driving the quarry from its lair in the dense brush and underwood. another difference is that the shooting parties, instead of firing in the direction of the drivers, are under the strictest orders only to fire away from them; that is to say, the hunters are practically forced to wait until the wild boar rushes past before their rifles may be levelled. of course, it sometimes happens that the boar, instead of charging past, charges directly at some member of the party in the fiercest and most dangerous manner, and it is in order to be prepared for an assault of this kind, that each of them is provided with a kind of pike, or lance, which goes by the euphonious name of "sowpen." the costume worn on these occasions is an exceptionally hideous uniform, specially invented and devised by the present emperor. it consists of a double-breasted frock coat of grey cloth, with grass-green lapels and collar, green striped pantaloons, high boots, and a grey tyrolese hat, with a wide green band. in the emperor's case it is further adorned by the ribbon and badge of a hohenzollern family order known as that of the "white hart." at these shooting parties the emperor is accustomed to wind up the day with a most extraordinary kind of drink, of which he himself is very fond, and of which he insists upon everybody's partaking, assuring them that it will help them to sleep. it consists of the following ingredients: white beer, sugar, citron peel, ginger spices, the yolks of at least a dozen eggs, rhine wine, madeira, and old santa cruz rum. all this, after being thoroughly stirred, is placed on the fire and slowly heated, several large pats of butter being added to the concoction while it is warm. it need scarcely be said that it requires a stomach as strong as that of the emperor to be able to absorb several glasses of such a drink before retiring, and it is asserted at the court of berlin that there are many of his subjects of high rank who feign illness when commanded to join the imperial hunting parties, solely because of the apprehensions they entertain of being called upon by the kaiser to drink this extraordinary brew. for shooting wild-fowl, hares and other small game, william uses a very dainty and extremely light fowling-piece, specially constructed for him, which he raises to his shoulder with one hand, and with extraordinary rapidity takes a remarkably sure aim; but when it comes to hunting the wild boar, stag, elk, bear and big game in general, the killing of which requires a heavier gun, he is naturally forced to adopt other devices. his crippled left arm being useless to support the weapon, his body jäger, specially trained for this particular duty, steps forward and offers either his arm or his shoulder for the support of his master's rifle. this, _bien entendu_, when his majesty is engaged in stalking. in cases where the chase takes the form of a "battue," a species of horizontal bar is affixed at right angles to the tree beside which the emperor stands, and it is on this support that the kaiser rests his gun when shooting at the driven game. handicapped as william is by this crippled arm, his record of , head of game killed with his own hand, during the past two decades, is a very remarkable one. it may be found in his "game book," published a few months ago for private circulation among the royal personages and court circles of the old world. comprised in this grand total are some pieces which do not fall to the lot of every sportsman. thus there are a couple of "aurochsen," which is a species of bison-like wild cattle, still to be found strictly preserved in the private domains of the emperor of russia. unless i am mistaken, there are only about five hundred of them left, and, in spite of all the efforts made to foster the breed, they are so rapidly diminishing in number that ere many years are past they will surely become extinct. in pre-christian times they roamed all over germany, and were, and still are, larger, fiercer, and much lighter colored than the american buffalo. the wild boars number in the "game book" over , . there are eleven elks shot in sweden, three reindeer killed in norway, and ten bears laid low, some of them in russia, and others in hungary. the emperor has, much to his vexation, only managed to bag three unfortunate snipe, an extremely difficult bird to shoot on the wing; but his record of chamois is decidedly good, when it is remembered what an exceedingly difficult game this is to reach, entailing, as it does, mountaineering of the most arduous and perilous character, especially in the case of a man who can use but one arm easily. these chamois serve in a measure to atone for the twenty foxes which figure as having been shot by the emperor, a fact which is more likely to injure his reputation and prestige in the eyes of hunting men than any other fault or even crime of which he could possibly render himself guilty. the most unique item of this "game book," with the exception, naturally, of the two aurochsen, are assuredly the three whales which the emperor shot with a harpoon gun, on the occasion of his yachting trip to the furthermost portion of norway a few summers ago. these three huge monsters of the deep form a fitting and amusing counterpart in the "game book" to the three snipe above mentioned. emperor william has a number of shooting-lodges, among the best known of which is hubertusstock, of which he is particularly fond owing to its proximity to the capital. yet it is hated by the members of his suite, for it is a terribly gloomy place. it stands in the midst of a dense, dark forest of vast extent, and swarming with game, within a few hundred yards of the reed covered and marshy shores of the werbellin lake, and was built by the late king frederick-william iv. during the last few years of his madness this monarch was frequently taken out to hubertusstock by his attendants, who hoped that the entire absence of all excitement and the intense solitude of the place would diminish the recurrences of his attacks of violence. the emperor sometimes spends an entire week at hubertusstock and it has frequently been asserted that he takes advantage of the complete absence from public observation which he then enjoys, to make secret trips abroad. it was his absence at this place for a period of ten days while the czar was at paris that led to the very circumstantial story in the german and foreign press about his having been in the french capital, in the strictest incognito, for several days during the russian emperor's stay on the banks of the seine. a number of people claim to have recognized him, and it is even alleged that he caught the czar's eye, and was recognized by him during the grand entertainment given by president faure in honor of his muscovite visitors at the palace of versailles. a story was told at the time about a couple of german officers, one of them attached to the embassy, who happening to find themselves face to face with an individual presenting a striking likeness to the kaiser, save for the fact that his moustache was twisted downwards instead of upwards, and his hair brushed in a different way, lost to such an extent their presence of mind that they could not help drawing their heels together and standing at attention; a form of courtesy which received as its only response the muttered exclamation of "verdammte esel!" which may be translated: "accursed jackasses!" that served to confirm their suspicions, and unfortunately both their behavior and the growl of the stranger had been witnessed and heard by people who were quick to make the matter public. it was with the object of endeavoring to disprove and discredit these stories that the emperor caused a telegram, to be sent to the czar from hubertusstock, not written, as usual, in cipher, but in ordinary language. there is an old french proverb according to which "he who seeks to prove too much, proves nothing," and thus it happened that this open telegram which reached the czar at châlons, and which was published in the german newspapers, even before nicholas had made it known to the members of his entourage, merely served to convince people that the kaiser had really been in paris when he was supposed to be buried amidst the gloomy forests of hubertusstock. hubertusstock is not, as most people seem to imagine, a castle, but merely a huge, overgrown two-storied chalet, surrounded by a number of smaller wooden dwelling-houses for the use of the imperial suite. formerly, it required a drive of at least three hours from the station on the main line in order to reach the jagdschloss. but since the accession of the emperor he has caused a private railroad to be constructed from the trunk line to a small station within a few hundred yards of the chalet. seldom is the kaiser found in the schloss after daybreak. the entire morning is spent by him in the woods, which are so vast that one can wander about them for days without meeting a soul. luncheon is usually partaken of at some point in the forest, and frequently during this repast a concert takes place, the performers consisting of a quartette of foresters, their instruments being mere hunting horns, and their melodies those of old hunting-songs. within the limits of the imperial preserves is the celebrated schorfhaide, which each year, towards the month of november, becomes the meeting place of thousands of stags. they come from all parts of germany and austria, this being rendered possible by the proximity to one another of the great estates of the territorial nobility, so that it would be feasible to march almost from the adriatic to the baltic without leaving forest glades. this annual assemblage of stags on the schorfhaide has been taking place every autumn for untold centuries. in fact, mention thereof has been found in documents more than a thousand years old. the meetings afford an extraordinary sight, and are the scenes of numerous single combats to death between "royals," the other stags and the deer standing round, as if to form a huge amphitheatre, and gravely watching the duel without making any attempt to interfere. all sorts of theories have been put forward with regard to this annual concourse of stags on the schorfhaide. foresters, however, insist that it is nothing more nor less than a species of great animal congress, at which the various antlered tribes meet for a big "palaver" to decide matters affecting the policy and the leadership of their various clans! far-fetched as this theory may seem at first sight, it is evident that there is something of the kind which brings stags and their mates from the remote forests of galicia on the russian border, from the vast liechtenstein game preserves to the south of vienna, and from the still larger sporting property of belyer, in hungary, belonging to archduke frederick, all the way to the schorfhaide on the reedy banks of the werbellin lake, in order to flock together by thousands. it is a matter of forest ethics, and of the law of the chase, to abstain from disturbing this annual _convivium_ of the stags, as it is called, and while it lasts, not a single shot is to be heard in the forests around hubertusstock. in fact, november has on this account become a species of close season there, no one interested in sport wishing to do anything that could in the least degree interfere with this, so far as i know, altogether unique custom in the animal world. the meetings, however, have been witnessed by the emperor and a few chosen companions who concealed themselves in the branches of trees, bordering on the schorfhaide, and william is never tired of expatiating on the magnificence of the spectacle presented. next to hubertusstock, the most favored shooting-lodge and sporting-estate of the kaiser, is rominten, not far from the russian frontier. owing to this proximity, bears and wolves, especially the latter, of muscovite origin, are frequently to be found in the rominten forests, adjoining which is the celebrated imperial trakenen stud and horsebreeding establishment, founded as far back as by frederick the great. some idea of the size and importance of this stud-farm may be gathered from the fact that over two thousand hands are employed in connection with the concern. trakenen was originally famous for elk, and an elk's horn remains to this day the trakenen brand placed upon all horses bred there. the emperor's headquarters at rominten are situated at a place called theerbude. his jagdschloss or shooting-lodge consists of a handsome norwegian block house, brought from norway, and erected on the goldberg on the left bank of the rominten river. the stables are built on a most extensive scale, and the chapel, as well as all the other buildings, are constructed in the picturesque norwegian style, which harmonizes so well with the dark fir forests by which they are surrounded. there is no interruption of the business of slate during the emperor's stay at rominten. theerbude is connected with berlin by wire, and telegrams are arriving and departing at all hours of the day. the kaiser shoots as a rule twice a day, at four in the morning, and four in the afternoon, the drive to the hunting-grounds often taking several hours, for most of them are at a considerable distance. the various foresters' lodges, even at the most remote portion of the estates, are connected by telephone with the imperial residence, and thus the emperor is able to know at midday where the game is likely to be most plentiful in the afternoon. when the emperor is not shooting, he transacts business with his various military and civil secretaries, and long after his guests are asleep he himself is still at work, signing state papers or reading and annotating reports. indeed one of the most remarkable things about emperor william is his apparent ability to do almost entirely without sleep. on sundays the emperor invariably makes a point of attending divine service at the chapel of st. hubert, opposite his residence, and subsequently is accustomed to walk to the königshöhe, a neighboring hill on which he has built an observatory-tower about one hundred feet high, which commands a magnificent view of the surrounding forest, extending about twenty miles in every direction from the tower. curiously enough, wild boars are not found at rominten; but the stags there are superb, and specimens turning the scales at a thousand pounds are the rule rather than the exception. one of the features of the theerbude is a goblet of the time of king frederick-william iii. the vessel is held between the points of a couple of antlers, and it is only possible to drink out of it by squeezing one's face between these two points. the possessor of a rotund countenance experiences considerable difficulty in performing this feat, and is apt to spill the contents over himself, yet every one of the emperor's guests has to submit to the ordeal, for an inscription on the goblet says that all persons attending shooting-parties at rominten for the first time must empty the vessel of its contents,--a pint bottle of champagne,--at one draught, to the health of the sovereign. so great are the quantities of game shot by the emperor and his guests at these shooting-parties that they very much exceed the needs for the consumption of the imperial household. formerly, it was the kaiser's custom to distribute all the surplus among the various hospitals and charitable institutions; but since discovering that these gifts of game seldom reached the persons for whom they were destined, namely the inmates, but were monopolized by the staff and the attendants of the establishments, he has given orders that the game that is not needed for imperial consumption should be sold, and the money derived therefrom turned over to the funds of the hospitals and convalescent homes under the patronage of the crown. that is why one so frequently sees in the great central market of berlin, deer, stags, wild boars, etc., adorned with greenery, and with cards intimating that the quarry in question has been shot by his imperial majesty the kaiser. list of illustrations william ii and francis joseph _volume i_ william ii, emperor of germany........... _fronts_ princess frederick and professor von bergmann............. the runaway at proeckelwitz............................... scene in duke ernest gunther's quarters................... augusta victoria, empress of germany...................... in the white hall......................................... this ebook was produced by gordon keener. the secrets of the german war office dr. armgaard karl graves with the collabaration of edward lyell fox foreword in view of the general war into which europe has been precipitated just at the moment of going to press, it is of particular interest to note that the completed manuscript of this book has been in the hands of the publishers since june st. further comment on dr. graves' qualifications to speak authoritatively is unnecessary; the chapters that follow are a striking commentary on his sources of information. the publishers august , . chapter i. how i became a secret agent _"o jerum, jerum, jerum, quâ motatio rerum."_ half past three was heard booming from some clock tower on the twelfth day of june, , when mr. king, the liberal representative from somerset, was given the floor in the house of commons. mr. king proceeded to make a sensation. he demanded that mckinnon wood, the house secretary for scotland, reveal to the house the secrets of the strange case of armgaard karl graves, german spy. a brief word of explanation may be necessary. supposed to be serving a political sentence in a scotch prison, i had amazed the english press and people by publicly announcing my presence in new york city. mr. king asked if i was still undergoing imprisonment for espionage; if not, when and why i was released and whether i had been or would be deported at the end of my term of imprisonment as an undesirable alien. permit me to quote verbatim from the edinburgh _scotsman_ of june , : the secretary for scotland replied--graves was released in december last. it would not be in accordance with precedent to state reasons for the exercise of the prerogative. i have no official knowledge of his nationality. the sentence did not include any recommendation in favor of deportation. mr. king--was he released because of the state of his health? the secretary for scotland--i believe he was in bad health, but i cannot give any other answer. mr. king--were any conditions imposed at the time of his release? the secretary for scotland--i think i have dealt with that in my answer. (cries of "no.") mr. king--can the right hon. gentleman be a little more explicit? (laughter.) we are anxious to have the truth. unless the right hon. gentleman can give me an explicit answer as to whether any conditions were imposed i will put down the question again. (laughter.) the speaker intervened at this stage, and the subject dropped. heckling began at this point; word was quickly sent to the speaker, and he intervened, ruling the subject closed. now consider the secretary for scotland's statement. "it would not be in accordance with precedent to state reasons for the exercise of prerogative." in other words, high officials in enghand had found it advisable secretly to release me from barlinney prison by using the royal prerogative. why? later you will know. also, consider the secretary for scotland's statement that he had no official knowledge as to my _nationality_--significant that, as you will realize. there are three things which do not concern the reader: my origin, nationality and morals. there are three persons alive who know who i am. one of the three is the greatest ruler in the world. none of the three, for reasons of his own, is likely to reveal my identity. i detest sensationalism and wish it clearly understood that this is no studied attempt to create mystery. there is a certain dead line which no one can cross with impunity and none but a fool would attempt to. powerful governments have found it advisable to keep silence regarding my antecedents. a case in point occurred when mckinnon wood, secretary for scotland, refused in the house of commons to give any information whatsoever about me, this after pressure had been brought to bear on him by three mernbers of parliament. either the home secretary knew nothing about my antecedents, or his trained discretion counseled silence. i was brought up in the traditions of a house actively engaged in the affairs of its country, for hundreds of years. as an only son, i was promptly and efficiently spoiled for anything else but the station in life which should have been mine--but never has been and, now, never can be. i used to have high aspirations, but promises never kept shattered most of my ideals. the hard knocks of life have made me a fatalist, so now i shrug my shoulders. _"che sara sara."_ i have had to lead my own life and, all considered, i have enjoyed it. i have crowded into thirty-nine years more sensations than fall to the lot of the average half a dozen men. following the custom of our house, i was trained as a military cadet. this military apprenticeship was followed by three years at a famous _gymnasium_, which fitted me for one of the old classic universities of europe. and after spending six semesters there, i took my degrees in philosophy and medicine. not a bad achievement, i take it, for a young chap before reaching his twenty-second birthday. i have always been fond of study and had a special aptitude for sciences and the languages. on one occasion i acquired a fair knowledge of singalese and tamul in three months. from the university i returned home. i had always been obstinate and willful, not to say pigheaded, and being steeped in tales of wrongs done to my house and country, and with the crass assurance of a young sprig fresh from untrammeled university life, i began to give vent to utterances that were not at all to the liking of the powers that were. soon making myself objectionable, paying no heed to their protests, and one thing leading to another, my family found it advisable to send me into utter and complete oblivion. to them i am dead, and all said and done, i would rather have it so. after the complete rupture of my home ties, i began some desultory globe trotting. i knocked about in out-of-the-way corners, where i observed and absorbed all sorts of things which became very useful in my subsequent career. a native, and by that i mean an inhabitant, of non-european countries always fascinated me, and i soon learned the way of disarming their suspicion and winning their confidence--a proceeding very difficult to a european. after a time i found myself in australia and new zealand, where i traveled extensively, and came to like both countries thoroughly. i have never been in the western part of the united states, but from what i have heard and read i imagine that the life there more closely resembles the clean, healthy, outdoor life of the australians than any other locality. i was just on the point of beginning extensive travels in the south sea islands, when the situation in south africa became ominous. war seemed imminent, and following my usual bent of sticking my nose in where i was not wanted i made tracks for this potential seat of trouble. i caught the first steamer for cape town landing there a month before the outbreak of war. on horseback i made my way in easy stages up to the rand. here happened one of those incidents, which, although small in itself, alters the course of one's life. what took place when i rode into a small town on the rand known as doorn kloof one chilly misty morning, was written in the bowl of fate. doorn kloof is well named; it means "the hoof of the devil." a straggling collection of corrugated iron shanties set in the middle of a grayish sandy plain as barren of vegetation as the shores of the dead sea, sweltering hot an hour after sunrise, chilly cold an hour after sunset, populated by about four hundred boers of the old narrow-minded ultra dutch type with as much imagination as a grasshopper--that is doorn kloof. when i rode into the village i was in a decidedly bad temper. hungry, wet to the skin, the dismal aspect of the place, the absence of anything resembling a hotel, the incivility of the inhabitants, all contributed to shorten my, by no means long, temper. i was ripe for a row. as i rode down the solitary street i found a big burly _dopper_ flogging brutally a half-grown native boy. this humanitarian had the usual boer view that the sambrock is more effective than the bible as a civilizing medium. after convincing him of the technical error of his method, i attended to the black boy, whose back was as raw as a beefsteak. kim completely adopted me and he is with me still. i christened him kim, after kipling's hero, for his basuto name is unpronounceable. he has repaid me often for what he considers the saving or his life. not many months later kim was the unconscious cause of a radical change in my destiny. i have ceased to wonder at such things. by the time kim had learned sorne of the duties of a body servant we had reached port natal. war had broken out and i volunteered with a natal field force in a medical capacity. field hospital work took me where the fighting was thickest. during the battle of the modder river among the first of the wounded brought in was one of the many foreign officers fighting on the boer side. it was kim who found him. this officer's wound was fairly serious and necessitated close attention. through chance remarks dropped here and there, the officer placed my identity correctly. it developed that he was major freiherr von reitzenstein, one of the few who knew the real reasons of my exile. in one of our innumerable chats that grew out of our growing intimacy, he suggested my entering the service of germany in a political capacity. he urged that with my training and social connections i had exceptional equipment for such work. moreover, he suggested that my service on political missions would give me the knowledge and influence necessary to checkmate the intriguers who were keeping me from my own. this was the compelling reason that made me ultimately accept his proposal to become a secret agent of germany. no doubt, if the count had lived, i would have gained my ends through his guidance and influence, but he was killed in a riding race, three years after our meeting in the veldt, and i lost my best friend. by that time i was too deep in the secret service to pull out, although it was my intention more than once to do so. and certain promises regarding my restoration in our house were never kept. coming to a partial understanding with count reitzenstein, i began to work in his interests. the boer war taught germany many things about the english army and a few of these i contributed. as a physician i was allowed to go most anywhere and no questions asked. i began to collect little inside scraps of information regarding the discipline, spirit and equipment of the british troops. i observed that many colonial officers were outspoken in their criticisms. all these points i reported in full to count reitzenstein when i dressed his wound. one day he said: "don't forget now. after the war, i want to see you in berlin." in my subsequent eagerness to pump more details from the colonial officers, i too criticised, and one day i was told lord kitchener wanted to see me. "doctor," he said curtly, when i was ushered into his tent, "you have twenty-four hours in which to leave camp--" whether that mandate was a result of my joining in with the colonial officers' criticism, or because my secret activity for count reitzenstein had been suspected, i cannot say. but knowing the ways of the "man of khartoum," i made haste to be out of camp within the time prescribed. later i learned that the count, being convalescent and paroled, was sent down to cape town. after the occupation of pretoria, i got tired of roughing it and made my way back to europe, finally locating in berlin for a prolonged stay. i knew berlin, and had a fondness for it, having spent part of my youth there in the course of my education. it has always been a habit of mine not to seem anxious about anything, so i spent several weeks idling around berlin before looking up count reitzenstein. one day i called at his residence, thiergartenstrasse . i found the count on the point of leaving for the races at hoppegarten. he was one of the crack sportsmen of prussia and never missed a meeting. he suggested that i go to the track with him, and while we waited for the servant to bring around his turn-out, he renewed his proposals about my entering prussian service. "i expected you long ago," he said. "i have smoothed your way to a great extent. we are likely to meet one or two of the service chiefs out at the track, this afternoon. if you like, i'll introduce you to them." "is there any likelihood of my being recognized?" i asked. "you know, count, it will be impossible for me to go under my true flag." he assured me there was not the slightest chance. "your identity," he explained, "need be known to but one person." later i w as to know who this important personage was. " very well," i agreed; "we'll try it." the count always drove his own turn-out, and invited me to climb up on the box. when his attention was not occupied with his reins and returning the salutes of passers-by, for he was one of the most popular men in berlin, we discussed my private affairs. the count showed a keen interest and sympathy in them and his proposal began to take favorable shape in my mind. as he predicted, we met some of the service chiefs at the track. indeed, almost the first persons who saluted him in the saddle paddock were captain zur see von tappken and a gentleman who was introduced to me as herr von riechter. the count introduced me as dr. von graver, which i subsequently altered whenever the occasion arose to the english graves. after chatting a bit, captain von tappken made an appointment with me at his bureau in the koenigergratzerstrasse , the headquarters of the intelligence department of the imperial navy in berlin, but macle no further reference to the subject that afternoon. i noticed though that herr von riechter put some pointed and leading questions to me, regarding my travels, linguistic attainments, and general knowledge. he must have been satisfied, for i saw some significant glances pass between him and the captain. the repeated exclamations of "grossartig!" and "colossal!" seemed to express his entire satisfaction. following my usual bent, i did not call at koenigergratzerstrasse as the captain suggested. about three days passed and then i received a very courteously worded letter requesting me to call at my earliest convenience at his quarters as he had something of importance to tell me. i called. koenigergratzerstrasse is a typical prussian building of administration. solid but unpretentious, it is the very embodiment of prussian efficiency, and like all official buildings in germany is well guarded. the doorkeeper and commissaire, a taciturn non-commissioned officer, takes your name and whom you wish to see. he enters these later in a book, then telephones to the person required and you are either ushered up or denied admittance. when sent up, you are invariably accompanied by an orderly--it does not matter how well you are known--who does not leave you until the door has closed behind you. when you leave, there is the same procedure and the very duration of your visit is entered and checked in the doorkeeper's book. i was admitted immediately. after passing through three anterooms containing private secretaries not in uniform, i was shown into captain von tappken's private office. he wore the undress ranking uniform of the imperial navy. this is significant, for it is characteristic of all the branches of the prussian service to find officers in charge. the secretaries and men of all work, however, are civilians; this for a reason. the heads of all departments are german officers, recruited from the old feudal aristocracy, loyal to a degree to the throne. they find it incompatible, notwithstanding their loyalty, to soil their hands with some of the work connected with all government duties, especially those of the secret service. though planning the work, they never execute it. to be sure, there are ex-officers connected with the secret service, men like von zenden, formerly an officer of the zweiter garde dragoner, but with some few exceptions they are usually men who have gone to smash. no active or commissioned officer does secret service work. von tappken greeted me very tactfully. this is another typical asset of a prussian service officer, especially a naval man, and is quite contrary to the usual characteristics of english officials, whose brusqueness is too well and unpleasantly known. after offering me a chair and cigars, captain von tappken began chatting. "well, doctor," he said, "have you made up your mind to enter our service? for a man fond of traveling and adventure, i promise you will find it tremendously interesting. i have carefully considered your equipment and experience and find that they will be of mutual benefit." i asked him to explain what would be required of me, but he replied: "before my entering upon that, are you adverse to telling me if you have made up your mind to enter the service?" it was a fair question, and i replied: "yes, provided nothing will be directly required of me that is against all ethics." i noticed a peculiar smile crossing his features. then, looking me straight between the eyes and using the sharp, incisive language of a german official, he declared: "we make use of the same weapons that are used against us. we cannot afford to be squeamish. the interests at stake are too vast to let personal ethical questions stand in the way. what would be required of you in the first instance, is to gain for us information such as we seek. the means by which you gain this information will be left entirely to your own discretion. we expect results. we place our previous knowledge on the subject required, at your disposal. you will have our organization to assist you, but you must understand that we cannot and will not be able to extricate you from any trouble in which you may become involved. be pleased to understand this clearly. this service is dangerous, and no official assistance or help could be given under any circumstances." to my cost, i later found this to be the truth. so far, so good. captain von tappken had neglected to mention financial inducements and i put the question to him. he replied promptly: "that depends entirely on the service performed. in the first instance you will receive a retaining fee of marks ($ ) a year. you will be allowed marks ($ . ) a day for living expenses, whether in active service or not. for each individual piece of work undertaken you will receive a bonus, the amount of which will vary with the importance of the mission. living expenses accruing while out on work must not exceed marks ($ ) a day. the amount of the bonus you are to receive for a mission will in each case be determined in advance. there is one other thing. one-third of all moneys accruing to you w ill be kept in trust for you at the rate of per cent interest." i laughed and said: "well, captain, i can take care of my own money." he permitted the shadow of a smile to play around his mouth. "you may be able to," he said, "but most of our agents cannot. we have this policy for two reasons: in the first place, it gives us a definite hold upon our men. secondly, we have found that unless we save some money for our agents, they never save any for themselves. in the event of anything happening to an agent who leaves a family or other relatives, the money is handed over to them." i later cursed that rule, for when i was captured in england there were , marks ($ , ) due me at the wilhelmstrasse and i can whistle for it now. captain von tappken looked at me inquiringly, but i hesitated. it was not on account of monetary causes, but for peculiarly private reasons--the dilemma of one of our house becoming a spy. the captain, unaware of the personal equation that was obsessing me before giving my word, evidently thought that his financial inducements were not alluring enough. "of course," he continued, "this scale of pay is only the beginning. as your use to us and the importance of your missions increases, so will your remuneration. that depends entirely on you." he raised his eyebrows inquiringly. "very well," i said. "i accept." he held out his hand. "you made up your mind quickly." "it is my way, captain. i take a thing or leave it." "that's what i like, doctor; a quick, decisive mind." that seemed to please him. "very well. to be of use to us, you w ill need a lot of technical coaching. are you ready to start tomorrow?" "now, captain." "very good," he said, "but to-morrow will do. be here at ten a. m. then give us daily as much of your time as we require." he called in one of his secretaries, gave him command briefly and in a few minutes the man was back with an order for three hundred marks. "this, doctor, is your first month's living expenses. retaining fees are paid quarterly." as i pocketed the check i remarked: "captain, personally we are total strangers. how is it that you seem so satisfied with me?" again his peculiar smile was noticeable. "that is outside our usual business procedure," he said. "i have my instructions from above and i simply act on them." i was young then, and curious so i asked: "who are those above and what are their instructions?" no sooner had i put that question than i learned my first lesson in the secret service. all traces of genial friendliness vanished from von tappken's face. it was stern and serious. "my boy," he said slowly, "learn this from the start and learn it well. do not ask questions. do not talk. think! you will soon learn that there are many unwritten laws attached to this service." i never forgot that. it was my first lesson in secret service. chapter ii. the making of a secret agent the average man or woman has only a hazy idea what european secret service and espionage really means and accomplishes. short stories and novels, written in a background of diplomacy and secret agents, have given the public vague impressions about the world of spies. but this is the first real unvarnished account of the system; the class of men and women employed; the means used to obtain the desired results and the risks run by those connected with this service. since the days of moses who employed spies in canaan, to napoleon bonaparte, who inaugurated the first thorough system of political espionage, potentates, powerful ministers and heads of departments have found it necessary to obtain early and correct information other than through the usual official channels. to gain this knowledge they have to employ persons unknown and unrecognized in official circles. a recognized official such as an ambassador or a secretary of legation, envoys plenipotentiary and consuls, would not be able to gain the information sought, as naturally everybody is on their guard against them. moreover, official etiquette prevents an ambassador or consul from acting in such a capacity. in this age of rapid developments the need of quick and accurate information is even more pressing. europe to-day is a sort of armed camp, composed of a number of nations of fairly equal strength, in which the units are more or less afraid of each other. mutual distrust and conflicting interests compel germany, england, france and russia to spend billions of money each year on armaments. germany builds one battleship; england lays down two; france adds ten battalions to her army; germany adds twenty. so the relative strength keeps on a fair level. but with rapid constructions, new inventions of weapons, armor, aerial craft, this apparent equality is constantly disturbed. here also enters the personal policy and ambitions and pet schemes of the individual heads of nations and their cabinets. because there is a constant fear of being outdistanced, every government in europe is trying its utmost to get ahead of the other. they, hence, keep a stringent watch on each other's movements. this is possible only by an efficient system of espionage, by trained men and women, willing to run the risks attached to this sort of work. for risks there are. i have been imprisoned twice, once in the balkans at belgrade, once in england. i have been attacked five times and bear the marks of the wounds to this day. escapes i have had by the dozen. all my missions were not successes, more often, failures, and the failures are often fatal. for instance: early in the morning of june , , the plot which had been brewing in servia ended with the assassination of the king, queen, ministers and members of the royal household of servia. i shall not go into the undercurrent political significance of these atrocities as i had no active part in them, but i was sent down by my government later to ascertain as far as possible the prime movers in the intrigue which pointed to colonel mashin and a gang of officers of the sixth regiment. all these regicides received russian pay, for king alexander had become dangerous to russia, because of his flirting with austria. besides, his own idiotic behavior and the flagrant indiscretions of queen draga had by no means endeared him to his people. i stuck my nose into a regular hornets' nest and soon found myself in a most dangerous position. i was arrested by the provisional government on the order of lieutenant colonel niglitsch on a most flimsy charge of traveling with false passports. in those times arrests and executions were the order of the day. the old servian proverb of "od roba ikad iz groba nikad" (out of prison, yes; out of the grave, never) was fully acted upon. there were really no incriminating papers of any description upon me, but my being seen and associating with persons opposed to the provisional government was quite enough to place me before a drumhead court-martial. i was sitting in the café petit parisien with lieutenant nikolevitch and mons krastov, a merchant of belgrade, when a file of soldiers in charge of an officer pulled us out of our chairs and without any further ado marched us to the citadel. the next morning we were taken separately into a small room where three men in the uniform of colonels were seated at a small iron table. no questions were asked. "you are found guilty of associating with revolutionary persons. you were found possessing a passport not your own. you are sentenced to be shot at sundown." the whole thing appeared to me first as a joke, then as a bluff, but looking closely into those high-cheekboned, narrow-eyed faces with the characteristically close-cropped brutal heads, the humorous aspect dwindled rapidly and i thought it about time to make a counter move. without betraying any of my inward qualms--and believe me, i began to have some--i said quietly: "i think you will find it advisable to inform m. zolarevitch" (then minister of war) "that count weringrode sends his regards." i saw them looking rather curiously at each other and then the center inquisitor fired a lot of questions at me, in answer to which i only shrugged my shoulders. "that's all i have to say, monsieur." i was shoved back in my cell. about four that afternoon one of the officers came to see me. "your message has not been sent. my comrades were against sending it, but i am related to zolarevitch. so if you can show me some reason, i shall take your message." i gave him some reason. so much so that he did not lose any time getting under way. in fact, it was a very pale, perturbed officer who rushed out of my cell. i didn't worry much, but when at about . the cell door opened and two sentries with fixed bayonets and cartridge pouches entered, placed me in the center and marched me into the courtyard, where ten more likewise equipped soldiers in charge of an officer awaited me, i felt somewhat green. i know a firing squad when i see one. i knew if my message ever reached responsible quarters, nothing could happen to me; but these were motley times and all sorts of delays may have happened to the officer. "right about wheel" and myself in the center, we marched out of the courtyard to a little hill to the west of the citadel. an old stone building--probably a decayed monastery, for i noticed several crumbled tombstones--was evidently selected for the place of execution. on a little rough, four-foot, stone wall we halted, and the officer, pulling out a document, began reading to me a rather lengthy preamble in servian. up to then not a word had been spoken. i let him finish and then politely requested him, as i was not a serb and consequently did not understand his lingo, to translate it into a civilized language, preferably german or french. he seemed somewhat startled and gave me to understand that he was led to believe i was a serb. i used some very forcible german and french, both of which he was able to understand, pointing out to him that someone, somewhere, made a thundering big blunder which somehow would have to be paid for. he was clearly ill at ease, but said, "i have to obey my instructions." i had told him of my message to the minister, and although it was quite obvious i was sparring for time he seemed in no way inclined to rush the execution. five minutes went; ten minutes went and looking at his watch, which showed five minutes to eight (although it was fast getting dusk, i could see that watch-dial distinctly), shrugging his shoulders and saying, "i can delay no longer," he called a sergeant, who placed me with my shoulders to the wall and offered me a handkerchief. i didn't want a handkerchief. a few sharp orders and twelve mauser tubes pointed their ugly black snouts directly at me. i hate to tell my sensation just then. frankly, i felt nothing clearly. the only thing i remember distinctly was the third man in the second file held his gun in rather a slipshod manner, aiming it first at my midriff, next pointing it at my nose--which strangely enough caused me intense annoyance. how long we stood thus i don't know. the next thing i remember was a rattle of grounding arms and the sight of two other officers, excitedly gesticulating with the one in charge of the firing squad. all three presently came towards me and one pulling out a flask of cognac with a polite bow offered me a drink. i needed it; but didn't take it. all this time i had been standing motionless with my arms folded across my breast. i heard one say to the other, "nitchka curacha" (no coward). if he had only known. indeed, had i anticipated such an experience, had i known the things i know now i doubt if i would have been so pleased with the results of my first visit to koenigergratzerstrasse , where the intelligence department of the german admiralty is quartered. will the reader step back with me in the narrative to the day of my officially joining the service? returning to my hotel after my interview with captain von tappken in his office, i began to reflect. i had not entered the service out of pure adventure or for monetary reasons alone. money has never appealed to me as the all-powerful thing in life. i have always had enough for creature comforts and as for adventure i had had my fill during the boer war and my world wanderings. no, i had joined the german secret service for quite a different reason. i was thinking of the influences that had pressed me out of my destined groove, by every human right my own. i remember how sanguine count reitzenstein was that through the service i ought to gain the power i had lost. but as i sat in the hotel room had occult powers been given me, i never would have taken up secret service work. but one is not quite as wise at twenty-four as at thirty-nine. well satisfied with my prospects, i arose early the next morning and walked briskly to captain tappken's office. punctually at ten o'clock i announced myself at the admiralty and after the usual procedure with the door man, i was received by herr von stammer, private secretary of captain tappken. a very astute and calculating gentleman is herr von stammer. suave, genial, talkative, he has the plausible and unstudied art of extracting information without committing himself in turn. a marvelous encyclopædia of devious secret service facts, an ideal tutor. when we were alone in his office, von stammer began by saying abruptly: "from now on, you must be entirely and absolutely at our service. you will report daily at twelve noon by telephoning a certain number. at all times you must be accessible. you will pay close attention to the following rules: "absolute silence in regard to your missions. no conversation with minor officials but only with the respective heads of departments or to whomever you are sent. you will make no memoranda nor carry written documents. you will never discuss your affairs with any employee in the service whom you may meet. you are not likely to meet many. it is strictly against the rules to become friendly or intimate with any agent. you must abstain from intoxicating liquors. you are not permitted to have any women associates. you will be known to us by a number. you will sign all your reports by that number. always avoid telephoning, telegraphing and cabling as much as possible. in urgent cases do so, but use the cipher that will be supplied to you." he went on to give numerous other minor details and instructions, elaborating the system, but which might prove wearisome here. i was in his office all the forenoon, and when he ushered me out i half expected to be called into von tappken's presence to be sent on my first mission. instead of that, i had to wait five months before i was given my first work and an exceedingly unimportant thing it was. during those five months i was kept at a steady grind of schooling in certain things. day after day, week after week, i was grounded in subjects that were essential to efficient secret service work. broadly, they could be divided into four classes--topography, trigonometry, naval construction and drawing. the reasons for these you will see from my missions. my tutors were all experts in the imperial service. a secret service agent sent out to investigate and report on the condition, situation, and armament of a fort like verdun in france must be able to make correct estimates of distances, height, angles, conditions of the ground, etc. this can only be done by a man of the correct scientific training. he must have the science of topography at his finger tips; he must be able to make quick and accurate calculations using trigonometry, as well as possessing skill as a draftsman. in my mission to port arthur, where i had to report on the defenses, i found this training invaluable. the same applies to the subject of naval construction. before entering the german secret service, i certainly knew the difference between a torpedo and a torpedo boat destroyer, but naturally could not give an accurate description of the various types of destroyers and torpedoes. my instructor in this subject was lieutenant captain kurt steffens, torpedo expert of the intelligence department of the imperial navy. after a month of tutelage under him, i was able to tell the various types of torpedoes, submarines, and mines, etc., in use by the principal powers. i could even tell by the peculiar whistle it made whether the torpedo that was being discharged was a whitehead or a brennan. i was also drilled in the construction of every known kind of naval gun. dozens of model war-crafts were shown to me and explained. i saw the model of every warship in the world. for days at a time i was made to sit before charts that hung from the walls of certain rooms in the intelligence department and study the silhouettes of every known varying type of war-craft. i was schooled in this until i could tell at a glance what type of a battleship, cruiser, or destroyer it was, whether it was peculiar to the english, french, russian or united states navy. as i shall show in relating one of my missions to england, i was brushed up on the silhouette study of british warships, for i had to be able to discern and classify them at long range. the different ranking officers of the navies of the world, their uniforms, the personnel of battleships, the systems of flag signals, and codes, were explained to me in detail. i was given large books in which were colored plates of the uniforms and signal flags of every navy in the world. i had to study these until at a glance i could tell the rank and station of the officers and men of the principal navies. the same with the signal flags. i pored over those books night after night into the early hours of the morning. my regular hours for tuition were from ten to twelve in the forenoon and from two until six in the afternoon. but it was impossible to compress all the work into that time. i was anxious to get my first mission, and i presume i did a great deal of cramming. my study was not all in berlin. i spent most of my time there at koenigergratzerstrasse and at the zeughaus, the great museum of the german general staff. but there were side trips to the big government works at kiel and wilhelmshafen. there i was taught every detail of the mechanics of naval construction and i was not pronounced equipped until i could talk intelligently about every unassembled part of a gun, torpedo tube, or mine. in the course of my five months' instruction under the various experts of the prussian service i had many opportunities to observe the exhaustive thoroughness and the minuteness of detail which the german general staff possesses. i did not lose the chance of this opportunity. i really did observe and see more than was intended for me to see. of the amazing amount of labor, time and money that has been spent to gather the information contained in the secret archives of the german general staff, the marvelous system of war that has been perfected in the german empire, i shall tell when i consider the secrets of the war machine. naturally, i soon came to know still other things than what they taught me. i began to consider the whole proposition of secret service, and before relating my first important mission for germany i shall tell you some of the general secrets of the system. there are four systems of secret service in europe, the four leading powers each possessing one. first in systematic efficiency is the german, next comes the russian, then the french, and english. england has a very efficient service in india and her asiatic possessions, but has only lately entered the european field. last but not least comes the international secret service bureau with headquarters in belgium, a semi-private concern which procures reliable information for anyone who will pay for it. this service is generally entrusted with the procuring of technical details, such as the plans of a new kind of gun or data on a new and minor fortification. mr. vance thompson has also cited special missions like this one that follows. not often does the chance come to leave the regular channels of espionage and go forth upon a mission out of the ordinary. that chance came a few years ago to the russian agents in brussels. in st. petersburg the chiefs were desirous of knowing the identity and names of a group of revolutionists who had formed a sort of colony in montreux, switzerland. a french woman, known sometimes as theresa prevost (the last i heard of her she was in prison) was detailed to the mission. young and clever was theresa; likewise the man who was ordered to accompany her, posing as a "brother," charles prevost. the chief of these russian fugitives, who were down around the lake of geneva, brewing their dark plans, was known. he was goluckoffsky, and he had a son twenty-two years of age--an impressionable russian son. hence the young and pretty theresa. it was decided by her brussels chiefs that she assume the role of an heiress from canada. five thousand francs for preliminary expenses were handed over to her and with charles, the brother, she descended upon montreux. if you were there at the time you will recall the social triumph made by the young canadian heiress. you may even remember that she seemed to be infatuated with the young impressionable son of old goluckoffsky. the day long they were together. they were going to be married, and charles prevost the "brother," stood in the background, chatted amiably with old goluckoffsky and his friends and smiled. then as an heiress should, theresa and her "brother" invited goluckoffsky, his family and friends, to a pre-nuptial luncheon. no expense was spared, for the wires had moaned with requests sent to brussels for money. young goluckoffsky was delighted with his fiancée. she was insistent that _all_ his friends should be there, all the revolutionaries--although of course his dear theresa did not know that. how the spelling of their names puzzled her. with gay heart young goluckoffsky wrote out all their names on a slip of paper so she could send their invitations properly--the names st. petersburg wanted to know. came the day of the luncheon, a gala affair in the banquet room of the hotel. theresa looked charming; even the grimmest of the old revolutionists were taken with her. old goluckoffsky beamed upon this sparkling febrile woman, rich too, who was to marry his son. ices had been served when theresa, her pretty face in smiles, declared that she had a surprise for her guests. to her it was the day of days. what better than a group photograph of her dear and new friends? how she would treasure it! strangely enough this did not please the guests. photographs were dangerous. suppose, in some way, the _okrana_ got hold of them. they breathed easier, though, when theresa, calling in the photographer--the best in lausanne, she assured them--instructed him to deliver all copies to mr. goluckoffsky, her dear father-in-law to be. so the revolutionists grouped themselves on the hotel lawn; the photographer pressed the bulb; and everybody laughed. as quickly as the photographer could print his proofs they were delivered to theresa; that night she and her "brother" left montreux. in two days the names of all the revolutionists in young goluckoffsky's handwriting and their pictures were delivered to the chief in brussels. a substantial fee was paid theresa, besides, and she must have smiled; some of those young russians are delightful. so much for an example of the clever work done by brussels. the german service, in which i served on and off for twelve years, has three distinct branches--the army, navy and personal, each branch having its own chief and its own corps of men and women agents. the army and navy division is controlled by the general staff of berlin (grosser general stabe), the most marvelous organization in the world. the political and personal branch is controlled from the wilhelmstrasse, the german foreign office, the emperor in person, or his immediate privy councilor. the army and navy divisions confine themselves to the procuring of hidden and secret information as regards armaments, plans, discoveries, etc. the political branch concerns itself with the supervision of meetings between potentates, cabinet ministers and so forth. the personal branch, under the direct control of the privy councilor, is used by the emperor for his own special purposes and service in this branch is the _sine qua non_ of the service. the personal consists of all classes of men and women. princes and counts, lawyers and doctors, actors and actresses, mondaines of the great world, demi-mondaines of the half world, waiters and porters, all are made use of as occasion arises. it may well happen that your interesting acquaintance in the salon of an express steamer or your charming companion in the tearoom of the ritz is the paid agent of some government. great singers, dancers and artists, especially of russian and austrian origin, are often spies. notably anna pavlowa, famous for light feet and nimble wit, said wit being retained by the russian government at , rubles per annum. when mlle. pavlowa travels in germany, she has the honor of a very unostentatious bodyguard, the government being anxious that nothing should happen to _them_. perhaps mademoiselle may remember a little incident at the palais de dance in berlin--anna _vs._ he of lichtenstein. or perhaps mademoiselle will recall a little episode in the eis arena in berlin during a certain new year's eve carnival when the restoration--not the loss--of her magnificent gold chatelaine bag caused her much embarrassment. the chatelaine in question being dexterously commandeered by an expert in such matters of the secret service squad. it happened that the personal branch of the german secret service was exceedingly interested in that gold bag. mademoiselle had been carrying on an affair with a young ordnance officer of the potsdam garrison. now the service does not like to see officers, especially those of the ordnance, becoming involved with ladies like the pavlowa. on this particular night he had presented her with the new bag and she had been injudicious enough to have kept in the golden receptacle a dangerously compromising letter that he had enclosed. injudicious, dear lady! corsage or stockings, mademoiselle; but vanity bags--never! i have reason to believe that the following incident cost the pavlowa a rather remunerative engagement in berlin. celebrating the coming of the new year, mademoiselle and her party were feasting in the ice arena. i happened to be at near-by table, and saw everything; as well as later hearing the inside of it. the gold chatelaine lay on the table at her elbow. upon observing its position, the waiter--a secret agent on the case--deliberately tipped over a champagne glass that stood within a few inches of the bag. of course, mademoiselle was worried lest the wine run over on her gown and while thus preoccupied, the waiter, stammering apologies, mopped up the table cloth with his serviette--mopped up the wine and cleverly covering the bag folded it in the napkin and hurried away. in two minutes he had opened it, abstracted the letter from the young ordnance officer; and was back, apologizing to the pavlowa. "your pardon, mademoiselle," he said, handing her the gold chatelaine." in my haste i picked up this bag by mistake. i suppose it is yours." with a slight start she said "yes," took the bag and hurriedly opening it felt for the letter. to her dismay it was gone. i saw her eyes narrow a little and then i marveled at time cleverness of the woman. "no," she suddenly said, "that is not my bag. i never saw it before. i advise you to find the owner." clever anna! you sacrificed the costly gift, but you went over the frontier just the same. the necessary qualifications of an agent vary of course with the class of work to be done. we can dismiss the waiter and porter class, as they never receive independent commands and work only under direct supervision on minor details without knowing why. the trusted agent handling important matters and documents must needs be a person of intelligence, tact and address. he must be a linguist and, above all, a man of resource and a close student of his fellow men. in the woman agent charm and tact, beauty and manners, _à la grande dame_, knowledge of the world and men are essential. the pay varies, but is always good. expenses are never questioned, the money being no object. for instance, i spent on a mission through the riviera , marks in fourteen days. my fixed salary towards the end was , marks a year, besides twenty marks a day living expenses when not at work, which was automatically tripled irrespective of expenses when out on work. besides, there is a bonus set out for each piece of work, the amount of which varies with the importance of the case in hand. i received as much as , marks ($ , ) for a single mission performed successfully. the risks are great, so are the rewards--if successful. if not, then one pays the usual price of failures, in this case only more so. for in the event of disaster no official help or protection could or would be granted and quarter is neither asked nor given. the work is interesting and fascinating to those of an adventurous turn of mind and not overly nervous about their health or squeamish in regards to established ethics. i would not suggest the secret service as a means of livelihood for a nervous person. at times it is arduous and strenuous work and mostly undertaken by men and women who fear neither man nor devil. it is not compatible to longevity. as a rule, the constant strain of being on the _qui vive_, playing a lone hand against the most powerful influences often unknown, having one's plans upset at the last moment and continually pitting one's own brain against some of the acutest and shrewdest minds of the world, the knowledge that the slightest blunder means loss of liberty, often of life, is wearing, to say the least. i have known men and women, courageous to a degree, who have broken dowm under the strain; sooner or later one is bound to succumb. i have known of a dozen men and women who have mysteriously disappeared, "dropped out of sight," caught or killed--_not always by their opponents_. to cite but two cases, one of a woman, the other of a man. olga bruder was a spy. she worked for germany and for the service bureau in brussels. a few years ago it was announced in the european newspapers that a woman known as olga bruder had committed suicide in a hotel at memel on the russian border. fraulein bruder had been sent after the plans of a russian fort. in berlin they learned that she had obtained them, but becoming involved in a love affair with a russian officer was holding them out, planning to restore them to him. also, contrary to the service regulations, she knew four foreign agents well. later reports from danzig revealed the fact that she had become enamored with a sectional chief of the russian service and that she was about to give up everything to him. so olga bruder committed suicide. _she was poisoned_. as for lieutenant von zastrov, an ex-army officer in the german secret service, he was killed in a duel. zastrov was suspected of flirting with russian agents--only suspected. he knew too much to be imprisoned. he was a civilian and under the german law entitled to a public hearing. had he still been a military man, a secret tribunal would have been possible, but being the scion of an old aristocratic house and knowing official secrets, it was not wise to put him in against the regular machinery of elimination. so zastrov was challenged to a duel. he killed the first man the service chiefs sent against him, yet no sooner was that duel over than he was challenged again. in half an hour zastrov was dead. yes, your own employers often think it advisable at times to eliminate a too clever or knowing member of their service, unless that same member has procured for himself a solid good "life insurance" in the nature of documentary evidence of such character that to meddle with him brings danger of disclosure. of late there have been no attempts on my life. chapter iii. into the east reclining in my deck chair on the n. d. l. liner _bayern_, bound for singapore, i was smoking a pipe and idly speculating. i had cultivated the acquaintance of my table neighbor, a japanese, baron huraki, and was at the moment, expecting him to come up the companionway and take his place in his deck chair beside me. instead came two officers of the second siberian rifles, strolling along the deck. it was obvious that, although it still lacked three hours of noon, these gentlemen had been quite frequently to the shrine of bacchus. i had no fault to find with that, as long as they did not interfere with my own personal comfort. when they began tacking along, talking at the top of their voices on that part of the deck known by experienced travelers to be reserved for repose and reading, however, they began to irritate me. when one of them threw himself into the baron's chair and displayed that beastly annoying habit of continually wriggling and creaking the chair, meanwhile shouting to his companion at the top of his lungs, i lost all patience. it only needed baron huraki's appearance and quiet request for the evacuation of his deck chair, and the insolent stare and non-compliance of the russian, to make me chip in with: "damn it, sir! you don't own the whole world yet." i went on in terse military german which eighty per cent. of all russian officers know and the trend of which is never misunderstood. i pointed out that any further encroaching would be resented in a most drastic and sudden manner. the usual farcical exchange of cards, permitting all sorts of bluffs, does not impress a russian, but the imminent chance of blows from fists does. a pair of astonished bulging eyes, a muttered apology and quietness reigned. with a mild smile baron huraki dropped into his chair, but i did not like the expression in his eyes. knowing the prowess of the baron as an exponent of his national system of self-defense (i had seen him harmlessly toss about the biggest sailor on the _bayern_, the chief butcher, who was as strong as an ox), i said: "it's a wonder to me, baron, that you didn't throw that boor half way across the deck." i shall never forget his answer. "we of the samurai never fight when there is nothing behind it. it is not the time." i did not like the expression in his eyes. all this transpired because i was on the road to singapore, away from berlin, on my first important mission in the german secret service. the intelligence department had instructed me to ascertain the extent of the new docks and fortifications in course of completion in the straits settlements--an assignment calling for exact topographical data, photographs and plans. leaving port, i had found the _bayern_ comfortably crowded. in the east war clouds were gathering and among the passengers were a number of japanese called home, as i afterwards learned, for the impending struggle. at port said we had taken on a russian contingent, quite a few of whom were officers bound for port arthur, dalny and vladivostock, and in view of the gathering conflict i found the relative conduct and bearing of representatives of these races that were soon to clash, vastly interesting. and after my experience with the russians, i was to know more. from that time on, i began to notice a subtle change in baron huraki's attitude toward me. quite of his own accord he discussed with me the customs, ideals and aspirations of his caste and country. wrapped in a shuai kimono, his gift to me, we spent many hot and otherwise tedious nights, sprawled in our deck chairs, discussing unreservedly the questions of the east. what i learned then and the insight i got into the aims and character of nippon, were invaluable to me. baron huraki, now high in the services of the mikado, is my friend still. once a year he sends me _shuraino-ariki_, a wonderful spray of cherry blossoms, the japanese symbol of rejuvenating friendship. a secret service agent, although making no friends or acquaintances, always makes it his business to converse with and study his fellow travelers. following my usual habit, i went out of my way to cultivate the acquaintance of the japanese, particularly huraki. a scholar of no mean attainments was the baron. quietly, without being didactic, he upheld his end in most discussions on applied sciences or philosophic arguments, putting forth his deep knowledge in an unobtrusive way. i found this trait to be an invariable rule with most of the japanese with whom i came in contact. once or twice during our lengthy and pleasant chats i tried to veer the subject round to the all-engrossing eastern question, only to be met with the maddening bland smile of the east. i was rather inexperienced in the fathomless, undefinable ways of the orient, but on the _bayern_ i learned rapidly the truths that western methods and strategy are absolutely useless against the impenetrable stoicism of an asiatic and that only personal regard and obligation on their part will produce results. in striking contrast to the japanese, small and sinewy, any two of them weighing no more than one russian, quiet, taciturn, genial and abstemious, were the children of the "little white father." the russians were an aggressive, big, well set up, heavy type of men, by no means teetotalers, talkative, with overbearing swagger, always posing, talking contemptuously about the possible struggle in the east, invariably referring to the japanese as "little monkey men." fortunate for me was it that the _bayern_ was carrying both russians and japanese; the knowledge i acquired from baron huraki of the asiatics was invaluable in singapore; what i learned of russians, i needed at port arthur. but i am anticipating my narrative. arriving in singapore, i put up at the hotel de la paix on the marine parade. i posed as an ordinary tourist with a leaning toward hunting and a fad of doing research work in tropical botany. i gradually became acquainted with a number of english officers and was introduced at their clubs. the information obtained through these channels about the new naval base was merely theoretical and i soon found that to obtain practical results i would have to get in touch with the native clerks. in the english eastern possessions, you see, most clerical and minor mechanical positions are held by natives. it soon was brought home to me, though, that this cultivating natives was by no means easy and a rather dangerous thing to do. to be in any way successful, i had to find a native of a higher caste, one with sufficient influence to command the clerks. if i could get hold of one of the numerable discontented petty rajahs, for instance, there might be a chance of obtaining what i sought. in one of the clubs, i found a clue. a young rajah, one of the numerous coterie of petty princes--fair play compels me to withhold his name--had got himself into some trouble and the paternal government had promptly suspended his income. here was my chance. i soon ascertained young rajah's haunts and made it my business to frequent them. one day i found him on the veranda of the marine hotel and asked him for a match, making a return compliment of a cigarette. this was a procedure against established british social usage in the east, where it is considered _infra dig_ to meet a native on a social footing. herein lies a grave danger to english colonial policy. your semi-european educated native, having partly absorbed european manners, resents this subordination and ostracism. so, with this high-spirited, rather clever young rajah. i accepted his invitation to whiskey "pegs" and subsequent dinner at his bungalow. one visit led to another and we were soon rather intimate. the young rajah, having the usual native taste for luxury well developed and his income stopped, i became of some monetary assistance to him. also, judiciously fostering his discontent against the government, i soon had him in a desired frame of mind. through his influence on the native clerks, i was able to gain all the plans, data and photographs of england's new naval base in the straits settlement. by this time my close association with this notorious young rajah was marked and i found it advisable to pull up stakes, which i did in short order, arranging passage on the n. d. l. liner _sachsen_, homeward bound. having a week to spare and finding that by leaving the _sachsen_ at colombo, i could catch the _prinz regent leopold_ of the same line, coming up from australia en route for europe, i had my ticket transferred. this would give me a ten-day vacation in ceylon, where i had a number of acquaintances, having hunted there during my early travels. accordingly, at colombo i put up at the galle face hotel, and the first man i met was allan macgregor, one of lipton's tea estate managers, in kandy and newara elya. macgregor and i were old pals, having done much hunting and bridge playing in days gone by. i planned to spend a week with him and go after some leopards. by the by, i'd like to see the macgregor's face when he learns that his quondam friend and boon companion was an international spy! "dinna get sair, mac. you're no the only chiel what'll tak a wee surprise." i was just arranging a hunting trip with macgregor when bill peters, manager of the hotel, another old acquaintance, handed me a cable knocking all my plans to bits. it was a cipher message from captain von tappken, and shortly i was again on the high sea, bound not for home, but for port arthur. my orders were to ascertain how far the port arthur fortifications were completed and to report on the general conditions as i found them. i wondered not a little at this mission, as i could not then see what close interest germany could have in a possible war between russia and japan. also, i by no means relished the assignment, for it was a perilous business and i judged the russians to be extremely suspicious--which i afterwards learned they were not. i decided to travel under the cloak of a doctor of natural history and botany, my medical training giving me the necessary knowledge to impersonate the character. the reader will understand that if doctor franz von cannitz is subsequently mentioned, it refers to me. almost everybody, especially my government, knew that war between russia and japan was inevitable. i say, all, except russia. to make this situation clear, let me hark back a little. japan, beating china in the war of , took and occupied port arthur. japan later, compelled by hostile demonstrations on the part of russia backed up by france and germany, restored port arthur to china. note the holding aloof of england here. the actual text of the ultimatum delivered was that the possession of ceded territory by japan would be detrimental to the lasting peace of the orient. japan was bitterly humiliated and an asiatic never forgets or forgives. japan bided her time. russia's duplicity in the boxer campaign, and her seizure of port arthur, gave japan the needed _casus belli_. result, the russian-japanese war. arriving in port arthur, i established myself at the hotel l'europe and with prospecting spade, botanical trowel and butterfly net, i sallied forth around the hills of port arthur. the first thing which struck me was the enormous number of chinese and chunshuses (bad coolies) employed everywhere. i came to know that they were not all chinese coolies and that almost every tenth man was a disguised japanese. to an observer, trained in the facial characteristics of the oriental, it was not difficult to pick out the japanese from the mass of coolies. they fairly swarmed in port arthur right under the very noses of the russians. as baron huraki had told me during our passage on the _bayern_, his countrymen were actually employed in the building of the port arthur defenses! these japanese w ere later able to give invaluable information in directing the japanese batteries. numerous other alleged coolies were acting as servants to russian officers. i also found that on the lioa teah shan railway and at pidgeon bay the very porters were japanese. in fact, the entire russian stronghold was infested with them. this carelessness, lack of knowledge or suspicion, with a total lack of belief on the part of the russian officers, that the "little monkey men" would ever dare attack, is in my opinion the chief cause of the comparatively quick fall of port arthur. for even with the incompleted defenses the place was tremendously strong. everywhere i could see the most elaborate plans incomplete. for instance, as i wandered through the hills seeking my botanical specimens, i found that the chain of forts on the hills of the quang tong peninsula south and west of dalny, were totally unfinished and that the kuan ling section of the port arthur and dalny railway was not even adequately protected from capture by a hostile force. the lack of adequate supervision and the general slovenliness prevailing made it easy for me to go about unchallenged. i mixed freely with officers and men. the expenditure of a few rubles on _vodka_, in the case of the men, and the never-rejected invitation on the part of most officers to join in a jamboree, made me a very popular figure indeed. through them i learned that the provisions of port arthur were in a most deplorable state. to use but one instance: out of , , pounds of flour, nearly one-half was bad with sour cords, which caused part of the enormous amount of sickness even then prevailing in the port arthur garrison. during the war forty-five per cent. of the troops were incapacitated because of unsanitary food. i found , pounds of maize were wormy and over , pounds of corned beef were putrid. women and wine, however, abounded. never in any place--and i know all the gayest and fastest places on earth--have i seen, comparatively speaking, such an enormous amount of wine in stock, or such a number of demi-mondaines assembled. most of the officers had private harems. i often sat in the casino and watched the officers of the first tomsk regiment, the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth siberian rides practicing with their newly supplied mauser-pistols on tables loaded with bottles containing the most costly vintage wines and cognacs. at such times the place literally ran ankle deep in wine. there were over sixty gambling houses and dancing halls supporting more than a thousand _filles de joie_. in fact, the general intemperance was such that on the night of admiral togo's attack more than half the complement of the russian fleet was ashore, dead drunk, in honor of one of the tutelary russian saints. the harbor defenses comprising submarine mines and searchlight stations, etc., i found to be in the worst condition. in pottering around, i visited many of the switchboard stations controlling the submarine mine fields. everywhere the eye met evidences of defective work--rusty contacts, open insulations and exposed connections. there were carelessly exposed buoys betraying to the naked eye supposedly invisible submarine mines. the whole mine field was so badly laid that the japanese were subsequently able to drag and explode three out of every five mines. this explains the astounding fact that during admiral togo's five dashes, some of them lasting thirty-six hours, all that he lost from torpedoes and mines was one ship, the _hatsuse_, which struck a floating mine. i did a great deal of investigating the composition and geological formation of the ground surrounding port arthur. i found most of the ground consisting of loose layers of lava scoriæ. the comparative easy capture of the otherwise immensely strong metre hill did not surprise me. the texture of the ground, besides having a deadening effect on shell fire, made the approach to the forts by means of parallels surprisingly easy. the japanese, by the way, also knew this peculiarity of the ground and used it to great advantage in their advances. i also found the forts on and metre hills as well as the north fort of east rekwan in an incompleted state. the commander of the forts, general smyrnoff, was using strenuous efforts to complete the work, but the personal animosity of general krondrachinko, the commander of the general defenses, vetoed most of his suggestions. the vast sums of money which the russian central government appropriated for the fortification of port arthur, honestly used, would have made the place completely impregnable. it is not too much to say--and this will be borne out by any trained observer and student of the conditions then existing in and around port arthur--that sixty per cent. of the money for defense purposes disappeared mysteriously. all the russian officers, however, were not grafters and drunken libertines. among them i did find men of alert and earnest character who were quite aware of the frightful conditions existing, but who were so used to them right through russia that they viewed things with true slavonic composure. i even found the searchlight stations back on the hills to be in a deplorable state. indeed, on the night of togo's second attack on port arthur the power plant was out of order and the searchlights which should have flooded the harbor with light were dark. the plant was subsequently repaired under enormous difficulties and cost, but of no avail. coolie spies had procured the exact location of the power house and searchlight stations and thus aided, the japanese gunners riddled them with shell. a great deal has been said about the wonderful marksmanship of the japanese, but for the most part it was due to data on exact distances and locations, furnished by their spies. although the officers were a careless, thoughtless lot, i found that the personnel of the garrison contained, on the whole, a good type of russian soldier. they were not brilliant but faithful and obedient. a russian regiment is never routed. they stand and are killed, being too stolid to run. i found most of the officers of port arthur to be brilliant dashing men of the world, personally of high animal courage, but self-indulgence, neglect, disbelief in hostilities and underestimation of their foe, undermined them. among the high officials at port arthur, colonel reiss, commander of the ordnance service, stood out alone. he was the only officer, not excepting general stoessel himself, who seemed to realize the gravity of the whole situation. in long chats which i had with him, he more than hinted at the lamentable state of his ammunition. once i asked him why these conditions were not changed and he said: "the little father (the czar) is far away,"--he shrugged expressively. officers told me that tons and tons of ammunition bags did not contain full weight. whole ammunition trucks had only a double layer of powder bags on top, the rest containing sand bags to be used only for bastions and escarpions, the money flowing into the pockets of the army contractors. i met general stoessel at the casino twice, and neither time did he impress me as a military genius. a soldier of the buller type, he was bluff, hearty, courageous and stupid. his florid bearded face, thick-set figure and his deep guttural growls reminded me of a boer _dopper_. among all the russians i met at port arthur, the most interesting figure was to me the great battle painter verestshagin. i am proud to be able to say that he called me "friend." i happened to be of some assistance to him in alleviating an attack of malaria. this, with a similar taste in the arts and literature, soon put us on a friendly and intimate footing. i have met many men of letters, artists and statesmen, but never one who impressed me so much with the profundity of his learning and thought as did verestshagin, and i am not easily impressed. one night we were sitting on the casino veranda overlooking the wonderful harbor of port arthur. it was one of those quiet, balmy, semi-tropical nights for which this part of the world is famous, one of those crystal, clear, soundless nights, and the silhouettes of russia's grim silent battle monsters riding at anchor were sharply outlined on the moonlit waters of the bay. we were smoking our pipes, having just finished a long chat about the history of these regions--the old manchu and tartar dynasties, how far they had influenced and still influence the history of the world, the _volker-wanderung_--of the huns, the goths, and vandals--a subject on which verestshagin disclosed a deep store of knowledge. as the night was far advanced, i suggested that i had probably trespassed long enough on his kindness and hospitality. he turned around in his chair and placing his hand on my shoulder said in his soft deep voice: "no, doctor cannitz, you are doing me a service instead. i am restless to-night. i have a curious presentiment that before long these lovely hills will hear the roar of guns in earnest." dreamily speaking as if to himself he continued, "and russia will lose . . . but i shall not see it." abruptly he looked up, sat erect in his chair and shook himself as if throwing off something that oppressed him. "do you believe in premonition. doctor? i know i shall find my death here soon." an indescribable shuddery sensation seemed to pass over me. i am by no means sentimental or easily moved, nor am i overly superstitious; but i have encountered one or two things in the course of my life which cannot be explained by rule and line. throwing off my sudden strange mood, i told verestshagin that his morbid fancies were due to his still feverish condition, and the depressing effect of over-doses of sulphate of quinine. he rose and smiled, and said: "of course you are right, doctor." before parting, he gave me a little sketch of port arthur which i have still. i keep it as a treasured memento of one of the few really good men i have met, and one of the few from whom i had been able to part without harming. verestshagin's premonition was fulfilled. he died--a hero's death, going down with admiral marakoff on the flagship of the russian squadron six weeks later. i remained at port arthur for another five weeks, and exactly seven days before togo's first night attack i received a cable from my government. it was in cipher, of course, and i was ordered to leave port arthur immediately and make my way home as there was danger of my being bottled up at any minute. it is significant that in the intelligence department at berlin they knew an attack was imminent, although they did not know it at port arthur. furthermore, russian securities dropped eighteen points on the new york stock exchange, hours before the official knowledge of the attack came through. this information leaked out through the german embassy in washington. seven days after i left, togo made the torpedo attack in which he sank the _czarevitch_, _retvitsan_ and _palada_. before i took the steamer back to europe, i went to kiou-chau, the german colony in china, and filed a long report by cipher cable. six months later i had the satisfaction of having a talk with numerous officers of the german general staff and of receiving compliments on the correctness of my observations, reports and predictions. later i learned the reasons why i had been sent to port arthur. germany desired to ascertain the exact relative strength of the port arthur defenses and russian positions in the far east for the following reasons: since the time of frederick the great, the only power on the continent which germany has feared and has always been loath openly to quarrel with, is russia. through the setback she received in the far east in , her influence steadily decreased in the balkans and the recent fiasco of russian machinations during the balkan war, has made her become a secondary factor for decades to come. germany, through her keen intelligence department, foresaw the result of the russo-japanese conflict and immediately set about to undermine and destroy russian influence south of the austrian border. by russia's defeat in the east, the balance of the power was completely shifted. it gave germany and austria the desired opportunities and a free hand in the balkans and turkey. had germany through her intelligence department found russia invulnerable in the east, the map of the balkans would have to be painted in different colors--as you will see. chapter iv. at the sublime porte i was back in berlin from my mission to the far east on march , . the next four months were rather commonplace--odd little commissions of no particular interest or importance. on july the th, however, there came a hurried summons from captain von tappken for me to report at koenigergratzerstrasse . i lost no time in getting around, nor did i have to wait to be ushered up. i was shown direct to the captain's office and as he received me, i noticed that he was in a rather excited frame of mind. "verdammt! doctor! i am going to lose you. i am requested by the wilhelmstrasse to hand you over to them. very annoying. i do not like to lose you from our branch here. but we must obey." i expressed my regrets. "doctor, you are bettering yourself. it is seldom that they over there take any notice of us over here, or request the services of any of my men. but your work has attracted some attention. i shall request that your services are not entirely lost to this department. herr stammer will take you over. good-by and good luck!" he gave me a hearty handshake and my connection with the intelligence department of the imperial navy came to an end. stammer and i hailed a taxi and drove to the wilhelmstrasse, where the doorkeeper put me through an official ceremony similar to the procedure of koenigergratzerstrasse . stammer gave the commissaire his card and we were shown into a chamber and bidden to wait. i was frankly curious about what was in store for me, but i knew better by now than to ask questions. presently there entered a tall, thin, iron-gray gentleman, the very type of a prussian bureaucrat. walking with quick nervous steps to his desk he acknowledged our bows with a curt nod and turning to stammer he said: "well, stammer?" "this is dr. graver, your excellency." "ah, yes. sehr schön. convey my thanks to captain tappken, stammer." stammer then bowing himself out, i was asked to step into an anteroom. there a secretary took me in hand and informed me that the tall, thin, iron-gray gentleman was graf botho von wedel, wirklicher geheimrat and vortragender rab botho kaiser--(privy councilor to the german emperor). so--count wedel. h'm! although this was the first time i had seen the count, i had heard a great deal about him. the emperor's privy councilor and right hand was the head of the political sections of the secret service. this promised to be interesting. i wondered what the likely upshot would be, but i was interrupted in my soliloquy by a summons to reenter the count's chamber. i was shown to a seat. graf wedel looked me over carefully and minutely for a considerable length of time with a frank stare of appraisal. "how old are you, doctor?" i must confess my extreme youth always made this question one of secret annoyance. "twenty-five, your excellency." "very young, very young." he stared at me again and after a pause said: "yet the reports about your work are satisfactory and show discretion and intelligence above your years." i bowed in acknowledgment. "you will from now on," he said, "become attached to this section of the service. you will be trusted with some very grave and important matters. you will receive your orders and instructions only from me. you will report only to me direct. on no account will you see any subordinate or any person, no matter what his official status, without my expressed permission. verstehen sie?" "yes, sir." "for funds," he continued, "you will apply to my secretary. of your expenses you will furnish a monthly account. how soon can you be ready to go on a mission?" i told him in two hours. "good!" he exclaimed, "the sooner the better. this is what i want you to do. you will go at once to constantinople and find out which of the court officials are in french and russian pay. you will find out the favorites of the high officials and officers, especially the nationality of these women. i will not give you any points of introductions. they might lead you to be suspected. they are a crafty lot down there. be careful and take your time. you know nothing can be done in a hurry down in that country,"--he paused as if waiting for questions from me. we discussed a few minor points then he said: "your official number with us from now on will be . you will always use to sign personal cipher messages sent to me. you will use in signing official reports and communications." the necessary arrangements for my preliminary expenses were discussed with one of his secretaries and i then went back to my quarters to think over a plan of campaign and prepare myself for the mission. the transfer from captain tappken's department pleased me for i knew that at the wilhelmstrasse i would be in closer touch with the bigger affairs of diplomacy. tappken had hinted at my finding favor with the wilhelmstrasse and i guessed that coming on top of my port arthur success a delicate private mission was responsible for it. to cite the case: germany keeps a watch on all her officers. when one of them is spending more money than his income, he is promptly investigated. i recalled how they had sent me to the spandau garrison to inquire into the affairs of an officer who was too lavish with his money to suit the intelligence department. he was an ordnance officer in a small arms factory at spandau and it was the natural conclusion that he was obtaining this extra money by selling state secrets. i encountered, however, an entirely different situation. i learned that he was absolutely innocent on that score but that he was receiving money from a certain princess who had become infatuated with him. she was of a very high house and i realized that her name could not be mentioned in a report to captain tappken. this situation required delicate treatment. i solved the dilemma by reporting to tappken that the ordnance officer was guiltless of any act of treason against his country. i then made a private report, covering the intimate facts, which went direct to officials of higher responsibility. the princess' name did not appear as far as subordinates were concerned and the whole affair was hushed up. my fortunate discretion in this matter undoubtedly strengthened my standing with the wilhelmstrasse. by this time i had installed myself in quiet quarters on the mittelstrasse, and kim, who had been transformed from a basuto boy into an efficient man servant, looked after my comforts. to secure myself from the questions of prying neighbors, i had caused it to be known that i was a retired south african planter inclined to poor health. this was the most likely explanation for my curious mode of living and my sudden periodical disappearances, for i was away from the mittelstrasse for months at a time. presumably i was traveling about to the different watering places on the continent for my health. my mission to constantinople called for some considerable thought in selecting the most advisable character to impersonate. a tourist came first to mind. a tourist was out of the question, because tourists do not stay long in one place and i expected to be three or four months in turkey. there was nothing to study in constantinople. i thought of a student of botany, the rôle i had used at port arthur. but that would not do. the idea of a merchant came to me, but i dismissed the idea of a prosperous merchant, for it would necessitate making business connections, a careful and slow process, the fulfillment of which would consume entirely too much time. i finally decided to travel as a physician, or to use the turkish word a _hakim_. a _hakim_ is always accorded respect, even reverence, by turks and arabs. this character determined upon, i went to the telephone and requested the service intelligence department to give me letters of introduction to the german hospital and the pera hospital in constantinople. they were sent to me signed by the authorities of the charitee in berlin and described that i was going to study tropical and asiatic diseases and requested that the hospitals give me every facility for research work. i had kim pack a case of medical instruments and told him to have everything in readiness to leave berlin that night, on the orient express. he was necessary to my plans and was to accompany me. a messenger from wedel brought a few final verbal instructions, my funds and sealed instructions. i was bidden to keep away from all official german intercourse in constantinople. wedel might have saved himself the trouble of that word of caution for i knew enough of the subtle oriental mind to keep away from anything that would raise the slightest suspicion in regard to my identity. if i pride myself on anything, it is a knowledge of eastern character. with the instructions were a thousand marks cash and a draft for marks on the ottoman bank of constantinople that had been deposited in my name. it may strike the reader as curious that i took kim with me, but i knew he could be of tremendous use to me in constantinople. in addition to speaking his _kaffir_ dialects, he knew arabic. any negro boy who could speak arabic could learn almost anything in constantinople, which abounds in black men of all tribes and nationalities. among the servants of every household, kim would find many compatriots from whom he could get information, impossible for any european to obtain. after an uneventful trip to constantinople, i took preliminary quarters in the brasserie kor, a quiet, second-rate hostelry on the rue osmanly. i went to an unpretentious place to avoid attracting any particular attention. had i put up at an expensive hotel there would immediate]y bave been queries about me. who is this stranger? he seems to have money. if it isn't his money, whose money is he spending? it is not well to invite a turk's suspicion. as i was totally unacquainted with constantinople, i used the first week for getting familiar with the geography of the city. it was necessary that i learn the location of the various legations and the residences of high court officials. the next week i found lodgings in the very center of the district of court residences and began to seek out the haunts and places of rendezvous of demi-mondaines, favorites and hangers-on of the turkish officials. on the second day of my arrival, i had presented my credentials and letters at the german pera hospital, and had my name entered as a visiting honorary surgeon. every day thereafter, rain or shine, i made it a point to spend some time at these hospitals, and it was well that i did. once a day and often twice i would sign the book at the hospital and i believe that the signature dr. franz von graver appears on the record books of the pera and german hospitals in constantinople, at least one hundred times. was i not fulfilling my duties as a physician doing research work? i finally located myself in the residential district of pera where i rented a small residence, typical of the well-to-do turk of the middle class and quite in keeping with my assumed character. an elaborate residence would have aroused immediate suspicion, for there is no country on earth where curiosity and suspicion is so easily roused as in turkey. kipling, who knows the east so well, portrayed port said as the dwelling place of concentrated wickedness. he is right, but i do not think he has ever visited stamboul. in stamboul there is with no exception the most conglomerate mixture of nondescript nationalities on the face of the earth. not only are all nationalities represented but breeds of men that defy all pathological research, hideous in their conglomerate intermixtures. if an albanian bandit, himself a mixture of greek and nubian mulatto, has issue by an arab woman with french blood--find the genealogy. can you imagine a more difficult field of operations for an occidental and a stranger? in the course of my preliminary observations, i found constantinople to be a city of sharp contrasts. the quarters inhabited by your true ottoman are characteristically clean and comfortable. the remainder of the city except foreign quarters is intolerably dirty. with true oriental tolerance, the turk lets things gang their ain gait. the casual observer and traveler always confounds the turk with the rest of the nondescript mass of humanity that swarms in constantinople. that is a crass mistake. your true descendant of ossman is a clean, dignified, easy-going gentleman with a deep philosophical strain in his make-up, contaminated by hundreds of years of contact--not association, for your true turk does not associate--with the outcast mischling of southern europe and asia minor. my mission was indeed a difficult one and only by tedious, painstaking work, observing the life of the city and its character, i succeeded in isolating the individual who gave me the key to the circumventuous political life and the government of constantinople. it took me a full month of night work to become familiar with the innumerable demi-mondaines. they were of french, russian and circassian birth and extraction, and were identified with the various turkish court officials from the grand vizier down to an officer in the ganitsharies. this preliminary work is always exhausting, but it is so necessary on a mission of this kind. one blunder, one step in the dark, and you are gone. one spends months without any tangible results, often going on the wrong track. one has to be excruciatingly circumspect in one's inquiries. to use a hunter's expression, there is no quarry so wary, sharp-sighted and keen at smelling the wind as a political demi-mondaine. in this work kim was of inestimable value to me. in fact, without him i would not have succeeded at all. all the households kept by the turkish officials and their favorites swarm with negroes of the various types. a white man has not the slightest chance of finding the way into their confidences. the universal golden key does not unloose tongues in such cases in the orient. but kim as a member of the once mighty zulu nation (he was really a descendant of a prince of the house of dingnan) was able, through a mysterious free masonry still existing among colored races the world over, to obtain most valuable information. my method of campaign was to ascertain the name of one of the favorites of the turkish officials, to locate her residence and then put kim to work. finally locating one of these women, i would manage to learn her name and where she lived. then it was time for kim. "kim," i said, "i want you to find out who comes to see her, whether it is always the same official and if so, how frequently. i want you to learn everything you can about any letters she may receive. i want to know just where she gets her money from, if she has any outside sources of revenue, other than in constantinople. i want every scrap of any kind of information about her." and kim would go his way, seek out the servants in that household and he would generally come back with all this information. now i noticed that a certain mlle. balniaux was very much in the company of abdulla, who was at that time the influential adviser of the grand vizier. it was known in berlin that the grand vizier had lately become very deaf and antagonistic to german influence. the wilhelmstrasse knew that france and russia were at work, but were in the dark as to the channels. therefore i sent kim to ascertain if mlle. balniaux was visited by abdulla at her private residence. i told him to learn the exact hour of arrival in each instance and the length of the visits. the bare fact that abdulla might be seen in her company in public bore no particular significance. these women are always accompanied by a whole retinue of officers and young turkish noblemen. it is part of their work. their method of procedure is to bewitch young officers and officials, attach them to their person, make them spend huge sums of money and then play their card. i noticed that the money turkish officers squandered on these women compared to their pay and income was tremendous. they think nothing of going ahead blindly and buying the most expensive jewels; i have seen them even buy motorcars. the result is not difficult to forecast. the young officer soon finds himself head over heels in debt. two courses are open to him. either he must pay the debt or be transferred to some dreary interior post, and a turk who has been in the gay life of constantinople would rather commit suicide than go to any inland garrison. those women then pay the debts, exacting state secrets as the price of their timely assistance. abdulla, therefore, might only be one of these hangers-on. kim established connections with mlle. balniaux's household and soon i had the required information. he brought me letters and scraps of paper that mlle. balniaux's dark skinned servants had stolen for him. he supplemented this by conversations that the servants had overheard and told to kim. all this showed me that more by good luck i had stumbled upon the hotbed of the prime mover of the whole intrigue, mlle. balniaux. there was not the slightest hope of intimidating or buying over this particular lady's allegiance. i had to learn exactly who was subsidizing her machinations and there was no possibility of obtaining the clew from her. i must find the accessible person among her intimate friends. from time to time i had seen her with a pretty little dark-haired girl who danced in the folies arabic. i learned her name was cecelia coursan. i began to frequent the folies, a kind of cabaret crowded every night with turkish officers. admiration was no longer a delight to her and she accepted it with a wooden smile. the folies is quite dissimilar from its european or american prototypes, by reason of its oriental atmosphere. most of the year round it is conducted in the open. picture a large court, the center of which is covered with a priceless smyrna carpet. seated around on little divans and silk cushions are the principal native performers, neulah girls wearing the teasing yamashk, covering half their faces although the rest of their figures are visible through gauzy damascene shawls. the european performers, dressed in the latest and most startling paris creations, flirt and flitter among the audience--seated round on dainty marble-topped bamboo tables, inhaling, in the case of madame, a dainty "regie," or if bey or effendi, a tshibuk or narghile, gravely drawing on the amber mouthpiece and slowly exhaling the perfumed smoke. the gorgeous officers' uniforms, mostly a vivid red, blue and gold; the picturesque flowing robes and burnouses, with here and there a six-foot stalwart silk trousered albanian with gold and silver inlaid daggers and pistols thrust in his sash, make a picture reminding one of the sheherezade. observing that everybody was bent on spoiling this popular little houri by emphatic admiration, i made myself conspicuous by a peculiarly british stony indifference. nor was i wrong in my tactics. the piqued little dancer was not to be ignored. one night she approached my table and challenged me in french, at which i gave a noncommittal smile. i pretended that i did not know french. then she tried indifferent german and i looked at her with puzzled blankness. finally she spoke to me in a piquant english and i answered. she spoke english extremely well and it developed that she had been a choriphyée at the london empire. i let the acquaintance grow leisurely. one night i found her in a fit of despondency, over a quarrel with her friend, mlle. balniaux. my subterfuge getting effective, i was just beginning to ply her with questions when a turkish officer full of cognac wandered by and dropped a remark to her in french. it went against the grain for those swine to cast innuendoes to a white woman and forgetting my play acting, i told him his comments were uncalled for and advised him to draw in his horns a bit. after a little bluster to which i angrily replied in french, he disappeared, and, as i sat down at the table, cecelia was looking at me with a queer smile. "i thought you did not understand french," she said. "i observe you have a pretty good parisian accent." then the full significance of my blunder came to me and i felt like the classic capricornus, meaning goat. she said she was tired of the folies that night and suggested a drive. i called a careta and as we were driving down the boulevard i said to her: "is this existence always pleasant? is it not as it was with that officer, often unendurable?" she replied in a bantering tone, only half hiding a hurt undernote. "i'm getting used to it," she said. "a turkish pig is no worse than an english cad or a german boor." the typical, philandering broadway or bond street masher makes the physiological mistake of undervaluing the innate sense of decency inherent in every woman. gentle courtesy and manners impress a courtesan by reason of the novelty. the inverse is often useful in dealing with a pampered society woman. much to the annoyance of the turkish officers, i often thereafter took the pretty cecelia away from the folies, after her performance, for a drive, and i began to compare her small confidences with certain bits of information that kim had given me. i knew, or i could pretty well guess, that she was not staying in constantinople, enduring the insults of those turkish officers, simply for the money she could earn as a dancer. then i made my second dramatic play for confidence. i suddenly stopped going to the folies. i suppose it was rather lonesome in constantinople and a man who was not a turk was a novelty. one afternoon she sent for me and i was confronted with a human situation which i must in this narrative of secret service operations treat as impersonal though it is full of pathetic implications. i found her with her luggage packed. "why haven't you come to the folies lately?" she demanded with a pretty air of bossing the situation. i told her my work at the hospital had made heavy inroads upon my time. "oh!" she began, tapping a little boot impatiently on the floor; after a pause, "i have to leave for paris. . . . well?" "that is most unfortunate." "is that all?" "to say anything more would only be painful, machere cecelia." "but there is no need of our being blue. why not make the occasion a happy one? why not come along to paris?" she looked up at me with an impudent little smile. "my dear little girl," i said, "i am no man of means and i cannot go gadding about europe. besides, i have my work here. i will be busy at the hospital for another month." that seemed to displease her. she looked at me carefully, unconsciously her manner changed. she became somewhat appraising. it seemed as though a different woman was speaking, "franz," she said, "a man like you is wasting his time pottering around a hospital with your evident knowledge of the world and people. with your education and travels you ought to be very valuable to certin men back in paris." i felt what was coming, but i asked her to explain. she did so and from her i received a tentative offer to enter the french secret service. i had difficulty in mastering the muscles of my face to keep from betraying the laughter that was almost ready to break out. very gravely i asked her to tell me more about secret service. proudly, cecelia showed me letters that she had received from paris. from the addresses and the signatures i thus learned the individuals in direct control of the system that was undermining german influence by using demi-mondaines such as mlle. balniaux. i gathered that cecelia coursan was only a go-between for mlle. balniaux in making her reports to the french government. i asked her some more questions, exclaiming that her proposal interested me tremendously. i pretended to be particularly anxious as to what pay i would receive were i to come to an understanding with "her friend in paris." she assured me it was liberal and urged me to hasten to paris. i told her that as soon as i finished my work at the hospitals i would do so. she then asked me to take charge of her mail and to forward any letters that might come for her. i did--to the wilhelmstrasse. that incident is one of those in my secret service work of which i am not entirely proud. of course from my viewpoint cecelia coursan was not a woman, she was simply the paid agent of another government and it was a case of her wits against mine; at least with this sophistry i quieted my doubts. three years later i found the same little woman in an obscure cafe in antwerp. she was no longer in the french service. i concluded that her blunder in constantinople had "broken" her, for she seemed to have gone down the ladder. she did not recognize me, but as she seemed to be in straitened circumstances, i found a way to assist her to at least three months' board and lodging by sending her anonymously francs. it was conscience money. when i had thus located and coupled up the chiefs of the french secret service with the situation in constantinople, i began quietly to cultivate the acquaintance of the average turkish officer. i had to learn the tendency of their thoughts. i met officers and merchants, administrators and students. from them all i learned that they were sick of the intrigues and wire-pulling of the harems. i learned of the discontent of the young turk party. i gathered that the time was ripe for an overturning of the government. in my report i made a correct forecast of the trend of affairs. i drew attention to enver bey, who was even then considered clever, even dangerous, by the grand vizier. as a most aggressive young turk, they had sent him to an obscure post in thessalonia, but upon sounding out the younger officers i found that he was still regarded highly. without doubt my reports in addition to the reports made by von der golz, the accredited german instructor of the turkish army, helped to shape the policy of the german foreign office. i learned beyond all doubt that the sultan abdul hamid was nothing but a figurehead, that the grand vizier, bought by russian and french gold, was running the government in a way that was antagonistic to german influences and that the swarms of demi-mondaines in french and russian pay were corrupting the higher turkish officials to their cause. all these things i included in my report and after four months i was back in berlin. to better understand the diplomatic significance of this mission, i shall recast the political situation. the modern german policy in the european orient, inaugurated by bismarck as a defense and check against russia, has always been keen on the friendship and good will of the turk for reasons which will be obvious enough later. during the caprivi chancellorship, the relation between the two empires became rather lax. wilhelm ii with his keen farsightedness set about to remedy this. in his usual spectacular, but in most cases efficient, manner, he went with his royal consort in state to palestine, calling first on the sultan. the tremendously enthusiastic reception that the moslem countries accorded him is a matter of contemporary history. this was really a master stroke of diplomacy although sharply criticised at the time. until the kaiser's visit, france, with more or less right, considered herself protector general of all mohammedans. from now on this began to change. the immediate result of the emperor's visit was a close understanding between the wilhelmstrasse and the sublime porte. the buying of vast quantities of guns, ammunition, and the influx of prussian officers and drilling instructions, besides huge orders of all sorts of german goods was significant. the always uneasy jealousy of france and russia was at once aroused, england, in this instance, not taking any decided stand in affairs. england had spent many lives and much money, notably in the crimean war, to keep russia out of turkey and was averse to encouraging russo-french influences at the sublime porte. how far england would like either germany or france to acquire control of the dardanelles remains to be seen. with russia, it has been bloody wars and grim struggles since the days of catherine, misnamed the great, to gaincontrol of the dardanelles. unceasing intrigues have been and are still going on in stamboul. russia's influence has been steadily undermined by germany, in turkey and asia minor. since the disastrous campaign against japan, russia has made strenuous efforts to recoup her sphere of influence through her coalition of the principal balkan states. of this you will learn later. germany, always including austria (the external policy of both countries on all these questions is synonymous), found french-russian influences at work. through their marvelous, efficient intelligence system, germany soon learned who were the prime movers and puppets; in this instance the grand vizier and the seraglio officers; the then sultan, abdul hammid, "the damned," being completely cowed and under the thumb of his grand vizier, could not be relied on for a moment. after my mission they knew in germany that the time was ripe for a radical change, and they engineered it. result: a revolution and the young turks in power, with enver bey, tuofick pasha, ibrahim mander bey and similar men, with german training and learning, directing affairs. germany regained complete sway and is to-day easily the most powerful influence in turkey. what significance this has on the general bearing of european politics, i shall discuss in a later chapter. chapter v. the grand duke's letter after a number of more or less strenuous missions, i felt thoroughly run down. during the boer war i had been shot through the left lung and now i began to experience trouble. a series of hemorrhages brought about by unchecked cold and exposure, led me to consult professor bayer, the noted specialist in berlin. he advised me to get away from everything for a month at least, recommending the pine ozone. there is no lack of pine forests in germany or norway; and i had plenty of acquaintances in both countries. to any one of them i would have been welcome, but this would have entailed social obligations and i wanted to be absolutely alone. there were but two of my friends at whose places i could do exactly as i wished, where man and beast knew me. one, whose place was in the pushta, hungary, was probably away on a hunting trip and hungary was too remote. the other, a schoolmate of mine, lived near furstenwalde, about fifty-eight kilometers from berlin. furstenwalde, i decided, was an ideal spot, near berlin, yet isolated enough and in the heart of one of the largest of the well-cared-for prussian domain forests. so ehrenkrug, the seat of the _koenigliche ober forsterei_ and the family seat of the freiherren von ehrenkrug, was the place i selected. i had enjoyed three weeks of rest and quietness, doing some desultory fishing and shooting but spending most of my time in a hammock slung under some of the giant fichten, when my sylvan idyl was disturbed by the red-faced, stub-nosed post boy of the forsterei. he brought me a letter from graf wedel, an astonishing missive. _dear graves:_ i hope your health has improved sufficiently for you to attend to this matter. be pleased to understand that this is by no means an official command. however, i need not point out to you the advantages, accruing to you through your assistance in the case. the matter briefly is this. i have been approached by the grand duke of mecklenburg-schwerein to assist him in the solving of a rather delicate private affair. it is outside the usual routine but we find it advisable to comply. the mission is delicate and leads into england, for which reasons i have decided to let you undertake the affair if willing. in case of acceptance, all necessary leave of absence will be arranged. this is not a command but let me again point out the advisability of your showing compliance. truly yours, v. wedel. three weeks in the pine forests had been better than all the physicians in berlin. besides, i was tired of the monotonous country life and was hungry for the fleshpots of egypt. between the lines of wedel's letter i could read the opportunities for earning a handsome fee. i wrote wedel that i had no objections, providing the mission was something i could accomplish, for i was still in the dark as to its nature. i knew that intruding into the private affairs of ducal and princely houses is often a most unthankful business. i have ever found it more satisfactory and less nerve racking to undertake a mission into some foreign country than to become involved with some petty local affair of royalty. for some such affair i judged to be the dilemma of the house of mecklenburg-schwerein. within two days there came another communication from wedel asking me to be at mecklenburg-schwerein on a certain immediate day. taking leave of my friends, and thanking them for their hospitality, i left for schwerein. upon my arrival at the seat of the dukedom i was met by a quiet landau of the grand ducal stables. two flunkies in the grand duke's livery took my luggage, escorted me to the carriage and i was driven up to the old castle. the landau took me to a side entrance and i was promptly shown into an austere and unpretentious chamber. scarcely had i entered when a quiet, elderly, benevolent-looking gentleman dressed in a shooting jacket appeared in another doorway, evidently much perturbed. i at once recognized him as the old grand duke of mecklenburg-schwerein. he appraised me for fully a minute; then as if to himself he said: "you're only a boy, but i suppose they know," shaking his great gray head. "strange times. strange times." then suddenly realizing his inhospitality, he urged me to be seated. "take a seat, take a seat." unlike the gentlemen of the wilhelmstrasse, he did not plunge immediately into the subject at hand. he began a chat with me about purely personal affairs. finally the conversation drifting around to the cause of my visit, he said: "can you fulfill this mission?" i told him i could not say until i had learned what it was. i requested that he give me the privilege of refusal should i find myself unable to negotiate it successfully. he agreed that it was fair and when he looked at me again he seemed to suggest that he did not believe me so young after all. "there's rather an unhappy and most inconvenient entanglement in my household," he began. "my nephew, the young grand duke, is tangled up and ensnarled with a certain lady in england whom he wishes to marry. it is unfortunate that she is of too high a social status to be entirely ignored or roughly bought off. still, she is not eligible for admission into our house. for more than political reasons, it is impossible that she enter into an alliance with us." his eyes flashed. "this lady has lately threatened to make trouble through my persistent refusal to countenance her desired relationship." he frowned. "she has in her possession compromising letters and documents which my nephew was foolish enough to give her. these must be returned to my hands. monetary questions need not be considered for a moment. pressure and influence have been tried on both my nephew and the lady. but of no avail. the means i leave to you. but force and publicity must at all cost be avoided. i can give you very little help as to procedure and information. what do you think of the chances?" it has ever been my way to he conservative in making promises and i said: "i hope your highness will pardon me, but i find it often undesirable to voice my thoughts until i have reached a certain stage of my investigations." this appeared to impress him and he rose saying: "i am entirely in your hands. communicate direct with my chamberlain, or if necessary to use cable, i shall arrange with your chief in berlin for forwarding facilities. be good enough to wait and i shall send you my secretary." slapping me on the shoulder, "you'll not regret it, helping us out of this quandary." neither did i. the grand duke stalked out. a flunky appeared and conducted me to a private little dining-room where cold game and wine were served and at the end of which the secretary came in and handed me an envelope with the grand duke's compliments and a request to start at once on my mission. assuring him i would be on the road that same night, i returned to berlin. i got stammer of the wilhelmstrasse on the telephone and requested a preliminary two months' leave of absence. i then caught the hook of holland express en route for london. upon opening the grand duke's letter i had found it contained three bank notes of marks each and a draft for pounds on the english, scottish and colonial bank, with a note saying that any future request would be honored at three days' notice to the same bank. thus i would have all the money i wanted in london. on the way over, i followed my usual custom and considered the situation in detail. the lady in question was in society and the first thing to do was to try to get in touch with the little circle or clique in which she moved. this might have been difficult in any other city but london. but a man of appearance, culture and money, setting his stage right, can with tact and persistence force an entry into any clique of london society. the only thing i had to worry about was a setting of my stage. i was undecided about it. one often has to leave things to circumstances, being guided by any momentary points that may arise. my first task was to create an impression, something that would get people talking about me. i did not want to show any sensational parvenuism; london is not impressed by that. rather, i must become known for some eccentricity that would arouse legitimate curiosity. your britisher, the women included, are always interested in a man of travel, a hunter, a desultory globe-trotter; and nothing attracts the english mind so quickly as a well-bred eccentricity in manner or habit. the broad lines of my plan determined upon, i left the precise setting of the stage until the last minute. i quartered myself at first at the russel square hotel, in a few days transferring to the patrician langham. i began by making tentative inquiries. i purchased all society papers which i read from cover to cover, and then carefully feeling my way put further questions that would locate the set in which my lady was a central figure. from acquaintances i made around the hotel, from the society reporters of newspapers, i began to get little scraps of information. fortunately it was the season in london and everybody was coming into town. i soon knew who the lady's intimates were and their favorite rendezvous. the next step was to become familiar with the personality of the lady and to gain some idea as to her habits, her likes and dislikes. i heard that the lady was in the habit of going horseback riding in hyde park. every day i made it my business to take a two-hour canter along the bridle path. my patience was rewarded on the fifth morning, for i saw her galloping by with a party of friends. the next morning i was on the bridle path at the same hour. finally she came galloping along with the same group, and after they had almost gone from sight, i galloped after them. i found out where they kept their horses and after they had dismounted i sauntered up to the stable and made inquiries. i learned that they always went out at the same time of day. thereafter i made it my business to pass the lady on the bridle path day after day. i pride myself on few things, but my horsemanship is one of them. many a hard tussle and bleeding nose i got riding brumbies across the wild tracks of australia. i also learned a trick or two among my tuareg friends which i exhibited for the lady's benefit on various occasions. i did not hope to gain an introduction, but only to attract attention and familiarize her party with my appearance, applying one of the test points of human psychology. i employed the theory of the subconscious attraction of an often-seen, though unknown face. i soon ascertained that my lady and her friends followed all the whims of london society. one in particular interested me. they were in the habit of frequenting carlton terrace between three and four every afternoon and eating strawberries. i also went to eat strawberries. carlton terrace during the strawberry season is an exquisitely colored fashion plate of life's butterflies and drones. this throng of fashion and beauty, marked with its air of distinction carelessly abandoned to pleasure, ever murmuring pleasant nothings and tossing light persiflage from table to table, is truly an interesting study of the lighter sides of life. one sits on a magnificent markee-covered, glass-enclosed terrace, overlooking the thames with its ever-changing scenes of fussy tugs and squat barges. at carlton terrace one pays well for the subtleties of eating. by courteous consideration of the waitresses i managed to secure a much-coveted outside corner table, near to the one reserved for the lady and her party. i always made it a point to withhold my entrance until the lady was in the terrace; then i would stroll in alone, take a seat alone, and show a desire to be alone. they have a very clever way of serving strawberries at the carlton. a vine, growing from ten to twelve large luscious berries is brought on in a silver pot. it is the acme of luxury. you pick the fresh berries from the vine on your table, the terrace supplies quantities of cream, and you pay half a sovereign--$ . --for a dish of strawberries. one dish is enough for the average customer. every afternoon i ordered five! day after day i consumed in strawberries two sovereigns and a half--$ . --of the grand duke of mecklenburg-schwerein's money. always tipping the girl a half sovereign which made my daily strawberry bill come up to three sovereigns ($ ). for about ten days i did this, always at the same time, always being careful to make my entrance after the lady's party was seated, always ordering the same number of portions, always giving the girl the same tip. it wasn't long before i began to be observed. i soon saw that not only the attendants but the patrons of the terrace were becoming interested in my foible. one day as i passed i heard someone say: "here comes the strawberry fiend." i was satisfied. i knew it would be easy now to effect an entrance to the lady's set. i had been marked as something out of the usual in the restaurant which from three to four in the afternoon at that time of the year is the most fashionable in london. now, a woman like my lady does not flirt. if you glance at her under favorable conditions, such as my strawberry "stunt" had created for me, she will return the glance. you both half smile and do not look at each other again that afternoon. that is not flirting. splitting hairs, we shall call it psychic interest. i continued my strawberry festival and one day a manager of carlton terrace told me that people were making inquiries about me. several men had wanted to know who i was. under questioning, he told me that one of the men was a member of the lady's set. it was easy to put together two and two. obviously the inquiry had been inspired by her. meanwhile i had sent several communications to the grand duke, insisting that pressure be brought to bear upon his nephew and to keep him away from london; not even permitting him under penalty of stopping his allowance, to write the lady in the case until the grand duke gave his permission. by now, london had gradually filled and the season was at its height. i went the rounds of the theaters from drury lane to the empire, and i visited the clubs. i found here men whom i had met previously and presently i rounded up two or three fellows with whom i had been fairly intimate at one time or another on hunting expeditions and at continental watering-places. i made them introduce me to different sets. dexterous maneuvering obtained me invitations to afternoon teas and at-homes in the same circle frequented by my lady. i was introduced to her at an afternoon reception. she was a typical outdoor englishwoman. not particularly handsome, hut possessing to the full the clearness of skin and eyes and strong virile health, that is the hereditary lien of albion's daughters. tall, willowy and strong, of free and independent manners and habits, she was the direct antithesis of the usual german woman. i reasoned that this was probably the reason of the young duke's infatuation. "how do you do, you wild colonial boy. still as fond of strawberries as ever?" we both burst out laughing. "so your ladyship observed and classified my little maneuvers." "of course," with a toss of her head. unforced and pleasant chatting followed. i could more and more understand the grand duke's infatuation; in fact, considered him quite a "deuced, lucky beggar." from that day on i made it a point to be present whenever she attended public places, such as the theater, concerts or restaurants. gradually and imperceptibly, by little services here and there, i won her confidence. there was an after-theater supper, in the indian room of the windsor, and i was invited. by this time people had come to know something about me. i was a globe-trotter, a man of leisure, interested as a hobby in research work in medicine. i discovered that her affair with the young grand duke was a fairly open secret in her set; also, that she was expecting him in london almost daily. gradually i hinted that i knew the young grand duke. as i gained her confidence further, i invented amorous affairs for him and hinted to her about them. in this way i finally managed to induce her to talk. subtly i instilled a vague resentment against him, which was accentuated by his non-appearance in london society up to now. his highness having been kept away by his serene uncle, the serene one having been cautioned to do so by me. two months passed before i was invited to the lady's home in mayfair and by that time, partly because i pretended to know the young grand duke, i was on a more intimate footing. i had learned that she had met him at a hunting party at the earl of crewes' shooting box in shropshire. later, she intimated that this was but their official meeting and that their acquaintance actually dated from a mountain trip she had taken to switzerland, the universal playground of royalty traveling _incog_. i learned too that her heavy bridge gambling had cost her a lot of money. the information that the lady was in debt did not come easily. to obtain it, i had to work on her maid. whenever the occasion arose, i made it my business to tip the maid liberally. i contrived to do a number of little things for her. knowing the lady to be out, i called at the house one day and while pretending to be waiting for my hostess, i put some leading questions to the maid. i learned that her mistress was pressed for money. that was an opening worth working on. thereafter i contrived to be present whenever there was a bridge party at the lady's. they are pretty high gamblers, those english society women, and i came to see that the lady was generally a heavy loser. it was my good fortune for her to lose to me one night. now, it is the custom at these gatherings not to hand over cash; instead, the unlucky one pays with what corresponds to an "on demand note." i took her note that night and with others--the whereabouts of which i learned from the maid and which i indirectly purchased from the holders--i took all these to a notorious money-lender and made a deal with him. he was to take the notes and press the lady for payment, of course keeping my name out of it. it is obvious that, trying as i was to w in her confidence, i could not go myself and hold these obligations over her head. that same day the money-lender paid the lady a call. he paid her a good many other calls, harassing her, threatening legal action and driving her until she was almost to a state of nervous collapse. well-placed sympathies soon made her talk and she burst out pettishly that she was in debt and that most of her acquaintances were in debt--nothing unusual in that set. this was an opportune chance to be of material benefit to the lady. seriously we talked over her affairs. i found them pretty well entangled. we discussed the young grand duke. i gradually persuaded her that there was no hope of a legitimate marriage with the house of mecklenburg-schwerein, but because of her association with the young grand duke and the fact that she had been betrothed to him, it was only right that the duchy provide her with some means of assistance. the ice was perilously thin, for the lady is a high-spirited woman of ideals and i had to be careful to word my language so that it would not appear as though she were blackmailing. in justice to her, i believe that if she had taken that view of it she would have dropped the entire matter, and retired from society for the season rather than go through with my plan. finally i said: " have you any means by which you could compel the ducal house to make adequate acknowledgments and redresses to you?" after a long hesitation, she jumped up, swept from the room and returned presently with a handful of letters. i saw on some of them the grand duke's coat of arms. the young fool had been careless enough for that! she shook the letters in a temper and cried: "i wonder what franz's uncle would say to these? why, i could compel him to marry me." here was the chance. the iron--in this case my lady's tempe--was hot. i suggested that we sit down and talk it over. as an introductory attack, to create the impression that i knew what i was talking about, i hinted that i was connected with a leading family in germany and that i was in london _incog_. i approached the situation from the viewpoint that i was her friend, not a friend of the house of mecklenburg-schwerein, but that, by knowing them and their ways, i could be of great assistance to her. "it is regrettable," i consoled; "but you have no chance for a legitimate, even a morganatic alliance with the young grand duke. i consider their entire attitude toward you utterly unfair. in view of your understanding with him, you are most certainly entitled to adequate recompense from his house. if you went into court you could obtain this on grounds of breach of promise, but i can understand your feelings. such a step would only cast odium upon an old and noble family such as yours." that seemed to her liking. "but what can i do?" she said. "in view of my friendship for you," i told her, "i would consider it an honor if you would permit me to act on your behalf. i think i can negotiate with the young grand duke's uncle and i promise that he will regard the matter in a fair light. i appreciate the extreme delicacy of the situation and you must observe the necessity of a man handling this affair." she shook her head and tapped the letters nervously. "no. it is intolerable," she said. "not to be thought of." i saw that i had to make it stronger. i thereupon invented the most ingenious lies it has ever been given me to tell. in about five minutes i had painted the young grand duke in such colors that the adventures of don juan were saintly compared to the escapades of his ducal highness. "why, consider it yourself," i said. "he was to be over here with you during the season. he has not come. you told me yourself that he has not even answered your letters. well, that's all there is to it. your ladyship, he and his house deserve any punishment that you can visit upon them." the idea of punishment appealed where the other had failed. the outraged pride of woman, especially an englishwoman, is a terrible thing. soon after that i made haste to take my leave. at my quarters i wrote two letters to myself and signed the grand duke's name to them. in these i offered to pay her ladyship's debts. they were addressed to me and after allowing a reasonable time to elapse, i again went out to mayfair and read them to her. she was now cold and hard and gave me full permission to go ahead and make any arrangements i deemed advisable. i thereupon went to the grand duke's bank in london and notified them that i must have , pounds ($ , ). in four days i had the money. the rest of the transaction was commonplace. she handed over all the letters and documents and i gave her the , pounds. i know to-day that her ladyship travels extensively in a very comfortable manner on the yearly appanage allowed her by the old grand duke. i do not know whether she still goes to carlton terrace to eat strawberries, but i flatter myself that her present good fortune is partially due to the fact that she once went there. at the time of closing our little transaction, she took the precaution to protect adequately and seal all letters and documents from my perusal. of course that was a disappointment. i put the packet away carefully, closed up my aftairs in london and went back to germany, going direct to mecklenburg-schwerein where i delivered the package to the old grand duke in person. he seized it eagerly and opened it in my presence. i noticed as he ran through the letters that he did not stop even to glance at them. he did, however, stop and pick out from the pile an official looking document, at the sight of which a tremendous sigh of relief seemed to escape him. the document had a decidedly close resemblance to a marriage license as issued in switzerland. of course i only got a fleeting, cursory glance at it, but the eagerness of the grand duke in pouncing upon that one document and ignoring the letters, and hints previously dropped by her ladyship, embellished by rumors i later heard in switzerland, all leave very little doubt in my mind that a clandestine marriage did actually take place between this lady of the english nobility and the young grand duke of mecklenburg-schwerein. his royal highness must have been satisfied, for besides a fee of marks, i received a few days later through wedel a diamond pin and a magnficent gold watch and chain inscribed with the grand ducal arms of mecklenburg-schwerein inscribed: "for services performed faithfully to my house." chapter vi. the intrigue at monte carlo back in berlin from a mission to vienna, my dispatches delivered, once more comfortably ensconced in my quarters, on the mittelstrasse, i was looking forward to an evening at the pavilion mascotte. i was just getting into my dinner coat when my man bowed an orderly through the door and at once all my plans took swift flight out the window. the orderly brought a command for my immediate attendance at the wilhelmstrasse. now the gentlemen of the wilhelmstrasse are never kept waiting and do not accept excuses. within twenty minutes i was shown into the chambers of count von wedel; in thirty minutes i was out again, having complete orders. they know what they want at the wilhelmstrasse and they generally get it. as i hurried back to my rooms i went over what von wedel had said: "you are to be ready to take the midnight express to monte carlo. you will there keep watch on and report any possible meeting between the russian, french and english ministers, at present traveling about the riviera. you will have the assistance, if necessary, of the countess chechany. if you need her, send her this card" (he had given me the card with his signature across it, a reproduction of which is presented on this page)." if meetings or conferences take place, you must obtain the tenor thereof. here is an order for your primary expenses." he had flicked an order for marks, about $ , across his desk. "anything you wish elucidated?" not having met the countess, i had requested her description. pushing a button, count von wedel had given the answering secretary an order; within three minutes i was shown the photograph of the lady and her signature, of which i took a copy. having no further requests i had bowed myself out. my first act was to cash the order; second to decide and prepare the character i wished to assume in monte carlo. i decided on a south african mine owner. i know considerable about mining, and being well acquainted with south africa, the rand and transvaal, i had the advantage of knowing my locality first. a secret service agent is always careful to choose a character with which he is fully familiar. one is certain to meet, sooner or later, men in the same walk of life; and unless one be well primed, one is bound to be "bowled out." i knew there would be south african mining men at monte carlo. procuring necessary papers, such as mining journals, quotations, a couple of south african newspapers and photographs, i went home and had my man carefully select and pack my wardrobe. i caught the midnight lloyd express. selecting a pleasant middle compartment, and getting my seat registered, i made myself comfortable and began to map out a campaign. this was rather a tough problem. to be in the slightest degree successful, i had to get near, and if possible in touch with the ministers that count von wedel had designated. how is this to be done? i knew it was far from easy, almost impossible, to make their casual acquaintance. i began to cast the personality of the three men over in my mind. there was prince kassimir galitzin, at that time high in the favor of the czar. there were delcasse of france and sir edward grey of england. all three were gyrating about the riviera and the savoy--ostensibly it was for their health, possibly for other reasons. in any case the health of these gentlemen seemed a matter of some concern to the german emperor. health trips of more than one statesman in or about the same locality are looked upon with much suspicion and promptly investigated; more so when there is any extra political tension. at that time--it was in --the air was tense, germany was in the dark, unable to distinguish friend or foe. sir edward grey's habits were unknown to me. with delcasse's i was somewhat familiar. prince galitzin--ah, yes! i knew him pretty well, _bon vivaint_, extremely fond of a pretty face. um! i began to see light. here is where the countess might come in. by her photograph, an extremely beautiful woman; but photographs often flatter and do not give an indication as to personality. _festina lente. i could see. five forty-five the next afternoon and i was installed at the hotel metropole in monte carlo. after a refreshing bath, i had supper served in my room, and sent for the hotel courier--this an old globe-trotter trick. hotel couriers or dragomen are walking encylopædias. they are good linguists, observant and shrewd. they are masters of the art of finding out things they should not know, and past grand masters in keeping their mouths shut unless you know how to open them. not with palm oil. oh, no, nothing so crude! you would never get any truths or anything worth while, with bribery. i had to find out local intrigues and gossips, who was in monte carlo and what was doing, who were the leading demi-mondaines and gamblers? were there any possible secret service men? hence the courier, a swiss from ober arau, a district of switzerland, i luckily knew well. when he knocked at the door, i cheerily bade him come in. i made my manner as good natured as possible. i offered him a real medijeh cigarette. as befitting his station, he was slipping the cigarette in his pocket. "oh, no!" i said. "light it, won't you? have a little smoke with me here. i'm a bit lonesome. i want to get my bearings. won't you join me in a glass of wine?" that was my first oar in. after some commonplace conversation, as to how the season was, i asked: "anybody of interest here?" i winked knowingly. possibly it pleased the courier to have someone to chuckle over a secret. all my oars were in. "at the grand hotel de londres," he said slyly, "there is a gentleman who does not fool me." i offered him another cigarette, helped him to another glass of wine. "he is registered there as count techlow, but he can't fool me. he is the prince galitzin." "what's he doing; gambling a lot?" (i knew he wasn't.) "no," replied the courier, "he's keeping pretty quiet." "is there a countess techlow?" the courier shook his head. _buenno!_ the coast seemed clear. i knew it was extremely awkward and often dangerous to tempt the quarry away from a demi-mondaine, especially at monte carlo. after chatting some more i bid the courier good night. i would see the countess the first thing in the morning. along toward noon i called at the nouvel hotel louvre where von wedel had told me i would find countess chechany. i sent in my own card bearing the name of h. van huit, doorn kloof, transvaal (the reader will recall my experience at doorn kloof); also von wedel's card with his signature. i had to wait for some time, but finally the countess received me in her boudoir. she was in bewitching negligee. from the photograph i was prepared to find a very handsome woman, but shades of helen! this was venus, juno and minerva--the whole greek and any other goddesses rolled into one! tall and willowy, superb of figure, great dark-blue eyes, masses of blue-black wavy hair, full red lips forming a perfect cupid's bow. but why go on--i might get too enthusiastic, and mislead the reader. after my adventure i never saw the countess again. i knew that by birth the colmtess chechany was a high hungarian noblewoman. by marriage she was related to the counts of tolna festetics, a leading house in hungary. also, she was one of those marvelously beautiful women peculiar to that country. waving a small jeweled hand, she begged me to take a chair beside her. a cigarette was daintily poised in her fingers. "be seated, mr. van huit of transvaal," gazing at me with a roguish grin. we both burst out laughing. of course she knew what i was. von wedel's card showed her that. but, as her next words plainly showed, she knew a great deal more. "i've got a badly sprained ankle, doctor. can you do anything for me?" i must have shown a pretty stupid face, for she laughed amusedly again. i certainly was surprised, for up to now i had never met her, and my being a doctor was known only to one or two persons in the service. besides, it is strictly a rule of the imperial secret service never to discuss or divulge personal matters. her attitude by no means pleased me. i cordially hate anyone, especially women, knowing more than i do. one never knows where one is standing in a case like this. i decided not to show my curiosity, but i was determined to learn how she knew about me. coolly i said: "well, countess, you have somewhat of an advantage. but if i can be of any assistance to you, pray command me." as answer, she sprang up, and pirouetting around the room, exclaimed: "now, why be peevish. if you're good and nice, i shall tell you sometime all about it." she never did, for with all her ingenuous mannerisms, my lady was about the deepest and least fathomable bit of femininity i have ever met--besides being the possessor of a devil of a temper. after some more banter, which i instigated to become somewhat acquainted with my prospective partner, i came to business. "do you know, countess, the object of my mission?" "nothing beyond the intimation of your coming and the command to cooperate with you if necessary. so you had better enlighten me, mon chère." i did so with some reservation, it being my habit not to let anyone into a thing too much, least of all a woman. i suggested that our first object was to make prince galitzin's acquaintance. as his serene highness resided at the hotel de londres, we agreed to dine there. after accepting a dainty cup of chocolate i departed, purposely returning home by way of the londres. here, with a little diplomacy, i managed to reserve for dinner the table i wanted, one next to the prince. well pleased, i later dressed, armed myself with a bouquet of la france roses, and called on my partner. i had the roses sent up and waited. the countess sent word that she would be down shortly. i smoked three cigarettes. still no countess. i have yet to meet a woman who could or would be punctual. finally i heard the soft swish and frou-frou of silk garments and looking up saw her ladyship coming down the grand stairway. she was brilliantly robed, jewels flashed at her neck and wrists. she was of that type of beauty difficult to classify, although assured of approval in any quarter of the world. "tired of waiting, mon ami?" tapping me playfully on the arm. "see, in return for your patience i am wearing your roses." she had them pinned on her corsage. we entered our carriage and drove to the hotel de londres, discussing the parts we were going to play. would the russian bear be caught? i wondered. when we arrived, i saw that the hotel was pretty well filled. everybody who was anybody seemed to be there. i noticed a number of prominent american society ladies. experience has taught me that there are three places where you meet sooner or later every known person in the world,--piccadilly circus, the terrace of shephard's hotel, cairo, and monte carlo. remembering our diplomatic conversation of the afternoon, the maître d'hôtel came rushing forward and with profound bows directed us to our table, which was tastefully decorated with la france roses, the countess' favorites (charged to expenses). as we walked slowly down the passage to our table, many eyes were turned toward us. the countess appeared unconscious of it all. lazily, half insolently observant, yet wholly unconcerned, she was without doubt the most strikingly beautiful woman in the assembly; this, though the society of the world seemed to fill the londres that night. poor galitzin! as we seated ourselves, a hush fell about the immediate table to our right and left. it was followed by a low buzzing of curious or interested, wise or ignorant, human bees. on our right i saw the prince galitzin. from the moment of our entrance he had kept looking at the countess. i watched him out of the corner of my eye, and abruptly he changed seats with one of the gentlemen at his table. obviously his view of the countess' face was not at the angle he wished. screwing his monocle in his eye, he began to stare pretty consistently. of course this delighted me. the avidity with which his serene highness was swallowing the bait promised much. i thought it advisable, however, to create a little diversion, something that would drive away a possible suspicion that this was a "plant." it was perfectly obvious to all that the prince was becoming fascinated. also, he was losing his head, for he was showing his fascination in a rather rude manner. his staring began to attract some attention. that was the opportunity i was looking for. calling the maître d'hôtel, i requested him, pitching my voice so that it would be easily audible at the surrounding tables: "persuade the gentleman on our right to discontinue his annoying stare." i saw that the prince had heard my request. flushing deeply red, he abruptly rose and with a bow to the countess went out of the room. it was as i wished. we finished our exquisite and excellently well-served dinner, and went out to the terrace gardens to have our café turc and cigarettes. this, to my mind, is the most enjoyable hour of the day, especially in a place like monte carlo, well groomed, well fed, surrounded by an ever-varying throng of interesting people, beautiful scenery, exquisite music, the ideal _dolce far niente_. slowly inhaling the smoke of my excellent medijeh, i fell into a sort of contemplative reverie while waiting for the prince. i knew he would come. back and forth in front of me wandered humanity, all grades and shades. here a prince, scion of a noble house, there a parvenu, fresh from his latest stock-jobbing victory. here a mondaine, a demi-mondaine with a reputation in half a dozen countries. here a group of famous lights of the stage, there a couple of eminent statesmen. truly, a cosmopolitan crowd. what if the antecedents of some of the pleasure seekers here were known? i recognized many and it being my business to know such things, their stories came back to me magically. skeletons at the feast? oh, yes, grewsome ones, too. just as well, an all-wise providence has ordained our inability to see behind the veil. i knew that the woman opposite me could no more afford to lift her veil than i could mine. then one of the gentlemen from the prince's table came up and addressed me. first, however, he handed me a card, which i saw bore the name of prince kassimir vladimir galitzin. "monsieur," said the prince's companion, "i'm deputed by the prince to convey his regrets, should he have caused madame or you any annoyance. the prince begs permission to make his apology to madame in person." i replied in words to the effect that madame being a free agent and only an acquaintance of mine, must decide this for herself. "personally," i added, "i have no objection." the countess simply nodded. the prince's envoy bowed and went away. he returned in a few minutes with the prince. mutual introductions, general chatting, the prince confining himself exclusively to the countess. about half an hour's talk, refreshments, and there came an arrangement for luncheon the next day at which the countess and myself were invited to be the guests of the prince. the luncheon was duly gives at the hotel londres and the prince was a princely host. having been invited, i had to attend. there was a theater party that evening however, to which i was not invited, and supper after, to which i was not invited. indeed, when i met the prince galitzin on the grand promenade the next day, he gave me a very princely stare and kept on walking. all of which suited me perfectly well. he was in the hands of the countess. from afar i watched him become daily more infatuated. they were constantly driving and attending theaters together. the prince was showering valuable presents right and left. in the midst of this, i received information that delcasse had arrived at nizza. the countess had her eyes on the prince, so this left me free to take care of delcasse. my work was now to learn if the french minister held any meetings with sir edward grey or winston churchill, ministers from england, who were shortly expected also to arrive at nizza. subsequently i guessed there would be a final meeting with the prince. i continually and unobtrusively followed delcasse everywhere, but nothing eventuated owing to unforeseen circumstances in the house of commons, and the cabinet of england, sir edward and churchill were unable to take their "vacation trips" in person. so they sent an emissary with important documents to delcasse, one of which came to light in his subsequent meeting with prince galitzin. on the night of the ninth of november i received a wire from the countess. it w as delivered at the hotel anglais, nizza. opening it, i read: "return. de camp here. meeting our friend." of course by de camp she meant delcasse. clearly he had slipped away from me. "our friend" referred to the prince. this was news indeed! hiring an automobile i made record time for monte carlo. i arrived at my hotel about three o'clock in the morning of the tenth and found awaiting me in my room, the countess' maid. she delivered part of an important conversation which had taken place between delcasse and the prince, and of which i shall presently give the substance and its explanation. instructing the maid to inform her mistress that i wished to see her at ten a. m. at the casino, in the salle des estranger, i dismissed her. i chose the salle des estranger because it was the most frequented and for that reason the least suspicious meeting place. we met as appointed and the countess confirmed the maid's report. for about three hours on the evening of the ninth, delcasse, of france, and prince galitzin of russia were in conference in the prince's chamber at the hotel de londres. having changed her hotel and being in a chamber adjoining the prince's, the countess had managed to overhear most of this conversation. in her report there were naturally some blanks. she had not been able to hear every word uttered. but the purport and trend showed me it was of tremendous importance. it was evidently an arrangement between france and russia, with the understanding of england, to force germany into an abject isolation. going further, they were trying through a closer alliance of these three great powers to curtail the activities of german expansion and completely coup her up diplomatically. the countess told me that prince galitzin and delcasse were going to meet again that same afternoon about five o'clock. as it was absolutely imperative to obtain knowledge of the rest of the conversation i enjoined the countess to exert all her skill to secure the details at this most important interview, and to meet me once more in a corner of the salle des estrangers, this time at seven o'clock. i returned to my hotel, settled my bill and had my grip taken over to the railway station; i got a ticket for milan. it is always advisable to lay your plans carefully for a possibly very hurried exit, the nearest friendly border in this instance being italy. in the event of trouble arising, hurrying through france would have been out of the question. switzerland is an independent country which would have held me up officially on being requested to do so, although they do not extradite for political offenses, but being held up is bad enough. but once across the italian border, i was safe enough. a semi-official hint from the wilhelmstrasse to the quirinal would always procure an open sesame for me--no danger of being held up there. hence the ticket for milan. the intervening hours i spent on the outskirts of monte carlo, dropping into many a quaint little wine cellar. at dusk i entered the salle des estrangers of the casino and settling myself comfortably in the appointed corner, awaited developments. it was a trying wait. i sat there from seven to ten-thirty, smoking incessantly. i was just finishing my last cigarette and i had about come to the end of my resources in entertaining myself. one has ample time to conjecture all sorts of possible mishaps, and mishaps are deucedly uncomfortable in this sort of work. not to create curiosity or suspicion, by my long occupation of this particular corner, i had started a tremendous flirtation with a rather plain, rather rotund lady of the english cook's tour type. her return glances and smiles attracted the amused attention of most of the passers-by, especially the attendant of that part of the salle. this was rather good, for if one does not gamble or flirt in the casino he is regarded by the commissaires as a chevalier d'industrie, in other words "confidence man." just then i saw the countess' maid making a signal to me from the entrance door and without as much as by your leave i hurried after her. in about ten strides, i overtook the girl. "have you got anything for me?" "no, sir," she replied. "but her ladyship wishes to meet you. you are pleased to make a rendezvous." this was clever and suited me; knowing that she must have procured something of importance, i selected a little café, the boulanger, close to the station, and after giving the girl a louis, i jumped into a carriage and drove there. in a short time i was joined by the countess who had thrown a hooded mantle over a brilliant evening gown. quietly slipping into a chair next to me she took some folded papers out of her glove, and while fastening a little rosebud into my lapel slipped them into mvv pockets with the words: "all i could obtain, but you'll find it sufficient. i'm leaving for rome to-morrow night. bon voyage!" i looked at my watch and saw i had time to catch the train for milan. no sooner was i locked in my coupe and the train in motion, when i had a good look at the papers. they were two half sheets of note paper, embossed with the princely coat of arms and containing abbreviated sentences of dates, and names and a route, all in the handwriting of delcasse and the prince. the whole gist with her repeated, overheard snatches of conversation showed clearly an intended secret visit of the president of france to the czar of russia, the names of the officials to be present and the meeting place, the czar's yacht, the _staandart_, off kronstadt. this meeting, however, did not take place, the kaiser forestalling it by his quick action on the moroccan situation. from milan i went to berlin and within forty-eight hours the documents were delivered into the hands of count von wedel, and then into the hands of the emperor. their significance was this: the moroccan trouble was very ominous. germany was in a position where, sooner or later, she would be forced to act. before this mission the kaiser was in the dark. france, russia and england did not have their cards on the table. he did not know which countries would remain neutral in case of war with france. he had suspected that there was some sort of an understanding brewing against him. the results of my mission--learning of sir edward grey's message to delcasse, delcasse's meeting with prince galitzin of russia--confirmed this beyond all doubt. but how strong was this alliance? how close would england stick to france? this he did not know. he only knew that there was a sort of an agreement, and to find out just how strong was the bond between england and france, he used a master stroke of diplomacy. he brought the moroccan question to a crisis, long before it was anticipated; he sent the warship _panther_ into agadir harbor and forced england and france to show their hands. how close war was averted, only four persons knew at that time--the captain of the _panther_, von wedel, the kaiser and myself. and how europe just missed being plunged into a tremendous war i shall tell of in my secret mission that nipped war in the bud. i came near forgetting. for his discretion at monte carlo, the czar rewarded prince galitzin by transferring him to a province in siberia. chapter vii. the kaiser prevents a war it was kaiser weather in germany. back from a five months' trip to the far east, berlin seemed to me like heaven. i had finished a secret diplomatic mission for the kaiser and as a result my pocketbook was full. days and days in the orient make a man try to crowd into the first twenty-four hours home, all the enjoyments that his city offers. accordingly, with money running through my fingers like sand, i planned a long ride in the grunewald; i saw myself ordering the few special dishes one gets at kempinsky's; i would buy a good seat at the metropole and to wind up i would look in at the admiral's palace when the performers were mingling in the audience. it being my first day back in berlin, that programme appealed to me a lot more than did the european diplomatic tangle. i had been idling the early afternoon hours at the café bauer, unter den linden, but my programme for the rest of the day finally chosen, i got up, paid my bill and strolled home. my boy kim must have been on the lookout for me; before i could use my key the door flew open. "master!" he exclaimed in his heavy, jerky voice. "you are wanted on the telephone." i had an uneasy suspicion of what that meant, which was confirmed when my boy added, "number a wants you." bismillah! that settled it! that ended my grunewald, kempinsky's, the metropole, the admiral's palace. it meant the highway away. it always means that when a man of my position is in berlin and somebody says to call up that number, a . whenever a summons it is wise to be prompt. it is the number of the wilhelmstrasse, the foreign office of germany. i lost no time in getting a connection and i was told to report at the wilhelmstrasse at . that night. i was to hold myself ready for instant service. i must come prepared possibly for a long journey. i gave orders for my boy to have me dressed by ten o'clock. i decided to take a nap, for i knew that midnight interviews with the gentleman at the wilhelmstrasse often led to some mighty unexpected and protracted traveling. before going to sleep, however, i went over the european situation. what had loomed big? i hoped it was something big, for while a secret service agent doesn't get blasé, he likes to work when thrones or the boundaries of empires are involved. i reflected that june--it was in --had been a decidedly strenuous month for more than one cabinet in europe. germany and france were snapping and snarling. france was going around with its chest stuck out; its attitude decidedly belligerent. of course, this cockiness was due to the fat fingers of honest john bull; indeed, england had more than ten fingers in this pie that was baking. i knew that the air was full of morocco and war talk. i knew that there was a certain faction in germany that was trying to push the kaiser into a war. this clique, composed of army and navy men and the junker, the "jingo" party, the big gun interests, backed by public opinion, were trying their utmost to urge war with france. what was the latest at the wilhelmstrasse? on the stroke of . i was there. i handed my number to the commissaire. this number is important. all german secret agents are known by number, all carry little cards and a photograph of mine is published between these covers. presently the commissaire returned and showed me into the chambers of graf von wedel, privy councilor to the german emperor. with another man in evening dress, i was told to wait in an antechamber. we bowed, and although we took pretty good stock of each other, neither spoke. it is an unwritten law not to hold unnecessary conversation in the imperial secret service. after about half an hour's wait, we were shown into the count's private room. this rather astonished me, for the usual rule at the wilhelmstrasse is to interview only one man at a time. clearly something out of the ordinary was in the air. after the count greeted us, he inquired if we were known to each other. receiving a negative, he introduced us. my companion was a herr von senden, ex-officer of the zweite gaarde dragona. "you will both be taken at half-past eleven to a certain room," said the count. "you will advance to the middle, wheel to your right, face the portière and stand at attention. you will answer all questions, but make no comments or queries yourself. i need not enjoin you to total silence. you understand?" we bowed. just then a gong boomed somewhere below us. a last word from the count, "be ready!" he left us. reappearing almost immediately, he beckoned us to follow him. we noticed that he seemed even more grave than usual. down a flight of stairs along a great corridor we made our way, no one speaking a word. at the end of the corridor we saw two sentries; then, a big solid oak door, guarded by an attendant in the livery of the royal household. at a sign from the count we halted; he knocked. the door was opened by an officer of the erste gaarde du corps and, remembering our instructions, we entered and came to attention in the middle of a large room, facing an adjoining chamber, the portières to which were divided. the room in which we stood was brilliantly lighted, but the other was dark, save for a green glow that came from a shaded reading lamp on a big writing desk. senden looked at the desk and gave a sort of gasp. then i quite understood his emotion. for seated behind that heavy, old-fashioned desk, was wilhelm ii, emperor of germany. we stood at a rigid attention, absolutely silent, for full five minutes. the dimly lit, solitary figure at the desk made no sign but went on writing. i am not a timid or a nervous man, the sort of work i was doing seasons one pretty thoroughly. but this began to get on my nerves. drawn up in front of the emperor and waiting, waiting. contact with the great ones of the earth, especially through secret service, can take some almighty queer turns and a short circuit is confoundedly unhealthy for the negative wire. the more i looked at that silent, lonely figure, war lord of europe, the more i began to feel a great big longing for the african veldt, a thousand miles north of port natal, preferably. suddenly the emperor made a move, and there came a sharp, rather high pitched voice, saying, "wedel, i will see the doctor." at once herr senden was shown from the room; obviously the mission, whatever it was, was not for him. i never saw him again. i was bidden to step to within three paces of the emperor; the officer who escorted herr von senden from the room attempted to return, but was waved out. there were just the three of us: count wedel, standing at the corner of the desk on the right, the kaiser and myself. i had seen the emperor on many occasions, but never so close before. he appeared to be lost in some document. he looked well but older than any of his portraits. tanned, almost dark, his rather lean face bore a striking likeness to frederick the great; more so than ever, for he is getting gray. i realized that none of his portraits do his eyes justice. of a bluish-steel gray, they have an icy, impersonal, weighing look in them. it is hard to define. it struck me in that moment that lord kitchener, teufick pasha, cecil rhodes, and li hung chang had exactly those same eyes--the eyes of men who feel it in them to master the world. presently his majesty looked up, and in that same, rather shrill voice, asked: "how long are you in the service?" "three years, sir." "you know morocco?" morocco! so that was it. france and germany quarreling over the bone, at the point of war! i replied: "yes, sir!" "how long were you in morocco?" continued the emperor. "about twelve months, sir." on this he seemed to hesitate. frankly, i was nervous, so instead of thinking about morocco, i noticed that the kaiser wore the undress uniform of a colonel of the grenadier guard with the star of the order pour le merite, dangling from his coat button. as if making up his mind, he turned again on me those gray eyes. "you know kaid maclean?" "yes, sir." "how did you get to know him?" "i happened to be of assistance to sir harry kaid maclean who was at that time commander-in-chief and man-of-affairs to the sultan of morocco." my answer seemed to please the emperor, for his eyes gleamed. "any likelihood of his remembering your services?" i hesitated, then said: "i cannot vouch for another man's memory, sire. besides, i do not care to put the kaid to the test." the emperor looked at me queerly, but, evidently satisfied with my answer, he turned to count wedel, saying: "he will do. have the dispatches ready." at once the count hurried noiselessly into an adjoining room. the kaiser, making one of his characteristic sudden movements, flung himself back into the chair, looked steadily at me, and added: "besides the official dispatches you will memorize these commands, for the captain of the warship _panther_." he handed me a note, which i did not immediately look at, for he continued: "outside of count wedel, no one is to know anything of your mission. no one is to know that you are carrying a verbal message from me to the captain of the warship _panther_. understand?" "yes, sir." the emperor as abruptly drew himself forward, and propping his head with his hands, fell into a deep study, gazing fixedly at nothing. he seemed in that moment to be considerably older. his face, even for the tan, had that grayish look of a man who is carrying some tremendous responsibility. it came to me swiftly, the popular clamor for war, _panther_!--the _panther_ was lying off spain ready to steam across the mediterranean to morocco. and i was to bear secret orders from the emperor to the _panther's_ captain. then i opened the note that the emperor had given me, and began to memorize its contents. amazement must have shown on my face. a blow with a feather would have knocked me down. so wonder wilhelm ii was staring blankly, no wonder this message had to be delivered verbally. hurriedly i began to memorize it. presently, i saw count wedel come in and he and the kaiser began to talk in whispers. then wilhelm looked up and said: "have you memorized it?" "yes, sir!" taking the note from me, he at once struck a match and held it under the paper until it was reduced to ashes. then making a curt gesture of dismissal, wedel gave me a signal to retire and we backed toward the door. i was in possession of a secret known only to the emperor himself and which at that moment the cabinets of france and england and the financiers of the world would have given hundreds of thousands of dollars to possess. out into the hall we backed, always being careful never to commit the discourtesy of turning our faces away from the emperor, and the last i saw of him, was that lonely figure seated at his desk, the greenish light playing over him, around and beyond him darkness and his face illuminated against that background, grayish, old. there he was, at his desk at midnight, in an underground chamber of the foreign office, the emperor of germany, working in solitude, while most of his subjects slept, tirelessly mapping out a policy the trend of which he dared discuss with no man save wedel and possibly his oldest son. bowing, we were out in the hall; the big oaken door closed. wedel led the way to his private chamber. he produced a package of sealed papers and handing it to me, said: "doctor, this is a most important affair. there is a most serious trouble brewing somewhere--trouble about war. we have our suspicions as to what power is behind all this and we are going to find out. you are well enough acquainted with the situation to require no further illustration. you know how here at home they are also trying to force the emperor into a war-- you will leave this package at the embassy in paris. it must be there at the rue de lille to-morrow noon. to do so you will have to catch the orient express at half-past three this morning. at the paris legation you will receive another package which you will take on to madrid. after delivering this, you have _carte blanche_ to make your way to the _panther_, which you will find off barcelona. also, you will visit gibraltar and inform yourself of the strength and state of preparation of the british naval squadron there." he paused. "this time you will not apply at the cashier's desk. your expenses are borne this time out of the emperor's private chatulle. in a few hours time i will have french and spanish money ready for you and send it to your lodgings. you thoroughly understand your instructions? of course, you have not forgotten the message that you memorized before the emperor?" i assured him i had not and after a cordial handshake i bowed myself out and hurried back to my quarters. here i found that my boy had my traveling bag ready with his usual completeness. one does not take much baggage on these trips. pajamas, slippers, smoking cap, tooth brush, have seen me three-quarters around the globe, and i never carried a six-shooter in my life. in all my experience i have seen few secret agents who do carry it. the only protective article i ever carried was a little silk bag containing a mixture of cayenne pepper, snuff and certain chemicals. it is very effective to throw into the faces of those who attack you. soon there came a messenger from wedel with the promised funds, a thousand francs and two thousand pesos. it lacked a half hour to three-thirty, so i made my way to the friedrichstrasse depot on foot. experience has taught me that the orient express is generally overcrowded and that unless one reaches the depot early and uses a good deal of palm oil, it is impossible to secure a decent seat. a judicious oiling of palms enabled me to get a very pleasant window seat in the middle compartment. after making myself at home i took a tour through the train. it is my invariable custom to take stock of my fellow travelers and in this case it was most imperative. nothing happened until we pulled in at frankfort-on-the-main, the second last stop for the express in germany. glancing out of the window i saw a party of three entering the carriage. they selected the compartment next to mine. obviously they were traveling together, equally obvious was it that there was plenty of room in their own compartment. the train was hardly in motion, however, when the woman of the party entered my compartment. she started to complain about being annoyed by the man next door and to ask my protection. as a matter of course, i got up and offered my assistance to remove her belongings into my compartment. i had, up to now, not the slightest doubt as to there being anything fishy in her request. i had, in fact, no reason to be apprehensive of any interference, because only two people besides myself--wedel and the emperor--knew my mission. of course, there were others who would have given anything to know of it, who would have done anything to prevent my reaching my destination. i had hardly entered the compartment and tried to remove the traveling bag indicated by the lady as hers, when one of the men exclaimed: "how dare you remove my wife's property?" the lady in question stood in the corridor of the carriage. i had my back to her but i could see her by means of the looking-glass with which the sides of the compartment were framed. i noticed her make a sign to the man. of course, this put a different light on the affair. it was preconceived. for the life of me, though, i could not see how they could use the situation to advantage. presently i was enlightened. when the conductor came along, the "husband" coolly requested my detention on grounds of interference with his wife's luggage. he was stanchly supported by the other man and by the lady who had come to me for assistance. i attempted to explain, but it didn't go down with the conductor. pending our arrival at cologne, he locked me up in my compartment and leaving me, said that he intended to hand me over to the station master here. i had time to ponder over my situation. i was thoroughly angry, chiefly with myself. here i was, an old, and presumably experienced, secret agent and i was caught by a simple device. but the simplicity got me! when one is prepared for elaborate schemes, the simplest trick lands one high and dry. still i could see no daylight. they could not hope to keep me on this preposterous charge. a single wire to berlin would settle the matter, but then there would be a delay. i would not reach paris until six o'clock at night. wedel had insisted that i be there at noon. hum! delays at this time were of tremendous importance. a difference of six hours might mean war. powerful influences in germany were all for war. it filled the air. it needed only a false or overstep on the part of any government official to bring about an explosion. france seemed fairly itching for a fight. my verbal message to the captain of the panther must be delivered on schedule or the explosion might occur. i began to see what they hoped to gain by the trick of detaining me, but how they got word of my mission i have never been able to learn. i must have been shadowed from my lodging to the wilhelmstrasse and subsequently lain in wait for on general principles. according to the time-table, the orient express stops at cologne nine minutes. this time it stopped eleven. the station master held it up. after the party in the next compartment made their charge, we all hurried to his office. i called the station master aside and showed him my secret service card. i showed him a package addressed and sealed to the german embassy at paris. it was an official linen envelope tied with a black and white silk cord and with the foreign office seal on the back. he was impressed. "this is a ridiculous charge," i declared. "telephone the wilhelmstrasse at my expense. detain me and you do so at your own peril. that is all. i have given you the facts. i put no obstacle in the path of your duty. i judge, though, that you are a man of discretion." the station master _was_ a man of discretion. i could imagine what was going through his mind: "this fellow who says he is the emperor's messenger," he doubtless thought, "has three more hours on that train before he crosses the german border. if he isn't what he claims to be, we can catch him at the frontier. if he is what he claims to be and i hold him here, i will get in trouble." finally, he told the others that their charge was too thin and they hurriedly left his office. i never saw them again. the station master escorted me to my compartment and i noticed that from cologne to the french frontier i had no other traveling companions. my arrival and what i accomplished in paris is commonplace. arriving in the gare du norde, i took a taxi to the german embassy on the rue de lille, where an under-secretary signed for my dispatches and handed me two letters addressed to the embassy in madrid. i immediately posted his receipt to the wilhelmstrasse, something german secret agents always must do--mail the foreign office signatures for documents as soon as they are delivered. without further adventure i reached madrid. as the train was four hours late i did not present myself at the embassy. i was met by a commissaire at the station, delivered him the paper, received his signature, posted it to the wilhelmstrasse, and made connections for barcelona. somewhere off the city, on the open sea, the _panther_ was waiting. with the utmost difficulty i chartered a tug and in the twilight set off to find the _panther_. it was coming night when we finally saw her dark trim hull lying against the horizon. well named the _panther_, for in this case a false spring by her meant war. as we steamed up alongside a sentry hailed us from the deck. i shouted that i had come to see the captain, but he told us to stand off. finally, after persistently hailing the warship, the officer of the watch came to the rail and held parley with me. "i have imperial orders to see the captain," i shouted. apparently this satisfied him, for he let me come on board. without further delay i was shown into the captain's room. very important, the captain. picture him, a man in the forties, straight-backed, rather jolly, and with one of those german naval beards. the slightest mistake by the captain of the _panther_ and england and france would have flung themselves into war with germany. he stood for a moment regarding me, then he said, "well, what is this? what is your wilhelmstrasse number?" "seventeen," i told him. that appeared to satisfy the captain. i knew that the wilhelmstrasse had wired him that "number seventeen" was coming. still he was careful. "where were your first instructions received?" "from wedel." "subsequently?" i felt him looking at me sharply. "confirmed by the emperor," i replied, "and i deliver you herewith the following message. you are requested to use the private service code as soon as i have delivered this message to you and repeat it at once direct to count wedel." the captain got up and, moving noiselessly to the door, opened it swiftly. there was no one about. "all right," he said, "let me have it." i repeated what i had memorized, what the emperor had given me in the secret chamber and immediately afterward destroyed all visible trace of. i said: "on no account, it does not matter what official commands you have received or may receive, are you to use open force when the _panther_ goes to agidir. no matter what stress is brought to bear upon you by arising conditions, no matter what affront may be done your code of naval honor, you are under no circumstances to use any force against france or england." like myself, when the emperor gave me that message, the captain of the _panther_ was dumbfounded. it was a direct contradiction of the official orders he had received from the foreign office to go to morocco and make a demonstration against the french and the english interests. those previous orders had been to create war, this verbal message was to stop war. could the german "jingos," the big gun manufacturers, the shell people, the army and navy men, the powerful feudal faction have heard me deliver that message to the captain of the _panther_, they would have bellowed in rage. the whole empire wanted war, but the tired, swarthy faced man in the little underground chamber at the wilhelmstrasse, not "absolutely absolute" as he is popularly supposed to be, deemed it wise not to fly in the face of public opinion at the time and countermand the official orders to the _panther_. so he had done so in the dark, verbally, by me, knowing that so he served the best interests of his empire. the rest is contemporary history. you remember how, on sunday morning, july , the _panther_ steamed to morocco, how it forced its way into the harbor of agadir and created an international sensation by remaining there more than two weeks. you remember how a french and an english warship came simultaneously, how they formed in what was equivalent to common line and how, with officers and everybody itching to open fire, war just missed being precipitated. you may not know that the british and french officers sent an ultimatum to the captain of the _panther_. unless he left agadir he would be forced to leave. that meant war. now, had the captain of the _panther_ not received the private message from the emperor, he would have been forced by his naval code to resist this ultimatum by force. had he gone there acting under the original official orders, red war would have blazed across in agadir harbor. the slightest slip would have caused it--the report of a rifle. but the _panther_ steamed away. and this is the cleverest part of the emperor's scheme; he knew that france and england were allies, he didn't know, though, just how sincere this alliance was. by sending the _panther_ into agadir he learned that the _entente cordiale_ really meant something, that england and france were allies, that they were prepared to resist germany shoulder to shoulder in war. it took a master stroke to bring the situation up to the point of war--for it was a dangerous business, with all germany roaring for war--and then avert war when england and france were on the verge of it. but with his verbal message the emperor shrewdly accomplished it. the results were before him. by creating the situation he knew that he had two powerful nations opposed to him. good! what he would do now would be to try to take one nation and secretly ally himself with it, leaving the other out in the cold. then began the intrigues which planned the isolation of france, an amazing situation, a bombshell in present day international diplomacy, that i shall discuss fully in the next chapter. chapter viii. the isolation of france after my experiences with the earlier stages of the french, english, and german situation, i was quite prepared for the most unexpected developments. what occurred in the middle of october, , was, however, beyond what i had imagined. the morocco incident had shown the german emperor that the _entente cordiale_ was indeed solid. england and france would stand shoulder to shoulder in war. being used to the ways of german diplomacy, i knew that from the wilhelmstrasse would come a quick countermove. i guessed, too, that when it came i would be employed. it stood to reason that, knowing so much of the trend and importance of the affair--i had seen the intrigue grow step by step--i was the logical choice. nor was my reasoning at fault. i soon received the expected summons, and it brought me into the most amazing of my diplomatic adventures-a mission which showed me the utter ruthlessness that characterizes foreign ministers, particularly when the vital interests of their countries are concerned. word to appear at the wilhelmstrasse came when the autumn holidays were in full swing. the usual procedure of the foreign office having been observed, i found myself in count von wedel's private study. after an invitation to be seated, the count surprised me. he complimented me on my previous missions on the _entente cordiale_ situation, and handed me a pretty substantial check. it was actually , marks--$ , --which the stubs of the royal check book will show. as i took the money he remarked "seine majestät"--foreign office brevity for conveying that his majesty was satisfied. without more ado, von wedel plunged into the subject. leaning back and crossing his legs, he began to talk in his abrupt way. "i want you to go with his excellency, herr von kinderlen-waechter, as his private attendant and secretary,'' began von wedel. "i have selected you because of your knowledge of english and your insight into the whole matter in hand. there is to be a meeting of certain statesmen in a certain spot in the range of the schwarzwald. you are to be the sole attendant of these gentlemen. you'll see to it that nothing of their identity becomes known. you will look after them in every way. you will destroy all writing, such as paper and blotters. you will burn any such things in the presence of herr von kinderlen-waechter." he paused impressively, and i found my mind in a whirl. what his words portended i could guess. this mission promised to be very interesting indeed. "i want you to be at the place of meeting," von wedel continued, "three days before the arrival of these gentlemen. you will have to make arrangements as regards catering and so forth. you'll be the only attendant. means have been taken to assure strict privacy in the district. understand that we want this to be thoroughly cloaked. i suggest to you the idea of a hunting party. the details i leave to you. the gentlemen in question may or may not be known to you. i shall write you their names." his pen began scratching across a piece of paper, and i had a moment in which to realize the grave importance of this mission: the future of germany menaced, complete isolation was in the making between england, france, and russia; and the kaiser was about to save germany by a master stroke of diplomacy. of what tremendous importance it was, however, i did not learn until i had gone down into the forest. looking up, von wedel tossed a piece of paper across the desk to me (the identical paper which has been reproduced in connection with this article). it bore these names in his handwriting: viscount haldane, winston spencer churchill, admiral von tirpitz, general von heeringen, general moritz ritter von auffenberg, herr von kinderlen-waechter. i suppose, had it been my first secret service mission instead of the climax of eleven years in the service, i could not have controlled my surprise. these men, all meeting in a lonely spot in taunus hills region, foretold a grave situation. especially was this true in view of the newspapers of europe. here was all the press having germany and england ready to rush at each other's throats in war. it was the time of the german spy scare in england. and now here were the two powerful members of the english cabinet meeting the kaiser's minister of war secretly. i also knew of a secret visit churchill and haldane had made at the foreign office's invitation. significantly these english diplomats had been shown certain of germany's preparations for war, notably war in the sky. but von wedel was not yet through. "these gentlemen," he said, "will meet at schlangenbad about the middle of this month. you know the place, in the taunus hills--one of the emperor's hunting lodges. i suggest that you get down there to-morrow and have everything ready. you thoroughly know what is required of you, doctor?" on my assenting i was dismissed. i lost no time in getting home to my quarters and into comfortable togs. this mission needed some thinking out. and after i told my basuto boy to pack my bag, i glanced again at the list von wedel had given me. haldane, lord chancellor of england, persona grata with the kaiser--in fact, a personal friend. churchill, first lord of the british admiralty. waechter, the german minister of foreign affairs and, despite court opposition, the trusted man of the kaiser. tirpitz and von heeringen, chiefs of the german navy and army staffs, the latter a second moltke. when i came to von auffenberg's name i whistled. von auffenberg was minister of war and the right-hand man of the chancellor of the austrian empire. thus three great powers were represented. six men of this eminence, the brains and force of three nations, to meet in secret in a little obscure hunting lodge in the forest! it portended darkly for france; but how darkly i could not then conjecture. it interested me tremendously, but i consoled myself that i would probably know all when the party gathered in that secluded hunting lodge. according to instructions, i presented myself early next morning at the residence of herr von kinderlen-waechter. it was in the thiergartenstrasse. without delay i was shown into his excellency's room. he was seated at his desk, and while we exchanged a few perfunctory words i permitted myself a moment's brief conjecture. judging from appearances, you would never have taken this portly, rubicund, iron-gray, bushy-browed gentleman for a statesman. but a statesman he was for all that, and the emperor and germany miss him sorely. i would have taken him for a boer dopper or an english yeoman. this suggestion was supported by his atrocious taste in fancy waistcoats. the one he had on still sticks in my memory. it was a lurid peach-blossom creation, spotted with green. but once his steel-gray, deerhound eyes looked you up and down you forgot all about the fancy waistcoat and got right down to business. i told his excellency i had come for his personal instructions. besides telling me to "halt my maul" (a german military expression literally meaning to keep your mouth shut, but implying the need for utmost secrecy) he gave me certain general instructions. but from them i could gain no idea of just what was going to happen. i could only guess. how big was the gathering storm he never even hinted. remembering von wedel's suggestion about the hunting party, i procured some guns and reached the station in time to catch the . express for schlangenbad. it was early in october when i went to the kur hotel and registered as herr bamberger from berlin. if you ever go to schlangenbad, look up the register. schlangenbad is a mineral watering place in prussia, near the black forest, and within easy distance of our ultimate meeting place, the hunting lodge that von wedel had mentioned. i was alone at the hotel for several days. then, traveling incognito, the dignitaries be,,an to drift in. first came the austrian, general moritz ritter von auffenberg. a distinguished, quiet, unassuming gentleman, he is known to be high in the confidence of francis joseph. i found the war minister very fond of salmon fishing, and got quite into his good graces by enthusiastic tales of fly fishing in new zealand. admiral von tirpitz and general von heeringen came next. the admiral is typical of the german sailor, a big man, six feet, wide of shoulder, blue-eyed, and full bearded. his manner i found genial and courteous. his exact opposite was von heeringen, thin, almost crooked of body, stoop shouldered, unusually taciturn, and possessing deep-sunken, smoldering black eyes. he struck me as an animated mummy of the rameses dynasty--come to think of it, he much resembles rameses ii. the exact date of the meeting, as i recall it, was october , and the place a shooting lodge, named ehrenkrug. on the morning of the twelfth i hired a vehicle and, loading provisions, wine, and other necessaries aboard, drove to the lodge, sixteen miles into the forest. no farmhouse or other human habitation was within a radius of several miles. it was a large stone and brick building, somewhat similar to your colonial style. it had five or six guest rooms, a large general meeting hall, and a morning room. it being the property of the royal family, i found two old pensioners of the imperial forest service in charge. they had a good fire going in the grate, which was welcome, for it was still a little damp and chilly, especially in this wet mountain forest. patroling both ends of the road were a number of gendarmes. they were scattered through the woods, too, forming a cordon through which no one could come. indeed, they had challenged me. about three o'clock in the afternoon the german and austrian envoys came out from the hotel, and at a quarter to four (i remember waechter remarking "they're three-quarters of an hour late!") the chug of a motor announced the others, lord haldane and winston churchill. i had never happened to meet haldane before, and i found him the english gentleman personified--polished and reserved. yet his reserve, tempered by age, blended into a genial mellowness. the usual english arrogance had evidently been subdued by reason of his training and cosmopolitan knowledge. in speech and action he was a chesterfield, but in appearance he was not unlike a canon or a bishop, a little ascetic looking, and rather bald. quite the other type of anglo-saxon, still boyish in looks, high-strung and nervous, erratic in speech and action, just a bit self-conscious, winston churchill was the youngest member of this remarkable gathering. i had met him during the boer war, and as he took off his motoring coat he looked at me closely. "i believe i've seen you before," he said. "i met the right honorable gentleman in the bloemfontein field hospital during the war." "ah, yes," said churchill, his face lighting up. he had had his wound dressed there; his recognition showed his remarkable memory. after refreshments the envoys immediately adjourned to the big morning room, and i was posted outside to see that no gendarme or forest pensioner carne within earshot. i was not present at the beginning of the conference, but after an hour had passed i was summoned. my first impression as i opened the door was of an air of tenseness. it was obvious in the way churchill was staring across the table at haldane. it was an ordinary large german oak dining-room table, and in the middle were two big shaded lamps. it was growing dusk, and after lighting the lamps, i backed away to a corner of the room. i had a distinct impression of the features of the six men who were making history round that table. there were writing materials, stacks of paper, and documents at every place. sheets and sheets of paper were covered with their handwriting. only in front of von heeringen were the sheets blank, for he never makes a note of anything, carrying everything in his marvelous memory. obviously what were the last words of a speech came from moritz, the austrian, as i entered: "and to make this all possible," he was saving, "we must break the russian federation in the balkans." from his place at the head of the table the iron-gray-haired kinderlen-waechter rose slowly. i noticed he wore another of those atrocious vests. turning on his left he gazed at churchill and tirpitz; his careful measuring eyes then met moritz, an expectant, slightly nervous figure at the other end of the table awaiting the reply to the point he had raised. and waechter's eyes turned from him to heeringen, to haldane; then he spoke. i recall distinctly the import of his remarks. "gentlemen," he said, "the point raised by general moritz must stand, and, of course, it needs the sanction of our respective heads. as lord haldane has pointed out, it does complicate matters to some extent. the balkans concern austria most; to my way of thinking it is quite within reason to accede this point. [as i write i recall vividly how grave they had all become. they knew what this meant--war in the balkans.] on all main points," said kinderlen-waechter, "we are agreed. as indicated by his imperial majesty, the primary reason of our meeting is to come to a tacit understanding in regard to technical details. this we have done. it is unfortunate, however, that this possible phase, the balkan point, has not been gone into before. i suggest that we adjourn, to inform our respective governments of this point. if necessary, we will meet again on wednesday." this second meeting, by the way, was not necessary, all the governments represented tentatively agreeing with austria. the treaty, however, was subject to signatures and if it was officially closed, i cannot tell. apparently the conference was at an end. but what had they accomplished? from the general tenor of their conversation it was obvious that they all agreed. but what were the terms of their bargain? presently i was to know. "bamberger," said kinderlen-waechter, addressing me by the name i had taken, "gather up any pieces of paper on the table and consign them to the fire." i replied: "yes sir." then turning to the others, he continued: "gentlemen, select the memoranda you wish to keep. the rest is going to be destroyed immediately." while they ran over their papers, saving necessary scraps, i stood back from the table. it was characteristic of the men that winston churchill should have taken the most voluminous notes, while heeringen had not put down a line. i then gathered up every scrap of paper left on the table--blotters, little note pads, foolscap--used or unused. everything was to go into the fire. i went about this slowly and deliberately, taking care to glance at everything before i carried it over to the grate. i wanted to make sure that nothing of value was destroyed. here and there came a good chance to read some of the contents. piece by piece from the memoranda the different men had made, always being careful not to confuse individual notes, thus learning one by one their train of thought, the thing began to piece itself together for me. there were extensive notes on army and navy matters. churchill, for instance, had carefully noted the full strength that austria and germany could muster in case of war. kinderlen-waechter had recorded the full strength of england and austria as given by churchill and moritz. so had moritz taken down german and english statistics. obviously it was a triangular alliance, each noting to what extent dependence could be placed upon the other. then there were data on the french and russian armies and navies. the significance of that was apparent. what puzzled me, hovrever, were numerous statistics on holland and belgium. not until kinderlen-waechter and churchill, squatting down by the fireplace and poking the burning papers with old-fashioned irons, not until then, when there began a conversation and other pairs conversed on certain points all around the room, did i gain a clear idea of just what had happened. what they said, the vital scraps of their conversation as they drifted to me while i moved to and from the table and fireplace, i shall now present as close to the words of the men involved as i am able. heeringen, who had drawn haldane aside, said: "we are ready at any time with , , men without any further straining of our reserves. according to our latest agreement austria will support us with , , more men. the financial aspect of this is, of course, out of my hands." haldane mumbled something that sounded like "that is very satisfactory." at any rate, he nodded an affirmative. by this time the positions had changed somewhat, and churchill drew tirpitz aside. churchill spoke german only indifferently, so they conversed in french and partly in english. i heard tirpitz say: "we could bottle up the baltic in twelve hours. russia would not have a chance to stir. of course, in the event of any outside situation arising, we shall look to england to take care of such new conditions. that seems to rest clearly with your navy." churchill became a little cautious. "there is a certain contingency that might arise," he said. "suppose, under stress of circumstances the united states should take a definite stand against us in this matter?" the reply of the admiral was the very expressive german word--_quatsch_! he further intimated that the united states was so interested in its own internal affairs that it would not be drawn into the question, and that in any event its navy would be needed for its own immediate protection. he had a disposition, however, to put the entire situation up to churchill. kinderlen-waechter and moritz were deep in the balkan question, and i sensed then the coming balkan imbroglio. "without doubt," moritz said, "we will bring that to an issue within a few months." i knew he meant that austria would precipitate the balkan question. kinderlen-waechter was serious. "it has got to be done." there were other snatches, all bearing on the same subject, and gradually the situation began to clarify in my mind. it was not, however, until i had noted the contents of certain documents before destroying them that the tremendous importance of the big stakes they were all playing for became apparent. what i shall now do is to reveal the substance of these documents, coupling them with overheard conversation, thus interpreting the full significance of the conference. within the last twenty-five years germany has so enormously advanced in commerce that she urgently needs some further outlet on a northern seacoast. this means holland and belgium. hamburg and bremen are the only two practical harbors that germany possesses for the distribution of her enormous export. the congestion in both places is such that steamers wait for weeks to load. one-quarter of germany's exports goes through antwerp. germany must have antwerp. practically the whole of southern germany's commerce, especially along the rhine and the highway of the rhine, pours into a foreign country at present. germany must have antwerp--in fact, the whole coast, amsterdam and rotterdam included. the empire wants harbors, not colonies. the colonizing idea is a fallacy. germany is, first and last, a manufacturing country. it never was and never will be, for a long time to come, a successful colonizer. at present all that germany wants is markets, and facilities for extending her markets. these markets germany will always be able to command because of her intense scientific application to all branches of manufacture. but these products need outlets. germany is quite willing to let the others colonize so long as she has a chance to get her goods in. so much for the german situation. england, in her vast oversea domains and possessions, wants rounding up. england has not been able in the past, and certainly is not at present able, to supply herself and her colonies. in germany she has a first-class workman. germany manufactures what england needs. germany's building of her navy was never meant as a real menace to great britain. it was solely a means to impress the english that germany would make a powerful and valuable ally in every shape and form. conversely, it was a threat that she would be a dangerous opponent. this is clearly understood in the english and german cabinets. public opinion is being rapidly educated up to this in both countries. all the war-scare talk between germany and england has been and is only a means to an end. the end is to throw dust in the eyes of the rest of the world. germany and england will never willingly war. destruction of one would mean the destruction of the other. they are too equally powerful to be able to fight each other; their real interests run too close together. indeed, they are mutual. germany manufactures, england uses. only a miracle would separate them. shoulder to shoulder, germany and england (germany, of course, including austria, and possibly italy) could dictate to the rest of the world. there is one stumbling-block. this is france. well-informed frenchmen have known and feared this for a long time. they have, of course, never mentioned it in public. shrewd french statesmen have long kept it in the seclusion of their own minds. it would be political and possibly physical death openly to assert that france is doomed. but doomed she is. with all her gallantry, hysterical patriotism, and wealth, she would never be able to hold out against germany alone. her attempts at alliances have been frenzied. to secure russia's friendship she has loaned enormous sums of money. but the japanese war and internal troubles have eliminated russia as a high-class ally. she was at the time of the black forest conference but a secondary power. she is to-day balanced by turkey and austria. the balkan states are smashed. so france did her utmost to solidify the _entente cordiale_ fostered by the late king edward vii under the stress of public opinion in england. to what extent she met success we have seen. the moroccan question showed england ready to back up france in war, but now comes this meeting in the black forest. germany has shown england the greater advantage of a german-english coalition, and france is frozen out. england, with her shrewd alertness to make the most profitable deal, entertained if did not close the german proposition. in a nutshell, it is this: germany must have the lowland ports. holland is not adverse to coming into the german federation. belgium is adverse, but could be snuffed out as easily as a candle. but french public opinion would never tolerate under any circumstances this german aggression. france would fight, even though knowing it to be a losing fight. if only she would let germany have what she wants, there would be no war. but the french temperament, public opinion, years of decorating with flowers that alsace-lorraine symbol, the strasbourg statue in paris, have not been conducive to fostering a submissive spirit in france. to resent germany's inevitable aggression is equally inevitable. so much for what germany gets out of it. austria wants to round up her empire in the balkans. austria has to have outlets in the mediterranean. england, if she stands by germany, will be rewarded with french northern africa and the dutch east india possessions. what will become of france? reconstruction, partitioning, possibly a little kingdom, probably under the orleans régime. france is in the lap of the gods. i know these things, for i possess them in black and white. chapter ix. in the balkan country after my mission in the black forest, i went to albeck, a well-known seaside resort on the baltic. for more than a year the gentlemen at the wilhelmstrasse had kept me on the run, and a vacation at albeck--much like your atlantic city only smaller--was not only welcomed but needed. i was just settling down to a period of quiet in and around the kurhaus when there came a wire for my attendance at the wilhelmstrasse. "at your earliest convenience" was the phrase which, of course, meant at once. germany's language to her secret agents is always polite. i am very frank to confess that the message put me a little out of sorts. all my plans for resting at albeck went to smash. i knew that something big must be in the air else i would never have been recalled from a vacation that was only beginning. wiring a reply i stated that i would arrive in berlin on the . train and that any further commands would receive attention at my standing quarters in the mittelstrasse. in a few hours i had caught a train and was being whirled south. during the three-hour run i speculated on what was likely to be required from me. an inside rumor then current among us secret service men gave me the clew. i marshaled past events and ran them over in my mind. i knew that the kaiser's diplomatic master stroke undermining the _entente cordiale_ and tentatively holding off great britain, left the way clear for the execution of austro-german policies in the balkans. as the express hurried me toward berlin, i reflected that since the russian-japanese war, russia, weakened as she was, felt her influence in european affairs waning. i knew it was about time for her to make a desperate effort to regain european prestige. i recalled that upon russia's plight after the japanese war, austria immediately annexed herzegovina and bosnia. she did this with the tacit understanding and backing up of germany. i knew that as a result of this, russia was again at work in the balkans. greeks, servians, bulgarians, and montenegrins, up till now suicidal enemies, were arriving at an understanding. there are as many differences of nationalities, castes and opinions in the balkans as there are in india and it took clever manipulation, much money, and strenuous efforts on the part of russia to unite these countries under russian influence. the visit of the crown prince of servia to sofia, the bulgarian capital, was engineered by russia, and was a triumphant success in bringing about an understanding between bulgaria and servia. it absolutely unified servia and bulgaria. why then the completely changed attitude of servia and bulgaria after their mutual successes against the turk? presently i shall show you the vast undercurrent forces forever moving beneath the balkan situation. i recalled having heard high servian officials speculate as to their chances of reviving the ancient empire, so with the bulgarians. after the reunion of wallachia and moldadia, i heard roumanian officials express the wish to gain dacia through the addition of transylvania, bukovina and the banate of ternesvar. this longing can easily be understood when one remembers that each of these states maintains royal court legations and an army the quality of which in the case of the allies has just been tested and shown in their splendid fighting and sacrifices, but which is all out of proportion to their individual sizes and resources. i knew there were armies mobilizing in the balkans at a high mark of efficiency. they were equipped in a way totally beyond the means of such little countries. who was supplying this driving force, the money, officers? they were but pawns, the balkan states on an international chessboard. now before i relate my mission, consider these test points: the alliance of states usually hereditary enemies; the downfall of an empire, a background of the world's powers pulling the strings; the success of the balkan allies. then the most amazing part of it all. turkey, well thrashed, lost little save a few islands in the Ã�gean sea, some of which it has already regained. the allies gained nothing but debts--debts and empty honor which leaves them so exhausted that they can be no real factor in the world's politics for decades to come--and there lies the key. arriving in berlin i made my way to my quarters in the mittelstrasse. it was about eight o'clock when i put my key in the door. i found kim very much awake and somewhat excited. at this unseemly hour there was a visitor! this was all the more unusual for i was not in the habit of receiving my most intimate friends or acquaintances at my private quarters. "_koom_, massa!" (salute, master!) "gentleman him here to see you. kim him don't know if he do right, maybe wrong; but gentleman said it all right that him come in." all apologies, kim was fretting himself almost into a nervous collapse over the visitor. rather curious, i walked into the sitting-room and found a man i had seen pretty often at the wilhelmstrasse. i knew him to be herr von stammer, the right hand man of von wedel. although we were well known to each other by sight, we hardly conversed ten words outside of official business. at the time i thought it a little odd that the usual procedure was not observed, that someone came to my room instead of my going to the wilhelmstrasse, seemed a bit unusual. as things developed, however, i saw a possible reason why. "your quarters are pretty well guarded here, doctor," said herr von stammer. "your cerberus didn't want to let me in." i half smiled. i could imagine what a battle a stranger must have to get by kim. "we received your wire from albeck and as the count is inaccessible, your orders will come through me this time." there was an interruption, for kim had appeared with cigarettes. "the count," continued von stammer, driving direct to the point, "wishes you to go to belgrade and get in close touch with existing conditions there. we wish you to ascertain the undercurrent situation. the official status is, of course, well known to us. but we want definitely to find out just how far russian influences are at work in bucharest and sofia, just how far they have progressed and how far they are prepared to go in this balkan affair. if you cannot get in belgrade the wanted information--and absolute accuracy is imperative--go to the bulgarian capital. but--and this is important--no time must be lost. a definite insight into the inner workings of the situation must be in my hands at the earliest possible moment." here indeed was a task. "understand," continued von stammer, "you will have the assistance in this case of austrian secret employees. but, as i need not point out to you, it is inadvisable to take any of them with you, as all the austrian agents are known to the russian agents down in the balkans. i suggest that you stop at budapest and get all connecting links of possible help to you. you will obtain these from kasimir kowalsky, an austrian agent whom you will find at donaustrasse . by the way, do you know him?" i said no. "in this case," went on von stammer, "i shall give instructions to facilitate matters. it is necessary for you to have passports. have you any reason to fear your previous mission to the balkans?" he referred to that incident in , current with the assassination of king alexander and queen draga of servia--an incident i don't like to think of, for it landed me on a blank wall looking into twelve ugly mauser tubes, as you will recall from a previous chapter. i considered that there were only two men in the balkans who could have placed me from the incident. one colonel niglitch was dead, slain at the time of the alexander assassination; the other was stamboul and he was no doubt moving in the circles where my mission would take me. were i to meet him it would mean recognition, a possible knife in the back. no, i was in no way keen to undertake this mission. my previous experience in the balkans and all that ilk had given me a thorough distaste of the people there. there is no mixture of races so dangerous. nearly every man is for a small sum a traitor and potential assassin. i had had a taste of their methods and i didn't want another. von stammer must have noticed my hesitation, for he grinned and said: "nervous about it?" i frankly was. i told him so. "yes, i understand your attitude." [i had been on the go for over five months solid and i wanted a rest.] "i beg of you to consider though that you are the only man we have at our disposal who can see this thing through." he then began to hint in such a way that it became obvious to me that refusal on my part would not be at all to the liking of the wilhelmstrasse. refusal would mean loss of favor and with it the choice jobs. as an added inducement, von stammer promised double the usual remuneration. frankly this was a point. i considered that the mission would not take me over three or four weeks and he had agreed to pay me $ , , aside from the bonus always attached to successful and quick work. still, i wasn't sure that i wanted to go. i knew there was the danger of recognition, and i knew the kind of irresponsible, hotheaded, temperamental people i was going among. it was far more difficult, far more hazardous, than any mission i had ever undertaken, in england or france; even the tremendous responsibilities of the affair in the black forest carried with them none of the personal dangers that this did. when he pressed me for a decision i requested some little time to think things over. asking me to telephone his home before midnight and let him know what i was going to do, he departed. i hope i am still a christian, but contact and intercourse with the mysticism of africa and india has made me superstitious. i have a curious habit at momentous times of indecision of taking two full packages of cards and playing napoleon's solitaire. if i get it out once in three times, i generally go into the matter in hand without question. it never has failed me. twice in my life i went against it; twice i had bitter cause of regret. well, i didn't give von stammer his decision on the moment because i wanted to try the old test. kim produced the cards and i began to play. i got it out the second time. going to the 'phone i called von stammer and told him i would undertake the mission. he asked me to come at once to his house, and there i received final instructions and passports, the latter essential south of the austrian frontier. at three o'clock in the morning i boarded the orient express via vienna and made a stop over of a day at budapest. i went immediately to donaustrasse and saw the austrian agent kowalsky. from him i gained points that were invaluable to me. for instance, he gave me the names of men who frequented certain places in belgrade, men w ho would be of use to me. he also warned me of certain persons, especially women whom he knew to be in russian employ. that night i caught a train for belgrade, well satisfied with the results of my visit to kowalsky. before dinner time the next day, i was installed at the hotel de paris in belgrade. my rooms had been engaged for me beforehand and they were the most expensive in the hotel--for a reason. i found myself in an elaborate suite on the first door, known as the suite des princes. this was a necessary move of the parvenu as money is the first and last word in the balkans. belgrade and everybody in it pride themselves on their up-to-date parisian style. everybody lives in the parisian way. army officers, whose pay is infinitesimal, all live like russian grand dukes. how they are able to manage this on the official servian army salaries of cents a day would naturally puzzle an outsider. the answer is, russian gold. it buys anything and everything south of budapest. it cannot buy in montenegro where patriotism is supreme, nor can it buy what it wants among the osmans. to be sure it can buy the turk; but there is a vast difference between an osmanly and a turk. through my lavish expenditure of money, i soon was a marked person and courted by all the gay officers of the capital. one of their number was a major schuvealoff. a _bon vivant_ and gambler, was major schuvealoff, with the tastes of a grand duke. on a mission of this kind a secret agent always likes to find a man who is "fast." i knew the major to be in the russian pay. kowalsky tipped me off to that. i knew that it was from him i could get everything i wanted, even though he was taking the czar's gold. into the gay life of belgrade i plunged a-hunting, the major the quarry. i gave a series of dinners at the hotel de paris. after the dinners there was gambling. i always lost to the major. he lost to others but i was careful never to win from him. he fell into the way of dropping around at my quarters. like most of his set, the major was a heavy drinker. when his face would become very hushed and his tongue very glib, i would try to draw things out of him, but i never could get anything worth while. the slightest suspicious question made him close up as tight as an oyster. i had seen him often in the company of a french lady, a mlle. rene valon. it was obvious that she and the major were on pretty good terms. little incidents, things that happened in a room full of people, led me to guess that she was extremely fond of him. i made it my business to cultivate her acquaintance, for experience had often shown me that where gold and myself failed, a pair of flashing eyes and other felicities will often succeed. like all the other women of that set in belgrade, mlle. valon was woefully extravagant. she gambled heavily and one night i assisted her with a loan of francs. i came to know her fairly well. i had no previous indication of her being in any way connected with any foreign service. indeed everything pointed to the contrary. but when on these missions, one is always on the _qui vive_. mlle. valon's french was perfect. she looked french, her mannerisms were french. still i wasn't satisfied. in a case like this, it is wise to be suspicious of every one. i began to make the most delicate inquiries. in conversation i tried to draw out little things. i felt she was playing a rôle. i used outside sources, but everything bore out the french origin. still i wasn't satisfied. subsequently my _quasi_ suspicions proved to be correct. one night mlle. valon gave a supper party in her apartments in the hotel de paris. after the supper there was gambling among the guests. here in the privacy of her rooms was an opportunity to discover some little thing that would either confirm her french claims or confirm my suspicions. i kept my eyes open, but they could find nothing that would show any connection with russia. that is, they found nothing until mlle. valon got up from the table, went to her boudoir and returned nibbling on a piece of candy. it was the candy that gave her away. i saw at once it was a particular brand of russian candy quite distinct from similar confections in france and turkey. in reality they are natural flowers such as roses and violets with their fragrance and natural taste in a champagne-colored, crystal substance, the nature of which is a secret. made solely by demitrof and sons of moscow, they are usually appreciated only by a born moscovite. the taste for them must be acquired. only a russian or one who had for years lived in russia would have it. although mlle. valon was personally unknown to me, five out of every ten of these women were invariably known to the secret service branch of the continental police. my suspicions as to her confirmed, it was an even chance that i might be able to place her. i procured two snapshots of her and a specimen of her handwriting. these i forwarded to the chief of the sections in vienna and berlin, with a request to wire any possible information about her. within forty-eight hours i had a reply. mlle. valon was well known to the austrian police as a one-time keeper of a fashionable gambling resort in galicia. she had left the country hurriedly after a stabbing affray. she was known in crakau as paula, and she was wanted by the police. i engineered my next meeting with mlle. valon to be alone. after presenting her with a box of perfumes, i said abruptly: "this is a change from crakau, paula." it is always wise to smash right out, and not to put the other on guard through leading questions, and the trick had the desired effect. she recoiled. to your high american standards of chivalry, it may seem brutal to take advantage of a woman in this way, but it had to be done. moreover, these women are absolutely conscienceless themselves. "grand dieu! who are you?" "that does not concern you ma fille, i know that and a good deal more. austria would be very glad to know where you are. shall i tell them?" she had recovered to an extent. "what is your price for not telling?" i replied: "let russia slip this once, gain me the information i seek and nothing further shall be said." her air of surprise was perfect. "russia? i know nothing at all about russia." i smiled, walked to her desk where there was a silver tray, and picked up a sugared rose. "you're clever, paula, but careless. know nothing about russia, yet have acquired a taste for the fine candies of the moscovites? remarkable, paula." she bit her lips. "what do you want?" "now before we begin, paula,"--that name seemed to vex her--"let it be understood that there is to be no double dealing here. it would be an easy matter for you to have me legitimately assassinated." she would do that in this way: she would tell one of her many admirers that i had insulted her. one morning i would come downstairs to be slapped in the face before a hotel full of people and what could i do? it would be a case of pistols and i would get a bullet. "remember," i cautioned her, "if anything happens to me here--and if they in vienna do not hear from me every six hours, on the seventh you will be arrested. you will be arrested on an imperial austrian warrant. your friends in here, army officers, though they are, will not dare to help you. servia will not take the chance of angering austria by refusing to acknowledge the imperial warrant. remember, paula, there is now an austrian army on the servian border." the look she gave me was venomous. "now i'll tell you what i want," i continued. "major schuvealoff is in the russian pay. he has got the key to the russian influence here. he knows just how far they are prepared to go. i want that key. you've got to get it. i have the major pretty well sounded. money would be very acceptable to him. he is half-willing to sell out russia, but he fears your supervision. i know that you were sent here by russia, paula, just to keep your eye on agents in russian pay, principally on our friend schuvealoff. i know you have not the situation in hand like he has. if you had, i wouldn't bother going any further, i'd get it from you . . . now your part is to give him to understand that he has nothing to fear from you. no lapse by him will be reported. you're rather fond of him already, aren't you? if you value his safety you'd better do as i ask. otherwise i shall also let him go up. i hold something over his head too." this last shot in the dark seemed to bear the most weight with her. she said: "what guarantee have i that you'll keep your side of the bargain?" i said none, for the simple reason i couldn't give any. "your own sense," i explained, "and knowledge of the work you're doing should tell you that it is to my interest to get results, and not trouble about other things. i'll promise you, however, no further interference for this affair in crakau. there will also be the price of a diamond collar in it for you." (i subsequently filed a requisition for $ , to be paid her, but i think she got more.) "you agree? good!" the agreement closed, i went back to the hotel well satisfied with the night's work. early the next morning a very perturbed major schovealoff was shown into my chamber. i greeted him cordially and opened fire with the remark. "i see mlle. valon has conferred with you." he started. "how did you know?" "mon cher major, this early visit, your sobriety, your nervous manner are indications enough. my time is valuable, and although your petite paris here is very entertaining, i prefer the baltic seashore. if you have anything to say to me, say it quickly, and to the point. i leave this afternoon for vienna. it may interest you to know that you are absolutely safe. i put no stop to your no doubt valuable service to your employer. in fact, it's no affair of mine what you do after i leave. but i want the whole of your knowledge of russian activity here and in roumania." he replied: "i know very little about roumania." i shook my head. ''this will not do, major, you know about as much of russian intrigues in roumania as you do of them here. i want the whole or nothing. as mlle. valon--paula--doubtless has told you, neither you nor she are in a position to hold back a single thing." without further attempt to bluff it out, he told me what i wanted. the gist of it was this: with the aid of french money, russia was heavily subsidizing bulgaria and servia against turkey. numerable non-commission russian and french officers were pouring into belgrade and sofia. they were ready to take the field in the armies of the allies. most of the leading officers and men of affairs of the allies were in the russian pay. in fact, a systematic russianization was in progress. the armies of the allies were being equipped with a new kind of french gun. bulgarian and servian troops were being paid by russian and french gold. obviously the menace of the czar abetted by france was to be a tremendous factor in the situation. russia was in so deep that there was no pulling out. this, of course, had been suspected by the cabinets of germany and austria. but how far and how thorough the actuality was, i had been sent to find out. the results of my mission showed beyond all doubt the urgent need for germany and austria to begin their machinations to off-set the rising power of russia in the balkans. i took the night's orient express for berlin direct and i made my report to von stammer, as wedel was still inaccessible, being away with the kaiser. at once austria and germany set about to smash the threatening predominance of russian influence in the balkans. a solid coalition of bulgaria, servia and montenegro with a russian dominance would have played a solid factor in the policies of germany, austria and england. it would have interfered with the plans made for the isolation of france at that secret meeting in the black forest. this coalition had to be broken up. it _was_ broken up. at the crucial stage of the balkan war, experts in eastern questions turned curious eyes toward roumania, the most advanced and the strongest of the balkan states. the sway and influence behind roumania controls the situation in the balkans. who is the power holding this key to the situation? germany and austria. the appearance of an army on roumania's southwestern frontier would have made a vast difference in the success of the balkan arms against the turk. this army, however, did not appear until the allies had finished fighting turkey and had begun to fight themselves. i shall show you why this army was withheld. the ruling house in roumania is closely allied and related to the house of hohenzollern. i need only mention carmen sylva, the queen of roumania, and king charles, both german by birth. the direct commercial relationship between germany and roumania is also very great. roumania, of all the balkan countries, has least felt the yoke of the turk and the intense hatred of the turk rampant in the rest of the balkan states is not characteristic of carmen sylva's domains. russo-french machinations producing tangible results in bulgaria, servia, montenegro and albania met with only indifferent success in roumania. if russian persuasion and gold could have induced roumania to throw her armies into the field against the turk, the map of the balkans would show some mighty changes. a roumanian army corps, menacing turkey's northwestern frontier during her struggle with the balkan allies, would certainly have seen the occupation of constantinople by the allied forces. but those army corps were withheld through austro-german influence and pressure on roumania. ready they were and they came in handy and were made use of by germany and austria in keeping servia and bulgaria in check. bulgaria, servia and montenegro, stanchly believing russia's promises in securing ratification of their successes and territory, found themselves left to their own resource, russia being unable through force of circumstances to exert her pledged influence. humanity has been staggered by the results of the wars in the balkans, but to those who were behind the scenes the results did not come as a surprise. bulgaria alone had enough successes against the turk to warrant great acquisitions of territory, so with her allies. under ordinary circumstances there would have been no return to the _status quo ante-bellum_. why this return? when little countries previously hereditary enemies are welded together by an outside power and the influence of this power subsequently wanes, there is an inevitable outcome. the individual cupidity and jealousies will break forth, especially when judiciously fostered as they were in this instance by the counter influence of germany and austria. the result is well known. servia was jealous of bulgaria; bulgaria was jealous of montenegro; greece was jealous of the lot and roumania, instigated by her wirepullers, would not permit any of them to have anything. but through sheer exhaustion and disgust and a stoppage of franco-russian money we would have had one of the finest all around throat-cutting competitions the world has ever seen. in the meantime, the mutual jealousy and inability to divide the spoil was beneficial to turkey, who really lost nothing worth speaking about, commensurate with the reverses received. that and the breaking up of any possible coalition or federation of balkan states under russian influence was just what the german-austrian balkan policy demanded. a broken and prostrated turkey, a united and strong central balkan federation able to put a million efficient fighters in the field, probably under russian sway, would make a vast difference to german aims and aspirations in central europe. a million soldiers cooperating with russia would in the event of a european war take practically the whole of the austrian forces, leaving germany the sole care of the russian battalions, which would mean quite half her available fighting force, weakening her operations by that half on her franco and lowland border. as it stands now, the balkans eliminated for decades to come; turkey as a potential fighting stronger today than ever, would and will be used by germany against any possible russian interference; and the turkish army, three-quarters of a million strong, in conjunction with the austrian armies provides the needed guard against russia, joining in or making capital out of any war germany is likely to enter into in the near future. dr. armgaard karl graves is not known in the balkans, _but_ among the gay extravagant army officers of belgrade, "count arthur zu wernigrode" is. chapter x. my mission and betrayal in england during my diplomatic missions piled one upon the other. of recent years it was the most tempestuous in european cabinets. the drama that began with my mission to monte carlo and developed through the swift climaxes of the moroccan affair, the secret conference between germany, austria and england in the taunus, that rushed on through the intrigues that preceded the balkan war, had now lulled, gathering its forces perhaps for the final catastrophe, the general war of all the powers, which may come this year--or next. to be sure the terms that the english, german and austrian ministers had agreed upon in the black forest were now awaiting ratification by their respective governments. bear this in mind--"were waiting ratification"--for it explains the mission that i was called upon to undertake on november , . i received the usual summons to report at the wilhelmstrasse. instead of being brought before count von wedel, i was taken over to koenigergratzerstrasse , to the german admiralty intelligence department. here i met my old chief captain tappken, head of the naval branch of the intelligence department. the captain briefly informed me that it had been deemed advisable to send me to england--unwelcome news, this, as you will see. in the usual curt yet polite manner of german officers, the captain introduced me to three naval experts. one was a construction officer, another in the signaling department, the third, an expert on explosives and mines. one at a time they took me in hand, grooming me in the intricacies of their respective fields. it was like a rehearsal in the grooming i had received years ago when taken into the service and trained for months. i sat for hours over diagrams with a naval officer on each side. they brought me before charts that were as big as the wall of the room. these charts gave the exact dimensions and type of every vessel in the british navy. not only that, i was made to study the silhouettes of all the new and different types of english warships--why you will see. obviously this special training was significant. part of my mission to england was to watch the preparations and maneuvers of british warships at the naval bases on the scottish coast. as you may surmise, the situation between england and germany was peculiar. the secret treaty of the black forest was awaiting ratification by the heads of the two governments. of course the mass of subjects--indeed not ten men in each country--knew aught of what had transpired near schlangenbad. politicians had worked up a war scare to such pitch that the people of the two nations were ready to rush into conflict. only a spark was needed to fire the situation. realizing that under the menace of existing conditions, the unforeseen might happen, the kaiser was not lessening his secret diplomatic intrigues; rather he was increasing them. it is a fact that even though two nations have a secret treaty, they each remain suspicious of the other. after all, secret treaties have been ruthlessly torn up. the vigilance of european cabinets must be eternal. hence my mission. it was included in my instructions to watch the movements of british warships off the scottish coast and promptly cable the german admiralty intelligence department concerning them. this is where a study of the silhouette charts would be invaluable. at night or in a fog or early in the morning i would not be able to distinguish the british ships by name. but knowing the silhouettes of all the naval types--for example, certain kinds of dreadnaughts, powerful cruisers, torpedo boat destroyers--i would be able to tell what ships were putting to sea. when i had memorized all the charts, they covered the names of the battle ships thereon and made me repeat the types. for instance, i would say, "that is a _queen mary_ type of battle cruiser. the other is of the _ajax_ type. that destroyer is of the _viper_ type." and so on. there are well-defined architectural lines to every group of ships in the british navy and these silhouettes i learned to know by heart before i was permitted to leave berlin. moreover, i had to brush myself up in topography and trigonometry. in england--so i learned from my instructions--it would be necessary to calculate distances, to take observations on the exact nature of the newly reconstructed rossyth base near edinburgh on the firth of forth; besides keeping in touch with things in cromarty. i was to watch especially the new rossyth base and to report progress on armaments, new equipment, anything of use to the german admiralty. i was to keep tab on all the british beet maneuvers then in progress on the scottish coast. it must be understood that the bases at rossyth and cromarty were great britain's answer to germany's powerful naval base at helgoland. so far as germany's northern coasts are concerned, the scottish coast is the most convenient point of attack for great britain. fearing the unforeseen spark firing the hostile minds of the people of the two nations, germany was thus preparing to be instantly informed of any sudden demonstration by the english fleets off scotland. not a ship could leave either rossyth or cromarty without an immediate cable being sent by me to berlin, reporting how many war vessels and of what type had put to sea, also if possible the reason for the movement. at the intelligence department, i was given carte blanche as to how to go about my mission. i am frank to say i did not care at all for it. i had good reason to be wary. the suspicious state of england at the time, and a stringent law just passed, made this mission very dangerous as far as your liberty was concerned. there was no danger of a knife thrust as in the balkans, but there was of jail. contrary to all precepts of british law, there had been rushed through the house of commons, the official secrets act, a clause so elastic and convenient for convictions that a judge could charge a jury to find a man guilty on suspicion only. as i recall it the gist of it was: "any person or persons making or obtaining any document whatsoever, endangering or likely to endanger the safeguards of great britain can be found guilty notwithstanding there being no consequent proof of any actual offense. a sentence of seven years penal servitude will be given the offender." it does not need a lawyer to point out the tremendous power of prosecution that this added clause to the statutes put in the hands of the english government. as i stated, it was rushed through the house of commons, but it was necessary. one has to admit that to be fair. within six months three german spies had been arrested in england. there was a plague of them. knowing this and also knowing the general efficiency of england's public servants and system, i was rather loath to stick my head into it. that penalty for being caught--seven years' penal servitude--loomed ominously, for penal servitude in england is plain hell. also, i knew that although no passports are required in england, they still know pretty well what is going on, especially in regard to foreigners. it is easy to get into england, but deuced hard to get out. also, knowing the secret understanding between the two governments, i had an uneasy premonition that everything was not quite right in the state of denmark. subsequent events proved to me that this feeling of mine, very seldom at fault, was correct. however, strong pressure and great inducements were brought to bear on me and i undertook the mission, against my better judgment. when i left berlin i was thoroughly equipped to carry out instructions. every war vessel of the british navy, every fortification, naval base and depot of supplies was coded in secret service ciphers. arrangements had been made with the intelligence department to transmit telegrams to addresses in brussels, copenhagen and paris. in the event of the brussels channel of communication being closed, i could resort to either of the others. the brussels address was c. v. noens, rue de venise, . noens had instructions to forward any communications from me to the proper authorities in berlin, and all letters from berlin went from him to a little tobacconist's shop in london and were there remailed to me in scotland. six hours after my subsequent arrest in glasgow, scotland yard detectives sought the tobacconist but found him not; nor did they find noens. as for the copenhagen address, that was the proprietor of the hotel stadtkiel. having had him at my beck and call during a mission to copenhagen, i knew him to be in german pay. marie blanche, who conducted a modiste and lingerié shop on the rue de rivolie, handled all my communications to paris. i went to edinburgh by way of hook of holland and folkstone. i went by way of march, not going through london for a reason. the reason is that at all times and more especially with the air surcharged with war scares, all continental steamers and expresses entering london are closely watched. the general traveler does not know that every dover, calais and flushing express is met and watched not only by scotland yard detectives but by special government officers. as a rule, very little escapes them. anyone not an englishman is upon landing likely to notice an elderly, gray-haired, high-hatted english gentleman who looks like a retired army officer or cleric and who generally carries an umbrella. if this clerical looking gentleman decides a foreigner is suspicious, he is closely shadowed from the moment he enters london. circumventing this by going via march, i arrived in edinburgh and put up at the old bedford hotel on prince's street, a quiet select scottish hostelry. i registered under my _quasi_-correct name of a. k. graves, h. d., turo, australia. my "stunt" was to convey the impression of being an australian physician taking additional post-graduate courses at the famous scottish seat of medical learning. after a few days' residence at the bedford, i installed myself in private quarters at a mrs. macleod's, craiglea drive, edinburgh. the ordinary expense provided for my residential quarters was $ a week. this of course did not include "extras," such as entertaining, motors, etc. for the first fortnight i quietly took my bearings, creating a suggestion that i was a semi-invalid. having by this time familiarized myself with edinburgh and surroundings, i made frequent trips to the firth of forth upon which was located the rossyth base. now across the firth there is a long bridge. it is between the rossyth base and the north sea. warships going to and from the naval station pass under it. but more about this bridge later--something for the benefit of the english admiralty. gradually i worked myself into the confidence of one of the bridge keepers. i shall not give the man's name for to do so would injure him and quite unwillingly he gave me facilities for studying the naval base and furnished me with scraps of information that i wanted to know. for this he received no money and he was not a traitor to his country. through the little acquaintance i struck up with him, i was able to make a thorough study of the bridge and its structure--a strategic point, the bridge. also, through the offices of my good friend the keeper, i was introduced to some of his "pals" in the waterguard. because of my intimate knowledge of robbie burns, walter scott, "inside" history of prince charlie, and--ahem!--scottish proclivity for a drop o' whisky, they accepted me as a half scotchman. from the waterguard i obtained more definite information regarding the rossyth base. so much for the topographical knowledge which could only be obtained through personal contact with men who actually knew every inch of the ground. the charts back in berlin could not give me that exact information. the higher scientific data of the fortifications and the base, i obtained by social intercourse with high placed officials--officers and engineers at rossyth--whom i entertained at various times. the schooling i had received in the silhouettes presently came in handy. one night my friend, the bridge tender, learned that the fleet was getting up steam. accordingly, i stood on the bridge that night and waited. at five o'clock in the morning a gray, rainy, foggy morning, through which the ships moved almost ghost-like, i made out sixteen war vessels. from their silhouettes, i knew them to be dreadnaughts, cruisers, and torpedo boat destroyers. at once i filed a cable by way of brussels, informing the intelligence department of the german navy that an english fleet sixteen strong had put to sea. subsequently i learned that in describing the sixteen ships i had made only one mistake. i may here draw attention and in return for england's fair treatment of me during my trial, give them gratis, this information. _the firth of forth bridge constitutes a grave danger to the rossyth royal naval base._ for this reason: its location between rossyth and the sea is a decided menace. in the event of hostilities, in fact before the outbreak of war, it is no ways impossible to blow up the firth of forth bridge and bottle all war vessels concentrated at the rossyth base. they could thus be bottled up for several days powerless, while a foreign fleet swept at the scottish coasts. the british foreign office will understand what i mean by this: _look to the middle island._ i found it to be partly intervened with soft, soapy neiss, making natural ruts and cavities that were ideal for the placing of explosives. i learned also that along the edinburgh approach to the firth of forth bridge were two pieces of ground and houses in reality owned by germans although the deeds stood in scottish names. moreover, little fishing hamlets on either side of the bridge harbored more than one supposed swedish fisherman but who in reality had his name still on the german naval register. in the event of trouble these men, using explosives stored in the two houses in question, could have blown the middle island to atoms. after about three weeks i began to be suspicious of being followed. arriving home one night i noticed that my dress suit was arranged in a different way to what i had left it. i called my landlady and casually inquired if my tailor had been there. she said, "no, doctor." "well," i replied. "what reason have you then to rearrange my clothes?" her face reddened and she seemed flustered. "i wasn't in your room," she faltered. "i remember now. i believe the tailor was here. one of the servants let him in." i have no reason to shield mrs. macleod, for with true scottish thrift she got as much out of me as she could and then afterwards declared in court that she thought i was a german spy a fortnight after i had been in her house. i made it my business to go around to my tailor's within an hour's time and he contradicted her story. he had not been at the house. to completely verify my suspicions that i was being shadowed, i went the next day into the "f and f," a well-known caterer on prince's street. in the writing-room i wrote some letters, one of which i purposely dropped on the floor. i withdrew to the washroom and returning in about fifteen minutes noticed that the letter had disappeared. making inquiries of "buttons" and of the "desk girl" i learned that a gentleman had quietly picked up the letter and without reading it had put it in his pocket and walked away. that settled it. they were after me. i hope this particular detective or his superior could read greek. for they, or whoever spent their time translating my letter, read an ancient greek version of "mary had a little lamb." i recognized it as an occasion where i had to make a right royal bluff. i went at once to police headquarters in edinburgh. i asked for chief constable ross, and sent in my card bearing dr. a. k. graves, turo, s. australia. presently i was shown into the chief's room and was received by a typical scottish gentleman. i opened fire in this way: "have you any reason to believe that i am a germa spy?" i saw that it had knocked him off his pine. "why, no," he said, startled. "i don't know anything at all about it." "it's not by your orders then that i am followed?" "certainly not," he replied. "well, chief, it's hardly likely that anything of such importance would transpire without your notice." "what reason have you to believe that you were followed?" he asked. "reason in plenty," i replied. "some agent had even the audacity to enter my apartments and search my effects. this, as you know, is absolutely against english law, a warrant being necessary for such procedure. if you have any reason to take me to be a german spy, go right ahead now, or let these rather nonsensical persecutions cease. i have taken this up to now to be rather a good joke, but my sense of humor has its limit." chief constable ross became serious, and very bravely said: "well, doctor, you know we've got to obey orders. i'm quite satisfied though that there has been a mistake made and you shall no further be annoyed." he bowed me out. of course i knew i still would be shadowed which i did not mind in the least. i reasoned that my visit to the police might make them slow down a bit. right along i communicated by cables and letter with berlin and went the even tenor of my way. about a week after my experience with constable ross, i received information that william beardmore & co., of glasgow, were constructing some new fourteen-inch guns for the british government. that meant a change of base. i at once made it my business to go to glasgow and get particulars. i installed myself in the central station hotel, and in a few weeks gained all the information i wanted. it would take too long to detail how this was done, but you have a very expressive american saying, "money talks." i had the plans, firing systems, everything of interest about the new fourteen-inch turret guns. while in glasgow i received letters addressed to me as james stafford. i received two such letters, and upon my calling at a general post-office for a third, i was informed that there was a letter for a. stafford. "oh yes, that is my letter," i said. the clerk demurred and replied: "you asked for james stafford. under those circumstances i cannot hand you this letter. it is against the postal law." not being in a position to raise a question i let it go at that, never for a moment thinking that my employers would be so culpably careless as to put any incriminating evidence in the mail. events proved that that is just what they did. moreover, i later came to know why that particular letter was addressed not to james but to a. stafford. all my previous letters were addressed to me as dr. a. k. graves and were enclosed in the business envelope of the well-known chemical firm of burroughs & wellcome, snowhills, london, e. c.--which paper had been fabricated for the purpose. of course the letters were sent from the continent to london and there reposted. the stationery of this chemical firm was fabricated so as to disarm any possible suspicion, for european post-offices are taught to be suspicious. it would be perfectly natural for me, a physician in edinburgh, to receive a letter from a very well-known chemical concern. when i left edinburgh to find out about the fourteen-inch guns, i gave our people in london instructions to use plain envelopes and to address them to james stafford, g. p. o., glasgow. the first two letters were addressed correctly and plain envelopes were used. _the third was not only misaddressed but was enclosed in one of the b. & w. envelopes_--this as i later learned, for a reason. no one having called for it, the letter was returned to the chemical company. at their office it was opened and found to contain a typewritten letter in the german language and five ten-pound notes on the bank of england. the contents of the letter, was such as to lead the firm to call in the police. on the evening of april , i had just put on my evening clothes and gone to the upstairs writing-room. i was awaiting a party of gentlemen who were coming to dine with me in the hotel. there came a "buttons" who announced: "there's a gentleman downstairs to see you, doctor." a premonition stole over me. i knew that my guests would not have sent for me to come down but would have been announced. i realized that if i was going to be caught there was no avoiding it. secret service makes a man a fatalist. i took the precaution, however, to slip inside my dinner coat just under the arm, my little bag of chemicals, so often handy in an emergency. then i went downstairs, one hand was thrust in my pocket, the other folded across my breast so that i could snatch the little bag of chemicals in an emergency. i had hardly reached the last step of the grand stairway when four big plain-clothes men, pounced upon me. i had to do some swift thinking. i could have flung the chemicals in their faces and escaped, but i knew i could never get outside of the british isles without being caught--outside of glasgow for that matter. such resistance would only incriminate matters still more, so i let my hand fall down to my side. more for the fun of it than anything else, i guess, i got on my horse and demanded to know what was the matter. "you'll soon know," inspector french declared. it seems that a woman had just called me on the telephone and the inspector, hurrying to the wire, pretended that he was i and tried to learn something. he then ordered his men to search me and seemed amazed when they couldn't find any six shooters, daggers or bombs. i was taken back to my room and there he began going through my effects, and bundling them up. i knew i was up against it; but i wasn't going to make it any easier for them. i requested mr. morris, then manager of the hotel, and another witness to be called into my room. these gentlemen were kind enough to put down on paper a description of all my effects that were being taken away by the police. i was extremely careful to see that they noted and described all papers and written matters of any kind. there are often produced in court documents that are not found on a secret service agent at the time of his arrest. inspector french--i recall him as an uncouth, illiterate bungler who subsequently tried to get a lot of publicity out of my arrest as if he himself had detected the whole concern, instead of having it thrust under his nose by the london chemical company--was preparing to ride over me roughshod. i insisted that he read the warrant for my arrest and with much grumbling he finally did so. it had been issued under the official secret act that had been rushed through the house of commons. i was charged with endangering the safeguards of the british empire. i spent the night in the glasgow city prison, and was taken the next day before a magistrate and formally committed to a sheriff's court. on july my case came up before the sheriff's court. waiving preliminary examination, i was committed for trial to the edinburgh high court. it is significant that the extreme length of a committal without trial under british law is one hundred and five calendar days, which hundred and five days up to the last minute i certainly waited. they were trying to find out my antecedents but they did not succeed. a letter from the lord provost informed me that all material for my defense should be in his hands a day before the trial. i had no defense. i neither denied nor admitted anything. i replied to his lordship that as i was unaware of any offense there was no need of any defense. my attitude was a profound puzzle--which was as i wanted. if you care to look over the back files of the english and scottish newspapers of the time you will read that my trial was "the most sensational court procedure ever held in a scottish court of justice." now i shall reveal every circumstance of it. for the first time i shall explain how, why and by whom i was secretly released. until i revealed myself in the united states, even the german foreign office thought me in jail. against me the crown had summoned forty-five witnesses. they included admirals, colonels, captains, military and naval experts, post office officials--i cannot recall all. the press from all parts of europe--for all europe was vitally concerned in this trial--was represented. my memory shows me again the crowds that packed the big supreme court building at edinburgh on the first day of the proceedings. the imposing names connected with the trial, the strange circumstances, a spy, moreover a german!--these things brought the excitement to fever heat. presiding was the lord justice of scotland, himself no mean expert in military matters. the solicitor general of scotland, a. m. anderson, who prosecuted for the crown, was supported by g. morton, advocate deputy. the government had indeed an imposing array of bewigged, black-gowned, legal notables marshaled against me. those familiar with english court procedure know the impressive manner with which justice is dispensed. punctually at ten on the morning of july , , my trial opened. clad in his royal red robe with the ermine collar of supreme justice, the lord justice entered the court. before him walked a mace bearer, intoning "gentlemen, the lord justice! gentlemen, the court!" after the impressive ceremonies had been observed, the jury was quickly empaneled, i making several challenges. twelve years in the secret service naturally has made me know something of men. i knew that those twelve hard-headed, cautious scottish jurymen would demand pretty substantial proof before convicting. at the time i am frank to say that i did not think there was a chance of a verdict of guilty being brought in. the evidence against me was too vague. expressing astonishment at my refusal to accept counsel--which was subsequently forced on me--his lordship promised to guard my interest on legal points; and guard it he did. repeatedly he ruled against the solicitor general and challenged him on more than one point. i am frank in my admiration of british justice. my trial was a model of fairness. on the first day i waived examination on all witnesses but the naval and military experts. i directed my fire against rear admiral t. b. stratton adair, who superintended the ordnance factories of the beardmore gun works in glasglow. the admiral a typical english gentleman of the naval officer type, long, lank with a rather ascetic, clear-cut roman head, not unlike chamberlain in general appearance, even to the single eye-glass, did not make much of a showing as an expert witness for the prosecution. the admiral was called in on testimony concerning the new fourteen-inch gun. the point they were trying to establish was that it was impossible for a man to have my knowledge of these guns unless he had obtained it first hand from the works in glasgow. of course that brought the testimony into technicalities. i managed to involve the admiral in a heated altercation on the trajectory and penetrating power of the so-much disputed fourteen-inch gun. one word led to another and notwithstanding that he ranked at that time as a rear admiral of the british navy, the admiral showed that he did not know as much about his own guns as i. backed into this corner he was about to divulge things in support of his knowledge when he recovered himself, pulled up suddenly and appealed to the court. "your lordship, it is against the british government to have any more questions on this point in open court." i maintained that my knowledge of guns was such that i did not need to spy at beardmore to obtain the things i knew. subsequently after being cross-examined by me another of the government's naval experts told the court: "it is quite possible for one with a ballistic knowledge such as the defendant's to be able with very little data to arrive at accurate conclusions regarding our new fourteen-inch guns." _a word of advice to the admiral._ do not talk so much when you go motor boating with pretty young musical comedy girls. you see, admiral, i made it my business to see those young ladies in glasgow. what an interest they took in you--a great admiral! it is you, admiral, whom i thank for aiding me in securing the right persons from whom the secrets of your new fourteen-inch guns could be obtained. a note they found in my effects was introduced as evidence. it read as follows: "the firm of william beardmore and co., parkhead, glasgow. b first orders f new . guns f, navy. length feet, weight tons. one foot longer than -inch, but tons heavier. weight of shot, , lb., lb. more than the -inch gun." the upshot of it was that the first day of the trial ended with everybody positive that i would not be found guilty on the charge of obtaining secret information about their guns. of course all this information i had obtained. on the recess i was pleasantly surprised when a court orderly brought me refreshments from the judge's own table with his lordship's compliments. it struck me that i was being treated more like a guest than a prisoner. the second day of the trial brought the burroughs & wellcome letter into the testimony--the letter that had been refused me and had in turn gone back to the chemical company. very gravely sir anderson, crown prosecutor, read the contents of this letter aloud. as i recall the exact wording it was: _dear sir:_ _we are pleased to learn of your successful negotiation of the business at hand. be pleased to send us an early sample. as regards the other matter in hand i do not know how useful it will be to us: in any case my firm is not willing to pay you more than in this case._ it was unsigned. while reading, sir anderson held the five ten-pound notes in his hand. upon finishing he began a vigorous indictment which in substance he declaimed in this way. "on the face of it, this letter does not seem suspicious. but if you gentlemen will recall the times of prince charles' insurrections, periods whenever intrigues were going on, you will remember that in communications of this sort a government was always referred to as a 'firm.' if this was an honest business letter why was it enclosed in the envelope stationery of a company that knew nothing about it? why was this letter unsigned? why was cash enclosed, with it? what was his firm willing to pay pounds for? gentlemen, the reasons for all these things are obvious." but the letter puzzled not only the court, the jury, the newspapers, but all england. for the first time i shall now explain it: it was from the german government. by the "business at hand" they meant a new explosive and slow-burning powder that was to be used in the new type of fourteen-inch turret guns being made in glasgow. some of that explosive was in my possession. the fact that it was not discovered in my effects, nor was anything else incriminating found on me is because the secret agent who knows his business leaves nothing about; but he "plants" things, that is to say, leaves them in a safe deposit vault with the key in the hands of a person with power of attorney. by the "sample" in the letter was meant a sample of the explosive. the "other business at hand" was spoken of as of tremendous importance, more vital to the safeguards of britain than the other points mentioned in the letter. there were sub-agents working at cromarty. i did not know who they were; they simply made their reports to me, signing their german secret service number. i took up their points with berlin. well, the "other business in hand" was to put a certain british army officer under a monthly retaining fee of £ for which in the event of war he was to commit an act of unspeakable treason and treachery on a certain harbor defense. i had judged my jurymen right, for they were very little impressed by this letter. it was all too vague and even the fluent language of a crown prosecutor does not impress a hard-headed scotchman. i was feeling in high spirits indeed, when i saw one of the attendants approach sir anderson and deliver a document that had been handed into court. i at once recognized it and my heart dropped into my shoes. the solicitor general read the document and smiled. i knew they had me. in addressing the court the solicitor general produced two pieces of thin paper--the same that had been brought in on the previous afternoon. "i have got to show the court," he said impressively, "the most deadly code ever prepared against the safeguards of great britain." and it certainly was. it contained the name of every vessel in the british navy, every naval base, fortification and strategic point, in great britain. there were over ten thousand names and opposite each was written a number. for example, the battle cruiser _queen mary_ was number . as i have confessed, i am superstitious. and have i not reason to be? it was the burroughs & wellcome letter that got me caught in the first place. and my secret code was written in a book issued for the use of physicians by burroughs & wellcome! both times the b & w mark was upon me. using a magnifying glass i had written in tiny characters my code. there were so many names it was impossible to memorize them all. two opposite sheets of the little memoranda book were used, then the edges of the pages were pasted together. whenever i learned the british warships were going to put to sea, i slipped the book in my pocket, went to a position of vantage where i could make out the silhouettes of the warships, classified them in my mind, and then writing out a cable put down the code numbers, say in this way. , , , , --(necessary words were filled in by the a. b. c. code). this message was sent by way of brussels or paris to the intelligence department of the german admiralty in berlin and told them what warships were putting to sea or arriving at rossyth. the code contained such phrases as this: "current rumors." "incoming." "outgoing." "clearing for action." "have lowered defending nets." "land fortifications are manned." "protective maneuvers are being carried out at sea." "coal being carried by rail." "remarkable influx of reservists." "mine flelds being laid." "all is quiet; nothing important to report." "liners are appearing." the accidental finding of this code of course settled all further argument. i called no witness for the defense except two or three personal acquaintances to each of whom i put this question: "what is your knowledge of my attitude as regards england?" they all declared that even if i was a spy in the pay of any foreign government i certainly had never shown any personal feeling or animosity toward great britain. all of which i figured might aid the cause of clemency. the jury was not out more than half an hour. i was found guilty of endangering the safeguards of the british empire and under the new law that had been aimed against german spies i was liable to seven years' penal servitude. even then my spirits were not down. i had what americans call "a hunch." just before his lordship, the chief justice, summed up, an aristocratic, gray-clad englishman, who never had been in the court room before, appeared and was courteously, almost impressively, conducted to the bench. i noticed that the chief justice bowed to him with unction and they had about two minutes' whispered conversation. his lordship was nodding repeatedly. this worried me. i felt i was going to get it good. but, in substance, his lordship's verdict was: "taking all the circumstances into consideration, the court pronounces a sentence of eighteen months' imprisonment." i smiled and said: "exit armgaard karl graves." a murmur of astonishment was audible. everybody in court was surprised. i heard gasps all around me, especially among the foreign newspaper reporters. with everybody expecting seven years of penal servitude, eighteen months of plain imprisonment was a bombshell. why? i was taken first to carlton hill jail, edinburgh, and transferred after two weeks to barlinney prison near glasgow. considering the circumstances, i was treated with surprising consideration. the conditions that had characterized my trial prevailed in the prison. i soon perceived that the barlinney prison officials were trying to sound me in a canny scotch way--with no result. "you're foolish to stay in here--you must have something worth while--why don't you get out?" that was the gist of their talks with me from the warders up. i kept my mouth shut. now i shall present information that was denied the house of commons upon the occasion of an inquiry into my case. on the fifth week of my imprisonment i was talten to the office of the governor of the prison. as i entered i saw a slight, soldierly looking english gentleman of the cavalry type--(a cavalry officer has certain mannerisms that invariably give him away to one who knows). the governor spoke first: "graves, here is a gentleman who wishes to see you." the stranger nodded to the governor and said: "i may be quite a while. you have your instructions." "that's all right, sir," replied the governor. the governor left and we were alone. the stranger rose. "my name is robinson, doctor. please take a seat." of course, being a prisoner, i had remained standing. robinson began some casual conversation. "how are they treating you?" "i have no complaints to make." "is the confinement irksome to you?" "naturally." i looked him straight in the face. "i am a philosopher. kismet, captain." "oh--ho" he exclaimed. "you address me as captain. wherefor this knowledge? we have never met." "no," i replied. "but i have associated too long with various types of army officers not to be able to detect a british cavalry officer. formerly of an hussar regiment, i take it?" he laughed for some time. he continued feeling his way in this manner. then suddenly he changed front. point blank he asked me: "now, old chap, we know that you worked for germany against us. we also know that you are not a german. is there any reason why you should not work for us? any private reason?" "captain," i said, "you of all men ought to know that the betrayal of your employers for a monetary or a liberty reason alone is never entertained by a man who has been in my work. we go into it with our eyes open, well knowing the consequences if we are caught. we do not squeal if we are hurt." for a time he looked at me very earnestly. "h-m," he said. "that just bears out what we have been able to ascertain about you. it puzzled us how a man of your known ability acted the way you did. from the moment you landed in england, all the time you were doing your work, even after your arrest, in prison and in court you show a sort of listless, almost an indifferent attitude. if i may put it this way, you seemed in noways keen to go to extremes in any possible missions you might have had," he paused. "we think you could have done more than you did . . . the mildness of your sentence, has it surprised you?" i grinned. "nothing surprises me, captain." his manner became very earnest. "supposing," he said, "we show you that it was a _quasi_-deliberate intention on the part of your employers to have you caught--what then?" this did not startle me either. i had an idea of that all along. it is why i played my cards so quietly, why i did not accomplish in england everything i had a chance to accomplish. i did not grin this time. "under those circumstances," i said, "i am open to negotiations. but i am rather deaf and my vision is very much obscured as long as i see bars in front of my window." the captain smiled: "well, doctor, i may see you again soon." "captain, i have not the slightest doubt but that you will. but let it be understood, please, that it's a waste of time as long as i am behind bars." "leave that to me," he said and we shook hands. i was taken back to my cell. i am frank to admit that i didn't sleep much for the next two or three nights. all through my trial and in barlinney i had been playing a part. when the occasion demanded i could be as cool as i was with captain robinson. but that was a strain and it took it out of me. during these following days i was nervous; i had insomnia; i paced my cell at night. the feeling of a jail is cold and thick. but as i expected, another week brought captain robinson again. this time it was late in the evening after all the prisons were shut up tight. the lieutenant-governor himself took me into the governor's office. no other warder or prison official observed us. "well, doctor," was the way robinson greeted me. "i have something definite to propose to you. you can be of use to us. you have still sixteen months of your sentence to serve. are you willing to give these sixteen months of your time to us--terms to be agreed upon later? i am prepared to supply you with proofs that you were deliberately put away, betrayed by your employers, the german government." he did so to my complete satisfaction. as i guessed, i had come to learn so much of germany's affairs that i was dangerous. to betray me in such a way that i would not suspect and squeal was a clever way to close my mouth for seven years in jail or until the black forest plans had matured. "how would you suggest that we go about it?" he asked. "to be of the slightest degree of use to you, nobody must know of my release," i added. "here is my suggestion. i must leave the execution of it to you. the impression i conveyed around edinburgh was that my health is rather indifferent. so it is also believed here in the prison. on those grounds it should be an easy matter for you to have me ostensibly transferred to another prison; instead of which, have me taken wherever you wish to. i see no necessity that outside the lieutenant-governor, the governor and yourself, any one need know of it." "yes, yes," said robinson. "that coincides with my own ideas and plans." presently he departed and i went back again to my cell. at half-past five the next morning, i was aroused by the lieutenant-governor. he was alone. there were no warders in sight. in the governor's office i found all my clothes and effects ready and laid out for me. these i addressed and left with the lieutenant-governor. we took a taxicab for the caledonian station in glasgow. few people were abroad in glasgow at that time of day and there was no danger of recognition. the trip to london was uneventful. at euston station we were met by captain robinson. we went into a private waiting-room where captain robinson signed a paper for the lieutenant-governor. it was what amounted to a receipt for the prison's delivery of me into his hands. then the lieutenant-governor left us; then robinson left, after handing over an envelope containing cash and instructions. i was alone and free. i could then and there have disappeared. obviously the english government trusted me fully. my first move was to register at the russel square hotel. opening the envelope in my rooms, i found it contained ten pounds and the following instructions: "telephone at . to-morrow morning, this number mayfair--" i telephoned the mayfair number and was told to hold the wire. then captain robinson got on the phone and told me to meet him at luncheon that day at one o'clock at the imperial hotel. there another gentleman joined us--a mr. morgan, whom i easily judged and afterwards knew to be of the english secret service. presently morgan told me that i was to drive with captain robinson to downing street that afternoon. "one of our ministers wishes to see you," he explained. we drove to downing street, captain robinson and i, and stopped before the historic governmental building. after we had signed the book that all visitors to "downing street" must sign, i was ushered into an anteroom and robinson took his leave. my name appears on this book as trenton snell, and if the english government challenges a statement that i shall subsequently make, let them produce the "downing street" book for the date i shall mention, let them have a handwriting expert compare the name "trenton snell" with my handwriting. i make this statement for what followed is of tremendous importance. after a twenty-minute wait, which impressed me as being different from the slam-in-and-slam-out methods of the wilhelmstrasse, i was shown up a flight of stairs. the attendant knocked on the door, opened it and announced "the gentleman." i was facing sir edward grey. he was seated behind a big green-covered mahogany desk. i noticed that the room seemed like a private library; books, memorandas, letters and dispatch cases littered not only the desk but the tables and chairs. the eye was struck by a huge piece of furniture, a tall leather-covered easy chair. i present these details for obvious reasons. sir edward, looking small in the big armchair, was seated with his legs crossed. he was reading some document and without a sign of recognition he kept me standing there, it must have been ten minutes. i noticed that he glanced at me now and then above the top of the paper. abruptly he told me to have a seat. when i said that i preferred to stand, he nodded and pulling open a drawer took from it a folder that, as subsequent events verified, i suspected to be a report on me. there was another period during which he seemed to be unaware of my presence, and i took advantage of it to size up my man. he impressed me as being one of those intolerable, typically english icicles, which only that nation seems able to produce in her public servants. presumably through a century-long contact with the races of the east, the english diplomat of the sir edward grey type presents the bland, imperturbable, non-committal, almost inane expression of the oriental that hardly gives one any criterion of the tremendous power of perception and concentration beneath the mask. after twirling his fingers, he said: "i presume you are familiar with germany's naval activity." "up to a certain point, sir." "what point?" he asked quickly. "i am familiar only with the intelligence department of the admiralty," i replied. "their system?" he asked. "is it so extensive and efflcient as we have been led to believe?" "that cannot be exaggerated." at this sir edward began to throw out innuendoes to which i replied in like vein. the interview was not progressing. finally he came out with what was in his mind. do you know if any officials or naval officers are selling or negotiating to sell information to foreign intelligence departments?" although he had not said english officers or officials, i knew what he meant, but i made up my mind not to tell everything i knew. "there are such," i replied. it had the effect of making him look at me in a most startled manner. "how do you know that? on what grounds do you make that assertion?" his agitation was ill-concealed. "i have no specific proof," i replied--(which i had)--"but from information that has been gained, from plans that have been secured--plans like those of your battleships _queen mary_ and _ajax_--it is obvious that these things have been done with the cooperation of high officials of your country." he pressed me for further details, but i withheld them. i could have told him a pretty story about the plans of the _queen mary_ and _ajax_. he fell to studying a rather voluminous report; then he began anew with his innuendoes. i guessed what was coming. although his speech was more prolonged than i shall now present it, this is the gist of what he asked: "were you ever present at conferences attended by high officials? were you, for instance, at the schlangenbad meeting? have you any data? any documentary evidence of having been there?" i was not a bit startled. i had guessed it would be that. his very question showed that it was useless for me to deny that i had been at the black forest conference. possibly churchill, recalling my meeting him during the boer war, had dropped a word about this coincidence to his lordship. naturally i told him i possessed no such data. still i did not like the trend of his talk. i began to suspect that this british minister was doing one of two things. either he did not know everything about the black forest meeting--(not at all improbable with the conditions existing in england's cabinet at that time)--or else he wanted to learn if i knew the tenor of that conference. in either ease it was one of those occasions where i deemed it wise to keep my own counsel. after many searching questions upon the french system and her army and navy, he began to try to lead me to make comparisons between their strength and england's, these being based upon my personal observations. this, and the whole trend of his thought, led me to suspect that sir edward grey was in noways sure in his own mind or favorable to the german-english alliance. with men like his lordship, personal antipathy plays a powerful part in such matters. he then began to try to make me divulge the contents of any personal dispatches i had carried for the german emperor. "do you know," he asked abruptly, "if the german emperor ever communicates with viscount haldane?" "yes, sir." he leaned forward eagerly. "how and under what circumstances?" "why, i thought it common knowledge that they often correspond. they are good friends." "not that. i mean direct secret communications between them, concerning affairs of the state." i denied any knowledge of this, although i knew it to be so. he began his fishing around again and his hints found me very stupid. my unsatisfactory answers seemed to displease sir edward grey, for with true british discourtesy he abruptly began working at something on his desk and without even saying good day, let a commissaire bow me out. a few days later i received definite instructions from captain robinson. i was to go on my first mission in the interests of the british secret service and subsequently another mission brought me to new york, where i resigned from service permanently. chapter xi. to new york for england it was in december, , that i again felt the thrill of the old game as i moved about london under the plausible name of "trenton snell," engaged in guarding or obtaining state secrets, but this time for a new master. english secret agents are allowed liberal expense money and my work in london and other points in the british isles was not so arduous as to prevent my taking frequent holidays. i judged that downing street was holding me for something big should the occasion arise. in london, my chief work for a time was counteracting the machinations and influences of german agents, forever infesting the british capital. many a neat little plan inspired by the gentlemen of the wilhelmstrasse went wrong during those next few weeks and back in berlin they began to think that their spies had lost their cunning. during this period i was under the direct orders of captain robinson, who, you will recall, had been the go-between for downing street in closing the bargain for my release from barlinney prison. robinson, an ex-captain of the hussars, was well up in subterranean affairs and to him sir edward grey was no stranger. along in january there came to the ear of downing street rumors of a possible meeting between german and japanese envoys. moreover, the meeting ground was to be the united states. it may surprise americans to learn that of late years their country has become a favorite meeting place for european diplomats, secret and otherwise. these men invariably sail from europe, remarking something about taking a trip to the rockies or visiting some noted fishing streams. they may be going into canada or the western states for the shooting; and when these gentlemen leave europe on these little "vacations" they are generally shadowed, or attempts are made to shadow them. in the course of a few days after the english foreign office learned of the supposed meeting of german and japanese agents to be held in america, i received official instructions. they were sharp and very much to the point. i was to find out what the meeting in the united states was about, and, if possible, to learn the nature of the diplomatic proposals likely to be considered by japan and germany. england herself having an alliance pending with germany, was decidedly wary of this new diplomatic conversation with the yellow empire of the pacific. what was in the wind? why was germany conniving secretly with japan? what effect would it have on the english-austrian-german alliance secretly discussed in the taunus hills only the autumn before. obviously the mission was an important one. the first step was to locate one of the german envoys. to do this i had to cross to the continent, a dangerous proceeding, at best, for there were abundant possibilities of recognition. especially was it sticking one's head in the mouth of danger to be seen in germany. nevertheless to germany i had to go to locate my man. it must be understood that the big missions of secret service are accomplished by many coöperating agencies. true, great britain had been rather slow in perfecting a continental system of espionage, but by the machinery was operating well. downing street had special lines of intelligence from all the european capitals. i lost no time in making use of the resources of these lesser agents, in fact a system of spying on spies, and soon had information at my disposal that led me to go to berlin. it was in berlin that i learned that a man known as carl schmidt would be the messenger for the wilhelmstrasse, bearing the instructions too important to be trusted to transatlantic cable cipher. exercising infinite care and tremendous patience--for should i be recognized in berlin, the german foreign office would have been thrown into consternation: "what's this? a man we believed safely looking through the bars of an english prison is at large in our own capital. hm"--completely effacing myself so far as possible, i managed to keep track of the whereabouts of carl schmidt. it was drawing near to february , the sailing day of the _kaiser wilhelm ii_, and i kept the quarry in sight night and day. it was with the most satisfied of smiles therefore that i ascertained the purchase of railroad accommodations by carl schmidt for bremen, the sailing port of the big north german lloyd liner. taking care to secure a seat in the same compartment with herr schmidt, i watched him all the way from berlin to bremen. now, whenever i have carried a document of any description while traveling for any length of time, i have always let my hand wander toward its hiding place to assure myself that it was still there. sometimes i fished in my pockets for a match, or used any pretext to locate the paper without betraying myself. there is not a human being who will not give some little sign of concern, perhaps only once an hour, but often enough to betray himself to the trained observer. accordingly i set myself to watch carl schmidt's hands. not for a minute did i relax my vigilance, yet not once on the way to bremen did the german envoy betray himself by an apparent motion. whereupon i became positive that herr schmidt had not the document upon his person. where then was it? it was an easy matter at the steamship offices to find out the number of schmidt's stateroom. he had engaged room on the first promenade deck. i immediately asked for the rooms on the other side, and by a judicious use of my favorite "palm oil" i secured them. it was imperative now to board the steamer and keeping out of sight until she left port. i had made up my mind to try and obtain the document between bremen and cherbourg. this being successful i should be able to leave the ship at the latter port and return at once to london. from the moment the big north german lloyd liner steamed out of port, i kept a close watch on schmidt, still to no purpose. there was only one moment day or night, when the messenger left his dispatch box unguarded and when i finally got at it, i found no document. obviously the dispatch box was a blind. herr schmidt was not guilty of a single piece of carelessness that would betray the hiding place of the _dossier_. all this had to be done between bremen and cherbourg, and when the liner pulled into the french harbor nothing had been accomplished. it was a question of remaining on board and solving the problem before reaching new york. now it was risky business to attempt anything for the next few days for i was traveling on a ship of a line that was subsidized by the german government. once herr schmidt realized that there was anything in the wind, it would mean a check to my activities. schmidt could send a wireless message to the wilhelmstrasse, and back would be flashed a message to the captain of the _kaiser wilhelm ii_ authorizing any action schmidt deemed advisable. thus could he easily put me under custody on some trumped-up charge. still, there was no risk involved in watching schmidt to locate a possible confederate who was carrying the dossier. i watched him unceasingly but confederates there were none. only one play remained and to make it i must wait patiently until the ship was almost at its dock in new york. then herr schmidt could use the wireless and command the captain's assistance to his heart's content. it would be too late. during the few days immediately following, i kept my activities well concealed. in fact, i made it my business to avoid schmidt. my method of handling the situation did not necessitate my striking up an acquaintance with the man. on the contrary to disarm him of all possible suspicions i shunned him. i even contrived not to sit at herr schmidt's table in the dining salon. meanwhile, robinson, back in downing street, kept his hands on the situation, sending me two wireless messages on board the steamer. all dispatches sent to "buzzing" london, find their way to downing street. it was very probable that being in the diplomatic service, herr schmidt would know this term "buzzing." i thought it unwise to risk a reply. so i kept in the dark waiting for my chance. during the voyage nothing had occurred to arouse the suspicions of herr schmidt and he began to relax his vigilance after the ship was four days out. but i was careful not to take the slightest advantage of his ease at this point. i would wait until the ship was almost in port; then make my play. to prepare for this i had days ago begun to cultivate the acquaintance of one of the baggage men. this man at once attracted me by his shifty eyes and unhealthy red complexion. it hag often been a secret service precept with me: "give me a hard drinker or a man who is fast and i'll land him nine times out of ten." well, the baggage master was no exception. i decided to ply him with liquor to make his tongue run away. i made it my business to see that this particular baggage man was in an incompetent state afternoon and night. one night as he was chin-chucking a stewardess with whom he was infatuated, this red-faced gentleman said: "well, doctor, we're going to get married, the little lady and i. we're going to set up in business. do you know of any small hotel that we could bug cheap?" at this i was all attention; i had been waiting for some lead of this sort. "ho, friend," i said; "ready to buy a hotel eh? there must be plenty of gold in your job." the lout winked heavily. "sure," he said. "just as we are about to reach port we ask everybody on board to prepare for us a statement of the things they have to declare. we give it to the customs officers when they come on board in the lower bay of new york. well, some of those fancy rich people always want to do a bit of smuggling and don't declare lots of things. i have known that for years. what do i do?" becoming boastful, he patted the stewardess on the shoulder, at which she glanced at me a little frightened. she seemed to realize that her future spouse was talking too much. she tried to remonstrate with him but he was too full of his theme and good spirits. "nonsense, my girl; i will tell my friend. aren't we all drinking together?" turning once more to me he said: "what do i do, doctor. well, first i look over the lot of declarations. then i pick out two or three that look pretty good. i make a list of the things they claim to have in their trunks. then i get at their baggage and give it a smash, accidentally of course--things are apt to be broken in the hold you know, the boat pitching, carelessness by the porters and all that. so the luggage of my fancy folks is broken open. we look it over. if my lady has held out anything from her declaration, out of the trunk that comes and into my private quarters." i winked knowingly as if to praise his cleverness. "we reach the bay; the customs officers come on board. we give them all the declarations. the fancy folks are standing round their baggage waiting for the customs man to get through. suddenly one of them cries: "'oh, my sealskin coat is gone!' "i step up and politely say: "'but you must be mistaken. madame said nothing about a sealskin coat on her declaration so she could not have had one.' "ha! ha! the customs man hears this so she can say nothing. finish! ah yes, your old friend baggage man knows a thing or two." needless to say this was all grist to my mill. it was just what i wanted. when the ship was a day from new york, i said to the rascal: "my friend, i want to look at the luggage of carl schmidt for ten minutes. it is check number and is a _kiste_." the baggage man was very sorry but that could not be done. if it were found out he would lose his position. "either i get at that kiste," i said, "or up you go." the baggage man attempted to bluster. "no heroics now, my friend," i smiled. "i know enough about you and your little ingenious piece of graft to tell a pretty story at the north german lloyd offices in new york. now do i get a look at herr schmidt's kiste?" with a growl the baggage man yielded, whereupon i gave him $ to bind the bargain and handed the stewardess $ so as to assure her support. still, it would not do to meddle with the chest until the liner was steaming into port, for were schmidt to discover that his luggage had been tampered with and the dispatch abstracted, since by the process of elimination i concluded it must be there, the alarm would go throughout the ship and every passenger would be searched. remember this was a german reserve ship. the chance came after the _kaiser wilhelm ii_ had steamed past sandy hook and was moving up the lower bay of new york. with his destination in sight, with no signs in any way suspicious during the trip over, herr schmidt had become very easy in mind. with many of the other passengers be went forward and from the deck watched the looming horizon of new york's skyscrapers. a most interesting sight the skyline, something to engross your attention. i was interested in something else. i was interested in the luggage that was being prepared for the customs officers. on a lower deck the kiste of carl schmidt had been conveniently set apart from the other trunks and boxes and the german agent himself was waiting for the customs man to pass upon it. this done, schmidt was guilty of an unwarrantable piece of carelessness. he tipped the baggage master and left him to lock up the kiste while he went up on the promenade deck to enjoy the view. this did not surprise me, for i had been expecting some such blunder to make my way easier. i had conjectured as nothing had occurred during the entire voyage to excite schmidt's suspicions that he would be careless as his destination was neared. accordingly, when i saw him leave his luggage to the mercies of the baggage man, i stepped forward. quite unconcernedly in view of the other passengers who were still standing waiting their turn, acting entirely as if it were my own, i opened the unlocked kiste and rummaging among its contents soon brought to light a plain, large envelope sealed with wax. breaking the seal i took out the only paper it contained, glanced at it, smiled to myself and went to work--swift work, for at any moment schmidt might return. if i had not made my plans long ahead, the simple taking of the document would only have added to the problem. understand, i did not want to steal the document, merely its contents. now, in the brief minutes that i had beside the luggage, it was impossible to memorize all the contents of the document. so i judged would be the case and i had come prepared. under my arm was a popular novel and between the pages of this lay a sheet of special lotion paper, chemically treated in a way known only to the german secret service and capable of taking a quick clean print of anything written in pencil or ink. as i lifted the dossier from the kiste i noticed that it was embossed on a greenish white paper, not unlike a bank of england note in color. it was written in german and signed with a foreign office cipher, the letters w and b intertwined. following this was the numeral , the wilhelmstrasse serial number of the document. taking a chance that herr schmidt would be fascinated just a minute longer by the magic skyline of new york, i slipped the dossier against the special lotion paper and took an accurate print by sitting on it for two minutes. i then replaced the document in the dispatch envelope and being sure to leave everything appearing as it was, even to fixing the broken seal as best i could, lest by chance herr schmidt should return and glance at his kiste. it was a case now of getting safely off the ship and reaching the nearest cable office for had schmidt suspected anything, the boat would never have docked until everybody on board had been searched. there was small danger of this, however, for nothing had occurred to alarm herr schmidt. the lotion paper used by the german secret service has been perfected to such an extent that when taking the print it does not leave any signs on the original. accordingly, there would likely not have been a clew--only on close scrutiny would it be seen that the seal had been tampered with--even had schmidt examined his kiste again before landing. my luggage passed, i made my way to the nearest cable office outside the zone of the steamship offices. at fourteenth street and broadway i entered a western union office and wrote out this message to "buzzing" london. a copy of this being herewith reproduced: february , . buzzing, london. obtained sample. letter most important. not safe writing. will take to-morrow night's steamer queenstown. not sufficient fare. wire twenty-five pounds w. union, broadway th. trenton snell. it may be of interest to note that at the time of my announcing my presence in this country through the medium of the _new york american_ that a copy of this dispatch was secured from the cable company; also that hearst reporters identided me at the cable office as "trenton snell." when i presented myself at the fourteenth street office the next day i received this message: london, eng., february , . trenton snell, w. u. bway. cable some details if possible, come london, can't meet you queenstown. robinson. (the above message accompanies cable remittance this date.) the british foreign office replying to my request for further funds had cabled the twenty-five pounds which less exchange came to $ . . at the western union office at fourteenth street i was paid cheek number to the order of trenton snell from "rob robinson" london. now being on alien territory, i refrained from sending a copy of the stolen dispatch by cable. there would be no aid of secrecy from the cable company. i had planned to enclose the copy by registered mail; sending it to box , g. p. o., london, which was the address of the department of the foreign office for which i worked, but robinson demanded immediate details. accordingly i sent back this wire: buzzing, london. right. will wire from canada. british territory. trenton snell that was imperative, for only in canada could i secure a guarantee of secrecy for so important a message as that which i would send. before cabling the details and mailing the original, i made a copy of the document. it was not worded in the official diplomatic form. rather it appeared to be a note of memoranda and instruction that was to guide the german envoys in their meeting with the japanese--which meeting was subsequently held at the hotel astor, in new york city, and to which meeting went the german envoys, instructed by the document which herr schmidt thought he delivered so secretly and trustworthily. this is it; word for word, as it was copied from the print taken in the herr schmidt's stateroom: germany sanctions and will not obstruct japan in any colonization intention japan entertained as regards the far east, and would not obstruct the acquiring of coaling stations in the south seas other than new guinea and the bismarck archipelago. germany would not prevent the acquisition of germany vessels by japan providing such vessels were not auxiliary cruisers of the imperial german navy. germany wishes it understood that in the event of a conflict between japan and another nation, germany will maintain a strict neutrality in any event not affecting germany itself. germany expresses a higher regard for the japanese nation and desires closer contact with japan. this document, as has been stated, was initialed with the letters w and r, which is sometimes the way the kaiser o. k.'s any diplomatic document. in any event it had a regular serial number; in this instance number twenty-four of the german foreign office. of course the acquisition of this document by great britain relieved the minds of the english statesman. there was not as they had feared a possible menace in understanding between germany and japan. it was simply an agreement by germany not to intervene in any colonization scheme of the japanese in the islands of the pacific. in return for this it was understood that japan was to do even more thoroughly what she has done in the past. in other words, she must go on playing the rôle of bogieman for the united states. a word about this may not be out of place. germany, that is official germany, is rather friendly toward the united states. japan, the "yellow peril" is a great war dirigible that is inflated with war scares and hysteria. this aims to keep the united states preoccupied on their western coastline, so they will not have any desire to meddle with certain plans that may eventuate in europe within the next few years. the japanese question is fostered by europe to keep america's hands full in the event of the coming european war. it is all bluff and occasionally japan must be rewarded for keeping up the bluff. in this instance germany permitted japan to colonize and permitted her to buy all the german ships she wanted with the exception of those big transatlantic liners that are auxiliary cruisers of the german navy, ships which in time of war may be transformed at short notice into good fighting machines. let me emphasize with all due knowledge of the alarmist's fears that united states need never fear the "yellow peril" as long as she does not antagonize the dominant powers of europe. chapter xii. "the german war machine" the numerical strength, disposition and efficiency of the german army are more or less well known. the brain and all prevailing power controlling its fighting force of four and half a million men--or taking the triple alliance into consideration--the forces of which would in the event of war be controlled from berlin--a force in round numbers of , , men is, however, not known. here for the first time is published an account of the inside workings of the german war machine as far as is possible for any one man to give. through my intimate connections with the german and other secret service systems; through constant contact with prominent army and navy officers, i had special facilities of which i availed myself to the full, to gain the inside knowledge which i here commit to paper. the most efficient and elaborate system ever devised by the ingenuity of man, used not only for war and destruction but as an intelligence clearing house for the whole of the empire, is the german war machine. conceived by general stein in the days of the napoleonic wars, added to and elaborated by successive administrations, solely under the control of the ruling house; its efficiency, perfect and smooth working is due to the total absence of political machinations or preferences. brains, ability, and thorough scientific knowledge are the only passports for entrance in the grosser general stab, the general staff of the german empire. you will find blooded young officers and gray-haired generals past active efficiency, experts ranking from an ordinary mechanic to the highest engineering expert, all working harmoniously together with one end in view, the acme of efficiency. controlled and directed by the war lord in person through the chef des grossen general stabs, in my time general field marshal von heeringen, this immense machine, the pulsing brain of a fighting force of four and half a millions of men, is composed of from to officials. at the peace of tilsit, after the crushing defeat of the prussian armies at prussian eylau and friedland, bonaparte had prussia and the whole of central europe at his mercy. contrary to the advice of his generals, especially the succinct advice of his often unheeded mentor talleyrand, to completely disintegrate prussia, napoleon through his fondness for pretty women let himself be tricked by louise of prussia. the interesting historical story of this incident may be apropos here, showing how the world's history can be changed through a kiss. at the peace conference in tilsit, napoleon, on the verge of disintegrating prussia, met the beautiful queen louise of prussia. through her pleadings and the imprint of napoleon's kiss on her classic arm bonaparte granted prussia the right to maintain a standing army of , men. that in itself did not mean much but it gave able and shrewd prussian patriots the opportunity to circumvent and hoodwink bonaparte's policy. prussia has always been fortunate in producing able men at the most needed moments. a man arose with a gift for military organization. he had every province, district, town, and village in prussia carefully scheduled and the able-bodied men thereof put on record. he selected the , men permitted prussia under the napoleonic decree and drilled them. no sooner were those men drilled than they were dismissed and another , called in. from this point dates modern conscription--the father of which was general stein--and this also inaugurated the birth of the war machine. in the three years prussia had , well-drilled men and , reserves, quite a different proposition from the , men napoleon thought he had to face on his retreat from moscow, and which played a decisive factor in the overthrow of the dictator of europe. through the wars of and to , the franco-prussian war, the war machine of prussia was merged into that of the german empire and is a record of increasing efforts, entailing unbelievable hard work and a compilation of the minutest details. the modern system of organization, especially the mobilization schedules, are helmuth von moltke's, the "grosse schweiger," the great silent, the strategist of the campaign. it is curious that there is a great similarity between the late moltke and heeringen. they have the same aquiline features, tall, thin, dried-up body, the same taciturn disposition, even to their hobbies--moltke being an incessant chess player, heeringen using every one of his spare moments to play with lead soldiers. he is reputed to have an army of , lead soldiers with which he plays the moment he opens his eyes--much in the same manner as moltke, who used to request his chess-board the first thing in the morning. in military circles heeringen is looked upon with the same respect and accredited with quite as much strategical knowledge as moltke was. it is a significant fact, that, whenever there is any tension in europe, especially between germany and france, general von heeringen or his comrade in arms, general von thulsen haeseler--also a great strategist and iron disciplinarian, immediately takes command of metz, the most important base and military post in the emperor's domain. there is no man alive who knows one-half as much about the strategical position of metz and the surrounding country as general von heeringen. often on stormy, bitter cold winter nights, sentries on outposts stationed and guarding the approaches of metz are startled to find a gaunt, limping figure, covered in a gray army greatcoat with no distinguishing marks, stalking along. accompanied by orderlies carrying camp stools and table; night glasses and electric torches, halting repeatedly, hidden men taking down in writing the short, croaking sentences escaping between the thin compressed lips, the "geist of metz" prowls round measuring every foot of ground fifty miles east, west, north, and south of his beloved metz. the steel tipped arrow ever pointing at the heart of france is safe in the hands of such guardians. the visible head of this vast organization is called der grosse general stab with headquarters in berlin. each army corps has a "kleine general stab" who sends its most able officers to berlin. these officers in conjunction with the most able scientists, engineers and architects the empire can produce, compose the great general staff. the virtual head is the german emperor. the actual executive is called "chef des grossen general stabs." there is a small, dingy, unpretentious room in the general staff gebaude where at moments of stress and tension or international complications, assemble five men. his majesty, at the head of the table; to the right the chef of grossen general stab; to the left his minister of war; then the minister of railways, and the chief of admiral stab. you will notice the total absence of the ministers of finance and diplomacy. when those five men meet the influence of diplomatic and financial affairs has ceased. they are there to act. the scratching of the emperor's pen in that room means war, the setting in motion of a fighting force of , , men. here is another instance: when the feeling and stress over the moroccan question was at its height general von heeringen on leaving his quarters for his usual drive in the thiergarten was eagerly questioned by a score of officers, awaiting his exit. "excellency! geht's los?" ("do we begin?") grimly smiling, returning their salutes and without pause, limping to his waiting carriage came his answer: "sieben buchstaben, meine herren!" ("seven letters, gentlemen!") in germany military parlance this means the emperor's signature, wilhelm ii, to the mobilization orders. in order to give the reader a fairly correct view of this mighty organization, i have to explain each group separately. the whole system rests on the question of mobilization, meaning the ability to arm, transport, clothe. and feed a fighting force of four and one-half million men, in the shortest possible time on any given point in either eastern or western europe. for let it be clearly understood that the main point of the training of the german armies is the readiness to launch the entire fighting force like a thunderbolt on any given point of the compass. germany knows through past experience the advisability and necessity of conducting war in an enemy's country. the german army is built for aggression. there are four main groups: . organization. . transportation. . victualization. . intelligence. each of these groups is, of course, subdivided into numerous branches which we shall go into under each individual head. organization first comes organization. the german army is composed of three distinct parts: the standing army, the reserves, and landwehr. the standing arm comprises , officers and men. this body of men is ready at an instant. it is the reserves who need an elaborate system of mobilization. the reserves are divided into two classes, first and second reserves. so is the landwehr, having two levies--the first and second aufgebot. every able-bodied man on reaching the age of twenty-one can be called upon to serve the colors. one in five only is taken, as there is more material than the country needs--the fifth being selected for one of five branches: infantry, cavalry, artillery, genie corps, or the navy. the time of service in the infantry is two years; in the cavalry three, in the artillery three, in the genie corps two, and in the navy three. well-conducted men get from two to four months of their time. this is by no means a charity on the part of the authorities, but a well-thrashed and deep-laid scheme to circumvent the reichstag as it gives the emperor another , men. a certain class of men passing an examination called einjahriges zeugniss or possessing a diploma called abiturienten examen (the equivalent of a b. a.) serve only one year in each branch. this class provides most of the reserve officers. the active officers, usually the scions of an aristocratic house or the sons of the old military or feudal families in germany, are mostly educated in one of the state kadetten-anstalten, military academies, of which gross-lichterfelde bei berlin is the most famous. the real backbone and stiffening of the german army and navy is the noncommissioned officers recruited from the rank and file. in fact, this body of men is the mainstay of the thrones in the german empire, especially of prussia. these men, after about twelve years of service in an army where discipline, obedience, and efficiency are the first and last word, are then drafted into all the minor administrative officers of the state, such as minor railway, post, excise, municipal, and police. the reader will see the significance of this when it is pointed out that not only the empire but the war machine has these well-trained men at its beck and call. the same thing applies to the drafting of officers to hold the highest administrative positions in the state. there are twenty-five army corps all placed in strategical position. the strongest is in alsace-lorraine and along the rhine; the second in importance garrisoning the prussian-russian border. the whole country is subdivided into bezirks commandos (districts posts) whose business is to have on record not only every able-bodied man--reservists--but every motor, horse, and vehicle available; also food and coal supply--in fact, everything likely to be wanted or useful to the army. every german reservist, or otherwise, knows the reporting place of his district and has to report there when notified within twenty-four hours. the penalties for noncompliance are high even in peace times. in the event of war or martial law they are absolutely stringent. the commandos are so placed that they could forward their drafts of men and material to their provincial concentration points at the quickest possible notice. these provincial concentration points, being railway centers, are so located that the masses of men and materials pouring in from all sides can be handled and sent in the wanted and needed direction without any congestion. how this is done i shall explain when i come to transportation. in each of those district commandos are depots, montirungs-kammern (arsenals), where a full equipment for each individual on the roll is kept. the marvelous quickness with which a civilian is transferred into a fully equipped military unit must be seen to be believed, and is only made possible through systematic training and constant maneuvers. these maneuvers are costly, but have long been recognized in german military circles as essential in training the units and familiarizing the commanders with the handling of enormous masses of men. in the last kaiser maneuvers over half a million men were concentrated and massed; in fact, shuttlecocked from one end of the empire to the other without a hitch. the control of the army in peace or in war lies with the emperor. he is the sole arbiter and head. no political or social body of men has any control in army matters. no political jealousies would be permitted. obedience and efficiency are demanded. mutual jealousies and political tricks such as we have seen in the russian campaign in the east and lately in france are impossible in the german system, for the emperor would break instantly, in fact has done so, any general guilty of even the faintest indication of such an offense. and there is no appeal to a congress, a chamber of deputies, or political organ against the emperor's decision. last but not least, under the heading of the organization comes the financial aspect. out of the five milliards of francs, the war indemnity paid by france to germany in , , , marks in gold coin, mostly french, were put away as the nucleus of a ready war chest. in a little medieval-looking watch tower, the julius thurm near spandau, lies this ever-increasing driving force of the mightiest war engine the world has ever seen. ever increasing, for quietly and unobtrusively , , marks in newly minted gold coins are taken year by year and added to the store. on the first of october each year since , three ammunition wagons full of bright and glittering twenty-mark pieces clatter over the drawbridge and these pieces are stored away in the steel-plate subterranean chambers of the julius thurm, ready at an instant's notice to furnish the sinews to the man wielding this force. this is a tremendous power in itself, for there are now close to , , marks ($ , , ) in minted gold coinage in storage there. this provides the necessary funds for the german army for ten calendar months. the authorities have no necessity to ask the country, warring politicians--in this instance the reichstag--for money to start a campaign. they have got it ready to hand. once war is declared and started, if needed they'll get the rest. this money is under the sole control of military authorities. it has often been declared a myth. i know it to be a fact. notwithstanding the financial straits germany has gone through at times or may go through, this money will never be touched. it is there for one purpose only and that purpose is war. needless to say, it is amply guarded. triple posts in this garrison town, devices to flood instantly the whole under fifteen feet of water from the river havel, are but items in the system of protection. twice a year the emperor in person, or his heir apparent, personally inspects his war chest. mechanical-balanced devices are employed to check the correct weight. it is a marvelously simple mechanism by means of which in less than two hours the whole of this vast hoard of gold can be accurately checked and the absence of a single gold piece detected. transportation one of the most important parts of the organization is the question of transportation. hannibal's campaigns against cæsar and napoleon's central european wars owed their success in a great measure, if not wholly, to their quickness of motion. this applies about tenfold in modern warfare. in actual armament the leading powers in europe are practically on a par. the personnel, as regards personal courage, stamina, _elan_, or whatever you wish to call it, is fairly equal also. there is little difference in the individual prowess of french, russian, english, and german soldiers. this is well known to military experts. the difference is mainly a question of discipline, technique, and preparedness, the main factor being, as indicated, the ability to throw the greater number of troops in the shortest possible time against the enemy at any given point, without exhausting man and beast unnecessarily and enervating the country to be traversed. it is therefore necessary to have numerous arteries of traffic at disposal. this will lead us later to the question of victualization, germany following closely one of moltke's axioms: "march separately, but fight conjointly." only in a country where all railroads, highways, and waterways, and where post and telegraph are owned and controlled by the state, is it possible to evolve and perfect a system of transportation such as is at the disposal of the german general staff. every mile of german railroads, especially the ones built within the last twenty years, has been constructed mainly for strategical reasons. taking berlin as the center you will find on looking at a german, more especially a prussian, railroad map, close similarity to a spider's web. from berlin you will see trunk lines extending in an almost direct route to her french and russian frontiers. not single or double, but treble and quadruple lines of steel converging with other strategic lines at certain points such as magdeburg, hanover, nordhausen, kassel, frankfort-on-the-main, cologne, or strassburg--to name but a few. places such as enumerated are invariably provincial commandos, having garrisons, arsenals, and depots on a large scale. the capacity of the railroad yards for handling large bodies of men and vast amounts of goods swiftly is judiciously studied. at any given time, especially at tense political moments, at every large strategical railway center in germany there are a certain number of trucks and engines kept for military purposes only--sometimes, as in the rhine division during the acute period of the morocco question, with steam up. as previously related, per cent. of all the railway officials are ex-soldiers. five minutes after the signing of the mobilization orders by the emperor, the whole of the railway system would be under direct military control. specially trained transportation and railway experts on the general staff would take over the direction of affairs. besides this, there exists in the german standing army a number of eisenbahn regimenter (railway corps)--all trained railroad builders and mechanics. elaborate time-tables and transportation cards are in readiness to be put into operation on the instant of mobilization, superseding the civil time-tables of peace. theoretically and practically the schedules are tested twice a year during the big maneuvers. the same applies to the waterways and highroads of the empire. a keen observer will often wonder at the broadness, solidness, and excellent state of repair of the chaussees and country roads, out of all proportion to the little traffic passing along. they are simply strategical arteries kept up by the state for military purposes. the heads of the transportation and railway corps in berlin sit before the huge glass-covered tables where the whole of the german railway system to its minutest detail is shown in relief, and they by pressing various single buttons can conduct an endless chain of trains to any given point of the empire. to show the accurate workings of this system i shall relate an incident. during the kaiser maneuvers in west prussia a few years ago i happened to be at headquarters in berlin delivering some plans and records of the english midland railway system when a general staff officer entered the signal hall and made inquiries as to the whereabouts of a certain train having a regiment on board destined to a certain part of the maneuver field. one of the operators through the simple manipulation of some ivory keys in the short space of two and a half minutes (as i was keenly interested, i timed it) could show the exact spot of the train between two stations, the train being over miles distant from berlin. as every class a vessel in the merchant marine of germany, especially the passenger boats of the big steamship lines, can be pressed into government service, so can all motor vehicles, taxis, and trucks owned either privately or by corporations be called upon if considered necessary. through this vast and far-reaching system of transportation germany is enabled to throw a million fully equipped men on to either of her frontiers within forty-eight hours. she can double this host in sixty hours more. victualization napoleon's dictum that an army marches on its stomach is as true to-day as it was then, adequate provisions for man and beast being the most important factor in military science. the economic feeding of three-quarters of a million men in peace time is work enough. it becomes a serious problem in the event of war, especially to a country like germany which is somewhat dependent on outside sources for the feeding of her millions. the authorities, quite aware of a possible blockading and consequent stoppage of imports, have made preparations with their usual thorough german completeness. at any given time there is sufficient foodstuff for man and beast stored in state storehouses and the large private concerns to feed the entire german army for twelve months. this might seem inadequate, but is not so, the authorities being well aware that war in europe at the present time could and would not last longer than such a period. once a year these storehouses are overhauled and perishable or deteriorating provisions replaced. tens of thousands of tons of foodstuffs, especially fodder, are sold far below their usual market prices to the poorer classes, notably farmers. likewise the material used by the army is as far as possible supplied by the farmer direct. the total absence of bloated, pudgy-fingered army contractors in germany is pleasant to the eyes of those who know the conditions in some other countries i could mention. besides, the whole of the german fighting machine is so organized that in all probability decisive battles would be fought in the enemy's country, in which case the onus of feeding the troops would fall on the enemy, called in military parlance "requisitioning and commandeering." in this, german, and especially prussian, quartermasters are in no way behind their english confrères of whose activity in the boer war i know from personal experience. to give but another instance of the scientific thoroughness in detail, take a single food preparation--the erbswurst (pea-meal sausage), a preparation of peas, meal, bacon, salt and seasoning, compressed in a dry state into air- and water-tight tubes in the form of a sausage, each weighing a quarter of a pound. highly nutritious, light in weight, practically indestructible, wholesome, this is easily prepared into a palatable meal with the simple addition of hot water. of this preparation huge quantities are always kept in stock for the army. intelligence without doubt the most important division of the general staff and upon whose information and efforts the whole machine hinges is the intelligence department--really covering many different fields--for instance, general science, especially strategy, topography, ballistics, but mainly the procuring of information data, plans, maps, etc., kept more or less secret by other powers. in this division the brightest young officers and general officials are found. the training and knowledge required of the men in this service are exacting to a degree. it requires in most cases the undivided attention--often a life study--to a single subject. it has been the unswerving policy of the prussian military authorities to know as much of the rest of the european countries as they know of their own. in the war of - , german commanders down to a lieutenant leading a small detachment had accurate information, charts and data of every province in france, giving them more accurate knowledge of a foreign country than that country had of itself. it is a notorious fact that, after the defeat of the french armies at weissenburg and worth and later at metz, the french commanders and officers lost valuable time and strategical positions through sheer ignorance of their own country. this is impossible under the prussian system. to-day there is not a country in europe but of which there are the most elaborate charts and maps, topographically exact to the minutest detail docketed in the archives of the general staff. this applies as a rule to the general staff of most nations, but not to such painstaking details. while undergoing instructions in the admiral stab in the koenigergratzerstrasse , previous to my being sent on an english mission, a controversy arose between my instructor and myself as to the distance between two towns on the lincolnshire coast. he pushed a button and requested the answering orderly to bring map and the officer in charge. with the usual promptness both map and officer appeared. the officer, who could not have been more than twenty-five years of age, discussed with me in fluent colloquial english the whole of this section of lincolnshire. not a hummock, road, road-house, even to farmers' residences and blacksmith's shop of which he did not have exact knowledge. i expressed astonishment at this most unusual acquaintance with the locality, and suggested that he must have spent considerable time in residence there. conceive my astonishment when informed that he had never been out of germany and the only voyage ever taken by him led him as far as helgoland. subsequently through careful inquiries and research--my work bringing me into constant contact with the various divisions--i found that the whole of england, france and russia was carefully cut into sections, each of those sections being in charge of two officers and a secretary whose duty it was to acquaint and make themselves perfectly familiar with everything in that particular locality. through the far-reaching system of espionage, the latest and most up-to-date information is always forthcoming, and time and again i myself, often returning from a mission like one of those to the naval base in scotland, have sat by the hour verbally amplifying my previous reports. a part of the intelligence system is the personality squad, whose duty it is to acquaint themselves with the personality of every army and navy officer of the leading powers. i have seen reports as to the environments, habits, hobbies, and general proclivities of men such as admiral fisher, commanding the channel squadron of the british navy, down to colonel ribault, in charge of a battery in toulouse. to military or naval officers and men of affairs, the reason and benefit of such a system are obvious. the general reader, however, may not quite see the point. the position of a commander in the field is analogous to the executive head of a big selling concern. a semi-personal knowledge of the foibles and characteristics of his customers without doubt gives him an advantage over a rival concern, neglecting the personal equation being really more important than is generally understood. this has long been recognized and fully taken advantage of by the german army author ities. aÃ�rial within the last few years an entirely new and according to german ideas most important factor has entered and disturbed the relative military power of european nations. this is the aerial weapon. since the days of otto lilienthal and his glider it has been the policy of germany to keep track of all inventions likely to be embodied and made use of in the war machine. it is a far cry from lilienthal's glider to the last word in aërial construction such as the mysterious zeppelin-parseval sky monster that, carrying a complement of twenty-five men and twelve tons of explosives, sailed across the north sea, circled over london, and returned to germany. lilienthal's glider kept aloft four minutes, but this new dread-naught of germany's dying navy was aloft ninety-six hours, maintaining a speed of thirty-eight miles an hour, this even in the face of a storm pressure of almost eighty meters. such feats as these are significant. they are at the same time the outcome and the cause for the development of this part of the war machine. it is my purpose here to tell you how far germany has advanced and progressed in this struggle for mastery of the sky. i shall disclose facts about her system that have never appeared in print--that have never been heard in conversation. they are known only to the general staff at berlin, not even in the cabinets of europe. germany without doubt has the most up-to-date aërial fleet in the world. the budget of the reichstag of - allows and provides for the building and maintenance of twelve dirigibles of zeppelin type. as far as the knowledge of the rest of the world is concerned this is all the sky navy that germany possesses. it is a fact, though, that she has three times the number which she officially acknowledges. the dirigible balloon centers in germany are five and they are situated at vitally strategic points. there are two on the french border, one on the russian border, one on the atlantic coast, and a central station near berlin. the exact places are strassburg, frankfort-on-the-main, posen, wilhelmshafen, and berlin. this does not include the marvelous station at helgoland in the north sea, this being a strategic point in relation to great britain. nothing is known about this helgoland station. no one but those on official business are permitted within a thousand yards of it. i shall tell things concerning it. besides these purely military posts, there are a number of commercial stations necessary as depots of the regular transportation aerial lines that operate for the convenience of the public. like germany's commercial steamers, however, they are controlled and subsidized by the government. at a few hours' notice they can be converted and made use of for government purposes. taking these transportation lines into consideration, it is safe to state that by summer of the present year germany could send fifty huge airships to war. it may be a puzzle to americans why, in the face of disasters and accidents to these zeppelins, germany is spending about $ , , on her aerial fleet. now we come to a very significant point. i know and certain members of the german general staff know, as well as trusted men in the aërial corps, that there are two conditions under which airships are operated in germany. one is the ordinary more or less well-known system which characterizes the operation of all the passenger lines now in service in the empire. it is the system under which all the disasters that appear in the newspapers occur. airships that are used in the general army flights and maneuvers are also run under the same system as the passenger dirigibles--for a reason. the other system is an absolute secret of the german general staff. it is not used in the general maneuvers, only in specific cases, and these always secretly. it has been proved to be effective in eliminating per cent. of the accidents which have characterized all of germany's adventures in dirigibles and heavier-than-air machines. these statistics are known only by the german general staff office. let us go into this further. critics of the german dirigible who foolishly rate the french aëroplane superior point out that the zeppelins have three serious defects--bulk and heaviness of structure, inflammability of the gas that floats them, and inability to store enough gas to stay in the air the desirable length of time without coming down. the secret devices of the german war office have eliminated all these objectionable features. they have overcome the condition of bulk and heaviness of structure by their government chemists devising the formula of a material that is lighter than aluminum, yet which possesses all of that metal's density and which has also the flexibility of steel. airships not among the twelve that germany admits officially are made of this material. its formula is a government secret and england or france would give thousands of dollars to possess it. the objection of inflammability of the lifting power has also been overcome. the power of the ordinary hydrogen gas in all its various forms has been multiplied threefold by a new dioxygen gas discovered at the spandau government chemical laboratory. this gas has also the enormous advantages of being absolutely noninflammable. i have seen experiments made with it. it cannot be used for illuminating purposes. dirigibles that are equipped with it are not liable to the awful explosions that have characterized flights under the ordinary system. the new gas has also the enormous advantage of having a liquid form. to produce the gas it is only necessary to let the ordinary atmosphere come in contact with the liquid. carried in cylinders two feet long and with a diameter of six inches it is obvious that enough of this liquid can be carried aboard the big war dirigibles to permit their refilling in midair. so, you see, all the objections to the commonly known system of operation have been overcome by the war office. the last dirigible tried by the war office in , the mysterious zeppelin x, made a continuous trip from stettin over the baltic to upsala in sweden, thence across the baltic again to riga in the gulf of finland, where it doubled and sailed back to stettin. this was a journey of miles. the airship had a complement of twenty-five men and five tons of dead weight. it traveled under severe weather conditions, the month being march, and snow-storms, hail and rain occurring throughout the voyage. the significance of this flight can be easily understood if you consider the distance from strassburg or dusseldorf to paris or other strategical points to france is approximately miles. a ship like the zeppelin x could sail over the french border, dynamite the fortifications around paris and return, the journey being roughly miles-- miles less than the actual trip made by the zeppelin x. moreover, the german military trials have shown the possibility of an aerial fleet leaving their home ports and cruising to foreign lands and returning without the necessity of landing to replenish their gas tanks or fuel. let me show you how the german aërial corps is made up. it is called the luftschiffer abteilung and is composed of ten battalions, each consisting of men. they are all trained absolutely for this branch of the service. only the smartest mechanics and artificers are selected. in the higher branches the most intelligent and bravest officers hold command. considering the usual pay in continental armies, the wages of the men in the general aërial corps are exceptionally high. in fact they are the highest paid in the german army. they are not ordinary enlisted men, meaning that they serve only their two years' time. most of them have agreed to serve a lengthy term. married men are not encouraged to enroll in this branch of the service. it is obvious from the nature of the work that the hazards are often great. the wonderful system of the german war machine has been installed with rare detail in the aërial corps. the equipment of the different stations is really marvelous. for everything human ingenuity has been able to devise concerning the dirigible you will find in application. each station is fully equipped and is an absolutely independent center in itself. take the base at helgoland. it is the newest and the one that is always cloaked with secrecy. at the extreme eastern corner of the island of helgoland one sees, amid the sandy dunes, three vast oblong, iron-gray structures. at a distance they are not unlike overgrown gasometers. i say at a distance, for it is impossible for any visitor to get within a thousand yards of the station. the solitary approach is guarded by a triple post of the marine guard. if you walk toward the station, before you come within a hundred yards of the guard, you will find large signs setting forth in unmistakable and terse language that dire and swift penalties follow any further exploration in that direction. not only english but german visitors to helgoland have found out through their course that even the slightest infringement of the rules of these signs is dangerous. i shall however, take you a little closer. walking on until you are within fifty yards of the great balloon sheds, you pause before a tall fence of barbed wire, this connected with an elaborate alarm-bell system that sounds in the two guard houses. for instance, if an enterprising secret agent of france were to try to steal up on the station, if he came by night and cut through the barbed wire, a series of bells would immediately sound the general alarm. having passed through the six strands of barbed wire a tall octagonal tower meets the eye. in this tower are installed two powerful searchlights as well as a complete wireless outfit. all the zeppelins carry wireless. by means of elaborate reflectors, it is possible with the searchlights to flood the whole place with daylight in the middle of the night. thus ascensions can be made safely at any hour of the twenty-four. the three oblong sheds stand in a row, the middle being the largest, having spaces for two complete dirigibles, while the other sheds house but one each. they are about feet long, feet broad and feet high. the whole structure itself can be shifted to about an angle of forty degrees, this being worked on a plan similar to the railroad engine turntable. the reason for it is that with the veering of the wind the sheds are turned so that the doors will be placed advantageously for the removal of the airship from its place of shelter. the whole layout and the vast area of space show that it is the government's intention to still further increase the plant. in fact, on my last visit to helgoland--and it was more than two years ago--i saw the evidence of another shed about to be built. at the station is the most efficient meteorological department of all the stations. the most up-to-date and sensitive instruments connected with this science are there in duplicates and the highest experts such as only germany can produce are in charge of the department. when i was at helgoland i noticed a vast difference in the strength of the fortifications compared to what they had been. they used to be tremendous, but since the addition of the naval base they have become secondary. half the soldiers on duty there have been transferred elsewhere; so with the big guns. there is no longer any need for them. as i stated, i saw a fourth big balloon shed in the course of construction. i have not been on the island for two years. nobody has been near the extreme eastern end except those closely identified with the service. considering that germany has not built more than one extra shed, that means five dirigibles, and there is nothing on earth that could stand up against them. helgoland does not need forts any more. the new forts float in the sky and can rain death. helgoland has always been a sore spot of british diplomacy. originally england owned the island; now it is a menace to england. when lord salisbury was prime minister of england, he conceived what he believed to be a shrewd diplomatic move. he offered bismarck the island of helgoland in exchange for some east african concessions. helgoland is now the key and guard of germany's main artery of commerce, being the key to hamburg. with the dirigible station of helgoland to guard her, hamburg is impregnable and on england's northern coast they have a way of looking out across the north sea with troubled eyes, for who knows when those terrible cartridge-shaped monsters will rise into the air and sweep over the sea? stranger things have happened, even though the countries have their secret diplomatic understandings. let us consider one of these new war monsters, the latest and most powerful, the x . the lateat zeppelins, charged with the newly discovered dioxygenous gas, giving these sky battleships triple lifting capacity; the perfecting of the diesel motor, giving enormous consumption (fifty of these diesel engines, their workings secret to the german government, are stored under guard at the big navy yards at wilhelmshafen and kiel, ready to be installed at the break of war into submarines and dirigibles), have given the german type of aircraft an importance undreamed of and unsuspected by the rest of the world. the operating sphere of the new balloons has extended from to , - , kilometers. secret trial trips of a fully equipped zeppelin like x , carrying a crew of twenty-four men, six quick-firing guns, seven tons of explosive, have extended from stettin, over the baltic, over swedenburg in sweden, recrossing the baltic and landing at swinemunde, with enough gas, fuel, and provisions left to keep aloft another thirty-six hours. the distance all told covered on one of these trips was , kilometers. this fact speaks for itself. the return distance from helgoland to london, or any midland towns in england, corresponds with the mileage covered on recent trips. in the event of hostilities between england and germany, this statement needs no explanation. that is why i mentioned that the latter-day zeppelins were a powerful factor in bringing about an amiable understanding between those two powerful countries. for neither the historic wooden walls of nelson's day nor the steel plates of her modern navy could help england or any other nation against the inroads of the monsters of the air. the capacity of seven tons of explosive does not exhaust the resources of this type of weapon. i have it on good authority that the new zeppelins can carry double that quantity of explosive if necessary. as the size of these vessels increases, so does the ratio of their carrying capacity. picture the havoc a dozen such vultures could create attacking a city like london or paris. present-day defense against these ships is totally inadequate. in attacking large places, the zeppelins would rise to a height of from , to , feet, at which distance these huge cigar-shaped engines of death, feet long, would appear the size of a football, and no bigger. i know that zeppelins have successfully sailed aloft at an altitude of , feet. picture them at that elevation, everybody aboard in warm, comfortable quarters, ready to drop explosives to the ground. the half informed man--and there appear to be many such in european cabinets, which recalls the proverb about a little knowledge being a dangerous thing--likes to say that a flock of aëroplanes can put a dirigible out of business. consider now an aëroplane at an elevation of , feet and remember that the new zeppelins have gone thousands of feet higher. an aviator at , feet is so cold that he is practically useless for anything but guiding his machine. how in the world is he or his seat-mate going to do harm to a big craft the size of the zeppelin that is far above him? an aviator who has ever gone up, say , feet, will tell you when he comes down what a harrowing experience he has had. what good can an individual be, exposed to the temperature and the elements at such an altitude, in doing harm to the calm, comfortable gentlemen in the heated compartments of the zeppelin?--quatsch! which is a german army term for piffle! at , feet the small target a zeppelin affords would move at a rate of speed of from thirty-five to sixty miles an hour. the possible chances of being hit by terrestrial gunfire are infinitesimally small. this does not take into account the vast opportunities that a dirigible has for night attacks or the possibility of hiding among the clouds. the x , sailing over london, could drop explosives down and create terrible havoc. they don't have to aim. they are not like aviators trying to drop a bomb on the deck of a warship. they simply dump overboard some of the new explosive of the german government, these new chemicals having the property of setting on fire anything that they hit, and they sail on. they do not have to worry about hitting the mark. consider the size of their target. they are simply throwing something at the city of london. if they do not hit buckingham palace they are apt to hit knightsbridge. and remember that whatever one of the new german explosives strikes, conflagration begins. aëroplanes, biplanes, monoplanes, and the other innumerable host of small craft so often quoted as a possible counterdefense against the zeppelin, are overrated, and are in any case theoretical. the german authorities have made vast and exhaustive trials in these matters. the strenuous efforts on the part of this empire to increase its dirigible fleet is to my way of thinking answer enough. the german general staff at berlin tries out more thoroughly than any nation in the world every new device of warfare. they have tried the aëroplane and the dirigible. i have heard the leading experts and aviators who have been assigned to both types agreeing that the zeppelins of the x type have nothing to fear from any present-day flying machine--and that is good enough for me. chapter xiii. arming for peace or war the map of europe is certain to undergo some very decided changes within the next decade, very possibly in less time. social and economic conditions, let alone the paramount political ambitions of the individual rulers, must bring about a decided alteration in state boundaries in central europe. this will be accomplished either with or without war--with bloodshed most likely. history and human propensities have shown the inability to settle any vital points by peaceful arbitration and the more one comes in contact with the forces, obvious and otherwise, directing human affairs, the more one learns the rather disheartening fact that the millennium is as far off as ever. the prophecies of the old biblical prophets about wars and rumors of wars are as pertinent to-day as before the advent of christ. the methods may have changed since the conception of the christian religion but the results will be attained now as ever by the right of a mighty sword arm. the most virile and aggressive power in the center of europe is germany proper--this term of germany, including the whole of the teutonic races, such as the german-speaking portion of austria, hungary (for your true hungarian is a keen admirer of strength and force), holland, switzerland and in all probability the norsemen and viking branches of the teutonic clan, meaning sweden, norway and denmark. social and commercial aims and aspirations in sweden, norway and denmark, independent as they are and probably always will be, still show a decided trend to central germanic cohesion. the whole of europe is roughly divided into three dominant races--the teutonic, the latin and the slavish. the teutonic has anglo-saxon, germanic and norse subdivisions. the latin, gallic, has the french, italian and spanish nations; and the slavonic comprises the slavs and romanic races with their innumerable subdivisions such as moscovite, chech, pole, croat, serb, bulgar, bojar, etc. these three groups are distinctly different in habits, thoughts, manners and ambitions. through race and religion they are also deeply antagonistic by reason of its higher commercial development (i do not say education, and art, music or literature, for there your latin or slav excels), the teutonic races have outstripped the other two. commercialism means consolidation and concentration and since the napoleonic wars the germanic races--at the beginning slowly but within the last twenty-five years rapidly--have drawn together at an astonishing pace. in countries such as belgium, holland, denmark and switzerland, each possessing their own petty machinery of expensive government; existent only through the mutual jealousies of their bigger neighbors, there has grown up a decidedly incorporating spirit. notwithstanding the natural disinclination of the ruling factions of that country, the general mass of the people are by no means averse to become members of a vast central european empire, the unswerving ambition of the house of the hohenzollerns. since the days when the counts of nuremburg became electors of brandenburg, from the grosse kurfurst, frederick the great, to the present emperor, the house of hohenzollern has shown itself to be the most virile dynasty in modern history. not always clever, they possessed the rare faculty of finding, developing and using men having the necessary ability to execute their current policies. in thoroughly feudal and aristocratic countries such as comprise central europe, especially germany, decided, unswerving aims are necessary. if these policies are conducted in a clear, level-headed manner, judiciously developing the wealth and culture of the general masses, the stability of such a government or throne is well-nigh unshakable. it has often been spoken and written that in countries such as germany and austria, socialism, to quote but one of the numerous "isms," has undermined existing governmental powers. to a close student, these assertions are absolutely wrong. teutonic germanic races have ever been given to deeply analytical, philosophical studies, criticising and dissecting, the policies of their rulers. but underlying, you will find a deeply practical sense and appreciation of material benefits. the german socialist is in fact a practical dreamer, quite in contrast to his mercurial, effervescent latin prototype. the rulers of germany have learned the lesson that the stability of a throne rests in the welfare of her people and everyone must admit that they have succeeded in this respect better than any other dynasty known to history. germany without doubt is the most uniformly prosperous and civilized country in the world. and therein lies the danger, as no sane and prosperous business can afford to stand still. neither can a solvent virile nation such as germany, mark time. for this reason: two things must happen in the near future. germany must expand peacefully in europe, to the northeast and west; or there will be war. the reasons for this i gave in the chapter on "the isolation of france." and that the chances of peaceful and really sensible adjustment are thoroughly discounted among german men of affairs, must be pretty obvious to the careful reader. an intensely practical and saving people such as the germans would not spend billions in money, a vast amount of time and labor, in perfecting and keeping up a fighting machine without being thoroughly convinced of the necessity of this investment. strong, wealthy and powerful as germany is to-day, the strain is tremendous and for this reason alone existing political and geographical conditions in europe must undergo a decided change. these changes are bound to occur but it is hard to set a correct time. it may be to-morrow; it certainly will not be more than a decade hence. the death of the emperor francis joseph will precipitate it at once--and he is old and feeble. secondly, the church. the mainstay of the catholic church rests with the austrian monarchy and with the death of the old emperor, it would--in fact have to--look to some other country and ruler for protection. there is no catholic ruler in a catholic country to-day able to support and protect the dignity of the church. the german emperor is a protestant monarch, but he is first and last a christian, and thanks to his usual keen and far-sighted policy, backed up by strong spiritual convictions, religious dissensions are almost unknown in his empire. the catholic religion enjoys in no country, save the united states, more real freedom from persecution than it does in germany. and the emperor's personal standing with the vatican is excellent. i need only remind the reader of his perennial visits to the king of italy when he never fails to visit the vatican, paying his respects as the ruler of twenty-seven millions of catholics, if you please, to the keeper of peter's keys. in my work, i have met eminent dignitaries and princes of the catholic church who voiced pretty freely--that is for churchmen--their confidences, willingness of their support to the emperor's general policies. the buffer state of the north as germany has provided herself with a buffer state and ally in southern europe, meaning turkey, so she has cleverly succeeded in creating a similar condition in the extreme north of europe. sweden and norway, at no time friendly to the moscovite--you need only recall the days of charles xii--have within the last few years developed a strong martial feeling against russian aggression. both countries are intensely patriotic and independent and would not on any account tolerate incorporation. germany does not want norway and sweden, and scandinavia knows that. they also know that russia, having a free hand, does want them. hence they are looking towards germany to keep a national independence. with german help, sweden and norway could maintain, transport and place three-quarters of a million of first-class fighting men in the field and that at strategical and crucial points of the russian empire. the personal domination of the house of hohenzollern even outside political matters is tremendous, by virtue of great wealth and marriages,--the emperor's sons having married the most wealthy princesses in europe--besides the privately invested fortunes of the emperor, giving him a tremendous in fluence in commercial affairs. wilhelm holds the thunderbolt that will shake the world. history of friedrich ii. of prussia frederick the great by thomas carlyle book xvii--the seven-years war: first campaign.-- - . chapter i.--what friedrich had read in the menzel documents. the ill-informed world, entirely unaware of what friedrich had been studying and ascertaining, to his bitter sorrow, for four years past, was extremely astonished at the part he took in those french-english troubles; extremely provoked at his breaking out again into a third silesian war, greater than all the others, and kindling all europe in such a way. the ill-informed world rang violently, then and long after, with a controversy, "was it of his beginning, or not of his beginning?" controversy, which may in our day be considered as settled by unanimous mankind; finished forever; and can now have no interest for any creature. omitting that, our problem is (were it possible in brief compass), to set forth, by what authentic traits there are,--not the "ambitious," "audacious," voracious and highly condemnable friedrich of the gazetteers,--but the thrice-intricately situated friedrich of fact. what the facts privately known to friedrich were, in what manner known; and how, in a more complex crisis than had yet been, friedrich demeaned himself: upon which latter point, and those cognate to it, readers ought not to be ignorant, if now fallen indifferent on so many other points of the affair. what a loud-roaring, loose and empty matter is this tornado of vociferation which men call "public opinion"! tragically howling round a man; who has to stand silent the while; and scan, wisely under pain of death, the altogether inarticulate, dumb and inexorable matter which the gods call fact! friedrich did read his terrible sphinx-riddle; the gazetteer tornado did pipe and blow. king friedrich, in contrast with his environment at that time, will most likely never be portrayed to modern men in his real proportions, real aspect and attitude then and there,--which are silently not a little heroic and even pathetic, when well seen into;--and, for certain, he is not portrayable at present, on our side of the sea. but what hints and fractions of feature we authentically have, ought to be given with exactitude, especially with brevity, and left to the ingenuous imagination of readers. the secret sources of the third silesian war, since called "seven-years war," go back to ; nay, we may say, to the first invasion of silesia in . for it was in maria theresa's incurable sorrow at loss of silesia, and her inextinguishable hope to reconquer it, that this and all friedrich's other wars had their origin. twice she had signed peace with friedrich, and solemnly ceded silesia to him: but that too, with the imperial lady, was by no means a finis to the business. not that she meant to break her treaties; far from her such a thought,--in the conscious form. though, alas, in the unconscious, again, it was always rather near! practically, she reckoned to herself, these treaties would come to be broken, as treaties do not endure forever; and then, at the good moment, she did purpose to be ready. "silesia back to us; pragmatic sanction complete in every point! was not that our dear father's will, monition of all our fathers and their patriotisms and traditionary heroisms; and in fact, the behest of gods and men?" ten years ago, this notion had been cut down to apparent death, in a disastrous manner, for the second time. but it did not die in the least: it never thinks of dying; starts always anew, passionate to produce itself again as action valid at last; and lives in the imperial heart with a tenacity that is strange to observe. still stranger, in the envious valet-heart,--in that of bruhl, who had far less cause! the peace of dresden, christmas, , seemed to be an act of considerable magnanimity on friedrich's part. it was, at the first blush of it, "incredible" to harrach, the austrian plenipotentiary; whose embarrassed, astonished bow we remember on that occasion, with english villiers shedding pious tears. but what is very remarkable withal is a thing since discovered: [infra, next note (p. ).] that harrach, magnanimous signature hardly yet dry, did then straightway, by order of his court, very privately inquire of bruhl, "there is peace, you see; what they call peace:--but our treaty of warsaw, for partition of this magnanimous man, stands all the same; does n't it?" to which, according to the documents, bruhl, hardly escaped from the pangs of death, and still in a very pale-yellow condition, had answered in effect, "hah, say you so? one's hatred is eternal;--but that man's iron heel! wait a little; get russia to join in the scheme!"--and hung back; the willing mind, but the too terrified! and in this way, like a famishing dog in sight of a too dangerous leg of mutton, bruhl has ever since rather held back; would not re-engage at all, for almost two years, even on the czarina's engaging; and then only in a cautious, conditional and hypothetic manner,--though with famine increasing day by day in sight of the desired viands. his hatred is fell; but he would fain escape with back unbroken. how friedrich discovered the mystery. concerning menzel and weingarten. friedrich has been aware of this mystery, at least wide awake to it and becoming ever more instructed, for almost four years. traitor menzel the saxon kanzellist--we, who have prophetically read what he had to confess when laid hold of, are aware, though as yet, and on to , it is a dead secret to all mortals but himself and "three others"--has been busy for prussia ever since "the end of ." got admittance to the presses; sent his first excerpt "about the time of easter-fair, ,"--time of voltaire's taking wing. and has been at work ever since. copying despatches from the most secret saxon repositories; ready always on excellency mahlzahn's indicating the piece wanted; and of late, i should think, is busier than ever, as the saxon mystery, which is also an austrian and russian one, gets more light thrown into it, and seems to be fast ripening towards action of a perilous nature. the first excerpts furnished by menzel, readers can judge how enigmatic they were. these menzel papers, copies mainly of petersburg or vienna despatches to bruhl, with bruhl's answers,--the principal of which were subsequently printed in their best arrangement and liveliest point of vision [in friedrich's manifestoes, chiefly in memoire raisonne sur la conduite des cours de vienne et de saxe (compiled from the menzel originals, so soon as these were got hold of: berlin, autumn, ). a solid and able paper; rapidly done, by one count herzberg, who rose high in after times. reprinted, with many other "pieces" and "passages," in _gesammelte nachrichten und urkunden,_--which is a "collection" of such ( vols., nos. small vo, no place, , my copy of it).]--are by no means a luminous set of documents to readers at this day. think what a study they were at potsdam in , while still in the chaotic state; fished out, more or less at random, as menzel could lay hold of them, or be directed to them; the enigma clearing itself only by intense inspection, and capability of seeing in the dark! it appears,--if you are curious on the anecdotic part,-- "winterfeld was the first that got eye on this dangerous saxon mystery; some ex-saxon, about to settle in berlin, giving hint of it to winterfeld; who needed only a hint. so soon as winterfeld convinced himself that there was weight in the affair, he imparted it to friedrich: 'scheme of partitioning, your majesty, of picking quarrel, then overwhelming and partitioning; most serious scheme, austrian-russian as well as saxon; going on steadily for years past, and very lively at this time!' if true, friedrich cannot but admit that this is serious enough: important, thrice over, to discover whether it is true;--and gives winterfeld authority to prosecute it to the bottom, in dresden or wherever the secret may lie. who thereupon charged mahlzahn, the prussian minister at dresden, to find some proper menzel, and bestir himself. how mahlzahn has found his menzel, and has bestirred himself, we saw. thief-keys were made to pattern in berlin; first set did not fit, second did; and stealthy menzel gains admittance to that chamber of the archives, can steal thither on shoes of felt when occasion serves, and copy what you wish,--for a consideration. intermittently, since about easter-fair, . three persons are cognizant of it, winterfeld, mahlzahn, friedrich; three, and no more. probably the abstrusest study; and the most intense, going on in the world at that epoch. [rotzow, _charakteristik des siebenjahrigen krieges _(berlin, ), i. .] "at a very early stage of the menzel excerpts it became manifest that certain synchronous austrian ditto would prove highly elucidative; that, in fact, it would be indispensable to get hold of these as well. which also winterfeld has managed to do. a deep-headed man, who has his eyes about him; and is very apt to manage what he undertakes. one weingarten junior, a secretary in the austrian embassy at berlin (excellency peubla's second secretary), has his acquaintanceships in berlin society; and for one thing, as winterfeld discovers, is 'madly in love' with some chambermaid or quasi-chambermaid (let us call her chambermaid), 'daughter of the castellan at charlottenburg.' winterfeld, through the due channels, applied to this chambermaid, 'get me a small secret copy of such and such despatches, out of your weingarten; it will be well for you and him; otherwise perhaps not well!' chambermaid, hope urging, or perhaps hope and fear, did her best; weingarten had to yield the required product and products, as required. by this weingarten, from some date not long after menzel's first mysterious dresden excerpts, the necessary austrian glosses, so far as possible to weingarten on the indications given him, have been regularly had, for the two or three years past. "weingarten first came to be seriously suspected june, (weingarten junior, let us still say, for there was a senior of unstained fidelity); 'june th,' excellency peubla pointedly demands him from friedrich and the berlin police: 'weingarten junior, my second secretar, fugitive and traitor; hidden somewhere!' ["berlin, d june: every research making for mr. weingatten,--in vain hitherto" (_gentleman's magazine, _xxvi., i. e. for , p. ).] excellency peubla is answered, th june: 'we would so fain catch him, if we could! we have tried at stendal,--not there: tried his mother-in-law; knows nothing: have forborne laying up his poor wife and children; and hope her imperial majesty will have pity on that poor creature, who is fallen so miserable.' [_helden-geschichte,_ iii. .] so that excellency peubla had nothing for it but to compose himself; to honor the unstainable fidelity of weingarten senior by a public piece of promotion, which soon ensued; and let the junior run. weingarten junior, on the first suspicion, had vanished with due promptitude,--was not to be unearthed again. we perceive he has married his charlottenburg beauty, and there are helpless babies. it seems, he lived long years after, in the altmark, as a herr von weiss,'--his reflections manifold, but unknown. [retzow, i. .] what is much notabler, cogniazzo, the austrian veteran, heard weingarten's master, graf von peubla, talk of the 'grand mystere,' soon after, and how friedrich had heard of it, not from weingarten alone, but from gross-furst peter, russian heir-apparent! [cogniazzo, i. .] "as to menzel, he did not get away. menzel, as we saw, lasted in free activity till ; and was then put under lock and key. was not hanged; sat prisoner for twenty-seven years after; overgrown with hair, legs and arms chained together, heavy iron bar uniting both ankles; diet bread-and-water;--for the rest, healthy; and died, not very miserable it is said, in . shocking traitors, weingarten and he." yes, a diabolical pair, they, sure enough:--and the thing they betrayed against their masters, was that a celestial thing? servants of the devil do fall out; and servants not of the devil are fain, sometimes, to raise a quarrel of that kind!-- the then world, as we said, was one loud uproar of logic on the right reading and the wrong of those sibylline documents: "did your king of prussia interpret them aright, or even try it? did not he use them as a cloak for highway robbery, and swallowing of a peaceable saxony, bad man that he surely is?" for friedrich's demeanor, this time again, when it came to the acting point, was of eminent rapidity; almost a swifter lion-spring than ever; and it brought on him, in the aerial or vocal way, its usual result: huge clamor of rage and logic from uninformed mankind. clamorous rage and logic, which has now sunk irresuscitably dead;--nothing of it much worth mentioning to modern readers, scarcely even its hic jacet (in footnotes, for the benefit of the curious!),--and it is, at last, a thing not doubtful to anybody that friedrich, in that matter did read aright. so that now the loud uproar is reduced to one small question with us, what did he read in those menzel documents? what fact lying in them was it that friedrich had to read? here, smelted down by repeated roastings, is succinct answer;--for the ultimate fragment of incombustible here as elsewhere, will go into a nutshell, once the continents of diplomatist-gazetteer logic and disorderly stable-litter, threatening to heap themselves over the very stars, have been faithfully burnt away. readers heard of a "union of warsaw," early in , concluded by the sea-powers and the saxon-polish and hungarian majesties: very harmless union of warsaw, public to all the world,--but with a certain thrice-secret "treaty of warsaw" (between polish and hungarian majesty themselves two, the sea-powers being horror-struck by mention of it) which had followed thereupon, in an eager and wonderful manner. thrice-secret treaty, for partitioning friedrich, and settling the respective shares of his skin. treaty which, to denote its origin, we called of warsaw; though it was not finished there (shares of skin so difficult to settle), and "treaty of leipzig, th may, ," is its alias in books:--of which treaty, as the sea-powers had recoiled horror-struck, there was no whisper farther, to them or to the rest of exoteric mankind;--though it has been one of the busiest entities ever since. from the menzel documents, i know not after what circuitous gropings and searchings, friedrich first got notice of that treaty: [now printed in _oeuvres de frederic,_ iv. - .] figure his look on discovering it! we said it was the remarkablest bit of sheepskin in its century. readers have heard too, that it was proposed to bruhl, by a grateful austria, directly on signing the peace of dresden: "our partition-treaty stands all the same, does it not?"--and in what humor bruhl answered: "hah? get russia to join!" both these facts, that there is a treaty of warsaw and that this is the austrian-saxon temper and intention towards him and it, friedrich learned from the menzel documents. and if the reader will possess himself of these two facts, and understand that they are of a germinative, most vital quality, indestructible by the times and the chances; and have been growing and developing themselves, day and night ever since, in a truly wonderful manner,--the reader knows in substance what menzel had to reveal. russia was got to join;--there are methods of operating on russia, and kindling a poor fat czarina into strange suspicions and indignations. in may, , within six months of the peace of dresden, a treaty of petersburg, new version of the warsaw one, was brought to parchment; czarina and empress-queen signing,--bruhl dying to sign, but not daring. how russia has been got to join, and more and more vigorously bear a hand; how bruhl's rabidities of appetite, and terrors of heart, have continued ever since; how austria and russia,--bruhl aiding with hysterical alacrity, haunted by terror (and at last mercifully excused from signing),--have, year after year, especially in this last year, , brought the matter nearer and nearer perfection; and the two imperial majesties, with bruhl to rear, wait only till they are fully ready, and the world gives opportunity, to pick a quarrel with friedrich, and overwhelm and partition him, according to covenant: this, wandering through endless mazes of detail, is in sum what the menzel documents disclose to friedrich and us. how, in a space of ten years, the small seed-grain of a treaty of warsaw, or treaty of petersburg, planted and nourished in that manner, in the satan's invisible world, has grown into a mighty tree there,--prophetic of facts near at hand; which were extremely sanguinary to the human race for the next seven years. this is the sum-total: but for friedrich's sake, and to illustrate the situation, let us take a few glances more, into the then satan's invisible world, which had become so ominously busy round friedrich and others. the czarina, we say, was got to engage; d may, , there came a treaty of petersburg duly valid, which is that of warsaw under a new name: and still bruhl durst not, for above a year coming,--not till august th, ; [memoire raisonne (in _gesammelte nachrichten _), i. .] and then, only in a hypothetic half-and-half way, with fear and trembling, though with hunger unspeakable, in sight of the viands. a very wretched bruhl, as seen in these menzel documents. on poor polish majesty bruhl has played the sorcerer, this long while, and ridden him as he would an enchanted quadruped, in a shameful manner: but how, in turn (as we study menzel), is bruhl himself hagridden, hunted by his own devils, and leads such a ghastly phantasmal existence yonder, in the valley of the shadow of clothes,--mere clothes, metaphorical and literal! ["montrez-moi des vertus, pas des culottes (have you no virtues then to show me; nothing but pain of breeches)!" exclaimed an impatient french traveller, led about in bruhl's palace one day: archenholtz, _geschichte des siebenjahrigen krieges,_ i. .] wretched bruhl, agitated with hatreds of a rather infernal nature, and with terrors of a not celestial, comes out on our sympathies, as a dog almost pitiable,--were that possible, with twelve tailors sewing for him, and a saxony getting shoved over the precipices by him. a famishing dog in the most singular situation. what he dare do, he does, and with such a will. but there is almost only one thing safe to him: that of egging on the czarina against friedrich; of coining lies to kindle czarish majesty; of wafting on every wind rumors to that end, and continually besieging with them the empty czarish mind. bruhl has many conduits, "the sieur de funck," "the sieur gross" plenty of legationary sieurs and conduits;--which issue from all quarters on petersburg, and which find there a reservoir, and due russian service-pipes, prepared for them;--and bruhl is busy. "commerce of dantzig to be ruined," suggests he, "that is plain: look at his asiatic companies, his port of embden. poland is to be stirred up;--has not your czarish majesty heard of his intrigues there? courland, which is almost become your majesty's--cunningly snatched by your majesty's address, like a valuable moribund whale adrift among the shallows,--this bad man will have it out to sea again, with the harpoons in it; fairly afloat amid the polish anarchies again!" these are but specimens of bruhl. or we can give such in bruhl's own words, if the reader had rather. here are two, which have the advantage of brevity:-- .... the sieur de funck, saxon minister at petersburg, wrote to count bruhl, th july, (says an inexorable record), "that the sieur gross [now minister of russia at dresden, who vanished out of berlin like an angry sky-rocket some years ago] would do a good service to the common cause, if he wrote to his court, 'that the king of prussia had found a channel in courland, by which he learned all the secrets of the russian court;'" and sieur funck added, "that it was expected good use could be made of such a story with her czarish majesty."--to which count bruhl replies, d july, "that he has instructed the sieur gross, who will not fail to act in consequence." . sieur prasse, same funck's secretary of legation, at petersburg, writes to count bruhl, th april, :-- "i am bidden signify to your excellency that it is greatly wished, in order to favor certain views, you would have the goodness to cause arrive in petersburg, by different channels, the following intelligence: 'that the king of prussia, on pretext of commerce, is sending officers and engineers into the ukraine, to reconnoitre the country and excite a rebellion there.' and this advice, be pleased to observe, is not to come direct from the saxon court, nor by the envoy gross, but by some third party,--to the end there may be no concert noticed;--as they [l'on, the "service-pipes," and managing excellencies, russian and austrian] have given the same commission to other ministers, so that the news shall come from more places than one. "they [the said managing excellencies] have also required me to write to the baron de sack," our saxon minister in sweden, "upon it, which i will not fail to do; and they assured me that our court's advantage was not less concerned in it than that of their own; adding these words [comfortable to one's soul], 'the king of prussia [in ] gave saxony a blow which it will feel for fifty years; but we will give him one which he will feel for a hundred.'" to which beautiful suggestion excellency bruhl answers, d june, : "as to the secret commission of conveying to petersburg, by concealed channels, intelligence of prussian machinations in the ukraine, we are still busy finding out a right channel; and they [l'on, the managing excellencies] shall very soon, one way or the other, see the effect of my personal inclination to second what is so good an intention, though a little artful (un peu artificieuse,"--un peu, nothing to speak of)! [memoire raisonne (in _ gesammelte nachrichten _), i. - ; and ib. .] fancy a poor fat czarina, of many appetites, of little judgment, continually beaten upon in this manner by these saxon-austrian artists and their russian service-pipes. bombarded with cunningly devised fabrications, every wind freighted for her with phantasmal rumors, no ray of direct daylight visiting the poor sovereign woman; who is lazy, not malignant if she could avoid it: mainly a mass of esurient oil, with alkali on the back of alkali poured in, at this rate, for ten years past; till, by pouring and by stirring, they get her to the state of soap and froth! is it so wonderful that she does, by degrees, rise into eminent suspicion, anger, fear, violence and vehemence against her bad neighbor? one at last begins to conceive those insane whirls, continual mad suspicions, mad procedures, which have given friedrich such vexation, surprise and provocation in the years past. friedrich is always specially eager to avoid ill-will from russia; but it has come, in spite of all he could do and try. and these procedures of the czarish majesty have been so capricious, unintelligible, perverse, and his feeling is often enough irritation, temporary indignation,--which we know makes verses withal! i can nowhere learn from those prussian imbroglios of books, what the friedrich sayings or satirical verses properly were: retzow speaks of a produkt, one at least, known in interior circles. [retzow, i. .] produkt which decidedly requires publication, beyond anything friedrich ever wrote;--though one can do without it too, and invoke fancy in defect of print. the sharpness of friedrich's tongue we know; and the diligence of birds of the air. to all her other griefs against the bad man, this has given the finish in the tender czarish bosom;--and like an envenomed drop has set the saponaceous oils (already dosed with alkali, and well in solution) foaming deliriously over the brim, in never-imagined deluges of a hatred that is unappeasable;--very costly to friedrich and mankind. rising ever higher, year by year; and now risen, to what height judge by the following:-- at petersburg, th- th may, , "there was meeting of the russian senate, with deliberation held for these two days; and for issue this conclusion come to:-- "that it should be, and hereby is, settled as a fundamental maxim of the russia empire, not only to oppose any farther aggrandizement of the king of prussia, but to seize the first convenient opportunity for overwhelming (ecraser), by superior force, the house of brandenburg [hear, hear!], and reducing it to its former state of mediocrity." [memoire raisonne (in _gesammelte nachrichten _), i. .] leg of mutton to be actually gone into. with what an enthusiasm of "hear, hear!" from bruhl and kindred parties; especially from bruhl,--who, however, dare not yet bite, except hypothetically, such his terrors and tremors. or, look again (same senate), at petersburg, (october, ): "to which fundamental maxim, articulately fixed ever since those maydays of , the august russian sanhedrim, deliberating farther in october, , adds this remarkable extension, "that it is our resolution to attack the king of prussia without farther discussion, whensoever the said king shall attack any ally of russia's, or shall himself be attacked by any of them." hailed by bruhl, as natural, with his liveliest approval. "a glorious deliberation, that, indeed!" writes he: "it clears the way of action for russia's allies in this matter; and for us too; though nobody can blame us, if we proceed with the extremest caution,"--and rather wait till the bear is nearly killed. [memoire raisonne (in _gesammelte nachrichten_ ), i. .] many marvels friedrich had deciphered out of this weingarten-menzel apocalypse of satan's invisible world; and one often fancies friedrich's tone of mind, in his intense inspecting of that fateful continent of darkness, and his labyrinthic stepping by degrees to the oracular points, which have a light in them when flung open. but in respect of practical interest, this of october, (which would get to potsdam probably in few weeks after) must have surpassed all the others. marvels many, one after the other: [for example, or in recapitulation: a treaty of warsaw or leipzig, to partition him ( th may, ); treaty of petersburg ( d may, , new form of warsaw treaty, with czarina superadded); tremulous quasi-accession thereto of his polish majesty (most tremulous, hypothetic quasi-accession, "yes-and-no," th august, , and often afterwards); first deliberation of the russian senate, th may, ; &c. &c. for example, or in recapitulation: a treaty of warsaw or leipzig, to partition him ( th may, ); treaty of petersburg ( d may, , new form of warsaw treaty, with czarina superadded); tremulous quasi-accession thereto of his polish majesty (most tremulous, hypothetic quasi-accession, "yes-and-no," th august, , and often afterwards); first deliberation of the russian senate, th may, ; &c. &c.] no doubt left, long since, of the constant disposition, preparation and fixed intention to partition him. but here, in this last indication by the russian senate,--which kindles into dismal evidence so many other enigmatic tokens,--there has an ulterior oracular point disclosed itself to friedrich; in vaguer condition, but not less indubitable, and much more perilous: namely, that now, at last (end of ), the two imperial majesties, very eager both, consider that the time is come. and are--as friedrich looks abroad on the austrian-russian marchings of troops, campings, and unusual military symptoms and combinations--visibly preparing to that end. "they have agreed to attack me next year ( ), if they can; and next again ( ), without if:" so friedrich, putting written word and public occurrence together, gradually reads; and so, all readers will see, the fact was,--though imperial majesty at schonbrunn, as we shall find, strove to deny it when applied to; and scouted, as mere fiction and imagination, the notion of such an "agreement." which i infer, therefore, not to have existed in parchment; not in parchment, but only in reality, and as a mutual bond registered in--shall we say "in heaven", as some are wont?--registered, perhaps, in two places, very separate indeed! no truer "agreement" ever did exist;--though a devout imperial majesty denies it, who would shudder at the lie direct. poor imperial majesty: who can tell her troubles and straits in this abstruse time! heaven itself ordering her to get back the silesia of her fathers, if she could;--yet heaven always looking dubious, surely, upon this method of doing it. by solemn public treaties signed in sight of all mankind; and contrariwise, in the very same moments, by secret treaties, of a fell nature, concocted underground, to destroy the life of these! imperial majesty flatters herself it may be fair: "treaty of dresden, treaty of aix-la-chapelle; treaties wrung from me by force, the tyrannic sea-powers screwing us; kaunitz can tell! a consummate kaunitz; who has provided remedies. treaties do get broken. besides, i will not go to war, unless he the bad one of prussia do!"--alas, your noble majesty, plain it at least is, your love of silesia is very strong. and consummate kaunitz and it have led you into strange predicaments. the pompadour, for instance: who was it that answered, "je ne la connais pas; i don't know her!"? how gladly would the imperial maria theresa, soul of propriety, have made that answer! but she did not; she had to answer differently. for kaunitz was imperative: "a kind little note to the pompadour; one, and then another and another; it is indispensable, your imperial majesty!" and imperial majesty always had to do it. and there exist in writing, at this hour, various flattering little notes from imperial majesty to that address; which begin, "ma cousine," "princesse et cousine," say many witnesses; nay "madame ma tres chere soeur," says one good witness: [hormayr (cited in preuss, i. n.),--as are duclos; montgaillard; memoires de richelieu; &c.]--notes which ought to have been printed, before this, or given at least to the museums. "my cousin," "princess and cousin," "madame my dearest sister:" oh, high imperial soul, with what strange bed-fellows does misery of various kinds bring us acquainted! friedrich was blamably imprudent in regard to pompadour, thinks valori: "a little complaisance might have--what might it not have done!--" but his prussian majesty would not. and while the ministers of all the other powers allied with france "went assiduously to pay their court to madame, the baron von knyphausen alone, by his master's order, never once went." ["don't! je ne la connais pas"],--while the empress-queen was writing her the most flattering letters. the prince of prussia, king's eldest brother, wished ardently to obtain her portrait, and had applied to me for it; as had prince henri to my predecessor. the king, who has such gallant and seductive ways when he likes, could certainly have reconciled this "celebrated lady",--a highly important improper female to him and others. [valori, i. .] yes; but he quite declined, not counting the costs. costs may be immediate; profits are remote,--remote, but sure. costs did indeed prove considerable, perhaps far beyond his expectation; though, i flatter myself, they never awoke much remorse in him, on that score!-- friedrich's enigma, towards the end of and onwards, is becoming frightfully stringent; and the solution, "what practically will be the wise course for me?" does not lessen in abstruse intricacy, but the reverse, as it grows more pressing. a very stormy and dubious future, truly! two circumstances in it will be highly determinative: one of them evident to friedrich; the other unknown to him, and to all mortals, except two or three. first, that there will be an english-french war straightway; and that, as usual, the french, weaker at sea, will probably attack hanover;-- that is to say, bring the war home to one's own door, and ripen into fulfilment those austrian-russian plots. this is the evident circumstance, fast coming on; visible to friedrich and to everybody. but that, in such event, austria will join, not with england, but with france: this is a second circumstance, guessable by nobody; known only to kaunitz and a select one or two; but which also will greatly complicate friedrich's position, and render his enigma indeed astonishingly intricate, as well as stringent for solution! chapter ii.--english diplomacies abroad, in prospect of a french war. britannic majesty, i know not at what date, but before the launching of that poor braddock thunder-bolt, much more after the tragic explosion it made, had felt that french war was nearly inevitable, and also that the french method would be, as heretofore, to attack hanover, and wound him in that tender part. there goes on, accordingly, a lively foreign diplomatizing, on his majesty's part, at present,--in defect, almost total, of domestic preparation, military and other;--majesty and ministers expecting salvation from abroad, as usual. military preparation does lag at a shameful rate: but, on the other hand, there is a great deal of pondering, really industrious considering and contriving, about foreign allies, and their subsidies and engagements. that step, for example, the questionable seizure of the french ships without declaration of war, was a contrivance by diplomatic heads (of bad quality): "seize their ships," said some bad head, after meditating; "put their ships in sequestration, till they do us justice. if they won't, and go to war,--then they are the aggressors, not we; and our allies have to send their auxiliary quotas, as per contract!" so the ships were seized; held in sequestration, "till many of the cargoes (being perishable goods, some even fish) rotted." [smollett's _history of england; _&c. &c.] and in return, as will be seen, not one auxiliary came to hand: so that the diplomatic head had his rotted cargoes, and much public obloquy, for his pains. not a fortunate stroke of business, that!-- britannic majesty, on applying at vienna (through keith, sir or mr. robert keith, the first excellency of that name, for there are two, a father and a son, both vienna excellencies), was astonished to learn that, in such event of an aggression, even on hanover, there was no co-operation to be looked for here. altogether cold on that subject, her imperial majesty seems; regardless of excellency keith's remonstrances and urgencies; and, in the end, is flatly negatory: "cannot do it, your excellency; times so perilous, bad king of prussia so minatory,"--not to mention, sotto voce that we have turned on our axis, and the wind (thanks to kaunitz) no longer hits us on the same cheek as formerly! "cannot? will not?" britannic majesty may well stare, wide-eyed; remembering such gigantic subsidizings and alcides labors, dettingens, fontenoys, on the per-contra side. but so stands the fact: "no help from an ungrateful vienna;--quick, then, seek elsewhere!" and hanbury and the continental british excellencies have to bestir themselves as they never did. especially hanbury; who is directed upon russia,--whom alone of these excellencies it is worth while to follow for a moment. russia, on fair subsidy, yielded us a , last war (willingly granted, most useful, though we had no fighting out of them, mere terror of them being enough): beyond all things, let hanbury do his best in russia! hanbury, cheerfully confident, provides himself with the requisites, store of bribe-money as the chief;--at warsaw withal, he picks up one poniatowski (airy sentimental coxcomb, rather of dissolute habits, handsomest and windiest of young polacks): "good for a lover to the grand-duchess, this one!" thinks hanbury. which proved true, and had its uses for hanbury;--grand-duchess and grand-duke (catherine and peter, whom we saw wedded twelve years ago, heirs-apparent of this russian chaos) being an abstrusely situated pair of spouses; well capable of something political, in private ways, in such a scene of affairs; and catherine, who is an extremely clever creature, being out of a lover just now. a fine scene for the diplomatist, this russia at present. nowhere in the world can you do so much with bribery; quite a standing item, and financial necessary-of-life to officials of the highest rank there, as hanbury well knows. [his letters (in raumer), passim.] that of poniatowski proved, otherwise too, a notable stroke of hanbury's; and shot the poor polish coxcomb aloft into tragic altitudes, on the sudden, as we all know! hanbury's immense dexterities, and incessant labors at petersburg, shall lie hidden in the slop-pails: it is enough to say, his guineas, his dexterities and auxiliary poniatowskis did prevail; and he triumphantly signed his treaty (petersburg, th september) "subsidy-treaty for , men, , of them cavalry," not to speak of " to galleys" and the like; "to attack whomsoever britannic majesty bids: annual cost a mere , pounds while on service; , pounds while waiting." [in _adelung,_ vii. .] and, what is more, and what our readers are to mark, the , begin on the instant to assemble,--along the livonian frontier or lithuanian, looking direct into preussen. diligently rendezvousing there; , of them, nay gradually , ; no stinginess in the czarina to her ally of england. a most triumphant thing, thinks hanbury: could another of you have done it? signed, ready for ratifying, th september, (bad braddock news not hindering);--and before it is ratified (this also let readers mark), the actual troops getting on march. hanbury's masterpiece, surely; a glorious triumph in the circumstances, and a difficult, thinks hanbury. had hanbury seen the inside of the cards, as readers have, he would not have thought it so triumphant. for years past,--especially since that "fundamental maxim, may th- th, ," which we heard of,--the czarina's longings had been fixed. and here now--scattering money from both hands of it, and wooing us with diplomatic finessings--is the fulfilment come! "opportunity" upon preussen; behold it here. the russian senate again holds deliberation; declares (on the heel of this hanbury treaty), "in october, ," what we read above, that its anti-prussian intentions are--truculent indeed. and it is the common talk in petersburg society, through winter, what a dose the ambitious king of prussia has got brewed for him, [memoire raisonne (in _gesammelte nachrichten _), i. , &c.] out of russian indignation and resources, miraculously set afloat by english guineas. a triumphant hanbury, for the time being,--though a tragical enough by and by! the triumphant hanbury treaty becomes, itself, nothing or less;--but produces a friedrich treaty, followed by results which surprise everybody. king friedrich's outlooks, on this consummation, may well seem to him critical. the sore longing of an infuriated czarina is now let loose, and in a condition to fulfil itself! to friedrich these petersburg news are no secret; nor to him are the petersburg private intentions a thing that can be doubted. apart from the menzel-weingarten revelations, as we noticed once, it appears the grand-duke peter (a great admirer of friedrich, poor confused soul) had himself thrice-secretly warned friedrich, that the mysterious combination, russia in the van, would attack him next spring;--"not weingarten that betrayed our grand mystere; from first hand, that was done!" said excellency peubla, on quitting berlin not long after. [cogniazzo, _gestandnisse eines oesterreichischen veterans _(as cited above), i. . "september th, ," peubla left berlin (rodenbeck, i. ),--three months after weingarten's disappearance.] the grand mystery is not uncertain to friedrich; and it may well be very formidable,--coupled with those braddock explosions, seizures of french ships, and english-french war imminent, and likely to become a general european one; which are the closing prospects of . the french king he reckons not to be well disposed to him; their old treaty of "twelve years" (since ) is just about running out. not friendly, the french king, owing to little rubs that have been; still less the pompadour;--though who could guess how implacable she was at "not being known (ne la connais pas)"! at vienna, he is well aware, the humor towards him is mere cannibalism in refined forms. but most perilous of all, most immediately perilous, is the implacable czarina, set afloat upon english guineas! with a hope, as is credibly surmised, that the english might soothe or muzzle this implacable czarina, friedrich, directly after hanbury's feat in petersburg, applied at london, with an offer which was very tempting there: "suppose your britannic majesty would make, with me, an express 'neutrality convention;' mutual covenant to keep the german reich entirely free of this war now threatening to break out? to attack jointly, and sweep home again with vigor, any and every armed non-german setting foot on the german soil!" an offer most welcome to the heads of opposition, the pitts and others of that country; who wish dear hanover safe enough (safe in davy-jones's locker, if that would do); but are tired of subsidizing, and fighting and tumulting, all the world over, for that high end. so that friedrich's proposal is grasped at; and after a little manipulation, the thing is actually concluded. by no means much manipulation, both parties being willing. there was uncommonly rapid surgery of any little difficulties and discrepancies; rapid closure, instant salutary stitching together of that long unhealable privateer controversy, as the main item: " , pounds allowed to prussia for prussian damages; and to england, from the other side, the remainder of silesiau debt, painfully outstanding for two or three years back, is to be paid off at once;"--and in this way such "neutrality convention of prussia with england" comes forth as a practical fact upon mankind. done at westminster, th january, . the stepping-stone, as it proved, to a closer treaty of the same date next year; of which we shall hear a great deal. the stepping-stone, in fact, to many large things;--and to the ruin of our late "russian-subsidy treaty" (hanbury's masterpiece), for one small thing. "that is a treaty signed, sure enough," answer they of st. james's; "and we will be handsome about it to her czarish majesty; but as to ratifying it, in its present form,--of course, never!" what a clap of thunder to excellency hanbury; his masterpiece found suddenly a superfluity, an incommodity! the orthodox english course now is, "no foreign soldiers at all to be allowed in germany;" and there are the , tramping on with such alacrity. "we cannot ratify that treaty, excellency hanbury," writes the majesty's ministry, in a tone not of gratitude: "you must turn it some other way!" a terrible blow to hanbury, who had been expecting gratitude without end. and now, try how he might, there was no turning it another way; this, privately, and this only, being the czarina's own way. a czarina obstinate to a degree; would not consent, even when they made her the liberal offer, "keep your , at home; don't attack the king of prussia with them; you shall have your subsidy all the same!" "no, i won't!" answered she,--to hanbury's amazement. hanbury had not read the weingarten-menzel documents;--what double double of toil and trouble might hanbury have saved himself and others, could he have read them! hanbury could not, still less could the majesty's ministry, surmise the czarina's secret at all, now or for a good while coming. and in fact, poor hanbury, busy as a diplomatic bee, never did more good in russia, or out of it. by direction of the majesty's ministry, hanbury still tried industriously, cash in both hands; tried various things: "assuage the czarina's mind; reconcile her to king friedrich;"--all in vain. "unite austria, russia and england, can't you, then?--in a treaty against the designs of france:" how very vain! then, at a later stage, "get us the czarina to mediate between prussia and austria" (so very possible to sleek them down into peace, thought majesty's ministry):--and unwearied hanbury, cunning eloquence on his lips, and money in both hands, tries again, and ever again, for many months. and in the way of making ropes from sand, it must be owned there never was such twisting and untwisting, as that appointed hanbury. who in fact broke his heart by it;--and died mad, by his own hand, before long. [hanbury's "life" (in _works, _vol. iii.) gives sad account.] poor soul, after all!--here are some russian notices from him (and he has many curious, not pertinent here), which are still worth gleaning. petersburg, d october, .... "the health of the empress [czarina elizabeth, catin du nord, age now forty-five] is bad. she is affected with spitting of blood, shortness of breath, constant coughing, swelled legs and water on the chest; yet she danced a minuet with me," lucky hanbury. "there is great fermentation at court. peter [grand-duke peter] does not conceal his enmity to the schuwalofs [paramours of catin, old and new]; catherine [grand-duchess, who at length has an heir, unbeautiful czar paul that will be, and "miscarriages" not a few] is on good terms with bestuchef" (corruptiblest brute of a chancellor ever known, friend to england by england's giving him , pounds, and the like trifles, pretty frequently; friedrich's enemy, chiefly from defect of that operation)--she is "on good terms with bestuchef. i think it my duty to inform the king [great george, who will draw his prognostics from it] of my observations upon her; which i can the better do, as i often have conversations with her for hours together, as at supper my rank places me always next to her," twice-lucky hanbury. "since her coming to this country, she has, by every method in her power, endeavored to gain the affections of the nation: she applied herself with diligence to study their language; and speaks it at present, as the russians tell me, in the greatest perfection. she has also succeeded in her other aim; for she is esteemed and beloved here in a high degree. her person is very advantageous, and her manners very captivating. she has great knowledge of this empire; and makes it her only study. she has parts; and great-chancellor [brute bestuchef] tells me that nobody has more steadiness and resolution. she has, of late, openly declared herself to me in respect of the king of prussia;"--hates him a good deal, "natural and formidable enemy of russia;" "heart certainly the worst in the world [and so on; but will see better by and by, having eyes of her own]:--she never mentions the king of england but with the utmost respect and highest regard; is thoroughly sensible of the utility of the union between england and russia; always calls his majesty the empress's best and greatest ally [so much of nourishment in him withal, as in a certain web-footed chief of birds, reckoned chief by some]; and hopes he will also give his friendship and protection to the grand-duke and herself.--as for the grand-duke, he is weak and violent; but his confidence in the grand-duchess is so great, that sometimes he tells people, that though he does not understand things himself, his wife understands everything. should the empress, as i fear, soon die, the government will quietly devolve on them." [hanbury's despatch, "october d, " (raumer, pp. - ); subsidy treaty still at its floweriest.] catherine's age is twenty-six gone; her peter's twenty-seven: one of the cleverest young ladies in the world, and of the stoutest-hearted, clearest-eyed;--yoked to a young gentleman much the reverse. thank hanbury for this glimpse of them, most intricately situated pair; who may concern us a little in the sequel.--and, in justice to poor hanover, the sad subject-matter of excellency hanbury's problems and futilities in russia and elsewhere, let us save this other fraction by a very different hand; and close that hanbury scene:-- "friedrich himself was so dangerous," says the constitutional historian once: "friedrich, in alliance with france, how easy for him to catch hanover by the throat at a week's notice, throw a death-noose round the throat of poor hanover, and hand the same to france for tightening at discretion! poor hanover indeed; she reaps little profit from her english honors: what has she had to do with these transatlantic colonies of england? an unfortunate country, if the english would but think; liable to be strangled at any time, for england's quarrels: the achilles'-heel to invulnerable england; a sad function for hanover, if it be a proud one, and amazingly lucrative to some hanoverians. the country is very dear to his britannic majesty in one sense, very dear to britain in another! nay germany itself, through hanover, is to be torn up by war for transatlantic interests,--out of which she does not even get good virginia tobacco, but grows bad of her own. no more concern than the ring of saturn with these over-sea quarrels; and can, through hanover, be torn to pieces by war about them. such honor to give a king to the british nation, in a strait for one; and such profit coming of it:--we hope all sides are grateful for the blessings received!" there has been a counter-treaty going on at versailles in the interim; which hereupon starts out, and tumbles the wholly astonished european diplomacies heels-over-head. to expectant mankind, especially to vienna and versailles, this britannic-prussian treaty was a great surprise. and indeed it proved the signal of a general system of new treaties all round. the first signal, in fact,--though by no means the first cause,--of a total circumgyration, summerset, or tumble heels-over-head in the political relations of europe altogether, which ensued thereupon; miraculous, almost as the earthquake at lisbon, to the gazetteer, and diplomatic mind, and incomprehensible for long years after. first signal we say, by no means that it was the first cause, or indeed that it was a cause at all,--the thing being determined elsewhere long before; ever since , when kaunitz left it ready, waiting only its time. kaiser franz, they say, when (probably during those keith urgencies) the joining with france and turning against poor britannic majesty was proposed in council at vienna, opened his usually silent lips; and opined with emphasis against such a course, no kaunitz or creature able to persuade kaiser franz that good would come of it;--though, finding sovereign lady and everybody against him, he held his peace again. and returned to his private banking operations, which were more extensive than ever, from the new troubles rising. "lent the empress-queen, always on solid securities," says friedrich, "large sums, from time to time, in those wars; dealt in commissariat stores to right and left; we ourselves had most of our meal from him this year." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ iv. .] kaiser franz was, and continued, of the old way of thinking; but consummate kaunitz, and the high lady's fixed passion for her schlesien, had changed everybody else. the ulterior facts are as follows, abbreviated to the utmost. september d, , a few days before hanbury's subsidy-feat at petersburg, which took such a whirl for hanbury, there had met for the first time at versailles, more especially at babiole, pleasure-house of the pompadour, a most select committee of three persons: graf von stahremberg, austrian ambassador; pompadour herself; and a certain infinitely elegant count and reverence de bernis (beautiful clerico-mundane gentleman, without right benefice hitherto, but much in esteem with the pompadour);--for deepest practical consideration in regard to closure of a french-austrian alliance. reverend count (subsequently cardinal) de bernis has sense in diplomacy; has his experiences in secular diplomatic matters; a soft-going cautious man, not yet official, but tending that way: whom the pompadour has brought with her as henchman, or unghostly counsellor, in this intricate adventure. stahremberg, instructed from home, has no hesitation; nor has pompadour herself, remembering that insolent "je ne la connais pas," and the per-contra "ma cousine," "princesse et soeur:"--but bernis, i suppose, looks into the practical difficulties; which are probably very considerable, to the official french eye, in the present state of europe and of the public mind. from september d, or autumnal equinox, , onward to this britannic-prussian phenomenon of january, , the pompadour conclave has been sitting,--difficulties, no doubt, considerable. i will give only the dates, having myself no interest in such a committee at babiole; but the dates sufficiently betoken that there were intricacies, conflicts between the new and the old. hitherto the axiom always was, "prussia the adjunct and satellite of france:" now to be entirely reversed, you say? july, , that is two months before this babiole committee met, a duc de nivernois, respectable intelligent dilettante french nobleman, had been named as ambassador to friedrich, "go, you respectable wise nivernois, nobleman of letters so called; try and retain friedrich for us, as usual!" and now, on meeting of the babiole committee, nivernois does not go; lingers, saddled and bridled, till the very end of the year; arrives in berlin january th, . has his first audience january th; a man highly amiable to friedrich; but with proposals,--wonderful indeed. the french, this good while back, are in no doubt about war with england, a right hearty war; and have always expected to retain prussia as formerly,--though rather on singular terms. some time ago, for instance, m. de rouille, war-minister, requested knyphausen, prussian envoy at paris: "suggest to your king's majesty what plunder there is at hanover. perfectly at liberty to keep it all, if he will plunder hanover for us!" [_oeuvres de frederic,_ iv. .] pleasant message to the proud king; who answered with the due brevity, to the purport, "silence, sir!"--with didactic effects on the surprised rouille. who now mends his proposal; though again in a remarkable way. instructs nivernois, namely, "to offer king friedrich the island of tobago, if he will renew treaty, and take arms for us. island of tobago (a deserted, litigated, but pretty island, were it ever ours), will not that entice this king, intent on commerce?" friedrich, who likes nivernois and his polite ways, answers quizzingly: "island of tobago? island of barataria your lordship must be meaning; island of which i cannot be the sancho panza!" [ib. .] and nivernois found he must not mention tobago again. for the rest, friedrich made no secret of his english treaty; showed it with all frankness to nivernois, in all points: "is there, can the most captious allege that there is, anything against france in it. my one wish and aim, that of peace for myself: judge!" nivernois stayed till march; but seems to have had, of definite, only tobago and good words; so that nothing farther came of him, and there was no renewal of treaty then or after. thus, in his third month (march, ), practical nivernois was recalled, without result;--instead of whom fat valori was sent; privately intending "to do nothing but observe, in berlin." from all which, we infer that the babiole committee now saw land; and that bernis himself had decided in the affirmative: "austria, not prussia; yes, madame!" to the joy of madame and everybody. for, it is incredible, say all witnesses, what indignation broke out in paris when friedrich made this new "defection," so they termed it; revolt from his liege lord (who had been so exemplary to him on former occasions!), and would not bite at tobago when offered. so that the babiole committee went on, henceforth, with flowing sea; and by mayday ( st may, ) brought out its french-austrian treaty in a completed state. "to stand by one another," like castor and pollux, in a manner; " , , reciprocally, to be ready on demand;" nay i think something of "subsidies" withal,--to austria, of course. but the particulars are not worth giving; the performance, thanks to a zealous pompadour, having quite outrun the stipulation, and left it practically out of sight, when the push came. our constitutional historian may shadow the rest:-- "france and england going to war in these sad circumstances, and france and austria being privately prepared [by kaunitz and others] to swear everlasting friendship on the occasion, instead of everlasting enmity as heretofore; unexpected changes, miraculous to the gazetteers, became inevitable;--nothing less, in short, than explosion or topsy-turvying of the old diplomatic-political scheme of europe. old dance of the constellations flung heels-over-head on the sudden; and much pirouetting, jigging, setting, before they could change partners, and continue their august dance again, whether in war or peace. no end to the industrious wonder of the gazetteer mind, to the dark difficulties of the diplomatic. what bafflings, agonistic shufflings, impotent gazings into the dark; what seductive fiddling, and being fiddled to! a most sad function of humanity, if sometimes an inevitable one; which ought surely at all times to be got over as briefly as possible. to be written of, especially, with a maximum of brevity; human nature being justly impatient of talk about it, beyond the strictly needful." most true it is, and was most miraculous, though now quite forgotten again, political europe had to make a complete whirl-round on that occasion. and not in a day, and merely saying to itself, "let me do summerset!" as idle readers suppose,--but with long months of agonistic shuffle and struggle in all places, and such diplomatic fiddling and being fiddled to, as seldom was before. of which, these two instances, the bernis and the hanbury, are to serve as specimen; two and no more: a universe of extinct fiddling compressed into two nutshells, if readers have an ear. chapter iii.--french-english war breaks out. the french, in reality a good deal astonished at the prussian-britannic treaty, affected to take it easy: "treaty for neutrality of germany?" said they: "very good indeed. perhaps there are places nearer us, where our troops can be employed to more advantage!" [their "declaration" on it (adelung, vii. .)]--hinting vocally, as henceforth their silent procedures, their diligence in the dockyards, moving of troops coastward and the like, still more clearly did, that an invasion of england itself was the thing next to be expected. england and france are, by this time, alike fiercely determined on war; but their states of preparation are very different. the french have war-ships again, not to mention armies which they always have; some skilful admirals withal,--la gallisonniere, our old canada friend, is one, very busy at present;--and mean to try seriously the question of sea-supremacy once more. if an invasion did chance to land, the state of england would be found handy beyond hope! how many fighting regiments england has, i need not inquire, nor with what strategic virtue they would go to work;--enough to mention the singular fact (recently true, and still, i perceive, too like the truth), that of all their regiments, "only three are in this country", or have colonels even nominated. incredible; but certain. and the interesting point is, his grace of newcastle dare not have colonels, still less higher officers nominated; because royal highness of cumberland would have the naming of them, and they would be enemies to his grace. [walpole, _george the second, _ii. (date, "march th, ;" and how long after, is not said: but see pitt's speeches, ib., all through , and farther).] in such posture stands the envy of surrounding nations at this moment. "hire hessians," cry they; "hire hanoverians; if france land on us, we are undone!"--and continue their parliamentary eloquences in a most distressful manner. "apply to the dutch, at any rate, for their , as per treaty", cries everybody. which is done. but the dutch piteously wring their hands: "dare not, your majesty; how dare we, for france and our neglected barrier! oh, generous majesty, excuse us!"--and the generous majesty has to do it; and leave the dutch in peace, this time. hessians, hanoverians, after eloquence enough, are at last got sent for, to guard us against this terrible invasion: about , of each kind; and do land,--the native populations very sulky on them ("we won't billet you, not we; build huts, and be--!"), with much parliamentary and newspaper commentary going on, of a distressful nature. "saturday, th may, , hessians disembark at southampton; obliged to pitch camp in the neighborhood: friday, st may, the hanoverians, at chatham, who hut themselves canterbury way;"--and have (what is the sum-total of their achievements in this country) a case of shoplifting, "pocket-handkerchief, across the counter, in open day;" one case (or what seemed to be one, but was not); ["at maidstone, th septemher, ;" hanoverian soldier, purchasing a handkerchief, imagines he has purchased two (not yet clipt asunder), haberdasher and he having no language in common: _gentleman's magazine, _for , pp. , , &c.; walpole, saepius.] "and the fellow not to be tried by us for it!" which enrages the constitutional heart. alas, my heavy-laden constitutional heart; but what can we do? these drilled louts will guard us, should this terrible invasion land. and indeed, about three weeks before these louts arrived, the terrible invasion had declared itself to have been altogether a feint; and had lifted anchor, quite in the opposite direction, on an errand we shall hear of soon! about the same date, i observe, "the first regiment of footguards practising the prussian drill-exercise in hyde park;" and hope his grace of newcastle and the hero of culloden (immortal hero, and aiming high in politics at this time) will, at least, have fallen upon some method of getting colonels nominated. but the wide-weltering chaos of platitudes, agitated by hysterical imbecilities, regulating england in this great crisis, fills the constitutional mind with sorrow; and indeed is definable, once more, as amazing! england is a stubborn country; but it was not by procedures of the cumberland-newcastle kind that england, and her colonies, and sea-and-land kingdoms, was built together; nor by these, except miracle intervene, that she can stand long against stress! looking at the dismal matter from this distance, there is visible to me in the foggy heart of it one lucent element, and pretty much one only; the individual named william pitt, as i have read him: if by miracle that royal soul could, even for a time, get to something of kingship there? courage; miracles do happen, let us hope!--this is whitherward the grand invasion had gone:-- toulon, th april, . la gallisonniere, our old canadian friend, a crooked little man of great faculty, who has been busy in the dockyards lately, weighs anchor from toulon; " sail of the line, frigates and above transport-ships;" with the grand invasion-of-england armament on board: , picked troops, complete in all points, marechal duc de richelieu commanding. [adelung, viii. .] weighs anchor; and, singular to see, steers, not for england, and the hessian-hanover defenders (who would have been in such excellent time); but direct for minorca, as the surer thing! will seize minorca; a so-called inexpugnable possession of the english,--key of their mediterranean supremacies;--really inexpugnable enough; but which lies in the usual dilapidated state, though by chance with a courageous old governor in it, who will not surrender quite at once. april th, la gallisonniere disembarks his richelieu with a sixteen thousand, unopposed at port-mahon, or fort st. philip, in minorca; who instantly commences siege there. to the astonishment of england and his grace of newcastle who, except old governor blakeney, much in dilapidation ("wooden platforms rotten," "batteries out of repair," and so on), have nothing ready for richelieu in that quarter. the story of minorca; and the furious humors and tragic consummations that arose on it, being still well known, we will give the dates only. fort st. philip, april th-may th. for a month, richelieu, skilful in tickling the french troops, has been besieging, in a high and grandiose way; la gallisonniere vigilantly cruising; old blakeney, in spite of the rotten platforms, vigorously holding out; when--may th, la gallisonniere descries an english fleet in the distance; indisputably an english fleet; and clears his decks for a serious affair just coming. thursday, th may, admiral byng accordingly (for it is he, son of that old seaworthy byng, who once "blew out" a minatory spanish fleet and "an absurd flame of war" in the straits of messina, and was made lord torrington in consequence,--happily now dead)--admiral byng does come on; and gains himself a name badly memorable ever since. attacks la gallisonniere, in a wide-lying, languid, hovering, uncertain manner:--"far too weak" he says; "much disprovided, destitute, by blame of ministry and of everybody" (though about the strength of la gallisonniere, after all);--is almost rather beaten by la gallisonniere; does not in the least, beat him to the right degree:--and sheers off: in the night-time, straight for gibraltar again. to la gallisonniere's surprise, it is said; no doubt to old blakeney and his poor garrison's, left so, to their rotten platforms and their own shifts. blakeney and garrison stood to their guns in a manful manner, for above a month longer; day after day, week after week, looking over the horizon for some byng or some relief appearing, to no purpose! june th, there are three available breaches; the walls, however, are very sheer (a fortress hewn in the rock): richelieu scanning them dubiously, and battering his best, for about a fortnight more, is ineffectual on blakeney. june th, richelieu, taking his measures well, tickling french honor well, has determined on storm. richelieu, giving order of the day, "whosoever of you is found drunk shall not be of the storm-party" (which produced such a teetotalism as nothing else had done),--storms, that night, with extreme audacity. the place has to capitulate: glorious victory; honorable defence: and minorca gone. and england is risen to a mere smoky whirlwind, of rage, sorrow and darkness, against byng and others. smoky darkness, getting streaked with dangerous fire. "tried?" said his grace of newcastle to the city deputation: "oh indeed he shall be tried immediately; he shall be hanged directly!"--assure yourselves of that. [walpole, ii. : details of the siege, ib. - ; in _gentleman's magazine_, xxvi. , - , ; in adelung, vii.; &c. &c.] and byng's effigy was burnt all over england. and mobs attempt to burn his seat and park; and satires and caricatures and firebrands are coming out: and the poor constitutional country is bent on applying surgery, if it but know how. surgery to such indisputable abominations was certainly desirable. the new relief squadron, which had been despatched by majesty's ministry, was too late for blakeney, but did bring home a superseded byng. spithead, tuesday, th july, the superseded byng arrives; is punctually arrested, on arriving: "him we will hang directly:--is there anything else we can try [except, perhaps, it were hanging of ourselves, and our fine methods of procedure], by way of remedying you?"--war against france, now a pretty plain thing, had been "declared," th may (french counter-declaring, th june): and, under a duke of newcastle and a hero of culloden, not even pulling one way, but two ways; and a talking-apparatus full of discords at this time, and pulling who shall say how many ways,--the prospects of carrying on said war are none of the best. lord loudon, a general without skill, and commanding, as pitt declares, "a scroll of paper hitherto" (a good few thousands marked on it, and perhaps their colonels even named), is about going for america; by no means yet gone, a long way from gone: and, if the laws of nature be suspended--enough of all that! king friedrich's enigma gets more and more stringent. friedrich's situation, in those fatefully questionable months and for many past (especially from january th to july),--readers must imagine it, for there is no description possible. in many intricacies friedrich has been; but never, i reckon, in any equal to this. himself certain what the two imperial women have vowed against him; self and winterfeld certain of that sad truth; and all other mortals ready to deny it, and fly delirious on hint of it, should he venture to act in consequence! friedrich's situation is not unimaginable, when (as can now be done by candid inquirers who will take trouble enough) the one or two internal facts of it are disengaged from the roaring ocean of clamorous delusions which then enveloped them to everybody, and are held steadily in view, said ocean being well run off to the home of it very deep underground. lies do fall silent; truth waits to be recognized, not always in vain. no reader ever will conceive the strangling perplexity of that situation, now so remote and extinct to us. all i can do is, to set down what features of it have become indisputable; and leave them as detached traceries, as fractions of an outline, to coalesce into something of image where they can. winterfeld's opinion was, for some time past, distinct: "attack them; since it is certain they only wait to attack us!" but friedrich would by no means listen to that. "we must not be the aggressor, my friend; that would spoil all. perhaps the english will pacify the russian catin for me; tie her, with packthreads, bribes and intrigues, from stirring? wait, watch!" fiery winterfeld, who hates the french, who despises the austrians, and thinks the prussian army a considerable fact in politics, has great schemes: far too great for a practical friedrich. "plunge into the austrians with a will: prussian soldiery,--can austrians resist it? ruin them, since they are bent on ruining us. stir up the hungarian protestants; try all things. home upon our implacable enemies, sword drawn, scabbard flung away! and the french,--what are the french? our king should be kaiser of teutschland; and he can, and he may:--the french would then be quieter!" these things winterfeld carried in his head; and comrades have heard them from him over wine. [retzow, i. , &c.] to all which friedrich, if any whisper of them ever got to friedrich, would answer one can guess how. it is evident, friedrich had not given up his hope (indeed, for above a year more, he never did) that england might, by profuse bribery,--"such the power of bribery in that mad court!"--assuage, overnet with backstairs packthreads, or in some way compesce the russian delirium for him. and england, his sole ally in the world, still tender of austria, and unable to believe what the full intentions of austria are; england demands much wariness in his procedures towards austria; reiterating always, "wait, your majesty! oh, beware!"-- his own army, we need not say, is in perfect preparation. the army--let us guess, , regular, or near , of all arms and kinds [archenholtz (i, ) counts vaguely " , " at this date.]-- never was so perfect before or since. old captains in it, whom we used to know, are grayer and wiser; young, whom we heard less of, are grown veterans of trust. schwerin, much a cincinnatus since we last saw him, has laid down his plough again, a fervid "little marlborough" of seventy-two;--and will never see that beautiful schwerinsburg, and its thriving woods and farm-fields, any more. ugly walrave is not now chief engineer; one balbi, a much prettier man, is. ugly walrave (winterfeld suspecting and watching him) was found out; convicted of "falsified accounts," of "sending plans to the enemy," of who knows all what;--and sits in magdeburg (in a thrice-safe prison-cell of his own contriving), prisoner for life. ["arrested at potsdam th february, , and after trial put into the stern at magdeburg; sat there till he died, th january, " (_militalr-lexikon, _iv. - ).] the old dessauer is away, long since; and not the old alone. dietrich of dessau is now "guardian to his nephew," who is a child left heir there. death has been busy with the dessauers:--but here is prince moritz, "the youngest, more like his father than any of them." duke ferdinand of brunswick, moritz of dessau, keith, duke of brunswick-bevern: no one of these people has been idle, in the ten years past. least of all, has the chief captain of them,--whose diligence and vigilance in that sphere, latterly, were not likely to decline! friedrich's army is in the perfection of order. ready at the hour, for many months back; but the least motion he makes with it is a subject of jealousy. last year, on those russian advancings and alacrities, he had marched some regiments into pommern, within reach of preussen, should the russians actually try a stroke there: "see!" cried all the world: "see!" cried the enlightened russian public. this year , from june onwards and earlier, there are still more fatal symptoms, on the austrian side: great and evident war-preparations; magazines forming; camps in bohemia, moravia; camp at konigsgratz, camp at prag,--handy for the silesian border. friedrich knows they have deliberated on their pretext for a war, and have fixed on what will do,--some new small prussian-mecklenburg brabble, which there has lately been; paltry enough recruiting-quarrel, such as often are (and has been settled mutually some time ago, this one, but is capable of being ripped up again);--and that, on this cobweb of a pretext, they mean to draw sword when they like. russia too has its pretext ready. and if friedrich hint of stirring, england whispers hoarse, england and other friends, "wait, your majesty! oh, beware!" to keep one's sword at its sharpest, and, with an easy patient air, one's eyes vigilantly open: this is nearly all that friedrich can do, in neighborhood of such portentous imminencies. he has many critics, near and far;--for instance:-- berlin, st july, , excellency valori writes to versailles: ... "to give you account of a conversation i have had, a day or two ago, with the prince of prussia [august wilhelm, heir-apparent], who honors me with a particular confidence,"--and who appears to be, privately, like some others, very strong in the opposition view. "he talked to me of the present condition of the king his brother, of his brother's apprehensions, of his military arrangements, of the little trust placed in him by neighbors, of their hostile humor towards him, and of many other things which this good prince [little understanding them, as would appear, or the dangerous secret that lay under them] did not approve of. the prince then said,"--listen to what the prince of prussia said to valori, one of the last days of july, ,-- "'there is an anecdote which continually recurs to me, in the passes we are got to at present. putting the case we might be attacked by russia, and perhaps by austria, the late rothenburg was sent [as readers know], on the king's part, to milord tyrconnel, to know of him what, in such case, were the helps he might reckon on from france. milord enumerated the various helps; and then added [being a blusterous irishman, sent hither for his ill tongue]: "helps enough, you observe, monsieur; but, morbleu, if you deceive us, you will be squelched (vous serez ecrases)!" the king my 'brother was angry enough at hearing such a speech: but, my dear marquis,' and the prince turned full upon me with a face of inquiry, 'can the thing actually come true? and do you think it can be the interest of your master [and his scarlet woman] to abandon us to the fury of our enemies? ah, that cursed convention [neutrality-convention with england]! i would give a finger from my hand that it had never been concluded. i never approved of it; ask the duc de nivernois, he knows what we said of it together. but how return on our steps? who would now trust us?'" this prince appeared "to be much affected by the king his brother's situation [of which he understood as good as nothing], and agreed that he," the king his brother, "had well deserved it." [valori, ii, - .] this is not the first example, nor the last, of august wilhelm's owning a heedless, good-natured tongue; considerably prone to take the opposition side, on light grounds. for which if he found a kind of solacement and fame in some circles, it was surely at a dear rate! to his brother, that bad habit would, most likely, be known; and his brother, i suppose, did not speak of it at all; such his brother's custom in cases of the kind.--judicious valori, by way of answer, dilated on the peculiar esteem of his majesty louis xv. for the prussian majesty,--"so as my instructions direct me to do;" and we hear no more of the prince of prussia's talk, at this time; but shall in future; and may conjecture a great deal about the atmosphere friedrich had now to live in. a friedrich undergoing, privately, a great deal of criticism: "mad tendency to war; lust of conquest; contempt for his neighbors, for the opinion of the world;--no end of irrational tendencies:" [ib. ii. - ("july th-august st").] from persons to whom the secret of his problem is deeply unknown. one wise thing the english have done: sent an excellency mitchell, a man of loyalty, of sense and honesty, to be their resident at berlin. this is the noteworthy, not yet much noted, sir andrew mitchell; by far the best excellency england ever had in that court. an aberdeen scotchman, creditable to his country: hard-headed, sagacious; sceptical of shows; but capable of recognizing substances withal, and of standing loyal to them, stubbornly if needful; who grew to a great mutual regard with friedrich, and well deserved to do so; constantly about him, during the next seven years; and whose letters are among the perennially valuable documents on friedrich's history. [happily secured in the british museum; and now in the most perfect order for consulting (thanks to sir f. madden "and three years' labor" well invested);--should certainly, and will one day, be read to the bottom, and cleared of their darknesses, extrinsic and intrinsic (which are considerable) by somebody competent.] mitchell is in berlin since june th. mitchell, who is on the scene itself, and looking into friedrich with his own eyes, finds the reiterating of that "beware, your majesty!" which had been his chief task hitherto, a more and more questionable thing; and suggests to him at last: "plainly ask her hungarian majesty, what is your meaning by those bohemian campings?" "pshaw," answers friedrich: "nothing but some ambiguous answer, perhaps with insult in it!"--nevertheless thinks better; and determines to do so. [mitchell papers.] chapter iv.--friedrich puts a question at vienna, twice over. july th, , friedrich despatches an express to graf von klinggraf, his resident at vienna (an experienced man, whom we have seen before in old carteret, "conference-of-hanau" times), to demand audience of the empress; and, in the fittest terms, friendly and courteous, brief and clear, to put that question of mitchell's suggesting. "those unwonted armaments, camps in bohmen, camps in mahren, and military movements and preparations," klinggraf is to say, "have caused anxiety in her majesty's peaceable neighbor of prussia; who desires always to continue in peace; and who requests hereby a word of assurance from her majesty, that these his anxieties are groundless." friedrich himself hopes little or nothing from this; but he has done it to satisfy people about him, and put an end to all scruples in himself and others. the answer may be expected in ten or twelve days. and, about the same time,--likely enough, directly after, though there is no date given, to a fact which is curious and authentic,-- friedrich sent for two of his chief generals, to potsdam, for a secret conference with winterfeld and him. the generals are, old schwerin and general retzow senior,--major-general retzow, whom we used to hear of in the silesian wars,--and whose son reports on this occasion. conference is on this imminency of war, and as to what shall be done in it. friedrich explains in general terms his dangers from austria and russia, his certainty that austria will attack him; and asks, were it, or were it not, better to attack austria, as is our prussian principle in such case? schwerin and retzow--schwerin first, as the eldest; and after him retzow, "who privately has charge from the prussian princes to do it"--opine strongly: that indications are uncertain, that much seems inevitable which does not come; that in a time of such tumultuous whirlings and unexpected changes, the true rule is, watch well, and wait. after enough of this, with winterfeld looking dissent but saying almost nothing, friedrich gives sign to winterfeld;--who spreads out, in their lucidest prearranged order, the principal menzel-weingarten documents; and bids the two military gentlemen read. they read; with astonishment, are forced to believe; stand gazing at one another;--and do now take a changed tone. schwerin, "after a silence of everybody for some minutes,"--"bursts out like one inspired; 'if war is to be and must be, let us start to-morrow; seize saxony at once; and in that rich corny country form magazines for our operations on bohemia!'" [retzow, i. .] that is privately friedrich's own full intention. saxony, with its elbe river as highway, is his indispensable preliminary for bohemia: and he will not, a second time, as he did in with such results, leave it in an unsecured condition. adieu then, messieurs; silent: au revoir, which may be soon! retzow junior, a rational, sincere, but rather pipe-clayed man, who is wholly to be trusted on this conference, with his father for authority, has some touches of commentary on it, which indicate (date being ) that till the end of his life, or of prince henri his patron's, there remained always in some heads a doubt as to friedrich's wisdom in regard to starting the seven-years war, and to schwerin's entire sincerity in that inspired speech. and still more curious, that there was always, at potsdam as elsewhere, a majesty's opposition party; privately intent to look at the wrong side; and doing it diligently,--though with lips strictly closed for most part; without words, except well-weighed and to the wise: which is an excellent arrangement, for a majesty and majesty's opposition, where feasible in the world!-- from retzow i learn farther, that winterfeld, directly on the back of this conference, took a tour to the bohemian baths, "to karlsbad, or toplitz, for one's health;" and wandered about a good deal in those frontier mountains of bohemia, taking notes, taking sketches (not with a picturesque view); and returned by the saxon pirna country, a strange stony labyrinth, which he guessed might possibly be interesting soon. the saxon commandant of the konigstein, lofty fortress of those parts, strongest in saxony, was of winterfeld's acquaintance: winterfeld called on this commandant; found his konigstein too high for cannonading those neighborhoods, but that there was at the base of it a new work going on; and that the saxons were, though languidly, endeavoring to bestir themselves in matters military. their entire army at present is under , ; but, in the course of next winter, they expect to have it , . shall be of that force, against season . no doubt winterfeld's gatherings and communications had their uses at potsdam, on his getting home from this tour to toplitz. meanwhile, klinggraf has had his audience at vienna; and has sped as ill as could have been expected. the answer given was of supercilious brevity; evasive, in effect null, and as good as answering, that there is no answer. two accounts we have, as friedrich successively had them, of this famed passage: first, klinggraf's own, which is clear, rapid, and stands by the essential; second, an account from the other side of the scenes, furnished by menzel of dresden, for friedrich's behoof and ours; which curiously illustrates the foregoing, and confirms the interpretation friedrich at once made of it. this is menzel's account; in other words, the saxon envoy at vienna's, stolen by menzel. july th, it appears, klinggraf--having applied to kaunitz the day before, who noticed a certain flurry in him, and had answered carelessly, "audience? yes, of course; nay i am this moment going to the empress: only you must tell me about what?"--was admitted to the imperial presence, he first of many that were waiting. imperial presence held in its hand a snip of paper, carefully composed by kaunitz from the data, and read these words: "die bedenklichen umstande, the questionable circumstances of the time have moved me to consider as indispensably necessary those measures which, for my own security and for defence of my allies, i am taking, and which otherwise do not tend the least towards injury of anybody whatsoever;"--and adding no syllable more, gave a sign with her hand, intimating to klinggraf that the interview was done. klinggraf strode through the antechamber, "visibly astonished," say on-lookers, at such an answer had. answer, in fact, "that there is no answer," and the door flung in your face! [_helden-geschichte, _iii. . in valori, ii. , friedrich's little paper of instructions to klinggraf; this vienna answer to it, ib. :--see ib. , ; and _gesammelte nachrichten, _ii. - .] friedrich, on arrival of report from klinggraf, and without waiting for the menzel side of the scenes, sees that the thing is settled. writes again, however (august d, probably the day after, or the same day, klinggraf's despatch reached him); instructing klinggraf to request "a less oracular response;" and specially, "if her imperial majesty (austria and russia being, as is understood, in active league against, him) will say, that austria will not attack him this year or the next?" draw up memorial of that, monsieur klinggraf; and send us the supercilious no-answer: till which arrive we do not cross the frontier,--but are already everywhere on march to it, in an industrious, cunningly devised, evident and yet impenetrably mysterious manner. excellency valori never saw such activity of military preparation: such artillery, " , big pieces in the park here;" regiments, wagon-trains, getting under way everywhere, no man can guess whitherward; "drawn up in the square here, they know not by what gate they are to march." by three different gates, i should think;--mysteriously, in three directions, known only to king friedrich and his adjutant-general, all these regiments in berlin and elsewhere are on march. towards halle (leipzig way); towards brietzen (wittenberg and torgau way); towards bautzen neighborhood,--towards three settled points of the saxon frontier; will step across the instant the supercilious no-answer comes to hand. are to converge about dresden and the saxon switzerland;--about , strong, equipped as no army before or since has been;--and take what luck there may be. bruhl and polish majesty's army, still only about , , have their apprehensions of such visit: but what can they do? the saxon army draws out into camp, at sight of this mysterious marching; strong camp "in the angle of elbe and mulde rivers;"--then draws in again; being too weak for use. and is thinking, menzel informs us, to take post in the stony labyrinthic pirna country: such the advice an excellency broglio has given;--french excellency, now in dresden; marechal de broglio's son, and of little less explosive nature than his father was. bruhl and polish majesty, guessing that the hour is come, are infinitely interested. interested, not flurried. "austrian-russian anti-prussian covenant!" say bruhl and majesty, rather comfortably to themselves: "we never signed it. we never would sign anything; what have we to do with it? courage; steady; to pirna, if they come! are not excellency broglio, and france, and austria, and the whole world at our back?" it was full three weeks before klinggraf's message of answer could arrive at berlin. of friedrich in the interim, launching such a world-adventure, himself silent, in the midst of a buzzing berlin, take these indications, which are luminous enough. duke ferdinand of brunswick is to head one of the three "columns." duke ferdinand, governor of magdeburg, is now collecting his column in that neighborhood, chiefly at halle; whitherward, or on what errand, is profoundly unknown. unknown even to ferdinand, except that it is for actual service in the field. here are two friedrich letters (ruggedly official, the first of them, and not quite peculiar to ferdinand), which are worth reading:-- the king to duke ferdinand of brunswick. "potsdam, th august, . "for time of field-service i have made the arrangement, that for the subaltern officers of your regiment, over and above their ordinary equipage-moneys, there shall, to each subaltern officer, and once for all, be eight thalers [twenty-four shillings sterling] advanced. that sum [eight thalers per subaltern] shall be paid to the captain of every company; and besides this there shall, monthly, two thalers be deducted from the subaltern's pay, and be likewise paid over to the captain:--in return for which, he is to furnish free table for the subalterns throughout the campaign, and so long as the regiment is in the field. "of the two baggage-carts per company, the regiment shall take only one, and leave the other at home. no officer, let him be who or of what title he will, generals not excepted, shall take with him the least of silver plate, not even a silver spoon. whoever wants, therefore, to keep table, great or small (tafel oder tisch), must manage the same with tin utensils;--without exception, be he who he will. "each captain shall take with him a little cask of vinegar; of which, as soon as the regiments get to camp, he must give me reckoning, and i will then have him repaid. this vinegar shall solely and exclusively be employed for this purpose, that in places where the water is bad, there be poured into it, for the soldiers, a few drops of the vinegar, to correct the water, and thereby preserve them from illnesses. "so soon as the regiment gets on march, the women who have permission to follow are put under command of the profoss; that thereby all plunderings and disorders may the more be guarded against. if the captains and officers take grooms (jager) or the like domestics, there can muskets be given to these, that use may be had of them, in case of an attack in quarters, or on march, when a wagenburg (wagon-fortress) is to be formed.... friedrich." [preuss, ii. , .] same to same (confidential, this one). "potsdam, th august. ... "make as if you were meaning to go into camp at halle. the reason why i stop you is, that the courier from vienna has not yet come. we must therefore reassure the saxon neighborhood. ... i have been expecting answer from hour to hour; cannot suitably begin a war-expedition till it come; do therefore apprise your dilection, though under the deepest secrecy. "and it is necessary, and my will is, that, till farther order, you keep all the regiments and corps belonging to your column in the places where they are when this arrives. and shall, meanwhile, with your best skill mask all this, both from the town of halle, and from the regiments themselves; making, in conformity with what i said yesterday, as if you were a corps of observation come to encamp here, and were waiting the last orders to go into camp." "friedrich." [ib. ii. , .] and in regard to the vienna courier, and friedrich's attitude towards that phenomenon, read only these two notes:-- . friedrich to the prince of prussia and the princess amelia (at berlin) potsdam, " th august," . "my dear brother, my dear sister,--i write to you both at once, for want of time. i will follow the advice you are so good as give me; and will take leave of the queen [our dear mamma] by letter. and that the reading of my letter may not frighten her, i will send it by my sister, to be presented in a favorable moment. "i have yet got no answer from vienna; by klinggraf's account, i shall not receive it till to-morrow [came this night], but i count myself surer of war than ever; as the austrians have named generals, and their army is ordered to march, from kolin to konigsgratz"--schlesien way. "so that, expecting nothing but a haughty answer, or a very uncertain one, on which there will be no reliance possible, i have arranged everything for setting out on saturday next. to-morrow, so soon as the news comes, i will not fail to let you know. assuring you that i am, with a perfect affection, my dear brother and my dear sister,--yours,--f." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvi. .] answer comes from klinggraf that same night. once more, an answer almost worse than could have been expected. "the 'league with russia against you' is nonextant, a thing of your imagination: have not we already answered?" [in _gesammelte urkunden, _i. : klinggraf's second question (done by letter this time), " th august;" maria theresa's answer, " st august,"] whereupon, . friedrich to the prince of prussia. potsdam, " th august," . "my dear brother,--i have already written to the queen; softening things as much as i could [letter lost]. my sister, to whom i address the letter, will deliver it. "you have seen the paper i sent to klinggraf. their answer is 'that they have not made an offensive alliance with russia against me.' the answer is impertinent, high and contemptuous; and of the assurance that i required [as to this year and next], not one word. so that the sword alone can cut this gordian knot. i am innocent of this war; i have done what i could to avoid it; but whatever be one's love of peace, one cannot and must not sacrifice to that, one's safety and one's honor. such, i believe, will be your opinion too, from the sentiments i know in you. at present, our one thought must be, to do war in such a way as may cure our enemies of their wish to break peace again too soon. i embrace you with all my heart. i have had no end of business (terriblement a faire)."--f. [_oeuvres,_ xxvi. .] the march into saxony, in three columns. ahead of that last note, from an earlier hour of the same day, thursday, th august, there is speeding forth, to all three generals of division, this order (take duke ferdinand's copy):--[not in original]-- "i hereby order that your dilection (ew. liebden), with all the regiments and corps in the column standing under your command, shall now, without more delay, get on march, on the th inst.; and proceed, according to the march-tables and instructions already given, to execute what your dilection has got in charge."--f. the same thursday, th, excellency mitchell, informed by podewils of the king's wish to see him at potsdam, gets under way from berlin; arrives "just time enough to speak with the king before he sat down to supper." very many things to be consulted of, and deliberatively touched upon, with mitchell and england; no end of things and considerations, for england and king friedrich, in this that is now about to burst forth on an astonished world!--over in london, we observe, just in the hours when mitchell was harnessing for potsdam, and so many orders and letters were speeding their swiftest in that quarter, there is going forward, on tower-hill yonder, the following operation:-- "london, thursday, th august, . about five in the afternoon, a noted admiral [only in effigy as yet; but who has been held in miserable durance, and too actual question of death or life, ever since his return: "oh, yes indeed! hang him at once",--if that can be a remedy!] was, after having been privately shown to many ladies and gentlemen, brought--in an open sedan, guarded by a number of young gentlemen under arms, with drums beating, colors flying--to tower-hill, where a gallows had been erected for him at six the same morning. he was richly dressed, in a blue and gold coat, buff waistcoat, trimmed, &c. in full uniform. when brought under the gallows, he stayed a small space, till his clergyman (a chimney-sweeper) had given him some admonitions: that done, he was drawn, by pulleys, to the top of the gallows, which was twenty feet high; every person expressing as much satisfaction as if it had been the real man. "he remained there, guarded by the above volunteers, without any molestation, two hours; when, upon a supposition of being obstructed by the governor of the tower, some sailors appeared, who wanted to pull him down, in order to drag him along the streets. but a fire being kindled, which consisted of tar-barrels, fagots, tables, tubs, &c., he was consumed in about half an hour." [old newspapers (_gentleman's magazine, _ xxvi. ).] that is their employment on tower-hill, over yonder, while mitchell is getting under way to see friedrich. mitchell continued at potsdam over friday; and was still in eager consultation that night, when the king said to him, with a certain expressiveness of glance: "bon soir, then;--to-morrow morning about four!" and on the morrow, saturday, th, mitchell reports hurriedly:-- "... am just returned to berlin, in time to write to your lordship. this morning, between four and five, i took leave of the king of prussia. he went immediately upon the parade; mounted on horseback; and, after a very short exercise of his troops, put himself at their head; and marched directly for belitz [half-way to brietzen, treuenbrietzen as they call it]; where, to-morrow, he will enter the saxon territory,"--as, at their respective points, his two other columns will;--and begin, who shall say what terrible game; incalculable to your lordship and me, with such operations afoot on tower-hill! [mitchell papers, vi. ("to lord holderness, th august, ").]-- seven hussar regiments of duke ferdinand's column got the length of leipzig that sunday evening, th; and took possession of the place. [in _helden-geschichte, _iii. , his "proclamation" there, th august, .] duke ferdinand to right of the king, duke of brunswick-bevern to left,--the three columns cross the border, at points, say miles from one another; occasionally, on the march, bending to rightwards and leftwards, to take in the principal towns, and make settlements there, the two might be above a hundred miles from friedrich on each hand. the length of march for each column,--ferdinand "from leipzig, by chemnitz, freyberg, dippoldiswalde, to the village of cotta" (pirna neighborhood, south of elbe); bevern, "through the lausitz, by bautzen, to lohmen" (same neighborhood, north of elbe); king friedrich, to dresden, by the course of the elbe itself, was not far from equal, and may be called about miles. they marched with diligence, not with hurry; had their pauses, rest-days, when business required. they got to their ground, with the simultaneousness appointed, on the eleventh or twelfth day. the middle column, under the king, where marshal keith is second in command, goes by torgau (detaching moritz of dessau to pick up wittenberg, and ruin the slight works there); crosses the elbe at torgau, september d; marches, cantoning itself day after day, along the southern bank of the river; leaves meissen to the left, i perceive, does not pass through meissen; comes first at wilsdruf on ground where we have been,--and portions of it, i doubt not, were billeted in kesselsdorf; and would take a glance at the old field, if they had time. there is strict discipline in all the columns; the authorities complying on summons, and arranging what is needful. nobody resists; town-guards at once ground arms, and there is no soldier visible; soldiers all ebbing away, whitherward we guess. [_helden-geschichte, _iii. , ; _oeuvres de frederic,_ iv. .] at wilsdruf, friedrich first learns for certain, that the saxon army, with king, with bruhl and other chief personages, are withdrawn to pirna, to the inexpugnable konigstein and rock-country. the saxon army had begun assembling there, september st, directly on the news that friedrich was across the border; september th, on friedrich's approach, the king and dignitaries move off thither, from dresden, out of his way. excellency broglio has put them on that plan. which may have its complexities for friedrich, hopes broglio,--though perhaps its still greater for some other parties concerned! for bruhl and polish majesty, as will appear by and by, nothing could have turned out worse. meanwhile friedrich pushes on: "forward, all the same." polish majesty, dating from struppen, in the pirna country, has begun a correspondence with friedrich, very polite on both hands; and his adjutant-general, the chevalier meagher ("chevalier de marre," as valori calls him,--ma'ar, as he calls himself in irish), has just had, at wilsdruf, an interview with friedrich; but is far from having got settlement on the terms he wished. polish majesty magnanimously assenting to "a road through his country for military purposes;" offers "the strictest neutrality, strictest friendship even; has done, and will do, no injury whatever to his prussian majesty--["did we ever sign anything?" whisper comfortably bruhl and he to one another];--expects, therefore, that his prussian majesty will march on, whither he is bound; and leave him unmolested here." [_helden-geschichte, _ iii. .] that was meagher's message; that is the purport of all his polish majesty's eleven letters to friedrich, which precede or follow,-- reiterating with a certain bovine obstinacy, insensible to time or change, that such is polish majesty's fixed notion: "strict neutrality, friendship even; and leave me unmolested here." [in _oeuvres de frederic,_ iv. - (" th august- th september- th september," ), are collected now, the eleven letters, with their answers.] "strict neutrality, yes: but disperse your army, then," answers friedrich; send your army back to its cantonments: i must myself have the keeping of my highway, lest i lose it, as in ." this is friedrich's answer; this at first, and for some time coming; though, as the aspects change, and the dangerous elements heap themselves higher, friedrich's answer will rise with them, and his terms, like the sibyl's, become worse and worse. this is the utmost that meagher, at wilsdruf, can make of it; and this, in conceivable circumstances, will grow less and less. next day, september th, friedrich, with some battalions, entered dresden, most of his column taking camp near by; general wylich had entered yesterday, and is already commandant there. friedrich sends, by feldmarschall keith, highest officer of his column, his homages to her polish majesty:--nothing given us of keith's interview; except by a side-wind, "that majesty complained of those prussian sentries walking about in certain of her corridors" (with an eye to something, it may be feared!)--of which, doubtless, keith undertook to make report. friedrich himself waits upon the junior princes, who are left here: is polite and gracious as ever, though strict, and with business enough; lodges, for his own part, "in the garden-house of princess moczinska;"--and next morning leads off his column, a short march eastward, to the pirna country; where, on the right and on the left, ferdinand at cotta, bevern at lohmen (if readers will look on their map), he finds the other two in their due positions. head-quarter is gross-sedlitz (westernmost skirt of the rock-region); and will have to continue so, much longer than had been expected. the diplomatic world in dresden is in great emotion; more especially just at present. this morning, before leaving, friedrich had to do an exceedingly strict thing: secure the originals of those menzel documents. originals indispensable to him, for justifying his new procedures upon saxony. so that there has been, at the palace, a scene this morning of a very high and dissonant nature,--"marshal keith" in it, "marshal keith making a second visit" (say some loose and false accounts);--the facts being strictly as follows. far from removing those prussian sentries complained of last night, here seems to be a double strength of them this morning. and her polish majesty, a severe, hard-featured old lady, has been filled with indignant amazement by a prussian officer--major von wangenheim, i believe it is--requiring, in the king of prussia's name, the keys of that archive-room; prussian majesty absolutely needing sight, for a little while, of certain papers there. "enter that room? archives of a crowned head? let me see the living mortal that will dare to do it!"--one fancies the indignant polish majesty's answer; and how, calling for materials, she "openly sealed the door in question," in wangenheim's presence. as this is a celebrated passage, which has been reported in several loose ways, let us take it from the primary source, chancery style and all. graf von sternberg, austrian excellency, writing from the spot and at the hour, informs his own court, and through that all courts, in these solemnly official terms:-- "dresden, th september, . the queen's majesty, this forenoon, has called to her all the foreign ministers now at dresden; and in highest own person has signified to us, how, the prussian intrusions and hostilities being already known, highest said queen's majesty would now simply state what had farther taken place this morning:-- "highest said queen's majesty, to wit, had, in her own name, requested the king of prussia, in conformity with his assurances [by keith, yesternight] of paying every regard for her and the royal family; to remove the prussian sentries pacing about in those corridors,"--corridors which lead to the secret archives, important to some of us!--"instead of which, the said king had not only doubled his sentries there; but also, by an officer, demanded the keys of the archive-apartment [just alluded to]! and as the queen's majesty, for security of all writings there, offered to seal the door of it herself, and did so, there and then,--the said officer had so little respect, that he clapped his own seal thereon too. "nor was he content therewith,"--not by any means!--"but the same officer [having been with wylich, commandant here] came back, a short time after, and made for opening of the door himself. which being announced to the queen's majesty, she in her own person (hochstdieselbe, highest-the-same) went out again; and standing before the door, informed him, 'how highest-the-same had too much regard to his prussian majesty's given assurance, to believe that such order could proceed from the king.' as the officer, however, replied, 'that he was sorry to have such an order to execute; but that the order was serious and precise; and that he, by not executing it, would expose himself to the greatest responsibility," her majesty continued standing before the door; and said to the officer, 'if he meant to use force, he might upon her make his beginning.'" there is for you, herr wangenheim!-- "upon which said officer had gone away, to report anew to the king [i think, only to wylich the commandant; king now a dozen miles off, not so easily reported to, and his mind known]; and in the mean while her majesty had called to her the prussian and english ambassadors [mahlzahn and stormont; sorry both of them, but how entirely resourceless,--especially mahlzahn!], and had represented and repeated to them the above; beseeching that by their remonstrances and persuasions they would induce the king of prussia, conformably with his given assurance, to forbear. instead, however, of any fruit from such remonstrances and urgencies, final order came, 'that, queen's majesty's own highest person notwithstanding, force must be used.' "whereupon her majesty, to avoid actual mistreatment, had been obliged to"--to become passive, and, no keys being procurable from her, see a smith with his picklocks give these prussians admission. legation-secretary plessmann was there (menzel one fancies sitting, rather pale, in an adjacent room [supra, p. .]); and they knew what to do. their smith opens the required box for them (one of several "all lying packed for warsaw," says friedrich); from which soon taking what they needed, wangenheim and wylich withdrew with their booty, and readers have the fruit of it to this day. "which unheard-of procedure, be pleased, your excellencies, to report to your respective courts." [_gesammelte nachrichten, _i. (or "no. " of that collection); _oeuvres de frederic,_ iv. .] poor old lady, what a situation! and i believe she never saw her poor old husband again. the day he went to pirna (morning of yesterday, september th, friedrich entering in the evening), these poor spouses had, little dreaming of it, taken leave of one another forevermore. such profit lies in your bruhl. kings and queens that will be governed by a jesuit guarini, and a bruhl of the twelve tailors, sometimes pay dear for it. they, or their representatives, are sure to do so. kings and queens,--yes, and if that were all: but their poor countries too? their countries;--well, their countries did not hate beelzebub, in his various shapes, enough. their countries should have been in watch against beelzebub in the shape of bruhls;--watching, and also "praying" in a heroic manner, now fallen obsolete in these impious times! chapter v.--friedrich blockades the saxons in pirna country. friedrich reckons himself to have , men in saxony. schwerin is issuing from silesia, through the glatz mountains, for bohemia, at the head of , . the austrian force is inferior in quantity, and far from ready:--two "camps" in bohemia they have; the chief one under browne (looking, or intending, this saxon way), and a smaller under piccolomini, in the konigshof-kolin region:--if well run into from front and rear, both browne and piccolomini might be beautifully handled; and a gash be cut in austria, which might incline her to be at peace again! nothing hinders but this paltry camp of the saxons; itself only , strong, but in a country of such strength. and this does hinder, effectually while it continues: "how march to bohemia, and leave the road blocked in our rear?" the saxon camp did continue,--unmanageable by any method, for five weeks to come; the season of war-operations gone, by that time:--and friedrich's first campaign, rendered mostly fruitless in this manner, will by no means check the austrian truculencies, as by his velocity he hoped to do. no; but, on the contrary, will rouse the austrians, french and all enemies, to a tenfold pitch of temper. and bring upon himself, from an astonished and misunderstanding public, such tempests and world- tornadoes of loud-roaring obloquy, as even he, friedrich, had never endured before. to readers of a touring habit this saxon country is perhaps well known. for the last half-century it has been growing more and more famous, under the name of "saxon switzerland (sachsische schweitz)," instead of "misnian highlands (meissnische hochland)," which it used to be called. a beautiful enough and extremely rugged country; interesting to the picturesque mind. begins rising, in soft hills, on both sides of the elbe, a few miles east of dresden, as you ascend the river; till it rises into hills of wild character, getting ever wilder, and riven into wondrous chasms and precipices. extends, say almost twenty miles up the river, to tetschen and beyond, in this eastern direction; and with perhaps ten miles of breadth on each side of the river: area of the rock-region, therefore, is perhaps some four hundred square miles. the falkenberg (what we should call hawkscrag) northeastward in the lausitz, the schneeberg (snow mountain), southeastward on the bohemian border, are about thirty-five miles apart: these two are both reckoned to be in it,--its last outposts on that eastern side. but the limits of it are fixed by custom only, and depend on no natural condition. we might define it as the sandstone neck of the metal mountains: a rather lower block, of sandstone, intercalated into the metal-mountain range, which otherwise, on both hands, is higher, and of harder rocks. southward (as shoulder to this sandstone neck) lies, continuous, broad and high, the "metal-mountain range" specially so called: northward and northeastward there rise, beyond that falkenberg, many mountains, solitary or in groups,--"the metal mountains" fading out here into "the lausitz hills," still in fine picturesque fashion, which are northern border to the great bohemian "basin of the elba," after you emerge from this sandstone country. saxon switzerland is not very high anywhere; , feet is a notable degree of height: but it is torn and tumbled into stone labyrinths, chasms and winding rock-walls, as few regions are. grows pinewood, to the topmost height; pine-trees far aloft look quietly down upon you, over sheer precipices, on your intricate path. on the slopes of the hills is grass enough; in the intervals are villages and husbandries, are corn and milk for the laborious natives,--who depend mainly on quarrying, and pine-forest work: pines and free-stone, rafts of long slim pines, and big stone barges, are what one sees upon the river there. a note, not very geological, says of it:-- "elbe sweeps freely through this country, for ages and aeons past; curling himself a little into snake-figure, and with increased velocity, but silent mostly, and trim to the edge, a fine flint-colored river;--though in aeons long anterior, it must have been a very different matter for torrents and water-power. the country is one huge block of sandstone, so many square miles of that material; ribbed, channelled, torn and quarried, in this manner, by the ever-busy elements, for a million of ages past! chiefly by the elbe himself, since he got to be a river, and became cosmic and personal; ceasing to be a mere watery chaos of lakes and deluges hereabouts. for the sandstone was of various degrees of hardness; tenacious as marble some parts of it, soft almost as sand other parts. and the primordial diluviums and world-old torrents, great and small, rushing down from the bohemian highlands, from the saxon metal mountains, with such storming, gurgling and swashing, have swept away the soft parts, and left the hard standing in this chaotic manner, and bequeathed it all to the elbe, and the common frosts and rains of these human ages. "elbe has now a trim course; but elbe too is busy quarrying and mining, where not artificially held in;--and you notice at every outlet of a brook from the interior, north side and south side, how busy the brook has been. boring, grinding, undermining; much helped by the frosts, by the rains. aeons ago, the brook was a lake, in the interior; but was every moment laboring to get out; till it has cut for itself that mountain gullet, or sheer-down chasm, and brought out with it an alluvium or delta,--on which, since adam's time, human creatures have built a hamlet. that is the origin, or unwritten history, of most hamlets and cultivated spots you fall in with here: they are the waste shavings of the brook, working millions of years, for its own object of getting into the elbe in level circumstances. ploughed fields, not without fertility, are in the interior, if you ascend that brook; the hamlet, at the delta or mouth of it, is as if built upon its tongue and into its gullet: think how picturesque, in the november rains, for example! "the road" one road, "from dresden to aussig, to lobositz, budin, prag, runs up the river-brink (south brink); or, in our day, as prag-dresden railway, thunders through those solitudes; strangely awakening their echoes; and inviting even the bewildered tourist to reflect, if he could. the bewildered tourist sees rock-walls heaven-high on both hands of him; river and he rushing on between, by law of gravitation, law of ennui (which are laws of nature both), with a narrow strip of sky in full gallop overhead; and has little encouragement to reflect, except upon his own sorrows, and delirious circumstances, physical and moral. 'how much happier, were i lying in my bed!' thinks the bewildered tourist;--does strive withal to admire the picturesque, but with little success; notices the 'bastei (bastion),' and other rigorously prescribed points of the sublime and beautiful, which are to be 'done.' that you will have to do, my friend: step out, you will have to go on that pinnacle, with indifferent hotel attached; on that iron balcony, aloft among the clouds yonder; and shudder to project over elbe-flood from such altitudes, admiring the picturesque in prescribed manner. "this country has for its permanent uses, timber, free-stone, modicum of milk and haver, serviceable to the generality;--and to his polish majesty, at present, it is as the very ark of noah: priceless at this juncture; being the strongest military country in the world. excellent strength in it; express fortresses; especially one fortress called the konigstein, not far from schandau, of a towering precipitous nature, with 'a well feet deep' in it, and pleasant village outside at the base;--fortress which is still, in our day, reckoned a safe place for the saxon archives and preciosities. impregnable to gunpowder artillery; not to be had except by hunger. and then, farther down the river, close by pirna, presiding over pirna, as that konigstein in some sort does over schandau, is the sonnenstein: sonnenstein too was a fortress in those days of friedrich, but not impregnable, if judged worth taking. the austrians took it, a year or two hence; friedrich retook it, dismantled it: 'the sonnenstein is now a madhouse,' say the guide-books. "sonnenstein stands close east or up-stream of pirna, which is a town of , souls, by much the largest in those parts; konigstein a little down-stream of schandau, which latter is on the opposite or north side of the river. these are the two chief towns, which do all the trade of this region; picturesque places both:--the tourist remembers pirna? standing on its sleek table or stair-step, by the river's edge; well above floodmark; green, shaggy or fringy mountains looking down on it to rearward; in front, beyond the river, nothing visible but mile-long cream-colored rock-wall, with bushes at bottom and top, wall quarried by elbe, as you can see. pirna is near the beginning [properly end, but we start from dresden] or western extremity of saxon schweitz. schandau, almost at the opposite or eastern extremity, is still more picturesque; standing on the delta of a little brook, with high rock-cliffs, with garden-shrubberies, sanded walks, tufts of forest-umbrage; a bright- painted, almost operatic-looking place,--with spa-waters, if i recollect: "yes truly, and the "bath season" making its packages in great haste, breaking up prematurely, this year ( )!-- directly on arriving at gross-sedlitz, friedrich takes ocular survey of this country, which is already not unknown to him. he finds that the saxons have secured themselves within the mountains; a rocky streamlet, brook of gottleube, which issues into elbe just between gross-sedlitz and them, "through a dell of eighty or a hundred feet deep," serving as their first defence; well in front of the mere rocky heights and precipices behind it, which stretch continuously along to southward, six miles or more, from pirna and the south brink of elbe. at langen-hennersdorf, which is the southernmost part, these heights make an elbow inwards, by leopoldshayn, towards the konigstein, which is but four miles off; here too the saxons are defended by a brook (running straight towards konigstein, this one) in front of their heights; and stand defensive, in this way, along a rock-bulwark of ten miles long: the passes all secured by batteries, by abatis, palisades, mile after mile, as friedrich rides observant leftward: behind them, elbe rushing swifter through his rock-walls yonder, with chasms and intricate gorges; defending them inexpugnably to rear. six miles long of natural bulwark (six to hennersdorf), where the gross of the saxons lie; then to konigstein four other miles, sufficiently, if more sparsely, beset by them. "no stronger position in the world," friedrich thinks; [_oeuvres de frederic,_ iv. , (not a very distinct account; and far from accurate in the details,--which are left without effectual correction even in the best editions).]--and that it is impossible to force this place, without a loss of life disproportionate even to its importance at present. not to say that the saxons will make terms all the easier, before bloodshed rise between us;--and furthermore that hunger (for we hear they have provision only for two weeks) may itself soon do it. "wedge them in, therefore; block every outgate, every entrance; nothing to get in, except gradually hunger. hunger, and on our part rational offers, will suffice." that is friedrich's plan; good in itself,--though the ovine obstinacy, and other circumstances, retarded the execution of it to an unexpected extent, lamentable to friedrich and to some others. the prussian-saxon military operations for the next five weeks need not detain us. their respective positions on the heights behind that brook gottleube, and on the plainer country in front of it,-- how the prussians lie, first division of them, from gross-sedlitz to zehist, under the king; then second division from zehist to cotta, and onward by "the rothschenke" (red-house tavern), by markersbach, and sparsely as far as hellendorf on the prag highway; in brief, where all the divisions of them lie, and under whom; and where the prussians, watching elbe itself, have batteries and posts on the north side of it: all this is marked on the map;--to satisfy ingenuous curiosity, should it make tour in those parts. to which add only these straggles of note, as farther elucidative:-- "the saxons, between elbe and their lines, possess about thirty square miles of country. from pirna or sonnenstein to konigstein, as the crow flies, may be five miles east to west; but by langen-hennersdorf, and the elbow there, it will be ten: at konigstein, moreover, elbe makes an abrupt turn northward for a couple of miles, instead of westward as heretofore, turning abruptly westward again after that: so that the saxon 'camp' or occupancy here, is an irregular trapezium, with pirna and konigstein for vertices, and with area estimable as above,--ploughable, a fair portion of it, and not without corn of its own. so that the 'two weeks' provision' spun themselves out (short allowance aiding) to two months, before actual famine came. ... "the high-road from the lausitz parts crosses elbe at pirna; falls into the dresden-prag high-road there; and from pirna towards toplitz, for the first few miles, this latter runs through the prussian posts; but we may guess it is not much travelled at present. north of elbe, too, the prussians have batteries on the fit points; detachments of due force, from gross-sedlitz bridge-of-pontoons all round to schandau, or beyond; could fire upon the konigstein, across the river: they have plugged up the saxon position everywhere. they have a battery especially, and strong post, to cannonade the bridge at pirna, should the saxons think of trying there. it is now the one saxon or even half-saxon bridge; sonnenstein and pirna command the saxon end of it, a strong battery the prussian end: a bridge lying mainly idle, like the general highway to toplitz at this time. beyond the konigstein, again, at a place called wendisch-fahre (wends'-ferry), the prussians have, by means of boats swinging wide at anchor on the swift current, what is called a flying-bridge, with which the north side can communicate with the south. they have a post at nieder-raden (ober raden, railway station in our time, is on the south side): nether raden is an interesting little hamlet, mostly invisible to mankind (built in the throat of the stone chasms there), from which you begin mounting to the bastei far aloft. a raden to be noted, by the tourist and us." little, or even nothing, of fighting there is: why should there be? the military operations are a dead-lock, and require no word. thirty thousand, half of the prussian force, lie, vigilant as lynxes, blockading here; other half, , , under marshal keith, have marched forward to aussig, to nollendorf on the bohemian frontier, to clear the ways, and look into any austrian motion thereabouts,--with whom, with some pandour detachment of whom, duke ferdinand, leading the vanguard, has had a little brush among the hills; smiting them home again, in his usual creditable way (september th); and taking camp at peterswalde, he and others of the force, that night. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ iv. ; anonymous of hamburg, i. .] it is with this keith army, with this if with any, that adventures are to be looked for at present. polish majesty's head-quarters are at struppen, well in the centre of the saxon lines; "goes always to the konigstein to sleep." polish majesty's own table is, by friedrich's permission for that special object, supplied ad libitum: but the common men were at once put on short allowance, which grows always the shorter. polish majesty corresponds with friedrich, as we saw; and above all, sends burning messages to austria, to france, to every european court, charged with mere shrieks: "help me; a robber has me!" in which sense, excellencies of all kinds, especially one lord stormont, the english excellency, daily running out from dresden to gross-sedlitz, are passionately industrious with friedrich; who is eager enough to comply, were there any safe means possible. but there are none. unfortunately, too, it appears the austrians are astir; feldmarschall browne actually furbishing himself at prag yonder with an eye hitherward, and extraordinary haste and spirit shown: which obliges friedrich to rise in his demands; ovine obstinacy, on the other side, naturally increasing from the same cause. "polish majesty, we say, has liberty to bring in proviant for self and suite, rigorously for no mortal more; and he lives well, in the culinary sense,--surely for most part 'in his dressing-gown,' too, poor loose collapsed soul! bruhl and he have plenty of formal business: but their one real business is that of crying, by estafettes and every conceivable method, to austria, 'get us out of this!' to which austria has answered, 'yes; only patience, and be steady!'--friedrich's head-quarters are at sedlitz; and the negotiating and responding which he has, transcends imagination. his first hope was, polish majesty might be persuaded to join with him;--on the back of that, certainty, gradually coming, that polish majesty never would; and that the austrians would endeavor a rescue, were they once ready. starvation, or the austrians, which will be first here? is the question; and friedrich studies to think it will be the former. at all events, having settled on the starvation method, and seen that all his posts are right, we perceive he does not stick close by sedlitz; but runs now hither now thither; is at torgau, where an important establishment, kind of new government for saxony, on the finance side, is organizing itself. what his work with ambassadors was, and how delicate the handling needed, think!"--here is another clipping:-- ... "polish majesty passes the day at struppen, amid many vain noises of soldiering, of diplomatizing; the night always at konigstein, and finally both day and night,--quite luxuriously accommodated, bruhl and he, to the very end of this affair. towards struppen [this is weeks farther on, but we give it here],--comte de broglio [old broglio's elder son, younger is in the military line], who is ambassador to his saxon-polish majesty, sets out from dresden for an interview with said majesty. at the prussian lines, he is informed, 'yes, you can go; but, without our king's order, you cannot return.' 'what? the most christian majesty's ambassador, and treated in this way? i will go to where the polish king is, and i will return to my own king, so often as i find business: stop me at your peril!' and threatened and argued, and made a deal of blusterous noise;--far too much, thinks valori; think the prussian officers, who are sorry, but inflexible. margraf karl, commandant of the place, in absence of king friedrich (who is gone lately, on a business we shall hear of), earnestly dissuaded excellency broglio; but it was to no purpose. next day broglio appeared in his state-carriage, formally demanding entrance, free thoroughfare: 'do you dare refuse me?' 'yes,' answered margraf karl; 'we do and must.' indignant broglio reappeared, next day, on foot; lieutenant-general prince friedrich eugen of wurtemberg the chief man in charge: 'do you dare?' 'indubitably, yes;'--and broglio still pushing on incredulous, eugen actually raised his arm,--elbow and fore-arm across the breast of most christian majesty's ambassador,--who recoiled, to dresden, in mere whirlwinds of fire; and made the most of it [unwisely, thinks valori] in writing to court. [valori, ii. , , ("wednesday, th october," the day of it, seemingly); ib. i. , &c.] court, in high dudgeon, commanded valori to quit berlin without taking leave. valori, in his private capacity, wrote an adieu; [friedrich's kind letter in answer to it, " d november, ," in valori, i. .] and in his public, as the fact stood, that he was gone without adieu." and the dauphiness, daughter of those injured polish majesties, fell on her knees (pompadour permitting and encouraging) at the feet of most christian majesty; on her knees, all in passion of tears; craved help and protection to her loved old mother, in the name of nature and of all kings: could any king resist? and his pompadour was busy: "think of that noble empress, who calls me cousin and dear princess; think of that insolent prussian robber: ah, your majesty:"-and king louis, though not a hating man, did privately dislike friedrich; and evil speeches of friedrich's had been reported to him. and, in short, the upshot was: king louis, bound only to , for help of austria, determined to send, and did send, above , across the rhine, next year, for that object; as will be seen. and all frenchmen--all except belleisle, who is old--are charmed with these new energetic measures, and beautiful new austrian connections. certain it is, the austrians are coming, her imperial majesty bent with all her might on relief of those saxon martyrs; which indeed is relief of herself, as she well perceives: "courage, my friends; endure yet a little!" messengers smuggle themselves through the mountain paths, and go and return, though with difficulty. since september th, the correspondence with polish majesty has ceased: no persuading of the polish majesty. winterfeld went twice to him; conferred at large, bruhl forbidden to be there, on the actual stringencies and urgencies of fact between the two countries; but it was with no result at all. polish majesty has not the least intention that saxony shall be even a highway for friedrich, if at any time polish majesty can hinder it: "neutrality," therefore, will not do for friedrich; he demands alliance, practical partnership; and to that his polish majesty is completely abhorrent. diplomatizing may cease; nothing but wrestle of fight will settle this matter. friedrich, able to get nothing from the sovereign of saxony, is reduced to grasp saxony itself: and we can observe him doing it; always the closer, always the more carefully, as the complicacy deepens, and the obstinacy becomes more dangerous and provoking. what alternative is there? on first entering saxony, friedrich had made no secret that he was not a mere bird of passage there. at torgau, there was at once a "field-commissariat" established, with prussian officials of eminence to administer, the military chest to be deposited there, and torgau to be put in a state of defence. torgau, our saxon metropolis of war-finance, is becoming more and more the metropolis of saxon finance in general. saxon officials were liable, from the first, to be suspended, on friedrich's order. saxon finance-officials, of all kinds, were from the first instructed, that till farther notice there must be no disbursements without king friedrich's sanction. and, in fact, king friedrich fully intends that saxony is to help him all it can; and that it either will or else shall, in this dire pressure of perplexity, which is due in such a degree to the conduct of the saxon government for twelve years past. would saxony go with him in any form of consent, how much more convenient to friedrich! but saxony will not; polish majesty, not himself suffering hunger, is obstinate as the decrees of fate (or as sheep, when too much put upon), regardless of considerations;--and, in fine, here is browne actually afoot; coming to relieve polish majesty!--the austrians had uncommonly bestirred themselves:-- the activity, the zeal of all ranks, ever since this expedition into saxony, and clutching of saxony by the throat, contemporary witnesses declare to have been extraordinary. "horses for piccolomini's cavalry,--they had scarcely got their horses, not to speak of training them, not to speak of cannon and the heavier requisites, when schwerin began marching out of glatz on piccolomini. as to the cannon for browne and him, draught-cattle seem absolutely unprocurable. whereupon maria theresa flings open her own imperial studs: 'there, yoke these to our cannon; let them go their swiftest;'--which awoke such an enthusiasm, that noblemen and peasants crowded forward with their coach-horses and their cart-horses, to relay browne, all through bohemia, at different stages; and the cannon and equipments move to their places at the gallop, in a manner," [archenholtz, i. .]--and even browne, at the base of the metal mountains, has got most of his equipments. and is astir towards pirna (army of , , rumor says), for relief of the saxon martyrs. friedrich's complexities are getting day by day more stringent. from the middle of september, marshal keith, as was observed, with half of the prussians, duke ferdinand of brunswick under him, has been on the bohemian slope of the metal mountains; securing the roads, towns and passes thereabouts, and looking out for the advance of marshal browne from the interior parts. town of aussig, and the river-road (castle of tetschen, on its high rock known to tourists, which always needs to be taken on such occasions), these keith has secured. lies encamped from peterswalde to aussig, the middle or main strength of him being in the hamlet of johnsdorf (discoverable, if readers like): there lies keith, fifteen miles in length; like a strap, or bar, thrown across the back of that metal-mountain range,--or part of its back; for the range is very broad, and there is much inequality, and many troughs, big and little, partial and general, in the crossing of it. a tract which my readers and i have crossed before now, by the "pascopol" or post-road and otherwise; and shall often have to cross! browne, vigorously astir in the interior (cannon and equipments coming by relays at such a pace), is daily advancing, with his best speed: in the last days of september, browne is encamped at budin; may cross the eger river any day, and will then be within two marches of keith. his intentions towards pirna country are fixed and sure; but the plan or route he will take is unknown to everybody, and indeed to browne himself, till he see near at hand and consider. browne's problem, he himself knows, is abundantly abstruse,--bordering on the impossible; but he will try his best. to get within reach of the saxons is almost impossible to browne, even were there no keith there. as good as impossible altogether, by any line of march, while keith is afoot in those parts. by aussig, down the river, straight for the interior of their camp, it is flatly impossible: by the south or southeast corner of their camp (gottleube way), or by the northeast (by schandau way, right bank of elbe), it is virtually so,--at least without beating keith. could one beat keith indeed;--but that will not be easy! and that, unluckily, is the preliminary to everything. "by the hellendorf-hennersdorf side, in the wastes where gottleube brook gathers itself, browne might have a chance. there, on that southeast corner of their camp, were he once there to attack the prussians from without, while the saxons burst up from within,--there," thinks a good judge, "is much the favorablest place. but unless browne's army had wings, how is it ever to get there? across those metal-mountain ranges, barred by keith:--by aussig, with the rocks overhanging elbe river and him, he cannot go in any case. were there no keith, indeed (but there always is, standing ready on the spring), one might hold to leftward, and by stolen marches, swift, far round about--! "by schandau region, north side of the elbe, is browne's easiest, and indeed one feasible, point of approach,--no prussians at present between him and that; the road open, though a far circuit northward for browne,--were he to cross the elbe in leitmeritz circle, and march with velocity? that too will be difficult,--nearly impossible in sight of keith. and were that even done, the egress for the saxons, by schandau side, is through strait mountain gorges, intricate steep passes, crossings of the elbe: what force of saxons or of austrians will drive the prussians from their redoubts and batteries there?" [_oeuvres de frederic,_ iv. , , .] browne's problem is none of the feasiblest: but his orders are strict, "relieve the saxons, at all risks." and browne, one of the ablest soldiers living ("your imperial majesty's best general," said the dying khevenhuller long since), will do his utmost upon it. friedrich does not think the enterprise very dangerous,--beating of keith the indispensable preliminary to it; but will naturally himself go and look into it. tuesday, september th, friedrich quits pirna country by the prag highway; making due inspection of his posts as he goes along; and, the outmost of these once past, drives rapidly up the mountains; gets, with small escort, through peterswalde on to johnsdorf that night. does not think this keith position good; breaks up this "camp of johnsdorf" bodily next morning; and marches down the mountains, direct towards browne; who, we hear, is about crossing the eger (his pontoons now come at last), and will himself be on the advance. from turmitz, a poor mountain hamlet in the hollow of the hills, which is head-quarters that night, the march proceeds again; friedrich with the vanguard; army, i think, on various country-roads, on both hands; till all get upon the great road again,--prag-toplitz-dresden post-road; which is called, specially in this part of it, and loosely in whole, "the pascopol," and leads down direct to budin and browne. "a 'pascopol' famed in military annals," says our tourist. "it is a road with many windings, many precipitous sweeps of up and down; road precipitous in structure;--offers views to the lover of wild nature: huge lonesome hills scattered in the distance; waste expanses nearer hand, and futile attempts at moorish agriculture; but little else that is comfortable. in times of peace, you will meet, at long intervals, some post-vehicle struggling forward under melancholy circumstances; some cart, or dilapidated mongrel between cart and basket, with a lean ox harnessed to it, and scarecrow driver, laden with pit-coal,--which you wish safe home, and that the scarecrow were getting warmed by it. but in war-time the steep road is livelier; the common invasion road between saxony and bohemia; whole armies sweeping over it, and their thousand-fold wagons and noises making clangor enough. ... one of those hollows, on the pascopol, is joachimsthal, with its old silver mines; yielding coins which were in request with traders, the silver being fine. 'let my ducat be a joachimsthal one, then!' the old trader would say: 'a joachimsthal-er;' or, for brevity, a 'thal-er;' whence thaler, and at last dollar (almighty and otherwise),--now going round the world! [busching, _erdbeschreibung,_v. .] pascopol finishes in welmina township. from the last hamlet in welmina, at the neck of the last hill, step downward one mile, holding rather to the left, you will come on the innocent village of lobositz, its poor corn-mills and huckster-shops all peaceably unknown as yet, which is soon to become very famous." the country-roads where friedrich's army is on march, i should think, are mostly on the mounting hand. for here, from turmitz, is a trough again; though the last considerable one; and on the crest of that, we shall look down upon the bohemian plains and the grand basin of the elbe,--through various scrubby villages which are not nameworthy; through one called kletschen, which for a certain reason is. crossing the shoulder of kletschenberg (hill of this kletschen), which abuts upon the pascopol,--yonder in bright sunshine is your beautiful expansive basin of the elbe, and the green bohemian plains, revealed for a moment. friedrich snatches his glass, not with picturesque object: "see, yonder is feldmarschall browne, then! in camp yonder, down by lobositz, not ten miles from us,--[it is most true; browne marched this morning, long before the sun; crossed eger, and pitched camp at noon]--good!" thinks friedrich. and pushes down into the pascopol, into the hollows and minor troughs, which hide browne henceforth, till we are quite near. quite near, through welmina and a certain final gap of the hills, friedrich with the vanguard does emerge, "an hour before sunset;" overhanging browne; not above a mile from the camp of browne. a very large camp, that of browne's, flanked to right by the elbe; goes from sulowitz, through lobositz, to welhoten close on elbe;--and has properties extremely well worth studying just now! "friedrich" the books say, "bivouacs by a fire of sticks," short way down on the southern slope of the hill; and till sunset and after, has eye-glass, brain, and faculties and activities sufficiently occupied for the rest of the night;--his divisions gradually taking post behind him, under arms; "not till midnight, the very rearmost of them." ["tuesday, th september, left the camp at sedlitz, with battalions squadrons, to johnsdorf: th, to turmitz,--browne is to pass the eger tomorrow. from the tops of the pascopol ( th), see an austrian camp in the plain of lobositz. vanguard bivouacs in the 'neck' of the two hills or a little beyond." prussian account of campaign (in _gesammelte nachrichten_, i. - , - ); anonymous of hamburg; &c. &c.] chapter vi.--battle of lobositz. welmina,--or reschni-aujest, last pertinent of welmina (but we will take friedrich's name for it), offers to the scrutinizing eye nothing, in our day, but some bewildered memory of "alte fritz" clinging obstinately even to the peasant mind thereabouts. a sleepy littery place; some biggish haggard untrimmed trees, some broken-backed sleepy-looking thatched houses, not in contact, and each as far as might be with its back turned on the other, and cloaked in its own litter and privacy. probably no human creature will be visible, as you pass through. much straw lying about, chiefly where the few gaunt trees look down on it (cattle glad of any shelter): in fact, it is mainly an extinct tumult of straw; nothing alive, as you pass, but a few poor oxen languidly sauntering up and down, finding much to trample, little to eat. the czech populations (were it not for that "question of the nationalities") are not very beautiful! close south of this poor hamlet is a big hill, conspicuous with three peaks; quite at the other base of which, a good way down, lies lobositz, the main village in those parts; a place now of assiduous corn-mill and fruit trade; and one of the stations on the dresden-prag railway. this hill is what lloyd calls the lobosch; [major-general lloyd, _history of the late war in germany, _ - ( vols. to, london, ), i. - .] twin to which, only flatter, is lloyd's "homolka hill" (hill of radostitz in more modern plans and books). conspicuous heights, and important to us here,--though i did not find the peasants much know them under those names. by the southern shoulder of this lobosch hill runs the road from welmina to lobositz, with branches towards many other villages. to your right or southern hand, short way southward, rises the other hill, which lloyd calls homolka hill; the gap or interval between homolka and lobosch, perhaps a furlong in extent, is essentially the pass through those uplands. this pass, friedrich, at the first moment, made sure of; filling the same with battalions, there to bivouac. he likewise promptly laid hold of the two hills, high lobosch to his left, and lower homolka to right; which precautionary measure it is reckoned a fault in browne to have neglected, that night; fault for which he smarted on the morrow. from this upland pass, or neck between the two mountains, friedrich's battalions would have had a fine view, had the morning shone for them: lobositz, leitmeritz, melnick; a great fertile valley, or expanse of fruitful country, many miles in breadth and length; elbe, like a silver stripe, winding grandly through the finest of all his countries, before ducking himself into the rock-tumults of that pirna district. the mountain gorges of prag and moldau river, south of melnick, lie hidden under the horizon, or visible only as peaks, thirty miles and more to southeastward; a bright country intervening, sprinkled with steepled towns. to northwestward, far away, are the lausitz mountains, ranked in loose order, but massive, making a kind of range: and as outposts to them in their scattered state, hills of good height and aspect are scattered all about, and break the uniformity of the plain. nowhere in north germany could the prussian battalions have a finer view,--if the morning were fine, and if views were their object. the morning, first in october, was not fine; and it was far other than scenery that the prussian battalions had in hand!--friday, st october, , day should have broken: but where is day? at seven in the morning (and on till eleven), thick mist lay over the plain; thin fog to the very hill-tops; so that you cannot see a hundred yards ahead. lobositz is visible only as through a crape; farther on, nothing but gray sea; under which, what the austrians are doing, or whether there are any austrians, who can say? leftward on the lobosch-hill side, as we reconnoitre, some pandours are noticeable, nestled in the vineyards there:--that sunward side of the lobosch is all vineyards, belonging to the different lobositzers: scrubby vineyards, all in a brown plucked state at this season. vineyards parted by low stone walls, say three or four feet high (parted by hurdles, or by tiny trenches, in our day, and the stone walls mere stone facings): there are the pandours crouched, and give fire in a kneeling posture when you approach. lower down, near lobositz itself, flickerings as of horse squadrons, probably hussar parties, twinkle dubious in the wavering mist. problem wrapt in mist; nothing to be seen; and all depends on judging it with accuracy! seven by the clock: deploy, at any rate; let us cover our post; and be in readiness for events. friedrich's vanguard of itself nearly fills that neck, or space between the lobosch and homolka hills. he spreads his infantry and "hundred field-pieces," in part, rightwards along the homolka hill; but chiefly leftwards along the lobosch, where their nearest duty is to drive off those pandours. always as a new battalion, pushing farther leftward, comes upon its ground, the pandours give fire on it;--and it on the pandours; till the left wing is complete, and all the lobosch is, in this manner, a crackling of pandour musketry, and anti-musketry. right wing, steady to its guns on the homolka, has as yet nothing to do. those wings of infantry are two lines deep; the cavalry, in three lines, is between them in the centre; no room for cavalry elsewhere, except on the outskirts some fringing of light horse, to be ready for emergencies. the pandour firing, except for the noise of it, does not amount to much; they can take no aim, says lloyd, crouching behind their stone fences; and the prussian battalions, steadily pushing downwards, trample out their sputtering, and clear the lobosch of them to a safe distance. but the ground is intricate, so wrapt in mist for the present. that crackling lasts for hours; decisive of nothing; and the mist also, and one's anxious guessings and scrutinizings, lasts in a wavering fitful manner. once, for some time, in the wavering of the mist, there was seen, down in the plain opposite our centre, a body of cavalry. horse for certain: say ten squadrons of them, or , horse; continually manoeuvring, changing shape; now in more ranks, now in fewer; sometimes "checkerwise," formed like a draught-board; shooting out wings: they career about, one sees not whither, or vanish again into the mist behind. "browne's rear-guard this, that we are come upon," thinks friedrich; "these squatted pandours, backed by horse, must be his rear-guard, that are amusing us: browne and the army are off; crossing the elbe, hastening towards the schandau, the pirna quarter, while we stand bickering and idly sputtering here!"--weary of such idle business, friedrich orders forward twenty of his squadrons from the centre station: "charge me those austrian horse, and let us finish this." the twenty squadrons, preceded by a pair of field-pieces, move down hill; storm in upon the austrian party, storm it furiously into the mist; are furiously chasing it,--when unexpected cannon-batteries, destructive case-shot, awaken on their left flank (batteries from lobositz, one may guess); and force them to draw back. to draw back, with some loss; and rank again, in an indignantly blown condition, at the foot of their hill. indignant; after brief breathing, they try it once more. "don't try it!" friedrich had sent out to tell them: for the mist was clearing; and friedrich, on the higher ground, saw new important phenomena: but it was too late. for the twenty squadrons are again dashing forward; sweeping down whatever is before them: in spite of cannon-volleys, they plunge deeper and deeper into the mist; come upon "a ditch twelve feet broad" (big swampy drain, such as are still found there, grass-green in summer-time); clear said ditch; forward still deeper into the mist: and after three hundred yards, come upon a second far worse "ditch;" plainly impassable this one,--"ditch" they call it, though it is in fact a vile sedgy brook, oozing along there (the morell bach, considerable brook, lazily wandering towards lobositz, where it disembogues in rather swifter fashion);--and are saluted with cannon, from the farther side; and see serried ranks under the gauze of mist: browne's army, in fact! the twenty squadrons have to recoil out of shot-range, the faster, the better; with a loss of a good many men, in those two charges. friedrich orders them up hill again; much regretful of this second charge, which he wished to hinder; and posts them to rearward,--where they stand silent, the unconscious stoic-philosophers in buff, and have little farther service through the rest of the day. it is now o'clock; the mist all clearing off; and friedrich, before that second charge, had a growing view of the plain and its condition. beyond question, there is browne; not in retreat, by any means; but in full array; numerous, and his position very strong. ranked, unattackable mostly, behind that oozy brook, or bach of morell; which has only two narrow bridges, cannon plenty on both: one bridge from the south parts to sulowitz (our road to sulowitz and it would be by radostitz and the homolka); and then one other bridge, connecting sulowitz with lobositz,--which latter is browne's own bridge, uniting right wing and left of browne, so to speak; and is still more unattackable, in the circumstances. what will friedrich decide on attempting? that oozy morell brook issues on browne's side of lobositz, cutting browne in two; but is otherwise all in browne's favor. browne extends through lobositz; and beyond it, curves up to welhoten on the river-brink; at lobositz are visible considerable redoubts, cannon-batteries and much regular infantry. browne will be difficult to force yonder, in the lobositz part; but yonder alone can he be tried. he is pushing up more infantry that way; conscious probably of that fact,--and that the lobosch hill is not his, but another's. what would not browne now give for the lobosch hill! yesternight he might have had it gratis, in a manner; and indeed did try slightly, with his pandour people (durst not at greater expense),--who have now ceased sputtering, and cower extinct in the lower vineyards there. browne, at any rate, is rapidly strengthening his right wing, which has hold of lobositz; pushing forward in that quarter,--where the brook withal is of firmer bottom and more wadable. thither too is friedrich bent. so that lobositz is now the key of the battle; there will the tug of war now be. friedrich's cavalry is gone all to rearward. his right wing holds the homolka hill,--that too would now be valuable to browne; and cannot be had gratis, as yesternight! friedrich's left wing is on the lobosch; pandours pretty well extinct before it, but now from welhoten quarter new regulars coming on thither,--as if browne would still take the lobosch? which would be victory to him; but is not now possible to browne. nor will long seem so;--friedrich having other work in view for him;--meaning now to take lobositz, instead of losing the lobosch to him! friedrich pushes out his left wing still farther leftward, leftward and downward withal, to clear those vineyard-fences completely of their occupants, pandour or regular, old or new. this is done; the vineyard-fences swept;--and the sweepings driven, in a more and more stormy fashion, towards welhoten and lobositz; the lobosch falling quite desperate for browne. henceforth friedrich directs all his industry to taking lobositz; browne, to the defending of it, which he does with great vigor and fire; his batteries, redoubts, doing their uttermost, and his battalions rushing on, mass of them after mass, at quick march, obstinate, fierce to a degree, in the height of temper; and showing such fight as we never had of them before. friedrich's left wing and browne's right now have it to decide between them;--any attempt browne makes with his left through sulowitz (as he once did, and once only) is instantly repressed by cannon from the homolka hill. and the rest of the battle, or rather the battle itself,--for all hitherto has been pickeering and groping in the mist,--may be made conceivable in few words. friedrich orders the second line of his left wing to march up and join with the first; right wing, shoving its two lines into one, is now to cover the lobosch as well. left wing, in condensed condition, shall fall down on lobositz, and do its best. they are now clear of the vineyard-works; the ground is leveller, though still sloping,--a three furlongs from the village, and somewhat towards the elbe, when browne's battalions first came extensively to close grips; fierce enough (as was said); the toughest wrestle yet had with those austrians,--coming on with steady fury, under such force of cannon; with iron ramrods too, and improved ways, like our own. but nothing could avail them; the counter-fury being so great. they had to go at the welhoten part, and even to run,--plunging into elbe, a good few of them, and drowning there, in the vain hope to swim. "never have my troops," says friedrich, "done such miracles of valor, cavalry as well as infantry, since i had the honor to command them. by this dead-lift achievement (tour de force) i have seen what they can do." [letter to schwerin, "lobositz, d august, " (retzow, i. ); relation de la campagne, , that is, prussian account (in _gesammelte nachrichten), _i. . lloyd, ut supra, i. - (who has solid information at first hand, having been an actor in these wars. a man of great natural sagacity and insight; decidedly luminous and original, though of somewhat crabbed temper now and then; a man well worth hearing on this and on whatever else he handles). tempelhof, geschichte des siebenjahrigen krieges (which is at first a mere translation of lloyd, nothing new in it but certain notes and criticisms on lloyd; when lloyd ends, tempelhof, prussian major and professor, a learned, intelligent, but diffuse man, of far inferior talent to lloyd, continues and completes on his own footing: six very thin tos, berlin, ), i. (battle, with footnotes), and ib. (criticism of lloyd). prussian and austrian accounts in _helden-geschichte, _iii. et seq. many narratives in feldzuge, and the beylage to seyfarth; &c. &c.] in fine, after some three hours more of desperate tugging and struggling, cannon on both sides going at a great rate, and infinite musketry ("ninety cartridges a man on our prussian side, and ammunition falling done"), not without bayonet-pushings, and smitings with the butt of your musket, the austrians are driven into lobositz; are furiously pushed there, and, in spite of new battalions coming to the rescue, are fairly pushed through. these village-streets are too narrow for new battalions from browne; "much of the village should have been burnt beforehand," say cool judges. and now, sure enough, it does get burnt; lobositz is now all on fire, by prussian industry. so that the austrians have to quit it instantly; and rush off in great disorder; key of the battle, or battle itself, quite lost to them. the prussian infantry, led by the duke of brunswick-bevern ("governor of stettin," one of the duke-ferdinand cousinry, frugal and valiant), gave the highest satisfaction; seldom was such firing, such furious pushing; they had spent ninety cartridges a man; were at last quite out of cartridges; so that bevern had to say, "strike in with bayonets, meine kinder; butt-ends, or what we have; heran!" our grenadiers were mainly they that burnt lobositz. "how salutary now would it have been," says epimetheus lloyd, "had browne had a small battery on the other side of the elbe;" whereby he might have taken them in flank, and shorn them into the wind! epimetheus marks this battery on his plan; and is wise behindhand, at a cheap rate. browne's right wing, and probably his army with it, would have gone much to perdition, now that lobositz was become prussian,--had not browne, in the nick of the moment, made a masterly movement: pushed forward his centre and left wing, numerous battalions still fresh, to interpose between the chasing prussians and those fugitives. the prussians, infantry only, cannot chase on such terms; the prussian cavalry, we know, is far rearward on the high ground. browne retires a mile or two,--southward, budin-ward,--not chased; and there halts, and rearranges himself; thinking what farther he will do. his aim in fighting had only been to defend himself; and in that humble aim he has failed. chase of the prussians over that homolka-lobosch country, with the high grounds rearward and the metal mountains in their hands, he could in no event have attempted. the question now is: will he go back to budin; or will he try farther towards schandau? nature points to the former course, in such circumstances; friedrich, by way of assisting, does a thing much admired by lloyd;--detaches bevern with a strong party southward, out of lobositz, which is now his, to lay hold of tschirskowitz, lying budin-ward, but beyond the budin road. which feat, when browne hears of it, means to him, "going to cut me off from budin, then? from my ammunition-stores, from my very bread-cupboard!" and he marches that same midnight, silently, in good order, back to budin. he is not much ruined; nay the prussian loss is numerically greater: " , killed and wounded, on the prussian side; on the austrian, , , with three cannon taken and two standards." not ruined at all; but foiled, frustrated; and has to devise earnestly, "what next?" once rearranged, he may still try. the battle lasted seven hours; the last four of it very hot, till lobositz was won and lost. it was about p.m. when browne fired his retreat-cannon:--cannon happened to be loaded (say the anecdote-books, mythically given now and then); friedrich, wearied enough, had flung himself into his carriage for a moment's rest, or thankful reflection; and of all places, the ball of the retreat-cannon lighted there. between friedrich's feet, as he lay reclining,--say the anecdote-books, whom nobody is bound to believe. on the strength of those two prussian charges, which had retired from case-shot on their flank, and had not wings, for getting over sedge and ooze, austria pretended to claim the victory. "two charges repelled by our gallant horse; lobositz, indeed, was got on fire, and we had nothing for it but to withdraw; but we took a new position, and only left that for want of water;"--with the like excuses. "essentially a clear victory," said the austrians; and sang te-deum about it;--but profited nothing by that piece of melody. the fact, considerable or not, was, from the first, too undeniable: browne beaten from the field. and beaten from his attempt too (the saxons not relievable by this method); and lies quiet in budin again,--with his water sure to him; but what other advantages gained? here are two letters, brief both, which we may as well read:-- . friedrich to wilhelmina (at baireuth). "lobositz, th october, . "my dear sister,--your will is accomplished. tired out by these saxon delays, i put myself at the head of my army of bohemia [keith's hitherto]; and marched from aussig to--a name which seemed to me of good augury, being yours,--to the village of welmina [battle was called of welmina, by the prussians at first]. i found the austrians here, near lobositz; and, after a fight of seven hours, forced them to run. nobody of your acquaintance is killed, except generals luderitz and oerzen [who are not of ours]. "i return you a thousand thanks for the tender part you take in my lot. would to heaven the valor of my army might procure us a stable peace! that ought to be the aim of war. adieu, my dear sister; i embrace you tenderly, assuring you of the lively affection with which i am--f." [_oeuvres,_ xxvii. i. .] . prince of prussia to valori (who is still at berlin, but soon going as it proves,--broglio's explosion at the lines of gross-sedlitz being on hand, during the king's absence, in these very hours) [" th- th october" (valori, ii. ).] "camp of lobositz, th october, . "you will know the news of the day; and i am persuaded you take part in it. all you say to me betokens the conspiracy there is for the destruction of our country. if that is determined in the book of fate, we cannot escape it. "had my advice been asked, a year ago, i should have voted to preserve the alliance [with you] which we had been used to for sixteen years [strictly for twelve, though in substance ever since ], and which was by nature advantageous to us. but if my advice were asked just now, i should answer, that the said method being now impossible, we are in the case of a ship's captain who defends himself the best he can, and when all resources are exhausted, has, rather than surrender on shameful conditions, to fire the powder-magazine, and blow up his ship. you remember that of your francois i."--fors l'honneur; ah yes, very well!--"perhaps it will be my poor children who will be the victims of these past errors,"--for such i still think them, i for my part. "the gazettes enumerate the french troops that are to besiege wesel, geldern [wesel they will get gratis, poor geldern will almost break their heart first], and take possession of ost-friesland; the russian declaration [manifesto not worth reading] tells us russia's intentions for the next year [most truculent intentions]: we will defend ourselves to the last drop of our blood, and perish with honor. if you have any counsel farther, i pray you give it me. map goes here--between p. and chap vii book "remain always my friend; and believe that in all situations i will remain yours; and trying to do what my duty is, will not forfeit the sentiments on your part which have been so precious to me. your servant, guillaume." [valori, ii. - .] "pity this good prince contemplating the downfall of his house," suggests valori: "he deserved a better fate! he would be in despair to think i had sent this letter to your excellency; but i thought perhaps you would show it to the king,"--and that it might do good one day. [valori (to the french minister, " th october, "), ii. .] the prussians lay in their "camp of lobositz," posted up and down in that neighborhood, for a couple of weeks more; waiting whether browne would attempt anything farther in the fighting way; and, in fine, whether the solution of the crisis would fall out hereabouts, or on the other side of the hills. chapter vii.--the saxons get out of pirna on dismal terms. the disaster of october st--for which they were trying to sing te-deums at vienna--fell heavier on the poor saxons, in their cage at pirna: "alas, where is our deliverance now?" friedrich's people, in their lines here, gave them such a "joy-firing" for lobositz as retzow has seldom heard; huge volleyings, salvoings, running-fires, starting out, artistically timed and stationed, thunderous, high; and borne by the echoes, gloomily reverberative, into every dell and labyrinth of the pirna country;--intended to strike a deeper damp into them, thinks he. [retzow, i. .] but imperial majesty was mindful, too; and straightway sent browne positive order, "deliver me these poor saxons at any price!" and in the course of not quite a week from lobositz, there arrives a confidential messenger from browne: "courage still, ye caged saxons; i will try it another way! only you must hold out till the th; on the th stand to your tools, and it shall be done." browne is to take a succinct detachment, , picked men, horse and foot; to make a wider sweep with these, well eastward by the foot of lausitz hills, and far enough from all prussian parties and scouts; to march, with all speed and silence, "through bohm-leipa, kamnitz, rumburg, schluckenau; and come in upon the schandau region, quite from the northeast side; say, at lichtenhayn; an eligible village, which is but seven miles or so from the konigstein, with the chasmy country and the river intervening. monday, october th, browne will arrive at lichtenhayn (sixty miles of circling march from budin); privately post himself near lichtenhayn; prussian posts, of no great strength, lying ahead of him there. you, indignant extenuated saxons, are to get yourselves across,--near the konigstein it will have to be, under cover of the konigstein's cannon,--on the front or riverward side of those same prussian posts: crossing-place (browne's messenger settles) can be thurmsdorf hamlet, opposite the lilienstein, opposite the hamlets of ebenheit and halbstadt there. konigstein fire will cover your bridge and your building of it. "monday night next, i say, post yourselves there, with hearts resolute, with powder dry; there, about the eastern roots of the lilienstein [beautiful show mountain, with stair-steps cut on it for tourist people, by august the strong], and avoid the prussian battery and abatis which is on it just now! you at ebenheit, i at lichtenhayn, trimmed and braced for action, through that monday night. tuesday morning, the konigstein, at your beckoning, shall fire two cannon-shots; which shall mean, 'all ready here!' then forward, you, on those prussian posts by the front; i will attack them by the rear. with right fury, both of us! i am told, they are but weak in those posts; surely, by double impetus, and dead-lift effort from us both, they can be forced? only force them,--you are in the open field again; and you march away with me, colors flying; your hunger-cage and all your tribulations left behind you!"-- this is browne's plan. the poor saxons accept,--what choice have they?--though the question of crossing and bridge-building has its intricacies; and that inevitable item of "postponement till the th" is a sore clause to them; for not only are there short and ever shorter rations, but grim famine itself is advancing with large strides. the "daily twenty ounces of meal" has sunk to half that quantity; the "ounce or so of butcher's-meat once a week" has vanished, or become horse of extreme leanness. the cavalry horses have not tasted oats, nothing but hay or straw (not even water always); the artillery horses had to live by grazing, brown leaves their main diet latterly. not horses any longer; but walking trestles, poor animals! and the men,--well, they are fallen pale; but they are resolute as ever. the nine corn-mills, which they have in this circuit of theirs, grind now night and day; and all the cavalry are set to thresh whatever grain can be found about; no hind or husbandman shall retain one sheaf: in this way, they hope, utter hunger may be staved off, and the great attempt made. [precis de la retraite de l'armee saxonne de son camp de pirna (in _gesammelte nachrichten, _i. - ).] browne skilfully and perfectly did his part of the adventure. browne arrives punctually at lichtenhayn, evening of the th; bivouacs, hidden in the woods thereabouts, in cold damp weather; stealthily reconnoitres the prussian villages ahead, and trims himself for assault, at sound of the two cannons to-morrow. but there came no cannon-signal on the morrow; far other signallings and messagings to-morrow, and next day, and next, from the konigstein and neighborhood! "wait, excellency feldmarschall [writes bruhl to him, note after note, instead of signalling from the konigstein]: do wait a very little! you run no risk in waiting; we, even if we must yield, will make that our first stipulation!" "you will?" grumbles browne; and waits, naturally, with extreme impatience. but the truth is, the adventure, on the saxon side of it, has already altogether misgone; and becomes, from this point onwards, a mere series of failures, futilities and disastrous miseries, tragical to think of. worth some record here, since there are documents abundant;--especially as feldmarschall rutowski (who is general-in-chief, an old, not esteemed, friend of ours) has produced, or caused to be produced, a narrative, which illuminates the business from within as well. [precis, &c. (just cited); compare tagebuch der einschliessung des sachsischen lagers bey pirna ("diary," &c., which is the prussian account: in seyfarth, beylagen), ii. - .] the latter is our main document here:-- i know not how much of the blame was general rutowski's: one could surmise some laxity of effort, and a rather slovenly-survey of facts, in that quarter. the enterprise, from the first, was flatly impossible, say judges; and it is certain, poor rutowski's execution was not first-rate. "how get across the elbe?" rutowski had said to himself, perhaps not quite with the due rigor of candor proportionate to the rigorous fact: "how get across the elbe? we have copper pontoons at pirna; but they will be difficult to cart. or we might have a boat-bridge; boats planked together two and two. at pirna are plenty of boats; and by oar and track-rope, the river itself might be a road for them? boats or pontoons to konigstein, by water or land, they must be got. eight miles of abysmal roads, our horses all extenuated? impossible to cart these pontoons!" said rutowski to himself.--pity he had not tried it. he had a week to do those eight bad miles in; and , lean horses, picking grass or brown leaves, while their riders threshed. "we will drag our pontoons by water, by the elbe tow-path," thought rutowski, "that will be easier;"--and forthwith sets about preparing for it, secretly collecting boats at pirna, steersmen, towing-men, bridge-tackle and what else will be necessary. rutowski made, at least, no delay. browne's messenger, we find, had come to him, "thursday, th:" and on friday night rutowski has a squad of boatmen, steersmen and twoscore of towing peasants ready; and actually gets under way. they are escorted by the due battalions with field-pieces;--who are to fire upon the prussian batteries, and keep up such a blaze of musketry and heavier shot, as will screen the boats in passing. surely a ticklish operation, this;--arguing a sanguine temper in general rutowski! the south bank of the river is ours; but there are various prussian batteries, three of them very strong, along the north bank, which will not fail to pelt us terribly as we pass. no help for it;--we must trust in luck! here is the sequel, with dates adjusted. elbe river, night of october th- th. friday night, accordingly, so soon as darkness (unusually dark this night) has dropt her veil on the business, rutowski sets forth. the prussian battery, or bridge-head (tete-de-pont), at pirna, has not noticed him, so silent was he. but, alas, the other batteries do not fail to notice; to give fire; and, in fact, on being answered, and finding it a serious thing, to burst out into horrible explosion; unanswerable by the saxon field-pieces; and surely perilous to human nature steering and towing those big river-boats. "loyal to our king, and full of pity for him; that are we;"--but towing at a rate, say of two shillings per head! before long, the forty towing peasants fling down their ropes, first one, then more, then all, in spite of efforts, promises, menaces; and vanish among the thickets,--forfeiting the two shillings, on view of imminent death. soldiers take the towing-ropes; try to continue it a little; but now the steersmen also manage to call halt: "we won't! let us out, let us out! we will steer you aground on the prussian shore if you don't!" making night hideous. and the towing enterprise breaks down for that bout; double barges mooring on the saxon shore, i know not precisely at what point, nor is it material. saturday night, october th- th) new boatmen, forty new towmen have been hired at immense increase of wages; say four shillings for the night: but have you much good probability, my general, that even for that high guerdon imminence of death can be made indifferent to towmen? no, you have n't. the matter goes this night precisely as it did last: towmen vanishing in the horrible cannon tumult; steersmen shrieking, "we will ground you on the prussian shore;" very soldiers obliged to give it up; and general rutowski himself obliged to wash his hands of it, as a thing that cannot be done. in fact, a thing which need not have been tried, had rutowski been rigorously candid with himself and his hopes, as the facts now prove to be. "twenty-four hours lost by this bad business" (says he; "thirty-six," as i count, or, to take it rigorously, "forty-eight" even): and now, sunday morning instead of friday, at what, in sad truth, is metaphorically "the eleventh hour," rutowski has to bethink him of his copper pontoons; and make the impossible carting method possible in a day's time, or do worse. sunday, monday, october th- th, by unheard-of exertions, all hands and all spent-horses now at a dead-lift effort night and day, rutowski does get his pontoons carted out of the pirna storehouse; lands them at thurmsdorf,--opposite the lilienstein,--a mile or so short of konigstein, where his bridge shall be. it is now the th, at night. and our pontoons are got to the ground, nothing more. every man of us, at this hour, should have been across, and trimming himself to climb, with bayonet fixed! browne is ready, expecting our signal-shot to storm in on his side. and our bridge is not built, only the pontoons here. "all things went perverse," adds rutowski, for farther comfort: "we [saxon home-army] had with us, except officers, only four pontoniers, or trained bridge-builders; all the rest are at warsaw:" sad thought, but too late to think it! tuesday, till wednesday early ( th- th), bridge, the four pontoniers, with officers and numb soldiers doing their best, is got built;--browne waiting for us, on thorns, all day; prussians extensively beginning to strengthen their posts, about the lilienstein, about lichtenhayn, or where risk is; and in fact pouring across to that northern side, quite aware of rutowski and browne. that same night, th- th, while the bridge was struggling to complete itself,--rain now falling, and tempests broken out,--the saxon army, from pirna down to hennersdorf, had lifted itself from its lines, and got under way towards thurmsdorf, and the crossing-place. dark night, plunging rain; all the elements in uproar. the worst roads in nature; now champed doubly; "such roads as never any army marched on before." most of their cannon are left standing; a few they had tried to yoke, broke down, "and choked up the narrow road altogether; so that the cavalry had to dismount, and lead their horses by side-paths,"--figure what side-paths! distance to thurmsdorf, from any point of the saxon lines, cannot be above six miles: but it takes them all that night and all next day. such a march as might fill the heart with pity. oh, ye rutowskis, bruhls, though never so decorated by twelve tailors, what a sight ye are at the head of men! dark night, wild raging weather, labyrinthic roads worn knee-deep. it is broad daylight, wednesday, th, and only the vanguard is yet got across, trailing a couple of cannons; and splashes about, endeavoring to take rank there, in spite of wet and hunger; rain still pouring, wind very high. nothing of browne comes, this wednesday; but from the opposite gross-sedlitz and gottleube side, the prussians are coming. this morning, at daylight, struck by symptoms, "the prussians mounted our empty redoubts:" they are now in full chase of us, ziethen with hussars as vanguard. a difficult bit of marching, even ziethen and his light people find it; sprawling forward, at their cheeriest, with daylight to help, and in chase, not chased, through such intricacies of rock and mud. ziethen's company did not assist the saxons! they wheel round, show fight, and there is volleying and bickering all day; the saxon march getting ever more perturbed. nearly all the baggage has to be left. ziethen takes into the woods near thurmsdorf; giving fire as the poor wet saxons, now much in a pell-mell condition, pass to their bridge. [prussian account (in _gesammelte nachrichten), _i. .] heavier prussians are striding on to rear; these, from some final hill-top, do at last belch out two cannon-shots: figure the confusion at that bridge, the speed now becoming delirious there! towards evening, rain still violent, the saxons, baggageless, and rushing quite pell-mell the latter part of them, are mostly across, still countable to , or so;--upon which they cut their bridge adrift, and let the river take it. at raden, a few miles lower, the prussians fished it out; rebuilt it more deliberately,--and we shall find it there anon. this day friedrich, hearing what is afoot, has returned in person from the lobositz country; takes struppen as his head-quarter, which was lately the polish majesty's. from browne there has nothing come this wednesday; but to-morrow morning at seven there comes a letter from him, written this night at ten; to the effect:-- "head-quarter, lichtenhayn, wednesday, october th, p.m. "excellenz,--have [omitting the i] waited here at lichtenhayn since tuesday, expecting your signal-cannon; hearing nothing of it, conclude you have by misfortune not been able to get across; and that the enterprise is up. my own position being dangerous [prussians of double my strength intrenched within few miles of me], i turn homewards to-morrow at nine a.m.: ready for whatever occurs till then; and sorrowfully say adieu," [precis (ut supra), p. ; _helden-geschichte, _iii. ; &c.] dreadful weather for browne in his bivouac, and wearisome waiting, with prussians and perils accumulating on him! browne was ill of lungs; coughing much; lodging, in these violent tempests, on the cold ground. a right valiant soldier and man, as does appear; the flower of all the irish brownes (though they have quite forgotten him in our time), and of all those irish exiles then tragically spending themselves in austrian quarrels! "you saw the great man," says one who seems to have been present, "how he sacrificed himself to this enterprise. what austrian field-marshal but himself would ever have lowered his loftiness to lead, in person, so insignificant a detachment, merely for the public good! i have seen staff-officers, distinguished only by their sasheries and insignia, who would not have stirred to inspect a vedette without men. our field-marshal was of another turn. sharing with his troops all the hardships, none excepted, of these critical days; and in spite of a violent cough, which often brought the visible blood from his lungs, and had quite worn him down; exposing himself, like the meanest of the army, to the tempests of rainy weather. think what a sight it was, going to your very heart, and summoning you to endurance of every hardship,--that evening [not said which], when the field-marshal, worn out with his fatigues and his disorder, sank out of fainting-fits into a sleep! the ground was his bed, and the storm of clouds his coverlid. in crowds his brave war-comrades gathered round; stripped their cloaks, their coats, and strove in noble rivalry which of them should have the happiness to screen the father of the army at their own cost of exposure, and by any device keep the pelting of the weather from that loved head!" [cogniazzo, _gestandnisse eines oesterreichischen veterans, _ii. .] there is a picture for you, in the heights of lichtenhayn, as you steam past schandau, in contemplative mood; and perhaps think of "justice to ireland!" among other sad thoughts that rise. from thurmsdorf to the pontoon-bridge there was a kind of road; down which the saxons scrambled yesterday; and, by painful degrees, got wriggled across. but, on the other shore, forward to the hamlets of halbstadt and ebenheit, there is nothing but a steep slippery footpath: figure what a problem for the , in such weather! then at ebenheit, close behind, browne-wards, were browne now there, rises the lilienstein, abrupt rocky mountain, its slopes on both hands washed by the river (river making its first elbow here, closely girdling this lilienstein): on both these slopes are prussian batteries, each with its abatis; needing to be stormed:--that will be your first operation. abatis and slopes of the lilienstein once stormed, you fall into a valley or hollow, raked again by prussian batteries; and will have to mount, still storming, out of the valley, sky-high across the ziegenruck (goat's-back) ridge: that is your second preliminary operation. after which you come upon the work itself; namely, the prussian redoubts at lichtenhayn, and , men on them by this time! a modern tourist says, reminding or informing: "from the konigstein to pirna, elbe, if serpentine, is like a serpent rushing at full speed. just past the konigstein, the elbe, from westward, as its general course is, turns suddenly to northward; runs so for a mile and a half; then, just before getting to the bastei at raden, turns suddenly to westward again, and so continues. tourists know raden,"--where the prussians have just fished out a bridge for themselves,--"with the bastei high aloft to west of it. the old inn, hospitable though sleepless, stands pleasantly upon the river-brink, overhung by high cliffs: close on its left side, or in the intricacies to rear of it, are huts and houses, sprinkled about, as if burrowed in the sandstone; more comfortably than you could expect. the site is a narrow dell, narrow chasm, with labyrinthic chasms branching off from it; narrow and gloomy as seen from the river, but opening out even into cornfields as you advance inwards: work of a small brook, which is still industriously tinkling and gushing there, and has in pre-adamite times been a lake, and we know not what. nieder-raden, this, on the north side of the river; of ober-raden, on the south side, there is nothing visible from your inn windows,"--nor have we anything to do with it farther. an older guide of tourists yields us this second fraction (capable of condensation):-- ... "to halbstadt, thence to ebenheit, your path is steeper and steeper; from ebenheit to the lilienstein you take a guide. the mountain is conical; coarse red sandstone; steps cut for you where needed: august the strong's hunting-lodge (jagdhutte) is here (august went thither in a grand way, , with his wife); lodge still extant, by the side of a wood;--lilienstein towering huge and sheer, solitary, grand, like some colossal pillar of the cyclops, from this round pediment of country which you have been climbing; tops of lilienstein plumed everywhere with fir and birch, pediment also very green and woody. august the strong, grandly visiting here, , on finish of those stair-steps cut for you, set up an ebenezer, or column of memorial at this hunting-hut, with inscription which can still be read, though now with difficulty in its time-worn state:-- "friedericus augustus, rex [of what? dare not say of poland just now, for fear of charles xii.], et elector sax., ut fortunaem virtute, ita asperam hanc rupem primus [primus not of men, but of saxon electors] superavit, aditumque faciliorem reddi curavit. anno ."--"ut fortunam virtute, as his fortune by valor, so he conquered this rugged rock by"--poor devil, only hear him:--and think how good nature is (for the time being) to poor devils and their bastards! [m.(agister) wilhelm lebrecht gotzinger, _schandau und seine umgebungen, oder beschreibung der sachsischen schweitz _(dresden, ), pp. - . gotzinger, who designates himself as "pastor at neustadt near stolpen" (northwest border of the pirna country), has made of this (which would now be called a tourist's guide, and has something geological in it) a modest, good little book, put together with industry, clearness, brevity. gives interesting narrative of our present business too, as gathered from his "father" and other good sources and testimonies.] bruhl and the polish majesty, safe enough they, and snug in the konigstein, are clear for advancing: "die like soldiers, for your king and country!" writes polish majesty, "thursday, two in the morning:" that also rutowski reads; and i think still other royal autographs, sent as postscripts to that. from the konigstein they duly fire off the two cannon-shot, as signal that we are coming; signal which browne, just in the act of departing, never heard, owing to the piping of the winds and rattling of the rain. "advance, my heroes!" counsel they: "you cannot drag your ammunitions, say you; your poor couple of big guns? here are his majesty's own royal horses for that service!"--and, in effect, the royal stud is heroically flung open in this pressure; and a splashing column of sleek quadrupeds, " royal draught-horses, early in the forenoon," [gotzinger, p. .] swim across to ebenheit accordingly, if that could encourage. and, "about noon, there is strong cannonading from the konigstein, as signal to browne," who is off. polish majesty looking with his spy-glass in an astonished manner. in vain! rutowski and his council of war--sitting wet in a hut of ebenheit, with , starved men outside, who have stood seventy-two hours of rain, for one item--see nothing for it but "surrender on such terms as we can get." "in fact," independently of weather and circumstances, "the enterprise," says friedrich, "was radically impossible; nobody that had known the ground could have judged it other." rutowski had not known it, then? browne never pretended to know it. rutowski was not candid with the conditions; the conditions never known nor candidly looked at; and they are now replying to him with candor enough. from the first his enterprise was a final flicker of false hope; going out, as here, by spasm, in the rigors of impossibility and flat despair. that column of royal horses sent splashing across the river,--that was the utmost of self-sacrifice which i find recorded of his polish majesty in this matter. he was very obstinate; his bruhl and he were. but his conduct was not very heroic. that royal autograph, "general rutowski, and ye true saxons, attack these prussian lines, then; sell your lives like men" (not like bruhl and me), must have fallen cold on the heart, after seventy-two hours of rain! rutowski's wet council of war, in the hut at ebenheit, rain still pouring, answers unanimously, "that it were a leading of men to the butchery;" that there is nothing for it but surrender. bruhl and majesty can only answer: "well-a-day; it must be so, then!"-- winterfeld, prussian commander hereabouts, grants armistice, grants liberal "wagon-loads of bread" first of all; terms of capitulation to be settled at struppen to-morrow. friday, october th, rutowski goes across to struppen, the late saxon head-quarter, now friedrich's;--friday gone a fortnight was the day of lobositz. winterfeld and he are the negotiators there; friedrich ratifying or refusing by marginal remarks. the terms granted are hard enough: but they must be accepted. first preliminary of all terms has already been accepted: a gift of bread to these poor saxons; their haversacks are empty, their cartridge-boxes drowned; it has rained on them three days and nights. last upshot of all terms is still well known to everybody: that the , saxons are compelled to become prussian, and "forced to volunteer"! that had been friedrich's determination, and reading of his rights in the matter, now that hard had come to hard. "you refused all terms; you have resisted to death (or death's-door); and are now at discretion!" of the question, what is to be done with those saxons? friedrich had thought a great deal, first and last; and had found it very intricate,--as readers too will, if they think of it. "prisoners of war,--to keep them locked up, with trouble and expense, in that fashion? they can never be exchanged: saxony has now nothing to exchange them with; and austria will not. their obstinacy has had costs to me; who of us can count what costs! in short, they shall volunteer!" "never did i, for my poor part, authorize such a thing," loudly asseverated rutowski afterwards. and indeed the capitulation is not precise on that interesting point. a lengthy document, and not worth the least perusal otherwise; we condense it into three articles, all grounding on this general basis, not deniable by rutowski: "the saxon army, being at such a pass, ready to die of hunger, if we did not lift our finger, has, so to speak, become our property; and we grant it the following terms:"-- " . kettle-drums, standards and the like insignia and matters of honor,--carry these to the konigstein, with my regretful respects to his polish majesty. konigstein to be a neutral fortress during this war. polish majesty at perfect liberty to go to warsaw [as he on the instant now did, and never returned]. " . officers to depart on giving their parole, not to serve against us during this war [parole given, nothing like too well kept]. " . rest of the army, with all its equipments, munitions, soul and body (so to speak), is to surrender utterly, and be ours, as all saxony shall for the present be." [in _helden-geschichte, _iii. - , at full length--with briedrich's marginalia noticeably brief.] that is, in sum, the capitulation of struppen. nothing articulate in it about the one now interesting point,--and in regard to that, i can only fancy rutowski might interject, interrogatively, perhaps at some length: "our soldiers to be prisoners of war, then?" "prisoners; yes, clearly,--unless they choose to volunteer, and have a better fate! prisoners can volunteer. they are at discretion; they would die, if we did not lift our finger!" thus i suppose winterfeld would rejoin, if necessary;--and that, in the winterfeld-rutowski conferences, the thing had probably been kept in a kind of chiaroscuro by both parties. very certain it is, sunday, th october, , capitulation being signed the night before, friedrich goes across at nieder-raden (where the pilgrim of the picturesque now climbs to see the bastei; where the prussians have, by this time, a bridge thrown together out of those pontoons),--goes across at nieder-raden, up that chasmy pass; rides to the heights of waltersdorf, in the opener country behind; and pauses there, while the captive saxon army defiles past him, laying down its arms at his feet. unarmed, and now under prussian word of command, these ex-saxon soldiers go on defiling; march through by that chasm of nieder-raden; cross to ober-raden; and, in the plainer country thereabouts, are--in i know not what length of hours, but in an incredibly short length, so swift is the management--changed wholly into prussian soldiers: "obliged to volunteer," every one of them! that is the fact; fact loudly censured; fact surely questionable,--to what intrinsic degree i at this moment do not know. fact much blamable before the loose public of mankind; upon which i leave men to their verdict. it is not a fact which invites imitation, as we shall see! fact how accomplished; by what methods? that would be the question with me; but even that is left dark. "the horse regiments, three of heavy horse, he broke; and distributed about, a good few in his own garde-du-corps." three other horse regiments were in poland, the sole saxon army now left,--of whom, at least of one man among whom, we may happen to hear. "ten foot regiments [what was reckoned a fault] he left together; in prussian uniform, with prussian officers. they were scattered up and down; put in garrisons; not easy handling them: they deserted by whole companies at a time in the course of this war." [preuss, ii. , ; in stenzel (v. - ) more precise details.] not a measure for imitation, as we said!--how friedrich defended such hard conduct to the saxons? reader, i know only that destiny and necessity, urged on by saxons and others, was hard as adamant upon friedrich at this time; and that friedrich did not the least dream of making any defence;--and will have to take your verdict, such as it may be. moritz of dessau had a terrible winter of it, organizing and breaking in these saxon people,--got by press-gang in this way. polish majesty, "with of suite," had driven instantly for warsaw; post-horses most politely furnished him, and all the prussian posts and soldiers well kept out of his road,--road chosen for him to that end. poor soul, he never came back. for six years coming, he saw, from warsaw in the distance (amid anarchy and nie-pozwalam, which he never lacked there), the wide war raging, in saxony especially; and died soon after it was done. nor did bruhl return, except broken by that event, and to die in few months after. let us pity the poor fat-goose of a majesty (not ill-natured at all, only stupid and idle): some pity even to the doomed-phantasm bruhl, if you can;--and thank heaven to have got done with such a pair!-- friedrich's treatment of the saxon troops, saxon majesty and country: who shall say that it was wise in all points? it would be singular treatment, if it were! in all things, after is so different from before and during. the truth is, friedrich hoped long to have made some agreement with the saxons. and readers now, in the universal silence, have no notion of friedrich's complexities from fact, and of the loud howl of hostile rumor, which was piping through all journals, diplomacies and foreign human throats, against him at that time. "the essential passages of war and peace," says a certain commentator, "during those five weeks of pirna, can be made intelligible in small compass. but how the world argued of them then and afterwards, and rang with hot gazetteer and diplomatic logic from side to side, no reader will now ever know. a world-tornado extinct, gone:--think of the sounds uttered from human windpipes, shrill with rage some of them, hoarse others with ditto; of the vituperations, execrations, printed and vocal,--grating harsh thunder upon friedrich and this new course of his. huge melody of discords, shrieking, droning, grinding on that topic, through the afflicted universe in general, for certain years. the very pamphlets printed on it,--cannot dryasdust give me the number of tons weight, then? dead now every pamphlet of them; a thing fallen horrible to human nature; extinct forever, as is the wont in such cases." i will give only this of voltaire; a mild epigram, done at the delices, in pleasant view of ferney and good things coming. a bolt shot into the storm-tost sea and its wreckages, by a mariner now cheerily drying his clothes on the shore there;--in fact, an indifferent epigram, on kings friedrich and george, which is now flying about in select circles:-- "rivaux du vainqueur de l'euphrate, l'oncle et le neveu, l'un fait la guerre en pirate, l'autre en parti bleu." "rivals of alexander the great, this uncle and nephew make war, the one as a pirate [seizure of those french ships], the other [saxony stolen] as captain of an accidental thieving-squad,"--parti bleu, as the french soldiers call it. [walpole's letters, "to sir horace mann, th december; ."] map facing page , chap vii, book ---- pirna was no sooner done than friedrich returned to the "camp at lobositz," where his victorious keith-army has been lying all this while. the camp of lobositz, and all camps prussian and austrian, are about to strike their tents, and proceed to winter-quarters, to prepare against next spring. friedrich set off thither october th (the very day after that of waltersdorf); with intent to bring home keith's army, and see if browne meant anything farther (which browne did not, or does only in the small tolpatch way); also to meet, schwerin, whom he had summoned over from silesia for a little conference there. schwerin, after eating konigsgratz country well,--which was all he could do, as piccolomini would not come out, and we know how strong the ground is,--had retired to silesia again, in due season (snapping up, in a sharply conclusive manner, any tolpatcheries that attempted chase of him); taken winter cantonments in silesia, headquarter schweidnitz; and is now getting his instructions, here personally, in the metal mountains, for a day or two. [_helden-geschichte, _iii. , .] friedrich brought his keith-army home to gross-sedlitz, to join the other force there; and distributed the whole into their winter-quarters. cantoned far and wide, spreading out from pirna on both hands: on the left or western hand, by zwickau, freyberg, chemnitz, up to leipzig, torgau; and on the right or northeast hand, by zittau, gorlitz, bautzen, to protect the lausitz against austrian inroads,--while a remote detachment, under winterfeld, watches the bober river with similar views. [in _helden-geschichte, _iii. et seq., a minute list by place and regiment.] all which done, or settled to be done, friedrich quits gross-sedlitz, november th; and takes up his abode at dresden for this winter. chapter viii.--winter in dresden. the saxon army is incorporated, then; its king gone under the horizon; the saxon country has a prussian board set over it, to administer all things of government, especially to draw taxes and recruits from saxony. torgau, seat of this new board, has got fortified; " , inhabitants were requisitioned as spademen for that end, at first with wages,"--latterly, i almost fear, without! the saxon ministers are getting drilled, cashiered if necessary; and on all hands, rigorous methods going forward;--till saxony is completely under grasp; in which state it was held very tight indeed, for the six years coming. there is no detailing of all that; details, were they even known to an editor at such distance, would weary every reader. enough to understand that friedrich has not on this occasion, as he did in , omitted to disarm saxony, to hobble it in every limb, and have it, at discretion, tied as with ropes to his interests and him. [_helden-geschichte, _iii. - .] his management was never accounted cruel; and it was studiously the reverse of violent or irregular: but it had to be rigorous as the facts were;--nor was it the worst, or reckoned the worst, of saxony's miseries in this time. poor country, suffering for its bruhl! in the country, except for its bruhl, there was no sin against prussia; the reverse rather. the saxon population, as protestants, have no good-will to austria and its aims of aggrandizement. in austrian spy-letters, now and afterwards, they are described to us as "gut preussisch;" "strong for prussia, the most of them, even in dresden itself." whether friedrich could have had much real hope to end the war this year, or scare it off from beginning, may be a question. if he had, it is totally disappointed. the saxon government has brought ruin on itself and country, but it has been of great damage to friedrich. would polish majesty have consented to disband his soldiers, and receive friedrich with a bona-fide "neutrality," friedrich could have passed the mountains still in time for a heavy stroke on bohemia, which was totally unprepared for such a visit, and he might--from the towers of prag, for instance--have, far more persuasively, held out the olive-branch to an astonished empress-queen: "leave me alone, madam; will you, then! security for that; i wanted and want nothing more!" but polish majesty, taking on him the character of austrian martyr, and flinging himself into the gulf, has prevented all that; has turned all that the other way. austria, it appears, is quite ungrateful: "was n't he bound?" thinks austria,--as its wont rather is. forgetful of the great deliverance wrought for it by poor polish majesty; whom it could not deliver-except into bottomless wreck! austria, grateful or not, stands unscathed; has time to prepare its armaments, its vocal arguments: austria is in higher provocation than ever; and its very arguments, highly vocal to the reich and the world, "is not this man a robber, and enemy of mankind?" do friedrich a great deal of ill. friedrich's sudden campaign, instead of landing him in the heart of the austrian states, there to propose peace, has kindled nearly all europe into flames of rage against him,--which will not consist in words merely! never was misunderstanding of a man at a higher pitch: "such treatment of a peaceable neighbor and crowned head,--witness it, ye heavens and thou earth!" dauphiness falling on her knees to most christian majesty; "princess and dearest sister" to most christian majesty's pompadour; especially no end of pleading to the german reich, in a furious, delphic-pythoness or quasi-inspired tone: all this goes on. from the time when pirna was blockaded, kaiser franz, his high consort and sense of duty urging him, has been busy in the reich's-hofrath (kind of privy-council or supreme court of the reich, which sits at vienna); busy there, and in the reich's diet at regensburg; busy everywhere, with utmost diligence over teutschland,--forging reich thunder. manifestoes, hof-decrets, dehortatoriums, excitatoriums; so goes it, exploding like vesuvius, shock on the back of shock:-- th september it began; and lasts, crescendo, through winter and onwards, at an extraordinary rate. [in _helden-geschichte_(iv. - ; iii. ; and indeed passim through those volumes), the originals in frightful superabundance.] of all which, leaving readers to imagine it, we will say nothing,--except that it points towards "armed interference by the reich," "reich's execution army;" nay towards "ban of the reich" (total excommunication of this enemy of mankind, and giving of him up to satan, by bell, book and candle), which is a kind of thunder-bolt not heard of for a good few ages past! thunder-bolt thought to be gone mainly to rust by the judicious;-- which, however, the poor old reich did grasp again, and attempt to launch. as perhaps we shall have to notice by and by, among the miracles going. france too, urged by the noblest concern, feels itself called upon. france magnanimously intimates to the reich's diet, once and again, "that most christian majesty is guarantee of the treaty of westphalia; most christian majesty cannot stand such procedures;" and then the second time, "that most christian majesty will interfere practically,"--by , men and odd. [_helden-geschichte, _iv. (" th march, ").] in short, the sleeping world-whirlwinds are awakened against this man. general dance of the furies; there go they, in the dusky element, those eumenides, "giant-limbed, serpent-haired, slow-pacing, circling, torch in hand" (according to schiller),-- scattering terror and madness. at least, in the diplomatic circles of mankind;--if haply the populations will follow suit!-- friedrich, abundantly contemptuous of reich's-thunder in the rusted kind, and well able to distinguish sound from substance in the reich or elsewhere, recognizes in all this sufficiently portentous prophecies of fact withal; and understands, none better, what a perilous position he has got into. but he cannot mend it;--can only, as usual, do his own utmost in it. as readers will believe he does; and that his vigilance and diligence are very great. continual, ubiquitous and at the top of his bent, one fancies his effort must have been,--though he makes no noise on the subject. considerable work he has with hanover, this winter; with the poor english government, and their "army of observation," which is to appear in the hanover parts, versus those , french, next spring. to hanover he has sent schmettau (the younger schmettau, elder is now dead) in regard to said army; has made a new and closer treaty with england (impossible to be fulfilled on poor england's part);--and laments, as mitchell often does, the tragically embroiled condition of that country, struggling so vehemently, to no purpose, to get out of bed, and not unlike strangling or smothering itself in its own blankets, at present! with and in regard to saxony, his work is of course extremely considerable; and in regard to his own army, and its coming business, considerablest of all. counter-manifesto work, to state his case in a distinct manner, and leave it with the populations if the diplomacies are deaf: this too, is copiously proceeding; under artists who probably do not require much supervision. in fact, no king living has such servants, in the civil or the military part, to execute his will. and no king so little wastes himself in noises; a king who has good command of himself, first of all; not to be thrown off his balance by any terror, any provocation even, though his temper is very sharp. friedrich in person is mainly at dresden, lodged in the bruhl palace;--endless wardrobes and magnificences there; three hundred and sixty-four pairs of breeches hanging melancholy, in a widowed manner: c'est assez de culottes; montrez-moi des vertus! bruhl is far away, in poland; madam bruhl has still her apartments in this palace,--a frugal king needs only the necessary spaces. madam bruhl is very busy here; and not to good purpose, being well seen into. "she had a cask of wine sent her from warsaw," says friedrich; "orders were given to decant for her every drop of the wine, but to be sure and bring us the cask." cask was found to have two bottoms, intermediate space filled with spy-correspondence. madam bruhl protests and pleads, friedrich not unpolite in reply; his last letter to her says, "madam, it is better that you go and join your husband." another high dame gets sausages from bohemia;--some of friedrich's light troops have an appetite, beyond strict law for sausages; break in, find letters along with the other stuffing. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ iv. ; mitchell, " th march, " (raumer p. ).] friedrich has a good deal of watching and coercing to do in that kind,--some arresting, conveyance even to custrin for a time, though nothing crueler proved needful. to the poor queen he keeps up civilities, but is obliged to be strict as argus;--she made him a gift too, the night of correggio, admired notte of correggio; having heard that he sat before it silent for half an hour, on entering that fine gallery,--which is due to our sovereign lord and his bruhl, alas! on the other hand, friedrich had to take from her majesty's royal abode those hundred swiss of body-guard; to discharge the same, and put prussians in their stead. nay, at one time, on loud outcry from her majesty, and great private cause of complaint against her, there was talk of sending the poor royal lady to warsaw, after her husband; but her objection being violent, nothing came of that: winter following, her poor majesty died, [ th november, .] and gave nobody any farther trouble. friedrich's outposts, especially in the lausitz, are a good deal disturbed by austrian tolpatcheries; and do feats, heroic in the small way, in smiting down that rabble. a valuable officer or two is lost in such poor service, poor but indispensable; [funeral discourses (of a very curious, ponderous and serious tone), in _gesammelte nachrichten, _ii. , , &c.] and the troops have not always the repose which is intended them. lieutenant-colonel loudon (scotch by kindred, and famous enough before long) is the soul of these croat enterprises,--and gets his colonelcy by them, in a month or two; browne recommending. loudon had arrived too late for lobositz, but had been with browne to schandau; and, on the march homewards, did a bright feat of the croat kind:--surprisal, very complete, of that hill-castle of tetschen and considerable hussar party there; done in a style which caught the eye of browne; and was the beginning of great things to poor loudon, after his twenty years of painful eclipse under the indigo trencks, and miscellaneous doggeries, austrian and russian. [la vie du feldmarechal baron de loudon (translation of one pezzl's german: a vienne et a paris, ), i. - .] tetschen, therefore, will again need capture by the prussians, if they again intend that way. and in the mean while, friedrich, to counterpoise those mischievous croat people, has bethought him of organizing a similar force of his own;--foot chiefly, for, on hint of former experience, he already has hussars in quantity. and, this winter, there are accordingly, in different saxon towns, three irregular regiments getting ready for him; three "volunteer colonels" busily enlisting each his "free corps," such the title chosen;--chief colonel of them one mayer, now in zwickau neighborhood with or loose handy fellows round him, getting formed into strict battalion there: [pauli (our old diffuse friend), _leben grosser helden des gegenwartigen krieges _( vols., halle, - ), iii. ,? mayr.] of whom, and of whose soldiering, we shall hear farther. for the plan was found to answer; and extended itself year after year; and the "prussian free corps," one way and another, made considerable noise in the world. outwardly friedrich's life is quiet; busy, none can be more so; but to the on-looker, placid, polite especially. he hears sermon once or twice in the kreuz-kirche (protestant high church); then next day will hear good music, devotional if you call it so, in the catholic church, where her polish majesty is. daily at the old hour he has his own concert, now and then assisting with his own flute. makes donations to the poor, and such like, due from saxon sovereignty while held by him; on the other hand, reduces salaries at a sad rate guarini, queen's confessor, from near , pounds to little more than pounds, for one instance;--cuts off about , pounds in all under this head. [_helden-geschichte, _iv. ("december, ").] and is heavy with billeting, as new prussians arrive. billets at length in the very ambassadors' hotels,--and by way of apology to the excellencies, signifies to them in a body: "sorry for the necessity, your excellencies: but ought not you to go to warsaw rather? your credentials are to his polish majesty. he is not here; nor coming hither, for some time!" which hint, i suppose, the excellencies mostly took. from his own forests there came by the elbe great rafts of firewood, to warm his soldiers in their quarters. once or twice he makes excursions, of a day of two days; to the lausitz, to leipzig (through freyberg, where he has a post of importance);--very gracious to the university people: "students be troubled with soldiering? far from it ye learned gentlemen, servants of the muses! recruitment, a lamentable necessity, is to go on under your own official people, and wholly by the old methods." [_helden-geschichte, _iv. - ; universitatsanschlag zu leipzig, wegen der werbung ("university-placard about enlisting:" in _gesammelte nachrichten, _i. ).] once, and once only, he made a run to berlin, january th- th, : the last for six years and more. came with great despatch, brother henri with him, whole journey in one day; got, "to his mother's about at night." [ib. iv. .] a joyful meeting, for the kindred: cheerful light-gleam in the dark time, so suddenly eclipsed to them and others by those hurricanes that have risen. his majesty seems to be in perfect health; and wears no look of gloom. at berlin is no carnival this year; all are grave, sunk in sad contemplations of the future. of his businesses in this interval, which were many, i will say nothing; only of one little act he did, the day before his departure: the writing of this secret letter of instructions to graf finck von finkenstein, his chief home minister, one of his old boy-comrades, as readers may recollect. the letter was read by count finck with profound attention, th january, , and conned over till he knew every point of it; after which he sealed it up, inscribing on the cover: "hochsteigenhandige und ganx geheime"--that is, "highest-autographic and altogether secret instructions, by the king, which, with the appendixes, were delivered to me, graf von finkenstein, the th of january, ." in this docketing it lay, sealed for many years (none knows how many), then unsealed, still in strict keeping, in the private royal archives" [preuss, i. .]--till on friedrich's birthday, th january, , it was, with some solemnity, lithographed at berlin, and distributed to a select public,--as readers shall see. "secret instruction for the graf von finck. "berlin, th january, . "in the critical situation our affairs are in, i ought to give you my orders, so that in all the disastrous cases which are in the possibility of events, you be authorized for taking the necessary steps. " . if it chanced (which heaven forbid) that one of my armies in saxony were totally beaten; or that the french should drive the hanoverians from their country [which they failed not to do], and establish themselves there, and threaten us with an invasion into the altmark; or that the russians should get through by the neumark,--you are to save the royal family, the principal dicasteria [land-schedules, lists of tax-dues], the ministries and the directorium [which is the central ministry of all]. if it is in saxony on the leipzig side that we are beaten, the fittest place for the removal of the royal family, and of the treasure, is to custrin: in such case the royal family and all above named must go, escorted by the whole garrison" of berlin, "to custrin. if the russians entered by the neumark, or if a misfortune befell us in the lausitz, it would be to magdeburg that all would have to go: in fine, the last refuge is stettin,--but you must not go till the last extremity. the garrison, the royal family and the treasure are inseparable, and go always together: to this must be added the crown diamonds, the silver plate in the grand apartments,--which, in such case, as well as the gold plate, must be at once coined into money. "if it happened that i were killed, the public affairs must go on without the smallest alteration, or its being noticeable that they are in other hands: and, in this case, you must hasten forward the oaths and homagings, as well here as in preussen; and, above all, in silesia. if i should have the fatality to be taken prisoner by the enemy, i prohibit all of you from paying the least regard to my person, or taking the least heed of what i might write from my place of detention. should such misfortune happen me, i wish to sacrifice myself for the state; and you must obey my brother,--who, as well as all my ministers and generals, shall answer to me with their heads, not to offer any province or any ransom for me, but to continue the war, pushing their advantages, as if i never had existed in the world. "i hope, and have ground to believe, that you, count finck, will not need to make use of this instruction: but in case of misfortune, i authorize you to employ it; and, as mark that it is, after a mature and sound deliberation, my firm and constant will, i sign it with my hand and confirm it with my seal." or, in friedrich's own spelling &c., so far as our possibilities permit:-- "instruction secrete pour le conte de fine. "berlin, ce de janv. . "dans la situation critique ou se trouvent nos affaires je dois vous donner mes ordres pour que dans tout les cas malheureux qui sont dans la possibilite des evenemens vous soyez autorisse aux partis quil faut prendre. )[yes; but there follows no " )" anywhere, such the haste!] sil arivoit (de quoi le ciel preserve) qu'une de mes armees en saxse fut totallement battue, oubien que les francais chassassent les hanovryeins de leur pais et si etablissent et nous menassassent d'un invassion dans la vieille marche, ou que les russes penetrassent par la nouvelle marche, il faut sauver la famille royale, les principeaux dicasteres les ministres et le directoire. si nous somes battus en saxse du cote de leipssic le lieu le plus propre pour le transport de la famille et du tressor est a custrin, il faut en ce cas que la famille royalle et touts cidesus nomez aillent escortez de toute la guarnisson a custrin. si les russes entroient par la nouvele marche ou quil nous arivat un malheur en lusace, il faudroit que tout se transportat a magdebourg, enfin le derni& refuge est a stetein, mais il ne hut y all&r qu'a la derniere exstremite la guarnisson la famille royalle et le tressort sent inseparables et vont toujours ensemble il faut y ajouter les diamans de la couronne, et l'argenterie des grands apartements qui en pareil cas ainsi que la veselle d'or doit etre incontinant monoyee. sil arivoit que je fus tue, il faut que les affaires continuent leur train sans la moindre allteration et sans qu'on s'apersoive qu'elles sont en d'autre mains, et en ce cas il faut hater sermens et homages tant ici qu'en prusse et surtout en silesie. si j'avois la fatalite d'etre pris prissonier par l'enemy, je defend qu'on aye le moindre egard pour ma perssonne ni qu'on fasse la moindre reflextion sur ce que je pourois ecrire de ma detention, si pareil malheur m'arivoit je veux me sacriffier pour l'etat et il faut qu'on obeisse a mon frere le quel ainsi que tout mes ministres et generaux me reponderont de leur tette qu'on offrira ni province ni ransson pour moy et que lon continuera la guerre en poussant ses avantages tout come si je n'avais jamais exsiste dans le monde. j'espere et je dois croire que vous conte finc n'aurez pas bessoin de faire usage de cette instruction mais en cas de malheur je vous autorisse a l'employer, et marque que c'est apres une mure et saine deliberation ma ferme et constante volonte je le signe de ma main et la muni de mon cachet, "frederic r." [fac simile of autograph (berlin, th january, ), where is some indistinct history of the document. printed also in _oeuvres,_ xxv. - .] these, privately made law in this manner, are friedrich's fixed feelings and resolutions;--how fixed is now farther apparent by a fact which was then still more private, guessable long afterwards only by one or two, and never clearly known so long as friedrich lived: the fact that he had (now most probably, though the date is not known) provided poison for himself, and constantly wore it about his person through this war. "five or six small pills, in a small glass tube, with a bit of ribbon to it:" that stern relic lay, in a worn condition, in some drawer of friedrich's, after friedrich was gone. [preuss, ii. , n.] for the facts are peremptory; and a man that will deal with them must be equally so. two days after this finck missive, friday, th, friedrich took farewell at berlin, drove to potsdam that night with his brother, to dresden next day. adieu, madam; adieu, o mother! said the king, in royal terms, but with a heart altogether human. "may god above bless you, my son!" the old lady would reply:--and the two had seen one another for the last time; mother and son were to meet no more in this world. germany from the earliest period by wolfgang menzel translated from the fourth german edition by mrs. george horrocks with a supplementary chapter of recent events by edgar saltus volume iv the history of germany part xxi the rise of prussia (continued) ccxliv. art and fashion although art had, under french influence, become unnatural, bombastical, in fine, exactly contrary to every rule of good taste, the courts, vain of their collections of works of art, still emulated each other in the patronage of the artists of the day, whose creations, tasteless as they were, nevertheless afforded a species of consolation to the people, by diverting their thoughts from the miseries of daily existence. architecture degenerated in the greatest degree. its sublimity was gradually lost as the meaning of the gothic style became less understood, and a tasteless imitation of the roman style, like that of st. peter's at rome, was brought into vogue by the jesuits and by the court architects, by whom the chateau of versailles was deemed the highest chef-d'oeuvre of art. this style of architecture was accompanied by a style of sculpture equally unmeaning and forced; saints and pagan deities in theatrical attitudes, fat genii, and coquettish nymphs peopled the roofs of the churches and palaces, presided over bridges, fountains, etc. miniature turnery-ware and microscopical sculpture also came into fashion. such curiosities as, for instance, a cherry-stone, on which pranner, the carinthian, had carved upward of a hundred faces; a chessboard, the completion of which had occupied a dutchman for eighteen years; golden carriages drawn by fleas; toys composed of porcelain or ivory in imitation of chinese works of art; curious pieces of mechanism, musical clocks, etc., were industriously collected into the cabinets of the wealthy and powerful. this taste was, however, not utterly useless. the predilection for ancient gems promoted the study of the remains of antiquity, as stosch, lippert, and winckelmann prove, and that of natural history was greatly facilitated by the collections of natural curiosities. the style of painting was, however, still essentially german, although deprived by the reformation and by french influence of its ancient sacred and spiritual character. nature was now generally studied in the search after the beautiful. among the pupils of rubens, the great founder of the dutch school, jordaens was distinguished for brilliancy and force of execution, van dyck, a.d. , for grace and beauty, although principally a portrait painter and incapable of idealizing his subjects, in which rembrandt, a.d. , who chose more extensive historical subjects, and whose coloring is remarkable for depth and effect, was equally deficient. rembrandt's pupil, gerhard douw, introduced domestic scenes; his attention to the minutiæ of his art was such that he is said to have worked for three days at a broomstick, in order to represent it with perfect truth. denner carried accuracy still further; in his portraits of old men every hair in the beard is carefully imitated. francis and william[ ] mieris discovered far greater talent in their treatment of social and domestic groups; terbourg and netscher, on the other hand, delighted in the close imitation of velvet and satin draperies; and schalken, in the effect of shadows and lamplight. honthorst[ ] attempted a higher style, but van der werf's small delicious nudities and van loos's luxurious pastoral scenes were better adapted to the taste of the times. while these painters belonged to the higher orders of society, of which their works give evidence, numerous others studied the lower classes with still greater success. besides van der meulen and rugendas, the painters of battle-pieces, wouvermann chiefly excelled in the delineation of horses and groups of horsemen, and teniers, ostade, and jan steen became famous for the surpassing truth of their peasants and domestic scenes. to this low but happily-treated school also belonged the cattle-pieces of berchem and paul de potter, whose "bull and cows" were, in a certain respect, as much the ideal of the dutch as the madonna had formerly been that of the italians or the venus di medici that of the ancients. landscape-painting alone gave evidence of a higher style. nature, whenever undesecrated by the vulgarity of man, is ever sublimely simple. the dutch, as may be seen in the productions of breughel, called, from his dress, "velvet breughel," and in those of elzheimer, termed, from his attention to minutiae, the denner of landscape- painting, were at first too careful and minute; but paul brill, a.d. , was inspired with finer conceptions and formed the link between preceding artists and the magnificent claude lorraine (so called from the place of his birth, his real name being claude gelee), who resided for a long time at munich, and who first attempted to idealize nature as the italian artists had formerly idealized man. everdingen and ruysdael, on the contrary, studied nature in her simple northern garb, and the sombre pines of the former, the cheerful woods of the latter, will ever be attractive, like pictures of a much-loved home, to the german. bakhuysen's sea-pieces and storms are faithful representations of the baltic. in the commencement of last century, landscape-painting also degenerated and became mere ornamental flower-painting, of which the dutch were so passionately fond that they honored and paid the most skilful artists in this style like princes. the dull prosaic existence of the merchant called for relief. huysum was the mosrt celebrated of the flower-painters, with rachel ruysch, william von arless, and others of lesser note. fruit and kitchen pieces were also greatly admired. hondekotter was celebrated as a painter of birds. painting was, in this manner, confined to a slavish imitation of nature, for whose lowest objects a predilection was evinced until the middle of the eighteenth century, when a style, half italian, half antique, was introduced into germany by the operas, by travellers, and more particularly by the galleries founded by the princes, and was still further promoted by the learned researches of connoisseurs, more especially by those of winckelmann. mengs, the raphael of germany, oeser, tischbein, the landscape-painters seekatz, hackert, reinhardt, koch, etc., formed the transition to the modern style. frey, chodowiecki, etc., gained great celebrity as engravers. architecture flourished during the middle ages, painting at the time of the reformation, and music in modern times. the same spirit that spoke to the eye in the eternal stone now breathed in transient melody to the ear. the science of music, transported by dutch artists into italy, had been there assiduously cultivated; the italians had speedily surpassed their masters, and had occupied themselves with the creation of a peculiar church-music and of the profane opera, while the netherlands and the whole of germany were convulsed by bloody religious wars. after the peace of westphalia, the national music of germany, with the exception of the choral music in the protestant churches, was almost silent, and italian operas were introduced at all the courts, where italian chapel-masters, singers, and performers were patronized in imitation of louis xiv., who pursued a similar system in france. german talent was reduced to imitate the italian masters, and, in , sagittarius produced at dresden the first german opera in imitation of the italian, and keyser published no fewer than one hundred and sixteen. the german musicians were, nevertheless, earlier than the german poets, animated with a desire to extirpate the foreign and degenerate mode fostered by the vanity of the german princes, and to give free scope to their original and native talent. this regeneration was effected by the despised and simple organists of the protestant churches. in , schroeder, a native of hohenstein in saxony, invented the pianoforte and improved the organ. sebastian bach, in his colossal fugues, like to a pillared dome dissolved in melody,[ ] raised music by his compositions to a height unattained by any of his successors. he was one of the most extraordinary geniuses that ever appeared on earth. handel, whose glorious melodies entranced the senses, produced the grand oratorio of the "messiah," which is still performed in both protestant and catholic cathedrals; and graun, with whom frederick the great played the flute, brought private singing into vogue by his musical compositions. gluck was the first composer who introduced the depth and pathos of more solemn music into the opera. he gained a complete triumph at paris over piccini, the celebrated italian musician, in his contest respecting the comparative excellencies of the german and italian schools. haydn introduced the variety and melody of the opera into the oratorio, of which his "creation" is a standing proof. in the latter half of the foregoing century, sacred music has gradually yielded to the opera. mozart brought the operatic style to perfection in the wonderful compositions that eternalize his fame. the german theatre was, owing to the gallomania of the period, merely a bad imitation of the french stage. gottsched,[ ] who greatly contributed toward the reformation of german literature, still retained the stilted alexandrine and the pseudo-gallic imitation of the ancient dramatists to which lessing put an end. lessing wrote his "dramaturgy" at hamburg, recommended shakespeare and other english authors as models, but more particularly nature. the celebrated eckhof, the father of the german stage, who at first travelled about with a company of actors and finally settled at gotha, was the first who followed this innovation. he was succeeded by schroeder in hamburg, who was equally industrious as a poet, an actor, and a freemason. in berlin, where fleck had already paved the way, iffland, who, like schroeder, was both a poet and an actor, founded a school, which in every respect took nature as a guide, and which raised the german stage to its well-merited celebrity. at the close of the eighteenth century, men of education were seized with an enthusiasm for art, which showed itself principally in a love for the stage and in visits for the promotion of art to italy. the poet and the painter, alike dissatisfied with reality, sought to still their secret longings for the beautiful amid the unreal creations of fancy and the records of classical antiquity. fashion, that masker of nature, that creator of deformity, had, in truth, arrived at an unparalleled pitch of ugliness. the german costume, although sometimes extravagantly curious during the middle ages, had nevertheless always retained a certain degree of picturesque beauty, nor was it until the reign of louis xiv. of france that dress assumed an unnatural, inconvenient, and monstrous form. enormous allonge perukes and ruffles, the fontange (high headdress), hoops, and high heels, rendered the human race a caricature of itself. in the eighteenth century, powdered wigs of extraordinary shape, hairbags and queues, frocks and frills, came into fashion for the men; powdered headdresses an ell in height, diminutive waists, and patches for the women. the deformity, unhealthiness, and absurdity of this mode of attire were vainly pointed out by salzmann, in a piece entitled, "charles von carlsberg, or human misery." [footnote : also his brother john, who painted with equal talent in the same style.--_trans_.] [footnote : called also gerardo dalle notti from his subjects, principally night-scenes and pieces illuminated by torch or candle-light. his most celebrated picture is that of jesus christ before the tribunal of pilate.--_ibid_.] [footnote : gothic architecture has been likened to petrified music.] [footnote : he was assisted in his dramatic writings by his wife, a woman of splendid talents.--_trans_.] ccxlv. influence of the belles-lettres the german, excluded from all participation in public affairs and confined to the narrow limits of his family circle and profession, followed his natural bent for speculative philosophy and poetical reverie; but while his thoughts became more elevated and the loss of his activity was, in a certain degree, compensated by the gentle dominion of the muses, the mitigation thus afforded merely aggravated the evil by rendering him content with his state of inaction. ere long, as in the most degenerate age of ancient rome, the citizen, amused by sophists and singers, actors and jugglers, lost the remembrance of his former power and rights and became insensible to his state of moral degradation, to which the foreign notions, the vain and frivolous character of most of the poets of the day, had not a little contributed. after the thirty years' war, the silesian poets became remarkable for gallomania or the slavish imitation of those of france. unbounded adulation of the sovereign, bombastical _carmina_ on occasion of the birth, wedding, accession, victories, fêtes, treaties of peace, and burial of potentates, love-couplets equally strained, twisted compliments to female beauty, with pedantic, often indecent, citations from ancient mythology, chiefly characterized this school of poetry. martin opitz, a.d. , the founder of the first silesian school,[ ] notwithstanding the insipidity of the taste of the day, preserved the harmony of the german ballad. his most distinguished followers were logau, celebrated for his epigrams;[ ] paul gerhard, who, in his fine hymns, revived the force and simplicity of luther; flemming, a genial and thoroughly german poet, the companion of olearius[ ] during his visit to persia; the gentle simon dach, whose sorrowing notes bewail the miseries of the age. he founded a society of melancholy poets at königsberg, in prussia, the members of which composed elegies for each other; tscherning and andrew gryphius, the corneille of germany, a native of glogau, whose dramas are worthy of a better age than the insipid century in which they were produced. the life of this dramatist was full of incident. his father was poisoned; his mother died of a broken heart. he wandered over germany during the thirty years' war, pursued by fire, sword, and pestilence, to the latter of which the whole of his relations fell victims. he travelled over the whole of europe, spoke eleven languages, and became a professor at leyden, where he taught history, geography, mathematics, physics, and anatomy. these poets were, however, merely exceptions to the general rule. in the poetical societies, the "order of the palm" or "fructiferous society," founded a.d. , at weimar, by caspar von teutleben, the "upright pine society," established by rempler of löwenthal at strasburg, that of the "roses," founded a.d. , by philip von zesen, at hamburg, the "order of the pegnitz-shepherds," founded a.d. , by harsdörfer, at nuremberg, the spirit of the italian and french operas and academies prevailed, and pastoral poetry, in which the god of love was represented wearing an immense allonge peruke, and the coquettish immorality of the courts was glowingly described in arcadian scenes of delight, was cultivated. the fantastical romances of spain were also imitated, and the invention of novel terms was deemed the highest triumph of the poet. every third word was either latin, french, spanish, italian, or english. francisci of lübeck, who described all the discoveries of the new world in a colloquial romance contained in a thick folio volume, was the most extravagant of these scribblers. the romances of antony ulric, duke of brunswick, who embraced catholicism on the occasion of the marriage of his daughter with the emperor charles vi., are equally bad. lauremberg's satires, written a.d. , are excellent. he said with great truth that the french had deprived the german muse of her nose and had patched on another quite unsuited to her german ears. moscherosch (philander von sittewald) wrote an admirable and cutting satire upon the manners of the age, and greifenson von hirschfeld is worthy of mention as the author of the first historical romance that gives an accurate and graphic account of the state of germany during the thirty years' war. this first school was succeeded by a second of surpassing extravagance. hoffman von hoffmannswaldau, a.d. , the founder of the second silesian school, was a caricature of opitz, lohenstein of gryphius, besser of flemming, talander and ziegler of zesen, and even francisci was outdone by that most intolerable of romancers, happel. this school was remarkable for the most extravagant license and bombastical nonsense, a sad proof of the moral perversion of the age. the german character, nevertheless, betrayed itself by a sort of naïve pedantry, a proof, were any wanting, that the ostentatious absurdities of the poets of germany were but bad and paltry imitations. the french alexandrine was also brought into vogue by this school, whose immorality was carried to the highest pitch by günther, the lyric poet, who, in the commencement of the eighteenth century, opposed marriage, attempted the emancipation of the female sex, and, with criminal geniality, recommended his follies and crimes, as highly interesting, to the world. to him the poet, schnabel, the author of an admirable romance, the "island of felsenburg," the asylum, in another hemisphere, of virtue, exiled from europe, offers a noble contrast. three catholic poets of extreme originality appear at the close of the seventeenth century, angelus silesius (scheffler of breslau), who gave to the world his devotional thoughts in german alexandrines; father abraham a sancta clara (megerle of swabia), a celebrated viennese preacher, who, with comical severity, wrote satires abounding with wit and humorous observations; and balde, who wrote some fine latin poems on god and nature. prätorius, a.d. , the first collector of the popular legendary ballads concerning rübezahl and other spirits, ghosts and witches, also deserves mention. the silesian, stranizki, who, a.d. , founded the leopoldstadt theatre at vienna, which afterward became so celebrated, and gave to it the popular comic style for which it is famous at the present day, was also a poet of extreme originality. gottsched appeared as the hero of gallomania, which was at that time threatened with gradual extinction by the spanish and hamburg romance and by viennese wit. assisted by neuber, the actress, he extirpated all that was not strictly french, solemnly burned harlequin in effigy at leipzig, a.d. , and laid down a law for german poetry, which prescribed obedience to the rules of the stilted french court-poetry, under pain of the critic's lash. he and his learned wife guided the literature of germany for several years. in the midst of these literary aberrations, during the first part of the foregoing century, thomson, the english poet, brokes of hamburg, and the swiss, albert von haller, gave their descriptions of nature to the world. brokes, in his "earthly pleasures in god," was faithful, often homeric, in his descriptions, while haller depictured his native alps with unparalleled sublimity. the latter was succeeded by a swiss school, which imitated the witty and liberal-minded criticisms of addison and other english writers, and opposed french taste and gottsched. at its head stood bodmer and breitinger, who recommended nature as a guide, and instead of the study of french literature, that of the ancient classics and of english authors. it was also owing to their exertions that müller published an edition of rudiger maness's collection of swabian minnelieder, the connecting link between modern and ancient german poetry. still, notwithstanding their merit as critics, they were no poets, and merely opened to others the road to improvement. hagedorn, although frivolous in his ideas, was graceful and easy in his versification; but the most eminent poet of the age was gellert of leipzig, a.d. , whose tales, fables, and essays brought him into such note as to attract the attention of frederick the great, who, notwithstanding the contempt in which he held the poets of germany, honored him with a personal visit. poets and critics now rose in every quarter and pitilessly assailed gottsched, the champion of gallomania. they were themselves divided into two opposite parties, into anglomanists and græcomanists, according to their predilection for modern english literature or for that of ancient greece and rome. england, grounded, as upon a rock, on her self-gained constitution, produced men of the rarest genius in all the higher walks of science and literature, and her philosophers, naturalists, historians, and poets exercised the happiest influence over their teutonic brethren, who sought to regain from them the vigor of which they had been deprived by france. the power and national learning of germany break forth in klopstock, whose genius vainly sought a natural garb and was compelled to assume a borrowed form. he consecrated his muse to the service of religion, but, in so doing, imitated the homeric hexameters of milton; he sought to arouse the national pride of his countrymen by recalling the deeds of hermann (armin) and termed himself a bard, but, in the horatian metre of his songs, imitated ossian, the old scottish bard, and was consequently labored and affected in his style. others took the lesser english poets for their model, as, for instance, kleist, who fell at kunersdorf, copied thomson in his "spring"; zachariä, pope, in his satirical pieces; hermes, in "the travels of sophia," the humorous romances of richardson; müller von itzehoe, in his "siegfried von lindenberg," the comic descriptions of smollett. the influence of the celebrated english poets, shakespeare, swift, and sterne, on the tone of german humor and satire, was still greater. swift's first imitator, liscow, displayed considerable talent, and rabener, a great part of whose manuscripts was burned during the siege of dresden in the seven years' war, wrote witty, and at the same time instructive, satires on the manners of his age. both were surpassed by lichtenberg, the little hump-backed philosopher of göttingen, whose compositions are replete with grace. the witty and amiable thümmmel was also formed on an english model, and archenholz solely occupied himself with transporting the customs and literature of england into germany. if shakespeare has not been without influence upon goethe and schiller, sterne, in his "sentimental journey," touched an echoing chord in the german's heart by blending pathos with his jests. hippel was the first who, like him, united wit with pathos, mockery with tears. in klopstock, anglo and graecomania were combined. the latter had, however, also its particular school, in which each of the greek and roman poets found his imitator. voss, for instance, took homer for his model, ramler, horace, gleim, anacreon, gessner, theocritus, cramer, pindar, lichtwer, Æsop, etc. the germans, in the ridiculous attempt to set themselves up as greeks, were, in truth, barbarians. but all was forced, unnatural, and perverted in this aping age. wieland alone was deeply sensible of this want of nature, and hence arose his predilection for the best poets of greece and france. the german muse, led by his genius, lost her ancient stiffness and acquired a pliant grace, to which the sternest critic of his too lax morality is not insensible. some lyric poets, connected with the graecomanists by the _göttingen hainbund_, preserved a noble simplicity, more particularly salis and hòlty, and also count stolberg, wherever he has not been led astray by voss's stilted manner. matthison is, on the other hand, most tediously affected. the german, never more at home than when abroad, boasted of being the cosmopolite he had become, made a virtue of necessity, and termed his want of patriotism, justice to others, humanity, philanthropy. fortunately for him, there were, besides the french, other nations on which he could model himself, the ancient greeks and the english, from each of whom he gathered something until he had converted himself into a sort of universal abstract. the great poets, who shortly before and after the seven years' war, put an end to mere partial imitations, were not actuated by a reaction of nationality, but by a sentiment of universality. their object was, not to oppose the german to the foreign, but simply the human to the single national element, and, although germany gave them birth, they regarded the whole world equally as their country. lessing, by his triumph over the scholastic pedants, completed what thomasius had begun, by his irresistible criticism drove french taste from the literary arena, aided winckelmann to promote the study of the ancients and to foster the love of art, and raised the german theatre to an unprecedented height. his native language, in which he always wrote, breathes, even in his most trifling works, a free and lofty spirit, which, fascinating in every age, was more peculiarly so at that emasculated period. he is, however, totally devoid of patriotism. in his "minna von barnhelm," he inculcates the finest feelings of honor; his "nathan" is replete with the wisdom "that cometh from above" and with calm dignity; and in "emilia galotti" he has been the first to draw the veil, hitherto respected, from scenes in real life. his life was, like his mind, independent. he scorned to cringe for favor, even disdained letters of recommendation when visiting italy (winckelmann had deviated from the truth for the sake of pleasing a patron), contented himself with the scanty lot of a librarian at wolfenbüttel, and even preferred losing that appointment rather than subject himself to the censorship. he was the boldest, freest, finest spirit of the age. herder, although no less noble, was exactly his opposite. of a soft and yielding temperament, unimaginative, and gifted with little penetration, but with a keen sense of the beautiful in others, he opened to his fellow countrymen with unremitting diligence the literary treasures of foreign nations, ancient classical poetry, that, hitherto unknown, of the east, and rescued from obscurity the old popular poetry of germany. in his "ideas of a philosophical history of mankind," he attempted to display in rich and manifold variety the moral character of every nation and of every age, and, while thus creating and improving the taste for poetry and history, ever, with childlike piety, sought for and revered god in all his works. goethe, with a far richer imagination, possessed the elegance but not the independence of lessing, all the softness, pathos, and universality of herder, without his faith. in the treatment and choice of his subjects he is indubitably the greatest poet of germany, but he was never inspired with enthusiasm except for himself. his personal vanity was excessive. his works, like the lights in his apartment at weimar, which were skilfully disposed so as to present him in the most favorable manner to his visitors, but artfully reflect upon self. the manner in which he palliated the weaknesses of the heart, the vain inclinations, shared by his contemporaries in common with himself, rendered him the most amiable and popular author of the day. french frivolity and license had long been practiced, but they had also been rebuked. goethe was the first who gravely justified adultery, rendered the sentimental voluptuary an object of enthusiastic admiration, and deified the heroes of the stage, in whose imaginary fortunes the german forgot sad reality and the wretched fate of his country. his _fade_ assumption of dignity, the art with which he threw the veil of mystery over his frivolous tendencies and made his commonplace ideas pass for something incredibly sublime, naturally met with astonishing success in his wonder-seeking times. rousseau's influence, the ideas of universal reform, the example of england, proud and free, but still more, the enthusiasm excited by the american war of independence, inflamed many heads in germany and raised a poetical opposition, which began with the bold-spirited schubart, whose liberal opinions threw him into a prison, but whose spirit still breathed in his songs and roused that of his great countryman, schiller. the first cry of the oppressed people was, by schiller, repeated with a prophet's voice. in him their woes found an eloquent advocate. lessing had vainly appealed to the understanding, but schiller spoke to the heart, and if the seed, sown by him, fell partially on corrupt and barren ground, it found a fostering soil in the warm, unadulterated hearts of the youth of both sexes. he recalled his fellow-men, in those frivolous times, to a sense of self-respect, he restored to innocence the power and dignity of which she had been deprived by ridicule, and became the champion of liberty, justice, and his country, things from which the love of pleasure and the aristocratic self-complacency, exemplified in goethe, had gradually and completely weaned succeeding poets. klinger, at the same time, coarsely portrayed the vices of the church and state, and meyern extravagated in his romance "dya-na-sore" on utopian happiness. the poems of muller, the painter, are full of latent warmth. burger, pfeffel, the blind poet, and claudius, gave utterance, in schubart's coarse manner, to a few trite truisms. musæus was greatly admired for his amusing popular stories. as for the rest, it seemed as though the spiritless writers of that day had found it more convenient to be violent and savage in their endless chivalric pieces and romances than, like schiller, steadily and courageously to attack the vices and evils of their age. their fire but ended in smoke. babo and ziegler alone, among the dramatists, have a liberal tendency. the spirit that had been called forth also degenerated into mere bacchanalian license, and, in order to return to nature, the limits set by decency and custom were, as by heinse, for instance, who thus disgraced his genius, wantonly overthrown. in contradistinction to these wild spirits, which, whether borne aloft by their genius or impelled by ambition, quitted the narrow limits of daily existence, a still greater number of poets employed their talents in singing the praise of common life, and brought domesticity and household sentimentality into vogue. the very prose of life, so unbearable to the former, was by them converted into poetry. although the ancient idyls and the family scenes of english authors were at first imitated, this style of poetry retained an essentially german originality; the hero of the modern idyl, unlike his ancient model, was a fop tricked out with wig and cane, and the domestic hero of the tale, unlike his english counterpart, was a mere political nullity. it is perhaps well when domestic comforts replace the want of public life, but these poets hugged the chain they had decked with flowers, and forgot the reality. they forgot that it is a misfortune and a disgrace for a german to be without a country, without a great national interest, to be the most unworthy descendant of the greatest ancestors, the prey and the jest of the foreigner; to this they were indifferent, insensible; they laid down the maxim that a german has nothing more to do than "to provide for" himself and his family, no other enemy to repel than domestic trouble, no other duty than "to keep his german wife in order," to send his sons to the university, and to marry his daughters. these commonplace private interests were withal merely adorned with a little sentimentality. no noble motive is discoverable in voss's celebrated "louisa" and goethe's "hermann and dorothea." this style of poetry was so easy that hundreds of weak-headed men and women made it their occupation, and family scenes and plays speedily surpassed the romances of chivalry in number. the poet, nevertheless, exercised no less an influence, notwithstanding his voluntary renunciation of his privilege to elevate the sinking minds of his countrymen by the great memories of the past or by ideal images, and his degradation of poetry to a mere palliation of the weaknesses of humanity. [footnote : he was a friend of grotius and is styled the father of german poetry.--_trans_.] [footnote : of which an edition, much esteemed, was published by lessing and ramler.] [footnote : adam elschlager or olearius, an eminent traveller and mathematician, a native of anhalt. he became secretary to an embassy sent to russia and persia by the duke of holstein.--_trans_.] * * * * * part xxii the great wars with france ccxlvi. the french revolution in no other european state had despotism arrived at such a pitch as in france; the people groaned beneath the heavy burdens imposed by the court, the nobility, and the clergy, and against these two estates there was no appeal, their tyranny being protected by the court, to which they had servilely submitted. the court had rendered itself not only unpopular, but contemptible, by its excessive license, which had also spread downward among the higher classes; the government was, moreover, impoverished by extravagance and weakened by an incapable administration, the helm of state, instead of being guided by a master-hand, having fallen under louis xv. into that of a woman. in france, where the ideas of modern philosophy emanated from the court, they spread more rapidly than in any other country among the tiers-etat, and the spirit of research, of improvement, of ridicule of all that was old, naturally led the people to inquire into the administration, to discover and to ridicule its errors. the natural wit of the people, sharpened by daily oppression and emboldened by voltaire's unsparing ridicule of objects hitherto held sacred, found ample food in the policy pursued by the government, and ridicule became the weapon with which the tiers-etat revenged the tyranny of the higher classes. as learning spread, the deeds of other nations, who had happily and gloriously cast off the yoke of their oppressors, became known to the people. the names of the patriots of greece and rome passed from mouth to mouth, and their actions became the theme of the rising generation; but more powerful than all in effect, was the example of the north americans, who, a.d. , separated themselves from their mother-country, england, and founded a republic. france, intent upon weakening her ancient foe, lent her countenance to the new republic, and numbers of her sons fought beneath her standard and bore the novel ideas of liberty back to their native land, where they speedily produced a fermentation among their mercurial countrymen. louis xv., a voluptuous and extravagant monarch, was succeeded by louis xvi., a man of refined habits, pious and benevolent in disposition, but unpossessed of the moral power requisite for the extermination of the evils deeply rooted in the government. his queen, marie antoinette, sister to joseph ii., little resembled her brother or her husband in her tastes, was devoted to gaiety, and, by her example, countenanced the most lavish extravagance. the evil increased to a fearful degree. the taxes no longer sufficed; the exchequer was robbed by privileged thieves; an enormous debt continued to increase; and the king, almost reduced to the necessity of declaring the state bankrupt, demanded aid from the nobility and clergy, who, hitherto free from taxation, had amassed the whole wealth of the empire. the aristocracy, ever blind to their true interest, refused to comply, and, by so doing, compelled the king to have recourse to the tiers-etat. accordingly, a.d. , he convoked a general assembly, in which the deputies sent by the citizens and peasant classes were not only numerically equal to those of the aristocracy, but were greatly superior to them in talent and energy, and, on the refusal of the nobility and clergy to comply with the just demands of the tiers-etat, or even to hold a common sitting with their despised inferiors, these deputies declared the national assembly to consist of themselves alone, and proceeded, on their own responsibility, to scrutinize the evils of the administration and to discuss remedial measures. the whole nation applauded the manly and courageous conduct of its representatives. the parisians, ever in extremes, revolted, and murdered the unpopular public officers; the soldiers, instead of quelling the rebellion, fraternized with the people. the national assembly, emboldened by these first successes, undertook a thorough transformation of the state, and, in order to attain the object for which they had been assembled, that of procuring supplies, declared the aristocracy subject to taxation, and sold the enormous property belonging to the church. they went still further. the people was declared the only true sovereign, and the king the first servant of the state. all distinctions and privileges were abolished, and all frenchmen were declared equal. the nobility and clergy, infuriated by this dreadful humiliation, embittered the people still more against them by their futile opposition, and, at length convinced of the hopelessness of their cause, emigrated in crowds and attempted to form another france on the borders of their country in the german rhenish provinces. worms and coblentz were their chief places of resort. in the latter city, they continued their parisian mode of life at the expense of the avaricious elector of treves, clement wenzel, a saxon prince, by whose powerful minister, dominique, they were supported, and acted with unparalleled impudence. they were headed by the two brothers of the french king, who entered into negotiation with all the foreign powers, and they vowed to defend the cause of the sovereigns against the people. louis, who for some time wavered between the national assembly and the emigrants, was at length persuaded by the queen to throw himself into the arms of the latter, and secretly fled, but was retaken and subjected to still more rigorous treatment. the emigrants, instead of saving, hurried him to destruction. the other european powers at first gave signs of indecision. blinded by a policy no longer suited to the times, they merely beheld in the french revolution the ruin of a state hitherto inimical to them, and rejoiced at the event. the prospect of an easy conquest of the distracted country, however, ere long led to the resolution on their part of actively interfering with its affairs. austria was insulted in the person of the french queen, and, as head of the empire, was bound to protect the rights of the petty rhenish princes and nobility, who possessed property and ecclesiastical or feudal rights[ ] on french territory, and had been injured by the new constitution. prussia, habituated to despotism, came forward as its champion in the hope of gaining new laurels for her unemployed army. a conference took place at pilnitz in saxony, a.d. , between emperor leopold and king frederick william, at which the count d'artois, the youngest brother of louis xvi., was present, and a league was formed against the revolution. the old ministers strongly opposed it. in prussia, herzberg drew upon himself the displeasure of his sovereign by zealously advising a union with france against austria. in austria, kaunitz recommended peace, and said that were he allowed to act he would defeat the impetuous french by his "patience;" that, instead of attacking france, he would calmly watch the event and allow her, like a volcano, to bring destruction upon herself. ferdinand of brunswick, field-marshal of prussia, was equally opposed to war. his fame as the greatest general of his time had been too easily gained, more by his manoeuvres than by his victories, not to induce a fear on his side of being as easily deprived of it in a fresh war; but the proposal of the revolutionary party in france--within whose minds the memory of rossbach was still fresh--mistrustful of french skill, to nominate him generalissimo of the troops of the republic, conspired with the incessant entreaties of the emigrants to reanimate his courage; and he finally declared that, followed by the famous troops of the great frederick, he would put a speedy termination to the french revolution. leopold ii. was, as brother to marie antoinette, greatly embittered against the french. the disinclination of the austrians to the reforms of joseph ii. appears to have chiefly confirmed him in the conviction of finding a sure support in the old system. he consequently strictly prohibited the slightest innovation and placed a power hitherto unknown in the hands of the police, more particularly in those of its secret functionaries, who listened to every word and consigned the suspected to the oblivion of a dungeon. this mute terrorism found many a victim. this system was, on the death of leopold ii., a.d. ,[ ] publicly abolished by his son and successor, francis ii., but was ere long again carried on in secret. catherine ii., with the view of seizing the rest of poland, employed every art in order to instigate austria and prussia to a war with france, and by these means fully to occupy them in the west. the prussian king, although aware of her projects, deemed the french an easy conquest, and that in case of necessity his armies could without difficulty be thrown into poland. he meanwhile secured the popular feeling in poland in his favor by concluding, a.d. , an alliance with stanislaus and giving his consent to the improved constitution established in poland, a.d. . herzberg had even counselled an alliance with france and poland, the latter was to be bribed with a promise of the annexation of galicia, against austria and russia; this plan was, however, merely whispered about for the purpose of blinding the poles and of alarming russia. the bursting storm was anticipated on the part of the french by a declaration of war, a.d. , and while austria still remained behind for the purpose of watching russia, poland, and turkey, and the unwieldy empire was engaged in raising troops, ferdinand of brunswick had already led the prussians across the rhine. he was joined by the emigrants under conde, whose army almost entirely consisted of officers. the well-known manifesto, published by the duke of brunswick on his entrance into france, and in which he declared his intention to level paris with the ground should the french refuse to submit to the authority of their sovereign, was composed by renfner, the counsellor of the embassy at berlin. the emperor and frederick william, persuaded that fear would reduce the french to obedience, had approved of this manifesto, which was, on the contrary, disapproved of by the duke of brunswick, on account of its barbarity and its ill-accordance with the rules of war.[ ] he did not, however, withdraw his signature on its publication. the effect of this manifesto was that the french, instead of being struck with terror, were maddened with rage, deposed their king, proclaimed a republic, and flew to arms in order to defend their cities against the barbarians threatening them with destruction. the orleans party and the jacobins, who were in close alliance with the german illuminati, were at that time first able to gain the mastery and to supplant the noble-spirited constitutionalists. a prussian baron, anachasis cloots,[ ] was even elected in the national convention of the french republic, where he appeared as the advocate of the whole human race. these atheistical babblers, however, talked to little purpose, but the national pride of the troops, hastily levied and sent against the invaders, effected wonders. the delusion of the prussians was so complete that bischofswerder said to the officers, "do not purchase too many horses, the affair will soon be over"; and the duke of brunswick remarked, "gentlemen, not too much baggage, this is merely a military trip." the prussians, it is true, wondered that the inhabitants did not, as the emigrants had alleged they would, crowd to meet and greet them as their saviors and liberators, but at first they met with no opposition. the noble-spirited lafayette, who commanded the main body of the french army, had at first attempted to march upon paris for the purpose of saving the king, but the troops were already too much republicanized and he was compelled to seek refuge in the netherlands, where he was, together with his companions, seized by command of the emperor of austria, and thrown into prison at olmütz, where he remained during five years under the most rigorous treatment merely on account of the liberality of his opinions, because he wanted a constitutional king, and notwithstanding his having endangered his life and his honor in order to save his sovereign. such was the hatred with which high-minded men of strict principle were at that period viewed, while at the same time a negotiation was carried on with dumouriez,[ ] a characterless jacobin intriguant, who had succeeded lafayette in the command of the french armies. ferdinand of brunswick now became the dupe of dumouriez, as he had formerly been that of the emigrants. in the hope of a counter- revolution in paris, he procrastinated his advance and lost his most valuable time in the siege of fortresses. verdun fell: three beautiful citizens' daughters, who had presented bouquets to the king of prussia, were afterward sent to the guillotine by the republicans as traitoresses to their country. ferdinand, notwithstanding this success, still delayed his advance in the hope of gaining over the wily french commander and of thus securing beforehand his triumph in a contest in which his ancient fame might otherwise be at stake. the impatient king, who had accompanied the army, spurred him on, but was, owing to his ignorance of military matters, again pacified by the reasons alleged by the cautious duke. dumouriez, consequently, gained time to collect considerable reinforcements and to unite his forces with those under kellermann of alsace. the two armies came within sight of each other at valmy; the king gave orders for battle, and the prussians were in the act of advancing against the heights occupied by kellermann, when the duke suddenly gave orders to halt and drew off the troops under a loud _vivat_ from the french, who beheld this movement with astonishment. the king was at first greatly enraged, but was afterward persuaded by the duke of the prudence of this extraordinary step. negotiations were now carried on with increased spirit. dumouriez, who, like kaunitz, said that the french, if left to themselves, would inevitably fall a prey to intestine convulsions, also contrived to accustom the king to the idea of a future alliance with france. the result of these intrigues was an armistice and the retreat of the prussian army, which dysentery, bad weather, and bad roads rendered extremely destructive. austria was now, owing to the intrigues of the duke of brunswick and the credulity of frederick william, left unprotected. as early as june, old marshal lukner invaded flanders, but, being arrested on suspicion, was replaced by dumouriez, who continued the war in the netherlands and defeated the stadtholder, albert, duke of saxon- tescheu (son-in-law to maria theresa, in consideration of which he had been endowed with the principality of teschen and the stadtholdership at brussels), at jemappes, and the whole of the netherlands fell into the hands of the jacobins, who, on the th of november, entered brussels, where they proclaimed liberty and equality. a few days later ( th of november) the national convention at paris proclaimed liberty and equality to all nations, promised their aid to all those who asserted their liberty, and threatened to compel those who chose to remain in slavery to accept of liberty. as a preliminary, however, the netherlands, after being declared free, were ransacked of every description of movable property, of which pache, a native of freiburg in switzerland, at that time the french minister of war, received a large share. the fluctuations of the war, however, speedily recalled the jacobins. another french army under custines, which had marched to the upper rhine, gained time to take a firm footing in mayence. [footnote : to the archbishopric of cologne belonged the bishopric of strasburg, to the archbishopric of treves, the bishoprics of metz, toul, verdun, nancy, st. diez. würtemberg, baden, darmstadt, nassau, pfalz-zweibrücken, leiningen, salm-salm, hohenlohe-bartenstein, löwenstein, wertheim, the teutonic order, the knights of st. john, the immediate nobility of the empire, the bishop of basel, etc., had, moreover, feudal rights within the french territory. the arch- chancellor, elector of mayence, made the patriotic proposal to the imperial diet that the empire should, now that france had, by the violation of the conditions of peace, infringed the old and shameful treaties by which germany had been deprived of her provinces, seize the opportunity also on her part to refuse to recognize those treaties, and to regain what she had lost. this sensible proposal, however, found no one capable of carrying it into effect.] [footnote : his sons were the emperor francis ii., ferdinand, grandduke of tuscany, the archduke charles, celebrated for his military talents, joseph, palatine of hungary, antony, grand-master of the teutonic order, who died at vienna, a.d. , john, a general (he lived for many years in styria), the present imperial vicar-general of germany, and rayner, viceroy of milan.--_trans_.] [footnote : gentz, who afterward wrote so many manifestoes for austria, practically remarks that this celebrated manifesto was in perfect conformity with the intent and that the only fault committed was the non-fulfillment of the threats therein contained.] [footnote : from cleve. he compared himself with anacharsis the scythian, a barbarian, who visited greece for the sake of learning. he sacrificed the whole of his property to the revolution. followed by a troop of men dressed in the costumes of different nations, of whom they were the pretended representatives, he appeared before the convention, from which he demanded the liberation of the whole world from the yoke of kings and priests. he became president of the great jacobin club, and it was principally owing to his instigations that the french, at first merely intent upon defence, were roused to the attack and inspired with the desire for conquest.] [footnote : dumouriez proposed as negotiator john müller, who was at that time teaching at mayence, and who was in secret correspondence with him. vide memoirs of a celebrated statesman, edited by rüder. rüder remarks that john müller is silent in his autobiography concerning his correspondence with the jacobins, for which he might, under a change of circumstances, have had good reason.] ccxlvii. german jacobins in lorraine and alsace, the revolution had been hailed with delight by the long-oppressed people. on the th of july, , the peasants destroyed the park of the bishop, rohan, at zabern, and killed immense quantities of game. the chateaux and monasteries throughout the country were afterward reduced to heaps of ruins, and, in suntgau, the peasants took especial vengeance on the jews, who had, in that place, long lived on the fat of the land. mulhausen received a democratic constitution and a jacobin club. in strasburg, the town-house was assailed by the populace,[ ] notwithstanding which, order was maintained by the mayor, dietrich. the unpopular bishop, rohan, was replaced by brendel, against whom the people of colmar revolted, and even assaulted him in the church for having taken the oath imposed by the french republic, and which was rejected by all good catholics. dietrich, aided by the great majority of the citizens of strasburg, long succeeded in keeping the _sans culottes_ at bay, but was at length overcome, deprived of his office, and guillotined at paris, while eulogius schneider, who had formerly been a professor at bonn, then court preacher to the catholic duke, charles of wurtemberg,[ ] became the tyrant of strasburg, and, in the character of public accuser before the revolutionary tribunal, conducted the executions. the national convention at paris nominated as his colleague monet, a man twenty-four years of age, totally ignorant of the german language, and who merely made himself remarkable for his open rapacity.[ ] this was, however, a mere prelude to far greater horrors. two members of the convention, st. just and lebas, unexpectedly appeared at strasburg, declared that nothing had as yet been done, ordered the executions to take place on a larger scale, and, a.d. , imposed a fine of nine million livres on the already plundered city. the german costume and mode of writing were also prohibited; every sign, written in german, affixed to the houses, was taken down, and, finally, the whole of the city council and all the officers of the national guard were arrested and either exiled or guillotined, notwithstanding their zealous advocacy of revolutionary principles, on the charge of an understanding with austria, without proof, on a mere groundless suspicion, without being permitted to defend themselves, for the sole purpose of removing them out of the way in order to replace them with trueborn frenchmen, a parisian mob, who established themselves in the desolate houses. schneider and brendel continued to retain their places by means of the basest adulation. on the st of november, a great festival was solemnized in the minster, which had been converted into a temple of reason. the bust of marat, the most loathsome of all the monsters engendered by the revolution, was borne in solemn procession to the cathedral, before whose portals an immense fire was fed with pictures and images of the saints, crucifixes, priests' garments, and sacred vessels, among which brendel hurled his mitre. within the cathedral walls, schneider delivered a discourse in controversion of the christian religion, which he concluded by solemnly renouncing; a number of catholic ecclesiastics followed his example. all the statues and ecclesiastical symbols were piled in a rude heap at the foot of the great tower, which it was also attempted to pull down for the promotion of universal equality, an attempt which the extraordinary strength of the building and the short reign of revolutionary madness fortunately frustrated. all the more wealthy citizens had, meanwhile, been consigned either to the guillotine or to prison, and their houses filled with french bandits, who revelled in their wealth and dishonored their wives and daughters. eulogius schneider was compelled to seek at midnight for a wife, suspicion having already attached to him on account of his former profession. it was, however, too late. on the following morning, he was seized and sent to paris, where he was guillotined. all ecclesiastics, all schoolmasters, even the historian, friese, were, without exception, declared suspected and dragged to the prisons of besançon, where they suffered the harshest treatment at the hands of the commandant, prince charles of hesse. in strasburg, neumann, who had succeeded schneider as public accuser, raged with redoubled fury. the guillotine was ever at work, was illuminated during the night time, and was the scene of the orgies of the drunken bandits. on the advance of the french armies to the frontiers, the whole country was pillaged.[ ] in other places, where the plundering habits of the french had not cooled the popular enthusiasm, it still rose high, more particularly at mayence. this city, which had been rendered a seat of the muses by the elector, frederick charles, was in a state of complete demoralization. on the loss of strasburg, mayence, although the only remaining bulwark of germany, was entirely overlooked. the war had already burst forth; no imperial army had as yet been levied, and the fortifications of mayence were in the most shameful state of neglect. magazines had been established by the imperial troops on the left bank of the rhine, seemingly for the mere purpose of letting them fall into the hands of custine: but eight hundred austrians garrisoned mayence; the hessians, although numerically weak, were alone sincere in their efforts for the defence of germany. custine's advanced guard no sooner came in sight than the elector and all the higher functionaries fled to aschaffenburg. von gymnich, the commandant of mayence, called a council of war and surrendered the city, which was unanimously declared untenable by all present with the exception of eikenmaier, who, notwithstanding, went forthwith over to the french, and of andujar, the commander of the eight hundred austrians, with whom he instantly evacuated the place. the illuminati, who were here in great number, triumphantly opened the gates to the french, a.d. . the most extraordinary scenes were enacted. a society, the members of which preached the doctrines of liberty and equality, and at whose head stood the professors blau, wedekind, metternich, hoffmann, forster, the eminent navigator, the doctors böhmer and stamm, dorsch of strasburg, etc., chiefly men who had formerly been illuminati, was formed in imitation of the revolutionary jacobin club at paris.[ ] these people committed unheard-of follies. at first, notwithstanding their doctrine of equality, they were distinguished by a particular ribbon; the women, insensible to shame, wore girdles with long ends, on which the word "liberty" was worked in front, and the word "equality" behind. women, girt with sabres, danced franticly around tall trees of liberty, in imitation of those of france, and fired off pistols. the men wore monstrous mustaches in imitation of those of custine, whom, notwithstanding their republican notions, they loaded with servile flattery. as a means of gaining over the lower orders among the citizens, who with plain good sense opposed their apish tricks, the clubbists demolished a large stone, by which the archbishop adolphus had formerly sworn, "you, citizens of mayence, shall not regain your privileges until this stone shall melt." this, however, proved as little effective as did the production of a large book, in which every citizen, desirous of transforming the electorate of mayence into a republic, was requested to inscribe his name. notwithstanding the threat of being treated, in case of refusal, as slaves, the citizens and peasantry, plainly foreseeing that, instead of receiving the promised boon of liberty, they would but expose themselves to custine's brutal tyranny, withheld their signatures, and the clubbists finally established a republic under the protection of france without the consent of the people, removed all the old authorities, and, at the close of , elected dorsch, a remarkably diminutive, ill-favored man, who had formerly been a priest, president. the manner in which custine levied contributions in frankfort on the maine,[ ] was still less calculated to render the french popular in germany. cowardly as this general was, he, nevertheless, told the citizens of frankfort a truth that time has, up to the present period, confirmed. "you have beheld the coronation of the emperor of germany? well! you will not see another." two germans, natives of colmar in alsace, rewbel and hausmann, and a frenchman, merlin, all three members of the national convention, came to mayence for the purpose of conducting the defence of that city. they burned symbolically all the crowns, mitres, and escutcheons of the german empire, but were unable to induce the citizens of mayence to declare in favor of the republic. rewbel, infuriated at their opposition, exclaimed that he would level the city to the ground, that he should deem himself dishonored were he to waste another word on such slaves. a number of refractory persons were expelled from the city,[ ] and, on the th of march, , although three hundred and seventy of the citizens alone voted in its favor, a teuto-rhenish national convention, under the presidency of hoffmann, was opened at mayence and instantly declared in favor of the union of the new republic with france. forster, in other respects a man of great elevation of mind, forgetful, in his enthusiasm, of all national pride, personally carried to paris the scandalous documents in which the french were humbly entreated to accept of a province of the german empire. the prussians, who had remained in luxemburg (without aiding the austrians), meanwhile advanced to the rhine, took coblentz, which custine had neglected to garrison (a neglect for which he afterward lost his head), repulsed a french force under bournonville, when on the point of forming a junction with custine, at treves, expelled custine from frankfort,[ ] and closely besieged mayence, which, after making a valiant defence, was compelled to capitulate in july. numbers of the clubbists fled, or were saved by the french, when evacuating the city, in the disguise of soldiers. others were arrested and treated with extreme cruelty. every clubbist, or any person suspected of being one, received five and twenty lashes in the presence of kalkreuth, the prussian general. metternich was, together with numerous others, carried off, chained fast between the horses of the hussars, and, whenever he sank from weariness, spurred on at the sabre point. blau had his ears boxed by the prussian minister, stein.[ ] a similar reaction took place at worms,[ ] spires, etc. the german jacobins suffered the punishment amply deserved by all those who look for salvation from the foreigner. those who had barely escaped the vengeance of the prussian on the rhine were beheaded by their pretended good friends in france. robespierre, an advocate, who, at that period, governed the convention, sent every foreigner who had enrolled himself as a member of the jacobin club to the guillotine, as a suspicious person, a bloody but instructive lesson to all unpatriotic german gallomanists.[ ] the victims who fell on this occasion were, a prince of salm-kyrburg, who had voluntarily republicanized his petty territory, anacharsis cloots,[ ] and the venerable trenk, who had so long pined in frederick's prisons. adam lux, a friend of george forster, was also beheaded for expressing his admiration of charlotte corday, the murderess of marat. marat was a prussian subject, being a native of neufchâtel. göbel von bruntrut, uncle to rengger,[ ] a celebrated character in the subsequent swiss revolution, vicar-general of basel, a furious revolutionist, who had on that account been appointed bishop of paris, presented himself on the th of november, , at the bar of the convention as an associate of cloots, hebert, chaumette, etc., cast his mitre and other insignia of office to the ground, and placing the bonnet rouge on his head, solemnly renounced the christian faith and proclaimed that of "liberty and equality." the rest of the ecclesiastics were compelled to imitate his example; the christian religion was formally abolished and the worship of reason was established in its stead. half-naked women were placed upon the altars of the desecrated churches and worshipped as "goddesses of reason." göbel's friend, pache, a native of freiburg, a creature abject as himself, was particularly zealous, as was also proli, a natural son of the austrian minister, kaunitz. prince charles of hesse, known among the jacobins as charles hesse, fortunately escaped. schlaberndorf,[ ] a silesian count, who appears to have been a mere spectator, and oelsner, a distinguished author, were equally fortunate. these two latter remained in paris. reinhard, a native of wurtemberg, secretary to the celebrated girondin, vergniaud, whom he is said to have aided in the composition of his eloquent speeches, remained in the service of france, was afterward ennobled and raised to the ministry. felix von wimpfen, whom the faction of the gironde (the moderates who opposed the savage jacobins) elected their general, and who, attempting to lead a small force from normandy against paris, was defeated and compelled to seek safety by flight. the venerable lukner, the associate of lafayette, who had termed the great revolution merely "a little occurrence in paris," was beheaded. the unfortunate george forster perceived his error and died of sorrow.[ ] among the other rhenish germans of distinction, who had at that time formed a connection with france, joseph görres brought himself, notwithstanding his extreme youth, into great note at coblentz by his superior talents. he went to paris as deputy of treves and speedily became known by his works (rubezahl and the red leaf). he also speedily discovered the immense mistake made by the germans in resting their hopes upon france. it was indeed a strange delusion to suppose the vain and greedy frenchman capable of being inspired with disinterested love for all mankind, and it was indeed a severe irony, that, after such repeated and cruel experience, after having for centuries seen the french ever in the guise of robbers and pillagers, and after breathing such loud complaints against the princes who had sold germany to france, that the warmest friends of the people should on this occasion be guilty of similar treachery, and, like selecting the goat for a gardener, entrust the weal of their country to the french. the people in germany too little understood the real motives and object of the french revolution, and were too soon provoked by the predatory incursions of the french troops, to be infected with revolutionary principles. these merely fermented among the literati; the utopian idea of universal fraternization was spread by freemasonry; numbers at first cherished a hope that the revolution would preserve a pure moral character, and were not a little astonished on beholding the monstrous crimes to which it gave birth. others merely rejoiced at the fall of the old and insupportable system, and numerous anonymous pamphlets in this spirit appeared in the rhenish provinces. fichte, the philosopher, also published an anonymous work in favor of the revolution. others again, as, for instance, reichard, girtanner, schirach, and hoffmann, set themselves up as informers, and denounced every liberal-minded man to the princes as a dangerous jacobin. a search was made for crypto-jacobins, and every honest man was exposed to the calumny of the servile newspaper editors. french republicanism was denounced as criminal, notwithstanding the favor in which the french language and french ideas were held at all the courts of germany. liberal opinions were denounced as criminal, notwithstanding the example first set by the courts in ridiculing religion, in mocking all that was venerable and sacred. nor was this reaction by any means occasioned by a burst of german patriotism against the tyranny of france, for the treaty of basel speedily reconciled the self-same newspaper editors with france. it was mere servility; and the hatred which, it may easily be conceived, was naturally excited against the french as a nation, was vented in this mode upon the patient germans,[ ] who were, unfortunately, ever doomed, whenever their neighbors were visited with some political chronic convulsion, to taste the bitter remedy. but few of the writers of the day took a historical view of the revolution and weighed its irremediable results in regard to germany, besides gentz, rehberg, and the baron von gagern, who published an "address to his countrymen," in which he started the painful question, "why are we germans disunited?" the whole of these contending opinions of the learned were, however, equally erroneous. it was as little possible to preserve the revolution from blood and immorality, and to extend the boon of liberty to the whole world, as it was to suppress it by force, and, as far as germany was concerned, her affairs were too complicated and her interests too scattered for any attempt of the kind to succeed. a doctor faust, at buckeburg, sent a learned treatise upon the origin of trousers to the national convention at paris, by which sansculottism had been introduced; an incident alone sufficient to show the state of feeling in germany at that time. the revolutionary principles of france merely infected the people in those parts of germany where their sufferings had ever been the greatest, as, for instance, in saxony, where the peasantry, oppressed by the game laws and the rights of the nobility, rose, after a dry summer by which their misery had been greatly increased, to the number of eighteen thousand, and sent one of their class to lay their complaints before the elector, a.d. . the unfortunate messenger was instantly consigned to a madhouse, where he remained until , and the peasantry were dispersed by the military. a similar revolt of the peasantry against the tyrannical nuns of wormelen, in westphalia, merely deserves mention as being characteristic of the times. a revolt of the peasantry, of equal unimportance, also took place in buckeburg, on account of the expulsion of three revolutionary priests, froriep, meyer, and rauschenbusch. in breslau, a great émeute, which was put down by means of artillery, was occasioned by the expulsion of a tailor's apprentice, a.d. . in austria, one hebenstreit formed a conspiracy, which brought him to the gallows, a.d. . that formed by martinowits, for the establishment of the sovereignty of the people in hungary and for the expulsion of the magnates, was of a more dangerous character. martinowits was beheaded, a.d. , with four of his associates.[ ] these attempts so greatly excited the apprehensions of the government that the reaction, already begun on the death of joseph ii., was brought at once to a climax; thugut, the minister, established an extremely active secret police and a system of surveillance, which spread terror throughout austria and was utterly uncalled for, no one, with the exception of a few crack-brained individuals, being in the slightest degree infected with the revolutionary mania.[ ] it may be recorded as a matter of curiosity that, during the bloodstained year of , the petty prince of schwarzburg-rudolstadt held, as though in the most undisturbed time of peace, a magnificent tournament, and the fetes customary on such an occasion. [footnote : oberlin, the celebrated philologist, an ornament to german learning, a professor at strasburg, rescued, at the risk of his life, a great portion of the ancient city archives, which had been thrown out of the windows, by re-collecting the documents with the aid of the students. on account of this sample of old german pedantry he pined, until , in durance vile at metz, and narrowly escaped being guillotined.] [footnote : at bonn he had the impudence to say to the elector, "i cannot pay you a higher compliment than by asserting you to be no catholic."--_van alpen_, _history of rhenish franconia_.] [footnote : he mulcted the brewers to the amount of , livres, "on account of their well-known avarice," the bakers and millers to that of , , a publican to that of , , a baker to that of , , "because he was an enemy of mankind," etc.--_vide friese's history of strasburg_.] [footnote : it was asserted that the jacobins had formed a plan to depopulate the whole of alsace, and to partition the country among the bravest soldiers belonging to the republican armies.] [footnote : john müller played a remarkable part. this thoroughly deceptive person had, by his commendation of the ancient swiss in his affectedly written history of switzerland, gained the favor of the friends of liberty, and, at the same time, that of the nobility by his encomium on the degenerate swiss aristocracy. while with sentimental phrases and fine words he pretended to be one of the noblest of mankind, he was addicted to the lowest and most monstrous vices. his immorality brought him into trouble in switzerland, and the man, who had been, apparently, solely inspired with the love of republican liberty, now paid court, for the sake of gain, to foreign princes; the adulation that had succeeded so well with all the lordlings of switzerland was poured into the ears of all the potentates of europe. he even rose to great favor at rome by his flattery of the pope in a work entitled "the travels of the popes." he published the most virulent sophisms against the beneficial reforms of the emperor joseph, and cried up the league, for which he was well paid. he contrived, at the same time, to creep into favor with the illuminati. he was employed by the elector of mayence to carry on negotiations with dumouriez, got into office under the french republic, and afterward revisited mayence for the express purpose of calling upon the citizens, at that time highly dissatisfied with the conduct of the french, to unite themselves with france. vide forster's correspondence. dumouriez shortly afterward went over to the austrians, and müller suddenly appeared at vienna, adorned with a title and in the character of an aulic councillor.] [footnote : while in his proclamations he swore by all that was sacred (what was so to a frenchman?) to respect the property of the citizens and that france coveted no extension of territory.] [footnote : forster was so blinded at that time by his enthusiasm that he wrote, "all of those among us who refuse the citizenship of france are to be expelled the city, even if complete depopulation should be the result." he relates: "i summoned, at grunstadt, the counts von leiningen to acknowledge themselves citizens of france. they protested against it, caballed, instigated the citizens peasantry to revolt; one of my soldiers was attacked and wounded. i demanded a reinforcement, took possession of both the castles, and placed the counts under guard. to-day i sent them with an escort to landau. this has been a disagreeable duty, but we must reduce every opponent of the good cause to obedience."] [footnote : where the weak garrison left by the french was disarmed by the workmen.] [footnote : either the prussian minister who afterward gained such celebrity or one of his relations.] [footnote : here skekuly forced the german clubbists, with the lash, to cut down the tree of liberty.] [footnote : forster wrote from paris, "suspicion hangs over every foreigner, and the essential distinctions which ought to be made in this respect are of no avail." thus did nature, by whom nations are eternally separated, avenge herself on the fools who had dreamed of universal equality.] [footnote : cloots had incessantly preached war, threatened all the kings of the earth with destruction, and, in his vanity, had even set a price upon the head of the prussian monarch. his object was the union of the whole of mankind, the abolition of nationality. the french were to receive a new name, that of "universel." he preached in the convention: "i have struggled during the whole of my existence against the powers of heaven and earth. there is but one god, nature, and but one sovereign, mankind, the people, united by reason in one universal republic. religion is the last obstacle, but the time has arrived for its destruction. j'occupe la tribune de l'univers. je le repète, le genre humain est dieu, le _peuple dieu_. quiconque a la débilité de croire en dieu ne sauroit avoir la sagacité de connaitre le genre humain, le souverain unique," etc.--_moniteur of_ , no. . he also subscribed himself the "personal enemy of je«us of nazareth."] [footnote : whose nephew, the celebrated traveller, rengger, was, with bonpland, so long imprisoned in paraguay.] [footnote : he had been already imprisoned and was ordered to the guillotine, but not being able to find his boots quickly enough, his execution was put off until the morrow. during the night, robespierre fell, and his life was saved. he continued to reside at paris, where he never quitted his apartment, cherished his beard, and associated solely with ecclesiastics.] [footnote : after an interview with his wife, theresa (daughter to the great philologist, heyne of grottingen), on the french frontier, he returned to paris and killed himself by drinking aquafortis. vide crome's autobiography. theresa entered into association with huber, the journalist, whom she shortly afterward married. she gained great celebrity by her numerous romances.] [footnote : the popular work "huergelmer" relates, among other things, the conduct of the margrave of baden toward lauchsenring, his private physician, whom he, on account of the liberality of his opinions, delivered over to the austrian general, who sentenced him to the bastinado.] [footnote : schnelter says: "the first great conspiracy was formed in the vicinity of the throne, a.d. . the chief conspirator was hebenstreit, the commandant, who held, by his office, the keys to the arsenal, and had every place of importance in his power. his fellow conspirators were prandstätter, the magistrate and poet, who, by his superior talents, led the whole of the magistracy, and possessed great influence in the metropolis, professor riedl, who possessed the confidence of the court, which he frequented for the purpose of instructing some of the principal personages, and häckel, the merchant, who had the management of its pecuniary affairs. the rest of the conspirators belonged to every class of society and were spread throughout every province of the empire. the plan consisted in the establishment of a democratic constitution, the first step to which appears to have been an attempt against the life of the imperial family. the signal for insurrection was to be given by firing the immense wood-yards. the hearts of the people were to be gained by the destruction of the government accounts. the discovery was made through a conspiracy formed in denmark. the chief conspirator was seized and sent to the gallows. the rest were exiled to munkatch, where several of them had succumbed to the severity of their treatment and of the climate when their release was effected by bonaparte by the peace of campo formio, which gave rise to the supposition that the hebenstreit conspiracy was connected with the french republicans and jacobins. the second conspiracy was laid in hungary, by the bishop and abbot, josephus ignatius martinowits, a man whom the emperors joseph, leopold, and francis had, on account of his talent and energy, loaded with favors. the plan was an _actionalis conspiratio_, for the purpose of contriving an attempt against the sacred person of his majesty the king, the destruction of the power of the privileged classes in hungary, the subversion of the administration, and the establishment of a democracy. the means for the execution of this project were furnished by two secret societies." huergelmer relates: "a certain dr. plank somewhat thoughtlessly ridiculed the institution of the jubilee; in order to convince him of its utility, he was sent as a recruit to the italian army, an act that was highly praised by the newspapers." on the d of july, , a baron von riedel was placed in the pillory at vienna for some political crime, and was afterward consigned to the oblivion of a dungeon; the same fate, some days later, befell brand-btetter, fellesneck, billeck, ruschitiski (ephemeridae of ). a baron taufner was hanged at vienna as a traitor to his country (e. of ).] [footnote : "the increase of crime occasioned by the artifices of the police, who thereby gained their livelihood, rendered an especial statute, prohibitory of such measures, necessary in the new legislature. even the passing stranger perceived the disastrous effect of their intrigues upon the open, honest character and the social habits of the viennese. the police began gradually to be considered as a necessary part of the machine of government, a counterbalance to or a remedy for the faults committed by other branches of the administration. large sums, the want of which was heavily felt in the national education and in the army, were expended on this arsenal of poisoned weapons."--_hormayr's pocket-book_, . thugut is described as a diminutive, hunchbacked old man, with a face resembling the mask of a fawn and with an almost satanic expression.] ccxlviii. loss of the left bank of the rhine the object of the prussian king was either to extend his conquests westward or, at all events, to prevent the advance of austria. the war with france claimed his utmost attention, and, in order to guard his rear, he again attempted to convert poland into a bulwark against russia. his ambassador, lucchesini, drove stackelberg, the russian envoy, out of warsaw, and promised mountains of gold to the poles, who dissolved the perpetual council associated by russia with the sovereign, freed themselves from the russian guarantee; aided by prussia, compelled the russian troops to evacuate the country; devised a constitution, which they laid before the cabinets of london and berlin; concluded an offensive and defensive alliance with prussia on the th of march, , and, on the d of may, , carried into effect the new constitution ratified by england and prussia, and approved of by the emperor leopold. during the conference, held at pilnitz, the indivisibility of poland was expressly mentioned. the constitution was monarchical. poland was, for the future, to be a hereditary instead of an elective monarchy, and, on the death of poniatowsky, the crown was to fall to saxony. the modification of the peasants' dues and the power conceded to the serf of making a private agreement with his lord also gave the monarchy a support against the aristocracy. catherine of russia, however, no sooner beheld prussia and austria engaged in a war with france, than she commenced her operations against poland, declared the new polish constitution french and jacobinical, notwithstanding its abolition of the _liberum veto_ and its extension of the prerogatives of the crown, and, taking advantage of the king's absence from prussia, speedily regained possession of the country. what was frederick william's policy in this dilemma? he was strongly advised to make peace with france, to throw himself at the head of the whole of his forces into poland, and to set a limit to the insolence of the autocrat; but--he feared, should he abandon the rhine, the extension of the power of austria in that quarter, and-- calculating that catherine, in order to retain his friendship, would cede to him a portion of her booty,[ ] unhesitatingly broke the faith he had just plighted with the poles, suddenly took up catherine's tone, declared the constitution he had so lately ratified jacobinical, and despatched a force under mollendorf into poland in order to secure possession of his stipulated prey. by the second partition of poland, which took place as rapidly, as violently, and, on account of the assurances of the prussian monarch, far more unexpectedly than the first, russia received the whole of lithuania, podolia, and the ukraine, and prussia, thorn and dantzig, besides southern prussia (posen and calisch). austria, at that time fully occupied with france, had no participation in this robbery, which was, as it were, committed behind her back. affairs had worn a remarkably worse aspect since the campaign of . the french had armed themselves with all the terrors of offended nationalism and of unbounded, intoxicating liberty. all the enemies of the revolution within the french territory were mercilessly exterminated, and hundreds of thousands were sacrificed by the guillotine, a machine invented for the purpose of accelerating the mode of execution. the king was beheaded in this manner in the january of , and the queen shared a similar fate in the ensuing october.[ ] while robespierre directed the executions, carnot undertook to make preparations for war, and, in the very midst of this immense fermentation, calmly converted france into an enormous camp, and more than a million frenchmen, as if summoned by magic from the clod, were placed under arms. the sovereigns of europe also prepared for war, and, a.d. , formed the first great coalition, at whose head stood england, intent upon the destruction of the french navy. the english, aided by a large portion of the french population devoted to the ancient monarchy, attacked france by sea, and made a simultaneous descent on the northern and southern coasts. the spanish and portuguese troops crossed the pyrenees; the italian princes invaded the alpine boundary; austria, prussia, holland, and the german empire threatened the rhenish frontier, while sweden and russia stood frowning in the background. the whole of christian europe took up arms against france, and enormous armies hovered, like vultures, around their prey. the duke of coburg commanded the main body of the austrians in the netherlands, where he was at first merely opposed by the old french army, whose general, dumouriez, after unsuccessfully grasping at the supreme power, entered into a secret agreement with the coalition, allowed himself to be defeated at aldenhovenl[ ] and neerwinden, and finally deserted to the austrians. at this moment, when the french army was dispirited by defeat and without a leader, coburg, who had been reinforced by the english and dutch under the duke of york, might, by a hasty advance, have taken paris by surprise, but both the english and austrian generals solely owed the command, for which they were totally unfit, to their high birth, and colonel mack, the most prominent character among the officers of the staff, was a mere theoretician, who could cleverly enough conduct a campaign--upon paper. clairfait, the austrian general, beat the disbanded french army under dampiere at famars, but temporized instead of following up his victory. coburg, in the hope of the triumph of the moderate party, the girondins, published an extremely mild and peaceable proclamation, which, on the fall of the gironde, was instantly succeeded by one of a more threatening character, which his want of energy and decision in action merely rendered ridiculous. no vigorous attack was made, nor was even a vigorous defence calculated upon, not one of the frontier forts in the netherlands, demolished by joseph ii., having been rebuilt. the coalition foolishly trusted that the french would be annihilated by their inward convulsions, while they were in reality seizing the opportunity granted by the tardiness of their foes to levy raw recruits and exercise them in arms. the principal error, however, lay in the system of conquest pursued by both austria and england. conde, valenciennes, and all towns within the french territory taken by coburg, were compelled to take a formal oath of allegiance to austria, and england made, as the condition of her aid, that of the austrians for the conquest of dunkirk. the siege of this place, which was merely of importance to england in a mercantile point of view, retained the armies of coburg and york, and the french were consequently enabled, in the meantime, to concentrate their scattered forces and to act on the offensive. ere long, houchard and jourdan pushed forward with their wild masses, which, at first undisciplined and unsteady, were merely able to screen themselves from the rapid and sustained fire of the british by acting as tirailleurs (a mode of warfare successfully practiced by the north americans against the serried ranks of the english), became gradually bolder, and finally, by their numerical strength and republican fury, gained a complete triumph. houchard, in this manner, defeated the english at hondscoten (september th), and jourdan drove the austrians off the field at wattignies on the th of october, the day on which the french queen was beheaded. coburg, although the austrians had maintained their ground on every other point, resolved to retreat, notwithstanding the urgent remonstrances of the youthful archduke, charles, who had greatly distinguished himself. during the retreat, an unimportant victory was gained at menin by beaulieu, the imperial general.[ ] his colleague, wurmser, nevertheless maintained with extreme difficulty the line extending from basel to luxemburg, which formed the prussian outposts. a french troop under delange advanced as far as aix-la-chapelle, where they crowned the statue of charlemagne with a bonnet rouge. mayence was, during the first six months of this year, besieged by the main body of the prussian army under the command of ferdinand, duke of brunswick. the austrians, when on their way past mayence to valenciennes with a quantity of heavy artillery destined for the reduction of the latter place (which they afterward compelled to do homage to the emperor), refusing the request of the king of prussia for its use _en passant_ for the reduction of mayence, greatly displeased that monarch, who clearly perceived the common intention of england and austria to conquer the north of france to the exclusion of prussia, and consequently revenged himself by privately partitioning poland with russia, and refusing his assistance to general wurmser in the vosges country. the dissensions between the allies again rendered their successes null. the prussians, after the conquest of mayence, a.d. , advanced and beat the fresh masses led against them by moreau at pirmasens, but frederick william, disgusted with austria and secretly far from disinclined to peace with france, quitted the army (which he maintained in the field, merely from motives of honor, but allowed to remain in a state of inactivity), in order to visit his newly acquired territory in poland. the gallant old wurmser was a native of alsace, where he had some property, and fought meritoriously for the german cause, while so many of his countrymen at that time ranged themselves on the side of the french.[ ] his position on the celebrated weissenburg line was, owing to the non-assistance of the prussians, replete with danger, and he consequently endeavored to supply his want of strength by striking his opponents with terror. his croats, the notorious _rothmantler_, are charged with the commission of fearful deeds of cruelty. owing to his system of paying a piece of gold for every frenchman's head, they would rush, when no legitimate enemy could be encountered, into the first large village at hand, knock at the windows and strike off the heads of the inhabitants as they peeped out. the petty principalities on the german side of the rhine also complained of the treatment they received from the austrians. but how could it be otherwise? the empire slothfully cast the whole burden of the war upon austria. many of the princes were terror-stricken by the french, while others meditated an alliance with that power, like that formerly concluded between them and louis xiv. against the empire. bavaria alone was, but with great difficulty, induced to furnish a contingent. the weak imperial free towns met with most unceremonious treatment at the hands of austria. they were deprived of their artillery and treated with the utmost contempt. it often happened that the aristocratic magistracy, as, for instance, at ulm, sided with the soldiery against the citizens. the slothful bishops and abbots of the empire were, on the other hand, treated with the utmost respect by the catholic soldiery. the infringement of the law of nations by the arrest of semonville, the french ambassador to constantinople, and of maret, the french ambassador to naples, and the seizure of their papers on neutral ground, in the valtelline, by austria, created a far greater sensation. the duke of brunswick, who had received no orders to retreat, was compelled, _bongre-malgre_, to hazard another engagement with the french, who rushed to the attack. he was once more victorious, at kaiserslautern, over hoche, whose untrained masses were unable to withstand the superior discipline of the prussian troops. wurmser took advantage of the moment when success seemed to restore the good humor of the allies to coalesce with the prussians, dragging the unwilling bavarians in his train. this junction, however, merely had the effect of disclosing the jealousy rankling on every side. the greatest military blunders were committed and each blamed the other. landau ought to and might have been rescued from the french, but this step was procrastinated until the convention had charged generals hoche and pichegru, "landau or death." these two generals brought a fresh and numerous army into the field, and, in the very first engagements, at worth and froschweiler, the bavarians ran away and the austrians and prussians were signally defeated. the retreat of wurmser, in high displeasure, across the rhine afforded a welcome pretext to the duke of brunswick to follow his example and even to resign the command of the army to mollendorf. in this shameful manner was the left bank of the rhine lost to germany. in the spring of the ensuing year, , the emperor francis ii. visited the netherlands in person, with the intent of pushing straight upon paris. this project, practicable enough during the preceding campaign, was, however, now utterly out of the question, the more so on account of the retreat of the prussians. the french observed on this occasion with well-merited scorn: "the allies are ever an idea, a year and an army behindhand." the austrians, nevertheless, attacked the whole french line in march and were at first victorious on every side, at catillon, where kray and wernek distinguished themselves, and at landrecis, where the archduke charles made a brilliant charge at the head of the cavalry. landrecis was taken. but this was all. clairfait, whose example might have animated the inactive duke of york, being left unsupported by the british, was attacked singly at courtray by pichegru and forced to yield to superior numbers. coburg fought an extremely bloody but indecisive battle at doornik (tournay), where pichegru ever opposed fresh masses to the austrian artillery. twenty thousand dead strewed the field. the youthful emperor, discouraged by the coldness displayed by the dutch, whom he had expected to rise _en masse_ in his cause, returned to vienna. his departure and the inactivity of the british commander completely dispirited the austrian troops, and on the th of june, ,[ ] the duke of coburg was defeated at fleurus by jourdan, the general of the republic. this success was immediately followed by that of pichegru, not far from breda, over the inefficient english general,[ ] who consequently evacuated the netherlands, which were instantly overrun by the pillaging french. and thus had the german powers, notwithstanding their well-disciplined armies and their great plans, not only forfeited their military honor, but also drawn the enemy, and, in his train, anarchy with its concomitant horrors, into the empire. the austrians had rendered themselves universally unpopular by their arbitrary measures, and each province remained stupidly indifferent to the threatened pillage of its neighbor by the victorious french. jourdan but slowly tracked the retreating forces of coburg, whom he again beat at sprimont, where he drove him from the maese, and at aldenhoven, where he drove him from the roer. frederick, landgrave of hesse-cassel, capitulated at maestricht, with ten thousand men, to kleber; and the austrians, with the exception of a small corps under the count von erbach, stationed at düsseldorf, completely abandoned the lower rhine. the disasters suffered by the austrians seem at that time to have flattered the ambition of the prussians, for mollendorf suddenly recrossed the rhine and gained an advantage at kaiserslautern, but was, in july, , again repulsed at trippstadt, notwithstanding which he once more crossed the rhine in september, and a battle was won by the prince von hohenlohe-ingelfingen at fischbach, but, on the junction of jourdan with hoche, who had until then singly opposed him, mollendorf again, and for the last time, retreated across the rhine. the whole of the left bank of the rhine, luxemburg and mayence alone excepted, were now in the hands of the french. resius, the hessian general, abandoned the rheinfels with the whole garrison, without striking a blow in its defence. he was, in reward, condemned to perpetual imprisonment.[ ] jourdan converted the fortress into a ruined heap. the whole of the fortifications on the rhine were yielded for the sake of saving mannheim from bombardment. in the austrian netherlands, the old government had already been abolished, and the whole country been transformed into a belgian republic by dumouriez. the reform of all the ancient evils, so vainly attempted but a few years before by the noble-spirited emperor, joseph ii., was successfully executed by this insolent frenchman, who also abolished with them all that was good in the ancient system. the city deputies, it is true, made an energetic but futile resistance.[ ] after the flight of dumouriez, fresh depredations were, with every fresh success, committed by the french. liege was reduced to the most deplorable state of desolation, the cathedral and thirty splendid churches were levelled with the ground by the ancient enemies of the bishop. treves was also mercilessly sacked and converted into a french fortress. [footnote : prussia chiefly coveted the possession of dantzig, which the poles refused to give or the english to grant to him, and which he could only seize by the aid of russia.] [footnote : after having been long retained in prison, ill fed and ill clothed, after supporting, with unbending dignity, the unmanly insults of the republican mob before whose tribunal she was dragged. the young dauphin expired under the ill-treatment he received from his guardian, a shoemaker. his sister, the present duchess d'angouleme, was spared.] [footnote : where the peasantry, infuriated at the depredations of the french, cast the wounded and the dead indiscriminately into a trench.--_benzenberg's letters._ ] [footnote : the hanoverian general, hammerstein, and his adjutant scharnhorst, who afterward became so noted, made a gallant defence. when the city became no longer tenable, they boldly sallied forth at the head of the garrison and escaped.] [footnote : rewbel, one of the five directors of the great french republic, and several of the most celebrated french generals, germany's unwearied foes, were natives of alsace, as, for instance, the gallant westermann, one of the first leaders of the republican armies; the intrepid kellermann, the soldiers' father; the immortal kleber, generalissimo of the french forces in egypt, who fell by the dagger of a fanatical mussulman; and the undaunted rapp, the hero of dantzig. the lion-hearted ney, justly designated by the french as the bravest of the brave, was a native of lorraine. these were, one and all, men of tried metal, but whose german names induce the demand, "why did they fight for france?" wurmser belonged to the same old strasburg family which had given birth to wurmser, the celebrated court-painter of the emperor, charles iv. ] [footnote : the austrian generals beaulieu, quosdanowich, and the archduke charles, who, at that period, laid the foundation to his future fame, had pushed victoriously forward and taken fleurus, when the ill-tuned orders, as they are deemed, of the generalissimo coburg compelled them to retreat. quosdanowich dashed his sabre furiously on the ground and exclaimed, "the army is betrayed, the victory is ours, and yet we must resign it. adieu, thou glorious land, thou garden of europe, the house of austria bids thee eternally adieu!" the french had, before and during the action, made use of a balloon for the purpose of watching the movements of the enemy.] [footnote : the worst spirit prevailed among the british troops; the officers were wealthy young men, who had purchased their posts and were, in the highest degree, licentious. vide dietfurth's hessian campaigns.] [footnote : peter hammer, in his "description of the imperial army," published, a.d. , at cologne, graphically depictures the sad state of the empire. the imperial troops consisted of the dregs of the populace, so variously arranged as to justify the remark of colonel sandberg of baden that the only thing wanting was their regular equipment as jack-puddings. a monastery furnished two men; a petty barony, the ensign; a city, the captain. the arms of each man differed in calibre. no patriotic spirit animated these defenders of the empire. an anonymous author remarks: "for love of one's country to be felt, there must, first of all, be a country; but germany is split into petty useless monarchies, chiefly characterized by their oppression of their subjects, by pride, slavery, and unutterable weakness. formerly, when germany was attacked, each of her sons made ready for battle, her princes were patriotic and brave. now, may heaven have pity on the land; the princes, the counts, and nobles march hence and leave their country to its fate. the margrave of baden--i do not speak of the prince bishop of spires and of other spiritual lords whose profession forbids their laying hand to sword--the landgrave of darmstadt and other nobles fled on the mere report of an intended visit from the french, by which they plainly intimated that they merely held sovereign rule for the purpose of being fattened by their subjects in time of peace. danger no sooner appears than the miserable subject is left to his own resources. _germany is divided into too many petty states._ how can an elector of the pfalz, or indeed any of the still lesser nobility, protect the country? unity, moreover, is utterly wanting. the bavarian regards the hessian as a stranger, not as his countryman. each petty territory has a different tariff, administration, and laws. the subject of one petty state cannot travel half a mile into a neighboring one without leaving behind him great part of his property. the bishop of spires strictly forbids his subjects to intermarry with those of any other state. and patriotism is expected to result from these measures! the subject of a despot, whose revenues exceed those of his neighbors by a few thousand florins, looks down with contempt on the slave of a poorer prince. hence the boundless hatred between the german courts and their petty brethren, hence the malicious joy caused by the mishaps of a neighboring dynasty." hence the wretchedness of the troops. "with the exception of the troops belonging to the circle there were none to defend the frontiers of the empire. grandes battues, balls, operas, and mistresses, swallowed up the revenue, not a farthing remained for the erection of fortresses, the want of which was so deeply felt for the defence of the frontiers."] [footnote : "how can france, with her solemn assurances of liberty, arbitrarily interfere with the government of a country already possessing a representative elected by the people? how can she proclaim us as a free nation, and, at the same moment, deprive us of our liberty? will she establish a new mythology of nations, and divide the different peoples on the face of the earth, according to their strength, into nations and demi-nations?"--_protest of the provisional council of the city of brussels. the president, theodore dotrenge._ "every free nation gives to itself laws, does not receive them from another."--_protest of the city of antwerp, president of the council, van dun._ "you confiscate alike public and private property. that have even our former tyrants never ventured to do when declaring us rebels, and you say that you bring to us liberty."--_protest of the hennegau._ the most copious account of the revolutionizing of the netherlands is contained in rau's history of the germans in france, and of the french in germany. frankfort on the maine, and .] ccxlix. the defection of prussia--the archduke charles frederick william's advisers, who imagined the violation of every principle of justice and truth an indubitable proof of instinctive and consummate prudence, unwittingly played a high and hazardous game. their diplomatic absurdity, which weighed the fate of nations against a dinner, found a confusion of all the solid principles on which states rest as stimulating as the piquant ragouts of the great ude. lucchesini, under his almost intolerable airs of sapience, as artfully veiled his incapacity in the cabinet as ferdinand of brunswick did his in the field, and to this may be ascribed the measures which but momentarily and seemingly aggrandized prussia and prepared her deeper fall. each petty advantage gained by prussia but served to raise against her some powerful foe, and finally, when placed by her policy at enmity with every sovereign of europe, she was induced to trust to the shallow friendship of the french republic. the poles, taken unawares by the second partition of their country, speedily recovered from their surprise and collected all their strength for an energetic opposition. kosciuszko, who had, together with lafayette, fought in north america in the cause of liberty, armed his countrymen with scythes, put every russian who fell into his hands to death, and attempted the restoration of ancient poland. how easily might not prussia, backed by the enthusiasm of the patriotic poles, have repelled the russian colossus, already threatening europe! but the berlin diplomatists had yet to learn the homely truth, that "honesty is the best policy." they aided in the aggrandizement of russia, drew down a nation's curse upon their heads for the sake of an addition to the territory of prussia, the maintenance of which cost more than its revenue, and violated the divine commands during a period of storm and convulsion, when the aid of heaven was indeed required. the ministers of frederick william ii. were externally religious, but those of frederick william i., by whom the polish question had been so justly decided, were so in reality. the king led his troops in person into poland. in june, , he defeated kosciuszko's scythemen at szczekociny, but met with such strenuous opposition in his attack upon warsaw as to be compelled to retire in september.[ ] on the retreat of the prussian troops, the russians, who had purposely awaited their departure in order to secure the triumph for themselves, invaded the country in great force under their bold general, suwarow, who defeated kosciuszko, took him prisoner, and besieged warsaw, which he carried by storm. on this occasion, termed by reichardt "a peaceful and merciful entry of the clement victor," eighteen thousand of the inhabitants of every age and sex were cruelly put to the sword. the result of this success was the third partition or utter annihilation of poland. russia took possession of the whole of lithuania and volhynia, as far as the riemen and the bug; prussia, of the whole country west of the riemen, including warsaw; austria, of the whole country south of the bug, a.d. . an army of german officials, who earned for themselves not the best of reputations, settled in the prussian division: they were ignorant of the language of the country, and enriched themselves by tyranny and oppression. von treibenfeld, the counsellor to the forest-board, one of bischofswerder's friends, bestowed a number of confiscated lands upon his adherents. the ancient polish feof of courland was, in consequence of the annihilation of poland, incorporated with the russian empire, peter, the last duke, the son of biron, being compelled to abdicate, a.d. . pichegru invaded holland late in the autumn of . the duke of york had already returned to england. a line of defence was, nevertheless, taken up by the british under wallmoden, by the dutch under their hereditary stadtholder, william v. of orange, and by an austrian corps under alvinzi; the dutch were, however, panic-struck, and negotiated a separate treaty with pichegru,[ ] who, at that moment, solely aimed at separating the dutch from their allies; but when, in december, all the rivers and canals were suddenly frozen, and nature no longer threw insurmountable obstacles in his path, regardless of the negotiations then pending in paris, he unexpectedly took up arms, marched across the icebound waters, and carried holland by storm. with him marched the anti-orangemen, the exiled dutch patriots, under general daendels and admiral de winter, with the pretended view of restoring ancient republican liberty to holland and of expelling the tyrannical orange dynasty. the british (and some hessian troops) were defeated at thiel on the waal; alvinzi met with a similar fate at pondern, and was compelled to retreat into westphalia. some english ships, which lay frozen up in the harbor, were captured by the french hussars. a most manly resistance was made; but no aid was sent from any quarter. prussia, who so shortly before had ranged herself on the side of the stadtholder against the people, was now an indifferent spectator. william v. was compelled to flee to england. holland was transformed into a batavian republic. hahn, hoof, etc., were the first furious jacobins by whom everything was there formed upon the french model. the dutch were compelled to cede maestricht, venloo, and vliessingen; to pay a hundred millions to france, and, moreover, to allow their country to be plundered, to be stripped of all the splendid works of art, pictures, etc. (as was also the case in the netherlands and on the rhine), and even of the valuable museum of natural curiosities collected by them with such assiduity in every quarter of the globe. these depredations were succeeded by a more systematic mode of plunder. holland was mercilessly drained of her enormous wealth. all the gold and silver bullion was first of all collected; this was followed by the imposition of an income-tax of six per cent, which was afterward repeated, and was succeeded by an income-tax on a sliding scale from three to thirty per cent. the british, at the same time, destroyed the dutch fleet in the texel commanded by de winter, in order to prevent its capture by the french, and seized all the dutch colonies, java alone excepted. the flag of holland had vanished from the seas. in august, , the reign of terror in france reached its close. the moderate party which came into power gave hopes of a general peace, and frederick william ii without loss of time negotiated a separate treaty, suddenly abandoned the monarchical cause which he had formerly so zealously upheld, and offered his friendship to the revolutionary nation, against which he had so lately hurled a violent manifesto. the french, with equal inconsistency on their part, abandoned the popular cause, and, after having murdered their own sovereign and threatened every european throne with destruction, accepted the alliance of a foreign king. both parties, notwithstanding the contrariety of their principles and their mutual animosity, were conciliated by their political interest. the french, solely bent upon conquest, cared not for the liberty of other nations; prussia, intent upon self- aggrandizement, was indifferent to the fate of her brother sovereigns. peace was concluded between france and prussia at basel, april , . by a secret article of this treaty, prussia confirmed the french republic in the possession of the whole of the left bank of the rhine, while france in return richly indemnified prussia at the expense of the petty german states. this peace, notwithstanding its manifest disadvantages, was also acceded to by austria, which, on this occasion, received the unfortunate daughter of louis xvi. in exchange for semonville and maret, the captive ambassadors of the republic, and the members of the convention seized by dumouriez. hanover[ ] and hesse-cassel participated in the treaty and were included within the line of demarcation, which france, on her side, bound herself not to transgress. the countries lying beyond this line of demarcation, the netherlands, holland, and pfalz-juliers, were now abandoned to france, and austria, kept in check on the upper rhine, was powerless in their defence. in this manner fell luxemburg and düsseldorf. all the lower rhenish provinces were systematically plundered by the french under pretext of establishing liberty and equality.[ ] the batavian republic was permitted to subsist, but dependent upon france; belgium was annexed to france, a.d. . on the retreat of the prussians, mannheim was surrendered without a blow by the electoral minister, oberndorf, to the french. wurmser arrived too late to the relief of the city. quosdanowich, his lieutenant-general, nevertheless, succeeded in saving heidelberg by sheltering himself behind a great abatis at handschuchsheion, whence he repulsed the enemy, who were afterward almost entirely cut to pieces by general klenau, whom he sent in pursuit with the light cavalry. general boros led another austrian corps across nassau to ehrenbreitstein, at that time besieged by the french under their youthful general, marceau, who instantly retired. wurmser no sooner arrived in person than, attacking the french before mannheim, he completely put them to the rout and took general oudinot prisoner. clairfait, at the same time, advanced unperceived upon mayence, and unexpectedly attacking the besieging french force, carried off one hundred and thirty-eight pieces of heavy artillery. pichegru, who had been called from holland to take the command on the upper rhine, was driven back to the vosges. jourdan advanced to his aid from the lower rhine, but his vanguard under marceau was defeated at kreuznach and again at meissenheim. mannheim also capitulated to the austrians. the winter was now far advanced; both sides were weary of the campaign, and an armistice was concluded. austria, notwithstanding her late success, was, owing to the desertion of prussia, in a critical position. the imperial troops also refused to act. the princes of southern germany longed for peace. even spain followed the example of prussia and concluded a treaty with the french republic. the consequent dissolution of the coalition between the german powers had at least the effect of preventing the formation of a coalition of nations against them by the french. had the alliance between the sovereigns continued, the french would, from political motives, have used their utmost endeavors to revolutionize germany; this project was rendered needless by the treaty of basel, which broke up the coalition and confirmed france in the undisturbed possession of her liberties; and thus it happened that prussia unwittingly aided the monarchical cause by involuntarily preventing the promulgation of the revolutionary principles of france. austria remained unshaken, and refused either to betray the monarchical cause by the recognition of a revolutionary democratical government, or to cede the frontiers of the empire to the youthful and insolent generals of the republic. conscious of the righteousness of the cause she upheld, she intrepidly stood her ground and ventured her single strength in the mighty contest, which the campaign of was to decide. the austrian forces in germany were commanded by the emperor's brother, the archduke charles; those in italy, by beaulieu. the french, on the other hand, sent jourdan to the lower rhine, moreau to the upper rhine, bonaparte to italy, and commenced the attack on every point with their wonted impetuosity. the austrians had again extended their lines as far as the lower rhine. a corps under prince ferdinand of würtemberg was stationed in the bergland, in the narrow corner still left between the rhine and the prussian line of demarcation. marceau forced him to retire as far as altenkirchen, but the archduke charles hastening to his assistance encountered jourdan's entire force on the lahn near kloster altenberg, and, after a short contest, compelled it to give way. a great part of the austrian army of the rhine under wurmser having been, meanwhile, drawn off and sent into italy, the archduke was compelled to turn hastily from jourdan against moreau, who had just despatched general ferino across the lake of constance, while he advanced upon strasburg. a small swabian corps under colonel raglowich made an extraordinary defence in kehl (the first instance of extreme bravery given by the imperial troops at that time), but was forced to yield to numbers. the austrian general, sztarray, was, notwithstanding the gallantry displayed on the occasion, also repulsed at sasbach; the wurtemberg battalion was also driven from the steep pass of the kniebes,[ ] across which moreau penetrated through the black forest into the heart of swabia, and had already reached freudenstadt, when the austrian general, latour, marched up the murg. he was, however, also repulsed. the archduke charles now arrived in person in the country around pforzheim (on the skirts of the black forest), and sent forward his columns to attack the french in the mountains, but in vain; the french were victorious at rothensol and at wildbad. the archduke retired behind the neckar to cannstadt; his rearguard was pursued through the city of stuttgard by the vanguard of the french. after a short cannonade, the archduke also abandoned his position at cannstadt. the whole of the swabian circle submitted to the french. wurtemberg was now compelled to make a formal cession of mumpelgard, which had been for some time garrisoned by the french,[ ] and, moreover, to pay a contribution of four million livres; baden was also mulcted two millions, the other states of the swabian circle twelve millions, the clergy seven millions, altogether twenty-five million livres, without reckoning the enormous requisition of provisions, horses, clothes, etc. the archduke, in the meantime, deprived the troops belonging to the swabian circle of their arms at biberach, on account of the peace concluded by their princes with the french, and retired behind the danube by donauwoerth. ferino had, meanwhile, also advanced from huningen into the breisgau and to the lake of constance, had beaten the small corps under general frõhlick at herbolsheim and the remnant of the french emigrants under oonde at mindelheim,[ ] and joined moreau in pursuit of the archduke. his troops committed great havoc wherever they appeared.[ ] jourdan had also again pushed forward. the archduke had merely been able to oppose to him on the lower rhine thirty thousand men under the count von wartensleben, who, owing to jourdan's numerical superiority, had been repulsed across both the lahn and maine. jourdan took frankfort by bombardment and imposed upon that city a contribution of six millions. the franconian circle also submitted and paid sixteen millions, without reckoning the requisition of natural productions and the merciless pillage.[ ] the archduke charles, too weak singly to encounter the armies of moreau and jourdan, had, meanwhile, boldly resolved to keep his opponents as long as possible separate, and, on the first favorable opportunity, to attack one with the whole of his forces, while he kept the other at bay with a small division of his army. in pursuance of this plan, he sent wartensleben against jourdan, and, meanwhile, drew moreau after him into bavaria, where, leaving general latour with a small corps to keep him in check at rain on the lech, he recrossed the danube at ingolstadt with the flower of his army and hastily advanced against jourdan, who was thus taken unawares. at teiningen, he surprised the french avant-garde under bernadotte, which he compelled to retire. at amberg, he encountered jourdan, whom he completely routed, a.d. . the french retreated through the city, on the other side of which they formed an immense square against the imperial cavalry under wernek; it was broken on the third charge, and a terrible slaughter took place, three thousand of the french being killed and one thousand taken prisoner. the peasantry had already flown to arms, and assisted in cutting down the fugitives. jourdan again made a stand at wurzburg, where wernek stormed his batteries at the head of his grenadiers and a complete rout ensued, september . the french lost six thousand dead and two thousand prisoners. the peasantry rose _en masse_, and hunted down the fugitives.[ ] on the upper rhone, dr. röder placed himself at the head of the peasantry, but, encountering a superior french corps at mellrichstadt, was defeated and killed. the french suffered most in the spessart, called by them, on that account, la petite vendee. the peasantry were here headed by an aged forester named philip witt, and, protected by their forests, exterminated numbers of the flying foe. the imperial troops were also unremitting in their pursuit, again defeated bernadotte at aschaffenburg and chased jourdan through nassau across the rhine. marceau, who had vainly besieged mayence, again made stand at allerheim, where he was defeated and killed.[ ] moreau, completely deceived by the archduke, had, meanwhile, remained in bavaria. after defeating general latour at lechhausen, instead of setting off in pursuit of the archduke and to jourdan's aid, he was, as the archduke had foreseen, attracted by the prospect of gaining a rich booty, in an opposite direction, toward munich. bavaria submitted to the french, paid ten millions, and ceded twenty of the most valuable pictures belonging to the dusseldorf and munich galleries. the news of jourdan's defeat now compelled moreau to beat a rapid retreat in order to avoid being cut off by the victorious archduke. latour set off vigorously in pursuit, came up with him at ulm and again at ravensberg, but was both times repulsed, owing to his numerical inferiority. a similar fate awaited the still smaller imperial corps led against the french by nauendorf at rothweil and by petrosch at villingen, and moreau led the main body of his army in safety through the deep narrow gorges of the hollenthal in the black forest to freiburg in the breisgau, where he came upon the archduke, who, amid the acclamations of the armed peasantry (by whom the retreating french[ ] were, as in the spessart, continually harassed in their passage through the black forest), had hurried, but too late, to his encounter. moreau had already sent two divisions of his army, under ferino and desaix, across the rhine at huningen and breisach, and covered their retreat with the third by taking up a strong position at schliesgen, not far from freiburg, whence, after braving a first attack, he escaped during the night to huningen. this retreat, in which he had saved his army with comparatively little loss, excited general admiration, but in italy there was a young man who scornfully exclaimed, "it was, after all, merely a retreat!" [footnote : the following trait proves the complete stagnation of chivalric feeling in the army. szekuli, colonel of the prussian hussars, condemned several patriotic ladies, belonging to the highest polish families at znawrazlaw, to be placed beneath the gallows, in momentary expectation of death, until it, at length, pleased him to grant a reprieve, couched in the most offensive and indecent terms.] [footnote : a most disgraceful treaty. william's enemies, the fugitive patriots, had promised the french, in return for their aid, sixty million florins of the spoil of their country. william, upon this, promised to pay to france a subsidy of eighty millions, in order to guarantee the security of his frontier, but was instantly outbid by the base and self-denominated patriots, who offered to france a hundred million florins in order to induce her to invade their country.] [footnote : von berlepsch, the councillor of administration, proposed to the calemberg diet to declare their neutrality in defiance of england, and, in case of necessity, to place "the calemberg nation" under the protection of france.--havemomn.] [footnote : "wherever these locusts appear, everything, men, cattle, food, property, etc., is carried off. these thieves seize everything convertible into money. nothing is safe from them. at cologne, they filled a church with coffee and sugar. at aix-la-chapelle, they carried off the finest pictures of rubens and van dyck, the pillars from the altar, and the marble-slab from the tomb of charlemagne, all of which they sold to some dutch jews."--_posselt's annals of _. at cologne, the nuns were instantly emancipated from their vows, and one of the youngest and most beautiful afterward gained great notoriety as a barmaid at an inn. this scandalous story is related by klebe in his travels on the rhine. in bonn, gleich, a man who had formerly been a priest, placed himself at the head of the french rabble and planted trees of liberty. he also gave to the world a decade, as he termed his publication.--_müller_, _history of bonn_. "the french proclaimed war against the palaces and peace to the huts, but no hut was too mean to escape the rapacity of these birds of prey. the first-fruits of liberty was the pillage of every corner."-- _schwaben's history of siegburg_. the brothers boisserée'e afterward collected a good many of the church pictures, at that period carried away from cologne and more particularly from the lower rhine. they now adorn munich and form the best collection of old german paintings now existing.] [footnote : "had würtemberg possessed but six thousand well-organized troops, the position on the roszbuhl might have been maintained, and the country have been saved. the millions since paid by würtemberg, and which she may still have to pay, would have been spared."-- _appendix to the history of the campaign of ._] [footnote : the duke, charles, had, in , visited paris, donned the national cockade, and bribed mirabeau with a large sum of money to induce the french government to purchase mümpelgard from him. the french, however, were quite as well aware as the duke that they would ere long possess it gratis.] [footnote : moreau generously allowed all his prisoners, who, as ex-nobles, were destined to the guillotine, to escape.] [footnote : armbruster's "register of french crime" contains as follows: "here and there, in the neighboring towns, there were certainly symptoms of an extremely favorable disposition toward the french, which would ill deserve a place in the annals of german patriotism and of german good sense. this disposition was fortunately far from general. the appearance of the french in their real character, and the barbarous excesses and heavy contributions by which they rendered the people sensible of their presence, speedily effected their conversion." the french, it is true, neither murdered the inhabitants nor burned the villages as they had during the previous century in the pfalz, but they pillaged the country to a greater extent, shamefully abused the women, and desecrated the churches. their license and the art with which they extorted the last penny from the wretched people surpassed all belief. "not satisfied with robbing the churches, they especially gloried in giving utterance to the most fearful blasphemies, in destroying and profaning the altars, in overthrowing the statues of saints, in treading the host beneath their feet or casting it to dogs.--at the village of berg in weingarten, they set up in the holy of holies the image of the devil, which they had taken from the representation of the temptation of the saviour in the wilderness. in the village of boos, they roasted a crucifix before a fire."--_vide hurter's memorabilia, concerning the french allies in swabia, who attempted to found an alemannic republic. schaffhausen, _. moreau reduced them to silence by declaring, "i have no need of a revolution to the rear of my army."] [footnote : notwithstanding jourdan's proclamation, promising protection to all private property, würzburg, schweinfurt, bamberg, etc., were completely pillaged. the young girls fled in hundreds to the woods. the churches were shamelessly desecrated. when mercy in god's name was demanded, the plunderers replied, "god! we are god!" they would dance at night-time around a bowl of burning brandy, whose blue flames they called their être suprème.--_the french in franconia, by count soden._] [footnote : "they deemed the assassination of a foreigner a meritorious work."--_ephemeridae of ._ "the peasantry, roused to fury by the disorderly and cruel french, whose excesses exceeded all belief, did not even extend mercy to the wounded; and the french, with equal barbarity, set whole villages on fire."--_appendix to the campaign of _]. [footnote : when scarcely in his twenty-seventh year. he was one of the most distinguished heroes of the revolution, and as remarkable for his generosity to his weaker foes as for his moral and chivalric principles. the archduke charles sent his private physicians to attend upon him, and, on the occasion of his burial, fired a salvo simultaneously with that of the french stationed on the opposite bank of the rhine.--_mussinan_.] [footnote : the peasants of the artenau and the kinzigthal were commanded by a wealthy farmer, named john baader. besides several french generals, hausmann, the commissary of the government, who accompanied moreau's army, was taken prisoner.--_mussinan, history of the french war of _ etc. a decree, published on the th of september by frederick eugene, duke of würtemberg, in which he prohibited his subjects from taking part in the pursuit of the french, is worthy of remark.] ccl. bonaparte this youth was napoleon bonaparte, the son of a lawyer in the island of corsica, a man of military genius, who, when a mere lieutenant, had raised the siege of toulon, had afterward served the directory by dispersing the old jacobins with his artillery in the streets of paris, and had been intrusted with the command of the army in italy. talents, that under a monarchy would have been doomed to obscurity, were, under the french republic, called into notice, and men of decided genius could, amid the general competition, alone attain to power or retain the reins of government. bonaparte was the first to take the field. in the april of , he pushed across the alps and attacked the austrians. beaulieu, a good general, but too old for service (he was then seventy-two, napoleon but twenty-seven), had incautiously extended his lines too far, in order to preserve a communication with the english fleet in the mediterranean. bonaparte defeated his scattered forces at montenotte and millesimo, between the th and th of april, and, turning sharply upon the equally scattered sardinian force, beat it in several engagements, the principal of which took place at mondovi, between the th and d of april. an armistice was concluded with sardinia, and beaulieu, who vainly attempted to defend the po, was defeated on the th and th of may, at fombio. the bridge over the adda at lodi, three hundred paces in length, extremely narrow and to all appearance impregnable, defended by his lieutenant sebottendorf, was carried by storm, and, on the th of may, bonaparte entered milan. beaulieu took up a position behind the mincio, notwithstanding which, bonaparte carried the again ill-defended bridge at borghetto by storm. while in this part of the country, he narrowly escaped being taken prisoner by a party of skirmishers, and was compelled to fly half-naked, with but one foot booted, from his night quarters at st. georgio. beaulieu now withdrew into the tyrol. sardinia made peace, and terms were offered by the pope and by naples. leghorn was garrisoned with french troops; all the english goods lying in this harbor, to the value of twelve million pounds, were confiscated. the strongly fortified city of mantua, defended by the austrians under their gallant leader, canto d'irles, was besieged by bonaparte. a fresh body of austrian troops under wurmser crossed the mountains to their relief; but wurmser, instead of advancing with his whole force, incautiously pressed forward with thirty-two thousand men through the valley of the adige, while quosdanowich led eighteen thousand along the western shore of the lake of garda. bonaparte instantly perceived his advantage, and, attacking the latter, defeated him on the d of august, at lonato. wurmser had entered mantua unopposed on the st, but, setting out in search of the enemy, was unexpectedly attacked, on the th of august, by the whole of bonaparte's forces at castiglione, and compelled, like quosdanowich, to seek shelter in the tyrol. this senseless mode of attack had been planned by weirotter, a colonel belonging to the general staff. wurmser now received reinforcements, and laner, the general of the engineers, was intrusted with the projection of a better plan. he again weakened the army by dividing his forces. in the beginning of september, davidowich penetrated with twenty thousand men through the valley of the adige and was defeated at roveredo, and wurmser, who had, meanwhile, advanced with an army of twenty-six thousand men through the valley of the brenta, met with a similar fate at bassano. he, nevertheless, escaped the pursuit of the victorious french by making a circuit, and threw himself by a forced march into mantua, where he was, however, unable to make a lengthy resistance, the city being over-populated and provisions scarce. a fresh army of twenty-eight thousand men, under alvinzi, sent to his relief[ ] through the valley of the brenta, was attacked in a strong position at arcole, on the river alpon. two dams protected the bank and a narrow bridge, which was, on the th of november, vainly stormed by the french, although general augereau and bonaparte, with the colors in his hand, led the attack. on the following day, alvinzi foolishly crossed the bridge and took up an exposed position, in which he was beaten, and, on the third day, he retreated. davidowich, meanwhile, again advanced from the tyrol and gained an advantage at rivoli, but was also forced to retreat before bonaparte. wurmser, when too late, made a sally, which was, consequently, useless. the campaign was, nevertheless, for the fifth time, renewed. alvinzi collected reinforcements and again pushed forward into the valley of the adige, but speedily lost courage and suffered a fearful defeat, in which twenty thousand of his men were taken prisoners, on the th and th of january, a.d. , at rivoli. provera, on whom he had relied for assistance from padua, was cut off and taken prisoner with his entire corps. wurmser capitulated at mantua with twenty-one thousand men. the spring of had scarcely commenced when bonaparte was already pushing across the alps toward vienna. hoche, at the same time, again attacked the lower and moreau the upper rhine. bonaparte, the nearest and most dangerous foe, was opposed by the archduke, whose army, composed of the remains of alvinzi's disbanded and discouraged troops, called forth the observation from bonaparte, "hitherto i have defeated armies without generals, now i am about to attack a general without an army!" a battle took place at tarvis, amid the highest mountains, whence it was afterward known as "the battle above the clouds." the archduke, with a handful of hungarian hussars, valiantly defended the pass against sixteen thousand french under massena, nor turned to fly until eight only of his men remained. generals bayalich and ocskay, instead of supporting him, had yielded. the archduke again collected five thousand men around him at glogau and opposed the advance of the immensely superior french force until two hundred and fifty of his men alone remained. the conqueror of italy rapidly advanced through styria upon vienna. another french corps under joubert had penetrated into the tyrol, but had been so vigorously assailed at spinges by the brave peasantry[ ] as to be forced to retire upon bonaparte's main body, with which he came up at villach, after losing between six and eight thousand men during his retreat through the pusterthal. the rashness with which bonaparte, leaving the alps to his rear and regardless of his distance from france, penetrated into the enemy's country, had placed him in a position affording every facility for the austrians, by a bold and vigorous stroke, to cut him off and take him prisoner. they had garrisoned trieste and fiume on the adriatic and formed an alliance with the republic of venice, at that time well supplied with men, arms, and gold. a great insurrection of the peasantry, infuriated by the pillage of the french troops, had broken out at bergamo. the gallant tyrolese, headed by count lehrbach, and the hungarians, had risen en masse. the victorious troops of the archduke charles were en route from the rhine, and mack had armed the viennese and the inhabitants of the thickly-populated neighborhood of the metropolis. bonaparte was lost should the archduke's plan of operations meet with the approbation of the viennese cabinet, and, perfectly aware of the fact, he made proposals of peace under pretence of sparing unnecessary bloodshed. the imperial court, stupefied by the late discomfiture in italy, instead of regarding the proposals of the wily frenchman as a confession of embarrassment, and of assailing him with redoubled vigor, acceded to them, and, on the th of april, count cobenzl, thugut's successor, concluded the preliminaries of peace at leoben, by which the french, besides being liberated from their dangerous position, were recognized as victors. the negotiations of peace were continued at the chateau of campo formio, where the austrians somewhat regained courage, and count cobenzl[ ] even ventured to refuse some of the articles proposed. bonaparte, irritated by opposition, dashed a valuable cup, the gift of the russian empress, violently to the ground, exclaiming, "you wish for war? well! you shall have it, and your monarchy shall be shattered like that cup." the armistice was not interrupted. hostilities were even suspended on the rhine. the archduke had, before quitting that river, gained the _tétes de pont_ of strasburg (kehl) and of huningen, besides completely clearing the right bank of the rhine of the enemy. the whole of these advantages were again lost on his recall to take the field against napoleon. the saxon troops, which had, up to this period, steadily sided with austria, were recalled by the elector. swabia, franconia, and bavaria were intent upon making peace with france. baron von fahnenberg, the imperial envoy at ratisbon, bitterly reproached the protestant estates for their evident inclination to follow the example of prussia by siding with the french and betraying their fatherland to their common foe, but, on applying more particularly for aid to the spiritual princes, who were exposed to the greatest danger, he found them equally lukewarm. each and all refused to furnish troops or to pay a war tax. the imperial troops were, consequently, compelled to enforce their maintenance, and naturally became the objects of popular hatred. in this wretched manner was the empire defended! the petty imperial corps on the rhine were, meanwhile, compelled to retreat before an enemy vastly their superior in number. wernek, attempting with merely twenty-two thousand men to obstruct the advance of an army of sixty-five thousand french under hoche, was defeated at neuwied and deprived of his command.[ ] sztarray, who charged seven times at the head of his men, was also beaten by moreau at kehl and diersheim. at this conjuncture, the armistice of leoben was published. a peace, based on the terms proposed at leoben, was formally concluded at campo formio, october , . the triumph of the french republic was confirmed, and ancient europe received a new form. the object for which the sovereigns of france had for centuries vainly striven was won by the monarchless nation; france gained the preponderance in europe. italy and the whole of the left bank of the rhine were abandoned to her arbitrary rule, and this fearful loss, far from acting as a warning to germany and promoting her unity, merely increased her internal dissensions and offered to the french republic an opportunity for intervention, of which it took advantage for purposes of gain and pillage. the principal object of the policy of bonaparte and of the french directory, at that period, was, by rousing the ancient feelings of enmity between austria and prussia, to eternalize the disunion between those two monarchies. bonaparte, after effectuating the peace by means of terror, loaded austria with flattery. he flattered her religious feelings by the moderation of his conduct in italy toward the pope, notwithstanding the disapprobation manifested by the genuine french republicans, and her interests by the offer of venice in compensation for the loss of the netherlands, and, making a slight side-movement against that once powerful and still wealthy republic, reduced it at the first blow, nay, by mere threats, to submission; so deeply was the ancient aristocracy here also fallen. the cession of venice to the emperor was displeasing to the french republicans. they were, however, pacified by the delivery of lafayette, who had been still detained a prisoner in austria after the treaty of basel. napoleon said in vindication of his policy, "i have merely lent venice to the emperor, he will not keep her long." he, moreover, gratified austria by the extension of her western frontier, so long the object of her ambition, by the possession of the archbishopric of salzburg and of a part of bavaria with the town of wasserburg.[ ] the sole object of these concessions was provisionally to dispose austria in favor of france,[ ] and to render prussia's ancient jealousy of austria implacable.[ ] hence the secret articles of peace by which france and austria bound themselves not to grant any compensation to prussia. prussia was on her part, however, resolved not to be the loser, and, in the summer of , took forcible possession of the imperial free town of nuremberg, notwithstanding her declaration made just three years previously through count soden to the franconian circle, "that the king had never harbored the design of seeking a compensation at the expense of the empire, whose constitution had ever been sacred in his eyes!" and to the empire, "he deemed it beneath his dignity to refute the reports concerning prussia's schemes of aggrandizement, oppression, and secularization." prussia also extended her possessions in franconia[ ] and westphalia, and hesse-cassel imitated her example by the seizure of a part of schaumburg-lippe. the diet energetically remonstrated, but in vain. pamphlets spoke of the prussian reunion- chambers opened by hardenberg in franconia. an attempt was, however, made to console the circle of franconia by depicturing the far worse sufferings of that of swabia under the imperial contributions. the petty estates of the empire stumbled, under these circumstances, upon the unfortunate idea "that the intercession of the russian court should be requested for the maintenance of the integrity of the german empire and for that of her constitution"; the intercession of the russian court, which had so lately annihilated poland! shortly after this, a.d. , frederick william ii., who had, on his accession to the throne, found seventy-two millions of dollars in the treasury, expired, leaving twenty-eight millions of debts. his son, frederick william iii., placed the countess lichtenau under arrest, banished wollner, and abolished the unpopular monopoly in tobacco, but retained his father's ministers and continued the alliance, so pregnant with mischief, with france.--this monarch, well-meaning and destined to the severest trials, educated by a peevish valetudinarian and ignorant of affairs, was first taught by bitter experience the utter incapacity of the men at that time at the head of the government, and after, as will be seen, completely reforming the court, the government, and the army, surrounded himself with men, who gloriously delivered prussia and germany from all the miseries and avenged all the disgrace, which it is the historian's sad office to record. austria, as prussia had already done by the treaty of basel, also sacrificed, by the peace of campo formio, the whole of the left bank of the rhine and abandoned it to france, the loss thereby suffered by the estates of the empire being indemnified by the secularization of the ecclesiastical property in the interior of germany and by the prospect of the seizure of the imperial free towns. mayence was ceded without a blow to france. holland was forgotten. the english, under pretext of opposing france, destroyed, a.d. , the last dutch fleet, in the texel, though not without a heroic and determined resistance on the part of the admirals de winter and reintjes, both of whom were severely wounded, and the latter died in captivity in england. holland was formed into a batavian, genoa into a ligurian, milan with the valtelline (from which the grisons was severed) into a cisalpine, republic. intrigues were, moreover, set on foot for the formation of a roman and neapolitan republic in italy and of a rhenish and swabian one in germany, all of which were to be subordinate to the mother republic in france. the proclamation of a still-born cisrhenish republic (it not having as yet been constituted when it was swallowed up in the great french republic), in the masterless lower rhenish provinces in the territory of treves, aix-la-chapelle, and cologne, under the influence of the french jacobins and soldiery, was, however, all that could at first be done openly. the hauteur with which bonaparte, backed by his devoted soldiery, had treated the republicans, and the contempt manifested by him toward the citizens, had not failed to rouse the jealous suspicions of the directory, the envy of the less successful generals, and the hatred of the old friends of liberty, by whom he was already designated as a tyrant. the republican party was still possessed of considerable power, and the majority of the french troops under moreau, jourdan, bernadotte, etc., were still ready to shed their blood in the cause of liberty. bonaparte, compelled to veil his ambitious projects, judged it more politic, after sowing the seed of discord at campo formio, to withdraw a while, in order to await the ripening of the plot and to return to reap the result. he, accordingly, went meantime, a.d. , with a small but well-picked army to egypt, for the ostensible purpose of opening a route overland to india, the sea-passage having been closed against france by the british, but, in reality, for the purpose of awaiting there a turn in continental affairs, and, moreover, by his victories over the turks in the ancient land of fable to add to the wonder it was ever his object to inspire. on his way thither he seized the island of malta and compelled baron hompesch, the grand-master of the order of the knights of malta, to resign his dignity, the fortress being betrayed into his hands by the french knights. at rastadt, near baden, where the compensation mentioned in the treaty of campo formio was to be taken into consideration, the terrified estates of the empire assembled for the purpose of suing the french ambassadors for the lenity they had not met with at the hands of austria and prussia.--the events that took place at rastadt are of a description little calculated to flatter the patriotic feelings of the german historian. the soul of the congress was charles maurice talleyrand-perigord, at one time a bishop, at the present period minister of the french republic. his colloquy with the german ambassadors resembled that of the fox with the geese, and he attuned their discords with truly diabolical art. while holding austria and prussia apart, instigating them one against the other, flattering both with the friendship of the republic and with the prospect of a rich booty by the secularization of the ecclesiastical lands, he encouraged some of the petty states with the hope of aggrandizement by an alliance with france,[ ] and, with cruel contempt, allowed others a while to gasp for life before consigning them to destruction. the petty princes, moreover, who had been deprived of their territory on the other side of the rhine, demanded lands on this side in compensation; all the petty princes on this side consequently trembled lest they should be called upon to make compensation, and each endeavored, by bribing the members of the congress, talleyrand in particular, to render himself an exception. the french minister was bribed not by gold alone; a considerable number of ladies gained great notoriety by their liaison with the insolent republican, from whom they received nothing, the object for which they sued being sold by him sometimes even two or three times. momus, a satirical production of this period, relates numerous instances of crime and folly that are perfectly incredible. the avarice manifested by the french throughout the whole of the negotiations was only surpassed by the brutality of their language and behavior. roberjot, bonnier, and jean de bry, the dregs of the french nation, treated the whole of the german empire on this occasion _en canaille_, and, while picking the pockets of the germans, were studiously coarse and brutal; still the trifling opposition they encountered, and the total want of spirit in the representatives of the great german empire, whom it must, in fact, have struck them as ridiculous to see thus humbled at their feet, forms an ample excuse for their demeanor. gustavus adolphus iv., who mounted the throne of sweden in , distinguished himself at that time among the estates of the empire, when duke of pomerania and prince of rugen, by his solemn protest against the depredations committed by france, and by his summons to every member of the german empire to take the field against their common foe. hesse-cassel was also remarkable for the warlike demeanor and decidedly anti-gallic feeling of her population; and wurtemberg, for being the first of the german states that gave the example of making concessions more in accordance with the spirit of the times. by the abolition of ancient abuses alone could the princes meet the threats used on every occasion by the french at rastadt to revolutionize the people unless their demands were fully complied with. in wurtemberg, the duke, charles, had been succeeded, a.d. , by his brother, louis eugène, who banished license from his court, but, a foe to enlightenment, closed the charles college, placed monks around his person, was extremely bigoted, and a zealous but impotent friend to france. he expired, a.d. , and was succeeded by the third brother, frederick eugène, who had been during his youth a canon at salzburg, but afterward became a general in the prussian service, married a princess of brandenburg, and educated his children in the protestant faith in order to assimilate the religion of the reigning family with that of the people. his mild government terminated in . frederick, his talented son and successor, mainly frustrated the projected establishment of a swabian republic, which was strongly supported by the french, by his treatment of the provincial estates, the modification of the rights of chase, etc., on which occasion he took the following oath: "i repeat the solemn vow, ever to hold the constitution of this country sacred and to make the weal of my subjects the aim of my life." he nevertheless appears, by the magnificent fetes, masquerades, and pastoral festivals given by him, as if in a time of the deepest peace, at hohenheim, to have trusted more to his connection with england, by his marriage with the princess royal, matilda,[ ] with russia, and with austria (the emperor paul, catherine's successor, having married the princess maria of wurtemberg, and the emperor francis ii., her sister elisabeth), than to the constitution, which he afterward annihilated. the weakness displayed by the empire and the increasing disunion between austria and prussia encouraged the french to further insolence. not satisfied with garrisoning every fortification on the left bank of the rhine, they boldly attacked, starved to submission, and razed to the ground, during peace time, the once impregnable fortress of ehrenbreitstein, on the right bank of the rhine, opposite coblentz.[ ] not content with laying the netherlands and holland completely waste, they compelled the hanse towns to grant them a loan of eighteen million livres. lubeck refused, but hamburg and bremen, more nearly threatened and hopeless of aid from prussia, were constrained to satisfy the demands of the french brigands. in the netherlands, the german faction once more rose in open insurrection; in , the young men, infuriated by the conscription and by their enrolment into french regiments, flew to arms, and torrents of blood were shed in the struggle, in which they were unaided by their german brethren, before they were again reduced to submission. the english also landed at ostend, but for the sole purpose of destroying the sluices of the canal at bruges. the french divided the beautiful rhenish provinces, yielded to them almost without a blow by germany, into four departments: first, roer, capital aix-la-chapelle; besides cologne and cleves. secondly, donnersberg, capital mayence; besides spires and zweibrucken. thirdly, saar, capital treves. fourthly, rhine and moselle, capital coblentz; besides bonn. each department was subdivided into cantons, each canton into communes. the department was governed by a perfect, the canton by a sub-prefect, the commune by a mayor. all distinction of rank, nobility, and all feudal rights were abolished. each individual was a citizen, free and equal. all ecclesiastical establishments were abandoned to plunder, the churches alone excepted, they being still granted as places of worship to believers, notwithstanding the contempt and ridicule into which the clergy had fallen. the monasteries were closed. the peasantry, more particularly in treves, nevertheless, still manifested great attachment to popery. guilds and corporations were also abolished. the introduction of the ancient german oral law formerly in use throughout the empire, the institution of trial by jury, which, to the disgrace of germany, the rhenish princes, after the lapse of a thousand years, learned from their gallic foe, was a great and signal benefit. liberty, equality, and justice were, at that period, in all other respects, mere fictions. the most arbitrary rule in reality existed, and the new provinces were systematically drained by taxes of every description, as, for instance, register, stamp, patent, window, door, and land taxes: there was also a tax upon furniture and upon luxuries of every sort; a poll-tax, a percentage on the whole assessment, etc.; besides extortion, confiscation, and forced sales. and woe to the new citizen of the great french republic if he failed in paying more servile homage to its officers, from the prefect down to the lowest underling, than had ever been exacted by the princes![ ] such was the liberty bestowed by republican france! thus were her promises fulfilled! the german illuminati were fearfully undeceived, particularly on perceiving how completely their hopes of universally revolutionizing germany were frustrated by the treaty of basel. the french, who had proclaimed liberty to all the nations of the earth, now offered it for sale. the french character was in every respect the same as during the reign of louis xiv. the only principle to which they remained ever faithful was that of robbery.--switzerland was now, in her turn, attacked, and vengeance thus overtook every province that had severed itself from the empire, and every part of the once magnificent empire of germany was miserably punished for its want of unity. [footnote : clausewitz demands, with great justice, why the austrians so greatly divided their forces on this occasion for the sake of saving italy, as they had only to follow up their successes vigorously on the rhine in order to gain, in that quarter, far more than they could lose on the po.] [footnote : at absom, in the valley of the inn, a peasant girl had, at that time, discovered a figure of the virgin in one of the panes of glass in her chamber window. this appearance being deemed miraculous by the simple peasantry, the authorities of the place investigated the matter, had the glass cleaned and scraped, etc., and at length pronounced the indelible figure to be simply the outline of an old colored painting. the peasantry, however, excited by the appearance of the infidel french, persisted in giving credence to the miracle and set up the piece of glass in a church, which was afterward annually visited by thousands of pilgrims. in , the celebrated pilgrimage to waldrast, in the tyrol, had been founded in a similar manner by the discovery of a portrait of the virgin which had been grown up in a tree, by two shepherd lads.] [footnote : cobenzl was a favorite of kaunitz and a thorough courtier. at an earlier period, when ambassador at petersburg, he wrote french comedies, which were performed at the hermitage in the presence of the empress catherine. the arrival of an unpleasant despatch being ever followed by the production of some amusing piece as an antidote to care, the empress jestingly observed, "that he was no doubt keeping his best piece until the news arrived of the french being in vienna." he expired in the february of , a year pregnant with fate for austria.] [footnote : he indignantly refused the stipend offered to him on this occasion and protested against the injustice of his condemnation.] [footnote : bavaria regarded these forced concessions as a bad reward for her fidelity to austria. napoleon appears to have calculated upon relighting by this means the flames of discord, whence he well knew how to draw an advantage, between bavaria and austria.] [footnote : "thus the emperor also now abandoned the empire by merely bargaining with the enemy to quit his territories, and leaving the wretched provinces of the empire a prey to war and pillage. and if the assurances of friendship, of confidence, and of affection between austria and venice are but recalled to mind, the contrast was indeed laughable when the emperor was pleased to allow that loyal city to be ceded to him. the best friend was in this case the cloth from which the emperor cut himself an equivalent."--_huergelmer_.] [footnote : a curious private memoir of talleyrand says: "j'ai la certitude que berlin est le lieu, où le traité du vendémiaire (the reconciliation of austria with france at campo formio), aura jetté le plus d'etonnement, d'embarras et de orainte." he then explains that, now that the netherlands no longer belong to austria, and that austria and france no longer come into collision, both powers would be transformed from natural foes into natural friends and would have an equal interest in weakening prussia. should russia stir, the poles could be roused to insurrection, etc.] [footnote : "exactly at this period, when the empire's common foe was plundering the franconian circle, when deeds of blood and horror, when misery and want had reached a fearful height, the troops of the elector of brandenburg overran the cities and villages. the inhabitants were constrained to take the oath of fealty, the public officers, who refused, were dragged away captive, etc. ellingen, stopfenheim, absperg, eschenbach, nüremberg, postbaur, virnsperg, oettingen, dinkelspühl, ritzenhausen, gelchsheim, were scenes of brutal outrage."--_the history of the usurpation of brandenburg, a.d. _, with the original documents, published by the teutonic order.] [footnote : his secret memoirs, even at that period, designate baden, würtemberg, and darmstadt as states securely within the grasp of france.] [footnote : he fled on moreau's invasion to england, where he formed this alliance. there was at one time a project of creating him elector of hanover and of partitioning würtemberg between bavaria and baden.] [footnote : the commandant, faber, defended the place for fourteen months with a garrison of , men. during the siege, the badly-disciplined french soldiery secretly sold provisions at an exorbitant price to the starving garrison.] [footnote : klebe gave an extremely detailed account of the french government: "it is, for instance, well known that a pastry cook was nominated lord high warden of the forest! over a whole department, and a jeweller was raised to the same office in another.--the documents proving the cheating and underselling carried on by pioc, the lord high warden of the forests, and by his assistant, gauthier, in all the forests in the department of the rhine and moselle, are detailed at full length in 'rübezahl,' a sort of monthly magazine. it is astonishing to see with what boundless impudence these people have robbed the country.--still greater rascalities were carried on on the right bank of the rhine. gauthier robbed from coblentz down to the prussian frontiers." these allegations are confirmed by görres in a pamphlet, "results of my mission to paris," in which he says, "the directory had treated the four departments like so many paschalics, which it abandoned to its janissaries and colonized with its favorites. every petition sent by the inhabitants was thrown aside with revolting contempt; everything was done that could most deeply wound their feelings in regard to themselves or to their country." "the secret history of the government of the country between the rhine and the moselle," sums up as follows: "all cheated, all thieved, all robbed. the cheating, thieving, and robbing were perfectly terrible, and not one of the cheats, thieves, or robbers seemed to have an idea that this country formed, by the decree of union, a part of france." a naïve confession! the french, at all events, acted as if conscious that the land was not theirs. the rhenish jews, who, as early as the times of louis xiv., had aided the french in plundering germany, again acted as their bloodhounds, and, by accepting bills in exchange for their real or supposed loans, at double the amount, on wealthy proprietors, speedily placed themselves in possession of the finest estates. vide reichardt's letters from paris.] ccli. the pillage of switzerland peace had reigned throughout switzerland since the battle of villmergen, a.d. , which had given to zurich and berne the ascendency in the confederation. the popular discontent caused by the increasing despotism of the aristocracy had merely displayed itself in petty conspiracies, as, for instance, that of henzi, in , and in partial insurrections. in all the cantons, even in those in which the democratic spirit was most prevalent, the chief authority had been seized by the wealthier and more ancient families. all the offices were in their hands, the higher posts in the swiss regiments raised for the service of france were monopolized by the younger sons of the more powerful families, who introduced the social vices of france into their own country, where they formed a strange medley in conjunction with the pedantry of the ancient oligarchical form of government. in the great canton of berne, the council of two hundred, which had unlimited sway, was solely composed of seventy-six reigning families. in zurich, the one thousand nine hundred townsmen had unlimited power over the country. for one hundred and fifty years no citizen had been enrolled among them, and no son of a peasant had been allowed to study for, or been nominated to, any office, even to that of preacher. in solothurn, but one-half of the eight hundred townsmen were able to carry on the government. lucerne was governed by a council of one hundred, so completely monopolized by the more powerful families that boys of twenty succeeded their fathers as councillors. basel was governed by a council of two hundred and eighty, which was entirely formed out of seventy wealthy mercantile families. seventy-one families had usurped the authority at freiburg: similar oligarchical government prevailed at st. gall and schaffhausen. the _junker_, in the latter place, rendered themselves especially ridiculous by the innumerable offices and chambers in which they transacted their useless and prolix affairs. in all these aristocratic cantons, the peasantry were cruelly harassed, oppressed, and, in some parts, kept in servitude, by the provincial governors. the wealthy provincial governments were monopolized by the great aristocratic families.[ ] even in the pure democracies, the provincial communes were governed by powerful peasant families, as, for instance, in glarus, and the tyranny exercised by these peasants over the territory beneath their sway far exceeded that of the aristocratic burgesses in their provincial governments. the italian valleys groaned beneath the yoke of the original cantons, particularly under that of uri,[ ] the seven provincial governments in unterwallis under that of oberwallis, the countship of werdenberg under that of the glarner, the valtelline under that of the grisons.[ ] the princely abbot of st. gall was unlimited sovereign over his territory. separate monasteries, for instance, engelberg, had feudal sway over their vassals. enlightenment and liberal opinions spread also gradually over switzerland, and twenty years after henzi's melancholy death, a disposition was again shown to oppose the tyranny of the oligarchies. in , lavater and fuszli were banished zurich for venturing to complain of the arbitrary conduct of one of the provincial governors;[ ] in , a curate named waser, a man of talent and a foe to the aristocracy, was beheaded on a false charge of falsifying the archives;[ ] in , the oppressed peasantry of lucerne revolted against the aristocracy; in the same year, the peasantry in schwyz, roused by the insolence of the french recruiting officers, revolted, and, in the public provincial assembly, enforced the recall of all the people of schwyz in the french service, besides imposing a heavy fine upon general reding on his return. in , a revolt of the freiburg peasantry, occasioned by the tyranny of the aristocracy, was quelled with the aid of berne; in , suter, the noble-spirited _landammann_ of appenzell, fell a sacrifice to envy. his mental and moral superiority to the rest of his countrymen inspired his rival, geiger, with the most deadly hatred, and he persecuted him with the utmost rancor. he was accused of being a freethinker; documents and protocols were falsified; the stupid populace was excited against him, and, after having been exposed on the pillory, publicly whipped, and tortured on the rack, he was beheaded, and all intercession on his behalf was prohibited under pain of death. solothurn, on the other hand, was freed from feudal servitude in . the popular feeling at that time prevalent throughout switzerland was, however, of far greater import than these petty events. the oligarchies had everywhere suppressed public opinion; the long peace had slackened the martial ardor of the people; the ridiculous affectation of ancient heroic language brought into vogue by john muller rendered the contrast yet more striking, and, on the outburst of the french revolution, the tyrannized swiss peasantry naturally threw themselves into the arms of the french, the aristocracy into those of the austrians. the oppressed peasantry revolted as early as against the ruling cities, the vassal against the aristocrat, in schaffhausen, on account of the tithes; in lower valais, on account of the tyranny of one of the provincial governors. these petty outbreaks and an attempt made by laharpe to render the vaud independent of berne[ ] were suppressed, a.d. . the people remained, nevertheless, in a high state of fermentation. the new french republic at first quarrelled with the ancient confederation for having, unmindful of their origin, descended to servility. the swiss guard had, on the th of august, , courageously defended the palace of the unfortunate french king and been cut to pieces by the parisian mob. at a later period, the austrians had seized the ambassadors of the french republic, semonville and maret, in the valtelline, in the territory of the grisons. the swiss patriots, as they were called, however, gradually fomented an insurrection against the aristocrats and called the french to their aid. in , the vassals of the bishop of basel at pruntrut had already planted trees of liberty and placed the bishopric, under the name of a rauracian republic, under the protection of france, chiefly at the instigation of gobel, who was, in reward, appointed bishop of paris, and whose nephew, rengger, shortly afterward became a member of the revolutionary government in berne. in geneva, during the preceding year, the french faction had gained the upper hand. the fickleness of the war kept the rest of the patriots in a state of suspense, but, on the seizure of the left bank of the rhine by the french, the movements in switzerland assumed a more serious character. the abbot, beda, of st. gall, , pacified his subjects by concessions, which his successor, pancras, refusing to recognize, he was, in consequence, expelled. the unrelenting aristocracy of zurich, upon this, took the field against the restless peasantry, surrounded the patriots in stäfa, threw the venerable bodmer and a number of his adherents into prison, and inflicted upon them heavy fines or severe corporeal chastisement. the campaign of had fully disclosed to bonaparte the advantage of occupying switzerland with his troops, whose passage to italy or germany would be thereby facilitated, while the line of communication would be secured, and the danger to which he and moreau had been exposed through want of co-operation would at once be remedied. he first of all took advantage of the dissensions in the grisons to deprive that republic of the beautiful valtelline,[ ] and, even at that time, demanded permission from the people of valais to build the road across the simplon, which he was, however, only able to execute at a later period. on his return to paris from the italian expedition, he passed through basel,[ ] where he was met by talleyrand. peter ochs, the chief master of the corporation, was, on this occasion, as he himself relates in his history of basel, won over, as the acknowledged chief of the patriots, to revolutionize switzerland and to enter into a close alliance with france. the base characters, at that time the tools of the french directory, merely acceded to the political plans of bonaparte and talleyrand in the hope of reaping a rich harvest by the plunder of the federal cantons, and the swiss expedition was, consequently, determined upon. the people of valais, whose state of oppression served as a pretext for interference, revolted, under laharpe, against berne, , and demanded the intervention of the french republic, as heir to the dukes of savoy, on the strength of an ancient treaty, which had, for that purpose, been raked up from the ashes of the past. nothing could exceed the miserable conduct of the diet at that conjuncture. after having already conceded to france her demand for the expulsion of the emigrants and having exposed its weakness by this open violation of the rights of hospitality, it discussed the number of troops to be furnished by each of the cantons, when the enemy was already in this country. even the once haughty bernese, who had set an army, thirty thousand strong, on foot, withdrew, under general wysz, from valais to their metropolis, where they awaited the attack of the enemy. there was neither plan[ ] nor order; the patriots rose in every quarter and struck terror into the aristocrats, most of whom were now rather inclined to yield and impeded by their indecision the measures of the more spirited party. in basel, ochs deposed the oligarchy; in zurich, the government was induced, by intimidation, to restore bodmer and his fellow-prisoners to liberty. in freiburg, lucerne, schaffhausen, and st. gall the oligarchies resigned their authority; constance asserted its independence. within berne itself, tranquillity was with difficulty preserved by steiger, the venerable mayor, a man of extreme firmness of character. a french force under brune had already overrun vaud, which, under pretext of being delivered from oppression, was laid under a heavy contribution; the ancient charnel-house at murten was also destroyed, because the french had formerly been beaten on this spot by the germans. but few of the swiss marched to the aid of berne; two hundred of the people of uri, arrayed in the armor of their ancestors, some of the peasantry of glarus, st. gall, and freiburg.[ ] a second french force under schauenburg entered switzerland by basel, defeated the small troops of bernese sent to oppose it at dornach and langnau, and took solothurn, where it liberated one hundred and eighty self-styled patriots imprisoned in that place. the patriots, at this conjuncture, also rose in open insurrection in berne, threw everything into confusion, deposed the old council, formed a provisional government, and checked all the preparations for defence. the brave peasantry, basely betrayed by the cities, were roused to fury. colonels ryhiner, stettler, crusy, and goumores were murdered by them upon mere suspicion (their innocence was afterward proved), and boldly following their leader, grafenried, against the french, they defeated and repulsed the whole of brune's army and captured eighteen guns at the bridge of neuenegg. but a smaller bernese corps, which, under steiger, the mayor, opposed the army of schauenburg in the _grauen holz_, was routed after a bloody struggle, and, before erlach, the newly- nominated generalissimo, could hurry back to berne with the victors of neuenegg, the patriots, who had long been in the pay of france, threw wide the gates to schauenburg. all was now lost. erlach fled to thun, in order to place himself at the head of the people of the oberland, who descended in thick masses from the mountains; but, on his addressing the brave senn peasantry in french, according to the malpractice of the bernese, they mistook him for a french spy and struck him dead in his carriage. the loss of berne greatly dispirited them and they desisted from further and futile opposition. steiger escaped. hotze, a gallant austrian general, who, mindful of his swiss origin, had attempted to place himself at the head of his countrymen, was compelled to retrace his steps. in berne, the french meanwhile pillaged the treasures of the republic.[ ] besides the treasury and the arsenal, estimated at twenty-nine million livres, they levied a contribution of sixteen million. bruno planted a tree of liberty, and frisching, the president of the provisional government, had the folly to say, "here it stands! may it bear good fruit! amen!" further bloodshed was prevented by the intervention of the patriots. the whole of switzerland, schwyz, upper valais, and unterwalden alone excepted, submitted, and, on the th of april, the federal diet at aarau established, in the stead of the ancient federative and oligarchical government, a single and indivisible helvetian republic, in a strictly democratic form, with five directors, on the french model. four new cantons, aargau, leman (vaud), the bernese oberland, and constance, were annexed to the ancient ones. schwyz, uri, unterwalden, and zug were, on the other hand, to form but one canton. rapinat, a bold bad man, rewbel's brother-in-law, who was at that time absolute in switzerland, seized everything that had escaped the pillage of the soldiery in berne and zurich, sacked solothurn, lucerne, freiburg, etc., and hunted out the hidden treasures of the confederation, which he sent to france. the protestations of the directors, bay and pfyffer, were unheeded; rapinat deposed them by virtue of a french warrant and nominated ochs and dolder in their stead. the patriotic feelings of the swiss revolted at this tyranny; schwyz rose in open insurrection; the peasantry, headed by aloys reding, seized and garrisoned lucerne and called the whole country to arms against the french invader. the peasantry of the free cantons also marched against aarau, but were defeated by schauenburg at häcklingen; two hundred of their number fell, among others a priest bearing the colors. schauenburg then attacked the people of schwyz at richtenschwyl, where, after a desperate combat that lasted a whole day, he at length compelled them to give way. they, nevertheless, speedily rallied, and two engagements of equal obstinacy took place on the schindeleggy and on the mountain of etzel. the flight of herzog, the pastor of einsiedeln, was the sole cause of the discomfiture of the swiss. reding, however, reassembling his forces at the red tower, in the vicinity of the old battlefield of morgarten, the french, unable to withstand their fury, were repulsed with immense loss. they also suffered a second defeat at arth, at the foot of the rigi. the swiss, on their part, on numbering their forces after the battle, found their strength so terribly reduced that, although victors, they were unable to continue the contest, and voluntarily recognized the helvetian republic. the rich monastery of einsiedeln was plundered and burned; the miraculous picture of the virgin was, however, preserved. upper valais also submitted, after sion and the whole of the valley had been plundered and laid waste. the peasantry defended themselves here for several weeks at the precipice of the dala. unterwalden offered the most obstinate resistance. the peasantry of this canton were headed by lüssi. the french invaded the country simultaneously on different sides, by water, across the lake of the four cantons, and across the brünig from the haslithal; in the kernwald they were victorious over the masses of peasantry, but a body of three or four thousand french, which had penetrated further down the vale, was picked off by the peasantry concealed in the woods and behind the rocks. a rifleman, stationed upon a projecting rock, shot more than a hundred of the enemy one after another, his wife and children, meanwhile, loading his guns. both of the french corps coalesced at stanz, but met with such obstinate resistance from the old men, women and girls left there, that, after butchering four hundred of them, they set the place in flames.[ ] the sturdy mountaineers, although numerically weak, proved themselves worthy of their ancient fame.--the four _waldstätte_ were thrown into one canton, waldstätten; glarus and toggenburg into another, linth; appenzell and st. gall into that of säntis. the old italian prefectures, with the exception of the valtelline, were formed into two cantons, lugano and bellinzona (afterward the canton of tessin). the canton of vaud also finally acceded to this arrangement, but was shortly afterward, as well as the former bishopric of basel, pruntrut,[ ] and the city and republic of genoa, incorporated with france. the levy of eighteen thousand men (the helvetlers, galloschwyzers or eighteen batzmen) for the service of the helvetian republic occasioned fresh disturbances in the beginning of . the opposition was so great that the recruits were carried in chains to berne. the bernese oberland, the peasantry of basel, solothurn, toggenburg, appenzell, and glarus rose in open insurrection, but were again reduced to submission by the military. the spirit of the mountaineers was, however, less easily tamed. in april, , the people of schwyz took four hundred french prisoners; those of uri, under their leader, vincenz schmid, stormed and burned altorf, the seat of the french and their adherents; those of valais, under the youthful count courten, drove the french from their valleys, and those of the grisons surprised and cut to pieces a french squadron at dissentis. general soult took the field with a strong force against them in may and reduced them one after the other, but with great loss on his side, to submission. twelve hundred french fell in valais, which was completely laid waste by fire and sword; in uri, stones and rocks were hurled upon them by the infuriated peasantry as they defiled through the narrow gorges; schmid was, however, taken and shot; schwyz was also reduced to obedience; in the grisons, upward of a thousand french fell in a bloody engagement at coire, and the magnificent monastery of dissentis was, in revenge, burned to the ground. the beautiful bergland was reduced to an indescribable state of misery. the villages lay in ashes; the people, who had escaped the general massacre, fell victims to famine. in this extremity, zschokke, at that time helvetic governor of the waldstatte, proposed the complete expulsion of the ancient inhabitants and the settlement of french colonists in the fatherland of william tell.[ ] the imperial free town of muhlhausen in the suntgau, the ancient ally of switzerland, fell, like her, into the hands of the french. unable to preserve her independence, she committed a singular political suicide. the whole of the town property was divided among the citizens. a girl, attired in the ancient swiss costume, delivered the town keys to the french commissioner; the city banner and arms were buried with great solemnity.[ ] the french had also shown as little lenity in their treatment of italy. rome was entered and garrisoned with french troops; the handsome and now venerable puppet, pope pius vi., was seized, robbed, and personally maltreated (his ring was even torn from his hand), and dragged a prisoner to france, where he expired in the august of . [footnote : "the peasant, when summoned into the presence of a governor, lord of the council, head of a guild, or preacher, stood there, not as a free swiss, but as a criminal trembling before his judge."--_lehmann on the imaginary freedom of the swiss. ._] [footnote : "the important office of provincial secretary was, in this manner, hereditary in the family of the beroldingen of uri."--_lehmann_.] [footnote : "in the grisons, the constitution was extremely complicated. the lordships of meyenfeld and aspermont were, for instance, subject to the three confederated cantons and under the control of the provincial governors nominated by them; they were at the same time members of the whole free state, and, as such, had a right of lordship over the subject provinces, over which, they, in their turn, appointed a governor."--_meyer von knonau's geography._] [footnote : the best information concerning the authority held by the provincial governors, who enjoyed almost unlimited sway over their districts, is to be met with in the excellent biography of solomon landolt, the provincial governor of zurich, by david hesz. landolt was the model of an able but extremely tyrannical governor (he ruled over greisensee and eglisau) and gained great note by his salomonic judgments and by his quaint humor. he founded the swiss rifle clubs and introduced that national weapon into modern warfare. he was also a painter and had the whim, notwithstanding the constant triumph of the french, ever to represent them in his pictures as the vanquished party.] [footnote : hirzel wrote at that time, in his "glimpses into the history of the confederation," that captain henzl had been deprived of his head because he was the only man in the country who had one. zimmerman says in his "national pride," "a foreign philosopher visited switzerland for the purpose of settling in a country where thought was free; he remained ten days at zurich and then went to--portugal." in , the clocks at basel, which, since the siege of rudolph of habsburg, had remained one hour behindhand, were, after immense opposition, regulated like those in the rest of the world. two factions sprang up on this occasion, that of the spieszburghers or lalleburghers (the ancient one), and that of the francemen or new-modellers (the modern one).] [footnote : laharpe was at the same time a demagogue in the vaud and tutor to the emperor alexander at petersburg.] [footnote : valtelline with chiavenna and bormio (cleves and worms) were ill-treated by the people of the grisons. offices and justice were regularly jobbed and sold to the highest bidder. the people of valtelline hastily entered into alliance with france, while the oppressed peasantry in the grisons rebelled against the ruling family of salis, which had long been in the pay of the french kings, and had, since the revolution, sided with austria. john müller appeared at basel as thugut's agent for the purpose of inciting the confederation against france.--_ochs's history of basel._] [footnote : while here, he gave fesch, the pastry-cook, whose brother, a swiss lieutenant, was the second husband of bonaparte's maternal grandmother, a very friendly reception. the offspring of this second marriage was the future cardinal fesch, letitia's half-brother and napoleon's uncle, whom napoleon attempted to create primate of germany and to raise to the pontifical throne.] [footnote : some of the cantons imagined that france merely aspired to the possession of valais, and, jealous of the prosperity and power of berne, willingly permitted her to suffer this humiliation.-_meyer von knonau_]. [footnote : two bernese, condemned to work in the trenches at yferten, on being liberated by the french, returned voluntarily to berne, in order to aid in the defense of the city. a rare trait, in those times, of ancient swiss fidelity.] [footnote : a good deal of it was spent by bonaparte during his expedition into egypt, and, even at the present day, the bernese bear is to be seen on coins still in circulation on the banks of the nile.--_meyer von knonau._] [footnote : the venerable pestalozzi assembled the orphans and founded his celebrated model academy at stanz. seventy-nine women and girls were found among the slain. a story is told of a girl who, being attacked, in a lonely house, by two frenchmen, knocked their heads together with such force that they dropped down dead.] [footnote : not far from pruntrut is the hill of terri, said to have been formerly occupied by one of cæsar's camps. the french named it _mont terrible_ and created a _department du mont terrible_. vide meyer von knonau's geography.] [footnote : in his "political remarks touching the canton of waldstatten," dated the d of june, , he says: "let us imitate the political maxims of the conquerors of old, who drove the inhabitants most inimical to them into foreign countries and established colonies, composed of families of their own kin, in the heart of the conquered provinces." his proposal remaining unseconded, he sought to obliterate the bad impression it had made, by publishing a proclamation, calling upon the charitably inclined to raise a subscription for the unfortunate inhabitants of the waldstatte.] [footnote : vide graf's history of muhlhausen.] cclii. the second coalition prussia looked calmly on, with a view of increasing her power by peace while other states ruined themselves by war, and of offering her arbitration at a moment when she could turn their mutual losses to advantage. austria, exposed to immediate danger by the occupation of switzerland by the french, remained less tranquil and hastily formed a fresh coalition with england and russia. catherine ii. had expired, . her son, paul i., cherished the most ambitious views. his election as grand-master of the maltese order dispersed by napoleon had furnished him with a sort of right of interference in the affairs of the levant and of italy. on the st of march, , the ionian islands, corfu, etc., were occupied by russian troops, and a russian army, under the terrible suwarow, moved, in conjunction with the troops of austria, upon italy. the project of the russian czar was, by securing his footing on the mediterranean and at the same time encircling turkey, to attack constantinople on both sides, on the earliest opportunity. austria was merely to serve as a blind tool for the attainment of his schemes. mack was despatched to naples for the purpose of bringing about a general rising in southern italy against the french, and england lavished gold. the absence of bonaparte probably inspired several of the allied generals with greater courage, not the french, but he, being the object of their dread. the conduct of the french at rastadt had revolted every german and had justly raised their most implacable hatred, which burst forth during a popular tumult at vienna, when the tricolor, floating from the palace of general bernadotte, the french ambassador, was torn down and burned. the infamous assassination of the french ambassadors at rastadt also took place during this agitated period. bonnier, roberjot, and jean de bry quitted rastadt on the breaking out of war, and were attacked and cut to pieces by some austrian hussars in a wood close to the city gate. jean de bry alone escaped, although dangerously wounded, with his life. this atrocious act was generally believed to have been committed through private revenge, or, what is far more probable, for the purpose of discovering by the papers of the ambassadors the truth of the reports at that time in circulation concerning the existence of a conspiracy and projects for the establishment of republics throughout germany. the real motive was, however, not long ago,[ ] unveiled. austria had revived her ancient projects against bavaria, and, as early as , had treated with the french directory for the possession of that electorate in return for her toleration of the occupatign of switzerland by the troops of the republic. the venerable elector, charles theodore, who had been already persuaded to cede bavaria and to content himself with franconia, dying suddenly of apoplexy while at the card-table, was succeeded by his cousin, maximilian joseph of pfalz-zweibrucken, from whom, on account of his numerous family, no voluntary cession was to be expected either for the present or future. thugut and lehr-bach, the rulers of the viennese cabinet, in the hope of compromising and excluding him, as a traitor to the empire, from the bavarian succession, by the production of proofs of his being the secret ally of france, hastily resolved upon the assassination of the french ambassadors at rastadt, on the bare supposition of their having in their possession documents in the handwriting of the elector. none were, however, discovered, the french envoys having either taken the precaution of destroying them or of committing them to the safe-keeping of the prussian ambassador. this crime was, as hormayr observes, at the same time, a political blunder. this horrible act was perpetrated on the th of april, . the campaign had, a month anterior to this event, been opened by the french, who had attacked the austrians in their still scattered positions. disunion prevailed as usual in the austrian military council. the archduke charles proposed the invasion of france from the side of swabia. the occupation of switzerland by the troops of austria was, nevertheless, resolved upon, and general auffenberg, accordingly, entered the grisons. the french instantly perceived and hastened to anticipate the designs of the austrian cabinet. auffenberg was defeated by massena on the st. luciensteig and expelled the grisons, while hotze on the vorarlberg and bellegarde in the tyrol looked calmly on at the head of fifteen thousand men. the simultaneous invasion of swabia by jourdan now induced the military council at vienna to accede to the proposal formerly made by the archduke charles, who was despatched with the main body of the army to swabia, where, on the th of march, , he gained a complete victory over jourdan at ostrach and stockach.[ ] the grisons were retaken in may by hotze, and, in june, the archduke joining him, massena was defeated at zurich, and the steep passes of mont st. gothard were occupied by haddik. massena was, however, notwithstanding the immense numerical superiority of the archduke's forces, which could easily have driven him far into france, allowed to remain undisturbed at bremgarten. the french, under scherer, in italy, had, meanwhile, been defeated, in april, by kray, at magnano. this success was followed by the arrival of melas from vienna, of bellegarde from the tyrol, and lastly, by that of the russian vanguard under suwarow, who took the chief command and beat the whole of the french forces in italy; moreau, at cassano and marengo, in may; macdonald, on his advance from lower italy, on the trebbia, in june; and finally, joubert, in the great battle of novi, in which joubert was killed, august the th, . dissensions now broke out among the victors. a fourth of the forces in italy belonged to austria, merely one-fifth to russia; the austrians, consequently, imagined that the war was merely carried on on their account. the austrian forces were, against suwarow's advice, divided, for the purpose of reducing mantua and alessandria and of occupying tuscany. the king of sardinia, whom suwarow desired to restore to his throne, was forbidden to enter his states by the austrians, who intended to retain possession of them for some time longer. the whole of italy, as far as ancona and genoa, was now freed from the french, whom the italians, embittered by their predatory habits, had aided to expel, and suwarow received orders to join his forces with those under korsakow, who was then on the upper rhine with thirty thousand men. the archduke might, even without this fresh reinforcement, have already annihilated massena had he not remained during three months, from june to august, in a state of complete inactivity; at the very moment of suwarow's expected arrival he allowed the important passes of the st. gothard to be again carried by a coup de main by the french under general lecourbe, who drove the austrians from the simplon, the furca, the grimsel, and the devil's bridge. the archduke, after an unsuccessful attempt to push across the aar at dettingen, suddenly quitted the scene of war and advanced down the rhine for the purpose of supporting the english expedition under the duke of york against holland. this unexpected turn in affairs proceeded from vienna. the viennese cabinet was jealous of russia. suwarow played the master in italy, favored sardinia at the expense of the house of habsburg, and deprived the austrians of the laurels and of the advantages they had won. the archduke, accordingly, received orders to remain inactive, to abandon the russians, and finally to withdraw to the north; by this movement suwarow's triumphant progress was checked, he was compelled to cross the alps to the aid of korsakow, and to involve himself in a mountain warfare ill-suited to the habits of his soldiery.[ ] korsakow, whom bavaria had been bribed with russian gold to furnish with a corps one thousand strong, was solely supported by kray and hotze with twenty thousand men. massena, taking advantage of the departure of the archduke and the non-arrival of suwarow, crossed the limmat at dietikon and shut korsakow, who had imprudently stationed himself with his whole army in zurich, so closely in, that, after an engagement that lasted two days, from the th to the th of september, the russian general was compelled to abandon his artillery and to force his way through the enemy. ten thousand men were all that escaped.[ ] hotze, who had advanced from the grisons to schwyz to suwarow's rencounter, was, at the same time, defeated and killed at schannis. suwarow, although aware that the road across the st. gothard was blocked by the lake of the four cantons, on which there were no boats, had the folly to attempt the passage. in airolo, he was obstinately opposed by the french under lecourbe, and, although schweikowski contrived to turn this strong position by scaling the pathless rocks, numbers of the men were, owing to suwarow's impatience, sacrificed before it. on the th of september, , he at length climbed the st. gothard, and a bloody engagement, in which the french were worsted, took place on the oberalpsee. lecourbe blew up the devil's bridge, but, leaving the urnerloch open, the russians pushed through that rocky gorge, and, dashing through the foaming reuss, scaled the opposite rocks and drove the french from their position behind the devil's bridge. altorf on the lake was reached in safety by the russian general, who was compelled, owing to the want of boats, to seek his way through the valleys of shachen and muotta, across the almost impassable rocks, to schwyz. the heavy rains rendered the undertaking still more arduous; the russians, owing to the badness of the road, speedily became barefoot; the provisions were also exhausted. in this wretched state they reached muotta on the th of september and learned the discouraging news of korsakow's defeat. massena had already set off in the hope of cutting off suwarow, but had missed his way. he reached altorf, where he joined lecourbe on the th, when suwarow was already at muotta, whence massena found on his arrival he had again retired across the bragelberg, through the klonthal. he was opposed on the lake of klonthal by molitor, who was, however, forced to retire by auffenberg, who had joined suwarow at altorf and formed his advanced guard, rosen, at the same time, beating off massena with the rear-guard, taking five cannons and one thousand of his men prisoners. on the st of october, suwarow entered glarus, where he rested until the th, when he crossed the panixer mountains through snow two feet deep to the valley of the rhine, which he reached on the th, after losing the whole of his beasts of burden and two hundred of his men down the precipices; and here ended his extraordinary march, which had cost him the whole of his artillery, almost all his horses, and a third of his men. the archduke had, meanwhile, tarried on the rhine, where he had taken philippsburg and mannheim, but had been unable to prevent the defeat of the english expedition under the duke of york by general brune at bergen, on the th of september. the archduke now, for the first time, made a retrograde movement, and approached korsakow and suwarow. the different leaders, however, merely reproached each other, and the czar, perceiving his project frustrated, suddenly recalled his troops and the campaign came to a close. the archduke's rearguard was defeated in a succession of petty skirmishes at heidelberg and on the neckar by the french, who again pressed forward.[ ] these disasters were counterbalanced by the splendid victory gained by melas in italy, at savigliano, over championnet, who attempted to save genoa. austria was no sooner deprived in suwarow of the most efficient of her allies than she was attacked by her most dangerous foe. bonaparte returned from egypt. the news of the great disasters of the french in italy no sooner arrived, than he abandoned his army and hastened, completely unattended, to france, through the midst of the english fleet, then stationed in the mediterranean. his arrival in paris was instantly followed by his public nomination as generalissimo. he alone had the power of restoring victory to the standard of the republic. the ill success of his rivals had greatly increased his popularity; he had become indispensable to his countrymen. his power was alone obnoxious to the weak government, which, aided by the soldiery, he dissolved on the th of november (the th brumaire, by the modern french calendar); he then bestowed a new constitution upon france and placed himself, under the title of first consul, at the head of the republic. in the following year, , bonaparte made preparations for a fresh campaign against austria, under circumstances similar to those of the first. but this time he was more rapid in his movements and performed more astonishing feats. suddenly crossing the st. bernard, he fell upon the austrian flank. genoa, garrisoned by massena, had just been forced by famine to capitulate. ten days afterward, on the th of june, bonaparte gained such a decisive victory over melas, the austrian general, at marengo,[ ] that he and the remainder of his army capitulated on the ensuing day. the whole of italy fell once more into the hands of the french. moreau had, at the same time, invaded germany and defeated the austrians under kray in several engagements, principally at stockach and moskirch,[ ] and again at biberach and hochstadt, laid swabia and bavaria under contribution, and taken ratisbon, the seat of the diet. an armistice, negotiated by kray, was not recognized by the emperor, and he was replaced in his command by the archduke john (not charles), who was, on the d of december, totally routed by moreau's manoeuvres during a violent snowstorm, at hohenlinden. a second austrian army, despatched into italy, was also defeated by brune on the mincio. these disasters once more inclined austria to peace, which was concluded at luneville, on the th of february, . the archduke charles seized this opportunity to propose the most beneficial reforms in the war administration, but was again treated with contempt. in the ensuing year, , england also concluded peace at amiens. the whole of the left bank of the rhine was, on this occasion, ceded to the french republic. the petty republics, formerly established by france in italy, switzerland, and holland, were also renewed and were recognized by the allied powers. the cisalpine republic was enlarged by the possessions of the grandduke of tuscany and of the duke of modena, to whom compensation in germany was guaranteed. suwarow's victories had, in the autumn of , rendered a conclave, on the death of the captive pope, pius vi., in france, possible, for the purpose of electing his successor, pius vii., who was acknowledged as such by bonaparte, whose favor he purchased by expressing his approbation of the seizure of the property of the church during the french revolution, and by declaring his readiness to agree to the secularization of church property, already determined upon, in germany. the helvetian directory fell, like that of france, and was replaced by an administrative council, composed of seven members, in . the upholders of ancient cantonal liberty, now known under the denomination of federalists, gained the upper hand, and aloys reding, who had, shortly before, been denounced as a rebel, became landammann of switzerland. bonaparte even invited him to paris in order to settle with him the future fate of switzerland. reding, however, showing an unexpected degree of firmness, and, unmoved by either promises or threats, obstinately refusing to permit the annexation of valais to france, bonaparte withdrew his support and again favored the helvetlers. dolder and savari, who had long been the creatures of france, failing in their election, were seated by verninac, the french ambassador, in the senate of the helvetian republic, and reding, who was at that moment absent, was divested of his office as landammann. reding protested against this arbitrary conduct and convoked a federal diet to schwyz. andermatt, general of the helvetian republic, attempted to seize zurich, which had joined the federalists, but was compelled to withdraw, covered with disgrace. an army of federalists under general bachmann repulsed the helvetlers in every direction and drove them, together with the french envoys, across the frontier. bonaparte, upon this, sent a body of thirty to forty thousand men, under ney, into switzerland, which met with no opposition, the federalists being desirous of avoiding useless bloodshed and being already acquainted with bonaparte's secret projects. he would not tolerate opposition on their part, like that of reding: he had resolved upon getting possession of valais at any price, on account of the road across the simplon, so important to him as affording the nearest communication between paris and milan: in all other points, he perfectly coincided with the federalists and was willing to grant its ancient independence to every canton in switzerland, where disunion and petty feuds placed the country the more securely in his hands. with feigned commiseration for the ineptitude of the swiss to settle their own disputes, he invited deputies belonging to the various factions and cantons to paris, lectured them like schoolboys, and compelled them by the act of mediation, under his intervention, to give a new constitution to switzerland. valais was annexed to france in exchange for the austrian frickthal. nineteen cantons were created.[ ] each canton again administered its internal affairs. bonaparte was never weary of painting the happy lot of petty states and the delights of petty citizenship. "but ye are too weak, too helpless, to defend yourselves; cast yourselves therefore into the arms of france, ready to protect you while, free from taxation, and from the burdensome maintenance of an army, ye dwell free and independent in your native vales." the swiss, although no longer to have a national army, were, nevertheless, compelled to furnish a contingent of eighteen thousand men to that of france, and, while deluded by the idea of their freedom from taxation, the fifteen millions of french _bons_ given in exchange for the numerous swiss loans were cashiered by bonaparte, under pretext of the swiss having been already sufficiently paid by their deliverance from their enemies by the french.[ ] the real swiss patriots implored the german powers to protect their country, the bulwark of germany against france; but austria was too much weakened by her own losses, and prussia handed the letters addressed to her from switzerland over to the first consul. the melancholy business, commenced by the empire at the congress of rastadt, and which had been broken off by the outbreak of war, had now to be recommenced. fresh compensations had been rendered necessary by the robberies committed upon the italian princes. the church property no longer sufficed to satisfy all demands, and fresh seizures had become requisite. a committee of the diet was intrusted with the settlement of the question of compensation, which was decided on the th of february, , by a decree of the imperial diet. all the great powers of germany had not suffered; all had not, consequently, a right to demand compensation, but, in order to appease their jealousy, all were to receive a portion of the booty. the three spiritual electorates, mayence, treves, and cologne, were abolished, their position on the other side of the rhine including them within the french territory. the archbishop of mayence alone retained his dignity, and was transferred to ratisbon. the whole of the imperial free cities were moreover deprived of their privileges, six alone excepted, lubeck, hamburg,[ ] bremen, frankfort, augsburg, and nuremberg. the unsecularized bishoprics and abbeys were abolished. the petty princes, counts and barons, and the teutonic order, were still allowed to exist, in order ere long to be included in the general ruin. prussia retained the bishoprics of hildesheim and paderborn, a part of munster, numerous abbeys and imperial free towns in westphalia and thuringia, more particularly erfurt. bavaria had ever suffered on the conclusion of peace between france and austria; in , she had ceded the rhenish pfalz to france and a province on the inn to austria; by the treaty of luneville she had been, moreover, compelled to raze the fortress of ingolstadt.[ ] the inclination for french innovations displayed by the reigning duke, maximilian joseph, who surrounded himself with the old illuminati, caused her, on this occasion, by bonaparte's aid, to be richly compensated by the annexation of the bishoprics of bamberg, wurzburg, augsburg, and freisingen, with several small towns, etc.; all the monasteries were abolished. bavaria had formerly supported the institutions of the ancient church of rome more firmly than austria, where reforms had already been begun in the church by joseph ii. hanover received osnabruck; baden, the portion of the pfalz on this side the rhine, the greatest part of the bishoprics of constance, basel, strasburg, and spires, also on this side the rhine; wurtemberg, both hesses (cassel and darmstadt); and nassau, all the lands in the vicinity formerly belonging to the bishopric of mayence, to imperial free towns and petty lordships. ferdinand, grandduke of tuscany, younger brother to the emperor francis ii., was compelled to relinquish his hereditary possessions in italy,[ ] and received in exchange salzburg, eichstädt, and passau. ferdinand, duke of modena, uncle to the emperor francis ii. and younger brother to the emperors leopold ii. and joseph ii., also resigned his duchy,[ ] for which he received the breisgau in exchange. william v., hereditary stadtholder of holland, who had been expelled his states, also received, on this occasion, in compensation for his son of like name (he was himself already far advanced in years), the rich abbey of fulda, which was created the principality of orange-fulda.[ ] the electoral dignity was at the same time bestowed upon the archduke ferdinand, the landgrave of hesse-cassel, the duke of wurtemberg, and the margrave of baden. submission, although painful, produced no opposition. the power of the imperial free cities had long passed away,[ ] and the spiritual princes no longer wielded the sword. the manner in which the officers of the princes took possession, the insolence with which they treated the subject people, the fraud and embezzlement that were openly practiced, are merely excusable on account of the fact that germany was, notwithstanding the peace, still in a state of war. the decree of the imperial diet can scarcely be regarded as the ignominious close of a good old time, but rather as a violent but beneficial incisure in an old and rankling sore. with the petty states, a mass of vanity and pedantry disappeared on the one side, pusillanimity and servility on the other; the ideas of the subjects of a large state have naturally a wider range; the monasteries, those dens of superstition, the petty princely residences, those hotbeds of french vice and degeneracy, the imperial free towns, those abodes of petty burgher prejudice, no longer existed. the extension of the limits of the states rendered the gradual introduction of a better administration, the laying of roads, the foundation of public institutions of every description, and social improvement, possible. the example of france, the ever-renewed warfare, and the conscriptions, created, moreover, a martial spirit among the people, which, although far removed from patriotism, might still, when compared with the spirit formerly pervading the imperial army, be regarded as a first step from effeminacy, cowardice, and sloth, toward true, unflinching, manly courage. [footnote : scenes during the war of liberation.] [footnote : jourdan might easily have been annihilated during his retreat by the imperial cavalry, twenty-seven thousand strong, had his strength and position been better known to his pursuers.] [footnote : scenes during the war of liberation.] [footnote : the celebrated lavater was, on this occasion, mortally wounded by a french soldier. the people of zurich were heavily mulcted by massena for having aided the austrians to the utmost in their power. zschokke, who was at that time in the pay of france, wrote against the "imperialism" of the swiss. vide haller and landolt's life by hess.] [footnote : concerning the wretched provision for the austrian army, the embezzlement of the supplies, the bad management of the magazines and hospitals, see "representation of the causes of the disasters suffered by the austrians," etc. .] [footnote : the contest lasted the whole day: the french already gave way on every side, when desaix led the french centre with such fury to the charge that the austrians, surprised by the suddenness of the movement, were driven back and thrown into confusion, and the french, rallying at that moment, made another furious onset and tore the victory from their grasp.] [footnote : the impregnable fortress of hohentwiel, formerly so gallantly defended by widerhold, was surrendered without a blow by the cowardly commandant, bilfinger. rotenburg on the tauber, on the contrary, wiped off the disgrace with which she had covered herself during the thirty years' war. a small french skirmishing party demanded a contribution from this city; the council yielded, but the citizens drove off the enemy with pitchforks.] [footnote : the ancient ones, berne, zurich, basel, solothurn, freiburg, lucerne, schaffhausen; the re-established ones, uri, schwyz, unterwalden, zug, glarus, appenzell, st. gall (instead of waldstätten, linth, and säntis), valais (instead of leman), aargau, constance, grisons, tessin (instead of lugano and bellinzona). the bernese oberland again fell to berne. the ambassador, attempting to preserve its independence, was asked by napoleon: "where do you take your cattle, your cheese, etc.?" "À berne," was the reply. "whence do you get your grain, cloth, iron, etc.?" "de berne." "well," continued napoleon, "de berne, à berne, you consequently belong to berne."--the bernese were highly delighted at the restoration of their independence, and the re-erection of the ancient arms of berne became a joyous fête. a gigantic black bear that was painted on the broad walls of the castle of trachselwald was visible far down the valley.] [footnote : murald, in his life of reinhard, records an instance of shameless fraud, the attempt made during a farewell banquet at paris to cozen the swiss deputies out of a million. after plying them well with wine, an altered document was offered them for signature; reinhard, the only one who perceived the fraud, frustrated the scheme.] [footnote : hamburg was, however, compelled to pay to the french , , marcs banco, and to allow rumbold, the english agent, to be arrested by them within the city walls.] [footnote : the university had been removed, in , to landshut.] [footnote : bonaparte transformed them into a kingdom of etruria, which he bestowed upon a spanish prince, louis of parma, who shortly afterward died and his kingdom was annexed to france.] [footnote : he was son-in-law to hercules, the last duke of modena, who still lived, but had resigned his claims in his favor. this duke expired in .] [footnote : which he speedily lost by rejoining napoleon's adversaries. adalbert von harstall, the last princely abbot of fulda, was an extremely noble character; he is almost the only one among the princes who remained firmly by his subjects when all the rest fled and abandoned theirs to the french. after the edict of secularization he remained firmly at his post until compelled to resign it by the prussian soldiery.] [footnote : the citizens of esalingen were shortly before at law with their magistrate on account of his nepotism and tyranny without being able to get a decision from the supreme court of judicature.-- quedlinburg had also not long before sent envoys to vienna with heavy complaints of the insolence of the magistrate, and the envoys had been sent home without a reply being vouchsafed and were threatened with the house of correction in case they ventured to return. vide hess's flight through germany, .--wimpfen also carried on a suit against its magistrate. in , imperial decrees were issued against the aristocracy of ulm. in , the people of aix-la-chapelle rose against their magistrate. nuremberg repeatedly demanded the production of the public accounts from the aristocratic town-council. the people of hildesheim also revolted against their council. vide schlözer, state archives.] ccliii. fall of the holy roman-germanic empire a great change had, meanwhile, taken place in france. the republic existed merely in name. the first consul, bonaparte, already possessed regal power. the world beheld with astonishment a nation that had so lately and so virulently persecuted royalty, so dearly bought and so strictly enforced its boasted liberty, suddenly forget its triumph and restore monarchy. liberty had ceased to be in vogue, and had yielded to a general desire for the acquisition of fame. the equality enforced by liberty was offensive to individual vanity, and the love of gain and luxury opposed republican poverty. fame and wealth were alone to be procured by war and conquest. france was to be enriched by the plunder of her neighbors. bonaparte, moreover, promoted the prosperity and dignity of the country by the establishment of manufactures, public institutions, and excellent laws. the awe with which he inspired his subjects insured their obedience; he was universally feared and reverenced. in whatever age this extraordinary man had lived, he must have taken the lead and have reduced nations to submission. even his adversaries, even those he most deeply injured, owned his influence. his presence converted the wisdom of the statesman, the knowledge of the most experienced general, into folly and ignorance; the bravest armies fled panic-struck before his eagles; the proudest sovereigns of europe bowed their crowned heads before the little hat of the corsican. he was long regarded as a new savior, sent to impart happiness to his people, and, as though by magic, bent the blind and pliant mass to his will. but philanthropy, christian wisdom, the virtues of the prince of peace, were not his. if he bestowed excellent laws upon his people, it was merely with the view of increasing the power of the state for military purposes. he was ever possessed and tormented by the demon of war. on the th of may, , bonaparte abolished the french republic and was elected hereditary emperor of france. on the d of december, he was solemnly anointed and crowned by the pope, pius vii., who visited paris for that purpose. the ceremonies used at the coronation of charlemagne were revived on this occasion. on the th of march, , he abolished the ligurian and cisalpine republics, and set the ancient iron crown of lombardy on his head, with his own hand, as king of italy. he made a distinction between _la france_ and _l'empire_, the latter of which was, by conquest, to be gradually extended over the whole of europe, and to be raised by him above that of germany, in the same manner that the western roman-germanic empire had formerly been raised by charlemagne above the eastern byzantine one. the erection of france into an empire was viewed with distrust by austria, whose displeasure had been, moreover, roused by the arbitrary conduct of napoleon in italy. fresh disputes had also arisen between him and england; he had occupied the whole of hanover, which wallmoden's[ ] army had been powerless to defend, with his troops, and violated the baden territory by the seizure of the unfortunate duc d'enghien, a prince of the house of bourbon, who was carried into france and there shot. prussia offered no interference, in the hope of receiving hanover in reward for her neutrality.[ ] austria, on her part, formed a third coalition with england, russia, and sweden.[ ] austria acted, undeniably, on this occasion, with impolitic haste; she ought rather to have waited until prussia and public opinion throughout germany had been ranged on her side, as sooner or later must have been the case, by the brutal encroachments of napoleon. austria, unaided by prussia, could scarcely dream of success.[ ] but england, at that time fearful of napoleon's landing on her coast, lavished her all-persuasive gold. the archduke ferdinand was placed at the head of the austrian troops in germany; the archduke charles, of those in italy. ferdinand commanded the main body and was guided by mack, who, without awaiting the arrival of the russians, advanced as far as ulm, pushed a corps, under jellachich, forward to lindau, and left the whole of his right flank exposed. he, nevertheless, looked upon napoleon's defeat and the invasion of france by his troops as close at hand. he was in ill-health and highly irritable. napoleon, in order to move with greater celerity, sent a part of his troops by carriage through strasburg, declared to the margrave of baden, the duke of wurtemberg, and the elector of bavaria, his intention not to recognize them as neutral powers, that they must be either against him or with him, and made them such brilliant promises (they were, moreover, actuated by distrust of austria), that they ranged themselves on his side. napoleon instantly sent orders to general bernadotte, who was at that time stationed in hanover, to cross the neutral prussian territory of anspach,[ ] without demanding the permission of prussia, to mack's rear, in order to form a junction with the bavarian troops. other corps were at the same time directed by circuitous routes upon the flanks of the austrian army, which was attacked at memmingen by soult, and was cut off to the north by ney, who carried the bridge of elchingen[ ] by storm. mack had drawn his troops together, but had, notwithstanding the entreaties of his generals, refused to attack the separate french corps before they could unite and surround him. the archduke ferdinand alone succeeded in fighting his way with a part of the cavalry through the enemy.[ ] mack lost his senses and capitulated on the th of october, . with him fell sixty thousand austrians, the elite of the army, into the hands of the enemy. napoleon could scarcely spare a sufficient number of men to escort this enormous crowd of prisoners to france. wernek's corps, which had already been cut off, was also compelled to yield itself prisoner at trochtelfingen, not far from heidenheim. napoleon, while following up his success with his customary rapidity and advancing with his main body straight upon vienna, despatched ney into the tyrol, where the peasantry, headed by the archduke john, made a heroic defence. the advanced guard of the french, composed of the bavarians under deroy, were defeated at the strub pass, but, notwithstanding this disaster, ney carried the schaarnitz by storm and reached innsbruck. the archduke john was compelled to retire into carinthia in order to form a junction with his brother charles, who, after beating massena at caldiero, had been necessitated by mack's defeat to hasten from italy for the purpose of covering austria. two corps, left in the hurry of retreat too far westward, were cut off and taken prisoner, that under prince rohan at castellfranco, after having found its way from meran into the venetian territory, and that under jellachich on the lake of constance; kinsky's and wartenleben's cavalry threw themselves boldly into swabia and franconia, seized the couriers and convoys to the french rear, and escaped unhurt to bohemia. davoust had, in the meanwhile, invaded styria and defeated a corps under meerveldt at mariazell. in november, napoleon had reached vienna, neither linz nor any other point having been fortified by the austrians. the great russian army under kutusow appeared at this conjuncture in moravia. the czar, alexander i., accompanied it in person, and the emperor, francis ii., joined him with his remaining forces. a bloody engagement took place between kutusow and the french at durrenstein on the danube, but, on the loss of vienna, the russians retired to moravia. the sovereigns of austria and russia loudly called upon prussia to renounce her alliance with france, and, in this decisive moment, to aid in the annihilation of a foe, for whose false friendship she would one day dearly pay. the violation of the prussian territory by bernadotte had furnished the prussian king with a pretext for suddenly declaring against napoleon. the prussian army was also in full force. the british and the hanoverian legion had landed at bremen and twenty thousand russians on rugen; ten thousand swedes entered hanover; electoral hesse was also ready for action. the king of prussia, nevertheless, merely confined himself to threats, in the hope of selling his neutrality to napoleon for hanover, and deceived the coalition.[ ] the emperor alexander visited berlin in person for the purpose of rousing prussia to war, but had no sooner returned to austria in order to rejoin his army than count haugwitz, the prussian minister, was despatched to napoleon's camp with express instructions not to declare war. the famous battle, in which the three emperors of christendom were present, took place, meanwhile, at austerlitz, not far from brunn, on the d of december, , and terminated in one of napoleon's most glorious victories.[ ] this battle decided the policy of prussia, and haugwitz confirmed her alliance with france by a treaty, by which prussia ceded cleves, anspach, and neufchâtel to france in exchange for hanover.[ ] this treaty was published with a precipitation equalling that with which it had been concluded, and seven hundred prussian vessels, whose captains were ignorant of the event, were seized by the enraged english either in british harbors or on the sea. the peace concluded by austria, on the th of december, at presburg, was purchased by her at an enormous sacrifice. napoleon had, in the opening of the campaign, when pressing onward toward austria, compelled charles frederick, elector of baden,[ ] frederick, elector of wurtemberg, and maximilian joseph, elector of bavaria (in whose mind the memory of the assassination of the ambassadors at rastadt, the loss of wasserburg, the demolition of ingolstadt, etc., still rankled), to enter into his alliance; to which they remained zealously true on account of the immense private advantages thereby gained by them, and of the dread of being deprived by the haughty victor of the whole of their possessions on the first symptom of opposition on their part. napoleon, with a view of binding them still more closely to his interests by motives of gratitude, gave them on the present occasion an ample share in the booty. bavaria was erected into a kingdom,[ ] and received, from prussia, anspach and baireuth; from austria, the whole of the tyrol, vorarlberg and lindau, the margraviate of burgau, the dioceses of passau, eichstädt, trent, and brixen, besides several petty lordships. wurtemberg was raised to a monarchy and enriched with the bordering austrian lordships in swabia. baden was rewarded with the breisgau, the ortenau, constance, and the title of grandduke. venice was included by napoleon in his kingdom of italy, and, for all these losses, austria was merely indemnified by the possession of salzburg. ferdinand, elector of salzburg, the former grandduke of tuscany, was transferred to wurzburg. ferdinand of modena lost the whole of his possessions. the imperial crown, so well maintained by napoleon, now shone with redoubled lustre. the petty republics and the provinces dependent upon the french empire were erected into kingdoms and principalities and bestowed upon his relatives and favorites. his brother joseph was created king of naples; his brother louis, king of holland; his stepson eugene beauharnais, viceroy of italy; his brother-in-law murat, formerly a common horse-soldier, now his best general of cavalry, grandduke of berg; his first adjutant, berthier, prince of neufchâtel; his uncle, cardinal fesch, was nominated successor to the elector of mayence, then resident at ratisbon. in order to remove the stigma attached to him as a parvenu, napoleon also began to form matrimonial alliances between his family and the most ancient houses of europe. his handsome stepson, eugene, married the princess augusta, daughter to the king of bavaria; his brother jerome, catherine, daughter to the king of wurtemberg; and his niece, stephanie, charles, hereditary prince of baden. all the new princes were vassals of the emperor napoleon, and, by a family decree, subject to his supremacy. all belonged to the great empire. switzerland was also included, and but one step more was wanting to complete the incorporation of half the german empire with that of france. on the th of july, , sixteen princes of western germany concluded, under napoleon's direction, a treaty, according to which they separated themselves from the german empire and founded the so-called rhenish alliance, which it was their intention to render subject to the supremacy of the emperor of the french.[ ] on the st of august, napoleon declared that he no longer recognized the empire of germany! no one ventured to oppose his omnipotent voice. on the th of august, , the emperor, francis ii., abdicated the imperial crown of germany and announced the dissolution of the empire in a touching address, full of calm dignity and sorrow. the last of the german emperors had shown himself, throughout the contest, worthy of his great ancestors, and had, almost alone, sacrificed all in order to preserve the honor of germany, until, abandoned by the greater part of the german princes, he was compelled to yield to a power superior to his. the fall of the empire that had stood the storms of a thousand years, was, however, not without dignity. a meaner hand might have levelled the decayed fabric with the dust, but fate, that seemed to honor even the faded majesty of the ancient caesars, selected napoleon as the executioner of her decrees. the standard of charlemagne, the greatest hero of the first christian age, was to be profaned by no hand save that of the greatest hero of modern times. ancient names, long venerated, now disappeared. the holy roman-german emperor was converted into an emperor of austria, the electors into kings or granddukes, all of whom enjoyed unlimited sovereign power and were free from subjection to the supremacy of the emperor. every bond of union was dissolved with the diet of the empire and with the imperial chamber. the barons and counts of the empire and the petty princes were mediatized; the princes of hohenlohe, oettingen, schwarzenberg, thurn and taxis, the truchsess von waldburg, furstenberg, fugger, leiningen, lowenstein, solms, hesse-homburg, wied-runkel, and orange-fulda became subject to the neighboring rhenish confederated princes. of the remaining six imperial free cities, augsburg and nuremberg fell to bavaria; frankfort, under the title of grandduchy, to the ancient elector of mayence, who was again transferred thither from ratisbon. the ancient hanse towns, hamburg, lubeck and bremen, alone retained their freedom. the rhenish confederation now began its wretched existence. it was established on the basis of the helvetian republic. the sixteen confederated princes were to be completely independent and to exercise sovereign power over the internal affairs of their states, like the swiss cantons, but were, in all foreign affairs, dependent upon napoleon as their protector.[ ] the whole rhenish confederation became a part of the french empire. the federal assembly was to sit at frankfort, and dalberg, the former elector of mayence, now grandduke of frankfort, was nominated by napoleon, under the title of prince primate, president. napoleon's uncle, and afterward his stepson, eugene beauharnais, were his destined successors, by which means the control was placed entirely in the hands of france. to this confederation there belonged two kings, those of bavaria and wurtemberg, five granddukes, those of frankfort, wurzburg, baden, darmstadt, and berg, and ten princes, two of nassau, two of hohenzollern, two of salm, besides those of aremberg, isenburg, lichtenstein and leyen. every trace of the ancient free constitution of germany, her provincial estates, was studiously annihilated. the wurtemberg estates, with a spirit worthy of their ancient fame, alone made an energetic protest, by which they merely succeeded in saving their honor, the king, frederick, dissolving them by force and closing their chamber.[ ] an absolute, despotic form of government, similar to that existing in france under napoleon, was established in all the confederated states. the murder of the unfortunate bookseller, palm of nuremberg, who was, on the th of august, , shot by napoleon's order, at braunau, for nobly refusing to give up the author of a patriotic work published by him, directed against the rule of france, and entitled, "germany in her deepest degradation," furnished convincing proof, were any wanting, of napoleon's supremacy. [footnote : he capitulated at suhlingen on honorable terms, but was deceived by mortier, the french general, and napoleon took advantage of a clause not to recognize all the terms of capitulation. the hanoverian troops, whom it was intended to force to an unconditional surrender to the french, sailed secretly and in separate divisions to england, where they were formed into the german legion.] [footnote : england offered the netherlands instead of hanover to prussia; to this russia, however, refused to accede. prussia listened to both sides, and acted with such duplicity that austria was led, by the false hope of being seconded by her, to a too early declaration of war.--_scenes during the war of liberation._] [footnote : gustavus adolphus iv. of sweden, who had wedded a princess of baden, was at carlsruhe at the very moment that the duc d'enghien was seized as it were before his eyes. this circumstance and the ridicule heaped upon him by napoleon, who mockingly termed him the quixote of the north, roused his bitter hatred.] [footnote : bulow wrote in his remarkable criticism upon this war: "the hot coalition party--that of the ladies--of the empress and the queen of naples--removed prince charles from the army and called mack from oblivion to daylight; mack, whose name in the books of the prophets in the hebrew tongue signifies defeat."] [footnote : napoleon gained almost all his victories either by skilfully separating his opponents and defeating them singly with forces vastly superior in number, or by creeping round the concentrated forces of the enemy and placing them between two fires.] [footnote : ney was, for this action, created duke of elchingen.] [footnote : klein, the french general, also a german, allowed himself to be kept in conversation by prince, afterward field-marshal schwarzenberg, who had been sent to negotiate terms with him, until the austrians had reached a place of safety.--_prokesch. schwarzeriberg's memorabilia._] [footnote : "prussia made use of the offers made by england (and russia) to stipulate terms with france exactly subversive of the object of the negotiations of england (and russia)."--_the manifest of england against prussia. attgemeine zeitung, no. ._] [footnote : on the th of december, napoleon met the emperor francis in the open street in the village of nahedlowitz. that the impression made by the former upon the latter was far from favorable is proved by the emperor's observation, "now that i have seen him, i shall never be able to endure him!" on the th of december, the bavarians under wrede were signally defeated at iglau by the archduke ferdinand.] [footnote : "after the commission of such numerous mistakes, i must nevertheless praise the minister, von haugwitz, for having, in the first place, evaded a war unskilfully managed, and, in the second, for having annexed hanover to prussia, although its possession, it must be confessed, is somewhat precarious. here, however, i hear it said that the commission of a robbery at another's suggestion is, in the first place, the deepest of degradations, and, in the second place, unparalleled in history."--_von bulow, the campaign of ._ it has been asserted that haugwitz had, prior to the battle of austerlitz, been instructed to declare war against napoleon in case the intervention of prussia should be rejected by him. still, had haugwitz overstepped instructions of such immense importance, he would not immediately afterward, on the th of january, , have received, as was actually the case, fresh instructions, in proof that he had in no degree abused the confidence of his sovereign. haugwitz, by not declaring war, husbanded the strength of prussia and gained hanover; and, by so doing, he fulfilled his instructions, which were to gain hanover without making any sacrifice. his success gained for him the applause of his sovereign, who intrusted him, on account of his skill as a diplomatist, with the management of other negotiations. prussia at that time still pursued the system of the treaty of basel, was unwilling to break with france, and was simply bent upon selling her neutrality to the best advantage. instead, however, of being able to prescribe terms to napoleon, she was compelled to accede to his. napoleon said to haugwitz, "jamais on n'obtiendra de moi ce qui pourrait blesser ma gloire." haugwitz had been instructed through the duke of brunswick: "pour le cas que vos soins pour rétablir la paix échouent, pour le cas où l'apparition de la prusse sur le théâtre de la guerre soit jugée inévitable, mettez tous vos soins pour conserver à la prusse l'épée dans le fourreau jusqu'au décembre, et s'il se peut jusqu'à un terme plus reculé encore."--_extract from the memoirs of the count von haugwitz._] [footnote : he married a mademoiselle von geyer. his children had merely the title of counts von hochberg, but came, in , on the extinction of the agnati, to the government.] [footnote : on the st of january, ; the bavarian state newspaper announced it at new year with the words, "long live napoleon, the restorer of the kingdom of bavaria!" bavarian authors, more particularly pallhausen, attempted to prove that the bavarians had originally been a gallic tribe under the gallic kings. it was considered a dishonor to belong to germany.] [footnote : in , the anonymous statesman, in the dedication "to the congress of rastadt," foretold the formation of the rhenish alliance as a necessary result of the treaty of basel. "the electors of brandenburg, hanover, hesse-cassel, and all the princes, who defended themselves behind the line of demarcation against their obligations to the empire, and tranquilly awaited the issue of the contest between france and that part of the empire that had taken up arms; all those princes to whom their private interests were dearer than those of the empire, who, devoid of patriotism, formed a separate party against austria and southern germany, from which they severed and isolated themselves, could, none of them, arrogate to themselves a voice in the matter, if southern germany, abandoned by them, concluded treaties for herself as her present and future interests demanded."] [footnote : "oldenburg affords a glaring proof of the insecurity and meanness characteristic of the rhenish alliance. the relation even with bavaria was not always the purest, and i have sometimes caught a near glimpse of the claws."--_gagern's share in politics._] [footnote : no diet had, since , been held in wurtemberg, only the committee had continued to treat secretly with the duke. in , frederick convoked a fresh diet and swore to hold the constitution sacred. some modern elements appeared in this diet; the old opposition was strengthened by men of the french school. disputes, consequently, ere long arose between it and the duke, a man of an extremely arbitrary disposition. the estates discovered little zeal for the war with france, attempted to economize in the preparations, etc., while the duke made great show of patriotism as a prince of the german empire, nor gave the slightest symptom of his one day becoming an enemy to his country, a member of the rhenish alliance, and the most zealous partisan of france. moreau, however, no sooner crossed the rhine than the duke fled, abandoned his states, and afterward not only refused to bear the smallest share of the contributions levied upon the country by the french, but also seized the subsidies furnished by england. the duke, shortly after this, quarrelling with his eldest son, william, the estates sided with the latter and supplied him with funds, at the same time refusing to grant any of the sums demanded by the duke, who, on his part, omitted the confirmation of the new committee and ordered grosz, the councillor, stockmaier, the secretary of the diet, and several others, besides batz, the agent of the diet at vienna, to be placed under arrest, their papers to be seized, and a sum of money to be raised from the church property, . not long after this, rendered insolent by the protection of the great despot of france, he utterly annihilated the ancient constitution of wurtemberg.] ccliv. prussia's declaration of war and defeat prussia, by a timely declaration of war against france before the battle of austerlitz, might have turned the tide against napoleon, and earned for herself the glory and the gain, instead of being, by a false policy, compelled, at a later period, to make that declaration under circumstances of extreme disadvantage. her maritime commerce suffered extreme injury from the attacks of the english and swedes. war was unavoidable, either for or against france. the decision was replete with difficulty. prussia, by continuing to side with france, was exposed to the attacks of england, sweden, and probably russia; it was, moreover, to be feared that napoleon, who had more in view the diminution of the power of prussia than that of austria, might delay his aid. during the late campaign, the prussian territory had been violated and the fortress of wesel seized by napoleon, who had also promised the restoration of hanover to england as a condition of peace. he had invited prussia to found, besides the rhenish, a northern confederation, and had, at the same time, bribed saxony with a promise of the royal dignity, and hesse with that of the annexation of fulda, not to enter into alliance with prussia. prussia saw herself scorned and betrayed by france. a declaration of war with france was, however, surrounded with tenfold danger. the power of france, unweakened by opposition, had reached an almost irresistible height. austria, abandoned in every former campaign and hurried to ruin by prussia, could no longer be reckoned on for aid. the whole of germany, once in favor of prussia, now sided with the foe. honor at length decided. prussia could no longer endure the scorn of the insolent frenchman, his desecration of the memory of the great frederick, or, with an army impatient for action, tamely submit to the insults of both friend and foe. the presence of the russian czar, alexander, at berlin, his visit to the tomb of frederick the great, rendered still more popular by an engraving, had a powerful effect upon public opinion. louisa, the beautiful queen of prussia and princess of mecklenburg, animated the people with her words and roused a spirit of chivalry in the army, which still deemed itself invincible. the younger officers were not sparing of their vaunts, and prince louis vented his passion by breaking the windows of the minister haugwitz. john muller, who, on the overthrow of austria, had quitted vienna and had been appointed prussian historiographer at berlin, called upon the people, in the preface to the "trumpet of the holy war," to take up arms against france. war was indeed declared, but with too great precipitation. instead of awaiting the arrival of the troops promised by russia or until austria had been gained, instead of manning the fortresses and taking precautionary measures, the prussian army, in conjunction with that of saxony, which lent but compulsory aid, and with those of mecklenburg and brunswick, its voluntary allies, took the field without any settled plan, and suddenly remained stationary in the thuringian forest, like mack two years earlier at ulm, waiting for the appearance of napoleon, . the king and the queen accompanied the army, which was commanded by ferdinand, duke of brunswick, a veteran of seventy- two, and by his subordinate in command, frederick louis, prince of hohenlohe-ingelfingen, who constantly opposed his measures. in the general staff the chief part was enacted by colonel massenbach, a second mack, whose counsels were rarely followed. all the higher officers in the army were old men, promotion depending not upon merit but upon length of service. the younger officers were radically bad, owing to their airs of nobility and licentious garrison life; their manners and principles were equally vulgar. women, horses, dogs, and gambling formed the staple of their conversation; they despised all solid learning, and, when decorated on parade, in their enormous cocked hats and plumes, powdered wigs and queues, tight leather breeches and great boots, they swore at and cudgelled the men, and strutted about with conscious heroism. the arms used by the soldiery were heavy and apt to hang fire, their tight uniform was inconvenient for action and useless as a protection against the weather, and their food, bad of its kind, was stinted by the avarice of the colonels, which was carried to such an extent that soldiers were to be seen, who, instead of a waistcoat, had a small bit of cloth sewn on to the lower part of the uniform where the waistcoat was usually visible. worst of all, however, was the bad spirit that pervaded the army, the enervation consequent upon immorality. even before the opening of the war, lieutenant henry von bulow, a retired officer, the greatest military genius at that period in germany, and, on that account, misunderstood, foretold the inevitable defeat of prussia, and, although far from being a devotee, declared, "the cause of the national ignorance lies chiefly in the atheism and demoralization produced by the government of frederick ii. the enlightenment, so highly praised in the prussian states, simply consists in a loss of energy and power." the main body of the prussian army was stationed around weimar and jena, a small corps under general tauenzien was pushed forward to cover the rich magazines at hof, and a reserve of seventeen thousand men under eugene, duke of wurtemberg, lay to the rear at halle. it was remarked that this position, in case of an attack being made by napoleon, was extremely dangerous, the only alternatives left for the prussian army being either to advance, form a junction with the gallant hessians and render the rhine the seat of war, or to fall back upon the reserve and hazard a decisive battle on the plains of leipzig. that intriguing impostor, lucchesini, the oracle of the camp, however, purposely declared that _he_ knew napoleon, that napoleon would most certainly not attempt to make an attack. a few days afterward napoleon, nevertheless, appeared, found the pass at kosen open, cut off the prussian army from the right bank of the saal, from its magazines at hof and naumburg, which he also seized, from the reserve corps stationed at halle, and from prussia. utterly astounded at the negligence of the duke of brunswick, he exclaimed, while comparing him with mack, "les prussiens sont encore plus stupides que les autrichiens!" on being informed by some prisoners that the prussians expected him from erfurt when he was already at naumburg, he said, "ils se tromperont furieusement, ces perruques." he would, nevertheless, have been on his part exposed to great peril had the prussians suddenly attacked him with their whole force from weimar, jena, and halle, or had they instantly retired into franconia and fallen upon his rear; but the idea never entered the heads of the prussian generals, who tranquilly waited to be beaten by him one after the other. after tauenzien's repulse, a second corps under prince louis of prussia, which had been pushed forward to saalfeld, imprudently attempting to maintain its position in the narrow valley, was surrounded and cut to pieces. the prince refused to yield, and, after a furious defence, was killed by a french horse-soldier. the news of this disaster speedily reached the main body of the prussians. the duke of brunswick, at that time holding a military council in the castle of weimar, so entirely lost his presence of mind as to ask in the hearing of several young officers, and with embarrassment depicted on his countenance, "what are we to do?" this veteran duke would with painful slowness write down in the neatest hand the names of the villages in which the various regiments were to be quartered, notwithstanding which, it sometimes happened that, owing to his topographical ignorance, several regiments belonging to different corps d'armee were billeted in the same village and had to dispute its possession. he would hesitate for an hour whether he ought to write the name of a village munchenholzen or munchholzen. the prussian army was compared to a ship with all sail spread lying at anchor. the duke was posted with the main body not far from weimar, the saxons at the schnecke on the road between weimar and jena, the prince of hohenlohe at jena. mack had isolated and exposed his different corps d'armee in an exactly similar manner at ulm. hohenlohe again subdivided his corps and scattered them in front of the concentrated forces of the enemy. still, all was not yet lost, the prussians being advantageously posted in the upper valley, while the french were advancing along the deep valleys of the saal and its tributaries. but, on the th of october, tauenzien retired from the vale, leaving the steeps of jena, which a hundred students had been able to defend simply by rolling down the stones there piled in heaps, open, and, during the same night, napoleon sent his artillery up and posted himself on the landgrafenberg. there, nevertheless, still remained a chance; the dornberg, by which the landgrafenberg was commanded, was still occupied by tauenzien, and the windknollen, a still steeper ascent, whence hohenlohe, had he not spent the night in undisturbed slumbers at capellendorf, might utterly have annihilated the french army, remained unoccupied. the thunder of the french artillery first roused hohenlohe from his couch, and, while he was still under the hands of his barber, tauenzien was driven from the dornberg. the duties of the toilet at length concluded, hohenlohe led his troops up the hillside with a view of retaking the position he had so foolishly lost; but his serried columns were exposed to the destructive fire of a body of french tirailleurs posted above, and were repulsed with immense loss. general ruchel arrived, with his corps that had been uselessly detached, too late to prevent the flight of the hohenlohe corps, and, making a brave but senseless attack, was wounded and defeated. a similar fate befell the unfortunate saxons at the schnecke and the duke of brunswick at auerstädt. the latter, although at the head of the strongest division of the prussian army, succumbed to the weakest division of the french army, that commanded by davoust, who henceforward bore the title of duke of auerstädt, and was so suddenly put to the rout that a body of twenty thousand prussians under kalkreuth never came into action. the duke was shot in both eyes. this incident was, by his enemies, termed fortune's revenge, "as he never would see when he had his eyes open."[ ] napoleon followed up his victory with consummate skill. the junction of the retreating corps d'armee and their flight by the shortest route into prussia were equally prevented. the defeated prussian army was in a state of indescribable confusion. an immensely circuitous march lay before it ere prussia could be re-entered. a number of the regiments disbanded, particularly those whose officers had been the first to take to flight or had crept for shelter behind hedges and walls. an immense number of officers' equipages, provided with mistresses, articles belonging to the toilet, and epicurean delicacies, fell into napoleon's hands. wagons laden with poultry, complete kitchens on wheels, wine casks, etc., had followed this luxurious army. the scene presented by the battlefield of jena widely contrasted with that of rossbach, whose monument was sent by napoleon to paris as the most glorious part of the booty gained by his present easy victory.[ ] the fortified city of erfurt was garrisoned with fourteen thousand prussians under mollendorf, who, on the first summons, capitulated to murat, the general of the french cavalry. the hereditary prince of orange was also taken prisoner on this occasion. von hellwig, a lieutenant of the prussian hussars, boldly charged the french guard escorting the fourteen thousand prussian prisoners of war from erfurt, at the head of his squadron, at eichenrodt in the vicinity of eisenach, and succeeded in restoring them to liberty. the liberated soldiers, however, instead of joining the main body, dispersed. eugene, duke of wurtemberg, was also defeated at halle, and, throwing up his command, withdrew to his states. history has, nevertheless, recorded one trait of magnanimity, that of a prussian ensign fifteen years of age, who, being pursued by some french cavalry not far from halle, sprang with the colors into the saal and was crushed to death by a mill-wheel. kalkreuth's corps, that had not been brought into action and was the only one that remained entire, being placed under the command of the prince of hohenlohe, its gallant commander, enraged at the indignity, quitted the army. hohenlohe's demand, on reaching magdeburg, for a supply of ammunition and forage, was refused by the commandant, von kleist, and he hastened helplessly forward in the hope of reaching berlin, but the route was already blocked by the enemy, and he was compelled to make a fatiguing and circuitous march to the west through the sandy march. magdeburg, although garrisoned with twenty-two thousand prussians, defended by eight hundred pieces of artillery and almost impregnable fortifications, capitulated on the th of november to ney, on his appearance beneath the walls with merely ten thousand men and a light field-battery. kleist, in exculpation of his conduct, alleged his expectation of an insurrection of the citizens in case of a bombardment. magdeburg contained at that time three thousand unarmed citizens. it is not known whether kleist had been bribed, or whether he was simply infected with the cowardice and stupidity by which the elder generals of that period were distinguished; it is, however, certain that among the numerous younger officers serving under his command not one raised the slightest opposition to this disgraceful capitulation.[ ] the hohenlohe corps, which consisted almost exclusively of infantry, was accompanied in its flight by blucher, the gallant general of the hussars, with the elite of the remaining cavalry. blucher had, however, long borne a grudge against his pedantic companion, and, mistrusting his guidance, soon quitted him. being surrounded by a greatly superior french force under klein,[ ] he contrived to escape by asserting with great earnestness to that general that an armistice had just been concluded. when afterward urgently entreated by hohenlohe to join him with his troops, he procrastinated too long, it may be owing to his desire to bring hohenlohe, who, by eternally retreating, completely disheartened his troops, to a stand, or owing to the impossibility of coming up with greater celerity.[ ] he had, indubitably, the intention to join hohenlohe at prenzlow, but unfortunately arrived a day too late, the prince, whose ammunition and provisions were completely spent, and who, owing to the stupidity of massenbach, who rode up and down the ucker without being able to discover whether he was on the right or left bank, had missed the only route by which he could retreat, having already fallen, with twelve thousand men, into the enemy's hands. this disaster was shortly afterward followed by the capture of general hagen with six thousand men at pasewalk and that of bila with another small prussian corps not far from stettin. blucher, strengthened by the corps of the duke of weimar and by numerous fugitives, still kept the field, but was at length driven back to lubeck, where he was defeated, and, after a bloody battle in the very heart of the terror-stricken city, four thousand of his men were made prisoners. he fled with ten thousand to radkan, where, finding no ships to transport him across the baltic, he was forced to capitulate. the luckless duke of brunswick was carried on a bier from the field of jena to his palace at brunswick, which he found deserted. all belonging to him had fled. in his distress he exclaimed, "i am now about to quit all and am abandoned by all!" his earnest petition to napoleon for protection for himself and his petty territory was sternly refused by the implacable victor, who replied that he knew of no reigning duke of brunswick, but only of a prussian general of that name, who had, in the infamous manifest of , declared his intention to destroy paris and was undeserving of mercy. the blind old man fled to ottensen, in the danish territory, where he expired. napoleon, after confiscating sixty millions worth of english goods on his way through leipzig, entered berlin on the th of october, . the defence of the city had not been even dreamed of; nay, the great arsenal, containing five hundred pieces of artillery and immense stores, the sword of frederick the great, and the private correspondence of the reigning king and queen, were all abandoned to the victor.[ ] although the citizens were by no means martially disposed, the authorities deemed it necessary to issue proclamations to the people, inculcatory of the axiom, "tranquillity is the first duty of the citizen." napoleon, on his entry into berlin, was received, not, as at vienna, with mute rage, but with loud demonstrations of delight. individuals belonging to the highest class stationed themselves behind the crowd and exclaimed, "for god's sake, give a hearty hurrah! cry vive l'empereur! or we are all lost." on a demand, couched in the politest terms, for the peaceable delivery of the arms of the civic guard, being made by hulin, the new french commandant, to the magistrate, the latter, on his own accord, ordered the citizens to give up their arms "under pain of death." numerous individuals betrayed the public money and stores, that still remained concealed, to the french. hulin replied to a person who had discovered a large store of wood, "leave the wood untouched; your king will want a good deal to make gallows for traitorous rogues." napoleon's reception struck him with such astonishment that he declared, "i know not whether to rejoice or to feel ashamed." at the head of his general staff, in full uniform and with bared head, he visited the apartment occupied by frederick the great at sans souci, and his tomb. he took possession of frederick's sword and declared in the army bulletin, "i would not part with this weapon for twenty millions." frederick's tomb afforded him an opportunity for giving vent to the most unbecoming expressions of contempt against his unfortunate descendant. he publicly aspersed the fame of the beautiful and noble-hearted prussian queen, in order to deaden the enthusiasm she sought to raise. but he deceived himself. calumny but increased the esteem and exalted the enthusiasm with which the people beheld their queen and kindled a feeling of revenge in their bosoms. napoleon behaved, nevertheless, with generosity to another lady of rank. prince hatzfeld, the civil governor of berlin, not having quitted that city on the entry of napoleon, had been discovered by the spies and been condemned to death by a court-martial. his wife, who was at that time enceinte, threw herself at napoleon's feet. with a smile, he handed to her the paper containing the proof of her husband's guilt, which she instantly burned, and her husband was restored to liberty. john muller was among the more remarkable of the servants of the state who had remained at berlin. this sentimental parasite, the most despicable of them all, whose pathos sublimely glossed over each fresh treason, was sent for by napoleon, who placed him about his person. among other things, he asked him, "is it not true the germans are somewhat thick-brained?" to which the fawning professor replied with a smile. in return for the benefits he had received from the royal family of prussia, he delivered, before quitting berlin, an academical lecture upon frederick the great, in the presence of the french general officers, in which he artfully (the lecture was of course delivered in the french language) contrived to flatter napoleon at the expense of that monarch.[ ] prince charles of isenberg raised, in the very heart of berlin, a regiment, composed of prussian deserters, for the service of france.[ ] the prussian fortresses fell, meanwhile, one after the other, during the end of autumn and during the winter, some from utter inability, on account of their neglected state, to maintain themselves, but the greater part owing to their being commanded by old villains, treacherous and cowardly as the commandant of magdeburg. the strong fortress of hameln was in this manner yielded by a baron von schöler, plassenburg by a baron von becker, nimburg on the weser by a baron von dresser, spandau by a count von benkendorf. the citadel of berlin capitulated without a blow, and stettin, although well provided with all the _materiel_ of war, was delivered up by a baron von romberg. custrin, one of the strongest fortified places, was commanded by a count von ingersleben. the king visited the place during his flight and earnestly recommended him to defend it to the last. this place, sooner than yield, had, during the seven years' war, allowed itself to be reduced to a heap of ruins. when standing on one of the bastions, the king inquired its name. the commandant was ignorant of it. scarcely had the king quitted the place, than a body of french huzzars appeared before the gates, and ingersleben instantly capitulated. silesia, although less demoralized than berlin, viewed these political changes with even greater apathy. this fine province had, during the reign of frederick the great, been placed under the government of the minister, count hoym, whose easy disposition had, like insidious poison, utterly enervated the people. the government officers, as if persuaded of the reality of the antiquarian whim which deduced the name of silesia from elysium, dwelt in placid self-content, unmoved by the catastrophes of austerlitz or jena. no measures were, consequently, taken for the defence of the country, and a flying corps of bavarians, wurtembergers, and some french under vandamme, speedily overran the whole province, notwithstanding the number of its fortresses. at glogau, the commandant, von reinhardt, unhesitatingly declared his readiness to capitulate and excluded the gallant major von putlitz, who insisted upon making an obstinate defence, "as a revolutionist," from the military council. being advised by one of the citizens to fire upon the enemy, he rudely replied, "sir, you do not know what one shot costs the king." in breslau, the counts von thiele and lindner made a terrible fracas, burned down the fine faubourgs, and blew up the powder-magazine, merely in order to veil the disgrace of a hasty capitulation, which enraged the soldiery to such a pitch that, shattering their muskets, they heaped imprecations on their dastard commanders, and, in revenge, plundered the royal stores. brieg was ceded after a two days' siege, by the baron von cornerut. the defence of the strong fortress of schweidnitz, of such celebrated importance during the seven years' war, had been intrusted to count von haath, a man whose countenance even betokened imbecility. he yielded the fortress without a blow, and, on the windows of the apartment in which he lodged in the neighboring town of jauer being broken by the patriotic citizens, he went down to the landlord, to whom he said, "my good sir, you must have some enemies!" the remaining fortresses made a better defence. glatz was taken by surprise, the city by storm. the fortress was defended by the commandant, count gotzen, until ammunition sufficient for twelve days longer alone remained. neisse capitulated from famine; kosel was gallantly defended by the commandant, neumann; and silberberg, situated on an impregnable rock, refused to surrender. the troops of the rhenish confederation, encouraged by the bad example set by vandamme and by several of the superior officers, committed dreadful havoc, plundered the country, robbed and barbarously treated the inhabitants. it was quite a common custom among the officers, on the conclusion of a meal, to carry away with them the whole of their host's table-service. the filthy habits of the french officers were notorious. their conduct is said to have been not only countenanced but commanded by napoleon, as a sure means of striking the enervated population with the profoundest terror; and the panic in fact almost amounted to absurdity, the inhabitants of this thickly-populated province nowhere venturing to rise against the handful of robbers by whom they were so cruelly persecuted. a baron von puckler offered an individual exception: his endeavors to rouse the inert masses met with no success, and, rendered desperate by his failure, he blew out his brains. when too late a prince of anhalt-pless assembled an armed force in upper silesia and attempted to relieve breslau, but thiele neglecting to make a sally at the decisive moment, the poles in prince of pless's small army took to flight, and the whole plan miscarried. a small prussian corps, amounting to about five hundred men, commanded by losthin, afterward infested silesia, surprised the french under lefebvre at kanth and put them to the rout, but were a few days after this exploit taken prisoners by a superior french force. attempts at reforms suited to the spirit of the age had, even before the outbreak of war, been made in prussia by men of higher intelligence; menken, for instance, had labored to effect the emancipation of the peasantry, but had been removed from office by the aristocratic party. during the war, the corruption pervading every department of the government, whether civil or military, was fully exposed, and frederick william iii. was taught by bitter experience to pursue a better system, to act with decision and patient determination. the baron von stein, a man of undoubted talent, a native of nassau, was placed at the head of the government; two of the most able commanders of the day, gneisenau and scharnhorst, undertook the reorganization of the army. on the st of december, , the king cashiered every commandant who had neglected to defend the fortress intrusted to his care and every officer guilty of desertion or cowardly flight, and the long list of names gave disgraceful proof of the extent to which the nobility were compromised. one of the first measures taken by the king was, consequently, to throw open every post of distinction in the army to the citizens. the old inconvenient uniform and firearms were at the same time improved, the queue was cut off, the cane abandoned. the royal army was indeed scanty in number, but it contained within itself germs of honor and patriotism that gave promise of future glory. the reform, however, but slowly progressed. ferdinand von schill, a prussian lieutenant, who had been wounded at jena, formed, in pomerania, a guerilla troop of disbanded soldiery and young men, who, although indifferently provided with arms, stopped the french convoys and couriers. his success was so extraordinary that he was sometimes enabled to send sums of money, taken from the enemy, to the king. among other exploits, he took prisoner marshal victor, who was exchanged for blucher. blucher assembled a fresh body of troops on the island of rugen. schill, being afterward compelled to take refuge from the pursuit of the french in the fortress of colberg, the commandant, loucadou, placed him under arrest for venturing to criticise the bad defence of the place. the king of sweden, gustavus adolphus iv., might with perfect justice have bitterly reproached prussia and austria for the folly with which they had, by their disunion, contributed to the aggrandizement of the power of france. he acted nobly by affording a place of refuge to the prussians at stralsund and rugen. colberg was, on loucadou's dismissal, gloriously defended by gneisenau and by the resolute citizens, among whom nettelbek, a man seventy years of age, chiefly distinguished himself. courbiere acted with equal gallantry at graudena. on being told by the french that prussia was in their hands and that no king of prussia was any longer in existence, he replied, "well, be it so! but i am king at graudenz." pillau was also successfully defended by herrmann.[ ] polish prussia naturally fell off on the advance of the french. calisch rose in open insurrection; the prussian authorities were everywhere compelled to save themselves by flight from the vengeance of the people. poland had been termed the botany bay of prussia, government officers in disgrace for bad conduct being generally sent there by way of punishment. no one voluntarily accepted an appointment condemning him to dwell amid a population inspired by the most ineradicable national hatred, glowing with revenge, and unable to appreciate the benefits bestowed upon them in their ignorance and poverty by the wealthier and more civilized prussians. the king had withdrawn with the remainder of his troops, which were commanded by the gallant l'estoc, to koenigsberg, where he formed a junction with the russian army, which was led by a hanoverian, the cautious bennigsen, and accompanied by the emperor alexander in person. napoleon expected that an opportunity would be afforded for the repetition of his old manoeuvre of separating and falling singly upon his opponents, but bennigsen kept his forces together and offered him battle at eylau, in the neighborhood of koenigsberg; victory still wavered, when the prussian troops under l'estoc fell furiously upon marshal ney's flank, while that general was endeavoring to surround the russians, and decided the day. it was the th of february, and the snow-clad ground was stained with gore. napoleon, after this catastrophe, remained inactive, awaiting the opening of spring and the arrival of reinforcements. dantzig, exposed by the desertion of the poles, fell, although defended by kalkreuth, into his hands, and, on the th of june, , the anniversary, so pregnant with important events, of the battle of marengo, he gained a brilliant victory at friedland, which was followed by general ruchel's abandonment of koenigsberg with all its stores. the road to lithuania now lay open to the french, and the emperor alexander deemed it advisable to conclude peace. a conference was held at tilsit on the riemen between the sovereigns of france, russia, and prussia, and a peace, highly detrimental to germany, was concluded on the th of july, . prussia lost half of her territory, was restricted to the maintenance of an army merely amounting to forty-two thousand men, was compelled to pay a contribution of one hundred and forty millions of francs to france, and to leave her most important fortresses as security for payment in the hands of the french. these grievous terms were merely acceded to by napoleon "out of esteem for his majesty the emperor of russia," who, on his part, deprived his late ally of a piece of prussian-poland (bialystock) and divided the spoil of prussia with napoleon.[ ] nay, he went, some months later, so far in his generosity, as, on an understanding with napoleon and without deigning any explanation to prussia, arbitrarily to cancel an article of the peace of tilsit, by which prussia was indemnified for the loss of hanover with a territory containing four hundred thousand souls. the prussian possessions on the left bank of the elbe, hanover, brunswick, and hesse-cassel,[ ] were converted by napoleon into the new kingdom of westphalia, which he bestowed upon his brother jerome and included in the rhenish confederation. east friesland was annexed to holland. poland was not restored, but a petty grandduchy of warsaw was erected, which frederick augustus, elector of saxony, received, together with the royal dignity. prussia, already greatly diminished in extent, was to be still further encroached upon and watched by these new states. the example of electoral saxony was imitated by the petty saxon princes, and anhalt, lippe, schwarzburg, reuss, mecklenburg and aldenburg joined the rhenish confederation. dantzig became a nominal free town with a french garrison.[ ] the brave hessians resisted this fresh act of despotism. the hessian troops revolted, but were put down by force, and their leader, a sergeant, rushed frantically into the enemy's fire. the hessian peasantry also rose in several places. the hanse towns, on the contrary, meekly allowed themselves to be pillaged and to be robbed of their stores of english goods. gustavus adolphus iv. of sweden, who had neglected to send troops at an earlier period to the aid of prussia, now offered the sturdiest resistance and steadily refused to negotiate terms of peace or to recognize napoleon as emperor. his generals, armfeldt[ ] and essen, made some successful inroads from stralsund, and, in unison with the english, might have effected a strong diversion to napoleon's rear, had their movements been more rapid and combined. on the conclusion of the peace of tilsit, a french force under mortier appeared, drove the swedes back upon stralsund, and compelled the king, in the august of , to abandon that city, which the new system of warfare rendered no longer tenable. [footnote : on the th of october. on this unlucky day, frederick the great had, in , been surprised at hochkirch, and mack, in , at ulm. on this day, the peace of westphalia was, a.d. , concluded at osnabrück, and, in , that of vienna. it was, however, on this day that the siege of vienna was, in , raised, and that, in , napoleon was shut up at leipzig.] [footnote : the whole of these disasters had been predicted by henry von bülow, whose prophecies had brought him into a prison. on learning the catastrophe of jena, he exclaimed, "that is the consequence of throwing generals into prison and of placing idiots at the head of the army!"] [footnote : the young "vons," on the contrary, capitulated with extreme readiness, in order to return to their pleasurable habits. several of them set a great shield over their doors, with the inscription, "herr von n. or m., prisoner of war on parole." in all the capitulations, the commandants and officers merely took care of their own persons and equipages and sacrificed the soldiery. napoleon, who was well aware of this little weakness, always offered them the most flattering personal terms.] [footnote : the same man who had been imposed upon by a similar ruse at ulm by the archduke ferdinand. napoleon dismissed him the service.] [footnote : massenbach published an anonymous charge against blücher, which that general publicly refuted.] [footnote : while the unfortunate henry von bülow, whose wise counsels had been despised, was torn from his prison to be delivered to the russians, whose behavior at austerlitz he had blamed. on his route he was maliciously represented as a friend to the french and exposed to the insults of the rabble, who bespattered him with mud, and to such brutal treatment from the cossacks that he died of his wounds at riga. never had a prophet a more ungrateful country. he was delivered by his fellow-citizens to an ignominious death for attempting their salvation, for pointing out the means by which alone their safety could be insured, and for exposing the wretches by whom they were betrayed.] [footnote : in the "trumpet of the holy war," he had summoned the nation to take up arms against the heathens (the french). he breathed war and flames. in his address to the king, he said, "the idle parade of the ruler during a long peace has never maintained a state!" he excited the hatred of the people against the french, telling them to harbor "such hatred against the enemy, like men who knew how to hate!" after thus aiding to kindle the flames of war, he went over to the french and wrote the letter to bignon which that author has inserted in his history of france: "like ganymede to the seat of the gods, have i been borne by the eagle to fontainebleau, there to serve a god."] [footnote : the conduct of these deserters, how, decorated with the french cockade, they treated the german population with unheard-of insolence, is given in detail by seume.] [footnote : courbiere, herrmann, and neumann of cosel were bourgeois: the commandants of the other fortresses, so disgracefully ceded, were, without exception, nobles.] [footnote : bignon remarks that the queen, louisa, who left no means untried in order to save as much as possible of prussia, came somewhat too late, when napoleon had already entered into an agreement with russia. hence napoleon's inflexibility, which was the more insulting owing to the apparently yielding silence with which, from a feeling of politeness, he sometimes received the personal petitions of the queen, to which he would afterward send a written refusal. the part played in this affair by alexander was far from honorable, and bignon says with great justice, "the emperor of russia must at that time have had but little judgement, if he imagined that taking prussia in such a manner under his protection would be honorable to the protector." with a view of appeasing public opinion in germany and influencing it in favor of the alliance between france and russia, zschokke, who was at that time in napoleon's pay, published a mean-spirited pamphlet, entitled, "will the human race gain by the present political changes?"] [footnote : the elector, william, who had solicited permission to remain neutral, having made great military preparations and received the prussians with open arms, was, in napoleon's twenty-seventh bulletin, deposed with expressions of the deepest contempt. "the house of hesse-cassel has for many years past sold its subjects to england, and by this means has the elector collected his immense wealth. may this mean and avaricious conduct prove the ruin of his house."--louis, landgrave of hesse-darmstadt, was threatened with similar danger for inclining on the side of prussia, but perceived his peril in time to save himself from destruction.] [footnote : marshal lefebvre, who had taken the city, was created duke of dantzig. the city, however, did not belong to him, but became a republic; notwithstanding which it was at first compelled to pay a contribution, amounting to twenty million francs, to napoleon, to maintain a strong french garrison at its expense, and was fleeced in every imaginable way. a stop was consequently put to trade, the wealthiest merchants became bankrupt, and napoleon's satraps established their harems and celebrated their orgies in their magnificent houses and gardens, and, by their unbridled license, demoralized to an almost incredible degree the staid manners of the quondam pious lutheran citizens. vide blech, the miseries of dantzig, .] [footnote : one of the handsomest men of his time and the adonis of many a princely dame.] cclv. the rhenish confederation the whole of western europe bent in lowly submission before the genius of napoleon; russia was bound by the silken chains of flattery; england, turkey, sweden, and portugal, alone bade him defiance. england, whose fleets ruled the european seas, who lent her aid to his enemies, and instigated their opposition, was his most dangerous foe. by a gigantic measure, known as the continental system, he sought to undermine her power. the whole of the continent of europe, as far as his influence was felt, was, by an edict, published at berlin on the st of november, , closed against british trade; nay, he went so far as to lay an embargo on all english goods lying in store and to make prisoners of war of all the english at that time on the continent. all intercourse between england and the rest of europe was prohibited. but napoleon's attempt to ruin the commerce of england was merely productive of injury to himself; the promotion of every branch of industry on the continent could not replace the loss of its foreign trade; the products of europe no longer found their way to the more distant parts of the globe, to be exchanged for colonial luxuries, which, with the great majority of the people, more particularly with the better classes, had become necessaries, and numbers who had but lately lauded napoleon to the skies regarded him with bitter rage on being compelled to relinquish their wonted coffee and sugar. napoleon, meanwhile, undeterred by opposition, enforced his continental system. russia, actuated by jealousy of england and flattered by the idea, with which napoleon had, at tilsit, inspired the emperor alexander, of sharing with him the empire of a world, aided his projects. the first step was to secure to themselves possession of the baltic; the king of sweden, napoleon's most implacable foe, was to be dethroned, and sweden to be promised to frederick, prince-regent of denmark, in order to draw him into the interests of the allied powers of france and russia. the scheme, however, transpired in time to be frustrated. an english fleet, with an army, among which was the german legion, composed of hanoverian refugees, on board, attacked, and, after a fearful bombardment, took copenhagen, and either destroyed or carried off the whole of the danish fleet, september, .[ ] the british fleet, on its triumphant return through the sound, was saluted at helsingfors by the king of sweden, who invited the admirals to breakfast. the island of heligoland, which belonged to holstein and consequently formed part of the possessions of denmark, and which carried on a great smuggling trade between that country and the continent, was at that time also seized by the british. napoleon revenged himself by a bold stroke in spain. he proposed the partition of portugal to that power, and, under that pretext, sent troops across the pyrenees. the licentious queen of spain, maria louisa theresa of parma, and her paramour, godoy, who had, on account of the treaty between france and spain, received the title of prince of peace, reigned at that time in the name of the imbecile king, charles iv. his son, ferdinand, placed himself at the head of the democratic faction, by which godoy was regarded with the most deadly hatred. both parties, however, conscious of their want of power, sought aid from napoleon, who flattered each in turn, with a view of rendering the one a tool for the destruction of the other. the prince of peace was overthrown by a popular tumult; ferdinand vii. was proclaimed king, and his father, charles iv., was compelled to abdicate. these events were apparently countenanced by napoleon, who invited the youthful sovereign to an interview; ferdinand, accordingly, went to bayonne and was--taken prisoner. the prince of peace, on the eve of flying from spain, where his life was no longer safe, with his treasures and with the queen, persuaded the old king, charles, also to go to bayonne, where his person was instantly seized. both he and his son were compelled to renounce their right to the throne of spain and to abdicate in favor of joseph, napoleon's brother, the th of may, . the elevation of joseph to the spanish throne was followed by that of murat to the throne of naples. the haughty spaniard, however, refused to be trampled under foot, and his proud spirit disdained to accept a king imposed upon him by such unparalleled treachery. napoleon's victorious troops were, for the first time, routed by peasants, an entire army was taken prisoner at baylen, and another, in portugal, was compelled to retreat. napoleon's veterans were scattered by monks and peasants, a proof, to the eternal disgrace of every subject people, that the invincibility of a nation depends but upon its will. napoleon did not conduct the war in spain in person during the first campaign; the tranquillity of the north had first to be secured. for this purpose, he held a personal conference, in october, , with the emperor alexander at erfurt, whither the princes of germany hastened to pay their devoirs, humbly as their ancestors of yore to conquering attila. the company of actors brought in napoleon's train from paris boasted of gaining the plaudits of a royal parterre, and a french sentinel happening to call to the watch to present arms to one of the kings there dancing attendance was reproved by his officer with the observation, "ce n'est qu un roi."[ ] both emperors, for the purpose of offering a marked insult to prussia, attended a great harehunt on the battlefield of jena. it was during this conference that napoleon and alexander divided between themselves the sovereignty of europe, russia undertaking the subjugation of sweden and the seizure of finland, france the conquest of spain and portugal. the period immediately subsequent to the fall of the ancient empire forms the blackest page in the history of germany. the whole of the left bank of the rhine was annexed to france. the people, notwithstanding the improvement that took place in the administration under bon jean st. andré, groaned beneath the exorbitant taxes and the conscription. the commerce on the rhine had almost entirely ceased.[ ]--the grandduchy of berg was, until , governed with great mildness by avar, the french minister.--holland had, since , remained under the administration of her benevolent governor, schimmelpenninck, but had been continually drained by the imposition of additional income taxes, which, in , amounted to six per cent on the capital in the country. commerce had entirely ceased, smuggling alone excepted. in , the dutch were commanded to entreat napoleon to grant them a king in the person of his brother louis, who fixed his residence in the venerable council-house at amsterdam, and, it must be confessed, endeavored to promote the real interests of his new subjects.[ ] the swiss, with characteristic servility, testified the greatest zeal on every occasion for the emperor napoleon, celebrated his fete-day, and boasted of his protection,[ ] and of the freedom they were still permitted to enjoy. freedom of thought was expressly prohibited. sycophants, in the pay of the foreign ruler, as, for instance, zschokke, alone guided public opinion. in zug, any person who ventured to speak disparagingly of the swiss in the service of france was declared an enemy to his country and exposed to severe punishment.[ ] the swiss shed their blood in each and all of napoleon's campaigns, and aided him to reduce their kindred nations to abject slavery.[ ] the rhenish confederation shared the advantages of french influence to the same degree in which it, in common with the old states on the left bank of the rhine, was subject to ecclesiastical corruption or to the upstart vanity incidental to petty states. wherever enlightenment and liberty had formerly existed, as in protestant and constitutional würtemberg, the violation of the ancient rights of the people was deeply felt, and the new aristocracy, modelled on that of france, appeared as unbearable to the older inhabitants of würtemberg as did the loss of their ancient independence to the mediatized princes and lordlings. king frederick, notwithstanding his refusal to send troops into spain, was compelled to furnish an enormous contingent for the wars in eastern europe; the conscription and taxes were heavily felt, and the peasant was vexed by the great hunts, celebrated by matthisson, the court-poet, as festivals of diana.[ ] in bavaria, the administration of maximilian joseph and of his minister, montgelas, although arbitrary in its measures, promoted, like that of frederick ii. and joseph ii., the advance of enlightenment and true liberty. the monasteries were closed, the punishment of the rack was abolished, unity was introduced in the administration of the state; the schools, the police, and the roads were improved, toleration was established; in a word, the dreams of the illuminati, thirty years before this period, were, in almost every respect, realized. but, on the other hand, patriotism was here more unknown than in any other part of germany. christopher von aretin set himself up as an apparitor to the french police, and, in , published a work against the few german patriots still remaining, whom he denounced, in the fourteenth number of the literary gazette of upper germany, as "preachers of germanism, criminals and traitors, by whom the rhenish confederation was polluted." the crown prince of bavaria, who deeply lamented the rule of france and the miseries of germany, offers a contrary example. a constitution, naturally a mere tool in the hand of the ministry, was bestowed, in , upon bavaria. the government of charles von dalberg, the prince primate and grandduke of frankfort, was one of the most despicable of those composing the rhenish confederation. equally insensible to the duties attached to his high name and station,[ ] he flattered the foreign tyrant to an extent unsurpassed by any of the other base sycophants at that time abounding in the empire; with folded hands would he at all times invoke the blessing of the most high on the head of the almighty ruler of the earth, and celebrate each of his victories with hymns of gratitude and joy, while his ministers misruled and tyrannized over the country,[ ] whose freedom they loudly vaunted.[ ]--in würzburg, the french ambassador reigned with the despotism of an eastern satrap.[ ] saxe-coburg[ ] and anhalt-gotha,[ ] where the native tyrant was sheltered beneath the wing of napoleon, were in the most lamentable state.--in saxony, the government remained unaltered. frederick augustus, filled with gratitude for the lenity with which he had been treated after the war and for the grant of the royal dignity, remained steadily faithful to napoleon, but introduced no internal innovations into the government. the adhesion of saxe-weimar to the rhenish confederation was of deplorable consequence to germany, the great poets assembled there by the deceased duchess amalia also scattering incense around napoleon. the kingdom of westphalia was doomed to taste to the dregs the bitter cup of humiliation. the new king, jerome, who declared, "je veux qu'on respecte la dignite de l'homme et du citoyen," bestowed, it is true, many and great benefits upon his subjects; the system of flogging, so degrading to the soldier, was abolished, the judicature was improved, the administration simplified, and the german in authority, notwithstanding his traditionary gruffness, became remarkable for urbanity toward the citizens and peasants. but napoleon's despotic rule ever demanded fresh sacrifices of men and money and increased severity on the part of the police, in order to quell the spirit of revolt. jerome, conscious of being merely his brother's representative, consoled himself for his want of independence in his gay court at cassel.[ ] he had received but a middling education, and had, at one period, held a situation in the marine at baltimore in north america. while still extremely young, placed unexpectedly upon a throne, more as a splendid puppet than as an independent sovereign, he gave way to excesses, natural, and, under the circumstances, almost excusable. it would be ungenerous to repeat the sarcasms showered upon him on his expulsion. the execrations heaped, at a later period, upon his head, ought with far greater justice to have fallen upon those of the germans themselves, and more particularly upon those of that portion of the aristocracy that vied with the french in enriching the chronique scandaleuse of cassel, and upon those of the citizens who, under bongars, the head of the french police, acted the part of spies upon and secret informers against their wretched countrymen.--the farcical donation of a free constitution to the people put a climax to their degradation. on the d of july, , jerome summoned the westphalian estates to cassel and opened the servile assembly, thus arbitrarily convoked, with extreme pomp. the unfortunate deputies, who had, on the conclusion of the lengthy ceremonial, received an invitation _assister au répas_ at the palace and had repaired thither, their imaginations, whetted by hunger, revelling in visions of gastronomic delight, were sorely discomfited on discovering that they were simply expected "to look on while the sovereign feasted." the result of this assembly was, naturally, a unanimous tribute of admiration and an invocation of blessings on the head of the foreign ruler, the principal part in which was played by john müller, who attempted to convince his fellow countrymen that by means of the french usurpation they had first received the boon of true liberty. this cheaply-bought apostate said, in his usual hyperbolical style, "it is a marked peculiarity of the northern nations, more especially of those of german descent, that, whenever god has, in his wisdom, resolved to bestow upon them a new kind or a higher degree of civilization, the impulse has ever been given from without. this impulse was given to us by napoleon, by him before whom the earth is silent, god having given the whole world into his hand, nor can germany at the present period have a wish ungratified, napoleon having reorganized her as the nursery of european civilization. too sublime to condescend to every-day polity, he has given durability to germany! happy nation! what an interminable vista of glory opens to thy view!" thus spoke john müller. thousands of germans had been converted into abject slaves, but none other than he was there ever found, with sentimental phrases to gild the chains of his countrymen, to vaunt servility as liberty and dishonor as glory.[ ] john müller's unprincipled address formed, as it were, the turning-point of german affairs. self-degradation could go no further. the spirit of the sons of germany henceforward rose, and, with manly courage, they sought, by their future actions, to wipe off the deep stain of their former guilt and dishonor. [footnote : see accounts of this affair in the recollections of a legionary, hanover, , and in beamisch's history of the legion.] [footnote : a graphic description of these times is to be met with in joanna schopenhauer's tour on the lower rhine. the kings of bavaria, wurtemberg, westphalia, saxony, the prince primate, the hereditary prince of baden and of mecklenburg-strelitz, the duke of weimar, the princes of hobenzollern, hesse-rotenburg, and hesse-philippsthal, were present. no one belonging to the house of austria was there: of that of prussia there was prince william, the king's brother. the allgemeine zeitung of that day wrote: "the fact of napoleon's sending for the privy-councillor, von goethe, into his cabinet, and conversing with him for upward of an hour, appears to us well worthy of mention. what german would not rejoice that the great emperor should have entered into such deep conversation with such a fitting representative of our noblest, and now, alas, sole remaining national possession, our art and learning, by whose preservation alone can our nationality be saved from utter annihilation." notwithstanding which the company of actors belonging to the theatre at weimar, which was close at hand and had been under goethe's instruction, was not once allowed to perform on the erfurt stage, which napoleon had supplied with actors from paris. wieland was also compelled to remain standing for an hour in napoleon's presence, and when, at length, unable, owing to the weakness of old age, to continue in that position, he ventured to ask permission to retire, napoleon is said to have considered the request an unwarrantable liberty. the literary heroes of weimar took no interest in the country from which they had received so deep a tribute of admiration. not a patriotic sentiment escaped their lips. at the time when the deepest wound was inflicted on the tyrol, goethe gave to the world his frivolous "wahlverwandschaften," which was followed by a poem in praise of napoleon, of whom he says: "doubts, that have baffled thousands, _he_ has solved; ideas, o'er which centuries have brooded, _his_ giant mind intuitively compassed."] [footnote : the great and dangerous robber bands of the notorious damian hessel, and of schinderhannes, afford abundant proof of the demoralized condition of the people.] [footnote : on the th of january, , a ship laden with four hundred quintals of gunpowder blew up in the middle of the city of leyden, part of which was thereby reduced to ruins, and one hundred and fifty persons, among others the celebrated professors luzac and kleit, were killed.] [footnote : on the opening of the federal diet in , the landammann lauded "the omnipotent benevolence of the gracious mediator." in earlier times, the swiss would, on the contrary, have boasted of their affording protection to, not of receiving protection from, france.] [footnote : in order to prove of what importance they considered the benevolent protection of napoleon the great.--_attgemeine zeitung of , no_. .] [footnote : their general, von der wied, who was taken prisoner at talavera in spain and died shortly afterward of a pestilential disease, had done signal service to france, in in switzerland, in in italy, in in austria, in in prussia, and finally in spain.--_allgemeine zeitung of , no_. .] [footnote : personal freedom was restricted by innumerable decrees. freedom of speech, formerly great in würtemberg, was strictly repressed; all social confidence was annihilated. a swarm of informers ensnared those whom the secret police were unable to entrap. the secrecy of letters was violated. trials in criminal cases were no longer allowed to be public. the sentence passed upon the accused was, particularly in cases of the highest import, not delivered by the judge as dictated by the law, but by the despot's caprice.--the conscription was enforced with increased severity and tyranny.--the natural right of emigration was abolished.--the people were disarmed, and not even the inhabitants of solitary farms and hamlets were allowed to possess arms in order to defend themselves against wolves and robbers. a man was punished for killing a mad dog, because the gun used for that purpose had been illegally secreted. pass-tickets were given to and returned by all desirous of passing the gates of the pettiest town. the members of the higher aristocracy were compelled, under pain of being deprived of the third of their income, to spend three months in the year at court.--the citizen was oppressed by a variety of fresh taxes, by the newly-created monopolies of tobacco, salt, etc., and colonial imposts, by the tenfold rise of the excise and custom-house dues, etc. vide zahn in the würtemberg annual. zschokke, meanwhile, in his pamphlet already mentioned, "will the human race gain," etc., advocated republican equality and liberty under a monarchical constitution.] [footnote : the von dalbergs of franconia were the first hereditary barons of the holy roman empire, and one of their race was dubbed knight at each imperial coronation. hence the demand of the imperial herald, "is no dalberg here?" and a dalberg it was, who, in napoleon's name, declared to the german emperor that he no longer recognized an emperor of germany.--in , dalberg had, at the diet, and again in , expressed himself with great zeal against france; on the present occasion he was napoleon's first satrap.] [footnote : they sold the demesnes of hanau and fulda and received the sums produced by the sale in gift from the grandduke.--_görres's rhenish mercury, a.d. , no. ._] [footnote : they were barefaced enough to bestow a constitution, and, in , to open a diet at hanau, although all the newspapers had, five days previously, been suppressed, and orders had been issued that the editor of the only newspaper permitted for the future was to be appointed by the police.--_allgemeine zeitung, no. ._] [footnote : count montholon-semonville sold justice and mercy. vide brockhaus's deutsche blätter, , no. .] [footnote : the duke, francis, allowed the country to be mercilessly drained and impoverished by the minister, von kretschmann. he lived on extremely bad terms with his uncle, frederick josias, duke of coburg, the celebrated austrian general. francis died in . ernest, his son and successor, delivered the country, in , from kretschmann's tyranny, and, in , bestowed upon it a constitution, which was, nevertheless, merely an imitation of that of westphalia.] [footnote : the prince, augustus christian frederick, contracted debts to an enormous amount, completely drained his petty territory, and even seized bail-money. military amusements, drunkenness and other gross excesses, the preservation of enormous herds of deer which destroyed the fields of the peasantry, formed the pleasures of this prince.--_stenzel's history of anhalt._] [footnote : napoleon nicknamed him _roi de coulisses_, and gave him a guardian in his ambassador, reinhard, a person of celebrity during the revolution. jerome's first ministers were friends of his youth; the creole, le camus, who was created count pürstenstein, and malchus, whose office it was to fill a bottomless treasury. vide hormayr, archive , , and the secret history of the court of westphalia, .] [footnote : vide strombeck's life and the allgemeine zeitung of september, . besides john müller and aretin, mention may, with equal justice, be made of orome of geissen and zschokke, a native of magdeburg naturalized in switzerland, who, in , ventured to declare in public that napoleon had done more for swiss independence than william tell five hundred years ago; who, paid by napoleon, defamed the noble-spirited spaniards and tyrolese in , decried the enthusiastic spirit animating germany, and afterward whitewashed himself by his liberal tirades. with these may also be associated murhard, the publisher of the _moniteur westphalien_, k.j. schütz, the author of a work upon napoleon, the berlinese jew, saul asher, the author of a scandalous work, entitled "germanomanie," and of a slanderous article in zschokke's miscellanies against prussia, kosegarten the poet, who, in , delivered a speech in eulogy of napoleon, far surpassing all in bombast and mean adulation. benturini, at that time, also termed napoleon the emanation of the universal spirit, a second incarnation of the deity, a second savior of the world. in posselt's european annals of , a work by a certain w. upon the political interests of germany appeared, and concluded as follows: "let us raise to him (napoleon) a national monument, worthy of the first and only benefactor of the nations of germany. let his name be engraved in gigantic letters of shining gold on germany's highest and steepest pinnacle, whence, lighted by the effulgent rays of morn, it may be visible far over the plains on which he bestowed a happier futurity!" this writer also drew a comparison between napoleon and charlemagne, in which he designated the latter a barbarous despot and the former the new savior of the world. he says, "napoleon first solved the enigma of equality and liberty--his chief aim was the prevention of despotism--his chief desire, to eternalize the dominion of virtue." in the course of , it was said in the essay, "on the regeneration of germany," that the germans were still children whom it was solely possible for the french to educate: "our language is also not logical like french--if we intend to attain unity, we must adhere with heart and soul to him who has smoothed the path to it, to him, our securest support, to him, whose name outshines that of charlemagne--foreign princes in german countries are no proof of subjection, they, on the contrary, most surely warrant our continued existence as a nation." in france sixty authors dedicated their works, within the space of a year, to the emperor napoleon--in germany, ninety.] cclvi. resuscitation of patriotism throughout germany--austria's demonstration the general slavery, although most severely felt in eastern germany, bore there a less disgraceful character. austria and prussia had been conquered, pillaged, reduced in strength and political importance, while the rhenish states, forgetful that it is ever less disgraceful to yield to an overpowering enemy than voluntarily to lend him aid, had shared in and profited by the triumph of the empire's foe. austria and prussia suffered to a greater extent than the rhenish confederation, but they preserved a higher degree of independence. prussia, although almost annihilated by her late disasters,[ ] still dreamed of future liberation. austria had, notwithstanding her successive and numerous defeats, retained the greater share of independence, but her subjection, although to a lesser degree, was the more disgraceful on account of her former military glory and her preponderance as a political power in germany. with steady perseverance and unfaltering courage she opposed the attacks of the foreign tyrant against the empire, and, france's first and last antagonist, the most faithful champion of the honor of germany, she rose, with redoubled vigor, after each successive defeat, to renew the unequal struggle. prussia had been overcome, because, instead of uniting with the other states of germany, she had first abandoned them to be afterward deserted by them in her turn, and because, instead of arming her warlike people against every foreign foe, she had habituated her citizens to unarmed effeminacy and had rested her sole support on a mercenary army, an artificial and spiritless automaton, separated from and unsympathizing with the people. the idea that the salvation of prussia could now alone be found in her reconciliation with the neighboring powers of germany, in a general confederation, in the patriotism of her armed citizens, had already arisen. but, in order to inspire the citizen with enthusiasm, he must first, by the secure and free possession of his rights and by his participation in the public weal, be deeply imbued with a consciousness of freedom. the slave has no country; the freeman alone will lay down his life in its defence. in those times of germany's deepest degradation and suffering, men for the first time again heard speak of a great and common fatherland, of national fame and honor; and liberty, that glorious name, was uttered not only by those who groaned beneath the rule of the despotic foreigner, but even by those who deplored the loss of the internal liberty of their country, the gradual subjection of the proud and free-spirited german to native tyranny. the king of prussia, not content with morally reorganizing his army, also bestowed wise laws, which restored the citizen and the peasant to their rights, to their dignity as men, of which they had for so long been deprived by the nobility, the monopolizers of every privilege. the emancipation of the peasant essentially consisted in the abolition of feudal servitude and forced labor; that of the citizen, in the donation of a free municipal constitution, of self-administration, and freedom of election. the nobility were, at the same time, despoiled of the exclusive appointment to the higher civil and military posts and of the exclusive possession of landed property. each citizen possessed the right, hitherto strictly prohibited, of purchasing baronial estates, and the nobility were, on their part, permitted to exercise trades, which a miserable prejudice had hitherto deemed incompatible with noble birth. these new institutions date from and are due to the energy of the minister, stein. this noble-spirited german was the founder of a secret society, the _tugendbund_, by which a general insurrection against napoleon was silently prepared throughout germany. among its members were numerous statesmen, officers, and literati. among the latter, arndt gained great note by his popular style, jahn by his influence over the rising generation. jahn reintroduced gymnastics, so long neglected, into education, as a means of heightening moral courage by the increase of physical strength.[ ] scharnhorst, meanwhile, although restricted to the prescribed number of troops, created a new army by continually exchanging trained soldiers for raw recruits, and secretly purchased an immense quantity of arms, so that a considerable force could, in case of necessity, be speedily assembled. he also had all the brass battery guns secretly converted into field-pieces and replaced by iron guns. napoleon's spies, however, came upon the trace of the _tugendbund_. stein, exposed by an intercepted letter, was outlawed[ ] by napoleon and compelled to quit prussia. he was succeeded by hardenberg, by whom the treaty of basel had formerly been concluded and whose nomination was publicly approved of by napoleon. scharnhorst and julius gruner, the head of the berlin police, were also deprived of their offices. the berlin university, nevertheless, continued to give evidence of a better spirit. enlightenment and learning, on their decrease at frankfort on the oder, here found their headquarters. halle had become westphalian, and the universities of rinteln and helmstädt had, from a similar cause, been closed. austria also felt her humiliation too deeply not to be inspired, like prussia, with an instinct of self-preservation. the imperial dignity and catholicism were here closely associated with the memory of the middle ages, whose magnificence and grandeur were once more disclosed to the people in the masterly productions of the writers of the day. hence the unison created by frederick schlegel between the romantic poets and antiquarians of germany and viennese policy. the predilection for ancient german art and poetry had, in the literary world, been merely produced by the reaction of german intelligence against foreign imitation; this literary reaction, however, happened coincidently with and aided that in the political world. the nibelungen, the minnesingers, the ancient chronicles, became a popular study. the same enthusiasm inspired the liberal-spirited poets, tieck, arnim, and brentano; fouqué charmed the rising generation and the multitude with his extravagant descriptions of the age of chivalry; the learned researches of grimm, hagen, busching, gräter, etc., into german antiquity, at that time, excited general interest, but the glowing colors in which joseph gorres, himself a former jacobin, and amid the half gallicized inhabitants of coblentz, revived, as if by magic, the middle age on the ruin-strewed banks of the rhine caused the deepest delight. two men, stein, now a refugee in austria, and count munster, first of all hanoverian minister and afterward english ambassador at petersburg, who kept up a constant correspondence with stein and conducted the secret negotiations in the name of great britain, were unwearied in their endeavors to forge arms against napoleon. in austria, count john philip von stadion, who had, since the december of , been placed at the head of the ministry, had both the power and the will to repair the blunders committed by thugut and cobenzl. the russo-gallic alliance was viewed with terror by austria. europe had, to a certain degree, been partitioned at erfurt, by napoleon and alexander. fresh sacrifices were evidently on the eve of being extorted from germany. russia had resolved at any price to gain possession of either the whole or a part of turkey, and offered to confirm napoleon in that of bohemia, on condition of being permitted to seize moldavia and wallachia.[ ] the danger was urgent. austria, sold by russia to france, could alone defend herself against both her opponents by an immense exertion of the national power of germany. the old and faulty system had been fearfully revenged. the disunion of the german princes, the despotism of the aristocratic administrations, the estrangement of the people from all public affairs, had all conduced to the present degradation of germany. necessity now induced an alteration in the system of government and an appeal to the german people, whose voice had hitherto been vainly raised. the example set by spain was to be followed. stein, who was at that time at vienna, kindled the glowing embers to a flame. the military reforms begun at an earlier period by the archduke charles were carried out on a wider basis. a completely new institution, that of the _landwehr_ or armed citizens, in contradistinction with the mercenary soldiery, was set on foot. enthusiasm and patriotism were not wanting. the circumstance of the pope's imprisonment in rome by napoleon sufficed to rouse the catholics. everything was hoped for from a general rising throughout germany against the french. precipitation, however, ruined all. prussia was still too much weakened, her fortresses were still in the hands of the french, and austria inspired but little confidence, while the rhenish confederation solely aimed at aggrandizing itself by fresh wars at the expense of that empire, and, notwithstanding the inclination to revolt evinced by the people in different parts of germany, more particularly in westphalia, the terror inspired by napoleon kept them, as though spellbound, beneath their galling yoke. while napoleon was engaged in the peninsula, austria levied almost the whole of her able-bodied men and equipped an army, four hundred thousand strong, at the head of which no longer foreign generals, but the princes of the house of habsburg, were placed. the archduke charles[ ] set off, in , for the rhine, john for italy, ferdinand for poland. the first proclamation, signed by prince rosenberg and addressed to the bavarians, was as follows: "you are now beginning to perceive that we are germans like yourselves, that the general interest of germany touches you more nearly than that of a nation of robbers, and that the german nation can alone be restored to its former glory by acting in unison. become once more what you once were, brave germans! or have you, bavarian peasants and citizens, gained aught by your prince being made into a king? by the extension of his authority over a few additional square miles? have your taxes been thereby decreased? do you enjoy greater security in your persons and property?" the proclamation of the archduke charles "to the german nation," declared: "we have taken up arms to restore independence and national honor to germany. our cause is the cause of germany. show yourselves deserving of our esteem! the german, forgetful of what is due to himself and to his country, is our only foe." an anonymous but well-known proclamation also declared: "austria beheld--a sight that drew tears of blood from the heart of every true-born german--you, o nations of germany! so deeply debased as to be compelled to submit to the legislation of the foreigner and to allow your sons, the youth of germany, to be led to war against their still unsubdued brethren. the shameful subjection of millions of once free-born germans will ere long be completed. austria exhorts you to raise your humbled necks, to burst your slavish chains!" and in another address was said: "how long shall hermann mourn over his degenerate children? was it for this that the cherusci fought in the teutoburg forest? is every spark of german courage extinct? does the sound of your clanking chains strike like music on your ears? germans, awake! shake off your death-like slumber in the arms of infamy! germans! shall your name become the derision of after ages?" the austrian army, instead of vigorously attacking and disarming bavaria, but slowly advanced, and permitted the bavarians to withdraw unharassed for the purpose of forming a junction with the other troops of the rhenish confederation under napoleon, who had hastened from spain on the first news of the movements of austria. the hopes of the german patriots could not have been more fearfully disappointed or the german name more deeply humiliated than by the scorn with which napoleon, on this occasion, placed himself at the head of the nations of western germany, by whose arms alone, for he had but a handful of french with him, he overcame their eastern brethren at a moment in which the german name and german honor were more loudly invoked. "i have not come among you," said napoleon smilingly to the bavarians, wurtembergers, etc., by whom he was surrounded, "i am not come among you as the emperor of france, but as the protector of your country and of the german confederation. no frenchman is among you; _you alone_ shall beat the austrians."[ ] the extent of the blindness of the rhenish confederation[ ] is visible in their proclamations. the king of saxony even called heaven to his aid, and said to his soldiers, "draw your swords against austria with full trust in the aid of divine providence!"[ ] in the april of , napoleon led the rhenish confederated troops, among which the bavarians under general wrede chiefly distinguished themselves, against the austrians, who had but slowly advanced, and defeated them in five battles, on five successive days, the most glorious triumph of his surpassing tactics, at pfaffenhofen, thann, abensberg, landshut, eckmuhl, and ratisbon. the archduke charles retired into bohemia in order to collect reinforcements, but general hiller was, on account of the delay in repairing the fortifications of linz, unable to maintain that place, the possession of which was important on account of its forming a connecting point between bohemia and the austrian oberland. hiller, however, at least saved his honor by pushing forward to the traun, and, in a fearfully bloody encounter at ebelsberg, capturing three french eagles, one of his colors alone falling into the enemy's hands. he was, nevertheless, compelled to retire before the superior forces of the french, and napoleon entered vienna unopposed. a few balls from the walls of the inner city were directed against the faubourg in his possession, but he no sooner began to bombard the palace than the inner city yielded. the archduke charles arrived, when too late, from bohemia. both armies, separated by the danube, stood opposed to one another in the vicinity of the imperial city. napoleon, in order to bring the enemy to a decisive engagement, crossed the river close to the great island of lobau. he was received on the opposite bank near aspern and esslingen by the archduke charles, and, after a dreadful battle, that was carried on with unwearied animosity for two days, the st and d of may, , was for the first time completely beaten[ ] and compelled to fly for refuge to the island of lobau. the rising stream had, meanwhile, carried away the bridge, napoleon's sole chance of escape to the opposite bank. for two days he remained on the island with his defeated troops, without provisions, and in hourly expectation of being cut to pieces; the austrians, however, neglected to turn the opportunity to advantage and allowed the french leisure to rebuild the bridge, a work of extreme difficulty. during six weeks afterward the two armies continued to occupy their former positions under the walls of vienna on the right and left banks of the danube, narrowly watching each other's movements and preparing for a final struggle. the archduke john had successfully penetrated into italy, where he had defeated the viceroy, eugene, at salice and fontana fredda. favored by the simultaneous revolt of the tyrolese, his success appeared certain, when the news of his brother's disaster compelled him to retreat. he withdrew into hungary,[ ] whither he was pursued by eugene, by whom he was, on the th of june, defeated at raab. the archduke ferdinand, who had advanced as far as warsaw, had been driven back by the poles under poniatowski and by a russian force sent by the emperor alexander to their aid, which, on this success, invaded galicia. napoleon rewarded the poles for their aid by allowing russia to seize wallachia and moldavia. the fate of austria now depended on the issue of the struggle about to take place on the danube. the archduke's troops were still elated with recent victory, but napoleon had been strongly reinforced and again began the attack at wagram, not far from the battleground of aspern. the contest lasted two days, the th and th of july. the austrians fought with great personal gallantry, lost one of their colors, but captured twelve golden eagles and standards of the enemy; but the reserve body, intended to protect their left wing, failing to make its appearance on the field, they were outflanked by napoleon and driven back upon moravia. every means of conveyance in vienna was put into requisition for the transport of the forty-five thousand men, wounded on this occasion, to the hospitals, and this heartrending scene indubitably contributed to strengthen the general desire for peace. an armistice was, on the th of july, concluded at znaym, and, after long negotiation, was followed, on the th of october, by the treaty of vienna. austria was compelled to cede carniola, trieste, croatia and dalmatia to napoleon, salzburg, berchtoldsgaden, the innviertel, and the hausruckviertel to bavaria, a part of galicia to warsaw and another part to russia. count stadion lost office and was succeeded by clement, count von metternich.--frederick stabs, the son of a preacher of nuamburg on the saal, formed a resolution to poniard napoleon at schönbrunn, the imperial palace in the neighborhood of vienna. rapp's suspicions became roused, and the young man was arrested before his purpose could be effected. he candidly avowed his intention. "and if i grant you your life?" asked napoleon. "i would merely make use of the gift to rob you, on the first opportunity, of yours," was the undaunted reply. four-and-twenty hours afterward the young man was shot.[ ] the ancient german race of gotscheer in carniola and the people of istria rose in open insurrection against the french and were only put down by force. although prussia had left austria unsuccored during this war, many of her subjects were animated with a desire to aid their austrian brethren. schill, unable to restrain his impetuosity, quitted berlin on the th of april, for that purpose, with his regiment of hussars. his conduct, although condemned by a sentence of the court-martial, was universally applauded. dornberg, an officer of jerome's guard, revolted simultaneously in hesse, but was betrayed by a false friend at the moment in which jerome's person was to have been seized, and was compelled to fly for his life. schill merely advanced as far as wittenberg and halberstadt, was again driven northward to wismar, and finally to stralsund, by the superior forces of westphalia and holland. in a bloody street-fight at stralsund he split general carteret's, the dutch general's head, and was himself killed by a cannon-ball. thus fell this young hero, true to his motto, "better a terrible end than endless terror." the dutch cut off his head, preserved it in spirits of wine, and placed it publicly in the leyden library, where it remained until , when it was buried at brunswick in the grave of his faithful followers. five hundred of his men, under lieutenant brunow, escaped by forcing their way through the enemy. of the prisoners taken on this occasion, eleven officers were, by napoleon's command, shot at wesel, fourteen subalterns and soldiers at brunswick, the rest, about six hundred in number, were sent in chains to toulon and condemned to the galleys.[ ] dörnberg fled to england. katt, another patriot, assembled a number of veterans at stendal and advanced as far as magdeburg, but was compelled to flee to the brunswickers in bohemia. what might not have been the result had the plan of the archduke charles to march rapidly through franconia been followed on the opening of the campaign? william, duke of brunswick, the son of the hapless duke ferdinand, had quitted oels, his sole possession, for bohemia, where he had collected a force two thousand strong, known as the black brunswickers on account of the color of their uniform and the death's head on their helmets, with which he resolved to avenge his father's death. victorious in petty engagements over the saxons at zittau and over the french under junot at berneck, he refused to recognize the armistice between austria and france, and, fighting his way through the enemy, surprised leipzig by night and there provided himself with ammunition and stores. he was awaited at halberstadt by the westphalians under wellingerode, whom, notwithstanding their numerical superiority, he completely defeated during the night of the th of july. two days later he was attacked in brunswick, in his father's home, by an enemy three times his superior, by the westphalians under rewbel, who advanced from celle while the saxons and dutch pursued him from erfurt. aided by his brave citizens, many of whom followed his fortunes, he was again victorious and was enabled by a speedy retreat, in which he broke down all the bridges to his rear, to escape to elsfleth, whence he sailed to england. in august, an english army, forty thousand strong, landed on the island of walcheren and attempted to create a diversion in holland, but its ranks were speedily thinned by disease, it did not venture up the country and finally returned to england. the english, nevertheless, displayed henceforward immense activity in the peninsula, where, aided by the brave and high-spirited population,[ ] they did great detriment to the french. in the english army in the peninsula were several thousand germans, principally hanoverian refugees. there were also numerous deserters from the rhenish confederated troops, sent by napoleon into spain. during the war in june, the king of wurtemberg took possession of mergentheim, the chief seat of the teutonic order, which had, up to the present period, remained unsecularized. the surprised inhabitants received the new protestant authorities with demonstrations of rage and revolted. they were the last and the only ones among all the secularized or mediatized estates of the empire that boldly attempted opposition. they were naturally overpowered without much difficulty and were cruelly punished. about thirty of them were shot by the soldiery; six were executed; several wealthy burgesses and peasants were condemned as criminals to work in chains in the new royal gardens at stuttgard. thus miserably terminated the celebrated teutonic order. [footnote : the whole of the revenues of prussia were confiscated by the french until . the contribution of one hundred and forty millions was, nevertheless, to be paid, and the french garrisons in the prussian fortresses of glogau, küstrin, and stettin were to be maintained at the expense of prussia. the suppression of the monasteries in silesia was far from lucrative, the commissioners, who were irresponsible, carrying on a system of pillage, and landed property having greatly fallen in value. the most extraordinary imposts of every description were resorted to for the purpose of raising a revenue, among other means, a third of all the gold and silver in the country was called in. a coinage, still more debased, was issued, and one more inferior still was smuggled into the country by english coiners. in , silver money fell two-thirds of its current value and was even refused acceptance at that price.--the french, moreover, lorded over the country with redoubled insolence, broke every treaty, increased their garrisons, and occasionally laid the most inopportune commands, in the form of a request, upon the king; as, for instance, to lay under embargo and deliver up to them a number of english merchantmen that had been driven into the prussian harbors by a dreadful storm. blücher, at that time governor of pomerania, restrained his fiery nature and patiently endured their insolence, while silently brooding over deep and implacable revenge.] [footnote : when marching with his pupils out of berlin, he would ask the fresh ones as he passed beneath the bradenburg gate, "what are you thinking of now?" if the boy did not know what to answer, he would give him a box on the ear, saying as he did so, "you should think of this, how you can bring back the four fine statues of horses that once stood over this gate and were carried by the french to paris."] [footnote : decree of th december, : "a certain stein, who is attempting to create disturbances, is herewith declared the enemy of france; his property shall be placed under sequestration, and his person shall be secured." the allgemeine zeitung warns, at the same time, in its th number, all german savants not to give way to patriotic enthusiasm and to follow in john müller's footsteps.] [footnote : bignon's history of france.] [footnote : he undertook the chief command with extreme unwillingness and had long advised against the war, the time not having yet arrived, prussia being still adverse, germany not as yet restored to her senses, and experience having already proved to him how little he could act as his judgment directed. how often had he not been made use of and then suddenly neglected, been restrained, in the midst of his operations, by secret orders, been permitted to conduct the first or only the second part of a campaign, been placed in a subaltern position when the chief command was rightfully his, or been forced to accept of it when all was irremediably lost. even on this occasion the first measure advised by him, that of pushing rapidly through bohemia and franconia, met with opposition. on the maine and on the weser alone was there a hope of inspiring the people with enthusiasm, not in bavaria, where the hatred of the austrians was irradicably rooted. it, nevertheless, pleased the military advisers of the emperor at vienna to order the army to advance slowly through bavaria.] [footnote : "none of my soldiers accompany me. you will know how to value this mark of confidence."--_napoleon's address to the bavarians. bölderndorf's bavarian campaigns_. "i am alone among you and have not a frenchman around my person. this is an unparalleled honor paid by me to you."--_napoleon's address to the würtemberg troops_. arndt wrote at that time: "by idle words and dastard wiles hath he the mastery gained; he holds our sacred fatherland in slavery enchained. fear hath rendered truth discreet, and honor croucheth at his feet. is this his work? ah no! 'tis _thine!_ this _thou_ alone hast done. for him thy banner waved, for him thy sword the battle won by thy disputes he gaineth strength, by thy disgrace full honor, and 'neath the german hero's arm his weakness doth he cover: glittering erewhile in borrowed show, the gallic cock doth proudly crow."] [footnote : the states of würtemberg imparted, among other things, the following piece of information to the house of habsburg: "that the heads of a democratical government should spread principles destructive to order among its neighbors was easily explicable, but that austria should take advantage of the war to derange the internal mechanism of neighboring states was inexcusable."--_allgemeine zeitung, no. _. the bavarian proclamation (_allgemeine zeitung, no. _) says, "princes of the blood royal unblushingly subscribed to proclamations placing them on an equality with the men of the revolution of ." the _moniteur_, napoleon's parisian organ, said in august, , after the conclusion of the war, "the mighty hand of napoleon has snatched germany from the revolutionary abyss about to engulf her."] [footnote : posselt's political annals at that time contained an essay, in which the attempt made by the austrian cabinet to call the germans to arms was designated as a "crime" against the sovereigns "among whom germany was at that period partitioned, and in whose hearing it was both foolish and dangerous to speak of germany." derision has seldom been carried to such a pitch.] [footnote : the finest feat of arms was that performed by the austrian infantry, who repulsed twelve french regiments of cuirassiers. this picked body of cavalry was mounted on the best and strongest horses of holstein and mecklenburg (for napoleon overcame germany principally by means of germany), and bore an extremely imposing appearance. the austrian infantry coolly stood their charge and allowed them to come close upon them before firing a shot, when, taking deliberate aim at the horses, they and their riders were rolled in confused heaps on the ground. three thousand cuirasses were picked up by the victors after the battle.] [footnote : napoleon proclaimed independence to the hungarians, but was unable to gain a single adherent among them.] [footnote : aretin about this time published a "representation of the patriots of austria to napoleon the great," in which that great sovereign was entreated to bestow a new government upon austria and to make that country, like the new kingdom of westphalia, a member of his family of states. a fitting pendant to john müller's state speech, and so much the more uncalled-for as it was exactly the austrians who, during this disastrous period, had, less than any of the other races of germany, lost their national pride.] [footnote : they were afterward condemned to hard labor in the hieres isles, nor was it until that the survivors, one hundred and twenty in number, were restored to their homes.--_allgemeine zeitung, . appendix ._] [footnote : vide napier's peninsular war for an account of the military achievements of the spaniards.--_trans._] cclvii. revolt of the tyrolese the alps of the tyrol had for centuries been the asylum of liberty. the ancient german communal system had there continued to exist even in feudal times. exactly at the time when the house of habsburg lost its most valuable possessions in switzerland, at the time of the council of constance, duke frederick, surnamed friedel with the empty purse, was compelled by necessity and for the sake of retaining the affection of the tyrolese, to confirm them by oath in the possession of great privileges, which his successors, owing to a wholesome dread of exciting the anger of the sturdy mountaineers, prudently refrained from violating. the tyrol was externally independent and was governed by her own diet. no recruits were levied in that country by the emperor, excepting those for the rifle corps, which elected its own commanders and wore the tyrolean garb. the imposts were few and trifling in amount, the administration was simple. the free-born peasant enjoyed his rights in common with the patriarchal nobility and clergy, who dwelt in harmony with the people; in several of the valleys the public affairs were administered by simple peasants; each commune had its peculiar laws and customs. the first invasion of the tyrol, in , by the bavarians, was successfully resisted. the bavarians were driven, with great loss on their side, out of the country. a somewhat similar spirit animated the tyrolese in , and their anger was solely appeased by the express remonstrances of the archduke john, whom the inhabitants of the austrian tyrol treated with the veneration due to a father. they now fell under the dominion of bavaria, whose benevolent sovereign, maximilian joseph, promised, under the act dated the th of january, , "not only strongly to uphold the constitution of the country and the well-earned rights and privileges of the people, but also to promote their welfare": but, led astray by his, certainly noble, enthusiasm for the rescue of his bavarian subjects from jesuit obscurantism, he imagined that similar measures might also be advantageously taken in the tyrol, where the mountaineers, true to their ancient simplicity, were revolted by the severity of the cure, attempted too by a physician of whose intentions they were mistrustful. bavaria was overrun with rich monasteries; the tyrol, less fertile, possessed merely a patriarchal clergy, less numerous, more moral and active. there was no motive for interference. the conscription that, by converting the idle youth of bavaria into disciplined soldiery, was a blessing to the martial-spirited and improvident population, was impracticable amid the well-trained tyrolese, and, although the control exercised by a well-regulated bureaucracy might be beneficial when viewed in contradistinction with the ancient complicated system of government and administration of justice during the existence of the division into petty states and the manifold contradictory privileges, it was utterly uncalled for in the simple administration of the tyrol. for what purpose were mere presumptive ameliorations to be imposed upon a people thoroughly contented with the laws and customs bequeathed by their ancestors? the attempt was nevertheless made, and ancient bavarian official insolence leagued with french frivolity of the school of montgelas to vex the tyrolese and to violate their most sacred privileges. the numerous chapels erected for devotional purposes were thrown down amid marks of ridicule and scorn; the ignorance and superstition of the old church was at one blow to yield to modern enlightenment.[ ] the people shudderingly beheld the crucifixes and images of saints, so long the objects of their deepest veneration, sold to jews. notwithstanding the late assurances of the bavarian king, the tyrolean diet was, moreover, not only dissolved, but the country was deprived of its ancient name and designated "southern bavaria," and the castle of the tyrol, that had defied the storms of ages, and whose possessor, according to a sacred popular legend, had alone a right to claim the homage of the country, was sold by auction. the national pride of the tyrolese was deeply and bitterly wounded, their ancient rights and customs were arbitrarily infringed, and, instead of the great benefits so recently promised, eight new taxes were levied, and the tax-gatherers not infrequently rendered themselves still more obnoxious by their brutality. colonel dittfurt, who, during the winter of , acted with extreme inhumanity in the fleimserthal, where the conscription had excited great opposition, and who publicly boasted that with his regiment alone he would keep the whole of the beggarly mountaineers in subjection, drew upon himself the greatest share of the popular animosity. austria, when preparing for war in , could therefore confidently reckon upon a general rising in the tyrol. andrew hofer, the host of the sand at passeyr (the sandwirth), went to vienna, where the revolt was concerted.[ ] a conspiracy was entered into by the whole of the tyrolese peasantry. sixty thousand men, on a moderate calculation, were intrusted with the secret, which was sacredly kept, not a single townsman being allowed to participate in it. kinkel, the bavarian general, who was stationed at innsbruck and narrowly watched the tyrol, remained perfectly unconscious of the mine beneath his feet. colonel wrede, his inferior in command, had been directed to blow up the important bridges in the pusterthal at st. lorenzo, in order to check the advance of the austrians, in case of an invasion. several thousand french were expected to pass through the tyrol on their route from italy to join the army under napoleon. no suspicion of the approach of a popular outbreak existed. on the th of april, the signal was suddenly given; planks bearing little red flags floated down the inn; on the th, the storm burst. several of the bavarian sappers sent at daybreak to blow up the bridges of st. lorenzo being killed by the bullets of an invisible foe, the rest took to flight. wrede, enraged at the incident, hastened to the spot at the head of two battalions, supported by a body of cavalry and some field-pieces. the whole of the pusterthal had, however, already risen at the summons of peter kemnater, the host of schabs,[ ] in defence of the bridges. wrede's artillery was captured by the enraged peasantry and cast, together with the artillerymen, into the river. wrede, after suffering a terrible loss, owing to the skill of the tyrolean riflemen, who never missed their aim, was completely put to rout, and, although he fell in with a body of three thousand french under brisson on their route from italy, resolved, instead of returning to the pusterthal, to withdraw with the french to innsbruck. the passage through the valley of the eisack had, however, been already closed against them by the host of lechner, and the fine old roman bridge at laditsch been blown up. in the pass of the brixen, where the valley closes, the french and bavarians suffered immense loss; rocks and trees were rolled on the heads of the appalled soldiery, numbers of whom were also picked off by the unerring rifles of the unseen peasantry. favored by the open ground at the bridge of laditsch, they constructed a temporary bridge, across which they succeeded in forcing their way on the th of april. hofer had, meanwhile, placed himself, early on the th, at the head of the brave peasantry of passeyr, algund, and meran, and had thrown himself on the same road, somewhat to the north, near sterzing, where a bavarian battalion was stationed under the command of colonel bärnklau, who, on being attacked by him, on the th, retreated to the sterzinger moos, a piece of tableland, where, drawn up in square, he successfully repulsed every attempt made to dislodge him until hofer ordered a wagon, loaded with hay and guided by a girl,[ ] to be pushed forward as a screen, behind which the tyrolese advancing, the square was speedily broken and the whole of bärnklau's troop was either killed or taken prisoner. the whole of the lower valley of the inn had, on the self-same day, been raised by joseph speckbacher, a wealthy peasant of rinn, the greatest hero called into existence by this fearful peasant war. the alarm-bell pealed from every church tower throughout the country. a bavarian troop, at that time engaged in levying contributions at axoms as a punishment for disobedience, hastily fled. the city of hall was, on the ensuing night, taken by speckbacher, who, after lighting about a hundred watch-fires in a certain quarter, as if about to make an attack on that side, crept, under cover of the darkness, to the gate on the opposite side, where, as a common passenger, he demanded permission to enter, took possession of the opened gate, and seized the four hundred bavarians stationed in the city. on the th, he appeared before innsbruck. kinkel was astounded at the audacity of the peasants, whom dittfurt glowed with impatience to punish. but the people, shouting "vivat franzl! down with the bavarians!" again rushed upon the guns and turned them upon the bavarians, who were, moreover, exposed to a murderous fire poured upon them from the windows and towers by the citizens, who had risen in favor of the peasantry. the people of the upper valley of the inn, headed by major teimer, also poured to the scene of carnage. dittfurt performed prodigies of valor, but every effort was vain. scornfully refusing to yield to the _canaille_, he continued, although struck by two bullets, to fight with undaunted courage, when a third stretched him on the ground; again he started up and furiously defended himself until a fourth struck him in the head. he died four days afterward in a state of wild delirium, cursing and swearing. kinkel and the whole of the bavarian infantry yielded themselves prisoners. the cavalry attempted to escape, but were dismounted with pitchforks by the peasantry, and the remainder were taken prisoners before hall. wrede and brisson, meanwhile, crossed the brenner. at sterzing, every trace of the recent conflict had been carefully obliterated, and wrede vainly inquired the fate of bärnklau. he entered the narrow pass, and hofer's riflemen spread death and confusion among his ranks. the strength of the allied column, nevertheless, enabled it to force its way through, and it reached innsbruck, where, completely surrounded by the tyrolese, it, in a few minutes, lost several hundred men, and, in order to escape utter destruction, laid down its arms. the tyrolese entered innsbruck in triumph, preceded by the military band belonging to the enemy, which was compelled to play, followed by teimer and brisson in an open carriage, and with the rest of their prisoners guarded between their ranks. their captives consisted of two generals, ten staff-officers, above a hundred other officers, eight thousand infantry, and a thousand cavalry. throughout the tyrol, the arms of bavaria were cast to the ground and all the bavarian authorities were removed from office. the prisoners were, nevertheless, treated with the greatest humanity, the only instance to the contrary being that of a tax-gatherer, who, having once boasted that he would grind the tyrolese down until they gladly ate hay, was, in revenge, compelled to swallow a bushel of hay for his dinner. it was not until after these brilliant achievements on the part of the tyrolese that lieutenant field-marshal von chasteler, a dutchman, and the baron von hormayr, the imperial civil intendant, entered innsbruck with several thousand austrians, and that hormayr assumed the reins of government. two thousand french, under general lemoine, attempted to make an inroad from trent, but were repulsed by hofer and his ally, colonel count leiningen, who had been sent to his aid by chasteler. the advance of a still stronger force of the enemy under baraguay d'hilliers a second time against botzen called chasteler in person into the field, and the french, after a smart engagement near volano, where the herculean passeyrers carried the artillery on their shoulders, were forced to retreat. it was on this occasion that leiningen, who had hastily pushed too far forward, was rescued from captivity by hofer.[ ] the vorarlberg had, meanwhile, also been raised by teimer. a dr. schneider placed himself at the head of the insurgents, whose forces already extended in this direction as far as lindau, kempten, and memmingen. napoleon's success, at this conjuncture, at ratisbon, enabled him to despatch a division of his army into the tyrol to quell the insurrection that had broken out to his rear. wrede, who had been quickly exchanged and set at liberty, speedily found himself at the head of a small bavarian force, and succeeded in driving the austrians under jellachich, after an obstinate and bloody resistance, out of salzburg, on the th of april. jellachich withdrew to the pass of lueg for the purpose of placing himself in communication with the archduke john, who was on his way from italy. an attack made upon this position by the bavarians being repulsed, napoleon despatched marshal lefebvre, duke of dantzig, from salzburg with a considerable force to their assistance. lefebvre spoke german, was a rough soldier, treated the peasants as robbers instead of legitimate foes, shot every leader who fell into his hands, and gave his soldiery license to commit every description of outrage on the villagers. the greater part of the tyrolese occupying the pass of strub having quitted their post on ascension day in order to attend divine service, the rest were, after a gallant resistance, overpowered and mercilessly butchered. chasteler, anxious to repair his late negligence, advanced against the bavarians in the open valley of the inn and was overwhelmed by superior numbers at wörgl. speckbacher, followed by his peasantry, again made head against the enemy, whom, notwithstanding the destruction caused in his ranks by their rapid and well-directed fire, he twice drove out of schwatz. the bavarians, nevertheless, succeeded in forcing an entrance into the town, which they set on fire after butchering all the inhabitants, hundreds of whom were hanged to the trees or had their hands nailed to their heads. these cruelties were not, even in a single instance, imitated by the tyrolese. the proposal to send their numerous bavarian prisoners home maimed of one ear, as a mode of recognition in case they should again serve against the tyrol, was rejected by hofer. the unrelenting rage of the bavarians was solely roused by the unsparing ridicule of the tyrolese, by whom they were nicknamed, on account of the general burliness of their figures and their fondness for beer, bavarian hogs, and who, the moment they came within hearing, would call out to them, as to a herd of pigs, "tschu, tschu, tschu--natsch, natsch." the bavarians, intoxicated with success, advanced further up the country, surrounded the village of vomp, set it on fire amid the sound of kettledrums and hautboys, and shot the inhabitants as they attempted to escape from the burning houses. chasteler and hormayr were, during this robber-campaign, as it was termed by the french, proscribed as _chefs de brigands_ by napoleon. count tannenberg, the descendant of the oldest of the baronial families in the tyrol, a blind and venerable man, who was also taken prisoner _en route_, replied with dignity to the censure heaped upon him by wrede, and at munich defended his country's cause before the king.[ ] the officers, whom he had treated with extreme politeness, rose from his hospitable board to set fire to his castle over his head. the scharnitz was yielded, and the bavarians under arco penetrated also on that side into the country.--jellachich, upon this, retired upon carinthia, and was followed through the pusterthal by chasteler, who dreaded being cut off. the peasants, incredulous of their abandonment by austria, implored, entreated him to remain, to which, for the sake of freeing himself from their importunities, he at length consented, but they had no sooner dispersed in order to summon the people again to the conflict than he retired. hofer, on returning to the spot, merely finding a small body of troops under the command of general buol, who had received orders to bring up the rear, threw himself in despair on a bed. eisenstecken, his companion and adjutant, however, instantly declared that the departure of the soldiers must, at all hazards, be prevented. the officers signed a paper by which they bound themselves, even though contrary to the express orders of the general, to remain. buol, upon this, yielded and remained, but, during the fearful battle that ensued, remained in the post-house on the brenner, inactively watching the conflict, which terminated in the triumph of the peasantry. hormayr completely absconded and attempted to escape into switzerland. innsbruck was surrendered by teimer to the french, on the th of may. napoleon's defeat, about this time, at aspern having however compelled lefebvre to return hastily to the danube, leaving merely a part of the bavarians with general deroy in innsbruck, the tyrolese instantly seized the opportunity, and hofer, eisenstecken, and the gallant speckbacher boldly assembled the whole of the peasantry on the mountain of isel. peter thalguter led the brave and gigantic men of algund. haspinger, the capuchin, nicknamed redbeard, appeared on this occasion for the first time in the guise of a commander and displayed considerable military talent. an incessant struggle was carried on from the th to the th of may.[ ] deroy, repulsed from the mountain of isel with a loss of almost three thousand men, simulated an intention to capitulate, and withdrew unheard during the night by muffling the horses' hoofs and the wheels of the artillery carriages and enjoining silence under pain of death. speckbacher attempted to impede his retreat at hall, but arrived too late.[ ] teimer was accused of having been remiss in his duty through jealousy of the common peasant leaders. arco escaped by an artifice similar to that of deroy and abandoned the scharnitz. the vorarlbergers again spread as far as kempten. hormayr also returned, retook the reins of government, imposed taxes, flooded the country with useless law-scribbling, and, at the same time, refused to grant the popular demand for the convocation of the tyrolean diet. after the victory of aspern, the emperor declared, "my faithful county of tyrol shall henceforward ever remain incorporated with the austrian empire, and i will agree to no treaty of peace save one indissolubly uniting the tyrol with my monarchy." during this happy interval, speckbacher besieged the fortress of cuffstein, where he performed many signal acts of valor.[ ] the disaster of wagram followed, and, in the ensuing armistice, the emperor francis was compelled to agree to the withdrawal of the whole of his troops from the tyrol. the archduke john is said to have given a hint to general buol to remain in the tyrol as if retained there by force by the peasantry, instead of which both buol and hormayr hurried their retreat, after issuing a miserable proclamation, in which they "recommended the tyrolese to the care of the duke of dantzig." lefebvre actually again advanced at the head of thirty to forty thousand french, bavarians and saxons. the courage of the unfortunate peasantry naturally sank. hofer alone remained unshaken, and said, on bidding hormayr farewell, "well, then, i will undertake the government, and, as long as god wills, name myself andrew hofer, host of the sand at passeyr, count of the tyrol." hormayr laughed.--a general dispersion took place. hofer alone remained. when, resolute in his determination not to abandon his native soil, he was on his way back to his dwelling, he encountered speckbacher hurrying away in a carriage in the company of some austrian officers. "wilt thou also desert thy country?" was hofer's sad demand. buol, in order to cover his retreat, sent back eleven guns and nine hundred bavarian prisoners to general rusca, who continued to threaten the pusterthal. in the mountains all was tranquil, and the advance of the french columns was totally unopposed. hofer, concealed in a cavern amid the steep rocks overhanging his native vale, besought heaven for aid, and, by his enthusiastic entreaties, succeeded in persuading the brave capuchin, joachim haspinger, once more to quit the monastery of seeben, whither he had retired. a conference was held at brixen between haspinger, martin schenk, the host of the _krug_, a jovial man of powerful frame, kemnater, and a third person of similar calling, peter mayer, host of the mare, who bound themselves again to take up arms in the eastern tyrol, while hofer, in person, raised the western tyrol. speckbacher, to the delight of the three confederates, unexpectedly made his appearance at this conjuncture. deeply wounded by the reproach contained in the few words addressed to him by hofer, he had, notwithstanding the urgent entreaties of his companions, quitted them on arriving at the nearest station and hastened to retake his post in defence of his country. lefebvre had already entered innsbruck, and, according to his brutal custom, had plundered the villages and reduced them to ashes; he had also published a proscription-list[ ] instead of the amnesty. a desperate resistance now commenced. the whole of the tyrol again flew to arms; the young men placed in their green hats the bunch of rosemary gathered by the girl of their heart, the more aged a peacock's plume, the symbol of the house of habsburg, all carried the rifle, so murderous in their hands; they made cannons of larch-wood, bound with iron rings, which did good service; they raised abatis, blew up rooks, piled immense masses of stone on the extreme edges of the precipitous rocks commanding the narrow vales, in order to hurl them upon the advancing foe, and directed the timber-slides in the forest-grown mountains, or those formed of logs by means of which the timber for building was usually run into the valleys, in such a manner upon the most important passes and bridges, as to enable them to shoot enormous trees down upon them with tremendous velocity. lefebvre resolved to advance with the main body of his forces across the brenner to botzen, whither another corps under burscheidt also directed its way through the upper valley of the inn, the finstermunz, and meran, while a third under rusca came from carinthia through the pusterthal, and a fourth under peyry was on the march from verona through the vale of the adige. these various _corps d'armée_, by which the tyrol was thus attacked simultaneously on every point, were to concentrate in the heart of the country. lefebvre found the brenner open. the tyrolese, headed by haspinger, had burned the bridges on the oberau and awaited the approach of the enemy on the heights commanding the narrow valley of eisach. the saxons under rouyer were sent in advance by lefebvre to shed their blood for a foreign despot. rocks and trees hurled by the tyrolese into the valley crushed numbers of them to death. rouyer, after being slightly hurt by a rolling mass of rock, retreated after leaving orders to the saxon regiment, composed of contingents from weimar, gotha, coburg, hildburghausen, altenburg, and meiningen, commanded by colonel egloffstein, to retain its position in the oberau. this action took place on the th of august. the saxons, worn out by the fatigue and danger to which they were exposed, were compelled, on the ensuing day, to make head in the narrow vale against overwhelming numbers of the tyrolese, whose incessant attacks rendered a moment's repose impossible. although faint with hunger and with the intensity of the heat, a part of the troops under colonel egloffstein succeeded in forcing their way through, though at an immense sacrifice of life,[ ] and fell back upon rouyer, who had taken up a position at sterzing without fighting a stroke in their aid, and who expressed his astonishment at their escape. the rest of the saxon troops were taken prisoners, after a desperate resistance, in the dwelling-houses of oberau.[ ] they had lost nearly a thousand men. the other _corps d'armée_ met with no better fate. burscheidt merely advanced up the valley of the inn as far as the bridges of pruz, whence, being repulsed by the tyrolese and dreading destruction, he retreated during the dark night of the th of august. his infantry crept, silent and unheard, across the bridge of pontlaz, of such fatal celebrity in , which was strictly watched by the tyrolese. the cavalry cautiously followed, but were betrayed by the sound of one of the horses' feet. rocks and trees were in an instant hurled upon the bridge, crushing men and horses and blocking up the way. the darkness that veiled the scene but added to its horrors. the whole of the troops shut up beyond the bridge were either killed or taken prisoner. burscheidt reached innsbruck with merely a handful of men, completely worn out by the incessant pursuit. rusca was also repulsed, between the th and the th of august (particularly at the bridge of lienz), in the pusterthal, by brave antony steger. rusca had set two hundred farms on fire. twelve hundred of his men were killed, and his retreat was accelerated by steger's threat to roast him, in case he fell into his hands, like a scorpion, within a fiery circle. peyry did not venture into the country. lefebvre, who had followed to the rear of the saxon troops from innsbruck, bitterly reproached them with their defeat, but, although he placed himself in advance, did not succeed in penetrating as far as they had up the country. at mauls, his cavalry were torn from their saddles and killed with clubs, and he escaped, with great difficulty, after losing his cocked hat. his corps, notwithstanding its numerical strength, was unable to advance a step further. the capuchin harassed his advanced guard from mauls and was seconded by speckbacher from stilfs, while count arco was attacked to his rear at schonberg by multitudes of tyrolese. the contest was carried on without intermission from the th to the th of august. lefebvre was finally compelled to retreat with his thinned and weary troops.[ ] on the th, deroy posted himself with the rearguard on the mountain of isel. the capuchin, after reading mass under the open sky to his followers, again attacked him on the th. a horrible slaughter ensued. four hundred bavarians, who had fallen beneath the clubs of their infuriated antagonists, lay in a confused heap. the enemy evacuated innsbruck and the whole of the tyrol.[ ] count arco was one of the last victims of this bloody campaign. the _sandwirth_, placed himself at the head of the government at innsbruck. although a simple peasant and ever faithful to the habits of his station,[ ] he laid down some admirable rules, convoked a national assembly, and raised the confidence of the people of carinthia, to whom he addressed a proclamation remarkable for dignity. he hoped, at that time, by summoning the whole of the mountain tribes to arms and leading them to vienna, to compel the enemy to accede to more favorable terms of peace. speckbacher penetrated into the district of salzburg, defeated the bavarians at lofers and unken, took one thousand seven hundred prisoners, and advanced as far as reichenhall and melek. the capuchin proposed, in his zeal, to storm salzburg and invade carinthia, but was withheld by speckbacher, who saw the hazard attached to the project, as well as the peril that would attend the departure of the tyrolese from their country. his plan merely consisted in covering the eastern frontier. his son, anderle, who had escaped from his secluded alp, unexpectedly joined him and fought at his side. speckbacher was stationed at melek, where he drove major rummele with his bavarian battalion into the salzach, but was shortly afterward surprised by treachery. he had already been deprived of his arms, thrown to the ground, and seriously injured with blows dealt with a club, when, furiously springing to his feet, he struck his opponents to the earth and escaped with a hundred of his men across a wall of rock unscalable save by the foot of the expert and hardy mountaineer. his young son was torn from his side and taken captive. the king, maximilian joseph, touched by his courage and beauty, sent for him and had him well educated.--the capuchin, who had reached muhrau in styria, was also compelled to retire. the peace of vienna, in which the tyrolese were not even mentioned, was meanwhile concluded. the restoration of the tyrol to bavaria was tacitly understood, and, in order to reduce the country to obedience, three fresh armies again approached the frontiers, the italian, peyry, from the south through the valley of the adige, and baraguay d'hilliers from the west through the pusterthal; the former suffered a disastrous defeat above trent, but was rescued from utter destruction by general vial, who had followed to his rear, and who, as well as baraguay, advanced as far as brixen.[ ] drouet d'erlon, with the main body of the bavarians, came from the north across the strub and the loferpass, and gained forcible possession of the engpass. hofer had been persuaded by the priest, donay, to relinquish the anterior passes into the country and innsbruck, and to take up a strong position on the fortified mountain of isel. speckbacher arrived too late to defend innsbruck, and, enraged at the ill-laid plan of defence, threw a body of his men into the zillerthal in order to prevent the bavarians from falling upon hofer's rear. he was again twice wounded at the storming of the kemmberg, which had already been fortified by the bavarians. on the th of october, the bavarians entered innsbruck and summoned hofer to capitulate. during the night of the th, baron lichtenthurm appeared in the tyrolese camp, announced the conclusion of peace, and delivered a letter from the archduke john, in which the tyrolese were commanded peaceably to disperse and no longer to offer their lives a useless sacrifice. there was no warrant for the future, not a memory of an earlier pledge. the commands of their beloved master were obeyed by the tyrolese with feelings of bitter regret, and a complete dispersion took place. speckbacher alone maintained his ground, and repulsed the enemy on the d and d of november, but, being told, in a letter, by hofer, "i announce to you that austria has made peace with france and has forgotten the tyrol," he gave up all further opposition, and mayer and kemnater, who had gallantly made head against general rusca at the muhlbacher klause, followed his example. the tragedy drew to a close. hofer returned to his native vale, where the people of passeyr and algund, resolved at all hazards not to submit to the depredations of the italian brigands under rusca, flocked around him and compelled him to place himself at their head for a last and desperate struggle. above meran, the french were thrown in such numbers from the _franzosenbuhl_, which still retains its name, that "they fell like a shower of autumnal leaves into the city." the horses belonging to a division of cavalry intended to surround the insurgent peasantry were all that returned; their riders had been shot to a man. rusca lost five hundred dead and one thousand seven hundred prisoners. the capuchin was also present, and generously saved the captive major doreille, whose men had formerly set fire to a village, from the hands of the infuriated peasantry. but a traitor guided the enemy to the rear of the brave band of patriots; peter thalguter fell, and hofer took refuge amid the highest alps.--kolb, who was by some supposed to be an english agent, but who was simply an enthusiast, again summoned the peasantry around brixen to arms. the peasantry still retained such a degree of courage, as to set up an enormous barn-door as a target for the french artillery, and at every shot up jumped a ludicrous figure. resistance had, however, ceased to be general; the french pressed in ever-increasing numbers through the valleys, disarmed the people, the majority of whom, obedient to hofer's first mandate, no longer attempted opposition, and took their leaders captive. peter mayer was shot at botzen. his life was offered to him on condition of his denying all participation in the patriotic struggles of his countrymen, but he disdained a lie and boldly faced death. those among the peasantry most distinguished for gallantry were either shot or hanged. baur, a bavarian author, who had fought against the tyrolese, and is consequently a trusty witness, remarks that all the tyroleso patriots, without exception, evinced the greatest contempt of death. the struggle recommenced in the winter, but was merely confined to the pusterthal. a french division under broussier was cut off on the snowed-up roads and shot to a man by the peasantry. hofer at first took refuge with his wife and child in a narrow rocky hollow in the kellerlager, afterward in the highest alpine hut, near the oetzthaler firner in the wintry desert. vainly was he implored to quit the country; his resolution to live or to die on his native soil was unchangeable. a peasant named raffel, unfortunately descrying the smoke from the distant hut, discovered his place of concealment, and boasted in different places of his possession of the secret of his hiding-place. this came to the ears of father donay, a traitor in the pay of france;[ ] raffel was arrested, and, in the night of the th of january, , guided one thousand six hundred french and italian troops to the mountain, while two thousand french were quartered in the circumjacent country. hofer yielded himself prisoner with calm dignity. the italians abused him personally, tore out his beard, and dragged him pinioned, half naked and barefoot, in his night-dress, over ice and snow to the valley. he was then put into a carriage and carried into italy to the fortress of mantua. no one interceded in his behalf. napoleon sent orders by the paris telegraph to shoot him within four-and-twenty hours. he prepared cheerfully for death.[ ] on being led past the other tyrolese prisoners, they embraced his knees, weeping. he gave them his blessing. his executioners halted not far from the porta chiesa, where, placing himself opposite the twelve riflemen selected for the dreadful office, he refused either to allow himself to be blindfolded or to kneel. "i stand before my creator," he exclaimed with a firm voice, "and standing will i restore to him the spirit he gave!" he gave the signal to fire, but the men, it may be, too deeply moved by the scene, missed their aim. the first fire brought him on his knees, the second stretched him on the ground, and a corporal, advancing, terminated his misery by shooting him through the head, february , .--at a later period, when mantua again became austrian, the tyrolese bore his remains back to his native alps. a handsome monument of white marble was erected to his memory in the church at innsbruck; his family was ennobled. count alexander of wurtemberg has poetically described the restoration of his remains to the tyrol, for which he so nobly fought and died. "how was the gallant hunter's breast with mingled feelings torn, as slowly winding 'mid the alps, his hero's corpse was borne! "the ancient gletcher, glowing red, though cold their wonted mien, bright radiance shed o'er hofer's head, loud thundered the lavine!" haspinger, the brave capuchin, escaped unhurt to vienna, in which joseph speckbacher, the greatest hero of this war, also succeeded, after unheard-of suffering and peril.--the bavarians in pursuit of him searched the mountains in troops, and vowed to "cut his skin into boot-straps, if they caught him." speckbacher attempted to escape into austria, but was unable to go beyond dux, the roads being blocked up with snow. at dux, the bavarians came upon his trace, and attacking the house in which he had taken refuge, he escaped by leaping through the roof, but again wounded himself. during the ensuing twenty-seven days, he wandered about the snow-clad forests, exposed to the bitter cold and in danger of starvation. during four consecutive days he did not taste food. he at length found an asylum in a hut in a high and exposed situation at bolderberg, where he by chance fell in with his wife and children, who had also taken refuge there. the watchful bavarians pursued him even here, and he merely owed his escape to the presence of mind with which, taking a sledge upon his shoulders, he advanced toward them as if he had been the servant of the house. no longer safe in this retreat, he hid himself in a cave on the gemshaken, whence he was, in the beginning of spring, carried by a snow-ravine a mile and a half into the valley. he contrived to disengage himself from the snow, but one of his legs had been dislocated and rendered it impossible for him to regain his cave. suffering unspeakable anguish, he crept to the nearest hut, where he found two men, who carried him to his own house at rinn, whither his wife had returned. but bavarians were quartered in the house, and his only place of refuge was the cow-shed, where zoppel, his faithful servant, dug for him a hole beneath the bed of one of the cows, and daily brought him food. the danger of discovery was so great that his wife was not made acquainted with his arrival. he remained in this half-buried state for seven weeks, until rest had so far invigorated his frame as to enable him to escape across the high mountain passes, now freed by the may sun from the snow. he accordingly rose from his grave and bade adieu to his sorrowing wife. he reached vienna without encountering further mishap, but gained no thanks for his heroism. he was compelled to give up a small estate that he had purchased with the remains of his property, the purchase-money proving insufficient, and he must have been consigned to beggary, had not hofer's son, who had received a fine estate from the emperor, engaged him as his steward. [footnote : without any attempt being made on the part of the government to prepare the minds of the people by proper instruction, the children were taken away by force in order to be inoculated for the smallpox. the mothers, under an idea that their infants were being bewitched or poisoned, trembled with rage and fear, while the bavarian authorities and their servants mocked their dismay.] [footnote : hofer was, in , as the deputy of the passeyrthal, a member of the diet at innsbruck which so zealously opposed the reforms attempted by joseph ii.; he had fought, as captain of a rifle corps, against the french in , and, in , when bidding farewell to the archduke john on the enforced cession of the tyrol by austria to bavaria, had received a significant shake of the hand with an expressed hope of seeing him again in better times. hofer traded in wine, corn and horses, was well known and highly esteemed as far as the italian frontier. he had a herculean form and was remarkably good-looking. he wore a low-crowned, broad-brimmed black tyrolean hat, ornamented with green ribbons and the feathers of the capercalzie. his broad chest was covered with a red waistcoat, across which green braces, a hand in breadth, were fastened to black chamois-leather knee-breeches. his knees were bare, but his well-developed calves were covered with red stockings. a broad black leathern girdle clasped his muscular form. over all was thrown a short green coat without buttons. his long dark-brown beard, that fell in rich curls upon his chest, added dignity to his appearance. his full, broad countenance was expressive of good-humor and honesty. his small, penetrating eyes sparkled with vivacity.] [footnote : a youth of two-and-twenty, slight in person and extremely handsome, at that time a bridegroom, and inspired by the deepest hatred of the bavarians, by whose officers he had been personally insulted.] [footnote : the daughter of a tailor, named camper. as the balls flew around her, she shouted, "on with ye! who cares for bavarian dumplings!"] [footnote : the austrian general, marschall, who had been sent to guard the southern tyrol, was removed for declaring that he deemed it an insult for the military to make common cause with peasants and for complaining of his being compelled to sit down to table with hofer.] [footnote : proclamation of the emperor francis to the tyrolese: "willingly do i anticipate your wish to be regarded as the most faithful subjects of the austrian empire. never again shall the sad fate of being torn from my heart befall you."] [footnote : the count von stachelburg from meran, who fought as a volunteer among the peasantry, fell at that time. he was the last of his race.] [footnote : he was joined here by his son anderl, a child ten years of age, who collected the enemy's balls in his hat, and so obstinately refused to quit the field of battle that his father was compelled to have him carried by force to a distant alp.] [footnote : he paid a visit, in disguise, to the commandant within the fortress, extinguished a grenade with his hat, crept undiscovered into the fortress and spoiled the fire-engines, cut loose the ships moored beneath the walls, etc. joseph speckbacher of the innthal was an open-hearted, fine-spirited fellow, endowed with a giant's strength, and the best marksman in the country. his clear bright eye could, at the distance of half a mile, distinguish the bells on the necks of the cattle. in his youth, he was addicted to poaching, and being, on one occasion, when in the act of roasting a chamois, surprised by four bavarian jäger, he unhesitatingly dashed the melted fat of the animal into their faces, and, quick as lightning, dealt each of them a deathblow with the butt-end of his rifle.] [footnote : he cited the following names immortal in the tyrol: a. hofer, straub of hall, reider of botzen, bombardi, postmaster of salurn, morandel of kaltern, resz of fleims, tschöll of meran, frischmann of schlanders, senn, sheriff of nauders, fischer, actuary of landek, strehle, burgomaster of imbst, plawen, governor of reutti, major dietrich of lermos, aschenbacher, governor of the achenthal, sieberer of cuffstein, wintersteller of kisbüchl, kolb of lienz, count sarntheim, peer, counsellor to the court of appeal. count sarntheim was taken prisoner and carried into bavaria, together with the heroic baroness of sternbach, who, mounted on horseback and armed with pistols, accompanied the patriot force and aided in the command. she was seized in her castle of mühlan, imprisoned in a house of correction at munich, and afterward carried to strasburg, was deprived of the whole of her property, ignominiously treated, and threatened with death, but never lost courage.--_beda, water's tyrol._ wintersteller was a descendant of the brave host of the same name who, in , adorned his house, which was afterward occupied by wintersteller, with the trophies won from the bavarians.] [footnote : when incessantly pursued and ready to drop with fatigue, they found a cask of wine, and a drummer, knocking off its head, stooped down to drink, when he was pierced with a bullet, and his blood mingled with the liquor, which was, nevertheless, greedily swallowed by the famishing soldiery.--_jacob's campaign of the gotha-altenburgers._] [footnote : the tyrolese aimed at the windows and shot every one who looked out. as soon as the houses were, by this means, filled with the dead and wounded, they stormed them and took the survivors prisoner. two hundred and thirty men of weimar and coburg, commanded by major germar, defended themselves to the last; the house in which they were being at length completely surrounded and set on fire by the tyrolese, they surrendered. this spot was afterward known as the "_sachsenklemme_." seven hundred saxon prisoners escaped from their guards and took refuge on the _krimmer tauern_, where they were recaptured by the armed women and girls.] [footnote : bartholdy relates that lefebvre, disguised as a common soldier, mingled with the cavalry in order to escape the balls of the tyrolese sharpshooters. a man of passeyr is said to have captured a three-pounder and to have carried it on his shoulders across the mountain. the tyrolese would even carry their wounded enemies carefully on their shoulders to their villages. a count mohr greatly distinguished himself among the people of vintschgau. the spirit shown by an old man above eighty years of age, who, after shooting a number of the enemy from a rock on which he had posted himself, threw himself, exclaiming "juhhe! in god's name!" down the precipice, with a saxon soldier, by whom he had been seized, is worthy of record.] [footnote : von seebach, in his history of the ducal saxon regiment, graphically describes the flight. during the night time, all the mountains around the beautiful valley of innsbruck were lighted up with watch-fires. lefebvre ordered his to be kept brightly burning while his troops silently withdrew.] [footnote : he did not set himself above his equals and followed his former simple mode of life. the emperor of austria sent him a golden chain and three thousand ducats, the first money received by the tyrol from austria; but hofer's pride was not raised by this mark of favor, and the naivete of his reply on this occasion has often been a subject of ridicule: "sirs, i thank you. i have no news for you to-day. i have, it is true, three couriers on the road, the watscher-hiesele, the sixten-seppele, and the memmele-franz, and the schwanz ought long to have been here; i expect the rascal every hour." the honest fellow permitted no pillage, no disorderly conduct; he even guarded the public morals with such strictness as to publish the following orders against the half-naked mode, imported by the french, at that time followed by the women: "many of my good fellow-soldiers and defenders of their country have complained that the women of all ranks cover their bosoms and arms too little, or with transparent dresses, and by these means raise sinful desires highly displeasing to god and to all piously-disposed persons. it is hoped that they will, by better behavior, preserve themselves from the punishment of god, and, in case of the contrary, must solely blame themselves should they find themselves disagreeably covered. andre hofer, chief in command in the tyrol."] [footnote : during the pillage of the monastery of seeben by the french, a nun, in order to escape from their hands, cast herself from the summit of the rock into the valley.] [footnote : donay had devoted himself to the service of the church, but having committed a theft, had been refused ordination. napoleon rewarded him for his treachery with ordination and the appointment of chaplain in the _santa casa_ at loretto.] [footnote : four hours before his execution he wrote to his brother-in-law, pöhler, "my beloved, the hostess, is to have mass read for my soul at st. marin by the rosy-colored blood. she is to have prayers read in both parishes, and is to let the sub-landlord give my friends soup, meat, and half a bottle of wine each. the money i had with me i have distributed to the poor; as for the rest, settle my accounts with the people as justly as you can. all in the world adieu, until we all meet in heaven eternally to praise god. death appears to me so easy that my eyes have not once been wet on that account. written at five o'clock in the morning, and at nine o'clock i set off with the aid of all the saints on my journey to god."] cclviii. napoleon's supremacy napoleon had, during the great war in austria, during the intermediate time between the battles of aspern and wagram, caused the person of the pope, pius vii., to be seized, and had incorporated the state of the church with his italian kingdom. the venerable pope, whose energies were called forth by misfortune, astonished christendom by his bold opposition to the ruler over the destinies of europe, before whom he had formerly bent in humble submission, and for whose coronation he had condescended to visit paris in person. the reestablishment of catholicism in france by napoleon had rendered the pope deeply his debtor, but napoleon's attempt to deprive him of all temporal power, and to render him, as the first bishop of his realm, subordinate to himself, called forth a sturdy opposition. napoleon no sooner spoke the language of charlemagne than the pope responded in the words of gregory vii. and of innocent iv.: "time has produced no change in the authority of the pope; now as ever does the pope reign supreme over the emperors and kings of the earth." the diplomatic dispute was carried on for some time, owing to napoleon's expectation of the final compliance of the pope.[ ] but on his continued refusal to submit, the peril with which napoleon's italian possessions were threatened by the landing of a british force in italy and by the war with austria, induced him, first of all, to throw a garrison into ancona, and afterward to take possession of rome, and, as the pope still continued obstinate, finally to seize his person, to carry him off to france, and to annex the roman territory to his great empire. the anathema hurled by the pope upon napoleon's head had at least the effect of creating a warmer interest in behalf of the pontiff in the hearts of the catholic population and of increasing their secret antipathy toward his antagonist. in , napoleon annexed holland and east friesland "as alluvial lands" to france. his brother louis, who had vainly labored for the welfare of holland, selected a foreign residence and scornfully refused to accept the pension settled upon him by napoleon. the first act of the new sovereign of holland was the imposition of an income tax of fifty per cent. instruction in the french language was enforced in all the schools, and all public proclamations and documents were drawn up in both dutch and french.[ ] holland was formed into two departments, which were vexed by two prefects, the conte de celles and baron staffart, belgian renegades and blind tools of the french despot, and was, moreover, harassed by the tyrannical and cruel espionage, under duvillieres, duterrage, and marivaux, which, in , occasioned several ineffectual attempts to throw off the yoke.[ ] in , holland was also deprived of batavia, her sole remaining colony, by the british. lower saxony, as far as the baltic, the principalities of oldenburg, salm, and aremberg, the hanse towns, hamburg, bremen, and lubeck, were, together with a portion of the kingdom of westphalia, at the same time also incorporated by napoleon with france, under pretext of putting a stop to the contraband trade carried on on those coasts, more particularly from the island of heligoland. he openly aimed at converting the germans, and they certainly discovered little disinclination to the metamorphosis, into french. he pursued the same policy toward the italians, and, had he continued to reign, would have followed a similar system toward the poles. the subjection of the whole of italy, germany, and poland lay within his power, but, to the nations inhabiting those countries he must, notwithstanding their incorporation with his universal empire, have guaranteed the maintenance of their integrity, a point he had resolved at all hazards not to concede. he, consequently, preferred dividing these nations and allowing one-half to be governed by princes inimical to him, but whose power he despised. his sole dread was patriotism, the popular love of liberty. had he placed himself, as was possible in , on the imperial throne of germany, the consequent unity of that empire must, even under foreign sway, have endangered the ruler: he preferred gradually to gallicize germany as she had been formerly romanized by her ancient conquerors. his intention to sever the rhenish provinces and lower saxony entirely from germany was clear as day. they received french laws, french governors, no german book was allowed to cross their frontiers without previous permission from the police, and in each department but one newspaper, and that subject to the revision of the prefect, was allowed to be published.--in hamburg, one baumhauer was arrested for an anti-gallic expression and thrown into the subterranean dungeons of magdeburg, where he pined to death. the same tyranny was exercised even on the german territory belonging to the rhenish confederation. becker, privy-councillor of the duke of gotha, was transported beyond the seas for having published a pamphlet against france. several authors were compelled to retire into sweden and russia; several booksellers were arrested, numerous books were confiscated. not the most trifling publication was permitted within the rhenish confederated states that even remotely opposed the interests of france. the whole of the princes of the rhenish confederation were, consequently, under the _surveillance_ of french censors and of the literary spies of germany in the pay of france. hormayr's archives contain a pamphlet well worthy of perusal, in which an account is given of all the arrests and persecutions that took place on account of matters connected with the press.--madame de staël was exiled for having spoken favorably of the german character in her work "de l'allemagne," and the work itself was suppressed; napoleon, on giving these orders, merely said, "ce livre n'est pas français," his treatment of switzerland was equally unindulgent. the valais, which, although not forming part of switzerland, still retained a sort of nominal independence, was formally incorporated with france; the canton of tessin was, as arbitrarily, occupied by french troops, an immense quantity of british goods was confiscated, the press was placed under the strictest censorship, the _erzähler_ of muller- friedeberg, the only remaining swiss newspaper of liberal tendency, was suppressed, while zschokke unweariedly lauded napoleon to the skies as the regenerator of the liberties of switzerland and as the savior of the world. a humble entreaty of the swiss for mercy was scornfully refused by napoleon. instead of listening to their complaints, he reproached their envoys, who were headed by reinhard of zurich, in the most violent terms, charged the swiss with conspiracy, and said that a certain sydler had ventured to speak against him in the federal diet, etc.; nor could his assumed anger be pacified save by the instant dissolution of the federal diet, by the extension of the levy of swiss recruits for the service of france, and by the threat of a terrible punishment to all swiss who ventured to enter the service of england and spain. the swiss merely bound their chains still closer without receiving the slightest alleviation to their sufferings. reinhard wrote in , the time of this ill-successful attempt on the part of the swiss, "a petty nation possesses no means of procuring justice." why then did the great german nation sever itself into so many petty tribes? the marriage of napoleon on the d of april, , with maria louisa, the daughter of the emperor of austria, surrounded his throne with additional splendor. this marriage had a double object; that of raising an heir to his broad empire, his first wife, josephine beauharnais, whom he divorced, having brought him no children, and that of legitimating his authority and of obliterating the stain of low birth by intermingling his blood with that of the ancient race of habsburg. strange as it must appear for the child of revolution to deny the very principles to which he owed his being and to embrace the aristocratic ideas of a bygone age, for the proud conqueror of all the sovereigns of europe anxiously to solicit their recognition of him as their equal in birth, these apparent contradictions are easily explained by the fact that men of liberal ideas were the objects of napoleon's greatest dread and hatred, and that he was consequently driven to favor the ancient aristocracy, as he had formerly favored the ancient church, and to use them as his tools. young and rising nations, not the ancient families of europe, threatened his power, and he therefore sought to confirm it by an alliance against the former with the ancient dynasties.[ ] the nuptials were solemnized with extraordinary pomp at paris. the conflagration of the austrian ambassador's, prince von schwarzenberg's, house during a splendid fete given by him to the newly-wedded pair, and which caused the death of several persons, among others, of the princess pauline schwarzenberg, the ambassador's sister-in-law, who rushed into the flaming building to her daughter's rescue, clouded the festivities with ominous gloom. in the ensuing year, , the youthful empress gave birth to a prince, napoleon francis, who was laid in a silver cradle, and provisionally entitled "king of rome," in notification of his future destiny to succeed his father on the throne of the roman empire.[ ] austria offered a melancholy contrast to the magnificence of france. exhausted by her continual exertions for the maintenance of the war, the state could no longer meet its obligations, and, on the th of march, , count wallis, the minister of finance, lowered the value of one thousand and sixty millions of bank paper to two hundred and twelve millions, and the interest upon the whole of the state debts to half the new paper issue. this fearful state bankruptcy was accompanied by the fall of innumerable private firms; trade was completely at a standstill, and the contributions demanded by napoleon amounted to a sum almost impossible to realize. prussia, especially, suffered from the drain upon her resources. the beautiful and high-souled queen, louisa, destined not to see the day of vengeance and of victory, died, in , of a broken heart.[ ] while germany lay thus exhausted and bleeding in her chains, napoleon and alexander put the plans, agreed to between them at erfurt, into execution. napoleon threw himself with redoubled violence on luckless spain, and the russians invaded sweden. the germans acted a prominent part in the bloody wars in the peninsula. four swiss regiments, that had at an earlier period been in the spanish service, and the german legion, composed of hanoverian refugees to england, upheld the spanish cause, while all sorts of troops of the rhenish confederation, those of bavaria and wurtemberg excepted, several dutch and four swiss regiments, fought for napoleon. the troops of the rhenish confederation formed two corps. the fate of one of them has been described by captain rigel of baden. the baden regiment was, in , sent to biscay and united under lefebvre with other contingents of the rhenish confederation, for instance, with the nassauers under the gallant von schäfer, the dutch under general chasse, the hessians, the primates (frankforters), and poles. as early as october, they fought against the spaniards at zornoza, and at the pillage of portugalete first became acquainted with the barbarous customs of this terrible civil war. the most implacable hatred, merciless rage, the assassination of prisoners, plunder, destruction, and incendiarism, equally distinguished both sides. the germans garrisoned bilboa, gained some successes at molinar and valmaseda, were afterward placed under the command of general victor, who arrived with a fresh army, were again victorious at espinosa and burgos, formed a junction with soult and finally with napoleon, and, in december, , entered madrid in triumph.--in january, , the german troops under victor again advanced upon the tagus, and, after a desperate conflict, took the celebrated bridge of almaraz by storm. this was followed by the horrid sacking of the little town of arenas, during which a nassauer named hornung, not only, like a second scipio, generously released a beautiful girl who had fallen into his hands, but sword in hand defended her from his fellow-soldiers. in the following march, the germans were again brought into action, at mesa de ibor, where schäfer's nassauers drove the enemy from their position, under a fearful fire, which cut down three hundred of their number; and at medelin, where they were again victorious and massacred numbers of the armed spanish peasantry. four hundred prisoners were, after the battle, shot by order of marshal victor. among the wounded on the field of battle there lay, side by side, preusser, the nassauer, and a spanish corporal, both of whom had severely suffered. a dispute arose between them, in the midst of which they discovered that they were brothers. one had entered the french, the other the spanish service.--a dutch battalion under storm de grave, abandoned at merida to the vengeance of the enraged people, was furiously assailed, but made a gallant defence and fought its way through the enemy. in the commencement of , napoleon had again quitted spain in order to conduct the war on the danube in person. his marshals, left by him in different parts of the peninsula, took saragossa, drove the british under sir john moore out of the country, and penetrated into portugal, but were ere long again attacked by a fresh english army under the duke of wellington. this rendered the junction of the german troops with the main body of the french army necessary, and they consequently shared in the defeats of talavera and almoncid. their losses, more particularly in the latter engagement, were very considerable, amounting in all to two thousand six hundred men; among others, general porbeck of baden, an officer of noted talent, fell: five hundred of their wounded were butchered after the battle by the infuriated spaniards. but wellington suddenly stopped short in his victorious career. it was in december, , when the news of the fresh peace concluded by napoleon with austria arrived. on the spaniards hazarding a fresh engagement, wellington left them totally unassisted, and, on the th of november, they suffered a dreadful defeat at ocasia, where they lost twenty-five thousand men. the rhenish confederated troops were, in reward for the gallantry displayed by them on this occasion, charged with the transport of the prisoners into france, and were exposed to the whole rigor of the climate and to every sort of deprivation while the french withdrew into winter quarters. the fatigues of this service greatly thinned their ranks. the other german regiments were sent into the sierra morena, where they were kept ever on the alert guarding that key to spain, while the french under soult advanced as far as cadiz, those under massena into portugal; but soult being unable to take cadiz, and massena being forced by the duke of wellington to retire, the german troops were also driven from their position, and, in , withdrew to valencia, but, in the october of the same year, again advanced with soult upon madrid. the second corps of the rhenish confederated troops was stationed in catalonia, where they were fully occupied. their fate has been described by two saxon officers, jacobs and von seebach. in the commencement of , reding the swiss, who had, in , chiefly contributed to the capture of the french army at baylen, commanded the whole of the spanish forces in catalonia, consisting of forty thousand spaniards and several thousand swiss; but these guerilla troops, almost invincible in petty warfare, were totally unable to stand in open battle against the veterans of the french emperor, and reding was completely routed by st. cyr at taragona. in st. cyr's army were eight thousand westphalians under general morio, three thousand berglanders, fifteen hundred wurzburgers, from eight to nine hundred men of schwarzburg, lippe, waldeck, and reuss, all of whom were employed in the wearisome siege of gerona, which was defended by don alvarez, one of spain's greatest heroes. the popular enthusiasm was so intense that even the women took up arms (in the company of st. barbara) and aided in the defence of the walls. the germans, ever destined to head the assault, suffered immense losses on each attempt to carry the place by storm. in one attack alone, on the d of july, in which they met with a severe repulse, they lost two thousand of their men. their demand of a truce for the purpose of carrying their wounded off the field of battle was answered by a spaniard, colonel blas das furnas, "a quarter of an hour hence not one of them will be alive!" and the whole of the wounded men were, in fact, murdered in cold blood by the spaniards. during a second assault on the th of september, sixteen hundred of their number and the gallant colonel neuff, an alsatian, who had served in egypt, fell. gerona was finally driven by famine to capitulate, after a sacrifice of twelve thousand men, principally germans, before her walls. of the eight thousand westphalians but one battalion remained. st. cyr was, in , replaced by marshal augereau, but the troops were few in number and worn out with fatigue; a large convoy was lost in an unlucky engagement, in which numbers of the germans deserted to the spanish, and augereau retired to barcelona, the metropolis of catalonia, in order to await the arrival of reinforcements, among which was a nassau regiment, one of anhalt, and the identical saxon corps that had so dreadfully suffered in the tyrol.[ ] the saxon and nassau troops, two thousand two hundred strong, under the command of general schwarz, an alsatian, advanced from barcelona toward the celebrated mountain of montserrat, whose hermitages, piled up one above another _en amphitheatre_, excite the traveller's wonder. close in its vicinity lay the city of manresa, the focus of the catalonian insurrection. the german troops advanced in close column, although surrounded by infuriated multitudes, by whom every straggler was mercilessly butchered. the two regiments, nevertheless, succeeded in making themselves masters of manresa, where they were instantly shut in, furiously assailed, and threatened with momentary destruction. the anhalt troops and a french corps, despatched by augereau to their relief, were repulsed with considerable loss. schwarz now boldly sallied forth, fought his way through the spaniards, and, after losing a thousand men, succeeded in reaching barcelona, but was shortly afterward, after assisting at the taking of hostalrich, surprised at la bisbal and taken prisoner with almost all the saxon troops. the few that remained fell victims to disease.[ ] the fate of the prisoners was indeed melancholy. several thousand of them died on the balearic islands, chiefly on the island of cabrera, where, naked and houseless, they dug for themselves holes in the sand and died in great numbers of starvation. they often also fell victims to the fury of the inhabitants. the swiss engaged in the spanish service, sometimes saved their lives at the hazard of their own. opposed to them was the german legion, composed of the brave hanoverians, who had preferred exile in britain to submission to jerome, and had been sent in british men-of-war to portugal, whence they had, in conjunction with the troops of england and spain, penetrated, in , into the interior of spain.[ ] at benavente, they made a furious charge upon the french and took their long-delayed revenge. linsingen's cavalry cut down all before them; arms were severed at a blow, heads were split in two; one head was found cut in two across from one ear to the other. a young hanoverian soldier took general lefebvre prisoner, but allowed himself to be deprived of his valuable captive by an englishman.--the hanoverians served first under sir john moore. on the death of that commander at corunna, the troops under his command returned to england: a ship of the line, with two hanoverian battalions on board, was lost during the passage. the german legion afterward served under the duke of wellington, and shared the dangers and the glory of the war in the peninsula. "the admirable accuracy and rapidity of the german artillery under major hartmann greatly contributed to the victory of talavera, and received the personal encomiums of the duke." langwerth's brigade gained equal glory. the german legion was, however, never in full force in spain. a division was, in , sent to the island of walcheren, but shared the ill-success attending all the attempts made in the north sea during napoleon's reign. the conquest and demolition of vliessingen in august was the only result. a pestilence broke out among the troops, and, on napoleon's successes in austria, it was compelled to return to england. a third division, consisting of several hanoverian regiments, was sent to sicily, accompanied the expedition to naples in , and afterward guarded the rocks of sicily. the hanoverians in spain were also separated into various divisions, each of which gained great distinction, more particularly so, the corps of general alten in the storming of ciudad-rodrigo. in , the hanoverian cavalry broke three french squares at garcia hernandez. the russians had, meanwhile, invaded sweden. gustavus adolphus, hitherto russia's firmest ally, was suddenly and treacherously attacked. general buxhovden overran finland, inciting the people, as he advanced, to revolt against their lawful sovereign. but the brave finlanders stoutly resisted the attempted imposition of the yoke of the barbarous russ, and, although ill-supported by sweden, performed prodigies of valor. gustavus adolphus was devoid of military knowledge, and watched, as if sunk in torpor, the ill-planned operations of his generals. while the flower of the swedish troops was uselessly employed against denmark and norway, finland was allowed to fall into the grasp of russia.[ ] the russians were already expected to land in sweden, when a conspiracy broke out among the nobility and officers of the army, which terminated in the seizure of the king's person and his deposition, march, . his son, gustavus vasa, the present ex-king of sweden, was excluded from the succession, and his uncle charles, the imbecile and unworthy duke of sudermania,[ ] was proclaimed king under the title of charles xiii. he was put up as a scarecrow by the conspirators. gustavus adolphus iv. had, at all events, shown himself incapable of saving sweden. but the conspirators were no patriots, nor was their object the preservation of their country; they were merely bribed traitors, weak and incapable as the monarch they had dethroned. they were composed of a party among the ancient nobility, impatient of the restrictions of a monarchy, and of the younger officers in the army, who were filled with enthusiasm for napoleon. the rejoicings on the occasion of the abdication of gustavus adolphus were heightened by the news of the victory gained by napoleon at ratisbon, which, at the same time, reached stockholm. the new and wretched swedish government instantly deferred everything to napoleon and humbly solicited his favor; but napoleon, to whom the friendship of russia was, at that time, of higher importance than the submission of a handful of intriguants in sweden, received their homage with marked coldness. finland, shamefully abandoned in her hour of need, was immediately ceded to russia, in consideration of which, napoleon graciously restored rugen and swedish-pomerania to sweden. charles xiii. adopted, as his son and successor, christian augustus, prince of holstein-augustenburg, who, falling dead off his horse at a review,[ ] the aged and childless monarch was compelled to make a second choice, which fell upon the french general, bernadotte, who had, at one time, been a furious jacobin and had afterward acted as napoleon's general and commandant in swedish-pomerania, where he had, by his mildness, gained great popularity. the majority in sweden deemed him merely a creature of napoleon, whose favor they hoped to gain by this flattering choice; others, it may be, already beheld in him napoleon's future foe, and knew the value of the sagacity and wisdom with which he was endowed, and of which the want was so deeply felt in sweden at a period when intrigue and cunning had succeeded to violence. the freemasons, with whom he had placed himself in close communication, appear to have greatly influenced his election.[ ] the unfortunate king, gustavus adolphus, after being long kept a close prisoner in the castle of gripsholm, where his strong religious bias had been strengthened by apparitions,[ ] was permitted to retire into germany; he disdainfully refused to accept of a pension, separated himself from his consort, a princess of baden, and lived in proud poverty, under the name of colonel gustavson, in switzerland.-- bernadotte, the newly adopted prince, took the title of charles john, crown prince of sweden. napoleon, who was in ignorance of this intrigue, was taken by surprise, but, in the hope of bernadotte's continued fidelity, presented him with a million _en cadeau_; bernadotte had, however, been long jealous of napoleon's fortune, and, solely intent upon gaining the hearts of his future subjects, deceived him and secretly permitted the british to trade with sweden, although publicly a party in the continental system. this system was at this period enforced with exaggerated severity by napoleon. he not only prohibited the importation of all british goods, but seized all already sent to the continent and condemned them to be publicly burned. millions evaporated in smoke, principally at amsterdam, hamburg, frankfort, and leipzig. the wealthiest mercantile establishments were made bankrupt. in addition to the other blows at that time zealously bestowed upon the dead german lion, the king of denmark attempted to extirpate the german language in schleswig, but the edict to that effect, published on the th of january, , was frustrated by the courage of the clergy, schoolmasters, and peasantry, who obstinately refused to learn danish.[ ] [footnote : the pope, among other things, long refused his consent to the second marriage of the king of westphalia, although that prince's first wife was merely a protestant and an american citizen.] [footnote : bilderdyk, whom the dutch consider as their greatest poet, was, nevertheless, at that time, napoleon's basest flatterer, and ever expressed a hypochondriacal and senseless antipathy to germany.] [footnote : at amsterdam, in ; in the district around leyden, in . insurrections of a similar character were suppressed in april, , in the country around liege; in december, , at aix-la- chapelle; the east frieslanders also rebelled against the conscription.] [footnote : it was during this year that napoleon caused the seamless coat of the saviour, which had, during the revolution, taken refuge at augsburg, to be borne in a magnificent procession to treves and to be exposed for eighteen days to public view. the pilgrims amounted to two hundred and fifty thousand.--hormayr, who had, during the foregoing year, summoned the tyrolese to arms against napoleon, said in his annual for , "by the marriage of the emperor napoleon with maria louisa, the revolution may be considered as completely terminated and peace durably settled throughout europe."] [footnote : his birth was celebrated by numerous german poets and by general public rejoicings, but with the basest adulation in switzerland. meyer of knonau relates, in his history of switzerland, that the king of rome was at one of the festivals termed "the blessed infant." goethe's poem in praise of napoleon appeared at this time. the clergy also emulated each other in servility.] [footnote : at that time the noble-hearted poet, seume, who had formerly been a victim of native tyranny, died of sorrow and disgust at the rule of the foreigner in germany, at toeplitz, .] [footnote : this regiment was merely rewarded by napoleon for its gallantry with gros ( s. - / d.) per man, in order to drink to his health on his birthday.--_von seebach_.] [footnote : what the feeling among the germans was is plainly shown by the charge against general beurmann for general ill-treatment of his countrymen, whom he was accused of having allowed to perish in the hospitals, in order to save the expense of their return home. out of seventy officers and two thousand four hundred and twenty-three privates belonging to the saxon regiment, but thirty-nine officers and three hundred and nineteen privates returned to their native country. vide jacob's campaigns of the gotha-altenburgers and von seebach's history of the campaigns of the saxony infantry. von seebach, who was taken prisoner on his return from manresa, has given a particularly detailed and graphic account of the campaign.] [footnote : beamish has recounted their exploits in detail. the "recollections of a legionary," hanover, , is also worthy of perusal.] [footnote : the gallant acts of the finlanders and the brutality of the russians are brought forward in arndt's "swedish histories."] [footnote : when regent, on the death of gustavus iii., he had spared his murderers and released those criminated in the conspiracy. on the present occasion, he yielded in everything to the aristocracy, and voted for the dethronement of his own house, which, as he had no children, infallibly ensued on the exclusion of the youthful gustavus.] [footnote : an extremely suspicious accident, which gave rise to many reports.] [footnote : vide posselt's sixth annual.] [footnote : this castle was haunted by the ghost of king eric xiv., who had long pined here in close imprisonment, and who had once before, during a sumptuous entertainment given by gustavus adolphus iv. to his brother-in-law, the margrave of baden, struck the whole court with terror by his shrieks and groans.] [footnote : wimpfen, history of schleswig.] cclix. the russian campaign an enormous comet that, during the whole of the hot summer of , hung threatening in the heavens, appeared as the harbinger of great and important vicissitudes to the enslaved inhabitants of the earth, and it was in truth by an act of divine providence that a dispute arose between the two giant powers intent upon the partition of europe. napoleon was over-reached by russia, whose avarice, far from being glutted by the possession of finland, great part of prussian and austrian poland, moldavia, and wallachia, still craved for more, and who built her hopes of napoleon's compliance with her demands on his value for her friendship. belgrade was seized, servia demanded, and the whole of turkey in europe openly grasped at. napoleon was, however, little inclined to cede the mediterranean to his russian ally, to whose empire he gave the danube as a boundary. russia next demanded possession of the duchy of warsaw, which was refused by napoleon. the austrian marriage was meanwhile concluded. napoleon, prior to his demand for the hand of the archduchess maria louisa, had sued for that of the grandduchess anna, sister to the emperor alexander, who was then in her sixteenth year, but, being refused by her mother, the empress maria, a princess of wurtemberg, and alexander delaying a decisive answer, he formed an alliance with the habsburg. this event naturally led russia to conclude that she would no longer be permitted to aggrandize herself at the expense of austria, and alexander consequently assumed a threatening posture and condescended to listen to the complaints, hitherto condemned to silence, of the agricultural and mercantile classes. no russian vessel durst venture out to sea, and a russian fleet had been seized by the british in the harbors of lisbon. at riga lay immense stores of grain in want of a foreign market. on the st of december, , alexander published a fresh tariff permitting the importation of colonial products under a neutral flag (several hundred english ships arrived under the american flag), and prohibiting the importation of french manufactured goods. not many weeks previously, on the th of december, napoleon had annexed oldenburg to france. the duke, peter, was nearly related to the emperor of russia, and napoleon, notwithstanding his declared readiness to grant a compensation, refused to allow it to consist of the grandduchy of warsaw, and proposed a duchy of erfurt, as yet uncreated, which russia scornfully rejected. the alliance between russia, sweden, and england was now speedily concluded. sweden, who had vainly demanded from napoleon the possession of norway and a large supply of money, assumed a tone of indignation, threw open her harbors to the british merchantmen, and so openly carried on a contraband trade in pomerania that napoleon, in order to maintain the continental system, was constrained to garrison swedish-pomerania and rugen, and to disarm the swedish inhabitants. bernadotte, upon this, ranged himself entirely on the side of his opponents, without, however, coming to an open rupture, for which he awaited a declaration on the part of russia. the expressions made use of by napoleon on the birth of the king of rome at length filled up the measure of provocation. intoxicated with success, he boasted, in an address to the mercantile classes, that he would in despite of russia maintain the continental system, for he was lord over the whole of continental europe; that if alexander had not concluded a treaty with him at tilsit he would have compelled him to do so at petersburg.--the pride of the haughty russian was deeply wounded, and a rupture was nigh at hand. two secret systems were at this period undermining each other in prussia, that of the _tugendbund_ founded by stein and scharnhorst, whose object being the liberation of germany at all hazards from the yoke of napoleon, consequently, favored russia, and that of hardenberg, which aimed at a close union with france. hardenberg, whose position as chancellor of state gave him the upper hand, had compromised prussia by the servility with which he sued for an alliance long scornfully refused and at length conceded on the most humiliating terms by napoleon.[ ] russia had, meanwhile, made preparations for a war unanticipated by napoleon. as early as , a great russian army stood ready for the invasion of poland, and might, as there were at that time but few french troops in germany, easily have advanced as far as the elbe. it remained, nevertheless, in a state of inactivity.[ ] napoleon instantly prepared for war and fortified dantzig. his continual proposals of peace, ever unsatisfactory to the ambition of the czar, remaining at length unanswered, he declared war. the rhenish confederation followed as usual in his train, and austria, from an interested motive, the hope of regaining in the east by napoleon's assistance all she had lost by opposing him in the west, or that of regaining her station as the third european power when the resources of the two ruling powers, whose coalition had threatened her existence, had been exhausted by war. prussia also followed the eagles of napoleon: the hardenberg party, with a view of conciliating him, and, like the rhenish confederation, from motives of gain: the _tugendbund_, which predominated in the army, with silent but implacable hate. in the spring of , napoleon, after leaving a sufficient force to prosecute the war with activity in spain and to guard france, italy, and germany,[ ] led half a million men to the russian frontiers. before taking the field, he convoked all the princes of germany to dresden, where he treated them with such extreme insolence as even to revolt his most favored and warmest partisans. tears were seen to start in ladies' eyes, while men bit their lips with rage at the petty humiliations and affronts heaped on them by their powerful but momentary lord. the empress of austria[ ] and the king of prussia[ ] appear, on this occasion, to have felt this most acutely. for the first time--an event unknown in the history of the world--the whole of germany was reduced to submission. napoleon, greater than conquering attila, who took the field at the head of one-half of germany against the other, dragged the whole of germany in his train. the army led by him to the steppes of russia was principally composed of german troops, who were so skilfully mixed up with the french as not to be themselves aware of their numerical superiority. the right wing, composed of thirty thousand austrians under schwarzenberg, was destined for the invasion of volhynia; while the left wing, consisting of twenty thousand prussians under york and several thousand french, under the command of marshal macdonald, was ordered to advance upon the coasts of the baltic and without loss of time to besiege riga. the centre or main body consisted of the troops of the rhenish confederation, more or less mixed up with french; of thirty-eight thousand bavarians under wrede and commanded by st. cyr; of sixteen thousand wurtembergers under scheeler, over whom marshal ney was allotted the chief command; single regiments, principally cavalry, were drawn off in order more thoroughly to intermix the germans with the french; of seventeen thousand saxons under reynier; of eighteen thousand westphalians under vandamme; also of hessians, badeners, frankforters, wurzburgers, nassauers, in short, of contingents furnished by each of the confederated states. the swiss were mostly concentrated under oudinot. the dutch, hanseatic, flemish, in fine, all the germans on the left bank of the rhine, were at that time crammed among the french troops. upward of two hundred thousand germans, at the lowest computation, marched against russia, a number far superior to that of the french in the army, the remainder of which was made up by several thousand italians, portuguese, and spaniards, who had been pressed into the service.[ ] the prussians found themselves in the most degraded position. their army, weak as it was in numbers, was placed under the command of a french general. the prussian fortresses, with the exception of colberg, graudenz, schweidnitz, neisse, and glatz, were already garrisoned with french troops, or, like pillau near koenigsberg, newly occupied by them. in berlin, the french had unlimited sway. marshal augereau was stationed with sixty thousand men in northern germany for the purpose of keeping that part of the country, and more particularly prussia, in check to napoleon's rear; the danish forces also stood in readiness to support him in case of necessity. napoleon's entire army moreover marched through prussia and completely drained that country of its last resources. napoleon deemed it unnecessary to take measures equal in severity toward austria, where the favor of the court seemed to be secured by his marriage, and the allegiance of the army by the presence of schwarzenberg, who neither rejected nor returned his confidence. a rich compensation was, by a secret compact, secured to austria in case the cession of galicia should be necessitated by the expected restoration of the kingdom of poland, with which napoleon had long flattered the poles, who, misled by his promises, served him with the greatest enthusiasm. but, notwithstanding the removal of the only obstacle, the jealousy of austria in regard to galicia, by this secret compact, his promises remained unfulfilled, and he took possession of the whole of poland without restoring her ancient independence. the petitions addressed to him on this subject by the poles received dubious replies, and he pursued toward his unfortunate dupes his ancient system of dismembering and intermingling nations, of tolerating no national unity. napoleon's principal motive, however, was his expectation of compelling the emperor by a well-aimed blow to conclude peace, and of forming with him an alliance upon still more favorable terms against the rest of the european powers. the friendship of russia was of far more import to him than all the enthusiasm of the poles. the deep conviction harbored by napoleon of his irresistible power led him to repay every service and to regard every antagonist with contempt. confident of victory, he deviated from the strict military discipline he had at one time enforced and of which he had given an example in his own person, dragged in his train a multitude of useless attendants fitted but for pomp and luxury, permitted his marshals and generals to do the same, and an incredible number of private carriages, servants, women, etc., to follow in the rear of the army, to hamper its movements, create confusion, and aid in consuming the army stores, which being, moreover, merely provided for a short campaign, speedily became insufficient for the maintenance of the enormous mass. even in eastern prussia, numbers of the soldiery were constrained by want to plunder the villages.--on the th of june, , napoleon crossed the niemen, the russian frontier, not far from kowno. the season was already too far advanced. it may be that, deceived by the mildness of the winter of to , he imagined it possible to protract the campaign without peril to himself until the winter months. no enemy appeared to oppose his progress. barclay de tolly,[ ] the russian commander-in-chief, pursued the system followed by the scythians against darius, and, perpetually retiring before the enemy, gradually drew him deep into the dreary and deserted steppes. this plan originated with scharnhorst, by whom general lieven was advised not to hazard an engagement until the winter, and to turn a deaf ear to every proposal of peace.[ ] general lieven, on reaching barclay's headquarters, took colonel toll, a german, barclay's right hand, and lieutenant-colonel clausewitz, also a german, afterward noted for his strategical works, into his confidence. general pfull, another german, at that time high in the emperor's confidence, and almost all the russian generals opposed scharnhorst's plan and continued to advance with a view of giving battle; but, on napoleon's appearance at the head of an army greatly their superior in number before the russians had been able to concentrate their forces, they were naturally compelled to retire before him, and, on the prevention, for some weeks, of the junction of a newly-levied russian army under prince bragation with the forces under barclay, owing to the rapidity of napoleon's advance, scharnhorst's plan was adopted as the only one feasible. napoleon, in the hope of overtaking the russians and of compelling them to give battle, pushed onward by forced marches; the supplies were unable to follow, and numbers of the men and horses sank from exhaustion owing to over-fatigue, heat, and hunger.[ ] on the arrival of napoleon in witebst, of schwarzenberg in volhynia, of the prussians before riga, the army might have halted, reconquered poland have been organized, the men put into winter quarters, the army have again taken the field early in the spring, and the conquest of russia have been slowly but surely completed. but napoleon had resolved upon terminating the war in one rapid campaign, upon defeating the russians, seizing their metropolis, and dictating terms of peace, and incessantly pursued his retreating opponent, whose footsteps were marked by the flames of the cities and villages and by the devastated country to their rear. the first serious opposition was made at smolensko,[ ] whence the russians, however, speedily retreated after setting the city on fire. on the same day, the bavarians, who had diverged to one side during their advance, had a furious encounter--in which general deroy, formerly distinguished for his services in the tyrol, was killed--at poloczk with a body of russian troops under wittgenstein. the bavarians remained stationary in this part of the country for the purpose of watching the movements of that general, while napoleon, careless of the peril with which he was threatened by the approach of winter and by the multitude of enemies gathering to his rear, advanced with the main body of the grand army from smolensko across the wasted country upon moscow, the ancient metropolis of the russian empire. russia, at that time engaged in a war with turkey, whose frontiers were watched by an immense army under kutusow, used her utmost efforts, in which she was aided by england, to conciliate the porte in order to turn the whole of her forces against napoleon. by a master-stroke of political intrigue,[ ] the porte, besides concluding peace at bucharest on the th of may, ceded the province of bessarabia (not moldavia and wallachia) to russia. a russian army under tschitschakow was now enabled to drive the austrians out of volhynia, while a considerable force under kutusow joined barclay. had the russians at this time hazarded an engagement, their defeat was certain. moscow could not have been saved. barclay consequently resolved not to come to an engagement, but to husband his forces and to attack the french during the winter. the intended surrender of moscow without a blow was, nevertheless, deeply resented as a national disgrace; the army and the people[ ] raised a clamor, the venerable kutusow was nominated commander-in-chief, and, taking up a position on the little river moskwa near borodino, about two days' journey from moscow, a bloody engagement took place there on the th of september, in which napoleon, in order to spare his guards, neglected to follow up his advantage with his usual energy and allowed the defeated russians, whom he might have totally annihilated, to escape. napoleon triumphed; but at what a price! after a fearful struggle, in which he lost forty thousand men in killed and wounded,[ ] the latter of whom perished almost to a man, owing to want and neglect.[ ] moscow was now both defenceless and void of inhabitants. napoleon traversed this enormous city, containing two hundred and ninety-five churches and fifteen hundred palaces rising from amid a sea of inferior dwellings, and took possession of the residence of the czars, the th of november, . the whole city was, however, deserted, and scarcely had the french army taken up its quarters in it than flames burst from the empty and closely shut-up houses, and, ere long, the whole of the immense city became a sea of fire and was reduced, before napoleon's eyes, to ashes. every attempt to extinguish the flames proved unavailing. rostopchin, the commandant of moscow, had, previously to his retreat, put combustible materials, which were ignited on the entrance of the french by men secreted for that purpose, into the houses.[ ] a violent wind aided the work of destruction. the patriotic sacrifice was performed, nor failed in its object. napoleon, instead of peace and plenty, merely found ashes in moscow. instead of pursuing the defeated russians to kaluga, where, in pursuance of toll's first laid-down plan, they took up a position close upon the flank of the french and threatened to impede their retreat; instead of taking up his winter quarters in the fertile south or of quickly turning and fixing himself in lithuania in order to collect reinforcements for the ensuing year, napoleon remained in a state of inaction at moscow until the th of october, in expectation of proposals of peace from alexander. the terms of peace offered by him on his part to the russians did not even elicit a reply. his cavalry, already reduced to a great state of exhaustion, were, in the beginning of october, surprised before the city of tarutino and repulsed with considerable loss. this at length decided napoleon upon marching upon kaluga, but the moment for success had already passed. the reinforced and inspirited russians made such a desperate resistance at malo-jaroslawez that he resolved to retire by the nearest route, that by which he had penetrated up the country, marked by ashes and pestilential corpses, into lithuania. winter had not yet set in, and his ranks were already thinned by famine.[ ] kutusow, with the main body of the russian army, pursued the retreating french and again overtook them at wiazma, the d november. napoleon's hopes now rested on the separate _corps d'armée_ left to his rear on his advance upon moscow, but they were, notwithstanding the defeat of wittgenstein's corps by the bavarians under wrede, kept in check by fresh russian armies and exposed to all the horrors of winter.[ ] in volhynia, schwarzenberg had zealously endeavored to spare his troops,[ ] and had, by his retreat toward the grandduchy of warsaw, left tschitschakow at liberty to turn his arms against napoleon, against whom wittgenstein also advanced in the design of blocking up his route, while kutusow incessantly assailed his flank and rear. on the th of november, the frost suddenly set in. the horses died by thousands in a single night; the greater part of the cavalry was consequently dismounted, and it was found necessary to abandon part of the booty and artillery. a deep snow shortly afterward fell and obstructed the path of the fugitive army. the frost became more and more rigorous; but few of the men had sufficient strength left to continue to carry their arms and to cover the flight of the rest. most of the soldiers threw away their arms and merely endeavored to preserve life. napoleon's grand army was scattered over the boundless snow-covered steppes, whose dreary monotony was solely broken by some desolate half-burned village. gaunt forms of famine, wan, hollow-eyed, wrapped in strange garments of misery, skins, women's clothes, etc., and with long-grown beards, dragged their faint and weary limbs along, fought for a dead horse whose flesh was greedily torn from the carcass, murdered each other for a morsel of bread, and fell one after the other in the deep snow, never again to rise. bones of frozen corpses lay each morn around the dead ashes of the night fires.[ ] numbers were seen to spring, with a horrid cry of mad exultation, into the flaming houses. numbers fell into the hands of the russian boors, who stripped them naked and chased them through the snow. smolensko was at length reached, but the loss of the greater part of the cannon, the want of ammunition and provisions, rendered their stay in that deserted and half-consumed city impossible. the flight was continued, the russians incessantly pursuing and harassing the worn-out troops, whose retreat was covered by ney with all the men still under arms. cut off at smolensko, he escaped almost by miracle, by creeping during the night along the banks of the dnieper and successively repulsing the several russian corps that threw themselves in his way.[ ] a thaw now took place, and the beresina, which it was necessary to cross, was full of drift-ice, its banks were slippery and impassable, and moreover commanded by tschitschakow's artillery, while the roar of cannon to the rear announced wittgenstein's approach. kutusow had this time failed to advance with sufficient rapidity, and napoleon, the river to his front and enclosed between the russian armies, owed his escape to the most extraordinary good luck. the _corps d'armée_ under oudinot and victor, that had been left behind on his advance upon moscow, came at the moment of need with fresh troops to his aid. tschitschakow quitted the bank at the spot where napoleon intended to make the passage of the beresina under an idea of the attempt being made at another point. napoleon instantly threw two bridges across the stream, and all the able-bodied men crossed in safety. at the moment when the bridges, that had several times given way, were choked up by the countless throng bringing up the rear, wittgenstein appeared and directed his heavy artillery upon the motionless and unarmed crowd. some regiments, forming the rearguard, fell, together with all still remaining on the other side of the river, into the hands of the russians. the fugitive army was, after this fearful day, relieved, but the temperature again fell to twenty-seven degrees below zero, and the stoutest hearts and frames sank. on the th of december, napoleon, placing himself in a sledge, hurried in advance of his army, nay, preceded the news of his disaster, in order at all events to insure his personal safety and to pass through germany before measures could be taken for his capture.[ ] his fugitive army shortly afterward reached wilna, but was too exhausted to maintain that position. enormous magazines, several prisoners, and the rest of the booty, besides six million francs in silver money, fell here into the hands of the russians. part of the fugitives escaped to dantzig, but few crossed the oder; the saxons under reynier were routed and dispersed in a last engagement at calisch; poniatowsky and the poles retired to cracow on the austrian frontier, as it were, protected by schwarzenberg, who remained unassailed by the russians, and whose neutrality was, not long afterward, formally recognized. the prussians, who had been, meanwhile, occupied with the unsuccessful siege of riga, and who, like the austrians, had comparatively husbanded their strength,[ ] were now the only hope of the fugitive french. the troops under macdonald, accordingly, received orders to cover the retreat of the grand army, but york, instead of obeying, concluded a neutral treaty with the russians commanded by diebitsch of silesia and remained stationary in eastern prussia. the king of prussia, at that time still at berlin and in the power of the french, publicly[ ] disapproved of the step taken by his general,[ ] who was, on the evacuation of berlin by the french, as publicly rewarded. the immense army of the conqueror of the world was totally annihilated. of those who entered moscow scarcely twenty thousand, of the half million of men who crossed the russian frontier but eighty thousand, returned. [footnote : vide bignon.] [footnote : from a letter of count minister in hormayr's sketches of life, it appears that russia still cherished the hope of great concessions being made by napoleon in order to avoid war and was therefore still reserved in her relations with england and the prussian patriots.] [footnote : french troops garrisoned german fortresses and perpetually passed along the principal roads, which were for that purpose essentially improved by napoleon. in , a great part of the town of eisenach was destroyed by the bursting of some french powder-carts that were carelessly brought through, and by which great numbers of people were killed.] [footnote : who was far surpassed in splendor by her stepdaughter of france.] [footnote : segur relates that he was received politely but with distant coolness by napoleon. there is said to have been question between them concerning the marriage of the crown prince of prussia with one of napoleon's nieces, and of an incorporation of the still unconquered russian provinces on the baltic, livonia, courland, and esthonia, with prussia. all was, however, empty show. napoleon hoped by the rapidity of his successes to constrain the emperor of russia to conclude not only peace, but a still closer alliance with france, in which case it was as far from his intention to concede the above-mentioned provinces to prussia as to emancipate the poles.] [footnote : napoleon said at that time to a russian, "si vous perdez cinq russes, ne perds qu un francais et quatre cochons."] [footnote : this general, on the opening of the war, published a proclamation to the germans, summoning them to throw off the yoke of napoleon.--_allgemeine zeitung, no. _. napoleon replied with, "whom are you addressing? there are no germans, there are only austrians, prussians, bavarians, etc."--_all. zeitung, no. ._] [footnote : vide clausewitz's works.] [footnote : at each encampment the men were left in such numbers in hastily erected hospitals that, of thirty-eight thousand bavarians, for instance, but ten thousand, of sixteen thousand würtembergers, but thirteen hundred, reached smolensko.] [footnote : the würtembergers distinguished themselves here by storming the faubourgs and the bridges across the dnieper.] [footnote : the greek prince, moruzi, who at that time conducted turkish diplomacy, accepted a bribe, and concluded peace in the expectation of becoming prince of moldavia and wallachia. sultan mahmud refusing to ratify this disgraceful treaty, gold was showered upon the turkish army, which suddenly dispersed, and the deserted sultan was compelled to yield. moruzi was deprived of his head, but the russians had gained their object. it must, moreover, be considered that napoleon was regarded with distrust by the porte, against which he had fought in egypt, which he had afterward enticed into a war with russia, and had, by the alliance formed at erfurt with that power, abandoned.] [footnote : colonel toll was insulted during the discussion by prince bragation for the firmness with which he upheld scharnhorst's plan, and avoided hazarding a useless engagement. prince bragation was killed in the battle.] [footnote : a russian redoubt, the key of the field of battle, was taken and again lost. a würtemberg regiment instantly pushed through the fugitive french, retook the redoubt and retained possession of it. it also, on this occasion, saved the life of the king of naples and delivered him out of the hands of the russians, who had already taken him prisoner.--_ten campaigns of the wurtembergers._] [footnote : everything was wanting, lint, linen, even necessary food. the wounded men lay for days and weeks under the open sky and fed upon the carcasses of horses.] [footnote : this combustible matter had been prepared by schmid, the dutchman, under pretext of preparing an enormous balloon from which fire was to be scattered upon the french army.] [footnote : as early as the d of november the remainder of the würtembergers tore off their colors and concealed them in their knapsacks.--_roos's memorabilia of ._] [footnote : on the th of october, the bavarians, who were intermixed with swiss, performed prodigies of valor, but were so reduced by sufferings of every description as to be unable to maintain poloczk. segur says in his history of the war that st. cyr left wrede's gallant conduct unmentioned in the military despatches, and that when, on st. cyr's being disabled by his wounds, wrede applied for the chief command, which naturally reverted to him, the army being almost entirely composed of bavarians, napoleon refused his request. völderndorf says in his bavarian campaigns that st. cyr faithlessly abandoned the bavarians in their utmost extremity, and when all peril was over returned to poland in order to retake the command. during the retreat from poloczk he had ordered the bridges to be pulled down, leaving on the other side a bavarian park of artillery with the army chest and two-and-twenty ensigns, which for better security had been packed upon a carriage. the whole of these trophies fell, owing to st. cyr's negligence or ill-will, into the hands of the russians. "the bavarians with difficulty concealed their antipathy toward the french." on st. cyr's flight, wrede kept the remainder of the bavarians together, covered napoleon's retreat, and, in conjunction with the westphalians and hessians, stood another encounter with the russians at wilna. misery and want at length scattered his forces; he, nevertheless, reassembled them in poland and was able to place four thousand men, on st. cyr's return, under his command. he returned home to bavaria sick. of these four thousand bavarians but one thousand and fifty were led by count rechberg back to their native soil. a great number of bavarians, however, remained under general zoller to garrison thorn, and about fifteen hundred of them returned home.--at the passage of the beresina, the würtembergers had still about eighty men under arms, and in poland about three hundred assembled, the only ones who returned free. some were afterward liberated from imprisonment in russia.] [footnote : this was austria's natural policy. in the french despatches, schwarzenberg was charged with having allowed tschitschakow to escape in order to pursue the inconsiderable force under sacken.] [footnote : the following anecdote is related of the hessians commanded by prince emilius of darmstadt. the prince had fallen asleep in the snow, and four hessian dragoons, in order to screen him from the north wind, held their cloaks as a wall around him and were found next morning in the same position--frozen to death. dead bodies were seen frozen into the most extraordinary positions, gnawing their own hands, gnawing the torn corpses of their comrades. the dead were often covered with snow, and the number of little heaps lying around alone told that of the victims of a single night.] [footnote : napoleon said, "there are two hundred millions lying in the cellars of the tuileries; how willingly would i give them to save ney!"] [footnote : he passed with extreme rapidity, incognito, through germany. in dresden he had a short interview with the king of saxony, who, had he shut him up in königstein, would have saved europe a good deal of trouble.--napoleon no sooner reached paris in safety than, in his twenty-ninth bulletin, he, for the first time, acquainted the astonished world, hitherto deceived by his false accounts of victory, with the disastrous termination of the campaign. this bulletin was also replete with falsehood and insolence. in his contempt of humanity he even said, "merely the cowards in the army were depressed in spirit and dreamed of misfortune, the brave were ever cheerful." thus wrote the man who had both seen and caused all this immeasurable misery! the bulletin concluded with, "his imperial majesty never enjoyed better health."] [footnote : in the french despatches, general hünerbein was accused of not having pursued the russians under general lewis.] [footnote : the secret history of those days is still not sufficiently brought to light. bagnon speaks of fresh treaties between hardenberg and napoleon, in which he is corroborated by fain. these two frenchmen, the former of whom was a diplomatist, the other one of napoleon's private secretaries, admit that prussia's object at that time was to take advantage of napoleon's embarrassment and to offer him aid on certain important considerations. prussian historians are silent in this matter. in von rauschnik's biographical account of blücher, the great internal schism at that time caused in prussia by the hardenberg party and that of the _tugendbund_ is merely slightly hinted at; the former still managed diplomatic affairs, while york, a member of the latter, had already acted on his own responsibility. shortly afterward affairs took a different aspect, as if hardenberg's diplomacy had merely been a mask, and he placed himself at the head of the movement against france. in a memorial of , given by hormayr in the sketches from the war of liberation, hardenberg declared decisively in favor of the alliance with russia against france.] [footnote : hans louis david von york, a native of pomerania, having ventured, when a lieutenant in the prussian service, indignantly to blame the base conduct of one of his superiors in command, became implicated in a duel, was confined in a fortress, abandoned his country, entered the dutch service, visited the cape and ceylon, fought against the mahrattas, was wounded, returned home and re-entered the prussian service in .] cclx. the spring of the king of prussia had suddenly abandoned berlin, which was still in the hands of the french, for breslau, whence he declared war against france. a conference also took place between him and the emperor alexander at calisch, and, on the th of february, , an offensive and defensive alliance was concluded between them. the hour for vengeance had at length arrived. the whole prussian nation, eager to throw off the hated yoke of the foreigner, to obliterate their disgrace in , to regain their ancient name, cheerfully hastened to place their lives and property at the service of the impoverished government. the whole of the able-bodied population was put under arms. the standing army was increased: to each regiment were appended troops of volunteers, _joegers_, composed of young men belonging to the higher classes, who furnished their own equipments: a numerous _landwehr_, a sort of militia, was, as in austria, raised besides the standing army, and measures were even taken to call out, in case of necessity, the heads of families and elderly men remaining at home, under the name of the _landsturm_.[ ] the enthusiastic people, besides furnishing the customary supplies and paying the taxes, contributed to the full extent of their means toward defraying the immense expense of this general arming. every heart throbbed high with pride and hope. who would not wish to have lived at such a period, when man's noblest and highest energies were thus called forth! more loudly than even in in austria was the german cause now discussed, the great name of the german empire now invoked in prussia, for in that name alone could all the races of germany be united against their hereditary foe. the following celebrated proclamation, promising external and internal liberty to germany, was, with this view, published at calisch, by prussia and russia, on the th of march, . it was signed by prince kutusow and drawn up by baron rehdiger of silesia. "the victorious troops of russia, together with those of his majesty the king of prussia, having set foot on german soil, the emperor of russia and his majesty the king of prussia announce simultaneously the return of liberty and independence to the princes and nations of germany. they come with the sole and sacred purpose of aiding them to regain the hereditary and inalienable national rights of which they have been deprived, to afford potent protection and to secure durability to a newly-restored empire. this great object, free from every interested motive and therefore alone worthy of their majesties, has solely induced the advance and solely guides the movements of their armies.--these armies, led by generals under the eyes of both monarchs, trust in an omnipotent, just god, and hope to free the whole world and germany irrevocably from the disgraceful yoke they have so gloriously thrown off. they press forward animated by enthusiasm. their watchword is 'honor and liberty.' may every german, desirous of proving himself worthy of the name, speedily and spiritedly join their ranks. may every individual, whether prince, noble, or citizen, aid the plans of liberation, formed by russia and prussia, with heart and soul, with person and property, to the last drop of his blood!--the expectation cherished by their majesties of meeting with these sentiments, this zeal, in every german heart, they deem warranted by the spirit so clearly betokened by the victories gained by russia over the enslaver of the world.--they therefore demand faithful cooperation, more especially from every german prince, and willingly presuppose that none among them will be found, who, by being and remaining apostate to the german cause, will prove himself deserving of annihilation by the power of public opinion and of just arms. the rhenish alliance, that deceitful chain lately cast by the breeder of universal discord around ruined germany to the destruction of her ancient name, can, as the effect of foreign tyranny and the tool of foreign influence, be no longer tolerated. their majesties believe that the declaration of the dissolution of this alliance being their fixed intention will meet the long-harbored and universal desire with difficulty retained within the sorrowing hearts of the people.--the relation in which it is the intention of his majesty, the emperor of all the russias, to stand toward germany and toward her constitution is, at the same time, here declared. from his desire to see the influence of the foreigner destroyed, it can be no other than that of placing a protecting hand on a work whose form is committed to the free, unbiased will of the princes and people of germany. the more closely this work, in principle, features and outline, coincides with the once distinct character of the german nation, the more surely will united germany retake her place with renovated and redoubled vigor among the empires of europe.--his majesty and his ally, between whom there reigns a perfect accordance in the sentiments and views hereby explained, are at all times ready to exert their utmost power in pursuance of their sacred aim, the liberation of germany from a foreign yoke.--may france, strong and beauteous in herself, henceforward seek to consolidate her internal prosperity! no external power will disturb her internal peace, no enemy will encroach upon her rightful frontiers.--but may france also learn that the other powers of europe aspire to the attainment of durable repose for their subjects, and will not lay down their arms until the independence of every state in europe shall have been firmly secured." nor was the appeal vain. it found an echo in every german heart, and such plain demonstrations of the state of the popular feeling on this side the rhine were made that davoust sent serious warning to napoleon, who contemptuously replied, "pah! germans never can become spaniards!" with his customary rapidity, he levied in france a fresh army three hundred thousand strong, with which he so completely awed the rhenish confederation as to compel it once more to take the field with thousands of germans against their brother germans. the troops, however, reluctantly obeyed, and even the traitors were but lukewarm, for they doubted of success. mecklenburg alone sided with prussia. austria remained neutral. a russian corps under general tettenborn had preceded the rest of the troops and reached the coasts of the baltic. as early as the th of march, , it appeared in hamburg and expelled the french authorities from the city. the heavily oppressed people of hamburg,[ ] whose commerce had been totally annihilated by the continental system, gave way to the utmost demonstrations of delight, received their deliverers with open arms, revived their ancient rights, and immediately raised a hanseatic corps, destined to take the field against napoleon. dornberg, the ancient foe to france, with another flying squadron took the french division under morand prisoner, and the prussian, major hellwig (the same who, in , liberated the garrison of erfurt), dispersed, with merely one hundred and twenty hussars, a bavarian regiment one thousand three hundred strong and captured five pieces of artillery. in january, the peasantry of the upper country had already revolted against the conscription,[ ] and, in february, patriotic proclamations had been disseminated throughout westphalia under the signature of the baron von stein. in this month, also, captain maas and two other patriots, who had attempted to raise a rebellion, were executed. as the army advanced, stein was nominated chief of the provisional government of the still unconquered provinces of western germany. the first russian army, seventeen thousand strong, under wittgenstein, pushed forward to magdeburg, and, at mokern, repulsed forty thousand french, who were advancing upon berlin. the prussians, under their veteran general, blucher, entered saxony and garrisoned dresden, on the th of march, ; an arch of the fine bridge across the elbe having been uselessly blown up by the french. blucher, whose gallantry in the former wars had gained for him the general esteem, and whose kind and generous disposition had won the affection of the soldiery, was nominated generalissimo of the prussian forces, but subordinate in command to wittgenstein, who replaced kutusow[ ] as generalissimo of the united forces of russia and prussia. the emperor of russia and the king of prussia accompanied the army and were received with loud acclamations by the people of dresden and leipzig. the allied army was merely seventy thousand strong, and blucher had not formed a junction with wittgenstein when napoleon invaded the country by erfurt and merseburg at the head of one hundred and sixty thousand men. ney attacked, with forty thousand men, the russian vanguard under winzingerode, which, after gallantly defending a defile near weissenfels, made an orderly retreat before forces far their superior in number. the french, on this occasion, lost marshal bessieres. napoleon, incredulous of attack, marched in long columns upon leipzig, and wittgenstein, falling upon his right flank, committed great havoc among the forty thousand men under ney, which he had first of all encountered, at gross-gorschen. this place was alternately lost and regained owing to his ill-judged plan of attack by single brigades, instead of breaking napoleon's lines by charging them at once with the whole of his forces. the young prussian volunteers here measured their strength in a murderous conflict, hand to hand, with the young french conscripts, and excited by their martial spirit the astonishment of the veterans. wittgenstein's delay and blucher's too late arrival on the field[ ] gave napoleon time to wheel his long lines round and to encircle the allied forces, which immediately retired. on the eve of the bloody engagement of the d of may, the allied cavalry attempted a general attack in the dark, which was also unsuccessful on account of the superiority of the enemy's forces. the allies had, nevertheless, captured some cannons, the french, none. the most painful loss was that of the noble scharnhorst, who was mortally wounded. bulow had, on the same day, stormed halle with a prussian corps, but was now compelled to resolve upon a retreat, which was conducted in the most orderly manner by the allies. at koldiz, the prussian rearguard repulsed the french van in a bloody engagement on the th of may. the allies marched through dresden[ ] and took up a firm position in and about bautzen, after being joined by a reinforcement of eighty thousand bavarians. napoleon was also reinforced by a number of french, bavarian, wurtemberg, and saxon troops,[ ] and despatched lauriston and ney toward berlin; but the former encountering the russians under barclay de tolly at konigswartha, and the latter the prussians under york at weissig, both were constrained to retreat. napoleon attacked the position at bautzen from the th to the st of may, but was gloriously repulsed by the prussians under kleist, while blücher, who was in danger of being completely surrounded, undauntedly defended himself on three sides. the allies lost not a cannon, not a single prisoner, although again compelled to retire before the superior forces of the enemy. the french had suffered an immense loss; eighteen thousand of their wounded were sent to dresden. napoleon's favorite, marshal duroc, and general kirchner, a native of alsace, were killed, close to his side, by a cannon ball. the allied troops, forced to retire after an obstinate encounter, neither fled nor dispersed, but withdrew in close column and repelling each successive attack.[ ] the french avant-garde under maison was, when in close pursuit of the allied force, almost entirely cut to pieces by the prussian cavalry, which unexpectedly fell upon it at heinau. the main body of the russo-prussian army, on entering silesia, took a slanting direction toward the riesengebirge and retired behind the fortress of schweidnitz. in this strong position they were at once partially secure from attack, and, by their vicinity to the bohemian frontier, enabled to keep up a communication, and, if necessary, to form a junction with the austrian forces. the whole of the lowlands of silesia lay open to the french, who entered breslau on the st of june.[ ] berlin was also merely covered by a comparatively weak army under general bulow,[ ] who, notwithstanding the check given by him to marshal oudinot in the battles of hoyerswerda and luckau, was not in sufficient force to offer assistance to the main body of the french in case napoleon chose to pass through berlin on his way to poland. napoleon, however, did not as yet venture to make use of his advantage. by the seizure of prussia and poland, both of which lay open to him, the main body of the allied army and the austrians, who had not yet declared themselves, would have been left to the rear of his right flank and could easily have cut off his retreat. his troops, principally young conscripts, were moreover worn out with fatigue, nor had the whole of his reinforcements arrived. to his rear was a multitude of bold partisans, tettenborn, the hanseatic legion, czernitscheff, who, at halberstadt, captured general ochs together with the whole of the westphalian corps and fourteen pieces of artillery, colomb, the herculean captain of horse, who took a convoy and twenty-four guns at zwickau, and the black prussian squadron under lutzow. napoleon consequently remained stationary, and, with a view of completing his preparations and of awaiting the decision of austria, demanded an armistice, to which the allies, whose force was still incomplete and to whom the decision of austria was of equal importance, gladly assented. on this celebrated armistice, concluded on the th of june, , at the village of pleisswitz, the fate of europe was to depend. to the side that could raise the most powerful force, that on which austria ranged herself, numerical superiority insured success. napoleon's power was still terrible; fresh victory had obliterated the disgrace of his flight from russia; he stood once more an invincible leader on german soil. the french were animated by success and blindly devoted to their emperor. italy and denmark were prostrate at his feet. the rhenish confederation was also faithful to his standard. councillor crome published at giessen, in obedience to napoleon's mandate and with the knowledge of the government at darmstadt, a pamphlet entitled "germany's crisis and salvation," in which he declared that germany was saved by the fresh victories of napoleon, and promised mountains of gold to the germans if they remained true to him.[ ] crome was at that time graciously thanked in autograph letters by the sovereigns of bavaria and wurtemberg. lutzow's volunteer corps was, during the armistice, surprised at kitzen by a superior corps of wurtembergers under normann and cut to pieces. germans at that period opposed germans without any feeling for their common fatherland.[ ] the king of saxony, who had already repaired to prague under the protection of austria, also returned thence, was received at dresden with extreme magnificence by napoleon, and, in fresh token of amity, ceded the fortress of torgau to the french.[ ] these occurrences caused the saxon minister, senfft von pilsach, and the saxon general, thielmann, who had already devoted themselves to the german cause, to resign office. the polish army under prince poniatowsky (vassal to the king of saxony, who was also grandduke of warsaw) received permission (it had at an earlier period fallen back upon schwarzenberg) to march, unarmed, through the austrian territory to dresden, in order to join the main body of the french under napoleon. the declaration of the emperor of austria in favor of his son-in-law, who, moreover, was lavish of his promises, and, among other things, offered to restore silesia, was, consequently, at the opening of the armistice, deemed certain. the armistice was, meanwhile, still more beneficial to the allies. the russians had time to concentrate their scattered troops, the prussians completed the equipment of their numerous _landwehren_, and the swedes also took the field. bernadotte landed on the th of may in pomerania, and advanced with his troops into brandenburg for the purpose, in conjunction with bulow, of covering berlin. a german auxiliary corps, in the pay of england, was also formed, under wallmoden, on the baltic. the defence of hamburg was extremely easy; but the base intrigues of foreigners, who, as during the time of the thirty years' war, paid themselves for their aid by the seizure of german provinces and towns, delivered that splendid city into the hands of the french. bernadotte had sold himself to russia for the price of norway, which denmark refused to cede unless hamburg and lubeck were given in exchange. this agreement had already been made by prince dolgorucki in the name of the emperor alexander, and tettenborn yielded hamburg to the danes, who marched in under pretext of protecting the city and were received with delight by the unsuspecting citizens. the non-advance of the swedes proceeded from the same cause. the increase of the danish marine by means of the hanse towns, however, proved displeasing to england; the whole of the commerce was broken up, and the danes, hastily resolving to maintain faith with napoleon, delivered luckless hamburg to the french, who instantly took a most terrible revenge. davoust, as he himself boasted, merely sent twelve german patriots to execution,[ ] but expelled twenty-five thousand of the inhabitants from the city, while he pulled down their houses and converted them into fortifications, at which the principal citizens were compelled to work in person. dissatisfied, moreover, with a contribution of eighteen millions, he robbed the great hamburg bank, treading underfoot every private and national right, all, as he, miserable slave as he was,[ ] declared, in obedience to the mandate of his lord. austria, at first, instead of aiding the allies, allowed the poles[ ] to range themselves beneath the standard of napoleon, whom she overwhelmed with protestations of friendship, which served to mask her real intentions, and meanwhile gave her time to arm herself to the teeth and to make the allies sensible of the fact of their utter impotency against napoleon unless aided by her. the interests of austria favored her alliance with france, but napoleon, instead of confidence, inspired mistrust. austria, notwithstanding the marriage between him and maria louisa, was, as had been shown at the congress of dresden, merely treated as a tributary to france, and napoleon's ambition offered no guarantee to the ancient imperial dynasty. there was no security that the provinces bestowed in momentary reward for her alliance must not, on the first occasion, be restored. nor was public opinion entirely without weight.[ ] napoleon's star was on the wane, whole nations stood like to a dark and ominous cloud threatening on the horizon, and count metternich prudently chose rather to attempt to guide the storm ere it burst than trust to a falling star. austria had, as early as the th of june, , signed a treaty, at reichenbach in silesia, with russia and prussia, by which she bound herself to declare war against france, in case napoleon had not, before the th of july, accepted the terms of peace about to be proposed to him. already had the sovereigns and generals of russia and prussia sketched, during a conference held with the crown prince of sweden, the th july, at trachenberg, the plan for the approaching campaign, and, with the permission of austria, assigned to her the part she was to take as one of the allies against napoleon, when metternich again visited dresden in person for the purpose of repeating his assurances of amity, for the armistice had but just commenced, to napoleon. the french emperor had an indistinct idea of the transactions then passing, and bluntly said to the count, "as you wish to mediate, you are no longer on my side." he hoped partly to win austria over by redoubling his promises, partly to terrify her by the dread of the future ascendency of russia, but, perceiving how metternich evaded him by his artful diplomacy, he suddenly asked him, "well, metternich, how much has england given you in order to engage you to play this part toward me?" this trait of insolence toward an antagonist of whose superiority he felt conscious, and of the most deadly hatred masked by contempt, was peculiarly characteristic of the corsican, who, besides the qualities of the lion, fully possessed those of the cat. napoleon let his hat drop in order to see whether metternich would raise it. he did not, and war was resolved upon. a pretended congress for the conclusion of peace was again arranged by both sides; by napoleon, in order to elude the reproach cast upon him of an insurmountable and eternal desire for war, and by the allies, in order to prove to the whole world their desire for peace. each side was, however, fully aware that the palm of peace was alone to be found on the other side of the battle-field. napoleon was generous in his concessions, but delayed granting full powers to his envoy, an opportune circumstance for the allies, who were by this means able to charge him with the whole blame of procrastination. napoleon, in all his concessions, merely included russia and austria to the exclusion of prussia.[ ] but neither russia nor austria trusted to his promises, and the negotiations were broken off on the termination of the armistice, when napoleon sent full powers to his plenipotentiary. now, was it said, it is too late. the art with which metternich passed from the alliance with napoleon to neutrality, to mediation, and finally to the coalition against him, will, in every age, be acknowledged a master-piece of diplomacy. austria, while coalescing with russia and prussia, in a certain degree assumed a rank conventionally superior to both. the whole of the allied armies was placed under the command of an austrian general, prince von schwarzenberg, and if the proclamation published at calisch had merely summoned the people of germany to assert their independence, the manifesto of count metternich spoke already in the tone of the future regulator of the affairs of europe.[ ] austria declared herself on the th of august, , two days after the termination of the armistice. [footnote : literally, the general levy of the people.--_trans._] [footnote : the exasperation of the people had risen to the utmost pitch. the french rascals in office, especially the custom-house officers, set no bounds to their tyranny and license. no woman of whatever rank was allowed to pass the gates without being subjected to the most indecent inquisition. goods that had long been redeemed were continually taken from the tradesmen's shops and confiscated. the arbitrary enrolment of a number of young men as conscripts at length produced an insurrection, in which the guard-houses, etc., were destroyed. it was, however, quelled by general st. cyr, and six of the citizens were executed. on the approach of the russians, st. cyr fled with the whole of his troops. the bookseller perthes, prell, and von hess, formed a civic guard.--_von hess's agonies_.] [footnote : the people rose _en masse_ at ronsdorf, solingen, and barmen, and marched tumultuously to elberfeld, the great manufacturing town, but were dispersed by the french troops. the french authorities afterward declared that the sole object of the revolt was to smuggle in english goods, and, under this pretext, seized all the foreign goods in elberfeld.] [footnote : kutusow had, just at that conjuncture, expired at bautzen.] [footnote : the nature of the ground rendered a night march impossible. the russian, michaelofski danilefski, however, throws the blame upon an officer in blucher's headquarters, who laid the important orders committed to his charge under his pillow and overslept himself.] [footnote : it may here be mentioned as a remarkable characteristic of those times that goethe, ernest maurice arndt, and theodore körner at that period met at dresden. the youthful körner, a volunteer jæger, was the tyrtæus of those days: his military songs were universally sung: his father also expressed great enthusiasm. goethe said almost angrily, "well, well, shake your chains, the man (napoleon) is too strong for you, you will not break them!"--_e. m. arndt's reminiscences._] [footnote : "unfortunately there were german princes who, even this time, again sent their troops to swell the ranks of the oppressor; austria had, unfortunately, not yet concluded her preparations; consequently, it was only possible to clog the advance of the conqueror by a gallant resistance."--_clausewitz_. the bavarians stood under raglowich, the würtembergers under franquemont, the saxons under reynier. there was also a contingent of westphalians and badeners.] [footnote : blücher exclaimed on this occasion: "he's a rascally fellow that dares to say we fly." even fain, the frenchman, confesses in his manuscript of , in which he certainly does not favor the germans: "the best marshals, as it were, killed by spent balls. great victories without trophies. all the villages on our route in flames which obstructed our advance. 'what a war! we shall all fall victims to it!' are the disgraceful expressions uttered by many, for the iron hearts of the warriors of france are rust-grown." napoleon exclaimed after the battle, "how! no result after such a massacre? no prisoners? they leave me not even a nail!" duroc's death added to the catastrophe. napoleon was so struck that for the first time in his life he could give no orders, but deferred everything until the morrow.] [footnote : but they merely encamped in the streets, showed themselves more anxious than threatening, and were seized with a terrible panic on a sudden conflagration breaking out during the night, which they mistook for a signal to bring the _landsturm_ upon them. and yet there were thirty thousand french in the city. how different to their spirit in !] [footnote : brother to the unfortunate henry von bulow.] [footnote : crome was afterward barefaced enough to boast of this work in his autobiography, published in . napoleon dictated the fundamental ideas of this work to him from his headquarters. his object was to pacify the germans. he promised them henceforward to desist from enforcing his continental system, to restore liberty to commerce, no longer to force the laws and language of france upon germany. l'empereur se fera aimer des allemands. the germans were, on the other hand, warned that the allies had no intention to render germany free and independent, they being much more interested in retaining germany in a state of division and subjection. the unity of germany, it was also declared, was alone possible under napoleon, etc.] [footnote : this arose from hatred to the party that dared to uphold the german cause instead of a prussian, saxon, etc., one, and by no means by chance, but, as manso remarks, intentionally, "through low cunning and injustice."] [footnote : the king of saxony was, in return, insulted by napoleon, in an address to the ministers was termed _une veille hête_, and compelled to countenance immoral theatrical performances by his presence, a sin for which he each evening received absolution from his confessor. vide stein's letter to münster in the sketches of the war of liberation.] [footnote : he also said, like his master, "i know of no germans, i only know of bavarians, würtembergers, westphalians," etc.] [footnote : his written defence, in which he so lyingly, so humbly and mournfully exculpates himself that one really "compassionates the devil," is a sort of satisfaction for the germans.] [footnote : poniatowsky's dismissal with the polish army from poland was apparently a service rendered to napoleon, but was in reality done with a view of disarming poland. poniatowsky might have organized an insurrection to the rear of the allies, and would in that case have been far more dangerous to them than when ranged beneath the standard of napoleon.] [footnote : the people in austria fully sympathized with passing events. how could those be apathetic who had such a burden of disgrace to redeem, such deep revenge to satisfy? an extremely popular song contained the following lines: "awake, franciscus! hark! thy people call! awake! acknowledge the avenger's hand! still groans beneath the foreign courser's hoof the soil of germany, our fatherland. "to arms! so long as sacred germany feels but a finger of napoleon. franciscus! up! cast off each private tie! the patriot has no kindred, has no son." all the able-bodied men, as in prussia, crowded beneath the imperial standard and the whole empire made the most patriotic sacrifices. hungary summoned the whole of her male population, the insurrection, as it was termed, to the field.] [footnote : russia was to receive the whole of poland, the grandduchy of warsaw was to be annihilated. such was napoleon's gratitude toward the poles!--illyria was to be restored to austria. prussia, however, was not only to be excluded from all participation in the spoil, but the rhenish confederation was to be extended as far as the oder. prussia would have been compelled to pay the expenses of the alliance between france, russia, and austria.] [footnote : "everywhere," said this manifesto, "do the impatient wishes of the people anticipate the regular proceedings of the government. on all sides, the desire for independence under separate laws, the feeling of insulted nationality, rage against the heavy abuses inflicted by a foreign tyrant, burst simultaneously forth. his majesty the emperor, too clear-sighted not to view this turn in affairs as the natural and necessary result of a preceding and violent state of exaggeration, and too just to view it with displeasure, had rendered it his principal object to turn it to the general advantage, and, by well-weighed and well-combined measures, to promote the true and lasting interests of the whole commonwealth of europe."] cclxi. the battle of leipzig immediately after this--for all had been previously arranged--the monarchs of russia and prussia passed the riesengebirge with a division of their forces into bohemia, and joined the emperor francis and the great austrian army at prague. the celebrated general, moreau, who had returned from america, where he had hitherto dwelt incognito, in order to take up arms against napoleon, was in the train of the czar. his example, it was hoped, would induce many of his countrymen to abandon napoleon. the plan of the allies was to advance, with their main body under schwarzenberg, consisting of one hundred and twenty thousand austrians and seventy thousand russians and prussians, through the erzgebirge to napoleon's rear. a lesser prussian force, principally silesian _landwehr_, under blucher, eighty thousand strong, besides a small russian corps, was, meanwhile, to cover silesia, or, in case of an attack by napoleon's main body, to retire before it and draw it further eastward. a third division, under the crown prince of sweden, principally swedes, with some prussian troops, mostly pomeranian and brandenburg _landwehr_ under bulow, and some russians, in all ninety thousand men, was destined to cover berlin, and in case of a victory to form a junction to napoleon's rear with the main body of the allied army. a still lesser and equally mixed division under wallmoden, thirty thousand strong, was destined to watch davoust in hamburg, while an austrian corps of twenty-five thousand men under prince reuss watched the movements of the bavarians, and another austrian force of forty thousand, under hiller, those of the viceroy eugene in italy. napoleon had concentrated his main body, that still consisted of two hundred and fifty thousand men, in and around dresden. davoust received orders to advance with thirty thousand men from hamburg upon berlin; in bavaria, there were thirty thousand men under wrede; in italy, forty thousand under eugene. the german fortresses were, moreover, strongly garrisoned with french troops. napoleon had it in his power to throw himself with his main body, which neither blucher nor the swedes could have withstood, into poland, to levy the people _en masse_ and render that country the theatre of war, but the dread of the defection of the rhenish confederation and of a part of the french themselves, were the country to his rear to be left open to the allies and to moreau, coupled with his disinclination to declare the independence of poland, owing to a lingering hope of being still able to bring about a reconciliation with russia and austria by the sacrifice of that country and of prussia, caused that idea to be renounced, and he accordingly took up a defensive position with his main body at dresden, whence he could watch the proceedings and take advantage of any indiscretion on the part of his opponents. a body of ninety thousand men under oudinot meantime acted on the offensive, being directed to advance, simultaneously with davoust from hamburg and with girard from magdeburg, upon berlin, and to take possession of that metropolis. napoleon hoped, when master of the ancient prussian provinces, to be able to suppress german enthusiasm at its source and to induce russia and austria to conclude a separate peace at the expense of prussia. in august, , the tempest of war broke loose on every side, and all europe prepared for a decisive struggle. about this time, the whole of northern germany was visited for some weeks, as was the case on the defeat of varus in the teutoburg forest, with heavy rains and violent storms. the elements seemed to combine, as in russia, their efforts with those of man against napoleon. there his soldiers fell victims to frost and snow, here they sank into the boggy soil and were carried away by the swollen rivers. in the midst of the uproar of the elements, bloody engagements continually took place, in which the bayonet and the butt-end of the firelock were almost alone used, the muskets being rendered unserviceable by the wet. the first engagement of importance was that of the st of august between wallmoden and davoust at vellahn. a few days afterward, theodore korner, the youthful poet and hero, fell in a skirmish between the french and wallmoden's outpost at gadebusch.--oudinot advanced close upon berlin, which was protected by the crown prince of sweden. a murderous conflict took place, on the d of august, at gross-beeren between the prussian division under general von bulow and the french. the swedes, a troop of horse artillery alone excepted, were not brought into action, and the prussians, unaided, repulsed the greatly superior forces of the french. the almost untrained peasantry comprising the _landwehr_ of the mark and of pomerania rushed upon the enemy, and, unhabituated to the use of the bayonet and firelock, beat down entire battalions of the french with the butt-end of their muskets. after a frightful massacre, the french were utterly routed and fled in wild disorder, but the gallant prussians vainly expected the swedes to aid in the pursuit. the crown prince, partly from a desire to spare his troops and partly from a feeling of shame--he was also a frenchman--remained motionless. oudinot, nevertheless, lost two thousand four hundred prisoners. davoust, from this disaster, returned once more to hamburg. girard, who had advanced with eight thousand men from magdeburg, was, on the th, put to flight by the prussian _landwehr_ under general hirschfeld. napoleon's plan of attack against prussia had completely failed, and his sole alternative was to act on the defensive. but on perceiving that the main body of the allied forces under schwarzenberg was advancing to his rear, while blucher was stationed with merely a weak division in silesia, he took the field with immensely superior forces against the latter, under an idea of being able easily to vanquish his weak antagonist and to fall back again in time upon dresden. blucher cautiously retired, but, unable to restrain the martial spirit of the soldiery, who obstinately defended every position whence they were driven, lost two thousand of his men on the st of august. the news of napoleon's advance upon silesia and of the numerical weakness of the garrison left at dresden reached schwarzenberg just as he had crossed the erzgebirge, and induced him and the allied sovereigns assembled within his camp to change their plan of operations and to march straight upon the saxon capital. napoleon, who had pursued blucher as far as the katzbach near goldberg, instantly returned and boldly resolved to cross the elbe above dresden, to seize the passes of the bohemian mountains, and to fall upon the rear of the main body of the allied army. vandamme's _corps d'armee_ had already set forward with this design, when napoleon learned that dresden could no longer hold out unless he returned thither with a division of his army, and, in order to preserve that city and the centre of his position, he hastily returned thither in the hope of defeating the allied army and of bringing it between two fires, as vandamme must meanwhile have occupied the narrow outlets of the erzgebirge with thirty thousand men and by that means have cut off the retreat of the allied army. the plan was on a grand scale, and, as far as related to napoleon in person, was executed, to the extreme discomfiture of the allies, with his usual success. schwarzenberg had, with true austrian procrastination, allowed the th of august, when, as the french themselves confess, dresden, in her then ill-defended state, might have been taken almost without a stroke, to pass in inaction, and, when he attempted to storm the city on the th, napoleon, who had meanwhile arrived, calmly awaited the onset of the thick masses of the enemy in order to open a murderous discharge of grape upon them on every side. they were repulsed after suffering a frightful loss. on the following day, destined to end in still more terrible bloodshed, napoleon assumed the offensive, separated the retiring allied army by well-combined sallies, cut off its left wing, and made an immense number of prisoners, chiefly austrians. the unfortunate moreau had both his legs shot off in the very first encounter. his death was an act of justice, for he had taken up arms against his fellow- countrymen, and was moreover a gain for the germans, the russians merely making use of him in order to obscure the fame of the german leaders, and, it may be, with a view of placing the future destinies of france in his hands. the main body of the allied army retreated on every side; part of the troops disbanded, the rest were exposed to extreme hardship owing to the torrents of rain that fell without intermission and the scarcity of provisions. their annihilation must have inevitably followed had vandamme executed napoleon's commands and blocked up the mountain passes, in which he was unsuccessful, owing to the gallantry with which he was held in check at culm by eight thousand russian guards, headed by ostermann,[ ] who, although merely amounting in number to a fourth of his army, fought during a whole day without receding a step, though almost the whole of them were cut to pieces and ostermann was deprived of an arm, until the first corps of the main body, in full retreat, reached the mountains. vandamme was now in turn overwhelmed by superior numbers. one way of escape, a still unoccupied height, on which he hastened to post himself, alone remained, but kleist's corps, also in full retreat, unexpectedly but opportunely appeared above his head and took him and the whole of his corps prisoners, the th of august, .[ ] at the same time, the th of august, a most glorious victory was gained by blucher in silesia. after having drawn macdonald across the katzbach and the foaming neisse, he drove him, after a desperate and bloody engagement, into those rivers, which were greatly swollen by the incessant rains. the muskets of the soldiery had been rendered unserviceable by the wet, and blucher, drawing his sabre from beneath his cloak, dashed forward exclaiming, "forward!" several thousand of the french were drowned or fell by the bayonet, or beneath the heavy blows dealt by the _landwehr_ with the butt-end of their firelocks. it was on this battlefield that the silesians had formerly opposed the tartars, and the monastery of wahlstatt, erected in memory of that heroic day,[ ] was still standing. blucher was rewarded with the title of prince von der wahlstatt, but his soldiers surnamed him marshal vorwarts. on the decline of the floods, the banks of the rivers were strewn with corpses sticking in horrid distortion out of the mud. a part of the french fled for a couple of days in terrible disorder along the right bank and were then taken prisoner together with their general, puthod.[ ] the french lost one hundred and three guns, eighteen thousand prisoners, and a still greater number in killed; the loss on the side of the prussians merely amounted to one thousand men. macdonald returned almost totally unattended to dresden and brought the melancholy intelligence to napoleon, "votre armé du bobre n'existe plus." the crown prince of sweden and bulow had meanwhile pursued oudinot's retreating corps in the direction of the elbe. napoleon despatched ney against them, but he met with the fate of his predecessor, at dennewitz, on the th of september. the prussians, on this occasion, again triumphed, unaided by their confederates.[ ] bulow and tauenzien, with twenty thousand men, defeated the french army, seventy thousand strong. the crown prince of sweden not only remained to the rear with the whole of his troops, but gave perfectly useless orders to the advancing prussian squadron under general borstel, who, without attending to them, hurried on to bulow's assistance, and the french were, notwithstanding their numerical superiority, completely driven off the field, which the crown prince reached just in time to witness the dispersion of his countrymen. the french lost eighteen thousand men and eighty guns. the rout was complete. the rearguard, consisting of the wurtembergers under franquemont, was again overtaken at the head of the bridge at zwettau, and, after a frightful carnage, driven in wild confusion across the dam to torgau. the bavarians under raglowich, who, probably owing to secret orders, had remained, during the battle, almost in a state of inactivity, withdrew in another direction and escaped.[ ] davoust also again retired upon hamburg, and his rearguard under pecheux was attacked by wallmoden, on the th of september, on the gorde, and suffered a trifling loss. on the th of september, eight thousand french were also defeated by platow, the hetman of the cossacks, at zeitz: on the th, czernitscheff penetrated into cassel and expelled jerome. thielemann, the saxon general, also infested the country to napoleon's rear, intercepted his convoys at leipzig, and at weissenfels took one thousand two hundred, at merseburg two thousand, french prisoners; he was, however, deprived of his booty by a strong force under lefebvre-desnouettes, by whom he was incessantly harassed until platow's arrival with the cossacks, who, in conjunction with thielemann, repulsed lefebvre with great slaughter at altenburg. on this occasion, a baden battalion, that had been drawn up apart from the french, turned their fire upon their unnatural confederates and aided in their dispersion.[ ] napoleon's generals had been thrown back in every quarter, with immense loss, upon dresden, toward which the allies now advanced, threatening to enclose it on every side. napoleon manoeuvred until the beginning of october with the view of executing a _coup de main_ against schwarzenberg and blucher; the allies were, however, on their guard, and he was constantly reduced to the necessity of recalling his troops, sent for that purpose into the field, to dresden. the danger in which he now stood of being completely surrounded and cut off from the rhine at length rendered retreat his sole alternative. blucher had already crossed the elbe on the th of october, and, in conjunction with the crown prince of sweden, had approached the head of the main body of the allied army under schwarzenberg, which was advancing from the erzgebirge. on the th of october, napoleon quitted dresden, leaving a garrison of thirty thousand french under st. cyr, and removed his headquarters to duben, on the road leading from leipzig to berlin, in the hope of drawing blucher and the swedes once more on the right side of the elbe, in which case he intended to turn unexpectedly upon the austrians; blucher, however, eluded him, without quitting the left bank. napoleon's plan was to take advantage of the absence of blucher and of the swedes from berlin in order to hasten across the defenceless country, for the purpose of inflicting punishment upon prussia, of raising poland, etc. but his plan met with opposition in his own military council. his ill success had caused those who had hitherto followed his fortunes to waver. the king of bavaria declared against him on the th of october,[ ] and the bavarian army under wrede united with instead of opposing the austrian army and was sent to the maine in order to cut off napoleon's retreat. the news of this defection speedily reached the french camp and caused the rest of the troops of the rhenish confederation to waver in their allegiance; while the french, wearied with useless manoeuvres, beaten in every quarter, opposed by an enemy greatly their superior in number and glowing with revenge, despaired of the event and sighed for peace and their quiet homes. all refused to march upon berlin, nay, the very idea of removing further from paris almost produced a mutiny in the camp.[ ] four days, from the th to the th of october, were passed by napoleon in a state of melancholy irresolution, when he appeared as if suddenly inspired by the idea of there still being time to execute a _coup de main_ upon the main body of the allied army under schwarzenberg before its junction with blucher and the swedes. schwarzenberg was slowly advancing from bohemia and had already allowed himself to be defeated before dresden. napoleon intended to fall upon him on his arrival in the vicinity of leipzig, but it was already too late.--blucher was at hand. on the th of october,[ ] the flower of the french cavalry, headed by the king of naples, encountered blucher's and wittgenstein's cavalry at wachau, not far from leipzig. the contest was broken off, both sides being desirous of husbanding their strength, but terminated to the disadvantage of the french, notwithstanding their numerical superiority, besides proving the vicinity of the prussians. this was the most important cavalry fight that took place during this war. on the th of october, while napoleon was merely awaiting the arrival of macdonald's corps, that had remained behind, before proceeding to attack schwarzenberg's bohemian army, he was unexpectedly attacked on the right bank of the pleisse, at liebert-wolkwitz, by the austrians, who were, however, compelled to retire before a superior force. the french cavalry under latour-maubourg pressed so closely upon the emperor of russia and the king of prussia that they merely owed their escape to the gallantry of the russian, orlow denisow, and to latour's fall. napoleon had already ordered all the bells in leipzig to be rung, had sent the news of his victory to paris, and seems to have expected a complete triumph when joyfully exclaiming, "le monde tourne pour nous!" but his victory had been only partial, and he had been unable to follow up his advantage, another division of the austrian army, under general meerveldt, having simultaneously occupied him and compelled him to cross the pleisse at dolnitz; and, although meerveldt had been in his turn repulsed with severe loss and been himself taken prisoner, the diversion proved of service to the austrians by keeping napoleon in check until the arrival of blücher, who threw himself upon the division of the french army opposed to him at möckern by marshal marmont. napoleon, while thus occupied with the austrians, was unable to meet the attack of the prussians with sufficient force. marmont, after a massacre of some hours' duration in and around möckern, was compelled to retire with a loss of forty guns. the second prussian brigade lost, either in killed or wounded, all its officers except one. the battle had, on the th of october, raged around leipzig; napoleon had triumphed over the austrians, whom he had solely intended to attack, but had, at the same time, been attacked and defeated by the prussians, and now found himself opposed and almost surrounded--one road for retreat alone remaining open--by the whole allied force. he instantly gave orders to general bertrand to occupy weissenfels during the night, in order to secure his retreat through thuringia; but, during the following day, the th of october, neither seized that opportunity in order to effect a retreat or to make a last and energetic attack upon the allies, whose forces were not yet completely concentrated, ere the circle had been fully drawn around him. the swedes, the russians under bennigsen, and a large austrian division under colloredo, had not yet arrived. napoleon might with advantage have again attacked the defeated austrians under schwarzenberg or have thrown himself with the whole of his forces upon blücher. he had still an opportunity of making an orderly retreat without any great exposure to danger. but he did neither. he remained motionless during the whole day, which was also passed in tranquillity by the allies, who thus gained time to receive fresh reinforcements. napoleon's inactivity was caused by his having sent his prisoner, general meerveldt, to the emperor of austria, whom he still hoped to induce, by means of great assurances, to secede from the coalition and to make peace. not even a reply was vouchsafed. on the very day, thus futilely lost by napoleon, the allied army was reintegrated by the arrival of the masses commanded by the crown prince, by bennigsen and colloredo, and was consequently raised to double the strength of that of france, which now merely amounted to one hundred and fifty thousand men. on the th, a murderous conflict began on both sides. napoleon long and skilfully opposed the fierce onset of the allied troops, but was at length driven off the field by their superior weight and persevering efforts. the austrians, stationed on the left wing of the allied army, were opposed by oudinot, augereau, and poniatowsky; the prussians, stationed on the right wing, by marmont and ney; the russians and swedes in the centre, by murat and regnier. in the hottest of the battle, two saxon cavalry regiments went over to blücher, and general normann, when about to be charged at taucha by the prussian cavalry under billow, also deserted to him with two würtemberg cavalry regiments, in order to avoid an unpleasant reminiscence of the treacherous ill-treatment of lützow's corps. the whole of the saxon infantry, commanded by regnier, shortly afterward went, with thirty-eight guns, over to the swedes, five hundred men and general zeschau alone remaining true to napoleon. the saxons stationed themselves behind the lines of the allies, but their guns were instantly turned upon the enemy.[ ] in the evening of this terrible day, the french were driven back close upon the walls of leipzig.[ ] on the certainty of victory being announced by schwarzenberg to the three monarchs, who had watched the progress of the battle, they knelt on the open field and returned thanks to god. napoleon, before nightfall, gave orders for full retreat; but, on the morning of the th, recommenced the battle and sacrificed some of his _corps d'armee_ in order to save the remainder. he had, however, foolishly left but one bridge across the elster open, and the retreat was consequently retarded. leipzig was stormed by the prussians, and, while the french rearguard was still battling on that side of the bridge, napoleon fled, and had no sooner crossed the bridge than it was blown up with a tremendous explosion, owing to the inadvertence of a subaltern, who is said to have fired the train too hastily. the troops engaged on the opposite bank were irremediably lost. prince poniatowsky plunged on horseback into the elster in order to swim across, but sank in the deep mud. the king of saxony, who to the last had remained true to napoleon, was among the prisoners. the loss during this battle, which raged for four days, and in which almost every nation in europe stood opposed to each other, was immense on both sides. the total loss in dead was computed at eighty thousand. the french lost, moreover, three hundred guns and a multitude of prisoners; in the city of leipzig alone twenty-three thousand sick, without reckoning the innumerable wounded. numbers of these unfortunates lay bleeding and starving to death during the cold october nights on the field of battle, it being found impossible to erect a sufficient number of lazaretti for their accommodation. napoleon made a hasty and disorderly retreat with the remainder of his troops, but was overtaken at freiburg on the unstrutt, where the bridge broke, and a repetition of the disastrous passage of the beresina occurred. the fugitives collected into a dense mass, upon which the prussian artillery played with murderous effect. the french lost forty of their guns. at hanau, wrede, napoleon's former favorite, after taking würzburg, watched the movements of his ancient patron, and, had he occupied the pass at gelnhausen, might have annihilated him. napoleon, however, furiously charged his flank, and, on the th of october, succeeded in forcing a passage and in sending seventy thousand men across the rhine. wrede was dangerously wounded.[ ] on the th of november, the last french corps was defeated at hochheim and driven back upon mayence. in the november of this ever memorable year, , germany, as far as the rhine, was completely freed from the french.[ ] above a hundred thousand french troops, still shut up in the fortresses and cut off from all communication with france, gradually surrendered. in october, the allies took bremen; in november, stettin, zamosk, modlin, and those two important points, dresden and dantzig. in dresden, gouvion st. cyr capitulated to count klenau, who granted him free egress on condition of the delivery of the whole of the army stores. st. cyr, however, infringed the terms of capitulation by destroying several of the guns and sinking the gunpowder in the elbe; consequently, on the non-recognition of the capitulation by the generalissimo, schwarzenberg, he found himself without means of defence and was compelled to surrender at discretion with a garrison thirty-five thousand strong. rapp, the alsatian, commanded in dantzig. this city had already fearfully suffered from the commercial interdiction, from the exactions and the scandalous license of its french protectors, whom the ravages of famine and pestilence finally compelled to yield.[ ] lubeck and torgau fell in december; the typhus, which had never ceased to accompany the armies, raged there in the crowded hospitals, carrying off thousands, and greater numbers fell victims to this pestilential disease than to the war, not only among the troops, but in every part of the country through which they passed. wittenberg, whose inhabitants had been shamefully abused by the french under lapoype, custrin, glogau, wesel, erfurt, fell in the beginning of ; magdeburg and bremen, after the conclusion of the war. the rhenish confederation was dissolved, each of the princes securing his hereditary possessions by a timely secession. the kings of westphalia and saxony, dalberg, grand-duke of frankfort, and the princes of isenburg and von der leyen, who had too heavily sinned against germany, were alone excluded from pardon. the king of saxony was at first carried prisoner to berlin, and afterward, under the protection of austria, to prague. denmark also concluded peace at kiel and ceded norway to sweden, upon which the swedes, _quasi re bene gesta_, returned home.[ ] [footnote : this general belonged to a german family long naturalized in russia.] [footnote : he was led through silesia, which he had once so shamefully plundered, and, although no physical punishment was inflicted upon him, he was often compelled to hear the voice of public opinion, and was exposed to the view of the people to whom he had once said, "nothing shall be left to you except your eyes, that you may be able to weep over your wretchedness."--_manso's history of prussia._] [footnote : an ancient battle-axe of serpentine stone was found on the site fixed upon for the erection of a fresh monument in honor of the present victory.--_allgemenie zeitung, ._] [footnote : this piece of good fortune befell langeron, the russian general, who belonged to the diplomatic party at that time attempting to spare the forces of russia, austria, and sweden at the expense of prussia, and, at the same time, to deprive prussia of her well-won laurels. langeron had not obeyed blucher's orders, had remained behind on his own responsibility, and the scattered french troops fell into his hands.] [footnote : the proud armies of russia and sweden (forty-six battalions, forty squadrons, and one hundred and fifty guns) followed to the rear of the prussians without firing a shot and remained inactive spectators of the action.--_plotho._] [footnote : in order to avoid being carried along by the fugitive french, they fired upon them whenever their confused masses came too close upon them.--_bölderndorf._] [footnote : vide wagner's chronicle of altenburg.] [footnote : maximilian joseph declared in an open manifesto; bavaria was compelled to furnish thirty-eight thousand men for the russian campaign, and, on her expressing a hope that such an immense sacrifice would not be requested, france instantly declared the princes of the rhenish confederation her vassals, who were commanded "under punishment of felony" unconditionally to obey each of napoleon's demands. the allies would, on the contrary, have acceded to all the desires of bavaria and have guaranteed that kingdom. even the austrian troops, that stood opposed to bavaria, were placed under wrede's command.--raglowich received permission from napoleon, before the battle of leipzig, to return to bavaria; but his corps was retained in the vicinity of leipzig without taking part in the action, and retired, in the general confusion, under the command of general maillot, upon torgau, whence it returned home.--_bolderndorf._ in the tyrol, the brave mountaineers were on the eve of revolt. as early as september, speckbacher, sick and wasted from his wounds, but endued with all his former fire and energy, reappeared in the tyrol, where he was commissioned by austria to organize a revolt. an unexpected reconciliation, however, taking place between bavaria and austria, counter orders arrived, and speckbacher furiously dashed his bullet- worn hat to the ground.--_brockhaus, ._ the restoration of the tyrol to austria being delayed, a multitude of tyrolese forced their way into innsbruck and deposed the bavarian authorities; their leader, kluibenspedel, was, however, persuaded by austria to submit. speckbacher was, in , raised by the emperor francis to the rank of major; he died in , and was buried at hall by the south wall of the parish church. his son, andre, who grew up a fine, handsome man, died in , at jenbach (not zenbach, as mercy has it in his attacks upon the tyrol), in the tyrol, where he was employed as superintendent of the mines. mercy's travels and his account of speckbacher in the milan revista buropea, , are replete with falsehood.] [footnote : according to fain and coulaincourt.] [footnote : on the evening of the th of october (the anniversary of the battle of jena), a hurricane raged in the neighborhood of leipzig, where the french lay, carried away roofs and uprooted trees, while, during the whole night, the rain fell in violent floods.] [footnote : not so the badeners and hessians. the baden corps was captured almost to a man; among others, prince emilius of darmstadt. baden had been governed, since the death of the popular grandduke, charles frederick, in , by his grandson, charles.--franquemont, with the würtemberg infantry, eight to nine thousand strong, acted independently of normann's cavalry. but one thousand of their number remained after the battle of leipzig, and, without going over to the allies, returned to würtemberg. normann was punished by his sovereign.] [footnote : the city was in a state of utter confusion. "the noise caused by the passage of the cavalry, carriages, etc., by the cries of the fugitives through the streets, exceeded that of the most terrific storm. the earth shook, the windows clattered with the thunder of artillery," etc.--_the terrors of leipzig, ._] [footnote : the king of würtemberg, who had fifteen hundred men close at hand, did not send them to the aid of the bavarians, nor did he go over to the allies until the d of november.] [footnote : in november, one hundred and forty thousand french prisoners and seven hundred and ninety-one guns were in the hands of the allies.] [footnote : dantzig had formerly sixty thousand inhabitants, the population was now reduced to thirteen thousand. numbers died of hunger, rapp having merely stored the magazines for his troops. fifteen thousand of the french garrison died, and yet fourteen generals, upward of a thousand officers, and about as many comptrollers belonging to the grand army, who had taken refuge in that city, were, on the capitulation of the fortress, made prisoners of war.] [footnote : the injustice thus favored by the first peace was loudly complained of.--_manso._] cclxii. napoleon's fall napoleon was no sooner driven across the rhine, than the defection of the whole of the rhenish confederation, of holland, switzerland, and italy ensued. the whole of the confederated german princes followed the example of bavaria and united their troops with those of the allies. jerome had fled; the kingdom of westphalia had ceased to exist, and the exiled princes of hesse, brunswick, and oldenburg returned to their respective territories. the rhenish provinces were instantly occupied by prussian troops and placed under the patriotic administration of justus gruner, who was joined by görres of coblentz, whose rhenish mercury so powerfully influenced public opinion that napoleon termed him the fifth great european power.[ ] the dutch revolted and took the few french still remaining in the country prisoner. hogendorp was placed at the head of a provisional government in the name of william of orange.[ ] the prussians under bulow entered the country and were received with great acclamation. the whole of the dutch fortresses surrendered, the french garrisons flying panic-stricken. the swiss remained faithful to napoleon until the arrival of schwarzenberg with the allied army on their frontiers.[ ] napoleon would gladly have beheld the swiss sacrifice themselves for him for the purpose of keeping the allies in check, but reinhard of zurich, who was at that time _landammnann_, prudently resolved not to persevere in the demand for neutrality, to lay aside every manifestation of opposition, and to permit, it being impossible to prevent, the entrance of the troops into the country, by which he, moreover, ingratiated himself with the allies. the majority of his countrymen thanked heaven for their deliverance from french oppression, and if, in their ancient spirit of egotism, they neglected to aid the great popular movement throughout germany, they, at all events, sympathized in the general hatred toward france.[ ] the ancient aristocrats now naturally reappeared and attempted to re-establish the oligarchical governments of the foregoing century. a count senfft von pilsach, a pretended austrian envoy, who was speedily disavowed, assumed the authority at berne with so much assurance as to succeed in deposing the existing government and reinstating the ancient oligarchy. in zurich, the constitution was also revised and the citizens reassumed their authority over the peasantry. the whole of switzerland was in a state of ferment. ancient claims of the most varied description were asserted. the people of the grisons took up arms and invaded the valtelline in order to retake their ancient possession. pancratius, abbot of st. gall, demanded the restoration of his princely abbey.--italy, also, deserted napoleon. murat, king of naples, in order not to lose his crown, joined the allies. eugene beauharnais, viceroy of italy, alone remained true to his imperial stepfather and gallantly opposed the austrians under hiller, who, nevertheless, rapidly reduced the whole of upper italy to submission. the allies, when on the point of entering the french territory, solemnly declared that their enmity was directed not against the french nation, but solely against napoleon. by this generosity they hoped at once to prove the beneficence of their intentions to every nation of europe and to prejudice the french, more particularly, against their tyrant; but that people, notwithstanding their immense misfortunes, still remained true to napoleon nor hesitated to sacrifice themselves for the man who had raised them to the highest rank among the nations of the earth, and thousands flocked anew beneath the imperial eagle for the defence of their native soil. the allies invaded france simultaneously on four sides, bulow from holland, blucher, on new year's eve, , from coblentz, and the main body of the allied army under schwarzenberg, which was also accompanied by the allied sovereigns. a fourth army, consisting of english and spaniards, had already crossed the pyrenees and marched up the country. the great wars in russia and germany having compelled napoleon to draw off a considerable number of his forces from spain, soult had been consequently unable to keep the field against wellington, whose army had been gradually increased. king joseph fled from madrid. the french hazarded a last engagement at vittoria, in june, , but suffered a terrible defeat. one of the two nassau regiments under colonel kruse and the frankfort battalion deserted with their arms and baggage to the english. the other nassau regiment and that of baden were disarmed by the french and dragged in chains to france in reward for their long and severe service.[ ] the hanoverians in wellington's army (the german legion), particularly the corps of victor von alten (charles's brother), brilliantly distinguished themselves at vittoria and again at bayonne, but were forgotten in the despatches, an omission that was loudly complained of by their general, hinuber. other divisions of hanoverians, up to this period stationed in sicily, had been sent to garrison leghorn and genoa.[ ]--the crown prince of sweden followed the prussian northern army, but merely went as far as liege, whence he turned back in order to devote his whole attention to the conquest of norway. in the midst of the contest a fresh congress was assembled at chatillon, for the purpose of devising measures for the conclusion of the war without further bloodshed. the whole of ancient france was offered to napoleon on condition of his restraining his ambition within her limits and of keeping peace, but he refused to cede a foot of land, and resolved to lose all or nothing. this congress was in so far disadvantageous on account of the rapid movements of the armies being checked by its fluctuating diplomacy. schwarzenberg, for instance, pursued a system of procrastination, separated his _corps d'armee_ at long intervals, advanced with extreme slowness, or remained entirely stationary. napoleon took advantage of this dilatoriness on the part of his opponents to make an unexpected attack on blucher's corps at brienne on the th of january, in which blucher narrowly escaped being made prisoner. the flames of the city, in which napoleon had received his first military lessons, facilitated blucher's retreat. napoleon, however, neglecting to pursue him on the th of january, blucher, reinforced by the crown prince of wurtemberg and by wrede, attacked him at la rothière with such superior forces as to put him completely to the rout. the french left seventy-three guns sticking in the mud. schwarzenberg, nevertheless, instead of pursuing the retreating enemy with the whole of his forces, again delayed his advance and divided the troops. blucher, who had meanwhile rapidly pushed forward upon paris, was again unexpectedly attacked by the main body of the french army, and the whole of his corps were, as they separately advanced, repulsed with considerable loss, the russians under olsufief at champeaubert, those under sacken at montmirail, the prussians under york at château-thierry, and, finally, blucher himself at beaux-champ, between the th and th of february. with characteristic rapidity, napoleon instantly fell upon the scattered corps of the allied army and inflicted a severe punishment upon schwarzenberg, for the folly of his system. he successively repulsed the russians under pahlen at mormant, wrede at villeneuve le comte, the crown prince of wurtemberg, who offered the most obstinate resistance, at montereau, on the th and th of february.[ ] augereau had meantime, with an army levied in the south of france, driven the austrians, under bubna, into switzerland; and, although the decisive moment had arrived, and schwarzenberg had simply to form a junction with blucher in order to bring an overwhelming force against napoleon, the allied sovereigns and schwarzenberg resolved, in a council of war held at troyes, upon a general retreat. blucher, upon this, magnanimously resolved to obviate at all hazards the disastrous consequences of the retreat of the allied army, and, in defiance of all commands, pushed forward alone.[ ] this movement, far from being rash, was coolly calculated, blucher being sufficiently reinforced on the marne by winzingerode and bulow, by whose aid he, on the th march, defeated the emperor napoleon at laon. the victory was still undecided at fall of night. napoleon allowed his troops to rest, but blucher remained under arms and sent york to surprise him during the night. the french were completely dispersed and lost forty-six guns. napoleon, after this miserable defeat, again tried his fortune against schwarzenberg (who, put to shame by blucher's brilliant success, had again halted), and, on the th of march, maintained his position at arcis sur aube, although the crown prince of wurtemberg gallantly led his troops five times to the assault. neither side was victorious. napoleon now resorted to a bold _ruse de guerre_. the peasantry, more particularly in lorraine, exasperated by the devastation unavoidable during war time, and by the vengeance here and there taken by the foreign soldiery, had risen to the rear of the allied army. unfortunately, no one had dreamed of treating the german alsatians and lothringians as brother germans. they were treated as french. long unaccustomed to invasion and to the calamities incidental to war, they made a spirited but ineffectual resistance to the rapine of the soldiery. whole villages were burned down. the peasantry gathered into troops and massacred the foreign soldiery when not in sufficient numbers to keep them in check. napoleon confidently expected that his diminished armies would be supported by a general rising _en masse_, and that augereau, who was at that time guarding lyons, would form a junction with him; and, in this expectation, threw himself to the rear of the allied forces and took up a position at troyes with a view of cutting them off, perhaps of surrounding them by means of the general rising, or, at all events, of drawing them back to the rhine. but, on the self-same day, the th of march, lyons had fallen and augereau had retreated southward. the people did not rise _en masse_, and the allies took advantage of napoleon's absence to form a grand junction, and, with flying banners, to march unopposed upon paris, convinced that the possession of the capital of the french empire must inevitably bring the war to a favorable conclusion. in paris, there were numerous individuals who already regarded napoleon's fall as _un fait accompli_, and who, ambitious of influencing the future prospects of france, were ready to offer their services to the victors. both parties speedily came to an understanding. the _corps d'armee_ under marshals mortier and marmont, which were encountered midway, were repulsed, and that under generals pacthod and amey captured, together with seventy pieces of artillery, at la fère ohampenoise. on the th of march, the dark columns of the allied army defiled within sight of paris. on the th, they met with a spirited resistance on the heights of belleville and montmartre; but the city, in order to escape bombardment, capitulated during the night, and, on the st, the allied sovereigns made a peaceful entry. the empress, accompanied by the king of rome, by joseph, ex-king of spain, and by innumerable wagons, laden with the spoil of europe, had already fled to the south of france. napoleon, completely deceived by winzingerode and tettenborn, who had remained behind with merely a weak rearguard, first learned the advance of the main body upon paris when too late to overtake it. after almost annihilating his weak opponents at st. dizier, he reached fontainebleau, where he learned the capitulation of paris, and, giving way to the whole fury of his corsican temperament, offered to yield the city for two days to the license of his soldiery would they but follow him to the assault. but his own marshals, even his hero, ney, deserted him, and, on the th of april, he was compelled to resign the imperial crown of france and to withdraw to the island of elba on the coast of italy, which was placed beneath his sovereignty and assigned to him as a residence. the kingdom of france was re-established on its former footing; and, on the th of may, louis xviii. entered paris and mounted the throne of his ancestors. davoust was the last to offer resistance. the russians under bennigsen besieged him in hamburg, and, on his final surrender, treated him with the greatest moderation.[ ] on the th of may, , peace was concluded at paris.[ ] france was reduced to her limits as in , and consequently retained the provinces of alsace and lorraine, of which she had, at an earlier period, deprived germany. not a farthing was paid by way of compensation for the ravages suffered by germany, nay, the french prisoners of war were, on their release, maintained on their way home at the expense of the german population. none of the _chefs-d'oeuvres_ of which europe had been plundered were restored, with the sole exception of the group of horses, taken by napoleon from the brandenburg gate at berlin. the allied troops instantly evacuated the country. france was allowed to regulate her internal affairs without the interference of any of the foreign powers, while paragraphs concerning the internal economy of germany were not only admitted into the treaty of paris, and france was on that account not only called upon to guarantee and to participate in the internal affairs of germany, but also afterward sent to the great congress of vienna an ambassador destined to play an important part in the definitive settlement of the affairs of europe, and, more particularly, of those of germany. the patriots, of whom the governments had made use both before and after the war, unable to comprehend that the result of such immense exertions and of such a complete triumph should be to bring greater profit and glory to france than to germany, and that their patriotism was, on the conclusion of the war, to be renounced, were loud in their complaints.[ ] but the revival of the german empire, with which the individual interests of so many princely houses were plainly incompatible, was far from entering into the plans of the allied powers. an attempt made by any one among the princes to place himself at the head of the whole of germany would have been frustrated by the rest. the policy of the foreign allies was moreover antipathetic to such a scheme. england opposed and sought to hinder unity in germany, not only for the sake of retaining possession of hanover and of exercising an influence over the disunited german princes similar to that exercised by her over the princes of india, but more particularly for that of ruling the commerce of germany. russia reverted to her erfurt policy. her interests, like those of france, led her to promote disunion among the german powers, whose weakness, the result of want of combination, placed them at the mercy of france, and left poland, sweden, and the east open to the ambition of russia. a close alliance was in consequence instantly formed between the emperor alexander and louis xviii., the former negotiating, as the first condition of peace, the continuance of lorraine and alsace beneath the sovereignty of france. austria assented on condition of italy being placed exclusively beneath her control. austria united too many and too diverse nations beneath her sceptre to be able to pursue a policy pre-eminently german, and found it more convenient to round off her territories by the annexation of upper italy than by that of distant lorraine, at all times a possession difficult to maintain. prussia was too closely connected with russia, and hardenberg, unlike blucher at the head of the prussian army, was powerless at the head of prussian diplomacy. the lesser states also exercised no influence upon germany as a whole, and were merely intent upon preserving their individual integrity or upon gaining some petty advantage. the germans, some few discontented patriots alone excepted, were more than ever devoted to their ancient princes, both to those who had retained their station and to those who returned to their respective territories on the fall of napoleon; and the victorious soldiery, adorned with ribbons, medals, and orders (the prussians, for instance, with the iron cross), evinced the same unreserved attachment to their prince and zeal for his individual interest. this complication of circumstances can alone explain the fact of germany, although triumphant, having made greater concessions to france by the treaty of paris than, when humbled, by that of westphalia. [footnote : his principal thesis consisted of "we are not prussians, westphalians, saxons, etc., but germans."] [footnote : this prince took the title not of stadtholder, but of king, to which he had no claim, but in which he was supported by england and russia, who unwillingly beheld prussia aggrandized by the possession of holland.] [footnote : even in the may of , an ode given in no. of the allgemeine zeitung, appeared in switzerland, in which it was said, "the brave warriors of switzerland hasten to reap fresh laurels. with their heroic blood have they dyed the distant shores of barbarous haiti, the waters of the ister and tagus, etc. the deserts of sarmatia have witnessed the martial glories of the helvetic legion."] [footnote : shortly before this, a report had been spread of the nomination of marshal berthier, prince of neufchatel, as perpetual landammann of switzerland.--_muralt's reinhard_.] [footnote : out of two thousand six hundred and fifty-four badeners but five hundred and six returned from spain.] [footnote : beamisch, history of the legion.] [footnote : several regiments sacrificed themselves in order to cover the retreat of the rest. napoleon ordered a twelve-pounder to be loaded and twice directed the gun with his own hand upon the crown prince.--_campaigns of the würterribergers._] [footnote : blücher's conduct simply proceeded from his impatience to obtain by force of arms the most honorable terms of peace for prussia, while the other allied powers, who were far more indulgently disposed toward france and who began to view the victories gained by prussia with an apprehension which was further strengthened by the increasing popularity of that power throughout germany, were more inclined to diplomatize than to fight. blücher was well aware of these reasons for diplomacy and more than once cut the negotiations short with his sabre. a well-known diplomatist attempting on one occasion to prove to him that napoleon must, even without the war being continued, "descend from his throne," a league having been formed within france herself for the restoration of the bourbons--he answered him to his face, "the rascality of the french is no revenge for us. it is we who must pull him down--we. you will no doubt do wonders in your wisdom!--patience! you will be led as usual by the nose, and will still go on fawning and diplomatizing until we have the nation again upon us, and the storm bursts over our heads." he went so far as to set the diplomatists actually at defiance. on being, to napoleon's extreme delight, ordered to retreat, he treated the order with contempt and instantly advanced.--_rauschnick's life of blücher_. "this second disjunction on blücher's part," observes clausewitz, the prussian general, the best commentator on this war, "was of infinite consequence, for it checked and gave a fresh turn to the whole course of political affairs."] [footnote : görres said in the rhenish mercury, "it is easy to see how all are inclined to conceal beneath the wide mantle of love the horrors there perpetrated. the germans have from time immemorial been subjected to this sort of treatment, because ever ready to forgive and forget the past." davoust was arrested merely for form's sake and then honorably released. he was allowed to retain the booty he had seized. the citizens of hamburg vainly implored the re-establishment of their bank.] [footnote : blücher took no part in these affairs. "i have," said he to the diplomatists, "done my duty, now do yours! you will be responsible both to god and man should your work be done in vain and have to be done over again. i have nothing further to do with the business!"--experience had, however, taught him not to expect much good from "quill-drivers."] [footnote : the rhenish mercury more than all. it was opposed by the messenger of the tyrol, which declared that the victory was gained, not by the "people," as they were termed, but by the princes and their armies.--_july, _.] cclxiii. the congress of vienna--napoleon's return and end from paris the sovereigns of prussia[ ] and russia and the victorious field-marshals proceeded, in june, to london, where they, blucher most particularly, were received with every demonstration of delight and respect by the english, their oldest and most faithful allies.[ ] toward autumn, a great european congress, to which the settlement of every point in dispute and the restoration of order throughout europe were to be committed, was convoked at vienna. at this congress, which, in the november of , was opened at vienna, the emperors of austria and russia, the kings of prussia, denmark, bavaria, wurtemberg, and the greater part of the petty princes of germany, were present in person; the other powers were represented by ambassadors extraordinary. the greatest statesmen of that period were here assembled; among others, metternich, the austrian minister, hardenberg and humboldt, the prussian ministers, castlereagh, the english plenipotentiary, nesselrode, the russian envoy, talleyrand and dalberg, gagern, bernstorff, and wrede, the ambassadors of france, holland, denmark, and bavaria, etc. the negotiations were of the utmost importance, for, although one of the most difficult points, the new regulation of affairs in france, was already settled, many extremely difficult questions still remained to be solved. talleyrand, who had served under every government, under the republic, under the usurper, napoleon; who had retaken office under the bourbons and the jesuits who had returned in their train, and who, on this occasion, was the representative of the criminal and humbled french nation, ventured, nevertheless, to offer his perfidious advice to the victors, and, with diabolical art, to sow the seed of discord among them. this conduct was the more striking on account of its glaring incongruity with the proclamation of calisch, which expressly declared that the internal affairs of germany were wholly and solely to be arranged by the princes and nations of germany, without foreign, and naturally, least of all, without french interference.[ ] talleyrand's first object was to suppress the popular spirit of liberty throughout germany, and to rouse against it the jealous apprehensions of the princes. he therefore said, "you wish for constitutions; guard against them. in france, desire for a constitution produced a revolution, and the same will happen to you." he it was who gave to the congress that catchword, legitimacy. the object of the past struggle was not the restoration of the liberties of the people but that of the ancient legitimate dynasties and their absolute sovereignty. the war had been directed, not against napoleon, but against the revolution, against the usurpation of the people. by means of this legitimacy the king of saxony was to be re-established on his throne, and prussia was on no account to be permitted to incorporate saxony with her dominions. prussia appealed to her services toward germany, to her enormous sacrifices, to the support given to her by public opinion; but the power of public opinion was itself questioned. the seeds of discord quickly sprang up, and, on the d of january, , a secret league against prussia was already formed for the purpose of again humbling the state that had sacrificed all for the honor of germany, of frustrating her schemes of aggrandizement, and of quenching the patriotic spirit of german idealists and enthusiasts.[ ] the want of unanimity amid the members of the congress had at the same time a bad effect upon the ancient rhenish confederated states. in nassau, the _landwehr_ was, on its return home after the campaign, received with marks of dissatisfaction. in baden and hesse, many of the officers belonging to the army openly espoused napoleon's cause. in baden, the volunteer corps was deprived of its horses and sent home on foot.[ ] in wurtemberg, king frederick refused to allow the foreign troops and convoys a passage along the highroad through cannstadt and ludwigsburg, and forbade the attendance of civil surgeons upon the wounded belonging to the allied army. in wurtemberg and bavaria, the rhenish mercury was suppressed on account of its patriotic and german tendency. at stuttgard, the festival in commemoration of the battle of leipzig was disallowed; and in frankfort on the maine, the editor of a french journal ventured, unreprimanded, to turn this festival into ridicule. switzerland was in a high state of ferment. the people of the grisons, who had taken possession of the valtelline, and the people of uri, who had seized the livinenthal, had been respectively driven out of those territories by the austrians. the valais, geneva, neufchatel, and pruntrut were, on the other hand, desirous of joining the confederation. the democratic peasantry were almost everywhere at war with the aristocratic burghers. berne revived her claim upon vaud and aargau, which armed in self-defence.[ ] reinhard of zurich, the swiss _landammann_, went, meanwhile, at the head of an embassy to vienna, for the purpose of settling in the congress the future destinies of switzerland by means of the intervention of the great powers. talleyrand, with unparalleled impudence, also interfered in this affair, threatened to refuse his recognition to every measure passed without his concurrence, and compelled the swiss to entreat him to honor the deliberations with his presence. on austria's demanding a right of conscription in the grisons alone, france having enjoyed that right throughout the whole of switzerland at an earlier period, talleyrand advised the swiss to make a most violent opposition against an attempt that placed their independence at stake. "cry out," he exclaimed, "cry out, as loud as you can!"[ ] the disputes in the congress raised napoleon's hopes. in france, his party was still powerful, almost the whole of the population being blindly devoted to him, and an extensive conspiracy for his restoration to the imperial throne was secretly set on foot. several thousands of his veteran soldiery had been released from foreign durance; the whole of the military stores, the spoil of europe, still remained in the possession of france; the fortresses were solely garrisoned with french troops; elba was close at hand, and the emperor was guarded with criminal negligence. heavy, indeed, is the responsibility of those who, by thus neglecting their charge, once more let loose this scourge upon the earth![ ] napoleon quitted his island, and, on the st of march, , again set foot on the coast of france. he was merely accompanied by one thousand five hundred men, but the whole of the troops sent against him by louis xviii. ranged themselves beneath his eagle. he passed, as if in triumph, through his former empire. the whole nation received him with acclamations of delight. not a single frenchman shed a drop of blood for the bourbon, who fled hastily to ghent; and, on the th of march, napoleon entered paris unopposed. his brother-in-law, murat, at the same time revolted at naples and advanced into upper italy against the austrians. but all the rest of napoleon's ancient allies, persuaded that he must again fall, either remained tranquil or formed a close alliance with the combined powers. the swiss, in particular, showed excessive zeal on this occasion, and took up arms against france, in the hope of rendering the allied sovereigns favorable to their new constitution, the swiss regiments, which had passed from napoleon's service to that of louis xviii., also remained unmoved by napoleon's blandishments, were deprived of their arms and returned separately to switzerland. the allied sovereigns were still assembled at vienna, and at once allowed every dispute to drop in order to form a fresh and closer coalition. they declared napoleon an outlaw, a robber, proscribed by all europe, and bound themselves to bring a force more than a million strong into the field against him. all napoleon's cunning attempts to bribe and set them at variance were treated with scorn, and the combined powers speedily came to an understanding on the points hitherto so strongly contested. saxony was partitioned between her ancient sovereign and prussia, and a revolt that broke out in liege among the saxon troops, who were by command of prussia to be divided before they had been released from their oath of allegiance to their king, is easily explained by the hurry and pressure of the times, which caused all minor considerations to be forgotten.[ ] napoleon exclusively occupied the mind of every diplomatist, and all agreed in the necessity, at all hazards, of his utter annihilation. the lion, thus driven at bay, turned upon his pursuers for a last and desperate struggle. the french were still faithful to napoleon, who, with a view of reinspiring them with the enthusiastic spirit that had rendered them invincible in the first days of the republic, again called forth the old republicans, nominated them to the highest appointments, re-established several republican institutions, and, on the st of june, presented to his dazzled subjects the magnificent spectacle of a field of may, as in the times of charlemagne and in the commencement of the revolution, and then led a numerous and spirited army to the dutch frontiers against the enemy. here stood a prussian army under blucher, and an anglo-german one under wellington, comprehending the dutch under the prince of orange, the brunswickers under their duke, the recruited hanoverian legion under wallmoden. these _corps d'armée_ most imminently threatened paris. the main body of the allied army, under schwarzenberg, then advancing from the south, was still distant. napoleon consequently directed his first attack against the two former. his army had gained immensely in strength and spirit by the return of his veteran troops from foreign imprisonment. wellington, ignorant at what point napoleon might cross the frontier, had followed the old and ill-judged plan of dividing his forces; an incredible error, the allies having simply to unite their forces and to take up a firm position in order to draw napoleon to any given spot. wellington, moreover, never imagined that napoleon was so near at hand, and was amusing himself at a ball at brussels, when blucher, who was stationed in and around namur, was attacked on the th of june, .[ ] napoleon afterward observed in his memoirs that he had attacked blucher first because he well knew that blucher would not be supported by the over-prudent and egotistical english commander, but that wellington, had he been first attacked, would have received every aid from his high-spirited and faithful ally. wellington, after being repeatedly urged by blucher, collected his scattered corps, but neither completely nor with sufficient rapidity; and on blucher's announcement of napoleon's arrival, exerted himself on the following morning so far as to make a _reconnaissance_. the duke of brunswick, with impatience equalling that of blucher, was the only one who had quitted the ball during the night and had hurried forward against the enemy. napoleon, owing to wellington's negligence, gained time to throw himself between him and blucher and to prevent their junction; for he knew the spirit of his opponents. he consequently opposed merely a small division of his army under ney to the english and turned with the whole of his main body against the prussians. the veteran blucher perceived his intentions[ ] and in consequence urgently demanded aid from the duke of wellington, who promised to send him a reinforcement of twenty thousand men by four o'clock on the th. but this aid never arrived, wellington, although ney was too weak to obstruct the movement, making no attempt to perform his promise. wellington retired with superior forces before ney at quatre bras, and allowed the gallant and unfortunate duke william of brunswick to fall a futile sacrifice. blucher meanwhile yielded to the overwhelming force brought against him by napoleon at ligny, also on the th of june. vainly did the prussians rush to the attack beneath the murderous fire of the french, vainly did blucher in person head the assault and for five hours continue the combat hand to hand in the village of ligny. numbers prevailed, and wellington sent no relief. the infantry being at length driven back, blucher led the cavalry once more to the charge, but was repulsed and fell senseless beneath his horse, which was shot dead. his adjutant, count nostitz, alone remained at his side. the french cavalry passed close by without perceiving them, twilight and a misty rain having begun to fall. the prussians fortunately missed their leader, repulsed the french cavalry, which again galloped past him as he lay on the ground, and he was at length drawn from beneath his horse. he still lived, but only to behold the complete defeat of his army. blucher, although a veteran of seventy-three, and wounded and shattered by his fall, was not for a moment discouraged.[ ] ever vigilant, he assembled his scattered troops with wonderful rapidity, inspirited them by his cheerful words, and had the generosity to promise aid, by the afternoon of the th of june, to wellington, who was now in his turn attacked by the main body of the french under napoleon. what wellington on the th, with a fresh army, could not perform, blucher now effected with troops dejected by defeat, and put the english leader to the deepest shame by--keeping his word.[ ] he consequently fell back upon wavre in order to remain as close as possible in wellington's vicinity, and also sent orders to bulow's corps, that was then on the advance, to join the english army, while napoleon, in the idea that blucher was falling back upon the meuse, sent grouchy in pursuit with a body of thirty-five thousand men.[ ] napoleon, far from imagining that the prussians, after having been, as he supposed, completely annihilated or panic-stricken by grouchy, could aid the british, wasted the precious moments, and, instead of hastily attacking wellington, spent the whole of the morning of the th in uselessly parading his troops, possibly with a view of intimidating his opponents and of inducing them to retreat without hazarding an engagement. his well-dressed lines glittered in the sunbeams; the infantry raised their tschakos on their bayonet points, the cavalry their helmets on their sabres, and gave a general cheer for their emperor. the english, however, preserved an undaunted aspect. at length, about midday, napoleon gave orders for the attack, and, furiously charging the british left wing, drove it from the village of hougumont. he then sent orders to ney to charge the british centre. at that moment a dark spot was seen in the direction of st. lambert. was it grouchy? a reconnoitring party was despatched and returned with the news of its being the prussians under bulow. the attack upon the british centre was consequently remanded, and ney was despatched with a considerable portion of his troops against bulow. wellington now ventured to charge the enemy with his right wing, but was repulsed and lost the farm of la haye sainte, which commanded his position on this side as hougumont did on his right. his centre, however, remained unattacked, the french exerting their utmost strength to keep bulow's gallant troops back at the village of planchenoit, where the battle raged with the greatest fury, and a dreadful conflict of some hours' duration ensued hand to hand. but about five o'clock, the left wing of the british being completely thrown into confusion by a fresh attack on the enemy's side, the whole of the french cavalry, twelve thousand strong, made a furious charge upon the british centre, bore down all before them, and took a great number of guns. the prince of orange was wounded. the road to brussels was already thronged with the fugitive english troops, and wellington, scarcely able to keep his weakened lines together,[ ] was apparently on the brink of destruction, when the thunder of artillery was suddenly heard in the direction of wavre. "it is grouchy!" joyfully exclaimed napoleon, who had repeatedly sent orders to that general to push forward with all possible speed. but it was not grouchy, it was blucher. the faithful troops of the veteran marshal (the old silesian army) were completely worn out by the battle, by their retreat in the heavy rain over deep roads, and by the want of food. the distance from wavre, whence they had been driven, to waterloo, where wellington was then in action, was not great, but was rendered arduous owing to these circumstances. the men sometimes fell down from extreme weariness, and the guns stuck fast in the deep mud. but blucher was everywhere present, and notwithstanding his bodily pain ever cheered his men forward, with "indescribable pathos," saying to his disheartened soldiers, "my children, we must advance; i have promised it, do not cause me to break my word!" while still distant from the scene of action, he ordered the guns to be fired in order to keep up the courage of the english, and at length, between six and seven in the evening, the first prussian corps in advance, that of ziethen, fell furiously upon the enemy: "bravo!" cried blucher, "i know you, my silesians; to-day we shall see the backs of these french rascals!" ziethen filled up the space still intervening between wellington and bulow. exactly at that moment, napoleon had sent his old guard forward in four massive squares in order to make a last attempt to break the british lines, when ziethen fell upon their flank and dealt fearful havoc among their close masses with his artillery. bulow's troops, inspirited by this success, now pressed gallantly forward and finally regained the long-contested village of planchenoit from the enemy. the whole of the prussian army, advancing at the double and with drums beating, had already driven back the right wing of the french, when the english, regaining courage, advanced, napoleon was surrounded on two sides, and the whole of his troops, the old guard under general cambronne alone excepted, were totally dispersed and fled in complete disorder. the old guard, surrounded by bulow's cavalry, nobly replied, when challenged to surrender, "la garde ne se rend pas"; and in a few minutes the veteran conquerors of europe fell beneath the righteous and avenging blows of their antagonists. at the farm of la belle alliance, blucher offered his hand to wellington. "i will sleep to-night in bonaparte's last night's quarters," said wellington. "and i will drive him out of his present ones!" replied blucher. the prussians, fired by enthusiasm, forgot the fatigue they had for four days endured, and, favored by a moonlight night, so zealously pursued the french that an immense number of prisoners and a vast amount of booty fell into their hands and napoleon narrowly escaped being taken prisoner. at genappe, where the bridge was blocked by fugitives, the pursuit was so close that he was compelled to abandon his carriage leaving his sword and hat behind him. blucher, who reached the spot a moment afterward, took possession of the booty, sent napoleon's hat, sword, and star to the king of prussia, retained his cloak, telescope, and carriage for his own use, and gave up everything else, including a quantity of the most valuable jewelry, gold, and money, to his brave soldiery. the whole of the army stores, two hundred and forty guns, and an innumerable quantity of arms thrown away by the fugitives, fell into his hands. the prussian general, thielemann, who, with a few troops, had remained behind at wavre in order, at great hazard, to deceive grouchy into the belief that he was still opposed by blucher's entire force, acted a lesser, but equally honorable part on this great day. he fulfilled his commission with great skill, and so completely deceived grouchy as to hinder his making a single attempt to throw himself in the way of the prussians on the paris road. blucher pushed forward without a moment's delay, and, on the th of june, stood before paris. napoleon had, meanwhile, a second time abdicated, and had fled from paris in the hope of escaping across the seas. davoust, the ancient instrument of his tyranny, who commanded in paris, attempting to make terms of capitulation with blucher, was sharply answered, "you want to make a defence? take care what you do. you well know what license the irritated soldiery will take if your city must be taken by storm. do you wish to add the sack of paris to that of hamburg, already loading your conscience?"[ ] paris surrendered after a severe engagement at issy, and muffling, the prussian general, was placed in command of the city, july the th, . it was on the occasion of a grand banquet given by wellington shortly after the occupation of paris by the allied troops that blucher gave the celebrated toast, "may the pens of diplomatists not again spoil all that the swords of our gallant armies have so nobly won!" schwarzenberg had in the interim also penetrated into france, and the crown prince of wurtemberg had defeated general rapp at strasburg and had surrounded that fortress. the swiss, under general bachmann, who had, although fully equipped for the field, hitherto prudently watched the turn of events, invaded france immediately after the battle of waterloo, pillaged burgundy, besieged and took the fortress of huningen, which, with the permission of the allies, they justly razed to the ground, the insolent french having thence fired upon the bridges of basel which lay close in its vicinity. a fresh austrian army under frimont advanced from italy as far as lyons. on the th of july, napoleon surrendered himself in the bay of rochefort to the english, whose ships prevented his escape; he moreover preferred falling into their hands than into those of the prussians. the whole of france submitted to the triumphant allies, and louis xviii. was reinstated on his throne. murat had also been simultaneously defeated at tolentino in italy by the austrians under bianchi, and ferdinand iv. had been restored to the throne of naples. murat fled to corsica, but his retreat to france was prevented by the success of the allies, and in his despair he, with native rashness, yielded to the advice of secret intriguants and returned to italy with a design of raising a popular insurrection, but was seized on landing and shot on the th of october.[ ] blucher was greatly inclined to give full vent to his justly roused rage against paris. the bridge of jena, one of the numerous bridges across the seine, the principal object of his displeasure, was, curiously enough, saved from destruction (he had already attempted to blow it up) by the arrival of the king of prussia.[ ] his proposal to punish france by partitioning the country and thus placing it on a par with germany, was far more practical in its tendency. this honest veteran had in fact a deeper insight into affairs than the most wary diplomatists.[ ] in , the same persons, as in , met in paris, and similar interests were agitated. foreign jealousy again effected the conclusion of this peace at the expense of germany and in favor of france. blucher's influence at first reigned supreme. the king of prussia, who, together with the emperors of russia and austria, revisited paris, took stein and gruner into his council. the crown prince of wurtemberg also zealously exerted himself in favor of the reunion of lorraine and alsace with germany.[ ] but russia and england beholding the reintegration of germany with displeasure, austria,[ ] and finally prussia, against whose patriots all were in league, yielded.[ ] the future destinies of europe were settled on the side of england by wellington and castlereagh; on that of russia by prince john razumowsky, nesselrode, and capo d'istria; on that of austria by metternich and wessenberg; on that of prussia by hardenberg and william von humboldt. the german patriots were excluded from the discussion,[ ] and a result extremely unfavorable to germany naturally followed:[ ] alsace and lorraine remained annexed to france. by the second treaty of paris, which was definitively concluded on the th of november, , france was merely compelled to give up the fortresses of philippeville, marienburg, sarlouis, and landau, to demolish huningen, and to allow eighteen other fortresses on the german frontier to be occupied by the allies until the new government had taken firm footing in france. until then, one hundred and fifty thousand of the allied troops were also to remain within the french territory and to be maintained at the expense of the people. france was, moreover, condemned to pay seven hundred millions of francs toward the expenses of the war and to restore the _chef d'oeuvres_ of which she had deprived every capital in europe. the sword of frederick the great was not refound: marshal serrurier declared that he had burned it.[ ] on the other hand, however, almost all the famous old german manuscripts, which had formerly been carried from heidelberg to rome, and thence by napoleon to paris, were sent back to heidelberg. one of the most valuable, the manessian code of the swabian minnesingers, was left in paris, where it had been concealed. blucher expired, in , on his estate in silesia.[ ] the french were now sufficiently humbled to remain in tranquillity, and designedly displayed such submission that the allied sovereigns resolved, at a congress held at aix-la-chapelle, in the autumn of , to withdraw their troops. napoleon was, with the concurrence of the assembled powers, taken to the island of st. helena, where, surrounded by the dreary ocean, several hundred miles from any inhabited spot, and guarded with petty severity by the english, he was at length deprived of every means of disturbing the peace of europe. inactivity and the unhealthiness of the climate speedily dissolved the earthly abode of this giant spirit. he expired on the th of may, . his consort, maria louisa, was created duchess of parma; and his son lived, under the title of duke of reichstadt, with his imperial grandfather at vienna, until his death in . napoleon's stepson, eugene beauharnais, the former viceroy of italy, the son-in-law to the king of bavaria, received the newly-created mediatized principality of eichstadt, which was dependent upon bavaria, and the title of duke of leuchtenberg. jerome, the former king of westphalia, became count de montfort;[ ] louis, ex-king of holland, count de st. leu. [footnote : from london, frederick william went to switzerland and took possession of his ancient hereditary territory, wälsch-neuenburg or neufchâtel, visited the beautiful bernese oberland, and then returned to berlin, where, on the th of august, he passed in triumph through the brandenburg gate, which was again adorned with the car of victory and the fine group of horses, and rode through the lime trees to an altar, around which the clergy belonging to every religious sect were assembled. here public thanks were given and the whole of the citizens present fell upon their knees.--_allgemeine zeitung, _. on the th of september, the preparation of a new liturgy was announced in a ministerial proclamation, "by which the solemnity of the church service was to be increased, the present one being too little calculated to excite or strike the imagination."] [footnote : oxford conferred a doctor's degree upon blücher, who, upon receiving this strange honor, said, "make gneisenau apothecary, for he it was who prepared my pills." on his first reception at carlton house, the populace pushed their way through the guards and doors as far as the apartments of the prince-regent, who, taking his gray-headed guest by the hand, presented him to them, and publicly hung his portrait set in brilliants around his neck. on his passing through the streets, the horses were taken from his carriage, and he was drawn in triumph by the shouting crowd. one fête succeeded another. during the great races at ascot, the crowd breaking through the barriers and insisting upon blücher's showing himself, the prince-regent came forward, and, politely telling them that he had not yet arrived, led forward the emperor alexander, who was loudly cheered, but blücher's arrival was greeted with thunders of applause far surpassing those bestowed upon the sovereigns, a circumstance that was afterward blamed by the english papers. in the freemasons' lodge, blücher was received by numbers of ladies, on each of whom he bestowed a salute. at portsmouth, he drank to the health of the english in the presence of an immense concourse of people assembled beneath his windows.--the general rejoicing was solely clouded by the domestic circumstances of the royal family, by the insanity of the aged and blind king and by the disunion reigning between the prince-regent and his thoughtless consort, caroline of brunswick.--although the whole of the allied sovereigns, some of whom were unable to speak english, understood german, french was adopted as the medium of conversation.-- _allgemeine zeitung, ._] [footnote : "there are moments in the life of nations on which the whole of their future destiny depends. the children are destined to expiate their fathers' errors with their blood. germany has everything to fear from the foreigner, and yet she cannot arrange her own affairs without calling the foreigner to her aid.--who, in the congress, chiefly oppose every well-laid plan? who, with the dagger's point pick out and reopen all our wounds, and rub them with salt and poison? who promote confusion, provoke, insinuate, and attempt to creep into every committee, to interfere in every discussion? who but those sent thither by france?"--_the rhenish mercury._] [footnote : fate willed that stein should not be called upon to act with firmness, but hardenberg to make concessions. stein disappeared from the theatre of events and was degraded to a lower sphere. hardenberg was created prince.] [footnote : napoleon had such good friends among the rhenish confederated princes that augustus, duke of gotha, for instance, even after the second occupation of paris, on the return of his troops in the november of , prohibited any demonstrations of triumph and even deprived the _landwehr_ of their uniforms, so that the poor fellows had to return in their shirt-sleeves to their native villages during the hard winter.--_jacob's campaigns._] [footnote : an attack upon berne had already been concerted. colonel bär marched with the people of aargau in the night time upon aarburg, but his confederates failing to make their appearance, he caused the nearest bernese governor to be alarmed and hastily retraced his steps. the bernese instantly sent an armed force to the frontier, where, finding all tranquil, the charge of aggression was thrown upon their shoulders.] [footnote : vide muralt's life of reinhard.] [footnote : blücher was at berlin at the moment when the news of napoleon's escape arrived. he instantly roused the english ambassador from his sleep by shouting in his ear, "have the english a fleet in the mediterranean?"] [footnote : the blame was entirely upon the prussian side. the saxons, as good soldiers, naturally revolted at the idea that they would at once be faithless to their oath and mutinied. general müffling was insulted for having spoken of "saxon hounds." blücher even was compelled secretly to take his departure. the saxon troops were, however, reduced to obedience by superior numbers of prussians, and their colors were burned. the whole corps was about to be decimated, when colonel romer came forward and demanded that the sentence of death should be first executed on him. milder measures were in consequence reverted to, and a few of the men were condemned to death by drawing lots. kanitz, the drummer, a youth of sixteen, however, threw away the dice, exclaiming, "it is i who beat the summons for revolt, and i will be the first to die." he and six others were shot. borstel, the prussian general, the hero of dennewitz, who had steadily refused to burn the saxon colors, was compelled to quit the service.] [footnote : for a refutation of menzel's absurdly perverted relation of these great events, the reader is referred not only to the duke of wellington's despatches and to colonel siborne's well-established account of the battles of ligny, wavre, quatre bras, and waterloo, but also to those of his countrymen, muffling, the prussian general, and wagner.--_trans._] [footnote : shortly before the battle, bourmont, the french general, set up the white cockade (the symbol of bourbon) and deserted to blucher, who merely said, "it is all one what symbol the fellows set up, rascals are ever rascals!"] [footnote : the surgeon, when about to rub him with some liquid, was asked by him what it was, and being told that it was spirits, "ah," said he, "the thing is of no use externally!" and snatching the glass from the hand of his attendant, he drank it off.] [footnote : against all expectation to aid an ally who on the previous day had against all expectation been unable to give him aid, evinced at once magnanimity, sense, and good feeling.--_clausewitz_.] [footnote : a prussian battery, that on its way from namur turned back on receiving news of this disaster and was taken by the french, is said to have chiefly led to the commission of this immense blunder by napoleon.] [footnote : the hanoverian legion again covered itself with glory by the steadiness with which it opposed the enemy. it lost three thousand five hundred men, the dutch eight thousand; the german troops consequently lost collectively as many as the english, whose loss was computed at eleven or twelve thousand men. the prussians, whose loss at ligny and waterloo exceeded that of their allies, behaved with even greater gallantry.] [footnote : the french were extremely affronted on account of this communication being made in german instead of french, and even at the present day german historians are generally struck with deeper astonishment at this sample of blücher's bold spirit than at any other.] [footnote : ney, "the bravest of the brave," who dishonored his bravery by the basest treachery, met with an equally melancholy fate. immediately after having, for instance, kissed the gouty fingers of louis xviii. and boasting that he would imprison napoleon within an iron cage, he went over to the latter. he was sentenced to death and shot, after vainly imploring the allied monarchs and personally petitioning wellington for mercy.--alexander berthier, prince of neufchatel, napoleon's chief confidant, had, even before the outbreak of war, thrown himself out of a window in a fit of hypochondriasis and been killed.] [footnote : talleyrand begged count von der goltz to use his influence for its preservation with blücher, who replied to his entreaties, "i will blow up the bridge, and should very much like to have talleyrand sitting upon it at the time!" an attempt to blow it up was actually made, but failed.] [footnote : many of whom were in fact wilfully blind. hardenberg, by whom the noble-spirited stein was so ill replaced, and who, with all possible decency, ever succeeded in losing in the cabinet the advantages gained by blücher in the field, the diplomatic bird of ill omen by whom the peace of basel had formerly been concluded, was thus addressed by blücher: "i should like you gentlemen of the quill to be for once in a way exposed to a smart platoon fire, just to teach you what perils we soldiers have to run in order to repair the blunders you so thoughtlessly commit." an instructive commentary upon these events is to be met with in stein's letters to gagern. the light in which stein viewed the saxons may be gathered from the following passages in his letters: "my desire for the aggrandizement of prussia proceeded not from a blind partiality to that state, but from the conviction that germany is weakened by a system of partition ruinous alike to her national learning and national feelings."--"it is not for prussia but for germany that i desire a closer, a firmer internal combination, a wish that will accompany me to the grave: the division of our national strength may be gratifying to others, it never can be so to me." this truly german policy mainly distinguished stein from hardenberg, who, thoroughly prussian in his ideas, was incapable of perceiving that prussia's best-understood policy ever will be to identify herself with germany.] [footnote : allgemeine zeitung, no. .] [footnote : it was proposed that lorraine and alsace should be bestowed upon the archduke charles, who at that period wedded the princess henrietta of nassau. the proposition, however, quickly fell to the ground.] [footnote : even in july, their organ, görres's rhenish mercury, was placed beneath the censor. in august, it was said that the men, desirous of giving a constitution to prussia, had fallen into disgrace.--allgemeine zeitung, no. . in september, schmalz, in berlin, unveiled the presumed revolutionary intrigues of the _tugendbund_ and declared "the unity of germany is something to which the spirit of every nation in germany has ever been antipathetic." he received a prussian and a wurtemberg order, besides an extremely gracious autograph letter from the king of prussia, although his base calumnies against the friends of his country were thrown back upon him by the historians niebuhr and runs, who were then in a high position, by schleiermacher, the theologian, and by others. the nobility also began to stir, attempted to regain their ancient privileges in prussia, and intrigued against the men who, during the time of need, had made concessions to the citizens.--allgemeine zeitung, no. .] [footnote : the allgemeine zeitung, no. , laughs at the report of their having withdrawn from the discussion, and says that they were no longer invited to take part in it.] [footnote : on the loud complaints of the rhenish mercury, of the gazettes of bremen and hanau, and even of the allgemeine zeitung, the austrian observer, edited by gentz, declared that "to demand a better peace would be to demand the ruin of france."--allgemeine zeitung, nos. , . on görres's repeated demand for the reannexation of alsace and lorraine, of which germany had been so unwarrantably deprived, the austrian observer declared in the beginning of , "who would believe that görres would lend his pen to such miserable arguments. alsace and lorraine are guaranteed to france. to demand their restoration would be contrary to every notion of honor and justice." in this manner was germany a second time robbed of these provinces. washington paine denominated strasburg, "a melancholy sentry, of which unwary germany has allowed herself to be deprived, and which now, accoutred in an incongruous uniform, does duty against his own country."] [footnote : the invalids had in the same spirit cast the triumphal monument of the field of rossbach into the seine, in order to prevent its restoration. the alarum formerly belonging to frederick the great was also missing. napoleon had it on his person during his flight and made use of it at st. helena, where it struck his death-hour.] [footnote : he was descended from a noble race, which at a very early period enjoyed high repute in mecklenburg and pomerania. in , an ulric von blücher was bishop of batzeburg. a legend relates that, during a time of dearth, an empty barn was, on his petitioning heaven, instantly filled with corn. in , wipertus von blücher also became bishop of ratzeburg, and, on the pope's refusal to confirm him in his diocese on account of his youth, his hair turned gray in one night. vide klüwer's description of mecklenburg, .] [footnote : his wife, catherine of würtemberg, was in , attacked during her flight, on her way through france and robbed of her jewels.--_allgemeine zettung, no. ._] * * * * * part xxiii the latest times cclxiv. the german confederation thus terminated the terrible storms that, not without benefit, had convulsed europe. every description of political crime had been fearfully avenged and presumption had been chastised by the unerring hand of providence. at that solemn period, the sovereigns of russia, austria, and prussia concluded a treaty by which they bound themselves to follow, not the ruinous policy they had hitherto pursued, but the undoubted will of the king of kings, and, as the viceroys of god upon the earth, to maintain peace, to uphold virtue and justice. this holy alliance was concluded on the th of september, . all the european powers took part in it; england, who excused herself, the pope, and the sultan, whose accession was not demanded, alone excepted. the new partition of europe, nevertheless, retained almost all the unnatural conditions introduced by the more ancient and godless policy of louis xiv. and of catherine ii. germany, poland, and italy remained partitioned among rulers partly foreign. everywhere were countries exchanged or freshly partitioned and rendered subject to foreign rule. england retained possession of hanover, which was elevated into a german kingdom, of the ionian islands, and of malta in the mediterranean. russia received the grandduchy of warsaw, which was raised to a kingdom of poland, but was not united with lithuania, volhynia, podolia, and the ukraine, the ancient provinces of poland standing beneath the sovereignty of russia, and finland, for which sweden received in exchange norway, of which denmark was forcibly dispossessed. holland was annexed to the old austrian netherlands and elevated to a kingdom under william of orange.[ ] switzerland remained a confederation of twenty-two cantons,[ ] externally independent and neutral, internally somewhat aristocratic in tendency, the ancient oligarchy everywhere regaining their power. the jesuits were reinstated by the pope. in spain, portugal, and naples, the form of government prior to the revolution was reestablished by the ancient sovereigns on their restoration to their thrones. alsace and lorraine, switzerland and the new kingdom of the netherlands, the provinces of luxemburg excepted, were no longer regarded as forming part of germany. austria received milan and venice under the title of a lombardo-venetian kingdom, the illyrian provinces also as a kingdom, venetian dalmatia, the tyrol,[ ] vorarlberg, salzburg, the inn, and hausruckviertel, and the part of galicia ceded by her at an earlier period. the grandduchy of tuscany and the duchies of modena, parma, and placentia were, moreover, restored to the collateral branches of the house of habsburg.[ ]--prussia received half of saxony, the grand-duchy of posen, swedish-pomerania,[ ] a great portion of westphalia, and almost the whole of the lower rhine from mayence as far as aix-la-chapelle.[ ] since this period prussia is that one which, among all the states of germany, possesses the greatest number of german subjects, austria, although more considerable in extent, containing a population of which by far the greater proportion is not german. bavaria, in exchange for the provinces again ceded by her to austria, received the province of wurzburg together with aschaffenburg and the upper rhenish pfalz under the title of rhenish-bavaria. hanover received east friesland, which had hitherto been dependent upon prussia. out of this important province, which opened the north sea to prussia, was hardenberg cajoled by the wily english. the electorates of hesse, brunswick, and oldenburg were restored. everything else was allowed to subsist as at the time of the rhenish confederation. all the petty princes and counts, then mediatized, continued to be so. the ancient empire, instead of being re-established, was, on the th of june, , replaced by a german confederation, composed of the thirty-nine german states that had escaped the general ruin; austria, prussia, bavaria, saxony, hanover, wurtemberg, baden, electoral hesse, darmstadt, denmark on account of holstein,[ ] the netherlands on account of luxemburg, brunswick, mecklenburg-schwerin, nassau, saxe-weimar, saxe-gotha (where the reigning dynasty became extinct, and the duchy was partitioned among the other saxon houses of the ernestine line), saxe-coburg, saxe-meiningen, saxe-hildburghausen, mecklenburg-strelitz, holstein-oldenburg, anhalt-dessau, anhalt- bernburg, anhalt-kothen, schwarzburg-sondershausen, schwarzburg- rudolstadt, hohenzollern-hechingen, lichtenstein, hohenzollern- sigmaringen, waldeck, reuss the elder, and reuss the younger branch,[ ] schaumburg-lippe, lippe-detmold, hesse-homburg: finally, the free towns, lubeck, frankfort on the maine, bremen, and hamburg.[ ] at frankfort on the maine a permanent diet, consisting of plenipotentiaries from the thirty-nine states, was to hold its session. the votes were, however, so regulated that the eleven states of first rank alone held a full vote, the secondary states merely holding a half or a fourth part of a vote, as, for instance, all the saxon duchies collectively, one vote; brunswick and nassau, one; the two mecklenburgs, one; oldenburg, anhalt, and schwarzburg, one; the petty princes of hohenzollern, lichtenstein, reuss, lippe, and waldeck, one; all the free towns, one; forming altogether in the diet seventeen votes. in constitutional questions relating to regulations of the confederation the _plenum_ was to be allowed, that is, the six states of the highest rank were to have each four votes, the next five states each three, brunswick, schwerin, and nassau, each two, and all the remaining princes without distinction, each one vote.[ ]--austria held the permanent presidency. in all resolutions relating to the fundamental laws, the organic regulations of the confederation, the _jura singulorum_ and matters of religion, unanimity was required. all the members of the confederation bound themselves neither to enter into war nor into any foreign alliance against the confederation or any of its members. the thirteenth article declared, "each of the confederated states will grant a constitution to the people." the sixteenth placed all christian sects throughout the german confederation on an equality. the eighteenth granted freedom of settlement within the limits of the confederation, and promised "uniformity of regulation concerning the liberty of the press." the fortresses of luxemburg, mayence, and landau were declared the common property of the confederation and occupied in common by their troops. a fourth fortress was to have been raised on the upper rhine with twenty millions of the french contribution money. it has not yet been erected. this was the new constitution given to germany. according to the treaty of paris it could not be otherwise modelled, and it is explained by the foreign influence that then prevailed. the diet assembled at frankfort on the maine, and was opened by count buol-schauenstein with a solemn address, which excited no enthusiasm. an orator in the american assembly at that time observed, "the non-development of the seed contained in germany appears to be the common aim of a resolute policy." all now united for the complete suppression of the german patriotic party. in the former rhenish confederated states, it had been treated with open contempt[ ] ever since gentz had given the signal for persecution in austria. prussia, however, also drove all those who had most faithfully served her in her hour of need from her bosom. stein was compelled to withdraw to kappenberg, his country estate. gruner was removed from office and sent as ambassador to switzerland, where he died. the rhenish mercury, that had performed such great services to prussia, was prohibited, and gorres was threatened with the house of correction.[ ] all other papers of a patriotic tendency were also suppressed. in jena, oken and luden, in weimar, wieland the younger, alone ventured for some time to give utterance to their liberal opinions, which were finally also reduced to silence. patriotic enthusiasm was, however, not so speedily suppressed amid the youthful students in the academies and universities. jahn's gymnastic schools (_turnschulen_), the members of which were distinguished by the german costume, a short black frock coat, a black cap, linen trousers, a bare neck with turned-over shirt-collar, extended far and wide and were in close connection with the _burschenschaften_ of the universities. the prescribed object of these _turnschulen_ was the promotion of christian, moral, german manners, the universal fraternization of all german students, the complete eradication of the provincialism and license inherent in the various associations formed at the universities. they wore jahn's german costume and always acted publicly, until their suppression, when the remaining members formed secret associations. on the th of october, , the students of jena, halle, and leipzig, and those of some of the more distant universities, assembled in order to solemnize the jubilee on the three hundredth anniversary of the reformation, on the wartburg, where, in imitation of luther, they committed a number of servile works, inimical to the german cause, to the flames, as görres at that time said, "filled with anger that the same reformation required of the church by luther should be sanctioned, but at the same time refused, by the state." the black, red, and yellow tricolor was hoisted for the first time on this occasion. these were in reality the ancient colors of the empire and were regarded as such by the patriotic students, but were purposely looked upon by the french and their adherents in germany as an imitation of the tricolored flag of the french republic. the festival solemnized on the wartburg was speedily succeeded by others. the _turner_, more particularly at berlin and breslau, rendered themselves conspicuous not only by their dress but by their insolence, boys even of the tenderest years putting themselves forward as reformers of the government and of society, and singing the most bloodthirsty songs of liberty. the prussian government interfered, and the gymnastic exercises, so well suited to the subjects of a warlike state, were once more prohibited. at the congress of aix-la-chapelle, stourdza, the russian councillor of state, a wallachian by birth, presented a memorial in which the spirit of the german universities was described as revolutionary. the _burschenschaft_ of jena sent him a challenge. kotzebue, the russian councillor of state and celebrated dramatist, at length published a weekly paper in which he turned every indication of german patriotism to ridicule, and exercised his wit upon the individual eccentricities of the students affecting the old german costume, of precocious boys and doting professors. the rage of the galled universities rose to a still higher pitch on the discovery, made and incontestably proved by luden, that kotzebue sent secret bulletins, filled with invective and suspicion, to st. petersburg. to execrate kotzebue had become so habitual at the universities that a young man, sand from wunsiedel, a theological student of jena, noted for piety and industry, took the fanatical resolution to free, or at least to wipe off a blot from his country, by the assassination of an enemy whose importance he, in the delusion of hatred, vastly overrated; and he accordingly went, in , to mannheim, plunged his dagger into kotzebue's heart, and then attempted his own life, but only succeeded in inflicting a slight wound. he was beheaded in the ensuing year. loning, the apothecary, probably excited by sand's example, also attempted the life of the president of nassau, ibell, who, however, seized him, and he committed suicide in prison. these events occasioned a congress at carlsbad in , which took the state of germany into deliberation, placed each of the universities under the supervision of a government officer, suppressed the _burschenschaft_, prohibited their colors, and fixed a central board of scrutiny at mayence,[ ] which acted on the presupposition of the existence of a secret and general conspiracy for the purposes of assassination and revolution, and of sand's having acted not from personal fanaticism and religious aberration, but as the agent of some unknown superiors in some new and mysterious tribunal. this inquisition was carried on for years and a crowd of students peopled the prisons; conspiracies perilous to the state were, however, nowhere discovered, but simply a great deal of ideal enthusiasm. the elder men in the universities, who, either in their capacity as tutors or authors, had fed the enthusiasm of the youthful students, were also removed from their situations. jahn was arrested, arndt was suspended at bonn and fries at jena; gorres, who had perseveringly published the most violent pamphlets, was compelled to take refuge in switzerland, which also offered an asylum to dewette, the berlin professor of theology, who had been deprived of his chair on account of a letter addressed by him to sand's mother. oken, the great naturalist, who refused to give up "isis," a periodical publication, also withdrew to switzerland. numbers of the younger professors went to america.[ ] the solemnization of the october festival was also prohibited, and the triumphal monument on the field of leipzig was demolished. [footnote : william v., the expelled hereditary stadtholder, died in obscurity at brunswick in . his son, william, had, in , received fulda in compensation, but afterward served prussia, was, in , taken prisoner with möllendorf at erfurt and afterward set at liberty, served again, in , under austria, and then retired to england, whence he returned on the expulsion of the french to receive a crown, which he accepted with a good deal of assurance, complaining, at the same time, of the loss of his former possession, fulda, a circumstance strongly commented upon by stein in his letters to gagern. william, in return for his elevation to a throne by the arms of germany, closed the mouths of the rhine against her.] [footnote : zurich, berne, lucerne, uri, schwyz, unterwalden, glarus, zug, freiburg, solothurn, basel, schaffhausen, appenzell, st. gall, the grisons, aargau, constance, tessin, the vaud, valais, neuenburg (neufchatel), geneva. the nineteen cantons of remained _in statu quo_, only those of valais, neufchatel, and geneva were confederated with them, and pruntrut with the ancient bishopric of basel were restored to berne.] [footnote : the deed of possession of the th june, , runs as follows: "not by an arbitrary, despotic encroachment upon the order of things, but by the hands of the providence that blessed the arms of your emperor and of the allied princes and by a holy alliance are you restored to the house of austria."] [footnote : tuscany fell to ferdinand, the former grandduke of wurzburg; modena to francis, son of the deceased duke, ferdinand; parms and placantia to maria louisa, the wife and widow of napoleon.] [footnote : not long before, in the treaty of kiel, there had been question of bestowing swedish-pomerania upon denmark; to this prussia refused to accede and denmark agreed to take , , dollars in compensation. prussia was also compelled to pay , , dollars to sweden.] [footnote : rehfues, the director of the circle, a wurtemberg protestant, published a circular at bonn, in which he promised full religious security to the catholic inhabitants, whom he reminded of prussia's having been "the last supporter of the order of jesus."--_allgemeine zeitung of , no. ._] [footnote : holstein alone, not schleswig, was enumerated as belonging to the german confederation, although both duchies were long ago closely united by the _nexus socialis_, more particularly in the representation at the diet.] [footnote : the reusses, formerly imperial governors of plauen, diverged into so many branches that, as early as , they agreed to distinguish themselves by numbers, which at first amounted to thirty, but at a later period to a hundred, afterward recommencing at number one. the family took the name of reuss from the russian wife of its founder, in the beginning of the fourteenth century.] [footnote : hamburg had vainly petitioned for the restitution of her bank, of which she had been deprived by davoust. she received merely a small portion of the general war tax levied upon france.] [footnote : austria and prussia contain forty-two million inhabitants; the rest of germany merely twelve million; the power of the two former stands consequently in proportion to that of the rest of germany as forty-two to twelve or seven to two, while their votes in the diet stood not contrariwise, as two to seven, but as two to seventeen in the plenary assembly, and as two to fifteen in the lesser one.] [footnote : aretin, who, at the time of the rhenish confederation, insolently mocked and had denounced every indication of german patriotism, ventured to say in his "alemannia," in the beginning of , "'the patriotic colors,' 'the voice of the people,' 'nationality,' 'the extirpation of foreign influence,' are words now forgotten, magic sounds that have lost their power."] [footnote : by sack, the government commissary, who even confiscated the rhenish mercury, an earlier and unprohibited paper, and arrested the printer, against which görres violently protested in a letter addressed to sack. görres made a triumphant defence before the tribunal at treves, and observed, "strange that the most violent enemy to france should seek the protection of french courts!"] [footnote : the names of these inquisitors were schwarz, grano, hörmann, bar, pfister, preusschen, moussel.] [footnote : charles follen, brother to the poet louis adolphus follen, private teacher of law at jena, a young man of great spirit and talent, who at that period exercised great influence over the youth of germany, was wrecked, in , in a steamer in north america and drowned.] cclxv. the new constitutions germany had, notwithstanding her triumph, regained neither her ancient unity nor her former power, but still continued to be merely a confederation of states, bound together by no firm tie and regarded with contempt by their more powerful neighbors. the german confederation did not even include the whole of the provinces whose population was distinguished as german by the use of the german language. several of the provinces of germany were still beneath a foreign sceptre; switzerland and the netherlands had declared themselves distinct from the rest of germany, which, hitherto submissive to france, was in danger of falling beneath the influence of russia, who ceaselessly sought to entangle her by diplomatic wiles. there were still, however, men existing in germany who hoped to compensate the loss of the external power of their country by the internal freedom that had been so lavishly promised to the people on the general summons to the field. the proclamation of calisch and the german federative act guaranteed the grant of constitutions. the former rhenish confederated princes, nevertheless, alone found it to their interest to carry this promise into effect, and, in a manner, formed a second alliance with france by their imitation of the newly introduced french code and by the establishment, in their own territories, of two chambers, one of peers, the other of deputies, similar to those of france; measures by which, at that period of popular excitement, they also regained the popularity deservedly lost by them at an earlier period throughout the rest of germany, the more so, the less the inclination manifested by austria and prussia to grant the promised constitutions. enslaved illuminatism characterizes this new zeal in favor of internal liberty and constitutional governments, to denote which the novel term of liberalism was borrowed from france. liberty was ever on the tongues--of the most devoted servants of the state. the ancient church and the nobility were attacked with incredible mettle--in order to suit the purposes of ministerial caprice. prussia and austria were loudly blamed for not keeping pace with the times--with the intent of favorably contrasting the ancient policy of the rhenish confederation. none, at that period, surpassed the ministers belonging to the old school of illuminatism and napoleonism in liberalism, but no sooner did the deputies of the people attempt to realize their liberal ideas than they started back in dismay. the first example of this kind was given by frederick augustus, duke of nassau, as early as the september of . ibell, the president, who reigned with unlimited power over nassau, drew up a constitution which has been termed a model of "despotism under a constitutional form." the whole of the property of the state still continuing to be the private property of the duke, and his right arbitrarily to increase the number of members belonging to the first chamber, and by their votes to annul every resolution passed by the second chamber, rendered the whole constitution illusory. trombetta, one of the deputies, voluntarily renounced his seat, an example that was followed by several others.--the second constitution granted was that bestowed upon the netherlands in , by king william, who established such an unequal representation in the chambers between the belgians and dutch as to create great dissatisfaction among the former, who, in revenge, again affected the french party. this was succeeded, in , by the petty constitutions of waldeck, weimar, and frankfort on the maine.-- maximilian, king of bavaria, seemed, in , to announce another system by the dismissal of his minister, montgelas, and, in , bestowed a new constitution upon bavaria; but the old abuses in the administration remained uneradicated; a civil and military state unproportioned to the revenue, the petty despotism of government officers and heavy imposts, still weighed upon the people, and the constitution itself was quickly proved illusory, the veto of the first chamber annulling the first resolution passed by the second chamber. professor behr of wurzburg, upon this, energetically protested against the first chamber, and, on the refusal of the second chamber to vote for the maintenance of the army on so high a footing, unless the soldiery were obliged to take the oath on the constitution, it was speedily dissolved.--in baden, the grandduke charles expired, in , after having caused a constitution to be drawn up, which louis, his uncle and successor, carried into effect. louis having, however, previously, and without the consent of the people, entered into a stipulation with the nobility, to whom he had granted an edict extremely favorable to their interests, winter, the heidelberg bookseller, a member of the second chamber, demanded its abrogation. the answer was, the dissolution of the chamber, personal inquisition and intimidation, and the publication of an extremely severe edict of censure, against which, in , professor von rotteck of freiburg, supported by the poet hebel and by the freiherr von wessenberg, administrator of the bishopric of constance, protested, but in vain.--at the same time, that is, in , hildburghausen, and even the petty principality of lichtenstein, which merely contains two square miles and a population amounting to five thousand souls, also received a constitution, which not a little contributed to turn the whole affair into ridicule.--to these succeeded, in , the constitutions of hanover and lippe-detmold, the former as aristocratic as possible, completely in the spirit of olden times, solely dictated and carried into effect by the nobility and government officers. the sittings of the chambers, consequently, continued to be held in secret.--the dukes of mecklenburg abolished feudal servitude, which existed in no other part of germany, in .--in darmstadt, the constitution was granted by the good-natured, venerable grandduke louis (whose attention was chiefly devoted to the opera), after the impatient advocates, who had collected subscriptions in the odenwald to petitions praying for the speedy bestowal of the promised constitution, had been arrested, and an insurrection that consequently ensued among the peasantry had been quelled by force.--petty constitutions were, moreover, granted, in , to coburg, and, in , to meiningen. the gotha-altenburg branch of the ducal house of saxony became extinct in in the person of frederick, the last duke, the brother of duke augustus emilius, a great patron of the arts and sciences, deceased . gotha, consequently, lapsed to coburg, altenburg to hildburghausen, and hildburghausen to meiningen. in wurtemberg, the dissatisfaction produced by the ancient despotism of the government was also to be speedily appeased by the grant of a constitutional charter. the king, frederick, convoked the estates, to whom he, on the th of march, , solemnly delivered the newly enacted constitution. but here, as elsewhere, was the government inclined to grant a mere illusory boon. the estates rejected the constitution, without reference to its contents, simply owing to the formal reason of its being bestowed by the prince and being consequently binding on one side alone, instead of being a stipulation between the prince and the people, and moreover because the ancient constitution of wurtemberg, which had been abrogated by force and in direct opposition to the will of the estates, was still in legal force. the old wurtemberg party alone could naturally take their footing upon their ancient rights, but the new wurtemberg party, the mediatized princes of the empire, the counts and barons of the empire, and the imperial free towns, nay, even the agnati of the reigning house,[ ] all of whom had suffered more or less under napoleon's iron rule, ranged themselves on their side. the deputy, zahn of calw, drew a masterly picture of the state of affairs at that period, in which he pitilessly disclosed every reigning abuse. the king, thus vigorously and unanimously opposed, was constrained to yield, and the most prolix negotiations, in which the citizen deputies, headed by the advocate, weisshaar, were supported by the nobility against the government, commenced. the affair was, it may be designedly, dragged on _ad infinitum_ until the death of the king in , when his son and successor, william, who had gained a high reputation as a military commander and had rendered himself extremely popular, zealously began the work of conciliation. he not only instantly abolished the abuses of the former government, as, for instance, in the game law,[ ] but, in , delivered a new constitution to the estates. article was somewhat artfully drawn up, but in every point the constitution was as liberal as a constitutional charter could possibly be. but the estates refused to accept of liberty as a boon, and rejected this constitution on the same formal grounds upon which they had rejected the preceding one. the estates were again upheld by a grateful public, and the few deputies, more particularly cotta and griesinger, who had defended the new constitution on account of its liberality and who regarded form as immaterial, became the objects of public animadversion. the populace broke the windows of the house inhabited by the liberal-minded minister, von wangenheim. the poet uhland greatly distinguished himself as a warm upholder of the ancient rights of the people.[ ] the king instantly dissolved the estates, but at the same time declared his intention to guarantee to the people, without a constitution, the rights he had intended constitutionally to confer upon them; to establish an equal system of taxation, and "to eradicate bureaucracy, that curse upon the country." the good-will displayed on both sides led to fresh negotiations, and a third constitution was at length drawn up by a committee, composed partly of members of the government, partly of members belonging to the estates, and, in , was taken into deliberation and passed by the reassembled estates. this constitution, nevertheless, fell far below the mark to which it had been raised by public expectation, partly on account of the retention, owing to ancient prejudice, of the permanent committee and its oligarchical influence, party on account of the too great and permanent concessions made to the nobility in return for their momentary aid,[ ] partly on account of the extreme haste that marked the concluding deliberations of the estates, occasioned by their partly unfounded dread of interference on the part of the congress then assembled at carlsbad. in wurtemberg, however, as elsewhere, the policy of the government was deeply imbued with the general characteristics of the time. notwithstanding the constitution, notwithstanding the guarantee given by the federative act, liberty of the press did not exist. list, the deputy from reutlingen, was, for having ventured to collect subscriptions to petitions, brought before the criminal court, expelled the chamber by his intimidated brother deputies, took refuge in switzerland, whence he returned to be imprisoned for some time in the fortress of asberg, and was finally permitted to emigrate to north america, whence he returned at a later period, , in the capacity of consul. liesching, the editor of the german guardian, whose liberty of speech was silenced by command of the german confederation, also became an inmate of the fortress of asberg. in hesse and brunswick, all the old abuses practiced in the petty courts in the eighteenth century were revived. william of hesse-cassel returned, on the fall of napoleon, to his domains. true to his whimsical saying, "i have slept during the last seven years," he insisted upon replacing everything in hesse exactly on its former footing. in one particular alone was his vanity inconsistent: notwithstanding his hatred toward napoleon, he retained the title of prince elector, bestowed upon him by napoleon's favor, although it had lost all significance, there being no longer any emperor to elect.[ ] he turned the hand of time back seven years, degraded the councillors raised to that dignity by jerome to their former station as clerks, captains to lieutenants, etc., all, in fact, to the station they had formerly occupied, even reintroduced into the army the fashion of wearing powder and queues, prohibited all those not bearing an official title to be addressed as "herr," and re-established the socage dues abolished by jerome. this attachment to old abuses was associated with the most insatiable avarice. he reduced the government bonds to one-third, retook possession of the lands sold during jerome's reign, without granting any compensation to the holders, compelled the country to pay his son's debts to the amount of two hundred thousand rix-dollars, lowered the amount of pay to such a degree that a lieutenant received but five rix-dollars per mensem, and offered to sell a new constitution to the estates at the low price of four million rix-dollars, which he afterward lowered to two millions and a tax for ten years upon liquors. this shameful bargain being rejected by the estates, the constitution fell to the ground, and the prince elector practiced the most unlimited despotism. discontent was stifled by imprisonment. two officers, huth and rotsmann, who had got up a petition in favor of their class, and the herr von gohr, who by chance gave a private fete while the prince was suffering from a sudden attack of illness, were among the victims. the purchasers of the crown lands vainly appealed to the federative assembly for redress, for the prince elector "refused the mediation of the federative assembly until it had been authorized by an organic law drawn up with the co-operation of the prince elector himself."--this prince expired in , and was succeeded by his son, william ii., who abolished the use of hair-powder and queues, but none of the existing abuses, and demonstrated no inclination to grant a constitution. he was, moreover, the slave of his mistress, countess reichenbach, and on ill terms with his consort, a sister of the king of prussia, and with his son. anonymous and threatening letters being addressed to this prince with a view of inducing him to favor the designs of the writer, he had recourse to the severest measures for the discovery of the guilty party; numbers of persons were arrested, and travellers instinctively avoided cassel. it was at length discovered that manger, the head of the police, a court favorite, was the author of the letters. similar abuses were revived by the house of brunswick. it is unhappily impossible to leave unmentioned the conduct of caroline, princess of brunswick, consort to the prince of wales, afterward george iv., king of england. although this german princess had the good fortune to be protected by the whig party and by the people against the king and the tory ministry, she proved a disgrace to her supporters by the scandalous familiarity in which she lived in italy with her chamberlain, the italian, pergami. the sympathy with which she was treated at the time of the congress was designedly exaggerated by the whigs for the purpose of giving the greatest possible publicity to the errors of the monarch. caroline of brunswick was declared innocent and expired shortly after her trial, in . charles, the hereditary duke of brunswick, son to the duke who had so gallantly fallen at quatrebras, was under the guardianship of the king of england. a constitution was bestowed in upon this petty territory, which was governed by the minister, von schmidt-phiseldek. the youthful duke took the reins of government in his nineteenth year. of a rash and violent disposition and misled by evil associates, he imagined that he had been too long restricted from assuming the government, accused his well-deserving minister of having attempted to prolong his minority, posted handbills for his apprehension as a common delinquent, denied all his good offices, and subverted the constitution. he was surrounded by base intriguers in the person of bosse, the councillor of state, formerly the servile tool of napoleon's despotism, of frike, the aulic councillor, "whose pliant quill was equal to any task when injustice had to be glossed over," of the adventurer, klindworth, and of bitter, the head of the chancery, who conducted the financial speculations. frike, in contempt of justice, tore up the judgment passed by the court of justice in favor of the venerable herr von sierstorff, whom he had accused of high treason. herr von cramm, by whom frike was, in the name of the estates, accused of this misdemeanor before the federative assembly, was banished, a surgeon, who attended him, was put upon his defence, and an accoucheur, named grimm, who had basely refused to attend upon cramm's wife, was presented with a hundred dollars. häberlin, the novelist, who had been justly condemned to twenty years' imprisonment with hard labor for his civil misdemeanors, was, on the other hand, liberated for publishing something in the duke's favor. bitter conducted himself with the most open profligacy, sold all the demesnes, appropriated the sum destined for the redemption of the public debt, and at the same time levied the heavy imposts with unrelenting severity. the federative assembly passed judgment against the duke solely in reference to his attacks upon the king of england. [footnote : the king bitterly reproached his brother henry, to whom he said, "you have accused me to my peasantry."--_pfister history of the constitution of würtemberg._] [footnote : pfister mentions in his history of the constitution of wurtemberg that merely in the superior bailiwick of heidenheim the game duties amounted, in , to twenty thousand florins, and five thousand two hundred and ninety-three acres of taxed ground lay uncultivated on account of the damage done by the game, and that in march, , one bailiwick was obliged to furnish twenty-one thousand five hundred and eighty-four men and three thousand two hundred and thirty-seven horses for a single hunt.] [footnote : colonel von massenbach, of the prussian service, who has so miserably described the battle of jena and the surrender of prentzlow in which he acted so miserable a part, and who had in his native würtemberg embraced the aristocratic party, was delivered by the free town of frankfort, within whose walls he resided, up to the prussian government, which he threatened to compromise by the publication of some letters. he died within the fortress of cüstrin.] [footnote : the mediatized princes and counts of the empire sat in the first chamber, the barons of the empire in the second. the prelates, once so powerful, lost, on the other hand, together with the church property, in the possession of which they were not reinstated, also most of their influence. instead of the fourteen aristocratic and independent prelates, six only were appointed by the monarch to seats in the second chamber. government officers were also eligible in this chamber, which ere long fell entirely under their influence.] [footnote : he endeavored, but in vain, to persuade the allied powers to bestow upon him the royal dignity.] cclxvi. the european congress--the german customs' union the great political drama enacting in europe excited at this time the deepest attention throughout germany. in almost every country a struggle commenced between liberalism and the measures introduced on the fall of napoleon. in france more particularly it systematically and gradually undermined the government of the bourbons, and the cry of liberty that resounded throughout france once more found an echo in germany. the terrible war was forgotten. the french again became the objects of the admiration and sympathy of the radical party in germany, and the spirit of opposition, here and there demonstrated in the german chambers, gave rise, notwithstanding its impotence, to precautionary measures on the part of the federative governments. in the winter of , a german federative congress, of which prince metternich was the grand motor, assembled at vienna for the purpose, after the utter annihilation of the patriots, of finally checking the future movements of the liberals, principally in the provincial diets. the viennese act of contains closer definitions of the federative act, of which the more essential object was the exclusion of the various provincial diets from all positive interference in the general affairs of germany, and the increase of the power of the different princes vis-à-vis to their provincial diets by a guarantee of aid on the part of the confederates. during the sitting of this congress, on new year's day, , the liberal party in spain revolted against their ungrateful sovereign, ferdinand vii., who exercised the most fearful tyranny over the nation that had so unhesitatingly shed its blood in defence of his throne. this example was shortly afterward followed by the neapolitans, who were also dissatisfied with the conduct of their sovereign. prince metternich instantly brought about a congress at troppau. the czar, alexander, who had views upon the east and was no stranger to the heterarchical party which, under the guidance of prince ypsilanti, prepared a revolution in greece (which actually broke out) against the turks, was at first unwilling to give his assent unconditionally to the interference of austria, but on being, in , to his great surprise, informed by prince metternich of the existence of a revolutionary spirit in one of the regiments of the russian guard, freely assented to all the measures proposed by that minister.[ ] the new congress held at laibach, in , was followed by the entrance of the austrians under frimont into italy. the cowardly neapolitans fled without firing a shot, and the piedmontese, who unexpectedly revolted to frimont's rear, were, after a short encounter with the austrians under bubna at novara, defeated and reduced to submission. the greeks, whom russia now no longer ventured openly to uphold, had, in the meantime, also risen in open insurrection. the affairs of spain were still in an unsettled state. the new congress held at verona, in , however, decided the fate of both these countries. prince hardenberg, the prussian minister, expired at genoa on his return home, and lord castlereagh, the english ambassador, cut his throat with his penknife, in a fit of frenzy, supposed to have been induced by the sense of his heavy responsibility. at this congress the principle of legitimacy was maintained with such strictness that even the revolt of the greeks against the long and cruel tyranny of the turks was, notwithstanding the _christian spirit of the holy alliance_ and the political advantage secured to russia and austria by the subversion of the turkish empire, treated as rebellion against the legitimate authority of the porte and strongly discouraged. a french army was, on the same grounds, despatched with the consent of the bourbon into spain, and ferdinand was reinstated in his legitimate tyranny in . russia, in a note addressed to the whole of the confederated states of germany, demanded at the same time a declaration on their parts to the effect that the late proceedings of the great european powers at verona "were in accordance with the well-understood interests of the people." every member of the federative assembly at frankfort gave his assent, with the exception of the freiherr von wangenheim, the envoy from wurtemberg, who declaring that his instructions did not warrant his voting upon the question, the ambassadors from the two hesses made a similar declaration. this occasioned the dismissal of the freiherr von wangenheim; and the illegal publication of a wurtemberg despatch, in which the non-participation of the german confederation in the resolutions passed by the congresses, to which their assent was afterward demanded, was treated of, occasioned a second dismissal, that of count winzingerode, the wurtemberg minister. in the july of , the federal diet resolved to give its support to the monarchical principle in the constitutional states, and to maintain the carlsbad resolutions referring to censorship and to the universities. the mayence committee remained sitting until . on the sudden decease of alexander, the czar of all the russias, amid the southern steppes, a revolution induced by the nobility broke out at petersburg, but was suppressed by alexander's brother and successor, the emperor nicholas i. nicholas had wedded charlotte, the eldest daughter of the king of prussia. this energetic sovereign instantly invaded persia and rendered that country dependent upon his empire without any attempt being made by the tory party in england and austria to hinder the aggrandizement of russia, every attack directed against her being regarded as an encouragement to liberalism. russia consequently seized this opportunity to turn her arms against turkey, and, in the ensuing year, a russian force under count diebitsch, a silesian, crossed the balkan (haemus) and penetrated as far as adrianople; while another corps d'armée under count paskiewicz, advanced from the caucasus into asia minor and took erzerum. the fall of constantinople seemed near at hand, when austria and england for the first time intervened and declared that, notwithstanding their sympathy with the absolute principles on which russia rested, they would not permit the seizure of constantinople. france expressed her readiness to unite with russia and to fall upon the austrian rear in case troops were sent against the russians.[ ] prussia, however, intervened, and general muffling was dispatched to adrianople, where, in , a treaty was concluded, by which russia, although for the time compelled to restore the booty already accumulated, gained several considerable advantages, being granted possession of the most important mountain strongholds and passes of asia minor, a right to occupy and fortify the mouths of the danube so important to austria, and to extend her aegis over moldavia and wallachia. in the midst of this wretched period, which brought fame to russia and deep dishonor upon germany, there still gleamed one ray of hope; the customs' union was proposed by some of the german princes for the more intimate union of german interests. maximilian of bavaria, a prince whose amiable manners and character rendered him universally beloved, expired in . his son, louis, the foe to french despotism, a german patriot and a zealous patron of the arts, declared himself, on his coronation, the warm and sincere upholder of the constitutional principle and excited general enthusiasm. his first measures on assuming the government were the reduction of the royal household and of the army with a view to the relief of the country from the heavy imposts, the removal of the university of landshut to munich, and the enrichment on an extensive scale of the institutions of art. the union of the galleries of düsseldorf and mannheim with that of munich, the collection of valuable antiques and pictures, for instance, that of the old german paintings collected by the brothers boisserée in cologne during the french usurpation, the academy of painting under the direction of the celebrated cornelius, the new public buildings raised by klenze, among which the glyptothek, the pinakothek, the great königsbau or royal residence, the ludwigschurch, the auerchurch, the arcades, etc., may be more particularly designated, rendered munich the centre of german art. this sovereign also founded at ratisbon the walhalla, a building destined for the reception of the busts of all the celebrated men to whom germany has given birth. the predilection of this royal amateur for classic antiquity excited within his bosom the warmest sympathy with the fate of the modern greeks, then in open insurrection against their turkish oppressors, and whom he alone, among all the princes of germany, aided in the hour of their extremest need.--with the same spirit that dictated his poems, in which he so repeatedly lamented the want of unity in germany, he was the first to propose the union of her material interests. germany unhappily resembled, and indeed immediately after the war of liberation, as de pradt, the french writer, maliciously observed, even in a mercantile point of view, a menagerie whose inhabitants watched each other through a grating. vainly had the commercial class of frankfort on the maine presented a petition, in , to the confederation, praying for free trade, for the fulfilment of the nineteenth article of the federal act. their well-grounded complaint remained unheard. the non-fulfilment of the treaty relating to the free navigation of the rhine to the sea was most deeply felt. in the first treaty concluded at paris, the royal dignity and the extension of the dutch territory had been generously granted to the king of the netherlands under the express proviso of the free navigation of the rhine to the sea. the papers relating to this transaction had been drawn up in french, and the ungrateful dutch perfidiously gave the words "jusqu' à la mer" their most literal construction, merely "as far as the sea," and as the french, moreover, possessed a voice in the matter on account of the upper rhine, and the german federal states were unable to give a unanimous verdict, innumerable committees were held and acts were drawn up without producing any result favorable to the trade of germany. affairs stood thus, when, shortly after louis's accession to the throne of bavaria, negotiations having for object the settlement of a commercial treaty took place between him and william, king of wurtemberg. this example was imitated by prussia, which at first merely formed a union with darmstadt; afterward by hesse, hanover, saxony, etc., by which a central german union was projected. this union was, however, unable to stand between that of wurtemberg and bavaria, and that of prussia and darmstadt. the german customs' union was carried into effect in . an annual meeting of german naturalists had at that time been arranged under the auspices of oken, the great naturalist, and at the meeting held at berlin, in , the freiherr von cotta, by whom the moral and material interests of germany have been greatly promoted, drew up the first plan for a junction of the commercial union of southern germany with that of the north, as the first step to the future liberation of germany from all internal commercial restrictions. the zeal with which he carried this great plan into effect gained the confidence of the different governments, and he not only succeeded in combining the two older unions, but also in gradually embodying with them the rest of the german states. the attachment of king louis to ancient catholicism was extremely remarkable. he began to restore some of the monasteries, and several professors inclined to ultramontanism and to catholic mysticism, the most distinguished among whom was görres, the prussian exile, assembled at the new university at munich. here and there appeared a pious enthusiast. shortly after the restoration, a peasant from the pfalz named adam müller began to prophesy, and madame von krudener, a hanoverian, to preach the necessity of public penance; both these persons gained the ear of exalted personages, and madame von krudener more particularly is said not a little to have conduced to the piety displayed by the emperor alexander during the latter years of his life. at bamberg, prince alexander von hohenlohe, then a young man, had the folly to attempt the performance of miracles, until the police interfered, and he received a high ecclesiastical office in hungary. in austria, the ligorians, followers in the footsteps of the jesuits, haunted the vicinity of the throne. the conversion of count stolberg and of the swiss, von haller, to the catholic church, created the greatest sensation. the former, a celebrated poet, simple and amiable, in no way merited the shameless outbursts of rage of his old friend, voss; haller, on the other hand, brought forward in his "restoration of political science" such a decided theory in favor of secession as to inspire a sentiment of dread at his consistency. the conversion of ferdinand, prince of anhalt-köthen, to the catholic church, in , excited far less attention. in france, where the bourbons were completely guided by the jesuits, by whose aid they could alone hope to suppress the revolutionary spirit of their subjects, the reaction in favor of catholicism had assumed a more decided character than in germany. louis xviii. was succeeded by his brother, the count d'artois, under the name of charles x., a venerable man seventy years of age, who, notwithstanding his great reverses, had "neither learned nor forgotten anything." polignac, his incapable and imperious minister, the tool of the jesuits, had, since , impugned every national right, and, at length, ventured by the ordinances of the th july, , to subvert the constitution. during three days, from the th to the th of july, the greatest confusion reigned in paris; the people rose in thousands; murderous conflicts took place in the streets between them and the royal troops, who were driven from every quarter, and the king was expelled. the chambers met, declared the elder branch of the house of bourbon (charles x., his son, the dauphin, duke d'angouleme, and his grandson, the youthful duke de bordeaux, the son of the murdered duke de berri) to have forfeited the throne, but at the same time allowed them unopposed to seek an asylum in england, and elected louis philippe, duke of orleans, the son of the notorious jacobin, the head of the younger line of the house of bourbon and the grand-master of the society of freemasons, king of the french. the rights of the chambers and of the people were also extended by an appendix to the charta signed by louis xviii. the revolution of july was the signal for all discontented subjects throughout europe to gain, either by force or by legal opposition, their lost or sighed-for rights. in october, the constitutional party in spain attempted to overturn the despotic rule of ferdinand vii. in november, the prime minister of england, the renowned duke of wellington, was compelled by the people to yield his seat to earl grey, a man of more liberal principles, who commenced the great work of reform in the constitution and administration of great britain. during this month, a general insurrection took place in poland: the grandduke, constantine, was driven out of warsaw, and poland declared herself independent. a great part of germany was also convulsed: and a part of the ill-raised fabric, erected by the statesmen of , fell tottering to the ground. [footnote : vide binder's prince metternich.] [footnote : official report of the russian ambassador, count pozzo di borgo, from paris, of the th of december, .] cclxvii. the belgian revolution a nation's self-forgetfulness is ever productive of national disgrace. the netherlands were torn from the empire and placed partly beneath the tyranny of spain, partly beneath the aegis of france; the dominion of austria, at a later period, merely served to rouse their provincial spirit, and, during their subsequent annexation to france, the french element decidedly gained the ascendency among the population. when, in , these provinces fell under the rule of holland, it was hoped that the german element would again rise. but holland is not germany. estranged provinces are alone to be regained by means of their incorporation with an empire imbued with one distinct national spirit; the subordination of one province to another but increases national antipathy and estrangement. holland, by an ungrateful, inimical policy, unfortunately strove to separate herself from germany.[ ] and yet holland owes her whole prosperity to germany. there is her market; thence does she draw her immense wealth; the loss of that market for her colonial productions would prove her irredeemable ruin. her sovereign, driven into distant exile, was restored to her by the arms of germany and generously endowed with royalty. holland, in return for all these benefits, deceitfully deprived germany of the free navigation of the rhine to the sea guaranteed to her by the federal act and assumed the right of fixing the price of all goods, whether imported to or exported from germany. the whole of germany was, in this unprecedented manner, rendered doubly tributary to the petty state of holland. belgium, annexed to this secondary state instead of being incorporated with great and liberal germany, necessarily remained a stranger to any influence calculated to excite her sympathy with the general interests of germany. cut off, as heretofore, from german influence, she retained, in opposition to the dutch, a preponderance of the old spanish and modern french element in her population. priests and liberals, belonging to the french school, formed an opposition party against the king, who, on his side, rested his sole support upon the dutch, whom he favored in every respect. count broglio, archbishop of ghent, first began the contest by refusing to take the oath on the constitution. violence was resorted to and he fled the country. the impolicy of the government in affixing his name to the pillory merely served to increase the exasperation of the catholics. hence their acquiescence with the designs of the jesuits, their opposition to the foundation of a philosophical academy, independent of the clergy, at louvain. the fact of the population of belgium being to that of holland as three to two and the number of its representatives in the states-general being as four to seven, of few, if any, belgians being allowed to enter the service of the state, the army, or the navy, still further added to the popular discontent. the gross manners of the minister, van maanen, also increased the evil. as early as january, , eight liberal belgian deputies were deprived of their offices, and de potter, with some others, who had ventured to defend them by means of the press, were banished the kingdom under a charge of high treason. the dutch majority in the states-general, notwithstanding its devotion to the king, rejected the ten years' budget on the ground of its affording too long a respite to ministerial responsibility, and protested against the levy of swiss troops. slave-trade in the colonies was also abolished in . the position of the netherlands, which, luxemburg excepted, did not appertain to the german confederation, continually exposed her, on account of belgium, to be attacked on the land side by france, on that of the sea by her ancient commercial foe, england, and had induced the king to form a close alliance with russia. his son, william of orange, married a sister of the emperor alexander. the colonies did not regain their former prosperity. the dutch settlement at batavia with difficulty defended itself against the rebellious natives of sumatra and java. the revolution in paris had an electric effect upon the irritated belgians. on the th of august, , auber's opera, "the dumb girl of portici," the revolt of masaniello in naples, was performed at the brussels theatre and inflamed the passions of the audience to such a degree, that, on quitting the theatre, they proceeded to the house of libry, the servile newspaper editor, and entirely destroyed it: the palace of the minister, van maanen, shared the same fate. the citizens placed themselves under arms, and sent a deputation to the hague to lay their grievances before the king. the entire population meanwhile rose in open insurrection, and the whole of the fortresses, maestricht and the citadel of antwerp alone excepted, fell into their hands. william of orange, the crown prince, ventured unattended among the insurgents at brussels and proposed, as a medium of peace, the separation of belgium from holland in a legislative and administrative sense. the king also made an apparent concession to the wishes of the people by the dismissal of van maanen, but shortly afterward declared his intention not to yield, disavowed the step taken by his son, and allowed some belgian deputies to be insulted at the hague. a fanatical commotion instantly took place at brussels; the moderate party in the civic guard was disarmed, and the populace made preparations for desperate resistance. on the th of september, prince frederick, second son to the king of holland, entered brussels with a large body of troops, but encountered barricades and a heavy fire in the park, the place royal, and along the boulevards. an immense crowd, chiefly composed of the people of liege and of peasants dressed in the blue smock of the country, had assembled for the purpose of aiding in the defence of the city. the contest, accompanied by destruction of the dwelling-houses and by pillage, lasted five days. the dutch were accused of practicing the most horrid cruelties upon the defenceless inhabitants and of thereby heightening the popular exasperation. at length, on the th of september, the prince was compelled to abandon the city. on the th of october, belgium declared herself independent. de potter returned and placed himself at the head of the provisional government. the prince of orange recognized the absolute separation of belgium from holland in a proclamation published at antwerp, but was, nevertheless, constrained to quit the country. antwerp fell into the hands of the insurgents; the citadel, however, refused to surrender, and chassé, the dutch commandant, caused the magnificent city to be bombarded, and the well-stored entrepot, the arsenal, and about sixty or seventy houses, to be set on fire, during the night of the th of october, .[ ] the cruelties perpetrated by the dutch were bitterly retaliated upon them by the belgian populace. on the th of november, however, a national belgian congress met, in which the moderate party gained the upper hand, principally owing to the influence of the clergy. de potter's plan for the formation of a belgian commonwealth fell to the ground. the congress decided in favor of the maintenance of the kingdom, drew up a new constitution, and offered the crown to the prince de nemours, second son of the king of the french. it was, however, refused by louis philippe in the name of his son, in order to avoid war with the other great european powers. surlet de chokier, the leader of the liberal party, hereupon undertook the provisional government of the country, and negotiations were entered into with prince leopold of coburg. on the th of november, a congress, composed of the ministers of england, russia, austria, and prussia, met at london for the purpose of settling the belgian question without disturbing the peace of europe, and it was decided that prince leopold of coburg, the widower of the princess royal of england, a man entirely under british influence, and who had refused the throne of greece, should accept that of belgium. eighteen articles favorable to belgium were granted to him by the london congress. scarcely, however, had he reached brussels, on the st july, , than the fetes given upon that occasion were disturbed by the unexpected invasion of belgium by a numerous and powerful dutch force. at hasselt, the prince of orange defeated the belgians under general daine, and, immediately advancing against leopold, utterly routed him at tirlemont, on the th august. the threats of france and england, and the appearance of a french army in belgium, saved brussels and compelled the dutch to withdraw. the eighteen articles in favor of belgium were, on the other hand, replaced by twenty-four others, more favorable to the dutch, which leopold was compelled to accept. the king of holland, however, refusing to accept these twenty-four articles, with which, notwithstanding the concessions therein contained, he was dissatisfied, the belgian government took advantage of the undecided state of the question not to undertake, for the time being, half of the public debt of holland, which, by the twenty-four articles, was laid upon belgium. negotiations dragged on their weary length, and protocol after protocol followed in endless succession from london. in , leopold espoused louisa, one of the daughters of the king of the french, and was not only finally recognized by the northern powers, but, by means of the intervention of england, being backed by a fleet, and by means of that of france, being backed by an army, compelled holland to accept of terms of peace. the french troops under gerard, unassisted by the belgians and watched by a prussian army stationed on the meuse, regularly besieged and took the citadel of antwerp, on christmas eve, , gave it up to the belgians as pertaining to their territory, and evacuated the country. king william, however, again rejecting the twenty-four articles, all the other points, the division of the public debt, the navigation of the scheldt, and, more than all, the future destiny of the province of luxemburg, which formed part of the confederated states of germany, had been declared hereditary in the house of nassau-orange, and which, by its geographical position and the character of its inhabitants, was more nearly connected with belgium, remained for the present unsettled. in , holland was induced by a fresh demonstration on the part of the great powers to accept the twenty-four articles, against which belgium in her turn protested on the ground of the procrastination on the part of holland having rendered her earlier accession to these terms null and void. belgium was, however, also compelled to yield. by this fresh agreement it was settled that the western part of luxemburg, which had in the interim fallen away from the german confederation, should be annexed to belgium, and that holland (and the german confederation) should receive the eastern part of limburg in indemnity; and that belgium, instead of taking upon herself one-half of the public debt of the netherlands, should annually pay the sum of five million dutch guldens toward defraying the interest of that debt. the period of the independence of belgium, brief as it was, was made use of, particularly under the nothomb ministry, for the development of great industrial activity, and, more especially, for the creation of a system of railroads, until now without its parallel on the continent. unfortunately but little was done in favor of the interests of germany. the french language had already become so prevalent throughout belgium that, in , the provincial councillors of ghent were constrained to pass a resolution to the effect that the offices dependent upon them should, at all events, solely be intrusted to persons acquainted with the flemish dialect, and that their rescripts should be drawn up in that language.--holland immensely increased her public debt in consequence of her extraordinary exertions. in , the king, william i., voluntarily abdicated the throne and retired into private life, in the enjoyment of an enormous revenue, with a catholic countess whom he had wedded. he was succeeded by his son, william ii. [footnote : "the netherlands formed, nevertheless, but a weak bulwark to germany. internal disunion, superfluous fortresses, a weak army. on the one side, a witless, wealthy, haughty aristocracy, an influential and ignorant clergy; on the other, civic pride, capelocratic pettiness, calvinistic _brusquerie_. the policy pursued by the king was inimical to germany."--_stein's letters._] [footnote : so bitter was the enmity existing between the belgians and the dutch that the dutch lieutenant, van speyk, when driven by a storm before antwerp, blew up his gunboat in the middle of the scheldt rather than allow it to fall into the hands of the belgians.] cclxviii. the swiss revolution the restoration of had replaced the ancient aristocracy more or less on their former footing throughout switzerland. in this country the greatest tranquillity prevailed; the oppression of the aristocracy was felt, but not so heavily as to be insupportable. many benefits, as, for instance, the draining of the swampy linththal by escher of zurich, were, moreover, conferred upon the country. mercenaries were also continually furnished to the king of france, to the pope, and, for some time, to the king of the netherlands. france, nevertheless, imposed such heavy commercial duties that several of the cantons leagued together for the purpose of taking reprisals. this misunderstanding between switzerland and france unfortunately did not teach wisdom to the states belonging to the german confederation, and the rhine was also barricaded with custom-houses, those graves of commerce. the jesuits settled at freiburg in the uechtland, where they founded a large seminary and whence they finally succeeded in expelling peter girard, a man of high merit, noted for the liberality of his views on education.[ ] the paris revolution of july also gave rise to a democratic reaction throughout switzerland. berne, by a circular, published september , , called upon the other swiss governments to suppress the revolutionary spirit by force, and, by so doing, fired the train. the government of zurich wisely opposed the circular and made a voluntary reform. in all the other cantons popular societies sprang up, and, either by violence or by threats, subverted the ancient governments. new constitutions were everywhere granted. the immense majority of the people was in favor of reform, and the aristocracy offered but faint resistance. little towns or villages became the centre of the movements against the capitals. fischer, an innkeeper from merischwanden, seized the city of aarau; the village of burgdorf revolutionized the canton of berne, the village of murten the canton of freiburg, the village of weinfelden the canton of constance; this example was followed by the peasantry of solothurn and vaud; the government of st. gall imitated that of zurich. basel was also attempted to be revolutionized by liestal, but the wealthy and haughty citizens, principally at the instigation of the family of wieland, made head against the peasantry, who were led by one gutzwyler. the contest that had taken place in belgium was here reacted on a smaller scale. a dispute concerning privileges commencing between the citizens and the peasantry, bloody excesses ensued and a complete separation was the result. the peasantry, superior in number, asserted their right to send a greater number of deputies to the great council than the cities, and the latter, dreading the danger to which their civic interests would be thereby exposed, obstinately refused to comply. party rage ran high; the baselese insulted some of the deputies sent by the peasantry, and the latter, in retaliation, began to blockade the town. colonel wieland made some sallies; the federal diet interfered, and the peasantry, being dispersed by the federal troops, revenged themselves during their retreat by plundering the vale of reigoldswyler, which had remained true to basel. in schwyz, the old-schwyzers and the inhabitants of the outer circles, who, although for centuries in possession of the rights of citizenship, were still regarded by the former as their vassals, also fell at variance, and the latter demanded equal rights or complete separation. in neufchatel, bourguin attempted a revolution against the prussian party and took the city, but succumbed to the vigorous measures adopted by general pfuel, . the conduct of the federal diet, which followed in the footsteps of european policy, and which, by winking at the opposing party and checking that in favor of progression, sought to preserve the balance, but served to increase party spirit. in september, , the radicals founded at langenthal, the _schutzverein_ or protective union, which embraced all the liberal clubs throughout switzerland and was intended to counteract the impending aristocratic counterrevolution. men like schnell of berne, troxler the philosopher, etc., stood at its head. they demanded the abolition of the constitution of as too aristocratic and federal, and the foundation of a new one in a democratic and independent sense for the increase of the external power and unity of switzerland, and for her internal security from petty aristocratic and local views and intrigues. in march, , lucerne, zurich, berne, solothurn, st. gall, aargau, and constance formed a _concordat_ for the mutual maintenance of their democratic constitutions until the completion of the revisal of the confederation. the aristocratic party, schwyz, uri, unterwalden (actuated by ancient pride and led by the clergy), basel, and neufchatel meanwhile formed the sarner confederation. in august, the deposed bernese aristocracy, headed by major fischer, made a futile attempt to produce a counter-revolution. in the federal diet, the envoys of the _concordat_ and the threatening language of the clubs compelled the members to bring a new federal constitution under deliberation, but opinions were too divided, and the constitution projected in fell to the ground for want of sufficient support. at the moment of this defeat of the liberal party, alt-schwyz, led by abyberg, took up arms, took possession of küssnacht, and threatened the _concordat_, the baselese at the same time taking the field with one thousand two hundred men and fourteen pieces of ordnance. the people were, however, inimical to their cause; abyberg fled; the baselese were encountered by the peasantry in the hartwald and repulsed with considerable loss. the federal diet demonstrated the greatest energy in order to prevent the _concordat_ and the _schutzverein_ from acting in its stead. schwyz and basel were occupied with soldiery; the former was compelled to accept a new constitution drawn up with a view of pacifying both parties, the latter to accede to a complete separation between the town and country. the sarner confederation was dissolved, and all discontented cantons were compelled, under pain of the infliction of martial law, to send envoys to the federal diet. intrigues, having for object the alienation of the city of basel, of neufchatel, and valais from the confederation, were discovered and frustrated by the diet, not without the approbation of france, the valais and the road over the simplon being thereby prevented from falling beneath the influence of austria. in , five hundred polish refugees, suspected of supporting the frankfort attempt in germany, quitted france for switzerland, and soon afterward unsuccessfully invaded savoy in conjunction with some italian refugees. crowds of refugees from every quarter joined them and formed a central association, young europe, whence branched others, young france, young poland, young germany, and young italy. the principal object of this association was to draw the german journeymen apprentices (_handwerks-bursche_) into its interests, and for this purpose a banquet was given by it to these apprentices in the steinbrölzle near berne. these intrigues produced serious threats on the side of the great powers, and switzerland yielded. the greater part of the refugees were compelled to emigrate through france to england and america. napoleon's nephew was, at a later period, also expelled switzerland. his mother, queen hortense, consort to louis, ex-king of holland, daughter to josephine beauharnais, consequently both stepdaughter and sister-in-law to napoleon, possessed the beautiful estate of arenenberg on the lake of constance. on her death it was inherited by her son, louis, who, during his residence there, occupied himself with intrigues directed against the throne of louis philippe. in concert with a couple of military madmen, he introduced himself into strasburg, where, with a little hat, in imitation of that worn by napoleon, on his head, he proclaimed himself emperor in the open streets. he was easily arrested. this act was generously viewed by louis philippe as that of a senseless boy, and he was restored to liberty upon condition of emigrating to america. no sooner, however, was he once more free, than, returning to switzerland, he set fresh intrigues on foot. louis philippe, upon this, demanded his expulsion. constance would willingly have extended to him the protection due to one of her citizens, but how were the claims of a swiss citizen to be rendered compatible with those of a pretender to the throne of france? french troops already threatened the frontiers of switzerland, where, as in , the people, instead of making preparations for defence, were at strife among themselves. louis at length voluntarily abandoned the country in . in the beginning of , dr. strauss, who, in , had, in his work entitled "the life of jesus," declared the gospels a cleverly devised fable, and had, at great pains, sought to refute the historical proofs of the truth of christianity, was, on that account, appointed, by the council of education and of government at zurich, professor of divinity to the new zurich academy. burgomaster hirzel (nicknamed "the tree of liberty" on account of his uncommon height) stood at the head of the enthusiastic government party by which this extraordinary appointment had been effected; the people, however, rose _en masse_, the great council was compelled to meet, and the anti-christian party suffered a most disgraceful defeat. strauss, who had not ventured to appear in person on the scene of action, was offered and accepted a pension. the christian party, concentrated into a committee of faith, under the presidency of hurliman, behaved with extreme moderation, although greatly superior in number to their opponents. the radical government, ashamed and perplexed, committed blunder after blunder, and at length threatened violence. upon this, hirzel, the youthful priest of pfäffikon, rang the alarm from his parish church, and, on the th of september, , led his parishioners into the city of zurich. this example was imitated by another crowd of peasantry, headed by a physician named rahn. the government troops attacked the people and killed nine men. on the fall of the tenth, hegetschwiler, the councillor of state, a distinguished savant and physician, while attempting to restore harmony between the contending parties, the civic guard turned against the troops and dispersed them. the radical government and the strauss faction also fled. immense masses of peasantry from around the lake entered the city. a provisional government, headed by hiesz and muralt, and a fresh election, insured tranquillity. in the canton of schwyz, a lengthy dispute, similar to that between the vettkoper and schieringer in friesland, was carried on between the horn and hoof-men (the wealthy in possession of cattle and the poor who only possessed a cow or two) concerning their privileges. in , a violent opposition, similar in nature, was made by the people of vaud against the oligarchical power assumed by a few families. the closing of the monasteries in the aargau in gave rise to a dispute of such importance as to disturb the whole of the confederation. in the aargau the church and state had long and strenuously battled, when the monastery of muri was suddenly invested as the seat of a conspiracy, and, on symptoms of uneasiness becoming perceptible among the catholic population, the whole country was flooded with twenty thousand militia raised on the spur of the moment, and the closing of the monastery of muri and of all the monasteries in the aargau was proclaimed and carried into execution. the rest of the catholic cantons and rome vehemently protested against this measure, and even some of the reformed cantons, for the sake of peace, voted at the diet for the maintenance of the monasteries: the aargau, nevertheless, steadily refused compliance. [footnote : in lucerne, the disorderly trial of a numerous band of robbers, which had been headed by an extremely beautiful and talented girl, named clara wendel, made the more noise on account of its bringing the bandit-like murder of keller, the aged mayor, and intrigues, in which the name of the nuncio was mixed up, before the public. .] cclxix. the revolution in brunswick, saxony, hesse, etc. the belgian revolution spread into germany. liege infected her neighbor, aix-la-chapelle, where, on the th of august, , the workmen belonging to the manufactories raised a senseless tumult which was a few days afterward repeated by their fellow-workmen at elberfeld, wetzlar, and even by the populace of berlin and breslau, but which solely took a serious character in brunswick, saxony, hanover, and hesse. charles, duke of brunswick, was at paris, squandering the revenue derived from his territories, on the outburst of the july revolution, which drove him back to his native country, where he behaved with increased insolence. his obstinate refusal to abolish the heavy taxes, to refrain from disgraceful sales, to recommence the erection of public buildings, and to recognize the provincial estates, added to his threat to fire upon the people and his boast that he knew how to defend his throne better than charles x. of france, so maddened the excitable blood of his subjects that, after throwing stones at the duke's carriage and at an actress on whom he publicly bestowed his favors, they stormed his palace and set fire to it over his head, september , . charles escaped through the garden. his brother, william, supported by hanover and prussia, replaced him, recognized the provincial estates, granted a new constitution, built a new palace, and re-established tranquillity. the conduct of the expelled duke, who, from his asylum in the harzgebirge, made a futile attempt to regain possession of brunswick by means of popular agitation and by the proclamation of democratical opinions, added to the contempt with which he treated the admonitions of his superiors, induced the federal diet to recognize his brother's authority. the ex-duke has, since this period, wandered over england, france, and spain, sometimes engaged in intrigues with carlists, at others with republicans. in , he accompanied a celebrated female aeronaut in one of her excursions from london. the balloon accidentally upset and the duke and his companion fell to the ground. he was, however, as in his other adventures, more frightened than hurt. in saxony, the progress of enlightenment had long rendered the people sensible of the errors committed by the old and etiquettish aristocracy of the court and diet. as early as , all the grievances had been recapitulated in an anonymous printed address, and, in the beginning of , on the venerable king, antony (brother to frederick augustus, deceased ), declaring invalid the settlement of his affairs by the estates, which evinced a more liberal spirit than they had hitherto done, and on the prohibition of the festivities on the th of june, the anniversary of the augsburg confession, by the town council of dresden and by the government commissioner of the university of leipzig from devotion to the catholic court, a popular tumult ensued in both cities, which was quelled but to be, a few weeks later, after the revolution of july, more disastrously renewed. the tumult commenced at leipzig on the d of september and lasted several days, and, during the night of the th, dresden was stormed from without by two immense crowds of populace, by whom the police buildings and the town-house were ransacked and set on fire. disturbances of a similar nature broke out at chemnitz and bautzen. the king, upon this, nominated his nephew, prince frederick, who was greatly beloved by the people, co-regent; the civic guard restored tranquillity, the most crying abuses, particularly those in the city administration, were abolished, and the constitution was revised. the popular minister, lindenan, replaced einsiedel, who had excited universal detestation. in the electorate of hesse, the period of terror occasioned by the threatening letters addressed to the elector was succeeded by the agitation characteristic of the times. on the th of september, , a tumultuous rising took place at cassel; on the th, the people of hanau destroyed every custom-house stationed on the frontier. the public was so unanimous and decided in opinion that the elector not only agreed to abolish the abuses, to convoke the estates, and to grant a new constitution, but even placed the reins of government provisionally in the hands of his son, prince william, in order to follow the countess reichenbach, who had been driven from cassel by the insults of the populace. prince william was, however, as little as his father inclined to make concessions; and violent collisions speedily ensued. he wedded madame lehmann, the wife of a prussian officer, under the name of the countess von schaumburg, and closed the theatre against his mother, the electress, for refusing to place herself at her side in public. the citizens sided with the electress, and when, after some time had elapsed, she again ventured to visit the theatre, the doors were no longer closed against her, and, on her entrance, she found the house completely filled. on the close of the evening's entertainment, however, while the audience were peaceably dispersing, they were charged by a troop of cavalry, who cut down the defenceless multitude without distinction of age or sex, december , . the estates, headed by professor jordan, vainly demanded redress; giesler, the head of the police, was alone designated as the criminal; the scrutiny was drawn to an interminable length and produced no other result than giesler's decoration with an order by the prince. in hesse-darmstadt, where the poll-tax amounted to _fls_. _krs_. ( _s_. _d_.) a head, the estates ventured, even prior to the revolution of july, to refuse to vote , , _fls_. (£ , _s_. _d_.) to the new grandduke, louis ii. (who had just succeeded his aged father, the patron of the arts), for the defrayment of debts contracted by him before his accession to the ducal chair. in september, the peasantry of upper hesse rose _en masse_ on account of the imposition of the sum of , _fls_. (£ , _s_. _d_.) upon the poverty-stricken communes in order to meet the outlay occasioned by the festivities given in the grandduke's honor on his route through the country; the burdens laid upon the peasantry in the mediatized principalities, more particularly in that of ysenburg, had also become unbearable. the insurgents took budingen by storm and were guilty of some excesses toward the public officers and the foresters, but deprived no one of life. ere long convinced of their utter impotence, they dispersed before the arrival of prince emilius at the head of a body of military, who, blinded by rage, unfortunately killed a number of persons in the village of södel, whom they mistook for insurgents owing to the circumstance of their being armed, but who had in reality been assembled by a forester for the purpose of keeping the insurgents in check. in this month, september, , popular disturbances, but of minor import, broke out also at jena and kahla, altenburg, and gera. in hanover, the first symptoms of revolution appeared in january, . dr. könig was at that time at the head of the university of osterode, dr. rauschenplatt of that of göttingen.[ ] the abolition of the glaring ancient abuses and the removal of the minister, count munster, the sole object of whose policy appeared to be the eternalization of every administrative and juridical antiquity in the state, were demanded. the petty insurrections were quelled by the military. könig was taken prisoner; most of the other demagogues escaped to france. the duke of cambridge, the king's brother, mediated. count munster was dismissed, and hanover received a new and more liberal constitution. while these events were passing in germany, the poles carried on a contest against the whole power of russia as glorious and as unfortunate as their former one under their leader, kosciuszko. louis philippe, king of the french, in the hope of gaining favor with the northern powers by the abandonment of the polish cause, dealt not a stroke in their aid. austria, notwithstanding her natural rivalry to russia, beheld the polish revolution merely through the veil of legitimacy and refused her aid to rebels. a hungarian address in favor of poland produced no result. prussia was closely united by family ties to russia. the poles were consequently left without external aid, and their spirit was internally damped by diplomatic arts. aid was promised by france, if they would wait. they accordingly waited: and in the interim, after the failure of diebitsch's attempt upon warsaw and his sudden death, paskewitch, the russian general, unexpectedly crossed the vistula close to the prussian fortress of thorn and seized the city of warsaw while each party was still in a state of indecision. immense masses of fugitive polish soldiery sought shelter in austria and prussia. the officers and a few thousand private soldiers were permitted to pass onward to france: they found a warm welcome in southern germany, whence they had during the campaign been supplied with surgeons and every necessary for the supply of the hospitals. the rest were compelled to return to russia. the russian troops drawn from the distant provinces, the same that had been employed in the war with persia, overran poland as far as the prussian frontier, bringing with them a fearful pestilence, asiatic cholera. this dire malady, which had, since , crept steadily onward from the banks of the ganges, reached russia in , and, in the autumn of , spread across the frontiers of germany. it chiefly visited populous cities and generally spared districts less densely populated, passing from one great city to another whither infection could not have been communicated. _cordons de santé_ and quarantine regulations were of no avail. the pestilence appeared to spread like miasma through the air and to kindle like gas wherever the assemblage of numbers disposed the atmosphere to its reception. the patients were seized with vomiting and diarrhoea, accompanied with violent convulsions, and often expired instantaneously or after an agony of a few hours' duration. medicinal art was powerless against this disease, and, as in the th century, the ignorant populace ascribed its prevalence to poison. suspicion fell this time upon the physicians and the public authorities and spread in the most incredible manner from st. petersburg to paris. the idea that the physicians had been charged to poison the people _en masse_ occasioned dreadful tumults, in which numbers of physicians fell victims and every drug used in medicine was destroyed as poisonous. similar scenes occurred in russia and in hungary. in the latter country a great insurrection of the peasants took place, in august, , in which not only the physicians, but also numbers of the nobility and public officers who had provided themselves with drugs fell victims, and the most inhuman atrocities were perpetrated. in vienna, where the cholera raged with extreme virulence, the people behaved more reasonably. in prussia, the cholera occasioned several disturbances at koenigsberg, stettin, and breslau. at koenigsberg the movement was not occasioned by the disease being attributed to poison. the strict quarantine regulations enforced by the government had produced a complete commercial stagnation, notwithstanding which permission had been given to the russian troops, when hard pushed by the insurgent poles, to provide themselves with provisions and ammunition from prussia, so that not only russian agents and commissaries, but whole convoys from russia crossed the prussian frontier. the appearance of cholera was ascribed to this circumstance, and the public discontent was evinced both by a popular outbreak and in an address from the chief magistrate of koenigsberg to the throne. the prussian army, under the command of field-marshal gneisenau, stationed in posen for the purpose of watching the movements of the poles, was also attacked by the cholera, to which the field-marshal fell victim. it speedily reached berlin, spread through the north of germany to france, england, and north america, returned thence to the south of europe, and, in , crept steadily on from italy through the tyrol to bavaria. the veil had been torn from many an old and deep-rooted evil by the disturbances of . the press now emulated the provincial diets and some of the governments that sought to meet the demands of the age in exposing to public view all the political wants of germany. party spirit, however, still ran too high, and the moderate constitutionalists, who aimed at the gradual introduction of reforms by legal means, found themselves ere long outflanked by two extreme parties. while gentz at vienna, jarcke at berlin, etc., refused to make the slightest concession and in that spirit conducted the press, rotteck's petty constitutional reforms in baden were treated with contempt by wirth and siebenpfeiffer, by whom a german republic was with tolerable publicity proclaimed in rhenish bavaria. nor were attempts at mediation wanting. in darmstadt, schulz proposed the retention of the present distribution of the states of germany and the association of a second chamber, composed of deputies elected by the people from every part of the german confederation, with the federal assembly at frankfort. the tribune, edited by dr. wirth, and the westboten, edited by dr. siebenpfeiffer, were prohibited by the federal diet, march , . schuler, savoie, and geib opposed this measure by the foundation of a club in rhenish bavaria for the promotion of liberty of the press, ramifications of which were intended by the founders to be extended throughout germany. the approaching celebration of the festival in commemoration of the bavarian constitution afforded the malcontents a long-wished-for opportunity for the convocation of a monster meeting at the ancient castle of hambach, on the th of may. although the black, red and gold flag waved on this occasion high above the rest, the tendency to french liberalism predominated over that to german patriotism. numbers of french being also present, dr. wirth deemed himself called upon to observe that the festival they had met to celebrate was intrinsically german, that he despised liberty as a french boon, and that the patriot's first thoughts were for his country, his second for liberty. these observations greatly displeased the numerous advocates for french republicanism among his audience, and one rey, a strasburg citizen, read him a severe lecture in the mayence style of .[ ] there were also a number of poles present, toward whom no demonstrations of jealousy were evinced. this meeting peaceably dissolved, but no means were for the future neglected for the purpose of crushing the spirit manifested by it. marshal wrede occupied spires, landau, neustadt, etc., with bavarian troops; the clubs for the promotion of liberty of the press were strictly prohibited, their original founders, as well as the orators of hambach and the boldest of the newspaper editors, were either arrested or compelled to quit the country. siebenpfeiffer took refuge in switzerland; wirth might have effected his escape, but refused. some provocations in neustadt, on the anniversary of the hambach festival in , were brought by the military to a tragical close. some newspaper editors, printers, etc., were also arrested at munich, wurzburg, augsburg, etc. the most celebrated among the accused was professor behr, court-councillor of wurzburg, the burgomaster and former deputy of that city, who at the time of the meeting at hambach made a public speech at gaibach. on account of the revolutionary tendency manifested in it he was arrested, and, in , sentenced to ask pardon on his knees before the king's portrait and to imprisonment, a punishment to which the greater part of the political offenders were condemned. the federal diet had for some time been occupied with measures for the internal tranquillity of germany. the hambach festival both brought them to a conclusion and increased their severity. under the date of the th of june, , the resolutions of the federal assembly, by which first of all the provincial estates, then the popular clubs, and finally the press, were to be deprived of every means of opposing in any the slightest degree the joint will of the princes, were published. the governments were bound not to tolerate within their jurisdiction aught contrary to the resolutions passed by the federal assembly, and to call the whole power of the confederation to their aid if unable to enforce obedience; nay, in cases of urgency, the confederation reserved to itself the right of armed intervention, undemanded by the governments. taxes, to meet the expenses of the confederation, were to be voted submissively by the provincial estates. finally, all popular associations and assemblies were also prohibited, and all newspapers, still remaining, of a liberal tendency, were suppressed. the youthful revolutionists, principally students, assembled secretly at frankfort on the maine, during the night of the d of april, , attacked the town-watch for the purpose of liberating some political prisoners, and possibly intended to have carried the federal assembly by a _coup-de-main_ had they not been dispersed. these excesses had merely the effect of increasing the severity of the scrutiny and of crowding the prisons with suspected persons. [footnote : also the unfortunate dr. plath, to whom science is indebted for an excellent historical work upon china. he became implicated in this affair and remained in confinement until , when he was sentenced to fifteen years' further imprisonment.] [footnote : all national distinctions must cease and be fused in universal liberty and equality; this was the sole aim of the noble french people, and for this cause should we meet them with a fraternal embrace, etc. paul pfizer well observed in a pamphlet on german liberalism, published at that period, "what epithet would the majority of the french people bestow upon a liberty which a part of their nation would purchase by placing themselves beneath the protection of a foreign and superior power, called to their aid against their fellow-citizens? if the cause of german liberalism is to remain pure and unspotted, we must not, like coriolanus, arm the foreign foe against our country. the egotistical tendency of the age is, unhappily, too much inclined (by a coalition with france) to prefer personal liberty and independence to the liberty and independence (thereby infallibly forfeited) of the whole community. the supposed fellowship with france would be subjection to her. france will support the german liberals as richelien did the german protestants."] cclxx. the struggles of the provincial diets the estates of the different constitutional states sought for constitutional reform by legal means and separated themselves from the revolutionists. but, during periods of great political agitation, it is difficult to draw a distinctive line, and any opposition, however moderate, appears as dangerous as the most intemperate rebellion. it was, consequently, impossible for the governments and the estates to come to an understanding during these stormy times. the result of the deliberations, whenever the opposition was in the majority, was protestations on both sides in defence of right; and, whenever the opposition was or fell in the minority, the chambers were the mere echo of the minister. in bavaria, in , the second chamber raised a violent storm against the minister, von schenk, principally on account of the restoration of some monasteries and of the enormous expense attending the erection of the splendid public buildings at munich. a law of censorship had, moreover, been published, and a number of civil officers elected by the people been refused permission to take their seats in the chamber. schwindel, von closen, cullmann, seyffert, etc., were the leaders of the opposition. schenk resigned office; the law of censorship was repealed, and the estates struck two millions from the civil list. the first chamber, however, refused its assent to these resolutions, the law of censorship was retained, and the saving in the expenditure of the crown was reduced to an extremely insignificant amount. in the autumn of , prince otto, the king's second son, was, with the consent of the sultan, elected king of greece by the great maritime powers intrusted with the decision of the greek question, and count armansperg, formerly minister of bavaria, was placed at the head of the regency during the minority of the youthful monarch. steps having to be taken for the levy of troops for the greek service, some regiments were sent into greece in order to carry the new regulations into effect. the bavarian chambers were at a later period almost entirely purged from the opposition and granted every demand made by the government. the appearance of the bavarians in ancient greece forms one of the most interesting episodes in modern history. the jealousy of the great powers explains the election of a sovereign independent of them all: the noble sympathy displayed for the grecian cause by king louis, who, shortly after the congress of verona, sent considerable sums of money and colonel von heideck to the aid of the greeks, and, it may be, also the wish to bring the first among the second-rate powers of germany into closer connection with the common interests of the first-rate powers, more particularly explains that of the youthful otto.[ ] the task of organizing a nation, noble, indeed, but debased by long slavery and still reeking with the blood of late rebellion, under the influence of a powerful and mutually jealous diplomacy, on a european and german footing, was, however, extremely difficult. hence the opposite views entertained by the regency, the resignation of the councillors of state, von maurer and von abel, who were more inclined to administrate, and the retention of office by count armansperg, who was more inclined to diplomatize. hence the ceaseless intrigues of party, the daily increasing contumacy, and the revolts, sometimes quenched in blood, of the wild mountain tribes and ancient robber-chiefs, to whom european institutions were still an insupportable yoke. king otto received, on his accession to the throne, in , a visit from his royal parent; and, in the ensuing year, conducted the princess of oldenburg to athens as his bride. in wurtemberg, the chambers first met in , and were, two months later, again dissolved on account of the refusal of the second chamber to reject "with indignation" pfizer's protestation against the resolutions of the confederation. in the newly-elected second chamber, the opposition, at whose head stood the celebrated poet, uhland, brought forward numerous propositions for reform, but remained in the minority, and it was not until the new diet, held in , that the aristocratic first chamber was induced to diminish socage service and other feudal dues twenty-two and one-half per cent in amount. the literary piracy that had hitherto continued to exist solely in wurtemberg was also provisionally abolished, the system of national education was improved, and several other useful projects were carried into execution or prepared. a new criminal code, published in , again bore traces of political caution. the old opposition lost power. in baden, the venerable grandduke, louis, expired in , and was succeeded by leopold, a descendant of the collateral branch of the counts of hochberg. bavaria had, at an earlier period, stipulated, in case of the extinction of the elder and legitimate line, for the restoration of the pfalz (heidelberg and mannheim), which had, in , been secured to her by a treaty with austria. the grandduke, louis, had protested against this measure and had, in , declared baden indivisible. bavaria finally relinquished her claims on the payment of two million florins (£ , _s_. _d_.) and the cession of the bailiwick of steinfeld, to which austria moreover added the county of geroldseck. the new grandduke, who was surnamed "the citizen's friend," behaved with extreme liberality and consequently went hand in hand with the first chamber, of which wessenberg and prince von furstenberg were active members, and with the second, at the head of which stood professors rotteck, welcker, and von itzstein. rotteck proposed and carried through the abolition of capital punishment as alone worthy of feudal times, and, on welcker's motion, censorship was abolished and a law for the press was passed. the federal assembly, however, speedily checked these reforms. the grandduke was compelled to repeal the law for the press, the freiburg university was for some time closed, professors rotteck and welcker were suspended, and their newspaper, the "freisinnige" or liberal, was suppressed in . rotteck was, notwithstanding, at feud with the hambachers, and had raised the baden flag above that of germany at a national fete at badenweiler. this extremely popular deputy, who had been presented with thirteen silver cups in testimony of the affection with which he was regarded by the people, afterward protested against the resolutions of the confederation, but his motion was violently suppressed by the minister, winter. the baden chamber, nevertheless, still retained a good deal of energy, and, after the death of rotteck, in , a violent contest was carried on concerning the rights of election. in hesse-darmstadt, the estates again met in ; the liberal majority in the second chamber, led by von gagern, e. e. hoffmann, hallwachs, etc., protested against the resolutions of the confederation, and the chamber was dissolved. a fresh election took place, notwithstanding which the chamber was again dissolved in , on account of the government being charged with party spirit by von gagern and the refusal of the chamber to call him to order. the people afterward elected a majority of submissive members. in hesse-cassel the popular demonstrations were instantly followed by the convocation of the estates and the proposal of a new and stipulated constitution, which received the sanction of the chambers as early as january, ; but, amid the continual disturbances, and on account of the disinclination of the prince co-regent to the liberal reforms, the chamber, of which the talented professor, jordan of marburg, was the most distinguished member, yielded, notwithstanding its perseverance, after two rapidly successive dissolutions, in and , to the influence of the (once liberal) minister, hassenpflug, and jordan quitted the scene of contest. hassenpflug's tyrannical behavior and the lapse of hesse-rotenburg (the mediatized collateral line, which became extinct with the landgrave victor in ), the revenues of which were appropriated as personal property by the prince elector instead of being declared state property, fed the opposition in the chambers, which was, notwithstanding the menaces of the prince elector, carried on until . hassenpflug threw up office. in nassau, the duke, william, fell into a violent dispute with the estates. the second chamber, after vainly soliciting the restitution of the rich demesnes, appropriated by the duke as private property, on the ground of their being state property, and the application of their revenue to the payment of the state debts, refused, in the autumn of , to vote the taxes. the first chamber, in which the duke had the power of raising at will a majority in his favor by the creation of fresh members, protested against the conduct of the second, which in return protested against that of the first and suspended its proceedings until their constitutional rights should have received full recognition; five of the deputies, however, again protested against the suspension of the proceedings of the chamber and voted the taxes during the absence of the majority. the majority again protested, but became entangled in a political lawsuit, and herber, the gray-headed president, was confined in the fortress of marxburg. in brunswick, a good understanding prevailed between william the new duke, and the estates, which were, however, accused of having an aristocratic tendency by the democratic party. their sittings continued to be held in secret. in saxony, the long-wished-for reforms, above all, the grant of a new constitution, were realized, owing to the influence of the popular co-regent, added to that of lindenau, the highly-esteemed minister, and of the newly-elected estates, in . the law of censorship, nevertheless, continued to be enforced with extreme severity, which also marked the treatment of the political prisoners. count hohenthal and baron watzdorf, who seized every opportunity to put in protestations, even against the resolutions of the confederation, evinced the most liberal spirit. on the demise of the aged king, antony, in , and the accession of the co-regent, frederick, to the throne, the political movements totally ceased. holstein and schleswig had also, as early as , solicited the restitution of their ancient constitutional rights, which the king, frederick iv., delayed to grant. lornsen, the councillor of chancery, was arrested in , for attempting to agitate the people. separate provincial diets were, notwithstanding, decreed, in , for holstein and schleswig, although both provinces urgently demanded their union. frederick iv. expired in and was succeeded by his cousin, christian. immediately after the revolution of july, the princes of oldenburg, altenburg, coburg, meiningen, and schwarzburg-sondershausen made a public appeal to the confidence of their subjects, whom they called upon to lay before them their grievances, etc. augustus, duke of oldenburg, who had assumed the title of grandduke, proclaimed a constitution, but shortly afterward withdrew his promise and strictly forbade his subjects to annoy him by recalling it to his remembrance. the prince von sondershausen also refused the hoped-for constitution. in sigmaringen, altenburg, and meiningen the constitutional movement was, on the contrary, countenanced and encouraged by the princes. pauline, the liberal-minded princess of lippe-detmold, had already drawn up a constitution for her petty territory with her own hand, when the nobility rose against it, and, aided by the federal assembly, compelled her to withdraw it. in the autumn of , the emperor of russia held a conference with the king of prussia at munchen-gratz, whither the emperor of austria also repaired. a german ministerial congress assembled immediately afterward at vienna, and the first of its resolutions was made public late in the autumn of . it announced the establishment of a court of arbitration, empowered, as the highest court of appeal, to decide all disputes between the governments and their provincial estates. the whole of the members of this court were to be nominated by the governments, but the disputing parties were free to select their arbitrators from among the number. a fresh and violent constitutional battle was, notwithstanding these precautions, fought in hanover, where adolphus frederick, duke of cambridge, had, in the name of his brother, william iv., king of england, established a new constitution, which had received many ameliorations notwithstanding the inefficiency of the liberals, christiani, luntzel, etc., to counteract the overpowering influence of the monarchical and aristocratic party. william iv., king of england and hanover, expired in , and was succeeded on the throne of great britain by victoria alexandrina, the daughter of his younger and deceased brother, edward, duke of kent, and of the princess victoria of saxe-coburg; and on that of hanover, which was solely heritable in the male line, by his second brother, ernest, duke of cumberland, the leader of the tory party in england. no sooner had this new sovereign set his foot on german soil[ ] than he repealed the constitution granted to hanover in and ordained the restoration of the former one of , drawn up in a less liberal but more monarchical and aristocratic spirit. among the protestations made against this _coup d'état_, that of the seven göttingen professors, the two brothers, grimm, to whom the german language and antiquarian research are so deeply indebted, dahlmann, gervinus, ewald, weber, and albrecht, is most worthy of record. their instant dismission produced an insurrection among the students, which was, after a good deal of bloodshed, quelled by the military. in the beginning of , the estates were convoked according to the articles of the constitution of for the purpose of taking a constitution, drawn up under the dictation of the king, under deliberation. many of the towns refused to elect deputies, and some of those elected were not permitted to take their seats. the city of osnabruck protested in the federal assembly. notwithstanding this, the estates meanwhile assembled, but declared themselves incompetent, regarding themselves simply in the light of an arbitrative committee, and, as such, threw out the constitution presented by the king, june, . the federal assembly remained passive.[ ] in , schele, the minister, finally succeeded, by means of menaces and bribery, and by arbitrarily calling into the chamber the ministerial candidates who had received the minority of votes during the elections, in collecting so many deputies devoted to his party as were requisite in order to form the chamber and to pass resolutions. the city of hanover hereupon brought before the federal assembly a petition for redress and a list of grievances in which schele's chamber was described as "unworthy of the name of a constitutional representative assembly, void of confidence, unpossessed of the public esteem, and unrecognized by the country." the king instantly divested rumann, the city director, of his office, but so far yielded to the magistrate, to whom he gave audience in the palace and who was followed by crowds of the populace, as to revoke the nomination, already declared illegal, of rumann's successor, and to promise that the matter at issue should be brought before the common tribunal instead of the council of state, july th. numerous other cities, corporations of landed proprietors, etc., also followed the example set by hanover and laid their complaints before the federal assembly, which hereupon declared that, according to the laws of the confederation, it found no cause for interference, but at the same time advised the king to come to an understanding consistent with the rights of the crown and of the estates, with the "present" estates (unrecognized by the democratic party), concerning the form of the constitution. in the federal assembly, wurtemberg and bavaria, most particularly, voted in favor of the hanoverians. professor ewald was appointed to the university of tubingen; albrecht, at a later period, to that of leipzig; the brothers grimm, to that of berlin; dahlmann, to that of bonn. among the assembled estates, those of baden, wurtemberg, and saxony most warmly espoused the cause of the people of hanover, but, as was natural, without result.[ ] in , the king convoked a fresh diet. the people refused to elect members, and it was solely by means of intrigue that a small number of deputies (not half the number fixed by law) were assembled, creatures of the minister, schele, who were disowned by the people in addresses couched in the most energetic terms (the address presented by the citizens of osnabruck was the most remarkable) and their proceedings were protested against. this petty assembly, nevertheless, took under deliberation and passed a new constitution, against which the cities and the country again protested. the king also declared his only son, george, who was afflicted with blindness, capable of governing and of succeeding to the throne. [footnote : thiersch, the bavarian court-councillor, one of the most distinguished connoisseurs of grecian antiquity, who visited greece shortly after heideck and before the arrival of the king, was received by the modern greeks with touching demonstrations of delight. no nation has so deeply studied, so deeply become imbued with grecian lore, as that of germany, and the close connection formed, on the accession of the bavarian otto to the throne of greece, between her sons and the children of that classic land, justifies the proudest expectations.] [footnote : he did not restore the whole of the crown property that had, at an earlier period, been carried away to england. a considerable portion of the crown jewels had been taken away by george i., and when, in , the french occupied hanover, the whole of the movable crown property, even the great stud, was sent to england. on the demise of george iii., the crown jewels were divided among the princes of the english house.--_copied from the courier of august, ._] [footnote : the darmstadt government declared to the second chamber, on its bringing forward a motion for the intercession of darmstadt with the federal assembly in favor of the legality of the ancient constitution then in force in hanover, that the grandduke would never tolerate any cooperation on the part of the estates with his vote in the federal assembly.] [footnote : "this defeat is, however, not to be lamented: the battle for the separate constitutions has not been fought in vain if german nationality spring from the wreck of german separatism, if we are taught that without a liberal federal constitution liberal provincial constitutions are impossible in germany."--_pfizer._] cclxxi. austria and prince mettenich austria might, on the fall of napoleon, have maintained alsace, lorraine, the breisgau, and the whole of the territory of the upper rhine in the same manner in which prussia had maintained that of the lower rhine, had she not preferred the preservation of her rule in italy and rendered her position in germany subordinate to her station as a european power. this policy is explained by the peculiar circumstances of the austrian state, which had for centuries comprised within itself nations of the most distinct character, and the population of whose provinces were by far the greater part slavonian, hungarian, and italian, the great minority german. by this policy she lost, as the prussian customs' union has also again proved, much of her influence over germany, while, on the other hand, she secured it the more firmly in southern and eastern europe. austria has long made a gradual and almost unperceived advance from the northwest in a southeasterly direction. in germany she has continually lost ground. switzerland, the netherlands, alsace, lorraine, the swabian counties, lusatia, silesia, have one by one been severed from her, while her non-german possessions have as continually been increased, by the addition of hungary, transylvania, galicia, dalmatia, and upper italy. the contest carried on between austria, the french revolution, and napoleon, has at all events left deep and still visible traces; the characters of the emperor francis and of his chancellor of state, prince metternich, that perfect representative of the aristocracy of europe, sympathize also as closely with the austrian system as the character of the emperor joseph was antipathetical to it. this system dates, however, earlier than those revolutionary struggles, and has already outlived at least one of its supporters. austria is the only great state in europe that comprises so many diverse but well-poised nationalities within its bosom; in all the other great states, one nation bears the preponderance. to this circumstance may be ascribed her peaceful policy, every great war threatening her with the revolt of some one of the foreign nations subordinate to her sceptre. to this may, moreover, be ascribed the tenacity with which she upholds the principle of legitimacy. the historical hereditary right of the reigning dynasty forms the sole but ideal tie by which the diverse and naturally inimical nations beneath her rule are linked together. for the same reason, the concentration of talent in the government contrasts, in austria, more violently with the obscurantism of the provinces than in any other state. not only does the overpowering intelligence of the chancery of state awe the nations beneath its rule, but the proverbial good nature and patriarchal cordiality of the imperial family win every heart. the army is a mere machine in the hands of the government; a standing army, in which the soldier serves for life or for the period of twenty years, during which he necessarily loses all sympathy with his fellow-citizens, and which is solely reintegrated from militia whom this privilege renders still more devoted to the government. the pretorian spirit usually prevalent in standing armies has been guarded against in austria by there being no guards, and all sympathy between the military and the citizens of the various provinces whence they were drawn is at once prevented by the hungarian troops being sent into italy, the italian troops into galicia, etc., etc. the nationality of the private soldier is checked by the germanism of the subalterns and by the austrianism of the staff. besides the power thus everywhere visible, there exists another partially invisible, that of the police, in connection with a censorship of the severest description, which keeps a guard over the inadvertencies of the tongue as well as over those of the press. the people are, on the other hand, closely bound up with the government and interested in the maintenance of the existing state of affairs by the paper currency, on the value of which the welfare of every subject in the state depends. to a government thus strong in concentrated power and intelligence stands opposed the mass of nations subject to the austrian sceptre whose natural antipathies have been artfully fostered and strengthened. in austria the distinctions of class, characteristic of the middle ages, are still preserved. the aristocracy and the clergy possess an influence almost unknown in germany, but solely over the people, not over the government. as corporative bodies they still are, as in the days of charles vi., convoked for the purpose of holding postulate diets, whose power, with the exception of that of the hungarian diet, is merely nominal. the nobility, even in hungary, as everywhere else throughout the austrian states (more particularly since the spanish system adopted by ferdinand ii.), is split into two inimical classes, those of the higher and lower aristocracy. even in galicia, where the polish nobility formed, at an earlier period and according to earlier usage, but one body, the distinction of a higher and lower class has been introduced since the occupation of that country by austria. the high aristocracy are either bound by favors, coincident with their origin, to the court, the great majority among them consisting of families on whom nobility was conferred by ferdinand ii., or they are, if families belonging to the more powerful and more ancient national aristocracy, as, for instance, that of esterhazy in hungary, brought by the bestowal of fresh favors into closer affinity with the court and drawn within its sphere. the greater proportion of the aristocracy consequently reside at vienna. the lower nobility make their way chiefly by talent and perseverance in the army and the civil offices, and are therefore naturally devoted to the government, on which all their hopes in life depend. the clergy, although permitted to retain the whole of their ancient pomp and their influence over the minds of the people, have been rendered dependent upon the government, a point easily gained, the pope being principally protected by austria. the care of the government for the material welfare of the people cannot be denied; it is, however, frustrated by two obstacles raised by its own system. the maintenance of the high aristocracy is, for instance, antipathetic to the welfare of the subject, and, although comfort and plenty abound in the immediate vicinity of vienna, the population on the enormous estates of the magnates in the provinces often present a lamentable contrast. the austrian government moreover prohibits all free intercourse with foreign parts, and the old- fashioned system of taxation, senseless as many other existing regulations, entirely puts a stop to all free trade between hungary and austria. consequently, the new and grand modes of communication, the franzen canal, that unites the danube and the thiess, the louisenstrasse, between carlstadt and fiume, the magnificent road to trieste, the admirable road across the rocks of the stilfser jock, and, more than all, the steam navigation as far as the mouths of the danube and the railroads, will be unavailing to scatter the blessings of commerce and industry so long as these wretched prohibitions continue to be enforced. austria has, in regard to her foreign policy, left the increasing influence of russia in poland, persia, and turkey unopposed, and even allowed the mouths of the danube to be guarded by russian fortresses, while she has, on the other hand, energetically repelled the interference of france in the affairs of italy. the july revolution induced a popular insurrection in the dominions of the church, and the french threw a garrison into the citadel of ancona; the austrians, however, instantly entered the country and enforced the restoration of the _ançien régime_. in lombardy, many ameliorations were introduced and the prosperity of the country promoted by the austrian administration, notwithstanding the national jealousy of the inhabitants. venice, with her choked-up harbor, could, it is true, no longer compete with trieste. the german element has gained ground in galicia by means of the public authorities and the immigration of agriculturists and artificers. the hungarians endeavored to render their language the common medium throughout hungary, and to expel the german element, but their apprehension of the numerous slavonian population of hungary, whom religious sympathy renders subject to russian influence, has speedily reconciled them with the germans. slavonism has, on the other hand, also gained ground in bohemia. the emperor, francis i., expired in , and was succeeded by his son, ferdinand i., without a change taking place in the system of the government, of which prince metternich continued to be the directing principle. the decease of some of the heads of foreign royal families and the marriages of their successors again placed several german princes on foreign thrones. the last of the guelphs on the throne of great britain expired with william iv., whose niece and successor, victoria alexandrina, wedded, , albert of saxe-coburg, second son of ernest, the reigning duke. that the descendant of the steadfast elector should, after such adverse fortune, be thus destined to occupy the highest position in the reformed world, is of itself remarkable. one of this prince's uncles, leopold, is seated on the throne of belgium, and one of his cousins, ferdinand, on that of portugal, in right of his consort, donna maria da gloria, the daughter of dom pedro, king of portugal and emperor of the brazils, to whom, on the expulsion of the usurper, dom miguel, he was wedded in . these princes of coburg are remarkable for manly beauty. the antipathy with which the new dynasty on the throne of france was generally viewed rendered ferdinand, duke of orleans, louis philippe's eldest son, for some time an unsuccessful suitor for the hand of a german princess; he at length conducted helena, princess of mecklenburg-schwerin, although against the consent of her stepfather, paul frederick, the reigning duke, to paris in , as future queen of the french. he was killed in , by a fall from his carriage, and left two infant sons, the count of paris and the duke of chartres. the czarowitz, alexander, espoused maria, princess of darmstadt. the french chambers and journals have reassumed toward germany the tone formerly affected by napoleon, and, with incessant cries for war, in which, in , the voice of the prime minister thiers joined, demand the restoration of the left bank of the rhine. thiers was, however, compelled to resign office, and the close alliance between austria, prussia, and the whole of the confederated princes, as well as the feeling universally displayed throughout germany, demonstrated the energy with which an attack on the side of france would be repelled. the erection of the long-forgotten federal fortresses on the upper rhine was also taken at length under consideration, and it was resolved to fortify both rastadt and ulm without further delay. nor have the statesmen of france failed to threaten germany with a russo-gallic alliance in the spirit of the erfurt congress of ; while russia perseveres in the prohibitory system so prejudicial to german commerce, attempts to suppress every spark of german nationality in livonia, courland, and esthonia, and fosters panslavism, or the union of all the slavonic nations for the subjection of the world, among the slavonian subjects of austria in hungaria and bohemia. the extension of the greek church is also connected with this idea. "the european pentarchy," a work that attracted much attention in , insolently boasts how russia, in defiance of austria, has seized the mouths of the danube, has wedged herself, as it were, by means of poland, between austria and prussia, in a position equally threatening to both, recommends the minor states of germany to seek the protection of russia, and darkly hints at the alliance between that power and france. nor are the prospects of germany alone threatened by france and russia; disturbances, like a fantastic renewal of the horrors of the middle age, are ready to burst forth on the other side of the alps, as though, according to the ancient saga of germany, the dead were about to rise in order to mingle in the last great contest between the gods and mankind. cclxxii. prussia and rome while austria remains stationary, prussia progresses. while austria relies for support upon the aristocracy of the estates, prussia relies for hers upon the people, that is to say, upon the public officers taken from the mass of the population, upon the citizens emancipated by the city regulation, upon the peasantry emancipated by the abolition of servitude, of all the other agricultural imposts, and by the division of property, and upon the enrolment of both classes in the landwehr. while austria, in fine, renders her german policy subordinate to her european diplomacy, the influence exercised by prussia upon europe depends, on the contrary, solely upon that possessed by her in germany. prussia's leading principle appears to be, "all for the people, nothing through the people!" hence the greatest solicitude for the instruction of the people, whether in the meanest schools or the universities, but under strict political control, under the severest censorship; hence the emancipation of the peasantry, civic self- administration, freedom of trade, the general arming of the people, and, with all these, mere nameless provincial diets, the most complete popular liberty on the widest basis without a representation worthy of the name; hence, finally, the greatest solicitude for the promotion of trade on a grand scale, for the revival of the commerce of germany, which has lain prostrate since the great wars of the reformation, for the mercantile unity of germany, while it is exactly in prussia that political unitarians are the most severely punished. the great measures were commenced in prussia immediately after the disaster of : first, the reorganization of the army and the abolition of the privileges of the aristocracy in respect to appointments and the possession of landed property; these were, in , succeeded by the celebrated civic regulation which placed the civic administration in the hands of the city deputies freely elected by the citizens; in , by freedom of trade and by the foundation of the new universities of berlin (instead of halle), of breslau (instead of frankfort on the oder), and, in , of bonn, by which means the libraries, museums, and scientific institutions of every description were centralized; in , by the common duty imposed upon every individual of every class, without exception, to bear arms and to do service in the landwehr up to his thirty-ninth year; in , by the regulation for the division of communes; and, in , by the extra post. in respect to the popular representation guaranteed by the federal act, prussia announced, on the d of may, , her intention to form provincial diets, from among whose members the general representation or imperial diet, which was to be held at berlin, was to be elected. when the rhenish provinces urged the fulfilment of this promise in the coblentz address of , the reply was, "those who admonish the king are guilty of doubting the inviolability of his word." prussia afterward declared that the new regulations would be in readiness by the february of . on the th of january, , an edict was published by the government, the first paragraph of which fixed the public debt at $ , , ,[ ] and the second one rendered the contraction of every fresh debt dependent upon the will of the future imperial diet.[ ] the definitive regulations in respect to the provincial estates were finally published on the th of june, , but the convocation of a general diet was passed over in silence. the prosperity of the nations of germany, wrecked by the great wars of the reformation, must and will gradually return. prussia has inherited all the claims upon, and consequently all the duties owing to germany. still the general position of germany is not sufficiently favorable to render the renovation of her ancient hanseatic commerce possible.[ ] it is to be deplored that the attachment of the prussian cabinet to russian policy has not at all events modified the commercial restrictions along the whole of the eastern frontier of prussia,[ ] and that prussia has not been able to effect more with holland in regard to the question concerning the free navigation of the rhine.[ ] prussia has, on the other hand, deserved the gratitude of germany for the zeal with which she promoted the settlement of the customs' union, which has, at least in the interior of germany, removed the greater part of the restrictions upon commercial intercourse, and has a tendency to spread still further. throughout the last transactions, partly of the customs' union, partly of prussia alone, with england and holland, a vain struggle against those maritime powers is perceptible. england trades with germany from every harbor and in every kind of commodity, while german vessels are restricted to home produce and are only free to trade with england from their own ports. holland finds a market for her colonial wares in germany, and, instead of taking german manufactured goods in exchange, provides herself from england, throws english goods into germany, and, in lieu of being, as she ought to be, the great emporium of germany, is content to remain a mere huge english factory. the hanse towns have also been converted into mercantile depots for english goods on german soil. the misery consequent on the great wars, and the powerful reaction against gallicism throughout germany, once more caused despised religion to be reverenced in the age of philosophy. prussia deemed herself called upon, as the inheritor of the reformation brought about by luther, as the principal protestant power of germany, to assume a prominent position in the religious movement of the time. frederick william iii., a sovereign distinguished for piety, appears, immediately after the great wars, to have deemed the conciliation of the various sects of christians within his kingdom feasible. he, nevertheless, merely succeeded in effecting a union between the lutherans and calvinists. he also bestowed a new liturgy upon this united church, which was censured as partial, as proceeding too directly from the cabinet without being sanctioned by the concurrence of the assembled clergy and of the people. some lutherans, who refused compliance, were treated with extreme severity and compelled to emigrate; the utility of a union which, two centuries earlier, would have saved germany from ruin, was, however, generally acknowledged. it nevertheless was not productive of unity in the protestant world. in the universities and among the clergy, two parties, the rationalists and the supernaturalists, stood opposed to one another. the former, the disciples of the old neologians, still followed the philosophy of kant, merely regarded christianity as a code of moral philosophy, denominated christ a wise teacher, and explained away his miracles by means of physics. the latter, the followers of the old orthodox lutherans, sought to confirm the truths of the gospel also by philosophical means, and were denominated supernaturalists, as believers in a mystery surpassing the reasoning powers of man. the celebrated schleiermacher of berlin mediated for some time between both parties. but it was in prussia more particularly that both parties stood more rigidly opposed to one another and fell into the greatest extremes. the rationalists were supplanted by the pantheists, the disciples of hegel, the berlin philosopher, who at length formally declared war against christianity; the supernaturalists were here and there outdone by the pietists, whose enthusiasm degenerated into licentiousness.[ ] the king had, notwithstanding his piety, been led to believe that hegel merely taught the students unconditional obedience to the state, and that pantheist was consequently permitted to spread, under the protection of prussia, his senseless doctrine of deified humanity, the same formerly proclaimed by anacharsis cloote in the french convention. when too late, the gross deception practiced by this sophist was perceived: his disciples threw off their troublesome mask, with dr. strauss, who had been implicated in the zurich disturbances, at their head, openly renounced christianity, and, at halle, led by ruge, the journalist, embraced the social revolutionary ideas of "young france," to which almost the whole of the younger journalists of literary "young germany" acceded; nor was this gallic reaction, this retrogression toward the philosophical ideas of the foregoing century, without its cause, german patriotism, which, from to , had predominated in every university throughout prussia, having been forcibly suppressed. hegel, on his appearance in berlin, was generally regarded as the man on whom the task of diverting the enthusiasm of the rising generation for germany into another channel devolved.[ ] everything german had been treated with ridicule.[ ] french fashions and french ideas had once more come into vogue. while protestant germany was thus torn, weakened, and degraded by schism, the religious movement throughout catholic germany insensibly increased in strength and unity. the adverse fate of the pope had, on his deliverance from the hands of napoleon, excited a feeling of sympathy and reverence so universal as to be participated in by even the protestant powers of europe. he had, as early as , reinstated the jesuits without a remonstrance on the part of the sovereigns by whom they had formerly been condemned. the ancient spirit of the romish church had revived. a new edifice was to be raised on the thick-strewn ruins of the past. in , bavaria concluded a concordat with the pope for the foundation of the archbishopric of munich with the three bishoprics of augsburg, passau, and ratisbon, and of the archbishopric of bamberg with the three bishoprics of wurzburg, eichstadt, and spires. the king retained the right of presentation. in , prussia concluded a treaty by which the archbishopric of cologne with the three bishoprics of treves, munster, and paderborn, the archbishopric of posen with culm, and two independent bishoprics in breslau and ermeland were established. the bishoprics of hildesheim and osnabruck were re-established in by the concordat with hanover. in southwestern germany, the archbishopric of freiburg in the breisgau with the bishoprics of rotenburg on the neckar, limburg on the lahn, mayence, and fulda arose. in switzerland there remained four bishoprics, freiburg in the uechtland, solothurn, coire, and st. gall; in alsace, strasburg and colmar. in the netherlands, the archbishopric of malines with the bishoprics of ghent, liege, and namur. in holland, three jansenist bishoprics, utrecht, deventer, and haarlem, are remarkable for having retained their independence of rome. the renovated body of the church was inspired with fresh energy. on the fall of the jesuits, the other extreme, illuminatism, had raised its head, but had been compelled to yield before a higher power and before the moral force of germany. the majority of the german catholics now clung to the idea that the regeneration of the abused and despised church was best to be attained by the practice of evangelical simplicity and morality, that jesuitism and illuminatism were, consequently, to be equally avoided, and the better disposed among the protestants to be imitated. sailer, the great teacher of the german clergy, and wessenberg, whom rome on this account refused to raise to the bishopric of constance, acted upon this idea. in silesia, a number of youthful priests, headed by theimer, impatient for the realization of the union, apparently approaching, of this moderate party with the equally moderately disposed party among the protestants into one great german church, took, in , the bold step of renouncing celibacy. this party was however instantly suppressed by force by the king of prussia. theimer, in revenge, turned jesuit and wrote against prussia. professors inclined to ultramontanism were, meanwhile, installed in the universities, more particularly at bonn, munster and tubingen, by the protestant as well as the catholic governments; by them the clerical students were industriously taught that they were not germans but subjects of rome, and were flattered with the hope of one day participating in the supremacy about to be regained by the pontiff. every priest inspired with patriotic sentiments, or evincing any degree of tolerance toward his protestant fellow citizens, was regarded as guilty of betraying the interests of the church to the state and the tenets of the only true church to heretics. gorres, once germany's most spirited champion against france, now appeared as the champion of rome in germany. the scandalous schisms in the protestant church and the no less scandalous controversies carried on in the protestant literary world rendered both contemptible, and, as in the commencement of the seventeenth century, appeared to offer a favorable opportunity for an attack on the part of the catholics. a long-forgotten point in dispute was suddenly revived. marriages between catholics and protestants had hitherto been unhesitatingly sanctioned by the catholic priesthood. the prussian ordinance of , by which the father was empowered to decide the faith in which the children were to be brought up, had, on account of its conformity with nature and reason, never been disputed. numberless mixed marriages had taken place among all classes from the highest to the lowest without the slightest suspicion of wrong attaching thereto. a papal brief of now called to mind that the church tolerated, it was true, although she disapproved of mixed marriages, which she permitted to take place solely on condition of the children being brought up in the catholic faith. prussia had acted with little foresight. instead of, in , on taking possession of the rhenish provinces and of westphalia, concluding a treaty with the then newly-restored pope, hardenberg had, as late as , during a visit to borne, merely entered upon a transient agreement, by which rome was bound to no concessions. the war openly declared by rome was now attempted to be turned aside by means of petty and secret artifices. several bishops, in imitation of the precedent given by count von spiegel, the peace-loving archbishop of cologne, secretly bound themselves to interpret the brief in the sense of the government and to adhere to the ordinance of . on spiegel's decease in , his successor, the baron clement augustus droste, promised at vischering, prior to his presentation, strictly to adhere to this secret compact; but, scarcely had he mounted the archiepiscopal seat, than his conscience forbade the fulfilment of his oath; god was to be obeyed rather than man! he prohibited the solemnization of mixed marriages within his diocese without the primary assurance of the education of the children in the catholic faith, compelled his clergy strictly to obey the commands of rome in points under dispute, and suppressed the hermesian doctrine in the university of bonn. the warnings secretly given by the government proved unavailing, and he was, in consequence, unexpectedly deprived of his office in the november of , arrested, and imprisoned in the fortress of minden. this arbitrary measure caused great excitement among the catholic population; and the ancient dislike of the rhenish provinces to the rule of prussia, and the discontent of the westphalian nobility on account of the emancipation of the peasantry, again broke forth on this occasion. gorres, in munich, industriously fed the flame by means of his pamphlet, "athanasius." dunin, archbishop of gnesen and bishop of thorn, followed the example of his brother of cologne, was openly upheld by prussian poland, was cited to berlin, fled thence, was recaptured and detained for some time within the fortress of colberg, in .--the pope, gregory xvi., solemnly declared his approbation of the conduct of these archbishops and rejected every offer of negotiation until their reinstallation in their dioceses. a crowd of hastily established journals, more especially in bavaria, maintained their cause, and were opposed by numberless protestant publications, which generally proved injurious to the cause they strove to uphold, being chiefly remarkable for base servility, frivolity, and infidelity. on the demise of frederick william iii., on the th of june, , and the succession of his son, frederick william iv., the church question was momentarily cast into the shade by that relating to the constitution. constitutional germany demanded from the new sovereign the convocation of the imperial diet promised by his father. the catholic party, however, conscious that it would merely form the minority in the diet, did not participate in the demand.[ ] the constitution was solely demanded by protestant eastern prussia; but the king declared, during the ceremony of fealty at koenigsberg, that "he would never do homage to the idea of a general popular representation and would pursue a course based upon historical progression, suitable to german nationality." the provincial estates were shortly afterward instituted, and separate diets were opened in each of the provinces. this attracted little attention, and the dispute with the church once more became the sole subject of interest. it terminated in the complete triumph of the catholic party. in consequence of an agreement with the pope, the brief of remained in force, dunin was reinstated, droste received personal satisfaction by a public royal letter and a representative in cologne in von geissel, hitherto bishop of spires. the disputed election of the bishop of treves was also decided in favor of arnoldi, the ultramontane candidate. late in the autumn of , the king of prussia for the first time convoked the deputies selected from the provincial diets to berlin. he had, but a short time before, laid the foundation-stone to the completion of the cologne cathedral, and on that occasion, moreover, spoken words of deep import to the people, admonitory of unity to the whole of germany. [footnote : £ , , s. d.] [footnote : the maritime commercial company, meanwhile, entered into a contract.] [footnote : "we have long since lost all our maritime power. the only guns now fired by us at sea are as signals of distress. who now remembers that it was the german hansa that first made use of cannons at sea, that it was from germans that the english learned to build men-of-war?"--_john's nationality_.] [footnote : prussia, of late, greatly contributed toward the aggrandizement of the power of russia by solemnly declaring in , when russia extended her influence over turkey, that she would not on that account prevent russia from asserting her "just claims," a declaration that elicited bitter complaints from the british government; and again in , by countenancing the entry of the russians into poland, at that time in a state of insurrection.] [footnote : the reason of the backwardness displayed from the commencement by prussia to act as the bulwark of germany on the lower rhine is explained by stein in his letters: "hanoverian jealousy, by which the narrow-minded castlereagh was guided, and, generally speaking, jealousy of the german ministerial clauses, as if the existence of a mecklenburg were of greater importance to germany than that of a powerful warlike population, alike famous in time of peace or war, presided over the settlement of the relation in which belgium was to stand to prussia."] [footnote : at königsberg, in prussia, a secret society was discovered which was partly composed of people of rank, who, under pretence of meeting for the exercise of religious duties, gave way to the most wanton license.] [footnote : the police, while attempting to lead science, was unwittingly led by it. the students were driven in crowds into hegel's colleges, his pupils were preferred to all appointments, etc., and every measure was taken to render that otherwise almost unnoted sophist as dangerous as possible.] [footnote : in this the jews essentially aided: borne more in an anti-german, heine more in an anti-christian, spirit, and were highly applauded by the simple and infatuated german youth.] [footnote : görres even advised against it, although, in , he had acted the principal part on the presentation of the cologne address.] cclxxiii. the progress of science, art, and practical knowledge in germany in the midst of the misery entailed by war and amid the passions roused by party strife the sciences had attained to a height hitherto unknown. the schools had never been neglected, and immense improvements, equally affecting the lowest of the popular schools and the colleges, had been constantly introduced. pestalozzi chiefly encouraged the proper education of the lower classes and improved the method of instruction. the humanism of the learned academies (the study of the dead languages) went hand in hand with the realism of the professional institutions. the universities, although often subjected to an overrigid system of surveillance and compelled to adopt a partial, servile bias, were, nevertheless, generally free from a political tendency and incredibly promoted the study of all the sciences. the mass of celebrated savants and of their works is too great to permit of more than a sketch of the principal features of modern german science. the study of the classics, predominant since the time of the reformation, has been cast into the shade by the german studies, by the deeper investigation of the language, the law, the history of our forefathers and of the romantic middle age, by the great catholic reaction, and, at the same time, by the immense advance made in natural history, geography, and universal history. the human mind, hitherto enclosed within a narrow sphere, has burst its trammels to revel in immeasurable space. the philosophy and empty speculations of the foregoing century have also disappeared before the mass of practical knowledge, and arrogant man, convinced by science, once more bends his reasoning faculties in humble adoration of their creator. the aristocracy of talent and learned professional pride have been overbalanced by a democratic press. the whole nation writes, and the individual writer is either swallowed up in the mass or gains but ephemeral fame. every writer, almost without exception, affects a popular style. but, in this rich literary field, all springs up freely without connection or guidance. no party is concentrated or represented by any reigning journal, but each individual writes for himself, and the immense number of journals published destroy each other's efficiency. many questions of paramount importance are consequently lost in heaps of paper, and the interest they at first excited speedily becomes weakened by endless recurrence. theology shared in the movement above mentioned in the church. the rationalists were most profuse in their publications, paulus at heidelberg, and, more particularly, the saxon authors, tschirner, bretschneider, etc. ancient lutheran vigor degenerated to shallow subtleties and a sort of coquettish tattling upon morality, in which zschokke's "hours of devotion" carried away the palm. neander, gieseler, gfrörer and others greatly promoted the study of the history of the church. the propounders of the gospels, however, snatched them, after a lamentable fashion, out of each other's hands, now doubting the authenticity of the whole, now that of most or of some of the chapters, and were unable to agree upon the number that ought to be retained. they, at the same time, outvied one another in political servility, while the lutherans who, true to their ancient faith, protested against the prussian liturgy, were too few in number for remark. this frivolous class of theologians at length entirely rejected the gospels, embraced the doctrine of hegel and judaism, and renounced christianity. still, although the supernaturalists, the orthodox party, and the pietists triumphantly repelled these attacks, and the majority of the elder rationalists timidly seceded from the anti-christian party, the protestant literary world was reduced to a state of enervation and confusion, affording but too good occasion for an energetic demonstration on the part of the catholics. philosophy also assumed the character of the age. fichte of berlin still upheld, in , the passion for liberty and right in their nobler sense that had been roused by the french revolution, but, as he went yet further than kant in setting limits to the sources of perception and denied the existence of conscience, his system proved merely of short duration. to him succeeded schelling, with whom the return of philosophy to religion and that of abstract studies to nature and history commenced, and in whom the renovated spirit of the nineteenth century became manifest. his pupils were partly natural philosophers, who, like oken, sought to comprehend all nature, her breathing unity, her hidden mysteries, in religion; partly mystics, who, like eschenmaier, schubert, steffens, in a protestant spirit, or, like gorres and baader, in a catholic one, sought also to comprehend everything bearing reference to both nature and history in religion. it was a revival of the ancient mysticism of hugo de st. victoire, of honorius, and of rupert in another and a scientific age; nor was it unopposed: in the place of the foreign scholasticism formerly so repugnant to its doctrines, those of schelling were opposed by a reaction of the superficial mock-enlightenment and sophistical scepticism predominant in the foregoing century, more particularly of the sympathy with france, which had been rendered more than ever powerful in germany by the forcible suppression of patriotism. abstract philosophy, despising nature and history, mocking christianity, once more revived and set itself up as an absolute principle in hegel. none of the other philosophers attained the notoriety gained by schelling and hegel, the representatives of the antitheses of the age. an incredible advance, of which we shall merely record the most important facts, took place in the study of the physical sciences. three new planets were discovered, pallas, in , and vesta, in , by gibers; juno, in , by harding. enke and biela first fixed the regular return and brief revolution of the two comets named after them. schröter and mädler minutely examined the moon and planets; struve, the fixed stars. fraunhofer improved the telescope. chladni first investigated the nature of fiery meteors and brought the study of acoustics to perfection. alexander von humboldt immensely promoted the observation of the changes of the atmosphere and the general knowledge of the nature of the earth. werner and leopold von buch also distinguished themselves among the investigators of the construction of the earth and mountains. scheele, gmelin, liebig, etc., were noted chemists. oken, upon the whole, chiefly promoted the study of natural history, and numberless researches were made separately in mineralogy, the study of fossils, botany, and zoology by the most celebrated scientific men of the day. while travellers visited every quarter of the globe in search of plants and animals as yet unknown and regulated them by classes, other men of science were engaged at home in the investigation of their internal construction, their uses and habits, in which they were greatly assisted by the improved microscope, by means of which ehrenberg discovered a completely new class of animalculae. the discoveries of science were also zealously applied for practical uses. agriculture, cattle-breeding, manufactures received a fresh impulse and immense improvements as knowledge advanced. commerce by water and by land experienced a thorough revolution on the discovery of the properties of steam, by the use of steamers and railroads. medical science also progressed, notwithstanding the number of contradictory and extravagant theories. the medical practitioners of germany took precedence throughout europe. animal magnetism was practiced by eschenmaier, kieser, and justin kerner, by means of whose female seer, von prevorst, the seeing of visions and the belief in ghosts were once more brought forward. hahnemann excited the greatest opposition by his system of homoeopathy, which cured diseases by the administration of homogeneous substances in the minutest doses. he was superseded by the cold-water cure. during the last twenty years the naturalists and medical men of germany have held an annual meeting in one or other of their native cities. the philologists and savants have for some years past also been in the habit of holding a similar meeting. the classics no longer form the predominant study among philologists. even literati, whose tastes, like that of creuzer, are decidedly classic, have acknowledged that the knowledge of the oriental tongues is requisite for the attainment of a thorough acquaintance with classic antiquity. a great school for the study of the eastern languages has been especially established under the precedence of the brothers schlegel, bopp, and others. the study of the ancient language of germany and of her venerable monuments has, finally, been promoted by jacob grimm and by his widely diffused school. the study of history became more profound and was extended over a wider field. a mass of archives hitherto secret were rendered public and spread new light on many of the remarkable characters and events in the history of germany. historians also learned to compile with less party spirit and on more solid grounds. history, at first compiled in a protestant spirit, afterward inclined as partially to catholicism, and the majority of the higher order of historical writers were consequently rendered the more careful in their search after truth. among the universal historians, rotteck gained the greatest popularity on account of the extreme liberality of his opinions, and heeren and schlosser acquired great note for depth of learning. von hammer, who rendered us acquainted with the history of the mahometan east, takes precedence among the historical writers upon foreign nations. niebuhr's roman history, wilken's history of the crusades, leo's history of italy, ranke's history of the popes, etc., have attained well-merited fame.--the history of germany as a whole, which germany neither was nor is, was little studied, but an immense mass of facts connected with or referring to germany was furnished by the numberless and excellent single histories and biographies that poured through the press. all the more ancient collections of _script. rerum_ were, according to the plan of stein, the celebrated prussian minister, to be surpassed by a critical work on the sources of german history, conducted by pertz, which could, however, be but slowly carried out. grimm, mone, and barth threw immense light upon german heathen antiquity, zeusz upon the genealogy of nations. the best account of the ostrogoths was written by manso, of the visigoths by aschbach, of the anglo-saxons by lappenberg, of the more ancient franks by mannert, pertz, and löbell, of charlemagne by diebold and ideler, of louis the pious by funk, of the saxon emperors by ranke and his friends, wachter and leutsch, of the salic emperors by stenzel, of the german popes of those times by höfler, of the hohenstaufen by raumer, kortum, and hurter, of the emperor richard by gebauer, of henry vii. of luxemburg by barthold, of king john by lenz, of charles iv. by pelzel and schottky, of wenzel by pelzel, of sigismund by aschbach, of the habsburgs by kurz, prince lichnowsky, and hormayr, of louis the bavarian by mannert, of ferdinand i. by buchholz, of the reformation by c. a. menzel and ranke, of the peasant war by sartorius, oechsle, and bensen, of the thirty years' war by barthold, of gustavus adolphus by gfrörer, of wallenstein by förster, of bernhard of weimar by röse, of george of lüneburg by von der decken. of the ensuing period by förster and guhrauer, of the eighteenth century by schlosser, of the wars with france by clausewitz, of modern times by hormayr. coxe, schneller, mailàth, chmel, and gervay also wrote histories of austria, schottky and palacky of bohemia, beda, weber, and hormayr of the tyrol, voigt of the teutonic order, manso, stenzel, förster, dolum, massenbach, cölln, preusz, etc., of the kingdom of prussia, stenzel of anhalt, kobbe of lauenburg, lützow of mecklenburg, barthold of pomerania, kobbe of holstein, wimpfen of schleswig, sartorius and lappenberg of the hansa, hanssen of the ditmarses, spittler, havemann, and strombeck of brunswick and hanover, van kampen of holland, warnkönig of flanders, rommel of hesse, lang of eastern franconia, wachter and langenn of thuringia and saxony, lang, wolf, mannert, zschokke, völderndorf of bavaria, pfister, pfaff, and stälin of swabia, glutz-blotzheim, hottinger, meyer von knonau, zschokke, haller, schuler, etc., of switzerland. the most remarkable among the histories of celebrated cities are those of st. gall by arx, of vienna by mailath, of frankfort on the maine by kirchner, of ulm and heilbronn by jæger, of rotenburg on the tauber by bensen, etc. ritter, and, next to him, berghaus, greatly extended the knowledge of geography. maps were drawn out on a greatly improved scale. alexander von humboldt, who ruled the world with his scientific as napoleon with his eagle glance, attained the highest repute among travellers of every nation. krusenstern, langsdorf, and kotzebue, germans in the service of russia, circumnavigated the globe. meyen, the noted botanist, did the same in a prussian ship. baron von hügel explored india. gützlaff acted as a missionary in china. ermann and ledebur explored siberia; klaproth, kupfer, parrot, and eichwald, the caucasian provinces; burckhardt, rüppell, ehrenberg, and russegger, syria and egypt; the prince von neuwied and paul william, duke of würtemberg, north america; becher, mexico; schomburg, guiana; the prince von neuwied and martius, the brazils; pöppig, the banks of the amazon; rengger, paraguay. the missionary society for the conversion of the heathen in distant parts and that for the propagation of the gospel, founded at basel, , have gained well-merited repute. at the commencement of the present century, amid the storms of war, german taste took a fresh bias. french frivolity had increased immorality to a degree hitherto unknown. licentiousness reigned unrestrained on the stage and pervaded the lighter productions of the day. if iffland had, not unsuccessfully, represented the honest citizens and peasantry of germany struggling against the unnatural customs of modern public life, augustus von kotzebue, who, after him, ruled the german stage, sought, on the contrary, to render honor despicable and to encourage the license of the day. in the numerous romances, a tone of lewd sentimentality took the place of the strict propriety for which they had formerly been remarkable, and the general diffusion of these immoral productions, among which the romances of lafontaine may be more particularly mentioned, contributed in no slight degree to the moral perversion of the age. jean paul friedrich richter stands completely alone. he shared the weaknesses of his times, which, like goethe and kotzebue, he both admired and ridiculed, passing with extraordinary versatility, almost in the same breath, from the most moving pathos to the bitterest satire. his clever but too deeply metaphysical romances are not only full of domestic sentimentality and domestic scenes, but they also imitate the over-refinement and effeminacy of goethe, and yet his sound understanding and warm patriotic feelings led him to condemn all the artificial follies of fashion, all that was unnatural as well as all that was unjust. modern philosophy had no sooner triumphed over ancient religion and france over germany than an extraordinary reaction, inaptly termed the romantic, took place in poetry. although ultramontanism might be traced even in friedrich schlegel, this school of poetry nevertheless solely owes its immense importance to its resuscitation of the older poetry of germany, and to the success with which it opposed germanism to gallicism. ludwig tieck exclusively devoted himself to the german and romantic middle ages, to the minnesingers, to shakespeare, cervantes, and calderon, and modelled his own on their immortal works. the eyes of his contemporaries were by him first completely opened to the long-misunderstood beauties of the middle ages. his kindred spirit, novalis (hardenberg), destined to a too brief career, gave proofs of signal talent. heinrich von kleist, who committed suicide, left the finest-spirited and most delightful dramas. ludwig achim von arnim, like tieck, cultivated the older german saga; his only fault was that, led away by the richness of his imagination, he overcolored his descriptions. aided by brentano, he collected the finest of the popular ballads of germany in "des enaben wunderhorn." at berlin, fouque, with true old german taste, revived the romances of chivalry and, shortly before , met the military spirit once more rising in prussia with a number of romances in which figured battle-steeds and coats of mail, german faith and bravery, valiant knights and chaste dames, intermixed, it must be confessed, with a good deal of affectation. on the discovery being made that many of the ancient german ballads were still preserved among the lower classes, chiefly among the mountaineers, they were also sought for, and some poets tuned their lyres on the naive popular tone, etc., first, hebel, in the partly extremely natural, partly extremely affected, alemannic songs, which have found frequent imitators. zacharia werner and hoffiman, on the other hand, exclusively devoted themselves to the darker side of days of yore, to their magic and superstition, and filled the world, already terror-stricken by the war, with supernatural stories. still, throughout one and all of these productions, curiously as they contrasted, the same inclination to return to and to revive a purely german style was evident. at that moment the great crisis suddenly took place. before even the poets could predict the event, germany cast off the yoke of napoleon, and the german "sturm and freiheitslieder" of theodor körner, arndt, schenkendorf, etc., chimed in like a fearfully beautiful allegro with the adagio of their predecessors. this was in a manner also the finale of the german notes that so strangely resounded in that gallic time; the restoration suppressed every further outburst of patriotism, and the patriotic spirit that had begun to breathe forth in verse once more gave place to cosmopolitism and gallicism. the lyric school, founded by ludwig uhland, alone preserved a german spirit and a connection with the ancient _minnelieder_ of swabia. the new cosmopolitic tendency of the poetry of these times is chiefly due to the influence exercised by goethe. the quick comprehension and ready adoption of every novelty is a faculty of, not a fault in, the german character, and alone becomes reprehensible when the german, forgetful of himself and of his own peculiar characteristics, adopts a medley of foreign incongruities and falsifies whatever ought to be preserved special and true. goethe and his school, however, not content with imitating singly the style of every nation and of every period, have interwoven the most diverse strains, antique and romantic, old german and modern french, grecian and chinese, in one and the same poem. this unnatural style, itself destructive of the very peculiarity at which it aims, has infected both modern poetry and modern art; the architect intermixes the grecian and the gothic in his creations, while the painter seeks to unite the styles of the flemish and italian schools in his productions, and the poet those of persia, scandinavia, and spain, in his strains.--those are indeed deserving of gratitude who have comprehended and preserved the character peculiar to the productions of foreign art, in which the brothers friedrich and august wilhelm schlegel have been so eminently successful. hammer and, after him, ruckert have also opened the eastern world to our view. count platen, on the other hand, hung fluctuating between the antique persian and german.--cosmopolitism was greatly strengthened by the historical romances in vogue in england, descriptive of olden time, and which found innumerable imitators in germany. they were, at all events, thus far beneficial; they led us from the parlor into the world. but no sooner was genuine german taste neglected for that of foreign nations than gallomania revived; all were compelled to pay homage to the spirit and the tone prevalent throughout europe. the witty aristocratic _médisance_ and grim spirit of rebellion emulating each other in france, were, in germany, represented by prince piichler, the most _spirituel_ drawing-room satirist, and by the jew, börne, the most spirited jacobin of the day. the open infidelity again demonstrated in france, also led to its introduction into germany by the jew, heine, while the immoral romances with which that country was deluged speedily became known to us through the medium of the translations and imitations of "young germany," and were incredibly increased by our literary industry; all the lying memoirs, in which the french falsify history, view napoleon as a demigod, and treat the enthusiasm with which the germans were animated in with derision, were also diligently translated. this tendency to view everything german with french eyes and to ridicule german honor and german manners was especially promoted by the light literature, and numerous journals of the day, and was, in the universities, in close connection with the anti-christian tendency of the school of hegel.--the late catholic reaction, too exclusively political, has as yet exercised no influence over the literary world, and would scarcely succeed in gaining any, being less german than roman. while german poetry follows so false a course, it naturally follows that art also must be deprived of its natural character. architecture has, it is true, abandoned the periwig style of france, but the purer antique or byzantine taste to which it has returned is generally insipidly simple, while the attempts at gothic and moorish are truly miserable. a more elevated feeling than the present generation (which, in goethe's manner, delights in trifling alternately with every style, or is completely enslaved by the modes imposed by france) is fitted to comprehend, is requisite for the revival of german or gothic architecture. still it may be, as is hoped, that the intention to complete the building of the cologne cathedral will not be entirely without a beneficial influence. the art of painting aspires far more energetically toward national emancipation. in the present century, the modern french style affecting the antique presented a complete contrast with the german romantic school, which, in harmony with the simultaneous romantic reaction in the poetical world, returned to the sacred simplicity of the ancient german and italian masters. overbeck was in this our greatest master. since this period, the two great schools at munich and dusseldorf, founded by peter cornelius, and whose greatest masters are peter hesz, bendemann, lessing, kaulbach, etc., have sought a middle path, and with earnest zeal well and skilfully opposed the too narrow imitation of, and the medley of style produced by the study of, the numerous old masters on the one hand, and, on the other, the search for effect, that gallic innovation so generally in vogue. were the church again to require pictures, or the state to employ the pencil of the patriot artist in recording the great deeds of past or present times or in the adornment of public edifices, painting would be elevated to its proper sphere.--germany has also produced many celebrated engravers, among whom muller holds precedence. lithography, now an art of so much importance, was invented by the bavarian, senefelder. the art of painting on glass has also been revived. in music, the germans have retained their ancient fame. after mozart, beethoven, weber, etc., have gained immense celebrity as composers. still, much that is unnatural, affected, _bizarre_ and licentious has crept into the compositions of the german masters, more particularly in the operas, owing to the imitation of the modern italian and french composers. a popular reaction has, however, again taken place, and, as before, in choral music, by means of the "singing clubs," which become more and more general among the people. the stage has most deeply degenerated. at the commencement of the present century, its mimic scenes afforded a species of consolation for the sad realities of life, and formed the lethe in whose waters oblivion was gladly sought. the public afterward became so practical in its tastes, so sober in its desires, that neither the spirit of the actor nor the coquetry of the actress had power to attract an audience. the taste and love for art were superseded by criticism and low intrigues, the theatre became a mere political engine, intended to divert the thoughts of the population, of the great cities from the discussion of topics dangerous to the state by the all-engrossing charms of actresses and ballet-dancers. the germans, although much more practical in the present than in the past century, are still far from having freed themselves from the unjust, unfitting, and inconvenient situation into which they have fallen as time and events rolled on. a mutual understanding in regard to the external position of the german in reference to the slavonian nation has scarcely begun to dawn upon us. scarcely have we become sensible to the ignominious restrictions imposed upon german commerce by the prohibitory regulations of russia, by the customs levied in the sound, on the elbe, and rhine. scarcely has the policy that made such immense concessions to russian diplomacy, and scarcely has the party spirit that looked for salvation for germany from france, yielded to a more elevated feeling of self-respect. and yet, whoever should say to the people of alsace, switzerland, and holland, "ye are germans," would reap but derision and insult. germany is on the point of being once more divided into catholic and protestant germany, and no one can explain how the german customs' union is to extend to the german ocean, on account of the restrictions mutually imposed by the germans. could we but view ourselves as the great nation we in reality are, attain to a consciousness of the immeasurable strength we in reality possess, and make use of it in order to satisfy our wants, the germans would be thoroughly a practical nation, instead of lying like a dead lion among the nations of europe, and unresistingly suffering them to mock, tread underfoot, nay, deprive him of his limbs, as though he were a miserable, helpless worm. more, far more has been done for the better regulation of the internal economy of germany than for her external protection and power. the reforms suited to the age, commenced by the philosophical princes and ministers of the past century, have been carried on by prussia in her hour of need, by constitutional germany by constitutional means. everywhere have the public administration been better regulated, despotism been restrained by laws, financial affairs been settled even under the heavy pressure of the national debts. commerce, manufactural industry, and agriculture have been greatly promoted by the customs' union, by government aid and model institutions, by the improvements in the post-offices, by the laying of roads and railways. the public burdens and public debts, nevertheless, still remain disproportionately heavy on account of the enormous military force which the great states are compelled to maintain for the preservation of their authority, and on account of the polyarchical state of germany, which renders the maintenance of an enormous number of courts, governments, general staffs and chambers necessary. the popular sense of justice and legality, never entirely suppressed throughout germany, also gave fresh proof of its existence under the new state of affairs, partly in the endlessly drawn-out proceedings in the chambers, partly in the incredible number of new laws and regulations in the different states. still, industriously as these laws have been compiled, no real, essential, german law, neither public nor private, has been discovered. the roman and french codes battled with each other and left no room for the establishment of a code fundamentally and thoroughly german. the most distinguished champions of the common rights of the people against cabinet-justice, the tyranny of the police and of the censor, were principally advocates and savants. the estates, as corporations, were scarcely any longer represented. the majority of governments, ruled by the principle of absolute monarchy and the chambers, ruled by that of democracy, had, since the age of philosophy, been unanimous in setting the ancient estates aside. the nobility alone preserved certain privileges, and the catholic clergy alone regained some of those they had formerly enjoyed; all the estates were, in every other respect, placed on a level. the ancient and national legal rights of the people were consequently widely trenched upon. the emancipation of the peasant from the oppressive feudal dues, and the abolition of the restraint imposed by the laws of the city corporations, which had so flagrantly been abused, were indubitably well intended, but, instead of stopping there, good old customs, that ought only to have been freed from the weeds with which they had been overgrown, were totally eradicated. the peasant received a freehold, but was, by means of his enfranchisement, generally laden with debts, and, while pride whispered in his ear that he was now a lord of the soil and might assume the costume of his superiors, the land, whence he had to derive his sustenance, was gradually diminished in extent by the systematic division of property. his pretensions increased exactly in the ratio in which the means for satisfying them decreased; and the necessity of raising money placed him in the hands of jews. the smaller the property by reason of subdivision, the more frequently is land put up for sale, the deeper is the misery of the homeless outcast. the restoration of the inalienable, indivisible allod and of the federal rights of the peasant, as in olden times, would have been far more to the purpose.--professional liberty and the introduction of mechanism and manufactural industry have annihilated every warrant formerly afforded by the artificer as master and member of a city corporation, and, at the same time, every warrant afforded to him by the community of his being able to subsist by means of his industry. manufactures on an extensive scale that export their produce must at all events be left unrestricted, but the small trades carried on within a petty community, their only market, excite, when free, a degree of competition which is necessarily productive both of bad workmanship and poverty, and the superfluous artificers, unaided by their professional freedom, fall bankrupt and become slaves in the establishments of their wealthier[ ] competitors. the restoration of the city guilds under restrictions suitable to the times would have been far more judicious. the maintenance of a healthy, contented class of citizens and peasants ought to be one of the principal aims of every german statesman. the fusion of these ancient and powerful classes into one common mass whence but a few wealthy individuals rise to eminence would be fatal to progression in germany. by far the greater part of the people have already lost the means of subsistence formerly secured to all, nay, even to the serf, by the privileges of his class. the insecure possession, the endless division and alienation of property, an anxious dread of loss, and a rapacious love of gain, have become universal. care for the means of daily existence, like creeping poison, unnerves the population. the anxious solicitude to which this gives rise has a deeply demoralizing effect. even offices under government are less sought for from motives of ambition than as a means of subsistence; the arts and sciences have been degraded to mere sources of profit, envious trade decides questions of the highest importance, the torch of hymen is lit by plutus, not at the shrine of love; and in the bosom of the careworn father of a family, whose scanty subsistence depends upon a patron's smile, the words "fatherland" and "glory" find no responsive echo. among the educated classes this state of poverty is allied with the most inconsistent luxury. each and all, however poor, are anxious to preserve an appearance of wealth or to raise credit by that means. all, however needy, must be fashionable. the petty tradesman and the peasant ape their superiors in rank, and the old-fashioned but comfortable and picturesque national costume is being gradually thrown aside for the ever-varying modes prescribed by paris to the world. the inordinate love of amusements in which the lower classes and the proletariat, ever increasing in number, seek more particularly to drown the sense of misery, is another and a still greater source of public demoralization. the general habit of indulging in the use of spirituous liquors has been rightfully designated the brandy pest, owing to its lamentable moral and physical effect upon the population. this pest was encouraged not alone by private individuals, who gain their livelihood by disseminating it among the people, but also by governments, which raised a large revenue by its means; and the temperance societies, lately founded, but slightly stem the evil. the public authorities throughout germany have, it must be confessed, displayed extraordinary solicitude for the poor by the foundation of charitable institutions of every description, but they have contented themselves with merely alleviating misery instead of removing its causes; and the benevolence that raised houses of correction, poor-houses, and hospitals, is rendered null by the laxity of the legislation. no measures are taken by the governments to provide means for emigration, to secure to the peasant his freehold, to the artificer the guarantee he ought to receive and to give, and the maintenance of the public morals. the punishment awarded for immorality and theft is so mild as to deprive them of the character of crime, pamphlets and works of the most immoral description are dispersed by means of the circulating libraries among all classes, and the bold infidelity preached even from the universities is left unchecked. but--is not the thief taught morality in the house of correction? and are not diseases, the result of license, cured in the hospitals with unheard-of humanity? private morality, so long preserved free from contamination, although all has for so long conspired against the liberty and unity of germany, is greatly endangered. much may, however, be hoped for from the sound national sense. the memory of the strength displayed by germany in has been eradicated neither by the contempt of france or russia, by any reactionary measure within germany herself, by social and literary corruption, nor by the late contest between church and state. the customs' union has, notwithstanding the difference in political principle, brought despotic prussia and constitutional germany one step nearer. the influence of russia on the one hand, of that of france on the other, has sensibly decreased. the irreligious and immoral tendencies now visible will, as has ever been the case in germany, produce a reaction, and, when the necessity is more urgently felt, fitting measures will be adopted for the prevention of pauperism. the dangers with which germany is externally threatened will also compel governments, however egotistical and indifferent, to seek their safety in unity, and even should the long neglect of this truth be productive of fresh calamity and draw upon germany a fresh attack from abroad, that very circumstance will but strengthen our union and accelerate the regeneration of our great fatherland, already anticipated by the people on the fall of the hohenstaufen. [footnote : because more skilful.--_trans_.] cclxxiv. german emigrants the overplus population of germany has ever emigrated; in ancient times, for the purpose of conquering foreign powers; in modern times, for that of serving under them. in the days of german heroism, our conquering hordes spread toward the west and south, over italy, gaul, spain, africa, england, and iceland; during the middle ages, our mail-clad warriors took an easterly direction and overran the slavonian countries, besides prussia, transylvania, and palestine; in modern times, our religious and political refugees have emigrated in scarcely less considerable numbers to countries far more distant, but in the humble garb of artificers and beggars, the pariahs of the world. our ancient warriors gained undying fame and long maintained the influence and the rule of germany in foreign lands. our modern emigrants have, unnoted, quitted their native country, and, as early as the second generation, intermixed with the people among whom they settled. hundreds of thousands of germans have in this manner aided to aggrandize the british colonies, and germany has derived no benefit from the emigration of her sons. the first great mass of religious refugees threw itself into holland and into the dutch colonies, the greater part of which have since passed into the hands of the british. the illiberality of the dutch caused the second great mass to bend its steps to british north america, within whose wilds every sect found an asylum. william penn, the celebrated quaker, visited germany, and, in , gave permission to some germans to settle in the province named, after him, pennsylvania, where they founded the city of german town.[ ] these fortunate emigrants were annually followed by thousands of exiled protestants, principally from alsace and the palatinate. the industry and honesty for which the german workmen were remarkable caused some englishmen to enter into a speculation to procure their services as white slaves. the greatest encouragement was accordingly given by them to emigration from germany, but the promises so richly lavished were withdrawn on the unexpected emigration of thirty-three thousand of the inhabitants of the palatinate, comprising entire communes headed by their preachers, evidently an unlooked and unwished for multitude. these emigrants reached london abandoned by their patrons and disavowed by the government. a fearful fate awaited them. after losing considerable numbers from starvation in england, the greater part of the survivors were compelled to work like slaves in the mines and in the cultivation of uninhabited islands; three thousand six hundred of them were sent over to ireland, where they swelled the number of beggars; numbers were lost at sea, and seven thousand of them returned in despair, in a state of utter destitution, to their native country. a small number of them, however, actually sailed for new york, where they were allotted portions of the primitive forests, which they cleared and cultivated; but they had no sooner raised flourishing villages in the midst of rich cornfields and gardens, than they were informed that the ground belonged to the state and were driven from the home they had so lately found. pennsylvania opened a place of refuge to the wanderers.[ ] the religious persecution and the increasing despotism of the governments in germany meanwhile incessantly drove fresh emigrants to america, where, as they were generally sent to the extreme verge of the provinces in order to clear the ground and drive away the aborigines, numbers of them were murdered by the indians. switzerland also sent forth many emigrants, who settled principally in north carolina. the people of salzburg, whose expulsion has been detailed above, colonized georgia in . in , there were no fewer than a hundred thousand germans in north america, and, since that period, their number has been continually on the increase. thousands annually arrived; for instance, in the years and , seven thousand; in , as many as twenty-two thousand; in , six thousand swabians. the famine of , the participation of german mercenaries in the wars of the british in north america, at first against the french colonies, afterward against the english colonists (the german prisoners generally settled in the country), induced the germans to emigrate in such great numbers that, from to , twenty-four emigrant ships on an average arrived annually at philadelphia, without reckoning those that landed in the other harbors.[ ] the passage by sea to the west being continually closed during the great wars with france, the stream of emigration took an easterly direction overland. russia had extended her conquests toward persia and turkey. the necessity of fixing colonies in the broad steppes as in the primitive forests of america, to serve as a barrier against the wild frontier tribes, was plainly perceived by the russian government, and germans were once more made use of for this purpose. extensive colonies, which at the present date contain hundreds of thousands of german inhabitants, but whose history is as yet unknown, were accordingly formed northward of the black and caspian seas. swabian villages were also built on the most southern frontier of russia toward persia, and in suffered severely from an inroad of the persians. the fall of napoleon had no sooner reopened the passage by sea than the tide of emigration again turned toward north america. these emigrants, the majority of whom consisted of political malcontents, preferred the land of liberty to the steppes of russia, whither sectarians and those whom the demoralization and irreligion of the gallomanic period had filled with disgust had chiefly resorted. the russo-teuto colonies are proverbial for purity and strictness of morals. one wurtemberg sectarian alone, the celebrated rapp, succeeded during the period of the triumph of france in emigrating to pennsylvania, where he founded the harmony, a petty religious community. an inconsiderable number of swiss, dissatisfied with napoleon's supremacy, also emigrated in and built new vevay. but it was not until after the wars, more particularly during the famine in and , that emigration across the sea was again carried on to a considerable extent. in , thirty thousand swiss, wurtembergers, hessians, and inhabitants of the palatinate emigrated, and about an equal number were compelled to retrace their steps from the seacoast in a state of extreme destitution on account of their inability to pay their passage and of the complete want of interest in their behalf displayed by the governments. political discontent increased in and , and each succeeding spring thirty thousand germans sailed down the rhine to the land of liberty in the far west. in , a society was set on foot at berne for the protection of the swiss emigrants from the frauds practiced upon the unwary. the union of the archduchess leopoldine, daughter to the emperor francis, with dom pedro, the emperor of the brazils, had, since , attracted public attention to south america. dom pedro took german mercenaries into his service for the purpose of keeping his wild subjects within bounds, and the fruitful land offered infinite advantages to the german agriculturist; but colonization was rendered impracticable by the revolutionary disorders and by the ill-will of the natives toward the settlers, and the germans who had been induced to emigrate either enlisted as soldiers or perished. several among them, who have published their adventures in the brazils, bitterly complained of the conduct of major schäfer, who had been engaged in collecting recruits at hamburg for the brazils. they even accused him of having allowed numbers of their fellow-countrymen to starve to death from motives of gain, so much a head being paid to him on his arrival in the brazils for the men shipped from europe whether they arrived dead or alive. the publication of these circumstances completely checked the emigration to the brazils, and north america was again annually, particularly in and after the july revolution, overrun with germans, and they have even begun to take part in the polity of the united states. the peasants, who have been settled for a considerable period, and who have insensibly acquired great wealth and have retained the language and customs of their native country, form the flower of the german colonists in the west.[ ] in the cape colonies, the dutch peasants, the boors, feeling themselves oppressed by the english government, emigrated _en masse_, in , to the north, where they settled with the caffres, and, under their captain, prætorius, founded an independent society, in , at port natal, where they again suffered a violent aggression on the part of the british. thus are germans fruitlessly scattered far and wide over the face of the globe, while on the very frontiers of germany nature has designated the danube as the near and broad path for emigration and colonization to her overplus population, which, by settling in her vicinity, would at once increase her external strength and extend her influence. [footnote : the abolition of negro slavery was first mooted by germans in , at the great quaker meeting in north america.] [footnote : account of the united states by eggerling.] [footnote : one of the most distinguished germans in america was a person named john jacob astor, the son of a bailiff at walldorf near heidelberg, who was brought up as a furrier, emigrated to america, where he gradually became the wealthiest of all furriers, founded at his own expense the colony of astoria, on the northwestern coast of north america, so interestingly described by washington irving, and the astor fund, intended as a protection to german emigrants to america from the frauds practiced on the unwary. he resided at new york. he possessed an immense fortune and was highly and deservedly esteemed for his extraordinary philanthropy.] [footnote : the allgemeine zeitung of september, , reports that there were at that time one hundred and fifty-seven thousand germans in north america who were still unnaturalized, consequently had emigrated thither within the last two or three years. in philadelphia alone there were seventy-five thousand germans. grund says in his work, "the americans in ," "the peaceable disposition of the germans prevents their interfering with politics, although their number is already considerable enough for the formation of a powerful party. they possess, notwithstanding, great weight in the government of pennsylvania, in which state the governors have since the revolution always been germans. this is in fact so well understood on all sides that even during the last election, when two democrats and a whig candidate contended for the dignity of governor, they were all three germans by birth and no other would have had the slightest chance of success. in the state of ohio there are at the present date, although that province was first colonized by new-english, no fewer than forty-five thousand germans possessed of the right of voting. the state of new york, although originally colonized by dutch, contains a numerous german population in several of its provinces, particularly in that of columbia, the birthplace of martin van buren, the present vice-president and future president of the republic. the state of maryland numbers twenty-five thousand germans possessed of votes; almost one-third of the population of illinois is german, and thousands of fresh emigrants are settling in the valley of the mississippi. i believe that the number of german voters or of voters of german descent may, without exaggeration, be reckoned on an average annually at four hundred thousand, and certainly in less than twenty years hence at a million. in the city of new york, the germans greatly influence the election of the burgomaster and other city authorities by holding no fewer than three thousand five hundred votes. these circumstances naturally render the german vote an object of zealous contention for politicians of every party, and there is accordingly no dearth of german newspapers in any of the german settlements. in pennsylvania, upward of thirty german (principally weekly) papers are in circulation, and about an equal number are printed and published in the state of ohio. a scarcely lower number are also in circulation in maryland."] supplementary chapter from the fall of napoleon to the present day the confederation of the rhine, wounded to the death by the campaign of , was killed by the fall of napoleon. from that event to the present time the accompanying pages must be restricted to a consideration of those matters which have been of capital importance to the german people. these matters may be summarized as consisting in the formation of the german confederation, the danish war, the austro-prussian war, the franco-prussian war, and the refounding of the empire. as the fall of sennacherib was sung by the hebrews, so was the fall of napoleon sung by the germans. they had been at his mercy. he had deposed their sovereigns, dismembered their states, crippled their trade, and exhausted their resources. yet in , by the peace of paris, they had restored to them all they had possessed in , but as a reconstruction of the former empire was impracticable, those states which still maintained their sovereignty coalesced. this was in . at the time there remained of the three hundred states into which the empire had originally been divided but thirty-nine, a number afterward reduced, through the extinction of four minor dynasties, to thirty-five. a diet, recognized as the legislative and executive organ of the confederation, was instituted at frankfort. instead, however, of satisfying the expectations of the nation, it degenerated into a political tool, which princes manipulated, which they made subservient to their inherent conservatism, and with which they oppressed their subjects. the french revolution of influenced to a certain extent their attitude, and a few of them were induced to accord constitutions to their people, but the effect was transient. reforms which had been stipulated they managed to ignore. it took the insurrectionary movements of to shake them on their thrones. forced then to admit the inefficiency of the diet, and attempting by hasty concessions to check the progress of republican principles, they consented to the convocation of a national assembly. over this body the archduke john of austria was elected to preside. the choice was not happy. measures which he failed to facilitate he succeeded in frustrating. as a consequence, matters went from bad to worse, until, after the refusal of the king of prussia to accept the imperial crown which was offered to him in and the election of a provisional regency which ensued, the assembly lapsed into a condition of impotence which terminated in its dissolution. meanwhile republican demonstrations having been forcibly suppressed, there arose between prussia and austria a feeling of jealousy, if not of ill-will, which more than once indicated war, and which, though resulting in the restoration of the diet and temporarily diverted by a joint attack on denmark, culminated in the battle of sadowa. into the details of this attack it is unnecessary to enter. the casus belli was apparently an entirely virtuous endeavor to settle the respective claims of the king of denmark and the duke of augustenburg to the sovereignty of schleswig-holstein. the fashion in which the claims were settled consisted in wiping them out. the direction not merely of schleswig-holstein but of lauenberg was assumed by austria and prussia, who, by virtue of a treaty signed october , , took upon themselves their civil and military administration. the administration which then ensued was announced as being but a temporary trusteeship, and throughout europe was generally so regarded. but prussia had other views. in the chambers bismarck declared that the crown had no intention of resigning the booty, that, come what might, never would it give up kiel. bismarck was seldom wrong. in this instance he was right. in the month of august following the treaty the emperor francis of austria and king william of prussia met at gastein and concluded a convention by which it was agreed that schleswig should belong to prussia, holstein to austria, with kiel as a free port under prussian rule. these proceedings, as might have been expected, created the greatest indignation in england, france, and among the minor states. earl russell declared that all rights, old and new, had been trodden under by the gastein convention, and that violence and force had been the only bases on which this convention had been established, while utter disregard of all public laws had been shown throughout all these transactions. on the part of france, her minister said that the austrian and prussian governments were guilty in the eyes of europe of dividing between themselves territories they were bound to give up to the claimants who seemed to have the best title, and that modern europe was not accustomed to deeds fit only for the dark ages; such principles, he added, can only overthrow the past without building up anything new. the frankfort diet declared the two powers to have violated all principles of right, especially that of the duchies to direct their own affairs as they pleased, provided they did not interfere with the general interests of the german nation. nevertheless, a prussian governor was appointed over schleswig, and an austrian over holstein, both assuming these duchies to be parts of their respective empires. early in , it was evident that no real friendship could long continue between prussia and austria, and that these two great robbers would surely fall out over the division of the plunder; making it the ostensible cause for dispute, which was in reality their rivalry for the leadership in germany. in june, the prussians crossed the eyder, and took possession of holstein, appointed a supreme president over the two duchies which passed under prussian rule, and settled, after a summary fashion, the vexed question. there were also other causes which tended to war. the weak side of austria, weaker far than hungary, was her italian province of venetia, one, indeed, that few can say she had any real or natural right to hold, beyond having acquired it by the treaty of . to recover this from german rule had been the incessant desire of italy, and grievous was her disappointment when the emperor of the french thought fit to stop immediately after the battle of magenta and solferino, instead of pushing on, as it was hoped he would have done, to the conquest of venetia. in the spring of , italy was making active preparations for war, and austria, on the other hand, increased largely the number of her troops, prussia choosing, in defiance of all fair dealing, to assume that all these armaments were directed against herself; and, on this supposition, sent a circular to the minor states to tell them they must decide which side to take in the impending struggle. a secret treaty was made between prussia and italy: that italy should be ready to take up arms the moment prussia gave the signal, and that prussia should go on with the war until venetia was ceded to italy. angry discussions took place in the diet between austria and prussia, which ended in prussia declaring the germanic confederation to be broken up, and both sides preparing for war. austria began early to arm, for she required longer time to mobilize her army. prussia, on the contrary, was in readiness for action. every prussian who is twenty years old, without distinction of rank, has to serve in the army, three years with the colors, five more in the reserve, after which he is placed for eleven years in the landwehr, and liable to be called out when occasion requires. in peace everything is kept ready for the mobilization of its army. in a wonderfully short time the organization was complete, and , men brought into the field in bohemia. in arms, they had the advantage of the needle-gun. the prussian forces were in three divisions, the "first army" under the command of prince frederick charles; the "second army" under that of the crown prince; and the "army of the elbe," under general herwarth. the supreme command of the austrian army of the north was given to feldzeugmeister von benedek, that of the south to the archduke albert. on june , prussia sent a telegraphic summons to hanover, hesse-cassel, and saxony, demanding them to reduce their armies to the peace establishment, and to concur with prussia respecting the germanic confederation; and that if they did not send their consent within twelve hours, war would be declared. the states did not reply, prussia declared war, and on the th invaded their territories. the occupation and disarmament of hanover and hesse were necessary to prussia for a free communication with her rhenish provinces, and she effected her purpose by means of well-planned combinations, so that in the course of a few days these states were overrun by prussian troops, and their sovereigns expelled. the rapid progress of events, and the prussian declaration of war, had taken hanover by surprise. her army was not yet mobilized; austria had evacuated holstein, or she could have looked to her for support. to attempt to defend the capital was hopeless; so king george, suffering from blindness, moved with his army to gottingen, with a view of joining the bavarians. prussia entered by the north, and, assisted by her navy on the elbe, was by the d in possession of the whole of hanover. closed round on all sides by the prussians, unassisted by prince charles of bavaria, gotha having declared for prussia, the king of hanover, with his little army, crossed the frontier of his kingdom, and at langensalza, fifteen miles north of gotha, encountered the prussians, and remained master of the battlefield. but victory was of little avail; surrounded by , prussians, the king was forced to capitulate. the arms and military stores were handed over to the enemy, and the king and his soldiers allowed to depart. thus, through the supineness of prince charles of bavaria, a whole army was made captive, and hanover erased from the roll of independent states. more fortunate than his neighbor, the elector of hesse-cassel saved his army, though not his territory, from the invader. his troops retired toward the maine, where they secured a communication with the federal army at frankfort. the elector remained in hesse, and was sent a state prisoner to the prussian fortress of stettin, on the oder. the prussians overran his territory, declaring they were not at war against "peoples, but against governments." two bodies of prussian troops entered saxony--the first army and the army of the elbe--and the saxon army retired into bohemia to effect a junction with the austrians. on the th, leipzig was seized, and the whole of saxony was in undisturbed possession of the prussians; prince frederick charles issuing a most stringent order that private property should be respected, and every regard shown to the comfort of the inhabitants. his order was strictly observed, and every measure taken to prevent the miseries attendant on the occupation of a country by a foreign army. the invasion of saxony brought immediately open war between prussia and austria, and on the d the prussian army crossed the bohemian frontier--only a week since it had entered saxony. it is needless here to detail the battles which immediately followed; suffice it to say, the prussians were victorious in all--at podoll, where the needle-gun did such terrible work; munchengratz, which gave them the whole line of the iser; trautenan, gitschen, and others. on the st of july, the king of prussia arrived from berlin and took the supreme command of the army. the following day brought news from the crown prince that he was hastening from silesia with the second army, whereby the whole of the prussian forces would be concentrated. on the d of july was fought the decisive battle of koniggratz, or sadowa, as it is sometimes called, from the village of that name, a cluster of pine-wood cottages, enclosed by orchards, with a wood-crowned hill at the back, which was fiercely disputed by the contending parties. on that day, general von benedek had taken his position with the austrian army in front of the frontier fortress of koniggratz, on the right bank of the elbe, about fifty-five miles east of prague, to oppose the passage of the crown prince from silesia. in his front lay the marshy stream of bistritz, upon which sadowa and a few other villages are situated. at half-past seven in the morning the battle began, and continued with great slaughter without any marked advantage on either side till the arrival of the crown prince decided, like the advance of blücher at waterloo, the fortune of the day. the austrians were completely routed, and fled across the elbe to save the capital. they lost , men in this sanguinary conflict, the prussians , . the forces in the field were , austrians and saxons, and , prussians. immediately after her crushing defeat, austria surrendered venetia to france, and the emperor napoleon at once accepted the gift and gave it over to victor emmanuel. on july , preliminaries of peace were signed at nikolsburg, and peace was finally concluded at prague, august , between prussia and austria, and about the same time with the south german states. the prussian house of deputies voted the annexation of the conquered states, and in october peace was concluded with saxony. by these arrangements, hanover, hesse-cassel, and frankfort became provinces of prussia, as well as the long-disputed duchies of denmark. all the german states north of the maine concluded a treaty, offensive and defensive, for the maintenance of the security of their states. prussia increased her territory by , square miles and her population , , ; and in october, , the whole of northern germany was united into a confederation. this confederation, known as the north german, possessed a common parliament elected by universal suffrage, in which each state was represented according to its population. the first or constituent parliament met early in , and adopted, with a few modifications, the constitution proposed by count bismarck. the new elections then took place, and the first regular north german parliament met in september, . according to this constitution, there was to be a common army and fleet, under the sole command of prussia; a common diplomatic representation abroad, of necessity little else than prussian; and to prussia also was intrusted the management of the posts and telegraphs in the confederation. the southern german states which up to this point had not joined the bund, were bavaria, baden, wurtemberg, hesse-darmstadt, and lichtenstein, with a joint area of , square miles, and a total population ( ) of , , . but, though these states were not formally members of the bund, they were so practically, for they were bound to prussia by treaties of alliance offensive and defensive, so that in the event of a war the king of prussia would have at his disposal an armed force of upward of , , men. during the next few years the north german confederation was employed in consolidating and strengthening itself, and in trying to induce the southern states to join the league. the zollverein was remodelled and extended, until by the year every part of germany was a member of it, with the exception of the cities of hamburg and bremen, and a small part of baden. this paved the way for the formal entrance of the southern states into the confederation; but they still hung back, though the ideal of a united germany was gradually growing in force and favor. meanwhile the terms of the treaty of prague, together with the complete removal of alien powers from italy, had wrought a radical change in the political relations of the european states. excluded from germany, the dominions of austria still extended to the verge of venetia and the lombard plains, but her future lay eastward and her centre of gravity had been removed to buda-pesth. in the south german courts, no doubt, there was a bias toward vienna, and a dislike of prussia; yet both the leaning and the repugnance were counterbalanced by a deeper dread of france rooted in the people by the vivid memories of repeated and cruel invasions. russia, somewhat alarmed by the rapid success of king william, had been soothed by diplomatic reassurances, the tenor of which is not positively known, although a series of subsequent events more than justified the inference made at that time, that promises, bearing on the czar's eastern designs, were tendered and accepted as a valuable consideration for the coveted boon of benevolent neutrality, if not something more substantial. like russia, france had lost nothing by the campaign of ; her territories were intact; her ruler had mediated between austria and prussia; and he had the honor of protecting the pope, who, as a spiritual and temporal prince, was still in possession of rome and restricted territorial domains. but the napoleonic court, and many who looked upon its head as a usurper, experienced, on the morrow of sadowa, and in a greater degree after the preface to a peace had been signed at nikolsburg, a sensation of diminished magnitude, a consciousness of lessened prestige, and a painful impression that their political, perhaps even their military place in europe, as the heirs of richelieu, louis xiv., and napoleon, had been suddenly occupied by a power which they had taught themselves to contemn as an inferior. until the summer of the emperor napoleon fancied that he was strong enough to play with bismarck a game of diplomatic chess. in that he erred profoundly. as early as the first week in august, , m. benedetti, the french ambassador to the court of berlin, was instructed to claim the left bank of the rhine as far as and including mainz. bismarck replied that "the true interest of france is not to obtain an insignificant increase of territory, but to aid germany in constituting herself after a fashion which will be most favorable to all concerned." delphos could not have been more oracular. but napoleon iii. could not or would not heed. a week later benedetti was instructed to submit a regular scale of concessions--the frontiers of and the annexation of belgium, or luxemburg and belgium, benedetti received the most courteous attention and nothing more. this was irritating. the french had been accustomed for more than two hundred years to meddle directly in germany and find there allies, either against austria, prussia, or england; and the habit of centuries had been more than confirmed by the colossal raids, victories, and annexations of napoleon i. a germany which should escape from french control and reverse, by its own energetic action, the policy of henry iv., richelieu, louis xiv., his degenerate grandson, louis xv., and of the great napoleon himself, was an affront to french pride, and could not be patiently endured. the opposing forces which had grown up were so strong that the wit of man was unable to keep them asunder; and all the control over the issue left to kings and statesmen was restricted to the fabrication of means wherewith to deliver or sustain the shock, and the choice of the hour, if such choice were allowed. then presently the opportunity occurred. on july , , the throne of spain was offered to prince leopold of hohenzollern. the fact created the greatest excitement in france. threatening speeches were made. on july prince leopold declined the offer. on the morrow benedetti was instructed to demand a guarantee that any future offer of the kind would be refused. the king of prussia would not listen to the proposition. the french minister, through whom the demand had been transmitted, then asked for his passports. war was imminent. at the prospect paris grew mad with enthusiasm. crowds assembled in the streets, shouting "down with prussia!" "long live france!" "to the rhine!" "to berlin!" the papers abounded with inflammatory appeals, and, after the impulsive french fashion, glorified beforehand the easy triumphs that were to be won over the prussians. men told one another that they would be across the rhine in a week, and at berlin in a fortnight. the excitement in prussia was not less than that in france. the people, with scarcely an exception, declared their readiness for war, and seemed to find a pleasure in the opportunity now presented for settling old quarrels. like the people of paris, the prussians shouted "to the rhine!" the french cry of "to berlin!" had its counterpart in the german ejaculation of "to paris!" perhaps a sentence spoken by m. guyot montpayroux best illustrates the predominant feeling. "prussia," he said, "has forgotten the france of jena, and the fact must be recalled to her memory." thus was war declared on the night of july . thiers, who desired a war with prussia "at the proper time," has left on record his judgment that the hour then selected was "detestably ill-chosen." yet even he and gambetta were both anxious that "satisfaction" should be obtained for sadowa; while the thought which animated the court is admirably expressed in the phrase imputed to the empress who, pointing to the prince imperial, said, "this child will never reign unless we repair the misfortunes of sadowa." such was the ceaseless refrain. the word haunted french imaginations incessantly, and it was the pivot on which the imperial policy revolved; it exercised a spell scarcely less powerful and disastrous upon monarchists like thiers and republicans like gambetta. long foreseen, the dread shock, like all grave calamities, came nevertheless as a surprise, even upon reflective minds. statesmen and soldiers who looked on, while they shared in the natural feelings aroused by so tremendous a drama, were also the privileged witnesses of two instructive experiments on a grand scale--the processes whereby mighty armies are brought into the field, and the methods by means of which they are conducted to defeat or victory. the french field army, called at the outset the "army of the rhine," consisted nominally of , men with guns. it was considered that of these, , would be available for the initial operations. the infantry of the army was provided with a breech-loading weapon, called after its inventor the chassepot. the chassepot was a weapon in all respects superior to the famous needle-gun, which was still the weapon of the prussian army. attached likewise to the divisional artillery was a machine gun called the mitrailleuse, from which great things were expected. but this gun had been manufactured with a secrecy which, while it prevented foreign inspection, had withheld also the knowledge of its mechanism from the soldiers who were to work it. in the field, therefore, it proved a failure. since the crimean and austrian wars, while the armies of the other european states had advanced in efficiency, the french army had deteriorated. the reason was that favoritism rather than merit had been made the road to court favor. the officers who had pointed to the training of the prussian soldiers, as indicating the necessity for the adoption of similar modes for the french army, had been laughed at and left in the cold. the consequence was, that for ten years prior to the war of , the french army had received instruction only of the most superficial character. it had been considered sufficient if the soldiers were brought to the point of making a good show on the parade ground. little more had been required of them. field training and musketry training had been alike neglected. the officers had ceased to study, and the government had taken no pains to instruct them. what was more vicious still, the alienation between officers and men, which had been noticed even in the war of , had widened. the officers generally had ceased to take the smallest interest in the comfort of the men in camp or in quarters. these matters were left to the non-commissioned officers. needless to add, they were not always properly attended to. it may be added that the system of drill was so devised as to give no play to the reasoning powers of the officer. he was a machine and nothing more. of the artillery of the french army it has to be said, that it was far inferior to that of the germans, and known to be so by the french war department. in the matter of reserves, france had comparatively nothing. far different were the composition and the state of preparation of the prussian army; far different, also, those of her german allies; far higher the qualities of their general officers; far superior the discipline and morale of their troops; far more ready, in every single particular, to begin a war; far more thoroughly provided to carry that war to a successful issue. the german infantry had been thoroughly organized on a system which gave to every officer the necessity of exercising independent action, and to the men the faculty of understanding the object of the manoeuvre directed. its cavalry had been specially instructed in duties of reconnoissance, of insuring repose for the infantry, of collecting intelligence, of concealing the march of armies, of acting as a completer of victory, or as a shield in case of defeat. it had profited greatly by the lessons it had learned in the war of . the german artillery had likewise been greatly improved in efficiency of manoeuvre since . it was in all respects superior to that of the french. of the prussian and south german leaders, i will only say that we shall meet again the men from whom we parted on the conclusion of the armistice of nikolsburg. what was their task and how they executed it will be described in the pages that follow. in mere numbers, the king of prussia had a great advantage over his enemy. for, while without any assistance from south germany, and after allowing for three army corps which might be necessary to watch austria and denmark, he could begin the campaign with a force of , men, he was certain of the assistance of southern germany, and confident that, unless the french should obtain considerable successes at the outset, neither austria nor denmark would stir a hand to aid them. to counterbalance this superiority of numbers the french emperor had cherished a vague hope that, in a war against prussia, he might possibly count upon the ancient friendship for france of bavaria and saxony, and to a still greater extent upon austria and italy. with regard to bavaria and saxony he was speedily undeceived. moreover, contrary to expectation, other german states decided to support prussia and placed their armies, which were eventually commanded by the crown prince, at the disposal of king william. with regard to austria and italy, colonel malleson in a work on this subject,[ ] to which we are much indebted, states that their co-operation was made dependent on the initial successes of the french troops. colonel malleson adds: "it was not only understood, but was actually drafted in a treaty--the signing of which, however, was prevented by the rapid course of the war--that if, on the th of september, france should be holding her own in southern germany, then austria and italy would jointly declare war against prussia." these conditions made it clear that ultimate success in the struggle about to commence would accrue to the power which should obtain the first advantages. that germany--for it was germany and not prussia only which entered upon this great struggle--would obtain these initial advantages seemed almost certain. count moltke had for some time previous been engaged in planning for a war with france. so far back as all his arrangements for the formation of the armies to be employed, the points to be occupied, the nature of the transport, had been clearly laid down. these instructions had been carefully studied by the several corps commanders and their staff. not one matter, however apparently trivial, had been neglected. when, then, on the th of july, the king of prussia gave the order for mobilization, it required only to insert the day and the hour on which each body of troops should march. with respect to the armies of the states of southern germany, moltke, anticipating that the french emperor would throw his main army as rapidly as possible into southern germany, had recommended that the contingents from that part of the country should march northward to join those of prussia on the middle rhine, to assume there a position which should menace the flank and rear of the invading army. this position would be the more practical, as in the event of the french not invading southern germany, the combined force, stretching from saarbrucken to landau, would be ready to invade france, and sever the communications with paris of the french armies on the frontier. count moltke had calculated that the german troops intended to cross the french frontier would be in a position to make their forward movement by the th of august. pending the development of the french strategy with respect to southern germany, therefore, he thought it prudent to delay the march of the southern contingents, in order that no part of the army might be suddenly overwhelmed by a superior force. on the actual frontier he placed, then, only a few light troops, for the purposes of reconnoitring, and for checking the first advance of the enemy until supports should arrive. the french emperor had, indeed, been keenly alive to the advantages which would accrue to himself from a prompt invasion of southern germany. he designed to concentrate one hundred and fifty thousand men at metz; one hundred thousand at strasburg; to cross into baden with these armies; while a third, assembling at chalons, should protect the frontier against the german forces. the plan itself was an excellent one had he only been able to execute it, for, as we have seen, early success in southern germany would have meant the armed assistance of austria and italy. but the french army was in a condition more unready, one might truly say, of greater demoralization, thus early, than its severest critics had imagined. considerable forces were indeed massed about metz and strasburg. but the commissariat and transport departments were in a state of the most hopeless confusion. the army could not move. to remedy these evils time was wanted, and time was the commodity the generals could not command. every day which evoked some little order out of chaos brought the germans nearer to positions, the occupation of which would render impossible the contemplated invasion. the emperor had quitted paris for metz, accompanied by the prince imperial, on the th of july, and had arrived there and taken the supreme command the same day. the day following he met his generals at st. avoid, and unfolded to them his plans. since war had been declared he had lost many illusions. it had become clear to him that he was warring against the concentrated might of germany; that he could not make the inroad into southern germany originally contemplated without exposing paris to an attack from forces already occupying the country between treves and mannheim: that he was bound to hold that line. anxious, however, to assume the offensive, he dictated the following plan to his marshals. bazaine, with the second, third, and fifth army corps, should cross the saar at saarbrücken, covered on his left by the fourth corps, which should make a show of advancing against saarlouis, while macmahon, pushing forward from his position near strasburg, should cover his right. the emperor had some reason to believe that the saar was weakly held. but his own generals showed him that his plan was impossible. they represented to him that instead of the three hundred thousand men whom, in the delirium of the paris enthusiasm, he believed he would find available for his purposes, he had at the utmost one hundred and eighty-six thousand; that in every requirement for moving the army was deficient; that there was scarcely a department which was not disorganized. he was compelled, therefore, to renounce his plan for decisive offensive action. he came to that resolve most unwillingly, for paris was behind him, ready to rise unless he should make some show of advancing. it was to reassure the excited spirits of the capital, rather than to effect any military result, that on the d of august, he moved with sixty thousand men in the direction of saarbrücken. the garrison of that place consisted of something less than four thousand men with six guns. the emperor attacked it with the corps of frossard, eighteen battalions and four batteries. these compelled the slender german garrison to evacuate the place, but frossard, though the bridges across the saar were not defended, made no attempt to cross that river. the soldierly manner in which the germans had covered their retreat had left on his mind the impression that they were more numerous than they were, and that there was a larger force behind them. still, for the only time in the war, the emperor was able to send a reassuring telegram to paris. the young prince, upon whom the hopes of the nation would, he hoped, rest, had undergone the "baptism of fire." french troops had made the first step in advance. soon, however, it became clear to him that the enemy had concentrated along the line of the frontier, and were about to make their spring. moltke, in fact, from his headquarters at mayence, was, by means of solitary horsemen employed in profusion, keeping himself thoroughly well acquainted not only with the movements of the french, but with their vacillation, their irresolution, their want of plan. the sudden appearance from unexpected quarters of these horsemen conveyed a marked feeling of insecurity to the minds of the french soldiers, and these feelings were soon shared by their chiefs. it was very clear to them that an attack might at any moment come, though from what quarter and in what force they were absolutely ignorant. this ignorance increased their vacillations, their uncertainties. orders and counter-orders followed each other with startling rapidity. the soldiers, harassed, began to lose confidence; the leaders became more and more incapable of adopting a plan. suddenly, in the midst of their vacillations, of their marchings and counter-marchings, the true report reached them, on the evening of the d of august, that a french division, the outpost of macmahon's army, had been surprised and defeated at weissenburg by a far superior force. napoleon at once ordered the fifth corps to concentrate at bitsche, and despatched a division of the third to saarguemünd. these orders were followed by others. those of the th of august divided the army of the rhine into two portions, the troops in alsace being placed under macmahon, those in lorraine under bazaine, the emperor retaining the guard. those of the th directed the second corps to proceed to bitsche, the third to saarguemünd, the fourth to haut-homburg, the guard to st. avoid. these instructions plainly signified the making of a flank movement in front of a superior enemy. with such an army as the emperor had, inferior in numbers, many of the regiments as yet incomplete, all his resources behind him, and these becoming daily more unavailable, his one chance was to concentrate in a position commanding the roads behind it, and yet adapted for attack if attack should be necessary. as it was, without certain information as to the movements of the germans, anxious to move, yet dreading to do so, until his regiments should be completed, the french emperor was confused and helpless. he forgot even to transmit to the generals on one flank the general directions he had issued to those on the other. bazaine, for instance, was left on the th in ignorance of the emperor's intentions with respect to macmahon; on the th none of the subordinate generals knew that the flank march was contemplated. frossard, who had fallen back to spicheren, considered his position so insecure that he suggested to leboeuf that he should be allowed to retire from the saarbrücken ridge. he was ordered in reply to fall back on forbach, but no instructions were given him as to the course he should pursue in the event of his being attacked, nor were the contemplated movements of the emperor communicated to him. in every order that was issued there was apparent the confused mind of the issuer. turn we now to macmahon and the movements of himself and his generals. when the war broke out macmahon was in the vicinity of strasburg with forty-five thousand men; general douay with twelve thousand men at weissenburg. the same confusion prevailed here as at metz. the orders given to macmahon were of the vaguest description: douay had no instructions at all. yet, in front of him, the german hosts had been gathering. the commander of the left wing of the german army, the crown prince of prussia, had, in obedience to the instructions he had received, crossed the frontier river, the lauter, on the th of august, with an army composed of the second bavarian and fifth prussian army, numbering about forty thousand men, and marched on weissenburg. as his advanced guard approached the town, it was met by a heavy fire from the french garrison. the crown prince resolved at once to storm the place. douay had placed his troops in a strong position, a portion of his men occupying the town defended by a simple wall; the bulk, formed on the gaisberg, a hill two miles to the south of it. against this position the crown prince directed his chief attack. the contest which ensued was most severe, the assailants and the defenders vying with one another in determination and courage. but the odds in favor of the former were too great to permit douay to hope for ultimate success. after a resistance of five hours' duration the germans carried the gaisberg. douay himself was killed; but his surviving troops, though beaten, were not discouraged. they successfully foiled an attempt made by the germans to cut off their retreat, and fell back on the corps of macmahon, which lay about ten miles to the south of weissenburg. the same day on which the crown prince had attacked and carried weissenburg, another german army corps, that of baden-würtemberg, a part of the third army, under the command of the crown prince, had advanced on and occupied lauterburg. that evening the entire third army, consisting of one hundred and thirty thousand men, bivouacked on french ground. meanwhile macmahon, on hearing of douay's defeat, had marched to reichshofen, received there the shattered remnants of douay's division, and, with the emperor's orders under no circumstances to decline a battle, took up a position on the hills of which worth, fröschweiler and elsasshausen form the central points. he had with him forty-seven thousand men, but the fifth corps, commanded by de failly, was at bitsche, seventeen miles from reichshofen, and macmahon had despatched the most pressing instructions to that officer to join him. these orders, however, de failly did not obey. the ground on which macmahon had retired offered many capabilities for defence. the central point was the village of worth on the rivulet sauerbach, which covered the entire front of the position. to the right rear of worth, on the road from gundershofen, was the village of elsasshausen, covered on its right by the niederwald, having the village of eberbach on its further side, and the extreme right of the position, the village of morsbronn, to its southeast. behind wörth, again, distant a little more than two miles on the road to reichshofen, was the key to the position, the village of fröschweiler. from this point the french left was thrown back to a mound, covered by a wood, in front of reichshofen. on the th of august the crown prince had set his army in motion, and had rested for the night at sulz. there information reached him regarding the position taken by macmahon. he immediately issued orders for the concentration of his army, and for its march the following morning toward the french position, the village of preuschdorf, on the direct road to wörth, to be the central point of the movement. but the previous evening general von walther, with the fifth prussian corps, had reached görsdorf, a point whence it was easy for him to cross the sauerbach, and take worth in flank. marching at four o'clock in the morning walther tried this manoeuvre, and at seven o'clock succeeded in driving the french from wörth. macmahon then changed his front, recovered wörth, and repulsed likewise an attack which had in the meanwhile been directed against fröschweiler by the eleventh prussian and fifth bavarian corps. for a moment it seemed as though he might hold his position. but between eleven and twelve the enemy renewed his attack. while one corps again attacked and carried wörth, the eleventh prussian corps, aided by sixty guns placed upon the heights of gunstett, assailed his right. they met here a most stubborn resistance, the french cuirassiers charging the advancing infantry with the greatest resolution. so thoroughly did they devote themselves that they left three-fourths of their number dead or dying on the field. but all was in vain. the prussians steadily advanced, forced their way through the niederwald, and threatened elsasshausen. while the french were thus progressing badly on their right, they were faring still worse in the centre. the germans, having seized wörth, stormed the hilly slopes between that place and froschweiler, and made a furious assault upon the latter, now more than ever the key of the french position. for while froschweiler was their objective centre, their right was thrown back toward elsasshausen and the niederwald, their left to reichshofen. while the eleventh prussians were penetrating the niederwald, preparatory to attacking elsasshausen on the further side of it, the fifth prussian corps with the second bavarians were moving against froschweiler. it was clear then to macmahon that further resistance was impossible. still holding froschweiler, he evacuated elsasshausen, and drew back his right to reichshofen. the safety of his army depended now upon the tenacity with which froschweiler might be held. it must be admitted, in justice to the french, that they held it with a stubborn valor not surpassed during the war. attacked by overwhelming numbers, they defended the place, house by house. at length, however, they were overpowered. then, for the first time, the bonds of discipline loosened, and the french, struck by panic, fled, in wild disorder, in the direction of saverne. they reached that place by a march across the hills the following evening. on their way they fell in with one of the divisions of the corps of de failly, and this served to cover the retreat. though their defeat, considering the enormous superiority of their assailants, might be glorious, it was doubly disastrous, inasmuch that it followed those perturbations of spirit alluded to in a previous page, which had done so much to discourage the french soldier. a victory at worth might have done much to redeem past mistakes. a defeat emphasized them enormously. it was calculated that, inclusive of the nine thousand prisoners taken by the germans, the french lost twenty-four thousand men. the loss of the victors amounted to ten thousand. they captured thirty-three guns, two eagles, and six mitrailleuses. the emperor was deeply pained by the result of the battle. to keep up, if possible, the spirits of his partisans, he wired on the evening of the th to paris, with the news of the defeat, the words, "tout se peut retablir." he was mistaken. while the crown prince was crushing macmahon at wörth, the imperial troops were being beaten at spicheren as well. thereafter the german advance was hardly checked for a moment, though the losses on both sides were heavy. on the th of august was fought the battle of gravelotte, in which king william commanded in person, and though his troops suffered immense loss, they were again victorious, and forced bazaine to shut himself up in metz, which he subsequently surrendered. in this battle, one of the most decisive of the war, it is worth noting that the germans outnumbered the french by more than two to one. the exact figures are uncertain, but we shall probably be correct in accepting , as the strength of the germans, and in estimating the french outside of metz at , . we now come to sedan. with the army of bazaine beleaguered, there remained, in the opinion of the german chiefs--an opinion not justified by events--only the army of macmahon. to remove that army from the path which led to paris was the task intrusted to the crown prince. macmahon, meanwhile, after his defeat at wörth, had fallen back with the disordered remnants of his army on chalons, there to reorganize and strengthen it. much progress had been made in both respects, when, after the result of the battle of gravelotte had been known in paris, he received instructions from the count of palikao to march with the four army corps at his disposal northward toward the meuse, and to give a hand to the beleaguered bazaine. macmahon prepared to obey. but circumstances ordered otherwise. on the night of august st, accompanied by the emperor--who, having transferred his authority to the empress eugenie and his command to bazaine, followed the army as mere spectator--macmahon reached sedan, and there ranged his troops so as to meet an attack which he foresaw inevitable, and fatal too. placing his strongest force to the east, his right wing was at bazeilles and the left at illy. the ground in front of his main defence was naturally strong, the entire front being covered by the givonne rivulet, and the slopes to that rivulet, on the french side of it. the possibility that the french marshal would accept battle at sedan had been considered at the german headquarters on the night of the st, and arrangements had been made to meet his wishes. the army of the crown prince of saxony (the fourth army) occupied the right of the german forces, the bavarian corps formed the centre, and the prussians the left wing. the advanced troops of the army were ranged in the following order. on the right stood the twelfth corps, then the fourth prussian corps, the prussian guards, and finally the fourth cavalry division, their backs to remilly. from this point they were linked to the first and second bavarian corps, opposite bazeilles; they, in turn, to the eleventh and fifth corps; and they, at dom-le-mesnil, to the würtembergers. the sixth prussian corps was placed in reserve between attigny and le chene. a word now as to the nature of the ground on which the impending battle was to be fought. sedan lies in the most beautiful part of the valley of the meuse, amid terraced heights, covered with trees, and, within close distance, the villages of donchery, iges, villette, glaire, daigny, bazeilles, and others. along the meuse, on the left bank, ran the main road from donchery through frenois, crossing the river at the suburb torcy, and there traversing sedan. the character of the locality may best be described as a ground covered with fruit gardens and vineyards, narrow streets shut in by stone walls, the roads overhung by forests, the egress from which was in many places steep and abrupt. such was the ground. one word now as to the troops. the german army before sedan counted, all told, , men; the french , . but the disparity in numbers was the least of the differences between the two armies. the one was flushed with victory, the other dispirited by defeat. the one had absolute confidence in their generals and their officers, the other had the most supreme contempt for theirs. the one had marched from metz on a settled plan, to be modified according to circumstances, the drift of which was apparent to the meanest soldier; the other had been marched hither and thither, now toward montmedy, now toward paris, then again back toward montmedy, losing much time; the men eager for a pitched battle, then suddenly surprised through the carelessness of their commanders, and compelled at last to take refuge in a town from which there was no issue. there was hardly an officer of rank who knew aught about the country in which he found himself. the men were longing to fight to the death, but they, one and all, distrusted their leaders. it did not tend, moreover, to the encouragement of the army to see the now phantom emperor, without authority to command even a corporal's guard, dragged about the country, more as a pageant than a sovereign. he, poor man, was much to be pitied. he keenly felt his position, and longed for the day when he might, in a great battle, meet the glorious death which france might accept as an atonement for his misfortunes. the battle began at daybreak on the morning of the st of september. under cover of a brisk artillery fire, the bavarians advanced, and opened, at six o'clock, a very heavy musketry fire on bazeilles. the masonry buildings of this village were all armed and occupied, and they were defended very valiantly. the defenders drove back the enemy as they advanced and kept them at bay for two hours. then the saxons came up to the aid of the bavarians, and forced the first position. still the defence continued, and the clocks were striking ten when the bavarians succeeded in entering the place. even then a house-to-house defence prolonged the battle, and it was not until every house but one[ ] had been either stormed or burned that the germans could call the village, or the ruins which remained of it, their own. meanwhile, on the other points of their defensive position; at floing, st. menges, fleigneux, illy, and, on the extreme left, at iges, where a sharp bend of the meuse forms a peninsula of the ground round which it slowly rolls; the french had been making a gallant struggle. in their ranks, even in advance of them, attended finally by a single aide-de-camp, all the others having been killed, was the emperor, cool, calm, and full of sorrow, earnestly longing for the shell or the bullet which should give a soldier's finish to his career. macmahon, too, was there, doing all that a general could do to encourage his men. the enemy were, however, gradually but surely making way. to hedge the french within the narrowest compass, the fifth and eleventh corps of the third army had crossed the meuse to the left of sedan, and were marching now to roll up the french left. but before their attack had been felt, an event had occurred full of significance for the french army. early in the day, while yet the bavarians were fighting to get possession of bazeilles, marshal macmahon was so severely wounded that he had to be carried from the field into sedan. he made over the command of the army to general ducrot. that general had even before recognized the impossibility of maintaining the position before sedan against the superior numbers of the german army, and had seen that the one chance of saving his army was to fall back on mezieres. he at once, then, on assuming command, issued orders to that effect. but it was already too late. the march by the defile of st. albert had been indeed possible at any time during the night or in the very early morning. but it was now no longer so. the german troops swarmed in the plains of donchery, and the route by carignan could only be gained by passing over the bodies of a more numerous and still living foe. still ducrot had given the order, and the staff officers did their utmost to cause it to be obeyed. the crowded streets of sedan were being vacated, when suddenly the orders were countermanded. general wimpffen had arrived from paris the previous day to replace the incapable de failly in command of the fifth corps, carrying in his pocket an order from the minister of war to assume the command-in-chief in the event of any accident to macmahon. the emperor had no voice in the matter, for, while the regency of the empress existed, he no longer represented the government. the two generals met, and, after a somewhat lively discussion, ducrot was forced to acknowledge the authority of the minister. wimpffen then assumed command. his first act was to countermand the order to retreat on mezieres, and to direct the troops to reassume the positions they had occupied when macmahon had been wounded. this order was carried out as far as was possible. meanwhile the germans were pressing more and more those positions. about midday the guards, having made their way step by step, each one bravely contested, gave their hand to the left wing of the third army. then illy and floing, which had been defended with extraordinary tenacity, as the keys of the advanced french position, were stormed. the conquest of those heights completed the investment of sedan. there was now no possible egress for the french. their soldiers retreated into the town and the suburbs, while five hundred german guns hurled their missiles, their round shot and their shells, against the walls and the crowded masses behind them. vainly then did wimpffen direct an assembly in mass of his men to break through the serried columns of the enemy. in the disordered state of the french army the thing was impossible. the emperor, who had courted death in vain, recognized the truth, and, desirous to spare the sacrifice of life produced by the continued cannonade, ordered, on his own responsibility, the hoisting of a white flag on the highest point of the defences, as a signal of surrender. but the firing still continued, and wimpffen, still bent on breaking through, would not hear of surrender. then napoleon despatched his chief aide-de-camp, general keille, with a letter to the king of prussia. king william early that day had taken his stand on an eminence which commanded an extensive view and which rises a little south of frenois. there, his staff about him, he watched the progress of the fight. toward this eminence reille rode. walking his horse up the steep, he dismounted, and raising his cap presented the letter. king william, breaking the imperial seal, read these phrases, which, if somewhat dramatic, are striking in their brevity:[ ] "monsieur mon frÈre--n'ayant pu mourir au milieu de mes troupes, il ne me reste qu' à remettre mon epée entre les mains de votre majeste. "je suis de votre majeste, "le bon frere, "napolÉon. "sédan, le er septembre, ." "only one half hour earlier," writes mr. george hooper in his "campaign of sedan," "had the information been brought that the emperor was in sedan." mr. hooper adds: "the king conferred with his son, who had been hastily summoned, and with others of his trusty servants, all deeply moved by complex emotions at the grandeur of their victory. what should be done? the emperor spoke for himself only, and his surrender would not settle the great issue. it was necessary to obtain something definite, and the result of a short conference was that count hatzfeldt, instructed by the chancellor, retired to draft a reply. 'after some minutes he brought it,' writes dr. busch, 'and the king wrote it out, sitting on one chair, while the seat of a second was held up by major von alten, who knelt on one knee and supported the chair on the other.' the king's letter, brief and business-like, began and ended with the customary royal forms, and ran as follows: "'regretting the circumstances in which we meet, i accept your majesty's sword, and beg that you will be good enough to name an officer furnished with full powers to treat for the capitulation of the army which has fought so bravely under your orders. on my side i have designated general von moltke for that purpose.' "general reille returned to his master, and as he rode down the hill the astounding purport of his visit flew from lip to lip through the exulting army which now hoped that, after this colossal success, the days of ceaseless marching and fighting would soon end. as a contrast to this natural outburst of joy and hope we may note the provident moltke, who was always resolved to 'mak siker.' his general order, issued at once, suspending hostilities during the night, declared that they would begin again in the morning should the negotiations produce no result. in that case, he said, the signal for battle would be the reopening of fire by the batteries on the heights east of frenois. "the signal was not given. late on the evening of september st a momentous session was held in donchery, the little town which commands a bridge over the meuse below sedan. on one side of a square table covered with red baize sat general von moltke, having on his right hand the quartermaster-general von podbielski, according to one account, and von blumenthal according to another, and behind them several officers, while count von nostitz stood near the hearth to take notes. opposite to von moltke sat de wimpffen alone; while in rear, 'almost in the shade,' were general faure, count castelnau, and other frenchmen, among whom was a cuirassier, captain d'orcet, who had observant eyes and a retentive memory. then there ensued a brief silence, for von moltke looked straight before him and said nothing, while de wimpffen, oppressed by the number present, hesitated to engage in a debate 'with the two men admitted to be the most capable of our age, each in his kind.' but he soon plucked up courage, and frankly accepted the conditions of the combat. what terms, he asked, would the king of prussia grant to a valiant army which, could he have had his will, would have continued to fight? 'they are very simple,' answered von moltke. 'the entire army, with arms and baggage, must surrender as prisoners of war.' 'very hard,' replied the frenchman. 'we merit better treatment. could you not be satisfied with the fortress and the artillery, and allow the army to retire with arms, flags and baggage, on condition of serving no more against germany during the war?' no. 'moltke,' said bismarck, recounting the interview, 'coldly persisted in his demand,' or as the attentive d'orcet puts it, 'von moltke was pitiless.' then de wimpffen tried to soften his grim adversary by painting his own position. he had just come from the depths of the african desert; he had an irreproachable military reputation; he had taken command in the midst of a battle, and found himself obliged to set his name to a disastrous capitulation. 'can you not,' he said, 'sympathize with an officer in such a plight, and soften, for me, the bitterness of my situation by granting more honorable conditions?' he painted in moving terms his own sad case, and described what he might have done; but seeing that his personal pleadings were unheeded, he took a tone of defiance, less likely to prevail. 'if you will not give better terms,' he went on, 'i shall appeal to the honor of the army, and break out, or, at least, defend sedan.' then the german general struck in with emphasis, 'i regret that i cannot do what you ask,' he said; 'but as to making a sortie, that is just as impossible as the defence of sedan. you have some excellent troops, but the greater part of your infantry is demoralized. to-day, during the battle, we captured more than twenty thousand unwounded prisoners. you have only eighty thousand men left. my troops and guns around the town would smash yours before they could make a movement; and as to defending sedan, you have not provisions for eight-and-forty hours, nor ammunition which would suffice for that period.' then, says de wimpffen, he entered into details respecting our situation, which, 'unfortunately, were too true,' and he offered to permit an officer to verify his statements, an offer which the frenchman did not then accept. "beaten off the military ground, de wimpffen sought refuge in politics. 'it is your interest, from a political standpoint, to grant us honorable conditions,' he said. 'france is generous and chivalric, responsive to generosity, and grateful for consideration. a peace, based on conditions which would flatter the amour-propre of the army, and diminish the bitterness of defeat, would be durable; whereas rigorous measures would awaken bad passions, and, perhaps, bring on an endless war between france and prussia.' the new ground broken called up bismarck, 'because the matter seemed to belong to my province,' he observed when telling the story; and he was very outspoken as usual. 'i said to him that we might build on the gratitude of a prince, but certainly not on the gratitude of a people--least of all on the gratitude of the french. that in france neither institutions nor circumstances were enduring; that governments and dynasties were constantly changing, and the one need not carry out what the other had bound itself to do. that if the emperor had been firm on his throne, his gratitude for our granting good conditions might have been counted upon; but as things stood it would be folly if we did not make full use of our success. that the french were a nation full of envy and jealousy, that they had been much mortified by our success at koniggratz, and could not forgive it, though it in nowise damaged them. how, then, should any magnanimity on our side move them not to bear us a grudge for sedan.' this wimpffen would not admit. 'france,' he said, 'had much changed latterly; it had learned under the empire to think more of the interests of peace than of the glory of war. france was ready to proclaim the fraternity of nations;' and more of the same kind. captain d'orcet reports that, in addition, bismarck denied that france had changed, and that to curb her mania for glory, to punish her pride, her aggressive and ambitious character, it was imperative that there should be a glacis between france and germany. 'we must have territory, fortresses and frontiers which will shelter us forever from an attack on her part.' further remonstrances from de wimpffen only drew down fresh showers of rough speech very trying to bear, and when bismarck said, 'we cannot change our conditions,' de wimpffen exclaimed, 'very well; it is equally impossible for me to sign such a capitulation, and we shall renew the battle.' "here count castelnau interposed meekly to say, on behalf of the emperor, that he had surrendered, personally, in the hope that his self-sacrifice would induce the king to grant the army honorable terms. 'is that all?' bismarck inquired. 'yes,' said the frenchman. 'but what is the sword surrendered,' asked the chancellor; 'is it his own sword, or the sword of france?' 'it is only the sword of the emperor,' was castelnau's reply. 'well, there is no use talking about other conditions,' said von moltke, sharply, while a look of contentment and gratification passed over his face, according to bismarck; one 'almost joyful,' writes the keen captain d'orcet. 'after the last words of von moltke,' he continues, 'de wimpffen exclaimed, "we shall renew the battle." "the truce," retorted the german general, "expires to-morrow morning at four o'clock. at four, precisely, i shall open fire." we were all standing. after von moltke's words no one spoke a syllable. the silence was icy.' but then bismarck intervened to soothe excited feelings, and called on his soldier- comrade to show, once more, how impossible resistance had become. the group sat down again at the red baize-covered table, and von moltke began his demonstration afresh. 'ah,' said de wimpffen, 'your positions are not so strong as you would have us believe them to be.' 'you do not know the topography of the country about sedan,' was von moltke's true and crushing answer. 'here is a bizarre detail which illustrates the presumptuous and inconsequent character of your people,' he went on, now thoroughly aroused. 'when the war began you supplied your officers with maps of germany at a time when they could not study the geography of their own country for want of french maps. i tell you that our positions are not only very strong, they are inexpugnable.' it was then that de wimpffen, unable to reply, wished to accept the offer made but not accepted at an earlier period, and to send an officer to verify these assertions. 'you will send nobody,' exclaimed the iron general. 'it is useless, and you can believe my word. besides, you have not long to reflect. it is now midnight; the truce ends at four o'clock, and i will grant no delay.' driven to his last ditch, de wimpffen pleaded that he must consult his fellow- generals, and he could not obtain their opinions by four o'clock. once more the diplomatic peacemaker intervened, and von moltke agreed to fix the final limit at nine. 'he gave way at last,' says bismarck, 'when i showed him that it could do no harm.' the conference so dramatic broke up, and each one went his way; but, says the german official narrative, 'as it was not doubtful that the hostile army, completely beaten and nearly surrounded, would be obliged to submit to the clauses already indicated, the great headquarter staff was occupied, that very night, in drawing up the text of the capitulation,' a significant and practical comment, showing what stuff there was behind the severe language which, at the midnight meeting, fell from the chief of that able and sleepless body of chosen men. "from this conference general de wimpffen went straight to the wearied emperor, who had gone to bed. but he received his visitor, who told him that the proposed conditions were hard, and that the sole chance of mitigation lay in the efforts of his majesty. 'general,' said the emperor, 'i shall start at five o'clock for the german headquarters, and i shall see whether the king will be more favorable;' for he seems to have become possessed of an idea that king william would personally treat with him. the emperor kept his word. believing that he would be permitted to return to sedan, he drove forth without bidding farewell to any of his troops; but, as the drawbridge of torcy was lowered and he passed over, the zouaves on duty shouted 'vive l'empereur!' this cry was 'the last adieu which fell on his ears' as we read in the narrative given to the world on his behalf. he drove in a droshki toward donchery, preceded by general reille, who, before six o'clock, awoke bismarck from his slumbers, and warned him that the emperor desired to speak with him. 'i went with him directly,' said bismarck, in a conversation reported by busch; 'and got on my horse, all dusty and dirty as i was, in an old cap and my great waterproof boots, to ride to sedan, where i supposed him to be.' but he met him on the highroad near frenois, 'sitting in a two-horse carriage.' beside him was the prince de la moskowa, and on horseback castelnau and reille. 'i gave the military salute,' says bismarck. 'he took his cap off and the officers did the same; whereupon i took off mine, although it was contrary to rule. he said, "couvrez-vous, done." i behaved to him just as if in st. cloud, and asked his commands.' naturally, he wanted to see the king, but that could not be allowed. then bismarck placed his quarters in donchery at the emperor's disposal, but he declined the courtesy, and preferred to rest in a house by the wayside. the cottage of a belgian weaver unexpectedly became famous; a one-storied house, painted yellow, with white shutters and venetian blinds. he and the chancellor entered the house, and went up to the first floor where there was 'a little room with one window. it was the best in the house, but had only one deal table and two rush-bottomed chairs.' in that lowly abode they talked together of many things for three- quarters of an hour, among others about the origin of the war--which, it seems, neither desired--the emperor asserting, bismarck reports, that 'he had been driven into it by the pressure of public opinion,' a very inadequate representation of the curious incidents which preceded the fatal decision. but when the emperor began to ask for more favorable terms, he was told that, on a military question, von moltke alone could speak. on the other hand, bismarck's request to know who now had authority to make peace was met by a reference to 'the government in paris'; so that no progress was made. then 'we must stand to our demands with regard to the army of sedan,' said bismarck. general von moltke was summoned, and 'napoleon iii. demanded that nothing should be decided before he had seen the king, for he hoped to obtain from his majesty some favorable concessions for the army.' the german official narrative of the war states that the emperor expressed a wish that the army might be permitted to enter belgium, but that, of course, the chief of the staff could not accept the proposal. general von moltke forthwith set out for vendresse, where the king was, to report progress. he met his majesty on the road, and there 'the king fully approved the proposed conditions of capitulation, and declared that he would not see the emperor until the terms prescribed had been accepted'; a decision which gratified the chancellor as well as the chief of the staff. 'i did not wish them to come together,' observed the count, 'until we had settled the matter of the capitulation'; sparing the feelings of both and leaving the business to the hard military men. "the emperor lingered about in the garden of the weaver's cottage; he seems to have desired fresh air after his unpleasant talk with the chancellor. dr. moritz busch, who had hurried to the spot, has left a characteristic description of the emperor. he saw there 'a little thick-set man,' wearing jauntily a red cap with a gold border, a black paletôt lined with red, red trousers, and white kid gloves. 'the look in his light gray eyes was somewhat soft and dreamy, like that of people who have lived hard. his whole appearance,' says the irreverent busch, 'was a little unsoldierlike. the man looked too soft, i might say too shabby, for the uniform he wore.' while one scene in the stupendous drama was performed at the weaver's cottage, another was acted or endured in sedan, where de wimpffen had summoned the generals to consider the terms of capitulation. he has given his own account of the incident; but the fullest report is supplied by lebrun. there were present at this council of war more than thirty generals. with tearful eyes and a voice broken by sobs, the unhappy and most ill-starred de wimpffen described his interview and conflict with von moltke and bismarck, and its dire result--the army to surrender as prisoners of war, the officers alone to retain their arms, and by way of mitigating the rigor of these conditions, full permission to return home would be given to any officer, provided he would engage in writing and on honor not to serve again during the war. the generals, save one or two, and these finally acquiesced, felt that the conditions could not be refused; but they were indignant at the clause suggesting that the officers might escape the captivity which would befall their soldiers, provided they would engage to become mere spectators of the invasion of their country. in the midst of these mournful deliberations captain von zingler, a messenger from von moltke, entered, and the scene became still more exciting. 'i am instructed,' he said, 'to remind you how urgent it is that you should come to a decision. at ten o'clock, precisely, if you have not come to a resolution, the german batteries will fire on sedan. it is now nine, and i shall have barely time to carry your answer to headquarters.' to this sharp summons de wimpffen answered that he could not decide until he knew the result of the interview between the emperor and the king.' 'that interview,' said the stern captain, 'will not in any way affect the military operations, which can only he determined by the generals who have full power to resume or stop the strife.' it was, indeed, as lebrun remarked, useless to argue with a captain charged to state a fact; and at the general's suggestion de wimpffen agreed to accompany captain von zingler to the german headquarters. "these were, for the occasion, the château de bellevue, where the emperor himself had been induced to take up his abode, and about eleven o'clock, in a room under the imperial chamber, de wimpffen put his name at the foot of the document drawn up, during the night, by the german staff. then he sought out the emperor, and, greatly moved, told him that 'all was finished.' his majesty, he writes, 'with tears in his eyes, approached me, pressed my hand, and embraced me,' and 'my sad and painful duty having been accomplished, i remounted my horse and road back to sedan, '"la mort dans l'âme."' "so soon as the convention was signed, the king arrived, accompanied by the crown prince. three years before, as the emperor reminds us in the writing attributed to him, the king had been his guest in paris, where all the sovereigns of europe had come to behold the marvels of the famous exhibition. 'now,' so runs the lamentation, 'betrayed by fortune, napoleon iii. had lost all, and had placed in the hands of his conqueror the sole thing left him--his liberty.' and he goes on to say, in general terms, that the king deeply sympathized with his misfortunes, but nevertheless could not grant better conditions to the army. 'he told the emperor that the castle of wilhelmshohe had been selected as his residence; the crown prince then entered and cordially shook hands with napoleon; and at the end of a quarter of an hour the king withdrew. the emperor was permitted to send a telegram in cipher to the empress, to tell her what had happened, and urge her to negotiate a peace.' such is the bald record of this impressive event. the telegram, which reached the empress at four o'clock on the afternoon of the d, was in these words: 'the army is defeated and captive; i myself am a prisoner.' "for one day more the fallen sovereign rested at bellevue to meditate on the caprices of fortune or the decrees of fate. but that day, at the head of a splendid company of princes and generals, king william, crossing the bridge of donchery, rode throughout the whole vast extent of the german lines, to greet his hardy warriors and be greeted by them on the very scene of their victories. and well they deserved regal gratitude, for together with their comrades who surrounded metz, by dint of long swift marches and steadfast valor, they had overcome two great armies in thirty days. "during the battle of sedan, the germans lost in killed and wounded , officers and men. on the other hand, the french lost , killed, , wounded, and , captured in the battle. the number of prisoners by capitulation was , , while , were disarmed in belgium, and a few hundreds, more or less, made their way by devious routes near and over the frontier, to mezières, rocroi, and other places in france. in addition, were taken one eagle and two flags, field guns and mitrailleuses, garrison guns, many wagons, muskets, and horses. on the day after the surrender, the french soldiers, having stacked their arms in sedan, marched into the peninsula formed by the deep loop of the meuse--'le camp de misère' as they called it--and were sent thence in successive batches, numbered by thousands, to germany. such was the astonishing end of the army of chalons, which had been impelled to its woful doom by the comte de palikao and the paris politicians." here closes the first and most dramatic phase of the war. thereafter the enemy was smitten hip and thigh. at once hurry orders were given to open the line which led from nancy to paris. what followed must be briefly told. on the th of september the king of prussia entered rheims. on the th laon surrendered. on the th advanced troops halted within three hours of the capital of france, making a half circle round its defences. this investment ducrot--who had escaped from sedan-- attempted to prevent. his resources consisted in the thirteenth corps under general vinoy, and the fourteenth under general renault, and , marines, excellent soldiers, a total of , regular troops. he had also in the camps of vincennes and st. maur , garde-mobiles, only very imperfectly disciplined; , volunteers from the provinces, resolute men, prepared to give their lives for their country; the national guard, composed of sixty old and a hundred and ninety-four new battalions which, with other miscellaneous volunteers of paris, numbered perhaps , men, not, however, thoroughly to be depended upon. altogether the defenders numbered about , , but of these only the , regular troops and the , volunteers from the provinces could be reckoned as trustworthy. nevertheless, the third german army had no difficulty in establishing itself in a position embracing the southern and southeastern front of the city, from sèvres to the marne; the fourth army faced the northeast and northern front, the cavalry the west front, so far as the windings of the seine would permit it. on the th of october the crown prince took up his headquarters at versailles, those of the king being at ferrières, the seat of the paris rothschilds. here took place, on the th october, the famous interview between the french foreign minister, jules favre, and bismarck, in which the former made his declaration that france would surrender neither one inch of her territories nor one stone of her fortresses. the interview remained without result. meanwhile the fortress of toul had surrendered. strasburg, after a siege of six weeks, also surrendered, and, on october , bazaine handed over metz and an army consisting of three marshals of france, , officers, and , soldiers--an act for which after the conclusion of the war he was court-martialled, declared guilty of treason, and sentenced to death and degradation. the then president of the republic, marshal macmahon, commuted the death sentence into one of imprisonment for twenty years. confined in the fort of the island st. marguerite, near cannes, bazaine escaped, and lived in spain till his death. bazaine's surrender made the germans masters of one of the strongest fortresses in europe, with heavy guns, mitrailleuses, , chassepots, and placed at the disposal of the king an entire blockading army. it was at this juncture that gambetta astonished the world. reaching tours in a balloon from paris, and there assuming the ministry of war, he became practically dictator of france. thence he issued a proclamation to the people of france, urging them to continue their resistance to the bitter end, and directed that all men, capable of bearing arms, should lend their hands to the work, and should join the troops of the line at tours. in this way he formed an army of the north, and an army of the loire, and, later, an army of the east. in all respects he displayed a fertility of resource which astounded. he obtained arms, uniforms, munitions, and other necessaries from foreign countries, especially from england. he bestowed the greatest pains in selecting as generals of the new levies men who should be real soldiers. under his inspiring influence the war in the provinces assumed a very serious complexion. france had responded nobly to the call he had made upon her people. early reverses gave vigor to the new levies, and they fought with energy against the bavarians under von der than at arthenay and orleans, and against the division of wittich at châteaudun and chartres. but they were fighting against increasing odds. every day brought reinforcements to the germans. with the exception of a momentary gleam of success on the loire, france met with nothing but disaster. in paris matters were critical. every one of the different sorties made by her defenders had been repulsed; the hope by which the spirits of her defenders had been buoyed was vanishing fast: famine was approaching with giant strides; the strong places outside the circle of her defences were falling one after another; the fire of the enemy was, by the nearer approach of their troops, becoming more concentrated and more severe. peace must be had. on january th, then, there was concluded at versailles an armistice for three weeks. then a national assembly was summoned to bordeaux to consider how peace might be restored. in that assembly thiers received full administrative powers, including the power of nominating his own ministers. he himself, with jules favre, undertook the negotiations with bismarck. to insure the success of those negotiations the armistice was twice prolonged. this was done at the instance of thiers, for the conditions insisted upon by bismarck were hard, and the french statesman struggled with all his energies to induce him to abate his demands. especially did he strive to save metz, or, at least, to receive luxemburg in compensation. but his endeavors were fruitless. the utmost that bismarck would do was not to insist upon securing the still unconquered belfort. despairing of moving him further, thiers and favre gave way on the th of february, and signed the preliminaries of peace. they were, first, the transfer to germany of the northeast portion of lorraine, with metz and diedenhofen, and of alsace, belfort excepted; second, the payment to germany by france of one milliard of francs in , and four milliards in the three years following; third, the germans to begin to evacuate french territory immediately after the ratification of the treaty; paris and its forts on the left bank of the seine and certain departments at once; the forts on the right bank after the ratification and the payment of the first half milliard. after the payment of two milliards the german occupation of the departments marne, ardennes, upper marne, meuae, the vosges, and meurthe, and the fortress of belfort should cease. interest at five per cent to be charged on the milliards remaining unpaid from the date of ratification; fourth, the german troops remaining in france to make no requisitions on the departments in which they were located, but to be fed at the cost of france; fifth, the inhabitants of the sequestered provinces to be allowed a certain fixed time in which to make their choice between the two countries; sixth, all prisoners to be at once restored; seventh, a treaty embodying all these terms to be settled at brussels. it was further arranged that the german army should not occupy paris, but should content itself with marching through the city. meanwhile, negotiations between the statesmen and governments of germany resulted in a proposal to king william that, as head of the confederation, he should assume the title of german emperor. a resolution to that effect was passed by the north german reichstag on the th of december, and a deputation proceeded to the royal headquarters at versailles, where, on the th of december, the imperial crown was offered to the brother of the king who had once refused it. deeply touched, king william accepted, and in the palace of louis xiv., surrounded by a brilliant assembly of princes, officers, and ministers of state, the venerable monarch was proclaimed deutscher kaiser. then at last was the dream of centuries realized. at last was the empire restored. not the holy roman empire, not the empire of the middle ages, but the empire as a national state. under the leadership of bismarck, to whom the restoration of the empire was directly due, the new reich began its organization as a united federation. among its earliest difficulties was an ecclesiastical contest with the church of rome. known as the kulturkampf, this struggle was an effort to vindicate the right of the state to interfere in the affairs of all german religious societies. another difficulty which demanded government interference was the judenhetze, or persecution of the jews, which reached a climax in . a further difficulty was encountered in the quick growth of socialism. two attempts on the life of the kaiser were attributed to it, and a plot being discovered, which had for object the elimination of the emperor and other german rulers, repressive measures resulted. meanwhile an alliance offensive and defensive between germany and austria had been formed, into which italy subsequently entered. on march , , the emperor william i. died. his son, frederick, at that time suffering from a cancerous affection of the throat, became kaiser. three months later he also died, and william ii. succeeded him. the latter's first step of any importance was to get in front of half a million bayonets. coincidently he declared that those bayonets and he--or rather he and those bayonets--were born for one another. incidentally he announced that he was a monarch, specially conceived, specially created, specially ordained by the almighty. the step and the remarks were tantamount to a call to quarters. it would be dramatic to state that the circumjacent territories trembled, but it is exact to affirm that there was a war scare at once, one which by no means diminished when a little later he showed bismarck the door. as already noted, the refounding of the empire was bismarck's work. to achieve his purpose he had--to again quote colonel malleson--defied parliaments and people. he had led his master and his country over abysses, in the traversing of which one false step would have been fatal. aided a great deal by the wretched diplomacy of austria, by the deterioration of the powers of the french emperor, and by his sublime audacity, he had compelled to his will all the moral difficulties of the undertaking. von boon and moltke had done the rest. no longer, however, was he allowed to put forth his hand to sustain the work which he had created. for him it had been better to die, like von boon, like moltke, keeping to the end the confidence of his sovereign, than to feel himself impelled, dismissed from office, to pour out his grievances to every passing listener, to speak in terms not far removed from treason of the sovereign who had declined to be his pupil. was it for this, he must have muttered, that i forced on the war which gave prussia schleswig and holstein in ; that i compelled unwilling austria to declare war in ; that, by the freest circulation of exaggerated statements, i roused a bitter feeling in germany against france, and excited the statesmen, and, above all, the mob, of paris in ?--for this, that, the work accomplished, an empire given to the hohenzollerns, i might be cast aside like a squeezed-out orange? well might these be his thoughts, for it was he who made possible the task of german unity, though in a manner which will commend itself only to those who argue that the end justifies the means. a journalist wrote a pamphlet on the subject. in it he compared the kaiser to caligula. for his pains he was sent to jail. he might better have been sent to school. caligula was a poet in love with the moon. the kaiser is a poseur in love with himself. one of caligula's many diversions was killing his people. such slaughter as the kaiser has effected consists in twenty-five thousand head of game. the career of caligula is horrible, yet in the horrible is sometimes the sublime. the career of the kaiser has been theatrical, and in the theatrical is always the absurd. the single parallel between the two lies in the fact that all young emperors stand on a peak so lofty that, do they look below, vertigo rises, while from above delirium comes. there is nothing astonishing in that. it would be astonishing were it otherwise. what does astonish is the equilibrium which the kaiser, in spite of his words, his threats and actions, has managed to maintain. regarded as a firebrand and a menace to the peace of europe, with the exception of two big blunders--an invitation to king humbert to promenade with him through strasburg, and the message which he sent to president kruger of the transvaal after the failure of the jameson raid--with these exceptions he has exhibited a regard for international etiquette entirely immaculate, and not always returned. in recompense for overtures to france he has been snubbed. in recompense for others to russia he has been ignored. neither austria nor italy love him. he has weakened the triple alliance, alienated england, and lost his place. when he ascended the throne germany's position on the continent was preponderant. that position is russia's to-day. had he had the power--which he has always denied--to return to france the keys of metz and strasburg, and had he had the ability--which others have denied for him--to coalesce with france and russia he would have been warlord indeed. as it is, failing in an effort to realize the dream of napoleon i., he has at present writing subsided into a martinet. what the future holds for germany and for him the future will tell. but into the future it is not given to any one, even to an emperor, to look. [footnote : g. b. malleson: the refounding of the german empire.] [footnote : the house is called "a la derniere cartouche," and is the subject of de neuville's splendid painting.] [footnote : "not having been able to die in the midst of my troops, nothing remains for me but to place my sword in the hands of your majesty."] the end * * * * * +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | transcriber's note: | | | | inconsistent hyphenation in the original document has | | been preserved. | | | | obvious typographical errors have been corrected in this | | text. for a complete list, please see the end of this | | document. | | | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ * * * * * in and around berlin by minerva brace norton chicago a.c. mcclurg and company copyright by a.c. mcclurg and company a.d. to my husband, whose generous sympathy made possible these pages; to my countrymen and countrywomen who have visited berlin; to those who hope to go there, and to the larger number of armchair travellers, i dedicate this book. m.b.n. contents. chap. page i. first impressions ii. family and social life iii. education iv. churches v. museums vi. the german reichstag and the prussian parliament vii. prominent personages viii. the emperor's ninetieth birthday ix. streets, parks, cemeteries, and public buildings x. palaces xi. the homes of the humboldts xii. philanthropic work xiii. around berlin in and around berlin. i. first impressions. it was seven o'clock of a gray november morning when we arrived in berlin for our first residence abroad. the approach to the city reminded us of the newer parts of new york, and we found that the population was about the same. but here the resemblance ceases. new york is the metropolis of a great nation,--the heart whence arterial supplies go forth, and to which all returning channels converge; the cosmopolitan centre of a new world. berlin is the increasingly important capital of the german empire,--growing rapidly, but still the royal impersonation of prussia and the hohenzollerns; seated in something of mediæval costume and quiet beside the river spree; as content to cast a satisfied glance backward to frederick the great and the electors of brandenburg as to look forward to imperial supremacy among the great powers, and the championship of continental protestant europe. there is one continuous thread woven through the old history and the new, and this appeared in the first hour of our stay. everywhere on the streets the one thing most strange to our american eyes was the number of striking military uniforms mingled with the more sober garb of civilians. officers of fine form and gentlemanly bearing, in uniforms of dark blue with scarlet trimmings and long, dragging, rattling swords, were commanding the evolutions of infantry in the main streets; while frequent glimpses of gold-laced light blue or scarlet jackets or of plumed and helmeted hussars animated the scene on the crowded sidewalks. germany is, as it has been from the beginning, a military power. we drove first to the home of an american friend. we were not prepared for the four long flights of stairs up which we were directed by the porter on the ground floor. "what reverses of fortune have come to a.," thought we, "that she lives in an attic!" the tenement was a good one, to be sure, when we found it,--large and lofty apartments with many windows, commanding a fine view. but to one unused to many stairs, and weakened by continuous illness in a long sea-voyage, the exhaustion of that first ascent was something to be remembered. it was, however, but the precursor of hundreds of similar feats, which our residence involved, as nearly all families live up several flights of stairs. only once did we see an elevator in germany. in the elegant hotel known as the kaiserhof, the sojourning-place of princes, diplomatists, and statesmen, we took our seats in a commodious elevator, rejoiced at the thought of such an american way of getting upstairs. it was fully five minutes before we reached the moderate elevation of the corridor on which our rooms opened; the liveried and intelligent official in charge, evidently a personage of importance, meanwhile replying to our queries and enjoying our evident surprise at the slow motion, until we forgot our annoyance in the interest of the conversation which ensued before we reached our destination. once i was toiling up the four flights which led to the residence of a cultivated german lady, in company with the hostess. "oh," i said breathlessly, "would there were elevators in germany!" "yes," courteously responded the lady; adding, with a resigned sigh, the conclusive words which indicated contentment with her lot, "but it is not ze custom." it was late in the season, and our lodgings were not engaged in advance. americans in increasing numbers make berlin a winter residence, and by october the most desirable _pensions_ generally have their rooms engaged. by the kind offices of our friend, our famishing party were provided with the rolls and coffee which compose the continental breakfast, and a fortunate entrance was, after much seeking, obtained for us to a most desirable boarding-house. our own apartment was a large corner room, with immense windows looking north and east, and, like nearly all rooms in berlin houses, connected by double doors with the apartments on either side. a fire was built before we took possession, but it was two days before we ceased to shiver. we looked for the stove of which we had heard. more than one of the five senses were called into requisition to determine which article of furniture was entitled to that designation. across one corner of the room stood a tall white monument composed of glazed tiles laid in mortar, built into the room as a chimney might have been, with a hidden flue in the rear connecting it with the wall. a drab cornice and plaster ornaments of the same color set off the four or five feet above the mantel which surrounded it, and a brass door, about ten inches by twelve, was in the middle front of the part below. on the mantel were disposed sundry ornaments, including vases of dried grasses, and the hand could always be held upon the tiles against which they stood. in a small fireplace within this unique mass of tiles and mortar, the housemaid would place a dozen pieces of coal-cake once or at most twice a day, and after allowing a few minutes for the kindling to set it aglow, would close and lock the triple door, and the fire was made for twenty-four hours. in two or three hours after the lighting of the fire, the temperature of the room, if other conditions were favorable, might be slightly raised. to raise it five to ten degrees would require from six to ten hours. in response to our request to the landlady for an addition of cold meat or steak to the coffee and rolls of the breakfast, and for more warmth in the room, accompanied by an expression of willingness to make additional payment for the same, the reply, given in a courteous manner, was that americans lived in rooms much too warm, and ate too much meat, and that it would be for their health in germany to conform to the german customs. however, some spasmodic efforts were made, for a season, to comply with the requests, which before long were wholly discontinued; and the strangers learned the wisdom of accommodating themselves "in rome" to the ways of the romans. this, however, was not accomplished without continued suffering. the meagre "first breakfast," served about half-past eight o'clock, was supplemented by a "second breakfast" of a cup of chocolate or beef tea, at about eleven, to those who were then in the house and made known their desire for it. but the days were short. berlin is about six hundred miles nearer the north pole than new york, in the latitude of labrador and the southern part of hudson's bay. the climate is milder only because the gulf stream kindly sends its warmth over all europe, which lies in much higher latitudes than we are wont to think. consequently the days in winter are much shorter than ours, as in summer they are longer. all the mid-winter daylight of berlin is between the hours of eight a.m. and four p.m. with dinner at two o'clock, from which we rose about three, there was too little light remaining for visits to museums and other places of interest, so that the chief sightseeing of the day must be put into the hours between nine and two o'clock, often far from residence or restaurants; so the work of the day must be done on insufficient food, and the prevailing physical sensation was that of being an animated empty cask. we thus reached a settled conviction that however well the continental breakfast may serve the needs of germans, with their slow ways of working, and their heavy suppers of sausage, black bread, and beer, late at night, an american home for americans temporarily in berlin is a consummation much to be wished. it is almost with a feeling of despair that many a woman first unpacks her trunk in the berlin apartment which, according to general custom, is to serve her for sleeping-room, breakfast-room, study, and reception-room. in a lengthened sojourn, in hotels, _pensions_, and private residences, i never saw a closet opening from such an apartment. indeed, there were, in the houses i visited, no closets of any kind; unless an unlighted, unventilated cubic space in the middle of the house or near the kitchen--the upper half often devoted to sleeping room for domestics, and the lower to a general rendezvous of odds and ends--might be dignified with that name. a statement which i once ventured in conversation, as to the closets opening from nearly every room of an american house, was received with a look of incredulity and wonder. neither did i see a real bureau in berlin. a poor substitute was a portable piece of furniture, often quite ornamental, which opened by doors, exposing all the shelves whenever an article on any one of them was wanted. here must be kept bonnets, hats, gloves, ribbons, laces, underwear, and all the thousand accumulations of the toilet; while a cramped "wardrobe" was the receptacle of shoes, cloaks, and dresses, hung perhaps three or four or five deep on the half-dozen wooden pegs within. bathrooms were the rare exceptions. as a rule, bathing must be done with a sponge and cold water, in one's private apartment, where are no faucets, drains, or set bowls, but the ordinary wash-bowl, pitcher, and jar. evidently german civilization does not rate the bath very high among the comforts of life. an essential part of the furniture in the kind of apartment i am describing, is a screen to stand before each bed and wash-stand. the beds are invariably single, two or more being placed in a room when needed, the screens, by day, transforming the room into a parlor. there are no carpets. on the oiled or painted wooden floors rugs are placed before the beds, before the sofa, and under the table which always stands before it. one luxury is seldom wanting,--a good writing-desk, with pens and ink ready for use. it is no trouble to a german hostess to increase or diminish the number of beds in a room, the narrow bedsteads being carried with ease through the double doors, from room to room, as convenience requires. pictures are on the walls,--not often remarkable as works of art, but most frequently stimulants to love of country,--portraits of the kaiser and the crown prince, and battle scenes in which glory is reflected on the prussian arms. every window is double; the two outer vertical halves opening on hinges outward, and the inner opening in the same manner into the room. graceful lace drapery is the rule, over plain cotton hangings or venetian blinds. the arrangement of the bedding is peculiar. over a set of wire springs is laid the mattress, in a closely fitting white case, buttoned, tied, or laced together at one end. this case takes the place of an under sheet. the feather pillow is in a plain slip of white cotton, similarly fastened. over the whole a blanket or comfortable is laid, securely enfolded in another white case, which also serves instead of an upper sheet. over this is the feather bed, usually encased in colored print, sometimes of bright colors. under this one always sleeps. over the bed, from low head-board to foot-board, is stretched by day the uppermost covering. ours was of maroon cotton flannel, bordered in front by a flounce intended to be ornamental. the custom is to furnish clean cases and pillow-slips once a month, and it is difficult to secure more frequent changes of bed-linen. ventilation is something of which the germans are particularly afraid. the impure air of schools, halls, churches, and other places of assemblage is dreadful, and a draught is regarded as the messenger of death. when our landlady found that we were in the habit of sleeping with our windows open, most emphatic remonstrance was made, with the assurance that this would never do in berlin. however, like the drinking of water, against which also warnings are customary, the breathing of fresh air was to us followed by no harmful results. these differences in habits and customs of household life, like the sounds of a strange language, affect the traveller unpleasantly at first. but differences in national customs are natural and inevitable, and one gradually becomes accustomed to them, and enabled to live a happy life in spite of them, as appreciation grows when acquaintance has made one familiar with many interesting and excellent aspects of existence here. ii. family and social life. holidays and birthdays are more scrupulously and formally observed in germany than with us. there are cakes and lighted candles and flowers for the one whose birthday makes him for the time the most important personage in the family, and who sits in holiday dress in the reception-room, to receive the calls and congratulations of friends. those who cannot call send letters and presents, which are displayed, with those received from the family, on a table devoted to the purpose; and the array is often quite extensive. the presents are seldom extravagant, consisting largely of the ornamental handiwork of friends and of useful articles of clothing for common use. a genuine german family festival on christmas eve is a pleasant thing to see. we accepted with pleasure the invitation of frau b---- and her family, to be present at theirs. in a large _salon_ adjoining that where the table was laid for supper, was another long table spread with a white cloth. toward the farther end of the table stood a tall christmas-tree, decked with various simple ornaments; and the candles on it were lighted with a little ceremony, the chubby granddaughter of three years pointing her bare arm and uplifted forefinger to the tree, and reciting a short poem appropriate to the occasion, as we entered the room, about half-past seven o'clock. then the beautiful and winning child found her toys, her lovely wax doll and its cradle, and another doll of rubber, small and homely, on which, after the fashion of little mothers, she imprinted her most affectionate kisses. suddenly the room was radiant with a contagious happiness. "the little fräulein," daughter of the hostess, just engaged by cable to a gentleman in america, had found his picture, wreathed with fresh and fragrant rosebuds, among her presents; and the smiles and blushes chased each other over her face, as the engagement was thus announced by her mother to the assembled guests. she answered her congratulations by more blushes and smiles, laying her hand on her heart, and saying with true german frankness, "oh, i am so happy!" no presents hung on the tree, but those intended for each person were in a group beside a plate of cakes and bonbons, with a card bearing the name. each of the company found his own, delicately assisted by the hostess and her daughters. then the servants were called in, to find their presents on side tables, to receive and express good wishes and thanks, and to join in the general joy of the household over the engagement. after supper in the dining-room, we talked awhile, there was music from the piano, then the married daughter and her family withdrew with kind "good-nights;" and before a late hour all the other guests had done the same, not, however, until the national airs of america and of scotland had been sung by all present, in honor of the guests from these countries. private hospitality is kind and open, but so far as our observation went, conducted within certain specified limits seldom overstepped. order of precedence is carefully observed, and more honor is shown to age than with us. the best seat in the drawing-room is the sofa. a single guest would never be offered any other place, and among a number the eldest or the most honored would be invariably conducted there. hence no one would venture to take this place of honor uninvited. sometimes one is secretly glad of not being invited to crowd behind the table which usually stands, covered with a spread, inconveniently close before the sofa, and of having instead a chair, with a better support for the back. one is expected to bow to the hostess and to each guest on coming to the table, and also on leaving it. odd as this seems at first, it soon becomes a habit rather pleasant than burdensome, and one grows insensibly to admire the outward politeness of this german custom. greetings and farewells are more ceremonious, even between intimate friends, than with us; and to omit a ceremonious leave-taking or to substitute a light bow and "good day" would not make a pleasant impression on a german hostess. americans, especially young ladies, are much criticised for their independence and lack of courtesy. a german friend told me that a young american lady who had formerly been an inmate of her family called to bid her good-by before leaving berlin. "i was amazed," she said, "at such politeness." it is not alone in matters of courtesy that young american ladies shock the germans. though a young lady has more freedom in germany than in france and italy, she is expected to conform carefully to the custom of going out in the evening or travelling only in company with a relative if a gentleman, or with an older lady. it is true that american girls are forgiven some liberties which no german girl would think of taking, on the ground of american customs; and a careful, well-bred young lady, from our side the water will seldom fall into serious trouble if she observes the rule of not going out unattended. but young ladies from america in europe hold largely the honor of their country in their hands, and they ought to recognize this responsibility. german politeness has also a reverse side. perhaps the general absence of higher education among german women leaves them an especial prey to idle curiosity and gossip. not only is one questioned freely as to the cost of any article of dress by comparative strangers, but questions as to one's family and private affairs are common, almost customary. conversation which does not turn upon such things, or on others equally trivial and irrelevant, is the exception. the recital on their part, however, of personal and family history has a charming good-nature and simplicity, and often a touch of the homely and pathetic, which reach the heart of the listener. there were few tables where the conversation was not too loud for our comfort. no one seemed particularly to care for quiet talk with his neighbor, but the conversation at a long table was a rattling sharpshooting or a heavy cannonade from one end to the other, mingled with hearty laughter, while "attic salt" was sparing. table-manners, even among otherwise charming people, were often shocking to the taste of americans. what we should call the first principles of good-breeding were freely contravened. the nicety and daintiness which in some favored american and english homes make of the family board a visible and tangible poem, were very rare in our german experience. and yet there are charming german tables and well-bred german ladies and gentlemen. one custom which we have been taught to regard as vulgar and profane is that of constantly using the names of the deity by way of exclamation and emphasis in the most ordinary conversation. being on sufficiently intimate terms with a german lady, we one day ventured to inquire deprecatingly about this habit. "everybody does it," was her candid reply; and this was the only reason we ever heard. "george eliot" long ago complained of the inconvenience of perambulating berlin streets, where you are pushed off the sidewalks and are in constant danger of involuntary surgical experience through contact with the military swords that clank and clatter in the crowd. there is still room for improvement in this respect. the owners of sabres often seem to take it for granted that the right of way belongs first of all to them and their weapons, and if any one is thus inconvenienced that is the business of the unlucky party. the streets and sidewalks are much wider and less crowded than those in boston; but a collision on a boston sidewalk is rare, while a half-dozen rude ones in an hour is a daily expectation in berlin. a berlin pedestrian "to the manner born," in blind momentum and disregard of all obstacles, has no equal in our experience. it was told me that if you are run over by the swiftly driven horses in the streets, you must pay a fine for obstructing the way. remembering that many regulations are relics of the times when laws were made for the good of the aristocracy who ride, and not for the vulgar crowd who walk, we did not try the experiment. mounted policemen are to be seen, like equestrian statues, at the intersection of the more crowded thoroughfares, as unter den linden and friedrich strasse, and with a little care there is seldom need of delay in crossing. i heard of one poor cab-driver who was fined and cast into prison for injuring a lady who suddenly changed her mind and took a new tack while just in front of his horses. regard for foot-passengers seems thus to have an existence in some cases. regard for women is not a thing to which german men are trained. a gentleman may not carry a small parcel through the street, but his delicate wife may take a heavier one to save the disgrace of her husband's bearing it. among the middle classes, those couples who go out for a walk with the baby-carriage invariably regard the management of it as the wife's privilege, leaving to the father the custody of his pipe or cigar alone. if the baby is to be carried in arms, it is always the wife, not the husband, who bears the burden. women in the humbler classes wear no bonnets in the street, although sometimes in cold weather they tie a little shawl or a handkerchief about the head. their usual habit is, however, to go out in all weathers with the head as unprotected as the face, even for long distances. a maid follows her mistress to market, with a basket on her arm, often covered with an embroidered cloth, in which are placed the purchases of the careful housemother. a huckster is frequently accompanied by a dog, both being harnessed to the little cart which holds the wares. often the man will be free, while the woman and the dog side by side drag the cart to which they are tied, the woman usually knitting even when the air is cold enough to benumb her fingers. women knit constantly in the streets about their other work, whether bowed down under huge bundles of fagots on their backs, serving milk at the houses, or doing many other things with which we should regard knitting as incompatible. the best society is like the court, in being exclusive. it is difficult for strangers, in germany as in america, easily to obtain desirable acquaintance, except by means of letters of introduction, and the friendship which comes with time and natural selection. glimpses of home-life in cultivated circles are accordingly to be highly valued. one delightful visit with supper, to which we were invited, began about six o'clock. that we might have more in common, the hostess, who herself spoke english with much intelligence, had invited a german lady who had resided in boston to meet us. we were seated on the sofa and shown some of the many art treasures in the way of fine engravings which the home contained, the fancy-work of our hostess--a german lady seems never to be without it--lying neglected as the conversation rose in interest. supper was served between eight and nine o'clock, at a round table accommodating the hostess and her three guests. delicious tea, made from a burnished brass teakettle over an alcohol lamp on a stand beside the hostess, with white and black bread, five kinds of sausage, cold meat, and pickled fish, composed the first course. there was a second, composed of little cakes and apples. dinner, in our experience, was almost invariably good. first course, always soup and bread. second, unless fish were served, some kind of meat, a variety of vegetables, among which green beans, spinach, and varieties of cabbage delicately cooked were prominent. this course was usually accompanied by cooked or preserved fruit. third course, various puddings and cakes, all good, some delicious; never any pie. the luxury of dessert was sometimes omitted. it is not common in german families, except those frequented by american guests. radishes and cheese form an extra course at some suppers. in hotels, of course, the simple family dinner of three or four courses is replaced by a more elaborate feast of many courses. the anniversaries of the death of friends are remembered by dressing in black, burning candles before their portraits, and visiting their graves. there is also one day in spring which is celebrated as a kind of combination of all saints day and decoration day, when every one visits the cemeteries, leaving flowers and wreaths in memory of the loved and lost. funeral services are held, both at the homes and in the churches, and are often accompanied by very impressive and majestic music. in at least one of the cemeteries there is a large and scientifically arranged crematory. a recent judicial decision, however, forbids cremation within the municipal jurisdiction. sundays, as is well known, are not observed in germany as in england and scotland. but in the parts of berlin which we were accustomed to see on that day, including two miles or more between our residence and the central part of the city, the general sobriety and orderly appearance would compare favorably with that in the better parts of many american cities. we were asked on our first sunday at the dinner-table if we would like to have seats secured for us at the opera that evening. operatic performances and concerts are among the better entertainments offered on sunday evenings. the laws are strict, however, regarding quiet in the streets and the closing of places of business until after sunday morning service in the churches. in the finest residence portions of some american cities we have been frequently disturbed by the street-cries of hucksters during divine service on sunday mornings, while the ear-piercing shouts of newspaper venders disturb all the peace of the early morning hours. dime museums and other places flaunt their attractions in the faces of the crowd who gather at their doors, and many places of business seem to be always open. it was not our experience to see or hear anything like this in germany. even the law of despotic power is better than none at all,--often far better than enlightened law not enforced. policemen in the streets of berlin make short work with the luckless tradesman who leaves his blinds or doors open on sunday before two o'clock p.m. of course restaurants and places of food supply are open. to all outward appearance berlin was a fairly well-ordered city on sundays. one in search of evil, however, could doubtless find it, here as elsewhere. sunday afternoon is a favorite time for calls and family visits; and in the pleasant weather the genuine love for out-door life, which seems dormant in winter, blossoms out luxuriantly. parents take their whole families to the numerous gardens in the suburbs for picnics on sundays and the frequent holidays. sunday hours at home are spent by most german ladies with the inevitable crochet-work or knitting,--even the most devout seeing no harm in this, nor in their little sunday evening parties, with games and music. one day in the year--good friday--is observed as scrupulously as was ever a puritan sunday. the organic protestant church of germany--a union of the lutheran and reformed churches,--has small affiliation with the church of rome; but some observances which we have been accustomed to associate with so-called catholicism have lingered with protestantism in germany. good friday was a solemn day in the family where we had our home. bach's music, brought to light after a hundred years of deep obscurity by felix mendelssohn, and rendered, though at first with much opposition from musicians of the old school, in the sing akademie of berlin, now lends every year, on the eve of good friday, its incomparable _passion-musik_ to the devotion of the occasion. "there are many things i must miss," said a cultivated german to me, "but the _passion-musik_ on the eve of good friday,--never! it makes me better. i cannot do without it." we found this music, at the time of which we speak, an occasion to be ever memorable for its wonderful power and pathos. the next morning we did not attend the service in the cathedral, where we wished to go, knowing that the crowd would be too great for comfort. on returning to our room from another service, a beautiful arrangement of cut flowers on the table greeted our senses as we opened the door. it was the thoughtful, affectionate, and devout offering of our hostess in reverent memory of the day. after dinner we entered the private parlor of the family for a friendly call and to express our thanks. no suggestion of knitting or fancy-work was to be seen. the hostess and her daughters, soberly dressed, were reading devotional books. "do you not go out this afternoon?" i inquired. "no, one cannot go out," was the reply, indicating probably both lack of disposition and of places open for entertainment. later, i ventured out for a walk. only here and there could a team be seen, and the throng of pedestrians usually on the sidewalks in a bright spring afternoon seemed to have deserted the busy streets, in which comparative silence reigned. "i am glad there is here _one_ sabbath in the year," was our inward comment, "even though it falls on a friday." easter was a day of gladness in the churches, though elaborate adornments of flowers and new spring bonnets were not so prominent as in american cities. the respectable church communicant, even if he goes to church on no other day in the year, usually takes the communion at easter. easter monday was one great gala-day. all berlin seemed to be in the streets in holiday attire; and, to our eyes, no other day ever showed such universal gladness reflected in the faces and demeanor of the people. "prayer day," answering somewhat to the original new england fast day, was solemnly observed in may; and the holidays of whitsuntide dress every house and market-stall and milk-cart with green boughs, and crowd the railways and the steamers with throngs of pleasure-seekers. the few weeks before easter is a favorite season for weddings, and these are invariably celebrated in church. even people in moderate circumstances make much display at the church ceremony, with or without an additional celebration at home. we were invited to one at the garrison church, which the soldiers attend, and where most of the pews on the main floor are held by officers and their families. we entered the church fifteen minutes before the hour appointed,--four o'clock. an elderly usher in a fine suit, with swallow-tail coat and a decoration on his breast, politely gave us liberty to choose our seats, as the invitations were not numerous and the church is large. a few persons, mostly ladies, were there before us, and had already taken the best seats,--those running lengthwise of the church, and facing a wide central aisle. we joined them, and while waiting felt more at liberty to inspect the church than at the service on a previous sunday. the grecian interior was undecorated, except that a mass of green filled the space to the right and left of the altar, beginning on each side with tall oleanders succeeded by laurels and other evergreens, growing gradually less in height, until they reached the pews in the side aisles. a rich altar-cloth of purple velvet, embroidered with gold, fell below the crucifix and the massive candles on either side, which are always seen in the lutheran churches; and in the aisle below the chancel stood a square altar, covered with another spread of purple velvet, heavy with gold fringe and embroidery. two chairs were side by side just in front of the high altar, and facing it. six chairs facing the audience were on the platform on each side of the altar, directly in front of the mass of green i have described. below the steps to the chancel about twenty chairs were placed on each side of the central aisle, and facing the altar. in each chair was a printed slip containing a hymn to be sung after the ceremony. about four o'clock a maid came in with the little granddaughter who on christmas eve had spoken the poem at the lighting of the family christmas-tree. when they were seated, the handsome little face, with its white bonnet and cloak, was seen in a side pew very near the altar. it seemed so like a dream,--the announcement of the engagement of "the little fräulein" at that christmas party; and now the time has come when the bride is to belong to her mother and her home no more! ladies had long ceased looking impatiently at their watches, and were perhaps busy with their thoughts, as i was, when from the "mittel" door court-preacher frommel entered, his long white hair thrown back, and crossed through the transverse aisle to the robing-room opposite. soon a signal given by an usher to the organist was the prelude to solemn music, which filled the church; and a stout clerical assistant, with a book under his arm, appeared at the rear door. then pastor frommel, in his black robe and simple white muslin bands, took his place before the high altar and bowed in prayer, the two immense candles in tall candlesticks on either side the altar, now lighted, throwing their radiance on his silver hair. meantime the bridal procession slowly moved down the side aisle toward the middle of the church, turned at the transverse aisle, crossed to the centre, turned again, now toward the altar, passing to it up the central aisle. the clerical personage with the service-book under his arm passed first. then came the bride on the arm of the groom. there were a few orange-buds hidden here and there in the fluffy mass of her front hair; a veil of tulle was fastened behind them in a gathered coronet, and fell down over the folds of her white silk dress, whose train swept along the aisle to the length of a yard and a half. i saw no ornaments, save a wreath below the high, full, white ruche at the throat, perhaps of geranium leaves, and a full bouquet of pink rosebuds in the right hand. from my glance at the train of the bridal dress, i looked up to see six bridesmaids coming after, each on the arm of a groomsman. the first bridesmaid was a lovely sister of the bride, in a dress of cream-white silk without train, pink flowers in her hair, and carrying a large bouquet of full-blown cream and crimson roses. the second bridesmaid wore a dress of silk,--not ecru and not palest olive, but a shade between the two,--with a perfectly fitting corsage, likewise _décolleté_, and for ornaments a necklace of large pearls, a bouquet, and flowers in her hair. the first groomsman was in civilian's dress; but the second was in all the glory of full regimentals, with scarlet trimmings and showy buttons. the third bridesmaid wore pink silk, with a bouquet at the centre of the heart-shaped corsage; but unlike the others, she had no flowers in her hair. of the following bridesmaids, one wore pink silk of a paler shade, one was in lemon-color, and the last in palest mauve, with trimmings of garnet velvet. the bridesmaids filed to the right, and the groomsmen to the left, as they reached the altar, before which pastor frommel now stood. as the bride and groom approached, they remained a moment standing with bowed heads in silent prayer, as the custom is on entering a german church, and then took the two chairs which had been placed for them, facing the minister. i had been struck by the beauty of the widowed mother, as she followed the bridesmaids, leaning on the arm of her brother,--a fine-looking, dignified officer from potsdam, in full uniform, with broad silver epaulettes. the black hair of the mother--dressed high and gracefully on the crown of her uncovered head, set off by a fine white marguerite and a yellow one--and her dark eyes and complexion were in strong contrast to the fair hair and light german complexion of the younger ladies. she was in a dress of garnet silk, fitting perfectly her tall and graceful form. the bridesmaids took the six chairs on the right of the altar, facing the audience and before the mass of greenery, which made an effective background for so much youth, beauty, and elegance; and the groomsmen took the corresponding chairs on the left. the mother and uncle parted at the steps below the altar, she taking the first chair on the right, and he on the left, with the central aisle between them. next came two elderly ladies, in dark silk with long trains, with uncovered and ornamented hair, and white shoulder-shawls of silk or wool, each with a gentleman; and they were seated to the right and left respectively. the bride's eldest married sister came next, in a splendid robe of blue satin, with a long train, looking very young and _distingué_. she and her husband filed to the right and left, as the others had done. the second married sister of the bride followed, in a similar dress of pink satin; and her very handsome husband, in his full military suit, was a decided addition to the courtly-looking assemblage. these five ladies filled the front row of chairs on one side, as did the gentlemen accompanying them on the other side. eight other ladies, all in full dress,--one wearing an ermine cape,--followed, each with a gentleman; and these were seated in the second row. when for a few brief moments i first caught sight of all this elegance, i felt as though i were in a dream; then came a rush of emotion, because i loved the fair young bride, and was touched at the thought of the solemn place in which she stood,--forsaking home and friends and native land to go to what seems to these home-dwelling germans a far, strange country, all for the sake of a young man whom a year ago she had never seen. i was as sorry for the mother, too, as i could be for one so handsome and so dignified. how fast one feels and thinks in such a time! before the hush which followed the procession and the temporary change while all were finding their appropriate seats, the feeling of sympathy had given place to one of stimulated imagination, and this dim old soldiers' church, with the majestic music filling all its spaces, seemed merely the setting for some scene at a royal court in the olden time, where beauty and brilliance and grandeur were a matter of course. the music ceased, all present rose, while pastor frommel read a brief service from the book, and said "amen." then we sat down again, and the pastor preached the wedding sermon, which we were told is a matter of course at a german marriage. the sermon over, the bride and groom stood up before him, and he looked down with a fatherly glance upon the bride whom he took into his own house to prepare for confirmation only a few short years ago, and whom he is now to send with his marriage benediction across the sea. in a sweet, calm voice he addressed them; then the bride hands her bouquet to her sister bridesmaid sitting near, and removes her own glove; the groom takes from his pocket a ring, and gives it to the minister, who places it on the bride's finger, speaking a few solemn sentences, of which only the last reaches my ears: "what god hath joined together, let not man put asunder." for the first time in the service, the bride and groom kneel before him who bends over them; then follows a prayer, and it is finished. they rise, and are seated an instant; then rise again as the pastor gives his hand in congratulation to the groom; and when he places his hand with a few words in that of the bride, she bends low over it and kisses it in a pathetic farewell. the pastor goes first. the bride and groom bow in silent devotion before the altar until the time seems a little long, then turn and come down the aisle, followed by their retinue as they went in, but twain no more. the mother wiped away a tear quietly once or twice during the service, the unmarried sister bridesmaid looked as sweet and calm as always she does at home, but the bride, silently taking farewell of friends and native land, was deeply moved. no one had any voice for the printed hymn, and the organ alone supplied its music. the newly married couple went in the first carriage which rolled homewards, the others followed without observing precedence, and a small and quiet home reception closed the day. in a family where we found a home we were once asked, with other temporary residents, to attend a small evening gathering. at the usual hour of half-past eight we were led out to supper by the hostess. the table was very handsome with its fine linen and an elaborately embroidered lunch cloth extending through the whole length of a board at which fourteen were seated. i counted ten tall wine bottles, and at every plate except two, wine-glasses were standing. several of the european ladies drank off three or four glasses as they might have done so much water. "you are temperance?" said a young lady from stockholm at my left, in her broken english. i said, yes; and on inquiry found she knew something of the great temperance movement in her own country, of which she told me over her wine. she said she thought a glass would do me good. i said, "no, it would flush my face and do me harm;" to which, without any intention of discourtesy, she replied simply, "i do not believe it." five plates of various sizes were piled before each individual. the smallest was of glass, for preserved fruit and sweet pickles, four kinds of which were passed, all to be deposited, if one partook of all, on the same plate. the other plates and the whole service were of beautiful old berlin china, white, with a line of dark blue and another of gilt around the edge of each piece, and the monogram of the grandmother to whom it originally belonged in the centre of each piece in blue letters. the first course was excellent chicken broth, served to each guest in a china cup, with a roll. the second course was cold roast beef and hot potatoes, served in three different ways, with rolls and plenty of wine. the third course was offered to me first by a handsome serving-maid lately from the country, with a clear face, bright dark eyes, dark hair, and rosy cheeks. admiring her, i cast only a brief and doubtful glance on the large plate she bore, at one side of which were two lifelike sheep three or four inches high, with little red ribbons around their necks and standing in the midst of greenery. "this is confectionery," i thought, "and these are sugar sheep for ornament." disposed on other parts of the plate were sundry rounds and triangles which looked peculiar; but my custom was, at german tables, "to prove all things" and "hold fast that which is good." so i decided on a creamy-looking segment, covered with silver-paper, and showing at the sides a half-inch thickness of what i hoped was custard-cake. the plate was next passed to a lady at my right, who cut a little piece off a white substance; and i thought, "she has ice-cream." before i had touched my portion, a suspicious odor diverted my attention from the conversation. i found that the course was cheese and radishes, that my neighbor had "dutch cheese," that the sheep were the butter and i had none for my roll, and that i had possessed myself of perhaps the whole of one variety of european cheese in tin-foil, the peculiar aroma of which was anything but agreeable to my cheese-hating sense. i begged a german fräulein who sat near and who was intensely enjoying the situation to relieve me, when she kindly took about one third of my delicacy, leaving the rest in solitary state until the end of that course. fortunately, the non-winedrinkers were offered a cup of tea just here, and i ate my roll with it in thankfulness. my american friend laughingly made a remark to her german neighbor,--a tall and dignified lady, but very vivacious. she turned her head, saying in hesitating english, "speak on this side; i am _dumb_ in that ear." meanwhile the conversation, not as at american tables a low hum, but rather the rattle of artillery, fires away, across the table, along its whole length, anywhere and everywhere, much sounding, little meaning, amid infinite ado of demonstration and gesticulation. the next course was the nearest approach to pie i saw at any german table,--_apfeltochter_,--a browned and frosted crust, nearly eighteen inches in diameter, between the parts of which was cooked and sweetened apple. i noted the different nationalities at the table,--the mother and her daughters, germans of the germans; a buxom young girl from the country, a fine singer; the tall german, and the young swedish lady of whom i have spoken; another swedish lady from gothenburg, tall, very dignified, with gray eyes and dark hair, an exquisite singer. then there was herr g----, also from sweden, and fräulein von k----, a young polish lady, with striking black eyes and hair and a laughing face. other guests were two norwegian gentlemen. one of them, tall, dark, and with the dress and bearing of a gentleman, said to my american friend, "yes, i speak english _very well_" which we found to be the case. as i had mentally completed this summary, my friend said to me in a low "aside," "the young lady at your left is a free-thinker, the polish lady is a roman catholic, herr g----is a jew; the rest lutherans, except you and me." and one of us at home was of "andover," and the other "straight orthodox"! later, we adjourned to the drawing-room, spacious and handsome after the german fashion. i asked one of the daughters of the house, who i knew had spent some years in russia, if the portrait of a middle-aged gentleman hanging near me, much decorated and with a gilded crown at the top of the frame, were not that of the late czar (alexander ii.), when she replied, "it is our emperor!" and i had seen his majesty at least half a dozen times! but he was a much older man now. one of the norwegian gentlemen sat down at the piano and played portions of a recent opera, and a game of questions and answers followed. oranges and little cakes were served before the company broke up at the early hour of half-past eleven. concerts and even the opera and theatre begin early in germany. doors are open usually about half-past five, and the performance seldom begins later than six or seven. this interferes with the time of the usual evening meal, so that refreshments at these places are always in order. one of the most characteristic evenings maybe spent at the philharmonie, where the best music is given at popular prices several times each week. tickets seldom cost more than fifteen or eighteen cents, and may be bought by the package for much less. this is a favorite place with the music-loving germans, and for many americans as well. nearly all the german ladies take their knitting or fancy-work. the large and fine hall is filled on these occasions with chairs clustered around small tables accommodating from two to six. here families and friends gather, chat in the intervals, and listen to the music, quietly sipping their beer or chocolate, and supper is served in the intermission to those who order it. smoking is forbidden, but seldom is the hour after supper free from fumes of smokers who quietly venture to light their cigars unrebuked unless the room gets _too_ blue. many entire families seem to make nightly rendezvous at these concerts, enjoying the music as only germans do, and setting many a pretty picture in the minds of strangers. the concerts are over by nine or ten o'clock, but the performances at theatre and opera are frequently not concluded before half-past ten or eleven, and an after-supper at a _café_ or at home is a consequent necessity. in one aspect of behavior at concerts, american audiences may well imitate our german friends. the beginning of every piece of music is the signal for instantaneous cessation from conversation. i do not remember ever having been annoyed during the performance of music, either in public or private, while in germany, by the talking of any except americans or other foreigners. to the music-loving germans this is among the greatest of social sins. iii. education. the buildings of the berlin university are somewhat scattered, but the edifice known by this name is situated opposite the imperial palace, in the finest part of the city. the building was once the palace of prince henry, brother of frederick the great. it is built around three sides of a court open southward to the street, guarded by a high ornamental iron fence. before it are the sitting statues of the brothers humboldt, in fine white marble, on high pedestals. that of alexander von humboldt, in particular, inspired me with profound admiration often as i passed it. few statues are more fortunate in subject, in execution, or in position. the former reception-room of the palace is now the great _aula_ of the university, and the old ball-room is transformed into a museum. the cabinet of minerals and the collections of the zoölogical museum are each among the most valuable of their kind in existence. the fine park to the north of the university is open to the public, and is best seen from the rear entrance in dorotheen strasse. its quiet shades seem quite the ideal of an academic grove, if that can be in the middle of a great city. the astronomical observatory is upwards of half a mile south, in a park at the end of charlotten strasse; and the medical colleges are mostly to the northwest, near the great hospital. this university, with its hundreds of professors, and nearly six thousand students annually in attendance, is now one of the foremost in europe. professors who, like virchow, helmholtz, and mommsen, have a world-wide reputation, draw many to their classes; but there are other equally learned specialists with a more circumscribed reputation and influence. hundreds of american students tarry each year for a longer or shorter term of study in berlin, and it is rapidly gaining upon leipsic as a centre for musical study also. no woman is allowed to matriculate in the university at present, although there are not wanting german women who, in advance of general public sentiment, affirm that this ought not so to be. the academy of arts and the academy of science are housed in the conspicuous building opposite the palace of emperor william i. and adjoining the university. the science academy is organized in four sections, physical, mathematical, philosophical, and historical, and has valuable endowments and scholarships. the academy of arts has one section devoted to higher instruction in painting, engraving, and sculpture, and one to music, eminent specialists in each branch composing the board of direction. the imposing building of the institute of technology, near the extremity of the thiergarten, has a fine technological museum, and accommodation for two thousand students. its organization grew out of the union of two previously existing institutions for the promotion of architecture and trade. it has now five sections, in which about one thousand students pursue the study of architecture, civil engineering, machinery, ship-building, mining, and chemistry. instruction in the science of war is given in all its departments, as might be expected. the war office of the government is in the leipziger strasse, adjoining the reichstag, with one of the finest of ancient parks behind it, covering a space equal to several squares in the heart of the city. this park is elaborate and finely kept, but it is surrounded by high walls, within which the public is rarely admitted. even its existence is unsuspected by most visitors. the large and elegant building of the war academy in the dorotheen strasse has a war library of eight hundred thousand volumes and magnificent accessories. its object is to educate army officers. there are three courses of study, promotion from which to the general staff is made by examinations. the business of the general staff is, in war, to regulate the movements of the army and to attend to the correct registration of material for war history. in peace, the time of the officers who compose it is devoted to a profound post-graduate study of the science and the art of warfare. an important accessory to the privileges of the university is the royal library, opposite the main building and adjacent to the palace of emperor william i. in the opera platz. it is possible, though not common, for ladies to be allowed the privileges of this library, consisting of over a million volumes and thousands of valuable and curious manuscripts. a card of introduction to the director from an influential source gave me the great pleasure of the use both of the library and the fine reading-rooms. considerable time was consumed in the preliminaries, and there was red tape to be untied, but in general no unnecessary obstacles were thrown in the way even of a woman. on my first visit, before the requisite permission to use the library had been obtained, i was treated as a visitor, and most politely shown the treasures of the institution by intelligent officials. a young man who spoke excellent english was given me as a guide by the distinguished director-in-chief. classification of the books is carried to great minuteness, and it is but the work of a moment, to one familiar with its principles, to turn to any book of the million. the apartments are plain and crowded, although some of the rooms of the adjoining palace had recently been turned into the library, which is fast outgrowing its accommodations. the young librarian who acted as our guide was eager for information concerning american libraries, asking particularly about the size and classification of the boston public library. it was a pleasure to respond to one so intelligent and interested, and i felt sure he would make good use of every scrap of trustworthy information. he showed us his books with pride, and gave many interesting particulars. he also displayed to us some of the treasures kept in glass cases and usually covered from the light. here were luther's manuscript translation of the bible, gutenberg's bible, the first book printed on movable types, the ancient codex of the time of charlemagne, miniatures, illuminated missals, and other things of much interest. as my dinner-hour approached i begged off for that day from the cordially offered inspection of the celebrated hamilton manuscripts. it is said that the highest-priced book ever sold was the vellum missal presented to king henry viii. by pope leo x., which brought $ , . the missal was accompanied by a document conferring on the king the title of "defender of the faith." it is now in this collection, having been given by king charles ii. to an ancestor of the duke of hamilton, whose manuscripts were purchased by the german government in . the tables of the reading-rooms for periodicals are well filled with magazines in all languages, and equal politeness is shown by officials. the apartments are in the second story, reached by a stairway ascending from a paved court off the behren strasse, in the rear of the imperial palace. no lovely spring-time memories are to us more vivid and attractive than those of the library reading-room, in the second story of the library building, looking on the opera platz. here, among many students of all nationalities from the university, i was wont to spend long delicious afternoons at a table of my own choosing, to which attentive officials brought the books of my selection, and where i was free to turn to books of reference on the shelves beside me. the room would accommodate perhaps two hundred, similarly employed. among those i frequently met there were a german lady and an american gentleman whom i was so happy as to number among my friends. intercourse between our tables was by smiles and nods, seldom crystallizing into words, but these were not wanted. four centuries looked down upon us in portraits from the walls, and forty centuries were ours in the books below them. as the season advanced, the room was not full, and the long french windows stood open. before them was a balcony facing the platz, with its fountains, its shrubbery, and its flowers. the breath of spring and early summer was perfumed by mignonette and english violets, as it floated away from the murmur and the brightness of the brilliant scenes beyond up through every alcove of this quiet scholar's retreat. books in english, as in other languages, are many and finely selected, though some departments are incomplete. a month's preparation here for a trip to russia and the far north was one of unalloyed pleasure; and many volumes from the library were, under the rules, kindly permitted to reach and remain on the study-table of my own room while i needed them. the department of scandinavian travel was, however, much more scantily represented than russia. long shall i have reason to remember with gratitude the generous "open sesame" and the rich privileges of this library, which, more than most things that enjoy the epithet, truly deserves the name royal. as no woman can enter the berlin university as a student, neither is it practicable for a lady, either as student or visitor, to find access to the _gymnasia_, which, in the german sense of this term, are somewhat in the line of our american colleges. my windows looked into those of a fine new building across the street, devoted to the instruction of german youth. in through its doors there filed, every week-day morning, long lines of german boys and young men for the various grades of instruction; and a natural desire arose in the mind of an old teacher to "visit the school." but on application to an influential friend long resident in germany, for a note of introduction to the director of the _gymnasium_, his hands were lifted in unaffected astonishment at the nature of the request, "a woman in a boys' school! oh, never! ask me any other favor but that! oh, it is _impossible_!" a german lady was more hopeful. she was intimate with the wife of the director, and thought she could gain for me the coveted permission. but weeks lengthened into months, and still the right to enter even the enclosure sacred to the education of german boys was not obtained. so i studied the educational system at first on paper, and found many facts of interest. attendance at the common schools is compulsory, all children of both sexes being required to attend, in separate buildings, from the ages of five to fourteen. beyond this, the high school offers a training for practical life and business, and the _gymnasium_ a classical and scientific training leading to the special studies of the university. the course of study in the _gymnasia_ is similar to those of our colleges, some of the studies of the latter, however, being relegated to the university. a boy at nine years of age enters the _gymnasium_ for a course of nine years, in which latin and greek receive the chief emphasis. the same great division of opinion as to the comparative merits of linguistic and scientific training which exists in the rest of the world, agitates the german mind. the _gymnasium_ with its classical training is the child of the present century, and its growth all along has been disputed by those who claim greater advantages from a curriculum which lays chief stress on science, omitting the greek and half the latin, for a part of which modern languages are substituted. this has given rise to what are called the real schools, corresponding to our scientific schools. these receive their inspiration from the people rather than the learned classes, and are regarded as still on trial. meantime, until quite recently, the graduates of the _gymnasia_ have had a monopoly of competition for positions as teachers and opportunity to practise the learned professions. a recent change allows graduates of the real schools to compete for teacherships. the graduates of _gymnasia_ only are allowed to enter the professions of medicine and law. the prussian _gymnasia_ are about two hundred and fifty in number, and the real schools somewhat over one hundred. in point of military service, these schools are all on an equal footing, a pupil who completes a course of six years in either being obliged to serve but one year with the colors. it is said that a large number of those who graduate in these schools do so for the sake of thus shortening their term of military service. i was present at an evening entertainment offered by the older students of one _gymnasium_ to the friends of the school. it was a rendering, in greek, of the antigone of sophocles, with considerable adjuncts of scenery, costume, and greek chorus. a brief outline of the play in german was distributed to the audience. for the rest, a knowledge of greek was the only key to what was said by experts to be well done. but if this one personal glimpse of the scholarship of the higher schools for boys was all that could be obtained, i was more fortunate in finding access to the schools for girls. not, however, without painstaking. it is by no means a matter of course for any visitor to knock at the door of a school-room for a call upon the school. the coming of visitors is uniformly discouraged; the teachers saying that the pupils are not used to it, and that their attention is thereby diverted from their studies. a lady of my acquaintance, resident for some years in berlin, asked permission to visit the school which her little daughter attended, and was refused. a professional educator from abroad, especially a gentleman, if properly introduced, will find little difficulty in obtaining access to the schools; but a lady, who wishes to go unofficially, will need persistence and courage before she effects her object. a friendly acquaintance with two german teachers smoothed the way, perhaps opened it, to a privilege i had hitherto sought in vain. at supper one evening i made an engagement to meet one of these ladies in the school to which she belonged, early the next morning. in the short berlin days of mid-winter one must rise by candle-light to be in time for even the second hour of school, if living a half-hour distant. in one of the largest hotels of berlin i saw, the week before christmas, a little fellow, scarcely tall enough for seven years, departing for school in the morning, with his knapsack on his back, an hour before there would be daylight enough for him to study by. as he sturdily went forth from the elegant rooms and brilliantly lighted corridors into the cold gray dawn and the snowy streets towards the distant school, i said, "there is the way to train spartans!" the schools begin at eight o'clock for girls, at seven for boys, though many go at later hours. those who are not able to pay for instruction attend the "common schools," where tuition is free; but those who can must pay at the rate of from about five to seven dollars per quarter, in the schools denominated "public." the school to which i went occupies a handsome modern brick edifice, and accommodates eight hundred girls. it was ten o'clock, when the recess which follows the stroke of each hour (ten minutes) is doubled, in order to give time for the "second breakfast"--bread and butter taken in basket or bag--by both teachers and pupils, to supplement the rolls and coffee partaken of by candle-light in winter, which form the first breakfast. the teacher whom i knew was waiting for me in the corridor, where the busy hum of hundreds of young voices filled the air. handsome and substantial stone staircases fill the central portion of the edifice, lighted by a skylight, by windows where a transverse corridor reaches to the street, and by ground glass in the double doors leading to some of the class-rooms. it was a dark morning, and so the corridors were dim enough. most of the pupils are in school from eight to one o'clock. some of the younger ones come at nine, or even ten, and go home at twelve. i was told that instruction as to what to do in case of fire in the building is carefully given, but saw no fire-escapes, except the stairways. there was provision for ventilation in the class-rooms,--a register near the floor admitting pure warm air, and another near the ceiling giving exit to impure air. but this mode was quite insufficient to secure good air in most of the rooms. i was conducted to the director of the school, without whose permission i could not enter. he was standing in the corridor on the third floor, surrounded by several girls, with whom he was talking in the manner of a _paterfamilias_,--an aged man, with a shrewd but kindly face. i was introduced, and the object of my visit stated. bowing and leading the way to his office, he made a slight demurrer as to the profit i should reap, but freely accorded the permission, after making an entry, apparently from my visiting-card, in his register. my friend again took me in charge, and conducted me to another room, where i was introduced to the "first instructress," and to five or six other lady teachers, all of whom sat, in wooden chairs, around a plain wooden table, partaking of their luncheon. two or three good photographs--one of the roman forum--were in frames on the walls; a large mirror and a set of lock-boxes gave the teachers toilet accommodations; while baskets of knitting and other belongings bespoke this as the retiring-room of the lady teachers. the chief of these, a kind-faced matronly woman, spoke english imperfectly; but several of the younger ones spoke it very well, and one or two were of charming manners and appearance. from a schedule hanging on the wall, i was shown the names and number of recitations for the day. "what would i like to see? how long can i remain? will i come again to-morrow?" if the permission to visit a school be often difficult to gain, once received, it covers every recitation, and as many hours or days as the visitor chooses to devote to it. i was first conducted to a recitation in arithmetic. the room contained accommodations for fifty pupils, and the seats were filled by girls about thirteen or fourteen years of age. wooden desks and seats (the outer row for three pupils each, the central for four each), a slightly raised platform for the teacher, with a plain desk and two chairs, several cases of butterflies and beetles, on the walls a map or two, a small blackboard behind the teacher's desk, in grooves, so that it may be elevated or lowered at pleasure, make up the furniture of the room. the light, as in every room i visited, was from one side, to the left of the pupils. the teacher--a man with gray hair and beard, but young enough as to vivacity and enthusiasm, and a gentleman in manners--bowed me to the chair he offered, and with a wave of the hand bade the children, who had risen on our entrance, be seated. the lesson was wholly oral and mental. addition, subtraction, and multiplication were carried on by means of numbers, given out with so much vivacity and judgment that every eye was fastened on the teacher and every mind alert. most of the right hands were raised for answer to every question, with the index finger extended; and the pupil selected was chosen now here, now there, to give it audibly. rank was observed from left to right, the lower changing places with the higher whenever a failure above and a correct answer below paved the way. large numbers were often used; for example, adding or subtracting by sixties, and multiplying far beyond twelve times twelve,--all apparently with equal facility. the second half of the hour was devoted to a visit to a class of younger girls. another arithmetic class, taught by a younger gentleman; the pupils were in the eighth class, or second year at school,--age about seven. the room accommodated the same number, and was lighted and furnished in a similar way. here figures were written on the blackboard by the teacher. the early part of the lesson had evidently been in addition; now it was subtraction, which was carefully explained by the pupils, and the hour closed by a few mental exercises in concert. in the ten minutes' recess which followed, i again chatted with the teachers in their private room. thirty teachers are employed to teach these eight hundred girls,--twenty gentlemen and ten ladies. i said that in america the lady teachers largely outnumbered the gentlemen. the lady with whom i was conversing replied that the upper classes in girls' schools were all taught by gentlemen, as the ladies were not prepared to pass the required examinations for these positions. "the gentlemen have a course in the _gymnasium_ about equal to that in your colleges," she said, "and then pursue a course in the university, in order to fit themselves for teachers." "the expense of this is too much for ladies?" i inquired. "yes; and they have not the opportunity. they are not admitted to the university of berlin, and then--women have not the strength for such hard studies"! "how many recitations do you hear?" i asked. "the lady teachers, twenty-two per week; the gentlemen, twenty-four." "the salaries of the gentlemen are higher?" "oh yes, much higher. they have families to support; and then, the ladies are unsteady,--they often marry." i was now conducted to the upper division of the first class; girls in the last of the nine years' course of study,--ages about fourteen to sixteen. this was the only class reciting in english, which within a few years has been made a part of the required course, as well as french. they were reading in little paper-covered books, in german text, the _geisterseher_ of schiller, and translating the same into english. the teacher was an english gentleman. he wrote occasionally a word on the blackboard, when he wished to explain or impress upon the memory a term or a synonym,--as, for instance, "temporarily," and the words "soften," "mitigate," "assuage,"--and corrected such mistakes in translation as "guess to" for "guess at," and "declaration" for "explanation." the second division of this first class was in german history. several of the pupils had historical atlases open before them, which covered the history of the world from the most ancient times to the present, prepared with that excellence which has made german maps famous. the compendium used for a class-book was a brief record of dates and events in roman type, which is gradually but surely superseding the old german letters. the teacher talked of the quarrel between popes and emperors in the middle ages, and especially of the wars of the investitures. passing through the corridor after this recitation, i inquired the use of a library there, consisting of several hundred volumes, and was told it was for the use of the teachers; and that there was also one for the use of the pupils, from which they might draw books to read at home,--"some amusing and some instructive." as "religion" is marked in the schedule of instruction, and in the weekly, monthly, and quarterly reports sent to the parents, i asked to see the text-book, and was shown two or three. that for the younger pupils was simple, after the manner of our "bible stories," of the creation, "joseph and his brethren," etc. that for the upper classes consisted of several catechisms bound in one, including "luther's," and supplemented by a number of psalms, as the st, th, d, th, to be committed to memory. i asked if sewing and knitting were taught, and was answered in the affirmative. "is there a teacher for sewing only?" i asked. "no; formerly there was, but now the teaching of sewing and knitting is distributed among all the lady teachers. the teachers have more influence with the pupils in this way." a wise remark; as only a sewing-teacher of exceptional force and ability can have an influence with the pupils to be compared with that of those who teach them literature. embroidery is taught, but only "useful embroidery," as the beautiful initial-work on all bed and table linen in germany is called. some of that shown me in the sewing-room i now visited was exquisite, but was outdone, if possible, by the darning. over a small cushion, encased in white cotton cloth, a coarse fabric of stiff threads is pinned, after a square has been cut out from it. this hole the pupil is to replace by darning, composed of white and colored threads. in this instance blue and white threads were woven about the pin-heads inserted at some distance outside the edges of the hole, one for each thread. the darning replaces the fabric, not only with neatness and strength, but in ornamental patterns. squares, plaids, herringbone and lozenge patterns were done by this process in such a manner as to be very handsome. we now descended to the ground floor, where was a large gymnasium, fitted up simply, but with a variety of apparatus. a teacher is employed for gymnastics only, but for the reason that until recently the other teachers have not had opportunity to prepare for the examinations, so strict in germany on every branch. the children here were among the youngest in the school, and were well taught by a lady, but with nothing in the method worthy of special note. the last half-hour, i listened to a recitation in geography. girls of ten to twelve were numbering and naming the bridges of berlin, as i entered, and the recitation continued for some time on the topography and boundaries of their own city. a few general questions were given on germany and its boundaries, and the passes of the alps, especially the simplon; and the first napoleon came in for a little discussion. the whole method and result in this class were admirable. the teachers seemed to expect i would come again on the morrow, as i had not visited all the classes; and my thanks for the hospitality and full opportunity of inspection which i had so much enjoyed, were mingled with the apology i felt was needed, that my engagements would not permit another visit to the school. i next sought and obtained an introduction to a girls' high school. this was under the patronage of the empress augusta, and was said, in furnishing and equipment, to be the best in the city. the building is a good one, and the furniture more nearly approaching to that of the best schools in american cities. we went into two or three classes, but were not particularly impressed, favorably or unfavorably, with the methods of instruction. not so in the gymnastic rooms, where we went to view the exercises of the normal class, soon to be graduated. no courtesy was shown us by the master in charge, but we were tolerantly allowed to take seats. here were young women about eighteen years of age, going through some of the more active exercises, in a large and well-fitted room, without a breath of outer air, in sleeves so close that their arms were partly raised with difficulty; so tightly laced about the waist that the blood rushed to their faces whenever they attempted the running exercise sometimes required, and with long skirts and the highest of french heels! and yet this is a country in which a woman is not considered capable of instructing the higher classes in gymnastics! i now essayed to visit a representative girls' school carried on by private enterprise. the one to which i obtained introduction--and this was always a particular matter, the time of the visit being arranged some days previous by correspondence--was under the patronage of the then crown princess, victoria, whose portrait hung in a conspicuous place in the elegantly furnished drawing-room into which i was first shown. soon the principal appeared,--a lady, who from a small beginning about fifteen years before had brought the enterprise to its present successful stage, with several hundred pupils in annual attendance. there were a number of governesses, and about thirty pupils resident in the family, the remainder being day-pupils. when asked what i would like to see, as this was a private school, and i knew nothing of its methods, i replied that i would leave the particulars of my visit to the lady in charge. she still hesitated, when i suggested that i should feel interested to visit a class in mathematics. the lady lifted her hands in astonishment. "mathematics! for girls? never! we aim to fit girls to become good wives and mothers,--not to teach them mathematics!" "do you have no classes in arithmetic?" i asked. "yes, some arithmetic; but higher mathematics would only be hostile to their sphere,--it is not necessary." "not necessary, possibly," i replied; "but in america we do not think higher study hostile to the preparation of girls for their duties as wives and mothers." "but it is," she replied. "when girls get their minds preoccupied with such things, it interferes with the true preparation for their life." as i had come to learn this lady's ideas of education for girls, not to vindicate mine, i turned the discussion into an inquiry as to the ideal of culture she set before her pupils. "girls attempt too many things," was the reply. "they come here, some from england and other places, anxious to learn music and languages and what not. i tell them it is impossible to do so many things well. if they wish to learn music, this is not the place for them. they may practise a little,--an hour or two a day, if they wish,--but it is folly to attempt the study of music with other things. we aim to give a thorough training in language and literature; not a smattering, but such an acquaintance as will enable them to understand the people whose tongue they study,--to look at life through their eyes, and to be thoroughly familiar with the masterpieces of their literature. of course, german holds the first place, but french and english are also taught." i was taken to a class in german literature. the plain and primitive furnishing of the class-rooms was in noticeable contrast to the elegance of the parlors. the girls sat on plain wooden benches, with desks before them on which their note-books lay open. they used these as those who had been trained to take notes and recite from them. i had been told that the teacher in charge of this class was one of the most excellent in the city. the hour was occupied by a lecture on lessing, a poet whom the class were evidently studying with german minuteness. i also visited a class in reading,--younger girls, about ten or twelve years of age. they were admirably taught, both in reading and memorizing, the latter chiefly of german ballads. i saw no better teaching done in berlin than that of this class. its enthusiastic lady teacher would be a treasure in any land. the last visit of the morning was to a class in vocal music, taught by a gentleman. it was interesting as affording a view of the methods in this music-loving country, but did not differ materially from what would be considered good instruction and drill on this side the water. the teacher himself played the piano, the pupils standing in rows on either side. in the teachers' dressing-room, a comfortable apartment for the teachers who came from without the building, i chatted a few moments with two or three ladies. one spoke english so well that i asked if it were her vernacular. she appeared gratified by the compliment; said she had been much in other continental countries, and had spent three years in england, with eighteen months beside in the united states. she mistook me for an englishwoman, and confidently informed me that she had feared her english accent was ruined by the time spent "in the states." "did you find it so?" i inquired. "no," she said; "fortunately i was able to correct it by stopping in england on my way back." she had evidently not met the gentleman who informed his english friends that they must go to boston, massachusetts, if they would hear english spoken correctly. while in berlin i heard of a young american who was accosted by an englishman with a question as to what language she spoke. "i speak american," was the reply, "but i can understand english if it is spoken slowly." the wish to learn english is almost universal among germans, and the schools have not been before public opinion in making it a part of the curriculum. the result as yet, however, judging from our observation, will justify greater painstaking and more practice, before a high degree of accuracy is reached among the pupils. iv. churches. the greatest protestant power of continental europe has no court-churches worthy in appearance of companionship with its palaces and public buildings. but there are those of much historical and other interest, and in some of them the living power of christianity bears sway. the _dom_, or cathedral, dating from the time of frederick the great, is far inferior, within and without, to the magnificent buildings which surround it, facing the _lustgarten_, or esplanade. long ago royal plans were made to replace it by an edifice more worthy, but these have not been carried out, though since the accession of emperor william ii. measures have been taken looking toward the erection of a new cathedral. the usual hour for sunday-morning service is ten o'clock. the latitude of berlin is over ten degrees farther north than that of new york and chicago, and the sun at ten o'clock in winter is about as high as at nine o'clock in the latter cities. so it is only by special effort that a midwinter sojourner in berlin can be at morning service. within three minutes of the time appointed, on my first visit, the aged emperor william entered the _dom_ and stood for a few minutes in the attitude of devotion, as did the other members of the imperial household. the gallery on the left of the preacher was occupied by three boxes,--one for the emperor, one for the crown prince and his family, and one for their retinues. the service proceeded in the language of the people,--that language created and preserved to germany by luther's translation of the bible. a finely trained choir of some sixty singers led the music, all the people joining in the psalms and hymns; the imperial family taking part in the service with simplicity and appearance of sincerity, as those who stood, with all present, in the presence of him with whom is no respect of persons. the plain interior of the _dom_ has a painting behind the altar, and the large candles in immense candlesticks on either side were burning before a crucifix throughout the entire service. this we found true also in most of the other churches,--a reminder that, wide as was the gulf between the lutheran church and that of rome, the former retained some customs which puritanism discarded. pews fill the central part of this cathedral, and the broad aisle skirting the side at the left of the front entrance has a few seats for the delicate and infirm of the throng which always stands there at the time for the morning service. it was in this church that the departed emperor william i. lay in state for the great funeral pageant when his ninety-one years of life were over. here in the vaults many members of prussia's royal family repose, and here many stately ceremonies have taken place. at the door of this cathedral emperor william i., then prince regent, stood with uncovered head to receive the remains of alexander von humboldt, which here lay in state in may, , after the great scholar "went forth" for the last time from his home in the oranienburger strasse. we attended a service at the oldest of the berlin churches, the nicolai kirche, and found the sparseness of the audience in striking contrast with the crowds which frequented most of the other churches where we went. standing-room is usually at a premium in the cathedral, the garrison church, and the place, wherever it may be, in which dryander preaches; and in nearly all the churches unoccupied seats are hard to find. this is due, not to the large numbers of church-going people in berlin, but to the comparatively limited church accommodations. it is not too soon that the present emperor has given order that the number of churches and sittings be immediately increased. in this city of about a million and a half inhabitants, there are only about seventy-five churches and chapels, all told; none very large, and some quite small. it is said that dryander's parish numbers forty thousand souls, and that there are other parishes including eighty thousand and one hundred and twenty thousand each. only about two per cent of the population attend church. ties to a particular church seem scarcely to exist in many cases; those who go to divine service following their favorite preacher from place to place as he ministers now in one part, now in another, of his vast parish, or going to the court church to see the imperial family, or to some other which happens to offer fine music or some special attraction for the day. churches do not need, however, to offer special attractions nor to advertise sensational novelties in order to be filled, and of course there are many humble and devout christians found in the same places from week to week. the nicolai kirche dates from before a.d. and the great granite foundations of the towers were laid still earlier. at this period the savage wends and the robber-castles of north germany were yielding to the prowess of the knights of the teutonic order, and the powerful hanseatic league was uniting its free cities and cementing its commercial interests, of which berlin was erelong to be a part,--a league which was to sweep the baltic by its fleets, and to set up and dethrone kings by its armies. already the crusades had broken the long sleep of the dark ages, and stirred the people with that mighty impulse which brought the culmination, in the thirteenth century, of the great church-building epoch of europe in the middle ages. no great churches which they could not live to finish were begun by he frugal burghers of berlin; but they had a style of their own in the brick gothic, which is the most truly national architecture of north germany. the nicolai kirche is a representative of these early times and of this national architecture, but its interior decorations show every variety of adornment which prevailed during five centuries after its founding. not alone the history of art is represented on the inner walls of this venerable and unique edifice, but the municipal history, and the history of the "mark of brandenburg," and the kingdom of prussia as well. almost as ancient as the nicolai kirche is the heiliggeist kirche, behind the börse. near this is the marien kirche, with its high spire, its abbot's cross--the emblem of old berlin--before the entrance, and on the inner walls its frescos of the dance of death, painted to commemorate the plague which ravaged berlin in . adjoining this church, in the neue markt, berlin's statue of luther is to be erected. of the same old time, and in the same old heart of berlin, is the fine kloster kirche of the franciscan monks, who had once a monastery adjoining. a morning's stroll or two enables one to inspect all these interesting old churches,--passing first to the nicolai kirche from the end of the tramway in the fisch markt, and then, by a convenient circuit, to each of the others, returning by the museums and the lustgarten. the jerusalems kirche, about three quarters of a mile south, is said to have been founded by a citizen at the end of the crusades as a memento of his journey to palestine; but its present ornamented architecture belongs to a modern reconstruction. an effective architectural group is formed by the two churches in the schiller platz, with the great _schauspielhaus_, or royal theatre, between them,--a view which soon becomes familiar to one passing often through the central part of the city. the french church, on the north side of the theatre, we did not enter, and of the "new church"--a hundred years old and recently rejuvenated--our most abiding memories are of an exquisite sacred concert given there in aid of a local charity. we made a pilgrimage to see the effect of this group by moonlight, but, perhaps because it had been too highly praised, we found the view rather disappointing. but we shall long remember a walk at evening twilight through this place, when early dusk and gleaming gas-jets around and within the square had taken the place of departing sunlight, which still bathed in radiance the gilded figures surmounting the domes in the clear upper air. few of the hurrying multitudes stopped to look upward, but those who did could hardly fail to gain an impressive lesson from the inspiring and suggestive sight. frommel, the good man and attractive preacher who usually officiates in the garrison church, is one of the four court-preachers, each of whom is eminent in his way. we sat one morning, with many others, on the steps to the chancel in the garrison church, as the house was crowded in every part. the spacious galleries were filled with soldiers in prussian uniform, and many also were in the pews below. the soldiers were not there merely in obedience to orders. they listened intently, for court-preacher frommel has a message to the minds and hearts of men. his oratory is eloquent, scintillating; from first to last it holds captive the crowded audience. never have i witnessed gestures which were so essentially a part of the speaker; hands so incessantly assisting to convey subtle thought and feeling from the brain and heart of the orator to the magnetized audience, whose faces unconsciously testified to a mental and spiritual uplifting. it was told me that the aged emperor never travelled from his capital without the attendance of this chaplain, as well known for his simple christian integrity and his ceaseless good deeds as for his wonderful eloquence. trinity church, where for a quarter of a century schleiermacher preached and wrought, is now ministered to by the worthy dryander and his colleagues, who faithfully do what they can for the spiritual welfare of the immense parish. the edifice, of a peculiar model, stands in a central portion of berlin, almost under the shadow of the lofty and famous hotel known as the kaiserhof. on the sunday mornings when dryander preaches here, aisles, vestibules, and stairways are crowded until there is no standing-room, much less a seat, within sight or hearing of the popular preacher. his manner is simple, but very forceful and sympathetic, his earnest face and voice holding the audience like a spell. the finest religious music in berlin is rendered on friday evenings at sunset, in the great jewish synagogue in the oranienburger strasse, built at a cost of six million marks, and said to be the best in europe. the spacious interior seats nearly five thousand, with pews on the main floor for men only, and galleries for the women. three thousand burning gas-jets above and behind the rich stained glass of the dome and side windows give an effect remarkable both for beauty and weirdness. the building without loses much by its close surroundings of ordinary houses, but the moorish arches and decorations within are unique and effective. over the sacred enclosure, where a red light always burns, and which contains the ark "of the law and the testimony," a gallery across the eastern end holds the fine organ, and accommodates the choir of eighty trained singers. christmas eve happened in on a friday; so, before the later german christian home festival to which we were invited, we wended our way to the jewish weekly sunset service. neither among the men nor the women was there much outward evidence of devotion. in the female countenances around me in the gallery the well-known jewish physiognomy was almost universal. while the rabbi read the service, with his back to the audience, most followed in their hebrew books; but one by one many men slipped out, as though they were "on 'change" and did not care to stay any longer to-day. the women remained, but with a slightly perfunctory air in most cases. one old crone before me seemed touched with the true pathos which belongs to her race and its history. she followed the service intently, swaying her body back and forth in time with the beautiful music, and ever and anon breaking forth in a low, sweet, plaintive strain with her own voice. oh the longing of such lives, waiting to find through the centuries the realization of a hope never fulfilled and growing ever more and more dim! my puritanism had been scarcely reconciled to the crucifix and the candles of the protestant churches in berlin, but now, if my life and hopes had depended on the religion of this jewish ceremonial, i would have given worlds to find a crucifix in the vacant space above their sacred ark. these sweet strains of exquisite music seem to give voice without articulation to the unrevealed, imprisoned longing of the jewish heart for something better than it knows. i could only compare the feeling, in this cold, mechanical worship of the fatherhood of god, as it seemed to me, with the vague disappointment of climbing stairs in the dark, and stretching out foot and hand for another which is not there. the christmas torches were burning in the schloss-platz and the market-places without, crowded for days and nights past with a busy multitude, making ready for the christ-festival which was to light a christmas-tree that night in every home in germany. even jews could not resist the gladness; and their homes, like the rest, had every one its christmas-tree and its fill of cheer, paying their tribute to the world-wide joy, even though they would not. but as i sat among them and went forth with them, i thought also of their ancestral line stretching back to abraham through centuries of the most wonderful history which belongs to any race. beside these israelites, how puerile the fame and deeds of the hohenzollerns! the sixty or seventy thousand jews of berlin hold in their hands, it is said, a large part of the wealth of the city; but they are proscribed, and it is thought by many, unjustly treated before the law. the one english church in berlin rejoices in a new and beautiful though chaste and modest edifice in the gardens of monbijou palace. the site, presented by the emperor william i., is in the heart of the city, surrounded, in this quiet and beautiful place, by many interesting historic associations. the edifice was built chiefly through the efforts of the crown princess victoria, who raised in london in a few hours a large part of the necessary funds, and who also devoted to this object, so dear to her english heart, presents received at her silver wedding. the service attracts on sunday mornings, of course, all adherents of the church of england, as well as many americans, to whom the magnet of an episcopal service is greater than that of the association of christians of all denominations in the devout and simple worship of the chapel in junker strasse, where the union american and british service is held. one of the first places we essayed to find in berlin was the chapel at present used by this organization. our german landlady had unwittingly misdirected us, and we insisted on her direction, to the bewilderment of our cabman. up one strange street and down another he drove, with sundry protests and shakes of the head on our part. we insist on "heulmann strasse." he stops and inquires. "nein! nein!" he says, "junker strasse." "no! no!" we reply. he holds a conference with two brother drosky-men. three germans "of the male persuasion" outside insist on "junker strasse." three americans "of the female persuasion" inside insist on "heulmann strasse." "nein!" says the man, with a determined air, and takes the reins now as though he means business. we lean back in our seats, resigned to going wrong because we cannot help ourselves, when lo! we draw up at the door of the building used by the american church in junker strasse. those barbarous men were right, after all! late; but how our hearts were warmed and cheered by the sight of a plain audience-room, holding about two hundred english-speaking people; the pulpit draped in our dear old american flag, and another on the choir-gallery! how precious were the simple devout hymns and prayers in our own tongue wherein we were born! there was an american thanksgiving sermon,--eloquent, earnest, magnetic. strangers in a strange land, we felt that we could never be homesick in a city where was such a service. this union church service was established some twenty-five or thirty years ago, governor wright, then united states minister to germany, being prominently connected with its beginnings. there is now a regular church organization, with the bible and the apostles' creed as its doctrinal basis. for eight or nine years past, the present pastor, the rev. j.h.w. stückenberg, d.d., born in germany, but a loyal and devoted soldier and citizen of the american republic, has, with his accomplished wife, been indefatigable in caring for the services, and administering to the needs--physical, social, and religious--of americans in berlin. the first gathering which we attended in the city was an american thanksgiving banquet, under the auspices of the "ladies' social union" connected with this "american chapel." invitations were issued to an "american home gathering," for thanksgiving evening, to be held in the architectenhaus at six o'clock. greetings, witty and wise, were extended to the assembled company of some two hundred, by a lady from boston; grace was said by professor mead, formerly of andover, and the american thanksgiving dinner was duly appreciated, though some of us had in part forestalled its appetizing pleasures by attendance at a delightful private afternoon dinner-party, where the true home flavors had been heightened by the shadow of the american flag which draped its silken folds above the table, depending from candelabra in which "red, white, and blue" wax lights were burning. only the initiated can know what such an american thanksgiving dinner as that given in this public entertainment in germany must mean to the painstaking ladies, who need to direct every detail in contravention of the established customs of the country. turkey was forthcoming, but cranberries were sought far and wide in vain, until dresden at last sent an imitation of the american berry, to keep it company. mince pies were regarded as essential to the feast. as pies are here unknown, the pie-plates must be made to order after repeated and untold minuteness of direction to the astonished tinman. the ordinary kitchen ranges of germany are without ovens, and all cake and pastry, as well as bread, must emerge from the baker's oven. so to the shop of the baker two ladies repaired, to mix with their own hands the pastry and to prepare the mince-meat, graciously declining the yeast and eggs offered them for the purpose. the delicious results justified in practical proof the tireless endeavor for a real home-like american dinner. our german friends laughed at the "dry banquet" where only lemonade and coffee kept the viands company, but right good cheer was not wanting. before the guests rose from table, the pastor read letters of regret from minister pendleton (absent in affliction) and others, and proposed the health of the president of the united states and of mrs. cleveland, who, as miss folsom, shared in the berlin festivities of americans at thanksgiving the year before. the toast which followed--to the aged emperor william--was most cordially responded to by a member of the empress's household, count bernsdorff, endeared to many in both hemispheres by his active interest in whatsoever things are true and of good report. rare music was discoursed at intervals, from a band in the gallery, alternating with amateur performers on the violin and piano, from under the german and american flags intertwined at the opposite end of the handsome hall. the good name of american students of music in berlin was well deserved, judging from their contributions to the enjoyment of this occasion. the evening's programme closed with our national airs in grand chorus, cheering and inspiring all. to some hearts the dear melody of "the suwanee river," which afterwards floated out on the evening air of the busy city, mingled a pathos before unsuspected with the good-nights and the adieus, and brought an undertone of sadness caused by the knowledge that we were far from home, and that our loved ones, from atlantic to pacific, were returning from their thanksgiving sermon, or later gathering about the festal board, at the hour when we, wanderers, were clustered in the heart of the german empire with like purpose and in like precious faith and memory. the sunday services of this enterprise are now held in an edifice belonging to a german methodist church, which can be had for one service only, at an hour which will not interfere with the uses which have a prior claim. the sunday evenings, when a goodly congregation might be gathered if a suitable audience-room could be had, are times of loneliness and homesickness to many american youth and others far from home and friends. dr. and mrs. stückenberg have generously opened their own pleasant home at bülow strasse for sunday-evening receptions to americans. their large and beautiful apartments were much too small to accommodate all who would gladly have gathered there. but in the course of the season there were few americans attending the morning service who were not to be met, one sunday evening or another, in the parlors of the pastor and his wife; and many others, students, were nearly always there. a half-hour was given on these occasions to social greetings; then followed familiar hymns, led by the piano and a volunteer choir of young people, after which an informal lecture was given by the pastor. dr. stückenberg emigrated with his parents to america in early childhood, but has studied in the universities of halle, göttingen, berlin, and tübingen. his large acquaintance with german scholars enabled him to give most interesting reminiscences of the teaching and personality of some of these, his teachers and friends. among the talks which we remember vividly were those on tholuck, dörner, and von ranke. at another time dr. stückenberg gave a series of lectures on socialism,--a theme whose manifold aspects he has studied profoundly, and which, in germany as elsewhere, is the question of the hour, the day, and the century, and perhaps of the next century too. after the lecture there generally followed prayer and another hymn, and always slight refreshments,--tea and sandwiches, or little cakes,--over which all chatted and were free to go when they would. many were the occasions when, in these gatherings, every heart seemed to partake of the gladness radiated by the magnetic host and hostess; and all europe seemed brighter because of these homelike, social, christian sunday evenings which lighted up the sojourn in berlin. the effort now being made to build a permanent and commodious church edifice for americans in berlin is a pressing necessity. dr. christlieb, the eminent professor of theology and university preacher in bonn, asserts that the number of american students in berlin is now by far the largest congregated in any one place in germany. the number, as stated in by rev. dr. philip schaff, was about four hundred, besides the numerous american travellers there every year for a longer or shorter time. seventeen denominations have been represented in this church in a single year, and any evangelical minister in good standing in his own church is eligible to election as its pastor. from the beginning these union services have been entirely harmonious; and methodists, congregationalists, presbyterians, baptists, lutherans, and episcopalians have been chiefly active in promoting them. the churches of the royal suburb of potsdam possess an interest quite equal to that of those in berlin. the potsdam garrison church, in general interior outlines, reminds one of some quaint new england meeting-house of the early part of the eighteenth century. but here the resemblance ceases. the ancient arrangement of windows and galleries impresses one only at the moment of entering, attention being presently diverted to the flags clustered on the gallery pillars and on either side the pulpit, in two rows,--the lower captured from the french in the wars with the first napoleon, the upper taken in the late contests with austria and with napoleon iii. altar-cloths and other furnishings are heavily embroidered with the handiwork of vanished queens. but the chief interest centres in the vault under the handsome marble pulpit. in this vault, on the left, are the mortal remains of the old prussian king, frederick william i.,--father of frederick the great,--a character hard to understand, and interpreted differently as one surveys him in the light of macaulay's genius or that of carlyle. but one cannot help hoping that the final verdict will be with the latter; and as we stand in this solemn place, memory recalls the day--the midnight, rather--when this same oak coffin, long before the death of the king made ready by his orders in the old palace of potsdam close at hand, at last received its burden, and was borne in spartan simplicity to this place, the torch-lighted band playing his favorite dirge,-- "oh, sacred head, now wounded!" on the right, separated from the coffin of his father only by the short aisle, is that of frederick the great. three wreaths were lying upon it,--placed there by the emperor and by the crown prince and the crown princess on the hundredth anniversary of the death of this founder of prussia's greatness, august , . fortunate is the visitor to potsdam who does not altogether overlook this garrison church, misled by the brief mention usually accorded to it in the guide-books. the friedenskirche, near the entrance to the park of sans souci, has a detached high clock-tower adjoining, and cloisters beautiful, even in winter, with the myrtle and ivy and evergreens of the protected court which they surround. in the inner court is a copy of thorwaldsen's celebrated statue of christ (the original at copenhagen); also, rauch's original "moses, supported by aaron and hur," and a beautiful _pieta_ is in the opposite colonnade. the church is in the form of the ancient basilica, which is not favorable to much adornment. a crucifix of _lapis lazuli_ under a canopy resting on jasper columns--a present from the czar nicholas--stands on the marble altar. a beautiful angel in carrara marble adorns the space before the chancel, above the burial-slabs of king frederick william iv., founder of the church, and his queen; and the apse is lined with a rare old venetian mosaic. but the chief interest of this "church of peace" will henceforth centre around it as the burial-place of the emperor frederick iii. in an apartment not formerly shown to the public, his young son, waldemar, was laid to rest at the age of eleven years, deeply mourned by the crown prince, the crown princess, and their family. here in this church, beside his sons waldemar and sigismund, who died in infancy, it was the wish of the dying father to lie buried. here the quiet military funeral service was held; here the last look of that noble face was taken amid the tears of those who loved him well, while the sunlight, suddenly streaming through an upper window, illuminated as with an electric light that face at rest, as the court-preacher koëgel uttered the words of solemn trust,-- "what god doeth is well done." fitting it is that in this "church of peace" should rest all that was mortal of the immortal prince who could say, as he entered paris in the flush of victory: "gentlemen, i do not like war. if i should reign, i would never make it." v. museums. the chief art treasures of berlin are found in the royal museums, old and new, and in the national gallery. there are few more characteristic and inspiring sights in europe than that which greets the eye in a walk on a sunny afternoon in winter from the palace of kaiser wilhelm i. through the operahaus platz and the zeughaus platz, across the schloss brücke and the lustgarten, to the peerless building of the old museum,--with the grand equipages, the brilliant uniforms, and the busy but not overcrowded life which throng the vast spaces of these handsome thoroughfares. the old museum is not so rich in masterpieces as some other and older art galleries, but there are many fine original works. the friezes from the altar of zeus, excavated within a few years at pergamus, are extremely interesting, and are exhibited with all the adjuncts which the most thorough german scholarship can supply for their elucidation. the celebrated raphael tapestry, woven for henry viii. from the cartoons now in the south kensington museum, and long the foremost ornament of the palace of whitehall, hangs in the great upper rotunda, which is a setting not unworthy of its fame. michael angelo's "john the baptist as a boy," one of his early works, is quite unlike most of this master's work, in conception and execution, and is interesting especially on this account. the "altar-piece of the mystic lamb" is remarkable for its merits and because it is reputed to be the first picture ever painted in oils. murillo's "ecstasy of saint anthony" is a picture of rare sweetness and power. in one room are five of raphael's madonnas, but only one of them is in his better style. "the collection of pictures in the old museum," wrote george eliot in , "has three gems which remain in the imagination,--'titian's daughter,' correggio's 'jupiter and io,' and his 'head of christ on a handkerchief.' i was pleased, also, to recognize among the pictures the one by jan steem which goethe describes in the 'wahlverwandschaften' as the model of a _tableau vivant_ presented by lucian and her friends. it is the daughter being reproved by her father, while the mother empties her wine-glass." the department of the museum known as the antiquarium has its treasures. here is the original silver table service, supposed to be that of a roman general, dug up in near the old german mediæval town of hildesheim. a handsome copy of this service is among the beginnings of chicago's art collections. here are the exquisite terra-cotta statuettes from the ancient grecian colony of tanagra, which no modern work of plastic art can imitate in grace of form and delicacy of color,--dating three or four hundred years before the christian era; and in other rooms, a fabulous collection of jewels, and numberless precious vases, illustrating especially the progress of ancient grecian art. the new museum, connected by a colonnade with the old, is not, like it, remarkable for architectural beauty; but its vast collections, especially in marble, already need and are to have a new building. the masterpieces of ancient sculpture gathered at munich, vienna, paris, rome, naples, and elsewhere, are here reproduced in casts, making up a collection said to be, in its way, unrivalled in the world. the collection of originals in renaissance sculpture is also extensive and valuable. referring to sculpture in berlin, george eliot wrote: "we went again and again to look at the parthenon sculptures, and registered a vow that we would go to feast on the originals [in the british museum] the first day we could spare in london." at the date before mentioned, her opinion was that "the first work of art really worth looking at that one sees in berlin is the 'horse-tamers' in front of the [old] palace. it is by a sculptor [baron clodt, of st. petersburg] who made horses his especial study; and certainly, to us, they eclipsed the famous colossi at monte cavallo, casts of which are in [before] the new museum." the department of coins has , specimens, many very old and rare; and that of northern antiquities illustrates with great fulness the prehistoric and roman periods. the cabinet of engravings is extremely interesting, and has some specimens of very great value; but it is open to the general public for a few hours on sunday only, and even then the greater part of its collections is reserved to art students, who have the entire monopoly of its treasures on other days of the week. it well repays persistent effort, however, to make a few quiet visits to this rare cabinet. some of the finest works are hung on the walls of the pleasant rooms. the famous mural paintings by kaulbach adorning the upper staircase walls of the new museum are widely admired, but critics differ in the estimate of their place as works of art. the upper saloons reached by this staircase show the cartoons of cornelius, and foreshadow a grandeur in german art not yet realized. the third building in the group which holds the chief art treasures of berlin is the national gallery, its pictures partaking, as such a collection should, strongly of the german spirit as shown in modern german art. the paintings are of various degrees of merit, many being of value chiefly as reflecting the national life. a fine portrait of mommsen arrested me, on one visit; a striking picture, "christ healing a sick child in its mother's arms," by gabriel max, was a continual favorite; and many others were among those to which we went frequently and before which we lingered long. the crowning excellence of all the royal art collections is their singular method and completeness. the old museum, especially, in its arrangement and illustration of the history of painting in all schools, is without a peer, and it is particularly rich in the early italian masters. the national gallery in london has been compared in arrangement with the berlin museum, but our observation showed nowhere else in europe so great facility for systematic study of art as here. quite recently, a writer in the "london art journal," in comparing european art galleries, characterizes the italian galleries, except the pitti, as mere storehouses of pictures, so great have been the accessions, in late years, of altar-pieces from suppressed convents; while, on the other hand, the louvre, and the galleries of munich, dresden, vienna, st. petersburg, and madrid still retain their original characteristics as collections made by persons of taste and discrimination. "the berlin gallery," says this writer, "is neither a storehouse nor a collection. it stands on a footing of its own. the studious and organizing prussian mind soon handed over the management of all its collections to a body of specialists, trained to study the objects in their keeping and to arrange them not so much for the delight as for the information of a studious public. the berlin gallery has been thus arranged, and its additions have been purchased under the direction of scholars and historians rather than artists and _dilettanti_. historical sequence and historical completeness have been aimed at. the collection is intended to exemplify the development of the art of painting in mediæval and renascence europe. it is impossible to enter the museum gallery and not be struck with this fact. the visitor finds himself turned into a student of the history of painting, as he wanders from room to room. the ordering of the pictures, the information contained in the catalogue,--everything points in the same direction. so clearly has the museum come to be understood at berlin as a kind of art-history branch of a university, that a portion of the funds devoted to it is annually spent upon the publication of a periodical universally recognized as the leading magazine in the world devoted to the history of art. by means of it, students in all countries are informed from year to year of the new acquisitions and discoveries made by the staff of the museum, or by the leading authors and students of the subject, of all nationalities. the berlin collection has thus won for itself a place as the historical collection _par excellence_." the museums are under the care of a director-general, with nine or more directors of departments. dr. julius meyer, director of the picture-gallery, is said to be probably unequalled by any living writer for a wide and philosophic grasp of the whole subject of art history, to which his life has been devoted; while the names of distinguished scholars and professors at the head of the other departments are guaranties of similar excellence. a series of four illustrated volumes is now in process of publication, which will present, in photographs and engravings, large or small, every picture of importance in the gallery. the text of these volumes, by drs. meyer and bode, will be extremely valuable, and the whole will doubtless stand foremost among publications designed as exponents of european galleries. the fine and massive building of the arsenal, opposite the palace of the late crown prince, dates from the time of frederick i., last of the electors and first of the prussian kings. the grand sculptures of the german artist schlüter, who was afterwards called to the aid of peter the great in the creation of st. petersburg, adorn the exterior of the edifice. any chance walk along the linden will arrest the attention to this building, with the remarkable heads of dying warriors carved in the keystones of its window arches. in the renovation of the arsenal a few years since, no improvement was made on the exterior, except to remove the accumulations of smoke and dust which a hundred and seventy years had deposited there. after the close of the franco-prussian war, it was the thought of the aged emperor to make this arsenal, already crowded with an immense collection of arms, armor, and trophies, into a kind of walhalla,--a national hall of fame. this was fully carried out. in rooms on the ground floor one may read the whole history of ordnance, old and new, including the famous armstrong and krupp guns. a portion of this floor is devoted to models of fortresses, plans of battles, and captured flags. there is a war library; and the celebrated pictures of the giant grenadiers, painted with his own hand by frederick william i., father of frederick the great, are also to be seen. a magnificent double staircase under a glass roof leads to the second floor (in germany called the first), where one portion is devoted to an interesting collection of arms, which is, however, inferior to those of one or two other european cities. the chief attraction to the visitor, as well as a permanent magnet to the patriotic berlinese, who come hither in whole families, is the "hall of fame," consisting of three sections, all splendid in mosaic floors and massive marble pillars, and adorned with sculpture and fine historical frescos. one of the latter represents the coronation of the first king of prussia at königsberg, and another has for its subject the proclamation of the german empire at versailles. the central hall is adorned with bronze statues of the great elector, of the fredericks and frederick-williams of the prussian royal line, and of the emperor william i. the "halls of the generals," on either side of this "hall of the rulers," have busts of the military leaders, including a fine one of the crown prince. here are also several historical paintings; prominent among which are "the battle of turin," "the emperor william and the crown prince at königgrätz," and "the capitulation at sedan." perhaps no collection, among many more which might be mentioned, better illustrates the practical working of the german mind than the royal post museum in the leipziger strasse. here is shown everything of interest connected with the transmission of intelligence, and poetry as well as prose has entered into the heart of this government exhibit. on the walls of the first saloon entered by the visitor are copies in stone of assyrian bas-reliefs showing a warrior with chariot and arrows. this suggests to us a scene in the lives of david and jonathan; but communication by means of arrows is probably much older than the time of david. earlier than even the assyrian stone must have been the model for the egyptian wicker and wooden post-chariot. in this room, under a glass case, is an exquisite marble statuette, found at tanagra, of a grecian girl seated, and writing on a tablet; and not far away is a roman warrior, carrying his message. entering the next hall, we pass a beautiful bronze statue of philip, the grecian soldier, bearing a laurel spray, stretching his athletic limbs in breathless strides as he goes toward the capital to announce the battle of marathon, and to fall dead on his entrance to the city, with the single word "victory!" on his lips. here on the walls are four emblematic pictures: "the land-post," representing a knight with a sealed missive in his hand, standing beside and curbing his fiery steeds; "the sea-post," showing a mail-carrier on the back of a dolphin in the midst of stormy waves far out at sea; "the telegraph," with jove and his lightnings as its central figure: and "the _rohrpost_,"--a maiden, blowing into an orifice with "the breath of all the winds." this last is emblematic of that postal arrangement in berlin by which letters and postal cards are sent with great speed through pneumatic tubes from which the air is exhausted by means of pumps, and which makes it possible to receive a written message from a distant part of the city within a few minutes after it is written. among the ancient representations are models of the boats in which the old norsemen sailed the seas, and of those by which our anglo-saxon ancestors invaded england from germany. these are strikingly contrasted, in their simplicity and clumsiness, with a fully equipped model, from four to six feet long, of a modern north german lloyd atlantic mail steamship, than which no better equipped boat sails the main. one goes on, past a gobelin tapestry representing a mail-scene at nüremberg in the middle ages, through long halls and corridors where are hundreds of models of post-office buildings of the most convenient and approved plans, in all parts of the world. these are of every variety of architecture, from the great general post-office in london, the handsome hanover post-office building, those of the central and district post-offices in berlin, dresden, cologne, heidelberg, and many others in south germany, to the modern edifices which adorn, and yet seem strangely out of keeping with, the picturesque old north german towns. these models are miniature copies of the exteriors of post-office buildings, varying in length from one and a half to six or eight feet, and of corresponding height. one most interesting model shows the interior of a modern post-office, each floor showing an exact copy of its department of the service, with all appliances and conveniences. in another room are miniature mail-coaches of different kinds. in the centre of this apartment stands a life-size figure of a mail-carrier in germany of four hundred years ago. he is a wild-looking official, reminding one by his bronzed features and general appearance of some trusty indian scout, as he holds his gun in an attitude of suspicion and menace, while a bear-cub opens a capacious mouth at his feet. model mail and post-office cars occupy the side of another large room; but this exhibit is so vast and varied that the memory refuses to retain its classification, and holds side by side alaskan sledges drawn by dogs, russian post-chaises with reindeer teams, mail-boats on norwegian fiords, carrier-pigeons and balloons, camels and elephants, and the model mail-coach of the lightning express of the new york central railroad. the working appliance used in america for catching off a mail-bag without stopping the train attracts much attention. there is a complete set of the weights and measures used in british post-offices, and two glass cases show the forms of horseshoes best adapted to the speed of horses carrying mails. tablets, pens, and pencils have cases to themselves, as well as parchments, ancient rolls and ink-horns, reeds and papyrus. here are the primitive postal arrangements of some of the east indies; there is the yellow satin missive with a scarlet seal which carries the royal mandates of siam. pictures and models of mail-carrying elephants come next, their gay saddle-cloths filled with pockets and parchment rolls. a model of a japanese post-office is finished in all its interior with the perfection of detail and delicacy of execution which characterize the best japanese work. a framed engraving of the international postal congress at berne in hangs near one of the congress at paris in . there is a room devoted to the exhibition of postal stamps, cards, and envelopes of every kind, and there are several rooms where models of the most approved kinds of telegraphic apparatus are shown. in a corridor are all varieties of submarine cables, with the ore and the bessemer steel of which they are spun. in one of the rooms a small crowd is collected about an operator who speaks through a telephone, records the sound of his own voice on strips of foil, which he tears into fragments and distributes to those who eagerly reach for them. in the centre of this room there is a tiny circular railway, with a coach, but no locomotive, standing on the track. by turning the wheel of an electro-magnet the official produces an electric light at the extremity of a model burner; then, applying the same power to the little railway, propels the coach at a rapid rate by means of the invisible agent. one goes forth into the street, past wax figures of armed and mounted mail-messengers in the middle ages, past the model street mail-boxes and carriages which help to make so wonderful the berlin postal arrangements, in a maze at what may here be seen in a single half-hour of the history of mail-carrying in all lands and ages. the originator of this "post museum" is dr. stephan, the inventor of the postal card and the chief promoter of the international postal union. his is the "power behind the throne" which has made the german postal system a marvel of efficiency, unsurpassed, if not unrivalled, in the world. less known to travellers than many others far inferior in interest, is the hohenzollern museum, occupying the monbijou palace in the heart of berlin. this palace, of so much interest to the readers of carlyle's "frederick the great," has been transformed into a repository for the personal belongings and memorials of the kings and queens of prussia. one or more rooms devoted to each sovereign in historical succession make up a fascinating picture of the royal customs of the kingdom for two hundred years. our attention was called to this museum by an english resident, but its interest far exceeded our expectations. here are the laces, jewels, and often the entire wardrobes of the hohenzollern queens, with their writing desks and tablets, jewel-cases, embroidery, work-baskets, mirrors, beds, and other furniture; and the kings have each their own apartment likewise, tenanted by their "counterfeit presentments" in wax, sitting or standing in the very clothes they wore, and surrounded by visible mementos of the life they used to live. the glittering eyes and mundane expression of frederick william i., father of frederick the great, give one a strange feeling, and the chairs and table of his "tobacco college" must have a vivid interest for every reader of carlyle's "frederick." but when we entered the rooms containing the many mementos of the great frederick himself, from his effigy in the cradle and his baby shoes, and threaded all the vicissitudes of that strangely fascinating life by the help of its visible surroundings, and finally stood before the glass case containing a mask of his dead face and hand surrounded by its laurel wreath, the spell of the past was at its height. it was a bright sunny afternoon, and the golden light came in long slanting lines through windows opening on monbijou gardens, beautiful even in winter, and lay upon the tessellated floors of the corridors in patterns of shining glory. the chat and laughter of young companions floated from adjoining rooms, and the foot of the guard fell softly in the marble halls. but a kind of awe born of that wonderful past had taken possession of me. i was alone with the spirit of the great monarch, and it was more than could be borne. we hurried away from the spot, as when children we fled from fancied ghosts. to one in search of a genuine sensation, we recommend the reading (with judicious skipping) of carlyle's "frederick the great," and a visit, alone or with a single companion, to the hohenzollern museum. upwards of twenty years ago, german trade was falling behind in the best markets of the world, because the products of german industry were largely poor in quality and deficient in artistic value. with the duke of ratisbon, president of the herrenhaus, as chairman of a committee appointed to consider the subject, a few leading minds combined in a movement which issued in the establishment of the industrial art museum. the crown prince and the crown princess were much interested in the subject, and gave the plan their hearty support. less than ten years since, the fine new building in zimmer strasse near königgrätzer was opened on the birthday of the crown princess, to receive the vast treasures accumulated, by gift, loan, and purchase, for the permanent exhibition. a cursory visit, though most interesting, is sometimes bewildering from the extent and variety of the collection. the centre of the edifice consists of a large court, roofed with glass and surrounded by two galleries. this is the place reserved for loan exhibitions, and several of importance have already been held here. one of the earlier was of some of the treasures of the south kensington museum, loaned by queen victoria. opening upon these arcades are numerous halls on the lower floor, devoted to the permanent exhibition. the classification of the objects exhibited, if not loose, is very general, seeming to us inferior to the method which makes the south kensington a delight, whether one has hours or months in which to visit it. on the ground floor of this berlin museum are "objects in the making of which fire is not used." this includes domestic and ecclesiastical furniture of different countries and historical periods, musical instruments, tapestries, carvings in ivory and wood, and many other objects widely separated in thought. a fine exhibit is made of articles in amber wrought by workmen of rich old dantzic, for which baltic germany furnishes the raw material. the ancient italian carved bridal-chests brought vividly to mind our childhood's favorite story of ginevra, by chance imprisoned in such a chest on the day which was to have witnessed her marriage. the upper floor, with an arrangement similar to that of the lower, shows "objects in the manufacture of which fire is necessary." the very extensive collection of pottery and porcelain was surpassed, in our observation, only by that at sèvres; and there are many rare and valuable specimens of work in glass and metals. the ancient municipal silver service of the city of lüneberg, bought at a cost of $ , , deserves the attention it attracts; and the work of german mediæval goldsmiths--particularly of the famous augsburg artisans--is a revelation of the possibilities of human handiwork. stained glass, of much historic and artistic value, fills the windows of the entire building. the specimens of textile fabrics, in completeness and extent, are matchless, and are so arranged as to afford the utmost facility to students of the history of this important subject, as well as great pleasure to the favored visitor who has the opportunity to inspect them. this "künstgewerbe museum" is open to the public without charge on three days of the week, and for a small fee on the remaining days; while its valuable industrial library may be freely consulted on four week-day evenings. its influence is already strongly felt along the lines of trade and industry throughout the empire. the great ethnographical museum adjoining, on the corner of königgrätzer strasse, has the kind and variety of objects usually found in such exhibitions, including those connected with several races of american indians. the other departments were, to us, eclipsed in interest by the schliemann exhibition of trojan remains on the ground floor. here we found, on the walls, framed pencil or india ink sketches of the localities where the earlier excavations were made, plans of the work, sections of the unearthed portions, and the precious old trojan antiquities themselves, deposited here for inspection and safe keeping. the märkische museum, in the fisch markt, a centre of old berlin, illustrates the history and the prehistoric times of the mark of brandenburg, including an interesting department of curiosities from the lake-dwellings and tumuli. there are also ancient coins and other objects picked up at different times within the province. one of the later treasures of this unique museum is the box from which the monk tetzel sold the indulgences which fanned into a flame the rising fires of the reformation. vi. the german reichstag and the prussian parliament. the reichstag, or imperial diet of the german empire, was, during our stay in berlin, a focus for the eyes of all europe and america. the government, professedly actuated by a fear of war, asked for an appropriation, largely to increase the army annually for a term of seven years. this house of deputies, elected by the people and numbering nearly four hundred members, contained a considerable element of opposition to the government. the debate over the army bill brought chancellor bismarck up from his distant country-seat, where he had spent several previous months, to a participation in the contest which was anticipated on both sides with eagerness and solicitude. the building on leipziger strasse, as severe in inner details as in the sombre gray of its outer walls, was hastily constructed in for the accommodation of the newly consolidated german empire, and has long been inadequate to the need. a single gallery surrounds three sides of the hall, and is occupied on the right by boxes for the imperial household, the diplomatic corps, and high officials. the left is appropriated to english and american visitors; and the centre, immediately above the desk of the presiding officer and the elevated seats of the chancellor and members of the bundesrath, is alone left for the general public. when the new building near the thiergarten shall be occupied, it is hoped that greatly improved acoustics and ventilation may be secured, and the accommodations for visitors such that it may not be said that there are germans in berlin who have for years desired visitors' tickets of admission without having been able to secure them. by a singular good fortune, our tickets gave us seats for this debate in full view of the leaders of each of the great parties. on the first day the prime minister made his great speech, and on the second day thereafter, richter, the leader of the progressive party, took up the speech point by point, and with bold and vigorous oratory for two hours held the attention of all to his own opposing views. a man of robust physique, still in the prime of life, richter's dark complexion and facial expression give the impression of "staying qualities" formidable as lasting. the session opened at eleven o'clock a.m., and the veteran general and field-marshal von moltke was the first speaker. his rising was the signal for a general hush, and for about a quarter of an hour all listened in breathless silence. half the width of the hall from the observer, his more than eighty years seemed to sit lightly on "the great taciturnist;" and his fair complexion, fine brow, thin face, and singular firmness of mouth have the fascination of genius. later, during the long and sometimes denunciatory speech of richter, he seemed wearied. rising from his seat in the front rank of the conservatives on the extreme right, he moved to the rear, stood in the aisle, took a vacant seat,--resting by various changes for fifteen or twenty minutes; but when, between one and two o'clock, the time for bismarck's entrance approached, he returned to his own seat and thenceforth listened attentively. like the aged emperor, von moltke's age was most apparent in his movements. sitting or standing, he was the graceful, well-bred gentleman, as well as the dignified chief of the german army. in walking, his movement is slow, and lacking vigor to a marked degree. the offer of the opposition to vote for the bill with a term of one, two, or even three years, while declaring that they could not vote for seven, was haughtily received by the prime minister, who had already given his reasons, supported by the emperor, by von moltke, and other eminent military authority, for adhering to the longer term. "i will not abate a hair's breadth of the septenate," said he. "if you do not vote it, i prefer to deal with another reichstag." this on the second day of the debate. on the third day bismarck replied to some of the positions of the opposition, in a speech of three quarters of an hour, immediately following his opponent, richter. the latter, and the members on the left included in the three great divisions of the liberal party, retired from the hall at the conclusion of richter's two hours' speech; but the centre, or catholic party, among whom were several priests and a number of very keen and watchful physiognomies, remained in their seats, as well as the conservatives of both grades. soon richter was back, though without his supporters. fumbling a moment at his desk for pencil and paper, he stepped forward in the aisle, so as not to lose the sentences of bismarck (occasionally somewhat indistinct), and refusing to be diverted for more than an instant by the communications of friends and officials. cries of _ja wohl! ja wohl!_ and _bravo!_ were heard from the right during the speech of bismarck, with now and again a general ripple of laughter at some pleasantry accessible to the german mind; but these were much outdone in heartiness by the applause which frequently interrupted richter when speaking. there is a massiveness about this scene which rises up in memory with a vividness greater, if possible, than the reality made on our excited and wearied endurance during the hours we spent there. later, windhorst, the leader of the roman catholic party, made a memorable speech. the dozen great electric lights depending from the ceiling were extinguished when the early afternoon sun faintly struggled with the clouds for entrance through the skylight which forms the entire roof of the room, except those left burning near the seats of bismarck and von moltke, which brought these foremost figures into strong relief. prince william--now emperor--and the gentlemen of his party were in gay uniforms in the imperial box, and the diplomatic box was lighted mainly by the diamonds of the ladies who sat there; while the crowded ranks of the other galleries were in dim twilight. it was a picture to remain in history. the bill was lost. in less than twenty-four hours after we left the reichstag, bismarck had read his summary dissolution of the diet, and before another sunset the hall was closed and silent. the iron chancellor had made his appeal to the country. the war-cloud was heavy over europe, and great was the excitement in berlin. under fear of a bolt which might strike at any moment, the elections for a new chamber were held, and bismarck had his will. the reichstag is the representative body of the whole german empire, with its four kingdoms, six grand duchies, and sixteen lesser principalities and powers united under one emperor. prussia is a kingdom which forms but one, though the most important, of these constituent parts. the reichstag is a kind of upper and lower house in one; the bundesrath or federal council, with somewhat arbitrary powers, has its private council-room; but the chancellor of the empire is its presiding officer, and, with the members of this council, occupies the elevated platform at the right of the president of the reichstag. the chief function of the latter as a legal chamber of deputies is to check the power of the bundesrath. it can thus reject bills and refuse appropriations, but has no power to bring about a change of administration. the prussian diet is composed of two separate houses. the building of the lower house--the abgeordnetenhaus--is near the eastern extremity of the leipziger strasse, and the house of lords--herrenhaus--is adjacent to the reichstag-gebaude. the prussian lower house is somewhat larger in numbers than the reichstag, and is of course an elective body. it contained a number of eminent men,--as herr windhorst, also the leader of the catholic party in the reichstag, and professor virchow. on the day of our visit no business of special importance was before the assembly, and visitors' tickets were obtained with an ease in pleasing contrast to the most difficult feat of obtaining entrance to the reichstag on a great occasion. the house of lords is reputed a dull place, and is seldom visited. in a dwelling formerly occupying this site (no. leipziger strasse), and of which some memorials remain, felix mendelssohn spent, with his parents and sister fanny, several years of his wonderful youth; and the "gartenhaus" of this estate witnessed the memorable private performance of the work which first revealed his greatness to the world,--the "overture to the midsummer night's dream." vii. prominent personages. "i love my emperor," said "our little fräulein," laying her hand on her heart, one day when we were talking of him. it was on our first day in germany that we, returning from church a little after noon, were kindly greeted by an american lady who saw that we were strangers. "the emperor lives on this street," she said; "and if we hasten, we may see him when he comes to the window to review his guards." soon we were before the palace on unter den linden, a substantial-looking building facing the north, with an eastern exposure. the imperial standard was floating over the palace, denoting the presence of his majesty. the room on the ground floor, northeast corner, of the palace is the one used by emperor william i. as his study; and one back of this was his bedroom, containing the simple iron cot which was the companion of his soldier days, and which remained the couch of his choice to the end of life. at "the historic window" we often saw him. every day at noon, and sometimes long before, the crowd began to gather in the street opposite this window, for a sight of his majesty when he came for a moment to review his guards at a quarter to one. it was touching to see the devotion of the people, standing patiently in all weathers; mothers and fathers holding up their children that they might catch a sight of the idolized kaiser. rarely did he disappoint them. as the military music of the guard drew near, and the tramp of the soldiers fell on the pavement before the palace, the aged man would appear at the window in full uniform of dark blue with scarlet trimmings and silver epaulettes, returning the salutations of the guard, and bowing and waving his white-gloved hand to the people, then retiring within the shadow of the lace curtains. sometimes the cheering broke forth anew as he was lost to sight, and the welkin was made to ring with the kaiser-song, or some hymn of fatherland, until he indulgently appeared again, bowing his bald head, his kindly face lighted up with a smile. in full-front view he did not look like a man in his ninetieth year. many a man of sixty-five or seventy looks older. when he turned, the side view revealed that his form was not erect; but only when he walked with a slow movement could one realize that this soldier of perfect drill--this courtly gentleman--was one who had seen almost a century of life. his earliest memories were of privation and hardship. in his young boyhood the first napoleon held berlin in his grasp, and the family of the king, frederick william iii., fled to königsberg. the beautiful and noble queen louise and her two little boys, afterwards frederick william iv. and william i., wandered at one time in the forests, and made their food of wild berries. they amused themselves by making wreaths of _cornblumen_,--blue flowers answering closely to our "bachelors' buttons,"--which grow wild everywhere in germany. thenceforward the _cornblumen_ were dear to the young princes, and they were "the emperor's flowers" to the end of his imperial life. so devoted was he to the memory of his mother, that when in his later years he saw a young girl whose striking beauty of face and form reminded him of queen louise, he persuaded her to allow her portrait to be taken, that it might remind him of the mother whom he remembered in her youth. this beautiful portrait is bought, by many germans even, as that of queen louise, and may be known by a star over the forehead. the finest actual portrait of this queen which we saw was, at the time of our visit, in the old schloss at berlin, and showed a mature and lovely woman, every inch a queen. the exquisite reposing statue, by rauch, in the mausoleum at charlottenburg, over her grave, is well known by copies. the life led by the aged emperor was simple and methodical to the last. rising at half-past seven, he breakfasted, looked over his letters and papers, and was ready by nine or half-past nine to begin his reception of officials or other callers, which lasted till after midday. after lunch, he usually drove for an hour or so in the afternoon, often accompanied by a single aid, bowing right and left to the populace, who thronged for a look and a smile. his plain military cloak enveloped him in cold or rainy weather, and his was often one of the plainest equipages on the brilliant street. "i do not think," said general grant, after having visited the emperor, "that i ever saw a more perfect type of a soldier and a man. his majesty went off into military affairs. i was anxious to change the subject, as i had no interest in the technical matters of war. but the emperor held me to the one theme, and we spoke of nothing else. i fancied bismarck sympathized with me, and would have gladly gone off on other subjects, but it was of no use. the manner of bismarck toward the emperor was beautiful,--absolute devotion and respect. this was my one long talk with the emperor. i should call him the embodiment of courage, candor, dignity, and simplicity; a strikingly handsome man." sometimes the kaiser would hold up to the palace window his eldest great-grandson, now crown prince, then a beautiful child of four or five years; and the little fellow would go through his military salute of the passing guard with great gravity and propriety, while the huzzas of the crowd burst forth with renewed zeal. this child was the favorite of the aged emperor, and sometimes took liberties with his great-grandsire which would hardly have been tolerated from any one else. if it was touching to see the devotion of the people to their emperor, it was no less so to see how he trusted himself with them. he could remember when, with the revolutionary spirit of , the mob in the streets of berlin had so insulted him, a prince, that he had fled for a time from his country. but that he had forgiven and they had forgotten long ago. the times had "changed all that." now he lived daily in sight of the people, with only a pane of glass for a shield. he loved his people, and they worshipped him with no temporary oblations. one of the last occasions in which we saw him in public was that of the spring manoeuvres in the last may-time of his long life. some distance south of the halle gate, the large and finely situated "tempelhofer feld" extends to the suburban village of tempelhof, which was once the property of the knights of malta, and which still bears their cross and inscription on its church bells. the intervening ground has been devoted to the annual parades of the berlin garrison for more than a hundred years. it has ample room for evolutions of infantry, artillery, and cavalry, but a comparatively small space is devoted to the accommodation of spectators. only about three hundred carriages can be admitted, and these are distributed among royal personages, officials, and a limited number of distinguished or fortunate visitors. our application for a carriage place was duly filed with the chief of the berlin police a month or six weeks in advance of the parade, but, after long waiting, word came that there was no room. by the courtesy and special thoughtfulness of secretary crosby, of the united states legation, a carriage ticket was placed at our disposal, after all hope of obtaining the coveted privilege had been abandoned. the german emperor can place, if need be, nearly three million trained soldiers in the field. all able-bodied germans are liable to service, with few exceptions, from the age of twenty to that of thirty-two, and can in exceptional circumstances be called out up to the age of forty-two. but the german youth spends only the first three years, of his twelve of liability, with the colors, the remaining nine being spent in different branches of the reserve forces. the effective force in time of peace is about half a million, which is distributed through the empire in seventeen army corps, of which the third has its headquarters at berlin. the ordinary strength of an army corps is about thirty thousand, including infantry, cavalry, and artillery; but the garrison of berlin and various extra and unattached troops bring the number up to fifty thousand or more, stationed mostly in berlin and potsdam. these have their spring manoeuvres at berlin; and the special parade, for which every day for two months beforehand seemed parade-day in the streets of berlin, was that for which we were so fortunate as to receive tickets. nearly every day for a week previous, his majesty was to be seen, in his low two-horse carriage, passing through the unter den linden and south through friedrich strasse, to the parade-ground. on this grand and final parade-day the three hundred carriages of the privileged spectators were in good time on the ground assigned them, prepared to welcome the emperor and the imperial party as loyally as the soldiers themselves. a deafening hurrah burst from the throats of all, as his majesty appeared in a carriage and drove to his post of observation. many of his princely retinue, both ladies and gentlemen, were on horseback; and it was formerly his custom to review the troops, mounted on his black war-horse. in spite of a piercing wind which swept over the wide brandenburg plains, we hugged our warm wraps, and stood in our carriages, like all the rest, in eager watchfulness and admiration, as the evolutions of the most perfectly drilled troops in the world went forward. the infantry marched and countermarched; plumes of all colors waved in the sunlight and kept time to the music; uniforms and men seemed but part of one grand incomprehensible automatic movement; battle-flags scarred with the history of all the wars fluttered their tattered shreds in the wind, waking memories of irrepressible pathos and joy; the artillery rumbled and thundered; the evolutions of the cavalry were like systematic whirlwinds; and the scarlet zouaves, the blue dragoons, the white-uniformed and gilt-helmeted cuirassiers, and the dark uhlands with lances ten feet long poised in air above their prancing horses, commingled the "pomp and circumstance of war" without its pain. now the infantry come on at double quick, in the step with which they entered paris; now the artillery is lumbered across a vast stretch of the field with a rapidity and precision which almost take away one's breath; and anon the cavalry seem to burst in orderly confusion upon the scene, flying in competition, across, around, athwart, until the cheers and huzzas burst forth anew with, "hail to the kaiser!" "long live the fatherland!" it was with joy that the soldiers received the commendations of their imperial chieftain on that field-day, and it was to us a fitting place and moment of farewell to the great military emperor. "king, the saxon konnig," says carlyle,--"the man who can." and emperor william i. was the man who _could_. * * * * * "fritz, dear fritz," were the last words of the aged emperor. "unser fritz" was the well-beloved elder brother of the german people. if any doubt as to the real feeling among the south-germans toward the imperial house had existed in our minds, it was removed as we journeyed through saxony, bavaria, würtemberg, darmstadt, thuringia. everywhere, in humble homes, in shops, hotels, and market-places, were the likenesses of the handsome kaiser and the open, sincere, manly countenance of the crown prince to be seen. in berlin the crown prince occupied the palace directly east of that of the kaiser, separated from it only by the operahaus platz. we had heard him called "the handsomest man in europe." our study of his kindly face from photographs had revealed manliness enough, but nothing more to justify this epithet. but as one came to be familiar with his look, his figure, his bearing, there was full assent to his being called, in appearance, "the finest gentleman in europe." the titles and tokens of honor that had been showered upon him, and which he wore so gracefully, were his least claims to distinction. he was as great in true nobility of soul as he was exalted in station, as symmetrical in character as he was regal in bearing. when he mated with the princess royal of england, he was not even crown prince of prussia, and some of the english papers asserted that the eldest daughter of queen victoria had married beneath her. but this opinion was easily dissipated, as the years brought, with increasing honors, development of manly virtues and graces. a hero in the wars in which his country had engaged before he reached middle life, and with all the courage of his hohenzollern blood, he yet delighted in peace, and was a most humane and liberal statesman. that thirst for liberty which is quenchless in the human breast, and which has had as yet small satisfaction in teutonic lands, seemed to find sympathy in this enlightened prince. at the age of thirty he became the heir apparent to the prussian crown, when the new king, his father, had reached the age of sixty-four. when he was forty, and his father was proclaimed emperor of germany at the age of seventy-four, frederick became heir to the imperial throne. a most careful and liberal education, grafted on a genial and wise character, had fitted him to watch the course of events in which, according to the course of nature, he might be expected so soon to take chief part. but the years which made his sire venerable passed, and still he had no opportunity to shape public affairs. absolutism feared his influence and that of his liberal and strong-minded english wife. the prime of life was his; but his best years were behind and not before him as at the age of fifty-five he filially and devotedly filled his own place, the loved and loving son of his imperial father, whose trusted representative he was on all courtly occasions, the model husband and father, the accomplished and interested patron of art and letters, the polished gentleman, the benevolent and devout christian. during his last winter of health ( - ) he was often to be seen among the people. accompanied by the crown princess and their three unmarried daughters, he walked out and in, along the unter den linden, an interested participator, like any other father of a family, in the christmas shopping. on one of the culminating days of the great reichstag debate, it was prince william who was seen in the imperial box in the parliament house, while "unser fritz" with wife and daughters were skaters among the crowds on the ice-ponds of the thiergarten. this by no means indicated indifference to great questions of public concern. none knew better the issue, the times, and the need. but, standing all his mature life with his foot on the threshold of a throne, with talents and training fitting him to do honor to his royal line, to his fatherland, and to the brotherhood of kings in all lands and ages, he yet knew that while the father reigned, it was not for the son to reign. he was to bide his time. alas! an inscrutable providence made that time to be crowned only with the halo of a dawning immortality, a time in which strength and peace were to be radiated from one anointed by the chrism of pain, and whose diadem was to shine, not among the treasures of earth, but as the stars for ever and ever. when the messenger of the fallen napoleon iii. had brought his unexpected surrender after sedan, and the flush of startling victory had mantled even the cheek of the pale and reticent von moltke, had shaken the leonine composure of bismarck, and affected the heroic william i. almost to tears, the courtly frederick forgot himself and the victory of the cause he had helped to win, in sympathy for the vanquished foe. the embarrassed general who brought the surrender of the french had frederick's instant devotion, and those first moments of deep humiliation were soothed by the conversation of the crown prince and by kind attentions which all others forgot to render. with a truth and devotion to his country which could never be doubted or questioned, he yet had a heart "so much at leisure from itself" that in the supremest moments of life he sympathized with friend and foe, as only regal souls can do. i saw this foremost prince of europe in the nineteenth century always and increasingly to admire him, whether in the largest or the smallest relations of life; whether as royal host entertaining the sovereigns of europe and their representatives when that magnificent assemblage came to greet the ninetieth birthday of his father; dashing on horseback through the streets of the capital and the riding-paths of the park; saluting with stately grace his imperial sire, as he alone entered the place where the emperor sat; handing the crown princess to her seat, or going down on his knees to find her imperial highness's misplaced footstool in her pew at church; accompanying his daughters to places of public amusement and looking upon them with manly tenderness; or standing with military helmet before his face in silent prayer, as he entered the house of god to worship before the king of kings. my last sight of his imperial highness was on one of the latest occasions of his public appearance in berlin while in health, in connection with one of those opportunities of hearing grand music in which this city excels the rest of the world. it was that most devotional music ever written,--bach's passion music, rendered once a year, on the evening of good friday, in the sing akademie of berlin. there was a trained chorus of about four hundred voices, with the best orchestra in the city, besides solo singers of repute,--one, a charming alto from cologne. the simple and touching narrative of the betrayal and the crucifixion was sung as it is written in the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh chapters of matthew, certain phrases and sentences repeated and adapted to the music, but none of it essentially changed in form. one of the bass soloists took, with the tenor, the soprano and the alto alternating, most of the narrative; and another bass solo took the words of jesus, whenever these occur in the sad story. the _arias_ and _recitatives_ were finely given, but no effect was comparable to that of the grand chorus. the single word "barabbas!" sung, or rather shouted, by these hundreds of voices in perfect time and tune, was overwhelming. another passage of most thrilling effect was that in which every instrument and every voice joined in the deafening but harmonious description of the multitude who went out with swords and staves in the midnight, to take the unoffending jesus in the garden of gethsemane. and one could almost hear in the music the sobbing of peter when, after his denial of the lord, "he went out and wept bitterly." another most touching passage was that representing the love of the woman who anointed the feet of jesus. when the shout of the multitude arose in the words "crucify him!" the awfulness was intense. there were times when the audience scarcely seemed to breathe freely, so strong was the spell, so vivid the reality of this saddest and most touching of narratives, as interpreted by this wonderful music. never but once have i heard the perfection of choral music. it was one of the grand and solemn ancient hymn-tunes which are introduced at certain stages of this composition. i closed my eyes to the brilliance of the scene before me, that the ear might be the sole avenue of impression. not the slightest jar or dissonance revealed any difference in the four hundred voices speaking as one; there seemed but one great soul pouring forth the vast volume of the harmony. the mighty cadences rose and fell, breaking in waves of sound against walls and roof, and must have floated far out into the night, now soaring in triumph, now sweet and soft and low as the tones of an eolian harp; but the voice of hundreds was only as the voice of one. three hours and more, with one brief intermission, we listened, and lived as it were those last sad hours of the life so sacred and so majestic, so unutterably full of love. the end came, when the stone was rolled against the sealed door of the sepulchre, and the roman watch was set. no hint of a resurrection was in the music; but the singers sang, in closing, again and again, in varying strains, "good-night, good-night, dear jesus!" the audience, moved as it seemed by a common impulse, joined in that last song. the crown prince, with the crown princess and their daughters, and the princess christian, then on a visit to berlin, were in the royal box in the concert-room. with his family and his royal visitors, frederick, his voice already in the penumbra of a dim, unknown, unforeseen, but fateful shadow, took up the strain. "he sang it through," said a friend to me, who knew him well, "and i could see that he was deeply touched." there we left the story, as almost nineteen hundred years ago it was left, on that friday evening in jerusalem, with the full light of the paschal moon falling on the closed and silent tomb, in the garden of joseph of arimathea. two days later, on the evening of easter sunday, the crown prince united in the service of the english church, with his family, in celebrating the joyous anniversary of a sure resurrection, and during the same week left berlin in quest of rest and health. he came not back until, before another good friday, "unser fritz" was emperor of germany, and already walking through the valley of that shadow in which he sorrowfully sung of his "dear jesus," one short year before. * * * * * various estimates have been made of the talents and character of the third of the three german emperors of the year , but the record and the proof of all prophecies concerning william ii. have yet to be made. as prince william we saw him with best opportunity in the imperial box at the reichstag, where for three hours he listened intently to the speeches of bismarck, von moltke, and others. a fair young man, in the heavily ornamented light blue uniform of his regiment, to a casual observer his countenance bore neither the marks of dissipation nor the signs of intellectual power and force of character. but he was only in the late twenties, and "there is time yet." he is the idol of the army, and the devoted friend of bismarck. not one of all the great concourse of dignitaries at the celebration of the ninetieth birthday of william i. received such shouts of adulation from the populace as those which rent the air when the state carriage passed which bore the prince and princess william and their three little sons. of the princess william, now empress augusta victoria, there was but one opinion. "none will ever know the blessing which the princess william has been to our family," once said her father-in-law, the crown prince frederick. from the throne to the hut, blessings followed her, a christian lady, in faithfulness as wife, mother, friend, and princess, worthy of her exalted place. at a lawn-party given for the benefit of the young men's christian association, in the magnificent old park of the war department in the heart of berlin, prince and princess william were present. the princess walked up and down, chatting now with one lady, now with another, in attire so simple that the plainest there could feel no unpleasant contrast, and in manner so beautiful and genial that we could forget the princess in admiration of the unassuming lady. * * * * * of the empress frederick much has been said, and much invented, since the days when she left england, a bride of seventeen, to make her home in a foreign land. "is the crown princess popular?" i said to a young german lady, in the early days of our residence in berlin. "not very." "she is strong-minded, is she not?" "yes, too strong," replied the lady. perhaps the crown princess victoria did not sufficiently disguise the broad difference between her birthright as the heir of the thought and feeling of her distinguished father, "prince albert the good," and the low plane still habitual to many german women. she has always been an englishwoman; and this was the chief charge i ever heard against her, in my endeavor to reach the real statement of the case. and yet all agree that she has been devoted to the best interests of the german people. everywhere in humane, benevolent, and educational work, we found the impress of her guiding hand. a german lady, of rare ability, sweetness, and culture, was one day giving me the pathetic story of her hopes and efforts for the elevation and education of her country-women. in the course of the conversation she was led to quote a remark made to her by the crown princess: "you must _form the character_ of the german women, before you can do much to elevate them." is not this in keeping with the profound practical wisdom which, notwithstanding the puerilities and small femininities which abound in some of the published writings of england's royal family, makes their pages still worth the reading, and lets us into the secret of the true womanliness which, despite all blemishes and foibles, victoria, empress queen of england, has instilled into the mind of her daughter victoria, empress dowager of germany. there is hope for womankind, when "the fierce light which beats upon a throne" shows naught to mar the purity of the home-life which has adorned the palaces and the courts of germany and of england, so far as these have been under the influence of the two victorias. * * * * * "when you say 'germany,'" said our "little fräulein" to us one day, "nobody is afraid; when you say 'bismarck,' everybody trembles." reports about the ill health of the iron chancellor were, two or three years ago, possibly exaggerated, but doubtless they had some foundation in fact. previous to the great debate on the army bill, it had been said that his physical health was a mere wreck. no sign of this appeared, however, when we saw the great diplomatist in his seat in the reichstag on that memorable occasion. his speech, though occasional cadences lapsed into indistinctness in that hall of poor acoustic properties, was in the main easily heard in all parts of the house. the yellow military collar of his dark blue coat showed his pallid face not to advantage, but that fierce look was unsubdued, the broad brow loomed above eyes before which one instinctively quails, and the pose and movements were those of vigorous health. every afternoon in the ensuing spring, his stout square-shouldered figure might be seen, in military uniform and with sword rattling in its scabbard, accompanied by a single aid, on horseback, trotting through the shaded riding-paths of the thiergarten,--for the sake of health, doubtless, but evidently with no little pleasure. on his birthday in april he received, at his palace in the wilhelm strasse, the greetings of his regiment, to whom he distributed wine and cake and mementos, and also saw many other friends. at his country-seats in pomerania and lauensburg most of his time is spent, divided between the cares of state and the enjoyments of a rustic life. on the occasion referred to in the parliament, speaking of the army bill which the opposition professed a willingness to grant for three years but not for seven, he said, "three years hence, i may hope to be here; in seven, i shall be above all this misery." the three years have not yet passed. for the glory of germany, many will hope that twice seven may find the name of bismarck still inspiring with dread the enemies of his country. * * * * * general von moltke, the grant of germany, might often be seen, by those who knew when and where to look for him, in plain dress, walking along unter den linden, or through the city edge of the thiergarten, near the building of the general staff, of which he was long the chief and where he lives. this most eminent student of the art of war lives a seemingly lonely life since the death of his wife, whose portrait is said to be the chief adornment of his private room. he is fond of music, and an open piano is his close companion in hours of leisure. his plain carriage is seen but seldom by sojourners in berlin. his words need not to be many to be weighty, and his influence was great with emperor william i. and crown prince frederick, whose tutor he had been. no scene after the death of frederick iii. was more affecting than von moltke in tears over his bier. "never before," said an officer who had long known the great general, "have i seen von moltke so broken up." * * * * * general von waldersee has, by the recent retirement of von moltke, become chief of the german army staff. the countess von waldersee, closely related by her first marriage to the present empress, is a devout christian lady, an american by birth, and has much influence in the german court. her most romantic history is known to many since, the daughter of a wealthy new york merchant, she went abroad some twenty-five years ago, met and married a wealthy schleswig-holstein baron, by which marriage she became related to more than one royal house in europe; was soon left a youthful widow with great wealth, and after a few years, in which she maintained the estate and title of an austrian princess also bequeathed her by her first husband, married the german nobleman who is now the head of the german army. she is devoted to her home, her husband and children, and to quiet ways of doing good. her dazzling history is her least claim on the interest of american women. a noble character, devoted consistently in her high station to the service of god and to even the humblest good of her fellow-creatures, gives regal lustre to her name, which is a synonym for goodness to all who know her. viii. the ninetieth birthday of emperor william. to those who are fond of pageants and who linger lovingly with past ages, such a spectacle as berlin witnessed on the d of march, , must have extraordinary attractions. never in the long life of the aged emperor, whose ninetieth birthday it was, had there been in splendor a rival to that day, although his whole career was prolific of great scenes and dramatic situations. eighty-five royal personages had accepted the invitation to visit the emperor on that occasion; and they came in person, or sent special envoys, each accompanied by a more or less imposing retinue. as guests of the imperial family, they were lodged in the various palaces of berlin and potsdam, and entertained with most thoughtful and sumptuous hospitality. the arrivals began on friday, march , and continued through the three following days, until the list included the prince of wales; the crown prince of austria; the grand duke and duchess vladimir and the grand duke michel of russia; the crown prince and princess of sweden; the king and queen of roumania; the king and queen of saxony; the prince and princess christian of schleswig-holstein; the grand duke of hesse and his daughter the princess irene; the grand duchess of baden; the duke of saxe-meiningen; the hereditary prince and princess of mecklenburg-strelitz; the duke of waldeck-pyrmont, father of the queen of the netherlands and the duchess of albany; the dowager grand duchess of mecklenburg-schwerin; the grand duchess marie, and a host of other royal notables. costly presents and beautiful flowers had been pouring in to the emperor for days before, from the members of his own large family, the various diplomatic corps, from royal friends, from learned societies, industrial and philanthropic associations, with gifts from china, turkey, and other distant countries. many of the presents were arranged in a room in the kaiser's palace, the centre-piece being a portrait of his favorite and eldest great-grandson painted by the crown princess, and surrounded by an elegant display of flowers. this palace was reserved for the calls of the distinguished guests, and for a state dinner of a hundred covers, given to the visiting royalties on the eve of the birthday by the emperor and empress. the palace of the crown prince was decorated about the entrance with palms and other exotics. here the crown princess entertained the prince of wales and the princess christian with her family,--three children of queen victoria under the same roof. the grand duchess of baden, only daughter of the emperor, was entertained in the dutch palace, connected with the emperor's by a corridor. one of those dramatic touches in real life of which emperor william was fond, was the betrothal of the princess irene, daughter of the grand duke of hesse and the late princess alice of england, to her cousin prince henry, second son of the crown prince. it was announced by the emperor on his birthday, standing in the midst of the assembled family, with the foreign princes grouped in a semicircle around, the bride-elect leaning on her father's arm and blushingly receiving the congratulations of all present. in the two days preceding his birthday, the emperor received not only his royal visitors, but the representatives of spain, portugal, turkey, servia, japan, and china. the old schloss, with its six hundred apartments and reception-rooms, was used for the entertainment of royal guests. all the sunny south windows facing the schloss platz rejoiced for days beforehand in open draperies and freshly cleaned plate glass, giving an unwonted look of cheer and human habitableness to the majestic and venerable pile through which we had walked, a few weeks before, with hushed voices and muffled footsteps, gazing on the rich decorations of the public rooms, the glittering candelabra, the silver balustrades, the ancient plate, the historic paintings and monuments which recall past centuries and vanished sovereigns. but the streets witnessed the most memorable scenes. on the eve of the birthday a torchlight procession of more than six thousand students represented the universities of berlin, bonn, heidelberg, jena, königsberg, leipzig, marburg, munich, strasburg, and others; the polytechnic schools of berlin, brunswick, darmstadt, dresden, hanover, karlsruhe, and stuttgardt; the mining academies of berlin, clausthal, and freiberg; and the agricultural schools of berlin, eberswalde, and tharandt. opposite the imperial palace stands the university,--formerly the palace of prince henry,--amid old trees and gardens, and with the fine colossal statues of the brothers humboldt in white marble, sitting on massive pedestals on either side the main gateway. this was the starting-point of the great procession, which was led by two mounted students in the garb of wallenstein's soldiers. five abreast the torch-bearers approached the emperor's palace, and before his windows the ziethen hussars wheeled in and out in mystic evolutions. a labyrinthine series of movements, marked in the darkness only by the flaming torches, was executed in perfect silence; then a simple hymn of the middle ages was sung with singular effect by these thousands of young and manly voices; and from the silence which succeeded, at the call of a student standing in the midst and waving his sword above his head, there arose a "three cheers for the emperor!" while six thousand torches swung to and fro, and hundreds of flags and ancient banners waved in the evening air. again there was silence, when one struck the national anthem, which was sung with all heads uncovered, the aged hero bowing low at his window in acknowledgment until emotion obliged him to withdraw. an incident soon on every tongue was the emperor's sending for a deputation of the students to wait on him, his kind reception of and conversation with them, and their elation at the honor, notwithstanding their mortification at the contrast of the smoke-soiled hands and faces of the torch-bearers with the brilliance of the imperial chamber and the full dress of distinguished visitors. leaving the emperor's palace, the procession passed through unter den linden and the brandenburg gate to the thiergarten, where amid a dense and surging throng the students threw their burning torches in a heap and sang over the expiring flames, "gaudeamus igitur juvenes dum sumus." deputies from all the universities, dressed in black velvet coats, high boots, and plumed hats, and bearing fine swords, brought up the rear of the procession in thirty carriages, with the flags of the old german towns and universities floating above them. i watched this torchlight procession from a second-story window-seat on unter den linden, and was much impressed with the general view, extending from the equestrian statue of frederick the great before the emperor's palace, where the entire area was filled with reflected light, for nearly a mile to the brandenburg gate, the various forms of the waving torches on the long line seeming the very apotheosis of flame. many of the young men were dressed in the picturesque taste peculiar to german students. gay feathers and unique caps set off to advantage the fine features and fair complexions which render some of the students remarkable, though the faces are too often disfigured by tell-tale sabre-cuts. after the passing of the procession, we drove through a portion of the potsdamer strasse where the lamps were rather infrequent and the overarching branches of the trees shut out the starlight from the handsome street. crowds were hurrying to and fro,--but to this we had become accustomed,--when suddenly we met a company of mounted students returning from the park. in white wigs and high-peaked caps, close-fitting white suits embroidered with gold, brilliant sashes, and top-boots, they looked, in the dim light, like knights of the middle ages returning from some quest or tournament; and as they slowly filed by, bowing to the greetings of the passers, it was hard to believe for the moment that they were other than they seemed. the morning of the birthday dawned bright and beautiful. "emperor's weather this," the germans fondly said. before we left our breakfast-room the sound of chimes was calling all the children of the city to the churches for their share of the celebration. from my window i saw at one time three large processions of children passing in different directions through diverging streets. all were marshalled by teachers from the public schools in strictest order, and with fine brass bands playing choral music as they entered the church. here the pastor, after prayer, addressed the children on the blessings of peace and the life of the good emperor, and the children sang, as only german children can, the patriotic songs of their country. no more touching sight was seen that day than these thousands of boys and girls passing into the churches, with the sound of solemn music, to thank god for the blessings of fatherland and emperor,--a scene which caused tears to roll down the cheeks of many a spectator. it will be hard to uproot german patriotism while its future fathers and mothers are thus trained. while the children were marching, another procession was also passing, composed of the magistrates and city officials, going to the nicolai kirche (the oldest church in berlin) for a similar service. every one was astir early, and before ten o'clock a dense crowd filled the streets. horses, omnibuses, and tram-cars were garlanded and decorated with flags, and the house fronts were bewildering in color and decorations. the double-headed eagle, signifying in the heraldry of germany the empire of charlemagne and that of the cæsars, was everywhere intermingled with the german tri-color of red, white, and black, with the black and white of prussia, the green of saxony, the blue of bavaria, and the orange, purple, and other colors of the various principalities and powers of the german empire; hardly a house lacking some brilliant flutter of symbolic colors. only an american in a foreign land can know how welcome was the sight of "the stars and stripes" floating majestically from two or three points on the route; though in one case it was flanked by the crescent and star of the turkish empire, and in another contrasted with the blue dragon on a yellow ground which formed the triangular flag of china. miles of business thoroughfares showed glittering and artistic arrangements in the shop windows; nearly every one having its picture, bust, or statue of the emperor,--some with most elaborate and expensive designs. between ten and eleven a.m. the deputations from the universities passed through unter den linden, making a daylight parade but little inferior to that of the evening before. the dense throng immediately closed in after the procession, but by great efforts the mounted police cleared a passage for the state carriages to the palace of the emperor. at eleven o'clock a magnificent royal carriage drew up at the palace of the crown prince, who entered it, accompanied by the crown princess and two daughters. they proceeded to the presence of the emperor, to offer the first congratulations. next came a carriage whose splendid accompaniments eclipsed all others. preceded by a mounted herald in scarlet and silver, on a mettled and caparisoned steed, and by other outriders in the same glittering fashion, came the carriage, surmounted by silver crowns, drawn by six horses; carriage, steeds, coachman, and footmen in shining livery and flowing plumes. at the door of the crown prince's palace the stout figure of the prince of wales, in comparatively plain attire, stepped into this coach; a lady was handed in after him, and the splendid equipage rolled toward the emperor's palace, amid the cheers of the multitude. from the old schloss, a succession of royal carriages passed in the same direction, all glittering in silver and gold and flowing with plumes, many with four or six horses; until fully fifty state carriages had deposited their occupants at the palace of the kaiser, and awaited, in the fine open spaces around the famous equestrian statue of frederick the great, the return of royalty from its congratulations to the venerable object of all this attention. many of the royal visitors were known by sight to the crowd, as berlin sees much of royalty; but many were not. the cheering was not enthusiastic, except in special cases. "who is that?" said one near me, as a splendid carriage passed. "i do not know," replied another man; "it is only one of those kings." but when the crown prince frederick returned from his call, "this is something else," said the proud german heart; and the cheers were deafening. the greatest enthusiasm of the day was shown when prince william and his family passed, in the most striking equipage of all, except that of the prince of wales. it was a state carriage of the time of frederick the great, its decorations of gold on a dark body; a large, low vehicle whose glass windows revealed the occupants on every side. six pomeranian brown steeds of high mettle were guided by the skilful driver, horses and outriders being splendidly caparisoned in light blue and silver. rudolph, crown prince of austria, solitary in his carriage, received his share of attention, as did the russian grand dukes and grand duchess, the fine-looking king and queen of saxony, the prince-regent of bavaria with his two sons of ten and twelve, and the duchess of mecklenburg-strelitz, venerable sister of the emperor. the queen of roumania bowed to the throng with utmost grace, smiling and showing her brilliant teeth; but whether the special huzzas were a tribute to the beauty of the queen, or to the poetry of carmen sylva, we could not determine. all things have an end; and so did this dazzling state pageant, at which all europe assisted and where all europe was looking on; but not until bismarck's carriage had conveyed the chancellor to his chief, followed by general von moltke, who had the good taste to drive up simply, with two horses and an open carriage that interposed not even plate-glass between the great soldier and the loyal multitude. a few moments after their entrance, the emperor appeared at the palace window, bismarck on his right and von moltke on his left, and the hurrahs of the crowd burst forth anew. later in the day the crown prince and crown princess entertained the royal guests at dinner; and prince bismarck, as usual on the emperor's birthday, gave a dinner to the diplomatic corps. a drizzling rain set in suddenly in the afternoon, sending dismay to the hearts of all; for the most brilliant part of the celebration was still in reserve for the evening. the rain fell in occasional light showers up to a late hour, but it dampened only the outer garb, not the hearts, of the undiminished multitude, which at night-fall, on foot or in carriages, thronged the streets of the brilliant capital, whose myriad lights showed to better advantage under the reflecting clouds than they would have done under starlight. the carriages numbered scores of thousands, and the people on foot hundreds of thousands; but so complete were the arrangements of the police and so obedient the concourse, that all proceeded in nearly perfect order. our coachman fortunately drove through old berlin and köln, as a preliminary to the evening's sight-seeing. long arcades filled with jews' shops were worthy the pen of dickens. this festal day made this most ancient portion of the city also one of the most picturesque. houses with quaint dormer windows roofed by "eyelids," of an architecture dating back two or three hundred years, gleamed with candles in every window. almost no house or shop was so poor as to dispense with its share of the universal illumination. at least three horizontal lines of lighted candles threaded both sides of every street of this city of a million and a half inhabitants. many private as well as public buildings in the old part showed by colored lights the picturesque, quaint streets and nooks, as no light of day can ever do. we were passing the rath-haus, or city hall,--a modern and imposing edifice,--at the time when its great tower was being lighted up. three hundred feet above the pavement floated the flags grouped in the centre and at the corners of the square tower. invisible red fires illuminated them, the shafts of crimson light rising to the clouds above, the outlines of the remainder of the building dimly reposing in darkness. an immense electric light, guided by a reflector in another tower, shot a bridge of white light high in air across the river, and fell, like a circumscribed space of noonday amid black darkness, on the fine equestrian statue of the great elector by the bridge behind the old castle, with an effect almost indescribable. as we entered unter den linden by the lustgarten, the beautiful square and its historic edifices, which form an ideal sight even by daylight, glowed and gleamed with jets of light from every point. the old schloss showed continuous lines of illumination in the windows of its four stories, along its front of six hundred and fifty feet, while the majestic dome caught and reflected rays of light from every point of the horizon. on the opposite side of the lustgarten, the doric portico of the national gallery glowed with rose-colored light from massive grecian lamps, while the arched entrance beneath its superb staircase gleamed with a pale sea-green radiance like the entrance to some ocean cave. the incomparable architecture of the old museum was set in strong relief by white light, which flooded its immense ionic colonnade and brought out the high colors of the colossal frescos along the three hundred feet of its magnificent portico. the front of the palace of the crown prince was thrown, by innumerable jets, into a blaze of crimson. the roman catholic church of st. hedwig, with its dome in imitation of the pantheon, its latin cross and window arches beaming in pale yellow, made a fine background for the only unilluminated building, the palace of the emperor. from the opera house, the arsenal, and the university, crowns and elaborate designs were burning, yet unconsumed. most elaborately decorated of all berlin buildings was the academy of arts and sciences, opposite the imperial palace, with colossal warriors in bronze keeping guard at its portals, and the angel of peace laying a laurel wreath on the altar of fatherland as its decorative centre-piece. no high meaning of all its symbols was more touching and significant than the appropriate texts of scripture written for the kaiser's eye, underneath its elaborate frescos. but of what avail would be an attempt to describe two miles of most beautiful decorations along unter den linden, each one a study in itself, and having nothing in common with the others, except the eagles and the emperor's monogram; and the innumerable points of light, massed in a world of various forms, and in all the colors of the rainbow! this glow of splendor surrounded by the dense darkness covered the city, and the dazzling coronals of its lofty towers and domes and spires must have been visible to a great distance across the plains of brandenburg. slowly the triple line of carriages and the surging throng pressed onward, past the palaces and diplomatic residences of the pariser platz; some diverging down the wilhelm strasse, where streaming flags and blazing illuminations made noonday brightness and gayety about the palace of the chancellor, but most passing through the brandenburg gate. the massive doric columns of this impressive structure were in darkness, but the chariot of victory with its fine bronze horses, surmounting the gate, was weird with the scarlet light of bengal fires burning on the entablature. as the artist rests his eyes by the spot of neutral gray which he keeps for the purpose on wall or palette, so brain and eye were prepared for sleep at the close of this long day, by sitting in our carriages, safe sheltered from the soft-falling rain, outside the great gate which divided the splendor from the darkness, for three quarters of an hour, in an inextricable tangle of carriages, until the perturbed coachmen and the sorely vexed police could evolve order from the temporary confusion, and set the hindered procession again on its homeward way. meantime the day was not over for the much-enduring emperor and his royal guests. in the famous white saloon of the old schloss an entertainment was going forward. blinding coronets and necklaces on royal ladies made the interior of this ancient palace more brilliant than its shining exterior on this birth-night. the empress augusta, leaning on the arm of her grandson, prince william, was attired in a lace-trimmed robe of pale green, her diamonds a mass of sparkling light; the crown princess was in silver-gray, the wife of the english ambassador in pale mauve, the princess christian in turquoise blue; and the grand duchess vladimir of russia wore a magnificent robe of pink satin trimmed with sable, with a tiara of diamonds and a stomacher of diamonds and emeralds. from the neck and forehead of the queen of roumania flashed a thousand prismatic hues; and the green vault of dresden sent some of its most precious treasures to keep company with the fair queen of saxony in adding brilliance to the scene. our reverie led from this starry point in history back to the time when, as on this memorable day, the royal salute of berlin artillery shook the city, to announce the birth of a prince ninety years ago. a rapid, almost a chance recall of the years shows us washington then living on his estate at mount vernon, lafayette a young man of forty, clay a stripling of twenty, webster a boy of fifteen. the directory in france had not yet made way for the first republic; the younger pitt and canning held england; metternich and o'connell were in their youth, and robert peel was a child of nine. napoleon bonaparte was in the flush of youthful success, soon to become the idol of france and the terror of europe, before whom the boy, now kaiser wilhelm, and his royal family fled to königsberg by the baltic, while the conqueror held berlin and reduced prussia to a second-rate province. to this boy the flames of burning moscow were a transient aurora-borealis under the pole-star; and nelson and wellington were unknown to the stories of his childhood, for as yet their fame was not. goethe and schiller were in the prime of early manhood; kant and klopstock elderly, but with years yet to live; scott was just laying down his poet's pen and preparing to take up the immortal quill with which he wrote his first "waverley;" moore was singing his sweet melodies; wordsworth had yet to lay the foundations of the "lake poetry;" and the fair boy, byron, was chanting his early songs, not yet for many a year to die at missolonghi. this wonderful old man of ninety, gayly stooping to kiss the hand of a lady to-night in his hospitable palace, like the young man that he is, has a memory stretching from the battle of austerlitz across the gigantic struggles of the century to the battle of sedan,--all of which he has seen, and a part of which he has been! ix. streets, parks, cemeteries, and public buildings. for a hundred years the picturesque brandenburg gate has guarded the entrance to unter den linden from the thiergarten. it is a monument of the reversion of royal taste from the devotion to french style, which characterized frederick the great, to the purely classical. it is nearly two hundred feet in width, its five openings being guarded by six massive doric columns about forty-five feet in height. to foot-passengers, riders, and ordinary vehicles the two outer spaces on each side are devoted respectively, while the wide central passage is traversed only by the royal carriages. the celebrated quadriga with the figure of victory, on the entablature, was first placed with the face toward the park. when the first napoleon robbed berlin, along with other cities, for the adornment of paris, he carried off this masterpiece in bronze and set it up in the place du carrousel under the shadow of the tuileries. upon napoleon's downfall in , this group was restored to its original place, but was set facing the unter den linden, making of the brandenburger thor a triumphal arch marking the victory of prussia in the long contest. the famous unter den linden, nearly two hundred feet wide and three fourths of a mile in length, with a double line of lime-trees enclosing an area of greensward along the centre, would be accounted anywhere a handsome street, with the palaces of the pariser platz at one end, the imperial palaces, the arsenal, the academy, and the university at the other, and brilliant shop-windows lining both sides of the whole length, while the brandenburg gate and the great equestrian statue of frederick the great at either extremity close the fine vista. leaving out of view, however, these two noble features which mark its termini, the street seemed not handsome enough to justify its fame. perhaps this was because we found the famous lime-trees, for which the street is named, quite ordinary young trees, not to be compared with the magnificent elms which line the streets of new haven and the mall of boston common. the characteristic part of berlin is, to our view, the great space east of unter den linden, surrounded by the palaces, the royal guard house, the arsenal, the university, and the academy of arts and sciences. these fine buildings and the ornamented open spaces around and between them, on a sunny afternoon in midwinter, show a brilliant and unique scene which has hardly its parallel in europe. the champs Élysées is finer at night; hyde park, st. james, the parliament buildings, and westminster abbey far finer on a sunny morning; but the third city in europe has no need to be ashamed of its royal buildings and the scene before them, in the season when the court is in berlin, and the slant rays of an early afternoon sun light up the gay throng of soldiers in uniform, state carriages, pedestrians, and vehicles which surge to and fro without crowding the vast spaces. the lustgarten is fine; but of the buildings around it, the old museum alone meets the eye with architectural satisfaction. in all lights that building is beautiful in design and proportions. the old schloss is impressive mainly by its massiveness and its august dome. a most picturesque view by moonlight is to be had from the east end of the lange or kürfürsten brücke, southeast of the old palace. here the water-front of the old castle is in full view, with the fortified part unaltered since the early occupation by the hohenzollerns. this mediæval building, shaded by a few ancient trees, with here and there a light reflected from the upper windows at evening, and with tower and turret duplicated on the surface of the darkly flowing river at its foot, shares with one the feeling of ancient times, as no other place in berlin can do. in the centre of this bridge is the equestrian statue of the great elector, superior as a work of art to any other of its date. this grand figure is fabled to descend from his horse and stalk through the streets on new year's eve, for the chastisement of evil-doers. the wilhelm strasse, running from a point near the pariser platz south from unter den linden, has many palaces and public buildings; but its chief interest centres about no. , the palace of prince bismarck. the front looks eastward, and is built around three sides of a garden filled with shrubbery and threaded by walks, and shut off from the street by great iron gates and a high open iron fence. the study, where the chancellor spends much time when in berlin, looks upon a garden, and is furnished with the same simplicity which characterizes the private apartments of general von moltke. among the few pictures which adorn the study of bismarck is one of general grant. here it was that the famous berlin congress met in for the settlement of the eastern question. the palace of prince albert of prussia, now military governor of brunswick, is situated in a magnificent private park, acres in extent, in the heart of the city. it opens from the wilhelm strasse at the head of koch. this palace was built in the early part of the eighteenth century by a french nobleman, with wealth gained in the great speculations of the mississippi scheme, upon which all france entered in hope of retrieving the bankruptcy entailed by louis xiv. its fine colonnade, its great park, and its position, adjoining the park of the war department, between two great railroad stations and surrounded by tramways, render it one of the most prominent features of central berlin. the small and elaborately laid-out square of the wilhelm strasse, known as the wilhelms platz, with its pretty fountains, shrubs, and flowers, has bronze statues of six generals of frederick the great,--heroes of the seven years' war. here it is easy to sit and dream of the olden time, in reverie which not even the kaiserhof diplomats nor the wilhelm-street autocrats, within a stone's-throw on either side, nor the throng and glitter of the berlin of to-day, can disturb. here, surrounded by the figures and the faces of the men with whom carlyle has made us acquainted, we recall the wonderful story which he, as none other, has written. how masterly is the way in which he has portrayed for us this prussian history whose memorials stand around us! with feeling how deep and true for the real and the eternal as against the false, the seeming, and the transient! what a picture is the history! what a poem is the picture! at the northeast corner of the wilhelms platz is the palace of prince friedrich karl, one of the leaders of the franco-prussian war. it was once the temple of the order of the knights of malta, but its sumptuous interior has now for many years been devoted to residence on the upper floor, and to the famous art and _bric-à-brac_ collections of the late prince, on the ground floor. it is not difficult to gain, from the steward, the requisite permission to visit this interesting palace. many private houses, interesting for their associations, might be found by the sojourner in berlin who cares to search them out; but intelligent residents only, and not the guide-books, can facilitate this search. in the margrafen strasse, near the royal library, is the house where neander lived and studied and wrote. near the dreifaltische kirche, behind the kaiserhof, is the old-fashioned parsonage which was the home of schleiermacher, and in the oranienburger strasse is the house in which lived alexander von humboldt. of the many beautiful parks, the thiergarten overshadows all the rest, both because of its commanding location, close to unter den linden and other busy streets, and its great extent. a combination of park and wild forest, with streams, ponds, bridges, and miles of shaded avenues and riding-paths in perfect condition, its six hundred acres form one of the largest, most beautiful and useful parks in europe. the elaborate and towering monument to commemorate the victories of recent prussian and german wars is the centre of a system of grand avenues in the northeastern part. this monument was originally intended to commemorate the schleswig-holstein conquest; later, the victories over austria in were to be included; and when the franco-prussian war was happily ended, it was decided to make of it also a fitting memorial of united germany. on the third anniversary of the capitulation of sedan, emperor william i. unveiled the colossal statue of victory on the summit of the monument, which commemorates the chief events of his august reign. immense bas-reliefs on the pedestal represent, on one side, events in the danish campaign; on another is shown the decoration of the crown prince by the emperor on the field of sadowa, with prince friedrich karl, von moltke, and bismarck standing by; the third side shows the french general reille, handing louis napoleon's letter of capitulation at sedan; and the fourth, the triumphal entry of german soldiers into paris through the arc de triomphe. there is also a representation of the scene, on that day when all berlin went wild with joy and exultation over the return of the kaiser and his troops from paris, of their reception at the brandenburg gate. within the open colonnade of the substructure, a vast mosaic shows, in symbols, the history of the franco-prussian war, closing with a representation of bavaria offering the german crown to prussia, and the proclamation of the kaiser at versailles. it was king william himself who refused to have his own image placed here as the victor, and who substituted in the design of the artist the female figure of borussia with the features of his mother, queen louise. the shaft, rising eighty-five feet above the substructure, has three divisions, with twenty perpendicular grooves in each. these grooves are filled with thrice twenty upright cannon, captured from the danes, the austrians, and the french, bound to the shaft by gilded wreaths of laurel. the prussian eagles surmount the column, forming a capital upwards of one hundred and fifty feet above the pavement; and the great statue soars nearly fifty feet still higher. in the southeastern portion of the thiergarten is a colossal statue of goethe, which shows at its best in the twilight of an early summer evening, framed in the tender greens and browns of the bursting foliage behind it. not far away are the statues of queen louise and king frederick william iii., parents of emperor william i., surrounded by beautiful flowers, pools, and fountains; and the famous "lion group" marks the intersection of much-frequented avenues in the same neighborhood. a wide central avenue traversing the whole length of the thiergarten from east to west allows space for the tramway to the imposing edifice of the institute of technology and to the zoölogical gardens, where is one of the largest and best collections of birds and animals in the world, each species with habitations suited to it, several built in showy oriental style, amid concert-gardens where beautiful music may be heard every day. a favorite walk of ours on sunny winter mornings was in the west end of berlin, where are many of the finer aristocratic residences. no city can show, so far as we know, a handsomer residence quarter than portions of that which stretches between the thiergarten on the north, the zoölogical gardens on the west, and the botanical garden on the south. the collections of the latter, like those of the zoölogical gardens, rank among the first of their kind. the great glass house which shelters the _victoria regia_ is attractive chiefly in the summer, when the plants are in blossom, but the cacti and the palm houses are interesting the year round. the palm-house is a crystal palace on a small scale. entering, one finds a tropical atmosphere, hot and moist. all the larger palms and some of the smaller have each a furnace to themselves, from four to six feet in diameter and the same in height. over this furnace the great tub is set which contains the roots of the tree, over which water is frequently sprinkled. the arrangement of the trees is graceful and beautiful. there are galleries and seats everywhere; and little imagination is required to transport one's self to oriental and biblical scenes, with these palm-trees towering overhead. a short walk east of these gardens is the matthai cemetery, where repose the brothers grimm. the schiller platz, so named from the statue before the schauspielhaus, is fortunate--if not in the life-size statue of the poet--in the fine pedestal, with its allegorical figures of poetry, history, and philosophy, which were originally designed to adorn a fountain. in a still more crowded part of berlin the donhof platz has recently been transformed, from a barren square surrounding the statue of that great prussian, baron von stein, into a lovely garden-spot, with flowers and trees and birds for the cheer of the hurrying multitudes. the old halle gate, where several streets converge to the southern extremity of the friedrich strasse, is reached through ornamental grounds known as the belle-alliance platz, in the centre of which is a column erected to commemorate the peace which followed the wars of the first napoleon. not far to the southwest is the kreuzberg, the only mountain in this part of brandenburg,--a modest eminence about two hundred feet above the sea-level. it is crowned by an iron obelisk which affords a good view of the city. berlin has no cemetery comparable in extent or beauty to many in the environs of american cities. three small burial-grounds, separate but adjoining, at the southern edge of the city contain the graves of neander, with the memorable inscription,--his favorite motto,--"pectus est quod theologum facit;" of felix mendelssohn-bartholdy, his parents and his sister fanny; of schleiermacher, and of our countryman, the rev. dr. j.p. thompson, long-beloved pastor of the broadway tabernacle church, new york. here, also, bayard taylor was for a time laid to rest, before being finally removed to his native land. decorations are not so ostentatious as in catholic countries; and quiet ivy, simple greensward, and the shadow of trees in which birds may sing, make the quaint berlin cemeteries attractive places. this was to us especially true of the ancient cemetery connected with the sophien kirche and the old dorotheen-stadt cemetery, in the northern part of the city, where we went to look upon the graves of fichte and hegel, and of several artists famous in berlin annals. in the sophien kirchof lies the philosopher, moses mendelssohn; and in that of the garrison church, de la motte fouqué, the author of "undine." one of the most conspicuous public buildings is the rath-haus, or town hall, erected at a cost of nearly two million dollars. its lofty clock-tower with illuminated dial tells the time to all berlin by night, and adds a charm to the group of royal palaces and museums on which it looks down. the ancient town-houses of north germany most truly express the spirit of the old hanse league; and the rath-haus of berlin, while keeping the spirit, adds the grand proportions and embellishments characteristic of the modern city. the interior apartments, including the festival hall, the town council-room, and the magistrates' chamber, are elaborately adorned with historical frescos and statues, and the grand staircase has a finely vaulted ceiling and windows of stained glass filled with prussian heraldry. a visit to this edifice by daylight gives one the fine view from the clock-tower; but to see the famous raths-keller underneath, with characteristic accompaniments, one must go after dark. one evening, after the adjournment, in an upper hall, of that rare thing in berlin, a temperance meeting, a friend led our party through the elegant apartments of this place of popular refreshment. in the basement of this costly municipal building is a gilded saloon, upwards of three hundred feet long, divided into apartments. in some of these whole families were partaking of their evening "refreshments;" others were manifestly the appointed trysting-places of friends, while here and there, in sheltered nooks, the solitary ones sipped their wine or beer. everything, so far as we could see, was orderly and quiet, and we were told that the place was one of eminent respectability. it is only after witnessing the habits of the people, in their homes and places of popular resort, that one is prepared to appreciate the enormous consumption of beer, averaging four glasses per day to every man, woman, and child in the kingdom, at an average annual cost to families greater than their house-rent. the exchange, or börse, on the east bank of the river, is a most imposing building. the excitements of this money-centre may be seen in a visit here any week-day at noon. there are galleries for visitors, over the great hall, which accommodates five thousand persons. the imperial bank, like the imperial mint, is under state control; and both occupy buildings themselves worthy to be called imperial. the great city prison, on a modern plan, is in moabit, a northwestern suburb. this region received its name, "pays de moab," from french immigrants on account of its sterile soil; but a part of it is becoming an attractive and beautiful residence quarter. to the north of this is a model state-prison, accommodating twelve hundred prisoners. the insane asylum is said also to be a model institution. it has accommodations for fifteen hundred patients; and its buildings are near dalldorf, a short distance east of the route to the northwestern suburb of tegel. the medical department of the university has large buildings in different parts of the city. connected with these is the great carité hospital, founded a hundred years ago, and richly endowed by public and private funds. in its many wards more than fifteen hundred patients are constantly under treatment. another interesting hospital is the städtische krankenhaus, completed about fifteen years ago, on the "pavilion" plan, with the best modern appliances. this is situated in the beautiful park known as the friedrichshain, in the northeastern part of the city. the bethanien, in the southeastern quarter, is a large institution for the training of nurses, admirably managed, under the care of the deaconesses, or protestant sisters. x. palaces. the palaces lately occupied by emperor william i. and crown prince frederick were formerly shown to the public during the absence of the occupants at their country residences; but as this was usually in the summer, when comparatively few strangers are in berlin, they were not commonly included in a sight-seeing programme. they are pleasant homes, without great magnificence, but containing many interesting memorials of the lives of their imperial masters. the palace of the crown prince was not used by him after he became emperor frederick iii. the hundred days of pain which remained to him of life were spent at charlottenburg and in the castle of friedrichskron at potsdam. the old schloss of berlin, dating back in its foundation to the castle fortified on the river-side more than four hundred years ago by one of the early electors of brandenburg to maintain his rights of conquest, has received many later additions. it now has seven hundred apartments, and reached perhaps its greatest glory in the time of frederick the great, who was born here. it was then the central seat of the royal family; and here were deposited the records and treasures of the government. it is now used only as the permanent residence of a few officials, but is the place of entertainment for many royal guests and their retinues when the great state pageants occur, of which berlin has seen so many. it is popularly said to be haunted. there is a story that the countess agnes of orlamünde, many, many years ago, murdered her two children in order that she might marry the man of her choice, and that in penance her ghost is condemned to haunt the old palace of berlin and that of bayreuth. it is believed by some that this apparition of "the white lady" appears to a member of the hohenzollern family as a sure forerunner of death; and carlyle's picture of the causeless fright of one of the royal rulers when he thought he had seen this ghost, will recur to all who have read "frederick the great." we have heard of no visitor so fortunate as to get a sight of the apparition. one enters through an inner court; and parties who wish to see the interior are taken every half-hour, by an official in charge, for a tour of the palace. the waxed floors of inlaid wood are very handsome; and, as in other parts of central europe, they are protected from the tramp of visitors by immense felt slippers, into which all are required to thrust their shoes, and in which one goes gliding noiselessly over the polished surfaces in a way to save the floors, but not always to conserve the dignity or gravity of those unaccustomed to the process. many of the rooms are highly decorated, and memorials of the history of prussia abound. there are many paintings, of which most are portraits or battle scenes, the picture gallery proper containing the pictures connected with prussian history, and the kings' and queens' chambers the portraits of all the sovereigns. the chamber of the cloth of gold and the old throne room are highly ornamented, and contain massive gold and silver mementos of former kings and of emperor william's long career. here also is the great crystal chandelier which once hung in the hall of the conclave at worms, and under which luther stood when he made the immortal declaration, "hier stehe ich; ich kann nicht andere; helfe mir gott. amen." in the white hall court balls are held, and here sometimes has gathered the parliament to be opened by the emperor. it is said that when lighted up by its nearly three thousand wax candles for a court festival, the scene in this hall is extremely brilliant. charlottenburg has been anew endeared to the public by the pathos of the home-coming of emperor frederick iii., who took up his first imperial residence in this suburban palace, and from an upper window of which he watched the funeral procession of his venerable sire as it passed to the mausoleum. this only son and heir to a great throne might not follow the bier of the father to its resting-place, but gazed alone from the palace at the mournful pageant, knowing that the time could not be far distant when the same sad ceremonials would be repeated for himself. who shall say what were the thoughts of the manly frederick iii., as, when wife and children had joined the sad procession which wound its way northward through that grand but sombre avenue of stately pines which leads from the palace of charlottenburg to the beautiful marble mausoleum where kaiser wilhelm was laid to rest beside his mother and his father, the sick man stood immovably at that upper window, following only with his eyes, and with no spoken word, the drama in which himself was the central and most pathetic figure! charlottenburg is a suburb some two or three miles southwest of berlin, practically now a part of the capital, but with a corporation and a quiet life of its own. sophia charlotte, queen of the first king of prussia, founded for herself a country residence here at the village of lietzow, nearly two hundred years ago; and this has given the palace and the present suburb its name. here the idolized queen louise in the early part of this century lived much, and here are many portraits and marbles bearing her likeness. the palace and front garden are in unattractive "rococo" style, especially the rooms occupied by frederick the great; but the gardens in the rear of the palace are large and most attractive. the fame of the place arises chiefly from the beautiful doric mausoleum to frederick william iii. and queen louise, created by the taste of their son, king frederick william iv., brother and predecessor of the late emperor william. the exquisite reposing figure of queen louise in carrara marble lies under light falling through stained glass in the dome; and the tomb of the king (her husband) lying beside her is hardly less attractive. both are surrounded by excellent accessories in marble and fresco, and it is a place where one gladly lingers long. the great avenue leading from the palace to the mausoleum has ivy-mantled trunks of giant trees for sentinels, and greensward and forest on either hand make a quiet which beseems one of the loveliest of resting-places for the dead. it was here that king william came to pray, beside the tomb of the mother who had suffered so much at the hands of the first napoleon, on the eve of going out to the war with napoleon iii.; and here, when returning in the flush of victory as emperor of united germany, with louis napoleon a prisoner in the german castle of wilhelmshöhe, the old man came again to kneel in silent prayer beside the form of that mother whom the fortunes of war had so signally avenged more than sixty years after her death. what wonder that in this sacred spot only did william i. wish to be laid, when death should gather him to his fathers! sixteen miles southwest of berlin, "that amphibious potsdam" of carlyle holds out manifold attractions by land and water ways. it is a city of fifty thousand inhabitants, besides a garrison of soldiers which guard its royal palaces and their lovely grounds. there are many interesting public buildings and historical monuments. it was early in our berlin residence that, taking advantage of a bright morning when bright mornings were not too frequent, two americans were set down at the station in potsdam, armed only with a well-studied guide-book and a few words of conversational german. we did not wish to be shown everything, and so, declining the offered services of guides, engaged a drosky by the hour, with a kindly-faced young man for driver. he took the greatest interest in us, and supplied us with such information as we wished. for the rest we were set down at sans souci, free to stroll through its rooms in charge of the palace official, with our freshly read macaulay and carlyle in mind, striking the balance for ourselves between these two differing estimates of frederick the great, with every particular standing out vividly in the light of the object-lessons from that monarch's life which crowded on every hand. it was fortunate for us that we were the only visitors that morning, for this was the first palace we had entered, and the dreams of childhood were realizing themselves like the lines of a remembered fairy poem. the sympathy which spoke or was silent at will, sure of being always understood, gave the final touch of perfection to a memorable day. beautiful for situation, the long, domed, one-storied building, the favorite residence of frederick the great, is impressive because of its history. as we wandered through the suites of elegant rooms and heard the stories connected with frederick and voltaire, their shades seemed everywhere to flit before us. the first terrace leads to the spot where the king buried his favorite horses and dogs, and where, before the palace was built, he once expressed a wish to lie at the last. "when i am there i shall be without care," he said in french; and so the palace afterwards built for him here took the name "sans souci." the great iron gates at the north of the palace had been but twice opened, we were told,--once by the force of the first napoleon, and once when the greater monarch, death, had laid his hand on king frederick william iv., who was carried hence to his last home. the great fountain was not playing that day; but the drive through the vast and famous park, with its enticing views and bewitching beauty, left nothing to be desired except a convenient place for physical refreshments. past the orangery, with its wide views over land and lake, and bornstedt (the favorite country home of the crown prince) to the north; past the "old windmill" known to history, to the new palace, with its magnificence, its great extent, and its curious shell grotto,--we leave the simple charms of charlottenhof and its neighborhood for another visit, and hasten to stand beside the coffin of frederick the great beneath the pulpit of the potsdam garrison church. nearer to the station is the old schloss of potsdam. an old lime-tree opposite the entrance is shown as the place where the petitioners for the favor of frederick the great used to station themselves, in order to attract his majesty's attention from the window of his bedroom, or as he went in and out of the palace. here we were almost bewildered by the number and extent of the rooms, and the multitude of historical associations connected with them. here lived frederick william i., father of frederick the great, in carlyle's word-painting inferior to no other figure in that great composition. here are the rolling chairs and the inclined planes along which that monarch was wheeled in the course of his long and painful illness; in his study are the pictures painted by him _in tormentis_, and looking forth from the south windows we see the parade-ground where he used to drill his giant soldiers. there stands a statue of this strange, eccentric monarch, who, notwithstanding all that was bad, had so much in him that was good and true. it was from this palace that his lifeless remains were carried forth to rest in the garrison church, not far away. as at sans souci, remembrance of frederick the great crowds upon us in the old schloss also. here is his round-corner room, with walls of famous thickness, and a dumb-waiter lifting up through the floor the table and all its viands, that here he might dine alone with his intimates and no tell-tale sounds escape. here is the heavy solid-silver balustrade which separates his library from his sleeping-room. in this place, not long before our visit, prince and princess wilhelm, whose winter residence was on an upper floor of this palace, had brought their youngest son for baptism. all the later sovereigns have occupied, at one time or another, apartments in this interesting old palace, and here many souvenirs of the present as well as former royal families are shown. charlottenhof, in the southern part of the grounds of sans souci, is an unpretending villa, beautiful in its simplicity, and with all its charms enhanced by its having been granted by the king as a summer residence to alexander von humboldt while working at his "kosmos." near this is the beautiful roman bath, adorned with fine works of art. the new palace, now known as friedrichskron, built on a vast scale by frederick the great after the seven years' war, to show that he was not impoverished, has henceforth its immortality as the birthplace of frederick iii.; and here he expired, on the morning of a june day, scarce a twelvemonth after he had ridden among the foremost of that dazzling throng of potentates which graced the imperial progress of queen victoria to westminster abbey on the celebration of her regal jubilee. in the days of their happy summer life, lived in great simplicity and homelikeness, the crown princess once wrote, in a little pavilion here,-- "this plot of ground i call my own, sweet with the breath of flowers, of memories, of pure delights, and toil of summer hours." alas! henceforth these domestic memories have an element of unspeakable pathos added by the remembrance of the last fortnight of that devoted life which vanished in this memorable spot, whence the funeral procession went forth, through the park of sans souci, to lay all that was mortal of the beloved frederick iii. beside the graves of their young sons waldemar and sigismund, in the peace church of potsdam. babelsburg, the summer home of emperor william i., is to many visitors more charming than any of the historic castles and palaces of potsdam. distant two or three miles from these, it is in striking contrast with them all. it is a modern villa in the norman style, in a beautiful and extensive park northeast of potsdam. one does not wonder that it was dearest of all his residences to the heart of the aged emperor. here, more than elsewhere, are the evidences and atmosphere of a simple yet courtly home life. babelsburg should be visited in the early summer, when the trees of its great forest are showing their first leaves, clothed, and yet not obstructing the unrivalled view by land and water, and when the sward is embroidered by daisies and buttercups. here the private rooms of emperor william i. and empress augusta were freely shown, with scattered papers, work-basket, fires laid in the grates ready to light for the cool mornings and evenings, halls, staircases, reception-rooms, library, study, and sleeping-rooms, as homelike and everyday-looking as though they were those of any happy family in any part of the land. of special interest to english travellers is the suite of rooms fitted up for the reception of the princess royal when she came to germany as a bride in . the chambers are hung with chintz of pale pink and other delicate colors, such as one sees in england, and with the same dainty arrangements which make english bedrooms a synonym for spotless comfort the world around. here were arranged the pictures of father and queen-mother and brothers and sisters, and the little souvenirs of home with which, as an english girl of seventeen, she fought the homesickness inevitable to a stranger in a foreign land; and here many of them remain, in the rooms still called by her name. the "marble palace" is seen to fine advantage, in the midst of lovely waters, from the road which leads from potsdam to gleinicke. it was the summer home of the present emperor, while prince william, and is not open to visitors. xi. the homes of the humboldts. an hour by tramway, northwest of berlin, lies tegel, the hereditary estate of the humboldt family. about two hundred years ago its hills and dales, pine forests and sandy plains, were the property of the great elector. some eighty years later, a pomeranian major in the army of frederick the great was high in favor with the king on account of his distinguished service in the seven years' war, and was rewarded by gifts and promotions. to william von humboldt, eldest son of this major and royal chamberlain, descended the château and lands of the former royal hunting-lodge of tegel. though this was not, in strict sense, the home of the more famous younger brother, alexander, these were his ancestral acres. here he often came to this brother, whose death in his arms in cast a lasting shadow over his lonely life; and here, beside the brother and his family, his mortal part lies buried. a bright april morning was the time of our visit. the outskirts of a great city are seldom more free from unpleasant sights than the northern suburb through which we passed. here and there, in the plain which surrounds berlin, sandy knolls appear; now and then the tall chimney of a manufactory or a brewery pierces the sky; but the city insensibly gives place to the country. clean-swept garden paths, trim hedges of gooseberry bushes just bursting into leaf, and hens scratching the freshly turned furrows, brought back a childlike delight in the spring-time; while the antiquarian tastes of later years were fed by glimpses of delicious old houses which raised their drooping eyelids in quaint gable-windows looking forth over ivy-mantled walls, as if in sleepy surprise at all the bustle and stir of this work-a-day world. one or two hamlets had been passed, and the camp, from which we had met a train of artillery and many companies of soldiers on their way to the city, when the tram-conductor announced the village of tegel, the end of the route. a few rods, and a turn to the left past some mills brings us to the entrance of the castle park. an obelisk, battered and ancient-looking enough to belong to the age of cleopatra, stands beside the modest iron gate of the entrance. an old peasant-woman passing with a pack on her back answers our question by saying that this is an ancient milestone which formerly stood a little above its present site; and we surmise that its mutilated condition is due to relic-hunters. inside the gate we see a grassy plain with sandy patches; here and there are deep open ditches for drainage; and avenues stretch off in several directions, bounded by rows of great overarching trees. we follow one reaching toward higher ground and forest-covered hills. on an elevation a few rods farther on stands the château,--the old hunting-lodge no more, but a two-story roman villa, rectangular, with square towers at the corners, on each face of which is a carved frieze with a greek inscription. back of this "schloss," but not hidden by it, on a smooth slope, is a large ancient one-story dwelling with side front, in good preservation. its ivy mantle does not conceal the frame, which is filled in with stuccoed brick, and which alone would proclaim the age of the building. the long slope of the mossy roof must hide a wonderful old attic, for it is full of tiled "eyes" to admit light and air, and two or three single panes of glass are inserted in different places for the same purpose. three windows on each side the low doorway in the front look forth on the quiet scene, the lace curtains within revealing glimpses of a cosey, homelike interior. on one side are supplementary buildings fit for companionship with this quaint home, and a fenced garden and ancient orchard, beyond which five woodmen were leisurely sawing an old-fashioned woodpile of immense size;--only princely estates can supply such a luxury in these degenerate days. the shadow of death was in the villa. two days before, frau von bülow, the last of the humboldts, had been carried forth, to rest beside her husband and children, her father william, and her uncle alexander von humboldt. the gnarled and twisted stem of a venerable ivy clasps with two arms one of the most majestic of the tall trees before the house, one branch bearing large leaves of a tender green, the other small and beautifully outlined leaves of dark maroon exquisitely veined. beds bordered with box are bright with pansies. we wander onward, along the great shaded avenue, with level green fields on either side. an opening suddenly sets a study in color before our eyes. the unbroken stretch of sward southward is in most vivid spring green; there is a gleam of blue water beyond the tender purple of a distant forest, overhung by the fleecy cumuli of a perfect but constantly changing sky. it is simple and beautiful beyond description. we approach some wooded hills, well cared for, but lifting themselves upward in the beauty of nature, not art. buttercups and star-grass and chickweed arrest us occasionally by the roadside, until a wooded pathway brings us to a plot surrounded by an iron fence. within, an old woman is trimming the ivy overspreading a grave, and there are eight or ten other mounds, all ivy or flower covered, and with low headstones. at the west end of the enclosure is a semicircular stone platform, with a stone seat skirting the circumference. from the centre rises a lofty shaft of polished granite, bearing on its summit a statue of hope, by thorwaldsen. on the pedestal are the names of william von humboldt and his noble wife, and near it the newly closed grave of this daughter, who at the age of eighty-five, after a distinguished life, sleeps here beneath the funeral wreaths which hide the mound, and bear, on long black or white ribbons, the names of societies and eminent families who have sent these tributes of remembrance and affection. white hyacinths and lilies-of-the-valley perfume the air, and palm-branches lie on the new-made grave, above the flowers. i treasure an ivy leaf or two, given by the workwoman, and pick up a cone which has just fallen from a fir-tree upon the grave of alexander, as i read the inscription on his headstone: "thou too wilt at last come to the grave; how art thou preparing?" this simple epitaph, with name and age, is all, except his earthly work, that speaks for him who was once, after napoleon bonaparte, the most famous man in europe, and who, in learning and in devotion to nature, was as great as he was famous. from the little burial-ground we took a hill-path, hoping for a more distant view than we had found but hardly expecting it. ascending gradually, there were glimpses of forests and hills far to the northward; and a porter's lodge, and stables, in a vale amid the trees, revealed only by the distant baying of a hound, and the blue smoke curling upward. still we wound along, over the hillsides and under the trees, pausing occasionally to rest on simple rustic seats, on which were carved the initials of former pilgrims to these scenes. faring onward, there came a sudden burst of light and beauty. "far, far o'er hill and dale" shines the blue expanse of the tegeler see, with sunshine flooding all the broad acres between. the fortress spires of spandau and the dome of the royal palace of charlottenburg spring from the purple, forest-rimmed horizon; and beyond is a tangle of history written on the sky in domes and palaces and spires, i know not what, nor how many. to the delight of this sudden vision is added the thought of the generations of men and women who have trod this forest path, and whose eyes have been gladdened by this sight, until a file of mounted knights and nobles, from the great elector through a line of kings and emperors, of grand dames and fair princesses, has swept in stately procession down the hill-side to be followed in imagination by the footsteps of many of the greatest men in literature, science, and philosophy which europe has brought forth, and by those of statesmen and diplomatists from every quarter of the globe. returning to the château, we passed between it and the ancient house, when lo! a glance at the rear of the modern villa toward a second-story bay window under the spreading shade of a venerable tree told a new tale. i did not then know the history of the buildings, and it had seemed that only the low cottage was ancient, and the roman villa comparatively modern. but here was a tell-tale slope of ancient roof, with a square port-hole of a window just beneath it, peeping forth behind the modern bay-window under the tree-tops, all out of harmony with the lines of roman towers and roofs; and so we knew that the château was only modern in appearance, but ancient in reality. a day full of quiet beauty, not unmingled with delight, this had proved; worth to the heart, in some moods, acres of canvas and chiselled marble within the walls of royal museums. but we were not yet quite satisfied. in the oranienburger strasse in berlin stands a city house of the last century. here, with a serving-man as the real master of his house,--with no wife, no child,--the author of "kosmos" did much of his best work. "i was often with my father in humboldt's house during his lifetime," said my german hostess to me, after my return from these visits. "he lived among his books, in his study in the back of the house,--the second story, looking into the court; for he could not bear the noise of the street in the front rooms." to this place we found our way in returning from tegel. we stood before it in the street, and read the inscription on the marble tablet in the front wall: "in this house lived alexander von humboldt from the year till _he went forth_, may , ." entering the street door, we inquired of the bright-eyed little daughter of the porter, who had been left in charge, if we could see the second floor, where humboldt used to live. "no," said the child; "there is nothing to see. others live there now. as for humboldt, you can see his statue before the university!" the privilege of looking upon the home surroundings of humboldt in berlin was accorded us later, by an american gentleman into whose possession they had come. his massive old writing-desk, with a great mirror behind it, and deep drawers,--each bearing his seal,--where he kept his most valued curiosities and correspondence, and where now repose many of his autograph papers, is worth going far to see. here, too, are a smaller writing-desk, his champagne glasses, quill pens, lamp-screen, candlestick, snuffers, and the last candle which he used. these and other significant and home-like memorials belong not to germany, but to america, unless germany repurchase them, as she should. only in the house so long the home of their master will they fittingly repose, as the memorials of goethe and schiller adorn the homes that were theirs at weimar. during the conversation with the child of the porter at the house in oranienburger strasse, i had looked into the large and pleasant court, and saw the great vine clambering up over the wall which must have been in sight from the study. here doubtless it was that bayard taylor, the famous young traveller visiting the famous old traveller, had the interview which he described so vividly that at the distance of more than thirty years recorded bits of the conversation remain distinctly traced in our memory. "humboldt showed me a chameleon," wrote taylor, "remarking on its curious habit of casting one eye upward and the other downward at the same time,--'a faculty possessed also by some clergymen,'" added the facetious old man, as though he had discovered a new fact in natural history. turning to a map of the holy land, humboldt gave the young guest minute directions for his contemplated journey, until the very stones by the wayside seemed to grow familiar to the listener. "when were you there?" asked mr. taylor. "i was never there," replied humboldt. "i prepared to go in --," naming a date thirty or forty years before. in such preparation for work lies an open secret of greatness. in the little cemetery at tegel, which has now no vacant place, humboldt's epitaph speaks to the living. his virtues and his faults are left to the judgment of the omniscient. in the gallery of her great men germany places the colossal figure of humboldt beside that of goethe. more than one century must pass before the place of either is finally determined in the perspective of history. xii. philanthropic work. this has many departments,--educational, humane, and religious. although the churches of berlin are sufficient for only a very small per cent of the population, many private and semi-public enterprises carried on by christian people show a true spirit of devotion to the good of humanity. the "pestalozzi-froebel-haüs" was established some years ago by a grand-niece of froebel, who endeavors thus to carry out the principles of her great-uncle, whose instruction and companionship she enjoyed in her youth. still in the prime of life, of gracious and winning presence, full of noble enthusiasm in doing good and of love for children; a devoted student of the principles and philosophy of education, ably seconded by her husband, who is a member of the imperial diet, and by other gentlemen and ladies of position and influence, and with the faithful assistance of teachers trained under her own supervision,--this lady already sees the ripening fruit of this renowned system of education. after struggling with obstacles at the outset, on account of limited means and lack of accommodations, the enterprise was finally established at no. steinmitz strasse, by the generosity of two of the gentlemen referred to; and from the time it had a settled home, prosperity followed. "we wish to show that all work is honorable," said the directress to me, "and our teachers are all _ladies_." the aim of the institution is to develop healthfully and fully the children committed to its care, and to prepare girls to be good mothers, kindergarten teachers, housekeepers, and servants. there is thus a kindergarten proper, with several departments; and a training-school with two grades, in one of which young ladies are received who are preparing to be educators, and in the other, girls to be trained for household work. no distinction is made in receiving rich and poor. having learned by experience that the poor truly value only that for which they make some return, the managers set a price upon everything, except help in cases of sickness. in cases of extreme poverty some member of the committee pays the dues; and in illness, appliances and comforts, medicines, and the services of a trained nurse are furnished without charge whenever there is need. the kindergarten had, at the time of my visit, over one hundred children, between the ages of two and seven years. the price of tuition is about twelve cents a month to the poor, and seventy-five cents per month to those able to pay this larger sum. the children are brought in the morning by the mothers or nurses, and taken away early in the afternoon. they are divided into groups of about a dozen, under supervision of the heads of the different departments, assisted by those who are learning the system in the normal or training school. each group has, alternating with the others, garden-play and work, and house-guidance and help. we were first shown into a secluded walled garden-plot, covered only with clean sand. the children are disciplined by freedom, as well as healthful restraint. in this sand-garden they are free. with their little wooden shovels and spoons, and with their hands, they revel in the sand, as all healthy children do. they were no more abashed by our presence than tamed and petted birdlings would be to feed from the hand of those they had learned to love and trust. in the next garden, radiant with spring sunshine, a lady was surrounded by a group who were digging, planting, watering,--veteran gardeners of three and a half years. they are not free, but must learn obedience as well as gardening during the hour they spend here. pansies in bloom bordered the regular beds and trim walks, and some were watering them from little water-pots. the stone wall around the four sides of the enclosure was covered by a vine just bursting into leaf. this had been trained, twig by twig, against the wall, by tiny fingers under the guidance of the lady in charge. a rustic summer-house contained a table, and seats of different heights. here were seeds and implements for immediate use. every stray leaf and bit of waste was brought by the children to a corner appropriated to it, covered with earth, and left to become dressing for the beds; thus teaching at once the chemistry of nature and the value of neatness and economy. to another corner the children were encouraged to bring all the stones and shells they could find; and thus a rock-grotto was growing. from the gardens we went into the house. in the first room the two-year-olds were on low seats before a long table, where each had his six by ten inches of sand-plot, in which, with tiny wooden shovels and rakes, they were laying out garden beds and sticking in green leaves and cut pansies to make the wilderness blossom. behind these were seats and tables for those who were a little older and could do real work. in a large tin dish-pan, two or three, under suitable supervision, were washing flower-pots with sponges and tepid water; others were filling the clean pots by taking spoonfuls of black loam from another pan; others, having been shown pansy plants with roots, and told that the plants took nourishment and drank water by means of these root-mouths, were pressing them carefully into the earth-filled pots and giving them water. in an anteroom two or three children were helping to wash the leaves of ivies and other plants, having had the office of the leaves simply explained. all was done with such care that the clean faces and garments of the children were not soiled, nor the floor and desks littered. "we try to make one idea the centre of thought for the week,--not to confuse the minds of the children by too much at once," said the directress. "this week it is pansies." in the garden children were watering pansies in bloom, and pansies were cut and dug for use in the house, where they were the materials for play and work. in one room the children had cards in their hands, in which they had pricked the outlines of pansies. each had a needle threaded with a color selected by itself, with which to work this outline. in another room they were painting pansies. at easter time the lesson was on eggs. we were shown eggs colored by the children in their own devices, birds' nests, feathers, etc. one treasure, i remember, was a blue card on which a barn was outlined by straws sewed to the surface, showing roof, hayloft, and stairs, mounting which was a lordly fowl cut from white paper. one room is called "the baby room." at a long low table sat nearly twenty children, with dolls of every size and complexion, cradles, baby-wagons, changes of clothing for the dolls, beds, a tiny kitchen-range, with furniture, and every other accessory to doll life. the bathing is a department by itself. every child is bathed, as a rule, when it is received. then in the afternoon, once a week, many are brought for the regular weekly bath, which is so conducted as to make the children like it. the cost of the weekly bath is two and a half cents, and the children who are old enough often remind their mothers to save the small coin for this purpose. all the children are given a luncheon in the middle of the forenoon. parents who desire it can have a dinner of good porridge also served to their children, about noon, at a cost of a little more than one cent. as the children approach the age of six, they enter the elementary class, where they have slates and pencils and a blackboard, and are taught the elements of reading. this is the only school exercise, so called, connected with the institution, and is to prepare the children to enter the public schools. after they leave the kindergarten, some are received in the afternoons,--the girls to be taught sewing, and the boys carpentering. the last department shown to us was the music-room. here the little ones stood, and counted, and beat double time, under the direction of a leader, to a slow, melodious air played on the piano. then they marched, keeping step, and still counting the time. after this they took tambourines, triangles, drums, and clappers, and made a noise, in perfect time and tune. "children like a noise," said the directress. "here they have it, but under direction and limitation. some of the boys, when they are received here," continued the lady, "are so very, very naughty; but when they come to the music-class and have this noise, then they grow quiet and good. if it is taken away, they get naughty again." a religious atmosphere is sought, as the only one in which child-nature can normally develop. they have daily morning prayers and songs, religious books and pictures, such as "christ blessing little children," and at christmas time stories of the birth of christ. benevolence in their relations to one another is sedulously cultivated. the four-or-five-year-olds make little wooden spades and rakes for the two-or-three-year-olds, saying gravely, "we do it for the little ones." meetings are held by the directress with the mothers, and in several parts of the city three or four mothers have united in supporting little kindergartens for their own families. the teaching of the directress is also put in practice by mothers in their own homes, where much more time is devoted to the children than formerly. as applications are constantly on hand for more than can be received to this institution, i asked if the revenue from fees and gifts were devoted to the enlargement of the accommodations. "no; for _perfecting_ the system and its methods," was the reply. and this seemed to me to be the key to this most interesting undertaking. a perfect development of child-nature is sought; and a kindergarten means here, "not several hours a day spent in much folding of papers and braiding of pretty things," said the directress, but a many-sided and all-embracing culture of the whole being. having given this full account of the methods of the kindergarten, the description of the department for the training of teachers may be omitted. not so with the department devoted to the preparation of girls who have left school for the duties of wives, mothers, nurses, housekeepers, and servants. in this important department of the pestalozzi-froebel-haüs, over forty young women from the various ranks of life were gathered. it was under the special patronage of the crown princess, whose own daughters were its first pupils. the lady who directed the teaching of washing and ironing kept a close eye to the perfection of the work, which is all classified. at one time table-linen is washed and ironed properly; at another, the best methods of treating dish-towels are taught; at another, the washing of flannels and the doing up of prints and ginghams; at another, clear-starching, the cleansing of laces and fine materials; and so on, until the whole round of a family laundry has been scientifically taught and enforced by practice. in one room a girl of fourteen or fifteen, formerly a pupil in the kindergarten, was washing windows and paint. well dressed, she was poised on a step-ladder, polishing a large pane of glass with a chamois skin. her pail of suds stood on the shining floor, with a bit of oil-cloth under it, that not a drop of water should touch the varnish. i involuntarily looked at the wall-paper along the edges of the window and door casings and baseboards, and saw that no careless washcloth had ever left its trail on a surface for which it was not designed. as i glanced back at the maiden, she was folding her towels and placing them in a covered basket, with a compartment for each. we were now conducted to the kitchen. it was a large and pleasant room, in the second or third story, with three double windows looking out on a beautiful garden, the floor a marble or tile mosaic, and the walls frescoed. dainty curtains hung at the upper part of the windows, in such a way as not to exclude light or air. opposite the windows was a large range, on which the dinner for the family and for various ladies who statedly dine in the institution was cooking. two of the ten young ladies present were learning that difficult art,--the management of a fire so as to produce desired and exact results in cooking, themselves having the entire responsibility of feeding it and regulating the draughts. on a thin marble slab another was cutting fresh beef into bits, which she presently placed in a bottle for the purpose of preparing nourishment for a member of the family who was ill. the preparation of food for the sick is taught in all its branches with utmost care. two had evidently reached that branch of the cooking art which involves the preparation of luxuries by delicate processes. they were seated apart, each stirring, drop by drop, oil or flavoring into a sauce. one of the principles taught is that of the utmost economy of material. the teachers, with the young ladies under instruction who desire it, and the nurses, constitute the family, and have good and wholesome food, all prepared by those who are learning cookery. the making of delicacies and expensive dishes is also taught; and these are served to certain ladies, who dine at the house to test these dishes, for perhaps three months at a time, gladly paying for the privilege. shining tin and other utensils, wooden and iron ware of the most approved patterns, in every size and variety, were systematically ranged about the kitchen in a way really ornamental. at one side were weights and measures, where everything brought in was tested. a map of the world, showing the productions of every zone and country, hung beside the sugar and spice table; and beside it was a glass cupboard, containing phials showing the analysis of every article of food. one small table was devoted to good and bad samples of household food supplies, the samples being in cubical boxes about an inch and a half each way, set into a large box with compartments, the whole so arranged as to show easily the qualities to be desired and those not to be desired by the purchaser. the book-keeper had her desk and account-books, where the amount of every article purchased and its cost were duly entered. the superintendent of the kitchen, with fine and ladylike courtesy, showed us her book of written questions, which those under her charge were required to be able to answer both from a scientific and a practical standpoint. one department of this domestic school is the supervision of a milk-route. the children of berlin, like those of all large cities, especially among the poor, suffer for want of milk, or of that which is good. here the milk of two or three large dairies in the country is bought by the kindergarten committee. it costs them, by wholesale, much less than people in the city pay for poor milk. this good milk is supplied at a low price by an attendant, who is directed to carry the milk into the dwelling, instead of requiring the poor mother to leave her children and go to the wagon for it, as is the general custom. in the sewing-room mending and darning alternate, on certain days, with the cutting and making of plain garments. this department supplements the teaching of sewing in the public schools by instruction in only the higher kinds of plain sewing, and the surgery required to make "old clothes almost as good as new." every part of the duty and work of an ordinary nurse is taught, like all the other departments, with the utmost faithfulness and excellence; and this department was supported by the crown princess. as we passed from the bathing-department, we met a sweet-faced nurse going out, who immediately returned with us, throwing off her alpaca duster, and showing, unasked, her private rooms to the unexpected american visitors with the greatest cordiality and the most ladylike grace. refinement and perfect order characterized the rooms. there were closets with shelves filled with bed-linen and undergarments for the sick in every size. this bedding and clothing is loaned to the sick poor without charge, on the sole condition that they shall return it clean. the washed and ironed articles neatly piled and folded bespoke both gratitude and faithfulness on the part of beneficiaries. water-beds and other appliances for the use and comfort of the sick were stored in another place, and in still another were garments kept for gifts to the convalescent and particularly needy. as the nurse kneeled to replace a water-bed she had been showing us, the lady director lifted an ornament which she wore about her neck on a silver chain. her color deepened prettily, as we saw that it was the monogram of the crown princess in silver, bestowed only for brave and specially meritorious service in nursing. if germany is too slow, as we believe, in according to women the opportunity for higher education, surely this institution sets a noble example in that which to the world in general is of vast and incalculable importance. a mission to the cabmen of berlin is conducted by a benevolent lady with great modesty but with most eminent success. the berlin cabman is a picturesque object in summer he wears a dark blue suit with silvered buttons, a vest and collar of scarlet, and a black hat with a cockade and a white or yellow band. in winter, a great astrakhan cap with tassels surmounts his bronzed features, he is enveloped in a long blue great-coat with a cape, and his feet are encased in immense boots with soles often from one to two inches thick. the covered carriage known as a drosky is a rather lumbering vehicle on four wheels. formerly every one rode in these droskies, the fares being very low. but within a few years the tram-car, which is increasingly popular, has diverted patronage from the cabs, and the times are hard for the cabman. he must pay a certain sum to the company which controls the cabs, for the use and keeping of the horse and vehicle; must purchase his uniform at his own expense; and if his receipts bring him anything over and above these outlays, he has the surplus for the support of himself and family. how the average cabman in berlin manages in this way to live, is a mystery. his family must dwell in a cellar or attic, or eke out their subsistence by taking lodgers, washing, or by any other means which they can find. all must live on insufficient food; and this, with constant exposure to the weather and enforced idleness much of the time, is a constant temptation to drinking-habits. beer-shops are numerous near the cab-stands; and the small change in the cabman's pocket often goes into their coffers, when it should be saved for the poor wife and children in his wretched home. about twenty years ago a german lady of noble birth, an invalid, employed as her substitute in doing good among the poor a christian widow, whom she instructed to go out among the cabmen and their families. this work is still under the supervision of the lady who began it, and, now restored to health, she gives a large part of her time and means to this mission, assisted by a deaconess and six bible-women under her direction, who reach the families of about eight hundred cabmen. if possible, the cabman is won, often through his family; and sometimes the long idle hours on his drosky-box are beguiled by the memorizing of verses from the little testament given him to carry in his pocket. then a circulating library is kept constantly in use by the bible-woman, who carries a book in her bag to each house which she visits, leaving it until her round again gives the opportunity of taking it up and putting another in its place. best of all is the friendship which springs up between these poor people and their helpers. doubt, anxiety, trouble, misfortune, all find loving sympathy; and when serious illness comes, especially in contagious and malignant diseases, when friends and neighbors flee, then this mission brings light into the darkness. the deaconess is also a trained nurse, to whom a yearly stipend is given, that she may devote her entire time to the work; and she is constantly going from one family to another, as scarlet-fever, diphtheria, and other diseases call for her help. as a special favor, i was allowed, with a few other american friends, to be present at an evening tea-meeting, such as are held frequently for the cabmen and their wives. an opening hymn, in which all joined, was sung; a passage of scripture was read, and prayer offered. a "gospel song" was well sung by a german gentleman as a solo, and then there was a familiar address from the eloquent court-preacher frommel. another prayer followed, another song, and then the tea was served. in a side room, separated by sliding doors from the audience, i had noticed, when we entered, ladies flitting about long tables and hovering over white china. the countess waldersee was there, in simple apparel, helping to pass the tea and abundant cakes and sandwiches, as were also two granddaughters of chevalier bunsen, and other representatives of honorable and noble christian families. meantime the baroness who is the cherishing mother of this work was helping, as occasion required; both she and her deaconess going from one row of seats to another, speaking a friendly word here, bestowing a greeting or answering an inquiry there, and unconsciously followed by a wake of happiness everywhere. as the wounded soldiers in crimean hospitals turned to kiss the shadow of florence nightingale passing them, there was surely gladness in hearts and on faces here that would have counted it a privilege to kiss the place hallowed by the footsteps of these christian women. about four hundred were present in the plain moravian chapel which is always used for these tea-meetings. fewer men than women were present, as many of the cabmen must be at their posts until near midnight. from time to time the bible-woman at the door softly opened it for the entrance of one who had thought it better to come late than not at all. as these men in their picturesque garb came, cold and hungry, into the warm and well-lighted room, i looked to see if their physical wants were supplied before they were asked to partake of the spiritual feast. to my great satisfaction i discerned that a well-filled table had been spread just inside the entrance-door, from which they were served as soon as chairs had been handed them; and from time to time great motherly tea-pots went the rounds, to fill all cups a second time. when they had been warmed and fed, they often moved forward to be nearer the speakers; and when the exercises were over, one and another found his wife in the audience, and together they went out. as this was going forward, a parting hymn was struck, which seemed to form no part of the programme. inquiring, i was told that this was always sung in parting, in remembrance of an occasion very sad, but also very precious, to their benefactress. the sullen roar of a great coming conflict of social elements breaks on the shore of every land, now rising, now lulling, but every day drawing nearer. the simple chapel of this scene is little more than a stone's-throw from the palace of the chancellor of the german empire. here, in sympathy and helpfulness, and not there, in absolutism, will be heard the voice which only can say, "peace, be still!"--the voice which says to-day, as of old, "inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, ye have done it unto me." the young men's christian association of berlin has the hearty sympathy and assistance of count bernsdorff, lately an officer of the empress augusta's household and well known in diplomatic circles, of court-preacher frommel, and others widely known in other spheres of influence. its intelligence-office has had nearly fifty thousand calls for advice and help in a single year, and twenty committees from its membership actively co-operate in different lines of work. besides its various religious meetings, daily and weekly, at which there was an aggregate attendance of between fifteen and twenty thousand in one recent year, it maintains a well-equipped reading-room and library, a hall for gymnastic exercises, and fine reception-rooms. tea-meetings are also frequently held here; and two courses of lectures in english and two courses in french are given, besides courses of instruction in stenography and book-keeping. a male quartette gives frequent musical entertainments, and in one winter thirteen "musical evenings" held forth manifold attractions to this music-loving people. the committee of ladies co-operating in this work assists in obtaining positions, manages tea-meetings, etc.; and the management asserts that it increasingly realizes "how important is the eye and hand of woman in all its work." the magnificent gardens and park attached to the war department were, during our visit to berlin, opened on a beautiful may afternoon and evening, by the co-operation of the countess waldersee and under the patronage of the prince and princess william, to a promenade concert for the benefit of this association. two of the finest military bands alternated in rendering popular and classical music; and few who were present will ever forget the striking scene, where, amid the flower-bordered lawns, under sunset skies slowly fading through the long twilight into the gayly lighted evening, hundreds of ladies and gentlemen, some in bright military uniforms, some with the insignia of rank, and some with only the stamp of nature's noblemen, gathered about the refreshment-tables, chatted in groups apart, or sauntered along the fine old avenues under the towering trees or beside the lakes and fountains, the hours seeming all too short under the inspiration of the place and the music. prince william, always in uniform, and the charming princess, on this occasion in the simplest and plainest dress, mingled quietly with the company. as we passed out through the great gateway between nine and ten o'clock, the steeds of their state carriage were champing, and pawing the pavement of the quadrangle, held in check by the officials who were awaiting their return. the crown princess frederick was the patroness of nearly every undertaking in berlin for the good of women and children, and, with her noble husband, often visited among them. "on one occasion," said a german lady to me, "some one asked of the crown prince the particulars of a certain benevolent enterprise. 'ask my wife,' replied the prince; 'she knows everything,'" it is certain that, from kindergarten and other schools, to cooking-schools, training-schools for nurses, hospitals, and a school for the daughters of officers who would be taught art, literature, science, as a practical help in the battle of self-support, there seemed to be no enterprise which could not count as its chief patron the crown princess victoria. the aged empress augusta was also the patron of girls' schools and soup-kitchens, to the number of more than a dozen, and was counted by many the especial friend of the very poor. one of the most interesting institutions to which we had access was founded upwards of twenty years ago by dr. adolph lette, of berlin, whose plans have since his death been faithfully carried out by his daughter, frau schepeler-lette, who devotes nearly her entire time to its supervision. it was also under the patronage of the crown princess. its object is to promote the higher education and practical industry of women, and to render single and friendless women the help and protection so much needed in all large cities. many english and some american girls have reason to bless this institution, which knows no rank, no nationality, but only need, as the password to its gracious and abounding ministries. one of its departments is the charlotten-stiftung, intended to help destitute daughters of german noblemen and military and civil officers to earn their own livelihood by giving them a practical education, especially in dress-making, cooking, and the management of a household. this department was founded and endowed by a noble german lady with property yielding an annual income of nearly twenty thousand dollars. another department is the bank of loans. its object is to assist unmarried women in establishing and maintaining shops, especially those who wish to establish business in some art-industry. no individual loan is to exceed one hundred and fifty dollars, and each is to be repaid in small instalments at five per cent interest. one per cent of the loan is to be repaid within four weeks after it is made, and the remainder in small specified sums fortnightly. the annual income of the "bank of loans" is about two thousand dollars. these departments, though most successful, are subordinate in interest to the main work of the lette-verein, as at present conducted, which has a commercial training-school, a school of industry and drawing, and a school of fine arts. the commercial school offers two courses, of one and two years respectively. girls and women, married or unmarried, are there offered the advantages of thorough instruction in writing and stenography, commercial reckoning and correspondence, book-keeping, knowledge of goods, commerce, banking affairs, and money matters in general. lessons in french, english, and german, in grammar, geography, correspondence, and conversation, are also given. the fee for tuition is about forty dollars per annum. we were much interested in the school of industry. here were girls and women, mostly young, in bright, cheery, and well-lighted rooms, going through all stages of graded and scientific instruction in the cutting and making of dresses, mantles, and underwear, plain needlework, and in all kinds of embroidery and lace-work. the use of a sewing-machine is taught in a term of two months, six lessons each week. millinery in all branches, the making of the finest artificial flowers by french methods, glove-making by machinery, and hair-dressing are practically carried on for the instruction of those who wish to learn these industries. a school of cookery, in which we were allowed to inspect the scientific classification and analysis of provisions and to test the appetizing results of numerous ladylike pupils in various stages of proficiency, impressed us with the inestimable value of its training. in all these departments the pupils are expected to pay moderate fees, varying from twenty-five cents to one dollar per week; and entrance to any department can be made on the first of every month. two lessons per week are given in the science of teaching, for a term of six months. the employment bureau has a vast correspondence, and is an agency of great good, as a medium of communication between women and girls in want of positions, and the employers of labor. a school and lodging-house for the training of servant-girls has been much called for, and has lately been started. the drawing-school has a seminary for the training of teachers, and a school for teaching the different branches of industrial drawing. there are free-hand drawing from copies and plaster models, perspective and geometrical drawing, the drawing and painting of ornamental and practical designs, and flower-painting on wood, china, and paper, with thorough courses of one and two years in the history of art. modelling in clay, wax, and designs for gold and silver industry, bronzes, etc., are given eight hours in each week. there is also a school of type-setting in connection with the berlin typographical company, in which female compositors over the age of sixteen may be received, to the number of thirty-six, under the close supervision of the lette-verein, and at which, after an apprenticeship of six months, all pupils are paid for their work. there is a boarding-house, called the victoria-stift, in connection with this institution, with a _café_ or refreshment-room, where the tables are supplied, to ladies, at economical prices, from the cooking-school. it has also a lending-library and a victoria bazar, where all kinds of needlework done by the pupils are offered for sale, and orders are taken for family sewing. xiii. around berlin. berlin, on account of its general healthfulness and its combination of economical and other attractions, is esteemed by many experienced travellers as, on the whole, the continental city best adapted to an extended residence abroad. to the visitor with limited time, the city itself and potsdam--"the prussian versailles"--monopolize the attention. but to those who can spend more time there, the attractive environs and places which may be seen within the limits of a day's excursion are many and varied. grünewald, not far beyond charlottenburg, is the seat of a royal hunting-lodge, and its fine old woods are most attractive. it may be reached by railway and steam-tram, and also, in summer, by water. the extensive forest occupies a great stretch of country below the junction of the spree with the havel, which here, on the west, loiters and meanders and turns upon itself; now spreading out into wide lakes, now narrowing to a thread, but finally reaching in its dubious course the wide-flowing elbe. the great bay into which the havel here expands has pretty islands and shores. pichelsberg, at the northern extremity of the bay, is a place of popular resort, where observation of nature is rather concentrated on that branch known as human nature. wansee, at the southern extremity, is picturesque and rural,--a delightful place in which to spend a quiet day in early summer. spandau, eight miles west of berlin, at the junction of the spree with the havel, has much historical and military interest. here, surrounded by immense fortifications, is the workshop of the german army; and here in the citadel, or old "julius tower," are kept "the sinews of war," in the form of a reserve military fund of from fifteen million to thirty million dollars. the railway toward hanover leads on from spandau to the long-settled region near the crossing of the elbe, which here flows northward between high banks. not far from the elbe is the railway station of schönhausen, some two hours' ride from berlin. the estate of schönhausen had been in the bismarck family two hundred and fifty years, when the chancellor was born there in . later, this old family inheritance passed to other ownership; but the numerous friends and admirers of the great diplomatist repurchased it, and presented it to him on his seventieth birthday, april , . the great gratification of possessing this ancient home hardly induces prince von bismarck to spend much time there. possibly it is within too easy reach of his cares in the capital. the distant friedrichsruh in the forest of sachsenswald, within a dozen miles of hamburg, and more than one hundred and fifty miles northwest of berlin, is his favorite residence; and varzin, upwards of two hundred miles to the northeast, in baltic pomerania, sometimes wins him to its still greater quiet and seclusion. here bismarck received our countryman, the historian motley, and his daughter, with the delightful welcome to companionship and the simple and informal family life so charmingly portrayed in motley's correspondence. the whole region of schönhausen was as early settled as berlin itself. fine old churches, castles, and mediæval town walls mark the neighboring towns of stendal and tangermünde, the latter the long-time seat of the margraves of brandenburg. a short détour from the main line to the northwest of berlin brings one to fehrbellin, where the great elector defeated a swedish army double the size of his own. in the same region are neu ruppin and rheinsberg, each connected with many memories of the youth of frederick the great. at the castle of rheinsberg he spent the comparatively happy years of his unhappy married life. his neglected queen, who never saw his favorite palace at sans souci, and who was wife and queen only in name for many long years, said that the early days at rheinsberg were her happiest. though these places are hardly more than thirty miles northwest of berlin, lack of railway connections renders it impracticable to visit them in a single day. the most direct thoroughfare to copenhagen, that by way of rostock, passes, outside the elevated railway known as the ringbahn, the village of pankow, also reached by tramway, and also once the residence of the queen of frederick the great. this road leads north from berlin, at first through a country dotted with lakes. our memory of these is of beautiful sheets of water, surrounded by the green of mid-june, and over-arched by the blue sky and the fleecy cumuli of a perfect summer day. the characteristic north german landscape was here seen to fine advantage. the color of the cottages and farm-houses harmonizes or contrasts beautifully with the landscape. roofs of brown weather-beaten thatch or of dull red tiles, in the midst of embowering trees and shrubbery, formed for us pictures of beauty long to be remembered. frienwalde, to the northeast, has mineral springs in the most attractive part of brandenburg, and is growing as a place of summer resort. the fine old monastery, and the ruined early gothic abbey-church of chorin on the stettin railway, the burial-place of the margraves of brandenburg, are interesting to all students of architecture. an eastern suburb of berlin is köpenick, in the château of which the youthful frederick the great was tried for his life by court-martial, by order of his tyrannical father; and in the same direction, an hour from berlin by express-train, is cüstrin, whose strong castle was the scene of his subsequent imprisonment, and where, in sight from his window, his noble friend, lieutenant von katte, was beheaded on the ramparts for no other crime than fidelity to his young master. another most interesting excursion is that to frankfort-on-the-oder, two hours eastward of berlin. this largest city of brandenburg outside the capital has a varied history, dating from before the time when this region was won from the heathen slavs to germany and christianity. this old stronghold of the wendish race saw many vicissitudes in the great wars of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, being the last important place on the great trading-route from poland to berlin. it has annual fairs which are relics of these olden times, interesting mediæval churches, and a town-house bearing on its gable the device of the hanseatic league,--an oblique rod supported by a shorter perpendicular one. to the southeast, a few miles out on the görlitz railway, is wusterhausen, in the picturesque region of the frequented müggelsberge,--itself made memorable by an episode in carlyle's pages. no more fascinating trip can be taken in summer, after berlin and potsdam have been visited, than to the wild and beautiful spreewald,--a combination of forest and morass not yet wholly redeemed to the civilization of europe, but holding in its remoter depths a genuine relic of the old barbarism. the görlitz railway skirts this forest for twenty-five miles before reaching lübben, some two hours from berlin in a southerly direction. this is the best point of departure from the train for a visit to the forest, which is cut by more than two hundred arms of the spree, some parts of the wood only to be reached by boats or skates. here, in their villages reclaimed from the swamps, live the descendants of the aboriginal wends, who have preserved intact their language, their manners, and their modes of dress. this venice of north-central germany has for streets the water-ways of the spree, and for palaces the log huts of the aboriginal race; but no views of nature are more exquisite than some of those in the upper and lower spreewald. twenty-two miles west of potsdam, on the havel, is the city of brandenburg,--the old brennabor of the slavic people who fortified it before the beginning of modern history. the castle of brandenburg may share with the celebrated and beautiful one of meissen, near dresden, the honor of being the oldest in germany. conquered from the original owners by the emperor henry i. in , it was by them retaken. more than two centuries afterwards, albert the bear captured and kept it, and thenceforth styled himself first margrave of brandenburg. for six hundred years this old town shared in all the strifes of that turbulent and passionate time between the midnight of the dark ages and the dawn of modern history, and its old buildings will tell much of its forgotten story to any one who lays his ear beside their ancient stones to hear. at steglitz, a southwest suburb, may be seen the mulberry plantation and the one silk manufactory of berlin. it was not our lot to find the large nurseries and hot-houses which make the flower-shops and market-places of berlin exquisitely radiant with blossoms at all seasons,--beyond even the famous madeleine flower-market at paris in the season when we visited it--and, if so, surpassing in this respect all other cities. one of the two routes to dresden and leipsic passes lichterfelde, five miles from berlin, where conspicuous buildings are the seat of the chief cadet-school in germany. here are accommodations for eight or nine hundred cadets, the flower of german youth. neither pains nor expense has been spared in the erection and embellishment of these extensive buildings. the "flensburg lion," erected by the danes to commemorate a former victory in schleswig-holstein over the prussians, and later captured by the latter, stands here before the house of the commandant. five or six miles farther on is gross-beeren, a napoleonic battlefield where bülow won a victory over the french in ; and about an hour and a half from berlin, in the same direction, is the little city of jüterbok, with interesting old edifices. the student of the reformation will feel most interest in this place as that where tetzel was selling his famous "indulgences" when luther, protesting in righteous wrath, nailed to the door of the wittenberg church the ninety-five theses which set all germany ablaze. one of these "indulgences" is kept for inspection in the nicolai kirche of jüterbok. near by are the old cistercian abbey of zinna, and another battlefield, dennewitz, an important strategic point in one of the campaigns against the first napoleon, where the victory of bülow over ney and oudinot saved berlin from the hands of the enemy. no student of history--especially no protestant--can afford to visit berlin without an excursion to wittenberg, which may either be compressed into a single day, with a few hours in this old university town which was the cradle of the reformation, or may be pleasantly prolonged to days full of musing on the manifold phases of that unparalleled movement in the history of religious thought, amid the very scenes with which they were most intimately associated. not alone that germany is to-day what luther, more than any other man, has made it, but as heirs to the inheritance which he bequeathed to all lands and ages, are americans called to the profound study of the epoch which luther shaped, and of which our age is but a part. of all intense pleasures, none to us was greater than a humble pilgrimage through germany where our feet were set in the footprints of the reformer. quaint eisleben, with the house where he was born, and that in whose chamber he was suddenly stricken with mortal pain, while his companions watched with awe the passing to higher service of that valiant soul, we had visited before we looked upon wittenberg. mansfield, too, with its flaming forges and its vast cinder-heaps,--where hans luther, the miner, toiled to feed his wife and babes,--we had seen; and historic erfurt, with memories of the university where he studied and the monastery into which he went, taking with him, of all his books, only his plautus and his virgil, to study the latin bible chained to its post, and to fight that mental battle which toughened his sinews for the world-conflicts awaiting him; and whence he emerged at the call of his superior, a young priest of twenty-five years, to take the professorship offered him at the new university of wittenberg. at lovely eisenach we had tarried for days; had entered the door of the once grand house of the burgomaster cotta, before which little martin, with the other charity boys of the school near by, had sung christmas carols for his bread, and where he had been taken to the heart and the home of mother ursula; had peeped into the room there that was his, and been driven up the mountain-side beyond the village whose crown is the fine old castle of the wartburg; had stood at the solitary casement of the room where he fought with the devil, and looked out over the magnificent panorama of wooded mountains and beautiful valley where he looked forth day after day of those ten months of mysterious imprisonment, into which friendly hands had thrust him from the thick of the fight,--where he saw the miracle of spring-time creeping over the hills and waving trees far beneath him, and heard and felt the wintry winds howl around his solitude. he was only thirty-five, but he had already come into conflict with the mightiest power on earth, and his life was forfeited, when here he slowly came to know that god had thoughts of good and not of evil concerning him; and here he began another work,--the translation of the new testament,--for which he never would have had time if left to himself. eisenach, with its dramatic situation, perhaps lingers longest in the memory of men of any place connected with that great story. but if it bore a more poetic share, it was not the most important. it was neither at leipsic nor at heidelberg, at nüremberg nor at speyer, at augsburg nor even at worms, that the great drama had its chief location, though memories of luther were to us among the conspicuous attractions of these places. from the time when the young monk emerged from erfurt, where his preparation for life was made, until at sixty-three he had "finished his course," wittenberg was his only home. for thirty-eight long years here his heart was, and here, like the needle to the pole, the direction of his activities constantly turned. here, in the old augustinian monastery, is the lecture-room and the ancient "cathedra" from which he delivered those lectures which laid the foundation of his fame in the early years of his professorship. here he quietly wrought at his translation of the bible and discharged the duties of his position, while his voice shook the world, and all europe was swaying in the storm, himself the calm centre of the whirlwind. here, at the age of forty-two, he brought his bride, the nun katherine von bora; and in this monastery, presented to him by his friend the elector, his six children were born. hither, when his work was done, his lifeless form was borne, followed by a weeping funeral procession which stretched across germany; and here in the church which had been the scene of so many great sermons, he was laid to rest, with room for melanchthon beside him. here one may enter that other church where he first administered the communion in both kinds to the laity; may read the immortal theses, now in enduring bronze on the doors of the castle church; may pluck a leaf from the oak-tree planted on the spot outside the city gate where he burned the papal bull; may sit in the window-seat of his family-room, surrounded by his table, his bench, and his stove, and listen where that family music seems still to echo; may wander in the old garden, amid the representatives of the trees which shaded him, and the flowers and birds he loved; may sit at the stone table in melanchthon's garden where the names of the friends are inscribed; may stand before their statues in the market-place and hear his voice: "if it be god's work, it will endure; if man's, it will perish." as we live over these days and realize afresh all that history can tell us of the wondrous story, we know that not the polish and the learning of its scientists, its philosophers, and its men of letters, not the prowess of its soldiers and its military leaders, have made united germany possible, but that bible which luther translated for the german people,--that standard of the german tongue which through all the conflicts of three centuries and a half has defied the power of diverse interests, and cemented and preserved the integrity of the nation. index. academy of arts and sciences, . american chapel, - . american thanksgiving banquet, . americans in berlin, , . antiquarium, . apartments, . army, . army bill, debate on, . arsenal, - . art collections, - . babelsburg, - . bach's passion music, . bank, imperial, . belle alliance platz, . berlin, cathedral, . cathedral service, . character of, , . church attendance, . climate, . latitude, . old berlin, . parade, . bethanien, . birthdays, . bismarck, chancellor von, - , , , , . palace of, , . bornstedt, . börse, , . botanical gardens, . brandenburg, castle and city of, . brandenburg gate, , . bülow, frau von, , . bundesrath, . cabmen's mission, . cemeteries, dorotheen-stadt, . garrison kirche, . matthai, . sophien kirche, . charlottenburg, , - , . mausoleum at, . charlottenhof, . chorin, . christmas, . churches of berlin, cathedral, . chapel, american, . english, . french, . garrison, , . heiliggeist, . jerusalems, . kloster, . marien. . new, . nicolai, , . trinity, . city prison, . closets, . concerts, - . cornelius, cartoons, . crown prince frederick, , . as emperor, , - , , - . birthplace, . new palace, friedrichskron, , . funeral service, . crown princess victoria, , , , , , , , , - , , . cüstrin, . dennewitz, . donhof platz, . dryander, . easter, . educational system, - . eisenach, , . eisleben, . elevators, . emperor wm. i., , , , , - , , . ninetieth birthday, - . palace, . burial-place, . emperor wm. ii. (prince william, ), , , . princess william, . english church, . erfurt, . fehrbellin, . fichte, grave of, . fouqué, de la motte, grave of, . frankfort-on-oder, . frederick wm. i., . frederick ii. (the great), , , - . statue of, . frederick wm. iii., , . frederick wm. iv., , , . friedrichsruh, . frienwalde, . frommel, . funerals, . furniture, - . german army, . germany, a military power, . good friday, , . great elector, statue of, , . grimm brothers, graves of, . gross-beeren, . grünewald, . gymnasia, - . hanse league, . device of, . hegel, grave of, . hildesheim, silver service, . hospitals, . humboldt, alexander von, , , , - . humboldt, william von, - . insane asylum, . jews, synagogue, . music, - . service, - . jüterbok, . kaiserhof, . kaulbach, frescos, . knights of malta, . köln, . köpenick, . kreuzberg, . lette-verein, bank of loans, . charlotten-stiftung, . commercial school, . drawing school, . employment bureau, . school of industry, . school of type-setting, . victoria-stift, . library, royal, - . lichterfelde, . lodgings, . lübben, . lüneberg, silver service, . luther, , , - , . manners, - . mansfield, . mausoleum, . meals, , , - . mendelssohn, fanny, . mendelssohn, felix, . mendelssohn family, graves of, . mint, imperial, . moabit, . moltke, general von, - , , . museums, ethnographical, . hohenzollern, - . industrial, - . märkische, . national gallery, , , . new, . coins, . engravings, . sculpture, . old, , , , . napoleon i., , . napoleon iii., , . neander, home of, . grave of, . neu ruppin, . old schloss, berlin, , , - . pankow, . parishes, . pestalozzi-froebel-haüs, . domestic department, . kindergarten, - . pichelsberg, . postal system, . potsdam, . babelsburg, . friedenskirche, , . garrison church, , . new palace, - . old schloss, . roman bath, . sans souci, - . prince albert of prussia, palace of, . prince frederick charles, palace of, . prussian parliament, . queen louise, , , . raphael tapestry, . rath-haus, , . raths-keller, . reichstag, - . rheinsberg, . richter, - . rohrpost, . schiller platz, , . schleiermacher, home of, . schliemann, remains, . schönhausen, . schools, girls, - . real, . sculpture, . society, . spandau, , . spreewald, . stairs, - . steglitz, . stendal, . stoves, . sunday evenings at dr. stückenberg's, . sunday observance, . tangermünde, . taylor, bayard, , . technological institute, . tegel, . tempelhof, . tetzel's indulgence box, . thiergarten, . monuments in, - . thompson, rev. j.p., . university, , . unter den linden, . varzin, . ventilation, . virchow, . waldersee, general von, . waldersee, countess von, . wansee, . war academy, , . war office, park of, . wartburg, . weddings, . west end, . wilhelms platz, . windhorst, , . wittenberg, . women, education of, . regard for, . young men's christian association, . zinna, . zoölogical gardens, . * * * * * +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | typographical errors corrected in text: | | | | page : charlottenberg replaced with charlottenburg | | page : babelsberg replaced with babelsburg | | | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ * * * * * note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original illustrations. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/ / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/ / -h.zip) transcriber's note: text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=). the story of the nations. the hansa towns. * * * * * the story of the nations. _large crown vo, cloth, illustrated, s._ _presentation edition, gilt edges, s. d._ . =rome.= arthur gilman, m.a. . =the jews.= prof. j. k. hosmer. . =germany.= rev. s. baring-gould, m.a. . =carthage.= prof. a. j. church. . =alexander's empire.= prof. j. p. mahaffy. . =the moors in spain.= stanley lane-poole. . =ancient egypt.= canon rawlinson. . =hungary.= prof. a. vambÉry. . =the saracens.= a. gilman, m.a. . =ireland.= hon. emily lawless. . =chaldÆa.= z. a. ragozin. . =the goths.= henry bradley. . =assyria.= z. a. ragozin. . =turkey.= stanley lane-poole. . =holland.= prof. j. e. thorold rogers. . =mediÆval france.= prof. gustave masson. . =persia.= s. g. w. benjamin. . =phoenicia.= canon rawlinson. . =media.= z. a. ragozin. . =the hansa towns.= by helen zimmern. london: t. fisher unwin, , paternoster square, e.c. * * * * * [illustration: view of hamburg.] the hansa towns by helen zimmern author of "a life of lessing," "heroic tales from firdusi," etc. london t. fisher unwin paternoster square new york: g. p. putnam's sons mdccclxxxix entered at stationers' hall by t. fisher unwin copyright by g. p. putnam's sons, (for the united states of america). preface. in bringing before the public what i believe to be the first history of the hanseatic league, it gives me pleasure to think that the impetus to write it came from the united states. the work was suggested to me by my valued friend, mr. g. h. putnam, of new york, a citizen of the country in which the principle of federation is best understood and most thoroughly carried out. the hansa was one of the earliest representatives of that federal spirit which will, beyond doubt, some day help to solve many of the heavy and grievous problems with which we of the old world are struggling; but that day is not yet, and meantime we have much to learn both from the successes and failures of the past. i have, of course, assumed in my readers some knowledge of german history, such as they can derive from professor bryce's inimitable "holy roman empire," or from baring-gould's "story of germany," one of the earlier volumes of this series. in conclusion, i desire to express my very cordial thanks to dr. otto benecke, keeper of the state archives of the city of hamburg, and to my uncle, dr. carl leo, syndic of the same town, for the generosity with which they have accorded me valuable assistance in the preparation of this volume. i have further to thank miss l. toulmin smith for help in revision of the ms., and for many useful suggestions. to my sister, miss alice zimmern, and to dr. richard garnett, of the british museum, i am indebted for aid in proof-reading. helen zimmern. florence, _march , _. contents. page preface vii proem - _period i._ i. the dawn of a great trade guild - teutonic merchants, --travelling in early times, --origin of the guilds, . ii. federation - the story of "winetha," --the island of gothland, --"salt kolberg," --unhansing, . iii. foreign trade - social conditions, --enslavement of the middle class, --italian influences, --burgher home rule, --league of the baltic towns, --the title "hansa," . iv. the hansa fights - the herring fisheries, --waldemar, --the first attack, --sack of wisby, --copenhagen plundered, --punishment of wittenborg, --the cologne federation, --growing strength of the league, --flight of waldemar, --treaty of stralsund, --a curious chapter in history, . _period ii._ the history of the hanseatic league, from to the public peace of , decreed in germany by maximilian i. i. lÜbeck receives an imperial visitor - hesitation of lübeck, --procession from st. gertrude's chapel, --lübeck hospitality, --records of the visit, . ii. the towns in the fourteenth century - the ban of the hansa, --submission of brunswick, --prominence of the cities, --population of lübeck, --characteristics of the germans, --independence of the towns, --the maritime ports, --exports of the hansa, --conditions of trade, --specie, credit, and bills, --the extent of mediæval trade, --the churches and religious buildings, --hanseatic architecture and art, --science and literature, --the may emperor, --customs, restrictions, and regulations, --luxury in dress, --the town council, --the town-hall, --mediæval patriotism, . iii. the victual brothers - plunder of bergen, --stortebeker, --simon of utrecht, --execution of stortebeker, . iv. the factory of bergen - history of bergen, --shoemaker's alley, --constitution of the factory, --barbarous practices, . v. the hanseatic commerce with denmark, sweden, and russia - skânoe and falsterbo, --the pious brotherhood of malmö, --the hansa at novgorod, --the court of st. peter, --furs, metals, honey, and wax, --the lombards _versus_ the hansa, --ivan the terrible sacks novgorod, . vi. the commerce of the league with the netherlands and southern europe - the flemish trade guilds, --hansa factory at bruges, --suspension of trade with flanders, --trade with antwerp, --relations with france, --the hansa in portugal and italy, --italian culture in south germany, . vii. the steelyard in london - the hanseatic rothschilds, --hanseatics hated by the people, --rupture with england, --the key to the city's commerce, --description of the steelyard, --inner life of the factory, --the english conciliated, --depôts throughout england, --the hansa's part in ceremonies, --religion of the english hanseatics, . viii. the organization of the hanseatic league - the diets, --minutes of the diet's proceedings, . _period iii._ the decline and fall of the hansa. introduction - decay of the feudal system, --the thirty years' war, . i. storm clouds - charles v. of germany, --gustavus appeals to lübeck, --cruelty of christian ii., --gustavus lands in sweden, --lübeck aids gustavus, --christian ii. deposed, --christian ii. abjures lutheranism, --christian's memory, . ii. king frederick and king gustavus vasa - "put not thy trust in princes," --gustavus quarrels with lübeck, . iii. wullenweber - the religious movement, --lübeck espouses lutheranism, --max meyer, --capture of spanish ships, --christopher of oldenburg, --congress at hamburg, --wullenweber's projects, --disorder in lübeck, --hostilities in denmark, --escape of max meyer, --battle of assens, --cologne's reproach, --nicholas brömse, --resignation of wullenweber, --imprisonment of wullenweber, --the rack, --unfair trial, --execution of wullenweber, . iv. the hansa loses its colonies - emancipation of sweden, --new route to russia, --history of livonia, --livonia repudiates the hansa, --ivan seizes livonia, --stupefaction of germany, --war against sweden, --warning of the duke of alva, --bornholm ceded to denmark, --embassy to the muscovite court, --the league dissolves, . v. the league in the netherlands - causes of failure in the west, --dissension among the towns, --depôt established at antwerp, --dangerous innovations, --general insecurity of commerce, --insubordination of the hanseatics, --the antwerp factory in danger, --trade with the low countries, . vi. the end of the hansa's dominion in england - restrictions on the english trade, --complaints of the londoners, --trade regulations broken, --queen mary favours the hansa, --english grievances, --negotiations with elizabeth, --internal disunion, --the steelyard insubordinate, --hamburg adjusts its policy, --the good old privileges, --conservative lübeck, --seizure of hanseatic vessels, --expulsion of hanseatics from england, --the steelyard property, . vii. the thirty years' war kills the league - gustavus adolphus, --wallenstein's project, --imperial graciousness, --the war storm breaks, . viii. the survivors - "sic transit gloria mundi," --napoleon and the three cities, --note, . epilogue - index list of illustrations. page view of hamburg _frontispiece_ imperial crown of germany coin of charlemagne pirates norman vessel from bayeux tapestry highroad itinerant merchants salters' hall, frankfort mediÆval city robber knights rath-haus, cologne rath-haus, tangermunde shipping house, lÜbeck grocers' hall, bremen rath-haus, brunswick mÜhlenthor, stargard burghers at table german trade life renslau gate crossbow hohe-thor, danzig holstenthor, lÜbeck children's sports domestic music middle-class occupations in the fifteenth century ship-building in the fourteenth century heligoland tomb of simon of utrecht, hamburg justice in the fifteenth century ship at the end of the fifteenth century seal of novgorod stadt-haus, bruges rhine boat, cologne the pied piper's house, hamelin fontego dei tedeschi, venice the steelyard, london bardi palace, florence steelyard wharf, london the triumph of riches, by holbein seal of lÜbeck petersen-haus, nuremburg charles v. christian ii. henry viii. scene before a judge the rack the hansa factory, antwerp sir thomas gresham rath-haus, mÜnster rath-haus, lÜbeck rath-haus, bremen * * * * * [of the architectural views reproduced in this volume some have been copied from prints in the british museum, others from drawings and photographs in possession of the authoress, and the remainder from various german authorities. the illustrations of german life and manners are taken from otto henne am rhyn's "cultur geschichte des deutschen volkes," to the publisher of which volume our best thanks are due. t. fisher unwin, g. p. putnam's sons.] [illustration: dominion of the hansa xiii-xv centuries t. fisher unwin, , paternoster square, london, e.c.] story of the hansa towns. proem. there is scarcely a more remarkable chapter in history than that which deals with the trading alliance or association known as the hanseatic league. the league has long since passed away, having served its time and fulfilled its purpose. the needs and circumstances of mankind have changed, and new methods and new instruments have been devised for carrying on the commerce of the world. yet, if the league has disappeared, the beneficial results of its action survive to europe, though they have become so completely a part of our daily life that we accept them as matters of course, and do not stop to inquire into their origin. to us moderns it seems but natural that there should be security of intercourse between civilized nations, that highways should be free from robbers, and the ocean from pirates. the mere notion of a different state of things appears strange to us, and yet things were very different not so many hundred years ago. in the feudal times the conditions of life on the continent of europe seem little short of barbarous. the lands were owned not only by the kings who ruled them with an iron despotism, but were possessed besides by innumerable petty lordlings and princelets, who on their part again exercised a rule so severe and extortionate that the poor people who groaned under it were in a condition little removed from slavery. nay, they were often not even treated with the consideration that men give their slaves, upon whom, as their absolute goods and chattels, they set a certain value. and it was difficult for the people to revolt and assert themselves, for however disunited might be their various lords, in case of a danger that threatened their universal power, they became friends closer than brothers, and would aid each other faithfully in keeping down the common folk. hand in hand with princes and lords went the priests, themselves often worldly potentates as well as spiritual rulers, and hence the very religion of the carpenter's son, which had overspread the civilized world in order to emancipate the people and make men of all nations and degrees into one brotherhood, was--not for the first time in its history--turned from its appointed course and used as an instrument of coercion and repression. such briefly was the celebrated feudal system--a system whose initial idea that the rich man should protect the poor, that the lord should be as a father to his vassals, is wise and good, but which in practice proved itself untenable. even to-day, after many centuries and generations, the only european nations that have wholly succeeded in casting off the feudal yoke are those in whose history an entirely subversive revolution, like the french, has taken place. in others, notwithstanding years of struggle and revolt, not only its memory, but some of its customs, still survive; for systems and institutions die hard, and continue to exercise mischievous power long after their original force is spent. to this survival can be traced a large number of the evils that are agitating contemporary europe; for example, the wretched state of ireland. that the people of germany, the country with which we have chiefly to deal in treating of the hanseatic league, was not wholly enslaved and crushed out of all individual existence by the state of things that reigned from the baltic to the alps in the early years of its history is due to the two great factors of memory and heredity. memory, because when tacitus, that most dramatic of historians, wrote his famous book on germany, one of the chief points he noted in this land was that there existed an equality among the freeborn, an absence of rank and concentration of power. heredity, because a love of individual freedom appears as an inherent quality in the teutonic race from their first appearance in historic legend. "though the mills of god grind slowly yet they grind exceeding small," sings the poet, and all the ages have confirmed the experience that might is not suffered to be right for ever, that vengeance falls and justice asserts itself, even though the wrong be not righted, or the evil avenged for many a long year after the sin has been committed. "whom the gods would destroy they first strike with madness," says the latin proverb. it was so with the ambitious rulers of germany. they were not content to be sovereigns of their own empire, they desired also to hold in their hand the reins of italy; the bestowal of the title holy roman emperor by the pope leo iii. upon charlemagne moved their longing and cupidity, so that gradually they grew more occupied with the business of the fair peninsula, "the garden of the empire," as dante calls it, than with the condition of their own ruder and sterner fatherland. added to this they took to fighting among themselves, being divided into two rival factions which elected opposing rulers, the result being that often no one knew who was head or who was subject. [illustration: imperial crown of germany.] frederick barbarossa was the last to uphold the real authority and power of germany. he was a true hero of romance, one of the noblest expressions of the mediæval character. when he died the real empire fell. what remained was but a semblance and a ruin, and it is little wonder that germany plunged henceforth into yet greater anarchy, invented the legend that peace and prosperity would not return to her until frederick red beard should come back to rule, that giant among men, falsely reported dead, but who, in truth, was merely resting, sunk in enchanted sleep among the mountains of bavaria. there he was waiting the hour when the ravens should cease to hover around the cloud-capped peak to emerge surrounded by the trusty crusaders who shared his slumbers and restore to germany the golden age of peace and strength. it is claimed by some that barbarossa has so returned, that he came back as recently as , but whether this be fact or no does not concern us here. what does concern us is, that in the reign of frederick barbarossa we find mentioned, for the first time as a power in the state, a few of the many german cities that had arisen under the fostering protection of henry the fowler. barbarossa found it useful to encourage the growth of that third estate so needful to the healthy existence of the body politic. thus he could pit them against the nobles when it pleased him to harass his sometime allies; he could also draw from them the moneys that are the sinews of war. in return for such loyal aid the emperor freely granted municipal institutions, rights and privileges, exemptions and favours, little realizing that in so doing he was creating in his own land that very spirit of independence, that breath of modern individual freedom, to quench which he was spending his best years and strength beyond the barrier alps. the policy therefore of the "imperial knights" and "knightly emperors" who preceded and followed frederick, while in one way it tended to destroy the unity of germany as a political state, in the other was the means by which the cities of germany, as well as those of northern italy, acquired that remarkable independence, that rapid, splendid commercial and intellectual development that raised them to the condition of almost autonomous communities, and made them the wonder, glory, and pride of the middle ages. citizens and burghers became freemen, and enjoyed the privileges that fell to this lot. hence men loved to crowd into the towns, and these grew up and flourished apace, until they acquired such power and assumed such proportions as their first promoters little contemplated. it was the lombard league of cities that broke the might of the holy roman emperors, as the rulers of germany loved to style themselves, as they styled themselves, indeed, long after the empire, to quote voltaire, was neither holy, nor roman, nor an empire. ignominiously driven forth from italy, the german kings at last turned their steps homeward, where they looked to reign with their old strength and might, even though the range of their rule had been circumscribed. they came back to find that long absences, internal and external feuds, pretenders and usurpers, had so weakened their prestige that their subjects had learnt to trust to themselves rather than to their sovereign heads. and when they did return, at last, it was to find themselves confronted with such another league of cities, as had wrecked their power abroad, a federation founded for mutual protection and defence, under whose ægis alone could peace or shelter be found. this was the irony of fate indeed. to be sovereigns of the world, the german emperors had staked their national existence; staked and lost. on a murky and disturbed horizon had arisen a brilliant star, the star of municipal liberty, helping men to hope for and aspire towards those better things, to which it alone could lead them. the political anarchy of germany, increased by forty years' interregnum, not only had given birth but strength to the confederation of cities directed against the brigandage of the princes and nobles, which we first meet with under the name of hansa, in the year , at a time when both the papal and imperial thrones were vacant, when in france st. louis wielded the sceptre and was strengthening the power of nobles and the church; when in england henry iii. had enraged the barons by his fondness for foreign favourites, and when that outburst was preparing which led to the formation of a popular faction and upraised the patriot, simon de montfort; a time, in short, when the long struggle even now waging between the people and their rulers was first begun in modern europe. [illustration: coin of charlemagne.] period i. i. the dawn of a great trade guild. whether it be that our forefathers were not so prompt to put pen to paper as we are, or that they purposely avoided written words and inclined to silence from motives of that combined prudence and love of mystery-making that distinguished the middle ages, the fact remains that of the real origin and founding of that great federation of industry and intelligence known to after-years as the hanseatic league, we have no accurate knowledge. we see the tree in full growth, with its widespreading boughs and branches; of the modest seedling whence it sprung we are in ignorance. we only know most surely that some such seed there must have been, and in this case may with certainty infer that the main causes of this unique combination were the alliance of the north german cities among themselves, and the protective and social alliances formed by german merchants who met in foreign parts. it is obvious that there must have been much commerce, and that it must have played an important part before either of these circumstances could have arisen. therefore in order fully to understand the importance and bearing of the league we must begin our story earlier than its history proper would seem to warrant; only thus can we thoroughly comprehend why the hanseatic alliance in fostering its own interests, in aggrandizing and enriching itself, was working also for all humanity, since it created and enlarged the idea of public right, and thus sowed the seeds of principles then novel, but on which our modern civilization is largely founded and with which we are now so familiar that it is difficult to realize how matters could ever have been otherwise. can we grasp, for example, a state of things when wrecking was considered a legitimate occupation; when the merchandise thus thrown on land became the possession of the strand dwellers and the ship's crew their legitimate slaves; when barons who deemed themselves noblemen lay in wait within their strong castles to pounce on luckless traders, and either deprived them wholly of their wares or levied black mail under the name of toll; in short, when humanity towards the weak and unfortunate was a word of empty sound? yet so strongly is the love of enterprise implanted in the northman's breast that even these obstacles did not deter him from the desire to enlarge his experience and to widen the field of his energies. he was the kinsman of those adventurous angles and saxons who had not feared to cross the boisterous german ocean and to subjugate great britain to themselves; in his veins ran the blood of those normans, the scourge and terror of european coasts, against whom the peoples knew no better protection than the prayer addressed to heaven in their despair--"_a furore normanrorum libera nos domine_," a clause that survived in their litanies some time after the cause was no longer to be feared. [illustration: pirates.] indeed it is not easy to distinguish the earliest traders from corsairs. it would seem that as occasion served they employed their long narrow rowing ships to scour the ocean or to carry the produce of the north, above all the much prized amber. it is thought that they bore it down even to the bay of biscay, nay, perhaps yet further within the roman empire. under the intelligent rule of charles the great the activity of the northman assumed a more pacific character, and we meet with the idea of merchant and trade guilds, though the latter were not much encouraged by the emperor, who feared lest they should contain in themselves elements of corporate union and political revolt. but he fostered the growth of cities; and in those days trade and commerce filled up even more than at the present day the daily life of a citizen. in the middle ages the expression "merchant" (_mercator_, negotiator) was on the continent actually held as identical with townsman. it is curious that the early teuton regarded manual labour as unworthy a free man, but did not extend this feeling to commerce, and trading became more and more the occupation of the third estate. we find them on horseback or in ships traversing many regions to bring their wares to market and to enlarge their sphere of action, and gradually as their numbers increased they would meet each other at the various foreign ports, exchange news, perhaps even wares, and hold together in that brotherly spirit that men of one nation and one tongue are wont to feel towards each other on foreign soil. disputes and difficulties with the natives must also have been of frequent occurrence, for though the merchant, as bringer of news and novelties, was usually a welcome visitor at a time when intercourse between nations can hardly be said to have existed, yet, on the other hand, he had to reckon with the prejudice that regards what is strange as equivalent to what is hostile. hence the merchants very naturally combined among themselves at the different ports to protect their common interests, and endeavoured by all means in their power to enlist in their favour their own sovereigns and those of the lands they visited. thus in the lawbook of london, under the reign of ethelred ii. the unready ( ), we come across the phrase, "the people of the emperor have been judged worthy of the good laws, like to ourselves." this phrase meant that, in cases of wrong done to the foreigner by the native, the foreigner should enjoy the protection of the native laws as though he were a citizen, instead of being treated as heretofore like an alien. "the people of the emperor" meant in this case the teutonic merchants who traded on the banks of the thames long before the german cities had combined to form their famous league, long before they had founded their factories in russia, scandinavia, and flanders. london was their earliest foreign settlement, and already in the tenth century we find that the germans enjoyed the same rights when their ships entered british ports as those possessed by the english. in return for this they had at easter and christmas to make a donation of two pieces of grey and one of brown cloth, ten pounds of pepper, five pairs of men's gloves, and two barrels of vinegar. the fact that they thus paid toll in kind and not in money is entirely in accordance with the ancient usage of guilds and corporations, and the conditions of mediæval tenures. gloves as tokens of good faith and submission, and pepper, probably because of its rarity as an eastern product, were forms of payment frequent in early days. after this first mention we find that year by year the privileges of the german were extended in england. the kings desired that they should be treated as subjects and friends, and after henry the lion had married a daughter of henry ii. of england, the alliance grew yet closer. thus special privileges were accorded to them with regard to the sale of rhine wine, of the importation of which into great britain we now hear for the first time. it is evident that the commerce of england was largely in the hands of these foreigners, a circumstance the more remarkable when we consider that the english have now for some centuries been the great traders of the world. what hindered the rise of the british in early days was the feudal system against which the germans had rebelled. it was a system incompatible with burgher life, with independent industry and enterprise. for many years the english trade was practically restricted to the exportation of wool, skins, lead, and tin. for where there is no middle class there can be no real commerce, and this fact explains the widespread power of the german merchants in england. the lessons they learnt here they carried farther afield; appearing now as the vanguard of civilization, now as the pioneers of christianity, everywhere as traders desirous to fill their coffers, bearing in mind the maxim that "union is strength," and clinging closely to one another for mutual protection and defence. we must remember that travelling in the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries was not what it is to-day. dangers lurked on all sides for the bold mariner who ventured forth in ships of small size devoid of compass, load-line, chart, and chronometer. it was slow work to make headway under the difficulties put in the mariner's path by the elements alone, such as the darkness of night, fogs and storms, shoals, quicksands, and rocks, to say nothing of the peril from pirates. the fact, too, that, owing to the want of maps, they kept as close as possible to land, increased the risks they ran. arrived at his destination, the trader would often have to wait long ere he could find a purchaser for his wares, for in those days the merchant himself carried his wares to market; there were no commission agents at the various ports; there were no posts, nor was the art of remitting money understood. in the stormy winter-time, moreover, neither sailors nor merchants cared to venture upon the ocean; and owing to the brevity of the northern summer it often became needful for them to pass the bad season at whatever place they happened to be. indeed the hazards connected with a winter voyage were so great, that in the very earliest days of union it was determined by common consent that no merchants should send their ships to sea after st. martin's day (november th), and that they should endeavour as far as possible to be in port by michaelmas (september th). "to sail after martinmas is to tempt god," writes an old chronicler. with the th of november the winter season commenced for the baltic trading fleet. curiously enough a similar custom obtains in greece to this day. the greek coasters do not sail on the seas from december th till after the new year; during this time the ocean is hallowed for new trips.[ ] the hanseatics, of course, had to extend the time of exemption in the northern seas. in the year a hanseatic diet ordained that no hanseatic merchant should sail forth from a western to an eastern, or from an eastern to a western harbour between martinmas and candlemas (november th-february nd). the climatic conditions of certain ports obliged this rule to be extended to st. peter in cathedra (february nd), if they were carrying "precious goods." it is amusing, however, to find in the older records an exceptional clause to the effect that herrings and beer, two of the most important exports of the coast towns, could not possibly be subjected to these restrictions. the herring, that much prized fasting dish, to the preparation and distribution of which the hansa attached such value, had necessarily to be despatched before february nd in order that it might arrive at its destination before lent. a no less important reason determined the transport of beer, which was brewed in most of the export towns, and which might easily spoil in a more advanced season of the year. these reasons caused the cities to decide that a ship laden with beer, herrings, or dried cod, might go to sea on st. nicholas day (december th) if it were ready laden by that date. but this was the exception. the rule was for the trader to winter wherever he happened to be. in the long, cheerless evenings men liked to associate with compatriots who spoke the same tongue, and had the same interests and customs. these men of the middle ages were specially distinguished by their social instincts. they were bound together also by the element of a common religion, by the desire to worship together, to fulfil, perchance, some holy vow made in an hour of great danger, to bury, with the familiar rites of his own church and country, some less fortunate comrade who had expired on foreign soil. thus were formed those guilds, or hanse, as they were called, of merchants on alien soil, clustering, as a rule, around a church erected by them, and having besides a general living and storehouse for the safe custody of their goods. there is nothing strange in the fact that such settlements should have been formed; what is strange is the power they acquired in the course of time, until at last, in some places, they dictated terms to the natives of the country; nay, they even made and unmade their rulers, until in the end their sway extended from bergen in the north to venice in the south, from novgorod and smolensk in the east to york and london in the west. [illustration: norman vessel from bayeux tapestry.] footnotes: [ ] [greek: hê thalassa hagiazetai]. ii. federation. the free ocean, owned by no king or ruler, has from earliest times been the highroad of nations, and in the life and movement of the last eighteen hundred years the baltic takes a scarcely less important place than the lovelier, more poetical, and oft-sung mediterranean. even to-day it is more frequented than most of the seas; the traffic through the sound being second to that of no other strait. the baltic has had its singers too. we need only turn to the strong, rugged norse saga to find that sea extolled as the nurse of mighty heroes, or the scene of giant combats; and the wilder element that pervades these heroic tales is in keeping with the rugged iron-bound coasts that skirt its waters, which do not invite the cooing of idyls, nor lap the fantasy in luscious dreams. here all is stern life and movement; here man must fight hand to hand with nature if he would extort from her even the bare necessities for his daily nourishment. the contrast between the north and the south is nowhere more strikingly seen than in the different characteristics of the two seas, and the races they have produced. nor could these characteristics be better illustrated than by a comparison between the great commercial republics of italy and the hanseatic federation of germany. the former, though individually great, never became a corporate body. jealousy and rivalry were ever rife among them, and in the end they destroyed themselves. where nature is kind men can better afford to be cruel, and need not hold together in such close union. thus it was here. but if the baltic is at a disadvantage compared with the mediterranean in climate as well as in size, it is not inferior in wealth and variety of its produce. mighty rivers, watering many lands discharge themselves into its bosom, and produce upon their banks rich and needful products, such as wheat and wool. in the earth are hidden costly metallic treasures, while the sea itself is a well of opulence from the number and diversity of the fish that breed in its waters. it has been well said that since the days of the hansa, possession of the baltic and dominion of the sea are synonymous terms. the hansa, the dutch, and the english have necessarily played the first _rôle_ in the baltic trade. but the trade dates from an even earlier time. thanks to coins accidently dropped, and after long years unearthed, we learn that by way of the volga the northmen brought to their distant home the treasures of the far east--spices, pearls, silks, furs, and linen garments; and that following the course of the dwina, the dnieper, and the oder, they found their way to constantinople, the black sea, and even the caspian. canon adam, of bremen, a chronicler of the eleventh century, in one of those farragoes of fact and fiction in which our forefathers read history, tells of a great trading city at the month of the oder, "julin, the greatest town of heathen europe."[ ] "it is a famed meeting-place for the barbarians and greeks[ ] of the neighbourhood, inhabited by slavs and other barbarians. saxons, too, may live there if they do not declare themselves christians; for the town is rich in the wares of all eastern peoples, and contains much that is charming and precious." this town of winetha, of whose exact site we are no longer sure, since it has been destroyed by the encroachment of the baltic, was, and is still, a favourite theme of song and legend with german writers. it is fabled that it was destroyed like sodom and gomorrha, because of its sins; for its inhabitants had grown hard and proud and disdainful, trusting in wealth, and despising god. on fine and calm days mariners can, it is said, behold the city, with its silver ramparts, its marble columns, its stirring, richly-dressed population, leading, beneath the ocean, the life which they led while their city was still on firm ground. every good friday this splendid city, with its towers, palaces, and walls, is permitted to rise from the ocean, and sun itself in the daylight, to be again submerged on easter day, by this annual fall recalling to all who might else forget it the severe justice of god. the extract given above from the old writer impresses on us a fact we must bear well in mind, namely, that the baltic mainland littoral at the time the teutonic merchants began to ply their trade upon its coast was not a german possession, but inhabited and owned by a slavonic people, who clung to their pagan creed long after their neighbours in the east and west had become converted to the new religion. and, as usual to this day, it was the trader who preceded the missionary, and gave the natives the first idea of a different code of ethics and morality. in the missionary's track, as at this day, followed the soldier, enforcing by the sword the arguments that reason had failed to inculcate. it was thus that german merchants had founded on slavonic soil the various cities and ports that were later to be the pride and strength of the hanseatic union. nor did they rest content with the coast that bounded their own lands. they traversed the narrow ocean, touching finland, sweden, and russia, and they established on the isle of gothland an emporium, which, in the first christian centuries, became the centre of the baltic trade, and in which "people of divers tongues," as an old writer calls these visitors, met to exchange their products. a glance at the map will show why this island assumed such importance. at a time when the mariner was restricted to short passages, not liking for long to lose sight of the shore, this spot naturally made a most favourable halting-place on the road to finland, livonia, or sweden. it is evident from the chronicles that the germans soon acquired and exercised great power in this island, and that they were accorded special privileges. thus pope honorius ii. granted them his protection for their town and harbour of wisby, in acknowledgment of the part they had played in the conversion of the pagan nations. there are many testimonies to the ancient wealth and commercial importance of the island of gothland; among them the amount of roman, byzantine, anglo-saxon, and german coins still found on its soil, as also the number of ruined churches, many of them of great size and architectural beauty, dotted over its area. to this day the island, impoverished and depopulated, owns a church to every six hundred inhabitants. the churches have fallen into sad decay, but yet remain to testify of past prosperity and glory. as the number of travelling merchants from various cities increased on its shores, it was natural that they should hold together more and more in a tacit offensive and defensive alliance against the aliens, and that when they returned home from their voyages they should speak of the mutual benefits rendered and the help that lay in union. some influential persons among them doubtless brought pressure to bear upon the rulers and magistracies of the various cities to give their informal union an official character. thus much is certain, that after a time the merchants from various cities who traded with the baltic had united into a federation having a common seal and conforming to a common law, so that by the middle of the thirteenth century the hanseatic league was practically consolidated, although this name for the association only occurs later. so far, however, the union only exercised rights abroad. it was from wisby also that the reaction was to come for union at home; but this was a little later, when its strength was well matured and established. what really, in the first instance, led the germans from their inland towns to the shores of the baltic was the desire to benefit by the great wealth that lay hidden in its waters in the form of fish, which could be obtained in return for the mere labour of fishing. at a time when all europe was catholic, or of the greek church, and fasts as well as feasts strictly observed, the sale of fish was an important industry, and, above all, of salted fish, since our forefathers were ignorant of the art of preserving these creatures fresh by means of ice. now, from the beginning of the twelfth century until the beginning of the fifteenth, when they once more altered their course, each spring and autumn the migratory fish, and especially that most prolific and valued of fish, the herring, came in great shoals to the shores of scania,[ ] the isle of rügen, and the coasts of pomerania, tempting the inhabitants of the strand and near inland hamlets out on to the waters to secure these treasures. nor had nature herewith ceased her bounties. at certain points of the littoral there were salt springs, in which the precious draught could at once be pickled; and it is certain that the art of preserving the gifts of the ocean from decay was familiar to the slav inhabitants of these districts long before it was known to those of the german ocean. already, in the eleventh century, "salt kolberg" was famed as an emporium for salted herrings; and the words of a polish poem of rejoicing at a victory won over its inhabitants in are extant to this day. it has more historical than literary value. "formerly," so jubilantly sang the conquerors of the harbour, "they brought us salt and stinking fish, now our sons bring them to us fresh and quivering." salted herrings became an acknowledged form of tax or tribute, as also a medium of exchange for inland produce, and it was the value of these small fish that really first roused the cupidity of the inland dweller and caused them to compete with and finally oust the pagan slav. and wisby for a time was their great emporium, whence they extended their power, founding among other towns novgorod on the lake of olm. it was to wisby that association dues were paid; it was in wisby that common money was deposited. they were kept in the german church of our lady maria teutonicorum. for the churches in those times were buildings as much secular as religious, being not only places of worship, but also banks, storehouses, market-places, and sanctuaries. four aldermen, selected from important cities of the league, namely, wisby, lübeck, soest, and dortmund, had each a key to the common treasure. the rules laid down in common council, over which these aldermen presided, and whose execution they enforced, were stringent in the extreme. for example, according to an old principle of teutonic laws, a city was made responsible if a trader suffered malignant shipwreck or was robbed of his goods within its domain, and if these things occurred they were bound to help the sufferers to recover their goods or safety. that it was not always an easy task for the towns to execute this command may be gathered from the fact that in the earliest times even the church looked on flotsam and jetsam as its legitimate dues; indeed, the revenues of some monasteries and churches were distinctly founded on this. even papal authority, even excommunication in later days, could not for a long while break the force of a barbarous and cruel custom. all the booty the waves cast on the shore was designated by the well-sounding term of _strandgut_ (property of the shore), and was regarded as a gift from providence. the dwellers on the baltic shore held so naïve a belief with respect to this matter that in their daily prayers they innocently asked god to give them a good harvest of _strandgut_. lübeck in , demanding from reval, on the basis of its treaties, the restitution of stranded property, is told frankly by the governor of the city that "however many and long and large letters they may send him across the seas," yet his vassals would hold to the rights of their land, and "if," he adds, "on your letters or your prayers your goods are restored to you, i will suffer my right eye to be put out." still by steady persistence the german cities got their will, and of course they exercised it first on members of their union. the defaulting city had to pay a fine of something like two to three hundred pounds of our money to the common fund of the union, and, in event of a recurrence, was threatened with expulsion from the community. this punishment was called _unhansing_, and it was inflicted several times, and was only atoned for by the heaviest penalties not only of money tributes, but often of pilgrimages to some distant sacred shrine, to wipe out the disgrace that the city had drawn down, not on itself alone, but also on its brethren of the league, by the fact that there could be such a black sheep among them. such, briefly, was the empire that, by the middle of the thirteenth century, was exercised by a community of german men of commerce, who had their seat of control, not at home, but on a foreign soil. such, briefly, was the rise of these powerful merchants who not only dared to dictate terms to distant cities, but were absolutely obeyed. such, briefly, was the transformation of bands of pirates and adventurous traders into a peace-loving and industrious association. let us now take a rapid glance at what had occurred meantime in the holy roman empire and the towns. footnotes: [ ] julin in danish, wolin in sclavonic, winetha in saxon. a learned author, pointing out the community of origin of the venetians of the adriatic, and the venedes or vends of the baltic, draws a parallel between the venice of the adriatic, and the venice (winetha) of the north. "singular destiny," he writes, "this of the two commercial cities, which seem the issue of one trunk, that grew up at the same time in the adriatic and the baltic, almost under the same name, the one to arrive at the greatest splendour, enriched by the trade of the east, the other to serve as a starting-point for the commerce of the north." [ ] under the term of greeks, adam, and other writers of the period, include the russians, on account of their adhesion to the greek form of the catholic church. [ ] it is worth mentioning that on the coast of scania, once so rich in herring fishery, this industry is now almost extinct. the fish rarely come into these waters, owing perhaps to the increase of traffic in the sound (for herrings, as is well known, dislike noise and movement and seek out quiet seas); or because the great whale fisheries of greenland have altered their course, for whales now pursue less often than formerly the shoals of herrings that were thus forced to take refuge in the sound; or this may be simply due to the diminution of the crustacean called _astacus harengum_, on which the fish so largely feeds--the fact in any case remains. iii. foreign trade. it is of importance to the study of the hanseatic confederation to remember that the settlements made by the german merchants in their various foreign and distant ports, though permanent in themselves, were inhabited almost exclusively by a floating and ever-changing population. true, the traders who had done good business in this spot would return season after season. but they did not form an established colony, they did not take up their permanent abode abroad, and hence the connection with their native towns was never broken; they remained ever in touch with home. now the pettiest trader of one of the german cities enjoyed in the steelyard in london, in the st. peter's court of novgorod, in the factory of bergen, in the church of wisby, and many other places, a measure of personal freedom, a number of privileges such as were frequently absolutely denied him in his fatherland, or doled out grudgingly by his territorial lord. when the merchants had first appeared abroad they were protected more or less by their suzerains. thus barbarossa had given them the assistance of his strong name, and extorted for them certain important privileges from the king of england. the same holds good with regard to the duke of saxony. but as the emperors grew to care less and less for purely german affairs, as the saxon ducal power was broken, as the german-speaking lands became the camp of anarchy, confusion, and lordlessness, where rightful and unlawful sovereigns quarrelled with each other, where ruler fought ruler, noble robbed noble, where, in short, the game of "devil take the hindmost" was long played with great energy, the towns that had silently and gradually been acquiring much independent strength, perceived that if they would save their prosperity, nay, their very existence, they must take up a firm position against the prevailing social conditions. founded upon trade, with trade as their vital element, it was natural that traders also should have a mighty voice in the councils of these towns. the councillors indeed were chosen chiefly from among the leading merchants, most of whom had been abroad at some time or other of their career, and tasted the sweets of wider liberty. none of these were insensible to the pressure put upon them by their returning fellow citizens that they should struggle in their common interests to maintain a position of strength at home, a position which could not fail to increase the security of their settlements abroad. for owing to this long period of political chaos, the merchants abroad noticed or fancied that the name of the holy roman empire no longer carried the same weight as formerly; that to threaten those who overstepped their licenses towards them with the empire's power had ceased to have any serious effect. yet unless there was some real power at their back, how, at this lawless time, could the germans feel sure that the treaties they had made with the aliens would be upheld? well then, urged the foreign traders, what our emperors cannot or will not do for us, busy as they are with italian matters, or with self-destruction, we must do for ourselves. and quietly, unobtrusively, but very securely, they formed among themselves that mutual offensive and defensive alliance of whose exact date and origin we are ignorant, but of whose great power in later times the world was to stand in awe and admiration. the purpose of the union was to uphold the respect for the german name abroad by a strong association of cities willing and able, if need were, to enforce its demands by force of arms. mutual protection, moreover, was needed as much, if not more, at home. the highroads, never too safe from plundering barons, had grown yet less so during the lawless and fighting period that followed the fall of the hohenstauffen dynasty. these, too, must be guarded, or how could merchandize be brought from place to place. peace and security of property, being the very corner-stones of commerce, did the merchant seek above all to secure, and since nothing in this life can be obtained without a struggle, these cities had to fight hard, not only with moral force, but often with the sword, in order to extort from their rulers these elementary rights of civilization. [illustration: highroad.] thus the hansa from its earliest origin, though organized for the ends of peace, was from its commencement and throughout its existence a militant body, ever watchful to punish infringement of its rights, ever ready to extend its authority, ever prompt to draw the sword, or send forth its ships against offenders. it is indeed a significant fact, that never once in the whole course of its history did it draw the sword aggressively, or against its own members. in its domestic disputes it never needed to exercise other than moral pressure. but the cities as they grew in power almost assumed the proportions of small democracies, and it is well-known that democracies, save for purposes of self-defence, are not so ready to rush into wars as monarchies. war is the pastime of kings and statesmen; of men who have nothing to lose, and perchance much to gain in this pursuit; of men who do not stake life and limb, health and home and trade. the wars waged by the hansa were never in one single instance aggressive. like all confederations, whose life nerve is commerce, the hansa ever sought to avoid war, and only seized the sword as _ultima ratio_. it is noteworthy that its ships were designated in its acts as "peace ships" (_friedenschiffe_), and even the forts it built for protection were described as "peace burgs" (_friedeburgen_). the germ of manly independence once awakened in the burghers grew apace, and as they felt the benefits of this new spirit they learnt that with it they could cow their would-be despotic lordlings, and exact from them respect and even aid. cologne was the first among the older cities to emancipate itself. it is hard for us to realize the enslavement of the middle class in former days. for example, a merchant might not wear arms, no luxury, but an absolute necessity in those wild times. frederick barbarossa permitted him to carry a sword, but in order that there might be no confusion of social castes, he decreed that "the travelling merchant shall not gird his sword, but attach it to his saddle, or lay it on his cart, so that he may not wound the innocent, but yet may protect himself against robbers." the inference in this clause, that only a member of the third estate would be likely to hurt an innocent person, is amusing in its _naïveté_. as for the peasant, if he were found with arms upon him, a lance or a sword, he had to suffer severe punishment. the knightly weapon was broken across the back of any serf who dared to carry it. a further instance of want of personal liberty in barbarossa's days is shown by his contempt for commerce and for the trader's knowledge of the commercial value of his goods. thus he decreed that a merchant selling his wares in camp must offer them at the price fixed by the field-marshal, and if the owner asked more than was deemed just by this functionary, who probably knew as much of the value of goods as his trusty lance, he lost not only his market rights and his wares, but was whipped into the bargain, his head shorn and his cheek branded with a red-hot iron. at home his choice of dwelling-houses, of trade, even of marriage was interfered with. is it astonishing, then, that with so little personal liberty at home, so much abroad, the townsmen aspired to change this state of things, and aided by political events did change them, and rapidly too? [illustration: itinerant merchants.] nor was it only the merchants returning from abroad who stirred the legitimate longings of their stay-at-home brethren. a liberating influence came from yet another side; from that very land of italy, for whose sake the german rulers had suffered their own country to endure neglect. travelling italian merchants on their road to flanders passed through central germany, and as they halted in the cities they would recount in the long evenings those travellers' tales eagerly listened to in days when reading for the most part was an unknown accomplishment, and when all information was acquired by ear. "... i spoke of most disastrous chances; of moving accidents by flood and field; * * * * * and portance in my travel's history: wherein of antres vast and deserts idle; rough quarries, rocks, and hills whose heads touch heaven it was my hint to speak."[ ] these lombards told of the prosperity of their cities and the liberties they enjoyed, narrations that sounded like fairy tales in the ears of the northmen. and when the crusades broke out, and many of them saw with their own eyes the glories of the southern cities, when german merchants who had followed in the train of the emperor's roman campaign returned, confirming all they had heard from the italians about commercial liberties and privileges, their determination not to be left behind was strengthened. freiburg (free city) was the first town founded as the outcome of the new liberty, an enlightened prince lending his help and means to that end. further individual aid was given to the new idea of personal liberty for all conditions of men by an apostle of freedom, arnold of brescia. this eloquent pupil of the french monk abelard, the enlightened philosopher, the lover of heloïse, himself a priest, was the most powerful opponent of the clerical ideas in the twelfth century, which tried to keep down the people in order that through their ignorance and dependence they might be ruled with absolute and unquestioned sway--ideas by no means wholly extinct to this day among this class of men. banished by the pope as a political and ecclesiastical heretic, arnold fled to southern germany, where he preached his doctrines to eager ears, and roused an enthusiasm that laid the train for a later church reformation, and helped towards the development of a new social state. he awakened or fostered the thought of personal liberty, a liberty not only consistent with corporate union, but part and parcel of the same; a condition alone worthy a rational human being, who, while doing whatever pleases him best, never loses sight of the fact that he has only a right to follow this desire so long as his liberty does not trench upon that of his neighbour and brother man. [illustration: salters' hall, frankfort. (_from an engraving in the british museum._)] john stuart mill had not yet defined the meaning of the much abused term, liberty; madame roland had not yet ejaculated upon the scaffold her true and piteous cry, "liberty! what crimes are committed in thy name!" but arnold of brescia understood the meaning of the word, and what was equally important, he made his hearers understand it too. he did not merely preach vague doctrines, he preached sound political economy and social ethics. and thus the germans learnt from the italians both the true meaning of liberty and the virtue of municipal institutions, which latter had, in the first instance, sprung up in lombardy from a germanic root; its essential features being a free choice of the civic rulers from the fittest elements, a right to govern themselves, and if need be to form alliances, and the right to tax themselves. further, they learnt to recognize the principle that the final decision should not rest with one person, but with the mass of the inhabitants. this autonomy in all inner affairs, founded on italian models, became in the course of several generations the most cherished possession of all those german cities whence sprang the hanseatic league. there was, however, this difference that, unlike the lombard cities, the germans ever acknowledged the supremacy of the emperor, and never developed either into complete oligarchies or democracies, though in their statutes when they were at the height of their power, it was distinctly stated that decisions in important matters did not rest "with the general council, but with the people." [illustration: mediÆval city. (_from a drawing by albert dürer._)] in the thirteenth century municipal privileges grew and extended, for though the townsfolk were supposed only to elect their own magistrates under the sanction of the bailiffs of their respective territorial lords, these functionaries, who generally lived in a strong castle within the city or just upon its walls, became only too ready to be bribed into compliance with the burgher will as the distresses of the empire caused their lords to require more and more of the hard cash and other solid assistance which the rapid progress of the cities in wealth could furnish. of course circumstances were not the same in all places. in many there was open warfare between the lordlings and the townsmen, and many a sacked and gutted castle remained to testify to the successes of the third estate. as the baronial strongholds were razed, the towns built up on their sites strong citadels, walls, and moats, which they defended by a burgher militia hardened to fatigue, brave, determined; who not only dared to face the resentment of the barons, but often extorted from them by force what they could not up to that date buy from them or obtain as a meed of justice. it was no infrequent event in the thirteenth century for a town to be besieged by its territorial lord; and these sieges, like that of troy, would last many years, for the art of reducing strong places was but little developed, and wars, even if they lasted longer, were less terribly destructive than in our day. the cities, having the wealth, were most frequently the victors, and it would even come about that as terms of peace their enemy would hire himself out to his vassals as the legal and bound defender of his own subjects, for a stated number of years. further, the cities often bought from these princelings the lands outside their walls; the forests, mines, brine springs, even the highroads and streams, thus drawing into their power anything that might assist in diminishing the danger from all that could impede their commerce. they would also ask the cession of villages, of tolls; next the right to coin money. in a word, they made use of every means that came in their way, in accordance with local and momentary circumstances, to extend and consolidate their power. what wonder that the burghers feeling their strength and seeing the weakness of the empire turned its dissensions and disorders to profit, and began to make among themselves, quietly and unostentatiously, alliances for maintaining peace in their immediate vicinities, for keeping the roads cleared of robbers, for opposing the black mail levied by their feudal lords, and anything else that offended against "the common freedom of the merchant." curiously enough such alliances were in direct contravention of the existing laws of the german empire. at the diet held in worms, , the princes had expressed marked disapproval of such leagues, in which they clearly recognized a dangerous rival power. but the cities seemed little troubled by this interdict. they, on their part, recognized that the time had come for a firm union, and adhesion of the weak against the strong, and more and more, as they saw that the empire threatened from within and from without was visibly falling asunder. for what respect could be felt for a crown which was at last actually put up for sale to the highest bidder, and acquired by the rich but otherwise impotent brother of the english henry iii., duke richard of cornwall? [illustration: robber knights. (_from fritoch._)] the towns of the rhine were the first to form themselves into an alliance, a fact that can scarcely surprise us when we remember how thickly set is that lovely river with the now ruined strongholds of what erst were robber lords. and the baltic towns were not slow to follow in their wake, forming a league "for the benefit of the common merchant." these cities even settled the contingent which each town had to place at their common disposal, a great stone of possible stumbling being skilfully avoided by a phrase which occurs in a contract of : "if the fight goes against a prince who is lord of one of the cities, this city shall not furnish men, but only give money." the rhenish section alone was able to put into the field some eleven hundred crossbowmen and six hundred stout galleys; no mean army in those days. in a word, the times were out of joint, and the people had to help themselves, and did so. sprung from modest sources, having its origin in true neighbourly feeling, what was at first a mere association of merchants had developed into an association of cities. the banner under which they had grouped themselves bore the device "freedom for the common merchant at home and abroad," and this device became the elastic but durable bond, which, keeping them together, made them a mighty power. its very elasticity was the cause of its strength, giving it that facility of expansion and freedom from rigidity which in more modern times has made the glory and the might of england, whose constitution is distinguished by a like principle of flexibility. a naïve north german chronicler of the thirteenth century telling of the various alliances formed, writes: "but the matter did not please the princes, knights, and robbers, especially not those who for ever put forth their hands for booty; they said it was shameful that merchants should rule over high-born and noble men." undaunted, however, by such objections, the cities continued to form alliances, to make contracts among themselves until these contracts assumed the extent, dignity, and importance of those made by the towns with their foreign settlements. thus, by slow degrees, cautiously, but very surely, the hanseatic league took its origin, and thus it grew until it became an independent popular force, a state within a state. like everything that the christian middle ages called into life, the _vehmgericht_ (vehmic tribunal), gothic architecture, the knightly orders, it bore strongly the impress of individuality. the origin of the name of hansa is wrapped in some mystery. the word is found in ulfila's gothic translation of the bible, as signifying a society, a union of men, particularly in the sense of combatants. he applies it to the band of men who came to capture jesus in the garden of gethsemane. later on hansa occurs as a tax on commercial transactions, and also as the sum, a very low one, which the various cities paid as their entrance fee into the association. but our league did not yet officially bear that title; it acquired it from the date of its first great war with waldemar of denmark and the peace of stralsund ( ). then it won name and rank at the point of the sword, and after this it came to be classed among the most redoubted powers of the period, being thus by no means the first, and probably not the last, example of the lift given to civilization by so barbarous a thing as the powder cart. footnotes: [ ] "othello," act i. sc. . iv. the hansa fights. whoever looks on the old schütting at lübeck, the building whence the herring fishers were wont to start upon their voyages, and notes its armorial bearings, three herrings upon a plain gold shield, should go back mentally a few centuries and call to mind the fact that the badge of this fish is the emblem of a might which many a time set forth from this spot bent upon commerce or needful warfare, and which for generations exercised great power over northern europe. the district of scania, which forms the southernmost portion of the present land of sweden, was until almost exclusively the property of denmark. the danes, a turbulent and maritime people, had in the early times of our era been converted to christianity at the point of the sword by the emperors of germany, and during the th and th centuries these emperors exercised a recognized suzerainty over the danish kings. hence german traders easily obtained privileges among a people who were by no means inclined to commerce themselves, but who welcomed none the less eagerly the products that the strangers brought, above all, the heady ale brewed by the easterlings. but as the might of the empire declined and the danes had grown strong, thanks to wise rulers, the people grew restive under the restrictions imposed upon them, and tried to secure their independence. under waldemar the great ( to ), the country had acquired an important position, which his successors strengthened. this increase of might coincided with the german depression and with the change of course at spawning time that the herring suddenly took in the twelfth century. strange that a little fish should have had such great power over mankind; yet it is not going beyond the strict truth to state that the mysterious wanderings of the herring determined throughout several centuries the whole course of northern commerce. during the middle ages, upon the appearance of the herring now on this coast and now on that, the wealth and prosperity of the whole districts depended. herring fishing became a branch of industry that decided the fate of nations. to it the hansa owes a large portion of its riches and its power; in the herring fisheries, when in the year the fish began to spawn in the german ocean, the netherlands found the foundation stone of their wealth and dignity. indeed, it was said later, with scant exaggeration, that amsterdam was built upon herrings. now, as masters of the belt and the sound, the danes were able, if they chose, greatly to harass the hanseatic traders and fishermen. for many years they had not put forth their power, or rather the hanseatic towns, with the diplomatic astuteness that greatly distinguished them, had averted the possibility of such danger by wise concessions of tributes and privileges. still disputes would arise, things did not always go off peaceably, and in the hansa towns won their first military laurels, defeating the danes in the battle of bornhöved and permanently weakening the power of their troublesome neighbours in northern germany. a few years later lübeck, almost unassisted, threatened in its independence by the danish king, won a great naval victory over its neighbours; and gained yet another in , when eric ii. had ventured to attack some of its ships upon the open seas. on this occasion the merchant townsmen even seized and sacked copenhagen and planted their flag in zealand. it was no very easy position which the baltic cities (for it was they who were chiefly threatened) had to maintain against the danish kings as the power of the latter increased. for with their power, their rapacity and cupidity increased also, and this made them look on the rich commercial towns with a longing desire to absorb them into their own possessions. these, though extensive, were poor, and their inhabitants neither industrious nor prosperous. further, the danes, norwegians, and swedes were in constant feud with one another, and each of these states turned an eye of greed towards the flourishing baltic cities, whose possession they coveted. the two scandinavian powers, in particular, constantly harassed the german merchants by their scanty comprehension of treaty rights, their breaches of faith, and it was not easy work for the cities to steer clear between the three kingdoms, that were now at deadly feud with one another, now convulsed by civil wars, now united in a policy of rapine. it would be tedious to enumerate the quarrels, jealousies, and feuds that agitated these kingdoms during the early years of the fourteenth century; to note in detail the trouble they caused to the hanseatic traders, and the need they awoke among them of holding together in as close an alliance at home as they had hitherto done abroad. it was necessary to be ever wakeful and mistrustful; and to watch jealously for the faintest signs of an infringement of privileges. in a lad of some twelve summers, whose memory was destined to be handed down to posterity as that of a hero of romance, ascended the throne of denmark. in allusion to the famous fable about the election of a king of the frogs, an old writer speaks of this event as a choice by the frogs of the stork as ruler instead of the log. for waldemar, as he was called, proved indeed no log and no puppet in the hands of his ambitious barons. as a mere youth he gave evidence of his strength and determination, and under his ægis denmark acquired great wealth and consideration, and would have attained to yet more had not waldemar, with mistaken judgment, drawn the reins too tight, until from a wise ruler he became a despot. it was his aim and policy to nationalize his country, to drive away the foreigners who utilized it for their warlike and commercial ends. he found it small and distracted with dissensions; after twenty years' rule he could point to marked success and change, for he had made denmark respected and feared at home and abroad. history knows him as waldemar iii.,[ ] story and song as waldemar atterdag, a nickname that well expresses the salient points of his character. for the name of atterdag, which means "there is yet another day," refers to the king's constant habit of using this expression in the sense that if to-day a goal is not reached, it is not therefore unattainable, that a man must wait, never despair, and never lose sight of his aim. and waldemar for his part never did. he pursued his purposes with a strenuousness and a patience, which contrasted favourably with the vacillating attitude of his princely northern contemporaries, and which was only matched and finally surpassed by the same strenuous and patient policy on the part of the baltic towns, and especially on the part of lübeck, their astute and diplomatic leader. nor was it only good aims that the king followed with such persistence. he was an implacable, a relentless enemy, who never forgot an injury, and who waited with cruel calmness the day of vengeance. in waldemar's state policy there often appeared mixed motives; considerations of the most personal character were blended with care for the welfare of his state, and when one should alone have been considered, both frequently played a part. it was this that led to his ultimate ruin; like too many clever people he overreached himself. therefore, while the early years of his reign were really a blessing to distracted and impoverished denmark, of the latter part a contemporary chronicler complains that-- "in the times of waldemar, every tradition of our ancestors, all paternal laws, all the freedom of the danish church was abolished. the rest of the soldier, the merchant, the peasant, was so curtailed, that in the whole kingdom no time remained to eat, to repose, to sleep, no time in which the people were not driven to work by the bailiffs and servants of the king, at the risk of losing his royal favour, their lives, and their goods." in a word, waldemar worked his subjects hard, and even the most patriotic singers cannot present him as a wholly attractive figure. he is rather a character to be feared than loved. the hansa was not slow to recognize this. it saw that it was face to face with a man whom no obstacles could deter, to whom even treaty obligations were not sacred, and who was liable to be swayed by incalculable caprice. that it was right in its estimate and its fears waldemar was not slow to make known, so soon as his power at home was fully secured. the first attack upon the hansa towns was made by the danish king in the shape of interference with their fishing rights on scania, breaking the contracts which his predecessors, and even he himself, had made, and demanding extortionate fees for the renewal of the time-honoured privileges. diplomatic negotiations were entered upon, but waldemar befooled the deputies from the cities, wasting their time with idle discussion of irrelevant matters, and refusing to come to a real agreement. after long and fruitless debate the ambassadors of the hansa towns departed home anxious and discouraged. ten weeks after their return the cities were startled by the terrible news that waldemar, in a time of perfect peace, without previous warning or declaration of war, had suddenly invaded the island of gothland, and seized, sacked, and plundered the rich city of wisby, the northern emporium of the hansa's wealth. such a blow was aimed not only at wisby, but at all the hanseatic towns; from that moment diplomatic negotiations with waldemar were no more to be thought of. this act meant war; war at all costs and at all risks. "in the year of christ king waldemar of denmark collected a great army, and said unto them that he would lead them whither there was gold and silver enough, and where the pigs eat out of silver troughs. and he led them to gothland, and made many knights in that land, and struck down many people, because the peasants were unarmed and unused to warfare. he set his face at once towards wisby. they came out of the town towards him, and gave themselves up to the mercy of the king, since they well saw that resistance was impossible. in this manner he obtained the land, and took from the burghers of the town great treasures in gold and silver, after which he went his ways." thus the contemporary chronicler of the franciscans of st. catherine at lübeck. by a skilful _coup de main_ waldemar had indeed made himself master of gothland, then under swedish suzerainty, and of the wealthy city of wisby. his aim had been booty, and he had it in rich measure in the shape of gold, of fur, and silver vessels. legend tells that the year previous to the attack waldemar had visited gothland disguised as a merchant, securing the love of a goldsmith's daughter, whose father held an influential position in wisby, and who, in her loving trustfulness revealed to him the strength and weakness of the island and town, thus helping him to secure the spot that was rightly regarded as the key to the three northern realms. the inhabitants, unprepared, unarmed, had been unable to offer much resistance. it was a terribly bloody fight this that raged outside the walls of wisby; the site of it is marked to this day by a cross erected on the spot where , gothlanders fell. "before the gates of wisby the goths fell under the hands of the danes,"[ ] runs the inscription. as was the custom among the conquerors of olden days, waldemar, it is related, entered the city, not by means of the gates that had been forcibly surrendered to him, but by a breach he specially had made for this purpose in the town walls. the gap too is shown to this hour. when he had plundered to his heart's content, aided in his finding of the treasure by his lady love, after he had added to his titles of king of the danes and slavs, that of the king of gothland, waldemar proceeded to return home in his richly laden ships. but it was decreed that he should not bring his booty to port. a great storm arose in mid-ocean. it was with difficulty that the king escaped with his life; his ships were sunk, his coveted hoards buried in the waves. there are still shown at wisby the two fine twelve-sectioned rose windows of st. nicholas' church, in which, according to tradition, there once burned two mighty carbuncles that served as beacons to light the seamen safely into harbour in the day of the town's prosperity. these stones, it is said, were torn from their place and carried off by waldemar. the gothland mariner still avers that on certain clear nights he can see the great carbuncles of st. nicholas' church gleaming from out the deep. as for waldemar's lady love, whom it is said he abandoned as soon as his purpose was attained, she was seized on by the infuriated townspeople and buried alive in one of the turrets of the city walls, known to this day as the "virgin tower." it is difficult to decide whether waldemar foresaw the full danger and bearing of his high-handed step; whether he knew what it meant to plunder a city like wisby, one of the strongest arms of the hansa. he had certainly thrown the gauntlet down to the towns; he was quickly to learn that the power which some years ago had successfully beaten his predecessors had but grown in strength since that date. on the first news of waldemar's treachery, the baltic cities laid an embargo on all danish goods, and then called together a hasty council in which it was decreed that until further notice all intercourse with denmark should be forbidden on pain of death and loss of property. then they put themselves into communication with norway and sweden in order in the event of a war to secure the alliance of these countries, an assistance that was the more readily promised because their sovereigns were at feud with waldemar. to defray the war costs it was determined to levy a poundage tax on all hanseatic exported goods. a fleet was got ready with all possible speed, and when everything was in order, the towns sent a herald to waldemar with a formal declaration of war. in may, , their ships appeared in the sound, and brilliant success at first attended their arms. copenhagen was plundered, its church bells carried to lübeck as the victor's booty. at scania the cities looked to meet their northern allies, in order in conjunction with them to take possession of the danish strongholds on the mainland. here, however, disappointment awaited them. whether lack of money or fear had deterred the northern kings from keeping their word is unknown; at any rate, they did not put in an appearance with their armies. the burgomaster of lübeck, johann wittenborg, who commanded the hanseatic fleet, saw himself forced to use the men he had on board for the land attack. he held himself the more justified in doing this since he deemed he had so thoroughly routed the danes, that from the side of the sea there was nothing to be feared. this decision was rash, and wittenborg was to atone for it with his life. already it seemed as if the stronghold helsingborgs was in his hands--he had been besieging it sixteen days with great catapults--when waldemar suddenly appeared with his fleet upon the scanian coast, surprised the hansa vessels that had been left with but a feeble crew, and carried off twelve of the best ships, and most of their provisions and weapons. the consequence was that wittenborg saw himself obliged to return with the remnant of his army to lübeck. he found the city embittered against him in the highest degree for his defeat; though it saw that the main guilt of the disastrous end of the war lay with the faithless northern kings. the stern free city deemed it right, not only towards itself, but also to its sister towns, to punish heavily the unsuccessful leader. wittenborg had hardly landed ere he was arrested, chained, and thrown into a dungeon. here he dragged out a weary year of imprisonment. in vain some of the cities pleaded his cause, in vain his friends tried to obtain his deliverance. lübeck was a stern mistress, who knew no mercy, and could brook no ill success. in her dictionary, as in that of youth, according to richelieu in bulwer's play, there might be no such word as "fail." wittenborg had, of course, been at once deprived of his burgomagisterial honours; a year after his defeat his head publicly fell under the executioner's axe in the market-place of lübeck. burial in the councillors' church was denied him. he was laid to rest in the cloisters of the dominicans the spot where all criminals were interred in lübeck during the middle ages; the spot where, down to our own era, all criminals passing that way to execution received from the pious monks a soothing drink as last farewell to life. further, wittenborg's name is absent from the record of the burgomasters; an omission in this place, which doubtless has the same meaning as the absence of marino falieri's portrait among the long row of doges in the venetian palace. the election of a burgomaster as leader of the troops is quite in character with the spirit of those times. such trade warriors are not uncommon in the history of the hansa. within the roomy stone hall that served as entry and store-room to those ancient dwelling-houses, it was usual to see helmet, armour, and sword hanging up above stores of codfish, barrels of herrings, casks of beer, bales of cloth, or what not besides. to this day the stranger is shown in the marketplace at lübeck the stone on which wittenborg sat before his execution, and in the collection of antiquities is the chair of torture in which he was borne thither. so sternly did the hansa punish. there exists an entirely unauthenticated fable that wittenborg had betrayed his trust in return for a dance with the queen of denmark, promising her as a reward the island of bornholm. that the fable had some currency is proved by the fact that for a long while there survived in lübeck the expression, "he is dancing away bornholm," when some one light-heartedly did an unjustifiable deed. the story has given one of the younger german poets, geibel, the theme for a famous ballad. further, it was fabled that twice a year the burgomaster and council of lübeck solemnly drank hippokras out of silver cups made from wittenborg's confiscated property, repeating the while a low german distich that reminded them of their stern duty and their predecessor's sad fate. modern accurate research, pitiless in the destruction of picturesque legends has discovered that these cups were not made till the sixteenth century, and were paid for by a tax levied on bornholm, then in rebellion. after the cruel defeat due to wittenborg, the cities concluded an armistice with waldemar, an armistice that might easily have been converted into a permanent peace, for the towns were not eager to fight. it was too great an interruption to trade. moreover, the war expenses had exceeded their calculations, times were bad, harvests scant, food scarce, and, to crown all, the black death had reappeared in europe and was devastating whole districts. but waldemar had resolved to break entirely the power of the hansa. once more he befooled it in diplomatic negotiations, and in the midst of the truce attacked its herring settlements at scania, and captured some merchant vessels that passed through the belt. the towns held council, waldemar was offered terms. yet again he befooled them, and when he soon after married his only child margaret, celebrated in history as the semiramis of the north, to hakon, heir to the thrones of sweden and norway, thus preparing the union of the three northern kingdoms under one crown, the towns, alarmed at the mere prospect, felt that now or never they must secure their independence. in november, , deputies from the baltic and inland towns met in conclave in the large council chamber of the town hall of cologne, a meeting that became the foundation act of the recognized and open constitution of the hanseatic league, and on which account the hall still bears the name of hansa room. it seems certain that here for the first time was drawn up an act, modified, renewed, altered in course of time, but yet always the fundamental basis of the league. there is no older hanseatic document than this of the congress known as the cologne confederation, when the deputies of seventy-seven towns met to declare most solemnly that "because of the wrongs and injuries done by the king of denmark to the common german merchant, the cities would be his enemies and help one another faithfully." it was decided that such cities as were too weak or too distant to help actively in the war, should do so by the contribution of subsidies. it was further enacted that such cities as would not join in the war should be held as outside the league, with whom its burghers and merchants should have nothing more in common, neither buying from, nor selling to, them, nor allowing them to enter their ports, or unlade goods in their domains. [illustration: rath-haus, cologne.] waldemar was warned of what the cities had resolved against him. he replied with an untranslatable pun, in which he likened the hansa to a flock of geese, who deafened him with their cackle. warned once more, waldemar threatened the cities that he would complain of them to their spiritual and temporal lords; among them the pope and the emperor. the cities had forestalled him. they had sent copies of a letter, stating their grievances against a king whom they denounced as "a tyrant and a pirate," to some thirty spiritual and temporal lords. in the letter to the emperor, lübeck, whence all the letters were dated, excused itself in particular for not responding to charles's recent invitation to join his roman expedition on the plea of its home difficulties, while humbly giving thanks for the honour done it by the offer. it also justified itself for not paying during the past year to waldemar a tax decreed by charles, since this king, it wrote, "seeks to withdraw your town of lübeck from the emperor and the empire." it grieved to state that the emperor lived too far off to shield by his arms his weak and neglected flock in the northern region of the empire. therefore the emperor's most gracious majesty must not take it amiss if the cities, with god's help, did something towards their own protection. worded with all the servile language of the period, lübeck yet in this letter made it pretty evident to its supreme ruler that it meant to stand on its own feet, as it knew too well how unsteady were its sovereign's. yet, again, waldemar was warned of the growing strength, the earnest purpose of the league, and this time he seems to have been alarmed, for he tried to detach from it many of its members, and to win them over to his own cause. he received from the towns with whom he opened negotiations, the following reply, which proves how perfected and tightly secured were already the reciprocal engagements of the league. "the hanseatic league," they said, "having resolved on war, they must submit themselves to that general resolution which bound them all." the cackling geese whom waldemar had despised seemed to have grown into formidable eagles overnight. lordlings and princes too, many of whom had private injuries to avenge, had joined the league or promised their support. the hansa had set up a rival and successful king in sweden, and it now proposed nothing less than to dismember denmark, and to distribute its provinces to its own friends and allies. it did not desire to retain possession of it. it was ever its policy to restrict actual possessions, but to seek that these should be as far as possible in the hands of friends who would grant it the concessions and privileges needful for commerce. thus could be applied to it what a roman said of the peoples he subjugated, "i do not ask for gold; i only desire to rule over those who have gold." with this difference, however, that the hansa, without wishing to conquer provinces, wished to draw to itself whatever profits could be found therein. it was on the sunday of quasimodo, april , , that all the hansa ships were to meet in the sound for a combined attack on zealand. the easter days approached. all northern germany awaited anxiously the moment for the decisive combat to commence; when suddenly the cities learnt that on maundy thursday waldemar had secretly fled from his dominions, alarmed by the decision and strength shown by his enemies. in a ship laden with much treasure he had landed on the pomeranian coasts to go further east and avoid the impending squall, leaving a viceroy in his stead, whom he authorized to conclude peace or carry on war. waldemar's cowardly attitude could not of course alter that of the cities. in that same month of april the war began and raged all the summer, the hansa meeting with but little resistance. with the winter came a truce, after the fashion of those times, but in the summer war was renewed and for two years the hansa ships harassed the danish coasts and waters, sacked their cities and plundered their treasures. the treacherous attack on wisby was avenged with interest, and the war proved so profitable to the league that it settled in congress that it should continue until the danes sued abjectly for peace. its leader was once more a lübecker, brun warendorf, the son of the burgomaster. he died in battle, but the memory of his gallant deeds remains in the stately monument the town erected to him in the choir of st. mary's church. thus lübeck honoured those who contributed to her honour. [illustration: rath-haus, tangermunde.] by the close of , denmark was exhausted and the people weary of war. they pleaded for peace. on this the seventy-seven cities, whom waldemar had derided as geese, dictated their terms. it was indeed a peace such as few kings have signed in the deepest degradation of their empire. for the term of fifteen years they claimed two-thirds of the revenues of scania, the possession of its strongholds, the free passage of the sound, and the right for the same fifteen years to veto the choice of a danish ruler, besides a number of other valuable concessions and privileges; terms, in short, as humiliating for denmark as they were glorious for the league. the last paragraph of this remarkable treaty of stralsund, which put the hansa in the position of a first-class power, ran thus: "our king, waldemar, shall seal to the cities the above terms of peace with his great seal, if he would remain with his kingdom and not give it over to another ruler. if it should be that our lord and king; waldemar, desires to abdicate his land of denmark during his lifetime, we will and shall not suffer it, unless it be that the cities have given their consent, and that he has sealed to them their privileges with his great seal. thus, too, it shall be if our lord and king, waldemar, be carried off by death, which god forfend. then, too, we will accept no ruler but in council with the cities." it is evident from this paragraph that the hansa still mistrusted waldemar, and feared he would by some subterfuge evade the treaty obligations made in his name by his appointed viceroy. and they had probably not gauged him falsely. it was further settled that waldemar must sign this document within sixteen months: if he did not do so within this period, the danish council and kingdom would nevertheless be bound to keep its terms "even if the king did not seal." but abject though these stipulations were, complete as was the submission of denmark to the league which they implied, waldemar signed them within the appointed time. he saw that he was defeated, friendless, and alone. in vain had he scoured the mainland, and recounted his woes to all who would listen, in vain had he begged or bribed for help against his enemies. he had made himself too much hated, and even those who promised aid failed at the last to keep their word. with the signature of peace waldemar also signed away his position, nay, perhaps his life. broken in hope and spirits, his health gave way. four years later ( ) he died, after he had just appealed in vain to the towns to restore to him his castles in scania. with the peace of stralsund the german merchants had established the supremacy of the hansa over scandinavia, and laid the foundation for that power over the northern kingdom, which, in the words of king gustavus vasa, places "the three good crowns at the mercy of the hansa." thus ended the hansa's great war against the king of denmark--a war that marks an important era in its history and development. the league henceforth took a changed position, not only in its own fatherland, but in the face of all europe, for nothing succeeds like success. flanders, france, and england, had all to recognize that a new power had arisen in the north of germany. for the war had proved, not only how valiantly the league could fight if need arose, but also how well organized it was; how it held together for the common weal; how it would be not only unwise, but dangerous to resist its demands for trade privileges and concessions. a curious juxtaposition of events was afforded by this chapter of history; a german emperor was busy in the interests of rome, striving to bring back the pope from his long exile at avignon, and obtaining dubious victories over the great italian family of the visconti; while meantime a league of cities in his own empire was carrying on a successful war against the kings of the north, dethroning and defeating them. and so far from raising a hand to aid them, the emperor, on paper, at least, and by word and protestation, was taking part with waldemar against his own subjects. a curious, a unique condition of things truly. and herewith we have brought the history of our league to the close of what is known as its first period, dating from its origin to the peace concluded with denmark. footnotes: [ ] some writers reckon waldemar as the fourth of his name, counting as the third waldemar the impostor, who for some years ruled over the land under that name. i have preferred to follow the more generally adopted reckoning.--h. z. [ ] "ante portas wisby in manibus danorum ceciderunt gutenses." period ii. _the history of the hanseatic league, from to the public peace of , decreed in germany by maximilian i._ i. lÜbeck receives an imperial visitor. the great war ended, the hansa, in true merchant spirit, instantly busied itself making up its accounts. the poundage toll, instituted to cover martial expenses, was at once abolished; credit and debit carefully balanced. examination of its books showed that, notwithstanding the long duration of the war, the hansa had been as little a pecuniary, as it had been a military, loser, in its struggle against waldemar's assumptions. while thus engaged, lübeck was startled by the intelligence that the emperor, charles iv., intended to honour "his beloved free imperial city of lübeck" by a personal visit. since frederick barbarossa no emperor had ever passed the city gates, and the town councillors were probably not far wrong when they perceived in this proposal a tacit imperial acknowledgment of the hansa's great military victories, victories in which lübeck had played the part of leader. for twenty-eight years charles had worn the imperial crown, and all that time his chief efforts had been directed towards extending the power of his family, and the home influence of the emperors. he was a shrewd and wily old man, who saw the dangers italy presented to the empire, and wished to avoid them. at first, however, he had no proper comprehension of the great power that had sprung up within his own domains in the shape of the hanseatic league, nay, indeed, he had sided against his subjects and with waldemar. but now the scales fell from his eyes, and he appreciated, as all europe did, the greatness and the strength of the hansa. of course he did not admit this in words, yet there is little doubt that he wished to gain the goodwill of this league, and hoped thus to get from it both pecuniary and military support for his dynastic plans. it was, however, "diamond cut diamond;" the worthy councillors of lübeck were no less shrewd and wily than their imperial master. needless to say that, in accordance with the usage of the age, they indulged in the most servile and hyperbolical expressions of their joy and unworthiness to be so honoured, but like true merchants they had a good memory, and knew that charles had not so long ago pawned his coronation cloak and some of his tolls to one of their federation, and they suspected in their heart of hearts that ulterior motives were probably not absent to account for this unwonted event. still, with the wisdom of the serpent, they let nothing of this appear, either in their replies to charles, or in their treatment of him. like their lombard predecessors, even when in open warfare against the emperor's authority, they ever protested in words their submission and fidelity to the imperial crown. it was in the autumn of that charles the fourth entered the gates of lübeck as the city's guest. it is a curious fact that his visit coincided with the death of waldemar on the island of zealand; but in those days of slow communication the news did not reach the emperor till after the festivities were over. on october nd, the emperor, accompanied by the empress, the archbishop of cologne, prince-bishops, dukes, earls, and suzerains many and mighty, halted before the closed gates of lübeck. his suite, his armed retainers, and those of his party, made such a numerous host that lübeck hesitated awhile ere opening its gates to so great a multitude, not feeling wholly sure whether their mission were indeed one of peace, or whether an affectation of peace was meant to cover a deceitful attack. for such things were not uncommon in those days. after some preliminaries it was however decided to let them all in. a halt had been made outside the walls. here was situated the chapel of st. gertrude, patron saint of strangers. the chapel was the property of the municipal council, and to obtain relics for it the town had spent many sums of money. among other matters, they boasted of possessing some bones of thomas à becket, and it is curious to note that they sent over to england to buy these at the very time chaucer was superintendent of tolls in the harbour of london, and was writing his immortal "canterbury tales," in which he derides the frauds constantly practised upon the purchasers of such wares; as in his "pardonere's tale." now charles iv. had a great fancy for objects of this nature; he was in the habit of making tours in his kingdom in order to collect them, begging them from churches or monasteries, and giving in return privileges and sanctions. it is possible he also had an eye to st. thomas's bones, but among the rich booty he took with him from lübeck, we find no mention of such relics. [illustration: shipping house, lÜbeck.] it was before st. gertrude's chapel, then, that charles and his great suite halted, and here he and his empress put on their imperial robes previous to entering the city. this done, they were greeted by a procession that came forth from the gates to welcome them. it consisted of the temporal and spiritual lords of the town, the leading men, and the most lovely and notable of its women. they carried before them a crucifix and a casket containing relics. both the emperor and his consort kissed these with great fervour. then two stately horses, richly caparisoned, were brought before them, upon which they mounted. that of the emperor was led by two burgomasters, that of the empress by two town councillors. eight young patricians carried a baldachino of rich stuffs over the heads of the imperial pair. in front of the emperor rode a councillor, bearing aloft on a pole the keys of the city; while he was flanked by two imperial dukes, carrying respectively the sword and the sceptre of the empire. in front of the empress rode the archbishop, bearing the imperial globe. behind followed all the nobles, the suite, the men-at-arms. such was the procession that moved from st. gertrude's chapel on the morning of october nd. in the space between the outer and inner walls of the city the women of lübeck awaited them ready to greet the guests with cheers and song and waving kerchiefs. it was through the stately burg thor that the great train passed and entered the streets of the city, gaily decked out with arras and banners and verdure to bid them welcome. they rode the whole length of the town, through the breite strasse, to the sound of fife and drum, and then made for the cathedral. here they halted, dismounted, and entered. a solemn thanksgiving service was held, and the choir sang the introitus for the feast of the epiphany: "ecce advenit dominator dominus" ("behold the lord, the ruler is come"), and then the second verse of the seventy-second psalm, "give the king thy judgments, o god." after this the party once more re-formed, and rode along the königstrasse, till they came to the house that was to harbour the imperial guests. contemporary chroniclers tell us that all along the route of the procession and both by night and day the sounds of military and sacred music never ceased. night was as light as day, thanks to the general illumination prescribed by the council; a prescription that, in a city thus overcrowded by a martial train and by curious spectators from far and near, was as much a matter of safety as of compliment to its guests. in those times street-lighting was an unknown luxury, and nocturnal brawls of constant occurrence. the house where charles halted exists to this day, as also that where the empress lodged. they are both corner-houses and boast gables, which according to contemporary writers was an indication of an aristocratic building. the lodging of the empress was opposite to that of the emperor, and a covered way was built across the street to connect them. such road-bridges, springing from the projecting gable windows, were not unusual things in the harrow streets of those times. the condition of the unpaved roads made them requisite, as these could not be crossed on foot with safety or cleanliness. for the space of eleven days charles and his train halted at lübeck, and the town spared neither cost nor trouble to entertain him right royally, and to impress him with its wealth and importance. feasts, tournaments, rejoicings, followed upon one another; time was not allowed to hang heavy upon the emperor's hands. but neither was he allowed to carry out his ulterior objects. with great politeness and fulsome flattery charles was made to understand that the hansa was sure of its own strength, and since he had not helped it in the hour of need, it did not propose to make great sacrifices to assist him in his troubles. all however was done with perfect courtesy, charles even being permitted on one occasion to be present at a meeting of the municipal council when both sides exchanged pretty compliments. he even went so far as to address them as "lords." with great modesty they disclaimed this appellation. but the emperor insisted on it: "you are lords," he said; "the oldest imperial registers know that lübeck is one of the five towns that have had accorded to them in the imperial council the ducal rank, that they may take part in the emperor's council and be present where is the emperor." these five cities were rome, venice, pisa, florence, and lübeck. when charles left lübeck he was delighted with the hospitality he had there received, but disappointed in his political aims. it is certain, however, that he rode out richer than he rode in; to this the account books of the city bear testimony, of this the taxpayers told a tale for many a long day. indeed the expenses incurred through this imperial visitor were to lead later on to some serious riots of the guilds against the municipality. it was through the _mühlen thor_ that charles departed with his train and by order of the town council this gate was walled up for ever behind him. it was meant as a piece of subtle flattery to the emperor, a suggestion that no mortal was worthy to step where he had stepped,[ ] but it is not out of keeping with the astute sense of humour that distinguished these commercial princes, that the act also covered a secret satisfaction in having outwitted their imperial guest and in being once more the victors in an encounter with royalty. certain it is that charles' visit proves that the hanseatic league had reached the apex of power, and that the city of lübeck was regarded in europe as the head of this organization. charles' visit was one of the proudest moments in her story, and the memory survives in local chronicles. it also survives in an old picture preserved until quite recently in the house where he lodged, and now removed to the rooms of the municipal antiquarian society. in this canvas we see the emperor charles iv., seated on a large throne-like chair. on either side of him is a leaded window. a carpet lies before his feet bordered with black, red, and gold cords. the emperor is clothed partly in imperial, partly in episcopal robes: a not uncommon mode of representation in those days. he wears his hair long, has a long moustache, and his full beard is parted in the middle, showing the costly clasp that closes his mantle. his head is surrounded by a golden jewelled crown, in his right hand he holds a long sword, in his left the imperial globe. the subscription runs: "anno dni. ipse sevori dn. carolus quartus imperator invictissimus decem diebus hac in domo hospitatus est." footnotes: [ ] modern, disintegrating criticism, casts doubts on this story, and tries to prove that this gate was walled up before charles' visit, and that he did not depart by it. this objection, however, is not fully proved, and the contrary tradition so powerfully rooted, and so entirely in keeping with the spirit of the age, that i have preferred to reproduce it as characteristic, even if untrue.--h. z. ii. the towns in the fourteenth century. our league had attained its maturity. as we have seen from its origin and as we shall see until its decadence, security and extension of commerce was its one aim and solicitude. the hanseatics were at all times desirous to extend their markets abroad, to obtain, if possible, the monopoly of trade, and it must be admitted that they succeeded admirably in achieving the end they had in view. when we look back and consider the disorganized state of the empire and the slight support they received from their nominal liege lord, it seems strange that they did not take this occasion to constitute themselves also into a political union, forming independent states after the pattern of the italian commercial republics. in general, the towns in pursuing their policy took as little real notice of the authority of the emperor, as the emperor of the interests and doings of the towns. even our shrewd hansa merchants, it would seem, were afraid outwardly to present a bold front to their rulers, though secretly they defied them and circumvented their laws. the very existence of the federation was illegal, and in direct contravention to one of the chief clauses of the golden bull, which forbade all associations and unions within the empire. it is no doubt on this account that the hansa, like the venetian republic, kept its organization so secret. even in its own day people were but vaguely informed as to the working of its government, and as to the number and extent of its dominions. the very natural question arises now that our league is mature, how many cities did it count in its federation? but it cannot be answered with precision. nay, this question can receive no final reply in any period of the hansa's history. the towns that joined did not always do so permanently, or were not able to maintain their place, and to fulfil their duties. often, too, they proved restive and were "unhansed," and it was no easy or inexpensive matter to be readmitted. the ban of the hansa was more potent than that of pope or emperor. a town that fell under it lost its commerce at one blow. thus, for example, bremen, headstrong and stiff-necked, anxious to play an undue part in the hansa league, saw itself shut out in , because one of its burghers had traded with flanders at a time when such trading was forbidden. the municipality, called upon to punish him, took his part, with the result that for thirty years the town was "unhansed," thirty miserable years, during which "the city was impoverished, grass grew in its streets, and hunger and desolation took up their abode in its midst," so writes a contemporary eyewitness. reinstated at last, bremen had to take up heavy responsibilities in atonement for its misdeeds. [illustration: grocers' hall, bremen.] on another occasion brunswick fell into the hands of discontented artizans, who headed a revolt of several towns against the league. a fulminating decree was issued by the hansa with the same results as in the case of bremen. misery and hunger in this case also proved persuasive, and at last, after six years, this proscribed town was readmitted. it had to send deputies to lübeck, who craved pardon in the most abject terms, and who had to accept the most humiliating conditions. besides questions of internal management, the brunswickers undertook to build a votive chapel in the town in memory of their bad behaviour, and to send pilgrims to rome who should crave the papal pardon for the murders of councillors committed by the rioters. two burgomasters of brunswick, and eight of the chief citizens walked humbly in procession, bare-headed, bare-footed, carrying candles in their hands from the church of our lady at lübeck, to the town hall, where in the great council chamber of the league, before an enormous crowd, they had publicly upon their knees to confess their repentance for what unruly passion had caused them to do, and to implore their confederates to pardon them for the love of god, and the honour of the virgin mary. [illustration: rath-haus, brunswick.] more and more did lübeck come to take the leading place among the cities. her laws ruled at the hansa diets. they were reckoned the wisest ever framed by an autonomous community, and are still quoted with respect. the right to use lübeck law was as eagerly craved by distant cities as the greek colonies craved the holy fire from native altars. no wonder lübeck's merchants loved to quote the proud couplet: "was willst begehren mehr, als die alte lübsche ehr?" ("what more will you desire than the old lübeck honour?") Æneas sylvius piccolomini, afterwards pope pius ii., when travelling through europe as chancellor of the emperor frederick iii., visited lübeck, and writes of it as the town which surpasses all others in the wealth and magnificence of its buildings and churches. the same praise is echoed a little later by a rare guest, the metropolitan of moscow, who passed through lübeck on his way to florence, to be present at the great church council held there by eugene iv. Æneas also visited danzig, and says it was so well equipped for land and sea warfare, that it could call under arms at least , men. the prominence of the cities varied greatly. circumstances which at one time might be to their advantage, might at another time prove adverse. thus wisby, after its sacking by waldemar, was the victim of an accidental fire, which destroyed all that the dane had spared. in consequence it fell at once from its position of importance, and its very site, once the source of its strength, became the cause of its downfall, for it proved a most convenient station to pirates. where the merchant had safely halted, he was now in peril of life and goods. [illustration: mÜhlenthor, stargard.] to the question put at various times to the hansa's ambassadors "which are the hansa's cities?" evasive replies were given, either "those towns that fought the hansa's battles;" or a few were enumerated, and the list closed with a colossal etcetera, etcetera. for they were not easily caught napping, these worthy burghers, and had ever in view "the interests of the common german merchants," which they feared might be endangered by too much publicity. still, they had become a power that could not be hid, and seeing how well they realized this in most respects, it is the more curious that they did not avail themselves of their chance of attaining political autonomy. the more curious too, because, as a rule, the hanseatics, like the modern italians, knew so well how to draw profit out of all the dissensions and disorders that agitated europe. it was indeed a vast dominion that stood under the sway of the hansa. in the course of less than a hundred years there had arisen on the baltic coast, within the area of two hundred and fifty miles, no fewer than fourteen cities of first-class importance, not to name those that already existed there. thus the merchants held in their possession the mouths of all the great baltic rivers, on all of which they founded harbours and depôts. germany in that epoch evinced a power of colonization which in its successes recalls the most brilliant moments of the extension of greek life in the mediterranean. in more modern times only the north american soil has exercised an attraction similar to that of the baltic coasts, and has shown an equal power of upraising cities within a brief space of time. many of the towns boasted a far larger population than they have at this day. thus lübeck in the fourteenth century counted eighty thousand inhabitants, as against forty-eight thousand in . an interesting contemporary opinion on our merchants is extant from the pen of a learned and travelled italian, marino sanudo, a pious venetian, who set forth early in the fourteenth century with a mission to stir up the christian world, and organize a new crusade, for askelon, the last stronghold of the romish church, had fallen into the hands of the unbelievers. his first purpose was to gauge the fighting power of the various european maritime states, for it was a fleet rather than an army that was required. in his journeyings he ventured as far north as the baltic, and thus reports in his letter to pope john xxii.: "in alemannia live many peoples that could prove most useful to us.... i have seen with my own eyes that these coasts of alemannia are quite similar to the venetian. the inhabitants, strong of limb and practised in arms, are mostly warriors; others well skilled in dyke-making; besides, they are rich, and what is yet more commendable, they show a warm zeal for the affairs of the holy land." after enumerating other advantages to be gained from these allies, he is however obliged to draw his holiness' attention to a serious drawback on their part, namely, "that the germans are enormous eaters, which arouses anxiety in respect to supplies when the fleet shall find itself in the hot regions." a love for feasting meets us repeatedly in the old chronicle reports on the german merchants, and shows that in those days there also held good what hawthorne has more recently expressed, that the germans need to refresh exhausted nature twice as often as any other peoples. then, as now, they were an upright, thorough, massive race, not made of too fine a clay and wanting rather on the æsthetic side; a want sure to strike the more finely strung senses of an italian. [illustration: burghers at table.] it is certain that the fourteenth century was in many respects the epoch when the hansa cities flourished most actively. neither before nor after did they have so many sided an importance for the whole life of the german nation. it was a stirring period in the history of the european continent; when the minnesingers gave place to the mastersingers; when learning, hitherto stored up jealously in the monasteries and the libraries of the princes, had found its way out among burghers and laymen; when protectors of art and science were more often simple merchant princes than noble-born beggars. in a word, it was an epoch when the middle class sprang into full being, and took its due and proper place as a link between the nobility and the common people. towards bringing about this state of things the hansa had greatly contributed. if it failed to emancipate itself entirely from the empire, it was yet ever keenly desirous of emancipating itself from its petty suzerains. thus the burghers of lübeck, cologne, goslar, and other cities were early forbidden to hold posts under the lord of the domain, no matter how lucrative such posts might be. wismar, engaged on one occasion in a dispute with the dominican monks concerning the repair of the town walls, and obliged to cede to these ecclesiastics because the lord of the land was favourable to the church, carefully recorded the occasion in its "town book," "in order," as it wrote, "that it might remember the circumstance on some future and more favourable occasion." "to pay them out" is implied though not expressed in the phrase. with the same insistence and energy the towns made good their claims when it was requisite to protect the burgher in his commerce, this source of life to all the cities. formerly, it is true, the german merchants had appeared in the foreign markets as "the men of the emperor," but now the emperors had no longer might wherewith to back their right, and more efficient protection was called for. this each found in his own city. hundreds and thousands of treaties and letters of freedom attest to the fact that the towns recognized their duties towards their citizens and practised them most strenuously. sometimes these were written out in the name of a princeling, whose signature it was always possible to buy for hard cash; but as time went on the towns gradually took an entirely independent stand, so that from france to the russian districts of smolensk the whole continent was overspread with a network of diplomatic and commercial contracts eagerly supported and extended by the towns. the first thing sought for from the territorial lords, was protection for person and property from the gang of banditti who dwelt in every castle under the leadership of some titled robber; then protection against the cruel rights of wreckage and salvage, which declared all such goods the property of the territorial lord; further, release from imprisonment for debts and other misdemeanours incurred within the jurisdiction of the city and to be dealt with by itself alone; assistance in obtaining payment of foreign debts; freedom from the so-called "judgments of god" in the form of torture, walking on red-hot irons, &c.; regulation and diminution of local taxes and tolls on the lading or unlading of vessels, the weighing of merchandise; permission to fell wood to repair ships; in a word, one and all of the necessary permits to render more easy and profitable the intercourse between towns and nations. [illustration: german trade life.] in each foreign country the hanseatics had always their permanent settlement, known as the _kontor_, and for these they had early obtained a species of autonomy that permitted them to exercise jurisdiction according to their native laws over their own country people. defaulters were judged by hanseatic rules, and the "common merchant" found a help and support against the foreigners among whom he for the moment resided and with whom he traded. the shrewd towns knew well how to estimate the value of such foreign settlements, and it is noteworthy that they never accorded reciprocal rights. in vain foreigners pleaded permission to found similar settlements in the hansa's dominions; the towns always skilfully declined such requests. thus in cologne foreign merchants were not allowed to reside longer than six weeks at a stretch, and this only three times in the year; therefore only eighteen weeks in all. similar and even more restrictive regulations prevailed in the other cities. it is curious to note that, until the end of the thirteenth century, it was chiefly the inland towns who were the great traders, but when they needed for their trade the highway of the ocean, gradually the maritime ports had taken the place of importance. one of the chief lines of sea traffic was that between bruges in flanders and northern russia. on this route hundreds of ships sailed annually, all owned by the "easterlings," as the baltic merchants were called to distinguish them from the inland traders. it was not until the fifteenth century that we find dutchmen, zealanders, and frisians striving to come into serious competition with the hansa. a decree that no german merchant might go into partnership with a russian, fleming, or englishman, no doubt aided greatly this exclusive possession of the baltic sea. in russia waterways led them as far as smolensk; and, later on, they penetrated even further inland, by utilizing the roads that had been made by the german knights whose seat of might was pomerania and livonia. the marienburg, the chief house of the order, proved a welcome halting station for the merchant travellers, where they found safety and shelter. furs were largely obtained from the inner districts of russia. "they are plentiful as dung there," writes the pious chronicler, adam of bremen; adding, "for our damnation, as i believe, for _per fas et nefas_ we strive as hard to come into the possession of a marten skin as if it were everlasting salvation." according to him, it was from this cause and from russia "that the deadly sin of luxurious pride" had overspread the west. [illustration: renslau gate.] wax, that played so large a part in mediæval religious rites, and was required in great abundance, was furnished by the "honey-trees" of the virgin russian forests. leather, skins, tallow, and all species of fat, were also among the chief products of russia and the exports of the hansa. in return, they imported into that empire the produce of the looms of germany, england, and flanders, the fine flemish cloths, the coarser english and german. silk, too, and linen were valued goods. important also were all manner of worked metal objects, and such wares as town industries manufacture. beer, too, was a valued and most profitable article of commerce. this drink was brewed in superior excellence in northern germany, the hops being grown on the spot. contemporary writers tell how outside all the northern cities hop gardens flourished. this beer was never wanting at any carouse in the whole stretch of land from flanders to finland; a heavy, heady beverage, which would now be deemed unpalatable and indigestible. some specimens are preserved to this day in the danzig _topenbier_ and the brunswick _mumme_. to this thirst for ale hamburg largely owes its prosperity. for many long years it was the greatest beer-making town of the north, boasting in the fourteenth century no less than five hundred breweries. from sweden the hanseatics fetched copper and iron; in many cases they had acquired the sole possession of the mines. scandinavia also furnished skins, as well as the various forest products of wood, potash, pitch, and tar. from blekingen, as at this day, the merchants brought granite, and from gothland and bornholm limestone, both stones being required for those building purposes for which the native material of brick did not suffice. already the baltic supplied the netherlands with grain. the hansa carried in return to sweden, finland, and russia the requirements of daily life, since these countries possessed neither manufactures nor skilled labour. down to the altar shrines and the psalters of the church the merchants brought the evidences of civilized workmanship to these lands. the very furs they had taken thence were returned to their northern homes; of course manipulated and worked up. even the english, more advanced in handicraft, submitted to the same _régime_. it used to be said on the european continent in those days: "we buy the fox skins from the english for a groat, and re-sell them the foxes tails for a guilder." with england indeed the hansa's intercourse was most active, as we shall show more in detail later on. [illustration: crossbow.] danzig owes almost all its splendour to the english trade. this city dealt largely in austrian and hungarian products, which were distributed from out its harbour. english crossbowmen received all the wood for their bows from austria by way of danzig. they were made from the yew tree, which was considered especially adapted to this end. what the german merchant obtained as produce from russia, scandinavia, and other parts of europe, not to mention the special productions of his own towns, he distributed either at home or in the world-famed markets of bruges and london, for the hansa was then the only intermediary between east and west. for more than three hundred years bruges maintained its place as the central market for the whole of europe this side the alps. here could be met traders from all parts; the lombard bankers and money-changers, the florentine, spanish, portuguese, french, basque, english, scotch, north and south germans. it was from bruges that the baltic merchant supplied his home and northern germany with the products of the east, which the south german had brought from venice and over the alpine passes along the rhine. in bruges he could buy the fruits of the mediterranean, the silks of florence, the oils of provence, the wines of spain and italy. these meetings of merchants were wont to take place at stated times, intercourse being thus made surer and easier. this custom laid the foundation for those annual fairs for the exchange of wares, of which one yet survives in germany in little diminished importance, namely, the great fair of leipzig, where all the german publishers meet to exchange the intellectual productions of the year. another source of wealth to the cities arose from the circumstance that they not only supplied the requirements of the mass, but were also the purveyors to the princes and the aristocracy. we find in their books that these frequently owed them heavy sums for furs, flanders cloth, and choice wines. they were also most often their bankers, for the towns and, above all, lübeck, the centre of cash transactions, were held desirable places for money investments. even in the distant districts of sweden people knew no better mode of investing capital than to confide it to lübeck merchants. of course the conditions of trade were vastly different from those of to-day. above all, the merchant had to act more in person. posts did not exist, orders and contracts, therefore, could rarely be made by letter, for it mostly required a special messenger to carry these. it was hence almost the rule that the merchant accompanied his wares "over sea and sand," as the phrase went. for the sake of greater security, and in order also to diminish expenses, many would club together to charter a ship. it was usual to interest the captains in the sales of the wares, it being held advisable that every one on board should have an advantage in bringing the goods safe to land and in their profitable disposal. this custom arose from the dangers that lurked from robbers, while insurance of goods in transit was yet unknown. by interesting captain and crew pecuniarily they were less likely to throw the goods overboard in a storm, or to allow pirates quietly to board and rob the vessels; both matters of common occurrence. if it was dangerous to travel by water, it was yet far worse to travel by land. not to mention that there were few roads, that the mud often lay piled wheel high, so that the strongest horses could not pull the carts; the presence of robbers was a constant cause of fear on the road. many of these were, as we know, the lordlings of the land in disguise, and hence they naturally turned a deaf ear to the repeated petitions of the merchants to keep the highways in better order. added to this, each lord had the right to demand toll for the passing of his dominions and the toll stations were often very close together. thus, for example, within a space of fifteen miles from hamburg the merchant encountered no less than nine. fortunately the tables of tolls in those days were not too complicated. they were generally paid by waggon, or ship load, regardless of contents. the middle ages were ignorant of protective taxes. these impediments to the useful exchange of international produce were reserved for the invention and practice of our more enlightened centuries. it is characteristic that the oath which played so great a part in all mediæval transactions, social and political, was also employed to settle the toll dues of the traveller. a crucifix was held before him; on this he swore that he was not defrauding, that the weight of his wares, as stated by him, was accurate, and herewith the transaction was completed. it was, however, necessary to be most careful not to diverge from the toll roads. if a merchant was found on a bye-road his goods were confiscated and he himself imprisoned. on this account, too, companionship was sought after, the leadership of some one familiar with the ground, and hence merchants and merchandize generally moved in caravans. it is worthy of note that all the trade of that time was strictly legitimate, and what is known as real merchant's business. speculation hardly existed. commission and agency dues were not wholly unknown, but happily there was not existent that pernicious scourge of modern trade, the time bargains, which permit merchandize to be sold a dozen times over before it actually exists. it was honest, true trade, which only sold what it could show. therefore, it could uphold and practise the axiom, "ware for ware, or for cash." in certain districts, for example russia, barter was more common than money payments. credit was absolutely forbidden in certain towns and in certain branches of trade. if credit was allowed the borrower had to find a surety, and to go surety was a grave matter, of which the consequences might easily prove disastrous, entailing loss of property and often of personal freedom. payments were usually made in coined money, but bar silver was also employed, especially in russia, and bills of exchange were not quite unknown. the bills were payable as a rule either at lübeck or bruges. silver was the chief currency, but in the fourteenth century lübeck was permitted to coin gold. it made guilders after the pattern of the florentine ducats. the gold to coin them with was bought at bruges. we must remember that money had a far higher value in those days than in ours, and that if we want to arrive at a just comparison with our own times, we must multiply the sums by seventy or seventy-five. the most common form of reckoning was the flemish, _i.e._, one pound, equal to twenty shillings at twelve groats each; in a word, exactly the reckoning that has survived in england to this day. the pound of money was originally a weight. the best money was that of lübeck, and, above all, the english contracted to be paid in pounds of the "easterlings," their generic name for the baltic merchant. as a survival and abbreviation of this phrase we in england say pound sterling to this day. a bad light upon the morality and conditions of the period is thrown by the fact that the petty kings, seeing that their coins were often refused and mistrusted, did not hesitate to coin and give currency to false money bearing the imprint of the league. we come across frequent bitter and often useless complaints on this subject. putting out capital at interest was not wholly unknown in those days, notwithstanding the prohibitions of the church which, founded on the text in st. luke vi. , and the fourteenth psalm ("qui pecuniam non debet ad usuram"), forbade all usury business. the jews early held this branch of trade in their hands. rates of interest varied from to per cent. loans, too, were made to princes, foreign and native, and to cities, upon industrial enterprises. wholly erroneous is the notion that capital was inactive, kept in a strong box or an old stocking. that great riches were accumulated is proved by some of the old wills and account books. fortunes of a quarter of a million were not unknown. a single merchant would often own not only many farms in different and distant parts of the country, but whole villages and townships. as for the men themselves, we encounter them in every part of the continent, the artisan as well as the merchant. thus, for example, germans seem the favourite shoemakers; we hear of them in this capacity as far off as lisbon. then, as now, they were renowned as bakers, and no one knew better how to salt and preserve herrings and cod-fish. in livonia, esthonia, gothland, rich merchants died whose nearest heirs had to be sought in far off westphalia. for instance: a worthy shoemaker became burgher of lübeck; then visited rome and san jago di compostella as a pilgrim, and afterwards being named shoemaker to the german knights, had as his chief debtor for goods supplied a cavalier who fought in sweden. thus diverse, many-coloured, and full of adventure were lives in those times, which we are too often tempted to think sleepy and stay-at-home. it is difficult to gain an idea of the full extent and nature of mediæval trade, but this too was far more rich and varied than we suppose. though there was no activity outside europe, still it can well stand beside our modern commerce, and as regards honesty, thoroughness of produce and workmanship, it unhappily far eclipses it. certainly the list of articles imported and exported in their variety of needful and needless objects, their luxury and magnificence, goes far to disprove our notions of the greater simplicity of life in the middle ages. for supply means demand, and meant this yet more emphatically with our practical forefathers. apart from the evidences of figures and statistics, the evidences of wealth and luxury can also be found in the yet extant monuments of the time, and, above all, in the churches. in the middle ages the one converging point of ideal life was the church. everything that went beyond the immediate practical needs of daily existence, every form of charity, every endeavour after culture, every striving of artistic and scientific activity had in those days a religious foundation. imagination, too, came to the aid of this tendency in the shape of the possible and probable dangers encountered by "sea and sand," by the town traders. thus in we find merchants and shippers at lübeck founding "an eternal brotherhood and guild to the honour of god, of mary his beloved mother, and all the saints; above all, the holy true helper in need, st. nicholas, that they may aid and comfort the living and the dead, and all those who seek their rightful livelihood on the water, many of whom, alas! perish in water troubles, are thrown overboard or expire in other ways, dying unconfessed and without repentance; for on account of their agonies they could feel neither remorse nor penitence for their sins, and who have none who pray for them except the general prayers." such guilds were by no means rare. legacies, too, were left for similar ends, by which thousands of our money were willed away: churches, monasteries, and holy foundations of all kinds raised or aided to pray for the benefit of the souls of the dead. nor were distant pilgrimages unknown. the merchant would go in person, combining business and religion on the road, or he would send a substitute, who for a certain sum would visit rome, the holy land, san jago in spain, or rocamadour in guyenne. such pilgrims by profession were frequent. st. peter, st. james, after them st. john, then st. nicholas and st. clement as patron saints of merchants, shippers and fishermen, and among the women saints st. catherine, were the chosen objects of north german piety. in no town was lacking a leper house, a refuge for those troubled with that plague of the middle ages, happily now almost unknown in europe. these were dedicated to the holy ghost and to st. george, the slayer of dragons. above all, worship was paid to the virgin mary. all the municipal churches were dedicated to her. there is not a town that has not its church of "our lady." the municipal council were put under her especial protection. to this day the so-called beautiful door of the mary church at danzig bears the inscription in golden letters: "queen of heaven, pray for us!" [illustration: hohe-thor, danzig.] these churches and religious buildings of all kinds, many of which survive to this day amid surroundings to which they have grown strange, speak more eloquently of the hansa's might than piles of old parchment records. all scandinavia can show nothing to compare with these architectural monuments, and we can well comprehend that the northman entering the elbe, the trave, or other baltic rivers, and seeing the lighthouses, churches, and mighty buildings of the towns, were awed by the germans' wealth and power and strength, much as we are impressed now-a-days when we first set eyes upon eternal rome. these buildings resembled each other in externals; in each we find the same tall graceful steeples rising into the heavens, the same proud, defiant battlements and turrets, the same high-gabled many storeyed, small-windowed houses, the same tendency to employ bricks as building materials, and to use coloured varieties as ornamentation. of this method of building and decoration the holstenthor of lübeck is a well-preserved example, as indeed these double gates to the towns were also a characteristic feature. one, a round tower, resembling greatly the castel st. angelo of rome, situated on the south side of rostock, was so strongly built that even the mechanical contrivances of our days found it hard work to demolish it when modern progress required its removal. art was then almost exclusively the handmaiden of religion, and hence it is also in the churches we have to seek evidences of what the hansa could produce in this respect. metal gravestones, rich bindings, cunning iron work, attest its taste. evidence of a love of painting is found in many works now preserved in museums of the pre-holbein day. and, incredible though it may seem, they were so famous for glass painting that early in the fifteenth century men came from italy to lübeck to learn perfection in the craft. [illustration: holstenthor, lÜbeck.] of their domestic architecture little, unhappily, remains to us, the practice of building with wood having wrecked most of the cities. such houses as survive, however, testify to the national love of cunning carvings and inscriptions of didactic purpose. for it is the keynote of that time to express in artistic form its ardent faith and activity, and its somewhat rough-and-ready philosophy. theorizings and abstractions were little understood. thus in old legal codes we see the punishments to be inflicted pictorially portrayed. contempt and mocking also took tangible form, and the clergy were by no means exempted from such satire. notwithstanding all the piety of the age, the people were ever on their guard against the encroachments of the wily priests. the deeds of reynard the fox--that favourite national comic epic, so wholly in keeping with the hansa spirit of practical good sense and business cunning--was a favourite theme for weaving into arras and carpet; and it was common to give a distinct hit at the clergy in the person of the sly beast. it was the custom to depict the last judgment in the court of justice of each guildhall. that painted in for hamburg led to a long lawsuit before the papal court at avignon, because the local dean and chapter saw in it personal allusions. thus devoutness did not impede the townspeople from rigidly retaining their mental independence of view and action. science and literature--such as those ages could boast--were, like art, more or less pressed into the service of the church. the only exception is to be found in the few popular folk-tales, all comic, like the deeds of eulenspiegel, and in the town chroniclers who were in the pay of the municipal council; but activity was not great in this latter domain. in most cities, schools were attached to all the parishes, in which the children of the wealthy classes learned reading, writing, some arithmetic, singing, and a little latin. these institutions were founded in defiance of the priests, who loved to keep the people in the darkness and enslavement of ignorance. nearly all the merchants and many artizans could read and write, even if they did not practise these arts with great facility. business letters were indited either in latin or german, for the latter tongue was more widely diffused for commercial purposes than in our day. but if the wealth of the towns led them to encourage the gentler aspects of life, it also enabled them to give expression to less refined tastes, and refinement of taste was never a speciality of these rather coarse-grained and boorish teutons. the middle ages were essentially a time of animal enjoyment and license; the people loved life and all life could offer on the material side. we come across constant records of carouses and feasts, at which the manners and customs were--to our ideas, at least--most gross. no occasion for merry-making, which meant largely eating and drinking, was allowed to slip by unheeded. nor were these occasions few, for the catholic church, with its endless list of saints, furnishes easy and constant excuses for holiday-making, as we see to this day in catholic countries. when guilds, corporations, or associations met for convivial intercourse, this was pursued according to established rules, some of which survive in the student _corps_ of german universities. breaches of regulation were punished by extra rations of beer that were paid for by the delinquent. entrance fees were defrayed by giving a feast to all members. in short, they ate hard and drank yet harder, with the result that nightly drunken brawls were frequent, the quieter folk often lodging complaints concerning disturbed sleep or rioting beneath their windows between the younger burghers and the watchman. occasionally a man is banished for molesting the town guard, while intoxicated and disorderly, for undue license was not winked at by the town council. this was also the epoch when flourished those civic games which furthered the sentiment of brotherhood, and served, besides, to improve the youth of the city in the use and practice of arms. among these, the may games, may processions, may empires, took a foremost place. they had their origin in the pagan conception of spring as a fair youth, who, in victorious duel, overcame the treacherous winter. the may emperor was usually elected from among the town council. the one who had obtained the wreath during the previous year delivered it up at the beginning of may or at whitsuntide. he would ride out into a neighbouring wood "upon his good horse," accompanied by all the councillors clad in armour, to the sound of martial music and with the town's flag flying. this was called "going to fetch the may." a beautiful boy generally headed the procession. what ceremonies went on in the wood is not known, but when the procession returned, leading in the new may emperor, the boy would bear a flowery wreath upon his long pole as token of victory; while all the councillors and the huge crowd that followed in their train were decked with green branches and boughs. the newly-elected emperor was expected to treat the crowd. after a while this grew a heavy and serious expense, and we find it recorded that a certain burgher of stralsund, who knew he would be elected to this honour, fled the city. he was, however, followed and brought back, made to accept the post and its expenses, and heavily fined into the bargain. as in modern switzerland, so in mediæval germany, crossbow shooting for prizes gave another occasion for public holiday, the different guilds turning out, with banner and music, to do honour to their various patron saints. in such wise all adult men were trained to warfare, though the armies of the hansa usually consisted in great part of hired mercenaries, easily obtained for ready cash in those days, when fighting was held a pleasure far beyond legitimate work. many records survive to attest that these hansa merchants were skilled in the use of dagger and axe. one, for example, a peaceful citizen and trader, with his own hand killed a noted pirate who had long rendered the baltic unsafe. the merchant went his road, as the saying was, trusting to god and his own right arm. "whosoever would be a good burgher at danzig must be industrious both in commerce and arms," runs an inscription on the house of the crossbow shooters of that city. [illustration: children's sports.] later on, as the towns grew more aristocratic in character, the gilded youth of the day had games of their own, from participation in which the artizan was excluded. these, in many cases, led to such riots and uprisings of the populace against the municipality as occasioned the "unhansing" of brunswick and other cities. foremost among them were the so-called "popinjay associations," who met to shoot down from a pole these bright-coloured birds with which travellers had become acquainted in the market of bruges. it was usual for the winner to treat his comrades to a barrel of beer and cakes. indeed, without touching upon the innumerable institutions common to guilds, trades, patricians, and plebeians, a picture of those times would be imperfect. some of these were instituted for purely hilarious purposes, others combined charity and mutual support with carouse and license. thus in cologne there was a society which met to drink wine, and presented to every honoured guest a medal having the inscription, "bibite cum hilaritate." this society imposed on itself certain laws regarding the avoidance of bad language, of lawless living, of coarse speech and action. in the north beer was the chief beverage, many companies were dedicated to gambrinus, the "arch-king and inventor of brewing." here, too, quaint rules attest the rudeness of contemporary manners. it was customary to exact a monetary fine from those who spilt more beer than they could cover with their hand. it seems that even women were not excluded wholly from these revels. at least a princely guest, harboured by lübeck, expressed his disapprobation at the presence in the cellar of the town hall of patrician ladies, who under cover of their veils, which formed for them an incognito, drank hard and enjoyed themselves grossly. endless are the rules and regulations of the various calends, ghostly brotherhoods, companies, and other names by which they styled themselves. thus, for example, they were forbidden to take the food off each other's plates, to call each other certain most injurious names, to throw knives and plates at each other, to appear at solemn drinking bouts bare-footed, to roll in the mud, to retain arms, hat, and cloak when in company, to tap a fresh barrel without the presence of an elder, and so forth. their duties to each other combined social and religious obligations. thus they were often bound to pray for those who, absent on travels, could not attend at mass. they gave decent burial to their poorer comrades, nursed them when sick, helped them when distressed. a pound of wax, half a hundredweight of tallow, a barrel of beer, were not uncommon fines for dereliction of duty. games of chance were universally forbidden. dancing and song were common forms of diversion. the shoemakers and tailors of lübeck were noted for their skill in the sword-dance, a dance probably not unlike the highland reel executed to this day by scotchmen. [illustration: domestic music.] wit, grace, imagination, were elements mostly absent from the lives of these rough germans. this is nowhere more evident than in their amusements. the carnival practices furnished a notable example, practices so graceful, so pretty in the south, so rough and rude in the north. two instances will suffice. at stralsund it was customary to nail up a poor cat with which a man fought until he hit it to death, when he was mock-knighted by the burgomaster. in cologne poor blind people were let loose in an enclosed space to hit a pig, which should be the prize of the successful candidate. the joy of the spectators reached its height when the poor blind men struck each other in place of their victim. the practices at weddings were too rude for description. luxury in dress was most pronounced, and sumptuary laws were repeatedly enacted. it seems strange that it was the men even more than the women who offended in these respects. simple, nay, rude as the lives of these burghers were in their homes, out of doors they loved to make display, especially in the matter of costly weapons and brave horses. young men returning from the wars or the great markets of london or bruges, introduced new fashions and fantasies which changed far more frequently than we are apt to suppose. the most conservative dress was the headgear of the patricians, the councillors and members of the municipality. this consisted for many ages in a long cap of cloth, trimmed with fine fur. before hats or caps came into fashion as coverings, the sight of these men in their long fur cloaks, with their heads enclosed in these curious hoods, must have had a stately, grave effect. so proud were the patricians of this dress that the councillors of bremen actually forged a document early in the thirteenth century, according to which godfrey of bouillon, accorded to them, during the first crusade, the permission to wear fur and gold chains. the dress, clogging the free action of the legs, necessitated a stately slow walk, and its length would seem often to have inconvenienced them in those times of unpaved streets and mud-coated roads. a certain evart von huddessen, the representative of stralsund at the court of king erik of sweden, gained the special favour of the monarch on an occasion, when, invited by the king to visit with him his pleasure gardens outside the town, he quietly walked through the puddles after erik's horse, instead of waiting like the other representatives for their servants to carry for them their trains, which they feared to spoil in the mud. "eh! what are we waiting for here?" he cried to his colleagues, "shall his royal highness ride alone? i reckon my masters of stralsund are rich enough that they can make good to me my new coat." nor were they invariably simple in their homes, though usually so. a favourite german folk tale tells how melchior, of bremen, had his dining-room paved with silver dollars, and even if history or chronicle does not confirm this legend, it is thoroughly in keeping with hanseatic modes of displaying wealth. there did exist, for instance, a certain wulf wulflam, of stralsund, who sat upon a silver seat, and had his rooms hung with costly arras. when he married he, like a royal personage, caused the road from his house to the church to be overspread with a flanders carpet, while musicians played day and night before his door. no doubt at his wedding appeared also the eighty dishes which at weddings was the highest limit allowed to burgher luxury by the hanseatic by-laws. it would seem, too, that the hansa representatives when sent to "hansa days" (the meetings of the various cities in common council) after a while indulged in great display to impress beholders with the power and wealth of their respective cities. this, after a time, assumed such proportions that poorer or wiser communities refrained, whenever possible, from sending members to the "hansa days." such were the habits and customs of these old burghers. as we see, it was a time when men were occupied with the material rather than the ideal side of life. a curious medley it presents of egotism and altruism, piety and license, love of individuality and strict regulation, roughness of living and unbridled luxury, boorishness and civilization. a word must be said of that important institution, the town council, to complete this sketch of the german towns during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. its constitution varied somewhat of course, according to the size and wealth of the cities, but there were certain main resemblances. the number of aldermen varied from twelve to twenty-four. at their head were two or four burgomasters, who enjoyed no special privileges, except that in council they held the office of president. the appointment was for life, but they took it in turns to be on active duty. certain limitations of choice as to aldermen existed. thus for long in lübeck no one could hold that office who earned his bread by handicraft. this regulation however did not last. still merchants throughout filled the chief places; as, being travelled men, and knowing the requirements of their fellows, they were considered the most fit. next to these, brewers and tailors took a leading part. the general constitution of the council may be regarded as in a fashion aristocratic, but it was checked in deliberations and decisions by a sort of second chamber, the common council. under their rule the cities certainly flourished; the one chamber counselled, the other acted, and to be alderman was indeed no sinecure, but rather a post that imposed heavy labour. honour it brought, but scanty remuneration. [illustration: middle-class occupations in the fifteenth century.] _noblesse oblige_ was the proud motto these men acted on. the church bells called them to their meetings, which at first were held in the municipal church, later in the guildhalls. at lübeck they always assembled first in their own chapel of our lady's church, then went in procession to the town-hall. this was the centre of all national life. the market-place was built before it, around it were the chief shops. in the market-place justice was administered, either in the open air or under the open porticos of the guildhall. civic feasts were held here, foreign guests received at this spot. no wonder, then, that the burghers spent great sums upon the building and decoration of their town-halls and surroundings. they were to them the palladium of civic independence, whence law and order, merriment and feasting took their origin. to this day the cellars of the town-halls in germany boast the best wines and choicest foods, and though now let out as restaurants they still, many of them, show in fresco and carving the remains of ancient splendour. in the town-halls were preserved the treasure, the civic documents, and the great town books, called into requisition in all disputes. "no witness goes beyond the book" was the axiom of the day. the market-place was always the largest open place in a city. the streets were narrow and tortuous. this was necessitated by the circumstance that all towns at that date were walled, and hence their extension circumscribed. each class of workmen lived together; shoemakers in one street, coopers in another, and so forth. their houses being small, it was usual for them on fine days to do their work out of doors, which gave an animated appearance to the place. at night these streets were closed by iron chains drawn across them. the town life was, in short, but the family life on an extended scale, and the municipality watched over the welfare of the inhabitants as a father over that of his household. to facilitate commerce and industry, and to look after roads and buildings, were among its chief cares. it is noteworthy that in some towns regulations existed compelling every one who had means to leave in his will a certain sum for repairing the highways and keeping the ports in good condition. many fulfilled this provision, even without this order. another occupation of the aldermen was to superintend trade, and see it carried out on honest principles. thus, at novgorod, a bale of linen is discovered to be bad, so that "no honourable and good man could be paid in such ware." it is sent back to riga, thence to wisby, thence to lübeck, where the aldermen had to find out who delivered these goods. punishment for such fraud followed inevitably, and was so heavy that, on the whole, few attempted to play these base tricks. we also come across complaints that barrels of herrings had been packed fraudulently, good and large fish being on the top; small and inferior and even stale ones filling the rest of the barrel. as such perishable goods could not be returned, the aldermen instituted official herring packers, who were responsible for honest action. in all difficult matters, the advice of the municipality was asked and given. it was held "that they knew what others did not know." thus burgher and burgher ruler worked hand in hand, and each man felt himself a link of the whole chain. this feeling gave rise to an active patriotism, a warm love for their own town, of which instances abound in the mediæval chronicles. many tales are preserved of brawls arising in the towns through the vauntings of rival citizens. thus a certain lübecker meeting a bremener in a hamburg inn, boasted so greatly of his native town's advantages and made such fun of his companion's aldermen that they all but came to serious blows. "you had better mind your words and drink your beer in peace," was the friendly advice of a bystander. such were these burghs which had grown free and strong through burgher industry, and were kept powerful by burgher unity and honesty. iii. the victual brothers. a serious interruption to the baltic trade after the glorious peace with waldemar arose from the notorious gang of pirates known to history as the victual brothers. upon the principle that all is fair in love and war the hansa, during its campaign against the danish king, had openly countenanced and even abetted piracy, so long as the attacks of the robbers were directed against their enemies. the chance of plundering under protection was too tempting not to attract a large number of adventurers, who for some years carried on their black trade under the designation of "victual brothers," a name chosen because their ostensible aim was to supply with provisions that part of the swedish coast which belonged to the hansa. it seems strange to us of to-day to find as the leading spirits among these brothers the names of moltke and manteuffel, doubtless forbears of the famous modern german generals. these pirates founded masses and charitable institutions on the one hand, and robbed and sacked remorselessly on the other. peace being concluded, the hansa naturally had to clear the seas of these pests, but it had been easier to call them into activity than to suppress them. a large body of men had found profitable employment coupled with stirring adventure; this latter being a powerful incentive in those days, and were loth to quit their free wild life. they continued their association, nay, even enlarged it, forming themselves into a corporation, after the pattern of the knights templars, and divided all booty equally among their body. in a brief space they became the scourge of all the commercial cities. "god's friend and all the world's enemy" was their audacious motto. masters of both seas, the baltic and the german ocean, on one occasion they even seized, plundered, and burnt down bergen ( ) and took prisoner the bishop. gothland became their stronghold, and wisby, once the hansa's glory, was turned into a pirate's nest near which the merchant sailed with fear and trembling. it seems strange, to our modern ideas, even to think that piracy was once a reputable calling. it was held as such, for example, in ancient greece, as we may read in thucydides, book i. chap. . no offence was in those days either intended or taken if one greek asked another if he were a pirate. in the baltic, like duelling in more polished climes, this practice long survived the positive laws framed against it. pirates would even give back empty ships to merchants, wishing them a happy return with fresh and fuller cargoes. in vain did margaret of sweden protest against the audacities of the victual brothers. she was helpless against them. the measure of her impotence can be gauged by the fact that she begged from richard ii., king of england, permission to hire three ships at lynn for the protection of her kingdom. in vain, too, on the days when the hansa met in council, was this theme discussed. for three whole years all fishing on scania had to be abandoned. the result was severely felt throughout the length and breadth of christian europe, for herrings and other lenten food became rare and costly. [illustration: ship-building in the fourteenth century.] stronger and stronger grew these pirates, so that at last it was decided to send out an army against them. once more recourse was had to a poundage tax to raise supplies and thirty-five large vessels with three thousand men were sent to sea in . after long and arduous struggles they at last broke the power of the association, but for long afterwards separate bands of pirates, once members of the mighty gang, rendered the navigation of these seas a peril. legend took possession of these robbers from an early date, and we come across them in song and fable. taking a foremost place were godeke michelson and stortebeker, whose special mission it was to harry the traders with england. stortebeker, it is said, was a nobleman, indeed noblemen were frequently found in the association. as a youth he had been wild and lived so riotous a life that all his property was gambled and drunk away. when finally the town of hamburg, the scene of his carouses, in order to pay his debts, deprived him of his knightly armour and forbade him the city precincts, he joined the victual brothers. at this time their leader was godeke michelson, who hailed the new confederate with joy, after testing his strength, which was so great that with his hands he broke iron chains like string. and because his new ally was also great at drinking--he could pour down huge bumpers at one gulp--he bade him lay aside his noble name and renamed him instead stortebeker ("pour down bumpers"). once when the pair had plundered the north sea clean they made a descent upon spain. as was their wont, they divided their spoils with their comrades, only on this occasion they kept for themselves the holy bones of st. vincent, stolen from a church, bearing them under their coats upon their naked breasts. hence, says legend, they grew invulnerable, so that neither crossbow nor axe, sword nor dagger, could harm or wound them. when the victual brothers were conquered by the hansa and banished from the baltic, these two chieftains with their followers found good friends in frisia, where to this day memories of stortebeker survive, and the chieftain keno then broke became his father-in-law, for his lovely daughter lost her heart to the doughty pirate, and followed him on to his ships and his floating kingdom. for stortebeker was a king in his way. when he made captives who promised him a ransom he let them live. but if they were poor and old and weak, he threw them overboard relentlessly. if they were poor but strong, and so likely to be of use, he tested their strength in this manner. he caused his own enormous goblet to be filled with wine. if they could empty it at one gulp they were his peers, and he accepted them as comrades. those who could not pass this ordeal were dismissed. it is said that stortebeker and godeke michelson sometimes had moments of penitence concerning the lives they led. in such a moment of remorse they each presented the cathedral of verdun with seven glass windows, on which were painted cunningly the seven deadly sins. stortebeker's "mark," two reversed goblets, is depicted in one of them, probably the one that treats of gluttony. they also founded a charity for distributing bread to the poor. in , the hansa sent out a fleet to frisia to combat these chieftains. it was in this war that the hamburgers attained the honour of conquering the victual brothers, dispersing their crew and releasing their captives. keno then broke was carried off into confinement, for he had, against his oath and faith, contrived to aid the pirates. with keno the town of hamburg made a new treaty. it is said that just as it was signed and the councillors had left the council chamber, stortebeker managed to slip out of a hiding-place, where he had heard all that passed, and joked with his father-in-law at the expense of the hamburg aldermen who had once more put faith in him. whilst so engaged a certain councillor naune, who had forgotten his gloves, returned to the hall and overheard them. hence the war broke out afresh. once more many victual brothers were captured and beheaded in hamburg. their heads were stuck upon poles for the warning of all beholders, while the account books prove that the executioner received eight pennies per trunk decapitated and his servant twenty pennies per body buried. yet again a fleet had to set forth; for as long as stortebeker and godeke michelson were living there was no peace possible. under a hamburg alderman, simon of utrecht, who commanded the fleet on board a mighty ship known as the _coloured cow_, they again set out. the name of this vessel is remarkable, and is the first instance we come across in hanseatic history of a profane denomination for a ship. all the others are named after some saint or angel, under whose special protection it was supposed to sail. "the _coloured cow_, from flanders, that tore through the ocean with its great horns," sings the folk-song, the "stortebeker lied," which a hundred and fifty years ago was still sung by the people. the victual brothers lay off heligoland. towards dark one evening in the year , the hamburg fleet approached them, and a daring fisherman came so near that he was able to pour molten lead upon some of their rudders, loosening them, and rendering the vessels unseaworthy. next day the battle began. it raged three days and three nights, and only after a desperate resistance was stortebeker conquered. [illustration: heligoland.] some of the pirates fled, many were killed or thrown into the sea; their ships, richly laden with booty in the shape of linen, wax, cloth, &c., were seized, and stortebeker with seventy comrades carried in triumph to hamburg. the cell in which stortebeker was confined was known as stortebeker's hole as long as it existed. it was destroyed like so many of the antiquities of hamburg in the great fire of . short work was of course made of his trial, and with his companions stortebeker was condemned to death. when he heard his sentence it afflicted him much, and he offered the municipality in return for his life and freedom a chain of gold to be made from his hidden treasures, so long that they could span with it the whole cathedral and also all the town. this offer was, of course, indignantly rejected, and next day he was publicly executed, together with seventy comrades. in compliance with their dying petition they went to death dressed in their best, marching in stately procession, and preceded by fifes and drums. after stortebeker's death the hamburgers searched his ships for the hidden treasures. except a few goblets they could find nothing at first, until a carpenter broke the main-mast, which was discovered to be hollow and full of molten gold. with this fortune the merchants who had suffered at stortebeker's hands were indemnified, the costs of the war paid, and out of the remainder a golden crown was made and placed on the spire of st. nicholas church. stortebeker was thus out of the way; but there still remained godeke michelson. so the hamburgers with simon of utrecht and his _coloured cow_, once more set forth and once more returned victorious, bearing in their train godeke michelson, eighty robbers, and the under-chieftain wigbold, of whom it is said that he had been a professor of philosophy at rostock, and had exchanged his chair for the forecastle of a ship. these men also were all decapitated in the presence of the burghers and municipal council. it was a heavy day's work for the executioner, and it is related that he waded up to his ankles in blood. after it was all ended an alderman asked him kindly if he were not much wearied. "oh no," said the headsman, laughing grimly, "i never felt better in my life, and i have strength enough left to behead the whole lot of you councillors." for this treasonable speech he was at once dismissed from his post. various relics exist to this day to keep stortebeker's memory fresh in hamburg. among them were a small whistle with which he gave the signal to his ships during a storm, an iron cannon nineteen feet long, his armour, and the executioner's sword. but chief of all hamburg preserved the so-called stortebeker goblet, a silver bumper, from which tradition says he drank. "whosoever comes to hamburg and does not go to the ship's company, that he may drink from the goblet of stortebeker and godeke michelson, and write his name in the book that lies beside it, has not been in hamburg," says an old writer. this goblet is about a yard and a half high, and holds four bottles. a sea-fight is engraved on it, together with other incidents out of stortebeker's life, and some rough rhymes. once more modern criticism, destructive and intolerant of all picturesque legend, declares that the cup is of later date than stortebeker's time, and can never have been his. [illustration: tomb of simon of utrecht, hamburg.] soon after the death of the pirate chiefs, hamburg sent an envoy as pilgrim to the shrine of san jago of compostella. whether he was employed to bear thither the thanks of the city to the saint for their victory, or to return to spain the relics of st. vincent, history saith not. a medal was struck to commemorate the event. it bears stortebeker's portrait and an appropriate inscription. simon of utrecht, the victorious captain of the fleet, who later won other battles for the hansa, received high honours from hamburg. when he died he was accorded honourable burial, and a gravestone to his memory was put outside st. nicholas church. happily it survived the great fire. it shows the crest of simon, a large three-masted vessel, with the figure of a beast at the helm; doubtless, the famous "coloured cow;" a swan draws this ship through the waves. below is an inscription in latin verse, recording the hero's feats against the pirates, and enjoining posterity to imitate the great deeds of their forbears, that the fame of the city may not be diminished. iv. the factory of bergen. we have seen how great was the hansa's power in peace and in war; let us now cast a glance at the basis upon which the whole proud fabric rested. this is to be sought, beyond doubt, in its foreign commerce. how enormous the interest they had, especially in the baltic trade, how great, indeed almost exclusive, was their empire in that sea, it is difficult to realize. and to retain this empire, to be masters of the mercantile relations between the eastern and western extremities of europe, they considered no sacrifice too great. this was the keynote of their policy. their purpose, simple enough in conception, was carried out with a disregard of other claims than their own, and often a violence which made them encounter resistance, and which in the end was largely the cause of their fall. the political agitations and confusions which disturbed the scandinavian kingdoms early in the fifteenth century were astutely utilized by the hanseatics, who, having their settlements at bergen and scania, were able to keep out the dutch and english, then just beginning to attempt a rivalry with them in the northern trade. the dutch were easily disheartened. not so the english; and we read of instances in which the hanseatics and english acted towards one another with a savagery which proves that commercial rivalry can excite hearts as bitterly and furiously as political or religious fanaticism. no matter at what cost, monopoly the germans were resolved to have, and they succeeded in forcing the kings of denmark to place an interdict upon english trading. this prohibition corresponded to another that they had extorted, according to which all merchandize coming from the extreme end of the norwegian kingdom was obliged to pass through and halt at their station of bergen. the purpose of the latter regulation was to concentrate all the productions of the country at a single point; thus offering to the hanseatics the first refusal of goods, and a power of dominating the market. indeed nowhere did their imperious and self-seeking policy show itself in a less amiable light than in the dealings of the hansa with the poor inhabitants of norway's sterile coasts. the history of their factory at bergen is from its earliest foundation the history of a relentless despotism, disfigured by violence and breach of faith in treaties. king haguin had, in , accorded to the german merchants the right to trade freely in all the burghs, villages, and harbours of his kingdom, but it seemed that they themselves preferred to restrict their business to the town of bergen, which, it is true, combined uncommon advantages. it possessed an excellent harbour, the city was shielded by an amphitheatre of lofty mountains, and though, as regards climate, it could boast no advantages, more rainy days occurring there than at other points of the norwegian coast, yet it had early been the staple of all norwegian and arctic products. its geographical situation rendered it equally accessible for travellers from the north and south, while its harbour was so deep that even ships of considerable draught could anchor almost in front of the town's houses. from the earliest times the inhabitants of bergen had been traders. in they were grievously pillaged by the victual brothers; and ere they could recover from this misfortune, another pirate, bartholauer voet ( ), attacked them, just when the english were helping them to recover their commerce. it is pretty evident that his attack was countenanced, if not commanded, by the hansa. at sight of his ships the inhabitants fled. the crew were thus enabled to land unhindered; they plundered everything, down to the bishop's palace and his library; and they despoiled the norman vessels which had come there for the summer fishing. they then took their stolen goods to market, returning the following easter for a second visit. this time the inhabitants were more on their guard, and made a gallant but vain defence. once more the city was sacked, and the royal and episcopal palace and many private houses were burnt to ashes. shorn of its wealth, bergen was now so weak that the conquerors were able to dictate their own terms. the city, which for five hundred years had been in exclusive possession of the greenland passage had to renounce all maritime traffic. further, the citizens saw themselves forced to pawn their land to the hanseatics, in return for the mere necessaries of life, and as they could rarely redeem these pledges the whole city of bergen gradually fell into the hands of these opulent traders. expelled from their old dwellings in ancient bergen, which formed the part of the city known as the bridge, the inhabitants planned to establish themselves on the harbour board that skirted the opposite side of the crescent. but the insatiable greed of the hanseatics would not suffer them to stay there. the conquerors obtained this also for themselves, so that in the end the entire port was in their power. thus, and by means of an ever-increasing population of merchants, clerks, apprentices, sailors, workmen, they exercised a practical suzerainty over the town. whenever cited to submit themselves to the local authorities they claimed the privilege of foreigners; they refused to pay city taxes, though they held the rights of citizens, while they paid custom duties at a reduction. they openly protected the enemies of the king, felled the forests, introduced themselves arbitrarily into the houses of strangers; in short, committed every offence with impunity. as in london and novgorod, so in bergen, the hanseatic factory formed a state within the state. the hanseatics, in their arbitrary actions, repeatedly ran counter to the hansa's command and how to keep order at bergen became one of the most difficult problems at "hansa days." it would seem as if the rude climate had exercised a deleterious influence over these naturally coarse-grained germans. as we have said, the whole harbour board was in their hands. the two sides were connected by the so-called shoemaker's alley, long the abode of strangers at bergen, a quarter that became after a time the residence of all boors and doubtful characters, who shrank from no acts of violence, and defended the german monopoly after their own fashion, _i.e._, by means of fisticuffs and knives. thus, as an example: the all-important fish market was so situated that the inhabitants of bergen could reach it only by means of this street. until the germans had had the first pick of newly-arrived goods, the inmates of shoemaker's alley suffered no one to pass, and woe to those who ventured to disregard this prohibition. so completely broken was the might of these northern people--the descendants of the normans, that most warlike race, the scourge of ancient europe. [illustration: justice in the fifteenth century.] the side of the harbour known as the bridge--the bridge of the lice the natives called it in derision--was the actual factory of the hansa. it consisted of so-called gardens, of which nine belonged to the community of st. martin and thirteen to that of st. mary. each garden was isolated, and formed a separate factory, bearing its own crest and name, such as "the cloak," the "court of bremen," &c. the common crest of the bridge was odd enough, presenting half of the german imperial eagle, against a crowned cod-fish. each garden was connected with the sea by a drawbridge, so that vessels could anchor in front. the ground-floor consisted of workshops and warehouses: in the first were the bedrooms of the resident merchants, above were the kitchens. behind the house were mighty cellars, and above these again the "schutting," a large windowless space used as a council chamber. opening thence was the kitchen garden. every "garden" was inhabited by at least ten "families," each of whom had a husband as chief superintendent and magistrate, to keep order among the younger members and apprentices. as a rule the "family" came from the same hansa town. the faults of the very young were punished by flogging, those of the apprentices by fines or imprisonment. in the summer the heterogeneous "families" dined alone, in the sad winter time they all met in the "schutting," but ate at separate tables. at a fixed hour every one had to rise and go to bed. superintending the entire factory was a grand council, composed of two aldermen, eighteen members, and a secretary, who had to be a doctor of laws. when conflicts arose between the different members of a family, or between residents and travellers, the matter was referred to the aldermen for decision. grave cases were sent up to the hanseatic diet. the aldermen had further to watch over trade, taxes, and all that regarded the business transactions of the colony. in its time of greatest prosperity the factory at bergen counted about three thousand souls, all vowed to celibacy, which was imposed on them under most severe penalties. the fear was that union with the native women might lead to the divulging of hanseatic secrets, or induce the men to settle permanently in this spot, and so become denaturalized. members of the hansa were strictly forbidden to spend a night outside the factory. armed watchmen and savage dogs exercised a rigid guard. these residents were usually agents for merchants in the baltic cities. after ten years' sojourn, they were obliged to return to their native town to give place to new arrivals, who then had to go through the various gradations of rank, beginning as office boy, and ending, if luck favoured, as alderman. it was a sort of hierarchic organization, of which the rules were most rigidly enforced. entrance dues for vessels, fines, and money penances defrayed the general expenses of the factory; each town paid for the board, wages, and arming of its representatives. not all members of the hansa, however, were permitted to trade with bergen, the conditions being purposely made onerous and expensive. in the same restrictive spirit, and to hinder a great influx of men to the factory, a series of probationary ordeals was planned, through which every new-comer had to pass. by rendering these tests difficult and repulsive they hoped to deter from bergen the sons of opulent families, for whom the advantages to be gained there would be counterbalanced by the perils of initiation. these "games," as with grim humour they were termed, were entirely in keeping with the grotesque spirit of the age, and analogies are to be found, though less gross, in the religious orders and the institutions of chivalry. the mildest of them resembled in some respects the practices common to british sailors in crossing the line. it is scarcely strange, that in the frigid, rigid north, among a population naturally rough, far from home, friends, and the more refining influences of life, a prey to deadly _ennui_, imagination should have taken a fierce and coarse turn. [illustration: ship at the end of the fifteenth century.] we cannot sully our pages by detailing the thirteen different "games" or modes of martyrdom that were in use at bergen. our more civilized age could not tolerate the recital. in those days they attracted a crowd of eager spectators, who applauded the more vociferously the more cruel and barbarous the tortures. the most popular were those practices known as the smoke, water, and flogging games; mad, cruel pranks, calculated to cause a freshman to lose health and reason. truly dantesque hell tortures were these initiations into hansa mysteries. merely to indicate their nature we will mention that for the smoke game the victim was pulled up the big chimney of the schutting while there burnt beneath him the most filthy materials, sending up a nauseous stench and choking wreaths of smoke. while in this position he was asked a number of questions, to which he was forced, under yet more terrible penalties, to reply. if he survived this torture he was taken out into the yard and plied under the pump with six tons of water. the "water" game that took place at whitsuntide consisted in first treating the probationer to food, and then taking him out to sea in a boat. here he was stripped, thrown into the ocean, ducked three times, made to swallow much sea-water, and thereafter mercilessly flogged by all the inmates of the boats. the third chief game was no less dangerous to life and limb. it took place a few days after, and was a rude perversion of the may games. the victims had first to go out into the woods to gather the branches with which later they were to be birched. returned to the factory, rough horse-play pranks were practised upon them. then followed an ample dinner, which was succeeded by mock combats, and ended in the victims being led into the so-called paradise, where twenty-four disguised men whipped them till they drew blood, while outside this black hole another party made hellish music with pipes, drums, and triangles to deafen the screams of the tortured. the "game" was considered ended when the shrieks of the victims were sufficiently loud to overtone the pandemonic music. when all the ordeals were ended a herald, who also occupied the _rôle_ of fool, announced in a loud voice that the games were over, adding the fervent wish that the noble practice of ordeals might never be abandoned, and that for the honour and prosperity of the hansa commerce and the hanseatic factory they might ever be held in veneration. only those who survived and sustained these rites were admitted into the corporation at bergen and could rise to the highest grades, with the prospect of assisting as spectators at the games in which before they had themselves played a part. not till were these barbarous practices, which every year increased in ferocity, suppressed by order of christian v. of denmark, and only, of course, after the hansa had sunk from its pristine power. v. the hanseatic commerce with denmark, sweden, and russia. though the government of denmark was more enlightened than that of norway, and though the danes were jealously desirous of keeping their trade in their own hands, they, too, could not free themselves from the all-absorbing power of the hanseatic league. in vain did they endeavour to raise up rivals to these traders; in vain did they even encourage pirates to attack them; in vain did they institute custom dues and taxes; each and all of these measures proved insufficient. the credit of the towns was unassailable. the hanseatics knew how to vanquish all obstacles, and finally they found themselves in full possession of all their ancient privileges, as well as those which they had extorted in concluding peace with waldemar. the dissensions of the three northern kingdoms, which lasted for nearly fifty years, and which the hanseatic league were by no means anxious to see settled (for, above all else, they feared the union of the three northern kingdoms under one head) were admirably utilized. the league played off one set of enemies against another, now aided this faction, now sided with that, never too openly expressed either sympathy or hostility, and yet always contrived so that any advantages accruing were theirs. it was in those troubled times that lübeck bought from the danish king the town of kiel and adjoining lands, while the queen pawned her jewels to the city in order to raise money for war purposes. denmark was of immense importance to the hanseatic league, not only for the grain and cattle it produced, but because it was the key to the passages of the belt and the sound, the only maritime routes for passing from the baltic to the north sea. and, above all, the sound was of first-class importance as dominating the coveted province of scania, that mediæval peru. this tongue of land, which juts out into the sea in form of a hook on the extreme south-west of sweden, and shows to-day two miserable towns, skânoe and falsterbo, almost buried in driving sand, presented in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, from st. jacob's to st. michael's day (july th to september th), a most animated spectacle. nothing more strange is to be found in either hemisphere than was the tumultuous life of this arid province. here each foot of ground was jealously disputed by fishermen and merchants. englishmen, flemings, danes, and peoples of tongues and customs the most diverse were found side by side. but the hanseatics preponderated. they established themselves in a species of rude wooden barrack called by them witten, where they at once instituted their peculiar rules and privileges, which gave them that united power which in the end enabled them to crush out all competition. for the device of the hanseatics, though unexpressed, was "monopoly," and during these centuries they carried it rigidly into effect. the word witten still survives in the name of various fishing stations on the baltic; for example, one not far remote from the old pagan city of arkona, once the site of a temple, where the christian saxons bought the right to fish by paying tribute to the local god. the main object of the trade in scandinavia was herrings, but this brought many other industries in its train. itinerant merchants offered cloth, linen, hardware, wine, beer, and many other articles to the natives, whose country boasted no handicrafts, as well as to the temporary residents. in short, the place became a market for the exchange of western and eastern products, natural and manufactured. here could be seen the lübeck cooks busy in extemporized kitchens that formed a sort of rude restaurant; here rough taverns in which german drinks were obtainable at easy prices; here german shoemakers plied their skill; above all, the coopers drove a lively trade, making and mending the barrels needed for the precious fish. the import of salt, too, was obviously of first-class importance, and this was entirely in the hands of the germans. we might expect that during the busy period when thousands of men were hard at work fishing, salting, packing the herring, beer should have been drunk in large quantities, but the amount consumed almost passes belief. this also was entirely supplied by the hanseatic cities. it was they, too, who shipped the indispensable fish and sent it to england, france, the netherlands, the baltic, nay, far into the centre of germany, and even to poland and russia. they had not in scania, as at bergen, a regularly organized factory, but the witten stood under superintendence, while at adjacent malmö they founded a permanent colony, under the jurisdiction of an alderman, who administered lübeck law and watched over the witten trade with jealous care. here each town had its guild representative, often its house, and here annually a dignitary from lübeck would pay a passing visit in order to adjust quarrels and investigate the state of trade. the "scandinavian travellers," as they were named, instituted a number of companies with rules of a religious, commercial, and worldly-sensuous character. thus the "pious brotherhood of malmö" buried every poor stranger with the same church pomp, costly palls, candles and masses, as they would one of their own members. no one was admitted into the brotherhood who was at feud with one of its associates. no one might enter the common room bearing arms. a member who introduced a guest was responsible for his good behaviour. in a word, the regulations were of a certain humane character, far different from those which obtained at bergen. they were evidently copied from those of the guilds in the hanseatic and other towns of the middle ages. until early in the sixteenth century the league retained in undiminished vigour its advantages in scandinavia. to break their power it was necessary for the dutch to discover a better mode of salting the fish. then the fish itself came in smaller shoals to these coasts, and appeared instead near scotland and ireland, and, worst of all, modern europe became protestant, and fasting was hence no longer an obligatory fashion. only a few sunken gravestones, still standing amid the desolation of this district, bear witness to the former importance of the site. as for the rest of sweden, the country, though not productive, was still of value to the hanseatics, since they held the entire trade in their hands. as from norway, they exported wood, iron, copper, skins, in a word, explored all its resources. in most of the maritime towns they exercised certain rights. thus stockholm itself was partly in their possession, the local administration being half chosen by them. in this wise they were able to bring pressure to bear upon the government. in short, they disposed of the whole commerce of sweden, and it was not until the days of gustavus vasa that their might was rudely and completely shaken. indeed, in those middle centuries there seemed no limit to the hanseatics' ambition and power. they early cast their eyes towards that immense territory in the far north, that russian empire which in those days was truly an unknown land. with quick traders' instinct they recognized that the country was worthy to be included in their vast monopoly. when they first established themselves in russia is not known. towards the end of the thirteenth century we find them in possession of a factory at novgorod, on the river volchor, a city which, with the province that surrounded it, was then an independent republic, for the russia of those days was surrounded by various principalities mostly under tartar rule. the natives were not strong enough to claim as their own a rich and populous city, whose liberties were protected by the western christians, and which had moreover been founded by aliens, namely, by one of those enterprising norman chiefs, who in early times were, as we know, the terror of all states and countries.[ ] it is thought that the hanseatics had another similar establishment at pleskow, a city on the velika, and perhaps even a depôt at moscow, but undoubtedly novgorod was their most important station. here merchants and artizans fixed their abode, and drew around them a rich commerce for the town. it was the staple for arctic and byzantine riches, riches which the more barbarian russians did not understand how to utilize like our cunning traders. as early as the eleventh century we hear of a german trading settlement at novgorod. in the local ruler accorded to the hanseatics, "to the german settlement, the goths, and all peoples of latin tongue," special freedom in dealing with his province. as usual, the hanseatics created a monopoly and jealously excluded all strangers. assigned in novgorod to a special quarter of the town, they built a church of their own, dedicated to st. peter, and grouped their guildhall, shops, stores, and dwelling-houses around it. the quarter soon became known as the court of the germans at great novgorod, or the court of st. peter. as at bergen, it was built in such a manner that it could be defended, if need be, and at night it was closed and guarded by watchmen and fierce dogs. there is happily preserved for us the codex of this german colony on the lake of ilmen. it is called the skra, an old german word which we encounter elsewhere in hanseatic chronicles. this skra furnishes a lively picture of the strange character of the court of st. peter. it appears that "the entire council, together with the common consent of the wisest of all the german cities," had decreed that the laws here laid down should be enforced on all who visited the court, "as it was done from the commencement." the non-resident merchants, who always travelled in large parties and accompanied by a priest, are spoken of as the "summer and winter travellers." they elected from out of their number the alderman of the court of st. peter. he became head of the settlement, received the income, fees, and taxes, and defrayed the general costs. the alderman of the dwelling court was the highest dignitary and, with the aid of the four wisest, adjudged all quarrels, personal or commercial. these aldermen had special privileges in the choice of residence, and the aldermen of the "winter travellers" were further allowed certain honours and comforts in the great common room. the land travellers had to yield to the seafarers in all matters of convenience and space. their priest, too, was regarded as the chief ecclesiastic of st. peter's court, and to him alone was accorded free board and a salary out of the common funds. any one who refused to appear in answer to a summons before the court was subjected to a heavy fine. the so-called "rooms" (_i.e._, dwellings) were common to all; except that the "winter travellers," secluded from all the world in midst of the long arctic nights, were permitted special privileges. the "children's room," the abode of the younger clerks and apprentices, also enjoyed rather more freedom from strict rules than was accorded to their elders. a master might not dismiss his subordinate until he had brought him back to his country; he was also bound to care for him in sickness, and might not punish him arbitrarily, or on his own authority alone. as at bergen, and at the steelyard in london, the whole establishment partook of a monastic character, in which most stringent rules prevailed. and of these rules none was more strict than that which forbad social intercourse or partnership trading with natives. a special brewery concocted the sweet mead or beer drunk by the thirsty brotherhood of st. peter's; in st. peter's cauldron was melted down all the wax brought in from afar; the wood for firing was felled in st. peter's forests. a monotonous life it was, interrupted only in spring and autumn by the arrival of the summer and winter travellers with their rich wares. in the cosy warmth of the common room, over endless bowls of mead, these far-travelled men, snowed up here and unable to return till spring released them, would beguile the long winter evenings with anecdote and tales. in this wise the scandinavian sagas first penetrated into middle and southern germany. the rules made against the russians were severe and offensive in the extreme. it is evident they were not trusted in the smallest degree. a hanseatic enjoyed the first privilege in all respects. for example, if a native was bankrupt, the german merchant to whom he was in debt had the first right to be paid before russian creditors, and the germans could further insist that such a bankrupt should be banished the city with wife and child. by way of tax they themselves paid a piece of cloth to the ruler of the mainland between their court and the sea, and a pair of gloves to the russian officials. for the rest their whole attitude was haughty and overbearing, and it is scarcely astonishing that quarrels and risings against them were of frequent occurrence. but they almost always kept or at least regained the upper hand. their audacious motto was "who can stand against god and the great novgorod?" no doubt many of their rigid measures were necessary to a small colony living amid a turbulent and rude population, differing from them in manners, language, and religion. the station was as difficult to hold as years ago was that of canton for the english. like the chinese, the russians hated the merchants, if for no other reason than because they were foreigners. in every possible manner they tried to cheat them, adulterating wax, furnishing bad furs, &c., &c. in consequence, the alderman of st. peter's saw himself obliged continually to issue new warnings and rules to secure his traders from the russian tricksters. so, for example, the dwellers of the court of st. peter were enjoined only to buy furs in well-lighted places, where it was easier to test their genuineness and excellence, further to accept no large consignments that had not been previously subjected to careful scrutiny. and notwithstanding the fact that their commerce in russia was subjected to great danger, that they even had several times to close their court and withdraw, the hanseatics clung tenaciously to their russian monopoly, which was one of the chief sources of their wealth. they even watched to see that no non-hanseatic learnt russian, an indispensable acquirement for this trade. nay, at one time they held the whole province of livonia responsible for hindering such a proceeding. after a time, under penalty of one hundred marks, no russian was allowed to live in livonia. on pain of corporal punishment, they were enjoined to treat with russians only for ready money, or more strictly for ready goods. credit with these barbarians was not encouraged, for it was desirable in every way to simplify intercourse, and moreover then, as now, it was next to impossible to a foreigner to make good his credit claims before muscovite justice. the trade consisted in russian products, furs, metals, honey, and, above all, wax, much sought after in those catholic times, when the consumption of this article was wonderfully great. it would seem as though some obscure merit were attached to the burning or the gift of candles, the origin of which is probably heathen. what the hanseatics brought to market was chiefly flemish and english cloths and linen, as well as divers articles of luxury, eagerly sought after by the various princes and sovereigns and by the innumerable boyars who ranked like petty princes. in those large and small courts a barbaric and gorgeous display was common, and ostentatious rivalry existed between the princes. probably this love of exterior pomp is explained by their neighbourhood to the east. the hanseatics astutely utilized this russian tendency, and spared no pains in bringing to market wares calculated to dazzle and please these grown children; children in this respect alone however, that they could be fascinated by finery and show. in other matters the russians behaved like adults, and they kept a constant watch upon the hanseatics, never neglecting any opportunities of annoying them or hindering their trade. thus, if the league accused the russians of want of good faith in commercial dealings, they returned the compliment, and complaints of linen goods as being too narrow, too coarse, or not according to sample, were frequent. often these were justified, as often not. but on several occasions the russians arrested hanseatics, put them in irons, even on one occasion hanged a hanseatic merchant from the door of the league's own factory. the hanseatics met such insults by threatening to leave novgorod; indeed, carried out this threat several times, but love of gain on the one hand, hunger after luxuries on the other, appeased the troubled spirits, and peace was re-established on the old footing. these treaties of reconciliation were sealed by the germans with a key in a shield, the seal of st. peter's court. the russians swore fidelity by kissing the crucifix. but as such disturbances might always recur, and in order that the damage should not prove too heavy to members of the league, it was decreed by them in the fourteenth century that no merchant might send to or store at novgorod merchandise exceeding in value the sum of a thousand marks. this shows that their position at novgorod was rather that of a hostile encampment than that of a secure and permanent settlement. above all, the hanseatics strictly forbade russia to trade on the sea, and any russian merchant ships that they encountered were captured and the captain and crew severely punished. early in the twelfth century the clever lombards, already famous throughout europe for their skill in all banking transactions, tried to gain a footing at novgorod. it seems that their financial shrewdness was not always combined with the strictest honesty, and that hence they enjoyed an ill fame. certainly the hanseatics succeeded in in prohibiting "these dangerous men" from any residence in the baltic cities, while in st. peter's court their presence was formally proscribed in . a serious interruption to the commerce of the league with russia occurred in the middle of the fifteenth century, when the prussian towns revolted against the oppressive supremacy of the chivalric order of the teutonic knights. like all spiritual powers, when it is a question of the goods of this world, the teutonic knights fought ardently to regain their power, and this warfare long rendered the baltic dangerous and impossible for trade purposes. indeed, so long and so serious was this war that but for the fact that the league was in a sufficiently flourishing condition to be able to bear great losses, and also for the fact that the russian trade was worth many sacrifices, the league might even then have been permanently crushed. more serious was the next enemy who arose and who shook to its foundations the empire of hanseatic commerce in russia. this was the czar ivan ii., known as the terrible. he had conquered and chased from his domains the savage tartar hordes that annually ravaged it; he was ambitious to unite the whole muscovite kingdom under his sway. like his successors to this day, he hated all that savoured of liberty and independence, and was resolved to exclude from his realms everything that approached a more advanced civilization and was irreconcilable with absolute rule. he cast a jealous eye on novgorod, with its political independence and its prosperity. here, he said to himself, were rich spoils to be obtained; this power within his own domains must be broken. he tried, with success, to gain over to his side a portion of the population. these were, however, soon denounced as traitors to the community, and the great bell of novgorod, regarded as the palladium of popular liberty, was rung to call the city under arms. a violent struggle ensued, in which ivan committed many of those acts of cruelty that have made his name notorious. at last, after a gallant resistance, in which especially a woman, named marsa, took a leading part, novgorod fell into the hands of ivan, who despoiled it of its liberty and riches, and sent its chief inhabitants into the centre of his empire and replaced them by his muscovites; burnt, ravaged, pillaged, and sacked, so that at one blow the town lost its liberty, lustre, and prosperity. the great bell of freedom was carried to moscow, where to this day it hangs, no longer inciting to revolt, but calling the people to prayer. as for the hanseatics at novgorod, they were taken prisoner and kept in cruel durance. their merchandise was confiscated, and all their possessions, such as church ornaments, bells, silver vases, &c., were carried off in triumph to moscow. this blow came upon them like a thunderbolt, for all their privileges had just been reconfirmed by the russian ruler. but to ivan no sacred treaties were binding. only after many years and long negotiations did the hanseatics succeed in getting him at least to release their prisoners. when he did agree to this most had already died from the effects of privation. of the confiscated goods he would not return a bale. thus ended the glory of the hanseatic rule in russia. it is true that under ivan's son the cities once more endeavoured to open their court on the volchor. but a twenty years' interruption of trade was not easily made good. they could not recover their monopoly, which had been usurped by danes and dutchmen. the last blow to all such efforts came from the english, who had discovered a passage to russia by means of the white sea and archangel, and hence no longer needed hanseatic mediation. in czar boris gudenow wanted to reinstate the hansa in its ancient privileges. it was too late. the dissensions that agitated russia did not permit the league to derive any profit from his good intentions. commerce had taken another direction, and kept it. when, some time after, a traveller passed through novgorod, all he found to remind him of the german colony here were only the ruins of the stone church of st. peter, a single storehouse, and one wooden shanty, which served as shelter for him and his servant. of the former glory and prosperity there was no sign. [illustration: seal of novgorod.] footnotes: [ ] rambaub, in his "history of russia," says that novgorod was founded by slavs, but that in the ninth century a castle and fort were built there by rurik the norman. vi. the commerce of the league with the netherlands and southern europe. among the western countries not even england attracted the attention of the league so powerfully as did the netherlands, with their cosmopolitan market of bruges, a market which, as early as the days of king canute, was already of great importance. there was to be found every element needful to second their vast ambition and to foster their activity. in flanders lived the most industrious nation in europe, dwelling in opulent cities, having excellent harbours and markets, where all the necessaries of life, and all objects of luxury abounded. in these markets our traders could find all the articles most eagerly sought after by the inhabitants of more northern climes, while they, in their turn, could furnish the flemings with the productions of the north, and especially with those which were necessary to a maritime people. thus the league had cunningly got into their hands the whole monopoly of hemp, so needful for rope making. indeed, it must ever be borne in mind that the hansa had the monopoly in those days of the whole industry and of all the products of northern and eastern europe. this active and profitable commerce was almost entirely carried on by means of the factory which the league had established at bruges. it was here that its merchants supplied themselves in their turn with the manufactures of the industrious flemings; with cloth, linen, and the costly tapestries admired to our day. [illustration: stadt-haus, bruges.] it was at bruges, then, that the vast ramifications of flemish and hanseatic trade were united. fifteen different foreign nations held established depôts in the city which was a very artery of commerce. sixty-eight flemish trade-guilds flourished in the town. it communicated with the sea by means of a canal and a not too distant harbour. extensive privileges had been accorded to it by various native princes. the inhabitants were proud, rich, and independent. it was said of them by a contemporary that the merchant-aristocrats of bruges "rode to tournament yesterday, bottled wine to-day, cut out garments to-morrow." a queen of france could not deny that the splendour and luxury of the courts were cast into the shade by the pomp and splendour of the maids and matrons of commercial bruges. with these men commerce had already become a science, and various peoples who had till then the most elementary notions on the point came to the netherlands to instruct themselves. it is surprising to read that, as early as , they had instituted at bruges an insurance office, and that the chief principles affecting exchange of values were already understood. these matters were novelties even to the hanseatics, though they owed their prosperity and very existence to trade. the league therefore found itself in a totally different position in the netherlands from that which it occupied in poor or barbarous countries like norway or russia. here was no question of submitting a whole people to their monopoly; it was rather a matter of obtaining gracious concessions and privileges. hence the factory at bruges in no way resembled those of bergen and novgorod, which were armed citadels placed in the midst of a more or less hostile people and constantly liable to warlike attacks. here, on the other hand, civilization reigned and competition was active. the hanseatic factory at bruges partook more of the character of a general office and storehouse than that of any other factory of the league. but "the residence of the german merchants," as it was called, was organized in the main like that of its brethren. in its most prosperous days the factory consisted of about three hundred traders or agents, who executed the orders to buy and sell for those hanseatic merchants who did not come to bruges in person to carry on their trade. these resident merchants were not permitted to quit the factory until after a certain number of years' sojourn. during this time they were interdicted from associating with the natives. they lived in the hanseatic building under the supervision of six aldermen and a council composed of eighteen members, and there were in force for them here as elsewhere rigid rules of life, among which the imposition of celibacy took a leading place. the factory was partitioned into several chief divisions called "districts," where the members from different cities abode in almost monastic seclusion. less rude customs, however, prevailed than at bergen. the hanseatics being in the midst of a polished and luxury-loving people, acquired some of their more civilized habits. by way of bruges comforts and refinements penetrated into german homes, and flemish modes of thought and speech crept into german literature. [illustration: rhine boat, cologne.] the factory at bruges was in every respect of immense value to germany and the hansa. it grew into a sort of training college from which came forth the most able magistrates and administrators of the hanseatic league. the head of the factory was a president chosen by the diet of the league. he was changed annually, usually at whitsuntide, when the by-laws of the factory were read and the newly elected had to swear "to submit to its statutes, to see that these were observed without fraud as far as in him lay and according to his five senses." as elsewhere expenses were paid by fines and customs dues. these latter some cities tried to elude at various times in a spirit of egotistic and most short-sighted policy. chief among these was cologne which was in consequence "unhansed" for some time. indeed cologne was always a more or less turbulent member of the league. the official meetings of the hanseatic representatives at bruges curiously enough did not take place in their own factory, but were held in the reventer, that is to say, the refectory of the carmelite convent. their charters were deposited in the church sacristy, or more precisely in the so-called noah's ark, this alliance between sacred and profane things being a common feature of those times. as the might of the league increased at bruges they insisted that every vessel sailing the seas must make an enforced halt at the port of bruges, and thus give the traders a first chance of buying their wares or, in any case, of exacting from them a staple toll. exception was made only in the case of ships sailing to england or to the baltic seaboard. the possession of this privilege naturally proved a source of great wealth and power to the league, who grew proud and haughty as they increased in strength, and even ventured to oppose themselves to the flemings, if they considered that these had in any way offended against "the majesty of the hanseatic nation in the person of any of its members or officers." they would then threaten to transport their factory into some other city, and once actually carried out the threat. they suspended all trade with flanders, blocked its ports, and refused to buy its goods. at the last the murmurs of the artizans thus thrown out of work, and the general distress among the people, forced the rulers to crave grace and to beg for the return of these masterful strangers, even according them new privileges, that is to say, new weapons of oppression. for the league, on these occasions of proud resentment, took the most menacing of tones and exacted a heavy satisfaction. thus once, because one of its members had been, as it considered, gravely insulted, and others murdered, it demanded that a chapel should be built and masses founded to pray for the repose of the souls of those who had perished; and that a large indemnity should be paid to the relations of the dead and to the division of the league to which they belonged. and, further, in order to induce this division to return to bruges, it was requisite that one hundred of the chief burghers should come in procession to the carmelite convent and ask public pardon from the hanseatics, and that sixteen of these should go in pilgrimage to santiago de compastello and four to the holy sepulchre at jerusalem. only after such expiation would the division allow itself to be re-established. the dissensions and revolutions which, in the fourteenth century, convulsed flanders and caused the sovereignty of the provinces to pass into the hands of the dukes of burgundy, did not, for a long time, touch the commerce of the hanseatics. their trade seemed able to cope with the subversive influences of tumults, seditions, and civil wars; their activity was not discouraged; their great credit enabled them to repair all losses, and even to draw profit from these very disturbing influences themselves. each new ruler, guided by the same motives of interest, awarded the same favour to this association of strangers, who, in coming to their country, nourished its industries and profitably exchanged products. even charles the bold--proud and warlike though he was, a declared foe to all liberty, attacking at that very time the swiss people, who were striving to gain their national independence--openly protected the hanseatic towns, and interested himself warmly in aiding them to overcome the english, with whom they had been at strife. this good understanding, it is true, was impaired under maximilian of austria, his son-in-law and successor. this prince was a stranger to the flemings, a german by birth, accustomed to exact blind obedience, the son of an emperor and his heir. on all these accounts he was distasteful to the flemings, who rose up in revolt against him, and imprisoned him in the castle of bruges. it was on this occasion that there happened an event made famous in legend. maximilian's court jester, who loved his master, had formed a plan for his liberation. horses, rope ladders--all were in readiness. the jester himself sprang into the canal that separated the castle from the mainland, in order to swim across and aid his sovereign. but it happened that his night raid alarmed the swans which were kept by the town on this canal. they raised a great noise, flapped their wings in anger, and threatened to kill the poor fellow, who was obliged to beat a hasty retreat, while his scheme, thus discovered, was rendered futile. for four months maximilian was kept in confinement. no sooner was he liberated and master of the empire than he took his revenge. this audacity was punished severely, and ended in a loss to flanders of its opulence and a great part of its industry. above all, the town of bruges had to submit to hard treatment, and ceased from that time forwards to be the most flourishing and important market of europe. the wily hanseatics had, meanwhile, acted like the proverbial rats that abandon the sinking ship. seeing the course that things were taking, they sought to establish themselves elsewhere, and antwerp, long jealous of bruges, obtained the reversion of its rival's trade: the fruits of which it enjoyed until the murderous hordes of philip ii., in their turn, crushed antwerp as maximilian had crushed bruges. [illustration: the pied piper's house, hamelin.] no doubt, by means of the flemish market, the league also treated with france, but our knowledge concerning this trade is very scanty. it seems certain that they had no regular factory in that country, though for a short time they held a depôt at bordeaux. probably their trade with france was chiefly indirect and by means of flanders. the fact that for so long the greater part of the french seaboard was in the hands of the english may have had something to do with this matter. we know, however, that successive french kings accorded to them various privileges. louis xi., on one occasion, speaks of them as a "power," and proposed to make an alliance with them against england. charles viii. yet further enlarged the concessions granted by his father. it is even recorded that in case any difficulties arose because of obscurities of phrase in a contract made between the league and frenchmen, these should always be interpreted to the advantage of the hanseatics. they were further promised impartial justice, reduced custom dues, and a civil standing equal in all respects to that of the natives. the kingdom was open to them for trading purposes, and in case of a war breaking out between france and a foreign nation, the hanseatics were allowed to continue their commercial connection with that nation without being regarded as violating the peace and friendship promised. france, on the other hand, reserved to itself the same privileges. but why france was willing to concede so much to these strangers does not appear. the commerce can in no case have been considerable. the manufactures of france in those days were few and limited. their small navy did not require much wood, iron, or hemp. it is true they had their wines and their salt, and that in exchange they bought herrings and smoked fish, but there was no such lively and profitable intercourse as we encounter elsewhere. the land was still too poor, too distracted with wars and dissensions to be able to utilize its native riches. besides this, her own direct commerce with the mediterranean and latin east, and the crusaders and italian traders, rendered her more independent of hansa help. very scanty are the records that have come down to us concerning the trade of the league with spain. this nation, incessantly occupied in wars with the moors and in chivalrous exploits, neglected and disdained trade. they even went so far at times as to interdict it also to others. but all that has come down to us concerning the intercourse of the hanseatics with this country is so vague, and borders so much on the fabulous, that it cannot be accepted as history. what does seem certain is that in king john of castile forbade the hanseatics to have any intercourse with his kingdom, that he confiscated eighty-four of their vessels, and that in the factory of bruges received orders to practise reprisals upon the spaniards and to close to them all the ports of the netherlands. all details, however, are lacking. we only know, again, for certain that in the spaniards raised the interdict against the league. no doubt they had suffered pecuniarily from the absence of these active traders. in philip ii. even went so far as to sign a treaty of commerce with the league, in which this prince favoured them as much as his predecessors tried to harm them. and this treaty, strange to say, was not quite a nullity even at the beginning of our own century. on the strength of certain clauses contained in it were founded various privileges enjoyed up to that date, in their commercial intercourse with spain, by the cities that were then all that remained of the once mighty league--namely, lübeck, hamburg, and bremen. in portugal the league was more fortunate than in spain, and early established a factory at lisbon. from this port they traded with the mediterranean, and came in contact with the flourishing italian commercial republics, as well as with the products of the levant and india, for which italy was the sole market. but the italian trade was chiefly in the hands of the south german cities, such as augsburg, ulm, and nüremberg, and the wares were transported by land. these cities formed a counter league among themselves, which, though in a measure affiliated to the hansa, was never quite an integral part. their sole object was the levant and italian trade. already in the thirteenth century they had a depôt at venice, the far-famed fontego de' tedeschi, which visitors to venice behold to this day as one of the most lovely palaces abutting on the grand canal. this factory, however, was very differently constituted from that of other cities. the league never obtained a monopoly or special privileges in italy. the fontego at venice was merely the warehouse or dwelling-house of the german traders, without any internal jurisdiction or president. [illustration: fontego dei tedeschi, venice.] they were permitted to sojourn with their wares at stated times in venice, received on their arrival the keys of the fifty-six rooms of the building, which on their departure they had to re-deliver to the venetian authorities. in course of time the germans, gaining refinement and acquiring a love of art from their italian intercourse, spent large sums in decorating and adorning this palace, which, however, never passed into their real possession. three venetian citizens, under the title of visdomini de' tedeschi, and native secretaries, and a "fontegaro," always inhabited the building and kept strict watch over the traders, whose commerce was subjected to all manner of tedious restrictions. the house, as we have said, was only open to them at stated times of the year. they were only permitted to sell to and buy from venetians; all wares exported or imported had to be weighed in the public balances, and only this weight was accepted as just. the italian secretaries, one of whom always slept in the fontego, kept strict account of all goods that came to hand or were sent away, and the control over these wares was in the power of the visdomini. nothing might be unladen in the warehouse without permission from one of these local officials. but in spite of all these restrictions, which the germans would not have tolerated for a moment at bergen or bruges, their depôt at venice was a favourite sojourn, and remained the centre of a pleasant, easy, and refined intercourse between germany and italy until the time of the reformation. the influence of the rialto made itself felt in prague, dresden, frankfort, and the other south german cities, and has placed its imprint upon their literature and art. from italy these cities brought the models to adorn their streets, markets, guildhalls, and churches. from italy they brought the tales and fables that delighted listeners long before the days of printing, and awoke the native mediæval poetic art, so that the stories of boccaccio became as familiar to the germans as to the italians themselves. in spite of all the restrictions they placed on their freedom, the foreigners were not unwelcome to the proud venetian signoria. they even spoke of the german nation as their "cuorisino" (little heart), and in their sore need, during the time of the league of cambray, formed by the pope, the emperor and the kings of france and spain against the republic of venice ( ), they called upon their german friends for sympathy, and did not call in vain. the bond of a common interest, that of trade, bound together the proud rich city of the lagoons and the less powerful, less wealthy, but by no means poor or insignificant, cities of southern germany. [decoration tail-piece] vii. the steelyard in london. nowhere was the hanseatic power so great as in england. of none of its connections do we possess more ample records. as already stated, england was one of the first depôts of the "common german merchant," long before these combined under the generic name of hanseatic. from early days the english kings had protected these rich foreigners, who helped them out of many a pecuniary difficulty. indeed they accorded them such privileges and monopolies as could not fail to rouse the jealousy of their own people. we therefore find in the history of the steelyard in london a mingled record of all passions and interests, hate and favours, honour and national prosperity, envy and violence, greed and poverty, pride and fear, in a word, a most motley record of which it is not easy to frame the contradictory elements into one harmonious picture. during the long reign of henry ii., and under his sons, richard coeur de lion and john, there was an active intercourse between germany and england, encouraged by the marriage of matilda, daughter of henry ii. with duke henry the lion. [illustration: the steelyard, london. (_from an old print._)] the rich merchants of cologne were the earliest to obtain special favours. these were accorded by richard coeur de lion, who, halting in that city to attend high mass in the cathedral after his release from austrian imprisonment, received there such ample supplies towards the heavy ransom money required for his person, that, to show his gratitude, he gave to his "beloved burghers of cologne" a letter of freedom, in which he released them from their annual rent of two shillings for their guildhall in london, and from all other taxes due to the king upon their persons or their merchandise. it was long ere king john, his successor, could make up his mind to renew these privileges, but his own difficulties with his turbulent barons, and the pressure which the merchants could bring to bear by their riches, at last overcame his hesitation. edward i. and his followers further extended these prerogatives, for the plantagenets found the hanseatic rothschilds even more useful in aiding their war schemes than the skilful alchymists whom they had summoned to their court, and who knew how to shape the rose noble (the money of the period) out of artificial gold. then, too, the hanseatics were considerate creditors, who did not press unduly, and even overlooked a debt if some favour were extended in default of payment. edward the third's crown and most costly jewels were long retained at cologne in pawn for a heavy sum of money. the details concerning this transaction are preserved to this day in a correspondence deposited in the state paper office of london. it seems that when the time for redemption came the king had not the money. he was in special straits just then, for the celebrated commercial firm of the bardi, at florence, which constituted the very focus of the italian money business, had failed, and the king of england appeared in their books as a debtor for the sum of one million golden gulden. the merchants of the steelyard were not slow adroitly to turn the royal perplexity to their profit. they undertook to redeem the pawned jewels and offered the king loans of more money, although he already owed them much. edward was in sore need, for the wars with france strained his resources to the utmost. he drew upon them for thirty thousand pounds, a sum worth fifteen times more then than to-day. thus it came about that the great victories of the black prince at crecy and poitiers were gained in no small degree by the help of german capital. needless to add that the hanseatic merchants showed no diffidence in accepting for their factory important privileges in return for these services. [illustration: bardi palace, florence.] it was to a german merchant prince that the king let the tin mines belonging to the black prince in the duchy of cornwall. to the same firm he ceded a large number of farms situated in different shires for the space of a thousand years. the easterlings are spoken of in records as the allies of the english kings, and there seemed at last no limit to the royal favours. that the people did not look upon them with the same friendly eye is easy to understand. the english, full of a just sentiment of what they could do by themselves, and of what they were hindered from doing by these foreign monopolists, bore their presence with extreme impatience. feuds and riots were not infrequent, and no royal favours, no hanseatic ships of war could save them from occasional brutal attacks at the hands of the mob. thus during the wat tyler rebellion the people pursued the hated foreigners even into the sanctuary of the church, murdering mercilessly all those who could not pronounce the words "bread and cheese" with the pure english accent. but these rebellions were quelled by the royal commands, or extinguished themselves by the fact that the hanseatics were also useful to the english people, oppressed by the feudal system and engaged in constant wars, whose trade industries were thus unable to develop quickly. nor did such passing storms shake the power or the resistance of the hanseatics. bloody encounters, rude tumults were entirely in keeping with the license and roughness of those earlier ages, and were met by the league, more or less, in all their foreign stations. with their usual astuteness they utilized wisely all periods of calm, and reckoned with the love of gain to help them in less peaceful moments. when the english made things uncomfortable for them at home, they revenged themselves upon them at bruges or at bergen, paralysing their commerce, and harassing their vessels, even forbidding them to enter the ports of norway, iceland, and greenland. for verily in those days whosoever tried to outwit the hansa was likely to prove the victim of his own plots. circumstances aided the germans, enabling them to make their power felt just when england had to betray weakness. the feeble and stormy period of henry vi., often deposed and made prisoner, the wars of the roses, the long and continual hostilities waged with france, all favoured the league, and made the english submit to its demands rather than attract to themselves yet more enemies. in no place, not even in bergen, did the hanseatics succeed in enjoying greater independence. their factory was privileged, and while benefiting by english law, they were quite independent of it. everything, therefore, was favourable to their commerce, and they were hampered by no such restrictions as weighed, not only upon other foreigners, but upon the english themselves. to give a just idea of the degree of power to which their privileges and trade had raised the league, let us cite one example. it will serve in lieu of many, and it places in full light the almost incredible ascendency which a company of merchant cities, isolated and distant from each other, had gained over a great kingdom and a proud and valiant nation. the english government having been unable or unwilling to repress the frequent acts of piracy which its subjects practised against members of the league, these also took to piracy, and mutual recriminations ensued. the lübeckers in particular revenged themselves fiercely. they also wrote a letter of complaint to the english king, "a letter full of pride and audacity," says henry iv. it then happened that the danes, at strife with the english for other causes, joined themselves to the hanseatics, and united they harassed the english by sea and by land. these, in their turn, took possession of the hanseatic depôt in london, and put in prison or killed all who lodged there. the league hearing this broke off commercial connection with england, closed their ports and the entrances of the baltic, and seized english vessels on all seas and on all coasts. the hanseatics even landed in england itself, and pitilessly ravaged many of the maritime provinces, hanging on the masts of their ships all the men they took prisoners. this war at last grew so ruinous for the english that they applied to the duke of burgundy, charles the bold, to mediate between them and their foes. a congress was assembled at utrecht to put an end to this dire quarrel and to assure peace upon a solid basis. the mediator and his counsellors thought it but just to accord to the english a part of what they had desired so long, namely, liberty to trade in the baltic and with the hanseatic ports of dantzig and russia. this concession greatly favoured the commerce which their merchants were ambitious to carry on, or already carried on, notwithstanding all obstacles. but for their part the hanseatics insisted on recovering all the privileges they had lost, and on recovering them with usury. in fact, by this treaty of utrecht edward iv. not only reconfirmed all their ancient monopolies, but accorded to them new and important favours, proving to what extent the english were still in the power of these foreigners. such was the effect of the fear which the league inspired in the english; such, too, was the ignorance of their government, which, being in possession of a power not less great and, had they desired, even greater than that of their rivals, allowed strangers to deprive them of the most useful of all independent rights, that of utilizing for their own profit the resources of their own labour and their own soil. in reading this chapter of the annals of england, it is hard to believe that we are dealing with the nation whose ships now scour all the seas, whose tonnage exceeds that of all other countries combined, which is the greatest trader of the earth, and which trades not only freely, but also in that spirit of domination with which its ancestors reproached the hanseatics, and which they endured with so much impatience. this treaty of utrecht served for a long while as basis for all subsequent treaties between the hanseatics and the english, and well or ill observed, it survived until the reign of edward vi. the position held by the hanseatics in england certainly has no counterpart in the international intercourse of the middle ages. the only exception, perhaps, is the position of genoa, venice, and pisa in the byzantine and latin empires. [illustration: steelyard wharf, london.] the chief depôt of the hanseatics in england was in london, and was known first as the guildhall of the germans, then as the easterlings' hall, and finally, as its dimensions grew, as the steelyard. it was situated in thames street, on the left bank of the river, close to dowgate, just above london bridge, in earlier times the only city gate that commanded the water. the whole length of this street leading to the post gate was lined with the wharves, warehouses, and dwelling-houses of the germans. it is therefore easy to comprehend how they held, by their position alone, the key to the whole commerce of the city of london in days when goods were almost entirely transported by water-ways. as at bergen, so here, they dominated the whole commercial situation. there have been many disputes as to the origin of the name steelyard. it has been now pretty well established that it took its rise from the fact that on this spot stood the great balance of the city of london, known as the steelyard, on which all exported or imported merchandise had to be officially weighed. it was after the treaty of utrecht in that the german factory first took this name, from the circumstance that its domain was then greatly enlarged. the whole place was defended by a high strong wall, fortress fashion, and there were few windows towards the front. this was as a protection from the frequent attacks of the london mob, and also as a defence against the robbers anxious to penetrate into a storehouse of riches. the chief building, still called their guildhall, was a massive stone structure, of which, until , some of the main walls still remained. the northern front, which looked towards thames street was especially imposing with its many stories, its high gabled roof, surmounted by the double eagle of the empire with its outspread wings. three round portals, well protected and clamped with iron, were seen on its northern frontage. the centre one, far larger than the others, was rarely opened, and the two others were walled up. above these three portals were to be read, in later days, the following characteristic inscriptions: "haec domus est laeta, semper bonitate repleta; hic pax, hic requies, hic gaudia semper honesta." "aurum blanditiae pater est natusque doloris; qui caret hoc moeret, qui tenet hoc metuit." "qui bonis parere recusat, quasi vitato fumo in flammam incidit." the second of these couplets is attributed to sir thomas more, chancellor of england, author of the "utopia," and a good friend to the hanseatics. this great hall was used for the meetings of the merchants and for their common dining-room. at one end was a low tower that served as depository for the documents and valuables belonging to the merchants or the factory. close upon the river stood another strong building, the dwelling of the house master. here was the capacious stone kitchen, in which ample preparations were made for the dinners of week-days and festivals. between these two buildings ran the garden, in which the germans had planted fruit trees and vines. on summer evenings they were wont to rest here after the business of the day, while the young people among them amused themselves with playing at ball or other recreations. it was a pleasant green spot with cool shady arbours, tables, and seats, and was frequented, not only by the hanseatics themselves, but by the london citizens; for the league had the permission to sell their rhenish wines in this spot. threepence a bottle was the average price. in "pierce penilesse, his application to the devil," we read, "let us go to the stilliard and drink rhenish wine;" and in one of webster's plays a character says: "i come to entreat you to meet him this afternoon at the rhenish warehouse in the stillyard. will you steal forth and taste of a dutch brew and a keg of sturgeon?" this garden restaurant was also famous for its neat's tongues, salmon, and caviar. it would seem that the place was a favourite resort from the days of prince hal and sir john falstaff to those of lord herbert of cherbury, the former the embodiment of boisterous enjoyment, the latter of chivalric and pedantic learning. a multifarious and varied company indeed that little garden harboured in its day, who met in "the rhenish wine house" to close their bargains over their wine cups, for festive carouse or serious talk. there could be seen england's most honoured men; bishops, mayors, ministers, chancellors, naval and military heroes. even shakespeare's company of actors, london's merriest _gourmets_, are known to have turned in here. the spot did not lie far off the famous "boar's head" tavern, and prince hal's town residence in cold harbour lane abutted upon the steelyard. there, too, assembled the grave ambassadors of the hanseatics, their delegates and merchants, their apprentices and agents; a motley crew indeed, who, until the days when the garden in cosins lane perished in the great fire of london ( ), constantly frequented the locality, and helped to enhance its wealth and importance. the memory of the place was kept up, till quite lately, by a large tavern, bearing the sign of the steelyard, which still stood on the same spot, surmounted by a bunch of golden grapes, similar to those which we so frequently meet with in the narrow streets of old german towns. no less busy, no less varied was the inner life of that small state within a state. a strange little world with its severe monastic discipline, its semi-religious character. in many rooms and halls, in warehouses and passages, were crowded a number of masters and men, assembled here from some sixty hanseatic cities, busy superintending the stapled wares which arrived by river and were drawn up by means of the mighty crane that formed a notable feature in the water frontage of the factory. some wares, too, arrived by way of the crooked streets. these entered the building through the small carefully guarded doorways. as time went on and there was not room enough for all the guests in the main building, adjoining houses were rented for the hanseatics, but all were subject to the same rigid discipline, and were members of the same large household. in early days the london merchants had insisted that an englishman should be head inspector of the hanseatic warehouses, but from this they soon freed themselves, alleging that it was giving the sheepfold over into the keeping of the wolf. as elsewhere, the presidency was assigned to an alderman and twelve councillors. these were chosen from the different towns in rotation. as elsewhere, all residents had to remain unmarried during the period of this sojourn in the steelyard. not even the house-master was allowed to have a wife. in later years, a cologne merchant who had decorated, improved, and enlarged the garden inn, and turned it into one of the most beautiful taverns in london, being a resident for life, was anxious to marry. but so sternly did the league hold by their decree of celibacy for their absent members, that they only agreed to make an exception in his case after fourteen members of the english parliament had signed a round robin petition to the hanseatic diet to this effect. those who trespassed against the by-laws of the house as to habits or morals were heavily fined. if refractory they were often imprisoned, and at times even the aid of the english constables would be called in. but this was not frequent. the hanseatics preferred to manage their own affairs, and keep themselves distinct from the natives among whom they dwelt. in criminal cases the jury, as is still the custom in england under similar conditions, was composed half of englishmen, half of germans. at nine every evening the portals of the various dwelling-houses were closed, and the key given to one of the masters, who took turns to fill this office. whoever played at dice in his room at the tavern, whoever entertained non-hanseatics, whoever let a woman cross the precincts of the steelyard paid a heavy sum, of which half went to the informant. cleanliness was severely imposed both in person and in the use of the common sleeping and packing rooms. the fine for contravention in this respect was paid in wax, not in money. it was employed for the candles which the hanseatics kept burning on their behalf in the church of all hallows the more. opprobrious language towards one another, blows or drawing of knives was fined by a hundred shillings paid into the common fund; a high sum truly if we consider that five pounds sterling was worth, in the fourteenth century, about four times its present value. they were even forbidden to fence or to play tennis with their english neighbours under out paying a penalty of twenty shillings. every merchant was bound to have in readiness in his room a full suit of armour, and all the needful weapons in case of an attack on the steelyard, or on the bishopsgate. for the city of london had ceded to the hanseatics this gate, which they had to guard and keep in repair, relieving them instead of the annual tax towards the preservation of the town walls known as wall-money, of bridge money, and paving money. they also managed to obtain special privileges with regard to shipwrecked goods; the english being obliged to pay them damages provided that something living, if only a dog, or cat, or cock reached the shore alive from the shipwrecked vessel. this secured them greatly from the perils of wanton wreckage. in london none of those gross manners and customs prevailed that we find at bergen or novgorod. the hanseatics knew that in england they found themselves among a people fully their equals, and were careful not to offend them in any respect. indeed they did all they could to conciliate them, and were liberal in presents. thus the lord mayor of london received from them yearly a cask of the finest sturgeon, or two barrels of herring, or a hundredweight of polish wax. an english alderman, annually chosen to adjust disputes between the natives and the foreigners, was presented each new year's day with fifteen golden nobles, wrapped up in a pair of gloves, by way of tender consideration for the feelings of the recipient. the chief inspector of customs received about twenty pounds sterling, intended probably to make him indulgent in the exercise of his duties. and so forth, making as a whole a most goodly sum thus wisely spent in fees and in conciliating those in power and office. every point relating to this as well as to the inner statutes of the factory was most carefully recorded in writing, and has, in large part, been preserved to us. it is a record of most quaint regulations, every one of which no doubt had its wise purpose and scope. the hanseatics purchased from the english the produce of their flocks and tillage, that is to say, wool, strong hides, corn, beer, and cheese. wool was from the earliest date one of the chief and most important articles of their exportation from england. this was sent to flanders and the netherlands to be worked up. it was only later, as the english learnt to manufacture skilfully this costly produce, that the hanseatics exported the finished goods in lieu of the raw material. the details concerning this wool trade show how many places in england were engaged in it, and how appropriately the chancellor of england is seated upon a wool-sack as symbol of one of the main sources of england's ancient wealth. so valuable, indeed, was this wool trade that a special tax was placed upon the wool, a tax which edward iii. repeatedly farmed out to cologne merchants for the space of several years in advance in return for ready cash. among the articles imported by the league we find pepper, potash, various kinds of wood adapted for building ships and making crossbows, iron and iron utensils, flax, linen, hemp, grease, fish, corn, and rhenish wines. we even find that they imported french wines after the english had lost all their possessions in france with the exception of calais. by their means, too, there came to england italian and oriental produce, such as choice spices, perfumes, medicines, metals, figs, almonds, dates, even gold dust, and jewels, with which they provided themselves at bruges. a very important branch of trade was that in salted cod-fish, or stock-fish as it was called, an article largely used on the continent and in england too in the middle ages. with this the english were then accustomed to feed their troops when on service. nor were even living creatures lacking among their cargoes, such as choice falcons from norway or livonia, for which the english nobility, who were then, as now, passionately addicted to sport, paid high prices. indeed, the steelyard was one of the staple places for the export and import of all the principal necessaries of life before men had thought of the products of america. nor was london by any means their only depôt. it was the chief, but they also had factories in york, hull, bristol, norwich, ipswich, yarmouth, boston, and lynn regis. some mention of them is found in leland's "itinerary." under an invitation to the hanseatics to trade with scotland we find the name honoured in legend and song of william wallace. in john lydgate's poems we also meet with our hanseatics. in relating the festivities that took place in london city on the occasion of the triumphal entry of henry vi., who had been crowned king at paris some months previously, the poet narrates how there rode in procession the mayor of london clad in red velvet, accompanied by his aldermen and sheriffs dressed in scarlet and fur, followed by the burghers and guilds with their trade ensigns, and finally succeeded by a number of foreigners. "and for to remember of other alyens, fyrst jenenyes (genoese) though they were strangers, florentynes and venycyens, and easterlings, glad in her maneres, conveyed with sergeantes and other officeres, estatly horsed, after the maier riding, passed the subburbis to mete withe the kyng."[ ] a love of pomp and outward show was indeed a characteristic of the hanseatics in england who thus perchance wished to impress upon the natives a sense of their wealth. as times grew less turbulent and the german guildhall less of a fortress, it was handsomely decorated with costly paintings and fine carving. most notable were two large works by holbein, who visited england at the invitation of king henry viii., desirous of emulating his rival francis i. in protecting the fine arts. when the painter first came over he lived in one of the quaint houses that, before the great fire, stood on london bridge, and some of his earliest works seem to have been two commissions for his countrymen, whose steelyard was close by. they were destined to decorate the great hall, and were tempera pictures representing respectively the triumph of poverty and of riches. when in the days of james i. the steelyard ceased to exist as the collective home of the hanseatics, the towns decided to present these pictures to the prince of wales, henry, who was a lover of the arts like his younger brother, charles i., into whose collection they passed on henry's death. unfortunately, they perished in the great fire that destroyed whitehall. federigo zuccari, who saw them during his sojourn in london and appraised them as exceeding in beauty the works of raphael, made careful drawings of them, and thanks to these and the engravings made after them we are in possession of at least an outline representation of holbein's work. the pictures are conceived in the spirit of the age that loved such so-called triumphs in art and poetry. the figures, chiefly allegorical, were life size and in the richness of fantasy and learning that they display it is permissible to recognize the help and advice of holbein's friend, the chancellor, sir thomas more. in many cases the names of the personages represented are written beside the figures, after the quaint method of that time. [illustration: the triumph of riches, by holbein.] the triumph of riches shows a car of plutus drawn by four white horses, driven by fortune and followed by a motley crowd which includes justice, usury, bona fides, sichæus, the rich husband of queen dido, pythias (of whom plutarch tells that he so loved gold that once when he returned hungry from abroad his wife placed gold before him instead of meats), and many figures, for the most part culled from the pages of herodotus, juvenal, and other classic authors. in the heads of croesus and cleopatra it is said that holbein painted likenesses of henry viii. and anne boleyn. in a corner of the picture is written the distich ascribed to sir thomas more which we have already met with above the central portal of the german guildhall. the triumph of poverty was purely allegorical, and appears to have been considered less attractive than the former work, whether on account of its treatment, or on account of its less pleasing theme does not appear. in this case the car is drawn by two oxen and two asses, designated as negligence and idleness, greed and sloth. this canvas, too, bore some latin verses from more's pen, which, curiously enough, have not been incorporated in his collected works. in all public ceremonies and processions the hanseatics seem also to have taken a notable part; as we mentioned above on the occasion of henry the sixth's entry. we come across another detailed account when queen mary went in triumph through london the day before her coronation. at fenchurch the genoese had dressed up a lovely boy as a girl, who was carried before the queen and greeted her. the hanseatics had built up a hillock in the corner of gracechurch, whence a fountain poured forth wine. on this hillock stood four children who likewise greeted the queen. in front of the steelyard they had placed two casks of wine, from which they poured drink to all who passed. this liberality cost them a thousand pounds, and heavy payments to cover such expenses are not infrequent in their account books. in england, contrary to the usual custom, the hanseatic league never had its own church. perhaps this need was less felt in a land that professed the same creed than in russia. the germans frequented the parish church of all hallows, contenting themselves with endowing a chapel, altars, special masses, and alms. they also presented the church with costly stained glass windows, in the decoration of which the german imperial eagle figured conspicuously, and with cunningly-carved stalls reserved for the use of the steelyard authorities. as late as the year these seats were still in the possession of the master of the steelyard and the other representatives of the guild. in front of these stalls there always burned five of the biggest tapers the church could boast. indeed the hanseatics were famous for their outward observances of piety, both while they were catholics and after they, as well as the english, became protestants. of course the catholic religion made more show. saint barbara was a saint whom they specially affected, and on her day (december th) they caused a most elaborate mass to be sung and afterwards treated the priest, their english alderman, and the royal doorkeeper of the star chamber to fruit and wine in the cosin's lane garden. at corpus christi they joined the great procession of all the guilds and notabilities; and on midsummer night, and the eve of st. peter and st. paul, they illumined their great hall after the ancient saxon fashion with yule fires and torches. after the great fire of london the league presented all hallows with a carved oak screen that ran the length of the whole church. it was the work of a hamburg carver, and excites admiration to this day. in the centre it shows the large imperial eagle, as also the arms of queen anne; the main work consists of twisted columns and arches. the germans in england seem to have adopted the purer protestant doctrines with great caution, if not tardily. at least we have it on record, that when in a commission, headed by sir thomas more in person, proceeded to make a domiciliary search of the steelyard for writings of luther, nothing was found but old and new testaments and german prayer books, while the whole body, both young and old, swore at st. paul's cross that there was not a heretic among them. soon afterwards the reformation was firmly established in england, as it already was in most of the cities belonging to the league, and from that time forward the steelyard associates attended the english protestant service in all hallows church. such were the life, the habits, and the nature, of the german community that made its english centre in the steelyard, and which, so long as it was in harmony with the times, conferred many advantages not only upon themselves, but upon the people among whom they dwelt. for in thrifty activity the english in those days could not be compared with the hanseatics, while in point of wealth no one could compete with these germans, excepting only the italian money-changers of lombard street, then, as still, a favourite locality of banking houses. but the italians were exclusively occupied with financial transactions, while the germans devoted themselves exclusively to mercantile affairs. footnotes: [ ] "lydgate's minor poems," percy society, p. . viii. the organization of the hanseatic league. the notices that have come down to us about the organization of our league are scanty, although we possess a vast number of minutes concerning their diets. it is doubtful whether there was even a fixed mode of governing and government, whether the whole was not rather in a state of flux controlled by the circumstances of the moment. that certain traditional modes of administration obtained, however, seems indisputable. it raises a smile to read that when some problem seemed insoluble, or some venture proved a failure, our naïve hanseatics registered in their books, "of this matter let those think who come after us," thus throwing the burden upon the following generation. there was no fixed place of meeting for the hanseatic diets, but most frequently these were held at lübeck, because it was situated almost in the centre of the various activities of the league. the assemblies were held in "the name of all the cities," and those who failed to send representatives were begged "not to take it amiss" if conclusions were arrived at without their sanction. "every town shall consider the benefit of the others, so far as is in accordance with right and honour," runs one of their quaint formulæ. "should strife arise between the cities, which god forbid, they shall settle their dispute according to the counsels of the neighbouring towns." there was also no fixed time for these diets; they were assembled according to urgency or press of business, but usually they were annual, and met about whitsuntide, as that feast falls in the fine weather, when travelling was easier for the delegates of the northern towns. at the close of each diet, the deputies present decided on the time and place of the next meeting, and lübeck and other leading cities were charged with the care of making known to the cities unrepresented the decisions arrived at by the assembly. but default to send a deputy to the diet was not lightly overlooked. some excuse had to be given, and the validity of the excuse was sharply criticized. sometimes a town might be busy resisting its temporal or ecclesiastical lords, an internal revolution might have occupied all its energies, the roads might be unsafe, or it might have been visited by some public calamity like the black death. if the diet thought that these pleas were merely subterfuges to save the expense of sending a delegate, or to avoid explaining some infraction of the rules of the league of which the city in question was guilty, a heavy money fine was imposed, and in case of absence three times repeated it might even find itself "unhansed," deprived of all the pecuniary privileges belonging to members of this powerful association. by such rigid measures did the league hold its members together. nor was this all. a deputy who did not arrive in time for the opening of the proceedings was fined a gold mark for each day of delay, a fine that was not remitted unless the causes for his default were found on scrutiny to be in every way sufficient. on their arrival at the meeting place, the deputies were received in state by some member of the local municipal council, and were offered the wine of honour. the conferences began about seven or eight in the morning, and lasted till one or two in the afternoon. one of the burgomasters of lübeck was usually made president. at the first meeting he would thank the members present for having come, and these would reply to him in courteous terms. then when all their credentials had been examined, and the excuses of the absent sifted, the diet would proceed to the business in hand. this business was heavy and varied, covering the external and internal policy of the league, the needful moneys to be raised, the state of the various foreign factories. even private quarrels between merchants were heard here in appeal. the diet decided on peace and war, sent despatches to foreign kings and princes; threatened, warned, exhorted, those who had failed to fulfil treaty obligations. such was its power that it rarely failed to make its voice heard, and a threat indited by the city of lübeck was not put quietly into the waste-paper basket by the northern courts. these missives were sealed with the seal of the city in which the diet was sitting at the time. just as in their buildings, their guildhalls, and their towers, our forefathers knew how to express a quaint conceit, so also in a simple seal they understood how to express symbolically a summary of their activity. thus the pious and wise lübeck bore on its city seal a ship with high bulwarks, from whose single central mast waved a flag bearing the cross. an ancient pilot steers the vessel through the waves with his left hand while his right is raised in admonition. opposite to him sits a youth busy with the ropes, who, with his uplifted right hand, seems to point to the help of heaven. this was to symbolize that prudence, energy, and pious confidence accompanied lübeck in all its paths. the common hanseatic seal was only used for foreign affairs. it represented the imperial double eagle with the inscription "_signum civitatum maritimarum_." [illustration: seal of lÜbeck] the decisions arrived at by the diet were all recorded in careful minutes, known as "recesses," of which an immense number have come down to us, escaping fire and other vicissitudes. they all testify to the thoroughly businesslike character that distinguished the league. among other matters we often come across applications from cities to be admitted into the hansa. their candidature was generally addressed to lübeck, and their claims and resources carefully scrutinized by the prudent league. as a rule the demand was conceded. the league was never sorry to see its strength grow, and its expenses diminish by being divided among a greater number of towns. such admission, however, was made upon unequal conditions, according to the importance, the resources, and the situation of the city in question. this inequality had struck deep roots also in the very heart of the cities. the inhabitants were far removed from enjoying the same prerogatives, the hansa was by no means a democratic association. the most important posts were reserved for a certain number of families know as patricians, who had distinguished themselves by services for the common weal, or who held power in the shape of wealth. an individual, however, could be "unhansed" as well as a city, if he had failed to observe some law of high commercial consequence, and it was even more difficult for an individual to be readmitted than a town. [illustration: petersen-haus, nuremburg.] from the inequalities in the position of different members of the league there arose conflicts of interest which were to prove "the little rift within the lute," that by and by should "make the music mute." for instance, the interest of the maritime towns was not always that of the inland ones. schisms and divisions were apt, above all, to take place when there was a question of beginning a war, as this could never be done without general approbation. each town was inclined to throw the burden on its associates. for as each was solely preoccupied with its personal interests, and only entered into the league with a view to the profits it could thus obtain, there was always in the minds of the delegates a tacit reserve to make as few sacrifices as possible, and as time went on they were even ready to abandon their allies, and let the league perish if they did not find themselves directly benefited by any sacrifice demanded by the common weal. what held them together at all was, in a word, nothing more noble or ideal than personal advantage, the fear through exclusion of losing by exclusion, the great advantages that accrued from being a member of the league. no wonder that with an ambition so little exalted the hansa was destined not to survive until our own day. for communities like individuals must strive after some lofty ideal if their existence is to be happy, and to have a sound enduring basis. the wonder is rather that seeing what motives animated its members, the defective character of the means at its disposal, such as the lack of a standing army, and the constant mutations in its form of government, it should have attained to such mighty results as we have roughly sketched in this, the second and culminating period of its existence. period iii. _the decline and fall of the hansa._ introduction. from the law of change to which all human affairs are subject the mighty hanseatic league was not exempt. great though its power seemed to all outward appearance, and rich as were its members, still, for some time past, signs of decay and decline had made themselves manifest, here and there ominous rents and fissures, that threatened, if not an entire, yet a partial fall of the building. the latter years of the fifteenth and the early years of the sixteenth centuries were a time of the greatest moment in the history of modern europe. they mark the transition from the mediæval to the modern spirit, embracing two such potent factors in human development as the reformation and the discovery of america. it is almost sad to think that the decrepitude of a powerful institution should have coincided with the transformation and rejuvenescence of europe. yet so it was. so it will ever be; we must march onward with our time, or be trodden down. many of the ideas of the hansa had grown effete or were becoming gradually obsolete. individuality in men, independence in nations were factors beginning to manifest themselves and to rebel against those notions of blind obedience and of selfish monopoly inculcated by the hansa. the time was nearing when the old system of staple, of factories was to give place to the busy varied life of the exchange. the discovery that the earth was round, not flat, that ulysses had no idle dream when he dreamed that there was another continent beyond the pillars of hercules, was a matter of unspeakable moment to trade. when we recollect that almost to the same date belong the discovery of a maritime route to the east indies, and the invention of printing, we cannot but recognize that a power, not willing to move with the times, but painfully, obstinately clinging to its own ideas and images, had to be left behind. the very causes for which the hansa had been founded, insecurity of roads, want of international justice, and other barbarous and intolerant conditions, no longer existed. the league itself had developed from a liberator into an oppressor. it no longer fitted with the changing conditions; it too must change or perish. in vain did it point to ancient charters, evoke "inviolable treaties" acquired at the point of the sword or by might of wealth. it had to learn that of these treaties, as indeed of treaties in general, must be said that which is sadly, but too truly said of human promises, that they are "like pie-crust, made to be broken." the spirit of revolution, or rather of change, was abroad. it made itself felt in manners, in institutions, in governments. the capture of constantinople by the turks contributed to the new development. by warning europe of a new and menacing danger, it drew yet more closely together the different states which the crusades had already put into relations with one another, and for which the feudal system formed a sort of common link. this same event turned the stream of sciences, letters, and arts towards italy. on the other hand, the princes were finding out the means of diminishing the power of the feudal lords and nobles. the subjugation of the power of these vassals undermined little by little the feudal system, and allowed this worn-out institution to be replaced by institutions more in conformity with the needs of modern society. various states, that had been unable to develope their forces, owing to the abuse of the feudal system, moved swiftly forward, now that they were free from restraint, and, having succeeded in centralizing their power desired to give it a firm and equal step in the march onwards. meanwhile the forces that existed in the hands of the rulers were active enough to assure the tranquillity of the people, but it was always possible to turn them from their destination; war might arise any moment out of the very institutions that ought to secure the maintenance of peace. the people, recognizing this and fearing lest ambitious rulers should form projects of aggrandizement and conquest, had recourse to that policy which the italian republics had already initiated and in which florence took the lead. the democracy understood full well that it was for their good, and even essential to their very existence as a power in the state, that they should act upon the forces that determined the government, just as these re-acted upon them: that, in a word, they should mutually hold each other within the limits of the law and that general security could only arise from the equilibrium of the means of attack and defence. this new policy which demanded frequent communications between the parties interested, gave rise to the system of embassies, itself quite a new feature in international and political life, though it was really an extension of ideas and systems long ago pursued by the hansa. in a word, the whole method of the world was changing, and it remained to be seen whether the hansa could still keep ahead as it had hitherto done. while other nations were looking about them all round the globe, the hansa was, as ever, occupied in securing to itself the monopoly of the baltic basin, in order that no other peoples should deprive them of the wealth of scandinavia. and yet this "monopoly of the herring and the cod-fish," as it has been named, was steadily becoming less and less valuable. more than half of europe was protestant and no longer fasted; wax was no more required in quantities for church ceremonials and the evidences of personal piety; the imitation of italian and spanish fashions in dress caused less demand for the furs of the north. the english were among the chief commercial rivals of the hansa at this date, and after them the dutch, those very dutch whose cities had at one time formed part of the league, but who had seceded after the wars with waldemar, finding it more profitable to keep friends with the danes. it is strange that this combination of merchants, generally so astute, should not have recognized whither the stream of things was tending. nor in its perplexities could it find any help from the emperor. the german empire was suffering from the same ills as the league, and with equal steps was advancing towards its dissolution. until now the hansa had gone on its triumphal way in spite of all inner and outer political complications, indeed had rather profited than lost by these. this was now altered. it was now no longer a body animated by one will, one spirit. the disintegrating element of religious discord had entered among its members, they were mixed up with the bloody doctrinal wars, that followed the reformation and ravaged germany, and they were divided among themselves on this very point. at last, after the treaty of augsburg ( ), which restored to germany a more or less agitated peace of some fifty years, there followed the terrible, devastating thirty years' war, which gave the death blow to the league. the thirty years' war left behind it only a heap of ruins. it had consequences so disastrous that from some of them germany has not recovered even to this day. it caused her to lag in the onward march of progress, and for all her military strength at this present moment, she has not yet overtaken her neighbours and contemporaries in many important points of civilization, that are more unfailing sources of a nation's power than mere brute strength in arms or tactical skill in battle. one of the first serious causes of decline in the hanseatic power was due to the fact that as time went on and conditions of trade altered, the interests of the maritime and continental cities were no longer identical. the sea-board towns used to furnish to the inland the means of selling the produce of industries with profit in the countries east, north, and west of the baltic. the hanseatic ships and factories facilitated this distribution of goods. but when other nations, and, above all, the merchants of the netherlands, and after them the english, danes, and swedes carried on a part of this commerce with their own ships, the inland cities no longer had the same interest in remaining united with the maritime. they even thought that their union with the league was more onerous than useful, and began to grow restive and would no longer pay their dues to the general fund, which consequently became much weakened and impoverished. thus there were not only enemies from without, but enemies from within to contend against. "a house divided against itself cannot stand" is a saying of which our hansa was very soon to learn the full truth. but before the final collapse came the league was to know one more moment of proud prosperity, a moment which, had it been wisely and unselfishly used would have secured to the hansa a prolonged dictatorship in northern europe. after this rapid survey we will consider these events in detail and order. i. storm clouds. the centre of the hansa's power had ever been the baltic ocean. on its shores the idea of the league had first taken shape: here it had grown and flourished, and here also it was to receive its death blow. as we have said, in the course of the fifteenth century the dutch gradually came forward as serious competitors of the league. their geographical position made them freer than the hanseatics; enclosed in a sort of inland basin to which at any moment they might lose the key, their astuteness was not less keen than that of their rivals, and like their rivals they wisely made use of any quarrels or dissensions that might be abroad. they were not slow, therefore, to discern that the scandinavian people and also the scandinavian kings groaned under the heavy despotism exercised by these german merchants. they proposed themselves as substitutes for the hansa, offering money and support to the kings and easier and better conditions of trade to the natives. these proposals were unofficially accepted. neither rulers nor ruled as yet dared oppose themselves openly to the league, but they were not sorry to see its power reduced. [illustration: charles v.] for awhile the hansa were able to keep their rivals in check, worrying them by piracy on the one hand, and insisting on their ancient claims and trade rights on the other. but charles v. had ascended the throne; the greatest emperor that had ever governed in germany since his namesake charles the great. he was ruler not only of germany, but of spain and the netherlands, and to the latter people he was especially well disposed. he looked with no friendly eye upon the league, which made itself a power within his territory, and he was not sorry to see it weakened by competition. when the sound, their danish hellespont, the gold mine of the league, continued to be jealously guarded by them, and its navigation denied to other nations, charles v. declared quite openly that "he would rather miss three royal crowns, than that his burgunders should be excluded from the sound." this was a sort of challenge to the hansa. let us hear how other circumstances came about to enforce it from other quarters. it may be remembered that since the days of waldemar atterdag, the league had always had a voice in the election of a ruler to one of the three northern kingdoms, and that it regarded with no friendly eye the attempts made at a union of those kingdoms under one common head. in christian ii. had ascended the danish throne. he was an unscrupulous and cruel ruler, known to posterity as the nero of the north. before ascending the throne of denmark he had been governor of norway, and in that capacity had conceived a bitter hatred against the overbearing foreigners, "those german cobblers," as he called them, who once even ventured to close against him the gates of his own town of bergen. he had already favoured by all ways in his power the trade of non-hanseatics, and tried to obtain some gentler treatment for the oppressed burghers of bergen. still so great was yet the fear of the hansa, that when in christian was crowned king of denmark, he made no difficulties about renewing all hanseatic treaties and privileges, and only stipulated that the harbours of norway should also be accessible to the netherlanders. in return he desired their assistance against sweden, with which country he was at war. for a time the league, and above all lübeck, were rejoiced at this new king and his attitude towards them, but not many years had passed before they found out that they had to do with a more logical and altogether sterner man than any of his predecessors had been. christian hated the hansa, and rebelled against the subjection of the sound, a danish sea, to foreign control, and the absolute sway of the hansa in his markets. among many unwise words and deeds that live bound up with his memory, it was not the most unwise which he repeated after sigbrit willem, the mother of his beloved and lovely friend, digveke (little dove), "that good friendship must be maintained with the netherlands, and that copenhagen must be made the staple place of the north." [illustration: christian ii. of denmark.] unfortunately for christian, though he could repeat sigbrit's sayings, and perhaps also in a measure recognize their wisdom, he had not the natural capacity to carry them into execution. this clever woman recognized that the aim of the king should be to reinstate the scandinavian union, to break the power of the aristocracy and the clergy, and to free his impoverished people from the fetters in which the hansa had bound them for nine centuries. this was all right and well, but it needed to be carried into effect with tact and moderation. christian did not possess these gifts; he made himself personally detested by his cruelty and his overbearing manner, he knew not that generosity which so gracefully becomes a victor. after conquering sweden, he soiled his victory by causing the most illustrious personages of the kingdom to be executed, and still worse he stained his personal honour by violating the conditions of an armistice in causing gustavus ericson, of the house of vasa, to be carried off captive to denmark. it did not improve matters when christian explained that he required him as a hostage. he caused gustavus to be shut up in the strong fortress of kalo in jutland. here the captive was put on his parole, and it is said suffered none of the rigours of custody. but the food put before him, salt junk, sour ale, black bread, and rancid herrings, cannot have comforted his enforced captivity in the material sense, while he confessed to having been maddened by the talk of the soldiers who guarded him, and who boasted that they would soon hold all sweden, and jestingly parcelled out among themselves the wealth and beauty of the nation. this young man so unjustly imprisoned was destined to become the avenger of his fatherland, and those of his fellow-countrymen who had perished upon the scaffold. he resolved to escape, hoping to reach sweden in time to defend his country, or to take advantage of any favourable juncture that might arise. it was in september, , that, early one raw autumn morning, gustavus managed to escape from the castle of kalo, disguised as a drover of oxen. he made his way to the city of lübeck, and threw himself upon the protection of the burgomaster and council. needless to say the town gave a generous welcome to the man who was foe of their foe--the king of denmark. but it was not long ere his whereabouts became known, and christian sent messengers to lübeck, demanding in high-handed language that gustavus should be handed over to him. he complained that vasa had effected his escape contrary to his pledged word as a knight. gustavus spoke in his own defence. "i was captured," he said, "contrary to all justice and all plighted faith. it is notorious that i went to the king's fleet as a hostage. let any one who can, point out the place where i was made prisoner in battle, or declare the crime for which i deserved chains. call me not then a prisoner, but a man seized upon unjustly, over-reached, betrayed. i am now in a free city, and before a government renowned for justice and for defending the persecuted. shall i then be altogether deceived in the confidence i have placed in them? or can breach of faith be reasonably objected to me by one who never himself kept faith or promise? or can it be wondered at that i should free myself from prison which i deserved by no fault, except that of trusting to the assurances of a king." the shrewd burgesses who listened to gustavus's defence were not misled by his rhetoric, but motives of policy told in his favour. they knew that if christian were once undisturbed king of the three northern kingdoms, he would possess a power which, as he had already shown, he would not use to the advantage of the league. here was a young nobleman of fearless character and high talent, a man who hated the king with hereditary hatred and personal animosity. might he not become a thorn in his side and a clog upon his movements? this was the view of the matter taken by the burgomaster of lübeck and put forcibly before his colleagues. it was therefore agreed emphatically to refuse the king's demands, and, instead of giving up gustavus, to furnish him rather with the means to return to his own country. "for who knows," said the worthy council, "what he may do when he gets there." to this refusal to deliver up the hostage the king of denmark replied, through his ambassadors, that he should make a house-to-house search for his prisoner. that was truly more than the proud city could stomach. they answered in the most haughty terms that they should never permit such an interference with their home rights and privileges, and in the presence of the danish ambassadors reassured the fugitive of their protection and friendship. when the news of this reply reached christian, he regarded it as an act of great audacity. from this moment he became a yet more embittered enemy of the hansa, whose chief city and spokesman he very properly recognized was lübeck. he harassed them continually in fresh ways; he carried on a yet more envenomed war against the swedes, of whom he knew the league to be the secret ally and the chief support. at first success favoured his arms; he broke faith in all directions--plundered, ravaged, sacked. but at last he made the cup of wrath against him overflow by his cruel execution of ninety noble swedes, in the autumn of ; vaunting the deed in insolent heartless words. he had shown them, he said, "how he roasted his michaelmas goose." further, in his wanton presumption he did not hesitate to give active expression to his hatred against lübeck. when congratulated by his councillors that he could now rejoice in the possession of the three northern crowns, he replied: "so long as lübeck is not in my power, i cannot be happy in my kingdoms." shortly after this, christian set out for the netherlands to visit his imperial brother-in-law at ghent. the objects of his journey were various. he wanted to obtain the payment of his consort's marriage portion; to solicit the emperor's aid against his uncle, frederick of schleswig holstein; and yet more to obtain his tacit, if not active assistance, against the hansa towns on the baltic, and especially against lübeck. it was on the occasion of this visit that charles v., accompanied by christian and margaret of austria, laid the foundation-stone of antwerp cathedral. after this ceremony they returned to brussels, where christian entertained his friends at a banquet. among the guests was the great german painter, albert dürer, then visiting the low countries. he was then and there commissioned to paint the danish king's portrait--a portrait that all contemporaries greatly admired as a faithful reproduction of christian's manly beauty. the artist received thirty florins--a sum that seemed to him munificent, and called forth expressions of real gratitude. soon after, christian presented a petition to the young and inexperienced charles, in which he begged, as a gift from him, "a little town on the german side of his dominions, called lübeck, so that when sometimes he passed over to germany he might possess a place of his own in which to rest." charles, enlightened by the burgomaster of cologne to the effect that lübeck was no "little town," but one of the four imperial cities, and a chief centre of the hanseatic league, refused his brother-in-law's petition in decisive terms. nor did christian fare better with his other demands; charles had been warned against him, and had been taught to see in him a possible heretic. it is even related that in his anger christian tore from his neck the order of the golden fleece, given to him by the emperor, and trod it under foot in disdain. christian returned home to find fresh difficulties awaiting him, for in his absence gustavus vasa had not been idle. this restless patriot had lingered but eight months in the hospitable german city. young, full of enthusiasm and fire, he longed to be actively at work to aid his oppressed compatriots; and one morning, in the spring of , after confessing his obligations and his gratitude to the lübeckers, he stole over to the swedish coast in a little fishing-smack, and landed in territory that was groaning under christian's oppressions. at first, gustavus, who at once assumed the _rôle_ of leader of revolt, could not make himself heard among the peasants. they replied to his instigations in their apathy of oppression with, "salt and herrings will not fail us as long as we obey the king, but if we rise we are sure of ruin." but gustavus was undaunted, though he knew a price was put upon his head. for months he scoured the country, travelling by by-paths, sleeping one night in the woods, another in the open fields; assuming now this, now that disguise. gradually he gathered a following around him, which grew in importance day by day. his influence increased above all after the tidings of the "bloodbath," for so the terrible massacre came to be called, perpetrated by christian upon the nobles of stockholm, on the occasion when he offered them a banquet, apparently of peace, but which proved to them a feast of death. chief among gustavus's allies were the people of dalecarlia, among whom he went on his mission of revolt dressed in their native dress. this land of valleys is inhabited by a people who have many points of resemblance with the scotch highlanders; thinking themselves, as these do, of a superior caste and adhering even to this day to an exaggerated and antiquated mode of dress. like the highlanders, too, they are frugal; they are accustomed to drink only water, and often in case of necessity eat bread made of the inner rind of the birch tree, which grows so freely in their woods. it is said that one of the danish commanders, learning this, exclaimed "a people who can live upon wood and drink water the devil himself could not conquer, much less any other. let us go hence." when the danes heard of the army of peasants that was rising against them, they at first treated the news with great contempt. "if the skies rained peasants," they said, "we would fight them all." but they were soon to see that these peasants were not to be lightly despised. it was before upsala that gustavus's army, aided by troops sent to him from lübeck made its first attack on the danes. there was a heavy snowfall during the battle, in consequence of which the danish cavalry and artillery proved of no avail, while the peasants with their irregular mode of warfare were less impeded by the elements. the victory was theirs, and the danes had to confess that their boast was foolish, "for when god withdraws his hand from a warrior a poor peasant is as good as he." from this moment success followed success and the prospects of the cause of gustavus grew steadily brighter. his instructions to his followers were that "they must teach the tyrant that swedes must be ruled by love, not ground down by cruelty." in august, , gustavus was elected administrator of sweden, and was virtually ruler of the land, though the whole was not yet in his possession. the time of shifts, disguises, and humiliations was now over. the scenes of these, however, the barns where gustavus threshed, the different spots where he was in the greatest peril--are still pointed out with veneration by the descendants of those peasants who succoured him in his adversity, and boasted that they were the first to help him to a crown. in this juncture christian saw himself obliged to send out yet more ships and men against gustavus. to meet the re-enforced enemy, vasa turned to lübeck in and begged of "his fathers, brothers, friends, and dear neighbours of that town," under promise of eternal gratitude, to help him against "the tyrant," saying he would in his turn and time "accord to them milder privileges and everything that could be to their profit." the burghers decided to accede to this request; ten strong ships were armed to aid gustavus vasa and sent out to meet the danish fleet. meanwhile they did not neglect to use the weapons of diplomacy; weapons so often successfully employed by them during their career. they remembered that duke frederick of schleswig holstein was uncle to christian ii., and that the two had ever been at feud. it occurred to them that it would be well to gain the duke as their ally, promising him the danish throne in event of their victory; of course in return for important privileges; the hansa would have been untrue to themselves and their traditional policy had they for one moment left out of sight their own advantages. this proposal met with assent, and the consequence was that a powerful enemy was thus raised up in the centre of the king's dominions. christian, following the counsel of sigbrit, planned another wholesale massacre of the nobles whom he believed favourable to frederick's cause. the matter got known, and in consequence a council was held by them in which they drew up a deed, renouncing their allegiance to christian and choosing frederick in his place to fill the danish throne. a question arose as to who should convey the perilous document to the king. a certain monk of jutland offered to bear the ill tidings. he met the king as he was proceeding to one of his castles. assuming an open and cheerful countenance he managed to get himself asked to dinner by the king, and continued to amuse him and divert all suspicions till the king retired to rest. then, placing the despatch in one of his gloves, he left it on the table, went quietly out and escaped by a boat which he had ordered to be in readiness. a page who found the despatch next morning carried it to the king. christian, who till then had blustered and disbelieved in real danger, grew alarmed when he read this unexpected paper. he wrote to those who subscribed it saying "that he submitted himself to the emperor and other disinterested princes as his judges. as to the massacre at stockholm, he would atone for it; he would fill the country with churches and monasteries, and undergo any penance which the pope might impose. the council and states should have from him fresh securities, if only they would retract their step and turn from him this dishonour they had meditated." the nobles replied that they acknowledged no tribunal superior to their own; that the king had perjured himself so often that they could not trust him; that he had confessed himself guilty, that the deeds by which he had freed them from their allegiance were known to all the world, and that they had chosen the duke of holstein as his successor. and indeed frederick, duke of holstein, was proclaimed king of denmark in january, . the hansa fleet by sea, the support of the clergy and nobles by land--that clergy and those nobles whom christian had oppressed--conduced to this result. a manifesto put forth by lübeck made known to the emperor of germany and the empire how "the city after long patience and repeated prayers, in consideration of her oaths and duties towards the holy roman empire and remembering the inevitable damage done to body, honour, and goods, had taken up arms to prosecute the wanton insurer and aggressor of the holy roman empire." this manifesto was one of the little farces the hanseatic league loved to play with their supposed liege lord and sovereign, the emperor of germany, each time they took independent action and showed by deeds how little they heeded his authority or wishes. in vain christian, after his deposition, tried to rally his subjects around him. fearing probably that revenge would be taken upon his person for his cruel massacres in sweden, he decided that discretion was the better part of valour. choosing twenty of his best and fastest ships, he placed on board of them all the state papers, all the gold and silver that had been hoarded in the public buildings, and the state jewels. on april , , he, his wife and three children together with sigbrit, "the last packed away in a chest with the treasures," quaintly writes a contemporary chronicler, went on board the largest of the vessels, whereupon they all set sail for the netherlands. it was nothing more or less than flight, and an acknowledgment that gustavus vasa and his ally the hansa, through its representative lübeck had conquered; that the league, though declining in might, was still able, as in the most glorious times of its history, to play with kings like dice, deposing and installing them. two years later the same city of lübeck was called upon to arbitrate in a conflict between the two kings, which it thus had made, frederick of denmark and gustavus of sweden. as the price of its intervention and of the sacrifices it had made on their behalf, the city, in the name of the league, of course, asked great favours, favours which were accorded by treaty, and which were to be the last smiles of fortune, about to become fickle to the union she had favoured so long. meanwhile, in june, , gustavus vasa had been, by unanimous consent, elected king of sweden. it is amusing to read that stockholm, the last city to surrender to its new ruler, the last faithful to christian, refused, even after it had capitulated, to deliver up the keys of the gates to gustavus. the governor handed them over to two lübeck councillors, present on the occasion, with the words, "we present to the imperial city of lübeck the kingdom and the city, and not to that rogue, gustavus erikson, who stands there." it must not be supposed, however, that christian so quietly and easily abandoned his danish crown to his uncle and rival. he made many attempts to enlist the various courts in his favour. especially did he try to gain the help of his brother-in-law, the emperor, but the league was too clever and too strong for him. he did get together an army of mercenaries, but his means of paying them soon ran out, though to attain that end he pawned or sold all his treasures and the queen's jewels. at last, he had to fly in terror from his own soldiers who were enraged at his inability either to pay them their wages, or at least lead them to some town they could plunder. nevertheless, christian was not daunted. he was a man not easily dismayed. he intrigued on every hand to regain his kingdom, and at last, fancying that the lutheran doctrines he had embraced prejudiced the emperor against him, he formally renounced protestantism and returned into the bosom of the romish church. christian had not erred in his calculations. this step induced charles to be more favourable to him, and for a while he lent him his countenance, soon, however, to withdraw it. still the brief favour sufficed to enable him to get together a strong army to attack denmark. frederick, alarmed, turned to lübeck for aid, and did not turn in vain. indeed, his ambassadors admitted that "lübeckers had shown themselves in this time of need, not like mere neighbours, but like fathers to denmark." after many vicissitudes of fortune, christian at last abandoned the idea of regaining his old rights by force of arms. he craved an interview with his uncle and a free passage to copenhagen. this safe passage was accorded to him and its terms were couched in the most sacred and solemn words. the hanseatic representatives enforced the promise on their own account. not suspecting treachery, unwarned, christian stepped on board the vessel that was to convey him to the danish capital, and arrived in copenhagen with the fond hope that frederick would receive him like the prodigal son. instead of allowing him to land at once, however, he was detained in the harbour for five days, under the pretext that frederick was absent, and at last when permitted to set foot on dry land, he was invited to meet the king at flensburg, and was told that the fleet had orders to carry him thither. then, and only then, the unfortunate man suspected that he had been betrayed. and so it was. frederick and his councillors pronounced the safe conduct null and void; christian was taken prisoner, and amid fierce ejaculations of rage and despair, was locked up in the "blue tower" of the castle of sonderburg. here for fifteen years in company with his favourite dwarf, christian had to suffer painful confinement that only ended with his death. his confinement was unjust, no doubt, but it was richly merited. unmourned by his relations, or the aristocracy he had oppressed, christian's memory lived among the peasants and lower classes, of whom he had been the supposed friend, a friendship that no doubt had no higher aim than his own ends, but which never had occasion to show its true character. his name, consequently, became a watchword among the people, and inspired those who soon after were to be the leaders in great convulsions in the scandinavian provinces. but this is outside the course of my history. ii. king frederick and king gustavus vasa. in speaking of christian's continued aggressions and his death, we have somewhat anticipated the course of our story. we left our league in the proud consciousness of having made two kings and expelled a third. it was but natural that they should now look for some reward in the gratitude of frederick and gustavus. they thought that the moment had come to regain their ascendency in the scandinavian north. but they were to learn the old, old lesson once again: "put not thy trust in princes." frederick was the first to show his colours. it was true that he had sworn to the hansa not only restitution, but extension of all their ancient rights and privileges, but when they demanded as a first pledge of friendly feeling, that the baltic should be absolutely closed to the netherlanders, and that indeed no one might trade in that sea but themselves, frederick met them with an inexorable refusal. we should be wrong if we regarded this refusal as a mere display of ingratitude on the king's part. he saw that the claim was detrimental to the interests of his own subjects, whom, after all, he was bound to consider first. but he went much further. he dissolved the german society that traded at copenhagen and insisted that all hanseatics should be subjected to the same laws as his own subjects. further, he took under his protection the inhabitants of bornholm, which island was under the rule of lübeck, having been given up to that city by reason of forfeiture. for the natives groaned under the hansa's rule, and declared "they would rather be under the turks, than under the german, christian, imperial city." in vain did lübeck protest to frederick; in vain did she remind him of his promises, point to his treaties, and recall his written and spoken words. she had to ask herself bitterly what she had gained in return for the great sacrifices she had made to change the ruler of denmark. the uncle had become the nephew, that was all, and worse than the nephew, because less impetuous and passionate, and, therefore, more determined and dangerous. added to this, they fell out about religious matters. frederick encouraged the new faith, while the queen of hansa, stubbornly conservative in all matters, remained until the spring of an adherent of the old religion. in frederick died. an interregnum of more than a year followed, during which the hopes of lübeck to re-establish her authority in the north revived; and were fed and fanned by the burgomaster jürgen wullenweber. it was to prove the last flickering of the hansa's glory. but before we speak of the agitated period of wullenweber's ambitious plans, let us see how, on his part, gustavus vasa showed his gratitude to the town to which he owed so much. gustavus vasa had even less consideration than frederick. during his residence in lübeck he had learned to appreciate the material results that sprang from trade, and was secretly resolved that his own subjects and not these strangers should benefit by the country's resources. at first he, like frederick, accorded the hansa munificent charters. indeed, he could not do less than assent to all their demands; he was deeply their debtor for money advanced during his wars, for material as well as moral assistance. he had no gold or silver to offer them, but he could accord them the exclusive use of those gold mines, the baltic and the sound. the hansa should have the trading monopoly "for ever and ever," so ran the words of the charter. but as soon as gustavus felt the crown firmly planted on his head, and had in part paid off his debt, he applied himself to securing the commercial independence of his country and to making the league understand the meaning of the words "for ever," when they occur in a promise. he resolutely set his face against the hanseatic claims for monopoly. "gustavus was an angel at first," piteously writes the lübeck official chronicler; "alas, that he should so soon have become a devil." in open assembly, , the king did not hesitate to speak the following words of unmistakable clearness: "we must," he said, "withdraw from the strangers their unrestricted liberty; we must open the swedish harbours to all ships." next year even more definite words were spoken in the assembly. it was decided "to curtail the hanseatic privileges without further delay, as seriously prejudicial to the kingdom." there was one way by which lübeck could retain in leading strings the "vassals," as she proudly called them, who had grown over her head. this was by means of their still unpaid debts. but gustavus worked unremittingly towards attaining this end. his country, which was poor, had been yet further impoverished by wars, but still he succeeded, by means of heavy taxation, in raising supplies. he taxed everything that he could think of. it is said even hazel-nuts were subjected to this burden. nay he even persuaded various towns and communes to melt down their church bells in order to expunge the national debt. by these trenchant means he succeeded in reducing it to a small amount by the year , and then threatened the hansa with yet more repressive measures, if they ventured to persist in claiming their ancient privileges. no wonder that the ill-humour of the lübeckers grew from day to day, and that they used to say to each other, "this is our thanks for having made an ox driver a king." but gustavus never swerved from his fixed resolve to make an end of hanseatic privileges and monopolies as far as concerned his kingdom. by the time of his death in the power of the league was broken in sweden beyond all hope or possibility of revival. iii. wullenweber. among the various disintegrating influences at work upon the league we have already named the reformation. the new doctrines were destined at first to bring little blessing to the land in which they took their birth, and more especially to the hansa was the purer creed to prove a source of dissension, resulting in eventual dissolution. among other causes this was due to the fact that the cities did not all or at the same time embrace protestantism. thus a schism arose in their very midst: the protestant cities eyeing the catholic with distrust, and _vice versâ_. moreover, these changes of view and system led to great disunion in the various towns themselves, often temporarily weakening the authority of the municipality and causing the city to be too much pre-occupied to attend to the common affairs and the welfare of the entire league. the movement also took different forms in different centres. in some it came about quite easily, and found the ground all ready prepared; in others, it entered with strife and bloodshed, or with fanatical excesses and absurdities, as for example in bremen, and münster, where the over-excited sect of the anabaptists held sway. it was especially in the north, that the trade in indulgences, consequent on a papal need for ready money, found the most rigid opponents. the clear-headed burghers resented this demand as an insolent defiance of their common sense, and many who had already been half unconsciously influenced by the stream of tendency towards a reformed faith, manifested in the persons of wickliffe and huss, felt that this outrageous and unblushing traffic was too much for their credulity. the travelling merchants bought luther's pamphlets, and carried them to their various homes. the wandering apprentices learnt the stirring psalms of the "wittenberg nightingale." a new spiritual day was dawning, above all for the lower classes, who, ignorant of latin, the language of the catholic creed, were unable to follow or comprehend the services of the church they attended. it was in consequence of this awakening, and the wider and nobler mode of thinking, and the educating force which it implied, that hand-in-hand with the religious movement there became manifest also a political stirring. the character of this was democratic, and it is not hard to understand why it was so. the people who had groaned under the oppression of the clergy and of the aristocracy, who almost invariably were their allies, began to assert their rights. they could now read the scriptures in the vulgar tongue, and thence could learn that the blind submission demanded by the priests was by no means an integral part of christianity. they remembered how the cities had been founded on democratic principles; they drew to light old privileges and charters; and by their memory and their ardour they made things far from comfortable for the burgomasters and patricians who held the government of the towns. especially was their power felt by the arrogant and dissolute clergy, whose property they confiscated and devoted to public purposes, and whose churches and monasteries they converted into almshouses and schools. it is necessary to realize the absolute moral corruption of the priests, monks, and nuns, in order to comprehend the anger of the populace, and to excuse the excesses into which they were led by their righteous zeal. nor must it be forgotten that the people had groaned under the vehmic tribunal, which persecuted heretics, and that they had beheld christians burn their fellow-christians for the glory of god. already, early in the century, dr. johann bugenhagen had been elected bishop of the lutheran hanseatic cities, and their need for such an office gives us an indication of their numbers and importance. bugenhagen was a man specially suited to work out the reform of doctrines and to set in order church affairs, and this work he performed for the whole of northern germany and denmark. the new movement gathered strength. it advanced like a mighty ocean with resistless power. only lübeck, of all the northern cities, remained untouched by the storms beating around it. true to its stubbornly conservative character it continued longer than the rest faithful to the roman hierarchy. but even lübeck had to yield. the pressure to which it gave way came from the people. for some time past these had craved teachers of "the purer word" as the new creed was at first called. at first the demands were refused on imperial authority, but after a while concessions were made. it was needful to conciliate the inhabitants, for the funds of the city were low, thanks to the wars for frederick and gustavus, and it was foreseen that new taxes would be submitted to with a bad grace. indeed, when in the rulers appealed to the guilds to support them in imposing new taxes they were answered by a delegation of forty-eight persons who replied to the municipal demands in bold terms, of which the upshot was that they would treat of "no money questions until the municipality should permit the introduction of the evangelical teaching" and the sacrament be administered in both forms. this language was unmistakably clear, and the city rulers seeing the townspeople were in earnest, yielded to all their demands. thus in lübeck openly acknowledged the lutheran creed. the democracy had spoken and triumphed. they had made their power felt; they were conscious of their success, and they did not mean easily to abandon their newly acquired position of importance. the leader and spokesman of this demonstration was jürgen wullenweber, the man whose ambition and energy were to give to the hansa yet one more proud moment of triumph; one more, and the last. the origin and the life of jürgen wullenweber are to this day wrapped in some mystery. it suited the various party factions to represent him respectively as an idol and a scoundrel. even the records that survive concerning him in lübeck are few. but modern research has unearthed much, and proved incontestably that wullenweber, even if personally ambitious, was a true and disinterested patriot. time has thrown round his figure a sort of mystical halo. he has been made the hero of many german romances, and the protagonist of various german plays. of his family little is known except that they came from hamburg, and were no doubt at first wool weavers, as the name implies. jürgen's name does not appear in any lübeck register until the year , when he was chosen a member of the burgher committee. he is there described as a merchant. this man had been the chosen spokesman of the democratic party on the occasion when they defied the city rulers. soon after he was elected into the municipal council, and it was not long before it was generally felt that new blood stirred within that body. in king frederick of denmark died. during the interregnum that followed the danes entered into a defensive alliance with the swedes against their common oppressors, the hansa. the scandinavian nations wished to emancipate themselves from the league's tutelage. wullenweber at a glance recognized the full gravity of the situation. he thought now or never the time had come to reassert, if need be by force of arms, the hansa's might; now or never was the moment to punish for their ingratitude and faithlessness the two kings lübeck had created. he called together a council, meeting in the guildhall, march , , and with eloquent, ardent words, he laid before the assembly the whole political situation, its gravity, and its possibilities. he showed how the entire hanseatic trade was endangered by the commerce of the netherlands in the baltic. he urged the bold scheme that lübeck should take forcible possession of the sound, and thus hold in its own hands the key to that sea. it was a scheme which had often crossed the minds of the lübeck councillors, but which since the days of waldemar atterdag they had never tried to carry into effect, recognizing probably that the might of the league was not great enough to retain such a point of vantage, even if their physical force sufficed to gain it. wullenweber's eloquence and self-confidence, however, carried the day. the next thing was to consider the matter of funds. jürgen reminded his hearers of the silver and gold ornaments and church decoration confiscated by the state in consequence of the reformation. these he said could be melted down. as before, he was listened to and obeyed. he spared nothing in his zeal, even the colossal chandelier of st. mary's church had to go into the melting pot to make cannons. so much for the funds. it was now needful to find the men. this was no arduous task. lübeck was a favourite resort for the mercenaries who in those times roamed the world in search of adventure and pay. among these men were max meyer, a native of hamburg, destined to become the _condottiere_ of the league in its last war. the figure of max meyer is a most romantic one. his parents can never have credited what the fairies sang around the boy's cradle, that he would become a friend of the great king of england, henry viii., and have his portrait painted by the most eminent artist of his day, holbein. he was born in the humblest circumstances, and brought up as a blacksmith. two great iron conduits, the work of his hand, are shown in hamburg to this day. he was a tall, strong, fine looking man, with lively eyes and large hands, and whoever beheld him at his smithy, swinging his large hammer upon the anvil, could not help fancying that he beheld some old norse viking, who was moulding his own sword, so bold and enterprising did he look. and, indeed, a desire for adventures stirred in his blood. he knew no rest beside his smithy fire. he felt he must go into the world. already, as an apprentice, he had fought in some of the northern disturbances, had served as ensign under christian ii. throwing aside his hammer, he once more ranged the world in search of danger and distinction. coming to lübeck, in the course of his travels, he was engaged by that city to lead the men whom she was sending to the emperor as aid against the turks. a year after he returned to his native city, glorious and victorious, rich in booty and honours. hamburg received him as though he were a great and powerful lord, and he impressed all his friends and relations by his magnificence. when he rode away to return to lübeck, dressed in a full cuirass, with nodding plumes upon his helmet, a local chronicler wrote that "he was so good to look upon, that, although he was a blacksmith, yet he was such a fine, clever fellow, he could pass anywhere for a nobleman." he left hamburg in triumph, trumpeters heading the procession, in which there were forty men in full armour, and two great waggon-loads of booty. the foremost men of the city conducted him to the gates. arrived at lübeck, max meyer entered it in the same proud manner in which he had left hamburg, greatly impressing the townspeople by his wealth and splendour. among those who saw his entry and beheld him with a favourable eye was the rich widow of the burgomaster lunte. she lost her heart entirely to the handsome blacksmith, and at last she married him, sorely against the wish and will of her family. thus max meyer became a person of importance in lübeck, thanks to his marriage and his wife's connections, and, consequently, he was thrown into close relations with wullenweber. the latter was not slow to recognize that he was dealing with no common person, and that here might be the instrumental hand to aid his schemes. and, indeed, max meyer soon became wullenweber's close ally. it was while lübeck was thus at war with the netherlands that max meyer, as commander of the city's war-ships, approached the english coasts, hearing that some twenty-four dutch merchant vessels were sailing in these waters. he hoped to capture them and to obtain rich booty. in this attempt, however, he failed; but he took, instead, some spanish ships laden with english goods. this was a breach of the peace, since the hansa was not at war with england; but, regardless of this act, meyer, perhaps because in want of provisions, actually sailed into an english harbour and anchored his vessel. king henry, who had heard of his presence, and knew him to be a lübeck captain carrying on hostilities against the netherlands, received him with great honour. the english king had his own private reasons for wishing to stand well with the hansa. he knew they were protestants, and that they were not too well disposed to the emperor charles, from whom he also had become estranged, now that he had grown weary of his imperial highness's aunt, the elderly catherine of aragon. as the pope would not listen to the scruples of his tender conscience about having taken to wife his brother's widow, from whom he sought a divorce on that account--according to his own showing--he hoped, not wrongly, that the protestants would take less stubborn and unscriptural views of the indissolubility of the marriage contract, and he therefore sought to conciliate all protestant powers. [illustration: henry viii.] but the england of those days, like the england of ours, was a law-abiding country, and three days after king henry had received meyer with great feasts and honours at court, the royal guest was arrested as a pirate. it was pleaded that he ought to suffer the common penalty of piracy, that is to say, death. in these straits the merchants of the steelyard came forward to aid their representative, offering to stand surety for him. they succeeded in averting the sentence of death by restoring the value of the goods seized; they could not succeed in relieving him from the imprisonment which his breach of international faith had incurred. max meyer had to go to prison, whence he was released at last only by the intervention of the municipality of lübeck, though not until he had almost served his time. justice satisfied, max meyer returned to king henry's court, and was once more made a welcome guest. whether he was empowered by the city to act as plenipotentiary, or whether, in the first instance, he acted on his own account, does not appear. but what is certain is that he made a number of proposals to king henry, to which the latter lent a willing ear, that meyer was knighted by his royal host, and received from him a golden chain in token of the honour in which he held him, and that henry further promised him a yearly income of three hundred and a half golden crowns. the terms were that the english king should advance a considerable sum to lübeck towards her war expenses--a sum which the city promised to refund and to double, out of the first profits derived from the conquered danish kingdom. henry's object in this alliance was chiefly to harass and annoy his catholic compeers, and to have a rich protestant ally in the complications that were thickening round him. there was not much result from the friendship on either side; but for the moment, the news that the king of england was their friend and supporter, gave renewed courage to the democratic party in lübeck. it also gave them ready cash wherewith to carry on the war with the netherlands and their friends the danes. for war it must be. this wullenweber openly advocated, after various vain attempts to induce the danish king to grant the hansa's requests. wullenweber himself had on two occasions been sent by lübeck as their ambassador to copenhagen, and had returned home furious at the want of success that met his negotiations. why should not the hansa, he pleaded, once more play the _rôle_ of king-maker? gustavus vasa had proved a failure and a disappointment to the league, had broken every promise he had made to them. let a new king be put in his place. those who had helped the swedish king into power with a hundred marks, should help him out of power with five hundred marks, he boasted; adding that before the next carnival he should make a masquerade before king gustavus that he would not despise. for denmark too he had his plan; and this was no other than to reinstate christian ii., once the enemy of the league. christian had always opposed the aristocracy and the clergy, and had proclaimed himself the friend of the people. reinstated by the hansa, he would owe them gratitude, so reckoned wullenweber, and being popular with the lower classes in denmark the league might reckon upon their support. to aid him in this enterprise the dictator turned to the count of oldenburg, a relation of the dethroned king, an intrepid and intelligent lutheran known as the alcibiades of the north. christopher of oldenburg, at that time thirty years of age, handsome in face and stature, was one of those princelings of germany, of which the race is not quite extinct, whose title was their sole fortune and who, in former days, were willing to sell their services to any king who needed their aid, and in more modern times are utilized to marry the redundant princesses of royal parentage, for whom no match can be found among the reduced number of reigning houses. these bold _condottieri_, whether in search of adventure, of booty, or of a marriage portion and ease, had little but their wits to rely upon. christopher of oldenburg, for example, possessed as his whole patrimony an old convent. he had attracted around him, however, a band of devoted troops, free lances, willing to follow wherever he led: men without fatherland, faith, or ideal, the scum of all lands, whose desire was bloodshed and booty, and whose sole religion was obedience to their chosen captain. christopher of oldenburg was not an ordinary chief. with the military courage of a _condottiere_ he combined a bright intellect and a mind of real elevation. he was well educated and well read. a copy of homer accompanied him in all his adventures; his passionate desire was to be a hero of romance. this was the kind of instrument wullenweber required; the man who could realize, appreciate, and help to carry out his bold designs. and these were, in a word, to put the hansa in possession of the sound. possessing this advantage, with two obedient monarchs upon the respective thrones of denmark and sweden, and enjoining the moral and material support of the english king, the league would once more be as in the days of its greatest glory. so reasoned wullenweber, and not without reason. but he was too ambitious, or, at any rate, too bold. he had not reckoned with the apathy and the economic egotism that dictated the policy of the sister towns. he was to play a dangerous game. he staked his all and he lost. wullenweber's original plan was to attack denmark, while carrying on at the same time the war with the netherlands. this proposal, which besides being audacious, meant a great outlay of money, alarmed the other cities, and, above all, the town of hamburg. owing to her endeavours, a brilliant congress was assembled within her walls during the month of march, , when it was proposed to examine carefully the various points of grievance at issue between the hansa and her opponents. there were present delegates from the various baltic cities, imperial councillors, netherland grandees, and danish nobles. but none of them exceeded in outward splendour the representatives of lübeck, jürgen wullenweber and max meyer, as they rode into the city of hamburg, dressed in full armour preceded by the chief of lübeck's militia, by trumpeters and drummers, and followed by sixty armed riders. the timid hamburgers glanced at all this military display with some terror, feeling assured that such a proud bearing meant that the town that sent forth these men would not easily yield its claims. already, before the first assembly of the delegates, wullenweber had been regarded with an evil eye by many of the other hanseatic envoys. they could not grasp the ultimate ends he had in view for the benefit of the league. they thought he was inciting to needless expense and disturbance. they did not understand, still less did they sympathize with, the democratic wave which had swept over lübeck, and which had brought two such men as wullenweber and max meyer to the front. local chroniclers, speaking of this meeting of plenipotentiaries, call the hamburgers "the peace loving," and accuse the lübeckers of being "the instigators of the woful wars." on march , , the congress was opened by the burgomaster of hamburg in the grand council chamber of the local guildhall, an historical room, unfortunately destroyed in the great fire that devastated hamburg in . in an eloquent speech the local magnate described the miseries entailed by the war in which the lübeckers had engaged against the dutch, and urged that peace should be concluded in the interest of the common hanseatic merchants. the burgomaster was followed by an imperial councillor, who said the same things in yet stronger terms. wullenweber was visibly angered. his anger was increased when the dutch envoy rose to his feet and claimed that it should be laid down as a principle "that the sea and all other waters should be free to the shipping of whosoever listed," adding that "if the lübeckers suffered damage in consequence, they should find comfort in god's will and in the mutability of all earthly things." this was too much for wullenweber's temper to bear. he declared with violence that if the speeches continued in this tone and spirit he and his colleagues should leave the assembly, and this, in fact, they shortly afterwards did. not only did he leave the assembly, but the city also, after he found that all the demands of lübeck fell on deaf ears. but before he left he made a powerful speech in the guildhall, wherein he asserted and maintained that all he had done had been done solely for the general benefit of the league. he even accused the other hanseatic delegates of being dutch in sympathy, "a thing," he added, "which they and the dutch would repent of as long as he lived." he was asked to explain his projects. he sketched a plan almost identical in spirit with the navigation act of cromwell; it might indeed almost be regarded as its prototype. when taunted regarding the egotism of this proposal, when told that the sole purpose that inspired it was to prevent the vessels of other powers from deriving a profit out of carriage of goods, wullenweber retorted as angrily as cromwell might have done, and with the same contempt for the petty spirits that could see no higher object, nor any larger or wider aims than purely personal and financial ones. to wullenweber's mind there was at stake not only vulgar profit, but the control and supervision of the baltic trade, the maintenance of the hanseatic colonies, indeed of all commercial navigation; in a word, of everything that had made the hansa what it was. the colonial policy pursued by the hansa, which had been one of its sources of strength, became a cause of weakness, and ultimately led to its fall. it was based in all essentials upon the same principles as those pursued later by other nations with regard to their foreign non-european colonies, and which led in time to the loss of these same colonies. the chief points were these: that the direct intercourse and traffic with the eastern settlements and their commercial domain were reserved exclusively to hanseatic vessels, and that transport by land was forbidden, because in that case it was not so easy to keep watch upon business, and to be assured that no hanseatic laws were transgressed. foreign flags were excluded from all eastern ports and non-hanseatic merchants not admitted to their markets. all traffic from the eastern cities to non-hanseatic places, and all traffic with these places were to go by way of lübeck. this is the sum of the lübeck staple act, which had a little sunk into abeyance during the late disorders and which wullenweber desired to see fully reinforced. again, to refer to england's dictator, with whom wullenweber had some points of resemblance, this lübeck staple was neither more nor less than the british staple, prescribed by cromwell's navigation act, when it excluded foreign flags from american harbours, and interdicted the americans from sending ships to any other european harbour than those of the mother-land. two hundred years separated these two tribunes of the people from each other, and yet, in some respects, their ideals and ideas were identical. but to return to the course of our narrative, which has been interrupted in order to make clearer the aims the lübeck burgomaster had in view. wullenweber grew daily more angered at the tone adopted in the congress, not only from his opponents, but by those from whom he had a right to look for support. on march th, accompanied by max meyer, and the same military train with which he had entered, he left hamburg, shaking the dust of the city off his feet in anger. he was soon followed by the delegates of the other baltic cities. the congress had come to an untimely end, and nothing had been settled. wullenweber's object in returning so precipitately was twofold. he desired to know the wishes of the city under the changed circumstances, and he wished to complain of the colleagues who had failed to support him. this precipitous return greatly alarmed the citizens, all the more because during wullenweber's absence the aristocratic party had tried to lodge various complaints against the absent burgomaster, and to stir up the people to revolt and discontent. they had even ventured to insinuate that he was guilty of "stealing and treason." indeed, the tumult in the city was so great and seemed so threatening, that many timid spirits began to think that discretion was the better part of valour, and that it would be well to absent themselves awhile. into this state of affairs wullenweber, by his unexpected return, dropped like a bombshell. he saw that energetic steps were needful here. he did not hesitate for a moment to take them. a meeting of the forty-six was held, who were charged to invite the burghers to a general assembly in st. mary's church. more than a thousand persons replied to the summons. wullenweber mounted the pulpit. in ardent words he expressed his patriotic intentions, and related in detail the reasons for his abrupt departure from hamburg. he also complained most bitterly of the conduct of those who should have supported him. next day he addressed a similar meeting in the guildhall, and spoke, if possible, in stronger terms, openly accusing his opponents of envy, and saying he was well aware that some among them even intended to attack him at night in his house, and to make him prisoner. the upshot of his two speeches was that the democratic party once more gained the upper hand; that it was agreed that wullenweber should act entirely according to his own discretion in the matter with the netherlanders; that three of the municipal councillors inimical to him should be removed from their place; and that various burghers, whom he designated as "of swedish or netherlandish sympathy," should either be banished or imprisoned. with his power thus increased, wullenweber returned to hamburg, and the congress was reopened. since, however, he could gain no support from the other hanseatic cities for his policy of continuing the war with the netherlands, he at last consented to accept a truce of four years; a truce which he recognized would leave his hands free for the execution of his other plans. nor did he hesitate for a moment to put them into action. riders and foot messengers were engaged in all directions; the "peace ships" were put into war condition; emissaries were sent to the sister towns to explain fully the purpose of the new attack upon the scandinavian north, and to ask what assistance they proposed to render in money, ships, and men. wullenweber's plan was really a stroke of genius, and by no means so foolhardy or foolish as his enemies have since tried to prove it. it was: to form around the whole baltic basin a sort of german confederation, and had it succeeded, or rather had it not been impeded by the petty vacillating policy of the other cities, it would have marked a re-birth of the hansa, and there would have been no power in the north that could have opposed it. in may, , hostilities began with denmark, and sweden was also threatened with armed intervention, in case the broken promises to the hansa were still left unfulfilled. to the people, the counter promise was made that they should have nothing to fear from the hansa's armies, "if they did not second the arrogance of their king." to this gustavus replied by demanding help from his brother rulers, saying "that it was intolerable that the lübeckers should put up for auction the three good old northern realms, just as if they were their market wares." in a short time the whole north was in flames. at first extraordinary success crowned the attacks of the hansa's fleet and armies, and by midsummer, , almost the entire danish kingdom was in the hands of the lübeckers. then fortune somewhat turned, and lübeck had to see an army surround its very walls, much to the consternation of the inmates. this danger was however happily averted, thanks to clever negotiations and force of arms; but meanwhile things had grown yet more complicated and intricate in the scandinavian question. party faction and religious jealousies prevented corporate action. there was a moment when things looked so black that even wullenweber was daunted, and the confession escaped him that "if he were not in the middle of all this muddle, he should take good care to keep outside it." in the midst of these difficulties dawned the year , one of the most fatal in the life of the german states; a year destined to unravel and settle for ever the northern confusions. such a spectacle as the baltic presented at this period it had not shown for many a long day. in the sound, in all the danish seas, in all the narrow waterways that separated the islands from one another, were seen waving from the tall masts of the hanseatic "peace ships," the flag of the league, and in the harbours of lübeck, rostock, and stralsund, more ships were put upon a war footing. there was likewise seen the white-and-black banner of the prussian flotilla, sent to aid the imprisoned danish king, while the flags of denmark and sweden fluttered from their respective vessels. nor was the spectacle on land less animated than that on the sea. troops, mercenaries of every land and language crowded the shore of the mainland. it was evident that the encounter would be severe, the resistance great. the first check came to the hansa in the shape of the capture of max meyer, owing to the false information given to him by the danish commandant of scania. christian iii. was proclaimed king of denmark, and gustavus vasa lent the new king his most active aid. things did not look well for the league, but wullenweber, though he grew serious and thoughtful as he learnt the news, was not discouraged. he continued to confide "in divine help." a vast number of intrigues were now set on foot, whose purpose was to alienate or conciliate, as the case might be, the various catholic and protestant kings and princes; thus giving to the entire quarrel a party character. lübeck counted on the assistance of henry of england, and offered the king in return for substantial subsidies the entire kingdom of denmark as his booty. meanwhile max meyer was fretting at his enforced imprisonment and absence from the scene of action. in march, by means of a subtle, but not specially honest, subterfuge, he managed to escape from the castle that held him, and thanks to his fertility of resource, and to his popularity, he soon found himself surrounded by quite a little army, and resolved to carry on the war in his own manner, and according to his own ideas. it is said that he offered the throne of denmark to francis i. of france, an offer which that monarch refused. nor did he forget his old friend, bluff king hal of england, who, in his turn, seems not to have forgotten him. though henry nominally rejected the proposals made to him by max meyer, it is certain he continued to give him substantial and moral support, so that, owing to english help, max meyer was able to hold out in the seaboard castle of vardberg, in which he had ensconced himself, until his tragic end. the gateway over its lintel, bore, till the time of its destruction, the arms of the tudor, a delicate compliment from max meyer to henry, implying that the castle was in very truth the king's. the first great encounter of the armies took place by sea in the month of june. in number and excellence of ships the hansa had the advantage. the lübeckers were still the best shipbuilders of the northern world, and many of the danish and swedish vessels sent against them were nothing more than herring-boats and fishing smacks roughly put on a war footing. if victory depended on strength and numbers alone, it seemed assured to the hansa. unhappily, among the many secret methods employed by the aristocratic party to break the power of the democratic faction, there existed bribery and corruption of the ship captains. the usual hanseatic concord was absent. indeed, herein is to be found in a great measure the explanation of the ill success of the hansa. when jürgen wullenweber dreamed that he would revive the days and glories of waldemar atterdag he forgot that the burgomasters of those days when they set out for battle were followed by an army consisting of the burghers themselves, that, for example, in the struggle for scania in , no less than sixteen hundred citizens gave up their lives to gain a victory for the league. with the increase of wealth had grown up, as is usual, an increase of luxury and idleness. citizens of rich hanseatic towns contented themselves with keeping watch in turns at the city gates, with defending their own city walls, with interfering in street brawls and keeping order in the town. but when it came to active fighting, to going abroad to battle, they preferred to hire the mercenaries with which germany was overrun, thanks to the disturbed state of the land arising out of the continual wars of charles v. hence arose the class known as _landsknechte_; hence it came about that in those days german often fought against german, and that all true patriotic sentiments were extinguished. the rich queen of the hansa, lübeck, had of course met with no difficulty in finding numbers willing to serve under her flag and to accept her pay, but these men, as is but too natural, did not fight with that enthusiasm and ardour which men display when the cause is their own. jürgen wullenweber was of the old hanseatic type, but the mould that had formed him was broken. his contemporaries were not up to the level of his noble and patriotic ambition. had he been ably seconded the whole history of northern germany might have been transformed. as we have said, the fleets met in hostile encounter in the month of june. after some heavy fighting the heavens themselves interposed in the strife. a great storm arose, driving the vessels of the foes asunder. two days later the decisive combat was fought on land. the place of encounter was assens, on the island of fünen, a spot where human sacrifices used to be offered to the great norse god odin. this battle of assens ended in the complete discomfiture of the burgher army, and there followed immediately afterwards another meeting by sea, when the hansa had to suffer the shame of seeing some of its vessels flee before the enemy, while others capitulated in cowardly fashion. the consequences of these battles made themselves felt instantly. what wullenweber had said the previous year when he was yet the victor was now realized, "that it was easier to conquer denmark than to keep it." for not only fünen, but zealand and scania fell off from the burgomaster's party after the defeat at assens, and did homage to christian iii. as their king and ruler. only copenhagen, malmöe, and a few small towns refused this allegiance, and still offered an armed resistance. but it was not to be of long duration. meanwhile the close of wullenweber's proud career approached. it is characteristic of the whole course of german history, that the fall of wullenweber, and the ultimate fall of the hansa, were due not so much to external as to internal enemies. petty jealousies, "particularism," to use their own phrase, that is to say, practising a church-steeple policy rather than a wide and liberal one, has ever been a danger to germany. it defeated the efforts of wullenweber, as it did those of the patriots of , and of many more before and since. in july the hanseatic diet was called together to consider the state of the league's affairs; and on this occasion a number of the cities, and chief among them the inland ones, found a much desired occasion to vent the wrath and envy which they had long nourished against lübeck and its democratic dictator. a number of attacks, some of them of the most despicably petty character, were made against wullenweber. the lübeckers were told that they had permitted "irregular disorders," and that it was they who disturbed the general concord of the common hansa. most bitter of all were the charges launched by cologne, the town that had long been jealous of the power of her northern sister. forgetful of the whole course of hanseatic history, she ventured to say that it would seem strange to the emperor and other princely potentates, that a town like lübeck should meddle with such great matters as the deposition and installation of kings. to this taunt lübeck replied with dignity, pointing out that she had no wish either to change the faith of the kings or to murder them (as cologne had previously suggested), but that according to treaty she had the right to act as she had done, and that she had acted, not for the sake of exhibiting her own power, but because of the natural, intimate, and needful relationship that existed between denmark and the baltic towns. since olden days no king might be elected in denmark without the knowledge of lübeck, and on this they had ever acted. the men of cologne were not abashed by this reference to history. they replied that it might be so, and that the lübeckers had the right they would not deny; but they repeated, it made a strange impression upon kings and princes that the men of lübeck should make and unmake kings. alas! how were the mighty fallen! what a degradation of sentiment in the hansa when the cause of one was no longer the cause of all! some days later, in reply to a similar attack, the lübeckers replied, in the old bold spirit that characterized the hansa in its best times, "in one thing they had made a mistake, and that was when they helped two such worthless men as the kings of denmark and sweden to power, and had further made them great, in return for which they were now ill repaid." cologne then tried to shift its recriminations on to the religious ground. glancing at the excesses committed in münster by the anabaptists, she ventured to question the benefits that had accrued to lübeck and other hanse cities from the reformation, concluding with the shameless words, "in our city we hang, behead, or drown all heretics, and find ourselves very comfortable in consequence." to most of these attacks wullenweber as representative of lübeck had to reply in person. he knew too well that many of them were aimed directly at himself. he strove hard to keep his hot temper in check and to reply with moderation and dignity. the attitude of these diet meetings, however, was but to prove the prologue to the intrigues which were to eject wullenweber and his party from power, and to break not only the hegemony of lübeck, but that of the whole hansa--a consummation the opponents certainly did not intend. "those whom the gods wish to destroy they first strike with blindness," says the latin proverb, and its truth was once more made manifest by the attitude of the hanseatic towns among themselves. they who had ever been so strong and so united, now no longer held together in brotherly concord, and weakness and disruption were the result. the instrument that was to spring the chief mine on wullenweber and his party was found in the person of nicholas brömse. this man was one of the leading personages of the municipal council of lübeck in the early days of the sixteenth century, and was burgomaster of the town in the days when gustavus vasa arrived there as a fugitive. indeed, he is said to have been one of the most zealous friends and protectors of the young vasa. when the reformation dissensions began to stir in the city, brömse was among the most pronounced opponents of the purer creed, and repeatedly, by his personal interference, retarded its introduction. indeed once, after it was officially introduced, he succeeded, in virtue of his personal influence with charles v., in getting the lutheran creed forbidden in the town. in so doing, however, he somewhat exceeded his limits; his action aroused suspicion in the council and hatred among the citizens; and finally, in , he had to resign his post and fly secretly from lübeck to escape the wrath of his enemies. he made his way to the imperial court, at that time located in brussels, and there he gained the ear and favour of charles. thence he watched with anxious curiosity the course which events were taking in his native town. he was biding his time to revenge himself upon the city that had ejected him, and upon the burgomaster who had supplanted him in popular favour. when nicholas brömse learnt how the hanseatic diet had censured the action of jürgen wullenweber, he thought that the time for which he had long waited had come. he employed all his personal influence with the emperor to induce him to take a decisive step against the city of lübeck, and with good result. for there issued from the imperial council chamber, june , , a decree, stating that unless within six weeks and three days from the receipt of this document the town of lübeck had abolished all democratic innovations and reinstated in the government nicholas brömse and other councillors banished together with him, the town would be declared under the imperial ban. with jesuitical astuteness not a word was breathed regarding church reforms, but it was fully understood that a blow was aimed at the lutheran creed quite as much as at jürgen wullenweber and the democratic party. a hanseatic diet was sitting at lübeck when this decree arrived. a committee was at once chosen to discuss the acceptance of the imperial mandate. it decided that obedience must be tendered to the dictates of the imperial council. in consequence the democratic party resigned power, and wullenweber, who understood well that the whole was chiefly aimed at him, saw that there remained nothing for him to do but follow his party. after delivering before the diet a speech of great dignity marked by unusual moderation, in which he said if it were the will of god and were adjudged for the common weal that he should retire, he should certainly not refuse, he laid down in august, , the office he had filled with such zeal and patriotic ambition. it is characteristic of popular gratitude that when he returned from the guildhall, after completing the deed of renunciation, he was followed by a crowd that hissed and hooted him. this people of shopkeepers turned upon the man who was their true friend because the wars had impoverished them, had slackened their trade, and had brought distress within their walls. they did not recognize, or they forgot, that they themselves had encouraged the outbreak of these hostilities, and had applauded and sustained the man who proposed them; and that had he been better supported, his plans would have resulted in their pecuniary benefit. it is evident that his fellow-rulers among the lübeck council knew that wullenweber had been wronged, since they offered to bestow on him for six years the governorship of a neighbouring dependency. this he refused, but before he finally quitted office he took good care that the welfare and existence of the new creed should not be endangered by the return of the zealous papist, brömse, and also that an amnesty should be accorded to all political offenders. shortly afterwards brömse entered the city in stately procession, preceded by a hundred and fifty horsemen. he proceeded at once to st. mary's church and took possession of the burgomaster's chair, whence he listened to the minutes decided upon by the hanseatic diet. the decree by no means pleased his catholic soul that whatever else was reinstated, the new religion should be left intact; but he held his peace and trusted to time, as he had already done, with good result, while he waited at the court of the emperor charles. in this one respect, however, he was to be disappointed. lübeck never again changed its creed, or bowed its head to the papal party. but where now was the man to find peace who but recently had held as ruler both sides of the sound, who had dared to fling the gauntlet to two monarchs, and who had been dictator throughout all scandinavia? notwithstanding many negotiations, peace had not yet been concluded between lübeck and denmark. copenhagen was still held by the hansa's allies. it is easy to understand that the temptation presented itself to wullenweber to make common cause with them, and to try in yet another form to gain success for the league. but whether this was really his plan or not we have now no means of deciding. the latter years of wullenweber's life are wrapped in much mystery, owing to intentional falsification of facts on the part of his enemies. thus much is certain, that in the autumn of he set forth on a journey northwards, making for the province of halland on the cattegat, where lay the castle held by max meyer. probably he wished to confer with his trusty colleague. his friends tried to dissuade him from his intention, reminding him that his road led him through the territory of the archbishop of bremen, one of his most violent opponents. it was impossible, however, to control or guide this headstrong and fearless man. ambition and self-confidence made him fall into the trap which his enemies had laid for him. nicholas brömse and his followers, hearing of this journey, at once sent messengers to the ecclesiastical prince, and by heavy bribes bought him over to their side. in consequence, scarcely had wullenweber touched the archbishop's domains than he was seized and imprisoned, regardless of the letter of safe conduct he bore about him. he was carried off to rothenburg, one of the archbishop's castles, and for some weeks the world knew nothing of his whereabouts, until his foes had matured their plans against him. wullenweber's brother, joachim, at that time one of the council of hamburg, was the first to be uneasy regarding jürgen's fate, and he succeeded in ascertaining the fact of his imprisonment and the perpetrator of the deed. he addressed a letter to the archbishop, demanding an explanation of this breach of faith. the audacious prelate replied, that "since it was notorious how designedly and presumptuously jürgen had acted against the will of god, of the emperor, and of the spiritual rulers of lübeck, and how he had spent a night in his, the archbishop's domains without his permission, his will or a safe conduct, he, as the emperor's relative and as prince of the empire, had held himself in duty bound towards his church to take the man prisoner. further reasons for this step would be made known in course of time." armed with this insolent reply joachim wullenweber turned to king henry viii. of england in his sore strait, and implored him to befriend the man who had ever befriended him. to this request henry lent a ready ear and he pleaded, but in vain, for his "faithful and honoured friend," with the council of hamburg and bremen, and at last with the archbishop himself. but brömse and his party were not the men to release their prey when once it had fallen into their hands. they were determined to have their revenge. they hated wullenweber; brömse, in particular, hated him so much that it was possible for a contemporary chronicler to declare that he even tore wullenweber's flesh off his bones with his own teeth. this no doubt is a baseless charge. nicholas brömse, the patrician, with the delicate coquettish features of a woman, with the lily white hands that were noted among his contemporaries, is not likely to have done such a thing. he might be false and cruel, but he could not have been actively bestial and ferocious. what is certain is that wullenweber's enemies were determined to destroy him. so great and powerful a man could not be simply put aside; he had to be sacrificed. a truly fiendish scheme of incrimination was opened against him; so painful and unfair that it awoke pity even in the breasts of his contemporaries. among them, maria, at that time regent of the netherlands, was so deeply moved by the burgomaster's fate, that she felt herself called upon to demand that the prisoner should at least be brought before an imperial governor, in order that his case might have a more impartial consideration. but wullenweber's foes would not listen to any mild or merciful counsels. their chief endeavour was to spread abroad a belief that the dictator had acted in concert and sympathy with the anabaptists, at that moment the bogey with which to scare both catholics and protestants. [illustration: scene before a judge.] the exact means employed to break wullenweber's strong spirit during the first months of his imprisonment are not known. there is no doubt, however, that he was subjected to torture, and that upon the rack he was made to acquiesce in statements, many of them quite false, and others distorted to serve the purpose of his tormentors. among the so-called confessions were said to be an admission of his anabaptist leanings, an intimation that he had proposed to murder and kill as many nobles as possible, that he had abstracted for his own private ends public and church property, and other statements, so manifestly out of keeping with his previously known character and general bearing, that it is amazing to think how his contemporaries, even those most opposed to him, could for a moment have given them credit. hero though wullenweber was in the moral sense he was no hero at bearing physical pain, and, indeed, the two qualities by no means go together, nor does nervous shrinking from pain necessarily imply moral weakness. the contrary is often the case. the man of finely strung nerves, to whom bodily pain is on this account less supportable than to his more coarse-grained brother, is, for that very reason, capable of a refinement of sentiment and action equally unknown to the other. the beef-built man is apt to be beef-witted. it is quite certain that all the admissions undoubtedly made by wullenweber were wrung from him under excruciating tortures. indeed, in the hour of his death, and in two letters to his brother joachim, he affirmed that "the jailer of bremen, together with his mortal enemies, had forced him into the admission of political and moral sins." he says he was racked again and again, and on one occasion had to swear that he would not answer in any other sense than that demanded of him. if he failed in obedience to this command he should be torn to little pieces on the wheel, but, so god help him, he knew nothing whatever of anabaptists or these other charges. he implores his brother to make known all this to his friends at lübeck, and to beg that some honourable men would search his account books, and see whether it be true that he had abstracted state moneys. the brother himself might come and hang him higher than any thief yet hung, if he could prove that he, jürgen, had stolen anything from the lübeckers. finally, he warns the zealous lutherans that the purpose of all that he had to suffer, all that was now being done, was to restore the old state of things, and that he feared that his foes would effect this in lübeck of all other places. meantime, king henry of england repeatedly demanded of the archbishop of bremen that his "beloved and trusty servant, jürgen wullenweber," should be treated with more clemency. receiving no reply from the archbishop, the king turned to the city of hamburg for aid to release the imprisoned burgomaster. he said he had need of his "innocent servant" for most important purposes, and pointed out that it was for the weal, not only of his own kingdom, but also, and even more, for that of the german nation, that jürgen should be freed. baffled on all sides, the king demanded at last, that at least the reasons for this confinement should be made publicly known. these reasons could not be given, based as they were on motives of the lowest kind, that would not bear the light of day and of judicial investigation. the inquiries, however, caused the archbishop and his wire-pullers at lübeck to think it well to remove wullenweber from his prison at rothenburg to some other more distant place. in consequence, he was passed on in the spring of to the custody of the archbishop's brother, duke henry of brunswick, a bigoted catholic and zealous persecutor of heretics. he confined wullenweber in his castle of steinbrück, a strong fortress situated between the towns of brunswick and hildesheim. the dark dungeon with its walls ten feet in thickness, with its small door but a foot and a half in breadth, are shown to this day. quite recently this inscription has been put up inside it--"here jürgen wullenweber lay and suffered. - ." yes, suffered indeed. for a year and a half this unfortunate man suffered mental and physical tortures in this hole. on one occasion he was racked in the presence of nicholas brömse and other burghers from lübeck, and in order that he might recant nothing he had previously been made to say, he was racked twice before this public torture came about, and threatened with instant death did his answers vary. the duke was present on all occasions, it being a special pleasure to him to witness the sufferings of heretics. at the end, when the questions and replies were read aloud in the presence of the lübeckers and the lacerated man, the duke turned on him harshly, asking, "jürgen what do you say to all this?" "i have said, yes," replied the broken man, in low tones. a letter written to his brother a few days after this event is heart-rending in its accents of despair and sorrow that he had been made to incriminate others by enforced false testimony. he begs his brother to do his best to make this good; he says he knows that he himself will lose his life, though he had two kings of england to friend, but he wished to save those who had stood by him and aided him. brömse and the others who persecute him, know well that all the accusations are false, but it suits their purpose to put them forward. "vouchsafe me credit; if i am a thief, may you yourself help me on to the gallows; if i am a traitor, on to the wheel; if i am an anabaptist, into the fire." thus wullenweber's confinement dragged on, and public sympathy for his fate increased. seeing this, his persecutors thought it desirable to make an end. they announced that "the honest country" should judge wullenweber. they carried out this proposal in the most despicable and treacherous manner. on a monday morning september , , a large gathering of peasants was assembled in an open space in the neighbourhood of wolfenbüttel. from their midst were chosen twelve farmers who had not the smallest knowledge of state affairs, and barely comprehended the question at stake against the accused. then the charges made against wullenweber and to which he had acquiesced under torture were read before them. called upon to reply, wullenweber boldly, in a speech of great dignity, denied the charges, and declared himself willing to die to prove his innocence. that he should die was unanimously resolved; indeed, the verdict was a foregone conclusion. as they were unable to resolve upon the method it was voted that the hangman should decide on wullenweber's punishment. master hans, called on by the judge, said that he "deemed it right and fitting that wullenweber should be led forth and quartered and his body be torn on four wheels, and that he should be judged thus between heaven and earth, that he might act in this wise no more, and that others should remember how he had been dealt by." but even after this wullenweber's enemies were not appeased. they read out three more articles of accusation against him, articles which the advocate said he could not hear because of the noise made by the crowd. jürgen replied. it was true he had confessed this while in prison, but under great pain, and in order to save his body and soul. but in order that his soul might not lie before the stern judgment seat of god, he herewith exculpated those whom he had inculpated while in prison, and begged his gracious lord (duke henry was close by) not to stain his hands with innocent blood and to bring therewith his (wullenweber's) soul to lasting damnation. he then requested, as a last favour, to be permitted to speak a word or two with the emissaries from lübeck. most unwillingly the two men came into the presence of their late chief. "jürgen, what do you want?" said one of them, in harsh tones that roused all the pent-up ire of wullenweber's soul. in presence of the miserable instruments of his oppressors he broke, for the first time, his silence of two years' standing. "this," he said in loud, clear tones: "this is what you have striven after so long, even four years ago when you wanted to surprise and carry me off by night in my house, which god almighty did not permit. now after all you have succeeded, that i admit before god. but i also tell you before the whole world, that the last articles are false, and that what i said in prison, i said under torture and to save my life." he wanted to add yet more, but the lübeckers were afraid lest a tumult in his favour should arise among the people. one of them urged master hans, the hangman, to hurry on the execution. but the hangman had a soul of mercy. he listened to wullenweber's prayer, "i have but a short while left. let me say two or three words more, then i will gladly die." and yet again he repeated, taking almighty god to witness, that he had in no respect failed in his duty or his obligations to the town of lübeck; that he was no thief, no traitor! then as though he had done with his conscience, with the world, he sank upon his knee, and bent his head to receive his death-blow. master hans severed the noble head from its trunk with one sharp blow. the body was then quartered and torn to little pieces on the wheel. so perished the last great hanseatic hero and with him the hansa's power. at that time, so great was the fear of his foes, so blindly prejudiced the masses, that no one ventured to speak a good word for the dead man. but that all did not think that he had suffered justly is made manifest by a few little trifles. thus, for example, a worthy hamburg burgher of the period notes in his private diary the fate that had befallen this great man. in the margin he painted a red flaming sword and underneath he wrote the words, "this he did not deserve." the same man writing a few days later and speaking of his execution and quartering, notes again in the margin, "duke henry merited this." even the chancellor of zelle, one day in his cups, ventured the utterance that "wullenweber had died as a martyr to the gospel." yes, he had died as a martyr; a martyr to his town and to his faith, and the hanseatic league was not to see the like of him again. he was no perfect hero of romance. indeed his impetuosity and his excitable temperament, which caused him to be carried away by his enthusiasms, hindered him from developing one of those firm characters that excite eternal admiration and respect; he was lacking in moderation, and in foresight; but combined with his faults there were grand and noble elements, and take him "all in all," he was a man to honour and admire, a true patriot, a true friend to the people and their cause. in the archives of weimar are deposited and can be seen to this day, the acts of interrogation and indictment planned against wullenweber by his enemies; curious documents, well worth the study of a student of humanity, as proving how even truth can be distorted to bad ends. in one of them wullenweber's signature is scarcely decipherable; no wonder when we learn that he had just before been hung up for four hours by his thumbs! [illustration: the rack.] jürgen's friend and ally max meyer had not survived him. he too fell a victim to treachery and cruelty. vardberg's walls were subjected to hot bombardment, from which sacks stuffed full of wool taken in booty could not preserve them. then too the hired soldiery had grown restive, their wages being in arrear, owing to the delay with which supplies arrived from england. in the month of may, , the castle was forced to surrender and open its gates to the enemy. max meyer was promised a safe pass, a promise that in accordance with the usages of the time was broken. the whilom blacksmith was delivered over into the hands of king christian iii., who caused him to be put in irons. he was then accused of all manner of offences, many of them, as in the case of wullenweber, purely imaginary; was tortured, and made to confess to fictitious crime; and finally, given over to the keeping of the danish governor from whose guardianship he had months before escaped by his happy ruse. on june , , max meyer was beheaded at helsingoer, and his body quartered and torn upon the wheel. so ended this handsome adventurer, and with his death, and that of his friend jürgen wullenweber, ended also an important and picturesque episode in hanseatic history. iv. the hansa loses its colonies. the prominence which we have had to accord to the history of lübeck in the preceding chapters would almost make it appear as though we were dealing with the adverse fortunes of only one town, of a town moreover that was fighting mainly for its private and special interests and that succumbed in the combat. but this conception would be wholly erroneous. in those days the german empire had no maritime commerce save that carried on by the hansa; this commerce had no protection save that afforded to it by the league. the league was only powerful so long as lübeck with a firm hand and high spirit held together its various members and led and encouraged their more feeble and often vacillating steps. for there were few among the cities that heartily supported the queen of the hansa in these latter days. at the cost of great and real sacrifices she insisted that the prerogatives of the league should be maintained, and if in return she also asked for some privileges for herself, this can scarcely excite wonder. it is therefore obvious that the declining power of lübeck necessarily brought with it an enfeeblement of the whole federation. after the failure of wullenweber's bold schemes and his ignominious death, after the enmity against lübeck, and consequently against the league, that had been fanned to yet greater fury by late events, it is easy to understand that the relations of the hansa to the scandinavian kingdoms suffered an entire change. denmark was the first to avail itself of the liberty it had regained. the country forthwith began to draw profit from its "gold mine" the sound. then norway followed suit. the town of bergen, above all, so long oppressed by the league, now took its revenge. gradually as the inhabitants beheld the enfeeblement at home and abroad of their rivals they withdrew from them privilege after privilege until the time came that the natives of bergen recovered both their commercial activity and their fortune. the justice of history is less pressed for time than the justice of man, but it is yet surer and more inexorable. this inevitable justice, which punishes the children for the sins of their fathers, fell upon the hanseatics in full measure at bergen. the time actually came when it fell to the people of bergen to advance funds to impoverished or ruined hanseatics, and, on the principle of returning a tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye, insult for insult, they advanced these moneys under the same hard conditions that had been employed towards themselves. the dispossession of the hanseatics was naturally a work of time, but in course of years it became complete. the last occasion when the four chief "games" were performed, which according to a reporter at the hanseatic diet were designed "to keep off rich folks' children from bergen and secure the profits of the trade to poor young fellows," seems to have been about . it is true that up to the eighteenth century german merchants retained certain prerogatives in norway, but they were no longer the hanseatics of the league, they were merely the members of an association reduced to slender proportions, an association as impotent to sustain its dignity as to restore the rights of its predecessors. sweden was no less happy in its efforts after emancipation from hanseatic tutelage. gustavus vasa laid the foundations for this exemption from tolls, monopolies, and harassing restrictions. he taught his subjects the great lesson how to trade to their own profit. after his position as ruler was once well assured he did not hesitate to speak in open court of the german merchants as "butchers," comparing his predecessors to "good milch kine," and adding that he should never forgive himself, but should be ashamed before god and man, did he sacrifice the well-being of his kingdom to the rapacity and selfishness of the lübeckers. and he kept his word. so long as he lived he checkmated the league with all the resources at his command, and he left his desire to raise the commercial prosperity of his kingdom as a legacy to his son. nor was it enough that men had come to hate the hansa with that fierce hatred which is felt towards those who, holding power in their hands disgust and oppress their inferiors by overbearing conduct. even nature seemed to turn against them in that dark moment of their national life. in the years following the burgomaster's war, as wullenweber's war grew to be called, the herrings which had already failed once or twice during the course of the fifteenth century, either entirely abandoned the scanian coasts, or came in such small quantities as not to repay the cost of maintenance of the "witten." there was yet worse in store. not only did the herrings abandon the hansa, but they favoured their rivals the netherlanders, coming in great masses into their waters, and thus enriching them at the expense of their enemies; a circumstance that furnished the pious preacher bonnus with the theme for a sermon, in which he pointed out, to his own satisfaction, how this was the direct punishment inflicted by almighty god, for the war so wantonly entered upon by the hansa. a fresh blow of great force came to the league in the year . the english, so long forcibly kept outside the navigation of the baltic, had suddenly opened out for themselves a road to the mouth of the northern dwina by means of the arctic ocean, thus discovering the white sea, and offering a new route to merchants trading with russia. the discoverer of this new ocean route was sir richard chancellor, who, together with sir hugh willoughby, had been commissioned by an association of london merchants, to undertake the search of a road to china by way of the icy sea. they set forth in three stately vessels, the _bona esperanza_, the _bona confidentia_, and the _edward bonaventura_. for four months the ships kept close together, but in the region of the north cape the _edward bonaventura_, which chancellor commanded, was separated, owing to ice and storms, from its comrades--never more to rejoin them. sir hugh penetrated with his ships as far as the harbour of artschina in northern lapland, whence he could not continue his journey, owing to the intense cold and the lack of means of sustenance. in this desolate spot, he and his whole crew perished. long after, fishermen found their bodies. beside willoughby's corpse lay his journal, which closed with the desponding words: "then sent we three men south-east three days' journey, who returned without finding of people or any similitude of habitation." the diary, which has been lately printed, is a touching record of patient endurance and heroic enterprise. meantime the more fortunate sir richard had penetrated to the spot where archangel is now situated, and where then stood a monastery dedicated to st. nicholas. after resting here, he made his way to moscow, where czar ivan held his court. here he was received in the most friendly manner, remained some months, and was finally dismissed with a royal letter to the young king edward vi., in which ivan expressed his great wish that their two countries should henceforth approach each other in more intimate relationship. nor were these desires of the czar's fruitless. after sir richard chancellor's return, and on hearing his report concerning the terms under which the czar would allow the english to trade in and with his country, a number of london merchants formed themselves into a commercial corporation under the title of "the london and muscovite company." this company once more despatched chancellor to treat with the czar, and the result was that by the year , mutual trading relations between russia and england were established. now if an earthquake had shaken the whole of northern europe, it could not have produced a greater commotion in the entire baltic north than did this russo-anglican alliance, "the london and muscovite company." the good understanding between england and russia was at once recognized as a danger of first-class importance to all the merchants along the sound and the baltic. they saw their entire commerce in imminent danger. what did it now avail them that the sound had been closed for centuries against the english ships, if the london merchants could carry their goods to russia by another route? above all, the hanseatic league recognized the danger that menaced both them and their colony of livonia, the colony of which the city of bremen was wont to boast that it had been the godmother. what would happen, they asked themselves, with good reason, if czar ivan, already their enemy at novgorod, should also take unto himself livonia, if he should open its harbours to his new friends, and thus obtain for himself the mastery of the baltic? in order to fully appreciate these fears, we must remember that the province anciently called livonia embraced all the departments now known as esthonia, courland, and livonia; in a word, the whole baltic coast of the russian continent. this district was entirely governed by the germans. three hundred years back a priest named meinhard had founded the first christian church at the mouth of the dwina, and from that time forward germany had not ceased to send the flower of its aristocracy, the _élite_ of its burghers, its monks and its priests, its merchants and citizens, its _landsknechte_ and mercenaries to these northern coasts to spread the christian faith, and to found a german colony. colonists of all kinds rapidly established themselves in livonia, and while the industry of the merchants raised prosperous cities and safe harbours along the river and the seaboard, the nobles dotted the land with their castles and strongholds, and the clergy with their churches and convents. it was a special characteristic of this greater germany that it faithfully retained and reproduced the outward features of the mother-land. with german speech, german law and german customs had become naturalized. on the gates of the citadels the knights beheld the same coats of arms that greeted their eyes at home. in the towns were seen the same architectural features, the same tightly-packed gabled houses, with their quaint projecting storeys, and their yawning cellars, for the storage of goods; the cocklofts, with their heavy, pendant cranes, that distinguished the northern cities and made them all resemble, more or less, those toy towns of our childhood that come from nürnberg, and are so deftly packed into their box that, once removed, no unskilled fingers can replace them. the monks and the priests, on their part, formed in livonia their accustomed cells, their silent cloisters, the glory and weird wonder of the gothic cathedral, with its tall, pointed spires and steeples, its coloured glass windows, through which the northern sunlight broke in soft rays, staining the floors of god's house with glory. in a word, everything here reproduced mediæval germany. of the natives of the land there was little trace, though some of these still lingered in the country and ventured secretly to pay worship to their old deposed gods in sacred thickets and on lonely heaths. to this day livonia retains its german character; the german language still reigns supreme there, german customs prevail, german names survive. in the times we speak of it was entirely under teutonic sway. was this rich, important colony to be lost to the mother-land and to the hansa that had created it? no wonder the league was alarmed. nor was it alone in its fears. sweden and all the west took fright. in imagination, they already beheld the east--in the shape of russia and its barbarous dependencies--descending upon them with the weapons furnished to them by england. at the instigation of the king of sweden and of the livonians, who, in , expressed their fears on this subject before the hanseatic diet, the league, desirous to dispel this european peril, warned the emperor of germany, the kings of denmark, england, and poland, and the duke of prussia, not to facilitate russia's projects of invasion by putting at her disposal either the munitions of war or the means that would help to civilize her, and thus render her yet more redoubtable. to these requests england turned a deaf ear, for her commercial policy then, as now, was a trifle selfish and insular. judging that the distance which separated her from russia gave her entire security, she did not dream of disturbing a traffic which she found lucrative. queen mary, admonished by the king of sweden to interdict to her subjects the new navigation to archangel, contented herself by forbidding the shippers who traded with the white sea the exportation of arms. it was not long before the alarms expressed proved themselves to be anything but chimerical. danger first showed itself in the shape of dissension. livonia, seeing itself suddenly grown of enhanced importance to the league, took up certain pretentious airs towards its foster-mother. it broke through ancient contracts and statutes, among which was a stern interdict against trading on its own account with russia. the next step was to put the hanseatic league commercially upon the same footing as a stranger; and the livonians were, consequently, able to turn against them some of their own laws--for example, that which declared that guest should not trade with guest. meanwhile russia, which had now completely thrown off the tartar yoke and was beginning to feel its strength, cast more and more greedy eyes towards livonia, with its rich cities and wide seaboard. under pretext of bringing about a fusion of the greek and latin branches of the catholic church, the czar ivan had sent successive embassies to germany, who there recruited for him workmen, artists, learned men, and officers, all of whom were to aid in putting the newly-welded russian empire upon a civilized basis. while there, these men had learnt the fact that livonia, which stood under the government of the teutonic knights, had been divided by internal dissensions since the death of the grand master, walter von plattenberg, who, early in the sixteenth century, had saved the province from falling a prey to the russian desire for conquest. ivan, hearing this, felt the moment was favourable. he saw that the german empire looked on indifferently at what was passing in the extreme corner of its possessions--the german empire always had the knack of being indifferent at the wrong and critical moment--he perceived that the hansa league was ill-disposed at that instant to her stubborn and disobedient daughter; while sweden and denmark glanced with all too loving eyes at the german colony on the baltic sea. he felt now or never was the time for action. moreover, livonia had but one friend, and that a nominal one, poland, which masked designs anything but friendly under the cover of an amicable alliance; it had but one man on whom it could count--the present grand master of the teutonic knights, gotthard kettler. but this man, though of dauntless courage and a true patriot, was condemned to rule over the once bold company of knights at a moment when too long-continued peace and prosperity had sunk them into sloth, indifference, and vicious practices. under the pretext that a certain toll had not been paid him, ivan quite unexpectedly sent into livonia a herd of barbarous soldiers, under the leadership of the erstwhile khan of kasan. the money not being forthcoming, this army took possession of narwa, a port just about to enter into the league. thence they overspread all the province, burning, razing, sacking, robbing, and violating. they met with little resistance. the enervated nobles--"usually so ready for a scuffle," says an old chronicler--fell like flies before them, and the strongest burghs were quietly delivered over into their hands. dorpat, one of the strongest, opened its gates to the invader without the smallest opposition, the citizens having been seized with panic at their approach. here there fell into their hands rich treasure, stored in the fort, affording them the sinews of war. reval, also besieged, turned to the king of denmark for aid against its foes. he sent back the livonian ambassadors laden with a thousand sides of bacon and other victuals to stay their hunger, but more effective aid he could not or would not afford. in short livonia was being rapidly broken up and divided among the various greedy nationalities that surrounded her--the two slavonic, russia and poland, on the one hand; the two scandinavian, sweden and denmark, on the other. in these sore straits the grand master of the teutonic knights, gotthard kettler, made "the sad plaint of the christian brothers on the baltic," heard at the imperial diet. the emperor ferdinand, to whom the grand master made personal appeal for speedy help, promised his assistance, and did send a letter to the czar, begging him to desist from his persecution of the livonians; but the letter was so lukewarm in its wording, and it was so evident from its tenour that the emperor had no intention of following it up by action, that the czar did not hesitate to send a very haughty and defiant reply. in this letter he proved that it was not difficult to find excuses for his conduct. the germans, for instance, had oppressed his subjects; had taken from them their churches, and converted them into storehouses for their goods; had forbidden to his people free-trade in their markets. some of these complaints were doubtless not quite groundless, for we know with what a high hand the hansa was wont to treat the inhabitants of a land they had taken under their protection. livonia now turned to the league for aid; but the league had been offended by the late independent deeds of its colonies, and was not inclined to bestir itself much. the hanseatics did not perceive the folly of their action at the time; they did not observe that in thus yielding to personal feeling they were losing their finest, richest dependency. it seemed as though with wullenweber all hanseatic ambition, clear-sightedness, and enterprise had sunk into its grave. an able scheme which would have rescued the entire colony for the hansa, at a cost of some , dollars, was allowed to gather dust, unregarded and unconsidered, in the archives of lübeck. the weakness of germany, the supineness of the league, the cold calculations of the king of poland, all combined to deprive the hapless land of support. it became a prey, on the one side, to the barbaric vigour of ivan iv., and, on the other, to the machinations of sigismund augustus, king of poland. by the year the colony of livonia was lost to germany and to the teutonic knights, and was divided among the various nationalities that surrounded it, sweden coming in for no inconsiderable portion. thus fell livonia, the russo-baltic province to which in those days was assigned the _rôle_ accorded to the ottoman empire by a certain class of statesmen in our own time, namely, that of a rampart of civilization against barbarism. as we look back upon the course of history and the state of opinion in those times, it seems almost incredible that this fall should have been permitted, that neither the hansa nor germany should have stretched out a hand to help the oppressed colony. incredible, because at that time the whole german and scandinavian baltic coast resounded with the cry of alarm that the muscovite was seeking to make himself master of the baltic. it is true that this result, equally bitter for germany and for all northern europe, was only accomplished in the days of peter the great; but the foundations of this russian empire over the inland sea were laid in those times, and germany had largely itself to blame for the disasters that happened in consequence. the immediate result of the loss of livonia was that lübeck became involved in its last war--a war that was to leave it exhausted. these hostilities lasted seven years, from to , and were instigated by a desire on the part of lübeck that the hansa, though it had lost livonia, should not lose all profits accruing from trade with the russian continent. the quarrel began by eric xiv., gustavus vasa's successor, professing that he would reinstate the hansa in all her privileges in his kingdom; but demanding in return from the league far more than it had ever possessed in sweden, namely, a factory and special privileges in every town of the league. when this was not granted he suddenly chose to take umbrage at the fact that lübeck had never ceased to trade with narwa, although he had, as he alleged, repeatedly told the lübeckers that by so doing they strengthened the hands of the muscovite, the common enemy. he complained of this to the emperor ferdinand, who, on his part however, was satisfied with the reasons for their actions put forward by the lübeckers. eric who, on his side, was by no means satisfied, now demanded in the most emphatic terms that the hansa should cease all navigation to narwa or to russia, in order that the muscovite might not be strengthened by the importation of arms. he contended that the channels of finland were not the open sea, but belonged to his dominions, and that he had a right to hold sway over them, and to capture or harass any vessels he found in their waters. it is strange indeed to find lübeck replying to this, that the open, rude baltic had been recognized by nature herself as a free sea; lübeck which had ever contended that this sea was an inland lake and should be so treated, that only those should trade in its waters to whom she, its mistress, graciously accorded permission. the conclusion of the dispute was that lübeck made an alliance with the danish king, frederick ii., in which it was resolved to carry on war against sweden. the sister towns, apathetic and most unwilling to fight, did not fail, however, to obey the danish king's mandate that they should at once cease from all trade and intercourse with sweden. on june , , the queen of the hansa issued her declaration of war against eric xiv. of sweden. the king, to whom the document was addressed, referred it with contempt to the magistrates of stockholm, saying that "kings must write to kings, but burghers and peasants should treat with their peers." but though eric was so contemptuous, these burghers, whom he professed to despise, were to cause him some uncomfortable moments. not inglorious for lübeck was this last seven years' war waged by her, and its results might have been of some consequence had she been supported by the whole league. but this was far from being the case. still she won several important victories, and on one occasion captured the swedish admiral's vessel. in the midst of the hostilities eric was deposed, and here again would have been the hansa's opportunity had it known how to profit by it. but in vain did lübeck counsel union and implore the other baltic cities to make common cause and crush the common enemy. they only replied complaining of the expenses entailed by this thoughtless war, and by alleging that more advantage might be obtained by diplomacy. in the end lübeck had to bend to the common sentiment. imperial diplomacy was put into motion, resulting in a congress held at stettin, in december, , in which a reconciliation was brought about between denmark, lübeck, and king john of sweden; and of which the conditions were, that the hansa might trade with certain russian cities; "so long as the emperor permitted it;" sweden was also bound over to pay some of the outstanding debts which gustavus vasa had contracted with lübeck. king john assented, but no sooner did he feel himself firmly seated on his throne than he too forgot all his treaty promises, and once more demanded that all hanseatic commerce with russia should cease. he defiantly styled himself "lord of the baltic," assigning as his claim to this title the fact that to the swedish crown had passed the heritage of the hansa, both on the seas and in the livonian colonies. an imperial diet assembled at speyer shortly afterwards and discussed these new complications, and professed great anxiety for the welfare of those deluded subjects of the empire, the hanseatics. it also made sympathetic reference to the fate of livonia, and made no secret of its embarrassment and annoyance at seeing now the muscovite, now the pole, now the swede in possession of the baltic. but the anxiety and the sympathy did not go beyond words. the hansa was weary; the empire was impotent to aid. it is true that sweden had offered to restore to the germans all the portion of livonia she had taken for herself in return for the costs of war, but even this proposal was allowed to drop. when, by , the swedes perceived that the empire made no effort to regain its lost possession, they quietly assumed that none would ever be made, and their assumption did not prove erroneous. curiously enough, at the diet held at frankfort, in the autumn of , presided over by the emperor maximilian who was ever well inclined to the hansa, and repeatedly urged them to unity, there was also present the infamous duke of alva, the catholic butcher, who murdered human beings to the glory and honour of god. it was he who urged that by all possible means the exportation of armour and fire-arms should be hindered, lest the muscovite, in possession of a european army, should one day bring sorrow not only to the netherlands, but to all christendom. the german merchant world was to blame, in the first instance, for the loss of the prosperous colony; and that this was perfectly understood by outsiders is proved by the rough utterance of a tartar khan who had been imprisoned together with a livonian. spitting into the face of the latter, the barbarian said, "it serves you german dogs quite right that you have lost your province; you first put into the hands of the muscovite the rod with which he whipped us, now he has turned it against yourselves and whipped you with it." but the league's troubles were not at an end with the loss of livonia and their russian trade. they were to learn by bitter experience, what individuals too have to learn, that mankind cannot resist the temptation to kick the man or nation that is down. bitter ingratitude was first to be shown them by their ally, denmark, in return for all the heavy sacrifices they had made on her behalf. lübeck was treated with overbearing contempt, while the neutral cities were punished, as perhaps they more justly deserved, for their cowardly policy. thus rostock, which had furnished the swedish admiral with food supplies in , was forbidden to trade thenceforth with scania; hamburg, whose ships had been captured engaged in the same unpatriotic business, had to pay a hundred thousand dollars to regain them; and danzig, too, was fined the same sum by the king of denmark for a like offence. but the keenest humiliation was yet in store for lübeck herself, in king frederick's behaviour concerning the island of bornholm, so long the hansa queen's special possession. first a lübeck governor was formally ejected by the danes, then the inhabitants of the island, encouraged in insubordination by seeing how the authorities at copenhagen dealt with their masters, refused to pay their dues, finally one of the towns even forcibly ejected some lübeck traders. it was ominous that king frederick opposed all mention of bornholm during the treaties for peace. suddenly, on the th of september, , he informed the city of lübeck, "that as the fifty years' possession, accorded to them by his grandfather, would have expired on the th of the month, he intended to retake possession of the island." on the city's replying that the peace of hamburg had extended their right of possession which they held for unpaid danish debts, king frederick was not ashamed to reply to the council of lübeck, that they should reasonably consider that this treaty was invalid since his father, who had made it, was not at that time crowned, and neither he nor his councillors had been consulted in the matter. frederick did not for a moment consider that the hansa had in all respects acknowledged the "uncrowned king," and had helped him into his kingdom. lübeck felt too weak, too exhausted, seriously to resist the king's claims. it sent an embassy to copenhagen, begging for the extension of the possession, held by them as a pledge, for another forty, thirty, twenty, fifteen, eight, seven, six, five, or at least one year. thus low had the queen of the hansa sunk, thus was she broken, that she could beg so abjectly. she begged in vain. king frederick was deaf to entreaties; he saw his rival's weakness, and he profited by it. had they not had enough return for helping frederick i. to power by holding the island fifty years? lübeck was forced to yield; the only concession that was made to her was, that frederick graciously permitted her to convey one hundred tuns of rhenish wine free of duty through the sound for the space of ten years, to supply the town cellar of the capital. in the summer of bornholm was formally delivered over to the danes, and the hansa lost yet another source of wealth. for a while the league still strove to carry on some trade with russia, at first by reval, then by narwa, but in the latter town was finally taken by the swedes. by good fortune lübeck and its friends found in the czar, feodor ivanowitch, a prince inclined to deal favourably with them. indeed, so well disposed was he, that in the year he reduced the existing custom dues by half in their favour, and placed at their entire disposal once more the factories novgorod and plestrow. but in recovering the possession of their establishments, the hansa were far from recovering their monopoly, which time and events had undermined for ever. annoyances without end awaited them from the swedes and the poles, whose territories they had to cross to arrive at their settlements. they were made to pay heavy transit tolls; their goods were subjected to annoying, and often disastrous delays; their ships were often captured and ransacked by swedish and polish pirates, who were well aware that their devastations were regarded with no evil eye by the home authorities. the last embassy sent by the old and veritable hanseatic confederation to the muscovite court, in january, , only attained their ends very partially, notwithstanding the truly royal presents which they laid at the feet of the then reigning czar, boris féodorowitch gudenow. the chronicles tell that the presents consisted of valuable silver-gilt vessels, representing ostriches, eagles, pelicans, griffins, lions, also a venus and a fortuna. presents were also added for the czar's son, but by an unlucky oversight, the all-powerful russian chancellor had been forgotten in the matter of gifts; this want of thought lost the hanseatic ambassadors his potent favour. the ambassadors consisted of councillors from lübeck and stralsund, and there went with them besides a certain zacharias meyer, an old lübeck merchant, who had lived for many years in russia, and knew the language and habits of the people. the embassy met with little success. the monarch whose geographical knowledge was not very extensive, and who confounded the names of the hanseatic towns who sent him this embassy with those that had passed into the possession of poland, his arch enemy, categorically refused to recognize the hanseatic league as such, and would only allow the city of lübeck to be spoken of, which it seems was less unfamiliar to him. towards this city he showed himself well disposed, and very generous, and said it might establish factories and storehouses in various localities, according to traditional custom, and trade freely without vexatious custom dues as far as moscow. in return he demanded only a money duty on the weight of the merchandise imported, no matter of what nature. in vain the ambassadors pleaded that the towns could not separate themselves. the chancellor exclaimed with anger-- "then we will separate them; the czar does not know the other towns, and those which he knows are in the hands of princes who are his enemies." and from this decision neither he nor his royal master could be moved. this entirely personal favour to lübeck naturally changed the character borne hitherto by the hanseatic commerce in russia, and helped yet further to fan the fire of discontent already smouldering in the bosom of the league. all attempts made by the other cities to profit by the advantages conceded to lübeck remained fruitless; and this city herself, though she seems to have preserved these custom privileges until the middle of the seventeenth century, does not seem, judging from appearances, to have obtained any durable or profitable result from them. there always remained the disturbing fact that either swedish or polish domains must be crossed, or a long _détour_ made by way of the white sea, where again obstacles of yet another kind awaited them. in very truth the hanseatic commerce with russia was slowly dying. some efforts were made to resuscitate it by the cities that remained united when czar michael feodorowitch sat on the imperial throne. the hansa's demands were actually supported by the netherlands. but even goodwill on the russian side was impotent to raise a commerce which had been practically strangled by the powerful grasp of sweden. gustavus adolphus, it is true, annoyed at the new direction commerce was taking, and the consequent loss to his kingdom in transit dues, tried all in his power to revive the old movement upon the baltic. in this spirit and with this desire, he concluded various treaties with russia that obliged the hanseatics to pass through his domains, and especially to touch at reval, the lübeckers, who held their depot at novgorod, naturally preferring to pass by way of narwa. but gustavus adolphus and his successors, after all, did not depart from the previous policy of sweden. he and they, like their predecessors, sought to make themselves masters of the entire baltic commerce, and to impose their intervention upon the outside nations, whom they crippled with custom dues. various promises of relaxation which were made to lübeck by sweden were ill kept. the hand of this country continued to weigh heavily upon all the baltic coasts, until there arose on the scene the figure of peter the great, who in his turn reduced them to submission, and who made himself practically lord and master of the baltic lands. thus ends the history of the hanseatic commerce with russia, which might be said to have ended already, under czar feodorowitch gudenow, for it was no longer one league, but only an individual city that maintained communication with russia in those latter days. the confederation of cities known as the hanseatic league had ceased to march together, or to figure by name in the various treaties and negotiations made after the accession to power of this czar. v. the league in the netherlands. the successive losses of factories and hanseatic liberties in the kingdoms of the north and east, were of themselves a fatal shock to the prosperity of the league. it must be remembered that the great privileges attained by the league in times past in england, the netherlands, france, and spain, were all based on the monopoly acquired by them in trading in the products of russia, denmark, sweden, and norway. this monopoly, as we have seen in the last chapters, had been seriously threatened; factories had been forcibly closed, natives and strangers had competed with the hanseatics; the league's prerogatives and charters had been trodden under foot and disregarded. all the efforts made by the hanseatics at the end of the fifteenth century and in the early years of the sixteenth to expel from the baltic waters their various competitors, had ended in failure. it obviously followed that, with the loss of this monopoly, the privileges extorted on the strength of it would vanish also; and this was speedily the case, for under what pretence of preference could the league now invoke special favours at the hands of the eastern nations? these general causes of failure in the west were destined to be complicated in the case of the netherlands with the adverse fate which befell the town of bruges at the end of the second period of our story, and of which we have already spoken. the disaster which deprived the town of its commercial importance also contributed to ruin the hanseatic factory established in that city. then the hanseatics themselves were not wholly blameless, seeing how at bruges they repeatedly revolted against paying the tax enforced for storage of goods, a tax that was a regular condition in the statutes of the league, and which was exacted in all its foreign settlements; and, besides this, there are also other circumstances to be reckoned with, of a more general character. the closing of the factory of bruges was one of many signs of the course of events. a new spirit was abroad affecting commerce and progress in all directions, a spirit against which, as we have said, the league resolutely set its face, and which it refused to recognize until it was too late. after the invasion of the territory of bruges in and the ten years' blockade of the harbour of sluys, by the emperor frederick iii., to avenge the confinement of his son, the city found her trade almost ruined. two important branches were lost to her, by the italians who brought their own silk stuffs to the rival market of antwerp and by the flemish cloth-workers who had settled in england and likewise sent their goods thither. under these circumstances the hansa could scarcely hope for the continued prosperity of bruges. the tumultuous activity that had hitherto reigned in the factory gave place to a death-like silence. the profit that was lost to the town fell chiefly to the lot of amsterdam and antwerp, but partly to the fairs held annually in various localities of the netherlands, which benefited by this abandonment and which came gradually to attract to themselves all the business of the east. it must not be supposed, however, that the hanseatic diet did not observe with dismay the visible and rapid decline of the prosperity of this once flourishing factory; but what could they do to hinder the general desertion of its merchants? could they, reduced as they were in strength and influence, restore to the city of bruges its character of general depôt for the west? could they remove the obstruction of the zivin, ordered by the emperor, which, by a canal had connected bruges with the sea? were they not themselves so weakened that their own members refused to pay the imposed dues, violated all the factory laws, and traded and made common cause with the natives? in vain did various diets send ambassadors to bruges to recall to the minds of the faithless traders the laws under which they were constituted and by which they were bound to abide. in vain did the alderman of the factory itself plead with the men living under his charge. the spirit of individualism and insubordination was abroad, and since the league could no longer ensure its old profits to its foreign members, these no longer found it to their own interests to obey its behests, many of which they rightly felt to be antiquated. add to this, that the failure to pay the appointed taxes made negotiations often impossible for lack of means, and it will be seen how crippled and handicapped was the league in its relations with bruges. the baltic towns, ever the most public-spirited and perhaps also the most commercially enlightened recognizing this state of affairs, had in combined on a fixed tariff, which they thought should be paid to the factory at bruges for its maintenance. but the other cities would not listen to this, and the absence of concord, that of late had made itself felt and heard too often in the councils of the league, was manifest again on this occasion. town after town stated through its deputies that it would not contribute to this general tax unless some special favour were granted to it, unless some special merchandise were allowed to pass free into the netherland domains; the merchandise named being usually that in which the bulk of the town's trade consisted. if ever an association gave practical exemplification of the homely saying of "cutting off one's nose to spite one's face," the league was doing it at that moment. as usual cologne was one of the most restive and obstructive of all the towns. it actually proposed to pay a lump sum of a hundred guilders annually, and so be free from all custom duties of whatever kind. by the time the dispute was at last decided, and a sum fixed upon by all the towns together, the dominion of bruges had hopelessly passed away from the hansa, and the league was busy with the thought of removing its factory to antwerp. for they finally admitted that they must cut loose from the old moorings; that it was necessary to quit the ancient factory, where disunion and grave disorders had crept in. the merchants who had deserted had many of them become naturalized citizens of amsterdam, or antwerp, where they quietly continued their commercial relations with the confederated towns, without taking notice either of the confederation or of its factories. under these changed circumstances what could be done? there were only two courses possible to the league: to afford free trade to the netherlands, and so renounce its ancient methods, or to maintain the old system, and make an attempt to apply its principles in a new locality. the first course would have been the most rational, and the most in keeping with the spirit of the time. but the hanseatics, as we have frequently had occasion to see in the course of our story, were not men easily to lose hold of prey, or to break spontaneously with a past that had been glorious and lucrative. they decided in favour of the second course, and at once set about seeking for the spot which would best secure their interests. various places offered themselves for their choice, such as bergen-op-zoom, middlebourg, haarlem, all of which promised the hansa considerable advantages, in order to attract it to themselves. it would, perhaps, have most inclined to amsterdam, but it could not forget that this town had often fought in the ranks of its enemies, and had put forth in the baltic a special activity very prejudicial to its monopoly. antwerp was finally decided upon, for it was manifest already in that the great commercial movement of the epoch seemed inclined to tend towards that spot. the story of the rise of the city into importance is most interesting. formerly its houses had been all thatched with straw. its inhabitants lived on the results of agricultural labour and fishing. since the english merchant adventurers had patronized the town, wretched habitations had given place to fine solid houses; ease and wealth had taken up their abode among the burghers. as an instance of this, it may be mentioned that houses which fifty years previously let for forty to sixty dollars of annual rent, now fetched four to eight hundred dollars a year. the hansa asked themselves, very naturally, were not some of those good things to fall to their share. it was in that it was finally settled by the hanseatic diet that a depôt should be established at antwerp, but the negotiations regarding it dragged on. it was, however, at once decided, that the factory should become, like the factories of the past, an obligatory intermediary of all the relations between the hansa and strangers. in , the league was fortunate enough to obtain from king philip of spain the confirmation of the privileges which they had extorted in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries from the dukes of brabant, and which permitted them to bring in their goods at a minimum rate, and accorded to them other valuable privileges. and besides this liberality on the part of the ruler of the land, the interested city also showed itself willing to further the weal of the league. the hanseatics were offered by the town of antwerp a spacious tract of land, free of rent, situated between two canals, on which they were to be allowed to erect a factory. besides this, antwerp offered to defray a third of the costs, laying down for this purpose the large sum of thirty thousand guilders. annexed to the establishment, which was to be the free possession of the confederation, was an open public square, that formed a sort of exchange--free to all comers--where prices were to be settled, and sales and auctions held. a public balance, adapted to the weights in use among the hanseatics, was to serve in the residence itself, for weighing the merchandise imported by them, while the public balance of the town was to serve for weighing their purchases. other very favourable conditions with regard to the exportation of unsold goods, and of goods in storage and in transit were added. in return for all these favours, the hanseatics had to promise not to abandon antwerp, unless very real and serious causes, such as a war or a plague, should force them thence; and that antwerp should enjoy in hanseatic cities such commercial liberties as were accorded by the league to the most favoured nations. on may , , the foundation-stone of the splendid house of the easterlings, at antwerp, was laid, with great pomp and ceremony, in presence of the local burgomasters and the representatives of the league. in four years the stately edifice was finished, and formerly handed over to the aldermen of the hansa, and such hanseatics as were in antwerp, who were regarded by the city as the representatives of the confederated towns. [illustration: the hansa factory, antwerp.] the first hanseatic syndic general, dr. heinrich sudermann, of cologne, then put the finishing touch to the great work by sketching out for the factory a projected code of statutes for its internal management. it was laid before the hansa diet for revision, approved, and at once promulgated. this code enumerated the qualities requisite for admission to the enjoyment of hanseatic privileges, determined the methods of nomination, as well as the duties of the various functionaries attached to the factory, and other details. the accounts were to be placed under the supreme supervision of lübeck. further, the merchants were to maintain the traditional monastic discipline, were to live under the same roof, and partake of their repasts in common in the great hall of the factory. a few of the rules recall the old hostile attitude always maintained by the league towards strangers. all disputes of hanseatics among themselves were to be submitted to the jurisdiction of the factory. in a word, in the outer magnificence of the factory building, as well as in the elaboration and rigour of the statutes, all the ancient traditional hanseatic forms had been revived. indeed, as regards the statutes, these attained at this epoch their greatest scientific perfection. but perfect, correct, traditional, though the forms might be, they were no longer in accordance with the times; no longer the expression of the epoch that gave them birth. it was easy to foresee that the first adverse breath would dissipate them. and so truly it proved. indeed, certain complications showed themselves before the building was finished, and foreshadowed the nature of the troubles to be expected in the future. money, as usual, was the touchstone of discord. various cities refused to pay in the stipulated sums, others protested against the regulations proposed. danzig even went so far as entirely to object to the new settlement as too distant from the centre of business, and contended that the pact of the league with the town of antwerp had been concluded too hurriedly, and without due consultation. in consequence of these difficulties, the factory, when completed, found itself crippled, and hampered by debts, from which it was never able to free itself. this was an unfortunate start, and was entirely due to the apathy and bad faith of the cities, among whom it became more and more evident that the old spirit of union was rapidly dying out. another difficulty was, that the traders began to object to living in common under one roof. the reasons in ancient times for this regulation, such as the defective conditions of public security, no longer existed in these more civilized times. merchants did not care to submit to the often tiresome and petty restrictions on personal liberty involved by the monastic rules that existed in the factory. in vain the syndic of the league put forward for the consideration of these unruly members, that the concentration of all the hanseatics in one factory building made the defence of their privileges more easy, while their dispersion in the various towns and villages facilitated exactions by the natives and the raising of taxes. in vain he pointed to the example of england, where the hanseatics, thanks to their unity of action and of existence, had kept their prerogatives intact during three centuries, while, on the contrary, in the netherlands the spirit of isolation had produced in course of time an augmentation of at least treble their original dues. in vain he demonstrated that partnerships made with foreigners were onerous for the hanseatics themselves, and drew down upon them the too great probability of conflicts with the rulers of the netherlands, who thus would find their interests betrayed. expostulations, appeals to the statutes, and menaces, proved powerless to change the state of things, or the direction in which affairs were tending. there was no longer a strong support to be obtained from the league as a body, in return for obedience; its threats were no longer followed up by deeds, it had grown too feeble to quell resistance, especially such resistance as was made by towns strong in themselves--as, for example, danzig and cologne. the jurisdiction of the factory was no longer respected as supreme by its own members. it frequently happened, even in the early days of the settlement, that hanseatics residing at antwerp brought their differences before the local tribunals instead of before their own court. it is related, that one day one of the hanseatic aldermen, anxious to repress this mode of violating rules, reprimanded a citizen of cologne, one mathern schoff, on this account. the accused fell upon the official dignitary and belaboured him with his fists. the matter created a scandal and was brought before the high court of brabant. this court took part with the rebellious hanseatic, with the result that the authorities of the factory were forbidden, under the most heavy penalties, to take any action against him. they were even threatened with the loss of all their privileges. such incidents, and a number of others like them, presaged a catastrophe at a time not too far distant. but circumstances unconnected with the factory rendered its position still more difficult and precarious and hastened its fate. chief among these external causes was the war between england and spain; the war whose chief incident was the destruction of the great spanish armada by the force of the elements, which ranged themselves on the side of the english queen. this war, which made the navigation of the seas unsafe, was of course a most serious interruption to trade. nor did the destruction of the armada bring peace to the hansa. besides this there had broken forth in the netherlands the great revolt in the cause of freedom against the ecclesiastical and civil despotism of philip ii., which was permanently to change the whole state of that corner of europe, and which for the time being absolutely extinguished all trade by sea or land. glorious as these events proved for the cause of liberty and of freedom of thought, they were disastrous to the league. each of the militant nations interdicted it from all relation with the other, and security for commerce was of course quite at an end. now it must be borne in mind that the revolt of the netherlands began while the hanseatics were still building their new residence at antwerp. the league was no longer, as in old days, strong enough to make its neutrality respected, and the consequence was, it had to yield to the demands of whichever party was at the moment the strongest. thus the prince of orange manifested from onwards a desire that they should interrupt their communications with spain. as a result, when antwerp was taken, and pillaged by the spaniards, november , , the hanseatics were forced to see themselves treated not as neutrals, but as friends of the rebels. their papers were seized and their goods confiscated; even their charter was seized and the price of ransom fixed at the high rate of twenty thousand guilders. further, if we may deduce inferences from the minutes of the hanseatic diet of the same year, , it would seem as though king philip ii., and the prince of orange each in their turn placed a tax of , , and even per cent. upon the merchandise imported by the hanseatics into the low countries. the league, in this desperate situation pleaded for help now from one leader, now from another, but could obtain no efficient relief or support from any side. at last in april, , the spanish governor of the netherlands offered conditions to a hanseatic embassy which under the circumstances seemed sufficiently advantageous. it was proposed that to indemnify them for the losses suffered during the pillage of antwerp, the hanseatics should for twenty years be completely exempt from all taxes imposed in holland or brabant, and from half the taxes established for zealand. besides this the heads of the factory were once more to be recognized as alone competent to pronounce judgment in civil suits between hanseatics residing in the low countries. on their part, however, the hanseatics would have to submit to the necessities of warfare. further, full latitude was conceded to them in the matter of re-exportation of their goods, unless imperious need opposed this, in which case they should receive current prices for their merchandise. that these promises were ill kept, and that the factory, scarcely born, was rapidly nearing its end, is proved by the complaints addressed in and , to the city of lübeck by its representatives residing at the factory of antwerp. they pointed out how money was absolutely wanting in the establishment; that the hanseatics, resident and non-resident, did not pay the contributions promised; that the spaniards harassed them, and rendered their indebted position yet more difficult; that they had no means of enforcing payment, and that if any one city, or private person did pay, it was out of pity. then followed complaints of certain cities, especially of cologne, which sent merchandise to foreign agents. the document further states that the rooms, cellars, and storehouses of the factory were quite empty; that the imposition or rather the faithful payment of some of the various taxes had to be taken into serious consideration; and that as the canal duties in zealand were always rising in price, contrary to treaty, it seemed to the petitioners advisable that reprisals should be made on the natives of that territory, residing in or treating with germany. finally, they announced to the city that they were about to charge an able secretary with the permanent duties of looking after the affairs of the factory, if such a plan were pleasing to the town of lübeck, and if the factory was to continue its existence. this last phrase is significant. lübeck, in its reply, offered to the factory of antwerp mere empty phrases of consolation, promising in a lukewarm manner to see that the outstanding hanseatic dues were paid, in order that a beginning might at least be made. but it opposed the advice given by its representatives at antwerp, to practise reprisals towards the netherlanders, because in that case they would seek for themselves other routes and the hanseatic port would remain abandoned and neglected. one of the hansa's earliest and most able historians, commenting on this reply from the city of lübeck makes the following very just remarks: "nothing betokens more clearly the end of the hanseatics' commercial dominion than this last passage in lübeck's reply to its petitioners. formerly the league would have interrupted all intercourse with the country that so misbehaved, and would thus have punished it, would have avenged the very smallest infraction of its privileges. now it did not even dare have recourse to this measure for fear of completely sacrificing a commerce the pursuit of which had become possible independent of the hanseatics." a little later than the documents referred to above, an antwerp hanseatic alderman wrote that he saw no hope for their body, and that the debts were of such a nature, so numerous, so onerous, that within twenty-four hours the representatives of the factory might be arrested, and the factory itself put up for sale. this piece of news did arouse the apathy of the cities. indeed it created such alarm that even cologne showed itself disposed to pay the stipulated taxes faithfully and regularly, within the course of the ensuing years. unfortunately however at the point to which the hansa had come, this tax which was levied on goods proved fatal to the hanseatic commerce, already crippled by other custom dues, while it assured an ever-increasing advantage to their two commercial rivals, the english and dutch. it was in consequence of these heavy duties, too, that many a hansa citizen renounced of his own free will the liberties that had come to cost so dear. the hansa diet could see no remedy save in their old traditional measures. these import duties they insisted must be paid by the towns, and to insure this they established payment stations in divers localities of the low countries, such as dortrecht and amsterdam. but all these efforts failed to bring about the needful result, and the chief alderman at antwerp was menaced with imprisonment. indeed, it is said he was actually confined for some while. in sore straits, the hansa resolved to confide the administration of its antwerp factory to a manager and a secretary chosen from the town of cologne, who in critical moments should seek advice of the towns of lübeck and bremen. unfortunately the best administration in the world--and that of cologne was perhaps not the best--could not restore life to an establishment irrevocably doomed. the few promises made, the few guarantees given, whether by the united provinces or by the spanish netherlands, were not kept. two hansa embassies which passed through antwerp early in the seventeenth century--the one bound for england, the other for spain--halted at the factory to inspect it. their official report sent to the diet was, that this factory was completely fallen into disrepute and decay, and that in the general ruin every one thought only of himself, and the general interest was not considered. they added, that places formerly bustling with commercial life had been converted into barns for the threshing of corn. a faint new hope was excited by the armistice which in was concluded between spain and the low countries; and bremen was charged with the administration of the factory in the place of cologne. but this was a mere passing delusion which was to vanish before the reality; for in the spanish soldiers took up their headquarters in the factory, and never quitted it until after the lapse of nearly thirty years, by that time having made its hundred and seventy rooms entirely uninhabitable. a very pardonable, and indeed in this case very laudable, _amour propre_ made the town of lübeck too late desirous to restore this factory, which recalled the greatness, as well as the decadence, of the hanseatic league. but the queen of the hansa, the most patriotic, the most energetic of all the cities, was not supported by her confederates in this costly enterprise. she therefore saw herself forced to abandon the establishment to its fate. still, before that date, indeed immediately after the pillage of antwerp, the trade of the hanseatic league with the low countries had ceased to be a commerce placed upon a regulated footing and ruled by prescribed laws, laws emanating from the factory and punctually and faithfully obeyed by the members. a faint activity and revival occurred in the seventeenth century when the dutch and hanseatics made a mutual trade pact. but this proved of little profit to the latter, as far at least as their traffic in the low countries was concerned; for, like impatient heirs, the citizens of the united provinces endeavoured to enfeeble their rivals, to whose succession they looked forward. vi. the end of the hansa's dominion in england. the hansa had been more fortunate in england than in the low countries. up to the middle of the sixteenth century nothing had occurred that had sensibly modified its old relationship with the english nation. nor had the factory diminished in power or the commerce in importance. it is true that at various times, now the kings themselves, now the people, had grown restive under the heavy monopoly of the hansa league; but, to the kings especially, the league with its riches, its command of ready money and of ships, was of great use, and all attempts at restriction of privilege ended in failure. but as russia became consolidated after she had thrown off the tartar yoke, so england also gained in strength after she had once renounced the foolish desire of making herself mistress of france, and after the long civil war of the roses was ended, and a new and peaceful reign inaugurated. henry vii. left the hansa privileges intact. the same was the case under henry viii., who even confirmed and extended them. the patron of max meyer, the friend of the democratic burgomaster wullenweber, found it to his own interest to have the theological and political support of the maritime baltic cities, and was regardless of the interests and deaf to the entreaties of his native merchants. it is true that this hot-tempered and capricious monarch several times threatened the league with a restriction of their rights. once indeed his threats seemed so likely to take effect that the hamburgers, in alarm, advised the steelyard authorities to remove from the factory all silver vessels and all ready money. however, these threats were not serious; they were perhaps but a ruse to extract more pecuniary or moral assistance from his allies. the successive checks, however, which the league was encountering in other foreign countries were not without their reactionary effect upon england. various discussions arose between hanseatic and english merchants, and led to more or less violent squalls, which were certainly the prelude to the coming tempest. the hansa, for instance, complained that they had been suddenly forbidden to export english goods into foreign countries, that is to say, countries other than germany proper. above all, an attempt was made to prevent them from carrying english cloth into the low countries. this traffic the merchant adventurers, an association formed partly upon the pattern of the hansa, wished to reserve to themselves alone. the hanseatics further revolted against the old-established custom that made them all responsible for infraction of privilege, and punished them for the wrong done by one or several of their cities against some individual englishman. on their side the english insisted with much bitterness that the german towns refused to render them justice within their dominions; that they had even laid violent hands upon such of their compatriots as were occupied in fishing in ireland; and that they had, in the days of christian ii., harassed their navigation in the baltic. during the hostilities between francis i. and henry viii. the mutual recriminations diminished. the german empire supported the english king, and the league had one more opportunity of playing the old game that had so often turned to its advantage. solicited by both parties to lend its support, it played off one against the other; and insisting upon the neutrality of its members, traded freely and advantageously with both combatants. it is quite certain that, notwithstanding some vexations and disputes, king henry viii. of england remained until his death the staunch friend of the hansa, as well as of the low german towns that formed part of the smalkaldic league. the reign of his young son and successor was to witness the first serious shock to the hansa's power. this boy, who ascended the throne at the early age of ten years, confirmed all the hanseatic privileges on his accession. destined to give some rude blows to the confederation, he conformed in the first years of his reign to the ways of his ancestors. one incident is worth mentioning in order to illustrate the immense influence which the hansa had gained in england. it was the rule, contracted years ago, that the name of the hansa should figure in all treaties between england and france. [illustration: sir thomas gresham.] but after edward had reigned a few years he lent willing ear to the requests of the merchant adventurers, all the more readily that their petitions were supported by sir thomas gresham, the honoured founder of the london exchange. this man made clear to the young king and his guardian, the duke of northumberland, that unless the steelyard were destroyed, the price of exchange could not rise, because the fiscal privileges accorded to the hansa weighed too heavily upon the english. besides this, the men of the steelyard were subjects of the emperor, whom the young protestant king hated as a persecutor of his fellows in the purer faith. still the hansa suspected no real danger from king edward, and the less so, as they had completely acceded to his desire that they should abstain from all trade with scotland. in april, , a plot laid against the hated and envied strangers by the london burghers was discovered. in the course of the inquiry into the plot, it was needful to examine the hansa's claims. confiding in the goodwill of the king's councillors, the "new hansa," as sir thomas gresham called the merchant adventurers, poured forth a long catalogue of grievances against the league. it was stated that english merchants had been ill-treated in various hansa cities, notably in danzig and stralsund; that the commerce of the english was hindered in all possible ways; and that serious loss was incurred by the royal treasury from the circumstance, suspected to be true, that the hansa permitted persons foreign to their association to enjoy with them the benefit of their privileges. in the list of complaints retailed before the king by the discontented burghers and merchants of london, and by the merchant adventurers who found themselves less favoured than these foreigners, an attempt was evident on the part of the english to place on one footing and to consider as equally prohibited, the fraudulent importation by the germans of merchandise belonging to non-hanseatics, and the importation by them of merchandise which belonged to them, but was not produced in their territory. the fact was urged that, since the hansa paid only the usual custom dues, even for the foreign products they imported, and for their exportation of english goods to lands outside the rule of the hanseatic league, they were thus able to paralyse with the greatest facility all english competition in these different lands. certainly nothing better justifies the murmurs of the islanders against the foreigners than a comparison of their various commercial transactions. from these it appears that the english themselves, in , exported , pieces of native cloth as compared with , pieces exported by the hansa league in the same year. it is true that all these complaints were not new. but this time they fell upon more fruitful soil. the government were perhaps all the more ready to give an attentive ear, as of late the national commerce had taken a very vigorous start, so that the royal treasury might hope for considerable receipts, even if the crown should lose the duties paid to it by the members of the league. in consequence the representative members of the steelyard were cited before the privy council, which after a very brief examination of the claims brought forward by the hansa, decided hastily (february , ) "that the hansa, an illegal body, the names and origin of whose members were unknown, had by importation and adulteration of foreign goods forfeited the privileges accorded them by edward vi." the following day, also in privy council, the suppression of all the old hanseatic privileges was decreed and the league placed on an equality with all other foreigners, none of whom had special favours granted them. this decision seemed to promise that at last the english would gain pre-eminence over their redoubtable rivals. meantime, the hanseatic diet, informed of this step on the part of the english government, sent over an ambassador to treat with the king and council. the result of his efforts was that, in july of the same year, the hansa's privileges were re-established provisionally "as far as was reconcilable with the justice, fairness, and honour of the king"--so ran the clause. of all the negotiations a detailed and interesting account has been preserved to posterity in the diary of the young king edward, one of the most interesting documents for the knowledge of his short reign. the concession granted to them made the members of the steelyard think, and very rightly, that it would be well for them to put their own house in order, and of their own accord to initiate various reforms in their body, reforms much needed, for complaints against them had been loud and long. they secretly hoped to be in this wise restored to their former favoured position. the disorders, however, in the body of the steelyard were not, on the whole, those from which other foreign factories suffered. the taxes and other enforced contributions, both from residents and from the towns trading with england, were punctually paid, and the finances of the establishment were flourishing. the complaints, moreover, addressed to the diet, that the members of the steelyard loved luxury, wine, women, and gambling too well, and that they rebelled against their semi-monastic life, were not more frequent from england than elsewhere. the difficulties were chiefly that trade regulations were not faithfully observed; that rules of the strictest nature, on which largely depended the hansa's success, were circumvented and disregarded. for instance, no man who had not attained his majority was by statute allowed to become a member of the league and trade on his own account; nor was one who had not learnt english for at least six months. this latter precaution was the more requisite, as past experience had taught that, by ignorance of the native language, these men were apt to compromise the interests of the factory. then there were other abuses that led to grave results, such as trading illicitly with natives and then absconding with their debts unpaid; the whole factory in such cases becoming responsible for the debts. in , therefore, the members of the steelyard drew up a series of new statutes which they proposed to lay before the king of england for approval. if these minutes are well considered it will be seen that whatever else was dead or moribund, hanseatic astuteness was not. the new laws, it is true, tended to abolish the abuses that had crept into the use of their privileges, but they did not make the least sacrifice of the liberties that the hansa had acquired in the course of years. king edward, however, seemed little inclined to consider these statutes, or to revoke permanently his somewhat arbitrary decision--a decision undoubtedly just towards his subjects. then happily for the hanseatic league, though not for his country, he died in this same year, and the crown passed to his sister, the fanatical persecutor of protestants, bloody queen mary, as the popular mouth has named her. the new sovereign speedily made it evident that she meant in all respects to pursue a different policy from that of her predecessor. the first to fall was the duke of northumberland, the pronounced enemy of the hansa. immediately after, the queen showed by various signs that she was graciously disposed towards these strangers, who had boldly greeted her proclamation as queen against her rival, lady jane grey, by draughts of rhenish wine liberally bestowed upon the populace at the gates of her capital. on the occasion of her triumphal entry into london they were foremost in welcoming her with pomp and splendour, as we have already mentioned in a former chapter. scarcely was the queen firmly seated on her throne, than the syndic general of the hansa, dr. sudermann, waited upon her, attended by councillors from some of the chief hansa cities. the result of their representations was that one of the first acts of the new queen's reign was to annul the royal statute of edward vi. that so grievously threatened the league. this almost unexpected good result was, it is whispered, not due merely to queen mary's reactionary policy, but also to the corrupting influence of hanseatic gold, judiciously distributed. our league thus recovered its entire liberties and rights in the matter of export and import, notwithstanding the opposition of parliament, of the lord mayor of london, and of the citizens. it is therefore not astonishing that they were willing to show themselves liberal on the occasion of king philip's entry as husband of the english queen; and that in order to maintain the favour of this couple, various cities, especially lübeck, showed themselves far from friendly to protestant refugees who sought protection in their precincts. a valuable memorandum, drawn up by the syndic sudermann and happily preserved to our times, gives a vivid picture of what was implied by the hanseatic privileges in england. taking merely into account one article of their commerce, english cloth, it appears from this report that from the month of january to the month of november, , the hansa had exported from england , pieces of cloth, as against , exported by the english themselves, a third dyed and two-thirds in the rough; that they only paid for the right of exit threepence each piece, while other foreigners paid five shillings and ninepence; that they could use their own servants for packing and expediting merchandise, and so were relieved of various custom dues; that had they not possessed these privileges they would have had to buy this cloth on the antwerp market, paying about £ sterling more for the same; that they further gained £ on each undyed piece, which they alone were allowed to export in this state, and which they resold after having had it dyed. if it be further considered that in reality they paid less than threepence a piece in the pound as custom duties, because the price of goods, fixed in ancient statutes, had gone up, while the hansa still paid at the old figure; if, in short, this and various other matters be taken into account, it is no wonder that syndic sudermann could prove that on english cloth alone the hansa earned, above that made by other foreigners who traded in this branch, a sum of about £ , sterling. small wonder, therefore, that the trade was as much coveted as it was prosperous, and that the mayor and municipal council of london did not cease from laying their complaints before the queen. they literally pestered her with petitions and demands on this subject. for some months the hansa succeeded in averting the storm from their heads, but finally the leading members of the steelyard found themselves suddenly cited to appear before the queen's privy council, and had to listen to a long catalogue of grievances drawn up by their accusers. the sum total of these grievances was, that the hansa did not contribute sufficiently to the resources of the english crown; that it was prejudicial to the english navy, because it refused to employ any vessels but its own; that it harmed the very quality of english cloth, for the makers, seeing the hansa would be sure to buy, presented them often with inferior qualities. an amusing complaint is the following: whereas, say the memorialists, the hanseatics are all bachelors, they greatly injure english trade at antwerp, because the increased leisure this state gives them, allows of their trading more extensively and actively. further, they once more brought forward the time-honoured objection that the hansa would permit of no reciprocity, and while nominally allowing the english to settle in their towns, crippled their trade by heavy taxation and vexatious regulations. that these assertions were not without foundation, not even the hansa could deny. they could but point to ancient charters to justify them in a measure. the result of this last formal complaint was, however, that the privy council decided that henceforth the hansa should abstain from importing english cloth into the netherlands, and that the quantity of undyed goods they might export be reduced by two-thirds. they further added that any infraction of these orders would result in entire suppression of all privileges. the hansa, who did not easily own themselves beaten, and who desired at all costs to hinder their rivals from supplanting them, sent various embassies in the course of the next few years to the court of england. they also once more attempted the agency of bribery and corruption by means of hansa gold, to attain their ends. in vain. embassies, seductions, led to no result; not even a letter which king philip of spain was induced to indite to his wife, the queen of england, on their behalf, could modify by one iota the decision taken by the privy council. despairing of a good result from these measures, the league resolved to have recourse to its ancient mode of exerting pressure upon obstinate peoples, by threatening to break off all intercourse with them. the measure was, however, likely to have brought destruction to them in england; that it did not was due to the circumstance that the towns were no longer, as in past days, blindly obedient to the orders issued by the hanseatic diet. the hansa, issuing such an order, forgot that they were no longer the exclusive masters of the north and east. such was the state of things when queen mary died, and elizabeth, the virgin queen, took into her firm and able hands the reins of the english government ( ). it is true that she gave a gracious reception to the hanseatic embassy that waited on her in may, ; but between a gracious reception and a confirmation of the ancient privileges of the league the hansa were to learn that there lay an abyss she would never bridge over. that the hansa's power was effectually broken in england ultimately was due to that queen and to her wise statesman, lord burleigh. it was soon felt by the nation at large that, with the advent to power of elizabeth, a new spirit was infused into english life and enterprise. after a hundred years of weakness, england awoke to renewed life and vigour, and with vigour awoke ambition. the merchant adventurers, encouraged by gresham, put forward their desires; and they, too, asked that the hansa should be kept down. these desires were listened to by the patriotic sovereign. she reconfirmed all the new tariffs with which the hansa had been charged by edward vi., and she further made various demands which the hansa were most unwilling to concede; for they implied a strict investigation of the affairs of their factory--an investigation that they had no wish to provoke. in the following years an active correspondence took place between the english queen and the hansa cities, which made it most emphatically manifest to the latter that they must renounce all their antiquated pretensions; but that, on the other hand, the english queen was willing to place them in the category of the most-favoured nation clause, so that they would still pay less than other foreigners. the steelyard authorities, being on the spot and better able, therefore, to estimate the bearings and value of elizabeth's letters and threats, strongly advised the hansa towns to conform to the queen's concessions and demands. they foresaw that worse things were in store were this not done. but the league--to whom the smallest and most equitable sacrifice always seemed an enormity--resolved, before yielding, to try as a last resource what could be effected by endeavouring to obtain the intervention of the emperor. it is strange that, after the lapse of so many years, experience should not have taught the hanseatics that from the german emperor no effective help could be obtained. in this case, as in many previous ones, the reigning sovereign contented himself by writing a letter of remonstrance--a letter so worded that it was easily manifest to the recipient that words would not be followed by deeds. both the hansa and the emperor involuntarily revealed that, even after the ancient special privileges were withdrawn, the league would still enjoy great favour in england. the emperor's letter was presented to elizabeth by the aldermen and councillors of the steelyard. the queen's privy councillors, and especially the trusty william cecil, lord burleigh, in reply, made it very clear to the deputation that they had nothing to hope for beyond the last concessions offered. burleigh was the special object of the hansa's hate. this arose, perhaps, from the fact that he had, according to a contemporary reporter, insulted one of their ambassadors by accosting him "with almost indecent rough speech." but burleigh's speech can scarcely deserve these epithets, if the complaints and remarks are founded on his saying, that it was a bad shepherd who desired to pasture the cattle of strangers more richly than his own flocks; nor could they complain that they were excluded, so long as they might trade as freely as the english, and more freely than the french, flemings, dutch, scotch, and other nations. the hansa, blind, unwise, stuck to its old policy, and like shylock demanded the very letter of its ancient bond. it is true that elizabeth insisted, on her side, that her subjects should be favoured in the hansa towns; that this reciprocity should be granted was already a clause in the treaty of utrecht, concluded, it will be remembered, in , but it had never been carried into effect. it must be admitted that, all things considered, queen elizabeth treated the hanseatics with a good deal of consideration and long-suffering, and demanded from them no more than what she had a right to demand. when they refused the offer to be placed on an equal footing with the english the queen issued an order that their export of english cloth should in future not exceed five thousand pieces. cologne tried to retaliate by putting on an import tax, but it was an isolated measure, and had no effect. in a word, the victory remained in the end with the english government, on the side of which fought, not only its own vigorous organization, but also the disunion among the hansa towns, which grew more serious daily, and the grave disorders that existed in the steelyard itself. for some time past serious complaints had been heard against the alderman of the factory, peter eiffler, a man who filled this high post for several consecutive years. he was accused among other things, of having tampered with the funds of the establishment, of having administered the factory without the help, or advice of the council; and of having divided unfairly among the hanseatic merchants, the five thousand pieces of cloth permitted to them for export. further, he was reproached for having in made a journey, leaving the steelyard and the care of the treasury to young men incapable of so high a trust, who had done great damage to the factory. after all these accusations had been duly sifted, this unfaithful servant of the hansa was of course deposed from his post of trust, but his dismissal brought no fresh order into the shattered condition of things. as is frequently the case in the face of a public calamity, public spirit was extinct. each individual thought only of himself, and of what he could rescue from the impending general ruin. on the one hand, there was the selfishness of the individual towns; on the other, the selfishness of the foreign factories. the london steelyard, seeing that the fabric of the league was tottering, tried to save its individual existence out of the general wreck. it thought to acquire an independent life, and act and trade on its own account. hence when the league knocked at the doors of its strong-room, to obtain the funds that should prolong or, as they hoped, even dispel the death agonies of the other foreign factories, whether by bribing nobles and kings, or by sending embassies to foreign courts, the steelyard was careful not to listen to these demands, thinking of the future, when it might need all funds for itself. it was thus that in , the london factory, in reply to a reprimand sent it by syndic sudermann for delaying to pay a sum of over one thousand florins into the public fund, made known to the town of lübeck that this delay must not be imputed to it as a fault, that the times were not favourable to saving, that the annual expenses of the steelyard amounted to eight hundred pounds sterling, and that other sums no less high had to be expended by it, in maintaining the factories at lynn and boston. the memorandum went on to explain that, if the english establishments were not kept in good repair, they would become forfeit to the english crown. then, again, the hansa taxes had grown so heavy that no one could bear them. if the diet wished, the steelyard would be quite ready annually to send its accounts to lübeck for revision, in accordance with the ancient usage, which however did not seem very firmly established; but, on the other hand, they would prefer not to act thus, since they feared lest their account-books should fall into the hands of their enemies, who by inspecting them, would gain an undesirable insight into hanseatic commerce, and might thus perchance despoil them of their last privileges. the memorandum winds up by saying, that the steelyard would feel greatly obliged if the league would refrain in future from making demands for pecuniary help in times of public difficulty. if this was not the language of insubordination, it is difficult to say what else would be. whither had vanished the blind obedience which the league had ever exacted, and till now obtained from all its members, and which was the source of its greatness and strength? whether all that was stated by the steelyard in this memorandum was true, it is difficult to decide. substantially no doubt it was so, but in the reports of the hansa diets during these years, we come across frequent complaints of the prevarication practised by the aldermen of the london factory. perhaps we must not blame either the towns, or the factories too much for yielding to the all-powerful instinct of self-preservation. when the hanseatic towns as a whole recognized that they were impotent to demolish the rising commerce of england, or to break the firm will of its lady sovereign, they were almost forced to desert a cause which was a losing one, and to work each for their own separate advantage. hamburg was the first among the confederate cities to recognize whither matters were tending, and to adjust its policy with a due regard to the new spirit of the age. it concluded a convention on its own account with england. matters came about in this wise. the chief foreign trade of england was gradually passing into the hands of the merchant adventurers. now to this company the netherlands were closed, owing to the conflict raging between elizabeth and king philip of spain. hence these merchants had to seek elsewhere the depôt which they had found in the low countries for their english merchandise. owing to its situation and its excellent harbour the town of embden, which did not belong to the hanseatic league, seemed to unite in itself all requisite conditions, and it was indeed towards this place that english commerce was directed. in consequence embden, within a brief space, grew most prosperous. this prosperity, however, speedily proved noxious to the city of hamburg, till then one of the great staple towns for the traffic in english woollens. seeing its gains passing thus into the hands of strangers, the city deliberated whether the situation could not be changed, and whether it would not be wiser, more lucrative, and altogether better, to open its own gates to the merchant adventurers, conceding to them a factory, various privileges, and great commercial liberties. thus it would secure the double profits arising from their sojourn, and from the commerce that passed through. in , hamburg put this project into execution, concluding a formal treaty with the merchant adventurers for the space of ten years. it was cautious at first not to name a longer term. the experiment was but tentative, as it assured those of its burghers, who, clinging to the old hanseatic ideas, opposed the scheme. that the project was also opposed by the hansa diet will be easily inferred. bitter reproaches were addressed to hamburg by the diet held at lübeck in . they were told that they had been guilty of treason to the common cause. their delegates replied with warmth, rejecting this reproach. they recalled to the memory of their hearers the treaty of utrecht which stipulated reciprocity for england, and they endeavoured to prove that their townsmen had acted, not only in no spirit of narrow egoism, but in the interests of the entire league, since in consequence of their treaty with the merchant adventurers, the export of undyed cloths from england had been permitted in larger quantities, and that the german waters were freed from british pirates. further they contended that every town had a right to think also of its own interests. embden had received the merchant adventurers, and had extracted profit from them; why then should such profit be grudged to a town that was a portion of the hansa? the delegates were able to point also to the tangible fact, that in the short space of the first two years, the factory of the merchant adventurers had turned over in hamburg, the sum of three and a half million of dollars. this was all well and good for hamburg, but beyond question the treaty still further disturbed the relations of the cities towards each other, and helped on the pending catastrophe. and the worst of all was that elizabeth could not be induced to reconfer the old hanseatic privileges, even after her subjects had been received by hamburg. still, for the moment, nothing was changed with regard to the new position taken up by hamburg, though the agitation on the subject within the league itself continued unabated. when the ten years of treaty were ended, and the hansa was desirous of renewing the convention, then the storm broke forth with fresh fury. appeal was even made by the hanseatic league to the emperor maximilian ii., who decreed solemnly that no town might treat with england without the consent of its allies. still the queen of england did not at once break off all relations with the hanseatic league. she temporized, not being willing to lose for her subjects the advantages gained at hamburg which she hoped to see further extended. the hansa, on its part, demanded that the queen should re-confirm its privileges; then it would accord a factory to the english. the queen replied that she wished first to see the factory accorded; then it would be time enough to speak of the privileges. in this wise the negotiations did not progress. each of the parties was rolling the stone of sisyphus, as elizabeth herself remarked. it was quite evident that at that moment the queen was resolved not to resort to extreme measures, and though she threatened, she did not carry out her threat of putting the hanseatics on the same footing with other strangers. the moment had not yet come. it came later, when she could do without certain of her imports, such as raw materials for ship-building and for stores of war, among which latter gunpowder took a great place. then, too, before the defeat of the spanish armada had occurred, england did not feel her maritime power great enough to venture a _coup de force_. meanwhile, each new meeting of the hansa diet put in a stronger light the radical difference between the policy pursued respectively by the towns of lübeck and hamburg. this difference may be said to form the tame epilogue to the great tragedy of wullenweber's failure and death. the lübeckers wanted the old privileges, the whole privileges, nothing but the privileges. what cared they for the changed condition of the world's affairs? syndic sudermann's ideal was the restoration of the good old customs in the factories, the continuance of every measure that in the past had made the hansa great. but sudermann was no military hero, who could win back privileges at the point of the sword, or "hold down foreign nations under his thumb," as the secretary of the steelyard expressed himself. he was a learned, well-nourished, well-paid hanseatic syndic, thorough, pedantic, earnest, long-winded. it is on record that one of his memoranda destined for the imperial diet was so long, that a hundred and fifty dollars had to be paid in the imperial chancery for having it transcribed--an enormous sum in those days of cheap labour--and that the imperial councillors roundly declared that they would not read it at all, if it were not shortened. he it was who on all occasions represented lübeck as her spokesman, and the ideas he expressed were those of the city. hamburg, on the other hand, could not refrain at times from remarking that the kingdom of england, like other kingdoms, no longer presented the same aspect as two or three hundred years ago, and that hence account must be taken of modifications, and actions be regulated accordingly. its delegates cited the case of antwerp, pointing out that that town's prosperity dated from the days it had opened its gates to the english merchant adventurers. till then the houses had been thatched with straw, and the inhabitants had subsisted on the profits accruing from agriculture and fishing. and now what commercial activity, what a busy life was to be seen in the marts of antwerp, what wealth was found among all classes of its burghers! to cite one instance alone: dwellings that fifty years ago were taxed at a rental of forty to sixty dollars, now cost eight hundred dollars. but lübeck would not recede from its old standpoint, and would not relinquish its old conservative ideas. it seemed to have none of that elasticity of mind that can adapt itself to changed conditions, and profit by them. it could but plead repeatedly--how far it was in earnest it is hard to tell--that the government of the league might be taken from off its shoulders, for the burden had grown too heavy. as a substitute it proposed either cologne or bremen. it could not find words to express the sorrow which hamburg and other cities had caused by relinquishing the general weal for their own private good. it said it would itself retire from the league, in which the old sentiments no longer lived, were it not held to its duty, or what it deemed its duty, by the force of old memories. it could not realize that its system was antiquated, its ideas played out. like some old people, it could neither give way gracefully, nor assimilate intelligently the new thoughts that sway the younger and rising generation. like the old, too, it overlooked the fact that the young must win, time being in their favour. in a great diet held in the following resolution was actually put forward, namely, "that each town present should declare whether it intended to remain hanseatic." this question was indeed significant. it should be mentioned that during the sitting of this diet syndic sudermann died--a man who deserved well of the league, even if his opinions were sometimes narrow and mistaken, and not up to the level of the current ideas. like wullenweber, he had reaped nothing but ingratitude in return for his ardent and patriotic labours. it is remarkable that cologne was the first of the cities to reply in the affirmative, that she wished to remain in the league, cologne ever so insubordinate and stubborn. bremen also acquiesced, provided twenty more cities sided with cologne. they stated that they decided thus for the sake of their posterity, since, having once acted, they must go through with it at all costs. while all these dissensions were going on in the heart of the league itself, england continued in its onward path, evincing that feverish activity of commercial enterprise that has ever distinguished it. elizabeth sent ambassadors in all directions, courted and bribed the german princelings, distributed her gold everywhere, and by means of her spies neglected no means of making herself feared or beloved, or both. the league meanwhile had to look on with impotence, for it lacked resources to do otherwise. day by day it was losing its influence. it is true that both the hanseatic and the imperial diet tried to prevent the english from settling in germany; but the towns that saw their profit in receiving them either openly or secretly disobeyed commands which neither party could enforce. as a sample of the replies given to the diet by the hanseatic cities may be cited the case of stade, which, when called to account, answered "that almighty god had put the english in their way, and thus sent them some means of subsistence, in order that the citizens might get a bit of bread, and keep off the pangs of hunger." thus year by year england's influence increased and that of the hansa declined. then occurred a further cruel blow to the league. in consequence of the strained relations between england and spain, hanseatic trade in that country and in portugal had risen to some importance. the hansa supplied those countries with grain, munitions of war, and shipbuilding materials. queen elizabeth naturally looked on all this trade with an evil eye, and regarded it as so much support accorded to her enemies. she did not fail to make the league acquainted with her displeasure, even threatening to treat its cargoes as contraband of war. the hansa in its turn pleaded that it merely exercised the right of neutrals, and persisted in not abandoning a lucrative trade. then came the defeat of the invincible armada which left to england the empire of the seas, and gave her a boldness and self-confidence which she has happily never since lost. sixty hanseatic vessels were encountered by norris and sir francis drake about to enter the mouth of the tagus. they were laden with grain to provision the spaniards. these were seized, and no subsequent negotiations ever succeeded in causing elizabeth to release her hold either on the vessels or their cargo. needless to say, that this proved the last straw in the load of hanseatic grievances against the queen. meanwhile the king of spain, to compensate the league, and to win it to his side, offered to enter into a firm alliance with it. but they would not break with the netherlands, now in full revolt against king philip. there remained only the last and almost hopeless resort, to appeal once more to the empire. on august , , after fifteen years of nearly useless solicitation, and when it was quite too late to remedy matters, the emperor rudolph caused an imperial mandate to be issued at prague, which enjoined the english to quit the empire within the space of three months. this mandate was couched in proud and fierce terms against the english queen, and menaced with severe punishment those germans who, on german soil, should put themselves into communication with the hated merchant adventurers of england. great was the joy of lübeck and of several other towns at this order, and they kept strict watch that the imperial mandate should be obeyed. they hoped from it the most salutary effects in modifying the resolutions of elizabeth. they had reckoned without their host, or rather they had not duly judged the character of their opponents. driven from germany, the english found a refuge in the dutch town of middleburgh, whence they conducted a lucrative trade with the empire, awaiting some happy chance that would be sure to arise from the now ever active discord in the league, and that might reinstate them on the shores of the elbe and the rhine. elizabeth meanwhile, in , driven to yet further exasperation by a hanseatic attempt to hinder the export of grain to england and holland, sent word to the merchants residing at the steelyard that they must depart out of these premises and quit england within the space of fourteen days. the mayor of london, attended by the sheriffs, formally presented to the authorities of the steelyard this decree, which authorized them to take possession of the building and all that pertained to it. ten days after this compulsory taking of possession the germans filed out of the steelyard in orderly procession. the authorities wrote to the hanseatic diet, stating that, after duly protesting against this forcible act, they "marched out of the gate, the alderman at the head, and we following him, sad in our souls, and the gate was closed behind us; nor should we have cared to have remained another night within the walls. god be pitiful." thus the last sacrifice was consummated, which had been long demanded by sir thomas gresham and his friends, and which the now flourishing condition of english trade required. in order that the english merchant might thrive unchecked, he had to drive away from his midst his old masters, the hansa, the men who had taught him how to trade, a lesson the pupil had learnt too well. such was the mournful end of the german guildhall on the banks of the thames; an institution older than the hanseatic league itself; the most honourable monument which germany could point to abroad of her strength and enterprise. yet it is, perhaps, rather the fact that it endured so long, than that it perished, that should surprise us. it is certainly wonderful, and much to the credit of the english, that musty parchments sealed with the seals of the plantagenets, should have been honoured so late, honoured when england's commerce and navy could boast men such as sir thomas gresham, sir francis drake, and sir walter raleigh. of course the hanseatic league did not at once give up all for lost. they intrigued, they negotiated, they even flattered themselves with hopes of success. then suddenly the news of elizabeth's death broke up a congress held with this end in view. the hanseatics at once cast glances full of hope at her successor. they trusted he might prove less inexorable. experience had often shown them that with a change of ruler came a change of policy. but they proved greatly mistaken. the reply received by the first embassy they addressed to james i. rudely shattered all their hopes. they resumed their intrigues at home, trying to stir up the emperor to hinder the export of wool from germany, and to encourage the manufacture of woollen goods at home. it was the great de witt who wisely said that the one weak point in the german hansa was that it was not backed by manufacturing interests. they were merely carriers and intermediaries, and this made itself felt in the days of their decline. negotiations, entreaties leading to nothing, and the germans being impotent to hinder, the english soon found their way again into the empire with their persons and their goods, and once more hamburg was the first to receive them formally and to conclude a treaty with them. this time neither the emperor nor the league protested. it is true the steelyard in london was ultimately restored to the germans, but the old privileges enjoyed with it were gone for ever. nor was it, when restored, regarded any longer as the property of the hanseatic league such as we have known it--a compact body, willing and able to defend its rights. it was rather the property of the germans living in england, and this it remained. in the steelyard property was sold to an english company for building purposes for the sum of £ , , by the cities of lübeck, bremen, and hamburg, the sole heirs of the once powerful hanseatic league. the present cannon street station stands on part of the site. with the death of elizabeth the history of the hanseatic league as such practically comes to an end in england. then followed, quickly afterwards, the thirty years' war, which gave the league a mortal blow, from which it never recovered. even before the last stroke fell, john wheeler, a secretary of the association of merchant adventurers, had declared regarding the hanseatic cities ( ), "most of their teeth have fallen out, the rest sit but loosely in their head." his judgment was verified all too soon. vii. the thirty years' war kills the league. john wheeler's diagnosis of the condition of the league was too correct. it is true that an ostensibly official document enumerates fifty towns as forming part of the hansa league in , but we know that at the same time only fourteen had a seat and voice in the diet and duly paid their fees. indeed, the more we examine the internal condition of the league at this period the more we wonder, not that it fell asunder, but that it endured so long. it had become utterly disorganized and was decaying fast. in , the emperor rudolph ii. evoked a feeling of alarm among all the towns by suddenly demanding to see their charters, and to know whence they derived their privileges and statutes. thus the results of appealing to imperial aid, in the english complications, bore their inevitable and unpleasant fruit. the emperor's ulterior aim was of course to extract money from the cities, this time in aid of his hungarian wars. as in the days of their glory, the cities knew how to protect themselves, and how to escape undesirable inquiries by means of subterfuges and evasive answers. still the first attempt at supervision had been made, and was to bear fruit later. while matters were in this uncomfortable state, there broke forth the long, terrible strife known to history as the thirty years' war. its causes are to be sought for in those most unhappy differences of doctrinal opinions, which, being rooted in mutual intolerance, a want of fairness of spirit, and of dramatic insight into the needs of divergent mental constitutions, make one man wish forcibly to impose his point of view upon his neighbour, under the conviction that it is the only point of view, and hence the true one. this intolerant and narrow spirit, which more fatally divides individuals and nations than any other form of human folly, had reached its climax in the century of the reformation, when not only were protestant and catholic opposed to one another, but protestants were also divided among themselves, calvinist and lutheran persecuting each other with an acrimony quite out of proportion to the gravity of the questions at stake. the details of this most deplorable war fall outside our province, and belong to the history of germany proper. we can but touch on it as it concerns our league. when hostilities commenced, the hansa were to realize what even the shadow of a great name implies. power after power made overtures to the league to make common cause with them. gustavus adolphus of sweden, was the first. as early as , he sought an alliance with the cities, and he counted the more on an affirmative reply, that his enmity to denmark was shared by the league. but they refused his offer, saying they wished to enter into no unequal bond, assuring the king however, at the same time, that they desired to remain good friends with him, and to continue their commercial intercourse. the fact was that, seeing the agitated and disordered condition of affairs in germany, the hanseatic league hardly felt it wise to take any definite step at this juncture. gustavus adolphus, however, was the more disappointed at their refusal, since he had been led to expect different treatment from them. since the time he had ascended the throne, his relations with the league had been friendly. an old chronicler tells us how some time before the king's marriage, the "honourable hansa towns" sent ambassadors to sweden to conclude a treaty with gustavus adolphus about the protestant religion, and also to treat with him concerning trade privileges. indeed, the latter seems to have been their chief aim. but as they wanted to keep it secret, says the writer, they professed that they had been sent to congratulate the king upon his marriage. gustavus adolphus received them in solemn audience, standing and with uncovered head; no small honour to pay to a confederation of trading towns. beside him stood his mighty chancellor, oxenstjerna. after the king had accorded them a cordial and formal reception, he gave them the traditional presents, usually only awarded to nobles. further, he accorded them free board at the cost of the city of stockholm, as often as they did not eat at his royal table. in order that no mistake might arise regarding quantity, he informed them that in the matter of meat alone, they could count on six oxen, twenty-one fat sheep, one reindeer; and as to drink, on four barrels of good wine, and three hundred and sixty swedish dollars to cover their other expenses. "this royal treatment mightily pleased the honourable delegates," writes our chronicler, and no wonder, when we remember that the men of the hansa were famed for the amount they could eat and drink. no wonder, too, that gustavus adolphus thought to find in them ready allies, if only in return for his good hospitality. that the king of denmark, their old foe, should also have courted their alliance, seems yet stranger. he too, was refused. so was france, who, in , sent delegates to the hanseatic diet to sound the members as to her chances of success, in forming an offensive and defensive alliance with these once so powerful merchants. the most important and strangest offer of all was the wooing of the imperial delegates in the name of spain, at the diet held at lübeck, in . it appears that spain stood in need of a friendly commercial navy in order to carry on her colonial trade, as well as of a friendly maritime power with which to meet the netherlands. this idea was in accord with duke wallenstein's project to gain empire over the baltic by means of an imperial navy, thus to surround the imperial crown with a new lustre, and the more surely to hold within bounds the recalcitrant inland princes. it was not from pure ill will or haughtiness that wallenstein so terrified stralsund, the town which he besieged so long and mercilessly, nor from pure love of well-sounding titles, that he styled himself "general and admiral of the baltic and north seas." the two imperial delegates, who appeared before the hanseatic diet at lübeck deigned to speak the quaint formal language that was traditional with the hansa league. they were begging for a favour, and so deemed it wise to assume no masterful tones. the emperor's word was said to be addressed "to the honourable councillors and other members of the worthy city of lübeck, regarding it as the head of the most ancient hansa league." the ambassadors put before the assembled hanseatic deputies, that the holy roman empire, in its entirety, and the venerable german hansa towns in particular, had suffered grievously from the restraint on free navigation which had been imposed on them by foreign potentates; and that the german nation had thus the bread taken out of their very mouths. therefore it was the emperor's earnest and ardent desire to befriend the towns, and to restore the nation to its former reputation and grandeur. a most useful alliance would be proposed to them, and this proposal did not come from a foreign power, but was put forward under the emperor's patronage and protection. the facts were these,--spain had for some time past declared itself willing to enter into an agreement, that all the merchandise, whether exported from or imported into the spanish dominions, should only pertain to the natives of the german empire or to spanish subjects. the emperor through his ambassadors admitted that this proposal had at first sight seemed to him somewhat grave, and requiring consideration, but those competent to judge had demonstrated to him, that such direct importation of spanish and indian wares into germany would benefit, not alone the hansa towns, but the whole of germany, and would serve to compensate for the privations and sacrifices imposed by the most unhappy war. the emperor went on to add, that he had ever noted in lübeck a very true and german frankness and fidelity, and that he did not doubt that lübeck would carefully consider this proposal, in concert with the sister towns, in order that, after the compact had been duly concluded between the emperor and the king of spain, it might be openly confirmed with the help and advice of the hansa towns. this was the smooth speaking in which the hansa's imperial masters chose to indulge when it suited their imperial purpose. but decrepit, weakened though the hansa was, it was not easy to catch it napping. our wary merchants felt convinced there was some ulterior motive at the bottom of this sudden graciousness, and considered the imperial proposal very carefully and thoroughly. what could it mean, that of a sudden these jealous spaniards were willing to share the monopoly of their whole colonial trade with the hansa towns? our cities feared the spaniards, even when they came laden with gifts. when we recall, said these traders, the incessant and endless annoyances which our merchants have endured during two centuries while doing business with spain and portugal, the arrogant demands, the petty frauds and meanness of the spanish consuls in the hanseatic towns, we must confess that this previous knowledge of the character of our would-be allies does not lead us to trust their new, gracious, and friendly offers. they remembered, further, how a certain consul, called de roy, was never named in their minutes, other than as the "arch enemy of the hansa towns." they recalled, too, the project of a maritime commercial company (an _amirantazgo_), proposed some time back by spain between the low germans and netherlands, which had revealed to the acute hanseatics that spain was deficient in ships and in capital, and that its real purpose was to obtain a fleet for itself on terms as cheap as possible. no, decidedly, the spanish offers were not to be thought of. moreover, the hanseatics very naturally feared an inevitable breach with their scandinavian neighbours if they accepted. they foresaw, too, that their adhesion to the plan would give the emperor a sort of right to interfere in their commerce and internal arrangements. they had a wholesome fear, not without cause, of being placed under the most catholic protectorate of spain, and, looking ahead, thought they beheld, hidden beneath these velvet offers, the claws of the terrible, abominable inquisition. the whole project was therefore allowed to remain a project. to the imperial spokesmen were presented respectively four thousand and two thousand dollars, and the diet resolved to place the proposal _ad referendum_. this meant that it was shelved once and for ever. nor did the diet have cause to regret its decision, for soon after the king of denmark, at that moment trying to ingratiate himself with them, sent for their perusal letters which he had intercepted. these communications were from the emperor, authorizing count tilly to secure the cities of lübeck, hamburg, bremen, stade, &c. so much for the sincerity of this monarch's vaunted friendship. and now the war storm long brewing broke over northern europe. germany was to pay heavily for her want of religious unity, or at least the want of mutual forbearance among her people. at first the hansa towns had hoped that as usual their claims for neutrality would be regarded, but tilly refused to listen to this, probably owing to his secret instructions from the emperor. all the northern towns had to suffer the full horrors of the war-curse, and they suffered hardly less at the hands of their friends than at those of their enemies. both proved equally merciless. in order to escape having a military occupation within its walls, rostock had once to pay , dollars, and another time , dollars, wismar was taxed to the sum of , dollars; and hamburg a sum yet higher. magdeburg's fate was even more sad; it was besieged by the imperial army, pillaged, and given to the flames. imperial authority had never appeared so redoubtable to these free cities, or so injurious to their religious liberties and their political integrity. wallenstein and count schwarzenberg even went the length of demanding the hansa's ships, in order to use them for pursuing the foes of their imperial master upon the high seas, and it is easy to understand how, in presence of an armed force of a hundred thousand men, it was vain for the hanseatic diet to object that their deputies had received no instructions which could warrant them in acceding to such a proposal. the ports of rostock, warnemunde, and the town of wismar were all occupied by the imperialists, who were also engaged in besieging stralsund. the history of this siege and the heroism displayed by this city are among the most notable features in the thirty years' war. wallenstein had rightly judged it as most important for his purpose from its geographical position, and had determined it should be his. as schiller says in his play _wallenstein's lager_, he had sworn-- "rühmt sich mit seinem gottlosen mund er müsse haben die stadt stralsund, und wär' sie mit ketten an den himmel geschlossen." this town which, thanks to some succour from outside, succeeded in wearing out the enemy, proved what bravery can do even under the most unfavourable conditions. at the same time the episode throws a fierce light on the low condition into which the league had fallen. in vain did the city of stralsund appeal to the diet and to the sister cities for help. it was only after long reflection and many debates that it was decided to advance to this unlucky friend the meagre sum of fifteen thousand dollars, and this at interest of per cent. [illustration: rath-haus, mÜnster.] these merchants, once princely and noble, at least in their dealings among themselves, had sunk to shopkeepers even in the domestic circle. the fact is, that defeat and terror had paralysed and prostrated them. instead of making such a firm resistance as they would have done in the past, they had now recourse only to the feeble weapons of tears and entreaties in order to procure some gentler treatment for those of their members who had fallen into the enemy's hands. most frequently, too, these humiliating steps proved quite futile, and were answered according to the temperaments of the generals-in-chief--brusquely and rudely by tilly, politely and cunningly by duke wallenstein. meanwhile matters went from bad to worse for the hansa towns and for germany. even when the empire achieved victories, the people had grown too impoverished and too enervated to profit by them. the story of this long-confused conflict of thirty years' duration is one of the saddest and most depressing in european history. when in the peace of westphalia was at last concluded, it nominally restored calm to the whole northern world, including the hansa towns. but the league to all intents and purposes was at an end. the peace could restore neither its power, nor its union, and the confederation which seemed to have sunk in deep sleep during the war, awoke from its long repose only to find itself deprived of nearly all its members, and powerless to continue any longer its enfeebled existence. viii. the survivors. although the peace of westphalia found the hansa hopelessly broken, yet it was not until after this event that the various members fully realized their condition. until then they had anticipated a resuscitation with the advent of political calm. when the hanseatic deputies had assembled at the diet of , the last of which an official record exists, they had voted to postpone to a more convenient season all proposals that were brought forward for consideration. this diet revealed the confusion into which the hanseatic accounts had fallen. still even on this occasion various cities pleaded for re-admission into the union. it throws a sad light upon the character of the delegates to read that those of brunswick, reporting to that city the history of this diet, should lay great and detailed stress upon the fact that they had not been regaled with the customary wine of honour and the wonted supply of cakes! all that was achieved on this occasion was that the cities of lübeck, bremen, and hamburg, were charged with the protection of the hanseatic interests, in the name of all the other cities, so far as such interests could at present be said to be at stake. yet another diet was summoned in february, , at lübeck. on this occasion there occurred what of late had not been unusual, namely, that no hanseatic delegates appeared, with the exception of those of bremen and lübeck. it is a picturesque historical invention, but, unfortunately, like most picturesque legends, quite untrue, that on this occasion all the members of the most ancient german hansa put in an appearance, and in lübeck's hansa saal decreed, in all solemnity, its own dissolution; that, in short, the hansa was present at its own funeral. as the hansa never had an actual foundation day, so it had no day of dissolution. as its growth had been gradual, the result of time and circumstance, so was its decay. it had been built up imperceptibly, it passed away almost as imperceptibly. after the diet of , and again in , the three cities above named--lübeck, bremen, and hamburg--made still closer their friendly alliance, erecting a species of new hansa upon the ruins of the old. with great modifications this compact survived down to our own times, and was not dissolved until forcibly rent asunder, as disturbing to prussian ambition and to prussian ideas of protective trade. for these cities kept up a species of free trade, while all the rest of germany was protective, and to this day, though despoiled and shorn of their honour, the cities call themselves proudly the hanseatic towns. in those days their main endeavour was to save as much as possible from the general wreck, and to try and keep alive the spirit of the league, of which most ambitiously they retained the name. they believed, indeed the other cities believed too, that with the restoration of peace they could establish themselves upon the old foundations. [illustration: rath-haus, lÜbeck.] this vain, daring hope, so common to all who suffer from incurable disease, did not quit them till the conclusion of the peace so ardently desired. this peace inaugurated a state of things incompatible with the commercial tendencies of the hanseatics, and showed indisputably the futility of their hopes. yet with that doggedness or obtuseness which prevents a man from knowing when he is beaten, and which was at all times both the strength and weakness of the hansa, even after facts had been made plain to them, they still refused absolutely to accept them. they still hoped against hope, to shape the course of events, and as usual lübeck the energetic was to the front in these endeavours. after the peace of westphalia, this city tried repeatedly to organize a hanseatic diet in the old style. it was not until that a number of cities could be found willing to send deputies sufficient to qualify the assembly with the name of a diet. but many of these deputies came only to announce that their towns would not in future pay contributions to the league, putting forward as their reason either that the war had impoverished them too much, or that the changed manner and course of trade made them doubt as to the continued utility of their union. the discussions on this occasion were most animated. it was a stormy sitting, but it produced no real result. too many different and absolutely conflicting opinions were advanced. the only conclusion that was arrived at was the choice of a certain dr. brauer, of lübeck, to fill the honoured post of hanseatic syndic. vain honour truly, a very sinecure. for our poor old league, already in its death throes, did not survive this diet. after eighteen sittings had been held it was made manifest that no accord could be arrived at, and the city of lübeck even doubted if it were worth while to draw up an official report of the proceedings. respect for ancient usages, however, prevailed, and the minutes were therefore drawn up in all due form. but they had no fact to record, except that the assembly had not been able to arrive at a unanimous opinion on any one point put forward. speaking of this final moment, the eminent historian of the league, sartorius, writes-- "the constituent elements of the league had been united together in silence, and it was also without noise that they were decomposed. no one could be astonished at this end, which for some time past have been foreseen by any intelligent person." "_sic transit gloria mundi_" might have been written on its tomb. its glory had been great and real indeed. no less a person than the eminent philosopher, leibnitz, in , advised the imperial authorities, of course without result, to revive german trade by the re-establishment of the hanseatic towns. the profound indifference of the empire was a fact too great to be overcome. the emperor charles vi. even went the length of formally forbidding his subjects to trade with the two indies by way of england and holland. at no single princely court of the whole realm was there to be found a sound view of commerce and commercial requirements. in the midst of such apathy and ignorance it was a real piece of good fortune for germany that, at any rate, the three cities of lübeck, bremen, and hamburg, were allowed to keep their independence. it was in these cities, then, gradually as trade revived and the disastrous effects of the thirty years' war were somewhat overcome, that wealth concentrated itself. here too was still to be found commercial knowledge, activity, and enterprise, while the old name of hansa was discovered to have sufficient power left to conjure with. that german industry still found foreign outlet, that it still survived, and proved profitable, was henceforward due solely to the three remaining hansa towns. the empire, meanwhile, whenever it did not harry them by attempts at futile restrictions or by foolish criticism of their policy, ignored them entirely. this was always for the cities the happiest course, allowing them free room to act as they, with their commercial knowledge and insight, thought fittest. but as time went on, and the political state of germany grew more and more abject, it naturally came about that the germans grew less and less respected and feared in the foreign markets, the foreign people with whom they had to deal knowing full well that there was no real power to back them. they had to see all other strangers preferred before them and the name of german become a by-word. indeed they would be scornfully asked what was meant by german, seeing there was no land really so styled, and that the country which once bore that name was split up into a vast number of small principalities. no wonder that this condition of things did not help on german trade. no wonder that under these circumstances the foreign policy of the new league, or rather of the union of the three towns, for league it could not be called, was a policy of weakness, almost of cringing, far different indeed from that of their predecessors, who had played with thrones and deposed kings. where once they commanded they had now to plead or flatter, and if these methods failed they were driven to observe the _mores mundi_, to use their own phrase, and let fly silver balls, unlike the heavy balls used in olden times, that is to say, they had to bribe. after the french revolution and the european disorders of that time, the hansa towns by common accord of russia and france were declared to be perpetually neutral, a gift of doubtful value. the cities were soon made to feel what was meant by owing their existence to aliens. a little later napoleon the great was frequently on the point of giving away the hansa cities, even before he had appropriated them to himself. in he offered them as compensation for sicily, and, according to lord yarmouth, would have given them to hanover if thereby he could have procured the peace with england. sometime after they were destined by him to serve as the footstool of the throne he designed for his brother louis in north germany. while he was making up his mind they were held by his soldiers, and these days of french occupation were spoken of to their dying days by the burghers in accents of terror. at last, in , quite suddenly and without previous warning, "without due regard and courtesy," as was pleaded afterwards at the congress of vienna, napoleon incorporated the hansa towns with the empire. it was well for them that this period was of short duration, for trade was in those days a matter of no small difficulty. napoleon's mania regarding the continental system had reached its culminating point. commerce was carried on either by submitting to grave sacrifices owing to the blockade, or by smuggling on a colossal scale. neither method brought with it prosperity or calm. then dawned the memorable year of , and with it came the first check in napoleon's victorious path. the citizens of the three hansa towns were among the first in germany to put on armour and draw the sword for the liberation of themselves and of their suffering fellow-countrymen. great oppression, happily for mankind and progress, often produces a strong recoil. enthusiasm knew no bounds; german courage, which seemed dead, was revived. alas! it was a false hope. reaction once more got the upper hand after germany was liberated from napoleon's yoke, and it is a question whether the yoke of the native rulers was not even heavier to bear than that of the foreign usurper. it was certainly less liberal. [illustration: rath-haus, bremen (_from a print in the british museum_).] the three hansa towns, however, fortunately for them, managed to secure their independence, though not without a struggle. there were not lacking neighbours who gazed at them with covetous eyes, nor others who would have looked the other way had some power appropriated them. at the congress of vienna lübeck was all but given away to denmark. but this was more than the hanseatic delegates present in the assembly could stand. accustomed of old to lift up their voices boldly, and not to fear crowned or anointed heads, they fiercely denounced this project as a deed of darkness, and appealed so strongly to the consciences of those present, reminding them of the everlasting shame attending a broken word or promise, that they actually succeeded in bringing them round to their point of view. the project was abandoned. thus the towns remained virtually free, while nominally attached to germany, and continued, as of old, as willing, as they were able, to serve their country with the talents that had been entrusted to their keeping. their flag again appeared on all the seas, their commerce extended in all lands, they even succeeded in concluding favourable trade alliances in virtue of the old hanseatic firm of "the merchants of the german empire." but, as ever before, they were not backed by the nation or by any real power at home, and now that they were only three towns they could not act as in the days of old, when their number extended across europe. but since the many hundred little states of which germany consisted have been all absorbed by prussia, and incorporated under the collective name of germany, even the three hansa towns, the last to resist and to stand out for their autonomy, have had to succumb to the iron hand of prince bismarck and the prussian spiked helmet. hamburg still keeps up a semblance of independence, but it is but a shadow, and even that shadow is rapidly vanishing from its grasp. military, protectionist germany does not care to have in its confines a town where free trade and burgher independence are inherited possessions. the name of hansa towns, the title of hanseatic league, is but a proud memory, one, however, to which modern germany may well look back with satisfaction, and from the story of the "common german hansa" it can still, if it chooses, learn many a useful lesson. note. since writing the foregoing, the event, long anticipated as inevitable, has taken place, and the last two cities to uphold the name and traditions of the hanseatic league, hamburg and bremen, have been incorporated into the german zoll verein, thus finally surrendering their old historical privileges as free ports. lübeck took this step some twenty-two years ago, hamburg and bremen not till october, --so long had they resisted prince bismarck's more or less gentle suasions to enter his protection league. but they foresaw what the end must be; that his motto was that of the erl king in goethe's famous ballad: "und bist du nicht willig, so brauch ich gewalt." ("and if thou be not willing, i shall use force.") still they, and hamburg in particular, held out nobly, jealous, and rightly jealous, of the curtailment of those privileges which distinguished them from the other cities of the german empire. it was after the foundation of this empire that the claim of the two cities to remain free ports was conceded and ratified in the imperial constitution of april, , though the privilege, in the case of hamburg, was restricted to the city and port, and withdrawn from the rest of the state, which extends to the mouth of the elbe and embraces about one hundred and sixty square miles, while the free-port territory was reduced to twenty-eight square miles. this was the first serious interference with the city's liberty, and others followed, perhaps rather of a petty, annoying, than of a seriously aggressive, character, but enough to show the direction in which the wind was blowing. it was in that the proposal to include hamburg in the customs union was first politically discussed. it met, not unnaturally, with much opposition among the citizens, and especially among the merchant class, of whom these citizens are so largely composed. not only did it wound the hamburgers' pride to see an old and honourable distinction abolished, but they feared, and not without reason, that their trade would be seriously affected by such a step. they were afraid that their city would cease to be the great international distributing centre which it had been so long. hot and animated were the discussions in the senate, the house of burgesses, the press, on docks and quays, in public and in private. but the pressure exercised from berlin, though in appearance gentle, was firm and decided. how could a single city stand against a strong military empire? in may, , therefore, was drafted a proposal to the effect that the whole of the city and port of hamburg should be included in the zoll verein. this was laid before the senate, who passed a resolution that the treaty should be accepted, stating its conviction that the inclusion of the free ports in the zoll verein would not only be beneficial for the empire, most of whose foreign commerce passed through them, but also would increase the prosperity of the cities themselves. whether the senate really held this belief, or whether they thought it wise to profess this opinion, does not appear. the proposal was then sent down to the house of burgesses. here it did not find such facile acceptance as among the more aristocratic senators; here no real or professed illusions reigned. for seven hours did the fathers of the city discuss the resolution of the senate in a sitting that will ever be famous among the annals of the town. the speech made by dr. petersen, the commissioner for the senate, was most impressive, and it touched the hearts of all his hearers. he reminded the assembly that their thousand years' history testified to the fact that the hamburgers were ever an active, practical, patriotic people, who took life earnestly, caring not only for business and family, but for the common weal. every good hamburger has always been ready to sacrifice his feelings and his personal interests for the good of the fatherland. let all of them, he urged, even those who could not do it heartily, vote for the measure, in the sure and certain conviction that the "father city" would flourish and prosper, and increase through the skill, the energy, and, above all, the public spirit of its citizens. hamburg would still remain the emporium, for the wide world, of the german fatherland, to which she would be more closely united than ever. this speech was followed by much and earnest discussion, after which the proposal of the senate was at last agreed to as an inevitable measure, and hamburg was included in the zoll verein by one hundred and six votes against forty-six. the details for carrying into effect this conclusion have occupied seven years, and the event was finally celebrated with great pomp, the emperor william ii. coming in person to enhance the solemnity of the sacrifice brought by the burghers of the erst free city for the common weal of the german fatherland. as we have said, the step was inevitable sooner or later, and the hamburgers knew it. the german empire, so long a fiction, had arisen stronger than ever. it was natural, very necessary, that an anomaly should be abolished which placed the great gateway of foreign commerce outside the customs regulations of the rest of the empire. it was natural for the imperial authorities to desire that their two great commercial ports should be at one with the empire in all respects; that as far as their trade is concerned they should not be in the position of foreign countries, jealously watched by imperial officers lest they might seek to injure the financial interests of the country of which they form a part. it is too early to know what effect this step will have upon the trade of the two cities, whether it will check or increase their prosperity. the gain to germany is certain. the gain to the two cities, but in especial to hamburg, is something less than problematical. meantime the last and only privilege the three once powerful hanseatic cities retain is that of being entitled, like the greatest states in the empire, to send their own representatives to the bundesrath and to the reichstag. epilogue. the once proud and mighty hanseatic league is dead now, quite dead. there remains of it only a noble memory, the record of a high and fearless spirit which resisted tyrants petty and great, a spirit which recognized the value of independence, and strove with all its strength to attain and to maintain this boon. we have traced it from its earliest dawn to its recent complete demise; there but remains for us to speak its funeral oration. this is soon accomplished, since whether for men, for nations or associations, if their deeds speak not for them more eloquently than human words, the latter shall avail them little. the chief title of the hanseatic league to remembrance is that it was the means of spreading higher culture throughout wide tracts of the european continent, many of them, in those early times, still sunk in utter barbarism; that it introduced western customs and civilization into all domains of private and social life for millions upon millions of people. this association is a bright spot that strikes the eye, as it looks back across the long, dark abyss of ages past, and we welcome it the more gladly because the bond that held this league together was neither force nor fear, but free will and clear insight into the advantages and necessity of mutual help. to quote the pertinent words of mrs. sinnett: "these free cities of germany rise like happy islands amidst the wide-wasting ocean of violence and anarchy. not by war and spoil, but by industry, enterprise, and prudent economy, did they accumulate the wealth that enabled them to heal so many of the wounds inflicted on their country by the iron hands beneath whose grasp art, science, even agriculture, by which they subsisted, was perishing. by the unions which the cities formed amongst themselves they stemmed the torrent of violence and anarchy that was threatening to turn their country into a desert peopled by hordes of robbers and slaves; they lent the most effectual aid to the church in her efforts for the peace and civilization of europe; yet they held the balance most firmly against the too great preponderance of her power, and rescued the human mind from the injurious subjection which she sometimes claimed as the price of her benefits when society had outgrown the leading strings that guarded its infancy, and felt as a galling restraint what had once been a needed protection. the cities built asylums for the widows and orphans whom the nobles and warriors had made desolate; they stretched out often a helping hand to the poor knight, who was regarding them with envy, hatred, and malice, and all uncharitableness, taking him into their pay as a soldier, and enabling him to get a comparatively honest living, instead of wringing 'from the hard hands of peasants their vile trash,' or filling some menial office at the court of a prince, and picking up the crumbs that fell from the great man's table. behind their walls and bastions the young tree of civil liberty, which was perishing in the open country, took root and flourished; there, even whilst striving only at first for riches and their peaceful enjoyment, did men learn to prize the blessings of social order, justice, and peace. these cities were not mere aggregations of men within a narrow space, such as may have existed among the most barbarous nations; they were organic bodies animated by a living spirit--a spirit of enlightened intelligence, courage, and self-reliance, which best supplied what was defective in the religious system of the time, and gave a more healthy and manly tone to the character both of individuals and of society. the church, it cannot be denied, sometimes taught men, in the pursuit of an imagined perfection, to trample on the impulses, and violate the duties of nature; in these little republics, on the contrary, though originally they had only the attainment of temporal good in view, they rose insensibly to higher objects, and not only cultivated the social virtues more effectually, but in their struggle to maintain their place in the world, fought in many instances a more successful fight against the sins of the flesh, through the discipline of the manifold cares of an active life, than the recluse of the cloister, with all his fastings and flagellations. among the happy influences belonging to these miniature states was the ardent attachment of the free citizens of the middle ages to the little spot which they had hedged in from the wide wilderness of slavery around, where the individual, if not of noble birth, was usually the mere helpless victim of arbitrary power. freedom and honour, the respect of his fellows, the happiness of domestic life, the interest and excitement of active business, the joviality of social intercourse, a thousand ties entwined around him, connected him closely with the city, and even the house of his birth; for in those days it was common for men to live and die beneath the same roof under which they had been born. the merchant regarded his native town with a pride fully equal to that of birth and chivalry in the privileged classes, and little envied, we may suppose, the life of the solitary feudal lord in his castle, or the anxious and dependent position of the courtier. the citizen of a humbler class showed, by parading on all occasions the tools and emblems of his trade with the same complacency with which a soldier displays his sword, or the noble his armorial bearings, that he knew his position and was content with it, and felt none of that weak shrinking from his appointed place in society or uneasy longing after another, which has since been the epidemic malady of the middle classes." for two centuries and more this guild of merchants made the german name respected in european lands, the german flag respected in european waters. when the empire had fallen to pieces and there was no union, no cohesion left, the hanseatics remained german and held together staunchly and nobly. though the time of their existence was brief, yet it was all-important, not only for their own land, but for all europe. to appreciate to its full extent the influence exercised upon europe in general by the hanseatic league, we must carry our minds back, and compare europe as it was when the league took its rise, with europe as it was when the league declined. the hansa made its appearance in history at a time when barbarism, violence, religious fanaticism, political and civil slavery, and dire intellectual darkness overspread the whole continent, when liberty and industry, as we understand them, were unknown. the constant and active communication kept up by the cities of the hansa, not only among themselves and with all parts of germany, but with the most distant countries, awoke and kept alive the intelligence of the people. to the hanseatics, as to the italians of the same epoch, was reserved the honour of dispelling the obscurity that reigned in the mental and material world. the hansa's glory only pales before that of the rival italian mercantile associations from the fact that its energies were somewhat too exclusively confined to money-getting. had these communities arisen in a period of literary culture, or among the glorious relics of the art of a brighter age, these cities would have presented several more salient points of resemblance to the republics of greece and italy. it cannot, however, be denied that in many of their institutions they improved on the model set by the italian cities, and this more especially in all matters relating to morality and rectitude. but they were less grand and large in their policy than their trans-alpine brethren, and unfortunately for themselves, their commercial maxims were always narrow and selfish. monopoly was their watchword, their grand aim. and it was largely in consequence of this narrow policy that their ruin overtook them. they perished of that disease whereof corporations are apt to perish, namely, egotism, the centrifugal force which is perpetually tending to rend asunder all human society, and must inevitably do so, when not restrained by some powerful antagonistic action. it is strange that, while so rich commercially, the hanseatic league lacked political ambition. had they possessed it, there is little doubt they might have made themselves independent masters of all northern germany. but they seem never to have forgotten that they were merchants. they were held down by petty motives, smallness of views. here, again, they were unlike the italians, among whom the trader could develop into the aristocrat, as is abundantly proved by the history of the medici and other famous great houses. the reason must be sought, no doubt, in the different native temperament of the two nations--the one innately refined, the other rougher and more boorish. though the civic pride of the hanseatics was highly flattered when the kings of the north and the princes of germany trembled before them, they confined their ambitions entirely to gaining commercial advantages. certain it is that the two powers--the hanseatic and the italian republics--each in their respective sphere of action, helped on the progress that has changed the entire face of this hemisphere, and that they did this by no other means than that of their commercial activity. for this is the great power of commerce, if practised in its best and highest spirit, that it is able to work veritable miracles, bringing into contact the extremes of civilization, enlarging and disseminating ideas, and helping forward towards that universal brotherhood of man, that universal peace and goodwill, which is, and must be, the highest ideal of humanity. not till war is really rooted out from among us, not till what is for the benefit of one is held for the benefit of all, not until a generous altruism reigns supreme, can mankind be said to be thoroughly civilized. trade and commerce, though apparently egotistic factors, work strongly towards this end, even though their action proceed merely from motives of self-seeking. war is so serious an interruption to trade that men will seek to avert it, even out of a simple regard for their own pockets. by fair smiling peace, not only traders, but all the world is benefited and made happier. once let nations fully understand and recognize its incalculable benefits, and even the lowest and most squalid souls will struggle to uproot this remnant of a barbaric spirit which can never evince itself as aught but an evil. the hansa uprose in a rough age, and hence had to work with the rough-made methods of its time; but in its time and in its way it did a good work, and posterity cannot withhold from it either gratitude or admiration. its policy, its laws, its constitution, its commerce, its immense credit, the sway which it once exercised, the able magistrates, merchants, and mariners whom it produced--all these have vanished, unable to resist the torrent of time that engulfs good and bad alike. but its influence and example have remained, while much of its spirit, like many of its ideas and rules, have become incorporated into the general stock of the ideas of humanity. of the league itself, it is true there remains only an illustrious name. for germany, which gave it birth, there remain memories both of pride and regret--memories that should serve as a spur to noble and useful emulation. "the history of commerce," says montesquieu, "is the history of the intercommunication of peoples." the story of the hanseatic league is an eloquent testimony to the truth of these words. index. a albert dürer, alva, duke of, amsterdam, , antwerp, , armada, , arnold of brescia, art, b baltic, , , , , , , , barbarossa, , bergen, , , , bismarck, blackmail, , boris, gudenow, , bornholm, , , , bremen, , , , brömse, nicholas, , bruges, , , , brunswick, burleigh, lord, c charles iv., , charles v., charles vi., christian ii., christopher of oldenburg, civilizing influence of traders, cologne, , , , , , , , , , commerce with denmark, sweden, and russia, commerce with the netherlands and southern europe, copenhagen, , court of st. peter, , cromwell's navigation act, d dalecarlia, dangers of navigation, , danzig, , , , , decline and fall, denmark, , , , , , , , , , , diet of worms, ducal cities, duke of northumberland, dürer, albert, dutch, , , , , e elizabeth, queen, embden, end of hansa dominion in england, england, , , , , , england, end of dominion in, english towns, epilogue, ethelred the unready, f federation, feodorowitch gudenow, , fights of the hansa, foreign protection, foreign trade, france, frederick barbarossa, , frederick (of holstein), , , , freiburg, g godeke michelson, , gothland, island of, , , , gresham, , gudenow, feodorowitch, , gustavus adolphus, gustavus vasa, , , , , , h hamburg, , , , hansa fights, hansa, name of, hansa, towns in fourteenth century, henry viii., , , herring, holbein, holy roman empire, , , , , i italian merchants, , , italy, j julin, l liberty, personal in twelfth century, life in fourteenth century, lisbon, livonia, , , lombards, , , , london, , , , loss of colonies, lübeck, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , m mary, queen, max meyer, merchant adventurers, , , , meyer, michelson, , municipal privileges, n napoleon, netherlands, , , nicholas brömse, , northumberland, duke of, norway, , , novgorod, , o oldenburg, christopher of, organization of the league, p payments, peace of westphalia, , personal liberty in twelfth century, peter's court, st., , petersen, portugal, protection, foreign, r reformation, the, religion, , rhine towns, rudolph ii., , russia, , , , , , s st. nicholas church, , st. peter's court, , scania, , , , , , simon of utrecht, , , sir thomas gresham, , smolensk, , spain, , , , steelyard, , , stock-fish, , , storm clouds, stortebeker, stralsund, , , , sudermann, , , survivors, sweden, , , , , , , , t teutonic knights, , thirty years' war, , tilly, trade guild, treaty of stralsund, treaty of utrecht, , , u unhansing, utrecht, simon of, , , utrecht, treaty of, , , v vasa, , , , , , venice, , victual brothers, w waldemar, , , , wallenstein, , westphalia, peace of, , winetha, wisby, , , , , wittenborg, wrecking, wullenweber, , y york, z zealand, , * * * * * transcriber's note: inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have been preserved. obvious typographical errors have been corrected. page : "formerly" possibly should be "formally." page : "ivan ii." possibly should be "ivan iv." proofreaders facta ducis vivent operogaque gloria rerum.--ovid, in liviam the hero's deeds and hard-won fame shall live. [illustration: bismarck. from a painting by f. von lenbach.] bismarck and the foundation of the german empire by james wycliffe headlam copyright, preface. the greater portion of the following pages were completed before the death of prince bismarck; i take this opportunity of apologising to the publishers and the editor of the series, for the unavoidable delay which has caused publication to be postponed for a year. during this period, two works have appeared to which some reference is necessary. the value of busch's _memoirs_ has been much exaggerated; except for quite the last years of bismarck's life they contain little new information which is of any importance. not only had a large portion of the book already been published in busch's two earlier books, but many of the anecdotes and documents in those parts which were new had also been published elsewhere. bismarck's own _memoirs_ have a very different value: not so much because of the new facts which they record, but because of the light they throw on bismarck's character and on the attitude he adopted towards men and political problems. with his letters and speeches, they will always remain the chief source for our knowledge of his inner life. the other authorities are so numerous that it is impossible here to enumerate even the more important. i must, however, express the gratitude which all students of bismarck's career owe to horst kohl; in his _bismarck-regesten_ he has collected and arranged the material so as infinitely to lighten the labours of all others who work in the same field. his _bismarck-jahrbuch_ is equally indispensable; without this it would be impossible for anyone living in england to use the innumerable letters, documents, and anecdotes which each year appear in german periodicals. of collections of documents and letters, the most important are those by herr v. poschinger, especially the volumes containing the despatches written from frankfort and those dealing with bismarck's economic and financial policy. a full collection of bismarck's correspondence is much wanted; there is now a good edition of the private letters, edited by kohl, but no satisfactory collection of the political letters. for diplomatic history between and , i have, of course, chiefly depended on sybel; but those who are acquainted with the recent course of criticism in germany will not be surprised if, while accepting his facts, i have sometimes ventured to differ from his conclusions. september, . j.w.h. contents. chapter i. page birth and parentage..................................... chapter ii. early life, - .................................. chapter iii. the revolution, - .............................. chapter iv. the german problem, - .......................... chapter v. frankfort, - ................................... chapter vi. st. petersburg and paris, - ................... chapter vii. the conflict, - ............................... chapter viii. schleswig-holstein, - ......................... chapter ix. the treaty of gastein, - ................... ... chapter x. outbreak of war with austria, - ................ chapter xi. the conquest of germany, .......................... chapter xii. the formation of the north german confederation, - .............................................. chapter xiii. the outbreak of war with france, - ............. chapter xiv. the war with france and foundation of the empire, - .................................. chapter xv. the new empire, - .............................. chapter xvi. the triple alliance and economic reform, - .... chapter xvii. retirement and death, - ........................ index.................................................. illustrations. bismarck _frontispiece_ [from a painting by f. von lenbach.] bismarck's coat of arms.................................. schÖnhausen church--interior............................. luise wilhelmine von bismarck........................... bismarck's mother. karl wilhelm ferd. von bismarck......................... bismarck's father. bismarck in ........................................ schÖnhausen castle...................................... bismarck in ........................................ princess bismarck....................................... bismarck in ....................................... general von roon....................................... emperor william i...................................... emperor francis joseph................................. bismarck............................................... [from a painting by f. von lenbach.] general von moltke..................................... the capitulation of sedan.............................. [from a painting by anton von werner.] bismarck and his dogs.................................. napoleon iii. and bismarck on the morning after the battle of sedan.............................. [from a painting by wilhelm camphausen.] king william of prussia proclaimed emperor of germany, versailles, january , ............... [from a painting by anton von werner.] louis adolphe thiers................................... official residence of bismarck in berlin............... the congress of berlin, ........................... [from a painting by anton von werner.] friedrichsruhe......................................... [from a photograph by strumper & co., hamburg.] emperor frederick...................................... sarcophagus of emperor william i., charlottenburg...... schueckenberge......................................... [where bismarck's mausoleum will be erected.] map of germany showing changes made in ............ bismarck. chapter i. birth and parentage. otto eduard leopold von bismarck was born at the manor-house of schoenhausen, in the mark of brandenburg, on april , . just a month before, napoleon had escaped from elba; and, as the child lay in his cradle, the peasants of the village, who but half a year ago had returned from the great campaign in france, were once more called to arms. a few months passed by; again the king of prussia returned at the head of his army; in the village churches the medals won at waterloo were hung up by those of grossbehren and leipzig. one more victory had been added to the prussian flags, and then a profound peace fell upon europe; fifty years were to go by before a prussian army again marched out to meet a foreign foe. the name and family of bismarck were among the oldest in the land. many of the great prussian statesmen have come from other countries: stein was from nassau, and hardenberg was a subject of the elector of hanover; even blücher and schwerin were mecklenburgers, and the moltkes belong to holstein. the bismarcks are pure brandenburgers; they belong to the old mark, the district ruled over by the first margraves who were sent by the emperor to keep order on the northern frontier; they were there two hundred years before the first hohenzollern came to the north. the first of the name of whom we hear was herbort von bismarck, who, in , was master of the guild of the clothiers in the city of stendal. the town had been founded about one hundred years before by albert the bear, and men had come in from the country around to enjoy the privileges and security of city life. doubtless herbort or his father had come from bismarck, a village about twenty miles to the west, which takes its name either from the little stream, the biese, which runs near it, or from the bishop in whose domain it lay. he was probably the first to bear the name, which would have no meaning so long as he remained in his native place, for the _von_ was still a mark of origin and had not yet become the sign of nobility. other emigrants from bismarck seem also to have assumed it; in the neighbouring town of prenzlau the name occurs, and it is still found among the peasants of the mark; as the wends were driven back and the german invasion spread, more adventurous colonists migrated beyond the oder and founded a new bismarck in pomerania. of the lineage of herbort we know nothing[ ]; his ancestors must have been among the colonists who had been planted by the emperors on the northern frontier to occupy the land conquered from the heathen. he seems himself to have been a man of substance and position; he already used the arms, the double trefoil, which are still borne by all the branches of his family. his descendants are often mentioned in the records of the guild; his son or grandson, rudolph or rule, represented the town in a conflict with the neighbouring dukes of brunswick. it was his son nicolas, or claus as he is generally called, who founded the fortunes of the family; he attached himself closely to the cause of the margrave, whom he supported in his troubles with the duke of brunswick, and whose interests he represented in the town council. he was amply rewarded for his fidelity. after a quarrel between the city and the prince, bismarck left his native home and permanently entered the service of the margrave. though probably hitherto only a simple citizen, he was enfiefed with the castle of burgstall, an important post, for it was situated on the borders of the mark and the bishopric of magdeburg; he was thereby admitted into the privileged class of the _schlossgesessenen_, under the margrave, the highest order in the feudal hierarchy. from that day the bismarcks have held their own among the nobility of brandenburg. claus eventually became hofmeister of brandenburg, the chief officer at the court; he had his quarrels with the church, or rather with the spiritual lords, the bishops of havelburg and magdeburg, and was once excommunicated, as his father had been before him, and as two of his sons were after him. claus died about the year . for two hundred years the bismarcks continued to live at burgstall, to which they added many other estates. when conrad of hohenzollern was appointed margrave and elector, he found sturdy supporters in the lords of burgstall; he and his successors often came there to hunt the deer and wild boars, perhaps also the wolves and bears, with which the forests around the castle abounded; for the hohenzollerns were keen sportsmen then as now, as their vassals found to their cost. in , hans george, son of the reigning elector, albert achilles, bought the neighbouring estate of letzlingen from the alvenslebens; there he built a house which is still the chief hunting-lodge of the kings of prussia. soon he cast envious eyes on the great woods and preserves which belong to burgstall, and intimated that he wished to possess them. the bismarcks resisted long. first they were compelled to surrender their hunting rights; this was not sufficient; the appetite of the prince grew; in his own words he wished "to be rid of the bismarcks from the moor and the tanger altogether." he offered in exchange some of the monasteries which had lately been suppressed; the bismarcks (the family was represented by two pairs of brothers, who all lived together in the great castle) long refused; they represented that their ancestors had been faithful vassals; they had served the electors with blood and treasure; they wished "to remain in the pleasant place to which they had been assigned by god almighty." it was all of no use; the prince insisted, and his wrath was dangerous. the bismarcks gave in; they surrendered burgstall and received in exchange schoenhausen and crevisse, a confiscated nunnery, on condition that as long as the ejected nuns lived the new lords should support them; for which purpose the bismarcks had annually to supply a certain quantity of food and eighteen barrels of beer. of the four co-proprietors, all died without issue, except friedrich, called the permutator, in whose hands the whole of the family property was again collected; he went to live at schoenhausen, which since then has been the home of the family. no remains of the old castle exist, but the church, built in the thirteenth century, is one of the oldest and most beautiful in the land between the havel and the elbe. house and church stand side by side on a small rising overlooking the elbe. here they took up their abode; the family to some extent had come down in the world. the change had been a disadvantageous one; they had lost in wealth and importance. for two hundred years they played no very prominent part; they married with the neighbouring country gentry and fought in all the wars. rudolph, friedrich's son, fought in france in behalf of the huguenots, and then under the emperor against the turks. his grandson, august, enlisted under bernhard of saxe-weimar; afterwards he fought in the religious wars in france and germany, always on the protestant side; lastly, he took service under the elector of brandenburg. it was in his lifetime that a great change began to take place which was to alter the whole life of his descendants. in , frederick william, known as the great elector, succeeded his father. he it was who laid the foundations for that system of government by which a small german principality has grown to be the most powerful military monarchy in modern europe. he held his own against the emperor; he fought with the poles and compelled their king to grant him east prussia; he drove the swedes out of the land. more than this, he enforced order in his own dominions; he laid the foundation for the prosperity of berlin; he organised the administration and got together a small but efficient military force. the growing power of the elector was gained to a great extent at the expense of the nobles; he took from them many of the privileges they had before enjoyed. the work he began was continued by his son, who took the title of king; and by his grandson, who invented the prussian system of administration, and created the army with which frederick the great fought his battles. the result of the growth of the strong, organised monarchy was indeed completely to alter the position of the nobles. the german barons in the south had succeeded in throwing off the control of their territorial lords; they owned no authority but the vague control of the distant emperor, and ruled their little estates with an almost royal independence; they had their own laws, their own coinage, their own army. in the north, the nobles of mecklenburg holstein, and hanover formed a dominant class, and the whole government of the state was in their hands; but those barons whose homes fell within the dominion of the kings of prussia found themselves face to face with a will and a power stronger than their own; they lost in independence, but they gained far more than they lost. they were the basis on which the state was built up; they no longer wasted their military prowess in purposeless feuds or in mercenary service; in the prussian army and administration they found full scope for their ambition, and when the victories of frederick the great had raised prussia to the rank of a european power, the nobles of brandenburg were the most loyal of his subjects. they formed an exclusive caste; they seldom left their homes; they were little known in the south of germany or in foreign countries; they seldom married outside their own ranks. their chief amusement was the chase, and their chief occupation was war. and no king has ever had under his orders so fine a race of soldiers; they commanded the armies of frederick and won his battles. dearly did they pay for the greatness of prussia; of one family alone, the kleists, sixty-four fell on the field of battle during the seven years' war. they might well consider that the state which they had helped to make, and which they had saved by their blood, belonged to them. but if they had become prussians, they did not cease to be brandenburgers; their loyalty to their king never swerved, for they knew that he belonged to them as he did to no other of his subjects. he might go to distant königsberg to assume the crown, but his home was amongst them; other provinces might be gained or lost with the chances of war, but while a single hohenzollern lived he could not desert his subjects of the mark. they had the intense local patriotism so characteristic of the german nation, which is the surest foundation for political greatness; but while in other parts the particularists, as the germans called them, aimed only at independence, the brandenburger who had become a prussian desired domination. among them the bismarcks lived. the family again divided into two branches: one, which became extinct about , dwelling at crevisse, gave several high officials to the prussian civil service; the other branch, which continued at schoenhausen, generally chose a military career. august's son, who had the same name as his father, rebuilt the house, which had been entirely destroyed by the swedes during the thirty years' war; he held the position of landrath, that is, he was the head of the administration of the district in which he lived. he married a fräulein von katte, of a well-known family whose estates adjoined those of the bismarcks. frau von bismarck was the aunt of the unfortunate young man who was put to death for helping frederick the great in his attempt to escape. his tomb is still to be seen at wust, which lies across the river a few miles from schoenhausen; and at the new house, which arose at schoenhausen and still stands, the arms of the kattes are joined to the bismarck trefoil. the successor to the estates, august friedrich, was a thorough soldier; he married a fräulein von diebwitz and acquired fresh estates in pomerania, where he generally lived. he rose to the rank of colonel, and fell fighting against the austrians at chotusitz in . "ein ganzer kerl" (a fine fellow), said the king, as he stood by the dying officer. his son, carl alexander, succeeded to schoenhausen; the next generation kept up the military traditions of the family; of four brothers, all but one became professional officers and fought against france in the wars of liberation. one fell at möckern in ; another rose to the rank of lieutenant-general; the third also fought in the war; his son, the later count bismarck-bohlen, was wounded at grossbehren, and the father at once came to take his place during his convalescence, in order that the prussian army might not have fewer bismarcks. when the young otto was born two years later, he would often hear of the adventures of his three uncles and his cousin in the great war. the latter, bismarck-bohlen, rose to very high honours and was to die when over eighty years of age, after he had witnessed the next great war with france. it is a curious instance of the divisions of germany in those days that there were bismarcks fighting on the french side throughout the war. one branch of the family had settled in south germany; the head of it, friedrich wilhelm, had taken service in the wurtemburg army; he had become a celebrated leader of cavalry and was passionately devoted to napoleon. he served with distinction in the russian campaign and was eventually taken prisoner by the germans in the battle of leipzig. the youngest of the four brothers, karl wilhelm friedrich v. bismarck, had retired from the army at an early age: he was a quiet, kindly man of domestic tastes; on the division of the estates, schoenhausen fell to his lot, and he settled down there to a quiet country life. he took a step which must have caused much discussion among all his friends and relations, for he chose as wife not one of his own rank, not a kleist, or a katte, or a bredow, or an arnim, or an alvensleben, or any other of the neighbouring nobility; he married a simple fräulein mencken. she was, however, of no undistinguished origin. her father, the son of a professor at the university of leipzig, had entered the prussian civil service; there he had risen to the highest rank and had been cabinet secretary to both frederick william ii. and frederick iii. he was a man of high character and of considerable ability; as was not uncommon among the officials of those days, he was strongly affected by the liberal and even revolutionary doctrines of france. fräulein mencken, who was married at the age of sixteen, was a clever and ambitious woman. from her her son inherited his intellect; from his father he derived what the germans call _gemüth_, geniality, kindliness, humour. by his two parents he was thus connected with the double foundation on which prussia had been built: on his father's side he had sprung from the fighting nobles; on his mother's, from the scholars and officials. in later life we shall find that while his prejudices and affections are all enlisted on the side of the noble, the keen and critical intellect he had inherited from his mother enabled him to overcome the prejudices of his order. the early life of the young pair was not altogether fortunate. several children died at a very early age; the defeat of prussia brought foreign occupation; schoenhausen was seized by french troopers; the marks of their swords are still to be seen in a beam over one of the doors, and rittmeister v. bismarck had to take his wife away into the woods in order to escape their violence. of all the children of the marriage only three lived: bernhard, who was born in , otto, and one sister, malvina, born in . otto did not live at schoenhausen long; when he was only a year old, his father moved to pomerania and settled on the estates kniephof and kulz, which had come into the family on his grandfather's marriage. pomerania was at that time a favourite residence among the prussian nobility; the country was better wooded than the mark, and game more plentiful; the rich meadows, the wide heaths and forests were more attractive than the heavy corn-lands and the sandy wastes of the older province. here, in the deep seclusion of country life, the boy passed his first years; it was far removed from the bustle and turmoil of civilisation. naugard, the nearest town, was five miles distant; communication was bad, for it was not till after that the prussian government began to construct highroads. in this distant province, life went on as in the olden days, little altered by the changes which had transformed the state. the greater portion of the land belonged to large proprietors; the noble as in old days was still all-powerful on his own estate; in his hands was the administration of the law, and it was at his manorial court that men had to seek for justice, a court where justice was dealt not in the name of the king but of the lord of the manor. he lived among his people and generally he farmed his own lands. there was little of the luxury of an english country-house or the refinement of the french noblesse; he would be up at daybreak to superintend the work in the fields, his wife and daughters that of the household, talking to the peasants the pleasant _platt deutsch_ of the countryside. then there would be long rides or drives to the neighbours' houses; shooting, for there was plenty of deer and hares; and occasionally in the winter a visit to berlin; farther away, few of them went. most of the country gentlemen had been to paris, but only as conquerors at the end of the great war. they were little disturbed by modern political theories, but were contented, as in old days, to be governed by the king. it was a religious society; among the peasants and the nobles, if not among the clergy, there still lingered something of the simple but profound faith of german protestantism; they were scarcely touched by the rationalism of the eighteenth or by the liberalism of the nineteenth century; there was little pomp and ceremony of worship in the village church, but the natural periods of human life--birth, marriage, death--called for the blessing of the church, and once or twice a year came the solemn confession and the sacrament. religious belief and political faith were closely joined, for the church was but a department of the state; the king was chief bishop, as he was general of the army, and the sanctity of the church was transferred to the crown; to the nobles and peasants, criticism of, or opposition to, the king had in it something of sacrilege; the words "by the grace of god" added to the royal title were more than an empty phrase. society was still organised on the old patriarchal basis: at the bottom was the peasant; above him was the _gnädiger herr_; above him, _unser allergnädigste herr_, the king, who lived in berlin; and above him, the _herr gott_ in heaven. to the inhabitants of south germany, and the men of the towns, these nobles of further pomerania, the _junker_ as they were called, with their feudal life, their medieval beliefs, their simple monarchism, were the incarnation of political folly; to them liberalism seemed another form of atheism, but in this solitude and fresh air of the great plain was reared a race of men who would always be ready, as their fathers had been, to draw their sword and go out to conquer new provinces for their king to govern. chapter ii. early life. - . of the boy's early life we know little. his mother was ambitious for her sons; otto from his early years she designed for the diplomatic service; she seems to have been one of those women who was willing to sacrifice the present happiness of her children for their future advancement. when only six years old the boy was sent away from home to a school in berlin. he was not happy there; he pined for the free life of the country, the fields and woods and animals; when he saw a plough he would burst into tears, for it reminded him of his home. the discipline of the school was hard, not with the healthy and natural hardships of life in the open air, but with an artificial spartanism, for it was the time when the germans, who had suddenly awoke to feelings of patriotism and a love of war to which they had long been strangers, under the influence of a few writers, were throwing all their energies into the cultivation of physical endurance. it was probably at this time that there was laid the foundation of that dislike for the city of berlin which bismarck never quite overcame; and from his earliest years he was prejudiced against the exaggerated and affected teutonism which was the fashion after the great war. a few years later his parents came to live altogether in the town; then the boy passed on to the gymnasium, boarding in the house of one of the masters. the teaching in this school was supplemented by private tutors, and he learned at this time the facility in the use of the english and french languages which in after years was to be of great service to him. the education at school was of course chiefly in the classical languages; he acquired a sufficient mastery of latin. there is no evidence that in later life he continued the study of classical literature. in his seventeenth year he passed the abiturienten examination, which admitted him as a student to the university and entitled him to the privilege of serving in the army for one instead of three years. his leaving certificate tells us that his conduct and demeanour towards his comrades and teachers were admirable, his abilities considerable, and his diligence fair. the next year he passed in the ordinary course to the university, entering at göttingen; the choice was probably made because of the celebrity which that university had acquired in law and history. it is said that he desired to enter at heidelberg, but his mother refused her permission, because she feared that he would learn those habits of beer-drinking in which the students of that ancient seat of learning have gained so great a proficiency; it was, however, an art which, as he found, was to be acquired with equal ease at göttingen. the young bismarck was at this time over six feet high, slim and well built, of great physical strength and agility, a good fencer, a bold rider, an admirable swimmer and runner, a very agreeable companion; frank, cheerful, and open-hearted, without fear either of his comrades or of his teachers. he devoted his time at göttingen less to learning than to social life; in his second term he entered the corps of the hanoverians and was quickly noted for his power of drinking and fighting; he is reported to have fought twenty-six duels and was only wounded once, and that wound was caused by the breaking of his opponent's foil. he was full of wild escapades, for which he was often subjected to the ordinary punishments of the university. to many germans, their years at the university have been the turning-point of their life; but it was not so with bismarck. to those who have been brought up in the narrow surroundings of civic life, student days form the single breath of freedom between the discipline of a school and the drudgery of an office. to a man who, like bismarck, was accustomed to the truer freedom of the country, it was only a passing phase; as we shall see, it was not easy to tie him down to the drudgery of an office. he did not even form many friendships which he continued in later years; his associates in his corps must have been chiefly young hanoverians; few of his comrades in prussia were to be found at göttingen; his knowledge of english enabled him to make the acquaintance of the americans and english with whom göttingen has always been a favourite university; among his fellow-students almost the only one with whom in after life he continued the intimacy of younger days was motley. we hear little of his work; none of the professors seem to have left any marked influence on his mind or character; indeed they had little opportunity for doing so, for after the first term his attendance at lectures almost entirely ceased. though never a student, he must have been at all times a considerable reader; he had a retentive memory and quick understanding; he read what interested him; absorbed, understood, and retained it. he left the university with his mind disciplined indeed but not drilled; he had a considerable knowledge of languages, law, literature, and history; he had not subjected his mind to the dominion of the dominant hegelian philosophy, and to this we must attribute that freshness and energy which distinguishes him from so many of his ablest contemporaries; his brain was strong, and it worked as easily and as naturally as his body; his knowledge was more that of a man of the world than of a student, but in later life he was always able to understand the methods and to acquire the knowledge of the subjects he required in his official career. history was his favourite study; he never attempted, like some statesmen, to write; but if his knowledge of history was not as profound as that of a professed historian, he was afterwards to shew as a parliamentary debater that he had a truer perception of the importance of events than many great scholars who have devoted their lives to historical research, and he was never at a loss for an illustration to explain and justify the policy he had assumed. for natural science he shewed little interest, and indeed at that time it scarcely could be reckoned among the ordinary subjects of education; philosophy he pursued rather as a man than as a student, and we are not surprised to find that it was spinoza rather than kant or fichte or hegel to whom he devoted most attention, for he cared more for principles of belief and the conduct of life than the analysis of the intellect. his university career does not seem to have left any mark on his political principles; during just those years, the agitation of which the universities had long been the scene had been forcibly repressed; it was the time of deep depression which followed the revolution of , and the members of the aristocratic corps to which he belonged looked with something approaching contempt on this _burschenschaft_, as the union was called, which propagated among the students the national enthusiasm. after spending little more than a year at göttingen, he left in september, ; in may of the following year he entered as a student at berlin, where he completed his university course; we have no record as to the manner in which he spent the winter and early spring, but we find that when he applied to göttingen for permission to enter at berlin, it was accorded on condition that he sat out a term of imprisonment which he still owed to the university authorities. during part of his time in berlin he shared a room with motley. in order to prepare for the final examination he engaged the services of a crammer, and with his assistance, in , took the degree of doctor of law and at once passed on to the public service. he had, as we have seen, been destined for the diplomatic service from early life; he was well connected; his cousin count bismarck-bohlen stood in high favour at court. he was related to or acquainted with all the families who held the chief posts both in the military and civil service; with his great talents and social gifts he might therefore look forward to a brilliant career. any hopes, however, that his mother might have had were destined to be disappointed; his early official life was varied but short. he began in the judicial department and was appointed to the office of auscultator at berlin, for in the german system the judicature is one department of the civil service. after a year he was at his own request transferred to the administrative side and to aix-la-chapelle; it is said that he had been extremely pained and shocked by the manner in which the officials transacted the duties of their office and especially by their management of the divorce matters which came before the court. the choice of aix-la-chapelle was probably owing to the fact that the president of that province was count arnim of boytzenburg, the head of one of the most numerous and distinguished families of the mark, with so many members of which bismarck was in later years to be connected both for good and evil. count arnim was a man of considerable ability and moderate liberal opinions, who a few years later rose to be the first minister-president in prussia. under him bismarck was sure to receive every assistance. he had to pass a fresh examination, which he did with great success. his certificate states that he shewed thoroughly good school studies, and was well grounded in law; he had thought over what he had learnt and already had acquired independent opinions. he had admirable judgment, quickness in understanding, and a readiness in giving verbal answers to the questions laid before him; we see all the qualities by which he was to be distinguished in after life. he entered on his duties at aix-la-chapelle at the beginning of june; at his own request count arnim wrote to the heads of the department that as young bismarck was destined for a diplomatic career they were to afford him every opportunity of becoming acquainted with all the different sides of the administrative work and give him more work than they otherwise would have done; he was to be constantly occupied. his good resolutions did not, however, continue long; he found himself in a fashionable watering-place, his knowledge of languages enabled him to associate with the french and english visitors, he made excursions to belgium and the rhine, and hunting expeditions to the ardennes, and gave up to society the time he ought to have spent in the office. the life at aix was not strict and perhaps his amusements were not always edifying, but he acquired that complete ease in cosmopolitan society which he could not learn at göttingen or berlin, and his experiences during this year were not without use to him when he was afterwards placed in the somewhat similar society of frankfort. this period in his career did not last long; in june, , we find him applying for leave of absence on account of ill-health. he received leave for eight days, but he seems to have exceeded this, for four months afterwards he writes from berne asking that his leave may be prolonged; he had apparently gone off for a long tour in switzerland and the rhine. his request was refused; he received a severe reprimand, and count arnim approved his resolution to return to one of the older prussian provinces, "where he might shew an activity in the duties of his office which he had in vain attempted to attain in the social conditions of aachen." he was transferred to potsdam, but he remained here only a few weeks; he had not as yet served in the army, and he now began the year as a private soldier which was required from him; he entered the jaeger or rifles in the _garde corps_ which was stationed at potsdam, but after a few weeks was transferred to the jaeger at stettin. the cause seems to have been partly the ill-health of his mother; she was dying, and he wished to be near her; in those days the journey from berlin to pomerania took more than a day; besides this there were pecuniary reasons. his father's administration of the family estates had not been successful; it is said that his mother had constantly pressed her husband to introduce innovations, but had not consistently carried them out; this was a not unnatural characteristic in the clever and ambitious woman who wished to introduce into agricultural affairs those habits which she had learnt from the bureaucrats in berlin. however this may be, matters had now reached a crisis; it became necessary to sell the larger part of the land attached to the house at schoenhausen, and in the next year, after the death of frau von bismarck, which took place on january , , it was decided that herr von bismarck should in future live at schoenhausen with his only daughter, now a girl of twelve years of age, while the two brothers should undertake the management of the pomeranian estates. so it came about that at the age of twenty-four all prospect of an official career had for the time to be abandoned, and otto settled down with his brother to the life of a country squire. it is curious to notice that the greatest of his contemporaries, cavour, went through a similar training. there was, however, a great difference between the two men: cavour was in this as in all else a pioneer; when he retired to his estate he was opening out new forms of activity and enterprise for his countrymen; bismarck after the few wild years away from home was to go back to the life which all his ancestors had lived for five hundred years, to become steeped in the traditions of his country and his caste. cavour always points the way to what is new, bismarck again brings into honour what men had hastily thought was antiquated. he had to some extent prepared himself for the work by attending lectures at a newly founded agricultural college in the outskirts of greifswald. the management of the estate seems to have been successful; the two brothers started on their work with no capital and no experience, but after three or four years by constant attention and hard work they had put the affairs in a satisfactory state. in , a division was made; otto had wished this to be done before, as he found that he spent a good deal more money than his brother and was gaining an unfair advantage in the common household; from this time he took over kniephof, and there he lived for the next four years, while his brother took up his abode four miles off at kulz, where he lived till his death in . otto had not indeed given up the habits he had learnt at göttingen; his wild freaks, his noisy entertainments, were the talk of the countryside; the beverage which he has made classical, a mixture of beer and champagne, was the common drink, and he was known far and wide as the mad bismarck. these acts of wildness were, however, only a small part of his life; he entered as a lieutenant of landwehr in the cavalry and thereby became acquainted with another form of military service. it was while he was at the annual training that he had an opportunity of shewing his physical strength and courage. a groom, who was watering horses in the river, was swept away by the current; bismarck, who was standing on a bridge watching them, at once leaped into the river, in full uniform as he was, and with great danger to himself saved the drowning man. for this he received a medal for saving life. he astonished his friends by the amount and variety of his reading; it was at this time that he studied spinoza. it is said that he had among his friends the reputation of being a liberal; it is probable enough that he said and did many things which they did not understand; and anything they did not understand would be attributed to liberalism by the country gentlemen of pomerania; partly no doubt it was due to the fact that in he came back from paris wearing a beard. we can see, however, that he was restless and discontented; he felt in himself the possession of powers which were not being used; there was in his nature also a morbid restlessness, a dissatisfaction with himself which he tried to still but only increased by his wild excesses. as his affairs became more settled he travelled; one year he went to london, another to paris; of his visit to england we have an interesting account in a letter to his father. he landed in hull[ ], thence he went to scarborough and york, where he was hospitably received by the officers of the hussars; "although i did not know any of them, they asked me to dinner and shewed me everything"; from york he went to manchester, where he saw some of the factories. "generally speaking i cannot praise too highly the extraordinary courtesy and kindness of english people, which far surpass what i had expected; even the poor people are pleasant, very unassuming, and easy to get on with when one talks to them. those who come much into intercourse with strangers--cab-drivers, porters, etc.--naturally have a tendency to extortion, but soon give in when they see that one understands the language and customs and is determined not to be put upon. generally i find the life much cheaper than i expected." in , his sister, to whom he was passionately devoted, was married to an old friend, oscar von arnim. never did an elder brother write to his young sister more delightful letters than those which she received from him; from them we get a pleasant picture of his life at this time. directly after the wedding, when he was staying with his father at schoenhausen, he writes: "just now i am living here with my father, reading, smoking, and walking; i help him to eat lamperns and sometimes play a comedy with him which it pleases him to call fox-hunting. we start out in heavy rain, or perhaps with degrees of frost, with ihle, ellin, and karl; then in perfect silence we surround a clump of firs with the most sportsmanlike precautions, carefully observing the wind, although we all, and probably father as well, are absolutely convinced that there is not a living creature in it except one or two old women gathering firewood. then ihle, karl, and the two dogs make their way through the cover, emitting the most strange and horrible sounds, especially ihle; father stands there motionless and on the alert with his gun cocked, just as though he really expected to see something. ihle comes out just in front of him, shouting 'hoo lala, hey heay, hold him, hie, hie,' in the strangest and most astonishing manner. then father asks me if i have seen nothing, and i with the most natural tone of astonishment that i can command, answer 'no, nothing at all.' then after abusing the weather we start off to another wood, while ihle with a confidence that he assumes in the most natural manner praises its wealth in game, and there we play over the game again _dal segno_. so it goes on for three or four hours; father's, ihle's, and fingal's passion does not seem to cool for a moment. besides that, we look at the orange house twice a day and the sheep once a day, observe the four thermometers in the room once every hour, set the weather-glass, and, since the weather has been fine, have set all the clocks by the sun and adjusted them so closely that the clock in the dining-room is the only one which ever gives a sound after the others have struck. charles v. was a stupid fellow. you will understand that with so multifarious an occupation i have little time left to call on the clergymen; as they have no vote for the election it was quite impossible. "the elbe is full of ice, the wind e.s.e., the latest thermometer from berlin shews degrees, the barometer is rising and at . . i tell you this as an example how in your letters you might write to father more the small events of your life; they amuse him immensely; tell him who has been to see you, whom you have been calling on, what you had for dinner, how the horses are, how the servants behave, if the doors creak and the windows are firm--in short, facts and events. besides this, he does not like to be called papa, he dislikes the expression. _avis au lecteur_." on another occasion he says: "only with difficulty can i resist the temptation of filling a whole letter with agricultural lamentations over frosts, sick cattle, bad reap, bad roads, dead lambs, hungry sheep, want of straw, fodder, money, potatoes, and manure; outside johann is persistently whistling a wretched schottische out of tune, and i have not the cruelty to interrupt it, for he seeks to still by music his violent love-sickness." then we have long letters from nordeney, where he delighted in the sea, but space will not allow us to quote more. it is only in these letters, and in those which he wrote in later years to his wife, that we see the natural kindliness and simplicity of his disposition, his love of nature, and his great power of description. there have been few better letter-writers in germany or any other country. his ability and success as an agriculturist made a deep impression on his neighbours. as years went on he became much occupied in local business; he was appointed as the representative of his brother, who was landrath for the district; in he was elected one of the members for the provincial diet of pomerania. he also had a seat in the diet for the saxon province in which schoenhausen was situated. these local diets were the only form of representative government which existed in the rural districts; they had little power, but their opinion was asked on new projects of law, and they were officially regarded as an efficient substitute for a common prussian parliament. many of his friends, including his brother, urged him again to enter the public service, for which they considered he was especially adapted; he might have had the post of royal commissioner for improvements in east prussia. he did make one attempt to resume his official career. at the beginning of he returned to potsdam and took up his duties as referendar, but not for long; he seems to have quarrelled with his superior. the story is that he called one day to ask for leave of absence; his chief kept him waiting an hour in the anteroom, and when he was admitted asked him curtly, "what do you want?" bismarck at once answered, "i came to ask for leave of absence, but now i wish for permission to send in my resignation." he was clearly deficient in that subservience and ready obedience to authority which was the best passport to promotion in the civil service; there was in his disposition already a certain truculence and impatience. from this time he nourished a bitter hatred of the prussian bureaucracy. this did not, however, prevent him carrying out his public duties as a landed proprietor. in we find him taking much interest in proposals for improving the management of the manorial courts; he wished to see them altered so as to give something of the advantages of the english system; he regrets the "want of corporate spirit and public feeling in our corn-growing aristocracy"; "it is unfortunately difficult among most of the gentlemen to awake any other idea under the words 'patrimonial power' but the calculation whether the fee will cover the expenses." we can easily understand that the man who wrote this would be called a liberal by many of his neighbours; what he wanted, however, was a reform which would give life, permanency, and independence to an institution which like everything else was gradually falling before the inroads of the dominant bureaucracy. the same year he was appointed to the position of inspector of dykes for jerichow. the duties of this office were of considerable importance for schoenhausen and the neighbouring estate; as he writes, "it depends on the managers of this office whether from time to time we come under water or not." he often refers to the great damages caused by the floods; he had lost many of his fruit-trees, and many of the finest elms in the park had been destroyed by the overflowing of the elbe. as bismarck grew in age and experience he associated more with the neighbouring families. pomerania was at this time the centre of a curious religious movement; the leader was herr von thadden, who lived at triglaff, not many miles from kniephof. he was associated with herr von semft and three brothers of the family of below. they were all profoundly dissatisfied with the rationalistic religion preached by the clergy at that time, and aimed at greater inwardness and depth of religious feeling. herr von thadden started religious exercises in his own house, which were attended not only by the peasants from the village but by many of the country gentry; they desired the strictest enforcement of lutheran doctrine, and wished the state directly to support the church. this tendency of thought acquired greater importance when, in , frederick william iv succeeded to the throne; he was also a man of deep religious feeling, and under his reign the extreme lutheran party became influential at court. among the ablest of these were the three brothers von gerlach. one of them, otto, was a theologian; another, ludwig, was over-president of the saxon province, and with him bismarck had much official correspondence; the third, leopold, who had adopted a military career, was attached to the person of the king and was in later years to have more influence upon him than anyone except perhaps bunsen. the real intellectual leader of the party was stahl, a theologian. from about the year bismarck seems to have become very intimate with this religious coterie; his friend moritz v. blankenburg had married thadden's daughter and bismarck was constantly a visitor at triglaff. it was at blankenburg's wedding that he first met hans v. kleist, who was in later years to be one of his most intimate friends. he was, we are told, the most delightful and cheerful of companions; in his tact and refinement he shewed an agreeable contrast to the ordinary manners of pomerania. he often rode over to take part in shakespeare evenings, and amused them by accounts of his visit to england[ ]. he was present occasionally at the religious meetings at triglaff, and though he never quite adopted all the customs of the set the influence on him of these older men was for the next ten years to govern all his political action. that he was not altogether at one with them we can understand, when we are told that at herr von thadden's house it would never have occurred to anyone even to think of smoking. bismarck was then, as in later life, a constant smoker. the men who met in these family parties in distant pomerania were in a few years to change the whole of european history. here bismarck for the first time saw albrecht von roon, a cousin of the blankenburgs, then a rising young officer in the artillery; they often went out shooting together. the belows, blankenburgs, and kleists were to be the founders and leaders of the prussian conservative party, which was bismarck's only support in his great struggle with the parliament; and here, too, came the men who were afterwards to be editors and writers of the _kreuz zeitung_. the religious convictions which bismarck learnt from them were to be lasting, and they profoundly influenced his character. he had probably received little religious training from his mother, who belonged to the rationalistic school of thought. it was by them that his monarchical feeling was strengthened. it is not at first apparent what necessary connection there is between monarchical government and christian faith. for bismarck they were ever inseparably bound together; nothing but religious belief would have reconciled him to a form of government so repugnant to natural human reason. "if i were not a christian, i would be a republican," he said many years later; in christianity he found the only support against revolution and socialism. he was not the man to be beguiled by romantic sentiment; he was not a courtier to be blinded by the pomp and ceremony of royalty; he was too stubborn and independent to acquiesce in the arbitrary rule of a single man. he could only obey the king if the king himself held his authority as the representative of a higher power. bismarck was accustomed to follow out his thought to its conclusions. to whom did the king owe his power? there was only one alternative: to the people or to god. if to the people, then it was a mere question of convenience whether the monarchy were continued in form; there was little to choose between a constitutional monarchy where the king was appointed by the people and controlled by parliament, and an avowed republic. this was the principle held by nearly all his contemporaries. he deliberately rejected it. he did not hold that the voice of the people was the voice of god. this belief did not satisfy his moral sense; it seemed in public life to leave all to interest and ambition and nothing to duty. it did not satisfy his critical intellect; the word "people" was to him a vague idea. the service of the people or of the king by the grace of god, this was the struggle which was soon to be fought out. bismarck's connection with his neighbours was cemented by his marriage. at the beginning of , he was engaged to a fräulein von puttkammer, whom he had first met at the blankenburgs' house; she belonged to a quiet and religious family, and it is said that her mother was at first filled with dismay when she heard that johanna proposed to marry the mad bismarck. he announced the engagement to his sister in a letter containing the two words, "all right," written in english. before the wedding could take place, a new impulse in his life was to begin. as representative of the lower nobility he had to attend the meeting of the estates general which had been summoned in berlin. from this time the story of his life is interwoven with the history of his country. [illustration] chapter iii. the revolution. - . bismarck was a subject of the king of prussia, but prussia was after all only one part of a larger unit; it was a part of germany. at this time, however, germany was little more than a geographical expression. the medieval emperors had never succeeded in establishing permanent authority over the whole nation; what unity there had been was completely broken down at the reformation, and at the revolution the empire itself, the symbol of a union which no longer existed, had been swept away. at the restoration in the reorganisation of germany was one of the chief tasks before the congress of vienna. it was a task in which the statesmen failed. all proposals to restore the empire were rejected, chiefly because francis, who had taken the style of emperor of austria, did not desire to resume his old title. germany emerged from the revolution divided into thirty-nine different states; austria was one of the largest and most populous monarchies in europe, but more than half the austrian empire consisted of italian, slavonic, and hungarian provinces. the emperor of austria ruled over about , , germans. the next state in size and importance was prussia. then came four states, the kingdoms of saxony, hanover, bavaria, and würtemberg, varying in size from five to two million inhabitants; below them were some thirty principalities of which the smallest contained only a few thousand inhabitants. by the principles adopted in the negotiations which preceded the congress of vienna, every one of these states was recognised as a complete independent monarchy, with its own laws and constitutions. the recognition of this independence made any common government impossible. neither austria nor prussia would submit to any external authority, or to one another; the kings of bavaria and würtemberg were equally jealous of their independence. all that could be done was to establish a permanent offensive and defensive alliance between these states. for the management of common concerns, a diet was appointed to meet at frankfort; the diet, however, was only a union of diplomatists; they had to act in accordance with instructions from their governments and they had no direct authority over the germans; each german was officially regarded as a subject, as the case might be, of the king of prussia, the prince of reuss, the grand duke of weimar. there was no german army, no german law, no german church. no development of common institutions was possible, for no change could be introduced without the universal consent of every member of the confederation. this lamentable result of the congress of vienna caused much dissatisfaction among the thinking classes in germany. a very strong national feeling had been aroused by the war against napoleon. this found no satisfaction in the new political institutions. the discontent was increased when it was discovered that the diet, so useless for all else, was active only against liberty. prince metternich, a very able diplomatist, knew that the liberal and national ideas, which were so generally held at that time, would be fatal to the existence of the austrian empire; he therefore attempted to suppress them, not only in austria, but also in germany, as he did in italy. unfortunately the king of prussia, frederick william iii., whose interests were really entirely opposed to those of austria, was persuaded by metternich to adopt a repressive policy. the two great powers when combined could impose their will on germany; they forced through the diet a series of measures devoted to the restriction of the liberty of the press, the control of the universities, and the suppression of democratic opinion. the result of this was great discontent in germany, which was especially directed against prussia; in the outbreak of revolution in paris had been followed by disturbances in many german states; austria and prussia, however, were still strong enough to maintain the old system. the whole intellect of the country was diverted to a policy of opposition; in the smaller states of the south, parliamentary government had been introduced; and the great aim of the liberals was to establish a parliament in prussia also. in the old king died; the son, frederick william iv., was a man of great learning, noble character, high aspirations; he was, however, entirely without sympathy or understanding for the modern desires of his countrymen; he was a child of the romantic movement; at the head of the youngest of european monarchies, he felt himself more at home in the middle ages than in his own time. there could be no sympathy between him and the men who took their politics from rousseau and louis blanc, and their religion from strauss. it had been hoped that he would at once introduce into prussia representative institutions. he long delayed, and the delay took away any graciousness from the act when at last it was committed. by a royal decree published in it had been determined that no new loan could be made without the assent of an assembly of elected representatives; the introduction of railways made a loan necessary, and at the beginning of frederick william summoned for the first time the states general. the king of prussia had thereby stirred up a power which he was unable to control; he had hoped that he would be able to gather round him the representatives of the nobles, the towns, and the peasants; that this new assembly, collecting about him in respectful homage, would add lustre to his throne; that they would vote the money which was required and then separate. how much was he mistaken! the nation had watched for years parliamentary government in england and france; this was what they wished to have, and now they were offered a modern imitation of medieval estates. they felt themselves as grown men able and justified in governing their own country; the king treated them as children. the opening ceremony completed the bad impression which the previous acts of the king had made. while the majority of the nation desired a formal and written constitution, the king in his opening speech with great emphasis declared that he would never allow a sheet of paper to come between him and god in heaven. bismarck was not present at the opening ceremony; it was, in fact, owing to an accident that he was able to take his seat at all; he was there as substitute for the member for the _ritterschaft_ of jerichow, who had fallen ill. he entered on his parliamentary duties as a young and almost unknown man; he did not belong to any party, but his political principles were strongly influenced by the friends he had found in pomerania. they were soon to be hardened by conflict and confirmed by experience; during the first debates he sat silent, but his indignation rose as he listened to the speeches of the liberal majority. nothing pleased them; instead of actively co-operating with the government in the consideration of financial measures, they began to discuss and criticise the proclamation by which they had been summoned. there was indeed ample scope for criticism; the estates were so arranged that the representatives of the towns could always be outvoted by the landed proprietors; they had not even the right of periodical meetings; the king was not compelled to call them together again until he required more money. they not only petitioned for increased powers, they demanded them as a right; they maintained that an assembly summoned in this form did not meet the intentions of previous laws; when they were asked to allow a loan for a railway in east prussia, they refused on the ground that they were not a properly qualified assembly. this was too much for bismarck: the action of the king might have been inconclusive; much that he said was indiscreet; but it remained true that he had taken the decisive step; no one really doubted that prussia would never again be without a parliament. it would be much wiser, as it would be more chivalrous, to adopt a friendly tone and not to attempt to force concessions from him. he was especially indignant at the statement made that the prussian people had earned constitutional government by the part they took in the war of liberation; against this he protested: "in my opinion it is a bad service to the national honour to assume that the ill-treatment and degradation that the prussians suffered from a foreign ruler were not enough to make our blood boil, and to deaden all other feelings but that of hatred for the foreigners." when told that he was not alive at the time, he answered: "i cannot dispute that i was not living then, and i have been genuinely sorry that i was not born in time to take part in that movement; a regret which is diminished by what i have just heard. i had always believed that the slavery against which we fought lay abroad; i have just learned that it lay at home, and i am not grateful for the explanation." the ablest of the liberal leaders was george v. vincke; a member of an old westphalian family, the son of a high official, he was a man of honesty and independence, but both virtues were carried to excess; a born leader of opposition, domineering, quarrelsome, ill to please, his short, sturdy figure, his red face and red hair were rather those of a peasant than a nobleman, but his eloquence, his bitter invective, earned the respect and even fear of his opponents. among these bismarck was to be ranged; in these days began a rivalry which was not to cease till nearly twenty years later, when vincke retired from the field and bismarck stood triumphant, the recognised ruler of the state. at this time it required courage in the younger man to cross swords with the experienced and powerful leader. vincke was a strong liberal, but in the english rather than the prussian sense; his constant theme was the rule of law; he had studied english history, for at that time all liberals prepared themselves for their part by reading hallam or guizot and dahlmann; he knew all about pym and hampden, and wished to imitate them. the english parliament had won its power by means of a petition of right and a bill of rights; he wished they should do the same in prussia; it escaped him that the english could appeal to charters and ancient privileges, but that in prussia the absolute power of the king was the undisputed basis on which the whole state had been built up, and that every law to which they owed their liberty or their property derived its validity from the simple proclamation of the king. bismarck, if he had read less, understood better the characteristics of england, probably because he knew better the conditions of his own country. he rose to protest against these parallels with england; prussia had its own problems which must be settled in its own way. "parallels with foreign countries have always something disagreeable.... at the revolution, the english people were in a very different condition from that of prussia to-day; after a century of revolution and civil war, it was in a position to be able to give away a crown and add conditions which william of orange accepted. on the other hand, we are in possession of a crown whose rights were actually unlimited, a crown held by the grace not of the people but of god, and which of its own free-will has given away to the people a portion of its rights--an example rare in history." it shows how strong upon him was the influence of his friends in pomerania that his longest and most important speech was in defence of the christian monarchy. the occasion was a proposal to increase the privileges of the jews. he said: "i am no enemy of the jews; if they become my enemies i will forgive them. under certain circumstances i love them; i am ready to grant them all rights but that of holding the magisterial office in a christian state. this they now claim; they demand to become landrath, general, minister, yes even, under circumstances, minister of religion and education. i allow that i am full of prejudices, which, as i have said, i have sucked in with my mother's milk; i cannot argue them away; for if i think of a jew face to face with me as a representative of the king's sacred majesty, and i have to obey him, i must confess that i should feel myself deeply broken and depressed; the sincere self-respect with which i now attempt to fulfil my duties towards the state would leave me. i share these feelings with the mass of the lower strata of the people, and i am not ashamed of their society." and then he spoke of the christian state: "it is as old as every european state; it is the ground in which they have taken root; no state has a secure existence unless it has a religious foundation. for me, the words, 'by the grace of god,' which christian rulers add to their name, are no empty phrase; i see in them a confession that the princes desire to wield the sceptre which god has given them according to the will of god on earth. as the will of god i can only recognise that which has been revealed in the christian gospel--i believe that the realisation of christian teaching is the end of the state; i do not believe that we shall more nearly approach this end by the help of the jews.... if we withdraw this foundation, we retain in a state nothing but an accidental aggregate of rights, a kind of bulwark against the war of all against all, which ancient philosophy has assumed. therefore, gentlemen, do not let us spoil the people of their christianity; do not let us take from them the belief that our legislation is drawn from the well of christianity, and that the state aims at the realisation of christianity even if it does not attain its end." we can well understand how delighted herr von thadden was with his pupil. "with bismarck i naturally will not attempt to measure myself," he writes; "in the last debates he has again said many admirable things"; and in another letter, "i am quite enthusiastic for otto bismarck." it was more important that the king felt as if these words had been spoken out of his own heart. among his opponents, too, he had made his mark; they were never tired of repeating well-worn jests about the medieval opinions which he had sucked in with his mother's milk. at the close of the session, he returned to pomerania with fresh laurels; he was now looked upon as the rising hope of the stern and unbending tories. his marriage took place in august, and the young hans kleist, a cousin of the bride, as he proposed the bridegroom's health, foretold that in their friend had arisen a new otto of saxony who would do for his country all that his namesake had done eight hundred years before. careless words spoken half in jest, which thirty years later kleist, then over-president of the province, recalled when he proposed the bridegroom's health at the marriage of bismarck's eldest daughter. the forecast had been more than fulfilled, but fulfilled at the cost of many an early friendship; and all the glory of later years could never quite repay the happy confidence and intimacy of those younger days. followed by the good wishes of all their friends, bismarck and his young wife started on their wedding tour, which took them through austria to italy. at venice he came across the king of prussia, who took the opportunity to have more than one conversation with the man who had distinguished himself in the states general. at the beginning of the winter they returned to schoenhausen to settle down to a quiet country life. fate was to will it otherwise. the storm which had long been gathering burst over europe. bismarck was carried away by it; from henceforth his life was entirely devoted to public duties, and we can count by months the time he was able to spend with his wife at the old family house; more than forty years were to pass before he was able again to enjoy the leisure of his early years. the revolution which at the end of february broke out in paris quickly spread to germany; the ground was prepared and the news quickly came to him, first of disorder in south germany, then of the fall of the ministry in dresden and munich; after a few days it was told that a revolution had taken place in vienna itself. the rising in austria was the signal for berlin, and on the th of march the revolution broke out there also. the king had promised to grant a constitution; a fierce fight had taken place in the streets of the city between the soldiers and the people; the king had surrendered to the mob, and had ordered the troops to withdraw from the city. he was himself almost a prisoner in his castle protected only by a civilian national guard. he was exposed to the insults of the crowd; his brother had had to leave the city and the country. it is impossible to describe the enthusiasm and wild delight with which the people of germany heard of these events. now the press was free, now they also were going to be free and great and strong. all the resistance of authority was overthrown; nothing, it seemed, stood between them and the attainment of their ideal of a united and free germany. they had achieved a revolution; they had become a political people; they had shewn themselves the equals of england and of france. they had liberty, and they would soon have a constitution. bismarck did not share this feeling; he saw only that the monarchy which he respected, and the king whom, with all his faults, he loved and honoured, were humiliated and disgraced. this was worse than jena. a defeat on the field of battle can be avenged; here the enemies were his own countrymen; it was prussian subjects who had made the king the laughing-stock of europe. only a few months ago he had pleaded that they should not lose that confidence between king and people which was the finest tradition of the prussian state; could this confidence ever be restored when the blood of so many soldiers and citizens had been shed? he felt as though someone had struck him in the face, for his country's dishonour was to him as his own; he became ill with gall and anger. he had only two thoughts: first to restore to the king courage and confidence, and then--revenge on the men who had done this thing. he at least was not going to play with the revolution. he at once sat down and wrote to the king a letter full of ardent expressions of loyalty and affection, that he might know there still were men on whom he could rely. it is said that for months after, through all this terrible year, the king kept it open by him on his writing-table. then he hurried to berlin, if necessary to defend him with the sword. this was not necessary, but the situation was almost worse than he feared; the king was safe, but he was safe because he had surrendered to the revolution; he had proclaimed the fatal words that _prussia was to be dissolved in germany_. at potsdam bismarck found his old friends of the guard and the court; they were all in silent despair. what could they do to save the monarchy when the king himself had deserted their cause? some there were who even talked of seeking help from the czar of russia, who had offered to come to the help of the monarchy in prussia and place himself at the head of the prussian army, even if necessary against their own king. there was already a liberal ministry under count arnim, bismarck's old chief at aachen; the prussian troops were being sent to support the people of schleswig-holstein in their rebellion against the danes; the ministers favoured the aspirations of poland for self-government; in prussia there was to be a constituent assembly and a new constitution drawn up by it. bismarck did what he could; he went down to schoenhausen and began to collect signatures for an address of loyalty to the king; he wished to instil into him confidence by appealing to the loyalty of the country against the radicalism of the town. then he hurried back to berlin for the meeting of the estates general, which had been hastily summoned to prepare for the new elections. an address was proposed thanking the king for the concessions he had made; bismarck opposed it, but he stood almost alone. "i have not changed my opinion," he said, "in the last six months; the past is buried, and i regret more bitterly than any of you that no human power can reawaken it, now that the crown itself has cast the earth on its coffin." two men alone voted against the address--bismarck and herr von thadden. "it is easy to get fame nowadays," said the latter; "a little courage is all one requires." courage it did require; berlin was terrorised; the new national guard was unable to maintain order; men scarcely dared to appear in the streets in the ordinary dress of a gentleman. the city was full of polish insurgents, many of whom had only just been released from prison. when the national assembly came together, it became the organ of the extreme republican party; all the more moderate men and more distinguished had preferred to be elected for that general german assembly which at the same time was sitting at frankfort to create a new constitution for the whole confederation. how quickly had the balance of parties altered: vincke, until a few months ago the leader of the liberals, found himself at frankfort regarded as an extreme conservative; and frankfort was moderate compared to berlin. at this time an ordinary english radical would have been looked upon in germany as almost reactionary. bismarck did not seek election for either of the assemblies; he felt that he could do no good by taking part in the deliberations of a parliament, the very meeting of which seemed to him an offence against the laws and welfare of the state. he would indeed have had no logical position; both parliaments were constituent assemblies; it was the duty of the one to build up a new germany, of the other a new prussia; their avowed object was the regeneration of their country. bismarck did not believe that prussia wanted regenerating; he held that the roots for the future greatness of the state must be found in the past. what happened to germany he did not much care; all he saw was that every proposal for the regeneration of germany implied either a dissolution of prussia, or the subjection of the prussian king to the orders of an alien parliament. during the summer he did what he could; he contributed articles to the newspapers attacking the polish policy of the government, and defending the landlords and country gentry against the attacks made on them. as the months went by, as the anarchy in berlin increased, and the violence of the assembly as well as the helplessness of the government became more manifest, he and some of his friends determined to make their voices heard in a more organised way. it was at the house of his father-in-law at rheinfeld that he, hans kleist, and herr von below determined to call together a meeting of well-known men in berlin, who should discuss the situation and be a moral counterpoise to the meetings of the national assembly; for in that the conservative party and even the moderate liberals were scarcely represented; if they did speak they were threatened by the mob which encumbered the approaches to the house. of more permanent importance was the foundation of a newspaper which should represent the principles of the christian monarchy, and in july appeared the first number of the _new prussian gazette_, or, as it was to be more generally known, the _kreuz zeitung_, which was to give its name to the party of which it was the organ. bismarck was among the founders, among whom were also numbered stahl, the gerlachs, and others of his older friends; he was a frequent contributor, and when he was at berlin was almost daily at the office; when he was in the country he contributed articles on the rural affairs with which he was more specially qualified to deal. these steps, of course, attracted the attention and the hostility of the dominant liberal and revolutionary parties; the _junker_, as they were called, were accused of aiming at reaction and the restoration of the absolute monarchy. as a matter of fact, this is what many of them desired; they were, however, only doing their duty as members of society; it would have been mere cowardice and indolence had they remained inactive and seen all the institutions they valued overthrown without attempting to defend them. it required considerable courage in the middle of so violent a crisis to come forward and attempt to stop the revolution; it was a good example that they began to do so by constitutional and legal means. they shewed that prussia had an aristocracy, and an aristocracy which was not frightened; deserted by the king they acted alone; in the hour of greatest danger they founded a conservative party, and matters had come to this position that an organised conservative party was the chief necessity of the time. at first, however, their influence was small, for a monarchical party must depend for its success on the adhesion of the king, and the king had not yet resolved to separate himself from his liberal advisers. bismarck was often at court and seems to have had much influence; both to his other companions and to the king himself he preached always courage and resolution; he spoke often to the king with great openness; he was supported by leopold von gerlach, with whom at this time he contracted a close intimacy. for long their advice was in vain, but in the autumn events occurred which shewed that some decision must be taken: the mob of berlin stormed the _zeughaus_ where the arms were kept; the constitution of the assembly was being drawn up so as to leave the king scarcely any influence in the state; a resolution was passed calling on the ministers to request all officers to leave the army who disliked the new order of things. the crisis was brought about by events in vienna; in october the austrian army under jellachich and windischgrätz stormed the city, proclaimed martial law, and forcibly overthrew the revolutionary government; the king of prussia now summoned resolution to adopt a similar course. it is said that bismarck suggested to him the names of the ministers to whom the task should be entrusted. the most important were count brandenburg, an uncle of the king's, and otto v. manteuffel, a member of the prussian aristocracy, who with bismarck had distinguished himself in the estates general. he seems to have been constantly going about among the more influential men, encouraging them as he encouraged the king, and helping behind the scenes to prepare for the momentous step. gerlach had suggested bismarck's name as one of the ministers, but the king rejected it, writing on the side of the paper the characteristic words, "red reactionary; smells of blood; will be useful later." bismarck's language was of such a nature as to alarm even many of those who associated with him. count beust, the saxon minister, was at this time in berlin and met bismarck for the first time; they were discussing the conduct of the austrian government in shooting robert blum, a leading demagogue who had been in vienna during the siege. beust condemned it as a political blunder. "no, you are wrong," said bismarck; "when i have my enemy in my power i must destroy him." the event fully justified bismarck's forecast that nothing was required but courage and resolution. after brandenburg had been appointed minister, the prussian troops under wrangel again entered berlin, a state of siege was proclaimed, the assembly was ordered to adjourn to brandenburg; they refused and were at once ejected from their meeting-place, and as a quorum was not found at brandenburg, were dissolved. the crown then of its own authority published a new constitution and summoned a new assembly to discuss and ratify it. based on the discipline of the army the king had regained his authority without the loss of a single life. bismarck stood for election in this new assembly, for he could accept the basis on which it had been summoned; he took his seat for the district of the west havel in which the old city of brandenburg, the original capital of the mark, was situated. he had come forward as an opponent of the revolution. "everyone," he said in his election address, "must support the government in the course they have taken of combating the revolution which threatens us all." "no transaction with the revolution," was the watchword proposed in the manifesto of his party. he appealed to the electors as one who would direct all his efforts to restore the old bond of confidence between crown and people. he kept his promise. in this assembly the extreme left was still the predominant party; in an address to the crown they asked that the state of siege at berlin should be raised, and that an amnesty to those who had fought on the th of march should be proclaimed. bismarck did not yet think that the time for forgiveness had come; the struggle was indeed not yet over. he opposed the first demand because, as he said, there was more danger to liberty of debate from the armed mob than there was from the prussian soldiers. in one of the most careful of his speeches he opposed the amnesty. "amnesty," he said, "was a right of the crown, not of the assembly"; moreover the repeated amnesties were undermining in the people the feeling of law; the opinion was being spread about that the law of the state rested on the barricades, that everyone who disliked a law or considered it unjust had the right to consider it as non-existent. who that has read the history of europe during this year can doubt the justice of the remark? then he continues: "my third reason for voting against the amnesty is humanity. the strife of principles which during this year has shattered europe to its foundations is one in which no compromise is possible. they rest on opposite bases. the one draws its law from what is called the will of the people, in truth, however, from the law of the strongest on the barricades. the other rests on authority created by god, an authority by the grace of god, and seeks its development in organic connection with the existing and constitutional legal status ... the decision on these principles will come not by parliamentary debate, not by majorities of eleven votes; sooner or later the god who directs the battle will cast his iron dice." these words were greeted with applause, not only by the men who sat on his side of the house, but by those opposite to him. the truth of them was to be shewn by the events which were taking place at that very time. they were spoken on the d of march. the next day was fought the battle of novara and it seemed that the last hopes of the italian patriots were shattered. within a few months the austrian army subdued with terrible vengeance the rising in lombardy and venetia; hungary was prostrate before the troops whom the czar sent to help the young austrian emperor, and the last despairing outbreak of rebellion in saxony and in baden was to be subdued by the prussian army. the revolution had failed and it had raised up, as will always happen, a military power, harder, crueller, and more resolute than that it had overthrown. the control over europe had passed out of the hands of metternich and louis philippe to fall into those of nicholas, schwarzenberg, and napoleon iii. in prussia the king used his power with moderation, the conflict of parties was continued within legal limits and under constitutional forms. the parliament which still claimed that control over the executive government which all parliaments of the revolution had exercised, was dissolved. a new assembly met in august; the king had of his own authority altered the electoral law and the new parliament showed a considerable majority belonging to the more moderate liberal party. bismarck retained his old seat. he still found much to do; his influence was increasing; he opposed the doctrines of the more moderate liberalism with the same energy with which he had attacked the extreme revolution. the most important debates were those concerning the constitution; he took part in them, especially opposing the claim of the parliament to refuse taxes. he saw that if the right was given to the lower house of voting the taxes afresh every year they would be able to establish a complete control over the executive government; this he did not wish. he was willing that they should have the right of discussing and rejecting any new taxes and also, in agreement with the crown and the upper house, of determining the annual budget. it was maintained by the liberals that the right to reject supplies every year was an essential part of a constitutional system; they appealed to the practice in england and to the principles adopted in the french and belgian constitutions. their argument was that this practice which had been introduced in other countries must be adopted also in prussia. it was just one of those arguments which above all offended bismarck's prussian patriotism. why should prussia imitate other countries? why should it not have its own constitution in its own way? constitution, as he said, was the _mot d'ordre_ of the day, the word which men used when they were in want of an argument. "in prussia that only is constitutional which arises from the prussian constitution; whatever be constitutional in belgium, or in france, in anhalt dessau, or there where the morning red of mecklenburg freedom shines, here that alone is constitutional which rests on the prussian constitution." if he defended the prerogative of the crown he defended the constitution of his country. a constitution is the collection of rules and laws by which the action of the king is governed; a state without a constitution is a mere oriental despotism where each arbitrary whim of the king is transmuted into action; this was not what bismarck desired or defended; there was no danger of this in prussia. he did not even oppose changes in the law and practice of the constitution; what he did oppose was the particular change which would transfer the sovereignty to an elected house of parliament. "it has been maintained," he once said, "that a constitutional king cannot be a king by the grace of god; on the contrary he is it above all others." the references to foreign customs were indeed one of the most curious practices of the time; the matter was once being discussed whether the crown had the power to declare a state of siege without the assent of the chambers; most speakers attempted to interpret the text of the prussian constitution by precedents derived from the practice in france and england; we find the minister of justice defending his action on the ground of an event in the french revolution, and lothar bucher, one of the ablest of the opposition, complained that not enough attention had been paid to the procedure adopted in england for repealing the _habeas corpus act_, entirely ignoring the fact that there was no habeas corpus act in prussia. we can easily understand how repulsive this was to a man who, like bismarck, wished nothing more than that his countrymen should copy, not the details of the english constitution, but the proud self-reliance which would regard as impertinent an application of foreign notions. the chief cause for this peculiarity was the desire of the liberal party to attain that degree of independence and personal liberty which was enjoyed in england or france; the easiest way to do this seemed to be to copy their institutions. there was, however, another reason: the study of roman law in germany in which they had been educated had accustomed them to look for absolute principles of jurisprudence which might be applied to the legislation of all countries; when, therefore, they turned their minds to questions of politics, they looked for absolute principles of constitutional government, on which, as on a law of nature, their own institutions might be built up. to find these they analysed the english constitution, for england was the classical land of representative government; they read its rules as they would the institutions of a roman jurisconsult and used them to cast light on the dark places of their own law. bismarck did not share this type of thought; his mind was rather of the english cast; he believed the old prussian constitution was as much a natural growth as that of england, and decided dark points by reference to older practice as an englishman would search for precedents in the history of his own country. at that time the absolute excellence of a democratic constitution was a dogma which few cared to dispute; it appeared to his hearers as a mere paradox when bismarck pointed out how little evidence there was that a great country could prosper under the government of a parliament elected by an extended franchise. strictly speaking, there was no evidence from experience; france, as he said, was the parent of all these theories, but the example of france was certainly not seductive. "i see in the present circumstances of france nothing to encourage us to put the _nessus_ robe of french political teaching over our healthy body." (this was in september, , when the struggle between the prince president and the assembly was already impending.) the liberals appealed to belgium; it had, at least, stood the storm of the last year, but so had russia, and, after all, the belgian constitution was only eighteen years old, "an admirable age for ladies but not for constitutions." and then there was england. "england governs itself, although the lower house has the right of refusing taxes. the references to england are our misfortune; give us all that is english which we have not, give us english fear of god and english reverence before the law, the whole english constitution, but above all the complete independence of english landed property, english wealth and english common-sense, especially an english lower house, in short everything which we have not got, then i will say, you can govern us after the english fashion." but this was not all. how could they appeal to england as a proof that a democratic parliament was desirable? england had not grown great under a democratic but under an aristocratic constitution. "english reform is younger than the belgian constitution; we have still to wait and see whether this reformed constitution will maintain itself for centuries as did the earlier rule of the english aristocracy." that, in bismarck's opinion, it was not likely to do so, we see a few years later; with most continental critics of english institutions, he believed that the reform bill had destroyed the backbone of the english constitution. in he wrote: "they have lost the 'inherited wisdom' since the reform bill; they maintain a coarse and violent selfishness and the ignorance of continental relations." it was not merely aristocratic prejudice; it was a wise caution to bid his countrymen pause before they adopted from foreign theorists a form of government so new and untried, and risked for the sake of an experiment the whole future of prussia. in later years bismarck apologised for many of the speeches which he made at this period: "i was a terrible junker in those days," he said; and biographers generally speak of them as though they required justification or apology. there seems no reason for this. it would have been impossible for him, had he at that time been entrusted with the government of the state, entirely to put into practice what he had said from his place in the chamber. but he was not minister; he was only a party leader; his speeches were, as they were intended to be, party speeches; they had something of the exaggeration which conflict always produces. they were, moreover, opposition speeches, for he was addressing not so much the government as the chamber and the country, and in them the party to which he belonged was a very small minority. but why was there not to be a conservative party in prussia? it was necessary for the proper development of constitutional life that the dominant liberal doctrines should be opposed by this bold criticism. bismarck was only doing what in england was done by the young disraeli, by carlyle, and by ruskin; the world would not be saved by constitutional formulæ. there were some of his party whose aims went indeed beyond what may be considered morally legitimate and politically practicable. the gerlachs and many of their friends, and the purely military party which was headed by prince charles frederick, the king's youngest brother, desired to do away with the constitution, to dismiss the parliament, and to restore the absolute monarchy in a form which would have been more extreme than that which it had had since . the king himself sympathised with their wishes and he probably would have acted according to them were it not that he had sworn to maintain the constitution. he was a religious man and he respected his oath. there does not appear any evidence that bismarck wished for extreme action of this kind. even in his private correspondence, at least in that part of it which has been published, one finds no desire to see prussia entirely without a parliament. it was a very different thing to wish as he did that the duties of the parliament should be strictly limited and that they should not be allowed completely to govern the state. we must always remember how much he owed to representative assemblies. had the estates general never been summoned, had the revolution never taken place, he would probably have passed his life as a country gentleman, often discontented with the government of the country but entirely without influence. he owed to parliament his personal reputation, but he owed to it something more than that. up to the only public career open to a prussian subject was the civil service; it was from them that not only the subordinate officials but the ministers of the state were selected. now we have seen that bismarck had tried the civil service and deliberately retired from it. the hatred of bureaucracy he never overcame, even when he was at the head of the prussian state. it arose partly from the natural opposition between the nobleman and the clerk. bismarck felt in this like stein, the greatest of his predecessors, who though he had taken service under the prussian crown never overcame his hatred of "_the animal with a pen_" as he called prussian civil servants, and shed tears of indignation when he was first offered a salary. bismarck was never a great nobleman like stein and he did not dislike receiving a salary; but he felt that the civil servants were the enemies of the order to which he belonged. he speaks a few years later of "the biting acid of prussian legislation which in a single generation can reduce a mediatised prince to an ordinary voter." he is never tired of saying that it was the bureaucracy which was the real introducer of the revolution into prussia. in one of his speeches he defends himself and his friends against the charge of being enemies to freedom; "that they were not," he says; "absolutism with us is closely connected with the omnipotence of the _geheimrath_ and the conceited omniscience of the professors who sit behind the green table, a product, and i venture to maintain a necessary product, of the prussian method of education. this product, the bureaucracy, i have never loved." when, as he often does, he maintains that the prussian parliament does not represent the people, he is thinking of the predominance among them of officials, for we must always remember that many of the extreme liberal party and some of their most active leaders were men who were actually at that time in the service of the crown. it was the introduction of a representative assembly that for the first time in prussian history made possible a conservative opposition against the liberalism of the prussian government. there are two kinds of liberalism. in one sense of the word it means freedom of debate, freedom of the press, the power of the individual as against the government, independence of character, and personal freedom. of liberalism in this sense of the word there was indeed little in the prussian government. but liberalism also meant the overthrow of the old established institutions inherited from the middle ages, especially the destruction of all privileges held by the nobility; it meant on the continent opposition to all form of dogmatic religious teaching; it meant the complete subjection of the church to the state; it meant the abolition of all local distinctions and the introduction of a uniform system of government chiefly imitated from french institutions. it was in this sense of the word that, with the exception of the first few years of the reign of frederick william iv., the prussian government had been liberal, and it was this liberalism which bismarck and his friends hated almost as much as they did the liberalism of the revolution. the clearest instance of his attitude on such matters is to be found in his opposition to the bill introduced for making civil marriage compulsory. he opposed it in a speech which was many years later to be quoted against him when he himself introduced a measure almost identical with that which he now opposed. civil marriage, he said, was a foreign institution, an imitation of french legislation; it would simply serve to undermine the belief in christianity among the people, "and" he said, "i have seen many friends of the illumination during the last year or two come to recognise that a certain degree of positive christianity is necessary for the common man, if he is not to become dangerous to human society." the desire for introducing this custom was merely an instance of the constant wish to imitate what is foreign. "it would be amusing," he said, "if it were not just our own country which was subjected to these experiments of french charlatanism. in the course of the discussion it has often been said by gentlemen standing in this place that europe holds us for a people of thinkers. gentlemen, that was in old days. the popular representation of the last two years has deprived us of this reputation. they have shown to a disappointed europe only translators of french stucco but no original thinkers. it may be that when civil marriage also rejoices in its majority, the people will have their eyes opened to the swindle to which they have been sacrificed; when one after another the old christian fundamental rights have been taken from them: the right to be governed by christian magistrates; the right to know that they have secured to their children a christian education in schools which christian parents are compelled to maintain and to use; the right of being married in the christian fashion which his faith requires from everyone, without being dependent on constitutional ceremonies. if we go on in this way i hope still to see the day when the fool's ship of the time will be wrecked on the rock of the christian church; for the belief in the revealed word of god still stands firmer among the people than the belief in the saving power of any article of the constitution." in the same way he was able from his place in parliament to criticise the proposals of the government for freeing the peasants from those payments in kind, and personal service which in some of the provinces still adhered to their property; he attacked their financial proposals; he exposed the injustice of the land tax; he defended the manorial jurisdiction of the country gentlemen. especially he defended the nobles of prussia themselves, a class against whom so many attacks had been made. he pointed out that by them and by their blood the prussian state had been built up; the prussian nobles were, he maintained, not, as so often was said, unpopular; a third of the house belonged to them; they were not necessarily opposed to freedom; they were, at least, the truest defenders of the state. let people not confuse patriotism and liberalism. who had done more for the true political independence of the state, that independence without which all freedom was impossible, than the prussian nobles? at the end of the seven years' war boys had stood at the head of the army, the only survivors of their families. the privileges of the nobles had been taken from them, but they had not behaved like the democrats; their loyalty to the state had never wavered; they had not even formed a fronde. he was not ashamed of the name of junker: "we will bring the name to glory and honour," were almost the last words he spoke in parliament. bismarck soon became completely at home in the house. notwithstanding the strength of his opinions and the vigour with which he gave expression to them, he was not unpopular, even among his opponents. he was always a gentleman and a man of the world; he did not dislike mixing with men of all classes and all parties; he had none of that stiffness and hauteur which many of his friends had acquired from their military pursuits. his relations with his opponents are illustrated by an anecdote of which there are many versions. he found himself one day while in the refreshment room standing side by side with d'ester, one of the most extreme of the republican party. they fell into conversation, and d'ester suggested that they should make a compact and, whichever party succeeded in the struggle for power, they should each agree to spare the other. if the republicans won, bismarck should not be guillotined; if the monarchists, d'ester should not be hung. "no," answered bismarck, "that is no use; if you come into power, life would not be worth living. there must be hanging, but courtesy to the foot of the gallows." if he was in after years to become known as the great adversary of parliamentary government, this did not arise from any incapacity to hold his own in parliamentary debate. he did not indeed aim at oratory; then, as in later years, he always spoke with great contempt of men who depended for power on their rhetorical ability. he was himself deficient in the physical gifts of a great speaker; powerful as was his frame, his voice was thin and weak. he had nothing of the actor in him; he could not command the deep voice, the solemn tones, the imposing gestures, the olympian mien by which men like waldeck and radowitz and gagern dominated and controlled their audience. his own mind was essentially critical; he appealed more to the intellect than the emotions. his speeches were always controversial, but he was an admirable debater. it is curious to see how quickly he adopts the natural parliamentary tone. his speeches are all subdued in tone and conversational in manner. many of them were very carefully prepared, for though he did not generally write them out, he said them over and over again to himself or to kleist, with whom he lived in berlin. they are entirely unlike any other speeches--he has, in fact, in them, as in his letters, added a new chapter to the literature of his country, hitherto so poor in prose. they shew a vivid imagination and an almost unequalled power of illustration. the thought is always concrete, and he is never satisfied with the vague ideas and abstract conceptions which so easily moved his contemporaries. no speeches, either in english or in german, preserve so much of their freshness. he is almost the only parliamentary orator whose speeches have become to some extent a popular book; no other orator has enriched the language as he has done with new phrases and images. the great characteristic of his speeches, as of his letters, is the complete absence of affectation and the very remarkable intellectual honesty. they are often deficient in order and arrangement; he did not excel in the logical exposition of a connected argument, but he never was satisfied till he had presented the idea which influenced him in words so forcible and original that it was impressed on the minds of his audience, and he was often able to find expressions which will not be forgotten so long as the german language is spoken. we can easily imagine that under other circumstances, or in another country, he would have risen to power and held office as a parliamentary minister. he often appeals to the practice and traditions of the english parliament, and there are few continental statesmen who would have been so completely at home in the english house of commons; he belonged to the class of men from whom so many of the great english statesmen had come and whom he himself describes: "what with us is lacking is the whole class which in england carries on politics, the class of gentlemen who are well-to-do and therefore conservative, who are independent of material interests and whose whole education is directed towards making them english statesmen, and the object of whose life is to take part in the commonwealth of england." they were the class to whom he belonged, and he would gladly have taken part in a parliamentary government of this kind. the weakness of his position arose from the fact that he was really acquainted with and represented the inhabitants of only one-half of the monarchy. so long as he is dealing with questions of landed property, or of the condition of the peasants, he has a minute and thorough knowledge. he did not always, however, avoid the danger of speaking as though prussia consisted entirely of agriculturists. the great difficulty then as now of governing the state, was that it consisted of two parts: the older provinces, almost entirely agricultural, where the land was held chiefly by the great nobles, and the new provinces, the rhine and westphalia, where there was a large and growing industrial population. to the inhabitants of these provinces bismarck's constant appeal to the old prussian traditions and to the achievements of the prussian nobility could have little meaning. what did the citizens of cologne and aachen care about the seven years' war? if their ancestors took part in the war, it would be as enemies of the kings of prussia. when bismarck said that they were prussians, and would remain prussian, he undoubtedly spoke the opinion of the mark and of pomerania. but the inhabitants of the western provinces still felt and thought rather as germans than as prussians; they had scarcely been united with the monarchy thirty years; they were not disloyal, but they were quite prepared--nay, they wished to see prussia dissolved in germany. no one can govern prussia unless he is able to reconcile to his policy these two different classes in the state. it was this which the prussian conservatives, to which bismarck at that time belonged, have always failed to do. the liberals whom he opposed failed equally. in later years he was very nearly to succeed in a task which might appear almost impossible. [illustration] chapter iv. the german problem. - . bismarck, however, did not confine himself to questions of constitutional reform and internal government. he often spoke on the foreign policy of the government, and it is in these speeches that he shews most originality. the revolution in germany, as in italy, had two sides; it was liberal, but it was also national. the national element was the stronger and more deep-seated. the germans felt deeply the humiliation to which they were exposed owing to the fact that they did not enjoy the protection of a powerful government; they wished to belong to a national state, as frenchmen, englishmen, and russians did. it was the general hope that the period of revolution might be used for establishing a government to which the whole of germany would pay obedience. this was the task of the constituent assembly, which since the spring of had with the permission of the governments been sitting at frankfort. would they be able to succeed where the diplomatists of vienna had failed? they had at least good-will, but it was to be shewn that something more than honest endeavour was necessary. there were three great difficulties with which they had to contend. the first was the republican party, the men who would accept no government but a republic, and who wished to found the new state by insurrection. they were a small minority of the german people; several attempts at insurrection organised by them were suppressed, and they were outvoted in the assembly. the second difficulty was austria. a considerable portion of germany was included in the austrian empire. if the whole of germany were to be included in the new state which they hoped to found, then part of the austrian empire would have to be separated from the rest, subjected to different laws and a different government; nothing would remain but a personal union between the german and slavonic provinces. the government of austria, after it had recovered its authority at the end of , refused to accept this position, and published a new constitution, binding all the provinces together in a closer union. the assembly at frankfort had no power to coerce the emperor of austria; they therefore adopted the other solution, viz.: that the rest of germany was to be reconstituted, and the austrian provinces left out. the question, however, then arose: would austria accept this--would she allow a new germany to be created in which she had no part? surely not, if she was able to prevent it. the third difficulty was the relation between the individual states and the new central authority. it is obvious that whatever powers were given to the new government would be taken away from the princes of the individual states, who hitherto had enjoyed complete sovereignty. those people who in germany were much influenced by attachment to the existing governments, and who wished to maintain the full authority of the princes and the local parliaments, were called _particularists_. during the excitement of the revolution they had been almost entirely silenced. with the restoration of order and authority they had regained their influence. it was probable that many of the states would refuse to accept the new constitution unless they were compelled to do so. where was the power to do this? there were many in the national assembly who wished to appeal to the power of the people, and by insurrection and barricades compel all the princes to accept the new constitution. there was only one other power in germany which could do the work, and that was the prussian army. would the king of prussia accept this task? the german constitution was completed in march, . by the exercise of much tact and great personal influence, heinrich von gagern, the president of the assembly and the leader of the moderate party in it, had procured a majority in favour of an hereditary monarchy, and the king of prussia was elected to the post of first german emperor. at the beginning of april there arrived in berlin the deputation which was to offer to him the crown, and on his answer depended the future of germany. were he to accept, he would then have undertaken to put himself at the head of the revolutionary movement; it would be his duty to compel all the other states to accept the new constitution, and, if necessary, to defend it on the field of battle against austria. besides this he would have to govern not only prussia but germany; to govern it under a constitution which gave almost all the power to a parliament elected by universal suffrage, and in which he had only a suspensive veto. can we be surprised that he refused the offer? he refused it on the ground that he could not accept universal suffrage, and also because the title and power of german emperor could not be conferred on him by a popular assembly; he could only accept it from his equals, the german princes. the decision of the king was discussed in the prussian assembly, and an address moved declaring that the frankfort constitution was in legal existence, and requesting the king to accept the offer. it was on this occasion that bismarck for the first time came forward as the leader of a small party on the extreme right. he at once rose to move the previous question. he denied to the assembly even the right of discussing this matter which belonged to the prerogative of the king. he was still more strongly opposed to the acceptance of the offered crown. he saw only that the king of prussia would be subjected to a parliamentary assembly, that his power of action would be limited. the motto of his speech was that prussia must remain prussia. "the crown of frankfort," he said, "may be very bright, but the gold which gives truth to its brilliance has first to be won by melting down the prussian crown." his speech caused great indignation; ten thousand copies of it were printed to be distributed among the electors so as to show them the real principles and objects of the reactionary party. his opposition to any identification of prussia and germany was maintained when the prussian government itself took the initiative and proposed its own solution. during the summer of , the prussian programme was published. the government invited the other states of germany to enter into a fresh union; the basis of the new constitution was to be that of frankfort, but altered so far as might be found necessary, and the union was to be a voluntary one. the king in order to carry out this policy appointed as one of his ministers herr von radowitz. he was a man of the highest character and extreme ability. an officer by profession, he was distinguished by the versatility of his interests and his great learning. the king found in him a man who shared his own enthusiasm for letters. he had been a member of the parliament at frankfort, and had taken a leading part among the extreme conservatives; a roman catholic, he had come forward in defence of religion and order against the liberals and republicans; a very eloquent speaker, by his earnestness and eloquence he was able for a short time to give new life to the failing hopes of the german patriots. bismarck always looked on the new minister with great dislike. radowitz, indeed, hated the revolution as much as he did; he was a zealous and patriotic prussian; but there was a fundamental difference in the nature of the two men. radowitz wished to reform germany by moral influence. bismarck did not believe in the possibility of this. to this perhaps we must add some personal feeling. the ministry had hitherto consisted almost entirely of men who were either personal friends of bismarck, or whom he had recommended to the king. with radowitz there entered into it a man who was superior to all of them in ability, and over whom bismarck could not hope to have any influence. bismarck's distrust, which amounted almost to hatred, depended, however, on his fear that the new policy would bring about the ruin of prussia. he took the extreme particularist view; he had no interest in germany outside prussia; würtemberg and bavaria were to him foreign states. in all these proposals for a new constitution he saw only that prussia would be required to sacrifice its complete independence; that the king of prussia would become executor for the decrees of a popular and alien parliament. they were asked to cease to be prussians in order that they might become germans. this bismarck refused to do. "prussians we are," he said, "and prussians we will remain." he had no sympathy with this idea of a united germany which was so powerful at the time; there was only one way in which he was willing that germany should be united, and that was according to the example which frederick the great had set. the ideals of the german nation were represented by arndt's famous song, "was ist des deutschen vaterland?" the fatherland of the germans was not suabia or prussia, not austria or bavaria, it was the whole of germany wherever the german tongue was spoken. from this bismarck deliberately dissociated himself. "i have never heard," he said, "a prussian soldier singing, 'was ist des deutschen vaterland?'" the new flag of germany was to be the german tricolour, black and white and gold. "the prussian soldiers," cried bismarck, "have no tricoloured enthusiasm; among them you will find, as little as in the rest of the prussian people, the desire for a national regeneration; they are contented with the name of prussia, and proud of the name of prussia. these troops follow the black and white flag, not the tricolour; under the black and white they die with joy for their country. the tricolour they have learnt since the th of march to look on as the colours of their foes." these words aroused intense indignation. one of the speakers who followed referred to him as the prodigal son of the german fatherland, who had deserted his father's house. bismarck repudiated the epithet. "i am not a prodigal son," he said; "my father's house is prussia and i have never left it." he could not more clearly repudiate the title german. the others were moved by enthusiasm for an idea, he by loyalty to an existing state. nothing was sound, he said, in germany, except the old prussian institutions. "what has preserved us is that which is specifically prussian. it was the remnant of the _stock-preussenthum_ which has survived the revolution, the prussian army, the prussian treasure, the fruits of many years of intelligent prussian administration, and the living co-operation between king and people. it was the attachment of the prussian people to their hereditary dynasty, the old prussian virtues of honour, loyalty, obedience, and the courage which, emanating from the officers who form its bone and marrow, permeates the army down to the youngest recruit." he reminded the house how the assembly at frankfort had only been saved from the insurgent mob by a prussian regiment, and now it was proposed to weaken and destroy all these prussian institutions in order to change them into a democratic germany. he was asked to assent to a constitution in which the prussian government would sink to the level of a provincial council, under the guidance of an imperial ministry which itself would be dependent on a parliament in which the prussian interests would be in a minority. the most important and honourable duties of the prussian parliament would be transferred to a general parliament; the king would lose his veto; he would be compelled against his will to assent to laws he disliked; even the prussian army would be no longer under his sole command. what recompense were they to gain for this? "the pleasant consciousness of having followed an unselfish and noble policy; of having satisfied the requirements of a national regeneration; of having carried out the historical task of prussia, or some such vague expression." with this he contrasted what would have been a true prussian policy, a policy which frederick the great might have followed. "he would have known that now as in the day of our fathers the sound of the trumpets which summoned them to their sovereign's flag has not lost its power for prussian ears; he would have had the choice either of joining our old comrade austria, and undertaking the brilliant part which the emperor of russia has played, and destroying the cause of the revolution, or by the same right by which he took silesia, he might, after refusing to accept the crown, have ordered the germans what constitution they should have, and thrown the sword into the scale; then prussia would have been in the position to win for germany its place in the council of europe. "we all wish the same. we all wish that the prussian eagle should spread out his wings as guardian and ruler from the memel to the donnersberg, but free will we have him, not bound by a new regensburg diet. prussians we are and prussians will we remain; i know that in these words i speak the confession of the prussian army and the majority of my fellow-countrymen, and i hope to god that we will still long remain prussian when this sheet of paper is forgotten like a withered autumn leaf." the policy of radowitz was doomed to failure, not so much because of any inherent weakness in it, but because prussia was not strong enough to defend herself against all the enemies she had called up. the other courts of germany were lukewarm, austria was extremely hostile. the kings of hanover and saxony retreated from the alliance on the ground that they would enter the union only if the whole of germany joined; bavaria had refused to do so; in fact the two other kings had privately used all their influence to prevent bavaria from joining, in order that they might always have an excuse for seceding. prussia was, therefore, left surrounded by twenty-eight of the smaller states. a parliament from them was summoned to meet at erfurt in order to discuss the new constitution. bismarck was elected a member of it; he went there avowedly to protect the prussian interests. he had demanded from the government that at least the constitution agreed on in erfurt should again be submitted to the prussian chamber; he feared that many of the most important prussian rights might be sacrificed. his request was refused, for it was obvious that if, after the parliament of erfurt had come to some conclusion, the new constitution was to be referred back again to the twenty-eight parliaments of the allied states, the new union would never come into effect at all. it is curious here to find bismarck using the rights of the prussian parliament as a weapon to maintain the complete independence of prussia. sixteen years later, when he was doing the work in which radowitz failed, one of his chief difficulties arose from the conduct of men who came forward with just the same demand which he now made, and he had to refuse their demands as radowitz now refused his. he did not take much part in the debates at erfurt; as he was one of the youngest of the members, he held the position of secretary; the president of the assembly was simpson, a very distinguished public man, but a converted jew. "what would my father have said," observed bismarck, "if he had lived to see me become clerk to a jewish scholar?" on one occasion he became involved in what might have been a very serious dispute, when he used his power as secretary to exclude from the reporters' gallery two journalists whose reports of the meeting were very partial and strongly opposed to austria. his attitude towards the assembly is shewn by the words: "i know that what i have said to you will have no influence on your votes, but i am equally convinced that your votes will be as completely without influence on the course of events." the whole union was, as a matter of fact, broken down by the opposition of austria. bismarck had, in one of his first speeches, warned against a policy which would bring prussia into the position which piedmont had held before the battle of novara, when they embarked on a war in which victory would have brought about the overthrow of the monarchy, and defeat a disgraceful peace. it was his way of saying that he hoped the king would not eventually draw the sword in order to defend the new liberal constitution against the opposition of austria. the day came when the king was placed in this position. austria had summoned the old diet to meet at frankfort; prussia denied that the diet still legally existed; the two policies were clearly opposed to one another: austria desiring the restoration of the old constitution, prussia, at the head of liberal germany, summoning the states round her in a new union. there were other disputes about schleswig-holstein and the affairs of hesse, but this was the real point at issue. the austrians were armed, and were supported by the czar and many of the german states; shots were actually exchanged between the prussian and bavarian outposts in hesse. the austrian ambassador had orders to leave berlin; had he done so, war could not have been avoided. he disobeyed his orders, remained in berlin, asked for an interview with the king, and used all his influence to persuade him to surrender. the ministry was divided; radowitz stood almost alone; the other ministers, bismarck's friends, had always distrusted his policy. they wished to renew the old alliance with austria; the minister of war said they could not risk the struggle; it was rumoured that he had deliberately avoided making preparations in order to prevent the king putting himself at the head of the liberal party. during the crisis, bismarck was summoned to the king at letzlingen; there can be no doubt what his advice was; eventually the party of peace prevailed, and radowitz resigned. bismarck on hearing the news danced three times round the table with delight. brandenburg died almost immediately after; manteuffel became minister-president; he asked schwarzenberg for an interview, travelled to olmütz to meet him, and an agreement was come to by which practically prussia surrendered every object of dispute between the two great powers. the convention of olmütz was the most complete humiliation to which any european state has ever been subjected. prussia had undertaken a policy, and with the strong approval of the great majority of the nation had consistently maintained it for over a year; austria had required that this policy should be surrendered; the two states had armed; the ultimatum had been sent, everything was prepared for war, and then prussia surrendered. the cause for this was a double one. it was partly that prussia was really not strong enough to meet the coalition of austria and russia, but it was also that the king was really of two minds; he was constitutionally unable to maintain against danger a consistent course of policy. bismarck was one of the few men who defended the action of the ministry. in the ablest of all his speeches he took up the gauntlet, and exposed all the weakness and the dangers of radowitz's policy. this was not a cause in which prussia should risk its existence. why should they go to war in order to subject prussia not to the princes but to the chambers of the smaller states? a war for the union would, he said, remind him of the englishman who had a fight with the sentry in order that he might hang himself in the sentry-box, a right which he claimed for himself and every free briton. it was the duty of the councillors of the king to warn him from a policy which would bring the state to destruction. "still i would not shrink, from the war; i would advise it, were anyone able to prove to me the necessity for it, or to point out a worthy end which could be attained by it and in no other way. why do great states wage war nowadays? the only sound principle of action for a great state is political egoism and not romanticism, and it is unworthy of a great state to fight for any matter which does not concern its own interests. shew us, gentlemen, an object worthy of war and you have my vote. it is easy for a statesman in his office or his chamber to blow the trumpet with the breath of popularity and all the time to sit warming himself by his fireside, while he leaves it to the rifleman, who lies bleeding on the snow, whether his system attains victory and glory. nothing is easier; but woe to the statesman who at such a time does not look about for a reason for the war which will be valid when the war is over. i am convinced you will see the questions which now occupy us in a different light a year hence, when you look back upon them through a long perspective of battle-fields and conflagrations, misery and wretchedness. will you then have the courage to go to the peasant by the ashes of his cottage, to the cripple, to the childless father, and say: 'you have suffered much, but rejoice with us, the union is saved. rejoice with us, hassenpflug is no longer minister, bayernhofer rules in hesse.'" eloquent words; but what a strange comment on them his own acts were to afford. in prussia had a clearer and juster cause of war than in ; every word of his speech might have been used with equal effect sixteen years later; the constitution of was little different from that which bismarck himself was to give to germany. the policy of radowitz was the only true policy for prussia; if he failed, it was because prussia's army was not strong enough; war would have been followed by defeat and disaster. there was one man who saw the evils as they really were; the prince of prussia determined that if ever he became king the army of prussia should be again made strong and efficient. it was probably this speech which determined bismarck's future career. he had defended the agreement with austria and identified himself with the policy of the government; what more natural than that they should use him to help to carry out the policy he had upheld. prussia consented to recognise the restoration of the diet; it would be necessary, therefore, to send an envoy. now that she had submitted to austria the only wise policy was to cultivate her friendship. who could do this better than bismarck? who had more boldly supported and praised the new rulers of austria? when the gotha party, as they were called, had wished to exclude austria from germany, he it was who said that austria was no more a foreign state than würtemberg or bavaria. the appointment of bismarck would be the best proof of the loyal intentions of the prussian government. a few years later he himself gave to motley the following account of his appointment: "in the summer of ," motley writes, "he told me that the minister, manteuffel, asked him one day abruptly, if he would accept the post of ambassador at frankfort, to which (although the proposition was as unexpected a one to him as if i should hear by the next mail that i had been chosen governor of massachusetts) he answered, after a moment's deliberation, 'yes,' with out another word. the king, the same day, sent for him, and asked him if he would accept the place, to which he made the same brief answer, 'ja.' his majesty expressed a little surprise that he made no inquiries or conditions, when bismarck replied that anything which the king felt strong enough to propose to him, he felt strong enough to accept. i only write these details, that you may have an idea of the man. strict integrity and courage of character, a high sense of honour, a firm religious belief, united with remarkable talents, make up necessarily a combination which cannot be found any day in any court; and i have no doubt that he is destined to be prime minister, unless his obstinate truthfulness, which is apt to be a stumbling-block for politicians, stands in his way." chapter v. frankfort. - . bismarck when he went to frankfort was thirty-six years of age; he had had no experience in diplomacy and had long been unaccustomed to the routine of official life. he had distinguished himself by qualities which might seem very undiplomatic; as a parliamentary debater he had been outspoken in a degree remarkable even during a revolution; he had a habit of tearing away the veil from those facts which everyone knows and which all wish to ignore; a careless good-fellowship which promised little of that reserve and discretion so necessary in a confidential agent; a personal and wilful independence which might easily lead him into disagreement with the ministers and the king. he had not even the advantage of learning his work by apprenticeship under a more experienced official; during the first two months at frankfort he held the position of first secretary, but his chief did not attempt to introduce him to the more important negotiations and when, at the end of july, he received his definite appointment as envoy, he knew as little of the work as when he arrived at frankfort. he had, however, occupied his time in becoming acquainted with the social conditions. his first impressions were very unfavourable. frankfort held a peculiar position. though the centre of the german political system it was less german than any other town in the country. the society was very cosmopolitan. there were the envoys of the german states and the foreign powers, but the diplomatic circle was not graced by the dignity of a court nor by the neighbourhood of any great administrative power. side by side with the diplomatists were the citizens of frankfort; but here again we find indeed a great money-market, the centre of the finance of the continent, dissociated from any great productive activity. in the neighbourhood were the watering-places and gambling-tables; homburg and wiesbaden, soden and baden-baden, were within an easy ride or short railway journey, and frankfort was constantly visited by all the idle princes of germany. it was a city in which intrigue took the place of statesmanship, and never has intrigue played so large a part in the history of europe as during the years - . half the small states who were represented at frankfort had ambitions beyond their powers; they liked to play their part in the politics of europe. too weak to stand alone, they were also too weak to be quite honest, and attempted to gain by cunning a position which they could not maintain by other means. this was the city in which bismarck was to serve his diplomatic apprenticeship. two extracts from letters to his wife give the best picture of his personal character at this time: "on saturday i drove with rochow to rüdesheim; there i took a boat and rowed out on the rhine, and bathed in the moonlight--only nose and eyes above the water, and floated down to the rat tower at bingen, where the wicked bishop met his end. it is something strangely dreamlike to lie in the water in the quiet, warm light, gently carried along by the stream; to look at the sky with the moon and stars above one, and, on either side, to see the wooded mountain-tops and castle parapets in the moonlight, and to hear nothing but the gentle rippling of one's own motion. i should like a swim like this every evening. then i drank some very good wine, and sat long talking with lynar on the balcony, with the rhine beneath us. my little testament and the starry heavens brought us on christian topics, and i long shook at the rousseau-like virtue of his soul." "yesterday i was at wiesbaden, and with a feeling of melancholy revisited the scenes of former folly. may it please god to fill with his clear and strong wine this vessel in which the champagne of twenty-one years foamed so uselessly.... i do not understand how a man who reflects on himself, and still knows, and will know, nothing of god, can endure his life for contempt and weariness. i do not know how i endured this in old days; if, as then, i were to live without god, thee, and the children, i do not know why i should not put life aside like a dirty shirt; and yet most of my acquaintances live thus." now let us see what he thinks of his new duties: "our intercourse here is at best nothing but a mutual suspicion and espionage; if only there was anything to spy out and to hide! it is pure trifles with which they worry themselves, and i find these diplomatists with their airs of confidence and their petty fussiness much more absurd than the member of the second chamber in his conscious dignity. unless some external events take place, and we clever men of the diet can neither direct nor foresee them, i know already what we shall bring about in one or two or three years, and will do it in twenty-four hours if the others will only be reasonable and truthful for a single day. i am making tremendous progress in the art of saying nothing in many words; i write reports many pages long, which are smooth and finished like leading articles, and if manteuffel after reading them can say what they contain, he can do more than i. we all do as though we believed of each other that we are full of thoughts and plans, if only we would express them, and all the time we none of us know a hair's breadth more what will become of germany." of the austrian envoy who was president of the diet he writes: "thun in his outward appearance has something of a hearty good fellow mixed with a touch of the vienna _roué_. underneath this he hides, i will not say great political power and intellectual gifts, but an uncommon cleverness and cunning, which with great presence of mind appears from underneath the mask of harmless good-humour as soon as politics are concerned. i consider him as an opponent who is dangerous to anyone who honestly trusts him, instead of paying back in his own coin." his judgment on his other colleagues is equally decisive; of the austrian diplomatists he writes: "one must never expect that they will make what is right the foundation of their policy for the simple reason that it is the right. cautious dishonesty is the characteristic of their association with us. they have nothing which awakens confidence. they intrigue under the mask of good-fellowship." it was impossible to look for open co-operation from them; "their mouths are full of the necessity for common action, but when it is a question of furthering our wishes, then officially it is, 'we will not oppose,' and a secret pleasure in preparing obstacles." it was just the same with the envoys of the other countries: with few exceptions there is none for whom right has any value in itself. "they are caricatures of diplomatists who put on their official physiognomy if i ask them for a light, and select gestures and words with a truly regensburg caution, if they ask for the key of the water-closet." writing to gerlach he speaks of "the lying, double-tongued policy of the austrians. of all the lies and intrigues that go on up and down the rhine an honest man from the old mark has no conception. these south german children of nature are very corrupt." his opinion of the diplomatists does not seem to have improved as he knew them better. years later he wrote: "there are few diplomatists who in the long run do not prefer to capitulate with their conscience and their patriotism, and to guard the interests of their country and their sovereign with somewhat less decision, rather than, incessantly and with danger to their personal position, to contend with the difficulties which are prepared for them by a powerful and unscrupulous enemy." he does not think much better of his own prussian colleagues; he often complains of the want of support which he received. "with us the official diplomacy," he writes, "is capable of playing under the same roof with strangers against their own countrymen." these letters are chiefly interesting because of the light they throw on his own character at the beginning of his diplomatic career; we must not take them all too seriously. he was too good a raconteur not to make a good story better, and too good a letter-writer not to add something to the effect of his descriptions; besides, as he says elsewhere, he did not easily see the good side of people; his eyes were sharper for their faults than their good qualities.[ ] after the first few passages of arms he got on well enough with thun; when he was recalled two years later bismarck spoke of him with much warmth. "i like him personally, and should be glad to have him for a neighbour at schönhausen." it is however important to notice that the first impression made on him by diplomatic work was that of wanton and ineffective deceit. those who accuse him, as is so often done, of lowering the standard of political morality which prevails in europe, know little of politics as they were at the time when schwarzenberg was the leading statesman. it was his fate at once to be brought in close contact with the most disagreeable side of political life. in all diplomatic work there must be a good deal of espionage and underhand dealing. this was a part of his duties which bismarck had soon to learn. he was entrusted with the management of the press. this consisted of two parts: first of all, he had to procure the insertion of articles in influential papers in a sense agreeable to the plans of the prussian government; secondly, when hostile articles appeared, or inconvenient information was published, he had to trace the authors of it,--find out by whom the obnoxious paper had been inspired, or who had conveyed the secret information. this is a form of activity of which it is of course not possible to give any full account; it seems, however, clear that in a remarkably short time bismarck shewed great aptitude for his new duties. his letters to manteuffel are full of curious information as to the intrigues of those who are hostile to prussia. he soon learns to distrust the information supplied by the police; all through his life he had little respect for this department of the prussian state. he soon had agents of his own. we find him gaining secret information as to the plans of the ultramontane party in baden from a compositor at freiburg who was in his pay. on other occasions, when a court official at berlin had conveyed to the newspapers private information, bismarck was soon able to trace him out. we get the impression, both from his letters and from what other information we possess, that all the diplomatists of germany were constantly occupied in calumniating one another through anonymous contributions to a venal press. it is characteristic of the customs of the time that he had to warn his wife that all her letters to him would be read in the post-office before he received them. it was not only the austrians who used these methods; each of the prussian ministers would have his own organ which he would use for his own purposes, and only too probably to attack his own colleagues. it was at this time that a curious fact came to light with regard to herr von prokesch-osten, the austrian ambassador at berlin. he had been transferred from berlin to frankfort, and on leaving his house sold some of his furniture. in a chest of drawers was found a large bundle of papers consisting of newspaper articles in his handwriting, which had been communicated to different papers, attacking the prussian government, to which he at the time was accredited. of prokesch it is that bismarck once writes: "as to his statements i do not know how much you will find to be prokesch, and how much to be true." on another occasion, before many witnesses, bismarck had disputed some statement he made. "if it is not true," cried prokesch, "then i should have lied in the name of the royal and imperial government." "certainly," answered bismarck. there was a dead pause in the conversation. prokesch afterwards officially admitted that the statement had been incorrect. this association with the press formed in him a habit of mind which he never lost: the proper use of newspapers seemed to him, as to most german statesmen, to be not the expression of public opinion but the support of the government; if a paper is opposed to the government, the assumption seems to be that it is bribed by some other state. "the whole country would rejoice if some of the papers which are supported by foreign sources were suppressed, with the express recognition of their unpatriotic attitude. there may be opposition in the internal affairs, but a paper which in prussia takes part against the policy of the king on behalf of foreign countries, must be regarded as dishonoured and treated as such." politically his position was very difficult; the diet had been restored by austria against the will of prussia; the very presence of a prussian envoy in frankfort was a sign of her humiliation. he had indeed gone there full of friendly dispositions towards austria; he was instructed to take up again the policy which had been pursued before , when all questions of importance had been discussed by the two great powers before they were laid before the diet. bismarck, however, quickly found that this was no longer the intention of austria; the austria which he had so chivalrously defended at berlin did not exist; he had expected to find a warm and faithful friend--he found a cunning and arrogant enemy. schwarzenberg had spared prussia but he intended to humble her; he wished to use the diet as a means of permanently asserting the supremacy of austria, and he would not be content until prussia had been forced like saxony or bavaria to acquiesce in the position of a vassal state. the task might not seem impossible, for prussia appeared to be on the downward path. of course the diet of frankfort was the place where the plan had to be carried out; it seemed an admirable opportunity that prussia was represented there by a young and untried man. count thun and his successors used every means to make it appear as though prussia was a state not of equal rank with austria. they carried the war into society and, as diplomatists always will, used the outward forms of social intercourse as a means for obtaining political ends. on this field, bismarck was quite capable of meeting them. he has told many stories of their conflicts. as president of the diet, thun claimed privileges for himself which others did not dare to dispute. "in the sittings of the military commission when rochow was prussian envoy, austria alone smoked. rochow, who was a passionate smoker, would also have gladly done so, but did not venture. when i came i did not see any reason against it; and asked for a light from the presiding state; this seemed to be noticed with astonishment and displeasure by him and the other gentlemen; it was obviously an event for them. this time only austria and prussia smoked. but the others obviously held it so important that they sent home a report on it. someone must have written about it to berlin, as a question from the late king arrived; he did not smoke himself and probably did not find the affair to his taste. it required much consideration at the smaller courts, and for quite half a year only the two great powers smoked. then schrenk, the bavarian envoy, began to maintain the dignity of his position by smoking. the saxon nostitz would doubtless have liked to begin too, but i suppose he had not yet received permission from his minister. but when next time he saw that bothmer, the hanoverian, allowed himself a cigar, he must have come to an understanding with his neighbour (he was a good austrian, and had sons in the austrian army), for he brought out his pouch and lit up. there remained only the würtemberger and the darmstadter, and they did not smoke at all, but the honour and the importance of their states required it, and so on the following day the würtemberger really brought out his cigar. i can see him with it now, a long, thin, yellow thing, the colour of rye-straw,--and with sulky determination, as a sacrifice for his swabian fatherland, he smoked at least half of it. hesse-darmstadt alone refrained." on another occasion thun received bismarck in his shirt sleeves: "you are quite right," said bismarck, "it is very hot," and took off his own coat. in the transaction of business he found the same thing. the plan seemed to be deliberately to adopt a policy disadvantageous to prussia, to procure the votes of a majority of the states, thereby to cause prussia to be outvoted, and to leave her in the dilemma of accepting a decision which was harmful to herself or of openly breaking with the federation. on every matter which came up the same scenes repeated themselves; now it was the disposal of the fleet, which had to a great extent been provided for and maintained by prussian money; austria demanded that it should be regarded as the property of the confederation even though most of the states had never paid their contribution. then it was the question of the customs' union; a strong effort was made by the anti-prussian party to overthrow the union which prussia had established and thereby ruin the one great work which she had achieved. against these and similar attempts bismarck had constantly to be on the defensive. another time it was the publication of the proceedings of the diet which the austrians tried to make a weapon against prussia. the whole intercourse became nothing but a series of disputes, sometimes serious, sometimes trivial. bismarck was soon able to hold his own; poor count thun, whose nerves were not strong, after a serious discussion with him used to go to bed at five o'clock in the afternoon; he complained that his health would not allow him to hold his post if there were to be continuous quarrels. when his successor, herr v. prokesch, left frankfort for constantinople, he said that "it would be like an eastern dream of the blessed to converse with the wise ali instead of bismarck." as soon as the first strangeness had passed off bismarck became reconciled to his position. his wife and children joined him, he made himself a comfortable home, and his house soon became one of the most popular in the town; he and his wife were genial and hospitable and he used his position to extend his own influence and that of his country. his old friend, motley, visited him there in and wrote to his wife: "frankfort, "monday, july , . " ... the bismarcks are as kind as ever--nothing can be more frank and cordial than her manners. i am there all day long. it is one of those houses where everyone does what he likes. the show apartments where they receive formal company are on the front of the house. their living rooms, however, are a _salon_ and dining-room at the back, opening upon the garden. here there are young and old, grandparents and children and dogs all at once, eating, drinking, smoking, piano-playing, and pistol-firing (in the garden), all going on at the same time. it is one of those establishments where every earthly thing that can be eaten or drunk is offered you; porter, soda water, small beer, champagne, burgundy, or claret are about all the time, and everybody is smoking the best havana cigars every minute." he had plenty of society, much of it congenial to him. he had given up playing since his marriage, and was one of the few diplomatists who was not found at the homburg gaming-tables, but he had a sufficiency of sport and joined with the british envoy, sir alexander malet, in taking some shooting. a couple of years later in contradicting one of the frequent newspaper reports, that he aimed at supplanting the minister, he says: "my castle in the air is to spend three to five years longer at frankfort, then perhaps the same time in vienna or paris, then ten years with glory as minister, then die as a country gentleman." a prospect which has been more nearly fulfilled than such wishes generally are. he was for the first year still a member of the second chamber and occasionally appeared in it; his interest in his diplomatic work had, however, begun to overshadow his pleasure in parliamentary debate. "i am thoroughly tired of my life here," he writes in may, , to his wife from berlin, "and long for the day of my departure. i find the intrigues of the house immeasurably shallow and undignified; if one always lives among them, one deceives oneself and considers them something wonderful. when i come here from frankfort and see them as they really are, i feel like a sober man who has fallen among drunkards. there is something very demoralising in the air of the chambers; it makes the best people vain without their knowing it." so quickly has he outgrown his feelings of a year ago: then it was the intrigues of diplomatists that had seemed to him useless and demoralising. now it was parliamentary debates; in the opinion he formed at this time he never wavered. his distaste for parliamentary life was probably increased by an event which took place about this time. as so often before in the course of debate he had a sharp passage of words with vincke; the latter referred contemptuously to bismarck's diplomatic achievements. "all i know of them is the famous lighted cigar." bismarck answered with some angry words and at the close of the sitting sent a challenge. four days later a duel with pistols took place--the only one he ever fought. neither was injured. it seems that vincke, who had the first shot, seeing that bismarck (who had received the sacrament the night before) was praying, missed on purpose; bismarck then shot into the air. for these reasons he did not stand for re-election when the chamber was dissolved in , although the king was very much displeased with his determination. he was shortly afterwards appointed member of the newly constituted house of lords, but though he occasionally voted, as in duty bound, for government measures, he never spoke; he was not to be heard again in the parliament until he appeared there as president of the ministry. he was glad to be freed from a tie which had interfered with his duties at frankfort; to these he devoted himself with an extraordinary energy; all his old repugnance to official life had disappeared; he did not confine himself to the mere routine of his duties, or to carrying out the instructions sent to him from berlin. his power of work was marvellous: there passed through his hands a constant series of most important and complicated negotiations; up to this time he had no experience or practice in sedentary literary work, now he seems to go out of the way to make fresh labours for himself. he writes long and careful despatches to his minister on matters of general policy; some of them so carefully thought out and so clearly expressed that they may still be looked on as models. he is entirely free from that circumlocution and involved style which makes so much diplomatic correspondence almost worthless. his arguments are always clear, complete, concise. he used to work long into the night, and then, when in the early morning the post to berlin had gone, he would mount his horse and ride out into the country. it was in these years that he formed those habits to which the breakdown of his health in later years was due; but now his physical and intellectual vigour seemed inexhaustible. he never feared to press his own views as to the policy which should be pursued. he also kept up a constant correspondence with gerlach, and many of these letters were laid before the king, so that even when absent he continued as before to influence both the official and unofficial advisers. he soon became the chief adviser on german affairs and was often summoned to berlin that his advice might be taken; within two years after his appointment he was sent on a special mission to vienna to try and bring about an agreement as to the rivalry concerning the customs' union. he failed, but he had gained a knowledge of persons and opinions at the austrian court which was to be of much use to him. during these years, indeed, he acquired a most remarkable knowledge of germany; before, he had lived entirely in prussia, now he was at the centre of the german political system, continually engaged in important negotiations with the other courts; after a few years there was not a man of importance in german public life whose character and opinions he had not gauged. further experience only confirmed in him the observations he had made at the beginning, that it was impossible to maintain a good understanding with austria. the tone of his letters soon changes from doubt and disappointment to settled and determined hostility. in other matters also he found that the world was not the same place it had seemed to him; he had been accustomed to regard the revolution as the chief danger to be met; at frankfort he was in the home of it; here for nearly a year the german assembly had held its meetings; in the neighbouring states of baden, hesse, and in the palatinate, the republican element was strong; he found them as revolutionary as ever, but he soon learnt to despise rather than fear them: "the population here would be a political volcano if revolutions were made with the mouth; so long as it requires blood and strength they will obey anyone who has courage to command and, if necessary, to draw the sword; they would be dangerous only under cowardly governments. "i have never seen two men fighting in all the two years i have been here. this cowardice does not prevent the people, who are completely devoid of all inner christianity and all respect for authority, from sympathising with the revolution." his observations on the character of the south germans only increased his admiration for the prussian people and his confidence in the prussian state. he had not been at frankfort a year before he had learnt to look on this hostility of austria as unsurmountable. as soon as he had convinced himself of this, he did not bewail and bemoan the desertion of their ally; he at once accustomed himself to the new position and considered in what way the government ought to act. his argument was simple. austria is now our enemy; we must be prepared to meet this enmity either by diplomacy or war; we are not strong enough to do so alone; therefore we must have allies. there was no sure alliance to be had in germany; he despised the other german states. if there were to be a war he would rather have them against him than on his side. he must find help abroad; austria had overcome prussia by the alliance with russia. surely the only thing to be done was to seek support where it could be got, either with russia or with france, if possible with both. in this he was only reverting to the old policy of prussia; the alliance with austria had only begun in . from now until his whole policy was ceaselessly devoted to bringing about such a disposition of the forces of europe that austria might be left without allies and prussia be able to regain the upper hand in german affairs. the change was in his circumstances, not in his character; as before he was moved by a consuming passion of patriotism; something there was too of personal feeling,--his own pride, his own ambitions were engaged, though this was as nothing compared to love of his country and loyalty to the king. he was a soldier of the prussian crown: at berlin he had to defend it against internal enemies; now the danger had shifted, the power of the government was established, why waste time in fighting with liberalism? other enemies were pressing on. when jellachich and windischgätz had stood victorious by the blood-stained altar of st. stephen's, the austrian army had destroyed the common foe; now it was the same austrian army and austrian statesmen who desired to put a limit to prussian ambition. bismarck threw himself into the conflict of diplomacy with the same courage and relentless persistence that he had shewn in parliamentary debates. he had already begun to divine that the time might come when the prussian crown would find an ally in italian patriots and hungarian rebels. it was the eastern complications which first enabled him to shew his diplomatic abilities in the larger field of european politics. the plans for the dismemberment of the turkish empire which were entertained by the czar were opposed by england, france, and austria; prussia, though not immediately concerned, also at first gave her assent to the various notes and protests of the powers; so that the ambition of the czar was confronted by the unanimous voice of europe. bismarck from the beginning regarded the situation with apprehension; he saw that prussia was being entangled in a struggle in which she had much to lose and nothing to gain. if she continued to support the western powers she would incur the hatred of russia; then, perhaps, by a sudden change of policy on the part of napoleon, she would be left helpless and exposed to russian vengeance. if war were to break out, and prussia took part in the war, then the struggle between france and russia would be fought out on german soil, and, whoever was victorious, germany would be the loser. what interests of theirs were at stake that they should incur this danger? why should prussia sacrifice herself to preserve english influence in the mediterranean, or the interests of austria on the danube? he wished for exactly the opposite policy; the embarrassment of austria must be the opportunity of prussia; now was the time to recover the lost position in germany. the dangerous friendship of austria and russia was dissolved; if prussia came to an understanding with the czar, it was now austria that would be isolated. the other german states would not desire to be dragged into a war to support austrian dominion in the east. let prussia be firm and they would turn to her for support, and she would once more be able to command a majority of the diet. for these reasons he recommended his government to preserve an armed neutrality, in union, if possible, with the other german states. if they were to take sides, he preferred it should not be with the western powers, for, as he said,-- "we must look abroad for allies, and among the european powers russia is to be had on the cheapest terms; it wishes only to grow in the east, the two others at our expense." it shews the advance he had made in diplomacy that throughout his correspondence he never refers to the actual cause of dispute; others might discuss the condition of the christians in turkey or the holy places of jerusalem; he thinks only of the strength and weakness of his own state. the opening of the black sea, the dismemberment of turkey, the control of the mediterranean, the fate of the danubian principalities--for all this he cared nothing, for in them prussia had no interests; they only existed for him so far as the new combinations among the powers might for good or evil affect prussia. the crisis came in : a russian army occupied moldavia and wallachia; england and france sent their fleets to the black sea; they determined on war and they wished for the alliance of austria. austria was inclined to join, for the presence of russian troops on the danube was a menace to her; she did not dare to move unless supported by prussia and germany; she appealed to the confederacy and urged that her demands might be supported by the armies of her allies; but the german states were little inclined to send the levies of their men for the eastern interests of the emperor. if they were encouraged by prussia, they would refuse; the result in germany, as in europe, depended on the action of prussia, and the decision lay with the king. was prussia to take part with russia or the western powers? that was the question which for many months was debated at berlin. the public opinion of the nation was strong for the western powers; they feared the influence of russia on the internal affairs of germany; they had not forgotten or forgiven the part which the czar had taken in ; the choice seemed to lie between russia and england, between liberty and despotism, between civilisation and barbarism. on this side also were those who wished to maintain the alliance with austria. russia had few friends except at the court and in the army, but the party of the _kreuz zeitung,_ the court camarilla, the princes and nobles who commanded the _garde corps_, wished for nothing better than a close alliance with the great emperor who had saved europe from the revolution. "let us draw our sword openly in defence of russia," they said, "then we may bring austria with us; the old alliance of the three monarchies will be restored, and then will be the time for a new crusade against france, the natural enemy of germany, and the upstart emperor." the conflict of parties was keenest in the precincts of the court; society in berlin was divided between the russian and the english; the queen was hot for russia, but the english party rallied round the prince of prussia and met in the salons of his wife. between the two the king wavered; he was, as always, more influenced by feeling than by calculation, but his feelings were divided. how could he decide between austria and russia, the two ancient allies of his house? he loved and reverenced the czar; he feared and distrusted napoleon; alliance with infidels against christians was to him a horrible thought, but he knew how violent were the actions and lawless the desires of nicholas. he could not ignore the opinions of western europe and he wished to stand well with england. the men by whose advice he was guided stood on opposite sides: bunsen was for england, gerlach for russia; the ministry also was divided. no efforts were spared to influence him; the czar and napoleon each sent special envoys to his court; the queen of england and her husband warned him not to forget his duty to europe and humanity; if he would join the allies there would be no war. still he wavered; "he goes to bed an englishman and gets up a russian," said the czar, who despised his brother-in-law as much as he was honoured by him. while the struggle was at its height, bismarck was summoned to berlin, that his opinion might also be heard. at berlin and at letzlingen he had frequent interviews with the king. in later years he described the situation he found there: "it was nothing strange, according to the custom of those days, that half a dozen ambassadors should be living in hotels intriguing against the policy of the minister." he found berlin divided into two parties: the one looked to the czar as their patron and protector, the other wished to win the approval of england; he missed a reasonable conviction as to what was the interest of prussia. his own advice was against alliance with the western powers or austria; better join russia than england; better still, preserve neutrality and hold the balance of europe. he had the reputation of being very russian, but he protested against the term. "i am not russian," he said, "but prussian." he spoke with great decision against the personal adherents of the king, men who looked to the czar rather than to their own sovereign, and carried their subservience even to treason. as in former days, courage he preached and resolution. some talked of the danger of isolation; "with , men we cannot be isolated," he said. the french envoy warned him that his policy might lead to another jena; "why not to waterloo?" he answered. others talked of the danger of an english blockade of their coasts; he pointed out that this would injure england more than prussia. "let us be bold and depend on our own strength; let us frighten austria by threatening an alliance with russia, frighten russia by letting her think we may join the western powers; if it were true that we could never side with russia, at least we must retain the possibility of threatening to do so." the result was what we might expect from the character of the king; unable to decide for either of the contending factors, he alternated between the two, and gave his support now to one, now to the other. in march, when bismarck was still in berlin, sudden disgrace fell upon the english party; bunsen was recalled from london, bonin, their chief advocate in the ministry, was dismissed; when the prince of prussia, the chief patron of the western alliance, protested, he was included in the act of disfavour, and had to leave berlin, threatened with the loss of his offices and even with arrest. all danger of war with russia seemed to have passed; bismarck returned content to frankfort. scarcely had he gone when the old affection for austria gained the upper hand, and by a separate treaty prussia bound herself to support the austrian demands, if necessary by arms. bismarck heard nothing of the treaty till it was completed; the ministers had purposely refrained from asking his advice on a policy which they knew he would disapprove. he overcame his feelings of disgust so far as to send a cold letter of congratulation to manteuffel; to gerlach he wrote: "his majesty should really see to it that his ministers should drink more champagne; none of the gentry ought to enter his council without half a bottle under his belt. our policy would soon get a respectable colour." the real weakness lay, as he well knew, in the character of the king. "if here i say to one of my colleagues, 'we remain firm even if austria drives matters to a breach,' he laughs in my face and says, 'as long as the king lives it will not come to a war between austria and prussia.'" and again, "the king has as much leniency for the sins of austria as i hope to have from the lord in heaven." it was a severe strain on his loyalty, but he withstood it; he has, i believe, never expressed his opinion about the king; we can guess what it must have been. it was a melancholy picture: a king violent and timid, obstinate and irresolute; his will dragged now this way, now that, by his favourites, his wife and his brother; his own ministers intriguing against each other; ambassadors recommending a policy instead of carrying out their instructions; and the minister-president standing calmly by, as best he could, patching up the appearance of a consistent policy. it was probably the experience which he gained at this time which in later years, when he himself had become minister, made bismarck so jealous of outside and irresponsible advisers; he did not choose to occupy the position of manteuffel, he laid down the rule that none of his own subordinates should communicate with the king except through himself; a bismarck as foreign minister would not allow a gerlach at court, nor a bismarck among his envoys. he had indeed been careful not to intrigue against his chief, but it was impossible to observe that complete appearance of acquiescence which a strong and efficient minister must demand. bismarck was often asked his opinion by the king directly; he was obliged to say what he believed to be the truth, and he often disapproved of that which manteuffel advised. in order to avoid the appearance of disloyalty, he asked gerlach that his letters should be shewn to manteuffel; not all of them could be shewn, still less would it be possible to repeat all he said. if they were in conflict, his duty to the king must override his loyalty to the minister, and the two could not always be reconciled. to englishmen indeed it appears most improper that the king should continually call for the advice of other politicians without the intervention or the knowledge of his ministers, but this is just one of those points on which it is impossible to apply to prussian practice english constitutional theory. in england it is a maxim of the constitution that the sovereign should never consult anyone on political matters except the responsible ministry; this is possible only because the final decision rests with parliament and the cabinet and not with the sovereign. it was, however, always the contention of bismarck that the effective decision in prussia was with the king. this was undoubtedly the true interpretation of the prussian constitution; but it followed from this that the king must have absolute freedom to ask the advice of everyone whose opinions would be of help to him; he must be able to command the envoys to foreign countries to communicate with him directly, and if occasion required it, to consult with the political opponents of his own ministers. to forbid this and to require that all requests should come to him by the hands of the ministers would be in truth to substitute ministerial autocracy for monarchical government. something of this kind did happen in later years when the german emperor had grown old, and when bismarck, supported by his immense experience and success, guided the policy of the country alone, independent of parliament, and scarcely allowing any independent adviser to approach the emperor. this was exceptional; normally a prussian minister had to meet his opponents and critics not so much in public debate as in private discussion. under a weak sovereign the policy of the country must always be distracted by palace intrigue, just as in england under a weak cabinet it will be distracted by party faction. the ministers must always be prepared to find their best-laid schemes overthrown by the influence exerted upon the royal mind by his private friends or even by his family. it may be said that tenure of office under these conditions would be impossible to a man of spirit; it was certainly very difficult; an able and determined minister was as much hampered by this private opposition as by parliamentary discussion. it is often the fashion to say that parliamentary government is difficult to reconcile with a strong foreign policy; the experiences of prussia from the year to seem to shew that under monarchical government it is equally difficult. meanwhile he had been maturing in his mind a bolder plan: why should not prussia gain the support she required by alliance with napoleon? the germans had watched the rise of napoleon with suspicion and alarm; they had long been taught that france was their natural enemy. when napoleon seized the power and assumed the name of emperor, the old distrust was revived; his very name recalled memories of hostility; they feared he would pursue an ambitious and warlike policy; that he would withdraw the agreements on which the peace of europe and the security of the weaker states depended, and that he would extend to the rhine the borders of france. he was the first ruler of france whose internal policy awoke no sympathy in germany; his natural allies, the liberals, he had alienated by the overthrow of the republic, and he gained no credit for it in the eyes of the conservatives. the monarchical party in prussia could only have admiration for the man who had imprisoned a parliament and restored absolute government; they could not repudiate an act which they would gladly imitate, but they could not forgive him that he was an usurper. according to their creed the suppression of liberty was the privilege of the legitimate king. it was the last remnant of the doctrine of legitimacy, the belief that it was the duty of the european monarchs that no state should change its form of government or the dynasty by which it was ruled; the doctrine of the holy alliance that kings must make common cause against the revolution. how changed were the times from the days when metternich had used this as a strong support for the ascendancy of the house of austria! austria herself was no longer sound; the old faith lingered only in st. petersburg and berlin; but how weak and ineffective it had become! there was no talk now of interference, there would not be another campaign of waterloo or of valmy; there was only a prudish reserve; they could not, they did not dare, refuse diplomatic dealings with the new emperor, but they were determined there should be no cordiality: the virgin purity of the prussian court should not be deflowered by intimacy with the man of sin.[ ] if there could not be a fresh crusade against buonapartism, at least, there should be no alliance with it. from the beginning bismarck had little sympathy with this point of view; he regarded the _coup d'état_ as necessary in a nation which had left the firm ground of legitimacy; france could not be governed except by an iron hand. as a prussian, however, he could not be pleased, for he saw an enemy who had been weak strengthened, but he did not believe in napoleon's warlike desires. in one way it was an advantage,--the overthrow of the republic had broken the bond which joined the german revolutionists to france. he did not much mind what happened in other countries so long as prussia was safe. there is no ground for surprise that he soon began to go farther; he warned his friends not to irritate the emperor; on the occasion of the emperor's marriage the _kreuz zeitung_ published a violent article, speaking of it as an insult and threat to prussia. bismarck's feelings as a gentleman were offended by this useless scolding; it seemed, moreover, dangerous. if prussia were to quarrel with france, they would be obliged to seek the support of the eastern powers: if russia and austria should know this, prussia would be in their hands. the only effect of this attitude would be to cut off the possibility of a useful move in the game of diplomacy: "there is no good in giving our opposition to france the stamp of irrevocability; it would be no doubt a great misfortune if we were to unite ourselves with france, but why proclaim this to all the world? we should do wiser to act so that austria and russia would have to court our friendship against france than treat us as an ally who is presented to them." it is a topic to which he often refers: "we cannot make an alliance with france without a certain degree of meanness, but very admirable people, even german princes, in the middle ages have used a sewer to make their escape, rather than be beaten or throttled." an alliance with napoleon was, however, according to the code of honour professed, if not followed, in every german state, the sin for which there was no forgiveness. it was but a generation ago that half the german princes had hurried to the court of the first napoleon to receive at his hands the estates of their neighbours and the liberties of their subjects. no one doubted that the new napoleon would be willing to use similar means to ensure the power of france; would he meet with willing confederates? the germans, at least, do not seem to have trusted one another; no prince dared show ordinary courtesy to the ruling family of france, no statesman could visit paris but voices would be heard crying that he had sold himself and his country. an accusation of this kind was the stock-in-trade which the nationalist press was always ready to bring against every ruler who was obnoxious to them. it required moral courage, if it also shewed political astuteness, when bismarck proposed deliberately to encourage a suspicion from which most men were anxious that their country should be free. he had already plenty of enemies, and reports were soon heard that he was in favour of a french alliance; they did not cease for ten years; he often protests in his private letters against these unworthy accusations; the protests seem rather absurd, for if he did not really wish for an alliance between prussia and france, he at least wished that people should dread such an alliance. a man cannot frighten his friends by the fear he will rob them, and at the same time enjoy the reputation for strict probity. he explains with absolute clearness the benefits which will come from a french alliance: "the german states are attentive and attracted to us in the same degree in which they believe we are befriended by france. confidence in us they will never have, every glance at the map prevents that; and they know that their separate interests and the misuse of their sovereignty always stand in the way of the whole tendency of prussian policy. they clearly recognise the danger which lies in this; it is one against which the unselfishness of our most gracious master alone gives them a temporary security. the opinions of the king, which ought at least for a time to weaken their mistrust, will gain his majesty no thanks; they will only be used and exploited. in the hour of necessity gratitude and confidence will not bring a single man into the field. fear, if it is used with foresight and clearness, can place the whole confederacy at our feet, and in order to instil fear into them we must give clear signs of our good relations with france." he objected to prussia following what was called a german policy, for, as he said, by a national and patriotic policy is meant that prussia should do what was for the interest, not of herself, but of the smaller states. it was not till after the crimean war that he was able to press this policy. napoleon had now won his position in europe; gerlach had seen with pain and disgust that the queen of england had visited his court. the emperor himself desired a union with prussia. in this, sympathy and interest combined: he had much affection for germany; his mind, as his education, was more german than french; he was a man of ideas; he was the only ruler of france who has sincerely desired and deliberately furthered the interests of other countries; he believed that the nation should be the basis of the state; his revolutionary antecedents made him naturally opposed to the house of austria; and he was ready to help prussia in resuming her old ambitious policy. the affair of neuchâtel gave him an opportunity of earning the personal gratitude of the king, and he did not neglect it, for he knew that in the royal prejudice was the strongest impediment to an alliance. in bismarck was sent to paris to discuss this and other matters. two years before he had been presented to the emperor, but it had been at the time when he was opposed to the french policy. now for the first time the two men who were for ten years to be the leaders, now friends, then rivals, in the realm of diplomacy, were brought into close connection. bismarck was not impressed by the emperor's ability. he wrote: "people exaggerate his intellect, but underrate his heart." napoleon was very friendly; his wish to help the king went farther than his duty to follow french policy. he said: "why should we not be friends; let us forget the past; if everyone were to attach himself to a policy of memories, two nations that have once been at war must be at war to all eternity; statesmen must occupy themselves with the future." this was just bismarck's opinion; he wrote home suggesting that he might prepare the way for a visit of the emperor to prussia; he would like to come and it would have a good effect. this was going farther than the king, grateful though he was, would allow; he told gerlach not to answer this part of the letter at all while bismarck was in paris. bismarck, however, continued in his official reports and private letters to urge again and again the political advantages of an understanding with france; it is austria that is the natural enemy, for it is austria whose interests are opposed to prussia. if they repel the advance of napoleon, they will oblige him to seek an alliance with russia, and this was a danger which even in those days bismarck never ceased to fear. prince napoleon, cousin of the emperor, was at that time on a visit to berlin; on his way through frankfort he had singled out bismarck, and (no doubt under instructions) had shown great friendliness to him; the _kreuz zeitung_ again took the opportunity of insulting the ruler of france; bismarck again remonstrated against the danger of provoking hostility by these acts of petty rancour, disguised though they might be under the name of principle. he did not succeed in persuading the king or his confidant; he was always met by the same answer: "france is the natural enemy of germany; napoleon is the representative of the revolution; there can be no union between the king of prussia and the revolution." "how can a man of your intelligence sacrifice your principles to a single individual?" asks gerlach, who aimed not at shewing that an alliance with france would be foolish, but that it would be wrong. five years before, bismarck would have spoken as gerlach did; but in these years he had seen and learnt much; he had freed himself from the influence of his early friends; he had outgrown their theoretic formalism; he had learned to look at the world with his own eyes, and to him, defending his country against the intrigues of weaker and the pressure of more powerful states, the world was a different place from what it was to those who passed their time in the shadow of the court. he remembered that it was not by strict obedience to general principles that prussia had grown great. frederick the second had not allowed himself to be stopped by these narrow searchings of heart; his successor had not scrupled to ally himself with revolutionary france. this rigid insistence on a rule of right, this nice determining of questions of conscience, seemed better suited to the confessor's chair than to the advisers of a great monarch. and the principle to which he was asked to sacrifice the future of his country,--was it after all a true principle? why should prussia trouble herself about the internal constitution of other states, what did it concern her whether france was ruled by a bourbon or an orleans or a bonaparte? how could prussia continue the policy of the holy alliance when the close union of the three eastern monarchies no longer existed? if france were to attack germany, prussia could not expect the support of russia, she could not even be sure of that of austria. an understanding with france was required, not by ambition, but by the simplest grounds of self-preservation. these and other considerations he advanced in a long and elaborate memorandum addressed to manteuffel, which was supplemented by letters to the minister and gerlach. for closeness of reasoning, for clearness of expression, for the wealth of knowledge and cogency of argument these are the most remarkable of his political writings. in them he sums up the results of his apprenticeship to political life, he lays down the principles on which the policy of the state ought to be conducted, the principles on which in future years he was himself to act. "what," he asks, "are the reasons against an alliance with france? the chief ground is the belief that the emperor is the chief representative of the revolution and identical with it, and that a compromise with the revolution is as inadmissible in internal as in external policy." both statements he triumphantly overthrows. "why should we look at napoleon as the representative of the revolution? there is scarcely a government in europe which has not a revolutionary origin." "what is there now existing in the world of politics which has a complete legal basis? spain, portugal, brazil, all the american republics, belgium, holland, switzerland, greece, sweden, england, which state with full consciousness is based on the revolution of , are all unable to trace back their legal systems to a legitimate origin. even as to the german princes we cannot find any completely legitimate title for the ground which they have won partly from the emperor and the empire, partly from their fellow-princes, partly from the estates." he goes farther: the revolution is not peculiar to france; it did not even originate there: "it is much older than the historical appearance of napoleon's family and far wider in its extent than france, if we are to assign it an origin in this world, we must look for it, not in france, but in england, or go back even earlier, even to germany or rome, according as we regard the exaggerations of the reformation or of the roman church as responsible." but if napoleon is not the sole representative of revolutions, why make opposition to him a matter of principle? he shews no desire of propagandism. "to threaten other states by means of the revolution has been for years the trade of england, and this principle of not associating with a revolutionary power is itself quite modern: it is not to be found in the last century. cromwell was addressed as brother by european potentates and they sought his friendship when it appeared useful. the most honourable princes joined in alliance with the states-general before they were recognised by spain. why should prussia now alone, to its own injury, adopt this excessive caution?" he goes farther: not only does he reject the principle of legitimacy,--he refuses to be bound by any principles; he did not free himself from one party to bind himself to another; his profession was diplomacy and in diplomacy there was no place for feelings of affection and antipathy. what is the proper use of principles in diplomacy? it is to persuade others to adopt a policy which is convenient to oneself. "my attitude towards foreign governments springs not from any antipathy, but from the good or evil they may do to prussia." "a policy of sentiment is dangerous, for it is one-sided; it is an exclusively prussian peculiarity." "every other government makes its own interests the sole criterion of its actions, however much it may drape them in phrases about justice and sympathy." "my ideal for foreign policy is freedom from prejudice; that our decisions should be independent of all impressions of dislike or affection for foreign states and their governments." this was the canon by which he directed his own actions, and he expected obedience to it from others. "so far as foreigners go i have never in my life had sympathy for anyone but england and its inhabitants, and i am even now not free from it; but they will not let us love them, and as soon as it was proved to me that it was in the interest of a sound and well-matured prussian policy, i would let our troops fire on french, english, russian, or austrian, with the same satisfaction." "i cannot justify sympathies and antipathies as regards foreign powers and persons before my feeling of duty in the foreign service of my country, either in myself or another; therein lies the embryo of disloyalty against my master or my country. in my opinion not even the king himself has the right to subordinate the interests of his country to his own feelings of love or hatred towards strangers; he is, however, responsible towards god and not to me if he does so, and therefore on this point i am silent." this reference to the king is very characteristic. holding, as he did, so high an ideal of public duty himself, he naturally regarded with great dislike the influence which, too often, family ties and domestic affection exercised over the mind of the sovereign. the german princes had so long pursued a purely domestic policy that they forgot to distinguish between the interests of their families and their land. they were, moreover, naturally much influenced in their public decisions, not only by their personal sympathies, but also by the sympathies and opinions of their nearest relations. to a man like bismarck, who regarded duty to the state as above everything, nothing could be more disagreeable than to see the plans of professional statesmen criticised by irresponsible people and perhaps overthrown through some woman's whim. he was a confirmed monarchist but he was no courtier. in his letters at this period he sometimes refers to the strong influence which the princess of prussia exercised over her husband, who was heir to the throne. he regarded with apprehension the possible effects which the proposed marriage of the prince of prussia's son to the princess royal of england might have on prussian policy. he feared it would introduced english influence and anglomania without their gaining any similar influence in england. "if our future queen remains in any degree english, i see our court surrounded by english influence." he was not influenced in this by any hostility to england; almost at the same time he had written that england was the only foreign country for which he had any sympathy. he was only (as so often) contending for that independence and self-reliance which he so admired in the english. for two hundred years english traditions had absolutely forbidden the sovereign to allow his personal and family sympathies to interfere with the interests of the country. if the house of hohenzollern were to aspire to the position of a national monarch it must act in the same way. at this very time the emperor napoleon was discussing the prussian marriage with lord clarendon. "it will much influence the policy of the queen in favour of prussia," he said. "no, your majesty," answered the english ambassador. "the private feelings of the queen can never have any influence on that which she believes to be for the honour and welfare of england." this was the feeling by which bismarck was influenced; he was trying to educate his king, and this was the task to which for many years he was devoted. what he thought of the duties of princes we see from an expression he uses in a letter to manteuffel: "only christianity can make princes what they ought to be, and free them from that conception of life which causes many of them to seek in the position given them by god nothing but the means to a life of pleasure and irresponsibility." all his attempts to win over the king and gerlach to his point of view failed; the only result was that his old friends began to look on him askance; his new opinions were regarded with suspicion. he was no longer sure of his position in court; his outspokenness had caused offence; after reading his last letter, gerlach answered: "your explanation only shews me that we are now far asunder"; the correspondence, which had continued for almost seven years, stopped. bismarck felt that he was growing lonely; he had to accustom himself to the thought that the men who had formerly been both politically and personally his close friends, and who had once welcomed him whenever he returned to berlin, now desired to see him kept at a distance. in one of his last letters to gerlach, he writes: "i used to be a favourite; now all that is changed. his majesty has less often the wish to see me; the ladies of the court have a cooler smile than formerly; the gentlemen press my hand less warmly. the high opinion of my usefulness is sunk, only the minister [manteuffel] is warmer and more friendly." something of this was perhaps exaggerated, but there was no doubt that a breach had begun which was to widen and widen: bismarck was no longer a member of the party of the _kreuz zeitung_. it was fortunate that a change was imminent in the direction of the prussian government; the old figures who had played their part were to pass away and a new era was to begin. chapter vi. st. petersburg and paris. - . in the autumn of the health of the king of prussia broke down; he was unable to conduct the affairs of state and in the month of september was obliged to appoint his brother as his representative to carry on the government. there was from the first no hope for his recovery; the commission was three times renewed and, after a long delay, in october of the following year, the king signed a decree appointing his brother regent. at one time, in the spring of , the prince had, it is said, thought of calling on bismarck to form a ministry. this, however, was not done. it was, however, one of the first actions of the prince regent to request manteuffel's resignation; he formed a ministry of moderate liberals, choosing as president the prince of hohenzollern, head of the catholic branch of his own family. the _new era_, as it was called, was welcomed with delight by all parties except the most extreme conservatives. no ministry had been so unpopular as that of manteuffel. at the elections which took place immediately, the government secured a large majority. the prince and his ministers were able to begin their work with the full support of parliament and country. bismarck did not altogether regret the change; his differences with the dominant faction at court had extended to the management of home as well as of foreign affairs; for the last two years he had been falling out of favour. he desired, moreover, to see fresh blood in the chamber. "the disease to which our parliamentary life has succumbed, is, besides the incapacity of the individual, the servility of the lower house. the majority has no independent convictions, it is the tool of ministerial omnipotence. if our chambers do not succeed in binding the public interest to themselves and drawing the attention of the country, they will sooner or later go to their grave without sympathy." curious it is to see how his opinion as to the duties and relations of the house towards the government were to alter when he himself became minister. he regarded it as an advantage that the ministry would have the power which comes from popularity; his only fear was that they might draw the regent too much to the left; but he hoped that in german and foreign affairs they would act with more decision, that the prince would be free from the scruples which had so much influenced his brother, and that he would not fear to rely on the military strength of prussia. one of their first acts was to recall bismarck from frankfort; the change was inevitable, and he had foreseen it. the new government naturally wished to be able to start clear in their relations to austria; the prince regent did not wish to commit himself from the beginning to a policy of hostility. it was, however, impossible for a cordial co-operation between the two states to be established in german affairs so long as bismarck remained at frankfort; the opinions which he had formed during the last eight years were too well known. it was, moreover, evident that a crisis in the relations with austria was approaching; war between france and austria was imminent; a new factor and a new man had appeared in europe,--piedmont and cavour. in august, , cavour had had a secret and decisive interview with napoleon at plombières; the two statesmen had come to an agreement by which france engaged to help the piedmontese to expel the austrians from italy. bismarck would have desired to seize this opportunity, and use the embarrassment of austria as the occasion for taking a stronger position in germany; if it were necessary he was prepared to go as far as an alliance with france. he was influenced not so much by sympathy with piedmont, for, as we have seen, he held that those who were responsible for foreign policy should never give way to sympathy, but by the simple calculation that austria was the common enemy of prussia and piedmont, and where there were common interests an alliance might be formed. the government were, however, not prepared to adopt this policy. it might have been supposed that a liberal ministry would have shewn more sympathy with the italian aspirations than the conservatives whom they had succeeded. this was not the case, as cavour himself soon found out. after his visit to plombières, cavour had hurried across the frontier and spent two days at baden-baden, where he met the prince of prussia, manteuffel, who was still minister, and other german statesmen. bismarck had been at baden-baden in the previous week and returned a few days later; he happened, however, on the two days when cavour was there, to be occupied with his duties at frankfort; the two great statesmen therefore never met. cavour after his visit wrote to la marmora saying that he had been extremely pleased with the sympathy which had been displayed to him, both by the prince and the other prussians. so far as he could foresee, the attitude of prussia would not be hostile to italian aspirations. in december, however, after the change of ministry, he writes to the italian envoy at frankfort that the language of schleinitz, the new foreign minister, is less favourable than that of his predecessor. the cabinet do not feel the same antipathy to austria as that of manteuffel did; german ideas have brought about a rapprochement. "i do not trust their apparently liberal tendencies. it is possible that your colleague, herr von bismarck, will support us more closely, but i fear that even if he is kept at frankfort he will not exercise so much influence as under the former ministry." cavour's insight did not deceive him. the italian question had for the moment re-awakened the old sympathy for austria; austria, it seemed, was now the champion of german nationality against the unscrupulous aggression of france. there were few men who, like bismarck, were willing to disregard this national feeling and support the italians. to have deliberately joined napoleon in what after all was an unprovoked attack on a friendly prince of the same nation, was an act which could have been undertaken only by a man of the calibre of frederick the great. after all, austria was german; the austrian provinces in italy had been assigned to the emperor by the same authority as the polish provinces to prussia. we can imagine how great would have been the outcry had austria joined with the french to set up a united poland, taking posen and west prussia for the purpose; and yet this act would have been just of the same kind as that which would have been committed had prussia at this time joined or even lent diplomatic support to the french-italian alliance. it is very improbable that even if bismarck had been minister at this period he would have been able to carry out this policy. the prussian government acted on the whole correctly. as the war became more imminent the prince regent prepared the prussian army and eventually the whole was placed on a war footing. he offered to the emperor of austria his armed neutrality and a guarantee of the austrian possessions in italy. in return he required that he himself should have the command of all the forces of the german diet. had austria accepted these terms, either the war would have been stopped or the whole force of germany under the king of prussia would have attacked france on the rhine. the emperor however refused to accept them; he required a guarantee not only of his possessions in italy but also of his treaties with the other italian princes. moreover, he would accept the assistance of prussia only on condition that the prussian army was placed under the orders of the general appointed by the diet. it was absurd to suppose that any prussian statesman would allow this. the action of austria shewed in fact a distrust and hatred of prussia which more than justified all that bismarck had written during his tenure of office at frankfort. in the end, rather than accept prussian assistance on the terms on which it was offered, the emperor of austria made peace with france; he preferred to surrender lombardy rather than save it by prussian help. "thank god," said cavour, "austria by her arrogance has succeeded in uniting all the world against her." the spring of the year was spent by bismarck at st. petersburg. he had been appointed prussian minister to that capital--put out in the cold, as he expressed it. from the point of dignity and position it was an advance, but at st. petersburg he was away from the centre of political affairs. russia had not yet recovered from the effects of the crimean war; the czar was chiefly occupied with internal reforms and the emancipation of the serfs. the eastern question was dormant, and russia did not aim at keeping a leading part in the settlement of italian affairs. bismarck's immediate duties were not therefore important and he no longer had the opportunity of giving his advice to the government upon the general practice. it is improbable that herr von schleinitz would have welcomed advice. he was one of the weakest of the ministry; an amiable man of no very marked ability, who owed his position to the personal friendship of the prince regent and his wife. the position which bismarck had occupied during the last few years could not but be embarrassing to any minister; this man still young, so full of self-confidence, so unremitting in his labours, who, while other diplomatists thought only of getting through their routine work, spent the long hours of the night in writing despatches, discussing the whole foreign policy of the country, might well cause apprehension even to the strongest minister. from the time of bismarck's departure from frankfort our knowledge of his official despatches ceases; we lose the invaluable assistance of his letters to manteuffel and gerlach. for some time he stood so much alone that there was no one to whom he could write unreservedly on political matters. he watched with great anxiety the progress of affairs with regard to italy. at the beginning of may he wrote a long letter to schleinitz, as he had done to manteuffel, urging him to bold action; he recounted his experiences at the diet, he reiterated his conviction that no good would come to prussia from the federal tie--the sooner it was broken the better; nothing was so much to be desired as that the diet should overstep its powers, and pass some resolution which prussia could not accept, so that prussia could take up the glove and force a breach. the opportunity was favourable for a revision of the constitution. "i see," he wrote "in our federal connection only a weakness of prussia which sooner or later must be cured, _ferro et igni_." probably schleinitz's answer was not of such a kind as to tempt him to write again. in his private letters he harps on the same string; he spent june in a visit to moscow but he hurried back at the end of the month to st. petersburg to receive news of the war. before news had come of the peace of villafranca he was constantly in dread that prussia would go to war on behalf of austria: "we have prepared too soon and too thoroughly, the weight of the burden we have taken on ourselves is drawing us down the incline. we shall not be even an austrian reserve; we shall simply sacrifice ourselves for austria and take away the war from her." how disturbed he was, we can see by the tone of religious resignation which he assumes--no doubt a sign that he fears his advice has not yet been acted upon. "as god will. everything here is only a question of time; peoples and men, wisdom and folly, war and peace, they come and go like rain and water, and the sea alone remains. there is nothing on earth but hypocrisy and deceit." the language of this and other letters was partly due to the state of his health; the continual anxiety and work of his life at frankfort, joined to irregular hours and careless habits, had told upon his constitution. he fell seriously ill in st. petersburg with a gastric and rheumatic affection; an injury to the leg received while shooting in sweden, became painful; the treatment adopted by the doctor, bleeding and iodine, seems to have made him worse. at the beginning of july, , he returned on leave to berlin; there he was laid up for ten days; his wife was summoned and under her care he began to improve. august he spent at wiesbaden and nauheim, taking the waters, the greater part of the autumn in berlin; in october he had to go warsaw officially to receive and accompany the czar, who came to breslau for an interview with the prince regent. from breslau he hurried back to berlin, from berlin down to pomerania, where his wife was staying with her father; then the same week back to berlin, and started for st. petersburg. the result of these long journeys when his health was not completely reestablished was very serious. he was to spend a night on the journey to st. petersburg with his old friend, herr von below, at hohendorf, in east prussia; he had scarcely reached the house when he fell dangerously ill of inflammation of the lungs and rheumatic fever. he remained here all the winter, and it was not until the beginning of march, , that he was well enough to return to berlin. leopold von gerlach, who met him shortly afterwards, speaks of him as still looking wretchedly ill. this prolonged illness forms an epoch in his life. he never recovered the freshness and strength of his youth. it left a nervous irritation and restlessness which often greatly interfered with his political work and made the immense labour which came upon him doubly distasteful. he loses the good humour which had been characteristic of him in early life; he became irritable and more exacting. he spent the next three months in berlin attending the meetings of the herrenhaus, and giving a silent vote in favour of the government measures; he considered it was his duty as a servant of the state to support the government, though he did not agree with the liberal policy which in internal affairs they adopted. at this time he stood almost completely alone. his opinions on the italian question had brought about a complete breach with his old friends. since the conclusion of the war, public opinion in germany, as in england, had veered round. the success of cavour had raised a desire to imitate him; a strong impulse had been given to the national feeling, and a society, the _national verein_, had been founded to further the cause of united germany under prussian leadership. the question of the recognition of the new kingdom of italy was becoming prominent; all the liberal party laid much stress on this. the prince regent, however, was averse to an act by which he might seem to express his approval of the forcible expulsion of princes from their thrones. as the national and liberal feeling in the country grew, his monarchical principles seemed to be strengthened. the opinions which bismarck was known to hold on the french alliance had got into the papers and were much exaggerated; he had plenty of enemies to take care that it should be said that he wished prussia to join with france; to do as piedmont had done, and by the cession of the left bank of the rhine to france to receive the assistance of napoleon in annexing the smaller states. in his letters of this period bismarck constantly protests against the truth of these accusations. "if i am to go to the devil," he writes, "it will at least not be a french one. do not take me for a bonapartist, only for a very ambitious prussian." it is at this time that his last letter to gerlach was written. they had met at the end of april, and gerlach wrote to protest against the opinion to which bismarck had given expression: "after the conversation which i have had with you i was particularly distressed that, by your bitterness against austria, you had allowed yourself to be diverted from the simple attitude towards law and the revolution. for you an alliance with france and piedmont is a possibility, a thought which is far from me and, dear bismarck, ought to be far from you. for me louis napoleon is even more than his uncle the incarnation of the revolution, and cavour is a rheinbund minister like montgellas. you cannot and ought not to deny the principles of the holy alliance; they are no other than that authority comes from god, and that the princes must govern as servants appointed by god." bismarck answers the letter the next day: "i am a child of other times than you. no one loses the mark impressed on him in the period of his youth. in you the victorious hatred of bonaparte is indelible; you call him the incarnation of the revolution and if you knew of any worse name you would bestow it upon him. i have lived in the country from my twenty-third to my thirty-second year and will never be rid of the longing to be back again; i am in politics with only half my heart; what dislike i have of france is based rather on the orleans than the bonapartist régime. it is opposed to bureaucratic corruption under the mask of constitutional government. i should be glad to fight against bonaparte till the dogs lick up the blood but with no more malice than against croats, bohemians, and bamberger fellow-countrymen." the two friends were never to meet again. the old king of prussia died at the beginning of the next year, and gerlach, who had served him so faithfully, though perhaps not always wisely, survived his master scarcely a week. in the summer of bismarck returned to his duties in russia; and this time, with the exception of a fortnight in october, he spent a whole year in st. petersburg. he had still not recovered from the effects of his illness and could not, therefore, go out much in society, but he was much liked at court and succeeded in winning the confidence both of the emperor and his family. his wife and children were now with him, and after the uncertainty of his last two years he settled down with pleasure to a quieter mode of life. he enjoyed the sport which he had in the russian forests; he studied russian and made himself completely at home. political work he had little to do, except what arose from the charge of "some , vagabond prussians" who lived in russia. of home affairs he had little knowledge: "i am quite separated from home politics, as besides the newspapers i receive scarcely anything but official news which does not expose the foundation of affairs." for the time the reports of his entering the ministry had ceased; he professed to be, and perhaps was, quite satisfied. "i am quite contented with my existence here; i ask for no change in my position until it be god's will i settle down quietly at schönhausen or reinfeld and can leisurely set about having my coffin made." in october he had to attend the czar on a journey to warsaw where he had an interview with the prince regent. the prince was accompanied by his minister-president, the prince of hohenzollern, who took the opportunity of having long conversations with the ambassador to st. petersburg. it is said that as a result of this the minister, who wished to be relieved from a post which was daily becoming more burdensome, advised the prince regent to appoint bismarck minister-president. the advice, however, was not taken. meanwhile events were taking place in prussia which were to bring about important constitutional changes. the success of the ministry of the _new era_ had not answered the expectations of the country. their foreign policy had been correct, but they had shewn no more spirit than their predecessors, and the country was in that excited state in which people wanted to see some brilliant and exciting stroke of policy, though they were not at all clear what it was they desired. then a rift had begun to grow between the regent and his ministers. the liberalism of the prince had never been very deep; it owed its origin in fact chiefly to his opposition to the reactionary government of his brother. as an honest man he intended to govern strictly in accordance with the constitution. he had, however, from the beginning no intention of allowing the chambers to encroach upon the prerogatives of the crown. the ministers on the other hand regarded themselves to some extent as a parliamentary ministry; they had a majority in the house and they were inclined to defer to it. the latent causes of difference were brought into activity by the question of army reform. the prince regent was chiefly and primarily a soldier. as a second son it had been doubtful whether he would ever succeed to the throne. he had an intimate acquaintance with the whole condition of the army, and he had long known that in many points reform was necessary. his first action on succeeding his brother was to appoint a commission of the war office to prepare a scheme of reorganisation. a memorandum had been drawn up for him by albert von roon, and with some alterations it was accepted by the commission. the minister of war, bonin (the same who had been dismissed in at the crisis of the eastern complications), seems to have been indifferent in the matter; he did not feel in himself the energy for carrying through an important reform which he had not himself originated, and of which perhaps he did not altogether approve. the prince regent had set his mind upon the matter; the experience gained during the mobilisation of had shewn how serious the defects were; the army was still on a war footing and it was a good opportunity for at once carrying through the proposed changes. bonin therefore resigned his office and roon, in december, , was appointed in his place. this appointment was to have far-reaching results; it at once destroyed all harmony in the ministry itself. the rest of the ministers were liberals. roon was a strong conservative. he was appointed professedly merely as a departmental minister, but he soon won more confidence with the regent than all the others. he was a man of great energy of character and decision in action. the best type of prussian officer, to considerable learning he joined a high sense of duty founded on deep-rooted and simple religious faith. the president of the ministry had practically retired from political life and the government had no longer a leader. roon's introduction was in fact the beginning of all the momentous events which were to follow. but for him there would have been no conflict in the parliament and bismarck would never have become minister. at the beginning of the project of law embodying the proposals for army reform was laid before the lower house. it was ordered by them in accordance with the practice to be referred to a small committee. the proposals consisted of (a) an increase in the number of recruits to be raised each year, (b) a lengthening of the term of service with the colours, (c) an alteration in the relations of the landwehr to the rest of the army. the committee appointed to consider these reforms accepted the first, but rejected the second and third. they asserted that the three years' service with the colours was not necessary, and they strongly disliked any proposal for interfering with the landwehr. the report of the committee was accepted by the house. it was in vain that the more far-seeing members of the liberal party tried to persuade their leaders to support the government; it was in vain that the ministers pointed out that the liberal majority had been elected as a government majority, and it was their duty to support ministers taken from their own party. the law had to be withdrawn and the government, instead, asked for a vote of nine million thalers, provisionally, for that year only, as a means of maintaining the army in the state to which it had been raised. in asking for this vote it was expressly stated that the principles of the organisation should be in no wise prejudiced. "the question whether in future a two or three years' service shall be required; whether the period with the reserve shall be extended; in what position the landwehr shall be placed--all this is not touched by the present proposal." on this condition the house voted the money required, but for one year only. the government, however, did not keep this pledge; the minister of war simply continued to carry out the reorganisation in accordance with the plan which had been rejected; new regiments were formed, and by the end of the year the whole army had been reorganised. this action was one for which the prince and roon were personally responsible; it was done while the other ministers were away from berlin, and without their knowledge. when the house met at the beginning of the next year they felt that they had been deceived; they were still more indignant when roon informed them that he had discovered that the whole of the reorganisation could be legally carried through in virtue of the prerogative of the crown, and that a fresh law was not required; that therefore the consideration of the changes was not before the house, and that all they would have to do would be to vote the money to pay for them. of course the house refused to vote the money; after long debates the final settlement of the question was postponed for another year; the house, though this time by a majority of only eleven votes, granting with a few modifications the required money, but again for one year only. all this time bismarck was living quietly at st. petersburg; he had no influence on affairs, for the military law had nothing to do with him, and the regent did not consult him on foreign policy. no one, however, profited by roon's appointment so much as he; he had once more a friend and supporter at court, who replaced the loss of gerlach. roon and he had known one another in the old pomeranian days. there was a link in moritz blankenburg, who was a "dutz" friend of bismarck's and roon's cousin. we can understand how untenable roon's position was when we find the minister of war choosing as his political confidants two of the leaders of the party opposed to the ministry to which he belonged. ever since roon had entered the government there had been indeed a perpetual crisis. the liberal ministers were lukewarm in their support of the military bill; they only consented to adopt it on condition that the king would give his assent to those measures which they proposed to introduce, in order to maintain their positions as leaders of the party; they proposed to bring in bills for the reform of the house of lords, for the responsibility of ministers, for local government. these were opposed to the personal opinions of the king; he was supported in his opposition by roon and refused his assent, but he neither dismissed the ministers nor did they resign. so long as they were willing to hold office on the terms he required, there was indeed no reason why he should dismiss them; to do so would be to give up the last hope of getting the military bill passed. all through the same uncertainty continued; roon indeed again and again wrote to his master, pointing out the necessity for getting rid of his colleagues; he wished for a conservative ministry with bismarck as president. here, he thought, was the only man who had the courage to carry through the army reform. others thought as he did. who so fitted to come to the help of the crown as this man who, ten years before, had shewn such ability in parliamentary debate? and whenever the crisis became more acute, all the quidnuncs of berlin shook their heads and said, "now we shall have a bismarck ministry, and that will be a _coup d'état_ and the overthrow of the constitution." bismarck meanwhile was living quietly at st. petersburg, awaiting events. at last the summons came; on june , , roon telegraphed to him that the pear was ripe; he must come at once; there was danger in delay. his telegram was followed by a letter, in which he more fully explained the situation. the immediate cause of the crisis was that the king desired to celebrate his accession, as his brother had done, by receiving the solemn homage of all his people; the ministry refused their assent to an act which would appear to the country as "feudal" and reactionary. a solemn pledge of obedience to the king was the last thing the liberals wanted to give, just for the same reasons that the king made a point of receiving it; his feelings were deeply engaged, and roon doubtless hoped that his colleagues would at last be compelled to resign; he wished, therefore, to have bismarck on the spot. bismarck could not leave st. petersburg for some days; he, however, answered by a telegram and a long letter; he begins in a manner characteristic of all his letters at this period: "your letter disturbed me in my comfortable meditations on the quiet time which i was going to enjoy at reinfeld. your cry 'to horse' came with a shrill discord. i have grown ill in mind, tired out, and spiritless since i lost the foundation of my health." and at the end: "moving, quarrelling, annoyance, the whole slavery day and night form a perspective, which already makes me homesick for reinfeld or st. petersburg. i cannot enter the swindle in better company than yours; but both of us were happier on the sadower heath behind the partridges." so he wrote late at night, but the next morning in a postscript he added: "if the king will to some extent meet my views, then i will set to the work with pleasure." in the letter he discusses at length the programme; he does not attach much importance to the homage; it would be much better to come to terms on the military question, break with the chamber, and dissolve. the real difficulty he sees, however, is foreign policy; only by a change in the management of foreign affairs can the crown be relieved from a pressure to which it must ultimately give way; he would not himself be inclined to accept the ministry of the interior, because no good could be done unless the foreign policy was changed, and that the king himself would probably not wish that. "the chief fault of our policy is that we have been liberal at home and conservative abroad; we hold the rights of our own king too cheap, and those of foreign princes too high; a natural consequence of the difference between the constitutional tendency of the ministers and the legitimist direction which the will of his majesty gives to our foreign policy. of the princely houses from naples to hanover none will be grateful for our love, and we practise towards them a truly evangelical love of our enemies at the cost of the safety of our own throne. i am true to the sole of my foot to my own princes, but towards all others i do not feel in a single drop of blood the slightest obligation to raise up a little finger to help them. in this attitude i fear that i am so far removed from our most gracious master, that he will scarcely find me fitted to be a councillor of his crown. for this reason he will anyhow prefer to use me at the home-office. in my opinion, however, that makes no difference, for i promise myself no useful results from the whole government unless our attitude abroad is more vigorous and less dependent on dynastic sympathies." bismarck arrived in berlin on july th. when he got there the crisis was over; berlin was nearly empty; roon was away in pomerania, the king in baden-baden; a compromise had been arranged; there was not to be an act of homage but a coronation. there was, therefore, no more talk of his entering the ministry; schleinitz, however, told him that he was to be transferred from russia, but did not say what post he was to have. the next day, in obedience to a command, he hurried off to baden-baden; the king wished to have his advice on many matters of policy, and instructed him to draw up a memorandum on the german question. he used the opportunity of trying to influence the king to adopt a bolder policy. at the same time he attempted to win over the leaders of the conservative party. a general election was about to take place; the manifesto of the conservative party was so worded that we can hardly believe it was not an express and intentional repudiation of the language which bismarck was in the habit of using; they desired "the unity of our german fatherland, though not like the kingdom of italy through 'blood and fire' [_blut und brand;_ almost the words which bismarck had used to describe the policy which must be followed], but in the unity of its princes and peoples holding firm to authority and law." bismarck, on hearing this, sent to his old friend herr von below, one of the leaders of the party, a memorandum on german affairs, and accompanied it by a letter. he repeated his old point that prussia was sacrificing the authority of the crown at home to support that of other princes in whose safety she had not the slightest interest. the solidarity of conservative interests was a dangerous fiction, unless it was carried out with the fullest reciprocity; carried out by prussia alone it was quixotry; it prevented king and government from executing their true task, the protection of prussia from all injustice, whether it came from home or abroad; this was the task given to the king by god. "we make the unhistorical, the jealous, and lawless mania for sovereignty of the german princes the bosom child of the conservative party in prussia, we are enthusiastic for the petty sovereignties which were created by napoleon and protected by metternich, and are blind to the dangers which threaten prussia and the independence of germany." he wishes for a clear statement of their policy; a stricter concentration of the german military forces, reform of the customs' unions, and a number of common institutions to protect material interests against the disadvantages which arise from the unnatural configuration of the different states. "besides all this i do not see why we should shrink back so bashfully from the idea of a representation of the people. we cannot fight as revolutionary an institution which we conservatives cannot do without even in prussia, and is recognised as legitimate in every german state." [ ] this letter is interesting as shewing how nearly his wishes on german affairs coincided with those of the liberal party and of the national verein: he was asking the conservatives to adopt the chief points in their opponents' programme. of course they would not do so, and the king himself was more likely to be alarmed than attracted by the bold and adventurous policy that was recommended to him. bismarck's anticipation was justified; the king was not prepared to appoint him foreign minister. herr von schleinitz indeed resigned, but his place was taken by bernstorff, minister at london; he had so little confidence in the success of his office that he did not even give up his old post, and occupied the two positions, one of which bismarck much desired to have. after attending the coronation at königsberg, bismarck, therefore, returned to his old post at st. petersburg; his future was still quite uncertain; he was troubled by his own health and that of his children; for the first time he begins to complain of the cold. "since my illness i am so exhausted that i have lost all my energy for excitement. three years ago i would have made a serviceable minister; when i think of such a thing now i feel like a broken-down acrobat. i would gladly go to london, paris, or remain here, as it pleases god and his majesty. i shudder at the prospect of the ministry as at a cold bath." in march he is still in ignorance; his household is in a bad state. "johanna has a cough, which quite exhausts her; bill is in bed with fever, the doctor does not yet know what is the matter with him; the governess has no hope of ever seeing germany again." he does not feel up to taking the ministry; even paris would be too noisy for him. "london is quieter; but for the climate and the children's health, i would prefer to stay here. berne is an old idea of mine; dull places with pretty neighbourhoods suit old people; only there is no sport there, as i do not like climbing after chamois." the decision depended on the events at home; the position of the government was becoming untenable. the elections had been most unfavourable; the radicals had ceased to efface themselves, the old leaders of had appeared again; they had formed a new party of "progressives," and had won over a hundred seats at the expense of the conservatives and the moderate liberals; they were pledged not to carry out the military reforms and to insist on the two years' service. they intended to make the difference of opinion on this point the occasion of a decisive struggle to secure and extend the control of the house over the administration, and for this purpose to bring into prominence constitutional questions which both crown and parliament had hitherto avoided. from the day the session opened it was clear that there was now no chance of the money being voted for the army. before the decisive debate came on, the majority had taken the offensive and passed what was a direct vote of want of confidence in the ministry. on this the ministry handed in their resignations to the king; their place was taken by members of the conservative party and parliament again dissolved after sitting only six weeks. it was the end of the _new era_. it was doubtful whether the new ministers would have the skill and resolution to meet the crisis; they still were without a leader; prince von hohenlohe, a member of the protestant branch of the family to which the present chancellor of the empire belongs, was appointed provisional president. the opinions of the country was clear enough; the elections resulted in the complete defeat not only of the conservatives but of the moderate liberals; not a single one of the ministers was returned. there was, therefore, no doubt that the king would either have to give in on the question of the army or to govern against the will of the majority of the chamber. the struggle was no longer confined to the question of the army; it was a formal conflict for power between the house and the crown. the attempt to introduce a parliamentary government which had been thwarted ten years before was now revived. who could say what the end would be? all precedent seemed to shew that in a struggle between crown and parliament sooner or later the king must be beaten, unless, indeed, he was prepared to adopt the means which napoleon used. the king would not give in; he believed that the army reform was necessary to the safety of his country; on the other hand, he was a man of too loyal a character to have recourse to violence and a breach of the constitution. if, however, the constitution proved to be of such a kind that it made it impossible for him to govern the country, he was prepared to retire from his post; the position would indeed be untenable if on his shoulders lay the responsibility of guiding the policy and defending the interests of prussia, and at the same time the country refused to grant him the means of doing so. the elections had taken place on may th; four days later bismarck arrived in berlin; he had at last received his recall. as soon as he was seen in berlin his appointment as minister-president was expected; all those who wished to maintain the authority of the crown, looked on him as the only man who could face the danger. roon was active, as usual, on his side and was now supported by some of his colleagues, but schleinitz, who had the support of the queen, wished to be president himself; there were long meetings of the council and audiences of the king; but the old influences were still at work; bismarck did not wish to enter the ministry except as foreign minister, and the king still feared and distrusted him. an incident which occurred during these critical days will explain to some extent the apprehensions which bismarck so easily awoke. the chronic difficulties with the elector of hesse had culminated in an act of great discourtesy; the king of prussia had sent an autograph letter to the elector by general willisen; the elector on receiving it threw it unopened on the table; as the letter contained the final demands of prussia, the only answer was to put some of the neighbouring regiments on a war footing. bernstorff took the opportunity of bismarck's presence in berlin to ask his advice; the answer was: "the circumstance that the elector has thrown a royal letter on the table is not a clever _casus belli_; if you want war, make me your under secretary; i will engage to provide you a german civil war of the best quality in a few weeks." the king might naturally fear that if he appointed bismarck, not under secretary, but minister, he would in a few weeks, whether he liked it or not, find himself involved in a german civil war of the best quality. he wanted a man who would defend the government before the chambers with courage and ability; bismarck, who had gained his reputation as a debater, was the only man for the post. he could have had the post of minister of the interior; he was offered that of minister-president without a portfolio; but if he did not actually refuse, he strongly disapproved of the plan; he would not be able to get on with bernstorff, and schleinitz would probably interfere. "i have no confidence in bernstorff's eye for political matters; he probably has none in mine." bernstorff was "too stiff," "his collars were too high." during these long discussions he wrote to his wife: "our future is obscure as in petersburg. berlin is now to the front; i do nothing one way or another; as soon as i have my credentials for paris in my pocket i will dance and sing. at present there is no talk of london, but all may change again. i scarcely get free of the discussions all day long; i do not find the ministers more united than their predecessors were." disgusted with the long waiting and uncertainty he pressed for a decision; after a fortnight's delay he was appointed minister at paris, but this was in reality only a fresh postponement; nothing had really been decided; the king expressly told him not to establish himself there. to his wife he wrote from berlin: "i am very much pleased, but the shadow remains in the background. i was already as good as caught for the ministry. perhaps when i am out of their sight they will discover another minister-president. i expect to start for paris to-morrow; whether for long, god knows; perhaps only for a few months or even weeks. they are all conspired together that i should stay here. i have had to be very firm to get away from this hotel life even for a time." he did not really expect to be away more than ten days or a fortnight. at a farewell audience just before he started, the king seems to have led him to expect that he would in a very few days be appointed as he wished, foreign minister. he arrived in paris on the th, to take up his quarters in the empty embassy. he did not wait even to see his wife before starting and he wrote to her that she was not to take any steps towards joining him. "it is not decided that i am to stay here; i am in the middle of paris lonelier than you are in reinfeld and sit here like a rat in a deserted house. how long it will last god knows. probably in eight or ten days i shall receive a telegraphic summons to berlin and then game and dance is over. if my enemies knew what a benefit they would confer on me by their victory and how sincerely i wish it for them, schleinitz out of pure malice would probably do his best to bring me to berlin." day after day, however, went by and the summons did not come; on the contrary bernstorff wrote as though he were proposing to stay on; he did not however, suggest giving up his post in london, roon wrote that he had raised the question in conversation with the king; that he had found the old leaning towards bismarck, and the old irresolution. the chamber had met, but the first few weeks of the session passed off with unexpected quiet and it was not till the autumn that the question of the budget would come up. bismarck wrote to bernstorff to try and find out what was to happen to him, but the king, before whom the letter was laid, was quite unable to come to any decision. bismarck therefore determined to use his enforced leisure in order to go across to london for a few days. he had only visited england once as a young man, and, expecting as he did soon to be responsible for the conduct of foreign affairs, it was desirable that he should make the personal acquaintance of the leading english statesmen. undoubtedly, one of the reasons why he had been sent to paris was that he might renew his acquaintance with the emperor. there was also a second international exhibition and everyone was going to london. we have, unfortunately, no letters written from england; after his return he writes to roon: "i have just come back from london; people there are much better informed about china and turkey than about prussia. loftus must write more nonsense to his ministers than i thought." the only event of which we have any information was his meeting with mr. disraeli, who at that time was leader of the opposition in the house of commons; it took place at a dinner given by the russian ambassador to the grand duchess of saxe-weimar. among the guests was count vitzthum, saxon envoy; he saw bismarck and disraeli engaged in a long conversation after dinner; afterwards the english statesman told him the substance of it. bismarck had spoken as follows: "i shall soon be compelled to undertake the leadership of the prussian government. my first care will be, with or without the help of parliament, to reorganise the army. the king has rightly set himself this task; he cannot however carry it through with his present councillors. when the army has been brought to such a state as to command respect, then i will take the first opportunity to declare war with austria, burst asunder the german confederation, bring the middle and smaller states into subjection, and give germany a national union under the leadership of prussia. i have come here to tell this to the queen's ministers." disraeli added to vitzthum, who, of course, as saxon envoy was much interested: "take care of that man; he means what he says." it does not appear that bismarck had an opportunity of explaining his project either to lord palmerston or to lord russell. all through july he remained in paris, to which he was called back in order to receive some despatches which after all never arrived; the same uncertainty continued; there was no work to be done there, emperor and ministers were going away; he was still all alone in the embassy without servants, or furniture. as he wrote to his wife, he did not know what to have for dinner or what to eat it on. he therefore applied for leave; he was himself of opinion that as the king would not immediately give him the foreign office it was not yet time for him to enter the ministry. writing to roon he advised that the government should prolong the conflict, draw the chamber into disputes on small matters which would weary the country; then when they were getting worn out and hoped that the government would meet them half-way so as to end the conflict, then would be the time to summon him, "as a sign that we are far from giving up the battle. the appearance of a new battalion in the ministerial array would then perhaps make an impression that would be wanting now, especially if beforehand a commotion was created by expressions about a _coup d'état_ and a new constitution; then my own reputation for careless violence would help me and people would think, 'now it is coming!' then, all the half-hearted would be inclined to negotiation. i am astonished at the political incapacity of our chambers and yet we are an educated country. undoubtedly too much so; others are not cleverer but they have not the childish self-confidence with which our political leaders publish their incapacity in its complete nakedness as a model and pattern. how have we germans got the reputation of retiring modesty? there is not a single one of us who does not think that he understands everything, from strategy to picking the fleas off a dog, better than professionals who have devoted their lives to it." it was only with difficulty he could even get leave of absence, for the king was as irresolute as ever; as to the cause of the difficulty we get some hint in roon's letters. there was a party which was pushing schleinitz, the only member of the liberal ministry who remained in office; he had very influential support. "her majesty the queen returns to babelsburg on sunday; she is much agitated, there will be scenes; the temperature towards the ministry will fall to zero or below." he eventually got away at the end of july with six weeks' leave of absence; he travelled down to bordeaux and bayonne and across the pyrenees to san sebastian; he was away from all news of the world; for weeks he scarcely saw even a german paper. on the th of september he was at toulouse; the sea-bathing, the mountain air, the freedom from work and anxiety, and the warmth had completely restored his health; for the first time since he went to st. petersburg he had recovered his old spirit, his decision, and directness of action. he wrote that he must have some definite decision; otherwise he would send in his resignation. "my furniture is at st. petersburg and will be frozen up, my carriages are at stettin, my horses at berlin, my family in pomerania, and i on the highroad." he was prepared to be his majesty's envoy at paris but he was also ready at once to enter the ministry. "only get me certainty, one way or another," he writes to roon, "and i will paint angels' wings on your photograph." two days later, just as a year before, he received a telegram from roon telling him to come at once. on the th he was in paris and on the morning of the th he arrived in berlin. the long-delayed crisis had at last come; the debates on the budget and the vote for the army reform began on september th; it was continued for five days, and at the end the house, by a majority of to , refused the money required for the increased establishment. the result of this vote would be that if the wishes of the house were carried out, the whole of the expenditure which had already been made for eight months of the current year was illegal; moreover, the regiments which had already existed for two years must be disbanded. it was a vote which could not possibly be carried into effect, as the money had already been spent. at a meeting of the ministry which was held the next morning, the majority, including this time even roon, seemed to have been inclined to attempt a compromise. the king alone remained firm. when he had heard the opinion of all the ministers, he rose and said that in that case it would be impossible for him to carry on the government any longer; it would only remain for him to summon the crown prince. as he said this he put his hand on the bell to call a messenger. the ministers all sprang from their chairs and assured him that he might depend upon them, and they would support him to the end. such were the circumstances in which roon summoned bismarck. none the less the influence of the queen and the crown prince were so strong that the king still doubted whether he ought to continue the struggle; on one thing he was determined, that if he had to give way he would abdicate. two days later he again asked roon his advice. "appoint bismarck minister-president," was the answer. "but he is not here, he will not accept," objected the king, referring doubtless to the difficulties which bismarck had raised formerly. "he is in berlin at this moment," said roon. the king ordered him to come to potsdam. when bismarck arrived there he found the king sitting at his table, and in front of him the act of abdication, already signed. the king asked him whether he was willing to undertake the government, even against the majority of the parliament and without a budget. bismarck said he would do so. it was one last chance, and the king tore up the act of abdication. two days later bismarck was appointed provisional minister-president, and, at the beginning of october, received his definite appointment as president and foreign minister. chapter vii. the conflict. - . the circumstances under which bismarck accepted office were such as to try the nerves of the strongest man. the king had not appealed to him so long as there was anyone else who would carry on the government; he was the last resource, and had taken up a burden from which all others shrunk. he had pledged himself to support the king in a conflict against the whole nation; with the exception of the upper house he had no friends or supporters. the opinion in europe was as decisively against him as that in prussia; he was scarcely looked on as a serious politician; everyone believed that in a few weeks he would have to retire, and the king to give up the useless conflict on which he was staking his throne. bismarck was under no illusion as to his position; he had been summoned by the king, he depended for his office entirely on the king, but would the king have the strength of will and courage to resist? only a few days after his appointment, the king had gone to baden-baden for a week, where he met the queen. when he came back, he was completely disheartened. bismarck, who had travelled part of the way to meet him, got into the train at a small roadside station. he found that the king, who was sitting alone in an ordinary first-class carriage, was prepared to surrender. "what will come of it?" he said. "already i see the place before my castle on which your head will fall, and then mine will fall too." "well, as far as i am concerned," answered bismarck, "i cannot think of a finer death than one on the field of battle or the scaffold. i would fall like lord strafford; and your majesty, not as louis xvi., but as charles i. that is a quite respectable historical figure." for the moment the centre of interest lay in the house. the new minister began by what he intended as an attempt at reconciliation: he announced that the budget for would be withdrawn; the object of this was to limit as much as possible the immediate scope of difference; a fresh budget for the next year would be laid before them as soon as possible. there would remain only the settlement of the budget for the current year. this announcement was badly received; the house was distrustful, and they interpreted it as an attempt to return to the old practice of deferring consideration of the budget until the beginning of the year to which it applied. the first discussion in which bismarck took part was not in the house itself, but in the budget committee. the committee proposed a resolution requiring the government at once to lay before the house the budget for , and declaring that it was unconstitutional to spend any money which had been expressly and definitely refused by the house of representatives. on this there took place a long discussion, in which bismarck spoke repeatedly; for the discussions in committee, which consisted only of about thirty members, were conversational in their nature. there was no verbatim report, but the room was crowded with members who had come to hear the new minister. they were not disappointed. he spoke with a wit, incisiveness, and versatility to which, as one observer remarked, they were not accustomed from prussian ministers. he warned them not to exaggerate their powers. the prussian constitution did not give the house of representatives the sole power of settling the budget; it must be settled by arrangement with the other house and the crown. there was a difference of opinion in the interpretation of the constitution; all constitutional government required compromise; a constitution was not something dead, it must be enlivened; it was interpreted by custom and practice; it would be wiser not to hasten this practice too quickly; then the question of law might easily become one of power. it was not the fault of the government that they had got into this position; people took the situation too tragically, especially in the press; they spoke as though the end of all things was come; "but," he added, "a constitutional struggle is not a disgrace, it is rather an honour; after all we are all children of the same country." a true note, but one which he was not always able to maintain in the struggle of the coming years. then he expounded the view of the german character which we have learnt from his letters: it was customary to speak of the sobriety of the prussian people; yes, but the great independence of the individual made it difficult in prussia to govern with the constitution; in france it was different; there this individual independence was wanting; "we are perhaps too educated to endure a constitution; we are too critical"; the capacity for judging measures of the government and acts of the representatives was too universal; there were in the country too many catilinarian existences, which had an interest in revolutions. he reminded them that germany did not care for the liberalism of prussia, but for its power; bavaria, wurtemberg, baden, might indulge in liberalism; prussia must concentrate its power and hold itself ready for the favourable moment which had already been passed over more than once; prussia's boundaries, as fixed by the congress of vienna, were not favourable to a sound political life; "not by speeches and majority votes are the great questions of the time decided--that was the great blunder of and --but by blood and iron." he appealed for confidence: "do not force a quarrel; we are honest people and you can trust us." the effect of these speeches was very unfavourable; the very quickness of thought and originality of expression produced a bad impression; even the free indulgence in long foreign words offended patriotic journalists. they seemed to his audience reckless; what was this reference to the treaties of vienna but an imitation of napoleonic statesmanship? they had the consciousness that they were making history, that they were involved in a great and tragic conflict, and they expected the minister to play his part seriously and solemnly; instead of that they had listened to a series of epigrams with no apparent logical connection. we know how dangerous it is, even in england, for a responsible statesman to allow himself to be epigrammatic in dealing with serious affairs. much more was it in germany, where the ministers were nearly always officials by training. bismarck had the dangerous gift of framing pregnant and pithy sentences which would give a ready handle to his opponents: _macht geht vor recht_; he had not said these words, but he had said something very much like them, and they undoubtedly represented what seemed to his audience the pith of his speeches. and then these words, _blood and iron_. he has told us in later years what he really meant: "put the strongest possible military power, in other words, as much blood and iron as you can, into the hands of the king of prussia, then he will be able to carry out the policy you wish; it cannot be done with speeches and celebrations and songs, it can only be done by blood and iron." [ ] what everyone thought he meant was that blood must be shed and iron used; and perhaps they were not so far wrong. the attempt at conciliation failed; the report of the committee was adopted, and an amendment proposed by vincke, which bismarck was prepared to accept, was rejected. bismarck warned the house not to push the conflict too far; the time would come when the prospect of a peaceful solution would have disappeared; then the government too would be prepared to oppose theory to theory and interpretation to interpretation. he showed to the president of the house a twig of olive. "i gathered this in avignon to bring it to the house; it does not seem to be time yet." the budget was sent up to the house of lords in the amended form in which the house of representatives had passed it; the lords unanimously threw it out, as they were legally justified in doing; not content with that, they altered it to the original form in which it had been proposed by the government and sent it down again to the lower house. this was clearly illegal. their action, however, was most useful to the government. a conflict had now arisen between the two houses, and technically the responsibility for the failure to bring the conciliation about was taken away from the government; they could entrench themselves behind the impregnable position that the law required the budget to be passed by both houses; until this was done they could do nothing. the houses would not agree; the government was helpless. the house of representatives at once passed a motion declaring the vote of the upper house for altering the budget null and void, as indeed it was; in the middle of the discussion a message was brought down by the president announcing that the house was to be prorogued that afternoon; they had just time to pass the resolution and to send it in a cab which was waiting at the door to the upper house, where it was read out amidst the boisterous laughter of the peers; then both chambers were summoned to the palace, and the session closed. the first round in the conflict was over. the recess was short; the next session was by the constitution obliged to begin not later than january th; there were many who expected that the constitution would be ignored and the parliament not summoned. this was not bismarck's plan; he fulfilled all the technical requirements in the strictest way; he carefully abstained from any action which he could not justify by an appeal to the letter of the constitution; the government of the country was carried on with vigour and success; he allowed no loophole by which his opponents might injure his influence with the king. it is true that they were spending money which had not been voted, but then, as he explained, that was not his fault; the provisions of the law were quite clear. it was the duty of the government to submit the budget to the lower house, who could amend it; it had then to be passed in the form of a law, and for this the assent of both houses of parliament and of the crown was required. the upper house had not the right of proposing amendments, but they had the right of rejecting them. in this case they had made use of their right; no law had been passed the two houses had not agreed. what was to happen? the constitution gave no help; there was a gap in it. the government therefore had to act as best they could. they could not be expected to close the government offices, cease to pay the troops, and let the government of the country come to an end; they must go on as best they could, taking all the responsibility until they could come to some agreement. as soon as the house met it began to vote an address to the king. they adopted the obvious fiction, which, in fact, they could not well avoid, that he was being misled by his ministers, and the attitude of the country misrepresented to him; even had they known as well as we do that the ministers were only carrying out the orders of the king, they could not well have said so. bismarck, however, did not attempt to conceal the truth; the address, he said, touched the king; the acts complained of were done in the name of the king; they were setting themselves against him. the contest was, who was to rule in prussia, the house of hohenzollern or the house of parliament. he was at once accused of disloyalty; he was, they said, protecting himself behind the person of the sovereign, but, of course, it was impossible for him not to do so. the whole justification for his action was that he was carrying out the king's orders. what was at the root of the conflict but the question, whether in the last resort the will of the king or the majority of the house should prevail? to have adopted the english practice, to have refrained from mentioning the king's name, would have been to adopt the very theory of the constitution for which the house was contending, the english theory that the sovereign has neither the right of deciding nor responsibility; it would have been to undermine the monarchical side of the constitution which bismarck was expressly defending. the king himself never attempted to avoid the responsibility; in a public speech he had already said that the army organisation was his own work: "it is my own and i am proud of it; i will hold firmly to it and carry it through with all my energy." in his answer to the address from the house, both on this and on later occasions, he expressly withdrew the assumption that he was not well informed or that he did not approve of his ministers' action. the address was carried by a majority of to ; the king refused to receive it in person. the house then proceeded to throw out a bill for military reorganisation which was laid before them; they adopted a resolution that they reserved for later discussion the question, for what part of the money illegally spent in they would hold the ministry personally responsible. they then proceeded to the budget of , and again rejected the army estimates; they refused the money asked for raising the salaries of the ambassadors (bismarck himself, while at st. petersburg, had suffered much owing to the insufficiency of his salary, and he wished to spare his successors a similar inconvenience); and they brought in bills for the responsibility of ministers. the public attention, however was soon directed from these internal matters to even more serious questions of foreign policy. at the beginning of february the poles had once more risen in revolt against the russian government. much sympathy was felt for them in western europe. england, france, and austria joined in representations and remonstrances to the czar; they expected that prussia would join them. nothing could have been more inconvenient to bismarck; he was at the time fully occupied in negotiations about german affairs, and he was probably anxious to bring to a speedy issue the questions between prussia and austria; it was therefore most important to him to be on good terms with france and england, for he would not challenge austria unless he was sure that austria would have no allies; now he must quarrel with either russia or with france. an insurrection in poland was, however, a danger to which everything else must be postponed; on this his opinion never varied, here there could be no compromise. he was perfectly open: "the polish question is to us a question of life and death," he said to sir andrew buchanan. there were two parties among the poles; the one, the extreme republican, wished for the institution of an independent republic; the other would be content with self-government and national institutions under the russian crown; they were supported by a considerable party in russia itself. either party if successful would not be content with russian poland; they would demand posen, they would never rest until they had gained again the coast of the baltic and deprived prussia of her eastern provinces. the danger to prussia would be greatest, as bismarck well knew, if the poles became reconciled to the russians; an independent republic on their eastern frontier would have been dangerous, but polish aspirations supported by the panslavonic party and the russian army would have been fatal. russia and poland might be reconciled, prussia and poland never can be. prussia therefore was obliged to separate itself from the other powers; instead of sending remonstrances to the czar, the king wrote an autograph letter proposing that the two governments should take common steps to meet the common danger; general von alvensleben, who took the letter, at once concluded a convention in which it was agreed that prussian and russian troops should be allowed to cross the frontier in pursuit of the insurgents; at the same time two of the prussian army corps were mobilised and drawn up along the polish frontier. the convention soon became known and it is easy to imagine the indignation with which the prussian people and the house of representatives heard of what their government had done. the feeling was akin to that which would have prevailed in america had the president offered his help to the spanish government to suppress the insurrection in cuba. the answers to questions were unsatisfactory, and on february th heinrich von sybel rose to move that the interests of prussia required absolute neutrality. it was indeed evident that bismarck's action had completely isolated prussia; except the czar, she had now not a single friend in europe and scarcely a friend in germany. bismarck began his answer by the taunt that the tendency to enthusiasm for foreign nationalities, even when their objects could only be realised at the cost of one's own country, was a political disease unfortunately limited to germany. it was, however, an unjust taunt, for no one had done more than sybel himself in his historical work to point out the necessity, though he recognised the injustice, of the part prussia had taken in the partition of poland; nobody had painted so convincingly as he had, the political and social demoralisation of poland. bismarck then dwelt on the want of patriotism in the house, which in the middle of complicated negotiations did not scruple to embarrass their own government. "no english house of commons," he said, "would have acted as they did," a statement to which we cannot assent; an english opposition would have acted exactly as the majority of the prussian parliament did. when a minister is in agreement with the house on the general principles of policy, then indeed there rests on them the obligation not to embarrass the government by constant interpolation with regard to each diplomatic step; self-restraint must be exercised, confidence shewn. this was not the case here; the house had every reason to believe that the objects of bismarck were completely opposed to what they wished; they could not be expected to repose confidence in him. they used this, as every other opportunity, to attempt to get rid of him. the question of poland is one on which bismarck never altered his attitude. his first public expression of opinion on foreign affairs was an attack on the polish policy of the prussian government in . "no one then," he wrote, "could doubt that an independent poland would be the irreconcilable enemy of prussia and would remain so till they had conquered the mouth of the vistula and every polish-speaking village in west and east prussia, pomerania, and silesia." forty years later one of the last of his great speeches in the reichstag was devoted to attacking the polish sympathies of the catholic party in prussia. he was never tired of laughing at the characteristic german romanticism which was so enthusiastic for the welfare of other nations. he recalled the memories of his boyhood when, after the rebellion of , polish refugees were received in every german town with honours and enthusiasm greater than those paid to the men who had fought for germany, when german children would sing polish national airs as though they were their own. nothing shews the change which he has been able to bring about in german thought better than the attitude of the nation towards poland. in the old days the germans recollected only that the partition of poland had been a great crime; it was their hope and determination that they might be able to make amends for it. in those days the poles were to be found in every country in europe, foremost in fighting on the barricades; they helped the germans to fight for their liberty, and the germans were to help them to recover independence. in , mieroslawski had been carried like a triumphant hero through the streets of berlin; the baden rebels put themselves under the leadership of a pole, and it was a pole who commanded the viennese in their resistance to the austrian army; a pole led the italians to disaster on the field of novara. at a time when poets still were political leaders, and the memory and influence of byron had not been effaced, there was scarcely a german poet, platen, uhland, heine, who had not stirred up the enthusiasm for poland. it was against this attitude of mind that bismarck had to struggle and he has done so successfully. he has taught that it is the duty of germany to use all the power of the state for crushing and destroying the polish language and nationality; the poles in prussia are to become prussian, as those in russia have to become russian. a hundred years ago the polish state was destroyed; now the language and the nation must cease to exist. it is a natural result of the predominance of prussia in germany. the enthusiasm for poland was not unnatural when the centre of gravity of germany was still far towards the west. germany could be great, prosperous, and happy, even if a revived poland spread to the shores of the baltic, but prussia would then cease to exist and bismarck has taught the germans to feel as prussians. the danger during these weeks was real; napoleon proposed that austria, england, and france should present identical notes to prussia remonstrating with and threatening her. lord russell refused; it was, as bismarck said in later years, only the friendly disposition of lord russell to germany which saved prussia from this danger. bismarck's own position was very insecure; but he withstood this attack as he did all others, though few knew at what expense to his nerves and health; he used to attribute the frequent illnesses of his later years to the constant anxiety of these months; he had a very nervous temperament, self-control was difficult to him, and we must remember that all the time when he was defending the king's government against this public criticism he had to maintain himself against those who at court were attempting to undermine his influence with the king. he had, however, secured the firm friendship of russia. when he was in st. petersburg he had gained the regard of the czar; now to this personal feeling was added a great debt of gratitude. what a contrast between the action of austria and prussia! the late czar had saved austria from dissolution, and what had been the reward? opposition in the east, and now austria in the polish affair was again supporting the western powers. on the other hand prussia, and prussia alone, it was which had saved russia from the active intervention of france and england. napoleon had proposed that a landing should he made in lithuania in order to effect a junction with the poles; bismarck had immediately declared that if this were done he should regard it as a declaration of war against prussia. so deep was the indignation of alexander that he wrote himself to the king of prussia, proposing an alliance and a joint attack on france and austria. it must have been a great temptation to bismarck, but he now shewed the prudence which was his great characteristic as a diplomatist; he feared that in a war of this kind the brunt would fall upon prussia, and that when peace was made the control of negotiations would be with the czar. he wished for war with austria, but he was determined that when war came he should have the arrangement of the terms of peace. on his advice the king refused the offer. the bitterness of the feeling created by these debates on poland threatened to make it impossible for ministers any longer to attend in the house; bismarck did his part in increasing it. "you ask me," he said, "why, if we disagree with you, we do not dissolve; it is that we wish the country to have an opportunity of becoming thoroughly acquainted with you." he was tired and angry when during one of these sittings he writes to motley: "i am obliged to listen to particularly tasteless speeches out of the mouths of uncommonly childish and excited politicians, and i have therefore a moment of unwilling leisure which i cannot use better than in giving you news of my welfare. i never thought that in my riper years i should be obliged to carry on such an unworthy trade as that of a parliamentary minister. as envoy, although an official, i still had the feeling of being a gentleman; as [parliamentary] minister one is a helot. i have come down in the world, and hardly know how. "april th. i wrote as far as this yesterday, then the sitting came to an end; five hours' chamber until three o'clock; one hour's report to his majesty; three hours at an incredibly dull dinner, old important whigs; then two hours' work; finally, a supper with a colleague, who would have been hurt if i had slighted his fish. this morning, i had hardly breakfasted, before karolyi was sitting opposite to me; he was followed without interruption by denmark, england, portugal, russia, france, whose ambassador i was obliged to remind at one o'clock that it was time for me to go to the house of phrases. i am sitting again in the latter; hear people talk nonsense, and end my letter. all these people have agreed to approve our treaties with belgium, in spite of which twenty speakers scold each other with the greatest vehemence, as if each wished to make an end of the other; they are not agreed about the motives which make them unanimous, hence, alas! a regular german squabble about the emperor's beard; _querelle d'allemand_. you anglo-saxon yankees have something of the same kind also.... your battles are bloody; ours wordy; these chatterers really cannot govern prussia. i must bring some opposition to bear against them; they have too little wit and too much self-complacency--stupid and audacious. stupid, in all its meanings, is not the right word; considered individually, these people are sometimes very clever, generally educated--the regulation german university culture; but of politics, beyond the interests of their own church tower, they know as little as we knew as students, and even less; as far as external politics go, they are also, taken separately, like children. in all other questions they become childish as soon as they stand together _in corpore_. in the mass stupid, individually intelligent." recalling these days, bismarck said in later years: "i shall never forget how i had every morning to receive the visit of sir andrew buchanan, the english ambassador, and talleyrand, the representative of france, who made hell hot for me over the inexcusable leanings of prussian policy towards russia, and held threatening language towards us, and then at midday i had the pleasure of hearing in the prussian parliament pretty much the same arguments and attacks which in the morning the foreign ambassadors had made against me." of course the language used in the house weakened his influence abroad, and the foreign governments shewed more insistence when they found out that the prussian parliament supported their demands. it was noticed with satisfaction in the english parliament that the nation had dissociated itself from the mean and disgraceful policy of the government. at last personal friction reached such a point that the session had to be closed. in order to understand the cause of this we must remember that in prussia the ministers are not necessarily members of either house; they enjoy, however, by the constitution, the right of attending the debates and may at any time demand to be heard; they do not sit in the house among the other members, but on a raised bench to the right of the president, facing the members. they have not, therefore, any feeling of _esprit de corps_ as members of the assembly; bismarck and his colleagues when they addressed the house spoke not as members, not as the representatives of even a small minority, but as strangers, as the representatives of a rival and hostile authority; it is this which alone explains the almost unanimous opposition to him; he was the opponent not of one party in the house but of the parliament itself and of every other parliament. in the course of a debate he came into conflict with the chair; the president pointed out that some of his remarks had nothing to do with the subject; bismarck at once protested: "i cannot allow the president the right to a disciplinary interruption in my speech. i have not the honour of being a member of this assembly; i have not helped to vote your standing orders; i have not joined in electing the president; i am not subject to the disciplinary power of the chamber. the authority of the president ends at this barrier. i have one superior only, his majesty the king." this led to a sharp passage with the president, who maintained that his power extended as far as the four walls; he could not indeed withdraw the right of speech from a minister, but could interrupt him. bismarck at once repeated word for word the obnoxious passage of his speech. the president threatened, if he did so again, to close the sitting; bismarck practically gave way; "i cannot," he said, "prevent the president adjourning the house; what i have said twice i need not repeat a third time"; and the debate continued without further interruption. a few weeks later a similar scene occurred, but this time it was not bismarck but roon, and roon had not the same quick feeling for parliamentary form; bismarck had defied the president up to the extreme point where his legal powers went, roon passed beyond them. the president wished to interrupt the minister; roon refused to stop speaking; the president rang his bell. "when i interrupt the minister," he said, "he must be silent. for that purpose i use my bell, and, if the minister does not obey, i must have my hat brought me." when the chairman put on his hat the house would be adjourned. roon answered, "i do not mind if the president has his hat brought; according to the constitution i can speak if i wish, and no one has the right to interrupt me." after a few more angry words on either side, as roon continued to dispute the right of the president, the latter rose from his seat and asked for his hat, which he placed on his head. all the members rose and the house was adjourned. unfortunately the hat handed to him was not his own; it was much too large and completely covered his head and face, so that the strain of the situation was relieved by loud laughter. after this the ministers refused to attend the house unless they received an assurance that the president no longer claimed disciplinary authority over them; a series of memoranda were exchanged between the house and the ministry; the actual point in dispute was really a very small one; it is not even clear that there was _any_ difference of opinion; everyone acknowledged that the ministers might make as many speeches as they liked, and that the chairman could not require them to stop speaking. the only question was whether he might interrupt them in order to make any remarks himself; but neither side was prepared to come to an understanding. the king, to whom the house appealed, supported the ministry, and a few days later the house was prorogued. the second session was over. three days later, by royal proclamation, a series of ordinances was published creating very stringent regulations for the control of the press; they gave the police the right of forbidding a newspaper to appear for no other reason except disapproval of its general tendency. it was a power more extreme than in the worst days of the carlsbad decrees had ever been claimed by any german government. the ordinances were based on a clause in the constitution which gave the government at times of crisis, if parliament were not sitting, the power of making special regulations for the government of the press. the reference to the constitution seemed almost an insult; the kind of crisis which was meant was obviously a period of civil war or invasion; it seemed as though the government had taken the first pretext for proroguing parliament to be able to avail themselves of this clause. the ordinances reminded men of those of charles x.; surely, they said, this was the beginning of a reign of violence. the struggle was now no longer confined to parliament. parliament indeed was clearly impotent; all that could be done by speeches and votes and addresses had been done and had failed; the king still supported the ministry. it was now the time for the people at large; the natural leaders were the corporations of the large towns; the liberal policy of the prussian government had given them considerable independence; they were elected by the people, and in nearly every town there was a large majority opposed to the government. headed by the capital, they began a series of addresses to the king; public meetings were organised; at cologne a great festival was arranged to welcome sybel and the other representatives from the rhine. it was more serious that in so monarchical a country the discontent with the personal action of the king found public expression. the crown prince was at this time on a tour of military inspection in east prussia; town after town refused the ordinary loyal addresses; they would not welcome him or take part in the usual ceremonies; the ordinary loyal addresses to the king and other members of the royal family were refused. it was no longer a conflict between the ministry and the parliament, but between the king and the country. suddenly the country learned that the crown prince himself, the heir apparent to the throne, was on their side. he had always disliked bismarck; he was offended by the brusqueness of his manner. he disliked the genial and careless _bonhommie_ with which bismarck, who hated affectation, discussed the most serious subjects; he had opposed his appointment, and he now held a position towards his father's government similar to that which ten years before his father had held towards his own brother. he was much influenced by his english relations, and the opinion of the english court was strongly unfavourable to bismarck. hitherto the crown prince had refrained from any public active opposition; he had, however, not been asked his opinion concerning the press ordinances, nor had he even received an invitation to the council at which they were passed. bitterly offended at this slight upon himself, seriously alarmed lest the action of the government might even endanger the dynasty, on his entry into danzig he took occasion to dissociate himself from the action of the government. he had not, he said, been asked; he had known nothing about it; he was not responsible. the words were few and they were moderate, but they served to shew the whole of germany what hitherto only those about the court had known, that the crown prince was to be counted among the opponents of the government. an incident followed a few days later which could only serve to increase the breach. after his speech at danzig, the crown prince had offered to surrender all his official positions; the king had not required this of him, but had strictly ordered him not again to come into opposition to his government. the crown prince had promised obedience, but continued his private protests against "these rude and insolent ministers." the letters on both sides had been affectionate and dignified. a few days later, however, the berlin correspondent of the _times_ was enabled to publish the contents of them. it is not known who was to blame for this very serious breach of confidence; but the publication must have been brought about by someone very closely connected with the crown prince; suspicion was naturally directed towards the court of coburg. it was not the last time that the confidence of the crown prince was to be abused in a similar manner. the event naturally much increased bismarck's dislike to the entourage of the prince. there was indeed a considerable number of men, half men of letters, half politicians, who were glad to play a part by attaching themselves to a liberal prince; they did not scruple to call in the help of the press of the foreign countries, especially of england, and use its influence for the decision of prussian affairs. unfortunately their connections were largely with england; they had a great admiration for english liberty, and they were often known as the english party. this want of discretion, which afterwards caused a strong prejudice against them in germany, was used to create a prejudice also against england. people in germany confused with the english nation, which was supremely indifferent to continental affairs, the opinions of a few writers who were nearly always german. for many years after this, the relations between bismarck and the crown prince were very distant, and the breach was to be increased by the very decided line which the crown prince afterwards took with regard to the schleswig-holstein affair. the event shewed that bismarck knew well the country with which he was dealing; the press ordinances were not actually illegal, they were strictly enforced; many papers were warned, others were suppressed; the majority at once changed their tone and moderated their expression of hostility to the government. in england, under similar circumstances, a host of scurrilous pamphlets have always appeared; the prussian police were too prompt for this to be possible. the king refused to receive the addresses; an order from the home office forbade town councils to discuss political matters; a bürgermeister who disregarded the order was suspended from his office; public meetings were suppressed. these measures were successful; the discontent remained and increased, but there was no disorder and there were no riots. great courage was required to defy public opinion, but with courage it could be defied with as much impunity as that of the parliament. englishmen at the time asked why the people did not refuse to pay the taxes; the answer is easy: there would have been no legal justification for this, for though, until the estimates had been passed, the ministers were not legally enabled to spend a farthing of public money, the taxes could still be levied; they were not voted annually; once imposed, they continued until a law was passed withdrawing them. the situation, in fact, was this, that the ministry were obliged to collect the money though they were not authorised in spending it. to this we must add that the country was very prosperous; the revenue was constantly increasing; there was no distress. the socialist agitation which was just beginning was directed not against the government but against society; lassalle found more sympathy in bismarck than he did with the liberal leaders. he publicly exhorted his followers to support the monarchy against these miserable bourgeois, as he called the liberals. except on the one ground of the constitutional conflict, the country was well governed; there was no other interference with liberty of thought or action. moreover, there was a general feeling that things could not last long; the liberals believed that the future was with them; time itself would bring revenge. at the worst they would wait till the death of the king; he was already nearly seventy years of age; the political difficulties had much injured his health. when he was gone, then with the crown prince the constitutional cause would triumph. how different was the future to be! year after year the conflict continued. each year the house was summoned and the budget laid before it; each year the house rejected the budget; they threw out government measures, they refused the loans, and they addressed the king to dismiss his ministers. the sessions, however, were very short; that of lasted only a few weeks. each year bismarck's open contempt for the parliament and their unqualified hatred of him increased. the people still continued to support their representatives. the cities still continued to withhold their loyal addresses to the king. with each year, however, the government gained confidence. it was easy to see that the final result would depend on the success of the government in external affairs. to these we must now turn. english opinion at that time was unanimously opposed to the king; it is difficult even now to judge the issue. it was natural for englishmen to sympathise with those who wished to imitate them. their pride was pleased when they found the ablest parliamentary leaders, the most learned historians and keenest jurists desirous to assimilate the institutions of prussia to those which existed in england. it is just this which ought to make us pause. what do we think of politicians who try to introduce among us the institutions and the faults of foreign countries? "why will not the king of prussia be content with the position which the queen of england holds, or the king of the belgians,--then all his unpopularity would be gone?" was a question asked at the time by an english writer. we may ask, on the other hand, why should the king of prussia sacrifice his power and prerogative? the question is really as absurd as it would be to ask, why is not an english parliament content with the power enjoyed by the prussian parliament? it was a commonplace of the time, that the continued conflict shewed a want of statesmanship; so it did, if it is statesmanship always to court popularity and always to surrender one's cause when one believes it to be right, even at the risk of ruining one's country. it must be remembered that through all these years the existence of prussia was at stake. if the prussian government insisted on the necessity for a large and efficient army, they were accused of reckless militarism. people forgot that the prussian monarchy could no more maintain itself without a large army than the british empire could without a large navy. in all the secret diplomatic negotiations of the time, the dismemberment of prussia was a policy to be considered. france wished to acquire part of the left bank of the rhine, austria had never quite given up hope of regaining part of silesia; it was not fifty years since prussia had acquired half the kingdom of saxony; might not a hostile coalition restore this territory? and then the philanthropy of england and the intrigues of france were still considering the possibility of a revived poland, but in poland would have to be included part of the territory which prussia had acquired. it is often said that from this conflict must be dated the great growth of militarism in europe; it is to the victory of the king and bismarck that we are to attribute the wars which followed and the immense armaments which since then have been built up in europe. to a certain extent, of course, this is true, though it is not clear that the presence of these immense armies is an unmixed evil. it is, however, only half the truth; the prussian government was not solely responsible. it was not they who began arming, it was not they who first broke the peace which had been maintained in europe since . their fault seems to have been, not that they armed first, but that when they put their hand to the work, they did it better than other nations. if they are exposed to any criticism in the matter, it must rather be this, that the government of the late king had unduly neglected the army; they began to prepare not too soon but almost too late. it was in austria in that the new military dominion began; austria was supported by russia and imitated by france; prussia, surrounded by these empires, each at least double herself in population, was compelled to arm in self-defence. by not doing so sooner she had incurred the disgrace of olmütz; her whole policy had been weak and vacillating, because the government was frightened at stirring up a conflict in which they would almost certainly be defeated. there is one other matter with regard to the conflict so far as regards bismarck personally. we must always remember that he was not responsible for it. it had originated at a time when he was absent from germany, and had very little influence on the conduct of affairs. had he been minister two years before, there probably would have been no conflict at all. the responsibility for it lies partly with the leaders of the liberal party, who, as we know from memoirs that have since been published, were acting against their own convictions, in opposing the military demands of the government, for they feared that otherwise the party would not follow them. much of the responsibility also rests with the ministry of the _new era_; they had mismanaged affairs; the mismanagement arose from the want of union among them, for the liberal majority were in many matters opposed to the king and the throne. it was this want of cordial co-operation in the ministry which led to the great blunder by which the minister of war acted in a way which seemed to be, and in fact was, a breach of an engagement made by the minister of finance. had bismarck been in authority at the time, we can hardly doubt that he would have found some way of effecting a compromise between the government and the leaders of the moderate liberal party. at least no blame attached to him for what had happened. still less can we afford him anything but the highest commendation, that, when the king had got into an absolutely untenable position, he came forward, and at the risk of his reputation, his future, perhaps his life, stood by his side. chapter viii. schleswig-holstein. - . we have seen that the result of the conflict would eventually depend upon the management of foreign affairs. bismarck before his appointment had always said that the government could only gain freedom at home by a more vigorous policy abroad. he was now in a position to follow the policy he desired. the conflict made him indispensable to the king; if he retired, the king would have to surrender to the house. this was always present to his mind and enabled him to keep his influence against all his enemies, who throughout the spring had used every effort to undermine his authority with the king. there were many who thought that he deliberately maintained the friction in order to make himself indispensable, and in truth his relations to the parliament had this advantage, that there was no use in attempting to take into consideration their wishes. had he been supported by a friendly house he would have had to justify his policy, perhaps to modify it; as it was, since they were sure to refuse supplies whatever he did, one or two more votes of censure were a matter of indifference to him, and he went on his own way directing the diplomacy of the country with as sure and firm a hand as though no parliament existed. in the autumn he had the first opportunity for shewing how great his influence already was. during the summer holidays, he was in almost constant attendance on the king, who as usual had gone to gastein for a cure. perhaps he did not venture to leave the king, but he often complained of the new conditions in which his life was passed; he wished to be back with his wife and children in pomerania. he writes to his wife from baden: "i wish that some intrigue would necessitate another ministry, so that i might honourably turn my back on this basin of ink and live quietly in the country. the restlessness of this life is unbearable; for ten weeks i have been doing clerk's work at an inn--it is no life for an honest country gentleman." at the end of july, a proposal came from the emperor of austria which, but for bismarck's firmness, might have had very far-reaching results. the emperor had visited the king and discussed with him proposals for the reform of the confederation. he explained an austrian plan for the reform which was so much needed, and asked the king if he would join in an assembly of all the german princes to discuss the plan. the king for many reasons refused; nevertheless two days afterwards formal invitations were sent out to all the princes and to the burgomasters of the free cities, inviting them to a congress which was to meet at frankfort. all the other princes accepted, and the congress met on the th of august. the emperor presided in person, and he hoped to be able to persuade them to adopt his proposals, which would be very favourable for austria. it was, however, apparent that without the presence of the king of prussia the congress would come to no result; it was therefore determined to send a special deputation to invite him to reconsider his refusal. the king had the day before moved from karlsbad to baden and was therefore in the immediate neighbourhood of frankfort. it was very difficult for him not to accept this special invitation. "how can i refuse," he said, "when thirty princes invite me and they send the message by a king!" personally he wished to go, though he agreed with bismarck that it would be wiser to stay away; all his relations pressed him to go. it would have been pleasant for once to meet in friendly conclave all his fellow princes. bismarck, however, was determined that it should not be. he also had gone to baden-baden; the king consulted him before sending the answer. after a long and exhausting struggle, bismarck gained his point and a refusal was sent. he had threatened to resign if his advice were not taken. as soon as the letter was sealed and despatched, bismarck turned to a tray with glasses which stood on the table and smashed them in pieces. "are you ill?" asked a friend who was in the room. "no," was the answer; "i was, but i am better now. i felt i must break something." so much were his nerves affected by the struggle. the congress went on without the representative of prussia. the kings and princes discussed the proposals in secret session. they enjoyed this unaccustomed freedom; for the first time they had been able to discuss the affairs of their own country without the intervention of their ministers. the ministers had, of course, come to frankfort, but they found themselves excluded from all participation in affairs. with what admiration and jealousy must they have looked on bismarck, but there was none of them who had done for his prince what bismarck had for the king of prussia. perhaps it was his intention at once to press forward the struggle with austria for supremacy in germany. if so, he was to be disappointed. a new difficulty was now appearing in the diplomatic world: the schleswig-holstein question, which had been so long slumbering, broke out into open fire, and nearly three years were to pass before bismarck was able to resume the policy on which he had determined. men often speak as though he were responsible for the outbreak of this difficulty and the war which followed; that was far from being the case; it interrupted his plans as much as did the polish question. we shall have to see with what ingenuity he gained for his country an advantage from what appeared at first to be a most inconvenient situation. we must shortly explain the origin of this question, the most complicated that has ever occupied european diplomacy. the duchy of holstein had been part of the german empire; for many hundreds of years the duke of holstein had also been king of denmark; the connection at first had been a purely personal union; it was, however, complicated by the existence of the duchy of schleswig. schleswig was outside the confederation, as it had been outside the german empire, and had in old days been a fief of the kingdom of denmark. the nobles of holstein had, however, gradually succeeded in extending german influence and the german language into schleswig, so that this duchy had become more than half german. schleswig and holstein were also joined together by very old customs, which were, it is said, founded on charters given by the kings of denmark; it was claimed that the two duchies were always to be ruled by the same man, and also that they were to be kept quite distinct from the kingdom of denmark. these charters are not undisputed, but in this case, as so often happens in politics, the popular belief in the existence of a right was to be more important than the legal question whether the right really existed. the trouble began about . there was a double question, the question of constitution and the question of inheritance. the danes, desirous to consolidate the monarchy, had neglected the rights of the old local estates in the duchies; this led to an agitation and a conflict. it was a struggle for the maintenance of local privileges against the monarchy in copenhagen. moreover, a vigorous democratic party had arisen in denmark; their object was to incorporate the whole of schleswig in the danish monarchy; they did not care what happened to holstein. this party were called the eider danes, for they wished denmark to be extended to the eider. against this proposed separation of the two duchies violent protests were raised, and in a rebellion broke out. this was the rebellion which had been supported in that year by prussia, and it had the universal sympathy of everyone in germany, princes and people alike. the question of constitution was complicated by one of succession. the male line of the royal house which ruled in denmark was dying out; according to a law introduced in , descendants of the female branch might succeed in the kingdom. this law had probably never been legally enacted for the duchies; in schleswig and holstein the old salic law prevailed. in the ordinary course of things, on the death of frederick vii., who had succeeded in , the long connection between holstein and denmark would cease. would, however, schleswig go with holstein or with denmark? every schleswig-holsteiner and every german declared that the two duchies must remain for ever "unvertheilt"; the majority of the danes determined, whatever the law might be, that they would keep schleswig, which had once been danish. the king took a different line; he wished to maintain all the possessions in his house, and that the same man should succeed both in the kingdom and the duchies. there was no authority qualified to decide the legal question; and therefore the question of right was sure to become one of power. at first, strange as it may seem, the power was on the side of the danes. germany was weak and disunited, the prussian troops who had been sent to help the rebellion were withdrawn, and the surrender of olmütz was fatal to the inhabitants of the duchies. the whole question was brought before a european congress which met at london. the integrity of the danish monarchy was declared to be a european interest; and the congress of the powers presumed to determine who should succeed to the ducal and royal power. they chose christian of glucksburg, and all the powers pledged themselves to recognise him as ruler over all the dominions of the king of denmark. prussia and austria were among the powers who signed the treaty of london, but the diet of frankfort was not bound by it. at the same time, denmark had entered into certain engagements pledging itself to preserve the separation between schleswig-holstein and denmark, and also not to oppress the german people in schleswig. the danes did not keep their engagement; despising the germans, they renewed the old policy, attempted to drive back the german language, and introduced new laws which were inconsistent with the local privileges of holstein and schleswig. the holstein estates appealed for protection to the diet. the germans protested, but the danes were obstinate. as years went on, the excitement of the germans grew; they believed, and justly believed, that it was a matter of honour to defend the rights of the duchies. schleswig-holstein was the symbol of german weakness and disgrace, and in defence of them the national enthusiasm was again roused. with this popular enthusiasm bismarck had no sympathy; and he had no interest for the cause of schleswig-holstein. he had originally considered the inhabitants merely as rebels against their lawful sovereign. he had learnt at frankfort sufficient to make this indifferent to him, but he still regarded them as foreigners and looked on their claims merely from the point of view of prussian interests. both his sympathy and his reason led him in fact rather to take the danish side. "the maintenance of denmark is in our interest," he wrote in , but denmark could only continue to exist if it were ruled, more or less arbitrarily, with provincial estates as it has been for the last hundred years; and in another letter: "we have no reason to desire that the holsteiners should live very happily under their duke, for if they do they will no longer be interested in prussia, and under certain circumstances their interest may be very useful to us. it is important that, however just their cause may be, prussia should act with great prudence." he recognised that if the complaints of the duchies led again to a war between germany and denmark all the loss would fall on prussia; the coast of prussia was exposed to the attacks of the danish fleet. if the war was successful, the result would be to strengthen the diet and the federal constitution; and, as we know, that was the last thing which bismarck desired; if it failed, the disgrace and the blame would fall upon prussia. the only thing which would have induced him warmly to take up the cause was the prospect of winning the duchies for prussia, but of that there seemed little hope. so long, therefore, as he remained at frankfort, he had endeavoured to keep the peace, and he continued this policy after he became minister. the greater number of the german states wished to carry out a federal execution in holstein; he tried to avert this and warmly gave his support to lord russell in his attempt to settle the question by english mediation. his efforts, however, were unavailing, for the danish government, presuming on the weakness of germany, continued their provocative action. on march , , a new constitution was proclaimed, completely severing holstein from the rest of the monarchy. the holstein estates had not been consulted and appealed to the diet for protection; the law of the federation enabled the diet in a case like this to occupy the territory of the offending sovereign in order to compel him to rule according to the constitution. the national german party wished to go farther, to confuse the questions of schleswig and of holstein, and so bring about a war with denmark. bismarck wrote to the duke of oldenburg to explain his objections to this: it would make the worst impression in england; and he insisted that they should attempt nothing more than federal execution in holstein. as holstein belonged to the federation, this would be a purely german affair and no ground would be given for interfering to england or france. in consequence, the simple execution in holstein was voted. even now, however, bismarck did not give up hopes of keeping peace. he brought pressure to bear on the danes and was supported by england. if only they would withdraw the proclamation of march th, and accept english mediation for schleswig, he promised them that he would use all his influence to prevent the execution and would probably be successful. his moderation, which received the warm approval of lord russell, of course only added to his unpopularity in germany. the danish government, however, refused to accept bismarck's proposal; they brought in still another constitution by which the complete incorporation of schleswig with the monarchy was decreed. this was an overt breach of their treaty engagements and a declaration of war with germany. at the beginning of november, it was carried through the rigsrad by the required majority of two-thirds, and was sent up to the king to receive his signature. before he had time to sign it the king died. it was expected that the death of the king would make little difference in the situation, for it had been agreed that christian of glucksburg should succeed to all the provinces of the monarchy. the first act he had to perform was the signature of the new constitution; it is said that he hesitated, but was told by the ministers that if he refused they would answer neither for his crown nor his head. on november d he signed. before this had happened the situation had received an unexpected change. a new claimant appeared to dispute his title to the duchies. the day after the death of the king, frederick, eldest son of the duke of augustenburg, published a proclamation announcing his succession to the duchy under the title of frederick viii. no one seems to have foreseen this step; it was supposed that after the agreement of the question of succession had been finally settled. the whole of the german nation, however, received with enthusiasm the news that it was again to be raised. they believed that the prince was the lawful heir; they saw in his claim the possibility of permanently separating the duchies from denmark. nothing seemed to stand between this and accomplishment except the treaty of london. surely the rights of the duchies, and the claim of augustenburg, supported by united germany, would be strong enough to bear down this treaty which was so unjust. the question will be asked, was the claim of augustenburg valid? no positive answer can be given, for it has never been tried by a competent court of law. it may, however, i think, be said that although there were objections, which might invalidate his right to at least a part of the duchies, it is almost certain that a quite impartial tribunal would have decided that he had at least a better claim than any of his rivals. this at least would have been true fifteen years before. when, however, the treaty of london was arranged it was necessary to procure the renunciation of all the different claimants. that of the emperor of russia, the duke of oldenburg, and others was obtained without much difficulty; the duke of augustenburg long refused. in order to compel him to renounce, the danish government refused to restore to him his private property, which had been confiscated owing to the part he had taken in the late rebellion. he had been enormously wealthy, but was now living in exile and deprived of his revenues. by this means they had at last induced him to sign a document, in which he promised, for himself and his successors, not to make any attempt to enforce his claims to the succession. the document was curiously worded; there was no actual renunciation, only a promise to abstain from action. in return for this a sum of money, not equal, however, to that which he had lost, was handed over to him. now it was bismarck who, while envoy at frankfort, had carried on the negotiations; he had taken much trouble about the matter, and earned the warm gratitude both of the king of denmark and of the duke. there is, i think, no doubt that he believed that the agreement was a _bona fide_ one and would be maintained. since then the duke had renounced all his claims in favour of his eldest son; prince frederick had not signed the contract and maintained that he was not bound by it. of course bismarck could not admit this, and his whole attitude towards the prince must from the beginning be hostile. it is only fair to point out that there was no reason whatever why the augustenburgs should do anything more than that to which they were bound by the strict letter of the agreement; they had no ties of gratitude towards denmark; they had not, as is often said, sold their rights, for they had received only a portion of their own possessions. however this may be, his claim was supported, not only by the people and parliaments, but by leaders of the german governments, headed by the king of bavaria. bismarck was now asked to denounce the treaty of london to which prussia had given her assent; to support the claims of augustenburg; to carry out the policy of the diet, and if necessary to allow the prussian army to be used in fighting for prince frederick against the king of denmark. this he had not the slightest intention of doing. he had to consider first of all that prussia was bound by treaties. as he said: "we may regret that we signed, but the signature took place. honour as well as wisdom allows us to leave no doubt as to our loyalty to our engagements." he had moreover to consider that if he acted as the germans wished he would find himself opposed, not only by denmark, but also by russia and england, and in military operations on the narrow peninsula the power of the english fleet would easily outbalance the superiority of the prussian army. moreover, and this was the point which affected him most, what good would come to prussia even if she were successful in this war? "i cannot regard it as a prussian interest to wage war in order in the most favourable result to establish a new grand duke in schleswig-holstein, who out of fear of prussian aggression would vote against us at the diet." his policy, therefore, was clearly marked out for him: he must refuse to recognise the claims of augustenburg; he must refuse to break the treaty of london. this, however, would not prevent him from bringing pressure to bear on the new king of denmark, as he had done on his predecessor, to induce him to abide by his treaty engagements, and, if he did not do so, from declaring war against him. there was even at this time in his mind another thought. he had the hope that in some way or other he might be able to gain a direct increase of territory for prussia. if they recognised the augustenburg claims this would be always impossible, for then either the duchies would remain under the king of denmark or, if the danes were defeated, they would have to be given to the prince. in this policy he was supported by austria. the austrian government was also bound by the treaty of london; they were much annoyed at the violent and almost revolutionary agitation which had broken out in germany; it was with much relief that they learned that prussia, instead of heading the movement as in , was ready to oppose it. the two great powers so lately in opposition now acted in close union. issue was joined at the diet between the two parties. the prince brought his claim before it, and those who supported him proposed that, as the succession to the duchies was in dispute, they should be occupied by a federal army until the true ruler had been determined. against this austria and prussia proposed that the federal execution in holstein, which had before been resolved on, should be at once carried out. if the execution were voted it would be an indirect recognition of christian as ruler, for it would be carried out as against his government; on this point, execution or occupation, the votes were taken. bismarck was, however, greatly embarrassed by the strong influence which the prince of augustenburg had in the prussian royal family; he was an intimate friend of the crown princess, and the crown princess and the king himself regarded his claims with favour. directly after his proclamation the pretender came to berlin; he had a very friendly reception from the king, who expressed his deep regret that he was tied by the london convention, but clearly shewed that he hoped this difficulty might be overcome. bismarck took another line; he said that he was trying to induce the new king not to sign the constitution; the prince, to bismarck's obvious annoyance, explained that that would be no use; he should maintain his claims just the same. the king disliked the treaty of london as much as everyone else did; he had to agree to bismarck's arguments that it would not be safe to denounce it, but he would have been quite willing, supposing prussia was outvoted in the diet, to accept the vote and obey the decision of the majority; he even hoped that this would be the result. bismarck would have regarded an adverse vote as a sufficient reason for retiring from the federation altogether. were prussia outvoted, it would be forced into a european war, which he wished to avoid, and made to fight as a single member of the german confederation. rather than do this he would prefer to fight on the other side; "denmark is a better ally than the german states," he said. the two parties were contending as keenly at the prussian court as at frankfort; vincke wrote a long and pressing letter to the king; schleinitz appeared again, supported as of old by the queen; the crown prince was still in england, but he and his wife were enthusiastic on the prince's side. how much bismarck was hampered by adverse influences at court we see from a letter to roon: "i am far removed from any hasty or selfish resolution, but i have a feeling that the cause of the king against the revolution is lost; his heart is in the other camp and he has more confidence in his opponents than his friends. for us it will be indifferent, one year or thirty years hence, but not for our children. the king has ordered me to come to him before the sitting to discuss what is to be said; i shall not say much, partly because i have not closed my eyes all night and am wretched, and then i really do not know what to say. they will certainly reject the loan, and his majesty at the risk of breaking with europe and experiencing a second olmütz will at last join the democracy, and work with it in order to set up augustenburg and found a new state. what is the good of making speeches and scolding? without some miracle of god the game is lost. now and with posterity the blame will be laid upon us. as god will. he will know how long prussia has to exist. but god knows i shall be sorry when it ceases." the only ally that bismarck had was austria. their combined influence was sufficiently strong by a majority of one to carry through the diet execution instead of occupation; though there was appended to the motion a rider that the question of succession was not thereby prejudiced. the execution took place. during the month of december the hanoverians and saxons occupied holstein; the danes did not resist but retreated across the eider. at the end of the year the occupation was complete. in the rear of the german troops had come also the prince of augustenburg, who had settled himself in the land of which he claimed to be ruler. what was now to be done? the augustenburg party wished at once to press forward with the question of the succession; let the diet decide this immediately; then hand over holstein to the new duke and immediately seize schleswig also and vindicate it from christian, the alien usurper. bismarck would not hear of this; he still maintained his policy that prussia should not denounce the london convention, should recognise the sovereignty of christian, and should demand from him as lawful ruler of all the danish possessions the repeal of the obnoxious november constitution. in this he was still supported by austria; if the danes did not acquiesce in these very moderate demands, the germans should enter schleswig and seize it as a security. then he would be able when he wished to free himself from the treaty of london, for war dissolves all treaties. the advantage of this plan was that it entirely deprived england of any grounds for interference; prussia alone was now defending the london convention; prussia was preventing the diet from a breach of treaty; the claim of denmark was one in regard to which the danes were absolutely wrong. bismarck had therefore on his side austria, russia, probably france, and averted the hostility of england. against him was german public opinion, the german diet, and the prussian parliament; everyone, that is, whom he neither feared nor regarded. so long as the king was firm he could look with confidence to the future, even though he did not know what it would bring forth. with the parliament indeed nothing was to be done; they, of course, strongly supported augustenburg. they refused to look at the question from a prussian point of view. "on your side," bismarck said, "no one dares honestly to say that he acts for the interests of prussia and as a prussian." they feared that he proposed to hand back the duchies to denmark; they refused to consider him seriously as foreign minister; they spoke of him as a rash amateur. it was to attack him on his most sensitive point. here, at least, he felt on completely secure ground; diplomacy was his profession; what did the professors and talkers in the chamber know of it? they were trying to control the policy of the state, but, he said, "in these days an assembly of members cannot in the last instance direct the policy of a great power." the government asked for a loan for military operations; he appealed to their patriotism, but it was in vain; the house voted an address to the king, remonstrating against the conduct of foreign affairs, and threw out the loan by a majority of to . "if you do not vote the money, we shall take it where we can get it," bismarck had warned them. the house was immediately prorogued after a session of only two months, not to meet again till january, . this policy of bismarck was proposed by austria and prussia at the diet; the other states refused to adopt it, as they wished to raise the question of succession; on a division prussia was outvoted. the two great powers therefore entered into a separate agreement in which, while still recognising the integrity of the danish monarchy, they undertook to force the king to withdraw the obnoxious constitution, and, if he did not consent to do so, they agreed to occupy schleswig. the prussian house, in its address to the king, had declared that the only result of this policy would be to give back the duchies to denmark. was there no fear of this? what would have happened had denmark after all given in, as england strongly pressed her to do? had she withdrawn the obnoxious constitution, and granted all that bismarck asked, why then prussia and austria would have been bound to support the integrity of denmark, and, if necessary, by force of arms to eject the federal troops from holstein. bismarck had considered this contingency, and guarded himself against it. many years later beust put the question to him. "oh, i was all right," he answered; "i had assured myself that the danes would not give in. i had led them to think that england would support them, though i knew this was not the case." he had, however, even a surer guarantee than this; the ultimatum presented to denmark was couched in such a form that even if he would the king could not comply with it. the requirement was that the constitution should be revoked before the st of january. by the constitution the king could not do this of his own prerogative; he must have the assent of the rigsrad. this assent could not be obtained for the following reasons: the rigsrad of the old constitution had been dissolved and had no longer a legal existence; a new assembly could not be summoned before the st of january--there was not time. if an assembly were summoned after that date, it must be of course summoned according to the new constitution. to do this, however, would be to bring the obnoxious constitution actually into force, and would mean, so to speak, a declaration of war against prussia. if the king wished to give in he must have time; he must be allowed to summon the new assembly, lay before it the german demands, and require it to declare its own revocation. the english government, still anxious to keep the peace, represented to bismarck the dilemma in which he had placed the danes. lord wodehouse, who was in berlin in december, requested that at least more time should be allowed. bismarck refused to listen to the request. "these constitutional questions," he said, "had nothing to do with him; the danes had put off the germans for years; they could not wait any longer. the king could always make a _coup d'état_; he would have to do so sooner or later. germany and denmark could never be at peace so long as the democratic party had the authority." denmark did not give way; the help from england, on which they had reckoned, was not forthcoming; the fatal day passed; the austrians and prussians entered holstein, marched across that duchy, and in the early part of february began the invasion of schleswig. the relations of the allied troops to the federal army of occupation were very remarkable. both were opposed to the danes, but they were equally opposed to one another; had they dared to do so, the saxons would have opposed the prussian advance. as it was they sullenly watched the prussian and austrian columns marching north to the invasion of denmark. it was the first time that the remodelled prussian army had been tested on the field of battle; bismarck had brought it about that they were fighting for the cause of germany and in alliance with austria. as soon as war began, his own position improved. the king and the army were, of course, all the more confident in a minister who had given them so good a cause of war and allowed them to take the field side by side with their old ally. their superiority in number and discipline ensured success in the military operations; the danes evacuated their first position at the dannewirk; the german troops occupied the whole of schleswig, then after some further delay advanced into jutland, and finally began the siege of the strong fortification of the düppel. the taking of this was a difficult piece of work, which, after some delay, was successfully carried out at the beginning of april. meanwhile the diplomatic difficulties had continued. there had now come from england the proposal of a conference. this bismarck, always wishing to preserve the appearance of moderation, accepted. before doing so, he knew that he had gained a very important ally. napoleon was displeased with the english government; he it was who suggested to bismarck that the best solution of the difficulty would be the annexation of the duchies to prussia. it was just what bismarck himself desired. would he be able to bring it about? this was what was in his mind when he had to consider the attitude he should adopt at the conference. he could not, of course, propose it openly; he might be able to arrange affairs so that in the universal confusion this solution should be welcomed. he first of all began to change his attitude towards the german agitation for augustenburg; hitherto he had opposed and discouraged it; now he let it have free course. he wrote: "the present situation is such that it seems to me desirable to let loose the whole pack against the danes at the congress; the joint noise will work in the direction of making the subjugation of the duchies to denmark appear impossible to foreigners; they will have to consider programmes which the prussian government cannot lay before them." what this means is that england and russia were to be convinced that denmark could not regain the duchies; then they would have to consider who should have them. bismarck believed that austria was irrevocably opposed to augustenburg. "she would rather see the duchies in our hands than in those of the prince," he wrote. austria and russia would, therefore, oppose this solution; if both denmark and augustenburg were impossible, then would be the time for france to ask why should they not be given to prussia, and to join this proposal with another one for the division of the duchies according to nationality. napoleon, in accordance with his principles, wished entirely to disregard the question of law; he was equally indifferent to the treaty of london, the hereditary rights of augustenburg, or the chartered privileges of the duchies. he wished to consult the inhabitants and allow each village to vote whether it wished to be german or danish; thus, districts in the north where danish was spoken would then be incorporated in denmark; the whole of holstein and the south of schleswig would be permanently united to germany, and by preference to prussia. these revolutionary principles of napoleon were in the eyes of the austrian statesmen criminal, for if applied consistently not only would austria be deprived of venetia, but the whole empire would be dissolved. it required all bismarck's ingenuity to maintain the alliance with austria, which was still necessary to him, and at the same time to keep napoleon's friendship by giving his assent to doctrines that would be so convenient to prussia. in considering bismarck's diplomatic work we must not suppose that he ever deceived himself into thinking that he would be able clearly to foresee all that would happen; he knew too well the uncertain nature of the pieces with which he had to deal: no one could quite foretell, for instance, the result of the struggle which was going on in the english ministry or the votes of the house of commons; equally impossible was it to build on the assurances of napoleon. "the longer i work at politics," he said, "the smaller is my belief in human calculation. i look at the affair according to my human understanding, but gratitude for god's assistance so far, raises in me the confidence that the lord is able to turn our errors to our own good; that i experience daily to my wholesome humiliation." this time he had been mistaken in his forecast. in a despatch of may d to austria he suggested two solutions,--the augustenburg succession, and annexation by prussia; he inclined towards the former, though, as he said, if the prince was to be recognised, "it would be imperatively necessary to obtain guarantees for a conservative administration, and some security that the duchies should not become the home of democratic agitations." as he said elsewhere, "kiel must not become a second gotha." he no doubt anticipated that austria would refuse this first alternative; then the annexation by prussia would naturally arise for discussion. had austria been consistent, all would have been well, but a change had taken place there; the government was not disinclined to win the popularity that would accrue to them if they took up the augustenburg cause; after all, austria would be rather strengthened than weakened by the establishment of a new federal state, which, as all the other smaller princes, would probably be inclined to take the austrian side. in answer, therefore, to this despatch the austrians, throwing aside all attempt at consistency, proposed vigorously to press the augustenburg claim. "it is just what we were going to suggest ourselves," they said. bismarck therefore was compelled now, as best he could, to get out of the difficulty, and, as austria had not rejected it, he begins to withdraw the proposal he had himself made. to bernstorff, his envoy at the congress, he writes: "austria is endeavouring to establish irrevocably the candidacy of augustenburg in order by this means to render it difficult for prussia to impose special conditions. we cannot consent to this. the dynastic questions must be discussed with special consideration for prussian interests, and, consequently, other possibilities cannot be ruled out, until we have negotiated with augustenburg and ascertained in what relation to prussia he intends to place himself and his country. if the person of augustenburg meets with more opposition in the conference than the project of a division, then let the former drop." the proposal, however, had to be made; for once, all the german powers appeared in agreement when they demanded from the neutrals the recognition of augustenburg; but bismarck proposed it in such words as to avoid pledging himself to the legality. of course the proposal was rejected by the danes and russians and it was allowed to fall to the ground. for bismarck the interest is for the moment diverted from london to berlin. the time had come when bismarck should definitely decide on the attitude he was to adopt toward augustenburg. hitherto he had avoided committing himself irrevocably; it was still open to him either to adopt him as the prussian candidate on such conditions as might seem desirable, or to refuse to have any dealings with him. he had, in fact, kept both plans open, for it was characteristic of his diplomatic work that he would generally keep in his mind, and, to some extent, carry out in action, several different plans at the same time. if one failed him he could take up another. in this case he intended, if possible, to get the duchies for prussia; it was always to be foreseen that the difficulties might be insurmountable; he had therefore to consider the next best alternative. this would be the creation of a new state, but one which was bound to prussia by a special and separate treaty. there were many demands, some of them legitimate, which prussia was prepared to make. bismarck attributed great importance to the acquisition of kiel, because he wanted to found a prussian navy. then he was very anxious to have a canal made across holstein so that prussian vessels could reach the north sea without passing the sound; and of course he had to consider the military protection on the north. it would therefore be a condition that, whoever was made duke, certain military and other privileges should be granted to prussia. on this, all through the summer, negotiations were carried on unofficially between the prince of augustenburg and the prussian authorities. we cannot here discuss them in detail, but the prince seems to have been quite willing to acquiesce in these naval and military requirements. he made several suggestions and objections in detail, and he also pointed out that constitutionally he could not enter into a valid treaty until after he had been made duke and received the assent of the estates. i think, however, that no one can doubt that he was quite loyal to prussia and really wished to bring the matter to a satisfactory issue. as might be expected, he was very cautious in his negotiations with bismarck, but his letters to the king are more open. had bismarck wished he could at any time have come to an agreement with the prince, but he never gave the opportunity for a serious and careful discussion on the detailed wording of the conditions. he did not wish to be bound by them, but he kept the negotiations open in case events occurred which might compel him to accept this solution. in his treatment of the question he was, to some extent, influenced by the personal dislike he always felt for the prince. what was the cause of this enmity? there was nothing in the prince's character to justify it; he was a modest, honourable, and educated man; though deficient in practical ability, he had at a very critical time announced his claims to a decision and maintained them with resolution. bismarck, who in private life was always able to do justice to his enemies, recognised this: "i should have acted in just the same way myself had i been in your place," he said. he always himself said that his distrust of the prince was caused by his dislike of the men whom the latter relied upon for advice. he was too closely connected with the progressive party. he had surrounded himself with a kind of ministry, consisting chiefly of men who, though by birth inhabitants of the duchies, had for some years been living at gotha under the protection of the duke of coburg. they were strong liberals and belonged to that party in germany of which the court of coburg was the centre, who maintained a close connection with the crown prince, and who undoubtedly were looking forward to the time when the crown prince would become king of prussia, bismarck would be dismissed, and their party would come into office. this is probably quite sufficient reason to explain bismarck's personal dislike of augustenburg, though it is probable that he laid more stress on this aspect of the matter than he otherwise would have done, for he hoped thereby to prejudice the king against the prince; as long as the king recognised augustenburg's claims, his own hands would be tied in the attempt to win the duchies for prussia. he had, as we have seen, had a short interview with the prince at the end of the previous year now a new meeting was arranged, avowedly to discuss the conditions which prussia would require if she supported the prince. the crown prince, who was very anxious to help his friend, persuaded him to go to berlin and if possible come to some clear understanding with the king and bismarck. augustenburg was reluctant to take this step. loyal as he was to prussia he much distrusted bismarck. he feared that if he unreservedly placed his cause in prussia's hands, bismarck would in some way betray him. the position he took up was perfectly consistent. he was, by hereditary right, reigning duke; he only wished to be left alone with the duchies; he knew that if he was, they would at once recognise him and he would enter into government. in order to win his dominions, he had required the help of germany; it was comparatively indifferent to him whether the help came from prussia, austria, or the federation. but he quite understood that prussia must have some recompense for the help it had given. what he had to fear was that, if he entered into any separate and secret engagements with prussia, he would thereby lose the support he enjoyed in the rest of germany, and that then bismarck would find some excuse not to carry out his promises, so that at the end he would be left entirely without support. we know that his suspicions were unfounded, for bismarck was not the man in this way to desert anyone who had entered into an agreement with him, but augustenburg could not know this and had every reason for distrusting bismarck, who was his avowed enemy. on the th of may, the prince, with many misgivings, came to berlin. the evening of the next day he had a long interview with bismarck; it began about nine o'clock and lasted till after midnight. there is no doubt that this interview was decisive against his chances. from that time bismarck was determined that under no circumstances should he succeed, and we shall see that when bismarck wished for anything he usually attained it. we would gladly, therefore, know exactly what happened; both bismarck and the prince have given accounts of what took place, but unfortunately they differ on very important points, and no one else was present at the interview. it is clear that the prince throughout, for the reasons we have named, observed great reserve. it would undoubtedly have been wiser of him openly to place himself entirely in bismarck's hands, to throw himself on the generosity of prussia, and to agree to the terms which bismarck offered. why he did not do this we have explained. the conversation chiefly turned on the prussian demands for the harbour of kiel and certain other concessions; the prince expressed himself quite willing to grant most of what was required, but he could not enter into any formal treaty without the consent of the estates of the duchies. when he left the room he seems to have been fairly satisfied with what had been said. if so he deceived himself grievously. scarcely had he gone (it was already midnight) when bismarck sent off despatches to st. petersburg, paris, and london, explaining that he was not inclined to support augustenburg any longer, and instructing the ambassadors to act accordingly. not content with this he at once brought forward an alternative candidate. among the many claimants to the duchies had been the duke of oldenburg and the czar, who both belonged to the same branch of the family. the czar had, at the end of may, transferred his claims to the duke, and bismarck now wrote to st. petersburg that he would also be prepared to support him. we must not suppose that in doing this he had the slightest intention of allowing the duke to be successful. he gained, however, a double advantage. first of all he pleased the czar and prevented any difficulties from russia; secondly, the very fact of a rival candidate coming forward would indefinitely postpone any settlement. so long as augustenburg was the only german candidate there was always the danger, as at the congress of london, that he might suddenly be installed and bismarck be unable to prevent it. if, however, the duke of oldenburg came forward, bismarck would at once take up the position that, as there were rival claimants, a proper legal verdict must be obtained and that prussia could not act so unjustly as to prejudice the decision by extending her support to either. it was not necessary for anyone to know that he himself had induced the duke of oldenburg to revive his claim. at the same time he took other steps to frustrate augustenburg's hopes; he caused the statement to be published in the prussian papers that during the conversation of may st the prince had said that he had never asked the prussians for help, and that he could have got on very well without them. it was just the sort of thing which would strongly prejudice the king against him, and bismarck was very anxious to destroy the influence which the prince still had with the king and with many other prussians. at that time, and always later, the prince denied that he had said anything of the kind. even if, in the course of a long conversation, he had said anything which might have been interpreted to mean this, it was a great breach of confidence to publish these words from a private discussion taken out of their context. the prussian press received the word, and for years to come did not cease to pour out its venom against the prince. this action of bismarck's seemed quite to justify the apprehension with which the prince had gone to berlin. it is not necessary to look for any far-fetched explanation of bismarck's action; the simplest is the most probable. he had not arranged the interview with any intention of entrapping augustenburg; he had really been doubtful whether, after all, it might not be wiser to accept the prince and make a separate treaty with him. all depended on his personal character and the attitude he adopted towards prussia. bismarck, who had great confidence in his own judgment of mankind, regarded a personal interview as the best means of coming to a conclusion; the result of it was that he felt it impossible to rely on the prince, who, instead of being open, positive, and ready to do business, was reserved, hesitating, distrustful, and critical. bismarck had given him his chance; he had failed to seize it. instead of being a grateful client he was a mere obstacle in the road of prussian greatness, and had to be swept away. against him all the resources of diplomacy were now directed. his influence must be destroyed, but not by force, for his strength came from his very weakness; the task was to undermine the regard which the german people had for him and their enthusiasm for his cause--work to be properly assigned to the prussian press. the conference in london separated at the end of june without coming to any conclusion; it had, however, enabled bismarck formally to dissociate himself from the former treaty of london, and henceforward he had a free hand in his dealings with denmark. another brilliant feat of arms, the transference of the prussian troops across the sea to the island of alsen, completed the war. denmark had to capitulate, and the terms of peace, which were ultimately decided at vienna, were that schleswig, holstein, and also lauenburg should be given up. christian transferred to the emperor of austria and the king of prussia all the rights which he possessed. as to lauenburg the matter was simple--the authority of the king of denmark over this duchy was undisputed; as to schleswig-holstein all the old questions still continued; the king had transferred his rights, but what were his rights? he could only grant that which belonged to him; if the prince of augustenburg was duke, then the king of denmark could not confer another man's throne. there was, however, this difference: hitherto the question had been a european one, but since the london congress no other state had any claim to interfere. the disputed succession of the duchies must be settled between austria and prussia. it was a special clause in the terms of peace that it should be decided by agreement between them and not referred to the diet. chapter ix. the treaty of gastein. - . bismarck always looked back with peculiar pleasure on the negotiations which were concluded by the peace of vienna. his conduct of the affair had in fact been masterly; he had succeeded in permanently severing the duchies from denmark; he had done this without allowing foreign nations the opportunity for interfering; he had maintained a close alliance with austria; he had pleased and flattered the emperors of russia and france. what perhaps gave him most satisfaction was that, though the result had been what the whole of the german nation desired, he had brought it about by means which were universally condemned, and the rescue of the duchies had been a severe defeat to the democratic and national party. with the peace a new stage begins; the duchies had been transferred to the allied powers; how were they now to be disposed of? we have seen that bismarck desired to acquire them for prussia; if it were absolutely necessary, he would accept an arrangement which would leave them to be ruled by another prince, provided very extensive rights were given to prussia. he would acquiesce in this arrangement if annexation would involve a war with one of the european powers. if, however, a duke of schleswig-holstein was to be created he was determined that it should not be the prince of augustenburg, whom he distrusted and disliked. the real object of his diplomacy must be to get the duchies offered to prussia; it was, however, very improbable, as the czar once said to him, that this would happen. he wished for annexation, but he wished to have it peacefully; he had not forgotten his own resolution to have a war with austria, but he did not wish to make the duchies the occasion of a war. austria, however, refused to assent to annexation unless the king of prussia would give her a corresponding increase of territory; this the king positively refused. it was an unchangeable principle with him that he would not surrender a single village from the prussian monarchy; his pride revolted from the idea of bartering old provinces for new. if austria would not offer the duchies to prussia, neither would the diet; the majority remained loyal to augustenburg. the people of the duchies were equally determined in their opposition to the scheme; attempts were made by bismarck's friends and agents to get up a petition to incorporate them with prussia, but they always failed. even the prussian people were not really very anxious for this acquisition, and it required two years of constant writing in the inspired press to bring them into such a state of mind that they would believe that it was, i will not say the most honourable, but the most desirable solution. the king himself hesitated. it was true that ever since the taking of the düppel the lust of conquest had been aroused in his mind; he had visited the place where so many prussian soldiers had laid down their lives; and it was a natural feeling if he wished that the country they had conquered should belong to their own state. on the other hand, he still felt that the rights of augustenburg could not be neglected; when he discussed the matter with the emperor of austria and the subject of annexation was raised, he remained silent and was ill at ease. if bismarck was to get his way, he must first of all convince the king; this done, an opportunity might be found. there was one man who was prepared to offer him the duchies, and that man was napoleon. it is instructive to notice that as soon as the negotiations at vienna had been concluded, bismarck went to spend a few weeks at his old holiday resort of biarritz. he took the opportunity of having some conversation with both the emperor and his ministers. he required rest and change after the prolonged anxieties of the two years; at no place did he find it so well as in the south of france: "it seems like a dream to be here again," he writes to his wife. "i am already quite well, and would be quite cheerful if i only knew that all was well with you. the life i lead at berlin is a kind of penal servitude, when i think of my independent life abroad." seabathing, expeditions across the frontier, and sport passed three weeks. "i have not for a long time found myself in such comfortable conditions, and yet the evil habit of work has rooted itself so deeply in my nature, that i feel some disquiet of conscience at my laziness. i almost long for the wilhelmstrasse, at least if my dear ones were there." on the th he left "dear biarritz" for paris, where he found plenty of politics awaiting him; here he had another of those interviews with napoleon and his ministers on which so much depended, and then he went back to his labours at berlin. at that time he was not prepared to break with austria, and he still hoped that some peaceful means of acquisition might be found, as he wrote some months later to goltz, "we have not got all the good we can from the austrian alliance." prussia had the distinct advantage that she was more truly in possession of the duchies than austria. this possession would more and more guarantee its own continuance; it was improbable that any power would undertake an offensive war to expel her. on the whole, therefore, bismarck seems to have wished for the present to leave things as they were; gradually to increase the hold of prussia on the duchies, and wait until they fell of themselves into his hands. in pursuit of this policy it was necessary, however, to expel all other claimants, and this could not be done without the consent of austria; this produced a cause of friction between the two great powers which made it impossible to maintain the co-dominium. there were in holstein the confederate troops who had gone there a year ago and had never been withdrawn; augustenburg was still living at kiel with his phantom court; and then there were the austrian soldiers, prussia's own allies. one after another they had to be removed. bismarck dealt first with the confederate troops. he had, as indeed he always was careful to have, the strict letter of the law on his side; he pointed out that as the execution had been directed against the government of christian, and christian had ceased to have any authority, the execution itself must _ipso facto_ cease; he therefore wrote asking austria to join in a demand to saxony and hanover; he was prepared, if the states refused, to expel their troops by force. hanover--for the king strongly disliked augustenburg--at once acquiesced; saxony refused. bismarck began to make military preparations; the saxons began to arm; the crown treasures were taken from dresden to königstein. would austria support saxony or prussia? for some days the question was in debate; at last austria determined to support a motion at the diet declaring the execution ended. it was carried by eight votes to seven, and the saxons had to obey. the troops on their return home refused to march across prussian territory; and from this time beust and the king of saxony must be reckoned among the determined and irreconcilable enemies of bismarck. the first of the rivals was removed; there remained austria and the prince. just at this time a change of ministry had taken place in austria; rechberg, who had kept up the alliance, was removed, and the anti-prussian party came to the front. it was, therefore, no longer so easy to deal with the prince, for he had a new and vigorous ally in austria. mensdorf, the new minister, proposed in a series of lengthy despatches his solution of the question; it was that the rights of the two powers should be transferred to augustenburg, and that schleswig-holstein should be established as an independent confederate state. the austrian position was from this time clearly defined, and it was in favour of that policy to which bismarck would never consent. it remained for him to propose an alternative. prussia, he said, could only allow the new state to be created on condition that large rights were given to prussia; what these were would require consideration; he must consult the different departments. this took time, and every month's delay was so much gain for prussia; it was not till february, , that bismarck was able to present his demands, which were, that kiel should be a prussian port, rendsburg a prussian fortress; that the canal was to be made by prussia and belong to prussia, the management of the post and telegraph service to be prussian and also the railways; the army was to be not only organised on the prussian system but actually incorporated with the prussian army, so that the soldiers would take the oath of allegiance not to their own duke but to the king of prussia. the duchies were to join the prussian customs' union and assimilate their system of finance with that of prussia. the proposals were so drawn up that it would be impossible for austria to support, or for the prince of augustenburg to accept them. they were, in fact, as bismarck himself told the crown prince, not meant to be accepted. "i would rather dig potatoes than be a reigning prince under such conditions," said one of the austrian ministers. when they were officially presented, karolyi was instructed to meet them with an unhesitating negative, and all discussion on them ceased. prussia and austria had both proposed their solution; each state even refused to consider the suggestion made by the other. meanwhile, since the departure of the confederate troops the administration of the duchies was in their hands; each power attempted so to manage affairs as to prepare the way for the final settlement it desired, prussia for annexation, austria for augustenburg. prince frederick was still living at kiel. his position was very anomalous: he assumed the style and title of a reigning prince, he was attended by something like a court and by ministers; throughout holstein, almost without exception, and to a great extent also in schleswig, he was looked upon and treated by the population as their lawful sovereign; his birthday was celebrated as a public holiday; he was often prayed for in church. all this the austrians regarded with equanimity and indirectly supported; bismarck wished to expel him from the country, but could not do so without the consent of austria. at the end of march the matter again came up in the diet; bavaria and saxony brought in a motion that they expected that austria and prussia would transfer the administration to frederick. the prussian envoy rose and explained that they might expect it, but that prussia would not fulfil their expectations; he moved that the claims of all candidates should be considered by the diet, not only those of augustenburg and of the duke of oldenburg, but also of brandenburg. the claims of brandenburg were a new weapon of which bismarck was glad to avail himself. no one supposed that they had really any foundation; they were not seriously put forward; but if the motion was carried, the diet would be involved in the solution of a very complicated and necessarily very lengthy legal discussion. what the result was would be known from the beginning, but the diet and its committees always worked slowly, and bismarck could with much force maintain that, until they had come to a decision, there was no reason for handing over the administration to augustenburg; it was at least decent not to do this till the claims of the rivals had been duly weighed. in the months that must elapse many things might happen. in the meantime the diet would be helpless. when it had come to a decision he would then be able to point out, as he had already done, that they had no legal power for determining who was the ruler of any state, and that their decision therefore was quite valueless, and everything would have been again exactly as it was before. austria supported the motion of saxony, which was carried by nine votes to six. prussia answered by sending her fleet from danzig to kiel, and occupying the harbour; the government asked for a vote for the erection of fortifications and docks and for the building of a fleet; the chamber refused the money, but roon declared publicly in the house that prussia would retain kiel,--they had gone there and did not intend to leave. the occupation of kiel was an open defiance to austria; that it was intended to be so is shewn by the fact that a few days later bismarck wrote to usedom, the prussian minister at florence, instructing him to sound the italian government as to whether they would be willing to join prussia in war against austria. at the same time he wrote to goltz to find out in paris whether there was any alliance between austria and france. it would be some time before foreign relations could be sufficiently cleared up for him to determine whether or not war would be safe. he occupied the intervening period by continuing the negotiations as to the principles on which the joint administration should be conducted. he came forward with a new proposal and one which was extremely surprising, that the estates of the duchies should be summoned, and negotiations entered into with them. it is one of the most obscure of all his actions; he did it contrary to the advice of those on the spot. everyone warned him that if the estates were summoned their first action would be to proclaim augustenburg as duke. some suppose that the king insisted on his taking this step; that is, however, very improbable; others that he proposed it in order that it might be rejected by austria, so that austria might lose the great influence which by her support of augustenburg she was gaining in germany. austria, however, accepted the proposal, and then negotiations began as to the form in which the estates should be called together; what should be the relations to them of the two powers? this gave rise to a minute controversy, which could not be settled, and no doubt bismarck did not wish that it should be settled. one of his conditions, however, was that, before the estates were summoned, augustenburg should be compelled to leave holstein. of course the prince refused, for he well knew that, if he once went away, he would never be allowed to return. the duke of oldenburg, who was always ready to come forward when bismarck wished it, himself demanded the expulsion of the prince. the king of prussia wrote a severe letter to augustenburg, intimating his displeasure at his conduct and warning him to leave the country. the prince answered, as he always did to the king, expressing his gratitude and his constant loyalty to prussia, but refused, and his refusal was published in the papers. it was still impossible to remove him except by force, but before he ventured on that bismarck had to make secure the position of prussia. at the beginning of july events began to move towards a crisis. bismarck had appointed a commission of prussian lawyers to report on the legal claim of the different candidates for the ducal throne; their report was now published. they came to the conclusion, as we might anticipate that they would, that augustenburg had absolutely no claim, and that legally the full authority was possessed by the two powers who had the _de facto_ government. their opinion did not carry much weight even in prussia itself, but they seem to have succeeded in convincing the king. hitherto he had always been haunted by the fear lest, in dispossessing augustenburg, he would be keeping a german prince from the throne which was his right, and that to him was a very serious consideration. now his conscience was set at rest. from this time the last support which augustenburg had in prussia was taken from him, for the crown prince, who always remained faithful to him, was almost without influence. bismarck was henceforward able to move more rapidly. on the th of july the prince's birthday was celebrated throughout the duchy with great enthusiasm; this gave bitter offence to the king; shortly afterwards bismarck left berlin and joined the king, who was taking his annual cure at carlsbad, and for july th a council of state was summoned to meet at regensburg. probably this is the only instance of a king coming to so important a decision outside his own territories. the council was attended not only by the ministers, but also by some of the generals and by goltz, who was summoned from paris for the purpose. it was determined to send an ultimatum to austria; the chief demand was that austria should withdraw all support from augustenburg, and agree immediately to eject him from the duchies. if austria refused to agree, prussia would do so herself; he was to be seized, put on board a ship, and carried off to east prussia. to shew that they were in earnest, a beginning was made by seizing in holstein prussian subjects who had written in the newspapers in a sense opposed to the wishes of the prussian government, and carrying them off to be tried at berlin. in order to be prepared for all possibilities, an official request was sent to italy to ask for her assistance in case of an outbreak of war. after these decisions were arrived at, the king continued his journey to gastein to complete his cure; there, on austrian territory in company with bismarck, he awaited the answer. in austria opinions were divided; the feeling of annoyance with prussia had been steadily growing during the last year. the military party was gaining ground; many would have been only too glad to take up the challenge. it would indeed have been their wisest plan to do so--openly to support the claim of augustenburg, to demand that the estates of holstein should be at once summoned, and if bismarck carried out his threats, to put herself at the head of germany and in the name of the outraged right of a german prince and a german state to take up the prussian challenge. there were, however, serious reasons against this. the emperor was very reluctant to go to war, and, as so often, the personal feelings of the rulers had much to do with the policy of the government. then the internal condition of austria both politically and financially was very unsatisfactory; it would have been necessary to raise a loan and this could not be easily done. there was also the constant danger from italy, for austria knew that, even if there were no alliance, as soon as she was attacked on one side by prussia, the italians on the other side would invade venetia. count metternich was instructed to ask napoleon, but received as an answer that they could not hope for a french alliance; the austrians feared that he might already be engaged on the side of prussia. for all these reasons it was determined to attempt to bring about a compromise. a change of ministry took place, and count blome, one of the new ministers, was sent to gastein. he found both the king and bismarck not disinclined to some compromise. the reports both from florence and paris did not seem to bismarck to be entirely satisfactory: he did not find such readiness as he had hoped for; he feared that some secret understanding might be arrived at between austria and napoleon; and then, as we have seen, he was really anxious to avoid war for the sake of the duchies; he had not given up his intention of war with austria some day, but it would be impossible to find a less agreeable excuse for it. "halbuber and augustenburg are acting so that we shall soon have to apply force; this will cause bad blood in vienna; it is not what i wish, but austria gives us no choice," he had written a few days before. after a few days of indecision a compromise therefore was agreed upon. the joint administration of the duchies was to be given up; austria was to administer holstein, prussia, schleswig; they both undertook not to bring the question before the diet; the duchy of lauenburg was to be handed over absolutely to the king of prussia, the emperor of austria receiving two million thalers for his share. lauenburg was the first new possession which bismarck was able to offer to the king; the grateful monarch conferred on him the title of count, and in later years presented to him large estates out of the very valuable royal domains. it was from lauenburg that in later years the young german emperor took the title which he wished to confer on the retiring chancellor. [illustration] chapter x. outbreak of war with austria. - . the arrangement made at gastein could not be permanent; it was only a temporary expedient to put off the conflict which henceforward was inevitable--inevitable, that is, if the emperor of austria still refused to sell holstein to prussia. it was, however, so far as it went, a great gain to prussia, because it deprived austria of the esteem of the other german states. her strength had hitherto lain in her strict adhesion to popular feeling and to what the majority of the germans, princes and people alike, believed was justice; by coming to a separate agreement with prussia, she had shaken their confidence. bavaria especially was much annoyed by this change of front, and it seemed probable that the most important of the southern states would soon be ranged on the side of prussia. this was a consummation which bismarck ardently desired, and to which he addressed himself with much energy. the attitude of france was more important than that of the german states, and in the autumn bismarck made a fresh visit to that country. just as he had done the year before, he went to take the sea-baths at biarritz. this step was the more remarkable because napoleon had received the news of the treaty of gastein with marked displeasure, and had given public expression to his opinions. bismarck saw drouyn de lhuys at paris and then went on to biarritz where the emperor was; for ten days he lived there in constant association with the imperial family. the personal impression which he made was very favourable: "a really great man," wrote mérimée, "free from feeling and full of _esprit_." he saw napoleon again on his return through paris; the two succeeded in coming to an understanding. napoleon assured him that he might depend on the absolute neutrality of france, in case of a war between prussia and austria; it was agreed also that the annexation of the duchies to prussia would not be an increase of territory which would cause any uneasiness at paris; napoleon would view it with favour. bismarck went farther than this; he opened the subject of a complete reform of the german constitution on the lines that prussia was to have a free hand in the north of germany; he pointed out "that the acquisition of the duchies would only be an earnest for the fulfilment of the pledge which history had laid upon the state of prussia; for the future prosecution of it we need the most friendly relations with france. it seems to me in the interest of france to encourage prussia in the ambitious fulfilment of her national duty." the emperor acquiesced; as we know, the division of europe into large national states was what he meant by napoleonic ideas; he was willing enough to help in germany a change such as that he had brought about in italy. it was agreed that events should be allowed to develop themselves; when the time came it would be easy enough to come to some definite agreement. this however was not all; it was not to be expected that napoleon should render prussia so valuable a service without receiving something in exchange; we know bismarck's opinion of a statesman who, out of sympathy for another country, would sacrifice the interests of his own. the creation of a strong consolidated state in the north of germany could not be in the interests of france; the power of france had always been founded on the weakness of germany. even if napoleon himself, with his generous and cosmopolitan sympathies, was willing to make the sacrifice, france was not; napoleon knew, and bismarck knew, that napoleon could not disregard the feeling of the country; his power was based on universal suffrage and the popularity of his name; he could not, as a king of prussia could, brave the displeasure of the people. france must then have some compensation. what was it to be? what were to be the terms of the more intimate and special understanding? we do not know exactly what was said; we do know that bismarck led both the emperor and his ministers to believe that prussia would support them in an extension of the frontier. he clearly stated that the king would not be willing to surrender a single _prussian_ village; he probably said that they would not acquiesce in the restoration to france of any _german_ territory. france therefore must seek her reward in a french-speaking people. it was perhaps an exaggeration if drouyn de lhuys said "he offered us all kinds of things which did not belong to him," but napoleon also in later years repeated that bismarck had promised him all kinds of recompenses. no written agreement was made; that was reserved for later negotiations, but there was a verbal understanding, which both parties felt was binding. this was the pendant to the interview of plombières. but bismarck had improved on cavour's example; he did not want so much, he asked only for neutrality: the king of prussia would not be called upon, like victor emmanuel, to surrender the old possessions of his house. bismarck returned to berlin with his health invigorated by the atlantic winds and his spirits raised by success. the first step now was to secure the help of italy; he had seen nigra, the italian minister, at paris, and told him that war was inevitable; he hoped he could reckon on italian alliance, but there was still, however, much ground for anxiety that austria might succeed in arranging affairs with italy. the relations of the four powers at this time were very remarkable. all turned on venetia. the new kingdom of italy would not rest until it had secured this province. napoleon also was bound by honour to complete his promise and "free italy to the adriatic"; neither his throne nor that of his son would be secure if he failed to do so. a war between austria and prussia would obviously afford the best opportunity, and his whole efforts were therefore directed to preventing a reconciliation between the two german powers. his great fear was that austria should come to terms with prussia, and surrender the duchies on condition that prussia should guarantee her italian possessions. when bismarck visited napoleon at biarritz, the first question of the emperor was, "have you guaranteed venetia to austria?" it was the fear of this which caused his anger at the treaty of gastein. on the other hand, bismarck had his reasons for anxiety. it was always possible that austria, instead of coming to terms with prussia, might choose the other side; she might surrender venetia in order to obtain french and italian support in a german war. the situation indeed was this: austria was liable at any moment to be attacked by both italy and prussia; it would probably be beyond her strength to resist both assailants at the same time. a wise statesman would probably have made terms with one or the other. he would have either surrendered venetia, which was really a source of weakness, to italy, or agreed with prussia over the duchies and the german problem, thereby gaining prussian support against italy. the honourable pride of mensdorf and the military party in austria refused to surrender anything till it was too late. none the less, the constant fear lest austria should make terms with one of her enemies for a long time prevented an alliance between prussia and italy. the italians did not trust bismarck; they feared that if they made a treaty with him, he would allow them to get entangled in war, and then, as at gastein, make up his quarrel with austria. bismarck did not trust the italians; he feared that they and napoleon would even at the last moment take venetia as a present, and, as very nearly happened, offer austria one of the prussian provinces instead. it was impossible to have any reliance on napoleon's promises, for he was constantly being pulled two ways; his own policy and sympathies would lead him to an alliance with prussia; the clerical party, which was yearly growing stronger and had the support of the empress, wished him to side with the catholic power. in consequence, even after his return from france, bismarck could not pass a day with full security that he might not find himself opposed by a coalition of austria, france, and italy; the austrians felt that they were to be made the victims of a similar coalition between prussia, france, and italy; france always feared a national union between the two great german powers. bismarck began by completing and bringing to a conclusion the arrangements for a commercial treaty with italy; at the beginning of january the king of prussia sent victor emmanuel the order of the black eagle; bismarck also used his influence to induce bavaria to join in the commercial treaty and to recognise the kingdom of italy. then on january th he wrote to usedom that the eventual decision in germany would be influenced by the action of italy; if they could not depend on the support of italy, he hinted that peace would be maintained; in this way he hoped to force the italians to join him. affairs in the duchies gave bismarck the opportunity for adopting with good grounds a hostile attitude towards austria; gablenz, the new governor of holstein, continued to favour the augustenburg agitation. many had expected that austria would govern holstein as a part of the empire; instead of doing so, with marked design the country was administered as though it were held in trust for the prince; no taxes were levied, full freedom was allowed to the press, and while the prussians daily became more unpopular in schleswig the austrians by their leniency won the affection of holstein. at the end of january, they even allowed a mass meeting, which was attended by over men, to be held at altona. this made a very unfavourable impression on the king, and any action of austria that offended the king was most useful to bismarck. "bismarck is using all his activity to inspire the king with his own views and feelings," wrote benedetti, the french ambassador, at this time. at the end of january he felt sufficiently secure to protest seriously against the austrian action in holstein. "why," he asked, "had they left the alliance against our common enemy, the revolution?" austria, in return, refused peremptorily to allow bismarck any voice in the administration of holstein. bismarck, when the despatch was read to him, answered curtly that he must consider that henceforth the relations of the two powers had lost their intimate character; "we are as we were before the danish war, neither worse nor better." he sent no answer to the austrian despatch and ceased to discuss with them the affairs of the duchies. this was a fair warning to austria and it was understood; they took it as an intimation that hostilities were intended, and from this day began quietly to make their preparations. as soon as they did this, they were given into bismarck's hands; the prussians, owing to the admirable organisation of the army, could prepare for war in a fortnight or three weeks' time less than the austrians would require; austria to be secure must therefore begin to arm first; as soon as she did so the prussian government would be able, with full protestation of innocence, to point to the fact that they had not moved a man, and then to begin their own mobilisation, not apparently for offence but, as it were, to protect themselves from an unprovoked attack. in a minute of february d moltke writes that it would be better for political reasons not to mobilise yet; then they would appear to put austria in the wrong; austria had now , men in bohemia and it would be impossible to undertake any offensive movement against prussia with less than , or , ; to collect these at least six weeks would be required, and the preparations could not be concealed. six days later a great council was held in berlin. "a war with austria must come sooner or later; it is wiser to undertake it now, under these most favourable circumstances, than to leave it to austria to choose the most auspicious moment for herself," said bismarck. the rupture, he explained, had already really been effected; that had been completed at his last interview with karolyi. bismarck was supported by most of the ministers; the king said that the duchies were worth a war, but he still hoped that peace would be kept. the arrangement of the foreign alliances was now pushed on. the king wrote an autograph letter to napoleon saying that the time for the special understanding had come; goltz discussed with him at length the terms of french compensation. napoleon did not ask for any definite promise, but suggested the annexation of some german territory to france; it was explained to him that prussia would not surrender any german territory, but that, if france took part of belgium, the prussian frontier must be extended to the maas, that is, must include the north-east of belgium. again no definite agreement was made, but napoleon's favouring neutrality seemed secure. there was more difficulty with italy, for here an active alliance was required, and the italians still feared they would be tricked. it was decided to send moltke to florence to arrange affairs there; this, however, was unnecessary, for victor emmanuel sent one of his generals, govone, nominally to gain some information about the new military inventions; for the next three weeks, govone and barrel, the italian minister, were engaged in constant discussions as to the terms of the treaty. of course the austrians were not entirely ignorant of what was going on. the negotiations with italy roused among them intense bitterness; without actually mobilising they slowly and cautiously made all preliminary arrangements; a despatch was sent to berlin accusing the prussians of the intention of breaking the treaty of gastein, and another despatch to the german courts asking for their assistance. karolyi waited on bismarck, assured him that their military preparations, were purely defensive, and asked point-blank whether prussia proposed to violate the treaty. the answer, of course, was a simple "no," but according to the gossip of berlin, bismarck added, "you do not think i should tell you if i did intend to do so." on march th a despatch was sent to the envoys at all the german courts drawing their attention to the austrian preparations, for which it was said there was no cause; in view of this obvious aggression prussia must begin to arm. that this was a mere pretext is shewn by a confidential note of moltke of this same date; in it he states that all the austrian preparations up to this time were purely defensive; there was as yet no sign of an attempt to take the offensive. two days later, a meeting of the prussian council was held and the orders for a partial mobilisation of the army were given, though some time elapsed before they were actually carried out. under the constant excitement of these weeks bismarck's health again began to break down; except himself, there was in fact scarcely a single man who desired the war; the king still seized every opportunity of preserving the peace; england, as so often, was beginning to make proposals for mediation; all the prussian diplomatists, he complained, were working against his warlike projects. he made it clear to the italians that the result would depend on them; if they would not sign a treaty there would be no war. the great difficulty in arranging the terms of the treaty was to determine who should begin. the old suspicion was still there: each side expected that if they began they would be deserted by their ally. the suspicion was unjust, for on both sides there were honourable men. the treaty was eventually signed on april th; it was to the effect that if prussia went to war with austria within the next three months, italy would also at once declare war; neither country was to make a separate peace; prussia would continue the war till venetia was surrendered. on the very day that this treaty was signed, bismarck, in answer to an austrian despatch, wrote insisting that he had no intention of entering on an offensive war against austria. in private conversation he was more open; to benedetti he said: "i have at last succeeded in determining a king of prussia to break the intimate relations of his house with that of austria, to conclude a treaty of alliance with italy, to accept arrangements with imperial france; i am proud of the result." suddenly a fresh impediment appeared: the austrians, on april th, wrote proposing a disarming on both sides; the prussian answer was delayed for many days; it was said in berlin that there was a difference of opinion between bismarck and the king; bismarck complained to benedetti that he was wavering: when at last the answer was sent it was to accept the principle, but bismarck boasted that he had accepted it under such conditions that it could hardly be carried out. the reluctance of the king to go to war caused him much difficulty; all his influence was required; it is curious to read the following words which he wrote at this time: "it is opposed to my feelings, i may say to my faith, to attempt to use influence or pressure on your paternal feelings with regard to the decision on peace or war; this is a sphere in which, trusting to god alone, i leave it to your majesty's heart to steer for the good of the fatherland; my part is prayer, rather than counsel"; and then he again lays before the king the insuperable arguments in favour of war. let us not suppose that this letter was but a cunning device to win the consent of the king. in these words more than in anything else we see his deepest feelings and his truest character. bismarck was no napoleon; he had determined that war was necessary, but he did not go to the terrible arbitrament with a light heart. he was not a man who from personal ambition would order thousands of men to go to their death or bring his country to ruin. it was his strength that he never forgot that he was working, not for himself, but for others. behind the far-sighted plotter and the keen intriguer there always remained the primitive honesty of his younger years. he may at times have complained of the difficulties which arose from the reluctance of the king to follow his advice, but he himself felt that it was a source of strength to him that he had to explain, justify, and recommend his policy to the king. all anxiety was, however, removed by news which came the next day. a report was spread throughout the papers that italy had begun to mobilise, and that a band of garibaldians had crossed the frontier. the report seems to have been untrue. how it originated we know not; when roon heard of it he exclaimed, "now the italians are arming, the austrians cannot disarm." he was right. the austrian government sent a message to berlin that they would withdraw part of their northern army from bohemia, but must at once put the whole of their southern army on a war footing. prussia refused to accept this plea, and the order for the mobilisation of the prussian army went out. as soon as austria had begun to mobilise, war was inevitable; the state of the finances of the empire would not permit them to maintain their army on a war footing for any time. none the less, another six weeks were to elapse before hostilities began. we have seen how throughout these complications bismarck had desired, if he fought austria, to fight, not for the sake of the duchies, but for a reform of the german confederation. in march he had said to the italians that the holstein question was not enough to warrant a declaration of war. prussia intended to bring forward the reform of the confederation. this would take several months. he hoped that among other advantages, he would have at least bavaria on his side; for the kind of proposal he had in his mind, though at this time he seems to have had no clear plan, was some arrangement by which the whole of the north of germany should be closely united to prussia, and the southern states formed in a separate union with bavaria at the head. he had always pointed out, even when he was at frankfort, that bavaria was a natural ally of prussia. in a great war the considerable army of bavaria would not be unimportant. at the beginning of april bismarck instructed savigny, his envoy at the diet, to propose the consideration of a reform in the constitution. the proposal he made was quite unexpected. no details were mentioned as to changes in the relations of the princes, but a parliament elected by universal suffrage and direct elections was to be chosen, to help in the management of common german affairs. it is impossible to exaggerate the bewilderment and astonishment with which this proposal was greeted. here was the man who had risen into power as the champion of monarchical government, as the enemy of parliaments and democracy, voluntarily taking up the extreme demand of the german radicals. it must be remembered that universal suffrage was at this time regarded not as a mere scheme of voting,--it was a principle; it was the cardinal principle of the revolution; it meant the sovereignty of the people. it was the basis of the french republic of , it had been incorporated in the german constitution of , and this was one of the reasons why the king of prussia had refused then to accept that constitution. the proposal was universally condemned. bismarck had perhaps hoped to win the liberals; if so, he was disappointed; their confidence could not be gained by this sudden and amazing change--they distrusted him all the more; "a government that, despising the laws of its own country, comes forward with plans for confederate reform, cannot have the confidence of the german people," was the verdict of the national party. the moderate liberals, men like sybel, had always been opposed to universal suffrage; even the english statesmen were alarmed; it was two years before disraeli made his leap in the dark, and here was the prussian statesman making a far bolder leap in a country not yet accustomed to the natural working of representative institutions. he did not gain the adhesion of the liberals, and he lost the confidence of his old friends. napoleon alone expressed his pleasure that the institutions of the two countries should become so like one another. there was, indeed, ample reason for distrust; universal suffrage meant not only democracy,--it was the foundation on which napoleon had built his empire; he had shewn that the voice of the people might become the instrument of despotism. all the old suspicions were aroused; people began to see fresh meaning in these constant visits to france; napoleon had found an apt pupil not only in foreign but in internal matters. it could mean nothing more than the institution of a democratic monarchy; this was bonapartism; it seemed to be the achievement of that change which, years ago, gerlach had foreboded. no wonder the king of hanover began to feel his crown less steady on his head. what was the truth in the matter? what were the motives which influenced bismarck? the explanation he gave was probably the true one: by universal suffrage he hoped to attain a conservative and monarchical assembly; he appealed from the educated and liberal middle classes to the peasants and artisans. we remember how often he had told the prussian house of commons that they were not the true representatives of the people. "direct election and universal suffrage i consider to be greater guarantees of conservative action than any artificial electoral law; the artificial system of indirect election and elections by classes is a much more dangerous one in a country of monarchical traditions and loyal patriotism. universal suffrage, doing away as it does with the influence of the liberal bourgeoisie, leads to monarchical elections." there was in his mind a vague ideal, the ideal of a king, the father of his country, supported by the masses of the people. he had a genuine interest in the welfare of the poorest; he thought he would find in them more gratitude and confidence than in the middle classes. we know that he was wrong; universal suffrage in germany was to make possible the social democrats and ultramontanes; it was to give the parliamentary power into the hands of an opponent far more dangerous than the liberals of the prussian assembly. probably no one had more responsibility for this measure than the brilliant founder of the socialist party. bismarck had watched with interest the career of lassalle; he had seen with admiration his power of organisation; he felt that here was a man who in internal affairs and in the management of the people had something of the skill and courage which he himself had in foreign affairs. he was a great demagogue, and bismarck had already learnt that a man who aimed at being not only a diplomatist, but a statesman and a ruler, must have something of the demagogic art. from lassalle he could learn much. we have letters written two years before this in which lassalle, obviously referring to some previous conversation, says: "above all, i accuse myself of having forgotten yesterday to impress upon you that the right of being elected must be given to all germans. this is an immense means of power; the moral conquest of germany." obviously there had been a long discussion, in which lassalle had persuaded the minister to adopt universal suffrage. the letters continue with reference to the machinery of the elections, and means of preventing abstention from the poll, for which lassalle professes to have found a magic charm. one other remark we must make: this measure, as later events were to prove, was in some ways characteristic of all bismarck's internal policy. roon once complained of his strokes of genius, his unforeseen decisions. in foreign policy, bold and decisive as he could be, he was also cautious and prudent; to this he owes his success; he could strike when the time came, but he never did so unless he had tested the situation in every way; he never began a war unless he was sure to win, and he left nothing to chance or good fortune. in internal affairs he was less prudent; he did not know his ground so well, and he exaggerated his own influence. moreover, in giving up the simpler conservative policy of his younger years, he became an opportunist; he would introduce important measures in order to secure the support of a party, even though he might thereby be sacrificing the interests of his country to a temporary emergency. he really applied to home affairs the habits he had learned in diplomacy; there every alliance is temporary; when the occasion of it has passed by, it ceases, and leaves no permanent effect. he tried to govern germany by a series of political alliances; but the alliance of the government with a party can never be barren; the laws to which it gives birth remain. bismarck sometimes thought more of the advantage of the alliance than of the permanent effect of the laws. even after this there was still delay; there were the usual abortive attempts at a congress, which, as in , broke down through the refusal of austria to give way. there were dark intrigues of napoleon, who even at the last moment attempted to divert the italians from their prussian alliance. in germany there was extreme indignation against the man who was forcing his country into a fratricidal war. bismarck had often received threatening letters; now an attempt was made on his life; as he was walking along _unter den linden_ a young man approached and fired several shots at him. he was seized by bismarck, and that night put an end to his own life in prison. he was a south german who wished to save his country from the horrors of civil war. moltke, now that all was prepared, was anxious to begin. bismarck still hesitated; he was so cautious that he would not take the first step. at last the final provocation came, as he hoped it would, from austria. he knew that if he waited long enough they would take the initiative. they proposed to summon the estates of holstein, and at the same time brought the question of the duchies before the diet. bismarck declared that this was a breach of the treaty of gastein, and that that agreement was therefore void; prussian troops were ordered to enter holstein. austria appealed for protection to the diet, and moved that the federal forces should be mobilised. the motion was carried by nine votes to seven. the prussian envoy then rose and declared that this was a breach of the federal law; prussia withdrew from the federation and declared war on all those states which had supported austria. hanover and hesse had to the end attempted to maintain neutrality, but this bismarck would not allow; they were given the alternative of alliance with prussia or disarmament. the result was that, when war began, the whole of germany, except the small northern states, was opposed to prussia. "i have no ally but the duke of mecklenburg and mazzini," said the king. [illustration] [illustration] chapter xi. the conquest of germany. . bismarck had no part in the management of the army. this the king always kept in his own hands. he was himself commander-in-chief, and on all military questions he took the advice of his minister of war and the chief of the staff. when his power and influence in the state were greatest, bismarck's authority always ceased as soon as technical and military matters arose for consideration. he often chafed at this limitation and even in a campaign was eager to offer his advice; there was soldier's blood in his veins, and he would have liked himself to bear arms in the war. at least he was able to be present on the field of battle with the king and witness part of the campaign. with the king he left berlin on june th to join the army in bohemia. already the news had come of the capitulation of the hanoverians; the whole of north-west germany had been conquered in a week and the prussian flank was secure. the effect of these victories was soon seen: his unpopularity was wiped out in blood. night by night as the bulletins arrived, crowds collected to cheer and applaud the minister. the king and his suite reached the army on july st; they were just in time to be present at the decisive battle. at midnight on july d it was known that the austrians were preparing to give battle near königgrätz with the elbe in their rear. early the next morning the king with bismarck, roon, and moltke rode out and took up their positions on the hill of dub, whence they could view what was to be the decisive battle in the history of germany. here, after the lapse of more than a hundred years, they were completing the work which frederick the great had begun. the battle was long and doubtful. the army of prince frederick charles attacked the austrian division under the eyes of the king, but could make no advance against their powerful artillery. they had to wait till the crown prince, who was many miles away, could come up and attack the right flank of the austrians. hour after hour went by and the crown prince did not come; if he delayed longer the attack would fail and the prussians be defeated. we can easily imagine what must have been bismarck's thoughts during this crisis. on the result depended his position, his reputation, perhaps his life; into those few hours was concentrated the struggle to which he had devoted so much of his lifetime, and yet he was quite helpless. success or failure did not depend on him. it is the crudest trial to the statesman that he must see his best plans undone by the mistakes of the generals. bismarck often looked with anxiety at moltke's face to see whether he could read in it the result of the battle. the king, too, was getting nervous. bismarck at last could stand it no longer; he rode up to moltke, took out a cigar case, and offered it to the general; moltke looked at the cigars carefully and took the best; "then i knew we were all right," said bismarck in telling this story. it was after two when at last the cannon of the crown prince's army came into action, and the austrian army, attacked on two sides, was overthrown. "this time the brave grenadiers have saved us," said roon. it was true; but for the army which he and the king had made, all the genius of moltke and bismarck would have been unavailing. "our men deserve to be kissed," wrote bismarck to his wife. "every man is brave to the death, quiet, obedient; with empty stomachs, wet clothes, little sleep, the soles of their boots falling off, they are friendly towards everyone; there is no plundering and burning; they pay what they are able, though they have mouldy bread to eat. there must exist a depth of piety in our common soldier or all this could not be." bismarck might well be proud of this practical illustration which was given of that which he so often in older days maintained. this was a true comment on the pictures of the loyalty of the prussian people and the simple faith of the german peasants, which from his place in parliament he had opposed to the new sceptical teaching of the liberals. as soon as he was able he went about among the wounded; as he once said, the king of prussia was accustomed to look into the eyes of wounded men on the field of battle and therefore would never venture on an unjust or unnecessary war, and in this bismarck felt as the king. he writes home for cigars for distributing among the wounded. personally he endured something of the hardships of campaigning, for in the miserable bohemian villages there was little food and shelter to be had. he composed himself to sleep, as best he could, on a dung-heap by the roadside, until he was roused by the prince of mecklenburg, who had found more acceptable quarters. it was not for long that this life, which was to him almost a welcome reminiscence of his sporting days, could continue. diplomatic cares soon fell upon him. not two days had passed since the great battle, when a telegram from napoleon was placed in the king's hands informing him that austria had requested france's mediation, that venetia had been surrendered to france, and inviting the king to conclude an armistice. immediately afterwards came the news that the surrender of venetia to france had been published in the _moniteur_. if this meant anything, it meant that napoleon intended to stop the further progress of the prussian army, to rescue austria, and to dictate the terms of peace; it could not be doubted that he would be prepared to support his mediation by arms, and in a few days they might expect to hear that the french corps were being stationed on the frontier. what was to be done? bismarck neither doubted nor hesitated; it was impossible to refuse french mediation. west germany was almost undefended, the whole of the southern states were still unconquered; however imperfect the french military preparations might be, it was impossible to run such a risk. at his advice the king at once sent a courteous answer accepting the french proposal. he was more disposed to this because in doing so he really bound himself to nothing. he accepted the principle of french mediation; but he was still free to discuss and refuse the special terms which might be offered. he said that he was willing to accept an armistice, but it was only on condition that the preliminaries of peace were settled before hostilities ceased, and to them the king could not agree except after consultation with the king of italy. it was a friendly answer, which cost nothing, and meanwhile the army continued to advance. an austrian request for an armistice was refused; vienna was now the goal; napoleon, if he wished to stop them, must take the next move, must explain the terms of peace he wished to secure, and shew by what measures he was prepared to enforce them. by his prompt action, bismarck, who knew napoleon well, hoped to escape the threatened danger. we shall see with what address he used the situation, so that the vacillation of france became to him more useful than even her faithful friendship would have been, for now he felt himself free from all ties of gratitude. whatever services france might do to prussia she could henceforth look to him for no voluntary recompense. napoleon had deceived him; he would henceforward have no scruples in deceiving napoleon. he had entered on the war relying on the friendship and neutrality of france; at the first crisis this had failed him; he never forgot and he never forgave; years later, when the news of napoleon's death was brought to him, this was the first incident in their long connection which came into his mind. intercourse with paris was slow and uncertain; the telegraph wires were often cut by the bohemian peasants; some time must elapse before an answer came. in the meanwhile, as the army steadily advanced towards the austrian capital, bismarck had to consider the terms of peace he would be willing to accept. he had to think not only of what he would wish, but of what it was possible to acquire. he wrote to his wife at this time: "we are getting on well. if we are not extreme in our claims and do not imagine that we have conquered the world, we shall obtain a peace that is worth having. but we are as easily intoxicated as we are discouraged, and i have the thankless task of pouring water into the foaming wine and of pointing out that we are not alone in europe, but have three neighbours." of the three neighbours there was little to fear from england. with the death of lord palmerston, english policy had entered on a new phase; the traditions of pitt and canning were forgotten; england no longer aimed at being the arbitress of europe; the leaders of both parties agreed that unless her own interests were immediately affected, england would not interfere in continental matters. the internal organisation of germany did not appear to concern her; she was the first to recognise the new principle that the relations of the german states to one another were to be settled by the germans themselves, and to extend to germany that doctrine of non-intervention which she had applied to spain and italy. neither france nor russia would be so accommodating; france, we have already seen, had begun to interfere, russia would probably do so; if they came to some agreement they would demand a congress; and, as a matter of fact, a few days later the czar proposed a congress, both in paris and in london. of all issues this was the one which bismarck dreaded most. a war with france he would have disliked, but at the worst he was not afraid of it. but he did not wish that the terms of peace he proposed to dictate should be subjected to the criticism and revision of the european powers, nor to undergo the fate which fell on russia twelve years later. had the congress, however, been supported by russia and france he must have accepted it. it is for this reason that he was so ready to meet the wishes of france, for if napoleon once entered into separate and private negotiations, then whatever the result of them might be, he could not join with the other powers in common action. with regard to the terms of peace, it was obvious that schleswig-holstein would now be prussian; it could scarcely be doubted that there must be a reform in the confederation, which would be reorganised under the hegemony of prussia, and that austria would be excluded from all participation in german affairs. it might, in fact, be anticipated that the very great successes of prussia would enable her to carry out the programme of , and to unite the whole of germany in a close union. this, however, was not what bismarck intended; for him the unity of germany was a matter of secondary importance; what he desired was complete control over the north. in this he was going back to the sound and true principles of prussian policy; he, as nearly all other prussian statesmen, looked on the line of the main as a real division. he, therefore, on the th of july, wrote to goltz, explaining the ideas he had of the terms on which peace might be concluded. "the essential thing," he said, was that they should get control over north germany in some form or other. "i use the term _north german confederation_ without any hesitation, because i consider that if the necessary consolidation of the federation is to be made certain it will be at present impossible to include south germany in it. the present moment is very favourable for giving our new creation just that delimitation which will secure it a firm union." the question remained, what form the union should take. on this he writes: "your excellency must have the same impression as myself, that public opinion in our country demands the incorporation of hanover, saxony, and schleswig." he adds that this would undoubtedly be the best solution of the matter for all concerned, if it could be effected without the cession of other prussian territory, but he did not himself consider the difference between a satisfactory system of reform and the acquisition of these territories sufficient to justify him in risking the fate of the whole monarchy. it was the same alternative which had presented itself to him about schleswig-holstein; now, as then, annexation was what he aimed at, and he was not the man easily to reconcile himself to a less favourable solution. at the same time that he wrote this letter he sent orders that falkenstein should quickly occupy all the territory north of the main. it is important to notice the date at which this letter was sent. it shews us that these proposals were bismarck's own. attempts have often been made since to suggest that the policy of annexation was not his, but was forced on him by the king, or by the military powers, or by the nation. this was not the case. he appeals indeed to public opinion, but public opinion, had it been asked, would really have demanded, not the dethronement of the kings of hanover and saxony, but the unity of all germany; and we know that bismarck would never pursue what he thought a dangerous policy simply because public opinion demanded it. it has also been said that the dethronement of the king of hanover was the natural result of the obstinacy of himself and his advisers, and his folly in going to vienna to appeal there to the help of the austrian emperor. this also is not true. we find that bismarck has determined on this policy some days before the king had left thuringia. this, like all he did, was the deliberate result of the consideration: what would tend most to the growth of prussian power? he had to consider three alternatives: that these states should be compelled to come into a union with prussia on the terms that the princes should hand over the command of their forces to the prussian king, but he knew that the king of hanover would never consent to this, and probably the king of saxony would also refuse; he might also require the reigning kings to abdicate in place of their sons; or he might leave them with considerable freedom, but cripple their power by taking away part of their territory. these solutions seemed to him undesirable because they would leave dynasties, who would naturally be hostile, jealous, and suspicious, with the control of large powers of government. surely it would be better, safer, and wiser to sweep them away altogether. it may be objected that there was no ground in justice for so doing. this is true, and bismarck has never pretended that there was. he has left it to the writers of the prussian press to justify an action which was based purely on policy, by the pretence that it was the due recompense of the crimes of the rival dynasties. sybel says that bismarck determined on these terms because they were those which would be most acceptable to france; that he would have preferred at once to secure the unity of the whole of germany, but that from his knowledge of french thought and french character he foresaw that this would be possible only after another war, and he did not wish to risk the whole. so far as our information goes, it is against this hypothesis; it is rather true to say that he used the danger of french interference as a means of persuading the king to adopt a policy which was naturally repugnant to him. it is true that these terms would be agreeable to napoleon. it would appear in france and in europe as if it was french power which had persuaded prussia to stop at the main and to spare austria; bismarck did not mind that, because what was pleasant to france was convenient to him. he knew also that the proposal to annex the conquered territories would be very agreeable to napoleon; the dethronement of old-established dynasties might be regarded as a delicate compliment to the principles he had always maintained and to the traditional policy of his house. if, however, we wish to find bismarck's own motives, we must remember that before the war broke out he had in his mind some such division of germany; he knew that it would be impossible at once to unite the whole in a firm union. if bavaria were to be included in the new confederation they would lose in harmony what they gained in extent. as he said in his drastic way: "we cannot use these ultramontanes, and we must not swallow more than we can digest. we will not fall into the blunder of piedmont, which has been more weakened than strengthened by the annexation of naples." of course he could not express this openly, and even now german writers obscure the thought, for in germany, as in italy, the desire for unity was so powerful that it was difficult to pardon any statesman who did not take the most immediate path to this result. it was fortunate for germany that bismarck was strong enough not to do so, for the confederation of the north could be founded and confirmed before the catholic and hostile south was included. the prize was in his hands; he deliberately refused to pick it up. supposing, however, that, after all, france would not accept the terms he suggested--during the anxious days which passed, this contingency was often before him. it was not till the th that goltz was able to send him any decisive information, for the very good reason that napoleon had not until then made up his own mind. bismarck's anxiety was increased by the arrival of benedetti. he had received instructions to follow the king, and, after undergoing the discomfort of a hasty journey in the rear of the prussian army, reached headquarters on the th at zwittau. he was taken straight to bismarck's room although it was far on into the night. he found him sitting in a deserted house, writing, with a large revolver by his side; for as roon complains, even during the campaign bismarck would not give up his old custom of working all night and sleeping till midday or later. bismarck received the french ambassador with his wonted cordiality and the conversation was prolonged till three or four o'clock in the morning, and continued on the following days. bismarck hoped that he had come with full powers to treat, or at least with full information on the intentions of his government; that was not the case; he had no instructions except to use his influence to persuade prussia to moderation; napoleon was far too much divided in his own mind to be able to tell him anything further. bismarck with his usual frankness explained what he wished, laying much stress on the annexations in north germany; benedetti, so little did he follow napoleon's thought, protested warmly against this. "we are not," he said, "in the times of frederick the great." bismarck then tried to probe him on other matters; as before, he assumed that napoleon's support and good-will were not to be had for nothing. he took it as a matter of course that if france was friendly to prussia, she would require some recompense. he had already instructed goltz to enquire what non-german compensation would be asked; he was much disturbed when benedetti met his overtures with silence; he feared that napoleon had some other plan. benedetti in his report writes: "without any encouragement on my part, he attempted to prove to me that the defeat of austria permitted france and prussia to modify their territorial limits and to solve the greater part of the difficulties which continued to menace the peace of europe. i reminded him that there were treaties and that the war which he desired to prevent would be the first result of a policy of this kind. m. de bismarck answered that i misunderstood him, that france and prussia united and resolved to rectify their respective countries, binding themselves by solemn engagements henceforth to regulate together these questions, need not fear any armed resistance either from england or from russia." what was bismarck's motive in making these suggestions and enquiries? german writers generally take the view that he was not serious in his proposal, that he was deliberately playing with napoleon, that he wished to secure from him some compromising document which he might then be able, as, in fact, was to happen, to use against him. they seem to find some pleasure in admiring him in the part of _agent provocateur_. perhaps we may interpret his thought rather differently. we have often seen that it was not his practice to lay down a clear and definite course of action, but he met each crisis as it occurred. the immediate necessity was to secure the friendship of france; believing, as he did, that in politics no one acted simply on principle or out of friendship, he assumed that napoleon, who had control of the situation, would not give his support unless he had the promise of some important recompense. the natural thing for him, as he always preferred plain dealing, was to ask straight out what the emperor wanted. when the answer came, then fresh questions would arise; if it was of such a kind that bismarck would be able to accept it, a formal treaty between the two states might be made; if it was more than bismarck was willing to grant, then there would be an opportunity for prolonging negotiations with france, and haggling over smaller points, and he would be able to come to some agreement with austria quickly. if he could not come to any agreement with france, and war were to break out, he would always have this advantage, that he would be able to make it appear that the cause of war arose not in the want of moderation of prussia, but in the illegitimate claims of france. finally he had this to consider, that so long as france was discussing terms with him, there was no danger of their accepting the russian proposal for a congress. probably the one contingency which did not occur to him was that which, in fact, was nearest to the truth, namely, that napoleon did not care much for any recompense, and that he had not seriously considered what he ought to demand. he was, however, prepared for the case that france should not be accommodating. he determined to enter on separate negotiations with austria. as he could not do this directly, he let it be known at vienna by way of st. petersburg that he was willing to negotiate terms of peace. at brunn, where he was living, he opened up a new channel of intercourse. an austrian nobleman, who was well disposed towards prussia, undertook an unofficial mission, and announced to the emperor the terms on which prussia would make peace. they were extraordinarily lenient, namely, that, with the exception of venetia, the territory of austria should remain intact, that no war indemnity should be expected, that the main should form the boundary of prussian ambition, that south germany should be left free, and might enter into close connection with austria if it chose; the only condition was that no intervention or mediation of france should be allowed. if the negotiations with france were successful, then the french and prussian armies united would bid defiance to the world. if those with france failed, then he hoped to bring about an understanding with austria; the two great powers would divide germany between them, but present a united front to all outsiders. if both negotiations broke down, he would be reduced to a third and more terrible alternative: against a union of france and of austria he would put himself at the head of the german national movement; he would adopt the programme of ; he would appeal to the revolution; he would stir up rebellion in hungary; he would encourage the italians to deliver a thrust into the very heart of the austrian monarchy; and, while austria was destroyed by internal dissensions, he would meet the french invasion at the head of a united army of the other german states. after all, however, napoleon withdrew his opposition. it was represented to him that he had not the military force to carry out his new programme; italy refused to desert prussia or even to receive venetia from the hands of france; prince napoleon warned his cousin against undoing the work of his lifetime. the emperor himself, broken in health and racked by pain, confessed that his action of july th had been a mistake; he apologised to goltz for his proclamation; he asked only that prussia should be moderate in her demands; the one thing was that the unity of germany should be avoided, if only in appearance. this, we have seen, was bismarck's own view. napoleon accepted the terms which goltz proposed, but asked only that the kingdom of saxony should be spared; if this was done, he would not only adopt, he would recommend them. an agreement was quickly come to. benedetti went on to vienna; he and gramont had little difficulty in persuading the emperor to agree to terms of peace by which the whole loss of the war would fall not upon him, not even upon his only active and faithful ally, the king of saxony, but on those other states who had refused to join themselves to either party. what a triumph was it of bismarck's skill that the addition of , , subjects to the prussian crown and complete dominion over northern germany should appear, not as the demand which, as a ruthless conqueror, he enforced on his helpless enemies, but as the solution of all difficulties which was recommended to him in reward for his moderation by the ruler of france! on the d of july an armistice was agreed on, and a conference was held at nikolsburg to arrange the preliminaries of peace. there was no delay. in olden days bismarck had shewn how he was able to prolong negotiations year after year when it was convenient to him that they should come to no conclusion; now he hurried through in three days the discussion by which the whole future of germany and europe were to be determined. when all were agreed on the main points, difficulties on details were easily overcome. it remained only to procure the assent of the king. here again, as so often before, bismarck met with most serious resistance. he drew up a careful memorandum which he presented to the monarch, pressing on him in the very strongest terms the acceptance of these conditions, up to the last moment, however, there seems to have been a great reluctance; sybel represents the difficulties as rising from the immoderate demands of the military party at court; they were not prepared, after so great a victory, to leave austria with undiminished territory; they wished at least to have part of austrian silesia. this account seems misleading. it was not that the king wanted more than bismarck had desired; he wanted his acquisition of territory to come in a different way. he was not reconciled to the dethronement of the king of hanover; he wished to take part of hanover, part of saxony, part of bavaria, and something from darmstadt; to his simple and honest mind it seemed unjust that those who had been his bitterest enemies should be treated with the greatest consideration. it was the old difficulty which bismarck had met with in dealing with schleswig-holstein: the king had much regard for the rights of other princes. this time, however, bismarck, we are surprised to learn, had the influential support of the crown prince; the scruples which he had felt as regards schleswig-holstein did not apply to hanover. he was sent in to his father; the interview lasted two hours; what passed we do not know; he came out exhausted and wearied with the long struggle, but the king had given in, and the policy of bismarck triumphed. the preliminaries of nikolsburg were signed, and two days afterwards were ratified, for bismarck pressed on the arrangements with feverish impetuosity. he had good reason to do so; he had just received intelligence that the emperor of russia was making an official demand for a congress and fresh news had come from france. on the th benedetti had again come to him and had sounded him with regard to the recompense which france might receive. on the th, just as bismarck was going to the final sitting of the conference, the french ambassador again called on him, this time to lay before him a despatch in which drouyn de lhuys stated that he had not wished to impede the negotiations with austria, but would now observe that the french sanction to the prussian annexations presupposed a fair indemnification to france, and that the emperor would confer with prussia concerning this as soon as his rôle of mediator was at an end. what madness this was! as soon as the rôle of mediator was at an end, as soon as peace was arranged with austria, the one means which france had for compelling the acquiescence of prussia was lost. what had happened was this: napoleon had, in conversation with goltz, refused to consider the question of compensation: it was not worth while, he said; the gain of a few square miles of territory would not be of any use. he therefore, when he still might have procured them, made no conditions. drouyn de lhuys, however, who had disapproved of the whole of the emperor's policy, still remained in office; he still wished, as he well might wish, to strengthen france in view of the great increase of prussian power. he, therefore, on the st again approached napoleon and laid before him a despatch in which he brought up the question of compensation. he was encouraged to this course by the reports which benedetti had sent of his conversations with bismarck; it was clear that bismarck expected some demand; he had almost asked that it should be made. "we wish to avoid any injury to the balance of power," goltz had said; "we will either moderate our demands or discuss those of france." it appeared absurd not to accept this offer. napoleon was still reluctant to do so, but he was in a paroxysm of pain. "leave me in peace," was his only answer to his minister's request, and the minister took it as an assent. bismarck, when benedetti informed him of the demand that was to be made, at once answered that he was quite ready to consider the proposal. benedetti then suggested that it would probably concern certain strips of territory on the left bank of the rhine; on this, bismarck stopped him: "do not make any official announcements of that kind to me to-day." he went away, the conference was concluded, the preliminaries were signed and ratified. france had been too late, and when the demand was renewed bismarck was able to adopt a very different tone. let us complete the history of these celebrated negotiations. the discussion which had been broken off so suddenly at nikolsburg was continued at berlin; during the interval the matter had been further discussed in paris, and it had been determined firmly to demand compensation. benedetti had warned the government that bismarck would not surrender any german territory; it was no good even asking for this, unless the demand was supported by urgent and threatening language. the result of the considerations was that he was instructed categorically to require the surrender to france of the palatinate and mayence. benedetti undertook the task with some reluctance; in order to avoid being present at the explosion of anger which he might expect, he addressed the demand to bismarck on august th, by letter. two days he waited for an answer, but received none; on the evening of the th, he himself called on the count, and a long discussion took place. bismarck adopted a tone of indignation: "the whole affair makes us doubt napoleon and threatens to destroy our confidence." the pith of it was contained in the last words: "do you ask this from us under threat of war?" said bismarck. "yes," said benedetti. "then it will be war." benedetti asked to have an interview with the king; it was granted, and he received the same answer. this was the result he had anticipated, and the next evening he returned to paris to consider with the government what was to be done. bismarck meanwhile had taken care that some information as to these secret negotiations should become known; with characteristic cleverness he caused it to be published in a french paper, _le siècle_, that france had asked for the rhine country and been refused. of course, the german press took up the matter; with patriotic fervour they supported the king and minister. napoleon found himself confronted by the danger of a union of all germany in opposition to french usurpation, and his own diplomatic defeat had become known in a most inconvenient form; he at once travelled to paris, consulted benedetti, returned to his former policy, and asked that the demand of august th might be forgotten; it was withdrawn, and things were to be as if it had never been made. were they, however, still to give up all hope of some increase of french territory? the demand for german soil had been refused; it was not at all clear that bismarck would not support the acquisition of at least part of belgium. in conversation with benedetti, on august th, he had said: "perhaps we will find other means of satisfying you." goltz was still very sympathetic; he regarded the french desire as quite legitimate in principle. it was determined, therefore, now to act on these hints and suggestions which had been repeated so often during the last twelve months; benedetti was instructed to return with a draft treaty; the french demands were put in three forms; first of all he was to ask for the saar valley, landau, luxemburg, and belgium; if this was too much, he was to be content with belgium and luxemburg, and if it seemed desirable he should offer that antwerp be made a free city; by this perhaps the extreme hostility of england would be averted. with this demand, on august th, he again appeared before bismarck. of course, the minister, as soon as saarbrück and landau were mentioned, drew himself up to his full height, adopted an angry air, and reminded benedetti of his repeated declaration that they were not going to give up a single german village. benedetti, therefore, in accordance with his instructions, withdrew this clause. the rest of the treaty he and bismarck discussed together carefully; they took it line by line and clause by clause, bismarck dealing with the matter in a serious and practical manner. after this had been finished a revised draft was written out by benedetti, bismarck dictating to him the alterations which had been made. this revised draft consisted of five articles: ( ) the emperor recognised the recent acquisitions of prussia; ( ) the king of prussia should bind himself to assist france in acquiring luxemburg from the king of holland by purchase or exchange; ( ) the emperor bound himself not to oppose a union of the north german federation with the south german states and the establishment of a common parliament; ( ) if the emperor at any time wished to acquire belgium, the king of prussia was to support him and give him military assistance against the interference of any other power; ( ) a general treaty of alliance. it will be seen that this treaty consists of two parts. the first refers to what has already taken place,--the emperor of the french in return for past assistance is to have luxemburg; this part would naturally come into operation immediately. the next two clauses referred to the future; the union of all germany would in the natural course of events not be long delayed; this would seriously alter the balance of power and weaken france. napoleon would naturally in the future use all his efforts to prevent it, as he had done during this year, and by an alliance with austria he would probably be able to do so. he would, however, withdraw his opposition if he was allowed to gain a similar increase of territory for france. after all, the acquisition of at least part of belgium by france might be justified by the same arguments by which the dethronement of the king of hanover was defended. many of the belgians were french; there was no natural division between belgium and france; probably the people would offer no opposition. bismarck had to remember that he could not complete the union of germany without considering napoleon; there were only two ways of doing the work, ( ) by war with france, ( ) by an alliance. need we be surprised that he at least considered whether the latter would not be the safer, the cheaper, and the more humane? was it not better to complete the work by the sacrifice of belgian independence rather than by the loss of , lives? benedetti sent the revised draft to paris; it was submitted to the emperor, accepted in principle, and returned with some small alterations and suggestions. benedetti sent in the revision to bismarck and said he would be ready at any time to meet the minister and finish the negotiations. he himself left berlin for carlsbad and there awaited the summons. it never came. week after week went by, bismarck retired to his pomeranian estate; he did not return to berlin till december and he never renewed the negotiations. the revised draft in benedetti's handwriting was in his hands; four years later, when war had been declared against france, he published it in order to destroy whatever sympathy for napoleon there might be in england. bismarck did not continue the negotiations, for he had found a better way. till august d his relations to austria were still doubtful; he always had to fear that there was some secret understanding between france and austria, that a coalition of the two states had been completed, and that prussia might suddenly find herself attacked on both sides. he had, therefore, not wished to offend france. moreover his relations to russia were not quite satisfactory. the czar took a very serious view of the annexations in north germany: "i do not like it," he said; "i do not like this dethronement of dynasties." it was necessary to send general manteuffel on a special mission to st. petersburg; the czar did not alter his opinion, but bismarck found it possible at least to quiet him. we do not know all that passed, but he seems to have used a threat and a promise. if the czar attempted to interfere in germany, bismarck hinted, as he had already done, that he might have to put himself at the head of the revolution, and proclaim the constitution of ; then what would happen to the monarchical principles? he even suggested that a revolution which began in germany might spread to poland. the czar explained that he was discontented with many clauses in the treaty of paris. there was an understanding, if there was no formal compact, that prussia would lend her support, when the time came for the czar to declare that he was no longer willing to observe this treaty. by the end of august bismarck had therefore removed the chief dangers which threatened him. russia was quieted, france was expectant, austria was pacified. he had, however, done more than this: he had already laid the foundation for the union of the whole of germany which napoleon thought he had prevented. the four southern states had joined in the war against prussia. in a brilliant and interesting campaign a small prussian army had defeated the federal forces and occupied the whole of south germany. the conquest of germany by prussia was complete. these states had applied at nikolsburg to be allowed to join in the negotiations. the request was refused, and bismarck at this time treated them with a deliberate and obtrusive brutality. baron von der pfortden, the bavarian minister, had himself travelled to nikolsburg to ask for peace. he was greeted by bismarck with the words: "what are you doing here? you have no safe-conduct. i should be justified in treating you as a prisoner of war." he had to return without achieving anything. frankfort had been occupied by the prussian army; the citizens were required to pay a war indemnity of a million pounds; manteuffel, who was in command, threatened to plunder the town, and the full force of prussian displeasure was felt by the city where bismarck had passed so many years. it was arranged with austria and france that the southern states should participate in the suspension of hostilities; that they should preserve their independence and should be allowed to enter into any kind of federal alliance with one another. the result of this would have been that south germany would be a weak, disunited confederation, which would be under the control partly of france and partly of austria. this would have meant the perpetuation in its worst form of french influence over south germany. when this clause was agreed on, the terms of peace between these states and prussia had not yet been arranged. the king of prussia wished that they should surrender to him some parts of their territory. bismarck, however, opposed this. he was guided by the same principles which had influenced him all along. some states should be entirely absorbed in prussia, the others treated so leniently that the events of this year should leave no feeling of hostility. if bavaria had to surrender bayreuth and anspach, he knew that the bavarians would naturally take part in the first coalition against prussia. with much trouble he persuaded the king to adopt this point of view. the wisdom of it was soon shewn. at the beginning of august he still maintained a very imperious attitude, and talked to the bavarians of large annexations. pfortden in despair had cried, "do not drive us too far; we shall have to go for help to france." then was bismarck's turn. he told the bavarian minister of napoleon's suggestion, shewed him that it was prussia alone who had prevented napoleon from annexing a large part of bavaria, and then appealed to him through his german patriotism: would not bavaria join prussia in an alliance? pfortden was much moved, the count and the baron embraced one another, and by the end of august bismarck had arranged with all the four southern states a secret offensive and defensive alliance. by this they bound themselves to support prussia if she was attacked. prussia guaranteed to them their territory; in case of war they would put their army under the command of the king of prussia. he was now sure, therefore, of an alliance of all germany against france. he no longer required french assistance. the unity of germany, when it was made, would be achieved by the unaided forces of the united german states. the draft treaty with napoleon might now be put aside. these negotiations mark indeed a most important change in bismarck's own attitude. hitherto he had thought and acted as a prussian; he had deliberately refused on all occasions to support or adopt the german programme. he had done this because he did not wish germany to be made strong until the ascendancy of prussia was secured. the battle of königgrätz had done that; north germany was now prussian; the time had come when he could begin to think and act as a german, for the power of prussia was founded on a rock of bronze. this change was not the only one which dates from the great victory. the constitutional conflict had still to be settled. the parliament had been dissolved just before the war; the new elections had taken place on the d of july, after the news of the first victory was known. the result was shewn in a great gain of seats to the government and to the moderate liberal party. the great question, however, was, how would bismarck use his victory over the house? for a victory it was. it was the cannon of königgrätz which decided the parliamentary conflict. the house had refused the money to reorganise the army, and it was this reorganised army which had achieved so unexampled a triumph. would the government now press their victory and use the enthusiasm of the moment permanently to cripple the constitution? this is what the conservative party, what roon and the army wished to do. it was not bismarck's intention. he required the support of the patriotic liberals for the work he had to do; he proposed, therefore, that the government should come before the house and ask for an indemnity. they did not confess that they had acted wrongly, they did not express regret, but they recognised that in spending the money without a vote of the house there had been an offence against the constitution; this could now only be made good if a bill was brought in approving of what had happened. he carried his opinion, not without difficulty; the bill of indemnity was introduced and passed. he immediately had his reward. the liberal party, which had hitherto opposed him, broke into two portions. the extreme radicals and progressives still continued their opposition; the majority of the party formed themselves into a new organisation, to which they gave the name of national liberals. they pledged themselves to support the national and german policy of the government, while they undertook, so far as they were able, to maintain and strengthen the constitutional rights of parliament. by this bismarck had a parliamentary majority, and he more and more depended upon them rather than his old friends, the conservatives. he required their support because henceforward he would have to deal not with one parliament, but two. the north german confederation was to have its parliament elected by universal suffrage. bismarck foresaw that the principles he had upheld in the past could not be applied in the same form to the whole of the confederation. the prussian conservative party was purely prussian, it was particularist; had he continued to depend upon it, then all the members sent to the new reichstag, not only from saxony, but also from the annexed states, would have been thrown into opposition; the liberal party had always been not prussian but german; now that he had to govern so large a portion of germany, that which had in the past been the great cause of difference would be the strongest bond of union. the national liberal party was alone able to join him in the work of creating enthusiasm for the new institutions and new loyalty. how often had he in the old days complained of the liberals that they thought not as prussians, that they were ashamed of prussia, that they were not really loyal to prussia. now he knew that just for this reason they would be most loyal to the north german confederation. bismarck's moderation in the hour of victory must not obscure the importance of his triumph. the question had been tried which should rule--the crown or the parliament; the crown had won not only a physical but a moral victory. bismarck had maintained that the house of representatives could not govern prussia; the foreign affairs of the state, he had always said, must be carried on by a minister who was responsible, not to the house, but to the king. no one could doubt that had the house been able to control him he would not have won these great successes. from that time the confidence of the german people in parliamentary government was broken. moreover, it was the first time in the history of europe in which one of these struggles had conclusively ended in the defeat of parliament. the result of it was to be shewn in the history of every country in europe during the next thirty years. it is the most serious blow which the principle of representative government has yet received. by the end of august most of the labour was completed; there remained only the arrangement of peace with saxony; this he left to his subordinates and retired to pomerania for the long period of rest which he so much required. during his absence a motion was brought before parliament for conferring a donation on the victorious generals. at the instance of one of his most consistent opponents bismarck's name was included in the list on account of his great services to his country; a protest was raised by virchow on the ground that no minister while in office should receive a present, and that of all men bismarck least deserved one, but scarcely fifty members could be found to oppose the vote. the donation of , thalers he used in purchasing the estate of varzin, in pomerania which was to be his home for the next twenty years. chapter xii. the formation of the north german confederation. - . we have hitherto seen bismarck in the character of party leader, parliamentary debater, a keen and accomplished diplomatist; now he comes before us in a new rôle, that of creative statesman; he adopts it with the same ease and complete mastery with which he had borne himself in the earlier stages of his career. the constitution of the north german confederation was his work, and it shews the same intellectual resource, the originality, and practical sense which mark all he did. by a treaty of august , , all the north german states which had survived entered into a treaty with one another and with prussia; they mutually guaranteed each other's possessions, engaged to place their forces under the command of the king of prussia, and promised to enter into a new federation; for this purpose they were to send envoys to berlin who should agree on a constitution, and they were to allow elections to take place by universal suffrage for a north german parliament before which was to be laid the draft constitution agreed upon by the envoys of the states. these treaties did not actually create the new federation; they only bound the separate states to enter into negotiations, and, as they expired on august , , it was necessary that the new constitution should be completed and ratified by that date. the time was short, for in it had to be compressed both the negotiations between the states and the debates in the assembly; but all past experience had shewn that the shorter the time allowed for making a constitution the more probable was it that the work would be completed. bismarck did not intend to allow the precious months, when enthusiasm was still high and new party factions had not seized hold of men's minds, to be lost. he had spent the autumn in pomerania and did not return to berlin till the st of december; not a week remained before the representatives of the north german states would assemble in the capital of prussia. to the astonishment and almost dismay of his friends, he had taken no steps for preparing a draft. as soon as he arrived two drafts were laid before him; he put them aside and the next day dictated the outlines of the new constitution. this document has not been published, but it was the basis of the discussion with the envoys; bismarck allowed no prolonged debates; they were kept for some weeks in berlin, but only three formal meetings took place. they made suggestions and criticisms, some of which were accepted, but they were of course obliged to assent to everything on which bismarck insisted. the scheme as finally agreed upon by the conference was then laid before the assembly which met in berlin on february th. a full analysis of this constitution, for which we have no space here, would be very instructive; it must not be compared with those elaborate constitutions drawn up by political theorists of which so many have been introduced during this century. bismarck's work was like that of augustus; he found most of the institutions of government to his hand, but they were badly co-ordinated; what he had to do was to bring them into better relations with each other, and to add to them where necessary. many men would have swept away everything which existed, made a clear field, and begun to build up a new state from the foundations. bismarck was much too wise to attempt this, for he knew that the foundations of political life cannot be securely laid by one man or in one generation. he built on the foundations which others had laid, and for this reason it is probable that his work will be as permanent as that of the founder of the roman empire. we find in the new state old and new mixed together in an inseparable union, and we find a complete indifference to theory or symmetry; each point is decided purely by reference to the political situation at the moment. take, for instance, the question of diplomatic representation; bismarck wished to give the real power to the king of prussia, but at the same time to preserve the external dignity and respect due to the allied princes. he arranged that the king of prussia as president of the confederation appointed envoys and ambassadors to foreign states; from this time there ceased to be a prussian diplomatic service, and, in this matter, prussia is entirely absorbed in germany. it would have been only natural that the smaller allied states should also surrender their right to enter into direct diplomatic relations with foreign powers. this bismarck did not require. saxony, for instance, continued to have its own envoys; england and france, as in the old days, kept a minister in dresden. bismarck was much criticised for this, but he knew that nothing would so much reconcile the king of saxony to his new position, and it was indeed no small thing that the princes thus preserved in a formal way a right which shewed to all the world that they were not subjects but sovereign allies. when it was represented to bismarck that this right might be the source of intrigues with foreign states, he answered characteristically that if saxony wished to intrigue nothing could prevent her doing so; it was not necessary to have a formal embassy for this purpose. his confidence was absolutely justified. a few months later napoleon sent to the king of saxony a special invitation to a european congress; the king at once sent on the invitation to berlin and let it be known that he did not wish to be represented apart from the north german confederation. the same leniency was shewn in . nothing is a better proof of bismarck's immense superiority both in practical wisdom and in judgment of character. the liberal press in germany had never ceased to revile the german dynasties; bismarck knew that their apparent disloyalty to germany arose not from their wishes but was a necessary result of the faults of the old constitution. he made their interests coincide with the interests of germany, and from this time they have been the most loyal supporters, first of the confederation, and afterwards of the empire. this he was himself the first to acknowledge; both before and after the foundation of the empire he has on many occasions expressed his sense of the great services rendered to germany by the dynasties. "they," he said once, "were the true guardians of german unity, not the reichstag and its parties." the most important provisions of the constitution were those by which the military supremacy of prussia was secured; in this chapter every detail is arranged and provided for; the armies of all the various states were henceforth to form one army, under the command of the king of prussia, with common organisation and similar uniform in every state; in every state the prussian military system was to be introduced, and all the details of prussian military law. now let us compare with this the navy: the army represented the old germany, the navy the new; the army was arranged and organised as prussian, saxon, mecklenburg; the navy, on the other hand, was german and organised by the new federal officials. there was a federal minister of marine, but no federal minister of war; the army continued the living sign of prussian supremacy among a group of sovereign states, the navy was the first fruit of the united german institutions which were to be built up by the united efforts of the whole people--a curious resemblance to the manner in which augustus also added an imperial navy to the older republican army. the very form in which the constitution was presented is characteristic; in the parliamentary debates men complained that there was no preamble, no introduction, no explanation. bismarck answered that this was omitted for two reasons: first, there had not been time to draw it up, and secondly, it would be far more difficult to agree on the principles which the constitution was to represent than on the details themselves. there is no attempt at laying down general principles, no definitions, and no enumeration of fundamental rights; all these rocks, on which so often in germany, as in france, precious months had been wasted, were entirely omitted. and now let us turn to that which after the organisation of the army was of most importance,--the arrangement of the administration and legislation. here it is that we see the greatest originality. german writers have often explained that it is impossible to classify the new state in any known category, and in following their attempts to find the technical definition for the authority on which it rests, one is led almost to doubt whether it really exists at all. there are two agents of government, the federal council, or _bundesrath_, and the parliament, or _reichstag_. here again we see the blending of the old and new, for while the parliament was now created for the first time, the council was really nothing but the old federal diet. even the old system of voting was retained; not that this was better than any other system, but, as bismarck explained, it was easier to preserve the old than to agree on a new. any system must have been purely arbitrary, for had each state received a number of votes proportionate to its population even the appearance of a federation would have been lost, and bismarck was very anxious not to establish an absolute unity under prussia. it will be asked, why was bismarck now so careful in his treatment of the smaller states? the answer will be found in words which he had written many years ago: "i do not wish to see germany substituted for prussia on our banner until we have brought about a closer and more practical union with our fellow-countrymen." now the time had come, and now he was to be the first and most patriotic of germans as in old days he had been the strictest of prussians. do not let us in welcoming the change condemn his earlier policy. it was only his loyalty to prussia which had made germany possible; for it is indeed true that he could never have ruled germany had he not first conquered it. the real and indisputable supremacy of prussia was still preserved; and prussia was now so strong that she could afford to be generous. it was wise to be generous, for the work was only half completed; the southern states were still outside the union; he wished to bring them into the fold, but to do so not by force of arms but of their own free will; and they certainly would be more easily attracted if they saw that the north german states were treated with good faith and kindness. side by side with the council we have the reichstag; this was, in accordance with the proposal made in the spring of , to be elected by universal suffrage. and now we see that this proposal, which a few months ago had appeared merely as a despairing bid for popularity by a statesman who had sacrificed every other means of securing his policy, had become a device convincing in its simplicity; at once all possibility of discussion or opposition was prevented; not indeed that there were not many warning voices raised, but as bismarck, in defending this measure, asked,--what was the alternative? any other system would have been purely arbitrary, and any arbitrary system would at once have opened the gate to a prolonged discussion and political struggle on questions of the franchise. in a modern european state, when all men can read and write, and all men must serve in the army, there is no means of limiting the franchise in a way which will command universal consent. in germany there was not any old historical practice to which men could appeal or which could naturally be applied to the new parliament; universal suffrage at least gave something clear, comprehensible, final. men more easily believed in the permanence of the new state when every german received for the first time the full privilege of citizenship. we must notice, however, that bismarck had always intended that voting should be open; the parliament in revising the constitution introduced the ballot. he gave his consent with much reluctance; voting seemed to him to be a public duty, and to perform it in secret was to undermine the roots of political life. he was a man who was constitutionally unable to understand fear. we have then the council and the parliament, and we must now enquire as to their duties. in nearly every modern state the popular representative assembly holds the real power; before it, everything else is humbled; the chief occupation of lawgivers is to find some ingenious device by which it may at least be controlled and moderated in the exercise of its power. it was not likely that bismarck would allow germany to be governed by a democratic assembly; he was not satisfied with creating an artificial upper house which might, perhaps, be able for one year or two to check the extravagances of a popular house, or with allowing to the king a veto which could only be exercised with fear and trembling. generally the lower house is the predominant partner; it governs; the upper house can only amend, criticise, moderate. bismarck completely reversed the situation: the true government, the full authority in the state was given to the council; the parliament had to content itself with a limited opportunity for criticism, with the power to amend or veto bills, and to refuse its assent to new taxes. in england the government rests in the house of commons; in germany it is in the federal council, and for the same reason--that the council has both executive and legislative power. constitutions have generally been made by men whose chief object was to weaken the power of the government, who believed that those rulers do least harm who have least power, with whom suspicion is the first of political virtues, and who would condemn to permanent inefficiency the institutions they have invented. it was not likely bismarck would do this. the ordinary device is to separate the legislative and executive power; to set up two rival and equal authorities which may check and neutralise each other. bismarck, deserting all the principles of the books, united all the powers of government in the council. the whole administration was subjected to it; all laws were introduced in it. the debates were secret; it was an assembly of the ablest statesmen in germany; the decisions at which it arrived were laid in their complete form before the reichstag. it was a substitute for a second chamber, but it was also a council of state; it united the duties of the privy council and the house of lords; it reminds us in its composition of the american senate, but it would be a senate in which the president of the republic presided. bismarck never ceased to maintain the importance of the federal council; he always looked on it as the key to the whole new constitution. shortly after the war with france, when the liberals made an attempt to overthrow its authority, he warned them not to do so. "i believe," he said, "that the federal council has a great future. great as prussia is, we have been able to learn much from the small, even from the smallest member of it; they on their side have learnt much from us. from my own experience i can say that i have made considerable advance in my political education by taking part in the sittings of the council and by the life which comes from the friction of five and twenty german centres with one another. i beg you do not interfere with the council. i consider it a kind of palladium for our future, a great guarantee for the future of germany in its present form." now, from the peculiar character of the council arose a very noticeable omission; just as there was no upper house (though the prussian conservatives strongly desired to see one), so, also, there was no federal ministry. in every modern state there is a council formed of the heads of different administrative departments; this was so universal that it was supposed to be essential to a constitution. in the german empire we search for it in vain; there is only one responsible minister, and he is the chancellor, the representative of prussia and chairman of the council. the liberals could not reconcile themselves to this strange device; they passed it with reluctance in the stress of the moment, but they have never ceased to protest against it. again and again, both in public and in private, we hear the same demand: till we have a responsible ministry the constitution will never work. two years later a motion was introduced and passed through the reichstag demanding the formation of a federal ministry; bismarck opposed the motion and refused to carry it out. he had several reasons for omitting what was apparently almost a necessary institution. the first was respect for the rights of the federal states. if a ministry, responsible to parliament, had existed, the executive power would have been taken away from the bundesrath, and the princes of the smaller states would really have been subjected to the new organ; the ministers must have been appointed by the president; they would have looked to him and to the reichstag for support, and would soon have begun to carry out their policy, not by agreement with the governments arrived at by technical discussions across the table of the council-room, but by orders and decrees based on the will of the parliament. this would inevitably have aroused just what bismarck wished to avoid. it would have produced a struggle between the central and local authorities; it would again have thrown the smaller governments into opposition to national unity; it would have frightened the southern states. his other reasons for opposing the introduction of a ministry were that he did not wish to give more power to the parliament, and above all he disliked the system of collegiate responsibility. "you wish," he said, "to make the government responsible, and do it by introducing a board. i say the responsibility will disappear as soon as you do so; responsibility is only there when there is a single man who can be brought to task for any mistakes.... i consider that in and for itself a constitution which introduces joint ministerial responsibility is a political blunder from which every state ought to free itself as soon as it can. anyone who has ever been a minister and at the head of a ministry, and has been obliged to take resolutions upon his own responsibility, ceases at last to fear this responsibility, but he does shrink from the necessity of convincing seven people that that which he wishes is really right. that is a very different work from governing a state." these reasons are very characteristic of him; the feeling became more confirmed as he grew older. in he says: "under no circumstances could i any longer submit to the thankless rôle of minister-president of prussia in a ministry with joint responsibility, if i were not accustomed, from my old affection, to submit to the wishes of my king and master. so thankless, so powerless, and so little responsible is that position; one can only be responsible for that which one does of one's own will; a board is responsible for nothing." he always said himself that he would be satisfied with the position of an english prime minister. he was thinking, of course, of the constitutional right which the prime minister has, to appoint and dismiss his colleagues, which if he has strength of character will, of course, give him the real control of affairs, and also of the right which he enjoys of being the sole means by which the views of the ministers are represented to the sovereign. in prussia the minister-president had not acquired by habit these privileges, and the power of the different ministers was much more equal. in the new federation he intended to have a single will directing the whole machine. the matter is of some interest because of the light it throws on one side of his character. he was not a man with whom others found it easy to work; he did not easily brook opposition, and he disliked having to explain and justify his policy to anyone besides the king. he was not able to keep a single one of his colleagues throughout his official career. even roon found it often difficult to continue working with him; he complained of the hermit of varzin, "who wishes to do everything himself, and nevertheless issues the strictest prohibition that he is never to be disturbed." what suited him best was the position of almost absolute ruler, and he looked on his colleagues rather as subordinates than as equals. but, it will be objected, if there was to be a single will governing the whole, the government could not be left to the council; a board comprising the representatives of twenty states could not really administer, and in truth the council was but the veil; behind it is the all-pervading power of the king of prussia--and his minister. the ruler of germany was the chancellor of the federation; it was he alone that united and inspired the whole. let us enumerate his duties. he was sole minister to the president of the confederation (after to the emperor). the president (who was king of prussia) could declare peace and war, sign treaties, and appointed all officials, but all his acts required the signature of the chancellor, who was thereby foreign minister of the confederation and had the whole of the patronage. more than this, he was at the head of the whole internal administration; from time to time different departments of state were created,--marine, post-office, finance,--but the men who stood at the head of each department were not co-ordinate with the chancellor; they were not his colleagues, but were subordinates to whom he delegated the work. they were not immediately responsible to the emperor, council, or reichstag, but to him; he, whenever he wished, could undertake the immediate control of each department, he could defend its actions, and was technically responsible to the council for any failure. of course, as a matter of fact, the different departments generally were left to work alone, but if at any time it seemed desirable, the chancellor could always interfere and issue orders which must be obeyed; if the head of the department did not agree, then he had nothing to do but resign, and the chancellor would appoint his successor. the chancellor was, then, the working head of the government; but it will be said that his power would be so limited by the interference of the emperor, the council, the parliament, that he would have no freedom. the contrary is the truth. there were five different sources of authority with which he had to deal: the president of the federation (the emperor), who was king of prussia, the council, the prussian parliament, the german parliament, and the prussian ministry. now in the council he presided, and also represented the will of prussia, which was almost irresistible, for if the constitution was to work well there must be harmony of intention between prussia and the federal government; here therefore he could generally carry out his policy: but in the prussian ministry he spoke as sole minister of the federation and the immense authority he thus enjoyed raised him at once to a position of superiority to all his colleagues. more than this, he was now free from the danger of parliamentary control; it was easier to deal with one parliament than two; they had no _locus standi_ for constitutional opposition to his policy. the double position he held enabled him to elude all control. policy was decided in the council; when he voted there he acted as representative of the king of prussia and was bound by the instructions he received from the prussian minister of foreign affairs; the reichstag had nothing to do with prussian policy and had no right to criticise the action of the prussian minister. it did not matter that bismarck himself was not only chancellor of the diet, but also minister-president of prussia and foreign minister, and was really acting in accordance with the instructions he had given to himself[ ]; the principle remained,--each envoy to the diet was responsible, not to the reichstag, but to the government he represented. when, however, he appeared in the reichstag to explain and defend the policy adopted by the council, then he stood before them as representative not necessarily of his own policy, but of that which had been decided on by a board in which he had possibly been outvoted. the reichstag could reject the proposal if it were a law or a tax; they could criticise and debate, but there was no ground on which they could constitutionally demand the dismissal of the minister. of course bismarck did not attempt to evade the full moral responsibility for the policy which he advocated, but he knew that so long as he had the confidence of the king of prussia and the majority of the allied states, all the power of parliament could not injure him. what probably not even he foresaw was that the new constitution so greatly added to the power of the minister that even the authority of the king began to pale before it. as before, there was only one department of state where his authority ceased,--the army. it will be easily understood that this constitution, when it was laid before the assembly, was not accepted without much discussion and many objections. there were some--the representatives of conquered districts, poles, hanoverians, and the deputies from schleswig-holstein--who wished to overthrow the new federation which was built up on the destruction of the states to which they had belonged. theirs was an enmity which was open, honourable, and easy to meet. more insidious and dangerous was the criticism of those men who, while they professed to desire the ends which bismarck had attained, refused to approve of the constitution because they would have to renounce some of the principles of the parties to which they belonged. there were some to whom it seemed that he gave too much freedom to the individual states; they wished for a more complete unity, but now bismarck, for the first time, was strong enough to shew the essential moderation of his character; he knew what the liberals were ready to forget, that moderation, while foolish in the moment of conflict, is the proper adornment of the conqueror. when they asked him to take away many of the privileges reserved to the smaller states, he reminded them that, though mecklenburg and the saxon duchies were helpless before the increased power of the prussian crown, they were protected by prussian promises, and that a king of prussia, though he might strike down his enemies, must always fulfil in spirit and in letter his obligations to his friends. the basis of the new alliance must be the mutual confidence of the allies; he had taught them to fear prussia, now they must learn to trust her. the prussian conservatives feared that the power of the prussian king and the independence of the prussian state would be affected; but bismarck's influence with them was sufficient to prevent any open opposition. more dangerous were the progressives, who apprehended that the new constitution would limit the influence of the prussian parliament. on many points they refused to accept the proposals of the government; they feared for liberty. for them bismarck had no sympathy and no words but contempt, and he put curtly before them the question, did they wish to sacrifice all he had attained to their principles of parliamentary government? they demanded, for instance, that, as the constitution of prussia could not be altered without the consent of the prussian parliament, the new federal constitution must be laid before the prussian parliament for discussion and ratification. it is curious to notice that this is exactly the same claim which bismarck in had supported as against radowitz; he had, however, learned much since then; he pointed out that the same claim which was made by the prussian parliament might be made by the parliament of each of the twenty-two states. it was now his duty to defend the unification of germany against this new _particularism_; in old days particularism found its support in the dynasties, "now it is," he said, "in the parliaments. "do you really believe," he said, "that the great movement which last year led the peoples to battle from the belt to the sicilian sea, from the rhine to the pruth and the dniester, in the throw of the iron dice when we played for the crowns of kings and emperors, that the millions of german warriors who fought against one another and bled on the battle-fields from the rhine to the carpathians, that the thousands and ten thousands who were left dead on the battle-field and struck down by pestilence, who by their death have sealed the national decision,--that all this can be pigeon-holed by a resolution of parliament? gentlemen, in this case you really do not stand on the height of the situation.... i should like to see the gentlemen who consider this possibility answer an invalid from königgrätz when he asks for the result of this mighty effort. you would say to him: 'yes, indeed, for the german unity nothing is achieved, the occasion for that will probably come, that we can have easily, we can come to an understanding any day, but we have saved the budget-right of the chamber of deputies, we have saved the right of the prussian parliament every year to put the existence of the prussian army in question,' ... and therewith the invalid must console himself for the loss of his limbs and the widow as she buries her husband." it is interesting to compare this speech with the similar speech he made after olmütz: how great is the similarity in thought and expression, how changed is the position of the speaker! he had no sympathy with these doubts and hesitations; why so much distrust of one another? his constitution might not be the best, it might not be perfect, but at least let it be completed. "gentlemen," he said, "let us work quickly, let us put germany in the saddle; it will soon learn to ride." he was annoyed and irritated by the opposition he met. "if one has struggled hard for five years to achieve that which now lies before us, if one has spent one's time, the best years of one's life, and sacrificed one's health for it, if one remembers the trouble it has cost to decide quite a small paragraph, even a question of punctuation, with two and twenty governments, if at last we have agreed on that as it here lies before us, then gentlemen who have experienced little of all these struggles, and know nothing of the official proceedings which have gone before, come forward in a manner which i can only compare to that of a man who throws a stone at my window without knowing where i stand. he knows not where he hits me, he knows not what business he impedes." he compared himself with hotspur when after the battle he met the courtier who came to demand his prisoners, and when wounded and tired from the fight had to hear a long lecture over instruments of slaughter and internal wounds. the debates were continued for two months with much spirit and ability; again and again a majority of the parliament voted amendments against which bismarck had spoken. when they had completed the revision of the constitution, these had again to be referred to the separate governments. forty were adopted; on two only bismarck informed the parliament that their proposals could not be accepted. one of these was the arrangements for the army budget; so soon did a fresh conflict on this matter threaten. a compromise was agreed upon; in consideration of the immediate danger (it was just the time when a war with france regarding luxemburg appeared imminent), the house voted the money required for the army for the next four years; in a new arrangement would have to be made, but for this time the government was able to maintain the army at the strength which they wished for. the other matter was of less immediate importance: the majority of the house had voted that members of the parliament should receive payment for their services. bismarck had spoken strongly against this; now he made it a question of confidence, and warned them that the governments would not accept it. the house had no alternative except to withdraw their vote. the constitution as finally agreed on exists to this day as that of the german empire. notwithstanding the evil forebodings made at the time, it has worked well for over thirty years. from the moment that the new state had been created and the new constitution adopted, a great change took place in bismarck's public position. he was no longer merely the first and ablest servant of the prussian king; he was no longer one in the distinguished series of prussian ministers. his position was--let us recognise it clearly--greater than that of the king and emperor, for he was truly the father of the state: it was his will which had created and his brain which had devised it; he watched over it with the affection of a father for his son; none quite understood it but himself; he alone could authoritatively expound the laws of the constitution. a criticism of it was an attack upon himself; opposition to him was scarcely to be distinguished from treason to the state. is it not inevitable that as years went on we should find an increasing intolerance of all rivals, who wished to alter what he had made, or to take his place as captain of his ship, and at the same time a most careful and strict regard for the loyal fulfilment of the law and spirit of the constitution? from this time all other interests are laid aside, his whole life is absorbed in the prosperity of germany. of course germany did not at once settle down to political rest; there were many difficulties to be overcome on which we cannot enter here. the most serious arose from the regulation of the affairs in the conquered provinces, and especially in the kingdom of hanover. the annexation to prussia was very unpopular among all classes except the tradesmen and middle classes of the towns. the hanoverian deputies to both the prussian parliament and the parliament of the north german confederation on principle opposed all measures of the government. the king himself, though in exile, kept up a close connection with his former subjects. there were long negotiations regarding his private property. at last it was agreed that this should be paid over to him. the king, however, used the money for organising a legion to be used when the time came against prussia; it was therefore necessary to cease paying him funds which could be used for this purpose. this is the origin of the notorious _welfenfond_. the money was to be appropriated for secret service and especially for purposes of the press. the party of the guelphs, of course, maintained a bitter feud against the government in their papers. bismarck, who had had ample experience of this kind of warfare, met them on their own ground. he defended this proposal by drawing attention to one of the weaknesses of germany. what other country, he asked, was there where a defeated party would look forward to the help of foreign armies? "there are unfortunately," he said, "many coriolani in germany, only the volsci are wanting; if they found their volsci they would soon be unmasked." everyone knew that the volsci from over the rhine would not be slow to come when the occasion offered. "it was," he said, "a melancholy result of the centuries of disunion. there were traitors in the country; they did not hide themselves; they carried their heads erect; they found public defenders even in the walls of parliament." then he continued: "everywhere where corruption is found there a form of life begins which no one can touch with clean kid gloves. in view of these facts you speak to me of espionage. in my nature i am not born to be a spy, but i believe we deserve your thanks if we condescend to follow malignant reptiles into their cave to observe their actions." this is the origin of the expression "the _reptile press,"_ for the name was given by the people not to those against whom the efforts of the government were directed, but to the paid organs to which, if report is true, so large a portion of the guelph fund was given. but we must pass on to the events by which the work of was to be completed. chapter xiii. the outbreak of war with france. - . ever since the conclusion of peace, the danger of a conflict between france and germany had been apparent. it was not only the growing discontent and suspicion of the french nation and the french army, who truly felt that the supremacy of france had been shaken by the growth of this new power; it was not only that the deep-rooted hatred of france which prevailed in germany had been stirred by napoleon's action, and that the germans had received confidence from the consciousness of their own strength. had there been nothing more than this, year after year might have gone by and, as has happened since and had happened before, a war always anticipated might have been always deferred. we may be sure that bismarck would not have gone to war unless he believed it to be necessary and desirable, and he would not have thought this unless there was something to be gained. he has often shewn, before and since, that he was quite as well able to use his powers in the maintenance of peace as in creating causes for war. there was, however, one reason which made war almost inevitable. the unity of germany was only half completed; the southern states still existed in a curious state of semi-isolation. this could not long continue; their position must be regulated. war arises from that state of uncertainty which is always present when a political community has not found a stable and permanent constitution. in germany men were looking forward to the time when the southern states should join the north. the work was progressing; the treaties of offensive and defensive alliance had been followed by the creation of a new customs' union, and it was a further step when at bismarck's proposal a parliament consisting of members elected throughout the whole of germany was summoned at berlin for the management of matters connected with the tariff. further than this, however, he was not able to go; the new constitution was working well; they could risk welcoming the states of the south into it; but this could not be done without a war with france. bismarck had rejected the french proposal for an alliance. he knew, and everyone else knew, that france would oppose by the sword any attempt to complete the unity of germany; and, which was more serious, unless great caution was used, that she would be supported by austria and perhaps by the anti-prussian party in bavaria. there were some who wished to press it forward at once. bismarck was very strongly pressed by the national liberals to hasten the union with the south; at the beginning of the grand duke of baden, himself a son-in-law of the king of prussia and always the chief supporter of prussian influence in the south, formally applied to be admitted into the federation. the request had to be refused, but bismarck had some difficulty in defending his position against his enthusiastic friends. he had to warn them not to hurry; they must not press the development too quickly. if they did so, they would stir the resentment of the anti-prussian party; they would play into the hands of napoleon and austria. but if there was danger in haste, there was equal danger in delay; the prestige of prussia would suffer. it is clear that there was one way in which the union might be brought about almost without resistance, and that was, if france were to make an unprovoked attack upon germany, an attack so completely without reason and excuse that the strong national passion it provoked might in the enthusiasm of war sweep away all minor differences and party feelings. there was another element which we must not omit. these years witnessed the growth in determination and in power of the ultramontane party. we can find their influence in every country in europe; their chief aim was the preservation of the temporal power of the pope and the destruction of the newly created kingdom of italy. they were also opposed to the unity of germany under prussia. they were very active and powerful in south germany, and at the elections in had gained a majority. their real object must be to win over the emperor of the french to a complete agreement with themselves, to persuade him to forsake his earlier policy and to destroy what he had done so much to create. they had a strong support in the person of the empress, and they joined with the injured vanity of the french to press the emperor towards war. in , war had almost broken out on the question of luxemburg. napoleon had attempted to get at least this small extension of territory; relying on the support of prussia he entered into negotiations with the king of holland; the king agreed to surrender the grand duchy to france, making, however, a condition that napoleon should secure the assent of prussia to this arrangement. at the very last moment, when the treaty was almost signed, bismarck made it clear that the national feeling in germany was so strong that if the transaction took place he would have to declare war against france. at the same time, he published the secret treaties with the southern states. these events destroyed the last hope of maintaining the old friendly relations with napoleon; "i have been duped," said the emperor, who at once began reorganising and rearming his forces. for some weeks there was great danger of war concerning the right of garrisoning luxemburg; this had hitherto belonged to prussia, but of course with the dissolution of the german confederation the right had lapsed. the german nation, which was much excited and thought little of the precise terms of treaties, wished to defend the right; bismarck knew that in this matter the prussian claim could not be supported; moreover, even if he had wished to go to war with france he was not ready; for some time must elapse before the army of the north german confederation could be reorganised on the prussian model. he therefore preserved the peace and the matter was settled by a european congress. in the summer of , he visited paris with the king; externally the good relations between the two states were restored, but it was in reality only an armed peace. it is difficult to decipher napoleon's wishes; he seems to have believed that war was inevitable; there is no proof that he desired it. he made preparations; the army was reorganised, the numbers increased, and a new weapon introduced. at the same time he looked about for allies. negotiations were carried on with austria; in a meeting was arranged between the two emperors; beust, who was now chancellor of the austrian empire, was anxious to make an attempt to overthrow the power of prussia in germany. in , negotiations were entered into for a military alliance; a special envoy, general lebrun, was sent to vienna to discuss the military arrangements in case of war. no treaty was signed, but it was an almost understood thing that sooner or later an alliance between the two emperors should be formed against prussia. it will be seen then that at the beginning of everything was tending towards war, and that under certain circumstances war was desirable, both for france and for germany; much seemed to depend on the occasion of the outbreak. if prussia took the offensive, if she attempted by force to win the southern states, she would be faced by a coalition of france and austria, supported only too probably by bavaria, and this was a coalition which would find much sympathy among the discontented in north germany. on the other hand, it was for the advantage of prussia not to delay the conflict: the king was growing old; bismarck could never be sure how long he would remain in office; moreover, the whole forces of north germany had now been completely reorganised and were ready for war, but with the year it was to be foreseen that a fresh attempt would be made to reduce their numbers; it was desirable to avoid a fresh conflict on the military budget; everything shews that was the year in which it would be most convenient for prussia to fight. prussia, at this time, had no active allies on whom she could depend; bismarck indeed had secured the neutrality of russia, but he did not know that the czar would come actively to his help; we may feel sure that he would prefer not to have to call upon russia for assistance, for, as we have seen in older days, a war between france and russia, in which germany joined, would be very harmful to germany. it was in these circumstances that an opportunity shewed itself of gaining another ally who would be more subservient than russia. one of the many revolutions which had harassed spain during this century had broken out. queen isabella had lost the throne, and general prim found himself obliged to look about for a new sovereign. he applied in vain to all the catholic courts; nobody was anxious to accept an honour coupled with such danger as ruling over the spanish people. among others he applied to leopold, hereditary prince of hohenzollern, eldest son of that prince of hohenzollern who a few years before had been president of the prussian ministry. the choice seemed a good one: the prince was an amiable, courageous man; he was a catholic; he was, moreover, connected with the napoleonic family. his brother had, three years before, been appointed king of roumania with napoleon's good-will. the proposal was probably made in all good faith; under ordinary circumstances, the prince, had he been willing to accept, would have been a very proper candidate. it was, however, known from the first that napoleon would not give his consent, and, according to the comity of europe, he had a right to be consulted. nor can we say that napoleon was not justified in opposing the appointment. it has indeed been said that the prince was not a member of the prussian royal house and that his connection with napoleon was really closer than that with the king of prussia. this is true, but to lay stress on it is to ignore the very remarkable voluntary connection which united the two branches of the house of hohenzollern. the prince's father had done what no sovereign prince in germany has ever done before or since: out of loyalty to prussia he had surrendered his position as sovereign ruler and presented his dominions to the king of prussia; he had on this occasion been adopted into the royal family; he had formally recognised the king as head of the house, and subjected himself to his authority. more than this, he had even condescended to accept the position of prussian minister. was not napoleon justified if he feared that the son of a man who had shewn so great an affection to prussia would not be an agreeable neighbour on the throne of spain? it was in the early spring of that the first proposals were made to the prince; our information as to this is very defective, but it seems that they were at once rejected. benedetti's suspicions were, however, aroused. he heard that a spanish diplomatist, who had formerly been ambassador at berlin, had again visited the city and had had two interviews with bismarck. he feared that perhaps he had some mission with regard to the hohenzollern candidature, and, in accordance with instructions from his government, enquired first of thiele and, after a visit to paris, saw bismarck himself. the count was quite ready to discuss the matter; with great frankness he explained all the reasons why, if the throne were offered to the prince, the king would doubtless advise him not to accept it. benedetti was still suspicious, but for the time the matter dropped. from what happened later, though we have no proof, we must, i think, share his suspicion that bismarck was already considering the proposal and was prepared to lend it his support. in september of the same year, the affair began to advance. prim sent salazar, a spanish gentleman, to germany with a semi-official commission to invite the prince to become a candidate, and gave him a letter to a german acquaintance who would procure him an introduction to the prince. this german acquaintance was no other than herr von werther, prussian ambassador at vienna. if we remember the very strict discipline which bismarck maintained in the diplomatic service we must feel convinced that werther was acting according to instructions.[ ] he brought the envoy to the prince of hohenzollern; the very greatest caution was taken to preserve secrecy; the spaniard did not go directly to the castle of weinburg, but left the train at another station, waited in the town till it was dark, and only approached the castle when hidden from observation by night and a thick mist. he first of all asked prince charles himself to accept the throne, and when he refused, offered it to prince leopold, who also, though he did not refuse point-blank, left no doubt that he was disinclined to the proposal; he could only accept, he said, if the spanish government procured the assent of the emperor napoleon and the king of prussia. notwithstanding the reluctance of the family to take the proffered dignity, herr von werther (and we must look on him as bismarck's agent[ ]) a fortnight later travelled from munich in order to press on the prince of roumania that he should use his influence not to allow the house of hohenzollern to refuse the throne. for the time, however, the subject seems to have dropped. a few months later, for the third time, the offer was repeated, and now bismarck uses the whole of his influence in its favour. at the end of february, salazar came on an official mission to berlin; he had three letters, one to the king, one to bismarck, one to the prince. the king refused to receive him; prince leopold did not waver in his refusal and was supported by his father; their attitude was that they should not consider the matter seriously unless higher reasons of state required it. with prince bismarck, however, the envoy was more successful; he had several interviews with the minister, and then left the city in order that suspicions might not be aroused or the attention of the french government directed to the negotiations. bismarck pleaded with great warmth for the acceptance of the offer; in a memoir to the king, he dwelt on the great importance which the summons of a hohenzollern prince to the spanish throne would have for germany; it would be politically invaluable to have a friendly land in the rear of france; it would be of the greatest economic advantage for germany and spain if this thoroughly monarchical country developed its resources under a king of german descent. in consequence of this, a conference was held at berlin, at which there were present, besides the king, the crown prince, prince carl anton, and prince leopold, bismarck, roon, moltke, schleinitz, thiele, and delbrück. by summoning the advice of these men, the matter was taken out of the range of a private and family matter; it is true that it was not officially brought before the prussian ministry, but those consulted were the men by whom the policy of the state was directed. the unanimous decision of the councillors was for acceptance on the ground that it was the fulfilment of a patriotic duty to prussia. the crown prince saw great difficulties in the way, and warned his cousin, if he accepted, not to rely on prussian help in the future, even if, for the attainment of a definite end, the prussian government furthered the project for the moment. the king did not agree with his ministers; he had many serious objections, and refused to give any definite order to the prince that he should accept the offer; he left the final decision to him. he eventually refused. bismarck, however, was not to be beaten; he insisted that the hohenzollerns should not let the matter drop; and, as he could not persuade the king to use his authority, acted directly upon the family with such success that prince carl anton telegraphed to his third son, frederick, to ask if he would not accept instead of his brother. bismarck had now declared that the acceptance by one of the princes was a political necessity; this he said repeatedly and with the greatest emphasis. at the same time, he despatched a prussian officer of the general staff and his private secretary, lothar bucher, to spain in order that they might study the situation. it was important that as far as possible the official representative of prussia should have no share in the arrangement of this matter. prince frederick came to berlin, but, like his brother, he refused, unless the king gave a command. at the end of april, the negotiations seemed again to have broken down. bismarck, who was in ill health, left berlin for varzin, where he remained for six weeks. we are, however, not surprised, since we know that bismarck's interest was so strongly engaged, that he was able after all to carry the matter through. he seems to have persuaded prince carl anton; he then wrote to prim telling him not to despair; the candidature was an excellent thing which was not to be lost sight of; he must, however, negotiate not with the prussian government, but with the prince himself. when he wrote this he knew that he had at last succeeded in breaking down the reluctance of the prince, and that the king, though he still was unwilling to undertake any responsibility, would not refuse his consent if the prince voluntarily accepted. prince leopold was influenced not only by his interest in the spanish race, but also by a letter from bismarck, in which he said that he ought to put aside all scruples and accept in the interests of prussia. the envoys had also returned from spain and brought back a favourable report; they received an extraordinarily hearty welcome; we may perhaps suspect with the king that they had allowed their report to receive too rosy a colour; no doubt, however, they were acting in accordance with what they knew were the wishes of the man who had sent them out. in the beginning of june the decision was made; prince leopold wrote to the king that he accepted the crown which had been offered to him, since he thereby hoped to do a great service to his fatherland. king william immediately answered that he approved of the decision. bismarck then at last was successful. a few days later don salazar again travelled to germany; this time he brought a formal offer, which was formally-accepted. the cortes were then in session; it was arranged that they should remain at madrid till his return; the election would then be at once completed, for a majority was assured. the secrecy had been strictly maintained; there were rumours indeed, but no one knew of all the secret interviews; men might suspect, but they could not prove that it was an intrigue of bismarck. if the election had once been made the solemn act of the whole nation, napoleon would have been confronted with a _fait accompli_. to have objected would have been most injurious; he would have had to do, not with prussia, which apparently was not concerned, but with the spanish nation. the feeling of france would not allow him to acquiesce in the election, but it would have deeply offended the dignity and pride of spain had he claimed that the king who had been formally accepted should, at his demand, be rejected. he could scarcely have done so without bringing about a war; a war with spain would have crippled french resources and diverted their attention from prussia; even if a war did not ensue, permanent ill feeling would be created. it is not difficult to understand the motives by which bismarck had been influenced. at the last moment the plan failed. a cipher telegram from berlin was misinterpreted in madrid; and in consequence the cortes, instead of remaining in session, were prorogued till the autumn. all had depended on the election being carried out before the secret was disclosed; a delay of some weeks must take place, and some indiscreet words of salazar disclosed the truth. general prim had no course left him but to send to the french ambassador, to give him official information as to what had been done and try to calm his uneasiness. what were bismarck's motives in this affair? it is improbable that he intended to use it as a means of bringing about a war with france. he could not possibly have foreseen the very remarkable series of events which were to follow, and but for them a war arising out of this would have been very unwise, for german public opinion and the sympathy of all the neutral powers would have been opposed to prussia, had it appeared that the government was disturbing the peace of europe simply in order to put a prussian prince on the throne of spain contrary to the wishes of france. he could not ignore german public opinion now as he had done in old days; he did not want to conquer south germany, he wished to attract it. it seems much more probable that he had no very clear conception of the results which would follow; he did not wish to lose what might be the means of gaining an ally to germany and weakening france. it would be quite invaluable if, supposing there were to be war (arising from this or other causes), spain could be persuaded to join in the attack on france and act the part which italy had played in . what he probably hoped for more than anything else was that france would declare war against spain; then napoleon would waste his strength in a new mexico; he would no longer be a danger to germany, and whether germany joined in the war or not, she would gain a free hand by the preoccupation of france. if none of these events happened, it would be an advantage that some commercial gain might be secured for germany. on the whole, the affair is not one which shews his strongest points as a diplomatist; it was too subtle and too hazardous. the news aroused the sleeping jealousy of prussia among the french people; the suspicion and irritation of the government was extreme, and this feeling was not ill-founded. they assumed that the whole matter was an intrigue of bismarck's, though, owing to the caution with which the negotiations had been conducted, they had no proofs. they might argue that a prussian prince could not accept such an offer without the permission of his sovereign, and they had a great cause of complaint that this permission had been given without any communication with napoleon, whom the matter so nearly concerned. the arrangement itself was not alone the cause of alarm. the secrecy with which it had been surrounded was interpreted as a sign of malevolence. of course they must interfere to prevent the election being completed. where, however, were they to address themselves? with a just instinct they directed their remonstrance, not to madrid, but to berlin; they would thereby appear not to be interfering with the independence of the spaniards, but to be acting in self-defence against the insidious advance of german power. they could not, however, approach bismarck; he had retired to varzin, to recruit his health; the other ministers also were absent; the king was at ems. it was convenient that at this sudden crisis they should be away, for it was imperative that the prussian government should deny all complicity. bismarck must not let it appear that he had any interest in, or knowledge of, the matter; he therefore remained in the seclusion of pomerania. benedetti also was absent in the black forest. on the th of july, therefore, the french _chargé d'affaires,_ m. de sourds, called at the foreign office and saw herr von thiele. "visibly embarrassed," he writes, "he told me that the prussian government was absolutely ignorant of the matter and that it did not exist for them." this was the only answer to be got; in a despatch sent on the th to the prussian agents in germany, bismarck repeated the assertion. "the matter has nothing to do with prussia. the prussian government has always considered and treated this affair as one in which spain and the selected candidate are alone concerned." this was literally true, for it had never been brought before the prussian ministry, and no doubt the records of the office would contain no allusion to it; the majority of the ministers were absolutely ignorant of it. of course m. de sourds did not believe herr von thiele's statement, and his government was not satisfied with the explanation; the excitement in paris was increasing; it was fomented by the agents of the ministry, and in answer to an interpolation in the chamber, the duc de grammont on the th declared that the election of the prince was inadmissible; he trusted to the wisdom of the prussian and the friendship of the spanish people not to proceed in it, but if his hope were frustrated they would know how to do their duty. they were not obliged to endure that a foreign power by setting one of its princes on the throne of charles v. should destroy the balance of power and endanger the interests and honour of france. he hoped this would not happen; they relied on the wisdom of the german and the friendship of the spanish people to avoid it; but if it were necessary, then, strong in the support of the nation and the chamber, they knew how to fulfil their duty without hesitation or weakness. the french ministry hereby publicly declared that they held the prussian government responsible for the election, and they persisted in demanding the withdrawal, not from spain, but from prussia; prim had suggested that as the foreign office refused to discuss the matter, grammont should approach the king personally. benedetti received instructions to go to the king at ems and request him to order or advise the prince to withdraw. at first grammont wished him also to see the prince himself; on second thoughts he forbade this, for, as he said, it was of the first importance that the messages should be conveyed by the king; he was determined to use the opportunity for the humiliation of germany. if it was the desire of the french in this way to establish the complicity of prussia, it was imperative that the prussian government should not allow them to do so. they were indeed in a disagreeable situation; they could not take up the french challenge and allow war to break out; not only would the feeling of the neutral powers, of england and of russia, be against them, but that of germany itself would be divided. with what force would the anti-prussian party in bavaria and wurtemberg be able to oppose a war undertaken apparently for the dynastic interests of the hohenzollern! if, however, the prince now withdrew, the french would be able to proclaim that he had done so in consequence of the open threats of france; supposing they were able to connect the king in any way with him, then they might assert that they had checked the ambition of prussia; prussian prestige would be seriously injured at home, and distrust of prussian good faith would be aroused abroad. the king therefore had a difficult task when benedetti asked for an interview. he had been brought into this situation against his own will, and his former scruples seemed fully justified. he complained of the violence of the french press and the ministry; he repeated the assertion that the prussian government had been unconnected with the negotiations and had been ignorant of them; he had avoided associating himself with them, and had only given an opinion when prince leopold, having decided to accept, asked his consent. he had then acted, not in his sovereign capacity as king of prussia, but as head of the family. he had neither collected nor summoned his council of ministers, though he had informed count bismarck privately. he refused to use his authority to order the prince to withdraw, and said that he would leave him full freedom as he had done before. these statements were of course verbally true; probably the king did not know to what extent bismarck was responsible for the acceptance by the prince. they did not make the confidence of the french any greater; it was now apparent that the king had been asked, and had given his consent without considering the effect on france; they could not acquiesce in this distinction between his acts as sovereign and his acts as head of the family, for, as benedetti pointed out, he was only head of the family because he was sovereign. all this time bismarck was still at varzin; while paris was full of excitement, while there were hourly conferences of the ministers and the city was already talking of war, the prussian ministers ostentatiously continued to enjoy their holidays. there was no danger in doing so; the army was so well prepared that they could afford quietly to await what the french would do. what bismarck's plans and hopes were we do not know; during these days he preserved silence; the violence of the french gave him a further reason for refusing to enter into any discussion. when, however, he heard of benedetti's visit to ems he became uneasy; he feared that the king would compromise himself; he feared that the french would succeed in their endeavour to inflict a diplomatic defeat on prussia. he proposed to go to ems to support the king, and on the th left varzin; that night he arrived in berlin. there he received the news that the prince of hohenzollern, on behalf of his son, had announced his withdrawal. the retirement was probably the spontaneous act of the prince and his father; the decisive influence was the fear lest the enmity of napoleon might endanger the position of the prince of roumania. everyone was delighted; the cloud of war was dispelled; two men only were dissatisfied--bismarck and grammont. it was the severest check which bismarck's policy had yet received; he had persuaded the prince to accept against his will; he had persuaded the king reluctantly to keep the negotiations secret from napoleon; however others might disguise the truth, he knew that they had had to retreat from an untenable position, and retreat before the noisy insults of the french press and the open menace of the french government; his anger was increased by the fact that neither the king nor the prince had in this crisis acted as he would have wished. we have no authoritative statement as to the course he himself would have pursued; he had, according to his own statement, advised the king not to receive the french ambassador; probably he wished that the prince should declare that as the spaniards had offered him the crown and he had accepted it, he could not now withdraw unless he were asked to do so by spain; the attempt of grammont to fasten a quarrel on prussia would have been deprived of any responsible pretext; he would have been compelled to bring pressure to bear on the spaniards, with all the dangers that that course would involve. we may suspect that he had advised this course and that his advice had been rejected. however this may be, bismarck felt the reverse so keenly that it seemed to him impossible he could any longer remain minister, unless he could obtain redress for the insults and menaces of france. what prospect was there now of this? it was no use now going on to ems; he proposed to return next day to varzin, and he expected that when he did so he would be once more a private man. he was to be saved by the folly of the french. grammont, vain, careless, and inaccurate, carried away by his hatred of prussia, hot-headed and blustering, did not even see how great an advantage he had gained. when guizot, now a very old man, living in retirement, heard that the prince had withdrawn, he exclaimed: "what good fortune these people have! this is the finest diplomatic victory which has been won in my lifetime." this is indeed the truth; how easy it would have been to declare that france had spoken and her wishes had been fulfilled! the government need have said no more, but every frenchman would have always told the story how bismarck had tried to put a hohenzollern on the throne of spain, had been foiled by the word of the emperor, and had been driven from office. grammont prepared to complete the humiliation of prussia, and in doing so he lost all and more than all he had won. he had at first declared that the withdrawal of the prince was worthless when it was officially communicated to him by prussia; now he extended his demands. he suggested to the prussian ambassador at paris that the king should write to the emperor a letter, in which he should express his regret for what had happened and his assurance that he had had no intention of injuring france. to benedetti he telegraphed imperative orders that he was to request from the king a guarantee for the future, and a promise that he would never again allow the prince to return to the candidature. it was to give himself over to an implacable foe. as soon as bismarck heard from werther of the first suggestion, he telegraphed to him a stern reprimand for having listened to demands so prejudicial to the honour of his master, and ordered him, under the pretext of ill health, to depart from paris and leave a post for which he had shewn himself so ill-suited. that same morning he saw lord augustus loftus, and he explained that the incident was not yet closed; germany, he said, did not wish for war, but they did not fear it. they were not called on to endure humiliations from france; after what had happened they must have some security for the future; the duc de grammont must recall or explain the language he had used; france had begun to prepare for war and that would not be allowed. "it is clear," writes the english ambassador, "that count bismarck and the prussian ministry regret the attitude which the king has shewn to count benedetti, and feel, in regard to public opinion, the necessity of guarding the honour of the nation." to the crown prince, who had come to berlin, bismarck was more open; he declared that war was necessary. this very day there were taking place at ems events which were to give him the opportunity for which he longed. on benedetti had fallen the task of presenting the new demands to the king; it was one of the most ungrateful of the many unpleasant duties which had been entrusted to him during the last few years. in the early morning, he went out in the hope that he might see someone of the court; he met the king, himself who was taking the waters. the king at once beckoned to him, entered into conversation, and shewed him a copy of the _cologne gazette_ containing the statement of the prince's withdrawal. benedetti then, as in duty bound, asked permission to inform his government that the king would undertake that the candidature should not be resumed at any time. the king, of course, refused, and, when benedetti pressed the request, repeated the refusal with some emphasis, and then, beckoning to his adjutant, who had withdrawn a few paces, broke off the conversation. when a few hours later the king received a letter from the prince of hohenzollern confirming the public statement, he sent a message to benedetti by his aide-decamp, count radziwill, and added to it that there would now be nothing further to say, as the incident was closed. benedetti twice asked for another interview, but it was refused. he had done his duty, he had made his request, as he expected, in vain, but between him and the king there had been no departure by word or gesture from the ordinary courtesy which we should expect from these two accomplished gentlemen. all the proceedings indeed had been unusual, for it was not the habit of the king, as it was of napoleon, to receive foreign envoys except on the advice of his ministers, and the last conversation had taken place on the public promenade of the fashionable watering-place; but the exception had been explained and justified by the theory that the king's interest in the affair was domestic and not political. both were anxious to avoid war, and the king to the last treated benedetti with marked graciousness; he had while at ems invited him to the royal table, and even now, the next morning before leaving ems, granted him an audience, at the station to take leave. nevertheless, he had been seriously annoyed by this fresh demand; he was pained and surprised by the continuance of the french menaces; he could not but fear that there was a deliberate intention to force a quarrel on him. he determined, therefore, to return to berlin, and ordered abeken, secretary to the foreign office, who was with him, to telegraph to bismarck an account of what had taken place, with a suggestion that the facts should be published. it happened that bismarck, when the telegram arrived, was dining with roon and moltke, who had both been summoned to berlin. the three men were gloomy and depressed; they felt that their country had been humiliated, and they saw no prospect of revenge. this feeling was increased when bismarck read aloud the telegram to his two colleagues. these repeated and impatient demands, this intrusion on the king's privacy, this ungenerous playing with his kindly and pacific disposition, stirred their deepest indignation; to them it seemed that benedetti had been treated with a consideration he did not deserve; the man who came with these proposals should have been repulsed with more marked indignation. but in the suggestion that the facts should be published, bismarck saw the opportunity he had wished. he went into the next room and drafted a statement; he kept to the very words of the original telegram, but he left out much, and arranged it so that it should convey to the reader the impression, not of what had really occurred, but of what he would have wished should happen. with this he returned, and as he read it to them, roon and moltke brightened; here at last was an answer to the french insults; before, it sounded like a "chamade" (a retreat), now it is a "fanfare," said moltke. "that is better," said roon. bismarck asked a few questions about the army. roon assured him that all was prepared; moltke, that, though no one could ever foretell with certainty the result of a great war, he looked to it with confidence; they all knew that with the publication of this statement the last prospect of peace would be gone. it was published late that night in a special edition of the _north german gazette_, and at the same time a copy was sent from the foreign office to all german embassies and legations. it is not altogether correct to call this (as has often been done) a falsification of the telegram. under no circumstances could bismarck have published in its original form the confidential message to him from his sovereign; all he had to do was to communicate to the newspapers the facts of which he had been informed, or so much of the facts as it seemed to him desirable that the public should know. he, of course, made the selection in such a form as to produce upon public opinion the particular effect which for the purposes of his policy he wished. what to some extent justifies the charge is that the altered version was published under the heading, "ems." the official statement was supplemented by another notice in the _north german gazette_, which was printed in large type, and stated that benedetti had so far forgotten all diplomatic etiquette that he had allowed himself to disturb the king in his holidays, to intercept him on the promenade, and to attempt to force demands upon him. this was untrue, but on this point the telegram to bismarck had been itself incorrect. besides this, bismarck doubtless saw to it that the right instructions should be given to the writers for the press. but, indeed, this was hardly necessary; the statement itself was a call to arms. during all these days the german people had been left almost without instruction or guidance from the government; they had heard with astonishment the sudden outbreak of gallic wrath; they were told, and were inclined to believe it, that the prussian government was innocent of the hostile designs attributed to it; and the calm of the government had communicated itself to them. they remained quiet, but they were still uneasy, they knew not what to think; now all doubt was removed. it was then true that with unexampled eagerness the french had fastened an alien quarrel upon them, had without excuse or justification advanced from insult to insult and menace to menace; and now, to crown their unparalleled acts, they had sent this foreigner to intrude on the reserve of the aged king, and to insult him publicly in his own country. then false reports came from ems; it was said that the king had publicly turned his back on benedetti on the promenade, that the ambassador had followed the king to his house, and had at last been shewn the door, but that even then he had not scrupled again to intrude on the king at the railway station.[ ] from one end of germany to another a storm of indignation arose; they had had enough of this french annoyance; if the french wished for war then war should they have; now there could no longer be talk of prussian ambition; all differences of north and south were swept away; wherever the german tongue was spoken men felt that they had been insulted in the person of the king, that it was theirs to protect his honour, and from that day he reigned in their hearts as uncrowned emperor. the telegram was as successful in france as in germany. there the question of peace and war was still in debate; there was a majority for peace, and indeed there was no longer an excuse for war which would satisfy even a frenchman. then there came in quick succession the recall and disavowment of the prussian ambassador, news of the serious language bismarck had used to lord a. loftus, and then despatches from other courts that an official message had been sent from berlin carrying the record of an insult offered to the king by the french ambassador; add to this the changed tone of the german press, the enthusiasm with which the french challenge had been taken up; they could have no doubt that they had gone too far; they would now be not the accuser but the accused; had they wished, they did not dare retreat with the fear of the paris mob before them, and so they decided on war, and on the th the official statement was made and approved in the chamber. it was on this same day that the king travelled from ems to berlin. when he left ems he still refused to believe in the serious danger of war, but as he travelled north and saw the excited crowd that thronged to meet him at every station his own belief was almost overthrown. to his surprise, when he reached brandenburg he found bismarck and the crown prince awaiting him; the news that they had come to meet the king was itself looked on almost as a declaration of war; all through the return journey bismarck unsuccessfully tried to persuade his master to give the order for mobilisation. when they reached berlin they found the station again surrounded by a tumultuous throng; through it pressed one of the secretaries of the foreign office; he brought the news that the order for mobilisation had been given in france. then, at last, the reluctance of the king was broken down; he gave the order, and at once the crown prince, who was standing near, proclaimed the news to all within earshot. the north german parliament was summoned, and five days later bismarck was able to announce to them that he had received the declaration of war from france, adding as he did so that this was the first official communication which throughout the whole affair he had received from the french government, a circumstance for which there was no precedent in history. what a contrast is there between the two countries! on the one hand, a king and a minister who by seven years of loyal co-operation have learnt to trust and depend upon one another, who together have faced danger, who have not shrunk from extreme unpopularity, and who, just for this reason, can now depend on the absolute loyalty of the people. on the other side, the emperor broken in health, his will shattered by prolonged pain and sickness, trying by the introduction of liberal institutions to free himself from the burden of government and weight of responsibility which he had voluntarily taken upon his shoulders. at berlin, bismarck's severity and love of power had brought it about that the divergent policy and uncertainty of early years had ceased; there was one mind and one will directing this state; the unauthorised interference and amateur criticism of courtiers were no longer permitted. in france, all the evils from which prussia had been freed by bismarck were increasing; here there was no single will; the ministry were divided, there was no authority over them; no one could foresee by whom the decision of the emperor would be determined; the deliberate results of long and painful negotiations might be overthrown in ten minutes by the interference of the empress or the advice of prince napoleon. the emperor would pursue half a dozen inconsistent policies in as many hours. and then, below all, there was this fatal fact, that napoleon could not venture to be unpopular. he knew the folly of the course into which he was being driven, but he did not dare to face the mob of paris, or to defy the chamber of deputies. he owed his throne to universal suffrage, and he knew that the people who had set him up could quickly overthrow him. no man can ever govern who fears unpopularity. bismarck did not, napoleon did. before the campaign began, two events took place which we must record. the first was the publication in the _times_ of the text of the treaty with france regarding belgium. we need not add anything further to what we have said regarding it; published at this moment it had a great effect on english public opinion. the other arose out of the opposition which the exiled king of hanover had continued to maintain. he had used the very large sums of money which he possessed to keep together a hanoverian legion, recruited from former officers and soldiers of the hanoverian army. he had hoped that war would break out before this and would be accompanied by a rising in hanover. his means had now come to an end, and the unfortunate men were living in paris almost without support. they were now exposed to a terrible alternative. they could not return to germany; they did not wish to take part in a war on the french side. their only hope was emigration to america. bismarck heard of their position; he offered to pardon them all and to pay to them from the prussian funds the full pension which they would have received had they continued to serve in the hanoverian army. it was a timely act of generosity, and it had the effect that the last element of hostility in germany was stilled and the whole nation could unite as one man in this foreign war. note.--in this chapter, besides the ordinary authorities, i have depended largely on the memoirs of the king of roumania. bismarck, in his own memoirs, states that the writer was not accurately informed; but even if there are some errors in detail, the remarkable statements contained in this work must command belief until they are fully contradicted and disproved. there has, i believe, been no attempt to do this. chapter xiv. the war with france and foundation of the empire. - . on july , , bismarck left berlin with the king for the seat of war, for, as in , he was to accompany the army in the field. for the next few months indeed germany was to be governed from the soil of france, and it was necessary for the minister to be constantly with the king. bismarck never forgot that he was a soldier; he was more proud of his general's uniform than of his civil rank, and, though not a combatant, it was his pride and pleasure that he should share something of the hardships and dangers of war. he was as a matter of fact never so well as during the campaign: the early hours, the moderate and at times meagre food, the long hours in the saddle and the open air, restored the nerves and health which had been injured by the annoyances of office, late hours, and prolonged sedentary work. he was accompanied by part of the staff of the foreign office, and many of the distinguished strangers who followed the army were often guests at his table; he especially shewed his old friendliness for americans: general sheridan and many others of his countrymen found a hearty welcome from the chancellor. it was not till the th of august that the headquarters came up with the fighting front of the army; but the next day, during the decisive battle of gravelotte, bismarck watched the combat by the side of the king, and, as at königgrätz, they more than once came under fire. at one period, bismarck was in considerable danger of being taken prisoner. his two sons were serving in the army; they were dragoons in the cuirassiers of the guards, serving in the ranks in the same regiment whose uniform their father was entitled to wear. they both took part in the terrible cavalry charge at mars-la-tour, in which their regiment suffered so severely; the eldest, count herbert, was wounded and had to be invalided home. bismarck could justly boast that there was no nepotism in the prussian government when his two sons were serving as privates. it was not till the war had gone on some weeks and they had taken part in many engagements, that they received their commissions. this would have happened in no other country or army. this was the true equality, so different from the exaggerated democracy of france,--an equality not of privilege but of obligation; every pomeranian peasant who sent his son to fight and die in france knew that the sons of the most powerful man in the country and in europe were fighting with them not as officers but as comrades. bismarck was more fortunate than his friends in that neither of his sons--nor any of his near relatives--lost his life; roon's second son fell at sedan, and the bloody days of mars-la-tour and gravelotte placed in mourning nearly every noble family in prussia. from gravelotte to sedan he accompanied the army, and he was by the king's side on that fatal day when the white flag was hoisted on the citadel of sedan, and the french general came out of the town with the message that napoleon, having in vain sought death at the head of his troops, placed his sword in the hands of the king of prussia. the surrender of sedan was a military event, and the conditions had to be arranged between moltke and wimpffen, who had succeeded macmahon in command, but bismarck was present at the conference, which was held in his quarters, in case political questions arose. as they rode down together to doncheroy he and moltke had agreed that no terms could be offered except the unconditional surrender of the whole army, the officers alone being allowed to retain their swords. against these conditions wimpffen and his companions struggled long, but in vain. moltke coldly assured them that they could not escape, and that it would be madness to begin the fight again; they were surrounded; if the surrender were not complete by four o'clock the next morning the bombardment of the town would begin. wimpffen suggested that it would be more politic of the germans to show generosity; they would thereby earn the gratitude of france, and this might be made the beginning of a lasting peace; otherwise what had they to look forward to but a long series of wars? now was the time for bismarck to interfere; it was impossible, he declared, to reckon on the gratitude of nations; at times men might indeed build with confidence on that of a sovereign and his family; "but i repeat, nothing can be expected from the gratitude of a nation." above all was this true of france. "the governments there have so little power, the changes are so quick and so unforeseen, that there is nothing on which one can rely." besides, it would be absurd to imagine that france would ever forgive us our successes. "you are an irritable and jealous people, envious and jealous to the last degree. you have not forgiven us sadowa, and would you forgive us sedan? never." they could not therefore modify the terms in order to win the gratitude and friendship of france; they might have done so had there been prospects of immediate peace. one of the officers, general castelnau, announced that he had a special message from napoleon, who had sent his sword to the king and surrendered in the hope that the king would appreciate the sacrifice and grant a more honourable capitulation. "whose sword is it that the emperor napoleon has surrendered?" asked bismarck; "is it the sword of france or his own? if it is the sword of france the conditions can be greatly softened; your message would have an extraordinary importance." he thought and he hoped that the emperor wished to sue for peace, but it was not so. "it is only the sword of the emperor," answered the general. "all then remains as it was," said moltke; he insisted on his demands; wimpffen asked at least that time might be allowed him to return to sedan and consult his colleagues. he had only come from algeria two days before; he could not begin his command by signing so terrible a surrender. even this moltke refused. then wimpffen declared the conference ended; rather than this they would continue the battle; he asked that his horses might be brought. a terrible silence fell on the room; moltke, with bismarck by his side, stood cold and impenetrable, facing the three french officers; their faces were lighted by two candles on the table; behind stood the stalwart forms of the german officers of the staff, and from the walls of the room looked down the picture of napoleon i. then again bismarck interfered; he begged wimpffen not in a moment of pique to take a step which must have such horrible consequences; he whispered a few words to moltke, and procured from him a concession; hostilities should not be renewed till nine o'clock the next morning. wimpffen might return to sedan and report to the emperor and his colleagues. it was past midnight when the conference broke up; before daybreak bismarck was aroused by a messenger who announced that the emperor had left sedan and wished to see him. he hastily sprang up, and as he was, unwashed, without breakfast, in his undress uniform, his old cap, and his high boots, shewing all the marks of his long day in the saddle, he mounted his horse and rode down to the spot near the highroad where the emperor in his carriage, accompanied by three officers and attended by three more on horseback, awaited him. bismarck rode quickly up to him, dismounted, and as he approached saluted and removed his cap, though this was contrary to etiquette, but it was not a time when he wished even to appear to be wanting in courtesy. napoleon had come to plead for the army; he wished to see the king, for he hoped that in a personal interview he might extract from him more favourable terms. bismarck was determined just for this reason that the sovereigns should not meet until the capitulation was signed; he answered, therefore, that it was impossible, as the king was ten miles away. he then accompanied the emperor to a neighbouring cottage; there in a small room, ten feet square, containing a wooden table and two rush chairs, they sat for some time talking; afterwards they came down and sat smoking in front of the cottage. "a wonderful contrast to our last meeting in the tuileries," wrote bismarck to his wife. "our conversation was difficult, if i was to avoid matters which would be painful to the man who had been struck down by the mighty hand of god. he first lamented this unhappy war, which he said he had not desired; he had been forced into it by the pressure of public opinion. i answered that with us also no one, least of all the king, had wished for the war. we had looked on the spanish affair as spanish and not as german." the emperor asked for more favourable terms of surrender, but bismarck refused to discuss this with him; it was a military question which must be settled between moltke and wimpffen. on the other hand, when bismarck enquired if he were inclined for negotiations for peace, napoleon answered that he could not discuss this; he was a prisoner of war and could not treat; he referred bismarck to the government in paris. this meeting had therefore no effect on the situation. bismarck suggested that the emperor should go to the neighbouring château of belle vue, which was not occupied by wounded; there he would be able to rest. thither bismarck, now in full uniform (for he had hurried back to his own quarters), accompanied him, and in the same house the negotiations of the previous evening were continued; bismarck did not wish to be present at them, for, as he said, the military men could be harsher; and so gave orders that after a few minutes he should be summoned out of the room by a message that the king wished to see him. after the capitulation was signed, he rode up with moltke to present it to the king, who received it on the heights whence he had watched the battle, surrounded by the headquarters staff and all the princes who were making the campaign. then, followed by a brilliant cavalcade, he rode down to visit the captive sovereign. bismarck would at this time willingly have made peace, but there was no opportunity of opening negotiations and it is doubtful whether even his influence would have been able successfully to combat the desire of the army to march on paris. on september th, the march, which had been interrupted ten days before, was begun. immediately afterwards news came which stopped all hopes of a speedy peace. how soon was his warning as to the instability of french governments to be fulfilled! a revolution had broken out in paris, the dethronement of the emperor had been proclaimed, and a provisional government instituted. they at once declared that they were a government of national defence, they would not rest till the invaders were driven from the land, they appealed to the memories of . they were indeed ready to make peace, for the war, they said, had been undertaken not against france but against the emperor; the emperor had fallen, a free france had arisen; they would make peace, but they would not yield an inch of their country or a stone of their fortresses. with great energy they prepared the defence of paris and the organisation of new armies; m. thiers was instructed to visit the neutral courts and to beg for the support of europe. under these circumstances it was bismarck's duty to explain the german view; he did so in two circular notes of september th and september th. he began by expounding those principles he had already expressed to wimpffen, principles which had already been communicated by his secretaries to the german press and been repeated in almost every paper of the country. the war had not been caused by the emperor; it was the nation which was responsible for it. it had arisen from the intolerance of the french character, which looked on the prosperity of other nations as an insult to themselves. they must expect the same feeling to continue: "we cannot seek guarantees for the future in french feeling. we must not deceive ourselves; we must soon expect a new attack; we cannot look forward to a lasting peace, and this is quite independent of the conditions we might impose on france. it is their defeat which the french nation will never forgive. if now we were to withdraw from france without any accession of territory, without any contribution, without any advantage but the glory of our arms, there would remain in the french nation the same hatred, the same spirit of revenge, for the injury done to their vanity and to their love of power." against this they must demand security; the demand was addressed not to any single government but to the nation as a whole; south germany must be protected from the danger of french attack; they would never be safe so long as strasburg and metz were in french hands; strasburg was the gate of germany; restored to germany, these cities would regain their defensive character. twenty times had france made war on germany, but from germany no danger of disturbance to the peace of europe was to be feared. for the first time he hereby officially stated that germany would not make peace without some accession of territory; that this would be the case, everyone had known since the beginning of the war. at a council of war directly after gravelotte it was determined to require alsace; after sedan the terms naturally rose. the demand for at least some territory was indeed inevitable. the suggestion that from confidence in the peaceful and friendly character of the french nation they should renounce all the advantages gained by their unparalleled victories scarcely deserved serious consideration. had the french been successful they would have taken all the left bank of the rhine; this was actually specified in the draft treaty which general le brun had presented to the emperor of austria. what claim had france to be treated with a leniency which she has never shewn to any conquered enemy? bismarck had to meet the assumption that france was a privileged and special land; that she had freedom to conquer, pillage, and divide the land of her neighbours, but that every proposal to win back from her what she had taken from others was a crime against humanity. so long as the provisional government adopted the attitude that they would not even consider peace on the basis of some surrender of territory, there was no prospect of any useful negotiations. the armies must advance, and beneath the walls of paris the struggle be fought out to its bitter end. bismarck meanwhile treated the government with great reserve. they had no legal status; as he often pointed out, the emperor was still the only legal authority in france, and he would be quite prepared to enter into negotiations with him. when by the medium of the english ambassador they asked to be allowed to open negotiations for an armistice and discuss the terms of peace, he answered by the question, what guarantee was there that france or the armies in metz and strasburg would recognise the arrangements made by the present government in paris, or any that might succeed it? it was a quite fair question; for as events were to shew, the commander of the army in metz refused to recognise them, and wished to restore the emperor to the throne; and the government themselves had declared that they would at once be driven from power if they withdrew from their determination not to accept the principle of a cession of territory. they would be driven from power by the same authority to which they owed their existence,--the mob of paris; it was the mob of paris which, from the beginning, was really responsible for the war. what use was there in a negotiation in which the two parties had no common ground? none the less bismarck consented to receive m. jules favre, who held the portfolio of foreign affairs, and who at the advice of lord lyons came out from paris, even at the risk of a rebuff, to see if by a personal interview he might not be able to influence the german chancellor. "it is well at least to see what sort of man he is," was the explanation which bismarck gave; but as the interview was not strictly official he did not, by granting it, bind himself to recognise favre's authority. jules favre met bismarck on september th. they had a long conversation that evening, and it was continued the next day at ferneres, baron rothschild's house, in which the king was at that time quartered. the french envoy did not make a favourable impression; a lawyer by profession, he had no experience in diplomatic negotiations; vain, verbose, rhetorical, and sentimental, his own report of the interview which he presented to his colleagues in paris is sufficient evidence of his incapacity for the task he had taken upon himself. "he spoke to me as if i were a public meeting," said bismarck afterwards, using an expression which in his mouth was peculiarly contemptuous, for he had a platonic dislike of long speeches. but let us hear favre himself: "although fifty-eight years of, age count bismarck appeared to be in full vigour. his tall figure, his powerful head, his strongly marked features gave him an aspect both imposing and severe, tempered, however, by a natural simplicity amounting to good-nature. his manners were courteous and grave, and quite free from stiffness or affectation. as soon as the conversation commenced he displayed a communicativeness and good-will which he preserved while it lasted. he certainly regarded me as a negotiator unworthy of him and he had the politeness not to let this be seen, and appeared interested by my sincerity. i was struck with the clearness of his ideas, his vigorous good sense, and his originality of mind. his freedom from all pretensions was no less remarkable." it is interesting to compare with this the account given by another frenchman of one of the later interviews between the two men[ ]: "the negotiations began seriously and quietly. the chancellor said simply and seriously what he wanted with astonishing frankness and admirable logic. he went straight to the mark and at every turn he disconcerted jules favre, who was accustomed to legal quibbles and diplomatic jobbery, and did not in the least understand the perfect loyalty of his opponent or his superb fashion of treating questions, so different from the ordinary method. the chancellor expressed himself in french with a fidelity i have never met with except among the russians. he made use of expressions at once elegant and vigorous, finding the proper word to describe an idea or define a situation without effort or hesitation." "i was at the outset struck by the contrast between the two negotiators. count bismarck wore the uniform of the white cuirassiers, white tunic, white cap, and yellow band. he looked like a giant. in his tight uniform, with his broad chest and square shoulders and bursting with health and strength, he overwhelmed the stooping, thin, tall, miserable-looking lawyer with his frock coat, wrinkled all over, and his white hair falling over his collar. a look, alas, at the pair was sufficient to distinguish between the conqueror and the conquered, the strong and the weak." this, however, was four months later, when jules favre was doubtless much broken by the anxieties of his position, and perhaps also by the want of sufficient food, and comte d'hérisson is not an impartial witness, for, though a patriotic frenchman, he was an enemy of the minister. bismarck in granting the interview had said that he would not discuss an armistice, but only terms of peace. for the reasons we have explained, favre refused to listen even to the proposition of the only terms which bismarck was empowered to bring forward. the chancellor explained those ideas with which we are already acquainted: "strasburg," he said, "is the key of our house and we must have it." favre protested that he could not discuss conditions which were so dishonourable to france. on this expression we need only quote bismarck's comment: "i did not succeed in convincing him that conditions, the fulfilment of which france had required from italy, and demanded from germany without having been at war, conditions which france would undoubtedly have imposed upon us had we been defeated and which had been the result of nearly every war, even in the latest time, could not have anything dishonourable in themselves for a country which had been defeated after a brave resistance, and that the honour of france was not of a different kind to that of other countries." it was impossible to refuse to discuss terms of an armistice; as in the military authorities objected to any kind of armistice because from a military point of view any cessation of hostilities must be an advantage to france; it would enable them to continue their preparations and get together new armies, while germany would have the enormous expense of maintaining , men in a foreign country. bismarck himself from a political point of view also knew the advantage of bringing the war to a rapid close, while the moral effect of the great victories had not been dissipated. however, france had no government; a legal government could not be created without elections, and favre refused to consider holding elections during the progress of hostilities. after a long discussion bismarck, other suggestions being rejected, offered an armistice on condition that the war should continue round metz and paris, but that toul and strasburg should be surrendered and the garrison of strasburg made prisoners of war. "the towns would anyhow fall into our hands," he said; "it is only a question of engineering." "at these words," says favre, "i sprang into the air from pain and cried out, 'you forget that you speak to a frenchman. to sacrifice an heroic garrison which is the object of our admiration and that of the world would be a cowardice. i do not promise even to say that you have offered such a condition.'" bismarck said that he had no wish to offend him; if the king allowed it the article might be modified; he left the room, and after a quarter of an hour returned, saying that the king would accept no alteration on this point. "my powers were exhausted," writes favre; "i feared for a moment that i should fall down; i turned away to overcome the tears which choked me, and, while i excused myself for this involuntary weakness, i took leave with a few simple words." he asked bismarck not to betray his weakness. the count, who seems really to have been touched by the display of emotion, attempted in some sort of way to console him, but a few days later his sympathy was changed into amusement when he found that the tears which he had been asked to pass over in silence were paraded before the people of paris to prove the patriotism of the man. "he may have meant it," said bismarck, "but people ought not to bring sentiment into politics." the terms which bismarck had offered were as a matter of fact not at all harsh; a week later the garrison of strasburg had become prisoners of war; had the french accepted the armistice and begun negotiations for peace they would probably, though they could not have saved strasburg and alsace, have received far better terms than those to which they had to assent four months later. bismarck in refusing to recognise the provisional government always reminded them that the emperor was still the only legitimate government in france. he professed that he was willing to negotiate with the emperor, and often talked of releasing him from his confinement in germany, coming to terms with bazaine, and allowing the emperor at the head of the army at metz to regain his authority in france. we do not quite know to what extent he was serious in using this language, for he often threatened more than he intended to perform. it is at least possible that he only used it as a means for compelling the provisional government quickly to come to terms and thereby to bring the war to an end. it is, however, certain that negotiations went on between him and the empress and also with bazaine. they came to nothing because the empress absolutely refused to negotiate if she was to be required to surrender any french territory. in this she adopted the language of the provisional government in paris, and was supported by the emperor. the negotiations with the provisional government were more than once renewed; soon after the investiture of paris had begun, general burnside and another american passed as unofficial messengers between the french and german governments, and at the beginning of november, thiers came as the official agent of the government in tours; these attempts were, however, always without result; the french would not accept an armistice on the only conditions which bismarck was authorised by the king and the military authorities to offer. during the rest of the year there was little direct communication with the french authorities. bismarck, however, was not idle. in his quarters at versailles he had with him many of the foreign office staff; he had not only to conduct important diplomatic negotiations, but also to maintain control over the nation, to keep in touch with the press, to communicate to the newspapers both events and comments on them. at this crisis he could not leave public opinion without proper direction; he had to combat the misstatements of the french, who had so long had the ear of europe, and were still carrying their grievances to the courts of the neutral powers, and found often eager advocates in the press of the neutral countries. he had to check the proposal of the neutral powers to interfere between the two combatants, to inform the german public of the demands that were to be made on france and the proposals for the unity of the country, and to justify the policy of the government; all this was done not only by official notes, but by articles written at his dictation or under his instruction, and by information or suggestions conveyed by his secretaries to his newspapers. in old days the prussian government had been inarticulate, it had never been able to defend itself against the attacks of foreign critics; it had suffered much by misrepresentation; it had lost popularity at home and prestige abroad. in the former struggles with france the voice of germany had scarcely been heard; europe, which was accustomed to listen to every whisper from paris, ignored the feelings and the just grievances of germany. bismarck changed all this; now he saw to it that the policy of the government should be explained and defended in germany itself; for though he despised public opinion when it claimed to be the canon by which the government should be directed, he never neglected this, as he never neglected any means by which the government might be strengthened. speaking now from versailles, he could be confident that europe would listen to what germany said, and it was no small benefit to his nation that it had as its spokesman a man whose character and abilities ensured that no word that he uttered would be neglected. the neutral powers really gave him little concern. there was no intention of supporting france either in england, russia, or austria. he shewed great activity, however, in defending the germans from the charges so freely made against them by the french press, of conducting the war in a cruel manner; charges which were untrue, for, according to the unanimous testimony of foreign observers who accompanied the army, the moderation of the german soldiers was as remarkable as their successes. bismarck was not content with rebutting unjust accusations,--he carried on the war into the enemy's camp. he was especially indignant at the misuse made by the french of irregular troops; he often maintained that the german soldiers ought never to imprison the _franc-tireurs,_ but shoot them at once. he feared that if civilians were encouraged to take part in the war it would necessarily assume a very cruel character. at meaux he came upon a number of _franc-tireurs_ who had been taken prisoners. "you are assassins, gentlemen," he said to them; "you will all be hung." and, indeed, these men who fired secretly on the german troops from behind hedges and in forests, and had no kind of uniform, could not claim to be treated as prisoners of war. when the bombardment of paris began he took great pains to defend a measure which was much attacked in other countries; he had used all his influence that the bombardment should not be delayed, and often spoke with great annoyance of the reluctance of the military authorities to begin. he wished every measure to be taken which would bring the war to an end as soon as possible. the long delay before paris seems to have affected his nerves and spirits; there were many anxious hours, and it was always difficult for him to wait patiently the result of what others were doing. the military authorities were, as always, very jealous of all attempts by him to interfere in their department, and he was not always satisfied with their decisions. like all the germans he was surprised and angry at the unexpected resistance of paris, and the success of gambetta's appeal to the nation. he was especially indignant at the help which garibaldi gave: "this," he said, "is the gratitude of the italians"; he declared that he would have the general taken prisoner and paraded through the streets of berlin. during the long weeks at versailles, bismarck was much occupied with german affairs. the victory of sedan was the foundation of german unity; bismarck's moderation and reserve now earned its reward; he had always refused to press the southern states into the federation; now the offer to join came from them. baden asked, as she had already done at the beginning of the year, to be received into the union; the settlement with wurtemberg, and above all with bavaria, was less simple. at the request of the bavarian government delbrück was sent to munich for an interchange of opinion, and the negotiations which were begun there were afterwards continued at versailles and berlin. there were many difficulties to be overcome: the bavarians were very jealous of their independence and were not prepared to put themselves into the position which, for instance, saxony occupied. but the difficulties on the prussian side were equally great: the liberal party wished that the constitution should be revised and those points in it which they had always disliked altered; they would have made the government of the federal authorities more direct, have created a federal ministry and a federal upper house, and so really changed the federation into a simple state, thereby taking away all the independence of the dynasties. it was quite certain that bavaria would not accept this, and there was some considerable danger that their exaggerated demands might lead to a reaction in south germany. probably under any circumstances the unification of germany would have been completed, but it required all bismarck's tact to prevent the outbreak of a regular party struggle. the most extreme line was taken by the crown prince of prussia; he desired the immediate creation of an emperor who should have sovereign authority over the whole of germany, and he even went so far as to suggest that, if the bavarians would not accept this voluntarily, they might be compelled to do so. he had repeated conversations with bismarck on this, and on one occasion at least it ended in an angry scene. the crown prince wished to threaten the south germans. "there is no danger," he said; "let us take a firm and commanding attitude. you will see i was right in maintaining that you are not nearly sufficiently conscious of your own power." it is almost incredible that he should have used such language, but the evidence is conclusive; he was at this time commanding the bavarian troops against the french; bavaria had with great loyalty supported prussia through the war and performed very valuable services, and now he proposed to reward their friendship by compelling them to accept terms by which the independence of the king and the very existence of the state would be endangered. the last request which the king of bavaria had sent to the crown prince as he left munich to take command of the bavarian army was that nothing might be done to interfere with bavarian independence. of course bismarck refused to listen to these suggestions; had he done so, the probable result would have been that the bavarian army would have been withdrawn from france and then all the result of the victories would have been lost. what bismarck did was in accordance with his usual practice to make no greater alteration in existing institutions than was absolutely necessary; he did not therefore undertake any reform of the federal constitution, but simply proposed treaties by which the southern states, each separately, entered into the existing alliance. certain special conditions were allowed: the king of bavaria was to maintain the command over his troops in time of peace; a voice was given to bavaria in the management of foreign affairs; she retained her own post and telegraph, and there were certain special privileges with regard to finance to meet the system of taxation on beer; and then the prussian military code was not to apply to bavaria, and bavaria was to retain her own special laws with regard to marriage and citizenship. these concessions were undoubtedly very considerable, but bismarck granted them, for, as he said to the bavarian envoys, "we do not want a discontented bavaria; we want one which will join us freely." the liberal publicists in germany with characteristic intolerance complained that when they had hoped to see the constitution made simpler and the central government stronger it had really become more federal; they did not see that this federalism was merely the expression of existing facts which could not be ignored. they prophesied all kinds of difficulties which have not been fulfilled, for they forgot that harmonious working, in an alliance voluntarily made, would be a firmer bond of union than the most stringent articles of treaties which were looked on as an unjust burden. bismarck's own words, spoken the evening after the agreements were signed, give the true account of the matter: "the newspapers will not be satisfied, the historian may very likely condemn our conventions; he may say, 'the stupid fellow might easily have asked for more, he would have got it, they would have had to give it him; his might was his right.' i was more anxious that these people should go away heartily satisfied. what is the use of treaties which men are forced to sign? i know that they went away satisfied. i do not wish to press them or to take full advantage of the situation. the convention has its defects, but it is all the stronger on account of them." he could afford now to be generous because in he had been so stern; he had refused to take in bavaria when it would have weakened the association of the north; now that the nucleus had been formed he could allow the catholic south greater freedom. he was right; the concessions granted to bavaria have not been in any way a danger to the empire. as soon as he had signed the convention he looked into the room where his secretaries were and said: "the work is done; the unity of germany is completed and with it kaiser and reich." up to this time he had taken no open steps towards the proclamation of the empire; but it was unanimously demanded by almost the whole nation and especially by the south germans. but here he kept himself in the background; he refused to make it appear as though he were to make the emperor or found the empire. he allowed the natural wish of the people to work itself out spontaneously. there was indeed some reluctance to assume the title at the prussian court; the king himself was not anxious for a new dignity which would obscure that title which he and his ancestors had made so honourable. this feeling was shared by many of the nobility and the officers; we find it strongest in roon, who in this represents the genuine feeling of the older prussian nobility. they disliked a change which must mean that the prussia to which they were so devotedly attached was to become merged in a greater germany. there was also some apprehension that with the new title the old traditions of the prussian court, traditions of economy, almost of parsimony, might be forgotten, and that a new career might begin in which they would attempt to imitate the extravagance and pomp of less prudent sovereigns. with this perhaps bismarck himself had some sympathy. the king would, of course, only assume the new title if it was offered to him by his fellow-princes; there was some danger lest the reichstag, which had been summoned to ratify the treaties, might ask him to assume it before the princes did; had they done so, he would probably have refused. the crown prince, who was very eager for the new title, and the grand duke of baden used all their influence with their fellow-princes. the initiative must come from the king of bavaria; he was in difficulty as to the form in which the offer should be made. bismarck, who throughout the whole negotiations worked behind the scenes, smoothing away difficulties, thereupon drafted a letter which he sent by special messenger to the king of bavaria. the king at once adopted it, copied it out and signed it, and at the same time wrote another letter to the other princes, asking them to join in the request which he had made to the king of prussia, to assume the title of emperor which had been in abeyance for over sixty years. so it came about that the letter by which the offer to the king was made had really emanated from his own chancellor. it shews to what good purpose bismarck used the confidence which, by his conduct in the previous negotiations, the king of bavaria had been led to place in him. on the th of january, , in the palace of versailles, the king publicly assumed the new title; a few days later bismarck was raised to the rank of prince. a few days later paris fell; the prolonged siege was over and the power of resistance exhausted; then again, as three months before, favre asked for an audience, this time to negotiate the capitulation of the city; we need not here dwell on the terms of the capitulation--we need only quote what favre himself says of bismarck's attitude: "i should be unfaithful to truth if i did not recognise that in these mournful discussions i always found the chancellor eager to soften in form the cruelty of his requirements. he applied himself as much as was possible to temper the military harshness of the general staff, and on many points he consented to make himself the advocate of our demands." a few weeks were allowed for elections to be held and an assembly to meet at bordeaux, and then once more m. thiers appeared, to negotiate the terms of peace. he knew that the demands would be very heavy; he anticipated that they would be asked to surrender alsace, including belfort, and of lorraine at least the department of the moselle, with metz; he expected a large war indemnity--five thousand million francs. the terms bismarck had to offer were almost identical with these, except that the indemnity was placed at six thousand million francs. the part thiers had to play was a very difficult one; he knew that if germany insisted on her full demands he must accept; he was too experienced a politician to be misled by any of the illusions under which favre had laboured. he, as all other frenchmen, had during the last three months learned a bitter lesson. "had we made peace," he said, "before the fall of metz, we might at least have saved lorraine." he hoped against hope that he might still be able to do so. with all the resources of his intellect and his eloquence he tried to break down the opposition of the count. when metz was refused to him then he pleaded for belfort. let us hear what favre, who was present at the decisive interview, tells us; we may use his authority with more confidence that he was a silent and passive auditor. "one must have been present at this pathetic scene to have an idea of the superhuman resources which the illustrious statesman displayed. i still see him, pale, agitated, now sitting, now springing to his feet; i hear his voice broken by grief, his words cut short, his tones in turn suppliant and proud; i know nothing grander than the sublime passion of this noble heart bursting out in petitions, menaces, prayers, now caressing, now terrible, growing by degrees more angry in face of this cruel refusal, ready for the last extremities, impervious to the counsels of reason, so violent and sacred were the sentiments by which he was governed." bismarck remained obdurate; he would surrender neither metz nor belfort. then thiers cried out: "well, let it be as you will; these negotiations are a pretence. we appear to deliberate, we have only to pass under your yoke. we ask for a city absolutely french, you refuse it to us; it is to avow that you have resolved to wage against us a war of extremity. do it! ravish our provinces, burn our houses, cut the throats of their unoffending inhabitants, in a word, complete your work. we will fight to the last breath; we shall succumb at last, but we will not be dishonoured." it was a burst of passion, all the more admirable that thiers knew his threats were vain; but it was not ineffective. bismarck was troubled; he said he understood what they suffered; he would be glad to make a concession, "but," he added, "i can promise nothing; the king has commanded me to maintain the conditions, he alone has the right to modify them; i will take his orders; i must consult with mons. de moltke." he left the room; it was nearly an hour before he could find moltke; then he returned to give the answer to the frenchmen. "you had refused that we should enter paris; if you will agree that the german troops occupy paris, then belfort shall be restored to you." there could be no doubt as to the answer, and some hours later the assent of the king was given to this alteration in the conditions. before this the indemnity had been reduced to five thousand million francs; below that all the efforts of the french were not able to bring it. there were many other exciting scenes during the progress of the negotiations; on one occasion thiers threatened bismarck with interposition of the neutral powers; "if you speak to me of europe, i will speak of the emperor," was bismarck's answer. he threatened to open negotiations with him and to send him back to france at the head of bazaine's army. on another occasion--it was during the discussion of finance--another scene took place which favre describes: "as the discussion continued, he grew animated, he interrupted thiers at every word, accused him of wishing to spoil everything; he said that he was ill, at the end of his powers, he was incapable of going further, in a work that we were pleased to make of no use. then, allowing his feelings to break out, walking up and down the little room in which we were deliberating with great strides, he cried, 'it is very kind of me to take the trouble to which you condemn me; our conditions are ultimatums--you must accept or reject them. i will not take part in it any longer; bring an interpreter to-morrow, henceforward i will not speak french any longer.'" and he began forthwith to talk german at a great rate, a language which of course neither of the frenchmen understood. it is interesting to compare with this bismarck's own account of the same scene: "when i addressed a definite demand to thiers, although he generally could command himself, he sprang up and cried, 'mais c'est un indignité.' i took no notice but began to talk german. for a time he listened, but obviously did not know what to think of it. then in a plaintive voice he said, 'but, count, you know that i do not understand german.' i answered him now in french. 'when just now you spoke of _indignité_, i found that i did not understand french enough and preferred to speak german, here i know what i say and hear.' he understood what i meant and at once agreed to that which he had just refused as an indignité." bismarck's part in these negotiations was not altogether an easy one, for it is probable that, in part at least, he secretly sympathised with the arguments and protests of the french. he was far too loyal to his master and his country not to defend and adopt the policy which had been accepted; but there is much reason to believe that, had he been completely master, germany would not have insisted on having metz, but would have made the demand only to withdraw it. the arguments for the annexation of alsace were indeed unanswerable, and again and again bismarck had pointed out that germany could never be safe so long as france held strasburg, and a french army supported on the strong basis of the vosges could use strasburg as a gate whence to sally forth into germany. no one indeed who has ever stood on the slopes of the black forest and looked across the magnificent valley, sheltered by the hills on either side, through which the rhine flows, can doubt that this is all one country, and that the frontier must be sought, not in the river, which is not a separation, but the chief means of communication, but on the top of the hills on the further side. every argument, however, which is used to support german claims to strasburg may be used with equal force to support french claims to metz. if strasburg in french hands is the gate of germany, metz in german hands is, and always will remain, a military post on the soil of france. no one who reads bismarck's arguments on this point can fail to notice how they are all nearly conclusive as to strasburg, but that he scarcely takes the trouble to make it even appear as though they applied to metz. even in the speech before the reichstag in which he explains and justifies the terms of peace, he speaks again and again of strasburg but hardly a word of metz. he told how fourteen years before, the old king of würtemberg had said to him, at the time of the crimean troubles, that prussia might count on his voice in the diet as against the western powers, but only till war broke out. "then the matter takes another form. i am determined as well as any other to maintain the engagements i have entered into. but do not judge me unjustly; give us strasburg and we shall be ready for all eventualities, but so long as strasburg is a sally-port for a power which is always armed, i must fear that my country will be overrun by foreign troops before my confederates can come to my help." the king was right; germany would never be secure so long as strasburg was french; but can france ever be secure so long as metz is german? the demand for metz was based purely on military considerations; it was supported on the theory, which we have already learnt, that germany could never take the offensive in a war with france, and that the possession of metz would make it impossible, as indeed is the case, for france to attack germany. it was not, however, bismarck's practice to subordinate political considerations to military. it may be said that france would never acquiesce in the loss of either province, but while we can imagine a generation of frenchmen arising who would learn to recognise the watershed of the vosges as a permanent boundary between the two nations, it is difficult to believe that the time will ever come when a single frenchman will regard with contentment the presence of the germans on the upper moselle. even after the preliminaries of peace were settled fresh difficulties arose; the outbreak of the commune in paris made it impossible for the french to fulfil all the arrangements; bismarck, who did not trust the french, treated them with much severity, and more than once he threatened again to begin hostilities. at last favre asked for a fresh interview; the two statesmen met at frankfort, and then the final treaty of peace was signed. chapter xv. the new empire. - . with the peace of frankfort, bismarck's work was completed. not nine years had passed since he had become minister; in that short time he completed the work which so many statesmen before him had in vain attempted. nine years ago he had found the king ready to retire from the throne; now he had made him the most powerful ruler in europe. prussia, which then had been divided in itself and without influence in the councils of europe, was the undisputed leader in a united germany. fate, which always was so kind to bismarck, was not to snatch him away, as it did cavour, in the hour of his triumph; twenty years longer he was to preside over the state which he had created and to guide the course of the ship which he had built. a weaker or more timid man would quickly have retired from public life; he would have considered that nothing that he could do could add to his fame, and that he was always risking the loss of some of the reputation he had attained. bismarck was not influenced by such motives. the exercise of power had become to him a pleasure; he was prepared if his king required it to continue in office to the end of his days, and he never feared to hazard fame and popularity if he could thereby add to the prosperity of the state. these latter years of bismarck's life we cannot narrate in detail; space alone would forbid it. it would be to write the history of the german empire, and though events are not so dramatic they are no less numerous than in the earlier period. moreover, we have not the material for a complete biographical narrative; there is indeed a great abundance of public records; but as to the secret reasons of state by which in the last resource the policy of the government was determined, we have little knowledge. from time to time indeed some illicit disclosure, the publication of some confidential document, throws an unexpected light on a situation which is obscure; but these disclosures, so hazardous to the good repute of the men who are responsible and the country in which they are possible, must be treated with great reserve. prompted by motives of private revenge or public ambition, they disclose only half the truth, and a portion of the truth is often more misleading than complete ignorance. in foreign policy he was henceforward sole, undisputed master; in parliament and in the press scarcely a voice was raised to challenge his pre-eminence; he enjoyed the complete confidence of the allied sovereigns and the enthusiastic affection of the nation; even those parties which often opposed and criticised his internal policy supported him always on foreign affairs. those only opposed him who were hostile to the empire itself, those whose ideals or interests were injured by this great military monarchy--poles and ultramontanes, guelphs and socialists; in opposing bismarck they seemed to be traitors to their country, and he and his supporters were not slow to divide the nation into the loyal and the _reichsfeindlich_. he deserved the confidence which was placed in him. he succeeded in preserving to the newly founded empire all the prestige it had gained; he was enabled to soothe the jealousy of the neutral powers. he did so by his policy of peace. now he pursued peace with the same decision with which but two years before he had brought about a war. he was guided by the same motive; as war had then been for the benefit of germany, so now was peace. he had never loved war for the sake of war; he was too good a diplomatist for this; war is the negation of diplomacy, and the statesman who has recourse to it must for the time give over the control to other hands. it is always a clumsy method. the love of war for the sake of war will be found more commonly among autocratic sovereigns who are their own generals than among skilled and practised ministers, and generally war is the last resource by which a weak diplomatist attempts to conceal his blunders and to regain what he has lost. there had been much anxiety in europe how the new empire would deport itself; would it use this power which had been so irresistible for fresh conflicts? the excuse might easily have been found; bismarck might have put on his banner, "the union of all germans in one state"; he might have recalled and reawakened the enthusiasm of fifty years ago; he might have reminded the people that there were still in holland and in switzerland, in austria and in russia, germans who were separated from their country, and languishing under a foreign rule. had he been an idealist he would have done so, and raised in germany a cry like that of the italian irredentists. or he might have claimed for his country its natural boundaries; after freeing the upper waters of the rhine from foreign dominion he might have claimed that the great river should flow to the sea, german. this is what frenchmen had done under similar circumstances, but he was not the man to repeat the crimes and blunders of louis and napoleon. he knew that germany desired peace; a new generation must grow up in the new order of things; the old wounds must be healed by time, the old divisions forgotten; long years of common work must cement the alliances that he had made, till the jealousy of the defeated was appeased and the new empire had become as firm and indissoluble as any other state in europe. the chief danger came from france; in that unhappy country the cry for revenge seemed the only link with the pride which had been so rudely overthrown. the defeat and the disgrace could not be forgotten; the recovery of the lost provinces was the desire of the nation, and the programme of every party. as we have seen, the german statesmen had foreseen the danger and deliberately defied it. they cared not for the hostility of france, now that they need not fear her power. _oderint dum metuant._ against french demands for restitution they presented a firm and unchangeable negative; it was kinder so and juster, to allow no opening for hope, no loophole for negotiation, no intervention by other powers. alsace-lorraine were german by the right of the hundred thousand german soldiers who had perished to conquer them. any appearance of weakness would have led to hopes which could never be realised, discussions which could have had no result. the answer to all suggestions was to be found in the strength of germany; the only diplomacy was to make the army so strong that no french statesman, not even the mob of paris, could dream of undertaking single-handed a war of revenge. this was not enough; it was necessary besides to isolate france. there were many men in europe who would have wished to bring about a new coalition of the armies by whose defeat germany had been built up--france and austria, denmark and the poles; then it was always to be expected that russia, who had done so much for germany in the past, would cease to regard with complacency the success of her protégé; after all, the influence of the czar in europe had depended upon the divisions of germany as much as had that of france. how soon would the russian nation wake up, as the french had done, to the fact that the sympathies of their emperor had created a great barrier to russian ambition and russian diplomacy? it was especially the clerical party who wished to bring about some coalition; for them the chief object was the overthrow of italy, and the world still seemed to centre in rome; they could not gain the assistance of germany in this work, and they therefore looked on the great protestant empire as an enemy. they would have liked by monarchical reaction to gain control of france; by the success of the carlist movement to obtain that of spain, and then, assisted by austria, to overthrow the new order in europe. against this bismarck's chief energies were directed; we shall see how he fought the ultramontanes at home. with regard to france, he was inclined to support the republic, and refused all attempts which were made by some german statesmen, and especially by count arnim, the ambassador at paris, to win german sympathy and support to the monarchical party. in spain his support and sympathy were given to the government, which with difficulty maintained itself against the carlists; a visit of victor emmanuel to berlin confirmed the friendship with italy, over which the action of garibaldi in had thrown a cloud. the greatest triumph of bismarck's policy was, however, the reconciliation with austria. one of the most intimate of his councillors, when asked which of bismarck's actions he admired most, specified this. it was peculiarly his own; he had long worked for it; even while the war of was still being waged, he had foreseen that a day would come when germany and austria, now that they were separated, might become, as they never had been when joined by an unnatural union, honest allies. it was probably to a great extent brought about by the strong regard and confidence which the austrian emperor reposed in the german chancellor. the beginnings of an approximation were laid by the dismissal of beust, who himself now was to become a personal friend of the statesman against whom he had for so long and with such ingenuity waged an unequal conflict. the union was sealed when, in december, , the czar of russia and francis joseph came to berlin as guests of the emperor. there was no signed contract, no written alliance, but the old union of the eastern monarchies under which a generation before europe had groaned, was now restored, and on the continent there was no place to which france could look for help or sympathy. the years that followed were those in which foreign affairs gave bismarck least anxiety or occupation. he even began to complain that he was dull; after all these years of conflict and intrigue he found the security which he now enjoyed uninteresting. now and again the shadow of war passed over europe, but it was soon dispelled. the most serious was in . it appears that the french reforms of the army and some movements of french troops had caused alarm at berlin; i say alarm, though it is difficult to believe that any serious concern could have been felt. there was, however, a party who believed that war must come sooner or later, and it was better, they said, not to wait till france was again powerful and had won allies; surely the wisest thing was while she was still weak and friendless to take some excuse (and how easy would it be to find the excuse!), fall upon her, and crush her--crush and destroy, so that she could never again raise her head; treat her as she had in old days treated germany. how far this plan was deliberately adopted we do not know, but in the spring of this year the signs became so alarming that both the russian and the english governments were seriously disturbed, and interfered. so sober a statesman as lord derby believed that the danger was real. the czar, who visited berlin at the beginning of april, dealt with the matter personally; the queen of england wrote a letter to the german emperor, in which she said that the information she had could leave no doubt that an aggressive war on france was meditated, and used her personal influence with the sovereign to prevent it. the emperor himself had not sympathised with the idea of war, and it is said did not even know of the approaching danger. it did not require the intervention of other sovereigns to induce him to refuse his assent to a wanton war, but this advice from foreign powers of course caused great indignation in bismarck; it was just the kind of thing which always angered him beyond everything. he maintained that he had had no warlike intentions, that the reports were untrue. the whole story had its origin, he said, in the intrigues of the ultramontanes and the vanity of gortschakoff; the object was to make it appear that france owed her security and preservation to the friendly interference of russia, and thereby prepare the way for an alliance between the two powers. it is almost impossible to believe that bismarck had seriously intended to bring about a war; he must have known that the other powers of europe would not allow a second and unprovoked attack on france; he would not be likely to risk all he had achieved and bring about a european coalition against him. on the other hand his explanation is probably not the whole truth; even german writers confess that the plan of attacking france was meditated, and it was a plan of a nature to recommend itself to the military party in prussia. yet this may have been the beginning of a divergence with russia. the union had depended more on the personal feelings of the czar than on the wishes of the people or their real interests. the rising pan-slavonic party was anti-german; their leader was general ignatieff, but gortschakoff, partly perhaps from personal hostility to bismarck, partly from a just consideration of russian interests, sympathised with their anti-teutonic policy. the outbreak of disturbances in the east roused that national feeling which had slept for twenty years; in truth the strong patriotism of modern germany naturally created a similar feeling in the neighbouring countries; just as the germans were proud to free themselves from the dominant culture of france, so the russians began to look with jealousy on the teutonic influence which since the days of peter the great had been so powerful among them. in internal matters the situation was very different; here bismarck could not rule in the same undisputed manner; he had rivals, critics, and colleagues. the power of the prussian parliament and the reichstag was indeed limited, but without their assent no new law could be passed; each year their assent must be obtained to the budget. though they had waived all claim to control the foreign policy, the parties still criticised and often rejected the laws proposed by the government. then in prussian affairs he could not act without the good-will of his colleagues; in finance, in legal reform, the management of church and schools, the initiative belonged to the ministers responsible for each department. some of the difficulties of government would have been met had bismarck identified himself with a single party, formed a party ministry and carried out their programme. this he always refused to do; he did not wish in his old age to become a parliamentary minister, for had he depended for his support on a party, then if he lost their confidence, or they lost the confidence of the country, he would have had to retire from office. the whole work of his earlier years would have been undone. what he wished to secure was a government party, a bismarck party _sans phrase_, who would always support all his measures in internal as well as external policy. in this, however, he did not succeed. he was therefore reduced to another course: in order to get the measures of the government passed, he executed a series of alliances, now with one, now with another party. in these, however, he had to give as well as to receive, and it is curious to see how easily his pride was offended and his anger roused by any attempt of the party with which at the time he was allied to control and influence his policy. no one of the alliances lasted long, and he seems to have taken peculiar pleasure in breaking away from each of them in turn when the time came. the alliance with the conservatives which he had inherited from the older days had begun to break directly after . many of them had been disappointed by his policy in that year. the grant of universal suffrage had alarmed them; they had wished that he would use his power to check and punish the parliament for its opposition; instead of that he asked for an indemnity. they felt that they had borne with him the struggle for the integrity of the prussian monarchy; no sooner was the victory won than he held out his hand to the liberals and it was to them that the prize went. they were hurt and disappointed, and this personal feeling was increased by bismarck's want of consideration, his brusqueness of manner, his refusal to consider complaints and remonstrances. even the success of had not altogether reconciled them; these prussian nobles, the men to whom in earlier days he himself had belonged, saw with regret the name of king of prussia hidden behind the newer glory of the german emperor; it is curious to read how even roon speaks with something of contempt and disgust of this new title: "i hope," he writes, "bismarck will be in a better temper now that the kaiser egg has been safely hatched." it was, however, the struggle with the catholic church which achieved the separation; the complete subjection of the church to the state, the new laws for school inspection, the introduction of compulsory civil marriage, were all opposed to the strongest and the healthiest feelings of the prussian conservatives. these did not seem to be matters in which the safety of the empire was concerned; bismarck had simply gone over to, and adopted the programme of, the liberals; he was supporting that all-pervading power of the prussian bureaucracy which he, in his earlier days, had so bitterly attacked. then came a proposal for change in the local government which would diminish the influence of the landed proprietors. the conservatives refused to support these measures; the conservative majority in the house of lords threw them out. bismarck's own brother, all his old friends and comrades, were now ranged against him. he accepted opposition from them as little as from anyone else; the consent of the king was obtained to the creation of new peers, and by this means the obnoxious measures were forced through the unwilling house. bismarck by his speeches intensified the bitterness; he came down himself to make an attack on the conservatives. "the government is disappointed," he said; "we had looked for confidence from the conservative party; confidence is a delicate plant; if it is once destroyed it does not grow again. we shall have to look elsewhere for support." a crisis in his relations to the party came at the end of ; up to this time roon had still remained in the government; now, in consequence of the manner in which the creation of peers had been decided upon, he requested permission to resign. the king, who could not bear to part with him, and who really in many matters of internal policy had more sympathy with him than with bismarck, refused to accept the resignation. the crisis which arose had an unexpected ending: bismarck himself resigned the office of minister-president of prussia, which was transferred to roon, keeping only that of foreign minister and chancellor of the empire. a letter to roon shews the deep depression under which he laboured at this time, chiefly the result of ill-health. "it was," he said, "an unheard-of anomaly that the foreign minister of a great empire should be responsible also for internal affairs." and yet he himself had arranged that it should be so. the desertion of the conservative party had, he said, deprived him of his footing; he was dispirited by the loss of his old friends and the illness of his wife; he spoke of his advancing years and his conviction that he had not much longer to live; "the king scarcely knows how he is riding a good horse to death." he would continue to do what he could in foreign affairs, but he would no longer be responsible for colleagues over whom he had no influence except by requests, and for the wishes of the emperor which he did not share. the arrangement lasted for a year, and then roon had again to request, and this time received, permission to retire into private life; his health would no longer allow him to endure the constant anxiety of office. his retirement occasioned genuine grief to the king; and of all the severances which he had to undergo, this was probably that which affected bismarck most. for none of his colleagues could he ever have the same affection he had had for roon; he it was who had brought him into the ministry, and had gone through with him all the days of storm and trouble. "it will be lonely for me," he writes, "in my work; ever more so, the old friends become enemies and one makes no new ones. as god will." in he again assumed the presidency. the resignation of roon was followed by a complete breach with the party of the _kreuz zeitung_; the more moderate of the conservatives split off from it and continued to support the government; the remainder entered on a campaign of factious opposition. the quarrel was inevitable, for quite apart from the question of religion it would indeed have been impossible to govern germany according to their principles. we may, however, regret that the quarrel was not conducted with more amenity. these prussian nobles were of the same race as bismarck himself; they resembled him in character if not in ability; they believed that they had been betrayed, and they did not easily forgive. they were not scrupulous in the weapons they adopted; the press was used for anonymous attacks on his person and his character; they accused him of using his public position for making money by speculation, and of sacrificing to that the alliance with russia. more than once he had recourse to the law of libel to defend himself against these unworthy insults. when he publicly in the reichstag protested against the language of the _kreuz zeitung_, the dishonourable attacks and the scandalous lies it spread abroad, a large number of the leading men among the prussian nobility signed a declaration formally defending the management of the paper, as true adherents of the monarchical and conservative banner. these _declaranten_, as they were called, were henceforward enemies whom he could never forgive. at the bottom of the list we read, not without emotion, the words, "signed with deep regret, a. von thadden"; so far apart were now the two knight-errants of the christian monarchy. it was in reality the end of the old conservative party; it had done its work; bismarck was now thrown on the support of the national liberals. since they had grown in numbers and in weight. they represented at this time the general sense of the german people; it was with their help that during the years down to the new institutions for the empire were built up. in the elections of they numbered ; in their numbers rose to ; they had not an absolute majority, but in all questions regarding the defence of the empire, foreign policy, and the army they were supported by the moderate conservatives; in the conflict with the catholics and internal matters they could generally depend on the support of the progressives; so that as long as they maintained their authority they gave the government the required majority in both the prussian and the german parliament. there were differences in the party which afterwards were to lead to a secession, but during this time, which they looked upon as the golden era of the empire, they succeeded in maintaining their unity. they numbered many of the ablest leaders, the lawyers and men of learning who had opposed bismarck at the time of the conflict. their leader was bennigsen; himself a hanoverian, he had brought no feelings of hostility from the older days of conflict. moderate, tactful, restrained, patriotic, he was the only man who, when difficulties arose, was always able to approach the chancellor, sure of finding some tenable compromise. different was it with lasker, the ablest of parliamentary orators, whose subordination to the decisions of the party was often doubtful, and whose criticism, friendly as it often was, always aroused bismarck's anger. as a matter of fact the alliance was, however, never complete; it was always felt that at any moment some question might arise on which it would be wrecked. this was shewn by bismarck's language as early as ; in a debate on the army he explained that what he demanded was full support; members, he said, were expressly elected to support him; they had no right to make conditions or withdraw their support; if they did so he would resign. the party, which was very loyal to him, constantly gave up its own views when he made it a question of confidence, but the strain was there and was always felt. the great question now as before was that of the organisation of the army. it will be remembered that, under the north german confederation, a provisional arrangement was made by which the numbers of the army in peace were to be fixed at one per cent. of the population. this terminated at the end of ; the government, however, did not then consider it safe to alter the arrangement, and with some misgiving the reichstag accepted the proposal that this system should be applied to the whole empire for three years. if, however, the numbers of the army were absolutely fixed in this way, the reichstag would cease to have any control over the expenses; all other important taxes and expenses came before the individual states. in , the government had to make their proposal for the future. this was that the system which had hitherto been provisionally accepted should become permanent, and that the army should henceforward in time of peace always consist of the same number of men. to agree to this would be permanently to give up all possibility of exercising any control over the finance. it was impossible for the national liberal party to accept the proposal without giving up at the same time all hope of constitutional development; bismarck was ill and could take no part in defending the law; they voted against it, it was thrown out, and it seemed as though a new conflict was going to arise. when the reichstag adjourned in april for the easter holidays the agitation spread over the country, but the country was determined not again to have a conflict on the budget. "there was a regular fanaticism for unconditional acceptance of the law; those even on the left refused to hear anything of constitutional considerations," writes one member of the national liberty party after meeting his constituents. if the reichstag persisted in their refusal and a dissolution took place, there was no doubt that there would be a great majority for the government. it was the first time since that the question of constitutional privileges was raised, and now it was found, as ever afterwards was the case, that, for the german people, whatever might be the opinion of their elected representatives, the name of bismarck alone outweighed all else. bennigsen arranged a compromise and the required number of men was agreed to, not indeed permanently, but for seven years. for four years more the alliance was continued. at this time all other questions were thrown into the shade by the great conflict with the roman catholic church on which the government had embarked. looking back now, it is still difficult to judge or even to understand the causes which brought it about. both sides claim that they were acting in self-defence. bismarck has often explained his motives, but we cannot be sure that those he puts forward were the only considerations by which he was moved. he, however, insisted that the struggle was not religious but political; he was not moved by protestant animosity to the catholic church, but by his alarm lest in the organisation of the roman hierarchy a power might arise within the empire which would be hostile to the state. but even if the chancellor himself was at first free from protestant hatred to catholicism,--and this is not quite clear,--he was forced into alliance with a large party who appealed at once to the memories of the reformation, who stirred up all that latent hatred of rome which is as strong a force in north germany as in england; and with others who saw in this an opportunity for more completely subduing all, protestant and catholic alike, to the triumphant power of the state, and making one more step towards the dissociation of the state from any religious body. the immediate cause of the struggle was the proclamation of the infallibility of the pope. it might be thought that this change or development in the constitution of the roman church was one which concerned chiefly roman catholics. this is the view which bismarck seems to have taken during the meetings of the vatican council. the opposition to the decrees was strongest among the german bishops, and prince hohenlohe, the prime minister of bavaria, supported by his brother the cardinal, was anxious to persuade the governments of europe to interfere, and, as they could have done, to prevent the council from coming to any conclusion. bismarck refused on behalf of the prussian government to take any steps in this direction. the conclusion of the council and the proclamation of the decrees took place just at the time of the outbreak of war with france. for some months bismarck, occupied as he was with other matters, was unable to consider the changes which might be caused; it was moreover very important for him during the negotiations with bavaria, which lasted all through the autumn, not to do anything which would arouse the fears of the ultramontanes or intensify their reluctance to enter the empire. in the winter of the first sign of the dangers ahead was to be seen. they arose from the occupation of rome by the italians. the inevitable result of this was that the roman catholics of all countries in europe were at once given a common cause of political endeavour; they were bound each of them in his own state to use his full influence to procure interference either by diplomacy or by arms, and to work for the rescue of the prisoner of the vatican. the german catholics felt this as strongly as their co-religionists, and, while he was still at versailles, a cardinal and bishop of the church addressed a memorial to the king of prussia on this matter. this attempt to influence the foreign policy of the new empire, and to use it for a purpose alien to the direct interest of germany, was very repugnant to bismarck and was quite sufficient to arouse feelings of hostility towards the roman catholics. these were increased when he heard that the roman catholic leaders were combining to form a new political party; in the elections for the first reichstag this movement was very successful and fifty members were returned whose sole bond of union was religion. this he looked upon as "a mobilisation of the church against the state"; the formation of a political party founded simply on unity of confession was, he said, an unheard-of innovation in political life. his distrust increased when he found that their leader was windthorst, a former minister of the king of hanover, and, as a patriotic hanoverian, one of the chief opponents of a powerful and centralised government. the influence the church had in the polish provinces was a further cause of hostility, and seemed to justify him in condemning them as anti-german. during the first session the new party prominently appeared on two occasions. in the debate on the address to the crown they asked for the interference of germany on behalf of the pope; in this they stood alone and on a division found no supporters. then they demanded that in the constitution of the empire certain clauses from the prussian constitution should be introduced which would ensure freedom to all religious denominations. here they gained considerable support from some other parties. an impartial observer will find it difficult to justify from these acts the charge of disloyalty to the empire, but a storm of indignation arose in the press, especially in the organs of the national liberal party, and it was supported by those of the government. the desire for conflict was awakened; meetings were held in the autumn of to defend the protestant faith, which hardly seemed to have been attacked, and a clearer cause for dispute soon occurred. it was required by the authorities of the church that all bishops and priests should declare their assent to the new vatican decrees; the majority did so, but a certain number refused; they were of course excommunicated; a secession from the roman catholic church took place, and a new communion formed to which the name of old catholics was given. the bishops required that all the priests and religious teachers at the universities and schools who had refused to obey the orders of the pope should be dismissed from their office; the prussian government refused their assent. the legal question involved was a difficult one. the government held that as the roman catholic church had changed its teachings, those who maintained the old doctrine must be supported in the offices conferred on them. the church authorities denied there had been any essential change. on the whole we may say that they were right; a priest of the catholic church held his position not only in virtue of his assent to the actual doctrines taught, but was also bound by his vow of obedience to accept any fresh teaching which, in accordance with the constitution of the church and by the recognised organ of government, should in the future also be declared to be of faith. the duty of every man to obey the laws applies not only to the laws existing at any moment, but to any future laws which may be passed by the proper agent of legislation. even though the doctrine of infallibility were a new doctrine, which is very doubtful, it had been passed at a council; and the proceedings of the council, even if, in some details, they were irregular, were not more so than those of any other council in the past. the action of the government in supporting the old catholics may, however, be attributed to another motive. the catholics maintained that bismarck desired to take this opportunity of creating a national german church, and reunite protestants and catholics. to have done so, had it been possible, would have been indeed to confer on the country the greatest of all blessings. we cannot doubt that the thought had often come into bismarck's mind; it would be the proper and fitting conclusion to the work of creating a nation. it was, however, impossible; under no circumstances could it have been done by a protestant statesman; the impulse must have come from bavaria, and the opposition of the bavarian bishops to the vatican decrees had been easily overcome. twice an opportunity had presented itself of making a national german church: once at the reformation, once after the revolution. on both occasions it was lost and it will never recur. the result, however, was that a bitter feeling of opposition was created between church and state. the secessionist priests were maintained in their positions by the government, they were excommunicated by the bishops; students were forbidden to attend their lectures and the people to worship in the churches where they ministered. it spread even to the army, when the minister of war required the army chaplain at cologne to celebrate mass in a church which was used also by the old catholics. he was forbidden to do so by his bishop, and the bishop was in consequence deprived of his salary and threatened with arrest. the conflict having once begun soon spread; a new minister of culture was appointed; in the reichstag a law was proposed expelling the jesuits from germany; and a number of important laws, the so-called may laws, were introduced into the prussian parliament, giving to the state great powers with regard to the education and appointment of priests; it was, for instance, ordered that no one should be appointed to a cure of souls who was not a german, and had not been brought up and educated in the state schools and universities of prussia. then other laws were introduced, to which we have already referred, making civil marriage compulsory, so as to cripple the very strong power which the roman catholic priests could exercise, not only by refusing their consent to mixed marriages, but also by refusing to marry old catholics; a law was introduced taking the inspection of elementary schools out of the hands of the clergy, and finally a change was made in those articles of the prussian constitution which ensured to each denomination the management of its own affairs. bismarck was probably not responsible for the drafting of all these laws; he only occasionally took part in the discussion and was often away from berlin. the contrast between these proposals and the principles he had maintained in his earlier years was very marked; his old friend kleist recalled the eloquent speech which in former years he had made against civil marriage. bismarck did not attempt to defend himself against the charge of inconsistency; he did not even avow that he had changed his personal opinions; he had, however, he said, learnt to submit his personal convictions to the requirements of the state; he had only done so unwillingly and by a great struggle. this was to be the end of the doctrine of the christian state. with gneist, lasker, virchow, he was subduing the church to this new idol of the state; he was doing that against which in the old days he had struggled with the greatest resolution and spoken with the greatest eloquence. not many years were to go by before he began to repent of what he had done, for, as he saw the new danger from social democracy, he like many other germans believed that the true means of defeating it was to be found in increased intensity of religious conviction. it was, however, then too late. he, however, especially in the prussian upper house, threw all the weight of his authority into the conflict. it was, he said, not a religious conflict but a political one; they were not actuated by hatred of catholicism, but they were protecting the rights of the state. "the question at issue," he said, "is not a struggle of an evangelical dynasty against the catholic church; it is the old struggle ... a struggle for power as old as the human race ... between king and priest ... a struggle which is much older than the appearance of our redeemer in this world.... a struggle which has filled german history of the middle ages till the destruction of the german empire, and which found its conclusion when the last representative of the glorious swabian dynasty died on the scaffold, under the axe of a french conqueror who stood in alliance with the pope.[ ] we are not far from an analogous solution of the situation, always translated into the customs of our time." he assured the house that now, as always, he would defend the empire against internal and external enemies. "rest assured we will not go to canossa," he said. in undertaking this struggle with the church he had two enemies to contend with--the pope and the government of the church on the one side, on the other the catholic population of germany. he tried to come to some agreement with the pope and to separate the two; it seemed in fact as if the real enemy to be contended against was not the foreign priesthood, but the catholic democracy in germany. all bismarck's efforts to separate the two and to procure the assistance of the pope against the party of the centre were to be unavailing; for some years all official communication between the german government and the papal see was broken off. it was not till the death of pius ix. and the accession of a more liberal-minded pope that communication was restored; then we are surprised to find bismarck appealing to the pope to use his influence on the centre in order to persuade them to vote for a proposed increase in the german army. this is a curious comment on the boast, "we will not go to canossa." the truth is that in undertaking the conflict and associating himself with the anti-clerical party bismarck had stirred up an enemy whom he was not able to overcome. he soon found that the priests and the catholics were men of a different calibre to the liberals. they dared to do what none of the progressives had ventured on--they disobeyed the law. with them it was not likely that the conflict would be confined to parliamentary debates. the government attempted to meet this resistance, but in vain. the priests were deprived of their cures, bishops were thrown into prison, nearly half the catholic parishes in prussia were deprived of their spiritual shepherds, the churches were closed, there was no one to celebrate baptisms or weddings. against this resistance what could the government do? the people supported the leaders of the party, and a united body of one hundred members under windhorst, ablest of parliamentary leaders, was committed to absolute opposition to every government measure so long as the conflict continued. can we be surprised that as the years went on bismarck looked with some concern on the result of the struggle he had brought about? he attempted to conceal the failure: "the result will be," he said, "that we shall have two great parties--one which supports and maintains the state, and another which attacks it. the former will be the great majority and it will be formed in the school of conflict." these words are the strongest condemnation of his policy. it could not be wise for any statesman to arrange that party conflict should take the form of loyalty and disloyalty to the empire. there can be little doubt that his sense of failure helped to bring about a feeling of enmity towards the national liberals. suddenly in the spring of he sent in his resignation. there were, however, other reasons for doing this. he had become aware that the financial policy of the empire had not been successful; on every side it seemed that new blood and new methods were required. in financial matters he had little experience or authority; he had to depend on his colleagues and he complained of their unfruitfulness. influenced perhaps by his perception of this, under the pretext--a genuine pretext--of ill-health, he asked the emperor to relieve him of his offices. the emperor refused. "never," he wrote on the side of the minute. instead he granted to bismarck unlimited leave of absence. in the month of april the chancellor retired to varzin; for ten months he was absent from berlin, and when he returned, recruited in health, in february, , it was soon apparent that a new period in his career and in the history of the empire was to begin. chapter xvi. the triple alliance and economic reform. - . the year forms a turning-point both in internal and in external politics. up to this year prussia has been allied with the two eastern monarchies; the empire has been governed by the help of the national liberal party; the chief enemy has been the clericals. the traditions of the time before the war are still maintained. after this year the understanding with russia breaks down; instead of it the peace of europe is preserved by the triple alliance with austria and italy. in internal affairs the change is even more marked; the rising power of the socialists is the enemy to be fought against; for this conflict, peace has to be made with the catholics--the may laws are modified or repealed. the alliance with liberalism breaks down, and the efforts of the government are devoted to a far-reaching scheme of financial reform and social legislation. when, in april, , the emperor refused to accept bismarck's resignation, the whole country applauded the decision. in the reichstag a great demonstration was made of confidence in the chancellor. everyone felt that he could not be spared at a time when the complications in the east were bringing new dangers upon europe, and in the seclusion of varzin he did not cease during the next months to direct the foreign policy of the empire. he was able with the other governments of europe to prevent the spread of hostilities from turkey to the rest of europe, and when the next year the english government refused its assent to the provisional peace of san stefano, it was the unanimous desire of all the other states that the settlement of turkey should be submitted to a congress at berlin over which he should preside. it was the culmination of his public career; it was the recognition by europe in the most impressive way of his primacy among living statesmen. in his management of the congress he answered to the expectations formed of him. "we do not wish to go," he had said, "the way of napoleon; we do not desire to be the arbitrators or schoolmasters of europe. we do not wish to force our policy on other states by appealing to the strength of our army. i look on our task as a more useful though a humbler one; it is enough if we can be an honest broker." he succeeded in the task he had set before himself, and in reconciling the apparently incompatible desires of england and russia. again and again when the congress seemed about to break up without result he made himself the spokesman of russian wishes, and conveyed them to lord beaconsfield, the english plenipotentiary. none the less the friendship of russia, which had before wavered, now broke down. a bitter attack on germany and bismarck was begun in the russian press; the new german fiscal policy led to misunderstandings; the czar in private letters to the emperor demanded in the negotiations that were still going on the absolute and unconditional support of germany to all russian demands as the condition of russian friendship. in the autumn of the next year matters came near to war; it was in these circumstances that bismarck brought about that alliance which ever since then has governed european politics. he hastily arranged a meeting with count andrassy, the austrian minister, and in a few days the two statesmen agreed on a defensive alliance between the two empires. many years later, in , the instrument of alliance was published. it was agreed that if either of the german states was attacked by russia the other would join to defend it; if either was attacked by france the other would observe neutrality; but if the french were supported by russia then the first clause would come into force. the emperor of austria willingly gave his assent; it was only after a prolonged struggle that bismarck was able to gain the assent of his own sovereign. this alliance, which in the next year was joined by italy, again gave germany the ruling position in europe. during this crisis in foreign affairs bismarck was occupied by another, which threatened to be equally serious, in home politics. in the spring of an attempt was made on the life of the emperor; a young man, named hobel, a shoemaker's apprentice, shot at him in the streets of berlin, fortunately without result. the attempt naturally created intense indignation throughout the country. this was increased when it became known that he had been to some extent connected with the socialist party, and it seemed as though the motives of the crime were supplied by the violent speeches made at socialist gatherings. bismarck had long regarded the growth of socialism with concern. he determined to use this opportunity to crush it. he at once brought into the bundesrath a very severe law, forbidding all socialist agitation and propaganda. he succeeded in passing it through the council, but it was thrown out in the reichstag by a very large majority. no one voted for it except the conservatives. the law indeed was so drawn up that one does not see how anyone could have voted for it; the first clause began, "printed writings and unions which follow the aims of social democracy may be forbidden by the federal council," but, as was pointed out, among the aims of social democracy were many which were good in themselves, and many others which, though they might be considered harmful by other parties, were at least legitimate. directly afterwards the reichstag was prorogued. ten days later, another attempt was made on the emperor's life; this time a man of the name of nobeling (an educated man who had studied at the university) shot at him while driving in the unter den linden, and wounded him severely in the head and arms with large shot. the emperor was driven home to his palace almost unconscious, and for some time his life was in danger. this second attempt in so short a time on the life of a man almost eighty years of age, so universally loved and respected, who had conferred such benefits on his country, naturally aroused a storm of indignation. when bismarck received the news his first words were, "now the reichstag must be dissolved." this was done; the general elections took place while the excitement was still hot, and of course resulted in a great loss to those parties--especially the national liberals--who had voted against the socialist law; the centre alone retained its numbers. before this new parliament a fresh law was laid, drafted with much more skill. it absolutely forbade all speeches or writing in favour of plans for overthrowing the order of society, or directed against marriage and property. it enabled the government to proclaim in all large towns a state of siege, and to expel from them by the mere decree of the police anyone suspected of socialist agitation. the law, which was easily carried, was enforced with great severity; a state of siege was proclaimed in berlin and many other places. socialist papers, and even books, for instance the writings of lassalle, were forbidden; they might not even be read in public libraries; and for the next twelve years the socialist party had to carry on their propaganda by secret means. this socialist law is very disappointing; we find the government again having recourse to the same means for checking and guiding opinion which metternich had used fifty years before. not indeed that the socialists themselves had any ground for complaint; their avowed end was the overthrow of government and society; they professed to be at war with all established institutions; if they confined their efforts to legal measures and did not use violence, it was only because the time had not yet come. the men who avowed admiration for the paris commune, who were openly preparing for a revolution more complete than any which europe had hitherto seen, could not complain if the government, while there was yet time, used every means for crushing them. the mistake was in supposing that this measure would be successful. bismarck would, indeed, had he been able, have made it far more severe; his own idea was that anyone who had been legally convicted of holding socialist opinions should be deprived of the franchise and excluded from the parliament. what a misunderstanding does this shew of the whole object and nature of representative institutions! it had been decided that in germany parliament was not to govern; what then was its function except to display the opinions of the people? if, as was the case, so large a proportion of the german nation belonged to a party of discontent, then it was above all desirable that their wishes and desires should have open expression, and be discussed where they could be overthrown. the government had enormous means of influencing opinion. in the old days the men of letters had been on principle in opposition; now germany was flooded by papers, books, and pamphlets; all devoted to the most extravagant praise of the new institutions. the excuse which was made for these laws was not a sufficient one. it is seldom necessary to meet political assassination by repressive measures, for they must always create a danger which they intend to avert. there was not the slightest ground for supposing that either hobel or nobeling had any confederates; there was no plot; it was but the wild and wicked action of an individual. it was as absurd to put a large party under police control for this reason as it was to punish liberals for the action of sand. and it was ineffective, as the events of the next years shewed; for the socialist law did not spare germany from the infection of outrage which in these years overran europe. the socialist laws were soon followed by other proposals of a more useful kind, and now we come to one of the most remarkable episodes in bismarck's career. he was over sixty years of age; his health was uncertain; he had long complained of the extreme toil and the constant annoyance which his public duties brought upon him. it might appear that he had finished his work, and, if he could not retire altogether, would give over the management of all internal affairs to others. that he would now take upon himself a whole new department of public duties, that he would after his prolonged absence appear again as leader and innovator in parliamentary strife--this no one anticipated. up to the year he had taken little active part in finance; his energies had been entirely absorbed by foreign affairs and he had been content to adopt and support the measures recommended by his technical advisers. when he had interfered at all it had only been on those occasions when, as with regard to commercial treaties, the policy of his colleagues had impeded his own political objects. in he had been much annoyed because difference on commercial matters had interfered with the good understanding with austria, which at that time he was trying to maintain. since the foundation of the empire almost the complete control over the commercial policy of the empire had been entrusted to delbrück, who held the very important post of president of the imperial chancery, and was treated by bismarck with a deference and consideration which no other of his fellow-workers received, except moltke and roon. delbrück was a confirmed free-trader, and the result was that, partly by commercial treaties, and partly by the abolition of customs dues, the tariff had been reduced and simplified. the years following the war had, however, not been altogether prosperous; a great outbreak of speculation was followed in by a serious commercial crisis. and since that year there had been a permanent decrease in the imperial receipts. this was, for political reasons, a serious inconvenience. by the arrangement made in the proceeds of the customs and of the indirect taxation (with some exceptions) were paid into the exchequer of the federation, and afterwards of the empire. if the receipts from these sources were not sufficient to meet the imperial requirements, the deficit had to be made up by contributions paid (in proportion to their population) by the separate states. during later years these contributions had annually increased, and it is needless to point out that this was sufficient to make the relations of the state governments to the central authorities disagreeable, and to cause some discontent with the new constitution. this meant also an increase of the amount which had to be raised by direct taxation. now bismarck had always much disliked direct taxes; he had again and again pointed out that they were paid with great reluctance, and often fell with peculiar hardship on that very large class which could only just, by constant and assiduous labour, make an income sufficient for their needs. worst of all was it when they were unable to pay even the few shillings required; they then had to undergo the hardship and disgrace of distraint, and see their furniture seized and sold by the tax-collectors. he had therefore always wished that the income derived from customs and indirect taxation should be increased so as by degrees to do away with the necessity for direct taxation, and if this could be done, then, instead of the states paying an annual contribution to the empire, they would receive from the central government pecuniary assistance. the dislike of direct taxation is an essential part of bismarck's reform; he especially disapproved of the prussian system, the barbarous system, as he called it, according to which every man had to pay a small portion, it might be even a few _groschen_, in direct taxes. "i ascribe," he said, "the large part of our emigration to the fact that the emigrant wishes to escape the direct pressure of the taxes and execution, and to go to a land where the _klassensteuer_ does not exist, and where he will also have the pleasure of knowing that the produce of his labours will be protected against foreign interference." his opinion cannot be called exaggerated if it is true that, as he stated, there were every year over a million executions involving the seizure and sale of household goods on account of arrears of taxation. it was not only the state taxes to which he objected; the local rates for municipal expenses, and especially for education, fell very heavily on the inhabitants of large cities such as berlin. he intended to devote part of the money which was raised by indirect taxation to relieving the rates. his first proposals for raising the money were of a very sweeping nature. he wished to introduce a state monopoly for the sale of tobacco, brandy, and beer. he entered into calculations by which he proved that were his policy adopted all direct taxation might be repealed, and he would have a large surplus for an object which he had very much at heart--the provision of old-age pensions. it was a method of legislation copied from that which prevails in france and italy. he pointed out with perfect justice that the revenue raised in germany from the consumption of tobacco was much smaller than it ought to be. the total sum gained by the state was not a tenth of that which was produced in england by the taxing of tobacco, but no one could maintain that smoking was more common in england than in germany. in fact tobacco was less heavily taxed in germany than in any other country in europe. in introducing a monopoly bismarck intended and hoped not only to relieve the pressure of direct taxation,--though this would have been a change sufficient in its magnitude and importance for most men,--but proposed to use the very large sum which the government would have at its disposal for the direct relief of the working classes. the socialist law was not to go alone; he intended absolutely to stamp out this obnoxious agitation, but it was not from any indifference as to the condition of the working classes. from his earliest days he had been opposed to the liberal doctrine of _laissez-faire_; it will be remembered how much he had disliked the _bourgeois_ domination of the july monarchy; as a young man he had tried to prevent the abolition of guilds. he considered that much of the distress and discontent arose from the unrestricted influence of capital. he was only acting in accordance with the oldest and best traditions of the prussian monarchy when he called in the power of the state to protect the poor. his plan was a very bold one; he wished to institute a fund from which there should be paid to every working man who was incapacitated by sickness, accident, or old age, a pension from the state. in his original plan he intended the working men should not be required to make any contribution themselves towards this fund. it was not to be made to appear to them as a new burden imposed on them by the state. the tobacco monopoly, he said, he looked on as "the patrimony of the disinherited." he did not fear the charge of socialism which might be brought against him; he defended himself by the provisions of the prussian law. the code of frederick the great contained the words: "it is the duty of the state to provide for the sustenance and support of those of its citizens who cannot procure sustenance themselves"; and again, "work adapted to their strength and capacity shall be supplied to those who lack means and opportunity of earning a livelihood for themselves and those dependent on them." in the most public way the new policy was introduced by an imperial message, on november , , in which the emperor expressed his conviction that the social difficulties could not be healed simply by the repression of the exaggerations of social democracy, but at the same time the welfare of the workmen must be advanced. this new policy had the warm approval of both the emperor and the crown prince; no one greeted more heartily the change than windthorst. "allow me," he once said to bismarck, "to speak openly: you have done me much evil in my life, but, as a german patriot, i must confess to you my gratitude that after all his political deeds you have persuaded our imperial master to turn to this path of social reform." there were, he said, difficulties to be met; he approved of the end, but not of all the details, "and," he continued, "something of the difficulty, if i may say so, you cause yourself. you are often too stormy for us; you are always coming with something new and we cannot always follow you in it, but you must not take that amiss. we are both old men and the emperor is much older than we are, but we should like ourselves in our lifetime to see some of these reforms established. that i wish for all of us and for our german country, and we will do our best to help in it." opinions may differ as to the wisdom of bismarck's social and financial policy; nobody can deny their admiration for the energy and patriotism which he displayed. it was no small thing for him, at his age, to come out of his comparative retirement to bring forward proposals which would be sure to excite the bitterest opposition of the men with whom he had been working, to embark again on a parliamentary conflict as keen as any of those which had so taxed his energies in his younger years. not content with inaugurating and suggesting these plans, he himself undertook the immediate execution of them. in addition to his other offices, in he undertook that of minister of trade in prussia, for he found no one whom he could entirely trust to carry out his proposals. during the next years he again took a prominent part in the parliamentary debates; day after day he attended to answer objections and to defend his measures in some of his ablest and longest speeches. by his proposals for a duty on corn he regained the support of most of the conservatives, but in the reichstag which was elected in he found himself opposed by a majority consisting of the centre, socialists, and progressives. many of the laws were rejected or amended, and it was not until that, in a modified form, the whole of the social legislation had been carried through. for the monopoly he gained no support; scarcely a voice was raised in its favour, nor can we be surprised at this. it was a proposal very characteristic of his internal policy; he had a definite aim in view and at once took the shortest, boldest, and most direct road towards it, putting aside the thought of all further consequences. in this others could not follow him; quite apart from the difficulties of organisation and the unknown effect of the law on all those who gained their livelihood by the growth, preparation, and sale of tobacco, there was a deep feeling that it was not safe to entrust the government with so enormous a power. men did not wish to see so many thousands enrolled in the army of officials, already too great; they did not desire a new check on the freedom of life and occupation, nor that the government should have the uncontrolled use of so great a sum of money. and then the use he proposed to make of the proceeds: if the calculations were correct, if the results were what he foretold, if from this monopoly they would be able to pay not only the chief expenses of the government but also assign an old-age pension to every german workman who reached the age of seventy--what would this be except to make the great majority of the nation prospective pensioners of the state? with compulsory attendance at the state schools; with the state universities as the only entrance to public life and professions; when everyone for three years had to serve in the army; when so large a proportion of the population earned their livelihood in the railways, the post-office, the customs, the administration--the state had already a power and influence which many besides the liberals regarded with alarm. what would it be when every working man looked forward to receiving, after his working days were over, a free gift from the government? could not this power be used for political measures also; could not it become a means for checking the freedom of opinions and even for interfering in the liberty of voting? he had to raise the money he wanted in another way, and, in , he began the great financial change that he had been meditating for three years; he threw all his vigour into overthrowing free trade and introducing a general system of protection. in this he was only doing what a large number of his countrymen desired. the results of free trade had not been satisfactory. in there was a great crisis in the iron trade; owing to overproduction there was a great fall of prices in england, and germany was being flooded with english goods sold below cost price. many factories had to be closed, owners were ruined, and men thrown out of work; it happened that, by a law passed in , the last duty on imported iron would cease on the st of december, . many of the manufacturers and a large party in the reichstag petitioned that the action of the law might at any rate be suspended. free-traders, however, still had a majority, for the greater portion of the national liberals belonged to that school, and the law was carried out. it was, however, apparent that not only the iron but other industries were threatened. the building of railways in russia would bring about an increased importation of russian corn and threatened the prosperity, not only of the large proprietors, but also of the peasants. it had always been the wise policy of the prussian government to maintain and protect by legislation the peasants, who were considered the most important class in the state. then the trade in swedish wood threatened to interfere with the profits from the german forests, an industry so useful to the health of the country and the prosperity of the government. but if free trade would injure the market for the natural products of the soil, it did not bring any compensating advantages by helping industry. germany was flooded with english manufactures, so that even the home market was endangered, and every year it became more apparent that foreign markets were being closed. the sanguine expectations of the free-traders had not been realised; america, france, russia, had high tariffs; german manufactured goods were excluded from these countries. what could they look forward to in the future but a ruined peasantry and the crippling of the iron and weaving industries? "i had the impression," said bismarck, "that under free trade we were gradually bleeding to death." he was probably much influenced in his new policy by lothar bucher, one of his private secretaries, who was constantly with him at varzin. bucher, who had been an extreme radical, had, in , been compelled to fly from the country and had lived many years in england. in he had entered bismarck's service. he had acquired a peculiar enmity to the cobden club, and looked on that institution as the subtle instrument of a deep-laid plot to persuade other nations to adopt a policy which was entirely for the benefit of england. he drew attention to cobden's words--"all we desire is the prosperity and greatness of england." we may in fact look on the cobden club and the principles it advocated from two points of view. either they are, as bucher maintained, simply english and their only result will be the prosperity of england, or they are merely one expression of a general form of thought which we know as liberalism; it was an attempt to create cosmopolitan institutions and to induce german politicians to take their economic doctrines from england, just as a few years before they had taken their political theories. in either case these doctrines would be very distasteful to bismarck, who disliked internationalism in finance as much as he did in constitutional law or socialist propaganda. bismarck in adopting protection was influenced, not by economic theory, but by the observation of facts. "all nations," he said, "which have protective duties enjoy a certain prosperity; what great advantages has america reached since it threatened to reduce duties twice, five times, ten times as high as ours!" england alone clung to free trade, and why? because she had grown so strong under the old system of protection that she could now as a hercules step down into the arena and challenge everyone to come into the lists. in the arena of commerce england was the strongest. this was why she advocated free trade, for free trade was really the right of the most powerful. english interests were furthered under the veil of the magic word freedom, and by it german enthusiasts for liberty were enticed to bring about the ruin and exploitation of their own country. if we look at the matter purely from the economic point of view, it is indeed difficult to see what benefits germany would gain from a policy of free trade. it was a poor country; if it was to maintain itself in the modern rivalry of nations, it must become rich. it could only become rich through manufactures, and manufactures had no opportunity of growing unless they had some moderate protection from foreign competition. the effect of bismarck's attention to finance was not limited to these great reforms; he directed the whole power of the government to the support of all forms of commercial enterprise and to the removal of all hindrances to the prosperity of the nation. to this task he devoted himself with the same courage and determination which he had formerly shewn in his diplomatic work. one essential element in the commercial reform was the improvement of the railways. bismarck's attention had long been directed to the inconveniences which arose from the number of private companies, whose duty it was to regard the dividends of the shareholders rather than the interests of the public. the existence of a monopoly of this kind in private hands seemed to him indefensible. his attention was especially directed to the injury done to trade by the differential rate imposed on goods traffic; on many lines it was the custom to charge lower rates on imported than on exported goods, and this naturally had a very bad effect on german manufactures. he would have liked to remedy all these deficiencies by making all railways the property of the empire (we see again his masterful mind, which dislikes all compromise); in this, however, he was prevented by the opposition of the other states, who would not surrender the control of their own lines. in prussia he was able to carry out this policy of purchase of all private lines by the state; by the time he laid down the ministry of commerce hardly any private companies remained. the acquisition of all the lines enabled the government greatly to improve the communication, to lower fares, and to introduce through communications; all this of course greatly added to the commercial enterprise and therefore the wealth of the country. he was now also able to give degrees his encouragement and support to those germans who for many years in countries beyond the sea had been attempting to lay the foundations for german commerce and even to acquire german colonies. bismarck's attitude in this matter deserves careful attention. as early as he had been approached by german travellers to ask for the support of the government in a plan for acquiring german colonies in south africa. they pointed out that here was a country fitted by its climate for european occupation; the present inhabitants of a large portion of it, the boers, were anxious to establish their independence of england and would welcome german support. it was only necessary to acquire a port, either at santa lucia or at delagoa bay, to receive a small subsidy from the government, and then private enterprise would divert the stream of german emigration from north america to south africa. bismarck, though he gave a courteous hearing to this proposal, could not promise them assistance, for, as he said, the political situation was not favourable. he must foresee that an attempt to carry out this or similar plans would inevitably bring about very serious difficulties with england, and he had always been accustomed to attach much importance to his good understanding with the english government. during the following years, however, the situation was much altered. first of all, great enterprise had been shewn by the german merchants and adventurers in different parts of the world, especially in africa and in the pacific. they, in those difficulties which will always occur when white traders settle in half-civilised lands, applied for support to the german government. bismarck, as he himself said, did not dare to refuse them this support. "i approached the matter with some reluctance; i asked myself, how could i justify it, if i said to these enterprising men, over whose courage, enthusiasm, and vigour i have been heartily pleased: 'that is all very well, but the german empire is not strong enough, it would attract the ill-will of other states.' i had not the courage as chancellor to declare to them this bankruptcy of the german nation for transmarine enterprises." it must, however, happen that wherever these german settlers went, they would be in the neighbourhood of some english colony, and however friendly were the relations of the governments of the two powers, disputes must occur in the outlying parts of the earth. in the first years of the empire bismarck had hoped that german traders would find sufficient protection from the english authorities, and anticipated their taking advantage of the full freedom of trade allowed in the british colonies; they would get all the advantages which would arise from establishing their own colonies, while the government would be spared any additional responsibility. he professed, however, to have learnt by experience from the difficulties which came after the annexation of the fiji islands by great britain that this hope would not be fulfilled; he acknowledged the great friendliness of the foreign office, but complained that the colonial office regarded exclusively british interests. as a complaint coming from his mouth this arouses some amusement; the colonial office expressed itself satisfied to have received from so high an authority a testimonial to its efficiency which it had rarely gained from englishmen. the real change in the policy of the empire must, however, be attributed not to any imaginary shortcomings of the english authorities; it was an inevitable result of the abandonment of the policy of free trade, and of the active support which the government was now giving to all forms of commercial enterprise. it was shewn, first of all, in the grant of subsidies to mail steamers, which enabled german trade and german travellers henceforward to be carried by german ships; before they had depended entirely on english and french lines. it was not till that the government saw its way to undertake protection of german colonists. they were enabled to do so by the great change which had taken place in the political situation. up to this time germany was powerless to help or to injure england, but, on the other hand, required english support. all this was changed by the occupation of egypt. here england required a support on the continent against the indignation of france and the jealousy of russia. this could only be found in germany, and therefore a close approximation between the two countries was natural. bismarck let it be known that england would find no support, but rather opposition, if she, on her side, attempted, as she so easily could have done, to impede german colonial enterprise. in his colonial policy bismarck refused to take the initiative; he refused, also, to undertake the direct responsibility for the government of their new possessions. he imitated the older english plan, and left the government in the hands of private companies, who received a charter of incorporation; he avowedly was imitating the east india company and the hudson's bay company. the responsibilities of the german government were limited to a protection of the companies against the attack or interference by any other power, and a general control over their actions. in this way it was possible to avoid calling on the reichstag for any large sum, or undertaking the responsibility of an extensive colonial establishment, for which at the time they had neither men nor experience. another reason against the direct annexation of foreign countries lay in the constitution of the empire; it would have been easier to annex fresh land to prussia; this could have been done by the authority of the king; there was, however, no provision by which the bundesrath could undertake this responsibility, and it probably could not be done even with the assent of the reichstag unless some change were made in the constitution. it was, however, essential that the new acquisitions should be german and not prussian. all these changes were not introduced without much opposition; the progressives especially distinguished themselves by their prolonged refusal to assent even to the subsidies for german lines of steamers. in the parliament of they were enabled often to throw out the government proposals. it was at this time that the conflict between bismarck and richter reached its height. he complained, and justly complained, that the policy of the progressives was then, as always, negative. it is indeed strange to notice how we find reproduced in germany that same feeling which a few years before had in england nearly led to the loss of the colonies and the destruction of the empire. it is too soon even now to consider fully the result of this new policy; the introduction of protection has indeed, if we are to judge by appearances, brought about a great increase in the prosperity of the country; whether the scheme for old-age pensions will appease the discontent of the working man seems very doubtful. one thing, however, we must notice: the influence of the new policy is far greater than the immediate results of the actual laws passed. it has taught the germans to look to the government not only as a means of protecting them against the attacks of other states, but to see in it a thoughtful, and i think we may say kindly, guardian of their interests. they know that every attempt of each individual to gain wealth or power for his country will be supported and protected by the government; they know that there is constant watchfulness as to the dangers to life and health which arise from the conditions of modern civilisation. in these laws, in fact, bismarck, who deeply offended and irretrievably alienated the survivors of his own generation, won over and secured for himself and also for the government the complete loyalty of the rising generation. it might be supposed that this powerful action on the part of the state would interfere with private enterprise; the result shews that this is not the case. a watchful and provident government really acts as an incentive to each individual. let us also recognise that bismarck was acting exactly as in the old days every english government acted, when the foreign policy was dictated by the interests of british trade and the home policy aimed at preserving, protecting, and assisting the different classes in the community. bismarck has often been called a reactionary, and yet we find that by the social legislation he was the first statesman deliberately to apply himself to the problem which had been created by the alteration in the structure of society. even if the solutions which he proposed do not prove in every case to have been the best, he undoubtedly foresaw what would be the chief occupation for the statesmen of the future. in these reforms he had, however, little help from the reichstag; the liberals were bitterly opposed, the socialists sceptical and suspicious, the catholics cool and unstable allies; during these years the chronic quarrel between himself and parliament broke out with renewed vigour. how bitterly did he deplore party spirit, the bane of german life, which seemed each year to gain ground! "it has," he said, "transferred itself to our modern public life and the parliaments; the governments, indeed, stand together, but in the german reichstag i do not find that guardian of liberty for which i had hoped. party spirit has overrun us. this it is which i accuse before god and history, if the great work of our people achieved between and fall into decay, and in this house we destroy by the pen what has been created by the sword." in future years it will perhaps be regarded as one of his chief claims that he refused to become a party leader. he saved germany from a serious danger to which almost every other country in europe which has attempted to adopt english institutions has fallen a victim--the sacrifice of national welfare to the integrity and power of a parliamentary fraction. his desire was a strong and determined government, zealously working for the benefit of all classes, quick to see and foresee present and future evil; he regarded not the personal wishes of individuals, but looked only in each matter he undertook to its effect on the nation as a whole. "i will accept help," he said, "wherever i may get it. i care not to what party any man belongs. i have no intention of following a party policy; i used to do so when i was a young and angry member of a party, but it is impossible for a prussian or german minister." though the constitution had been granted, he did not wish to surrender the oldest and best traditions of the prussian monarchy; and even if the power of the king and emperor was limited and checked by two parliaments it was still his duty, standing above all parties, to watch over the country as a hundred years before his ancestors had done. his power, however, was checked by the parliaments. bismarck often sighed for a free hand; he longed to be able to carry out his reforms complete and rounded as they lay clear before him in his own brain; how often did he groan under all the delay, the compromise, the surrender, which was imposed upon him when, conscious as he was that he was only striving for the welfare of his country, he had to win over not only the king, not only his colleagues in the prussian ministry, his subordinates, who had much power to check and impede his actions, but, above all, the parliaments. it was inevitable that his relation to them should often be one of conflict; it was their duty to submit to a searching criticism the proposals of the government and to amend or reject them, and let us confess that it was better they were there. the modifications they introduced in the bills he proposed were often improvements; those they rejected were not always wise. the drafting of government bills was often badly done; the first proposals for the socialistic law, the original drafts of many of his economic reforms, were all the better when they had been once rejected and were again brought forward in a modified form. more than this, we must confess that bismarck did not possess that temperament which would make it wise to entrust him with absolute dictatorial power in internal matters. he attempted to apply to legislation habits he had learnt in diplomacy. and it is curious to notice bismarck's extreme caution in diplomacy, where he was a recognised master, and his rashness in legislation, where the ground was often new to him. in foreign affairs a false move may easily be withdrawn, a change of alliance quickly made; it often happens that speed is more important than wisdom. in internal affairs it is different; there, delay is in itself of value; moreover, false legislation cannot be imposed with impunity, laws cannot be imposed and repealed. bismarck often complained of the conduct of the reichstag. there were in it two parties, the socialists and the centre, closely organised, admirably disciplined, obedient to leaders who were in opposition by principle; they looked on the parliamentary campaign as a struggle for power, and they maintained the struggle with a persistency and success which had not been surpassed by any parliamentary opposition in any other country. apart from them the attitude of all the parties was normally that of moderate criticism directed to the matter of the government proposals. there were, of course, often angry scenes; bismarck himself did not spare his enemies, but we find no events which shew violence beyond what is, if not legitimate, at least inevitable in all parliamentary assemblies. the main objects of the government were always attained; the military budgets were always passed, though once not until after a dissolution. in the contest with the clerical party and the socialists the government had the full support of a large majority. even in the hostile reichstag of , in which the socialists, clericals, and progressives together commanded a majority, a series of important laws were passed. once, indeed, the majority in opposition to the government went beyond the limits of reason and honour when they refused a vote of £ for an additional director in the foreign office. it was the expression of a jealousy which had no justification in facts; at the time the german foreign office was the best managed department in europe; the labour imposed on the secretaries was excessive, and the nation could not help contrasting this vote with the fact that shortly before a large number of the members had voted that payments should be made to themselves. the nation could not help asking whether it would not gain more benefit from another £ a year expended on the foreign office than from £ , a year for payment of members. even this unfortunate action was remedied a few months later, when the vote was passed in the same parliament by a majority of twenty. notwithstanding all their internal differences and the extreme party spirit which often prevailed, the reichstag always shewed determination in defending its own privileges. more than once bismarck attacked them in the most tender points. at one time it was on the privileges of members and their freedom from arrest; both during the struggle with the clericals and with the socialists the claim was made to arrest members during the session for political utterances. when berlin was subject to a state of siege, the president of the police claimed the right of expelling from the capital obnoxious socialist members. on these occasions the government found itself confronted by the unanimous opposition of the whole house. in , bismarck proposed that the meetings of the reichstag should be biennial and the budget voted for two years; the proposal was supported on the reasonable grounds that thereby inconvenience and press of work would be averted, which arose from the meeting of the prussian and german parliaments every winter. few votes, however, could be obtained for a suggestion which seemed to cut away the most important privileges of parliament. another of the great causes of friction between bismarck and the parliament arose from the question as to freedom of debate. both before , and since that year, he made several attempts to introduce laws that members should be to some extent held responsible, and under certain circumstances be brought before a court of law, in consequence of what they had said from their places in parliament. this was represented as an interference with freedom of speech, and was bitterly resented. bismarck, however, always professed, and i think truly, that he did not wish to control the members in their opposition to the government, but to place some check on their personal attacks on individuals. a letter to one of his colleagues, written in , is interesting: "i have," he says, "long learned the difficulties which educated people, who have been well brought up, have to overcome in order to meet the coarseness of our parliamentary _klopfechter_ [pugilists] with the necessary amount of indifference, and to refuse them in one's own consciousness the undeserved honour of moral equality. the repeated and bitter struggles in which you have had to fight alone will have strengthened you in your feeling of contempt for opponents who are neither honourable enough nor deserve sufficient respect to be able to injure you." there was indeed a serious evil arising from the want of the feeling of responsibility in a parliamentary assembly which had no great and honourable traditions. he attempted to meet it by strengthening the authority of the house over its own members; the chairman did not possess any power of punishing breaches of decorum. bismarck often contrasted this with the very great powers over their own members possessed by the british houses of parliament. he drew attention to the procedure by which, for instance, mr. plimsoll could be compelled to apologise for hasty words spoken in a moment of passion. it is strange that neither the prussian nor the german parliament consented to adopt rules which are really the necessary complement for the privileges of parliament. the germans were much disappointed by the constant quarrels and disputes which were so frequent in public life; they had hoped that with the unity of their country a new period would begin; they found that, as before, the management of public affairs was disfigured by constant personal enmities and the struggle of parties. we must not, however, look on this as a bad sign; it is rather more profitable to observe that the new institutions were not affected or weakened by this friction. it was a good sign for the future that the new state held together as firmly as any old-established monarchy, and that the most important questions of policy could be discussed and decided without even raising any point which might be a danger to the permanence of the empire. bismarck himself did much to put his relations with the parliament on a new and better footing. acting according to his general principle, he felt that the first thing to be done was to induce mutual confidence by unrestrained personal intercourse. the fact that he himself was not a member of the parliament deprived him of those opportunities which an english minister enjoys. he therefore instituted, in , a parliamentary reception. during the session, generally one day each week, his house was opened to all members of the house. the invitations were largely accepted, especially by the members of the national liberal and conservative parties. those who were opponents on principle, the centre, the progressives, and the socialists, generally stayed away. these receptions became the most marked feature in the political life of the capital, and they enabled many members to come under the personal charm of the chancellor. what an event was it in the life of the young and unknown deputy from some obscure provincial town, when he found himself sitting, perhaps, at the same table as the chancellor, drinking the beer which bismarck had brought into honour at berlin, and for which his house was celebrated, and listening while, with complete freedom from all arrogance or pomposity, his host talked as only he could! the weakest side of his administration lay in the readiness with which he had recourse to the criminal law to defend himself against political adversaries. he was, indeed, constantly subjected to attacks in the press, which were often unjust and sometimes unmeasured, but no man who takes part in public life is exempt from calumny. he was himself never slow to attack his opponents, both personally in the parliament, and still more by the hired writers of the press. none the less, to defend himself from attacks, he too often brought his opponents into the police court, and _bismarckbeleidigung_ became a common offence. even the editor of _kladderadatsch_ was once imprisoned. he must be held personally responsible, for no action could be instituted without his own signature to the charge. we see the same want of generosity in the use which he made of attempts, or reputed attempts, at assassination. in , while he was at kissingen, a young man shot at him; he stated that he had been led to do so owing to the attacks made on the chancellor by the catholic party. no attempt, however, was made to prove that he had any accomplices; it was not even suggested that he was carrying out the wishes of the party. it was one of those cases which will always occur in political struggles, when a young and inexperienced man will be excited by political speeches to actions which no one would foresee, and which would not be the natural result of the words to which he had listened. nevertheless, bismarck was not ashamed publicly in the reichstag to taunt his opponents with the action, and to declare that whether they would or not their party was kuhlmann's party; "he clings to your coat-tails," he said. a similar event had happened a few years before, when a young man had been arrested on the charge that he intended to assassinate the chancellor. no evidence in support of the charge was forthcoming, but the excuse was taken by the police for searching the house of one of the catholic leaders with whom the accused had lived. no incriminating documents of any kind were found, but among the private papers was the correspondence between the leaders in the party of the centre dealing with questions of party organisation and political tactics. the government used these private papers for political purposes, and published one of them. the constant use of the police in political warfare belonged, of course, to the system he had inherited, but none the less it was to have been hoped that he would have been strong enough to put it aside. the government was now firmly established; it could afford to be generous. had he definitely cut himself off from these bad traditions he would have conferred on his country a blessing scarcely less than all the others. the opposition of the parties in the reichstag to his policy and person did not represent the feelings of the country. as the years passed by and the new generation grew up, the admiration for his past achievements and for his character only increased. his seventieth birthday, which he celebrated in , was made the occasion for a great demonstration of regard, in which the whole nation joined. a national subscription was opened and a present of two million marks was made to him. more than half of this was devoted to repurchasing that part of the estate at schoenhausen which had been sold when he was a young man. the rest he devoted to forming an institution for the help of teachers in higher schools. a few years before, the emperor had presented to him the sachsen wald, a large portion of the royal domains in the duchy of lauenburg. he now purchased the neighbouring estate of friedrichsruh, so that he had a third country residence to which he could retire. it had a double advantage: its proximity to the great forest in which he loved to wander, and also to a railway, making it little more than an hour distant from berlin. he was able, therefore, at friedrichsruh, to continue his management of affairs more easily than he could at varzin. chapter xvii. retirement and death. - . well was it for germany that bismarck had not allowed her to fall into the weak and vacillating hands of a parliamentary government. peace has its dangers as well as war, and the rivalry of nations lays upon them a burden beneath which all but the strongest must succumb. the future was dark; threatening clouds were gathering in the east and west; the hostility of russia increased, and in france the republic was wavering; a military adventurer had appeared, who threatened to use the desire for revenge as a means for his personal advancement. germany could no longer disregard french threats; year by year the french army had been increased, and in general boulanger introduced a new law by which in time of peace over , men would be under arms. russia had nearly , soldiers on her peace establishment, and, against this, germany only , . they were no longer safe; the duty of the government was clear; in december, , they brought forward a law to raise the army to , men and keep it at that figure for seven years. "we have no desire for war," said bismarck, in defending the proposal; "we belong (to use an expression of prince metternich's) to the states whose appetite is satisfied; under no circumstances shall we attack france; the stronger we are, the more improbable is war; but if france has any reason to believe that she is more powerful than we, then war is certain." it was, he said, no good for the house to assure the government of their patriotism and their readiness for sacrifice when the hour of danger arrived; they must be prepared beforehand. "words are not soldiers and speeches not battalions." the house (there was a majority of catholics, socialists, and progressives) threw out the bill, the government dissolved, and the country showed its confidence in bismarck and moltke; conservatives and national liberals made a coalition, the pope himself ordered the catholics not to oppose the government (his support had been purchased by the partial repeal of a law expelling religious orders from prussia), and the emperor could celebrate his ninetieth birthday, which fell in march, , hopeful that the beneficent work of peaceful reform would continue. and yet never was bismarck's resource so needed as during the last year in which he was to serve his old master. first, a french spy was arrested on german soil; the french demanded his release, maintaining that german officers had violated the frontier. unless one side gave way, war was inevitable; the french government, insecure as it was, could not venture to do so; bismarck was strong enough to be lenient: the spy was released and peace was preserved. then, on the other side, the passionate enmity of russia burst out in language of unaccustomed violence; the national press demanded the dismissal of bismarck or war; the czar passed through germany on his way to copenhagen, but ostentatiously avoided meeting the emperor; the slight was so open that the worst predictions were justified. in november, on his return, he spent a few hours in berlin. bismarck asked for an audience, and then he found that despatches had been laid before the czar which seemed to shew that he, while avowedly supporting russia in bulgarian affairs, had really been undermining her influence. the despatches were forged; we do not yet know who it was that hoped to profit by stirring up a war between the two great nations. we can well believe that bismarck, in the excitement of the moment, spoke with an openness to which the czar was not accustomed; he succeeded, however, in bringing about a tolerable understanding. the czar assured him that he had no intention of going to war, he only desired peace; bismarck did all that human ingenuity could to preserve it. by the triple alliance he had secured germany against the attack of russia. he now entered into a fresh and secret agreement with russia by which germany agreed to protect her against an attack from austria; he thereby hoped to be able to prevent the czar from looking to france for support against the triple alliance. it was a policy of singular daring to enter into a defensive alliance with russia against austria, at the same time that he had another defensive alliance with austria against russia.[ ] to shew that he had no intention of deserting his older ally, he caused the text of the treaty with austria to be published. this need no longer be interpreted as a threat to russia. then, that germany, if all else failed, might be able to stand on her own resources, another increase of the army was asked for. by the reorganisation of the reserve, , men could be added to the army in time of war. this proposal was brought before the reichstag, together with one for a loan of twenty-eight million marks to purchase the munitions of war which would be required, and in defence of this, bismarck made the last of his great speeches. it was not necessary to plead for the bill. he was confident of the patriotism of the house; his duty was to curb the nervous anxiety which recent events had produced. these proposals were not for war, but for peace; but they must indeed be prepared for war, for that was a danger that was never absent, and by a review of the last forty years he shewed that scarcely a single year had gone by in which there had not been the probability of a great european conflict, a war of coalitions in which all the great states of europe would be ranged on one side or the other. this danger was still present, it would never cease; germany, now, as before, must always be prepared; for the strength of germany was the security of europe. "we must make greater exertions than other powers on account of our geographical position. we lie in the middle of europe; we can be attacked on all sides. god has put us in a situation in which our neighbours will not allow us to fall into indolence or apathy. the pike in the european fish-pond prevent us from becoming carp." it was not their fault if the old alliance with russia had broken down; the alliance with austria still continued. but, above all, germany must depend on her army, and then they could look boldly into the future. "it will calm our citizens if they think that if we are attacked on two sides we can put a million good soldiers on the frontier, and in a few weeks support them by another million." but let them not think that this terrible engine of war was a danger to the peace of europe. in words which represent a profound truth he said: "it is just the strength at which we aim that makes us peaceful. that sounds paradoxical, but it is so. with the powerful engine into which we are forming the german army one undertakes no offensive war." in truth, when the army was the nation, what statesman was there who would venture on war unless he were attacked? "if i were to say to you, 'we are threatened by france and russia; it is better for us to fight at once; an offensive war is more advantageous for us,' and ask for a credit of a hundred millions, i do not know whether you would grant it,--i hope not." and he concluded: "it is not fear which makes us lovers of peace, but the consciousness of our own strength. we can be won by love and good-will, but by them alone; _we germans fear god and nothing else in the world, and it is the fear of god which makes us seek peace and ensue it_." these are words which will not be forgotten so long as the german tongue is spoken. well will it be if they are remembered in their entirety. they were the last message of the older generation to the new germany which had arisen since the war; for already the shadow of death lay over the city; in the far south the crown prince was sinking to his grave, and but a few weeks were to pass before bismarck stood at the bedside of the dying emperor. he died on march , , a few days before his ninety-first birthday, and with him passed the support on which bismarck's power rested. he was not a great man, but he was an honourable, loyal, and courteous gentleman; he had not always understood the course of bismarck's policy or approved the views which his minister adopted. the restraint he had imposed had often been inconvenient, and bismarck had found much difficulty in overcoming the prejudices of his master; but it had none the less been a gain for bismarck that he was compelled to explain and justify his action to a man whom he never ceased to love and respect. how beneficial had been the controlling influence of his presence the world was to learn by the events which followed his death. that had happened to which for five and twenty years all bismarck's enemies had looked forward. the foundation on which his power rested was taken away; men at once began to speculate on his fall. the noble presence of the crown prince, his cheerful and kindly manners, his known attachment to liberal ideas, his strong national feeling, the success with which he had borne himself on the uncongenial field of battle, all had made him the hope of the generation to which he belonged. who was so well suited to solve the difficulties of internal policy with which bismarck had struggled so long? hopes never to be fulfilled! absent from his father's deathbed, he returned to berlin a crippled and dying man, and when a few weeks later his body was lowered into the grave, there were buried with him the hopes and aspirations of a whole generation. his early death was indeed a great misfortune for his country. not that he would have fulfilled all the hopes of the party that would have made him their leader. it is never wise to depend on the liberalism of a crown prince. when young and inexperienced he had been in opposition to his father's government--but his father before him had, while heir to the throne, also held a similar position to his own brother. as crown prince, he had desired and had won popularity; he had been even too sensitive to public opinion. his, however, was a character that required only responsibility to strengthen it; with the burden of sovereignty he would, we may suppose, have shewn a fixity of purpose which many of his admirers would hardly have expected of him, nor would he have been deficient in those qualities of a ruler which are the traditions of his family. he was not a man to surrender any of the prerogatives or authority of the crown. he had a stronger will than his father, and he would have made his will felt. his old enmity to bismarck had almost ceased. it is not probable that with the new emperor the chancellor would long have held his position, but he would have been able to transfer the crown to a man who had learnt wisdom by prolonged disappointment. how he would have governed is shewn by the only act of authority which he had time to carry out. he would have done what was more important than giving a little more power to the parliament: he would at once have stopped that old and bad system by which the prussian government has always attempted to schoolmaster the people. during his short reign he dismissed herr von puttkammer, the minister of the interior, a relative of bismarck's wife, for interfering with the freedom of election; we may be sure that he would have allowed full freedom of speech; and that he would not have consented to govern by aid of the police. under him there would not have been constant trials for _majestätsbeleidigung_ or _bismarckbeleidigung_. this he could have done without weakening the power of the crown or the authority of the government; those who know germany will believe that it was the one reform which was still required. the illness of the emperor made it desirable to avoid points of conflict; both he and bismarck knew that it was impossible, during the few weeks that his life would be spared, to execute so important a change as the resignation of the chancellor would have been. on many points there was a difference of opinion, but bismarck did not unduly express his view, nor did he threaten to resign if his advice were not adopted. when, for instance, the emperor hesitated to give his assent to a law prolonging the period of parliament, bismarck did not attempt to control his decision. when herr puttkammer was dismissed, bismarck did not remonstrate against an act which was almost of the nature of a personal reprimand to himself. it was, however, different when the foreign policy of the empire was affected, for here bismarck, as before, considered himself the trustee and guarantor for the security of germany. an old project was now revived for bringing about a marriage between the princess victoria of prussia and prince alexander of battenberg. this had been suggested some years before, while the prince was still ruler of bulgaria; at bismarck's advice, the emperor william had refused his consent to the marriage, partly for the reason that according to the family law of the hohenzollerns a marriage with the battenberger family would be a mésalliance. he was, however, even more strongly influenced by the effect this would have on the political situation of europe. the foundation of bismarck's policy was the maintenance of friendship with russia; this old-established alliance depended, however, on the personal good-will of the czar, and not on the wishes of the russian nation or any identity of interests between the two empires. a marriage between a prussian princess and a man who was so bitterly hated by the czar as was prince alexander must have seriously injured the friendly relations which had existed between the two families since the year . bismarck believed that the happiness of the princess must be sacrificed to the interests of germany, and the emperor william, who, when a young man, had for similar reasons been required by his father to renounce the hand of the lady to whom he had been devotedly attached, agreed with him. now, after the emperor's death the project was revived; the emperor frederick wavered between his feelings as a father and his duty as a king. bismarck suspected that the strong interest which the empress displayed in the project was due, not only to maternal affection, but also to the desire, which in her would be natural enough, to bring over the german empire to the side of england in the eastern question, so that england might have a stronger support in her perennial conflict with russia. the matter, therefore, appeared to him as a conflict between the true interests of germany and those old court influences which he so often had had to oppose, by which the family relationships of the reigning sovereign were made to divert his attention from the single interests of his own country. he made it a question of confidence; he threatened to resign, as he so often did under similar circumstances; he let it be known through the press what was the cause, and, in his opinion, the true interpretation, of the conflict which influenced the court. in order to support his view, he called in the help of the grand duke of baden, who, as the emperor's brother-in-law, and one of the most experienced of the reigning princes, was the proper person to interfere in a matter which concerned both the private and the public life of the sovereign. the struggle, which threatened to become serious, was, however, allayed by the visit of the queen of england to germany. she, acting in german affairs with that strict regard to constitutional principle and that dislike of court intrigue that she had always observed in dealings with her own ministers, gave her support to bismarck. the marriage did not take place. frederick's reign lasted but ninety days, and his son ruled in his place. the new emperor belonged to the generation which had grown up since the war; he could not remember the old days of conflict; like all of his generation, from his earliest years he had been accustomed to look on bismarck with gratitude and admiration. in him, warm personal friendship was added to the general feeling of public regard; he had himself learnt from bismarck's own lips the principles of policy and the lessons of history. it might well seem that he would continue to lean for support on the old statesman. so he himself believed, but careful observers who saw his power of will and his restless activity foretold that he would not allow to bismarck that complete freedom of action and almost absolute power which he had obtained during the later years of the old emperor. they foretold also that bismarck would not be content with a position of less power, and there were many ready to watch for and foment the differences which must arise. in the first months of the new reign, some of bismarck's old enemies attempted to undermine his influence by spreading reports of his differences with the emperor frederick, and professor geffken even went so far as to publish from the manuscript some of the most confidential portions of the emperor's diary in order to shew that but for him bismarck would not have created the new empire. the attempt failed, for, rightly read, the passages which were to injure bismarck's reputation only served to shew how much greater than men thought had been the difficulties with which he had had to contend and the wisdom with which he had dealt with them. from the very beginning there were differences of opinion; the old and the new did not think or feel alike. bismarck looked with disapproval on the constant journeys of the emperor; he feared that he was compromising his dignity. moltke and others of the older generation retired from the posts they filled; bismarck, with growing misgivings, stayed on. his promises to his old master, his love of power, his distrust of the capacity of others, all made it hard for him to withdraw when he still might have done so with dignity. we cannot doubt that his presence was irksome to his master; his influence and authority were too great; before them, even the majesty of the throne was dimmed; the minister was a greater man than the sovereign. if we are to understand what happened we must remember how exceptional was the position which bismarck now occupied. he had repeatedly defied the power of parliament and shewn that he was superior to the reichstag; there were none among his colleagues who could approach him in age or experience; the prussian ministers were as much his nominees as were the officials of the empire. he himself was chancellor, minister-president, foreign minister, and minister of trade; his son was at the head of the foreign office and was used for the more important diplomatic missions; his cousin was minister, of the interior; in the management of the most critical affairs, he depended upon the assistance of his own family and secretaries. he had twice been able against the will of his colleagues to reverse the whole policy of the state. the government was in his hands and men had learnt to look to him rather than to the emperor. was it to be expected that a young man, ambitious, full of spirit and self-confidence, who had learnt from bismarck himself a high regard for his monarchical duties, would acquiesce in this system? nay, more; was it right that he should? it was a fitting conclusion to his career that the man who had restored the monarchical character of the prussian state should himself shew that before the will of the king he, as every other subject, must bow. bismarck had spent the winter of at friedrichsruh. when he returned to berlin at the end of january, he found that his influence and authority had been undermined; not only was the emperor influenced by other advisers, but even the ministry shewed an independence to which he was not accustomed. the chief causes of difference arose regarding the prolongation of the law against the socialists. this expired in , and it was proposed to bring in a bill making it permanent. bismarck wished even more than this to intensify the stringency of its provisions. apparently the emperor did not believe that this was necessary. he hoped that it would be possible to remove the disaffection of the working men by remedial measures, and, in order to discuss these, he summoned a european congress which would meet in berlin. here, then, there was a fundamental difference of opinion between the king of prussia and his minister; the result was that bismarck did not consider himself able to defend the socialist law before the reichstag, for he could not any longer give full expression to his own views; the parliament was left without direction from the government, and eventually a coalition between the extreme conservatives, the radicals, and the socialists rejected the bill altogether. a bitterly contested general election followed in which the name and the new policy of the emperor were freely used, and it resulted in a majority opposed to the parties who were accustomed to support bismarck. these events made it obvious that on matters of internal policy a permanent agreement between the emperor and the chancellor was impossible. it seems that bismarck therefore offered to resign his post as minister president, maintaining only the general control of foreign affairs. but this proposition did not meet with the approval of the emperor. there were, however, other grounds of difference connected even with foreign affairs; the emperor was drawing closer to england and thereby separating from russia. by the middle of march, matters had come to a crisis. the actual cause for the final difference was an important matter of constitutional principle. bismarck found that the emperor had on several occasions discussed questions of administration with some of his colleagues without informing him; moreover, important projects of law had been devised without his knowledge. he therefore drew the attention of the emperor to the principle of the german and prussian constitutions. by the german constitution, as we have seen, the chancellor was responsible for all acts of the ministers and secretaries of state, who held office as his deputies and subordinates. he therefore claimed that he could require to be consulted on every matter of any importance which concerned any of these departments. the same right as regards prussian affairs had been explicitly secured to the minister-president by a cabinet order of , which was passed in order to give to the president that complete control which was necessary if he was to be responsible for the whole policy of the government. the emperor answered by a command that he should draw up a new order reversing this decree. this bismarck refused to do; the emperor repeated his instructions. it was a fundamental point on which no compromise was possible; the emperor proposed to take away from the chancellor that supreme position he had so long enjoyed; to recall into his own hands that immediate control over all departments which in old days the kings of prussia had exercised and, as bismarck said, to be his own prime minister. in this degradation of his position bismarck would not acquiesce; he had no alternative but to resign. the final separation between these two men, each so self-willed and confident in his own strength, was not to be completed by ceremonious discussions on constitutional forms. it was during an audience at the castle, that the emperor had explained his views, bismarck his objections; the emperor insisted that his will must be carried out, if not by bismarck, then by another. "then i am to understand, your majesty," said bismarck, speaking in english; "that i am in your way?" "yes," was the answer. this was enough; he took his leave and returned home to draw up the formal document in which he tendered his resignation. this, which was to be the conclusion of his public life, had to be composed with care; he did not intend to be hurried; but the emperor was impatient, and his impatience was increased when he was informed that windthorst, the leader of the centre, had called on bismarck at his residence. he feared lest there was some intrigue, and that bismarck proposed to secure his position by an alliance with the parliamentary opposition. he sent an urgent verbal message requiring the resignation immediately, a command with which bismarck was not likely to comply. early next morning, the emperor drove round himself to his house, and bismarck was summoned from his bed to meet the angry sovereign. the emperor asked what had taken place at the interview with windthorst, and stated that ministers were not to enter on political discussions with parliamentary leaders without his permission. bismarck denied that there had been any political discussion, and answered that he could not allow any supervision over the guests he chose to receive in his private house. "not if i order it as your sovereign?" asked the emperor. "no. the commands of my king cease in my wife's drawing-room," answered bismarck. the emperor had forgotten that bismarck was a gentleman before he was a minister, and that a prussian nobleman could not be treated like a russian _boyar_.[ ] no reconciliation or accommodation was now possible. the emperor did all he could to make it appear that the resignation was voluntary and friendly. he conferred on the retiring chancellor the highest honours: he raised him to the rank of field marshal and created him duke of lauenburg, and publicly stated his intention of presenting him with a copy of his own portrait. as a soldier, bismarck obediently accepted the military honour; the new title he requested to be allowed not to use; he had never been asked whether he desired it. no outward honours could recompense him for the affront he had received. what profited it him that the princes and people of germany joined in unanimous expression of affection and esteem, that he could scarcely set foot outside his house for the enthusiastic crowd who cheered and followed him through the streets of berlin? for twenty-four years he had been prussian minister and now he was told he was in the way. his successor was already in office; he was himself driven in haste from the house which so long had been his home. a final visit to the princes of the royal house, a last audience with the emperor, a hasty leave-taking from his friends and colleagues, and then the last farewell, when in the early morning he drove to charlottenburg and alone went down into the mausoleum where his old master slept, to lay a rose upon his tomb. the rest he had so often longed for had come, but it was too late. forty years he had passed in public life and he could not now take up again the interests and occupations of his youth. agriculture had no more charms for him; he was too infirm for sport; he could not, like his father, pass his old age in the busy indolence of a country gentleman's life, nor could he, as some statesmen have done, soothe his declining years by harmless and amiable literary dilettanteism. his religion was not of that complexion that he could find in contemplation, and in preparation for another life, consolation for the trials of this one. at seventy-five years of age, his intellect was as vigorous and his energy as unexhausted as they had been twenty years before; his health was improved, for he had found in dr. schweninger a physician who was not only able to treat his complaints, but could also compel his patient to obey his orders. he still felt within himself full power to continue his public work, and now he was relegated to impotence and obscurity. whether in varzin or friedrichsruh, his eyes were always fixed on berlin. he saw the state which he had made, and which he loved as a father, subjected to the experiment of young and inexperienced control. he saw overthrown that carefully planned system by which the peace of europe was made to depend upon the prosperity of germany. changes were made in the working of that constitution which it seemed presumption for anyone but him to touch. his policy was deserted, his old enemies were taken into favour. can we wonder that he could not restrain his impatience? he felt like a man who sees his heir ruling in his own house during his lifetime, cutting down his woods and dismissing his old servants, or as if he saw a careless and clumsy rider mounted on his favourite horse. from all parts of germany deputations from towns and newspaper writers came to visit him. he received them with his customary courtesy, and spoke with his usual frankness. he did not disguise his chagrin; he had, he said, not been treated with the consideration which he deserved. he had never been accustomed to hide his feelings or to disguise his opinions. nothing that his successors did seemed to him good. they made a treaty with england for the arrangement of conflicting questions in africa; men looked to bismarck to hear what he would say before they formed their opinion; "i would never have signed the treaty," he declared. he quickly drifted into formal opposition to the government; he even made arrangements with one of the hamburg papers that it should represent his opinions. he seemed, to have forgotten his own principle that, in foreign affairs at least, an opposition to the policy of the government should not be permitted. he claimed a privilege which as minister he would never have allowed to another. he defied the government. "they shall not silence me," he said. it seemed as though he was determined to undo the work of his life. under the pretext that he was attacking the policy of the ministers, he was undermining the loyalty of the people, for few could doubt that it was the emperor at whom the criticisms were aimed. in his isolation and retirement, the old uncompromising spirit of his ancestors once more awoke in him. he had been loyal to the crown--who more so?--but his loyalty had limits. his long service had been one of personal and voluntary affection; he was not a valet, that his service could be handed on from generation to generation among the assets of the crown. "after all," he would ask, "who are these hohenzollerns? my family is as good as theirs. we have been here longer than they have." like his ancestors who stood out against the rule of the great elector, he was putting personal feeling above public duty. even if the action of the new government was not always wise, he himself had made germany strong enough to support for a few years a weak ministry. more than this, he was attempting to destroy the confidence of the people in the moral justice and necessity of the measures by which he had founded the empire. they had always been taught that in their country had been the object of a treacherous and unprovoked attack. bismarck, who was always living over again the great scenes in which he had been the leading actor, boasted that but for him there would never have been a war with france. he referred to the alteration in the ems telegram, which we have already narrated, and the government was forced to publish the original documents. the conclusions drawn from these disclosures and others which followed were exaggerated, but the naïve and simple belief of the people was irretrievably destroyed. where they had been taught to see the will of god, they found only the machinations of the minister. in a country where patriotism had already taken the place of religion, the last illusion had been dispelled; almost the last barrier was broken down which stood between the nation and moral scepticism. bismarck's criticism was very embarrassing to the government; by injuring the reputation of the ministry he impaired the influence of the nation. it was difficult to keep silence and ignore the attack, but the attempts at defence were awkward and unwise. general caprivi attempted to defend the treaty with england by reading out confidential minutes, addressed by bismarck to the secretary of the minister for foreign affairs, in which he had written that the friendship of england and the support of lord salisbury were more important than zanzibar or the whole of africa. he addressed a circular despatch to prussian envoys to inform them that the utterances of prince bismarck were without any actual importance, as he was now only a private man. this only made matters worse; for the substance of the despatch quickly became known (another instance of the lax control over important state documents which we so often notice in dealing with german affairs), and only increased the bitterness of bismarck, which was shared by his friends and supporters. for more than two years the miserable quarrel continued; bismarck was now the public and avowed enemy of the court and the ministry. moltke died, and he alone of the great men of the country was absent from the funeral ceremony, but in his very absence he overshadowed all who were there. his public popularity only increased. in , he travelled across germany to visit vienna for his son's wedding. his journey was a triumphal progress, and the welcome was warmest in the states of the south, in saxony and bavaria. the german government, however, found it necessary to instruct their ambassador not to be present at the wedding and to take no notice of the prince; he was not even granted an audience by the austrian emperor. it was held necessary also to publish the circular to which i have already referred, and thereby officially to recognise the enmity. the scandal of the quarrel became a grave injury to the government of the country. a serious illness of bismarck caused apprehension that he might die while still unreconciled. the emperor took the opportunity, and by a kindly message opened the way to an apparent reconciliation. then a change of ministry took place: general caprivi was made the scapegoat for the failures of the new administration, and retired into private life, too loyal even to attempt to justify or defend the acts for which he had been made responsible. the new chancellor, prince hohenlohe, was a friend and former colleague of bismarck, and had in old days been leader of the national party in bavaria. when bismarck's eightieth birthday was celebrated, the emperor was present, and once more bismarck went to berlin to visit his sovereign. we may be allowed to believe that the reconciliation was not deep. we know that he did not cease to contrast the new marks of royal favour with the kindly courtesy of his old master, who had known so well how to allow the king to be forgotten in the friend. as the years went on, he became ever more lonely. his wife was dead, and his brother. solitude, the curse of greatness, had fallen on him. he had no friends, for we cannot call by that name the men, so inferior to himself, by whom he was surrounded--men who did not scruple to betray his confidence and make a market of his infirmities. with difficulty could he bring himself even to systematic work on the memoirs he proposed to leave. old age set its mark on him: his beard had become white; he could no longer, as in former days, ride and walk through the woods near his house. his interest in public affairs never flagged, and especially he watched with unceasing vigilance every move in the diplomatic world; his mind and spirit were still unbroken when a sudden return of his old malady overtook him, and on the last day of july, , he died at friedrichsruh. he lies buried, not among his ancestors and kinsfolk near the old house at schoenhausen, nor in the imperial city where his work had been done; but in a solitary tomb at friedrichsruh to which, with scanty state and hasty ceremony, his body had been borne. footnotes: [footnote : there seems no authority for the statement that the bismarcks had sprung from a noble bohemian family.] [footnote : it is to this visit that a well-known anecdote refers; having landed at hull one sunday morning, he was walking along the streets whistling, when a chance acquaintance of the voyage asked him to desist. disgusted, he left the town. the story, as generally told, says that he went to edinburgh; we can have no doubt that scarborough was meant.] [footnote : _life of herr v. thadden-triglaff_, by eleanor, princess of reuss.] [footnote : this trait is confirmed by busch, who in his record of the conversations of bismarck observes that with one or two exceptions he seldom had a good word to say for his colleagues.] [footnote : i take the metaphor from gerlach, but the english language does not allow me to adopt the whole.] [footnote : kohl prints a memorandum of this year ( ) which probably is that sent to herr von below; in it the ideas of the letter are developed at greater length and the language is more cautious; bismarck recommends in it a representation of the people at the diet, but points out that under present circumstances the consent of the diet could not be attained; the plan to which he seems to incline is that of a separate union between some of the states; exactly the plan which radowitz had followed and bismarck had ten years before so bitterly opposed.] [footnote : speech of january , .] [footnote : the complication of offices became most remarkable when bismarck in later years undertook the immediate direction of trade. he became minister of finance for prussia; and we have a long correspondence which he carries on with himself in his various capacities of prussian minister, prussian representative in the council, and chancellor of the empire.] [footnote : sybel states that this was not the case.] [footnote : some of the more exaggerated statements were contradicted at the time, apparently by prince radziwill, but in the excitement of the moment no one paid attention to this.] [footnote : comte hérisson d'hérisson, _journal d'un officier d'ordonnance._] [footnote : the ghibellines were expelled from italy in , when conradin of hohenstaufen was beheaded by charles of anjou.] [footnote : our knowledge of this treaty is still very incomplete; even the date is not certain, but it seems most probable that it was executed at this time. neither bismarck's own memoirs nor busch's book throw any light upon it.] [footnote : it must be remembered that our knowledge of these events is imperfect and probably inaccurate; it is at least one-sided. it comes entirely from the published statements of those who gained their information directly or indirectly from bismarck.] index a alexander, prince, of battenberg, - army, arnim, count, - , arnim, oscar von, marries malvina von bismarck, augustenburg, frederick, prince of, - , - , , , - , b bazaine, marshal, , benedetti, count vincent, - , , - , , - , - , - bennigsen, , berlin, its condition after the revolution, , , bismarck, the family of, its origin and history, - bismarck, august von, bismarck, august von, the landrath, bismarck, august friedrich von, bismarck, bernhard von, , , bismarck, carl alexander von, bismarck, friedrich von, the "permutator," bismarck, friedrich wilhelm von, bismarck, herbert von, bismarck, herbort von, bismarck, karl wilhelm friedrich von, ; his marriage, ; moves to pomerania, , ; to schoenhausen, , , bismarck, malvina von, , ; marries oscar von arnim, bismarck, nicolas (or claus) von, bismarck, otto eduard leopold von, his birth, ; ancestry, - ; destined for diplomatic service, ; at school in berlin, , ; enters at göttingen, ; his personal appearance and character, ; enters corps of hanoverians, ; his university career, - ; leaves göttingen, ; enters at berlin, ; takes degree of doctor of law, ; early official life, ; appointed auscultator at berlin, ; transferred to administrative side and to aix-la-chapelle, ; his life at aix, ; transferred to potsdam, ; begins army service in jaeger at potsdam, ; transferred to jaeger at stettin, ; settles in pomerania, ; his attendance at lectures in agricultural college near greifswald, ; his successful management of the pomeranian estates, , ; takes kniephof on division of estates, ; his wildness, ; enters as lieutenant of landwehr in cavalry, ; saves groom from drowning, ; his restlessness and discontent, ; travels, to paris, london, hull, scarborough, york, manchester, ; his letters from schoenhausen, - ; member of diets of pomerania and of province containing schoenhausen, ; referendar at potsdam, resigns, ; his hatred of prussian bureaucracy, , ; his interest in his duties as landed proprietor, ; inspector of dykes for jerichow, ; his intimacy with the religious coterie at triglaff, , ; his religious convictions and their effect on his monarchical feeling, , ; his engagement, ; summoned to attend meeting of estates general in berlin, ; enters on his parliamentary duties, ; opposes action of liberals, - ; his remarks on prussia and england, ; on the jews and the christian state, , ; returns to pomerania, ; his marriage, ; his wedding journey, meets the king of prussia, returns to schoenhausen, , ; his sentiments on the revolution, writes to the king, hurries to berlin, , ; collects signatures for address of loyalty, ; at meeting of estates general, , ; writes articles, takes part in calling meeting, and in founding the _kreuz zeitung_, , ; his counsels and aid to the king, , ; takes seat in new assembly, ; opposes amnesty, , ; in new parliament, opposes parliamentary control of taxes, , ; opposes reference to foreign customs, - ; believes in parliament for prussia, - ; his hatred of liberalism, ; on civil marriage and christianity, , ; on the prussian nobility, ; his geniality, ; his parliamentary speeches, , ; his partial knowledge of the people, ; sustains the king's refusal of the german crown, , ; advocates independence of prussia, - ; in parliament of erfurt, , ; advises peace with austria, ; defends the ministry, - ; ambassador at frankfort, , ; his characteristics, ; at frankfort, ; letters to his wife, - ; his opinions of the diplomatists, - ; entrusted with management of the press, ; his idea of newspapers, ; smoking in the military commission, , ; his defence of prussian interests, , ; home and social life in frankfort, ; his distaste for parliamentary life, ; duel with vincke, , ; member of house of lords, ; his power of work, his despatches, , ; on special mission to vienna, ; his policy of seeking allies for prussia against austria, , ; his policy as to russia and the western powers, - ; his policy toward france, - ; sent to paris, meets napoleon, ; his ideal of foreign policy, - ; loss of popularity at court, , ; his attitude toward the new ministry, ; recalled from frankfort, ; appointed minister to st. petersburg, ; his advice as to austria, , ; his journeys, his prolonged illness, and its effect, ; supports the government, ; his sentiments as to france, , ; returns to russia, ; interview with prince regent, ; his friendship with roon, ; sent for by roon, his reply, - ; arrives in berlin, interview with the king, ; his memorandum and letter on german affairs, , ; returns to st. petersburg, ; goes to berlin, ; offered post of minister-president, appointed minister to paris, ; in paris, ; visits london, meets disraeli, , ; his advice to roon, ; leave of absence, ; summoned to berlin, ; appointed minister-president, ; conversation with the king, ; his house speeches on the budget, their effect, - ; on the house address to the king, ; his course on the polish question, - ; difficulties of his position, - ; conflict with chairman of house, ; disliked by the crown prince, , ; not responsible for conflict, ; his foreign policy, ; with the king at gastein, ; dissuades the king from attending congress at frankfort, - ; his course as to schleswig-holstein, , - , , - , - ; his satisfaction with peace of vienna, ; concludes treaty of gastein, ; created count, ; visits france, ; interview with napoleon, - ; returns to berlin, ; concludes commercial treaty with italy, ; adopts hostile attitude toward austria, ; prepares for war, , ; fails in health, ; concludes treaty with italy, ; influences the king toward war, ; desires war in order to reform german confederation, - ; attempt on his life, ; takes no part in management of army, ; leaves berlin to join army, ; at battle of königgrätz, , ; his life during the campaign, , ; advises acceptance of french offer of mediation, , ; considers terms of peace, ; desires control of north germany, ; his policy and motives, - ; his interview with benedetti, - ; his terms of peace, - ; his management of peace preliminaries, his persuasion of the king, , ; his treatment of demands of france, his interviews with benedetti, - ; his course toward russia, , ; has laid foundation for german union, - ; begins to think and act as a german, ; secures parliamentary majority, ; his moderation, ; voted donation of money, , ; his rôle of creative statesman, ; dictates outlines of new federal constitution, ; his plan of constitution, - ; supports constitution before assembly, - ; defends withholding of money from king of hanover, , ; summons parliament to consider tariff, ; refuses to admit grand duke of baden into federation, ; refuses to support napoleon's acquirement of luxemburg, ; preserves the peace, visits paris, ; interview with benedetti as to the spanish succession, ; his efforts to secure acceptance of spanish throne by prince leopold of hohenzolhen, - ; his motives, , ; retires to varzin, ; goes to berlin, ; his policy, ; orders werther from paris, sees lord loftus, ; receives telegram from the king announcing the benedetti incident, ; prepares statement and causes its publication, ; his purpose, ; meets the king at brandenburg, ; announces to parliament france's declaration of war, ; pardons the hanoverian legion, ; leaves for seat of war, ; his health during the campaign, ; at gravelotte, ; at sedan, ; refuses to modify terms of surrender, ; defers renewal of hostilities, ; meets napoleon, their interview, ; accompanies napoleon to belle vue, ; willing to make peace, ; his circular notes explaining the german view, , ; demands territory, ; his attitude toward the provisional government, ; his interviews with jules favre, - ; his personality, , ; his offer of terms, - ; at versailles, ; upholds germany through the press, , ; indignant at france's use of irregular troops, ; affected by delay before paris, ; his tact in german unification, ; his interview with the crown prince, ; proposes treaties with southern german states, ; his agreement with bavaria, , ; drafts letter by which king of bavaria requests king of prussia to assume title of emperor, ; raised to rank of prince, ; interview with favre on capitulation of paris, , ; interview with thiers, - ; his part in the negotiations, ; his views as to strasburg and metz, - ; at signature of peace of frankfort, ; continues in power, ; sole master in foreign policy, ; his success in peace, ; refuses support to french monarchical party, ; brings about reconciliation with austria, , ; indignant at report of warlike intentions toward france, ; his position as to internal matters, , ; his party alliances, - ; resigns as minister-president, ; his depression, ; his affection for roon, ; resumes the presidency, ; opposition to him, , ; his dependence on the national liberals, - ; supported on army organisation, , ; his part in conflict with roman catholic church, - ; his resignation refused by the emperor, granted leave of absence, retires to varzin, ; presides over congress of berlin, ; effects triple alliance, ; his efforts against socialism, - ; his scheme of economic reform, - ; his dislike of direct taxation, , ; his proposals for state monopolies, - ; introduces system of protection, - ; his colonial policy, - ; effects of his measures, ; refuses to become a party leader, ; his power checked by parliament, ; complains of conduct of reichstag. ; friction with parliament as to freedom of debate, ; his parliamentary receptions, , ; his recourse to criminal law against his adversaries, ; his lack of generosity in political struggles, ; celebration of his seventieth birthday, ; presented with two million marks, purchases friedrichsruh, ; defends bill for army increase, ; his release of french spy, , ; his interview with the czar, ; enters into secret agreement with russia, , ; proposes army increase, ; his speech, - ; foundation of his power removed by death of emperor william, , ; his prospects with emperor frederick, ; opposes marriage of princess victoria of prussia to prince alexander of battenberg, - ; his differences with emperor william ii., , ; his power, ; finds his influence and authority undermined, , ; chief causes of his differences with the emperor, , ; refuses to acquiesce in degradation of his position, ; his first separation from the emperor, ; declines to justify interview with windhorst, ; resigns, created field marshal and duke of lauenburg, ; his leave-takings, ; his restlessness in leisure, his energy, , ; receives deputations, ; opposes and defies the government, ; his disclosures, ; the avowed enemy of court and ministry, ; absents himself from moltke's funeral, ; his triumphal journey to vienna, ; his reconciliations with the emperor, ; celebration of his eighty-fifth birthday, ; his loneliness and infirmities, ; his interest in public affairs, his unbroken mind and spirit, ; his death, his burial at friedrichsruh, bismarck, rudolph von, bismarck-bohlen, , blankenburg, moritz von, , bonin, , , boulanger, general, brandenburg, count, , brandenburg, the nobility of, - bucher, lothar, , , , bundesrath, burnside, general, c caprivi, general, , castelnau, general, cavour, , - charles frederick, prince, crevisse, , d delbrück, , diebwitz, fräulein von, disraeli, , e erfurt, parliament of, , f favre, jules, - , , , frankfort, frankfort, peace of, , frederick, crown prince, afterward frederick iii., , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - frederick william, elector of brandenburg, frederick william iii., , frederick william iv., , , , , , - , , , , , - , , friedrichsruh, , , g gagern, heinrich von, gambetta, garibaldi, gastein, treaty of, , gerlach, leopold von, , , gortschakoff, , grammont, duc de, , , , gravelotte, battle of, greifswald, guizot, h hérisson, comte, , hobel, , hohenzollern, leopold, prince of, - , - holstein, - , , , , k katte, fräulein von, kleist, hans von, , , , königgrätz, battle of, , _kreuz zeitung_, , , , , , , l lasker, lauenburg, , lhuys, drouyn de, , loftus, lord augustus, , m macmahon, manteuffel, otto von, mars-la-tour, , mencken, fräulein, afterward wife of karl von bismarck, , , , metternich, prince, metz, , - moltke, helmuth karl bernard von, - , , - , , . - , , , , motley, john lothop, , , , n napoleon iii., - , , , , , , , , , , , - , , . , - , - , - , , , , , , , - , navy, _new prussian gazette_, nobeling, , o oldenburg, duke of, , olmütz, convention of, , p pfortden, baron von der, - poland, - pomerania, - , - , press, the, , , prim, general, , , , prokesch-osten, herr von, , puttkammer, fräulein von, afterward wife of otto von bismarck, ; herr v., r radowitz, herr von, , , reichstag, , richter, roon, albrecht theodor emil von, , , , - , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - s schleinitz, herr von, , schleswig, - , , schoenhausen, , , - , , - , , , , , schweninger, doctor, sedan, - sheridan, general, sourds, m. de, stahl, , strasburg, , , - sybel, heinrich von, , t thadden, herr von, , , , thiele, herr von, thiers, m., , , thun, , , - toul, triglaff, , triple alliance, , , , v versailles, , victor emmanuel, , , victoria, princess, of prussia, , , - vienna, congress of, - vienna, peace of, - vincke, george von, , , w welfenfond, werther, herr von, , william, prince regent, afterward william i., , , - , , - , - , , , , , , - , - , , , , , - , , - , - , , , , - - , - , - , , , , . - , , - , , , , , william ii., - wimpffen, , , , windthorst, , , , heroes of the nations a series of biographical studies of the lives and work of a number of representative historical characters about whom have gathered the great traditions of the nations to which they belonged, and who have been accepted, in many instances, as types of the several national ideals. with the life of each typical character is presented a picture of the national conditions surrounding him during his career. the narratives are the work of writers who are recognized authorities on their several subjects, and while thoroughly trustworthy as history, present picturesque and dramatic "stories" of the men and of the events connected with them. to the life of each "hero" is given one duodecimo volume, handsomely printed in large type, provided with maps and adequately illustrated according to the special requirements of the several subjects. _for full list of volumes see next page_. heroes of the nations nelson. by w. clark russell. gustavus adolphus. by c.r.l. fletcher. pericles. by evelyn abbott. theodoric the goth. by thomas hodgkin. sir philip sidney. by h.r. fox-bourne. julius caesar. by w. ward fowler. wyclif. by lewis sargeant. napoleon. by w. o'connor morris. henry of navarre. by p.f. willert. cicero. by j.l. strachan-davidson. abraham lincoln. by noah brooks. prince henry (of portugal) the navigator. by c.r. beazley. julian the philosopher. by alice gardner. louis xiv. by arthur hassall. charles xii. by r. nisbet bain. lorenzo de' medici. by edward armstrong. jeanne d'arc. by mrs. oliphant. christopher columbus. by washington irving. robert the bruce. by sir herbert maxwell. hannibal. by. w. o'connor morris. ulysses s. grant. by william conant church. robert e. lee. by henry alexander white. the cid campeador. by h. butler clarke. saladin. by stanley lane-poole. bismarck. by j.w. headlam. alexander the great. by benjamin i. wheeler. charlemagne. by h.w.c. davis. oliver cromwell. by charles firth. richelieu. by james b. perkins. daniel o'connell. by robert dunlap. saint louis (louis ix. of france). by frederick perry. lord chatham. by walford david green. owen glyndwr. by arthur g. bradley. henry v. by charles l. kingsford. edward i. by edward jenks. augustus caesar. by j.b. firth. frederick the great. by w.f. reddaway. wellington. by w. o'connor morris. constantine the great. by j.b. firth. mohammed. d.s. margoliouth. george washington. by j.a. harrison. charles the bold. by ruth putnam. william the conqueror. by f.b. stanton. fernando cortes. by p.a. macnutt. william the silent. by r. putnam. blÜcher. by e.f. henderson. roger the great. by b. curtis. canute the great. by d.m. larson cavour. by pietro orsi. demosthenes. by a.w. pickard-cambridge. the story of the nations in the story form the current of each national life is distinctly indicated, and its picturesque and noteworthy periods and episodes are presented for the reader in their philosophical relation to each other as well as to universal history. it is the plan of the writers of the different volumes to enter into the real life of the peoples, and to bring them before the reader as they actually lived, labored, and struggled--as they studied and wrote, and as they amused themselves. in carrying out this plan, the myths, with which the history of all lands begins, will not be overlooked, though these will be carefully distinguished from the actual history, so far as the labors of the accepted historical authorities have resulted in definite conclusions. the subjects of the different volumes have been planned to cover connecting and, as far as possible, consecutive epochs or periods, so that the set when completed will present in a comprehensive narrative the chief events in the great story of the nations; but it is, of course, not always practicable to issue the several volumes in their chronological order. _for list of volumes see next page_. the story of the nations * * * * * greece. prof. jas. a. harrison. rome. arthur gilman. the jews. prof. james k. hosmer. chaldea. z.a. ragozin. germany. s. baring-gould. norway. hjalmar h. boyesen. spain. rev. e.e. and susan hale. hungary. prof. a. vámbéry. carthage. prof. alfred j. church. the saracens. arthur gilman. the moors in spain. stanley lane-poole. the normans. sarah orne jewett. persia. s.g.w. benjamin. ancient egypt. prof. geo. rawlinson. alexander's empire. prof. j.p. mahafly. assyria. z.a. ragozin. the goths. henry bradley. ireland. hon. emily lawless. turkey. stanley lane-poole. media, babylon, and persia. z.a. ragozin. medieval france. prof. gustave masson. holland. prof. j. thorold rogers. mexico. susan hale. phoenicia. george rawlinson. the hansa towns. helen zimmern. early britain. prof. alfred j. church. the barbary corsairs. stanley lane-poole. russia. w.r. morfill. the jews under rome. w.d. morrison. scotland. john mackintosh. switzerland. r. stead and mrs. a. hug. portugal. h. morse-stephens. the byzantine empire. c.w.c. oman. sicily. e.a. freeman. the tuscan republics. bella duffy. poland. w.r. morfill. parthia. geo. rawlinson. japan. david murray. the christian recovery of spain. h.e. watts. australasia. greville treganthen. southern africa. geo. m. theal. venice. alethea wiel. the crusades. t.s. archer and c.l. kingsford. vedic india. z.a. ragozin. bohemia. c.e. maurice. canada. j.g. bourinot. the balkan states. william miller. british rule in india. r.w. frazer. modern france. andré le bon. the british empire. alfred t. story. two vols. the franks. lewis sergeant. the west indies. amos k. fiske. the people of england. justin mccarthy, m.p. two vols. austria. sidney whitman. china. robt. k. douglass. modern spain. major martin a.s. hume. modern italy. pietro orsi. the thirteen colonies. helen a. smith. two vols. wales and cornwall. owne m. edwards. mediÆval rome. wm. miller. the papal monarchy. wm. barry. mediÆval india. stanley lane-poole. buddhist india. t.w. rhys-davids. the south american republics. thomas c. dawson. two vols. parliamentary england. edward jenks. mediÆval england. mary bateson. the united states. edward earle sparks. two vols. england: the coming of parliament. l. cecil jane. greece to a.d. . e.s. shuckburgh. roman empire. stuart jones. sweden and denmark, with finland and iceland. jon stefansson. history of friedrich ii. of prussia frederick the great by thomas carlyle book iii. -- the hohenzollerns in brandenburg. - - chapter i. -- kurfurst friedrich i. burggraf friedrich, on his first coming to brandenburg, found but a cool reception as statthalter. [_"johannistage"_ ( june) " ," he first set foot in brandenburg, with due escort, in due state; only statthalter (viceregent) as yet: pauli, i. , ii. ; stenzel, _geschichte des preussischen staats_ (hamburg, , ), i. - .] he came as the representative of law and rule; and there had been many helping themselves by a ruleless life, of late. industry was at a low ebb, violence was rife; plunder, disorder everywhere; too much the habit for baronial gentlemen to "live by the saddle," as they termed it, that is by highway robbery in modern phrase. the towns, harried and plundered to skin and bone, were glad to see a statthalter, and did homage to him with all their heart. but the baronage or squirearchy of the country were of another mind. these, in the late anarchies, had set up for a kind of kings in their own right: they had their feuds; made war, made peace, levied tolls, transit-dues; lived much at their own discretion in these solitary countries;--rushing out from their stone towers ("walls fourteen feet thick"), to seize any herd of "six hundred swine," any convoy of lubeck or hamburg merchant-goods, that had not contented them in passing. what were pedlers and mechanic fellows made for, if not to be plundered when needful? arbitrary rule, on the part of these noble robber-lords! and then much of the crown-domains had gone to the chief of them,--pawned (and the pawn-ticket lost, so to speak), or sold for what trifle of ready money was to be had, in jobst and company's time. to these gentlemen, a statthalter coming to inquire into matters was no welcome phenomenon. your edle herr (noble lord) of putlitz, noble lords of quitzow, rochow, maltitz and others, supreme in their grassy solitudes this long while, and accustomed to nothing greater than themselves in brandenburg, how should they obey a statthalter? such was more or less the universal humor in the squirearchy of brandenburg; not of good omen to burggraf friedrich. but the chief seat of contumacy seemed to be among the quitzows, putlitzes, above spoken of; big squires in the district they call the priegnitz, in the country of the sluggish havel river, northwest from berlin a fifty or forty miles. these refused homage, very many of them; said they were "incorporated with bohmen;" said this and that;--much disinclined to homage; and would not do it. stiff surly fellows, much deficient in discernment of what is above them and what is not:--a thick-skinned set; bodies clad in buff leather; minds also cased in ill habits of long continuance. friedrich was very patient with them; hoped to prevail by gentle methods. he "invited them to dinner;" "had them often at dinner for a year or more:" but could make no progress in that way. "who is this we have got for a governor?" said the noble lords privately to each other: "a nurnberger tand (nurnberg plaything,--wooden image, such as they make at nurnberg)," said they, grinning, in a thick-skinned way: "if it rained burggraves all the year round, none of them would come to luck in this country;"--and continued their feuds, toll-levyings, plunderings and other contumacies. seeing matters come to this pass after waiting above a year, burggraf friedrich gathered his frankish men-at-arms; quietly made league with the neighboring potentates, thuringen and others; got some munitions, some artillery together--especially one huge gun, the biggest ever seen, "a twenty-four pounder" no less; to which the peasants, dragging her with difficulty through the clayey roads, gave the name of faule grete (lazy, or heavy peg); a remarkable piece of ordnance. lazy peg he had got from the landgraf of thuringen, on loan merely; but he turned her to excellent account of his own. i have often inquired after lazy peg's fate in subsequent times; but could never learn anything distinct:--the german dryasdust is a dull dog, and seldom carries anything human in those big wallets of his!-- equipped in this way, burggraf friedrich (he was not yet kurfurst, only coming to be) marches for the havel country (early days of ); [michaelis, i. ; stenzel, i. (where, contrary to wont, is an insignificant error or two). pauli (ii. ) is, as usual, lost in water.] makes his appearance before quitzow's strong-house of friesack, walls fourteen feet thick: "you dietrich von quitzow, are you prepared to live as a peaceable subject henceforth: to do homage to the laws and me?"--"never!" answered quitzow, and pulled up his drawbridge. whereupon heavy peg opened upon him, heavy peg and other guns; and, in some eight-and-forty hours, shook quitzow's impregnable friesack about his ears. this was in the month of february, , day not given: friesack was the name of the impregnable castle (still discoverable in our time); and it ought to be memorable and venerable to every prussian man. burggraf friedrich vi., not yet quite become kurfurst friedrich i., but in a year's space to become so, he in person was the beneficent operator; heavy peg, and steady human insight, these were clearly the chief implements. quitzow being settled,--for the country is in military occupation of friedrich and his allies, and except in some stone castle a man has no chance,--straightway putlitz or another mutineer, with his drawbridge up, was battered to pieces, and his drawbridge brought slamming down. after this manner, in an incredibly short period, mutiny was quenched; and it became apparent to noble lords, and to all men, that here at length was a man come who would have the laws obeyed again, and could and would keep mutiny down. friedrich showed no cruelty; far the contrary. your mutiny once ended, and a little repented of, he is ready to be your gracious prince again: fair-play and the social wine-cup, or inexorable war and lazy peg, it is at your discretion which. brandenburg submitted; hardly ever rebelled more. brandenburg, under the wise kurfurst it has got, begins in a small degree to be cosmic again, or of the domain of the gods; ceases to be chaotic and a mere cockpit of the devils. there is no doubt but this friedrich also, like his ancestor friedrich iii., the first hereditary burggraf, was an excellent citizen of his country: a man conspicuously important in all german business in his time. a man setting up for no particular magnanimity, ability or heroism, but unconsciously exhibiting a good deal; which by degrees gained universal recognition. he did not shine much as reichs-generalissimo, under kaiser sigismund, in his expeditions against zisca; on the contrary, he presided over huge defeat and rout, once and again, in that capacity; and indeed had represented in vain that, with such a species of militia, victory was impossible. he represented and again represented, to no purpose; whereupon he declined the office farther; in which others fared no better. [hormayr, _oesterreichischer plutarch_ vii. - , ? zisca.] the offer to be kaiser was made him in his old days; but he wisely declined that too. it was in brandenburg, by what he silently founded there, that he did his chief benefit to germany and mankind. he understood the noble art of governing men; had in him the justice, clearness, valor and patience needed for that. a man of sterling probity, for one thing. which indeed is the first requisite in said art:--if you will have your laws obeyed without mutiny, see well that they be pieces of god almighty's law: otherwise all the artillery in the world will not keep down mutiny. friedrich "travelled much over brandenburg;" looking into everything with his own eyes;--making, i can well fancy, innumerable crooked things straight. reducing more and more that famishing dog-kennel of a brandenburg into a fruitful arable field. his portraits represent a square headed, mild-looking solid gentleman, with a certain twinkle of mirth in the serious eyes of him. except in those hussite wars for kaiser sigismund and the reich, in which no man could prosper, he may be defined as constantly prosperous. to brandenburg he was, very literally, the blessing of blessings; redemption out of death into life. in the ruins of that old friesack castle, battered down by heavy peg, antiquarian science (if it had any eyes) might look for the tap-root of the prussian nation, and the beginning of all that brandenburg has since grown to under the sun. friedrich, in one capacity or another, presided over brandenburg near thirty years. he came thither first of all in ; was not completely kurfurst in his own right till ; nor publicly installed, "with , looking on from the roofs and windows," in constance yonder, till ,--age then some forty-five. his brandenburg residence, when he happened to have time for residing or sitting still, was tangermunde, the castle built by kaiser karl iv. he died there, st september, ; laden tolerably with years, and still better with memories of hard work done. rentsch guesses by good inference he was born about . as i count, he is seventh in descent from that conrad, burggraf conrad i., cadet of hohenzollern, who came down from the rauhe alp, seeking service with kaiser redbeard, above two centuries ago: conrad's generation and six others had vanished successively from the world-theatre in that ever-mysterious manner, and left the stage clear, when burggraf friedrich the sixth came to be first elector. let three centuries, let twelve generations farther come and pass, and there will be another still more notable friedrich,--our little fritz, destined to be third king of prussia, officially named friedrich ii., and popularly frederick the great. this first elector is his lineal ancestor, twelve times removed. [rentsch, pp. - ; hubner, t. .] chapter ii. -- matinees du roi de prusse. eleven successive kurfursts followed friedrich in brandenburg. of whom and their births, deaths, wars, marriages, negotiations and continual multitudinous stream of smaller or greater adventures, much has been written, of a dreary confused nature; next to nothing of which ought to be repeated here. some list of their names, with what rememberable human feature or event (if any) still speaks to us in them, we must try to give. their names, well dated, with any actions, incidents, or phases of life, which may in this way get to adhere to them in the reader's memory, the reader can insert, each at its right place, in the grand tide of european events, or in such picture as the reader may have of that. thereby with diligence he may produce for himself some faint twilight notion of the flight of time in remote brandenburg,--convince himself that remote brandenburg was present all along, alive after its sort, and assisting, dumbly or otherwise, in the great world-drama as that went on. we have to say in general, the history of brandenburg under the hohenzollerns has very little in it to excite a vulgar curiosity, though perhaps a great deal to interest an intelligent one. had it found treatment duly intelligent;--which, however, how could it, lucky beyond its neighbors, hope to do! commonplace dryasdust, and voluminous stupidity, not worse here than elsewhere, play their part. it is the history of a state, or social vitality, growing from small to great; steadily growing henceforth under guidance: and the contrast between guidance and no-guidance, or mis-guidance, in such matters, is again impressively illustrated there. this we see well to be the fact; and the details of this would be of moment, were they given us: but they are not;--how could voluminous dryasdust give them? then, on the other hand, the phenomenon is, for a long while, on so small a scale, wholly without importance in european politics and affairs, the commonplace historian, writing of it on a large scale, becomes unreadable and intolerable. witness grandiloquent pauli our fatal friend, with his eight watery quartos; which gods and men, unless driven by necessity, have learned to avoid! [dr. carl friedrich pauli, _allgemeine preussische staats-geschichte_, often enough cited here.] the phenomenon of brandenburg is small, remote; and the essential particulars, too delicate for the eye of dryasdust, are mostly wanting, drowned deep in details of the unessential. so that we are well content, my readers and i, to keep remote from it on this occasion. on one other point i must give the reader warning. a rock of offence on which if he heedlessly strike, i reckon he will split; at least no help of mine can benefit him till he be got off again. alas, offences must come; and must stand, like rocks of offence, to the shipwreck of many! modern dryasdust, interpreting the mysterious ways of divine providence in this universe, or what he calls writing history, has done uncountable havoc upon the best interests of mankind. hapless godless dullard that he is; driven and driving on courses that lead only downward, for him as for us! but one could forgive him all things, compared with this doctrine of devils which he has contrived to get established, pretty generally, among his unfortunate fellow-creatures for the time!--i must insert the following quotation, readers guess from what author:-- "in an impudent pamphlet, forged by i know not whom, and published in , under the title of _matinees du roi de prusse,_ purporting to be 'morning conversations' of frederick the great with his nephew the heir-apparent, every line of which betrays itself as false and spurious to a reader who has made any direct or effectual study of frederick or his manners or affairs,--it is set forth, in the way of exordium to these pretended royal confessions, that _'notre maison,'_ our family of hohenzollern, ever since the first origin of it among the swabian mountains, or its first descent therefrom into the castle and imperial wardenship of nurnberg, some six hundred years ago or more, has consistently travelled one road, and this a very notable one. 'we, as i myself the royal frederick still do, have all along proceeded,' namely, 'in the way of adroit machiavelism, as skilful gamblers in this world's business, ardent gatherers of this world's goods; and in brief as devout worshippers of beelzebub, the grand regulator and rewarder of mortals here below. which creed we, the hohenzollerns, have found, and i still find, to be the true one; learn it you, my prudent nephew, and let all men learn it. by holding steadily to that, and working late and early in such spirit, we are come to what you now see;--and shall advance still farther, if it please beelzebub, who is generally kind to those that serve him well.' such is the doctrine of this impudent pamphlet; 'original manuscripts' of which are still purchased by simple persons,--who have then nobly offered them to me, thrice over, gratis or nearly so, as a priceless curiosity. a new printed edition of which, probably the fifth, has appeared within few years. simple persons, consider it a curious and interesting document; rather ambiguous in origin perhaps, but probably authentic in substance, and throwing unexpected light on the character of frederick whom men call the great. in which new light they are willing a meritorious editor should share. "who wrote that pamphlet i know not, and am in no condition to guess. a certain snappish vivacity (very unlike the style of frederick whom it personates); a wearisome grimacing, gesticulating malice and smartness, approaching or reaching the sad dignity of what is called 'wit' in modern times; in general the rottenness of matter, and the epigrammatic unquiet graciosity of manner in this thing, and its elaborately inhuman turn both of expression and of thought, are visible characteristics of it. thought, we said,--if thought it can be called: thought all hamstrung, shrivelled by inveterate rheumatism, on the part of the poor ill-thriven thinker; nay tied (so to speak, for he is of epigrammatic turn withal), as by cross ropes, right shoulder to left foot; and forced to advance, hobbling and jerking along, in that sad guise: not in the way of walk, but of saltation and dance; and this towards a false not a true aim, rather no-whither than some-whither:--here were features leading one to think of an illustrious prince de ligne as perhaps concerned in the affair. the bibliographical dictionaries, producing no evidence, name quite another person, or series of persons, [a certain 'n. de bonneville' (afterwards a revolutionary spiritual-mountebank, for some time) is now the favorite name;--proves, on investigation, to be an impossible one. barbier _(dictionnaire des anonymes),_ in a helpless doubting manner, gives still others.] highly unmemorable otherwise. whereupon you proceed to said other person's acknowledged works (as they are called); and find there a style bearing no resemblance whatever; and are left in a dubious state, if it were of any moment. in the absence of proof, i am unwilling to charge his highness de ligne with such an action; and indeed am little careful to be acquainted with the individual who did it, who could and would do it. a prince of coxcombs i can discern him to have been; capable of shining in the eyes of insincere foolish persons, and of doing detriment to them, not benefit; a man without reverence for truth or human excellence; not knowing in fact what is true from what is false, what is excellent from what is sham-excellent and at the top of the mode; an apparently polite and knowing man, but intrinsically an impudent, dark and merely modish-insolent man;--who, if he fell in with rhadamanthus on his travels, would not escape a horse-whipping, him we will willingly leave to that beneficial chance, which indeed seems a certain one sooner or later; and address ourselves to consider the theory itself, and the facts it pretends to be grounded on. "as to the theory, i must needs say, nothing can be falser, more heretical or more damnable. my own poor opinion, and deep conviction on that subject is well known, this long while. and, in fact, the summary of all i have believed, and have been trying as i could to teach mankind to believe again, is even that same opinion and conviction, applied to all provinces of things. alas, in this his sad theory about the world, our poor impudent pamphleteer is by no means singular at present; nay rather he has in a manner the whole practical part of mankind on his side just now; the more is the pity for us all!-- "it is very certain, if beelzebub made this world, our pamphleteer, and the huge portion of mankind that follow him, are right. but if god made the world; and only leads beelzebub, as some ugly muzzled bear is led, a longer or shorter temporary dance in this divine world, and always draws him home again, and peels the unjust gains off him, and ducks him in a certain hot lake, with sure intent to lodge him there to all eternity at last,--then our pamphleteer, and the huge portion of mankind that follow him, are wrong. "more i will not say; being indeed quite tired of speaking on that subject. not a subject which it concerns me to speak of; much as it concerns me, and all men, to know the truth of it, and silently in every hour and moment to do said truth. as indeed the sacred voice of their own soul, if they listen, will conclusively admonish all men; and truly if it do not, there will be little use in my logic to them. for my own share, i want no trade with men who need to be convinced of that fact. if i am in their premises, and discover such a thing of them, i will quit their premises; if they are in mine, i will, as old samuel advised, count my spoons. ingenious gentlemen who believe that beelzebub made this world, are not a class of gentlemen i can get profit from. let them keep at a distance, lest mischief fall out between us. they are of the set deserving to be called--and this not in the way of profane swearing, but of solemn wrath and pity, i say of virtuous anger and inexorable reprobation--the damned set. for, in very deed, they are doomed and damned, by nature's oldest act of parliament, they, and whatsoever thing they do or say or think; unless they can escape from that devil-element. which i still hope they may!-- "but with regard to the facts themselves, 'de notre maison,' i take leave to say, they too are without basis of truth. they are not so false as the theory, because nothing can in falsity quite equal that. 'notre maison,' this pamphleteer may learn, if he please to make study and inquiry before speaking, did not rise by worship of beelzebub at all in this world; but by a quite opposite line of conduct. it rose, in fact, by the course which all, except fools, stockjobber stags, cheating gamblers, forging pamphleteers and other temporary creatures of the damned sort, have found from of old to be the one way of permanently rising: by steady service, namely, of the opposite of beelzebub. by conforming to the laws of this universe; instead of trying by pettifogging to evade and profitably contradict them. the hohenzollerns too have a history still articulate to the human mind, if you search sufficiently; and this is what, even with some emphasis, it will teach us concerning their adventures, and achievements of success in the field of life. resist the devil, good reader, and he will flee from you!"--so ends our indignant friend. how the hohenzollerns got their big territories, and came to what they are in the world, will be seen. probably they were not, any of them, paragons of virtue. they did not walk in altogether speckless sunday pumps, or much clear-starched into consciousness of the moral sublime; but in rugged practical boots, and by such roads as there were. concerning their moralities, and conformities to the laws of the road and of the universe, there will much remain to be argued by pamphleteers and others. men will have their opinion, men of more wisdom and of less; apes by the dead-sea also will have theirs. but what man that believed in such a universe as that of this dead-sea pamphleteer could consent to live in it at all? who that believed in such a universe, and did not design to live like a papin's-digester, or porcus epicuri, in an extremely ugly manner in it, could avoid one of two things: going rapidly into bedlam, or else blowing his brains out? "it will not do for me at any rate, this infinite dog-house; not for me, ye dryasdusts, and omnipotent dog-monsters and mud-gods, whoever you are. one honorable thing i can do: take leave of you and your dog-establishment. enough!"-- chapter iii. -- kurfurst friedrich ii. the first friedrich's successor was a younger son, friedrich ii.; who lasted till , above thirty years; and proved likewise a notable manager and governor. very capable to assert himself, and his just rights, in this world. he was but twenty-seven at his accession; but the berlin burghers, attempting to take some liberties with him, found he was old enough. he got the name ironteeth. friedrich ferratis dentibus, from his decisive ways then and afterwards. he had his share of brabbling with intricate litigant neighbors; quarrels now and then not to be settled without strokes. his worst war was with pommern,--just claims disputed there, and much confused bickering, sieging and harassing in consequence: of which quarrel we must speak anon. it was he who first built the conspicuous schloss or palace at berlin, having got the ground for it (same ground still covered by the actual fine edifice, which is a second edition of friedrich's) from the repentant burghers; and took up his chief residence there. [ - (nicolari, i. ).] but his principal achievement in brandenburg history is his recovery of the province called the neumark to that electorate. in the thriftless sigismund times, the neumark had been pledged, had been sold; teutsch ritterdom, to whose dominions it lay contiguous, had purchased it with money down. the teutsch ritters were fallen moneyless enough since then; they offered to pledge the neumark to friedrich, who accepted, and advanced the sum: after a while the teutsch ritters, for a small farther sum, agreed to sell neumark. [michaelis, i. .] into which transaction, with its dates and circumstances, let us cast one glance, for our behoof afterwards. the teutsch ritters were an opulent domineering body in sigismund's early time; but they are now come well down in friedrich ii.'s! and are coming ever lower. sinking steadily, or with desperate attempts to rise, which only increase the speed downwards, ever since that fatal tannenberg business, th july, . here is the sad progress of their descent to the bottom; divided into three stages or periods:-- "period first is of thirty years: - . a peace with poland soon followed that defeat of tannenberg; humiliating peace, with mulct in money, and slightly in territory, attached to it. which again was soon followed by war, and ever again; each new peace more humiliating than its foregoer. teutsch order is steadily sinking,--into debt, among other things; driven to severe finance-measures (ultimately even to 'debase its coin'), which produce irritation enough. poland is gradually edging itself into the territories and the interior troubles of preussen; prefatory to greater operations that lie ahead there. "second period, of fourteen years. so it had gone on, from bad to worse, till ; when the general population, through its heads, the landed gentry and the towns, wearied out with fiscal and other oppressions from its domineering ritterdom brought now to such a pinch, began everywhere to stir themselves into vocal complaint. complaint emphatic enough: 'where will you find a man that has not suffered injury in his rights, perhaps in his person? our friends they have invited as guests, and under show of hospitality have murdered them. men, for the sake of their beautiful wives, have been thrown into the river like dogs,'--and enough of the like sort. [voigt, vii. ; quoting evidently, not an express manifesto, but one manufactured by the old chroniclers.] no want of complaint, nor of complainants: town of thorn, town of dantzig, kulm, all manner of towns and baronages, proceeded now to form a bund, or general covenant for complaining; to repugn, in hotter and hotter form, against a domineering ritterdom with back so broken; in fine, to colleague with poland,--what was most ominous of all. baronage, burgherage, they were german mostly by blood, and by culture were wholly german; but preferred poland to a teutsch ritterdom of that nature. nothing but brabblings, scufflings, objurgations; a great outbreak ripening itself. teutsch ritterdom has to hire soldiers; no money to pay them. it was in these sad years that the teutsch ritterdom, fallen moneyless, offered to pledge the neumark to our kurfurst; , that operation was consummated. [pauli, ii. ,--does not name the sum.] all this goes on, in hotter and hotter form, for ten years longer. "period third begins, early in , with an important special catastrophe; and ends, in the thirteenth year after, with a still more important universal one of the same nature. prussian bund, or anti-oppression covenant of the towns and landed gentry, rising in temperature for fourteen years at this rate, reached at last the igniting point, and burst into fire. february th, , the town of thorn, darling first-child of teutsch ritterdom,--child years old at this time, ['founded , as a wooden burg, just across the river, on the heathen side, mainly round the stem of an immense old oak that grew handy there,--seven barges always on the river (weichsel), to fly to our own side if quite overwhelmed' _oak and seven barges_ is still the town's-arms of thorn. see kohler, _munzbelustigungen,_xxii. ; quoting dusburg (a priest of the order) and his old _chronica terrae prusciae,_ written in .] and grown very big, and now very angry,--suddenly took its old parent by the throat, so to speak, and hurled him out to the dogs; to the extraneous polacks first of all. town of thorn, namely, sent that day its 'letter of renunciation' to the hochmeister over at marienburg; seized in a day or two more the hochmeister's official envoys, dignitaries of the order; led them through the streets, amid universal storm of execrations, hootings and unclean projectiles, straight, to jail; and besieged the hochmeister's burg (bastille of thorn, with a few ritters in it), all the artillery and all the throats and hearts of the place raging deliriously upon it. so that the poor bitters, who had no chance in resisting, were in few days obliged to surrender; [ th february, , says voigt (viii. ); th, says kohler _ (munzbelustigungen,_ xxii. ).] had to come out in bare jerkin; and thorn ignominiously dismissed them into space forevermore,--with actual 'kicks,' i have read in some books, though others veil that sad feature. thorn threw out its old parent in this manner; swore fealty to the king of poland; and invited other towns and knightages to follow the example. to which all were willing, wherever able. "war hereupon, which blazed up over preussen at large,--prussian covenant and king of poland versus teutsch ritterdom,--and lasted into the thirteenth year, before it could go out again; out by lack of fuel mainly. one of the fellest wars on record, especially for burning and ruining; above ' , fighting-men' are calculated to have perished in it; and of towns, villages, farmsteads, a cipher which makes the fancy, as it were, black and ashy altogether. ritterdom showed no lack of fighting energy; but that could not save it, in the pass things were got to. enormous lack of wisdom, of reality and human veracity, there had long been; and the hour was now come. finance went out, to the last coin. large mercenary armies all along; and in the end not the color of money to pay them with; mercenaries became desperate; 'besieged the hochmeister and his ritters in marienburg;'--finally sold the country they held; formally made it over to the king of poland, to get their pay out of it. hochmeister had to see such things, and say little. peace, or extinction for want of fuel, came in the year . poland got to itself the whole of that fine german country, henceforth called 'west preussen' to distinguish it, which goes from the left bank of the weichsel to the borders of brandenburg and neumark;--would have got neumark too, had not kurfurst friedrich been there to save it. the teutsch order had to go across the weichsel, ignominiously driven; to content itself with 'east preussen,' the konigsberg-memel country, and even to do homage to poland for that. which latter was the bitterest clause of all: but it could not be helped, more than the others. in this manner did its revolted children fling out teutsch ritterdom ignominiously to the dogs, to the polacks, first of all,--thorn, the eldest child, leading off or setting the example." and so the teutsch ritters are sunk beyond retrieval; and west preussen, called subsequently "royal preussen," not having homage to pay as the "ducal" or east preussen had, is german no longer, but polish, sclavic; not prospering by the change. [what thorn had sunk to, out of its palmy state, see in nanke's _wanderungen durch preussen_ (hamburg & altona, ), ii. - :--a pleasant little rook, treating mainly of natural history; but drawing you, by its innocent simplicity and geniality, to read with thanks whatever is in it.] and all that fine german country, reduced to rebel against its unwise parent, was cut away by the polish sword, and remained with poland, which did not prove very wise either; till--till, in the year , it was cut back by the german sword! all readers have heard of the partition of poland: but of the partition of preussen, years before, all have not heard. it was in the second year of that final tribulation, marked above as period third, that the teutsch ritters, famishing for money, completed the neumark transaction with kurfurst friedrich; neumark, already pawned to him ten years before, they in , for a small farther sum, agreed to sell; and he, long carefully steering towards such an issue, and dexterously keeping out of the main broil, failed not to buy. friedrich could thenceforth, on his own score, protect the neumark; keep up an invisible but impenetrable wall between it and the neighboring anarchic conflagrations of thirteen years; and the neumark has ever since remained with brandenburg, its original owner. as to friedrich's pomeranian quarrel, this is the figure of it. here is a scene from rentsch, which falls out in friedrich's time; and which brought much battling and broiling to him and his. symbolical withal of much that befell in brandenburg, from first to last. under the hohenzollerns as before, brandenburg grew by aggregation, by assimilation; and we see here how difficult the process often was. pommern (pomerania), long wendish, but peaceably so since the time of albert the bear, and growing ever more german, had, in good part, according to friedrich's notion, if there were force in human treaties and imperial laws, fallen fairly to brandenburg,--that is to say, the half of it, stettin-pommern had fairly fallen,--in the year , when duke otto of stettin, the last wendish duke, died without heirs. in that case by many bargains, some with bloody crowns, it had been settled, if the wendish dukes died out, the country was to fall to brandenburg;--and here they were dead. "at duke otto's burial, accordingly, in the high church of stettin, when the coffin was lowered into its place, the stettin burgermeister, albrecht glinde, took sword and helmet, and threw the same into the grave, in token that the line was extinct. but franz von eichsted," apparently another burgher instructed for the nonce, "jumped into the grave, and picked them out again; alleging, no, the dukes of wolgast-pommern were of kin; these tokens we must send to his grace at wolgast, with offer of our homage, said franz von eichsted." [rentsch, p. (whose printer has put his date awry); stenzel (i. ) calls the man "lorenz eikstetten, a resolute gentleman."]--and sent they were, and accepted by his grace. and perhaps half-a-score of bargains, with bloody crowns to some of them; and yet other chances, and centuries, with the extinction of new lines,--had to supervene, before even stettin-pommern, and that in no complete state, could be got. [ , by treaty of westphalia.] as to pommern at large, pommern not denied to be due, after such extinction and re-extinction of native ducal lines, did not fall home for centuries more; and what struggles and inextricable armed-litigations there were for it, readers of brandenburg-history too wearisomely know. the process of assimilation not the least of an easy one!-- this friedrich was second son: his father's outlook for him had, at first, been towards a polish princess and the crown of poland, which was not then so elective as afterwards: and with such view his early breeding had been chiefly in poland; johann, the eldest son and heir-apparent, helping his father at home in the mean while. but these polish outlooks went to nothing, the young princess having died; so that friedrich came home; possessed merely of the polish language, and of what talents the gods had given him, which were considerable. and now, in the mean while, johann, who at one time promised well in practical life, had taken to alchemy; and was busy with crucibles and speculations, to a degree that seemed questionable. father friedrich, therefore, had to interfere, and deal with this "johann the alchemist" (johannes alchemista, so the books still name him); who loyally renounced the electorship, at his father's bidding, in favor of friedrich; accepted baireuth (better half of the culmbach territory) for apanage; and there peacefully distilled and sublimated at discretion; the government there being an easier task, and fitter for a soft speculative herr. a third brother, albert by name, got anspach, on the father's decease; very capable to do any fighting there might be occasion for, in culmbach. as to the burggrafship, it was now done, all but the title. the first friedrich, once he was got to be elector, wisely parted with it. the first friedrich found his electorship had dreadfully real duties for him, and that this of the burggrafship had fallen mostly obsolete; so he sold it to the nurnbergers for a round sum: only the principalities and territories are retained in that quarter. about which too, and their feudal duties, boundaries and tolls, with a jealous litigious nurnberg for neighbor, there at length came quarrelling enough. but albert the third brother, over at anspach, took charge of all that; and nothing of it fell in johann's way. the good alchemist died,--performed his last sublimation, poor man,--six or seven years before his brother friedrich; age then sixty-three. [ th november, .] friedrich, with his iron teeth and faculties, only held out till fifty-eight,-- th february, . the manner of his end was peculiar. in that war with pommern, he sat besieging a pomeranian town, uckermunde the name of it: when at dinner one day, a cannon-ball plunged down upon the table, [michaelis, i. .] with such a crash as we can fancy;--which greatly confused the nerves of friedrich; much injured his hearing, and even his memory thenceforth. in a few months afterwards he resigned, in favor of his successor; retired to plassenburg, and there died in about a year more. chapter iv. -- kurfurst albert achilles, and his successor. neither friedrich nor johann left other than daughters: so that the united heritage, brandenburg and culmbach both, came now to the third brother, albert; who has been in culmbath these many years already. a tall, fiery, tough old gentleman, of formidable talent for fighting, who was called the "achilles of germany" in his day; being then a very blazing far-seen character, dim as he has now grown. [born ; kurfurst, - .] this albert achilles was the third elector; ancestor he of all the brandenburg and culmbach hohenzollern princes that have since figured in the world. after him there is no break or shift in the succession, down to the little friedrich now born;--friedrich the old grandfather, first king, was the twelfth kurfurst. we have to say, they followed generally in their ancestors' steps, and had success of the like kind, more or less; hohenzollerns all of them, by character and behavior as well as by descent. no lack of quiet energy, of thrift, sound sense. there was likewise solid fair-play in general, no founding of yourself on ground that will not carry;--and there was instant, gentle but inexorable, crushing of mutiny, if it showed itself; which, after the second elector, or at most the third, it had altogether ceased to do. young friedrich ii., upon whom those berlin burghers had tried to close their gates, till he should sign some "capitulation" to their mind, got from them, and not quite in ill-humor, that name ironteeth:--"not the least a nose-of-wax, this one! no use trying here, then!"--which, with the humor attached to it, is itself symbolical of friedrich and these hohenzollern sovereigns. albert, his brother, had plenty of fighting in his time: but it was in the nurnberg and other distant regions; no fighting, or hardly any, needed in brandenburg henceforth. with nurnberg, and the ex-burggrafship there, now when a new generation began to tug at the loose clauses of that bargain with friedrich i., and all free-towns were going high upon their privileges, albert had at one time much trouble, and at length actual furious war;--other free-towns countenancing and assisting nurnberg in the affair; numerous petty princes, feudal lords of the vicinity, doing the like by albert. twenty years ago, all this; and it did not last, so furious was it. "eight victories," they count on albert's part,--furious successful skirmishes, call them;--in one of which, i remember, albert plunged in alone, his ritters being rather shy; and laid about him hugely, hanging by a standard he had taken, till his life was nearly beaten out. [ (rentsch, p. ).] eight victories; and also one defeat, wherein albert got captured, and had to ransom himself. the captor was one kunz of kauffungen, the nurnberg hired general at the time: a man known to some readers for his stealing of the saxon princes (prinzenraub, they call it); a feat which cost kunz his head. [carlyle's _miscellanies_ (london, ), vi. ? prinzenraub.] albert, however, prevailed in the end, as he was apt to do; and got his nurnbergers fixed to clauses satisfactory to him. in his early days he had fought against poles, bohemians and others, as imperial general. he was much concerned, all along, in those abstruse armed-litigations of the austrian house with its dependencies; and diligently helped the kaiser,--friedrich iii., rather a weakish, but an eager and greedy kaiser,--through most of them. that inextricable hungarian-bohemian-polish donnybrook (so we may call it) which austria had on hand, one of sigismund's bequests to austria; distressingly tumultuous donnybrook, which goes from to , fighting in a fierce confused manner;--the anti-turk hunniades, the anti-austrian corvinus, the royal majesties george podiebrad, ladislaus posthumus, ludwig ohne haut (ludwig no-skin), and other ludwigs, ladislauses and vladislauses, striking and getting struck at such a rate:--albert was generally what we may call chief-constable in all that; giving a knock here and then one there, in the kaiser's name. [hormayr, ii. , (? hunyady corvin); rentsch, pp. - ; michaelis, i. - .] almost from boyhood, he had learned soldiering, which he had never afterwards leisure to forget. great store of fighting he had,--say half a century of it, off and on, during the seventy and odd years he lasted in this world. with the donnybrook we spoke of; with the nurnbergers; with the dukes of bavaria (endless bickerings with these dukes, ludwig beardy, ludwig superbus, ludwig gibbosus or hunchback, against them and about them, on his own and the kaiser's score); also with the french, already clutching at lorraine; also with charles the rash of burgundy;--lastly with the bishop of bamberg, who got him excommunicated and would not bury the dead. kurfurst albert's letter on this last emergency, to his viceregent in culmbach, is a famed piece still extant (date ); [rentsch, p. .] and his plan in such emergency, is a simple and likely one: "carry the dead bodies to the parson's house; let him see whether he will not bury them by and by!--one must fence off the devil by the holy cross," says albert,--appeal to heaven with what honest mother-wit heaven has vouchsafed one, means albert. "these fellows" (the priests), continues he, "would fain have the temporal sword as well as the spiritual. had god wished there should be only one sword, he could have contrived that as well as the two. he surely did not want for intellect _(er war gar ein weiser mann),"_--want of intellect it clearly was not!--in short, they had to bury the dead, and do reason; and albert hustled himself well clear of this broil, as he had done of many. battle enough, poor man, with steel and other weapons:--and we see he did it with sharp insight, good forecast; now and then in a wildly leonine or aquiline manner. a tall hook-nosed man, of lean, sharp, rather taciturn aspect; nose and look are very aquiline; and there is a cloudy sorrow in those old eyes, which seems capable of sudden effulgence to a dangerous extent. he was a considerable, diplomatist too: very great with the kaiser, old friedrich iii. (max's father, charles v.'s great-grandfather); [how admirable albert is, not to say "almost divine," to the kaiser's then secretary, oily-mouthed aeneas sylvius, afterwards pope, rentsch can testify (pp. , ); quoting aeneas's eulogies and gossipries (_historia rerum frederici imperatoris,_ i conclude, though no book is named). oily diligent aeneas, in his own young years and in albert's prime, had of course seen much of this "miracle" of arms and art,--"miracle" and "almost divine," so to speak.] and managed many things for him. managed to get the thrice-lovely heiress of the netherlands and burgundy, daughter of that charles the rash, with her seventeen provinces, for max, [ ]--who was thought thereupon by everybody to be the luckiest man alive; though the issue contradicted it before long. kurfurst albert died in , march , aged seventy-two. it was some months after bosworth fight, where our crooked richard got his quietus here in england and brought the wars of the roses to their finale:--a little chubby boy, the son of poor parents at eisleben in saxony, martin luther the name of him, was looking into this abtruse universe, with those strange eyes of his, in what rough woollen or linsey-woolsey short-clothes we do not know. [born th november, ] albert's funeral was very grand; the kaiser himself, and all the magnates of the diet and reich attending him from frankfurt to his last resting-place, many miles of road. for he died at the diet, in frankfurt-on-mayn; having fallen ill there while busy,--perhaps too busy for that age, in the harsh spring weather,--electing prince maximilian ("lucky max,") who will be kaiser too before long, and is already deep in ill-luck, tragical and other to be king of the romans. the old kaiser had "looked in on him at onolzbach" (anspach), and brought him along; such a man could not be wanting on such an occasion. a man who "perhaps did more for the german empire than for the electorate of brandenburg," hint some. the kaiser himself, friedrich iii., was now getting old; anxious to see max secure, and to set his house in order. a somewhat anxious, creaky, close-fisted, ineffectual old kaiser; [see kohler (_munzbelustigungen,_ vi. - ; ii. - , &c.) for a vivid account of him.] distinguished by his luck in getting max so provided for, and bringing the seventeen provinces of the netherlands to his house. he is the first of the hapsburg kaisers who had what has since been called the "austrian lip"--protrusive under-jaw, with heavy lip disinclined to shut. he got it from his mother, and bequeathed it in a marked manner; his posterity to this day bearing traces of it. mother's name was cimburgis, a polish princess, "duke of masovia's daughter;" a lady who had something of the maultasche in her, in character as well as mouth.--in old albert, the poor old kaiser has lost his right hand; and no doubt muses sadly as he rides in the funeral procession. albert is buried at heilsbronn in frankenland, among his ancestors,--burial in brandenburg not yet common for these new kurfursts:--his skull, in an after-time, used to be shown there, laid on the lid of the tomb; skull marvellous for strength, and for "having no visible sutures," says rentsch. pious brandenburg officiality at length put an end to that profanation, and restored the skull to its place,--marvellous enough, with what had once dwelt in it, whether it had sutures or not. johann the cicero is fourth kurfurst, and leaves two notable sons. albert's eldest son, the fourth kurfurst, was johannes cicero ( - ): johannes was his natural name, to which the epithet "cicero of germany (cicero germaniae)" was added by an admiring public. he had commonly administered the electorate during his father's absences; and done it with credit to himself. he was an active man, nowise deficient as a governor; creditably severe on highway robbers, for one thing,--destroys you "fifteen baronial robber-towers" at a stroke; was also concerned in the hungarian-bohemian donnybrook, and did that also well. but nothing struck a discerning public like the talent he had for speaking. spoke "four hours at a stretch in kaiser max's diets, in elegantly flowing latin;" with a fair share of meaning, too;--and had bursts of parliamentary eloquence in him that were astonishing to hear. a tall, square-headed man, of erect, cheerfully composed aspect, head flung rather back if anything: his bursts of parliamentary eloquence, once glorious as the day, procured him the name "johannes cicero;" and that is what remains of them: for they are sunk now, irretrievable he and they, into the belly of eternal night; the final resting-place, i do perceive, of much ciceronian ware in this world. apparently he had, like some of his descendants, what would now be called "distinguished literary talents,"--insignificant to mankind and us. i find he was likewise called der grosse, "john the great;" but on investigation it proves to be mere "john the big," a name coming from his tall stature and ultimate fatness of body. for the rest, he left his family well off, connected with high potentates all around; and had increased his store, to a fair degree, in his time. besides his eldest son who followed as elector, by name joachim i., a burly gentleman of whom much is written in books, he left a second son, archbishop of magdeburg, who in time became archbishop of mainz and cardinal of holy church, [ulrich van hutten's grand "panegyric" upon this albert on his first entrance into mainz ( th october, ),--"entrance with a retinue of , horse, mainly furnished by the brandenburg and culmbach kindred," say the old books,--is in _ulrichi ab hutten equitis germani opera_ (munch's edition; berlin, ), i. - .]--and by accident got to be forever memorable in church-history, as we shall see anon. archbishop of mainz means withal kur-mainz, elector of mainz; who is chief of the seven electors, and as it were their president or "speaker." albert was the name of this one; his elder brother, the then kur-brandenburg, was called joachim. cardinal albert kur-mainz, like his brother joachim kur-brandenburg, figures much, and blazes widely abroad, in the busy reign of karl v., and the inextricable lutheran-papal, turk-christian business it had. but the notable point in this albert of mainz was that of leo x. and the indulgences. [pauli, v. - ; rentsch, p. .] pope leo had permitted albert to retain his archbishopric of magdeburg and other dignities along with that of mainz; which was an unusual favor. but the pope expected to be paid for it,--to have , ducats ( , pounds), almost a king's ransom at that time, for the "pallium" to mainz; pallium, or little bit of woollen cloth, on sale by the pope, without which mainz could not be held. albert, with all his dignities, was dreadfully short of money at the time. chapter of mainz could or would do little or nothing, having been drained lately; magdeburg, halberstadt, the like. albert tried various shifts; tried a little stroke of trade in relics,--gathered in the mainz district "some hundreds of fractional sacred bones, and three whole bodies," which he sent to halle for pious purchase;--but nothing came of this branch. the , pounds remained unpaid; and pope leo, building st. peter's, "furnishing a sister's toilet," and doing worse things, was in extreme need of it. what is to be done? "i could borrow the money from the fuggers of augsburg," said the archbishop hesitatingly; "but then--?"--"i could help you to repay it." said his holiness: "could repay the half of it,--if only we had (but they always make such clamor about these things) an indulgence published in germany!"--"well; it must be!" answered albert at last, agreeing to take the clamor on himself, and to do the feat; being at his wits'-end for money. he draws out his full-power, which, as first spiritual kurfurst, he has the privilege to do; nominates ( ) one tetzel for chief salesman, a priest whose hardness of face, and shiftiness of head and hand, were known to him; and--here is one hohenzollern that has a place in history! poor man, it was by accident, and from extreme tightness for money. he was by no means a violent churchman; he had himself inclinations towards luther, even of a practical sort, as the thing went on. but there was no help for it. cardinal albert, kur-mainz, shows himself a copious dexterous public speaker at the diets and elsewhere in those times; a man intent on avoiding violent methods;--uncomfortably fat in his later years, to judge by the portraits. kur-brandenburg, kur-mainz (the younger now officially even greater than the elder), these names are perpetually turning up in the german histories of that reformation-period; absent on no great occasion; and they at length, from amid the meaningless bead-roll of names, wearisomely met with in such books, emerge into persons for us as above. chapter v. -- of the baireuth-anspach branch. albert achilles the third elector had, before his accession, been margraf of anspach, and since his brother the alchemist's death, margraf of baireuth too, or of the whole principality,--"margraf of culmbach" we will call it, for brevity's sake, though the bewildering old books have not steadily any name for it. [a certain subaltern of this express title, "margraf of culmbach" (a cadet, with some temporary appanage there, who was once in the service of him they call the winter-king, and may again be transiently heard of by us here), is the altogether mysterious personage who prints himself "marquis de lulenbach" in bromley's _collection of royal letters_ (london, ), pp. , &c.:--one of the most curious books on the thirty-years war; "edited" with a composed stupidity, and cheerful infinitude of ignorance, which still farther distinguish it. the bromley originals well worth a real editing, turn out, on inquiry, to have been "sold as autographs, and dispersed beyond recovery, about fifty years ago."] after his accession, albert achilles naturally held both electorate and principality during the rest of his life. which was an extremely rare predicament for the two countries, the big and the little. no other elector held them both, for nearly a hundred years; nor then, except as it were for a moment. the two countries, electorate and principality, hohenzollern both, and constituting what the hohenzollerns had in this world, continued intimately connected; with affinity and clientship carefully kept, up, and the lesser standing always under the express protection and as it were cousinship of the greater. but they had their separate princes, lines of princes; and they only twice, in the time of these twelve electors, came even temporarily under the same head. and as to ultimate union, brandenburg-baireuth and brandenburg-anspach were not incorporated with brandenburg-proper, and its new fortunes, till almost our own day, namely in ; nor then either to continue; having fallen to bavaria, in the grand congress of vienna, within the next five-and-twenty years. all which, with the complexities and perplexities resulting from it here, we must, in some brief way, endeavor to elucidate for the reader. two lines in culmbach or baireuth-anspach: the gera bond of . culmbach the elector left, at his death, to his second son,--properly to two sons, but one of them soon died, and the other became sole possessor;--friedrich by name; who, as founder of the elder line of brandenburg-culmbach princes, must not be forgotten by us. founder of the first or elder line, for there are two lines; this of friedrich's having gone out in about a hundred years; and the anspach-baireuth territories having fallen home again to brandenburg;--where, however, they continued only during the then kurfurst's life. johann george ( - ), seventh kurfurst, was he to whom brandenburg-culmbach fell home,--nay, strictly speaking, it was but the sure prospect of it that fell home, the thing itself did not quite fall in his time, though the disposal of it did, ["disposal," ; thing itself, , in his son's time.]--to be conjoined again with brandenburg-proper. conjoined for the short potential remainder of his own life; and then to be disposed of as an apanage again;--which latter operation, as johann george had three-and-twenty children, could be no difficult one. johann george, accordingly (year ), split the territory in two; brandenburg-baireuth was for his second son, brandenburg-anspach for his third: hereby again were two new progenitors of culmbach princes introduced, and a new line, second or "younger line" they call it (line mostly split in two, as heretofore); which--after complex adventures in its split condition, baireuth under one head, anspach under another--continues active down to our little fritz's time and farther. as will become but too apparent to us in the course of this history!-- from of old these territories had been frequently divided: each has its own little capital, town of anspach, town of baireuth, [populations about the same; , to , in our time.] suitable for such arrangement. frequently divided; though always under the closest cousinship, and ready for reuniting, if possible. generally under the elder line too, under friedrich's posterity, which was rather numerous and often in need of apanages, they had been in separate hands. but the understood practice was not to divide farther; baireuth by itself, anspach by itself (or still luckier if one hand could get hold of both),--and especially brandenburg by itself, uncut by any apanage: this, i observe, was the received practice. but johann george, wise kurfurst as he was, wished now to make it surer; and did so by a famed deed, called the gera bond (geraische vertrag), dated , [michaelis, i. .] the last year of johann george's life. hereby, in a family conclave held at that gera, a little town in thuringen, it was settled and indissolubly fixed, that their electorate, unlike all others in germany, shall continue indivisible; law of primogeniture, here if nowhere else, is to be in full force; and only the culmbach territory (if otherwise unoccupied) can be split off for younger sons. culmbach can be split off; and this again withal can be split, if need be, into two (baireuth and anspach); but not in any case farther. which household-law was strictly obeyed henceforth. date of it ; principal author, johann george, seventh elector. this "gera bond" the reader can note for himself as an excellent piece of hohenzollern thrift, and important in the brandenburg annals. on the whole, brandenburg keeps continually growing under these twelve hohenzollerns, we perceive; slower or faster, just as the burggrafdom had done, and by similar methods. a lucky outlay of money (as in the case of friedrich ironteeth in the neumark) brings them one province, lucky inheritance another:--good management is always there, which is the mother of good luck. and so there goes on again, from johann george downwards, a new stream of culmbach princes, called the younger or new line,--properly two contemporary lines, of baireuthers and anspachers;--always in close affinity to brandenburg, and with ultimate reversion to brandenburg, should both lines fail; but with mutual inheritance if only one. they had intricate fortunes, service in foreign armies, much wandering about, sometimes considerable scarcity of cash: but, for a hundred and fifty years to come, neither line by any means failed,--rather the contrary, in fact. of this latter or new culmbach line, or split line, especially of the baireuth part of it, our little wilhelmina, little fritz's sister, who became margravine there, has given all the world notice. from the anspach part of it (at that time in sore scarcity of cash) came queen caroline, famed in our george the second's time. [see a synoptic diagram of these genealogies, infra, p. a.] from it too came an unmomentous margraf, who married a little sister of wilhelmina's and fritz's; of whom we shall hear. there is lastly a still more unmomentous margraf, only son of said unmomentous and his said spouse; who again combined the two territories, baireuth having failed of heirs; and who, himself without heirs, and with a frail lady craven as margravine,--died at hammersmith, close by us, in ; and so ended the troublesome affair. he had already, in , sold off to prussia all temporary claims of his; and let prussia have the heritage at once without waiting farther. prussia, as we noticed, did not keep it long; and it is now part of the bavarian dominion;--for the sake of editors and readers, long may it so continue! of this younger line, intrinsically rather insignificant to mankind, we shall have enough to write in time and place; we must at present direct our attention to the elder line. the elder line of culmbach: friedrich and his three notable sons there. kurfurst albert achilles's second son, friedrich ( - ), [rentsch, pp. - .] the founder of the elder culmbach line, ruled his country well for certain years, and was "a man famed for strength of body and mind;" but claims little notice from us, except for the sons he had. a quiet, commendable, honorable man,--with a certain pathetic dignity, visible even in the eclipsed state he sank into. poor old gentleman, after grand enough feats in war and peace, he fell melancholy, fell imbecile, blind, soon after middle life; and continued so for twenty years, till he died. during which dark state, say the old books, it was a pleasure to see with what attention his sons treated him, and how reverently the eldest always led him out to dinner. [ib. p. .] they live and dine at that high castle of plassenburg, where old friedrich can behold the red or white mayn no more. alas, alas, plassenburg is now a correction-house, where male and female scoundrels do beating of hemp; and pious friedrich, like eloquent johann, has become a forgotten object. he was of the german reichs-array, who marched to the netherlands to deliver max from durance; max, the king of the romans, whom, for all his luck, the mutinous flemings had put under lock-and-key at one time. [ (pauli, ii. ): his beautiful young wife, "thrown from her horse," had perished in a thrice-tragic way, short while before; and the seventeen provinces were unruly under the guardianship of max.] that is his one feat memorable to me at present. he was johann cicero's half-brother, child by a second wife. like his uncle kurfurst friedrich ii., he had married a polish princess; the sharp achilles having perhaps an eye to crowns in that direction, during that hungarian-bohemian-polish donnybrook. but if so, there again came nothing of a crown with it; though it was not without its good results for friedrich's children by and by. he had eight sons that reached manhood; five or six of whom came to something considerable in the world, and three are memorable down to this day. one of his daughters he married to the duke of liegnitz in silesia; which is among the first links i notice of a connection that grew strong with that sovereign duchy, and is worth remarking by my readers here. of the three notable sons it is necessary that we say something. casimir, george, albert are the names of these three. casimir, the eldest, [ - .] whose share of heritage is baireuth, was originally intended for the church; but inclining rather to secular and military things, or his prospects of promotion altering, he early quitted that; and took vigorously to the career of arms and business. a truculent-looking herr, with thoughtful eyes, and hanging under-lip:--hat of enviable softness; loose disk of felt flung carelessly on, almost like a nightcap artificially extended, so admirably soft;--and the look of the man casimir, between his cataract of black beard and this semi-nightcap, is carelessly truculent. he had much fighting with the nurnbergers and others; laid it right terribly on, in the way of strokes, when needful. he was especially truculent upon the revolt of peasants in their bauernkrieg ( ). them in their wildest rage he fronted; he, that others might rally to him: "unhappy mortals, will you shake the world to pieces, then, because you have much to complain of?" and hanged the ringleaders of them literally by the dozen, when quelled and captured. a severe, rather truculent herr. his brother george, who had anspach for heritage, and a right to half those prisoners, admonished and forgave his half; and pleaded hard with casimir for mercy to the others, in a fine letter still extant; [in rentsch, p. .] which produced no effect on casimir. for the dog's sake, and for all sakes, "let not the dog learn to eat leather;" (of which his indispensable leashes and muzzles are made)! that was a proverb often heard on the occasion, in luther's mouth among the rest. casimir died in , age then towards fifty. for the last dozen years or so, when the father's malady became hopeless, he had governed culmbach, both parts of it; the anspach part, which belonged to his next brother george, going naturally, in almost all things, along with baireuth; and george, who was commonly absent, not interfering, except on important occasions. casimir left one little boy, age then only six, name albert; to whom george, henceforth practical sovereign of culmbach, as his brother had been, was appointed guardian. this youth, very full of fire, wildfire too much of it, exploded dreadfully on germany by and by (albert alcibiades the name they gave him); nay, towards the end of his nonage, he had been rather sputtery upon his uncle, the excellent guardian who had charge of him. friedrich's second son, margraf george of anspach. uncle george of anspach, casimir's next brother, had always been of a peaceabler disposition than casimir; not indeed without heat of temper, and sufficient vivacity of every kind. as a youth, he had aided kaiser max in two of his petty wars; but was always rather given "to reading latin," to learning, and ingenious pursuits. his polish mother, who, we perceive, had given "casimir" his name, proved much more important to george. at an early age he went to his uncle vladislaus, king of hungary and bohemia: for--alas, after all, we shall have to cast a glance into that unbeautiful hungarian-bohemian scramble, comparable to an "irish donnybrook," where albert achilles long walked as chief-constable. it behooves us, after all, to point out some of the tallest heads in it; and whitherward, bludgeon in hand, they seem to be swaying and struggling.--courage, patient reader! george, then, at an early age went to his uncle vladislaus, king of hungary and bohemia: for george's mother, as we know, was of royal kin; daughter of the polish king, casimir iv. (late mauler of the teutsch ritters); which circumstance had results for george and us. daughter of casimir iv. the lady was; and therefore of the jagellon blood by her father, which amounts to little; but by her mother she was granddaughter of that kaiser albert ii. who "got three crowns in one year, and died the next;" whose posterity have ever since,--up to the lips in trouble with their confused competitive accompaniments, hunniades, corvinus, george podiebrad and others, not to speak of dragon turks coiling ever closer round you on the frontier,--been kings of hungary and bohemia; two of the crowns (the heritable two) which were got by kaiser albert in that memorable year. he got them, as the reader may remember, by having the daughter of kaiser sigismund to wife,--sigismund super-grammaticam, whom we left standing, red as a flamingo, in the market-place of constance a hundred years ago. thus time rolls on in its many-colored manner, edacious and feracious. it is in this way that george's uncle, vladislaus, albert's daughter's son, is now king of hungary and bohemia: the last king vladislaus they had; and the last king but one, of any kind, as we shall see anon. vladislaus was heir of poland too, could he have managed to get it; but he gave up that to his brother, to various younger brothers in succession; having his hands full with the hungarian and bohemian difficulty. he was very fond of nephew george; well recognizing the ingenuous, wise and loyal nature of the young man. he appointed george tutor of his poor son ludwig; whom he left at the early age of ten, in an evil world, and evil position there. "born without skin," they say, that is, born in the seventh month;--called ludwig ohne haut (ludwig no-skin), on that account. born certainly, i can perceive, rather thin of skin; and he would have needed one of a rhinoceros thickness! george did his function honestly, and with success: ludwig grew up a gallant, airy, brisk young king, in spite of difficulties, constitutional and other; got a sister of the great kaiser karl v. to wife;--determined (a.d. ) to have a stroke at the turk dragon; which, was coiling round his frontier, and spitting fire at an intolerable rate. ludwig, a fine young man of twenty, marched away with much hungarian chivalry, right for the turk (summer ); george meanwhile going busily to bohemia, and there with all his strength levying troops for reinforcement. ludwig fought and fenced, for some time, with the turk outskirts; came at last to a furious general battle with the turk ( th august, ), at a place called mohacz, far east in the flats of the lower donau; and was there tragically beaten and ended. seeing the battle gone, and his chivalry all in flight, ludwig too had to fly; galloping for life, he came upon bog which proved bottomless, as good as bottomless; and ludwig, horse and man, vanished in it straightway from this world. hapless young man, like a flash of lightning suddenly going down there--and the hungarian sovereignty along with him. for hungary is part of austria ever since; having, with bohemia, fallen to karl v.'s brother ferdinand, as now the nearest convenient heir of albert with his three crowns. up to the lips in difficulties to this day!-- george meanwhile, with finely appointed reinforcements, was in full march to join ludwig; but the sad news of mohacz met him: he withdrew, as soon as might be, to his own territory, and quitted hungarian politics. this, i think, was george's third and last trial of war. he by no means delighted in that art, or had cultivated it like casimir and some of his brothers.-- george by this time had considerable property; part of it important to the readers of this history. anspach we already know; but the duchy of jagerndorf,--that and its pleasant valleys, fine hunting-grounds and larch-clad heights, among the giant mountains of silesia,--that is to us the memorable territory. george got it in this manner:-- some ten or fifteen years ago, the late king vladislaus, our uncle of blessed memory, loving george, and not having royal moneys at command, permitted him to redeem with his own cash certain hungarian domains, pledged at a ruinously cheap rate, but unredeemable by vladislaus. george did so; years ago, guess ten or fifteen. george did not like the hungarian domains, with their turk and other inconveniences; he proposed to exchange them with king vladislaus for the bohemian-silesian duchy of jagerndorf; which had just then, by failure of heirs, lapsed to the king. this also vladislaus, the beneficent cashless uncle, liking george more and more, permitted to be done. and done it was; i see not in what year; only that the ultimate investiture (done, this part of the affair, by ludwig ohne haut, and duly sanctioned by the kaiser) dates , two years before the fatal mohacz business. from the time of this purchase, and especially till brother casimir's death, which happened in , george resided oftener at jagerndorf than at anspach. anspach, by the side of baireuth, needed no management; and in jagerndorf much probably required the hand of a good governor to put it straight again. the castle of jagerndorf, which towers up there in a rather grand manner to this day, george built: "the old castle of the schellenbergs" (extinct predecessor line) now gone to ruins, "stands on a hill with larches on it, some miles off." margraf george was much esteemed as duke of jagerndorf. what his actions in that region were, i know not; but it seems he was so well thought of in silesia, two smaller neighboring potentates, the duke of oppeln and the duke of ratibor, who had no heirs of their body, bequeathed, with the kaiser's assent, these towns and territories to george: [rentsch, pp. , - . kaiser is ferdinand, karl v.'s brother,--as yet only king of bohemia and hungary, but supreme in regard to such points. his assent is dated " th june, " in rentsch.]--in mere love to their subjects (rentsch intimates), that poor men might be governed by a wise good duke, in the time coming. the kaiser would have got the duchies otherwise. nay the kaiser, in spite of his preliminary assent, proved extortionate to george in this matter; and exacted heavy sums for the actual possession of oppeln and ratibor. george, going so zealously ahead in protestant affairs, grew less and less a favorite with kaisers. but so, at any rate, on peaceable unquestionable grounds, grounds valid as imperial law and ready money, george is at last lord of these two little countries, in the plain of south-silesia, as of jagerndorf among the mountains hard by. george has and holds the duchy of jagerndorf, with these appendages (jagerndorf since , ratibor and oppeln since some years later); and lives constantly, or at the due intervals, in his own strong mountain-castle of jagerndorf there,--we have no doubt, to the marked benefit of good men in those parts. hereby has jagerndorf joined itself to the brandenburg territories: and the reader can note the circumstance, for it will prove memorable one day. in the business of the reformation, margraf george was very noble. a simple-hearted, truth-loving, modestly valiant man; rising unconsciously, in that great element, into the heroic figure. "george the pious (der fromme)," "george the confessor (bekenner)," were the names he got from his countrymen. once this business had become practical, george interfered a little more in the culmbach government; his brother casimir, who likewise had reformation tendencies, rather hanging back in comparison to george. in the town-populations, in the culmbach region, big nurnberg in the van, had gone quite ahead in the new doctrine; and were becoming irrepressibly impatient to clear out the old mendacities, and have the gospel preached freely to them. this was a questionable step; feasible perhaps for a great elector of saxony;--but for a margraf of anspach? george had come home from jagerndorf, some three hundred miles away, to look into it for himself; found it, what with darkness all round, what with precipices menacing on both hands, and zealous, inconsiderate town-populations threatening to take the bit between their teeth, a frightfully intricate thing. george mounted his horse, one day this year, day not dated farther, and "with only six attendants" privately rode off, another two hundred miles, a good three days' ride, to wittenberg; and alighted at dr. martinus lutherus's door. [rentsch, p. .] a notable passage; worth thinking of. but such visits of high princes, to that poor house of the doctor's, were not then uncommon. luther cleared the doubts of george; george returned with a resolution taken; "ahead then, ye poor voigtland gospel populations! i must lead you, we must on!"--and perils enough there proved to be, and precipices on each hand: bauernkrieg, that is to say peasants'-war, anabaptistry and red-republic, on the one hand; reichs-acht, ban of empire, on the other. but george, eagerly, solemnly attentive, with ever new light rising on him, dealt with the perils as they came; and went steadily on, in a simple, highly manful and courageous manner. he did not live to see the actual wars that followed on luther's preaching:--he was of the same age with luther, born few months later, and died two years before luther; [ th march, ,-- th dec., , george; th november, -- th february, , luther.]--but in all the intermediate principal transactions george is conspicuously present; "george of brandenburg," as the books call him, or simply "margraf george." at the diet of augsburg ( ), and the signing of the augsburg confession there, he was sure to be. he rode thither with his anspach knightage about him, "four hundred cavaliers,"--seckendorfs, huttens, flanses and other known kindreds, recognizable among the lists; [rentsch, p. .]--and spoke there, notbursts of parliamentary eloquence, but things that had meaning in them. one speech of his, not in the diet, but in the kaiser's lodging ( th june, ; no doubt, in anton fugger's house, where the kaiser "lodged for year and day" this time but without the "fires of cinnamon" they talk of on other occasions [see carlyle's _miscellanies_ (iii. n.). the house is at present an inn, _"gasthaus zu den drei mohren;"_where tourists lodge, and are still shown the room which the kaiser occupied on such visits.]), is still very celebrated. it was the evening of the kaiser karl fifth's arrival at the diet; which was then already, some time since, assembled there. and great had been the kaiser's reception that morning; the flower of germany, all the princes of the empire, protestant and papal alike, riding out to meet him, in the open country, at the bridge of the lech. with high-flown speeches and benignities, on both sides;--only that the kaiser willed all men, protestant and other, should in the mean while do the popish litanyings, waxlight processionings and idolatrous stage-performances with him on the morrow, which was corpus-christi day; and the protestants could not nor would. imperial hints there had already been, from innspruck; benign hopes, of the nature of commands, that loyal protestant princes would in the interim avoid open discrepancies,--perhaps be so loyal as keep their chaplains, peculiar divine-services, private in the interim? these were hints;--and now this of the corpus-christi, a still more pregnant hint! loyal protestants refused it, therefore; flatly declined, though bidden and again bidden. they attended in a body, old johann of saxony, young philip of hessen, and the rest; margraf george, as spokesman, with eloquent simplicity stating their reasons,--to somewhat this effect:-- invinciblest all-gracious kaiser, loyal are we to your high majesty, ready to do your bidding by night and by day. but it is your bidding under god, not against god. ask us not, o gracious kaiser! i cannot, and we cannot; and we must not, and dare not. and "before i would deny my god and his evangel," these are george's own words, "i would rather kneel down here before your majesty, and have my head struck off,"--hitting his hind-head, or neck, with the edge of his hand, by way of accompaniment; a strange radiance in the eyes of him, voice risen into musical alt: _"ehe ich wolte meinen gott und sein evangelium verlaugnen, ehe wolte ich hier vor eurer majestat niderknien, und mir den kopf abhauen lassen."--"nit kop ab, lover forst, nit kop ab!"_ answered charles in his flemish-german; "not head off, dear furst, not head off!" said the kaiser, a faint smile enlightening those weighty gray eyes of his, and imperceptibly animating the thick austrian under-lip. [rentsch, p. . marheineke, _geschichte der teutschen reformation _ (berlin, ), ii. .] speaker and company attended again on the morrow; margraf george still more eloquent. whose speech flew over germany, like fire over dry flax; and still exists,--both speeches now oftenest rolled into one by inaccurate editors. [as by rentsch, ubi supra.] and the corpus-christi idolatries were forborne the margraf and his company this time;--the kaiser himself, however, walking, nearly roasted in the sun, in heavy purple-velvet cloak, with a big wax-candle, very superfluous, guttering and blubbering in the right hand of him, along the streets of augsburg. kur-brandenburg, kur-mainz, high cousins of george, were at this diet of augsburg; kur-brandenburg (elector joachim i., cicero's son, of whom we have spoken, and shall speak again) being often very loud on the conservative side; and eloquent kur-mainz going on the conciliatory tack. kur-brandenburg, in his zeal, had ridden on to innspruck, to meet the kaiser there, and have a preliminary word with him. both these high cousins spoke, and bestirred themselves, a good deal, at this diet. they had met the kaiser on the plains of the lech, this morning; and, no doubt, gloomed unutterable things on george and his speech. george could not help it. till his death in , george is to be found always in the front line of this high movement, in the line where kur-sachsen, john the steadfast (der bestandige), and young philip the magnanimous of hessen were, and where danger and difficulty were. readers of this enlightened gold-nugget generation can form to themselves no conception of the spirit that then possessed the nobler kingly mind. "the command of god endures through eternity, _ verbum dei manet in aeternum,"_ was the epigraph and life-motto which john the steadfast had adopted for himself; "v. d. m. i. ae.," these initials he had engraved on all the furnitures of his existence, on his standards, pictures, plate, on the very sleeves of his lackeys,--and i can perceive, on his own deep heart first of all. v. d. m. i. e.:--or might it not be read withal, as philip of hessen sometimes said (philip, still a young fellow, capable of sport in his magnanimous scorn), _"verbum diaboli manet in episcopis,_ the devil's word sticks fast in the bishops"? we must now take leave of margraf george and his fine procedures in that crisis of world-history. he had got jugerndorf, which became important for his family and others: but what was that to the promethean conquests (such we may call them) which he had the honor to assist in making for his family, and for his country, and for all men;--very unconscious he of "bringing fire from heaven," good modest simple man! so far as i can gather, there lived, in that day, few truer specimens of the honest man. a rugged, rough-hewn, rather blunt-nosed physiognomy: cheek-bones high, cheeks somewhat bagged and wrinkly; eyes with a due shade of anxiety and sadness in them; affectionate simplicity, faithfulness, intelligence, veracity looking out of every feature of him. wears plentiful white beard short-cut, plentiful gold-chains, ruffs, ermines;--a hat not to be approved of, in comparison with brother casimir's; miserable inverted-colander of a hat; hanging at an angle of forty-five degrees; with band of pearls round the top not the bottom of it; insecure upon the fine head of george, and by no means to its embellishment. one of his daughters he married to the duke of liegnitz, a new link in that connection. he left one boy, george friedrich; who came under alcibiades, his cousin of baireuth's tutelage; and suffered much by that connection, or indeed chiefly by his own conspicuously protestant turn, to punish which, the alcibiades connection was taken as a pretext. in riper years, george friedrich got his calamities brought well under; and lived to do good work, protestant and other, in the world. to which we may perhaps allude again. the line of margraf george the pious ends in this george friedrich, who had no children; the line of margraf george, and the elder culmbach line altogether ( ), albert alcibiades, casimir's one son, having likewise died without posterity. "of the younger brothers," says my authority, "some four were in the church; two of whom rose to be prelates;--here are the four:-- " . one, wilhelm by name, was bishop of riga, in the remote prussian outskirts, and became protestant;--among the first great prelates who took that heretical course; being favored by circumstances to cast out the 'v. d. _(verbum diaboli),'_ as philip read it. he is a wise-looking man, with magnificent beard, with something of contemptuous patience in the meditative eyes of him. he had great troubles with his riga people,--as indeed was a perennial case between their bishop and them, of whatever creed he might be. " . the other prelate held fast by the papal orthodoxy: he had got upon the ladder of promotion towards magdeburg; hoping to follow his cousin kur-mainz, the eloquent conciliatory cardinal, in that part of his pluralities. as he did,--little to his comfort, poor man; having suffered a good deal in the sieges and religious troubles of his magdeburgers; who ended by ordering him away, having openly declared themselves protestant, at length. he had to go; and occupy himself complaining, soliciting aulic-councils and the like, for therest of his life. " . the probst of wurzburg (provost, kind of head-canon there); orthodox papal he too; and often gave his brother george trouble. " . a still more orthodox specimen, the youngest member of the family, who is likewise in orders: gumbrecht ('gumbertus, a canonicus of' something or other, say the books); who went early to rome, and became one of his holiness leo tenth's chamberlains;--stood the 'sack of rome' (constable de bourbon's), and was captured there and ransomed;--but died still young ( ). these three were catholics, he of wurzburg a rather virulent one." catholic also was johannes, a fifth brother, who followed the soldiering and diplomatic professions, oftenest in spain; did government-messages to diets, and the like, for karl v.; a high man and well seen of his kaiser;--he had wedded the young widow of old king ferdinand in spain; which proved, seemingly, a troublous scene for poor johannes. what we know is, he was appointed commandant of valencia; and died there, still little turned of thirty,--by poison it is supposed,--and left his young widow to marry a third time. these are the five minor brothers, four of them catholic, sons of old blind friedrich of plassenburg; who are not, for their own sake, memorable, but are mentionable for the sake of the three major brothers. so many orthodox catholics, while brother george and others went into the heresies at such a rate! a family much split by religion:--and blind old friedrich, dim of intellect, knew nothing of it; and the excellent polish mother said and thought, we know not what. a divided time!-- johannes of valencia, and these chief priests, were all men of mark; conspicuous to the able editors of their day: but the only brother now generally known to mankind is albert, hochmeister of the teutsch ritterdom; by whom preussen came into the family. of him we must now speak a little. chapter vi. -- hochmeister albert, third notable son of friedrich. albert was born in ; george's junior by six years, casimir's by nine. he too had been meant for the church; but soon quitted that, other prospects and tendencies opening. he had always loved the ingenuous arts; but the activities too had charms for him. he early shone in his exercises spiritual and bodily; grew tall above his fellows, expert in arts, especially in arms;--rode with his father to kaiser max's court; was presented by him, as the light of his eyes, to kaiser max; who thought him a very likely young fellow; and bore him in mind, when the mastership of the teutsch ritterdom fell vacant. [rentsch, pp. - .] the teutsch ritterdom, ever since it got its back broken in that battle of tannenberg in , and was driven out of west-preussen with such ignominious kicks, has been lying bedrid, eating its remaining revenues, or sprawling about in helpless efforts to rise again, which require no notice from us. hopeless of ever recovering west-preussen, it had quietly paid its homage to poland for the eastern part of that country; quietly for some couple of generations. but, in the third or fourth generation after tannenberg, there began to rise murmurs,--in the holy roman empire first of all. "preussen is a piece of the reich," said hot, inconsiderate people; "preussen could not be alienated without consent of the reich!" to which discourses the afflicted ritters listened only too gladly; their dull eyes kindling into new false hopes at sound of them. the point was, to choose as hochmeister some man of german influence, of power and connection in the country, who might help them to their so-called right. with this view, they chose one and then another of such sort;--and did not find it very hopeful, as we shall see. albert was chosen grand-master of preussen, in february, ; age then twenty-one. made his entry into konigsberg, november next year; in grand cavalcade, "dreadful storm of rain and wind at the time,"--poor albert all in black, and full of sorrow, for the loss of his mother, the good polish princess, who had died since he left home. twenty months of preparation he had held since his election, before doing anything: for indeed the case was intricate. he, like his predecessor in office, had undertaken to refuse that homage to poland; the reich generally, and kaiser max himself, in a loose way of talk, encouraging him: "a piece of the reich," said they all; "teutsch ritters had no power to give it away in that manner." which is a thing more easily said, than made good in the way of doing. albert's predecessor, chosen on this principle, was a saxon prince, friedrich of meissen; cadet of saxony; potently enough connected, he too; who, in like manner, had undertaken to refuse the homage. and zealously did refuse it, though to his cost, poor man. from the reich, for all its big talking, he got no manner of assistance; had to stave off a polish war as he could, by fair-speaking, by diplomacies and contrivances; and died at middle age, worn down by the sorrows of that sad position. an idea prevails, in ill-informed circles, that our new grand-master albert was no better than a kind of cheat; that he took this grand-mastership of preussen; and then, in gayety of heart, surreptitiously pocketed preussen for his own behoof. which is an idle idea; inconsistent with the least inquiry, or real knowledge how the matter stood. [voigt, ix. - ; pauli, iv. - .] by no means in gayety of heart, did albert pocket preussen; nor till after as tough a struggle to do other with it as could have been expected of any man. one thing not suspected by the teutsch ritters, and least of all by their young hochmeister, was, that the teutsch ritters had well deserved that terrible down-come at tannenberg, that ignominious dismissal out of west-preussen with kicks. their insolence, luxury, degeneracy had gone to great lengths. nor did that humiliation mend them at all; the reverse rather. it was deeply hidden from the young hochmeister as from them, that probably they were now at length got to the end of their capability: and ready to be withdrawn from the scene, as soon as any good way offered!--of course, they were reluctant enough to fulfil their bargain to poland; very loath they to do homage now for preussen, and own themselves sunk to the second degree. for the ritters had still their old haughtiness of humor, their deepseated pride of place, gone now into the unhappy conscious state. that is usually the last thing that deserts a sinking house: pride of place, gone to the conscious state;--as if, in a reverse manner, the house felt that it deserved to sink. for the rest, albert's position among them was what friedrich of sachsen's had been; worse, not better; and the main ultimate difference was, he did not die of it, like friedrich of sachsen; but found an outlet, not open in friedrich's time, and lived. to the ritters, and vague public which called itself the reich, albert had promised he would refuse the homage to poland; on which ritters and reich had clapt their hands: and that was pretty much all the assistance he got of them. the reich, as a formal body, had never asserted its right to preussen, nor indeed spoken definitely on the subject: it was only the vague public that had spoken, in the name of the reich. from the reich, or from any individual of it, kaiser or prince, when actually applied to, albert could get simply nothing. from what, ritters were in preussen, he might perhaps expect promptitude to fight, if it came to that; which was not much as things stood. but, from the great body of the ritters, scattered over germany, with their rich territories (balleys, bailliwicks), safe resources, and comfortable "teutschmeister" over them, he got flat refusal: [the titles hochmeister and teutschmeister are defined, in many books and in all manner of dictionaries, as meaning the same thing. but that is not quite the case. they were at first synonymous, so far as i can see; and after albert's time, they again became so; but at the date where we now are, and for a long while back, they represent different entities, and indeed oftenest, since the prussian decline began, antagonistic ones. teutschmeister, sub-president over the german affairs and possessions of the order, resides at mergentheim in that country: hochmeister is chief president of the whole, but resident at marienburg in preussen, and feels there acutely where the shoe pinches,--much too acutely, thinks the teutschmeister in his soft list-slippers, at mergentheim in the safe wurzburg region.] "we will not be concerned in the adventure at all; we wish you well through it!" never was a spirited young fellow placed in more impossible position. his brother casimir (george was then in hungary), his cousin joachim kur-brandenburg, friedrich duke of liegnitz, a silesian connection of the family, ["duke friedrich ii.:" comes by mothers from kurfurst friedrich i.; marries margraf george's daughter even now, (hubner, tt. , , ).] consulted, advised, negotiated to all lengths, albert's own effort was incessant. "agree with king sigismund," said they; "uncle sigismund, your good mother's brother; a king softly inclined to us all!"--"how agree?" answered albert: "he insists on the homage, which i have promised not to give!" casimir went and came, to konigsberg, to berlin; went once himself to cracow, to the king, on this errand: but it was a case of "yes and no;" not to be solved by casimir. as to king sigismund, he was patient with it to a degree; made the friendliest paternal professions;--testifying withal, that the claim was undeniable; and could by him, sigismund, never be foregone with the least shadow of honor, and of course never would: "my dear nephew can consider whether his dissolute, vain-minded, half-heretical ritterdom, nay whether this prussian fraction of it, is in a condition to take poland by the beard in an unjust quarrel; or can hope to do tannenberg over again in the reverse way, by beelzehub's help?"-- for seven years, albert held out in this intermediate state, neither peace nor war; moving heaven and earth to raise supplies, that he might be able to defy poland, and begin war. the reich answers, "we have really nothing for you." teutschmeister answers again and again, "i tell you we have nothing!" in the end, sigismund grew impatient; made (december, ) some movements of a hostile nature. albert did not yield; eager only to procrastinate till he were ready. by superhuman efforts, of borrowing, bargaining, soliciting, and galloping to and fro, albert did, about the end of next year, get up some appearance of an army: " , german mercenaries horse and foot," so many in theory; who, to the extent of , in actual result, came marching towards him (october, ); to serve "for eight months." with these he will besiege dantzig, besiege thorn; will plunge, suddenly, like a fiery javelin, into the heart of poland, and make poland surrender its claim. whereupon king sigismund bestirred himself in earnest; came out with vast clouds of polish chivalry; overset albert's , ;--who took to eating the country, instead of fighting for it; being indeed in want of all things. one of the gladdest days albert had yet seen, was when he got the , sent home again. what then is to be done? "armistice for four years," sigismund was still kind enough to consent to that: "truce for four years: try everywhere, my poor nephew; after that, your mind will perhaps become pliant." albert tried the reich again: "four years, o princes, and then i must do it, or be eaten!" reich, busy with lutheran-papal, turk-christian quarrels, merely shrugged its shoulders upon albert. teutschmeister did the like; everybody the like. in heaven or earth, then, is there no hope for me? thought albert. and his stock of ready money--we will not speak of that! meanwhile dr. osiander of anspach had come to him; and the pious young man was getting utterly shaken in his religion. monkish vows, pope, holy church itself, what is one to think, herr doctor? albert, religious to an eminent degree, was getting deep into protestantism. in his many journeyings, to nurnberg, to brandenburg, and up and down, he had been at wittenberg too: he saw luther in person more than once there; corresponded with luther; in fine believed in the truth of luther. the culmbach brothers were both, at least george ardently was, inclined to protestantism, as we have seen; but albert was foremost of the three in this course. osiander and flights of zealous culmbach preachers made many converts in preussen. in these circumstances the four years came to a close. albert, we may believe, is greatly at a loss; and deep deliberations, culmbach, berlin, liegnitz, poland all called in, are held:--a case beyond measure intricate. you have given your word; word must be kept,--and cannot, without plain hurt, or ruin even, to those that took it of you. withdraw, therefore; fling it up!--fling it up? a valuable article to fling up; fling it up is the last resource. nay, in fact, to whom will you fling it up? the prussian ritters themselves are getting greatly divided on the point; and at last on all manner of points, protestantism ever more spreading among them. as for the german brethren, they and their comfortable teutschmeister, who refused to partake in the dangerous adventure at all; are they entitled to have much to say in the settlement of it now?-- among others, or as chief oracle of all, luther was consulted. "what would you have me do towards reforming the teutsch order?" inquired albert of his oracle. luther's answer was, as may be guessed, emphatic. "luther," says one reporter, "has in his writings declared the order to be 'a thing serviceable neither to god nor man,' and the constitution of it 'a monstrous, frightful, hermaphroditish, neither secular nor spiritual constitution.'" [c. j. weber, _daa ritterwessen_ (stuttgard, ), iii. .] we do not know what luther's answer to albert was;--but can infer the purport of it: that such a teutsch ritterdom was not, at any rate, a thing long for this world; that white cloaks with black crosses on them would not, of themselves, profit any ritterdom; that solemn vows and high supramundane professions, followed by such practice as was notorious, are an afflicting, not to say a damnable, spectacle on god's earth;--that a young herr had better marry; better have done with the wretched babylonian nightmare of papistry altogether; better shake oneself awake, in god's name, and see if there are not still monitions in the eternal sky as to what it is wise to do, and wise not to do!--this i imagine to have been, in modern language, the purport of dr. luther's advice to hochmeister albrecht on the present interesting occasion. it is certain, albert, before long, took this course; uncle sigismund and the resident officials of the ritterdom having made agreement to it as the one practicable course. the manner as follows: . instead of elected hochmeister, let us be hereditary duke of preussen, and pay homage for it to uncle sigismund in that character. . such of the resident officials of the ritterdom as are prepared to go along with us, we will in like manner constitute permanent feudal proprietors of what they now possess as life-rent, and they shall be sub-vassals under us as hereditary duke. . in all which uncle sigismund and the republic of poland engage to maintain us against the world. that is, in sum, the transaction entered into, by king sigismund i. of poland, on the one part, and hochmeister albert and his ritter officials, such as went along with him, (which of course none could do that were not protestant), on the other part: done at cracow, th april, . [rentsch, p. .--here, certified by rentsch, voigt and others, is a worn-out patch of paper, which is perhaps worth printing:-- , may , albert is born. , february , hochmeister. , december, king sigismund's first hostile movements. , october, german mercenaries arrive. , november, try siege of dantzig. , november , give it up. , april , truce for four years. , june, albert consults luther. , november, sees luther. , april , peace of cracow, and albert to be duke of prussia.] whereby teutsch ritterdom, the prussian part of it, vanished from the world; dissolving itself, and its "hermaphrodite constitution," like a kind of male nunnery, as so many female ones had done in those years. a transaction giving rise to endless criticism, then and afterwards. transaction plainly not reconcilable with the letter of the law; and liable to have logic chopped upon it to any amount, and to all lengths of time. the teutschmeister and his german brethren shrieked murder; the whole world, then, and for long afterwards, had much to say and argue. to us, now that the logic-chaff is all laid long since, the question is substantial, not formal. if the teutsch ritterdom was actually at this time dead, actually stumbling about as a mere galvanized lie beginning to be putrid,--then, sure enough, it behooved that somebody should bury it, to avoid pestilential effects in the neighborhood. somebody or other;--first flaying the skin off, as was natural, and taking that for his trouble. all turns, in substance, on this latter question! if, again, the ritterdom was not dead--? and truly it struggled as hard as partridge the almanac-maker to rebut that fatal accusation; complained (teutschmeister and german-papist part of it) loudly at the diets; got albert and his consorts put to the ban (geachtet), fiercely menaced by the kaiser karl v. but nothing came of all that; nothing but noise. albert maintained his point; kaiser karl always found his hands full otherwise, and had nothing but stamped parchments and menaces to fire off at albert. teutsch ritterdom, the popish part of it, did enjoy its valuable bailliwicks, and very considerable rents in various quarters of germany and europe, having lost only preussen; and walked about, for three centuries more, with money in its pocket, and a solemn white gown with black cross on its back,--the most opulent social club in existence, and an excellent place for bestowing younger sons of sixteen quarters. but it was, and continued through so many centuries, in every essential respect, a solemn hypocrisy; a functionless merely eating phantasm, of the nature of goblin, hungry ghost or ghoul (of which kind there are many);--till napoleon finally ordered it to vanish; its time, even as phantasm, being come. albert, i can conjecture, had his own difficulties as regent in preussen. [ - .] protestant theology, to make matters worse for him, had split itself furiously into 'doxies; and there was an osianderism (osiander being the duke's chaplain), much flamed upon by the more orthodox ism. "foreigners," too, german-anspach and other, were ill seen by the native gentlemen; yet sometimes got encouragement. one funccius, a shining nurnberg immigrant there, son-in-law of osiander, who from theology got into politics, had at last ( ) to be beheaded,--old duke albert himself "bitterly weeping" about him; for it was none of albert's doing. probably his new allodial ritter gentlemen were not the most submiss, when made hereditary? we can only hope the duke was a hohenzollern, and not quite unequal to his task in this respect. a man with high bald brow; magnificent spade-beard; air much-pondering, almost gaunt,--gaunt kind of eyes especially, and a slight cast in them, which adds to his severity of aspect. he kept his possession well, every inch of it; and left all safe at his decease in . his age was then near eighty. it was the tenth year of our elizabeth as queen; invincible armada not yet built; but alba very busy, cutting off high heads in brabant; and stirring up the dutch to such fury as was needful for exploding spain and him. this duke albert was a profoundly religious man, as all thoughtful men then were. much given to theology, to doctors of divinity; being eager to know god's laws in this universe, and wholesomely certain of damnation if he should not follow them. fond of the profane sciences too, especially of astronomy: erasmus reinhold and his _tabulae prutenicae_ were once very celebrated; erasmus reinhold proclaims gratefully how these his elaborate tables (done according to the latest discoveries, and onwards) were executed upon duke albert's high bounty; for which reason they are dedicated to duke albert, and called "prutenicae," meaning prussian. [rentsch, p. .] the university of konigsberg was already founded several years before, in . albert had not failed to marry, as luther counselled: by his first wife he had only daughters; by his second, one son, albert friedrich, who, without opposition or difficulty, succeeded his father. thus was preussen acquired to the hohenzollern family; for, before long, the electoral branch managed to get mitbelehnung (co-infeftment), that is to say, eventual succession; and preussen became a family heritage, as anspach and baireuth were. chapter vii. -- albert alcibiades. one word must be spent on poor albert, casimir's son, [ - ] already mentioned. this poor albert, whom they call alcibiades, made a great noise in that epoch; being what some define as the "failure of a fritz;" who has really features of him we are to call "friedrich the great," but who burnt away his splendid qualities as a mere temporary shine for the able editors, and never came to anything. a high and gallant young fellow, left fatherless in childhood; perhaps he came too early into power:--he came, at any rate, in very volcanic times, when germany was all in convulsion; the old religion and the new having at length broken out into open battle, with huge results to be hoped and feared; and the largest game going on, in sight of an adventurous youth. how albert staked in it; how he played to immense heights of sudden gain, and finally to utter bankruptcy, i cannot explain here: some german delineator of human destinies, "artist" worth the name, if there were any, might find in him a fine subject. he was ward of his uncle george; and the probable fact is, no guardian could have been more faithful. nevertheless, on approaching the years of majority, of majority but not discretion, he saw good to quarrel with his uncle; claimed this and that, which was not granted: quarrel lasting for years. nay matters ran so high at last, it was like to come to war between them, had not george been wiser. the young fellow actually sent a cartel to his uncle; challenged him to mortal combat,--at which george only wagged his old beard, we suppose, and said nothing. neighbors interposed, the diet itself interposed; and the matter was got quenched again. leaving albert, let us hope, a repentant young man. we said he was full of fire, too much of it wildfire. his profession was arms; he shone much in war; went slashing and fighting through those schmalkaldic broils, and others of his time; a distinguished captain; cutting his way towards something high, he saw not well what. he had great comradeship with moritz of saxony in the wars: two sworn brothers they, and comrades in arms:--it is the same dexterous moritz, who, himself a protestant, managed to get his too protestant cousin's electorate of saxony into his hand, by luck of the game; the moritz, too, from whom albert by and by got his last defeat, giving moritz his death in return. that was the finale of their comradeship. all things end, and nothing ceases changing till it end. he was by position originally on the kaiser's side; had attained great eminence, and done high feats of arms and generalship in his service. but being a protestant by creed, he changed after that schmalkaldic downfall (rout of muhlberg, th april, ), which brought moritz an electorate, and nearly cost moritz's too protestant cousin his life as well as lands. [account of it in de wette, _lebensgeschichte der herzoge zu sachsen_(weimar, ), pp. - .] the victorious kaiser growing now very high in his ways, there arose complaints against him from all sides, very loud from the protestant side; and moritz and albert took to arms, with loud manifestos and the other phenomena. this was early in , five years after muhlberg rout or battle. the there victorious kaiser was now suddenly almost ruined; chased like a partridge into the innspruck mountains,--could have been caught, only moritz would not; "had no cage to hold so big a bird," he said. so the treaty of passau was made, and the kaiser came much down from his lofty ways. famed treaty of passau ( d august, ), which was the finale of these broils, and hushed them up for a fourscore years to come. that was a memorable year in german reformation history. albert, meanwhile, had been busy in the interior of the country; blazing aloft in frankenland, his native quarter, with a success that astonished all men. for seven months he was virtually king of germany; ransomed bamberg, ransomed wurzburg, nurnberg (places he had a grudge at); ransomed all manner of towns and places,--especially rich bishops and their towns, with verbum diaboli sticking in them,--at enormous sums. king of the world for a brief season;--must have had some strange thoughts to himself, had they been recorded for us. a pious man, too; not in the least like "alcibiades," except in the sudden changes of fortune he underwent. his motto, or old rhymed prayer, which he would repeat on getting into the saddle for military work,--a rough rhyme of his own composing,--is still preserved. let us give it, with an english fac-simile, or roughest mechanical pencil-tracing,--by way of glimpse into the heart of a vanished time and its man-at-arms: [rentsch, p. .] das walt der herr jesus christ, mit dem vater, der uber uns ist: wer starker ist als dieser mann, der komm und thu' ein leid mir an. guide it the lord jesus christ, [read "chris" or "chriz," for the rhyme's sake.] and the father, who over us is: he that is stronger than that man, [sic.] let him do me a hurt when he can. he was at the siege of metz (end of that same ), and a principal figure there. readers have heard of the siege of metz: how henry ii. of france fished up those "three bishoprics" (metz, toul, verdun, constituent part of lorraine, a covetable fraction of teutschland) from the troubled sea of german things, by aid of moritz now kur-sachsen, and of albert; and would not throw them in again, according to bargain, when peace, the peace of passau came. how kaiser karl determined to have them back before the year ended, cost what it might; and henry ii. to keep them, cost what it might. how guise defended, with all the chivalry of france; and kaiser karl besieged, [ th october, , and onwards.] with an army of , men, under duke alba for chief captain. siege protracted into midwinter; and the "sound of his cannon heard at strasburg," which is eighty miles off, "in the winter nights." [kohler, _reichs-historie,_ p. ;--and more especially _munzbelustigungen_ (nurnberg, - ), ix. - . the year of this volume, and of the number in question, is ; the munze or medal "recreated upon" in of henri ii.] it had depended upon albert, who hung in the distance with an army of his own, whether the siege could even begin; but he joined the kaiser, being reconciled again; and the trenches opened. by the valor of guise and his chivalry,--still more perhaps by the iron frosts and by the sleety rains of winter, and the hungers and the hardships of a hundred thousand men, digging vainly at the ice-bound earth, or trampling it when sleety into seas of mud, and themselves sinking in it, of dysentery, famine, toil and despair, as they cannonaded day and night,--metz could not be taken. "impossible!" said the generals with one voice, after trying it for a couple of months. "try it one other ten days," said the kaiser with a gloomy fixity; "let us all die, or else do it!" they tried, with double desperation, another ten days; cannon booming through the winter midnight far and wide, four score miles round: "cannot be done, your majesty! cannot,--the winter and the mud, and guise and the walls; man's strength cannot do it in this season. we must march away!" karl listened in silence; but the tears were seen to run down his proud face, now not so young as it once was: "let us march, then!" he said, in a low voice, after some pause. alcibiades covered the retreat to diedenhof (thionville they now call it): outmanoeuvred the french, retreated with success; he had already captured a grand due d'aumale, a prince of the guises,--valuable ransom to be looked for there. it was thought he should have made his bargain better with the kaiser, before starting; but he had neglected that. albert's course was downward thenceforth; kaiser karl's too. the french keep these "three bishoprics (trois eveches)," and teutschland laments the loss of them, to this hour. kaiser karl, as some write, never smiled again;--abdicated, not long after; retired into the monastery of st. just, and there soon died. that is the siege of metz, where alcibiades was helpful. his own bargain with the kaiser should have been better made beforehand. dissatisfied with any bargain he could now get; dissatisfied with the treaty of passau, with such a finale and hushing-up of the religious controversy, and in general with himself and with the world, albert again drew sword; went loose at a high rate upon his bamberg-wurzburg enemies, and, having raised supplies there, upon moritz and those passau-treatiers. he was beaten at last by moritz, "sunday, th july, ," at a place called sievershausen in the hanover country, where moritz himself perished in the action.--albert fled thereupon to france. no hope in france. no luck in other small and desperate stakings of his: the game is done. albert returns to a sister he had, to her husband's court in baden; a broken, bare and bankrupt man;--soon dies there, childless, leaving the shadow of a name. [here, chiefly from kohler _(munzbelustigungen,_ iii. - ), is the chronology of albert's operations:--seizure of nurnberg &c., th may to d june, ; innspruck (with treaty of passau) follows. then siege of metz, october to december, ; bamberg, wurzburg and nurnberg ransomed again, april, ; battle of sievershausen, th july, . wurzburg &c. explode against him; ban of the empire, th may, . to france thereupon; returns, hoping to negotiate, end of ; dies at pforzheim, at his sister's, th january, .--see pauli, iii. - . see also dr. kapp, _erinnerungen an diejenigen markgrafen &c._ (a reprint from the _archiv fur geschichte und alterthumskunde in ober-franken,_ year ).] his death brought huge troubles upon baireuth and the family possessions. so many neighbors, bamberg, wurzburg and the rest, were eager for retaliation; a new kaiser greedy for confiscating. plassenburg castle was besieged, bombarded, taken by famine and burnt; much was burnt and torn to waste. nay, had it not been for help from berlin, the family had gone to utter ruin in those parts. for this alcibiades had, in his turn, been guardian to uncle george's son, the george friedrich we once spoke of, still a minor, but well known afterwards; and it was attempted, by an eager kaiser ferdinand, to involve this poor youth in his cousin's illegalities, as if ward and guardian had been one person. baireuth which had been alcibiades's, anspach which was the young man's own, nay jagerndorf with its appendages, were at one time all in the clutches of the hawk,--had not help from berlin been there. but in the end, the law had to be allowed its course; george friedrich got his own territories back (all but some surreptitious nibblings in the jagerndorf quarter, to be noticed elsewhere), and also got baireuth, his poor cousin's inheritance;--sole heir, he now, in culmbath, the line of casimir being out. one owns to a kind of love for poor albert alcibiades. in certain sordid times, even a "failure of a fritz" is better than some successes that are going. a man of some real nobleness, this albert; though not with wisdom enough, not with good fortune enough. could he have continued to "rule the situation" (as our french friends phrase it); to march the fanatical papistries, and kaiser karl, clear out of it, home to spain and san justo a little earlier; to wave the coming jesuitries away, as with a flaming sword; to forbid beforehand the doleful thirty-years war, and the still dolefuler spiritual atrophy (the flaccid pedantry, ever rummaging and rearranging among learned marine-stores, which thinks itself wisdom and insight; the vague maunderings, flutings; indolent, impotent daydreaming and tobacco-smoking, of poor modern germany) which has followed therefrom,--ach gott, he might have been a "success of a fritz" three times over! he might have been a german cromwell; beckoning his people to fly, eagle-like, straight towards the sun; instead of screwing about it in that sad, uncertain, and far too spiral manner!--but it lay not in him; not in his capabilities or opportunities, after all: and we but waste time in such speculations. chapter viii. -- historical meaning of the reformation. the culmbach brothers, we observe, play a more important part in that era than their seniors and chiefs of brandenburg. these culmbachers, margraf george aud albert of preussen at the head of them, march valiantly forward in the reformation business; while kur-brandenburg, joachim i., their senior cousin, is talking loud at diets, galloping to innspruck and the like, zealous on the conservative side; and cardinal albert, kur-mainz, his eloquent brother, is eager to make matters smooth and avoid violent methods. the reformation was the great event of that sixteenth century; according as a man did something in that, or did nothing and obstructed doing, has he much claim to memory, or no claim, in this age of ours. the more it becomes apparent that the reformation was the event then transacting itself, was the thing that germany and europe either did or refused to do, the more does the historical significance of men attach itself to the phases of that transaction. accordingly we notice henceforth that the memorable points of brandenburg history, what of it sticks naturally to the memory of a reader or student, connect themselves of their own accord, almost all, with the history of the reformation. that has proved to be the law of nature in regard to them, softly establishing itself; and it is ours to follow that law. brandenburg, not at first unanimously, by no means too inconsiderately, but with overwhelming unanimity when the matter became clear, was lucky enough to adopt the reformation;--and stands by it ever since in its ever-widening scope, amid such difficulties as there might be. brandenburg had felt somehow, that it could do no other. and ever onwards through the times even of our little fritz and farther, if we will understand the word "reformation," brandenburg so feels; being, at this day, to an honorable degree, incapable of believing incredibilities, of adopting solemn shams, or pretending to live on spiritual moonshine. which has been of uncountable advantage to brandenburg:--how could it fail? this was what we must call obeying the audible voice of heaven. to which same "voice," at that time, all that did not give ear,--what has become of them since; have they not signally had the penalties to pay! "penalties:" quarrel not with the old phraseology, good reader; attend rather to the thing it means. the word was heard of old, with a right solemn meaning attached to it, from theological pulpits and such places; and may still be heard there with a half-meaning, or with no meaning, though it has rather become obsolete to modern ears. but the thing should not have fallen obsolete; the thing is a grand and solemn truth, expressive of a silent law of heaven, which continues forever valid. the most untheological of men may still assert the thing; and invite all men to notice it, as a silent monition and prophecy in this universe; to take it, with more of awe than they are wont, as a correct reading of the will of the eternal in respect of such matters; and, in their modern sphere, to bear the same well in mind. for it is perfectly certain, and may be seen with eyes in any quarter of europe at this day. protestant or not protestant? the question meant everywhere: "is there anything of nobleness in you, o nation, or is there nothing? are there, in this nation, enough of heroic men to venture forward, and to battle for god's truth versus the devil's falsehood, at the peril of life and more? men who prefer death, and all else, to living under falsehood,--who, once for all, will not live under falsehood; but having drawn the sword against it (the time being come for that rare and important step), throw away the scabbard, and can say, in pious clearness, with their whole soul: 'come on, then! life under falsehood is not good for me; and we will try it out now. let it be to the death between us, then!'" once risen into this divine white-heat of temper, were it only for a season and not again, the nation is thenceforth considerable through all its remaining history. what immensities of dross and crypto-poisonous matter will it not burn out of itself in that high temperature, in the course of a few years! witness cromwell and his puritans,--making england habitable even under the charles-second terms for a couple of centuries more. nations are benefited, i believe, for ages, by being thrown once into divine white-heat in this manner. and no nation that has not had such divine paroxysms at any time is apt to come to much. that was now, in this epoch, the english of "adopting protestantism;" and we need not wonder at the results which it has had, and which the want of it has had. for the want of it is literally the want of loyalty to the maker of this universe. he who wants that, what else has he, or can he have? if you do not, you man or you nation, love the truth enough, but try to make a chapman-bargain with truth, instead of giving yourself wholly soul and body and life to her, truth will not live with you, truth will depart from you; and only logic, "wit" (for example, "london wit"), sophistry, virtu, the aesthetic arts, and perhaps (for a short while) bookkeeping by double entry, will abide with you. you will follow falsity, and think it truth, you unfortunate man or nation. you will right surely, you for one, stumble to the devil; and are every day and hour, little as you imagine it, making progress thither. austria, spain, italy, france, poland,--the offer of the reformation was made everywhere; and it is curious to see what has become of the nations that would not hear it. in all countries were some that accepted; but in many there were not enough, and the rest, slowly or swiftly, with fatal difficult industry, contrived to burn them out. austria was once full of protestants; but the hide-bound flemish-spanish kaiser-element presiding over it, obstinately, for two centuries, kept saying, "no; we, with our dull obstinate cimburgis under-lip and lazy eyes, with our ponderous austrian depth of habituality and indolence of intellect, we prefer steady darkness to uncertain new light!"--and all men may see where austria now is. spain still more; poor spain, going about, at this time, making its "pronunciamientos;" all the factious attorneys in its little towns assembling to pronounce virtually this, "the old is a lie, then;--good heavens, after we so long tried hard, harder than any nation, to think it a truth!--and if it be not rights of man, red republic and progress of the species, we know not what now to believe or to do; and are as a people stumbling on steep places, in the darkness of midnight!"--they refused truth when she came; and now truth knows nothing of them. all stars, and heavenly lights, have become veiled to such men; they must now follow terrestrial ignes fatui, and think them stars. that is the doom passed upon them. italy too had its protestants; but italy killed them; managed to extinguish protestantism. italy put up silently with practical lies of all kinds; and, shrugging its shoulders, preferred going into dilettantism and the fine arts. the italians, instead of the sacred service of fact and performance, did music, painting, and the like:--till even that has become impossible for them; and no noble nation, sunk from virtue to virtu, ever offered such a spectacle before. he that will prefer dilettantism in this world for his outfit, shall have it; but all the gods will depart from him; and manful veracity, earnestness of purpose, devout depth of soul, shall no more be his. he can if he like make himself a soprano, and sing for hire;--and probably that is the real goal for him. but the sharpest-cut example is france; to which we constantly return for illustration. france, with its keen intellect, saw the truth and saw the falsity, in those protestant times; and, with its ardor of generous impulse, was prone enough to adopt the former. france was within a hair's-breadth of becoming actually protestant. but france saw good to massacre protestantism, and end it in the night of st. bartholomew, . the celestial apparitor of heaven's chancery, so we may speak, the genius of fact and veracity, had left his writ of summons; writ was read;--and replied to in this manner. the genius of fact and veracity accordingly withdrew;--was staved off, got kept away, for two hundred years. but the writ of summons had been served; heaven's messenger could not stay away forever. no; he returned duly; with accounts run up, on compound interest, to the actual hour, in ;--and then, at last, there had to be a "protestantism;" and we know of what kind that was!-- nations did not so understand it, nor did brandenburg more than the others; but the question of questions for them at that time, decisive of their history for half a thousand years to come, was, will you obey the heavenly voice, or will you not? chapter ix. -- kurfurst joachim i. brandenburg, in the matter of the reformation, was at first--with albert of mainz, tetzel's friend, on the one side, and pious george of anspach, "nit kop ab," on the other--certainly a divided house. but, after the first act, it conspicuously ceased to be divided; nay kur-brandenburg and kur-mainz themselves had known tendencies to the reformation, and were well aware that the church could not stand as it was. nor did the cause want partisans in berlin, in brandenburg,--hardly to be repressed from breaking into flame, while kurfurst joachim was so prudent and conservative. of this loud kurfurst joachim i., here and there mentioned already, let us now say a more express word. [ , , : birth, accession, death of joachim.] joachim i., big john's son, hesitated hither and thither for some time, trying if it would not do to follow the kaiser karl v.'s lead; and at length, crossed in his temper perhaps by the speed his friends were going at, declared formally against any farther reformation; and in his own family and country was strict upon the point. he is a man, as i judge, by no means without a temper of his own; very loud occasionally in the diets and elsewhere;--reminds me a little of a certain king friedrich wilhelm, whom my readers shall know by and by. a big, surly, rather bottle-nosed man, with thick lips, abstruse wearied eyes, and no eyebrows to speak of: not a beautiful man, when you cross him overmuch. of joachim's wife and brother-in-law. his wife was a danish princess, sister of poor christian ii., king of that country: dissolute christian, who took up with a huckster-woman's daughter,--"mother sold gingerbread," it would appear, "at bergen in norway," where christian was viceroy; christian made acceptable love to the daughter, "divike (dovekin, columbina)," as he called her. nay he made the gingerbread mother a kind of prime-minister, said the angry public, justly scandalized at this of the "dovekin." he was married, meanwhile, to karl v.'s own sister; but continued that other connection. [here are the dates of this poor christian, in a lump. born, ; king, (dovekin before); married, ; turned off, ; invades, taken prisoner, ; dies, . cousin, and then cousin's son, succeeded.] he had rash notions, now for the reformation, now against it, when he got to be king; a very rash, unwise, explosive man. he made a "stockholm blutbad" still famed in history (kind of open, ordered or permitted, massacre of eighty or a hundred of his chief enemies there), "bloodbath," so they name it; in stockholm, where indeed he was lawful king, and not without unlawful enemies, had a bloodbath been the way to deal with them. gustavus vasa was a young fellow there, who dexterously escaped this bloodbath, and afterwards came to something. in denmark and sweden, rash christian made ever more enemies; at length he was forced to run, and they chose another king or successive pair of kings. christian fled to kaiser karl at brussels; complained to kaiser karl, his brother-in-law,--whose sister he had not used well. kaiser karl listened to his complaints, with hanging under-lip, with heavy, deep, undecipherable eyes; evidently no help from karl. christian, after that, wandered about with inexecutable speculations, and projects to recover his crown or crowns; sheltering often with kurfurst joachim, who took a great deal of trouble about him, first and last; or with the elector of saxony, friedrich the wise, or after him, with johann the steadfast ("v. d. m. i. ae." whom we saw at augsburg), who were his mother's brothers, and beneficent men. he was in saxony, on such terms, coming and going, when a certain other flight thither took place, soon to be spoken of, which is the cause of our mentioning him here.--in the end (a.d. ) he did get some force together, and made sail to norway; but could do no execution whatever there;--on the contrary, was frozen in on the coast during winter; seized, carried to copenhagen, and packed into the "castle of sonderburg," a grim sea-lodging on the shore of schleswig,--prisoner for the rest of his life, which lasted long enough. six-and-twenty years of prison; the first seventeen years of it strict and hard, almost of the dungeon sort; the remainder, on his fairly abdicating, was in another castle, that of callundborg in the island of zealand, "with fine apartments and conveniences," and even "a good house of liquor now and then," at discretion of the old soul. that was the end of headlong christian ii.; he lasted in this manner to the age of seventy-eight. [kohler, _munzbelustigungen,_xi. , ; holberg, _danemarckische staats-und reichs-historie_ (copenhagen, , not the big book by holberg), p. ; buddaus, _allgemeines historisches lexicon_ (leipzig, ),? christianus ii.] his sister elizabeth at brandenburg is perhaps, in regard to natural character, recognizably of the same kin as christian; but her behavior is far different from his. she too is zealous for the reformation; but she has a right to be so, and her notions that way are steady; and she has hitherto, though in a difficult position, done honor to her creed. surly joachim is difficult to deal with; is very positive now that he has declared himself: "in my house at least shall be nothing farther of that unblessed stuff." poor lady, i see domestic difficulties very thick upon her; nothing but division, the very children ranging themselves in parties. she can pray to heaven; she must do her wisest. she partook once, by some secret opportunity, of the "communion under both kinds;" one of her daughters noticed and knew; told father of it. father knits up his thick lips; rolls his abstruse dissatisfied eyes, in an ominous manner: the poor lady, probably possessed of an excitable imagination too, trembles for herself. "it is thought, his durchlaucht will wall you up for life, my serene lady; dark prison for life, which probably may not be long!" these surmises were of no credibility: but there and then the poor lady, in a shiver of terror, decides that she must run; goes off actually, one night ("monday after the laetare," which we find is th march) in the year , (pauli (ii. ); who cites seckendorf, and this fraction of a letter of luther's, to one "linckus" or lincke, written on the friday following ( th march, ):-- "the electress [margravine he calls her] has fled from berlin, by help of her brother the king of denmark [poor christian ii.] to our prince [johann the steadfast], because her elector had determined to wall her up, as is reported, on account of the eucharist under both species. pray for our prince; _the pious man and affectionate soul gets a great deal of trouble with his kindred."_ or thus in the original:-- _"marchionissa aufugit a berlin, auxilio fratris, regis daniae, ad nostrum principem, quod marchio statuerat eam immurare (ut dicitur) propter eucharistiam utriusque speciei. ora pro nostro principe;_ der fromme mann und herzliche mensch ist doch ja wohl geplaget" (seckendorf, _historia lutheranismi,_ ii.? , no. , p. ).) in a mean vehicle under cloud of darkness, with only one maid and groom,--driving for life. that is very certain: she too is on flight towards saxony, to shelter with her uncle kurfurst johann,--unless for reasons of state he scruple? on the dark road her vehicle broke down; a spoke given way,--"not a bit of rope to splice it," said the improvident groom. "take my lace-veil here," said the poor princess; and in this guise she got to torgau (i could guess, her poor brother's lodging),--and thence, in short time, to the fine schloss of lichtenberg hard by; uncle johann, to whom she had zealously left an option of refusal, having as zealously permitted and invited her to continue there. which she did for many years. nor did she get the least molestation from husband joachim;--who i conjecture had intended, though a man of a certain temper, and strict in his own house, something short of walling up for life:--poor joachim withal! "however, since you are gone, madam, go!" nor did he concern himself with christian ii. farther, but let him lie in prison at his leisure. as for the lady, he even let his children visit her at lichtenberg; crypto-protestants all; and, among them, the repentant daughter who had peached upon her. poor joachim, he makes a pious speech on his death-bed, solemnly warning his son against these new-fangled heresies; the son being already possessed of them in his heart. [speech given in rentsch, pp. - .] what could father do more? both father and son, i suppose, were weeping. this was in , this last scene; things looking now more ominous than ever. of kurfurst joachim i will remember nothing farther, except that once, twenty-three years before, he "held a tourney in neu-ruppin," year ; tourney on the most magnificent scale, and in new-ruppin, [pauli, ii. .] a place we shall know by and by. as to the lady, she lived eighteen years in that fine schloss of lichtenberg; saw her children as we said; and, silently or otherwise, rejoiced in the creed they were getting. she saw luther's self sometimes; "had him several times to dinner;" he would call at her mansion, when his journeys lay that way. she corresponded with him diligently; nay once, for a three months, she herself went across and lodged with dr. luther and his kate; as a royal lady might with a heroic sage,--though the sage's income was only twenty-four pounds sterling annually. there is no doubt about that visit of three months; one thinks of it, as of something human, something homely, ingenuous and pretty. nothing in surly joachim's history is half so memorable to me, or indeed memorable at all in the stage we are now come to. the lady survived joachim twenty years; of these she spent eleven still at lichtenberg, in no over-haste to return. however, her son, the new elector, declaring for protestantism, she at length yielded to his invitations: came back ( ), and ended her days at berlin in a peaceable and venerable manner. luckless brother christian is lying under lock-and-key all this while; smuggling out messages, and so on; like a voice from the land of dreams or of nightmares, painful, impracticable, coming now and then. chapter x. -- kurfurst joachim ii. joachim ii., sixth elector, no doubt after painful study, and intricate silent consideration ever since his twelfth year when luther was first heard of over the world, came gradually, and before his father's death had already come, to the conclusion of adopting the confession of augsburg, as the true interpretation of this universe, so far as we had yet got; and did so, publicly, in the year . [rentsch, p. .] to the great joy of berlin and the brandenburg populations generally, who had been of a protestant humor, hardly restrainable by law, for some years past. by this decision joachim held fast, with a stout, weighty grasp; nothing spasmodic in his way of handling the matter, and yet a heartiness which is agreeable to see. he could not join in the schmalkaldic war; seeing, it is probable, small chance for such a war, of many chiefs and little counsel; nor was he willing yet to part from the kaiser karl v., who was otherwise very good to him. he had fought personally for this kaiser, twice over, against the turks; first as brandenburg captain, learning his art; and afterwards as kaiser's generalissimo, in . he did no good upon the turks, on that latter occasion; as indeed what good was to be done, in such a quagmire of futilities as joachim's element there was? "too sumptuous in his dinners, too much wine withal!" hint some calumniously. [paulus jovius, &c. see pauli, iii. - .] "hector of germany!" say others. he tried some small prefatory siege or scalade of pesth; could not do it; and came his ways home again, as the best course. pedant chroniclers give him the name hector, "joachim hector,"--to match that of cicero and that of achilles. a man of solid structure, this our hector, in body and mind: extensive cheeks, very large heavy-laden face; capable of terrible bursts of anger, as his kind generally were. the schmalkaldic war went to water, as the germans phrase it: kur-sachsen,--that is, johann friedrich the magnanimous, son of johann "v. d. m. i. ae.," and nephew of friedrich the wise,--had his sorrowfully valid reasons for the war; large force too, plenty of zealous copartners, philip of hessen and others; but no generalship, or not enough, for such a business. big army, as is apt enough to happen, fell short of food; kaiser karl hung on the outskirts, waiting confidently till it came to famine. johann friedrich would attempt nothing decisive while provender lasted;--and having in the end, strangely enough, and somewhat deaf to advice, divided his big army into three separate parts;--johann friedrich was himself, with one of those parts, surprised at muhlberg, on a sunday when at church ( th april, ); and was there beaten to sudden ruin, and even taken captive, like to have his head cut off, by the triumphant angry kaiser. philip of hessen, somewhat wiser, was home to marburg, safe with his part, in the interim.--elector joachim ii. of brandenburg had good reason to rejoice in his own cautious reluctances on this occasion. however, he did now come valiantly up, hearing what severities were in the wind. he pleaded earnestly, passionately, he and cousin or already "elector" moritz, [pauli, iii. .]--who was just getting johann friedrich's electorship fished away from him out of these troubles, [kurfurst, th june, .]--for johann friedrich of saxony's life, first of all. for johann's life first; this is a thing not to be dispensed with, your majesty, on any terms whatever; a _sine qua non,_ this life to protestant germany at large. to which the kaiser indicated, "he would see; not immediate death at any rate; we will see." a life that could not and must not be taken in this manner: this was the first point. then, secondly, that philip of hessen, now home again at marburg,--not a bad or disloyal man, though headlong, and with two wives,--might not be forfeited; but that peace and pardon might be granted him, on his entire submission. to which second point the kaiser answered, "yes, then, on his submission." these were the two points. these pleadings went on at halle, where the kaiser now lies, in triumphantly victorious humor, in the early days of june, year . johann friedrich of saxony had been, by some imperial court-council or other,--spanish merely, i suppose,--doomed to die. sentence was signified to him while he sat at chess: "can wait till we end the game," thought johann;--"pergamus," said he to his comrade, "let us go on, then!" sentence not to be executed till one see. with philip of hessen things had a more conclusive aspect. philip had accepted the terms procured for him; which had been laboriously negotiated, brought to paper, and now wanted only the sign-manual to them: _"ohne einigen gefangniss_(without any imprisonment)," one of the chief clauses. and so philip now came over to halle; was met and welcomed by his two friends, joachim and moritz, at naumburg, a stage before halle;--clear now to make his submission, and beg pardon of the kaiser, according to bargain. on the morrow, th june, , the papers were got signed. and next day, th june, philip did, according to bargain, openly beg pardon of the kaiser, in his majesty's hall of audience (town house of halle, i suppose); "knelt at the kaiser's feet publicly on both knees, while his kanzler read the submission and entreaty, as agreed upon;" and, alas, then the kaiser said nothing at all to him! kaiser looked haughtily, with impenetrable eyes and shelf-lip, over the head of him; gave him no hand to kiss; and left poor philip kneeling there. an awkward position indeed;--which any german painter that there were, might make a picture of, i have sometimes thought. picture of some real meaning, more or less,--if for symbolic. towers of babel, medieval mythologies, and extensive smearings of that kind, he could find leisure!--philip having knelt a reasonable time, and finding there was no help for it, rose in the dread silence (some say, with too sturdy an expression of countenance); and retired from the affair, having at least done his part of it. the next practical thing was now supper, or as we of this age should call it, dinner. uncommonly select and high supper: host the duke of alba; where joachim, elector moritz, and another high official, the bishop of arras, were to welcome poor philip after his troubles. how the grand supper went, i do not hear: possibly a little constrained; the kaiser's strange silence sitting on all men's thoughts; not to be spoken of in the present company. at length the guests rose to go away. philip's lodging is with moritz (who is his son-in-law, as learned readers know): "you philip, your lodging is mine; my lodging is yours,--i should say! cannot we ride together?"--"philip is not permitted to go," said imperial officiality; "philip is to continue here, and we fear go to prison."--"prison?" cried they all: "ohne einigen gefangniss (without any imprisonment)!"--"as we read the words, it is 'ohne ewigen gefangniss (without eternal imprisonment),'" answer the others. and so, according to popular tradition, which has little or no credibility, though printed in many books, their false secretary had actually modified it. "no intention of imprisoning his durchlaucht of hessen forever; not forever!" answered they. and kurfurst joachim, in astonished indignation, after some remonstrating and arguing, louder and louder, which profited nothing, blazed out into a very whirlwind of rage; drew his sword, it is whispered with a shudder,--drew his sword, or was for drawing it, upon the duke of alba; and would have done, god knows what, had not friends flung themselves between, and got the duke away, or him away. [pauli, iii. .] other accounts bear, that it was upon the bishop of arras he drew his sword; which is a somewhat different matter. perhaps he drew it on both; or on men and things in general;--for his indignation knew no bounds. the heavy solid man; yet with a human heart in him after all, and a hohenzollern abhorrence of chicanery, capable of rising to the transcendent pitch! his wars against the turks, and his other hectorships, i will forget; but this, of a face so extensive kindled all into divine fire for poor philip's sake, shall be memorable to me. philip got out by and by, though with difficulty; the kaiser proving very stiff in the matter; and only yielding to obstinate pressures, and the force of time and events. philip got away; and then how johann friedrich of sachsen, after being led about for five years, in the kaiser's train, a condemned man, liable to be executed any day, did likewise at last get away, with his head safe and electorate gone: these are known historical events, which we glanced at already, on another score. for, by and by, the kaiser found tougher solicitation than this of joachim's. the kaiser, by his high carriage in this and other such matters, had at length kindled a new war round him; and he then soon found himself reduced to extremities again; chased to the tyrol mountains, and obliged to comply with many things. new war, of quite other emphasis and management than the schmalkaldic one; managed by elector moritz and our poor friend albert alcibiades as principals. a kaiser chased into the mountains, capable of being seized by a little spurring;--"capture him?" said albert. "i have no cage big enough for such a bird!" answered moritz; and the kaiser was let run. how he ran then towards treaty of passau ( ), towards siege of metz and other sad conclusions, "abdication" the finale of them: these also are known phases in the reformation history, as hinted at above. here at halle, in the year , the great kaiser, with protestantism manacled at his feet, and many things going prosperous, was at his culminating point. he published his interim ( , what you troublesome protestants are to do, in the mean time, while the council of trent is sitting, and till it and i decide for you); and in short, drove and reined-in the reich with a high hand and a sharp whip, for the time being. troublesome protestants mostly rejected the interim; moritz and alcibiades, with france in the rear of them, took to arms in that way; took to ransoming fat bishoprics ("_verbum diaboli manet_," we know where!);--took to chasing kaisers into the mountains;--and times came soon round again. in all these latter broils kurfurst joachim ii., deeply interested, as we may fancy, strove to keep quiet; and to prevail, by weight of influence and wise counsel, rather than by fighting with his kaiser. one sad little anecdote i recollect of joachim: an accident, which happened in those passau-interim days, a year or two after that drawing of the sword on alba. kurfurst joachim unfortunately once fell through a staircase, in that time; being, as i guess, a heavy man. it was in the castle of grimnitz, one of his many castles, a spacious enough old hunting-seat, the repairs of which had not been well attended to. the good herr, weighty of foot, was leading down his electress to dinner one day in this schloss of grimnitz; broad stair climbs round a grand hall, hung with stag-trophies, groups of weapons, and the like hall-furniture. an unlucky timber yielded; yawning chasm in the staircase; joachim and his good princess sank by gravitation; joachim to the floor with little hurt; his poor princess (horrible to think of), being next the wall, came upon the stag-horns and boar-spears down below! [pauli, iii. .] the poor lady's hurt was indescribable: she walked lame all the rest of her clays; and joachim, i hope (hope, but not with confidence), [ib. iii. .] loved her all the better for it. this unfortunate old schloss of grimnitz, some thirty miles northward of berlin, was--by the eighth kurfurst, joachim friedrich, grandson of this one, with great renown to himself and to it--converted into an endowed high school: the famed _joachimsthal gymnasium,_ still famed, though now under some change of circumstances, and removed to berlin itself. [nicolai, p. .] joachim's first wife, from whom descend the following kurfursts, was a daughter of that duke george of saxony, luther's celebrated friend, "if it rained duke-georges nine days running." joachim gets co-infeftment in preussen. this second wife, she of the accident at grimnitz, was hedwig, king sigismund of poland's daughter; which connection, it is thought, helped joachim well in getting what they call the mitbelehnung of preussen (for it was he that achieved this point) from king sigismund. mitbelehnung (co-infeftment) in preussen;--whereby is solemnly acknowledged the right of joachim and his posterity to the reversion of preussen, should the culmbach line of duke albert happen to fail. it was a thing joachim long strove for; till at length his father-in-law did, some twenty years hence, concede it him. [date, lublin, th july, : pauli, iii. - , ; rentsch, p. ; stenzel, i. , .] should albert's line fail, then, the other culmbachers get preussen; should the culmbachers all fail, the berlin brandenburgers get it. the culmbachers are at this time rather scarce of heirs: poor alcibiades died childless, as we know, and casimir's line is extinct; duke albert himself has left only one son, who now succeeds in preussen; still young, and not of the best omens. margraf george the pious, he left only george friedrich; an excellent man, who is now prosperous in the world, and wedded long since, but has no children. so that, between joachim's line and preussen there are only two intermediate heirs;--and it was a thing eminently worth looking after. nor has it wanted that. and so kurfurst joachim, almost at the end of his course, has now made sure of it. joachim makes "heritage-brotherhood" with the duke of liegnitz. another feat of like nature joachim ii. had long ago achieved; which likewise in the long-run proved important in his family, and in the history of the world: an "erbverbruderung," so they term it, with the duke of liegnitz,--date . erbverbruderung ("heritage-brotherhood," meaning covenant to succeed reciprocally on failure of heirs to either) had in all times been a common paction among german princes well affected to each other. friedrich ii., the then duke of liegnitz, we have transiently seen, was related to the family; he had been extremely helpful in bringing his young friend albert of preussen's affairs to a good issue,--whose niece, withal, he had wedded:--in fact, he was a close friend of this our joachim's; and there had long been a growing connection between the two houses, by intermarriages and good offices. the dukes of liegnitz were sovereign-princes, come of the old piasts of poland; and had perfect right to enter into this transaction of an erbverbruderung with whom they liked. true, they had, above two hundred years before, in the days of king johann ich-dien (a.d. ), voluntarily constituted themselves vassals of the crown of bohemia: [pauli, iii. .] but the right to dispose of their lands as they pleased had, all along, been carefully acknowledged, and saved entire. and, so late as , just sixteen years ago, the bohemian king vladislaus the last, our good margraf george's friend, had expressly, in a deed still extant, confirmed to them, with all the emphasis and amplitude that law-phraseology could bring to bear upon it, the right to dispose of said lands in any manner of way: "by written testament, or by verbal on their death-bed, they can, as they see wisest, give away, sell, pawn, dispose of, and exchange _(vergeben, verkaufen, versetzen, verschaffen, verwechseln)_ these said lands," to all lengths, and with all manner of freedom. which privilege had likewise been confirmed, twice over ( , ), by ludwig the next king, ludwig ohne-haut, who perished in the bogs of mohacz, and ended the native line of bohemian-hungarian kings. nay, ferdinand, king of the romans, karl v.'s brother, afterwards kaiser, who absorbed that bohemian crown among the others, had himself, by implication, sanctioned or admitted the privilege, in , only eight years ago. [stenzel, i. .] the right to make the erbverbruderung could not seem doubtful to anybody. and made accordingly it was: signed, sealed, drawn out on the proper parchments, th october, ; to the following clear effect: "that if duke friedrich's line should die out, all his liegnitz countries, liegnitz, brieg, wohlau, should fall to the hohenzollern brandenburgers: and that, if the line of hohenzollern brandenburg should first fail, then all and singular the bohemian fiefs of brandenburg (as crossen, zullichau and seven others there enumerated) should fall to the house of liegnitz." [stenzel, i. .] it seemed a clear paction, questionable by no mortal. double-marriage between the two houses (eldest son, on each side, to suitable princess on the other) was to follow: and did follow, after some delays, th february, . so that the matter seemed now complete: secure on all points, and a matter of quiet satisfaction to both the houses and to their friends. but ferdinand, king of the romans, king of bohemia and hungary, and coming to be emperor one day, was not of that sentiment. ferdinand had once implicitly recognized the privilege, but ferdinand, now when he saw the privilege turned to use, and such a territory as liegnitz exposed to the possibility of falling into inconvenient hands, explicitly took other thoughts: and gradually determined to prohibit this erbverbruderung. the states of bohemia, accordingly, in (it is not doubtful, by ferdinand's suggestion), were moved to make inquiries as to this heritage-fraternity of liegnitz. [ib. i. .] on which hint king ferdinand straightway informed the duke of liegnitz that the act was not justifiable, and must be revoked. the duke of liegnitz, grieved to the heart, had no means of resisting. ferdinand, king of the romans, backed by kaiser karl, with the states of bohemia barking at his wink, were too strong for poor duke friedrich of liegnitz. great corresponding between berlin, liegnitz, prag ensued on this matter: but the end was a summons to duke friedrich,--summons from king ferdinand in march, , "to appear in the imperial hall (kaiserhof) at breslau," and to submit that deed of ebverbruderung to the examination of the states there. the states, already up to the affair, soon finished their examination of it ( th may, ). the deed was annihilated: and friedrich was ordered, furthermore, to produce proofs within six months that his subjects too were absolved of all oaths or the like regarding it, and that in fact the transaction was entirely abolished and reduced to zero. friedrich complied, had to comply: very much chagrined, he returned home: and died next year,--it is supposed, of heartbreak from this business. he had yielded outwardly: but to force only. in a codicil appended to his last will, some months afterwards (which will, written years ago, had treated the erbverbruderung as a fact settled), he indicates, as with his last breath, that he considered the thing still valid, though overruled by the hand of power. let the reader mark this matter; for it will assuredly become memorable, one day. the hand of power, namely, ferdinand, king of the romans, had applied in like manner to joachim of brandenburg to surrender his portion of the deed, and annihilate on his side too this erbverbruderung. but joachim refused steadily, and all his successors steadily, to give up this bit of written parchment: kept the same, among their precious documents, against some day that might come (and i suppose it lies in the archives of berlin even now): silently, or in words, asserting that the deed of heritage-brothership was good, and that though some hands might have the power, no hand could have the right to abolish it on those terms. how king ferdinand permitted himself such a procedure? ferdinand, says one of his latest apologists in this matter, "considered the privileges granted by his predecessors, in respect to rights of sovereignty, as fallen extinct on their death." [stenzel, i. .] which--if reality and fact would but likewise be so kind as "consider" it so--was no doubt convenient for ferdinand! joachim was not so great with ferdinand as he had been with charles the imperial brother. joachim and ferdinand had many debates of this kind, some of them rather stiff. jagerndorf, for instance, and the baireuth-anspach confiscations, in george friedrich's minority. ferdinand, now kaiser, had snatched jagerndorf from poor young george friedrich, son of excellent margraf george whom we knew: "part of the spoils of albert alcibiades," thought ferdinand, "and a good windfall,"--though young george friedrich had merely been the ward of cousin alcibiades, and totally without concern in those political explosions. "excellent windfall," thought ferdinand: and held his grip. but joachim, in his weighty steady way, intervened: joachim, emphatic in the diets and elsewhere, made ferdinand quit grip, and produce jagerndorf again. jagerndorf and the rest had all to be restored: and, except some filchings in the jagerndorf appendages (ratibor and oppeln, "restored" only in semblance, and at length juggled away altogether), [rentsch, pp. , .] everything came to its right owner again. nor would joachim rest till alcibiades's territories too were all punctually given back, to this same george friedrich: to whom, by law and justice, they belonged, in these points joachim prevailed against a strong-handed kaiser, apt to "consider one's rights fallen extinct" now and then. in this of liegnitz all he could do was to keep the deed, in steady protest silent or vocal. but enough now of joachim hector, sixth kurfurst, and of his workings and his strugglings. he walked through this world, treading as softly as might be, yet with a strong weighty step: rending the jungle steadily asunder; well seeing whither he was bound. rather an expensive herr: built a good deal, completion of the schloss at berlin one example: [nicolai, p. .] and was not otherwise afraid of outlay, in the reich's politics, or in what seemed needful: if there is a harvest ahead, even a distant one, it is poor thrift to be stingy of your seed-corn! joachim was always a conspicuous public man, a busy politician in the reich: stanch to his kindred, and by no means blind to himself or his own interests. stanch also, we must grant, and ever active, though generally in a cautious, weighty, never in a rash swift way, to the great cause of protestantism, and to all good causes. he was himself a solemnly devout man; deep awe-stricken reverence dwelling in his view of this universe. most serious, though with a jocose dialect commonly, having a cheerful wit in speaking to men. luther's books he called his seelenschatz (soul's-treasure): luther and the bible were his chief reading. fond of profane learning too, and of the useful or ornamental arts; given to music, and "would himself sing aloud" when he had a melodious leisure-hour. excellent old gentleman: he died, rather suddenly, but with much nobleness, d january, ; age sixty-six. old rentsch's account of this event is still worth reading: [rentsch, p. .] joachim's death-scene has a mild pious beauty which does not depend on creed. he had a brother too, not a little occupied with politics, and always on the good side: a wise pious man, whose fame was in all the churches: "johann of custrin," called also "johann the wise," who busied himself zealously in protestant matters, second only in piety and zeal to his cousin, margraf george the pious; and was not so held back by official considerations as his brother the elector now and then. johann of custrin is a very famous man in the old books: johann was the first that fortified custrin: built himself an illustrious schloss, and "roofed it with copper," in custrin (which is a place we shall be well acquainted with by and by); and lived there, with the neumark for apanage, a true man's life;--mostly with a good deal of business, warlike and other, on his hands; with good books, good deeds, and occasionally good men, coming to enliven it,--according to the terms then given. chapter xi. -- seventh kurfurst, johann george. kaiser karl, we said, was very good to joachim; who always strove, sometimes with a stretch upon his very conscience, to keep well with the kaiser. the kaiser took joachim's young prince along with him to those schmalkaldic wars (not the comfortable side for joachim's conscience, but the safe side for an anxious father); kaiser made a knight of this young prince, on one occasion of distinction; he wrote often to papa about him, what a promising young hero he was,--seems really to have liked the young man. it was johann george, elector afterwards, seventh elector.--this little incident is known to me on evidence. [rentsch, p. .] a small thing that certainly befell, at the siege of wittenberg (a.d. ), during those philip-of-hessen negotiations, three hundred and odd years ago. the schmalkaldic war having come all to nothing, the saxon elector sitting captive with sword overhead in the way we saw, saxon wittenberg was besieged, and the kaiser was in great hurry to get it. kaiser in person, and young johann george for sole attendant, rode round the place one day, to take a view of the works, and judge how soon, or whether ever, it could be compelled to give in. gunners noticed them from the battlements; gunners saxon-protestant most likely, and in just gloom at the perils and indignities now lying on their pious kurfurst johann friedrich the magnanimous. "lo, you! kaiser's self riding yonder, and one of his silk junkers. suppose we gave the kaiser's self a shot, then?" said the gunner, or thought: "it might help a better man from his life-perils, if such shot did--!" in fact the gun flashed off, with due outburst, and almost with due effect. the ball struck the ground among the very horses' feet of the two riders; so that they were thrown, or nearly so, and covered from sight with a cloud of earth and sand;--and the gunners thought, for some instants, an unjust, obstinate kaiser's life was gone; and a pious elector's saved. but it proved not so. kaiser karl and johann george both emerged, in a minute or two, little the worse;--kaiser karl perhaps blushing somewhat, and flurried this time, i think, in the impenetrable eyes; and his cimburgis lip closed for the moment;--and galloped out of shot-range. "i never forget this little incident," exclaims smelfungus: "it is one of the few times i can get, after all my reading about that surprising karl v., i do not say the least understanding or practical conception of him and his character and his affairs, but the least ocular view or imagination of him, as a fact among facts!" which is unlucky for smelfungus.--johann george, still more emphatically, never to the end of his life forgot this incident. and indeed it must be owned, had the shot taken effect as intended, the whole course of human things would have been surprisingly altered;--and for one thing, neither frederich the great, nor the present history of friedrich, had ever risen above ground, or troubled an enlightened public or me! of johann george, this seventh elector, [ ; - .] who proved a good governor, and carried on the family affairs in the old style of slow steady success, i will remember nothing more, except that he had the surprising number of three-and-twenty children; one of them posthumous, though he died at the age of seventy-three.-- he is founder of the new culmbach line: two sons of these twenty-three children he settled, one in baireuth, the other in anspach; from whom come all the subsequent heads of that principality, till the last of them died in hammersmith in , as above said. [rentsch, p. (christian to baireuth; joachim ernst to anspach);--see genealogical diagram, inra, p. a.] he was a prudent, thrifty herr; no mistresses, no luxuries allowed; at the sight of a new-fashioned coat, he would fly out on an unhappy youth, and pack him from his presence. very strict in point of justice: a peasant once appealing to him, in one of his inspection-journeys through the country, "grant me justice, durchlaucht, against so-and-so; i am your highness's born subject!"--"thou shouldst have it, man, wert thou a born turk!" answered johann george.--there is something anxious, grave and, as it were, surprised in the look of this good herr. he made the gera bond above spoken of;--founded the younger culmbach line, with that important law of primogeniture strictly superadded. a conspicuous thrift, veracity, modest solidity, looks through the conduct of this herr;--a determined protestant he too, as indeed all the following were and are. [rentsch, pp. , .] of joachim friedrich, his eldest son, who at one time was archbishop of magdeburg,--called home from the wars to fill that valuable heirloom, which had suddenly fallen vacant by an uncle's death, and keep it warm;--and who afterwards, in due course, carried on a lobliche regierung of the old style and physiognomy, as eighth kurfurst, from his fiftieth to his sixtieth year ( - ): [born, ; magdehurg, - (when his third son got it,--very unlucky in the thirty-years war afterwards).] of him we already noticed the fine "joachims-thal gymnasium," or foundation for learned purposes, in the old schloss of grimnitz, where his serene grandmother got lamed; and will notice nothing farther, in this place, except his very great anxiety to profit by the prussian mitbelehnung,--that co-infeftment in preussen, achieved by his grandfather joachim ii., which was now about coming to its full maturity. joachim friedrich had already married his eldest prince to the daughter of albert friedrich, second duke of preussen, who it was by this time evident would be the last duke there of his line. joachim friedrich, having himself fallen a widower, did next year, though now counting fifty-six--but it will be better if we explain first, a little, how matters now stood with preussen. chapter xii. -- of albert friedrich, the second duke of preussen. duke albert died in , laden with years, and in his latter time greatly broken down by other troubles. his prussian raths (councillors) were disobedient, his osianders and lutheran-calvinist theologians were all in fire and flame against each other: the poor old man, with the best dispositions, but without power to realize them, had much to do and to suffer. pious, just and honorable, intending the best; but losing his memory, and incapable of business, as he now complained. in his sixtieth year he had married a second time, a young brunswick princess, with whose foolish brother, eric, he had much trouble; and who at last herself took so ill with the insolence and violence of these intrusive councillors and theologians, that the household-life she led beside her old husband and them became intolerable to her; and she withdrew to another residence,--a little hunting-seat at neuhausen, half a dozen miles from konigsberg;--and there, or at labiau still farther off, lived mostly, in a separate condition, for the rest of her life. separate for life:--nevertheless they happened to die on the same day; th march, , they were simultaneously delivered from their troubles in this world. [hubner, t. ; stenzel, i. .] albert left one son; the second child of this last wife: his one child by the former wife, a daughter now of good years, was married to the duke of mecklenburg. son's name was albert friedrich; age, at his father's death, fifteen. a promising young prince, but of sensitive abstruse temper;--held under heavy tutelage by his raths and theologians; and spurting up against them, in explosive rebellion, from time to time. he now ( ) was to be sovereign duke of preussen, and the one representative of the culmbach line in that fine territory; margraf george friedrich of anspach, the only other culmbacher, being childless, though wedded. we need not doubt, the brandenburg house--old kurfurst joachim ii. still alive, and thrifty johann george the heir-apparent--kept a watchful eye on those emergencies. but it was difficult to interfere directly; the native prussian raths were very jealous, and poland itself was a ticklish sovereignty to deal with. albert friedrich being still a minor, the polish king, sigismund, proposed to undertake the guardianship of him, as became a superior lord to a subject vassal on such an occasion. but the prussian raths assured his majesty, "their young prince was of such a lively intellect, he was perfectly fit to conduct the affairs of the government," especially with such a body of expert councillors to help him, "and might be at once declared of age." which was accordingly the course followed; poland caring little for it; brandenburg digesting the arrangement as it could. and thus it continued for some years, even under new difficulties that arose; the official clique of raths being the real government of the country; and poor young albert friedrich bursting out occasionally into tears against them, occasionally into futile humors of a fiery nature. osiander-theology, and the battle of the 'doxies, ran very high; nor was prussian officiality a beautiful thing. these prussian raths, and the prussian ritterschaft generally (knightage, land-aristocracy), which had its stande (states: or meetings of parliament after a sort), were all along of a mutinous, contumacious humor. the idea had got into their minds, that they were by birth what the ancient ritters by election had been; entitled, fit or not fit, to share the government promotions among them: "the duke is hereditary in his office; why not we? all offices, are they not, by nature, ours to share among us?" the duke's notion, again, was to have the work of his offices effectually done; small matter by whom: the ritters looked less to that side of the question;--regarded any "foreigner" (german-anspacher, or other non-prussian), whatever his merit, as an intruder, usurper, or kind of thief, when seen in office. their contentions, contumacies and pretensions were accordingly manifold. they had dreams of an "aristocratic republic, with the sovereign reduced to zero," like what their polish neighbors grew to. they had various dreams; and individuals among them broke out, from time to time, into high acts of insolence and mutiny. it took a hundred and fifty years of brandenburg horse-breaking, sometimes with sharp manipulation and a potent curb-bit, to dispossess them of that notion, and make them go steadily in harness. which also, however, was at last got done by the hohenzollerns. of duke albert friedrich's marriage: who his wife was, and what her possible dowry. in a year or two, there came to be question of the marrying of young duke albert friedrich. after due consultation, the princess fixed upon was maria eleonora, eldest daughter of the then duke of cleve: to him a proper embassy was sent with that object; and came back with yes for answer. duke of cleve, at that time, was wilhelm, called "the rich" in history-books; a sovereign of some extent in those lower rhine countries. whom i can connect with the english reader's memory in no readier way than by the fact, that he was younger brother, one year younger, of a certain "anne of cleves;"--a large fat lady, who was rather scurvily used in this country; being called, by henry viii. and us, a "great flanders mare," unsuitable for espousal with a king of delicate feelings! this anne of cleves, who took matters quietly and lived on her pension, when rejected by king henry, was aunt of the young lady now in question for preussen. she was still alive here in england, pleasantly quiet, "at burley on the hill," till maria eleonora was seven years old;--who possibly enough still reads in her memory some fading vestige of new black frocks or trimmings, and brief court-mourning, on the death of poor aunt anne over seas.--another aunt is more honorably distinguished; sibylla, wife of our noble saxon elector, johann friedrich the magnanimous, who lost his electorate and almost his life for religion's sake, as we have seen; by whom, in his perils and distresses, sibylla stood always, like a very true and noble wife. duke wilhelm himself was a man of considerable mark in his day. his duchy of cleve included not only cleve-proper, but julich (juliers), berg, which latter pair of duchies were a better thing than cleve-proper:--julich, berg and various other small principalities, which, gradually agglomerating by marriage, heritage and the chance of events in successive centuries, had at length come all into wilhelm's hands; so that he got the name of wilhelm the rich among his contemporaries. he seems to have been of a headlong, blustery, uncertain disposition; much tossed about in the controversies of his day. at one time he was a protestant declared; not without reasons of various kinds. the duchy of geldern (what we call guelders) had fallen to him, by express bequest of the last owner, whose line was out; and wilhelm took possession. but the kaiser karl v. quite refused to let him keep possession. whereupon wilhelm had joined with the french (it was in the moritz-alcibiades time); had declared war, and taken other high measures: but it came to nothing, or to less. the end was, wilhelm had to "come upon his knees" before the kaiser, and beg forgiveness; quite renouncing geldern, which accordingly has gone its own different road ever since. wilhelm was zealously protestant in those days; as his people are, and as he still is, at the period we treat of. but he went into papistry, not long after; and made other sudden turns and misventures: to all appearance, rather an abrupt, blustery, uncertain herr. it is to him that albert friedrich, the young duke of preussen, guided by his council, now (year ) sends an embassy, demanding his eldest daughter, maria eleonora, to wife. duke wilhelm answered yea; "sent a counter-embassy," with whatever else was necessary; and in due time the young bride, with her father, set out towards preussen, such being the arrangement, there to complete the matter. they had got as far as berlin, warmly welcomed by the kurfurst johann george; when, from konigsberg, a sad message reached them: namely, that the young duke had suddenly been seized with an invincible depression and overclouding of mind, not quite to be characterized by the name of madness, but still less by that of perfect sanity. his eagerness to see his bride was the same as formerly; but his spiritual health was in the questionable state described. the young lady paused for a little, in such mood as we may fancy. she had already lost two offers, bridegrooms snatched away by death, says pauli; [pauli, iv. .] and thought it might be ominous to refuse the third. so she decided to go on; dashed aside her father's doubts; sent her unhealthy bridegroom "a flower-garland as love-token," who duly responded; and father wilhelm and she proceeded, as if nothing were wrong. the spiritual state of the prince, she found, had not been exaggerated to her. his humors and ways were strange, questionable; other than one could have wished. such as he was, however, she wedded him on the appointed terms;--hoping probably for a recovery, which never came. the case of albert's malady is to this day dim; and strange tales are current as to the origin of it, which the curious in physiology may consult; they are not fit for reporting here. [ib. iv. .] it seems to have consisted in an overclouding, rather than a total ruin of the mind. incurable depression there was; gloomy torpor alternating with fits of vehement activity or suffering; great discontinuity at all times:--evident unfitness for business. it was long hoped he might recover. and doctors in divinity and in medicine undertook him: theologians, exorcists, physicians, quacks; but no cure came of it, nothing but mutual condemnations, violences and even execrations, from the said doctors and their respective official patrons, lay and clerical. must have been such a scene for a young wife as has seldom occurred, in romance or reality! children continued to be born; daughter after daughter; but no son that lived. margraf george friedrich comes to preussen to administer. after five years' space, in , [pauli, iv. , , .] cure being now hopeless, and the very council admitting that the duke was incapable of business,--george friedrich of anspach-baireuth came into the country to take charge of him; having already, he and the other brandenburgers, negotiated the matter with the king of poland, in whose power it mostly lay. george friedrich was by no means welcome to the prussian council, nor to the wife, nor to the landed aristocracy;--other than welcome, for reasons we can guess. but he proved, in the judgment of all fair witnesses, an excellent governor; and, for six-and-twenty years, administered the country with great and lasting advantage to it. his portraits represent to us a large ponderous figure of a man, very fat in his latter years; with an air of honest sense, dignity, composed solidity;--very fit for the task now on hand. he resolutely, though in mild form, smoothed down the flaming fires of his clergy; commanding now this controversy and then that other controversy _("de concreto et de inconcreto,"_ or whatever they were) to fall strictly silent; to carry themselves on by thought and meditation merely, and without words. he tamed the mutinous aristocracy, the mutinous burgermeisters, town-council of konigsberg, whatever mutiny there was. he drained bogs, says old rentsch; he felled woods, made roads, established inns. prussia was well governed till george's death; which happened in the year . [rentsch, pp. - .] anspach, in the mean while, anspach, baireuth and jagerndorf, which were latterly all his, he had governed by deputy; no need of visiting those quiet countries, except for purposes of kindly recreation, or for a swift general supervision, now and then. by all accounts, an excellent, steadfast, wise and just man, this fat george friedrich; worthy of the father that produced him _("nit kop ab, lover forst, nit kop ab!"),---_ and that is saying much. by his death without children much territory fell home to the elder house; to be disposed of as was settled in the gera bond five years before. anspach and baireuth went to two brothers of the now elector, kurfurst joachim friedrich, sons of johann george of blessed memory: founders, they, of the "new line," of whom we know. jagerndorf the elector himself got; and he, not long after, settled it on one of his own sons, a new johann george, who at that time was fallen rather landless and out of a career: "johann george of jagerndorf," so called thenceforth: whose history will concern us by and by. preussen was to be incorporated with the electorate,--were possession of it once had. but that is a ticklish point; still ticklish in spite of rights, and liable to perverse accidents that may arise. joachim friedrich, as we intimated once, was not wanting to himself on this occasion. but the affair was full of intricacies; a very wasps'-nest of angry humors; and required to be handled with delicacy, though with force and decision. joachim friedrich's eldest son, johann sigismund, electoral prince of brandenburg, had already, in , married one of albert friedrich the hypochondriac duke of preussen's daughters; and there was a promising family of children; no lack of children. nevertheless prudent joachim friedrich himself, now a widower, age towards sixty, did farther, in the present emergency, marry another of these princesses, a younger sister of his son's wife,--seven months after george friedrich's death,--to make assurance doubly sure, a man not to be balked, if he can help it. by virtue of excellent management,--duchess, prussian stande (states), and polish crown, needing all to be contented,--joachim friedrich, with gentle strong pressure, did furthermore squeeze his way into the actual guardianship of preussen and the imbecile duke, which was his by right. this latter feat he achieved in the course of another year ( th march, ); [stenzel, i. .] and thereby fairly got hold of preussen; which he grasped, "knuckles-white," as we may say; and which his descendants have never quitted since. good management was very necessary. the thing was difficult;--and also was of more importance than we yet altogether see. not preussen only, but a still better country, the duchy of cleve, cleve-julich, duke wilhelm's heritage down in the rhineland,--heritage turning out now to be of right his eldest daughter's here, and likely now to drop soon,--is involved in the thing. this first crisis, of getting into the prussian administratorship, fallen vacant, our vigilant kurfurst joachim friedrich has successfully managed; and he holds his grip, knuckles-white. before long, a second crisis comes; where also he will have to grasp decisively in,--he, or those that stand for him, and whose knuckles can still hold, but that may go to a new chapter. chapter xiii. -- ninth kurfurst, johann sigismund. in the summer of ( d may, ) johann sigismund's (and his father's) mother-in-law, the poor wife of the poor imbecile duke of preussen, died. [maria eleonora, duke wilhelm of cleve's eldest daughter: , , (hubner, t. ).] upon which johann sigismund, heir-apparent of brandenburg and its expectancies, was instantly despatched from berlin, to gather up the threads cut loose by that event, and see that the matter took no damage. on the road thither news reached him that his own father, old joachim friedrich, was dead ( th july, ); that he himself was now kurfurst; [ , - .] and that numerous threads were loose at both ends of his affairs. the "young man"--not now so young, being full thirty-five and of fair experience--was in difficulty, under these overwhelming tidings; and puzzled, for a little, whether to advance or to return. he decided to advance, and settle prussian matters, where the peril and the risk were; brandenburg business he could do by rescripts. his difficulties in preussen, and at the polish court, were in fact immense. but after a space of eight or nine months, he did, by excellent management, not sparing money judiciously laid out on individuals, arrive at some adjustment, better or worse, and got preussen in hand; [ th april, . stenzel, i. .] legal administrator of the imbecile duke, as his father had been. after which he had to run for brandenburg, without loss of time: great matters being there in the wind. nothing wrong in brandenburg, indeed; but the great cleve heritage is dropping, has dropped; over in cleve, an immense expectancy is now come to the point of deciding itself. how the cleve heritage dropped, and many sprang to pick it up. wilhelm of cleve, the explosive duke, whom we saw at berlin and konigsberg at the wedding of this poor lady now deceased, had in the marriage-contract, as he did in all subsequent contracts and deeds of like nature, announced a settlement of his estates, which was now become of the highest moment for johann sigismund. the country at that time called duchy of cleve, consisted, as we said above, not only of cleve-proper, but of two other still better duchies, julich and berg; then of the grafschaft (county) of ravensburg, county of mark, lordship of---in fact it was a multifarious agglomerate of many little countries, gathered by marriage, heritage and luck, in the course of centuries, and now united in the hand of this duke wilhelm. it amounted perhaps to two yorkshires in extent. [see busching, _erdbeschreibung,_ v. - .] a naturally opulent country, of fertile meadows, shipping capabilities, metalliferous hills; and, at this time, in consequence of the dutch-spanish war, and the multitude of protestant refugees, it was getting filled with ingenious industries; and rising to be, what it still is, the busiest quarter of germany. a country lowing with kine; the hum of the flax-spindle heard in its cottages, in those old days,--"much of the linen called hollands is made in julich, and only bleached, stamped and sold, by the dutch," says busching. a country, in our days, which is shrouded at short intervals with the due canopy of coal-smoke, and loud with sounds of the anvil and the loom. this duchy of cleve, all this fine agglomerate of duchies, duke wilhelm settled, were to be inherited in a piece, by his eldest (or indeed, as it soon proved, his only) son and the heirs of that son, if there were any. failing heirs of that only son, then the entire duchy of cleve was to go to maria eleonora as eldest daughter, now marrying to friedrich albert, duke of prussia, and to their heirs lawfully begotten: heirs female, if there happened to be no male. the other sisters, of whom there were three, were none of them to have the least pretence to inherit cleve or any part of it. on the contrary, they were, in such event, of the eldest daughter or her heirs coming to inherit cleve, to have each of them a sum of ready money paid [" , goldgulden," about , pounds; pauli, vi. ; iii. .] by the said inheritrix of cleve or her heirs; and on receiving that, were to consider their claims entirely fulfilled, and to cease thinking of cleve for the future. this settlement, by express privilege of kaiser karl v., nay of kaiser maximilian before him, and the laws of the reich, duke wilhelm doubted not he was entitled to make; and this settlement he made; his lawyers writing down the terms, in their wearisome way, perhaps six times over; and struggling by all methods to guard against the least misunderstanding. cleve with all its appurtenances, julich, berg and the rest, goes to the eldest sister and her heirs, male or female: if she have no heirs, male or female, then, but not till then, the next sister steps into her shoes in that matter: but if she have, then, we repeat for the sixth and last time, no sister or sister's representative has the least word to say to it, but takes her , pounds, and ceases thinking of cleve. the other three sisters were all gradually married;--one of them to pfalz-neuburg, an eminent prince, in the bavarian region called the ober-pfalz (upper palatinate), who, or at least whose eldest son, is much worth mentioning and remembering by us here;--and, in all these marriage-contracts, wilhelm and his lawyers expressed themselves to the like effect, and in the like elaborate sixfold manner: so that wilhelm and they thought there could nowhere in the world be any doubt about it. shortly after signing the last of these marriage-contracts, or perhaps it was in the course of signing them, duke wilhelm had a stroke of palsy. he had, before that, gone into papistry again, poor man. the truth is, he had repeated strokes; and being an abrupt, explosive herr, he at last quite yielded to palsy; and sank slowly out of the world, in a cloud of semi-insanity, which lasted almost twenty years. [died th january, , age .] duke wilhelm did leave a son, johann wilhelm, who succeeded him as duke. but this son also proved explosive; went half and at length wholly insane. jesuit priests, and their intrigues to bring back a protestant country to the bosom of the church, wrapped the poor man, all his days, as in a burning nessus'-shirt; and he did little but mischief in the world. he married, had no children; he accused his innocent wife, the jesuits and he, of infidelity. got her judged, not properly sentenced; and then strangled her, he and they, in her bed:--"jacobea of baden ( );" a thrice-tragic history. then he married again; jesuits being extremely anxious for an orthodox heir: but again there came no heir; there came only new blazings of the nessus'-shirt. in fine, the poor man died (spring, ), and made the world rid of him. died th march, ; that is the precise date;--about a month before our new elector, johann sigismund, got his affairs winded up at the polish court, and came galloping home in such haste. there was pressing need of him in the cleve regions. for the painful exactitude of duke wilhelm and his lawyers has profited little; and there are claimants on claimants rising for that valuable cleve country. as indeed johann sigismund had anticipated, and been warned from all quarters, to expect. for months past, he has had his faculties bent, with lynx-eyed attention, on that scene of things; doubly and trebly impatient to get preussen soldered up, ever since this other matter came to the bursting-point. what could be done by the utmost vigilance of his deputies, he had done. it was the th of march when the mad duke died: on the th of april, johann sigismund's deputy, attended by a notary to record the act, "fixed up the brandenburg arms on the government-house of cleve;" [pauli, vi. .] on the th, they did the same at dusseldorf; on the following days, at julich and the other towns. but already on the th, they had hardly got done at dusseldorf, when there appeared--young wolfgang wilhelm, heir-apparent of that eminent pfalz-neuburg, he in person, to put up the pfalz-neuburg arms! pfalz-neuburg, who married the second daughter, he is actually claiming, then;--the whole, or part? both are sensible that possession is nine points in law. pfalz-neuburg's claim was for the whole duchy. "all my serene mother's!" cried the young heir of pfalz-neuburg: "properly all mine!" cried he. "is not she nearest of kin? second daughter, true; but the daughter; not daughter of a daughter, as you are (as your serene electress is), o durchlaucht of brandenburg:--consider, besides, you are female, i am male!" that was pfalz-neuburg's logic: none of the best, i think, in forensic genealogy. his tenth point was perhaps rather weak; but he had possession, co-possession, and the nine points good. the other two sisters, by their sons or husbands, claimed likewise; but not the whole: "divide it," said they: "that surely is the real meaning of karl v.'s deed of privilege to make such a testament. divide it among the four daughters or their representatives, and let us all have shares!" nor were these four claimants by any means all. the saxon princes next claimed; two sets of saxon princes. first the minor set, gotha-weimar and the rest, the ernestine line so called; representatives of johann friedrich the magnanimous, who lost the electorate for religion's sake at muhlberg in the past century, and from major became minor in saxon genealogy. "magnanimous johann friedrich," said they, "had to wife an aunt of the now deceased duke of cleve; wife sibylla (sister of the flanders mare), of famous memory, our lineal ancestress. in favor of whom her father, the then reigning duke of cleve, made a marriage-contract of precisely similar import to this your prussian one: he, and barred all his descendants, if contracts are to be valid." this is the claim of the ernestine line of saxon princes; not like to go for much, in their present disintegrated condition. but the albertine line, the present elector of saxony, also claims: "here is a deed," said he, "executed by kaiser friedrich iii. in the year , [pauli, ubi supra; hubner, t. .] generations before your kaiser karl; deed solemnly granting to albert, junior of sachsen, and to his heirs, the reversion of those same duchies, should the male line happen to fail, as it was then likely to do. how could kaiser max revoke his father's deed, or kaiser karl his great-grandfather's? little albert, the albert of the prinzenraub, he who grew big, and fought lion-like for his kaiser in the netherlands and western countries; he and his have clearly the heirship of cleve by right; and we, now grown electors, and seniors of saxony, demand it of a grateful house of hapsburg,--and will study to make ourselves convenient in return."-- "nay, if that is your rule, that old laws and deeds are to come in bar of new, we," cry a multitude of persons,--french dukes of nevers, and all manner of remote, exotic figures among them,--"we are the real heirs! ravensburg, mark, berg, ravenstein, this patch and the other of that large duchy of yours, were they not from primeval time expressly limited to heirs-male? heirs-male; and we now are the nearest heirs-male of said patches and portions; and will prove it!"--in short, there never was such a lawsuit,--so fat an affair for the attorney species, if that had been the way of managing it,--as this of cleve was likely to prove. the kaiser's thoughts about it, and the world's. what greatly complicated the affair, too, was the interest the kaiser took in it. the kaiser could not well brook a powerful protestant in that country; still less could his cousin the spaniard. spaniards, worn to the ground, coercing that world-famous dutch revolt, and astonished to find that they could not coerce it at all, had resolved at this time to take breath before trying farther. spaniards and dutch, after fifty years of such fighting as we know, have made a twelve-years' truce ( ): but the battled spaniard, panting, pale in his futile rage and sweat, has not given up the matter; he is only taking breath, and will try it again. now cleve is his road into holland, in such adventure; no success possible if cleve be not in good hands. brandenburg is protestant, powerful; brandenburg will not do for a neighbor there. nor will pfalz-neuburg. a protestant of protestants, this palatine neuburg too,--junior branch, possible heir in time coming, of kur-pfalz (elector palatine) himself, in the rhine countries; of kur-pfalz, who is acknowledged chief protestant: official "president" of the "evangelical union" they have lately made among them in these menacing times;--pfalz-neuburg too, this young wolfgang wilhelm, if he do not break off kind, might be very awkward to the kaiser in cleve-julich. nay saxony itself; for they are all protestants:--unless perhaps saxony might become pliant, and try to make itself useful to a munificent imperial house? evidently what would best suit the kaiser and spaniards, were this, that no strong power whatever got footing in cleve, to grow stronger by the possession of such a country:--better than best it would suit, if he, the kaiser, could himself get it smuggled into his hands, and there hold it fast! which privately was the course resolved upon at headquarters.--in this way the "succession controversy of the cleve duchies" is coming to be a very high matter; mixing itself, up with the grand protestant-papal controversy, the general armed-lawsuit of mankind in that generation. kaiser, spaniard, dutch, english, french henri iv. and all mortals, are getting concerned in the decision of it. chapter xiv. -- symptoms of a great war coming. meanwhile brandenburg and neuburg both hold grip of cleve in that manner, with a mutually menacing inquiring expression of countenance; each grasps it (so to speak) convulsively with the one hand, and has with the other hand his sword by the hilt, ready to fly out. but to understand this brandenburg-neuburg phenomenon and the then significance of the cleve-julich controversy, we must take the following bits of chronology along with us. for the german empire, with protestant complaints, and papist usurpations and severities, was at this time all a continent of sour thick smoke, already breaking out into dull-red flashes here and there,--symptoms of the universal conflagration of a thirty-years war, which followed. sympton first is that of donauworth, and dates above a year back. first symptom; donauworth, . donauworth, a protestant imperial free-town, in the bavarian regions, had been, for some fault on the part of the populace against a flaring mass-procession which had no business to be there, put under ban of the empire; had been seized accordingly (december, ), and much cuffed, and shaken about, by duke maximilian of bavaria, as executor of the said ban; [michaeelis, ii. ; buddaei lexicon, i. .]--who, what was still worse, would by no means give up the town when he had done with it; town being handy to him, and the man being stout and violently papist. hence the "evangelical union" which we saw,--which has not taken donauworth yet. nor ever will! donauworth never was retaken; but is bavarian at this hour, a town namable in history ever since. not to say withal, that it is where marlborough, did "the lines of schellenberg" long after: schellenberg ("jingle-hill," so to render it) looks down across the danube or donau river, upon donauworth,--its "lines," and other histories, now much abolished, and quiet under grass. but now all protestantism sounding everywhere, in angry mournful tone, "donauwarth! give up donauworth!"--and an "evangelical union," with moneys, with theoretic contingents of force, being on foot for that and the like objects;--we can fancy what a scramble this of cleve-julich was like to be; and especially what effect this duelling attitude of brandenburg and neuburg had on the protestant mind. protestant neighbors, landgraf moritz of hessen-cassel at their head, intervene in tremulous haste, in the cleve-julich affair: "peace, o friends! some bargain; peaceable joint-possession; any temporary bargain, till we see! can two protestants fall to slashing one another, in such an aspect of the reich and its jesuitries?"--and they did agree (dortmund, th may, ) the first of their innumerable "agreements," to some temporary joint-possession;--the thrice-thankful country doing homage to both, "with oath to the one that shall be found genuine." and they did endeavor to govern jointly, and to keep the peace on those terms, though it was not easy. for the kaiser had already said (or his aulic council and spanish cousin, poor kaiser rodolf caring too little about these things, [rodolf ii. (kepler's too insolvent "patron"), - ; then matthias, rodolf's brother, - , rather tolerant to protestants;--then ferdinand ii. his uncle's son, - , much the reverse of tolerant, by whom mainly came the thirty-years war,--were the kaisers of this period. ferdinand iii., son of ii: ( - ), who finished out the thirty-years war, partly by fighting of his own in young days (battle of nordlingen his grandest feat), was father of kaiser leopold ( - ),--whose two sons were kaiser joseph ( - ) and kaiser karl vi. ( - ), maria theresa's father.] had already said), cleve must absolutely not go into wrong hands. for which what safe method is there, but that the kaiser himself become proprietor? a letter is yet extant, from the aulic council to their vice-chancellor, who had been sent to negotiate this matter with the parties; letter to the effect, that such result was the only good one; that it must be achieved; "that he must devise all manner of quirks _(alle spitzfindigkeiten auffordern sollte),"_ and achieve it. [pauli, iii. .] this curious letter of a sublime aulic council, or imperial hof-rath, to its vice-kanzler, still exists. and accordingly quirks did not prove undevisable on behalf of the kaiser. "since you cannot agree," said the kaiser, "and there are so many of you who claim (we having privately stirred up several of you to the feat), there will be nothing for it, but the kaiser must put the country under sequestration, and take possession of it with his own troops, till a decision be arrived at,--which probably will not be soon!" second symptom; seizure of julich by the kaiser, and siege and recapture of it by the protestant parties, . whereupon whereupon "catholic league," to balancee "evangelical union." and the kaiser forthwith did as he had said; sent archduke leopold with troops, who forcibly took the castle of julich; commanding all other castles and places to surrender and sequestrate themselves, in like fashion; threatening brandenburg and neuburg, in a dreadful manner, with reichs-acht (ban of the empire), if they presumed to show contumacy. upon which brandenburg and neuburg, ranking themselves together, showed decided contumacy; "tore down the kaiser's proclamation," [ib. iii. . emperor's proclamation, in dusseldorf, d july, ,--taken down solemnly, st august, ,] having good help at their back. and accordingly, "on the th of september, ," after a two-months' siege, they, or the dutch, french, and evangelical union troops bombarding along with them, and "many english volunteers" to help, retook julich, and packed leopold away again. [ib. iii. .] the dutch and the french were especially anxious about this cleve business,--poor henri iv. was just putting those french troops in motion towards julich, when ravaillac, the distracted devil's-jesuit, did his stroke upon him; so that another than henri had to lead in that expedition. the actual captain at the siege was prince christian of anhalt, by repute the first soldier of germany at that period: he had a horse shot under him, the business being very hot and furious;--he had still worse fortune in the course of years. there were "many english volunteers" at this siege; english nation hugely interested in it, though their king would not act except diplomatically. it was the talk of all the then world,--the evening song and the morning prayer of protestants especially,--till it was got ended in this manner. it deserves to rank as sympton second in this business; far bigger flare of dull red in the universal smoke-continent, than that of donauworth had been. are there no memorials left of those "english volunteers," then? [in carlyle's _ miscellanies_ (vi.? "two hundred and fifty years ago: a fragment about duels") is one small scene belonging to them.] alas, they might get edited as bromley's _royal letters_ are;--and had better lie quiet! "evangelical union," formed some two years before, with what cause we saw, has kur-pfalz [winter-king's father; died th september, , few days after this recapture of julich.] at the head of it: but its troops or operations were never of a very forcible character. kur-brandenburg now joined it formally, as did many more; kur-sachsen, anxious to make himself convenient in other quarters, never would. add to these phenomena, the now decisive appearance of a "catholic liga" (league of catholic princes), which, by way of counterpoise to the "union," had been got up by duke maximilian of bavaria several months ago; and which now, under the same guidance, in these bad circumstances, took a great expansion of figure. duke maximilian, "donauworth max," finding the evangelical union go so very high, and his own kaiser like to be good for little in such business (poor hypochondriac kaiser rodolf ii., more taken up with turning-looms and blow-pipes than with matters political, who accordingly is swept out of julich in such summary way),--donauworth max has seen this a necessary institution in the present aspect.--both "union" and "league" rapidly waxed under the sound of the julich cannon, as was natural. kur-sachsen, for standing so well aloof from the union, got from the thankful kaiser written titles for these duchies of cleve and julich; imperial parchments and infestments of due extent; but never any territory in those parts. he never offered fight for his pretensions; and brandenburg and neuburg--neuburg especially--always answered him, "no!" with sword half-drawn. so kur-sachsen faded out again, and took only parchments by the adventure. practically there was no private competitor of moment to brandenburg, except this wolfgang wilhelm of pfalz-neuburg; he alone having clutched hold.--but we hasten to symptom third, which particularly concerns us, and will be intelligible now at last. symptom third: a dinner-scene at dusseldorf, : spaniards and dutch shoulder arms in cleve. brandenburg and neuburg stood together against third parties; but their joint-government was apt to fall in two, when left to itself, and the pressure of danger withdrawn. "they governed by the raths and stande of the country;" old methods and old official men: each of the two had his own vice-regent (statthalter) present on the ground, who jointly presided as they could. jarrings were unavoidable; but how mend it? settle the litigated territory itself, and end their big lawsuit, they could not; often as they tried it, with the whole world encouraging and urging them. [old sir henry wotton, provost of eton in his old days, remembers how he went ambassador on this errand,--as on many others equally bootless;--and writes himself "legatus," not only "thrice to venice, twice to" &c. &c., but also "once to holland in the juliers matter _(semel in juliacensi negotio):"_ see _reliquiae wottonianae_ (london, ), preface. it was "in ," say the biographies vaguely. his despatches, are they in the paper-office still? his good old book deserves new editing, his good old genially pious life a proper elucidation, by some faithful man.] the meetings they had, and the treaties and temporary bargains they made, and kept, and could not keep, in these and in the following years and generations, pass our power of recording. in the brandenburg statthalter was ernst, the elector's younger brother, wolfgang wilhelm in person, for his father, or rather for himself as heir of his mother, represented pfalz-neuburg. ernst of brandenburg had adopted calvinism as his creed; a thing hateful and horrible to the lutheran mind (of which sort was wolfgang wilhelm), to a degree now altogether inconceivable. discord arose in consequence between the statthalters, as to official appointments, sacred and secular: "you are for promoting calvinists!"--"and you, i see, are for promoting lutherans!"--johann sigismund himself had to intervene: wolfgang wilhelm and he had their meetings, friendly colloquies:--the final celloquy of which is still memorable; and issues in symptom third. we said, a strong flame of choler burnt in all these hohenzollerns, though they held it well down. johann sigismund, an excellent man of business, knew how essential a mild tone is: nevertheless he found, as this colloquy went on, that human patience might at length get too much. the scene, after some examination, is conceivable in this wise: place dusseldorf, elector's apartment in the schloss there; time late in the year , day not discoverable by me. the two sat at dinner, after much colloquy all morning: johann sigismund, a middle-aged, big-headed, stern-faced, honest-looking man; hair cropped, i observe; and eyelids slightly contracted, as if for sharper vision into matters: wolfgang wilhelm, of features fallen dim to me; an airy gentleman, well out of his teens, but, i doubt, not of wisdom sufficient; evidently very high and stiff in his ways. his proposal, by way of final settlement, and end to all these brabbles, was this, and he insisted on it: "give me your eldest princess to wife; let her dowry be your whole claim on cleve-julich; i will marry her on that condition, and we shall be friends!" here evidently is a gentleman that does not want for conceit in himself:--consider too, in johann sigismund's opinion, he had no right to a square inch of these territories, though for peace' sake a joint share had been allowed him for the time! "on that condition, jackanapes?" thought johann sigismund: "my girl is not a monster; nor at a loss for husbands fully better than you, i should hope!" this he thought, and could not help thinking; but endeavored to say nothing of it. the young jackanapes went on, insisting. nature at last prevailed; johann sigismund lifted his hand (princely etiquettes melting all into smoke on the sudden), and gave the young jackanapes a slap over the face. veritable slap; which opened in a dreadful manner the eyes of young pfalz-neuburg to his real situation; and sent him off high-flaming, vowing never-imagined vengeance. a remarkable slap; well testified to,--though the old histories, struck blank with terror, reverence and astonishment, can for most part only symbol it in dumb-show; [pufendorf _(rer. brandenb._ lib. iv.? , p. ), and many others, are in this case. tobias pfanner _(historia pacis westphalicae,_ lib. i.? , p. ) is explicit: _"neque, ut infida regnandi societas est, brandenburgio et neoburgio diu conveniebat; eorumque jurgia, cum matrimonii faedere pacari posse propinqui ipsorum credidissent, acrius ezarsere; inter epulas, quibus futurum generum septemvir_ (the "sevensman," or elector, "one of the seven") _excipiebat, hujus enim filia wolfgango sperabatur, ob nescio quos sermones eo inter utrumque altercalione provecta, ut elector irae impotestior, nulla dignitatis, hospitii, cognationis, affinitatisve verecundia cohibitus, intenderit neoburgio manus, et contra tendentis os verberaverit. ita, quae apud concordes vincula caritatis, incitamenta irarum apud infensos erant."_ (cited in kohler, _munzbelustiqungen,_ xxi. ; who refers also to levassor, _histoire de louis xii.)_--pauli (iii. ) bedomes qnite vaporous.] a slap that had important consequences in this world. for now wolfgang wilhelm, flaming off in never-imagined vengeance, posted straight to munchen, to max of bavaria there; declared himself convinced, or nearly so, of the roman-catholic religion; wooed, and in a few weeks ( th november, ) wedded max's younger sister; and soon after, at dusseldorf, pompously professed such his blessed change of belief,--with immense flourish of trumpeting, and jubilant pamphleteering, from holy church. [kohler, ubi supra.] his poor old father, the devoutest of protestants, wailed aloud his "ichabod! the glory is departed!"--holding "weekly fast and humiliation" ever after,--and died in few months of a broken heart. the catholic league has now a new member on those terms. and on the other hand, johann sigismund, nearly with the like haste ( th december, ), declared himself convinced of calvinism, his younger brother's creed; [pauli, iii. .]--which continues ever since the brandenburg court-creed, that of the people being mostly lutheran. men said, it was to please the dutch, to please the julichers, most of whom are calvinist. apologetic pauli is elaborate, but inconclusive. it was very ill taken at berlin, where even popular riot arose on the matter. in prussia too it had its drawbacks. [ib. iii. ; michaelis, i. .] and now, all being full of mutation, rearrangement and infinite rumor, there marched next year ( ), on slight pretext, resting on great suspicions, spanish troops into the julich-cleve country, and, countenanced by neuburg, began seizing garrisons there. whereupon dutch troops likewise marched, countenanced by brandenburg, and occupied other fortresses and garrisons: and so, in every strong-place, these were either papist-spaniards or calvinist-dutch; who stood there, fronting one another, and could not by treatying be got out again;--like clouds positively electric versus clouds negatively. as indeed was getting to be the case of germany in general; case fatally visible in every province, principality and parish there: till a thunder-storm, and succession of thunder-storms, of thirty years' continuance, broke out. of which these huge rumors and mutations, and menacings of war, springing out of that final colloquy and slap in the face, are to be taken as the third premonitory symptom. spaniards and dutch stand electrically fronting one another in cleve for seven years, till their truce is out, before they clash together; germany does not wait so long by a couple of years. symptom fourth, and catastrophe upon the heels of it. five years more ( ), and there will have come a fourth symptom, biggest of all, rapidly consummating the process;--symptom still famed, of the following external figure: three official gentlemen descending from a window in the castle of prag: hurled out by impatient bohemian protestantism, a depth of seventy feet,--happily only into dung, and without loss of life. from which follows a "king of bohemia" elected there, king not unknown to us;--"thunder-clouds" all in one huge clash, and the "continent of sour smoke" blazing all into a continent of thunderous fire: thirty-years war, as they now call it! such a conflagration as poor germany never saw before or since. these were the four preliminary symptoms of that dismal business. "as to the primary causes of it," says one of my authorities, "these lie deep, deep almost as those of original sin. but the proximate causes seem to me to have been these two: first, that the jesuit-priests and principalities had vowed and resolved to have, by god's help and by the devil's (this was the peculiarity of it), europe made orthodox again: and then secondly, the fact that a max of bavaria existed at that time, whose fiery character, cunning but rash head, and fanatically papist heart disposed him to attempt that enterprise, him with such resources and capacities, under their bad guidance." johann sigismund did many swift decisive strokes of business in his time, businesses of extensive and important nature; but this of the slap to neuburg has stuck best in the idle memory of mankind. dusseldorf, year : it was precisely in the time when that same friedrioh, not yet by any means "king of bohemia," but already kur-pfalz (cousin of this neuburg, and head man of the protestants), was over here in england, on a fine errand;--namely, had married the fair elizabeth ( th february, ), james the first's princess; "goody palsgrave," as her mother floutingly called her, not liking the connection. what kind of a "king of bohemia" this friedrich made, five or six years after, and what sea of troubles he and his entered into, we know; the "winter-konig" (winter-king, fallen in times of frost, or built of mere frost, a snow-king altogether soluble again) is the name he gets in german histories. but here is another hook to hang chronology upon. this brief bohemian kingship had not yet exploded on the weissenberg of prag, [battle there, sunday th november, .] when old sir henry wotton being sent as ambassador "to lie abroad" (as he wittily called it, to his cost) in that business, saw, in the city of lintz in the picturesque green country by the shores of the donau there, an ingenious person, who is now recognizable as one of the remarkablest of mankind, mr. john kepler, namely: keplar as wotton writes him; addressing the great lord bacon (unhappily without strict date of any kind) on that among other subjects. mr. john's now ever-memorable watching of those _ motions of the star mars,_ [_de motibus stellae martis;_ prag, .] with "calculations repeated seventy times," and also with discovery of the planetary laws of this universe, some, ten years ago, appears to be unknown to wotton and bacon; but there is something else of mr. john's devising [it seems, baptista porta (of naples, dead some years before) must have given him the essential hint,--of whom, or whose hint, mr. john does not happen to inform his excellency at present.] which deserves attention from an instaurator of philosophy:-- "he hath a little black tent (of what stuff is not much importing)," says the ambassador, "which he can suddenly set up where he will in a field; and it is convertible (like a windmill) to all quarters at pleasure; capable of not much more than one man, as i conceive, and perhaps at no great ease; exactly close and dark,--save at one hole, about an inch and a half in the diameter, to which he applies a long perspective trunk, with the convex glass fitted to the said hole, and the concave taken out at the other end, which extendeth to about the middle of this erected tent: through which the visible radiations of all the objects without are intromitted, falling upon a paper, which is accommodated to receive them; and so he traceth them with his pen in their natural appearance; turning his little tent round by degrees, till he hath designed the whole aspect of the field." [_reliqui wottonianae,_ (london ), p. .]--in fact he hath a camera obscura, and is exhibiting the same for the delectation of imperial gentlemen lounging that way. mr. john invents such toys, writes almanacs, practises medicine, for good reasons; his encouragement from the holy roman empire and mankind being only a pension of pounds a year, and that hardly ever paid. an ingenious person, truly, if there ever was one among adam's posterity. just turned of fifty and ill off for cash. this glimpse of him, in his little black tent with perspective glasses, while the thirty-years war blazes out, is welcome as a date. what became of the cleve-julich heritage, and of the preussen one. in the cleve duchies joint government had now become more difficult than ever: but it had to be persisted in,--under mutual offences, suspicions and outbreaks hardly repressed;--no final bargain of settlement proving by any method possible. treaties enough, and conferences and pleadings, manifestoings:--could not some painful german collector of statistics try to give us the approximate quantity of impracticable treaties, futile conferences, manifestoes correspondences; in brief, some authentical cipher (say in round millions) of idle words spoken by official human creatures and approximately (in square miles) the extent of law stationery and other paper written, first and last, about this controversy of the cleve duchies? in that form it might have a momentary interest. when the winter-king's explosion took place, [crowned at prag, th november n.s. ; beaten to ruin there, and obliged to gallop (almost before dinner done), sunday, th november, .] and his own unfortunate pfalz (palatinate) became the theatre of war (tilly, spinola, versus pfalzers, english, dutch), involving all the neighboring regions, cleve-julich did not escape its fate. the spaniards and the dutch, who had long sat in gloomy armed-truce, occupying with obstinate precaution the main fortresses of these julich-cleve countries, did now straightway, their twelve-years' truce being out ( ), [pauli, vi. - .] fall to fighting and besieging one another there; the huge war, which proved of thirty years, being now all ablaze. what the country suffered in the interim may be imagined. in , in pity to all parties, some attempt at practical division of the territory was again made: neuburg to have berg and julich, brandenburg to have cleve, mark, ravensburg and the minor appurtenances: and treaty to that effect was got signed ( th may, ). but it was not well kept, nor could be; and the statistic cipher of new treaties, manifestoes, conferences, and approximate written area of law-paper goes on increasing. it was not till forty-two years after, in , as will be more minutely noticeable by and by, that an effective partition could be practically brought about. nor in this state was the lawsuit by any means ended,--as we shall wearisomely see, in times long following that. in fact there never was, in the german chanceries or out of them, such a lawsuit, armed or wigged, as this of the cleve duchies first and last. and the sentence was not practically given, till the congress of vienna ( ) in our own day gave it; and the thing johann sigismund had claimed legally in was actually handed over to johann sigismund's descendant in the seventh generation, after two hundred and six years. handed over to him then,--and a liberal rate of interest allowed. these litigated duchies are now the prussian province julich-berg-cleve, and the nucleus of prussia's possessions in the rhine country. a year before johann sigismund's death, albert friedrich, the poor eclipsed duke of prussia, died ( th august, ): upon which our swift kurfurst, not without need of his dexterities there too, got peaceable possession of prussia;--nor has his family lost hold of that, up to the present time. next year ( d december, ), he himself closed a swift busy life (labor enough in it for him perhaps, though only an age of forty-nine); and sank to his long rest, his works following him,--unalterable thenceforth, not unfruitful some of them. chapter xv. -- tenth kurfurst, george wilhelm. by far the unluckiest of these electors, whether the most unworthy of them or not, was george wilhelm, tenth elector, who now succeeded johann sigismund his father. the father's eyes had closed when this great flame was breaking out; and the son's days were all spent amid the hot ashes and fierce blazings of it. the position of brandenburg during this sad thirty-years war was passive rather than active; distinguished only in the former way, and as far as possible from being glorious or victorious. never since the hohenzollerns came to that country had brandenburg such a time. difficult to have mended it; impossible to have quite avoided it;--and kurfurst george wilhelm was not a man so superior to all his neighbors, that he could clearly see his way in such an element. the perfect or ideal course was clear: to have frankly drawn sword for his religion and his rights, so soon as the battle fairly opened; and to have fought for these same, till he got either them or died. alas, that is easily said and written; but it is, for a george wilhelm especially, difficult to do! his capability in all kinds was limited; his connections, with this side and that, were very intricate. gustavus and the winter-king were his brothers-in-law; gustavus wedded to his sister, he to winter-king's. his relations to poland, feudal superior of preussen, were delicate; and gustavus was in deadly quarrel with poland. and then gustavus's sudden laying-hold of pommern, which had just escaped from wallenstein and the kaiser? it must be granted, poor george wilhelm's case demanded circumspectness. one can forgive him for declining the bohemian-king speculation, though his uncle of jagerndorf and his cousins of liegnitz were so hearty and forward in it. pardonable in him to decline the bohemian speculation;--though surely it is very sad that he found himself so short of "butter and firewood" when the poor ex-king, and his young wife, then in a specially interesting state, came to take shelter with him! [solltl _(geschichte des dreissigjahrigen krieges,_--a trivial modern book) gives a notable memorial from the brandenburg raths, concerning these their difficulties of housekeeping. their real object, we perceive, was to get rid of a guest so dangerous as the ex-king, under ban of the empire, had now become.] but when gustavus landed, and flung out upon the winds such a banner as that of his,--truly it was required of a protestant governor of men to be able to read said banner in a certain degree. a governor, not too imperfect, would have recognized this gustavus, what his purposes and likelihoods were; the feeling would have been, checked by due circumspectness: "up, my men, let us follow this man; let us live and die in the cause this man goes for! live otherwise with honor, or die otherwise with honor, we cannot, in the pass things have come to!"--and thus, at the very worst, brandenburg would have had only one class of enemies to ravage it; and might have escaped with, arithmetically speaking, half the harrying it got in that long business. but protestant germany--sad shame to it, which proved lasting sorrow as well--was all alike torpid; brandenburg not an exceptional case. no prince stood up as beseemed: or only one, and he not a great one; landgraf wilhelm of hessen, who, and his brave widow after him, seemed always to know what hour it was. wilhelm of hessen all along;--and a few wild hands, christian of brunswick, christian of anhalt, johann george of jagerndorf, who stormed out tumultuously at first, but were soon blown away by the tilly-wallenstein trade-winds and regulated armaments:--the rest sat still, and tried all they could to keep out of harm's way. the "evangelical union" did a great deal of manifestoing, pathetic, indignant and other; held solemn meetings at heilbronn, old sir henry wotton going as ambassador to them; but never got any redress. had the evangelical union shut up its inkhorns sooner; girt on its fighting-tools when the time came, and done some little execution with them then, instead of none at all,--we may fancy the evangelical union would have better discharged its function. it might have saved immense wretchedness to germany. but its course went not that way. in fact, had there been no better protestantism than that of germany, all was over with protestantism; and max of bavaria, with fanatical ferdinand ii. as kaiser over him, and father lammerlein at his right hand and father hyacinth at his left, had got their own sweet way in this world. but protestant germany was not protestant europe, after all. over seas there dwelt and reigned a certain king in sweden; there farmed, and walked musing by the shores of the ouse in huntingdonshire, a certain man;--there was a gustav adolf over seas, an oliver cromwell over seas; and "a company of poor men" were found capable of taking lucifer by the beard,--who accordingly, with his lammerleins, hyacinths, habernfeldts and others, was forced to withdraw, after a tough struggle!-- chapter xvi. -- thirty-years war. the enormous thirty-years war, most intricate of modern occurrences in the domain of dryasdust, divides itself, after some unravelling, into three principal acts or epochs; in all of which, one after the other, our kurfurst had an interest mounting progressively, but continuing to be a passive interest. act first goes from to ; and might be entitled "the bohemian king made and demolished." personally the bohemian king was soon demolished. his kingship may be said to have gone off by explosion; by one fight, namely, done on the weissenberg near prag (sunday, th november, ), while he sat at dinner in the city, the boom of the cannon coming in with interest upon his high guests and him. he had to run, in hot haste, that night, leaving many of his important papers,--and becomes a winter-king. winter-king's account was soon settled. but the extirpating of his adherents, and capturing of his hereditary lands, palatinate and upper-palatinate, took three years more. hard fighting for the palatinate; tilly and company against the "evangelical-union troops, and the english under sir horace vere." evangelical-union troops, though marching about there, under an uncle of our kurfurst (margraf joachim ernst, that lucky anspach uncle, founder of "the line"), who professed some skill in soldiering, were a mere picture of an army; would only "observe," and would not fight at all. so that the whole fighting fell to sir horace and his poor handful of english; of whose grim posture "in frankendale" [frankenthal, a little town in the palatinate, n.w. from mannheim a short way.] and other strongholds, for months long, there is talk enough in the old english history-books. then there were certain stern war-captains, who rallied from the weissenberg defeat:--christian of brunswick, the chief of them, titular bishop of halberstadt, a high-flown, fiery young fellow, of terrible fighting gifts; he flamed up considerably, with "the queen of bohemia's glove stuck in his hat:" "bright lady, it shall stick there, till i get you your own again, or die!" [ - , age not yet twenty-five; died (by poison), , having again become supremely important just then. _"gottes freund, der pfaffen feind_ (god's friend, priests' foe);" _"alles fur ruhm und ihr (all for glory and her,"_--the bright elizabeth, become ex-queen), were mottoes of his.--buddaus in voce (i. ); michaelis, i. .] christian of brunswick, george of jagerndorf (our kurfurst's uncle), count mansfeldt and others, made stormy fight once and again, hanging upon this central "frankendale" business, till they and it became hopeless. for the kaiser and his jesuits were not in doubt; a kaiser very proud, unscrupulous; now clearly superior in force,--and all along of great superiority in fraud. christian of brunswick, johann george and mansfeldt were got rid of: christian by poison; johann george and mansfeldt by other methods,--chiefly by playing upon poor king james of england, and leading him by the long nose he was found to have. the palatinate became the kaiser's for the time being; upper palatinate (ober-pfalz) duke max of bavaria, lying contiguous to it, had easily taken. "incorporate the ober-pfalz with your bavaria," said the kaiser, "you, illustrious, thrice-serviceable max! and let lammerlein and hyacinth, with their gospel of ignatius, loose upon it. nay, as a still richer reward, be yours the forfeited kur (electorship) of this mad kur-pfalz, or winter-king. i will hold his rhine-lands, his unter-pfalz: his electorship and ober-pfalz, i say, are yours, duke, henceforth kurfurst maximilian!" [kohler, _reichs-historie,_ p. .] which was a hard saying in the ears of brandenburg, saxony and the other five, and of the reich in general; but they had all to comply, after wincing. for the kaiser proceeded with a high hand. he had put the ex-king under ban of the empire (never asking "the empire" about it); put his three principal adherents, johann george of jagerndorf one of them, prince christian of anhalt (once captain at the siege of juliers) another, likewise under ban of the empire; [ d jan. (ibid. p. ).] and in short had flung about, and was flinging, his thunder-bolts in a very olympian manner. under all which, what could brandenburg and the others do; but whimper some trembling protest, "clear against law!"--and sit obedient? the evangelical union did not now any more than formerly draw out its fighting-tools. in fact, the evangelical union now fairly dissolved itself; melted into a deliquium of terror under these thunder-bolts that were flying, and was no more heard of in the world.-- second act, or epoch, - . a second uncle put to the ban, and pommern snatched away. except in the "nether-saxon circle" (distant northwest region, with its hanover, mecklenburg, with its rich hamburgs, lubecks, magdeburgs, all protestant, and abutting on the protestant north), trembling germany lay ridden over as the kaiser willed. foreign league got up by france, king james, christian iv. of denmark (james's brother-in-law, with whom he had such "drinking" in somerset house, long ago, on christian's visit hither [old histories of james i. (wilson, &c.)]), went to water, or worse. only the "nether-saxon circle" showed some life; was levying an army; and had appointed christian of brunswick its captain, till he was got poisoned;--upon which the drinking king of denmark took the command. act second goes from to or even ; and contains drunken christian's exploits. which were unfortunate, almost to the ruin of denmark itself, as well as of the nether-saxon circle;--till in the latter of these years he slightly rallied, and got a supportable peace granted him (peace of lubeck, ); after which he sits quiet, contemplative, with an evil eye upon sweden now and then. the beatings he got, in quite regular succession, from tilly and consorts, are not worth mentioning: the only thing one now remembers of him is his alarming accident on the ramparts of hameln, just at the opening of these campaigns. at hameln, which was to be a strong post, drunken christian rode out once, on a summer afternoon ( ), to see that the ramparts were all right, or getting all right;--and tumbled, horse and self (self in liquor, it is thought), in an ominous alarming manner. taken up for dead;--nay some of the vague histories seem to think he was really dead:--but he lived to be often beaten after that, and had many moist years more. our kurfurst had another uncle put to the ban in this second act,--christian wilhelm archbishop of magdeburg, "for assisting the danish king;" nor was ban all the ruin that fell on this poor archbishop. what could an unfortunate kurfurst do, but tremble and obey? there was still a worse smart got by our poor kurfurst out of act second; the glaring injustice done him in pommern. does the reader remember that scene in the high church of stettin a hundred and fifty years ago? how the burgermeister threw sword and helmet into the grave of the last duke of pommern-stettin there; and a forward citizen picked them out again in favor of a collateral branch? never since, any more than then, could brandenburg get pommern according to claim. collateral branch, in spite of friedrich ironteeth, in spite even of albert achilles and some fighting of his; contrived, by pleading at the diets and stirring up noise, to maintain its pretensions: and treaties without end ensued, as usual; treaties refreshed and new-signed by every successor of albert, to a wearisome degree. the sum of which always was: "pommern does actual homage to brandenburg; vassal of brandenburg;--and falls home to it, if the now extant line go extinct." nay there is an erbverbruderung (heritage-fraternity) over and above, established this long time, and wearisomely renewed at every new accession. hundreds of treaties, oppressive to think of:--and now the last duke, old bogislaus, is here, without hope of children; and the fruit of all that haggling, actual pommern to wit, will at last fall home? alas, no; far otherwise. for the kaiser having so triumphantly swept off the winter-king, and christian iv. in the rear of him, and got germany ready for converting to orthodoxy,--wished now to have some hold of the seaboard, thereby to punish denmark; nay thereby, as is hoped, to extend the blessings of orthodoxy into england, sweden, holland, and the other heretic states, in due time. for our plans go far! this is the kaiser's fixed wish, rising to the rank of hope now and then: all europe shall become papist again by the help of god and the devil. so the kaiser, on hardly any pretext, seized mecklenburg from the proprietors,--"traitors, how durst you join danish christian?"--and made wallenstein duke of it. duke of mecklenburg, "admiral of the east sea (baltic);" and set to "building ships of war in rostock,"--his plans going far. [kohler, _reichs-historie,_ pp, , .] this done, he seized pommern, which also is a fine sea-country,--stirring up max of bavaria to make some idle pretence to pommern, that so the kaiser might seize it "in sequestration till decided on." under which hard treatment, george wilhelm had to sit sad and silent,--though the stralsunders would not. hence the world-famous siege of stralsund ( ); fierce wallenstein declaring, "i will have the town, if it hung by a chain from heaven;" but finding he could not get it; owing to the swedish succor, to the stubborn temper prevalent among the townsfolk, and also greatly to the rains and peat-bogs. a second uncle of george wilhelm's, that unlucky archbishop of magdeburg above mentioned, the kaiser, once more by his own arbitrary will, put under ban of the empire, in this second act: "traitor, how durst you join with the danes?" the result of which was tilly's sack of magdeburg ( - th may, ), a transaction never forgettable by mankind.--as for pommern, gustav adolf, on his intervening in these matters, landed there: pommern was now seized by gustav adolf, as a landing-place and place-of-arms, indispensable for sweden in the present emergency; and was so held thenceforth. pommern will not fall to george wilhelm at this time. third act, and what the kurfurst suffered in it. and now we are at act third:--landing of gustav adolf "in the isle of usedom, th june, ," and onward for eighteen years till the peace of westphalia, in ;--on which, as probably better known to the reader, we will not here go into details. in this third act too, george wilhelm followed his old scheme, peace at any price;--as shy of gustav as he had been of other champions of the cause; and except complaining, petitioning and manifestoing, studiously did nothing. poor man, it was his fate to stand in the range of these huge collisions,--bridge of dessau, siege of stralsund, sack of magdeburg, battle of leipzig,--where the titans were bowling rocks at one another; and he hoped, by dexterous skipping, to escape share of the game. to keep well with his kaiser,--and such a kaiser to germany and to him,--this, for george wilhelm, was always the first commandment. if the kaiser confiscate your uncles, against law; seize your pommern; rob you on the public highways,--george wilhelm, even in such case, is full of dubitations. nay his prime-minister, one schwartzenberg, a catholic, an austrian official at one time,--progenitor of the austrian schwartzenbergs that now are,--was secretly in the kaiser's interest, and is even thought to have been in the kaiser's pay, all along. gustav, at his first landing, had seized pommern, and swept it clear of austrians, for himself and for his own wants; not too regardful of george wilhelm's claims on it. he cleared out frankfurt-on-oder, custrin and other brandenburg towns, in a similar manner,--by cannon and storm, when needful;--drove the imperialists and tilly forth of these countries. advancing, next year, to save magdeburg, now shrieking under tilly's bombardment, gustav insisted on having, if not some bond of union from his brother-in-law of brandenburg, at least the temporary cession of two places of war for himself, spandau and custrin, indispensable in any farther operation. which cession kurfurst george wilhelm, though giving all his prayers to the good cause, could by no means grant. gustav had to insist, with more and more emphasis; advancing at last, with military menace, upon berlin itself. he was met by george wilhelm and his council, "in the woods of copenick," short way to the east of that city: there george wilhelm and his council wandered about, sending messages, hopelessly consulting; saying among each other, _"que faire; ils ont des canons,_ what can one do; they have got cannon?" [_oevres de frederic le grand_ (berlin, - et seqq.: _memoires de brandebourg_), i. . for the rest, friedrich's account of the transaction is very loose and scanty: see pauli (iv. ) and his minute details.] for many hours so; round the inflexible gustav,--who was there like a fixed milestone, and to all questions and comers had only one answer!--_"que faire; ils ont des canons?"_ this was the d may, . this probably is about the nadir-point of the brandenburg-hohenzollern history. the little friedrich, who became frederick the great, in writing of it, has a certain grim banter in his tone; and looks rather with mockery on the perplexities of his poor ancestor, so fatally ignorant of the time of day it had now become. on the whole, george wilhelm did what is to be called nothing, in the thirty-years war; his function was only that of suffering. he followed always the bad lead of johann george, elector of saxony; a man of no strength, devoutness or adequate human worth; who proved, on these negative grounds, and without flagrancy of positive badness, an unspeakable curse to germany. not till the kaiser fulminated forth his restitution-edict, and showed he was in earnest about it ( - ), "restore to our holy church what you have taken from her since the peace of passau!"--could this johann george prevail upon himself to join sweden, or even to do other than hate it for reasons he saw. seized by the throat in this manner, and ordered to deliver, kur-sachsen did, and brandenburg along with him, make treaty with the swede. [ th february, (kohler, _reichs-historie,_ pp. - .) in consequence of which they two, some months after, by way of co-operating with gustav on his great march vienna-ward, sent an invading force into bohemia, brandenburg contributing some poor , to it; who took prag, and some other open towns; but "did almost nothing there," say the histories, "except dine and drink." it is clear enough they were instantly scattered home [october, (stenzel, i. ).) at the first glimpse of wallenstein dawning on the horizon again in those parts. gustav having vanished (field of lutzen, th november, [pauli, iv. .]), oxenstiern, with his high attitude, and "presidency" of the "union of heilbronn," was rather an offence to kur-sachsen, who used to be foremost man on such occasions. kur-sachsen broke away again; made his peace of prag, [ , th may (stenzel, i. ).] whom brandenburg again followed; brandenburg and gradually all the others, except the noble wilhelm of hessen-cassel alone. miserable peace; bit of chaos clouted up, and done over with official varnish;--which proved to be the signal for continuing the war beyond visible limits, and rendering peace impossible. after this, george wilhelm retires from the scene; lives in custrin mainly; mere miserable days, which shall be invisible to us. he died in ; and, except producing an active brave son very unlike himself, did nothing considerable in the world. _"que faire; ils ont des canons!"_ among the innumerable sanguinary tusslings of this war are counted three great battles, leipzig, lutzen, nordlingen. under one great captain, swedish gustav, and the two or three other considerable captains, who appeared in it, high passages of furious valor, of fine strategy and tactic, are on record. but on the whole, the grand weapon in it, and towards the latter times the exclusive one, was hunger. the opposing armies tried to starve one another; at lowest, tried each not to starve. each trying to eat the country, or at any rate to leave nothing eatable in it: what that will mean for the country, we may consider. as the armies too frequently, and the kaiser's armies habitually, lived without commissariat, often enough without pay, all horrors of war and of being a seat of war, that have been since heard of, are poor to those then practised. the detail of which is still horrible to read. germany, in all eatable quarters of it, had to undergo the process;--tortured, torn to pieces, wrecked, and brayed as in a mortar under the iron mace of war. [curious incidental details of the state it was reduced to, in the rhine and danube countries, turn up in the earl of arundel and surrey's travels ("arundel of the marbles") as _ambassador extraordinary to the emperor ferdinando ii. in _ (a small volume, or pamphlet, london, ).] brandenburg saw its towns sieged and sacked, its country populations driven to despair, by the one party and the other. three times,--first in the wallenstein mecklenburg period, while fire and sword were the weapons, and again, twice over, in the ultimate stages of the struggle, when starvation had become the method--brandenburg fell to be the principal theatre of conflict, where all forms of the dismal were at their height. in , three years after that precious "peace of prag," the swedes (banier versus gallas) starving out the imperialists in those northwestern parts, the ravages of the starving gallas and his imperialists excelled all precedent; and the "famine about tangermunde had risen so high that men ate human flesh, nay human creatures ate their own children." [ : pauli, iv. .] _"que faire; ils ont des canons!_" chapter xvii. -- duchy of jagerndorf. this unfortunate george wilhelm failed in getting pommern when due; pommern, firmly held by the swedes, was far from him. but that was not the only loss of territory he had. jagerndorf,--we have heard of johann george of jagerndorf, uncle of this george wilhelm, how old joachim friedrich put him into jagerndorf, long since, when it fell home to the electoral house. jagerndorf is now lost; johann george is under reichs-acht (ban of empire), ever since the winter-king's explosion, and the thunder-bolts that followed; and wanders landless;--nay he is long since dead, and has six feet of earth for a territory, far away in transylvania, or the riesen-gebirge (giant mountains) somewhere. concerning whom a word now. duke of jagerndorf, elector's uncle, is put under ban. johann george, a frank-hearted valiant man, concerning whom only good actions, and no bad one, are on record, had notable troubles in the world; bad troubles to begin with, and worse to end in. he was second son of kurfurst joachim friedrich, who had meant him for the church. [ - : rentsch, p. .] the young fellow was coadjutor of strasburg, almost from the time of getting into short-clothes. he was then, still very young, elected bishop there ( ); bishop of strasburg,--but only by the protestant part of the canons; the catholic part, unable to submit longer, and thinking it a good time for revolt against a protestant population and obstinately heterodox majority, elected another bishop,--one "karl of the house of lorraine;" and there came to be dispute, and came even to be fighting needed. fighting; which prudent papa would not enter into, except faintly at second-hand, through the anspach cousins, or others that were in the humor. troublesome times for the young man; which lasted a dozen years or more. at last a bargain was made ( ); protestant and catholic canons splitting the difference in some way; and the house of lorraine paying johann george a great deal of money to go home again. [_oeuvres completes de voltaire,_ vols. (paris, - ), xxxiii. .--kohler (_reichs-historie,_ p. ) gives the authentic particulars.] poor johann george came out of it in that way; not second-best, think several. he was then ( ) put into jagerndorf, which had just fallen vacant; our excellent fat friend, george friedrich of anspach, administrator of preussen, having lately died, and left it vacant, as we saw. george friedrich's death yielded fine apanages, three of them in all: first anspach, second, baireuth, and this third of jagerndorf for a still younger brother. there was still a fourth younger brother, uncle of george wilhelm; archbishop of magdeburg this one; who also, as we have seen, got into reichs-acht, into deep trouble in the thirty-years war. he was in tilly's thrice-murderous storm of magdeburg ( th may, ); was captured, tumbled about by the wild soldiery, and nearly killed there. poor man, with his mitre and rochets left in such a state! in the end he even became catholic,--from conviction, as was evident, and bewilderment of mind;--and lived in austria on a pension; occasionally publishing polemical pamphlets. [ ; ; (rentsch, pp. - ).]-- as to johann george, he much repaired and beautified the castle of jagerndorf, says rentsch: but he unfortunately went ahead into the winter-king's adventure; which, in that sad battle of the weissenberg, made total shipwreck of itself, drawing johann george and much else along with it. johann george was straightway tyrannously put to the ban, forfeited of life and lands: [ d january, (kohler, _reichs-historie,_ p. : and rectify hubner, t. ).] johann george disowned the said ban; stood out fiercely for self and winter-king; and did good fighting in the silesian strongholds and mountain-passes: but was forced to seek temporary shelter in siebenburgen (transylvania); and died far away, in a year or two ( ), while returning to try it again. sleeps, i think, in the "jablunka pass;" the dumb giant-mountains (riesen-gebirge) shrouding up his sad shipwreck and him. jagerndorf was thus seized by ferdinand ii. of the house of hapsburg; and though it was contrary to all law that the kaiser should keep it,--poor johann george having left sons very innocent of treason, and brothers, and an electoral. nephew, very innocent,--to whom, by old compacts and new, the heritage in defect of him was to fall,--neither kaiser ferdinand ii. nor kaiser ferdinand iii. nor any kaiser would let go the hold; but kept jagerndorf fast clenched, deaf to all pleadings, and monitions of gods or men. till at length, in the fourth generation afterwards, one "friedrich the second," not unknown to us,--a sharp little man, little in stature, but large in faculty and renown, who is now called "frederick the great,"--clutched hold of the imperial fist (so to speak), seizing his opportunity in ; and so wrenched and twisted said close fist, that not only jagerndorf dropped out of it, but the whole of silesia along with jagerndorf, there being other claims withal. and the account was at last settled, with compound interest,--as in fact such accounts are sure to be, one way or other. and so we leave johann george among the dumb giant-mountains again. chapter xviii. -- friedrich wilhelm, the great kurfurst, eleventh of the series. brandenburg had again sunk very low under the tenth elector, in the unutterable troubles of the times. but it was gloriously raised up again by his son friedrich wilhelm, who succeeded in . this is he whom they call the "great elector (grosse kurfurst);" of whom there is much writing and celebrating in prussian books. as for the epithet, it is not uncommon among petty german populations, and many times does not mean too much: thus max of bavaria, with his jesuit lambkins and hyacinths, is, by bavarians, called "maximilian the great." friedrich wilhelm, both by his intrinsic qualities and the success he met with, deserves it better than most. his success, if we look where he started and where he ended, was beyond that of any other man in his day. he found brandenburg annihilated, and he left brandenburg sound and flourishing; a great country, or already on the way towards greatness. undoubtedly a most rapid, clear-eyed, active man. there was a stroke in him swift as lightning, well-aimed mostly, and of a respectable weight, withal; which shattered asunder a whole world of impediments for him, by assiduous repetition of it for fifty years. [ ; ; .] there hardly ever came to sovereign power a young man of twenty under more distressing, hopeless-looking circumstances. political significance brandenburg had none; a mere protestant appendage dragged about by a papist kaiser. his father's prime-minister, as we have seen, was in the interest of his enemies; not brandenburg's servant, but austria's. the very commandants of his fortresses, commandant of spandau more especially, refused to obey friedrich wilhelm, on his accession; "were bound to obey the kaiser in the first place." he had to proceed softly as well as swiftly; with the most delicate hand to get him of spandau by the collar, and put him under lock-and-key, him as a warning to others. for twenty years past, brandenburg had been scoured by hostile armies, which, especially the kaiser's part of which, committed outrages new in human history. in a year or two hence, brandenburg became again the theatre of business; austrian gallas advancing thither again ( ), with intent "to shut up torstenson and his swedes in jutland," where they had been chastising old christian iv., now meddlesome again, for the last time, and never a good neighbor to sweden. gallas could by no means do what he intended: on the contrary, he had to run from torstenson, what feet could do; was hunted, he and his merode-bruder (beautiful inventors of the "marauding" art), "till they pretty much all died (crepertin)," says kohler. [_reichs-historie,_ p. ; pauli, v. .] no great loss to society, the death of these artists: but we can fancy what their life, and especially what the process of their dying, may have cost poor brandenburg again!-- friedrich wilhelm's aim, in this as in other emergencies, was sun-clear to himself, but for most part dim to everybody else. he had to walk very warily, sweden on one hand of him, suspicious kaiser on the other; he had to wear semblances, to be ready with evasive words; and advance noiselessly by many circuits. more delicate operation could not be imagined. but advance he did: advance and arrive. with extraordinary talent, diligence and felicity the young man wound himself out of this first fatal position: got those foreign armies pushed out of his country, and kept them out. his first concern had been to find some vestige of revenue, to put that upon a clear footing; and by loans or otherwise to scrape a little ready money together. on the strength of which a small body of soldiers could be collected about him, and drilled into real ability to fight and obey. this as a basis: on this followed all manner of things: freedom from swedish-austrian invasions, as the first thing. he was himself, as appeared by and by, a fighter of the first quality, when it came to that: but never was willing to fight if he could help it. preferred rather to shift, manoeuvre and negotiate; which he did in a most vigilant, adroit and masterly manner. but by degrees he had grown to have, and could maintain it, an army of , men: among the best troops then in being. with or without his will, he was in all the great wars of his time,--the time of louis xiv., who kindled europe four times over, thrice in our kurfurst's day. the kurfurst's dominions, a long straggling country, reaching from memel to wesel, could hardly keep out of the way of any war that might rise. he made himself available, never against the good cause of protestantism and german freedom, yet always in the place and way where his own best advantage was to be had. louis xiv. had often much need of him: still oftener, and more pressingly, had kaiser leopold, the little gentleman "in scarlet stockings, with a red feather in his hat," whom mr. savage used to see majestically walking about, with austrian lip that said nothing at all. [_a compleat history of germany,_ by mr. savage ( vo, london, ), p. . who this mr. savage was, we have no trace. prefixed to the volume is the portrait of a solid gentleman of forty: gloomily polite, with ample wig and cravat,--in all likelihood some studious subaltern diplomatist in the succession war. his little book is very lean and barren: but faithfully compiled,--and might have some illumination in it, where utter darkness is so prevalent. most likely, addison picked his story of the _siege of weinsberg_ ("women carrying out their husbands on their back,"--one of his best spectators) out of this poor book.] his , excellent fighting-men, thrown in at the right time, were often a thing that could turn the balance in great questions. they required to be allowed for at a high rate,--which he well knew how to adjust himself for exacting and securing always. what became of pommern at the peace; final glance into cleve-julich. when the peace of westphalia ( ) concluded that thirty-years conflagration, and swept the ashes of it into order again, friedrich wilhelm's right to pommern was admitted by everybody: and well insisted on by himself: but right had to yield to reason of state, and he could not get it. the swedes insisted on their expenses: the swedes held pommern, had all along held it,--in pawn, they said, for their expenses. nothing for it but to give the swedes the better half of pommern. fore-pommern (so they call it, "swedish pomerania" thenceforth), which lies next the sea: this, with some towns and cuttings over and above, was sweden's share: friedrich wilhelm had to put up with hinder-pommern, docked furthermore of the town of stettin, and of other valuable cuttings, in favor of sweden. much to friedrich wilhelm's grief and just anger, could he have helped it. they gave him three secularized bishoprics, magdeburg, halberstadt, minden, with other small remnants, for compensation; and he had to be content with these for the present. but he never gave up the idea of pommern: much of the effort of his life was spent upon recovering fore-pommern: thrice-eager upon that, whenever lawful opportunity offered. to no purpose then: he never could recover swedish pommern; only his late descendants, and that by slowish degrees, could recover it all. readers remember that burgermeister of stettin, with the helmet and sword flung into the grave and picked out again:--and can judge whether brandenburg got its good luck quite by lying in bed!-- once, and once only, he had a voluntary purpose towards war, and it remained a purpose only. soon after the peace of westphalia, old pfalz-neuburg, the same who got the slap on the face, went into tyrannous proceedings against the protestant part of his subjects in julich-cleve: who called to friedrich wilhelm for help. friedrich wilhelm, a zealous protestant, made remonstrances, retaliations: ere long the thought struck him, "suppose, backed by the dutch, we threw out this fantastic old gentleman, his papistries, and pretended claims and self, clear out of it?" this was friedrich wilhelm's thought; and he suddenly marched troops into the territory, with that view. but europe was in alarm, the dutch grew faint: friedrich wilhelm saw it would not do. he had a conference with old pfalz-neuburg: "young gentleman, we remember how your grandfather made free with us and our august countenance! nevertheless we--" in fine, the "statistic of treaties" was increased by one: and there the matter rested till calmer times. in , as already said, an effective partition of these litigated territories was accomplished: prussia to have the duchy of cleve-proper, the counties of mark and ravensburg, with other patches and pertinents: neuburg, what was the better share, to have julich duchy and berg duchy. furthermore, if either of the lines failed, in no sort was a collateral to be admitted: but brandenburg was to inherit neuburg, or neuburg brandenburg, as the case might be. [pauli, v. - .] a clear bargain this at last: and in the times that had come, it proved executable so far. but if the reader fancies the lawsuit was at last out in this way, he will be a simple reader! in the days of our little fritz, the line of pfalz-neuburg was evidently ending: but that brandenburg and not a collateral should succeed it, there lay the quarrel,--open still, as if it had never been shut: and we shall hear enough about it!-- the great kurfurst's wars: what he achieved in war and peace. friedrich wilhelm's first actual appearance in war, polish-swedish war ( - ), was involuntary in the highest degree: forced upon him for the sake of his preussen, which bade fair to be lost or ruined, without blame of his or its. nevertheless, here too he made his benefit of the affair. the big king of sweden had a standing quarrel with his big cousin of poland, which broke out into hot war; little preussen lay between them, and was like to be crushed in the collision. swedish king was karl gustav, christina's cousin, charles twelfth's grandfather; a great and mighty man, lion of the north in his time: polish king was one john casimir; chivalrous enough, and with clouds of forward polish chivalry about him, glittering with barbaric gold. frederick iii., danish king for the time being, he also was much involved in the thing. fain would friedrich wilhelm have kept out of it, but he could not. karl gustav as good as forced him to join: he joined; fought along with karl gustav an illustrious battle; "battle of warsaw," three days long ( - th july, ), on the skirts of warsaw,--crowds "looking from the upper windows" there; polish chivalry, broken at last, going like chaff upon the winds, and john casimir nearly ruined. shortly after which, friedrich wilhelm, who had shone much in the battle, changed sides. an inconsistent, treacherous man? perhaps not, o reader; perhaps a man advancing "in circuits," the only way he has; spirally, face now to east, now to west, with his own reasonable private aim sun-clear to him all the while? john casimir agreed to give up the "homage of preussen" for this service; a grand prize for friedrich wilhelm. [treaty of labiau, th november, (pauli, v. - ); th november (stenzel, iv. ,--who always uses new style).] what the teutsch ritters strove for in vain, and lost their existence in striving for, the shifty kurfurst has now got: ducal prussia, which is also called east prussia, is now a free sovereignty,--and will become as "royal" as the other polish part. or perhaps even more so, in the course of time!--karl gustav, in a high frame of mind, informs the kurfurst, that he has him on his books, and will pay the debt one day! a dangerous debtor in such matters, this karl gustav. in these same months, busy with the danish part of the controversy, he was doing a feat of war, which set all europe in astonishment. in january, , karl gustav marches his army, horse, foot and artillery, to the extent of twenty thousand, across the baltic ice, and takes an island without shipping,--island of funen, across the little belt; three miles of ice; and a part of the sea open, which has to be crossed on planks. nay, forward from funen, when once there, he achieves ten whole miles more of ice; and takes zealand itself, [holberg's _danemarkische reichs-historie,_ pp. - .]--to the wonder of all mankind. an imperious, stern-browed, swift-striking man; who had dreamed of a new goth empire: the mean hypocrites and fribbles of the south to be coerced again by noble norse valor, and taught a new lesson. has been known to lay his hand on his sword while apprising an ambassador (dutch high-mightiness) what his royal intentions were: "not the sale or purchase of groceries, observe you, sir! my aims go higher!"--charles twelfth's grandfather, and somewhat the same type of man. but karl gustav died, short while after; [ th february, , age .] left his big wide-raging northern controversy to collapse in what way it could. sweden and the fighting-parties made their "peace of oliva" (abbey of oliva, near dantzig, st may, ); and this of preussen was ratified, in all form, among the other points. no homage more; nothing now above ducal prussia but the heavens; and great times coming for it. this was one of the successfulest strokes of business ever done by friedrich wilhelm; who had been forced, by sheer compulsion, to embark in that big game.--"royal prussia," the western or polish prussia: this too, as all newspapers know, has, in our times, gone the same road as the other. which probably, after all, it may have had, in nature, some tendency to do? cut away, for reasons, by the polish sword, in that battle of tannenberg, long since; and then, also for reasons, cut back again! that is the fact;--not unexampled in human history. old johann casimir, not long after that peace of oliva, getting tired of his unruly polish chivalry and their ways, abdicated;--retired to paris; and "lived much with ninon de l'enclos and her circle," for the rest of his life. he used to complain of his polish chivalry, that there was no solidity in them; nothing but outside glitter, with tumult and anarchic noise; fatal want of one essential talent, the talent of obeying; and has been heard to prophesy that a glorious republic, persisting in such courses, would arrive at results which would surprise it. onward from this time, friedrich wilhelm figures in the world; public men watching his procedure; kings anxious to secure him,--dutch printsellers sticking up his portraits for a hero-worshipping public. fighting hero, had the public known it, was not his essential character, though he had to fight a great deal. he was essentially an industrial man; great in organizing, regulating, in constraining chaotic heaps to become cosmic for him. he drains bogs, settles colonies in the waste-places of his dominions, cuts canals; unweariedly encourages trade and work. the friedrich-wilhelm's canal, which still carries tonnage from the oder to the spree, [executed, - ; fifteen english miles long (busching, erdbeschreibung, vi, ).] is a monument of his zeal in this way; creditable, with the means he had. to the poor french protestants, in the edict-of-nantes affair, he was like an express benefit of heaven: one helper appointed, to whom the help itself was profitable. he munificently welcomed them to brandenburg; showed really a noble piety and human pity, as well as judgment; nor did brandenburg and he want their reward. some , nimble french souls, evidently of the best french quality, found a home there;--made "waste sands about berlin into potherb gardens;" and in the spiritual brandenburg, too, did something of horticulture, which is still noticeable. [erman (weak biographer of queen sophie-charlotte, already cited), _memoires pour sevir a l'histoire den refugies francais dans les etats du roi de prusse_ (berlin, - ), tt. vo.] certainly this elector was one of the shiftiest of men. not an unjust man either. a pious, god-fearing man rather, stanch to his protestantism and his bible; not unjust by any means,--nor, on the other hand, by any means thick-skinned in his interpretings of justice: fair-play to myself always; or occasionally even the height of fair-play! on the whole, by constant energy, vigilance, adroit activity, by an ever-ready insight and audacity to seize the passing fact by its right handle, he fought his way well in the world; left brandenburg a flourishing and greatly increased country, and his own name famous enough. a thick-set stalwart figure; with brisk eyes, and high strong irregularly roman nose. good bronze statue of him, by schluter, once a famed man, still rides on the lange-brucke (long-bridge) at berlin; and his portrait, in huge frizzled louis-quatorze wig, is frequently met with in german galleries. collectors of dutch prints, too, know him: here a gallant, eagle-featured little gentleman, brisk in the smiles of youth, with plumes, with truncheon, caprioling on his war-charger, view of tents in the distance;--there a sedate, ponderous, wrinkly old man, eyes slightly puckered (eyes busier than mouth); a face well-ploughed by time, and not found unfruitful; one of the largest, most laborious, potent faces (in an ocean of circumambient periwig) to be met with in that century. [both prints are dutch; the younger, my copy of the younger, has lost the engraver's name (kurfurst's age is twenty-seven); the elder is by masson, , when friedrich wilhelm was sixty-three.] there are many histories about him, too; but they are not comfortable to read. [g. d. geyler, _leben und thaten friedrich wihelms des grossen_ (frankfort and leipzig, ), folio. franz horn, _das leben friedrich wilhelms des grossen_ (berlin, ). pauli, _staats-geschichte,_ band v. (halle, ). pufendorf, _de rebus gestis friderici wilhelmi magni electoris brandenburgensis commentaria_ (lips. et berol. , fol.)] he also has wanted a sacred poet; and found only a bewildering dryasdust. his two grand feats that dwell in the prussian memory are perhaps none of his greatest, but were of a kind to strike the imagination. they both relate to what was the central problem of his life,--the recovery of pommern from the swedes. exploit first is the famed "battle of fehrbellin (ferry of belleen)," fought on the th june, . fehrbellin is an inconsiderable town still standing in those peaty regions, some five-and-thirty miles northwest of berlin; and had for ages plied its poor ferry over the oily-looking, brown, sluggish stream called rhin, or rhein in those parts, without the least notice from mankind, till this fell out. it is a place of pilgrimage to patriotic prussians, ever since friedrich wilhelm's exploit there. the matter went thus:-- friedrich wilhelm was fighting, far south in alsace, on kaiser leopold's side, in the louis-fourteenth war; that second one, which ended in the treaty of nimwegen. doing his best there,--when the swedes, egged on by louis xiv., made war upon him; crossed the pomeranian marches, troop after troop, and invaded his brandenburg territory with a force which at length amounted to some , men. no help for the moment: friedrich wilhelm could not be spared from his post. the swedes, who had at first professed well, gradually went into plunder, roving, harrying, at their own will; and a melancholy time they made of it for friedrich wilhelm and his people. lucky if temporary harm were all the ill they were likely to do; lucky if--! he stood steady, however; in his solid manner, finishing the thing in hand first, since that was feasible. he then even retired into winter-quarters, to rest his men; and seemed to have left the swedish , autocrats of the situation; who accordingly went storming about at a great rate. not so, however; very far indeed from so. having rested his men for certain months, friedrich wilhelm silently in the first days of june ( ) gets them under march again; marches, his cavalry and he as first instalment, with best speed from schweinfurt, [stenzel, ii. .] which is on the river main, to magdeburg; a distance of two hundred miles. at magdeburg, where he rests three days, waiting for the first handful of foot and a field-piece or two, he learns that the swedes are in three parties wide asunder; the middle party of them within forty miles of him. probably stronger, even this middle one, than his small body (of "six thousand horse, twelve hundred foot and three guns");--stronger, but capable perhaps of being surprised, of being cut in pieces, before the others can come up? rathenau is the nearest skirt of this middle party: thither goes the kurfurst, softly, swiftly, in the june night ( - th june, ); gets into rathenau, by brisk stratagem; tumbles out the swedish horse-regiment there, drives it back towards fehrbellin. he himself follows hard;--swift riding enough, in the summer night, through those damp havel lands, in the old hohenzollern fashion: and indeed old freisack castle, as it chances,--freisack, scene of dietrich von quitzow and lazy peg long since,--is close by! follows hard, we say: strikes in upon this midmost party (nearly twice his number, but infantry for the most part); and after fierce fight, done with good talent on both sides, cuts it into utter ruin, as proposed. thereby he has left the swedish army as a mere head and tail without body; has entirely demolished the swedish army. [stenzel, ii. - .] same feat intrinsically as that done by cromwell, on hamilton and the scots, in . it was, so to speak, the last visit sweden paid to brandenburg, or the last of any consequence; and ended the domination of the swedes in those quarters. a thing justly to be forever remembered by brandenburg;--on a smallish modern scale, the bannockburn, sempach, marathon, of brandenburg. [see pauli, v. - ; stenzel, ii. , - , ; kausler, _atlas des plus memorables batailles, combats et sieges,_ or _atlas der merkwurdigsten schlachten, treffen und belagerungen_ (german and french, carlsruhe and freiburg, ), p. , blatt .] exploit second was four years later; in some sort a corollary to this; and a winding-up of the swedish business. the swedes, in farther prosecution of their louis-fourteenth speculation, had invaded preussen this time, and were doing sad havoc there. it was in the dead of winter, christmas, , more than four hundred miles off; and the swedes, to say nothing of their other havoc, were in a case to take konigsberg, and ruin prussia altogether, if not prevented. friedrich wilhelm starts from berlin, with the opening year, on his long march; the horse-troops first, foot to follow at their swiftest; he himself (his wife, his ever-true "louisa," accompanying, as her wont was) travels, towards the end, at the rate of "sixty miles a day." he gets in still in time, finds konigsberg unscathed. nay it is even said, the swedes are extensively falling sick; having, after a long famine, found infinite "pigs, near insterburg," in those remote regions, and indulged in the fresh pork overmuch. i will not describe the subsequent manoeuvres, which would interest nobody: enough if i say that on the th of january, , it had become of the highest moment for friedrich wilhelm to get from carwe (village near elbing) on the shore of the frische haf, where he was, through konigsberg, to gilge on the curische haf, where the swedes are,--in a minimum of time. distance, as the crow flies, is about a hundred miles; road, which skirts the two hafs [pauli, v. - ; stenzel, ii. - .] (wide shallow washes, as we should name them), is of rough quality, and naturally circuitous. it is ringing frost to-day, and for days back:--friedrich wilhelm hastily gathers all the sledges, all the horses of the district; mounts some four thousand men in sledges; starts, with the speed of light, in that fashion. scours along all day, and after the intervening bit of land, again along; awakening the ice-bound silences. gloomy frische haf, wrapt in its winter cloud-coverlids, with its wastes of tumbled sand, its poor frost-bound fishing-hamlets, pine-hillocks,--desolate-looking, stern as greenland or more so, says busching, who travelled there in winter-time, [busching's _beitrage_ (halle, ), vi. .]--hears unexpected human noises, and huge grinding and trampling; the four thousand, in long fleet of sledges, scouring across it, in that manner. all day they rush along,--out of the rimy hazes of morning into the olive-colored clouds of evening again,--with huge loud-grinding rumble;--and do arrive in time at gilge. a notable streak of things, shooting across those frozen solitudes, in the new-year, ;--little short of karl gustav's feat, which we heard of, in the other or danish end of the baltic, twenty years ago, when he took islands without ships. this second exploit--suggested or not by that prior one of karl gustav on the ice--is still a thing to be remembered by hohenzollerns and prussians. the swedes were beaten here, on friedrich wilhelm's rapid arrival; were driven into disastrous rapid retreat northward; which they executed, in hunger and cold; fighting continually, like northern bears, under the grim sky; friedrich wilhelm sticking to their skirts,--holding by their tail, like an angry bear-ward with steel whip in his hand. a thing which, on the small scale, reminds one of napoleon's experiences. not till napoleon's huge fighting-flight, a hundred and thirty-four years after, did i read of such a transaction in those parts. the swedish invasion of preussen has gone utterly to ruin. and this, then, is the end of sweden, and its bad neighborhood on these shores, where it has tyrannously sat on our skirts so long? swedish pommern the elector already had: last year, coming towards it ever since the exploit of fehrbellin, he had invaded swedish pommern; had besieged and taken stettin, nay stralsund too, where wallenstein had failed;--cleared pommern altogether of its swedish guests. who had tried next in preussen, with what luck we see. of swedish pommern the elector might now say: "surely it is mine; again mine, as it long was; well won a second time, since the first would not do!" but no:--louis xiv. proved a gentleman to his swedes. louis, now that the peace of nimwegen had come, and only the elector of brandenburg was still in harness, said steadily, though anxious enough to keep well with the elector: "they are my allies, these swedes; it was on my bidding they invaded you: can i leave them in such a pass? it must not be!" so pommern had to be given back. a miss which was infinitely grievous to friedrich wilhelm. the most victorious elector cannot hit always, were his right never so good. another miss which he had to put up with, in spite of his rights, and his good services, was that of the silesian duchies. the heritage-fraternity with liegnitz had at length, in , come to fruit. the last duke of liegnitz was dead: duchies of liegnitz, of brieg, wohlau, are brandenburg's, if there were right done! but kaiser leopold in the scarlet stockings will not hear of heritage-fraternity. "nonsense!" answers kaiser leopold: "a thing suppressed at once, ages ago; by imperial power: flat zero of a thing at this time;--and you, i again bid you, return me your papers upon it!" this latter act of duty friedrich wilhelm would not do; but continued insisting. [pauli, v. .] "jagerndorf at least, o kaiser of the world," said he; "jagerndorf, there is no color for your keeping that!" to which the kaiser again answers, "nonsense!"--and even falls upon astonishing schemes about it, as we shall see;--but gives nothing. ducal preussen is sovereign, cleve is at peace, hinter-pommern ours;--this elector has conquered much: but the silesian heritages and vor-pommern, and some other things, he will have to do without. louis xiv., it is thought, once offered to get him made king; [ib. vii. .] but that he declined for the present. his married and domestic life is very fine and human; especially with that oranien-nassau princess, who was his first wife ( - ); princess louisa of nassau-orange; aunt to our own dutch william, king william iii., in time coming. an excellent wise princess; from whom came the orange heritages, which afterwards proved difficult to settle:--orange was at last exchanged for the small principality of neufchatel in switzerland, which is prussia's ever since. "oranienburg (orange-burg)," a royal country-house, still standing, some twenty miles northwards from berlin, was this louisa's place: she had trimmed it up into a little jewel, of the dutch type,--potherb gardens, training-schools for young girls, and the like;--a favorite abode of hers, when she was at liberty for recreation. but her life was busy and earnest: she was helpmate, not in name only, to an ever-busy man. they were married young; a marriage of love withal. young friedrich wilhelm's courtship, wedding in holland; the honest trustful walk and conversation of the two sovereign spouses, their journeyings together, their mutual hopes, fears and manifold vicissitudes; till death, with stern beauty, shut it in:--all is human, true and wholesome in it; interesting to look upon, and rare among sovereign persons. not but that he had his troubles with his womankind. even with this his first wife, whom he loved truly, and who truly loved him, there were scenes; the lady having a judgment of her own about everything that passed, and the man being choleric withal. sometimes, i have heard, "he would dash his hat at her feet," saying symbolically, "govern you, then, madam! not the kurfurst-hat; a coif is my wear, it seems!" [forster, _friedrich wilhelm i. konig von preussen_ (potsdam, ), i. .] yet her judgment was good; and he liked to have it on the weightiest things, though her powers of silence might halt now and then. he has been known, on occasion, to run from his privy-council to her apartment, while a complex matter was debating, to ask her opinion, hers too, before it was decided. excellent louisa; princess full of beautiful piety, good-sense and affection; a touch of the nassau-heroic in her. at the moment of her death, it is said, when speech had fled, he felt, from her hand which lay in his, three slight, slight pressures: "farewell!" thrice mutely spoken in that manner,--not easy to forget in this world. [wegfuhrer, _leben der kurfurstin luise_ (leipzig, ), p. .] his second wife, dorothea,--who planted the lindens in berlin, and did other husbandries, of whom we have heard, fell far short of louisa in many things; but not in tendency to advise, to remonstrate, and plaintively reflect on the finished and unalterable. dreadfully thrifty lady, moreover; did much in dairy produce, farming of town-rates, provision-taxes: not to speak again of that tavern she was thought to have in berlin, and to draw custom to in an oblique manner! what scenes she had with friedrich her stepson, we have seen. "ah, i have not my louisa now; to whom now shall i run for advice or help!" would the poor kurfurst at times exclaim. he had some trouble, considerable trouble now and then, with mutinous spirits in preussen; men standing on antique prussian franchises and parchments; refusing to see that the same were now antiquated, incompatible, not to say impossible, as the new sovereign alleged; and carrying themselves very stiffly at times. but the hohenzollerns had been used to such things; a hohenzollern like this one would evidently take his measures, soft but strong, and ever stronger to the needful pitch, with mutinous spirits. one burgermeister of konigsberg, after much stroking on the back, was at length seized in open hall, by electoral writ,--soldiers having first gently barricaded the principal streets, and brought cannon to bear upon them. this burgermeister, seized in such brief way, lay prisoner for life; refusing to ask his liberty, though it was thought he might have had it on asking. [horn, _das leben friedrich wilhelms des grossen_ (berlin, ), p. .] another gentleman, a baron von kalkstein, of old teutsch-bitter kin, of very high ways, in the provincial estates (stande) and elsewhere, got into lofty almost solitary opposition, and at length into mutiny proper, against the new "non-polish sovereign," and flatly refused to do homage at his accession in that new capacity. [supra, pp. , et seqq.] refused, kalkstein did, for his share; fled to warsaw; and very fiercely, in a loud manner, carried on his mutinies in the diets and court-conclaves there; his plea being, or plea for the time, "poland is our liege lord [which it was not always], and we cannot be transferred to you, except by our consent asked and given," which too had been a little neglected on the former occasion of transfer. so that the great elector knew not what to do with kalkstein; and at length (as the case was pressing) had him kidnapped by his ambassador at warsaw; had him "rolled into a carpet" there, and carried swiftly in the ambassador's coach, in the form of luggage, over the frontier, into his native province, there to be judged, and, in the end (since nothing else would serve him), to have the sentence executed, and his head cut off. for the case was pressing! [horn, pp. - .]--these things, especially this of kalkstein, with a boisterous polish diet and parliamentary eloquence in the rear of him, gave rise to criticism; and required management on the part of the great elector. of all his ancestors, our little fritz, when he grew big, admired this one. a man made like himself in many points. he seems really to have loved and honored this one. in the year there had been a new cathedral got finished at berlin; the ancestral bones had to be shifted over from the vaults of the old one,--the burying-place ever since joachim ii., that joachim who drew his sword on alba. "king friedrich, with some attendants, witnessed the operation, january, . when the great kurfurst's coffin came, he made them open it; gazed in silence on the features for some time, which were perfectly recognizable; laid his hand on the hand long dead, and said, _'messieurs, celui-ci a fait de grandes choses_ (this one did a great work)!'" [see preuss, i. .] he died th april, ;--looking with intense interest upon dutch william's preparations to produce a glorious revolution in this island; being always of an ardent protestant feeling, and a sincerely religious man. friedrich, crown-prince, age then thirty-one, and already married a second time, was of course left chief heir;--who, as we see, has not declined the kingship, when a chance for it offered. there were four half-brothers of friedrich, too, who got apanages, appointments. they had at one time confidently looked for much more, their mother being busy; but were obliged to be content, and conform to the gera bond and fundamental laws of the country. they are entitled margraves; two of whom left children, margraves of brandenburg-schwedt, heermeisters (head of the malta-knighthood) at sonnenburg, statthalters in magdeburg, or i know not what; whose names turn up confusedly in the prussian books; and, except as temporary genealogical puzzles, are not of much moment to the foreign reader. happily there is nothing else in the way of princes of the blood, in our little friedrich's time; and happily what concern he had with these, or how he was related to them, will not be abstruse to us, if occasion rise. chapter xix. -- king friedrich i. again. we said the great elector never could work his silesian duchies out of kaiser leopold's grip: to all his urgencies the little kaiser in red stockings answered only in evasions, refusals; and would quit nothing. we noticed also what quarrels the young electoral prince, friedrich, afterwards king, had got into with his stepmother; suddenly feeling poisoned after dinner, running to his aunt at cassel, coming back on treaty, and the like. these are two facts which the reader knows: and out of these two grew a third, which it is fit he should know. in his last years, the great elector, worn out with labor, and harassed with such domestic troubles over and above, had evidently fallen much under his wife's management; cutting out large apanages (clear against the gera bond) for her children;--longing probably for quiet in his family at any price. as to the poor young prince, negotiated back from cassel, he lived remote, and had fallen into open disfavor,--with a very ill effect upon his funds, for one thing. his father kept him somewhat tight on the money-side, it is alleged; and he had rather a turn for spending money handsomely. he was also in some alarm about the proposed apanages to his half-brothers, the margraves above mentioned, of which there were rumors going. how austria settled the silesian claims. now in these circumstances the austrian court, who at this time ( ) greatly needed the elector's help against turks and others, and found him very urgent about these silesian duchies of his, fell upon what i must call a very extraordinary shift for getting rid of the silesian question. "serene highness," said they, by their ambassador at berlin, "to end these troublesome talks, and to liquidate all claims, admissible and inadmissible, about silesia, the imperial majesty will give you an actual bit of territory, valuable, though not so large as you expected!" the elector listens with both ears: what territory, then? the "circle of schwiebus," hanging on the northwestern edge of silesia, contiguous to the elector's own dominions in these frankfurt-on-oder regions: this the generous imperial majesty proposes to give in fee-simple to friedrich wilhelm, and so to end the matter. truly a most small patch of territory in comparison; not bigger than an english rutlandshire, to say nothing of soil and climate! but then again it was an actual patch of territory; not a mere parchment shadow of one: this last was a tempting point to the old harassed elector. such friendly offer they made him, i think, in , at the time they were getting , of his troops to march against the turks for them; a very needful service at the moment. "by the bye, do not march through silesia, you!--or march faster!" said the cautious austrians on this occasion: "other roads will answer better than silesia!" said they. [pauli, v. , .] baron freytag, their ambassador at berlin, had negotiated the affair so far: "circle of schwiebus," said freytag, "and let us have done with these thorny talks!" but baron freytag had been busy, in the mean while, with the young prince; secretly offering sympathy, counsel, help; of all which the poor prince stood in need enough. "we will help you in that dangerous matter of the apanages," said freytag; "help you in all things,"--i suppose he would say,--"necessary pocket-money is not a thing your highness need want!" and thus baron freytag, what is very curious, had managed to bargain beforehand with the young prince, that directly on coming to power, he would give up schwiebus again, should the offer of schwiebus be accepted by papa. to which effect baron freytag held a signed bond, duly executed by the young man, before papa had concluded at all. which is very curious indeed!-- poor old papa, worn out with troubles, accepted schwiebus in liquidation of all claims ( th april, ), and a few days after set his men on march against the turks:--and, exactly two months beforehand, on the th of february last, the prince had signed his secret engagement, that schwiebus should be a mere phantasm to papa; that he, the prince, would restore it on his accession. both these singular parchments, signed, sealed and done in the due legal form, lay simultaneously in freytag's hand; and probably enough they exist yet, in some dusty corner, among the solemn sheepskins of the world. this is literally the plan hit upon by an imperial court, to assist a young prince in his pecuniary and other difficulties, and get rid of silesian claims. plan actually not unlike that of swindling money-lenders to a young gentleman in difficulties, and of manageable turn, who has got into their hands. the great elector died two years after; schwiebus then in his hand. the new elector, once instructed as to the nature of the affair, refused to give up schwiebus; [ th september, pauli, vii. .] declared the transaction a swindle:--and in fact, for seven years more, retained possession of schwiebus. but the austrian court insisted, with emphasis, at length with threats (no insuperable pressure from louis, or the turks, at this time); the poor cheated elector had, at last, to give up schwiebus, in terms of his promise. [ st december, .] he took act that it had been a surreptitious transaction, palmed upon him while ignorant, and while without the least authority or power to make such a promise; that he was not bound by it, nor would be, except on compulsion thus far: and as to binding brandenburg by it, how could he, at that period of his history, bind brandenburg? brandenburg was not then his to bind, any more than china was. his raths had advised friedrich against giving up schwiebus in that manner. but his answer is on record: "i must, i will and shall keep my own word. but my rights on silesia, which i could not, and do not in these unjust circumstances, compromise, i leave intact for my posterity to prosecute. if god and the course of events order it no otherwise than now, we must be content. but if god shall one day send the opportunity, those that come after me will know what they have to do in such case." [pauli, vii. .] and so schwiebus was given up, the austrians paying back what brandenburg had laid out in improving it, " , gulden ( , pounds);"--and the hand of power had in this way, finally as it hoped, settled an old troublesome account of brandenburg's. settled the silesian-duchies claim, by the temporary phantasm of a gift of schwiebus. that is literally the liegnitz-jagerndorf case; and the reader is to note it and remember it. for it will turn up again in history. the hand of power is very strong: but a stronger may perhaps get hold of its knuckles one day, at an advantageous time, and do a feat upon it. the "eventual succession to east friesland," which had been promised by the reich, some ten years ago, to the great elector, "for what he had done against the turks, and what he had suffered from those swedish invasions, in the common cause:" this shadow of succession, the kaiser now said, should not be haggled with any more; but be actually realized, and the imperial sanction to it now given,--effect to follow if the friesland line died out. let this be some consolation for the loss of schwiebus and your silesian duchies. here in friesland is the ghost of a coming possession; there in schwiebus was the ghost of a going one: phantasms you shall not want for; but the hand of power parts not with its realities, however come by. his real character. poor friedrich led a conspicuous life as elector and king; but no public feat he did now concerns us like this private one of schwiebus. historically important, this, and requiring to be remembered, while so much else demands mere oblivion from us. he was a spirited man; did soldierings, fine siege of bonn (july-october, ), sieges and campaignings, in person,--valiant in action, royal especially in patience there,--during that third war of louis-fourteenth's, the treaty-of-ryswick one. all through the fourth, or spanish succession-war, his prussian ten-thousand, led by fit generals, showed eminently what stuff they were made of. witness leopold of anhalt-dessau (still a young dessauer) on the field of blenheim;--leopold had the right wing there, and saved prince eugene who was otherwise blown to pieces, while marlborough stormed and conquered on the left. witness the same dessauer on the field of hochstadt the year before, [varnhagen von ense, _biographische denkmale_ (berlin, ), ii, .] how he managed the retreat there. or see him at the bridge of cassano ( ); in the lines of turin ( ); [_ des weltheruhnden furstens leopoldi von anhult-dessau leben und thaten_ (leipzig, , anonymous, by one michael ranfft), pp. , .] wherever hot service was on hand. at malplaquet, in those murderous inexpugnable french lines, bloodiest of obstinate fights (upwards of thirty thousand left on the ground), the prussians brag that it was they who picked their way through a certain peat-bog, reckoned impassable; and got fairly in upon the french wing,--to the huge comfort of marlborough, and little eugene his brisk comrade on that occasion. marlborough knew well the worth of these prussian troops, and also how to stroke his majesty into continuing them in the field. he was an expensive king, surrounded by cabals, by wartenbergs male and female, by whirlpools of intrigues, which, now that the game is over, become very forgettable. but one finds he was a strictly honorable man; with a certain height and generosity of mind, capable of other nobleness than the upholstery kind. he had what we may call a hard life of it; did and suffered a good deal in his day and generation, not at all in a dishonest or unmanful manner. in fact, he is quite recognizably a hohenzollern,--with his back half broken. readers recollect that sad accident: how the nurse, in one of those headlong journeys which his father and mother were always making, let the poor child fall or jerk backward; and spoiled him much, and indeed was thought to have killed him, by that piece of inattention. he was not yet hereditary prince, he was only second son: but the elder died; and he became elector, king; and had to go with his spine distorted,--distortion not glaringly conspicuous, though undeniable;--and to act the hohenzollern so. nay who knows but it was this very jerk, and the half-ruin of his nervous system,--this doubled wish to be beautiful, and this crooked back capable of being hid or decorated into straightness,--that first set the poor man on thinking of expensive ornamentalities, and kingships in particular? history will forgive the nurse in that case. perhaps history has dwelt too much on the blind side of this expensive king. toland, on entering his country, was struck rather with the signs of good administration everywhere. no sooner have you crossed the prussian border, out of westphalia, says toland, than smooth highways, well-tilled fields, and a general air of industry and regularity, are evident: solid milestones, brass-bound, and with brass inscription, tell the traveller where he is; who finds due guidance of finger-posts, too, and the blessing of habitable inns. the people seem all to be busy, diligently occupied; villages reasonably swept and whitewashed;--never was a better set of parish churches; whether new-built or old, they are all in brand-new repair. the contrast with westphalia is immediate and great; but indeed that was a sad country, to anybody but a patient toland, who knows the causes of phenomena. no inns there, except of the naturally savage sort. "a man is very happy if he finds clean straw to sleep on, without expecting sheets or coverings; let him readily dispense with plates, forks and napkins, if he can get anything to eat.... he must be content to have the cows, swine and poultry for his fellow-lodgers, and to go in at the same passage that the smoke comes out at, for there's no other vent for it but the door; which makes foreigners commonly say that the people of westphalia enter their houses by the chimney." and observe withal: "this is the reason why their beef and hams are so finely prepared and ripened; for the fireplace being backwards, the smoke must spread over all the house before it gets to the door; which makes everything within of a russet or sable color, not excepting the hands and faces of the meaner sort." [_an account of the courts of prussia and hanover,_ by mr. toland (cited already), p. .] if prussia yield to westphalia in ham, in all else she is strikingly superior. he founded universities, this poor king; university of halle; royal academy of berlin, leibnitz presiding: he fought for protestantism;--did what he could for the cause of cosmos versus chaos, after his fashion. the magnificences of his charlottenburgs, oranienburgs and numerous country-houses make toland almost poetic. an affable kindly man withal, though quick of temper; his word sacred to him. a man of many troubles, and acquainted with "the infinitely little (l'infiniment petit)," as his queen termed it. chapter xx. -- death of king friedrich i. old king friedrich i. had not much more to do in the world, after witnessing the christening of his grandson of like name. his leading forth or sending forth of troops, his multiplex negotiations, solemn ceremonials, sad changes of ministry, sometimes transacted "with tears," are mostly ended; the ever-whirling dust-vortex of intrigues, of which he has been the centre for a five-and-twenty years, is settling down finally towards everlasting rest. no more will marlborough come and dexterously talk him over,--proud to "serve as cupbearer," on occasion, to so high a king--for new bodies of men to help in the next campaign: we have ceased to be a king worthy of such a cupbearer, and marlborough's campaigns too are all ended. much is ended. they are doing the sorrowful treaty of utrecht; louis xiv. himself is ending; mournfully shrunk into the corner, with his missal and his maintenon; looking back with just horror on europe four times set ablaze for the sake of one poor mortal in big periwig, to no purpose. lucky if perhaps missal-work, orthodox litanies, and even protestant dragonnades, can have virtue to wipe out such a score against a man! unhappy louis: the sun-bright gold has become dim as copper; we rose in storms, and we are setting in watery clouds. the kaiser himself (karl vi., leopold's son, joseph i.'s younger brother) will have to conform to this treaty of utrecht: what other possibility for him? the english, always a wonderful nation, fought and subsidied from side to side of europe for this spanish-succession business; fought ten years, such fighting as they never did before or since, under "john duke of marlborough," who, as is well known, "beat the french thorough and thorough." french entirely beaten at last, not without heroic difficulty and as noble talent as was ever shown in diplomacy and war, are ready to do your will in all things; in this of giving up spain, among others:--whereupon the english turn round, with a sudden new thought, "no, we will not have our will done; it shall be the other way, the way it was,--now that we bethink ourselves, after all this fighting for our will!" and make peace on those terms, as if no war had been; and accuse the great marlborough of many things, of theft for one. a wonderful people; and in their continental politics (which indeed consist chiefly of subsidies) thrice wonderful. so the treaty of utrecht is transacting itself; which that of rastadt, on the part of kaiser and empire, unable to get on without subsidies, will have to follow: and after such quantities of powder burnt, and courageous lives wasted, general as-you-were is the result arrived at. old friedrich's ambassadors are present at utrecht, jangling and pleading among the rest; at berlin too the despatch of business goes lumbering on; but what thing, in the shape of business, at utrecht or at berlin, is of much importance to the old man? seems as if europe itself were waxing dim, and sinking to stupid sleep,--as we, in our poor royal person, full surely are. a crown has been achieved, and diamond buttons worth , pounds apiece; but what is a crown, and what are buttons, after all?--i suppose the tattle and singeries of little wilhelmina, whom he would spend whole days with; this and occasional visits to a young fritzchen's cradle, who is thriving moderately, and will speak and do aperies one day,--are his main solacements in the days that are passing. much of this friedrich's life has gone off like the smoke of fire-works, has faded sorrowfully, and proved phantasmal. here is an old autograph note, written by him at the side of that cradle, and touching on a slight event there; which, as it connects two venerable correspondents and their seventeenth century with a grand phenomenon of the eighteenth, we will insert here. the old king addresses his older mother-in-law, famed electress sophie of hanover, in these terms (spelling corrected):-- "charlottenburg, den august, . "ew. churf. durchlaucht werden sich zweifelsohne mit uns erfreuen, dass der kleine printz (prinz) fritz nuhnmero (nunmehr) zehne (zahne) hat und ohne die geringste incommoditet (-tat). daraus kann man auch die predestination sehen, dass alle seine bruder haben daran sterben mussen, dieser aber bekommt sie ohne muhe wie seine schwester. gott erhalte ihn uns noch lange zum trohst (trost), in dessen schutz ich dieselbe ergebe und lebenslang verbleibe, "ew. churf. durchl. gehorsamster diener und treuer sohn, "friedrich r." [preuss, _friedrich der grosse (historische skizze,_ berlin, ), p. .] of which this is the literal english:--"your electoral serenity will doubtless rejoice with us that the little prince fritz has now got his sixth tooth without the least incommodite. and therein we may trace a pre-destination, inasmuch as his brothers died of teething [_not of cannon-sound and weight of head-gear, then, your majesty thinks? that were a painful thought?_]; and this one, as his sister [wilhelmina] did, gets them [the teeth] without trouble. god preserve him long for a comfort to us:--to whose protection i commit dieselbe [_your electoral highness, in the third person_], and remain lifelong, "your electoral highness's most obedient servant and true son, "friedrich rex." one of friedrich rex's worst adventures was his latest; commenced some five or six years ago ( ), and now not far from terminating. he was a widower, of weakly constitution, towards fifty: his beautiful ingenious "serena," with all her theologies, pinch-of-snuff coronations and other earthly troubles, was dead; and the task of continuing the hohenzollern progeny, given over to friedrich wilhelm the prince royal, was thought to be in good hands. majesty friedrich with the weak back had retired, in , to karlsbad, to rest from his cares; to take the salutary waters, and recruit his weak nerves a little. here, in the course of confidential promenadings, it was hinted, it was represented to him by some pickthank of a courtier, that the task of continuing the hohenzollern progeny did not seem to prosper in the present good hands; that sophie dorothee, princess royal, had already borne two royal infants which had speedily died: that in fact it was to be gathered from the medical men, if not from their words, then from their looks and cautious innuendoes, that sophie dorothee, princess royal, would never produce a prince or even princess that would live; which task, therefore, did now again seem to devolve upon his majesty, if his majesty had not insuperable objections? majesty had no insuperable objections; old majesty listened to the flattering tale; and, sure enough, he smarted for it in a signal manner. by due industry, a princess was fixed upon for bride, princess sophie louisa of mecklenburg-schwerin, age now twenty-four: she was got as wife, and came home to berlin in all pomp;--but good came not with her to anybody there. not only did she bring the poor old man no children, which was a fault to be overlooked, considering sophie dorothee's success; but she brought a querulous, weak and self-sufficient female humor; found his religion heterodox,--he being calvinist, and perhaps even lax-calvinist, she lutheran as the prussian nation is, and strict to the bone:--heterodox wholly, to the length of no salvation possible; and times rose on the berlin court such as had never been seen before! "no salvation possible, says my dearest? hah! and an innocent court-mask or dancing soiree is criminal in the sight of god and of the queen? and we are children of wrath wholly, and a frivolous generation; and the queen will see us all--!" the end was, his majesty, through sad solitary days and nights, repented bitterly that he had wedded such a she-dominic; grew quite estranged from her; the poor she-dominic giving him due return in her way,--namely, living altogether in her own apartments, upon orthodoxy, jealousy and other bad nourishment. till at length she went quite mad; and, except the due medical and other attendants, nobody saw her, or spoke of her, at berlin. was this a cheering issue of such an adventure to the poor old expensive gentleman? he endeavored to digest in silence the bitter morsel he had cooked for himself; but reflected often, as an old king might, what dirt have i eaten! in this way stands that matter in the schloss of berlin, when little friedrich, who will one day be called the great, is born. habits of the expensive king, hours of rising, modes of dressing, and so forth, are to be found in pollnitz; [pollnitz, _memoiren zur lebens-und regierungs-geschichte der vier letzten regenten des preussischen staats_ (berlin, ). a vague, inexact, but not quite uninstructive or uninteresting book: printed also in french, which was the original, same place and time.] but we charitably omit them all. even from foolish pollnitz a good eye will gather, what was above intimated, that this feeble-backed, heavy-laden old king was of humane and just disposition; had dignity in his demeanor; had reticence, patience; and, though hot-tempered like all the hohenzollerns, that he bore himself like a perfect gentleman for one thing; and tottered along his high-lying lonesome road not in an unmanful manner at all. had not his nerves been damaged by that fall in infancy, who knows but we might have had something else to read of him than that he was regardless of expense in this world! his last scene, of date february, , is the tragical ultimatum of that fine karlsbad adventure of the second marriage,--third marriage, in fact, though the first, anterior to "serena," is apt to be forgotten, having lasted short while, and produced only a daughter, not memorable except by accident. this third marriage, which had brought so many sorrows to him, proved at length the death of the old man. for he sat one morning, in the chill february days of the year , in his apartment, as usual; weak of nerves, but thinking no special evil; when, suddenly with huge jingle, the glass door of his room went to sherds; and there rushed in--bleeding and dishevelled, the fatal "white lady" (weisse frau), who is understood to walk that schloss at berlin, and announce death to the royal inhabitants. majesty had fainted, or was fainting. "weisse frau? oh no, your majesty!"--not that; but indeed something almost worse.--mad queen, in her apartments, had been seized, that day, when half or quarter dressed; with unusual orthodoxy or unusual jealousy. watching her opportunity, she had whisked into the corridor, in extreme deshabille; and gone, like the wild roe, towards majesty's suite of rooms; through majesty's glass door, like a catapult; and emerged as we saw,--in petticoat and shift, with hair streaming, eyes glittering, arms cut, and the other sad trimmings. o heaven, who could laugh? there are tears due to kings and to all men. it was deep misery; deep enough "sin and misery," as calvin well says, on the one side and the other! the poor old king was carried to bed; and never rose again, but died in a few days. the date of the weisse frau's death, one might have hoped, was not distant either; but she lasted, in her sad state, for above twenty years coming. old king friedrich's death-day was th february, ; the unconscious little grandson being then in his fourteenth month. to whom, after this long, voyage round the world, we now gladly return. by way of reinforcement to any recollection the reader may have of these twelve hohenzollern kurfursts, i will append a continuous list of them, with here and there an indication. the twelve hohenzollern electors. . friedrich i. (as burggraf, was friedrich vi.): born, it is inferred, (rentsch, p. ); accession, th april, ; died st september, . had come to brandenburg, , as statthalter. the quitzows and heavy peg. . friedrich ii.: th november, ; st september, ; th february, . friedrich ironteeth; tames the berlin burghers. spoke polish, was to have been polish king. cannon-shot upon his dinner-table shatters his nerves so, that he abdicates, and soon dies. johannes alchymista his elder brother; albert achilles his younger. . albert (achilles): th november, ; th february, ; th march, . third son of friedrich i.; is lineal progenitor of all the rest. eldest son, johann cicero, follows as kurfurst; a younger son, friedrich (by a different mother), got culmbach, and produced the elder line there. (see genealogical diagram.) . johann (cicero): d august, ; th march, ; th january, . big john. friedrich of culmbach's elder (half-) brother. . joachim i.: st february, ; th january, ; th july, . loud in the reformation times; finally declares peremptorily for the conservative side. wife (sister of christian ii. of denmark) runs away. younger brother albert kur-mainz, whom hutten celebrated; born ; archbishop of magdeburg and halberstadt , of maim ; died : set tetzel, and the indulgence, on foot. . joachim ii. (hector): th january, ; th july, ; d january, . sword drawn on alba once. erbverbruderung with liegnitz. staircase at grimnitz. a weighty industrious kurfurst. declared himself protestant, . first wife (mother of his successor) was daughter to duke george of saxony, luther's "if it rained duke georges."--johann of custrin was a younger brother of his: died ten days after joachim; left no son. . johann george: th september, ; d january, ; th january, . cannon-shot, at siege of wittenberg, upon kaiser karl and him. gera bond. married a silesian duke of liegnitz's daughter (result of the erbverbruderung there,--antea, p. ). had twenty-three children. it was to him that baireuth and anspach fell home: he settled them on his second and his third sons, christian and joachim ernst; founders of the new line of baireuth and anspach. (see genealogical diagram.) . joachim friedrich: th january, ; th january, ; th july, . archbishop of magdeburg first of all,--to keep the place filled. joachimsthal school at old castle of grimnitz. very vigilant for preussen; which was near falling due. two of his younger sons, johann george ( - ) to whom he gave jagerndorf, and that archbishop of magdeburg, who was present in tilly's storm, got both wrecked in the thirty-years war;--not without results, in the jagerndorf case. . johann sigismund: th november, ; th july, ; d december, . preussen: cleve; slap on the face to neuburg. . george wilhelm: d november, ; d november, ; st november, . the unfortunate of the thirty-years war. _"que faire; ils ont des canons!"_ . friedrich wilhelm: th february, ; st november, ; th april, . the great elector. . friedrich iii.: st july, ; th april, ; th february, . first king ( th january, ). genealogical diagram: the two culmbach lines. d kurfurst ( - ) albert achilles. elder culmbach line. friedrich, second son of kurfurst albert achilles, younger brother of johannes cicero, got culmbach: anspach first, then baireuth on the death of a younger brother. born ; got anspach ; baireuth ; followed max in his venetian campaign, ; fell imbecile ; died . had a polish wife; from whom came interests in hungary as well as poland to his children. friedrich had three notable sons, . casimir, who got baireuth ( ): born ; died . very truculent in the peasants' war. albert aleibiades: a man of great mark in his day ( - ); never married. two sisters, with one of whom he took shelter at last; no brother. . george the pious, who got anspach ( ): born ; died ; got jagerndorf, by purchase, from his mother's hungarian connection, . protestant declared, ; and makes honorable figure in the histories thenceforth. the george of kaiser karl's _"nit-kop-ab."_ one son, george friedrich; born ; went to administer preussen when cousin became incompetent; died . heir to his father in anspach and jagerndorf; also to his cousin alcibiades in baireuth. had been left a minor (boy of , as the reader sees); alcibiades his guardian for a little while: from which came great difficulties, and unjust ruin would have come, had not kurfurst joachim i. been helpful and vigorous in his behalf. george friedrich got at length most of his territories into hand: anspach and baireuth unimpaired, jagerndorf too, except that ratibor and oppeln were much eaten into by the imperial chicaneries in that quarter. died , without children;--upon which his territories all reverted to the main brandenburg line, namely, to johann george seventh kurfurst, or his representatives, according to the gera bond; and the "elder culmbach line" had ended in this manner. . albert; born ; hochmeister of the teutsch ritters, ; declares himself protestant, and duke of prussia, ; died . one son, alb declared melancholic ; died . his cousin george friedrich administered for him till ; after which joachim friedrich; and then, lastly, joachim friedrich's son, johann sigismund the ninth kurfurst. had married the heiress of cleve (whence came a celebrated cleve controversy in after-times). no son; a good many daughters; eldest of whom was married to kurfurst johann sigismund; from her came the controverted cleve property. th kurfurst ( - ), johann george. younger culmbach line. kurfurst johann george settled baireuth and anspach on two of his younger sons, who are founders of the "younger culmbach line" (split line or pair of lines). jagerndorf the new kurfurst, joachim friedrich, kept; settled it on one of his younger sons. here are the two new founders in baireuth and anspach, and some indication of their "lines," so far as important to us at present: baireuth. ( .) christian, second son of kurfurst johann george: born ; got baireuth ; died . a distinguished governor in his sphere. had two sons; the elder died before him, but left a son, christian ernst; who ( .) succeeded, and ( .) whose son, george wilhelm: , , ; , , (are birth, accession, end of these two); the latter of whom had no son that lived. upon which the posterity of christian's second son succeeded. second son of christian notable to us in two little ways: first, that he, george albert, margraf of culmbach, is the inscrutable "marquis de lulenbach" of _bromley's letters_ (antea p. , let the commentators take comfort!); second and better, that from him came our little wilhelmina's husband,--as will be afterwards explained. it was his grandson ( .) that succeeded in baireuth, george friedrich karl ( , , ); father of wilhelmina's husband. after whom ( .) his son friedrich ( , , ), wilhelmina's husband; who leaving ( ) nothing hut a daughter, baireuth fell to anspach, , after an old uncle ( .), childless, had also died. six baireuth margraves of this line; five generations; and then to anspach, in . anspach. ( .) joachim ernst, third son of kurfurst johann george: born ; got anspach ; died . had military tendencies, experiences; did not thrive as captain of the evangelical union ( - ) when winter-king came up and thirty-years war along with him. left two sons; elder of whom, ( .) friedrich, nominally sovereign, age still only eighteen, fell in the battle of nordlingen (worst battle of the thirty-years war, ); and the younger of whom, ( .) albert, succeeded ( , , ), and his son, ( .) johann friedrich ( , , ); and ( , , .) no fewer than three grandsons,--children mostly, though entitled "sovereign"--in a parallel way (christian albert, , , ; george friedrich, , , ; wilhelm friedrich, , , ). two little points notable here also, and no third: first, that one of the grand-daughters, full-sister of the last of these three parallel figures, half-sister of the two former, was--queen caroline, george ii.'s wife, who has still some fame with us. second, that the youngest of said three grandsons, queen caroline's full-brother, left a son then minor, who became major, ( .) and wedded a sister of our dear little wilhelmina's, of whom we shall hear (karl wilhelm friedrich, , , ); unmomentous margraf otherwise. his and her one son it was, ( .) christian friedrich karl alexander ( , , ), who inherited baireuth, inherited actress clairon, lady craven, and at hammersmith (house once bubb doddington's, if that has any charm) ended the affair. nine anspach margraves; in five generations: end, . end of book iii the evolution of an empire a brief historical sketch of germany by mary parmele _second edition_ new york william beverley harison, fifth avenue . copyright, , by parmele & chaffee. press of j. j. little & co. astor place, new york contents. chapter i. indo-european migrations--divisions of the aryan family into european races--laying the foundations of the german empire chapter ii. hermann--subdivisions of the teutonic race chapter iii. ulfila--migrations of teutonic races--fall of rome before alaric--hunnish invasion--modern europe foreshadowed chapter iv. anglo-saxon occupation of britain chapter v. teuton occupation of gaul--final severing of connection with roman empire--clovis, king of france--merovingian kings--pippin--beginning of carlovingian line chapter vi. charlemagne--separation of france and germany--growth of spiritual power--conflict between pope gregory vii. and henry iv.--entire supremacy of the church chapter vii. europe in the hands of three men--charles v., francis i., and henry viii.--indulgences sold by leo x.--birth of protestantism chapter viii. thirty years' war--decay of the german empire chapter ix. napoleon bonaparte--german empire extinct--waterloo--german states confederated, with austria at the head chapter x. schleswig-holstein--bismarck--war with austria--königgrätz chapter xi. napoleon iii.--war with france--germans in paris--william crowned german emperor at versailles chapter xii. death of emperor william--death of frederick--william ii. emperor--his policy--situation in europe evolution of an empire. chapter i. foundation building is neither picturesque nor especially interesting, but it is indispensable. however fair the structure is to be, one must first lay the rough-hewn stones upon which it is to rest. it would be much pleasanter in this sketch to display at once the minarets and towers, and stained-glass windows; but that can only be done when one's castle is in spain. would we comprehend the germany of to-day, we must hold firmly in our minds an epitome of what it has been, and see vividly the devious path of its development through the ages. the german nation is of ancient lineage, and indeed belongs to the royal line of human descent, the aryan; its ancestral roots running back until lost in the heart of asia, in the mists of antiquity. the home of the aryan race is shrouded in mystery, as are the impelling causes which sent those successive tides of humanity into europe. but we know with certainty that when the last great wave spread over eastern europe, or russia, about one thousand years before christ, the submergence of that continent was complete. before the coming of the aryan, the rhine flowed as now; the alps pierced the sky with their glistening peaks as they do to-day; the danube, the rhône, hurried on, as now, toward the sea. was it all a beautiful, unpeopled solitude waiting in silence for the richly endowed asiatic to come and possess it? far from it. it was teeming with humanity--if, indeed, we may call such the race which modern research and discovery has revealed to us. it is only within the last thirty years that anything whatever has been known of prehistoric man; but now we are able to reconstruct him with probable accuracy. a creature, bestial in appearance and in life; dwelling in caves, which, however, a dawning sense of a higher humanity led him to decorate with carvings of birds and fishes; but, certain it is, the brain which inhabited that skull was incapable of performing the mental processes necessary to the simplest form of civilization; and life must have been to him simply a thing of fierce appetites and brutal instincts. such was the being encountered by the aryan, when he penetrated the mysterious land beyond the confines of greece and italy. the extermination, and perhaps, to some extent, assimilation, of this terrible race must have required centuries of brutalizing conflict, and, it is easy to imagine, would have produced just such men as were the northern barbarians, who for five hundred years terrorized europe: men insensible to fear, terrible, fierce, but with fine instincts for civilization--dormant aryan germs, which quickly developed when brought into contact with a superior race. the earliest indo-european migration is supposed to have been into greece and italy, where was laid the basis for the civilization of the world. the second was probably into western europe and the british isles; then, after many centuries, the central, and last, and at a time comparatively recent, into the eastern portion of the continent. so by the fourth century b.c. three great divisions of the aryan race occupied europe north of greece and italy. the keltic, the western; the teutonic, the central; the slavonic, the eastern; and these, in turn, had ramified into new subdivisions or tribes. to state it, as in the pedigree of the individual, the aryan was the founder, the father of the family; slav, teuton, and kelt the three sons. gaul and briton were sons of the kelt; saxon, angle, helvetian, etc., sons of the teuton; and all alike grandchildren of the aryan; whom--to carry the illustration farther--we may imagine to have had older children, who long ago had left the paternal home and settled about the caspian and mediterranean seas. mede, persian, greek, roman, apparently bearing few marks of kinship to these uncouth younger brothers whom we have found in europe in this fourth century b.c., but with nevertheless the same cradle, and the same ancestral roots. it is the teutonic branch of the aryan family with which we have to do now. the river rhine flowed between them and their keltic brothers, and it was by the keltic gauls on the west side of this river that they were first called germans, which, in the language of the kelt, meant simply neighbors. chapter ii. greece and rome were unaware of the existence of the teuton until about the year b.c., when pythias, a greek navigator, came home from a voyage to the baltic with terrible tales of the goths whom he had met. nearly one century before christ the inhabitants of italy were enabled to judge for themselves of the accuracy of the description. driven from their homes by the inroads of the sea, the goths poured in a hungry torrent down into the tempting vineyards of northern italy. gigantic in stature, with long yellow hair, eyes blue but fierce--what wonder that the people thought they were scarcely human, and fled affrighted, leaving them to enjoy the vineyards at their leisure. accounts of this uncanny host reached rome, which soon knew of their breastplates of iron, their helmets crowned with heads of wild beasts, their white shields glistening in the sun, and, more terrible than all, of their priestesses, clad in white linen, who prophesied and offered human sacrifices to their gods. but the sacrifices did not avail against the legions which the great consul marius led against them. the ponderous goth was not yet a match for the finer skill of the roman, and the invaders were exterminated at aix-la-chapelle, b.c. the women, in despair, slew first their children and then themselves, a few only surviving to be paraded in chains at the triumph accorded to marius on his return to rome. such was the first appearance of the teuton in the eternal city, and the last until five hundred years later, when the conditions were changed. at the time of this first invasion of the goths they had made some progress in political and social organization, though of the simplest kind. predatory in habits and fierce as the wild beasts of their forests, they were, however, romantic in ideals, had a fine sense of the beautiful. they exalted woman, and honored marriage and the family relation to an extent beyond any ancient people. when i have said that, added to this, they had a glimmering sense of human rights in communities and in the state, it will be seen that the german race had the basis of a superior civilization; and when the christian era dawned, though the world knew it not, a great nation was coming into organic form. at this period, julius cæsar had made roman provinces of gaul and britain; and now the wave of conquest naturally overflowed the boundary line into the land of the teuton; and the german, in his barbaric simplicity, stood face to face with that finished human product, the astute, cultivated roman. for centuries they fought--always on german soil--the legions often repulsed, yet pressing on and on, until a chain of roman fortresses stretched from the rhine to the baltic, and the people were held--not subjugated--by roman power. about the year of our era there arose the first heroic figure in the history of germany, when hermann made a prodigious but ineffectual attempt to consolidate his people and expel the romans. the colossal statue only recently erected in germany, is a tribute to the unhappy hero of eighteen centuries ago. at the time of this attempt the germans had learned much from the superior civilization by which they were invaded. they were no longer the barbarous race which had trampled down the vineyards of northern italy two hundred years before. nor was this lesson in civilization yet over. for five hundred years teuton and roman continued the struggle. the one by the process growing wiser, richer in resource, and in supplementing his rude strength with the finer methods of old civilizations, becoming a more and more dangerous adversary; while the other saw himself more and more enfeebled, and, wearied with the conflict, felt decrepitude stealing surely over him. in the year the teutons had ramified into six branches--the burgundians, thuringians, franks, saxons, allemani, and goths--all one in race, but each with its own distinct traits and life. the allemani were so called from _aller-mannen_--all men; seeming to signify that this tribe was composed of the fragments of many tribes. why this tribal name should have become that of the whole german nation is not apparent. obviously the word allemagne has this origin, just as deutsch may be as readily traced to teuton. but of these six tribes it was the goths who first adopted christianity, and took on the forms of a higher civilization. chapter iii. as some winged seed is wafted from a fair garden into a dark, distant forest, and there takes root and blossoms, so was the seed-germ of christianity caught by the wind of destiny, and carried from palestine to the heart of pagan germany, where, strange to say, it found congenial soil. the story is a romantic one. a christian boy in asia minor, while straying on the shores of the mediterranean, was captured by some goths, who took their fair-haired prize home to their own land, and named him ulfila. the boy, with his heart all aflame for the religion in which he had been nurtured, told his captors the story of calvary--of christ and his gospel of peace and love--and lived to see the terrible sacrificial altars replaced by the cross. the goths had no alphabet, so ulfila invented one, and then translated the bible into their rude speech. a part of this translation is now preserved in sweden, and is the earliest extant specimen of the gothic language. even to the unlearned observer, this gothic version of the lord's prayer, written by ulfila more than one thousand five hundred years ago, bears such strong marks of kinship to the german and english versions that it can be easily read by us to-day, and makes us realize how much of the teuton has mingled with our own life and speech. the enormous vitality of the teutons was evinced in their restless desire to extend themselves. they were not comfortable neighbors. the franks made predatory incursions into gaul, which they finally overran and possessed; the allemani, into italy; the saxons, in the same manner, overran britain; while the stalwart goths addressed their blows to the roman empire--the common foe of all--until _anno domini_, when, for a second time, teuton feet trod the streets of rome, this time not chained to the chariot of a marius, but conquerors. and when the gates of the eternal city yielded to the blows of alaric, the roman empire virtually ceased to exist. so this rude people, which in the time of julius cæsar was buried in the forests of central europe, in six hundred years from his time occupied all of europe, and was beginning to lay the foundations of a new empire upon the fragments of the old. there is not time to tell how the newly christianized and civilized goths were now in turn attacked by the huns, a race vastly more fierce and terrible than they had ever been, who swarmed down upon them suddenly, like the locusts of egypt, and under the leadership of attila swept everything before them; then, after leaving a track of blood and ashes through germany, disappearing again over the steppes of russia, from whence they had mysteriously come; a tremendous upturning force, but bearing no relation to the future result more than the plough to the future grain. there had been no repose for europe yet--incessant tribal changes; a surging mass of humanity pouring from one land into another. the troubled continent was a great, seething caldron, from which was to emerge a new civilization. but soon after this final convulsion of the hunnish invasion the migrations ceased, and now, about the year , the foundations of the present european divisions began to appear. in britain, subjugated by the angles and saxons, we see foreshadowed the anglo-saxon england of to-day; in the country lying east and west of the rhine, france and germany begin to be outlined; while the smaller german states are distinctly visible, some of them with geographical divisions almost the same as now. modern europe was beginning to crystallize. chapter iv. i cannot resist the temptation of saying a few words about the anglo-saxon occupation of britain, which, as it virtually converted us from kelts into teutons, is not a digression. from the time of julius cæsar the island of britain had been occupied by the romans, and in consequence had become partly civilized and christianized. upon the fall of the empire, the roman legions were withdrawn, and the people, left defenceless, became the prey of their own northern barbarians, the picts and scots; the drama of southern europe and the goths being reënacted on a diminished scale. in the fourth century the britons implored the angles and saxons to come and protect them from these savages. invited as allies, they came as invaders, and remained as conquerors, implanting their habits, speech, and paganism upon the prostrate island. it was the extermination of this exotic paganism which impelled to those deeds of valor recited in the round table romances, and which made king arthur and his knights the theme of poet and minstrel for centuries. but the saxon had come to stay, and teuton and kelt became merged, much as do the lion and lamb, after the former has dined! the teutonic saxon may be said to have dined on the keltic briton, and remained master of the island until the normans came, six centuries later, and in turn dominated, and made him bear the yoke of servitude. nor was this french-speaking norman, french at all, except by adoption; being, in fact, the terrible northman of two centuries before, on account of whose ravages the noble had entrenched himself in his strong castle, and the wretched serf had in mortal terror sold himself and all that he possessed, for the protection of its solid walls and moat; and thus had been laid the foundations of feudalism. he it was who, with long hair reeking with rancid oil, battle-axe, spear, and iron hook--with which to capture human and other prey--had held france in a state of unspeakable terror for centuries, but who had finally settled down as respectable french citizen in the sea-board province of normandy, and in two centuries had made such wonderful improvement in manners, apparel, and speech, that the simple saxon baron stood abashed before the splendid refinements of his conquerors. the origin of this mysterious northman is unknown; but whatever it was, or whoever he was, he certainly possessed aryan germs of high potency. so the saxon had built the solid walls of the racial structure upon a foundation of britons; and, though with no thought for beauty, had built well, with strong, true structural lines. it was the norman who finished and decorated the structure, but he did not alter one of these lines; the speech, traits, institutions, and habits of england being at the core saxon to-day, while there is a decorative surface only of norman. so when the englishman calls himself with swelling pride, a briton, he speaks wide of the mark. the keltic briton was buried fathoms deep under seven centuries of saxon rule, and then, to make the extinction more complete, was overlaid with this brilliant lacquer of norman surface. and if that mixed product, the english people, have any race paternity, it is teutonic, and herein may lie the impossibility of making the english and irish a homogeneous people--the english teuton and irish kelt being in the nature of things antagonistic, the particles refuse to combine chemically, and can only be brought together (to use the language of the chemist) in mechanical mixture. chapter v. at the time of the anglo-saxon invasion of england, and for three centuries later, the history of france and germany were one and the same. the roman empire, in its decrepitude, found it a difficult task to retain its dominion over gaul, and so enlisted the franks as allies. thus was made a breach in the wall between the kelt and the teuton, through which in time flowed an irresistible german torrent, intermingling with the former population, and, by virtue of its superior strength, spreading itself over the land in permanent dominion; and when clovis, their frankish leader, drove out from gaul the last remnant of roman power, in of our era, all connection with the expiring empire was severed. the loose confederation of tribes was gathered by the strong hand of the conquering frank under one head, and clovis was proclaimed king, with hereditary rights for his children. with this event the doors close upon antiquity, and we are in the path which leads swiftly to modern history. clovis, the son of merowig, gave his name to the dynasty thus founded. one of his first acts was the renouncing of paganism, through the influence of his wife, clotilde, so that from their very birth france and germany were christian, while england lingered for centuries under pagan rule. the grandchildren of clovis and clotilde, siegfried and brunhilde, were the heroes of the "niebelungen lied," and their adventures inspired not alone the great german epic, but have lent to the greatest music of modern times its majestic, heroic swing. the real brunhilde did not immolate herself upon her husband's funeral pile, as in the musical romance, but an end more tragic and vastly more terrible was hers. after being tortured for three days, her hair was tied to the tail of a fiery horse, spurs plunged into his sides, and the unhappy queen was ground to fragments upon the stones of the rue st. honoré, paris, where this tragedy occurred about the year a.d. but the heroic strain in the merovingian blood soon exhausted itself. the kings became effeminate, luxurious, and, after a time, too indolent even to govern, and finally gave entire control of state affairs to a royal steward, known as "_maire du palais_" or _major domus_, who was indeed king _de facto_, with authority supreme over the king himself. pepin was the last of these royal stewards. conscious of his own superior fitness, he took the crown from the long, perfumed locks of the last merovingian king and placed it upon his own head. what matter that he had no drop of royal blood in his veins? he held the sceptre with firm hand, by the divine right of ability, leaving it upon his death to his second son charlemagne, who was destined to wield it by divine right of born conqueror and ruler of men. chapter vi. this colossal figure stands the one supreme historical landmark midway between julius cæsar and napoleon bonaparte. in looking back, he saw not his equal in history until he beheld cæsar. nor in looking forward would he have seen another until just one thousand years later, when the world seemed to have found another master in napoleon bonaparte. in the amplitude of his intelligence, in the splendor of his attributes, and in his seven feet of stature, charlemagne was every inch a king. he was twenty-nine years old when, by the death of his father, pepin, he became monarch, and set about his task, which was, to develop a great empire--overturning, conquering, despotic, often cruel, but always with the high purpose of giving to his race a higher civilization. in twenty-nine years more this task was accomplished, and a map of the german empire was a map of europe. on christmas day, in the year , in the cathedral of st. peter's, at rome, he received the imperial crown from pope leo iii., and was greeted with cries of "life and victory to carolus magnus, crowned by god emperor of the romans;" and at that moment he stood at the head of an empire which included all christendom. charlemagne acknowledged the pope who crowned him as his spiritual sovereign, while, on the other hand, the pope bowed before the emperor who appointed him, as his temporal sovereign. it was a magnificent, all-embracing scheme of empire, of which the spiritual head was at rome, and the temporal at aix-la-chapelle. it seemed as if by this dual supremacy charlemagne had provided for all possible exigencies of human government. he rested content, no doubt thinking he had embodied a perfect ideal in creating a system which should thus coördinate and embrace both the spiritual and temporal needs of an empire. unfortunately, in order to be realized, it needed always the wisest of emperors and best of popes. as soon as his controlling hand was removed unexpected dangers assailed his work. in less than fifty years from his coronation, his three grandsons had quarrelled and torn the empire into as many parts, the elder retaining the imperial title. this event, of our era, marks the beginning of france and germany as distinct nationalities; hence it is that both nations claim charlemagne, whereas he belongs to the french just as queen elizabeth does to americans. in forecasting his plans of empire, it is not probable that danger of conflict between the spiritual and temporal heads ever occurred to charlemagne. but that is precisely what happened. even this astute, far-seeing man did not suspect the nature of the power with which he formed this close alliance. his plan of government made the pope distinctly the creation of the emperor. his creature, and hence subordinate. but there was a tremendous principle of growth in that spiritual centre! the first five hundred years after christ the pope had been simply bishop of rome. in the next five hundred years he was nominal head of the whole church. as the church was entering upon its third five-hundred-year lease, in the year , the fiery monk hildebrand, who had now become pope gregory vii., determined it should be supreme in authority over all other powers--a religious empire, existing by divine right, independent of the fate of nations or will of kings and emperors. henry iv., who was then emperor, indignant at these insolent pretensions, deposed the pope--this creature of his own appointing, who would override the authority of the power which had created him! the pope excommunicated the emperor. each had done his worst, pope and emperor; and had henry stood his ground as he might, for he would have had ample support from his people, it would have been a gain of centuries for europe. but--the ban of excommunication, with its attendant horrors here, and still worse hereafter--it was more than he could bear. affrighted, trembling, penitent, he crossed the alps in dead of winter, crept to the castle of canossa, near parma, where hildebrand had taken refuge; and there this successor to charlemagne, this ruler of all christendom, standing barefoot and clad in sackcloth shirt, humbly begged admittance. the pope's triumph was complete. so he let him shiver for three days in cold and rain before he opened the gates and gave him forgiveness and the kiss of peace. the church had never scored so tremendous a victory. she was supreme over every earthly authority, and the hands on the face of time were set back for centuries. let guelph and ghibelline (the two political parties representing the adherents of the pope and the emperor) storm and struggle as they might, she need never more be afraid of overstepping any humanly constituted bounds. and it was to be no empty panoply of power. the strong hand of priestly authority must have its hold on every human conscience and will. she sat and watched complacently as her children drove back the infidel saracens, conscious of her own growing strength, and that she was becoming still stronger as those three tidal waves of religious frenzy swept over europe into the holy land. there was no question of supremacy now between temporal and spiritual heads. all the lines of power--all the threads of human destiny--led to rome, and were found at last in the papal hand. but these were halcyon days. there was a cloud already on the horizon, the size of a man's hand, and that hand was--wickliffe's--the hand which had torn the veil of mystery from the bible by translating it into the speech of the common people, the hand which had written words inciting rebellion against church authority. the clouds grew larger and darker when printing came, disseminating the new heresies. the bible was broadcast in the hands of the people, who began to manifest a dangerous tendency to think! the whole enginery of thumbscrew, rack, and stake was set to work. tender human flesh shrinks from burning, lacerating, and torture, so the griefs, longings, and aspirations of thousands of hearts flowed in streams deep down below the surface, coming to light here and there for brief moments among the followers of huss, the albigenses, the waldenses, only to be driven back again into silence and despair. chapter vii. in the early part of the sixteenth century the fate of europe was in the hands of three men--charles v., emperor of germany; francis i., king of france, and henry viii., king of england. charles was half fleming and half spaniard, with the grasping acquisitiveness of the one nation, and the proud, fanatical cruelty of the other. small of stature, plain in feature, sedate, quiet, crafty, he was playing a desperate game with francis i. for supremacy in europe. francis, handsome as an apollo, accomplished, fascinating, profligate, was fully his match in ambition. covering his worst qualities with a gorgeous mantle of generosity and chivalrous sense of honor, he was the insidious corrupter of morals in france; creating a sentiment which laughed at virtue and innocence as qualities belonging to a lower class of society. each of these men was striving to enlist henry viii. upon his side, by appealing to the cruel caprices of that vain, ostentatious, arrogant king, who in turn tried to use them for the furthering of his own desires and purposes. it was a sort of triangular game between the three monarchs--a game full of finesse and far-reaching designs. if charles attacked francis, henry attacked charles. while the astute charles, knowing well the desire of the english king to repudiate katharine and make anne boleyn his queen, whispered seductive promises of the papal chair to wolsey, who was in turn to establish his own influence over his royal master by bringing about the marriage with anne, upon which the king's heart was set, and then be rewarded by securing henry's promise of neutrality for charles, in his designs of over-reaching francis--and after that, the road to rome for the aspiring cardinal would be a straight one! it was an intricate diplomatic net-work, in which the thread of henry's desire for the fair anne was mingled with wolsey's desire for preferment, and both interlaced with the ambitious, far-reaching purposes of the other two monarchs. all these events were very absorbing, and while they were splendidly gilding the surface of europe in the first half of the sixteenth century, it seemed a small matter that an obscure monk was denouncing the pope and defying the power of the catholic church. little did charles suspect that when his victories and edicts were forgotten, the words of the insolent heretic would still be echoing down the ages. a few years later, and the apollo-like beauty and false heart of francis i. were dissolving in the grave--henry viii. had gone to another world, to meet his reward--and his wives--and charles v. was sadly counting his beads in the monastery of st. jerome, at yuste, reflecting upon the vanity of human ambitions--but the murmur of protest from the unknown monk had become a roar--the rivulet had swollen into a threatening torrent. as it is the invisible forces that are the most powerful in nature, so it is the obscure and least observed events that have accomplished the most tremendous revolutions in human affairs. in the year , when it had not yet occurred to henry's sensitive conscience that his marriage with katharine, his brother's widow, was illegal, and while charles v., that sedate young man, who "looked so modest, and soared so high," was revolving plans for the extension of his empire, pope leo x., the pious vicar of christ upon earth, and elegant patron of michael angelo and raphael, found his income all too small for his magnificent tastes. it does not seem to have occurred to him that his tastes were too costly for his income; he simply recognized that something must be done, and at once, to fill his empty purse. but what should it be? a simple and ingenious expedient solved the perplexing problem. he would issue a proclamation to his "loving, faithful children," that he would grant absolution for all sorts of crimes, the prices graduated to suit the enormity of the offence. we have not seen the proclamation, but doubt not it was in most caressing latin, for can anything exceed the velvety softness of the gloves worn on the hands which sign papal decrees? simple lying and slander were cheap; perjury and sins against chastity more costly; while the use of the stiletto, of poison, and the hired assassin could be enjoyed only by the richest. it worked well. in the hopeful words of a pious dignitary, "as soon as the money chinks in the coffer, the soul springs out of purgatory." who could resist such promise? money flowed in swollen streams into the thirsty coffers, many even paying in advance for crimes they intended to commit! martin luther was the one man who dared to stand up and denounce this tax upon crime, this papal trade in vice. the people had at last found a voice and a leader. protestantism sprang into existence without the slow process of growth. it had long been maturing in silence and darkness, and at the trumpet tones of luther, declared itself a power upon the earth. here was a revolt beyond the reach of thumbscrew and stake! you could not burn a million people! chapter viii. the church gathered herself for one supreme effort to stem this fatal tide, which was loosening her foundations. just one hundred years from the birth of protestantism, pope and emperor, putting their spiritual and temporal heads together, planned a crusade against twenty-five million protestants. the desultory war against the new heresy had been ineffectual. as it was stamped out in one place, it blazed up afresh in others. now it should be, at whatever cost, exterminated in the german empire. thus was initiated what is known as the "thirty years' war," the most desolating in history. generations came and went while it raged fierce and furious--eight million slain, and twelve million surviving to meet horrors worse than death. cattle exterminated, food exhausted, the uncultivated fields drenched with blood and tears--a vast graveyard, in which were the mouldering corpses of eight million slaughtered people, one-third of the population of the empire! earth was kneaded into bread; men found dead with their mouths filled with grass; and there are frightful stories of human beings hunted down, like deer, for food. the spirit of the people was broken. germany had been set back two hundred years. and for what? not to accomplish any high purpose, not even from mistaken christian zeal, but simply to carry out the despotic resolve of the catholic church to rule the minds and consciences of all men through its popes and priesthood. it was the old battle commenced six centuries before. had henry not gone to canossa in , there had been no thirty years' war in ! the empire of charlemagne virtually perished during this struggle, the hapsburgs wearing its empty ornaments and trappings for a couple of centuries more, imaginary rulers of an imaginary empire, the reality and substance of which had departed. there was a flickering of the dying splendor when maria theresa was empress (mother of the unfortunate marie antoinette), and impressed her own strong, brilliant personality upon her empire and age--an age rendered memorable also by the great frederick, who brought prussia from obscurity to be ranked with the great powers, and thus rekindled national pride and renewed the hopes of germany. chapter ix. when the nineteenth century dawned, a new and striking figure had appeared in europe. napoleon bonaparte had arisen with a bound from obscurity in corsica to supreme authority in france, and with audacious display of power wielded by genius, hurled his battalions across the face of europe. he seemed the embodiment of some new and irresistible force. kingdoms melted before him, and kings and princes vied with each other in doing his bidding quickly, as he tore down old political divisions, and, as it were, etched a new map of europe with his sword; distributing thrones as boys do marbles, until there was not an uncrowned head in his own or his wife's family, or scarcely among his intimate friends. he made his brother joseph king of spain; bernadotte, his friend, king of sweden; murat, his brother-in-law, king of naples. created the kingdom of holland and gave it to his brother louis; and another kingdom of westphalia, which he gave to his brother jerome. appointed eugene beauharnais, his stepson, viceroy of italy. married hortense, his step-daughter, to louis, king of holland; and stephanie, empress josephine's niece, to the grand duke of baden. it will be observed that when there were not enough thrones to go around, he simply created a kingdom! certainly, with all his faults, no one can accuse him of not having provided well for his family! at a touch from this man of destiny, the shadowy fabric of the german empire crumbled to dust. just one thousand years from the crowning of its first emperor charlemagne, its last, francis ii., laid down his arms and his sceptre before napoleon, and with them the proud title of "emperor of the holy roman empire," assumed on that christmas day, in the cathedral of st. peter's, in the year . when napoleon married marie louise, daughter of this deposed monarch who had occupied the throne of the cæsars, his dream of universal empire seemed realized. the continent of europe was actually under his feet. history had only twice before witnessed such a display of power, and contained only three men as colossal in triumphs--alexander, julius cæsar, and charlemagne. but it was the mantle of these last two that he felt he was destined to wear, the glittering pinnacles of the great roman empire being ever before his romantic ambition. hence, when the longed-for son was born he called him king of rome. and why should he not? was not his mother daughter of a line of emperors leading back to charlemagne, first emperor of the holy roman empire? but with the first reverse, this artificially created empire trembled upon its foundations, and upon his defeat at waterloo, , one thousand years from the death of charlemagne, the whole fabric fell apart into fragments. the crowns rolled off the heads of joseph, jerome, louis, and the rest of them. the magical creation passed away like a vision of the night. europe rallied from the spell which this corsican magician had thrown over her, and while he lay chained to the rock at st. helena, the vulture of regret eating his heart away, metternich, prime minister of austria, was restoring order to germany. a confederation of states was formed, with austria as its chief, each to be represented at a general diet, held at frankfort; and for fifty years such was the condition of germany. prussia, fallen from her high position under frederick the great, sinking lower and lower in the scale of nations, dominated by austria, powerless to resent insult, her people helpless and hopeless, looking only to final disintegration and absorption into the powerful states about her. chapter x. we have now reached a period with which readers of to-day have more or less personal familiarity. this hour of deep depression in germany was the one which comes before the dawn. the schleswig-holstein episode was a complicated, tiresome tangle, even while it was enacting, and now is to most people only another name for a rusty german key with which pandora's box was opened for europe just twenty-five years ago. but it was a pivotal incident, and must be understood in order to make clear the rapid succession of events following, of which it was the first link in the chain. the two adjacent dukedoms of schleswig and holstein, which constitute a sort of natural bridge about one hundred and fifty miles long and fifty miles wide, between denmark and prussia, are, by the way, the land of nativity for the anglo-saxon race, the angles having inhabited schleswig, and the saxons holstein, at the time they so kindly protected the britons from the picts and scots! so it is probable that every member of this anglo-saxon family has ancestral roots running back to that fertile strip of pasture land, which was geographically and, at a later day, historically so important. at the time we are now considering, it had for many years been under the danish protectorate, the king of denmark being, by virtue of his position, also duke of schleswig-holstein, just as the german emperor is now king of prussia by virtue of his imperial office. but this little people were by no means merged with the danish by this arrangement; on the contrary, they preserved very jealously their own traits and ancestral traditions. among these, was the exclusion of women from the royal succession--the salic law, framed by their frank ancestors centuries before on the banks of the river saale, being part of their constitution. hence, when king frederick vii. of denmark died in without male heir, and king christian ix. became king, the people of the two dukedoms hotly refused to recognize him as their lawful ruler, but claimed their right of reversion to duke frederick viii., who was in the direct male line of succession. had the salic law prevailed in denmark, this duke frederick (father of the present young empress of germany) would now ( ) be king of denmark instead of christian ix. but it did not exist, so christian, father of the empress of russia--of the princess of wales--and of king george of greece--became, in , lawful king of denmark, with rights unimpaired by female descent. this was the beginning of changes destined to alter the face of europe. schleswig-holstein revolted against being held by a ruler who, according to her constitution, was not the terminal of the royal line, and insisted upon bestowing herself upon the german duke frederick viii. denmark naturally resisted this _anti-christian_ revolt. salic law or no salic law, the dukedoms were hers, and should stay. and, indeed, they were a charming pastoral possession, a morsel which must have sorely tempted the german appetite to be invited to take. but in those days prussia's big brother, austria, had not alone to be consulted, but placated. this was the more bitter because of having once tasted the sweets of national greatness under frederick; and now even little denmark dare defy and insult her! and was not this crown, which king william had received from his dead brother in , but a badge of brilliant servitude, after all, to francis joseph, who was his chief? however, in this instance the big brother, for reasons of his own, thought well of the cession of the twin dukedoms to prussia, and they would have been quickly absorbed into the german "_diet_" had not the great powers (who since the napoleonic episode had been very alert in such matters) grimly said, "hands off!" it was just at this crisis, in , that bismarck, having been appointed to the office of prime minister of prussia, came from the courts of st. petersburg and paris, where he had been ambassador, and commenced his series of brilliant games upon the european chess-board. king christian of denmark, pleased with his success in retaining the refractory states, determined to go still farther; that is, to adopt a new constitution separating these siamese twins, which should, in fact, detach schleswig from holstein, incorporating it permanently with denmark. this was in direct violation of the treaty with the great powers made in london, , and afforded the needed pretext for war. the moment and the man had arrived. bismarck, with the intuition of a good player, saw his opportunity, pushed up the pawn, schleswig-holstein, and said, "check to your king." the prussian and austrian troops poured into denmark, and in a few short weeks the blooming isthmus had ceased to be danish, and had become german. austria generously said, "we will divide the prize. schleswig shall be prussian, and holstein austrian." could anything be more odious to the prussian? the long arm of austrian tyranny stretching way over their land, up to their northern seaboard! it might almost better have become danish. but "all things come to him who waits," and--bismarck waited. in the diplomatic adjustments which followed it was an easy matter to quarrel over the prize, and once more the needed pretext was at hand. bismarck again pushed up his useful little pawn, and said "check," but this time to the emperor of austria. ah! here was a game worth watching. europe and america, too, were willing to let their morning coffee get cold in studying the moves. francis joseph did not see as far into the game as his astute adversary, whose keen eye was focused at long range upon a renewed and consolidated germany. the conflict was short (only seven weeks), but the preparation had been long and thorough. the d of july will long be remembered by germany. king william was there; the crown prince was there, now become "unser fritz" by his superb military achievements, the ideal prince and soldier of modern europe; and königgrätz, like waterloo, decided the game. francis joseph was checkmated. germany was the head of its own nation. its servitude to austria existed no more. what wonder that the people were glad, or that unser fritz became their idol, and bismarck their demigod! the dismembered parts were soon, under a new constitution, consolidated into a national union, which was protestant and prussian, and forever separated from all that was catholic and austrian. in five short years what a change! truly, blood and iron had proved a wonderful tonic! and what of poor little schleswig-holstein, that land of our race nativity? if she had indulged in any innocent expectation of benefit from such brilliant espousal of her cause, such hope must have been rudely dispelled when she found herself between these upper and nether millstones, and she must have realized that she had been only the humble hinge upon which the door of opportunity had swung open for germany. chapter xi. the rest can be briefly told. napoleon iii., in brand new splendor, was watching these events from paris. he had an uncomfortable sense that everything was too new and fine. there is nothing like the smoke of the battlefield to simulate the delightfully mellow tone which, in its finest perfection, comes only from age. to humiliate this newly reconstructed germany would give just the needed touch to his prestige, and as no slightest pretext for war could be found, one was made to order, in the shape of a pretended affront to the french ambassador by the kindly old king william, while peacefully sunning himself at ems. the question at issue was of the candidature of a hohenzollern to the vacant throne of spain. finding this was unpopular, the name was promptly withdrawn by prussia, and there the incident would naturally have ended. but bernadetti, french ambassador to germany, had instructions to press the matter offensively upon the king, who, recognizing an intended impertinence, turned on his heel and left him. the telegraph swiftly bore the news that the ambassador had been publicly insulted by the king of prussia. the french heart was industriously fired, and the leaven worked well. the insolent germans must be taught that the great french empire was not to be insulted with impunity. did not the beautiful empress herself buckle the sword upon the emperor, and even upon the boy prince imperial, who should go and witness for himself his father's triumphs, and receive an object lesson, as it were, in avenging insult to the imperial dignity, which would one day be in his keeping? the miserable end came quickly! in less than one month the emperor was a prisoner, and in seven months his empire was swept out of existence; the germans were in paris--and king william, unser fritz, bismarck, and von moltke were quartered at versailles. here it was that the dramatic climax was reached when king ludwig ii. of bavaria, in the name of the rest of the german states, laid their united allegiance at the feet of king william of prussia, as the head of the german empire, begging him to assume the crown of charlemagne, which should be hereditary in his family! poor, mad suicide though he was, for this act ludwig's memory should be forever enshrined in the german heart, for he certainly first suggested, and then carried to completion, this splendid consummation, apparently indifferent to the fact that his own kingly dignity would be abridged. adoring the picturesque and dramatic as he did, perhaps it seemed to this royal spendthrift not too much to pay a kingdom for the privilege of acting in one scene so imposing and dramatic! so, in january, , in the hall of mirrors in the palace of versailles, king william assumed the title of "emperor of germany"--a germany richer by two french provinces and an enormous indemnity from the conquered state; great in prestige and under the best of emperors and greatest of prime ministers, augmenting hourly in all that constitutes power in a state. in less than one decade--not yet ten years from bismarck's return to berlin--a new germany had arisen from the fragments of the old, a germany so great and powerful she was likely to forget the degradation and humiliation of only a quarter of a century ago. chapter xii. when that kingly old man, emperor william, sank at last under the weight of years, the crown so brilliantly won at versailles in rested on the head of unser fritz--no longer in the flush of victorious youth, but a poor, stricken man. the tardy honors had come too late. in vain he struggled against the inevitable, striving to inaugurate the beneficent policy which had been the dream of his life. unhappy frederick! his death-chamber seemed the playground for every hateful human passion, and the furies to have made it their abode, as his unfulfilled life slipped away from his loosening grasp! at last it was ended. the untarnished soul and the tortured body parted company, and william ii. reigned in his stead. the sensibilities of the world had been shocked by the unfilial conduct of this youth, and it was with little respect that he was seen restlessly flitting from one court to another, displaying his imperial trappings like a child with new toys. people laughed to think they had ever been afraid of this aimless boy. upon one point only was he relentless. man or newspaper breathing faintest whisper of praise for the dead frederick came swift under the political guillotine! did he wish to efface his father's memory from the hearts of his people? would he really, if he could, tear that brief, sad chapter from his nation's history? it seemed so. europe watched him much as one does a headlong boy, who, with the confidence born of vanity and ignorance, plays with deadly weapons, and imperils his own and his neighbors' safety. the peace of the continent lay more than ever in the hand of bismarck, who alone had power to restrain this dangerous young ruler. but when william ii. posed as the friend of the workingman and ally of the socialist, the absurdity and the unexpectedness were amusing. what did he care for industrial problems and the condition of the laboring classes? the idea uppermost in his restless brain was that he was a predestined hero, not fitted for the _rôle_ of a merovingian king, with a _maire du palais_. he would be the artificer of his own policy, and be enrolled among the great sovereigns of history. there were rumors of dissension with his chancellor, whom finally he removed, and said practically, "_l'etat, c'est moi_." there was nothing now to restrain his restless vagaries, and a catastrophe seemed at hand. this is the way it looked a few months ago. but writing current history is much like drawing pictures upon the sand, which the incoming tide effaces. the man who had long held the destinies of europe in his hand sat in the retirement of schönhausen, complacently smoking and waiting for the catastrophe, and the recall which would surely come. but he was not needed. was the _zeit geist_ penetrating the iron-encrusted empire? william had forgotten his toys and was inaugurating reforms--industrial, educational, social, which touched the lowest stratum of his people. we cannot yet forget those visits to san remo, the cruel intriguing over his father's death-bed; but greatness lies in the path he has taken. his intelligence, quicker than his sympathies, sees, perhaps, that the forces of the future are industrial, not militant. his hand has grown less nervous, but steadier in its grasp, more human in its touch. the figure is filling out in stronger lines, with unexpected promise that it may become heroic. he was not a pleasant youth, not a nice boy; but we can forgive much to a sovereign who desires to bring about a general disarmament of europe! the early chapters of his biography will never be pleasant reading, but we will not linger over them if the concluding ones tell of a germany brought into line with the world's highest and best development. europe to-day is like a field closely packed with explosives, with a plentiful sprinkling throughout the mass of that giant powder, nihilism. people step carefully, lest they jar the hostile elements, and "let loose the dogs of war." the slightest change in position of the little package marked bulgaria, and it may be too late. this province, which ten or twelve years ago was set up by the great powers with an autonomy of its own, lying athwart the coveted pathway to the mediterranean, has, like schleswig-holstein, greatness thrust upon it. the plaything of diplomacy, with only a semblance of self-government, its _rôle_ in european politics is both tragic and comic. its king must await not alone confirmation by turkey, but ratification by the great powers, and little care they who ascends its slippery little throne, except as he will further or obstruct the private political ends of each; and russia, thinking only of expansion toward the sea, is especially paternal toward the forlorn little state. while this diplomatic game is enacting, there is a pause. is it the hush which precedes the storm? all eyes are fixed upon the russian bear, cautiously and stealthily prowling toward the south and east.--austria hungrily watches the balkan provinces, over which the paw of the bear already hovers.--italy, with hate and suspicion, has eyes riveted upon her hereditary enemy, austria.--france, never for a moment forgetting alsace and lorraine, watches her opportunity with germany, and draws into closer affinity with russia--england, with gaze fixed upon an open pathway to india, suspects them all--and germany, conscious that disaster is always imminent while the french thirst for revenge, and the russian thirst for the waters of the mediterranean are unabated, strengthens her defences and sleeps with hand upon her sword. history of friedrich ii. of prussia frederick the great by thomas carlyle book xviii.--seven-years war rises to a height.-- - . chapter i.--the campaign opens. seldom was there seen such a combination against any man as this against friedrich, after his saxon performances in . the extent of his sin, which is now ascertained to have been what we saw, was at that time considered to transcend all computation, and to mark him out for partition, for suppression and enchainment, as the general enemy of mankind. "partition him, cut him down," said the great powers to one another; and are busy, as never before, in raising forces, inciting new alliances and calling out the general posse comitatus of mankind, for that salutary object. what tempestuous fulminations in the reichstag, and over all europe, england alone excepted, against this man! latterly the swedes, who at first had compunctions on the score of protestantism, have agreed to join in the partitioning adventure: "it brings us his pommern, all pommern ours!" cry the swedish parliamentary eloquences (with french gold in their pocket): "at any rate," whisper they, "it spites the queen his sister!"--and drag the poor swedish nation into a series of disgraces and disastrous platitudes it was little anticipating. this precious french-swedish bargain ("swedes to invade with , ; france to give fair subsidy," and bribe largely) was consummated in march; [" st march, " (stenzel, v. ; &c.).] but did not become known to friedrich for some months later; nor was it of the importance he then thought it, in the first moment of surprise and provocation. not indeed of importance to anybody, except, in the reverse way, to poor sweden itself, and to the french, who had spent a great deal of pains and money on it, and continued to spend, with as good as no result at all. for there never was such a war, before or since, not even by sweden in the captainless state! and the one profit the copartners reaped from it, was some discountenance it gave to the rumor which had risen, more extensively than we should now think, and even some nucleus of fact in it as appears, that austria, france and the catholic part of the reich were combining to put down protestantism. to which they could now answer, "see, protestant sweden is with us!"--and so weaken a little what was pretty much friedrich's last hold on the public sympathies at this time. as to france itself,--to france, austria, russia,--bound by such earthly treaties, and the call of very heaven, shall they not, in united puissance and indignation, rise to the rescue? france, touched to the heart by such treatment of a saxon kurfurst, and bound by treaty of westphalia to protect all members of the reich (which it has sometimes, to our own knowledge, so carefully done), is almost more ardent than austria itself. france, austria, russia; to these add polish majesty himself; and latterly the very swedes, by french bribery at stockholm: these are the partitioning powers;--and their shares (let us spare one line for their shares) are as follows. the swedes are to have pommern in whole; polish-saxon majesty gets magdeburg, halle, and opulent slices thereabouts; austria's share, we need not say, is that jewel of a silesia. czarish majesty, on the extreme east, takes preussen, konigsberg-memel country in whole; adds preussen to her as yet too narrow territories. wesel-cleve country, from the other or western extremity, france will take that clipping, and make much of it. these are quite serious business-engagements, engrossed on careful parchment, that spring, , and i suppose not yet boiled down into glue, but still to be found in dusty corners, with the tape much faded. the high heads, making preparation on the due scale, think them not only executable, but indubitable, and almost as good as done. push home upon him, as united posse comitatus of mankind; in a sacred cause of polish majesty and public justice, how can one malefactor resist?"ah, ma tres-chere" and "oh, my dearest princess and cousin," what a chance has turned up! it is computed that there are arrayed against this one king, under their respective kings, empress-queens, swedish senates, catins and pompadours, populations to the amount of above millions,--in after stages, i remember to have seen " millions" loosely given as the exaggerated cipher. of armed soldiers actually in the field against him (against hanover and him), in , there are, by strict count, , . friedrich's own dominions at this time contain about five millions of population; of revenue somewhat less than two millions sterling. new taxes he cannot legally, and will not, lay on his people. his schatz (ready-money treasure, or hoard yearly accumulating for such end) is, i doubt not, well filled,--express amount not mentioned. of drilled men he has, this year, , for the field; portioned out thriftily,--as well beseems, against four invasions coming on him from different points. in the field, , soldiers, probably the best that ever were; and in garrison, up and down (his country being, by nature, the least defensible of all countries), near , , which he reckons of inferior quality. so stands the account. [stenzel, iv. , , v. ; ranke, iii. ; preuss, ii, , , ; &c. &c.;--substantially true, i doubt not; but little or nothing of it so definite and conclusively distinct as it ought, in all items, to have been by this time,--had poor dryasdust known what he was doing.] these are, arithmetically precise, his resources,--plus only what may lie in his own head and heart, or funded in the other heads and hearts, especially in those , , which he and his fathers have been diligently disciplining, to good perfection, for four centuries come the time. france, urged by pompadour and the enthusiasms, was first in the field. the french army, in superb equipment, though privately in poorish state of discipline, took the road early in march; "march th and th," it crossed the german border, cleve country and koln country; had been rumored of since january and february last, as terrifically grand; and here it now actually is, above , strong,-- , , as the army-lists, flaming through all the newspapers, teach mankind. [_helden-geschichte,_ iv. ; iii. .] bent mainly upon prussia, it would seem; such the will of pompadour. mainly upon prussia; marechal d'estrees, crossing at koln, made offers even to his britannic majesty to be forgiven in comparison; "yield us a road through your hanover, merely a road to those halberstadt-magdeburg parts, your hanover shall have neutrality!" "neutrality to hanover?" sighed britannic majesty: "alas, am not i pledged by treaty? and, alas, withal, how is it possible, with that america hanging over us?" and stood true. nor is this all, on the part of magnanimous france: there is a soubise getting under way withal, soubise and , , who will reinforce the reich's armament, were it on foot, and be heard of by and by! so high runs french enthusiasm at present. a new sting of provocation to most christian majesty, it seems, has been friedrich's conduct in that damiens matter (miserable attempt, by a poor mad creature, to assassinate; or at least draw blood upon the most christian majesty ["evening of th january, " (exuberantly plentiful details of it, and of the horrible law-procedures which followed on it: in adelung, viii. - ; barbier, &c. &c.).]); about which friedrich, busy and oblivious, had never, in common politeness, been at the pains to condole, compliment, or take any notice whatever. and will now take the consequences, as due!-- the wesel-cleve countries these french find abandoned: friedrich's garrisons have had orders to bring off the artillery and stores, blow up what of the works are suitable for blowing up; and join the "britannic army of observation" which is getting itself together in those regions. considerable army, britannic wholly in the money part: new hanoverians so many, brunswickers, buckeburgers, sachsen-gothaers so many; add those precious hanoverian-hessian , , whom we have had in england guarding our liberties so long,--who are now shipped over in a lot; fair wind and full sea to them. army of , on paper; of effective more than , ; head-quarters now at bielefeld on the weser;--where, "april th," or a few days later, royal highness of cumberland comes to take command; likely to make a fine figure against marechal d'estrees and his , french! but there was no helping it. friedrich, through winter, has had schmettau earnestly flagitating the hanoverian officialities: "the weser is wadable in many places, you cannot defend the weser!" and counselling and pleading to all lengths,--without the least effect. "wants to save his own halberstadt lands, at our expense!" which was the idea in london, too: "don't we, by apocalyptic newswriters and eyesight of our own, understand the man?" pitt is by this time in office, who perhaps might have judged a little otherwise. but pitt's seat is altogether temporary, insecure; the ruling deities newcastle and royal highness, who withal are in standing quarrel. so that friedrich, schmettau, mitchell pleaded to the deaf. nothing but "defend the weser," and ignorant fatuity ready for the impossible, is to be made out there. "cannot help it, then," thinks friedrich, often enough, in bad moments; "army of observation will have its fate. happily there are only , prussians in it, wesel and the other garrisons given up!" only , prussians: by original engagement, there should have been , ; and friedrich's intention is even , if he prosper otherwise. for in january, (anniversary, or nearly so, of that neutrality convention last year), there had been--encouraged by pitt, as i could surmise, who always likes friedrich--a definite, much closer treaty of alliance, with "subsidy of a million sterling," anti-russian "squadron of observation in the baltic," " , prussians," and other items, which i forget. forget the more readily, as, owing to the strange state of england (near suffocating in its constitutional bedclothes), the treaty could not be kept at all, or serve as rule to poor england's exertions for friedrich this year; exertions which were of the willing-minded but futile kind, going forward pell-mell, not by plan, and could reach friedrich only in the lump,--had there been any "lump" of them to sum together. but pitt had gone out;--we shall see what, in pitt's absence, there was! so that this treaty fell quite into the waste-basket (not to say, far deeper, by way of "pavement" we know where!),--and is not mentioned in any english book; nor was known to exist, till some collector of such things printed it, in comparatively recent times. ["m. koch in ," not very perfectly (scholl, iii. n.; who copies what koch has given).] a treaty , which, except as emblem of the then quasi-enchanted condition of england, and as foreshadow of pitt's new treaty in january, , and of three others that followed and were kept to the letter, is not of moment farther. reich's thunder, slight survey of it; with question, whitherward, if any-whither. the thunderous fulminations in the reich's-diet--an injured saxony complaining, an insulted kaiser, after vain dehortatoriums, reporting and denouncing "horrors such as these: what say you, o reich?"--have been going on since september last; and amount to boundless masses of the liveliest parliamentary eloquence, now fallen extinct to all creatures. [given, to great lengths, in _helden-geschichte,_ iii. iv. (and other easily avoidable books).] the kaiser, otherwise a solid pacific gentleman, intent on commercial operations (furnishes a good deal of our meal, says friedrich), is officially extremely violent in behalf of injured saxony,--that is to say, in fact, of injured austria, which is one's own. kur-mainz, chairman of the diet (we remember how he was got, and a battle of dettingen fought in consequence, long since); kur-mainz is admitted to have the most decided austrian leanings: britannic george, austria being now in the opposite scale, finds him an unhandy kur-mainz, and what profit it was to introduce false weights into the reich's balance that time! not for long generations before, had the poor old semi-imaginary reich's-diet risen into such paroxysms; nor did it ever again after. never again, in its terrestrial history, was there such agonistic parliamentary struggle, and terrific noise of parliamentary palaver, witnessed in the poor reich's-diet. noise and struggle rising ever higher, peal after peal, from september, , when it started, till august, , when it had reached its acme (as perhaps we shall see), though it was far from ending then, or for years to come. contemporary by-standers remark, on the austrian part, extraordinary rage and hatred against prussia; which is now the one point memorable. austria is used to speak loud in the diet, as we have ourselves seen: and it is again (if you dive into those old aeolus'-caves, at your peril) unpleasantly notable to what pitch of fixed rage, and hot sullen hatred austria has now gone; and how the tone has in it a potency of world-wide squealing and droning, such as you nowhere heard before. omnipotence of droning, edged with shrieky squealing, which fills the universe, not at all in a melodious way. from the depths of the gamut to the shrieky top again,--a droning that has something of porcine or wild-boar character. figure assembled the wild boars of the world, all or mostly all got together, and each with a knife just stuck into its side, by a felonious individual too well known,--you will have some notion of the sound of these things. friedrich sometimes remonstrates: "cannot you spare such phraseology, unseemly to kings? the quarrels of kings have to be decided by the sword; what profit in unseemly language, madam?"--but, for the first year and more, there was no abatement on the austrian part. friedrich's own delegate at regensburg, a baron von plotho, come of old brandenburg kindred, is a resolute, ready-tongued, very undaunted gentleman; learned in diplomacies and reich's law; carries his head high, and always has his story at hand. argument, grounded on reich's law and the nature of the case, plotho never lacks, on spur of the hour: and is indeed a very commendable parliamentary mastiff; and honorable and melodious in the bark of him, compared with those infuriated porcine specimens. he has kur-hanover for ally on common occasions, and generally from most protestant members individually, or from the corpus evangelicorum in mass, some feeble whimper of support. finds difficulty in getting his reich's pleadings printed;--dangerous, everywhere in those southern parts, to print anything whatever that is not austrian: so that plotho, at length, gets printers to himself, and sets up a printing-press in his own house at regensburg. he did a great deal of sonorous pleading for friedrich; proud, deep-voiced, ruggedly logical; fairly beyond the austrian quality in many cases,--and always far briefer, which is another high merit. october coming, we purpose to look in upon plotho for one minute; "october th, ;" which may be reckoned essentially the acme or turning-point of these unpleasant thunderings. [_helden-geschichte,_ iv. - .] what good he did to friedrich, or could have done with the tongue of angels in such an audience, we do not accurately know. some good he would do even in the reich's-diet there; and out of doors, over a german public, still more; and is worth his frugal wages,--say , pounds a year, printing and all other expense included! this is a mere guess of mine, dryasdust having been incurious: but, to english readers it is incredible for what sums friedrich got his work done, no work ever better. which is itself an appreciable advantage, computable in pounds sterling; and is the parent of innumerable others which no arithmetic or book-keeping by double entry will take hold of, and which are indeed priceless for nations and for persons. but this poor old bedridden reich, starting in agonistic spasm at such rate: is it not touching, in a corpus moribund for so many centuries past! the reich is something; though it is not much, nothing like so much as even kaiser franz supposes it. much or not so much, kaiser franz wishes to secure it for himself; friedrich to hinder him,--and it must be a poor something, if not worth plotho's wages on friedrich's part. it would insult the patience of every reader to go into these spasmodic tossings of the poor paralytic reich; or to mention the least item of them beyond what had some result, or fraction of result, on the world's real affairs. we shall say only, therefore, that after tempests not a few of porcine squealing, answered always by counter-latration on the vigilant plotho's part;--squealing, chiefly, from the reich's-hofrath at vienna, the head tribunal of imperial majesty, which sits judging and denouncing there, touched to the soul, as if by a knife driven into its side, by those unheard-of treatments of saxony and disregard to our dehortatoriums, and which bursts out, peal after peal, filling the universe, plotho not unvigilant;--the poor old reich's-diet did at last get into an acting posture, and determine, by clear majority of against , that there should be a "reich's execution army" got on foot. reich's execution army to coerce, by force of arms, this nefarious king of prussia into making instant restitution to saxony, with ample damages on the nail; that right be done to kurfursts of this reich. to such height of vigor has the reich's-diet gone;--and was voting it at regensburg january th, ; [_helden-geschichte,_ iv. , , ; stenzel, v. .] that very day when nefarious friedrich at berlin, case-hardened in iniquity to such a pitch, sat writing his instruction to count finck, which we read not long since. simultaneous movements, unknown to one another, in this big wrestle. reich's-diet perfected its vote; had it quite through, and sanctioned by the kaiser's majesty, january th: "arming to be a triplum" (triple contingent required of you this time); with romish-months (romermonate) of cash contributions from all and sundry (rigorously gathered, i should hope, where austria has power), so many as will cover the expense. army to be got on actual foot hastily, instantly if possible: an "eilende reichs-executions armee;" so it ran, but the word eilende (speedy) had a mischance in printing, and was struck off into elende (contemptibly wretched): so that on all market-squares and public places of poor teutschland, you read flaming placards summoning out, not a speedy or immediate, but "a miserable reich's execution army!" a word which, we need not say, was laughed at by the unfeeling part of the public; and was often called to mind by the reich's execution army's performances, when said speedy army did at last take the field. for the reich performed its vote; actually had a reich's execution army; the last it ever had in this world, not by any means the worst it ever had, for they used generally to be bad. commanders, managers are named, romermonate are gathered in, or the sure prospect of them; and, through may-june, , there is busy stir, of drumming, preparing and enlisting, all over the reich. end of july, we shall see the reich's army in camp; end of august, actually in the field; and later on, a touch of its fighting withal. many other things the reich tried against unfortunate friedrich,--gradual advance, in fact, to ban of the reich (or total anathema and cutting-off from fire and water): but in none of these, in ban as little as any, did it come to practical result at all, or acquire the least title to be remembered at this day. finis of ban, some eight months hence, has something of attractive as futility, the curious death of a futility. finis of ban (october th, already indicated) we may for one moment look in upon, if there be one moment to spare; the rest--readers may fancy it; and read only of the actuality and fighting part, which will itself be enough for them on such a matter. friedrich suddenly marches on prag. four invasions, from their respective points of the compass, northeast, northwest, southeast and southwest: here is a formidable outlook for the one man against whom they are all advancing open-mouthed. the one man--with nothing but a duke of cumberland and his observation army for backing in such duel--had need to look to himself! which, we well know, he does; wrapt in profoundly silent vigilance, with his plans all laid. of the four invasions, three, the russian, french, austrian, are very large; and the two latter, especially the last, are abundantly formidable. the swedish, of which there is rumoring, he hopes may come to little, or not come at all. nor is russia, though talking big, and actually getting ready above , men, so immediately alarming. friedrich always hopes the english, with their guineas and their managements, will do something for him in that quarter; and he knows, at worst, that the russian hundred thousand will be a very slow-moving entity. the swedish invasion friedrich, for the present, leaves to chance: and against russia, he has sent old marshal lehwald into those baltic parts; far eastward, towards the utmost memel frontier, to put the country upon its own defence, and make what he can of it with , men,--west-prussian militias a good few of them. this is all he can spare on the swedish-russian side: austria and france are the perilous pair of entities; not to be managed except by intense concentration of stroke; and by going on them in succession, if one have luck!-- friedrich's motions and procedures in canton-quarters, through winter and in late months, have led to the belief that he means to stand on the defensive; that the scene of the campaign will probably be saxony; and that austria, for recovering injured saxony, for recovering dear silesia, will have to take an invasive attitude. and austria is busy everywhere preparing with that view. has tolpatcheries, and advanced brigades, still harassing about in the lausitz. a great army assembling at prag,--browne forward towards the metal mountains securing posts, gathering magazines, for the crossing into saxony there. there, it is thought, the tug of war will probably be. furious, and strenuous, it is not doubted, on this friedrich's part: but against such odds, what can he do? with austrians in front, with russians to left, with french to right and arear, not to mention swedes and appendages: surely here, if ever, is a lost king!-- it is by no means friedrich's intention that saxony itself shall need to be invaded. friedrich's habit is, as his enemies might by this time be beginning to learn, not that of standing on the defensive, but that of going on it, as the preferable method wherever possible. march th, friedrich had quitted dresden city; and for a month after (head-quarters lockwitz, edge of the pirna country), he had been shifting, redistributing, his cantoned army,--privately into the due divisions, due readiness for march. which done, on fixed days, about the end of april, the whole army, he himself from lockwitz, april th,--to the surprise of austria and the world, friedrich in three grand columns, bevern out of the lausitz, king himself over the metal mountains, schwerin out of schlesien, is marching with extraordinary rapidity direct for prag; in the notion that a right plunge into the heart of bohemia will be the best defence for saxony and the other places under menace. this is a most unexpected movement; which greatly astonishes the world-theatre, pit, boxes and gallery alike (as friedrich's sudden movements often do); and which is, above all, interesting on the stage itself, where the actors had been counting on a quite opposite set of entries and activities! feldmarschall browne and general konigseck (not our old friend konigseck, who used to dry-nurse in the netherlands, but his nephew and heir) may cease gathering magazines, in those lausitz and metal-mountain parts: happy could they give wings to those already gathered! magazines, for austrian service, are clearly not the things wanted there. one does not burn one's magazines till the last extremity; but wings they have none; and such is the enigmatic velocity of those prussian movements, one seldom has time even to burn them, in the last crisis of catastrophe! considerable portions of that provender fell into the prussian throat; as much as "three months' provision for the whole army," count they,--adding to those frontier sundries the really important magazine which they seized at jung-bunzlau farther in. [_helden-geschichte_, iv. - ; &c.] it is one among their many greater advantages from this surprisal of the enemy, and sudden topsy-turvying of his plans. browne and konigseck have to retire on prag at their swiftest; looking to more important results than magazines. it is friedrich's old plan. long since, in , we saw a march of this kind, three columns rushing with simultaneous rapidity on prag; and need not repeat the particulars on this occasion. here are some notes on the subject, which will sufficiently bring it home to readers:-- "the three columns were, for a part of the way, four; the king's being, at first, in two branches, till they united again, on the other side of the hills. for the king," what is to be noted, "had shot out, three weeks before, a small preliminary branch, under moritz of dessau; who marched, well westward, by eger (starting from chemnitz in saxony); and had some tussling with our poor old friend duke d'ahremberg, browne's subordinate in those parts. d'ahremberg, having , under him, would not quit eger for moritz; but pushed out croats upon him, and sat still. this, it was afterwards surmised, had been a feint on friedrich's part; to give the austrians pleasant thoughts: 'invading us, is he? would fain invade us, but cannot!' moritz fell back from eger; and was ready to join the king's march, (at linay, april d' (third day from lockwitz, on the king's part). onwards from which point the columns are specifically three; in strength, and on routes, somewhat as follows:-- . "the first column, or king's,--which is , after this junction, , foot, , horse,--quitted lockwitz (head-quarter for a month past), wednesday, april th. they go by the pascopol and other roads; through pirna, for one place: through karbitz, aussig, are at linay on the d; where moritz joins: th, in the united state, forward again (leave lobositz two miles to left); to trebnitz, th, and rest there one day. "at aussig an unfortunate thing befell. zastrow, respectable old general zastrow, was to drive the austrians out of aussig: zastrow does it, april d- d, drives them well over the heights; april th, however, marching forward towards lobositz, zastrow is shot through both temples (pandour hid among the bushes and cliffs, other side of elbe), and falls dead on the spot. buried in gottleube kirk, st may." in these aussig affairs, especially in recapturing the castle of tetschen near by, colonel mayer, father of the new "free-corps," did shining service;--and was approved of, he and they. and, a day or two after, was detached with a fifteen hundred of that kind, on more important business: first, to pick up one or two bohemian magazines lying handy; after which, to pay a visit to the reich and its bluster about execution-army, and teach certain persons who it is they are thundering against in that awkwardly truculent manner! errand shiningly done by mayer, as perhaps we may hear,--and certainly as all the newspapers loudly heard,--in the course of the next two months. at crossing of the eger, friedrich's column had some chasing of poor d'ahremberg; attempting to cut him off from his bridges, bridge of koschlitz, bridge of budin; but he made good despatch, browne and he; and, except a few prisoners of ziethen's gathering, and most of his magazines unburnt, they did him no damage. the chase was close enough; more than once, the austrian head-quarter of to-night was that of the prussians to-morrow. monday, may d, friedrich's column was on the weissenberg of prag; browne, d'ahremberg, and prince karl, who is now come up to take command, having hastily filed through the city, leaving a fit garrison, the day before. except his magazines, nothing the least essential went wrong with browne; but konigseck, who had not a friedrich on his heels,--konigseck, trying more, as his opportunities were more,--was not quite so lucky. . "column second, to the king's left, comes from the lausitz under brunswick-bevern,-- , foot, , horse. this is the bevern who so distinguished himself at lobositz last year; and he is now to culminate into a still brighter exploit,--the last of his very bright ones, as it proved. bevern set out from about zittau (from grottau, few miles south of zittau), the same day with friedrich, that is april th;--and had not well started till he came upon formidable obstacles. came upon general konigseck, namely: a konigseck manoeuvring ahead, in superior force; a maguire, irish subordinate of konigseck's, coming from the right to cut off our baggage (against whom bevern has to detach); a lacy, coming from the left;--or indeed, konigseck and lacy in concert, intending to offer battle. battle of reichenberg, which accordingly ensued, april st,"--of which, though it was very famous for so small a battle, there can be no account given here. the short truth is, konigseck falling back, parthian-like, with a force of , or more, has in front of him nothing but bevern; who, as he issues from the lausitz, and till he can unite with schwerin farther southward, is but some , odd: cannot konigseck call halt, and bid bevern return, or do worse? konigseck, a diligent enough soldier, determines to try; chooses an excellent position,--at or round reichenberg, which is the first bohemian town, one march from zittau in the lausitz, and then one from liebenau, which latter would be bevern's second bohemian stage on the prag road, if he continued prosperous. reichenberg, standing nestled among hills in the neisse valley (one of those four neisses known to us, the neisse where prince karl got exploded, in that signal manner, winter, , by a certain king), offers fine capabilities; which konigseck has laid hold of. there is especially one excellent hollow (on the left or western bank of neisse river, that is, across from reichenberg), backed by woody hills, nothing but hills, brooks, woods all round; hollow scooped out as if for the purpose; and altogether of inviting character to konigseck. there, "wednesday, april th," konigseck posts himself, plants batteries, fells abatis; plenty of cannon, of horse and foot, and, say all soldiers, one of the best positions possible. so that bevern, approaching reichenberg at evening, evening of his first march, wednesday, april th, finds his way barred; and that the difficulties may be considerable. "nothing to be made of it to-night," thinks bevern; "but we must try to-morrow!" and has to take camp, "with a marshy brook in front of him," some way on the hither side of reichenberg; and study overnight what method of unbarring there may be. thursday morning early, bevern, having well reconnoitred and studied, was at work unbarring. bevern crossed his own marshy brook; courageously assaulted konigseck's position, left wing of konigseck; stormed the abatis, the batteries, plunged in upon konigseck, man to man, horse to horse, and after some fierce enough but brief dispute, tumbled konigseck out of the ground. konigseck made some attempt to rally; attempted twice, but in vain; had fairly to roll away, and at length to run, leaving , dead upon the field, about prisoners; one or two guns, and i forget how many standards, or whether any kettle-drums. this was thought to be a decidedly bright feat on bevern's part (rather mismanaged latterly on konigseck's); [tempelhof, i. ; _helden-geschichte,_ iii. (friedrich's own account, "linay in bohmen, th april, "); &c. &c. there is, in busching's _magazin_ (xvi. et seq.), an intelligible sketch of this action of reichenherg, with satirical criticisms, which have some basis, on lacy, maguire and others, by an anonymous military cynic,--who gives many such in busching (that of fontenoy, for example), not without force of judgment, and signs of wide study and experience in his trade.]--much approved by friedrich, as he hears of it, at linay, on his own prosperous march prag-ward. a comfortable omen, were there nothing more. konigseck and company, torn out of reichenberg, and set running, could not fairly halt again and face about till at liebenau, twenty miles off, where they found some defile or difficult bit of ground fit for them; and this too proved capable of yielding pause for a few hours only. for schwerin, with his silesian column, was coming up from the northeast, threatening konigseck on flank and rear: konigseck could only tighten his straps a little at this liebenau, and again get under way; and making vain attempts to hinder the junction of schwerin and bevern, to defend the jung-bunzlau magazine, or do any good in those parts, except to detain the schwerin-bevern people certain hours (i think, one day in all), had nothing for it but to gird himself together, and retreat on prag and the ziscaberg, where his friends now were. the austrian force at reichenberg was , ; would have been and odd thousands, had maguire come up (as he might have done, had not the appearances alarmed him too much); bevern, minus the detachment sent against maguire, was but , in fight; and he has quite burst the austrians away, who had plugged his road for him in such force: is it not a comfortable little victory, glorious in its sort; and a good omen for the bigger things that are coming? bevern marched composedly on, after this inspiriting tussle, through liebenau and what defiles there were; april th, at turnau, he falls into the schwerin column; incorporates himself therewith, and, as subordinate constituent part, accompanies schwerin thenceforth. . "column third was schwerin's, out of schlesien; counted to be , foot, , horse. schwerin, gathering himself, from glatz and the northerly country, at landshut,--very careless, he, of the pleasant hills, and fine scattered peaks of the giant mountains thereabouts,--was completely gathered foremost of all the columns, having farthest to go. and on monday, th april, started from landshut, winterfeld leading one division. in our days, it is the finest of roads; high level pass, of good width, across the giant range; pleasant painted hamlets sprinkling it, fine mountain ridges and distant peaks looking on; schneekoppe (snowfell, its head bright-white till july come) attends you, far to the right, all the way:--probably sprite rubezahl inhabits there; and no doubt river elbe begins his long journey there, trickling down in little threads over yonder, intending to float navies by and by: considerations infinitely indifferent to schwerin. 'the road,' says my tourist, (is not alpine; it reminds you of derbyshire-peak country; more like the road from castletown to sheffield than any i could name;'--we have been in it before, my reader and i, about schatzlar and other places. trautenau, well down the hills, with swift streams, more like torrents, bound elbe-wards, watering it, is a considerable austrian town, and the bohemian end of the pass,--sohr only a few miles from it: heartily indifferent to schwerin at this moment; who was home from the army, in a kind of disfavor, or mutual pet, at the time sohr was done. schwerin's march we shall not give; his junction with bevern (at turnau, on the iser, april th), then their capture of jung-bunzlau magazine, and crossing of the elbe at melnick, these were the important points; and, in spite of konigseck's tusslings, these all went well, and nothing was lost except one day of time." the austrians, some days ago, as we observed, filed through prag,--sunday, may st, not a pleasant holiday-spectacle to the populations;--and are all encamped on the ziscaberg high ground, on the other side of the city. had they been alert, now was the time to attack friedrich, who is weaker than they, while nobody has yet joined him. they did not think of it, under prince karl; and browne and the prince are said to be in bad agreement. chapter ii.--battle of prag. monday morning, d may, , the vanguard, or advanced troops of friedrich's column, had appeared upon the weissenberg, northwest corner of prag (ground known to them in , and to the poor winter-king in ): vanguard in the morning; followed shortly by friedrich himself; and, hour after hour, by all the others, marching in. so that, before sunset, the whole force lay posted there; and had the romantic city of prag full in view at their feet. a most romantic, high-piled, many-towered, most unlevel old city; its skylights and gilt steeple-cocks glittering in the western sun,--austrian camp very visible close beyond it, spread out miles in extent on the ziscaberg heights, or eastern side;--prag, no doubt, and the austrian garrison of prag, taking intense survey of this prussian phenomenon, with commentaries, with emotions, hidden now in eternal silence, as is fit enough. one thing we know, "head-quarter was in welleslawin:" there, in that small hamlet, nearly to north, lodged friedrich, the then busiest man of europe; whom posterity is still striving for a view of, as something memorable. prince karl, our old friend, is now in chief command yonder; browne also is there, who was in chief command; their scheme of campaign gone all awry. and to friedrich, last night, at his quarters "in the monastery of tuchomirsitz," where these two gentlemen had lodged the night before, it was reported that they had been heard in violent altercation; [_helden-geschichte, _ iv. (exact "diary of the march" given there).]--both of them, naturally, in ill-humor at the surprising turn things had taken; and feldmarschall browne firing up, belike, at some platitude past or coming, at some advice of his rejected, some imputation cast on him, or we know not what. prince karl is now chief; and indignant browne, as may well be the case, dissents a good deal,--as he has often had to do. patience, my friend, it is near ending now! prince karl means to lie quiet on the ziscaberg, and hold prag; does not think of molesting friedrich in his solitary state; and will undertake nothing, "till konigseck, from jung-bunzlau, come in," victorious or not; or till perhaps even daun arrive (who is, rather slowly, gathering reinforcement in maren): "what can the enemy attempt on us, in a post of this strength?" thinks prince karl. and browne, whatever his insight or convictions be, has to keep silence. "weissenberg," let readers be reminded, "is on the hither or western side of prag: the hradschin [pronounce radsheen, with accent on the last syllable, as in "schwerin" and other such cases], the hradschin, which is the topmost summit of the city and of the fashionable quarter,--old bohemian palace, still occasionally habitable as such, and in constant use as a downing street,--lies on the slope or shoulder of the weissenberg, a good way from the top; and has a web of streets rushing down from it, steepest streets in the world; till they reach the bridge, and broad-flowing moldau (broad as thames at half-flood, but nothing like so deep); after which the streets become level, and spread out in intricate plenty to right and to left, and ahead eastward, across the river, till the ziscaberg, with frowning precipitous brow, suddenly puts a stop to them in that particular direction. from ziscaberg top to weissenberg top may be about five english miles; from the hradschin to the foot of ziscaberg, northwest to southeast, will be half that distance, the greatest length of prag city. which is rather rhomboidal in shape, its longer diagonal this that we mention. the shorter diagonal, from northmost base of ziscaberg to southmost of hradschin, is perhaps a couple of miles. prag stands nestled in the lap of mountains; and is not in itself a strong place in war: but the country round it, moldau ploughing his rugged chasm of a passage through the piled table-land, is difficult to manoeuvre in. "moldau valley comes straight from the south, crosses prag; and--making, on its outgate at the northern end of prag (end of 'shortest diagonal' just spoken of), one big loop, or bend and counter-bend, of horse-shoe shape," which will be notable to us anon--"again proceeds straight northward and elbe-ward. it is narrow everywhere, especially when once got fairly north of prag; and runs along like a quasi-highland strath, amid rocks and hills. big hill-ranges, not to be called barren, yet with rock enough on each hand, and fine side valleys opening here and there: the bottom of your strath, which is green and fertile, with pleasant busy villages (much intent on water-power and cotton-spinning in our time), is generally of few furlongs in breadth. and so it lasts, this pleasant moldau valley, mile after mile, on the northern or lower moldau, generally straight north, though with one big bend eastward just before ending; and not till near melnick, or the mouth of moldau, do we emerge on that grand elbe valley,--glanced at once already, from pascopol or other height, in the lobositz times." friedrich's first problem is the junction with schwerin: junction not to be accomplished south of ziscaberg in the present circumstances; and which friedrich knows to be a ticklish operation, with those austrians looking on from the high grounds there. tuesday, d may, in the way of reconnoitring, and decisively on wednesday, th, friedrich is off northward, along the western heights of lower moldau, proper force following him, to seek a fit place for the pontoons, and get across in that northern quarter. "how dangerous that schwerin is a day too late!" murmurs he; but hopes the austrians will undertake nothing. keith, with , , he has left on the weissenberg, to straiten prag and the austrian garrison on that side: our wagon-trains arrive from leitmeritz on that side, elbe-boats bring them up to leitmeritz; very indispensable to guard that side of prag. friedrich's fixed purpose also is to beat the austrians, on the other side of it, and send them packing; but for that, there are steps needful! up so far as lissoley, the first day, friedrich has found no fit place; but on the morrow, thursday, th, farther up, at a place called seltz, friedrich finds his side of the strath to be "a little higher than the other,"--proper, therefore, for cannonading the other, if need be;--and orders his pontoons to be built together there. he knows accurately of the schwerin column, of the comfortable bevern victory at reichenberg, and how they have got the jung-bunzlau magazine, and are across the elbe, their bridges all secured, though with delay of one day; and do now wait only for the word,--for the three cannon-shot, in fact, which are to signify that friedrich is actually crossing to their side of lower moldau. friedrich's bridge is speedily built (trained human hands can be no speedier), his batteries planted, his precautions taken: the three cannon-shot go off, audible to schwerin; and friedrich's troops stream speedily across, hardly a pandour to meddle with them. nay, before the passage was complete--what light-horse squadrons are these? hussars, seen to be seidlitz's (missioned by schwerin), appear on the outskirts: a meeting worthy of three cheers, surely, after such a march on both sides! friedrich lies on the eastern hill-tops that night (hamlet of czimitz his head-quarter, discoverable if you wish it, scarcely three miles north of prag); and accurate appointment is made with schwerin as to the meeting-place to-morrow morning. meeting-place is to be the environs of prossik village, southeastward over yonder, short way north of the prag-konigsgratz highway; and rather nearer prag than we now are, in czimitz here: time at prossik to be a.m. by the clock; and winterfeld and schwerin to come in person and speak with his majesty. this is the program for friday, may th, which proves to be so memorable a day. schwerin is on foot by the stroke of midnight; comes along, "over the heights of chaber," by half a dozen, or i know not how many roads; visible in due time to friedrich's people, who are likewise punctually on the advance: in a word, the junction is accomplished with all correctness. and, while the columns are marching up, schwerin and winterfeld ride about in personal conference with his majesty; taking survey, through spy-glasses, of those austrians encamped yonder on the broad back of their zisca hill, a couple of miles to southward. "what a set of austrians," exclaim military critics, "to permit such junction, without effort to devour the one half or the other, in good time!" friedrich himself, it is probable, might partly be of the same opinion; but he knew his austrians, and had made bold to venture. friedrich, we can observe, always got to know his man, after fighting him a month or two; and took liberties with him, or did not take, accordingly. and, for most part,--not quite always, as one signal exception will show,--he does it with perfect accuracy; and often with vital profit to his measures. "if the austrian cooking-tents are a-smoke before eight in the morning," notes he, "you may calculate, in such case, the austrians will march that day." [military instructions.] with a surprising vividness of eye and mind (beautiful to rival, if one could), he watches the signs of the times, of the hours and the days and the places; and prophesies from them; reads men and their procedures, as if they were mere handwriting, not too cramp for him.--the austrians have, by this time, got their konigseck home, very unvictorious, but still on foot, all but a thousand or two: they are already stronger than the prussians by count of heads; and till even daun come up, what hurry in a post like this? the austrians are viewing friedrich, too, this morning; but in the blankest manner: their outposts fire a cannon-shot or two on his group of adjutants and him, without effect; and the head people send their cavalry out to forage, so little prophecy have they from signs seen. zisca hill, where the austrians now are, rises sheer up, of well-nigh precipitous steepness, though there are trees and grass on it, from the eastern side of prag, say five or six hundred feet. a steep, picturesque, massive green hill; moldau river, turning suddenly to right, strikes the northwest corner of it (has flowed well to west of it, till then), and winds eastward round its northern base. as will be noticed presently. the ascent of ziscaberg, by roads, is steep and tedious: but once at the top, you find that it is precipitous on two sides only, the city or westward side, and the moldau or northward. atop it spreads out, far and wide, into a waving upland level; bare of hedges; ploughable all of it, studded with littery hamlets and farmsteadings; far and wide, a kind of plain, sloping with extreme gentleness, five or six miles to eastward, and as far to southward, before the level perceptibly rise again. another feature of the ziscaberg, already hinted at, is very notable: that of the moldau skirting its northern base, and scarping the hill, on that side too, into a precipitous, or very steep condition. moldau having arrived from southward, fairly past the end of ziscaberg, had, so to speak, made up his mind to go right eastward, quarrying his way through the lower uplands there, and he proceeds accordingly, hugging the northern base of ziscaberg, and making it steep enough; but finds, in the course of a mile or so, that he can no more; upland being still rock-built, not underminable farther; and so is obliged to wind round again, to northward, and finally straight westward, the way he came, or parallel to the way he came; and has effected that great horse-shoe hollow we heard of lately. an extremely pretty hollow, and curious to look upon; pretty villas, gardens, and a "belvedere park," laid out in the bottom part; with green mountain-walls rising all round it, and a silver ring of river at the base of them: length of horse-shoe, from heel to toe, or from west to east, is perhaps a mile; breadth, from heel to heel, perhaps half as much. having arrived at his old distance to west, moldau, like a repentant prodigal, and as if ashamed of his frolic, just over against the old point he swerved from, takes straight to northward again. straight northward; and quarries out that fine narrow valley, or quasi-highland strath, with its pleasant busy villages, where he turns the overshot machinery, and where friedrich and his men had their pontoons swimming yesterday. it is here, on this broad back of the ziscaberg, that the austrians now lie; looking northward over to the king, and trying cannon-shots upon him. there they have been encamping, and diligently intrenching themselves for four days past; diligent especially since yesterday, when they heard of friedrich's crossing the river. their groups of tents, and batteries at all the good points, stretch from near the crown of ziscaberg, eastward to the villages of hlaupetin, kyge, and their lakes, near four miles; and rearward into the interior one knows not how far;--prince karl, hardly awake yet, lies at nussel, near the moldau, near the wischerad or southeastmost point of prag; six good miles west-by-south of kyge, at the other end of the diagonal line. about the same distance, right east from nussel, and a mile or more to south of kyge, over yonder, is a littery farmstead named sterbohol, which is not yet occupied by the austrians, but will become very famous in their war-annals, this day!-- where the austrian camp or various tent-groups were, at the time friedrich first cast eye on them, is no great concern of his or ours; inasmuch as, in two or three hours hence, the austrians were obliged, rather suddenly, to take order of battle; and that, and not their camping, is the thing we are curious upon. let us step across, and take some survey of that austrian ground, which friedrich is now surveying from the distance, fully intending that it shall be a battle-ground in few hours; and try to explain how the austrians drew up on it, when they noticed the prussian symptoms to become serious more and more. by nine in the morning,--some two hours after friedrich began his scanning, and the austrian outposts their firing of stray cannon-shots on him,--it is battle-lines, not empty tents (which there was not time to strike), that salute the eye over yonder. from behind that verdant horse-shoe chasm we spoke of, buttressed by the inaccessible steeps, and the moldau, double-folded in the form of horse-shoe, all along the brow of that sloping expanse, stands (by a.m. "foragers all suddenly called in") the austrian front; the second line and the reserve, parallel to it, at good distances behind. ranked there; say , regulars (prussian force little short of the same), on the brow of ziscaberg slope, some four miles long. their right wing ends, in strong batteries, in intricate marshes, knolls, lakelets, between hlaupetin and kyge: the extreme of their left wing looks over on that horse-shoe hollow, where moldau tried to dig his way, but could not and had to turn back. they have numerous redoubts, in front and in all the good places; and are busy with more, some of them just now getting finished, treble-quick, while the prussians are seen under way. as many as sixty heavy cannon in battery up and down: of field-pieces they have a hundred and fifty. excellent always with their artillery, these austrians; plenty of it, well-placed and well-served: thanks to prince lichtenstein's fine labors within these ten years past. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ (in several places); see hormayr,? lichtenstein.] the villages, the farmsteads, are occupied; every rising ground especially has its battery,--homoly berg, tabor berg, "mount of tabor;" say knoll of tabor (nothing like so high as battersea rise, hardly even as constitution hill), though scriptural zisca would make a mount of it;--these, and other bergs of the like type. that is the austrian battle order (as it stood about , though it had still to change a little, as we shall see): their first line, straight or nearly so, looking northward, stands on the brow of the zisca slope; their second and their third, singularly like it, at the due distances behind;--in the intervals, their tents, which stand scattered, in groups wide apart, in the ample interior to southward. the cavalry is on both wings; left wing, behind that moldau chasm, cannot attack nor be attacked,--except it were on hippogriffs, and its enemy on the like, capable of fighting in the air, overhead of these belvedere pleasure-grounds: perhaps prince karl will remedy this oversight; fruit of close following of the orthodox practice? prince karl, supreme chief, commands on the left wing; browne on the right, where he can attack or be attacked, not on hippogriffs. as we shall see, and others will! light horse, in any quantity, hang scattered on all outskirts. with foot, with cannon batteries, with horse, light or heavy, they cover in long broad flood the whole of that zisca slope, to near where it ceases, and the ground to eastward begins perceptibly to rise again. in this latter quarter, zisca slope, now nearly ended, begins to get very swampy in parts; on the eastern border of the austrian camp, at kyge, hostawitz, and beyond it southward, about sterbohol and michelup, there are many little lakelets; artificial fish-ponds, several of them, with their sluices, dams and apparatus: a ragged broadish lacing of ponds and lakelets (all well dried in our day) straggles and zigzags along there, connected by the miserablest brook in nature, which takes to oozing and serpentizing forward thereabouts, and does finally get emptied, now in a rather livelier condition, into the moldau, about the toe-part of that horse-shoe or belvedere region. it runs in sight of the king, i think, where he now is; this lower livelier part of it: little does the king know how important the upper oozing portion of it will be to him this day. near michelup are lakelets worth noticing; a little under sterbohol, in the course of this miserable brook, is a string of fish-ponds, with their sluices open at this time, the water out, and the mud bottom sown with herb-provender for the intended carps, which is coming on beautifully, green as leeks, and nearly ready for the fish getting to it again. friedrich surveys diligently what he can of all this, from the northern verge. we will now return to friedrich; and will stay on his side through the terrible action that is coming. battle of prag, one of the furious battles of the world; loud as doomsday;--the very emblem of which, done on the piano by females of energy, scatters mankind to flight who love their ears! of this great action the narratives old and modern are innumerable; false some of them, unintelligible well-nigh all. there are three in lloyd, known probably to some of my readers. tempelhof, with criticisms of these three, gives a fourth,--perhaps the one narrative which human nature, after much study, can in some sort understand. human readers, especially military, i refer to that as their finale. [in lloyd, i. et seq. (the three): in tempelhof, i. (the fourth); ib. i. (strength of each army), - (remarks of tempelhof).--the "history," or series of lectures on the battles &c. of this war, "by the royal staff-officers"--which, for the last thirty or forty years, is used as text-book, or military euclid, in the prussian cadet-schools,--appears to possess the fit professorial lucidity and amplitude; and, in regard to all official details, enumerations and the like, is received as of canonical authority: it is not accessible to the general public,--though liberally enough conceded in special cases; whereby, in effect, the main results of it are now become current in modern prussian books. by favor in high quarters, i had once possession of a copy, for some months; but not, at that time, the possibility of thoroughly reading any part of it.] other interest than military-scientific the action now has not much. the stormy fire of soul that blazed that day (higher in no ancient or modern fight of men) is extinct, hopeless of resuscitation for english readers. approximately what the thing to human eyes might be like; what friedrich's procedure, humor and physiognomy of soul was in it: this, especially the latter head, is what we search for,--had lazy dryasdust given us almost anything on this latter head! what little can be gleaned from him on both heads let us faithfully give, and finish our sad part of the combat. friedrich, with his schwerin and winterfeld, surveying these things from the northern edge, admits that the austrian position is extremely strong; but he has no doubt that it must be, by some good method, attacked straightway, and the austrians got beaten. indisputably the enterprise is difficult. unattackable clearly, the austrians, on that left wing of theirs; not in the centre well attackable, nor in the front at all, with that stiff ground, and such redoubts and points of strength: but round on their right yonder; take them in flank,--cannot we? on as far as kyge, the three have ridden reconnoitring; and found no possibility upon the front; nor at kyge, where the front ends in batteries, pools and quagmires, is there any. "difficult, not undoable," persists the king: "and it must be straightway set about and got done." winterfeld, always for action, is of that opinion, too: and, examining farther down along their right flank, reports that there the thing is feasible. feasible perhaps: "but straightway?" objects schwerin. his men have been on foot since midnight, and on forced marches for days past: were it not better to rest for this one day? "rest:--and daun, coming on with , of reinforcement to them, might arrive this night? never, my good feldmarschall;"--and as the feldmarschall was a man of stiff notions, and had a tongue of some emphasis, the dialogue went on, probably with increasing emphasis on friedrich's side too, till old schwerin, with a quite emphatic flash of countenance, crushing the hat firm over his brow, exclaims: "well, your majesty: the fresher fish the better fish (frische fische, gute fische): straightway, then!" and springs off on the gallop southward, he too, seeking some likely point of attack. he too,--conjointly or not with winterfeld, i do not know: winterfeld himself does not say; whose own modest words on the subject readers shall see before we finish. but both are mentioned in the books as searching, at hand-gallop, in this way: and both, once well round to south, by the podschernitz ["podschernitz" is pronounced potshernitz (should we happen to mentionn it again); "kyge," keega.] quarter, with the austrian right flank full in view, were agreed that here the thing was possible. "infantry to push from this quarter towards sterbohol yonder, and then plunge into their redoubts and them! cavalry may sweep still farther southward, if found convenient, and even take them in rear." both agree that it will do in this way: ground tolerably good, slightly downwards for us, then slightly upwards again; tolerable for horse even:--the intermediate lacing of dirty lakelets, the fish-ponds with their sluices drawn, schwerin and winterfeld either did not notice at all, or thought them insiginificant, interspersed with such beautiful "pasture-ground,"--of unusual verdure at this early season of the year. the deployment, or "marching up (aufmarschiren)" of the prussians was wonderful; in their squadrons, in their battalions, horse, foot, artillery, wheeling, closing, opening; strangely checkering a country-side,--in movements intricate, chaotic to all but the scientific eye. conceive them, flowing along, from the heights of chaber, behind prossik hamlet (right wing of infantry plants itself at prossik, horse westward of them); and ever onwards in broad many-checkered tide-stream, eastward, eastward, then southward ("our artillery went through podschernitz, the foot and horse a little on this westward side of it"): intricate, many-glancing tide of coming battle; which, swift, correct as clock-work, becomes two lines, from prossik to near chwala ("baggage well behind at gbell"); thence round by podschernitz quarter; and descends, steady, swift, tornado-storm so beautifully hidden in it, towards sterbohol, there to grip to. gradually, in stirring up those old dead pedantic record-books, the fact rises on us: silent whirlwinds of old platt-deutsch fire, beautifully held down, dwell in those mute masses; better human stuff there is not than that old teutsch (dutch, english, platt-deutsch and other varieties); and so disciplined as here it never was before or since. "in an hour and half," what military men may count almost incredible, they are fairly on their ground, motionless the most of them by a.m.; the rest wheeling rightward, as they successively arrive in the chwala-podschernitz localities; and, descending diligently, sterbohol way; and will be at their harvest-work anon. meanwhile the austrians, seeing, to their astonishment, these phenomena to the north, and that it is a quite serious thing, do also rapidly bestir themselves; swarming like bees;--bringing in their foraging cavalry, "no time to change your jacket for a coat:" rank, double-quick! browne is on that right wing of theirs: "bring the left wing over hither," suggests browne; "cavalry is useless yonder, unless they had hippogriffs!"--and (again browne suggesting) the austrians make a change in the position of their right wing, both horse and foot: change which is of vital importance, though unnoted in many narratives of this battle. seeing, namely, what the prussians intend, they wheel their right wing (say the last furlong or two of their long line of battle) half round to right; so that the last furlong or two stands at right angles ("en potence," gallows-wise, or joiner's-square-wise to the rest); and, in this way, make front to the prussian onslaught,--front now, not flank, as the prussians are anticipating. this is an important wheel to right, and formation in joiner's-square manner; and involves no end of interior wheeling, marching and deploying; which austrians cannot manage with prussian velocity. "swift with it, here about sterbohol at least, my men! for here are the prussians within wind of us!" urges browne. and here straightway the hurricane does break loose. winterfeld, the van of schwerin's infantry (schwerin's own regiment, and some others, with him), is striding rapidly on sterbohol; winterfeld catches it before browne can. but near by, behind that important post, on the homely hill (berg or "mountain," nothing like so high as constitution mountain), are cannon-batteries of devouring quality; which awaken on winterfeld, as he rushes out double-quick on the advancing austrians; and are fatal to winterfeld's attempt, and nearly to winterfeld himself. winterfeld, heavily wounded, sank in swoon from his horse; and awakening again in a pool of blood, found his men all off, rushing back upon the main schwerin body; "austrian grenadiers gazing on the thing, about eighty paces off, not venturing to follow." winterfeld, half dead, scrambled across to schwerin, who has now come up with the main body, his front line fronting the austrians here. and there ensued, about sterbohol and neighborhood, led on by schwerin, such a death-wrestle as was seldom seen in the annals of war. winterfeld's miss of sterbohol was the beginning of it: the exact course of sequel none can describe, though the end is well known. the austrians now hold sterbohol with firm grip, backed by those batteries from homoly hill. redoubts, cannon-batteries, as we said, stud all the field; the austrian stock of artillery is very great; arrangement of it cunning, practice excellent; does honor to prince lichtenstein, and indeed is the real force of the austrians on this occasion. schwerin must have sterbohol, in spite of batteries and ranked austrians, and winterfeld's recoil tumbling round him:--and rarely had the oldest veteran such a problem. old schwerin (fiery as ever, at the age of ) has been in many battles, from blenheim onwards; and now has got to his hottest and his last. "vanguard could not do it; main body, we hope, kindling all the hotter, perhaps may!" a most willing mind is in these prussians of schwerin's: fatigue of over-marching has tired the muscles of them; but their hearts,--all witnesses say, these (and through these, their very muscles, "always fresh again, after a few minutes of breathing-time") were beyond comparison, this day! schwerin's prussians, as they "march up" (that is, as they front and advance upon the austrians), are everywhere saluted by case-shot, from homoly hill and the batteries northward of homoly; but march on, this main line of them, finely regardless of it or of winterfeld's disaster by it. the general prussian order this day is: "by push of bayonet; no firing, none, at any rate, till you see the whites of their eyes!" swift, steady as on the parade-ground, swiftly making up their gaps again, the prussians advance, on these terms; and are now near those "fine sleek pasture-grounds, unusually green for the season." figure the actual stepping upon these "fine pasture-grounds:"--mud-tanks, verdant with mere "bearding oat-crop" sown there as carp-provender! figure the sinking of whole regiments to the knee; to the middle, some of them; the steady march become a wild sprawl through viscous mud, mere case-shot singing round you, tearing you away at its ease! even on those terrible terms, the prussians, by dams, by footpaths, sometimes one man abreast, sprawl steadily forward, trailing their cannon with them; only a few regiments, in the footpath parts, cannot bring their cannon. forward; rank again, when the ground will carry; ever forward, the case-shot getting ever more murderous! no human pen can describe the deadly chaos which ensued in that quarter. which lasted, in desperate fury, issue dubious, for above three hours; and was the crisis, or essential agony, of the battle. foot-chargings, (once the mud-transit was accomplished), under storms of grape-shot from homoly hill; by and by, horse-chargings, prussian against austrian, southward of homoly and sterbohol, still farther to the prussian left; huge whirlpool of tumultuous death-wrestle, every species of spasmodic effort, on the one side and the other;--king himself present there, as i dimly discover; feldmarschall browne eminent, in the last of his fields; and, as the old niebelungen has it, "a murder grim and great" going on. schwerin's prussians, in that preliminary struggle through the mud-tanks (which winterfeld, i think, had happened to skirt, and avoid), were hard bested. this, so far as i can learn, was the worst of the chaos, this preliminary part. intolerable to human nature, this, or nearly so; even to human nature of the platt-teutsch type, improved by prussian drill. winterfeld's repulse we saw; schwerin's own regiment in it. various repulses, i perceive, there were,--"fresh regiments from our second line" storming in thereupon; till the poor repulsed people "took breath," repented, "and themselves stormed in again," say the books. fearful tugging, swagging and swaying is conceivable, in this sterbohol problem! and after long scanning, i rather judge it was in the wake of that first repulse, and not of some other farther on, that the veteran schwerin himself got his death. no one times it for us; but the fact is unforgettable; and in the dim whirl of sequences, dimly places itself there. very certain it is, "at sight of his own regiment in retreat," feldmarschall schwerin seized the colors,--as did other generals, who are not named, that day. seizes the colors, fiery old man: "heran, meine kinder (this way, my sons)!" and rides ahead, along the straight dam again; his "sons" all turning, and with hot repentance following. "on, my children, heran!" five bits of grape-shot, deadly each of them, at once hit the old man; dead he sinks there on his flag; and will never fight more. "heran!" storm the others with hot tears; adjutant von platen takes the flag; platen, too, is instantly shot; but another takes it. "heran, on!" in wild storm of rage and grief:--in a word, they manage to do the work at sterbohol, they and the rest. first line, second line, infantry, cavalry (and even the very horses, i suppose), fighting inexpressibly; conquering one of the worst problems ever seen in war. for the austrians too, especially their grenadiers there, stood to it toughly, and fought like men;--and "every grenadier that survived of them," as i read afterwards, "got double pay for life." done, that sterbohol work;--those foot-chargings, horse-chargings; that battery of homoly hill; and, hanging upon that, all manner of redoubts and batteries to the rightward and rearward:--but how it was done no pen can describe, nor any intellect in clear sequence understand. an enormous melee there: new prussian battalions charging, and ever new, irrepressible by case-shot, as they successively get up; marshal browne too sending for new battalions at double-quick from his left, disputing stiffly every inch of his ground. till at length (hour not given), a cannon-shot tore away his foot; and he had to be carried into prag, mortally wounded. which probably was a most important circumstance, or the most important of all. important too, i gradually see, was that of the prussian horse of the left wing. prussian horse of the extreme left, as already noticed, had, in the mean while, fallen in, well southward, round by certain lakelets about michelup, on browne's extreme right; furiously charging the austrian horse, which stood ranked there in many lines; breaking it, then again half broken by it; but again rallying, charging it a second time, then a third time, "both to front and flank, amid whirlwinds of dust" (ziethen busy there, not to mention indignant warnery and others);--and at length, driving it wholly to the winds: "beyond nussel, towards the sazawa country;" never seen again that day. prince karl (after browne's death-wound, or before, i never know) came galloping to rally that important right wing of horse. prince karl did his very utmost there; obtesting, praying, raging, threatening:--but to no purpose; the zietheners and others so heavy on the rear of them:--and at last there came a cramp, or intolerable twinge of spasm, through prince karl's own person (breast or heart), like to take the life of him: so that he too had to be carried into prag to the doctors. and his cavalry fled at discretion; chased by ziethen, on friedrich's express order, and sent quite over the horizon. enough, "by about half-past one," sterbohol work is thoroughly done: and the austrian battle, both its commanders gone, has heeled fairly downwards, and is in an ominous way. the whole of this austrian right wing, horse and foot, batteries and redoubts, which was put en potence, or square-wise, to the main battle, is become a ruin; gone to confusion; hovers in distracted clouds, seeking roads to run away by, which it ultimately found. done all this surely was; and poor browne, mortally wounded, is being carried off the ground; but in what sequence done, under what exact vicissitudes of aspect, special steps of cause and effect, no man can say; and only imagination, guided by these few data, can paint to itself. such a chaotic whirlwind of blood, dust, mud, artillery-thunder, sulphurous rage, and human death and victory,--who shall pretend to describe it, or draw, except in the gross, the scientific plan of it? for, in the mean time,--i think while the dispute at sterbohol, on the extreme of the austrian right wing "in joiner's-square form," was past the hottest (but nobody will give the hour),--there has occurred another thing, much calculated to settle that. and, indeed, to settle everything;--as it did. this was a volunteer exploit, upon the very elbow or angle of said "joiner's-square;" in the wet grounds between hlaupetin and kyge, a good way north of sterbohol. volunteer exploit; on the part of general mannstein, our old russian friend; which friedrich, a long way off from it, blames as a rash fault of mannstein's, made good by prince henri and ferdinand of brunswick running up to mend it; but which winterfeld, and subsequent good judges, admit to have been highly salutary, and to have finished everything. it went, if i read right, somewhat as follows. in the kyge-hlaupetin quarter, at the corner of that austrian right wing en potence, there had, much contrary to browne's intention, a perceptible gap occurred; the corner is open there; nothing in it but batteries and swamps. the austrian right wing, wheeling southward, there to form potence; and scrambling and marching, then and subsequently, through such ground at double-quick, had gone too far (had thinned and lengthened itself, as is common, in such scrambling, and double-quick movement, thinks tempelhof), and left a little gap at elbow; which always rather widened as the stress at sterbohol went on. certain enough, a gap there is, covered only by some half-moon battery in advance: into this, general mannstein has been looking wistfully a long time: "austrian line fallen out at elbow yonder; clouted by some battery in advance?"--and at length cannot help dashing loose on it with his division. a man liable to be rash, and always too impetuous in battle-time. he would have fared ill, thinks friedrich, had not henri and ferdinand, in pain for mannstein (some think, privately in preconcert with him), hastened in to help; and done it altogether in a shining way; surmounting perilous difficulties not a few. hard fighting in that corner, partly on the sterbohol terms; batteries, mud-tanks; chargings, rechargings: "comrades, you have got honor enough, kameraden, ihr habt ehre genug [the second man of you lying dead]; let us now try!" said a certain regiment to a certain other, in this business. [archenholtz, i. ; tempelhof, &c.] prince henri shone especially, the gallant little gentleman: coming upon one of those mud-tanks with battery beyond, his men were spreading file-wise, to cross it on the dams; "bursche, this way!" cried the prince, and plunged in middle-deep, right upon the battery; and over it, and victoriously took possession of it. in a word, they all plunge forward, in a shining manner; rush on those half-moon batteries, regardless of results; rush over them, seize and secure them. rush, in a word, fairly into that austrian hole-at-elbow, torrents more following them,--and irretrievably ruin both fore-arm and shoulder-arm of the austrians thereby. fore-arm (austrian right wing, if still struggling and wriggling about sterbohol) is taken in flank; shoulder-arm, or main line, the like; we have them both in flank; with their own batteries to scour them to destruction here:--the austrian line, throughout, is become a ruin. has to hurl itself rapidly to rightwards, to rearwards, says tempelhof, behind what redoubts and strong points it may have in those parts; and then, by sure stages (tempelhof guesses three, or perhaps four), as one redoubt after another is torn from the loose grasp of it, and the stand made becomes ever weaker, and the confusion worse,--to roll pell-mell into prag, and hastily close the door behind it. the prussians, sterbohol people, mannstein-henri people, left wing and right, are quite across the zisca back, on by nussel (prince earl's head-quarter that was), and at the moldau brink again, when the thing ends. ziethen's hussars have been at nussel, very busy plundering there, ever since that final charge and chase from sterbohol. plundering; and, i am ashamed to say, mostly drunk: "your majesty, i cannot rank a hundred sober," answered ziethen (doubtless with a kind of blush), when the king applied for them. the king himself has got to branik, farther up stream. part of the austrian foot fled, leftwards, southwards, as their right wing of horse had all done, up the moldau. about , austrians are distractedly on flight that way. towards, the sazawa country; to unite with daun, as the now advisable thing. near , of them are getting crammed into prag; in spite of prince karl, now recovered of his cramp, and risen to the frantic pitch; who vainly struggles at the gate against such inrush, and had even got through the gate, conjuring and commanding, but was himself swum in again by those panic torrents of ebb-tide. rallying within, he again attempted, twice over, at two different points, to get out, and up the moldau, with his broken people; but the prussians, nussel-branik way, were awake to him: "no retreat up the moldau for you, austrian gentlemen!" they tried by another gate, on the other side of the river; but keith was awake too: "in again, ye austrian gentlemen! closed gates here too. what else?" browne, from his bed of pain (death-bed, as it proved), was for a much more determined outrush: "in the dead of night, rank, deliberately adjust yourselves; storm out, one and all, and cut your way, night favoring!" that was browne's last counsel; but that also was not taken. a really noble browne, say all judges; died here in about six weeks,--and got away from kriegs-hofraths and prince karls, and the stupidity of neighbors, and the other ills that flesh is heir to, altogether. at branik the victorious king had one great disappointment: prince moritz of dessau, who should have been here long hours ago, with keith's right wing, a fresh , , to fall upon the enemy's rear;--no moritz visible; not even now, when the business is to chase! "how is this?" "ill luck, your majesty!" moritz's pontoon bridge would not reach across, when he tried it. that is certain: "just three poor pontoons wanting," rumor says:--three or more; spoiled, i am told, in some narrow road, some short-cut which moritz had commanded for them: and now they are not; and it is as if three hundred had been spoiled. moritz, would he die for it, cannot get his bridge to reach: his fresh , stand futile there; not even seidlitz with his light horse could really swim across, though he tried hard, and is fabled to have done so. beware of short-cuts, my prince: your father that is gone, what would he say of you here! it was the worst mistake prince moritz ever made. the austrian army might have been annihilated, say judges (of a sanguine temper), had moritz been ready, at his hour, to fall on from rearward;--and where had their retreat been? as it is, the austrian army is not annihilated; only bottled into prag, and will need sieging. the brightest triumph has a bar of black in it, and might always have been brighter. here is a flying note, which i will subjoin:-- friedrich's dispositions for the battle, this day, are allowed to have been masterly; but there was one signal fault, thinks retzow: that he did not, as schwerin counselled, wait till the morrow. fault which brought many in the train of it; that of his "tired soldiers," says retzow, being only a first item, and small in comparison. "had he waited till the morrow, those fish-ponds of sterbohol, examined in the interim, need not have been mistaken for green meadows; prince moritz, with his , , would have been a fact, instead of a false hope; the king might have done his marching down upon sterbohol in the night-time, and been ready for the austrians, flank, or even rear, at daybreak: the king might"--in reality, this fault seems to have been considerable; to have made the victory far more costly to him, and far less complete. no doubt he had his reasons for making haste: daun, advancing prag-ward with , , was within three marches of him; general beck, daun's vanguard, with a , of irregulars, did a kind of feat at brandeis, on the prussian post there (our saxons deserting to him, in the heat of action), this very day, may th; and might, if lucky, have taken part at ziscaberg next day. and besides these solid reasons, there was perhaps another. retzow, who is secretly of the opposition-party, and well worth hearing, knows personally a curious thing. he says:-- "being then [in march or april, weeks before we left saxony] employed to translate the plan of operations into french, for marshal keith's use, who did not understand german, i well know that it contained the following three main objects: . 'all regiments cantoning in silesia as well as saxony march for bohemia on one and the same day. . whole army arrives at prag may th [schwerin was a day later, and got scolded in consequence]; if the enemy stand, he is attacked may th, and beaten. . so soon as prag is got, schwerin, with the gross of the army, pushes into mahren,' and the heart of austria itself; 'king hastens with , to help of the allied army,'"--royal highness of cumberland's; who will much need it by that time! [retzow, i. n.] here is a very curious fact and consideration. that the king had so prophesied and preordained: "may th, four columns arrive at prag; may th, attack the austrians, beat them,"--and now wished to keep his word! this is an aerial reason, which i can suspect to have had its weight among others. there were twirls of that kind in friedrich; intricate weak places; knots in the sound straight-fibred mind he had (as in whose mind are they not?),--which now and then cost him dear! the anecdote-books say he was very ill of body, that day, may th; and called for something of drug nature, and swallowed it (drug not named), after getting on horseback. the evening anecdote is prettier: how, in the rushing about, austrians now flying, he got eye on brother henri (clayey to a degree); and sat down with him, in the blessed sunset, for a minute or two, and bewailed his sad losses of schwerin and others. certain it is, the victory was bought by hard fighting; and but for the quality of his troops, had not been there. but the bravery of the prussians was exemplary, and covered all mistakes that were made. nobler fire, when did it burn in any army? more perfect soldiers i have not read of. platt-teutsch fire--which i liken to anthracite, in contradistinction to gaelic blaze of kindled straw--is thrice noble, when, by strict stern discipline, you are above it withal; and wield your fire-element, as jove his thunder, by rule! otherwise it is but half-admirable: turk-janissaries have it otherwise; and it comes to comparatively little. this is the famed battle of prag; fought may th, ; which sounded through all the world,--and used to deafen us in drawing-rooms within man's memory. results of it were: on the prussian side, killed, wounded and missing, , men; on the austrian, , (prisoners included), with many flags, cannon, tents, much war-gear gone the wrong road;--and a very great humiliation and dispiritment; though they had fought well: "no longer the old austrians, by any means," as friedrich sees; but have iron ramrods, all manner of prussian improvements, and are "learning to march," as he once says, with surprise not quite pleasant. friedrich gives the cipher of loss, on both sides, much higher: "this battle," says he, "which began towards nine in the morning, and lasted, chase included, till eight at night, was one of the bloodiest of the age. the enemy lost , men, of whom were , prisoners; the prussian loss amounted to , fighting men,--without counting marshal schwerin, who alone was worth above , ." "this day saw the pillars of the prussian infantry cut down," says he mournfully, seeming almost to think the "laurels of victory" were purchased too dear. his account of the battle, as if it had been a painful object, rather avoided in his after-thoughts, is unusually indistinct;--and helps us little in the extreme confusion that reigns otherwise, both in the thing itself and in the reporters of the thing. here is a word from winterfeld, some private letter, two days after; which is well worth reading for those who would understand this battle. "the enemy had his left wing leaning on the city, close by the moldau," at nussel; "and stretched with his right wing across the high hill [of zisca] to the village of lieben [so he had stood, looking into prag; but faced about, on hearing that friedrich was across the river]; having before him those terrible defiles [die terriblen defilees, "horse-shoe of the moldau," as we call it], and the village of prossik, which was crammed with pandours. it was about half-past six in the morning, when our schwerin army [myself part of it, at this time] joined with the twenty battalions and twenty squadrons, which the king had brought across to unite with us, and which formed our right wing of battle that day [our left wing were schweriners, sterbohol and the fighting done by schweriners after their long march]. the king was at once determined to attack the enemy; as also were schwerin [say nothing of the arguing] and your humble servant (meine wenigkeit): but the first thing was, to find a hole whereby to get at him. "this too was selected, and decided on, my proposal being found good; and took effect in manner following: we [schweriners] had marched off left-wise, foremost; and we now, without halt, continued marching so with the left wing" of horse, "which had the van (tete); and moved on, keeping the road for hlaupetin, and ever thence onwards along for kyge, round the ponds of unter-podschernitz, without needing to pass these, and so as to get them in our rear. "the enemy, who at first had expected nothing bad, and never supposed that we would attack him at once, flagrante delicto, and least of all in this point; and did not believe it possible, as we should have to wade, breast-deep in part, through the ditches, and drag our cannon,--was at first quite tranquil. but as he began to perceive our real design (in which, they say, prince karl was the first to open marshal browne's eyes), he drew his whole cavalry over towards us, as fast as it could be done, and stretched them out as right wing; to complete which, his grenadiers and hungarian regulars of foot ranked themselves as they got up [makes his potence, haken, or joiner's-square, outmost end of it horse.] "the enemy's intention was to hold with the right wing of his infantry on the farmstead which they call sterbaholy [sterbohol, a very dirty farmstead at this day]; i, however, had the good luck, plunging on, head foremost, with six battalions of our left wing and two of the flank, to get to it before him. although our second line was not yet come forward, yet, as the battalions of the first were tolerably well together, i decided, with general fouquet, who had charge of the flank, to begin at once; and, that the enemy might not have time to post himself still better, i pushed forward, quick step, out of the farmstead" of sterbohol "to meet him,--so fast, that even our cannon had not time to follow. he did, accordingly, begin to waver; and i could observe that his people here, on this wing, were making right-about. "meanwhile, his fire of case-shot opened [from homoly hill, on our left], and we were still pushing on,--might now be about two hundred steps from the enemy's line, when i had the misfortune, at the head of regiment schwerin, to get wounded, and, swooning away (vor tod), fell from my horse to the ground. awakening after some minutes, and raising my head to look about, i found nobody of our people now here beside or round me; but all were already behind, in full flood of retreat (hoch anschlagen). the enemy's grenadiers were perhaps eighty paces from me; but had halted, and had not the confidence to follow us. i struggled to my feet, as fast as, for weakness, i possibly could; and got up to our confused mass [confusen klumpen,--exact place, where?]: but could not, by entreaties or by threats, persuade a single man of them to turn his face on the enemy, much less to halt and try again. "in this embarrassment the deceased feldmarschall found me, and noticed that the blood was flowing stream-wise from my neck. as i was on foot, and none of my people now near, he bade give me his led horse which he still had [and sent me home for surgery? winterfeld, handsomely effacing himself when no longer good for anything, hurries on to the catastrophe, leaving us to guess that he was not an eye-witness farther]--bade give me the led horse which he still had; and [as if that had happened directly after, which surely it did not? and] snatched the flag from captain rohr, who had taken it up to make the bursche turn, and rode forward with it himself.' but before he could succeed in the attempt, this excellent man, almost in a minute, was hit with five case-shot balls, and fell dead on the ground; as also his brave adjutant von platen was so wounded that he died next day. "during this confusion and repulse, by which, as already mentioned, the enemy had not the heart to profit, not only was our second line come on, but those of the first, who had not suffered, went vigorously (frisch) at the enemy,"--and in course of time (perhaps two hours yet), and by dint of effort, we did manage sterbohol and its batteries:--"like as [still in one sentence, and without the least punctuation; winterfeld being little of a grammarian, and in haste for the close], like as prince henri's royal highness with our right wing," mannstein and he, "without waiting for order, attacked so prompt and with such fermote," in that elbow-hole far north of us, "that everywhere the enemy's line began to give way; and instead of continuing as line, sought corps-wise to gain the heights, and there post itself. and as, without winning said heights, we could not win the battle, we had to storm them all, one after the other; and this it was that cost us the best, most and bravest people. "the late colonel von goltz [if we glance back to sterbohol itself], who, with the regiment fouquet, was advancing, right-hand of schwerin regiment" and your servant, "had likewise got quite close to the enemy; and had he not, at the very instant when he was levelling bayonets, been shot down, i think that he, with myself and the schwerin regiment, would have got in,"--and perhaps have there done the job, special and general, with much less expense, and sooner! [preuss, ii. - (in winterfeld's hand; dated "camp at prag, th may, :" addressed to one knows not whom; first printed by preuss).] this is what we get from winterfeld; a rugged, not much grammatical man, but (as i can perceive) with excellent eyes in his head, and interior talent for twenty grammatical people, had that been his line. these, faithfully rendered here, without change but of pointing, are the only words i ever saw of his: to my regret,--which surely the prussian dryasdust might still amend a little?--in respect of so distinguished a person, and chosen peer of friedrich's. this his brief theory of prag battle, if intensely read, i find to be of a piece with his practice there. schwerin was much lamented in the army; and has been duly honored ever since. his body lies in schwerinsburg, at home, far away; his monument, finale of a series of monuments, stands, now under special guardianship, near sterbohol on the spot where he fell. a late tourist says:-- "at first there was a monument of wood [tree planted, i will hope], which is now all gone; round this kaiser joseph ii. once, in the year , holding some review there, made his grenadier battalions and artilleries form circle, fronting the sky all round, and give three volleys of great arms and small, kaiser in the centre doffing hat at each volley, in honor of the hero. which was thought a very pretty thing on the kaiser's part. in , the tree, i suppose, being gone to a stump, certain subscribing prussian officers had it rooted out, and a modest pyramid of red-veined marble built in its room. which latter the then king of prussia, friedrich wilhelm iii., determined to improve upon; and so, in , built a second pyramid close by, bigger, finer, and of prussian iron, this one;--purchasing also, from the austrian government, a rood or two of ground for site; and appointing some perpetual peculium, or increase of pension to an austrian veteran of merit for taking charge there. all which, perfectly in order, is in its place at this day. the actual austrian pensioner of merit is a loud-voiced, hard-faced, very limited, but honest little fellow; who has worked a little polygon ditch and miniature hedge round the two monuments; keeps his own cottage, little garden, and self, respectably clean; and leads stoically a lone life,--no company, i should think, but the sterbohol hinds, who probably are czechs and cannot speak to him. he was once 'of the regiment hohenlohe;' suffers somewhat from cold, in the winter-time, in those upland parts (the 'cords of wood' allowed him being limited); but complains of nothing else. two english names were in his album, a military two, and no more. 'ehret den held (honor the hero)!' we said to him, at parting. 'don't i?' answered he; glancing at his muddy bare legs and little spade, with which he had been working in the polygon ditch when we arrived. i could wish him an additional 'klafter holz' (cord more of firewood) now and then, in the cold months!-- "sterbohol farmstead has been new built, in man's memory, but is dirty as ever. agriculture, all over this table-land of the ziscaberg, i should judge to be bad. not so the prospect; which is cheerfully extensive, picturesque in parts, and to the student of friedrich offers good commentary. roads, mansions, villages: prossik, kyge, podschernitz, from the heights of chaber round to nussel and beyond: from any knoll, all friedrich's villages, and many more, lie round you as on a map,--their dirt all hidden, nothing wanting to the landscape, were it better carpeted with green (green instead of russet), and shaded here and there with wood. a small wild pink, bright-red, and of the size of a star, grows extensively about; of which you are tempted to pluck specimens, as memorial of a field so famous in war." [tourist's note (september, ).] chapter iii.--prag cannot be got at once. what friedrich's emotions after the battle of prag were, we do not much know. they are not inconceivable, if we read his situation well; but in the way of speech, there is, as usual, next to nothing. here are two stray utterances, worth gathering from a man so uncommunicative in that form. friedrich a month before prag (from lockwitz, th march, to princess amelia, at berlin).--"my dearest sister, i give you a thousand thanks for the hints you have got me from dr. eller on the illness of our dear mother. thrice-welcome this; and reassures me [alas, not on good basis!] against a misfortune which i should have considered very great for me. "as to us and our posture of affairs, political and military,--place yourself, i conjure you, above every event. think of our country and remember that one's first duty is to defend it. if you learn that a misfortune happens to one of us, ask, 'did he die fighting?' and if yes, give thanks to god. victory or else death, there is nothing else for us; one or the other we must have. all the world here is of that temper. what! you would everybody sacrifice his life for the state, and you would not have your brothers give the example? ah, my dear sister, at this crisis, there is no room for bargaining. either at the summit of glorious success, or else abolished altogether. this campaign now coming is like that of pharsalia for rome, or that of leuctra for the greeks,"--a campaign we verily shall have to win, or go to wreck upon! [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. i. .] friederich shortly after prag (to his mother, letter still extant in autograph, without date).--"my brothers and i are still well. the whole campaign runs risk of being lost to the austrians; and i find myself free, with , men. add to this, that we are masters of a kingdom [bohemia here], which is obliged to furnish us with troops and money. the austrians are dispersed like straw before the wind. i will send a part of my troops to compliment messieurs the french; and am going [if i once had prag!] to pursue the austrians with the rest of my army." [ib. xxvi. .] friedrich, who keeps his emotions generally to himself, does not, as will be seen, remain quite silent to us throughout this great year; but, by accident, has left us some rather impressive gleanings in that kind;--and certainly in no year could such accident have been luckier to us; this of being, in several respects, the greatest of his life. from nearly the topmost heights down to the lowest deeps, his fortunes oscillated this year; and probably, of all the sons of adam, nobody's outlooks and reflections had in them, successive and simultaneous, more gigantic forms of fear and of hope. he is on a very high peak at this moment; suddenly emerging from his thick cloud, into thunderous victory of that kind; and warning all pythons what they get by meddling with the sun-god! loud enough, far-clanging, is the sound of the silver bow; gazetteers and men all on pause at such new phoebus apollo risen in his wrath;--the victory at prag considered to be much more annihilative than it really was. at london, lord holderness had his tower-guns in readiness, waiting for something of the kind; and "the joy of the people was frantic." [_mitchell papers and memoirs_ (i. e the printed selection, vols. london, ;--which will be the oftenest cited by us, "papers and memoirs"), i. : "holderness to mitchell, th may, ." mitchell is now attending friedrich; his letter from keith's camp, during the thunder of "friday, may th," is given, ib. i. .] very dominant, our "protestant champion" yonder, on his ziscaberg; bidding the enormous pompadour-theresa combinations, the french, austrian, swedish, russian populations and dread sovereigns, check their proud waves, and hold at mid-flood. it is thought, had he in effect, "annihilated" the austrian force at prag, that day (friday, th may, as he might have done by waiting till saturday, th), he could then, with the due rapidity, rapidity being indispensable in the affair, have become master of prag, which meant of bohemia altogether; and have stormed forward, as his program bore, into the heart, of an austria still terror-stricken, unrallied;--in which case, it is calculated, the french, the russians, swedes, much more the reich and such like, would all have drawn bridle; and austria itself have condescended to make peace with a neighbor of such quality, and consent to his really modest desire of being let alone! possible, all this,--think retzow and others. [see retzow, i. - ; &c. ] but the king had not waited till to-morrow; no persuasion could make him wait: and it is idle speculating on the small turns which here, as everywhere, can produce such deflections of course. beyond question, prag is not captured, and may, as now garrisoned, require a great deal of capturing:--and perhaps it is but a peak, this high dominancy of friedrich's, not a solid table-land, till much more have been done! friedrich has nothing of the gascon: but there may well be conceivable at this time a certain glow of internal pride, like that of phoebus amid the piled tempests,--like that of the one man prevailing, if but for a short season, against the devil and all men: "i have made good my bit, of resolution so far: here are the austrians beaten at the set day, and prag summoned to surrender, as per program!"-- intrinsically, prag is not a strong city: we have seen it, taken in few days; in one night;--and again, as in belleisle's time, we have seen it making tough defence for a series of weeks. it depends on the garrison, what extent of garrison (the circuit of it being so immense), and what height of humor. there are now , men caged in it, known to have considerable magazines; and friedrich, aware that it will cost trouble, bends all his strength upon it, and from his two camps, ziscaberg, weissenberg, due bridges uniting, keith and he batter it, violently, aiming chiefly at the magazines (which are not all bomb-proof); and hope they may succeed before it is too late. the vienna people are in the depths of amazement and discouragement; almost of terror, had it not been for a few, or especially for one high heart among them. feldmarschall daun, on the news of may th, hastily fell back, joined by the wrecks of the right wing, which fled sazawa way. brunswick-bevern, with a , , is detached to look after daun; finds daun still on the retreat; greedily collecting reinforcements from the homeward quarter; and hanging back, though now double or so of bevern's strength. amazement and discouragement are the general feeling among friedrich's enemies. notable to see how the whole hostile world marching in upon him,--french, russians, much more the reich, poor faltering entity,--pauses, as with its breath taken away, at news of prag; and, arrested on the sudden, with lifted foot, ceases to stride forward; and merely tramp-tramps on the same place (nay in part, in the reich part, visibly tramps backward), for above a month ensuing! who knows whether, practically, any of them will come on; [see correspondance du comte de saint-germain, an eye-witness, i. (cited in preuss, ii. ); &c. &c.] and not leave austria by itself to do the duel with friedrich? if prag were but got, and the , well locked away, it would be very salutary for friedrich's affairs!--week after week, the city holds out; and there seems no hope of it, except by hunger, and burning their magazines by red-hot balls. colonel mayer with his "free-corps" party makes a visit, of didactic nature, to the reich. friedrich, as we saw, on entering bohmen, had shot off a light detachment under colonel mayer, southward, to seize any austrian magazines there were, especially one big magazine at pilsen:--which mayer has handsomely done, may d (pilsen "a bigger magazine than jung-bunzlau, even"); after which mayer is now off westward, into the ober-pfalz, into the nurnberg countries; to teach the reich a small lesson, since they will not listen to plotho. prag battle, as happens, had already much chilled the ardor of the reich! mayer has two free-corps, his own and another; about , of foot; to which are added a of hussars. they have cannon, carry otherwise a minimum of baggage; are swift wild fellows, sharp of stroke; and do, for the time, prove didactic to the reich; bringing home to its very bosom the late great lesson of the ziscaberg, in an applied form. mayer made a pretty course of it, into the ober-pfalz countries; scattering the poor execution drill-sergeants and incipiencies of preparation, the deliberative county meetings, kreis-convents: ransoming cities, nurnberg for one city, whose cries went to friedrich on the ziscaberg, and wide over the world. [in _helden-geschichte,_ iv. - , the nurnberg letter and response ( st may- th june, ): in pauli, _leben grosser helden_ (iii. et seq.), account of the mayer expedition; also in _militair-lexikon, _ iii. (quoting from pauli).] nurnberg would have been but too happy to "refuse its contingent to the reich's army," as many others would have been (poor kur-baiern hurrying off a kind of embassy to friedrich, great terror reigning among the wigs of regensburg, and everybody drawing back that could),--had not imperial menaces, and an event that fell out by and by in prag country, forced compliance. mayer's expedition made a loud noise in the newspapers; and was truly of a shining nature in its kind; very perfectly managed on mayer's part, and has traits in it which are amusing to read, had one time. take one small glance from pauli:-- "at furth in anspach, st june [after six days' screwing of nurnberg from without, which we had no cannon to take], a gratuity for the prussian troops [amount not stated] was demanded and given: at schwabach, farther up the regnitz river, they took quarters; no exemption made, clergy and laity alike getting soldiers billeted. meat and drink had to be given them: as also carolines [guineas and better], and twenty new uniforms. upon which, next day, they marched to zirndorf, and the reichsgraf puckler's mansion, the schloss of farrenbach there. mayer took quarter in the schloss itself. here the noble owners got up a ball for mayer's entertainment; and did all they could contrive to induce a light treatment from him." figure it, the neighboring nobility and gentry in gala; mayer too in his best uniform, and smiling politely, with those "bright little black eyes" of his! for he was a brilliant airy kind of fellow, and had much of the chevalier, as well as of the partisan, when requisite! "out of farrenbach, the mayer people circulated upon all the neighboring lordships; at wilhelmsdorf, the reichs-furst von hohenlohe [a too busy anti-prussian] had the worst brunt to bear. the adjacent baireuth lands [dear wilhelmina, fancy her too in such neighborhood!] were to the utmost spared all billeting, and even all transit,"--though wandering sergeants of the reich's force, "one sergeant with the wurzburg herr commissarius and eight common men, did get picked up on baireuth ground: and this or the other anspach official (anspach being disaffected), too busy on the wrong side, found himself suddenly prisoner of war; but was given up, at wilhelmina's gracious request. on bamberg he was sharp as flint; and had to be; the bambergers, reinforced at last by 'circle-militias (kreis-truppen)' in quantity, being called out in mass against him; and at vach an actual passage of fight had occurred." of the "affair at vach," pretty little drawn-battle (mostly an affair of art), mayer versus "kreis-troops to the amount of , , with twelve cannon, or some say twenty-four" (which they couldn't handle); and how mayer cunningly took a position unassailable, "burnt bridges of the regnitz river," and, plying his five cannon against these ardent awkward people, stood cheerful on the other side; and then at last, in good time, whisked himself off to the hill of culmbach, with all his baggage, inexpugnable there for three days:--of all this, though it is set down at full length, we can say nothing. [pauli, iii. , &c. (who gives mayer's own letter, and others, upon vach).] and will add only, that, having girt himself and made his packages, mayer left the hill of culmbach; and deliberately wended home, by coburg and other countries where he had business, eating his way; and early in july was safe in the metal mountains again; having fluttered the volscians in their frankenland corioli to an unexpected extent. it is one of five or six such sallies friedrich made upon the reich, sometimes upon the austrians and reich together, to tumble up their magazines and preparations. rapid unexpected inroads, year after year; done chiefly by the free-corps; and famous enough to the then gazetteers. of which, or of their doers, as we can in time coming afford little or no notice, let us add this small note on the free-corps topic, which is a large one in the books, but must not interrupt us again:-- "before this war was done," say my authorities, "there came gradually to be twenty-one prussian free-corps,"--foot almost all; there being already hussars in quantity, ever since the first silesian experiences. "notable aggregates they were of loose wandering fellows, broken saxons, prussians, french; 'hungarian-protestant' some of them, 'deserters from all the armies' not a few; attracted by the fame of friedrich,--as the colonels enlisting them had been; mayer himself, for instance, was by birth a vienna man; and had been in many services and wars, from his fifteenth year and onwards. most miscellaneous, these prussian free-corps; a swift faculty the indispensable thing, by no means a particular character: but well-disciplined, well-captained; who generally managed their work well. "they were, by origin, of anti-tolpatch nature, got up on the diamond-cut-diamond principle; they stole a good deal, with order sometimes, and oftener without; but there was nothing of the old mentzel-trenck atrocity permitted them, or ever imputed to them; and they did, usually with good military talent, sometimes conspicuously good, what was required of them. regular generals, of a high merit, one or two of their captains came to be: wunsch, for example; werner, in some sort; and, but for his sudden death, this mayer himself. others of them, as von hordt (hard is his swedish name); and 'quintus icilius' (by nature guichard, of whom we shall hear a great deal in the friedrich circle by and by), are distinguished as honorably intellectual and cultivated persons. [count de hordt's _memoirs_ (autobiographical, or in the first person: english translation, london, ; two french originals, a worse in , and a better now at last), preface, i-xii. in _helden-geschichte,_ v. - , , a detailed "list of the free-corps in " (twelve of foot, two of horse, at that time): see preuss, ii. n.; pauli (ubi supra), _life of mayer._] "poor mayer died within two years hence ( th january, ); of fever, caught by unheard-of exertions and over fatigues; after many exploits, and with the highest prospect, opening on him. a man of many adventures, of many qualities; a wild dash of chivalry in him all along, and much military and other talent crossed in the growing. in the dull old books i read one other fact which is vivid to me, that wilhelmina, as sequel of those first franconian exploits and procedures, 'had given him her order of knighthood, order of sincerity and fidelity,'"--poor dear princess, what an interest to wilhelmina, this flash of her brother's thunder thrown into those franconian parts, and across her own pungent anxieties and sorrowfully affectionate thoughts, in these weeks!-- shortly after mayer, about the time when mayer was wending homeward, general von oldenburg, a very valiant punctual old general, was pushed out westward upon erfurt, a city of kur-mainz's, to give kur-mainz a similar monition. and did it handsomely, impressively upon the gazetteer world at least and the erfurt populations,--though we can afford it no room in this place. oldenburg's force was but some , ; pirna saxons most of them:--such a winter oldenburg has had with these saxons; bursting out into actual musketry upon him once; oldenburg, volcanically steady, summoning the prussian part, "to me, true prussian bursche!"--and hanging nine of the mutinous saxons. and has coerced and compesced them (all that did not contrive to desert) into soldierly obedience; and, th june, appears at the gate of erfurt with them, to do his delicate errand there. sharply conclusive, though polite and punctual. "send to kur-mainz say you? well, as to your citadel, and those , soldiers all moving peaceably off thither,--yes. as to your city: within one hour, gate open to us, or we open it!" [in _helden-geschichte_ (v. - ) copious account, with the missives to and from, the reichs-pleadings that followed, the &c. &c. _militair-lexikon,_? oldenburg.] and oldenburg marches in, as vice-sovereign for the time:--but, indeed, has soon to leave again; owing to what event in the distance will be seen! if prag siege go well, these mayer-oldenburg expeditions will have an effect on the reich: but if it go ill, what are they, against austria with its force of steady pressure? all turns on the issue of prag siege:--a fact extremely evident to friedrich too! but these are what in the interim can be done. one neglects no opportunity, tries by every method. of the singular quasi-bewitched condition of england; and what is to be hoped from it for the common cause, if prag go amiss. on the britannic side, too, the outlooks are not good;--much need friedrich were through his prag affair, and "hastening with forty thousand to help his allies,"--that is, royal highness of cumberland and britannic purse, his only allies at this moment. royal highness and army of observation (should have been , , are to , , hired germans; troops good enough, were they tolerably led) finds the hanover program as bad as schmettau and friedrich ever represented it; and, already,--unless prag go well,--wears, to the understanding eye, a very contingent aspect. d'estrees outnumbers him; d'estrees, too, is something of a soldier,--a very considerable advantage in affairs of war. d'estrees, since april, is in wesel; gathering in the revenues, changing the officialities: much out of discipline, they say;--"hanging" gradually " , marauders;" in round numbers , this year. [stenzel, v. ; retzow, i. .] d'estrees does not yet push forward, owing to prag. if he do--it is well known how royal highness fared when he did, and what a campaign royal highness made of it this year ! how the weser did prove wadable, as schmettau had said to no purpose; wadable, bridgable; and royal highness had to wriggle back, ever back; no stand to be made, or far worse than none: back, ever back, till he got into the sea, for that matter, and to the end of more than one thing! poor man, friends say he has an incurable hanover ministry, a program that is inexecutable. as yet he has not lost head, any head he ever had: but he is wonderful, he;--and his england is! we shall have to look at him once again; and happily once only. here, from my constitutional historian, are some passages which we may as well read in the present interim of expectation. i label, and try to arrange:-- . england in crisis. "england is indignant with its hero of culloden and his campaign ; but really has no business to complain. royal highness of cumberland, wriggling helplessly in that manner, is a fair representative of the england that now is. for years back, there has been, in regard to all things foreign or domestic, in that country, by way of national action, the miserablest haggling as to which of various little-competent persons shall act for the nation. a melancholy condition indeed!-- "but the fact is, his grace of newcastle, ever since his poor brother pelham died (who was always a solid, loyal kind of man, though a dull; and had always, with patient affection, furnished his grace, much unsupplied otherwise, with common sense hitherto), is quite insecure in parliament, and knows not what hand to turn to. fox is contemptuous of him; pitt entirely impatient of him; duke of cumberland (great in the glory of culloden) is aiming to oust him, and bear rule with his young nephew, the new rising sun, as the poor papa and grandfather gets old. even carteret (earl granville as they now call him, a carteret much changed since those high-soaring worms-hanau times!) was applied to. but the answer was--what could the answer be? high-soaring carteret, scandalously overset and hurled out in that hanau time, had already tried once (long ago, and with such result!) to spring in again, and 'deliver his majesty from factions;' and actually had made a 'granville ministry;' ministry which fell again in one day. [" th february, " (thackeray, _life of chatham,_ i. ).] to the complete disgust of carteret-granville;--who, ever since, sits ponderously dormant (kind of fixture in the privy council, this long while back); and is resigned, in a big contemptuous way, to have had his really considerable career closed upon him by the smallest of mankind; and, except occasional blurts of strong rugged speech which come from him, and a good deal of wine taken into him, disdains making farther debate with the world and its elect newcastles. carteret, at this crisis, was again applied to, 'cannot you? in behalf of an afflicted old king?' but carteret answered, no. [ib. i. .] "in short, it is admitted and bewailed by everybody, seldom was there seen such a government of england (and england has seen some strange governments), as in these last three years. chaotic imbecility reigning pretty supreme. ruler's work,--policy, administration, governance, guidance, performance in any kind,--where is it to be found? for if even a walpole, when his talking-apparatus gets out of gear upon him, is reduced to extremities, though the stoutest of men,--fancy what it will be, in like case, and how the acting-apparatuses and affairs generally will go, with a poor hysterical newcastle, now when his common sense is fatally withdrawn! the poor man has no resource but to shuffle about in aimless perpetual fidget; endeavoring vainly to say yes and no to all questions, foreign and domestic, that may rise. whereby, in the affairs of england, there has, as it were, universal st.-vitus's dance supervened, at an important crisis: and the preparations for america, and for a downright life-and-death wrestle with france on the jenkins's-ear question, are quite in a bad way. in an ominously bad. why cannot we draw a veil over these things!"-- . pitt, and the hour of tide. "the fidgetings and shufflings, the subtleties, inane trickeries, and futile hitherings and thitherings of newcastle may be imagined: a man not incapable of trick; but anxious to be well with everybody; and to answer yes and no to almost everything,--and not a little puzzled, poor soul, to get through, in that impossible way! such a paralysis of wriggling imbecility fallen over england, in this great crisis of its fortunes, as is still painful to contemplate: and indeed it has been mostly shaken out of mind by the modern englishman; who tries to laugh at it, instead of weeping and considering, which would better beseem. pitt speaks with a tragical vivacity, in all ingenious dialects, lively though serious; and with a depth of sad conviction, which is apt to be slurred over and missed altogether by a modern reader. speaks as if this brave english nation were about ended; little or no hope left for it; here a gleam of possibility, and there a gleam, which soon vanishes again in the fatal murk of impotencies, do-nothingisms. very sad to the heart of pitt. a once brave nation arrived at its critical point, and doomed to higgle and puddle there till it drown in the gutters: considerably tragical to pitt; who is lively, ingenious, and, though not quitting the parliamentary tone for the hebrew-prophetic, far more serious than the modern reader thinks. "in walpole's book [_memoirs of the last ten years of george ii._] there is the liveliest picture of this dismal parliamentary hellbroth,--such a mother of dead dogs as one has seldom looked into! for the hour is great; and the honorable gentlemen, i must say, are small. the hour, little as you dream of it, my honorable friends, is pregnant with questions that are immense. wide continents, long epochs and aeons hang on this poor jargoning of yours; the eternal destinies are asking their much-favored nation, 'will you, can you?'--much-favored nation is answering in that manner. astonished at its own stupidity, and taking refuge in laughter. the eternal destinies are very patient with some nations; and can disregard their follies, for a long while; and have their cromwell, have their pitt, or what else is essential, ready for the poor nation, in a grandly silent way! "certain it is,--though how could poor newcastle know it at all!--here is again the hour of tide for england. tide is full again; has been flowing long hundreds of years, and is full: certain, too, that time and tide wait on no man or nation. in a dialect different from cromwell's or pitt's, but with a sense true to theirs, i call it the eternal destinies knocking at england's door again: 'are you ready for the crisis, birth-point of long ages to you, which is now come?' greater question had not been, for centuries past. none to be named with it since that high spiritual question (truly a much higher, and which was in fact the parent of this and of all of high and great that lay ahead), which england and oliver cromwell were there to answer: 'will you hold by consecrated formulas, then, you english, and expect salvation from traditions of the elders; or are you for divine realities, as the one sacred and indispensable thing?' which they did answer, in what way we know. truly the highest question; which if a nation can answer well, it will grow in this world, and may come to be considerable, and to have many high questions to answer,--this of pitt's, for example. and the answers given do always extend through coming ages; and do always bear harvests, accursed or else blessed, according as the answers were. a thing awfully true, if you have eye for it;--a thing to make honorable gentlemen serious, even in the age of percussion-caps! no, my friend, newcastleisms, impious poltrooneries, in a nation, do not die:--neither (thank god) do cromwellisms and pious heroisms; but are alive for the poor nation, even in its somnambulancies, in its stupidest dreams. for nations have their somnambulancies; and, at any rate, the questions put to nations, in different ages, vary much. not in any age, or turning-point in history, had england answered the destinies in such a dialect as now under its newcastle and national palaver." . of walpole, as recording angel. "walpole's _george the second_ is a book of far more worth than is commonly ascribed to it; almost the one original english book yet written on those times,--which, by the accident of pitt, are still memorable to us. but for walpole,--burning like a small steady light there, shining faithfully, if stingily, on the evil and the good,--that sordid muddle of the pelham parliaments, which chanced to be the element of things now recognizable enough as great, would be forever unintelligible. he is unusually accurate, punctual, lucid; an irrefragable authority on english points. and if, in regard to foreign, he cannot be called an understanding witness, he has read the best documents accessible, has conversed with select ambassadors (mitchell and the like, as we can guess); and has informed himself to a degree far beyond most of his contemporaries. in regard to pitt's speeches, in particular, his brief jottings, done rapidly while the matter was still shining to him, are the only reports that have the least human resemblance. we may thank walpole that pitt is not dumb to us, as well as dark. very curious little scratchings and etchings, those of walpole; frugal, swift, but punctual and exact; hasty pen-and-ink outlines; at first view, all barren; bald as an invoice, seemingly; but which yield you, after long study there and elsewhere, a conceivable notion of what and how excellent these pitt speeches may have been. airy, winged, like arrow-flights of phoebus apollo; very superlative speeches indeed. walpole's book is carefully printed,--few errors in it like that 'chapeau' for chasot," which readers remember:--"but, in respect to editing, may be characterized as still wanting an editor. a book unedited; little but lazy ignorance of a very hopeless type, thick contented darkness, traceable throughout in the marginal part. no attempt at an index, or at any of the natural helps to a reader now at such distance from it. nay, till you have at least marked, on the top of each page, what month and year it actually is, the book cannot be read at all,--except by an idle creature, doing worse than nothing under the name of reading!" . pitt's speeches, foreshadowing what. "it is a kind of epoch in your studies of modern english history when you get to understand of pitt's speeches, that they are not parliamentary eloquences, but things which with his whole soul he means, and is intent to do. this surprising circumstance, when at last become undeniable, makes, on the sudden, an immense difference for the speeches and you! speeches are not a thing of high moment to this editor; it is the thing spoken, and how far the speaker means to do it, that this editor inquires for. too many speeches there are, which he hears admired all round, and has privately to entertain a very horrid notion of! speeches, the finest in quality (were quality really 'fine' conceivable in such case), which want a corresponding fineness of source and intention, corresponding nobleness of purport, conviction, tendency; these, if we will reflect, are frightful instead of beautiful. yes;--and always the frightfuler, the 'finer' they are; and the faster and farther they go, sowing themselves in the dim vacancy of men's minds. for speeches, like all human things, though the fact is now little remembered, do always rank themselves as forever blessed, or as forever unblessed. sheep or goats; on the right hand of the final judge, or else on the left. there are speeches which can be called true; and, again, speeches which are not true:--heavens, only think what these latter are! sacked wind, which you are intended to sow,--that you may reap the whirlwind! after long reading, i find chatham's speeches to be what he pretends they are: true, and worth speaking then and there. noble indeed, i can call them with you: the highly noble foreshadow, necessary preface and accompaniment of actions which are still nobler. a very singular phenomenon within those walls, or without! "pitt, though nobly eloquent, is a man of action, not of speech; an authentically royal kind of man. and if there were a plutarch in these times, with a good deal of leisure on his hands, he might run a parallel between friedrich and chatham. two radiant kings: very shining men of action both; both of them hard bested, as the case often is. for your born king will generally have, if not "all europe against him," at least pretty much all the universe. chatham's course to kingship was not straight or smooth,--as friedrich, too, had his well-nigh fatal difficulties on the road. again, says the plutarch, they are very brave men both; and of a clearness and veracity peculiar among their contemporaries. in chatham, too, there is something of the flash of steel; a very sharp-cutting, penetrative, rapid individual, he too; and shaped for action, first of all, though he has to talk so much in the world. fastidious, proud, no king could be prouder, though his element is that of free-senate and democracy. and he has a beautiful poetic delicacy, withal; great tenderness in him, playfulness, grace; in all ways, an airy as well as a solid loftiness of mind. not born a king,--alas, no, not officially so, only naturally so; has his kingdom to seek. the conquering of silesia, the conquering of the pelham parliaments--but we will shut up the plutarch with time on his hands. "pitt's speeches, as i spell them from walpole and the other faint tracings left, are full of genius in the vocal kind, far beyond any speeches delivered in parliament: serious always, and the very truth, such as he has it; but going in many dialects and modes; full of airy flashings, twinkles and coruscations. sport, as of sheet-lightning glancing about, the bolt lying under the horizon; bolt hidden, as is fit, under such a horizon as he had. a singularly radiant man. could have been a poet, too, in some small measure, had he gone on that line. there are many touches of genius, comic, tragic, lyric, something of humor even, to be read in those shadows of speeches taken down for us by walpole.... "in one word, pitt, shining like a gleam of sharp steel in that murk of contemptibilities, is carefully steering his way towards kingship over it. tragical it is (especially in pitt's case, first and last) to see a royal man, or born king, wading towards his throne in such an element. but, alas, the born king (even when he tries, which i take to be the rarer case) so seldom can arrive there at all;--sinful epochs there are, when heaven's curse has been spoken, and it is that awful being, the born sham-king, that arrives! pitt, however, does it. yes; and the more we study pitt, the more we shall find he does it in a peculiarly high, manful and honorable as well as dexterous manner; and that english history has a right to call him 'the acme and highest man of constitutional parliaments; the like of whom was not in any parliament called constitutional, nor will again be.'" well, probably enough; too probably! but what it more concerns us to remember here, is the fact, that in these dismal shufflings which have been, pitt--in spite of royal dislikes and newcastle peddlings and chicaneries--has been actually in office, in the due topmost place, the poor english nation ardently demanding him, in what ways it could. been in office;--and is actually out again, in spite of the nation. was without real power in the royal councils; though of noble promise, and planting himself down, hero-like, evidently bent on work, and on ending that unutterable "st.-vitus's-dance" that had gone so high all round him. without real power, we say; and has had no permanency. came in th- th november, ; thrown out th april, . after six months' trial, the st. vitus finds that it cannot do with him; and will prefer going on again. the last act his royal highness of cumberland did in england was to displace pitt: "down you, i am the man!" said royal highness; and went to the weser countries on those terms. would the reader wish to see, in summary, what pitt's offices have been, since he entered on this career about thirty years ago? here, from our historian, is the list of them in order of time; stages of pitt's course, he calls it:-- . "december, , comes into parliament, age now twenty-six; cornet in the blues as well; being poor, and in absolute need of some career that will suit. april, , makes his first speech:--prince frederick the subject,--who was much used as battering-ram by the opposition; whom perhaps pitt admired for his madrigals, for his literary patronizings, and favor to the west-wickham set. speech, full of airy lightning, was much admired. followed by many, with the lightning getting denser and denser; always on the opposition side [once on the jenkins's-ear question, as we saw, when the gazetteer editor spelt him mr. pitts]: so that majesty was very angry, sulky public much applausive; and walpole was heard to say, 'we must muzzle, in some way, that terrible cornet of horse!'--but could not, on trial; this man's 'price,' as would seem, being awfully high! august-october, , sarah duchess of marlborough bequeathed him , pounds as commissariat equipment in this his campaign against the mud-gods, [thackeray, i. .]--glory to the old heroine for so doing! which lifted pitt out of the cornetcy or horse-guards element, i fancy; and was as the nailing of his parliamentary colors to the mast. . "february th, , vice-treasurer for ireland: on occasion of that pelham-granville 'as-you-were!' (carteret ministry, which lasted one day), and the slight shufflings that were necessary. now first in office,--after such ten years of colliding and conflicting, and fine steering in difficult waters. vice-treasurer for ireland: and 'soon after, on lord wilmington's death,' paymaster of the forces. continued paymaster about nine years. rejects, quietly and totally, the big income derivable from interest of government moneys lying delayed in the paymaster's hand ('dishonest, i tell you!')--and will none of it, though poor. not yet high, still low over the horizon, but shining brighter and brighter. greatly contemptuous of newcastle and the platitudes and poltrooneries; and still a good deal in the opposition strain, and not always tempering the wind to the shorn lamb. for example, pitt (still paymaster) to newcastle on king of the romans question ( or so): 'you engage for subsidies, not knowing their extent; for treaties, not knowing the terms!'--'what a bashaw!' moan newcastle and the top officials. 'best way is, don't mind it,' said mr. stone [one of their terriers,--a hard-headed fellow, whose brother became primate of ireland by and by]. . "november th, , thrown out:--on pelham's death, and the general hurly-burly in official regions, and change of partners with no little difficulty, which had then ensued! sir thomas robinson," our old friend, "made secretary,--not found to answer. pitt sulkily looking on america, on minorca; on things german, on things in general; warily set on returning, as is thought; but how? fox to pitt: 'will you join me?'--pitt: 'no,'--with such politeness, but in an unmistakable way! ten months of consummate steering on the part of pitt; chancellor hardwicke coming as messenger, he among others; pitt's answer to him dexterous, modestly royal. pitt's bearing, in this grand juncture and crisis, is royal, his speakings and also his silences notably fine. october th, : to newcastle face to face, 'i will accept no situation under your grace!'--and, about that day month, comes in, on his own footing. that is to say, "november th, , to england's great comfort, sees himself secretary of state (age now just forty-eight). has pretty much all england at his back; but has, in face of him, fox, newcastle and company, offering mere impediment and discouragement; royal highness of cumberland looking deadly sour. till finally, "april th, , king bids him resign; royal highness setting off for germany the second day after. pitt had been in rather more than four months. england, at that time a silent country in comparison, knew not well what to do; took to offering him freedoms of corporations in very great quantity. town after town, from all the four winds, sympathetically firing off, upon a misguided sacred majesty, its little box, in this oblique way, with extraordinary diligence. whereby, after six months bombardment by boxes, and also by events, june th, "--we will expect june th. [thackeray, i. , ; almon, _anecdotes of pitt_ (london, ), i. , , .] in these sad circumstances, preparations so called have been making for hanover, for america;--such preparations as were never seen before. take only one instance; let one be enough:-- "by the london gazette, well on in february, , we learn that lord loudon, a military gentleman of small faculty, but of good connections, has been nominated to command the forces in america; and then, more obscurely, some days after, that another has been nominated:--one of them ought certainly to make haste out, if he could; the french, by account, have , men in those countries, with real officers to lead them! haste out, however, is not what this lord loudon or his rival can make. in march, we learn that lord loudon has been again nominated; in an improved manner, this time;--and still does not look like going. 'again nominated, why again?' alas, reader, there have been hysterical fidgetings in a high quarter; internal shiftings and shufflings, contradictions, new proposals, one knows not what. [_gentleman's magazine _ for , pp. , , , .] one asks only: how is the business ever to be done, if you cannot even settle what imbecile is to go and try it? "seldom had country more need of a commander than america now. america itself is of willing mind; and surely has resources, in such a cause; but is full of anarchies as well: the different states and sections of it, with their discrepant legislatures, their half-drilled militias, pulling each a different way, there is, as in the poor mother country, little result except of the st.-vitus kind. in some legislatures are anarchic quakers, who think it unpermissible to fight with those hectoring french, and their tail of scalping indians; and that the 'method of love' ought to be tried with them. what is to become of those poor people, if not even a lord loudon can get out?" the result was, lord loudon had not in his own poor person come to hand in america till august, , season now done; and could only write home, "all is st. vitus out here! must have reinforcement of , men!" "yes," answers pitt, who is now in office: "you shall have them; and we will take cape breton, please heaven!"--but was thrown out; and by the wrigglings that ensued, nothing of the , reached lord loudon till season too was done. nor did they then stead his lordship much, then or afterwards; who never took cape breton, nor was like doing it;--but wriggled to and fro a good deal, and revolved on his axis, according to pattern given. and set (what chiefly induces us to name him here) his not reverent enough subordinate, lord charles hay, our old fontenoy friend, into angry impatient quizzing of him;--and by and by into court-martial for such quizzing. [peerage books,? tweeddale.] court-martial, which was much puzzled by the case; and could decide nothing, but only adjourn and adjourn;--as we will now do, not mentioning lord loudon farther, or the numerous other instances at all. [" st may, , major-general lord charles hay died" (_gentleman's magazine_ of year); and his particular court-martial could adjourn for the last time.--"i wrote something for lord charles," said the great johnson once, many years afterwards; "and i thought he had nothing to fear from a court-martial. i suffered a great loss when he died: he was a mighty pleasing man in conversation, and a reading man" (boswell's _life of johnson:_ under date, " d april, ").] pitt, we just saw, far from being confirmed and furthered, has been thrown out by royal highness of cumberland, the last thing before crossing to that exquisite weser problem. "nothing now left at home to hinder us and our hanover and weser problem!" thinks royal highness. no, indeed: a comfortable pacific no-government, or battle of the four elements, left yonder; the anarch old waggling his addle head over it; ready to help everybody, and bring fire and water, and yes and no, into holy matrimony, if he could!--let us return to prag. only one remark more; upon "april th." that was the day of pitt's dismissal at st. james's: and i find, at schonbrunn it is likewise the day when reichs-hofrath (kaiser in privy council) decides, in respect to friedrich, that ban of the reich must be proceeded with, and recommends reich's diet to get through with the same. [_helden-geschichte_ (reichs-procedures, ubi supra).] official england ordering its pitt into private life, and official teutschland its friedrich into outlawry ("be quiet henceforth, both of you!")--are, by chance, synchronous phenomena. phenomena of prag siege:--prag siege is interrupted. friedrich's siege of prag proved tedious beyond expectation. in four days he had done that exploit in ; but now, to the world's disappointment, in as many weeks he cannot. nothing was omitted on his part: he seized all egresses from prag, rapidly enough; had beset them with batteries, on the very night or morrow of the battle; every egress beset, cannon and ruin forbidding any issue there. on the th of may, cannonading began; proper siege-cannon and ammunition, coming up from dresden, were completely come may th; after which the place is industriously battered, bombarded with red-hot balls; but except by hunger, it will not do. prag as a fortress is weak, but as a breastwork for , men it is strong. the austrians tried sallies; but these availed nothing,--very ill-conducted, say some. the prussians, more than once, had nearly got into the place by surprisal; but, owing to mere luck of the austrians, never could,--say the same parties. [archenholtz, i. , .] a diarium of prag siege is still extant, two diariums; punctual diurnal account, both austrian and prussian: [in _ helden-geschichte,_ iv. - , prussian diarium; ib. - , austrian.] which it is far from our intention to inflict on readers, in this haste. siege lasted six weeks; four weeks extremely hot,--from may th, when the proper artilleries, in complete state, got up from dresden. line of siege-works, or intermittent series of batteries, is some twelve miles long; from branik southward to beyond the belvedere northward, on both sides of the moldau. king's camp is on the ziscaberg; keith's on the lorenz berg, embracing and commanding the weissenberg; there are two bridges of communication, branik and podoli: king lodges in the parsonage of michel,--the busiest of all the sons of adam; what a set of meditations in that parsonage! the besieged, , by count, offer to surrender prag on condition of "free withdrawal:" "no; you shall engage, such of you as won't enlist with us, not to serve against me for six years." here are some select specimens; prussian chiefly, in an abridged state:-- "may th, no sooner was our artillery come (all the grounds and beds for it had been ready beforehand), than as evening fell, it began to play in terrific fashion." "night of the d- th may, there broke out a furious sally; their first, and much their hottest, say the prussians: a very serious affair;--which fell upon keith's quarter, west side of the moldau. sally, say something like , strong; picked men all, and strengthened with half a pound of horse-flesh each" (unluckily without salt): judge what the common diet must have been, when that was generous! "no salt to it; but a fair supplement of brandy. browne, from his bed of pain (died th june), had been strongly urgent. aim is, to force the prussian lines, by determination and the help of darkness, in some weak point: the whole army, standing ranked on the walls, shall follow, if things go well; and storm itself through,--away daun-wards, across the river by podoli bridge. "sally broke out between and a.m.; but we had wind of it, and were on the alert. sally tried on this place and on that; very furious in places, but could not anywhere prevail. the tussling lasted for near six hours (prince ferdinand" of preussen, king's youngest brother, "and others of us, getting hurts and doing exploits),--till, about a.m., it was wholly swept in, with loss of , dead. upon which, their whole army retired to its quarters, in a hopeless condition. escape impossible. near , of them; but in such a posture. provision of bread, the spies say, is not scarce, unless the prussians can burn it, which they are industriously trying (diligent to learn where the magazines are, and to fire incessantly upon the same): plenty of meal hitherto; but for butcher's-meat, only what we saw. forage nearly done, and , horses standing in the squares and market-places,--not even stabling for them, not to speak of food or work,--slaughtering and salting [if one but had salt!] the one method. horse-flesh two kreutzers a pound; rises gradually to double that value. "may th, about sunset there came a furious burst of weather: rain-torrents mixed with battering hail;--some flaw of water-spout among the hills; for it lasted hour on hour, and moldau came down roaring double-deep, above a hundred yards too wide each way; with cargoes of ruin, torn-up trees, drowned horses; which sorely tried our bridge at branik. bridge, half of it, did break away (friedrich's half, forty-four pontoons; keith's people got their end of the bridge doubled in and saved): the austrians, in prag, fished out twenty-four of friedrich's pontoons; the other twenty we caught at our bridge of podoli, farther down. a most wild night for the prussian army in tents; and indeed for prag itself, the low parts of which were all under water; unfortunate individuals getting drowned in the cellars; and, still more important, a great deal of austrian meal, which had been carried thither, to be safe from the red-hot balls. "it was thought the austrians, our bridge being down, might try a sally again. to prevent which, hardly was the rain done, when, on our part, a rocket flew aloft; and there began on the city, from all sides, a deluge of bombs and red hot balls. so that the still-dripping city was set fire to, in various parts: and we could hear [what this editor never can forget] the weh-klagen (wail) of the townsfolk as they tried to quench it, and it always burst out again. the fire-deluge lasted for six hours."--human weh-klagen, through the hollow of night, audible to the prussians and us: "woe's me! water-deluges, then fire-deluges; death on every hand!" according to the austrian accounts, there perished, by bursting of bomb-shells, falling of walls, by hunger and other misery and hurts, "above , townsfolk in this siege." yes, my imperial friends; war is not a thing of streamering and ornamental trumpeting alone; war is an inexorable, dangerously incalculable thing. is it not a terrible question, at whose door lies the beginning of a war! "june th, , poor people of prag were pushed out: 'useless mouths, will you contrive to disappear some way!' but, after haggling about all day, they had to be admitted in again, under penalty of being shot. "june th, city looking black and ruinous, whole of the neustadt in ashes; few houses left in the jew town; in the altstadt the fire raged on (wuthete fort). nothing but ruin and confusion over there; population hiding in cellars, getting killed by falling buildings. burgermeister and townsfolk besiege prince karl, 'for the virgin's sake, have pity on us, your serenity!' poor prince karl has to be deaf, whatever his feelings. "he was diligent in attending mass, they say: he alone of the princes, of whom there were several; two saxon princes among others, prince xavier the elder of them, who will be heard of again. a profane set, these, lodging in the clementinum [vast jesuit edifice, which had been cleared out for them, and "the windows filled with dung outside," against balls]: there, with wines of fine vintage, and cookeries plentiful and exquisite, that know nothing of famine outside, they led an idle disorderly life,--ran races in the long corridors [not so bad a course], dressed themselves in priests' vestures [which are abundant in such locality], and made travesties and mummeries of holy religion; the wretched creatures, defying despair, as buccaneers might when their ship is sinking. to surrender, everything forbids; of escape, there is no possibility. [archenholtz i. ; _helden-geschichte,_ iv. - .] "june th, the bombardment abates; a laboratorium of our own flew aloft by some spark or accident; and killed thirteen men. "june th, from the king's camp a few bombs [king himself now gone] kindled the city in three places:"--but there is, by this time, new game afield; prag siege awaiting its decision not at prag, but some way off. friedrich has been doing his utmost; diligent, by all methods, to learn where the austrian magazines were, that is, on what special edifices and localities shot might be expended with advantage; and has fired into these "about , bombs." here is a small thing still remembered:-- "spies being, above all, essential in this business, friedrich had bethought him of one kasebier, a supreme of house-breakers, whom he has, safe with a ball at his ankle, doing forced labor at spandau [in stettin, if it mattered]. kasebier was actually sent for, pardon promised him if he could do the state a service. kasebier smuggled himself twice, perhaps three times, into prag; but the fourth time he did not come back." [retzow, i. . n.] another note says: "kasebier was a tailor, and son of a tailor, in halle; and the expertest of thieves. had been doing forced labor, in stettin, since ; twice did get into prag; third time, vanished. a highly celebrated prussian thief; still a myth among the people, like dick turpin or cartouche, except that his was always theft without violence." [preuss, ii. n.] we learn vaguely that the price of horse-flesh in prag has risen to double; famine very sore: but still one hears nothing of surrender. and again there is vague rumor that the city may be as it will; but that the garrison has meal, after all we have ruined, which will last till october. such a problem has this king: soluble within the time; or not soluble? such a question for the whole world, and for himself more than any. map goes in here--facing page , book xviii chapter iv.--battle of kolin. on and after june th, the bombardment at prag abated, and never rose to briskness again; the place of trial for decision of that siege having flitted else-whither, as we said. about that time, rumors came in, not so favorable, from the duke of bevern; which friedrich, strong in hope, strove visibly to disbelieve, but at last could not. bevern reports that daun is actually coming on, far too strong for his resisting;--in other terms, that the siege of prag will not decide itself by bombardment, but otherwise and elsewhere. of which we must now give some account; brief as may be, especially in regard to the preliminary or marching part. daun, whose light troops plundered brandeis (almost within wind of the prussian rear) on the day while prag battle was fighting, had, on that fatal event, gradually drawn back to czaslau, a place we used to know fifteen years ago; and there, or in those neighborhoods, defensively manoeuvring, and hanging upon kuttenberg, kolin, especially upon his magazine of suchdol, daun, always rather drawing back, with brunswick-bevern vigilantly waiting on him, has continued ever since; diligently recruiting himself; ranking the remains of the right wing defeated at prag; drawing regiments out of mahren, or whencesoever to be had. till, by these methods, he is grown , strong; nearly thrice superior to bevern; though being a "fabius cunctator" (so called by and by), he as yet attempts nothing. forty thousand in prag, with sixty here in the czaslau quarter, [tempelhof, i. ; retzow (i. , ) counts , + , .] that makes , ; say his prussian majesty has two-thirds of the number: can the fabius cunctator attempt nothing, before prag utterly famish? order comes to him from vienna: "rescue prag; straightway go upon it, cost what it like!" daun does go upon it; advances visibly towards prag, bevern obliged to fall back in front of him. sunday, th june, daun despatches several officers to prince karl at prag, with notice that, "on the th, monday come a week, he will be in the neighborhood of prag with this view:--they, of course, to sally out, and help from rearward." "several officers, under various disguises," go with that message, june th; but none of them could get into the city; and some of them, i judge, must have fallen into the prussian hussar parties:--at any rate, the news they carried did get into the prussian circuit, and produced an instant resolution there. early next morning, monday th, king friedrich, with what disposable force is on the spot,-- , capable of being spared from siege-work, and , more that will be capable of following, under prince moritz, in two days,--sets forth in all speed. joins bevern that same night; at kaurzim, thirty-five miles off, which is about midway from prag to czaslau, and only three miles or so from daun's quarters that night,--had the king known it, which he did not. daun must be instantly gone into; and shall,--if he is there at all, and not fallen back at the first rumor of us, as friedrich rather supposes. in any case, there are preliminaries indispensable: the , of prince moritz still to come up; secondly, bread to be had for us, which is baking at nimburg, across the elbe, twenty miles off; lastly (or rather firstly, and most indispensable of all), daun to be reconnoitred. friedrich reconnoitres daun with all diligence; pushes on everything according to his wont; much obstructed in the reconnoitring by pandour clouds, under which daun has veiled himself, which far outnumber our small hussar force. daun, as usual,--showing always great skill in regard to camps and positions,--has planted himself in difficult country: a little river with its boggy pools in front; behind and around, an intricate broken country of knolls and swamps, one ridge in it which they even call a berg or hill, kamhayek berg; not much of a hill after all, but forming a long backbone to the locality, west end of it straight behind daun's centre, at present. friedrich's position is from north to south; like daun's, taking advantage of what heights and brooks there are; and edging northward to be near his bread-ovens: right wing still holds by kaurzim, left wing looking down on planian, a little town on the high road (kaiser-strasse) from prag to vienna. little town destined to get up its name in a day or two,--next little town to which, twelve miles farther on, is kolin, secretly destined to become and continue still more famous among mankind. kolin is close to the elbe, left or south bank; elbe hereabouts strikes into his long northwestern course (to wittenberg all the way; pirna, say miles off, is his half-way house in that direction);--strikes off northward hereabouts, making for nimburg, among other places: planian, right south of nimburg, is already fifteen good miles from elbe. this is friedrich's position, wednesday, june th and the day following; somewhat nearer his ovens than yesterday. daun is yet parallel to him, has his centre behind swoyschitz, an insignificant village at the foot of those kamhayek heights, which is, ever since, to be found in maps. friday, th, friedrich's bread-wagons and , having come in, as doubtless the pandours report in the proper place, daun does not quite like his strong position any more, but would prefer a stronger. friday about sunset, "great clouds of dust" rise from daun: changing his position, the prussians see, if for pandours and gathering darkness they can at present see little else. daun, truly, observing the king to have in that manner edged up, towards planian, is afraid of his right wing from such a neighbor. so that the reader must take his map again. or, if he care not for such things, let him skip, and leave me solitary to my sad function; till we can meet on easier ground, and report the battle which ensued. daun hustles his right wing back out of that dangerous proximity; wheels his whole right wing and centre ninety degrees round, so as to reach out now towards kolin, and lie on the north slope of the kamhayek ridge; places his left wing en potence (gibbet-wise), hanging round the western end of said kamhayek, its southern extremity at swoyschitz, its northern at hradenin, where (not a mile from planian) his right wing had formerly been;--with other intricate movements not worth following, under my questionable guidance, on a map with unpronounceable names. enough to say that daun's right wing is now far east at krzeczhorz, well beyond chotzemitz, whereabouts his centre now comes to stand (and most of his horse there, both the wings being hilly and rough, unfit for horse);--and that, this being nearly the last of daun's shiftings and hustlings for the present, or indeed in essential respects the very last, readers may as well note the above main points in it. hustled into this still stronger place, with wheeling and shoving, which lasted to a late hour, daun composes himself for the night. he lies now, with centre and right looking northward, pretty much parallel to the planian-kolin or prag-vienna highway, and about a mile south of the same; extreme posts extending almost to kolin on that side; left wing well planted en potence; kamhayek ridge, north face and west end of it, completely his on both the exposed or anti-prussian faces. friedrich feels uncertain whether he has not gone his ways altogether; but proposes to ascertain by break of day. by break of day friedrich starts, having cleared off certain pandour swarms visible in places of difficulty, who go on first notice, and without shot fired. [lloyd, i. et seq. (or tempelhof's translation, i. - ); tempelhof's own account is, i. - ; retzow's, i. - (fewer errors of detail than usual); kutzen, _der tag von kolin_ (breslau, ), a useful little compilation from many sources. very incorrect most of the common accounts are; kausler's _ schlachten,_ jomini, and the like.] marches through planian in two columns, along the kolin highway and to north of it; marches on, four or five miles farther, nothing visible but the skirts of retiring pandours,--"daun's rear-guard probably?"--friedrich himself is with ziethen, who has the vanguard, as friedrich's wont is, eagerly enough looking out; reaches a certain inn on the wayside (wirthshaus "of slatislunz or golden-sun," say the modern books,--though i am driven to think it novomiesto, nearer planian; but will not quarrel on the subject); inn of good height for one thing; and there, mounting to the top-story or perhaps the leads, descries daun, stretching far and wide, leant against the kamhayek, in the summer morning. what a sight for friedrich: "big game shall be played, then; death sure, this day, to thousands of men: and to me--? well!" friedrich calls halt: rest here a little; to consider, examine, settle how. a hot close morning; rest for an hour or two, till our rear from kaurzim come up: horses and men will be the better for it,--horses can have a mouthful of grass, mouthful of water; some of them "had no drink last night, so late in getting home." poor quadrupeds, they also have to get into a blaze of battle-rage this day, and be blown to pieces a great many of them,--in a quarrel not of their seeking! horse and rider are alike satisfied on that latter point; silently ready for the task they have; and deaf on questions that are bottomless. at this hostelry of novomiesto (not of slatislunz or "golden-sun" at all, which is a "sun" fallen dismally eclipsed in other ways ["the inn of slati-slunz was burnt, about twenty years ago; nothing of it but the stone walls now dates from friedrich's time. it is a biggish solid-looking house of two stories (whether ever of three, i could not learn); stands pleasantly, at the crown of a long rise from kolin;--and inwardly, alas, in our day, offers little but bad smells and negative quantities! only the ground-floor is now inhabited. from the front, your view northward, nimburg way, across the elbe valley, is fertile, wide-waving, pretty: but rearward, upstairs,--having with difficulty got permission,--you find bare balks, tattered feathers, several hundredweight of pigeon's dung, and no outlook at all, except into walls of office-houses and the overhanging brow of heights,--fatal, clearly, to any view of daun, even from a third story!" (tourist's note, .)--tempelhof (ubi supra) seems to have known the right, place; not, retzow, or almost anybody since: and indeed the question, except for expressly military people, is of no moment.]), friedrich halted for three hours and more; saw daun developing himself into new order of battle, "every part of his position visible;" considered with his whole might what was to be tried upon him;--and about noon, having made up his mind, called his generals, in sight of the phenomenon itself there, to give them their various orders and injunctions in regard to the same. the plan of fight, which was thought then, and is still thought by everybody, an excellent one,--resting on the "oblique order of attack," friedrich's favorite mode,--was, if the reader will take his map, conceivable as follows. daun has by this time deployed himself; in three lines, or two lines and a reserve; on the high-lying champaign south of the planian-kolin great road; south, say a mile, and over the crests of the rising ground, or kamhayek ridge, so that from the great road you can see nothing of him. his line, swaying here and there a little, to take advantage of its ground, extends nearly five miles, from east to west; pointing towards planian side, the left wing of it; from planian, eastward, the way friedrich has marched, daun's left wing may be four miles distant. on the other side, daun's right wing--main line always pretty parallel to the highway, and pointing rather southward of kolin--reaches to the small hamlet of krzeczhorz, which is two miles off kolin. in front of his centre is a village called chotzemitz (from which for a while, in those months, the battle gets its name, "battle of chotzemitz," by daun's christening): in front of him, to right or to left of chotzemitz, are some four or even six other villages (dim rustic hamlets, invisible from the high road), every village of which daun has well beset with batteries, with good infantry, not to speak of croat parties hovering about, or dismounted pandours squatted in the corn. that easternmost village of his is spelt "krzeczhorz" (unpronounceable to mankind), a dirty little place; in and round which the battle had its hinge or cardinal point: the others, as abstruse of spelling, all but equally impossible to the human organs, we will forbear to name, except in case of necessity. half a mile behind krzeczhorz (let us write it kreczor, for the future: what can we do?), is a thin little oak-wood, bushes mainly, but with sparse trees too, which is now quite stubbed out, though it was then important enough, and played a great part in the result of this day's work. radowesnitz, a pronounceable little village, half a mile farther or southward of the oak-bush, is beyond the extremity of daun's position; low down on a marshy little brook, which oozes through lakes and swamps towards kolin, in the northerly direction. most or all of these villages are on little brooks (natural thirst so leading them): always some little runlet of water, not so swampy when there is any fall for it; in general lively when it gets over the ridge, and becomes visible from this highway. and it is curious to see what a considerable dell, or green ascending chasm, this little thread of water, working at all moments for thousands of years, has hollowed out for itself in the sloping ground; making a great military obstacle, if you are mounting to attack there. poor czech hamlets all of them, dirty, dark, mal-odorous, ignorant, abhorrent of german speech;--in what nook those inarticulate inhabitants, diving underground at a great rate this morning, have hidden themselves to-day, i know not. the country consists of knolls and slopes, with swamps intermediate; rises higher on the planian side; but except the top of that kamhayek ridge on the planian side, and "friedrich's-berg" on the kolin side, there is nothing that you could think of calling a hill, though many books (and even friedrich's book) rashly say otherwise. friedrich's-berg, now so called, is on the north side of the highway: half a mile northeastward of slatislunz, the mal-odorous inn. a conical height of perhaps a hundred and fifty feet; rises rather suddenly from the still-sloping ground, checking the slope there; on which the austrian populations have built some memorial lately, notable to tourists. here friedrich "stood during the battle," say they; and the prussians "had a battery there." which remains uncertain to me, at least the battery part of it: that friedrich himself was there, now and then, can be believed; but not that he kept "standing there" for long together. friedrich's-berg does command some view of the kreczor scene, which at times was cardinal, at others not: but friedrich did not stand anywhere: "oftenest in the thick of the fire," say those who saw. friedrich, from his inn near planian, seeing how daun deploys himself, considers him impregnable on the left wing; impregnable, too, in front: not so on the kreczor side, right flank and rear; but capable of being rolled together, if well struck at there. thither therefore; that is his vulnerable point. march along his front: quietly parallel in due order of battle, till we can bend round, and plunge in upon that. the van, which consists of ziethen's horse and hulsen's infantry; van, having faced to right at the proper moment and so become left wing, will attack kreczor; probably carry it; each division following will in like manner face to right when it arrives there, and fall on in regular succession in support of hulsen (at hulsen's right flank, if hulsen be found prospering): our right wing is to refuse itself, and be as a reserve,--no fighting on the road, you others, but steady towards hulsen, in continual succession, all you; no facing round, no fighting anywhere, till we get thither:--"march!" the word is given about p.m.; and all, on the instant, is in motion; rolls steadily eastward, in two columns, which will become first line and second. one along the highway, the second at due distance leftward on the green ground, no hedge or other obstacle obstructing in that part of the world. daun's batteries, on the right, spit at them in passing, to no purpose; sputters of pandour musketry, from coverts, there may be: prussians finely disregarding, pass along; flowing tide-like towards their goal and place of choice. an impressive phenomenon in the sunny afternoon; with daun expectant of them, and the czech populations well hidden underground!-- ziethen, vanmost of all, finds nadasti and his austrian squadrons drawn across the highway, hitherward of the kreczor latitude: ziethen dashes on nadasti; tumbles his squadrons and him away; clears the road, and kreczor neighborhood, of nadasti: drives him quite into the hollow of radowesnitz, where he stood inactive for the rest of the day. hulsen now at the level of kreczor (in the latitude of kreczor, as we phrased it), halts, faces to right; stiffly presses up, opens his cannon-thunders, his bayonet-charges and platoon-fires upon kreczor. stiffly pressing up, in spite of the violent counter-thunders, hulsen does manage kreczor without very much delay, completely enough, and like a workman; takes the battery, two batteries; overturns the infantry;--in a word, has seized kreczor, and, as new tenant, swept the old, and their litter, quite out. of all which ziethen has now the chase, and by no means will neglect that duty. ziethen, driving the rout before him, has driven it in some minutes past the little oak-wood above mentioned; and, or rather but,--what is much to be noted,--is there taken in flank with cannon-shot and musketry, daun having put batteries and croat parties in the oak-wood; and is forced to draw bridle, and get out of range again. hulsen, advancing towards this little oak-wood, is surprised to discover, not the wood alone, but a strong austrian force, foot and horse, to rear of it;--such had been daun's and nadasti's precaution, on view of those friedrich phenomena, flowing on from planian, guessed to be hitherward. at sight of which wood and foot-party, hulsen, no new battalion having yet arrived to second him, pauses, merely cannonading from the distance, till new battalions shall arrive. unhappily they did not arrive, or not in due quantity at the set time,--for what reason, by what strange mistake? men still ask themselves. probably by more mistakes than one. enough, hulsen struggling here all day, with reinforcements never adequate, did take the wood, and then lose it; did take and lose this and that;--but was unable to make more of it than keep his ground thereabouts. a resolute man, says retzow, but without invention of his own, or head to mend the mistakes of others. in and about kreczor, hulsen did maintain himself with more and more tenacity, till the general avalanche, fruit of sad mistakes swept him, quite spasmodically struggling at that period, off to the edge of it, and all the others clean away! mistakes have been to rightwards, one or even two, the fruit of which, small at first, suffices to turn the balance, and ends in an avalanche, or precipitous descent of ruin on the prussian side one mistake there was, miles westward on the right wing; due to mannstein, our too impetuous russian friend, mannstein well to right, while marching forward according to order, has croat musketry spitting upon him from amid the high corn, to an inconvenient extent: such was the common lot, which others had borne and disregarded: perhaps it was beyond the average on mannstein, or mannstein's patience was less infinite; any way it provoked mannstein to boil over; and in an evil moment he said, "extinguish me that croat canaille, then!" regiment bornstedt faced to right, accordingly; took to extinguishing the croat canaille, which of course fled at once, or squatted closer, but came back with reinforcements; drew mannstein deeper in, fatally delayed bornstedt, and proved widely ruinous. for now he stopped the way to those following him: regiments marching on to rear of mannstein see mannstein halted, volleying with the austrians; ask themselves "how? is there new order come? attack to be in this point?" and successively fall on to support mannstein, as the one clear point in such dubiety. so that the whole right wing from regiment bornstedt westward is storming up the difficult steeps, in hot conflict with the austrians there, where success against them had been judged impracticable;--and there is now no reserve force anywhere to be applied to in emergency, for hulsen's behoof or another's; and the plan of battle from mannstein westward has been fatally overturned. poor mannstein, there is no doubt, committed this error, being too fiery a man. surely to him it was no luxury, and he paid the smart for it in skin and soul: "badly wounded in this business;" nay, in direct sequel, not many weeks after, killed by it, as we shall see!-- to mannstein's mistake, friedrich himself, in his account of kolin, mainly imputes the disaster that followed; and such, then and afterwards, was the universal judgment in military circles; loading the memory of too impetuous mannstein with the whole. [see retzow, i. ; templehof, i. , .] much talk there was in prussian military circles; but there must also have been an admirable silence on the part of some. to three persons it was known that another strange incident had happened far ahead, far eastward, of mannstein's position: incident which did not by any means tend to alleviate, which could only strengthen and widen, the evil results of mannstein; and which might have lifted part of the load from mannstein's memory! not till the present century, after the lapse of almost fifty years, was this secret slowly dug out of silence, and submitted to modern curiosity. the incident is this;--never whispered of for near fifty years (so silent were the three); and endlessly tossed about since that; the sense of it not understood till almost now. [see retzow, i. ; berenhorst; &c. &c.;--then finally kutzen, pp. , .] the three parties were: king friedrich; moritz of dessau, leading on the centre here; moritz's young nephew franz, heir of dessau, a brisk lad of seventeen, learning war here as aide-de-camp to moritz: the exact spot is not known to me,--probably the ground near that inn of slatislunz, or golden-sun; between the foot of friedrich's-berg and that:--fact indubitable, though kept dark so long. moritz is marching with the centre, or main battle, that way, intending to wheel and turn hillwards, kreczor-wise, as per order, certain furlongs ahead; when friedrich (having, so i can conceive it, seen from his hill-top, how hulsen had done kreczor, altogether prosperous there; and what endless capability there was of prospering to all lengths and speeding the general winning, were hulsen but supported soon enough, were there any safe short-cut to hulsen) dashed from his hill-top in hot haste towards prince moritz, general of the centre, intending to direct him upon such short-cut; and hastily said, with olympian brevity and fire, "face to right here!" with jove-like brevity, and in such blaze of olympian fire as we may imagine. moritz himself is of brief, crabbed, fiery mind, brief in temper; and answers to the effect, "impossible to attack the enemy here, your majesty; postured as they are; and we with such orders gone abroad!"--"face to right, i tell you!" said the king, still more olympian, and too emphatic for explaining. moritz, i hope, paused, but rather think he did not, before remonstrating the second time; neither perhaps was his voice so low as it should have been: it is certain friedrich dashed quite up to moritz at this second remonstrance, flashed out his sword (the only time he ever drew his sword in battle); and now, gone all to mere olympian lightning and thundertone, asks in this attitude, "will er (will he) obey orders, then?"--moritz, fallen silent of remonstrance, with gloomy rapidity obeys. prince franz, the young nephew of moritz, alone witnessed this scene; scene to be locked in threefold silence. in his old age, franz had whispered it to berenhorst, his bastard half-uncle, a famed military critic,--who is still in the highest repute that way (berenhorst's kriegskunst, and other deep books), and is recognizable, to lay readers, for an abstruse strong judgment; with equal strength of abstruse temper hidden behind it, and very privately a deep grudge towards friedrich, scarcely repressible on opportunity. from berenhorst it irrepressibly oozed out; ["heinrich van berenhorst [a natural son of the old dessauer's], in his _betrachtungen uber die kriegskunst,_ is the first that alludes to it in print. (leipzig, ,--page in second edition, , is i. )."] much more to friedrich's disadvantage than it now looks when wholly seen into. not change of plan, not ruinous caprice on friedrich's part, as berenhorst, retzow and others would have it; only excess of brevity towards moritz, and accident of the olympian fire breaking out. friedrich is chargeable with nothing, except perhaps (what moritz knows the evil of) trying for a short-cut! such is now the received interpretation. prince franz, to his last day, refused to speak again on the subject; judiciously repentant, we can fancy, of having spoken at all, and brought such a matter into the streets and their pie-powder adjudications. [in kutzen, pp. - , a long dissertation on it.] for the present, he is adjutant to moritz, busy obeying to the letter. friedrich, withdrawing to his height again, and looking back on moritz, finds that he is making right in upon the austrian line; which was by no means friedrich's meaning, had not he been so brief. friedrich, doubtless with pain, remembers now that he had said only, "face to right!" and had then got into olympian tempest, which left things dark to moritz. "halb-links, half to left withal!" he despatches that new order to moritz, with the utmost speed: "face to right; then, forward half to left." had moritz, at the first, got that commentary to his order, there had probably been no remonstrance on moritz's part, no olympian scene to keep silent; and moritz, taking that diagonal direction from the first, had hit in at or below kreczor, at the very point where he was needed. alas for overhaste; short-cuts, if they are to be good, ought at least to be made clear! moritz, on the new order reaching him, does instantly steer half-left: but he arrives now above kreczor, strikes the austrian line on this side of kreczor; disjoined from hulsen, where he can do no good to hulsen: in brief, moritz, and now the whole line with him, have to do as mannstein and sequel are doing, attack in face, not in flank; and try what, in the proportion of one to two, uphill, and against batteries, they can make of it in that fashion! and so, from right wing to left, miles long, there is now universal storm of volleying, bayonet-charging, thunder of artillery, case-shot, cartridge-shot, and sulphurous devouring whirlwind; the wrestle very tough and furious, especially on the assaulting side. here, as at prag, the prussian troops were one and all in the fire; each doing strenuously his utmost, no complaint to be made of their performance. more perfect soldiers, i believe, were rarely or never seen on any field of war. but there is no reserve left: mannstein and the rest, who should have been reserve, and at a general's disposal, we see what they are doing! in vain, or nearly so, is friedrich's tactic or manoeuvring talent; what now is there to manoeuvre? all is now gone up into one combustion. to fan the fire, to be here, there, fanning the fire where need shows: this is now friedrich's function; "everywhere in the hottest of the fight," that is all we at present know of him, invisible to us otherwise. this death-wrestle lasted perhaps four hours; till seven or towards eight o'clock in the june evening; the sun verging downwards; issue still uncertain. and, in fact, at last the issue turned upon a hair;--such the empire of chance in war matters. cautious daun, it is well known, did not like the aspect of the thing; cautious daun thinks to himself, "if we get pushed back into that camp of yesternight, down the kamhayek heights, and right into the impassable swamps; the reverse way, heights now his, not ours, and impassable swamps waiting to swallow us? wreck complete, and surrender at discretion--!" daun writes in pencil: "the retreat is to suchdol" (kuttenberg way, southward, where we have heights again and magazines); daun's aide-de-camp is galloping every-whither with that important document; and generals are preparing for retreat accordingly,--one general on the right wing has, visibly to hulsen and us, his cannon out of battery, and under way rearwards; a welcome sight to hulsen, who, with imperfect reinforcement, is toughly maintaining himself there all day. and now the daun aide-de-camp, so chance would have it, cannot find nostitz the saxon commandant of horse in that quarter; finds a "saxon lieutenant-colonel b---" ("benkendorf" all books now write him plainly), who, by another little chance, had been still left there: "can the herr lieutenant-colonel tell me where general nostitz is?" benkendorf can tell;--will himself take the message: but benkendorf looks into the important pencil document; thinks it premature, wasteful, and that the contrary is feasible! persuades nostitz so to think; persuades this regiment and that (saxon, austrian, horse and foot); though the cannon in retreat go trundling past them: "merely shifting their battery, don't you see:--steady!" and, in fine, organizes, of saxon and austrian horse and foot in promising quantity (saxons in great fury on the pirna score, not to say the striegau, and other old grudges), a new unanimous assault on hulsen. the assault was furious, and became ever more so; at length irresistible to hulsen. hulsen's horse, pressing on as to victory, are at last hurled back; could not be rallied; [that of "rucker, wollt ihr ewig leben, rascals, would you live forever?" with the "fritz, for eight groschen, this day there has been enough!"--is to be counted pure myth; not unsuccessful, in its withered kind.] fairly fled (some of them); confusing hulsen's foot,--foot is broken, instantly ranks itself, as the manner of prussians is; ranks itself in impromptu squares, and stands fiercely defensive again, amid the slashing and careering: wrestle of extreme fury, say the witnesses. "this for striegau!" cried the saxon dragoons, furiously sabring. [archenholtz, i. .] yes; and is there nothing to account of pirna, and the later scores? scores unliquidated, very many still; but the end is, hulsen is driven away; retreats, parthian-like, down-hill, some space; whose sad example has to spread rightwards like a powder-train, till all are in retreat,--northward, towards nimburg, is the road;--and the battle of kolin is finished. friedrich made vehement effort to rally the horse, to rally this and that; but to no purpose: one account says he did collect some small body, and marched forth at the head of it against a certain battery; but, in his rear, man after man fell away, till lieutenant-colonel grant (not "le grand," as some call him, and indeed there is an accent of scotch in him, still audible to us here) had to remark, "your majesty and i cannot take the battery ourselves!" upon which friedrich turned round; and, finding nobody, looked at the enemy through his glass, and slowly rode away [retzow, i. .]--on a different errand. seeing the battle irretrievably lost, he now called bevern and moritz to him; gave them charge of the retreat--"to nimburg; cross elbe there [fifteen good miles away]; and in the defiles of planian have especial care!" and himself rode off thitherward, his garde-du-corps escorting. retzow says, "a swarm of fugitive horse-soldiers, baggage-people, grooms and led horses gathered in the train of him: these latter, at one point," retzow has heard in opposition circles, "rushed up, galloping: 'enemy's hussars upon us!' and set the whole party to the gallop for some time, till they found the alarm was false." [ib. i. .] of friedrich we see nothing, except as if by cloudy moonlight in an uncertain manner, through this and the other small anecdote, perhaps semi-mythical, and true only in the essence of it. daun gave no chase anywhere; on his extreme left he had, perhaps as preparative for chasing, ordered out the cavalry; "general stampach and cavalry from the centre," with cannon, with infantry and appliances, to clear away the wrecks of mannstein, and what still stands, to right of him, on the planian highway yonder. but stampach found "obstacles of ground," wet obstacles and also dry,--prussian posts, smaller and greater, who would not stir a hand-breadth: in fact, an altogether deadly storm of negative, spontaneous on their part, from the indignant regiments thereabouts, king's first battalion, and two others; who blazed out on stampach in an extraordinary manner, tearing to shreds every attempt of his, themselves stiff as steel: "die, all of us, rather than stir!" and, in fact, the second man of these poor fellows did die there? [kutzen, p. (from the canonical, or "staff-officer's" enumeration: see supra, p. n.).] so that bevern, commander in that part, who was absent speaking with the king, found on his return a new battle broken out; which he did not forbid but encourage; till stampach had enough, and withdrew in rather torn condition. this, if this were some preparative for chasing, was what daun did of it, in the cavalry way; and this was all. the infantry he strictly prohibited to stir from their position,--"no saying, if we come into the level ground, with such an enemy!"--and passed the night under arms. far on our left, or what was once our left, ziethen with all his squadrons, nay hulsen with most of his battalions, continued steady on the ground; and marched away at their leisure, as rear-guard. "it seemed," says tempelhof, in splenetic tone, "as if feldmarschall daun, like a good christian, would not suffer the sun to go down on his wrath. this day, nearly the longest in the year, he allowed the prussian cavalry, which had beaten nadasti, to stand quiet on the field till ten at night [till nine]; he did not send a single hussar in chase of the infantry. he stood all night under arms; and next day returned to his old camp, as if he had been afraid the king would come back. arriving there himself, he could see, about ten in the morning, behind kaurzim and planian, the whole prussian baggage fallen into such a coil that the wagons were with difficulty got on way again; nevertheless he let it, under cover of the grenadier battalion manteuffel, go in peace." [tempelhof, i. .] a man that for caution and slowness could make no use of his victory! the austrian force in the field this day is counted to have been , ; their losses in killed, wounded and missing, , . the prussians, who began , in strength, lost , ; of whom prisoners (including all the wounded), , . their baggage, we have seen, was not meddled with: they lost cannon, flags,--a loss not worth adding, in comparison to this sore havoc, for the second time, in the flower of the prussian infantry. [retzow, i. (whose numbers are apt to be inaccurate); kutzen, p. (who depends on the canonical staff-officer account).] the news reached prag camp at two in the morning (sunday, th): to the sorrowful amazement of the generals there; who "stood all silent; only the prince of prussia breaking out into loud lamentations and accusations," which even retzow thinks unseemly. friedrich arrived that sunday evening: and the siege was raised, next day; with next to no hindrance or injury. with none at all on the part of daun; who was still standing among the heights and swamps of planian,--busy singing, or shooting, universal te-deum, with very great rolling fire and other pomp, that day while friedrich gathered his siege-goods and got on march. the maria-theresa order, new knighthood for austria. no tongue can express the joy of the austrians over this victory,--vouchsafed them, in this manner, by lieutenant-colonel benkendorf and the powers above. miraculously, behold, they are not upon the retreat to suchdol, at double-quick, and in ragged ever-lengthening line; but stand here, keeping rank all night, on the planian-kolin upland of the kamhayek:--behold, they have actually beaten friedrich; for the first time, not been beaten by him. clearly beaten that friedrich, by some means or other. with such a result, too; consider it,--drawn sword was at our throat; and marvellously now it is turned round upon his (if daun be alert), and we--let us rejoice to all lengths, and sing te-deum and te-daunum with one throat, till the heavens echo again. there was quite a hurricane, or lengthened storm, of jubilation and tripudiation raised at vienna on this victory: new order of maria theresa, in suitable olympian fashion, with no end of regulating and inaugurating,--with daun the first chief of it; and "pensions to merit" a conspicuous part of the plan, we are glad to see. it subsists to this day: the grandest military order the austrians yet have. which then deafened the world, with its infinite solemnities, patentings, discoursings, trumpetings, for a good while. as was natural, surely, to that high imperial lady with the magnanimous heart; to that loyal solid austrian people with its pudding-head. daun is at the top of the theresa order, and of military renown in vienna circles;--of lieutenant-colonel benkendorf i never heard that he got the least pension or recognition;--continued quietly a military lion to discerning men, for the rest of his days. ["died at dresden, general of cavalry," th may, (rodenbeck, i. , ).] nay once, on dauu's te-deum day, he had a kind of recognition;--and even, by good accident, can tell us of it in his own words: [kutzen (citing some biography of benkendorf), p. .]-- "i was sent for to head-quarters by a trumpeter,"--benkendorf was,--"when all was ready for the te-deum. feldmarschall daun was pleased to say at sight of me, 'that as i had had so much to do with the victory, it was but right i should thank our herr gott along with him.' having no change of clothes,--as the servant, who was to have a uniform and some linens ready for me, had galloped off during the fight, and our baggage was all gone to rearward,--i tried to hustle out of sight among the crowd of imperial officers all in gala: but the reigning duke of wurtemberg [wilhelmina's son-in-law, a perverse obstinate herr, growing ever more perverse; one of wilhelmina's sad afflictions in these days] called me to him, and said, 'he would give his whole wardrobe, could he wear that dusty coat with such honor as i!'"--yes; and tried hard, in his perverse way, for some such thing; but never could, as we shall see. how lucky that polish majesty had some remains of cavalry still at warsaw in the pirna time; that they were made into a saxon brigade, and taken into the austrian service; brigade of three regiments, nostitz for chief, and this benkendorf a lieutenant-colonel, among them;--and that polish majesty, though himself lost, has been the saving of austria twice within one year! chapter v.--friedrich at leitmeritz, his world of enemies coming on. of friedrich's night-thoughts at nimburg; how he slept, and what his dreams were, we have no account. seldom did a wearied heart sink down into oblivion on such terms. by narrow miss, the game gone; and with such results ahead. it was a right valiant plunge this that he made, with all his strength and all his skill, home upon the heart of his chief enemy. to quench his chief enemy before another came up: it was a valiant plan, and valiantly executed; and it has failed. to dictate peace from the walls of vienna: that lay on the cards for him this morning; and at night--? kolin is lost, the fruit of prag victory too is lost; and schwerin and new tens of thousands, unreplaceable for worth in this world, are lost; much is lost! courage, your majesty, all is not lost, you not, and honor not. to the young graf von anhalt, on the road to nimburg, he is recorded to have said, "don't you know, then, that every man must have his reverses (mais ne savez-vous donc pas que chaque homme doit avoir ses revers)? it appears i am to have mine." [rodenbeck, i. .] and more vaguely, in the anecdote-books, is mention of some stanch ruggedly pious old dragoon, who brought, in his steel cap, from some fine-flowing well he had discovered, a draught of pure water to the king; old mother earth's own gift, through her rugged dragoon, exquisite refection to the thirsty wearied soul; and spoke, in his dragoon dialect,--"never mind, your majesty! der allmachtige and we; it shall be mended yet. 'the kaiserin may get a victory for once; but does that send us to the devil (davon holt uns der teufel-nicht)!'"--words of rough comfort, which were well taken. next morning, several books, and many drawings and sculptures of a dim unsuccessful nature, give us view of him, at kimburg; sitting silent "on a brunnen-rohr" (fountain apparatus, waste-pipe or feeding-pipe, too high for convenient sitting): he is stooping forward there, his eyes fixed on the ground, and is scratching figures in the sand with his stick, as the broken troops reassemble round him. archenholtz says: "he surveyed with speechless feeling the small remnant of his life-guard of foot, favorite first battalion; , strong yesterday morning, hardly now;"--gone the others, in that furious anti-stampach outburst which ended the day's work! "all soldiers of this chosen battalion were personally known to him; their names, their age, native place, their history [the pick of his ruppin regiment was the basis of it]: in one day, death had mowed them down; they had fought like heroes, and it was for him that they had died. his eyes were visibly wet, down his face rolled silent tears." [archenholtz, i. , ; kutzen, pp. , ; retzow, i. .] in public i never saw other tears from this king,--though in private i do not warrant him; his sensibilities, little as you would think it, being very lively and intense. "to work, however!" this king can shake away such things; and is not given overmuch to retrospection on the unalterable past. "like dewdrops from the lion's mane" (as is figuratively said); the lion swiftly rampant again! there was manifold swift ordering, considering and determining, at nimburg, that day; and towards night friedrich shot rapidly into head-quarters at prag, where, by order, there is, as the first thing of all, a very rapid business going on, well forward by the time he arrives. to fold one's siege-gear and army neatly together from those two hill-tops, and march away with them safe, in sight of so many enemies: this has to be the first and rapidest thing; if this be found possible, as one calculates it may. after which, the world of enemies, held in the slip so long, will rush in from all the four winds,--unknown whitherward; one must wait to see whitherward and how. friedrich's history for the remaining six months of this year falls, accordingly, into three sections. section first: waiting how and towards what objects his enemies, the austrians first of all, will advance;--this lasts for about a month; friedrich waiting mainly at leitmeritz, on guard there both of saxony and of silesia, till this slowly declare itself. slowly, perhaps almost stupidly, but by no means satisfactorily to friedrich, as will be seen! after which, section second of his history lasts above two months; friedrich's enemies being all got to the ground, and united in hope and resolution to overwhelm and abolish him; but their plans, positions, operations so extremely various that, for a long time (end of august to beginning of november), friedrich cannot tell what to do with them; and has to scatter himself into thin threads, and roam about, chiefly in thuringen and the west of saxony, seeking something to fight with, and finding nothing; getting more and more impatient of such paltry misery; at times nigh desperate; and habitually drifting on desperation as on a lee shore in the night, despite all his efforts. till, in section third, which goes from november th, through december th, and into the new year, he does find what to do; and does it,--in a forever memorable way. three sections; of which the reader shall successively have some idea, if he exert himself; though it is only in snatches, suggestive to an active fancy, that we can promise to dwell on them, especially on the first two, which lie pretty much unsurveyable in those chaotic records, like a world-wide coil of thrums. let us be swift, in friedrich's own manner; and try to disimprison the small portions of essential! here, partly from eye-witnesses, are some notes in regard to section first: [westphalen, _geschichte der feldzuge des herzogs ferdinand _ (and a private journal of w.'s there), ii. - ; retzow; &c.]-- "sunday, th june, at a.m., major grant arrives at prag [must have started instantly after that of "we two cannot take the battery, your majesty!"]--goes to prince ferdinand of brunswick, interim commander on the ziscaberg, with order to raise siege. consternation on the part of some; worse, on the prince of prussia's part; the others kept silence at least,--and set instantly to work. on both hills, the cannons are removed (across moldau the zisca-hill ones), batteries destroyed, siege-gear neatly gathered up, to go in wagons to leitmeritz, thence by boat to dresden; all this lies ready done, the dangerous part of it done, when friedrich arrives. "monday, th, before sunrise, siege raised. at three in the morning friedrich marches from the ziscaberg; to eastward he, to alt-bunzlau, thence to ah-lissa,"--nimburg way, with what objects we shall see. "marshal keith's fine performance. keith, from the weissenberg, does not march, such packing and loading still; all the baggages and artilleries being with keith. not till four in the afternoon did keith march; but beautifully then; and folded himself away,--rear-guard under schmettau 'retreating checkerwise,' nothing but tolpatcheries attempting on him,--westward, budin-ward, without loss of a linstock, not to speak of guns. very prettily done on the part of keith. by budin, to leitmeritz, he; where the king will join him shortly." friedrich's errand in alt-lissa, eastward, while keith went westward, was, to be within due arm's-length of the moritz-bevern, or beaten kolin army, which is coming up that way; intending to take post, and do its best, in those parts, with zittau magazine and the lausitz to rear of it. one of our eye-witnesses, a herr westphalen, ferdinand of brunswick's secretary,--who, with his chief, got into wider fields before long,--yields these additional particulars face to face:-- "tuesday, st june, . king's head-quarters in lissa or neighborhood till friday next; which is central for both these movements,--thursday, orders seven regiments of horse to reinforce keith. no symptom yet of pursuit anywhere. "friday, th. prince moritz with the kolin army made appearance, all safe, and is to command here; king intending for keith. after dinner, and the due interchange of battalions to that end, king sets off, with prince henri, towards keith; head-quarter in alt-bunzlau again. saturday night, at melnick; sunday, gastorf: monday night, th june, leitmeritz; king lodges in the cathedral close, in sight of keith, who is on the opposite side of elbe,--but the town has a bridge for to-morrow. 'never was a quieter march; not the shadow of a pandour visible. the duke [ferdinand, my chief, chatham's jewel that is to be, and precious to england] has suffered much from a'--in fact, from a cours de ventre, temporary bowel-derangement, which was very troublesome, owing to the excessive heats by day, and coldness of the nights. "tuesday, th. junction with keith,--bridge rightly secured, due party of dragoons and foot left on the right bank, to occupy a height which covers leitmeritz. 'clearing of the pascopol' (that is, sweeping the pandours out of it) is the first business; colonel loudon with his pandours, a most swift sharpcutting man, being now here in those parts; doing a deal of mischief. three days ago, saturday, th, keith had sent seven battalions, with the proper steel-besoms, on that pascopol affair; tuesday, on junction, majesty sends three more: job done on wednesday; reported 'done,'--though i should not be surprised," says westphalen, "if some little highway robbery still went on among the mountains up there." no;--and before quitting hold, what is this that loudon (on the very day of the king's arrival, june th), on the old field of lobositz over yonder, has managed to do! general mannstein, wounded at kolin, happened, with others in like case, to be passing that way, towards dresden and better surgery,--when loudon's croats set upon them, scattering their slight escort: "quarter, on surrender! prisoners?" "never!" answered mannstein; "never!" that too impetuous man, starting out from his carriage, and snatching a musket: and was instantly cut down there. and so ends;--a man of strong head, and of heart only too strong. [preuss, ii. ; _militair-lexikon,_ iii. .] from prag onwards, here has been a delicate set of operations; perfectly executed,--thanks to friedrich's rapidity of shift, and also to the cautious slowly puzzling mind of daun. had daun used any diligence, had daun and prince karl been broad awake, together or even singly! but friedrich guessed they seldom or never were; that they would spend some days in puzzling; and that, with despatch, he would have time for everything. daun, we could observe, stood singing te-deum, greatly at leisure, in his old camp, th june, while friedrich, from the first gray of morning, and diligently all day long, was withdrawing from the trenches of prag,--friedrich's people, self and goods getting folded out in the finest gradation, and with perfect success; no daun to hinder him,--daun leisurely doing te-deum, forty miles off, helping on the wrong side by that exertion! [cogniazzo, ii. .]--"poor browne, he is dead of his wounds, in prag yonder," writes westphalen, in his leitmeritz journal, "news came to us july st: men said, 'ah, that was why they lay asleep.'" till june th, daun and karl had not united; nor, except sending out loudon and croats, done anything, either of them. sunday, june th, at podschernitz on the old field of prag, a week and a day after kolin, they did get together; still seemingly a little puzzled, "shall we follow the king? shall we follow moritz and bevern?"--nothing clear for some time, except to send out pandour parties upon both. moritz, since parting with the king in alt-bunzlau neighborhood, has gone northward some marches, thirty miles or so, to jung-bunzlau,--meeting of iser and elbe, surely a good position:--moritz, on receipt of these pandour allowances of his, writes to the king, "shall we retreat on zittau, then, your majesty? straight upon zittau?" fancy friedrich's astonishment;--who well intends to eat the country first, perhaps to fight if there be chance, and at least to lie outside the doors of silesia and the lausitz, as well as of saxony here!--and answers, with his own hand, on the instant: "your dilection will not be so mad!" [in preuss, ii. , the pungent little autograph in full.] and at once recalls moritz, and appoints the prince of prussia to go and take command. who directly went;--a most important step for the king's interests and his own. whose fortunes in that business we shall see before long!-- at leitmeritz the king continues four weeks, with his army parted in this way; waiting how the endless hostile element, which begirdles his horizon all round, will shape itself into combinations, that he may set upon the likeliest or the needfulest of these, when once it has disclosed itself. horizon all round is black enough: austrians, french, swedes, russians, reichs army; closer upon him or not so close, all are rolling in: saxony, the lausitz and silesia, brandenburg itself, it is uncertain which of these may soonest require his active presence. the very day after his arrival in leitmeritz,--tuesday, th june, while that junction with keith was going on, and the troops were defiling along the bridge for junction with keith,--a heavy sorrow had befallen him, which he yet knew not of. an irreparable domestic loss; sad complement to these military and other public disasters. queen sophie dorothee, about whose health he had been anxious, but had again been set quiet, died at berlin that day. [monbijou, th june, ; born at hanover, th march, .] in her seventy-first year: of no definite violent disease; worn down with chagrins and apprehensions, in this black whirlpool of public troubles. so far as appears, the news came on friedrich by surprise:--"bad cough," we hear of, and of his anxieties about it, in the spring time; then again of "improvement, recovery, in the fine weather;"--no thought, just now, of such an event: and he took it with a depth of affliction, which my less informed readers are far from expecting of him. july d, the news came: king withdrew into privacy; to weep and bewail under this new pungency of grief, superadded to so many others. mitchell says: "for two days he had no levee; only the princes dined with him [princes henri and ferdinand; prince of prussia is gone to jung-bunzlau, would get the sad message there, among his other troubles]: yesterday, july d, king sent for me in the afternoon,--the first time he has seen anybody since the news came:--i had the honor to remain with him some hours in his closet. i must own to your lordship i was most sensibly afflicted to see him indulging his grief, and giving way to the warmest filial affections; recalling to mind the many obligations he had to her late majesty; all she had suffered, and how nobly she bore it; the good she did to everybody; the one comfort he now had, to think of having tried to make her last years more agreeable." [_papers and memoirs,_ i. ; despatch to holderness, th july (slightly abridged);--see ib. i. - (private journal). westphalen, ii. . see _oeuvres de frederic,_ iv. .] in the thick of public business, this kind of mood to mitchell seems to have lasted all the time of leitmeritz, which is about three weeks yet: mitchell's note-books and despatches, in that part, have a fine biographic interest; the wholly human friedrich wholly visible to us there as he seldom is. going over his past life to mitchell; brief, candid, pious to both his parents;--inexpressibly sad; like moonlight on the grave of one's mother, silent that, while so much else is too noisy! this friedrich, upon whom the whole world has risen like a mad sorcerer's-sabbath, how safe he once lay in his cradle, like the rest of us, mother's love wrapping him soft:--and now! these thoughts commingle in a very tragic way with the avalanche of public disasters which is thundering down on all sides. warm tears the meed of this new sorrow; small in compass, but greater in poignancy than all the rest together. "my poor old mother, oh, my mother, that so loved me always, and would have given her own life to shelter mine!"--it was at leitmeritz, as i guess, that mitchell first made decisive acquaintance, what we may almost call intimacy, with the king: we already defined him as a sagacious, long-headed, loyal-hearted diplomatic gentleman, scotch by birth and by turn of character; abundantly polite, vigilant, discreet, and with a fund of general sense and rugged veracity of mind; whom friedrich at once recognized for what he was, and much took to, finding a hearty return withal; so that they were soon well with one another, and continued so. mitchell, as orders were, "attended the king's person" all through this war, sometimes in the blaze of battle itself and nothing but cannon-shot going, if it so chanced; and has preserved, in his multifarious papers, a great many traits of friedrich not to be met with elsewhere. mitchell's occasional society, conversation with a man of sense and manly character, which friedrich always much loved, was, no doubt, a resource to friedrich in his lonely roamings and vicissitudes in those dark years. no other british ambassador ever had the luck to please him or be pleased by him,--most of them, as ex-exchequer legge and the like ex-parliamentary people, he seems to have considered dull, obstinate, wooden fellows, of fantastic, abrupt rather abstruse kind of character, not worth deciphering;--some of them, as hanbury williams, with the mischievous tic (more like galvanism or st.-vitus'-dance) which he called "wit," and the inconvenient turn for plotting and intriguing, friedrich could not endure at all, but had them as soon as possible recalled,--of course, not without detestation on their part. at leitmeritz, it appears, he kept withdrawn to his closet a good deal; gave himself up to his sorrows and his thoughts; would sit many hours drowned in tears, weeping bitterly like a child or a woman. this is strange to some readers; but it is true,--and ought to alter certain current notions. friedrich, flashing like clear steel upon evildoers and mendacious unjust persons and their works, is not by nature a cruel man, then, or an unfeeling, as rumor reports? reader, no, far the reverse;--and public rumor, as you may have remarked, is apt to be an extreme blockhead, full of fury and stupidity on such points, and had much better hold its tongue till it know in some measure. extreme sensibility is not sure to be a merit; though it is sure to be reckoned one, by the greedy dim fellows looking idly on: but, in any case, the degree of it that dwelt (privately, for most part) in friedrich was great; and to himself it seemed a sad rather than joyful fact. speaking of this matter, long afterwards, to garve, a silesian philosopher, with whom he used to converse at breslau, he says;--or let dull garve himself report it, in the literal third-person:-- "and herein, i," the herr garve (venturing to dispute, or qualify, on one of his majesty's favorite topics), "believe, lies the real ground of 'happiness:' it is the capacity and opportunity to accomplish great things. this the king would not allow; but said, that i did not sufficiently take into account the natural feelings, different in different people, which, when painful, imbittered the life of the highest as of the lowest. that, in his own life, he had experienced the deepest sufferings of this kind: 'and,' added he, with a touching tone of kindness and familiarity, which never occurred again in his interviews with me, 'if you (er) knew, for instance, what i underwent on the death of my mother, you would see that i have been as unhappy as any other, and unhappier than others, because of the greater sensibility i had (weil ich mehr empfindlichkeit gehabt habe).'" [_fragmente zur schilderung des geistes, des charakters und der regierung friedrichs des zweiten,_ von christian garve (breslau, ), i. - . an unexpectedly dull book (garve having talent and reputation); kind of monotonous preachment upon friedrich's character: almost nothing but the above fraction now derivable from it.] there needed not this new calamity in friedrich's lot just now! from all points of the compass, his enemies, held in check so long, are floating on: the confluence of disasters and ill-tidings, at this time, very great. from jung-bunzlau, close by, his brother's accounts are bad; and grow ever worse,--as will be seen! on the extreme west, "july d," while friedrich at leitmeritz sat weeping for his mother, the french take embden from him; "july th," the russians, memel, on the utmost east. june th, six days before, the russians, after as many months of haggling, did cross the border; , of them on this point; and set to bombarding memel from land and sea. poor memel (garrison only ) answered very fiercely, "sank two of their gunboats" and the like; but the end was as we see,--feldmarschall lehwald able to give no relief. for there were above , other russians (feldmarschall apraxin with these latter, and cossacks and calmucks more than enough) crossing elsewhere, south in tilsit country, upon old lehwald. [_helden-geschichte,_ iv. - .] lehwald, with , , in such circumstances--what is to become of preussen and him! nearer hand, the austrians, the french, the very reichs army, do now seem intent on business. the reichs execution army, we saw how mayer and the battle of prag had checked it in the birth-pangs; and given rise to pangs of another sort; the poor reichs circles generally exclaiming, "what! bring the war into our own borders? bring the king of prussia on our own throats!"--and stopping short in their enlistments and preparations; in vain for austrian officials to urge them. watching there, with awe-struck eye, while the , bombs flew into prag. the battle of kolin has reversed all that; and the poor old reich is again bent on business in the execution way. drumming, committeeing, projecting, and endeavoring, with all her might, in all quarters; and, from and after the event of kolin, holding visible encampment, in the nurnberg country; fractions of actual troops assembling there. "on the plains of furth, between furth and farrenbach, east side the river regnitz, there was the camp pitched," says my anonymous friend; who gives me a cheerful copperplate of the thing: red pennons, blue, and bright mixed colors; generals, tents; order-of-battle, and respective rallying points: with bamberg country in front, and the peaks of the pine mountains lying pleasantly behind: a sight for the curious. [j.f.s. (whom i named anonymous of hamburg long since; who has boiled down, with great diligence, the old newspapers, and gives a great many dates, notes, &c., without index), i. , (the copperplate).] it is the same ground where mayer was careering lately; neighboring nobility and gentry glad to come in gala, and dance with mayer. hither, all through july, come contingents straggling in, thicker and thicker; "august th," things now about complete, the bishop of bamberg came to take survey of the reichs-heer (bishop's remarks not given); august th, came the young reigning duke of hildburghausen (duke's grand-uncle is to be commander), on like errand; august th) the reichs-heer got on march. westward ho!--readers will see towards what. a truly elende, or miserable, reichs execution army (as the misprinter had made it); but giving loud voice in the gazettes; and urged by every consideration to do something for itself. prince of hildburghausen--a general of small merit, though he has risen in the austrian service, and we have seen him with seckendorf in old turk times--has, for his kaiser's sake, taken the command; sensible perhaps that glory is not likely to be rife here; but willing to make himself useful. kaiser and austria urge, everywhere, with all their might: prince of hessen-darmstadt, who lay on the weissenberg lately, one of keith's distinguished seconds there and a prussian officer of long standing, has, on kaiser's order, quitted all that, and become hildburghausen's second here, in the camp of furth; thinking the path of duty lay that way,--though his wife, one of the noble women of her age, thought very differently. [her letter to friedrich, "berlin, th october, ," _oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. ii. .] a similar kaiser's order, backed by what law-thunder lay in the reich, had gone out against friedrich's own brothers, and against every reichs prince who was in friedrich's service; but, except him of hessen-darmstadt, none of them had much minded. [in orlich, _furst moritz von anhalt dessau_ (berlin, ), pp. , , prince moritz's rather mournful letter on the subject, with friedrich's sharp answer.] i did not hear that his strategic talent was momentous: but prussia had taught him the routine of right soldiering, surely to small purpose; and friedrich, no doubt, glanced indignantly at this small thing, among the many big ones. from about the end of june, the reichs army kept dribbling in: the most inferior army in the world; no part of it well drilled, most of it not drilled at all; and for variety in color, condition, method, and military and pecuniary and other outfit, beggaring description. hildburghausen does his utmost; kaiser the like. the number should have far exceeded , ; but was not, on the field, of above half that number: , ; add at least , austrian troops, two regiments of them cavalry; good these , , the rest bad,--that was the reichs execution army; most inferior among armies; and considerable part of it, all the protestant part, privately wishing well to friedrich, they say. drills itself multifariously in that camp between furth and farrenbach, on the east side of regnitz river. fancy what a sight to wilhelmina, if she ever drove that way; which i think she hardly would. the baireuth contingent itself is there; the margraf would have held out stiff on that point; but friedrich himself advised compliance. margraf of anspach--perverse tippling creature, ill with his wife, i doubt--has joyfully sent his legal hundreds; will vote for the reichs ban against this worst of germans, whom he has for brother-in-law. dark days in the heart of wilhelmina, those of the camp at furth. days which grow ever darker, with strange flashings out of empyrean lightning from that shrill true heart; no peace more, till the noble heroine die!-- this elende reichs-heer, miserable "army of the circles," is mockingly called "the hoopers, coopers (tonneliers)," and gets quizzing enough, under that and other titles, from an opposition public. far other from the french and austrians; who are bent that it should do feats in the world, and prove impressive on a robber king. thus too, "for deliverance of saxony," to co-operate with reichs-heer in that sacred object, thanks to the zeal of pompadour, prince de soubise has got together, in elsass, a supplementary , ( , said theory, but fact never quite so many): and is passing them across the rhine, in frankfurt country, all through july, while the drilling at furth goes on. with these, soubise, simultaneously getting under way, will steer northeastward; join the reichs-heer about erfurt, before august end; and--and we shall see what becomes of the combined soubise and reichs army after that! it must be owned, the french, pompadour and love of glory urging, are diligent since the event of kolin. in select parisian circles, the soubise army, or even that of d'estrees altogether,--produced by the tears of a filial dauphiness,--is regarded as a quasi-sacred, or uncommonly noble thing; and is called by her name, "l'armee de la dauphine;" or for shortness "la dauphine" without adjunct. thus, like a kind of chivalrous bellona, vengeance in her right hand, tears and fire in her eyes, the dauphiness advances; and will join reichs-heer at erfurt before august end. such the will of pompadour; richelieu encouraging, for reasons of his own. soubise, i understand, is privately in pique against poor d'estrees; ["reappeared unexpectedly in paris [from d'estree's army], d june" (four days after kolin): got up this dauphiness army, by aid of pompadour, with richelieu, &c.: barbier, iv. , . richelieu "busy at strasburg lately" ( th july: collini's voltaire, p. ).] and intends to eclipse him by a higher style of diligence; though d'estrees too is doing his best. july d, we saw the d'estrees people taking embden; d'estrees, quiet so long in his camp at bielefeld, had at once bestirred himself, kolin being done;--shot out a detachment leftwards, and embden had capitulated that day. adieu to the shipping interests there, and to other pleasant things! "july th, after sunset," d'estrees himself got on march from bielefeld; set forth, in the cool of night, , strong, and , more to join him by the road (the rest are left as garrisons, reserves,-- , marauders of them swing as monitory pendulums, on their various trees, for one item),--direct towards hanover and royal highness of cumberland; who retreats, and has retreated, behind the ems, the weser, back, ever back; and, to appearance, will make a bad finish yonder. to friedrich, waiting at leitmeritz, all these things are gloomily known; but the most pressing of them is that of the austrians and jung-bunzlau close by. let us give some utterances of his to wilhelmina, nearly all we have of direct from him in that time; and then hasten to the prince of prussia there:-- friedrich to wilhelmina (at baireuth). leitmeritz, st july, .... "sensible as heart can be to the tender interest you deign to take in what concerns me. dear sister, fear nothing on my score: men are always in the hand of what we call fate" ("predestination, gnadenwahl,"--pardon us, papa!--"ce qu'on nomme le destin); accidents will befall people, walking on the streets, sitting in their room, lying in their bed; and there are many who escape the perils of war.... i think, through hessen will be the safest route for your letters, till we see; and not to write just now except on occasions of importance. here is a piece in cipher; anonymous,"--intended for the newspapers, or some such road. july th. "by a courier of plotho's, returning to regensburg [who passes near you], i write to apprise my dear sister of the new misery which overwhelms us. we have no longer a mother. this loss puts the crown on my sorrows. i am obliged to act; and have not time to give free course to my tears. judge, i pray you, of the situation of a feeling heart put to so cruel a trial. all losses in the world are capable of being remedied; but those which death causes are beyond the reach of hope." july th. "you are too good; i am ashamed to abuse your indulgence. but do, since you will, try to sound the french, what conditions of peace they would demand; one might judge as to their intentions. send that mirabeau (ce m. de mirabeau) to france. willingly will i pay the expense. he may offer as much as five million thalers [ , pounds] to the favorite [yes, even to the pompadour] for peace alone. of course, his utmost discretion will be needed;"--should the english get the least wind of it! but if they are gone to st. vitus, and fail in every point, what can one do? ce m. de mirabeau, readers will be surprised to learn, is an uncle of the great mirabeau's; who has fallen into roving courses, gone abroad insolvent; and "directs the opera at baireuth," in these years!--one letter we will give in full:-- "leitmeritz, th july, . "my dearest sister,--your letter has arrived: i see in it your regrets for the irreparable loss we have had of the best and worthiest mother in this world. i am so struck down with all these blows from within and without, that i feel myself in a sort of stupefaction. "the french have just laid hold of friesland [seized embden, july d]; are about to pass the weser: they have instigated the swedes to declare war against me; the swedes are sending , men [rather more if anything; but they proved beautifully ineffectual] into pommern,"--will be burdensome to stralsund and the poor country people mainly; having no captain over them but a hydra-headed national palaver at home, and a long-pole with cocked-hat on it here at hand. "the russians are besieging memel [have taken it, ten days ago]: lehwald has them on his front and in his rear. the troops of the reich," from your plains of furth yonder, "are also about to march. all this will force me to evacuate bohemia, so soon as that crowd of enemies gets into motion. "i am firmly resolved on the extremest efforts to save my country. we shall see (quitte a voir) if fortune will take a new thought, or if she will entirely turn her back upon me. happy the moment when i took to training myself in philosophy! there is nothing else that can sustain the soul in a situation like mine. i spread out to you, dear sister, the detail of my sorrows: if these things regarded only myself, i could stand it with composure; but i am bound guardian of the safety and happiness of a people which has been put under my charge. there lies the sting of it: and i shall have to reproach myself with every fault, if, by delay or by over-haste, i occasion the smallest accident; all the more as, at present, any fault may be capital. "what a business! here is the liberty of germany, and that protestant cause for which so much blood has been shed; here are those two great interests again at stake; and the pinch of this huge game is such, that an unlucky quarter of an hour may establish over germany the tyrannous domination of the house of austria forever! i am in the case of a traveller who sees himself surrounded and ready to be assassinated by a troop of cut-throats, who intend to share his spoils. since the league of cambrai [ - , with a pope in it and a kaiser and most christian king, iniquitously sworn against poor venice;--to no purpose, as happily appears], there is no example of such a conspiracy as that infamous triumvirate [austria, france, russia] now forms against me. was it ever seen before, that three great princes laid plot in concert to destroy a fourth, who had done nothing against them? i have not had the least quarrel either with france or with russia, still less with sweden. if, in common life, three citizens took it into their heads to fall upon their neighbor, and burn his house about him, they very certainly, by sentence of tribunal, would be broken on the wheel. what! and will sovereigns, who maintain these tribunals and these laws in their states, give such example to their subjects?... happy, my dear sister, is the obscure man, whose good sense from youth upwards, has renounced all sorts of glory; who, in his safe low place, has none to envy him, and whose fortune does not excite the cupidity of scoundrels! "but these reflections are vain. we have to be what our birth, which decides, has made us in entering upon this world. i reckoned that, being king, it beseemed me to think as a sovereign; and i took for principle, that the reputation of a prince ought to be dearer to him than life. they have plotted against me; the court of vienna has given itself the liberty of trying to maltreat me; my honor commanded me not to suffer it. we have come to war; a gang of robbers falls on me, pistol in hand: that is the adventure which has happened to me. the remedy is difficult: in desperate diseases there are no methods but desperate ones. "i beg a thousand pardons, dear sister: in these three long pages i talk to you of nothing but my troubles and affairs. a strange abuse it would be of any other person's friendship. but yours, my dear sister, yours is known to me; and i am persuaded you are not impatient when i open my heart to you:--a heart which is yours altogether; being filled with sentiments of the tenderest esteem, with which i am, my dearest sister, your [in truth, affectionate brother at all times] f." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. i. , , - .] prince august wilhelm finds a bad problem at jung-bunzlau; and does it badly: friedrich thereupon has to rise from leitmeritz, and take the field elsewhere, in bitter haste and impatience, with outlooks worse than ever. the prince of prussia's enterprise had its intricacies; but, by good management, was capable of being done. at least, so friedrich thought;--though, in truth, it would have been better had friedrich gone himself, since the chief pressure happened to fall there! the prince has to retire, parthian-like, as slowly as possible, with the late kolin or moritz-bevern army, towards the lausitz, keeping his eye upon silesia the while; of course securing the passes and strong places in his passage, for defence of his own rear at lowest; especially securing zittau, a fine opulent town, where his chief magazine is, fed from silesia now. the army is in good strength (guess , ), with every equipment complete, in discipline, in health and in heart, such as beseems a prussian army,--probably longing rather, if it venture to long or wish for anything not yet commanded, to have a stroke at those austrians again, and pay them something towards that late kolin score. the prince arrived at jung-bunzlau, june th; winterfeld with him, and, at his own request, schmettau. the austrians have not yet stirred: if they do, it may be upon the king, it may be upon the prince: in three or even in two marches, prince and king can be together,--the king only too happy, in the present oppressive coil of doubts, to find the austrians ready for a new passage of battle, and an immediate decision. the austrians did, in fact, break out,--seemingly, at first, upon the king; but in reality upon the prince, whom they judge safer game; and the matter became much more critical upon him than had been expected. the prince was thought to have a good judgment (too much talk in it, we sometimes feared), and fair knowledge in military matters. the king, not quite by the prince's choice, has given him winterfeld for mentor; winterfeld, who has an excellent military head in such matters, and a heart firm as steel,--almost like a second self in the king's estimation. excellent winterfeld;--but then there are also schmettau, bevern and others, possibly in private not too well affected to this winterfeld. in fact, there is rather a multitude of counsellers;--and an ingenuous fine-spirited prince, perhaps more capable of eloquence on the opposition side, than of condensing into real wisdom a multitude of counsels, when the crisis rises, and the affair becomes really difficult. crisis did rise: the victorious austrians, after such delay, had finally made up their minds to press this one a little, this one rather than the king, and hang upon his skirts; daun and prince karl set out after him, just about the time of his arrival,--" , strong," the prince hears; including plenty of pandours. certain it is, the poor prince's mind did flounder a good deal; and his procedures succeeded extremely ill on this occasion. certain, too, that they were extremely ill-taken at head-quarters: and that he even died soon after,--chiefly of broken heart, said the censorious world. it is well known how europe rang with the matter for a long while; and books were printed, and documents, and collections by a master's hand. [_lettres secretes touchant la deniere guerre; de main de maitre; divisees en deux parties_ (francfort et amsterdam, ): this is the prince's own statement, proof in hand. by far the clearest account is in _schmettau's leben_ (by his son), pp. - . see also preuss, ii. - , and especially ii. .] we, who can spend but a page or two on it, must carefully stand by the essential part. "june th-july d, prince at jung-bunzlau, in chief command. besides winterfeld, the generals under him are ziethen, schmettau, fouquet, retzow, goltz, and two others who need not be of our acquaintance. impossible to stay there, thinks the prince, thinks everybody; and they shift to neuschloss, westward thirty miles. july st, daun had crossed the elbe (daun let us say for brevity, though it is daun and karl, or even karl and daun, karl being chief, and capable of saying so at times, though daun is very splendent since kolin),--crossed the elbe above brandeis; nadasti, with precursor pandours, now within an hour's march of jung-bunzlau;--and it was time to go. "july d- th, at neuschloss, which is thought a strong position, key of the localities there, and nearer friedrich too, the prince stayed not quite four days; shifted to bohm (bohmisch) leipa, july th,--rather off from leitmeritz, but a march towards zittau, where the provisions are. 'a bad change,' said the prince's friends afterwards; (change advised by winterfeld,--who never mentioned that circumstance to his majesty, many as he did mention, not in the best way!'--prince gets to bohm leipa july th; stays there, in questionable circumstances, nine days. "bohm leipa is still not above thirty miles northeastward of the king; and it is about the same distance southwestward from zittau, out of which fine town, partly by cross-roads, the prince gets his provisions on this march. from zittau hitherward, as far as the little town of gabel, which lies about half way, there is broad high road, the great southern kaiser-strasse: from gabel, for bohm leipa, you have to cross southwestward by country roads; the keys to which, especially gabel, the prince has not failed to secure by proper garrison parties. and so, for about a week, not quite uncomfortably, he continues at bohm leipa; getting in his convoys from zittau. diligently scanning the pandour stragglings and sputterings round him, which are clearly on the increasing hand. diligently corresponding with the king, meanwhile; who much discourages undue apprehension, or retreat movement till the last pinch. 'edging backward, and again backward, you come bounce upon berlin one day, and will then have to halt!'--which is not pleasant to the prince. but, indisputably, the pandour spurts on him do become pandour gushings, with regulars also noticeable: it is certain the austrians are out,--pretending first to mean the king and leitmeritz; but knowing better, and meaning the prince and bohm leipa all the while."--by way of supplement, take daun's positions in the interim:-- daun and karl were at podschernitz th june; st july, cross the elbe, above brandeis (nadasti now within an hour's march of jung-bunzlau); th july (day while the prince is flitting to bohm leipa), daun is through jung-bunzlau to munchengratz; thence to liebenau; th, to niemes, not above four miles from the prince's rightmost outpost (rightmost or eastmost, which looks away from his brother); while a couple of advanced parties, beck and maguire, hover on his flank zittau-ward, and nadasti (if he knew it) is pushing on to rear. "thursday, th july, about six in the evening, at bohm leipa, distinct cannon-thunder is heard from northeast: 'evidently gabel getting cannonaded, and our wagon convoy [empty, going to zittau for meal, general puttkammer escorting] is in a dangerous state!' and by and by hussar parties of ours come in, with articulate news to that bad effect: 'gabel under hot attack of regulars; puttkammer with his , vigorously defending, will expect to be relieved within not many hours!' here has the crisis come. crisis sure enough;--and the prince, to meet it, summons that refuge of the irresolute, a council of war. "winterfeld, who is just come home in these moments, did not attend;--not, till three next morning. winterfeld had gone to bed; fairly 'tired dead,' with long marching and hurrying about. to the poor prince there are three courses visible. course first, that of joining the king at leitmeritz. gabel, zittau lost in that case; game given up;--reception likely to be bad at leitmeritz! course second,--the course friedrich himself would at once have gone upon, and been already well ahead with,--that of instantly taking measures for the relief of puttkammer. dispute gabel to the last; retreat, on loss of it, parthian-like, to zittau, by that broad highway, short and broad, whole distance hence only thirty miles. 'thirty miles,' say the multitude of counsellors: 'yes, but the first fifteen, to gabel, is cross-road, hilly, difficult; they have us in flank!' 'we are , ,' urges the prince; 'fifteen miles is not much!' the thing had its difficulties: the prince himself, it appears, faintly thought it feasible: ' , we; , they; only fifteen miles,' said he. but the variety of counsellors: 'cross-roads, defiles, flank-march, dangerous,' said they. and so the third course, which was incomparably the worst, found favor in council of war: that of leaving gabel and puttkammer to their fate; and of pushing off for zittau leftwards through the safe hills, by kamnitz, kreywitz, rumburg;--which, if the reader look, is by a circuitous, nay quite parabolic course, twice or thrice as far:--'in that manner let us save zittau and our main body!' said the council of war. yes, my friends: a cannon-ball, endeavoring to get into zittau from the town-ditch, would have to take a parabolic course;--and the cannon-ball would be speedy upon it, and not have hill roads to go by! this notable parabolic circuit of narrow steep roads may have its difficulties for an army and its baggages!" enough, the poor prince adopted that worst third course; and even made no despatch in getting into it; and it proved ruinous to zittau, and to much else, his own life partly included. "july th- d. thursday night, or friday a.m., that third and incomparably worst course was adopted: gabel, puttkammer with his wagons, ensigns, kettledrums, all this has to surrender in a day: high road to zittau, for the austrians, is a smooth march, when they like to gather fully there, and start. and in the hills, with their jolts and precipitous windings, infested too by pandours, the poor prussian main body, on its wide parabolic circuit, has a time of it! loses its pontoons, loses most of its baggage; obliged to set fire, not to the pandours, but to your own wagons, and necessaries of army life; encamps on bleak heights; no food, not even water; road quite lost, road to be rediscovered or invented; pandours sputtering on you out of every bush and hollow, your peasant wagoners cutting traces and galloping off:--such are the phenomena of that march by circuit leftward, on the poor prince's part. march began, soon after midnight, saturday, th, schmettau as vanguard; and"-- and, in fine, by friday, d, after not quite a week of it, the prince, curving from northward (in parabolic course, less speedy than the cannon-ball's would have been) into sight of zittau,--behold, there are the austrians far and wide to left of us, encamped impregnable behind the neisse river there! they have got the eckart's hill, which commands zittau:--and how to get into zittau and our magazines, and how to subsist if we were in? the poor prince takes post on what heights there are, on his own side of the neisse; looks wistfully down upon zittau, asking how? about stroke of noon the austrians, from their eckartsberg, do a thing which was much talked of. they open battery of red-hot balls upon zittau; kindle the roofs of it, shingle-roofs in dry july; set zittau all on blaze, the , innocent souls shrieking in vain to heaven and earth; and before sunset, zittau is ashes and red-hot walls, not zittau but a cinder-heap,--prussian garrison not hurt, nor magazine as yet; garrison busy with buckets, i should guess, but beginning to find the air grow very hot. on the morrow morning, zittau is a smouldering cinder-heap, hotter and hotter to the prussian garrison; and does not exist as a city. one of the most inhuman actions ever heard of in war, shrieks universal germany; asks itself what could have set a chivalrous karl upon this devil-like procedure? "protestants these poor zittauers were; shone in commerce; no such weaving, industrying, in all teutschland elsewhere: hah! an eye-sorrow, they, with their commerce, their weavings and industryings, to austrian papists, who cannot weave or trade?" that was finally the guess of some persons;--wide of the mark, we may well judge. prince xavier of saxony, present in the camp too, made no remonstrance, said others. alas, my friends, what could xavier probably avail, the foolish fellow, with only three regiments? prince karl, it was afterwards evident, could have got zittau unburnt; and could even have kept the prussians out of zittau altogether. zittau surely would have been very useful to prince karl. but overnight (let us try to fancy it so), not knowing the prussian possibilities, prince karl, screwed to the devilish point, had got his furnaces lighted, his red-hot balls ready; and so, hurried on by his pride and by his other devils, had,--there are devilish things sometimes done in war. and whole cities are made ashes by them. for certain, here is a strange way of commencing your "deliverance of saxony"! and prince karl carries, truly, a brand-mark from this conflagration, and will till all memory of him cease. as to zittau, it rebuilt itself. zittau is alive again; a strong stone city, in our day. on its new-built town-house stands again "bene facere et male audire regium est, to do well, and be ill spoken of, is the part of kings" [a saying of alexander the great's (plutarch, in alexandre).] (amazingly true of them,--when they are not shams). what times for herrnhuth; preparing for its christian sabbath, under these omens near by! the prince of prussia tells us, he "early next morning (saturday, d july) had his tents pitched;" which was but an unavailing procedure, with poor zittau gone such a road. "bring us bread out of that ruined zittau," ordered the prince: his detachment returns ineffectual, "so hot, we cannot march in." and the garrison colonel (one dierecke and five battalions are garrison) sends out word: "so hot, we cannot stand it." "stand it yet a very little; and--!" answers the prince: but dierecke and battalions cannot, or at least cannot long enough; and set to marching out. in firm order, i have no doubt, and with some modicum of bread: but the tumbling of certain burnt walls parted colonel and men, in a sad way. colonel himself, with the colors, with the honors (none of his people, it seems, though they were scattered loose), was picked up by an austrian party, and made prisoner. a miserable business, this of zittau! next, evening, sunday, after dark, prince of prussia strikes his tents again; rolls off in a very unsuccinct condition; happily unchased, for he admits that chase would have been ruinous. off towards lobau (what nights for zinzendorf and herrnhuth, as such things tumble past them!); thence towards bautzen; and arrives in the most lugubrious torn condition any prussian general ever stood in. reaches bautzen on those terms;--and is warned that his brother will be there in a day or two. one may fancy friedrich's indignation, astonishment and grief, when he heard of that march towards zittau through the hills by a parabolic course; the issue of which is too guessable by friedrich. he himself instantly rises from leitmeritz; starts, in fit divisions, by the pascopol, by the elbe passes, for pirna; and, leaving moritz of dessau with a , to secure the passes about pirna, and keith to come on with the magazines, hastens across for bautzen, to look into these advancing triumphant austrians, these strange prussian proceedings. on first hearing of that side-march, his auguries had been bad enough; [letter to wilhelmina "linay, d july" (second day of the march from leitmeritz); _oeuvres,_ xxvii. i. .] but the event has far surpassed them. zittau gone; the army hurrying home, as if in flight, in that wrecked condition; the door of saxony, door of silesia left wide open,--daun has only to choose! day by day, as friedrich advanced to repair that mischief, the news of it have grown worse on him. days rife otherwise in mere bad news. the russians in memel, preussen at their feet; soubise's french and the reich's army pushing on for erfurt, to "deliver saxony," on that western side: and from the french-english scene of operations--in those same bad days royal highness of cumberland has been doing a feat worth notice in the above connection! read this, from an authentic source:-- "hastenbeck, d- th july, . royal highness, hitching back and back, had got to hameln, a strong place of his on the safe side of the weser; and did at last, hanover itself being now nigh, call halt; and resolve to make a stand. july d [very day while the prince of prussia came in sight of zittau, with the austrians hanging over it], royal highness took post in that favorable vicinity of hameln; at perfect leisure to select his ground: and there sat waiting d'estrees,--swamps for our right wing, and the weser not far off; small hamlet of hastenbeck in front, and a woody knoll for our left;--totally inactive for four days long; attempting nothing upon d'estrees and his intricate shufflings, but looking idly noonward to the courses of the sun, till d'estrees should come up. royal highness is much swollen into obesity, into flabby torpor; a changed man since fontenoy times; shockingly inactive, they say, in this post at hastenbeck. d'estrees, too, is ridiculously cautious, 'has manoeuvred fifteen days in advancing about as many british miles.' d'estrees did at last come up (july th), nearly two to one of royal highness,-- , some count him, but considerably anarchic in parts, overwhelmed with court generals and princes of the blood, for one item;--and decides on attacking, next morning. d'estrees duly went to reconnoitre, but unluckily 'had mist suddenly falling.' 'well; we must attack, all the same!' "and so, th july, tuesday, there ensued a battle of hastenbeck: the absurdest battle in the world; and which ought, in fairness, to have been lost by both, though royal highness alone had the ill luck. both captains behaved very poorly; and each of them had a subaltern who behaved well. d'estrees, with his , versus , posted there, knows nothing of royal highness's position; sees only royal highness's left wing on that woody height; and after hours of preliminary cannonading, sends out general chevert upon that. chevert, his subaltern [a bit of right soldier-stuff, the chevert whom we knew at prag, in old belleisle times], goes upon it like fury; whom the brunswick grenadiers resist in like humor, hotter and hotter. some hard fighting there, on royal highness's left; chevert very fiery, grenadiers very obstinate; till, on the centre, westward, in royal highness's chief battery there, some spark went the wrong way, and a powder-wagon shot itself aloft with hideous blaze and roar; and in the confusion, the french rushed in, and the battery was lost. which discouraged the grenadiers; so that chevert made some progress upon them, on their woody height, and began to have confident hope. "had chevert known, or had d'estrees known, there was, close behind said height, a hollow, through which these grenadiers might have been taken in rear. dangerous hollow, much neglected by royal highness, who has only general breitenbach with a weak party there. this breitenbach, happening to have a head of his own, and finding nothing to do in that hollow or to rightward, bursts out, of his own accord, on chevert's left flank; cannonading, volleying, horse-charging;--the sound of which ('hah, french there too!') struck a damp through royal highness, who instantly ordered retreat, and took the road. what singular ill-luck that sound of breitenbach to royal highness! for observe, the effect of breitenbach,--which was, to recover the lost battery (gallant young prince of brunswick, 'hereditary prince,' or duke that is to be, striking in upon it with bayonet-charge at the right moment), made d'estrees to order retreat! 'battle lost,' thinks d'estrees;--and with good cause, had breitenbach been supported at all. but no subaltern durst; and royal highness himself was not overtakable, so far on the road. royal highness wept on hearing; the brunswick grenadiers too are said to have wept (for rage); and probably breitenbach and the hereditary prince." [mauvillon, i. ; anonymous of hamburg, i. (who gives a plan and all manner of details, if needed by anybody); kausler; &c. &c.] this is the last of royal highness's exploits in war. the retreat had been ordered "to hanover;" but the baggage by mistake took the road for minden; and royal highness followed thither,--much the same what road he or it takes. friedrich might still hope he would retreat on magdeburg; , good soldiers might find a captain there, and be valuable against a d'estrees and soubise in those parts. but no; it was through bremen country, to stade, into the sea, that royal highness, by ill luck, retreated! he has still one great vexation to give friedrich,--to us almost a comfort, knowing what followed out of it;--and will have to be mentioned one other time in this history, and then go over our horizon altogether. whether friedrich had heard of hastenbeck the day his brother and he met (july th, at bautzen), i do not know: but it is likely enough he may have got the news that very morning; which was not calculated to increase one's good humor! his meeting with the prince is royal, not fraternal, as all men have heard. let us give with brevity, from schmettau junior, the exact features of it; and leave the candid reader, who has formed to himself some notion of kingship and its sorrows and stern conditions (having perhaps himself some thing of kingly, in a small potential way), to interpret the matter, and make what he can of it:-- "bautzen, th july, . the king with reinforcement is coming hither, from the dresden side; to take up the reins of this dishevelled zittau army; to speed with it against the austrians, and, if humanly possible, lock the doors of silesia and saxony again, and chase the intruders away. prince of prussia and the other generals have notice, the night before: 'at a.m. to-morrow ( th), wait his majesty.' prince and generals wait accordingly, all there but goltz and winterfeld; they not, which is noted. "for above an hour, no king; prince and generals ride forward:--there is the king coming; prince henri, duke ferdinand of brunswick and others in his train. king, noticing them, at about paces distance, drew bridle; prince of prussia did the like, train and he saluting with their hats, as did the king's train in return. king did not salute;--on the contrary, he turned his horse round and dismounted, as did everybody else on such signal. king lay down on the ground, as if waiting the arrival of his vanguard; and bade winterfeld and goltz sit by him." poor prince of prussia, and battered heavy-laden generals!"after a minute or two, goltz came over and whispered to the prince. 'hither, meine herren, all of you; a message from his majesty!' cried the prince. whereupon, to generals and prince, goltz delivered, in equable official tone, these affecting words: 'his majesty commands me to inform your royal highness, that he has cause to be greatly discontented with you; that you deserve to have a court-martial held over you, which would sentence you and all your generals to death; but that his majesty will not carry the matter so far, being unable to forget that in the chief general he has a brother!'" [schmettau, pp. , .] the prince answered, he wanted only a court-martial, and the like, in stiff tone. here is the letter he writes next day to his brother, with the answer:-- prince of prussia to the king. "bautern, th july, . "my dear brother,--the letters you have written me, and the reception i yesterday met with, are sufficient proof that, in your opinion, i have ruined my honor and reputation. this grieves, but it does not crush me, as in my own mind i am not conscious of the least reproach. i am perfectly convinced that i did not act by caprice: i did not follow the counsels of people incapable of giving good ones; i have done what i thought to be suitablest for the army. all your generals will do me that justice. "i reckon it useless to beg of you to have my conduct investigated: this would be a favor you would do me; so i cannot expect it. my health has been weakened by these fatigues, still more by these chagrins. i have gone to lodge in the town, to recruit myself. "i have requested the duke of bevern to present the army reports; he can give you explanation of everything. be assured, my dear brother, that in spite of the misfortunes which overwhelm me, and which i have not deserved, i shall never cease to be attached to the state; and as a faithful member of the same, my joy will be perfect when i learn the happy issue of your enterprises. i have the honor to be" august wilhelm. _main de maitre,_ p. .] king's answer, the same day. "camp near bautzen, th july, . "my dear brother,--your bad guidance has greatly deranged my affairs. it is not the enemy, it is your ill-judged measures that have done me all this mischief. my generals are inexcusable; either for advising you so ill, or in permitting you to follow resolutions so unwise. your ears are accustomed to listen to the talk of flatterers only. daun has not flattered you;--behold the consequences. in this sad situation, nothing is left for me but trying the last extremity. i must go and give battle; and if we cannot conquer, we must all of us have ourselves killed. "i do not complain of your heart; but i do of your incapacity, of your want of judgment in not choosing better methods. a man who [like me; mark the phrase, from such a quarter!] has but a few days to live need not dissemble. i wish you better fortune than mine has been: and that all the miseries and bad adventures you have had may teach you to treat important things with more of care, more of sense, and more of resolution. the greater part of the misfortunes which i now see to be near comes only from you. you and your children will be more overwhelmed by them than i. be persuaded nevertheless that i have always loved you, and that with these sentiments i shall die. friedrich." [main de maitre, p. .] as the king went off to the heights of weissenberg, zittau way, to encamp there against the austrians, that same evening, the prince did not answer this letter,--except by asking verbally through lieutenant-colonel lentulus (a mute swiss figure, much about the king, who often turns up in these histories), "for leave to return to dresden by the first escort."--"depends on himself;--an escort is going this night! answered friedrich. and the prince went accordingly; and, by two stages, got into dresden with his escort on the morrow. and had, not yet conscious of it, quitted the field of war altogether; and was soon about to quit the world, and die, poor prince. died within a year, th june, , at oranienburg, beside his family, where he had latterly been. [preuss, ii. (ib. ).]--winterfeld was already gone, six months before him; goltz went, not long after him; the other zittau generals all survived this war. the poor prince's fate, as natural, was much pitied; and friedrich, to this day, is growled at for "inhuman treatment" and so on. into which question we do not enter, except to say that friedrich too had his sorrows; and that probably his concluding words, "with these sentiments i shall die," were perfectly true. main de maitre went widely abroad over the world. the poor prince's words and procedures were eagerly caught up by a scrutinizing public,--and some of the former were not too guarded. at dresden, he said, one morning, calling on a general finck whom we shall hear of again: "four such disagreeing, thin-skinned, high-pacing (uneinige, piquirte) generals as fouquet, schmettau, winterfeld and goltz, about you, what was to be done!" said the prince to finck. [preuss, ii. n.: see ib. , .] his wife, when at last he came to oranienburg, nursed him fondly; that is one comfortable fact. prince henri, to the last, had privately a grudge of peculiar intensity, on this score, against all the peccant parties, king not excepted. as indeed he was apt to have, on various scores, the jealous, too vehement little man. friedrich's humor at this time i can guess to have been well-nigh desperate. he talks once of "a horse, on too much provocation, getting the bit between its teeth; regardless thenceforth of chasms and precipices:" [letter to wilhelmina, "linay, d july" (cited above).]--though he himself never carries it to that length; and always has a watchful eye, when at his swiftest! from weissenberg, that night, he drives in the pandours on zittau and the eckartsberg--but the austrians don't come out. and, for three weeks in this fierce necessity of being speedy, he cannot get one right stroke at the austrians; who sit inexpugnable upon their eckart's hill, bristling with cannon; and can in no way be manoeuvred down, or forced or enticed into battle. a baffling, bitterly impatient three weeks;--two of them the worst two, he spends at weissenberg itself, chasing pandours, and scuffling on the surface, till keith and the magazine-train come up;--even writing verses now and then, when the hours get unendurable otherwise! the instant keith and the magazines are come he starts for bernstadt; , strong after this junction:--and a prussian officer, dating "bernstadtel [bernstadt on the now maps], st august, ," sends us this account; which also is but of preliminary nature:-- "august th, majesty left weissenberg, and marched hither, much to the enemy's astonishment, who had lain perfectly quiet for a fortnight past, fancying they were a mastiff on the door-sill of silesia: little thinking to be trampled on in this unceremonious way! general beck, when our hussars of the vanguard made appearance, had to saddle and ride as for life, leaving every rag of baggage, and forty of his pandours captive. our hussars stuck to him, chasing him into ostritz, where they surprised general nadasti at dinner; and did a still better stroke of business: nadasti himself could scarcely leap on horseback and get off; left all his field equipage, coaches, horses, kitchen-utensils, flunkies seventy-two in number,--and, what was worst of all, a secret box, in which were found certain dresden correspondences of a highly treasonous character, which now the writers there may quake to think of;"--if friedrich, or we, could take much notice of them, in this press of hurries! [_helden-geschichte,_ iv. - .] next day, august th, friedrich detached five battalions to gorlitz;--prince karl (he calls it daun) still camping on the eckartsberg;--and himself, about p.m., with the main army, marched up to those austrians on their hill, to see if they would fight. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ iv. .] no, they would n't: they merely hustled themselves round so as to face him; face him, and even flank him with cannon-batteries if he came too near. steep ground, "precipitous front of rocks," in some places. "a hollow before their front; village of wittgenau there, and three roads through it, one of them with width for wheels;" daun sitting inaccessible, in short. next day, winterfeld, with a detached division, crossed the neisse, tried nadasti: "attack nadasti, on his woody knoll at hirschfeld yonder; they will have to rise and save him!" in vain, that too; they let nadasti take his own luck: for four days ( th- th august) everything was tried, in vain. no battle to be had from these austrians. and it would have been so infinitely convenient to us: reich's army and soubise's french are now in the actual precincts of erfurt (august th, soubise took quarter there); royal highness of cumberland is staggering back into the sea; richelieu's french (not d'estrees any more, d'estrees being superseded in this strange way) are aiming, it is thought, towards magdeburg, had they once done with royal highness; swedes are getting hold of pommern; russians, in huge force, of preussen: how comfortable to have had our austrians finished before going upon the others! for four days more (august th- th), friedrich arranges his army for watching the austrians, and guarding silesia;--bevern and winterfeld to take command in his absence:--and, august th, has to march; with a small division, which, at dresden, he will increase by moritz's, now needless in the pirna country; towards thuringen; to look into soubise and the reich's army, as a thing that absolutely cannot wait. arrives in dresden, monday, august th; and--or let the old newspaper report it, with the features of life:-- "dresden, th august, , this day, about noon, his majesty, with a part of his army from the upper lausitz, arrived at the neustadt here. though the kitchen had been appointed to be set up at what they call the barns (die scheunen), his majesty was pleased to alight in konigsbruck street, at the new house of bruhl's chamberlain, haller; and there passed the night. tuesday evening, th, his majesty the king, with his lifeguards of horse and of foot, also with the gens-d'armes and other battalions, marched through the city, about a mile out on the freiberg road, and took quarter in klein hamberg. the st, all the army followed,"--a poor , , moritz and he, that was all! [" , " (templehof, i. ).]--"the king's field-equipage, which had been taken from the bruhl palace and packed in twelve wagons, went with them." [rodenbeck, p. ; preuss, ii. n; mitchell's interview (_memoirs and papers,_ i. ).] chapter vi.--death of winterfeld. before going upon this forlorn march of friedrich's, one of the forlornest a son of adam ever had, we must speak of a thing which befell to rearward, while the march was only half done, and which greatly influenced it and all that followed. it was the seventh day of friedrich's march, not above eighty miles of it yet done, when winterfeld perished in fight. no winterfeld now to occupy the austrians in his absence; to stand between silesia and them, or assist him farther in his lonesome struggle against the world. let us spend a moment on the exit of that brave man: bernstadt, gorlitz country, september th, . the bevern army, , strong, is still there in its place in the lausitz, near gorlitz; prince karl lies quiet in his near zittau, ever since he burnt that town, and stood four days in arms unattackable by friedrich with prospect of advantage. the court of vienna cannot comprehend this state of inactivity: "two to one, and a mere bevern against you, the king far away in saxony upon his desperate anti-french mission there: why not go in upon this bevern? the french, whom we are by every courier passionately importuning to sweep saxony clear, what will they say of this strange mode of sweeping silesia clear?" maria theresa and her kriegs-hofrath are much exercised with these thoughts, and with french and other remonstrances that come. maria theresa and her kriegs-hofrath at length despatch their supreme kaunitz, graf kaunitz in person, to stir up prince karl, and look into the matter with his own wise eyes and great heart: prince karl, by way of treat to this high gentleman, determines on doing something striking upon bevern. bevern lies with his main body about gorlitz, in and to westward of gorlitz, a pleasant town on the left bank of the neisse (readers know there are four neisses, and which of them this is), with fine hilly country all round, bulky solitary heights and mountains rising out of fruitful plains,--two hochkirchs (high-kirks), for example, are in this region, one of which will become extremely notable next year:--bevern has a strong camp leaning on the due heights here, with gorlitz in its lap; and beyond gorlitz, on the right bank of the neisse, united to him by a bridge, he has placed winterfeld with , , who lies with his back to gorlitz, proper brooks and fencible places flanking him, has a dorf (thorp) called moys in his lap; and, some short furlong beyond moys, a , of his grenadiers planted on the top of a hill called the moysberg, called also the holzberg (woodhill) and jakelsberg, of which the reader is to take notice. fine outpost, with proper batteries atop, with hussar squadrons and hussar pickets sprinkled about; which commands a far outlook towards silesia, and in marching thither, or in continuing here, is useful to have in hand,--were it not a little too distant from the main body. it is this jakelsberg, capable of being snatched if one is sudden enough, that prince karl decides on: it may be good for much or for little to prince karl; and, if even for nothing, it will be a brilliant affront upon winterfeld and bevern, and more or less charming to kaunitz. winterfeld, the ardent enterprising man, king's other self, is thought to be the mainspring of affairs here (small thanks to him privately from bevern, add some): and is stationed in the extreme van, as we see; winterfeld is engaged in many things besides the care of this post; and indeed where a critical thing is to be done, we can imagine winterfeld goes upon it. "we must try to stay here till the king has finished in saxony!" says winterfeld always. to which bevern replies, "excellent, truly; but how?" bevern has his provender at dresden, sadly far off; has to hold bautzen garrisoned, and gets much trouble with his convoys. better in silesia, with our magazines at hand, thinks bevern, less mindful of other considerations. tuesday, september th, prince karl sends nadasti to the right bank of the river, forward upon moys, to do the jakelsberg before day to-morrow: only some , grenadiers on it; nadasti has with him , , some count , of all arms, artillery in plenty; surely sufficient for the jakelsberg; and daun advances, with the main body, on the other side of the river, to be within reach, should moys lead to more serious consequences. nadasti diligently marches all day; posts himself at night within few miles of moys; gets his cannon to the proper hills (gallows hill and others), his croats to the proper woods; and, before daylight on the morrow, means to begin upon the moys hill and its , grenadiers. wednesday morning, at the set hour, nadasti, with artillery bursting out and quivering battle-lines, is at work accordingly; hurls up , croats for one item, and regulars to the amount of "forty companies in three lines." the grenadiers, somewhat astonished, for the morning was misty and their hussar-posts had come hastily in, stood upon their guard, like prussian men; hurled back the , croats fast enough; stubbornly repulsed the regulars too, and tumbled them down hill with bullet-storm for accompaniment; gallantly foiling this first attempt of nadasti's. of course nadasti will make another, will make ever others; capture of the jakelsberg can hardly be doubtful to nadasti. winterfeld was not at moys, he was at gorlitz, just got in from escorting an important meal-convoy hither out of bautzen; and was in conference with bevern, when rumor of these croat attacks came in at the gallop from moys. winterfeld made little of the rumors: he had heard of some attack intended, but it was to have been overnight, and has not been. "mere foraging of croat rabble, like yesterday's!" said winterfeld, and continued his present business. in few minutes the sound of heavy cannonading convinced him. "haha, there are my guests," said he; "we must see if we cannot entertain them right!" sprang to horseback, ordered on, double-quick, the three regiments nearest him, and was off at the gallop,--too late; or, alas, too early we might rather say! arriving at the gallop, winterfeld found his grenadiers and their insufficient reinforcements rolling back, the hill lost; winterfeld "sprang to a fresh horse," shot his lightning glances and energies, to his hand and that; stormfully rallied the matter, recovered the hill; and stormfully defended it, for, i should guess, an hour or more; and might still have done one knows not what, had not a bullet struck him through the breast, and suddenly ended all his doings in this world. three other reasons the prussians give for loss of their hill, which are of no consequence to them or to us in comparison. first, that bevern; on message after message, sent no reinforcement; that winterfeld was left to his own , , and what he and they could make of it. bevern is jealous of winterfeld, hint they, and willing to see his impetuous audacity checked. perhaps only cautious of getting into a general action for what was intrinsically nothing? second, that two regiments of infantry, whom winterfeld detached double-quick to seize a couple of villages (leopoldshayn, hermsdorf) on his right, and therefrom fusillade nadasti on flank, found the villages already occupied by thousands of croats, with regular foot and cannon-batteries, and could in nowise seize them. this was a great reverse of advantage. third, that an aide-de-camp made a small misnomer, misreport of one word, which was terribly important: "bring me hither regiment manteuffel!" winterfeld had ordered. the aide-de-camp reported it "grenadiers manteuffel:" upon which, the grenadiers, who were posted in a walled garden, an important point to winterfeld's right, came instantly to order; and austrians instantly rushed in to the vacant post, and galled winterfeld's other flank by their fire. [abundant accounts in seyfarth, ii. (_beylagen_), - ; _helden-geschichte,_ iv. - ; retzow, i. - .] enough, winterfeld lay bleeding to death, the hill was lost, prussians drawing off slowly and back-foremost, about two in the afternoon; upon which the austrians also drew off, leaving only a small party on the hill, who voluntarily quitted it next morning. next morning, likewise, winterfeld had died. the hill was, except as bravado, and by way of comfort to kaunitz, nothing for the austrians; but the death of winterfeld, which had come by chance to them in the business, was probably a great thing. better than two pitched battles gained: who shall say? he was a shining figure, this winterfeld; dangerous to the austrians. the most shining figure in the prussian army, except its chief; and had great thoughts in his head. prussia is not skilful to celebrate her heroes,--the prussian muse of history, choked with dry military pipe-clay, or with husky cobwebbery and academic pedantry, how can she?--but if prussia can produce heroes worth celebrating, that is the one important point. apart from soldiership, and the outward features which are widely different, there is traceable in winterfeld some kinship in soul to english chatham his contemporary; though he has not had the fame of chatham. winterfeld was by no means universally liked; as what brave man is or can be? too susceptible to flattery; too this, too that. he is, one feels always, except friedrich only, the most shining figure in the prussian army: and it was not unnatural he should be friedrich's one friend,--as seems to have been the case. friedrich, when this job's-message reached him (in erfurt country, eight days hence), was deeply affected by it. to tears, or beyond tears, as we can fancy. "against my multitude of enemies i may contrive resources," he was heard to say; "but i shall find no winterfeld again!" adieu, my one friend, real peer, sole companion to my lonely pilgrimage in these perilous high regions. "the prince of prussia, contrariwise," says a miserable little note, which must not be withheld, "brightened up at the news: 'i shall now die much more content, knowing that there is one so bad and dangerous man fewer in the army!' and, six months after, in his actual death-moments, he exclaimed: 'i end my life, the last period of which has cost me so much sorrow; but winterfeld is he who shortened my days!'" [preuss, ii. ; citing retzow.]--very bitter opposition humors circulating, in their fashion, there as elsewhere in this world! bevern, the millstone of winterfeld being off his neck, has become a more responsible, though he feels himself a much-delivered man. had not liked winterfeld, they say; or had even hated him, since those bad zittau times. can now, at any rate, make for schlesien and the meal-magazines, when he sees good. he will find meal readier there; may he find other things corresponding! nobody now to keep him painfully manoeuvring in these parts; with the king's army nearer to him, but meal not. on the third day after (september th), bevern, having finished packing, took the road for schlesien; daun and karl attending him; nothing left of daun and karl in those saxon countries,--except, at stolpen, out dresden-wards, some reserve-post or rear-guard of , , should we chance to hear of that again. and from the end of september onwards, bevern's star, once somewhat bright at reichenberg, shot rapidly downwards, under the horizon altogether; and there came, post after post, such news out of schlesien,--to say nothing of that stolpen party,--as friedrich had never heard before. chapter vii.--friedrich in thuringen, his world of enemies all come. the soubise-hildburghausen people had got rendezvoused at erfurt about august th; , by account, and no enemy within miles of them; and in the versailles circles it had been expected they would proceed to the "deliverance of saxony" straightway. what is to hinder?--friedrich, haggling with the austrians at bernstadt, could muster but a poor , , when he did march towards erfurt. in those same neighborhoods, within reach of soubise, is the richelieu, late d'estrees, army; elated with hastenbeck, comfortably pushing royal highness of cumberland, who makes no resistance, step by step, into the sea; victoriously plundering, far and wide in those countries, hanover itself the head-quarter. in the versailles circles, it is farther expected that richelieu, "conqueror of minorca," will shortly besiege and conquer magdeburg, and so crown his glories. why not; were the "deliverance of saxony" complete? the whole of which turned out greatly otherwise, and to the sad disappointment of versailles. the conqueror of minorca is probably aware that the conquering of magdeburg, against one whose platforms are not rotten, and who does not "lie always in his bed," as poor old blakeney did, will be a very different matter. and the private truth is, marrchal de richelieu never turned his thoughts upon magdeburg at all, nor upon any point of war that had difficulties, but solely upon collecting plunder for himself in those countries. one of the most magnificent marauders on record; in no danger, he, of becoming monitory and a pendulum, like the , that already swing in that capacity to rear of him! and he did manage, in this campaign, which was the last of his military services, so as to pay off at paris "above , pounds of debts; and to build for himself a beautiful garden mansion there, which the mocking populations called 'hanover pavilion (pavilion d'hanovre);'" a name still sticking to it, i believe. [barbier, iii. , .] of the richelieu campaign we are happily delivered from saying almost anything: and the main interest for us turns now on that soubise-hildburghausen wing of it,--which also is a sufficiently contemptible affair; not to be spoken of beyond the strictly unavoidable. friedrich, with his , setting out from dresden, august th, has a march of about miles towards erfurt. he may expect to find--counting richelieu, if royal highness of cumberland persist in acting zero as hitherto--a confused mass of about , enemies, of one sort and other, waiting him ahead; not to think of those he has just left behind;--and he cannot well be in a triumphant humor! behind, before, around, it is one gathering of enemies: one point only certain, that he must beat them, or else die. readers would fain follow him in this forlorn march; him, the one point of interest now in it: and readers shall, if we can manage, though it is extremely difficult. for, on getting to erfurt, he finds his soubise-hildburghausen army off on retreat among the inaccessible hills still farther westward; and has to linger painfully there, and to detach, and even to march personally against other enemies; and then, these finished, to march back towards his erfurt ones, who are taking heart in the interim:--and, in short, from september st to november th, there are two months of confused manoeuvring and marching to and fro in that west-saxon region, which are very intricate to readers. november th is a day unforgettable: but anterior to that, what can we do? here, dated, are the three grand epochs of the thing; which readers had better fix in mind as a preliminary:-- . september th, friedrich has got to erfurt neighborhood; but soubise and company are off westward to the hills of eisenach, won't come down; friedrich obliged to linger thereabouts, painfully waiting almost a month, till . october th, hearing that " , austrians" (that stolpen party, left as rear-guard at stolpen; croats mainly, under a general haddick) are on march for berlin, he rises in haste thitherward, through leipzig, torgau, say miles; hears that haddick has been in berlin ( th- th october) for one day, and that he is off again full speed with a ransom of , pounds, which they have had to pay him: upon which friedrich calls halt in the torgau country;--and would have been uncertain what to do, had not . soubise and company, extremely elated with this haddick feat, come out from their hills, intent to deliver saxony after all. so that friedrich has to turn back (october th- th) through leipzig again; towards,--in fact towards rossbach and november th, in his old saale country, which does not prove so wearisome as formerly! these are the cardinal dates; these let the reader recur to, if necessary, and keep steadily in mind: it will then perhaps be possible to intercalate, in a manner intelligible to him, what other lucent phenomena there are; and these dismal wanderings, and miserablest two months of friedrich's life, will not be wholly a provoking blotch of enigmatic darkness, but in some sort a thing with features in the twilight of the past. i. friedrich's march to erfurt from dresden--( st august- th september, ). the march to erfurt was of twelve days, and without adventure to speak of. mayer and free-battalion had the vanguard, friedrich there as usual; main body, under keith with ferdinand and moritz, following in several columns: straight towards their goal; with steady despatch; for twelve days;--weather often very wet. [tempelhof, i. ; rodenbeck, i. (not very correct): in westphalen (ii. &c.) a personal diary of this march, and of what followed on duke ferdinand's part.] seidlitz, with cavalry, had gone ahead, in search of one turpin, a mighty hunter and hussar among the french, who was threatening leipzig, threatening halle: but turpin made off at sound of him, without trying fight; so that seidlitz had only to halt, and rejoin, hoping better luck another time. a march altogether of the common type,--the stages of it not worth marking except for special readers;--and of memorable to us offers only this, if even this: at rotha, in leipzig country, the eighth stage from dresden, friedrich writes, willing to try for peace if it be possible, to the marechal duc de richelieu. "rotha, th september, . "i feel, m. le duc, that you have not been put in the post where you are for the purpose of negotiating. i am persuaded, however, that the nephew of the great cardinal richelieu is made for signing treaties no less than for gaining battles. i address myself to you from an effect of the esteem with which you inspire even those who do not intimately know you. "'t is a small matter, monsieur (il s'agit d'une bagatelle): only to make peace, if people are pleased to wish it! i know not what your instructions are: but, in the supposition that the king your master, zow assured by your successes, will have put it in your power to labor in the pacification of germany, i address to you the sieur d'elcheset" (sieur balbi is the real name of him, an italian engineer of mine, who once served with you in the fontenoy times,--and some say he has privately a , pounds for your grace's acceptance,--"the sieur d'elcheset), in whom you may place complete confidence. "though the events of this year afford no hope that your court still entertains a favorable disposition for my interests, i cannot persuade myself that a union which has lasted between us for sixteen years may not have left some trace in the mind. perhaps i judge others by myself. but, however that may be, i, in short, prefer putting my interests into the king your master's hands rather than into any other's. if you have not, monsieur, any instructions as to the proposal hereby made, i beg of you to ask such, and to inform me what the tenor of them is. "he who has merited statues at genoa [ten years ago, in those anti-austrian times, when genoa burst up in revolt, and the french and richelieu beautifully intervened against the oppressors]; he who conquered minorca in spite of immense obstacles; he who is on the point of subjugating lower saxony,--can do nothing more glorious than to restore peace to europe. of all your laurels, that will be the fairest. work in this cause, with the activity which has secured you such rapid progress otherwise; and be persuaded that nobody will feel more grateful to you than, monsieur le duc,--your faithful friend,-- frederic." [given in rodenbeck, i. (doubtless from _memoires de richelieu,_ paris, , ix. , the one fountain-head in regard to this small affair): for "the , pounds" and other rumored particulars, sea retzow, i. ; preuss, ii. ; _ oeuvres de frederic,_ iv. .] richelieu, it appears by any evidence there is, went willingly into this scheme; and applied at versailles, as desired; with a peremptory negative for result. nothing came of the richelieu attempt there; nor of "ce m. de mirabeau," if he ever went; nor of any other on that errand. needless to apply for peace at versailles (and a mere waste of your "sum of , pounds," which one hopes is fabulous in the present scarcity of money):--or should we perhaps have mentioned the thing at all, except for the sake of wilhelmina, whose fond scheme it is in this extremity of fate; scheme which she tries in still other directions, as we shall see; her brother willing too, but probably with much less hope. if a civil letter and a bribe of money will do it, these need not be spared. this at rotha is the day while winterfeld, on moys hill, is meeting his death. to-day at pegau, in this neighborhood, seidlitz, who could not fall in with turpin, has given the hussars of loudon a beautiful slap; the first enemy we have seen on this march; and the last,--nothing but loudon and hussars visibly about, the rest of those soubise-reichs people dormant, as would seem. "d'elcheset," balbi, or whoever he was, would not find richelieu at hanover; but at a place called kloster-zeven, in bremen country, fifty or sixty miles farther on. there, this day, are richelieu with one sporcken a hanoverian, and one lynar a dane, rapidly finishing a thing they were pleased to call "convention of kloster-zeven;" which friedrich regarded as another huge misfortune fallen on him,--though it proved to have been far the reverse a while after. concerning which take this brief note; cannot be too brief on such a topic:-- "never was there a more futile convention than that of kloster-zeven; which filled all europe with lamentable noises, indignations and anxieties, during the remainder of that year; and is now reduced, for europe and the universe, to a silent mathematical point, or mere mark of position, requiring still to be attended to in that character, though itself zero in any other. here are the main particulars, in their sequence. "august d, towards midnight, ' p.m.' say the books, marechal de richelieu arrives in the d'estrees camp ('camp of oldendorf,' still only one march west of hastenbeck); to whom d'estrees on the instant loftily delivers up his army; explains with loyalty, for a few days more, all things needful to the new commander; declines to be himself second; and loftily withdraws to the baths of aachen 'for his health.' "royal highness of cumberland is, by this time, well on elbe-ward, ocean-ward. till august st; for one week, royal highness of cumberland lay at minden, some thirty odd miles from hastenbeck; deploring that sad mistake; but unpersuadable to stand, and try amendment of it: august st, the french advancing on him again, he moved off northward, seaward. by nienburg, verden, rothenburg, zeven, bremenvorde, stade;--arrived at stade, on the tidal waters of the elbe, august th; and by necessity did halt there. from minden onwards, richelieu, not d'estrees, has had the chasing of royal highness: one of the simplest functions; only that the country is getting muddy, difficult for artillery-carriage (thinks richelieu), with an army so dilapidated, hungry, short of pay; and that royal highness, a very furious person to our former knowledge, might turn on us like a boar at bay, endangering everything; and finally, that one's desire is not for battle, but for a fair chance of plunder to pay one's debts. "britannic majesty, in this awful state of his hanover armaments, has been applying at the danish court; richelieu too sends off an application thither: 'mediate between us, spare useless bloodshed!' [valfons, p. .]--whereupon danish majesty (britannic's son-in-law) cheerfully undertakes it; bids one lynar bestir himself upon it. count lynar, an esteemed official of his, who lives in those neighborhoods; danish viceroy in oldenburg,--much concerned with the scriptures, the sacred languages and other seraphic studies,--and a changed man since we saw him last in the petersburg regions, making love to mrs. anton ulrich long ago! lynar, feeling the axis of the world laid on his shoulder in this manner, loses not a moment; invokes the heavenly powers; goes on it with an alacrity and a despatch beyond praise. runs to the duke of cumberland at stade; thence to richelieu at zeven; back to the duke, back to zeven: 'won't you; and won't you?' and in four short days has the once world-famed 'convention of kloster-zeven' standing on parchment,--signed, ready for ratifying: 'royal highness's army to go home to their countries again [routes, methods, times: when, how, and what next, all left unsettled], and noise of war to cease in those parts.' signed cheerfully on both sides th september, ; and lynar striking the stars with his sublime head. [busching (who alone is exact in the matter), _ beitrage,_ iv. , ,? lynar: see scholl, iii. ; valfons, pp. , ; _oeuvres de frederic,_ iv. (with correction of preuss's note there).] "unaccountable how lynar had managed such a difficulty. he says seraphically, in a letter to a friend, which the prussian hussars got hold of, 'the idea of it was inspired by the holy ghost:' at which the whole world haha'd again. for it was a convention vague, absurd, not capable of being executed; ratification of it refused by both courts, by the french court first, if that was any matter:--and the only thing now memorable of it is, that it was a total futility; but, that there ensued from it a fact still of importance; namely:-- "that on the th of october following, royal highness quitted stade, and his wrecked army hanging sorrowful there, like a flight of plucked cranes in mid-air;--arrived at kensington, october th; heard the paternal majesty say, that evening, 'here is my son who has ruined me, and disgraced himself!'--and thereupon indignantly laid down his military offices, all and sundry; and ceased altogether to command armies, english or other, in this world. [in walpole (iii. - ) the amplest minuteness of detail.] whereby, in the then and now diagram of things, kloster-zeven, as a mathematical point, continues memorable in history, though shrunk otherwise to zero! "pitt's magnanimity to royal highness was conspicuous. royal highness, it is said, had been very badly used in this matter by his poor peddling father and the hanover ministers; the matter being one puddle of imbecilities from beginning to end. he was the soul of honor; brave as a welf lion; but, of dim poor head; and had not the faintest vestige [allergeringste says mauvillon] of military skill: awful in the extreme to see in command of british armies! adieu to him, forever and a day." ever since july th, three days after hastenbeck, pitt had been in office again; such the bombardment by corporation-boxes and events impinging on britannic majesty: but not till now, as i fancy, had pitt's way, in regard to those german matters, been clear to him. the question of a german army, if you must, have a no-general at the top of it, might well be problematical to pitt. to equip your strong fighting man, and send him on your errand, regardless of expense; and, by way of preliminary, cut the head off him, before saying "good-speed to you, strong man!" but with a general, pitt sees that it can be different; that perhaps "america can be conquered in germany," and that, with a britannic majesty so disposed, there is no other way of trying it. to this course pitt stands henceforth, heedless of the gazetteer cackle, "hah, our pitt too become german, after all his talking!"--like a seventy-four under full sail, with sea, wind, pilot all of one mind, and only certain water-fowl objecting. and is king of england for the next four years; the one king poor england has had this long while;--his hand felt shortly at the ends of the earth. and proves such a blessing to friedrich, among others, as nothing else in this war; pretty much his one blessing, little as he expected it. before long, excellency mitchell begins consulting about a general,--and friedrich dimly sees better things in the distance, and that kloster-zeven had not been the misfortune he imagined, but only "the darkest hour," which, it is said, lies "nearest to the dawn." ii. the soubise hildburghausen people take into the hills; friedrich in erfurt neighborhood, hanging on, week after week, in an agony of inaction ( th september- th october). friedrich's march has gone by dobeln, grimma, to pegau and rotha, leipzig way, but, with leipzig well to right: it just brushes weissenfels to rightward, next day after rotha; crosses saale river near naumburg, whence straight through weimar country, weimar city on your left, to erfurt on the northern side;--and, "erfurt, tuesday th september, , about in the morning [listen to a faithful witness], there appeared hussars on the heights to northward:--'vanguard of his prussian majesty!' said erfurt with alarm, and our french guests with alarm. and scarcely were the words uttered, when said vanguard, and gradually the whole prussian army [only some , , though we all thought it the whole], came to sight; posting itself in half-moon shape round us there; french and reichs folk hurrying off what they could from the cyriaksberg and petersberg, by the opposite gates,"--towards gotha, and the hills of eisenach. "think what a dilemma for erfurt, jammed between two horns in this way, should one horn enter before the other got out! much parleying and supplicating on the part of erfurt: till at last, about p.m., french being all off, erfurt flung its gates open; and the new power did enter, with some due state: prussian majesty in person (who could have hoped it!) and prince henri beside him; cavalry with drawn swords; infantry with field-pieces, and the band playing"--prussian grenadier march, i should hope, or something equally cheering. "the rest of the vanguard, and, in succession, the army altogether, had taken camp outside, looking down on the northern gate, over at ilgertshofen, a village in the neighborhood, about two miles off." [_helden-geschichte,_ iv. , .] that is the first sight friedrich has of "la dauphine," as the versailles people call this bellona, come to "deliver saxony;" and she is considerably coyer than had been expected. many sad days, and ardent vain vows of friedrich, before he could see the skirt of her again! from ilgertshofen, northwestward to dittelstadt, gamstadt, and other poor specks of villages in gotha territory, is ten or fifteen miles; from dittelstadt eastward to buttstadt and buttelstadt, in weimar country, may be twenty-five: in this area, friedrich, shifting about, chiefly for convenience of quarters,--head-quarter kirschleben for a while, buttelstadt finally and longest,--had to wander impatiently to and fro for four weeks and more; no work procurable, or none worth mentioning:--in the humor of a man whose house is on fire, flaming out of every window, front and rear; who has run up with quenching apparatus; and cannot, being spell-bound, get the least bucket of it applied. and is by nature the rapidest soul now alive. figure his situation there, as it gradually becomes manifest to him! for the present, dauphiness bellona, hurrying to the hills, has left some tagrag of remnant in gotha. whereupon, the second day, here is an "own correspondent" again,--not coming by electric telegraph, but (what is a sensible advantage) credible in every point, when he does come:-- "gotha, thursday, th september. grand-duke and duchess, like everybody else, have been much occupied all morning with the fact, that the prussian army [seidlitz and a regiment or two, nothing more] is actually here; took possession of the town-gates and main guard this morning,--certain hungarian-french hussar rabble, hateful to every one in gotha, having made off in time, rapidly towards eisenach and the hills. "towards noon, his royal majesty in highest person, with his lord brother the prince henri's royal highness, arrived in gotha; sent straightway, by one of his officers, a compliment to the grand-duke; and 'would have the pleasure to come and dine, if his serene highness permitted.' serene highness, self and household always cordially friedrich's, was just about sitting down to dinner; and answered with exuberantly glad surprise,--or was answering, when royal majesty himself stept in with smiling face; and embracing the duke, said: 'i timed myself to arrive at this moment, thinking your durchlaucht would be at dinner, that i might be received without ceremony, and dine like a neighbor among you.' unexpected as this visit was, the joy of duke and duchess," always fast friends to friedrich, and the latter ever afterwards his correspondent, "may be conceived, but not adequately expressed; as both the serenities were touched, in the most affecting manner, by the honor of so great a king's sudden presence among them. "his majesty requested that the frau von buchwald, our most gracious duchess's hof-dame, whose qualities he much valued, might dine with them,"--being always fond of sensible people, especially sensible women. "the whole highest and high company [royal, that is, and ducal] was, during table, uncommonly merry. the king showed himself altogether content; and his bright clever talk and sprightly sallies, awakening everybody to the like, left not the least trace visible of the weighty toils he was then engaged in;--as if the weightier these were, the less should they fetter the noble openness (freymuthigkeit) of this high soul, which is not to be cast down by the heaviest burden. "his majesty having taken leave of duke and duchess, and graciously permitted the chiefest persons of the gotha court to pay their respects, withdrew to his army." [letter in _helden-geschichte,_ iv. , .] slept, i find elsewhere, "at gamstadt, on the floor of a little inn;" meaning to examine posts in that part, next morning. here has been a cheerful little scene for friedrich; the last he has in these black weeks. a laborious predecessor, striving to elucidate, leaves me this note:-- "what a pity one knows nothing, nor can know, about this duke and duchess, though their names, especially the latter's name, are much tossed to and fro in the books! we heard of them, favorably, in voltaire's time; and may again, at least of the lady, who is henceforth a correspondent of friedrich's. the above is a dim direct view of them, probably our last as well as first. duke's name is friedrich iii.; i do believe, a man of solidity, honor and polite dignified sense, a highly respectable duke of sachsen-gotha, contented to be obscure, and quietly do what was still do-able in that enigmatic situation. he is uncle to our george iii.;--his sister is the now princess-dowager of wales, with a lord bute, and i know not what questionable figures and intrigues, or suspicions of intrigue, much about her. his duchess, louisa dorothee, is a princess of distinguished qualities, literary tastes,--voltaire's hostess, friedrich's correspondent: a bright and quietly shining illumination to the circle she inhabits. duke is now fifty-eight, duchess forty-seven; and they lost their eldest son last year. there has been lately a considerable private brabble as to tutorage of the duke of weimar (wilhelmina's maddish duke, who is dead lately; and a prince left, who soon died also, but left a son, who grew to be goethe's friend); tutorage claimed by various cousins, has been adjudged to this one, king friedrich co-operating in such result. "as to the famed grand-duchess, she is a sachsen-meiningen princess, come of ernst the pious, of johann the magnanimous, as her husband and all these sachsens are: when voltaire went precipitant, with such velocity, from the potsdam heaven, she received him at gotha; set him on writing his history of the empire, and endeavored to break his fall. she was noble to voltaire, and well honored by that uncertain spirit. there is a fine library at gotha; and the lady bright loves books, and those that can write them;--a friend of the light, a daughter of the sun and the empyrean, not of darkness and the stygian fens." [michaelis, i. ; &c. &c.] friedrich's first letter to her highness was one of thanks, above a year ago, for an act of kindness, act of justice withal, which she did to one of his official people. here, on the morrow of that dinner, is the second letter, much more aerial and cordial, in which style they all continue, now that he has seen the admired princess. to the most serene grand-duchess of sachsen-gotha. dittelstadt, " th september, . "madam,--yesterday was a day i shall never forget; which satisfied a just desire i have had, this long while, to see and hear a princess whom all europe admires. i am not surprised, madam, that you subdue people's hearts; you are made to attract the esteem and the homage of all who have the happiness to know you. but it is incomprehensible to me how you can have enemies; and how men representing countries that by no means wish to pass for barbarous, can have been so basely (indignement) wanting in the respect they owe you, and in the consideration which is due to all sovereigns [french not famous for their refined demeanor in saxony this time]. why could not i fly to prevent such disorders, such indecency! i can only offer you a great deal of good-will; but i feel well that, in present circumstances, the thing wanted is effective results and reality. may i, madam, be so happy as to render you some service! may your fortune be equal to your virtues! i am with the highest consideration, madam, your highness's faithful cousin,--f." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xvii. .] to wilhelmina he says of it, next day, still gratified, though sad news have come in the interim;--death of winterfeld, for one black item:-- ... "the day before yesterday i was in gotha. it was a touching scene to see the partners of one's misfortunes, with like griefs and like complaints. the duchess is a woman of real merit, whose firmness puts many a man to shame. madam de buchwald appears to me a very estimable person, and one who would suit you much: intelligent, accomplished, without pretensions, and good-humored. my brother henri is gone to see them to-day. i am so oppressed with grief, that i would rather keep my sadness to myself. i have reason to congratulate myself much on account of my brother henri; he has behaved like an angel, as a soldier, and well towards me as a brother. i cannot, unfortunately, say the same of the elder. he sulks at me (il me bode), and has sulkily retired to torgau, from whence, i hear, he is gone to wittenberg. i shall leave him to his caprices and to his bad conduct; and i prophesy nothing good for the future, unless the younger guide him." ["kirschleben, near erfurt, th september, " (_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. i. ).]... this is part of a long sad letter to wilhelmina; parts of which we may recur to, as otherwise illustrative. but before going into that tragic budget of bad news, let us give the finale of gotha, which occurred the next day,--tragi-comic in part,--and is the last bit of action in those dreary four weeks. gotha, th september. "since thursday th, major-general seidlitz," youngest major-general of the army, but a rapidly rising man, "has been commandant in gotha, under flourishing circumstances; popular and supreme, though only with a force of , , dragoons and hussars. monday morning early, seidlitz's scouts bring word that the soubise-hildburghausen people are in motion hitherward; french hussars and austrian, turpin's, loudon's, all that are; grenadiers in mass;--total, say, , horse and foot, with abundance of artillery;--have been on march all night, to retake gotha; with all the chief generals and dignitaries of the army following in their carriages, for some hours past, to see it done. seidlitz, ascertaining these things, has but one course left,--that of clearing himself out, which he does with orderly velocity: and at a.m. the dignitaries and their , find open gates, seidlitz clean off; occupy the posts, with due emphasis and flourish; and proceed to the schloss in a grand triumphant way,--where privately they are not very welcome, though one puts the best face on it, and a dinner of importance is the first thing imperative to be set in progress. a flurried court, that of gotha, and much swashing of french plumes through it, all this morning, since seidlitz had to flit. "seidlitz has not flitted very far. seidlitz has ranked his small dragoon-hussar force in a hollow, two miles off; has got warning sent to a third regiment within reach of him, 'come towards me, and in a certain defile, visible from gotha eastward, spread yourselves so and so!'--and judges by the swashing he hears of up yonder, that perhaps something may still be done. dinner, up in the schloss, is just being taken from the spit, and the swashing at its height, when--'hah what is that, though?' and all plumes pause. for it is seidlitz, artistically spread into single files, on the prominent points of vision; advancing again, more like , than , : 'and in the defile yonder, that regiment, do you mark it; the king's vanguard, i should say?--to horse!' "that is seidlitz's fine bit of painting, hung out yonder, hooked on the sky itself, as temporary background to gotha, to be judged of by the connoisseurs. for pictorial effect, breadth of touch, truth to nature and real power on the connoisseur, i have heard of nothing equal by any artist. the high generalcy, soubise, hildburghausen, darmstadt, mount in the highest haste; everybody mounts, happy he who has anything to mount; the grenadiers tumble out of the schloss; dragoons, artillery tumble out; dauphiness takes wholly to her heels, at an extraordinary pace: so that seidlitz's hussars could hardly get a stroke at her; caught sixty and odd, nine of them officers not of mark; did kill thirty; and had such a haul of equipages and valuable effects, cosmetic a good few of them, habilatory, artistic, as caused the hussar heart to sing for joy. among other plunder, was loudon's commission of major-general, just on its road from vienna [poor mannstein's death the suggesting cause, say some];--undoubtedly a shining loudon; to whom friedrich, next day, forwarded the document with a polite note." [_helden-geschichte,_ iv. ; westphalen, ii. ; _oeuvres de frederic,_ iv, .]' the day after this bright feat of seidlitz's, which was a slight consolation to friedrich, there came a letter from the duchess, not of compliment only; the letter itself had to be burnt on the spot, being, as would seem, dangerous for the high lady, who was much a friend of friedrich's. their correspondence, very polite and graceful, but for most part gone to the unintelligible state, and become vacant and spectral, figures considerably in the books, and was, no doubt, a considerable fact to friedrich. his answer on this occasion may be given, since we have it,--lest there should not elsewhere be opportunity for a second specimen. friedrich to the grand-duchess of sachsen-gotha. "kirschleben, neab erfurt, th september, . "madam,--nothing could happen more glorious to my troops than that of fighting, madam, under your eyes and for your defence. i wish their help could be useful to you; but i foresee the reverse. if i were obstinately to insist on maintaining the post of gotha with infantry, i should ruin your city for you, madam, by attracting thither and fixing there the theatre of the war; whereas, by the present course, you will only have to suffer little rubs (passades), which will not last long. "a thousand thanks that you could, in a day like yesterday, find the moment to think of your friends, and to employ yourself for them. [seidlitz's attack was brisk, quite sudden, with an effect like harlequin's sword in pantomimes; and gotha in every corner, especially in the schloss below and above stairs,--dinner cooked for a, and eaten by b, in that manner,--must have been the most agitated of little cities.] i will neglect nothing of what you have the goodness to tell me; i shall profit by these notices. heaven grant it might be for the deliverance and the security of germany! "the most signal mark of obedience i can give you consists unquestionably in doing your bidding with this letter. [burn it, so soon as read.] i should have kept it as a monument of your generosity and courage: but, madam, since you dispose of it otherwise, your orders shall be executed; persuaded that if one cannot serve one's friends, one must at least avoid hurting them; that one may be less circumspect for one's own interest, but that one must be prudent and even timid for theirs. i am, with the highest esteem and the most perfect consideration, madam, your highness's most faithful and affectionate cousin,--f." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xvii. .] from erfurt, on the night of his arrival, finding the dauphiness in such humor, friedrich had ordered ferdinand of brunswick with his division and prince moritz with his, both of whom were still at naumburg, to go on different errands,--ferdinand out halberstadt-magdeburg way, whither richelieu, vulture-like, if not eagle-like, is on wing; moritz to torgau, to secure our magazine and be on the outlook there. both of them marched on the morrow (november th): and are sending him news,--seldom comfortable news; mainly that, in spite of all one can do (and it is not little on ferdinand's part, the richelieu vultures, , of them, floating onward, leagues broad, are not to be kept out of halberstadt, well if out of magdeburg itself;--and that, in short, the general conflagration, in those parts too, is progressive. [in orlich's _first moritz,_ pp. - ; and in _westphalen,_ ii. - (about ferdinand): interesting documentary details, autographs of friedrich, &c., in regard to both these expeditions.] moritz, peaceable for some weeks in torgau country, was to have an eye on brandenburg withal, on berlin itself; and before long moritz will see something noticeable there! from preussen, friedrich hears of mere ravagings and horrid cruelties, cossack-calmuck atrocities, which make human nature shudder: [in _helden-geschichte,_ iv. - , the hideous details.] "fight those monsters; go into them at all hazards!" he writes to lehwald peremptorily. lehwald, , against , , does so; draws up, in front of wehlau, not far east of konigsberg, among woody swamps, august th, at a hamlet called gross-jagersdorf, with his best skill; fights well, though not without mistakes; and is beaten by cannon and numbers. [tempelhof, i. ; retzow, i. ; &c. &c. ("russians lost about , ," by their own tale , ; "the prussians , " and the field).] preussen now lies at apraxin's discretion. this bit of news too is on the road for erfurt country. such a six weeks for the swift man, obliged to stand spell-bound,--idle posterity never will conceive it; and description is useless. let us add here, that apraxin did not advance on konigsberg, or farther into preussen at all; but, after some loitering, turned, to everybody's surprise, and wended slowly home. "could get no provision," said apraxin for himself. "thought the czarina was dying," said the world; "and that peter her successor would take it well!" plodded slowly home, for certain; lehwald following him, not too close, till over the border. nothing left of apraxin, and his huge expedition, but memel alone; memel, and a great many graves and ruins. so that lehwald could be recalled, to attend on the swedes, before winter came. and friedrich's worst forebodings did not take effect in this case;--nor in some others, as we shall see! lamentation-psalms of friedrich. meanwhile, is it not remarkable that friedrich wrote more verses, this autumn, than almost in any other three months of his life? singular, yes; though perhaps not inexplicable. and if readers could fairly understand that fact, instead of running away with the shell of it, and leaving the essence, it would throw a great light on friedrich. he is not a brooding inarticulate man, then; but a bright-glancing, articulate; not to be struck dumb by the face of death itself. flashes clear-eyed into the physiognomy of death, and ruin, and the abysmal horrors opening; and has a sharp word to say to them. the explanation of his large cargo of verses this autumn is, that always, alternating with such fiery velocity, he had intolerable periods of waiting till things were ready. and took to verses, by way of expectorating himself, and keeping down his devils. not a bad plan, in the circumstances,--especially if you have so wonderful a turn for expectoration by speech. "all bad as poetry, those verses?" asks the reader. well, some of them are not of first-rate goodness. should have been burnt; or the time marked which they took up, and whether it was good time wasted (which i suppose it almost never was), or bad time skilfully got over. time, that is the great point; and the heart-truth of them, or mere lip-truth, another. we must give some specimens, at any rate. especially that notable specimen from the zittau countries: the "epistle to wilhelmina (epitre a ma soeur [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xii. - .];" which is the key-note, as it were; the fountain-head of much other verse, and of much prose withal, and correspondencing not with wilhelmina alone, of which also some taste must be given. primary epitre; written, i perceive, in that interval of waiting for keith and the magazines,--though the final date is "bernstadt, august th." concerning which, smelfungus takes, over-hastily, the liberty to say: "strange, is it not, to be on the point of fighting for one's existence; overwhelmed with so many businesses; and disposed to go into verse in addition! conceive that form of mind; it would illuminate something of friedrich's character: i cannot yet rightly understand such an aspect of structure, and know not what to say of it, except 'strange!'"-- understand it or not, we do gather by means of it some indisputable glimpses, nearly all the direct insight allowed us out of any source, into friedrich's inner man; what his thoughts were, what his humor was in that unique crisis; and to readers in quest of that, these pieces, fallen obsolete and frosty to all other kinds of readers, are well worth perusing, and again perusing. most veracious documents, we can observe; nothing could be truer; confessions they are, in the most emphatic sense; no truer ever made to a priest in the name of the most high. like a soliloquy of night-thoughts, accidentally becoming audible to us. mahomet, i find, wrote the koran in this manner. from these poor poems, which are voices de profundis, there might, by proper care and selection, be constructed a friedrich's koran; and, with commentary and elucidation, it would be pleasant to read. the koran of friedrich, or the lamentation-psalms of friedrich! but it would need an editor,--other than dryasdust! mahomet's koran, treated by the arab dryasdust (merely turning up the bottom of that box of shoulder-blades, and printing them), has become dreadfully tough reading, on this side of the globe; and has given rise to the impossiblest notions about mahomet! indisputable it is, heroes, in their affliction, mahomet and david, have solaced themselves by snatches of psalms, by suras, bursts of utterance rising into song;--and if friedrich, on far other conditions, did the like, what has history to say of blame to him? wilhelmina comes out very strong, in this season of trouble; almost the last we see of our excellent wilhelmina. like a lioness; like a shrill mother when her children are in peril. a noble sisterly affection is in wilhelmina; shrill pythian vehemence trying the impossible. that a brother, and such a brother, the most heroic now breathing, brave and true, and the soul of honor in all things, should have the whole world rise round him, like a delirious sorcerer's-sabbath, intent to hurl the mountains on him,--seems such a horror and a madness to wilhelmina. like the brood-hen flying in the face of wild dogs, and packs of hounds in full trail! most christian pompadour kings, enraged czarinas, implacable empress-queens; a whole world in armed delirium rushes on, regardless of wilhelmina. never mind, my noble one; your brother will perhaps manage to come up with this leviathan or that among the heap of them, at a good time, and smite into the fifth rib of him. your brother does not the least shape towards giving in; thank the heavens, he will stand to himself at least; his own poor strength will all be on his own side. wilhelmina's hopes of a peace with france; mission of her mirabeau, missions and schemes not a few, we have heard of on wilhelmina's part with this view; but the notablest is still to mention: that of stirring up, by voltaire's means, an important-looking cardinal de tencin to labor in the business. eminency tencin lives in lyon, known to the princess on her italian tour;--shy of asking voltaire to dinner on that fine occasion,--but, except officially, is not otherwise than well-affected to voltaire. was once chief minister of france, and would fain again be; does not like these bernis novelties and austrian alliances, had he now any power to overset them. let him correspond with most christian majesty, at least; plead for a peace with prussia, prussia being so ready that way. eminency tencin, on voltaire's suggestion, did so, perhaps is even now doing so; till ordered to hold his peace on such subjects. this is certain and well known; but nothing else is known, or to us knowable, about it; voltaire, in vague form, being our one authority, through whom it is vain to hunt, and again hunt. [_oeuvres (memoires),_ ii. , ; ib. i. ; preuss, ii. .] the dates, much more the features and circumstances, all lie buried from us, and--till perhaps the lamentation-psalms are well edited--must continue lying. as a fact certain, but undeniably vague. voltaire's procedure, one can gather, is polite, but two-faced; not sublime on this occasion. in fact, is intended to serve himself. to the high princess he writes devotionally, ready to obey in all things; and then to his eminency cardinal tencin, it rather seems as if the tone were: "pooh! yes, your eminency; such are the poor lady's notions. but does your eminency take notice how high my connections are; what service a poor obscure creature might perhaps do the state some day?" friedrich himself is, in these ways, brought into correspondence with voltaire again; and occasionally writes to him in this war, and ever afterwards: voltaire responds with fine sympathy, always prettily, in the enthusiasm of the moment;--and at other times he writes a good deal about friedrich, oftenest in rather a mischievous dialect. "the traitor!" exclaim some prussian writers, not many or important, in our time. in fact, there is a considerable touch of grinning malice (as of monkey versus cat, who had once burnt his paw, instead of getting his own burnt), in those utterances of voltaire; some of which the reader will grin over too, without much tragic feeling,--the rather as they did our felis leo no manner of ill, and show our incomparable singe with a sparkle of the tigre in him; theoretic sparkle merely and for moments, which makes him all the more entertaining and interesting at the domestic hearth. of friedrich's lamentation-psalms we propose to give the first and the last: these, with certain prose pieces, intermediate and connecting, may perhaps be made intelligible to readers, and throw some light on these tragic weeks of the king's history:-- . epitre a ma soeur (first of the lamentation-psalms).--this is the famed "epistle to wilhelmina," already spoken of; which the king despatched from bernstadt "august th," just while quitting those parts, on the erfurt errand;--though written before, in the tedium of waiting for keith. the piece is long, vehement, altogether sincere; lyrically sings aloud, or declaims in rhyme, what one's indignant thought really is on the surrounding woes and atrocities. we faithfully abridge, and condense into our briefest prose;--readers can add water and the jingle of french rhymes ad libitum. it starts thus:-- "o sweet and dear hope of my remaining days; o sister, whose friendship, so fertile in resources, shares all my sorrows, and with a helpful arm assists me in the gulf! it is in vain that the destinies have overwhelmed me with disasters: if the crowd of kings have sworn my ruin; if the earth have opened to swallow me,--you still love me, noble and affectionate sister: loved by you, what is there of misfortune? [branches off into some survey of it, nevertheless.] "huge continents of thunder-cloud, plots thickening against me [in those menzel documents], i watched with terror; the sky getting blacker, no covert for me visible: on a sudden, from the deeps of hell, starts forth discord [with capital letter], and the tempest broke. ce fut dans ton senat, o fouqueuse angleterre! ou ce monstre inhumain fit eclater la guerre: it was from thy senate, stormful england, that she first launched out war. in remote climates first; in america, far away;--between france and thee. old ocean shook with it; neptune, in the depths of his caves (ses grottes profondes), saw the english subjecting his waves (ses ondes): the wild iroquois, prize of these crimes (forfaits), bursts out; detesting the tyrants who disturb his forests,"--and scalping braddock's people, and the like. "discord, charmed to see such an america, and feeble mortals crossing the ocean to exterminate one another, addresses the european kings: 'how long will you be slaves to what are called laws? is it for you to bend under worn-out notions of justice, right? mars is the one god: might is right. a king's business is to do something famous in this world.' "o daughter of the caesars," maria theresa, "how, at these words, ambition, burning in thy soul, breaks out uncontrollable! probity, honor, treaties, duty: feeble considerations these, to a heart letting loose its flamy passions; determining to rob the generous germans of their liberties; to degrade thy equals; to extinguish 'schism' (so called), and set up despotism on the wrecks of all." "huge project"--"fier triumvirat,"--what not: "from roussillon and the sunny pyrenees to frozen russia, all arm for austria, and march at her bidding. they concert my downfall, trample on my rights. "the daughter of the caesars, proudly certain of victory,--'t is the way of the great, whose commonplace virtue, pusillanimous in reverses, overbearing in success, cannot bridle their cupidity,--designates to the triumvirate what kings are to be proscribed [britannic george and me, reich busy on us both even now], and those ungrateful tyrants, by united crime, immolate to each other, without remorse, their dearest allies." for instance:-- "o jour digne d'oubli! quelle atroce imprudence! therese, c'est l'anglais que tu vends a la france: theresa! it is england thou art selling to france;"--yes, a thing worth noting. "thy generous support in thy first adversities; thy one friend then, when a world had risen to devour thee. thou reignest now:--but it was england alone that saved thee anything to reign over! tu regnes, mats lui seul a sauve tes etats: les bienfaits chez les rois ne font que des ingrats. "and thou, lazy monarch,"--stupid louis, let us omit him:--"pompadour, selling her lover to the highest bidder, makes france, in our day, austria's slave!" we omit kolin battle, too, spoken of with a proud modesty (prag is not spoken of at all); and how the neighboring ravenous powers, on-lookers hitherto, have opened their throats with one accord to swallow prussia, thinking its downfall certain: "poor mercenary sweden, once so famous under its soldier kings, now debased by a venal senate;"--sweden, "what say i? my own kindred [foolish anspach and others], driven by perverse motives, join in the plot of horrors, and become satellites of the prospering triumvirs. "and thou, loved people [my own prussians], whose happiness is my charge [notable how often he repeats this] it is thy lamentable destiny, it is the danger which hangs over thee, that pierces my soul. the pomps of my rank i could resign without regret. but to rescue thee, in this black crisis, i will spend my heart's blood. whose is that blood but thine? with joy will i rally my warriors to avenge thy affront; defy death at the foot of the ramparts [of daun and his eckartsberg, ahead yonder], and either conquer, or be buried under thy ruins." very well; but ah,-- "preparing with such purpose, ye heavens, what mournful cries are those that reach us: 'death haa laid low thy mother!'--hah, that was the last stroke, then, which angry fate had reserved for me.--o mother, death flies my misfortunes, and spreads his livid horrors over thee! [very tender, very sad, what he says of his mother; but must be omitted and imagined. general finale is:] "thus destiny with a deluge of torments fills the poisoned remnant of my days. the present is hideous to me, the future unknown: what, you say i am the creature of a beneficent being?-- quoi serais-fe forme par un dieu bienfaisati? ah! s'il etait si bon, tendre pour son ouvrage"-- --husht, my little titan! "and now, ye promoters of sacred lies, go on leading cowards by the nose, in the dark windings of your labyrinth:--to me the enchantment is ended, the charm disappears. i see that all men are but the sport of destiny. and that, if there do exist some gloomy and inexorable being, who allows a despised herd of creatures to go on multiplying here, he values them as nothing; looks down on a phalaris crowned, on a socrates in chains; on our virtues, our misdeeds, on the horrors of war, and all the cruel plagues which ravage earth, as a thing indifferent to him. wherefore, my sole refuge and only haven, loved sister, is in the arms of death:-- ainsi mon seul asile et mon unique port se trouve, chere soeur, dans les bras de la mort." [oeuvres, xii. - ; is sent off to wilhelmina th august.] . wilhelmina to voltaire, with something of answer (first of certain intercalary prose pieces).--wilhelmina has been writing to voltaire before, and getting consolations since kolin; but her letters are lost, till this the earliest that is left us:-- baireuth, th august, (to voltaire).--"one first knows one's friends when misfortunes arrive. the letter you have written does honor to your way of thinking. i cannot tell you how much i am sensible to what you have done [set cardinal tencin astir, with result we will hope]. the king, my brother, is as much so as i. you will find a note here, which he bids me transmit to you [note lost]. that great man is still the same. he supports his misfortunes with a courage and a firmness worthy of him. he could not get the note transcribed. it began by verses. instead of throwing sand on it, he took the ink-bottle; that is the reason why it is cut in two." --this note, we say, is lost to us;--all but accidentally thus: voltaire, th september, writes twice to friends. writing to his d'argentals, he says: "the affairs of this king [friedrich] go from bad to worse. i know not if i told you of the letter he wrote to me about three weeks ago [say august th- th: this same note through wilhelmina, evidently]: 'i have learned,' says he, 'that you had interested yourself in my successes and misfortunes. there remains to me nothing but to sell my life dear,' &c. his sister writes me one much more lamentable;" the one we are now reading:-- "i am in a frightful state; and will not survive the destruction of my house and family. that is the one consolation that remains to me. you will have fine subjects for making tragedies of. o times! o manners! you will, by the illusory representation, perhaps draw tears; while all contemplate with dry eyes the reality of these miseries: the downfall of a whole house, against which, if the truth were known, there is no solid complaint. i cannot write farther of it: my soul is so troubled that i know not what i am doing. but whatever happen, be persuaded that i am more than ever your friend,--wilhelmina." [in _oeuvres de frederic,_ lxxvii. .] friedrich, while wilhelmina writes so, is at the foot of the eckartsberg, eagerly manoeuvring with the austrians, in hopes of getting battle out of them,--which he cannot. friedrich, while he wrote that note to voltaire, and instead of sand-box shook the ink-bottle over it, was just going out on that errand. voltaire, th september (to a lady whose son is in the d'estrees wars). [ib. lxxii. . .]--"here are mighty revolutions, madame; and we are not at the end yet. they say there have , hanoverians been disposed of at stade [convention of kloster-zeven]. that is no small matter. i can hope m. richelieu [who is "mon heros," when i write to himself] will adorn his head with the laurels they have stuck in his pocket. i wish monsieur your son abundance of honor and glory without wounds, and to you, madame, unalterable health. the king of prussia has written me a very touching letter [one line of which we have read]; but i have always madame denis's adventure on my heart," at frankfurt yonder. "if i were well, i would take a run to frankfurt myself on the business,"--now that soubise's reserves are in those parts, and could give freytag and schmidt such a dusting for me, if they liked! shall i write to collini on it? does write, and again write, the second year hence, as still better chances rise. [collini, pp. - ("january-may, ").] . wilhelmina to voltaire again, with answer (second of the prose pieces).--not a very zealous friend of friedrich's, after all, this voltaire! poor wilhelmina, terrified by that epitre of her brother's, and his fixed purpose of seeking death, has, in her despair (though her letter is lost), been urging voltaire to write dissuading him;--as voltaire does. of which presently. her letter to voltaire on this thrice-important subject is lost. but in the very hours while voltaire sat writing what we have just read, "always with madame denis's adventure on my heart," wilhelmina, at baireuth, is again writing to him as follows:-- baireuth, th september, (to voltaire).--"your letter has sensibly touched me; that which you addressed to me for the king [both letters lost to us] has produced the same effect on him. i hope you will be satisfied with his answer as to what concerns yourself; but you will be as little so as i am with the resolutions he has formed. i had flattered myself that your reflections would make some impression on his mind. you will see the contrary by the letter adjoined. "to me there remains nothing but to follow his destiny if it is unfortunate. i have never piqued myself on being a philosopher; though i have made my efforts to become so. the small progress i made did teach me to despise grandeurs and riches: but i could never find in philosophy any cure for the wounds of the heart, except that of getting done with our miseries by ceasing to live. the state i am in is worse than death. i see the greatest man of his age, my brother, my friend, reduced to the frightfulest extremity. i see my whole family exposed to dangers and perhaps destruction; my native country torn by pitiless enemies; the country where i am [reichs army, anspach, what not] menaced by perhaps similar misfortune. would to heaven i were alone loaded with all the miseries i have described to you! i would suffer them, and with firmness. "pardon these details. you invite me, by the part you take in what regards me, to open my heart to you. alas, hope is well-nigh banished from it. fortune, when she changes, is as constant in her persecutions as in her favors. history is full of those examples:--but i have found none equal to the one we now see; nor any war as inhuman and as cruel among civilized nations. you would sigh if you knew the sad situation of germany and preussen. the cruelties which the russians commit in that latter country make nature shudder. [details, horrible but authentic, in _helden-geschichte, _ already cited.] how happy you in your hermitage; where you repose on your laurels, and can philosophize with a calm mind on the deliriums of men! i wish you all the happiness imaginable. if fortune ever favor us again, count on all my gratitude. i will never forget the marks of attachment which you have given; my sensibility is your warrant; i am never half-and-half a friend, and i shall always be wholly so of brother voltaire.--wilhelmina. "many compliments to madame denis. continue, i pray you, to write to the king." [in _voltaire,_ ii. - ; lxxvii. .] voltaire to wilhelmina (day uncertain: the delices, september, ).--"madam, my heart is touched more than ever by the goodness and the confidence your royal highness deigns to show me. how can i be but melted by emotion! i see that it is solely your nobleness of soul that renders you unhappy. i feel myself born to be attached with idolatry to superior and sympathetic minds, who think like you. "you know how much i have always, essentially and at heart, been attached to the king your brother. the more my old age is tranquil, and come to renounce everything, and make my retreat here a home and country, the more am i devoted to that philosopher-king. i write nothing to him but what i think from the bottom of my heart, nothing that i do not think most true; and if my letter [dissuasive of seeking death; wait, reader] appears to your royal highness to be suitable, i beg you to protect it with him, as you have done the foregoing." [in _voltaire,_ lxxvii. , .] . friedrich to wilhelmina, and, by anticipation, her answer (third of the prose pieces).--"kirschleben, near erfurt, th september, .--my dearest sister, i find no other consolation but in your precious letters. may heaven reward so much virtue and such heroic sentiments! "since i wrote last to you, my misfortunes have but gone on accumulating. it seems as though destiny would discharge all its wrath and fury upon the poor country which i had to rule over. the swedes have entered pommern. the french, after having concluded a neutrality humiliating to the king of england and themselves [kloster-zeven, which we know], are in full march upon halberstadt and magdeburg. from preussen i am in daily expectation of hearing of a battle having been fought: the proportion of combatants being , against , [was fought, gross-jagersdorf, th august, and lost accordingly]. the austrians have marched into silesia, whither the prince of bevern follows them. i have advanced this way to fall upon the corps of the allied army; which has run off, and intrenched itself, behind eisenach, amongst hills, whither to follow, still more to attack them, all rules of war forbid. the moment i retire towards saxony, this whole swarm will be upon my heels. happen what may, i am determined, at all risks, to fall upon whatever corps of the enemy approaches me nearest. i shall even bless heaven for its mercy, if it grant me the favor to die sword in hand. "should this hope fail me, you will allow that it would be too hard to crawl at the feet of a company of traitors, to whom successful crimes have given the advantage to prescribe the law to me. how, my dear, my incomparable sister, how could i repress feelings of vengeance and of resentment against all my neighbors, of whom there is not one who did not accelerate my downfall, and will not, share in our spoils? how can a prince survive his state, the glory of his country, his own reputation? a bavarian elector, in his nonage [son of the late poor kaiser, and left, shipwrecked in his seventeenth year], or rather in a sort of subjection to his ministers, and dull to the biddings of honor, may give himself up as a slave to the imperious domination of the house of austria, and kiss the hand which oppressed his father: i pardon it to his youth and his ineptitude. but is that the example for me to follow? no, dear sister, you think too nobly to give me such mean (lache) advice. is liberty, that precious prerogative, to be less dear to a sovereign in the eighteenth century than it was to roman patricians of old? and where is it said, that brutus and cato should carry magnanimity farther than princes and kings? firmness consists in resisting misfortune: but only cowards submit to the yoke, bear patiently their chains, and support oppression tranquilly. never, my dear sister, could i resolve upon such ignominy.... "if i had followed only my own inclinations, i should have ended it (je me serais depeche) at once, after that unfortunate battle which i lost. but i felt that this would be weakness, and that it behooved me to repair the evil which had happened. my attachment to the state awoke; i said to myself, it is not in seasons of prosperity that it is rare to find defenders, but in adversity. i made it a point of honor with myself to redress all that had got out of square; in which i was not unsuccessful; not even in the lausitz [after those zittau disasters] last of all. but no sooner had i hastened this way to face new enemies, than winterfeld was beaten and killed near gorlitz, than the french entered the heart, of my states, than the swedes blockaded stettin. now there is nothing effective left for me to do: there are too many enemies. were i even to succeed in beating two armies, the third would crush me. the enclosed note [in cipher] will show you what i am still about to try: it is the last attempt. "the gratitude, the tender affection, which i feel towards you, that friendship, true as the hills, constrains me to deal openly with you. no, my divine sister, i shall conceal nothing from you that i intend to do; all my thoughts, all my resolutions shall be open and known to you in time. i will precipitate nothing: but also it will be impossible for me to change my sentiments.... "as for you, my incomparable sister, i have not the heart to turn you from your resolves. we think alike, and i cannot condemn in you the sentiments which i daily entertain (eprouve). life has been given to us as a benefit: when it ceases to be such"--! "i have nobody left in this world, to attach me to it, but you. my friends, the relations i loved most, are in the grave; in short, i have lost, everything. if you take the resolution which i have taken, we end together our misfortunes and our unhappiness; and it will be the turn of them who remain in this world, to provide for the concerns falling to their charge, and to bear the weight, which has lain on us so long. these, my adorable sister, are sad reflections, but suitable to my present condition. "the day before yesterday i was at gotha [yes, see above;--and to-morrow, if i knew it, seidlitz with pictorial effects will be there].... "but, it is time to end this long, dreary letter; which treats almost of nothing but my own affairs. i have had some leisure, and have used it to open on you a heart filled with admiration and gratitude towards you. yes, my adorable sister, if providence troubled itself about human affairs, you ought to be the happiest person in the universe. your not being such, confirms me in the sentiments expressed at the end of my epitre. in conclusion, believe that i adore you, and that i would give my life a thousand times to serve you. these are the sentiments which will animate me to the last breath of my life; being, my beloved sister, ever"--your--f. [_oeuvres,_ xxvii. i, - .] wilhelmina's answer,--by anticipation, as we said: written " th september," while friedrich was dining at gotha, in quest of soubise. "baireuth, th september, . my dearest brother, your letter and the one you wrote to voltaire, my dear brother, have almost killed me. what fatal resolutions, great god! ah, my dear brother, you say you love me; and you drive a dagger into my heart. your epitre, which i did receive, made me shed rivers of tears. i am now ashamed of such weakness. my misfortune would be so great" in the issue there alluded to, "that i should find worthier resources than tears. your lot shall be mine: i will not survive either your misfortunes or those of the house i belong to. you may calculate that such is my firm resolution. "but, after this avowal, allow me to entreat you to look back at what was the pitiable state of your enemy when you lay before prag! it is occur again, when one is least expecting it, caesar was the slave of pirates; and he became the master of the world. a great genius like yours finds resources even when all is lost; and it is impossible this frenzy can continue. my heart bleeds to think of the poor souls in preussen [apraxin and his christian cossacks there,--who, it is noted, far excel the calmuck worshippers of the dalai-lama]. what horrid barbarity, the detail of cruelties that go on there! i feel all that you feel on it, my dear brother. i know your heart, and your sensibility for your subjects. "i suffer a thousand times more than i can tell you; nevertheless hope does not abandon me. i received your letter of the th by w. [who w. is, no mortal knows]. what kindness to think of me, who have nothing to give you but a useless affection, which is so richly repaid by yours! i am obliged to finish; but i shall never cease to be, with the most profound respect (tres-profond respect,"--that, and something still better, if my poor pen were not embarrassed), "your"--wilhelmina. . friedrich's response to the dissuasives of voltaire (last of the lamentation-psalms: "buttstadt, october th").--voltaire's dissuasive letter is a poor piece; [_oeuvres de voltaire, _ lxxvii. - (les delices, early in september, : no date given).] not worth giving here. remarkable only by friedrich's quiet reception of it; which readers shall now see, as finis to those lamentation-psalms. there is another of them, widely known, which we will omit: the epitre to d'argens; [in _ oeuvres de frederic,_ xii. - ("erfurt, d september, ").] passionate enough, wandering wildly over human life, and sincere almost to shrillness, in parts; which voltaire has also got hold of. omissible here; the fixity of purpose being plain otherwise to voltaire and us. voltaire's counter-arguments are weak, or worse: "that roman death is not now expected of the philosopher; that your majesty will, in the worst event, still have considerable dominions left, all that your great-grandfather had; still plenty of resources; that, in paris society, an estimable minority even now thinks highly of you; that in paris itself your majesty [does not say expressly, as dethroned and going on your travels] would have resources!" to which beautiful considerations friedrich answers, not with fire and brimstone, as one might have dreaded, but in this quiet manner (reponse au sieur voltaire):-- "je suis homme, il suffit, et ne pour la souffrance; aux rigueurs du destin j'oppose ma constance. ["i am a man, and therefore born to suffer; to destiny's rigors my steadfastness must correspond."--quotation from i know not whom.] but with these sentiments, i am far from condemning cato and otho. the latter had no fine moment in his life, except that of his death. [breaks off into verse:] "croyez que si j'etais voltaire, et particulier comme lui, me contentant du necessaire, je verrais voltiger la fortune legere," --or,to wring the water and the jingle out of it, and give the substance in prose:-- "yes, if i were voltaire and a private man, i could with much composure leave fortune to her whirlings and her plungings; to me, contented with the needful, her mad caprices and sudden topsy-turvyings would be amusing rather than tremendous. "i know the ennui attending on honors, the burdensome duties, the jargon of grinning flatterers, those pitiabilities of every kind, those details of littleness, with which you have to occupy yourself if set on high on the stage of things. foolish glory has no charm for me, though a poet and king: when once atropos has ended me forever, what will the uncertain honor of living in the temple of memory avail? one moment of practical happiness is worth a thousand years of imaginary in such temple.--is the lot of high people so very sweet, then? pleasure, gentle ease, true and hearty mirth, have always fled from the great and their peculiar pomps and labors. "no, it is not fickle fortune that has ever caused my sorrows; let her smile her blandest, let her frown her fiercest on me, i should sleep every night, refusing her the least worship. but our respective conditions are our law; we are bound and commanded to shape our temper to the employment we have undertaken. voltaire in his hermitage, in a country where is honesty and safety, can devote himself in peace to the life of the philosopher, as plato has described it. but as to me, threatened with shipwreck, i must consider how, looking the tempest in the face, i can think, can live and can die as a king:-- pour moi, menace du naufrage, je dois, en affrontant l'orage, penser, vivre et mourir en roi." [_oeuvres,_ xxiii. .] this is of october th; this ends, worthily, the lamentation-psalms; work having now turned up, which is a favorable change. friedrich's notion of suicide, we perceive, is by no means that of puking up one's existence, in the weak sick way of felo de se; but, far different, that of dying, if he needs must, as seems too likely, in uttermost spasm of battle for self and rights to the last. from which latter notion nobody can turn him. a valiantly definite, lucid and shiningly practical soul,--with such a power of always expectorating himself into clearness again. if he do frankly wager his life in that manner, beware, ye soubises, karls and flaccid trivial persons, of the stroke that may chance to lie in him!-- iii. rumor of an inroad on berlin suddenly sets friedrich on march thither: inroad takes effect,--with important results, chiefly in a left-hand form. october th, express arrived, important express from general finck (who is in dresden, convalescent from kolin, and is even commandant there, of anything there is to command), "that the considerable austrian brigade or outpost, which was left at stolpen when the others went for silesia, is all on march for berlin." here is news! "the whole , of them," report adds;--though it proved to be only a detachment, picked tolpatches mostly, and of nothing like that strength; shot off, under a swift general haddick, on this errand. between them and berlin is not a vestige of force; and berlin itself has nothing but palisades, and perhaps a poor , of garrison. "march instantly, you moritz, who lie nearest; cross elbe at torgau; i follow instantly!" orders friedrich; [his message to moritz, orlich, p. ; rodenbeck, p. (dubious, or wrong).]--and that same night is on march, or has cavalry pushed ahead for reinforcement of moritz. friedrich, not doubting but there would be captaincy and scheme among his enemies, considered that the swedes, and perhaps the richelieu french, were in concert with this austrian movement,--from east, from north, from west, three invasions coming on the core of his dominions;--and that here at last was work ahead, and plenty of it! that was friedrich's opinion, and most other people's, when the austrian inroad was first heard of: "mere triple ruin coming to this king," as the gazetteers judged;--great alarm prevailing among the king's friends; in berlin, very great. friedrich, glad, at any rate, to have done with that dismal lingering at buttelstadt, hastens to arrange himself for the new contingencies; to post his keiths, his ferdinands, with their handfuls of force, to best advantage; and push ahead after moritz, by leipzig, torgau, berlin-wards, with all his might. at leipzig, in such press of business and interest,--judge by the following phenomenon, what a clear-going soul this is, and how completely on a level with whatever it may be that he is marching towards:-- "leipzig, th october, (interview with gottsched).--at this morning, majesty came marching into leipzig; multitudes of things to settle there; things ready, things not yet ready, in view of the great events ahead. seeing that he would have time after dinner, he at once sent for professor gottsched, a gigantic gentleman, reigning king of german literature for the time being, to come to him at p.m. reigning king at that time; since gone wholly to the dustbins,--'popular delusion,' as old samuel defines it, having since awakened to itself, with scornful ha-ha's upon its poor gottsched, and rushed into other roads worse and better; its poor gottsched become a name now signifying pedantry, stupidity, learned inanity and the worship of colored water, to every german mind. "at precise, the portly old gentleman (towards sixty now, huge of stature, with a shrieky voice, and speaks uncommonly fast) bowed himself in; and a colloquy ensued, on literature and so forth, of the kind we may conceive. colloquy which had great fame in the world; gottsched himself having--such the inaccuracy of rumor and dutch newspapers, on the matter--published authentic report of it; [next year, in a principal leipzig magazine, with name signed: given in _helden-geschichte,_ iv. - (with multifarious commentaries and flourishings, denoting an attentive world). nicolai, _anekdoten,_ iii. - .] now one of the dullest bits of reading, and worth no man's bit of time. colloquy which lasted three hours, with the greatest vivacity on both sides; king impugning, for one principal thing, the roughness of german speech; gottsched, in swift torrents (far too copious in such company), ready to defend. 'those consonants of ours,' said the king, 'they afflict one's ear: what names we have; all in mere k's and p's: knap-, knip-, klop-, krotz-, krok--;--your own name, for example!'"--yes, his own name, unmusical gottsched, and signifying god's-damage (god's-skaith) withal. "husht, don't take a holy name in vain; call the man sched ('damage' by itself), can't we!" said a wit once. [nicolai, _anekdoten,_ iii. .]--"'five consonants together, ttsch, ttsch, what a tone!' continued the king. 'hear, in contrast, the music of this stanza of rousseau's [repeats a stanza]. who could express that in german with such melody?' and so on; branching through a great many provinces; king's knowledge of all literature, new and ancient, 'perfectly astonishing to me;' and i myself, the swift-speaking gottsched, rather copious than otherwise. catastrophe, and summary of the whole, was: gottsched undertook to translate the rousseau stanza into german of moderate softness; and by the aid of water did so, that very night; [copied duly in _helden-geschichte,_ iv. .] sent it next day, and had 'within an hour' a gracious royal answer in verse; calling one, incidentally, 'saxon swan, cygne saxon,' though one is such a goose! 'majesty to march at to-morrow morning,' said a postscript,--no interviewing more, at present. "about ten days after [not to let this thing interrupt us again], friedrich, on his return to leipzig, had another interview with gottsched; of only one hour, this time;--but with many topics: reading of some gottsched ode (ode, very tedious, frothy, watery, of thanks to majesty for such goodness to the saxon swan; reading, too, of 'some of madam gottsched's pieces'). majesty confessed afterwards, every hour from the very first had lowered his opinion of the saxon swan, till at length goosehood became too apparent. friedrich sent him a gold snuffbox by and by, but had no farther dialoguing. "a saying of excellency mitchell's to gottsched--for gottsched, on that second leipzig opportunity, went swashing about among the king's suite as well--is still remembered. they were talking of shakspeare: 'genial, if you will,' said gottsched, 'but the laws of aristotle; five acts, unities strict!'--'aristotle? what is to hinder a man from making his tragedy in ten acts, if it suit him better?' 'impossible, your excellency!'--'pooh,' said his excellency; 'suppose aristotle, and general fashion too, had ordered that the clothes of every man were to be cut from five ells of cloth: how would the herr professor like [with these huge limbs of his] if he found there were no breeches for him, on aristotle's account?' adieu to gottsched; most voluminous of men;--who wrote a grammar of the german language, which, they say, did good. i remember always his poor wife with some pathos; who was a fine, graceful, loyal creature, of ten times his intelligence; and did no end of writing and translating and compiling (addison's cato, addison's spectator, thousands of things from all languages), on order of her gottsched, till life itself sank in such enterprises; never doubting, tragically faithful soul, but her gottsched was an authentic seneschal of phoebus and the nine." [her letters, collected by a surviving lady-friend, "briefe der frau luise adelgunde viktorie gottsched, born kulmus (dresden, - , vols. vo)," are, i should suppose, the only gottsched piece which anybody would now think of reading.]-- monday, th, at seven, his majesty pushed off accordingly; cheery he in the prospect of work, whatever his friends in the distance be. here, from eilenburg, his first stage torgau-way, are a pair of letters in notable contrast. wilhelmina to the king (on rumor of haddick, swoln into a triple invasion, austrian, swedish, french). baireuth, " th october, . "my dearest brother,--death and a thousand torments could not equal the frightful state i am in. there run reports that make me shudder. some say you are wounded; others, dangerously ill. in vain have i tormented myself to have news of you; i can get none. oh, my dear brother, come what may, i will not survive you. if i am to continue in this frightful uncertainty, i cannot stand it; i shall sink under it, and then i shall be happy. i have been on the point of sending you a courier; but [environed as we are] i durst not. in the name of god, bid somebody write me one word. "i know not what i have written; my heart is torn in pieces; i feel that by dint of disquietude and alarms i am losing my wits. oh, my dear, adorable brother, have pity on me. heaven grant i be mistaken, and that you may scold me; but the least thing that concerns you pierces me to the heart, and alarms my affection too much. might i die a thousand times, provided you lived and were happy! "i can say no more. grief chokes me; and i can only repeat that your fate shall be mine; being, my dear brother, your "wilhelmina." what a shrill penetrating tone, like the wildly weeping voice of rachel; tragical, painful, gone quite to falsetto and above pitch; but with a melody in its dissonance like the singing of the stars. my poor shrill wilhelmina!-- king to wilhelmina (has not yet received the above). "eilenburg, th october, . "my dearest sister,--what is the good of philosophy unless one employ it in the disagreeable moments of life? it is then, my dear sister, that courage and firmness avail us. "i am now in motion; and having once got into that, you may calculate i shall not think of sitting down again, except under improved omens. if outrage irritates even cowards, what will it do to hearts that have courage? "i foresee i shall not be able to write again for perhaps six weeks: which fails not to be a sorrow to me: but i entreat you to be calm during these turbulent affairs, and to wait with patience the month of december; paying no regard to the nurnberg newspapers nor to those of the reich, which are totally austrian. "i am tired as a dog (comme un chien). i embrace you with my whole heart; being with the most perfect affection (tendresse), my dearest sister, your"-- friedrich. ... (at some other hour, same place and day.) "'no possibility of peace,' say your accounts [letter lost]; 'the french won't hear my name mentioned.' well; from me they shall not farther. the way will be, to speak to them by action, so that they may repent their impertinences and pride." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. i. , , .]' the haddick affair, after all the rumor about it, proved to be a very small matter. no swede or richelieu had dreamt of co-operating; haddick, in the end, was scarce , with four cannon; general rochow, commandant of berlin, with his small garrison, had not haddick skilfully slidden through woods, and been so magnified by rumor, might have marched out, and beaten a couple of haddicks. as it was, haddick skilfully emerging, at the silesian gate of berlin, th october, about eleven in the morning, demanded ransom of , thalers ( , pounds); was refused; began shooting on the poor palisades, on the poor drawbridge there; "at the third shot brought down the drawbridge;" rushed into the suburb; and was not to be pushed out again by the weak party rochow sent to try it. rochow, ignorant of haddick's force, marched off thereupon for spandau with the royal family and effects; leaving haddick master of the suburb, and berlin to make its own bargain with him. haddick, his croats not to be quite kept from mischief, remained master of the suburb, minatory upon berlin, for twelve hours or more: and after a good deal of bargaining,--ransom of , pounds, of , pounds, finally of , pounds and "two dozen pair of gloves to the empress queen,"--made off about five in the morning; wind of moritz's advance adding wings to the speed of haddick. [_helden-geschichte,_ iv. - (haddick's own account, and the berlin one).] moritz did arrive next evening ( th); but with his tired troops there was no catching of haddick, now three marches ahead. royal family and effects returned from spandau the day following; but in a day or two more, removed to magdeburg till the capital were safe from such affronts. much grumbling against rochow. "what could i do? how could i know?" answered rochow, whose eyesight indeed had been none of the best. berlin smarts to the length of , pounds and an alarm; but asserts (not quite mythically, thinks retzow), that "the two dozen pair of gloves were all gloves for the left hand,"--berlin having wit, and a touch of absinthe in it, capable of such things! friedrich heard the news at annaburg, a march beyond torgau; and there paused, again uncertain, for about a week coming; after which, he discovered that leipzig would be the place; and returned thither, appointing a general rendezvous and concentration there. scene at regensburg in the interim. just while haddick was sliding swiftly through the woods, berlin now nigh, there occurred a thing at regensburg; tragic thing, but ending in farce,--finale of reichs-acht, in short;--about which all regensburg was loud, wailing or haha-ing according to humor; while berlin was paying its ransom and left-hand gloves. one moment's pause upon this, though our haste is great. "reichs diet had got its ban of the reich ready for friedrich; citatio (solemn summons) and all else complete; nothing now wanted but to serve citatio on him, or 'insinuate' it into him, as their phrase is;--which latter essential point occasions some shaking of wigs. dangerous, serving citatio in that quarter: and by what art try to smuggle it into the hands of such a one? 'insinuate it here into his, plotho's, hand; that is the method, and that will suffice!' say the wigs, and choose an unfortunate reichs notary, dr. aprill, to do it; who, in ponderous chancery-style, gives the following affecting report,--wonderful, but intelligible (when abridged):-- "citatio" to come and receive your ban,--a very solemn-sounding document, commencing (or perhaps it is aprill himself that so commences, no matter which), "'in the name of the most high god, the father, son and holy ghost, amen,'--was given, wednesday, th october, in the year after christ our dear lord and saviour's birth, years, to me georgius mathias josephus aprill, sworn kaiserlich notarius publicus; in my lodging, first-floor fronting south, in jacob virnrohr the innkeeper's house here at regensburg, called the red-star," for insinuation into plotho: with which solemn piece, aprill proceeded next day, thursday, half-past p.m., to plotho's dwelling-place, described with equal irrefragability; and, continues aprill, "did there, by a servant of the herr ambassador von plotho's, announce myself; adding that i had something to say to his excellency, if he would please to admit me. to which the herr ambassador by the same servant sent answer, that he was ill with a cold, and that i might speak to his secretarius what i had to say. but, as i replied that my message was to his excellenz in person, the same servant came back with intimation that i might call again to-morrow at noon." to-morrow, at the stroke of noon, friday, th october, aprill punctually appears again, with recapitulation of the pledge given him yesterday; and is informed that he can walk up-stairs. "i proceeded thereupon, the servant going before, up one pair of stairs, or with the appurtenances (gezeugen) rather more than one pair, into the herr ambassador freiherr von plotho's anteroom; who, just as we were entering, stept in himself, through a side-door; in his dressing-gown, and with the words, 'speak now what you have to say.' "i thereupon slipt into his hand citatio fiscalis, and said"--said at first nothing, plotho avers; merely mumbled, looked like some poor caitiff, come with law-papers on a trifling suit we happen to have in the courts here;--and only by degrees said (let us abridge; scene, aprill and plotho, anteroom in regensburg, first-floor and rather higher):-- aprill. "'i have to give your excellenz this writing,--[which privately, could your excellenz guess it, is] citatio fiscalis from the reichstag, summoning his majesty to show cause why ban of the reich should not pass upon him!' his excellenz at first took the citatio and adjuncts from me; and looking into them to see what they were, his excellenz's face began to color, and soon after to color a little more; and on his looking attentively at citatio fiscalis, he broke into violent anger and rage, so that he could not stand still any longer; but with burning face, and both arms held aloft, rushed close to me, citatio and adjuncts in his right hand, and broke out in this form:-- plotho. "'what; insinuate (insinuieren), you scoundrel!' aprill. "'it is my notarial office; i must do it.' in spite of which the freiherr von plotho fell on me with all rage; grasped me by the front of the cloak, and said:-- plotho. "'take it back, wilt thou!' and as i resisted doing so, he stuck it in upon me, and shoved it down with all violence between my coat and waistcoat; and, still holding me by the cloak, called to the two servants who had been there, 'fling him down stairs!'--which they, being discreet fellows, and in no flurry, did not quite, nor needed quite to do ('must, sir, you see, unless!'), and so forced me out of the house; excellenz plotho retiring through his anteroom, and his body-servant, who at first had been on the stairs, likewise disappearing as i got under way,"--and have to report, in such manner, to the universe and reichs diet, with tears in my eyes. [preuss, ii. - ; in _helden-geschichte, _ iv. - , plotho's account.] what became of reichs ban after this, ask not. it fell dead by friedrich's victories now at hand; rose again into life on friedrich's misfortunes (august, ), threatening to include george second in it; upon which the corpus evangelicorum made some counter-mumblement;--and, i have heard, the french privately advised: "better drop it; these two kings are capable of walking out of you, and dangerously kicking the table over as they go!"--whereby it again fell dead, positively for the last time, and, in short, is worth no mention or remembrance more. corpus evangelicorum had always been against reichs ban: a few dissentients, or half-dissentients excepted,--as mecklenburg wholly and with a will; foolish anspach wholly; and the anhalts haggling some dissent, and retracting it (why, i never knew);--for which mecklenburg and the anhalts, lying within clutch of one, had to repent bitterly in the years coming! enough of all that. the haddick invasion, which had got its gloves, left-hand or not, and part of its road-expenses, brought another consequence much more important on the per-contra side. the triumphing, te-deum-ing and jubilation over it,--"his metropolis captured; royal family in flight!"--raised the dauphiness army, and especially versailles, into such enthusiasm, that dauphiness came bodily out (on order from versailles); spread over the country, plundering and insulting beyond example; got herself reinforced by a , from the richelieu army; crossed the saale; determined on taking leipzig, beating friedrich, and i know not what. keith, in leipzig with a small party, had summons from soubise's vanguard (october th): keith answered, he would burn the suburbs;--upon which, said vanguard, hearing of friedrich's advent withal, took itself rapidly away. and soubise and it would fain have recrossed saale, i have understood, had not versailles been peremptory. in a word, friedrioh arrived at leipzig october th; ferdinand, moritz and all the others coming or already come: and there is something great just at hand. friedrich's stay in leipzig was only four days. cheering prospect of work now ahead here;--add to this, assurance from preussen that apraxin is fairly going home, and lehwald coming to look after the swedes. were it not that there is bad news from silesia, things generally are beginning to look up. of the hour spent on gottsched, in these four days, we expressly take no notice farther; but there was another visit much less conspicuous, and infinitely more important: that of a certain hanoverian graf von schulenburg, not in red or with plumes, like a major-general as he was, but "in the black suit of a country parson,"--coming, in that unnoticeable guise, to inform friedrich officially, "that the hanoverians and majesty of england have resolved to renounce the convention of kloster-zeven; to bring their poor stade army into the field again; and do now request him, king friedrich, to grant them duke ferdinand of brunswick to be general of the same." [mauvillon, i. ; westphalen, i. : indistinct both, and with slight variations. mitchell papers (in british museum), likewise indistinct: additional mss. , pp. and ("lord holderness to mitchell," doubtless on pitt's instigation, " th october, ," is the beginning of it,--two days before royal highness got home from stade); see ib. , pp. - .] here is an unnoticeable message, of very high moment indeed. to which friedrich, already prepared, gives his cheerful consent; nominations and practicalities to follow, the instant these present hurries are over. who it was that had prepared all this, whose suggestion it first was, friedrich's, mitchell's, george's, pitt's, i do not know,--i cannot help suspecting pitt; pitt and friedrich together. and certainly of all living men, ferdinand--related to the english and prussian royalties, a soldier of approved excellence, and likewise a noble-minded, prudent, patient and invincibly valiant and steadfast man--was, beyond comparison, the fittest for this office. pitt is now fairly in power; and perceives,--such pitt's originality of view,--that an army with a captain to it may differ beautifully from one without. and in fact we may take this as the first twitch at the reins, on pitt's part; whose delicate strong hand, all england running to it with one heart, will be felt at the ends of the earth before many months go. to the great and unexpected joy of friedrich, for one. "england has taken long to produce a great man," he said to mitchell; "but here is one at last!" book xviii (continued)--seven-years war rises to a height. - . chapter viii.--battle of rossbach. friedrich left leipzig sunday, october th; encamped, that night, on the famous field of lutzen, with the vanguard, he (as usual, and mayer with him, who did some brisk smiting home of what french there were); keith and duke ferdinand following, with main body and rear. movements on the soubise-hildburghausen part are all retrograde again;--can dauphiness bellona do nothing, then, except shuttle forwards and then backwards according to friedrich's absence or presence? the soubise-hildburghausen army does immediately withdraw on this occasion, as on the former; and makes for the safe side of the saale again, rapidly retreating before friedrich, who is not above one to two of them,--more like one to three, now that broglio's detachment is come to hand. broglio got to merseburg october th,--guess , strong;--considerably out of repair, and glad to have done with such a march, and be within reach of soubise. this is the second son of our old blusterous friend; a man who came to some mark, and to a great deal of trouble, in this war; and ended, readers know how, at the siege of the bastille thirty-two years afterwards! so soon as rested, broglio, by order, moves leftwards to halle, to guard saale bridge there; soubise himself edging after him to merseburg, on a similar errand; and leaving hildburghausen to take charge of weissenfels and the third saale bridge. that is dauphiness's posture while friedrich encamps at lutzen:--let impatient human nature fix these three places for itself, and hasten to the catastrophe of wretched dauphiness. soubise, it ought to be remembered, is not in the highest spirits; but his officers in over-high, "doing this petit marquis de brandebourg the honor to have a kind of war with him (de lui faire une espece de guerre)," as they term it. being puffed up with general vanity, and the newspaper rumor about haddick's feat,--which, like the gloves it got, is going all to left-hand in this way. hildburghausen and the others overrule soubise; and indeed there is no remedy; "provision almost out;--how retreat to our magazines and our fastnesses, with friedrich once across saale, and sticking to the skirts of us?" here, from eye-witnesses where possible, are the successive steps of dauphiness towards her doom, which is famous in the world ever since. "monday, st october, ," as the town-syndic of weissenfels records, "about eight in the morning, [muller, schlacht bei rossbach ("a centenary piece," berlin, ,--containing several curious extracts), p. , _helden-geschichte,_ iv. , - .] the king of prussia, with his whole army" (or what seemed to us the whole, though it was but a half; keith with the other half being within reach to northward, marching merseburg way), "came before this town." has been here before; as keith has, as soubise and others have: a town much agitated lately by transit of troops. it was from the eastern, or high landward side, where the so-called castle is, that friedrich came: castle built originally on some "white crag (weisse fels" not now conspicuous), from which the town and whilom duchy take their name. "we have often heard of weissenfels, while the poor old drunken duke lived, who used to be a suitor of wilhelmina's, liable to hard usage; and have marched through it, with the salzburgers, in peaceable times. a solid pleasant-enough little place ( , souls or so); lies leant against high ground (white crags, or whatever it once was) on the eastern or right bank of the saale; a town in part flat, in part very steep; the streets of it, or main street and secondaries, running off level enough from the river and bridge; rising by slow degrees, but at last rapidly against the high ground or cliffs, just mentioned; a stiff acclivity of streets, till crowned by the so-called castle, the 'augustus burg' in those days, the 'friedrich-wilhelm barrack' in ours. it was on this crown of the cliffs that his prussian majesty appeared. "saale is of good breadth here; has done perhaps two hundred miles, since he started, in the fichtelgebirge (pine mountains), on his long course elbe-ward; received, only ten miles ago, his last big branch, the wide-wandering unstrut, coming in with much drainage from the northern parts:--in breadth, saale may be compared to thames, to tay or beauley; his depth not fordable, though nothing like so deep as thames's; main cargo visible is rafts of timber: banks green, definite, scant of wood; river of rather dark complexion, mainly noiseless, but of useful pleasant qualities otherwise." from this castle or landward side come friedrich and his prussians, on monday morning about eight. "the garrison, some , reichs folk and a french battalion or two, shut the gates, and assembled in the market-place,"--a big square, close at the foot of the heights; "on the other hand, from the top of the heights [klammerk the particular spot], the prussians cannonaded town and gates; to speedy bursting open of the same; and rushed in over the walls of the castle-court, and by other openings into the town: so that the garrison above said had to quit, and roll with all speed across the saale bridge, and set the same on fire behind them." this was their remedy for all the three bridges, when attacked; but it succeeded nowhere so well as here. "the fire was of extreme rapidity; prepared beforehand:" bridge all of dry wood coated with pitch;--"fire reinforced too, in view of such event, by all the suet, lard and oleaginous matter the garrison could find in weissenfels; some hundredweights of tallow-dips, for one item, going up on this occasion." bridge, "worth , thalers," is instantly ablaze: some finding the bridge so flamy, and the prussians at their skirts, were obliged to surrender;--feldmarschall hildburghausen, sleeping about two miles off, gets himself awakened in this unpleasant manner. flying garrison halt on the other side of the river, where the rest of their army is; plant cannon there against quenching of the bridge; and so keep firing, answered by the prussians, with much noise and no great mischief, till p.m., when the bridge is quite gone (toll-keeper's lodge and all), and the enterprise of crossing there had plainly become impossible. friedrich quickly, about a mile farther down the river, has picked out another crossing-place, in the interim, and founded some new adequate plank or raft bridge there; which, by diligence all night, will be crossable to-morrow. so that, except for amusing the enemy, the cannonading may cease at weissenfels. a certain duc de crillon, in command at this weissenfels bridge-burning and cannonade, has a chivalrous anecdote (amounting nearly to zero when well examined) about saving or sparing friedrich's life on this interesting occasion: how, being now on the safe side of the river, he crillon with his staff taking some refection of breakfast after the furious flurry there had been; there came to him one of his artillery captains, stationed in an island in the river, asking, "shall i shoot the king of prussia, monseigneur? he is down reconnoitring his end of the bridge: sha'n't i, then?" to whom crillon gives a glass of wine and smilingly magnanimous answer to a negative effect. [_"memoires militaires de louis &c. duc de crillon _ (paris, ), p. ;"--as cited by preuss, ii. .] concerning which, one has to remark, not only, first, that the artillery captain's power of seeing friedrich (which is itself uncertain) would indeed mean the power of aiming at him, but differs immensely from that of hitting him with shot; so that this "shall i kill the king?" was mainly thrasonic wind from captain bertin. but secondly, that there is no "island" in the river thereabouts, for captain bertin to fire from! so that probably the whole story is wind or little more: dreamlike, or at best some idle thrasonic-theoretic question, on the part of bertin; proper answer thereto (consisting mainly in a glass of wine) from monseigneur:--all which, on retrospection, monseigneur feels, or would fain feel, to have been not theoretic-thrasonic but practical, and of a rather godlike nature. zero mainly, as we said; friedrich thanks you for zero, monseigneur. "the prussians were billeted in the town that night," says our syndic; "and in many a house there came to be twenty men, and even thirty and above it, lodged. all was quiet through the night; the french and the reichs folk were drawn back upon the higher grounds, about burgwerben and on to tagwerben; and we saw their watch-fires burning." friedrich's bridge meanwhile, unmolested by the enemy, is getting ready. keith, looking across to merseburg on the morrow morning (tuesday, nov. st), whither he had marched direct with the other half of the army, finds merseburg bridge destroyed, or broken; and soubise with batteries on the farther side, intending to dispute the passage. keith despatches duke ferdinand to halle, another twelve miles down, who finds halle bridge destroyed in like manner, and broglio intending to dispute; which, however, on second thoughts, neither of them i did. friedrich's new bridge at herren-muhle (lordships' mill) is of course an important point to them; friedrich's passage now past dispute! "let us fall back," say they, "and rank ourselves a little; we are or , strong; ill off for provisions; but well able to retreat; and have permission to fight on this side of the river." the combined army, "dauphiness," or whatever we are to call it, does on wednesday morning (november d) gather in its cannon and outskirts, and give up the saale question; retire landwards to the higher grounds some miles; and diligently get itself united, and into order of battle better or worse, near the village of mucheln (which means kirk michael, and is still written "sanct michel" by some on this occasion). there dauphiness takes post, leaning on the heights, not in a very scientific way; leaving keith and ferdinand to rebuild their bridges unmolested, and all prussians to come across at discretion. which they have diligently done ( d- d november), by their respective bridges; and on thursday afternoon are all across, encamped at bedra, in close neighborhood to mucheln; which friedrich has been out reconnoitring and finds that he can attack next morning very early. next morning, accordingly, "by o'clock, with a bright moon shining," friedrich is on horseback, his army following. but on examining by moonlight, the enemy have shifted their position; turned on their axis, more or less, into new wood-patches, new batteries and bogs; which has greatly mended their affair. no good attacking them so, thinks friedrich; and returns to his camp; slightly cannonaded, one wing of him, from some battery of the enemy; and immoderately crowed over by them: "dare not, you see! tried, and was defeated!" cry their newspapers and they,--for one day. friedrich lodges again in bedra this night, others say in rossbach; shifts his own camp a little; left wing of it now at rossbach (home-brook, or beck, soon to be a world-famous hamlet): the effects of hunger on the dauphiness, so far from her supplies, will, he calculates, be stronger than on him, and will bring her to better terms shortly. dauphiness needs bread; one may have fine clipping at the skirts of her, if she try retreat. that dauphiness would play the prank she did next morning, friedrich had not ventured to calculate. catastrophe of dauphiness (saturday, th november, ). meandering saale is on one of his big turns, as he passes weissenfels; turning, pretty rapidly here, from southeastward, which he was a dozen miles ago, round to northeastward again or northward altogether, which he gets to be at merseburg, a dozen farther down. right across from weissenfels, lapped in this crook of the saale, or washed by it on south side and on east, rises, with extreme laziness, a dull circular lump of country, six or eight miles in diameter; with rossbach and half a dozen other scraggy sleepy hamlets scattered on it;--which, till the morning of saturday, th november, , had not been notable to any visitor. the topmost point or points, for there are two (not discoverable except by tradition and guess), the country people do call hills, janus-hugel, polzen-hugel--hill sensible to wagon-horses in those bad loose tracks of sandy mud, but unimpressive on the tourist, who has to admit that there seldom was so flat a hill. rising, let us guess, forty yards in the three or four miles it has had. might be called a perceptibly pot-bellied plain, with more propriety; flat country, slightly puffed up;--in shape not steeper than the mould of an immense tea-saucer would be. tea-saucer miles in diameter, feet in depth, and of irregular contour, which indeed will sufficiently represent it to the reader's mind. saale, at four or five miles distance, bounds this scraggy lump on the east and on the south. westward and northward, springing about mucheln on each hand, and setting off to right and to left saale-ward, are what we take to be two brooks; at least are two hollows: and behind these, the country rises higher; undulating still on lazy terms, but now painted azure by the distance, not unpleasant to behold, with its litter all lapped out of sight, and its poor brooks tinkling forward (as we judge) into the saale, merseburg way, or reverse-wise into the unstrut, the last big branch of saale. southward from our janus height, eight or nine miles off, may be seen some vestige of freiburg; steeple or gilt weathercock faintly visible, on the unstrut yonder;--which i take to be soubise's bread-basket at present. and farther off, and opposite the mouth of the unstrut, well across the saale, lies another namable town (visible in clear weather, as a smoke-cloud at certain hours, about meal-time, when the kettles are on boil), the town of naumburg,--one of several german naumburgs,--the naumburg of gustaf adolf; where his slain body lay, on the night of lutzen battle, with his poor queen and others weeping over it. naumburg is on the other side of saale, not of importance to soubise in such posture. this is the circular block or lump of country, on the north or northwest side of which friedrich now lies, and which will become, he little thinks how memorable on the morrow. over the heights, immediately eastward of friedrich, there is a kind of hollow, or scooped-out place; shallow valley of some extent, which deserves notice against to-morrow: but in general the ground is lazily spherical, and without noticeable hollows or valleys when fairly away from the river. a dull blunt lump of country; made of sand and mud,--may have been grassy once, with broom on it, in the pastoral times; is now under poor plough-husbandry, arable or scratchable in all parts, and looks rather miserable in winter-time. no vestige of hedge on it, of shrub or bush; one tree, ugly but big, which may have been alive in friedrich's time, stands not far from rossbach hamlet; one, and no more, discoverable in these areas. various hamlets lie sprinkled about: very sleepy, rusty, irregular little places; huts and cattle-stalls huddled down, as if shaken from a bag; much straw, thick thatch and crumbly mud-brick; but looking warm and peaceable, for the four-footed and the two-footed; which latter, if you speak to them, are solid reasonable people, with energetic german eyes and hearts, though so ill-lodged. these hamlets, needing shelter and spring-water, stand generally in some slight hollow, if well up the height, as rorschach is; sometimes, if near the bottom, they are nestled in a sudden dell or gash,--work of the primeval rains, accumulating from above, and ploughing out their way. the rains, we can see, have been busy; but there is seldom the least stream visible, bottom being too sandy and porous. on the western slope, there is in our time a kind of coal, or coal-dust, dug up; in the way of quarrying, not of mining; and one or two big chasms of this sort are confusedly busy: the natives mix this valuable coal-dust with water, mould it into bricks, and so use as fuel: one of the features of these hamlets is the strange black bricks, standing on edge about the cottage-doors, to drip, and dry in the sun. for this or for other reasons, the westward slope appears to be the best; and has a major share of hamlets on it: rossbach is high up, and looks over upon mucheln, and its dim belfry and appurtenances, which lie safe across the hollow, perhaps two miles off,--safe from friedrich, if there were eatables and lodging to be had in such a place. friedrich's left wing is in rossbach. bedra where friedrich's right wing is; branderode where the soubise right is; then grost; schevenroda, zeuchfeld, pettstadt, lunstadt,--especially reichartswerben, where soubise's right will come to be: these the reader may take note of in his map. several of them lie in ashes just then; plundered, replundered, and at last set fire to; so busy have soubise's hungry people been, of late, in the country they came to "deliver." the freiburg road, the naumburg road, both towards merseburg, cross this height; straight like the string, saale by weissenfels being the bow. the herrenhaus (squire's mansion) still stands in rossbach, with the littery hamlet at its flank: a high, pavilion-roofed, and though dilapidated, pretentious kind of house; some kind of court round it, some kind of hedge or screen of brushwood and brick-wall: terribly in need of the besom, it and its environment throughout. king, i suppose, did lodge there overnight: certain it is the squire was absent; and the squire's man, three days afterwards, reported to him as follows:... "saturday, the th, about a.m., his majesty mounted to the roof of the herrenhaus here, some tiles having been removed [for that end, or by accident, is not said], and saw how the french and reichs army were getting in movement"--wriggling out of their camp leftwards, evidently aiming towards grost. "in about an hour, near half their army was through grost, and had turned southward, rather southeastward, from grost, out in the rossbach and almsdorf region, and proceeding still towards pettstadt,"--towards schevenroda more precisely, not towards pettstadt yet. "his majesty looked always through the perspective: and to me was the grace done to be ever at his side, and to name for him the roads the french and reichs army was marching." [muller, p. ; rodenbeck, p. .] the king had heard of this phenomenon hours before, and had sent out hussars and scouts upon it; but now sees it with his eyes:--"going for freiburg, and their bread-cupboard," thinks the king; who does not as yet make much of the movement; but will watch it well, and calculates to have a stroke at the rear end of it, in due season. with which view, the cavalry, seidlitz and mayer, are ordered to saddle; foot regiments, and all else, to be in readiness. this french-reichs dauphiness is not rapid in her field-exercise; and has a great deal of wriggling and unwinding before she can fairly pick herself out, and get forward towards schevenroda on the freiburg road. in three or in two parallel columns, artillery between them, horse ahead, horse arear; haggling along there;--making for their bread-baskets, thinks the king. a body of french, horse chiefly, under st. germain, come out, in the schortau-almsdorf part, with some salvoing and prancing, as if intending to attack about rossbach, where our left wing is: but his majesty sees it to be a pretence merely; and st. germain, motionless, and doing nothing but cannonade a little, seems to agree that it is so. dauphiness continues her slow movements; king, in this squire's mansion of rossbach, sits down to dinner, dinner with officers at the usual hour of noon,--little dreaming what the dauphiness has in her head. truth is, the dauphiness is in exultant spirits, this morning; intending great things against a certain "little marquis of brandenburg," to whom one does so much honor. generals looking down yesterday on the king of prussia's camp, able to count every man in it (and half the men being invisible, owing to bends of the ground), counted him to , or so; and had said, "pshaw, are not we above , ; let us end it! take him on his left. round yonder, till we get upon his left, and even upon his rear withal, st. germain co-operating on the other side of him: on left, on rear, on front, at the same moment, is not that a sure game?" a very ticklish game, answers surly sagacious lloyd: "no general will permit himself to be taken in flank with his eyes open; and the king of prussia is the unlikeliest you could try it with!" trying it meanwhile they are; marching along by the low grounds here, intending to sweep gradually leftwards towards janus-hill quarter; there to sweep home upon him, coil him up, left and rear and front, in their boa-constrictor folds, and end his trifle of an army and him. "why not, if we do our duty at all, annihilate his trifle of an army; take himself prisoner, and so end it?" report says, soubise had really, in some moment of enthusiasm lately, warned the versailles populations to expect such a thing; and that the duchess of orleans, forgetful of poor king louis's presence, had in her enthusiasm, exclaimed: "tant mieux, i shall at last see a king, then!" but perhaps it is a mere french epigram, such as the winds often generate there, and put down for fact.--friedrich's retreat to weissenfels is cut off for friedrich: an austrian party has been at the herren-muhle bridge this morning, has torn it up and pitched it into the river; planks far on to merseburg by this time. and, in fact, unless friedrich be nimble--but that he usually is. friedrich's dinner had gone on with deliberation for about two hours, friedrich's intentions not yet known to any, but everybody, great and small, waiting eagerly for them, like greyhounds on the slip,--when adjutant gaudi, who had been on the house-top the while, rushes into the dining-room faster than he ought, and, with some tremor in his voice and eyes, reports hastily: "at schevenroda, at pettstadt yonder! enemy has turned to left. clearly for the left."--"well, and if he do? no flurry needed, captain!" answered friedrich,--(not in these precise words; but rebuking gaudi, with a look not of laughter wholly, and with a certain question, as to the state of gaudi's stomachic part, which is still known in traditionary circles, but is not mentionable here);--and went, with due gravity, himself to the roof, with his officers. "to the left, sure enough; meaning to attack us there:" the thing friedrich had despaired of is voluntarily coming, then;--and it is a thing of stern qualities withal; a wager of life, with glorious possibilities behind. friedrich earnestly surveys the phenomenon for some minutes; in some minutes, friedrich sees his way through it, at least into it, and how he will do it. off, eastward; march! swift are his orders; almost still swifter the fulfillment of them. prussian army is a nimble article in comparison with dauphiness! in half an hour's time, all is packed and to the road; and, except mayer and certain free-corps or light-horse, to amuse st. germain and his almsdorf people, there is not a prussian visible in these localities to french eyes. "at half-past two," says the squire's man,--or let us take him a sentence earlier, to lose nothing of such a document: "at noon his majesty took dinner; sat till about two o'clock; then again went to the roof; and perceived that the enemy's army at pettstadt were turning about the little wood there northeastward, as if for lunstadt [into the lunstadt road];--such cannonading too," from those almsdorf people, "that the balls flew over our heads,"--or i tremulously thought so. "at half-past two, the word was given, march! and good speed they made about it, in this herrenhaus, and out of doors too, striking their tents, and cording up and trimly shouldering everything with incredible brevity," as if machinery were doing it; "and at three, on the prussian part, all was packed and out into the court for being carried off; and, in fact, the prussian army was on march at three." seidlitz, with all his horse, vanishing round the corner of the height; speeding along, invisible on his northern slope there, straight for the janus-polzen hill part; the infantry following, double-quick;--well knowing, each, what he has got to do. but at this interesting point, the editors--small thanks to them, authentic but thrice-stupid mortals--cut short our eye-witness, not so much as telling us his name, some of them not even his date or whereabouts; and so the curtain tumbles down (as if its string had been cut, or suddenly eaten by unwise animals), and we are left to gray hubbub, and our own resources at second-hand. except only that a french officer--one of those cannonading from almsdorf, no doubt--declares that "it was like a change of scene in the opera (decoration d'opera)," [letter in muller: p. . in westphalen (ii. - ) is a much superior french letter, intercepted somewhere, and fallen to duke ferdinand; well worth reading, on rossbach and the previous affairs.] so very rapid; and that "they all rolled off eastward at quick time." at extremely quick time;--and soon, in the slight hollow behind janus hugel, vanished from sight of these almsdorf french, and of the soubise-hildburghausen army in general. which latter is agreeably surprised at the phenomenon; and draws a highly flattering conclusion from it. "gone, then; off at double-quick for merseburg; aha!" think the soubise-hildburghausen people: "double-quick you too, my pretty men, lest they do whisk away, and we never get a stroke at them,!"-- seidlitz meanwhile, with his cavalry (thirty-eight squadrons, about , horse), is rapidly doing the order he has had. seidlitz at a sharp military trot, and the infantry at doublequick to keep up near him, which they cannot quite do, are, as we have said, making right across for the polzen-hill and janus-hill quarter; their route the string, french route the bow; and are invisible to the french, owing to the heights between. seidlitz, when he gets to the proper point eastward, will wheel about, front to southward, and be our left wing; infantry, as centre and right, will appear in like manner; and--we shall see! the exultant dauphiness, or soubise-hildburghausen army (let us call it, for brevity's sake, dauphiness or french, which it mainly was), on that rapid disappearance of the prussians, never doubted but the prussians were off on flight for merseburg, to get across by the bridge there. whereat dauphiness, doubly exultant, mended her own pace, cavalry at a sharp trot, infantry double-quick, but unable to keep up,--for the purpose of capturing or intercepting the runaway prussians. speed, my friends,--if you would do a stroke upon friedrich, and show the versailles people a king at last! thus they, hurrying on, in two parallel columns,--infantry, long floods of it, coming double-quick but somewhat fallen behind; cavalry , or so, as vanguard,--faster and faster; sweeping forward on their southern side of the janus-and-polzen slope, and now rather climbing the same. seidlitz has his hussar pickets on the top, to keep him informed as to their motions, and how far they are got. seidlitz, invisible on the south slope of the polzen hugel, finds about half-past three p.m. that he is now fairly ahead of dauphiness; seidlitz halts, wheels, comes to the top, "got the flank of them, sure enough!"--and without waiting signal or farther orders, every instant being precious, rapidly forms himself; and plunges down on these poor people. "compact as a wall, and with an incredible velocity (d'une vitesse incroyable)," says one of them. figure the astonishment of dauphiness; of poor broglio, who commands the horse here. taken in flank, instead of taking other people; intercepted, not in the least needing to intercept! has no time to form, though he tried what he could. only the two austrian regiments got completely formed; the rest very incompletely; and seidlitz, in the blaze of rapid steel, is in upon them. the two austrian regiments, and two french that are named, made what debate was feasible;--courage nowise wanting, in such sad want of captaincy; nay soubise in person galloped into it, if that could have helped. but from the first, the matter was hopeless; seidlitz slashing it at such a rate, and plunging through it and again through it, thrice, some say four times: so that, in the space of half an hour, this luckless cavalry was all tumbling off the ground; plunging down-hill, in full flight, across its own infantry or whatever obstacle, seidlitz on the hips of it; and galloping madly over the horizon, towards freiburg as it proved; and was not again heard of that day. in about half an hour that bit of work was over; and seidlitz, with his ranks trimmed again, had drawn himself southward a little, into the hollow of tageswerben, there to wait impending phenomena. for friedrich with the infantry is now emerging over janus hill, in a highly thunderous manner,--eighteen pieces of artillery going, and "four big guns taken from the walls of leipzig;" and there will be events anon. it is said, hildburghausen, at the first glimpse of friedrich over the hill-top, whispered to soubise, "we are lost, royal highness!"--"courage!" soubise would answer; and both, let us hope, did their utmost in this extremely bad predicament they had got into. friedrich's artillery goes at a murderous rate; had come in view, over the hill-top, before seidlitz ended,--"nothing but, the muzzles of it visible" (and the fire-torrents from it) to us poor french below. friedrich's lines; or rather his one line, mere tip of his left wing,--only seven battalions in it, five of them under keith from the second or reserve line; whole centre and right wing standing "refused" in oblique rank, invisible, behind the hill,--friedrich's line, we say, the artillery to its right, shoots out in mysterious prussian rhythm, in echelons, in potences, obliquely down the janus-hill side; straight, rigid, regular as iron clock-work; and strides towards us, silent, with the lightning sleeping in it:--friedrich has got the flank of dauphiness, and means to keep it. once and again and a third time, poor soubise, with his poor regiments much in an imbroglio, here heaped on one another, there with wide gaps, halt being so sudden,--attempts to recover the flank, and pushes out this regiment and the other, rightward, to be even with friedrich. but sees with despair that it cannot be; that friedrich with his echelons, potences and mysterious prussian resources, pulls himself out like the pieces of a prospect-glass, piece after piece, hopelessly fast and seemingly no end to them; and that the flank is lost, and that--unhappy generals of dauphiness, what a phenomenon for them! a terrible friedrich, not fled to merseburg at all; but mounted there on the janus hill, as on his saddle-horse, with face quite the other way;--and for holster-pistol, has plucked out twenty-two cannon. clad verily in fire; chimera-like, riding the janus hill, in that manner; left leg (or wing) of him spurning us into the abysses, right one ready to help at discretion! hildburghausen, i will hope, does his utmost; soubise, broglio, for certain do. the french line is in front, next the prussians: poor generals of dauphiness are panting to retrieve themselves. but with regiments jammed in this astonishing way, and got collectively into the lion's throat, what can be done? steady, rigid as iron clock-work, the prussian line strides forward; at forty paces' distance delivers its first shock of lightning, bursts into platoon fire; and so continues, steady at the rate of five shots a minute,--hard to endure by poor masses all in a coil. "the artillery tore down whole ranks of us," says the wutenberg dragoon; [his letter in muller, p. .] "the prussian musketry did terrible execution." things began %o waver very soon, french reeling back from the prussian fire, reichs troops rocking very uneasy, torn by such artillery; when, to crown the matter, seidlitz, seeing all things rock to the due extent, bursts out of tageswerben hollow, terribly compact and furious, upon the rear of them. which sets all things into inextricable tumble; and the battle is become a rout and a riding into ruin, no battle ever more. lasted twenty-five minutes, this second act of it, or till half-past four: after which, the curtains rapidly descending (night's curtain, were there no other) cover the remainder; the only stage-direction, exeunt omnes. which for a or , , ridden over by seidlitz horse, was not quite an easy matter! they left, of killed and wounded, near , ; of prisoners, , (generals among them , officers ): in sum, about , ; not to mention cannon, or ; with standards, flags, kettle-drums and meaner baggages ad libitum in a manner. the prussian loss was, killed, wounded;--between a sixteenth and a fifteenth part of theirs: in number the prussians had been little more than one to three; , of all arms,--not above half of whom ever came into the fire; seidlitz and seven battalions doing all the fighting that was needed, st. germain tried to cover the retreat; but "got broken," he says,--mayer bursting in on him,--and soon went to slush like the others. seldom, almost never, not even at crecy or poictiers, was any army better beaten. and truly, we must say, seldom did any better deserve it, so far as the chief parties went. yes, messieurs, this is the petit marquis de brandebourg; you will know this one, when you meet him again! the flight, the french part of it, was towards freiburg bridge; in full gallop, long after the chase had ceased; crossing of the unstrut there, hoarse, many-voiced, all night; burning of the bridge; found burnt, when friedrich arrived next morning. he had encamped at obschutz, short way from the field itself. french army, reichs army, all was gone to staves, to utter chaotic wreck. hildburghausen went by naumburg; crossed the saale there; bent homewards through the weimar country; one wild flood of ruin, swift as it could go; at erfurt "only one regiment was in rank, and marched through with drums beating." his army, which had been disgustingly unhappy from the first, and was now fallen fluid on these mad terms, flowed all away in different rills, each by the course straightest home; and hildburghausen arriving at bamberg, with hardly the ghost or mutilated skeleton of an army, flung down his truncheon,--"a murrain on your reichs armies and regimental chaoses!"--and went indignantly home. reichs army had to begin at the beginning again; and did not reappear on the scene till late next year, under a new commander, and with slightly improved conditions. dauphiness proper was in no better case; and would have flowed home in like manner, had not home been so far, and the way unknown. twelve thousand of them rushed straggling through the eichsfeld; plundering and harrying, like cossacks or calmucks: "army blown asunder, over a circle of forty miles' radius," writes st. germain: "had the enemy pursued us, after i got broken [burst in upon by mayer and his free-corps people] we had been annihilated. never did army behave worse; the first cannon-salvo decided our rout and our shame." [st. germain to verney: different excerpts of letters in the two weeks after rossbach and before (given in preuss, ii. ).] in two days' time (november th), the french had got to langensalza, fifty-five miles from the battle-field of rossbach; plundering, running, sacre-dieu-ing; a wild deluge of molten wreck, filling the eichsfeld with its waste noises, making night hideous and day too;--in the villages placards were stuck up, appointing nordhausen and heiligenstadt for rallying place. [muller, p. .] soubise rode, with few attendants, all night towards nordhausen,--eighty miles off, foot of the bracken country, where the richelieu resources are;--soubise with few attendants, face set towards the brocken; himself, it is like, in a somewhat hag-ridden condition. "the joy of poor teutschland at large," says one of my notes, "and how all germans, prussian and anti-prussian alike, flung up their caps, with unanimous lebe-hoch, at the news of rossbach, has often been remarked; and indeed is still almost touching to see. the perhaps bravest nation in the world, though the least braggart, very certainly ein tapferes volk (as their goethe calls them); so long insulted, snubbed and trampled on, by a luckier, not a braver:--has not your exultant dauphiness got a beautiful little dose administered her; and is gone off in foul shrieks, and pangs of the interior,--let no man ask whitherward! 'si un allemand peut avoir de l'esprit (can a german possibly have sharpness of wits)?' well, yes, it would seem: here is one german graduate who understands his medicine-chest, and the quality of patients!--dauphiness got no pity anywhere; plenty of epigrams, and mostly nothing but laughter even in paris itself. napoleon long after, who much admires friedrich, finds that this victory of rossbach was inevitable; 'but what fills me with astonishment and shame,' adds he, 'is that it was gained by six battalions and thirty squadrons [seven properly, and thirty-eight] over such a multitude!' [montholon, memoires &c. de napoleon (napoleon's _precis des guerres de frederic ii.,_ vii. ).]--it is well known, napoleon, after jena, as if jena had not been enough for him, tore down the first monument of rossbach, some poor ashlar pyramid or pillar, raised by the neighborhood, with nothing more afflictive inscribed on it than a date; and sent it off in carts for paris (where no stone of it ever arrived, the thuringen carmen slinking off, and leaving it scattered in different places over the face of thuringen in general); so that they had the trouble of a new one lately." [rodenbeck, _beitrage,_ i. ; ib. p. , lithograph of the poor extinct monument itself.] from friedrich the "army of the circles," that is, dauphiness and company,--called hoopers or "coopers" (tonneliers), with a desperate attempt at wit by pun,--get their adieu in words withal. this is the famed conge de l'armee des cercles et des tonneliers; a short metrical piece; called by editors the most profane, most indecent, most &c.; and printed with asterisk veils thrown over the worst passages. who shall dare, searching and rummaging for insight into friedrich, and complaining that there is none, to lift any portion of the veil; and say, "see--faugh!" the cynicism, truly, but also the irrepressible honest exultation, has a kind of epic completeness, and fulness of sincerity; and, at bottom, the thing is nothing like so wicked as careless commentators have given out. dare to look a little:-- "adieu, grands eraseurs de rois," so it starts: "adieu, grand crushers of kings; arrogant wind-bags, turpin, broglio, soubise,--hildburghausen with the gray beard, foolish still as when your beard was black in the turk-war time:--brisk journey to you all!" that is the first stanza; unexceptionable, had we room. the second stanza is,--with the veils partially lifted; with probably "moise" put into the first blank, and into the third something of or belonging to "cesar,"-- "je vows ai vu comme... dans des ronces en certain lieu eut l'honneur de voir... ou comme au gre de sa luxure le bon nicomede a l'ecart aiguillonnait sa flamme impure des..." enough to say, the author, with a wild burst of spiritual enthusiasm, sings the charms of the rearward part of certain men; and what a royal ecstatic felicity there sometimes is in indisputable survey of the same. he rises to the heights of anti-biblical profanity, quoting moses on the hill of vision; sinks to the bottomless of human or ultra-human depravity, quoting king nicomedes's experiences on caesar (happily known only to the learned); and, in brief, recognizes that there is, on occasion, considerable beauty in that quarter of the human figure, when it turns on you opportunely. a most cynical profane affair: yet, we must say by way of parenthesis, one which gives no countenance to voltaire's atrocities of rumor about friedrich himself in this matter; the reverse rather, if well read; being altogether theoretic, scientific; sings with gusto the glow of beauty you find in that unexpected quarter,--while kicking it deservedly and with enthusiasm. "to see the"--what shall we call it: seat of honor, in fact, "of your enemy:" has it not an undeniable charm? "i own to you in confidence, o soubise and company, this fine laurel i have got, and was so in need of, is nothing more or other than the sight of your"--four asterisks. "oblige me, whenever clandestine fate brings us together, by showing me that"--always that, if you would give me pleasure when we meet. "and oh," next stanza says, "to think what our glory is founded on,"--on view of that unmentionable object, i declare to you!--and through other stanzas, getting smutty enough (though in theory only), which we need not prosecute farther. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xii. - (written at freiburg, th november, when his majesty got thither, and found the bridge burnt).] a certain heartiness and epic greatness of cynicism, life's nakedness grown almost as if innocent again; an immense suppressed insuppressible haha, on the part of this king. strange te-deum indeed. coming from the very heart, truly, as few of them do; but not, in other points, recommendable at all!--here, of the night before, is something better:-- to wilhelmina. "near weissenfels [obschutz, in fact; does not know yet what the battle will be called], th november, . "at last, my dear sister, i can announce you a bit of good news. you were doubtless aware that the coopers with their circles had a mind to take leipzig. i ran up, and hove them beyond saale. the duc de richelieu sent them a reinforcement of twenty battalions and fourteen squadrons [say , horse and foot]; they then called themselves , strong. yesterday i went to reconnoitre them; could not attack them in the post they held. this had rendered them rash. today they came out with the intention of attacking me; but i took the start of them (les ai prevenu). it was a battle en douceur (soft to one's wish). thanks to god i have not a hundred men killed; the only general ill wounded is meinecke. my brother henri and general seidlitz have slight hurts [gun-shots, not so slight, that of seidlitz] in the arm. we have all the enemy's cannon, all the... i am in full march to drive them over the unstrut [already driven, your majesty; bridge burning]. "you, my dear sister, my good, my divine and affectionate sister [faithful to the bone, in good truth, poor wilhelmina], who deign to interest yourself in the fate of a brother who adores you, deign also to share in my joy. the instant i have time, i will tell you more. i embrace you with my whole heart; adieu. f." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. i. .] ulterior fate of dauphiness; flies over the rhine in bad fashion: dauphiness's ways with the saxon population in her deliverance-work. friedrich had no more fighting with the french. november th, at merseburg, in all stillness, duke ferdinand got his britannic commission, his full powers, from friedrich and the parties interested; in all stillness made his arrangements, as if for magdeburg and his governorship there,--friedrich hastening off for silesia the while. duke ferdinand did stay six days in magdeburg, inspecting or pretending to inspect; very pleasant with his sister and the royalties that, are now there; but, at midnight of day sixth shot off silently on wider errand. and, in sum, on thursday, th november, , appeared in stade, on horseback at morning parade there; intimating, to what joy of the poor brunswick grenadiers and others, that he was come to take command; that kloster-zeven is abolished; that we are not an "observation army," rotting here in the parish pound, any longer, but an "allied army" (such now our title), intending to strike for ourselves, and get out of pound straightway!-- "thursday, th november-tuesday, th. duke ferdinand did accordingly pick up the reins of this distracted affair; and, in a way wonderful to see, shot sanity into every fibre of it; and kept it sane and road-worthy for the five years coming. with a silent velocity, an energy, an imperturbable steadfastness and clear insight into cause and effect; which were creditable to the school he came from; and were a very joyful sight to pitt and others concerned. so that from next tuesday, 'november th, before daylight,' when ferdinand's batteries began playing upon harburg (french fortress nearest to stade), the reign of the french ceased in those countries; and an astonished richelieu and his french, lying scattered over all the west of germany, in readiness for nothing but plunder, had to fall more or less distracted in their turn; and do a number of astonishing things. to try this and that, of futile, more or less frantic nature; be driven from post after post; be driven across the aller first of all;--richelieu to go home thereupon, and be succeeded by one still more incompetent. "december th, a fortnight after ferdinand's appearance, richelieu had got to the safe side of the aller (burning of zelle bridge and zelle town there, his last act in germany); ferdinand's quarters now wide enough; and vigorous speed of preparation going on for farther chase, were the weather mended. february th, , ferdinand was on foot again; prince de clermont, the still more incompetent successor of richelieu, gazing wide-eyed upon him, but doing nothing else: and for the next six weeks there was seen a once triumphant richelieu-d'estrees french army, much in rags, much in disorder, in terror, and here and there almost in despair,--winging their way; like clouds of draggled poultry caught by a mastiff in the corn. across weser, across ems, finally across the rhine itself, every feather of them,--their long-drawn cackle, of a shrieky type, filling all nature in those months; the mastiff steadily following. [mauvillon, i. - (" th november, - st april, "); westphalen, i. - (abundantly explicit, authentic and even entertaining,--with the ample correspondences, ib. ii. - ); schaper, _vie militaire du marechal prince ferdinand_ ( tomes, vo, magdebourg, , ), i. - (a careful book; of an official exactitude, like westphalen's,--and appears to be left incomplete like his).] to the astonishment of pitt and mankind. can this be the same army that royal highness led to the sea and the parish pound? the same identically, wasted to about two-thirds by royal highness; not a drum in it changed otherwise, only one man different,--and he is the important one! "pitt, when the news of rossbach came, awakening the bonfires and steeple-bells of england to such a pitch, had resolved on an emphatic measure: that of sending english troops to reinforce our allied army, and its new general;--such an ally as that rossbach one being rare in the eyes of pitt. 'postpone the meeting of parliament, yet a few days, your majesty,' said pitt, 'till i get the estimates ready!' [thackeray, i. .] to which majesty assented, and all england with him: 'england's own cause,' thinks pitt, with confidence: 'our way of conquering america,--and, in the circumstances, our one way!' english did land, accordingly; first instalment of them, a , (in august next), increased gradually to , ; with no end of furnishings to them and everybody; with results again satisfactory to pitt; and very famous in the england that then was, dim as they are now grown." the effect of all which was, that pitt, with his ferdinands and reinforcements, found work for the french ever onwards from rossbach; french also turning as if exclusively upon perfidious albion: and the thing became, in teutschland, as elsewhere, a duel of life and death between these natural enemies,--teutschland the centre of it,--teutschland and the accessible french sea-towns,--but the circumference of it going round from manilla and madras to havana and quebec again. wide-spread furious duel; prize, america and life. by land and sea; handsomely done by pitt on both elements. land part, we say, was always mainly in germany, under ferdinand,--in hessen and the westphalian countries, as far west as minden, as far east as frankfurt-on-mayn, generally well north of rhine, well south of elbe: that was, for five years coming, the cockpit or place of deadly fence between france and england. friedrich's arena lies eastward of that, occasionally playing into it a little, and played into by it, and always in lively sympathy and consultation with it: but, except the french subsidizings, diplomatizings. and great diligenae against him in foreign courts, friedrich is, in practical respects, free of the french; and ever after rossbach, ferdinand and the english keep them in full work,--growing yearly too full. a heavy business for england and ferdinand; which is happily kept extraneous to friedrich thenceforth; to him and us; which is not on the stage of his affairs and ours, but is to be conceived always as vigorously proceeding alongside of it, close beyond the scenes, and liable at any time to make tragic entry on him again:--of which we shall have to notice the louder occurrences and cardinal phases, but, for the future, nothing more. soubise, who had crept into the skirts of the richelieu army in hanover or hessen country, had of course to take wing in that general fright before the mastiff. soubise did not cross the rhine with it; soubise made off eastward; [westphalen, i. ("end of march, ").]--found new roost in hanau-frankfurt country; and had thoughts of joining the austrians in bohemia next campaign; but got new order,--such the pinches of a winged clermont with a mastiff ferdinand at his poor draggled tail;--and came back to the ferdinand scene, to help there; and never saw friedrich again. both broglio and he had a good deal of fighting (mostly beating) from ferdinand; and a great deal of trouble and sorrow in the course of this war; but after rossbach it is not friedrich or we, it is ferdinand and the destinies that have to do with them. poor soubise, except that he was the creature of generalissima pompadour, which had something radically absurd in it, did not deserve all the laughter he got: a man of some chivalry, some qualities. as for broglio, i remember always, not without human emotion, the two extreme points of his career as a soldier: rossbach and the fall of the bastille. he was towards forty, when friedrich bestrode the janus hill in that fiery manner; he was turned of seventy when, from the pavements of paris, the chimera of democracy rose on him, in fire of a still more horrible description. dauphiness-bellona, in her special and in her widest sense, has made exit, then. gone, like clouds of draggled poultry home across the rhine. she was the most marauding army lately seen, also the most gasconading, and had the least capacity for fighting: three worse qualities no army could have. how she fought, we have seen sufficiently. before taking leave of her forever, readers, as she is a paragon in her kind, would perhaps take a glance or two at her marauding qualities,--by a good opportunity that offers. plotho at regensburg, that a supreme reichs diet may know what a "deliverance of saxony" this has been, submits one day the following irrefragable documents, "which have happened," not without good industry of my own, "to fall into my [plotho's] hands." they are documents partly of epistolary, partly of a petitionary form, presented to polish majesty, out of that saxon country; and have an affidavit quality about them, one and all. . big dauphiness (that is, d'estrees) in the wesel countries, at an early stage,--while still endeavoring what she could to behave well, hanging , marauders and the like (a private letter):-- "county mark, th june, . the french troops are going on here in a way to utterly ruin us. schmidt, their president of justice, whom they set up in cleve, has got orders to change all the magistracies of the country [protestant by nature], so as that half the members shall be catholic. bielefeld was openly plundered by the french for three hours long. you cannot by possibility represent to yourself what the actual state of misery in these countries is. a scheffel of rye costs three thalers sixteen groschen [who knows how many times its natural price!]. and now we are to be forced to eat the spoiled meal those french troops brought with them; which is gone to such a state no animal would have it. this poisoned meal we are to buy from them, ready money, at the price they fix; and that famine may induce us, they are about to stop the mills, and forcibly take away what little bread-corn we have left. god have pity on us, and deliver us soon! next week we are to have a transit of , pfalzers [kur-pfalz, foolish idle fellow, and kur-baiern too, are both in subsidy of france, as usual; , pfalzers just due here]; these, i suppose, will sweep us clean bare." [_helden-geschichte,_ iv. .]: wesel fortress, gate of the rhine, could not be defended by friedrich: and the hanover incapables, and england still all in st. vitus, would not hear of undertaking it; left it wide open for the french; never could recover it, or get the rhine-gate barred again, during the whole war. one hopes they repented;--but perhaps it was only pitt and duke ferdinand that did so, instead! the wesel countries were at once occupied by the french; "a conquest of her imperial majesty's;" continued to be administered in imperial majesty's name,--and are thriving as above. . dauphiness proper (that is, soubise) in thuringen, at a late stage:-- "letter from freiburg, shortly after rossbach.--it was on the d october, a sunday, that we of freiburg had our first billeting of french; a body of cavalry from different regiments [going to take leipzig, take torgau, what not]: and from that day freiburg never emptied of french, who kept marching through it in extraordinary quantities. the marching lasted fourteen days, namely, till the th november [day after rossbach; when they burnt our poor bridge, and marched for the last time]; and often the billeting was so heavy, that in a single house there were forty or fifty men. who at all times had to be lodged and dieted gratis; nay many householders, over and above the ordinary meal, were obliged to give them money too; and many poor people, who can scarcely get their own bit of bread, had to run and bring at once their sixteen or eighteen groschen [pence] worth of wine, not to speak of coffee and sugar. and a great increase of the mischief it was always, that the soldiers and common people did not understand one another's language."--heavy billeting; but what was that?... "vast, nearly impossible, quantities of forage and provision," were wrung from us, as from all the other towns and villages about, "under continual threatening to burn and raze us from the earth. often did our french colonel threaten, 'he would have the cannon opened on freiburg straightway.' nay, had it stood by foraging, we might have reckoned ourselves lucky. but our straits increased day by day; and sheer plundering became more and more excessive. "the robbing and torturing of travellers, the plundering and burning of saxon villages... almost all the towns and villages hereabouts are so plundered out, that many a one now has nothing but what he carries on his body. plundering was universal: and no sooner was one party away, than another came, and still another; and often the same house was three or four times plundered. branderode, a village two leagues from this [stands on the field of rossbach, if we look], is so ruined out, that nobody almost has anything left: chief inspector baron von bose's schloss there, with its splendid appointments, they ruined utterly; took all money, victuals, valuables, furniture, clothes, linen and beds, all they could carry; what could not be carried away, they cut, hewed and smashed to pieces; broke the wine-casks; and even tore up the documents and letters they found lying in the place. branderode dorf was twice set fire to by them; and was, at last, with zeuchfeld, which is an amtsdorf,--after both had been plundered,--reduced to ashes. the churches of branderode and zeuchfeld, with several other churches, were plundered; the altars broken, the altar-cloths and other vestures cut to pieces, and the sacred vessels and cups carried away,--except [for we have a notarial exactness, and will exaggerate nothing] that in the case of branderode they sent the cup back. of the pollution of the altars, and of the blasphemous songs these people sang in the churches, one cannot think without horror. "and it was merely our pretended allies and protectors that have desecrated our divine service, utterly wasted our country, reduced the inhabitants to want and desperation, and, in short, have so behaved that you would not know this region again. truly these troops have realized for us most of the infamies we heard reported of the cossacks, and their ravagings in preussen lately. "it is one of their smallest doings that they robbed a saxon clergyman (name and circumstances can be given if required), three times over, on the public highway; shot at him, tied him to a horse's tail and dragged him along with them; so that he is now lying ill, in danger of his life. on the whole, it is our beloved pastors, clergymen most of all, that have been plundered of everything they had. "balgart and zschieplitz, both villages half a league from this, have likewise been heavily plundered; they have even left the parson nothing but what he wore on his back. grost," another rossbach place, "which belongs to the kammerjunker heldorf, has likewise"... ohe, satis!--"all this happened between the d and st october; consequently before the battle.... in many villages you see the trees and fields sprinkled with feathers from the beds that have been slit up. "in several villages belonging to the royal electoral privy councillor von bruhl [who is properly the fountain of all this and of much other misery to us, if we knew it!] the plundering likewise had begun; and a quantity of about a hundred swine [so ho!] had been cut in pieces: but in the midst of their work, the allies heard that these were bruhl estates, and ceased their havoc of them. these accordingly are the only lands in all this region whose fate has been tolerable. "the appellation, every moment renewed, of 'heretic!' was the courteous address from these people to our fellow-christians; 'heretic dogs (ketzerische hunde)' was a pradicat always in their mouth. "in weischutz," a mile or two from us, up the unstrut, "a french colonel who wanted to ride out upon the works, made the there pastor, magister schren, stoop down by way of horse-block, and mounted into the saddle from his back. [messieurs, you will kindle the wrath of mankind some day, and get a terrible plucking, with those high ways of yours!] "churches are all smashed; obscene songs were sung, in form of litany, from the pulpits and altars; what was done with the communion-vessels, when they were not worth stealing,"--is hideous to the religious sense, and shall not be mentioned in human speech. . the broglio reinforcement coming across to join soubise, and perform at rossbach (humble petition from the magistrates of sangerhausen, to the king of poland's majesty):-- sangerhausen, d october, .--"scarcely had we, with profound submission (allerunterthanigst), under date of the th current, represented to your royal majesty and electoral translucency how heavily we were pressed down by the forage requisitions and transits of troops, and the consequent, expenditure in food, drinking, in oats and hay, which no one pays,--when directly thereafter, on the th of october, a new french party, of the fischer corps,"--fischer is a mighty hussar, scarcely inferior to turpin; and stands in astonishing authority with richelieu, and an army whose object is plunder, [ferdinand's correspondente, soepius (_westphalen,_ i. - ); &c. &c.]--"new party of the fischer corps, of some sixty men and horse, arrived in the town; demanded meat, drink, oats and hay, and all things necessary; which they received from us;--and not only paid not one farthing for all this, but furthermore some of them, instead of thanks to their landlord, rossold, forcibly broke up his press, drank his brandy, and carried off a toute (gather-all) with money in it. from a tanner, lindauer by name, they bargained for a buckskin; and having taken, would not pay it. in the rathskeller (town public-house) they drank much wine, and gave nothing for it: nay on marching off,--because no mounted guide (reitender bote) was at hand, and though they had before expressly said none such would be needed,--they rushed about like distracted persons (wie rasende leute) in the market-place and in the streets; beat the people, tumbled them about, and lugged them along, in a violent manner; using abusive language to a frightful extent, and threatening every misfortune. "hardly were we rid of this confusion and astonishment when, on october st, a whole swarm of horses, men, women, children and wagons, which likewise all belonged to the fischer corps, and were commanded by first-lieutenant schmidt, came into our town. this troop consisted of men, part infantry, part cavalry; with some work-horses, baggage-wagons, and about persons, women, sick people and the like. they stayed the whole night here; made meat, drink, corn, hay and whatever they needed be brought them; and went off next day without paying anything. "our inns were now almost quite exhausted of forage in corn or hay; and we knew not how we were to pay what had been spent,--when the thirty french light cavalry, of whom we, with profound submission, on the th hujus gave your royal majesty and electoral translucency account, renewed their visit upon us; came, under the command of rittmeister de mocu, on the d of october [while the baggage-wagons, work-horses, women, sick, and so forth, were hardly gone], towards evening, into the town; consumed in meat and drink, oats and hay, and the like, what they could lay hold of; and next morning early marched away, paying, as their custom is, nothing. "not enough that,--besides the great forage-contribution (lieferung), which we already, with profound submission, notified to your royal majesty and electoral translucency as having been laid upon us; and that, by order of the duc de broglio, a new requisition is now laid on us, and we have had to engage for sixty-four more sacks of wheat, and thirty-two of rye (as is noted under head a, in the enclosed copy),--there has farther come on us, on the part of the reichs army, from kreis-commissarius heldorf [whose schloss of grost, we perceive, they have since burnt, by way of thanks to him [supra, no. .]], the simultaneous order for instant delivery of forage (as under head b, here enclosed)! thus are we, at the appointed places, all at once to furnish such quantities, more than we can raise; and know not when or where we shall, either for what has been already furnished, or for what is still to be, receive one penny of money: nay, over and above, we are to sustain the many marchings of troops, and provide to the same what meat, drink, oats, hay and so on, they require, without the least return of payment! "so unendurable, and, taken all together, so hard (sic) begins the conduct of these troops, that profess being come as friends and helpers, to appear to us. and heaven alone knows how long, under a continuance of such things, the subjects (whom the hail-storm of last year had at any rate impoverished) shall be able to support the same. we would, were a reasonable delivery of forage laid upon us even at a low price, and the board and billet of the marching troops paid to us even in part, lay out our whole strength in helping to bear the burdens of the fatherland; but if such things go on, which will soon leave us only bare life and empty huts, we can look forward to nothing but our ruin and destruction. but, as it is not your royal majesty's and electoral translucency's most gracious will that we, your most supreme self's most faithful subjects, should entirely perish, therefore we repeat our former most submissive prayer once again with hot (sic) sorrow of mind to highest-the-same; and sob most submissively for that help which your most supreme self, through most gracious mediation with the duc de richelieu, with the reichs army or wherever else, might perhaps most graciously procure for us. who, in deepest longing thitherwards, with the most deepest devotion, remain--" [_ helden-geschichte,_ iv. - .] (names, unfortunately, not given). how many saxons and germans generally--alas, how many men universally--cry towards celestial luminaries of the governing kind with the most deepest devotion, in their extreme need, under their unsufferable injuries; and are truly like dogs in the backyard barking at the moon. the moon won't come down to them, and be eaten as green cheese; the moon can't! . dauphiness after rossbach. "excise-inspector neitsche, at bebra, near weissenfels [bebra is well ahead from freiburg and the burnt bridge, and a good twenty-five miles west of weissenfels], writes to the king of poland's majesty, th november, :-- "may it please your royal majesty and electoral translucency, out of your highest grace, to take knowledge, from the accompanying registers sub signo martis [sign unknown to readers here], of the things which, in the name of this township of bebra, the burgermeister johann adam, with the raths and others concerned, have laid before the excise-inspection here. as follows:-- "it will be already well known to the excise-inspection that on the th of november (a. c.) of the current year [day before yesterday, in fact!], the french army so handled this place as to have not only taken from the inhabitants, by open force, all bread and articles of food, but likewise all clothes, beds, linens (wasche), and other portable goods; that it has broken, split to pieces, and emptied out, all chests, boxes, presses, drawers; has shot dead, in the backyards and on the thatch-roofs, all manner of feathered-stock, as hens, geese, pigeons; also carried forth with it all swine, cow, sheep and horse cattle; laid violent hands on the inhabitants, clapped guns, swords, pistols to their breast, and threatened to kill them unless they showed and brought out whatever goods they had; or else has hunted them wholly out of their houses, shooting at them, cutting, sticking and at last driving them away, thereby to have the freer room to rob and plunder: flung out hay and other harvest-stock from the barns into the mud and dung, and had it trampled to ruin under the horses, feet; nay, in fact, has dealt with this place in so unpermitted a way as even to the most hard-hearted man must seem compassionable."--poor fellows: cetera desunt; but that is enough! what can a polish majesty and electoral translucency do? here too is a sorrowful howling to the moon. [_helden-geschichte,_ iv. .] ... "for a hundred miles round," writes st. germain, "the country is plundered and harried as if fire from heaven had fallen on it; scarcely have our plunderers and marauders left the houses standing.... i lead a band of robbers, of assassins, fit for breaking on the wheel; they would turn tail at the first gunshot, and are always ready to mutiny. if the government (la cour," with its pompadour presiding, very unlikely for such an enterprise!) "cannot lay the knife to the root of all this, we may give up the notion of war." [st. germain, after rossbach and before (in preuss, ubi supra).]... such a pitch have french armies sunk to. when was there seen such a bellona as dauphiness before? nay, in fact, she is the same devil-serving army that marechal de saxe commanded with such triumph,--marechal de saxe in better luck for opponents; army then in a younger stage of its development. foaming then as sweet must, as new wine, in the hands of a skilful vintner, poisonous but brisk; not run, as now, to the vinegar state, intolerable to all mortals. she can now announce from her camp-theatres the reverse of the roucoux program, "to-morrow, messieurs, you are going to fight; our manager foresees"--you will be beaten; and we cannot say what or where the next piece will be! impious, licentious, high-flaring efflorescence of all the vices is not to be redeemed by the one quasi-virtue of readiness to be shot;--sweet of that kind, and sour of this, are the same substance, if you only wait. how kind was the devil to his saxe; and flew away with him in rose-pink, while it was still time! chapter ix.--friedrich marches for silesia. the fame of friedrich is high enough again in the gazetteer world; all people, and the french themselves, laughing at their grandiloquent dauphiness-bellona, and writing epigrams on soubise. but friedrich's difficulties are still enormous. one enemy coming with open mouth, you plunge in upon, and ruin, on this hand; and it only gives you room to attempt upon another bigger one on that. soubise he has finished handsomely, for this season; but now he must try conclusions with prince karl. quick, towards silesia, after this glorious victory which the gazetteers are celebrating. the news out of silesia are ominously doubtful, bad at the best. duke bevern, once winterfeld was gone, had, as we observed, felt himself free to act; unchecked, but also unsupported, by counsel of the due heroism; and had acted unwisely. made direct for silesia, namely, where are meal-magazines and strong places. prince karl, they say, was also unwise; took no thought beforehand, or he might have gained marches, disputed rivers, bober, queiss, with bevern, and as good as hindered him from ever getting to silesia. so say critics, retzow and others; perhaps looking too fixedly on one side of the question. certain it is, bevern marched in peace to silesia; found it by no means the better place it had promised to be. prince karl--daun there as second, but karl now the dominant hand--was on the heels of bevern, march after march. prince karl cut athwart him by one cunning march, in liegnitz country; barring him from schweidnitz, the chief stronghold of silesia, and to appearance from breslau, the chief city, too. bevern, who did not want for soldiership, when reduced to his shifts, now made a beautiful manoeuvre, say the critics; struck out leftwards, namely, and crossed the oder, as if making for glogau, quite beyond prince karl's sphere of possibility,--but turned to right, not to left, when across, and got in upon breslau from the other or east side of the river. cunning manoeuvre, if you will, and followed by cunning manoeuvres: but the result is, prince karl has got schweidnitz to rear, stands between breslau and it; can besiege schweidnitz when he likes, and no relief to it possible that will not cost a battle. a battle, thinks friedrich, is what bevern ought to have tried at first; a well-fought battle might have settled everything, and there was no other good likelihood in such an expedition: but now, by detaching reinforcements to this garrison and that, he has weakened himself beyond right power of fighting. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ iv. , .] schweidnitz is liable to siege; breslau, with its poor walls and multitudinous population, can stand no siege worth mentioning; the silesian strong places, not to speak of meal-magazines, are like to go a bad road. quite dominant, this prince karl; placarding and proclaiming in all places, according to the new "imperial patent," [in _ helden-geschichte,_ (iv. , ), copy of it: "absolved from all prior treaties by prussian majesty's attack on us, we" &c. &c. (" st sept. ").] that silesia is her imperial majesty's again! which seems to be fast becoming the fact;--unless contradicted better. quick! bevern has now, october st, no manoeuvre left but to draw out of breslau; post himself on the southern side of it, in a safe angle there, marshy lohe in front, broad oder to rear, breslau at his right-hand with bread; and there intrenching himself by the best methods, wait slowly, in a sitting posture, events which are extensively on the gallop at present. one fancies, had winterfeld been still there! it is as brave an army, , , or more, as ever wore steel. surely something could have been done with it;--something better than sit watching the events on full gallop all round! bevern was a loyal, considerably skilful and valiant man; in the battle of lobositz, and elsewhere, we have seen him brave as a lion: but perhaps in the other kind of bravery wanted here, he--well, his case was horribly difficult; full of intricacy. and he sat, no doubt in a very wretched state, consulting the oracles, with events (which are themselves oracular) going at such a pace. schweidnitz was besieged october th. nadasti, with , , was set to do it; prince karl, with , , ready to protect him; prince bevern asking the oracles:--what a bit of news for friedrich; breaking suddenly the effulgency of rossbach with a bar of ominous black! friedrich, still in the thick of pure saxon business, makes instant arrangement for silesia as well: prince henri, with such and such corps, to maintain the saale, and guard saxony; marshal keith, with such and such, to step over into bohemia, and raise contributions at least, and tread on the tail of the big silesian snake: all this friedrich settles within a week; takes certain corps of his own, effective about , ; and on november th marches from leipzig. round by torgau, by muhlberg, grossenhayn; by bautzen, weissenberg, across the queiss, across the bober; and so, with long marches, strides continually forward, all hearts willing, and all limbs, though in this sad winter weather, towards relief of schweidnitz. at grossenhayn, fifth day of the march, friedrich learns that schweidnitz is gone. november th- th, schweidnitz went by capitulation; contrary to everybody's hope or fear; certainly a very short defence for such a fortress. fault of the commandant, was everybody's first thought. not probably the best of commandants, said others gradually; but his garrison had saxons in it;--one day " of them in a lump threw down their arms, in the trenches, and went over to the enemy." owing to whatsoever, the place is gone. such towers, such curtains, star-ramparts; such an opulence of cannons, stores, munitions, a , pounds of hard cash, one item. all is gone, after a fortnight's siege. what a piece of news, as heard by friedrich, coming at his utmost towards the scene itself! as seen by bevern, too, in his questioning mood, it was an event of very oracular nature. on monday, th, schweidnitz fell; karl, with nadasti reunited to him, was now , odd; and lost no time. on tuesday next, november d, , "at three in the morning," long hours before daybreak, karl, with his , , all learnedly arranged, comes rolling over upon hapless bevern: with no end of cannonading and storm of war: battle of breslau, they call it; ruinous to bevern. of which we shall attempt no description: except to say, that karl had five bridges on the lohe, came across the lohe by five bridges; and that bevern stood to his arms, steady as the rocks, to prevent his getting over, and to entertain him when over; that there were five principal attacks, renewed and re-renewed as long as needful, with torrents of shot, of death and tumult; over six or eight miles of country, for the space of fifteen hours. battle comparable only to malplaquet, said the austrians; such a hurricane of artillery, strongly intrenched enemy and loud doomsday of war. did not end till nine at night; austrians victorious, more or less, in four of their attacks or separate enterprises: that is to say, masters of the lohe, and of the outmost prussian villages and posts in front of the prussian centre and right wing; victorious in that northern part;--but plainly unvictorious in the southeast or prussian left wing,--farthest off from breslau, and under ziethen's command,--where they were driven across the lohe again, and lost prisoners and cannons, or a cannon. [in seyfarth, three accounts; _ beylagan,_ ii. , , et seq.] some of bevern's people, grounding on this latter circumstance, and that they still held the battle-field, or most part of it, wrote themselves victorious;--though in a dim brief manner, as if conscious of the contrary. which indeed was the fact. at the council of war, which he summoned that evening, there were proposals of night-attack, and other fierce measures; but bevern, rejecting the plan for a night attack on the austrian camp as too dubious, did, in the dark hours, through the silent streets of breslau, withdraw himself across the oder, instead; leaving cannon, and , killed and wounded; an evidently beaten man and army. and indeed did straightway disappear personally altogether, as no longer equal to events. rode out, namely, to reconnoitre in the gray of his second sad morning, on this new bank of the oder; saw little except gray mist; but rode into a croat outpost, only one poor groom attending him; and was there made prisoner:--intentionally, thought mankind; intentionally, thinks friedrich, who was very angry with the poor man. [preuss, ii. . more exact in kutzen, der tag von leuthen (breslau, ,--an excellent exact little compilation, from manifold sources well studied), pp. - , date " th november."] the poor man was carried to vienna, if readers care to know; but being a near cousin there (second-cousin, no less, to the late empress-mother), was by the high now-reigning empress-queen received in a charmingly gracious manner, and sent home again without ransom. "to stettin!" beckoned friedrich sternly from the distance, and would not see him at all: "to stettin, i say, your official post in time of peace! command me the invalid garrison there; you are fit for nothing better!"--i will add one other thing, which unhappily will seem strange to readers: that there came no whisper of complaint from bevern; mere silence, and loyal industry with his poor means, from bevern; and that he proved heroically useful in stettin two years hence, against the swedes, against the russians in the siege-of-colberg time; and gained friedrich's favor again, with other good results. which i observe was a common method with prussian generals and soldiers, when, unjustly or justly, they fell into trouble of this kind; and a much better one than that of complaining in the newspapers, and demanding commissions of inquiry, presided over by chaos and the fourth-estate, now is. bevern being with the croats, the prussian army falls to general kyau, as next in rank; who (directly in the teeth of fierce orders that are speeding hither for bevern and him) marches away, leaving breslau to its fate; and making towards glogau, as the one sure point in this wreck of things. and prince karl, that same day, goes upon breslau; which is in no case to resist and be bombarded: so that poor old general lestwitz, the prussian commandant,--always thought to be a valiant old gentleman, but who had been wounded in the late action, and was blamably discouraged,--took the terms offered, and surrendered without firing a gun. garrison and he to march out, in "free withdrawal;" these are the terms: garrison was , and odd, mostly silesian recruits; but there marched hardly out with poor lestwitz; the silesian recruits--persuaded by conceivable methods, that they were to be prisoners of war, and that, in short, austria was now come to be king again, and might make inquiry into men's conduct--found it safer to take service with austria, to vanish into holes in breslau or where they could; and, for instance, one regiment (or battalion, let us hide the name of it), on marching through the gate, consisted only of nine chief officers and four men. [muller, schlacht bei leuthen (berlin, ,--professedly a mere abridgment and shadow of kutzen: unindexed like it), p. (with name and particulars).] there were lost pieces of cannon; endless magazines and stores of war. a breslau scandalously gone;--a breslau preaching day after next ( th, which was sunday), in certain of its churches, especially cardinal schaffgotsch in the dom insel doing it, thanksgiving sermons, as per order, with unction real or official, "that our ancient sovereigns are restored to us:" which sermons--except in the schaffgotsch case, prince karl and the high catholic world all there in gala--were "sparsely attended," say my authors. the austrians are at the top of their pride; and consider full surely that silesia is theirs, though friedrich were here twice over. "what is friedrich? we beat him at kolin. his prussians at zittau, at moys, at breslau in the new malplaquet, were we beaten by them? hnh!"--and snort (in the austrian mess-rooms), and snap their fingers at friedrich and his coming. it was at gorlitz (scene of poor winterfeld's death) that friedrich, "on november d, the tenth day of his march," first got rumor of the breslau malplaquet: "endless cannonading heard thereabouts all yesterday!" said rumor from the east,--more and more steadily, as friedrich hastened forward;--and that it was "a victory for bevern." till, at naumburg on the queiss, he gets the actual tidings: bevern gone to the croats, breslau going, kyau marching vague; and what kind of victory it was. ever from grossenhayn onwards there had been message on message, more and more rigorous, precise and indignant, "do this, do that; your dilection shall answer it with your head!"--not one message of which reached his dilection, till dilection and fate (such the gallop of events) had done the contrary: and now dilection and his head have made a finish of it. "no," answers friedrich to himself; "not till we are all finished!"--and pushes on, he too, like a kind of fate. "what does or can he mean, then?" say the austrians, with scornful astonishment, and think his head must be turning: "will he beat us out of silesia with his potsdam guard-parade then?" "potsdamsche wacht-parade:"--so they denominate his small army; and are very mirthful in their mess-rooms. "i will attack them, if they stood on the zobtenberg, if they stood on the steeples of breslau!" said friedrich; and tramped diligently forward. day after day, as the real tidings arrive, his outlook in silesia is becoming darker and darker: a sternly dark march this altogether. prince karl has thrown a garrison into liegnitz on friedrich's road; prince karl lies encamped with breslau at his back; has above , when fully gathered; and reigns supreme in those parts. darker march there seldom was: all black save a light that burns in one heart, refusing to be quenched till death. friedrich sends orders that kyau shall be put in arrest; that ziethen shall be general of the bevern wreck, shall bring it round by glogau, and rendezvous with friedrich at a place and day,--parchwitz, d of december coming;--and be steady, my old ziethen. friedrich brushes past the liegnitz garrison, leaves liegnitz and it a trifle to the right; arrives at parchwitz november th; and there rests, or at least his weary troops do, till ziethen come up; the king not very restful, with so many things to prearrange; a life or death crisis now nigh. well, it is but death; and death has been fronted before now! we who are after the event, on the safe sunny side of it, can form small image of the horrors and the inward dubieties to him who is passing through it;--and how hope is needed to shine heroically eternal in some hearts. fire of hope, that does not issue in mere blazings, mad audacities and chaotic despair, but advances with its eyes open, measuredly, counting its steps, to the wrestling-place,--this is a godlike thing; much available to mankind in all the battles they have; battles with steel, or of whatever sort. friedrich, at parchwitz, assembled his captains, and spoke to them; it was the night after ziethen came in, night of december d, ; and ziethen, no doubt, was there: for it is an authentic meeting, this at parchwitz, and the words were taken down. friedrich's speech to his generals (parchwitz, d december, ). [from retzow, i. - (slightly abridged).] "it is not unknown to you, meine herren, what disasters have befallen here, while we were busy with the french and reichs army. schweidnitz is gone; duke of bevern beaten; breslau gone, and all our war-stores there; good part of silesia gone: and, in fact, my embarrassments would be at the insuperable pitch, had not i boundless trust in you, and your qualities, which have been so often manifested, as soldiers and sons of your country. hardly one among you but has distinguished himself by some nobly memorable action: all these services to the state and me i know well, and will never forget. "i flatter myself, therefore, that in this case too nothing will be wanting which the state has a right to expect of your valor. the hour is at hand. i should think i had done nothing, if i left the austrians in possession of silesia. let me apprise you, then: i intend, in spite of the rules of art, to attack prince karl's army, which is nearly thrice our strength, wherever i find it. the question is not of his numbers, or the strength of his position: all this, by courage, by the skill of our methods, we will try to make good. this step i must risk, or everything is lost. we must beat the enemy, or perish all of us before his batteries. so i read the case; so i will act in it. "make this my determination known to all officers of the army; prepare the men for what work is now to ensue, and say that i hold myself entitled to demand exact fulfilment of orders. for you, when i reflect that you are prussians, can i think that you will act unworthily? but if there should be one or another who dreads to share all dangers with me, he,"--continued his majesty, with an interrogative look, and then pausing for answer,--"can have his discharge this evening, and shall not suffer the least reproach from me."--modest strong bass murmur; meaning "no, by the eternal!" if you looked into the eyes and faces of the group. never will retzow junior forget that scene, and how effulgently eloquent the veteran physiognomies were. "hah, i knew it," said the king, with his most radiant smile, "none of you would desert me! i depend on your help, then; and on victory as sure."--the speech winds up with a specific passage: "the cavalry regiment that does not on the instant, on order given, dash full plunge into the enemy, i will, directly after the battle, unhorse, and make it a garrison regiment. the infantry battalion which, meet with what it may, shows the least sign of hesitating, loses its colors and its sabres, and i cut the trimmings from its uniform! now good-night, gentlemen: shortly we have either beaten the enemy, or we never see one another again." an excellent temper in this army; a rough vein of heroism in it, steady to the death;--and plenty of hope in it too, hope in vater fritz. "never mind," the soldiers used to say, in john duke of marlborough's time, "corporal john will get us through it!"--that same evening friedrich rode into the camp, where the regiments he had were now all gathered, out of their cantonments, to march on the morrow. first regiment he came upon was the life-guard cuirassiers: the men, in their accustomed way, gave him good-evening, which he cheerily returned. some of the more veteran sort asked, ruggedly confidential, as well as loyal: "what is thy news, then, so late?" "good news, children (kinder): to-morrow you will beat the austrians tightly!" "that we will, by--!" answered they.--"but think only where they stand yonder, and how they have intrenched themselves?" said friedrich. "and if they had the devil in front and all round them, we will knock them out; only thou lead us on!"--"well, i will see what you can do: now lay you down, and sleep sound; and good sleep to you!" "good-night, fritz!" answer all; [muller, p. (from kaltenhorn, of whom infra); preuss, &c. &c.] as fritz ambles on to the next regiment, to which, as to every one, he will have some word. was it the famous pommern regiment, this that he next spoke to,--who answered loudon's summons to them once (as shall be noticed by and by) in a way ineffable, though unforgettable? manteuffel of foot; yes, no other! [archenholtz, ii. ; and kutzen, p. .] they have their own opinion of their capacities against an enemy, and do not want for a good conceit of themselves. "well, children, how think you it will be to-morrow? they are twice as strong as we." "never thou mind that; there are no pommerners among them; thou knowest what the pommerners can do!"--friedrich: "yea, truly, that do i; otherwise i durst not risk the battle. now good sleep to you! to-morrow, then, we shall either have beaten the enemy or else be all dead." "yea," answered the whole regiment; "dead, or else the enemy beaten:" and so went to deep sleep, preface to a deeper for many of them,--as beseems brave men. in this world it much beseems the brave man, uncertain about so many things, to be certain of himself for one thing. these snatches of camp dialogue, much more the speech preserved to us by retzow junior, appear to be true; though as to the dates, the circumstances, there has been debating. [kutzen, pp. - .] other anecdotes, dubious or more, still float about in quantity;--of which let us give only one; that of the deserter (which has merit as a myth). "what made thee desert, then?" "hm, alas, your majesty, we were got so down in the world, and had such a time of it!"--"well, try it one day more; and if we cannot mend matters, thou and i will both desert." a learned doctor, one of the most recent on these matters, is astonished why the histories of friedrich should be such dreary reading, and friedrich himself so prosaic, barren an object; and lays the blame upon the age, insensible to real greatness; led away by clap-trap napoleonisms, regardless of expense. upon which smelfungus takes him up, with a twitch:-- "to my sad mind, herr doctor, it seems ascribable rather to the dryasdust of these ages, especially to the prussian dryasdust, sitting comfortable in his academies, waving sublimely his long ears as he tramples human heroisms into unintelligible pipe-clay and dreary continents of sand and cinders, with the doctors all applauding. "had the sacred poet, or man of real human genius, been at his work, for the thousand years last past, instead of idly fiddling far away from his work,--which surely is definable as being very mainly, that of interpreting human heroisms; of painfully extricating, and extorting from the circumambient chaos of muddy babble, rumor and mendacity, some not inconceivable human and divine image of them, more and more clear, complete and credible for mankind (poor mankind dumbly looking up to him for guidance, as to what it shall think of god and of men in this scene of things),--i calculate, we should by this time have had a different friedrich of it; o heavens, a different world of it, in so many respects! "my esteemed herr doctor, it is too painful a subject. godlike fabulous achilles, and the old greek kings of men, one perceives, after study, to be dim enough grazier sovereigns, 'living among infinite dung,' till their sacred poet extricated them. and our unsacred all-desecrating dryasdust,--herr doctor, i must say, it fills me with despair! authentic human heroisms, not fabulous a whit, but true to the bone, and by all appearance very much nobler than those of godlike achilles and pious aeneas ever could have been,--left in this manner, trodden under foot of man and beast; man and beast alike insensible that there is anything but common mud under foot, and grateful to anybody that will assure them there is nothing. oh, doctor, oh, doctor! and the results of it--you need not go exclusively 'to france' to look at them. they are too visible in the so-called 'social hierarchies,' and sublime gilt doggeries, sltcred and secular, of all modern countries! let us be silent, my friend."-- "prussian dryasdust," he says elsewhere, "does make a terrible job of it; especially when he attempts to weep through his pipe-clay, or rise with his long ears into the moral sublime. as to the german people, i find that they dimly have not wanted sensibility to friedrich; that their multitudes of anecdotes, still circulating among them in print and viva voce, are proof of this. thereby they have at least made a myth of friedrich's history, and given some rhythmus, life and cheerful human substantiality to his work and him. accept these anecdotes as the epic they could not write of him, but were longing to hear from somebody who could. who has not yet appeared among mankind, nor will for some time. alas, my friend, on piercing through the bewildering nimbus of babble, malignity, mendacity, which veils seven-fold the face of friedrich from us, and getting to see some glimpses of the face itself, one is sorrowfully struck dumb once more. what a suicidal set of creatures; commanding as with one voice, that there shall be no heroism more among them; that all shall be doggery and common-place henceforth. 'ach, mein lieber sulzer, you don't know that damned brood!'--well, well. 'solomon's temple,' the moslems say, 'had to be built under the chirping of ten thousand sparrows.' ten thousand of them; committee of the whole house, unanimously of the opposite view;--and could not quite hinder it. that too is something!"-- more to our immediate purpose is this other thing: that the austrians have been in council of war; and, on deliberation, have decided to come out of their defences; to quit their strong camp, which lies so eligibly, ahead of breslau and arear of lissa and of schweidnitz water yonder; to cross schweidnitz water, leave lissa behind them; and meet this offensively aggressive friedrich in pitched fight. several had voted, no, why stir?--daun especially, and others with emphasis. "no need of fighting at all," said daun: "we can defend schweidnitz water; ruin him before he ever get across." "defend? be assaulted by an army like his?" urges lucchesi, the other chief general: "it is totally unworthy of us! we have gained the game; all the honors ours; let us have done with it. give him battle, since he fortunately wishes it; we finish him, and gloriously finish the war too!" so argued lucchesi, with vivacity, persistency,--to his own ill luck, but evidently with approval from prince karl. everybody sees, this is the way to prince karl's favor at present. "have not i reconquered silesia?" thinks prince karl to himself; and beams applause on the high course, not the low prudent one. [kutzen, pp. - .] in a word, the austrians decide on stepping out to meet friedrich in open battle: it was the first time they ever did so; and it was likewise the last. sunday, december th, at four in the morning, friedrich has marched from parchwitz, straight towards the austrian camp; [muller, p. .] he hears, one can fancy with what pleasure, that the austrians are advancing towards him, and will not need to be forced in their strong position. his march is in four columns, friedrich in the vanguard; quarters to be neumarkt, a little town about fourteen miles off. within some miles of neumarkt, early in the afternoon, he learns that there are a thousand croats in the place, the austrian bakery at work there, and engineer people marking out an austrian camp. "on the height beyond neumarkt, that will be?" thinks friedrich; for he knows this ground, having often done reviews here; to breslau all the way on both hands, not a rood of it but is familiar to him. which was a singular advantage, say the critics; and a point the austrian council of war should have taken more thought of. friedrich, before entering neumarkt, sends a regiment to ride quietly round it on both sides, and to seize that height he knows of. height once seized, or ready for seizing, he bursts the barrier of neumarkt; dashes in upon the thousand croats; flings out the croats in extreme hurry, musketry and sabre acting on them; they find their height beset, their retreat cut off, and that they must vanish. of the , croats, " were taken prisoners, and slain," in this unexpected sweeping out of neumarkt. better still, in neumarkt is found the austrian bakery, set up and in full work;--delivers you , bread-rations hot-and-hot, which little expected to go such a road. on the height, the austrian stakes and engineer-tools were found sticking in the ground; so hasty had the flight been. how prince karl came to expose his bakery, his staff of life so far ahead of him? prince karl, it is clear, was a little puffed up with high thoughts at this time. the capture of schweidnitz, the late "malplaquet" (poorish anti-bevern malplaquet), capture of breslau, and the low and lost condition of friedrich's silesian affairs, had more or less turned everybody's head,--everybody's except feldmarschall daun's alone:--and witty mess-tables, we already said, were in the daily habit of mocking at friedrich's march towards them with aggressive views, and called his insignificant little army the "potsdam guard-parade." [cogniazzo, ii. - .] that was the common triumphant humor; naturally shared in by prince karl; the ready way to flatter him being to sing in that tune. nobody otherwise can explain, and nobody in any wise can justify, prince karl's ignorance of friedrich's advance, his almost voluntary losing of his staff-of-life in that manner. map to go here--facing page , book continuation---- prince karl's soldiers have each (in the cold form) three days, provision in their haversacks: they have come across the weistritz river (more commonly called schweidnitz water), which was also the height of contemptuous imprudence; and lie encamped, this night,--in long line, not ill-chosen (once the river is behind),--perpendicular to friedrich's march, some ten miles ahead of him. since crossing, they had learned with surprise, how their bakery and croats had been snapt up; that friedrich was not at a distance, but near;--and that arrangements could not be made too soon! their position intersects the great road at right angles, as we hint; and has villages, swamps, woody knolls; especially, on each wing, good defences. their right wing leans on nypern and its impassable peat-bogs, a village two or three miles north from the great road; their centre is close behind another village called leuthen, about as far south from it: length of their bivouac is about five miles; which will become six or so, had nadasti once taken post, who is to form the left wing, and go down as far as sagschutz, southward of leuthen. seven battalions are in this village of leuthen, eight in nypern, all the villages secured; woods, scraggy abatis, redoubts, not forgotten: their cannon are numerous, though of light calibre. friedrich has at least heavy pieces; and of them are formidably heavy,--brought from the walls of glogau, with terrible labor to ziethen; but with excellent effect, on this occasion and henceforth. they got the name of "boomers, bellowers (die brummer)," those ten. friedrich was in great straits about artillery; and retzow senior recommended this hauling up of the ten bellowers, which became celebrated in the years coming. and now we are on the battle-ground, and must look into the battle itself, if we can. chapter x.--battle of leuthen. from neumarkt, on monday, long before day, the prussians, all but a small party left there to guard the bakery and army properties, are out again; in four columns; towards what may lie ahead. friedrich, as usual in such cases, for obvious reasons, rides with the vanguard. to borne, the first village on the highway, is some seven or eight miles. the air is damp, the dim incipiences of dawn struggling among haze; a little way on this side borne, we come on ranks of cavalry drawn across the highway, stretching right and left into the dim void: austrian army this, then? push up to it; see what it is, at least. it proves to be poor general nostitz, with his three saxon regiments of dragoons, famous since kolin-day, and a couple of hussar regiments, standing here as outpost;--who ought to have been more alert; but they could not see through the dark, and so, instead of catching, are caught. the prussians fall upon them, front and flank, tumble them into immediate wreck; drive the whole outpost at full gallop home, through borne, upon nypern and the right wing,--without news except of this symbolical sort. saxon regiments are quite ruined, " of them prisoners" (poor nostitz himself not prisoner, but wounded to death [died in breslau, the twelfth day after (seyfarth, ii. ).]); and the ground clear in this quarter. friedrich, on the farther side of borne, calls halt, till the main body arrive; rides forward, himself and staff, to the highest of a range or suite of knolls, some furlongs ahead; sees there in full view, far and wide, the austrians drawn up before him. from nypern to sagschuitz yonder; miles in length; and so distinct, while the light mended and the hazes faded, "that you could have counted them [through your glasses], man by man." a highly interesting sight to friedrich; who continues there in the profoundest study, and calls up some horse regiments of the vanguard to maintain this height and the range of heights running south from it. and there, i think, the king is mainly to be found, looking now at the austrians, now at his own people, for some three hours to come. his plan of battle is soon clear to him: nypern, with its bogs and scrags, on the austrian right wing, is tortuous impossible ground, as he well remembers, no good prospect for us there: better ground for us on their left yonder, at leuthen, even at sagschutz farther south, whither they are stretching themselves. attempt their left wing; try our "oblique order" upon that, with all the skill that is in us; perhaps we can do it rightly this time, and prosper accordingly! that is friedrich's plan of action. the four columns once got to borne shall fall into two; turn to the right, and go southward, ever southward:--they are to become our two lines of battle, were they once got to the right point southward. well opposite sagschutz, that will be the point for facing to left, and marching up,--in "oblique order," with the utmost faculty they have! "the oblique order, schrage stellung," let the hasty reader pause to understand, "is an old plan practised by epaminondas, and revived by friedrich,--who has tried it in almost all his battles more or less, from hohenfriedberg forward to prag, kolin, rossbach; but never could, in all points, get it rightly done till now, at leuthen, in the highest time of need. "it is a particular manoeuvre," says archenholtz, rather sergeant-wise, "which indeed other troops are now [ ] in the habit of imitating; but which, up to this present time, none but prussian troops can execute with the precision and velocity indispensable to it. you divide your line into many pieces; you can push these forward stairwise, so that they shall halt close to one another," obliquely, to either hand; and so, on a minimum of ground, bring your mass of men to the required point at the required angle. friedrich invented this mode of getting into position; by its close ranking, by its depth, and the manner of movement used, it had some resemblance to the "macedonian phalanx,"--chiefly in the latter point, i should guess; for when arrived at its place, it is no deeper than common. "forming itself in this way, a mass of troops takes up in proportion very little ground; and it shows in the distance, by reason of the mixed uniforms and standards, a totally chaotic mass of men heaped on one another," going in rapid mazes this way and that. "but it needs only that the commander lift his finger; instantly this living coil of knotted intricacies develops itself in perfect order, and with a speed like that of mountain rivers when the ice breaks,"--is upon its enemy. [archenholtz, i. .] "your enemy is ranked as here, in long line, three or two to one. you march towards him, but keep him uncertain as to how you will attack; then do on a sudden march up, not parallel to him, but oblique, at an angle of degrees,--swift, vehement, in overpowering numbers, on the wing you have chosen. roll that wing together, ruined, in upon its own line, you may roll the whole five miles of line into disorder and ruin, and always be in overpowering number at the point of dispute. provided, only, you are swift enough about it, sharp enough! but extraordinary swiftness, sharpness, precision is the indispensable condition;--by no means try it otherwise; none but prussians, drilled by an old dessauer, capable of doing it. this is the schrage ordnung, about which there has been such commentating and controversying among military people: whether friedrich invented it, whether caesar did it, how epaminondas, how alexander at arbela; how"--which shall not in the least concern us on this occasion. the four columns rustled themselves into two, and turned southward on the two sides of borne;--southward henceforth, for about two hours; as if straight towards the magic mountain, the zobtenberg, far off, which is conspicuous over all that region. their steadiness, their swiftness and exactitude were unsurpassable. "it was a beautiful sight," says tempelhof, an eye-witness: "the heads of the columns were constantly on the same level, and at the distance necessary for forming; all flowed on exact, as if in a review. and you could read in the eyes of our brave troops the noble temper they were in." [tempelhof, i. , .] i know not at what point of their course, or for how long, but it was from the column nearest him, which is to be first line, that the king heard, borne on the winds amid their field-music, as they marched there, the sound of psalms,--many-voiced melody of a church hymn, well known to him; which had broken out, band accompanying, among those otherwise silent men. the fact is very certain, very strange to me: details not very precise, except that here, as specimen, is a verse of their hymn:-- "grant that with zeal and skill, this day, i do what me to do behooves, what thou command'st me to; grant that i do it sharp, at point of moment fit, and when i do it, grant me good success in it." "gieb dass ich thu' mit fleiss was mir zu thun gebuhret, wozu mich dein befehl in meinem stande fuhret, gieb dass ich's thue bald, zu der zeit da ich's soll; und wenn ich's thu', so gieb dass es gerathe wohl." ["hymn-book of porst" (prussian sternhold-and-hopkins), "p. :" cited in preuss, ii. .] one has heard the voice of waters, one has paused in the mountains at the voice of far-off covenanter psalms; but a voice like this, breaking the commanded silences, one has not heard. "shall we order that to cease, your majesty?" "by no means," said the king; whose hard heart seems to have been touched by it, as might well be. indeed there is in him, in those grim days, a tone as of trust in the eternal, as of real religious piety and faith, scarcely noticeable elsewhere in his history. his religion, and he had in withered forms a good deal of it, if we will look well, being almost always in a strictly voiceless state,--nay, ultra-voiceless, or voiced the wrong way, as is too well known. "by no means!" answered he: and a moment after, said to some one, ziethen probably: "with men like these, don't you think i shall have victory this day!" the loss of their saxon forepost proved more important to the austrians than it seemed;--not computable in prisoners, or killed and wounded. the height named scheuberg,--"borne rise" (so we might call it, which has got its pillar of memorial since, with gilt victory atop [not till (kutzen, pp. , ).];--where friedrich now is and where the austrians are not, is at once a screen and a point of vision to friedrich. by loss of their nostitz forepost, they had lost view of friedrich, and never could recover view of him; could not for hours learn distinctly what he was about; and when he did come in sight again, it was in a most unexpected place! on the farther side of borne, edge of the big expanse of open country there, friedrich has halted; ridden with his adjutants to the top of "the scheuberg (shy-hill)," as the books call it, though it is more properly a blunt knoll or "rise,"--the nearest of a chain of knolls, or swells in the ground, which runs from north to south on that part. except the zobtenberg, rising blue and massive, on the southern horizon (famous mythologic mountain, reminding you of an arthur's seat in shape too, only bigger and solitary), this country, for many miles round, has nothing that could be called a hill; it is definable as a bare wide-waving champaign, with slight bumps on it, or slow heavings and sinkings. country mostly under culture, though it is of sandy quality; one or two sluggish brooks in it; and reedy meres or mires, drained in our day. it is dotted with hamlets of the usual kind; and has patches of scraggy fir. your horizon, even where bare, is limited, owing to the wavy heavings of the ground; windmills and church-belfries are your only resource, and even these, from about leuthen and the austrian position, leave the borne quarter mostly invisible to you. leuthen belfry, the same which may have stood a hundred years before this battle, ends in a small tile-roof, open only at the gables:--"leuthen belfry," says a recent tourist, "is of small resource for a view. to south you can see some distance, sagschutz, lobetintz and other hamlets, amid scraggy fir-patches, and meadows, once miry pools; but to north you are soon shut in by a swell or slow rise, with two windmills upon it [important to readers at present]; and to eastward [breslau side and lissa side], or to westward [friedrich's side], one has no view, except of the old warped rafters and their old mouldy tiles within few inches; or, if by audacious efforts at each end, to the risk of your neck, you get a transient peep, it is stopt, far short of borne, by the slow irregular heavings, with or without fir about them." [tourist's note, penes me.] in short, friedrich keeps possession of that borne ridge of knolls, escorted by cavalry in good numbers; twinkling about in an enigmatic way:--"prussian right wing yonder," think the austrians--"whitherward, or what can they mean?"--and keeps his own columns and the austrian lines in view; himself and his movements invisible, or worse, to the austrian generals from any spy-glass or conjecture they can employ. the austrian generals are in windmills, on church-belfries, here, there; diligently scanning the abstruse phenomenon, of which so little can be seen. daun, who had always been against this adventure, thinks it probable the vanished prussians are retiring southward: for bohemia and our magazines probably. "these good people are smuggling off (die guten leute paschen ab)," said he: "let them go in peace." [muller, p. .] daun, that morning, in his reconnoitrings, had asked of a peasant, "what is that, then?" (meaning the top of a village-steeple in the distance, but thought by the peasant to be meaning something nearer hand). "that is the hill our king chases the austrians over, when he is reviewing here!" which daun reported at head-quarters with a grin. [nicolai, _anekdoten,_ iv. .] lucchesi, on the other hand, scanning those borne hills, and the cavalry of friedrich's escort twinkling hither and thither on them, becomes convinced to a moral certainty, that yonder is the prussian vanguard, probable extremity of left wing; and that he, lucchesi, here at nypern, is to be attacked. "attacked, you?" said one montazet, french agent or emissary here: "unless they were snipes, it is impossible!" but lucchesi saw it too well. he sends to say that such is the evident fact, and that he, lucchesi, is not equal to it, but must have large reinforcement of horse to his right wing. "tush!" answer prince karl and daun; and return only argument, verbal consolation, to distressed lucchesi. lucchesi sends a second message, more passionately pressing, to the like effect; also with the like return. upon which he sends a third message, quite passionate: "if cavalry do not come, i will not be responsible for the issue!" and now daun does collect the required reinforcement; "all the reserve of horse, and a great many from the left wing;"--and, daun himself heading them, goes off at a swift trot; to look into lucchesi and his distresses, three or four miles to right, five or six from where the danger lies. now is friedrich's golden moment. wending always south, on their western or invisible side of those knolls, friedrich's people have got to about the level, or latitude as we might call it, of nadasti's left. to radaxdorf, namely, to lobetintz, or still farther south, and perhaps a mile to west of nadasti. friedrich has mounted to lobetintz windmill; and judges that the time is come. daun and cavalry once got to support their right wing, and our south latitude being now sufficient, friedrich, swift as prussian manoeuvring can do it, falls with all his strength upon their left wing. forms in oblique order,--horse, foot, artillery, all perfect in their paces; and comes streaming over the knolls at sagschutz, suddenly like a fire-deluge on nadasti, who had charge there, and was expecting no such adventure! how friedrich did the forming in oblique order was at that time a mystery known only to friedrich and his prussians: but soldiers of all countries, gathering the secret from him, now understand it, and can learnedly explain it to such as are curious. will readers take a touch more of the drill-sergeant? "you go stairwise (en echelon)," says he: "first battalion starts, second stands immovable till the first have done fifty steps; at the fifty-first, second battalion also steps along; third waiting for its fifty-first step. first battalion [rightmost battalion or leftmost, as the case may be; rightmost in this leuthen case] doing fifty steps before the next stirs, and each battalion in succession punctually doing the same:" march along on these terms,--or halt at either end, while you advance at the other,--it is evident you will swing yourself out of the parallel position into any degree of obliquity. and furthermore, merely by halting and facing half round at the due intervals, you shove yourself to right or to left as required (always to right in this leuthen case): and so--provided you can march as a pair of compasses would--you will, in the given number of minutes, impinge upon your enemy's extremity at the required angle, and overlap him to the required length: whereupon, at him, in flank, in front, and rear, and see if he can stand it! "a beautiful manoeuvre" says captain archenholtz; "devised by friedrich," by friedrich inheriting epaminondas and the old dessauer; "and which perhaps only friedrich's men, to this day, could do with the requisite perfection." nadasti, a skilful war-captain, especially with horse, was beautifully posted about sagschutz; his extreme left folded up en potence there (elbow of it at sagschutz, forearm of it running to gohlau eastward); potence ending in firwood knolls with croat musketeers, in ditches, ponds, difficult ground, especially towards gohlau. he has a strong battery, pieces, on the height to rear of him, at the angle or elbow of his potence; strong abatis, well manned in front to rightwards: upon this, and upon the croats in the firwood, the prussians intend their attack. general wedell is there, prince moritz as chief, with six battalions, and their batteries, battery of brummers and another; ziethen also and horse: coming on, in swift fire-flood, and at an angle of forty-five degrees. most unexpected, strange to behold! from southwest yonder; about one o'clock of the day. nadasti, though astonished at the prussian fire-deluge, stands to his arms; makes, in front, vigorous defence; and even takes, in some sort, the initiative,--that is, dashes out his cavalry on ziethen, before ziethen has charged. ziethen's horse, who are rightmost of the prussians: and are bare to the right,--ground offering no bush, no brook there (though ziethen, foreseeing such defect, has a clump of infantry near by to mend it),--reel back under this first shock, coming downhill upon them; and would have fared badly, had not the clump of infantry instantly opened fire on the nadasti visitors, and poured it in such floods upon them, that they, in their turn, had to reel back. back they, well out of range;--and leave ziethen free for a counter-attack shortly, on easier terms, which was successful to him. for, during that first tussle of his, the prussian infantry, to left of ziethen, has attacked the sagschutz firwood; clears that of croats; attacks nadasti's line, breaks it, their brummer battery potently assisting, and the rage of wedell and everybody being extreme. so that, in spite of the fine ground, nadasti is in a bad way, on the extreme left or outmost point of his potence, or tactical knee. round the knee-pan or angle of his potence, where is the abatis, he fares still worse. abatis, beswept by those ten brummers and other batteries, till bullet and bayonet can act on it, speedily gives way. "they were mere wurtembergers, these; and could not stand!" cried the austrians apologetically, at a great rate, afterwards; as if anybody could well have stood. indisputably the wurtembergers and the abatis are gone; and the brandenburgers, storming after them, storm nadasti's interior battery of pieces; and nadasti's affairs are rapidly getting desperate in this quarter. figure prince karl's scouts, galloping madly to recall that daun cavalry! austrian battalions, plenty of them, rush down to help nadasti; but they are met by the crowding fugitives, the chasing prussians; are themselves thrown into disorder, and can do no good whatever. they arrive on the ground flurried, blown; have not the least time to take breath and order: the fewest of them ever got fairly ranked, none of them ever stood above one push: all goes rolling wildly back upon the centre about leuthen. chaos come on us;--and all for mere lack of time: could nadasti but once stretch out one minute into twenty! but he cannot. nadasti does not himself lose head; skilfully covers the retreat, trying to rally once and again. not for the first few furlongs, till the ditches, till the firwood, quagmires are all done, could ziethen, now on the open ground, fairly hew in; "take whole battalions prisoners;" drive the crowd in an altogether stormy manner; and wholly confound the matter in this part. prince karl, his messengers flying madly, has struggled as man seldom did to put himself in some posture about leuthen, to get up some defences there. leuthen itself, the churchyard of it especially, is on the defensive. men are bringing cannon to the windmills, to the swelling ground on the north side of leuthen; they dig ditches, build batteries,--could they but make time halt, and friedrich with him, for one quarter of an hour. but they cannot. by the extreme of diligence, the austrians have in some measure swung themselves into a new position, or imperfect line round leuthen as a centre,--lucchesi, voluntarily or by order, swinging southwards on the one hand; nadasti swinging northwards by compulsion;--new line at an angle say of degrees to the old one. and here, for an hour more, there was stiff fighting, the stiffest of the day;--of which, take one direct glimpse, from the austrian side, furnished by a young gentleman famous afterwards:-- leuthen, let us premise, is a long hamlet of the usual littery sort; with two rows, in some parts three, of farm-houses, barns, cattle-stalls; with church, or even with two churches, a protestant and a catholic; goes from east to west above a mile in length. with the wrecks of nadasti tumbling into it pell-mell from the southeast, and lucchesi desperately endeavoring to swing round from the northwest, not quite incoherently, and the prussian fire-storm for accompaniment, leuthen is probably the most chaotic place in the planet earth during that hour or so (from half-past two to half-past three) while the agony lasted. at one o'clock nadasti was attacked; at two he is tumbling in mid-career towards leuthen: i guess the date of this excerpt, or testimony by a notable eye-witness, may be half-past two; crisis of the agony just about to begin: and before four it was all finished again. eye-witness is the young prince de ligne, now captain in an austrian regiment of foot; and standing here in this perilous posture, having been called in as part of the reserve. he says:-- "cry had risen for the reserve," in which was my regiment, "and that it must come on as fast as possible,"--to leuthen, west of us yonder. "we ran what we could run. our lieutenant-colonel fell killed almost at the first; beyond this we lost our major, and indeed all the officers but three,--three only, and about eleven or twelve of the voluuteer or cadet kind. we had crossed two successive ditches, which lay in an orchard to left of the first houses in leuthen; and were beginning to form in front of the village. but there was no standing of it. besides a general cannonade such as can hardly be imagined, there was a rain of case-shot upon this battalion, of which i, as there was no colonel left, had to take command; and a third battalion of the royal prussian foot-guards, which had already made several of our regiments pass that kind of muster, gave, at a distance of eighty paces, the liveliest fire on us. it stood as if on the parade-ground, that third battalion, and waited for us, without stirring. "the austrian regiment andlau, at our right hand, could not get itself formed properly by reason of the houses; it was standing thirty deep, and sometimes its shot hit us on the back. on my left the austrian regiment merci ran its ways; and i was glad of that, in comparison. by no method or effort could i get the dragoons of bathyani, who stood fifty yards in rear of me, to cut in a little, and help me out,"--no good cutting hereabouts, think the dragoons of bathyani. "my soldiers, who were still tired with running, and had no cannon (these either from necessity or choice they had left behind), were got scattered, fewer in number, and were fighting mainly out of sullenness. more our honor, than the notion of doing good in the affair, prevented us from running off. an ensign of the regiment arberg helped me awhile to form, from his and my own fragments, a kind of line; but he was shot down. two officers of the grenadiers brought me what they still had. some hungarians, too, were luckily got together. but at last, as, with all helps and the remnants of my own brave battalion, i had come down to at most , i drew back to the height where the windmill is," [kutzen p. (from "prince de ligne's diary, i. , german translation").]--where many have drawn back, and are standing in sheltered places, a hundred deep, say our books. stiff fighting at leuthen; especially furious till leuthen churchyard, a place with high stone walls, was got. leuthen village, we observe, was crammed with austrians spitting fire from every coign of vantage; church and churchyard especially are a citadel of death. cannon playing from the windmill heights, too;--moments are inestimable. the prussian commander (name charitably hidden) at leuthen churchyard seems to hesitate in the murderous fire-deluge: major mollendorf, namable from that day forward, growling, "no time this for study," dashes out himself, "ein andrer mann (follow me, whoever is a man)!"--smashes in the church-gate of the place, nine muskets blazing on him through it; smashes, after a desperate struggle, the austrians clean out of it, and conquers the citadel. [muller, p. .] the austrians, on confused terms, made stiff dispute in this second position for about an hour. the prussian reserve was ordered up by friedrich; the prussian left wing, which had stood "refused," about radaxdorf, till now: at one time nearly all the prussians were in fire. friedrich is here, is there, wherever the press was greatest; "prince ferdinand," whom we now and then find named, as a diligent little fellow, and ascertain to be here in this and other battles of friedrich's,--"prince ferdinand at one time pointed his cannon on the bush or fir-clump of radaxdorf;--an aide-de-camp came to him with message: "you are firing on the king; the king is yonder!" at which ferdinand [his dear little brother] erschrack," or almost fainted with terror. [kutzen, p. .] stiff dispute; and had the austrians possessed the prussian dexterity in manoeuvring, and a friedrich been among them,--perhaps? but on their own terms, there was from the first little hope in it. "behind the windmills they are a hundred men deep;" by and by, your windmills, riddled to pieces, have to be abandoned; the prussian left wing rushing on with bayonets, will not all of you have to go? lucchesi, with his abundant cavalry, seeing this latter movement and the prussian flank bare in that part, will do a stroke upon them;--and this proved properly the finale of the matter, finale to both lucchesi and it. the prussian flank was to appearance bare in that leftward quarter; but only to appearance: driesen with the left wing of horse is in a hollow hard by; strictly charged by friedrich to protect said flank, and take nothing else in hand. driesen lets lucchesi gallop by, in this career of his; then emerges, ranked, and comes storming in upon lucchesi's back,--entirely confounding his astonished cavalry and their career. astonished cavalry, bullet-storm on this side of them, edge of sword on that, take wing in all directions (or all except to west and south) quite over the horizon; lucchesi himself gets killed,--crosses a still wider horizon, poor man. he began the ruin, and he ends it. for now driesen takes the bared austrians in flank, in rear; and all goes tumbling here too, and in few minutes is a general deluge rearward towards saara and lissa side. at saara the austrians, sun just sinking, made a third attempt to stand; but it was hopelessly faint this time; went all asunder at the first push; and flowed then, torrent-wise, towards all its bridges over the schweidnitz water, towards breslau by every method. there are four bridges, stabelwitz below lissa; goldschmieden, hermannsdorf, above; and the main one at lissa itself, a standing bridge on the highroad (also of wood); and by this the chief torrent flows; prussian horse pursuing vigorously; prussian infantry drawn up at saara, resting some minutes, after such a day's work. [archenholtz, i. ; seyfarth, _ beylagen,_ ii. - (by an eye-witness, intelligent succinct account of the battle and previous march; ib. - , of the sieges &c. following); preuss, ii. , &c.; tempelhof, i. .] truly a memorable bit of work; no finer done for a hundred years, or for hundreds of years; and the results of it manifold, immediate and remote. about , austrians are left on the field, , of them slain; prisoners already , , in a short time , ; flags , cannon ;--"conquest of silesia" gone to water; prince karl and austria fallen from their high hopes in one day. the prussians lost in killed , , in wounded , ; had been taken prisoners about sagschutz and gohlau, in the first struggle there. [kutzen, pp. , .] there and at leuthen village had been the two tough passages; about an hour each; in three hours the battle was done. "meine herren," said friedrich that night at parole, "after such a spell of work, you deserve rest. this day will bring the renown of your name, and of the nation's, to the latest posterity." high and low had shone this day; especially these four: ziethen, driesen, retzow,--and above all moritz of dessau. riding up the line, as night fell, friedrich, in passing moritz and the right wing, drew bridle for an instant: "i congratulate you on the victory, herr feldmarschall!" cried he cheerily, and with emphasis on the last word. moritz, still very busy, answered slightly; and friedrich repeated louder, "don't you hear that i congratulate you, herr feldmarschall!"--a glad sound to moritz, who ever since kolin had stood rather in the shadow. "you have helped me, and performed every order, as none ever did before in any battle," added the grateful king. riding up the line, all now grown dusky, friedrich asks, "any battalion a mind to follow me to lissa?" three battalions volunteering, follow him; three are plenty. at saara, on the great road, things are fallen utterly dark. "landlord, bring a lantern, and escort." landlord of the poor tavern at saara escorts obediently; lantern in his right hand, left hand holding by the king's stirrup-leather,--king (excellency or general, as the landlord thinks him) wishing to speak with the man. will the reader consent to their dialogue, which is dullish, but singular to have in an authentic form, with nicolai as voucher? [_anekdoten_, iii. - .] like some poor old horse-shoe, ploughed up on the field. two farthings worth of rusty old iron; now little other than a curve of brown rust: but it galloped at the battle of leuthen; that is something!-- king. "come near; catch me by the stirrup-leather [landlord with lantern does so]. we are on the breslau great road, that goes through lissa, are n't we?" landlord. "yea, excellenz." king. "who are you?" landlord. "your excellenz, i am the kratschmer [silesian for landlord] at saara." king. "you have had a great deal to suffer, i suppose." landlord. "ach, your excellenz, had not i! for the last eight-and-forty hours, since the austrians came across schweidnitz water, my poor house has been crammed to the door with them, so many servants they have; and such a bullying and tumbling:--they have driven me half mad; and i am clean plundered out." king. "i am sorry indeed to hear that!--were there generals too in your house? what said they? tell me, then." landlord. "with pleasure, your excellenz. well; yesterday noon, i had prince karl in my parlor, and his adjutants and people all crowding about. such a questioning and bothering! hundreds came dashing in, and other hundreds were sent out: in and out they went all night; no sooner was one gone, than ten came. i had to keep a roaring fire in the kitchen all night; so many officers crowding to it to warm themselves. and they talked and babbled this and that. one would say, that our king was coming on, then, 'with his potsdam guard-parade.' another answers, 'oach, he dare n't come! he will run for it; we will let him run.' but now my delight is, our king has paid them their fooleries so prettily this afternoon!" king. "when got you rid of your high guests?" landlord. "about nine this morning the prince got to horse; and not long after three, he came past again, with a swarm of officers; all going full speed for lissa. so full of bragging when they came; and now they were off, wrong side foremost! i saw how it was. and ever after him, the flood of them ran, highroad not broad enough,--an hour and more before it ended. such a pell-mell, such a welter, cavalry and musketeers all jumbled: our king must have given them a dreadful lathering. that is what they have got by their bragging and their lying,--for, your excellenz, these people said too, 'our king was forsaken by his own generals, all his first people had gone and left him:' what i never in this world will believe." king (not liking even rumor of that kind). "there you are right; never can such a thing be believed of my army." landlord (whom this "my" has transfixed). "mein gott, you are our gnadigster konig (most gracious king) yourself! pardon, pardon, if, in my stupidity, i have--" king. "no, you are an honest man:--probably a protestant?" landlord. "joa, joa, ihr majestat, i am of your majesty's creed!" crack-crack! at this point the dialogue is cut short by sudden musket-shots from the woody fields to right; crackle of about twelve shots in all; which hurt nothing but some horse's feet,--had been aimed at the light, and too low. instantly the light is blown out, and there is a hunting out of croats; lissa or environs not evacuated yet, it seems; and the king's entrance takes place under volleyings and cannonadings. king rides directly to the schloss, which is still a fine handsome house, off the one street of that poor village,--north side of street; well railed off, and its old ditches and defences now trimmed into flower-plots. the schloss is full of austrian officers, bustling about, intending to quarter, when the king enters. they, and the force they still had in lissa, could easily have taken him: but how could they know? friedrich was surprised; but had to put the best face on it. [in kutzen (pp. , et seq.) explanation of the true circumstances, and source of the mistake.] "bon soir, messieurs!" said he, with a gay tone, stepping in: "is there still room left, think you?" the austrians, bowing to the dust, make way reverently to the divinity that hedges a king of this sort; mutely escort him to the best room (such the popular account); and for certain make off, they and theirs, towards the bridge, which lies a little farther east, at the end of the village. weistritz or schweidnitz water is a biggish muddy stream in that part; gushing and eddying; not voiceless, vexed by mills and their weirs. some firing there was from croats in the lower houses of the village, and they had a cannon at the farther bridge-end; but they were glad to get away, and vanish in the night; muddy weistritz singing hoarse adieu to their cannon and them. prussian grenadiers plunged indignant into the houses; made short work of the musketries there. in few minutes every croat and austrian was across, or silenced otherwise too well; prussian cannon now going in the rear of them, and continuing to go,--such had been the order, "till the powder you have is done." fire of musketry and occasional cannon lasts all night, from the lissa or prussian side of the river,--"lest they burn this bridge, or attempt some mischief." a thing far from their thoughts, in present circumstances. the prussian host at saara, hearing these noises, took to its arms again; and marched after the king. thick darkness; silence; tramp, tramp:--a prussian grenadier broke out, with solemn tenor voice again, into church-music; a known church-hymn, of the homely te-deum kind; in which five-and-twenty thousand other voices, and all the regimental bands, soon join:-- "nun dunket alle gott mit herzen, mund und handen, der grosse dinge thut an uns und allen enden." [muller, p. .] "now thank god, one and all, with heart, with voice, with hands-a, who wonders great hath done to us and to all lands-a." and thus they advance; melodious, far-sounding, through the hollow night, once more in a highly remarkable manner. a pious people, of right teutsch stuff, tender though stout; and, except perhaps oliver cromwell's handful of ironsides, probably the most perfect soldiers ever seen hitherto. arriving at the end of lissa, and finding all safe as it should be there, they make their bivouac, their parallelogram of two lines, miles long across the fields, left wing resting on lissa, right on guckerwitz; and--having, i should think, at least tobacco to depend on, with abundant stick-fires, and healthy joyful hearts--pass the night in a thankful, comfortable manner. leuthen was the most complete of all friedrich's victories; two hours more of daylight, as friedrich himself says, and it would have been the most decisive of this century. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ iv. .] as it was, the ruin of this big army, , against , , [" , was the austrian strength before the battle" (deduct the garrisons of schweidnitz and liegnitz): preuss, ii. (from the staff-officers).] was as good as total; and a world of austrian hopes suddenly collapsed; and all their silesian apparatus, making sure of silesia beyond an if, was tumbled into wreck,--by this one stroke it had got, smiting the corner-stone of it as if with unexpected lightning. on the morrow after leuthen, friedrich laid siege to breslau; karl had left a garrison of , in it, and a stout captain, one sprecher, determined on defence: such interests hung on breslau, such immensities of stores were in it, had there been nothing else. friedrich, pushing with all his strength, in spite of bad weather and of sprecher's industrious defence, got it in twelve days. [ th- th december: diarium, &c. of it in _helden-geschichte,_ iv. - .] sprecher had posted placards on the gallows and up and down, terrifically proclaiming that any man convicted of mentioning surrender should be instantly hanged: but friedrich's bombardment was strong, his assaults continual; and the ditches were threatening to freeze. on the seventh day of the siege, a laboratorium blew up; on the ninth, a powder-magazine, carrying a lump of the rampart away with it. sprecher had to capitulate: prisoners of war, we , ; our cannons, ammunitions (most opulent, including what we took from bevern lately); these, we and breslau altogether, alas, it is all yours again. liegnitz garrison, seeing no hope, consented to withdraw on leave. [ th december: _helden-geschichte,_ iv. .] schweidnitz cannot be besieged till spring come: except schweidnitz, maria theresa, the high kaiserinn, has no foot of ground in silesia, which she thought to be hers again. gone utterly, patents and all; schweidnitz alone waiting till spring. to the lively joy of silesia in general; to the thrice-lively sorrow and alarm of certain individuals, leading catholic ecclesiastics mainly, who had misread the signs of the times in late months! there is one schaffgotsch, archbishop or head-man of them, especially, who is now in a bad way. never was such royal favor; never such ingratitude, say the books at wearisome length. schaffgotsch was a showy man of quality, nephew of the quondam austrian governor, whom friedrich, across a good deal of papal and other opposition, got pushed into the catholic primacy, and took some pains to make comfortable there,--order of the black eagle, guest at potsdam, and the like;--having a kind of fancy for the airy schaffgotsch, as well as judging him suitable for this silesian high-priesthood, with his moderate ideas and quality ways,--which i have heard were a little dissolute withal. to the whole of which schaffgotsch proved signally traitorous and ingrate; and had plucked off the black eagle (say the books, nearly breathless over such a sacrilege) on some public occasion, prior to leuthen, and trampled it under his feet, the unworthy fellow. schaffgotsch's pathetic letter to friedrich, in the new days posterior to leuthen, and friedrich's contemptuous inexorable answer, we could give, but do not: why should we? o king, i know your difficulties, and what epoch it is. but, of a truth, your airy dissolute schaffgotsch, as a grateful "archbishop and grand-vicar," is almost uglier to me than as a traitor ungrateful for it; and shall go to the devil in his own way! they would not have him in austria; he was not well received at rome; happily died before long. [preuss, ii. , ; kutzen, pp. , - , for the real particculars.] friedrich was not cruel to schaffgotsch or the others, contemptuously mild rather; but he knew henceforth what to expect of them, and slightly changed this and that in his silesian methods in consequence. of prince karl let us add a word. on the morrow after leuthen, captain prince de ligne and old papa d'ahremberg could find little or no army; they stept across to grabschen, a village on the safe side of the lohe, and there found karl and daun: "rather silent, both; one of them looking, 'who would have thought it!' the other, 'did n't i tell you?'"--and knowing nothing, they either, where the army was. army was, in fact, as yet nowhere. "croat fellows, in this farmstead of ours," says de ligne, "had fallen to shooting pigeons." the night had been unusually dark; the austrian army had squatted into woods, into office-houses, farm-villages, over a wide space of country; and only as the day rose, began to dribble in. by count, they are still , ; but heart-broken, beaten as men seldom were. "what sound is that?" men asked yesterday at brieg, forty miles off; and nobody could say, except that it was some huge battle, fateful of silesia and the world. breslau had it louder; breslau was still more anxious. "what is all that?" asked somebody (might be deblin the shoemaker, for anything i know) of an austrian sentry there: "that? that is the prussians giving us such a beating as we never had." what news for deblin the shoemaker, if he is still above ground!-- "prince karl, gathering his distracted fragments, put , into breslau by way of ample garrison there; and with the rest made off circuitously for schweidnitz; thence for landshut, and down the mountains, home to konigsgratz,--self and army in the most wrecked condition. chased by ziethen; ziethen (sticking always to the hocks of them,' as friedrich eagerly enjoins on him; or sometimes it is, 'sitting on the breeches of them:' for about a fortnight to come. [eleven royal autographs: in blumenthal, _life of de ziethen_ (ii. - ), a feeble incorrect translation of them.] ziethen took , prisoners; no end of baggages, of wagons left in the difficult places: wild weather even for ziethen, still more for karl, among the silesian-bohemian hill-roads: heavy rains, deep muds, then sudden glass, with cutting snow-blasts: 'an army not a little dilapidated,' writes prince karl, almost with tears in his eyes; (army without linens, without clothes; in condition truly sad and pitiable; and has always, so close are the enemy, to encamp, though without tents.' [kutzen, p. ("prince karl to the kaiser, december th").]. did not get to konigsgratz, and safe shelter, for ten days more. counted, at konigsgratz in the christmas time, , rank and file,--' , of whom are gone to hospital,' by the doctor's report. "universal astonishment, indignation, even incredulity, is the humor at vienna: the high kaiserinn herself, kept in the dark for some time, becomes dimly aware; and by kaiser franz's own advice she relieves prince karl from his military employments, and appoints daun instead. prince karl withdrew to his government of the netherlands; and with the aid of generous liquors, and what natural magnanimity he had, spent a noiseless life thenceforth; sword laid entirely on the shelf; and immortal glory, as of alexander and the like, quite making its exit from the scene, convivial or other. 'the first general in the world,' so he used to be ten years ago, in austria, in england, holland, the thrice-greatest of generals: but now he has tried friedrich in five pitched battles (czaslau, hohenfriedberg, sohr, then prag, then leuthen);--been beaten every time, under every form of circumstance; and now, at leuthen, the fifth beating is such, no public, however ignorant, can stand it farther. the ignorant public changes its long-eared eulogies into contumeliously horrid shrieks of condemnation; in which one is still farther from joining. 'that crossing of the rhine,' says friedrich, 'was a belle chose; but flatterers blew him into dangerous self-conceit; besides, he was ill-obeyed, as others of us have been.' ["prince de ligne, _memoires sur frederic_ (berlin, ), p. " (preuss, ii. ).] adieu to him, poor red-faced soul;--and good liquor to him,--at least if he can take it in moderation!" the astonishment of all men, wise and simple, at this sudden oversetting of the scene of things, and turning of the gazetteer-diplomatic theatre bottom uppermost, was naturally extreme, especially in gazetteer and diplomatic circles; and the admiration, willing or unwilling, of friedrich, in some most essential points of him, rose to a high pitch. better soldier, it is clear, has not been heard of in the modern ages. heroic constancy, courage superior to fate: several clear features of a hero;--pity he were such a liar withal, and ignorant of common honesty; thought the simple sort, in a bewildered manner, endeavoring to forget the latter features, or think them not irreconcilable. military judges of most various quality, down to this day, pronounce leuthen to be essentially the finest battle of the century; and indeed one of the prettiest feats ever done by man in his fighting capacity. napoleon, for instance, who had run over these battles of friedrich (apparently somewhat in haste, but always with a word upon them which is worth gathering from such a source), speaks thus of leuthen: "this battle is a masterpiece of movements, of manoeuvres, and of resolution; enough to immortalize friedrich, and rank him among the greatest generals. manifests, in the highest degree, both his moral qualities and his military." [montholon, _ memoires &c., de napoleon,_ vii. . this napoleon summary of friedrich's campaigns, and these brief bits of criticism, are pleasant reading, though the fruit evidently of slight study, and do credit to napoleon perhaps still more than to friedrich.] how the english walpoles, in parliament and out of it; how the prussian sulzers, d'argenses, the gazetteer and vague public, may have spoken and written at that time, when the matter was fresh and on everybody's tongue,--judge still by two small symptoms which we have to show:-- . a letter of friedrich's to d'argens (durgoy, near breslau, th december, ).--"your friendship seduces you, mon cher; i am but a paltry knave (polisson) in comparison with 'alexander,' and not worthy to tie the shoe-latchets of 'caesar'! necessity, who is the mother of industry, has made me act, and have recourse to desperate remedies in evils of a like nature. "we have got here [this day, by capitulation of breslau] from fourteen to fifteen thousand prisoners: so that, in all, i have above twenty-three thousand of the queen's troops in my hands, fifteen generals, and above seven hundred officers. 't is a plaster on my wounds, but it is far enough from healing them. "i am now about marching to the mountain region, to settle the chain of quarters there; and if you will come, you will find the roads free and safe. i was sorry at the abbe's treason,"--paltry de prades, of whom we heard enough already. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xix. .] . a pottery-apotheosis of friedrich.--"there stands on this mantel-piece," says one of my correspondents, the amiable smelfungus, in short, whom readers are acquainted with, "a small china mug, not of bad shape; declaring itself, in one obscure corner, to be made at worcester, 'r. i., worcester, ' (late in the season, i presume, demand being brisk); which exhibits, all round it, a diligent potter's-apotheosis of friedrich, hastily got up to meet the general enthusiasm of english mankind. worth, while it lasts unbroken, a moment's inspection from you in hurrying along. "front side, when you take our mug by the handle for drinking from it, offers a poor well-meant china portrait, labelled king of prussia: copy of friedrich's portrait by pesne, twenty years too young for the time, smiling out nobly upon you; upon whom there descends with rapidity a small genius (more like a cupid who had hastily forgotten his bow, and goes headforemost on another errand) to drop a wreath on this deserving head;--wreath far too small for ever getting on (owing to distance, let us hope), though the artless painter makes no sign; and indeed both genius and wreath, as he gives them, look almost like a big insect, which the king will be apt to treat harshly if he notice it. on the opposite side, again, separated from friedrich's back by the handle, is an enormous image of fame, with wings filling half the mug, with two trumpets going at once (a bass, probably, and a treble), who flies with great ease; and between her eager face end the unexpectant one of friedrich (who is degrees off, and knows nothing of it) stands a circular trophy, or imbroglio of drums, pikes, muskets, cannons, field-flags and the like; very slightly tied together,--the knot, if there is one, being hidden by some fantastic bit of scroll or escutcheon, with a fame and one trumpet scratched on it;--and high out of the imbroglio rise three standards inscribed with names, which we perceive are intended to be names of friedrich's victories; standards notable at this day, with names which i will punctually give you. "standard first, which flies to the westward or leftward, has 'reisberg' (no such place on this distracted globe, but meaning bevern's reichenberg, perhaps),--'reisberg,' 'prague,' 'collin.' middle standard curves beautifully round its staff, and gives us to read, 'welham' (non-extant, too; may mean welmina or lobositz), 'rossbach' (very good), 'breslau' (poor bevern's, thought a victory in worcester at this time!). standard third, which flies to eastward or right hand, has 'neumark' (that is, neumarkt and the austrian bread-ovens, th december); 'lissa' (not yet leuthen in english nomenclature); and 'breslau' again, which means the capture of breslau city this time, and is a real success, th- th december;--giving us the approximate date, christmas, , to this hasty mug. a mug got up for temporary english enthusiasm, and the accidental instruction of posterity. it is of tolerable china; holds a good pint, 'to the protestant hero, with all the honors;'--and offers, in little, a curious eyehole into the then england, with its then lights and notions, which is now so deep-hidden from us, under volcanic ashes, french revolutions, and the wrecks of a hundred very decadent years." chapter xi.--winter in breslau: third campaign opens. friedrich, during those grand victories, is suffering sadly in health, "colique depuis huit jours, neither sleep nor appetite;" "eight months of mere anguishes and agitations do wear one down." he is tired too, he says, of the mere business-talk, coarse and rugged, which has been his allotment lately; longs for some humanly roofed kind of lodging, and a little talk that shall have flavor in it. [letters of his to prince henri (december th, &c.: _ oeuvres,_ xxvi. , ; stenzel, v: ).] the troops once all in their winter-quarters, he sits down in breslau as his own wintering-place: place of relaxation,--of rest, or at least of changed labor,--no man needing it more. there for some three months he had a tolerable time; perhaps, by contrast, almost a delightful. readers must imagine it; we have no details allowed us, nor any time for them even if we had. there come various visitors, various gayeties,--king's birthday (january th); quality balls, "at which royal majesty sometimes deigned to show himself." a lively breslau, in comparison. sister amelia paid a beautiful visit of a fortnight or more: sister amelia, and along with her, two married cousins (once margravines of schwedt), whose husbands, little brother ferdinand, and eugen of wurtemberg, are wintering here. the marquis d'argens, how exquisitely treated we shall see, is a principal figure; excellency mitchell, deep in very important business just now, is another. reader de catt (he who once, in a dutch river-boat, got into conversation with the snuffy gentleman in black wig) made his new appearance, this winter,--needed now, since de prades is off. "should you have known me again?" asked friedrich. "hardly, in that dress; besides, your majesty looks thinner." "that i can believe, with the cursed life i have been leading!" [rodenbeck, i. .] there came also, day not given, a captain guichard ("major quintus icilius" that is to be) with his new book on the art military of the ancients, memoires militaires sur les grecs et les romains; [a la haye, tomes, to, (nicolai, _anekdoten,_ vi. )] which cannot but be welcome to friedrich. a solid account of that matter, by the first man who ever understood both war and greek. far preferable to folard's, a man without greek at all, and with military ideas not a little fantastic here and there. of captain guichard, were his book once read, and himself a little known, there will be more to say. for the present, fancy him retained as supernumerary:--and in regard to friedrich's winter generally, accept the following small hints, small but direct:-- friedrich to d'argens (three different times). . on the road to leuthen "(torgau, th november ).... i have been obliged to have the abbe arrested [de prades, of whom enough, long since]; he has been playing the spy, and i have many evident proofs of it. that is very infamous and very ungrateful.--i have made a prodigious quantity of verses (prodigieusement de vers). if i live, i will show them you in winter-quarters: if i perish, they are bequeathed to you, and i have ordered that they be put into your hand.... "adieu, my dear marquis. i fancy you to be in bed: don't rot there;--and remember you have promised to join me in winter-quarters;"--on this latter point friedrich is very urgent, amiably eager; prepared to wrap the poor marquis in cotton, and carry him and lodge him, like glass with care. [_oeuvres de frederic,_] xix, .] for example:-- . while settling the winter-quarters ("striegau, th december, :" siege of breslau done ten days ago).... "what a pleasure to hear you are coming! your travelling you can do in your own way. i have chosen a party of light horse (jager), who will appear at berlin to conduct you. you can make short journeys: the first to frankfurt, the second to crossen, the third to grunberg, fourth to glogau, fifth to parchwitz, sixth to breslau. i have directed that horses be ordered for you, that your rooms be warmed everywhere, and good fowls ready on all roads. your apartment in this house [royal house in breslau, which the king has built for himself years ago] is carpeted, hermetically shut. you shall suffer nothing from draughts or from noise." [ib. xix. .]--lucky marquis; what a landlord! came accordingly; stayed till deep in april,--waiting latterly for weather, i perceive; long after the king himself was off. thus:-- . friedrich on the field again for five weeks past ("munsterberg, d april, "). "adieu, dear marquis; i fancy you are now in berlin again. go to charlottenburg whenever and how you like; take care of yourself; and be ready for the beginning of october next!--as to me, mon cher, i am off to fight windmills and ostriches (autruches), that is, russians and austrians (autrichiens). adieu, mon cher." [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xix. .] there circulated in the newspapers, this winter, something of what was called a letter from friedrich to maria theresa, formally proposing peace, after these magnificent successes. and certainly, of all things in the earth, friedrich would have best liked peace, this year, last year, and for the next five years: "go home, then, good neighbors; don't break into my house, don't cut my poor throat, and we will be friends again!" friedrich, it appears, had actually, finding or making opportunity, sent some polite letter, of pacific tenor, in his light clever way, to that address;--not without momentary hopes of perhaps getting good from it. [in preuss, ii. (friedrich's letter mostly given;--bearer a prince van lobkowitz, prisoner at leuthen, now going home on handsome terms) stenzel, v. (for the per-contra feeling).] and the kaiserinn herself, austria's high mother, did, they say, after such a leuthen coming on the back of such a rossbach, feel discouraged; but the pompadour (not france's mother, whatever she might be to france) was of far other mind: "do not speak of it, ma reine! double or quits, that is our game: can we yield for a little ill-luck? never!" france dismisses its d'argenson, "what armies are these of his; flying home on us, like draggled poultry, across the rhine!"--summons the famed belleisle to be war-minister, and give things an eagle-quality: [" th february, " (barbier, iv. ).] france engages to pay its subsidies better (france now the general paying party, austria, sweden, russia itself, all looking to france,--would she were as punctual as england used to be!),--in a word, engages to be magnanimous extremely, and will hear of nothing but persistence. "shall not we reap, then, where there is such a harvest standing white to us?" kaunitz admits that there never will again be such a chance.--peace, it is clear enough, will not be got of these people by any letter, or human device whatever, except simply by uttermost, more or less miraculous fighting for it. friedrich is profoundly aware of this fact;--is busy completing his army: , for the field, this year, , the silesian part, "a good many of them austrian deserters;" [stenzel, v. .] and is closing an important subsidy treaty with england,--of which more anon. and if this is the mood in france and austria, think what russia's will be! the czarina is not dead of dropsy, as some had expected, but, on the contrary, alive, and fiercer than ever; furious against apraxin, and determined that fermor, his successor, shall defy winter, and begin work at once. she has indignantly dismissed apraxin (to be tried by court-martial, he); dismisses bestuchef the chancellor; appoints a new general, fermor by name; orders fermor to go and lose not a moment, now in the depth of winter since it was not done in the crown of summer, and take possession of east preussen in her name. which fermor does; th january, crosses the border again, , in all, without opposition except from the frost; plants himself up and down,--only two poor prussian battalions there; who retire, with their effects, especially "with seven wagons of money." january d, fermor enters konigsberg; publishes no end of proclamations, manifestoes, rescripts, to inform the poor people, trembling at the cossack atrocities of last year, "that his august sovereign elizabeth of all the russias has now become proprietress of east preussen, which shall be perfectly protected and exquisitely well-governed henceforth; and that all men of official or social position have, accordingly, to come and take the oath to her, with the due alacrity and punctuality, at their peril." no man is willing for the operation, most men shudder at it; but who can help them? surely it was an unblessed operation. poor souls, one pities them; for at heart they were, and continued, loyal to their own king; thoroughly abhorrent of becoming russian, as czarish majesty has thoroughly resolved they shall. some few absconded, leaving their property as spoil; the rest swore, with mental reservation, with shifts, such as they could devise:--for example, some were observed to swear with gloves on; the right hand, which they held up, was a mere right fist with a stuffed glove at the end of it,--so help me beelzebub (or whoever is the recording angel here)! [_helden-geschichte,_ v. - : preuss, ii. , iii. , iv. , &c.] and thus does preussen, with astonishment, as by the spell of a czarina circe, find itself changed suddenly to russian: and does not recover the old human form till four years hence,--when, again suddenly, as we shall see, the circe and her wand chance to get broken. friedrich could not mend or prevent this bad business; but was so disgusted with it, he never set foot in east preussen again,--never could bear to behold it, after such a transformation into temporary russian shape. i cannot say he abhorred this constrained oath as i should have done: on the contrary, in the first spurt of indignation, he not only protested aloud, but made reprisals,--"swear me those saxons, then!" said he; and some poor magistrates of towns, and official people, had to make a figure of swearing (if not allegiance altogether, allegiance for the time being), in the same sad fashion, till one's humor cooled again. [preuss, ii. : oath given in _helden-geschichte,_ v. .] east preussen, lost in this way, held by its king as before, or more passionately now than ever; still loved friedrich, say the books; but it is russia's for the present, and the mischief is done. east preussen itself, circe czarina cherishing it as her own, had a much peaceabler time: in secret it even sent moneys, recruits, numerous young volunteers to friedrich; much more, hopes and prayers. but his disgust with the late transformation by enchantment was inexpiable. it was may or june, as had been anticipated, before the russian main army made its practical appearance in those parts. fermor had, in the interim, seized thorn, seized elbing ("no offence, magnanimous polacks, it is only for a time!"),--and would fain have had dantzig too, but dantzig would n't. not till june th did the unwieldy mass (on paper , , and in effect, and exclusive of cossack rabble, about , ) get on way; and begin slowly staggering westward. very slowly, and amid incendiary fire and horrid cruelty, as heretofore;--and in august coming we shall be sure to hear of it. lehwald was just finishing with the swedes,--had got them all bottled up in stralsund again, about new-year's time, when these russians crossed into preussen. we said nothing of the swedish so-called campaign of last year;--and indeed are bound to be nearly silent of that and of all the others. five campaigns of them, or at least four and a half; such campaigns as were never made before or since. of campaign , the memorable feature is, that of the whole "swedish division," as the laughing newspapers called it, which was "put to flight by five berlin postilions;"--substantially a truth, as follows:-- "night of september th- th, , the swedes, , strong, did at last begin business; crossed peene river, the boundary between their pommern and ours; and, having nothing but some fractions of militia to oppose them, soon captured the redoubts there; spread over prussian pommern, and on into the uckermark; diligently raising contributions, to a heavy amount. no less than , pounds in all for this poor province; though, by a strange accident, , pounds proved to be the actual sum. "towards the end of october they had got as much as , pounds from the northern parts of uckermark, prentzlow being their head-quarter during that operation; and they now sent out a detachment of grenadiers and dragoons towards zehdenick, another little town, some forty miles farther south, there to wring out the remaining sum. the detachment marched by night, not courting notice; but people had heard of its coming; and five prussian postilions,--shifty fellows, old hussars it may be, at any rate skilful on the trumpet, and furnished with hussar jackets and an old pistol each, determined to do something for their country. the swedish detachment had not marched many miles, when,--after or before some flourishes of martial trumpeting,--there verily fell on the swedish flank, out of a clump of dark wood, five shots, and wounded one man. to the astonishment and panic of the other two hundred and ninety-nine; who made instant retreat, under new shots and trumpet-tones, as if it were from five whole hussar regiments; retreat double-quick, to prentzlow; alarm waxing by the speed; alarm spreading at prentzlow itself: so that the whole division got to its feet, recrossed the peene; and uckermark had nothing more to pay, for that bout! this is not a fable, such as go in the newspapers," adds my authority, "but an accurate fact:" [_ helden-geschichte,_ iv. , ; archenholtz, i. .]--probably, in our day, the alone memorable one of that "swedish war." "the french," says another of my notes, "who did the subsidying all round (who paid even the russian subsidy, though in austria's name), had always an idea that the swedes-- , stout men, this year, , of them cavalry--might be made to co-operate with the russians; with them or with somebody; and do something effective in the way of destroying friedrich. and besides their subsidies and bribings, the french took incredible pains with this view; incessantly contriving, correspondencing, and running to and fro between the parties: [for example: m. le marquis de montalembert, correspondance avec &c., etant employe par le roi de france a l'armee suedoise, - ("with the swedish army," yes, and sometimes with the russian,--and sometimes on the french coasts, ardently fortifying against pitt and his descents there:--a very intelligent, industrious, observant man; still amusing to read, if one were idler), a londres (evidently paris), , vols. small vo. then, likewise very intelligent, there is a montazet, a mortaigne, a caulaiucourt; a campagne des russes en ; &c. &c.,--in short, a great deal of fine faculty employed there in spinning ropes from sand.] but had not, even from the russians and czarish majesty, much of a result, and from the swedes had absolutely none at all. by french industry and flagitation, the swedish army was generally kept up to about , : the soldiers were expert with their fighting-tools, knew their field-exercise well; had fine artillery, and were stout hardy fellows: but the guidance of them was wonderful. 'they had no field-commissariat,' says one observer, 'no field-bakery, no magazines, no pontoons, no light troops; and,' among the higher officers, 'no subordination.' [archenholtz, i. .] were, in short, commanded by nobody in particular. commanded by senator committee-men in stockholm; and, on the field, by generals anxious to avoid responsibility; who, instead of acting, held continual councils of war. the history of their campaigns, year after year, is, in summary, this:-- "late in the season (always late, war-offices at home, and captaincies here, being in such a state), they emerged from stralsund, an impregnable place of their own,--where the men, i observe, have had to live on dried fishy substances, instead of natural boiled oatmeal; [montalembert, i. - , . , &c. (that of the demand for neise porridge, which interested me, i cannot find again).] and have died extensively in consequence:--they march from stralsund, a forty or thirty miles, till they reach the swedish-pommern boundary, peene river; a muddy sullen stream, flowing through quagmire meadows, which are miles broad, on each shore. river unfordable everywhere; only to be crossed in four or five places, where paved causeways are. the swedes, with deliberation, cross peene; after some time, capture the bits of redoubts, and the one or two poor prussian towns upon it; anklam redoubt, peene-munde (peene-mouth) redoubt; and rove forward into prussian pommern, or over into the uckermark, for fifty, for a hundred miles; exacting contributions; foraging what they can; making the poor country-people very miserable, and themselves not happy,--their soldiers 'growing yearly more plunderous,' says archenholtz, 'till at length they got, though much shyer of murder, to resemble cossacks,' in regard to other pleas of the crown. "there is generally some fractional regiment or two of prussian force, left under some select general manteuffel, colonel belling; who hangs diligently on the skirts of them, exploding by all opportunities. there have been country militias voluntarily got on foot, for the occasion; five or six small regiments of them; officered by prussian veterans of the squirearchy in those parts; who do excellent service. the governor of stettin, bevern, our old silesian friend, strikes out now and then, always vigilant, prompt and effective, on a chance offering. this, through summer, is what opposition can be made: and the swedes, without magazines, scout-service, or the like military appliances, but willing enough to fight [when they can see], and living on their shifts, will rove inward, perhaps miles; say southwestward, say southeastward [towards ruppin, which we used to know],--they love to keep mecklenburg usually on their flank, which is a friendly country. small fights befall them, usually beatings; never anything considerable. that is their success through summer. "then, in autumn, some remnant more of prussian regulars arrive, disposable now for that service; upon which the swedes are driven over peene again (quite sure to be driven, when the river with its quagmires freezes); lose anklam redoubt, peene-munde redoubt; lose demmin, wollin; are followed into swedish pommern, oftenest to the gates of stralsund, and are locked up there, there and in rugen adjoining, till a new season arrive."--this year ( - ), lehwald, on turning the key of stralsund, might have done a fine feat; frost having come suddenly, and welded rugen to mainland. "what is to hinder you from starving them into surrender?" signifies friedrich, hastily: "besiege me stralsund!" which lehwald did; but should have been quicker about it; or the thaw came too soon, and admitted ships with provision again. upon which lehwald resigned, to a general graf von dohna; and went home, as grown too old: and dohna kept them bottled there till the usual russian advent (deep in june); by which time, what with limited stockfish diet, what with sore labor (breaking of the ice, whenever frost reappeared) and other hardship, more than half of them had died.--"every new season there was a new general tried; but without the least improvement. there was mockery enough, complaint enough; indignant laughter in stockholm itself; and the dalecarlians thought of revolting: but the senator committee-men held firm, ballasted by french gold, for four years. "the prussian militias are a fine trait of the matter; about fifteen regiments in different parts;--about five in pommern, which set the example; which were suddenly raised last autumn by the stande themselves, drilled in stettin continually, while the swedes were under way, and which stood ready for some action, under veterans of the squirearchy, when the swedes arrived. they were kept up through the war. the stande even raised a little fleet, [archenholtz, i. .] river fleet and coast fleet, twelve gunboats, with a powerful carronade in each, and effective men and captain; a great check on plundering and coast mischief, till the swedes, who are naval, at last made an effort and destroyed them all." friedrich was very sensible of these procedures on the part of his stande; and perhaps readers are not prepared for such, or for others of the like, which we could produce elsewhere, in a country without constitution to speak of. friedrich raises no new taxes,--except upon himself exclusively, and these to the very blood:--friedrich gets no life-and-fortune addresses of the vocal or printed sort, but only of the acted. very much the preferable kind, where possible, to all parties concerned. these poor militias and flotillas one cheerfully puts on record; cheerfully nothing else, in regard to such a swedish war;--nor shall we henceforth insult the human memory by another word upon it that is not indispensable. of the english subsidy. one of friedrich's most important affairs, at present,--vitally connected with his army and its furnishings, which is the all-important,--was his subsidy treaty with england. it is the third treaty he has signed with england in regard to this war; the second in regard to subsidy for it; and it is the first that takes real practical effect. it had cost difficulty in adjusting, not a little correspondence and management from mitchell; for the king is very shy about subsidy, though grim necessity prescribes it as inevitable; and his pride, and his reflections on the last subsidy treaty, "one million sterling, army of observation, and fleet in the baltic," instead of which came zero and kloster-zeven, have made him very sensitive. however, all difficulties are got over; plenipotentiary knyphausen, pitt, britannic majesty and everybody striving to be rational and practical; and at london, th april, , subsidy treaty, admirably brief and to the point, is finished: [in four short articles; given in _ helden-geschichte,_ v. , .] "that friedrich shall have four million thalers, that is, , pounds; payable in london to his order, in october, this year; which sum friedrich engages to spend wholly in maintenance and increase of his army for behoof of the common object;--neither party to dream of making the least shadow of peace or truce without the other." of baltic fleet, there is nothing said; nor, in regard to that, was anything done, this year or afterwards; highly important as it would have been to friedrich, with the navies so called of both sweden and russia doing their worst upon him. "why not spare me a small english squadron, and blow these away?" nor was the why ever made clear to him; the private why being, that czarish majesty had, last year, intimated to britannic, "any such step on your part will annihilate the now old friendship of russia and england, and be taken as a direct declaration of war!"--which britannic majesty, for commercial and miscellaneous reasons, hoped always might be avoided. be silent, therefore, on that of baltic fleet. in all the spoken or covenanted points the treaty was accurately kept: , pounds, two-thirds of a million very nearly, will, in punctual promptitude, come to friedrich's hand, were october here. and in regard to ferdinand (a point left silent, this too), friedrich's expectations were exceeded, not the contrary, so long as pitt endured. this is the third english-prussian treaty of the seven-years war, as we said above; and it is the first that took practical effect: this was followed by three others, year after year, of precisely the same tenor, which were likewise practical and punctually kept,--the last of them, " th december, ," had reference to subsidy for :--and before another came, pitt was out. so that, in all, friedrich had four subsidies; , pounds x = , , pounds of english money altogether:--and it is computed by some, there was never as much good fighting otherwise had out of all the , , pounds we have funded in that peculiar line of enterprise. [first treaty, th january, (is in _helden-geschichte,_ iii. ), "we will oppose by arms any foreign armament entering germany;" second treaty, th january, (never published till ), is in scholl, iii. - : "one million subsidy, a fleet &c." (not kept at all); after which, third treaty (the first really issuing in subsidy and performance) is th april, (given in _helden-geschichte,_ v. ); fourth (really second), th december, (ib. v. ); fifth (third), th november, ; sixth (fourth), th december, . see preuss, ii. n.] pitt had no difficulty with his parliament, or with his public, in regard to this subsidy; the contrary rather. seldom, if ever, was england in such a heat of enthusiasm about any foreign man as about friedrich in these months since rossbach and what had followed. celebrating this "protestant hero," authentic new champion of christendom; toasting him, with all the honors, out of its worcester and other mugs, very high indeed. take these three clippings from the old newspapers, omitting all else; and rekindle these, by good inspection and consideration, into feeble symbolic lamps of an old illumination, now fallen so extinct. no. . reverend mr. whitfield and the protestant hero. "monday, january d," , "was observed as a day of thanksgiving, at the chapel in tottenham-court road [brand-new chapel, still standing and acting, though now in a dingier manner], by mr. whitfield's people, for the signal victories gained by the king of prussia over his enemies. [_gentleman's magazine,_ xxviii. (for ), p. .]--'why rage the heathen; why do the people imagine a vain thing? sinful beings we, perilously sunk in sin against the most high:--but they, do they think that, by earthly propping and hoisting, their unblessed chimera, with his three hats, can sweep away the eternal stars!'"--in this strain, i suppose: protestant hero and heaven's long-suffering patiences and mercies in raising up such a one for a backsliding generation; doubtless with much unction by mr. whitfield. no. . king of prussia's birthday (tuesday, january th). "this being the birthday of the king of prussia, who then entered into the forty-seventh year of his age, the same was observed with illuminations and other demonstrations of joy;"--throughout the cities of london and westminster, "great rejoicings and illuminations," it appears, [_gentleman's magazine,_ xxviii. (for ), p. ; and vol. xxix. p. , for next year's birthday, and p. for another kind of celebration.]--now shining so feebly at a century's distance!--no. is still more curious; and has deserved from us a little special inquiring into. no. . miss barbara wyndham's subsidy. "march th, ,"--while pitt and knyphausen are busy on the subsidy treaty, still not out with it, the newspapers suddenly announce,-- "miss bab. wyndham, of salisbury, sister of henry wyndham, esq., of that city, a maiden lady of ample fortune, has ordered her banker to prepare the sum of , pounds to be immediately remitted, in her own name, as a present to the king of prussia." [_ london chronicle,_ march th- th, ; _ lloyd's evening post;_ &c. &c.] doubtless to the king of prussia's surprise, and that of london society, which would not want for commentaries on such a thing! before long, the subsidy treaty being now out, and the wyndham topic new again, london society reads, in the same newspaper, a documentary piece, calculated to help in its commentaries. there is good likelihood of guess, though no certainty now attainable, that the "english lady" referred to may be miss bab. herself;--of whose long-vanished biography, and brisk, airy, nomadic ways, we catch hereby a faint shadow, momentary, but conceivable, and sufficient for us:-- "to the authors of the london chronicle. _london chronicle,_ of th- th april, . "the following account, which is a real fact, will serve to show with what punctuality and exactness the king of prussia attends to the most minute affairs, and how open he is to applications from all persons. "an english lady being possessed of actions [shares] in the embden company, and having occasion to raise money on them, repaired to antwerp [some two years ago, as will be seen], and made application for that purpose to a director of the company, established there by the king of prussia for the managing all affairs relative thereto. this person," van erthorn the name of him, "very willingly entered into treaty with her; but the sum he offered to lend being far short of what the actions would bring, and he also insisting on forfeiture of her right in them, if not redeemed in twelve months,--she broke off with him, and had recourse to some merchants at antwerp, who were inclinable to treat with her on much more equitable terms. the proceeding necessarily brought the parties before this director for receiving his sanction, which was essential to the solidity of the agreement; and he, finding he was like to lose the advantage he had flattered himself with, disputed the authenticity of the actions, and thereby threw her into such discredit, as to render all attempts to raise money on them ineffectual. upon this the lady wrote a letter by the common post to his majesty of prussia, accompanied with a memorial complaining of the treatment she had received from the director; and she likewise enclosed the actions themselves in another letter to a friend at berlin. by the return of the post, his majesty condescended to answer her letter; and the actions were returned authenticated; which so restored her credit, that in a few hours all difficulties were removed relating to the transaction she had in hand; and it is more than probable the director has felt his majesty's resentment for his ill-behavior.--the lady's letter was as follows:-- "'antwerp, th february, . "'sir,--having had the happiness to pay my court to your majesty during a pretty long residence at berlin [say in voltaire's time; miss barbara's "embden company," i observe, was the first of the two, date ; that of is not hers], and to receive such marks of favor from their majesties the queens [a barbara capable of shining in the royal soirees at monbijou, of talking to, or of, your voltaires and lions, and investing moneys in the new embden company] as i shall ever retain a grateful sense of,--i presume to flatter myself that your majesty will not be offended at the respectful liberty i have taken in laying before you my complaints against one van erthorn, a director of the embden china company, whose bad behavior to me, as set forth in my memorial, hath forced me to make a very long and expensive stay at this place; and, as the considerable interest i have in that company may farther subject me to his caprices, i cannot forbear laying my grievances at the foot of your majesty's throne; most respectfully supplicating your majesty that you would be graciously pleased to give orders that this director shall not act towards me for the future as he hath done hitherto. "'i hope for this favor from your majesty's sovereign equity; and i shall never cease offering up my ardent prayers for the prosperity of your glorious reign; having the honor to be, with the most respectful zeal, sir, your majesty's most humble, most obedient, and most devoted servant, * * *' "the king of prussia's answer. "'potsdam, th february, . "'madam,--i received the letter of the th instant, which you thought proper to write to me; and was not a little displeased to hear of the bad behavior of one of the directors of the asiatic company of embden towards you, of which you were forced to complain. i shall direct your grievances to be examined, and have just now despatched my orders for that purpose to lenz, my president of the chamber of east friesland,' chief judge in those parts. [seyfarth, ii. .] 'you may assure yourself the strictest justice shall be done you that the case will admit. god keep you in his holy protection. friedrich.'" whether this refers to miss barbara or not, there is no affirming. but the interesting point is, friedrich did receive and accept miss barbara's , pounds. the prussian account, which calls her "an english jungfrau, lady salisbury, who actually sent a sum of money," [preuss, ii. , whose reference is merely _ "gentleman's magazine_ for ." both in the annual register of that year (i. ),and in the _gentleman's magazine,_ pp. , , the above paragraph and letters are copied from the newspapers, but without the smallest commentary (there or elsewhere), or any mention of a "lady salisbury."] would not itself be satisfactory: but, by good chance, there is still living, in salisbury city, a very aged gentleman, well known for his worth, and intelligence on such matters, who, being inquired of, makes reply at once: that the first earl of malmesbury (who was of his acquaintance, and had many anecdotes and reminiscences of friedrich, all noted down, it was understood, with diplomatic exactitude, but never yet published or become accessible) did, as "i well remember, among other things, mention the king's telling him that he," the king, "had received a thousand pounds from miss wyndham; with a part of which he had bought the flute then in his hand." [letter from john fowler, esq., "salisbury, d april, ," to a friend of mine (penes me): of barbara's identity, or otherwise, with the antwerp embden lady, mr. f. can say nothing.] which latter circumstance, too, is curious. for, at all times, however straitened friedrich's exchequer might be, it was his known habit, during this war, to have always, before the current year ended, the ways and means completely settled and provided for the year coming; so that everything could be at once paid in money (good money or bad,--good still up to this date);--and nothing was observed to fall short, so much as the customary liberality of his gifts to those about him. i infer, therefore: friedrich had decided to lay out this , pounds in what he would call luxuries, chiefly gifts,--and, among other things, had said to himself, "i will have a new flute, too!" probably one of his last; for i understand he had, by this time (malmesbury's time, ), ceased much playing, and ceased altogether not long after. [preuss, i. - .] james harris, first earl of malmesbury, was resident at berlin, : that is all the date we have for the king's saying, "and with part of it i bought this flute!" date of lord malmesbury's mention of it at salisbury, we have none,--likeliest there might be various dates; a thing mentioned more than once, and not improvable by dating. the wyndhams still live in the close of salisbury; a respected and well-known family; record of them (none of barbara there, or elsewhere except here) to be found in the county histories. [britton's _beauties of england and wales,_ _xv. part ii. p. ; hoare's _salisbury_ _(mistaken, p. ); &c.] i only know farther, barbara died may, , "aged and wealthy," and "with the bulk of her fortune endowed a charity, to be called 'wyndham college,'" [annual register (for ), viii. .]--which i hope still flourishes. enough on this small wyndham matter; which is nearly altogether english, but in which friedrich too has his indefeasible property. friedrich, as indeed pitt's people and others have done, takes the field uncommonly early: friedrich goes upon schweidnitz, schweidnitz, as the preface to whatever his campaign may be. while this subsidy treaty is getting settled in england, duke ferdinand has his french in full cackle of universal flight; and before the signing of it (april th), every feather of them is over the rhine; duke ferdinand busy preparing to follow. glorious news, day after day, coming in, for pitt, for miss barbara and for all english souls, royal highness of cumberland hardly excepted! the "descent on rochefort," last autumn, had a good deal disappointed pitt and england;--an expensively elaborate expedition, military and naval; which could not "descend" at all, when it got to the point; but merely went groping about, on the muddy shores of the charente, holding councils of war yonder; "cannonaded the isle of aix for two hours;" and returned home without result of any kind, courts-martial following on it, as too usual. this was an unsuccessful first-stroke for pitt. indeed, he never did much succeed in those descents on the french coast, though never again so ill as this time. those are a kind of things that require an exactitude as of clockwork, in all their parts: and pitt's generalcies and war-offices,--we know whether they were of the prussian type or of the swedish! a very grievous hindrance to pitt;--which he will not believe to be quite incurable. against which he, for his part, stands up, in grim earnest, and with his whole strength; and is now, and at all times, doing what in him lies to abate or remedy it:--successfully, to an unexpected degree, within the next four years. from america, he has decided to recall lord loudon, as a cunctatory haggling mortal, the reverse of a general; how very different from his austrian cousin! [cousins certainly enough; their progenitors were brothers, of that house, about ,--when matthew, the cadet, went "into livonia," into foreign soldiering (papa having fallen prisoner "at the battle of langside," , and the family prospects being low); from this matthew comes, through a scrips of livonian soldiers, the famed austrian loudon. douglas, _peerage of scotland,_ p. ; &c. &c. vie de loudon (ill-informed on that point and some others) says, the first livonian loudon came from ayrshire, "in the fourteenth century".] "abercrombie may be better," hopes he;--was better, still not good. but already in the gloomy imbroglio over yonder, pitt discerns that one amherst (the son of people unimportant at the hustings) has military talent: and in this puddle of a rochefort futility, he has got his eye on a young officer named wolfe, who was quartermaster of the expedition; a young man likewise destitute of parliamentary connection, but who may be worth something. both of whom will be heard of! in a four years' determined effort of this kind, things do improve: and it was wonderful, to what amount,--out of these chaotic war-offices little better than the swedish, and ignorant generalcies fully worse than the swedish,--pitt got heroic successes and work really done. on pitt, amid confused clouds, there is bright dawn rising; and friedrich too, for the last month, in breslau, has a cheerful prospect on that western side of his horizon. here is one of his postscripts, thrown off in autograph, which duke ferdinand will read with pleasure: "i congratulate you, mon cher, with my whole heart! may you fleur-de-lys every french skin of them; cutting out on their"--what shall we say (leur imprimant sur le cue)!--"the initials of the peace of westphalia, and packing them across the rhine," tattooed in that latest extremity of fashion! [friedrich to duke ferdinand, "grussau, th march, :" in knesebeck, _ herzog ferdinand,_ i. . _herzog ferdinand wahrend des -jahrigen krieges_ ("from the english and prussian archives") is the full title of knesebeck's book: letters altogether; not very intelligently edited, but well worth reading by every student, military and civil: vols. vo. hannover, .] friedrich, grounding partly on those rhine aspects, has his own scheme laid for campaign . it is the old scheme tried twice already: to go home upon your enemy swiftly, with your utmost collective strength, and try to strike into the heart of him before he is aware. friedrich has twice tried this; the second time with success, respectable though far short of complete. weakened as now, but with ferdinand likely to find the french in employment, he means to try it again; and is busy preparing at neisse and elsewhere, though keeping it a dead secret for the time. there is, in fact, no other hopeful plan for him, if this prove feasible at all. double your velocity, you double your momentum. one's weight is given,--weight growing less and less;--but not, or not in the same way and degree, one's velocity, one's rightness of aim. weight given: it is only by doubling or trebling his velocity that a man can make his momentum double or treble, as needed! friedrich means to try it, readers will see how,--were the fort of schweidnitz once had; for which object friedrich watches the weather like a very d'argens, eager that the frost would go. recapture of schweidnitz, the last speck of austrianism wiped away there; that is evidently the preface to whatsoever day's-work may be ahead. march th, frost being now off, friedrich quits breslau and d'argens,--his head-quarter thenceforth kloster-grussau, near landshut, troops all getting cantoned thereabout, to keep bohemia quiet,--and goes at once upon schweidnitz. with the top of the morning, so to speak; means to have schweidnitz before campaigning usually can begin, or common laborers take their tools in this trade. the austrian commandant has been greatly strengthening the works; he had, at first, some , of garrison; but the three months' blockade has been tight upon him and them; and it is hoped the thing can be done. april st- d,--siege-material being got to the ground, and siege division and covering army all in their places,--in spite of the heavy rains, we open our first parallel, austrian commandant not noticing till it is nearly done. april th, we have our batteries built; and burst out, at our best rate, into cannonade; aiming a good deal at "fort no. ," called also "galgen or gallows fort," which we esteem the principal. cannonade continues day after day, prospers tolerably on gallows fort,"--though the wet weather, and hardship to the troops, are grievous circumstances, and make friedrich doubly urgent. "try it by storm!" counsels balbi, who is engineer. night of april th- th storm takes place; with such vigor and such cunning, that the gallows fort is got for almost nothing (loss of ten men);-and few hours after, austria beat the chamade. [tempelhof, ii. - ; _helden-geschichte,_ _v. - : above all, tielcke, _beytrage zur kriegs-kunst und zur geschichte des krieges von bis _ _( vols. to, freyberg, - ), iv. - . volume iv. is wholly devoted to schweidnitz and its successive sieges.] fifty-one new austrian guns, for one item, and about , pounds of money. prisoners of war the garrison, , gone to , ; with such stores as we can guess, of ours and theirs added: balbi was prussian engineer-in-chief, treskau captain of the siege;--other particulars i spare the reader. unfortunate schweidnitz underwent four sieges, four captures or recaptures, in this war;--upon all of which we must be quite summary, only the results of them important to us. for the curious in sieges, especially for the scientifically curious, there is, by a captain tielcke, excellent account of all these schweidnitz sieges, and of others;--artillery-captain tielcke, in the saxon or saxon-russian service; whom perhaps we shall transiently fall in with, on a different field, in the course of this year. chapter xii.--siege of olmutz. fouquet, on the first movement towards schweidnitz, had been detached from landshut to sweep certain croat parties out of glatz; ziethen, with a similar view, into troppau country; both which errands were at once perfectly done. daun lies behind the bohemian frontier (betimes in the field he too, "arrived at konigsgratz, march th"); and is, with all diligence, perfecting his new levies; intrenching himself on all points, as man seldom did; "felling whole forests," they say, building abatis within abatis;--not doubting, especially on these ziethen-fouquet symptoms, but friedrich's campaign is to be an invasion of bohemia again. "which he shall not do gratis!" hopes daun; and, indeed, judges say the entrance would hardly have been possible on that side, had friedrich tried it; which he did not. schweidnitz being done, and daun deep in the bohemian problem,--friedrich, in an unintelligible manner, breaks out from grussau and the landshut region (april th- th), not straight southward, as daun had been expecting, but straight southeastward through neisse, jagerndorf: all gone, or all but ziethen and fouquet gone, that way;--meaning who shall say what, when news of it comes to daun? in two divisions, from to , strong; through jagerndorf, ever onward through troppau, and not till then turning southward: indubitable march of that cunning enemy; rapidly proceeding, his , and he, along those elevated upland countries, watershed of the black sea and the baltic, bleakly illumined by the april sun; a march into the mists of the future tense, which do not yet clear themselves to daun. seeing the march turn southward at troppau, a light breaks on daun: "ha! coming round upon bohemia from the east, then?" that is daun's opinion, for some time yet; and he immediately starts that way, to save a fine magazine he has at leutomischl over there. daun, from skalitz near konigsgratz where he is, has but some eighty miles to march, for the king's hundred and fifty; and arrives in those parts few days after the king; posts himself at leutomischl, veiled in pandours. not for two weeks more does he ascertain it to have been a march upon the olmutz country, and the intricate forks of the morawa river; with a view to besieging olmutz, by this wily enemy! upon which daun did strive to bestir himself thitherward, at last; and, though very slow and hesitative, his measures otherwise were unexceptionable, and turned out luckier than had been expected by some people. olmutz is an ancient pleasant little city, in the plains of mahren, romantic, indistinct to the english mind; with domes, with steeples eminent beyond its size,--population little above , souls;--has its prince-archbishop and ecclesiastic outfittings, with whom friedrich has lodged in his time. city which trades in leather, and russian and moldavian droves of oxen. memorable to the slavic populations for its grand czech library, which was carried away by the swedes, happily into thick night; [to stralsund ( ), "and has not since been heard of."] also for that poor little wenzel of theirs (last heir of the bohemian czech royalties, whom no reader has the least memory of) being killed on the streets here;--uncertain, to this day, by whom, though for whose benefit that dagger-stroke ended is certain enough; [supra, vol. v. p. .]--poor little wenzel's dust lies under that highest dome, of the old cathedral yonder, if anybody thought of such a thing in hot practical times. poor lafayette, too, lodged here in prison, when the austrians seized him. city trades in leather and live stock, we said; has much to do with artillery, much with ecclesiastry;--and friedrich besieged it, for seven weeks, in the hot summer days of , to no purpose. friedrich has been in olmiitz more than once before; his schwerin once took it in a single day, and it was his for months, in the old moravian-foray time: but the place is changed now; become an arsenal or military storehouse of austria; strongly fortified, and with a captain in it, who distinguishes himself by valiant skill and activity on this occasion. friedrich's olmutz enterprise, the rather as it was unsuccessful, has not wanted critics. and certainly, according to the ordinary rules of cautious prudence, could these have been friedrich's in his present situation, it was not to be called a prudent enterprise. but had friedrich's arrangements been punctually fulfilled, and olmutz been got in fair time, as was possible or probable, the thing might have been done very well. duke ferdinand, in these early may days, is practically making preparations to follow the french across the rhine; no fear of french armies interfering with us this year. dohna has the swedes locked in stralsund (capable of being starved, had not the thaw come); and in hinter-pommern he has general platen, with a tolerable detachment, watching fermor and his russians; dohna, with platen, may entertain the russians for a little, when they get on way,--which we know will be at a slow pace, and late in the season. prince henri commands in saxony, say with , ;--king's vicegerent and other self there, "do your wisest and promptest; hold no councils of war!" prince henri, altogether on the aggressive as yet, is waiting what reichs army there may be;--has already had mayer and free corps careering about in franken country once and again, tearing up the incipiencies and preparations, with the usual emphasis; and is himself intending to follow thither, in a still more impressive manner. friedrich's calculation is, prince henri will have his hands free for a good few weeks yet. which proved true enough, so far as that went. and now, supposing olmutz ours, and vienna itself open to our insults, does not, by rapid suction, every armed austrian flow thitherward; germany all drained of them: in which case, what is to hinder prince henri from stepping into bohmen, by the metal mountains; capturing prag; getting into junction with us here, and tumbling austria at a rate that will astonish her! her, and her miscellaneous tagraggery of confederates, one and all. konigsberg, stralsund, bamberg; russians, swedes, reichsfolk,--here, in mahren, will be the crown of the game for all these. prosper in mahren, all these are lamed; one right stroke at the heart, the limbs become manageable quantities! this was friedrich's program; and had not imperfections of execution, beyond what was looked for, and also a good deal of plain ill-luck, intervened, this bold stroke for mahren might have turned out far otherwise than it did. the march thither (started from neisse april th) was beautiful: friedrich with vanguard and first division; keith with rear-guard and second, always at a day's distance; split into proper columns, for convenience of road and quarter in the hungry countries; threading those silent mountain villages, and upper streamlets of oder and morawa: ziethen waving intrusive croateries far off; fouquet, in thousands of wagons, shoving on from neisse, "in four sections," with the due intervals, under the due escorts, the immensity of stores and siege-furniture, through jagerndorf, through troppau, and onwards; [table of his routes and stages in tempelhof, ii. .]--punctual everybody; besiegers and siege materials ready on their ground by the set day. daun too had made speed to save his magazine. daun was at leutomischl, may th,--a forty miles to west of the morawa,--few days after friedrich had arrived in those countries by the eastern or left bank, by troppau, gibau, littau, aschmeritz, prossnitz; and a week before friedrich had finished his reconnoitrings, campings, and taken position to his mind. camps, four or more (shrank in the end to three), on both banks of the river; a matter of abstruse study; so that it was may th before friedrich first took view of olmutz itself, and could fairly begin his problem,--daun, with his best tolpatcheries, still unable to guess what it was. of the siege i propose to say little, though the accounts of it are ample, useful to the artillerist and engineer. if the reader can be made to conceive it as a blazing loud-sounding fact, on which, and on friedrich in it, the eyes of all europe were fixed for some weeks, it may rest now in impressive indistinctness to us. keith is captain of the siege, whom all praise for his punctual firmness of progress; balbi as before, is engineer, against whom goes the criticism, keith's first of all, that he "opened his first parallel yards too far off,"--which much increased the labor, and the expenditure of useless gunpowder, shot having no effect at such a distance. there were various criticisms: some real, as this; some imaginary, as that friedrich grudged gunpowder, the fact being that he had it not, except after carriage from neisse, say a hundred and twenty miles off,--troppau, his last silesian town, or safe place (his for the moment), is eighty miles;--and was obliged to waste none of it. friedrich is not thought to shine in the sieging line as he does in the fighting; which has some truth in it, though not very much. when friedrich laid himself to engineering, i observe, he did it well: see neisse, graudenz, magdeburg. his balbi went wrong with the parallels, on this occasion; many things went wrong: but the truly grievous thing was his distance from silesia and the supplies. a hundred and twenty miles of hill-carriage, eighty of them disputable, for every shot of ammunition and for every loaf of bread; this was hard to stand:--and perhaps no war-apparatus but a prussian, with a friedrich for sole chief-manager, could have stood it so long. friedrich did stand it, in a wonderfully tolerable manner; and was continuing to stand it, and make fair progress; and it is not doubted he would have got olmutz, had not there another fact come on him, which proved to be of unmanageable nature. the actual loss, namely, of one convoy, after so many had come safe, and when, as appears, there was now only one wanted and no more!--let us attend to this a little. had daun, at olmutz, been as a duke of cumberland relieving tournay, rushing into fight at fontenoy, like a hanover white-horse, neck clothed with thunder, and head destitute of knowledge,--how lucky had it been for friedrich! but daun knows his trade better. daun, though superior in strength, sits on his magazine, clear not to fight. by no art of manoeuvring, had friedrich much tried it, or hoped it, this time, could daun have been brought to give battle. as fabins cunctator he is here in his right place; taking impregnable positions, no man with better skill in that branch of business; pushing out parties on the troppau road; and patiently waiting till this dangerous enemy, with such endless shifts in him, come in sight perhaps of his last cartridge, or perhaps make some stumble on the way towards that consummation. daun is aware of friedrich's surprising qualities. bos against leo, daun feels these procedures to be altogether feline (felis-leonine); such stealthy glidings about, deceptive motions, appearances; then such a rapidity of spring upon you, and with such a set of claws,--destructive to bovine or rhinoceros nature: in regard to all which, bos, if he will prosper, surely cannot be too cautious. it was remarked of daun, that he was scrupulously careful; never, in the most impregnable situations, neglecting the least precaution, but punctiliously fortifying himself to the last item, even to a ridiculous extent, say retzow and the critics. it was the one resource of daun: truly a solid stubborn patience is in the man; stubborn courage too, of bovine-rhinoceros type;--stupid, if you will, but doing at all times honestly his best and his wisest without flurry; which character is often of surprising value in war; capable of much mischief, now and then, to quicker people. rhinoceros daun did play his leo a bad prank more than once; and this of barring him out from olmutz was one of them, perhaps the worst after kolin. daun's management of this olmutz business is by no means reckoned brilliant, even in the fabius line; but, on the contrary, inert, dim-minded, inconclusive; and in reality, till almost the very last, he had been of little help to the besieged. for near three weeks (till may d) daun sat at leutomischl, immovable on his bread-basket there, forty or more miles from olmutz; and did not see that a siege was meant. may th- th, balbi opened his first parallel, in that mistaken way; four days before which, daun does move inwards a march or so, to zwittau, to gewitsch (still thirty miles to west of olmutz); still thinking of bohemia, not of any siege; still hanging by the mountains and the bread-basket. and there,--about gewitsch, siege or no siege, daun sits down again; pretty much immovable, through the five weeks of bombardment; and,--except that loudon and the light horse are very diligent to do a mischief, "attempting our convoys, more than once, to no purpose, and alarming some of our outposts almost every night, but every night beaten off,"--does, in a manner, nothing; sits quiet, behind his impenetrable veil of pandours, and lets the bombardment take its course. had not express order come from vienna on him, it is thought daun would have sat till olmutz was taken; and would then have gone back to leutomischl and impregnable posts in the hills. on express order, he--but gather, first, these poor sparks in elucidation:-- "the 'destructive sallies' and the like, at olmutz, were principally an affair of the gazetteers and the imagination: but it is certain, olmutz this time was excellently well defended; the commandant, a vigorous skilful man, prompt to seize advantages; and garrison and townsfolk zealously helping: so that friedrich's progress was unusually slow. friedrich's feelings, all this while, and balbi's (who 'spent his first , shots entirely in vain,' beginning so far off), may be judged of,--the sound of him to balbi sometimes stern enough! as when (june th) he personally visits balbi's parallels (top of the tafelberg yonder); and inquires, 'when do you calculate to get done, then?' west side of olmutz and of the river (east side lies mostly under water), there is the bombarding; seventy-one heavy guns; keith, in his expertest manner, doing all the captaincies: keith has about , of foot and horse, busy and vigilant, with their faces to the east. in a ring of four camps, or principally three (prossnitz, littau, and neustadt, which is across the river), all looking westward or northwestward, some, ten or twenty miles from keith, friedrich (head-quarters oftenest prossnitz, the chief camp) stands facing daun; who lies concentric to him, at the distance of another ten or twenty miles, in good part still thirty or forty miles from olmutz, veiled mostly under a cloud of pandours. "of friedrich's impatiences we hear little, though they must have been great. prince henri is ready for prag; many things are ready, were olmutz but done! may d, prince henri had followed mayer in person, with a stronger corps, to root out the reichsfolk,--and is now in bamberg city and country. and is even in baireuth itself, where was lately the camp of the new reichs general, serene highness of zweibruck, and his nascent reichs army; who are off bodily to bohemia, 'to eger and the circle of saatz,' a week before. [_helden-geschichte,_ v. - . wilhelmina's pretty letter to friedrich ("baireuth, th may"); friedrich's answer ("olmutz, june, "); in _oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvii. i. - .] fancy that visit of henri's to a poor wilhelmina; the last sight she ever had of a brother, or of the old prussian uniforms, clearing her of zweibrucks and sorrowful guests! our poor wilhelmina, alas she is sunk in sickness this year more than ever; journeying towards death, in fact; and is probably the most pungent, sacredly tragic, of friedrich's sorrows, now and onwards. june th, friedrich's pouting brother, the prince of prussia, died; this also he had to hear in camp at olmutz. 'what did he die of?' said friedrich to the messenger, a major something. 'of chagrin,' said the major, 'aus gram.' friedrich made no answer.-- "on the last night of may, by beautiful management, military and other, duke ferdinand is across the rhine; again chasing the french before him; who, as they are far more numerous, cannot surely but make some stand: so that a battle there may be expected soon,--let us hope, a victory; as indeed it beautifully proved to be, three weeks after. [battle of crefeld, d june.] on the other hand, fermor and his russians are astir; continually wending towards brandenburg, in their voluminous manner, since june th, though at a slow rate. how desirable the siege of olmutz were done!" on express from vienna, daun did bestir himself; cautiously got on foot again; detached, across the river, an expert hussar general ("be busy all ye loudons, st. ignons, ziskowitzes, doubly now!"),--expert hussar general, one item of whose force is , chosen grenadiers;--and himself cautiously stept southward and eastward, nearer the siege lines. the hussar general's meaning seemed to be some mischief on our camp of neustadt and the outposts there; but in reality it was to throw his , into olmutz (useful to the commandant); which--by ingenious manoeuvring, and guidance from the peasants "through bushy woods and by-paths" on that east side of the river--the expert hussar general, though ziethen was sent over to handle him, did perfectly manage, and would not quit for ziethen till he saw it finished. which done, daun keeps stepping still farther southward, nearer the siege lines; and, at prossnitz, morning of june d, friedrich, with his own eyes, sees daun taking post on the opposite heights; says to somebody near him, "voila les autrichiens, ils apprennent a marcher, there are the austrians; they are learning to march, though!"--getting on their feet, like infants in a certain stage ("marcher" having that meaning too, though i know not that the king intended it);--they have learned a great many things, since your majesty first met them. friedrich took daun to be, now at last, meaning battle for olmutz, and made some slight arrangements accordingly; but that is not daun's intention at all; as friedrich will find to his cost, in few days. that very day, daun has vanished again, still in the southerly direction, again under veil of pandours. meanwhile, in spite of all things, the siege makes progress; "june d, balbi's sap had got to their glacis, and was pushing forward there,"--june d, day when daun made momentary appearance, and the reinforcement stole in:--within a fortnight more, balbi promises the thing shall be done. but supplies are indispensable: one other convoy from troppau, and let it be a big one, "between and , wagons," meal, money, iron, powder; friedrich hopes this one, if he can get it home, will suffice. colonel mosel is to bring this convoy; a resolute expert officer, with perhaps , foot and horse: surely sufficient escort: but, as daun is astir, and his loudons, ziskowitzes and light people are gliding about, friedrich orders ziethen to meet this important convoy, with some thousands of new force, and take charge of bringing it in. mosel was to leave troppau june th; ziethen pushes out to meet him from the olmutz end, on the second day after; and, one hopes, all is now safe on that head. the driving of , four-horse wagons, under escort, ninety miles of road, is such an enterprise as cannot readily be conceived by sedentary pacific readers;--much more the attack of such! military science, constraining chaos into the cosmic state, has nowhere such a problem. there are twelve thousand horses, for one thing, to be shod, geared, kept roadworthy and regular; say six thousand country wagoners, thick-soled peasants: then, hanging to the skirts of these, in miscellaneous crazy vehicles and weak teams, equine and asinine, are one or two thousand sutler people, male and female, not of select quality, though on them, too, we keep a sharp eye. the series covers many miles, as many as twenty english miles (says tempelhof), unless in favorable points you compress them into five, going four wagons abreast for defence's sake. defence, or escort, goes in three bulks or brigades; vanguard, middle, rear-guard, with sparse pickets intervening;--wider than five miles, you cannot get the parts to support one another. an enemy breaking in upon you, at some difficult point of road, woody hollow or the like, and opening cannon, musketry and hussar exercise on such an object, must make a confused transaction of it! some commanders, for the road has hitherto been mainly pacific, divide their train into parts, say four parts; moving with their partial escorts, with an interval of one day between each two: this has its obvious advantages, but depends, of course, on the road being little infested, so that your partial escort will suffice to repel attacks. toiling forward, at their diligent slow rate, i find these trains from troppau take about six days (from neisse to olmutz they take eleven, but the first five are peaceable [tempelhof, ii. .]);--can't be hurried beyond that pace, if you would save your laggards, your irregulars, and prevent what we may call raggery in your rearward parts; the skirts of your procession get torn by the bushes if you go faster. this time colonel mosel will have to mend his pace, however, and to go in the lump withal; the case being critical, as mosel knows, and more than he yet knows. daun, who has friends everywhere, and no lack of spies in this country, generally hears of the convoys. he has heard, in particular, of this important one, in good time. hitherto daun had not attempted much upon convoys, nor anything with success: king's posted corps and other precautions are of such a kind, not even loudon, when he tried his best, could do any good; and common wandering hussar parties are as likely to get a mischief as to do one, on such service. cautious daun had been busy enough keeping his own camp safe, and flinging a word of news or encouragement, at the most a trifle of reinforcement, into olmutz. when possible. but now it becomes evident there must be one of two things: this convoy seized, or else a battle risked;--and that in defect of both these, the inevitable third thing is, olmutz will straightway go. major-general loudon, the best partisan soldier extant, and ripening for better things, has usually a force of perhaps , under him, four regiments of them regular grenadiers; and has been active on the convoys, though hitherto unsuccessful. let an active loudon, with increased force, try this, their vitally important convoy, from the west side of the river; an active ziskowitz co-operating on the east side, where the road itself is; and do their uttermost! that is daun's plan,--now in course of execution. daun, instead of meaning battle, that day when friedrich saw him, was cautiously stealing past, intending to cross the river farther down; and himself support the operation. daun has crossed accordingly, and has doubled up northward again to the fit point; ziskowitz is in the fit point, in the due force, on this east side too. loudon, on the west side, goes by muglitz, hof; making a long deep bend far to westward and hillward of all the prussian posted corps and precautions, and altogether hidden from them; loudon aims to be in troppau neighborhood, "guntersdorf, near bautsch," by the proper day, and pay mosel an unexpected visit in the passage there. colonel mosel, marshalling his endless trains with every excellent precaution, and the cleverest dispositions (say the books), against the known and the unknown, had got upon the road, and creaked forward, many-wheeled, out of troppau, monday, th june. [tempelhof, ii. - .] the roads, worn by the much travelling and wet weather, were utterly bad; the pace was perhaps quicker than usual; the much-jolting train got greatly into a jumble:--mosel, to bring up the laggards, made the morrow a rest-day; did get about two-thirds of his laggards marshalled again; ordered the others to return, as impossible. they say, had it not been for this rest-day, which seemed of no consequence, loudon would not have been at guntersdorf in time, nor have attempted as he did at guntersdorf and afterwards. at break of day (wednesday, th), mosel is again on the road; heavily jumbling forward from his quarters in bautsch. few miles on, towards guntersdorf, he discovers loudon posted ahead in the defiles. what a sight for mosel, in his character of wagoner up with the dawn! but mosel managed the defiles and loudon this time; halted his train, dashed up into the woody heights and difficult grounds; stormed loudon's cannon from him, smote loudon in a valiant tempestuous manner; and sent him travelling again for the present. loudon, i conjecture, would have struggled farther, had not he known that there would be a better chance again not very many miles ahead. london has studied this convoy; knows of ziethen coming to it with so many; of ziskowitz coming to him, loudon, with so many; that ziethen cannot send for more (roads being all beset by our industry yesterday), that ziskowitz can, should it be needful;--and that at domstadtl there is a defile, or confused woody hollow, of unequalled quality! mosel jumbles on all day with his train, none molesting; at night gets to his appointed quarters, village of neudorff; [the l, or el, is a diminutive in these names: (neudorfl) "new-thorplet," (domstadtl) "cathedral-townlet," and the like.] and there finds ziethen: a glad meeting, we may fancy, but an anxious one, with domstadtl ahead on the morrow. loudon concerts with ziskowitz this day; calls in all reinforcements possible, and takes his measures. thursday morning, ziethen finds the train in such a state, hardly half of it come up, he has to spend the whole day, mosel and he, in rearranging it: friday morning, june th, they get under way again;--friday, the catastrophe is waiting them. the pass of domstadtl, lapped in the dim moravian distance, is not known to me or to my readers; nor indeed could the human pen or intellect, aided by ocular inspection or whatever helps, give the least image of what now took place there, rendering domstadtl a memorable locality ever since. understand that ziethen and mosel, with their waste slow deluge of wagons, come jumbling in, with anxiety, with precautions,--precautions doubled, now that the woody intricacies about domstadtl rise in sight. "pooh, it is as we thought: there go austrian cannon-salvos, horse-charges, volleying musketries, as our first wagons enter the pass;--and there will be a job!" indecipherable to mankind far off, or even near. of which only this feature and that can be laid hold of, as discernible, by the most industrious man. escort, in three main bodies, vanguard, middle, rear-guard, marches on each side; infantry on the left, cavalry on the right, as the ground is leveller there. length of the train in statute miles, as it jumbles along at this point, is not given; but we know it was many miles; that horses and wagoners were in panic hardly restrainable; and we dimly descry, here especially, human drill-sergeantcy doing the impossible to keep chaos plugged down. the poor wagoner, cannon playing ahead, whirls homeward with his vehicle, if your eye quit him,--still better, and handier, cuts his traces, mounts in a good moment, and is off at heavy-footed gallop, leaving his wagon. seldom had human drill-sergeantcy such a problem. the prussian vanguard, one krockow its commander, repulsed that first austrian attack; swept the bass clear for some minutes; got their section of the carriages, or some part of it, in all, hurried through; then halted on the safe side, to wait what ziethen would do with the remainder. ziethen does his best and bravest, as everybody does; keeps his wagon-chaos plugged down; ranks it in square mass, as a wagon fortress (wagenburg); ranks himself and everybody, his cannon, his platoon musketry, to the best advantage round it; furiously shoots out in all manner of ways, against the furious loudon on this flank, and the furious ziskowitz on that; takes hills, loses them; repels and is repelled (wagon-chaos ever harder to keep plugged); finally perceives himself to be beaten; that the wagon-chaos has got unplugged (fancy it!)--and that he, ziethen, must retreat; back foremost if possible. he did retreat, fighting all the way to troppau; and the convoy is a ruin and a prey. krockow, with the , has got under way again; hearing the powder-wagons start into the air (fired by the enemy), and hearing the cannon and musketry take a northerly course, and die away in that ominous direction. these were all the carriages that came in:--happily, by ziethen's prudence, the money, a large sum, had been lodged in the vanmost of these. the rest of the convoy, ball, powder, bread, was of little value to loudon, but beyond value to friedrich at this moment; and it has gone to annihilation and the belly of chaos and the croats. among the tragic wrecks of this convoy there is one that still goes to our heart. a longish, almost straight row of young prussian recruits stretched among the slain, what are these? these were recruits coming up from their cantons to the wars; hardly yet six months in training: see how they have fought to the death, poor lads, and have honorably, on the sudden, got manumitted from the toils of life. seven hundred of them stood to arms, this morning; some sixty-five will get back to troppau; that is the invoice account. they lie there, with their blond young cheeks and light hair; beautiful in death;--could not have done better, though the sacred poet has said nothing of them hitherto,--nor need, till times mend with us and him. adieu, my noble young brothers; so brave, so modest, no spartan nor no roman more; may the silence be blessed to you! contrary to some current notions, it is comfortably evident that there was a considerable fire of loyalty in the prussians towards their king, during this war; loyalty kept well under cover, not wasting itself in harangues or noisy froth; but coming out, among all ranks of men, in practical attempts to be of help in this high struggle, which was their own as well as his. the stande, landed gentry, of pommern and other places, we heard of their poor little navy of twelve gunboats, which were all taken by the swedes. militia regiments too, which did good service at colberg, as may transiently appear by and by:--in the gentry or upper classes, a respectable zeal for their king. then, among the peasantry or lower class--here are seven hundred who stood well where he planted them. and their mothers--be spartan also, ye mothers! in peaceable times, tempelhof tells us the prussian mother is usually proud of having her son in this king's service: a country wife will say to you: "i have three of them, all in the regiment," billerbeck, itzenplitz, or whatever be the canton regiment; "the eldest is ten inches [stands five feet ten], the second is eleven, the third eight, for indeed he is yet young." daun, on the day of this domstadtl business, and by way of masking it, feeling how vital it was, made various extensive movements, across the river by several bridges; then hither, thither, on the farther side of olmutz, mazing up and down: friedrich observing him, till he should ripen to something definite, followed his bombarding the while; perhaps having hopes of wager of battle ensuing. of the disaster at domstadtl friedrich could know nothing, loudon having closed the roads. daun by no means ripens into battle: news of the disaster reached friedrich next day (saturday, july st),--who "immediately assembled his generals, and spoke a few inspiring words to them," such as we may fancy. friedrich perceives that olmutz is over; that his third campaign, third lunge upon the enemy's heart, has prospered worse, thus far, than either of the others; that he must straightway end this of olmutz, without any success whatever, and try the remaining methods and resources. no word of complaint, they say, is heard from friedrich in such cases; face always hopeful, tone cheery. a man in friedrich's position needs a good deal of stoicism, greek or other. that saturday night the prussian bombardment is quite uncommonly furious, long continuing; no night yet like it:--the prussians are shooting off their superfluous ammunition this night; do not quite end till sunday is in. on sunday itself, packings, preparations, all completed; and, "keith, with above , wagons, safe on the road since a.m."--the prussians softly vanish in long smooth streams, with music playing, unmolested by daun; and leaving nothing, it is boasted, but five or three mortars, which kept playing to the last, and one cannon, to which something had happened. of the retreat there could be much said, instructive to military men who were studious; extremely fine retreat, say all judges;--of which my readers crave only the outlines, the results. daun, it was thought, should have ruined friedrich in this retreat; but he did nothing of harm to him. in fact, for a week he could not comprehend the phenomenon at all, and did not stir from his place,--which was on the other, or wrong, side of the river. daun had never doubted but the retreat would be to silesia; and he had made his detachments, and laid himself out for doing something upon it, in that direction: but, lo, what roads are these, what motions whitherward? in about a week it becomes manifest that the retreat, which goes on various roads, sometimes three at once, has converged on leutomischl; straight for bohemia instead of silesia; and that daun is fallen seven days behind it; incapable now to do anything. not even the magazine at leutomischl could be got away, nor could even the whole of it be burnt. keith and the baggage once safe in leutomischl (july th), all goes in deliberate long column; friedrich ahead to open the passages. july th, after five more marches, friedrioh bursts up konigsgratz; scattering any opposition there is; and sits down there, in a position considered, he knows well how inexpugnable; to live on the country, and survey events. the , baggage-wagons came in about entire. fouquet had the first division of them, and a secondary charge of the whole; an extremely strict, almost pedantic man, and of very fiery temper: "he, d'ou venez-vous?" asked he sharply of retzow senior, who had broken through his order, one day, to avert great mischief: "how come you here, mon general?" "by the highway, your excellency!" answered retzow in a grave stiff tone. [retzow, i. .] keith himself takes the rear-guard, the most ticklish post of all, and manages it well, and with success, as his wont is. under sickness at the time, but with his usual vigilance, prudence, energy; qualities apt to be successful in war. some brushes of croat fighting he had from loudon; but they did not amount to anything. it was at holitz, within a march of konigsgratz, that loudon made his chief attempt; a vehement, well-intended thing; which looked well at one time. but keith heard the cannonading ahead; hurried up with new cavalry, new sagacity and fire of energy; dashed out horse-charges, seized hill-tops, of a vital nature; and quickly ended the affair. a man fiery enough, and prompt with his stroke when wanted, though commonly so quiet. "tell monsieur,"--some general who seemed too stupid or too languid on this occasion,--"tell monsieur from me," said keith to his aide-de-camp, "he may be a very pretty thing, but he is not a man (qu'il peut etre une bonne chose, mais qu'il n'est pas un homme)!" [varnhagen, _leben des &c. jakob von keith,_ p. .] the excellent vernacular keith;--still a fine breadth of accent in him, one perceives! he is now past sixty; troubled with asthma; and i doubt not may be, occasionally, thinking it near time to end his campaigns. and in fact, he is about ending them; sooner than he or anybody had expected. daun, picking his steps and positions, latterly with threefold precaution, got into konigsgratz neighborhood, a week after friedrich; and looked down with enigmatic wonder upon friedrich's new settlement there. forage abundant all round, and the corn-harvest growing white;--here, strange to say, has friedrich got planted in the inside of those innumerable daun redoubts, and "woods of abatis;" and might make a very pretty "bohemian campaign" of it, after all, were daun the only adversary he had! judges are of opinion, that daun, with all his superiority of number, could not have disrooted friedrich this season. [tempelhof, ii. - , ;--who, unluckily, in soldier fashion, here as too often elsewhere, does not give us the arithmetical numbers of each, but counts by "battalions" and "squadrons," which, except in time of peace, are a totally uncertain quantity:--guess vaguely, , against , .] daun did try him by the pandour methods, " , croats stealing in upon konigsgratz at one in the morning," and the like; but these availed nothing. by the one effectual method, that of beating him in battle, daun never would have tried. what did disroot friedrich, then?--take the following dates, and small hints of phenomena in other parts of the big theatre of war. "konitz" is a little polish town, midway between dantzig and friedrich's dominions:-- "konitz, th june, . this day feldmarschall fermor arrives in his principal camp here. for many weeks past he has been dribbling across the weichsel hitherward, into various small camps, with cossack parties flying about, under check of general platen. but now, being all across, and reunited, fermor shoots out cossack parties of quite other weight and atrocity; and is ready to begin business,--still a little uncertain how. his cossacks, under their demikows, romanzows; capable of no good fighting, but of endless incendiary mischief in the neighborhood;--shoot far ahead into prussian territory: platen, hordt with his free-corps, are beautifully sharp upon them; but many beatings avail little. 'they burn the town of driesen [hordt having been hard upon them there]; town of ratzebuhr, and nineteen villages around;'--burn poor old women and men, one poor old clergyman especially, wind him well in straw-roping, then set fire, and leave him;--and are worse than fiends or hyenas. not to be checked by platen's best diligence; not, in the end, by platen and dohna together. dohna ( th june) has risen from stralsund in check of them,--leaving the unfortunate swedes to come out [shrunk to about , , so unsalutary their stockfish diet there],--these hyena-cossacks being the far more pressing thing. dohna is diligent, gives them many slaps and checks; dohna cannot cut the tap-root of them in two; that is to say, fight fermor and beat him: other effectual check there can be none. [_helden-geschichte,_ v. et seq.; tempelhof, ii. &c.] "tschopau (in saxony), st june. prince henri has quitted bamberg country; and is home again, carefully posted, at tschopau and up and down, on the southern side of saxony; with his eye well on the passes of the metal mountains,--where now, in the turn things at olmutz have taken, his clear fate is to be invaded, not to invade. the reichs army, fairly afoot in the circle of saatz, counts itself , ; add , austrians of a solid quality, there is a reichs army of , in all, this year. and will certainly invade saxony,--though it is in no hurry; does not stir till august come, and will find prince henri elaborately on his guard, and little to be made of him, though he is as one to two. "crefeld (rhine country), d june. duke ferdinand, after skilful shoving and advancing, some forty or fifty miles, on his new or french side of the rhine, finds the french drawn up at crefeld (june d); , of them versus , : in altogether intricate ground; canal-ditches, osier-thickets, farm-villages, peat-bogs. ground defensible against the world, had the , had a captain; but reasonably safe to attack, with nothing but a clermont acting that character. ferdinand, i can perceive, knew his clermont; and took liberties with him. divided himself into three attacks: one in front; one on clermont's right flank, both of which cannonaded, as if in earnest, but did not prevent clermont going to dinner. one attack on front, one on right flank; then there was a third, seemingly on left flank, but which winded itself round (perilously imprudent, had there been a captain, instead of a clermont deepish in wine by this time), and burst in upon clermont's rear; jingling his wine-glasses and decanters, think at what a rate;--scattering his , and him to the road again, with a loss of men, which was counted to , ( , against , ), and of honor--whatever was still to lose!" [mauvillon, i. - ; westphalen, i. - ; tempelhof; &c. &c.] ferdinand, it was hoped, would now be able to maintain himself, and push forward, on this french side of the rhine: and had wesel been his (as some of us know it is not!), perhaps he might. at any rate, veteran belleisle took his measures:--dismissal of clermont prince of the blood, and appointment of contades, a man of some skill; recall of soubise and his , from their austrian intentions; these and other strenuous measures,--and prevented such consummation. a gallant young comte de gisors, only son of belleisle, perished in that disgraceful crefeld:--unfortunate old man, what a business that of "cutting germany in four" has been to you, first and last! "louisburg (north america), july th. landing of general amherst's people at louisburg in cape breton; with a view of besieging that important place. which has now become extremely difficult; the garrison, and their defences, military, naval, being in full readiness for such an event. landing was done by brigadier wolfe; under the eye of amherst and admiral boscawen from rearward, and under abundant fire of batteries and musketries playing on it ahead: in one of the surfiest seas (but we have waited four days, and it hardly mends), tossing us about like corks;--so that 'many of the boats were broken;' and wolfe and people 'had to leap out, breast-deep,' and make fight for themselves, the faster the better, under very intricate circumstances! which was victoriously done, by wolfe and his people; really in a rather handsome manner, that morning. as were all the subsequent siege-operations, on land and on water, by them and the others:--till (august th) the siege ended: in complete surrender,--positively for the last time (pitt fully intends); no austrian netherlands now to put one on revoking it! [general amherst's diary of the siege (in _gentleman's magazine,_ xxviii. - ).] "these are pretty victories, cheering to pitt and friedrich; but the difficult point still is that of fermor. whose cossacks, and their devil-like ravagings, are hideous to think of:--unrestrainable by dohna, unless he could cut the root of them; which he cannot. june th [while colonel mosel, with his , wagons, still only one stage from troppau, was so busy], slow fermor rose from konitz; began hitching southward, southward gradually to posen,--a considerably stronger polish town; on the edge both of brandenburg and of silesia;--and has been sitting there, almost ever since our entrance into bohemia; his cossacks burning and wasting to great distances in both countries; no deciding which of them he meant to invade with his main army. sits there almost a month, enigmatic to dohna, enigmatic to friedrich: till friedrich decides at last that he cannot be suffered longer, whichever of them he mean; and rises for silesia (august d). precisely about which day fermor had decided for brandenburg, and rolled over thither, towards custrin and the frankfurt-on-oder country, heralded by fire and murder, as usual." friedrich's march to landshut is, again, much admired. daun had beset the three great roads, the two likeliest especially, with abundant pandours, and his best loudons and st. ignons: friedrich, making himself enigmatic to daun, struck into the third road by skalitz, nachod; circuitous, steep, but lying glatz-ward, handy for support of various kinds. he was attempted, once or more, by pandours, but used them badly; fell in with daun's old abatis (well wind-dried now), in different places, and burnt them in passing. and in five days was in kloster-grussau, safe on his own side of the mountains again. one point only we will note, in these pandour turmoilings. from skalitz, the first stage of his march, he answers a letter of brother henri's:-- to prince henri (at tachopau in saxony). "what you write to me of my sister of baireuth [that she has been in extremity, cannot yet write, and must not be told of the prince of prussia's death lest it kill her] makes me tremble! next to our mother, she is what i have the most tenderly loved in this world. she is a sister who has my heart and all my confidence; and whose character is of price beyond all the crowns in this universe. from my tenderest years, i was brought up with her: you can conceive how there reigns between us that indissoluble bond of mutual affection and attachment for life, which in all other cases, were it only from disparity of ages, is impossible. would to heaven i might die before her;--and that this terror itself don't take away my life without my actually losing her!" [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xxvi. , "klenny, near skalitz, d august, ;" henri's letter is dated "camp of tschopau, th july" (ib. ).]... at grussau (august th) he writes to his dear wilhelmina herself: "o you, the dearest of my family, you whom i have most at heart of all in this world,--for the sake of whatever is most precious to you, preserve yourself, and let me have at least the consolation of shedding my tears in your bosom! fear nothing for us, and"--o king, she is dying, and i believe knows it, though you will hope to the last! there is something piercingly tragical in those final letters of friedrich to his wilhelmina, written from such scenes of wreck and storm, and in wilhelmina's beautiful ever-loving quiet answers, dictated when she could no longer write. ["july th" is the last by her hand, and "almost illegible;"--still extant, it seems, though withheld from us. was received at grussau here, and answered at some length (_oeuvres,_ xxvii. i. ), according to the specimen just given. two more of hers follow, and four of the king's (ib. - ). nearly meaningless, as printed there, without commentary for the unprepared reader.] friedrich had last left grussau april th; he has returned to it august th: after sixteen weeks of a very eventful absence. in grussau he stayed two whole days;--busy enough he, probably, though his people were resting! august th he draws up, for prince henri, "under seal of the most absolute secrecy," and with admirable business-like strictness, brevity and clearness, forgetting nothing useful, remembering nothing useless, a paper of directions in case of a certain event: "i march to-morrow against the russians: as the events of war may lead to all sorts of accidents, and it may easily happen to me to be killed, i have thought it my duty to let you know what my plans were," and what you are to do in that event,--"the rather as you are guardian of our nephew [late prince of prussia's son] with an unlimited authority." oath from all the armies the instant i am killed: rapid, active, as ever; the enemy not to notice that there is any change in the command. i intend to "beat the russians utterly [a plate couture, splay-seam], if it be possible;" then to &c.:--gives you his "itinerary," too, or probable address, till "the th" (notably enough); in short, forgets nothing useful, nor remembers anything that is not, in spite of his hurry. ["disposition testamentaire" (so they have labelled it); given in _oeuvres,_ iv. (appendice) , . friedrich's testament proper is already made, and all in order, years ago (" th january "): of this there followed two new redactions (new editions with slight improvements, " th november, ," and " th january, " the finally valid one); and various supplements, or summary enforcements (as here), at different times of crisis. see preuss, iv. , , and _oeuvres de frederic,_ vi. p. (of preface), for some confused account of that matter.] for mlnlster finck also there went a paper; seal lzot needing to be opened for the moment. with margraf karl, and fouquet under him, who are to guard silesia, he leaves in two divisions about half the late olmutz army:--added to the other force, this will make about , for that service. [stenzel, v. .] keith has the chief command here; but is ordered to breslau, in the mean time, for a little rest and recovery of health. friday, th august, friedrich himself, with the other half, pushes off towards fermor and the cossack demons; through liegnitz, through hohenfriedberg country, straight for frankfurt, with his best speed. chapter xiii.--battle of zorndorf. sunday, th august, friedrich, with his small army, hardly above , i should guess, arrived at frankfurt-on-oder: "his majesty," it seems, "lodged in the lebus suburb, in the house of a clergyman's widow; and was observed to go often out of doors, and listen to the cannonading, which was going on at custrin." [rodenbeck, i. .] from landshut hither, he has come in nine days; the swiftest marching; a fiery spur of indignation being upon all his men and him, for the last two days fierier than ever,--longing all to have a blow at those incendiary russian gentlemen. five days ago, the russians, attempting blindly on the garrison of custrin, had burnt,--nothing of the garrison at all,--but the poor little town altogether. which has filled everybody with lamentation and horror. and, listen yonder, they are still busy on the solitary garrison of custrin;--audible enough to friedrich from his northern or lebus suburb, which lies nearest the place, at a distance of some twenty miles. of fermor's red-hot savagery on custrin, it is lamentably necessary we should say something: to say much would he a waste of record; as the thing itself was a waste of powder. a thing hideous to think of; without the least profit to fermor, but with total ruin to all the inhabitants, and to the many strangers who had sought refuge there. one interior circumstance is memorable and lucky to us. artillery-captain tielcke happened to be with these people; had come in the train of "two saxon princes, serving as volunteers;" and, with a singular lucidity, and faithful good sense, not scientific alone, he illuminates these black russian matters for such as have to do with them. tielcke's book of _contributions to the art of war_ [_beytrage zur kriege-kunst und (zur) geschichte des krieges von bis _ (six thin vols. to, with many plates); cited above.] is still in repute with soldiers, especially in the artillery line; and indeed shows a sound geometrical head, and contains bits of excellent historical reading interspersed among the scientific parts. this tielcke, it appears, was a common foot-soldier, one of those pirna , made prussian against their will; but tielcke had a milkmaid for sweetheart in those regions, who, good soul, gave him her generous farewell, a suit of her clothes, perhaps a pair of her pails; and in that guise he walked out of bondage. clear away; to warsaw, to favor with the king and others (being of real merit, an excellent, studious, modest little man); and here he now reappears, in a higher capacity; as articulate eye-witness of the custrin business and the zorndorf, among much other russian darkness, which shall remain comfortably blank to us. up to custrin, the journal of the operations of the russian army, which i could give from day to day, ["tagebuch beyder &c. (diary of both armies from the beginning of the campaign till zorndorf"), in tielcke, ii. - ; tempelhof, ii. , - ; _helden-geschichte,_ v.; &c. &c.] is of no interest except to the nether powers of this universe; the russian operations hitherto having consisted in slow marches, sluttish cookeries, cantonings, bivouackings, with destruction of a poor innocent country, and arson, theft and murder done on the great scale by inhuman vagabonds, cossacks so called, not tempered on this occasion by the mercy of calmucks. the regular russian army, it appears, participates in the common horror of mankind against such a method of making war; but neither feldmarschall fermor, nor general demikof (properly themicoud, a swiss, deserving little thanks from us, who has taken in hand to command these missionaries of the pit), can help the results above described. which are justly characterized as abominable, to gods and men; and not fit to be recorded in human annals; execration, and, if it were possible, oblivion, being the human resource with them., the russian officers, it seems, despise this cossack rabble incredibly; for their fighting qualities withal are close on zero, though their talent for arson and murder is so considerable. and contrariwise, the cossacks, for their part, have no objection to plunder, or even, if obstreperous, to kill, any regular officer they may meet unescorted in a good place. their talent for arson is great. they do uncountable damage to the army itself; provoking all the country people to destroy by fire what could be eaten or used, the foraging, food and equipments of horse and man; so that horse and man have to be fed by victual carted hundreds of miles out of poland; and the russian army sticks, as it were, tethered with a welter of broken porridge-pots and rent meal-bags hung to every foot it has. east preussen is quiet from the storms of war; holds its tongue well, and hopes better days: but the russians themselves are little the better for it, a country so lately burned bare; they are merely flung so many scores of miles forward, farther from home and their real resources, before they can begin work, they have no port on the baltic: poor blockheads, they are aware how desirable, for instance, dantzig would be; to help feeding them out of ships; but the dantzigers won't. colberg, a poor little place, with only militia people in it, would be of immense service to them as a sea-haven: but even this they have not yet tried to get; and after trying, they will find it a job. "why not unite with the swedes and take stettin (the finest harbor in the baltic), which would bring russia, by ships, to your very hand?" this is what montalembert is urgent upon, year after year, to the point of wearying everybody; but he can get no official soul to pay heed to him,--the difficulties are so considerable. "swedes, what are they?" say the russians: "russians what?" say the swedes. "sweden would be so handy for the artilleries," urges montalembert; "russians for the soldiery, or covering and fighting part."--"can't be done!" officiality shakes its head: and montalembert is obliged to be silent. the russians have got into the neumark of brandenburg, on those bad terms; and are clearly aware that, without some fortress as a place of arms, they are an overgrown incompetency and monstrosity in the field of war; doing much destruction, most of which proves self-destructive before long. but how help it? if the carrying of meal so far be difficult what will the carrying of siege-furniture be? a flat impossibility. fermor, aware of these facts, remembers what happened at oczakow,--long ago, in our presence, and keith's and munnich's, if the reader have not quite forgot. munnich, on that occasion, took oczakow without any siege-furniture whatever, by boldly marching up to it; nothing but audacity and good luck on his side. fermor determines to try custrin in the like way,--if peradventure prussian soldiery be like turk?-- fermor rose from posen august d, almost three weeks ago; making daily for the neumark and those unfortunate oder countries; nobody but dohna to oppose him,--dohna in the ratio of perhaps one against four. dohna naturally laid hold of frankfurt and the oder bridge, so that fermor could not cross there; whereupon fermor, as the next best thing, struck northward for the warta (black polish stream, last big branch of oder); crossed this, at his ease, by landsberg bridge, august th [tempelhof, ii. .] and after a day or two of readjustment in landsberg, made for custrin country (his next head-quarter is at gross kamin); hoping in some accidental or miraculous way to cross oder thereabouts, or even get hold of custrin as a place of arms. if peradventure he can take custrin without proper siege-artillery, in the oczakow or anti-turk way? fermor has been busy upon custrin since august th;--in what fashion we partly heard, and will now, from authentic sources, see a little for ourselves. the castle of custrin, built by good johann of custrin, and "roofed with copper," in the reformation times,--we know it from of old, and friedrich has since had some knowledge of it. custrin itself is a rugged little town, with some moorland traffic, and is still a place of great military strength, the garrison of those parts. its rough pavements, its heavy stone battlements and barriers, give it a guarled obstinate aspect,--stern enough place of exile for a crown-prince fallen into such disfavor with papa! a rugged, compact, by no means handsome little town, at the meeting of the warta and the oder; stands naturally among sedges, willows and drained mire, except that human industry is pleasantly busy upon it, and has long been. so that the neighborhood is populous beyond expectation; studded with rough cottages in white-wash; hamlets in a paved condition; and comfortable signs of labor victoriously wrestling with the wilderness. custrin, an arsenal and garrison, begirt with two rivers, and with awful bulwarks, and bastions cased in stone,--"perhaps too high," say the learned,--is likely to be impregnable to russian engineering on those terms. here, with brevity, is the catastrophe of custrin. tuesday, th august, . at two in the morning, several thousand russians, grenadiers, under quartermaster general stoffeln, whom the readers of mannstein know from old oczakow times, are astir; pushing along from gross kamin, through the scraggy firwoods, and flat peat countries; intending a stroke on custrin, if perhaps they can get it: [tempelhof, ii. ; but tielcke, ii. et seq., the real source.]--not the slightest chance to get custrin; prussian soldiership and turkish being two quite different things! the pickeering and manoeuvring of stoffeln shall not detain us. stoffeln came along by the landsberg road (course of the now konigsberg-custrin railway); and drove in the prussian out-parties, who at first took him for cossacks. stoffeln set himself down on the north side of the place; planted cannon in certain clay-pits thereabouts, and about nine o'clock began firing shells and incendiary grenadoes at a great rate. tielcke saw everything,--and had the honor to take luncheon, that evening, with certain chief officers, sitting on the ground, after all was over, and only a few shots from the garrison still dropping. [tielcke, ii. n.] at the third grenade, which, it seems, fell into a straw magazine, custrin took fire; could not be quenched again, so much dry wood in it, so much disorder too, the very soldiers some of them disorderly (a bad deserter set); so that it soon flamed aloft,--from side to side one sea of flame: and man, woman and child, every soul (except the garrison, which sat enclosed in strong stone), had to fly across the river, under penalty of death by fire. of custrin, by five in the evening, there was nothing left but the black ashes; the garrison standing unharmed, and the church, school-house and some stone edifices in a charred skeleton condition. "no life was lost, except that of one child in arms." all neumark had lodged its valuables in this place of strength; all are fled now in horror and terror across the oder, by the bridge, before it also unquenchably takes fire, at the western or non-russian end of the place. such a day as was seldom seen in human experience;--fermor responsible for it, happily not we. fermor, in the evening, said to his artillery people: "why have you ceased to fire grenadoes?" "excellency, the town is out; nothing now but ashes and stone." "never mind; give them the rest, one every quarter of an hour. we shall not need the grenadoes again. the cannon-balls we shall; them, therefore, do not waste." on the morrow morning, after this performance on the town, fermor sends a trumpeter: "surrender or else--!" rather in the tremendous style. "or else?" answers the commandant, pointing to the ashes, to the black inconsumable stones; and is deaf to this ex-post-facto trumpeter. the russians say they sent one yesterday morning, not ex-post-facto, but he was killed in the pickeerings, and never heard of again. a mile or so to rear of custrin, on the westward or berlin side of the river, lies dohna for the last four days; expecting that the laws of nature will hold good, and custrin prove tenable against such sieging. so stands it on friedrich's arrival. we left friedrich in the lebus suburb of frankfurt, sunday, august th, listening to the distant cannonade. next morning, he is here himself; at dohna's camp of gorgast, taking survey of affairs; came early, under rapid small escort, leaving his army to follow; scorn and contemptuous indignation the humor of him, they say; resolution to be swiftly home upon that surprising russian armament, and teach it new manners. the black skeleton of custrin stares hideously across the river; "custrin siege" so called still going on;--had better make despatch now, and take itself away! he greatly despises russian soldiership: "pooh, pooh," he would answer, if keith from experience said, "your majesty does not do it justice;"--and keith has been known to hint, "if the trial ever come, your majesty will alter that opinion." a day or two hence, amid these hideous russian fire-traceries, the hussars bring him a dozen of cossacks they have made prisoners: friedrich looks at the dirty green vagabonds; says to one of his staff: "and this is the kind of doggery i have to bother with!"--the sight of the poor country-people, and their tears of joy and of sorrow on his reappearance among them, much affected him. taking inspection of dohna, he finds dohna wonderfully clean, pipe-clayed, complete: "you are very fine indeed, you;--i bring you a set of fellows, rough as grasteufeln ["grass-devils," i never know whether insects or birds]; but they can bite,"--hope you can! tuesday, august d, at five in the morning our army has all arrived, the frankfurt people just come in; , of us now in camp at gorgast. friedrich orders straightway that a certain russian redoubt on the other side of the river, at schaumburg, a mile or two down stream, be well cannonaded into ruin,--as if he took it for some incipiency of a russian bridge, or were himself minded to cross here, under cover of custrin. friedrich's intention very certainly is to cross,--here or not just here;--and that same night, after some hours of rest to the frankfurt people,--night of tuesday-wednesday, friedrich, having persuaded the russians that his crossing-place will be their redoubt at schaumburg, marches ten or twelve miles down the river, silently his , and he, till opposite the village of gustebiese; rapidly makes his bridges there, unmolested: fermor, with his eye on the cannonaded redoubt only, has expected no such matter; and is much astonished when he hears of it, twenty hours after. friedrich, across with the vanguard, at an early hour of wednesday, gets upon the knoll at gustebiese for a view; and all gustebiese, hearing of him, hurries out, with low-voiced tremulous blessings, irrepressible tears: "god reward your majesty, that have come to us!"--and there is a hustling and a struggling, among the women especially, to kiss the skirts of his coat. poor souls: one could have stood tremendous cheers; but this is a thing i forgive friedrich for being visibly affected with. friedrich leaves his baggage on the other side of the oder, and the bridge guarded; our friend hordt, with his free-corps, doing it, friedrich marches forward some ten miles that night; eastward, straight for gross kamin, as if to take the russians in rear; encamps at a place called klossow, spreading himself obliquely towards the mutzel (black sluggish tributary of the oder in those parts), meaning to reach neu damm on the mutzel to-morrow, there almost within wind of the russians, and be ready for crossing on them. it was at klossow ( d august, evening), that the hussars brought in their dozen or two of cossacks, and he had his first sight of russian soldiery; by no means a favorable one, "ugh, only look!"--as we are now approaching zorndorf, and the monstrous tug of battle which fell out there, readers will be glad of the following:-- "from damm on the mutzel, where friedrich intends crossing it to-morrow night, south to gross kamin, not far from the warta, where fermor's head-quarter lately was, may be about five miles. from custrin, kamin lies northeast about eight or ten miles: zorndorf, the most considerable village in this tract, lies--little dreaming of the sad glory coming to it--pretty much in the centre between big warta and smaller mutzel. the country is by nature a peat wilderness, far and wide; but it has been tamed extensively; grows crops, green pastures; is elsewhere covered with wood (scotch fir, scraggy in size, but evidently under forest management); perhaps half the country is in fir tracts, what they call heiden (heaths); the cultivated spaces lying like light-green islands with black-green channels and expanses of circumambient fir. the drewitz heath, the massin or zither heath, and others about zorndorf, will become notable to us. the country is now much drier than in friedrich's time; the human spade doing its duty everywhere: so that much of the battle-ground has become irrecognizable, when compared with the old marshy descriptions given of it. zorndorf, a rough substantial hamlet, has nothing of boggy now visible near by; lies east to west, a firm broad highway leading through: a sea of forest before it, to south; to north, good dry barley-grounds or rye-grounds, sensibly rising for half a mile, then waving about in various slow slight changes of level towards quartschen, zicher, &c.: forming an irregular cleared 'island,' altogether of perhaps four miles by three, with unlimited circumambiencies of wood. it was here, on this island as we call it, that the battle, which has made zorndorf famous, was fought. "zorndorf (or even the open ground half a mile to north of it, which will be more important to us) is probably not feet above the level of the mutzel, nor above warta and oder, six miles off; but it is the crown of the country;--the ground dropping therefrom every way, in lazy dull waves or swells; towards tamsel and gross kamin on southeast; towards birken-busch, quartschen, darmutzel [dar of the mutzel, whatever "dar" may be.] on northwest; as well as towards damm and its bridge northeast, where friedrich will soon be, and towards custrin southwest, where he lately was, each a five or six miles from zorndorf. "such is the poor moorland tract of country; zorndorf the centre of it,--where the battle is likely to be:--zorndorf and environs a bare quasi-island among these woods; extensive bald crown of the landscape, girt with a frizzle of firwoods all round. boggy pools there are, especially on the western side (all drained in our time). mutzel, or north side, is of course the lowest in level: and accordingly," what is much to be marked by readers here, "from the south, or zorndorf side, at wide intervals, there saunter along, in a slow obscure manner, three miserable continuous leakages, or oozy threads of water, all making for quartschen, to north or northwest, there to disembogue into the mutzel. each of these has its little hollow; of which the westernmost, called zabern hollow (zaberngrund), is the most considerable, and the most important to us here: galgengrund (gallows-hollow) is also worth naming in this battle; the third leakage, though without importance, invites us to name it, hosebruch, quasi stocking-quagmire,--because you can use no stockings there, except with manifest disadvantage."--take this other concluding trait:-- ... "inexpressible fringe of marsh, two or three miles broad, mostly bottomless, woven with sluggish creeks and stagnant pools, borders the warta for many miles towards landsberg; custrin-landsberg causeway the alone sure footing in it; after which, the country rises insensibly, but most beneficially, and is mainly drier till you get to the mutzel again, and find the same fringe of mud lace-work again, zorndorf we called the crown of it. tamsel, wilkersdorf, klein kamin, gross kamin, and other places known to us, lie on the dry turf-fuel country, but looking over close upon the hem of that marsh-fringe, and no doubt getting peats, wild ducks, pike-fishes, eels, and snatches of summer pasture and cow-hay out of it." thursday, august th, friedrich is again speeding on; occupying darmutzel and other crossing-places of the mutzel; [mitchell to holderness, "dermitzel, th august, " (memoirs and papers, i. ; ib. ii. - , mitchell's private journal).]--by no means himself crossing there; on the contrary, carefully breaking all the bridges before he go ("no retreat for those russian vagabonds, only death or surrender for them!")--himself not intending to cross till he be up at damm, neu damm, well eastward of his russians, and have got them all pinfolded between mutzel and oder in that way. in the evening, he reaches damm and the mill of damm, some three or four miles higher up the mutzel;--and there pushes partly across at once. that is to say, his vanguard at once, and takes a defensive position; his artillery and other divisions by degrees, in the silent night hours; and, before daybreak to-morrow, every soul will be across, and the bridge broken again;--and fermor had better have his accounts settled. fermor's roving cossack clouds seldom bring him in intelligence; but only return stained with charcoal grime and red murder: up to late last night, he had not known where friedrich was at all; had idly thought him busy with the schaumburg redoubt, on the other side of oder, fencing and precautioning: but now (night of the d), these cossacks do come in with news, "indisputable to our poor minds, the prussians are at klossow yonder,--captured a dozen green vagabonds of us, and have sent us galloping!"--which news, with the night closing in on him, was astonishing, thrice and four times important to fermor. instantly he raises the siege of custrin, any siege there was; gets his immense baggage-train shoved off that night to klein kamin, landsberg way; summons the force from landsberg to join him without loss of a moment;--and in the meanwhile pitches himself in long bivouac in the drewitz wood or fir-heath, with the quaggy zaberngrund in front. quaggy zaberngrund,--do readers remember it; one of those "three continuous leakages," very important, to fermor and us at present? this is the safest place fermor can find for himself; scraggy firs around, good quagmires and zabern hollow in front; looking to the east, waiting what a new day will bring. that was fermor's posture, while friedrich quitted klossow in the dawn of the th. be busy, ye cossack doggeries; return with news, not with mere grime and marks of blood on your mouths! evening of the th, cossacks report that friedrich has got to damm mill; has hold of the bridge there; and may be looked for, sure as the daylight, to-morrow. fermor is , odd, his landsberg forces all coming in; one detachment out stettin way, which cannot come in; fermor finds that his baggage-train is fairly on the road to klein kamin;--and that he will have to quit this bosky bivouac, and fight for himself in the open ground, or do worse. theseus and the minotaur over again,--that is to say, friedrich at hand-grips with fermor and his russians ( th august, ). artless fermor draws out to the open ground, north of zorndorf, south of quartschen; arranges himself in huge quadrilateral mass, with his "staff-baggage" (lighter baggage) in the centre, and his front, so to speak, everywhere. [excellent plan of him, or rather plans, in his successive shapes, in tielcke, ii. (plates , , , , ).] mass, say two miles long by one mile broad; but it is by no means regular, and has many zigzags according to the ground, and narrows and droops southward on the eastern end: one of the most artless arrangements; but known to fermor, and the readiest on this pinch of time. munnich devised this quadrilateral mode; and found it good against the turks, and their deluges of raging horse and foot: fermor could perhaps do better; but there is such a press of hurry. fermor's western flank, or biggest breadth of quadrilateral, leans on that zabern hollow, with its fine quagmires; his eastern, narrowest part, droops down on certain mud-pools and conveniences towards zicher. gallows hollow, a slighter than the zabern, runs through the centre of him; and with his best people he fronts towards the mutzel bridges, especially towards damm-mill bridge whence friedrich will emerge, sure as the sunrise, one knows not with what issue. artless fermor is nothing daunted; nor are his people; but stand patiently under arms, regardless of future and present, to a degree not common in soldiering. friday, august th, by half-past three in the morning, friedrich is across the mutzel; self and infantry by damm-mutzel bridge, cavalry by another bridge (kersten-brugge, means "christian bridge," in the dialect of charlemagne's time, a very old arrangement of successive logs up there!) some furlongs higher up. the bridge at damm is perhaps some three miles from the nearest russians about zicher; but friedrich has no thought of attacking fermor there; he has a quite other program laid, and will attack fermor precisely on the side opposite to there. friedrich's intention is to sweep quite round this monstrous russian quadrilateral; to break in upon it on the western flank, and hurl it back upon mutzel and its quagmires. he has broken his two bridges after passing, all bridges are gone there, and the country is bottomless: surrender at discretion if once you are driven thither! and friedrich's own retreat, if he fail, is short and open to custrin. "admirable," say the critics, "and altogether in friedrich's style!"--friedrich, adds one critic, was not aware that the russian heavy-baggage train, which is their powder-flask and bread-basket and staff of life, lies at klein kamin, within few miles on his left just now, russians themselves on his right; that the russians could have been abolished from those countries without fighting at all! [retzow, i. - .] this is very true. friedrich's haste is great, his humor hot; and he has not heard of this klein-kamin fact, which in common times he would have done, and of which in a calmer mood he would, with a fine scientific gusto, have taken his advantage. friedrich pours incessant southward; cavalry parallel to infantry and a certain distance beyond it, eastward of it; and they have burnt the bridges; which is a curious fact! continually southward, as if for tamsel:--poor old tamsel, do readers recollect it at all, does friedrich at all? no pleasant dinner, or lily-and-rose complexions, there for one to-day!--some distance short of tamsel, friedrich, emerging, turns westward;--intending what on earth? thinks fermor. friedrich has been mostly hidden by the woods all this while, and enigmatic to fermor. fermor does now at last see the color of the facts;--and that one's chief front must change itself to southward, one's best leg and arm be foremost, or towards zorndorf, not towards the mutzel as hitherto. fermor stirs up his quadrilateral, makes the required change, "you, best or northern line, step across, and front southward; across to southward, i say; second-best go northward in their stead:" and so, with some other slight polishings, suggested by the ground and phenomena, we anew await this prussian enigma with our best leg foremost. the march or circular sweep of these prussian lines, from damm bridge through the woods and champaign to their appointed place of action, is seven or eight miles; lines when halted in battle-order will be two miles long or more. friedrich pours steadily along, horse and foot, by the rear cf wilkersdorf, of zorndorf,--russian minotaur scrutinizing him in that manner with dull bloodshot eyes, uncertain what he will do. it is eight in the morning, hot august; wind a mere lull, but southernly if any. small hussar pickets ride to right of the main army march; to keep the cossacks in check: who are roving about, all on wing; and pert enough, in spite of the hussar pickets, desperado individuals of them gallop up to the infantry ranks, and fire off their pistols there,--without reply; reply or firing, till the word come, is strictly forbidden. infantry pours along, like a ploughman drawing his furrow, heedless of the circling crows. crows or cossacks, finding they are not regarded, set fire to zorndorf, and gallop off. zorndorf goes up readily, mainly wood and straw; rolls in big clouds of smoke far northward in upon the russian minotaur, making him still blinder in the important moments now coming. friedrich rides up to view the zabern hollow: "beyond expectation deep; very boggy too, with its foul leakage or brook: no attacking of their western flank through this zaberngrund;--attack the corner of them, then; here on the southwest!" that is friedrich's rapid resource. the lines halt, accordingly; make ready. behind flaming zorndorf stands his extreme left, which is to make the attack; infantry in front; horse to rear and farther leftwards,--and under the command of seidlitz in this quarter, which is an important circumstance. right wing, reaching to behind wilkersdorf, is to refuse itself; whole force of centre is to push upon that russian corner, to support the left in doing it;--according to the leuthen or leuctra principle, once more. may no mistakes occur in executing it this day!-- the first division of the prussian infantry, or extreme left, marches forward by the west end of flaming zorndorf; next division, which should stand close to right of it, or even behind it in action, and follow it close into the russian fire, has to march by the east end of zorndorf; this is a farther road, owing to the flames; and not a lucky one. second division could never get into fair contact with that first division again: that was the mistake: and it might have been fatal, but was not, as we shall see. first division has got clear of zorndorf, in advancing towards its russian business;--is striding forward, its left flank safe against the zaberngrund; steadily by fixed stages, against the fated russian corner, which is its point of attack. first division, second division, are clear of zorndorf, though with a wide gap between them; are steadily striding forward towards the russian corner. two strong batteries, wide apart, have planted themselves ahead; and are playing upon the russian quadrilateral, their fires crossing at the due corner yonder, with terrible effect; russian artillery, which are multitudinous and all gathered down to this southwestern corner, are responding, though with their fire spread, and far less effectual. the prussian line steps on, extreme left perhaps in too animated a manner; their cannon batteries enfilade the thick mass of russians at a frightful rate ("forty-two men of a certain regiment blown away by a single ball," in one instance [tielcke.]), drive the interior baggage-horses to despair: a very agitated quadrilateral, under its grim canopy of cannon smoke, and of straw smoke, heaped on it from the zorndorf side here. manteuffel, leader of that first or leftmost division, sees the internal simmering; steps forward still more briskly, to firing distance; begins his platoon thunder, with the due steady fury,--had the second division but got up to support manteuffel! the second division is in fire too; but not close to manteuffel, where it should be. fermor notices the gap, the wavering of manteuffel unsupported; plunges out in immense torrent, horse and foot, into the gap, into manteuffel's flank and front; hurls manteuffel back, who has no support at hand: "arah, arah (hurrah, hurrah)! victory, victory!" shout the russians, plunging wildly forward, sweeping all before them, capturing twenty-six pieces of cannon, for one item. what a moment for friedrich; looking on it from some knoll somewhere near zorndorf, i suppose; hastily bidding seidlitz strike in: "seidlitz, now!" the hurrahing russians cannot keep rank at that rate of going, like a buffalo stampede; but fall into heaps and gaps: seidlitz, with a swiftness, with a dexterity beyond praise, has picked his way across that quaggy zabern hollow; falls, with say , horse, on the flank of this big buffalo stampede; tumbles it into instant ruin;--which proves irretrievable, as the prussian infantry come on again, and back seidlitz. in fifteen minutes more (i guess it now to be ten o'clock), the russian minotaur, this end of it, on to the gallows ground, is one wild mass. seldom was there seen such a charge; issuing in such deluges of wreck, of chaotic flight, or chaotic refusal to fly. the seidlitz cavalry went sabring till, for very fatigue, they gave it up, and could no more. the russian horse fled to kutzdorf,--fermor with them, who saw no more of this fight, and did not get back till dark;--had not the bridges been burnt, and no crossing of the mutzel possible, fermor never would have come back, and here had been the end of zorndorf. luckier if it had! but there is no crossing of the mutzel, there is only drowning in the quagmires there:--death any way; what can be done but die? the russian infantry stand to be sabred, in the above manner, as if they had been dead oxen. more remote from seidlitz, they break open the sutlers' brandy-casks, and in few minutes get roaring drunk. their officers, desperate, split the brandy-casks; soldiers flap down to drink it from the puddles; furiously remonstrate with their officers, and "kill a good many of them" (viele, says tielcke), especially the foreign sort. "a frightful blood-bath," by all the accounts: blood-bath, brandy-bath, and chief nucleus of chaos then extant aboveground. fermor is swept away: this chaos, the very prussians drawing back from it, wearied with massacring, lasts till about one o'clock. up to the gallows-ground the minotaur is mere wreck and delirium: but beyond the gallows-ground, the other half forms a new front to itself; becomes a new minotaur, though in reduced shape. this is part first of the battle of zorndorf; friedrich--on the edge of great disaster at one moment, but miraculously saved--has still the other half to do (unlucky that he left no bridges on the mutzel), and must again change his program. half of the minotaur is gone to shreds in this manner; but the attack upon it, too, is spent: what is to be done with the other half of the monster, which is again alive; which still stands, and polypus-like has arranged a new life for itself, a new front against the galgengrund yonder? friedrich brings his right wing into action. rapidly arranges right wing, centre, all of the left that is disposable, with batteries, with cavalry; for an attack on the opposite or southeastern end of his monster. if your monster, polypus-like, come alive again in the tail-part, you must fell that other head of him. batteries, well in advance, begin work upon the new head of the monster, which was once his tail; fresh troops, long lines of them, pushing forward to begin platoon-volleying:--time now, i should guess, about half-past two. our infantry has not yet got within musket-range,--when torrents of russian horse, foot too following, plunge out; wide-flowing, stormfully swift; and dash against the coming attack. dash against it; stagger it; actually tumble it back, in the centre part; take one of the batteries, and a whole battalion prisoners. here again is a moment! friedrich, they say, rushed personally into this vortex; rallied these broken battalions, again rallied and led them up; but it was to no purpose: they could not be made to stand, these centre battalions;--"some sudden panic in them, a thing unaccountable," says tempelhof; "they are dohna's people, who fought perfectly at jagersdorf, and often elsewhere" (they were all in such a finely burnished state the other day; but have not biting talent, like the grass-devils): enough, they fairly scour away, certain disgraceful battalions, and are not got ranked again till below wilkersdorf, above a mile off; though the grass-devils, on both hands of them, stand grimly steady, left in this ominous manner. what would have become of the affair one knows not, if it had not been that seidlitz once more made his appearance. on friedrich's order, or on his own, i do not know; but sure it is, seidlitz, with sixty-one squadrons, arriving from some distance, breaks in like a deus ex machina, swift as the storm-wind, upon this russian horse-torrent; drives it again before him like a mere torrent of chaff, back, ever back, to the shore of acheron and the stygian quagmires (of the mutzel, namely); so that it did not return again; and the prussian infantry had free field for their platoon exercise. their rage against the russians was extreme; and that of the russians corresponded. three of these grass-devil battalions, who stood nearest to dohna's runaways, were natives of this same burnt-out zorndorf country; we may fancy the platt-teutsch hearts of them, and the sacred lightning, with a moisture to it, that was in their eyes. platt-teutsch platooning, bayonet-charging,--on such terms no russian or mortal quadrilateral can stand it. the russian minotaur goes all to shreds a second time; but will not run. "no quarter!"--"well, then, none!" "shortly after four o'clock," say my accounts, "the firing," regular firing, "altogether ceased; ammunition nearly spent, on both sides; prussians snatching cartridge-boxes of russian dead;" and then began a tug of deadly massacring and wrestling man to man, "with bayonets, with butts of muskets, with hands, even with teeth [in some russian instances], such as was never seen before." the russians, beaten to fragments, would not run: whither run? behind is mutzel and the bog of acheron;--on mutzel is no bridge left; "the shore of mutzel is thick with men and horses, who have tried to cross, and lie there swallowed in the ooze"--"like a pavement," says tielcke. the russians,--never was such vis inertiae as theirs now. they stood like sacks of clay, like oxen already dead; not even if you shot a bullet through them, would they fall at once, says archenholtz, but seem to be deliberate about it. complete disorder reigned on both sides; except that the prussians could always form again when bidden, the russians not. this lasted till nightfall,--russians getting themselves shoved away on these horrid terms, and obstinate to take no other. towards dark, there appeared, on a distant knoll, something like a ranked body of them again,--some , foot and half as many horse; whom themicoud (superlative swiss cossack, usually written demikof or demikow) had picked up, and persuaded from the shore of acheron, back to this knoll of vantage, and some cannon with them. friedrich orders these to be dispersed again: general forcade, with two battalions, taking the front of them, shall attack there; you, general rauter, bring up those dohna fellows again, and take them in flank. forcade pushes on, rauter too,--but at the first taste of cannon-shot, these poor dohna-people (such their now flurried, disgraced state of mind) take to flight again, worse than before; rush quite through wilkersdorf this time, into the woods, and can hardly be got together at all. scandalous to think of. no wonder friedrich "looked always askance on those regiments that had been beaten at gross jagersdorf, and to the end of his life gave them proofs of it:" [retzow;--and still more emphatically, _briefe eines alten preussischen officiers_ (hohenzollern, ), i. , ii. , &c.] very natural, if the rest were like these! of poor general rauter, tempelhof and the others, that can help it, are politely silent; only saxon tielcke tells us, that friedrich dismissed him, "go, you, to some other trade!"--which, on prussian evidence too, expressed in veiled terms, i find to be the fact: _militair-lexikon,_ obliged to have an article on rauter, is very brief about it; hints nothing unkind; records his personal intrepidity; and says, "in he, on his request, had leave to withdraw,"--poor soul, leave and more! forcade, left to himself, kept cannonading themicoud; themicoud responding, would not go; stood on his knoll of vantage, but gathered no strength: "let him stand," said friedrich, after some time; and themicoud melted in the shades of night, gradually towards the hither shore of acheron,--that is, of acheron-mutzel, none now attempting to pave it farther, but simmering about at their sad leisure there. feldmarschall fermor is now got to his people again, or his people to him; reunited in place and luck: such a chaos as fermor never saw before or after. no regiment or battalion now is; mere simmering monads, this fine army; officers doing their utmost to cobble it into something of rank, without regard to regiments or qualities. darkness seldom sank on such a scene. wild cossack parties are scouring over all parts of the field; robbing the dead, murdering the wounded; doing arson, too, wherever possible; and even snatching at the prussian cannon left rearwards, so that the hussars have to go upon them again. one large mass of them plundering in the hamlet of zicher, the hussars surrounded: the cossacks took to the outhouses; squatted, ran, called in the aid of fire, their constant friend: above of them were in some big barn, or range of straw houses; and set fire to it,--but could not get out for hussars; the hussars were at the outgate: not a devil of you! said the hussars; and the whole four hundred perished there, choked, burnt, or slain by the hussars,--and this poor planet was at length rid of them. [_helden-geschichte,_ v. .] friedrich sends for his tent-equipages; and the army pitches its camp in two big lines, running north and south, looking towards the russian side of things; friedrich's tent in front of the first line; a warrior king among his people, who have had a day's work of it. the russian loss turns out, when counted, to have been , killed, wounded and missing, , of them killed; the prussian sum-total is , (above the prussian third man), of whom , slain. and on the shores of acheron northward yonder, there still is a simmering. and far and wide the country is alight with incendiary fires,--many devils still abroad. excellency mitchell, about eight in the evening, is sent for by the king; finds various chief generals, seidlitz among them, on their various businesses there; congratulates "on the noble victory [not so conclusive hitherto] which heaven has granted your majesty." "had it not been for him," said friedrich,--"had it not been for him, things would have had a bad look by this time!" and turned his sun-eyes upon seidlitz, with a fine expression in them. [preuss, ii. . mitchell (ii. ) mentions the interview, nothing of seidlitz.] to which seidlitz's reply, i find, was an embarrassed blush and of articulate only, "hm, no, ha, it was your majesty's cavalry that did their duty,--but wakenitz [my second] does deserve promotion!"--which wakenitz, not in a too overflowing measure, got. fermor, during the night-watches, having cobbled himself into some kind of ranks or rows, moves down well westward of zabern hollow; to the drewitz heath, where he once before lay, and there makes his bivouac in the wood, safe under the fir-trees, with the zabern ground to front of him. by the above reckoning, or , still hang to fermor, or float vaporously round him; with friedrich, in his two lines, are some , :--in whole, , tired mortals sleeping thereabouts; near , others have fallen into a deeper sleep, not liable to be disturbed;--and of the wounded on the field, one shudders to imagine. next day, saturday, th, fermor, again brought into some kind of rank, and safe beyond the quaggy zabern ground, sent out a proposal, "that there be truce of three days for burying the dead!"--dohna, who happened to be general in command there, answers, "that it is customary for the victor to take charge of burying the slain; that such proposal is surprising, and quite inadmissible, in present circumstances." fermor, in the mean while, had drawn himself out, fronting his late battle-field and the morning sun; and began cannonading across the zabern ground; too far off for hitting, but as if still intending fight: to which the prussians replied with cannon, and drew out before their tents in fighting order. in both armies there was question, or talk, of attacking anew; but in both "there was want of ammunition," want of real likelihood. on fermor's side, that of "attacking" could be talk only, and on friedrich's, besides the scarcity of ammunition, all creatures, foot and especially horse, were so worn out with yesterday's work, it was not judged practically expedient. a while before noon, the prussians retired to their camp again; leaving only the artillery to respond, so far as needful, and bow-wow across the zabern ground, till the russians lay down again. friedrich's hussars knew of the russian wagenburg, or general baggage reservoirs, at klein kamin, by this time. the hussars had been in it, last night; rummaging extensively, at discretion for some time; and had brought away much money and portable plunder. why friedrich, who lay direct between fermor and his wagenburg, did not, this day, extinguish said wagenburg, i do not know; but guess it may have been a fault of omission, in the great welter this was now grown to be to the weary mind. beyond question, if one had blown up fermor's remaining gunpowder, and carried off or burnt his meal-sacks, he must have cowered away all the faster towards landsberg to seek more. or perhaps friedrich now judged it immaterial, and a question only of hours? about midnight of saturday-sunday, there again rose bow-wowing, bellowing of russian cannon; not from beyond the zabern ground this time, nor stationary anywhere, but from the south some transient part of it, and not far off;--one ball struck a carriage near the king's tent, and shattered it. thick mist mantles everything, and it is difficult to know what the russians have on hand in their sylvan seclusions. after a time, it becomes manifest the russians are on retreat; winding round, through the southern woods, behind zorndorf and the charred villages, to klein kamin, landsberg way. friedrich, following now on the heel of them, finds all got to klein kamin, to breakfast there in their wagenburg refectory,--sharply vigilant, many fleches (little arrow-shaped redoubts, so named) and much artillery round them. nothing considerable to be done upon them, now or afterwards, except pick up stragglers, and distress their rear a little. the king himself, in the first movement, was thought to be in alarming peril, such a blaze of case-shot rose upon him, as he went reconnoitring foremost of all. [tempelhof, ii. - ; tielcke, ii. - ; archenholtz, i. - ; _helden-geschichte,_ v. - (with many lists, private letters and the like details); &c. &c.] and this was, at last, the end of zorndorf battle; on the third day this. was there ever seen such a fight of theseus and the minotaur! theseus, rapid, dexterous, with heaven's lightning in his eyes, seizing the minotaur; lassoing him by the hinder foot, then by the right horn; pouring steel and destruction into him, the very dust darkening all the air. minotaur refusing to die when killed; tumbling to and fro upon its theseus; the two lugging and tugging, flinging one another about, and describing figures of round each other for three days before it ended. minotaur walking off on his own feet, after all. it was the bloodiest battle of the seven-years war; one of the most furious ever fought; such rage possessing the individual elements; rage unusual in modern wars. must have altered friedrich's notion of the russians, when he next comes to speak with keith. it was not till the fourth day hence (august st), so unattackably strong was this position at klein kamin, that the russian minotaur would fairly get to its feet a second time, and slowly stagger off, in real earnest, landsberg way and konigsberg way;--friedrich right glad to leave dohna in attendance on it; and hasten off (september d) towards saxony and prince henri, where his presence is now become very needful. map goes here facing page , book xviii---- fermor, walking off in this manner,--not till the third day, nay not conclusively till the seventh day, after zorndorf,--strove at first to consider himself victorious. "i passed the night on the field of battle [or not far from it, for good reasons, mutzel being bridgeless]: may not i, in the language of enthusiasm, be considered conqueror? here are of their cannon, got when i cried 'arah' prematurely. (where the pieces of my own are, and my flags, and my army-chest and sundries? dropped somewhere; they will probably turn up again!)" thinks fermor,--or strives to think, and says. so that, at petersburg, at paris and vienna, in the next three weeks, there were te-deums, ambrosian chantings, fires-of-joy; and considerable arguing among the gazetteers on both parts,--till the dust settled, and facts appeared as they were. to the effect: "te deum non laudamus; alas no, we must retract; and it was good gunpowder thrown after bad!" on always homewards, but at its own pace, waited on by dohna, goes the russian monster: violently case-shotting if you prick into its rearward parts. one palmbach,--under romanzow, i think, who had not taken part in the battle, being out stettin way, and unable to join till now,--palmbach, with a detachment of , , which was thought sufficient for the object, did try to make a dash on colberg,--how happy had we any port on the baltic, to feed us in this country! but though colberg is the paltriest crow's-nest (bicoque), according to all engineers, and is defended only by militia (the colonel of them, one heyde, a gray old half-pay, not yet renowned in the soldier world, as he here came to be), palmbach, with his best diligence, could make nothing of it; but, after battering, bombarding, even scalading, and in all ways blurting and blazing at a mighty rate for four weeks, and wasting a great deal of gunpowder and , russian lives, withdrew on those remarkable terms. [in _helden-geschichte,_ v. - (" d- st october, "), a complete and minute journal of this first siege of colberg, which is interesting to read of, as all the three of them are.] and did then, as tail of fermor, what fermor and the russian monster was universally doing, make off at a good pace,--having nothing to live upon farther,--and vanish from those countries, to the relief of dohna and mankind. september d, friedrich, leaving all that, had marched for saxony; his presence urgently required there. daun ought to be far on with the conquest of that country? might have had it, say judges, if he had been as swift as some.--at zorndorf, among the russian prisoners were certain generals, soltikof, czernichef, sulkowski the pole, proud people in their own eyes: no lodging for them but the cellars of custrin. russian generals complained, "is this a lodging for field-officers of rank!" friedrich was not used to profane swearing, or vituperative outbursts; but he answered to the effect: "silence, ye incendiary individuals. is there a choice left of lodgings, and for you above others!" upon which they lay silent for some days, till better suited; in fact, till exchanged,--and perhaps will soon turn up on us again. chapter xiv.--battle of hochkirch. so soon as friedrich quitted bohemia and silesia for his russian enterprise, there rose high question at vienna, "to what shall our daun now turn himself?" a daun, a reichs army, free for new employment; in saxony not much to oppose them, in silesia almost nothing in comparison. "recapture of silesia?" yes truly; that is the steady pole-star at vienna. but they have no magazines in silesia, no siege-furnitures; and the season is far spent. they decide that there shall be a stroke upon dresden, and recovery of saxony, in friedrich's absence. nothing there at present but a prince henri, weak in numbers, say one to two of the reichs army by itself. let the reichs army rise now, and advance through the metal mountains from southeast on prince henri; let daun circle round on him, through the lausitz from northeast: cannot they extinguish henri between them; snatch dresden, a weak ill-fortified place, by sudden onslaught, and recapture saxony? that will be magnanimous to our august allies;--and that will be an excellent scaffolding for recapture of silesia next year. and cannot daun leave a force in the silesian vicinities,--deville with so many thousands, harsch with so many,--to besiege one of their frontier places; neisse, for example? siege-furnitures to come from mahren: neisse is not farther from olmutz than olmutz was from it. that was the scheme fallen upon; now getting executed while friedrich is at zorndorf well away. and that, if readers fix it intelligently in their memory, will suffice to introduce to them the few words more that can be allowed us here upon it. a very few words, compressed to the utmost,--merely as preface to hochkirch, whither we must hasten; hochkirch being the one incident which, except to studious soldiers, has now and here any interest, out of the very many incidents which, then and there, were so intensely interesting to all mankind. to readers who are curious, and will take with them any poorest authentic outline of the localities concerned, the following condensed note will not be unintelligible. daun and the reichs army invade saxony, in friedrich's absence. "daun, pushing out with his best speed, along the bohemian-silesian border, had got to zittau august th; which poor city is to be his basis and storehouse; the greatest activity and wagoning now visible there,"--among the burnt walls getting rebuilt. and in the same days, zweibruck and his reichs army are vigorously afoot; zweibruck pushing across the metal mountains, the fastest he can; intending to plant himself in pirna country. not to mention general dombale, zweibruck's austrian second; who has the austrian , with him; and, by way of preface, has emerged to westward, in zwickau-tschopau country; calculating that prince henri will not be able to attend to him just now. and in effect prince henri, intent upon zweibruck and the pirna country, takes position in the old prussian ground there ('head-quarter gross seidlitz,' as in ); and can only leave a detachment in tschopau country to wait upon dombale; who does at least shoot out croat parties, 'quite across saxony, to halle all the way,' and entertain the gazetteers, if he can do little real mischief. "august th, from zittau, daun, after short pause, again pushes forward,--nothing but ziethen attending him in the distance, till we see whitherward;--margraf karl waiting impatient, at grussau, till ziethen see. [tempelhof, ii. , et seq.] daun, soon after zittau, shoots out loudon, brandenburg way, as if magnanimously intending 'co-operation with the russians;' which would give daun pleasure, could it be done without cost. loudon does despatch a hussars to frankfurt [friedrich now gone for custrin], who, i think, carry a letter for fermor there; but lose it by the way,"--for the benefit of readers, if they will wait. "loudon captures a poor little place in brandenburg itself; bullies it into surrender, after a day (the very day of zorndorf battle, 'august th'):--place called peitz, garrisoned by forty-five invalids; who go on 'free withdrawal,' poor old souls, and leave their exiguous stock of salt-victual and military furnitures to loudon. [in _helden-geschichte,_ v. - , the "capitulation" in extenso.] upon which loudon whirls back out of those countries; finding his skirts trodden on by ziethen,--who now sees what daun and he are at; and warns margraf karl [properly keith, who has now joined again, as real president or chief] that hither is the way. margraf karl, on the slip for some time past, starts from grussau instantly (i should guess, not above , of all arms); leaving fouquet with perhaps , to do his utmost, when generals harsch and deville with their or , come upon silesia and him,--as indeed they are already doing; already blockading neisse, more or less, with an eye to besieging it so soon as possible. "meanwhile, serene highness of zweibruck, the reichsfolk and some austrians with him, prefaced by dombale more to westward, is wending into pirna country; and, in spite of what prince henri can do (mayor and the free corps shining diligent, and henri one of the watchfulest of men), zweibruck does get in; sets maguire with austrians upon besieging pirna, that is to say, the sonnenstein of pirna; d- th september, gets the sonnenstein, a thought sooner than was counted on; [in _helden-geschichte,_ v. - , account of this poor siege, and of the movements before and after.] and roots himself there,--'head-quarters in struppen' again, 'bridge at ober-raden' again, all as in ; which, if nothing else can well do it, may give his highness a momentary interest with some readers here. prince henri is at gross seidlitz, alive every fibre of him: but with daun circling round to northward on his left, intending evidently to take him in flank or rear; with dombale already to rear, in the above circumstances, on his right; and zweibruck himself lying here in front free to act, and impregnable if acted upon: what is prince henri to do? it is for henri's rear, not his flank, that daun aims: august th, daun, who had got to gorlitz, a march or two from zittau, started again at his best step by the bautzen highway towards meissen bridge, a or miles down the elbe: there daun intends to cross, and to double back upon dresden and prince henri; who will thus find himself enclosed between three fires,--if two were not enough, or even if one (the daun one itself, or the zweibruck itself, not to count the dombale), in such strength as prince henri has! "a lost prince henri,--if there be not shift in him, if there be not help coming to him! prince henri, seeing how it was, drew back from gross seidlitz; with beautiful suddenness, one night; unmolested: in the morning, zweibruch's hussars find him posted-- inexpugnable on the heights of gahmig,--which is nearer dresden a good step; nearer dombale; and not so ready to be enclosed by daun, without enclosure of dresden too. prince henri's manoeuvring, in this difficult situation, is the admiration of military men: how he stuck by gahmig; but threw out, in the vital points, little camps,--'camp of kesselsdorf' (a place memorable), on the west of dresden; and on the east, in the north suburb of dresden itself across the river (should we have to go across the river for daun's sake), a 'strong abatis;' and neglected nothing; self and everybody under him, lively as eagles to make themselves dangerous, mayer in particular distinguishing himself much. prince henri would have been a hard morsel for daun. but beyond that, there is help on the road." friedrich intervening, daun draws back; intrenches himself in neighborhood to dresden and pirna; friedrich following him. four armies standing there, in dead-lock, for a month; with issue, a flank-march on the part of friedrich's army, which halts at hochkirch (september th-october th, ). daun, since august th, is striding towards meissen bridge; without rest, day after day, at the very top of his speed,--which i find is "nine miles a day;" [tempelhof, ii. .] bos being heavy of foot, at his best. september st, daun has got within ten miles of meissen bridge, when--here is news, my friends; king of prussia has beaten our poor russians; will soon be in full march this way! king of prussia and margraf karl both bending hitherward; at the rate, say, of "nineteen miles a day," instead of nine:--meissen bridge is not the thing we shall want! daun instantly calls halt, at this news; waits, intrenches; and, in a day or two, finding the news true, hurries to rearward all he can. from the russian side too, daun has heard of zorndorf, and the grand "victory" of fermor there; but knows well, by this sudden re-emergence of the anti-fermor, what kind of victory it is. was it here while waiting about meissen, or where was it, that daun got his letter to fermor answered in that singular way? the letter of two weeks ago,--carried by loudon's hussars, or by whomsoever,--for certain, it was retorted or returned upon daun; not as if from the dead-letter office, but with an answer he little expected! here is what record i have; very vague for a well-known little fact of sparkling nature:-- "a curious letter fell into friedrich's hands [bearer, i always guess, the loudon hussar-captain with his , pretending to form junction with fermor], prussian hussars picking it up somewhere,--date, place, circumstances, blurred into oblivion in those poor books; letter itself indisputable enough, and answer following on it; letter and answer substantially to this effect:-- "daun to fermor [probably from zittau, by loudon's hussars]. "your excellenz does not know that wily enemy as i do. by no means get into battle with such a one. cautiously manoeuvre about; detain him there, till i have got my stroke in saxony done: don't try fighting him. daun." "answer as from fermor (zorndorf once done, daun by the first opportunity got his answer, duly signed 'fermor,' but evidently in a certain king's handwriting):-- "your excellenz was in the right to warn me against a cunning enemy, whom you knew better than i. here have i tried fighting him, and got beaten. your unfortunate "fermor." [muller, _kurzgefasste beschreibung der drei schlesischen kriege_ (berlin, ); in whom, alone of all the reporters, is the story given in an intelligible form. this muller's book is a meritoriously brief summary, incorrect in no essential particular, and with all the battle-plans on one copperplate: lieutenant muller, this one; not professor muller, alias schottmuller by any means!] september th, friedrich and margraf karl, correct to their appointment, meet at grossenhayn, some miles north of meissen and its bridge; by which time daun is clean gone again, back well above dresden again, strongly posted at stolpen (a place we once heard of, in general haddick's time, last year), well in contact with daun's pirna friends across the river, and out of dangerous neighborhoods. friedrich and the margraf have followed daun at quick step; but daun would pause nowhere, till he got to stolpen, among the bushy gullets and chasms. september th, friedrich had speech of henri, and the pleasure of dining with him in dresden. glad to meet again, under fortunate management on both parts; and with much to speak and consult about. a day or two before, there had lain (or is said to have lain) a grand scheme in daun: zweibruck to burst out from pirna by daybreak, and attack the camp of gahmig in front ( , against , ); daun to cross the river on pontoons, some hours before, under cloud of night, and be ready on rear and left flank of gahmig (with as many supplemental thousands as you like): what can save prince henri? beautiful plan; on which there were personal meetings and dinings together by zweibruck and daun; but nothing done. [tempelhof, ii. - .] at the eleventh hour, say the austrian accounts, zweibruck sent word, "impossible to-morrow; cannot get in my out-parties in time!"--and next day, here is friedrich come, and a collapse of everything. or perhaps there never seriously was such a plan? certain it is, daun takes camp at stolpen, a place known to him, one of the strongest posts in germany; intrenches himself to the teeth,--good rear-guard towards zittau and the magazines; river and pirna on our left flank; loudon strong and busy on our right flank, barring the road to bautzen;--and obstinately sits there, a very bad tooth in the jaw of a certain king; not to be extracted by the best kinds of forceps and the skilfulest art, for nearly a month to come. four armies, friedrich's, henri's, daun's, zweibruck's, all within sword-stroke of each other,--the universal gazetteer world is on tiptoe. but except friedrich's eager shiftings and rubbings upon stolpen (west side, north, and at length northeast side), all is dead-lock, and nothing comes of it. friedrich has his food convenient from dresden; but a road to bautzen withal is what he cannot do without;--and there lies the sorrow, and the aching, as this tooth knows well, and this jaw well! harsch and deville are busy upon neisse, have neisse under blockade, perhaps upon kosel too, for some time past, [neisse "blockaded more and more" since august th (kosel still earlier, but only by pandour people); not completely so till september th, or even till october th: _helden-geschichte,_ v. - .] and are carting the siege-stock to begin bombardment: a road to silesia, before very long, friedrich must and will have. friedrich's operations on daun in this post are patiently artful, and curious to look upon, but beyond description here: enough to say, that in the second week he makes his people hut themselves (weather wet and bad); and in the fourth week, finding that nothing contrivable would provoke daun into fighting,--he loads at dresden provisions for i think nine days; makes, from two or from three sides, a sudden spurt upon loudon, who is daun's northern outpost; brushes loudon hastily away; and himself takes the road for bautzen, by daun's right flank, thrown bare in this manner. [tempelhof, ii. .] road for bautzen; which is the road for zittau withal, for daun's bread-basket, as well as for neisse and harsch! nine days' provision; that is our small outfit, that and our own right-hands; and the waste world lies all ahead. october st, retzow, as vanguard, sweeps out the few croats from bautzen, deposits his meal-wagons there; occupies hochkirch, and the hilly environs to east; is to take possession of weissenberg especially, and of the stromberg hill and other strong points: which retzow punctually does, forgetting nothing,--except perhaps the stromberg, not quite remembered in time; a thing of small consequence in retzow's view, since all else had gone right. hearing of which, daun, with astonishment, finds that he must quit those beautifully chasmy fastnesses of stolpen, and look to his bread; which is getting to lie under the enemy's feet, if zittau road be left yonder as it is. october th, after councils of war and deliberation enough, daun gets under way; [ib. ii. .] cautiously, favored by a night very dark and wet, glides through to right of friedrich's people, softly along between bautzen and the pirna country; nobody molesting him, so dark and wet: and after one other march in those bosky solitudes, sits down at kittlitz,--ahead or to east of bautzen, of hochkirch, of retzow and all friedrich's people;--and again sets to palisading and intrenching there. kittlitz, near lobau, there is daun's new head-quarter; lobau water, with its intricate hollows, his line of defence: his posts going out a mile to north and to south of kittlitz. and so sits; once more blocking zittau road, and quietly waiting what friedrich will do. friedrich is at bautzen since the th; impatient enough to be forward, but must not till a second larger provision-convoy from dresden come in. convoy once in, friedrich hastens off, tuesday, th october, towards weissenberg country, where retzow is; some ten or twelve miles to eastward,--zittau-ward, if that chance to suit us; silesia-ward, as is sure to suit. at the "pass of jenkowitz," short way from bautzen, pandours attempt our baggage; need to be battered off, and again off: which apprises friedrich that daun's whole army is ahead in the neighborhood somewhere. marching on, friedrich, from the knoll of hochkirch, shoulder of the southern hills, gets complete view of daun,--stretching north and south, at right angles to the zittau roads and to friedrich, in the way we described;--and is a little surprised, and i could guess piqued, at seeing daun in such a state of forwardness. "encamp here, then!" he says,--here, on this row of heights parallel to daun, within a mile of daun: just here, i tell you! under the very nose of daun, who is above two to one of us; and see what daun will do. marwitz, his favorite adjutant, one of those free-spoken marwitzes, loyal, skilful, but liable to stiff fits, takes the liberty to remonstrate, argue; says at length, he, marwitz, dare not be concerned in marking out such an encampment; not he, for his poor part! and is put under arrest; and another adjutant does it; cannon playing on his people and him while engaged in the operation. friedrich's obstinate rashness, this tuesday evening, has not wanted its abundant meed of blame,--rendered so emphatic by what befell on saturday morning next. his somewhat too authoritative fixity; a certain radiancy of self-confidence, dangerous to a man; his sovereign contempt of daun, as an inert dark mass, who durst undertake nothing: all this is undeniable, and worth our recognition in estimating friedrich. one considerably extenuating circumstance does at last turn up,--in the shape of a new piece of blame to the erring friedrich; his sudden anger, namely, against the meritorious general retzow; his putting retzow under arrest that tuesday evening: "how, general retzow? you have not taken hold of the stromberg for me!" that is the secret of retzow: and on studying the ground you will find that the stromberg, a blunt tabular hill, of good height, detached, and towering well up over all that region, might have rendered friedrich's position perfectly safe. "seize me the stromberg to-morrow morning, the first thing!" ordered friedrich. and a detachment went accordingly; but found daun's people already there,--indisposed to go; nay determined not to go, and getting reinforced to unlimited amounts. so that the stromberg was left standing, and remained daun's; furnished with plenty of cannon by daun. retzow's arrest, retzow being a steady favorite of friedrich's, was only of a few hours: "pardonable that oversight," thinks friedrich, though it came to cost him dear. for the rest, i find, friedrich's keeping of this camp, without the stromberg, was intended to end, the third day hence: "saturday, th, then, since friday proves impossible!" friedrich had settled. and it did end saturday, th, though at an earlier hour, and with other results than had been expected. keith said, "the austrians deserve to be hanged if they don't attack us here." "we must hope they are more afraid of us than even of the gallows," answered friedrich. a very dangerous camp; untenable without the stromberg. let us try to understand it, and daun's position to it, in some slight degree. "hochkirch (highkirk) is an old wendish-saxon village, standing pleasantly on its hill-top, conspicuous for miles round on all sides, or on all but the south side, where it abuts upon other heights, which gradually rise into hills a good deal higher than it. the village hangs confusedly, a jumble of cottages and colegarths, on the crown and north slope of the height; thatched, in part tiled, and built mostly of rough stone blocks, in our time,--not of wood, as probably in friedrich's. a solid, sluttishly comfortable-looking village; with pleasant hay-fields, or long narrow hay-stripes (each villager has his stripe), reaching down to the northern levels. the church is near the top; churchyard, and some little space farther, are nearly horizontal ground, till the next height begins sloping up again towards the woody hills southward. the view from this little esplanade atop, still better from the church belfry, is wide and pretty. free on all sides except the south: pleasant heights and hollows, of arable, of wood, or pasture; well watered by rushing brooks, all making northward, direct for spree (the berlin spree), or else into the lobau water, which is the first big branch of spree. "the place is still partly of wendish speech; the parson has to preach one half of the sunday in wend, the other in german. among the hills to south," well worth noting at present, "is one called czarnabog, or 'devil's hill;' where the wendish devil and his witches (equal to any german on his blocksberg, or preternatural bracken of the harz) hold their annual witches'-sabbath,--a thing not to be contemplated without a shudder by the wendish mind. thereabouts, and close from hochkirch southward, all is shadowy intricacy of thicket and wild wood. northward too from hochkirch, and all about, i perceive the scene was woodier then than now;--and must have looked picturesque enough (had anybody been in quest of that), with the multifarious uniforms, and tented people sprinkled far and wide among the leafy red-and-yellow of october, ." [tourist's note, september, .] in the village of wuischke, precisely at the northern base of that shaggy czarnabog or devil's hill, stand loudon and , croats and grenadiers, as the extreme left of daun's position. wuischke is nearly straight south of hochkirch; so far westward has loudon pushed forward with his croats, hidden among the hills; though daun's general position lies a good mile to east of friedrich's:--irregularly north and south, both friedrich and daun; the former ignorant what croats and loudonries, there may be among those devil's hills to his right; the latter not ignorant. friedrich's right wing, keith in command of it, stretches to hochkirch and a little farther: beyond hochkirch, it has four flank battalions in potence form, with proper vedettes and pickets; and above all, with a strong battery of twenty guns, which it maintains on the next height immediately adjoining hochkirch, and perceptibly higher than hochkirch. this is the finis of keith on his right; and--except those vedettes, and pickets of free-corps people, thrown out a little way ahead into the bushes, on that side--friedrich's right wing knows nothing of the shaggy elevations horrent with wood, which lie to southward; and merely intends to play its twenty cannon upon them, should they give birth to anything. this is friedrich's posture on his right or south wing. from hochkirch northward or nearly so, but sprinkled about in all the villages and points of strength, as far up as drehsa and beyond drehsa, to near kotitz, a less important village, friedrich extends about four miles; centre at rodewitz, where his own head-quarter is, above two miles north of hochkirch. not far from rodewitz, but a little to left and ahead, stands his second and best battery, of thirty guns; ready to play upon lauska, a poor village, and its roadway, should the austrians try anything there, or from their stromberg post, which is a good mile behind lauska. his strength, in these lines, some count to be only , , or less. four or five miles to northeast, in and behind weissenberg (which we used to know last summer), lies retzow, with perhaps or , , which will bring him up to , , were they properly joined with him as a left wing. daun's force counts , ; with friedrich lying under his nose in this insolent manner. daun's head-quarter, as we said, is kittlitz; a village some two miles short of lobau, in the direction southeast of friedrich; perhaps five miles to southeast of rodewitz, friedrich's lodging. it is close upon the bautzen-zittau highway; zittau some twenty miles to south of it, herrnhuth and the pacific brethren about half-way thither. kittlitz lies more to south than hochkirch itself; and daun's outposts, as we saw, circle quite round among those devil's hills, and envelop friedrich's right flank. but daun's main force lies chiefly northward, and well to west, of kittlitz; parallel to friedrich, and eastward of him; with elaborate intrenchments; every village, brook, bridge, height and bit of good ground, stromberg to end with, punctually secured. obliquely over the stromberg, holding the stromberg and certain villages to southeast and to northwest of it, lies d'ahremberg, as right wing: about , he, put into oblique potence; looking into kotitz, which is friedrich's extreme left; and in a good measure dividing friedrich from the retzow , . and lastly, as reserve, in front of reichenbach, eight or nine miles to east of all that, lies the prince of baden-durlach, , or so; barring retzow on that side, and all attempts on the silesian road there. daun's lines, not counting in the southern outposts or devil's-hill parties, are considerably longer than friedrich's, and also considerably deeper. the two head-quarters are about five miles apart: but the two fronts--divided by a brook and good hollow running here (one of many such, making all for lobau water)--are not half a mile apart. towards hochkirch and the top of this brook, the opposing posts are quite crammed close on one another; divided only by their hollow. many brooks, each with a definite hollow, run tinkling about here, swift but straitened to get out; especially lobau water, which receives them all, has to take a quite meandering circling course (through daun's quarters and beyond them) before it can disembogue in spree, and decidedly set out for berlin under that new name. the landscape--seen from hochkirch village, still better from the church-steeple which lifts you high above it, and commands all round except to the south, where friedrich's battery-height quite shuts you in, and hides even those devil's hills beyond--is cheerful and pretty. village belfries, steeples and towers; airy green ridges of heights, and intricate greener valleys: now rather barer than you like. the tourist tells me, in friedrich's time there must have been a great deal more of wood than now. what actually befell at hochkirch (saturday, th october, ). friedrich, for some time,--probably ever since wednesday morning, when he found the stromberg was not to be his,--had decided to be out of this bad post. in which, clearly enough, nothing was to be done, unless daun would attempt something else than more and more intrenching and palisading himself. friedrich on the second day (thursday, th) rode across to weissenberg, to give retzow his directions, and take view of the ground: "saturday night, herr retzow, sooner it cannot be [friedrich had aimed at friday night, but finds the provision-convoy cannot possibly be up]; saturday night, in all silence, we sweep round out of this,--we and you;--hurl baden-durlach about his business; and are at schops and reichenbach, and the silesian highway open, next morning, to us!" [tempelhof, ii. .] quietly everything is speeding on towards this consummation, on friedrich's part. but on daun's part there is--started, i should guess, on the very same thursday--another consummation getting ready, which is to fall out on saturday morning, fifteen hours before that other, and entirely supersede that other!-- keith's opinion, that the austrians deserve to be hanged if they don't attack us here, is also loudon's opinion and lacy's, and indeed everybody's,--and at length daun's own; who determines to try something here, if never before or after. this plan, all judges admit, was elaborate and good; and was well executed too,--daun himself presiding over the most critical part of the execution. a plan to have ruined almost any army, except this prussian one and the captain it chanced to have. a universal camisado, or surprisal of friedrich in his camp, before daylight: everybody knows that it took effect (hochkirch, saturday, th october, , a.m. of a misty morning); nobody expects of an unassisted fellow-creature much light on so doubly dark a thing. but the truth is, there are ample accounts, exact, though very chaotic; and the thing, steadily examined, till its essential features extricate themselves from the unessential, proves to be not quite so unintelligible, and nothing like so destructive, overwhelming and ruinous as was supposed. daun's plan is very elaborate, and includes a great many combinations; all his , to come into it, simultaneously or in succession. but the first and grandly vital part, mainspring and father to all the rest, is this: that daun, in person, after nightfall of friday, shall, with the pick of his force, say , horse and foot, with all their artilleries and tools, silently quit his now position in front of hochkirch, friedrich's right wing. shall sweep off, silently to southward and leftward, by wuischke; thence westward and northward, by the northern base of those devil mountains, through the shaggy hollows and thick woods there, hitherto inhabited by croats only, and unknown to the prussians: forward, ever forward, through the night-watches that way; till he has fairly got to the flank of hochkirch and friedrich: daun to be standing there, all round from the southern environs of hochkirch, westward through the woods, by meschwitz, steindorfel, and even north to waditz (if readers will consult their map), silently enclosing friedrich, as in the bag of a net, in this manner;--ready every man and gun by about four on saturday morning. are to wait for the stroke of five in hochkirch steeple; and there and then to begin business,--there first; but, on success there, the whole , everywhere,--and to draw the strings on friedrich, and bag and strangle his astonished people and him. the difficulty has been to keep it perfectly secret from so vigilant a man as friedrich: but daun has completely succeeded. perhaps friedrich's eyes have been a little dimmed by contempt of daun: daun, for the last two days especially, has been more diligent than ever to palisade himself on every point; nothing, seemingly, on hand but felling woods, building abatis, against some dangerous lion's-spring. they say also, he detected a traitor in his camp; traitor carrying letters to friedrich under pretence of fresh eggs,--one of the eggs blown, and a note of daun's procedures substituted as yolk. "you are dead, sirrah," said daun; "hoisted to the highest gallows: are not you? but put in a note of my dictating, and your beggarly life is saved." retzow junior, though there is no evidence except of the circumstantial kind, thinks this current story may be true. [retzow, i. .] certain it is, neither friedrich nor any of his people had the least suspicion of daun's project, till the moment it exploded on them, when the clock at hochkirch struck five. daun, in the last two days, had been felling even more trees than they are aware of,--thousands of trees in those devil's wildernesses to friedrich's right; and has secretly hewn himself roads, passable by night for men and ammunition-wagons there:--and in front of friedrich, especially hochkirch way, daun seems busier than ever felling wood, this friday night; numbers of people running about with axes, with lanterns over there, as if in the push of hurry, and making a great deal of noise. "intending retreat for zittau to-morrow!" thinks friedrich, as the false egg-yolk had taught him; or merely, "that poor precautionary fellow!" supposing the false yolk a myth. in short, daun has got through his nocturnal wildernesses with perfect success. and stands, dreamt of by no enemy, in the places appointed for his , and him; and that poor old clock of hochkirch, unweariedly grunting forward to the stroke of five, will strike up something it is little expecting!-- the prussians have vedettes, pickets and small outposts of free-corps people scattered about within their border of that austrian wood, the body of which, about hochkirch as everywhere else, belongs wholly to croats. of course there are guard-parties, sentries duly vigilant, in the big battery to southeast of hochkirch,--and along southwestward in that potence, or fore-arm of four battalions, which are stationed there. four good battalions looking southward there, with cavalry to right; ziethen's cavalry,--whose horses stand saddled through the night, ready always for the nocturnal "pandourade," which seldom fails them. there, as elsewhere, are the due vigilances, watchmen, watch-fires. the rest of the prussian army is in its blankets, wholly asleep, while daun stands waiting for the stroke of five. that daun, bursting in with his chosen , , will trample down the sleeping prussian potence at hochkirch; capture its big battery to left, its village of hochkirch to rear, and do extensive ruin on the whole right wing of friedrich; rendering friedrich everywhere an easy conquest to the rest of daun's people, who stand, far and wide, duly posted and prepared, waiting only their signal from hochkirch: much of this, all of it that had regard to hochkirch battery and village, and the prussians stationed there, daun did execute. and readers, from the data they have got, must conceive the manner of it,--human description of the next two hours, about hochkirch, in the thick darkness there, and stormful sudden inroad, and stormful resistance made, being manifestly an impossible thing. nobody was "massacred in his bed" as the sympathetic gazetteers fancied; nobody was killed, that i hear of, without arms, in his hand: but plenty of people perished, fierce of humor, on both sides; and from half-past five till towards eight, there was a general blaze of fiery chaos pushing out ever and anon, swallowed in the belly of night again, such as was seldom seen in this world. instead of confused details, and wearisome enumeration of particulars, which nobody would listen to or understand, we will give one intelligent young gentleman's experience, our friend tempelhof's, who stood in this part of the prussian line; experience distinct and indubitable to us; and which was pretty accurately symbolical, i otherwise see, of what befell on all points thereabouts. faithfully copied, and in the essential parts not even abridged, here it is:-- tempelhof, at that time a subaltern of artillery, was stationed with a couple of -pounders in attendance on the battalion plothow, which with three others and some cavalry lay to the south side of hochkirch, forming a kind of fore-arm or potence there to right of the big battery, with their rear to hochkirch; and keeping vedettes and free-corps parties spread out into the woods and devil's hills ahead. tempelhof had risen about three, as usual; had his guns and gunners ready; and was standing by the watch-fire, "expecting the customary pandourade," and what form it would take this morning. "close on five o'clock; and not a mouse stirring! we are not to have our pandourade, then?" on a sudden, noise bursts out; noise enough, sharp fire among the free-corps people; fire growing ever sharper, noisier, for the next half-hour, but nothing whatever to be seen. "battalion plothow had soon got its clothes on, all to the spatterdashes; and took rank to right and left of the fleche, and of my two guns, in front of its post: but on account of the thick fog everything was totally dark. i fired off my cannons [shall we say straight southward?] to learn whether there was anything in front of us. no answer: 'nothing there--pshaw, a mere crackery (geknacker) of pandours and our free-corps people, after all!' but the noise grew louder, and came ever nearer; i turned my guns towards it [southward, southeastward, or perhaps a gun each way?]--and here we had a salvo in response, from some battalions who seemed to be two hundred yards or so ahead. the battalion plothow hereupon gave fire; i too plied my cannons what i could,--and had perhaps delivered fifteen double shots from them, when at once i tumbled to the ground, and lost all consciousness" for some minutes or moments. awakening with the blood running down his face, poor tempelhof concluded it had been a musket-shot in the head; but on getting to his hands and knees, he found the place "full of austrian grenadiers, who had crept in through our tents to rear; and that it had been a knock with the butt of the musket from one of those fellows, and not a bullet" that had struck him down. battalion plothow, assailed on all sides, resisted on all sides; and tempelhof saw from the ground,--i suppose, by the embers of watch-fires, and by rare flashes of musketry, for they did not fire much, having no room, but smashed and stabbed and cut,--"an infantry fight which in murderous intensity surpasses imagination. i was taken prisoner at this turn; but soon after got delivered by our cavalry again." [tempelhof, ii. n.] this latter circumstance, of being delivered by the cavalry, i find to be of frequent occurrence in that first act of the business there: the prussian battalion, surprised on front and rear, always makes murderous fight for itself: is at last overwhelmed, obliged to retire, perhaps opening its way by bayonet charge;--upon which our cavalry (ziethen's, and others that gathered to him) cutting in upon the disordered surprisers, cut them into flight, rescue the prisoners, and for a time reinstate matters. the prussian battalions do not run (nobody runs); but when repulsed by the endless odds, rally again. the big battery is not to be had of them without fierce and dogged struggle; and is retaken more than once or twice. still fiercer, more dogged, was the struggle in hochkirch village; especially in hochkirch church and churchyard,--whither the battalion margraf-karl had flung themselves; the poor village soon taking fire about them. soon taking fire, and continuing to be a scene of capture and recapture, by the flame-light; while battalion margraf-karl stood with invincible stubbornness, pouring death from it; not to be compulsed by the raging tide of austrian grenadiers; not by "six austrian battalions," by "eight," or by never so many. stood at bay there; levelling whole masses of them,--till its cartridges were spent, all to one or two per man; and major lange, the heroic captain of it, said, "we shall have to go, then, my men; let us cut ourselves through!"--and did so, in an honorably invincible manner; some brave remnant actually getting through, with lange himself wounded to death. i think it was not till towards six o'clock that the right wing generally became aware what the case was: "more than a pandourade, yes;"--though what it might be, in the thick fog which had fallen, blotting out all vestiges of daylight, nobody could well say. rallied battalions, reinforced by this or the other battalion hurrying up from leftward, always charge in upon the enemy, in hochkirch or wherever he is busy; generally push him back into the night; but are then fallen upon on both flanks by endless new strength, and obliged to draw back in turn. and ziethen's horse, in the mean while, do execution; breaking in on the tumultuous victors; new cuirassiers, gens-d'armes dashing up to help, so soon as saddled, and charging with a will: so that, on the whole, the enemy, variously attempting, could make nothing of us on that western, or rearward side,--thanks mainly to ziethen and the horse. "had we but waited till three or four of our battalions had got up!" say the prussian narrators. but it is thick mist; few yards ahead you cannot see at all, unless it be flame; and close at hand, all things and figures waver indistinct,--hairy outlines of blacker shadows on a ground of black. it must have been while lange was still fighting, perhaps before lange took to the church of hochkirch, scarcely later than half-past six (but nobody thought of pulling out his watch in such a business!)--about six, or half-past six, when keith, who has charge of this wing, and lodges somewhere below or north of hochkirch, came to understand that his big battery was taken; that here was such a pandourade as had not been before; and that, of a surety, said battery must be retaken. keith springs on horseback; hastily takes "battalion kannacker" and several remnants of others; rushes upwards, "leaving hochkirch a little to right; direct upon the big battery." recaptures the big battery. but is set upon by overwhelming multitudes, bent to have it back;--is passionate for new assistance in this vital point; but can get none: had been "disarted by both his aide-de-camps," says poor john tebay, a wandering english horse-soldier, who attends him as mounted groom; "asked twenty times, and twenty more, 'where are my aide-de-camps!'" ["captens cockcey and goudy" he calls them--(cocceji whose father the kanzler we have seen, and gaudi whose self),--who both had, in succession, struck into hochkirch as the less desperate place, according to tebay: see tebay's letter to mitchell, "crossen, october th" (in memoirs and papers, ii. - );--which is probably true every word, allowing for tebay's temper; but is highly indecipherable, though not entirely so after many readings and researehings.]--but could get no response or reinforcement; and at length, quite surrounded and overwhelmed, had to retire; opening his way by the bayonet; and before long, suddenly stopping short,--falling dead into tebay's arms; shot through the heart. two shots on the right side he had not regarded; but this on the left side was final: keith's fightings are suddenly all done. tebay, in distraction, tried much to bring away the body; but could by no present means; distractedly "rid for a coach;" found, on return, that the austrians had the ground, and the body of his master; hochkirch, church and all, now undisputedly theirs. to appearance, it was this news of keith's repulse (i know not whether of keith's death as yet) that first roused friedrich to a full sense of what was now going on, two miles to south of him. friedrich, according to his habits, must have been awake and afoot when the business first broke out; though, for some considerable time, treating it as nothing but a common crackery of pandours. already, finding the pandourade louder than usual, he had ordered out to it one battalion and the other that lay handy: but now he pushes forward several battalions under franz of brunswick (his youngest brother-in-law), with margraf karl and prince moritz: "swift you, to hochkirch yonder!"--and himself springs on horseback to deal with the affair. prince franz of brunswick, poor young fellow, cheerily coming on, near hochkirch had his head shorn off by a cannon-ball. moritz of dessau, too, "riding within twenty yards of the austrians," so dark was it, he so near-sighted, got badly hit,--and soon after, driving to bautzen for surgery, was made prisoner by pandours; [in archenholtz (i. , ) his dangerous adventures on the road to bautzen, in this wounded condition.] never fought again, "died next year of cancer in the lip." nothing but triumphant austrian shot and cannon-shot going yonder; these battalions too have to fall back with sore loss. friedrich himself, by this time, is forward in the thick of the tumult, with another body of battalions; storming furiously along, has his horse shot under him; storms through, "successfully, by the other side of hochkirch" (hochkirch to his left):--but finds, as the mist gradually sinks, a ring of austrians massed ahead, on the --map goes here, facing page , book xviii------ heights; as far as steindorfel and farther, a general continent of austrians enclosing all the south and southwest; and, in fact, that here is now nothing to be done. that the question of his flank is settled; that the question now is of his front, which the appointed austrian parties are now upon attacking. question especially of the heights of drehsa, and of the pass and brook of drehsa (rearward of his centre part), where his one retreat will lie, steindorfel being now lost. part first of the affair is ended; part second of it begins. rapidly enough friedrich takes his new measures. seizes drehsa height, which will now be key of the field; despatches mollendorf thither (mollendorf our courageous leuthen friend); who vigorously bestirs himself; gets hold of drehsa height before the enemy can; ziethen co-operating on the heights of kumschutz, canitz and other points of vantage. and thus, in effect, friedrich pulls up his torn right skirt (as he is doing all his other skirts) into new compact front against the austrians: so that, in that southwestern part especially; the austrians do not try it farther; but "retire at full gallop," on sight of this swift seizure of the keys by mollendorf and ziethen. friedrich also despatches instant order to retzow, to join him at his speediest. friedrich everywhere rearranges himself, hither, thither, with skilful rapidity, in new line of battle; still hopeful to dispute what is left of the field;--longing much that retzow could come on wings. by this time (towards eight, if i might guess) day has got the upper hand; the daun austrians stand visible on their ring of heights all round, behind hochkirch and our late battery, on to westward and northward, as far as steindorfel and waditz;--extremely busy rearranging themselves into something of line; there being much confusion, much simmering about in clumps and gaps, after such a tussle. in front of us, to eastward, the appointed austrian parties are proceeding to attack: but in daylight, and with our eyes open, it is a thing of difficulty, and does not prosper as hochkirch did. duke d'ahremberg, on their extreme right, had in charge to burst in upon our left, so soon as he saw hochkirch done: d'ahremberg does try; as do others in their places, near daun; but with comparatively little success. d'ahremberg, meeting something of check or hindrance where he tried, pauses, for a good while, till he see how others prosper. their grand chance is their superiority of number; and the fact that friedrich can try nothing upon them, but must stand painfully on the defensive till retzow come. to friedrich, retzow seems hugely slow about it. but the truth is, baden-durlach, with his , of reserve, has, as per order, made attack on retzow, , against : one of the feeblest attacks conceivable; but sufficient to detain retzow till he get it repulsed. retzow is diligent as time, and will be here. meanwhile, the austrians on front do, in a sporadic way, attack and again attack our batteries and posts; especially that big battery of thirty guns, which we have to north of rodewitz. the austrians do take that battery at last; and are beginning again to be dangerous,--the rather as d'ahremberg seems again to be thinking of business. it is high time retzow were here! few sights could be gladder to friedrich, than the first glitter of retzow's vanguard,--horse, under prince eugen of wurtemberg,--beautifully wending down from weissenberg yonder; skilfully posting themselves, at belgern and elsewhere, as thorns in the sides of d'ahremberg (sharp enough, on trial by d'ahremberg). followed, before long, by retzow himself; serenely crossing lobau water; and, with great celerity, and the best of skill, likewise posting himself,--hopelessly to d'ahremberg, who tries nothing farther. the sun is now shining; it is now ten of the day. had retzow come an hour sooner;--efore we lost that big battery and other things! but he could come no sooner; be thankful he is here at last, in such an overawing manner. friedrich, judging that nothing now can be made of the affair, orders retreat. retreat, which had been getting schemed, i suppose, and planned in the gloom of the royal mind, ever since loss of that big battery at rodewitz. little to occupy him, in this interim; except indignant waiting, rigorously steady, and some languid interchange of cannon-shot between the parties. retreat is to klein-bautzen neighborhood (new head-quarter doberschutz, outposts kreckwitz and purschwitz); four miles or so to northwest. rather a shifting of your ground, which astonishes the military reader ever since, than a retreating such as the common run of us expected. done in the usual masterly manner; part after part mending off, retzow standing minatory here, mollendorf minatory there, in the softest quasi-rhythmic sequence; cavalry all drawn out between belgern and kreckwitz, baggage-wagons filing through the pass of drehsa;--not an austrian meddling with it, less or more; daun and his austrians standing in their ring of five miles, gazing into it like stone statues; their regiments being still in a confused state,--and their daun an extremely slow gentleman. [tempelhof, ii. - ; seyfarth, _beylagen,_ i. - ; _helden-geschichte,_ v. - ; archenholtz, &c. &c.] and in this manner friedrich, like a careless swimmer caught in the mahlstrom, has not got swallowed in it; but has made such a buffeting of it, he is here out of it again, without bone broken,--not, we hope, without instruction from the adventure. he has lost pieces of cannon, most of his tents and camp-furniture; and, what is more irreparable, above , of his brave people, , of them and officers (keith and moritz for two) either dead or captive. in men the austrian loss, it seems, is not much lower, some say is rather a shade higher; by their own account, officers, , rank and file, killed and wounded,--not reckoning , prisoners they lost to us, and "at least , " who took that chance of deserting in the intricate dark woods. [tempelhof, ii. ; but see kausler, p. .] friedrich, all say, took his punishment in a wonderfully cheerful manner. de catt the reader, entering to him that evening as usual, the king advanced, in a tragic declamatory attitude; and gave him, with proper voice and gesture, an appropriate passage of racine:-- "enfin apres un an, tu me revois, arbate, non plus comme autrefois cet heureux mithridate, qui, de rome toujours balancant le destin, tenait entre elle et moi l'univers incertain. je suis vaincu; pompee a saisi l'avantage d'une nuit qui laissait peu de place au courage; mes soldats presque nus, dans"... not a little to de catt's comfort. [rodenbeck, i. .] during the retreat itself, retzow junior had come, as papa's aide-de-camp, with a message to the king; found him on the heights of klein bautzen, watching the movements. message done with, the king said, in a smiling tone, "daun has played me a slippery trick to-day!" "i have seen it," answered retzow; "but it is only a scratch, which your majesty will soon manage to heal again."--"glaubt er dies, do you think so?" "not only i, but the whole army firmly believe it of your majesty."--"you are quite right," added the king, in a confidentially candid way: "we will manage daun. what i lament is, the number of brave men that have died this morning." [retzow, i. n.] on the morrow, he was heard to say publicly: "daun has let us out of check-mate; the game is not lost yet. we will rest ourselves here, a few days; then go for silesia, and deliver neisse." the anecdote-books (perhaps not mythically) add this: "where are all your guns, though?" said the king to an artilleryman, standing vacant on parade, next day. "ihro majestat, the devil stole them all, last night!"--"hm, well, we must have them back from him." [archenholtz, i. .] nothing immoderately depressive in hochkirch, it appears;--though, alas, on the fourth day after, there came a message from baireuth; which did strike one down: "my noble wilhelmina dead; died in the very hours while we were fighting here!" [on a common business-letter to prince henri, "doberschutz, th october, ," is this sudden bit of autograph: "grand dieu, ma soeur de bareith!"--(schoning, _der siebenjahrige krieg, nach der original-correspondens &c. aus den staats-archiven:_ potsdam, : i. .)] readers must conceive it: coming unexpected more or less, black as sudden universal hurricane, on the heart of the man; a sorrow sacred, yet immeasurable, irremediable to him; as if the sky too were falling on his head, in aid of the mean earth and its ravenings:--of all this there can nothing be said at present. friedrich's one relief seems to have been the necessity laid on him of perpetual battling with outward business;--we may fancy, in the rapid weeks following, how much was lying at all times in the background of his mind suppressed into its caves. daun, it appears, was considerably elated; spent a great deal of his time, so precious just at present, in writing despatches, in congratulating and being congratulated;--did an elaborate te-deum, or ambrosian song, in artillery and vox humana,--which with the adjuncts, say splenetic people, as at kolin, sensibly assisted friedrich's affairs. daun was by no means of braggart turn; but the recognition of his matchless achievement by the gazetteer public, whether in exultation or in lamentation, was loud and universal; and the joy, in vienna and the cognate quarters, knew no bounds for the time being. thus, among other tokens, the holiness of our lord the pope, blessing heaven for such success against the heretic, was pleased to send him "a consecrated hat and sword,"--such as the old popes were wont, very long ago, to bestow on distinguished champions against the heathen,--(much jeered at, and crowed over, by a profane friedrich [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xv. , , , &c. &c.: in preuss, ii. , complete list of these poor pieces; which are hearty, not hypocritical, in their contemptuous hilarity, but have little other metit.]): "the effect of which miraculous furnishings," says tempelhof, "turned out to be that the feldmarschall never gained any success more;" in fact, except that small thing on finck next year, never any, as it chanced. daun had withdrawn to his old camp, on the day of hochkirch; leaving only a detachment on the field there: it was not for six or seven days more that he stept out to the kreckwitz and purschwitz neighborhood; more within sight of his vanquished enemy,--but nothing like vigilant enough of what might still be in him, after such vanquishing!--we must spare this note, for the sake of a heroic kind of man, who had not too much of reward in the world:-- "tebay could not recover keith's body: croats had the plundering of keith; other austrians, not of croat kind, carried the dead general into hochkirch church: lacy's emotion on recognizing him there,--like a tragic gleam of his own youth suddenly brought back to him, as in starlight, piercing and sad, from twenty years distance,--is well known in books. on the morrow, sunday, october th, keith had honorable soldier's-burial there,--'twelve cannon' salvoing thrice, and 'the whole corps of colloredo' with their muskets thrice; lacy as chief mourner, not without tears. four months after, by royal order, keith's body was conveyed to berlin; reinterred in berlin, in a still more solemn public manner, with all the honors, all the regrets; and keith sleeps now in the garnison-kirche:--far from bonnie inverugie; the hoarse sea-winds and caverns of dunottar singing vague requiem to his honorable line and him, in the imaginations of some few. 'my brother leaves me a noble legacy,' said the old lord marischal: 'last year he had bohemia under ransom; and his personal estate is ducats, (about pounds). [varnhagen, p. .] "in hochkirch church there is still, not in the churchyard as formerly, a fine, modestly impressive monument to keith; modest urn of black marble on a pedestal of gray,--and, in gold letters, an inscription not easily surpassable in the lapidary way:... 'dum in praelio non procul hinc inclinatam suorum aciem mente manu voce et exemplo restituerat pugnans ut heroas decet occubuit. d. xiv. octobris' these words go through you like the clang of steel. [in rodenbeck, i. . given also (very nearly correct) in correspondence of sir robert murray keith (london, ), i. . this is the junior of the two diplomatic roberts, genealogical cousins of keith; by this one (in , not as german guide-books have it) the hochkirch monument was set up. a very interesting collection of letters those of his;--edited with the usual darkness, or rather more.] friedrich's sorrow over him ('tears,' high eulogies, 'loua extremement') is itself a monument. twenty years after, keith had from his master a statue, in berlin. one of four; to the four most deserving: schwerin ( ), winterfeld ( ), seidlitz ( , keith (when?), [nicolai _ (beschreibung der residenzstadte,_ i. , ) gives these dates for the three, and for keith's no date.]--which still stand in the wilhelm platz there. "hochkirch church has been rebuilt in late years: a spacious airy church, with galleries, and requisites, especially with free air, light and cleanliness. capable perhaps of , sitters: half of them wends. 'above skeletons, in one heap, were dug out, in cutting the new foundations. the strong outer door of the old church, red oak, i should think, is still retained in that capacity; still shows perhaps half a dozen rough big quasi-keyholes, torn through it in different parts, and daylight shining in, where the old bullets passed. the keith monument, perhaps four feet high, is on the flagged floor, left side of the pulpit, close by the wall,--'the bench where keith's body lay has had to be cased in new plank [zinc would be better] against the knives of tourists.'" old lord marischal--george, "marechal d'ecosse" as he always signs himself--was by this time seventy-two; king's governor of neufchatel, for a good while past and to come ( - ). in "james," the junior, but much the stronger and more solid, he has lost, as it were, a father and younger brother at once; father, under beautiful conditions; and the tears of the old man are natural and affecting. ten years older than his brother; and survived him still twenty years. an excellent cheery old soul, he too; honest as the sunlight, with a fine small vein of gayety, and "pleasant wit," in him: what a treasure to friedrich at potsdam, in the coming years; and how much loved by him (almost as one boy loves another), all readers would be surprised to discover. some hints of him will perhaps be allowed us farther on. sequel of hochkirch; the campaign ends in a way surprising to an attentive public ( d october- th november, ). there followed upon hochkirch five weeks of rapid events; such as nobody had been calculating on. to the reader, so weary of marchings, manoeuvrings, surprisals, campings and details of war, not many words, we hope, may render these results conceivable. friedrich stayed ten days, refitting himself, in that camp of klein-bautzen, on one of the branches of the spree. daun, who had retired to his old strong place, on the th, scarcely occupying hochkirch field at all, came out in about a week; and took a strong post near friedrich; not attempting anything upon him, but watching him, now better within sight. friedrich's fixed intention is, to march to neisse all the same; what probably daun, under the shadow of his laurels and his new papal hat, may not have considered possible, with the road to neisse blocked by , men. friedrich has refitted himself with the requisite new cannon and furnitures, from dresden; especially with prince henri and , foot and horse,--led by prince henri in person; so prince henri would have it, the capricious little man; and that finck should be left in saxony instead of him. all which weakens saxony not a little. but friedrich hopes the reichs army is a feeble article; ill off for provision in those parts, and not likely to attempt very much on the sudden. accordingly:-- friedrich marches, enigmatically, not on glogau, but on reichenbach and gorlitz; to daun's astonishment. sunday evening, october d, convoy of many wagons quit bautzen (bautzen proper, not the village, but the town), laden with all the wounded of hochkirch; above , by count, to carry them to dresden for deliberate surgery. keith's tebay, i perceive, is in this convoy; not ill hurt, but willing to lie in hospital a little, and consider. these poor fellows cannot get to dresden: on the second day, a daun detachment, hussaring about in those parts, is announced ahead; and (by new order from head-quarters) the convoy turns northwards for hoyerswerda,--(to tebay's disgust with the commandant; "shied off," says tebay, "for twelve hussars!" [second letter from tebay, in mitchell, ubi supra.])--and, i think, in the end, went on to glogau instead of dresden. which was very fortunate for tebay and the others. the poor wounded being thus disposed of, friedrich next night, at o'clock, monday, d, in the softest manner, pushes off his bakery and army stores a little way, northward down the spree valley, on the western fork of the spree (fork farthest from daun); follows, himself, with the rest of the army, next evening, down the eastern fork, also northward. "going for glogau," thinks daun, when the hussars report about it (late on tuesday night): "let him go, if he fancy that a road to neisse! but, indeed, what other shift has he," considers daun, "but to try rallying at glogau yonder, safe under the guns?"--and is not in the slightest haste about this new matter. [tempelhof, ii. - .] united with his baggage-column, friedrich proceeds northeastward; crosses spree still northward or northeastward; encamps there, in the dark hours of tuesday; no daun heeding him. before daylight, however, friedrich is again on foot; in several columns now, for the bad country-roads ahead;--and has struck straight southeastward, if daun were noting him. and, in the afternoon of wednesday, daun is astonished to learn that this wily enemy is arrived in reichenbach vicinity; sweeping in our poor posts thereabouts; immovably astride of the silesian highway, after all! an astonished daun hastens out, what he can, to take survey of the sudden phenomenon. tries it, next day and next, with his best loudons and appliances; finds that this phenomenon can actually march to neisse ahead of him, indifferent to pandours, or giving them as good as they bring;--and that nothing but a battle and beating (could we rashly dream of such a thing, which we cannot) will prevent it. "very well, then!" daun strives to say. and lets the phenomenon march (from gorlitz, october th); loudon harassing the rear of it, for some days; not without counter harassment, much waste of cannonading, and ruin to several poor lausitz villages by fire,--"prussians scandalously burn them, when we attack!" says loudon. till, at last, finding this march impregnably arranged, "split into two routes," and ready for all chances, loudon also withdraws to more promising business. poor general retzow senior was of this march; absolutely could not be excused, though fallen ill of dysentery, like to die;--and did die, the day after he got to schweidnitz, when the difficulties and excitement were over. [retzow, i. .] of friedrich's march, onward from gorlitz, we shall say nothing farther, except that the very wind of it was salvatory to his silesian fortresses and interests. that at neisse, on and after november st,--which is the third or second day of friedrich's march,--general treskow, commandant of neisse, found the bombardment slacken more and more ("king of prussia coming," said the austrian deserters to us); and that, on november th, treskow, looking out from neisse, found the austrian trenches empty, generals harsch and deville hurrying over the hills homewards,--pickings to be had of them by treskow,--and neisse siege a thing finished. [tagebuch, &c. ("diary of the siege of neisse," th august, th october, th november, , " a.m. suddenly"), in seyfarth, _beylagen,_ ii. - : of treskow's own writing; brief and clear. _helden-geschichte,_ v. - .] it had lasted, in the way of blockade and half-blockade, for about three months; deville, for near one month, half-blockading, then harsch (since september th) wholly blockading, with deville under him, and an army of , ; though the actual cannonade, very fierce, but of no effect, could not begin till little more than a week ago,--so difficult the getting up of siege-material in those parts. kosel, under commandant lattorf, whose praises, like treskow's, were great,--had stood four months of pandour blockading and assaulting, which also had to take itself away on advent of friedrich. of friedrich, on his return-journey, we shall hear again before long; but in the mean while must industriously follow daun. feldmarschall daun and the reichs army try some siege of dresden ( th- th november). october th, daun, seeing neisse siege as good as gone to water, decided with himself that he could still do a far more important stroke: capture dresden, get hold of saxony in friedrich's absence. daun turned round from reichenbach, accordingly; and, at his slow-footed pace, addressed himself to that new errand. had he made better despatch, or even been in better luck, it is very possible he might have done something there. in dresden, and in governor schmettau with his small garrison, there is no strength for a siege; in saxony is nothing but some poor remnant under finck, much of it free-corps and light people: capable of being swallowed by the reichs army itself,--were the reichs army enterprising, or in good circumstances otherwise. it is true the russians have quitted colberg as impossible; and are flowing homewards dragged by hunger: the little dohna army will, therefore, march for saxony; the little anti-swedish army, under wedell, has likewise been mostly ordered thither; both at their quickest. for daun, all turns on despatch; loiter a little, and friedrich himself will be here again! daun, i have no doubt, stirred his slow feet the fastest he could. november th, daun was in the neighborhood of pirna country again, had his bridge at pirna, for communication; urged the reichs army to bestir itself, now or never. reichs army did push out a little against finck; made him leave that perpetual camp of gahmig, take new camps, kesselsdorf and elsewhere; and at length made him shoot across elbe, to the northwest, on a pontoon bridge below dresden, with retreating room to northward, and shelter under the guns of that city. reichs army has likewise made powerful detachments for capture of leipzig and the northwestern towns; capture of torgau, the magazine town, first of all: summon them, with force evidently overpowering, "free withdrawal, if you don't resist; and if you do--!" at torgau there was actual attempt made (november th), rather elaborate and dangerous looking; under haddick, with near , of the "austrian-auxiliary" sort: to whom the old commandant--judging wedell, the late anti-swedish wedell, to be now near--rushed out with " men and one big gun;" and made such a firing and gesticulation as was quite extraordinary, as if wedell were here already: till wedell's self did come in sight; and the overpowering reichs detachment made its best speed else-whither. [tempelhof, &c.; "letter from a prussian officer," in _helden-geschichte_, v. .] the other sieges remained things of theory; the other reichs detachments hurried home, i think, without summoning anybody. meanwhile, daun, with the proper artilleries at last ready, comes flowing forward (november th- th); and takes post in the great garden, or south side of dresden; minatory to schmettau and that city. the walls, or works, are weak; outside there is nothing but mayer and the free corps to resist, who indeed has surpassed himself this season, and been extraordinarily diligent upon that lazy reichs army. commandant schmettau signifies to daun, the day daun came in sight, "if your excellenz advance farther on me, the grim rules of war in besieged places will order that i burn the suburbs, which are your defences in attacking me,"--and actually fills the fine houses on the southern suburb with combustible matter, making due announcements, to court and population, as well as to dann. "burn the suburbs?" answers daun: "in the name of civilized humanity, you will never think of such thing!" "that will i, your excellenz, of a surety, and do it!" answers schmettau. so that dresden is full of pity, terror and speculation. the common rumor is, says excellency mitchell, who is sojourning there for the present, "that bruhl [nefarious bruhl, born to be the death of us!] has persuaded polish majesty to sanction this enterprise of daun's,"--very careless, bruhl, what become of dresden or us, so the king of prussia be well hurt or spited! certain enough, november th, daun does come on, regardless of schmettau's assurances; so that, "about midnight:" mayer, who "can hear the enemy busily building four big batteries" withal, has to report himself driven to the edge of those high houses (which are filled with combustibles), and that some croats are got into the upper windows. "burn them, then!" answers schmettasu (such the dire necessity of sieged places): and, "at a.m." (three hours' notice to the poor inmates), mayer does so; hideous flames bursting out, punctually at the stroke of : "whole suburb seemed on blaze [about a sixth part of it actually so], nay you would have said the whole town was environed in flames." excellency mitchell climbed a steeple: "will not describe to your lordship the horror, the terror and confusion of this night; wretched inhabitants running with their furniture [what of it they had got flung out, between o'clock and ] towards the great garden; all dresden, to appearance, girt in flames, ruins and smoke." such a night in dresden, especially in the pirna suburb, as was never seen before. [mitchell, _memoirs and papers,_ i. . in _helden-geschichte,_ v. - , minute account (corresponding well with mitchell's); ib. - , the certified details of the damage done: " houses lost;" " human lives."] this was the sad beginning, or attempt at beginning, of dresden siege; and this also was the end of it, on daun's part at present. for four days more, he hung about the place, minatory, hesitative; but attempted nothing feasible; and on the fifth day,--"for a certain weighty reason," as the austrian gazettes express it,--he saw good to vanish into the pirna rock-country, and be out of harm's way in the mean while! the truth is, daun's was an intricate case just now; needing, above all things, swiftness of treatment; what, of all things, it could not get from daun. his denunciations on that burnt suburb were again loud; but schmettau continues deaf to all that,--means "to defend himself by the known rules of war and of honor;" declares, he "will dispute from street to street, and only finish in the middle of polish majesty's royal palace." denunciation will do nothing! daun had above , men in those parts. rushing forward with sharp shot and bayonet storm, instead of logical denunciation, it is probable daun might have settled his schmettau. but the hour of tide was rigorous, withal;--and such an ebb, if you missed it in hesitating! november th, daun withdrew; the ebbing come. that same day, friedrich was at lauban in the lausitz, within a hundred miles again; speeding hitherward; behind him a silesia brushed clear, before him a saxony to be brushed. "reason weighty" enough, think daun and the austrian gazettes! but such, since you have missed the tide-hour, is the inexorable fact of ebb,--going at that frightful rate. daun never was the man to dispute facts. november th, friedrich arrived in dresden; heard, next day, that daun had wheeled decisively homeward from pirna country; that the reichs army and he are diligently climbing the metal mountains; and that there is not in saxony, more than in silesia, an enemy left. what a sequel to hochkirch! "neisse and dresden both!" we had hoped as sequel, if lucky: "neisse or dresden" seemed infallible. and we are climbing the metal mountains, under facts superior to us. and campaign third has closed in this manner;--leaving things much as it found them. essentially a drawn match; contending parties little altered in relative strength;--both of them, it may be presumed, considerably weaker. friedrich is not triumphant, or shining in the light of bonfires, as last year; but, in the mind of judges, stands higher than ever (if that could help him much);--and is not "annihilated" in the least, which is the surprising circumstance. friedrich's marches, especially, have been wonderful, this year. in the spring-time, old marechal de belleisle, french minister of war, consulting officially about future operations, heard it objected once: "but if the king of prussia were to burst in upon us there?" "the king of prussia is a great soldier," answered m. de belleisle; "but his army is not a shuttle (navette),"--to be shot about, in that way, from side to side of the world! no surely; not altogether. but the king of prussia has, among other arts, an art of marching armies, which by degrees astonishes the old marechal. to "come upon us en navette," suddenly "like a shuttle" from the other side of the web, became an established phrase among the french concerned in these unfortunate matters. [archenholtz, i. ; montalembert, saepius, for the phrase "en navette."] "the pitt-and-ferdinand campaign of ," says a note, which i would fain abridge, "is more palpably victorious than friedrich's, much more an affair of bonfires than his; though it too has had its rubs. loss of honor at crefeld; loss of louisburg and codfishery: these are serious blows our enemy has had. but then, to temper the joy over louisburg, there was, at ticonderoga, by abercrombie, on the small scale (all the extent of scale he had), a melancholy platitude committed: that of walking into an enemy without the least reconnoitring of him, who proves to be chin-deep in abatis and field-works; and kills, much at his ease, about , brave fellows, brought , miles for that object. and obliges you to walk away on the instant, and quit ticonderoga, like a--surely like a very tragic dignitary in cocked-hat! to be cashiered, we will hope; at least to be laid on the shelf, and replaced by some wolfe or some amherst, fitter for the business! nor were the descents on the french coast much to speak of: 'great guns got at cherbourg,' these truly, as exhibited in hyde-park, were a comfortable sight, especially to the simpler sort: but on the other hand, at morlaix, on the part of poor old general bligh and company, there had been a platitude equal or superior to that of abercrombie, though not so tragical in loss of men. 'what of that?' said an enthusiastic public, striking their balance, and joyfully illuminating.--here is a clipping from ohio country, 'letter of an officer [distilled essence of two letters], dated, fort-duquesne, th november, :-- "'our small corps under general forbes, after much sore scrambling through the wildernesses, and contending with enemies wild and tame, is, since the last four days, in possession of fort duquesne [pittsburg henceforth]: friday, th, the french garrison, on our appearance, made off without fighting; took to boats down the ohio, and vanished out of those countries,'--forever and a day, we will hope. 'their louisiana-canada communication is lost; and all that prodigious tract of rich country,'--which mr. washington fixed upon long ago, is ours again, if we can turn it to use. 'this day a detachment of us goes to braddock's field of battle [poor braddock!], to bury the bones of our slaughtered countrymen; many of whom the french butchered in cold blood, and, to their own eternal shame and infamy, have left lying above ground ever since. as indeed they have done with all those slain round the fort in late weeks;'--calling themselves a civilized nation too!" [old newspapers (in _gentleman's magazine_ for , pp. , ).] lower rhine, july-november, . "ferdinand's manoeuvres, after crefeld, on the france-ward side of rhine, were very pretty: but, without wesel, and versus a belleisle as war-minister, and a contades who was something of a general, it would not do. belleisle made uncommon exertions, diligent to get his broken people drilled again; contades was wary, and counter-manoeuvred rather well. finally, soubise" (readers recollect him and his or , , who stood in frankfurt country, on the hither or north side of rhine), famed rossbach soubise,--"pushing out, at belleisle's bidding, towards hanover, in a region vacant otherwise of troops,--became dangerous to ferdinand. 'making for hanover?' thought ferdinand: 'or perhaps meaning to attack my , english that are just landed? nay, perhaps my rhine-bridge itself, and the small party left there?' ferdinand found he would have to return, and look after soubise. crossed, accordingly (august th), by his old bridge at rees,--which he found safe, in spite of attempts there had been; ["fight of meer" (chevert, with , , beaten off, and the bridge saved, by imhof, with , ;--both clever soldiers; imhof in better luck, and favored by the ground: " th august, "): mauvillon, i. .]--and never recrossed during this war. judges even say his first crossing had never much solidity of outlook in it; and though so delightful to the public, was his questionablest step. "on the , english, soubise had attempted nothing. ferdinand joined his english at soest (august th); to their great joy and his; [duke of marlborough's heavy-laden letter to pitt, "koesfeld, august th:" "nothing but rains and uncertainties;" "marching, latterly, up to our middles in water;" have come from embden, straight south towards wesel country, almost miles (soest still a good sixty miles to southeast of us). chatham correspondence (london, ), i. , . the poor duke died in two months hence; and the command devolved on lord george sackville, as is too well known.] to , as a first instalment:--grand-looking fellows, said the germans. and did you ever see such horses, such splendor of equipment, regardless of expense? not to mention those bergschotten (scotch highlanders), with their bagpipes, sporrans, kilts, and exotic costumes and ways; astonishing to the german mind. [romantic view of the bergschotten ( , of them, led by the junior of the robert keiths above mentioned, who is a soldier as yet), in archenholtz, i. - : ib. and in preuss, ii. , of the "uniforms with gold and silver lace," of the superb horses, "one regiment all roan horses, another all black, another all" &c.] out of all whom (bergschotten included), ferdinand, by management,--and management was needed,--got a great deal of first-rate fighting, in the next four years. "nor, in regard to hanover, could soubise make anything of it; though he did (owing to a couple of stupid fellows, general prince von ysenburg and general oberg, detached by ferdinand on that service) escape the lively treatment ferdinand had prepared for him; and even gave a kind of beating to each of those stupid fellows, [ . "fight of sandershausen" (broglio, as soubise's vanguard, , ; versus ysenburg, , , who stupidly would not withdraw till beaten: " d july, ," before ferdinand had come across again). . fight of lutternberg (soubise, , ; versus oberg, about , , who stupidly hung back till soubise was all gathered, and then &c., still more stupidly: " th october, "). see mauvillon, i. (or better, archenholtz, i. ); and mauvillon, i. . both lutternberg and sandershausen are in the neighborhood of cassel;--as many of those ferdinand fights were.]--one of which, oberg's one, might have ruined oberg and his detachment altogether, had soubise been alert, which he by no means was! 'paris made such jeering about rossbach and the prince de soubise,' says voltaire, [_histoire de louis xv._ ] 'and nobody said a word about these two victories of his, next year!' for which there might be two reasons: one, according to tempelhof, that 'the victories were of the so-so kind (sic waren auch darnach);' and another, that they were ascribed to broglio, on both occasions,--how justly, nobody will now argue! "contades had not failed, in the mean while, to follow with the main army; and was now elaborately manoeuvring about; intent to have lippstadt, or some fortress in those rhine-weser countries. on the tail of that second so-so victory by soubise, contades thought, now would be the chance. and did try hard, but without effect. ferdinand was himself attending contades; and mistakes were not likely. ferdinand, in the thick of the game (october st- th), 'made a masterly movement'--that is to say, cut contades and his soubise irretrievably asunder: no junction now possible to them; the weaker of them liable to ruin,--unless contades, the stronger, would give battle; which, though greatly outnumbering ferdinand, he was cautious not to do. a melancholic cautious man, apt to be over-cautious,--nicknamed 'l'apothecaire' by the parisians, from his down looks,--but had good soldier qualities withal. soubise and he haggled about, a short while,--not a long, in these dangerous circumstances; and then had to go home again, without result, each the way he came; contades himself repassing through wesel, and wintering on his own side of the rhine." how pitt is succeeding, and aiming to succeed, on the french foreign settlements: on the guinea coast, on the high seas everywhere; in the west indies; still more in the east,--where general lally (that fiery o'mullally, famous since fontenoy), missioned with "full-powers," as they call them, is raging up and down, about madras and neighborhood, in a violent, impetuous, more and more bankrupt manner:--of all this we can say nothing for the present, little at any time. here are two facts of the financial sort, sufficiently illuminative. the much-expending, much-subsidying government of france cannot now borrow except at per cent interest; and the rate of marine insurance has risen to per cent. [retzow, ii. .] one way and other, here is a pitt clearly progressive; and a long-pending jenkins's-ear question in a fair way to be settled! friedrich stays in saxony about a month, inspecting and adjusting; thence to breslau, for winter-quarters. his winter is like to be a sad and silent one, this time; with none of the gayeties of last year; the royal heart heavy enough with many private sorrows, were there none of public at all! this is a word from him, two days after finishing daun for the season:-- friedrich to mylord marischal (at colombier in neufchatel). "dresden, d november, . "there is nothing left for us, mon cher mylord, but to mingle and blend our weeping for the losses we have had. if my head were a fountain of tears, it would not suffice for the grief i feel. "our campaign is over; and there has nothing come of it, on one side or the other, but the loss of a great many worthy people, the misery of a great many poor soldiers crippled forever, the ruin of some provinces, the ravage, pillage and conflagration of some flourishing towns. exploits these which make humanity shudder: sad fruits of the wickedness and ambition of certain people in power, who sacrifice everything to their unbridled passions! i wish you, mon cher mylord, nothing that has the least resemblance to my destiny; and everything that is wanting to it. your old friend, till death."--f. [_oeuvres de frederic,_ xx. .] william of germany by stanley shaw, ll.d. trinity college dublin with a frontispiece the frontispiece is from a photograph by e. bieber, of berlin contents page i. introductory....................................... ii. youth ( - ).................................. iii. pre-accession days ( - )..................... iv. "von gottes gnaden"................................ v. the accession ( - ).......................... vi. the court of the emperor........................... vii. "dropping the pilot"............................... viii. spacious times ( - )......................... ix. the new century ( - )........................ x. the emperor and the arts........................... xi. the new century--_continued_ ( - )........... xii. morocco ( )..................................... xiii. before the "november storm" ( - )............ xiv. the november storm ( ).......................... xv. after the storm ( - )........................ xvi. the emperor to-day................................. index ................................................... i. introductory. william the second, german emperor and king of prussia, burgrave of nürnberg, margrave of brandenburg, landgrave of hessen and thuringia, prince of orange, knight of the garter and field-marshal of great britain, etc., was born in berlin on january , , and ascended the throne on june , . he is, therefore, fifty-four years old in the present year of his jubilee, , and his reign--happily yet unfinished--has extended over a quarter of a century. the englishman who would understand the emperor and his time must imagine a country with a monarchy, a government, and a people--in short, a political system--almost entirely different from his own. in germany, paradoxical though it may sound to english ears, there is neither a government nor a people. the word "government" occurs only once in the imperial constitution, the magna charta of modern germans, which in settled the relations between the emperor and what the englishman calls the "people," and then only in an unimportant context joined to the word "federal." in germany, instead of "the people" the englishman speaks of when he talks politics, and the democratic orator, mr. bryan, in america is fond of calling the "peopul," there is a "folk," who neither claim to be, nor apparently wish to be, a "people" in the english sense. the german folk have their traditions as the english people have traditions, and their place in the political system as the english people have; but both traditions and place are wholly different from those of the english people; indeed, it may be said are just the reverse of them. the german emperor believes, and assumes his people to believe, that the hollenzollern monarch is specially chosen by heaven to guide and govern a folk entrusted to him as the talent was entrusted to the steward in scripture. until , a little over sixty years ago, the emperor (at that time only king of prussia) was an absolute, or almost absolute, monarch, supported by soldiers and police, and his wishes were practically law to the folk. in that year, however, owing to the influence of the french revolution, the king by the gift of a constitution, abandoned part of his powers, but not any governing powers, to the folk in the form of a parliament, with permission to make laws for itself, though not for him. to pass them, that is; for they were not to carry the laws into execution--that was a matter the king kept, as the emperor does still, in his own hands. the business of making laws being, as experience shows, provocative of discussion, discussion of argument, and argument of controversy, there now arose a dozen or more parties in the parliament, each with its own set of controversial opinions, and these the parties applied to the novel and interesting occupation of law-making. however, it did not matter much to the king, so long as the folk did not ask for further, or worse still, as occurred in england, for all his powers; and accordingly the parties continued their discussions, as they do to-day, sometimes accepting and sometimes rejecting their own or the king's suggestions about law-making. generally speaking, the relation is not unlike that established by the dame who said to her husband, "when we are of the same opinion, you are right, but when we are of different opinions, i am right." if the parliament does not agree with the emperor, the emperor dissolves it. these parties, from the situation of their seats in a parliament of deputies, became known as the parties of the right, or conservative parties, and the parties of the left, or liberal parties. between them sat the members of the centre, who, as representing the catholic populations of germany--roughly, twenty-two millions out of sixty-six--became a powerful and unchanging phalanx of a hundred deputies, which had interests and tactics of its own independently of right or left. by and by, one of the parties of the left, representing the classes who work with their hands as distinguished from the classes who work with their heads, thought they would like to live under a political system of their own making and began to show a strong desire to take all power from the king and from the parliament too. they agitated and organized, and organized and agitated, until at length, having settled on what was found to be an attractive theory, they made a wholly separate party, almost a people and parliament of their own. this is known as the social democracy, with, at present, no deputies. such, in a comparatively few sentences, is the political state of things in germany. it might indeed be expressed in still fewer words, as follows: heaven gave the royal house of hohenzollern, as a present, a folk. the hohenzollerns gave the folk, as a present, a parliament, a power to make laws without the power of executing them. the social democrats broke off from the folk and took an anti-hohenzollern and anti-popular attitude, and the folk in their parliament divided into parties to pass the time, and--of course--make laws. this may seem to be treating an important subject with levity. it is intended merely as a statement of the facts. the system in germany works well, to an englishman indeed surprisingly so. in england there is no heaven-appointed king; all the powers of the king, both that of making laws and of administering them, have long ago been taken by the people from the king and entrusted by them to a parliament, the majority of whom, called the government, represent the majority of the electing voters. in the case of germany the folk have surrendered some of what an englishman would term their "liberties," for example, the right to govern, to the king, to be used for the common good; whereas in the case of england, the people do not think it needful to surrender any of their liberties, least of all the government of their country, in order to attain the same end. thus, while the german emperor and the german folk have the same aims as the english king and the english people, the common weal and the fair fame of their respective countries, the two monarchs and the two peoples have agreed on almost contrary ways of trying to secure them. the political system of germany has had to be sketched introductorily as for the englishman, a necessary preliminary to an understanding of the german emperor's character and policy. one of the most important results of the character and policy is the state of anglo-german relations; and the writer is convinced that if the character and policy were better and more generally known there would be no estrangement between the two countries, but, much more probably, mutual respect and mutual good-will. with the growth of this knowledge, the writer is tempted to believe, would cease a delusion that appears to exist in the minds, or rather the imaginations, of two great peoples, the delusion that the highest national interests of both are fundamentally irreconcilable, and that the policies of their governments are fundamentally opposed. it seems indeed as though neither in england nor in germany has the least attention been paid to the astonishing growth of commerce between the countries or to the repeated declarations made through a long series of years by the respective governments on their countries' behalf. the growth in commerce needs no statistics to prove it, for it is a matter of everyday observation and comment. the english government declares it a vital necessity for an insular power like great britain, with colonies and duties appertaining to their possession in all, and the most distant, parts of the world, to have a navy twice as powerful as that of any other possibly hostile power. the ordinary german immediately cries out that england is planning to attack him, to annihilate his fleet, destroy his commerce, and diminish his prestige among the nations. the german government repeatedly declares that the german fleet is intended for defence not aggression, that germany does not aim at the seizure of other people's property, but at protecting her growing commerce, at standing by her subjects in all parts of the world if subjected to injury or insult, and at increasing her prestige, and with it her power for good, in the family of nations. the ordinary englishman immediately cries out that germany is seeking to dispute his maritime supremacy, to rob him of his colonies, and to appropriate his trade. is it not conceivable that both governments are telling the truth, and that their designs are no more and no less than the governments represent them to be? the necessity for great britain possessing an all-powerful fleet that will keep her in touch with her colonies if she is not to lose them altogether, is self-evident, and understood by even the most chauvinistic german. the necessity for germany's possessing a fleet strong enough to make her rights respected is as self-evident. moreover, if germany's fleet is a luxury, as mr. winston churchill says it is, she deserves and can afford it. as a nation she has prospered and grown great, not by a policy of war and conquest, but by hard work, thrift, self-denial, fidelity to international engagements, well-planned instruction, and first-rate organization. why should she not, if she thinks it advisable and is willing to spend the money on it, supply herself with an arm of defence in proportion to her size, her prosperity, and her desert? it may be that, as mr. norman angell holds, the entire policy of great armaments is based on economic error; but unless and until it is clear that the german navy is intended for aggression, its growth may be viewed by the rest of the world with equanimity, and by the englishman, as a connoisseur in such matters, with admiration as well. a man may buy a motor-car which his friends and neighbours think must be costly and pretentious beyond his means; but that is his business; and if the man finds that, owing to good management and industry and skill, his business is growing and that a motor-car is, though in some not absolutely clear and definite way, of advantage to him in business and satisfying to his legitimate pride--why on earth should he not buy or build it? the truth is that if our ordinary englishman and german were to sit down together, and with the help of books, maps, and newspapers, carefully and without prejudice, consider the annals of their respective countries for the last sixteen years with a view to establishing the causes of their delusion, they could hardly fail to confess that it was due to neither believing a word the other said; to each crediting the other with motives which, as individuals and men of honesty and integrity in the private relations of life, each would indignantly repudiate; to each assuming the other to be in the condition of barbarism mankind began to emerge from nineteen hundred years ago; to both supposing that christianity has had so little influence on the world that peoples are still compelled to live and go about their daily work armed to the teeth lest they may be bludgeoned and robbed by their neighbours; that the hundreds of treaties solemnly signed by contracting nations are mere pieces of waste paper only testifying to the profundity and extent of human hypocrisy; that churches and cathedrals have been built, universities, colleges, and schools founded, only to fill the empty air with noise; that the printing presses of all countries have been occupied turning out myriads of books and papers which have had no effect on the reason or conscience of mankind; that nations learn nothing from experience; and to each supposing that he and his fellow-countrymen alone are the monopolists of wisdom, honour, truth, justice, charity--in short, of all the attributes and blessings of civilization. is it not time to discard such error, or must the nations always suspect each other? to finish with our introduction, and notwithstanding that _qui s'excuse s'accuse_, the biographer may be permitted to say a few words on his own behalf. inasmuch as the subject of his biography is still, as has been said, happily alive, and is, moreover, in the prime of his maturity, his life cannot be reviewed as a whole nor the ultimate consequences of his character and policy be foretold. the biographer of the living cannot write with the detachment permissible to the historian of the dead. no private correspondence of the emperor's is available to throw light on his more intimate personal disposition and relationships. there have been many rumours of war since his accession, but no european war of great importance; and if a few minor campaigns in tropical countries be excepted, germany for over forty years, thanks largely to the emperor, has enjoyed the advantages of peace. from the pictorial and sensational point of view continuous peace is a drawback for the biographer no less than for the historian. what would history be without war?--almost inconceivable; since wars, not peace, are the principal materials with which it deals and supply it with most of its vitality and interest--must it also be admitted, its charm? for what are hannibal or napoleon or frederick the great remembered?--for their wars, and little else. shakespeare has it that-- "men's evil manners live in brass; their virtues we write in water." who, asks heine, can name the artist who designed the cathedral of cologne? in this regard the biographer of an emperor is almost as dependent as the historian. the biography of an emperor, again, must be to a large extent, the history of his reign, and in no case is this more true than in that of emperor william. but he has been closely identified with every event of general importance to the world since he mounted the throne, and the world's attention has been fastened without intermission on his words and conduct. the rise of the modern german empire is the salient fact of the world's history for the last half-century, and accordingly only from this broader point of view will the emperor's future biographer, or the historian of the future, be able to do him or his empire justice. lastly, another difficulty, if one may call it so, experienced equally by the biographer and the historian, is the fact that the life of the emperor has been blameless from the moral standpoint. on two or three occasions early in the reign accounts were published of scandals at the court. they may not have been wholly baseless, but none of them directly involved the emperor, or even raised a doubt as to his respectability or reputation. take from history--or from biography for that matter--the vices of those it treats of, and one-third, perhaps one-half, of its "human interest" disappears. in the circumstances, therefore, all the writer need add is that he has done the best he could. he has ignored, certainly, at two or three stages of his narration, the demands of strict chronological succession; but if so, it has been to describe some of the more important events of the reign in their totality. he has also felt it necessary, as writing for english readers of a country not their own, to combine a portion of history with his biography. if, at the same time, he has ventured to infuse into both biography and history a slight admixture of philosophy, he can only hope that the fusion will not prove altogether disagreeable. ii. youth - as the education of a prince, and the surroundings in which he is brought up, are usually different from the education and surroundings of his subjects, it is not surprising if, at least during some portion of his reign, and until he has graduated in the university of life, misunderstandings, if nothing worse, should occur between them: indeed the wonder is that princes and people succeed in living harmoniously together. they are separated by great gulfs both of sentiment and circumstance. bismarck is quoted by one of his successors, prince hohenlohe, as remarking that every king of prussia, with whatever popularity he began his reign, was invariably hated at the close of it. the prince that would rule well has to study the science of government, itself a difficult and incompletely explored subject, and the art of administration; he has to know history, and above all the history of his own country; not that history is a safe or certain guide, but that it informs him of traditions he will be expected to continue in his own country and respect in that of others; he must understand the political system under which his people choose to live, and the play of political, religious, economic, and social forces which are ever at work in a community; he must learn to speak and understand (not always quite the same thing) other languages besides his own; and concurrently with these studies he must endeavour to develop in himself the personal qualities demanded by his high office--health and activity of body, quick comprehension and decision, a tenacious memory for names and faces, capacity for public speaking, patience, and that command over the passions and prejudices, natural or acquired, which is necessary for his moral influence as a ruler. on what percentage of his subjects is such a curriculum imposed, and what allowances should not be made if a full measure of success is not achieved? but even when the prince has done all this, there is still a study, the most comprehensive and most important of all, in which he should be learned--the study of humanity, and in especial that part of it with the care of whose interests and happiness he is to be charged. a few people seem to have this knowledge instinctively, others acquire something of it in the school of sad experience. it is not the fault of the emperor, if, in his youth, his knowledge of humanity was not profound. there was always a strong vein of idealism and romance among hohenzollerns, the vein of a lohengrin, a tancred, or some mediæval knight. the emperor, of course, never lived among the common people; never had to work for a living in competition with a thousand others more fortunate than he, or better endowed by nature with the qualities and gifts that make for worldly success; never, so far as is known to a watchful and exceptionally curious public, endured domestic sorrow of a deep or lasting kind; never suffered materially or in his proper person from ingratitude, carelessness, or neglect; never knew the "penalty of adam, the seasons' difference"; never, in short, felt those pains one or more of which almost all the rest of mankind have at one time or other to bear as best they may. the emperor has always been happy in his family, happy in seeing his country prosperous, happy in the admiration and respect of the people of all nations; and if he has passed through some dark hours, he must feel happy in having nobly borne them. want of knowledge of the trials of ordinary humanity is, of course, no matter of reproach to him; on the contrary, it is matter of congratulation; and, as several of his frankest deliverances show, he has, both as man and monarch, felt many a pang, many a regret, many a disappointment, the intensity of which cannot be gauged by those who have not felt the weight of his responsibilities. a discharge of guns in the gardens of crown prince frederick's palace in berlin on the morning of january , , announced the birth of the future emperor. there were no portents in that hour. nature proceeded calmly with her ordinary tasks. heaven gave no special sign that a new member of the hohenzollern family had appeared on the planet earth. nothing, in short, occurred to strengthen the faith of those who believe in the doctrine of kingship by divine appointment. it was a time of political and social turmoil in many countries, the groundswell, doubtless, of the revolutionary wave of . the crimean war, the indian mutiny, and the war with china had kept england in a continual state of martial fever, and the agitation for electoral reform was beginning. lord palmerston was prime minister, with lord odo russell as minister for foreign affairs and mr. gladstone as minister of finance. napoleon iii was at war with austria as the ally of italy, where king emmanuel ii and cavour were laying the foundations of their country's unity. russia, after defeating schamyl, the hero of the caucasus, was pursuing her policy of penetration in central asia. in prussia the unrest was chiefly domestic. the country, while nominally a great power, was neutral during the crimean war, and played for the moment but a small part in foreign politics. bismarck, in his "gedanke und erinnerungen," compares her submission to austria to the patience of the french noble-man he heard of when minister in paris, whose conduct in condoning twenty-four acts of flagrant infidelity on the part of his wife was regarded by the french as an act of great forbearance and magnanimity. prince william, the emperor's grandfather, afterwards william i, first german emperor, was on the throne, acting as prince regent for his brother, frederick william iv, incapacitated from ruling by an affection of the brain. the head of the prussian ministry, manteuffel, had been dismissed, and a "new era," with ministers of more liberal tendencies, among them von bethmann hollweg, an ancestor of the present chancellor, had begun. general von roon was minister of war and marine, offices at that time united in one department. the italian war had roused germany anew to a desire for union, and a great "national society" was founded at frankfurt, with the liberal leader, rudolf von bennigsen, at its head. public attention was occupied with the subject of reorganizing the army and increasing it from , to , men. parliament was on the eve of a bitter constitutional quarrel with bismarck, who became prussian prime minister (minister president) in , about the grant of the necessary army funds. most of the great intellects of germany--kant, goethe, schiller, hegel, fichte, schleiermacher--had long passed away. heinrich heine died in paris in . frederick nietzsche was a youth, richard wagner's "tannhäuser" had just been greeted, in the presence of the composer, with a storm of hisses in the opera house at paris. the social condition of germany may be partially realized if one remembers that the death-rate was over per _mille_, as compared with per _mille_ to-day; that only a start had been made with railway construction; that the country, with its not very generous soil, depended wholly upon agriculture; that savings-bank deposits were not one-twelfth of what they are now; that there were training schools where there are to-day, and evening classes as against , in ; that many of the principal towns were still lighted by oil; that there was practically no navy; and that the bulk of the aristocracy lived on about the same scale as the contemporary english yeoman farmer. berlin contained a little less than half a million inhabitants, compared with its three and a half millions of to-day, and the state of its sanitation may be imagined from the fact that open drains ran down the streets. the emperor's father, frederick iii, second german emperor, was affectionately known to his people as "unser fritz," because of his liberal sympathies and of his high and kindly character. to most englishmen he is perhaps better known as the husband of the princess, afterwards empress, adelaide victoria, eldest daughter of queen victoria, and mother of the emperor. frederick iii had no great share in the political events which were the birth-pangs of modern germany, unless his not particularly distinguished leadership in the war of and that with france be so considered. the greater part of his life was passed as crown prince, and a crown prince in germany leads a life more or less removed from political responsibilities. he succeeded his father, william i, on the latter's death, march , , reigned for ninety-nine days, and died, on june th following, from cancer of the throat, after an illness borne with exemplary fortitude. to what extent the character of his parents affected the character of the emperor it is impossible to determine. the emperor seldom refers to his parents in his speeches, and reserves most of his panegyric for his grandfather and his grandfather's mother, queen louise; but the comparative neglect is probably due to no want of filial admiration and respect, while the frequent references to his grandfather in particular are explained by the great share the latter took in the formation of the empire and by his unbounded popularity. the crown prince was an affectionate but not an easy-going father, with a passion for the arts and sciences; his mother also was a disciplinarian, and, equally with her husband, passionately fond of art; and it is therefore not improbable that these traits descended to the emperor. as to whether the alleged "liberality" of the crown prince descended to him depends on the sense given to the word "liberal." if it is taken to mean an ardent desire for the good and happiness of the people, it did; if it is taken to mean any inclination to give the people authority to govern themselves and direct their own destinies, it did not. the mother of the emperor, the empress frederick, had much of queen victoria's good sense and still more of her strong will. a thoroughly english princess, she had, in german eyes, one serious defect: she failed to see, or at least to acknowledge, the superiority of most things german to most things english. she had an english nurse, emma hobbs, to assist at the birth of the future emperor. she made english the language of the family life, and never lost her english tastes and sympathies; consequently she was called, always with an accent of reproach, "the engländerin," and in german writings is represented as having wished to anglicize not only her husband, her children, and her court, but also her adopted country and its people. a chaplain of the english church in berlin, the rev. j.h. fry, who met her many times, describes her as follows:-- "she was not the wife for a german emperor, she so english and insisted so strongly on her english ways. the result was that she was very unpopular in germany, and the germans said many wicked things of her. she hated berlin, and if her son, the present emperor, had not required that she should come to the capital every winter, she would have lived altogether at cronberg in the villa an italian friend bequeathed to her. "she was extremely musical, had extensively cultivated her talents in this respect, and was an accomplished linguist. like her mother, queen victoria, she was unusually strong-minded, and was always believed to rule over her amiable and gentle husband. her interest in the english community was great, another reason for the dislike with which the germans regarded her. to her the community owes the pretty little english church in the mon bijou platz (berlin), which she used to attend regularly, and where a funeral service, at which the emperor was present, was held in memory of her. "german feeling was further embittered against her by the morell mackenzie incident, and to this day controversy rages round the famous english surgeon's name. the controversy is as to whether or not morell mackenzie honestly believed what he said when he diagnosed the emperor's illness as non-cancerous in opposition to the opinion of distinguished german doctors like professor bergmann. under german law no one can mount the throne of prussia who is afflicted with a mortal sickness. for long it had been suspected that the emperor's throat was fatally affected, and, therefore, when king william was dying, it became of dynastic and national importance to establish the fact one way or other. queen victoria was ardently desirous of seeing her daughter an empress, and sent sir morrell mackenzie to germany to examine the royal patient. on the verdict being given that the disease was not cancer, the crown prince mounted the throne, and queen victoria's ambition for her daughter was realized. "the empress also put the aristocracy against her by introducing several relaxations into court etiquette which had up to her time been stiff and formal. her relations with bismarck, as is well known, were for many years strained, and on one occasion she made the remark that the tears he had caused her to shed 'would fill tumblers.' on the whole she was an excellent wife and mother. she was no doubt in some degree responsible for the admiration of england as a country and of the english as a people which is a marked feature of the emperor's character." this account is fairly correct in its estimation of the empress frederick's character and abilities, but it repeats a popular error in saying that german law lays down that no one can mount the prussian throne if he is afflicted with a mortal sickness. there is no "german law" on the subject, and the law intended to be referred to is the so-called "house-law," which, as in the case of other german noble families, regulates the domestic concerns of the house of hohenzollern. bismarck disposes of the assertion that a hohenzollern prince mortally stricken is not capable of succession as a "fable," and adds that the constitution, too, contains no stipulation of the sort. the influence of his mother on the emperor's character did not extend beyond his childhood, while probably the only natural dispositions he inherited from her were his strength of will and his appreciation of classical art and music. many of her political ideas were diametrically opposed to those of her son. her love of art made her pro-french, and her visit to paris, it will be remembered, not being made _incognito_, led to international unpleasantness, originating in the foolish chauvinism of some leading french painters whose ateliers she desired to inspect. she believed in a homogeneous german empire without any federation of kingdoms and states, advocated a constitution for russia, and was satisfied that the common sense of a people outweighed its ignorance and stupidity. the emperor has four sisters and a brother. the sisters are charlotte, born in , and married to the hereditary prince of saxe-meiningen; victoria, born in , and married to prince adolphus of schaumberg-lippe; sophie, born in , and married to king constantine, of greece; and margarete, born in , and married to prince friederich karl of hessen. the emperor's only brother, prince henry of prussia, was born in , and is married to princess irene of hessen. he is probably the most popular hohenzollern to-day. he adopted the navy as a profession and devotes himself to its duties, taking no part in politics. like the emperor himself and the emperor's heir, the crown prince, he is a great promoter of sport, and while a fair golfer (with a handicap of ) and tennis player, gives much of his leisure to the encouragement of the automobile and other industries. every hohenzollern is supposed to learn a handicraft. the emperor did not, owing to his shortened left arm. prince henry learned book-binding under a leading berlin bookbinder, herr collin. the crown prince is a turner. prince henry seems perfectly satisfied with his position in the empire as inspector-general of the fleet, stands to attention when talking to the emperor in public, and on formal occasions addresses him as "majesty" like every one else. only in private conversation does he allow himself the use of the familiar _du_. the emperor has a strong affection for him, and always calls him "heinrich." many stories are current in germany relating to the early part of the emperor's boyhood. some are true, others partially so, while others again are wholly apochryphal. all, however, are more or less characteristic of the boy and his surroundings, and for this reason a selection of them may be given. apropos of his birth, the following story is told. an artillery officer went to receive orders for the salute to be discharged when the birth occurred. they were given him by the then prince regent, afterwards emperor william i. the officer showed signs of perplexity. "well, is there anything else?" inquired the regent. "yes, royal highness; i have instructions for the birth of a prince and for that of a princess (which would be guns); but what if it should be twins?" the regent laughed. "in that case," he said, "follow the prussian rule--_suum cuique_." when the child was born the news ran like wildfire through berlin, and all the high civil and military officials drove off in any vehicle they could find to offer their congratulations. the regent, who was at the foreign office, jumped into a common cab. immediately after him appeared tough old field-marshal wrangel, the hero of the danish wars. he wrote his name in the callers' book, and on issuing from the palace shouted to the assembled crowd, "children, it's all right: a fine stout recruit." on the evening of the birth a telegram came from queen victoria, "is it a fine boy?" and the answer went back, "yes, a very fine boy." another story describes how the child was brought to submit cheerfully to the ordeal of the tub. he was "water-shy," like the vast majority of germans at that time, and the nurses had to complain to his father, crown prince frederick, of his resistance. the crown prince thereupon directed the sentry at the palace gate not to salute the boy when he was taken out for his customary airing. the boy remarked the neglect and complained to his father, who explained that "sentries were not allowed to present arms to an unwashed prince." the stratagem succeeded, and thereafter the lad submitted to the bathing with a good grace. like all boys, the lad was fond of the water, though now in another sense. at the age of two, nursery chroniclers relate, he had a toy boat, the _fortuna_, in which he sat and see-sawed--and learned not to be sea-sick! at three he was put into sailor's costume, with the bell-shaped trousers so dear to the hearts of english mothers fifty years ago. at the age of four he had a memorable experience, though it is hardly likely that now, after the lapse of half a century, he remembers much about it. this was his first visit to england in , when he was taken by his parents to be present at the marriage of his uncle, king edward vii, then prince of wales. the boy, in pretty highland costume, was an object of general attention, and occupies a prominent place in the well-known picture of the wedding scene by the artist frith. the ensuing fifteen years saw him often on english soil with his father and mother, staying usually at osborne castle, in the isle of wight. here, it may be assumed, he first came in close contact with the ocean, watched the english warships passing up and down, and imbibed some of that delight in the sea which is not the least part of the heritage of englishmen. the visits had a decided effect on him, for at ten we find him with a row-boat on the havel and learning to swim, and on one occasion rowing a distance of twenty-five miles between a.m. and p.m. about this time he used to take part with his parents in excursions on the _royal louise_, a miniature frigate presented by george iv to frederick william iii. still another story concerns the boy and his father. the former came one day in much excitement to his tutor and said his father had just blamed him unjustly. he told the tutor what had really happened and asked him, if, under the circumstances, he was to blame. the tutor was in perplexity, for if he said the father had acted unjustly, as in fact he thought he had, he might lessen the son's filial respect. however, he gave his candid opinion. "my prince," he said, "the greatest men of all times have occasionally made mistakes, for to err is human. i must admit i think your father was in the wrong." "really!" cried the lad, who looked pained. "i thought you would tell me i was in the wrong, and as i know how right you always are i was ready to go to papa and beg his pardon. what shall i do now?" "leave it to me," the tutor said, and afterwards told the crown prince what had passed. the crown prince sent for his son, who came and stood with downcast eyes some paces off. the crown prince only uttered the two words, "my son," but in a tone of great affection. as he folded the prince in his arms he reached his hand to the tutor, saying, "i thank you. be always as true to me and to my son as you have been in this case." the last anecdote belongs also to the young prince's private tutor days. at one time a certain dr. d. was teaching him. every morning at eleven work was dropped for a quarter of an hour to enable the pair, teacher and pupil, to take what is called in german "second breakfast." the prince always had a piece of white bread and butter, with an apple, a pear, or other fruit, while the teacher was as regularly provided with something warm--chop, a cutlet, a slice of fish, salmon, perch, trout, or whatever was in season, accompanied by salad and potatoes. the smell of the meat never failed to appeal to the olfactory nerves of the prince, and he often looked, longingly enough, at the luxuries served to his tutor. the latter noticed it and felt sorry for him; but there was nothing to be done: the royal orders were strict and could not be disobeyed. one day, however, the lesson, one of repetition, had gone so well that in a moment of gratitude the tutor decided to reward his pupil at all hazards. the lunch appeared, steaming "perch-in-butter" for the tutor, and a plate of bread and butter and some grapes for the pupil. the prince cast a glance at the savoury dish and was then about to attack his frugal fare when the tutor suddenly said, "prince, i'm very fond of grapes. can't we for once exchange? you eat my perch and i--" the prince joyfully agreed, plates were exchanged, and both were heartily enjoying the meal when the crown prince walked in. both pupil and tutor blushed a little, but the crown prince said nothing and seemed pleased to hear how well the lesson had gone that day. at noon, however, as the tutor was leaving the palace, a servant stopped him and said, "his royal highness the crown prince would like to speak with the herr doktor." "herr doktor," said the crown prince, "tell me how it was that the prince to-day was eating the warm breakfast and you the cold." the tutor tried to make as little of the affair as possible. it was a joke, he said, he had allowed himself, he had been so well pleased with his pupil that morning. "well, i will pass it over this time," said the crown prince, "but i must ask you to let the prince get accustomed to bear the preference shown to his tutor and allow him to be satisfied with the simple food suitable for his age. what will he eat twenty years hence, if he now gets roast meat? bread and fruit make a wholesome and perfectly satisfactory meal for a lad of his years." during second breakfast next day, the prince took care not to look up from his plate of fruit, but when he had finished, murmured as though by way of grace, "after all, a fine bunch of grapes is a splendid lunch, and i really think i prefer it, herr doktor, to your nice-smelling perch-in-butter." the time had now come when the young prince was to leave the paternal castle and submit to the discipline of school. the parents, one may be sure, held many a conference on the subject. the boy was beginning to have a character of his own, and his parents doubtless often had in mind goethe's lines:-- "denn wir können die kinder nach unserem willen nicht formen, so wie gott sie uns gab, so muss man sie lieben und haben, sie erzielen aufs best und jeglichen lassen gewähren." ("we cannot have children according to our will: as god gave them so must we love and keep them: bring them up as best we can and leave each to its own development.") it had always been hohenzollern practice to educate the heir to the throne privately until he was of an age to go to the university, but the royal parents now decided to make an important departure from it by sending their boy to an ordinary public school in some carefully chosen place. the choice fell on cassel, a quiet and beautiful spot not far from wilhelmshohe, near homburg, where there is a hohenzollern castle, and which was the scene of napoleon's temporary detention after the capitulation of sedan. here at the gymnasium, or _lycée_, founded by frederick the great, the boy was to go through the regular school course, sit on the same bench with the sons of ordinary burghers, and in all respects conform to the gymnasium's regulations. the decision to have the lad taught for a time in this democratic fashion was probably due to the influence of his english mother, who may have had in mind the advantages of an english public school. the experiment proved in every way successful, though it was at the time adversely criticized by some ultra-patriotic writers in the press. to the boy himself it must have been an interesting and agreeable novelty. hitherto he had been brought up in the company of his brothers and sisters in berlin or potsdam, with an occasional "week-end" at the royal farm of bornstedt near the latter, the only occasions when he was absent from home being sundry visits to the grand ducal court at karlsruhe, where the grand duchess was an aunt on his father's side, and to the court at darmstadt, where the grand duchess was an aunt on the side of his mother. an important ceremony, however, had to be performed before his departure for school--his confirmation. it took place at potsdam on september , , amid a brilliant crowd of relatives and friends, and included the following formal declaration by the young prince: "i will, in childlike faith, be devoted to god all the days of my life, put my trust in him and at all times thank him for his grace. i believe in jesus christ, the saviour and redeemer. him who first loved me i will love in return, and will show this love by love to my parents, my dear grandparents, my sisters and brothers and relatives, but also to all men. i know that hard tasks await me in life, but they will brace me up, not overcome me. i will pray to god for strength and develop my bodily powers." the boy and his brother henry stayed in cassel for three years, in the winter occupying a villa near the gymnasium with dr. hinzpeter, and in summer living in the castle of wilhelmshohe hard by. besides attending the usual school classes, they were instructed by private tutors in dancing, fencing, and music. both pupils are represented as having been conscientious, and as moving among their schoolmates without affectation or any special consciousness of their birth or rank. many years afterwards the emperor, when revisiting cassel, thus referred to his schooldays there: "i do not regret for an instant a time which then seemed so hard to me, and i can truly say that work and the working life have become to me a second nature. for this i owe thanks to cassel soil;" and later in the same speech: "i am pleased to be on the ground where, directed by expert hands, i learned that work exists not only for its own sake, but that man in work shall find his entire joy." this is the right spirit; but if he had said "greatest joy" and "can find," he would have said something more completely true. the life at cassel was simple, and the day strictly divided. the future emperor rose at six, winter and summer, and after a breakfast of coffee and rolls refreshed his memory of the home repetition-work learned the previous evening. he then went to the gymnasium, and when his lessons there were over, took a walk with his tutor before lunch. home tasks followed, and on certain days private instruction was received in english, french, and drawing. his english and french became all but faultless, and he learned to draw in rough-and-ready, if not professionally expert fashion. wednesdays and saturdays, which were half-holidays, were spent roving in the country, especially in the forest, with two or three companions of his own age. in winter there was skating on the ponds. the sunday dinner was a formal affair, at which royal relatives, who doubtless came to see how the princes were getting on, and high officials from berlin, were usually present. after dinner the princes took young friends up to their private rooms and played charades, in which on occasion they amused themselves with the ever-delightful sport of taking off and satirizing their instructors. at this time the future emperor's favourite subjects were history and literature, and he was fond of displaying his rhetorical talent before the class. the classical authors of his choice were homer, sophocles, and horace. homer particularly attracted him; it is easy to imagine the conviction with which, as a hohenzollern, he would deliver the declaration of king agamemnon to achilles:-- "and hence, to all the host it shall be known that kings are subject to the gods alone." the young prince left cassel in january, , after passing the exit (_abiturient_) examination, a rather severe test, twelfth in a class of seventeen. the result of the examination was officially described as "satisfactory," the term used for those who were second in degree of merit. on leaving he was awarded a gold medal for good conduct, one of three annually presented by a patron of the gymnasium. a foreign resident in germany, who saw the young prince at this time, tells of an incident which refers to the lad's appearance, and shows that even at that early date anti-english feeling existed among the people. it was at the military manoeuvres at stettin: "then the old emperor came by. tremendous cheers. then bismarck and moltke. great acclaim. then passed in a carriage a thin, weakly-looking youth, and people in the crowd said, 'look at that boy who is to be our future emperor--his good german blood has been ruined by his english training.'" before closing the emperor's record as a schoolboy it will be of interest to learn the opinion of him formed by his french tutor at cassel, monsieur ayme, who has published a small volume on the education of his pupil, and who, though evidently not too well satisfied with his remuneration of £ s. a month, or with being required to pay his own fare back from germany to france, writes favourably of the young princes. "the life of these young people (prince william and prince henry) was," he says, "the most studious and peaceful imaginable. up at six in the morning, they prepared their tasks until it was time to go to school. lunch was at noon and tea at five. they went to bed at nine or half-past. all their hours of leisure were divided between lessons in french, english, music, pistol-shooting, equitation, and walking. now and then they were allowed to play with boys of their own age, and on fête days and their parents' birth-anniversaries they had the privilege of choosing a play and seeing it performed at the theatre. as pocket-money prince william received s. a month, and henry s. out of these modest sums they had to buy their own notepaper and little presents for the servants or their favourite companions." as to prince william's character as a schoolboy, monsieur ayme writes: "i do not suppose william was ever punished while he was in cassel. he was too proud to draw down upon himself criticism, to him the worst form of punishment. at the castle, as at school, he made it a point of honour to act and work as if he had made his plans and resolved to stick to them. he was always among the first of his class, and as for me i never had any need to urge him on. if i pointed out to him an error in his task he began it over again of his own accord. we did grammar, analysis, dictations, and compositions, and he got over his difficulties by sheer perseverance. for example, if he was reading a fine page of victor hugo, or the like, he hated to be interrupted, so deeply was he interested in the subject he was reading. style and poetry had a great effect upon him; he expressed admiration for the form and was aroused to enthusiasm by generous or noble ideas. frederick the great was the hero of his choice, a model of which he never ceased dreaming, and which, like his grandfather, he proposed as his own. it is easy to conceive that after ten or twelve years of such study, regularly and methodically pursued, the prince must have possessed a literary and scientific baggage more varied and extensive than that of his companions. and he worked hard for it, few lads so hard. to speak the truth, he was much more disciplined and much more deprived of freedom and recreation of all sorts than most children of his age." _par paranthèse_ may be introduced here a reference to prince henry, of whom monsieur ayme writes less enthusiastically. "one day," the tutor writes, "i was dictating to him something in which mention of a queen occurs. i came to the words '... in addition to her natural distinction she possessed that august majesty which is the appanage of princesses of the blood royal....' "prince henry laid down his pen and remarked, 'the author who wrote this piece did not live much with queens.' "'why?' i asked. "'because i never observed the august majesty which attaches to princesses of the blood royal, and yet i have been brought up among them,' was the reply. "william, however," continues monsieur ayme, "was the thinker, prudent and circumspect; the wise head which knew that it was not all truths which bear telling. he was not less loyal and constant in his opinions. he admired the french revolution, and the declaration contained in 'the rights of man,' though this did not prevent his declaiming against the terrorists." one incident in particular must have appealed to the french tutor. monsieur ayme and his prussian pupil one day began discussing the delicate question of the war of . in the course of the discussion both parties lost their tempers, until at last prince william suddenly got up and left the room. he remained silent and "huffed" for some days, but at last he took the frenchman aside and made him a formal apology. "i am very sorry indeed," he said, "that you took seriously my conduct of the other day. i meant nothing by it, and i regret it hurt you. i am all the more sorry, because i offended in your case a sentiment which i respect above any in the world, the love of country." but it is time to pass from the details of the emperor's early youth, and observe him during the two years he spent, with interruptions, at the university. from cassel he went immediately to bonn, where, as during the years of military duty which followed, we only catch glimpses of him as he lived the ordinary, and by no means austere, life of the university student and soldier of the time; that is to say, the ordinary life with considerable modifications and exceptions. he did not, like young bismarck, drink huge flagons of beer at a sitting, day after day. he was not followed everywhere by a boar-hound. he fought no student's duels--though a secret performance of the kind is mentioned as a probability in the chronicles--or go about looking for trouble generally as the swashbuckling junker, bismarck, did; for in the first place his royal rank would not allow of his taking part in the bloody amusement of the _mensur_, and his natural disposition, if it was quick and lively, was not choleric enough to involve him in serious quarrel. his studies were to some extent interrupted by military calls to berlin, for after being appointed second lieutenant in the first regiment of foot guards at potsdam on his tenth birthday, the hohenzollern age for entering the army, he was promoted to first lieutenant in the same regiment on leaving cassel. for the most part the university lectures he attended were the courses in law and philosophy, and he is not reported to have shown any particular enthusiasm for either subject. the differences between an english and a german university are of a fundamental kind, perhaps the greatest being that the german university does not aim at influencing conduct and character in the same measure as the english, but is rather for the supply of knowledge of all sorts, as a monster warehouse is for the supply of miscellaneous goods. again, the german university, which, like all american universities except princetown, has more resemblance to the scottish universities than to those at oxford, cambridge, or dublin, is not residential nor divided into colleges, but is departmentalized into "faculties," each with its own professors and _privat docentes_, or official lecturers, mostly young savants, who have not the rank or title of professor, but have obtained only the _venia legendi_ from the university. the lectures, as a rule of admirable learning and thoroughness, invariably laying great and prosy stress on "development," are delivered in large halls and may be subscribed for in as many faculties as the student chooses, the cost being about thirty shillings or there-abouts per term for each lecture "heard." outside the university the student enjoys complete independence, which is a privilege highly (and sometimes violently) cherished, especially by non-studious undergraduates, under the name "academic freedom." the german preparing for one or other of the learned professions will probably spend a year or two at each of three, or maybe four, universities, according to the special faculty he adopts and for which the university has a reputation. there are plenty of hard-working students of course; nowadays probably the great majority are of this kind; but to a large proportion also the university period is still a pleasant, free, and easy halting-place between the severe discipline and work of the school and the stern struggle of the working world. the social life of the english university is paralleled in germany by associations of students in student "corps," with theatrical uniforms for their _chargierte_ or officers, special caps, sometimes of extraordinary shape, swords, leather gauntlets, wellington boots, and other distinguishing gaudy insignia. the corps are more or less select, the most exclusive of all being the corps borussia, which at every university only admits members of an upper class of society, though on rare occasions receiving in its ranks an exceptionally aristocratic, popular, or wealthy foreigner. to this corps, the name of which is the old form of "prussia," the emperor belonged when at bonn, and in one or two of his speeches he has since spoken of the agreeable memories he retains in connexion with it and the practices observed by it. common to all university associations in germany--whether corps, landsmannschaft, burschenschaft, or turnerschaft--is the practice of the _mensur_, or student duel. it is not a duel in the sense usually given to the word in england, for it lacks the feature of personal hostility, hate, or injury, but is a particularly sanguinary form of the english "single-stick," in which swords take the place of sticks. these swords (_schläger_), called, curiously enough, _rapiere_, are long and thin in the blade, and their weight is such that at every duel students are told off on whose shoulders the combatants can rest their outstretched sword-arm in the pauses of the combat caused by the duellists getting out of breath; consequently, an undersized student is usually chosen for this considerate office. the heads and faces of the duellists are swathed in bandages--no small incentive to perspiration, the vital parts of their bodies are well protected against a fatal prick or blow, and the pricks or slashes must be delivered with the hand and wrist raised head-high above the shoulder. it is considered disgraceful to move the head, to shrink in the smallest degree before the adversary, or even to show feeling when the medical student who acts as surgeon in an adjoining room staunches the flow of blood or sews up the scars caused by the swords. the duel of a more serious kind--that with pistols or the french rapier, or with the bare-pointed sabre and unprotected bodies--is punishable by law, and is growing rarer each year. take a sabre duel--"heavy sabre duel" is the german name for it--arising out of a quarrel in a cafe or beer-house, and in which one of the opponents may be a foreigner affiliated to some corps or burschenschaft. cards are exchanged, and the challenger chooses a second whom he sends to the opponent. the latter, if he accepts the challenge, also appoints a second; the seconds then meet and arrange for the holding of a court of honour. the court will probably consist of old corps students--lawyer, a doctor, and two or three other members of the corps or burschenschaft. the court summons the opponents before it and hears their account of the quarrel; the seconds produce evidence, for example the bills at the cafe or beer-hall, showing how much liquor has been consumed; also as to age, marriage or otherwise, and so on. then the court decides whether there shall be a duel, or not, and if so, in what form it shall be fought. the duel may be fixed to take place at any time within six months, and meanwhile the opponents industriously practise. the scene of the duel is usually the back room of some beer-hall, with locked doors between the duellists and the police. the latter know very well what is going on, but shut their eyes to it. the opponents take their places at about a yard and a half distance from advanced foot to advanced foot, and a chalk line is drawn between them. close behind each opponent is his second with outstretched sword, ready to knock up the duellists' weapons in case of too dangerous an impetuosity in the onset. the umpire _(unparteiischer)_, unarmed, stands a little distance from the duellists. the latter are naked _to_ the waist, but wear a leather apron like that of a drayman, covering the lower half of the chest, and another piece of leather, like a stock, protecting their necks and jugular veins. the duel may last a couple of hours, and any number of rounds up to as many as two hundred may be fought. the rounds consist of three or four blows, and last about twenty seconds each, when the seconds, who have been watching behind their men in the attitude of a wicket-keeper, with their sword-points on the ground, jump in and knock up the duellists' weapons. when one duellist is disabled by skin wounds--there are rarely any others--or by want of breath, palpitation or the like, the duel is over, and the duellists shake hands. this description, with some slight modifications, applies to the ordinary corps _mensuren_, which are simply a bloody species of gymnastic exercise. on one occasion early in the reign the emperor spoke of the corps system with great enthusiasm, and especially endorsed the practice of the _mensur_. "i am quite convinced," he said at bonn in , three years after his accession, "that every young man who enters a corps receives through the spirit which rules in it, and supposing he imbibes the spirit, his true directive in life. for it is the best education for later life a young man can obtain. whoever pokes fun at the german student corps is ignorant of its true tendency, and i hope that so long as student corps exist the spirit which is fostered in them, and which inspires strength and courage, will continue, and that for all time the student will joyfully wield the _schläger_." regarding the _mensur_, he went on: "our _mensuren_ are frequently misunderstood by the public, but that must not let us be deceived. we who have been corps students, as i myself was, know better. as in the middle ages through our gymnastic exercises (_turniere_) the courage and strength of the man was steeled, so by means of the corps spirit and corps life is that measure of firmness acquired which is necessary in later life, and which will continue to exist as long as there are universities in germany." the word for firmness used by the emperor was _festigkeit_, which may also be translated determination, steadiness, fortitude, or resoluteness of character. it may be that practice of the _mensur_, which is held almost weekly, has a lifelong influence on the german student's character. it probably enables him to look the adversary in the eye--look "hard" at him, as the mariners in mr. a.w. jacobs's delightful tales look at one another when some particularly ingenious lie is being produced. in a way, moreover, it may be said to correspond to boxing in english universities, schools, and gymnasia. but, on the whole, the anglo-saxon spectator finds it difficult to understand how it can exercise any influence for good on the moral character of a youth, or determine, as the emperor says it does, a disposition which is cowardly or weak by nature to bravery or strength, save of a momentary and merely physical kind. the englishman who has been present at a _mensur_ is rather inclined to think the atmosphere too much that of a shambles, and the chief result of the practice the cultivation of braggadocio. besides, the practice is illegal, and though purposely overlooked, save in one german city, that of leipzig, where it is punished with some rigour, the emperor, who is supposed to embody the majesty and effectiveness of the law, is hardly the person to recommend it. his inconsistency in the matter on one occasion placed him in an undignified position. two officers of the army quarrelled, and one, an infantry lieutenant, sent a challenge to the other, an army medical man. the latter refused on conscientious grounds, whereupon he was called on by a military court of honour to send in his resignation. the case was sent up to the emperor, who upheld the decision of the court of honour, adding the remark that if the surgeon had conscientious scruples on the point he should not remain in the army. an irate social democratic editor thereupon pointed out that such a decision came with a bad grace from a man with whom, or with any of whose six sons, no one was allowed to fight. the emperor is still a member of the borussia corps, but chiefly shows his interest by keeping its anniversaries in mind, by every few years attending one of its annual drinking festivals (_commers_), and by paying a substantial yearly subscription. the german student corps, historically, go back to the fourteenth century, when the first european universities were established at bologna, paris, and orleans. universities then were not so called from the universality of their teachings, but rather as meaning a corporation, confraternity, or collegium, and were in reality social centres in the towns where they were instituted. the most renowned was that of paris, and here was founded the first student corps. it was called the "german nation of paris," a corporation of students, with statutes, oaths, special costumes, and other distinctive features. at first, strange to say, it contained more englishmen than germans. the "nation" had a procurator, a treasurer, and a bedell, the last to look after the legal affairs of the association. drinking was not the supposed purpose of the society, but the corps mostly assembled, as german corps do to-day, for drinking purposes. the earliest form of german student associations was the landsmannschaft. to this society, composed of elders and juniors, new-comers, called pennales, were admitted after painful ceremonies and became something like the "fags" at an english public school. the object of the original landsmannschaft was to keep alive the spirit of nationality. the object of the german corps is different. it is to beget and perpetuate friendship, and this accounts for the steady goodwill the emperor has always shown towards the comrades of his bonn and borussia days. an ancient form of corps entertainment is called the hospiz, now, however, much modified. upon invitation the members of the corps meet in a beer-hall or in the rooms of one of the corps. the president is seated with a house-key on the table before him as a symbol of unfettered authority. as members arrive, the president takes away their sticks and swords and deposits them in a closet. the guests sit down and are handed filled pipes and a lighted _fidibus_, or pipe-lighter. bread and butter and cheese, followed by coffee, are offered. after this, the real work of the evening begins--the drinking. a large can of beer stands on a stool beside the president. the latter calls for silence by rapping three times on the table with the house-key, and the hospiz is declared open. thenceforward only the president pours out the beer, unless he appoints a deputy during his absence. the president's great aim and honour is to make every one, including himself, intoxicated. he begins by rapping the table with his glass and saying "significat ein glas." in response all drain their glasses. then comes a "health to all," and this is followed by a "health to each." "the ladies" follow, including toasts to the pretty girls of the town, and ladies known to be favourites of those present. married ladies or women of bad reputation must not be toasted in the hospiz. a story is told of a toast the emperor, in these his lohengrin days, once proposed at a borussia meeting. "on the kreuzberg" (a hill near bonn), he said, "i saw a picture, the ideal of a german woman. she united in herself beauty of face and an imposing form, the roses in her cheeks spoke of the modesty peculiar to our maids, and her voice sounded harmoniously like the lute of the minnesingers on the wartburg. she told me her name--may it be blessed." the toast found its way into the local papers and gave birth to a romantic legend connecting the future emperor with a pretty and modest girl of the town, but no true basis for it has ever been discovered. in toasting the ladies in a hospiz each of those present may name the lady of his choice, and if two name the same lady they have a drinking bout to determine which is entitled to claim her. the one who first admits that he can drink no more--usually signified by a hasty and zigzag retreat from the room--is declared the loser. if a guest comes late to the hospiz he must drink fast so as to catch up with earlier arrivals, unless he has been drinking elsewhere, when he is let off with drinking a "general health." the close of the emperor's student days was marked by an event which was to have a great influence on his life and happiness. it was in that he made the acquaintance of the young lady who was, a couple of years later, to become his wife, and subsequently empress. when at bonn prince william had developed a liking for wild-game shooting, and accepted an invitation from duke frederick of schleswig-holstein to shoot pheasants at primkenau castle, the duke's seat in silesia. more than one romantic story is current about the first meeting of the lovers, but that most generally credited, as it was published at or near the time, represents the young sportsman as meeting the lady accidentally in the garden of the castle. he had arrived at night and gone shooting early next morning before being introduced to the family of his host, and on his return surprised the fair-haired and blue-eyed princess auguste victoria as she lay dozing in a hammock in the garden. the student approached, the words "little rosebud" on his lips, but hastily withdrew as the princess, all blushes, awoke. the pair met shortly afterwards at breakfast, when the visitor learned who the "little rosebud" was whom he had surprised. the princess was then twenty-two, but looked much younger, a privilege from nature she still possesses in middle age. the impression made on the student was deep and lasting, and the engagement was announced on valentine's day, in february, . the marriage was celebrated on february th of the following year at the royal palace in berlin. great popular rejoicing marked the happy occasion, berlin was gaily flagged to celebrate the formal entrance of the bride into the capital, and most other german cities illuminated in her honour. the imperial bridegroom came from potsdam at the head of a military escort selected from his regiment and preceded the bridal cortege, in which the ancient coronation carriage, with its smiling occupant, and drawn by eight prancing steeds, was the principal feature. on the day following the marriage the young couple went to primkenau for the honeymoon. the marriage with a princess of schleswig-holstein was not only an event of general interest from the domestic and dynastic point of view. it had also political significance, for it meant the happy close of the troubled period of prussian dealings with those conquered territories. a story throwing light on the young bride's character is current in connexion with her wedding. one of the hymns contained a strophe--"should misfortune come upon us," which her friends wanted her to have omitted as striking too melancholy a note. "no," she said, "let it be sung. i don't expect my new position to be always a bed of roses. prince william is of the same mind, and we have both determined to bear everything in common, and thus make what is unpleasant more endurable." since the marriage their domestic felicity, as all the world is aware, has never been troubled, and the example thus given to their subjects is one of the surest foundations of their influence and authority in germany. the secret of this felicity, affection apart, is to be sought for in the strong moral sense of the emperor regarding what he owes to himself and his people, but no less perhaps in the exemplary character of the empress. as a girl at primkenau she was a sort of lady bountiful to the aged and sick on the estate, and led there the simple life of the german country maiden of the time. it was not the day of electric light and central heating and the telephone; hardly of lawn tennis, certainly not of golf and hockey; while motor-cars and militant suffragettes were alike unknown. instead of these delights the princess, as she then was, was content with the humdrum life of a german country mansion, with rare excursions into the great world beyond the park gates, with her religious observances, her books, her needlework, her plants and flowers, and her share in the management of the castle. these domestic tastes she has preserved, and the saying, quoted in germany whenever she is the subject of conversation, that her character and tastes are summed up in the four words _kaiser, kinder, kirche_, and _küche_--emperor, children, church, and kitchen--is as true as it is compendious and alliterative. it is often assumed, especially by men, that a woman who cultivates these tastes cultivates no other. this is not as true as is often supposed of the empress, as a journal of her voyage to jerusalem in , published on her return to germany, goes to show. following the traditions and example of the queens and empresses who have preceded her, she has always given liberally of her time and care, as she still does, to the most multifarious forms of charity. she has a great and intelligible pride in her clever and energetic husband, while her interest in her children is proverbial. she appears to have no ambition to exercise any influence on politics or to shine as a leader of society. like the emperor, she is not without a sense of humour, and is always amused by the racy irish stories (in dialect) told her and a little circle of guests by dr. mahaffy, of trinity college, dublin, who is a welcome guest at the palace. the offspring of the marriage, it may be here noted, is a family of seven children--six sons and a daughter--as follows:-- crown prince frederick william, born prince eitel frederick " prince adalbert " prince august william " prince oscar " prince joachim " princess victoria louise " the crown prince was born on june th at the marble palace in potsdam. he was educated at first privately by tutors, and later at the military academy at plön, not far from kiel. when eighteen he became of age and began his active career as an officer in the army. he is now commander of the first regiment of boay guards ("death's head" hussars) at langfuhr, near danzig, with the rank of major. he was married in june, , to cecilie, duchess of mecklenburg-schwerin, and is the father of four children, all boys. the crown princess is one of the cleverest, most popular, and most charming characters in germany, of the brightest intelligence and the most unaffected manners. the leading trait in the crown prince's character is his love of sport, from big-game shooting (on which he has written a book) to lawn tennis. in may last he began to learn golf. he is personally amiable, has pleasant manners, and is highly popular with all classes of his future subjects. he is credited with ability, but is not believed to have inherited the intellectual manysidedness of his father. the only part he can be said to have taken in public life as yet is having called the imperial attention to the maximilian harden allegations regarding count eulenburg and a court "camarilla," referred to later, and having, while sitting in a gallery of the reichstag, demonstrated by decidedly marked gestures his disagreement with the government's morocco policy. since his marriage the emperor has more than once publicly congratulated himself on his good fortune in having such a consort as the empress. the most graceful compliment he paid her was in her own province of silesia in , when he said: "the band which unites me with the province--that of all the provinces of the empire which is nearest to my heart--is the jewel which sparkles at my side, her majesty the empress. a native of this country, a model of all the virtues of a german princess, it is her i have to thank that i am in a position joyfully to perform the onerous duties of my office." only the other day at altona, after thirty years of married life, he referred to her, again in her home province and again as she sat smiling beside him, as the "first lady of the land, who is always ready to help the needy, to strengthen family ties, to discharge the duties of her sex, and suggest to it new aims. the empress has bestowed a home life on the house of hohenzollern such as queen louise, alone perhaps, conferred." queen louise, the famous wife of frederick william iii, died in and is buried in the mausoleum at charlottenburg, the suburb of berlin. she has remained ever since, for the german nation, the type of womanly perfection. iii. pre-accession days - the seven years between the date of his marriage and that of his accession were chiefly filled in by the future emperor with the conscientious discharge of his regimental duties and the preparation of himself, by three or four hours' study daily at the various ministries, among them the foreign office, where he sat at the feet of bismarck, for the imperial tasks he would presumably have to undertake later. emperor william i, now a man of eighty-four, was still on the throne. born in , he lived with his parents, frederick william iii and queen louise, in koenigsberg and memel for three years after the battle of jena, won the iron cross at the age of seventeen in the war with napoleon in , took part in the entry of the allies into paris, and devoted himself thenceforward, until he became king of prussia in , chiefly to the reorganization of the army. for a year during the troubled times of he was forced to take refuge in england, from whence he returned to live quietly at coblenz until called to the regency of prussia in . he was the grand master of prussian freemasonry. the attempts on his life in berlin in by the anarchists hödel and nobiling are still spoken of by eye-witnesses to them. both attempts were made within a period of three weeks while the king was driving down unter den linden, and on both occasions revolver shots were fired at him. hödel's attempt failed, but in view of socialist agitation, the would-be assassin was beheaded (the practice still in prussia) a few weeks later. pellets from nobiling's weapon struck the king in the face and arm, and disabled him from work for several weeks. the political events of the reign, including the seven weeks' war with austria in , which ended at sadowa, where king william was in chief command, and that with france in , when he was present as commander-in-chief at gravelotte and sedan, are frequently referred to by bismarck in his "gedanke und erinnerungen," and to these the reader may be referred. the high and amiable character of the old emperor, as he became after , is common knowledge. he was a thoroughgoing hohenzollern in his views of monarchy and his relations to his folk, but he was at the same time the type of german chivalry, the essence of good nature, the soul of honour, and the slave of duty. he was extremely fond of his grandson, prince william, and it is clear from the latter's speeches subsequently that the affection was ardently reciprocated. of emperor william, bismarck writes in the highest terms, describing his "kingly courtesy," his freedom from vanity, his impartiality towards friend and foe alike; in a word, he says, emperor william was the idea "gentleman" incorporated. on the other hand, bismarck tells how the old emperor all his life long stood in awe of his consort, the empress augusta, bismarck's great enemy and the clearing-house (_krystallisationspunkt_), as he describes her, of all the opposition against him; and how the emperor used to speak of her as "the hot-head" ("_feuerkopf_")--"a capital name for her," bismarck adds, "as she could not bear her authority as queen to be overborne by that of anyone else." the iron chancellor, by the way, mentions a curious fact in connexion with the attempt on emperor william's life by nobiling. the chancellor says he had noticed that in the seventies the emperor's powers had begun to fail, and that he often lost the thread of a conversation, both in hearing and speaking. after the nobiling attempt this disability, strangely enough, completely disappeared. the fact was noticed by the emperor himself, for one day he said jestingly to bismarck: "nobiling knew better than the doctors what i really needed--a good blood-letting." referring to the empress frederick at this period, bismarck writes: "with her i could not reckon on the same good-will as i could with her husband (emperor frederick). her natural and inborn sympathy for her native country showed itself from the very beginning in the endeavour to shift the weight of prussian-german influence on the european grouping of the powers into the scale of england, which she never ceased to regard as her fatherland; and, in consciousness of the opposition of interests between the two great asiatic powers, england and russia, to see germany's power, in case of a breach, used for the benefit of england." an incident may be mentioned here which took place at what was to turn out to be the emperor william's death-bed and refers particularly to our young prince william. bismarck was talking to the sick emperor a few days before the latter's death. the chancellor spoke about the necessity of publishing an order, already drawn up in november of the preceding year, appointing prince william regent in case the necessity for such a measure should occur. the sick emperor expressed the hope that bismarck would stand by his successor. bismarck promised to do so and the emperor pressed his hand in token of satisfaction. then, suddenly, bismarck relates, the emperor became delirious and began to rave. prince william was the central figure in his ravings. he evidently thought his grandson was at his bedside and exclaimed, using the familiar _du_; "_du_ you must always keep on good terms with the czar (alexander iii) ... there is no need to quarrel in that quarter." thereafter he was silent, and bismarck left the sick-room. the prince's parents, crown prince frederick and his english consort, had also their court at the marmor palais in potsdam, and their palace in berlin, but the life they led was comparatively simple. the crown prince and princess were great travellers and consequently often absent from germany; and when at home, while the crown prince, in his serious-minded fashion, was absorbed in study, the crown princess divided her time between the practice of the arts and correspondence with her now grown-up sons and daughters. still, it is clear from the signs of the time that there was a good deal of intrigue going on throughout this pre-accession period, or, if intrigue is too strong a term for it, a good deal of friction, social and political, in high circles. it was chiefly caused, if the old chancellor's statements to his sycophantic adorer, busch, are to be credited, by the interference of the empress augusta and her daughter-in-law, the crown princess, in the sphere of politics, the empress seeking to influence her husband in favour of the catholics, whom she had taken under her protection, and the crown princess trying, as we have seen, to influence german policy in favour of england. exactly what part prince william took in it all is not very clear. one thing we know, that he greatly displeased bismarck by his constant attendance at the waldersee _salon_, then a social centre in berlin. countess waldersee, who is still living in hannover, was the daughter of an american banker named lee. she married frederick, prince of schleswig, but he died six months after the wedding. his widow afterwards married count waldersee, who was subsequently to command the international forces during the boxer troubles in china. bismarck detested waldersee, perhaps because many people spoke of him as his probable successor, and consequently looked with anything but favour on his imperial pupil's visit to the waldersees. the great figure of the time, however, was neither the emperor nor the crown prince nor prince william, but prince bismarck, who, as chancellor for now more than a quarter of a century, had throughout that period guided the destinies of prussia and the german empire. emperor william and crown prince frederick and prince william were playing, doubtless, more or less prominent parts on the public stage, but all things of moment gravitated towards bismarck, whose days were spent, now persuading or convincing the emperor, now warring with a parliament growing impatient of his dictatorial attitude, now countermining the intrigues and opposition of his adversaries at court and in the ministries. he hardly ever went into society, but though he spent his days growling in his den at the foreign office when he was not immersed in work, he was the great popular figure of berlin; indeed, it might be said, of all germany. as second lieutenant, prince william had naturally a good deal to learn, though, entering life, as we have seen, as a "fine young recruit," having had a "military governor" appointed to his service when he was four, being made an officer at the age of ten, and having passed most of his life hitherto in a military society and atmosphere, he had less perhaps to learn than the ordinary young german officer. he went through the usual drills, and doubtless felt, as keenly as does the young officer everywhere, their monotonous and seemingly unnecessary repetitions, but they fulfilled the object in view and gave him the well-set-up bearing and martial tread which still distinguish him. living in the old town castle of potsdam, in rooms that had once been occupied by frederick the great, he entered with zest into the task of learning the mechanism of his regiment and at the same time of the army generally, though it cannot have been as interesting a task then as now, when science has added so many new branches to military organization. both he and his young wife were as hospitable as their not too generous means and occasional cheques from the emperor william would allow, particularly to any borussian of the prince's bonn university days who might be passing through berlin or potsdam. the young prince and princess took part, as was to be expected of them, in the festivities and ceremonies of the emperor's and crown prince's court, and, when they had nothing more interesting to do, might be seen strolling arm in arm about the streets in potsdam looking into the shops as young married people do in every town, and being apparently, as the story-books say, as happy as the day is long. on the whole, however, during these pre-accession years, only glimpses of prince william's character and doings are obtainable, but, though meagre, they are sufficient to suggest that in his case, too, if we extend the saying to cover the entire period of youth, the child was father to the man. the chief, almost the only, reliable authorities for the inner history of the time are the memoirs and notes left by the two chancellors, prince bismarck and prince hohenlohe--_en passant_ let the hope be expressed here that in the interests of germany herself another chancellor, prince bernhard ernst von bülow, now living in retirement at rome, will enlighten the world as to that of the last ten or twelve stirring years, _quorum pars magna fuit_. both bismarck and hohenlohe were excellent judges of character, and have, described, though with regrettable brevity, the character of prince william about this time. talking to his confidant, dr. busch, in june, , bismarck says of the prince: "he is quite different from the emperor william, and wishes to take the government into his own hands; he is energetic and determined, not at all disposed to put up with parliamentary co-regents, a regular guardsman; philopater and antipater at potsdam! he is not at all pleased at his father (crown prince frederick) taking up with professors, with mommsen, virchow, forckenbeck. perhaps he may one day develop into the _rocher de bronze_ of which we stand in need." this _rocher de bronze_ is an expression constantly employed by devoted royalists and imperialists in germany. it was first used by frederick william iv, who, in the jargon which in his time passed for the german language, exclaimed: "_ich werde meine souvereinetat stabilizieren wie ein rocher de bronze_." again, about this time bismarck says: "up to that time (when prince william was studying at the ministries) he knew little, and indeed did not trouble himself much about it, but preferred to enjoy himself in the society of young officers and such-like," and he goes on to tell how the prince took--or did not take--to this ministerial education. it was proposed that the under secretary of state, herrfurth, who was reputed to be well informed, particularly in statistics, should instruct him about internal questions. the prince agreed and invited herrfurth to lunch, but afterwards told bismarck he could not stand him, "with his bristly beard, his dryness and tediousness." could bismarck suggest some one else? the chancellor mentioned privy councillor von brandenstein. the prince did not object, had the baron several times to meals, but paid so little attention to his explanations that brandenstein lost patience and begged for some other employment. concerning a rendezvous, bismarck writes: "he (prince william) has more understanding, more courage and greater independence (than his grandfather), but in his leaning for me he goes too far. he was 'surprised' that i had waited for him, a thing his grandfather was incapable of saying;" and the chancellor adds: "it is only in trifles and matters of secondary importance that one occasionally has reason to find fault with him, as, for instance, in the form of his state declarations--but that is youthful vivacity which time will correct. better too much than too little fire." busch relates, under date of april , , bismarck's birthday, how prince william came to offer his congratulations, and, having done so, invited himself to dinner. the meal over, he made a speech toasting bismarck, in which he said: "the empire is like an army corps that has lost its commander-in-chief in the field, while the officer who is next to him in rank lies severely wounded. at this critical moment forty-six million loyal german hearts turn with solicitude and hope to the standard, and the standard-bearer in whom all their expectations are centred. the standard-bearer is our illustrious prince, our great chancellor. let him lead us. we will follow him. long may he live!" prince hohenlohe's references to prince william as emperor are frequent and full, but he has little to say about his character as prince william beyond noting, when there was some talk of the prince directly succeeding emperor william, that he was "too young." on an occasion subsequently prince hohenlohe amusingly notes that the emperor shook hands with him until his fingers "nearly cracked." this is still a genial gesture of the emperor's. one document, however, is available to show the spirit of religious tolerance which then animated our young lutheran prince, as it has animated him, it may be added, ever since. pius ix had been succeeded in the papacy by the more liberal leo xiii, and the kulturkampf had come to an end. prince william, writing to an uncle, cardinal hohenlohe, says:-- "that this unholy kulturkampf is at an end is a thing which rejoices me beyond expression. of late many eminent catholics, among them kopp (afterwards cardinal) have frequently visited me and honoured me with a confidence at once complete and gratifying. i was often so happy as to be able to be the interpreter of their wishes (to the emperor and bismarck, presumably) and do them some service. so it has been granted to my youth to co-operate in this work of peace. this has given me great pleasure and happiness. "give my regards to galimberti and lay my respects at the feet of the pope. "thy devoted nephew, "william of prussia." with his future subjects prince william was brought into close relations only in a very limited way. no one, save perhaps bismarck, seems to have known or suspected his true character and aims. this was natural enough, since it is not until a man comes to occupy some influential or prominent position that the public begins to take an interest in him. his father would be emperor before him, and fate might have it that he himself would not live to come to the throne. royal highnesses are not uncommon in a country with such a feudal history and so many courts as germany. the young prince, moreover, was never, to use a phrase of to-day, in the limelight. he was never involved in a notorious scandal. he had not, as his eldest son, the present crown prince, has, published a book. he was more or less absorbed in the army, the early grave of so many dawning talents. and there was no newspaper press devoted to chronicling the doings and sayings of the fashionable world of his time. his natural abilities would doubtless have secured him reputation and success in any sphere of life, but, as he himself would probably be the first to admit, much of his fame, and even much of his merit, is due to the splendid opportunities afforded him by his birth and position. at the same time it is obvious that if his people at this period had not much opportunity of studying the young prince, he had been studying them and their requirements as these latter appeared to him. he had evidently thought much on germany's conditions and prospects before he came to the throne, and was empire-building in imagination long before he became emperor. it is not hard to guess the drift of his meditations. the success of the empire depended on the success of prussia, and the success of prussia, ringed in by possibly hostile powers, on union under a prussian king whom germans should swear fealty to and regard as a heaven-granted leader. from the history of prussia he drew the conclusion that force, physical force, well organized and equipped, must be the basis of germany's security. physical force had made brandenburg into prussia, and prussia into the still nascent modern german empire. he knew that france was only waiting for the day to come when she would be powerful enough to recover her lost provinces. russia was friendly, but there was no certainty she would always be so. austria was an ally, but many people in austria had not forgotten sadowa, and in any case her military and naval forces were far from being efficient. an irresistible army, and a national spirit that would keep it so, were consequently germany's first essentials. simultaneously a new fact of vital importance for germany's prosperity presented itself for consideration--the growth of world-policy in trade, the expansion of commerce through the development caused by new conditions of transport and intercommunication in which other nations were already engaged. the prince saw his country's merchants beginning to spread over the earth, and believing in the doctrine that trade follows the flag, he felt that the flag, with the power and protection it affords, must be supplied. for this it appeared to him that a navy was as indispensable as was an efficient army for germany's internal security. all other great countries had fine navies, while to germany this complement of empire was practically wanting. accordingly he now took up the study of naval science and naval construction. there was an occasion, however, at this time when the young prince attracted general attention, if only for a few days. it was when as colonel of the body guard hussars, he ordered his officers to withdraw from a berlin club in which hazard and high play had ruined some of the younger and less wealthy members. the committee of the club used their influence to cause emperor william to make the new commander cancel his order. the emperor sent for his grandson and requested its withdrawal. "majesty," said the young commander, "permit me a question--am i still commander of the regiment?" "of course--" "well, then, will your majesty allow me to maintain the order--or else accept my resignation?" "oh," said the emperor, who was in reality pleased with the young disciplinarian, "there can be no talk of such a thing. i could not find so good a commanding officer again in a hurry." when the club committee's ambassadors came to the emperor to learn the result of his intervention, his answer was, "very sorry, gentlemen; i did my best, but the colonel refuses." the political situation as regards france was just now highly precarious. general boulanger, whom gambetta once described as "one of the four best officers in france," had become minister of war in the de freycinet cabinet of . relying on a supposed superiority of the french army, he prepared for a war of revenge against germany and aimed, with the help of deroulède and rochfort, at suppressing the parliamentary _régime_ and establishing himself as dictator. his plans were answered in germany by the acceptance of bismarck's septennat proposals for increasing the army and fixing its budget for seven years in advance. the war feeling in france diminished, and though it revived for a time owing to the arrest of the french frontier police commissary schnaebele, it finally died out on that officer's release at the particular request of the czar to emperor william. boulanger's subsequent history only concerns france. he was sent to a provincial command, but returned to paris, where he was joyously received and elected to parliament by a large majority. he might, it is believed, a year or two later, on being elected by the department of the seine, with paris at his back, have made a successful _coup d'état_ on the night of his triumphant election, but his courage at the last moment failed, and on learning that he was about to be arrested he fled to brussels, where he committed suicide on the grave of his mistress. the time, however, was approaching, the most interesting, and as the succession of events have shown, the most momentous for the empire since , when prince william's accession was obviously at hand. during the year and the early part of the attention of the world was fixed, first curiously, then anxiously, then sympathetically on the situation in berlin. emperor william was an old man just turned ninety; he was fast breaking up and any week his death might be announced. hereditarily the crown prince frederick, now fifty-six, should succeed, and a new reign would open which might introduce political changes of moment to other countries as well as germany. the new reign was indeed to open, but only to prove one of the shortest in history. in january, , a shadow fell on the house of hohenzollern, the shadow that must one day fall on every living creature. it was noticed that the crown prince was hoarse, had caught a cold, or something of the kind. a stay at ems did him no good, doctors tobold and von bergmann, the leading specialists of the day, were consulted, a laryngoscopic examination followed, the presence of cancer was strongly suspected, and an operation was advised. at this juncture, at the suggestion, it is said, of queen victoria, it was decided to summon the specialist of highest reputation in england, sir morell mackenzie, who, having examined the patient, and basing his opinion on a report of professor virchow's, declared that the growth was not malignant. it was now may, and on mackenzie's advice the patient visited england, where, accompanied by prince william, he was present at the celebration of queen victoria's jubilee. some months after his return to the continent were spent with his family in tirol and italy, until november found him in san remo, where a meeting of famous surgeons from vienna, berlin, and frankfort-on-main finally diagnosed the existence of cancer, and mackenzie coincided with the judgment. the old emperor died on march th. he had taken cold on march rd, and on the th a chronic ailment of the kidneys from which he suffered became worse, he could not sleep, his strength began to ebb, and it was clear the end was near. on the th, however, he was able to speak for a few minutes with prince william, with bismarck, and with his only daughter, the grand duchess of baden, who had arrived post-haste the night before to be present at the death-bed. the grand duchess, as the emperor spoke, besought him not to tire himself by talking. "i have no time to be tired," he murmured, in a flicker of the sense of duty which had been a lifelong feature of his character, and a few hours later he passed quietly away. the funeral, headed by prince william and the knights of the black eagle, took place on the th. the new emperor frederick, who had hurried from san remo on receiving news of the emperor's condition, was too ill to join it, but stood behind a closed window of his palace and saluted as the coffin went by. the incidents of the emperor frederick's ascent of the throne, the amnesty and liberal-minded proclamations to his people, and in particular the heroic resignation with which he bore his fate, are events of common knowledge. one of them was the so-called battenberg affair. queen victoria desired a marriage between princess victoria, the present emperor's sister, then aged twenty-two, and prince alexander of battenberg, at that time prince of bulgaria, so as to secure him against russia by an alliance with the imperial house of germany. prince bismarck objected on the ground that the marriage would show germany in an unfriendly light at st. petersburg, and might subject a prussian princess to the risk of expulsion from sofia. another account is that the chancellor feared an increase of english influence at the german court with the prince of bulgaria as its channel. in any case, the result of the chancellor's opposition was to place the sick emperor in a delicate and painful situation. it was ended by his yielding to the chancellor's representations, and the marriage did not come off. meanwhile, the emperor's malady was making fatal progress. the shadow was growing darker and more formidable. a season of patiently-borne suffering followed, until death in his terrific majesty appeared and another emperor occupied the throne. iv. "von gottes gnaden" prince william is now german emperor and king of prussia. before observing him as trustee and manager of his magnificent inheritance a pause may be made to investigate the true meaning of a much-discussed phrase which, while suggesting nothing to the englishman though he will find it stamped in the words "dei gratia" on every shilling piece that passes through his hands, is the bed-rock and foundation of the emperor's system of rule and the key to his nature and conduct. government in germany is dynastic, not, as in england and america, parliamentary or democratic. the king of prussia possesses his crown--such is the theory of the people as well as of the dynasty--by the grace of god, not by the consent of the people. the same may be said of the german emperor, who fills his office as king of prussia. to the anglo-saxon foreigner the dynasty in germany, and particularly in prussia, appears a sort of fetish, the worship of which begins in the public schools with lessons on the heroic deeds of the hohenzollerns, and with the emperor, as high priest, constantly calling on his people to worship with him. this view of the kingly succession may seem oriental, but it is not surprising when one reflects that the hohenzollern dynasty is over a thousand years old and during that time has ruled successively in part of southern germany, in brandenburg, in prussia, until at last, imperially, in all germany. moreover, it has ruled wisely on the whole; in the course of centuries it has brought a poor and disunited people, living on a soil to a great extent barren and sandy, to a pitch of power and prosperity which is exciting the envy and apprehension of other nations. in england government passed centuries ago from the dynasty to the people, and there are people in england to-day who could not name the dynasty that occupies the english throne. such ignorance in germany is hardly conceivable. in prussia government has always been the appanage of the hohenzollerns, and the emperor is resolved that, supported by the army, it shall continue to be their appanage in the empire. government means guidance, and no one is more conscious of the fact than the emperor, for he is trying to guide his people all the time. frederick william iv once said to the diet: "you are here to represent rights, the rights of your class and, at the same time, the rights of the throne: to represent opinion is not your task." this relation of government and people has become modified of recent years to a very obvious degree, but constitutionally not a step has been taken in the direction of popular, that is to say parliamentary, rule. england and germany are both constitutional monarchies, but both the monarch and the constitution in germany are different from the monarch and the constitution in england. the british constitution is a growth of centuries, not, like the german constitution, the creation of a day. the british constitution is unwritten, if it is stamped, as mary said the word "calais" would be found stamped on her heart after death, on the heart and brain of every englishman. the german constitution is a written document in seventy-eight chapters, not fifty years old, and on which, compared with the british constitution, the ink is not yet dry. in england to the people the constitution is the real monarch: in germany the monarchy is to the people what the british constitution is to the englishman; and while in england the monarch is the first counsellor to the constitution, in germany the constitution is the first counsellor to the monarch. the consequence in england is representative government, with a political career for every ordinary citizen; the consequence in germany is constitutional monarchy, properly so-called, with a political career for no common citizen. neither system is perfect, but both, apparently, give admirable national results. and yet, of course, an englishman cannot help thinking that if herr bebel were made minister to-morrow, social democracy would cease to exist. the people acquiesce in the hohenzollern view, not indeed with perfect and entire unanimity, for the small progressive party demand a parliamentary form of government, if not on the exact model of that established in england. the social democrats, evidently, would have no government at all. many english people suppose that germans generally must desire parliamentary rule and would help them to get it, for multitudes of english people are firmly persuaded that it is england's mission to extend to other peoples the institutions which have suited her so well, without sufficiently considering how different are their circumstances, geographical position, history, traditions, and national character. a very similar mistake is made in germany by multitudes of germans, who believe it is germany's mission to impose her culture, her views of man and life, on the rest of the world. the prussian view of monarchy, expressed in the words "von gottes gnaden" ("by the grace of god"), is a political conception, which, under its customary english translation, "by divine right," has often been ridiculed by english writers. lord macaulay, it will be remembered, in his "history of england," asserts that the doctrine first emerged into notice when james the sixth of scotland ascended the english throne. "it was gravely maintained," writes macaulay, "that the supreme being regarded hereditary monarchy, as opposed to other systems of government, with peculiar favour; that the rule of succession in order of primogeniture was a divine institution anterior to the christian, and even to the mosaic, dispensation; that no human power, not even that of the whole legislature, no length of adverse possession, though it extended to ten centuries, could deprive the legitimate prince of his rights; that his authority was necessarily always despotic; that the laws by which, in england and other countries, the prerogative was limited, were to be regarded merely as concessions which the sovereign had freely made and might at his pleasure resume; and that any treaty into which a king might enter with his people was merely a declaration of his present intention, and not a contract of which the performance could be demanded." the statement exactly expresses the ideas on the subject attributed abroad to the emperor. the distinguished german historian, heinrich von treitschke, writes of king frederick william iv, the predecessor of emperor william i, as follows:-- "he believed in a mysterious enlightenment which is granted 'von gottes gnaden' to kings rather than other mortals. all the blessings of peace, which his people could expect under a christian monarch, should proceed from the wisdom of the crown alone; he regarded his high office like a patriarch of the old testament and held the kingship as a fatherly power established by god himself for the education of the people. whatever happened in the state he connected with the person of the monarch. if only his age and its royal awakener had understood each other better! he had, however, in his strangely complicated process of development, constructed such extraordinary ideals that though he might sometimes agree in words with his contemporaries he never did as to the things, and spoke a different language from his people. even general gerlach, his good friend and servant, used to say: 'the ways of the king are wonderful;' and the not less loyal bunsen wrote about a complaint of the monarch that 'no one understands me, no one agrees with me,' the commentary--'when one understood him, how could one agree with him?'" it was this king, be it parenthetically remarked, who said, when his people were clamouring for a constitution, in : "now and never will i admit that a written paper, like a second providence, force itself between our god in heaven and this land"--and a few months later had to sign the document his people demanded. von treitschke, writing on the last birthday of emperor william i, thus spoke of the doctrine: "a generation ago an attempt was made by a theologizing state theory to inculcate the doctrine of a power of the throne, divine, released from all earthly obligations. this mystery of the jacobins never found entrance into the clear common sense of our people." prince bismarck's view of the doctrine was explained in a speech he made to the prussian diet in . he was speaking on "prussia as a christian state." "for me," he said, "the words 'von gottes gnaden,' which christian rulers join to their names, are no empty phrase, but i see in them the recognition that the princes desire to wield the sceptre which god has assigned them according to the will of god on earth. as god's will i can, however, only recognize what is revealed in the christian gospels, and i believe i am in my right when i call that state a christian one which has taken as its task the realization, the putting into operation, of the christian doctrine.... assuming generally that the state has a religious foundation, in my opinion this foundation can only be christianity. take away this religious foundation from the state and we retain nothing of the state but a chance aggregation of rights, a kind of bulwark against the war of all against all, which the old philosophers spoke of." on the second occasion, thirty years later, the chancellor's theme was "obedience to god and the king." "i refer," he said, "to the wrong interpretation of a sentence which in itself is right--namely, that one must obey god rather than man. the previous speaker must know me long enough to be aware that i subscribe to the entire correctness of this sentence, and that i believe i obey god when i serve the king under the device 'with god for king and country.' now he (the previous speaker) has separated the component parts of the device, for he sees god separated from king and fatherland. i cannot follow him on this road. i believe i serve my god when i serve my king in the protection of the commonwealth whose monarch 'von gottes gnaden' he is, and on whom the emancipation from alien spiritual influence and the independence of his people from romish pressure have been laid by god as a duty in which i serve the king. the previous speaker would certainly admit in private that we do not believe in the divinity of a state idol, though he seems to assert here that we believe in it." in these passages, it may be remarked, bismarck avoids an unconditional endorsement of the hohenzollern doctrine of divine "right" or even divine appointment. indeed all he does is to express his belief in the sincerity of rulers who declare their desire to rule in accordance with the will of god as it appears in holy scripture. in addition to his dislike of a "christianity above the state," the fact that he did not subscribe to the doctrine of divine right, as these words are interpreted in england, is shown by another speech in which he said, "the essence of the constitutional monarchy under which we live is the co-operation of the monarchical will and the convictions of the people." but what, one is tempted to ask, if will and convictions differ? in recent times, dr. paul liman, in an excellent character sketch of the emperor, devotes his first chapter to the subject, thus recognizing the important place it occupies in the emperor's mentality. dr. liman, like all german writers who have dealt with the topic, animadverts on the hohenzollern obsession by the theory and attributes it chiefly to the romantic side of the emperor's nature which was strongly influenced in youth by the "wonderful events" of , by the national outburst of thanks to god at the time, and by the return from victorious war of his father, his grandfather, and other heroes, as they must have appeared to him, like bismarck, moltke, and roon. it is worth noting that prince von bülow, during the ten years of his chancellorship, made no parliamentary or other specific and public allusion to the doctrine. before, however, attempting to offer a somewhat different explanation of the emperor's attitude in the matter from those just cited, let us see what statements he has himself made publicly about it and how the doctrine has been interpreted by his contemporaries. he made no reference to it in his declarations to the army, the navy, and the people when he ascended the throne. his first allusion to it was in march, , at the annual meeting of the brandenburg provincial diet at the kaiserhof hotel in berlin, and then the allusion was not explicit. "i see," said the emperor, "in the folk and land which have descended to me a talent entrusted to me by god, which it is my task to increase, and i intend with all my power so to administer this talent that i hope to be able to add much to it. those who are willing to help me i heartily welcome whoever they may be: those who oppose me in this task i will crush." his next allusion, at bremen in april of the same year, when he was laying the foundation-stone of a statue to his grandfather, king william, a few months subsequent to bismarck's retirement, was more explicit, yet not completely so. "it is a tradition of our house," so ran his speech, "that we, the hohenzollerns, regard ourselves as appointed by god to govern and to lead the people, whom it is given us to rule, for their well-being and the advancement of their material and intellectual interests." the next reference, and the only one in which a divine "right" to rule in prussia is formally claimed, occurs four years later at koenigsberg, the ancient crowning-place of prussian kings. here he said:-- "the successor (namely himself) of him who _of his own right_ was sovereign prince in prussia will follow the same path as his great ancestor; as formerly the first king (of prussia, frederick i.) said, 'my crown is born with me,' and as his greater son (the great elector) gave his authority the stability of a rock of bronze, so i too, like my imperial grandfather, represent the kingship 'von gottes gnaden.'" at coblenz in , in reference to the first emperor william's labours for the army and people:-- "he (emperor william) left coblenz to ascend the throne as the selected instrument of the lord he always regarded himself to be. for us all, and above all for us princes, he raised once more aloft and lent lustrous beams to a jewel which we should hold high and holy--that is the kingship von gottes gnaden, the kingship with its onerous duties, its never-ending, ever-continuing trouble and labour, with its fearful responsibility to the creator alone, from which no human being, no minister, no parliament, no people can release the prince." here, too, if the words "responsibility to the creator alone" be taken in their ordinary english sense, the allusion to a divine right may be construed, though it is observable that the word "right" is not actually employed. in berlin, when unveiling a monument to the great elector, the emperor was filled with the same idea of the god-given mission of the hohenzollerns. after briefly sketching the deeds of the elector--how he came young to the throne to find crops down-trodden, villages burnt to the ground, a starved and fallen people, persecuted on every side, his country the arena for barbarous robber-bands who had spread war and devastation throughout germany for thirty years; how, with "invincible reliance on god" and an iron will, he swept the pieces of the land together, raised trade and commerce, agriculture and industry, in for that period an incredibly short time; how he brought into existence a new army entirely devoted to him; how, in fine, guided by the hope of founding a great northern empire, which would bring the german peoples together, he became an authority in europe and laid the corner-stone of the present empire--after sketching all this, the emperor continues: "how is this wonderful success of the house of hohenzollern to be explained? solely in this way, that every prince of the house is conscious from the beginning that he is only an earthly vicegerent, who must give an account of his labour to a higher king and master, and show that he has been a faithful executor of the high commands laid upon him." one finds exactly the same idea expressed three months later when talking to his "men of brandenburg." "you know well," he reminded them, "that i regard my whole position and my task as laid on me by heaven, and that i am appointed by a higher power to whom i must later render an account. accordingly i can assure you that not a morning or evening passes without a prayer for my people and a special thought for my mark brandenburg." to the anglo-saxon understanding, of course, the theory of divine right has long appeared untenable, obsolete, and, as macaulay says, absurd. many people to-day would go farther and argue that there is no such thing as a divine right at all, since "rights" are a purely human idea, possibly a purely legal one. but it is at least doubtful that the emperor uses the expression "von gottes gnaden" in a sense exactly coterminous with that of "divine right" as used by lord macaulay and later anglo-saxon writers and speakers. the latter, when dealing with things german, not unfrequently fall into the error of mistranslation and are thus at times responsible for national misunderstandings. the italian saying, "_traduttore, tradittore_," is the expression of a fact too seldom recognized, especially by those whose business it is to interpret, so to speak, one people to another. language is as mysterious and elusive a thing as aught connected with humanity, as love, for example, or music; and it may be asserted with some degree of confidence that among every people there are ideas current, and in all departments--in law, society, art--which it is impossible exactly to translate into the speech of other nations. the words used may be the same, but the connotation, all the words imply and suggest, is, perhaps in very important respects, different, and requires a paraphrase, longer or shorter, to explain them. take the word "false" in english and "falsch" in german. they look alike, yet while the english "false" carries with it a moral reproach, the german word, where the context does not explicitly prove otherwise, means simply "incorrect," "erroneous," without the moral reproach added. accordingly, when a german chancellor asserts that the statement of an english minister is "falsch" he does not necessarily mean anything offensive, but only that the english minister is mistaken. from this point of view one may regard the statements of the emperor concerning his kingly office. he has recently begun to use the expression "german emperor von gottes gnaden," a thing done by none of his imperial predecessors, and certainly a very curious extension of a doctrine which traditionally only applies to wearers of the crown of prussia. but if he does, it may, it is here suggested, be considered further evidence that he employs the terms "von gottes gnaden" in a sense other than that of "divine right" as conceived by the anglo-saxon. the german "gnade" means "favour," "grace," "mercy," "pity," or "blessing," and is at times used in direct contrast with the word "recht," which means "justice" as well as "right." the point, indeed, need hardly be elaborated, and the emperor's own explanation of the revelation of god to mankind, with its special reference to his grandfather which we shall find later in the confession of faith to admiral hollmann, is highly significant of the sense in which he regards himself and every ruling hohenzollern as selected for the duties of prussian kingship. it is the work of the kingship he is divinely appointed to do of which he is always thinking, not the legal right to the kingship _vis à vis_ his people he is mistakenly supposed to claim. he regards himself as a trustee, not as the owner of the property. and is not such a spirit a proper and praiseworthy one? in a sense we christians, if in a position of responsibility, believe that we are all divinely appointed to the work each of us has to do: instruments of god, who shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we may. the emperor finely says of the almighty: "he breathed into man his breath, that is a portion of himself, a soul." reason is what chiefly distinguishes man from the brute, though there are those who hold that reason is but a higher form of brutish instinct, which again has its degree among the brutes; but, assuming that reason is of divine origin, enabling us to receive, by one means or another, the dictates of the almighty, it seems clear that there must be channels through which these dictates become known to us. this conveyance, this making plain is, as many people, and the emperor among them, believe, performed by god through the agency of those whom mankind agree to call "great." for the last nineteen centuries a large part of civilized mankind is at one in the belief that christ was such an agency, while millions again agree to call the agency buddha, mahomet, confucius, or zoroaster. in the creed of islam christ, as a prophet, comes fifth from adam. in america there are thousands who believe, or did believe, in the agency of a mrs. eddy or a dr. dowie. and if this is so in matters of religion, itself only a form of the reasoning soul, why should it not be the same in morals or philosophy, art or science, government or administration: why should we not all accept, as many still do, the sayings and writings of the hebrew prophets (as does the emperor), of plato and aristotle, of bacon and hobbes, of milton and shakespeare and goethe, of kepler and galileo, or charlemagne and napoleon, as divinely intended to convey and make plain to us the dictates of heaven until such time as yet greater souls shall instruct us afresh and still more fully? it may be that the emperor thinks in some such way; his speeches and edicts at least suggest it. certainly, as already mentioned, he did on one occasion, when speaking of his kingship, employ the word "right" as descriptive of the nature of his appointment by god. but that was early in his reign, and at no time since has he insisted on a heaven-granted right to rule. it was, no doubt, different with some of his absolute predecessors, but it was not the view of frederick the great, who declared himself "the first servant of the state." moreover, it is hardly conceivable that the emperor, who is acquainted with the facts of history and is a man of practical common sense besides, does not know that the doctrine of "divine right" has long been rejected by people of intelligence in every civilized country, including his own. if he really believes in divine right in the stuart sense he must think that the conditions of germany are so different from those of the rest of civilized mankind, and his own people so little advanced in knowledge and political science, that a doctrine absurd and dangerous to the peace of enlightened commonwealths is applicable as a basis of rule in his own. it seems a more plausible view, that the emperor considers the expression "von gottes gnaden" an academic formula of government, or what is still more likely, as a moral and religious, not a legal, dogma, which yet expresses one of the leading and most admirable features of his policy as a ruler. if it is not so, he is inconsistent with himself, since he has repeatedly declared himself bound by the constitution in accordance with which his grandfather and father and he himself have hitherto ruled. at present the doctrine of divine "right" is regarded by germans no less than by englishmen as dead and buried, and mention of it in germany is usually greeted with a smile. even the notion of appointment by divine "grace," while considered a harmless and praiseworthy article of faith with the emperor, is no longer regarded as a living principle of government. v. the accession - with his accession began for the emperor a period of extraordinary activity which has continued practically undiminished to the present day. during that time he has been the most prominent man and monarch of his generation. from the domestic point of view his life perhaps has not been marked by many notable events, but from the point of view of politics and international relations it has been the history of his reign and to no small extent the history of the world. when a german emperor ascends the throne there is no great outburst of national rejoicing, no great series of popular ceremonials. there is no brilliant procession as in england, no impressive coronation like that of an english monarch in westminster abbey, no state visit of the monarch to the houses of parliament. in germany parliament goes to the king, not the king to parliament. on the same day that the emperor began his reign he addressed proclamations to the army and navy. the addresses to the people and the parliament were to come a few days later. in the proclamation to the army he said: "i and the army were born for each other. let us remain indissolubly so connected, come peace or storm, as god may will. you will now take the oath of fidelity and obedience to me, and i swear always to remember that the eyes of my ancestors are bent on me from the other world, and that one day i shall have to give an account touching the fame and the honour of the army." his address to the navy was in the same vein. "we have only just put off mourning for my unforgettable grandfather, kaiser william i, and already we have had to lower the flag for my beloved father, who took such an interest in the growth and progress of the navy. a time of earnest and sincere sorrow, however, strengthens the mind and heart of man, and so let us, keeping at heart the example of my grandfather and father, look with confidence to the future. i have learned to appreciate the high sense of honour and of duty which lives in the navy, and know that every man is ready faithfully to stake his life for the honour of the german flag, be it where it may. accordingly i can, in this serious hour, feel fully assured that we shall stand strongly and steadily together in good or bad days, in storm or sunshine, always mindful of the fatherland and always ready to shed our heart's blood for the honour of the flag." to his people he promised that he would be a "just and mild prince, observant of piety and religion, a protector of peace, a promoter of the country's prosperity, a helper to the poor and needy, a faithful guardian of the right." to the parliament a week later he announced that he meant to walk in the footsteps of his grandfather, particularly in regard to the working classes, to acquire the confidence of the federated princes, the affection of the people, and the friendly recognition of foreign countries. he said that in his opinion the "most important duties of the german emperor lay in the domain of the military and political security of the nation externally, and internally in the supervision of the carrying out of imperial laws." the highest of these laws, he explained, was the imperial constitution and "to preserve and protect the constitution, and in especial the rights it gives to the legislative bodies, to every german, but also to the emperor and the federated states," he considered "among the most honourable duties of the emperor." while the order of these addresses is different to what it would be in england, it entirely accords with the spirit of the prussian monarchy and the political system of the german people. settled in the heart of europe, the nation rests on the army, and it is hardly too much to say that, from the emperor's point of view, possibly also from the popular german point of view, the interests of the army must be considered before the interests of the rest of the population. an english monarch, who issued his first address to the british navy, would be as justified in doing so by the real necessities of great britain as a german emperor who first addresses the german army is justified by the real necessities of germany; for the british navy is as vital to the british as the german army is to the german nation. in england, however, the monarch's respect for the people and parliament takes precedence of his respect for the army, not _vice versa_ as in germany. in a speech from the throne to the prussian diet the emperor took the constitutional oath: "i swear to hold firmly and unbrokenly to the constitution of the kingdom and to rule in agreement with it and the laws ... so help me god!" and went on to proclaim the continuance in prussia and the empire of his grandfather's and father's policy and work. he said at the same time, while undertaking not to make the people uneasy by trying to extend crown rights, that he would take care that the constitutional rights of the crown were respected and used, and that he meant to hand them over unimpaired to his successor. he concluded by saying that he would always bear in mind the words of frederick the great, who described himself as the "first servant of the state." at frankfurt-on-the-oder, a few months later, he declared, when unveiling a monument to his uncle, prince frederick karl, a hero of the franco-prussian war, that he meant never to surrender a stone of the acquisitions made in the war and "believed he voiced the feeling of the entire army in saying that germany, rather than do so, would suffer its eighteen army corps and its whole population of millions to perish on the field of battle." at this period of his career the emperor was, first and foremost, a thoroughgoing hohenzollern. doubtless he is so still, if he talks less about the dynasty. he admired frederick the great, then as now, and in the first place as military commander, but the ancestor with whom he even more sympathized, and sympathizes, was the great elector. "the ancestor," he said himself, "for whom i have the most liking (_schwärmen_, a hardly translatable german verb, is the word he used) and who always shone before me as an example in my youth, was the great elector, the man who loved his country with all his heart and strength, and unrestingly devoted himself to rescuing the mark brandenburg out of its deep distress and made it a strong and united whole." what particularly attracted the emperor in the history of the elector was the fact that he was the first hohenzollern who saw the importance of promoting trade and industry, building a navy, and acquiring colonies. as yet, however, the emperor had only clear and fairly definite ideas about the need for a navy. the world-policy may have been in embryo in his mind, but it was not born. the imaginative side of the emperor's character at this period is well illustrated in a speech he made in to his favourite "men of the mark." he was talking of his travels, to which allusion had been made by a previous speaker. "my travels," said the emperor, "have not only had the object of making myself acquainted with foreign countries and institutions, or to create friendly relations with neighbouring monarchs, but these journeys, which have been the subject of much misunderstanding, had for me the great value that, withdrawn from the heat of party faction, i could review our domestic conditions from a distance and submit them to calm consideration. any one who, standing on a ship's bridge far out at sea, with only god's starry heaven above him, communes with himself, will not fail to appreciate the worth of such a journey. for many of my fellow-countrymen i would wish that they might live through such an hour, in which one can make up an account as to what he has attempted and what achieved. then would he be cured of exaggerated self-estimation, and that we all need." having discharged the duty of addressing his own subjects, the emperor's next care, after a stay at kiel where a german emperor and king now for the first time in history appeared in the uniform of an admiral, was personally to announce his accession at the courts of his fellow-european sovereigns. we find him, accordingly, paying visits to alexander ii in st. petersburg, to king oscar ii in stockholm (where he received a telegram announcing the birth of his fifth son), to christian ix in copenhagen, to kaiser franz joseph in vienna and to king humbert in rome. to both the last-mentioned he presented himself in the additional capacity of triplice ally. in august of the year following his accession he paid his first visit as emperor to england. it was a very different thing, one may imagine, from the earliest recorded visit of a german emperor to the english court. that was in , when the emperor sigismund ( - ) arrived there and was received by henry v. henry postponed the opening of parliament specially on his account, made him a knight of the garter, and signed with him at canterbury an offensive and defensive alliance against france. how poor the german empire and the german emperor were at that epoch may be judged from the fact that on his way home sigismund had to pawn the costly gifts he had received in england. on the present occasion a grand naval review of over a hundred warships, with crews totalling , men, was held in honour of the emperor at osborne. this was followed, a few days afterwards, by a parade of the troops at aldershot under the command of general sir evelyn wood. on this occasion, after expressing his admiration for the british troops, the emperor concluded: "at malplaquet and waterloo, prussian and british blood flowed in the prosecution of a common enterprise." in a little speech after the review the emperor spoke of the english navy as "the finest in the world." the impression made by the emperor on sir evelyn has been recorded by that general. "the emperor is extremely wide-awake," he writes to a friend, "with a decided, straightforward manner. he is a good rider. his quick and very intelligent spirit seizes every detail at a glance, and he possesses a wonderful memory." the emperor was now nominated an honorary admiral of the british navy and as a return compliment made queen victoria honorary "chef" of his own first dragoon guards. at the naval review a journalist asked an english naval officer what would happen if the emperor, in command of a german fleet, should meet a british fleet in time of war between england and germany?--"would the british fleet have to salute the emperor?" "certainly," replied the naval officer; "it would fire guns at him." next year the emperor was again in england, this time to be present at the cowes regatta, which he took part in regularly during the four succeeding years, noting, doubtless, all that might prove useful for the development of the kiel yachting "week," the success of which he had then, as always since, particularly at heart. he was received by queen victoria with the simple and homely words, "welcome, william!" a state visit to the city of london followed, when he was accompanied by the empress, and was entertained to a luncheon given by the city fathers in the guildhall. the entertainment, which took place on july , , was remarkable for a speech delivered by the emperor in english, in which, besides declaring his intention of maintaining the "historical friendship" between england and germany, he proclaimed that his great object "above all" was the preservation of peace, "since peace alone can inspire that confidence which is requisite for a healthy development of science, art, and commerce." on the same occasion he expressed his feeling of "being at home" in england--"this delightful country"--and spoke of the "same blood which flows alike in the veins of germans and english." shortly afterwards he attended a review of volunteers at wimbledon, and, as he said, was "agreeably astonished at the spectacle of so many citizen-soldiers in a country that had no conscription." the emperor returned from england to receive the visit of his chief triplice ally, the emperor franz joseph, and to discuss with him doubtless the european situation. bismarck has been pictured as sitting at the european chessboard pondering the moves necessary tor germany to win the game of which the great prize was the hegemony of europe. the chief opposing pieces, whose aid or neutrality was desirable, were for long france, russia, austria, and italy; but in , with the conclusion of the triple alliance, austria and italy needed less to be considered, and the only two really important opposing pieces left were france and russia. still, germany, through her allies of the triplice, might be dragged into war, and consequently the doings of austria and italy, both in relation to one another and to france and russia were, as they now are, of great importance to her. at the time of the accession, the chessboard of our metaphor was mainly occupied with franco-german relations and with russian designs on constantinople, the dardanelles, and the black sea. the danger to germany of war with france, which had arisen out of the boulanger and schnaebele incidents, had died down, but not altogether ceased. hohenlohe tells us how at this time, in conversation with the emperor, the latter ventured the forecast: "boulanger is sure to succeed. i prophesy that as kaiser ernest he will pay a visit to berlin." he was wrong, we know, as so many prophets are. russian designs on turkey had had to reckon with the opposition of england and austria. as regards these designs, bismarck says: "germany's policy should be one of reserve. germany would act very foolishly if in oriental questions, without having special interests, she took a side before the other powers, who were more nearly interested: she would therefore do well to refrain from making her move as long as possible, and thus, besides, gain the benefit of longer peace." the chancellor, however, admitted that against the advantages of a policy of reserve had to be set the disadvantage of germany's position in the centre of europe with its frontiers exposed to the attacks of a coalition. "from this situation," said the chancellor, "it results that germany is perhaps the only great power in europe which is not tempted to attain its ends by victorious war." "our interest," he goes on, "is to maintain peace, whereas our continental neighbours without exception have wishes, either secret or officially admitted, which can only be fulfilled through war. consequently, german policy must be to prevent war or confine it as much as possible: to keep in the background while the european game of cards is going on: and not by loss of patience or concession at the cost of the country, or vanity, or provocation from friends, allow ourselves to be driven from the waiting attitude: otherwise--_plectuntur achivi!_--third parties will rejoice." that was the bismarckian policy twenty-five years ago, and though new economic conditions have had great influence in modifying it since, particularly as it regards the east, it is practically germany's policy now. in his first speech from the throne to the reichstag the emperor thus referred to the triple alliance: "our alliance with austria-hungary is publicly known. i hold to the same with german fidelity, not merely because it has been concluded, but because i see in this defensive union a foundation for the balance of power in europe and a legacy of german history, the importance of which is recognized by the whole of the german people, while it accords with european international law as undeniably in force up to . similar historical relations and similar national exigences of the time bind us to italy. both germany and italy desire to prolong the blessings of peace that they may pursue in tranquillity the consolidation of their newly acquired unity, the betterment of their national institutions, and the increase of their prosperity." in a speech a few months later he declared that the alliance had no other purpose than to strengthen the peaceful relations of germany to other foreign powers. his next public reference to it was in may, , when kaiser franz joseph visited berlin on the occasion of the coming of age of the german crown prince. "truly," exclaimed the emperor, in a vein of some exaggeration, "this alliance is not alone an agreement in the eyes of the monarchs, but the longer it has existed, the deeper has it taken root in the convictions of the peoples, and the moment that the hearts of the peoples beat in unison nothing can tear them asunder. common interests, common feelings, joy and sorrow shared together, unite our three nations for now twenty years, and although often enough misunderstandings and sarcasm and criticisms have been poured out on them, the three peoples have succeeded in maintaining peace hitherto, and are regarded by the whole world as its champions." the history of the triplice may be shortly related here as, along with his navy, it is regarded by the emperor as the chief factor in the preservation of the world's peace, and is, in fact, as has been said, the foundation of his foreign policy. it arose from bismarck's desire to be independent of russia and from his dread of a european coalition--for example, that of france, austria, and russia--against the german empire. "we had," bismarck writes, "carried on successful war against two of the european great powers (austria and france), and it became advisable to withdraw at least one of them from the temptation to revenge which lay in the prospect an alliance with others offered. it could not be france, as any one who knew the history and temperament of the two peoples could see, nor england owing to her dislike of permanent alliances, nor italy as her support alone was insufficient against an anti-german coalition; so that the choice lay between austria-hungary and russia." for many reasons bismarck would have preferred the russian alliance, among others the traditional dynastic friendship between the two countries and the fact that no natural political or religious causes of conflict existed between them; while a union with austria was less reliable, owing to the changeable nature of her public opinion, the heterogeneousness of her magyar, slav, and catholic populations, and the loss of influence by the german element with the governing body. on the other hand, however, an alliance with austria would be nothing new, internationally, as such a connection theoretically arose from the former connection of germany and austria in the holy roman empire. while weighing the matter, a threatening letter from czar alexander ii to william i, in which he called on germany to support his balkan policy, and said that if he refused peace could not last between their two countries, decided bismarck in favour of austria. the chief opponent of the new alliance was william i, who was moved by personal chivalric feelings towards his nephew, czar alexander; but, disregarding this, because confident of eventually persuading his imperial master, bismarck went to gastein and there settled with the austrian minister, count andrassy, the principles of the alliance. italy came into the alliance in as the immediate result of france obtaining a protectorate in tunis, in return, partly, for her acquiescence in the english acquisition of cyprus. the protectorate aroused general indignation and fear in italy, and though it meant a large expenditure on naval and military armament, on may , , she joined the dual alliance for five years, and thus turned it into the triplice. the triple alliance rests on three treaties: one between germany and austria-hungary, one between germany and italy, and one between austria-hungary and italy. while by the first germany and austria-hungary bind themselves to combine in case of an attack on either by russia, whether as original foe or as ally, and to observe "at least" benevolent neutrality in case of attack from any other quarter, by the second germany and italy bind themselves to mutual support in case of an attack on either by france. the third, between austria-hungary and italy, binds the signatories to benevolent neutrality in case austria-hungary is attacked by russia, or italy by france. that there are weak points in the triple alliance is obvious. if austria-hungary were a purely homogeneous country like france or russia, germany and austria-hungary, even without italy, could face with confidence an attack from either or both their powerful neighbours. but austria-hungary is not homogeneous. a large proportion of her population is anti-german, or at least non-german, and italy is always subject to be tempted by an opportunity of obtaining some of austria-hungary's adriatic possessions. moreover, a large party is even now to be found in austria-hungary which desires revenge for the humiliation of her defeat by germany in . the relations of germany to russia have always been rather those of friendship between the monarchs of the two countries than of friendship between the two peoples; and it is easy to understand that the fear of revolution, socialism, or "government of the people, by the people, for the people," to use lincoln's celebrated phrase, at all times forms a strong and active bond of sympathy between the monarchs. in the case of russia there is also always to be considered the obstinate, or as the emperor would call it knightly, spirit in which his grandfather, king william i, regarded his obligation to maintain friendship with the czar, and which for a long time made him hostile to the idea of alliance with austria instead of alliance with russia. the feeling, it is highly probable, is strong, if not equally strong, in the mind of the emperor to-day, if only out of respect for the memory of his ancestor. there is not, to use a popular expression, much love lost between the two peoples, not only because of racial differences between teuton and slav, but because of the differences in religion and in degree of civilization. there are not a few germans who assert that germany's next war will be with russia, and that from the dominions of the czar will be obtained the fresh territory germany needs for her constantly expanding population. the czar returned the emperor's accession visit in berlin in october, , and it was on this occasion that the first sign of trouble between the emperor and the old chancellor showed itself. when the emperor first proposed to make his round of visits of accession to foreign sovereigns, bismarck agreed except as regarded russia and england, objecting that visits to these countries would have an alternatively bad effect in each. the emperor, however, as has been noted, went to russia. during the return visit in berlin, bismarck had an interview with the czar which resulted in the final adjustment of russo-german relations, but at its close the czar said, "yes, i believe you and have confidence in you, but are you sure you will remain in office?" bismarck looked surprised, and said, "certainly, majesty; i am quite certain i shall remain in office all my life"--an odd thing, one may remark, for a man to say, who must have been familiar with the saying, "put not your trust in princes." when the czar was going away, both the emperor and bismarck accompanied him to the station, and on their return the emperor gave the old chancellor a seat in his carriage. the talk concerned the visit just over, and the emperor again announced his intention of spending some time in russia the following year. bismarck now advised against the project on the ground that it would arouse hostility in austria, and because "it was not suitable considering the czar's disposition towards the emperor." "what disposition? what do you mean? how do you know?" questioned the emperor quickly. "from confidential letters i am in the habit of receiving from st. petersburg, in addition to official reports," replied the chancellor. the emperor expressed a wish to see the letters, but bismarck gave an evasive answer. the result was a temporary coolness between emperor and chancellor. from a memorandum of prince hohenlohe's we get a glimpse of one of the political currents and anti-currents just now running high. prince hohenlohe writes under date, june , , when the emperor was hardly a fortnight on the throne:-- "last evening at left berlin with thaden after supping with victor and franz (son and nephew) in the kaiserhof hotel. paid several visits during the day. i found friedberg somewhat depressed. he is no longer the big man he was in the emperor frederick's time, when everybody courted him. he knows that the emperor does not favour jews. then i visited the new chief of the cabinet (civil), lucanus, a courtly, polished, obliging man, who looks more like an elegant austrian privy councillor. wilmoski inspires me with more confidence. at to bleichroeder's (bleichroeder was the great jew banker). we spoke, or rather he spoke first, about the political situation. he is satisfied, and says bismarck is too. only the emperor must take care to keep out of the hands of the orthodox. people in the country wouldn't stand that. (he is right there, comments hohenlohe.) waldersee and his followers, he said, was another danger. waldersee was a foe of bismarck's and thought himself fit for anything and everything. who knows but that these gentlemen wouldn't begin the old game and say to the emperor, 'you are simply nothing but a doll. bismarck is the real ruler.' on the old emperor this would have made no impression, but the young one would be more sensitive. bismarck, therefore, wanted waldersee's banishment, and would, if he could, send him to strasburg (where hohenlohe was statthalter) as commanding general. perhaps he was only aiming at making me (hohenlohe) sick of my post and so get rid of waldersee, his enemy, when i cleared out. bleichroeder said bismarck only introduced the compulsory pass system to show the emperor that he too could act sharply against the french, and so as to take the wind out of the sails of the military party. bismarck was thinking above all about seating his son herbert firmly in the saddle (herbert was secretary of state for foreign affairs). that is the sole motive of his action and thought. there was therefore no prospect of matters in the rhineland improving. as to russia, bleichroeder expected some occurrence, something out of the way (_exotisches_) by which russia might be won, either the withdrawal of troops from the frontier or a meeting of emperors. the emperor, bismarck said, would not begin a war. if it came, however, it would not be unwelcome to him." prince hohenlohe also tells of a visit he paid in the month of the accession to the widowed empress frederick. "she is much bowed down," he said, "very harassed-looking, and i feel sure that all this recent time, all the last year in fact, she has been displaying an artificial good-humour, for now i find her in deep distress. at first she could not speak for weeping. we spoke of the emperor frederick's last days, then she recovered herself a little and complained of the wickedness and meanness of men, by which she meant to allude to certain people.... herbert bismarck had had the impudence to tell the prince of wales (later edward vii) that an emperor who could not talk and discuss things should not be allowed to reign, and so on. the prince of wales, the empress said, told herbert that if it were not that he valued good relations between england and germany, he would have thrown him out of the door.... waldersee was a false, unprincipled wretch, who would think nothing of ruining his country if he could only satisfy his own personal ambition." prince hohenlohe finally called on the prince of wales, who "spoke prudently, but showed his disgust at the roughness of the bismarcks, and could not understand their policy of irritating france." the particular question concerning france that was agitating germany at the time of the accession was the state of affairs in alsace-lorraine, and particularly bismarck's measure requiring french citizens entering the provinces to provide themselves with a pass from the german ambassador in paris. the amiable and conciliatory statthalter, prince hohenlohe, had to make a reluctant journey to berlin in connexion with this question. there was another question also weighing on his mind--the question whether or not he should have a sentry guard before his official residence in strasburg. the military authorities, whose rivalry with the civil authorities everywhere in germany for influence and power still continues, wanted to have the sentries abolished, but the prince eventually had his way. he showed bismarck that they were necessary for his reputation with the population, which had already begun to think less of his influence as statthalter owing to his one day at a review having incautiously and gallantly taken a back seat in his carriage in favour of some lady guests. in normal times the composers of speeches from the throne are accustomed to describe the relations between their own and foreign countries as "friendly." when the relations are not friendly, yet not the opposite, they are usually registered on the political barometer as "correct." the attitude on both sides is formal, rigorously polite, reserved; such as would become a pair of people who had once been at feud and after their quarrel had been fought out agreed, if only for the sake of appearances, to show no outward animosity, but on the other hand not give an inch of way. the position of france and germany is "correct"; it has never been friendly since ; and it must be many a long year before it can be friendly again. apart from the difference between the latin and teutonic temperaments, apart from the legacy of hate left in germany against france by the sufferings and humiliations the great napoleon caused her, apart from the fact that one people is republican and the other monarchical, there is always one thing that will prevent reconciliation--the loss by france of the fair provinces alsace and lorraine. it is of no use for germany to remind france that up to the peace of westphalia in this territory belonged to germany, or rather to what then was known by that name. it was useless as well as ungracious for bismarck to tell france to seek compensation in africa for what she had lost in europe. like rachel mourning for her children, france will not be comforted; and now, as from the heavy hour in which she lost the provinces, she grieves over the memory of them and nurses the hope, still mingled with hate, of one glorious day regaining them. there are sanguine spirits who assert that the old feeling is dying out, and the german government studiously encourages that view. it may be so; time is having its obliterating effects; and in externals at least the germanization of the provinces is slowly making progress. still the wound is deep, and there seems no prospect of its healing. several suggestions have been made with a view to an arrangement that might leave france without reason, or with less reason, for constant meditation on revenge one of them is the neutralization of alsace-lorraine on the model of belgium, while another is the distribution of the territory, so that while alsace is divided between baden and bavaria, lorraine becomes a part of prussia a third would divide the provinces between the two nations. an illustration of the yet prevailing feeling is found in the fact that large alsatian firms invariably use french in their correspondence with berlin firms, and almost as invariably refer to the "customs-arrangement" with germany in . they cannot bring themselves to use the word "annexation." yet of late years--to anticipate somewhat the course of events--germany has made two important concessions to alsace-lorraine. the first was the abrogation of the so-called "dictator-paragraph," which was part of the law for administering the new provinces after the war of . under the paragraph the lieutenant-governor (oberpresident) of the reichsland, as the newly incorporated territory is now officially known, was empowered in case of need to take command of the military forces and proclaim a state of siege. when announcing the abrogation of the paragraph in the reichstag in , chancellor von bülow gave a résumé of the relations of the provinces to the empire since . he stated that immediately after the war the population were not disposed to incorporation in the empire, as they thought the new state of things would only be temporary and that france would soon reconquer the provinces. this state of feeling, the chancellor explained, naturally reacted on the government, which accordingly laid down the principle that the claims of the provinces to equal political rights with other parts of the empire could only be recognized step by step, as the government was satisfied that the population conformed to the new order of things. the second important concession to the provinces was made only recently, when the provincial committee was replaced by a popularly elected diet and the provinces were granted three seats in the federal council. there is a proviso that in case of equality in the council meetings the votes shall not be allowed to turn the scale in favour of prussia. the limitation is a concession to the susceptibilities of the other federal states. germany's relations with great britain at the time of the accession were unclouded. mr. gladstone had been defeated on his home rule proposals and lord salisbury was back in power. a lull had occurred in british relations with the transvaal. all nations, including germany, were beginning to turn their attention to the orient with a view to the acquisition in asia of "spheres of influence and spheres of interest," but as yet english and german interests had not come anywhere into conflict. the emperor's great internal foe and the object of his special enmity is the social democracy, and practically from the day of his accession he has waged war with it. his attitude towards the socialists requires no long description, since it logically results from his traditional conception of prussian monarchy and from the revolutionary character of social democratic aims. while a young man he paid little or no attention to the movement, and probably regarded it as the "passing phenomenon" he subsequently declared it to be. in the number of social democratic voters was something over half a million, and the number of social democratic members returned to the reichstag : in , two years after the accession, the figures were a million and a half and respectively. the emperor's denunciation of social democrats has always been unmeasured. "a crew undeserving the name of germans," a "plague that must be extirpated," "traitors," "people without a country and enemies to religion," "foes to the empire and the country"--such were a few of the expressions he then and during the next few years publicly applied to three millions of his subjects. to-day, it may be added, the number of social democrats in germany is well over four millions. in , in reply to a deputation of three coal miners' representatives, the emperor said: "as regards your demands, i will have them carefully investigated (a phrase, by the way, not unknown in england) by my government, and let you know the result through the usual official channels. should, however, offences against public peace and order occur, should a connexion between your movement and social democratic circles be demonstrated, i would not be in a position to weigh your wishes with my royal goodwill, since for me every social democrat is the same thing as a foe to the empire and the fatherland. accordingly, if i see that social democratic tendencies mix with the movement and lead to unlawful opposition, i will intervene with all my powers--and they are great." and a month later: "that the radical agitation of the social democracy has turned so many heads and hearts is due to the fact that in schools, high and low, too little is taught about the cruel deeds of the french revolution and too little about the heroic deeds of the war of liberation, which was (with the help of english bayonets, be it parenthetically remarked) the salvation of the fatherland." in , to anticipate by a year or two, in reply to a guest who had observed that social democrats were not decreasing in numbers, the emperor remarked: "the moment the social democracy feels itself in possession of power it will not hesitate for an instant to attack the burghertum (middle classes) very energetically. no exhibition of general benevolence is of any use against these people--here only religious feeling, founded on decided faith, can have any influence." the emperor, referring to the murder of a manufacturer in mulhausen, said: "another victim to the revolutionary movement kept alive by the socialists. if only our people would act like men!" and yet it is obvious, looking at it from the standpoint of to-day, that an admirably organized movement with four million parliamentary voters in an electorate of fourteen millions, with no members in an imperial parliament of with representatives, more or less numerous, on almost every municipal board of any importance in the empire, with the power of disturbing at any moment the relations between capital and labour, upon which the prosperity, security, and comfort of the whole population depend, and in intimate relations with the socialists of all other countries, cannot be merely ignored or disposed of by scornful and sarcastic speeches, by official anathema, or even by close police supervision. there must be something behind it all which ought to be susceptible of explanation. before, however, attempting to conjecture what the something is, it will be advisable, familiar to many though the facts must be, to recapitulate, as briefly as possible, the history of the movement. old as the story is, it is necessary to have some knowledge of it, for social democracy is the great, perhaps the only, domestic political thorn in the emperor's side. it is a truism to say that the "social question," the question how best to organize society, is as old as society itself. great thinkers all down the ages, from plato to sir thomas more, from more to jean jacques rousseau, from rousseau to saint simon, fourier, louis blanc, lassalle, and karl marx, have devoted their attention to it. the french revolutionists tried to solve it, and the revolutionary movement of took up the problem in its turn. german social democracy may be referred for its source to the teachings of louis blanc, who formed in a workmen's society in paris. blanc held, as the social democrats hold, that capitalism was the cause of all social evil, and that the workman was powerless against it. he therefore proposed the establishment of workmen's societies for purposes of production, and the grant of the necessary capital at a low rate of interest by the state. the doctrine was taken up in germany with fiery enthusiasm by ferdinand lassalle, who, in may, , founded the general german workmen's society for a "peaceful, lawful agitation" in favour of universal suffrage as a first means to the desired end. universal suffrage was granted by the north german confederation in , and in lassalle's adherents numbered , . meanwhile, karl marx and his disciple, frederic engels, had been propagating their theories, and in the former published his famous work on the ideal social state. at first marx was a partizan of revolutionary methods, but he subsequently recanted this view and proclaimed that the socialistic aim in future should be the "strengthening of the economic and political power of the workman so that the expropriation of private property could be obtained by legislation." the marxian doctrine was adopted in germany by wilhelm liebknecht and august bebel, who, at eisenach in , founded the association of social democratic workmen, to which the present german party owes its name. the eisenach programme declared "the economic dependence of the workmen on the monopolists of the tools of labour the foundation of servitude and social evil," and demanded "the economic emancipation of the working classes." an attempt to get the lassalle society to join the eisenacher society on an international basis failed for the time, but the two associations finally coalesced at the gotha congress of . the attempt on the life of william i in by the anarchist nobiling had an important effect on the fortunes of the party and the character of its programme. the socialist laws were passed and the police began a campaign against the socialists, of which the mildest features were the dissolution of societies, the searching of houses, the expulsion of suspected persons, and the interdiction of socialist newspapers and periodicals. for the next few years the party held its annual congresses in switzerland or denmark, but as the socialist laws ceased to have effect after three years, and were not then renewed, the party resumed its congresses in germany. the congress at erfurt in resulted in the issue of a new programme rejecting the lassalle plan for the establishment of workmen's societies for productive purposes and substituting for it the transfer of all capitalistic private property engaged in the means of production, such as lands, mines, raw material, tools, machinery, and means of transport, to the state. the term used in the programme is "state," not "society," but the state is in fact nothing but the society armed with coercive powers. other objects are universal suffrage for both sexes over twenty, electoral reform, two-year parliaments, direct legislation "through the people," some form of parliamentary government, autonomy of the people in empire, state, province, and parish, conscription, national militia instead of standing army, international arbitration, abolition of state religion, free and compulsory education, abolition of capital punishment, free burial, free medical assistance, free legal advice and advocacy, progressive succession duties, inheritance tax, abolition of indirect taxation and customs, parliamentary decisions as to peace and war, and undenominationalism in schools. especially for the working classes are intended the following: national and international protective legislation for workmen on the basis of a normal eight hours day, prohibition of child labour under fourteen years, prohibition of night work save rendered necessary by the nature of the work or the welfare of society, superintendence of labour and its relations by a ministry of labour, thorough workshop hygiene, equality of status between the agricultural labourer, servant class, and the artisan, right of association, and state insurance, as to which the working class should have an authoritative voice. the programme contains nothing as to the practical consequences of the provisions it contains, but herr bebel, in his book on "woman and social democracy," gives some examples. one is that the working time will be alike for men and women, another that domestic life will be limited to the cohabitation of man and woman, for children are to be brought up by society, and a third that cooking and washing will be the care of central public kitchens and washhouses. meanwhile, all these years, it may be noted, herr bebel and his millions of followers have been living exactly like everybody else. the student of working-class conditions in germany is unlikely to think clearly unless he distinguishes between such terms as social democracy, socialism, trade unionism, and labour party. social democracy is a species of socialism. all social democrats are socialists, but not all socialists social democrats. the latter, as an enrolled political party, paying annual subscriptions and looking forward to the future state as conceived by marx, and now by bebel, number something under a million; the remaining three millions who voted for social democratic candidates at the last general election may have included men who believe in social democratic ideals, but the vast majority of them, unless one does grave injustice to their common sense, voted for such candidates owing to dissatisfaction with the policy of the government and present conditions generally--the high cost of living, the pressure of taxation, the severity of class distinctions, and like grievances, real or imaginary. these people are socialists in the english or international sense of the word, not social democrats strictly speaking; and with these people the emperor is most angry because he knows they form the element most capable of dangerous expansion. again, though the vast majority of german socialists in the broader sense are trade unionists, not all trade unionists are socialists. trade unionism--the organization of labour against capital--is represented in germany by two main bodies; the free or socialist unions containing about two million working men, and the "christian" or loyal "national" unions, which are anti-social democrat and anti-socialist. these have a membership of about , . the hirsch-duncker unions, with , members, are liberal, but also loyal and anti-socialist. in labour conflicts, naturally, as distinguished from politics, all workmen of the particular branch in conflict work together, whether they are socialist or not. it need only be added that there is no so-called "labour party" in the german parliaments. the social democratic party in the reichstag represents labour interests generally, and promote them much more insistently and successfully than they do the utopia of their dreams. but enough has been said to show the comprehensive and revolutionary nature of social democratic doctrine. the only other feature that requires mention in connexion with the movement is the desire on the part of a section of the party for a revision of its programme. the party of revision is usually identified with the names of heinrich von vollmar, who first suggested it, and eduard bernstein, who is in favour of trying to realize that portion of the programme which deals with the social needs of the existing generation, the demands of the present day, and would leave to posterity the attainment of the final goal. the views of the revisionists differ also from those of the radicals in respect of two other main questions which divide the party, that of voting budgets and that of going to court. the revisionists are willing to do both, and the radicals to do neither. a decisive split in the party is annually looked for, but hitherto, when congress-day came, the revisionists, for the sake of peace and unity in the party, have refrained from pushing their views to extremes. one might suppose that professors of the tenets of social democracy would get into trouble with the police, but they avoid arrest and imprisonment by taking care to avoid attacking property or the family, advocating a republic, or introducing religious questions into their discussions. in dealing with the growth of social democracy in germany the philosophic historian would doubtless refer to the french revolution, or go still farther back to the reformation, as the starting-point of every great change in the views of civilized mankind during the last four and a half centuries; but it is with more recent times these pages are chiefly concerned and consequently with causes now operative. the main specific cause is the change from agriculture to industry, and with it the growth of what is generally spoken of as "industrialism." industrialism means the assemblage of large masses of intelligent men forming a community of their own, with its special conditions and the wants and wishes arising from them. this is the most fertile field for socialism, for a new organization of society. in germany socialistic ideas kept growing with the increase of industrialism, and came to a head with the attempts by hödel and nobiling on the life of the emperor william. the anti-socialist laws, passed for a definite period, followed, but they were not renewed; the emperor and his government pressed on instead with a great and far-reaching social policy, and socialism, in the form of social democracy, freed from restraint, took a new lease of life. another cause of as general, but less ponderable, a nature is the remnant of the feudal spirit and feudal manners which lingers in the attitude of the german governing and official classes towards the rest of the population. the most objectionable features of the feudal system have passed away, the cruel and exclusive rights and privileges which only men in ignorant personal servitude to an all-powerful master could permanently endure; but traces of the system still exist in the official attitude towards the public and in the tone of the official communications issued by the administrative services generally. attitude and tone may be referred in part to the traditional character of the prussian monarchy, which regards the people as a flock of sheep, or as a "talent," as the emperor has called it, entrusted to its care and management by heaven; but it is also due in part to the systematization of public life--and largely of private life--which at times makes the foreigner inclined to think germany at once the most socialistic and at the same time the most tyrannically ruled country in the world. everything in germany must be done systematically, and the system must be the result of development. but there is no use in having a system unless it is enforced--otherwise it remains, like social democracy, a theory. compulsion, therefore, is necessary, and the government provides it through its official machinery and its police. the systematization has enormous public advantages, but it is difficult for the anglo-saxon, jealous of his individual right to direct his public life through his own representatives and his private life according to his own judgment, to accommodate himself to a system which seems to him unduly to interfere with both right and judgment. perhaps it is the manner in which, under the name of authority, compulsion is exercised by subordinate officialdom and in especial by the police, as much as the compulsion itself, which irritates in germany. every profession, business, trade, and occupation, down to that of selling matches and newspapers in the streets, is meticulously regulated; and while there is nothing to object to in this, what strikes the anglo-saxon as objectionable is that the regulations are enforced with the manners and in the tone of a drill-sergeant. the official in germany, he finds, is not the servant of the public. there is a story current in england of a duke of norfolk, when postmaster-general, going into a district post-office and asking for a penny stamp. the clerk was dilatory, and the duke remonstrated. "who are you, i should like to know?" asked the clerk impertinently, "that you are laying down the law." "i am the public," replied the duke simply, at the same time showing the clerk his card. an english foreign secretary once told a deputation that the ministry was "waiting for instructions from their employers--the people." in germany it is the opposite; the official is the master and the public his dutiful servant. in germany the official expects marked deference from the public: the post-office clerk is "mr. official," the guardian of the law "mr. policeman" (with your hat off). the anglo-saxon rather expects the deference to be on the other side, and has a sordid subconsciousness that he pays the official for his services. perhaps the social democrat has something of the same feeling. one of the chief consequences of industrialism in germany is that the people of the country are migrating to the towns. to the country bumpkin the city is an eldorado and a lordly pleasure-house. in truth, he is much better off in it than in the stagnant life of the country. in the city he sees comfort on every hand, with possibilities of enjoyment of every kind, and if he does not soon get a share of the good things going he grows discontented and turns socialist. in the city, too, he learns to think and compare, he perceives the distinction of classes and notices that certain classes have open to them careers from which he is excluded. then there is the apparently inevitable antagonism between labour and capital, between the employer and employed, which drives the worker to social democracy, as offering the prospect of his becoming his own master and enjoying the whole fruits of his labour. he may not know matthew arnold's "sick king in bokhara," but he would endorse arnold's lines:-- "and these all, for a lord eat not the fruit of their own hands; which is the heaviest of all plagues to that man's mind, who understands." but whatever its causes, social democracy is one of the most curious and anomalous societies extant. in a country which worships order, it calls for absolute disorder. a revolutionary movement, it anxiously avoids revolution. it is a magnificent organization for no apparent practical, direct, or immediate purpose. proclaiming the protection of the law and enjoying the blessing of efficient government, it yet refuses to vote the budget to pay for them. it supports a large parliamentary party without any clear or consistent parliamentary policy in internal or external affairs, unless to be "agin the government" is a policy. and lastly, if some of its economic demands are justifiable, and have in several respects been satisfied by modern legislation, its fundamental doctrine, the basis of the entire edifice, is a wild hallucination, sickening to common sense, and completely out of harmony with the progressive economic development of all nations, including its own. in conclusion, it may be added that the social side of the social democracy is perhaps too often unrecognized or ignored by the foreign observer. life for the poorer classes in germany is apt to be more monotonous and dull than for the poorer classes of any country which nature has blessed with more fertility, more sunshine, more diversity of hill and dale, and where people are more mutually sociable and accommodating. social democracy offers something by way of remedy to this: a field of interest in which the workers can organize and make processions and public demonstrations and can talk and theorize and dispute, and in which the woman can share the interest with the man; or a club, a social club with the largest membership in the world except freemasonry. we must return, however, to the emperor. during this period, in december, , he, like every one else with his own ideas on education as well as on art and religion, delivered his views on popular instruction. at this time--he was then thirty--he called together forty-five of the ablest educational experts of the country and addressed them on the subject of high-school education. his minister of education, dr. von grossler, had drawn up a programme of fourteen points for discussion, and the emperor added to these a few others he wished to have considered. german high-school education, be it remarked, is a different thing from english public-school education, and ought rather to be spoken of as german information than as german education. we have seen that the spirit of the german university differs largely from that of the english university, in that it is not concerned with the formation of character or the inculcation of manners. the same may be said of the german gymnasium, or high school, the institution from which the german youth, as a rule, goes to college. no teaching institution, english or german, be it further said on our own account, makes any serious attempt to teach what will prepare youth for intercourse with the extremely complicated world of to-day, to give him, to take but one example, the faintest notion of contract, which, if he possessed it, would save him from many a foolish undertaking and protect him from many a business betrayal, far from it. all the disagreeable, and many of the painful incidents of his subsequent life, all equally avoidable if knowledge regarding them had been instilled into him in his early years, he must buy with money and suffering and disgust in after-years. but the emperor is waiting to be heard. his entire speech need not be quoted, but only its chief contentions. in introducing his remarks he claimed to speak with knowledge as having himself sat on a public-school bench at cassel. the social democracy being to the emperor what king charles's head was to mr. dick, it is not surprising to find almost his first statement being to the effect that if boys had been properly taught up to then, there would be no social democracy. up to , he said, the great subject of instruction for youth was the necessity for german unity. unity had been achieved, the empire was now founded, and there the matter rested. "now," said the emperor, "we must recognize that the school is for the purpose of teaching how the empire is to be maintained. i see nothing of such teaching, and i ought to know, for i am at the head of the empire, and all such questions come under my observation. what," he continues, "is lacking in the education of our youth? the chief fault is that since the philologists have sat in the high schools as _beati possidentes_ and laid chief stress upon the knowledge to be acquired and not on the formation of character and the demands of the present time. emphasis has been put on the ability to know, not on the ability to do--the pupil is expected to know, that is the main thing, and whether what he knows is suitable for the conduct of life or not is considered a secondary matter. i am told the school has only to do with the gymnastics of the mind, and that a young man, well trained in these gymnastics, is equipped for the needs of life. this is all wrong and can't go on." then the empire-builder speaks--what is wanted above all is a national basis. "we must make german the foundation for the gymnasium: we must produce patriotic young germans, not young greeks and romans. we must depart from the centuries-old basis, from the old monastic education of the middle ages, when latin was the main thing and a tincture of greek besides. that is no longer the standard. german must be the standard. the german exercise must be the pivot on which all things turn. when in the exit examination (_abiturientenexamen_) a student hands in a german essay, one can judge from it what are the mental acquirements of the young man and decide whether he is fit for anything or not. of course people will object--the latin exercise is very important, very good for instructing students in other languages, and so on. yes, gentlemen, i have been through the mill. how do we get this latin exercise? i have often seen a young man get, say - / marks, for his german exercise--'satisfactory,' it was considered--and for his latin exercise. the youngster deserved punishment instead of praise, because it is clear he did not write his latin exercise in a proper way; and of all the latin exercises we wrote there was not one in a dozen which was done without cribbing. these exercises were marked 'good,' but when we wrote an essay on 'minna von barnhelm' (one of lessing's dramas) we got hardly 'satisfactory.' so i say, away with the latin exercise, it only harms us, and robs us of time we might give to german." the emperor goes on to recommend the study of the nation's history, geography, and literature ("der sage," poetry, he calls it). "let us begin at home," he says; "when we have learned enough at home, we can go to the museums. but above all we must know our german history. in my time the grand elector was a very foggy personage, the seven years' war was quite outside consideration, and history ended with the close of the last century, the french revolution. the war of liberation, the most important for the young citizen, was not taught thoroughly, and i only learned to know it, thank god, through the very interesting lectures of dr. hinzpeter. this, however, is the _punctum saliens_. why are our young men misled? why do we find so many unclear, confused world-improvers? why is our government so cavilled at and criticized, and so often told to look at foreign nations? because the young men do not know how our conditions have developed, and that the roots of the development lie in the period of the french revolution. consequently, i am convinced that if they understood the transition period from the revolution to the nineteenth century in its fundamental features, they would have a far better understanding of the questions of to-day than they now have. at the universities they can supplement their school knowledge." the emperor then turned to other points. it was "absolutely necessary" to reduce the hours of work. when he was at school, he said, all german parents were crying out against the evil, and the government set on foot an inquiry. he and his brother (henry) had every morning to hand a memorandum to the head master showing how many hours it had taken them to prepare the lessons for the day. in the emperor's case it took, "honestly," from - / to hours' home study. to this was to be added hours in school and hours for eating meals--"how much of the day," the emperor asks, "was left? if i," he said, "hadn't been able to ride to and from school i wouldn't have known what the world even looked like." the result of this, he continued, was an "over-production of educated people, more than the nation wanted and more than was tolerable for the sufferers themselves. hence the class bismarck called the abiturienten-proletariat, all the so-called hunger candidates, especially the mr. journalists, who are often broken-down scholars and a danger to us. this surplus, far too large as it is, is like an irrigation field that cannot soak up any more water, and it must be got rid of." another matter touched on by the emperor was a reduction in the amount to be learned, so that more time might be had for the formation of character. this cannot be done now, he remarks, in a class containing thirty youngsters, who have such a huge amount of subjects to master. the teacher, too, the emperor said, must learn that his work is not over when he has delivered his lecture. "it isn't a matter of knowledge," he concludes "but a matter of educating the young people for the practical affairs of life." the emperor lastly dealt with the subject of shortsightedness. "i am looking for soldiers," he said. "we need a strong and healthy generation, which will also serve the fatherland as intellectual leaders and officials. this mass of shortsightedness is no use, since a man who can't use his eyes--how can he do anything later?" and he went on to mention the extraordinary facts that in some of the primary classes of german schools as many as per cent, were shortsighted, and that in his class at cassel, of the twenty-one pupils, eighteen wore spectacles, while two of them could not see the desk before them without their glasses. the englishman in germany often attributes german shortsightedness to the gothic character of german print. it is more probable that the long hours of study spent poring over books without fresh-air exercise, judiciously interposed, is responsible for it. it has been said that every one, like the emperor, has his own theory of education, but there is one passage in the emperor's speech with which almost all men will agree--that, namely, in which he urges that knowledge is not the only--perhaps not the chief--thing, but that young people must be educated for the practical affairs of life. unfortunately, as to how we are successfully to do this, the emperor is silent; and it may be that there is no certain or exact way. one could, of course--but we are concerned with the emperor. the difference of opinion between the emperor and bismarck regarding the emperor's visit to russia seems to have left no permanent ill-will in the emperor's mind, for on returning in october, , from visits to athens, where he attended the wedding of his sister sophie with the heir-apparent of greece, prince constantine (now king constantine), and constantinople, where he was allowed to inspect the sultan's seraglio, he sent a letter to the chancellor praying god to grant that the latter's "faithful and experienced counsel might for many years assist him in his difficult and responsible office." in january, , however, the question of renewing the socialist laws, which would expire shortly, came up for settlement. a council of ministers, under the emperor's presidency, was called to decide it. when the council met, bismarck was greatly surprised by a proposal of the emperor to issue edicts developing the principles laid down by his grandfather for working-class reform instead of renewing the socialist laws. the reichstag took the emperor's view and voted against the renewal of the laws. it only now remained to give effect to the emperor's edicts. they were considered at a further council of ministers, at which the emperor exhorted them to "leave the social democracy to me, i can manage them alone." the ministers agreed, and bismarck was in a minority of one. this, however, was only the beginning of the end. bismarck decided to continue in office until he had carried through parliament a new military bill, which was to come before it in may or june. meanwhile fresh matters of controversy between the emperor and the chancellor arose regarding the grant of imperial audiences to ministers other than the chancellor. bismarck insisted that the chancellor alone had the right to be received by the emperor for the discussion of state affairs. the quarrel was accentuated by a lively scene which occurred between the emperor and the chancellor about this period in connexion with a visit the leader of the catholic centre party had paid the chancellor, and on march th the emperor sent his chief adjutant, general von hahnke, to say he awaited the chancellor's resignation. bismarck replied that to resign at this juncture would be an act of desertion; the emperor could dismiss him. at the same time the chancellor summoned a meeting of ministers for the afternoon, but while they were discussing the situation a message was brought from the emperor telling them he did not require their advice in such a matter and that he had made up his mind about the chancellor. the messenger on the same occasion expressed to bismarck the emperor's surprise at not having received a formal resignation. bismarck's reply was that it would require some days to prepare such a document, as it was the last official statement of a "minister who had played a meritorious part in the history of prussia and germany, and history should know why he had been dismissed." three days later, on march th, an hour or two after the formal resignation reached the palace, the emperor's letter granting the chancellor's request for his release, naming him duke of lauenburg and announcing the appointment of general von caprivi as his successor, was put into the old chancellor's hands. vi. the court of the emperor while the ex-chancellor is bitterly meditating on the unreliability and ingratitude of princes, yet having in his heart, as the records clearly show, the loyal sentiments of a cardinal wolsey towards his royal master, even though that master had cast him off, we may be allowed to pause awhile in order to give some account of the court of which the emperor now became the centre and pivot. human imagination, in its worship of force as the source of ability to achieve the ends of ambition and desire, very early conceived the courts of kings as fairylands of power, wealth, luxury, and magnificence--in a word, of happiness. the same imagination represents the almighty, whose true nature no one knows, as a monarch in the bright court of heaven, and his great antagonist, satan, who stands for the king of evil, is enthroned by it amid the shades of hell. the fiction that courts are a species of earthly paradise is still kept up for the entertainment of children; while the adult, whom the annals of all countries has made familiar with a long record of monarchs, bad as well as good, is disposed to regard them as beneficial or otherwise to a country according to the character and conduct of the occupant of the throne, and to believe that they are at least as liable to produce examples of vice and hypocrisy as of virtue and honesty. the court of the german emperor in this connexion need not fear comparison with any court described in history. true, courts all over the world have improved wonderfully of recent years. their monarchs are more enlightened, they are frequented by a very different type of man and woman from the courts of former times, their morale and working are more closely scrutinized and more generally subjected to criticism, and they are occupied with a more public and less selfish order of considerations. the court of the emperor is, so far as can be known to a lynx-eyed and not always charitably thinking public, singularly free from the vices and failings the atmosphere of former courts was wont to foster. there is at all times, no doubt, the competition of politicians for influence and power acting and reacting on the court and its frequenters, but of scandal at the court of berlin there has been none that could be fairly said to involve the emperor or his family. dame gossip, of course, busied herself with the emperor in his youth, but whatever truth she then uttered--and it is probably extremely little--on this head, there is no question that from the day he mounted the throne his court and that of the empress has been a model for all institutions of the kind. the life of courts, the personages who play leading parts in them, their wealth and luxury, and the currents of social, amorous, and political intrigue which are supposed to course through them have in all countries and in all ages strongly appealed to writers, fanciful and serious. perhaps one-third of the prose and poetic literature of every country deals, directly or indirectly, with the subject, and determines in no small degree the character of its rising generations. the great architects of romance, depicting for us life in high places, and often nobly idealizing it, or working the facts of history into the web of their imaginings and thus pleasantly combining fact with fiction, aim at elevating, not at debasing, the mind of the reader. a second valuable source of information on the topic are the memoirs of those who have set down their observations and recorded experiences made in the courts to which they had access. among this class, however, are to be found unscrupulous as well as conscientious authors, the former obviously cherishing some personal grievance or as obviously actuated by malice, while the latter are usually moved by an honest desire to tell the world things that are important for it to know, and at the same time, it is not ill-natured to suspect, enhance their own reputation with their contemporaries or with posterity. the multitudinous tribe of anecdote inventors and retailers must also be taken into account. in our own day there is still another source of information, which, agreeably or odiously according to the temperament of the reader, keeps us in touch with courts and what goes on there--the periodical press; while afar off in the future one can imagine the historian bent over his desk, surrounded by books and knee-deep in newspapers, selecting and weighing events, studying characters, developing personalities, and passing what he hopes may be a final judgment on the court and period he is considering. for a study of the emperor's life, as it passes in his court, a large number of works are available, but not many that can be described as authoritative or reliable. among the latter, however, may be placed moritz busch's "bismarck: some secret pages of his history," three volumes that make busch almost as interesting to the reader as his subject; bismarck's own "gedanke und erinnerungen," which is chiefly of a political nature; and the "memorabilia of prince chlodwig hohenlohe-schillingsfürst," who was for several years statthalter of alsace-lorraine and subsequently became imperial chancellor in succession to general von caprivi. these works, with the collections of the emperor's speeches and the speeches and interviews of chancellor prince von bülow, may be ranked in the category of serious and authentic contributions to the court history of the period they cover. then there are several german descriptions of the court, reliable enough in their way which is a dull one, to those who are not impassioned monarchists or hide-bound bureaucrats. in the category of works by unscrupulous writers that entitled "the private lives of william ii and his consort," by a lady-in-waiting to the empress from to , easily takes first place. certainly it gives a lively and often entertaining insight into the domestic life of the palace, but it is so clearly informed by spite that it is impossible to distinguish what is true in it from what is false or misrepresented. finally, for the closer study of individual events and the impressions they made at the time of their happening, the daily press can be consulted. for the bismarck period the biography of hans blum is of exceptional value. what may be termed the anecdotic literature of the court is particularly rich and trivial, and this is only to be expected in a country where the monarchy and its representative are so forcibly and constantly brought home to the people's consciousness. yet it has its uses, and is referred to, though sparingly, in the present work. "the emperor as father of a family," "the emperor and his daughter's uniform," "the amiable grandfather," "the emperor as husband," "the emperor as card player," "how the emperor's family is photographed," "what does the emperor's kitchen look like," "adieu, auguste" ("auguste" is the empress), "the english lord and the emperor's cigarettes," "when my wife makes you a sandwich," "what the emperor reads," "the emperor's handwriting," "can the emperor vote?" (the answer is, opinions differ), "washing day at the emperor's," "the emperor and the empress at tennis," "emperor and auto," are the sort of matters dealt with. literature of this kind is beyond question intensely interesting to vast numbers of people, but helps very little towards understanding a singularly complex human being placed in a high and extraordinarily responsible position. strictly speaking, there is no imperial court in germany, since the king of prussia, in accordance with the imperial constitution, always succeeds to the imperial throne, and therefore officially the court is that of the king of prussia only. the distinction is emphasized by the fact that the court is independent of the empire as regards its administration and finance. it is a state within a state, an _imperium in imperio_. in all that pertains to it the emperor is absolute ruler and his executive is a special ministry. at the same time it is almost needless to add that the court of berlin is practically that of the empire. it is this character, apart from prussia's size and importance, that distinguishes it from other courts in germany and reduces them to comparative insignificance in foreign, though by no means in german, consideration. the court of the empire and prussia--and the same thing may be said of the various other courts in germany--engages popular interest and attention to a much larger extent than is the case in england. the fact is almost wholly due to the nature of the monarchy and of its relations to the people. in england a great portion of the popular attention is concentrated on parliament and the fortunes of its two great political parties. the attention given to the court and its doings is not of the same general and permanent character, but is intermittent according to the occasion. the englishman feels deep and abiding popular interest at all times in parliament, whether in session or not, because it represents the people and is, in fact, and for hundreds of years has been, the government. the reverse may fairly be said to be the case in germany. in germany popular attention has been from early times concentrated on the monarch, his personality, sayings and doings, since in his hands lay government power and patronage. monarchy of a more or less absolute character was accepted by the people, not only in germany but all over the continent, as the normal and desirable, perhaps the inevitable, state of things; and it is only since the french revolution that parliaments after the english pattern, that is by two chambers elected by popular vote, yet in many important respects widely differing from it, were demanded by the people or finally established. up to comparatively recent times the monarch in prussia was an absolute ruler. frederick william iv, after the events of , was compelled to grant prussia a constitution which explicitly defined the respective rights of the crown and the people in the sphere of politics; and the imperial constitution, drawn up on the formation of the modern empire, did the same thing as regards the emperor and the people of the empire; but neither constitution altered the nature of the monarchy in the direction of giving governing power to the people. both secured the people legislative, but not governing power. government in the empire and prussia remains, as of old, an appanage, so to speak, of the court, and the fact of course tends to concentrate attention on the court. it has been said that the court is a state within a state, an _imperium in imperio_. in this state, within prussia or within the empire, it is the same thing for our purpose, there are two main departments, that of the lord chamberlain (_oberstkammeramt_) and that of the master of the household (_ministerium des königlichen hauses_). the first deals with all questions of court etiquette, court ceremonial, court mourning, precedence, superintendence of the courts of the emperor's sons and near relatives, and of all prussian court offices. the second deals with the personal affairs of the emperor and his sons, the domestic administration of the palace, the management of the crown estates and castles, and is the tribunal that decides all hohenzollern differences and disputes that are not subject to the ordinary legal tribunals. connected with this ministry are the herald's office and the court archives office. the chief court officials include, beside the lord chamberlain and the master of the household, a chief court marshal. the master of the household is also chief master of ceremonies, with a deputy master of ceremonies who is also introducer of ambassadors, two court marshals, a captain of the palace guards, a court chaplain, court physician, an intendant in charge of the royal theatres, a master of the horse who has charge of the royal stables, a house marshal, and a master of the kitchen. all these officials are princes (_fürst_) or counts (_graf_), with the title highness (_durchlaucht_) or excellency. court officials also include the various nobles in charge of the royal palaces, castles, and hunting lodges at potsdam, charlottenburg, breslau, stettin, marienburg, posen, letzlingen, hohkönigsberg, homberg von der höhe, springe, hubertusstock, rominten, korfu (the "achilleion"), wiesbaden, koenigsberg, etc., to the number of thirty or more. the empress has her own court officials, including a mistress of the robes and ladies of the bedchamber, also with the title of excellency, the ladies being chosen from the most aristocratic families of germany. the empress has her own master of the household, physician, treasurer, and so on. similarly with the households of the crown prince, other royal princes and the emperor's near relatives. every order the emperor gives that is not of a purely domestic kind passes through one of his three cabinets--the civil cabinet, the military cabinet, or the marine cabinet. the cost of the first, with its chief, who receives £ , a year, and half a dozen subordinate officials on salaries of £ to £ , is budgeted at about £ , a year. the military cabinet is a much larger establishment, having several departments and a staff of half a hundred councillors and clerks. the naval cabinet, on the other hand, is composed of only three upper officials and five clerks. the emperor's "civil list" is returned in the budget as £ , roughly. his entire annual revenue does not exceed £ , , . out of this he has to pay the expenses of his married sons' households and make large contributions to public charities. he was left, however, a very considerable sum of money by the emperor william. the crown prince, as such, receives a grant of £ , a year, chiefly derived from the royal domain of oels in silesia. like all fathers of large families, the emperor has been more than once heard to complain that he finds it difficult to make both ends meet. the emperor's staff of adjutants are exceptionally useful and important people. at their head is the chief of the emperor's military cabinet. not less important are the members of the emperor's marine cabinet, consisting of admirals, vice-admirals, and wing-admirals. the personal adjutants divide the day and night service between them, so that there may always be three adjutants at the emperor's immediate disposal. the adjutant announces ministers or other visitors to the emperor, telegraphs to say that his majesty has an hour or an hour and a half at his disposal at such-and-such a time, or intimates that an audience of half an hour can be given in the train between two given points. they act as living memorandum books, knock at the emperor's door to announce that it is time for him to go to this or that appointment, remind him that a congratulatory telegram on some one's seventieth birthday or other jubilee has to be sent, or perhaps whispers that her majesty the empress wishes to see him. all the emperor's correspondence passes through their hands. they accompany the emperor on his journeys and voyages, and when thus employed are usually invited to his table. the emperor reads of some new book and tells an adjutant to order it, and the latter does so by communicating with the civil cabinet. court society in berlin includes the german "higher" and "lower" nobility, with the exception of the so-called fronde, who proudly absent themselves from it; the ministers; the diplomatic corps; court officials; and such members of the burghertum, or middle class, as hold offices which entitle them to attend court. the wives, however, of those in the last category are not "court-capable" on this account, nor is the middle class generally, nor even members of the imperial or prussian parliaments as such. members of parliament are invited to the court's seasonal festivities, but as a rule only members of the conservative parties or other supporters of the government. the nobility, as in england, is hereditary or only nominated for life, and the hereditary nobility is divided into an upper and lower class. to the former belongs members of houses that were ruling when the modern empire was established, and, while excluding the emperor, who stands above them, includes sovereign houses and mediatized houses. some of the ancient privileges of the nobility, such as exemption from taxation, and the right to certain high offices, have been abolished, but in practice the nobility still occupy the most important charges in the administration and in the army. the privileges of the mediatized princes consist of exemption from conscription, the enjoyment of the principle called "equality of birth," which prevents the burgher wife of a noble acquiring her husband's rank, and the right to have their own "house law" for the regulation of family disputes and family affairs generally. no increase to the high nobility of germany can accrue as no addition will ever be made to the once sovereign and mediatized families. with the exception of these houses the rest of the german nobility, hereditary and non-hereditary, is accounted as belonging to the lower nobility. that part of the german aristocracy who refuse to go to court, and are accordingly called by the name fronde, first given to the opponents of cardinal mazarin, in the reign of louis xiv, consist chiefly of a few old families of prussian poland, hannover (the guelphs), brunswick, nassau, hessen, and other annexed german territories, and of some great catholic houses in bavaria and the rhineland. their dislike is directed not so much against the empire as against prussia. the kulturkampf had the effect of setting a small number of ancient prussian ultramontane families against the government. not much that is complimentary can be said of the german aristocracy as a whole. "serenissimus" is to-day as frequently the subject of bitter, if often humorous, caricature in the comic press as ever he was. a few of the class, like prince fürstenberg, prince hohenlohe, count henkel-donnersmarck and some others engage successfully in commerce; many are practical farmers and have done a good deal for agriculture; several are deputies to parliament; but on the whole the foreigner gets the impression that the class as such contributes but a small percentage of what it might and should in the way of brains, industry, or example to the welfare and the progress of the empire. it is difficult to communicate an impression of the court, whether at the schloss in berlin or the new palace in potsdam, and at the same time avoid the dry and dusty descriptions of the guide-books. if the reader is not in berlin, let him imagine the fragment of a mediæval town, situated on a river and fronted by a bridge; and on the bank of the river a dark, square, massive and weather-stained pile of four stories, with barred windows on the ground floor as defence against a possibly angry populace, and a sentry-box at each of its two lofty wrought-iron gates. it may be, as baedeker informs us it is, a "handsome example of the german renaissance," but to the foreigner it can as equally suggest a large and grimy barracks as the five-hundred-years-old palace of a long line of kings and emperors. and yet, to any one acquainted with the blood-stained annals of prussian history, who knows something of the massive stone buildings about it and of the people who have inhabited them, who strolls through its interior divided into sombre squares, each with its cold and bare parade-ground, who reflects on the relations between king and people, closely identified by their historical associations, yet sundered by the feudal spirit which still keeps the crown at a distance from the crowd, above all to the german versed in his country's story--how eloquently it speaks! when one thinks of the court of berlin one should not forget that the new palace, the emperor's residence at potsdam, sixteen miles distant from the capital, is as much, and as important, a part of it as the royal palace in berlin itself. the emperor divides his time between them, the former, when he is not travelling, being his more permanent residence, and the latter only claiming his presence during the winter season and for periods of a day or so at other parts of the year, when occasion requires it. it is only during the six or eight weeks of the winter season that the empress and her daughter, princess victoria louise (now duchess of brunswick), go into residence at the berlin royal palace. there is a railway between potsdam and berlin, but since the introduction of the motor-car the emperor almost always uses that means of conveyance for the half-hour's run between his berlin and potsdam palaces. the other section of the court, if potsdam may be so described, is hardly less rich in memories than the old palace by the spree. indeed it is richer from the cosmopolitan point of view, for though frederick the great was born in the berlin schloss and spent some of his time there, it was at potsdam that, when not campaigning, he may be said to have lived and died. to this day, for the foreigner, his personality still pervades the place, and that of the emperor sinks, comparatively, into the background. the tourist who has pored over his baedeker will learn that potsdam has , inhabitants and is "charmingly situated"--it depends on your temperament what the charm is, and to guide-book framers all tourists have the same temperament--on an island in the havel "which here expands into a series of lakes bounded by wooded hills." he will learn that the old town-palace, which few visitors give a thought to, was built by the great elector, that frederick the great lived here in "richly decorated apartments with sumptuous furniture and noteworthy pictures by pater, lancret, and pesne"; that it contains a cabinet in which the dining-table could be let up and down by means of a trap-door, and "where the king occasionally dined with friends without risk of being overheard by his attendants"; that the present emperor, then prince william, lived here with his young wife when he was still only a lieutenant. he will drive to the new palace--now old, for it was built by frederick the great in , during the seven years' war, at a cost of nearly half a million sterling--and gaze with interest at the summer residence of the emperor. if he is an american he may think of his multi-millionaire fellow-citizen, cornelius vanderbilt, who, when driving up to call on his erstwhile imperial schoolfellow and friend, was nearly shot at by a sentry for whom the name vanderbilt was no "open sesame." he will see before him a main building, seven hundred feet in length, three stories high, with the central portion surmounted by a dome, its chief façade looking towards a park. the whole, of course--for baedeker is talking--forms an "imposing pile," with "mediocre sculptures, but the effect of the weathered sandstone figures against the red brick is very pleasing." here the emperor's father, frederick iii, was born, lived as crown prince, reigned for ninety-nine days, and died. here, too, are more "apartments of frederick the great," with pictures by rubens, including an "adoration of the magi," a good example of watteau and a portrait of voltaire drawn by frederick's own hand. in the north wing are situated the present emperor's suite of chambers, where distinguished men of all countries have discussed almost every conceivable topic, political, social, religious, martial, artistic, financial, and commercial, with one of the most interesting talkers of his time. no bloody tragedy has defiled the palace, as did the murder of lord darnley at holyrood, that of the duke of guise (sir walter scott's "le balafré") the chateau of blois, the execution of the bourbon duc d'enghien the palace of vincennes, or the murder of the boy princes the tower of london. but bloodless tragedy, and exquisite comedy, and farce too, have doubtless had their hour within the walls. one such incident of the politico-tragic kind was that which passed only two years ago between the emperor and his imperial chancellor, when prince von bülow went as deputy from the federal council, the parliament, and the people to pray the emperor to exercise more caution in his public, or semi-public statements; and the historian may possibly find another, and not without its touch of comedy, in the reception by the emperor of the chinese prince, who headed the "mission of atonement" for the murder of the emperor's minister in pekin during the boxer troubles. from the new palace our foreigner will probably drive to the marble palace, which (for baedeker is ever at one's elbow with the facts) he will mark was built in by frederick william ii, who died here, was completed in by frederick william iv, and was the residence of the present emperor at the time of his accession. but while our foreigner has been hurrying from one palace to another, with his mind in a fog of historical and topographical confusion--if he is an american, half-hoping, half-expecting to meet the emperor or empress and secure a bow from one or other, or--why not?--one of william's well-known vigorous _poignées de main_, there is always one thought predominant in his mind--sans souci. that is the real object of his quest, the main attraction that has brought him, all unconscious of it, to berlin, and not the laudable, but wholly mistaken efforts of the "society for the promotion of tourist traffic," which seeks to lure the moneyed and reluctant foreigner to the german capital. our foreigner enters the park of sans souci and his spirit is at rest. now he knows where he really is--not in the wonderful new german empire, not in modern berlin with its splendid and to him unspeaking streets, its garish "night-life," its faultily-faultless municipal propriety, not in potsdam, "the true cradle of the prussian army," as baedeker, deviating for an instant into metaphor, describes it, but simply in sans souci. he is now no longer in the twentieth century, but the eighteenth--one hundred and fifty years ago or more--in frederick's day, the period of pigtails, of giant grenadiers in the old-time blue and red coats, the high and fantastic shako made of metal and tapering to a point, of three-cornered hats resting on powdered wigs, of yellow top-boots, and exhaling the general air of ruffianly geniality characteristic of the manners and soldiers of the age. as our foreigner advances through the park, where, as he is told, the emperor makes a promenade each christmas eve distributing ten-mark pieces (spiteful chroniclers make it three marks) to all and sundry poor, he will notice the fountain "the water of which rises to a height of feet," with its twelve figures by french artists of the eighteenth century, and ascend the broad terraced flight of marble steps up which the present crown prince is credited with once urging his trembling steed--leading to the mecca of his imagination, the palace sans souci itself. the building is only one story high, not large, reminding one somewhat of the trianon at versailles, though lacking the trianon's finished lightness and elegance, yet with its semicircular colonnade distinctly french, and impressive by its elevated situation. the chief, the enduring, the magical impression, however, begins to form as our foreigner commences his pilgrimage through the rooms in which frederick passed most of his later years. as he pauses in the voltaire chamber he imagines the two great figures, seated in stiff-backed chairs at a little table on which stand, perhaps, a pair of cut venetian wine-glasses and a tall bottle of old rheinish--the great man of thought and the great man of action, the two great atheists and freethinkers of europe, with their earnest, sharply featured faces, and their wigs bobbing at each other, discussing the events and tendencies of their time. and how they must have talked--no wonder frederick, though the idol of his subjects, withdrew for such discourse from the society of the day, with its twaddle of the tea-cups and its parade-ground platitudes. as in our own time, there was then no lack of stimulating topics. the influence of the old catholicism and the old feudalism was rapidly diminishing, the night of superstition was passing, and the age of reason, that was to culminate with such tremendous and horrible force in the french revolution, was beginning to dawn. the encyclopaedists, with diderot and d'alembert in the van, were holding council in france, mobilizing the intellects of the time, and, like bacon, taking all knowledge for their province, for a fierce attack on the old philosophy, the old statecraft, the old art, and the old religion. are such topics and such men to deal with them to be found to-day, or have all the great problems of humanity and its intellect been started, studied, and resolved? and are motor-cars, aeroplanes, dances, dreadnoughts, millinery, rag-time reviews, auction bridge, the rise and fall of stocks, and the last extraordinary round of golf, all that is left for the present generation to discuss? however, the guardian of the palace has moved on, the other members of the party are getting bored, and our foreigner follows the guardian's lead. thus conducted, he passes through half a dozen rooms, each a museum of historical associations--the dining-room with its round table made famous by menzel's picture (now in the berlin national gallery) in which frederick and his guests are seen seated, but in which it is difficult if not impossible to be certain which is the host; the concert-room with the clock which frederick was in the habit of winding up, and which "is said to have stopped at the precise moment of his death, . a.m., august th, "; the death-chamber with its eloquent and pathetic statue, magnussen's "last moments of frederick the great"; the library and picture gallery. strangely enough, baedeker has no mention of a female subject portrayed in the concert-room in all sorts of attitudes and in all sorts and no sort of costume. yet every one has heard of la barberini, the only woman, the chroniclers (and voltaire among them) assure us, frederick ever loved. she was no woman of birth or wit like the pompadour, récamier or staël, but of merely ordinary understanding and the wife of a subordinate official of the court. she charmed frederick, however, and may have loved him. if so, let us remember that the morals of those days were not those of ours, and not grudge the lonely king his enjoyment of her beauty and amiability. one thing only remains for our foreigner to see--the coffin of frederick in the old garrison church. it lies in a small chamber behind the pulpit and looks more like the strong box of a miser than the last resting-place of a great king. for such a man it seems poor and mean, but probably frederick himself did not wish for better. he must have known that his real monument would be his reputation with posterity. in fact the chroniclers agree, and the noble statue of magnussen confirms the impression, that at the close of his stormy life he was glad finally to be at rest anywhere. "_quand je serai là_," he was wont to say, pointing to where his dogs were buried in the palace park, "_je serai sans souci_." in every court there is a disposition on the part of courtiers to agree with everything the monarch says, to flatter him as dexterously as they can, to minister to princely vanity, if vanity there be, to "crawl on their bellies," in the choice language of hostile court critics, or "wag their tails" and double up their bodies at every bow; show, in short, in different ways, often all unconsciously, the presence of a servile and self-interested mind. the disposition is not to be found in courts alone. it is one of the commonest and most malignant qualities of humanity, and can any day and at any hour be observed in action in any ministry of state, any mercantile office, any great warehouse, any public institution, in every scene, in fact, where one or many men are dependent for their living on the favour or caprice of another. on the other hand, let it not be forgotten that this innate tendency of human nature is at times replaced by another which has frequently the same outward manifestations, but is not the same feeling, the sentiment, namely, of embarrassment arising from the fear of being servile, and the equally frequent embarrassment arising from that principle which is always at work in the mind, the association of ideas, which in the case of a monarch presents him to the ordinary mortal as embodying ideas of grandeur, power, might, and intellect to which the latter is unaccustomed. education, economic changes, and the art of manners have done much to conceal, if not eradicate, human proneness to servility, and the byzantinism of the time of caligula and nero, of tiberius, constantine, or nikiphoros, of the stuarts and the bourbons, has long been modified into respect for oneself as well as for the person one addresses. there are, however, still traces of the old evil in the german atmosphere, and in especial a tendency among officials of all grades to be humble and submissive to those above them and haughty and domineering to those below them. the tendency is perhaps not confined to germany, but it seems, to the inhabitant of countries where bureaucracy is not a powerful caste, to penetrate german society and ordinary life to a greater degree--yet not to a great degree--than in more democratic societies. the emperor naturally knows nothing of such a thing, for there is no one superior to him in the empire in point of rank, and he is much too modern, too well educated, and of too kindly and liberal a nature to encourage or permit byzantinism towards him on the part of others. indeed byzantinism was never a hohenzollern failing. in his able work on german civilization professor richard tells of some silesian peasants who knelt down when presenting a petition to frederick william i, and were promptly told to get up, as "such an attitude was unworthy of a human being." only on one occasion in the reign has an action of the emperor's afforded ground for the suspicion that he was for a moment filled with the spirit of the byzantine emperors--namely, when he demanded the "kotow" from the chinese prince tschun, who led the "mission of atonement" to germany. this, however, was not really the result of a byzantine character or spirit, but of the excusable anger of a man whose innocent representative had been treacherously killed. of affinity with the idea of byzantinism is that as frequently occurring idea in german court and ordinary life conveyed by the word "reaction." here again we have one of those qualities to be found among mankind everywhere and always: the instinct opposed to change, even to those changes for the good we call progress, the disposition that made horace deride the _laudator temporis acti se puero_ of his day, the feeling of the man who laments the passing of the "good old times" and the military veteran who assures us that "the country, sir, is going to the dogs." in political life such men are usually to be found professing conservatism, owners of land, dearer to them often than life itself, which they fear political change will damage or diminish. in germany the conservative forces are the old agrarian aristocracy, the military nobility, and the official hierarchy, who make a worship of tradition, hold for the most part the tenets of orthodox protestantism, dread the growing influence of industrialism, and are members of the landlords' association: types of a dying feudalism, disposed to believe nothing advantageous to the community if it conflicts with any privilege of their class. under the name of junker, the conservative landowners of the region of prussia east of the elbe, they have become everywhere a byword for pride, selfishness, in a word--reaction. they and men of their kidney are to be distinguished from the german "people" in the english sense, and hold themselves vastly superior to the burghertum, the vast middle class. they dislike the "academic freedom" of the university professor, would limit the liberty of the press and restrain the right of public meeting, and increase rather than curtail the powers of the police. on the other hand, if they are a powerful drag on the emperor's liberal tendencies--liberal, that is, in the prussian sense--towards a comprehensive and well-organized social policy, they are at least reliable supporters of his government for the military and naval budgets, since they believe as whole-heartedly in the rule of force as the emperor himself. the german conservative would infinitely prefer a return to absolute government to the introduction of parliamentary government. at the same time it should not be supposed that the emperor or his chancellor, or even his court, are reactionary in the sense or measure in which the socialist papers are wont to assert. it is doubtful if nowadays the emperor would venture to be reactionary in any despotic way. given that his monarchy and the spirit that informs it are secure, that caesar gets all that is due to caesar, and that he and his government are left the direction of foreign policy, he is quite willing that the people should legislate for themselves, enjoy all the rights that belong to them under the _rechtsstaat_ established by frederick the great, and, in short, enjoy life as best they can. vii. "dropping the pilot" heinrich von treitschke, the german historian, writing to a friend, speaks of the dismissal of prince bismarck as "an indelible stain on prussian history and a tragic stroke of fate the like of which the world has never seen since the days of themistocles." opinions may differ as to the indelibility of the stain--which must be taken as a reflection on the conduct of the emperor; and parallels might perhaps be found, at least by students of english history, in the dismissal of cardinal wolsey by henry viii, or that of the elder pitt by george iii. but there may well be general agreement as to the tragic nature of the fall, for it was a struggle between a strong personality and the unknown, but irresistible, laws of fate. the historic quarrel between the emperor and his chancellor was not merely the inevitable clash between two dispositions fundamentally different, but between--to adapt the expression of a modern poet--"an age that was dying and one that was coming to birth." old prussia was giving place to new germany. the atmosphere of war had changed to an atmosphere of peace. the standards of education and comfort were rising fast. the old german idealism was being pushed aside by materialism and commercialism, and the thoughts of the nation were turning from problems of philosophy and art to problems of practical science and experiment. thought was to be followed by action. mankind, after conversing with the ancients for centuries, now began to converse with one another. the desire for national expansion, if it could not be gratified by conquest, was to be satisfied by the spread of german influence, power, activity, and enterprise in all parts of the world. such a collision of the ages is tragedy on the largest scale, for nothing can be more tragic--more inevitable or inexorable--than the march of progress. the natures of the two men were, in important respects, fundamentally different. bismarck's nature was prosaic, primitive, unscrupulous, domineering: a type which in an english schoolboy would be described as a bully, with the modification that while the bully in an english school is always depicted as a coward at heart (a supposition, however, by no means always borne out in after-life), bismarck had the courage of a bull-dog. moreover, bismarck was a conservative, a statesman of expediency. the emperor is a man of principle; and as expediency, in a world of change, is a note of conservatism, so, in the same world, is principle the _leit-motiv_ of liberalism. to call the emperor a man of principle may appear to be at variance with general opinion as founded on exceptional occurrences, but these do not supply sufficient material for a fair judgment, and there are many acts of his reign which show him to be liberal in disposition. not, it need hardly be said, liberal in the english political sense. liberalism in england--the two-party country--usually means a strong desire to vote against a conservative on the assumption that the conservative is nearly always completely wrong and never completely right. as will be seen later, there is no political liberalism in the english sense in germany. the emperor's liberalism shows itself in his sympathy with his people in their desire for improvement as a society of which he is the head, selected by god and only restricted by a constitutional compact solemnly sworn to by the contracting parties. proofs of this sympathy might be adduced--his determination to carry through his grandfather's social policy against bismarck's wish, however hostile he was and is to social democracy; his steadfast peace policy, however nearly he has brought his country to war; his encouragement of the arts among the lower classes, however limited his views on art may be; his friendly intercourse with people of all nationalities and occupations. the characters also of the two men were different. bismarck's was the result of civilian training; the emperor's of military training. bismarck had small regard for manners, and would have scoffed had anyone told him "manners makyth man"; the emperor is courtesy itself, as every one who meets him testifies. bismarck was fond of eating and drinking, with the appetite of a horse and the thirst of a drayman, until he was nearly eighty, and smoked strong cigars from morning to night--a very pleasant thing, of course, if you can stand it. the emperor has never cared particularly for what are called the pleasures of the table, is fond of apples and one or two simple german dishes, and has never been what in germany is called a "chain-smoker." bismarck appears not to have had the faintest interest in art; the emperor, while of late disclaiming in all art company his lack of expert knowledge, has always found delight in art's most classical forms. yet the two men had some deeply marked traits of character in common. the emperor, as was bismarck, is prussian, that is to say mediaeval, to the core, notwithstanding that he had an english mother and lived in early childhood under english influences. he has always exhibited, as bismarck always did, the genuine qualities of the prussian--self-confidence, tenacity of purpose, absolute trust in his own ideals and intolerance of those of other people, impatience of rivalry, selfishness for the advantage of prussia as against other german states, as strong as that for the newly born empire against other countries. finally, the emperor is convinced, as bismarck was convinced, that in the first and last resort, a society, a people, a nation, is based on force and by force alone can prosper, or even be held together. neither bismarck nor the emperor could ever sympathize with those who look to a time when one strong and sensible policeman will be of more value to a community than a thousand unproductive soldiers. long before he became imperial chancellor bismarck had done masterly and important work for the country. in he began his career by filling the post of interim minister president of prussia at a time when the present emperor was still an infant. it was on taking up the position that he made the celebrated statement that "great questions cannot be decided by speeches and majority-votes, but must be resolved by blood and iron." born in april, , two months before the battle of waterloo, at schoenhausen, in the prussian province of saxony, not far from magdeburg, he studied at the universities of gottingen and berlin and passed two steps of the official ladder--auscultator and referendar--which may be translated respectively protocolist and junior counsel. his parliamentary career began in , two years before the second french revolution. at that time prussia was an absolute monarchy, without a constitution or a parliament. there was no conscription, that foundation-stone of prussian power and of the modern german empire. then came the agitated days of , the sanguinary "march days" in berlin. frederick william iv was on the throne, and in permitted the calling of a parliament, the forerunner of the present reichstag; but only to represent the "rights," not the "opinions," of the people. "no piece of paper," cried the king, "shall come, like a second providence, between god in heaven and this land!" that, too, was bismarck's sentiment, courageously expressed by him when the diet was debating the idea of introducing the english parliamentary system, and proved by him in character and conduct until the day of his death. he would have made a splendid jacobite! the three "march days," the th, th, and th of march, , form one of the few occasions in prussian or german history on which crown and people came into direct and serious conflict. according to german accounts of the episode the outbreak of the revolution in france was followed by a large influx into berlin of poles and frenchmen, who instigated the populace to violence. collisions with the police occurred, and on march th barricades began to be erected. traffic in the streets was only possible with the aid of the military. the king was in despair, not so much, the accounts say, at the danger he was in of losing his throne as at the shedding of the blood of his folk, and issued a proclamation promising to grant all desirable reforms, abolishing the censorship of the press, and summoning the diet to discuss the terms of a constitution. the citizens, however, continued to build barricades, made their way into the courtyards of the palace, and demanded the withdrawal of the troops. the king ordered the courtyards to be cleared, the palace guard advanced, and, either by accident or design, the guns of two grenadiers went off. no one was hit, but cries of "treason!" and "murder!" were raised. within an hour a score of barricades were set up in various parts of the town and manned by a medley of workmen, university students, artists, and even men of the landwehr, or military reserve. at this time there were about , troops at the king's disposal, and with these the authorities proceeded against the mob. a series of scattered engagements between mob and military began. they lasted for eight hours, until at midnight general von prittwitz, who was in command of the troops, was able to report to the king that the revolution was subdued. next morning, however, the th, numerous deputations of citizens presented themselves at the palace, and assuring the king that it was the only means of preventing the further effusion of blood, renewed the request for the withdrawal of the troops. the king consented, notwithstanding the opposition of prince, afterwards emperor, william, and the troops were drawn off to potsdam. the citizens thereupon appointed a national guard, which took charge of the palace, and in the evening a vast crowd appeared beneath the king's windows bearing the corpses of those who had fallen at the barricades during the two preceding days. the dead bodies were laid in rows in the palace courtyard, and the king was invited out to see them. he could not but obey, and bowed to the crowd as he stood bareheaded before the bodies. it is clear from the occurrences in berlin in that while the prussian idea of monarchy is deeply rooted in the german mind, the possibility of a sudden change in public sentiment and a radical alteration of the relations between crown and people are never at any time to be wholly disregarded. hence it is that the emperor and his government are so insistent on the doctrine of heaven-granted sovereignty, so ready to support more or less autocratic monarchies in other parts of the world, and so sensitive to popular movements like anarchism and nihilism in russia, or the always-smouldering polish agitation and the propaganda of the social democracy in germany. when king frederick william iv said to his assembled generals at potsdam a week after the "march days," "never have i felt more free or more secure than when under the protection of my burghers," his words were drowned in the buzz of murmurs and the angry clanking of swords. the emperor to-day might, or might not, endorse the words of his ancestor. most probably he would not; for, judging by his speeches, his care for the army, the military state with which he surrounds himself, and his habitual appearance in uniform, he, though in truth far more a civil monarch than the war lord foreign writers delight in painting him, is evidently determined to rely only on his soldiers for every eventuality at home as well as abroad. perhaps the best german authorities on bismarck's falling-out with the young emperor are the statements regarding it to be found in the memoranda supplied at the time by prince bismarck himself to dr. moritz busch; the memoirs of prince hohenlohe-schillingsfürst, subsequently imperial chancellor; and the monograph on bismarck by dr. hans blum, one of the chancellor's confidants. the memoranda supplied to busch make regrettably few references to the subject, beyond giving the terms of the official resignation and some scanty addenda thereto; but enough is said generally by busch concerning bismarck's conversations to show that the chancellor was deeply mortified by his dismissal. bismarck indeed expressly denies this in a conversational statement quoted by an able bismarckian writer of our own time, dr. paul liman; but in view of subsequent events and statements the denial can hardly be taken as sincere. the passage referred to is as follows:-- "i bear no grudge against my young master, who is fiery and lively. he wishes to make all men happy, and that is very natural at his age. i, for my part, believe perhaps less in this possibility, and have told him so too. it is very natural that a mentor like myself does not please him, and that he therefore rejects my advice. an old carthorse and a young courser go ill in harness together. only politics are not so easy as a chemical combination: they deal with human beings. i wish certainly that his experiments may succeed, and am not in the least angry with him. i stand towards him like a father whom a son has grieved; the father may suffer thereby, but all the same he says to himself, 'he is a fine young fellow.' when i was young i followed my king everywhere: now that i am old i can no longer accompany my master when he travels so far. accordingly it is unavoidable that counsellors who remained closer to him should win his confidence at my expense. he is very easily influenced when one puts before him ideas which he supposes will happily affect the condition of the people, and he can hardly wait to put them into operation. the kaiser will achieve reputation at once: i have my own to watch over, to defend. i have sacrificed myself for renown and will not place it in jeopardy." prince hohenlohe's memoirs are much more valuable in respect of positive information, and especially in supplying an account of the incident taken from the lips of the emperor himself. the prince was without his great predecessor's ability, but was much more amiable and sincere. he was, moreover, a friend of both the parties concerned, and he impartially jotted down events at the time they occurred. lastly, if he was a courtier at heart, he was that not wholly unknown thing, an honest one. dr. hans blum is obviously a partisan of the great chancellor's, but he may also be referred to for a fairly connected account of the fall and the events that succeeded it up to the time of bismarck's death on july , . apart from the differences in the ages and temperaments of the emperor and the chancellor, there were differences in their views as to certain measures of policy. there was a difference of opinion as to german policy regarding russia. friendship with that country had been the policy of both emperor william i and bismarck, and the latter had effected a reinsurance treaty with russia, stipulating for russian neutrality in case of a war between germany and france, notwithstanding the subsistence of the triple alliance between germany, austria, and italy. the reinsurance treaty, which had been made for a period of three years, was now about to expire, and while bismarck desired its renewal, the emperor, in a spirit of loyalty to austria, was against the renewal, and the treaty was not renewed. this was the "new course" as it regarded russia. the difference with regard to the anti-socialist laws has been referred to in our chapter on the accession. the royal order of september, , which has been mentioned as leading immediately to the resignation, regulated intercourse between the prussian ministers and the crown, its chief provision being that only the minister president, and not individual ministers, should have audience of the emperor regarding matters of home and foreign policy. the emperor desired the abrogation of the order, for he wished to consult with the ministers individually. the text of bismarck's official resignation, after describing the origin of the order, continues: "if each individual minister can receive commands from his sovereign without previous arrangement with his colleagues, a coherent policy, for which some one is to be responsible, is an impossibility. it would be impossible for any of the ministers, and especially for the minister president, to bear the constitutional responsibility for the cabinet as a whole. such a provision as that contained in the order of could be dispensed with under the absolute monarchy and could also be dispensed with to-day if we returned to absolutism without ministerial responsibility. but according to the constitutional arrangements now legally in force the control of the cabinet by a president under the order of is indispensable." the emperor replied to prince bismarck's resignation in a communication which the reader, according to his disposition, will regard as an effusion of the heart, immensely creditable to its composer, a model of an official reply as demanded by circumstances, a striking example of the art of throwing dust in the public eye, or an equally striking contribution to the literature of excusable hypocrisy. it was as follows:-- "my dear prince,--with deep emotion i learn from your request of the th instant that you have decided to retire from the offices which you have filled for long years with incomparable success. i had hoped not to have been compelled to entertain the thought of separation during our lives. while, however, in full consciousness of the important consequences of your retirement, i am forced to accustom myself to the thought. i do so, it is true, with a heavy heart, but in the strong confidence that the grant of your request will contribute as much as possible to the protection and preservation for as long as possible of a life and strength of unreplaceable value to the fatherland. "the grounds you offer for your resignation convince me that any further attempt to induce you to reconsider your determination would have no prospect of success. i acquiesce, therefore, in your wish by hereby graciously releasing you from your offices as imperial chancellor, president of my state ministry, and minister of foreign affairs, and trust that your counsels and energy, your loyalty and devotion, will not be wanting to me and the country in the future also. "i have considered it as one of the most valued privileges in my life that at the commencement of my reign i had you at my side as my first counsellor. what you have done and achieved for prussia and germany, what you have done for my house, my ancestors, and me, will remain to me and the german people in grateful and imperishable memory. but also in foreign countries your wise and energetic peace policy, which i, too, in the future also, as a result of sincere conviction, decide to take as the guiding line of my conduct, will be always gloriously recognized. it is not in my power to requite your services as they deserve. i must rest satisfied with assuring you of my own and the country's ineffaceable thanks. as a sign of this thanks i confer on you the rank of a duke of lauenburg. i will also send you a life-sized picture of myself. "god bless you, my dear prince, and grant you still many years of an old age undisturbed and blessed with the consciousness of duty faithfully done. "in this disposition i remain to you and yours in the future also your sincere, obliged, and grateful emperor and king, "william i.r." the emperor has never, so far as is publicly known, issued, or caused to be issued, an official account of the episode and its _péripéties_, but the story he poured, evidently out of a full heart, into the ears of prince hohenlohe, then statthalter of alsace-lorraine, during a midnight drive from the railway station at hagenau to the hunting lodge at sufflenheim, is an historical document of practically official authenticity. it appears as follows in the prince's memoirs:-- "strasburg, _april_, . "on the evening of the rd, nine o'clock, i drove with thaden and moritz to hagenau, there to await the arrival of the emperor. we spent the evening with circle-officer klemm. i went to bed at eleven o'clock in the guest-room, and slept until half-past twelve. moritz and thaden drove to the station with a view to changing their clothes in the train. at one o'clock i was again at the station, when the emperor punctually arrived. i presented the gentlemen to him, and turned over general hahnke to baron charpentier and lieutenant cramer, for them to conduct him to the hunting ground. our journey lasted about an hour, during which the emperor related without a pause the whole story of his quarrel with bismarck. according to this the coolness had already begun in december. the emperor then demanded that something should be done about the working class question. the chancellor was against doing anything. the emperor held the view that if the government did not take the initiative, the reichstag, _i.e_. the socialists, centre and progressives, would take the matter in hand, and then the government would lag behind. the chancellor wanted to lay the anti-socialist bill with the expulsion paragraph again before the reichstag, dissolving the chamber if it did not accept the bill, and then, if it came to disturbances, to take energetic measures. the emperor objected, saying that if his grandfather, after a long and glorious reign, were forced to repress disturbances no one would think ill of him. it was different in his case, who had as yet accomplished nothing. people would reproach him with beginning his reign by shooting down his subjects. he was ready to act, but he wished to do it with a good conscience after endeavouring to redress the well-founded grievances of the workmen, or at least after doing everything to meet their justifiable claims. "the emperor therefore demanded at a ministerial conference the submission of ministerial edicts which should contain what subsequently they in fact did contain. bismarck would not hear of it. the emperor then laid the question before the council of state, and eventually obtained the edicts in spite of bismarck's opposition. bismarck, however, secretly continued his opposition, and tried to persuade switzerland to persevere with its idea of an international labour conference. the attempt was rendered nugatory by the loyal attitude of the swiss minister in berlin, roth. at the very same time bismarck was trying to influence the diplomatists against the conference. "the relations between the emperor and bismarck, already shaken by these dissensions, were still further embittered by the question of the cabinet order of . bismarck had often advised the emperor to summon the ministers to him. this the emperor did, and as the intercourse became more frequent bismarck took it ill, was jealous, and dragged out the order of so as to keep ministers from the emperor. the emperor resisted and acquired the abrogation of the cabinet order. bismarck at first agreed, but gave no further sign in the matter. the emperor now demanded either that the recission of the order should be laid before him, or that bismarck should resign--a demand which the emperor communicated to bismarck through general von hahnke. the chancellor delayed, but at length gave in the resignation on march th. it should be added that already, at the beginning of february, bismarck had told the emperor that he would retire. afterwards, however, he declared that he had thought the position over and would remain--a thing not agreeable to the emperor, though he made no remonstrance until the affair of the cabinet order came in addition. the visit of windthorst to the chancellor also gave rise to unpleasantness, though it was not the deciding factor. in any case the last three weeks were filled with disagreeable conversations between the emperor and the chancellor. it was, as the emperor expressed it, a 'devil of a time,' and the question was, as the emperor himself said, whether the dynasty bismarck or the dynasty hohenzollern should reign. the emperor spoke very angrily, too, about the article in the _hamburg news_. in foreign policy bismarck, according to the emperor, went his own way, and kept back from the emperor much of what he did. 'yes,' he said, 'bismarck had it conveyed to st. petersburg that i wanted to adopt an anti-russian policy. but for that,' the emperor added, 'he had no proofs.' "this conversation," concludes prince hohenlohe, "between the emperor and myself was told partly on the way to the lodge and partly on the way back. between came the shooting; but there was no sport, as the emperor took his stand in the dark under a tree on which was a cock that did not 'call.'" the following further extracts from the hohenlohe memoirs are given rather with the object of showing the state of the political and social atmosphere in which the quarrel took place than as throwing any fresh light on its course. in june of the preceding year ( ) occurs an entry which registers the first signs of the coming storm. prince hohenlohe is telling of a visit he made in june to the grand duke of baden, whom he found irritated by bismarck's proposal, made in connection with the arrest of a prussian police officer by the swiss, to close the frontier against the canton aargau. the grand duke, the prince relates, quoted herbert bismarck as saying he "could not understand his father any longer and that people were beginning to believe he was not right in his head." the next entry in the journal is dated strasburg, august th. it concerns another meeting with the grand duke, who now told him that bismarck had changed his views and that these oscillations had puzzled the emperor and at the same time heightened his self-consciousness; moreover, that the emperor noticed that things were being kept back from him and was becoming suspicious. there had already been a collision between the emperor and the chancellor and the latter might have to go. what then? probably the emperor thought of conducting foreign policy himself--but that, added the grand duke, would be very dangerous. the feeling at court regarding bismarck's fall is shown by a passage in the memoirs about this time. it runs: "at . p.m. dinner (at the palace) at which i sat between stosch and kameke. the former told me much about his own quarrel with bismarck, and was as gay as a snow-king that he can now speak freely and that the great man is no longer to be feared. this comfortable sentiment is obvious here on all sides." the anecdote still current in berlin, that bismarck actually threw an inkstand at the emperor's head is reduced to its proper proportions by the following entry: "the grand duke of baden, with whom i was yesterday, knows a good deal about the recent crisis. he says the cause of the breach between the emperor and chancellor was a question of power, and that all other differences of opinion about social legislation and other things were only secondary. the chief ground was the cabinet order of , which bismarck pressed on the attention of the ministers without the emperor's knowledge, and so hindered them from going to make their reports to the emperor. the emperor wanted the order rescinded, while bismarck was against it. nor had the conversation with windthorst led to the breach. a talk between the emperor and bismarck about this conversation is said to have been so tempestuous that the emperor subsequently said when describing it, 'he (bismarck) all but threw the inkstand at me.'" to hohenlohe bismarck said, as hohenlohe remarked that the resignation had surprised him, "me also," and that three weeks before he did not think things would end as they had. bismarck added: "however, it was to be expected, for the emperor is now quite determined to rule alone." finally the prince's journal has the following: "two things struck me in these last three days: one that no one has any time and every one is in a greater hurry than before; and secondly, that individualities have expanded. every individual is conscious of himself, while before, under the predominating influence of prince bismarck, individualities shrank and were kept down. now they are all swollen like sponges placed in water. that has its advantages, but also its dangers. the single-minded will is lacking." the period between the great chancellor's fall and his death nine years later was marked by so many incidents as to make it almost as _mouvementé_ as the period of the fall itself. he retired to friedrichsruh, all the more immediately as the new chancellor, general von caprivi, showed such indecent haste in taking possession of the official residence that a portion of bismarck's furniture was broken and rendered useless. that bismarck retired with the angry feelings of a coriolanus in his heart, or, as anglo-saxon slang would have it, of a "bear with a sore head," became evident only a few weeks later. he was visited by the inevitable interviewer, and chose the _hamburg news_ as the medium of communicating to the world his opinion of the new _régime_ and the men who were conducting it; and made use of that paper with such instant vigour and acerbity that little more than two months from his retirement elapsed before the new chancellor thought it advisable to issue instructions to germany's diplomatic representatives warning them carefully to distinguish between the "present sentiments and views of the duke of lauenburg and those of the erstwhile prince bismarck," and to pay no serious attention to the former. bismarck replied in the _hamburg news_ that he would not allow his mouth to be closed, and set about proving that he meant what he said. nothing the men of the "new course" could do met with his approval. the first thing he fell foul of was the anglo-german agreement of july , , which gave germany heligoland in exchange for zanzibar, deploring the badness of the bargain for germany, and evidently not foreseeing the importance that island's position, commanding the approaches to the mouths of the elbe and the weser, was afterwards to possess. besides the friendliness with england, the detachment of germany from russia in favour of austria, also a feature of the "new course," did not please him as tending to drive russia into the arms of france. his prescience, however, in this respect was demonstrated when a year later the czar saluted a french squadron in the harbour of cronstadt to the strains of the "marseillaise" and signed a secret agreement that was alluded to four years later by the french premier, m. ribot, in the french chamber of deputies, who spoke of russia as "our ally," and was publicly announced in , on the occasion of president felix faure's visit to st. petersburg, by the czar's now famous employment of the words "_deux nations amies et alliées_." the ex-chancellor was as little satisfied with the new tariff treaties entered into by general caprivi with austria, italy, belgium, and other countries, which the emperor, wiser, as events have shown, than his former minister, characterized on their passage by parliament as the country's "salvation" (_eine rettende tat_). the ex-chancellor's caustic but mistaken criticism was punished by the calculated neglect of the berlin authorities to invite him to the ceremonies attending the celebration of the ninetieth birthday of his old comrade, general von moltke, in october, , and that of his funeral in the following april: still more publicly punished in connexion with the marriage of his son herbert. the wedding of the latter to countess marguerite hoyos was to take place in vienna on june , , and on the th prince bismarck started with his family to attend it. the journey was a species of triumphal progress to vienna, but it was to end in disappointment and chagrin. as the result of representations from germany, made doubtless with the emperor's assent, if not at his suggestion, bismarck was met on his arrival with the news that the german ambassador, prince reuss, and the embassy staff had orders to absent themselves from the wedding, that the widow of the crown prince rudolph, who had accepted a card of invitation to it, had suddenly left vienna, and that the emperor franz joseph would not receive him. the german action was explained by the publication two months later of the edict, stigmatized by bismarck as an "urias letter," in which caprivi warned foreign governments against attaching any importance to the utterances of the duke of lauenburg. the bismarckian and anti-bismarckian storm came up afresh in germany. bismarck was reproached by the government as "injuring monarchical feeling," and by his enemies as a traitor to his country; while the angry statesman published a statement expressing the opinion that "the control of private social intercourse abroad, and the influencing of dinner invitations, were not tasks for which high officers of state were selected nor public money for the payment of diplomatic representatives voted": doubting, at the same time, "if the foreign archives of any other country than germany could show a parallel to the incident." the storm, notwithstanding, had a good effect, for it brought out in bold relief the immense regard and respect the overwhelming majority of his countrymen entertained for the chief architect of their empire; and when bismarck fell ill at kissingen in the emperor, subordinating his political animosities to the chivalrous instincts of his nature, telegraphed his sorrow to the patient and offered to lend him one of the royal castles for the purpose of his convalescence. bismarck declined, but not ungratefully, and the way to a reconciliation was opened. next year, , bismarck suffered from influenza, and when this time the emperor sent an adjutant to friedrichsruh to express his regret, invited him to attend the festivities on the forthcoming royal birthday, and sent along with the invitation a flask of steinberger cabinet from the imperial cellar in characteristic german proof of the sincerity of his feelings, the country was delighted. bismarck accepted the invitation and doubtless drank the steinberger; and the visit to berlin followed in due time. the reconciliation was completed amid sympathetic popular rejoicing. the emperor sent his brother, prince henry, to bring the ex-chancellor from the railway station to the palace, where the emperor himself, surrounded by a brilliant staff, stood to welcome the guest. bismarck spent the day at the palace with the royal family and was taken back to the railway station in the evening by the emperor. a few days later the emperor returned the visit at friedrichsruh. the quiet of the ex-chancellor's last years was once unpleasantly affected by the reichstag in , at the instance of his parliamentary enemies, rejecting, to its everlasting discredit, a proposal for an official vote of congratulation to the ex-chancellor on his eightieth birthday; but against this unpleasantness may be set his gratification at the receipt of a telegram from the emperor expressing his "deepest indignation" at the rejection. prince bismarck died on july th, , and was laid to rest at friedrichsruh in the presence of the emperor and empress, while the world paused for a moment in its occupations to discuss with sympathetic admiration the dead man's personality and career. bismarck's spirit is still abroad in germany, and the popular memory of him is as fresh now as though he died but yesterday. it is more than probable, much rather is it certain, that all trace of irritation with the proud old chancellor has long faded from the emperor's mind: indeed at no time does there seem to have been sentiments of personal or permanent rancour on one side or the other. the episode, in short, was an inevitable collision of ages, temperaments, and times, regrettable no doubt as a possibly harmful example of political discord among the leaders of the nation, but--with due respect for the judgment of so capable an historian as von treitschke--leaving no "indelible stain" either on the pages of german history or on the reputations of bismarck or the emperor. viii. spacious times - a great english poet sings of the "spacious days" of queen elizabeth. from the german standpoint the decade from the fall of bismarck to the end of the century may not inaptly be described as the spacious days of william ii and the modern german empire. to the englishman the actual territorial acquisitions of germany during the period must seem comparatively insignificant, but, taken in connection with the emperor's speeches, the building of the german navy, the caprivi commercial treaties, the growth of friendly relations and of trade and intercourse with america, north and south, they mean the opening of a new era in the history of the empire--the era of weltpolitik. heligoland was obtained in exchange for zanzibar in , and is now regarded by germans much as gibraltar or malta is regarded by englishmen. the first kiel regatta, due solely to the initiative of the emperor, and starting the development of sport in all fields which is a feature of modern german progress, ethical and physical, was held in . the caprivi commercial treaties were concluded within the period. the kiel canal, connecting the baltic and north sea, and giving the german fleet access to all the open waters of the earth, was opened in . in the kruger telegram testified to imperial interest in south african developments. the hamburg-amerika line now sent a specially fast mail and passenger steamer across the atlantic. the district of kiautschau was leased from china in , securing germany a foothold and naval base in the far east. in the same year the modern oriental policy of the empire was inaugurated by the emperor's visit to palestine and his declaration in the course of it that he would be the friend of turkey and of the three hundred millions of mohammedans who recognized the sultan as their spiritual head. to this year also belongs the measure, the most important in its consequences and significance of the reign hitherto, the passing of the first navy law. finally, in germany acquired the caroline islands by purchase from spain, and certain samoan islands by agreement with england and america. nothing was more natural as a result of the new world-policy than a change in the mental outlook of the people. it inaugurated in germany an era somewhat analogous to the era inaugurated in england by the widening and brightening of the englishman's horizon under elizabeth. the analogy may not be closely maintainable throughout, but, generally speaking, just as the eyes of englishmen suddenly saw the possibilities of expansion disclosed to them by drake, raleigh, and frobisher, so the emperor's appeals, with the pursuance of german colonial policy and the attempt to develop germany's african possessions, led to an awakening in germany of a similar, if weaker, kind. to this awakening the building of the german navy contributed; and though it did not appeal to the german imagination as did the deeds of the old navigators to that of elizabethan englishmen, it widened the national outlook and fired the people with new imperial ambitions. hitherto, moreover, germany's attention had been confined almost solely to trade within continental boundaries: henceforth she was to do business actively and enterprisingly with all parts of the world. the emperor's thoughts on the subject were expressed in january, , at a banquet in the berlin palace given to a miscellaneous company of leading personalities of the time. the occasion was the celebration of the twenty-fifth year of the modern empire's foundation. he said: "the german empire becomes a world-empire. everywhere in the farthest parts of the earth live thousands of our fellow-countrymen. german subjects, german knowledge, german industry cross the ocean. the value of german goods on the seas amounts to thousands of millions of marks. on you, gentlemen, devolves the serious duty of helping me to knit firmly this greater german empire to the empire at home." the expression "greater german empire" immediately reminded the englishman of his own "greater britain," and he concluded that the emperor was secretly thinking of rivalling him in the extent and value of his colonial possessions. possibly he was, and doubtless he ardently desired to see germany owning large and fertile colonies; but it is quite as probable he was thinking of his economic weltpolitik, and knew as well then as he does now that it must be left to time and the hour to show whether they fall to her or not. in the same order of ideas may be placed, though it is anticipating somewhat, the emperor's utterances at aix in and three years later at bremen. at aix, after describing the failure of charlemagne's successors to reconcile the duties of a holy roman emperor with those of a german king, he continued: "now another empire has arisen. the german people has once more an emperor of its own choice, with the sword on the field of battle has the crown been won, and the imperial flag flutters high in the breeze. but the tasks of the new empire are different: confined within its borders it has to steel itself anew for the work it has to do, and which it could not achieve in the middle ages. we have to live so that the empire, still young, becomes from year to year stronger in itself, while confidence in it strengthens on all sides. the powerful german army guarantees the peace of europe. in accord with the german character we confine ourselves externally in order to be unconfined internally. far stretches our speech over the ocean, far the flight of our science and exploration; no work in the domain of new discovery, no scientific idea but is first tested by us and then adopted by other nations. this is the world-rule the german spirit strives for." at bremen he said: "the world-empire i dream of is a new german empire which shall enjoy on all hands the most absolute confidence as a quiet, peaceable, honest neighbour--not founded by conquest with the sword, but on the mutual confidence of nations aiming at the same end." the emperor's world-policy was referred to more than once about this time by chancellor prince bülow in the reichstag. "it is," he said on one occasion, "germany's intention and duty to protect the great and ever-growing oversea interests which she has acquired through the development of conditions." "we recognize," he continued, "that we have no longer interests only round our own fireside or in the neighbourhood of the church clock, but everywhere where german industry and germany's commercial spirit have penetrated; and we must foster these interests within the bounds of possibility and good sense." "our world-policy," he said on another occasion in the same place, "is not a policy of interference, much less a policy of intervention: had it interfered in south africa (he was alluding to the boer war) it must have intervened, and intervention implies the use of force." on yet another occasion he explained that a prudent world-policy must go hand in hand with a sound protective policy for home industry, and that its basis must be a strong national home policy. there is nothing in all this, even supposing germany's interests at that time were purposely exaggerated, to which the foreigner could reasonably object. the foreigner felt perhaps slightly uncomfortable when the same statesman, departing for a moment from his usual objective standpoint, spoke of the german "traversing the world with a sword in one hand and a spade and trowel in the other"; but otherwise no act of germany's world-policy need have inspired alarm, or need inspire alarm at the present time, in sensible foreign minds. the rapidity of its action probably helped to excite a feeling that it could not be altogether honest or above-board; but it should be remembered that the new empire had much leeway to make up in the race with other nations, and that quick development was rendered necessary by her commercial treaties, by her protective system, by the unexpected growth of industry and trade, by the continuous increase of population, the development of the mercantile marine, and the growing consciousness of national strength. and if there is nothing in germany's development of her world-policy to which the foreigner can reasonably object, there is much in it at which he can reasonably rejoice. competition is good for him, for it puts him on his mettle. a large and prosperous german population extends his markets and means more business and more profit. the minds of both germans and the foreigner become broader, more mutually sympathetic and appreciative. the elder pitt warned his fellow-countrymen against letting france become a maritime, a commercial, or a colonial power. she has become all three, and what injury has occurred therefrom to england or any other nation? germany's colonial development dates from about the year , the period of the "scramble for africa." the first step to acquiring german colonies for the empire was taken in , when a merchant of bremen, edouard luderitz, made an agreement with the hottentots by which the bay of angra pequena in south-west africa, with an area of fifty thousand square kilometres, was ceded to him. luderitz applied to bismarck for imperial protection. bismarck inquired of england whether she claimed rights of sovereignty over the bay. lord granville replied in the negative, but added that he did not consider the seizure of possession by another power allowable. indignant at what he called a "monstrous claim" on all the land in the world which was without a master, bismarck telegraphed to the german consul at the cape to "declare officially to the british government that herr luderitz and his acquisitions are under the protection of the empire." the bremen pioneer was fated to gain no advantage from his enterprise, as he was drowned in the orange river in . his example as a colonist, however, was followed by three hanseatic merchants, woermann, jansen, and thormealen, of hamburg, who acquired land in togo, a small kingdom to the east of the british gold coast, and in the cameroons, a large tract in the bend of the gulf of guinea, extending to lake chad, and applied for german imperial protection. bismarck sent consul-general nachtigall with the gunboat _moewe_ in to hoist the german flag at various ports. five days after this had been done the english gunboat _flirt_ arrived, but was thus too late to obtain togoland and the cameroons for england. dr. carl peters, the german cecil rhodes, now arrived at zanzibar, and on obtaining concessions from the sultan founded the german east africa company, with a charter from his government. german hopes of great colonial expansion began to run high, but they were dashed by the anglo-german agreement of june, , delimiting the spheres of england, germany, and the sultan of zanzibar, and stipulating that germany should receive heligoland from england in return for german recognition of english suzerainty in zanzibar and the possession of uganda, which had recently been taken for germany by dr. peters. at that time germans thought very little of heligoland, but there was then no anglo-german tension, and no apprehension of an english descent on the german coast. the lease for ninety-nine years of kiautschau, a small area of about four hundred square miles on the coast of china, was obtained from the chinese in connexion with the murder of two german missionaries in in the shantung province, of which kiautschau forms a part. herr von bülow, then only foreign secretary, referred to the transaction in the reichstag in words that may be quoted, as they describe german foreign policy in the far east. "our cruiser fleet," he said, "was sent to kiautschau bay to exact reparation for the murder of german catholic missionaries on the one hand, and to obtain greater security for the future against a repetition of such occurrences. the government," he continued, "has nothing but benevolent and friendly designs regarding china, and has no wish either to offend or provoke her. we are ready in east asia to recognize the interests of other great powers in the certain confidence that our own interests will be duly respected by them. in one word--we desire to put no one in the shade, but we too demand our place in the sun. in east asia, as in the west indies, we shall endeavour, in accordance with the traditions of german policy, without unnecessary rigour, but also without weakness, to guard our rights and our interests." in mentioning the west indies the foreign secretary was alluding to a quarrel germany had at this time with the negro republic of haiti, owing to the arrest and imprisonment of a german subject in that island. kiautschau is administratively under the german admiralty. the caroline, marianne, and palau islands, including the marschall islands and the islands of the bismarck archipelago, were bought from spain this year for twenty-five million pesetas, or about one million sterling. the islands are valuable in german eyes, not only for their fertility and capacity for plantation development, but as affording good harbourage and coaling stations on the sea-road to china, japan, and central america. by the agreement with england and america, which in this year also put an end to the thorny question of samoan administration, germany acquired the samoan islands of upolu and sawaii in the south sea. the ten years we are now concerned with were perhaps the most strenuous and picturesque of the emperor's life hitherto. he was now his own chancellor, though that post was nominally occupied by general von caprivi and prince chlodwig hohenlohe successively. he was chancellor, too, knowing that not a hundred miles off the old pilot of the ship of state was watching, keenly and not too benevolently, his every act and word. he was conscious that the eyes of the world were fixed on him, and that every other government was waiting with interest and curiosity to learn what sort of rival in statecraft and diplomacy it would henceforward have to reckon with. naturally many plans coursed through his restlessly active brain, but there were always, one may imagine, two compelling and ever-present thoughts at the back of them. one of these was a determination to promote the moral and material prosperity of his people so as to make them a model and thoroughly modern commonwealth; the other, the resolve that as emperor he would not allow germany to be overlooked, to be treated as a _quantité négligeable_, in the discussion or decision of international affairs. the chancellorship of general von caprivi, who had been successively minister of war and marine, lasted from march, , to october, . he may have been a good commanding general, but he has left no reputation either as a man of marked character or as a statesman of exceptional ability. nor was either character or ability much needed. he was, as every one knew, a man of immensely inferior ability to his great predecessor, but every one knew also that the emperor intended to be his own chancellor, pursue his own policy, and take responsibility for it. taking responsibility is, naturally, easier for a hohenzollern monarch than for most men, since he is responsible to no one but himself. with the appointment of caprivi the emperor's "personal regiment" may be said to have begun. during general von caprivi's term of office some measures of importance have to be noted, among them the quinquennat, which replaced bismarck's septennat and fixed the military budget for five years instead of seven; the reduction of the period of conscription for the infantry from three years to two; and the decision not to renew bismarck's reinsurance treaty with russia. the chief event, however, with which chancellor caprivi's name is usually associated, is the conclusion of commercial treaties between germany and most other continental countries. other countries had followed germany's example and adopted a protective system, and with a view to the avoidance of tariff wars, caprivi, strongly supported, it need hardly be said, by an emperor who had just declared that "the world at the end of the nineteenth century stands under the star of commerce, which breaks down the barriers between nations," began a series of commercial treaty negotiations. the first agreements were made with germany's allies in the triplice, austria and italy. treaties with switzerland and belgium, servia and rumania, followed. russia held aloof for a time, but as a great grain-exporting country she too found it advisable to come to terms. with france there was no need of an agreement, since she was bound by the treaty of frankfurt, concluded after the war of , to grant germany her minimum duties. one of the regrettable results of the empire's new commercial policy was an antagonism between agriculture and industry which now declared itself and has remained active to the present day. the political cause of caprivi's fall from power, if power it can be called, was the twofold hostility of the conservative and liberal parties in parliament, that of the conservatives being due to the injury supposed to be done to landlord interests by the commercial treaties, and that of the liberals by an education bill, which, it was alleged, would hand the prussian school system completely over to the church. perhaps the main cause, however, was the general unpopularity he incurred by attacking, officially and through the press, his predecessor, bismarck, the idol of the people. it was in the chancellorship of prince hohenlohe, which ended in , that the most memorable events of this remarkable decade occurred; but, as was to be expected, and as the emperor himself must have expected, the prince, now a man of seventy-five, played a very secondary part with regard to them. the prince was what the germans call a "house-friend" of the hohenzollern family and related to it. he was useful, his contemporaries say, as a brake on the impetuous temper of his imperial master, though he did not, we may be sure, turn him from any of the main designs he had at heart. prince hohenlohe, in character, was good-nature and amiability personified. he was beloved by all classes and parties, and no foreigner can read his memoirs without a feeling of friendliness for a personality so moderate and calm and simple. a note he makes in one of his diaries amusingly illustrates the simple side of his character. he is dining with the emperor, when the emperor, catching the prince's eye, which we may be sure was on the alert to gather up any of the royal beams that might come his way, raises his glass in sign of amity. "i felt so overcome," notes the prince, "that i almost spilt the champagne." the famous "kruger telegram" episode occurred during the chancellorship of prince hohenlohe. for many years the sending of the telegram was cited as a convincing proof of the emperor's "impulsive" character, and it was not until that the truth of the matter was stated by chancellor von bülow in the reichstag. in march of that year he said: "it has been asked, was this telegram an act of personal initiative or an act of state? in this regard let me refer you to your own proceedings. you will remember that the responsibility for the telegram was never repudiated by the directors of our political business at the time. the telegram was an act of state, the result of official consultations; it was in nowise an act of personal initiative on the part of his majesty the kaiser. whoever asserts that it was is ignorant of what preceded it and does his majesty completely wrong." the emperor's telegram to president kruger, despatched on january , , ran as follows:-- "i congratulate you most sincerely on having succeeded with your people, and without calling on the help of foreign powers, by opposing your own force to an armed band which broke into your country to disturb the peace, in restoring quiet and in maintaining the independence of your country against external attack." the echoes of this historic message were heard immediately in every country, but naturally nowhere more loudly than in england; and the reverberation of them is audible to the present day. in germany, however, for a day or two, the telegram seems to have surprised no one, was indeed spoken of with approval by deputies in the reichstag, and seems not to have occurred to any one in the light of a serious diplomatic mistake. this state of feeling did not last long, and when the english newspapers arrived an entirely new light was thrown on the matter. the _morning post_ concluded an article with the words: "it is not easy to speak calmly of the kaiser's telegram. the english people will not forget it, and in future will always think of it when considering its foreign policy." the british government's comment on the telegram was to put a flying squadron in commission and issue an official statement _urbi et orbi_, calling attention to the convention made with president kruger in london in , reserving the supervision of the foreign relations of the transvaal to the british government. the emperor himself appears to have recognized that he and his advisers had made a serious blunder, and that a gesture which, it is highly probable, was partly prompted by the chivalrous side of his character, was certain to be gravely misunderstood. at any rate his policy, or that of his government, changed, and instead of following up his encouraging words with mediation or intervention, he assumed an attitude of neutrality towards the war which soon after began. subsequently, in the reichstag, chancellor von bülow described the course the german government pursued immediately before and during the war; and there seems no reason to discredit his account. the speech was made apropos of the projected visit of president kruger to berlin, when on his tour of despair to the capitals of europe while the war was still in progress. he was cheered by boulevard crowds in paris, itself a thing of no great significance, and was received at the elysée and by the minister of foreign affairs, m. delcassé. the visitor was very reserved on both occasions, and confined himself to sounding his hosts as to whether or not he could reckon on their good offices. from paris he started for berlin, where he had engaged a large and expensive first-floor suite of rooms in a fashionable hotel. at cologne, however, shortly after entering germany, a telegram from potsdam awaited him, announcing the emperor's refusal to grant him audience. the imperial telegram consisted of a few words to the effect that the emperor was "not in a position" to receive him. nor in truth was he. an audience at that moment would have meant war between germany and england. as to german policy with regard to the boer war, prince bülow explained that the german government deplored the war not only because it was between two christian and white races, that were, moreover, of the same germanic stock, but also because it drew within the evil circle of its consequences important german economic and political interests. he went on to describe their nature, enumerating under the one head the thousands of german settlers in south africa, the industrial establishments and banks they had founded there, the busy trade and the millions sterling of invested capital; while, as regarded the other head, the government had to take care that the war exercised no injurious influence on german territory in that region. the government, the chancellor claimed, had done everything consistent with neutrality and the conservation of german interests to hinder the outbreak of the war. it had "loyally" warned the two dutch republics of the disposition in europe, and left them in no doubt as to the attitude germany would adopt if war should come. these communications were not made directly, but through the hague authorities and the consul-general of the netherlands in pretoria. at that time the united states government had come forward with a proposal for a submission of the quarrel to its arbitration, but the proposal had been rejected by president kruger. a little later the president changed his mind, but it was then too late and war was declared. once the die was cast, germany could only with propriety have interfered, provided she had reason to believe her mediation would be accepted by both parties: otherwise her conduct would not be mediation, but be regarded, in accordance with diplomatic usage, as intervention with coercive measures in the background. for such a policy germany had no disposition, for it meant running the risk of a diplomatic defeat on the one hand and of an armed conflict with england on the other. as regards the visit of the president to berlin and the emperor's refusal to receive him, the chancellor asked would a reception have done any good either to the president or to germany, and he answered his own question with an emphatic negative. to the president an audience would have been of no more use than the ovations and demonstrations he was greeted with in paris. to germany a reception would have meant a shifting of international relations to the disadvantage of the country: in other words, would have meant the risk, almost the certainty, of war. "wars," said the chancellor in this connexion, "are much more easily unchained through elementary popular passions, through the passionate excitation of public opinion, than in the old days through the ambitions of monarchs or through the jealousies of ministers." and he concluded: "with regard to england we stand entirely independent of her: we are not a hair's-breadth more dependent on england than england is on us. but we are ready on the basis of mutual consideration and complete equality--about this obvious preliminary condition for a proper relation between two great powers we have never left any power in doubt: i say, we are ready on this basis to live with england in peace, friendship, and harmony. to play the don quixote and to lay the lance in rest and attack wherever in the world english windmills are to be found, for that we are not called upon." but just then there was little prospect of "peace friendship, and harmony" with england. the world remembers, and unfortunately the english people do not forget, that they had nowhere more bitter and offensive critics than in germany. one refined method of opprobrium was the unprohibited sale in the main streets of berlin of spittoons bearing the countenance of the english colonial minister, mr. chamberlain. a war with england would at that moment have been highly popular in germany, but as the chancellor wisely reminded the parliament, it was the duty of the statesman to protect international relations from disturbance by intrigue or by popular demonstration. finally the chancellor dealt with a report widely current in england and germany at the time, to the effect that the emperor's refusal to receive president kruger was due to the influence of his uncle, king edward. the chancellor emphatically denied that any pressure of the kind from the english court, or from any other source, had been employed, and ended by saying: "to suppose that his majesty the kaiser could allow himself to be influenced by family relations shows little understanding of his character, or of his love of country. for his majesty solely the national standpoint is decisive, and if it were otherwise, and family relations or dynastic considerations determined our foreign policy, i would not remain minister a day longer." a precisely similar and unfounded charge, it will be remembered, was made against king edward vii in , to the effect that it was court influence, not the deliberate judgment of the cabinet, that was the efficient cause of the co-operation of the british with the german fleet in the demonstration off the coast of venezuela. a recent writer, dr. adolf stein, gives an account of the sending of the famous telegram which corroborates that of prince von bülow. the telegram, according to this version, was a well-considered answer to a question from the transvaal government put to the german government a month before the raid occurred, and when the transvaal government got the first inkling of the preparations being made for it. president kruger asked what attitude germany would adopt in case of a war between england and the boer republics. the answer given to the person who made the inquiry on behalf of the transvaal government was that president kruger might rest assured of germany's "diplomatic support in so far as it was also germany's interest that the independence of the boer states should be maintained, but that for anything beyond this he should not reckon on germany's assistance or that of any great power." this answer, dr. stein says, was in course of transmission by the post when the raid occurred. the raid was made on january st. the event was at once telegraphed to berlin, where prince hohenlohe was chancellor, with freiherr marschall von bieberstein, afterwards german ambassador in constantinople and london, as his foreign secretary. according to dr. stein, they drew up a telegram to president kruger, and on the morning of the rd laid it before the emperor, who had come early from potsdam for consultation on the matter. the chancellor, it should be mentioned, had been at potsdam the day previous, but at that time the news of the raid had not reached the emperor. the emperor, chancellor, and foreign secretary now decided that a telegram congratulating president kruger for having repulsed the raid "without foreign aid" was the best non-committal form to adopt. the emperor, dr. stein continues, raised some objections, but was over-persuaded by prince hohenlohe and von bieberstein. as confirming this version, a little note in lord goschen's biography may be recalled, in which lord goschen confides to a friend a few weeks before the raid that the "germans were taking the boers under their wing, as the americans had done with the venezuelans." enough perhaps has been said to show that the sending of the telegram had nothing to do with the emperor's "impulsive" character, and it will only be fair to him to let the notion that it had drop finally out of contemporary history. as an act of state it was in consonance with german policy at the time. that policy, if it did not look to acquiring possession of the transvaal, may very well have looked to enlisting the sympathies and friendship of the dutch in south africa, and finding in them and their country a field for german enterprise and a market for german goods; and there was therefore nothing impulsive, however mistaken the act may have been as a matter of foreign policy, in the german government's congratulating president kruger on successful resistance to a private raid. we have suggested that the telegram was partly due to a certain element of chivalry in the emperor's character. the emperor was well acquainted with other forms of government and other social systems besides his own, and though a hohenzollern could put himself in the position of the chief of the little boer republic, threatened as he was with annihilation by a mighty and powerful opponent. moreover, there is always to be remembered the sympathy of view, particularly of religious view, that existed in the two men as regarded their attitude and duties to their respective "folk." the president had appealed to the emperor for help. the emperor had had to refuse it, but had wired that he would do all he could "diplomatically." he knew that this was but a poor sort of assistance, but it was something, and when the raid occurred he gave the diplomatic assistance he had promised by sending a telegram of congratulation. in any case--_tempi passati_. foreign policy is not concerned with sympathies or antipathies, and the whole episode should be ignored, or, better still, forgotten. the kruger telegram, it turned out, was to usher in a long period of tension between two countries of the same race, singularly alike in their ideals of whatever is sound and praiseworthy in christian civilization, and almost equally mutual admirers of the fundamental features of each other's national character. unfortunately, along with these fundamental features of the english and german national characters, the love of money, the _auri sacra fames_, has to be reckoned with, and in the race of nations for wealth and power the fundamental qualities are apt, for a time, to be overborne and cease to act. the rise of the modern german empire to power and prosperity, and the new world-situation thus created, largely by the emperor, is at the bottom of anglo-german tension. as a main contributory cause of both the power and the prosperity, was the creation of the german navy at the period of which we write. the following is a parable which he who runs may read:-- in a certain town, with a large and heterogeneous population, there was once a "monster" shop. the firm (there were three partners) had been established for hundreds of years, had thrown out several branches, and by hard work, enterprise, and honesty had acquired a leading position in the trade of the town: so much so, indeed, that as time went on it had also come to do the carriage and delivery of goods for most of the smaller shops, though some of these were large houses themselves and the majority of them in a fair way of business. the smaller shops were naturally a little jealous of the "monster," and it was the dream of every owner of them to enlarge his premises and become the proprietor of an equally great emporium as the "monster." one day, therefore, a little cluster of shops, at some distance from the "monster," suddenly resolved to form a combination, and after settling a dispute with a neighbour in consideration of a sum of money and a fruitful tract of land, issued the prospectus of the new company and began to do business on modern lines. almost from the very beginning the new company was a great success: its situation was central; the company inspired its members with enterprise and spirit; it was industrious, energetic, and splendidly organized; and at last it began to cut into the trade of the old-established "monster." competition might have gone on in the ordinary way had not the new company made a departure in business methods that gradually roused special uneasiness among the members of the "monster" firm. hitherto the latter had its delivery vans travel all over the town, and so well was this part of its system carried on that the firm acquired all but a monopoly of carrying and delivery. the new company, however, now began to do a little in the same line, whereupon the "monster" took to building a superior type of van much more powerful and imposing, if also much more expensive, than the one previously in use. the new company naturally followed suit, and in a surprisingly short time had built, or had under construction, several vans of an exactly similar kind. the "monster" saw the new departure of their rivals at first with curiosity, then with contempt, then with anxiety, and finally with suspicion and alarm. at the time of writing the alarm appears to have abated, but a good deal of the suspicion remains. the town is the world, the "monster" great britain, and the rival company the modern german empire. it would require the emperor himself properly to tell the story of his creation of the modern german navy, and if he has a right to call any part of his people's property his own, he is justified in speaking, as he invariably does, of "my navy." as prince william, his interest in the subject may have been originally due, as has been seen, to his partly english parentage, his frequent visits to england, and the fact that his physical disability threatened to prevent him taking an active part in the more strenuous duties of the soldier. it is very probable that it was in the region that cradled the british navy the idea of a great german navy was conceived by him. we have seen that the emperor, as prince william, showed his enthusiasm in the matter by delivering lectures on it in military circles, though it was not his lot, but that of his brother henry, to be assigned the navy as a profession. in his order to the navy on ascending the throne, he spoke of the "lively and warm interest" that bound him to the navy, shortly afterwards issued directions for a new marine uniform on the english model, and caused the introduction into the lutheran church service of a special prayer for the arm. he gave a parliamentary soirée at the new palace in potsdam, and before allowing his conservative and national liberal guests to sit down to supper, made them listen to a lecture which occupied two hours, giving particular attention, with the aid of maps and plans, to the battle of the yalu between the fleets of china and japan. he founded the technical shipbuilding society, and took, and takes, an animated part in its proceedings, suggesting positions for the guns, the disposition of armour, the dimensions of submarines, and a hundred other details. in he delivered an after-dinner lecture at the "villa achilleion" in corfu on nelson and the battle of trafalgar, based on the writings of captain mark kerr of the _implacable_, at which the situations of the french, english, and spanish fleets were sketched by the imperial hand. to his admiration for the writings of captain mahan his persistence in enlarging the fleet is said largely to be due. he is, of course, assisted by a host of able experts, among whom admiral von tirpitz--the ablest german since bismarck, many germans say--is the most distinguished; but as he is his own foreign minister and own commander-in-chief, he is, in the fullest sense, his own first lord of the admiralty. the emperor closed one of his naval lectures with an anecdote which the papers reported next day as being received with "stormy amusement." it was about the metacentrum, the centre of gravity in ship construction. the emperor told of his having asked an old sea lieutenant to explain to him the metacentrum. "i received the answer," said the emperor, "that he did not know very exactly himself--it was a secret. 'all i can say is,' the old seaman went on, 'that if the metacentrum was in the topmast, the ship would over-turn.'" the success of a jest, one is told, lies in the ear of the hearer. possibly something of the "stormy amusement" may have been called forth by the reflection that the imperial metacentrum had on occasion got misplaced. in addition to the natural and accidental predispositions of the emperor, certain general considerations, which imposed themselves irresistibly on all men's attention as the century drew to its close, impelled him to more energetic action. a student of the history of other countries as well as his own, and a watchful observer of the tendencies of the time, he felt that the young empire was incomplete as long as it was without a navy corresponding in size and power to its army, the organization of which had been completed. with its army alone he regarded the empire as a colossus, no doubt, but a colossus standing on one leg, and was convinced that if the empire was to be a success it must have a navy at least able to withstand attack by any of his continental neighbours and potential enemies. on ascending the throne the emperor was naturally most occupied with the internal situation of his new inheritance, and spent a good deal of his time railing at social democracy and the press, explaining the nature of his heaven-appointed kingship, and rousing his somewhat lethargic people to a sense of their power and possibilities; but he found a moment in to write under a photograph he gave the retiring postmaster-general stephan: "the world, at the end of the nineteenth century, stands under the star of commerce; commerce breaks down the barriers which separate the peoples and creates new relations between the nations." then the idea slumbered in his mind for a few years, while he continued to make his own people restless with criticism, perhaps deserved, of their sluggishness, their pessimism, their party strife, and foreign peoples equally restless with phrases like "_nemo me impune lacessit_"; until the idea came suddenly to utterance in , when, on seeing the figure of neptune on a monument to the emperor william, he broke out: "the trident should be in our grip!" from this time, and for the next few years, the growth of the navy may be said to have never long been far from his thoughts. in sending prince henry to kiautschau at the close of he made the remark that "imperial power means sea power, and sea power and imperial power are dependent on each other." nine months afterwards at stettin he used a phrase alone sufficient to keep his name alive in history: "our future lies on the water!" at hamburg, in , he laid emphasis on the changes in the world which justify a naval policy one can see now was almost inevitable. "a strong german fleet," he said, "is a thing of which we stand in bitter need." and he continued: "in hamburg especially one can understand how necessary is a powerful protection for german interests abroad. if we look around us we see how greatly the aspect of the world has altered in recent years. old-world empires pass away and new ones begin to arise. nations suddenly appear before the peoples and compete with them, nations of whom a little before the ordinary man had been hardly aware. products which bring about radical changes in the domain of international relations, as well as in the political economy of the people, and which in old times took hundreds of years to ripen, come to maturity in a few months. the result is that the tasks of our german empire and people have grown to enormous proportions and demand of me and my government unusual and great efforts, which can then only be crowned with success when, united and decided, without respect to party, germans stand behind us. our people, moreover, must resolve to make some sacrifice. above all they must put aside their endeavour to seek the excellent through the ever more-sharply contrasted party factions. they must cease to put party above the welfare of the whole. they must put a curb on their ancient and inherited weakness--to subject everything to the most unlicensed criticism; and they must stop at the point where their most vital interests become concerned. for it is precisely these political sins which revenge themselves so deeply on our sea interests and our fleet. had the strengthening of the fleet not been refused me during the past eight years of my government, notwithstanding all appeals and warnings--and not without contumely and abuse for my person--how differently could we not have promoted our growing trade and our interests beyond the sea!" perhaps; but perhaps, too, it was as well for the peace of the world that germany had no great war fleet during those eight years of troubled international relations, and that the gentle and adjusting hand of providence, not the mailed fist of the emperor, was guiding the destinies of nations. previous to the opening of the reign a german navy can hardly be said to have existed. yet it should not be forgotten that germany also has maritime traditions of no small interest, if of no great importance, to the world. the great elector, the ancestor of the emperor who ruled brandenburg from to , was fully conscious of the profit his people might acquire by sea commerce, and the little navy of high-sea frigates which he built stood manfully, and often successfully, up to the more powerful navies of sweden and spain. this fleet was known, too, far away from brandenburg, for the records tell how the pope and the maltese knights and louis xiv willingly admitted it to their harbours. but there was lacking what until lately has always hemmed german progress--money; and the commercially-minded dutch, a people themselves with many german characteristics, kept the germans from the sea. then came frederick the great, who ruled from to , and those germans who are fond of claiming shakespeare for their own will also tell you that the plan drawn up by frederick for pitt's seven years' struggle with france--that plan so unfortunately imitated afterwards by the emperor in his correspondence with queen victoria during the boer war--was the foundation-stone of british naval supremacy! frederick, too, saw the advantage of possessing a fleet, but he had his hands full with france and russia, and reluctantly had to decline the offer of the french naval hero, labourdonnais, to build him a battle-fleet. at this period, and in the great elector's time, emden was the plymouth of prussia. when frederick died, there followed that time of which germans themselves are ashamed--the hole-and-corner time, the time when the parochial spirit was abroad and no german burgher saw beyond the village church and the village pump; the biedermeier time (that comic figure of the german _punch_), the time of genuine german philistinism, when the people were lapped in an idyllic repose and were content, as many are to-day, with the smallest and simplest pleasures. this spirit continued until the early quarter of the nineteenth century, when professor frederick list roused the attention of his countrymen, and notably that of bismarck, to the necessity of an independent national existence and a national economic policy. in a committee recommended naval coast protection, but it was not until , when denmark blockaded the german coast, that anything was done to provide for it. in that year the national assembly of delegates from various german diets, which met at frankfort, voted for the marine a million sterling to be levied on the german states, but only one-half of the money could be collected. still, three steam frigates, one large and six small steam corvettes, and two sailing corvettes were got together, but in , owing to the poverty of the states, two of the ships were sold to prussia for £ , and the rest disposed of by auction at less than a fourth of their value. the officers and men were disbanded with a year's pay. to this humiliating state of things bismarck refers in his "gedanken und erinnerungen." "the german fleet," he writes, "and kiel harbour as a foundation for its institution, were from on one of the most burning thoughts at whose fire german aspirations for unity were accustomed to warm themselves and to concentrate. meanwhile, however, the hatred of my parliamentary opponents was stronger than the interest for a german fleet, and it seemed to me that the progressive party at that time preferred to see the newly-acquired rights of prussia to kiel, and the prospect of a maritime future founded on its possession, rather in the hands of the auctioneer, hannibal fischer, than in those of a bismarck ministry." from this on naval development in prussia was slow; there was no interest for a marine either among the governing classes or the people; but it was not wholly neglected, for wilhelmshaven was acquired from the duchy of oldenburg, a small fleet was sent to the orient with a view to obtaining commercial treaties and concessions, and a sum of £ , was devoted annually to naval requirements. during the danish war of a fleet of three screw corvettes, two paddle steamers, and a few gunboats was considered sufficient to protect the coasts and make a blockade impossible. from onwards there had been several navy proposals, but it was in that of , a year after the emperor's accession, that the beginning of germany's naval policy is to be found. in that proposal it was announced that the government intended to depart from the previous principles of naval policy which had "become antiquated owing to the progress of science and the character of future naval warfare, as also owing to the extension of germany's oversea relations." up to this time german maritime needs had invariably been postponed to military requirements. the necessity for a fleet was indeed recognized, but only for purposes of coast defence and the prevention of a blockade of the ports on the north sea and baltic. to this end no large fleet was considered needful, particularly as the war with france had demonstrated the futility of coast attack. during that war two small fleets were sent from cherbourg to blockade the north sea and baltic coasts, but the admirals in charge found the task "impossible" and returned to france after a few single engagements with divided honours had occurred. at that time the german people felt entirely secure on the score of invasion. the numerous espionage incidents of more recent times prove that this feeling of security has entirely passed away, and all countries are now armed as though they were to be invaded to-morrow. emperor william i did something, though not much, for the german navy. moltke was interested in it and proposed an armoured cruiser fleet, but he was thinking chiefly of coast defence. roon also took up the matter and laid a navy bill before the diet in , but it was rejected because, in virchow's words, the diet thought "the constitution more important than the development of the army and navy." the war of showed the necessity of a fleet, and this time the diet accepted roon's proposals. still, however, the object was coast defence; and when emperor william i died the navy was relatively of no consideration. in the ten years between and only one armoured cruiser, the _oldenburg_, was launched. with the accession of the emperor, however, began a new, and for the emperor and the empire--why not candidly admit it?--a glorious chapter in german naval history. an incident during the reign which really touched german national pride, and was one of the reasons which caused the emperor to accelerate the building of a powerful fleet, was the eviction, if the term is not too strong, of the german admiral, diedrich, by the americans from the harbour of manila in the course of the spanish-american war. admiral dewey was in command of a blockading fleet at manila. the ships of various nationalities, and among them some german warships, were in the harbour. various causes of irritation arose between the germans and americans. there was talk of spain's being desirous of selling the philippines to germany, and the impression got abroad in america that the germans were inclined to behave as if they were already the new masters of the islands. the german warships kept going in and out of the harbour of millesares, a village close to manila, in connexion with the exchange of time-expired men, using search-lights, the american admiral thought, in an unnecessary way, and doing other acts which he considered might give information to blockade-running vessels. in accordance with custom, the germans, had at first supplied themselves with permits from the american admiral for crossing the blockade lines, but as time went on the german ships began to cross the line without them. admiral dewey thereupon issued an order that permits must be obtained. the german admiral sent his flag-lieutenant to admiral dewey to protest, on the ground that warships are exempt from blockade regulations. the american admiral's reply was to bring his fist down on his cabin table and say, "tell admiral diedrich, with my compliments, that he must obtain permits, and that if a german ship breaks the blockade lines without one it spells war, for i shall fire on the first vessel that attempts it." the flag officer went back with the message, and admiral diedrich took his ships, which were greatly inferior in number to those of the americans, out of the harbour. the german navy, in contrast to the army, is a purely imperial institution--an institution, according to the constitution, "entirely under the chief command of the kaiser," consequently in no respect administered or controlled by the federated kingdoms and states. one speaks of the "royal" army, but of the "imperial" navy. the emperor is officially described as the navy's "chef," superintends its organization and disposition, with his brother prince henry as inspector-general, and appoints its officials and officers. he exercises his functions through the marine cabinet, a creation of his own, which serves as a connecting link between the emperor and the admiralty. the legislative stages of the growth of the german navy have so far been five in number. the first navy law passed the reichstag on third reading, on march , , members voting for it and against, in a parliament of members. it provided for the building of a fleet of seventeen battleships within a certain time, and fixed the age of the ships at twenty-five years. the new ships were divided into ships-of-the-line (a new designation), large armoured cruisers, and small armoured cruisers. this fleet, however, was not large enough to have any influence on sea politics or seaborne trade, and the occurrences of the spanish-american war, just now begun and finished, determined the emperor to make further proposals. a great agitation for the navy was started throughout the empire, and on january , , admiral tirpitz laid the second navy bill (a "novelle," as it is called) before the reichstag. the new measure demanded a doubling of the fleet. the first fleet was intended chiefly with a view to coast defence, while the new fleet was to assure "the economic development of germany, especially of its world-commerce." if the first navy bill had excited surprise and uneasiness in england, the sensations roused by the second may be imagined, not altogether because of the increase of german naval power, but of the power that would result when the new german navy was combined with the navies of germany's allies of the triplice. the third navy bill was a consequence of the russo-japanese war and of the lesson taught by the sea-fight of tsuschima. it was laid before the reichstag on november , , for "a stronger representation of the empire abroad." its main object was to increase by almost one-half the size of the battleships, thus following the lead of england, which had decided on the new and famous "dreadnought" class of vessel, remarkable for its five revolving armoured turrets (instead of two previously) and the number of its heavy guns. hitherto english warships had had an average tonnage of about , tons: the tonnage of the original "dreadnought" was , tons. notwithstanding the enormous nature of the financial demand (£ , , within eleven years) the reichstag passed the bill on may , . a torpedo fleet of boats, in divisions, was additionally provided for in this bill. the fourth navy bill was brought in in , with the diminution of the age of the german battleship from twenty-five to twenty years as its principal aim. as a result the number of new ships to be built by was raised from six to twelve. the fifth and last navy bill was passed last year, , creating a third active squadron as reserve, made up of existing vessels and three new battleships. the german navy now consists of battleships of the line, large armoured cruisers, and small armoured cruisers, the cruisers being for purposes of reconnaissance; the foreign-service fleet of large and small armoured cruisers; and an active reserve fleet of battleships, large and small armoured cruisers. like sailors everywhere, the german sailor is a frank and hearty type of his race, and welcome wherever he goes. the german naval officer is usually of middle-class extraction, while a slightly larger proportion of the officers of the army is taken from the _noblesse_. he is a fine, frank, and manly fellow as a rule, and, like the emperor, perfectly willing to admit that his navy is closely modelled on that of great britain. moreover, in addition to a thorough knowledge of his profession, he is able, in two cases out of three, to converse with useful fluency in english, french, and in some cases italian as well. the navy, like the army, is recruited by conscription, but active service is for three years, as in the german cavalry and artillery, while only two years in the german infantry. naturally young men of an adventurous turn of mind frequently elect for the navy, as they hope thereby to see something of the world. at the end of their third year of service they may go back to civil life as reservists or may "capitulate," that is, continue in active service for another year, and renew their "capitulation" thenceforward from year to year. the ordinary sailor receives (since ) the equivalent of s. d. in cash monthly and s. for clothing, but when at sea additional pay of s. a month. the result of the system of conscription is that about per cent. of the fleet's crews consist of what may be called seasoned sailors, the remainder being three-year conscripts. the officer class is recruited from young men who have passed a certain school standard examination and enter the navy as cadets. the one-year-volunteer system (_einjähriger dienst_) only partially obtains in the navy, for purposes, namely, of coast defence and other services on land. after two years the cadet becomes a midshipman, and with five or six other middies serves for a year or so on board ship, when he becomes a sub-lieutenant and is promoted by seniority to full lieutenant, captain-lieutenant (the english naval lieutenant with eight years' service), corvette-captain (the english naval commander, with three stripes), frigate-captain (corresponding in rank to a lieutenant-colonel in the english army), and finally captain-at-sea (with four stripes), when he may get command of a battleship. to reach this great object of the german naval officer's ambition takes on an average twenty-four years, or about the same period as in the british navy. the upper ranks, in ascending order, are contre-admiral (the english rear-admiral), vice-admiral, admiral, grand-admiral (english admiral of the fleet). there are only four grand-admirals in germany, namely, the emperor (as "chef" of the navy), his brother prince henry (as inspector-general), retired admiral von koester (president of the navy league), and admiral von tirpitz (secretary of admiralty and the only "active" grand-admiral). king george v of england is an admiral of the german navy, as the emperor is an admiral of the british navy. salutes are a matter of international agreement. they are: guns (simultaneously from all ships) for the emperor and foreign monarchs, for the crown prince of germany or of a foreign country, for a grand-admiral or an ambassador, for an admiral, the secretary of admiralty or inspector-general, for a vice-admiral, for contre-admiral, and so descending. guns are fired on the emperor's birthday or on the birth of an imperial prince. guns is the salute when a german monarch ascends the imperial throne, and when a german emperor dies. the yearly salaries of german naval officers are as follows: admiral, £ , (of which £ is "pay"), vice-admiral, £ (£ "pay"), contre-admiral, £ (£ "pay"), captain-at-sea, £ (£ "pay"), corvette-captain, £ (£ "pay"), full lieutenant, £ (£ "pay"), and so on downwards. jews are not allowed to become officers of the navy, thus following the practice in the army. there is no law to prevent jews becoming officers in either army or navy, but, as a matter of tradition or prejudice, no regimental or naval commander is willing to accept an israelite among his officers. it is time, however, to return to the personal doings of the emperor. he is responsible for germany's foreign policy, and his duties in connexion with it and with the navy must often have suggested to him the desirability of seeing with his own eyes something of the orient, the new battlefield of the world's diplomacy, and possibly a new eldorado for european merchants and engineers. his journey to the east, now undertaken, was, however, chiefly a religious one, though it had also something of a chivalric character, since much of every german's imagination is concerned with the crusades, the order of knight templars, and similar historical or legendary incidents and personalities in the early stages of the struggle between the christian and the saracen. the birthplace of christ has special interest for a hohenzollern who holds his kingship by divine grace, and in the emperor's case because his father had made the journey to jerusalem thirty years before. the emperor, lastly, cannot but have been glad to escape, if only for a time, such harassing concerns as party politics, scribbling journalists, long-winded ministerial harangues, and social democrats. the journey of the emperor and empress to palestine occupied about a month from the middle of october, , to the middle of the following november, and while it was one of the most delightful and picturesque experiences of the emperor, it entailed some unforeseen and not altogether agreeable consequences. it was very much criticized in germany as an exhibition of a theatrical kind, of the "decorative in policy," as bismarck used to say, who saw no utility in decoration, and evidently did not agree with shakspeare that the "world is still deceived by ornament." it was objected that the emperor should have stayed at home to look after imperial business, that such a journey must excite suspicion in england and france--in the former because england is an oriental power, and in the latter because france is supposed to claim special protective rights over christianity in the east. the englishman who reads what german writers say about the journey gets the impression that the criticism was an expression of jealousy--jealousy, as we know from bismarck and prince bülow, being a national german failing. every german ardently desires to see italy and the orient, but until of late years few germans had the means of gratifying the wish. in one point, however, the critics were right. the emperor, when in damascus, after saying that he felt "deeply moved at standing on the spot where one of the most knightly sovereigns of all times, the great sultan saladin, stood," went on to say that sultan abdul "and the three hundred million mohammedans who, scattered over the earth, venerated him as their caliph, might be assured that at all times the german emperor would be their friend." it was a harmless and vague remark enough, one would think, but political writers in all countries have made great capital out of it ever since whenever germany's oriental policy is discussed. at the risk of repetition it may be said that that policy is, in the east as elsewhere, a purely economic one. the emperor's mistake perhaps chiefly lay in raising hopes in turkish minds which were very unlikely to be realized. the emperor's allusion to saladin as the most knightly sovereign of all times was a bad blunder. he was doubtless carried away by a combination, in his probably at this time somewhat excited imagination, of the chivalrous figures of the crusading times with thoughts of the german knight templars and other soldierly characters. saladin was a brave man physically, and fond of imperial magnificence, as is only natural and necessary for an oriental potentate to be; and a good deal of eastern legend grew up about him on that account. legend was enough for the emperor in his then romantic mood. he forgot, or did not know, that saladin, from the point of view of a modern and in reality far more knightly age, was a sanguinary and fanatic ruffian, who showed no mercy to his christian prisoners--killed, in fact, one of them, rainald de chatillon, with his own hand, sacked jerusalem, turned the temple of solomon into a mosque, after having it "disinfected" with rose-water, and killed pope urban iii, who died, the chronicles tell, of sorrow at the news. the journey was, as has been said, a delightful and picturesque experience for the emperor and the empress. they passed through venice with its marble palaces, sailed over the sapphire waters of the adriatic, and were received with great demonstrations of welcome by the sultan in constantinople. when they were leaving, the sultan gave the emperor a gigantic carpet, and the emperor gave the sultan a gold walking-stick, an exact imitation of the stick frederick the great used to lean on, and sometimes, very likely, apply to the backs of his trusty but stupid lieges. before disposing of the events of this period of the emperor's life mention may be made of two or three occurrences which must have been a source of political interest or social entertainment to him. from among them we select the dreyfus case and the historic scene arranged for the painter, adolf menzel, in sans souci. the dreyfus case, though its investigation brought to light no fact implicating the german authorities, naturally aroused interest throughout germany. the interest was felt equally in the army, notwithstanding that it contains no jewish officer, and among the civil population. in france, it will be remembered, the case acquired its importance from the charge, made by the anti-semite drumont and his journal _la libre parole_, that the jews were exploiting the government and the country. there is an anti-semite party in germany, founded by the court preacher stoecker in , but possibly owing to the prudence and good citizenship of the jews in germany, it has gained little weight or momentum since. the "affaire," as it was universally known, was only once referred to in the german parliament, in january, , when chancellor von bülow declared "in the most positive way possible" that there had "never been any traffic or relations of any kind whatsoever between dreyfus and any german authority," adding that the alleged finding of an official german communication in the wastepaper basket of the german embassy in paris was a fiction. the chancellor concluded by saying that the case had in no respect ever troubled relations between germany and france. the incident most often cited as evidence of the emperor's love of recalling the days of his great ancestor, frederick the great, is the concert he arranged at sans souci on june , , to gratify, we may be sure, as well as surprise, the famous painter. the incident and its origin are described in a work already mentioned, the "private lives of william ii and his consort," by a lady of the court. the account given below is illustrative of the unfriendly sentiments which are evident throughout the work, but the lady is probably fairly accurate as regards the incident, and in any case her gossip will give the reader some notion, though by no means an entirely faithful one, of the court atmosphere at the time. talk at the palace during afternoon tea having turned on the fact that adolf menzel, the painter, would shortly celebrate his eightieth birthday, some one remarked on the refusal by the court marshal in the previous reign to allow him to see the scene of his celebrated "flute concert at sans souci," which he was then composing, lighted up. the conversation, according to the lady writer, continued thus:-- "'maybe he was frightened at the prospect of furnishing a couple of dozen wax candles,' sneered the duke of schleswig. "'more likely he knew nothing of menzel's growing reputation,' suggested begas, the sculptor. "the emperor overheard the last words. 'are you prepared to say that my grand-uncle's chief marshal failed to recognize the genius of the foremost hohenzollern painter?' he asked sharply. "'i would not like to libel a dead man,' answered begas, 'but appearances are certainly against the count. i have it from menzel's own lips that the court marshal refused him all and every assistance when he was painting the scenes of life in sans souci. the rooms of the chateau were accessible to him only to the same extent as to any other paying visitor or the hordes of foreign tourists, and he had to make his sketches piece-meal, gathering corroborative and additional material in museums and picture-galleries.' "quick as a flash the kaiser turned to count eulenburg. 'i shall repay the debt prussia owes to menzel,' he spoke, not without declamatory effect. 'we will have the representation of the sans souci flute concert three days hence. your programme is to be ready tomorrow morning at ten. menzel, mind you, must know nothing of this: merely command him to attend us at the schloss at supper and for a musical evening.' and, turning round, he said to her majesty: 'you will impersonate princess amalia, and you, kessel' (adjutant von kessel, then commander of the first life guards), 'engage all your tallest and best-looking officers to enact the great king's military household.' "again the kaiser addressed count eulenberg: 'be sure to have the best artists of the royal orchestra perform frederick the great's compositions, and let joachim be engaged for the occasion.' saying this, he took her majesty's arm, and bidding his guests and the court a hasty good-night, strode out of the apartment." a description of the empress's costume for the concert follows. "her majesty's dress consisted of a petticoat of sea-green satin, richly ornamented with silver lace of antique pattern and an overdress of dark velvet, embroidered with gold and set with precious stones. on her powdered hair, amplified by one of herr adeljana, the viennese coiffeur's, most successful creations, sat a jaunty three-cornered hat having a blazing aigrette of large diamonds in front, the identical cluster of white stones which figured at the great napoleon's coronation, and which he lost, together with his entire equipage, in the battle of waterloo. in her ears her majesty wore pearl ornaments representing a small bunch of cherries. like the aigrette, they are crown property, and that auguste victoria thought well enough of the jewels to rescue them from oblivion for this occasion was certainly most appropriate." the emperor's costume is also described. "he wore the cuirassier uniform of the great frederick's period, a highly ornamented dress that suited the war lord, who was painted and powdered to perfection, extremely well, especially as wellington boots, a very becoming wig and his strange head-gear really and seemingly added to his figure, while his usually stern face beamed pleasantly under the powder and rouge laid on by expert hands." the arrival of menzel is then narrated and the reception by the emperor, who took the part of an adjutant of frederick the great's, and in that character "bombarded the helpless master," as the chronicler says, "with forty stanzas of alleged verse, in which the deeds of prussia's kings and the masterpieces that commemorate them were extolled with a prosiness that sounded like an afterclap of william's reichstag and monument orations." a real concert followed, and supper was taken in the marble hall adjoining. the authoress concludes as follows:-- "i was contemplating these reminiscences (the pictures of la barberini) in silent reverie when the door opened and the kaiser came in with little menzel. "'i have a mind to engage angeli to paint her majesty's picture in the costume of princess amalia,' said the emperor 'what do you think of it?' "'angeli is painter to many emperors and kings,' replied the professor, and i saw him smile diplomatically as he moved his spectacles to get a better view of the allegorical canvas on the left wall that exhibits the nude figure of the famous mistress in its entirety. "'i am glad you agree with me on that point,' said the emperor, impatient to execute the idea that had crossed his mind. 'i will telegraph to him to-night.' "and when, five minutes later, menzel bent over my hand to take formal leave, i heard him murmur in his dry, absent-minded manner--'pesne ... angeli ... frederick the great ... william ii!" we have spoken of the court atmosphere of this time. the following extracts from the memoirs of ex-chancellor prince hohenlohe will assist the reader, perhaps even better than a connected account, to enter, in imagination at all events, into it. the conversations cited between the emperor and the prince turn on all sorts of topics--the pass question in alsace (where hohenlohe was then statthalter), the possibility of war with russia, pheasant shooting, projected monuments, the breach with bismarck, the triple alliance, and a hundred more of the most different kinds. once talking domestic politics, the emperor said: "it will end by the social democrats getting the upper hand. then they will plunder the people. not that i care. i will have the palace loop-holed and look on at the plundering. the burghers will soon call on me for help;" and on another occasion, in , hohenlohe tells of a dinner at the palace, and how after dinner, when the empress and her ladies had gone into another _salon_, the emperor, hohenlohe, and dr. hinzpeter (the emperor's old tutor) conversed together for an hour, all standing. "the first subject touched on," relates the prince, was the gymnasia (high schools), the emperor holding that they made too exacting claims on the scholars, while hohenlohe and hinzpeter pointed out that otherwise the run on the schools would be too great and cause danger of a "learned proletariat." prince hohenlohe concludes: "in the whole conversation, which never once came to a standstill, i was pleased by the fresh, lively manner of the emperor, and was in all ways reminded of his grandfather, prince albert." next year the prince was present at an official dinner in the berlin palace. he writes:-- "berlin, _march_, . "at seven, dinner in the white salon (at the palace). i sat opposite the empress and between moltke and kameke. the former was very communicative, but was greatly interfered with by the continuous music, and was very angry at it. two bands were placed facing each other, and when one ceased the other began to play its trumpets. it was hardly endurable. the emperor made a speech in honour of the queen of england and the prince of wales (afterwards king edward, present on the occasion of the investiture of his son prince george, now king george v, with the order of the black eagle), and mentioned his nomination as english admiral (whose uniform he was wearing) and the comradeship-in-arms at the battle of waterloo; he also hoped that the english fleet and the german army would together maintain peace. moltke then said to me: 'goethe says, "a political song, a discordant song."' "he also said he hoped the speech wouldn't get into the papers." (it did, however.) the next extract describes a conversation prince hohenlohe had with the emperor at potsdam the following year. it gives an idea of the ordinary nature of conversations between the emperor and his high officials on such occasions. "berlin, _december_, . "yesterday forenoon was invited to the new palace at potsdam. besides myself were the prince and princess von wied, with the mistress of the robes and the court marshal. emperor and empress very amiable. the emperor spoke of his hunting in alsace, and supposed it would be some years before the game there would be abundant. then he expressed his satisfaction at my acquisition of gensburg, and when i told him there was not much room in the castle he said, no matter, he could nevertheless pass a few days there with a couple of gentlemen very pleasantly. passing to politics, he gave vent to his displeasure at the attitude of the conservative party, who were hindering the formation of a conservative-monarchical combination against the progressives and social democrats. this was all the more regrettable as the progressives, if now and then they opposed the social democrats, still at bottom were with them. the emperor approves of the commercial treaties and seemed to have great confidence in caprivi generally. as we came to speak of intrigues and gossip, the emperor hinted that bismarck was behind them. he added that people were urging him from many quarters to be reconciled with bismarck, but it was not for him to take the first step. he seemed well informed about the situation in russia and considered it very dangerous. when i asked the emperor how he stood now with the czar, he replied 'badly. he went through here without paying me a visit, and i only write him ceremonious letters. the queen of denmark prevented him coming to berlin, for fear he should go to potsdam. she has gone now with him to livadia on the pretext of the silver wedding, but in reality to keep him away from berlin.'" writing of a lunch at potsdam, under date berlin, november , , the prince notes:-- "the emperor came late and looked tired, but was in good spirits. we went immediately to table. afterwards the conversation turned on bismarck. 'when one compares what bismarck does with that for which poor arnim had to suffer!' he would do nothing, he said, against bismarck, but the consequences of the whole thing were very serious. waldersee and bismarck couldn't abide one another. they had, however, become allies out of common hatred of caprivi, whose fall bismarck desired. what might happen afterwards neither cared." the following was penned after the old chancellor's visit of reconciliation:-- "berlin, _january_, . "to-night gala performance at the opera. between the acts i talked first with different monarchs, the king of württemberg, the king of saxony, the grand duke of oldenburg, and so on. then i was sent for by the empress, of whom i took leave. the emperor came shortly afterwards. we spoke of bismarck's visit the day before and the good consequences for the emperor it would have. 'yes,' said the emperor, 'now they can put up triumphal arches for him in vienna and munich, i am all the time a length ahead. if the press continues its abuse it only puts itself and bismarck in the wrong.' i mentioned that red-hot partisans of bismarck were greatly dissatisfied with the visit, and said the emperor should have gone to friedrichsruh (bismarck's estate near hamburg). 'i am well aware of it,' said the emperor,'but for that they would have had a long time to wait. he had to come here.' on the whole the emperor spoke very sensibly and decisively, and i did not at all get the impression that he now wants to change everything." prince hohenlohe was summoned to potsdam in october, , by a telegram from the emperor. all the telegram said was that "important interests of the empire" were concerned. hohenlohe was only aware of the dismissal of caprivi from a newspaper he read in frankfort on his way to potsdam. the emperor met him at the station (wildpark) and conveyed him to the new palace, where the prince agreed to accept the chancellorship "at the emperor's earnest request." princess hohenlohe was decidedly against her husband, who was now seventy-five, accepting the post, and even ventured to telegraph to the empress to prevent it. the prince has a note on his intercourse with his imperial master. he is writing to his son, prince alexander:-- "berlin, _october_, . "it is a curious thing--my relations to his majesty. i come now and then to the conclusion, owing to his small inconsideratenesses, that he intentionally avoids me and that things can't continue so. then again i talk with him and see that i am mistaken. yesterday i had occasion to report to him, and he poured out his heart to me and took occasion in the friendliest way to ask my advice. and thus my distrust is dissipated." hunting with the emperor:-- " _december_, . "yesterday i obeyed the royal invitation to hunt at springe. i had to leave berlin as early as a.m. to catch the royal train at potsdam. from springe railway station we passed immediately into the hunting district. only sows were shot. i brought down six. then we drove to the schloss, rested for a few hours and then dined. the emperor was in very good humour and talked incessantly; in addition the uhlan band and the usually noisy conversation." when presenting his resignation to the emperor at hamburg in october, , the prince, who had evidently been for some time aware that his term of office was drawing to a close, describes his conversation with the emperor:-- "at noon, as i came to the emperor, he received me in a very friendly way. we first settled about summoning the reichstag, and then his majesty said, 'i have received a very distressing letter'--an allusion to the chancellor's official letter of resignation, which he had placed in the emperor's hands through tschirschky, foreign minister. 'as i then,' continued hohenlohe, 'explained the necessity of my resignation on the ground of my health and age the emperor, apparently quite satisfied, agreed, so that i could see he had already expected my request and consequently that it was high time i should make it. we talked further over the question of my successor, and i was agreeably surprised when he forthwith mentioned bülow, who certainly at the moment is the best man available. his majesty then said he would telegraph to lucanus (chief of the civil cabinet) to bring bülow to homburg so that we might consult about details. i breakfasted with their majesties and went calmly home.'" writing to his daughter next day prince hohenlohe, in words that do equal credit to himself and the imperial family, says: "it is always a pleasure to me when on such occasions i can convince myself of the christian disposition of the imperial family. in our for the most part unbelieving age this family seems to me like an oasis in the desert." prince hohenlohe was succeeded as chancellor by prince von bülow, who had held the office of secretary of state for foreign affairs for the preceding two years, and practically conducted the emperor's foreign policy during that time. he had served as secretary of embassy in st. petersburg, vienna, and athens, was a secretary to the congress of berlin, fought in the war with france and after seven years as minister in bucharest spent four years as ambassador in rome. here he married a divorced italian lady, the countess minghetti. after acting as deputy foreign secretary for the late baron marschall von bieberstein, he was appointed permanent foreign secretary, and on october , , was called by the emperor to the most responsible post in the empire next to his own, that of imperial chancellor. the emperor's choice was fully justified, for the new chancellor proved himself to be the most brilliant diplomatist and parliamentarian since bismarck. ix the new century - german writers, commenting on the turn of the century, claim to discover a change in the emperor's character about this period. he has lost much of his imaginative, his lohengrin, vein, and has become more practical, more prosaic and matter-of-fact. to use the german word, he is now a _realpolitiker_, one who deals in things, not words or theories, and drawing his gaze from the stars makes them dwell more attentively on the immediate practical considerations of the world about him. his nature has not changed, of course, nor his manner, but he has begun to see that he must employ means and ways different from those he employed previously. he has not become a bismarck, for he still pursues his aims more in the spirit of the colonel of a regiment leading his men to the attack with banners flying, drums beating, swords rattling in their scabbards and mailed gauntlets held threateningly aloft, than in that of the cool and calculating politician ruminating in his closet on the tactics of his opponents, and deliberating how best to meet and confound them; but he gives more thought to what is going on about him, to party politics, to the economic necessities of the hour, and to modern science and its inventions. what strikes the englishman perhaps as much as anything in the emperor's character at this time is the cromwellian trait in it. this is a side of his protean nature which never seems to have been adequately recognized in england, yet in a singularly baffling character-composition it is one of the fundamental elements. the view of prussian monarchy, inherited from one hohenzollern to another for generation after generation, that the race of people to which he belonged (with any other race he could include by conquest in it) has been handed over by heaven for all eternity to his family, naturally predisposes him to take a religious, a patriarchal, one might say an hebraic, view of government; but in addition we find the warrior spirit at all times going hand in hand with the religious spirit, almost as strongly as in the case of mahomet with the koran in one hand and the sword in the other. there was nothing in the emperor's youth to show the existence of deeply religious conviction, but as soon as he mounted the throne, and all through the reign up to the close of the century, indeed some years beyond it, his speeches, especially when he was addressing his soldiery, were filled with expressions of religious fervour. "von gotten gnaden," he writes as a preface for a leipzig publication appearing on january , , "is the king; therefore to god alone is he responsible. he must choose his way and conduct himself solely from this standpoint. this fearfully heavy responsibility which the king bears for his folk gives him a claim on the faithful co-operation of his subjects. accordingly, every man among the people must be thoroughly persuaded that he is, along with the king, responsible for the general welfare." it may be noted in passing that cromwell and the emperor are alike in being the founders of the great war navies of their respective countries. on the date mentioned (new year's day), in the berlin arsenal when consecrating some flags, he addressed the garrison on the turn of the year: "the first day of the new century finds our army, that is our folk in arms, gathered round its standards, kneeling before the lord of hosts--and certainly if anyone has reason to bend the knee before god, it is our army." "a glance at our standards," the emperor continued, "is sufficient explanation, for they incorporate our history. what was the state of our army at the beginning of the century? the glorious army of frederick the great had gone to sleep on its laurels, ossified in pipeclay details, led by old, incapable generals, its officers shy of work, sunk in luxury, good living, and foolish self-satisfaction. in a word, the army was no longer not only not equal to its task, but had forgotten it. heavy was the punishment of heaven, which overtook it and our folk. they were flung into the dust, frederick's glory faded, the standards were cast down. in seven years of painful servitude god taught our folk to bethink itself of itself, and under the pressure of the feet of an arrogant usurper (napoleon) was born the thought that it is the highest honour to devote in arms one's life and property to the fatherland--the thought, in short, of universal conscription." the word for conscription, it may be here remarked, is in german _wehrpflicht_, the duty of defence. to most people in england it means simply "compulsory military service." it is important to note the difference, as it explains the german national idea, and the emperor's idea, that all military and naval forces are primarily for defence, not offence. this is, indeed, equally true of the british, or perhaps any other, army and navy; but how many englishmen, when they think of germany, can get the idea into the foreground of their thoughts or accustom themselves to it? however, we have not yet done with the emperor's baffling character. there was a third element that now developed in it--the modern, the twentieth-century, the american, the rockefeller element. it is intimately connected with his weltpolitik, as his weltpolitik is with his foreign policy in general--indeed one might say his weltpolitik is his foreign policy--a policy of economic expansion, with a desperate apprehension of losing any of the empire's property, and a determination to have a voice in the matter when there is any loose property anywhere in the world to be disposed of. to the hebraic element and the warrior element (an entirely un-christlike combination, as the emperor must be aware) there now began to be added the mercantile, the modern, the american element--the interest in all the concerns of national material prosperity, in the national accumulation of wealth, the interest in inventions, in commercial science, in labour-saving machinery, the effort to win american favour, to facilitate intercourse and establish close and profitable relations with that wealthy land and people. we know that the emperor has english blood in him, greatly admires england, and is immensely proud of being a british admiral. we have seen him exhibiting traits of character that remind one of lohengrin or tancred. he has played many parts in the spirit of a hebrew prophet and patriarch, of a frederick the great, a cromwell, a nelson, a theodore roosevelt. preacher, teacher, soldier, sailor, he has been all four, now at one moment, now at another. we shall find him anon as art and dramatic critic, to end--so far as we are concerned with him--as farmer. is it any wonder if such a man, mediæval in his nature and modern in his character, defies clear and definite portrayal by his contemporaries? taking the year as the first year of the new century, not as some calculators, and the emperor among them, take it, as the last year of the old, the twentieth century may be said to have opened with a dramatic historical episode in which the emperor and his empire took very prominent parts--the boxer movement. little notice has been taken in our account of germany's spacious days of her relations to china and the far east generally. they were, nevertheless, all through that period intimately connected with her expansion or dreams of expansion. about the flowery land awoke to the benefits of european civilization and in particular of european ingenuity; and in , for the first time in chinese history, foreign diplomatists were granted the privilege of an annual reception at the chinese court. so exclusive was the manchu dynasty--the hohenzollerns of china in point of antiquity; yet not a score of years later the manchu monarchy had been quietly removed from its five-thousand-year-old throne, and china, apparently the most conservative and monarchical people on earth, proclaimed itself a republic--a regular modern republic!--an operation that among peoples claiming infinite superiority to the chinese would have cost thousands of lives and a vast expenditure of money. naturally, once china showed a willingness to abandon its axenic attitude towards foreign devils and all things foreign-devilish, the european powers turned their eyes and energies towards her, and a strenuous commercial and diplomatic race after prospective concessions for railways, mines, and undertakings of all kinds began. each power feared that china would be gobbled up by a rival, or that at least a partition of the vast chinese empire was at hand. consequently, when china was beaten in her war with japan, and made the unfavourable treaty of shimonoseki, the european powers were ready to appear as helpers in time of need. russia, germany, and france got the shimonoseki treaty altered, and the laotung peninsula with port arthur given back, and in return russia acquired the right to build a railway through manchuria (the first step towards "penetration" and occupation), french engineers obtained several valuable mining and railway concessions, and germany got certain privileges in hankow and tientsin. meantime the old, deeply-rooted hatred of the foreign devil, the european, was spreading among the population, which was still, in the mass, conservative. missionaries were murdered, and among them, in , two german priests. germany demanded compensation, and in default sent a cruiser squadron to kiautschau bay. russia immediately hurried a fleet to port arthur and obtained from china a lease of that port for twenty-five years. england and france now put in a claim for their share of the good things going. england obtained wei-hai-wei, france a lease of kwang-tschau and hainan. china was evidently throwing herself into the arms of europe, when, in , the dowager empress took the government out of the hands of the young emperor and a period of reaction set in. the appearance of italy with a demand for a lease of the san-mun bay in brought the chinese anti-foreign movement to a head, and the boxer conspiracy grew to great dimensions. the movement was caused not merely by religious and race fanaticism, but by the popular fear that the new european era would change the economic life of china and deprive millions of chinese of their wonted means of livelihood. the dowager empress and a number of chinese princes now joined it. massacres soon became the order of the day, and it is calculated that in the spring of alone more than , christians were barbarously done to death. among the victims were reckoned english, americans, french, and of other nationalities. the ambassadors and ministers of all nations, conscious of their danger, applied to the tsungli yamen (foreign office), demanding that the imperial government should crush the boxer movement. the government took no steps, the diplomatists were beleaguered in their embassies, and were only saved by friendly police from being murdered. this, however, was but a temporary respite, and it became necessary to bring marines from the foreign ships of war lying at the mouth of the pei-ho river just out of range of the formidable taku forts. these troops, , in all, were led by admiral seymour. they tried to reach pekin, but failed owing to the destruction of the railway, and retired to tientsin, from whence, however, on june th, a detachment set out to capture the taku forts. the capture was effected, the german gunboat _iltis_, under captain lans, playing a conspicuously brave part. tientsin was now in danger from the boxer bands, but was relieved by a mixed detachment of russians and germans under general stoessel, the subsequent defender of port arthur. the alarm meantime at pekin was intense. the chinese government, throwing off all disguise, ordered the diplomatists to leave the city. they refused, knowing that to leave the shelter of the embassies meant torture and death. one of them, however, the german minister, freiherr von ketteler, ventured from his legation and was killed in broad daylight on his way to the chinese foreign office. only one of the minister's party escaped, to stagger, hacked and bloody, into the british legation with the news. this legation, as the strongest building in the quarter, became the refuge of the entire diplomatic corps, with their wives, children, and servants. it was straightway invested and bombarded by the boxers, and as the days and weeks went on the other legation buildings were burned, and the refugees in the british legation had to look death at all hours in the face. the murder of von ketteler excited anger and horror throughout the world, and in no breast, naturally, to a stronger degree than in that of the german emperor. all nations hastened to send troops to pekin. japan was first on the scene with , men under general yamagutschi. russia followed next with , under general lenewitch, then england with , under general gaselee, then france with , under general frey, then america with , under general chaffee, germany with , under von hopfner, austria and italy with smaller contingents--in all more than , men, with guns. a little later the expeditionary corps from germany, , strong, under general von lessel, and that from france, , strong, arrived. at the suggestion, it is said, of russia, and by agreement among the european powers, united by a common sympathy and in face of a common danger, the german field-marshal, count waldersee, was appointed to the supreme command of all the european forces. at the same time naval supports were hurried by all maritime nations to the scene, and within a short period warships and torpedo boats were assembled off the chinese coast. the march to pekin and the relief of the imprisoned europeans are incidents still fresh in public memory. in the crowded british legation fear alternated with hope, and hope with fear, until, on the forenoon of august th, a boy ran into the legation crying that "black-faced europeans" were advancing along the royal canal in the direction of the building. in a few minutes a company of sikh cavalry, part of some indian troops diverted on their way to aden, galloped up, all danger was over, and the refugees were saved. the boxer troubles ended on may , , with the signature by li hung chang in the name of the emperor of china of a treaty of peace, the main conditions of which were the payment by china within thirty years of a war indemnity to the powers of million taels (£ , , ) and an agreement to send a mission of atonement to the courts of germany and japan--for among the foreign victims of the boxers in the previous year had been the japanese representative in china, baron sugiyama. for two or three weeks the action of the emperor with regard to the chinese mission of atonement brought him into universal ridicule. prince chun, a near relative of the chinese emperor, who had been appointed to conduct the mission, reached basle in september, , on his way to berlin. here he lingered, and it soon became known that a hitch had occurred in his relations with germany. it then transpired that the delay was caused by the emperor's having suddenly intimated that he expected prince chun to make thrice to him, as he sat on his throne at potsdam, the "kotow" as practised in the court of china. in view of the surprise, laughter, and criticism of europe, the emperor modified his demand for the "kotow" to its symbolic performance by three deep bows. prince chun thereupon resumed his journey. an impressive, if theatrical, scene was prepared in the new palace at potsdam, where the emperor, seated on the throne, his marshal's baton in his hand, and flanked by ministers and the officers of his household, received the bearer of china's expressions of regret. whatever one may think of the scenic effect provided, the reply the emperor made to prince chun, after the three bows arranged upon had been made, is a model of its kind--general not personal, sorrowful rather than angry, warning rather than reproachful. the emperor said-- "no pleasing nor festive cause, no mere fulfilment of a courtly duty, has brought your imperial highness to me, but a sad and deeply grave occurrence. my minister to the court of his majesty the emperor of china, freiherr von ketteler, fell in the chinese capital beneath the murderous weapons of an imperial chinese soldier, who acted by the orders of a superior, an unheard-of outrage condemned by the law of nations and the moral sense of all countries. from your imperial highness i have now heard the expression of the sincere and deep regret of his imperial majesty the emperor of china regarding the occurrence. i am glad to believe that your imperial highness's royal brother had nothing to do with the crime or with the further acts of violence against inviolable ministers and peaceful foreigners, but all the greater is the guilt which attaches to his advisers and his government. let these not deceive themselves by supposing that they can make atonement and receive pardon for their crime through this mission alone, and not through their subsequent conduct in the light of the prescriptions of international law and the moral principles of civilized peoples. if his majesty the emperor of china henceforward directs the government of his great empire in the spirit of these ordinances, his hope that the sad consequences of the confusion of last year may be overcome, and permanent, peaceful and friendly relations between germany and china may exist as before, will be realized to the benefit of both peoples and the whole of civilized humanity. in the sincere wish that it may be so, i welcome your imperial highness." the emperor's other speeches referring to the boxer movement at this period have been adversely commented on as showing him in the light of a cruel and blood-thirsty seeker after revenge. this is an unjust, at least a hard, judgment. a passage in his address at bremerhaven to the expeditionary force when setting out for china is the main proof of the charge--in which, after referring to the murder of von ketteler, he said: "you know well you will have to fight with a cunning, brave, well-armed, cruel foe. when you come to close quarters with him remember--quarter ('pardon' is the german word the emperor used) must not be given: prisoners must not be taken: manage your weapons so that for a thousand years to come no chinaman will dare to look sideways at a german. act like men." it is difficult, of course, to reconcile such an address with christian humanity practised, so far as humanity can be practised, in modern war, but it should be remembered that the emperor was speaking in a state of great excitement, and that, according to chancellor prince bülow's statement in the reichstag subsequently, confirmation of the news of the murder of his minister to china had only reached the emperor ten minutes before he delivered the speech. there is one incident, however, though not a very important one, in connexion with the troubles, which may fairly be made a matter of reproach to the emperor--the seizure, on his order, of the ancient astronomical instruments at pekin and their transference to sans souci, in potsdam, where they are to be seen to the present day. the troops of all nations, it is known, looted freely at pekin; but the emperor might have spared china and his own fair fame the indignity of such public vandalism. while writing of china it may not be superfluous to add that the emperor's foreign policy in the orient cannot be expected to present exactly the same features, or proceed quite along the same lines, as his foreign policy in europe. by far the greater part of europe is now as completely parcelled out and as permanently settled as though it were a huge, well-managed estate. the capacities of its high roads, its railways, its great rivers, with their commercial and strategic values and relations are perfectly ascertained; and the knowledge, it is not too much to say, is the common property of all important governments. it is not so, or not nearly to the same extent, in the orient. in europe there is little or no difficulty in distinguishing between enterprises that are political and those that are commercial, or in recognizing where they are both; and if a difficulty should arise it can be arranged by diplomatic conversations, by a conference of the powers interested, or in the last resort--short of war--by arbitration. this is not so simple a matter in the orient, where conditions are at once old and new, where interests of possibly great magnitude are as yet undetermined or unappropriated, where possibly great mineral sources are undeveloped and the capacities of new markets unascertained; where, in short, the decisive factors of the problem are undiscovered, it may be unsuspected. in such cases there is often no certain and readily recognizable line of demarcation between the two kinds of enterprise; and an undertaking that may present all the appearance of being a purely commercial scheme, and be solemnly asseverated to be such by the power or powers promoting it, may turn out on closer examination to be one of great political significance and incalculable political consequence. of such enterprises two immediately spring to mind, the cape to cairo railway and the baghdad railway, not to mention a score of problematic undertakings in other parts of africa or asia. it will be useful to keep this general consideration in view when forming an opinion regarding the emperor's oriental policy. that policy is, so far, almost entirely commercial. long ago wars used to be made for the sake of religion, then for the sake of territory. now they are made for the sake of new markets. yet the far east is changing with the change in conditions everywhere in modern times, and it is evident that the premises for any conclusion as to german foreign policy there may, at any given moment, be subject to modification. partly owing to the growth of germany's european influence, and to the increase in her navy which has helped her to it, she is to be found of recent years playing a role in the far east which would have been unintelligible to the german of the last generation. there are many germans to-day, as in bismarck's time, who ridicule the notion that the possibilities of trade in oriental countries justify the national risk now run for it and the national expenditure now made upon it; but it is sometimes forgotten that, apart from the chance of obtaining concessions for the building of railways, for the establishment of banks, for the leasing of mines and working of cotton plantations, there is a large german export of beads, cloth, and, in short, of hundreds of articles which appeal to barbarian or only semi-civilized tastes. germany, too, looks hopefully forward to a future in which she will be supplied with the raw material of her manufactures by her colonies, or failing that by her subjects trading abroad in the colonies of other nations. this is one of the main objects of her weltpolitik. as prince von bülow said: "the time has passed when the german left the earth to one neighbour and the sea to another, while he reserved heaven, where pure doctrines are enthroned, to himself;" and again: "we don't seek to put anybody in the shade, but we demand our place in the sun;" and the idea finds technical expression in the phrase on which germany lays so much stress, the "maintenance of the open door." her policy in the far east, as in europe, is thus on the whole a commercial one; she seeks there as elsewhere new markets, not new territory. accordingly she supports the principle of the _status quo_ in china, and therefore raised no objection to the anglo-japanese agreement of which, among other objects, secured it. in january, , the emperor was called to england by the sudden, and, as it was to prove, fatal illness of his grandmother, queen victoria. his journey to osborne, where he arrived just in time to be recognized by the dying queen, and his abandonment of the idea, impressive and almost sacred to a prussian king and the prussian people, of being present on his birthday, january th, at the bicentenary celebration of the foundation of the prussian kingdom, made a deep and sympathetic impression on the people of england. usually on state occasions the emperor does not display a countenance of good humour, or indeed of any sentiment save perhaps that of a sense of dignity; but on the occasion in question, as he rode in the uniform of a british field-marshal beside edward vii, his looks were those of genuine sorrow. public sympathy was not lessened when it became known that he had mentioned the pride he felt in being privileged to wear the uniform of two such soldiers of renown as the duke of wellington and lord roberts; and added that the privilege would be highly estimated by the whole german army. it was a chivalrous remark, the offspring of a chivalrous disposition. the emperor had hardly returned to germany when, on february th, the only attack ever made on his person occurred in bremen. he had been at a banquet in the town hall, and was being driven through the illuminated streets to the railway station to return to berlin, when a half-witted locksmith's apprentice of nineteen, dietrich weiland by name, flung a piece of railway iron at him with such good aim that it struck him on the face immediately under the right eye, inflicting a deep and nasty, but not dangerous wound. the emperor proceeded with his journey, the doctors attending to his injury in the train, and in a few weeks he was well again. weiland was sent to a criminal lunatic asylum. the attempt had, apparently, nothing to do with anarchism or nihilism or the social democracy. when the emperor alluded to it afterwards in his speech to the diet, he referred it to a general diminution of respect for authority. "respect for authority," he said to the diet, "is wanting. in this regard all classes of the population are to blame. particular interests are looked to, not the general well-being of the folk. criticism of the measures of the government and throne takes the coarsest and most injurious forms--and hence the errors and demoralization of our youth. parliament must help here, and a change must be made, beginning with the schools." it was natural enough that a few days after, addressing the alexander regiment of guards, who were taking up quarters in a new barracks near the palace in berlin, he should tell them the barracks were like a citadel to the palace, and that, as a sort of imperial bodyguard, the regiment "must be ready, day and night as once before"--he was referring to the "march days"--"to meet any attack by the citizens on the emperor." at bonn in april the emperor attended the matriculation (immatriculation, the germans call it) of his eldest son, the crown prince, at the university. he was in civil dress, one of the rare public occasions during the reign when he has not been in uniform, but this did not prevent him delivering a martial address to the borussians. "i hope and expect from the younger generation," he said to the students, "that they will put me in a position to maintain our german fatherland in its close and strong boundaries and in the congeries of german races--doing to no one favour and to no one harm. if, however, anyone should touch us too nearly, then i will call upon you and i expect you won't leave your emperor sitting." a great shout of "bravo!" went up when the emperor ceased, and the students doubtless all thought what a fine thing it would be if he would only lead them straightway against those cheeky englanders. at the end of june, on board the hamburg-american pleasure-steamer _princess victoria luise_, the emperor pronounced the famous sentence--"our future lies on the water." the year before he had said something like it, and it is worth quoting as the emperor's first explicit allusion to weltpolitik. "strongly," he exclaimed, "dashes the beat of ocean at the doors of our people and compels it to preservation of its place in the world, in a word, to weltpolitik. the ocean is indispensable for germany's greatness. the ocean testifies that on it and far beyond it no important decision will be taken without germany and the german emperor." his words on the present occasion were: "my entire task for the future will be to see that the undertakings of which the foundations have been laid may develop quietly and surely. we have, though as yet without the fleet as it should be, achieved our place in the sun. it will now be my task to hold this place unquestioned, so that its rays may act favourably on trade and industry and agriculture at home inside, and on our sail-sports on the coast--for our future lies on the water. the more germans go on the sea--whether travelling or in the service of the state--the better. when the german has once learned to look abroad and afar he will lose that 'hang' towards the petty, the trivial, which now so often seizes him in daily life." and he closed: "we must now go out in search of new spots where we can drive in nails on which to hang our armour." early in august the emperor was called to the death-bed of his mother, the empress frederick, at her castle in cronberg. she died on the afternoon of her son's arrival, on august th. the emperor ordered mourning throughout the empire for six weeks, and forbade all "public music, entertainments, theatrical or otherwise" until after the funeral. the empress was buried in the mausoleum attached to the friedenskirche in potsdam on the th of the month. the delivery of a famous speech on art by the emperor in december brings the chronicle of to a close, but perhaps it will not displease the reader if a new chapter is opened for the purpose of quoting it and of considering the emperor in what is a traditional hohenzollern relationship. x. the emperor and the arts art is a favourite subject of conversation on the continent, where it is more popularly discussed than in england and where authorities of all kinds are more alive to its educative capabilities. it is eminently "safe" ground, does not savour of gossip, and no one need leave the field of discussion with the feeling that he has been driven from it. hence it is the salvation of diplomatists who are apprehensive of committing their governments or themselves when mixing in general society, and it doubtless does good service for the emperor also upon occasion. indeed it is a topic on which he speaks willingly and well. unfortunately for precision of thought and speech, though useful for the man in the street, the word "art" has been pressed into the service of metaphor more than almost any other word in language. we are told in turn that everything is an art--hair-dressing, salad-dressing (a different kind), lying, flying, dying. the germans are trying to make an art of life. whistler wrote about the "gentle art of making enemies." one hears of "artful hussies" and "artful dodgers." people are described as "artful" in the small diplomacies of intercourse. jugglers, acrobats, sword-swallowers, "supers" at the theatre, the men who play the elephant in the pantomime would all be mortified if they were not addressed as "artists," in short, everything may be called an art. but what, truly, is art? the question is as hard to answer satisfactorily as the questions what is truth or what is beauty? the notion "art" usually occurs to the mind as contrasted with the notion "nature"; the word is derived from the sanskrit root _ar_, to plough, to make, to do; and accordingly art may be taken to be something made by man, as contrasted with something made, or grown, or given by god. how art came into existence it is of course impossible to do more than conjecture. the necessities of primitive man may have stimulated his inventive powers into originating and developing the useful arts for his physical comfort and convenience; and his desire for recreation after labour, or the mere ennui of idleness, may have urged the same powers into originating and developing the fine and plastic arts for the entertainment of his mind. or, lastly, if no better reason can be found, and though sir joshua reynolds laid it down that all models of perfection in art must be sought for on the earth, it may be that seeing and feeling instinctively the glory and beauty of the creation, mankind began gradually, as its intelligence improved, to burn with a longing to imitate, reproduce, and represent them. however art arose, it seems true to say, as a german writer has well said, that when a work of art, whether a poem or a picture or a statue, causes in us the thought that so, and in no other way, would we ourselves have expressed the idea, had we the talent, then we may conclude that true art is speaking to us, whatever the idea to be expressed may be. everything demands thought, but our thoughts are an unruly folk, which never keep long on the same straight road, and love to wander off to left and right, here finding something new and there throwing away something old. the artist, when he conceives a plan, has to fight with the host of his thoughts and find a way through them. they often threaten to divert him from it, but on the other hand they often lead him to his goal by novel paths along which he finds much that is new and valuable. this is a doctrine that, sensible though it is, would hardly be subscribed to by the emperor, to whom no new movement in art strongly appeals, and who thinks that such movements, unless founded on the old classical school, the greek and roman school of beauty, ought, in the public interest, to be discouraged. however, let him speak for himself. he set forth his art creed in a speech which he delivered on december , , to the sculptors who had executed the hohenzollern statues in the famous siegesallée at berlin, and which ran substantially as follows:-- "i gladly seize the occasion, first of all, to express my congratulations and then my thanks for the manner in which you have assisted me to carry out my original plan. the preparation of the plan for the siegesallée has occupied many years, and the learned historiographer of my house, professor dr. poser, is the man who put me in a position to set the artists clear and intelligible tasks. once the historic basis was found the work could be proceeded with, and when the personalities of the princes were established it was possible to ascertain those who had been their most important helpers. in this manner the groups originated and, to a certain extent, conditioned by their history, the forms of them came into existence. "the next most difficult question was--was it possible, as i hoped it was, to find in berlin so many artists as would be able to work together harmoniously to realize the programme? "as i came to consider the question, i had in view to show the world that the most favourable condition for the successful achievement of the work was not the appointment of an art commission and the establishment of prize competitions, but that in accord with ancient custom, as in the classical period, and later during the middle ages, was the case, it lay in the direct intercourse of the employer with the artists. "i am therefore especially obliged to professor reinhold begas for having assured me, when i applied to him, that there was absolutely no doubt there could be found in berlin a sufficiency of artists to carry out the idea; and with his help, and in consequence of the acquaintances i have made by visiting exhibitions and studios in berlin, i succeeded in getting together a staff, the majority of whom i see around me, with whom to approach the task. "i think you will not refuse me the testimony that, in respect of the programme i drew up i have made the treatment of it as easy as possible, that while i ordered and defined the work i gave you an absolute freedom not only in the combination and composition, but precisely the freedom to put into it that from himself which every artist must if he is to give the work the stamp of his own individuality, since every work of art contains in itself something of the individual character of the artist. i believe that this experiment, if i may so call it, as made in the siegesallée, has succeeded. "... i have never interfered with details, but have contented myself with simply giving the direction, the impulse. "but to-day the thought that berlin stands there before the whole world with a guild of artists able to carry out so magnificent a project fills me with satisfaction and pride. it shows that the berlin school of art stands on a height which could hardly have been more splendid in the time of the renaissance. "here, too, one can draw a parallel between the great artistic achievements of the middle ages and the italians--that, namely, the head of the state, an art-loving prince, who offered their tasks to the artists also found the master round whom a school of artists could gather. "how is it, generally speaking, with art in the world? it takes its models, supplies itself from the great sources of mother nature, who, spite of her apparently unfettered, limitless freedom, still moves according to eternal laws which the creator ordained for himself and which cannot be passed or violated without danger to the development of the world. "even so it is in art; and at the sight of the beautiful remains of old classical times comes again over one the feeling that here too reigns an eternal law that is always true to itself, the law of beauty and harmony, of the aesthetic. this law is given expression to by the ancients in so surprising and overpowering a fashion, in so thoroughly complete a form that we, with all our modern sensibilities and with all our power, are still proud, when we have done any specially fine piece of work, to hear that it is almost as good as it was made nineteen hundred years ago. "but only almost! under this impression i would earnestly ask you to lay it to heart that sculpture still remains untainted by so-called modern tendencies and currents--still stands high and chastely there! keep her so, don't let yourselves be misled by human criticism or any wind of doctrine to abandon the principles on which she has been built up. "an art which transgresses the laws and limits i have indicated is art no more. it is factory work, handicraft, and that is a thing art should never be. under the often misused word 'freedom' and her flag one falls too readily into boundlessness, unrestraint, self-exaggeration. for whoever cuts loose from the law of beauty, and the feeling for the æsthetic and harmonious, which every human breast feels, whether he can express it or not, and in his thought makes his chief object some special direction, some specific solution of more technical tasks, that man denies art's first sources. "yet again. art should help to exercise an educative influence on the people. she should offer the lower classes, after the hard work of the day, the possibility of refreshing themselves by regarding what is ideal. to us germans great ideals have become permanent possessions, whereas to other peoples they have been more or less lost. only the german people remain called to preserve these great ideas, to cultivate and continue them. and among these ideals is this, that we afford the possibility to the working classes to elevate themselves by beauty, and by beauty to enable them to abstract themselves and rise above the thoughts they otherwise would have. "when art, as now often occurs, does nothing more than represent misery as still more unlovely than it is already, by so doing she sins against the german people. the cultivation of the ideal is at the same time the greatest work of culture, and if we wish to be and remain an example in this to other nations the whole people must work together to that end; if culture is to fulfil her task she must penetrate to the lowest classes of society. that she can only do when art comes into play, when she raises up, instead of descending into the gutter. "as ruler of the country i often find it extremely bitter that art, through its masters, does not with sufficient energy oppose such tendencies. i do not for a moment fail to perceive that many an aspiring character is to be found among the partisans of these tendencies, who are perhaps filled with the best intentions but who are on the wrong path. the true artist needs no advertisement, no press, no patronage. i do not believe that your great protagonists in the domain of science, either in ancient greece or in italy or in the renaissance period ever had recourse to a _réclame_ such as nowadays is often made in the press in order to bring their ideas into prominence, but worked as god inspired them and let others do the talking. "and so must an honest, proper artist act. the art which descends to _réclame_ is no art be it lauded a hundred or a thousand-fold. a feeling for what is beautiful or ugly has every one, be he ever so simple, and to educate this feeling in the people i require all of you. that in the siegesallée you have done a piece of such work, i have specially to thank you. "this i can even now tell you--the impression which the siegesallée has made on the foreigner is quite an overpowering one; everywhere respect for german sculpture is making itself perceivable. may you always remain on these heights, may such masters stand by my sons and sons' sons, should they ever come into existence! then, i am convinced, will our people be in a position to love the beautiful and honour lofty ideals." at the berlin art museum next year, after praising the devotion of his parents to art, and especially of his mother, "a nature," he said, "about which poesy breathed," he continued:-- "the son of both stands before you as their heir and executor: and so i regard it as my task, according to the intention of my parents, to hold my hand over my german people and its growing generation, to foster the love of beauty in them, and to develop art in them; but only along the lines and within the bounds drawn strictly by the feelings in mankind for beauty and harmony." the emperor's speech to the sculptors, if it contains some questionable statements, is a thoughtful address by one who is himself an artist, though not perhaps an artist of a high class. his artistic endowments, transmitted from his parents, have been already indicated. in reference to them he said to the official conducting him over the marienburg in later years, when the official expressed surprise at the emperor's art-knowledge:-- "there is nothing wonderful in it. i was brought up in an artistic atmosphere. my mother was an artist, and from my earliest youth i have been surrounded by beautiful things. art is my friend and my recreation." the highest praise of a work of art is to say of it that it pleased, or would have pleased; his mother. of her he said, "every thought she had was art, and to her everything, however simple, which was meant for the use of life, was penetrated with beauty." when giving his sanction to a plan, a park, a statue or a building he always thinks--"would it have pleased my parents--what would they have said about it?" the kaiser friedrich museum and the kaiser friedrich memorial church, both in berlin, testify to the emperor's gratitude to his parents for their artistic legacy. he went, as we have seen, through the ordinary art drudgery of the school, recognizing, no doubt, with michael angelo, with all good artists, that correct drawing is the foundation of every art into which drawing enters and applying himself industriously to it. as a young soldier at potsdam he spent a good deal of his time, during the three years from to , practising oil-painting under the guidance of herr karl salzmann, a distinguished berlin painter. among the results of this instruction was a picture which the princely artist called "the corvette--prince adalbert in the bay of samitsu," now hanging in the residence of his brother, prince henry, at kiel; and two years later, as his interest in the navy grew, a "fight between an armoured ship and a torpedo-boat." innumerable aquarelles and sketches, chiefly of marine subjects, were also the fruit of this period. the emperor has constantly cultivated free and friendly intercourse with the best artists of his own and other nations, and been continually engaged devoting time and money to the art education of his people. the admirable art exhibitions in berlin of the best examples of painting by english, french, and american artists, which he personally promoted and was greatly interested in, may be recalled as instances. if his efforts in encouraging art among his people have not been so successful as his imperial activities in other directions, the reason is not any fault on his part, but simply that art refuses to be, in shakespeare's phrase, "tongue-tied by authority." this was shown by the chorus of unfavourable criticism which the speech to the sculptors drew forth. no one questioned the sincerity of the emperor or the magnanimity of his aims, nor was the criticism wholly caused by the suspicion that it savoured of the "personal regiment" under which the people were growing impatient; but many thought he was pushing the dynastic principle too far and unduly interfering with liberty of thought and judgment, and that there was something oriental as well as selfish in occupying with a gallery of his ancestors, the majority of whom were, after all, very ordinary people, one of the fairest spots in the capital. perhaps, however, what was most objected to was his trying to drive the art of the nation into a groove, the direction given by himself: in trying to inspire it with a particular spirit and that an ancient not a modern spirit, when he ought to let the spirit come of its own accord out of the mind of the people--the mind of many millions, not the mind of one man, however high his rank. politics and government might be things in which he had a right to an authoritative voice, but art, like religion, the people considered to be a matter for individual taste and judgment. yet something may be advanced in favour of the emperor. his recommendation, for in fact it was and could be only that, was quite in keeping with the traditions of his office and the people's own view of royal government. the speech, as was admitted, was suggested by no mere dilettante's vanity, but, as is evident from his words at the art museum, by the conviction that just as it is the imperial duty to provide an efficient army and navy, so it is the imperial duty to use every personal and private, as well as every public and official, effort to provide the people with an art as efficient, as honest, and as clean; and it was inevitable that the art the emperor recommended was that which he believed, and still believes, to be in conformity with the ideals, as he interprets them, or would have them to be, of the germanic race. the speech itself is interesting as showing the emperor's attitude towards art and artists and his personal conception of art and its nature. his attitude is evidently that of the art-loving prince of whom he speaks in the address, a royal maecenas or di medici, who gathers artists round him; but he means to use them, not so much perhaps for art's sake, as for the instruction and elevation of his folk. a very laudable aim; only, as it happens, the folk in this matter desire themselves to decide what is improving and elevating for them and what is not. they are not willing to leave the exclusive choice to the emperor. the emperor, again, would give the artist the freedom to put into his work "that from himself which any artist must, if he is to give the work the stamp of his own individuality." this attitude, too, is admirable, but on the other hand lies the danger, such is poor human nature, that the individuality will be that which the emperor wishes it to be, not the artist's independent individuality to the foreign eye all the hohenzollern statues in the siegesallee, with the exception possibly of two or three, seem to have much the same individuality, though that again may be due to the nature of the subject and the foreigner's inherent and ineradicable predispositions. thirdly, art, the emperor says, can only be educative when it elevates instead of descending into the gutter. hogarth descended into the gutter. gustav doré depicts the horrors of hell. yet both hogarth and doré were great artists, and educative too. the emperor was here thinking of the berlin secession, a school just then starting, eccentric indeed and far from "classical," but which nevertheless has since produced several fine artists. the emperor, it would appear, thinks that the antique classical school is the true and only good school for the artist. very likely most artists will agree with him-- at least as a foundation; but the belief, it also appears, is not considered in germany, or outside of it, to justify the emperor, as emperor, in discouraging all other schools and particularly the efforts of modern artists in their non-classical imaginings. the emperor says art "takes its models, supplies itself from the great sources of mother nature." with all courtesy to the emperor one may suggest that art, and sane art, takes its models not only from mother nature, but also from an almost as prolific a maternal source, namely imagination; and that imagination is limited by no eternal laws we know of, or can even suspect. accordingly it is useless to check, or try to check, the imagination by telling it to work in a certain direction--so long, naturally, as the imagination is not obviously indecent or insane. again, the emperor says that in classical art there reigns an eternal law, the "law of beauty and harmony, of the aesthetic" which is expressed in a "thoroughly complete form" by the ancients. it is admittedly a delightful and admirable form, but is it thoroughly complete? is it the last and only form; and may not the very same law be found by experiment to be at work in future art that cannot be called classical, as it was found to be at work in the various noble schools since classical times? one must agree with the emperor that the greeks and romans illustrated the "law of beauty and harmony, of the esthetic, in a wonderful manner." but it was wonderfully done for their age and intellect. they did not exhaust the beautiful and harmonious: far from it. neither the world nor mankind has been standing still ever since; certainly the mind of man has not, even though his senses have undergone no elemental change. paganism was succeeded by christianity, and with christianity came a new art canon, new forms of beauty and harmony--the early italian. the age of reason followed, bringing with it the baroque and rococo canons: and as time went on, and the world's mind kept working, came other canons still. the most recent canon appears to be that of naturalism (the emperor's "gutter ") with which artists are now experimentalizing. none of the canons, be it noticed, destroyed the canon that preceded, because beauty and harmony are indestructible and imperishable. "a thing of beauty is a joy for ever." but not only the mind of man kept changing: the world itself and its civilization--by war, by treaty, by science, by invention, by art itself--kept changing, and is changing now. development, physical as well as social, has been constant, and the changes accompanying it have inspired, and are inspiring, artists with new ideas to which they are always trying to give expression. the subjects of art have enormously multiplied. those introduced by sport of all kinds, by the development of the theatre, by the newly-found effects of light and colour, need only be mentioned as examples capable of suggesting beauties and harmonies unknown to and unsuspected by the ancients. hence, in addition to the classical art of the day, there is room for the "new art," the secessionist, the futurist, the impressionist, even the cubist, or whatever the experimental movement may call itself. and any day any of these movements may lead to the establishment of a new and admirable school of genuine art as beautiful as the classical, if in a different manner. the world has no idea of the surprises in all directions yet in store for it. the emperor, too, is at one with all the world in assuming that art, to deserve the name, must possess the quality of beauty. he speaks of "beauty and harmony," but let it be taken that he understands beauty to include harmony. now, as has been suggested, to answer the question, what is beauty, satisfactorily, is no easy matter. in immediate proximity to it lies the question, what is ugliness? it might be argued that nothing in nature is ugly, and that the word was introduced to express what is merely an inability on the part of mankind to perceive the beauty which constitutes nature; and it certainly is possible that, were man endowed with the mind of god, instead of with only some infinitesimal and mysterious emanation of it, he would find all things in creation, all art included, beautiful. the author of the book of genesis asserts that when god had finished making the world he looked upon his handiwork and saw that it was good. there is one advantage in adopting this view, and no small one, that a belief in its truth must impel us to look for beauty and goodness in all things, whether in art or nature--and even in the secession. perhaps, however, we shall not be far from the truth in saying, as regards art, that all things in creation are beautiful, that there are degrees in beauty of which ugliness is the lowest, and that the truly inspired artist can make all things, ugliness included, beautiful. the emperor thinks the appreciation of beauty is one of our innate ideas, like the ability to distinguish between right and wrong, which we call conscience. there is no agreement among thinkers on the point, and it may be that both beauty and conscience are relative, and simply the result of environment and education. certainly there is no standard of beauty, and more certainly still, not of feminine beauty. the mahommedan admires a woman who has the nose of the parrot, the teeth of the pomegranate seed, and the tread of the elephant. but though there is no complete standard of beauty about which all people, at all times, in all countries, are agreed, there are two elements of beauty which may be said to have been standardized, at least for the civilized world, by the early greeks and romans. these elements are simplicity and harmony, simplicity being the forms of things most directly and pleasingly appealing to the eye and most easily reaching the common understanding, while harmony is the combination of parts most nearly identical with the lines, contours, and proportions of nature. these are two essentials of good sculpture, and the emperor was talking to sculptors and perhaps thinking only of sculpture. yet simplicity and harmony alone do not constitute beauty, while on the other hand beauty may take very complicated forms. a third element one may suggest is essential, and its indescribable nature causes all the difficulty there is in defining beauty. this third element is--charm. a work of art, to be beautiful, must charm, and to different people different things are charming. plato's theory is that the sense of beauty is a dim recollection of a standard we have seen in a heavenly pre-existence. accepting it as as good an explanation of charm as we can get, we may conclude by defining beauty as, in its highest form, a combination of simplicity and harmony, resulting in charm. the emperor says: "to us germans great ideals have become permanent possessions, whereas to other peoples they have been more or less lost." the remark is not one of those best calculated to promote friendly feelings on the part of other peoples towards germany or its emperor. it is like his declaration that germans are the "salt of the earth," and of a piece with the aggressive attitude of intellectual superiority adopted by many germans towards other nations--one reason, by the way, for german unpopularity in the world. but is it true? germany has great ideals in permanent possession, but are they more or less lost to other peoples? it is at least doubtful. great ideals are the permanent possession of every great people; it is these ideals that have made them great; and they are no less great if they differ according to the nature and conditions of each great people. one might go further, indeed, and say that great ideals are the common property and permanent possession of all great peoples. it is a hard saying that any one people has a monopoly of them. the contribution of every great nation to the common stock of great ideals is incalculable, and it would be interesting to investigate which nation is most successfully working out its great ideals in practice. the truth is the german ideal of beauty in art is not, generally speaking, the same as that of the anglo-saxon or latin foreigner. the art ideals of the anglo-saxon and latin races in this respect are for the most part greek, while those of the german race are for the most part roman; and in each case the ideals are the outcome of the spirit which has had most influence on the mind and manners of the different races. the greek philosophic and aesthetic spirit has chiefly influenced anglo-saxon and latin art ideals: the roman spirit, particularly the military spirit and the spirit of law, have chiefly influenced german ideals: and, as a result, arrived at through ages during which events of epoch-making importance caused many successive modifications, while the anglo-saxon and latin races are most impressed by such qualities as lightness and delicacy of outline, round and softly-flowing curves and elegance of ornamentation, the german appears, to the anglo-saxon and latin, to be more impressed by the elaborate, the gigantic, the gothic, the grotesque, the hard, the made, the massive, and the square. in both styles are to be found "beauty and harmony, the aesthetic," to quote the emperor, but they appeal differently to people of different national temperaments. to the anglo-saxon and latin in general, therefore, german art, and particularly german sculpture and architecture, while impressive and admirable, lack for most foreigners the entirely indescribable quality we have called "charm." the true artist, the emperor says, needs no advertisement, no press, no patronage. the emperor is right. the true artist, once he begins to produce first-rate work, will obtain instant recognition, and his work will begin to sell, not perhaps at prices the same kind of work may bring later, but at prices sufficient to support the artist and his family in reasonable comfort. if it does not, he is not producing good work and had better turn his attention to something else. as a matter of fact very few true artists do advertise, use the press, or seek patronage. the artist does not go to the press or the patron, for nowadays, the moment the artist does excellent work, the press and the patron go to him, and, when he is very exceptionally good, he is advertised and patronized until he is sick of both advertisement and patronage. naturally it is different in the case of the artist who is not excellently good, but the emperor was not considering such. these artists too, however, insist on living and must find a market for their wares. it is an age of advertisement, the growth of new economic conditions, for advertisement creates as well as reveals new markets. hence the vast host of mediocrities, not only in art but in almost every field of human activity, nowadays advertise and seek patronage because only in this way can they find purchasers and live. these artists, often men of talent, dislike having to advertise; they would rather work for art's sake, but having to do so need not hinder them from working for art's sake, since all that is meant by that much misused phrase is that while the artist is working he shall not think of the reward of his work, but simply and solely of how to do the best work he can. before leaving the emperor's speech one is tempted to inquire what should be the attitude of a sovereign towards art and artists. for the englishman the doctrine of individualism--the thing he is so apt to make a fetish of--gives an answer, and, it may be, the right one. the englishman will probably say that if in any one province of life more than in another freedom should be allowed to originality of conception regarding the form as well as the substance, the manner as well as the matter, it is in the province of art, always provided, of course, that the artist is sane and not guilty of indecency. the artist, like the poet, is born not made; you cannot make an artist, you can only make an artisan. the artist, who represents the creator, the creative faculty, can influence man: man cannot, and should not try to, influence the artist, but can, and should only, offer him the materials for his art, smooth the way for his endeavour, encourage him in it by sympathetic yet candid criticism, and above all, when he can afford it, by buying the result of his endeavour when it is successful. this should be the attitude of both monarch and maecenas: it is an attitude of benevolent neutrality. "i know," such a maecenas might say to the artist, "that your artistic faculties move in an atmosphere above as well as on the earth, as i know that above the atmosphere of oxygen and hydrogen which envelops the earth there is an ethereal, a rarefied atmosphere, which stretches to worlds of which all we know is that they exist. if your spirit can soar above this earthly atmosphere, well and good. i, for one, shall do nothing to limit or hinder it: i shall only welcome and applaud and reward whatever effort you make to bring our inner being a step, long or short, nearer to the source of celestial light. consequently, i offer you no instructions and put no fetters on your imagination." it takes all sorts of art to make an artistic world, as it takes all sorts of people to make the human world: a world with only classic art in it would be as uninteresting and unthinkable as a world in which every one was of the same character, occupation, and dress. but it is time to consider the emperor a little more in detail in relation to his connexion with the arts. if he were not a first-rate monarch he would probably be a first-rate artist. he said once that if he were to be an artist, he would be a sculptor. but if he is not a professional artist he is a connoisseur, a dilettante in the right sense, a lover of the arts, an art-loving prince. the painter salzmann tells us how he used to go to the villa liegnitz in potsdam to give prince william lessons, and how the empress, then princess william, used to sit with the pupil and his teacher, discussing technical and art questions. a result of the teaching, in addition to the pictures mentioned elsewhere, was an oil-painting, a sea-fight, which still hangs in the ravene gallery in berlin. in the spring of the prince sent his teacher a sketch for criticism. salzmann wired his opinion to potsdam, and a telegram came back, "what does 'wind too anxious' mean? is it so stormily painted that you shuddered at it, or is it not stormy enough?" salzmann is also authority for the statement that the prince sent in a sea-piece to the annual berlin art exhibition. it was placed ready to be judged, but suddenly disappeared. the emperor william, it appeared, had decided that it would not do for a future emperor to compete with professional artists or run the risk of sarcastic public criticism. naturally since he came to the throne the emperor has never had time to cultivate his talent as a painter, but has always fed his eyes and mind on the best kind of painting, and brings his sense of form and colour to bear on everything he does or has a voice in. that the emperor's own taste in painting is of a "classical" kind in a very catholic sense was shown by the personal interest he took in getting together and having brought to berlin the exhibition of old english masters in . at his request the english owners of many of these treasures agreed to lend them for exhibition in germany, submitting thereby to the risk of loss or damage, displaying an unselfish disposition to aid in elevating the taste of a foreign people, and at the same time giving germans a better and more tangible idea of the nation which could produce artists of such nobility of feeling and marvellous technical capacity. the emperor paid several visits to the exhibition and thousands of berlin folk followed his example, so that the beauty of the works of gainsborough, raeburn, lawrence, hoppner, and romney was for months a topic of enthusiastic conversation in the capital. encouraged by this success, the emperor next caused a similar exhibition of french painters to be arranged. the rococo period was now chosen, many lovely specimens of the art of watteau, lancret, david, vigee, lebrun, fragonnard, greuze, and bonnat were procured, and again the berliner was given an opportunity not only of enjoying an artistic treat of a delightful kind, but of comparing the impressions made on him by the art spirits of two other nations. the opening of this french exhibition was made by the emperor the occasion of emphasizing his conciliatory feelings towards france, for he attended an evening entertainment at the french embassy given specially in honour of the occasion. a third art exhibition followed in --that of two hundred american oil paintings brought to berlin and shown in the royal academy of arts on the panser platz. they included works by sargent, whistler, gari melchior, leon dabo, joseph pennell, and many others. the suggestion for this exhibition did not proceed from the emperor, but in all possible ways he gave the exhibition his personal support. on returning from inspecting it he telegraphed to the american ambassador in berlin, dr. d. j. hill, to express the pleasure he had derived from what he had seen. nor was such a mark of admiration surprising. the exhibition was nothing short of a revelation, going far to dissipate the german belief--perhaps the english belief also--that america possesses no body of painters of the first rank. again we have recourse to the marine painter, herr salzmann. wired for by the emperor, the painter got to the palace at . pm. when he arrived the emperor cried out, "so, at last! where have you been hiding yourself? i have had berlin searched for you." the emperor and empress and suite had just returned from the theatre and were standing about the room. it turned out that the emperor wanted the painter to help him sketch a battleship of a certain design he had in mind, to see how it would look on the water. in the middle of the room an adjutant stood and read out a speech made by a radical deputy in the reichstag that day, and the emperor made occasional remarks about it, though at the same time he was engaged with the ship. the painter does not forget to add that he "was provided with a good glass of beer." the emperor is reported to be a capital "sitter." he had the french painter borchart staying with him at potsdam to paint his portrait. borchart describes him as an ideal model, so still and patiently did he sit, and this at times for more than two hours. he talked freely during the sittings. "i don't want to be regarded as a devourer of frenchmen," was a remark made on one of these occasions; on another he praised president loubet; and on a third he had a good word even for the socialist jaures. when borchart had finished and naively expressed satisfaction with his own work the emperor said, "na, na, friend borchart, not so proud; it is for us to criticize." as the emperor is a lover of the "classical" in painting and sculpture, it is not strange to find him an admirer of the classical in music and recommending it to his people as the best form of musical education. he holds that there is much in common between it and the folk-songs of germany. at court he revived classical dances like the minuet and the gavotte. he is devoted to opera and never leaves before the end of the performance. concerts frequently take place in the royal palaces at potsdam and berlin, items on the programme for them being often suggested by the emperor. the programme is then submitted to him and is rarely returned without alteration. not seldom the concert is preceded by a rehearsal, which the emperor attends and which itself has been carefully rehearsed beforehand, as the emperor expects everything to run smoothly. at these rehearsals he will often cause an item to be repeated. bach and handel are his prime favourites. he is no admirer of strauss. wagner he often listens to with pleasure, and especially the "meistersinger," which is his pet opera. of italian operas verdi's "aida" and meyerbeer's "huguenots" are those he is most disposed to hear. he has been laughed at for once attempting musical composition. the "song to aegir," which he composed in at the age of thirty-five (when he should have known better), was, he told the bandmaster of a hannoverian regiment, suggested to him by the singing of a hannoverian glee society. it is a song twenty-four lines long, with the inevitable references to the foe, and the sword and shield, and whales and mermaids, and the god of the waves, who is called on to quell the storm. the lady-in-waiting who wrote the "private lives of the emperor and his consort" tells with much detail how the song was really written, not by the emperor, but almost wholly by a musical adjutant. it does not greatly matter, but it is likely that the emperor is responsible for the text if he did not compose the music. one of the best and most interesting descriptions of his kindly and characteristic way of treating artists is that given by the late norwegian composer, eduard grieg. "the other day," writes the composer, i had a chance to meet your kaiser. he had already expressed a desire last year to meet me, but i was ill at that time. now he has renewed his wish, and therefore i could not decline the invitation. i am, as you know, little of a courtier. but i said to myself, 'remember aalesund' (for which the emperor had sent a large sum after a great fire), and my sense of duty conquered. our first meeting was at breakfast at the german consul's house. during the meal we spoke much about music. i like his ways, and--oddly enough--our opinions also agreed. afterwards he came to me and i had the pleasure of talking with him alone for nearly an hour. we spoke about everything in heaven and earth--about poetry, painting, religion, socialism, and the lord knows what besides. "he was fortunately a human being, and not an emperor. i was therefore permitted to express my opinions openly, though in a discreet manner, of course. then followed some music. he had brought along an orchestra (!), about forty men. he took two chairs, placed them in front of all the others, sat down on one, and said, 'if you please, first parquet'; and then the music began--sigurd jorsalfar, peer gynt, and many other things. "while the music was being played he continually aided me in correcting the _tempi_ and the expression, although as a matter of course i had not wanted to do such a thing. he was very insistent, however, that i should make my intentions clear. then he illustrated the impression made by the music by movements of his head and body. it was wonderful _(göttlich)_ to watch his serpentine movements _à la orientalin_ while they played anitra's dance, which quite electrified him. "afterwards i had to play for him on the piano, and my wife, who sat nearest him, told me that here too he illustrated the impression made on him, especially at the best places. "i played the minuet from the pianoforte sonata which he found 'very germanic' and powerfully built: and the 'wedding day at troldhaugen,' which piece he also liked. "on the following day there was a repetition of these things on board the _hohenzollern_, where we were all invited to dinner at eight o'clock. the orchestra played on deck in the most wondrously bright summer night while many hundreds--nay, i believe thousands--of rowboats and small steamers were grouped about us. the crowd applauded constantly and cheered enthusiastically whenever the kaiser became visible. he treated me like a patient: he gave me his cloak and sent to fetch a rug, with which he covered me carefully. "i must not forget to relate that he grew so enthusiastic over 'sigurd jorsalfar,' the subject of which i explained to him as minutely as possible, that he said to von hiilsen, the intendant of the royal theatres, who sat next to him: 'we must produce this work! (this was not done, however.) "i then invited von hiilsen to come to christiania to witness a performance of it, and he said he was very eager to so. all in all this meeting was an event and a surprise in the best sense. the kaiser, certainly, is a very uncommon man, a strange mixture of great energy, great self-reliance, and great kindness of heart. of children and animals he spoke often and with sympathy, which i regard as a significant thing." on the new year's day following the emperor sent the composer a telegram reading: "to the northern bard to listen to whose strains has always been a joy to me i send my most sincere wishes for the new year and new creative activity." in , grieg, having once more been the emperor's guest, writes to a friend: "he was greatly pleased with having become once more a grandfather. he called to me across the table (referring to 'sigurd'), 'is it agreeable if i call the child sigurd?' it must be something _urgermanisch_." the following anecdote may remind the reader of the amusing scene in offenbach's "grand duchesse of gerolstein," where the grand duchess, talking to the guardsman whose athletic proportions she admires, addresses him with a rising scale of "corporal" ... "sergeant" ... "lieutenant" ... "captain" ... "colonel," and so on, as she talks, only, however, later cruelly to re-descend the scale to the very bottom when her courtship is ineffectual. the emperor is at an organ recital in the kaiser william memorial church; the recital is over and the court party are about to go when he greets the organist, herr fischer: "my cordial thanks for the great pleasure you have given us, herr professor." "pardon, your majesty," replies the organist, with commendable presence of mind: "may i venture to thank your majesty for the great mark of favour?" "what mark of favour?" asks the emperor, a little puzzled. "the fact is your majesty has more than once addressed me as 'professor,' although--" "why, that's good," exclaims the emperor, with a great laugh, "very good indeed;" and striking his forehead in self-reproach with the palm of his hand: "so forgetful of me! then you are not professor, after all! well, no matter; what is not, may be--what i said, i said. adieu, _herr professor_" and goes off smiling. the very same evening--need it be added?--herr fischer had his patent as professor in his pocket. the emperor is particularly fond of "my americans" among his operatic artists. a good deal of jealousy has at times been shown by the german employees of the opera towards the american artists entertained there and a deputy has more than once protested in the reichstag against the number employed; but the jealousy rarely results in harm, and on the whole harmony--as it should--prevails. every year brings hundreds of american girl students to berlin, munich, or dresden to learn singing and perhaps carry off the great prize of a "star" engagement at one or the other of the german royal opera houses. the experiences of some of these students are tragedies on a small scale, and in one or two instances have been known to end in death, destitution, or dishonour. the explanation is simple. such students, filled with the high hopes inspired by artistic ambition and the artist's imagination, fail to ask themselves before going abroad if nature has endowed them with the qualities and powers requisite for one of the most laborious and, for a girl, exposed professions in the world; and do not learn until it is too late that they lack the resolute character, the robust health, and the talent which, not singly but all three combined, are essential to success. such a girl often starts on her enterprise poorly supplied with means to pay for her board, lodging, clothes, recreation, and instruction; she changes from the dearer sort of _pension_ to the cheaper, finding her company and surroundings at each remove more doubtful and more dangerous; she grows disappointed and disheartened, perhaps physically ill; comes under bad influences, male or female; until finally the curtain falls on a sufferer rescued at the last moment by relatives or friends, or on a young life blasted. such tragic cases, it should be said, are far from common, but they occur, and the possibility of their occurrence ought to be taken into account at the outset by the intending music or art student. happily there is another and brighter side to the picture, and the intending student with money and friends will enjoy and gain advantage from a few years of continental life, even though exceptional strength and genuine talent be wanting. perhaps this is the experience of the great majority of art students in germany. freedom from the restraints and conventions of life at home compensates for the inconveniences arising from narrow means. novelty of scenery and surroundings has a charm that is constantly recurring. the kindness and helpfulness of fellow-countrymen and countrywomen make the wheels of daily life roll smoothly. the freemasonry of art, its optimism and hope, and the pleasure and interest of its practice, investigation, and discussion wing the hours and spur to effort. but to return to the emperor. as a lad at cassel he was fond of playing charades, and is reported to have had a knack of quickly sketching the scenario and _dramatis personæ_ of a play which he and his young companions would then and there proceed to act. one of these plays had charlemagne for its subject, with a saxon feudatory, whose lovely daughter, brunhilde, scorns her father for his submission. a banquet, ending in a massacre of charlemagne's followers, is one of the scenes, and as brunhilde is in love with charlemagne's son she helps him to escape from the massacre. the play ends with the suicide of brunhilde. as he grew up the emperor's interest in the theatre increased, and, as has been seen, when he succeeded to the throne he resolved to make use of it for educating and elevating the public mind. as patriotism consists largely in knowing and properly appreciating history he has always encouraged dramatists who could portray historic scenes and events, particularly those with which the hohenzollerns were connected. hence his support of josef lauff, ernst von wildenbruch and detlev von liliencron. not long ago he arranged a series of performances at kroll's theatre intended for workmen only. the performances were chiefly of the stirring historical kind--schiller's "wilhelm tell," goethe's "götz von berlichingen," kleist's "prince von hornburg," and others that require huge processions and a crowded stage. the general public were not supposed to attend the performances, but tickets were sent to the factories and workshops for sale at a low price. in the emperor publicly stated his views about the theatre. "when i mounted the throne ten years ago," he said, "i was, owing to my paternal education, the most fervent of idealists. convinced that the first duty of the royal theatres was to maintain in the nation the cultivation of the idealism to which, god be thanked, our people are still faithful, and of which the sources are not yet nearly exhausted, i determined to myself to make my royal theatres an instrument comparable to the school or the university whose mission it is to form the rising generation and to inculcate in them respect for the highest moral traditions of our dear german land. for the theatre ought to contribute to the culture of the soul and of the character, and to the elevation of morals. yes, the theatre is also one of my weapons.... it is the duty of a monarch to occupy himself with the theatre, because it may become in his hands an incalculable force." if the emperor has any special gift it is an eye for theatrical effect in real life as well as on the stage. he had a good share of the actor's temperament in his younger years, and until recently showed it in the conduct of imperial and royal business of all kinds. he still gives it play occasionally in the royal opera houses and theatres. the englishman, whose ruler is a civilian, is not much impressed by pageantry and pomp, except as reminding him of superannuated, though still revered, historical traditions and events that are landmarks in a great military and maritime past. he would not care to see his king always, or even frequently, in uniform, as he would be apt to find in the fact an undue preference for one class of citizens to another. his idea is that the monarch ought to treat all classes of his subjects with equal kingly favour. in germany it is otherwise. the monarchy relies on military force for its dynastic security, as much, one might perhaps say, as for the defence of the country or the keeping of the public peace, and consequently favours the military. moreover, the peoples that compose the empire have been harassed throughout the long course of their history by wars; a large percentage of their youth are serving in the standing army or in the reserves, the landwehr and the landsturm; finally the germans, though not, as it appears to the foreigner, an artistic people, save in regard to music, enjoy the spectacular and the theatrical. accordingly we find the emperor artistically arranging everything and succeeding particularly well in anything of an historical and especially of a military nature. the spring and autumn parades of the berlin garrison on the tempelhofer field--an area large enough, it is said, to hold the massed armies of europe--with their gatherings of from , to , troops of all arms, serve at once to excite the berliner's martial enthusiasm, while at the same time it obscurely reminds him that if he treats the dynasty disrespectfully he will have a formidable repressive force to reckon with. hence at manoeuvres the emperor is accompanied by an enormous suite; whenever he motors down unter den linden it is at a quick pace, which impresses the crowd while it lessens the chances of the bomb-thrower or the assassin. the scene of the reception of prince chun at the new palace was a great success as an artistic performance, and the pageants at the restoration of the hohkönigsburg and at the saalburg festival were of the same artistic order. the emperor's theatrical interest and attention when in berlin are concentrated on the berlin royal opera and the berlin royal theatre (schauspielhaus), and when in wiesbaden on the royal festspielhaus at that resort. when in his capital he goes very rarely to any other place of theatrical entertainment. his interest in the royal opera and theatre both in berlin and wiesbaden is personal and untiring, and he has done almost as much or more for the adequate representation of grand opera in his capital as the now aged duke of saxe-meiningen did, through his famous meiningen players, for the proper presentation of drama in germany generally. the revivals of "aida" and "les huguenots" under the emperor's own supervision are accepted as faultless examples of historical accuracy in every detail and of good taste and harmony in setting. in a well-informed article in the _contemporary review_ mr. g. valentine williams writes: "once the rehearsals of a play in which the emperor is interested are under way he loses no time in going to the theatre to see whether the instructions he has appended to the stage directions in the ms. are being properly carried out. some morning, when the vast stage of the opera is humming with activity, the well-known primrose-coloured automobile will drive up to the entrance and the emperor, accompanied only by a single adjutant, will emerge. in three minutes william ii will be seated at a big, business-like table placed in the stalls, before him a pile of paper and an array of pencils. when he is in the house there is no doubt whatever in anyone's mind as to who is conducting the rehearsal. his intendant stands at his side in the darkened auditorium and conveys his majesty's instructions to the stage, for the emperor never interrupts the actors himself. he makes a sign to the intendant, scribbles a note on a sheet of paper, while the intendant, who is a pattern of unruffled serenity, just raises his hand and the performance abruptly ceases. there is a confabulation, the emperor, with the wealth of gesture for which he is known, explaining his views as to the positions of the principals, the dresses, the uniforms, using anything, pencil, penholder, or even his sword to illustrate his meaning. again and again up to a dozen times the actors will be put through their paces until the imperial regisseur is entirely satisfied that the right dramatic effect has been obtained. "all who have witnessed the imperial stage-manager at work agree that he has a remarkable _flair_ for the dramatic. very often one of his suggestions about the entrances or exits, a piece of 'business' or a pose, will be found on trial to enhance the effect of the scene. a story is told of the emperor's insistence on accuracy and the minute attention he pays to detail at rehearsal. after his visit to ofen-pest some years ago for the jubilee celebration, which had included a number of hungarian national dances, the emperor stopped a rehearsal of the ballet at the berlin opera while a czardas was in progress and pointed out to the balletteuses certain minor details which were not correct. "in his attitude to the court actors and actresses he displays the charm of manner which bewitches all with whom he comes in contact. he calls them 'meine schauspieler,' which makes one think of 'his majesty's servants' of shakespeare's globe theatre. this practice sometimes has amusing results. once when the theatre royal comedian, dr. max pohl, was suddenly taken ill the emperor said to an acquaintance, 'fancy, my pohl had a seizure yesterday;' and the acquaintance, thinking he was referring to a pet dog replied, commiseratingly: 'ah, poor brute!' after rehearsal the emperor often goes on to the stage and talks with the actors about their parts. "a hohenzollern must not be shown on the stage without the express permission of the emperor, and in general, if politics are mixed up in an objectionable way with the action of the drama, the play will be forbidden. above all the emperor will not tolerate indecency, nor the mere suggestion of it, in the plays given at the royal theatres. an anecdote about herr josef lauff's court drama 'frederick of the iron tooth,' dealing with an ancestor, an elector of brandenburg, and on which leoncavallo, at the emperor's request, wrote the opera 'der roland von berlin,' shows the emperor's strictness in this respect. frederick of the iron tooth is a burgher of berlin who leads a revolt against the elector. in order to heighten frederick's hate, lauff wove in a love theme into the drama. the wife of ryke, burgomaster of berlin, figured as frederick's mistress and egged on her lover against the elector, because the latter had hanged her brothers, the quitzows, notorious outlaws of the mark brandenburg. the emperor cut out the whole episode when the play was submitted to him in manuscript. the marginal note in his big, bold handwriting ran: '_eine courtisane kommt in einem hohenzollerstück nicht vor_' (a courtesan has no place in a hohenzollern drama)." the emperor's constant change of uniform is often said to be a sign of his liking for the theatrical, and writers have compared him on this account with lightning-change artists like the great fregoli. rather his respect for and reliance on the army, a sense of fitness with the occasion to be celebrated, a feeling of personal courtesy to the person to be received, are the motives for such changes. the paris _temps_ published the following incident apropos of the emperor's visit to england in november, . when, on arriving at port victoria, the royal yacht _hohenzollern_ came in view, the members of the english court sent to welcome the emperor saw him through their glasses walking up and down the captain's bridge wearing a long cavalry cloak over a german military uniform. when they stepped on board they found him in the undress uniform of an english admiral. they lunched with him, and in the afternoon, when he left for london, he was wearing the uniform of an english colonel of dragoons. arrived in london, he left for sandringham, and must have changed his dress _en route_, for he left the train in a frock-coat and tall hat. perhaps the most notable theatrical event of the reign hitherto was the production at the royal opera in of the historic pantomime "sardanapalus." the emperor's idea, as he said himself, was to "make the museums speak," to which a berlin critic replied, "you can't dramatize a museum." the ballet, for it was that as well as a pantomime, engrossed the emperor's time and attention for several weeks. he spent hours with the great authority on assyriology, professor friedrich delitzsch, going over reliefs and plans taken from the kaiser friedrich museum or borrowed from museums in paris, london, and vienna, decided on the costumes and designed the war-chariots to be used in the ballet. the notion was to rehabilitate the reputation of asurbanipal, the second-last king of assyria, whom the greeks called "sardanapalus," who reigned in nineveh six hundred years before christ, over ethiopia, babylon and egypt, and whom lord byron, accepting the greek story, represented as the most effeminate and debauched monarch the world had ever known. professor delitzsch, with a wealth of recondite learning, showed, on the contrary, that sardanapalus was a wise and liberal-minded monarch, who, rather than fall into the hands of the medes, built himself a pyre in a chamber of his palace and perished on it with his wives, his children, and his treasure. the whole four acts, with the various ballets, gave a perfectly faithful representation of the period as described by diodorus and herodotus, and as plastically shown on the reliefs discovered at nineveh by sir henry layard and subsequently by german excavators. over £ , was spent upon the production, and the public were worked up to a great pitch of curiosity concerning it. but it was a complete failure as far as the public were concerned. "heavens!" exclaimed one critic, "what a bore!" this, however, was not the fault of the emperor, but was due to want of interest on the part of a public whose enthusiasm for the events and characters of times so remote could only be kindled by a genius, and a dramatic one. the emperor is no such genius, nor had he one at command. xi. the new century (_continued_) - king george v has hardly been sufficiently long on the english throne for a contemporary to judge of the personal relations that exist between his majesty and the emperor as chief representatives of their respective nations. the king of england was, until june, , hindered by various circumstances from paying a visit to the court of berlin, and rumours were current that relations between the two rulers were not as friendly as they might and should be. there is now every indication that though the relations of people to people and government to government vary in degrees of coolness or warmth, the two monarchs are on perfectly good terms of cousinship and amity. a visit paid by king george, when prince of wales, to the emperor in potsdam at the opening of testified to the goodwill that then subsisted between them. it was the evening before the emperor's birthday, when the emperor, at a dinner given by the officers of king edward's german regiment, the st dragoon guards, addressed the english heir apparent in words of hearty welcome. the address was not a long one, but in it the emperor characteristically seized on the motto of the prince of wales, "_ich dien_" (i serve), to make it the text of a laudatory reference to his young guest's conduct and career. in its course the emperor touched on the prince's tour of forty thousand miles round the world, and the effect his "winning personality" had had in bringing together loyal british subjects everywhere, and helping to consolidate the _imperium britannicum_, "on the territories of which," as the emperor said, doubtless with an imperial pang of envy, "the sun never sets." the prince, in his reply, tendered his birthday congratulations, and expressed his "respect" for the emperor, the appropriate word to use, considering the ages and royal ranks of the emperor and his younger first cousin. with may be said to have begun the emperor's courtship (as it is often called in germany) of america. his advances to the dollar princess since then have been unremitting and on the whole cordially, if somewhat coyly, received. the growth of intercourse of all kinds between germany and the united states is indeed one of the features of the reign. there are several reasons why it is natural that friendly relationship should exist. it has been said on good authority that thirty millions of american citizens have german blood in their veins. frederick the great was the first european monarch to recognize the independence of america. german men of learning go to school in america, and american men of learning go to school in germany. a large proportion of the professors in american universities have studied at german universities. the two countries are thousands of miles apart, and are therefore less exposed to causes of international jealousy and quarrel between contiguous nations. on the other hand, the new place america has taken in the old world, dating, it may be said roughly, from the time of her war with spain ( ); the increase of her influence in the world, mainly through the efforts of brave, benevolent, and able statesmen; the expansion of her trade and commerce; the increase of the european tourist traffic;--these factors also to some extent account for the growth of friendly intercourse between the peoples. nor should the bond between the two countries created by intermarriage be overlooked. if the well-dowered republican maid is often ambitious of union with a scion of the old european nobility, the usually needy german aristocrat is at least equally desirous of mating with an american heiress notwithstanding the vast differences in race-character, political sentiment, manners, and views of life--and especially of the status and privileges of woman--that must fundamentally separate the parties. great unhappiness is frequently the result of such marriages, perhaps it may be said of a large proportion of international marriages, but cases of great mutual happiness are also numerous, and help to bring the countries into sympathy and understanding. prince bülow, when chancellor, reminded the reichstag, which was discussing an objection raised to the late freiherr speck von sternburg, when german ambassador to america, that he had married an american lady, that though bismarck had laid down the rule that german diplomatists ought not to marry foreigners, he was quite ready to make exceptions in special cases, and that america was one of them. the emperor is well known to have no objection to his diplomatic representative at washington being married to an american, but rather to prefer it, provided, of course, that the lady has plenty of money. a difficulty between germany and venezuela arose in owing to the ill-treatment suffered by german merchants in venezuela in the course of the civil war in that country from to . the merchants complained that loans had been exacted from them by president castro and his government, and that munitions of war and cattle had been taken for the use of the army and left unpaid for. the amount of the claim was , , bolivars (francs), a sum that included the damage suffered by the merchants' creditors in germany. similar complaints were made by english and italian merchants. after several efforts on the part of germany to obtain redress had failed, negotiations were broken off, the diplomatic representative of germany was recalled, and finally the combined fleets of england, germany, and italy established a blockade of the venezuelan coast. the difficulty was eventually referred to the hague court of arbitration, which allowed the claims and directed payment of them on the security of the revenues of the customs ports of la guayra and puerto cabella. for a time the action of the powers caused discussion of the monroe doctrine on both sides of the atlantic. on this side it was pointed out that american susceptibilities had been respected by the conduct of the powers in not landing troops, while on the other side there were not wanting voices to exclaim that the naval demonstration went too near being a breach of the hallowed creed--"hands off" the western hemisphere. the monroe doctrine, it may be recalled, was contained in a message of president james monroe, issued on february , . it was drawn up by john quincey adams, and declared that the united states "regarded not only every effort of the holy alliance to extend its system to the western hemisphere as dangerous to the peace and freedom of the united states, but also every interference with the object of subverting any independent american government in the light of unfriendliness towards america"; and it went on to declare that "the continents of america should no more be regarded as fields for european colonization." the day, of course, may come when the american claim to the control, if not physical possession, of half the earth will be questioned by the powers of europe; but at present, as far as germany is concerned, and notwithstanding the absurd idea that germany plans the seizure one day of brazil, the doctrine is of merely academic interest. for a few days four years later it became the subject of lively discussion in germany and america owing to the first american roosevelt professor, professor burgess, referring to it in his inaugural lecture before the emperor and empress as an "antiquated theory." as soon, however, as it became apparent that professor burgess was giving utterance to a purely personal opinion, and was not in any sense the bearer of a message on the subject from the president, the discussion dropped. another american episode of the year was the visit of prince henry, the emperor's brother, to the united states. prince henry left for america in february. the visit was in reality made in pursuance of the emperor's world-policy of economic expansion, but there were not a few politicians in england and america to assert that it was part of a deep scheme of the emperor's to counteract too warm a development of anglo-american friendship. however that may be, the visit was a striking one, even though it gave no great pleasure to germans, who could not see any particular reason for it, nor any prospect of it yielding germany immediate tangible return for trouble and expense. prince henry, it is said, though the most genial and democratic of hohenzollerns, was a little taken back at the american freedom of manners, the wringing of hands, the slapping on the back, and other republican demonstrations of friendship; but he cannot have shown anything of such a feeling, for he was fêted on all sides, and soon developed into a popular hero. one of the incidents of the visit, previously arranged, was the christening of the emperor's new american-built yacht, _meteor iii_, by miss alice roosevelt, the president's daughter. on february th the emperor received a cablegram from prince henry: "fine boat, baptized by the hand of miss alice roosevelt, just launched amid brilliant assembly. hearty congratulations;" and at the same time one from the president's daughter: "to his majesty the kaiser, berlin--_meteor_ successfully launched. i congratulate you, thank you for the kindness shown me, and send you my best wishes. alice roosevelt." during the visit the emperor cabled to president roosevelt his thanks and that of his people for the hospitable reception of his brother by all classes, adding: "my outstretched hand was grasped by you with a strong, manly, and friendly grip. may heaven bless the relations of the two nations with peace and goodwill! my best compliments and wishes to alice roosevelt." reference to this cordial electric correspondence may close with mention of a telegram sent in reply to a message from mr. melville stone, of the american associated press: "accept my thanks for your message. i estimate the great and sympathetic reception (it was a banquet) given to my dear brother by the newspaper proprietors of the united states very highly." prince henry returned to germany on march th, a doctor of law of harvard university. there have been moments when people in america were influenced by other sentiments than those of entirely respectful admiration for the emperor. it was with mixed feelings that the american public heard the news of his telegraphed offer to president roosevelt in may, , when, as the telegram said, the emperor was "under the deep impression made by the brilliant and cordial reception" given to his brother, prince henry, to present to the american nation a statue of--frederick the great, and coupled with the offer a proposal that the statue should be erected--of all places--in washington! no one doubted the emperor's sincere desire to pay the highest compliment he could think of to a people to whom he felt grateful for the honour done to germany in the person of his brother, but nearly every one smiled at the simplicity, or, as some called it, the want of political tact shown by offering the statue of a ruler whose name, to the vast majority of americans, is synonymous with absolute autocracy, to a republic which prides itself on its civic ways and love of personal freedom. the gift was accepted by the american government in the spirit in which it was offered, the spirit of goodwill. and why not? to the emperor his great ancestor's effigy is no symbol of autocracy, but the contrary, for to the emperor and his subjects frederick the great is as much the father of prussia, the man who saved it and made it, as washington was the father of america. besides, the spirit in which a gift is offered, not its value or appropriateness, is the thing to be considered. irritation in england was still strong against germany on account of the latter's easily understood race-sympathy with the boers during the war just over, but the fact did not prevent the emperor from accepting king edward's invitation to spend a few days at sandringham with him in november this year on the occasion of his birthday. the emperor took the empress and two of his sons with him. the hostile temper of the time, both in england and germany, was alluded to in a sermon preached in sandringham church by the then bishop of london. it was notable for its insistence on the necessity of friendlier relations between england, germany, and america, the three great branches of the teutonic race. after the service the emperor is reported to have exclaimed to the bishop: "what you said was excellent, and is precisely what i try to make my people understand." as a proof that this was no merely complimentary utterance, but the expression of a thought which is constantly in the emperor's mind, an incident which happened at kiel regatta in the month of june previously may be recalled. the american squadron, under the late admiral cotton, was paying an official visit to the emperor during the kiel "week" as a return honour for the visit of the emperor's brother, prince henry of prussia, to the united states the year before. there was a constant round of festivities, and among them a lunch to the emperor on board the admiral's flagship, the _kearsarge_. lunch over, the emperor was standing in a group talking with his customary vivacity, but, as customary also, with his eyes taking in his surroundings like a well-trained journalist. suddenly he noticed a set of flags, those of america, germany, and england, twined together and mingling their colours in friendly harmony. he walked over, gathered the combined flags in his hand, and turning to the admiral exclaimed in idiomatic american: "see here, admiral; that is exactly as it should be, and is what i am trying for all the time." while in england the emperor, in company with lord roberts and sir evelyn wood, inspected his english regiment, the st royal dragoons. a curious and amusing feature of the visit was a lecture before the royal family at sandringham by a german engineer, for whom the emperor acted as interpreter, on a novel adaptation of spirit for culinary, lighting, and laundry purposes. the emperor's practical illustration of the use of the new heating system, as applied to the ordinary household flatiron, is said to have caused great merriment among his audience. germany's home atmosphere about this time was for a moment troubled by an exhibition of the emperor's "personal regiment" in the form of a telegram to the prince regent of bavaria, known in germany as the "swinemunde despatch." the bavarian diet, in a fit of economy, had refused its annual grant of £ , for art purposes. the emperor was violently angry, wired to the prince regent his indignation with the diet and offered to pay the £ , out of his own pocket. it was not a very tactful offer, to be sure, though well intended; and as his telegram was not an act of state, "covered" by the chancellor's signature, while the bavarians in particular felt hurt at what they considered outside interference, germans generally blamed it as a new demonstration of autocratic rule. one or two other art incidents of the period may be noted. a domestic one was the gift to the emperor by the empress of a model of her hand in carrara marble, life-sized, by the german sculptor, rheinhold begas. the emperor, it is well known, has no special liking for the companionship of ladies, but he confesses to an admiration for pretty feminine hands. another incident was the emperor's order to the painter, professor rochling, to paint a picture representing the famous episode in the china campaign, when admiral seymour gave the order "germans to the front." it is to the present day a popular german engraving. the year was also remarkable for a visit to berlin of coquelin _aîné_, the great french actor. the emperor saw him in "cyrano de bergerac," was, like all the rest of the play-going world, delighted with both play and player, and held a long and lively conversation with the artist. lastly may be mentioned a telegram of the emperor's to the once-famed tragic actress, adelaide ristori, in rome, congratulating her on her eightieth birthday and expressing his regret that he had never met her. a basket of flowers simultaneously arrived from the german embassy. we are now in . during the preceding years the emperor's thoughts, as has been seen, were occupied with art as a means of educating his folk, purifying their sentiments, and, above all, making them faithful lieges of the house of hohenzollern. by a natural association of ideas we find him this year thinking much and deeply about religion; for, though artists are not a species remarkable for the depth or orthodoxy of their views on religious matters, art and religion are close allies, and probably the greater the artist the more real religion he will be found to have. in this year, accordingly, the emperor made his remarkable confession of religious faith to his friend, admiral hollmann. he had just heard a lecture by professor delitzsch on "babel und bibel," and as he considered the professor's views to some extent subversive of orthodox christian belief, he took the opportunity to tell his people his own sentiments on the whole matter. in writing to admiral hollmann he instructed him to make the "confession" as public as possible, and it was published in the october number of the _grenzboten_, a saxon monthly, sometimes used for official pronouncements. the emperor's letter to admiral hollmann contained what follows:-- "i distinguish between two different sorts of revelation: a current, to a certain extent historical, and a purely religious, which was meant to prepare the way for the appearance of the messiah. as to the first, i should say that i have not the slightest doubt that god eternally revealed himself to the race of mankind he created. he breathed into man his breath, that is a portion of himself, a soul. with fatherly love and interest he followed the development of humanity; in order to lead and encourage it further he 'revealed' himself, now in the person of this, now of that great wise man, priest or king, whether pagan, jew or christian. hammurabi was one of these, moses, abraham, homer, charlemagne, luther, shakespeare, goethe, kant, kaiser william the great--these he selected and honoured with his grace, to achieve for their peoples, according to his will, things noble and imperishable. how often has not my grandfather explicitly declared that he was an instrument in the hand of the lord! the works of great souls are the gifts of god to the people, that they may be able to build further on them as models, that they may be able to feel further through the confusion of the undiscovered here below. doubtless god has 'revealed' himself to different peoples in different ways according to their situation and the degree of their civilization. then just as we are overborne most by the greatness and might of the lovely nature of the creation when we regard it, and as we look are astonished at the greatness of god there displayed, even so can we of a surety thankfully and admiringly recognize, by whatever truly great or noble thing a man or a people does, the revelation of god. his influence acts on us and among us directly. "the second sort of revelation, the more religious sort, is that which led up to the appearance of the lord. from abraham onward it was introduced, slowly but foreseeingly, all-wisely and all-knowingly, for otherwise humanity were lost. and now commences the astonishing working of god's revelation. the race of abraham and the peoples that sprang from it regard, with an iron logic, as their holiest possession, the belief in a god. they must worship and cultivate him. broken up during the captivity in egypt, the separated parts were brought together again for the second time by moses, always striving to cling fast to monotheism. it was the direct intervention of god that caused this people to come to life again. and so it goes on through the centuries till the messiah, announced and foreshadowed by the prophets and psalmists, at last appears, the greatest revelation of god to the world. then he appeared in the son himself; christ is god; god in human form. he redeemed us, he spurs us on, he allures us to follow him, we feel his fire burn in us, his sympathy strengthens us, his displeasure annihilates us, but also his care saves us. confident of victory, building only on his word, we pass through labour, scorn, suffering, misery and death, for in his word we have god's revealed word, and he never lies. "that is my view of the matter. the word is especially for us evangelicals made the essential thing by luther, and as good theologian surely delitzsch must not forget that our great luther taught us to sing and believe--'thou shalt suffer, let the word stand.' to me it goes without saying that the old testament contains a large number of fragments of a purely human historical kind and not 'god's revealed word.' they are mere historical descriptions of events of all sorts which occurred in the political, religious, moral, and intellectual life of the people of israel. for example, the act of legislation on sinai may be regarded as only symbolically inspired by god, when moses had recourse to the revival of perhaps some old-time law (possibly the codex, an offshoot of the codex of hammurabi), to bring together and to bind together institutions of his people which were become shaky and incapable of resistance. here the historian can, from the spirit or the text, perhaps construct a connexion with the law of hammurabi, the friend of abraham, and perhaps logically enough; but that would no way lessen the importance of the fact that god suggested it to moses and in so far revealed himself to the israelite people. "consequently it is my idea that for the future our good professor would do well to avoid treating of religion as such, on the other hand continue to describe unmolested everything that connects the religion, manners, and custom of the babylonians with the old testament. on the whole, i make the following deductions:-- " . i believe in one god. " . we humans need, in order to teach him, a form, especially for our children. " . this form has been to the present time the old testament in its existing tradition. this form will certainly decidedly alter considerably with the discovery of inscriptions and excavations; there is nothing harmful in that, it is even no harm if the nimbus of the chosen people loses much thereby. the kernel and substance remain always the same--god, namely, and his work. "never was religion a result of science, but a gushing out of the heart and being of mankind, springing from its intercourse with god." it is anticipating by a few months, but part of a speech the emperor made in potsdam at the confirmation of his two sons, august wilhelm and oscar--two hohenzollerns as yet not distinguished for anything in particular--may be quoted in this connexion. naturally he began by comparing his sons' spiritual situation with that of a soldier on the day he takes the oath of allegiance: they were _vorgemerkt_, that is, predestined as "fighters for christ." "what is demanded of you," the imperial father went on, "is that you shall be personalities. this is the point which, in my opinion, is the most important for the christian in daily life. for there can be no doubt that we can say of the person of the lord, that he is the most 'personal personality' who has ever wandered among the sons of men.... you will read of many great men--savants, statesmen, kings and princes, of poets also: but nevertheless no word of man has ever been uttered worthy of comparison with the words of christ; and i say this to you so that you may be in a position to bear it out when you are in the midst of life's turmoil and hear people discussing religion, especially the personality of christ. no word of man has ever succeeded in making people of all races and all people enthusiastic for the same cause, namely, to imitate him, even to sacrifice their lives for him. the wonder can only be explained by assuming that what he said were the words of the living god, which are the source of life, and continue to live thousands of years after the words of the wise have been forgotten. that is my personal experience and it will be yours. "the pivot and turning-point," he continued, "of our mortal life, especially of a life full of responsibility and labour--that is clearer and clearer to me every year i live--lies simply and solely in the attitude a man adopts towards his lord and saviour;" and he concludes by exhorting his sons to disregard what people may say about the cult of christ being irreconcilable with the tasks and responsibilities of "modern" life, but simply to do their best, whatever their occupation, to become a personality after christ's example. this is a sound and just statement of christian faith, and it is quoted here to justify the view that the emperor's soldiers and his dreadnoughts, his mailed fist and shining armour, are built and put on in the spirit of precaution and defence. the attitude, it cannot of course be denied, is based on the un-christlike assumption that all men (and particularly all peoples and their governments and diplomatists) are liars; but in his favour it may be urged that for that saying the emperor could cite biblical authority. and yet there is an inconsistency; for the saying is that of one of those same wise men whose words, the emperor admits, are transitory and mortal. it is possible that the emperor had a presentiment of some kind that his life was now in danger, and that the presentiment may have attuned his thoughts to meditation on christ's life and teaching; for it is a fact, well worthy of remark, that in the fear of death man's one and only relief and consolation is the knowledge that there was, and is, a mediator for him with his creator. the address at his sons' confirmation was delivered on october th, and on sunday morning, november th all the world, it is hardly too much to say, was astonished and pained to learn, by a publication in the _official gazette_, that the emperor the day before had had to submit to a serious operation on his throat. the announcement spoke of a polypus, or fungoid growth, which had had to be removed; but all over the world the conclusion was come to that the mortal affliction of the father had fallen on the son and that the emperor was a doomed man. most providentially and happily it was nothing of the sort. on the th the emperor was out of bed and signing official papers, on the th he was allowed to talk in whispers, and on the th it was declared by the physicians that all danger was over and that no more bulletins would be issued. on december th the emperor received a congratulatory visit from the president of the reichstag, who reported to parliament his impression that "the emperor had completely recovered his old vigour (great applause) and that his voice was again clear and strong." the emperor had passed through what one may suppose to have been the darkest hour of his life. he was naturally in high spirits, and a few days after went to hannover, where he made a martial speech in which he toasted the german legion for having "by its unforgettable heroism, in conjunction with blücher and his prussians, saved the english army from destruction at waterloo," a view, of course, which to an englishman has all the charm of novelty. one or two further memorable incidents of may be recorded. theodore mommsen, the now aged historian of rome, the greatest scholar of his time, died in november. he was in his day a liberal parliamentarian of no mean ability; but for such men there is no career in germany. however, as it turned out, the german people's loss proved to be all the world's gain. a son of the historian now represents a district of berlin in the reichstag. two years before the historian's death an exchange of telegrams in latin took place between him and the emperor. the occasion was the emperor's laying the foundation-stone of a museum on the plateau where the old roman castle, known as the saalburg, stands. the emperor telegraphed: "theodoro mommseno, antiquitatum romanarum investigatori incomparabili, praetorii saalburgensis fundamenta jaciens salutem dicit et gratias agit guilelmus germanorum imperator." to which the historian, with a modesty equal to his courtesy, replied: "germanorum principi, tam majestate quam humanitate, gratias agit antiquarius lietzelburgensis." mention may also be made of a very characteristic speech of the emperor's this year at cüstrin, where he was unveiling a monument to a favourite hohenzollern, the great elector. cüstrin, it will be remembered, is the town where frederick the great, another of the emperor's favourites, was imprisoned by an angry father, along with his friend lieutenant katte, when frederick was trying to escape the parental cruelty and violence. referring to frederick's declaration that he was the "first servant of the state," the emperor said:-- "he could only learn to be so by subordination, by obedience, in a word by what we prussians describe as discipline. and this discipline must have its roots in the king's house as in the house of the citizen, in the army as among the people. respect for authority, obedience to the crown, and obedience to parental and paternal influence--that is the lesson the memories of to-day should teach us. from these attributes spring those which we call patriotism, namely the subordination of the individual ego, of the individual subject, to the welfare of all. it is what is particularly needed at the present time." the emperor was, of course, thinking of the social democrats. having finished his speech, he went and for a while stood thoughtfully at the historic window of cüstrin castle, from which frederick watched the execution of his unfortunate companion, katte. only the year separates us from the emperor's morocco adventure. the economic ideas which have been referred to as the basis of german foreign policy were germinating in his mind, and the plans for at least a partial realization of them were working in his head. addressing the chief burgomaster of karlsruhe in april, just a year before he started for tangier, he spoke of weltpolitik. "you are right," he told the burgomaster, "in saying that the task of the german people is a hard one.... i hope our peace will not be disturbed, and that the events that are now happening will open our eyes, steel our courage, and find us united, if it should be necessary for us to intervene in world-policy." the emperor had, no doubt, specially in mind the birth of the anglo-french entente and the war between russia and japan, both events forming the dominant factors of the political situation at this time. the russo-japanese war arose primarily from the unwillingness of russia to evacuate manchuria after the boxer troubles in china. the incidents of the war are still fresh in public memory. it need only be recalled here that germany was neutral throughout the conflict, that both president roosevelt and the emperor offered their services as mediators in its course, and that on the capture of port arthur by admiral nogi, in january, , the emperor telegraphed his bestowal of the _ordre pour le mérile_ on general stoessel, the russian defender of port arthur, and on admiral nogi. in the troubled history of anglo-german relations is to be recorded the presence, in june of this year, of king edward vii at kiel with a squadron of battleships to pay an official visit to his nephew. the two fleets, those sunny days, formed a splendid spectacle--the two mightiest police forces, the emperor would probably agree in saying, the world could produce. in fact, the emperor had some such thought in mind, for he addressed king edward as follows:-- "your majesty has been welcomed by the thunder of the guns of the german fleet. it is the youngest navy in the world and an expression of the reviving sea-power of the new german empire, founded by the late great emperor, designed for the protection of the empire's trade and territory, and intended, equally with the german army, for the preservation of peace." one or two other incidents of interest in the emperor's life may close the record of this year. one of them was the arrival of the italian composer, leoncavallo, in berlin, to hand the emperor the text of the opera "der roland von berlin," leoncavallo had composed at the emperor's express request. roland was a "strong, valiant and pious" knight of charlemagne's time--like the emperor, let us say--who originally hailed from brittany--that lone and lovely cinderella of france--and afterwards, for some unexplained reason, came to be the type of municipal independence in germany. during the summer the emperor and the empress made an excursion, when on the saalburg, to the statues of the roman emperors hadrian and severus. did the emperor recall, one wonders, as he stood before the figure of hadrian, that pagan monarch's address to his soul:-- "animula vagula, blandula, hospes, comesque corporis, quae nunc abibis in loca, pallidula, rigida, nudula, nee, ut soles, dabis jocos?" it sounds a little gloomy as a quotation, but, fortunately for germany and the emperor, for "nunc" can be put, _pace_ the poet, the indefinite, yet all too definite, "aliquando." xii. morocco the emperor started for tangier towards the end of march, but before that he had got through imperial business of a miscellaneous kind which exemplifies the life he leads practically at all times. in january he had exchanged telegrams with the czar and the mikado concerning his bestowal of the order of merit on generals stoessel and nogi, asking permission to bestow the order and receiving expressions of consent. another telegram went to the composer leoncavallo in naples, congratulating him on the success there of his "roland von berlin." in february, the emperor opened an international automobile exhibition in berlin, received prince charles, infanta of spain, and the king of bulgaria, unveiled a monument to his ancestor, admiral coligny, who was killed in the bartholomew massacre, listened to a naval captain's lecture on port arthur, opened the new lutheran cathedral (the "dom") in berlin, telegraphed thanks to the university of pennsylvania for its doctor's degree which the emperor said he was proud to know george washington once held, attended a lecture by professor delitzsch on "assyria," and was present at a memorial service for the painter adolf von menzel, who died this month. in march he visited heligoland, inspected the progress of some alterations at the royal opera in berlin, and sent the gold medal for science to manuel garcia, on the occasion of the latter's hundredth birthday, as recognition of his invention of the laryngoscope, or mirror for examining the throat. just before starting for morocco the emperor made the speech in which he claimed that germans are the "salt of the earth." in the same speech he had previously declared that as the result of his reading of history he meant never to strive after world-conquest. "for what," he asked, "has become of the so-called world-empires? alexander the great, napoleon the first, all the great warrior heroes swam in blood and left behind them subjugated peoples, who at the first opportunity rose and brought their empires to ruin. the world-empire which i dream of will be, above all, the newly established german empire, enjoying on every side the most absolute confidence as a peaceable, honest, and quiet neighbour, not founded on conquest by the sword, but on the mutual confidence of nations, striving for the same objects." while on the way to morocco the emperor put in at lisbon to pay a visit to the king of portugal, and with the latter attended a meeting of the geographical society. from lisbon he went to gibraltar, and from thence, after a few hours' stay, he started for tangier. the morocco incident, as it is often too lightly called, should rather be regarded as a phase in the world's economic history and an occurrence of moment for the future peace of all nations than the mere game on the diplomatic chess-board many writers appear to consider it. according to french critics, and they may be taken as representative of the feeling everywhere prevalent during the seven years the incident lasted, its origin was a matter of alliances and the balance of power. germany, according to these writers, wanted to preserve the position of hegemony in europe she had obtained under bismarck, and consequently felt annoyed by the triple entente, which robbed her of her traditional friend russia and set up an effective counterpoise to the triple alliance of which germany was the leading power, and on which she could, or believed she could, rely for support in case of war with france. in going, therefore, to tangier, at the moment when her defeat by japan rendered russia for the time being of little or no account in the considerations of diplomacy, the emperor, according to these writers, in reality was making a determined attempt to break the entente combination and protect his empire from political isolation or inferiority. it is quite possible that such were the motives of the emperor's action, but if so he was building better than he knew. the vicissitudes of the moroccan episode are described briefly below, yet some remarks of a general nature as to the whole episode considered in its historical perspective may be permitted in advance. but first, what is historical perspective? it may perhaps be defined as that view of history which shows in its true proportions the relative importance of an event to other events which strongly and permanently leave their mark on the character and development of the period or generation in which they occur. regarded from this standpoint the morocco incident can claim an exceptional position, for it was the first occasion in modern diplomatic history on which a great power officially proclaimed _urbi et orbi_ the doctrine of the "open door," the doctrine of equal economic treatment for all nations for the benefit of all nations, and was willing to go to war in support of it. it was not, of course, the first time the demand for the open door had been made; loudly and bloodily, too; since most wars from those of greece and rome to the war between russia and japan of recent years were waged with the intention, or in the hope, of opening, by conquest or contract, territory of the enemy to the mercantile enterprise of the victors. but this was the open door in a very selfish and restricted sense, and though many isolated events had occurred of late years, the international agreements regarding china among them, proving that the idea of the open door was gaining strength as a right common to all nations, it was not until the emperor went to tangier that a great power risked a great war in order to exemplify and enforce it. the emperor and his advisers were probably not moved by any altruistic sentiments in the matter, and their sole reason for action may have been to see that german subjects should not be excluded from moroccan markets. it may also be that germany was resolved that if there was to be a seizure of morocco she should get her share of the territory to be distributed, notwithstanding her refusal, revealed by the late foreign secretary, kiderlen-waechter, in the reichstag's confidential committee, to accede to mr. chamberlain's proposal, made some time before the incident, for a partition of the shereefian empire. but the acquisition of territory does not seem to have been the mainspring of her policy, while from the beginning to the end of the incident, however theatrical and questionable her diplomatic conduct may have been at moments during the negotiations, she was throughout consistent and successful in her demand for economic equality all round. this is a great gain for the future, for, with the world nearly all parcelled out, economic considerations, which are almost in all cases adjustable, are now the most weighty factors in international relations. apart from this view of the incident, it is clear that germany was pursuing her claim to a "place in the sun," and she did so to the unconcealed annoyance of nations which up to then had never thought of her in a rôle she appeared to be aspiring to, that of a mediterranean power. to these nations she seemed an intruder in a sphere to which she neither naturally nor rightfully belonged. evidently she had no political or historical claims in morocco, while her commercial interests were less than per cent of morocco trade. a narration of the incident may, for the sake of convenience, though involving some anticipation of the future, be dealt with in three sections: from the anglo-french agreement of , and the emperor's visit to tangier in march, , to the act of algeciras a year subsequently; from the act of algeciras to the franco-german agreement of ; and from that to the--let it be hoped--final settlement by the franco-german agreement of november , . the anglo-french agreement of gave france a free hand in morocco in consideration of france giving england a similar position in egypt and the nile valley. the state of things in morocco at this time was one of discord and rebellion. in the midst of it, the sultan, el hassan, died, and was succeeded by abdul aziz, a minor. on coming of age abdul aziz showed his inability to rule, the country fell again into disorder and abdul turned for help to france. meantime england and france had been negotiating without the knowledge of germany, and in april, , the anglo-french agreement was signed. it was accompanied by an official declaration that france had no intention of changing the political status of morocco, but only contemplated a policy there of "pacific penetration and reforms." thereupon prince von bülow, the german chancellor, stated in the reichstag that the german government had no reason to assume that the agreement was directed against any power and that "it appeared to be an attempt by england and france to come to a friendly understanding respecting their colonial differences." "from the standpoint of german interests," continued the chancellor, "we have no objections to raise to it." no parliamentary reference was made to morocco until march, , when the chancellor spoke of the approaching visit of the emperor to tangier, and it became evident that the emperor and his advisers had come to the conclusion that, as france seemed about assuming a full protectorate over morocco, as she had tried to do in tunis, and that this, in accordance with french policy, would result in the exclusion of other nationals from commerce and the development of the country, germany must take action. prince von bülow explained that "his majesty had, in the previous year, declared to the king of spain that germany pursued no policy of territorial acquisition in morocco." he continued: "independent of the visit, and independent of the territorial question, is the question whether we have economic interests to protect in morocco. that we have certainly. we have in morocco, as in china, a considerable interest in the maintenance of the open door, that is the equal treatment of all trading nations." and he concluded by saying: "so far as an attempt is being made to alter the international status of morocco, or to control the open door in the economic development of the country, we must see more closely than before that our economical interests are not endangered. our first step, accordingly, is to put ourselves into communication with the sultan." the visit came off as announced, and the emperor, on arriving at tangier, made a speech which caused a sensation in every diplomatic chancellery; indeed, in all parts of the world. the emperor's speech, which was addressed to the german colonists on march , , was as follows:-- "i rejoice to make acquaintance with the pioneers of germany in morocco and to be able to say to them that they have done their duty. germany has great commercial interests there. i will promote and protect trade, which shows a gratifying development, and make it my care to secure full equality with all nations. this is only possible when the sovereignty of the sultan and the independence of the country are preserved. both are for germany beyond question, and for that i am ready at all times to answer. i think my visit to tangier announces this clearly and emphatically, and will doubtless produce the conviction that whatever germany undertakes in morocco will be negotiated exclusively with the sultan." the result of these unmistakable declarations was that the sultan rejected proposals made to him by the french, and shortly afterwards, on the advice of germany, came forward with suggestions for a european conference. m. delcassé, the french foreign minister, opposed the proposal, and for a time war between france and germany appeared inevitable; but france was not in a military position to ignore germany's threatening language, m. delcassé had to resign, the french cabinet under m. rouvier agreed to the conference, and it met at algeciras in january, . at the conference great britain, in consonance with the entente, supported france; austria adhered loyally to her triplice engagements and proved the "brilliant second" to germany the emperor subsequently described her; italy, on the other hand, gave her teutonic ally only lukewarm support. in fairness, however, should be quoted here the explanation of italy's attitude given by chancellor von bülow when discussing the conference in parliament next year. the impression is general, both in and out of germany, that italy is only a half-hearted political ally. it is based on the temperamental difference between the latin and the teutonic races, on the popular sympathy between the french and italian peoples, and to the supposedly reluctant support lent by italy to germany during the critical time of the conference, the extra-tour, as prince bülow, using a metaphor of the ballroom, termed it, she took with france on that occasion. prince bülow now endeavoured to dissipate or correct the impression, at any rate, as regarded algeciras. "italy," he said, "found herself in a difficult position there. various agreements between italy and france regarding morocco had come into existence anterior to the conference, but germany was satisfied that they were not inconsistent with italy's triplice engagements; in fact, germany had, several years ago, officially told italy she must use her own judgment and act on her own responsibility in dealing with her french neighbour in africa and the mediterranean." when it was settled that a conference should be held, italy, the chancellor continued, "gave germany timely information as to the extent to which her support of germany could go, and as a matter of fact she supported germany's views in the bank and police questions." so far the german official explanation, but the impression of italian lukewarmness as a member of the triplice has lost none of its universality thereby. how well or ill founded the impression is, it will be for the future to disclose. the summoning of the conference had been a triumph for german diplomacy, but its results were disappointing to her; for while the proceedings showed that among all nations she could only fully rely on the sympathy and support of austria, they ended in an acknowledgment by germany of the special position of france in morocco. the act of algeciras, which was dated april , , stated that the signatory powers recognized that "order, peace, and prosperity" could only be made to reign in morocco "by means of the introduction of reforms based upon the triple principle of the sovereignty and independence of his majesty the sultan, the integrity of his states, and economic liberty without any inequality." then followed six declarations regarding the organization of the police, smuggling, the establishment of a state bank, the collection of taxes, and the finding of new sources of revenue, customs, and administrative services and public works. for the organization of the police, french and spanish officers and non-commissioned officers were to be placed at the disposal of the sultan by the french and spanish governments. tenders for public works were to be adjudicated on impartially without regard to the nationality of the bidder. the effect of the act was to give international recognition to the special position of france and spain in morocco, while safeguarding the economic interests of other powers. the attitude taken up by germany relative to the conference was set forth in a speech delivered by prince von bülow in the reichstag in december, . it was based, he explained, on the provisions of the madrid convention of , in which all the great powers and the united states had taken part. the chancellor claimed that germany sought no special privileges in morocco, but favoured a peaceful and independent development of the shereefian empire. he denied that german rights could be abrogated by an anglo-french agreement, and pointing out that morocco in had granted all the signatories to the madrid convention most-favoured-nation treatment, claimed that if france desired to make good her demand for special privileges, she ought to have the consent of the special signatories to the madrid pact. germany had a right to be heard in any new settlement of moroccan conditions; she could not allow herself to be treated as a _quantité négligeable_, nor be left out of account when a country lying on two of the world's greatest commercial highways was being disposed of. she had a commercial treaty with morocco, conferring most-favoured-nation rights, and it did not accord with her honour to give way. the act of algeciras, however, proved to have brought only temporary relief to european tension. disturbances continued in morocco, french subjects were murdered at marakesch in , and france occupied the province of udja with troops until satisfaction should be given. owing to riots at casablanca in , in which french as well as spanish and italian labourers were killed, she decided to occupy the place, and sent a strong military and naval force thither. a french warship bombarded the town, and by june, , the french army of occupation numbered , men. meanwhile internal commotions and intrigues had led to the deposition of abdul aziz and his replacement on the throne by his brother, muley hafid, with the support of germany. france and spain refused to recognize the new ruler unless he gave guarantees that he would respect the act of algeciras. muley gave the required guarantees, and in march, , france "declared herself wholly attached to the integrity and independence of the shereefian empire and decided to safeguard economic equality in morocco." germany on her side declared she was pursuing in morocco only economic interests and, "recognizing that the special political interests of france in morocco are closely bound up in that country with the consolidation of order and of internal peace," was "resolved not to impede those interests." the german idea of not impeding french special political interests in morocco was disclosed little more than two years later by the dispatch of the german gunboat _panther_ (of "well done, _panther_!" fame) on july , , to the "closed" port of agadir on the south moroccan coast. it was as dramatic a coup as the emperor's visit to tangier and caused as much alarm. the fact is that the march of french troops to fez, which had taken place a few months before, convinced the emperor and his government that france, relying on the support of her entente friend england, was bent on the tunisification of morocco. the emperor, chancellor von bethmann-hollweg, and foreign secretary kiderlen-wæchter met at the foreign office on may st, and it was decided to send a ship of war, as at once a hint and a demonstration, to agadir or other moroccan port. germany, of course, in accordance with diplomatic strategy, did not disclose the real springs of her action, though they must have been patent to all the world. she notified the powers of the dispatch of her warship, explaining that the sending of the _panther_, which "happened to be in the neighbourhood," was owing to the representations of german firms, as a temporary measure for the protection of german protégés in that region, and taken "in view of the possible spread of disorders prevailing in other parts of morocco." in france, on the other hand, it was asserted that the step was not in conformity with the spirit of the franco-german agreement of , in which germany resolved not to impede french special interests, that there were no germans at agadir, and that only nine months previously germany had angrily protested at the calling of a french cruiser at the same port. the reference was to the visit of the french cruiser _du chaylu_ in november, , when the captain paid a visit to the local pasha. the german foreign secretary eventually said germany had no objection to france using her police rights even in a closed port, and the admission was taken as a fresh renunciation on the part of germany of any right to interference. feeling ran high for a time both in france and germany, while the german action added to the sentiment of hostility to germany in england, and english political circles perceived in it a design on germany's part of acquiring a port on the moroccan coast. the word "compensation," which afterwards was to prove the solution of franco-german differences was now first mentioned by germany. after england's determination to support france had been made plain by ministerial statements, the entire morocco episode was closed by the franco-german agreement signed on november , , as "explanatory and supplementary" to the franco-german agreement of . the effect of the new agreement was practically to give france as free a hand in morocco as england has in egypt, with the reservation that "the proceedings of france in morocco leave untouched the economic equality of all nations." the agreement further gives france "entire freedom of action" in morocco, including measures of police. the rights and working area of the morocco state bank were left as they stood under the act of algeciras. the sovereignty of the sultan is assumed, but not explicitly declared. the compensation to germany for her agreement to "put no hindrances in the way of french administration" and for the "protective rights" she recognizes as "belonging to france in the shereefian empire" was the cession by france to germany of a large portion of her congo territory in mid-africa, with access to the congo and its tributaries, the sanga and ubangi. while the ground-idea of germany's policy of economic expansion, and the source of all her trouble with england, is her insistence on her "place in the sun," the difficulty attending it for other nations is to determine the place's nature and extent, so that every one shall be comfortable and prosperous all round. the alterations in conditions among civilized nations during the last half-century, more especially in all that relates to international intercourse--political, financial, commercial, social--makes it reasonable to suppose that changes must follow in the conduct of their foreign policies. the fact also, recognized by no country more clearly than by germany, that the profitable regions of the earth are already appropriated makes an economic policy for her all the more advisable. an economic policy, moreover, is, notwithstanding her apparent militarism, most in harmony with the peaceful and industrious character of her people. unfortunately, the stage in progress where the political and commercial interests of all nations have become defined and adjusted has not yet been reached, though the numerous agreements between the great powers of recent years go far towards clearing the way for so desirable a consummation. unfortunately, too, it is in the very process of finding bases for such agreements that international jealousies and misunderstandings arise; and hence in securing peace, governments and peoples are at all times nowadays most in jeopardy of war. this consideration alone might very well be used to justify nations in keeping their military and naval forces strong and ready. perhaps some day such forms of force will not be wanted, though admittedly the great majority of people still refuse to believe that the changes which have occurred have altered the fundamental attitude of countries to each other, and remain firmly convinced that to-day, as yesterday and the day before, great nations are moved by an irresistible desire to add to their territories and in every way aggrandize themselves, by diplomacy if possible, and if diplomacy fails, by force. it is, of course, impossible to say with certainty what the real designs of the emperor and his government in this regard were during the morocco episode, or are now. some believe that their designs have always aimed, and still aim, at depriving great britain of her position of superiority in respect of territory, maritime dominion, and trade. others hold that they seek and will have, _coûte que coûte_, new territory for germany's increasing population, and look with greedy eyes towards south america and even holland. others yet again represent them as incessantly on the watch to seize a harbour here or there as a coaling station for warships and a basis of attack. but an unbiased survey of the annals of the emperor's reign hitherto does not bear out any of these assertions. a policy of territorial expansion as such, mere earth-hunger, cannot be proved against him. prince bismarck was no colonial enthusiast, though he passes for being the founder of germany's present colonial policy; and even to-day the colonial party in germany, though a very noisy, is not a very large or influential one. samoa--east africa--kiao-tschau--the carolines--heligoland--the cameroons: how can the acquisition of comparatively insignificant and unprofitable places like these be used for proving that the might of germany is or has been directed towards territorial conquest? what, it may however be asked, of the morocco adventure? of the speech at tangier? of the sending of the _panther_ to agadir? of the demand for compensation in central africa? until the morocco question arose, all the quarrels amongst the powers regarding territory were caused by the territorial ambition of france, or russia, or italy--not of germany; and it was not until france showed openly, by sending her troops to fez, and thus ignoring the act of algeciras, that germany put forward claims for territorial compensation in connection with morocco. the visit of the emperor to tangier in , a year after the anglo-french agreement, was doubtless an unpleasant surprise for both england and france. and not without good cause; for england and france are naturally and historically mediterranean powers--the one as guardian of the route to her eastern possessions, the other as the owners of a large extent of mediterranean coast; while england, in addition, was justified in seeing with uneasiness the possibility of a german settlement at tangier or elsewhere on the morocco seaboard. but the tangier visit and all that followed it was the consequence, not of an adventurous policy of territorial conquest, but of a legitimate, and not wholly selfish, desire for economic expansion. taken, then, as a whole, the emperor's foreign policy has been, as it is to-day, almost entirely economic and commercial. the same might, no doubt, be said in a general way of all civilized occidental governments, but there never has yet been a country of which the foreign policy was so completely directed by the economic and mercantile spirit as modern germany. the foreign policy of england has also been commercial, but it has been influenced at times by noble sentiment and splendid imagination as well. the first question the german statesman, in whose vocabulary of state-craft the word imagination does not occur, asks himself and other nations when any event happens abroad to demand imperial attention is--how does it affect germany's economic and commercial interests, future as well as present? what is germany going to get out of it? the manner in which on various occasions during the reign the question has been propounded has excited criticism bordering on indignation abroad, but it should be recognized that it has invariably been answered in the long run by germany in the spirit of compromise and conciliation. however, all civilized nations nowadays see that war is the least satisfactory method of adjusting national quarrels, and the tendency is happily growing among them to pursue a commercial, an economic policy, a policy of peace. this is true weltpolitik, true world-policy. time was when wars were the unavoidable result of conditions then prevailing; but conditions have greatly altered, and war, as there is abundant evidence to show, is to-day, in almost every case, avoidable by all civilized peoples. formerly war deranged and disturbed at any rate for the time being, the commerce and industries of the countries engaged in it; to-day, as mr. norman angell demonstrates, it deranges and disturbs commerce and industry all over the world. the derangement and disturbance may, it is true, be only temporary; but there is, as always, the loss of life among the youth of the countries engaged in war to be remembered. granted that it is pleasant and honourable to die for one's country. let us hope the time is coming when it will be equally pleasant and honourable to live for it. we have done with morocco, but to round off the record for mention should be made of an incident in the emperor's life which was a source of great pleasure to him after his return from his journey thither. the marriage of his eldest son, the crown prince, took place in the chapel royal of the berlin palace on june , , to the young duchess cecile of mecklenburg-schwerin, whose character has been alluded to elsewhere and whom all germans look forward with pleasure to seeing one day their empress. the marriage naturally was attended by rejoicings in berlin similar to those shown when the emperor was married in . their chief popular feature, now as then, was the formal entry into the capital, and its chief domestic feature a grand wedding breakfast at the emperor's palace. on the occasion of the latter, the emperor, rising from his seat and using the familiar _du_ and _dich_ (thou and thee), addressed his newly-made daughter-in-law as follows:-- "my dear daughter cecilie,--let me, on behalf of my wife and my whole house, heartily welcome you as a member of my house and my family circle. you have come to us like a queen of spring amid roses and garlands, and under endless acclamations of the people such as my residence city has not known for long. a circle of noble guests has assembled to celebrate this high and joyful festival with us, but not only those present, but also those who are, alas, no more, are with us in spirit: your illustrious father and my parents. "a hundred thousand beaming faces have enthusiastically greeted you; they have, however, not merely shone with pleasure, but whoever can look deeper into the heart of man could have seen in their eyes the question--a question which can only be answered by your whole life and conduct, the question, how will it turn out? "you and your husband are about to found a home together. the people has its examples in the past to live up to. the examples which have preceded you, dear cecilie, have been already eloquently mentioned--queen louise and other princesses who have sat on the prussian throne. they are the standards according to which the people will judge your life, while you, my dear son, will be judged according to the standard providence set up in your illustrious great-grandfather. "you, my daughter, have been received by us with open arms and will be honoured and cherished. to both of you i wish from my heart god's richest blessings. let your home be founded on god and our saviour. as he is the most impressive personality which has left its illuminating traces on the earth up to the present time, which finds an echo in the hearts of mankind and impels them to imitate it, so may your career imitate his, and thus will you also fulfil the laws and follow the traditions of our house. "may your home be a happy one and an example for the younger generation, in accordance with the fine sentence which william the great once wrote down as his confession of faith; 'my powers belong to the world and my country.' accept my blessing for your lives. i drink to the health of the young married couple." the record of this memorable year may be closed with mention of an institution which is not only a special care of the emperor's, but is also a landmark in the relation of germany and america which may prove to be the forerunner, if it has not already done so, of similar interchange of ideas and information between nations which only require mutually to understand each other in order to be the best of friends. the system of an annual exchange of professors between america and germany was suggested, it is believed, to the emperor in this year by herr althoff, the prussian minister of education. the emperor took up the idea with enthusiasm, and after discussing it with dr. nicholas murray butler, president of columbia university, who was invited to wilhelmshohe for the purpose, had it finally elaborated by the prussian ministry of education which now superintends its working. the original idea of an exchange only between harvard and berlin university professors was, thanks to the liberality of an american citizen, mr. speyer, extended almost simultaneously by the establishment of what are known as "roosevelt" professorships. the holders of these positions, unlike the original "exchange" professors between harvard and berlin only, may be chosen by the trustees of columbia university from any american university and can exchange duties for two terms, instead of one in the place of the exchange professors, with the professors of any german university. harvard professors have been succesively: francis g. peabody, theodore w. richards, william h. scofield, william m. davis, george f. moore, h. munsterberg, theobald smith, charles s. minog; and roosevelt professors: j.w. burgess, arthur t. hadley, felix adler, benj. ide wheeler, c. alphonso smith, paul s. reinsch, and william h. sloane. writing to the german ambassador in washington, baron speck von sternburg, in november, , the emperor said: "express my fullest sympathy with the movement regarding the exchange of professors. we are very well satisfied with professor peabody, the first exchange professor, and thankful to have him. he comes to me in my house, an honourable and welcome guest. my hearty thanks also to mr. speyer, for his fine gift for the erection of a professorship in berlin. the exchange of the learned is the best means for both nations to know the inner nature of each other, and from thence spring mutual respect and love, which are securities for peace." the idea of the exchange, as described by professor john w. burgess, of columbia university, the first roosevelt professor to germany, is "an exchange of educators which has for its purpose the bringing of the men of learning of one country into other countries and by a comparison of fundamental ideas to arrive at a world-philosophy and a world-morality upon which the world's peace and the world's civilization may finally and firmly rest." the conception of a world-philosophy and a world-morality upon which the world's peace and civilization may rest is not new, being now a little over years old, and, moreover, educators and men of science in all countries are constantly exchanging ideas by personal visits, correspondence, and publications; but in any case, the emperor's exchange system has the advantage that it brings the educators into touch with large numbers of the rising generation in america and germany and undoubtedly helps towards a better mutual understanding of the relations, and in especial the economic relations, of the two countries. it has worked well, and the emperor has encouraged it by showing constant hospitality to the american professors who have come to berlin since the system was instituted. one or two episodes have given rise to a diplomatic question as to whether or not exchange professors and their wives have the privilege of being presented at court. the question has practically been decided in the negative. this, however, does not prevent the emperor entertaining the professors at his palace, or making the acquaintance of the professors' wives on other than court ceremonious occasions. xiii. before the "november storm" - in the domestic life of the emperor during these years fall two or three events of more than ordinary interest. from the dynastic point of view was of importance the birth of a son and heir to the crown prince in the marble palace at potsdam. the emperor was at sea, on his annual northern trip, when the birth occurred. as the ship approached bergen the town was seen to be gaily decorated with flags. as it happened, everybody on board knew of the birth except the emperor, but none of the officers round him ventured to congratulate him, because they supposed he knew of it already and were waiting for him to refer to it. at bergen the german minister, stuebel, and german consul, mohr, came on board. the minister, being a diplomatist, said nothing, but the consul, as consuls will, spoke his mind and ventured his congratulations. "what? i am a grandfather!" exclaimed the emperor. "why, that's splendid! and i knew nothing about it!" the captain of the ship then asked should he fire the salute of twenty-one guns usual on such occasions. "no," said the emperor, "that won't do. mohr is a great talker. let us first see the official despatches from berlin." the party, including the emperor, went down into the cabin to await the despatches, which were being brought from bergen. on their arrival a basketful of state papers was placed before the emperor. the first one he took out was a telegram from the sultan of turkey with congratulations (great merriment); the second from an unknown lady in berlin, with a name corresponding to the english "brown," with four lines of congratulatory poetry; and it was not until more than a hundred despatches had been opened that they came to one from the minister of the interior and another from the empress announcing the birth. popular reports at the time represented the emperor as boiling over with anger at his being kept or left in ignorance of the happy event. as a matter of fact, he was in high good-humour, and himself mentioned a similar occurrence at metz in , when an important movement of the french army was not reported because it was assumed that it was already known to the intelligence department. as a public sign of his satisfaction he amnestied the half-dozen of his subjects who happened to be in gaol as punishment for _lèse majesté_. another domestic event at this time was the celebration by the emperor and empress of their silver wedding. berlin, of course, was illuminated and beflagged. there was a great gathering of royal relatives, a state banquet, and a special parade of troops. at the latter were remarkable for their huge proportions two former grenadiers of the regiment of guards the emperor commanded in his youth. they were now settled in america, but came over to germany on the emperor's particular invitation and, of course, at his private expense. the last item of domestic interest this year ( ) worth record was the marriage of prince eitel frederick, the emperor's second son, with princess sophie charlotte of oldenburg. in his speech to the bridal pair on their wedding-day the emperor referred to the personal likeness the young prince bore to his great-grandfather, emperor william, and expressed the hope that the prince might grow more like him in character from year to year. meantime the emperor had to pass through a season of great annoyance owing to the scandal which arose in connection with the so-called "camarilla." the existence of a small and secret group of viciously minded men among the emperor's entourage was disclosed to the public by the well-known pamphleteer, maximilian harden, a jew by birth named witowski, who as a younger man had been on semi-confidential terms with prince bismarck and subsequently with foreign secretary von holstein. as a result of harden's disclosures some highly placed friends of the emperor were compromised and had ultimately to disappear from public life as well as from the court. it was perfectly evident throughout that the emperor had been totally ignorant of the private character of the men forming the "camarilla," and nothing was proved to show that the group which formed it had ever unduly, or indeed in any fashion, influenced him. an allusion made to the scandal by a deputy in the reichstag brought the chancellor, prince von bülow, to his feet in defence of the monarch. "the view," he said, "that the monarch in germany should not have his own opinions as to state and government, and should only think what his ministers desire him to think, is contrary to german state law and contrary to the will of the german people" ("quite right," on the right). "the german people," continued the chancellor, "want no shadow-king, but an emperor of flesh and blood. the conduct and statements of a strong personality like the emperor's are not tantamount to a breach of the constitution. can you tell me a single case in which the emperor has acted contrary to the constitution?" the chancellor concluded: "as to a camarilla--camarilla is no german word. it is a hateful, foreign, poisonous plant which no one has ever tried to introduce into germany without doing great injury to the people and to the prince. our emperor is a man of far too upright a character and much too clear-headed to seek counsel in political things from any other quarter than his appointed advisers and his own sense of duty." the camarilla scandal was all the more painful as it was made a ground for insinuations disgraceful to german officers as a body. such insinuations were, as they would be to-day, entirely unfounded. another thing that annoyed the emperor this year was the publication of ex-chancellor prince hohenlohe's memoirs. the publication drew from him a telegram to a son of the ex-chancellor in which he expressed his "astonishment and indignation" at the publication of confidential private conversations between him and prince hohenlohe regarding prince bismarck's dismissal. "i must stigmatize," the emperor telegraphed, "such conduct as in the last degree tactless, indiscreet, and entirely inopportune. it is a thing unheard-of that occurrences relating to a sovereign reigning at the time should be published without his permission." germans as a people are passionately fond of dancing, and though everybody knows that the people of vienna bear away the palm in this respect, claim to be the best waltzers in the world. the emperor, accordingly, won great popularity among the dancers of his realm this year by lending a favourable ear to the sighing of the young ladies of the provincial town of crefeld for a regiment which would provide them with a supply of dancing partners. the emperor took occasion to visit the town, and brought with him a regiment of the guards from düsseldorf to form part of the new garrison. he was received by the city authorities, and was at the same time, doubtless, greeted from balcony and window by multitudes of fair-haired crefeld maidens, who looked with delightful anticipations on the gallant soldiers, who were to relieve the tedium of their evenings, riding by. "to-day," the emperor told the assembled city fathers, "i have kept my word to the town of crefeld, and when i make a promise i keep it too (stormy applause). i have brought the town its garrison and the young ladies their dancers." the "stormy applause" was again renewed--amid, one may imagine, the enthusiastic waving of pocket-handkerchiefs from the windows and the balconies. the salient feature of foreign politics just now was, naturally, the close on march st of the conference of algeciras. its results have been referred to in the chapter on morocco, and mention need only be made here of the famous telegram regarding it sent by the emperor on april th of this year ( ) to the foreign minister of austria, count goluchowski. "a capital example of good faith among allies!" he telegraphed to the count, meaning austria's support of germany at algeciras. "you showed yourself a brilliant second in the tourney, and can reckon on the like service from me on a similar occasion." internal affairs, and particularly the parliamentary situation in germany, had during the three or four years before that of the "november storm" demanded a good deal of the emperor's attention. the everlasting fight with the rebel angels of the hohenzollern heaven, the social democracy, had been going on all through the reign. now the emperor would fulminate against it, now his chancellor, prince von bülow, would attack it with brilliant ability and sarcasm in parliament. still the social democratic movement grew, still the _vorwärts_, the party organ, continued to rail at industrial capitalists and the large landowners alike, still herr lucifer-bebel bitterly assailed every measure of the government. the fact seems to be that the people were getting restive under the imperial burdens the emperor's world-policy entailed. the cost of living, partly as a result of the new german tariff, with maximum and minimum duties, which now replaced the caprivi commercial treaties, was steadily rising. the morocco episode had ended without territorial gain, if with no loss of national honour or prestige. the poles were antagonized afresh by a stricter application of the settlement law for germanizing prussian poland. colonial troubles in south-west africa with herero and other recalcitrant tribes were making heavy demands on the treasury. the parliamentary situation was, as usual, at the mercy of the centrum party, which, with its hundred or more members, can always make a majority by combining with liberal parties of the left (including the socialists) or conservative parties of the right. in december, , when the budget was laid before parliament, it was found to contain a demand for about £ , , for the troops in south-west africa. the centrum refused to grant more than £ , , , and required, moreover, an undertaking that the number of troops in the colony should be reduced. the social democrats, with a number of progressives and other left parties sufficient to form a majority, joined the centrum, and the government demand was rejected by to votes. on the result of the voting being declared, chancellor von bülow solemnly rose and drew a paper from his pocket. it was an order from the emperor dissolving parliament. the general elections were to be held in january following, and great efforts were made by the emperor and chancellor to secure a government majority against the combined centrists and socialists. the country was appealed to to say whether germany should lose her african colonies or not; a patriotic response was made, and, though the centrum, as always, came back to parliament in undiminished strength, the socialists lost one-half of their eighty seats. the emperor, needless to say, was tremendously gratified. on the night the final results were announced he gave a large dinner-party at the palace, and read out to the royal family and his guests the bulletins as they came in. towards one o'clock in the morning the official totals were known. the streets were knee-deep in snow, but the people were not deterred from making a demonstration in their thousands before the palace. by and by lights were seen moving hurriedly to and fro along the first floor containing the emperor's apartments. a general illumination of the suite of rooms followed, a window was thrown up, and the emperor, bare-headed, was seen in the opening. instantly complete stillness fell on the vast square, and the emperor, leaning far out over the balcony, and evidently much excited, spoke in stentorian tones and with a dramatic waving of his right arm as follows: "gentlemen!"--the "gentlemen" included half the hooligans of berlin, but such are the accidents of political life-- "gentlemen! this fine ovation springs from the feeling that you are proud of having done your duty by your country. in the words of our great chancellor (bismarck), who said that if the germans were once put in the saddle they would soon learn to ride, you can ride and you will ride, and ride down, any one who opposes us, especially when all classes and creeds stand fast together. do not let this hour of triumph pass as a moment of patriotic enthusiasm, but keep to the road on which you have started." the speech closed with a verse from kleist's "prince von homburg," a favourite monarchist drama of the emperor's, conveying the idea that good hohenzollern rule had knocked bad social-democratic agitation into a cocked hat. the result of the elections enabled the chancellor to form a new "bloc" party in parliament, consisting of conservatives and liberals, on whose united aid he could rely in promoting national measures. as the chancellor said, he did not expect conservatives to turn into liberals and liberals into conservatives overnight nor did he expect the two parties to vote solid on matters of secondary interest and importance; but he expected them to support the government on questions that concerned the welfare of the whole empire. before , the year we have now reached, franco-german and anglo-german relations had long varied from cool to stormy. they had not for many years been at "set-fair," nor have they apparently reached that halcyon stage as yet. during the moroccan troubles it was generally believed that on two or three occasions war was imminent either between france and germany or between germany and england. that there was such a danger at the time of m. delcassé's retirement from the conduct of french foreign affairs just previous to the algeciras conference is a matter of general conviction in all countries; but there is no publicly known evidence that danger of war between england and germany has been acute at any time of recent years. nor at any time of recent years has the bulk of the people in either country really desired or intended war. there has been international exasperation, sometimes amounting to hostility, continuously; but it was largely due to chauvinism on both sides, and was in great measure counteracted by the efforts of public-spirited bodies and men in both countries, by international visits of amity and goodwill, and by the determination of both the english and german governments not to go to war without good and sufficient cause. among the most striking testimonies to this determination was the visit of the emperor to england in november, . the visit was made expressly an affair of state. the emperor was accompanied by the empress, and the visit became a pageant and a demonstration--a pageant in respect of the national honours paid to the imperial guests and a demonstration of national regard and respect for them as friends of england. nothing could have been simpler, or more tactful or more sincere than the utterances, private as well as public, of the emperor throughout his stay. his very first speech, the few words he addressed to the mayor of windsor, displayed all three qualities. "it seems to me," he said, "like a home-coming when i enter windsor. i am always pleased to be here." at the guildhall subsequently, referring to the two nations, he used, and not for the first time, the phrase "blood is thicker than water." at the guildhall, on this occasion, the emperor reminded his hearers that he was a freeman of the city of london, having been the recipient of that honour from the hands of lord mayor sir joseph savory on his accession visit to london in . he then referred to the visit of the lord mayor, sir william treloar, to berlin the year previous, and promised a similar hearty welcome to any deputation from the city of london to his capital. "in this place sixteen years ago," continued the emperor, "i said that all my efforts would be directed to the preservation of peace. history will do me the justice of recognizing that i have unfalteringly pursued this aim. the main support, however, and the foundation of the world's peace is the maintenance of good relations between our two countries. i will, in future also, do all i can to strengthen them, and the wishes of my people are at one with my own in this." the procession that followed upon the visit to the guildhall made a special impression on the emperor. "i was so close to the people," he said afterwards, "who were assembled in hundreds of thousands, that i could look straight into their eyes, and from the expression on their faces i could see that their reception of the empress and myself was no artificial welcome but an out-and-out sincere one. that stirred us deeply and gave us great satisfaction. the empress and i will take back with us recollections of london and england we shall never forget." while at windsor the emperor received a deputation of sixteen members of oxford university, headed by lord curzon, who came to present him with the honorary degree of doctor of laws voted him by the university while he was still on his way to england. it was a picturesque scene: the members of the university in their academic robes were surrounded by a brilliant company representing the intellect of the country; and the emperor, with the doctor's hood over his field-marshal's uniform, was the cynosure of all eyes. the emperor's reply to lord curzon's address, highly complimentary to the university though it was, was perhaps chiefly remarkable for the expression of his expectations from the rhodes' scholarship foundation. "the gift of your great fellow-countryman, cecil rhodes," he said, "affords an opportunity to students, not only from the british colonies, but also from germany and the united states, to obtain the benefits of an oxford education. the opportunity afforded to young germans during their period of study to mix with young englishmen is one of the most satisfactory results of rhodes's far-seeing mind. under the auspices of the oxford _alma mater_, the young students will have an opportunity of studying the character and qualities of the respective nations, of fostering by this means the spirit of good comradeship, and creating an atmosphere of mutual respect and friendship between the two countries." the emperor had always admired the colossus of south africa, discerning in him no doubt many of those attributes which he felt existed in himself or which he would like to think existed; and the admiration stood the test of personal acquaintance when cecil rhodes visited berlin in march, , in connexion with his scheme for the cape to cairo railway. it does not sound very complimentary to his own subjects, the "salt of the earth," but it is on record that the emperor then said to rhodes that he wished "he had more men like him." at the close of the visit the empress returned to germany, while the emperor took a much needed rest-cure for three weeks at highcliffe castle, a country mansion in hampshire he rented for the purpose from its owner, colonel stuart-wortley. in the course of this work, it may have been noticed, no particular attention has been devoted to the emperor in his military capacity. the reason is, because it is taken for granted that all the world knows the emperor in his character as war lord, that he is practically never out of uniform, and that his care for the army is only second--if it is second--to that for the stability and power of his monarchy. the two things in fact are closely identified, and, from the emperor's standpoint, on both together depend the security, and to a large extent the prosperity, of the empire. he knows or believes that germany is surrounded by hordes of potential enemies, as a lighthouse is often surrounded by an ocean that, while treacherously calm, may at any time rage about the edifice; that round the lighthouse are gathered his folk, who look to it for safety; and that the monarchy is the lighthouse itself, a _rocher de bronze_, towering above all. in this connexion it may be noted that the army in germany is not a mercenary body like the english army, but is simply and solely a certain portion of the people, naturally the younger men, passing for two or three years, according as they serve in the infantry or cavalry, through the ranks. the system of recruiting, as everybody knows, is called conscription; it ought rather to be described as a system of national education, whereby the rude and raw youth of the country is converted into an admirable class of well-disciplined, self-respecting and healthy, as well as patriotic, citizens. the emperor believes, contrary to the opinion of many english army officers, that a man to be a good soldier must also be a good christian, and thus we find him enforcing, or trying to enforce, among his officers the moral qualities which christianity is meant to foster. among these qualities is simplicity of life, and as a result of simplicity of life, contentment with simple and not too costly pleasures. we saw the emperor as a young colonel forbidding his officers to join a berlin club where gambling was prevalent. this year, after a luxurious lunch at one of the regimental messes, he issues an order, or rather an edict, expressing his wish that officers in their messes should content themselves with simpler food and wines, and in particular that when he himself is a guest, the meal should consist only of soup, fish, vegetables, a roast and cheese. ordinary red or white table-wine, a glass of "bowl" ("cup"), or german champagne should be handed round. liqueurs, or other forms of what the french know as "chasse-café," after dinner were best avoided. the edict of course caused amusement as well as a certain amount of discontent with what was felt to be a kind of objectionable paternal interference, and it is doubtful whether it has had much lasting effect. even now, the german officer laughingly tells one that when the emperor dines at an officers' mess either french champagne (which is infinitely superior to german) is poured into german champagne bottles, or else the french label is carefully shrouded in a napkin that swathes the bottle up to the neck. apropos of german champagne, a story is current that bismarck, one day dining at the palace, refused the german champagne being handed round. the emperor noticed the refusal and said pointedly to bismarck: "i always drink german champagne, because i think it right to encourage our national industries. every patriot should do so." "your majesty," replied the grim old chancellor, "my patriotism does not extend to my stomach." in the domain of æsthetics this year the emperor had some pleasant and some painful experiences. joachim, the great violinist, and a great favourite of his, died in august, and his death was followed next month, september, by that of the composer grieg, the "chopin of the north," as the emperor called him, whose friendship the emperor had acquired on one of his norwegian trips. quite at the end of the year his early tutor, dr. hinzpeter, for whom he always had a semi-filial regard, passed away. on the other hand, among the emperor's pleasant experiences may be reckoned the visit of mr. beerbohm tree and his english company to the german capital. their repertory of shakespearean drama greatly delighted the emperor, who expressed his pleasure to mr. tree and his fellow-players personally, and did not dismiss them without substantial tokens of his appreciation. earlier in the year the french actress, suzanne deprès, visited berlin and appealed strongly to the emperor's taste for the "classical" in music and drama. inviting the actress to the royal box, he said to her: "you have shown us such a natural, living phædra that we were all strongly moved. how fine a part it is! as a youngster i used to learn verses from 'phædra' by heart. i am told that in france devotion to classical tradition is growing weaker, and that molière and racine are more and more seldom played. what a pity! our people, on the contrary, remain faithful to their great poets and enjoy their works. after school comes college, and after college--the theatre. it should elevate and expand the soul. the people do not need any representation of reality--they are well acquainted with that in their daily lives. one must put something greater and nobler before them, something superior to 'la dame aux camélias.'" a month later, however, he made one of his extremely rare visits to an ordinary berlin theatre to see--"the hound of the baskervilles"! meanwhile in domestic politics chancellor von bülow's famous "bloc" continued to work satisfactorily, notwithstanding difficulties arising from the conflicting interests of industry and agriculture, free trade and protection and differences of creed and race. at the end of this year it was near falling asunder in connection with the question of judicial reform, but prince von bülow kept it together for a while by an impassioned appeal to the patriotism of both parties. in the course of the speech he told the house how, when he was standing at bismarck's death-bed, he noticed on the wall the portrait of a man, ludwig uhland, who had said "no head could rule over germany that was not well anointed with democratic oil," and drew the conclusion from the contrast between the dying man of action and the poet that only the union of old prussian conservative energy and discipline with german broad-hearted, liberal spirit could secure a happy future for the nation. the "bloc," as we shall see, broke up in and prince von bülow resigned. the chancellor afterwards attributed his fall entirely to the conservatives, but it is possible, even probable, that it was in at least some measure due to the events of the _annus mirabilis_, , which now opened. xiv the november storm the "november storm" was a collision between the emperor and his folk, a result of his so-called "personal regiment." in a general way the latter phrase is intended to describe and characterize the method of rule adopted by the emperor from the very beginning of his reign, especially as exhibited in his semi-official utterances, public and private, in his correspondence, private conversation, and public and private conduct generally. according to the popular interpretation of the imperial constitution--the nearest thing to a magna charta in germany--the emperor should observe, in his words and acts, a reserve which would prevent all chance of creating dissension among the federated states and in particular would secure the avoidance of anything which might disturb germany's relations to foreign countries or interfere with the course of germany's foreign policy as carried on through the regular official channel, the foreign office. the ground for this popular interpretation is a constitutional device which to an englishman, if it be not offensive to say so, can only recall the well-known definition of a metaphysician as "a blind man, in a dark room, looking for a black cat, _which is not there_." the device is known as the chancellor's "responsibility," which was regarded, and is still regarded in germany, as at once "covering" the emperor and offering to his folk a safeguard against unwisdom or caprice on his part. the nature of this responsibility which is evidenced by the chancellor signing the emperor's edicts and other official statements, is so frequently discussed by german politicians, the position of the chancellor--the grand vizier of germany he has been picturesquely called--is so influential, and the intercourse between the emperor and the chancellor is so close, exclusive, and confidential, that an examination of the meaning of the term "responsibility" in this connexion is desirable. whenever the emperor does anything important or surprising, especially in foreign policy, the first question asked by his subjects is, has he taken the step with the knowledge, and therefore with the joint responsibility, of the chancellor? if the answer is in the negative, it is the "personal regiment" again, and people are angry: if the latter, they may disapprove of the step and grumble at it, but it is covered by the chancellor's signature and they can raise no constitutional objection. hence the demand usually made on such occasions for an act of parliament once for all defining fully and clearly the chancellor's responsibilities. according to prince von bülow, and it is doubtless the emperor's own view, the responsibility mentioned in the constitution is a "moral responsibility," and only refers to such acts and orders of the emperor as immediately arise out of the governing rights vested in him, not to personal expressions of opinion, even though these may be made on formal occasions; and the prince goes on to say that if a chancellor cannot prevent what he honestly thinks would permanently and in an important respect be injurious to the empire, he is bound to resign. the chancellor, then, takes responsibility of some kind. but responsibility to whom? to the emperor? to the parliament? to the people? the answer is, solely to the emperor, for it is the emperor who appoints and dismisses him as well as every other minister, imperial or prussian, and the emperor is only responsible to his conscience. in parliamentarily ruled countries like england ministers are responsible to parliament, which expresses its disapproval by the vote of a hostile majority, or in certain circumstances by a vote of censure or even impeachment. in germany, where the parliamentary system of government does not exist, and where there is no upsetting ministries by a hostile majority, and no parliamentary vote of censure or impeachment, no minister, including the chancellor, is responsible, in the english sense of the word, to parliament; accordingly, a german chancellor may continue in office in spite of parliament, provided of course the emperor supports him. at the same time the chancellor to-day is to some indefinable extent responsible to parliament, and therefore to the people, in so far as they are represented by it, for he must keep on tolerable terms with parliament as well as with the emperor, or he will have to give up office. how he is to keep on terms with a parliament consisting of half a dozen powerful parties and as many more smaller fractions and factions is probably the part of his duties that gives him most trouble and at times, doubtless, very disagreeably interferes with the placidity of his slumbers. there is no struggle for government in germany between the crown and the people: germans have no ancient magna charta, no habeas corpus, no declaration of rights to look back to on the long road to liberty. in the protracted struggle for government between the english people and their rulers, the people's victory took the form of parliamentary control while retaining the monarch as their highest and most honoured representative. socially he is their master, politically their servant, the "first servant of the state." in germany there has never, save for a few months in , been any struggle of a similar political extent or kind. german monarchs including the emperor, have applied the expression "first servant of the state" to themselves, but they did not apply it in the english sense. they applied it more accurately. in germany the state means the system, the mechanism of government, inclusive of the monarch's office: in england the word "state" is more nearly equivalent to the word "people." to serve the system, the government machinery, is the first duty of the monarch, and government is not a changing reflection of the people's will, but a permanent apparatus for maintaining the power of the crown, harmonizing and reconciling the sentiments and interests of all parts of the empire, and for conducting foreign policy. it may be objected that legislation is made by the reichstag, that the reichstag has the power of the purse, and that it is elected by universal suffrage; but in germany the government is above and independent of the reichstag; legislation is not made by the reichstag alone, since it requires the agreement of the federal council and of the emperor, and--what is of great practical importance--government issues directions as to how legislation shall be carried into effect. the law of passed against the jesuits forbade the "activity" of the order, but the interpretation of the word "activity," and with it the effects of the law, were left to the government. kings of prussia and german emperors have never shown much affection for their parliaments: parliaments are apt to act as a check upon monarchy, and in prussia in particular to interfere with the carrying out of the divinely imposed mission. this is not said sarcastically; and the emperor, like some of his ancestors, has more than once expressed the same thought. parliaments in germany only date from after the french revolution. after that event there came into existence in germany the frankfurt parliament ( ), the erfurt parliament ( ), and the parliament of the german customs union ( ). these, however, were not popularly elected parliaments like those of the present day, but gatherings of class delegates from the various kingdoms and states composing the germany and austria of the time. since the middle ages there had always been quasi-popular assemblies in prussia, but they too were not elected, and only represented classes, not constituencies. the present parliaments in prussia and the empire are constitutional parliaments in the english sense, elected by universal suffrage, the one indirectly, the other directly. the present prussian diet dates from the "first unified diet," summoned by frederick william iv in , which was transformed next year under pressure of the revolutionists into a "national assembly." this was treated a year after by general wrangel almost exactly as cromwell treated the rump. the general entered berlin with the troops which a few weeks before had fought against the revolutionists of the "march days." he passed along the linden to the royal theatre, where the "national assembly" was in session, and was met at the door by the leader of the citizens' guard with the proud words, "the guard is resolved to protect the honour of the national assembly and the freedom of the people, and will only yield to force." wrangel took out his watch--one can imagine the old silver "turnip"--and with his thumb on the dial replied: "tell your city guard that the force is here. i will be responsible for the maintenance of order. the national assembly has fifteen minutes in which to leave the building and the city guard in which to withdraw." in a quarter of an hour the building was empty, and next day the city guard was dissolved. a month later the king, frederick william iv, granted his _octroyierte_ constitution--that is, a concession of his own royal personal will--which established the diet as it is to-day. emperor william i, as king of prussia, had a good deal of trouble with his parliament, and in wanted to abdicate rather than rule in obedience to a parliamentary majority--it was the "conflict time" about funds for army reorganization. bismarck dissuaded him from doing so by promising to become minister and carry on the government, if need were, without a parliament and without a budget. he actually did so for some years, but there was no change in the constitution as a result. nor has there been any constitutional change in the relations of crown to parliament during the present reign. as a young man, the emperor had of course nothing to do with parliament, prussian or imperial, and since his accession, though there is always latent antagonism and has been even friction at times, he has, generally speaking, lived on "correct," if not friendly terms with it. there is little, if any, of the devoted affection one finds for the monarch in the english parliament. and not unnaturally. early in his reign, in , he made a reference to parliament little calculated to evoke affection. "the soldier and the army," he said to his generals at a banquet in the palace, "not parliamentary majorities and decisions, have welded together the german empire. my confidence is in the army--as my grandfather said at coblenz: 'these are the gentlemen on whom i can rely.'" again, a year or two afterwards he dissolved the reichstag for refusing to accept a military bill and did not conceal his anger with the recalcitrant majority. in he telegraphed to bismarck his indignation with the reichstag for refusing to vote its congratulations on the old statesman's eightieth birthday. in , speaking of the kingship "von gottes gnaden" he took occasion to quote his grandfather's declaration that "it was a kingship with onerous duties from which no man, no minister, no parliament, no people" could release the prince. in his chancellor, prince bülow, had to defend in parliament his action in the case of the swinemunde despatch already mentioned. attention was called to the telegram in the reichstag and the chancellor defended the emperor. he denied that the telegram was an act of state--it was a personal matter between two sovereigns, the statement of a friend to a friend. "the idea," said the chancellor, who contended that the emperor had a right to express his opinions like any citizen, "that the monarch's expression of opinion is to be limited by a stipulation that every such expression must be endorsed with the signature of the chancellor is wholly foreign to the constitution." next day the chancellor had again occasion to defend his imperial master against a charge of being "anti-social," brought by the socialist von vollmar, who coupled the charge with insinuations of absolutism and cæsarism. prince bülow said: "absolutism is not a german word, and is not a german institution. it is an asiatic plant, and one cannot talk of absolutism in germany so long as our circumstances develop in an organic and legal manner, respecting the rights of the crown, which are just as sacred as the rights of the burgher; respecting also law and order, which are not disregarded 'from above,' and will not be disregarded. if ever our circumstances take on an absolute, a cæsarian, form, it will be as the consequence of revolution, of convulsion. for on revolution follows cæsarism as w follows u--that is the rule in the a b c of the world's history." there is no harm in reminding prince bülow that the letter v--which may be a very important link in the chain of events--comes between u and w. it is clear also that the chancellor must have forgotten his english history for the moment, for though cromwell's rule may be called cæsarism of a kind, the reign of william iii, of "glorious, pious, and immortal memory," which followed the revolution of , could not fairly be so named. three years later, in , prince bülow found it necessary to defend the emperor on the score of the "personal regiment." "the view," prince bülow said, "that the monarch should have no individual thoughts of his own about state and government, but should only think with the heads of his ministers and only say what they tell him to say, is fundamentally wrong--is inconsistent with state rights and with the wish of the german people"; and he concluded by challenging the house to mention a single case in which the emperor had acted unconstitutionally. none of these bickerings between crown and parliament went to the root of the constitutional relations between them, but they betrayed the existence of popular dissatisfaction with the emperor, which in a couple of years was to culminate in an outbreak of national anger. an occurrence calls for mention here, not only as a kind of harbinger of the "storm," but as one of the chief incidents which in the course of recent years have troubled anglo-german relations. the incident referred to is that of the so-called "tweedmouth letter," which was an autograph letter from the emperor to lord tweedmouth, first lord of the british admiralty at the time, dated february , , and containing among other matters a lengthy disquisition on naval construction, with reference to the excited state of feeling in england caused by germany's warship-building policy. the letter has never been published, but it is supposed to have been prompted by a statement made publicly by lord esher, warden of windsor castle, in the london _observer_, to the effect that nothing would more please the german emperor than the retirement of sir john fisher, the originator of the dreadnought policy, who was at the time first lord of the admiralty; and to have contained the remark that "lord esher had better attend to the drains at windsor and leave alone matters which he did not understand." the emperor was apparently unaware that lord esher was one of the foremost military authorities in england. the sending of the letter became known through the appearance of a communication in the london _times_ of march th, with the caption "under which king?"--an allusion to shakespeare's "under which king, bezonian, speak or die"--and signed "your military correspondent." the writer announced that it had come to his knowledge that the german emperor had recently addressed a letter to lord tweedmouth on the subject of british and german naval policy, and that it was supposed that the letter amounted to an attempt to influence, in german interests, the minister's responsibility for the british naval estimates. the correspondent concluded by demanding that the letter should be laid before parliament without delay. the _times_, in a leading article, prognosticated the "painful surprise and just indignation" which must be felt by the people of great britain on learning of such "secret appeals to the head of a department on which the nation's safety depends," and argued that there could be no question of privacy in a matter of the kind. the article concluded with the assertion that the letter was obviously an attempt to "make it more easy for german preparations to overtake our own." the incident was immediately discussed in all countries, publicly and privately. everywhere opinion was divided as to the defensibility of the emperor's action; in france the division was reported by the _times_ correspondent to be "bewildering." all the evidence available to prove the emperor's impulsiveness was recalled--the kruger telegram, the telegram to count goluchowski, the austrian minister of foreign affairs, after the morocco conference, characterizing him as a "brilliant second (to germany) in the bout at algeciras," the premature telegram conferring the order of merit on general stoessel after the fall of port arthur, and other evidence, relevant and irrelevant. reuter's agent in berlin telegraphed on official authority that the emperor "had written as a naval expert." on the whole, continental opinion may be said to have leaned in favour of the emperor. mr. asquith, the english prime minister, at once made the statement that the letter was a "purely private communication, couched in an entirely friendly spirit," that it had not been laid before the cabinet, and that the latter had come to a decision about the estimates before the letter arrived. all eyes and ears were now turned to lord tweedmouth, and on march th he briefly referred to the matter in the house of lords. he received the letter, he said, in the ordinary postal way; it was "very friendly in tone and quite informal"; he showed it to sir edward grey, who agreed with him that it should be treated as a private letter, not as an official one; and he replied to it on february th, "also in an informal and friendly manner." a discussion, in which lord lansdowne and lord rosebery took part, followed, the former--to give the tone, not the words of his speech--handing in a verdict of "not guilty, but don't do it again," against the emperor, and laying down the principle that "such a communication as that in question must not be allowed to create a diplomatic situation different from that which has been established through official channels and documents"; and lord rosebery, while he recognized the importance of the incident, seeking to minimize its effects by an attitude of banter. the treatment of the incident by the house of commons as a whole gave considerable satisfaction in germany, where all efforts were directed to showing malevolent hostility to germany on the part of the _times_. prince von bülow dealt with the letter in a speech on the second reading of the budget on march , . after referring to the union internationale interparlementaire, which was to meet in a few months in berlin, and to the "very unsatisfactory situation in morocco," he said:-- "from various remarks which have been dropped in the course of the debate i gather that this honourable house desires me to make a statement as to the letter which his majesty the kaiser last month wrote to lord tweedmouth. on grounds of discretion, to the observance of which both the sender and receiver of a private letter are equally entitled, i am not in a position to lay the text of the letter before you, and i add that i regret exceedingly that i cannot do so. the letter could be signed by any one of us, by any sincere friend of good relations between germany and england (hear, hear). the letter, gentlemen, was in form and substance a private one, and at the same time its contents were of a political nature. the one fact does not exclude the other; and the letter of a sovereign, an imperial letter, does not, from the fact that it deals with political questions, become an act of state ('very true,' on the right). "this is not--and deputy count kanitz yesterday gave appropriate instances in support--the first political letter a sovereign has written, and our kaiser is not the first sovereign who has addressed to foreign statesmen letters of a political character which are not subject to control. the matter here concerns a right of action which all sovereigns claim and which, in the case of our kaiser also, no one has a right to limit. how his majesty proposes to make use of this right we can confidently leave to the imperial sense of duty. it is a gross, in no way justifiable misrepresentation, to assert that his majesty's letter to lord tweedmouth amounts to an attempt to influence the minister responsible for the naval budget in the interests of germany, or that it denotes a secret interference in the internal affairs of the british empire. our kaiser is the last person to believe that the patriotism of an english minister would suffer him to accept advice from a foreign country as to the drawing up of the english naval budget ('quite right,' hear, hear). what is true of english statesmen is true also of the leading statesmen of every country which lays claim to respect for its independence ('very true'). in questions of defence of one's own country every people rejects foreign interference and is guided only by considerations bearing on its own security and its own needs ('quite right'). of this right to self-judgment and self-defence germany also makes use when she builds a fleet to secure the necessary protection for her coasts and her commerce ('bravo!'). this defensive, this purely defensive character of our naval programme cannot, in view of the incessant attempts to attribute to us aggressive views with regard to england, be too often or too sharply brought forward ('bravo!'). we desire to live in peace and quietness with england, and therefore it is embittering to find a portion of the english press ever speaking of the 'german danger,' although the english fleet is many times stronger than our own, although other lands have stronger fleets than us and are working no less zealously at their development. nevertheless it is germany, ever germany, and only germany, against which public opinion on the other side of the channel is excited by an utterly valueless polemic ('quite right'). "it would be, gentlemen," the chancellor continued, "in the interests of appeasement between both countries, it would be in the interest of the general peace of the world, that this polemic should cease. as little as we challenge england's right to set up the naval standard her responsible statesmen consider necessary for the maintenance of british power in the world without our seeing therein a threat against ourselves, so little can she take it ill of us if we do not wish our naval construction to be wrongly represented as a challenge against england (hear, hear, on the right and left). gentlemen, these are the thoughts, as i judge from your assent, which we all entertain, which find expression in the statements of all speakers, and which are in harmony with all our views. accept my additional statement that in the letter of his majesty to lord tweedmouth one gentleman, one seaman, talks frankly to another, that our kaiser highly appreciates the honour of being an admiral of the british navy, and that he is a great admirer of the political education of the british people and of their fleet, and you will have a just view of the tendency, tone, and contents of the imperial letter to lord tweedmouth. his majesty consequently finds himself in this letter not only in full agreement with the chancellor--i may mention this specially for the benefit of herr bebel--but, as i am convinced, in agreement with the entire nation. it would be deeply regrettable if the honourable opinions by which our kaiser was moved in writing this letter should be misconstrued in england. with satisfaction i note that the attempts at such misconstruction have been almost unanimously rejected in england ('bravo!' on the right and left). above all, gentlemen, i believe that the admirable way in which the english parliament has exemplarily treated the question will have the best effect in preventing a disturbance of the friendly relations between germany and england and in removing all hostile intention from the discussions over the matter (agreement, right and left). "gentlemen, one more observation of a general nature. deputies von hertling and bassermann have recommended us, in view of the suspicions spread about us abroad, a calm and watchful attitude of reserve, and for the treatment of the country's foreign affairs consistency, union, and firmness. i believe that the foreign policy we must follow cannot be characterized better or more rightly (applause)." a german saying has it that one is wiser coming from, than going to, the rathaus, the place of counsel. it is easy to see now that it would have been better had the emperor not written the letter, better had the _times_ not brought it to public notice, better, also, had the emperor or lord tweedmouth or sir edward grey--for one of them must have spoken of it to a third person--not let its existence become known to anyone save themselves, at least not until the international situation which prompted it had ceased. as regards the emperor in particular, judgment must be based on the answer to the question, was the letter a private letter or a public document? the _times_ regarded it as the latter, and many politicians took that view, but probably nine people out of ten now regard it as the former. for such, the reflection that it was part of a private correspondence between two friendly statesmen, both well known to be sincere in their views that a country's navy--that all military preparations--are based on motives of national defence, not of high-handed aggression, must absolve the emperor from any suspicion of political immorality. it was unfortunate that the letter was written, unfortunate that it was made known publicly, but, as it is an ill wind that blows nobody good, the episode may profit monarchs as well as meaner folk as an object lesson in the advantages of discretion. discussion of the tweedmouth letter had hardly ceased when the whole question of the "personal regiment" was again, and as it now, five years after, appears, finally thrashed out between the emperor and his folk. before, however, considering the _daily telegraph_ interview and the emperor's part in it, something should be said as to the state of international ill-feeling which caused him to sanction its publication. the ill-feeling was no sudden wave of hostility or pique, but a sentiment which had for years existed in the minds of both nations--a sentiment of mutual suspicion. the englishman thought germany was prepared to dispute with him the maritime supremacy of great britain, the german that england intended to attack germany before germany could carry her great design into execution. the proximate cause of the irritation--for it has not yet got beyond that--was the decision, as announced in her navy law of , to build a fleet of battleships which germany, but especially the emperor, considered necessary to complete the defences, and appropriate for affirming the dignity, of the empire. this was the _origo_, but not the _fons_. the source was the boer war and the kruger telegram, though the philosophic historian might with some reason refer it in a large measure also to the surprise and uneasiness with which the leading colonial and commercial, as well as maritime, nation of the world saw the material progress, the waxing military power, and the longing for expansion of the not yet forty-year-old german empire. forty years ago the word "germany" had no territorial, but only a descriptive and poetical, significance; certainly it had no political significance; for the north german union, out of which the modern german empire grew, meant for englishmen, and indeed for politicians everywhere, only prussia. prussia was less liked by the world then than she is now, when she is not liked too well; and accordingly there was already in existence the disposition in england to criticize sharply the conduct of prussia and to apply the same criticism to the empire prussia founded. in this condition of international feeling england's long quarrel with the transvaal republic came nearer to the breaking-point; at the same time there was an idea prevalent in england that germany was coquetting with the boers--if not looking to a seizure of transvaal territory, at least hoping for boer favour and boer commercial privileges. the jameson raid was made and failed; the emperor and his advisers sent the fateful telegram to president kruger; and the peace of the world has been in jeopardy ever since! the "storm" arose from the publication, in the london _daily telegraph_ of october , , of an interview coming, as the editor said in introducing it, "from a source of such unimpeachable authority that we can without hesitation commend the obvious message which it conveys to the attention of the public." as to the origin and composition of the interview a good deal of mystery still exists. all that has become known is that some one, whose identity has hitherto successfully been concealed, with the object of demonstrating the sentiments of warm friendship with which the emperor regarded england, put together, in england or in germany, a number of statements made by the emperor and sanctioned by him for publication. whether the emperor read the interview previous to publication or not, no official statement has been made; it is, however, quite certain that he did. at all events it was sent, or sent back, to england and published in due course. the immediate effect was a hubbub of discussion, accompanied with general astonishment in england, a storm of popular resentment and humiliation in germany, and voluminous comment in other countries, some of it favourable, some of it unfavourable, to the emperor. the text of the interview in the _daily telegraph_ was introduced, as mentioned, with the words:-- we have received the following communication from a source of such unimpeachable authority that we can without hesitation commend the obvious message which it conveys to the attention of the public. and continued as follows:-- discretion is the first and last quality requisite in a diplomatist, and should still be observed by those who, like myself, have long passed from public into private life. yet moments sometimes occur in the history of nations when a calculated indiscretion proves of the highest public service, and it is for that reason that i have decided to make known the substance of a lengthy conversation which it was my recent privilege to have with his majesty the german emperor. i do so in the hope that it may help to remove that obstinate misconception of the character of the kaiser's feelings towards england which, i fear, is deeply rooted in the ordinary englishman's breast. it is the emperor's sincere wish that it should be eradicated. he has given repeated proofs of his desire by word and deed. but, to speak frankly, his patience is sorely tried now that he finds himself so continually misrepresented, and has so often experienced the mortification of finding that any momentary improvement of relations is followed by renewed out-bursts of prejudice, and a prompt return to the old attitude of suspicion. as i have said, his majesty honoured me with a long conversation, and spoke with impulsive and unusual frankness. "you english," he said, "are mad, mad, mad as march hares. what has come over you that you are so completely given over to suspicions quite unworthy of a great nation? what more can i do than i have done? i declared with all the emphasis at my command, in my speech at guildhall, that my heart is set upon peace, and that it is one of my dearest wishes to live on the best of terms with england. have i ever been false to my word? falsehood and prevarication are alien to my nature. my actions ought to speak for themselves, but you listen not to them but to those who misinterpret and distort them. that is a personal insult which i feel and resent. to be for ever misjudged, to have my repeated offers of friendship weighed and scrutinized with jealous, mistrustful eyes, taxes my patience severely. i have said time after time that i am a friend of england, and your press--or, at least, a considerable section of it--bids the people of england refuse my proffered hand, and insinuates that the other holds a dagger. how can i convince a nation against its will?" "i repeat," continued his majesty, "that i am the friend of england, but you make things difficult for me. my task is not of the easiest. the prevailing sentiment among large sections _of_ the middle and lower classes of my own people is not friendly to england. i am, therefore, so to speak, in a minority in my own land, but it is a minority of the best elements, just as it is in england with respect to germany. that is another reason why i resent your refusal to accept my pledged word that i am the friend of england. i strive without ceasing to improve relations, and you retort that i am your arch-enemy. you make it very hard for me. why is it?" thereupon i ventured to remind his majesty that not england alone, but the whole of europe had viewed with disapproval the recent action of germany in allowing the german consul to return from tangier to fez, and in anticipating the joint action of france and spain by suggesting to the powers that the time had come for europe to recognize muley hand as the new sultan of morocco. his majesty made a gesture of impatience. "yes," he said, "that is an excellent example of the way in which german action is misrepresented. first, then, as regards the journey of dr. vassel. the german government, in sending dr. vassel back to his post at fez, was only guided by the wish that he should look after the private interests of german subjects in that city, who cried for help and protection after the long absence of a consular representative. and why not send him? are those who charge germany with having stolen a march on the other powers aware that the french consular representative had already been in fez for several months when dr. vassel set out? then, as to the recognition of muley i hand. the press of europe has complained with much acerbity that germany ought not to have suggested his recognition until he had notified to europe his full acceptance of the act of algeciras, as being binding upon him as sultan of morocco and successor of his brother. my answer is that muley hafid notified the powers to that effect weeks ago, before the decisive battle was fought. he sent, as far back as the middle of last july, an identical communication to the governments of germany, france, and great britain, containing an explicit acknowledgment that he was prepared to recognize all the obligations towards europe which were incurred by abdul aziz during his sultanate. the german government interpreted that communication as a final and authoritative expression of muley hand's intentions, and therefore they considered that there was no reason to wait until he had sent a second communication, before recognizing him as the _de facto_ sultan of morocco, who had succeeded to his brother's throne by right of victory in the field." i suggested to his majesty that an important and influential section of the german press had placed a very different interpretation upon the action of the german government, and, in fact, had given it their effusive approbation precisely because they saw in it a strong act instead of mere words, and a decisive indication that germany was once more about to intervene in the shaping of events in morocco. "there are mischief-makers," replied the emperor, "in both countries. i will not attempt to weigh their relative capacity for misrepresentation. but the facts are as i have stated. there has been nothing in germany's recent action with regard to morocco which runs contrary to the explicit declaration of my love of peace which i made both at guildhall and in my latest speech at strassburg." his majesty then reverted to the subject uppermost in his mind--his proved friendship for england. "i have referred," he said, "to the speeches in which i have done all that a sovereign can to proclaim my goodwill. but, as actions speak louder than words, let me also refer to my acts. it is commonly believed in england that throughout the south african war germany was hostile to her. german opinion undoubtedly was hostile--bitterly hostile. the press was hostile; private opinion was hostile. but what of official germany? let my critics ask themselves what brought _to_ a sudden stop, and, indeed, to absolute collapse, the european tour of the boer delegates who were striving to obtain european intervention? they were feted in holland; france gave them a rapturous welcome. they wished to come to berlin, where the german people would have crowned them with flowers. but when they asked me to receive them--i refused. the agitation immediately died away, and the delegation returned empty-handed. was that, i ask, the action of a secret enemy? "again, when the struggle was at its height, the german government was invited by the governments of france and russia to join with them in calling upon england to put an end to the war. the moment had come, they said, not only to save the boer republics, but also to humiliate england to the dust. what was my reply? i said that so far from germany joining in any concerted european action to put pressure upon england and bring about her downfall, germany would always keep aloof from politics that could bring her into complications with a sea power like england. posterity will one day read the exact terms of the telegram--now in the archives of windsor castle--in which i informed the sovereign of england of the answer i had returned to the powers which then sought to compass her fall. englishmen who now insult me by doubting my word should know what were my actions in the hour of their adversity. "nor was that all. just at the time of your black week, in the december of , when disasters followed one another in rapid succession, i received a letter from queen victoria, my revered grandmother, written in sorrow and affliction, and bearing manifest traces of the anxieties which were preying upon her mind and health. i at once returned a sympathetic reply. nay, i did more. i bade one of my officers procure for me as exact an account as he could obtain of the number of combatants in south africa on both sides, and of the actual position of the opposing forces. with the figures before me, i worked out what i considered to be the best plan of campaign under the circumstances, and submitted it to my general staff for their criticism. then i dispatched it to england, and that document, likewise, is among the state papers at windsor castle, awaiting the serenely impartial verdict of history. and, as a matter of curious coincidence, let me add that the plan which i formulated ran very much on the same lines as that which was actually adopted by lord roberts, and carried by him into successful operation. was that, i repeat, the act of one who wished england ill? let englishmen be just and say! "but, you will say, what of the german navy? surely that is a menace to england! against whom but england are my squadrons being prepared? if england is not in the minds of those germans who are bent on creating a powerful fleet, why is germany asked to consent to such new and heavy burdens of taxation? my answer is clear. germany is a young and growing empire. she has a world-wide commerce, which is rapidly expanding, and to which the legitimate ambition of patriotic germans refuses to assign any bounds. germany must have a powerful fleet to protect that commerce, and her manifold interests in even the most distant seas. she expects those interests to go on growing, and she must be able to champion them manfully in any quarter of the globe. germany looks ahead. her horizons stretch far away. she must be prepared for any eventualities in the far east. who can foresee what may take place in the pacific in the days to come--days not so distant as some believe, but days, at any rate, for which all european powers with far eastern interests ought steadily to prepare? look at the accomplished rise of japan; think of the possible national awakening of china; and then judge of the vast problems of the pacific. only those powers which have great navies will be listened to with respect when the future of the pacific comes to be solved; and if for that reason only germany must have a powerful fleet. it may even be that england herself will be glad that germany has a fleet when they speak together on the same side in the great debates of the future." such was the purport of the emperor's conversation. he spoke with all that earnestness which marks his manner when speaking on deeply pondered subjects. i would ask my fellow-countrymen who value the cause of peace to weigh what i have written, and to revise, if necessary, their estimate of the kaiser and his friendship for england by his majesty's own words. if they had enjoyed the privilege, which was mine, of hearing them spoken, they would doubt no longer either his majesty's firm desire to live on the best of terms with england or his growing impatience at the persistent mistrust with which his offer of friendship is too often received. there are more indiscretions than one in the interview, but the most important and most dangerous was the emperor's statement that at the time of the boer war the governments of france and russia invited the german government to join with them "not only to save the boer republics, but also to humiliate england to the dust." such a revelation coming from the emperor ought, one would suppose, to have caused serious trouble between great britain and her entente friends. that it did not is at once testimony to the cynicism of governments and the reality and strength of the entente engagement. in private life, if a fourth person confidentially told one of the three partners in a firm that the other two partners had invited him to join them in humiliating him to the dust, there would have been a pretty brisk, not to say acrimonious correspondence between the proposed victim and his partners. governments, it appears, look on things differently, and so far as the public knows, england simply took no notice of the emperor's communication. possibly, however, the emperor had put the matter too strongly and an explanation of some kind was forthcoming. if so, it must be looked for among the secret archives of the foreign office. it was at once suggested that the emperor made the revelation expressly to weaken, if not destroy, the entente. one can conceive bismarck doing such a thing; but it is more in keeping with the emperor's character, and with the indiscreet character of the entire interview, to suppose it to be a proof of deplorable candour and sincerity. the excitement in germany caused by the publication of the interview soon took the shape of a determination on the part of the chancellor and the federal council, for once fully identifying themselves with the feelings of parliament, press, and people, that "something must be done," and it was decided that the chancellor should go to potsdam, see the emperor, and try to obtain from him a promise to be more cautious in his utterances on political topics for the future. the chancellor went accordingly, being seen off from the railway terminus in berlin by a large crowd of people, among whom were many journalists. to dr. paul goldmann, who wished him god-speed, he could only reply that he hoped all would be for the best. he looked pale and grave, as well he might, since he was about to stake his own position as well as convey a mandate of national reproach. what passed at potsdam between the emperor and his chancellor has not transpired. naturally there are various accounts of it, one of them representing the emperor as flying into a passion and for long refusing to give the required guarantees; but as yet none of them has been authenticated. it should not be difficult to imagine the mental attitudes of the two men on the occasion, and especially not difficult to imagine the sensations of the emperor, a prussian king, on being impeached by a people--his people--for whom, his feeling would be, he had done so much, and in whose best interests he felt convinced he had acted; but whatever occurred, it ended in the emperor bowing before the storm and giving the assurances required. the chancellor's countenance and expressions on his return to berlin showed that his mission had been successful, and there was great satisfaction in the capital and country. the text of these assurances, which was published in the _official gazette_ the same evening, was as follows: "his majesty, while unaffected by public criticism which he regards as exaggerated, considers his most honourable imperial task to consist in securing the stability of the policy of the empire while adhering to the principle of constitutional responsibility. the kaiser accordingly endorses the statements of the imperial chancellor in parliament, and assures prince von bülow of his continued confidence." after returning to berlin, prince bülow gave in the reichstag his impatiently awaited account of the result of his mission, and made what defence he could of his imperial master's action in allowing the famous interview to be published. before giving the speech, which was delivered on november , , it will be as well to quote the five interpellations introduced in parliament on the subject, as showing the unanimity of feeling that existed in all parts of the house:-- . by deputy bassermann (leader of the national liberals): "is the chancellor prepared to take constitutional responsibility for the publication of a series of utterances of his majesty the kaiser in the _daily telegraph_ and the facts communicated therein?" . by deputy dr. ablass (progressive party): "through the publication of utterances of the german kaiser in the _daily telegraph_, and through the communication of the real facts in the _norddeutsche allgemeine zeitung_ caused by the chancellor, matters have become known which demonstrate serious short-comings in the treatment of foreign affairs, and are calculated to influence unfavourably the relations of the german empire to other powers. what does the chancellor propose to do to devise a remedy and to give full effect to the responsibility attributed to him by the constitution of the german empire?" . by deputy albrecht (socialist): "what is the chancellor prepared to do to prevent such occurrences as have become known through the _daily telegraph's_ communications regarding acts and utterances of the german kaiser?" . by deputy von norman (conservative party): "is the chancellor prepared to submit further information regarding the circumstances which led to the publication of utterances of his majesty the kaiser in the english press?" . by prince von hatzfeldt and freiherr von gamp (imperial party--conservative): "is the chancellor willing to take precautions that such occurrences as that brought to light by the publication in the _daily telegraph_ shall not recur?" in reply to the interpellations prince von bülow said:-- "gentlemen, i shall not apply myself to every point which has just been raised by previous speakers. i have to consider the effect of my words abroad, and will not add to the great harm already caused by the publication in the _daily telegraph_ (hear, hear, on the left and socialists). "in reply to the interpellations submitted, i have to declare as follows:-- "his majesty the kaiser has at different times, and to different private english personalities, made private utterances which, linked together, have been published in the _daily telegraph_. i must suppose that not all details of the utterances have been correctly reproduced (hear, hear, on the right). one i know is not correct: that is the story about the plan of campaign (hear, hear, on the right). the plan in question was not a field campaign worked out in detail, but a purely academic (laughter among the socialists)--gentlemen, we are engaged in a serious discussion. the matters on which i speak are of an earnest kind and of great political importance--be good enough to listen to me quietly: i will be as brief as possible. i repeat therefore: the matter is not concerned with a field campaign worked out in detail, but with certain purely academic thoughts--i believe they were expressly described as 'aphorisms'--about the conduct of war in general, which the kaiser communicated in his interchange of correspondence with the late queen victoria. they are theoretical observations of no practical moment for the course of operations and the issue of the war. the chief of the general staff, general von moltke, and his predecessor, general count schlieffen, have declared that the general staff reported to the kaiser on the boer war as on every war, great or small, which has occurred on the earth during the last ten years. both, however, have given assurances that our general staff never examined a field plan of campaign, or anything similar, prepared by the kaiser in view of the boer war, or forwarded such to england (hear, hear, on the right and centre). but i must also defend our policy against the reproach of being ambiguous _vis-à-vis_ the boers. we had--the documents show it--given timely warning to the transvaal government. we called its attention to the fact that in case of a war with england it would stand alone. we put it to her directly, and through the friendly dutch government in may, , peacefully to come to an understanding with england, since there could be no doubt as to the result of a war. "in the question of intervention the colours in the article of the _daily telegraph_ are too thickly laid on. the thing itself had long been known (hear, hear). it was some time previously the subject of controversy between the _national review_ and the _deutsche revue_. there can be no talk of a 'revelation.' it was said that the imperial communication to the queen of england, that germany had not paid any attention to a suggestion for mediation or intervention, is a breach of the rules of diplomatic intercourse. gentlemen, i will not recall indiscretions to memory, for they are frequent in the diplomatic history of all nations and at all times ('quite right,' on the right). the safest policy is perhaps that which need fear no indiscretion ('quite right,' on the left). to pass judgment in particular cases as to whether or not a breach of confidence has occurred, one must know more of the closely connected circumstances than appears in the article of the _daily telegraph_. the communication might be justified if it were attempted in one quarter or another to misrepresent our refusal or to throw suspicion on our attitude; circumstances may have previously happened which make allusion to the subject in a confidential correspondence at least intelligible. gentlemen, i said before that many of the expressions used in the _daily telegraph_ article are too strong. that is true, in the first place, of the passage where the kaiser is represented as having said that the majority of the german people are inimically disposed towards england. between germany and england misunderstandings have occurred, serious, regrettable misunderstandings. but i am conscious of being at one with this entire honourable house in the view that the german people desire peaceful and friendly relations with england on the basis of mutual esteem (loud and general applause)--and i take note that the speakers of all parties have spoken to-day in the same sense ('quite right'). the colours are also too thickly laid on in the place where reference is made to our interests in the pacific ocean. it has been construed in a sense hostile to japan. wrongly: we have never in the far east thought of anything but this--to acquire and maintain for germany a share of the commerce of eastern asia in view of the great economic future of this region. we are not thinking of maritime adventure there: aggressive tendencies have as little to say to our naval construction in the pacific as in europe. moreover, his majesty the kaiser entirely agrees with the responsible director of foreign policy in the complete recognition of the high political importance which the japanese people have achieved by their political strength and military ability. german policy does not regard it as its task to detract from the enjoyment and development of what japan has acquired. "gentlemen, i am, generally speaking, under the impression that if the material facts--completely, in their proper shape--were individually known, the sensation would be no great one; in this instance, too, the whole is more than all the parts taken together. but above all, gentlemen, one must not, while considering the material things, quite forget the psychology, the tendency. for two decades our kaiser has striven, often under very difficult circumstances, to bring about friendly relations between germany and england. this honest endeavour has had to contend with obstacles which would have discouraged many. the passionate partisanship of our people for the boers was humanly intelligible; feeling for the weaker certainly appeals to the sympathy. but this partisanship has led to unjustified, and often unmeasured, attacks on england, and similarly unjust and hateful attacks have been made against germany from the side of the english. our aims were misconstrued, and hostile plans against england were foisted on us which we had never thought of. the kaiser, rightly convinced that this state of things was a calamity for both countries and a danger for the civilized world, kept undeviatingly on the course he had adopted. the kaiser is particularly wronged by any doubt as to the purity of his intentions, his ideal way of thinking, and his deep love of country. "gentlemen, let us avoid anything that looks like exaggerated seeking for foreign favour, anything that looks like uncertainty or obsequiousness. but i understand that the kaiser, precisely because he was anxious to work zealously and honestly for good relationship with england, felt embittered at being ever the object of attacks casting suspicion on his best motives. has one not gone so far as to attribute to his interest in the german fleet secret views against vital english interests--views which are far from him. and so in private conversation with english friends he sought to bring the proof, by pointing to his conduct, that in england he was misunderstood and wrongly judged. "gentlemen, the perception that the publication of these conversations in england has not had the effect the kaiser wished, and in our own country has caused profound agitation and painful regret, will--this firm conviction i have acquired during these anxious days--lead the kaiser for the future, in private conversation also, to maintain the reserve that is equally indispensable in the interest of a uniform policy and for the authority of the crown ('bravo!' on the right). "if it were not so, i could not, nor could my successor, bear the responsibility ('bravo!' on the right and national liberals). "for the fault which occurred in dealing with the manuscript i accept, as i have caused to be said in the _norddeutsche allgemeine zeitung_, entire responsibility. it also goes against my personal feelings that officials who have done their duty all their lives should be stamped as transgressors because, in a single case, they relied too much on the fact that i usually read and finally decide everything myself. "with herr von heydebrand i regret that in the mechanism of the foreign office, which for eleven years has worked smoothly under me, a defect should on one occasion occur. i will answer for it that such a thing does not happen again, and that with this object, without respect to persons, though also without injustice, what is needful will be done ('bravo!'). "when the article in the _daily telegraph_ appeared, its fateful effect could not for a moment be doubtful to me, and i handed in my resignation. this decision was unavoidable, and was not difficult to come to. the most serious and most difficult decision which i ever took in my political life was, in obedience to the kaiser's wish, to remain in office. i brought myself to this decision only because i saw in it a command of my political duty, precisely in the time of trouble, to continue to serve his majesty the kaiser and the country (repeated 'bravo!'). how long that will be possible for me, i cannot say. "let me say one thing more: at a moment when the fact that in the world much is once again changing requires serious attention to be given to the entire situation, wherever it is matter of concern to maintain our position abroad, and without pushing ourselves forward with quiet constancy to make good our interests--at such a moment we ought not to show ourselves small-spirited in foreign eyes, nor make out of a misfortune a catastrophe. i will refrain from all criticism of the exaggerations we have lived through during these last days. the harm is--as calm reflection will show--not so great that it cannot with circumspection be made good. certainly no one should forget the warning which the events of these days has given us ('bravo!')--but there is no reason to lose our heads and awake in our opponents the hope that the empire, inwardly or outwardly, is maimed. "it is for the chosen representatives of the nation to exhibit the prudence which the time demands. i do not say it for myself, i say it for the country: the support required for this is no favour, it is a duty which this honourable house will not evade (loud applause on the right, hisses from the socialists)." prince bülow's speech requires but little comment--its importance for germany is the fact that it brought to a head the country's feeling, that if the emperor's unlimited and unrestrained idea of his heaven-sent mission as sole arbiter of the nation's destinies was not checked, disaster must ensue. the speech itself is rather an apology and an explanation than a defence, and in this spirit it was accepted in germany. it is fair to say that the emperor has faithfully kept the engagement made through prince bülow with his people so far, and unless human nature is incurable there seems no reason why he should not keep it to the end of the reign. more than four years have passed since the incidents narrated occurred. the storm has blown over, the sea of popular indignation has gone down, and at present no cloud is visible on the horizon. besides the tweedmouth letter and the "november storm" there were one or two other notable events in the parliamentary proceedings of the year. the reichstag dealt with prussian electoral reform and the attitude of germany towards the question of disarmament. as to the first, the government refused to regard it as an imperial concern, though the popular claim was and is that the suffrage should be the same in prussia as in the empire, viz., universal, direct, and secret. this claim the emperor will not listen to, on the ground that it would injure the influence of the middle classes by the admission of undesirable elements (meaning the socialists); that the electoral system for the empire, with the latter's national tasks, should be on a broader basis than in the case of the individual states, where the electors are chiefly concerned with administration, the school, and the church; and that it would bring the imperial and prussian parliaments into conflict to the injury of german unity. the emperor has made only one reference to electoral reform in prussia, a promise, namely, he gave the diet in october of this year, that the regulations concerning the voting should experience "an organic further development, which should correspond to the economic progress, the spread of education and political understanding, and the strengthening of the feeling of state responsibility." no reform, however, has yet been effected by legislation. as to disarmament, germany's position is simply negative, though it may be noticed by anticipation that she has recently ( ) expressed her disposition to accept the proportion of ten german to sixteen english first-class battleships suggested by sir edward grey in as offering the basis of a possibly permanent arrangement. at the time now dealt with, however, chancellor von bülow asserted that no proposal that could serve as a basis had ever been submitted to his government, and added that even if such a proposal were made it was doubtful if it could be accepted. it was not merely the number of ships, he said, that was involved; there were a host of technical questions--standards, criteria of all sorts, which could not be expressed in figures, economic progress abroad and the possible effect of new scientific inventions--to be considered. lastly there were the navy laws, which the government was pledged to carry out. as for military disarmament, the emperor and his advisers regard it as impossible, considering the unfavourable strategic situation of germany in the midst of europe, with exposed frontiers on every side. this year the emperor and his family took up their quarters for the first time in their new corfu spring residence "achilleion." they were met by the royal family of greece, who showed them over the castle, and in the evening were welcomed by the mayor of corfu, who, in a flight of metaphor, said his people desired to wreathe the emperor's "olympic brow" with a crown of olive. that the emperor did not pass his days wholly in admiring the beauty of the scenery was shown by the fact that a few days after his arrival he delivered a lecture in the castle on "nelson and the battle of trafalgar," being prompted thereto by a book on the subject by captain mark kerr, of h.m.s. _implacable_. the emperor illustrated his lecture with sketches drawn by himself of the positions of the united french and spanish fleets during the battle. almost every year sees some specialty produced at the royal opera in berlin. this year it was meyerbeer's "les huguenots," performed in the presence of the french ambassador in berlin, monsieur jules cambon, and two directors of the paris opera. the emperor told monsieur messager, one of the latter, that he had taken an infinity of trouble to get the right character, colour, and movement of the period of the opera, and explained his interest in the work by the fact that he had lost two of his ancestors, admiral coligny and the prince of orange, in the historic massacre. this opera, with verdi's "aida," are still, as given at the royal opera, the favourite operas of the berlin public. americans, like all other people, regard the emperor with friendly feelings, but for a time this year their respect for him suffered some diminution owing to what was known as the tower-hill affair. when the american ambassador in berlin, mr. charlemagne tower, resigned his post in , the washington authorities found difficulty in choosing a suitable successor. mr. tower was a wealthy man, who by his personal qualities, aided by a talented wife, whom the emperor once described as "the moltke of society," and by frequent entertainments in one of the finest houses of the fashionable tiergarten quarter, had fully satisfied the emperor of his fitness to represent a great nation at the court of a great empire. the emperor has a high opinion of his country, and, in small things as in great, will not have it treated as a _quantité négligeable_: consequently a millionaire was not too good for berlin. the impression produced by mr. tower on republican america was not quite the same. when ambassador in st. petersburg, mr. tower had invented a court uniform for himself and staff of a highly ornate, not to say fantastic, kind, and when in berlin was thought to take too little trouble to win popularity among his american fellow-colonists. this non-republican attitude, as it seemed to be, met with a good deal of adverse criticism in america, and the washington authorities, for that or for some other reason, considered it advisable to choose as mr. tower's successor a man of another type. their choice fell on dr. david jayne hill, american minister at berne, a former president of rochester university, the author of a standard work on the history of diplomacy, and as renowned for the amiability of his character as for his academic attainments. a further reason for choosing him was that he had been attached to the service of the emperor's brother, prince henry, during the latter's visit to the united states some years before. dr. hill spoke german excellently, was able and distinguished, and, if not a man of great means, was sufficiently well-to-do to represent his country becomingly at the court of berlin. his selection was in due course communicated for _agrément_ to the german foreign office, and by it, also in due course, transmitted to the emperor. the emperor without more ado signed the _agrément_ and the arrival of dr. hill in berlin was daily expected. just at this time, however, mr. tower gave a farewell dinner to the emperor, and invited to it specially from rome the american ambassador to italy, mr. griscom. mr. griscom was accompanied by his clever and attractive wife. the dinner-party assembled, and mr. griscom and his wife were placed in the immediate neighbourhood of the emperor. before dinner was over it was evident that the griscoms had made a most favourable impression on the imperial guest. accordingly, so the story goes, when towards the end of dinner the emperor, in his impulsive way, exclaimed, "now, why didn't america send me the griscoms instead of the hills?" or words to that effect, the company was not completely taken by surprise. when, however, the emperor went on to suggest to his host to telegraph to president roosevelt to make the change, it became evident that an international incident of exceptional delicacy had been created. mr. tower, who would perhaps have acted with better judgment had he declined to adopt the emperor's suggestion, cabled to president roosevelt, and at the same mr. griscom wrote to him privately. before mr. griscom's letter arrived, perhaps before mr. roosevelt was in possession of mr. tower's telegram, the words of the emperor had become known in berlin, were cabled to the american press, and much indignation at the emperor's conduct was aroused in all parts of america. the two governments, as well as dr. hill, were placed in a position of great embarrassment. in view of the state of public opinion in america, and in view also of the american government's engagement _vis à vis_ dr. hill, the washington authorities could not withdraw a nominee who had been already signalled to it from germany as _persona grata_. the only way possible out of the difficulty was to employ the machinery of the official _démenti_, and this was accordingly done. it was denied by the foreign office that the emperor had expressed dissatisfaction with dr. hill's appointment, and the incident closed with the carrying out of the original arrangements and the arrival of dr. hill in berlin. subsequent events proved that had the emperor known dr. hill personally he would never have thought of expressing dissatisfaction at the prospect of seeing him as ambassador at his court, for dr. hill, during the two years of his stay, fully vindicated the wisdom of the washington government's choice, and before he left his post had earned the emperor's complete respect, if not his cordial friendship. xv. after the storm - next year, , was the year of the famous finance reform measure which, though finally carried through, led to the resignation of chancellor von bülow. it had been obvious for some years that a reorganization of the imperial system of finance with a view to meeting the growing expenses of the empire, and in especial those of the army and navy, was necessary if imperial bankruptcy was to be avoided. the practice of taking what were known as matricular contributions from the separate states to make up for deficits in the imperial budgets, and of burdening posterity by state loans, had one day to cease. at the beginning of the reign the national debt was million marks (£ , , ), and in over , million marks (£ , , ). a year before this prince bülow had made his first proposals for reform, including new taxes on beer, wine, tobacco, and succession duties on property. all parties in parliament, except of course the social democrats, admitted that fresh imposts were inevitable, but, very naturally, no party was willing to bear them. the conservatives would not hear of an inheritance tax and the liberals would not hear of duties on popular consumption. the result was to make the centrum masters of the political field and place the conservative-liberal "bloc" at its mercy. after long discussion, the government proposals were put to the vote on june th, and as the centrum threw in its lot with the conservatives, the proposals were rejected by votes to . prince bülow thereupon went to kiel and tendered his resignation to the emperor, but at the latter's urgent request consented to remain in office until financial reform in one shape or another had been effected. this result was attained a month later, after much compromising and discussion. the chancellor renewed his request for retirement, and the emperor agreed. on the same day, july th, that the resignation took effect, it was officially announced that herr von bethmann-hollweg, who had hitherto been minister of the interior, was appointed to succeed prince von bülow as imperial chancellor. an impression prevails widely in germany that prince bülow's retirement was due to the loss of the emperor's favour owing to the prince's attitude towards the monarch during the "november storm." prince bülow, very properly, has always refused to say anything about his relations with his royal master, but a lengthy statement he made to a newspaper correspondent referring his resignation to the conduct of the conservatives, and a letter from the emperor gratefully thanking the prince in the warmest terms for his "long and intimate co-operation," and conferring upon him at the same time the highest order in the empire, that of the black eagle, should be sufficient evidence to disprove the supposition. it is more probable that the prince was weary of the cares of office and of the strife of party. moreover, he had, in the state of his health, a strong private reason for retirement. four years before, on april , , he had fallen unconscious from his seat on the ministerial bench during the proceedings in the reichstag, and although he was back again in parliament, perfectly recovered, in the following november, the attack was an experience which warned him against too great a prolongation of such heavy work and responsibility as the chancellorship entails. the retirement of prince bülow meant the disappearance of the most notable figure in german political life since the beginning of the century. in ability, wit, and those graces of a refined and richly cultivated mind which have so often distinguished great english statesmen, he was a head and shoulders above any of his fellow-countrymen; while the mere fact that he was able to maintain his position for almost twelve years (he had been, as foreign secretary for over two years, the emperor's most trusted counsellor and the real executive in foreign policy) is a convincing proof of his tact and diplomatic talent, as well as of his statesmanship. his successor, the present chancellor, herr von bethmann-hollweg, is a man of another and very different type. he incorporates the spirit of prussian patriotism of the most orthodox kind in its worthiest and best manifestations, but as yet he has given no proofs of possessing the breadth of view, the oratorical talent, or the urbanity which distinguished his predecessor. prince von bülow's career as a german diplomatist in foreign capitals made him an acute and highly polished man of the world. the present chancellor has spent all his life within the comparatively narrow confines of prussian administrative service. it is, of course, too soon to pass final judgment on him as german prime minister. the visit of king edward vii and queen alexandra to berlin in february, , disposed finally of the idea, which had prevailed in germany as well as abroad for two or three years, that england was pursuing a policy aiming to bring about the "isolation" of germany in world-politics. the visit was an official one, paid, of course, chiefly to the emperor; but its most remarkable feature politics apart, was the friendly relations which king edward established with the berlin city fathers at a reception in the town hall. it was not that he said anything out of the way to the assembled burghers; but his simple manner, genial remarks, and perhaps especially the sympathetic way in which he handled the loving-cup offered by his hosts, made an instantaneous and strong impression. the controversy that raged round the so-called "flora bust" contributed not a little to the gaiety of nations towards the close of this year. the bust, an undraped wax figure, reproducing the features of leonardo da vinci's famous "la joconde," was bought by dr. wilhelm bode, director of the kaiser friedrich museum in berlin, for £ , from a london dealer as an authentic work of the celebrated italian painter, dating from about the year . it was brought with a great flourish of trumpets to berlin, and a chorus of self-congratulation was raised in germany on the successful carrying off of such a prize from england. the harmony, however, was rudely disturbed by the publication of a letter from mr. f.c. cooksey, art critic of the _times_, stating that the bust was not by da vinci at all, but was in reality the work of mr. r.c. lucas, an artist of some note forty or fifty years ago, and that it had for long occupied a pedestal in lucas's suburban garden. the emperor, whose curiosity as well as patriotism was aroused, spent half an hour on november th discussing the bust with dr. bode and examining an album containing photographs of the works of lucas. at the close of his inspection the emperor expressed great delight at the acquisition, as to the genuineness of which he declared he "had not the slightest doubt," and said he did not regard the price paid as extremely high. unfortunately for the emperor's conviction, a letter now appeared in the _times_ from mr. a.c. lucas, a son of r.c. lucas, who said he recollected the making of the bust, and suggested that there might be found in its interior a piece of cloth, probably a part of an old waistcoat of his father's, which had been used as a sort of filling. in the presence of such a statement there was only one thing left to be done: to examine the interior of the bust. first of all it was subjected to the roentgen rays, the result being to show that the interior was not homogeneous. a few days after, there was a great gathering of experts at the museum, a hole was cut in the wax at the back of the bust, a bent wire was introduced, and the search for the famous piece of waistcoat began. it was a dramatic moment as professor latghen with his wire explored the interior of the bust, and the tension reached its highest point when the professor, drawing from the bust what was evidently a piece of cloth, exclaimed, "_hier ist die veste!_" on being further withdrawn the substance proved to be about two square inches of a grey, canvas-like material, feeling soft and velvety to the touch. it was a disagreeable discovery for the germans, but it was got over by the suggestion that the original bust had been entrusted to lucas for repair, and that in this way the waistcoat had got into it. the "poor english newspapers," dr. bode said, referring to the sarcastic comments on the discovery from the other side of the channel, "had had, without any acquaintance with our bust or with the work of its alleged forger, to give this particular form of expression to their ill-humour at the sale." as a matter of fact, the bust, whoever made it, is a lovely work of art, as every one who has seen it readily admits. the emperor's friendship with mr. theodore roosevelt, which was now to be confirmed by personal acquaintance, throws a side light on his own character, and testifies to his desire to keep in touch with the rulers of other countries--another illustration, by the way, of his consistency, since he laid down the policy of cultivating friendly relations with foreign rulers at the very commencement of his reign. probably many letters in the large characteristic handwriting of both men have passed between them, and there probably always existed a desire on the part of the wielder of the mailed fist to make the personal acquaintance of the advocate of the big stick. the meeting occurred in may, , after mr. roosevelt had shot wild beasts in africa, visited egypt, london, vienna, rome, and other continental cities, with a cohort of newspaper correspondents, and caused by his speeches political, if fortunately harmless, disturbance almost everywhere he went. when in berlin he was to have lodged at the emperor's palace; but the emperor's hospitable intent was frustrated by the death of king edward vii, which prevented all entertainment in the home of his german nephew. the roosevelt party, consisting of the ex-president, mrs. roosevelt, and miss ethel roosevelt, arrived in berlin on may th from stockholm, and at noon the same day were taken by royal train to potsdam. at the new palace the party were heartily greeted by the emperor, whom they found standing on the steps waiting to receive them. after shaking hands the emperor led his guests into a small reception-room, where they were introduced to the empress, the crown prince and crown princess, and other members of the imperial family. the emperor then took them to the shell room, so called from its being inlaid with shells and rare stones, and here were found some of the emperor's high officials, including admiral von müller, chief of the marine cabinet, and one of the most able and amiable of the emperor's entourage, who had met mr. roosevelt when on his trip to america with prince henry several years before. luncheon followed at six small tables in the jasper gallery, the emperor taking his seat between mrs. roosevelt and the crown princess, while the empress had mr. roosevelt on her left and her eldest son, the crown prince, on her right. princess victoria louise, the emperor's only daughter, occupied a seat on mr. roosevelt's left. after lunch was over the guests went back to the shell room, and here the emperor, taking mr. roosevelt apart, began a conversation so long and animated that the shades of evening began to fall before it ended. the roosevelts did not return to berlin by train, but were first driven by the emperor to inspect sans souci, and were afterwards whirled back to berlin in the yellow imperial motors. only two other incidents of the visit need be mentioned. one of them was a lecture on "the world movement," delivered by mr. roosevelt in very husky tones (for he was suffering badly from hoarseness) at berlin university, in the presence of the emperor and empress. the other was a parade of , troops, arranged by the emperor at doeberitz, the great military exercise camp near potsdam, which mr. roosevelt, clad in a khaki coat and breeches, and wearing brown leather gaiters and black slouch hat, observed from horseback beside the emperor. as the troops went by at the close of the review the emperor and mr. roosevelt saluted in military fashion simultaneously. immediately after the visit of the roosevelts, the emperor was called to england to attend the funeral of king edward vii. the imperial yacht _hohenzollern_, with the emperor on board, arrived in england on may th. next day the emperor travelled to victoria terminus, where he was received and warmly embraced by king george. they proceeded to buckingham palace, where the emperor's first call was made on the widowed queen alexandra. on the st took place the funeral of king edward, the procession to westminster abbey, where the service was held, being headed by king george with the emperor on his right and the duke of connaught on his left. both the emperor and the duke were dressed in field-marshal's uniform and carried the bâtons of their rank. the countenance of the emperor is described by a chronicler of the time (and the _times_) as wearing "an expression grave even to severity." the procession moved slowly on to the famous abbey, the emperor riding a grey horse, saluting at intervals as he rode along. on arrival at the abbey an incident occurred. as soon as queen alexandra's carriage arrived and drew up, the emperor, according to the accounts of eyewitnesses, ran to the door of the carriage with so much alacrity that he had reached it before the royal servants, and when it appeared that her majesty was not to alight from that side of the carriage, the emperor motioned the lacqueys round to the other door, and was there before them to assist her majesty. this he did, after himself opening the door. the emperor remained in england only a very few days after the funeral, seeing old friends, among them lord kitchener. as of interest to both englishmen and germans may be mentioned the tour through india undertaken by the crown prince in november. steele once happily said of a lady hastings that "to love her was a liberal education"; to make a tour through india, it might similarly be said, is an education in the extent and character of british imperial power and administration. the crown prince naturally devoted a goodly share of his time to the delights of sport, including tiger-shooting and pig-sticking, but he must also have learned much of england's fine imperial spirit from his intercourse with an official hierarchy as honest and conscientious as that of his own country. the crown prince, on his return home, published a volume of hunting reminiscences which does no small credit to him as an author. the emperor's "shining armour" political remark dates from this period. he was on a visit to his triplice ally, kaiser franz josef, in september, , and made a speech at the vienna town hall on the st which contained a reference to the loyal conduct he claimed germany had observed when the action of austria-hungary in annexing bosnia and herzegovina, despite the wording of the treaty of berlin, had raised an outcry in other countries, and in particular strained austrian relations with russia. after thanking his audience for the personal reception given him, he continued: "on the other hand, it seems to me i read in your resolution the agreement of the city of vienna with the action of an ally in taking his stand in shining armour at a grave moment by the side of your most gracious sovereign." the outcry caused in the world by austria's high-handed annexation, and especially in russia, theoretically always austria's most probable enemy, owing to conflicting interests in the balkans, subsided, we know, as suddenly as it was raised. the reason, it is currently believed, and the form in which the rays of the shining armour acted, was an intimation from the emperor to the czar that, if necessary, germany was prepared to fight for austria. peoples are said to have the institutions, and husbands the wives, they deserve; but if german cities, and especially berlin, have the police they deserve, the fact speaks very uncomplimentarily for their inhabitants. foreigners in germany, coming from countries where manners are more natural and obliging, frequently use the adjectives "brutal" and "stupid" when speaking of the prussian constable. the proceedings of the berlin police during the moabit riots in the capital in september this year are often quoted as an example of their brutality, while, as to stupidity, it is enough to say that a stranger in berlin, discussing its mounted police, naïvely remarked that what most struck him about them was the look of intelligence on the faces of the horses. judgments of this kind are too sweeping. it should be remembered that germany is surrounded by countries of which the riff-raff is at all times seeking refuge in it or passing through it, that polyglot swindlers of every kind, the most refined as well as the most commonplace, abound, and that anarchists are not yet an extinct species. for the prussian police, moreover, there is a social democrat behind every bush. possibly to this condition of things, and to the suspicion that social democratic organizers were about, was due the gallant charge made by half a dozen policemen, with drawn swords in their hands and revolvers at their belts, on four inoffensive english and american journalists during the moabit riots. towards midnight of september th the journalists were seated in an open taximeter cab, in a brilliantly lighted square, which some little time before had been swept of rioters--rioters from the berlin police point of view being any one, man, woman, or child, who is, with guilty or innocent intent, it makes no difference, in or near a theatre of disturbance. suddenly half a dozen burly policemen, led on by a police spy, as he afterwards turned out to be, charged the cab and laid about them with their swords. they probably only intended to use the flat of their weapons, but one of them succeeded in slashing deeply the hand of reuter's representative, who was of the party. the other journalists escaped with contusions and bruises, thanks chiefly to the sides of the cab impeding the sword-play of the attackers. the journalists naturally complained to their ambassadors, who took up their cause with commendable readiness. without immediate effect, however; the authorities, though themselves very strong on the point of duty, wondered much at journalists being in a place where duty alone could have brought them, and refused any sort of apology or other satisfaction. the government, however, eventually expressed its "regret," and a year or two after, possibly in the spirit of conciliation and compensation, agreed to give foreign journalists in berlin the _passe-partout_, or _coupe-fil_, as it is known in france, which is one of the privileges most valued by the journalist, native and foreign, in paris. among the international agreements of the year was a commercial one between germany and america. commercial relations between the two countries have never been quite satisfactory to either, and if there is no tariff war, occasions of tariff tension, with consequent disturbance of trade, constantly arise. germany's european commercial treaties have secured her a sufficiency of raw material for her industry. her chief object now is not so much perhaps to facilitate imports of material from other countries as to find markets, in america as elsewhere, for her industry's finished products. consequently she strongly dislikes the high tariff barriers of the united states, inaugurated by the dingley tariff of , and has in addition certain grievances against that country regarding customs administration in respect of appraisement, invoices, and the like. her commercial connexion with america dates from the treaty of "friendship and commerce" made by frederick the great, and having the most-favoured-nation treatment as its basis; a regular treaty of the same kind between prussia and america was entered into in ; and since then commercial relations have been regulated provisionally by a series of short-term agreements which, however, america claims, do not confer on germany unrestricted right to most-favoured-nation treatment. by the agreement now in force, concluded this year ( ), america and germany grant each other the benefit of their minimum duties. since the "november storm" the emperor had made no reference to the doctrine of divine right, nor given any indication of a desire to exercise the "personal regiment" which is the natural corollary to it. it has been seen that the doctrine, viewed from the english standpoint, is a species of mental malady to which hohenzollern monarchs are hereditarily subject. it recurs intermittently and particularly whenever a hohenzollern monarch speaks in koenigsberg, the scone of prussia, where prussian kings are crowned. when at koenigsberg this year the emperor suffered from a return of the royal _idée fixe_. "here my grandfather," he said, "placed, by his own right, the crown of the kings of prussia on his head, once again laying stress upon the fact that it was conferred upon him by the grace of god alone, not by parliament, by meetings of the people, or by popular decisions; and that he considered himself the chosen instrument of heaven and as such performed his duties as regent and as ruler." speaking of himself on the occasion he said: "considering myself as an instrument of the lord, without being misled by the views and opinions of the day, i go my way, which is devoted solely and alone to the prosperity and peaceful development of our fatherland." the emperor, by the way, on this occasion made what sounds like an indirect reference to the suffragette craze. "what shall our women," he asked, after mentioning the pattern queen of prussia, queen louise, "learn from the queen? they must learn that the principal task of the german woman does not lie in attending public meetings and belonging to societies, in the attainment of supposed rights in which women can emulate men, but in the quiet work of the home and in the family." the emperor's reference to his divine appointment did not pass without a good deal of popular criticism in germany, but nearly all germans were at one with the emperor in his view of the proper sphere for womanly activities. the emperor's domestic life for the last two or three years, including the early months of the present year, have passed without special cause of interest or excitement, if we except the visit he and the empress made to london in may, , to be present at the unveiling of queen victoria's statue, and the announcement he was able to make a few months ago that his only daughter, princess victoria louise, had become engaged to prince ernest august, duke of cumberland, the still persisting claimant to the kingdom of hannover, absorbed by prussia in . the visit to london lasted only five days and produced no incident particularly worthy of record. the engagement of princess victoria louise, while generally believed to be a love-match, possesses also political significance for germany, not indeed as putting an end to the claim of the duke of cumberland, but as practically effecting a reconciliation between the hohenzollerns and guelphs. the young duke of brunswick had already implicitly renounced his claim to hannover by entering the german army and taking the oath of allegiance to the emperor as war lord, so that, when his father dies, the guelph claim to hannover will die with him. it is difficult to determine whether the government's abandonment of its design to amend the prussian franchise system in , its submissive attitude towards the pope's borromeo encyclical in , the rapid rise in food prices which marked both years, or finally, the emperor's failure to secure a slice of morocco for germany had most antagonizing effect on german popular feeling; but whatever the cause, the general elections of january, , proved a tremendous socialist victory, which must have been, and still remains, gall and wormwood to the emperor. notwithstanding official efforts, over one-third of the votes polled at the first ballots went for social democratic candidates. the number of seats thus obtained was , and this number, after the second ballots, rose to , thus making the socialist party numerically the strongest in the reichstag. up to the present, however, herr bebel and his cohorts appear to be happy in possessing power rather than in using it. before completing the emperor's domestic chronicle of more recent years, a few lines may be devoted to the role in which he has last appeared before the public--that of farmer. on february , , he attended a meeting of the german agricultural council in berlin, and with only a few statistical notes to help him narrated in lively and amusing fashion his experiences as owner of a farm, the management of which he has been personally supervising since . the farm is part of the cadinen estate, bequeathed to him by an admirer and universally known for the majolica ware made out of the clay found on the property. the emperor was able to show that he had achieved remarkable success with his farm, and particularly with a fine species of bull, _bos indicus major_, he maintained on it. a year or two before, at a similar meeting, when speaking of the same breed of bull, he caused much hilarity among the military portion of his audience by jokingly remarking that it had "nothing to do with the general staff." on the present occasion he also caused laughter by recounting how he had "fired," to use an american expression exactly equivalent to the german word employed by the emperor, a tenant who "wasn't any use." the emperor, however, would, as it turned out, have done better by not mentioning the incident, for the supreme court at leipzig a few days subsequently quashed the emperor's order of ejectment on the tenant and condemned him to pay all the costs in the case. the role of farmer, it may be added, is one which, had he been born a country gentleman like bismarck, the emperor would have filled with complete success. but in what role would he not have done well? foreign politics everywhere for the last three or four years have been full of incident, outcry, and bloodshed. the state of things, indeed, prevailing in the world for some time past is extraordinary. a visitant from another planet would imagine that normal peace and abnormal war had changed places, and that civilized mankind now regard peace as an interlude of war, not war as an interlude of peace. he would be wrong, of course, but the race in armament, which threatens to leave the nations taking part in it financially breathless and exhausted, might easily lead him astray. on some of the situations with which these politics are concerned we may briefly touch. for the last three or four years the dominant note in the music of what is called the european concert, taking europe for the moment to include great britain, has been the state of anglo-german relations. there have been times, as has been seen, when public feeling in both england and germany was strongly antagonized, but all through the period there has been evident a desire on the part of both governments to adopt a mutually conciliatory attitude, and if the war in the balkans does not lead to a general international conflagration, which at present appears improbable, the two countries may arrive at a permanent understanding. there was, and not so very long ago, a similar state of tension, prolonged for many years, between england and france. that tension not only ceased, but was converted into political friendship by the anglo-french agreement of . parallel with this tension between england and france was the tension between england and russia, owing to the latter's advance towards england's indian possessions. the latter state of things ended with the anglo-russian agreement of , and it should engender satisfaction and hope, therefore, to those who now apprehend a war between england and germany to note that neither of the tensions referred to, though both were long and bitter, developed into war. the tension between england and germany of late years has been tightened rather than relaxed by ministerial speeches as well as by newspaper polemics in both countries. one of the most disturbing of the former was the speech delivered by mr. lloyd george at the mansion house on july , . doubtless with the approval of the prime minister, mr. asquith, mr. lloyd george said: "i believe it is essential, in the highest interest not merely of this country, but of the world, that britain should at all hazards maintain her place and her prestige amongst the great powers of the world. her potent influence has many a time been in the past, and may yet be in the future, invaluable to the cause of human liberty. it has more than once in the past redeemed continental nations, which are sometimes too apt to forget that service, from overwhelming disasters and even from national extinction. i would make great sacrifices to preserve peace. i conceive that nothing would justify a disturbance of international goodwill except questions of the gravest national moment. but if a situation were to be forced upon us in which peace could only be preserved by the surrender of the great and beneficent position britain has won by centuries of heroism and achievement, by allowing britain to be treated, where her interests are vitally affected, as if she were of no account in the cabinet of nations, then i say emphatically that peace at that price would be a humiliation intolerable for a great country like ours to endure." these rhetorical platitudes were uttered at the time of the "conversations" between the french and german foreign offices about the compensation claimed by germany for giving france, once for all, a free hand in morocco. germany was apparently making demands of an exorbitant character, and what mr. lloyd george really meant was that if germany persisted in these demands england would fight on the side of france in order to resist them. as a genuinely democratic speaker, however, he followed the rule of many publicists, who are paid for their articles by the column and say to themselves, "why use two words when five will do?" another unfortunate remark that may be noted in this connexion was that made by mr. winston churchill in referring to the german navy as "to some extent a luxury." the remark, though true (also to a certain extent), was unfortunate, for it irritated public opinion in germany, where it was regarded as a species of impertinent interference. as evidence of the desire on the part of the emperor and his government for a friendly arrangement with england may be quoted the statement made in december, , by the german chancellor, herr von bethmann-hollweg, _to_ the following effect:-- "we also meet england in the desire to avoid rivalry in regard to armaments, and non-binding _pourparlers_, which have from time to time taken place, have been conducted on both sides in a friendly spirit. we have always advanced the opinion that a frank and sincere interchange of views, followed by an understanding with regard to the economic and political interests of the two countries, offers the surest means of allaying all mistrust on the subject of the relations of the powers to each other on sea and land." the chancellor went on to explain that this mistrust had manifested itself "not in the case of the governments, but of public opinion." with regard, in particular, to a naval understanding between england and germany, chancellor von bülow, in a budget speech in march, , declared that up to that time no proposals regarding the dimensions of the fleets or the amount of naval expenditure which could serve as a basis for an understanding had been made on the side of england, though non-binding conversations had taken place on the subject between authoritative english and german personalities. in march last year ( ) such proposals may be said to have been made in the form of a suggestion by sir edward grey during the budget debate that the ratio of to (i.e., per cent. more and per cent. over) should express the naval strength of the two countries. the suggestion was "welcomed" by admiral von tirpitz on behalf of germany in february, . and there the matter rests. a perhaps inevitable result of the tension between england and germany during the period under consideration has been the amount of mutual espionage discovered to be going on in both countries. an incident that attracted wide attention was the arrest in of captains brandon and trench, the former of whom was arrested at borkum and the latter at emden. they were tried before the supreme court at leipzig, and were both sentenced to incarceration in a fortress for four years. many other arrests, prosecutions, and sentences have taken place both in england and germany since then, with the consequence that english travellers in germany and german travellers in england, particularly where the travellers are men of military bearing and are in seaside regions, are now liable, under very small provocation, to a suspicion of being spies. an english lady recently made the acquaintance of a german in england. he was a very nice man, she said, and went on to relate how they were talking one day about ireland. she happened to mention tipperary. "oh, i know tipperary," the german officer said; "it is in my department." "it was a revelation to me," the lady concluded when repeating the conversation to her friends. as a matter of fact, the intelligence departments of the army in both germany and england are well acquainted with the roads, hills, streams, forts, harbours, and similar details of topography in almost all countries of the world besides their own. in regard to should be recorded the journey of the crown prince and crown princess to england to represent the emperor at the coronation of king george in june; the outbreak in september of the turco-italian war, which placed the emperor in a dilemma, of which one fork was his duty to italy as an ally in the triplice and the other his platonic friendship with the commander of the faithful; and, lastly, the suspicion of the emperor's designs that arose in connexion with the fortification of flushing at a cost to holland of some £ , , . the emperor was supposed to have insisted on the fortification in order to prevent the use of the netherlands by great britain as a naval base against germany. like many another scare in connexion with foreign policy, the supposition may be regarded only as a product of intelligent journalistic "combination." finally, among subsidiary occurrences, should be mentioned the meeting of the emperor and the czar in july, , at port baltic in finnish waters, accompanied by their foreign ministers, with the official announcement of the stereotyped "harmonious relations" between the two monarchs that followed; and the premature prolongation, with the object of showing solidarity regarding the balkan situation, of the triple alliance, which, entered into, as mentioned earlier, in the year , had already been renewed in , , and . the next renewal should be in , unless in the meantime an international agreement to which all great powers are signatories should render it superfluous. the war in the balkans need only be referred to in these pages in so far as it concerns germany. the position of germany in regard to it, so far, appears simple; she will actively support austria's larger interests in order to keep faith with her chief ally of the triplice, and so long as austria and russia can agree regarding developments in the balkan situation, there is no danger of war among the great powers. people smiled at the declaration of the powers some little time ago that the _status quo_ in the balkans should be maintained; but it should be remembered that the whole phrase is _status quo ante bellum_, and that, once war has broken out, the _status_, the position of affairs, is in a condition of solution, and that no new _status_ can arise until the war is over and its consequences determined by treaties. the result of the present war, let it be hoped, will be to confine turkey to the orient, where she belongs, and that the balkan states, possibly after a period of internecine feud, will take their share in modern european progress and civilization. the amount of declaration, asseveration, recrimination (chiefly journalistic), rectification, intimidation, protestation, pacification, and many other wordy processes that have been employed in almost all countries with the avowed object of maintaining peace during the last four years is in striking contrast to the small progress actually made in regard to a final settlement of either of the two great international points at issue--the limitation of armaments and compulsory arbitration. enough perhaps has been said in preceding pages to show the attitude of the emperor, and consequently the attitude of his government, towards them. a history of the long agitation in connexion with them is beyond the scope of this work. the agitation itself, however, may be viewed as a step, though not a very long one, on the way to the desired solution, and it is a matter for congratulation that the two subjects have been, and are still being, so freely and copiously and, on the whole, so sympathetically and hopefully ventilated. the great difficulty, apparently, is to find what diplomatists call the proper "formula"--the law-that-must-be-obeyed. unfortunately, the finding of the formula cannot be regarded as the end of the matter; there still remains the finding of what jurists call the "sanction," that is to say, the power to enforce the formula when found and to punish any nation which fails to act in accordance with it. nothing but an areopagus of the nations can furnish such a sanction, but with the present arrangements for balancing power in europe, to say nothing of the ineradicable pugnacity, greed, and ambition of human nature, such an areopagus seems very like an impossibility. time, however, may bring it about. if it should, and the golden age begin to dawn, an epoch of new activities and new horizons, quite possibly more novel and interesting than any which has ever preceded it, will open for mankind. xvi. the emperor to-day what strikes one most, perhaps, on looking back over the emperor's life and time, are two surprising inconsistencies, one relating to the emperor himself, the other to that part of his time with which he has been most closely identified. the first arises from the fact that a man so many-sided, so impulsive, so progressive, so modern--one might almost say so american--should have altered so little either in character or policy during quarter of a century. this is due to what we have called his mediæval nature. he is to-day the same hohenzollern he was the day he mounted the throne, observing exactly the same attitude to the world abroad and to his folk at home, tenacious of exactly the same principles, enunciating exactly the same views in politics, religion, morals, and art--in everything which concerns the foundations of social life. he still believes himself, as his speeches and conduct show, the selected instrument of heaven, and acts towards his people and addresses them accordingly. he still opposes all efforts at political change, as witness his attitude towards electoral reform, towards the germanization of prussian poland, towards the socialists, towards liberalism in all its manifestations. he is still, as he was at the outset of his reign, the patron of classical art, classical drama, and classical music. he is still the war lord with the spirit of a bishop and a bishop with the spirit of the war lord. he is still the model husband and father he always has been. most men change one way or another as time goes on. with the emperor time for five-and-twenty years appears to have stood still. the inconsistency relating to his time arises from the contrast between the real and the seeming character of the reign. for, strikingly and anomalously enough, while the emperor has been steadily pursuing an economic policy, a policy of peace, his entire reign, as one turns over the pages of its history, seems to resound, during almost every hour, with martial shoutings, confused noises, the clatter of harness, the clash of swords, and the tramp of armies. from moment to moment it recalls those scenes from shakespearean drama in which indeed no dead are actually seen upon the stage, but at intervals the air is filled with battle cries, "with excursions and alarms," with warriors brandishing their weapons, calling for horses, hacking at imaginary foes, and defying the world in arms. and yet in reality it has been a period of domestic peace throughout. though there has been incessant talk of war, and at times war may have been near, it never came, unless the south west african and boxer expeditions be so called. commerce and trade have gone on increasing by leaps and bounds. the population has grown at the rate of nearly three-quarters of a million a year. emperor william the first's social policy has been closely followed. the navy has been built, the army strengthened, the empire's finances reorganized; in whatever direction one looks one finds a record of solid and substantial and peaceful progress and prosperity. a great deal of it is owing, admittedly, to the germans themselves, but no small share of it is due to the "impulsive" emperor's consistency of character and conduct. probably the inconsistencies are only apparent. germany and her emperor have grown, not developed, if by development is meant a radical alteration in structure or mentality, and if regard is had to the real germany and the real emperor, not to the germany of the tourist, and not to the emperor of contemporary criticism. it has been seen that the emperor's nature and policy have not altered. the constitution of germany has not altered, nor her press, nor her political parties, nor her social system, nor, indeed, any of the vital institutions of her national life. with one possible exception--the navy. the navy is a new organic feature, and, like all organisms, is exerting deep and far-reaching influences. germany, of course, is in a process of development, a state of transition. but nations are at all times in a state of transition, more or less obvious; and it will require yet a good many years to show what new forms and fruits the development now going on in germany is to bring. the emperor, it is safe to say, will remain the same, mediæval in nature, modern in character, to the end of his life. the main thing, however, to be noted both about germany and the german emperor is what they stand for in the movement of world-ideas at the present time. germans cause foreigners to smile when they prophesy that their culture, their civilization, will become the culture and the civilization of the world. the sameness of ideas that prevailed in mediæval times about life and religion--about this life and the life to come--was succeeded, and first in germany, by an enormous diversity of ideas about life and religion, beginning with the rationalism (or "enlightenment," as the germans call it) which set in after the reformation and the renaissance; and this diversity again promises--let us at least hope--to go back, in one of the great circles that make one think human thought, too, moves in accordance with planetary laws, to a sameness of views among the nations in regard to the real interests of society, which are peace, religious harmony through toleration, commercial harmony through international intercourse, and the mutual goodwill of governments and peoples. for all this order of ideas the emperor, notwithstanding his mailed fist and shining armour, stands, and in this spirit both he and the german mind are working. more than half a century has passed over the emperor's head; let us look a little more closely at him as the man and the monarch he is to-day. time appears to have dealt gently with him; the heart, one hears it said, never grows bald, and in all but years the emperor is probably as young and untiring as ever. his personal appearance has altered little in the last decade. an observer, who had an opportunity of seeing him at close quarters in , describes him, as he then appeared, as follows:-- "i was standing within arm's length of him at cuxhaven, where we were waiting the landing of prince henry, his brother, on his return from america. the _deutschland_ had to be warped alongside the quay, and the emperor, in the uniform of a prussian general of infantry, meanwhile mixed with the suite and chatted, now to one, now to another, with his usual bonhomie. i was speaking to the american attaché, captain h----, when the emperor came up, and naturally i stood a little to one side. "the thing that most struck me was the emperor's large grey eyes. as they looked sharply into those of captain h---- or glanced in my direction, they seemed to show absolutely no feeling, no sentiment of any kind. not that they gave the notion of hardness or falsity. they were simply like two grey mirrors on which outward things made no impression. "two other features did not strike me as anything out of the ordinary, but the whole face had an air of ability, cleverness, briskness, and health. the emperor is about middle height, with the body very erect, the walk firm, and is very energetic in his gestures. i did not notice the shortness of the left arm, but that may have been because his left hand was leaning on his sword-hilt. captain h---- told me he could not put on his overcoat without assistance, and that the hand is so weak he can do very little with it. there was nothing of a hohenzollern hanging under-lip." the following judgment was formed a year or two ago by an american diplomatist: "i have often met him," the diplomatist said, "and only speak of the impression he made on me. i would describe him as intelligent rather than intellectual. he appreciates men of learning and of philosophic mind, and while not learned and philosophic himself, enjoys seeing the learned and philosophic at work, and gladly recognizes their merit when their labours are thorough and well done. his mind is marvellously quick, but it does not dwell on anything for long at a time. it takes in everything presented to it in, so to speak, a hop, skip, and jump. "in company he is never at rest, and surprises one by his lively play of features and the entirely natural and unaffected expression of his thoughts. he is sitting at a lecture, perhaps, when a notion occurs to him, and forthwith indicates it by a humorous grimace or wink to some one sitting far away from him. he is always saying unexpected things. on the whole, he is a right good fellow, and i can imagine that, though he can come down hard on one with a heavy hand and stern look, he does not do so by the instinct of a despot, but acting under a sense of duty." another diplomatist has remarked the emperor's habit in conversation of tapping the person he is talking to on the shoulder and of scrutinizing him all over--"ears, nose, clothes, until it makes one feel quite uncomfortable." the next sketch of him is as he may be seen any day during the yachting week in june at kiel:-- "the emperor is in the smoking-room of the yacht club, dressed in a blue lounge suit with a white peaked cap. he is sitting carelessly on the side of a table, dangling his legs and discussing with fellow-members and foreign yachtsmen the experience of the day, now speaking english, now french, now german. he seems quite in his element as sportsman, and puts every one at ease round him. his expression is animated and his voice hearty, if a little strident to foreign ears. his right hand and arm are in ceaseless movement, emphasizing and enforcing everything he says. he asks many questions and often invites opinion, and when it differs from his own, as sometimes happens, he takes it quite good-humouredly." to-day the emperor is outwardly much the same as he has just been described. he is perhaps slightly more inclined to stoutness. his features, though they speak of cleverness and manliness, are forgotten as one looks into the keen and quickly moving grey eyes with their peculiar dash of yellow. he is well set up, as is proper for a soldier ever actively engaged in military duties, and his stride continues firm and elastic. he is still constantly in the saddle. his hair, still abundant, is yet beginning to show the first touches of the coming frost of age, and the reddish brown moustache, once famous for its haughtily upturned ends, has taken, either naturally or by the aid of herr haby, the court barber, who attends him daily, a nearly level form. in public, whether mounted or on foot, he preserves the somewhat stern air he evidently thinks appropriate to his high station, but more frequently than formerly the features relax into a pleasant smile. the colour of the face is healthy, tending to rosiness, and the general impression given is that of a clever man, conscious, yet not overconscious, of his dignity. the shortness of the left arm, a defect from birth, is hardly noticeable. the extirpation of a polypus from the emperor's throat in , which must have been one of the severest trials of his life when the history of his father's mortal illness is remembered, might lead one to suppose that his vocal organs would always suffer from the effects of the operation. it has fortunately turned out otherwise. his voice was originally strong by nature, and remains so. it never seems tired, even when, as it often does, it pleases him to read aloud for his own pleasure or that of a circle of friends. it frequently occurs that he will pick up a book, one of his ancient favourites, horace or homer perhaps, mr. stewart houston chamberlain's "foundations of the nineteenth century"--a work he greatly admires--or a modern publication he has read of in the papers, and read aloud from it for an hour or an hour and a half at a time. nor is his reading aloud confined to classical or german books. he is equally disposed to choose works in english or french or italian, and when he reads these he is fond of doing so with a particularly clear and distinct enunciation, partly as practice for himself, and partly that his hearers may understand with certainty. this is not all, for there invariably follows a discussion upon what has been read, and in it the emperor takes a constant and often emphatic part. it has been remarked that at the close of the longest sitting of this character his voice is as strong and sonorous as at the beginning. he is still the early riser and hard worker he has always been; still devotes the greater part of his time to the duties that fall to him as war lord; still races about the empire by train or motor-car, reviewing troops, laying foundation-stones, unveiling statues, dedicating churches, attending manoeuvres, encouraging yachting at kiel by his presence during the yachting week, or hurrying off to meet the monarch of a foreign country. he still enjoys his annual trip along the shores of norway or breaks away from the cares of state to pass a few weeks at his corfu castle, dazzling in its marble whiteness and overlooking the acroceraunian mountains, or to hunt or shoot at the country seat of some influential or wealthy subject. in fine, he is still engaged with all the energy of his nature, if in a somewhat less flamboyant fashion than during his earlier years, in his, as he believes, divinely appointed work of guiding prussia's destiny and building up the german empire. it is because he is an empire-builder that his numerous journeys abroad and restlessness of movement at home have earned for him the nickname of the "travelling kaiser." the germans themselves do not understand his conduct in this respect. if one urges that hohenzollern kings, and none of them more than the great elector and frederick the great, were incessant travellers, they will reply that their kings had to be so at a time when the empire was not yet established, when rebellious nobles had to be subdued, and when the spirit of provincialism and particularism had to be counteracted. hence, they say, former hohenzollerns had to exercise personal control in all parts of their dominions, see that their military dispositions were carried out, and study social and economic conditions on the spot; but nowadays, when the empire is firmly established, when the administration is working like a clock and the post and telegraph are at command, the emperor should stay at home and direct everything from his capital. the emperor himself evidently takes a different view. he does not consider the forty-year-old empire as completed and consolidated, but regards it much as the great elector or frederick the great regarded prussia when that kingdom was in the making. he believes in propagating the imperial idea by his personal presence in all parts of the empire, and at the same time observing the progress that is being made there. he is, finally, a believer in getting into personal touch, as far as is possible, with foreign monarchs, foreign statesmen, and foreign peoples, for he doubtless sees that with every decade the interests of nations are becoming more closely identified. in connexion with the subject of the emperor's travelling, mention may be made of the fact that many years ago he thought it necessary to explain himself publicly in reference to the idea, prevalent among his people at the time, that he was travelling too much. "on my travels," he said, "i design not only to make myself acquainted with foreign countries and institutions, and to foster friendly relations with neighbouring rulers, but these journeys, which have been often misinterpreted, have high value in enabling me to observe home affairs from a distance and submit them to a quiet examination." he expresses something in the same order of thought in a speech telling of his reflections on the high sea concerning his responsibilities as ruler: "when one is alone on the high sea, with only god's starry heaven above him, and holds communion with himself, one will not fail to appreciate the value of such a journey. i could wish many of my countrymen to live through hours like these, in which one can take reckoning of what he has designed and what achieved. then one would be cured of over self-estimation--and that we all need." when the emperor is about to start on a journey, confidential telegrams are sent to the railway authorities concerned, and immediately a thorough inspection of the line the emperor is about to travel over is ordered. tunnels, bridges, points, railway crossings, are all subjected to examination, and spare engines kept in immediate readiness in case of a breakdown occurring to the imperial train. the police of the various towns through which the monarch is to pass are also communicated with and their help requisitioned in taking precautions for his safety. like any private person, the emperor pays his own fares, which are reckoned at the rate of an average of fifteen shillings to one pound sterling a mile. a recent journey to switzerland cost him in fares £ . of late years he has saved money in this respect by the more frequent use of the royal motor-cars. the royal train is put together by selecting those required from fifteen carriages which are always ready for an imperial journey. if the journey is short, a saloon carriage and refreshment car are deemed sufficient; in case of a long journey the train consists of a buffer carriage in addition, with two saloon cars for the suite and two wagons for the luggage. the train is always accompanied by a high official of the railway, who, with mechanics and spare guard, is in direct telephonic communication with the engine-driver and guard. the carriages are coloured alike, ivory-white above the window-line and lacquered blue below. all the carriages, with the exception of the saloon dining-car, are of the corridor type. a table runs down the centre of the dining-car; the emperor takes his seat in the centre, while the rest of the suite and guests take their places at random, save that the elder travellers are supposed to seat themselves about the emperor. if the emperor has guests with him they naturally have seats beside or in the near neighbourhood of their host. breakfast is taken about half-past eight, lunch at one, and dinner at seven or eight. the emperor is always talkative at table, and often draws into conversation the remoter members of the company, occasionally calling to them by their nickname or a pet name. he sits for an hour or two after dinner, with a glass of beer and a huge box of cigars before him, discussing the incidents of the journey or recalling his experiences at various periods of his reign. the emperor's disposition of the year remains much what it was at the beginning of the reign. the chief changes in it are the omission of a yachting visit to cowes, which he made annually from to , and, since , the habit of making an annual summer stay at his corfu castle, "achilleion," instead of touring in the mediterranean and visiting italian cities. january is spent in berlin in connexion with the new year festivities, ambassadorial and other court receptions, drawing-rooms, and balls, and the celebration of his birthday on the th. the berlin season extends into the middle of february, so that part of that month also is spent in berlin. during the latter half of february and in march the emperor is usually at potsdam, occasionally motoring to berlin to give audience or for some special occasion. april and part of may are passed in corfu. towards the end of may the emperor returns to germany and goes to wiesbaden for the opera and festspiele in the royal theatre; but he must be in berlin before may has closed, for the spring parade of the berlin and potsdam garrisons on the vast tempelhofer field. his return on horseback from this parade is always the occasion of popular enthusiasm in berlin's principal streets. in early june the emperor stays at potsdam or perhaps pays a visit to some wealthy noble, and at the end of the month the yachting week calls him to kiel. once that is over he proceeds on his annual tour along the coast of norway. september sees him back in germany for the autumn manoeuvres. october and november are devoted to shooting at rominten or some other imperial hunting lodge, or with some large landowner or industrial magnate. the whole of december is usually spent at potsdam, save for an annual visit to his friend prince fürstenberg at donaueschingen. naturally he is in potsdam for christmas, when all the imperial family assemble to celebrate the festival in good old german style. in music, as we know, he retains the classical tastes he has always cultivated and sometimes dictatorially recommended. good music, he has said, is like a piece of lace, not like a display of fireworks. he still has most musical enjoyment in listening to bach and handel. the former he has spoken of as one of the most "modern" of composers, and will point out that his works contain melodious passages that might be the musical thought of franz lehar or leo fall. he has no great liking for the music of richard strauss, and his admiration of wagner, if certain themes, that must, one feels, have been drawn from the music of the spheres, be excepted, is respectful rather than rapturous. of wagner's works the "meistersingers" is "my favourite." a faculty that in the emperor has developed with the years is that of applying a sense of humour, not originally small, to the events of everyday life. he is always ready to joke with his soldiers and sailors, with artists, professors, ministers--in short, with men of every class and occupation. several stories in illustration of his humour are current, but a homely example or two may here suffice. he is sitting in semi-darkness in the parquet at the royal opera house. "le prophète" is in rehearsal, and it is the last act, in which there is a powder cask, ready to blow everything to atoms, standing outside the cathedral. fraulein frieda hempel, as the heroine, appears with a lighted torch and is about to take her seat on the cask. suddenly the imperial voice is heard from the semi-gloom: "fraulein hempel, it is evident you haven't had a military training or you wouldn't take a light so near a barrel of gunpowder." and the _prima donna_ has to take her place on the other side of the stage. or he is presenting professor siegfried ochs, the famous manager of the philharmonic concerts, with the order of the red eagle, third class, and with a friendly smile gracefully excuses himself for conferring an "order of the third class on a musician of the first class," by pleading official rule. a third popular anecdote tells of a lady seated beside him at the dinner-table. salad is being offered to her, but she thinks she is bound to give all her attention to the emperor and takes no notice of it. thereupon the emperor: "gnadige frau, an emperor can wait, but the salad cannot." possibly the emperor had in mind louis xiii, who complained that he never ate a plate of warm soup in his life, it had to pass through so many hands to reach him. the german takes his theatre as he takes life, seriously. to cough during a performance attracts embarrassing attention, a sneeze almost amounts to misdemeanour. to the german the theatre is a part of the machinery of culture, and accordingly he is not so easily bored as the anglo-saxon playgoer, who demands that drama shall contain that great essential of all good drama, action. to the anglo-saxon, the more plentiful and rapid the action is, the better. the german, differing from most anglo-saxons, likes historical scenes, great processions, costume festivals, the representation of mediæval events in which his monarchs and generals played conspicuous parts. the emperor has the same disposition and taste. yet both national taste and disposition, like other of the nation's characteristics, are slowly altering with the growth of the modern spirit, and germans now begin to require something of a more modern kind, a more social order, something that comes home more to their business and bosoms. greater variety in subject is asked for, more laughter and tears, more representations of scenes and life dealing with everyday doings and the fate of the people as distinguished from the doings and fate of their rulers and the upper classes. the emperor has not followed his people in the new direction. he regards the stage as a vehicle of patriotism, an instrument of education, a guider of artistic taste, an inculcator of old-time morality. its aim, he appears to think, is not to help to produce, primarily, the good man and good citizen, but the good man and good monarchist, and--perhaps--not so much primarily the good monarchist as the liege subject of the hohenzollern dynasty. having secured this, he looks for the elevation of the public taste along his own lines. he assumes that the public taste can be elevated from without, from above, when it can only be elevated proportionately with its progress in general education and its purification from within. consequently he is for the "classical," as in the other arts. but apart from its aims and uses, the theatre has always appealed to him. his fondness for it is a hohenzollern characteristic, which has shown itself, with more or less emphasis, in monarch after monarch of the line. nor is it surprising that monarchs should take pleasure in the stage, since the theatre is one of the places which brings them and their subjects together in the enjoyment of common emotions, and shows them, if only at second hand, the domestic lives of millions, from personal acquaintance with which their royal birth and surroundings exclude them. the emperor treats all artists, male and female, in the same friendly and unaffected manner. there is never the least soupçon of condescension in the one case or flirtation in the other, but in both a lively and often unexpectedly well-informed interest in the play or other artistic performance of the occasion, and in the actors' or actresses' personal records. the nationality of the artist has apparently nothing to do with this interest. the emperor invites french, italian, english, american or scandinavian artists to the royal box after a performance as often as he invites the artists of his own country, and, once launched on a conversation, nothing gives him more pleasure than to expound his views on music, painting, or the drama, as the case may be. "tempo--rhythm--colour," he has been heard to insist on to a conductor whom in the heat of his conviction he had gradually edged into a corner and before whom he stood with gesticulating arms--"all the rest is _schwindel_." at an entertainment given by ambassador jules cambon at the french embassy after the morocco difficulty had been finally adjusted, he became so interested while talking to a group of french actors that high dignatories of the empire, including princes, the imperial chancellor and ministers, standing in another part of the _salon_, grew impatient and had to detach one of their number to call the emperor's attention to their presence. since then, it is whispered, it has become the special function of an adjutant, when the occasion demands it, diplomatically and gently to withdraw the imperial _causeur_ from too absorbing conversation. several anecdotes are current having reference to the emperor as sportsman. one of them, for example, mentions a loving-cup of frederick william iii's time, kept at the hunting lodge of letzlingen, which is filled with champagne and must be emptied at a draught by anyone visiting the lodge for the first time. this is great fun for the emperor, who a year or two ago made a number of berlin guests, including chancellor von bethmann-hollweg, the austrian ambassador, szoghenyi-marich, the secretary for the navy, admiral von tirpitz, and the crown prince of greece stand before him and drain the cup. as the story goes, "the attempts of the guests to drink out of the heavy cup, which is fixed into a set of antlers in such a way as to make it difficult to drink without spilling the wine, caused great amusement." the principles of sport generally, it may be here interpolated, are not quite the same in germany as in england, though no country has imitated england in regard to sport so closely and successfully as germany. up to a comparatively few years ago the germans had neither inclination nor means for it, and though always enthusiastic hunters, hunting--not the english fox-hunting, but hunting the boar and the bear, the wolf and the deer--was almost the sole form of manly sport practised. _turnen_, the most popular sort of german indoor gymnastics, only began in , a couple of years after the birth of the emperor. there are now nearly a dozen cricket clubs alone in berlin, football clubs all over the empire, tennis clubs in every town, rowing clubs at all the seaports and along the large rivers, nearly all following english rules and in numerous cases using english sporting terms. at the same time sport is not the religion it is in england--indeed, to keep up the metaphor, hardly a living creed. the german attitude towards sport is not altogether the same as the english attitude. in england the object of the game is that the best man shall win, that he shall not be in any way unfairly or unequally handicapped _vis-à-vis_ his opponent, and the honour, not the intrinsic value of the prize, is the main consideration. these principles are not yet fully understood or adopted in germany, possibly owing to the early military training of the german youth making the carrying off the prize anyhow and by any means the main object. it is _realpolitik_ in sport, and a _realpolitik_ which is not wholly unknown in england; but while the spirit of _realpolitik_ is still perceivable in german sport, it is equally perceivable that the standard english way of viewing sporting competition is becoming more and more approached in germany. the emperor is an enthusiastic patron of sport of all healthy outdoor kinds, not as sympathizing with the english youth's disposition to regard play as work and work as play, to give to his business any time he can spare from his sport, but because he estimates at its full value its place in the national health-budget. his personal likings are for bear-shooting, deer-stalking, and yachting, but he also wields the lawn-tennis racket and the rapier with fair skill. the names of several of his hunting lodges---rominten, springe, hubertusstock, and so on--are familiar to many people in all countries. rominten preserve is in east prussia, and embraces about four square miles, with little lakes and some rising ground. september is the emperor's favourite month for visiting it. here one year he shot a famous eight-and-twenty-ender antelope, which had come across from russian territory. before the present reign the deer, or pig, or other wild animal used to be beaten up to the royal sportsman of the day, but that practice has long ceased, and the emperor has to tramp many a mile, and at times crawl on all fours for hundreds of yards, to get a shot. we have seen that the emperor's position as king and emperor renders inevitable his adoption, either of natural bent, which is extremely probable, or from a policy in harmony with the wishes of his people, of a view of the monarch's office that to perhaps most englishmen living under parliamentary rule must seem antiquated, not to say absurd. this attitude apart, the emperor possesses, as it is hoped has been sufficiently shown, as modern and progressive a spirit as any of his contemporaries. his instant recognition of all useful modern appliances, particularly, of course, those of possible service in war, is a prominent feature of his mentality. he went, doubtless, too far in heralding count zeppelin, in , as "the greatest man of the century," but the very words he chose to use marked his appreciation of the new aeronautical science count zeppelin was introducing. similarly, the moment the automobile had entered on the stage of reliability it won a place in the imperial favour, and is now his most constant means of locomotion. he has never, it is true, emulated the enterprise of his son, the crown prince, whom mr. orville wright had as a companion for a quarter of an hour in the air at potsdam three years ago, but his interest in the aeroplane is none the less keen because he is too conscious of his responsibilities to subject his life to unnecessary risk. before closing our sketch of the emperor as a man by quoting appreciations written by two contemporary writers, one german and the other english, it may be added that there is a statesman still--it is pleasant to think--alive who could, an he only would, draw the emperor's character perfectly, both as man and monarch. indeed, as has been seen, he has more than once sketched parts of it in parliament, but only parts--the whole character of the emperor, on all its sides and in all its ramifications, has yet to be revealed. here need only be quoted what chancellor bülow--and also, by the way, princess bülow--publicly said about the emperor as man. the prince's most noteworthy statement was made in the reichstag in , when, in answer to leader-of-the-opposition bebel, the prince said, "one thing at least, the emperor is no philistine," and proceeded to explain, rather negatively and disappointingly, that the emperor possesses what the greeks call megalopsychia--a great soul. one knows but too well the english philistine, that stolid, solid, self-sufficient bulwark of the british constitution. the german philistine is his twin brother, the narrow-minded, conservative burgher. other epithets the prince applied to the imperial character were "simple," "natural," "hearty," "magnanimous," "clear-headed," and "straightforward"; while princess bülow, during a conversation her husband was having with the french journalist, m. jules huret, in , interjected the remark that he was "a person of good birth, _fils de bonne maison_, the descendant of distinguished ancestors, and a modern man of great intelligence." but let us see how the emperor appears to his contemporaries. dr. paul liman, who has made the most serious attempt to sketch the character of the emperor that has yet appeared in german, writes:-- "we see in him a nature whose ground-tone is enthusiasm, phantasy, and a passionate impulse towards action. filled with the highest sense of the imperial rights and duties assigned to him, convinced that these are the direct expression of a divine will, he has inwardly thrown off the bonds of modern constitutional ideas and in words recently spoken, where he claimed responsibility for fifty-eight million people, converted these ideas into a formula that, while unconstitutional, is yet moral and deeply earnest. these words were doubly valuable as giving insight into the soul of a man who can be mistaken in his conclusions and means, but not in his motives, since these are directed to the general weal. here, too, we find the explanation of the fact that at one time he comes before us surrounded with the blue and hazy nimbus of the romantic period, and at another as the most modern prince of our time. out of the rise in him of the consciousness of majesty there grows a greater sense of duty, and instead of keeping watch from his turret over his people he loses himself in detail. and precisely here must he fail, because modern life with its development is far too rich in complications and activities to admit of its submitting to patriarchal benevolence. and because an artistic strain and a strong fantasy simultaneously work in him, he moves joyfully beyond the limits of the actual to raise before our eyes the highly coloured dream of the picture of a time in which all men, all nations, will be friendly and reconciled--an artist's dream. here is something characteristic, something unusual, to give particular charm to a personality which has no parallel in the history of the dynasty hitherto. there may be concealed in it the seed of illustrious deeds, but only too often disappointment and contempt lie scornfully in wait when the deed is accomplished. for the heaven we erect on earth always comes to naught, and the idealist is always vanquished in the strife with fact." so far, dr. liman. mr. sydney brooks, in a sketch in _maclure's magazine_ for july, , writes:-- "the drawback to any and to every _régime_ of paternal absolutism is that the human mind is limited. the kaiser will not admit it, but his acts prove it. it is not given to one man to know more about everything than anybody else knows about anything; and the kaiser, who is a good deal of a dilettante, and believes himself omniscient, at times speaks from a lamentable half-knowledge, and occasionally has to call in the imperial authority to back up his verdicts against the judgments of experts. "unquestionably his mind is of an unusual order. it is a facile, quickly moving instrument; it works in flashes; it assimilates seemingly without effort, and it is at its best under the highest pressure. the kaiser is not to be laughed at for wanting to know all there is to be known, but he may justly be criticized for failing to distinguish between the attempt and its failure.... "is it all charlatanerie? is it all of a part with his speech in russian to the regiment of which the czar made him honorary colonel, a studied trumpery effort, designed for a momentary effect? is the kaiser just glitter and tinsel, impulse and rhapsody, with nothing solid beneath? is it his supreme object to make an impression at any cost, to force, like another nero, the popular applause by arts more becoming to a _cabotin_ than a sovereign? vanity, restlessness, a consuming desire for the palm without the dust--an intense and theatrical egotism--are these the qualities that give the clue to his character and actions? "i do not think so altogether. the kaiser has scattered too much. in an age of specialists on many subjects he speaks like an amateur. he is always the hero, and often the victim, of his own imagination; like a star actor, he cannot bear to be outshone; he is morbidly, almost pruriently, conscious of the effect he is producing. and on all matters of intellect and taste his influence makes for blatant mediocrity. but he is not meretricious; at bottom he is not by any means as superficial and insincere as he often seems. he is one of those men in whom an instinct becomes an immutable truth, an idea a conviction, and a suspicion a certainty, by an almost instantaneous process; and, the process completed, action follows forthwith. the kaiser is always resolved to do the right thing; the right thing, by some quaint but invariable coincidence, is whatever he is resolved to do." these appreciations from afar may be as sound as they are brilliant, but they rather refer to the non-essential parts of the character of the emperor in the first flush of imperial glory than to the essential character as it has developed with the years. as a man--he will be dealt with as monarch presently--his essential character must be judged from his conduct, and conduct extending over a good many years. one might say, conduct and reputation, but that reputation is so often the result of a confused mixture of superficial observation, gossip, tittle-tattle, envy, hatred and uncharitableness, and, in the case of an emperor, of merely picturesque and effective writing. there is another source which would materially help us in forming a judgment, but it is wholly wanting in the case of the emperor. no private correspondence of his is, as yet, available to the world. again, a man's character is determined by his motives, if it is not the other way about; in any case, a man's motives are for the most part inscrutable and can only be deduced from conduct, while the world usually makes the mistake of explaining conduct by attributing its own motives. tried, then, by the standard of conduct, the only one available, the emperor, as a man, shows us a high type of humanity. it may not, probably does not, appeal to englishmen wholly, but there are features of it which must command, and do command, the respect of people of all nationalities. and, first of all, he is a good man; good as a christian, good as a husband, good as a father, good as a patriot. with all the power and temptation to gratify his inclinations, he has no personal vices of the baser sort. he is moderate in the satisfaction of his appetites, whether for food or wine. he is no debauchee, no voluptuary, no gambler. he is faithful to old friends and comrades. he has high ideals, and is not ashamed of them. he is neither indolent nor fussy; neither a cynic, nor an intriguer, nor a fool; he is neither wrong-headed nor stubborn; he is honest and sincere to a degree that does him honour as a man, if it has sometimes proved perilous and blameworthy in him as a monarch. he is optimistic, and on good grounds. he is no physical or intellectual giant, but he is a man of more than average all-round intelligence and capacity. if this appreciation is correct, or even approximately correct, it is a testimonial, whatever may be its worth, to great merit. yet the emperor as man has his failings and drawbacks, though they are such as time is almost sure to diminish or eradicate. notably in his earlier years he lacked judgment, the power of balancing considerations and arriving at conclusions from them which men more gifted with poise would endorse as logical and inevitable. he does not, like spare cassius, see quite through the deeds of men, as his friendship for count phili eulenburg and the malodorous "camarilla" go to show, and his choice of imperial chancellors, his grand viziers, has not in every instance been happy. he has less tact than character, as he showed once in vienna, where he greatly pained the foreign minister, count goluchowski, one day at a club by calling to him, "golu, golu, come and sit beside your kaiser." he has the german masculine enjoyment in a kind of humour which would have delighted fox and the three-bottle men, but would sadly shock the susceptibilities of an oxford æsthete. he has a share of personal vanity, but it springs from the desire to look the emperor he is, not because he supposes for a moment that he is an adonis. he is theatrical in exactly the same spirit--the desire imperially to impress his folk in the sense of the german word _imponieren_, a word that needs no translation. if he has lost much of dr. liman's "romantik," he still retains the "scatteredness" of mr. sidney brooks, though the emperor would rather hear it called "many-sidedness." _en résumé_ he has the defects of his qualities, but to no man or woman's unmerited loss or injury, and if we weigh the good qualities with the bad, we find a fine balance remaining to his credit as a man. the fierce light which beats upon a throne, if it is apt to dazzle the bystander, helps those at a distance, especially in these days of the still fiercer light of modern publicity, to judge fairly the throne's occupant. the character of the emperor as monarch ought, therefore, as far as is possible in the absence of archives marked "secret and confidential" and yet lying in the ministries of all countries, to disclose itself nowadays with reasonable clearness. yet, even still, different and conflicting opinions regarding it are to be gathered in germany and out of it. indeed, his own people are among the severest critics. one of them, professor quidde, early in the reign, made an extraordinarily ingenious, but quite unjustifiable, comparison of him to caligula, which, though only consisting of classical quotations and making no mention of the emperor, was seen by everybody to refer to him and has caused discussion ever since. while many foreign critics have done the emperor justice, others in turn have made him out to be arrogant, snobbish, bombastic, superficial, incompetent, and insincere. to writers of this class he is always the german war lord, ready to pounce, like a highwayman or pirate, on any unprotected person or property he may come across, regardless of treaty obligations, of international disaster, or of the dictates of humanity. one day they announce he is planning the annexation of holland in order to get a further set of naval bases, the next that he means to take belgium to make a road for his armies into france, a third that he is about to set at naught the monroe doctrine and with his dreadnoughts seize brazil. all these things are conceivable and not impossible, but they are in the very highest degree improbable, and, as yet at least, ought not to be considered seriously. to sensible and better-informed people everywhere he is a prussian king of the best type, a sincere friend of peace, with a mania for pushing the maxim "_si vis pacem para bellum_" to extremes, politically the most influential man in europe, and, with all his faults, one of the greatest germans of his time. the character of the emperor, as monarch, is reflected very largely in the character of the germany of to-day. germany is optimistic, ardently desirous of peace, bent on worthily maintaining the great place she has won, and deserved to win, among the nations, and so materially prosperous as to make many germans tremble at the thought that the prosperity may be too great to last. this, however, is not to assert that in germany everything is _couleur de rose_. there are not a few things in the empire's social and political conditions which are antiquated or promise no good. noxious as well as beneficial forces have been introduced into the social life of the country and are beginning to make themselves felt. german home-life is ceasing to be the admirable and exemplary thing it was before the present era of class rivalry, commercialism, the parvenu and the snob. the idealism which made the empire a possibility is passing away. there is need, and a general demand, for franchise reform in prussia, and a change in the spirit of prussian bureaucratic administration would be acceptable, though it is, perhaps, hopeless to expect it. the opposition in germany between the monarchic and the democratic principle, if not more marked than it was twenty or thirty years ago, is manifesting itself over a wider and perhaps deeper area. the relations between capital and labour are far from satisfactory adjustment. social democracy is yearly gaining fresh adherents, and if guilty of no political violence, is yet a constant source of danger to domestic peace. the german middle class, that bourgeoisie which is the backbone and strength of the empire, is losing its spartan simplicity and its content with small and moderate pleasures; and the national virtues of thrift and self-denial are yielding to the temptations of wealth and luxury. business credit is unduly stretched, speculation in land has attained disturbing proportions, and the banking world is in too many instances allied with hazardous or doubtful enterprises. nevertheless the country as a whole is sound, intellectually, morally, and financially. it would be difficult to mention any of the greater tasks of imperial administration to which the emperor does not continue to devote personal attention. he is the life and soul of the army and navy, though it should not be forgotten that as regards the latter he has in admiral tirpitz an executive talent worthy of his own directive. his interest in the mercantile marine remains what it was when in , as prince william, he drew up an expert opinion which decided the hamburg-amerika company to build their fast ocean-going steamers at home instead of abroad, and by the success of the experiment commenced the modern development of germany's shipbuilding industry. indeed, his attention to the hamburg line, familiarly known as the "hapag" line, from the initial letters of its legal title, "hamburg-amerika packetfahrt-aktien gesellschaft," and to the norddeutsche line from bremen, has given rise to the unfounded belief that he is heavily interested in their financial success. herr albert ballin, the director of the hamburg line, though a jew, is among his intimates and advisers, and the emperor is said to have caused umbrage more than once to court officials and the aristocracy by giving directors of both lines precedence at his table. without the emperor's personal support it is probable that neither the firm of krupp at essen nor the splendid shipbuilding yards at hamburg, bremen, stettin and elsewhere would continue to progress as they are doing. he neglects no opportunity of stimulating germany's internal and external trade. he is at all times ready to encourage the introduction of useful achievements of modern science and invention. and lastly, by tactful treatment of other german rulers, and a wise policy of non-interference with their states, he is promoting a feeling of federal solidarity. the emperor's conception of his relations to the people remains to-day what he was brought up in and what it was when he mounted the throne. in england, america, and france the people are the real rulers, and their monarch or president is their highest official servant and representative. the idea is not perhaps constitutionally expressed, but it is universally and deeply felt in the countries named. in germany the opposite theory obtains--for how long it must be left to the future to say. in germany the emperor is the real ruler, the genuine monarch, and the people are his subjects, the country his country. hence, while an english king in an official document or public statement would not think of putting himself first and the people or country second, the german emperor's official statements and speeches constantly repeat such expressions as "i and my people," "i and the army," "my capital," "me and the fatherland," and a score more; so that anglo-saxons and other foreigners acquire the impression that the word "my" is no figure of rhetoric or pride, but a simple claim of ownership or possession. and the official relation between monarch and people is reflected in the people's ordinary life. to the foreigner it continually appears that the public are the servants of the official, not the contrary, whether officialism takes the shape of a post-office clerk, a tramcar conductor, a shop salesman, a policeman, or a waiter. all these functionaries are the possessors of an authority which the citizen is expected to, and usually does, obey. the explanation of such a state of things is a little abstruse, but an attempt may be made at giving it. the period immediately preceding the reign of frederick the great was a period of absolute monarchy in germany, a system introduced from france, where louis xiv had proclaimed the doctrine _l'etat, c'est moi_, according to which the lives and property of the subject belonged to the prince, whose will was to be obeyed without question or demur. there were now four hundred courts in germany in imitation of the court of versailles, and the smaller the principality the greater the absolutism. absolutism, however, required an army to support it; hence the establishment of standing and mercenary armies and the disuse of arms by the citizen. the result, to quote professor ernst richard's work on "german civilization," was that "the pride of the burgher and the peasant was broken. a submissive servility hopelessly pervaded the masses, and even the best had lost all social and national feeling, all sense of being part of a greater body.... the luxurious life and the arrogance of the ruling classes were accepted as a matter of course, one might say as a divine institution. thus those traits of character, which had come to light under the cruel stress of the thirty years war, fostered by the rule of despotism and the worst vices, took deeper root. to these belong that greed for social position, for titles and the smiles of the great; servility towards those who hold a higher position as bearers of official titles and dignity, a fear of publicity, above all a rather remarkable inclination to a peevish, petty, and sceptical attitude as regards the knowledge and ability of others. the exaltation of the position of the prince extended to his court and his officials, as well as to the nobility, which had long since become a court nobility." but absolutism had to go with the changes in human thought under the influence of rationalism, which brought with it the idea of the state, not the absolute prince, as ruler. this idea was embodied in the _rechtstaat_, or state based on law, which was introduced by frederick the great, the "first servant of the state." the state, he said, exists for the sake of the citizens. "one must be insane," he wrote, "to imagine that men should have said to one of their equals, 'we will raise you so that we may be your slaves, we will give you the power to guide our thoughts according to yours.' they rather said: 'we need you in order to execute our laws, that you show us the way, and defend us. but we understand that you will respect our liberties.'" the _rechtstaat_ exists in germany to the present day, the emperor is at the head of it, and the people are content to live within its confines. it is not, as has been seen, coterminous with the whole liberty of the subject, but is yet a vast bundle of rights and obligations which in public, and much of private, life leaves as little as possible to the unaided or undirected intelligence or goodwill of the citizen. it is an exaggeration, but still expresses a popular feeling even in germany itself--and certainly describes an impression made on the anglo-saxon--to say that outside this bundle of laws and regulations, which, clearly and logically paragraphed, orders to a nicety all the public, and many of the private, relations of the citizens, everything is forbidden or discouraged by authority. yet, as has been said, the people are satisfied with it, and it must be admitted that if it confines individual liberty within what to the anglo-saxon seem narrow limits, still, by directing the individual to common ends, it works great public advantage. it is in truth a very intelligent and practical form of socialism, infinitely less oppressive to the people than would be the socialism of the professed socialist. it left, however, the german caste system of frederick's day undisturbed; as professor richard says: "the nobility retained its privileged position. it was considered a law of nature that the noblemen should assist the monarch in the administration of the state and as leaders of the army; the peasant should cultivate the fields and provide food; the commoner should provide money through industry and commerce." to the anglo-saxon, of course, brought up with individualistic views of life and demanding complete personal freedom, the german _rechtstaat_ would be galling, not to say intolerable. the englishman, however, has his _rechtstaat_ too, but the limits it places on his liberty are not nearly so restrictive in regard to public meeting, public talking, public writing, in short, public action of all sorts, as in germany. besides, the spirit of laws in england, as naturally follows from the englishman's political history, is a much more liberal one than the german spirit, which is still to some extent under the influence of the age of absolutism. the german conception of the _rechtstaat_ entails, as one of its consequences, a sharp contrast between the rights and privileges of the crown and the rights and privileges of the people; and therefore, while the emperor is never without apprehension that the people may try to increase their rights and privileges at the expense of those of the crown, the people are not without apprehension that the crown may try to increase its rights and privileges at the expense of the political liberties of the people. to this apprehension on the part of the people is to be attributed their widespread dissatisfaction with the emperor's so-called "personal regiment," which, until recently, was the chief hindrance to his popularity. in truth the emperor is in a difficult position. to be popular with the people he must be popular with the parliament, but if he were to seek popularity with the parliament he would lose popularity and prestige with the aristocracy and large landowners, who have still a good deal of the old-time contempt for the mere "folk," the burgher, and he would lose it with the military officer class, which is aristocratic in spirit, and is, as the emperor is constantly assuring it, the sole support of throne and empire. in addition to this it has to be remembered that a large majority of south germany is catholic, and, generally speaking, no great lover of prussia, its people, and their airs of stiff superiority. the personal relations of the emperor to his people, and in especial to the vast burghertum, are precisely those to be expected from his traditional and constitutional relations. he is not popular, but he is widely and sincerely respected. his preference for the army, intelligible though it is, and the cleavage that separates government and people, explain to some extent the want of popularity, using that word in its "popular" sense; while the consciousness of all the nation owes to his "goodwill," his initiative and energy, his conscientiousness in all directions, is quite sufficient to account for the respect. it is, in truth, in part at least, the respect which excludes the popularity. no one is ever likely to be popular, anywhere, who is constantly endeavouring to teach people how to live and what to think, and at the same time seems to have no social weaknesses to reconcile him with those--no small number--who are fond of cakes and ale. some of the emperor's acts and speeches have postponed, if not precluded, eventual popularity--his breach with bismarck, for example, the whole "personal regiment," and speeches like that at potsdam in , when he told his recruits that if he had to order them to shoot down their brothers, or even their parents, they must obey without a murmur. speeches of this last kind live long in public memory. in his dealings with his people the emperor is neither arrogant--"high-nosed" is the elegant german expression: "arrogant" is no german word, prince bülow would doubtless say-- towards his subjects, nor are they cringing towards him, though this statement does not exclude the excusable embarrassment an ordinary mortal may be expected to feel in the presence of a monarch. the emperor himself desires no "tail-wagging" from his subjects, and though there is something of the autocrat in him, there is nothing of the despot. certainly for the present, germans, with rare exceptions, are satisfied with him. they are prospering under him. the shoe pinches here and there, and if it pinches too hard they will cry out and perhaps do more than cry out. they do not consider the emperor perfect, but they forgive his errors, and particularly the errors of his impetuous youth, even though on three or four occasions they brought the country into danger. monarchy has been defined as a state in which the attention of the nation is concentrated on one person doing interesting things: a republic, as a state in which the attention is divided between many who are all doing uninteresting things: germans find their emperor interesting, and that is a stage on the road to popularity. the imperial ego, which is quite consistent with the german view of monarchical rule and conformity with the _rechtstaat_, is specially advertised by the pictures and statues of the emperor which are to be found all over germany, to the apparent exclusion of the pictures and statues of national and local men of distinction. the emperor's picture almost monopolizes the walls of every public and municipal office, every railway-station refreshment-room, every shop, every restaurant throughout the empire. wherever it turns the eye is confronted by the portrait or bust of the emperor, and if it is not his portrait or bust, it is the portrait or bust of one or other of his ancestors. an exception should be made in the case of bismarck, the reproduction of whose rugged features, shaggy eyebrows, and bulky frame are not infrequent; statues and portraits, too, of moltke and roon, though much more rarely met with than those of bismarck, are to be seen, while those of goethe, schiller, kant, lessing, wagner, or other german "immortal," are still rarer. only once, or perhaps twice, in all germany is there to be found a public statue of heine--for heine was a jew and said many unpleasant, because true, things about his country. the travelling foreigner in germany after a while begins to wonder if he is not in some far eastern country where ancestor-worship obtains, and where one tremendous personality overshadows, obscures, and obliterates all the rest. in truth, however, this is not the lesson of the imperial images for the foreigner. they teach him that he is in a country with a system of government and views of the state different from his own, that the empire is ruled in a military, not a civic spirit, and that the counterfeit presentment of the emperor, always in dazzling uniform, is the sign of the national acceptance of system, views, and spirit. a similar lesson is taught by the emperor's speeches. in england the king rarely speaks in public, and then with well-calculated brevity and reserve. in five words he will open a museum and with a sentence unveil a monument. the emperor's speeches fill four stout volumes--and he is only fifty-four. the speeches deal with every sort of topic, and have been delivered in all parts of the empire--now to parliament, now to his assembled generals, now at the celebration of some national or individual jubilee, now at the dedication of a building or the opening of a bridge. the style is always clear and logical, in this respect contrasting favourably with the german style of twenty years ago, when the language wriggled from clause to clause in vermiform articulations until the thought found final expression in a mob of participles and infinitives. metaphors abound in the speeches, some of them slightly far-fetched, but others of uncommon beauty, appropriateness, and pith. there is no brilliant employment of words, but not seldom one comes across such terse and happy phrases as the famous "we stand under the star of commerce," "our future lies on the water," "we demand a place in the sun." on the english reader the speeches will be apt to pall, unless he is thoroughly saturated with prussian historic, military, and romantic lore and can place himself mentally in the position of the emperor. the tone, never quite detached from consciousness of the imperial ego, hardly ever descends to the level of familiar conversation nor rises to heights of eloquence that carry away the hearer. with three or four exceptions, there is no argumentation in the speeches, for they are not meant to persuade or convince, but to enjoin and command. they do not contain any of the important and interesting facts and figures of which, nevertheless, the emperor's mind must be full, and they are wanting in wit and humour, though nature has endowed the emperor with both. on the other hand, it should be remembered that they are the speeches of an emperor, not of a statesman. the speeches have no political timeliness or object save that of rousing and directing imperial spirit among the people by appeals to their imagination and patriotism. had the emperor been actuated by the spirit of a minister or statesman, he would have been far more alive to the fact than he appears to have been, that every word he uttered would instantly find an echo in the parliament, press, and stock exchange of all other countries. the emperor's fundamental mistakes, as disclosed by his speeches, appear to an englishman to have been in assuming when they were made that the empire was in a less advanced stage of consolidation and settlement than it in fact was, and in underrating the intelligence, knowledge, and patriotism of his people. from this point of view his early speeches in particular sound jejune or superfluous. what would the englishman say to a king who began his reign by a series of homilies on alfred the great or elizabeth or queen victoria; by using strong language about the labour party or the fabian society; by appeals to throne and altar; by describing to parliament the chief duties of the monarch; by recommending the london county council to build plenty of churches; by calling journalists "hunger-candidates"; by frequent references to the battles of waterloo and trafalgar? yet, _mutatis mutandis_, this is not so very unlike what the young emperor did, and not for a year or two, but for several years after his accession. to an englishman such addresses would appear rather ill-timed academic declamation. yet there was much, and perhaps is still much, to account for, if not quite justify, the emperor's rhetoric. the peculiarity of germany's monarchic system placed, and places, the monarch in a patriarchal position not very different from that of moses towards the israelites--a leader, preacher, and prophet. again, the empire, when the emperor came to the throne, was not a homogeneous nation inspired by a centuries-old national spirit, but suffered, as it still in a measure suffers, from the particularism of the various kingdoms and states composing it: in other words, from too local a patriotism and stagnation of the imperial idea. thirdly, the empire had no navy, while an empire to-day without a navy is at a tremendous and dangerous disadvantage in world-politics, and the mere conception that a navy was indispensable had to be created in a country lying in the heart of europe and with only one short coast-line. the englishman is as loyal to his king as the german is to his emperor, and england, as little as germany, is disposed to change from monarchy to republicanism. but the englishman's political and social governor, guide, and executive is not the king, but the parliament; because while in the king he has a worthy representative of the nation's historical development and dignity, in the parliament he sees a powerful and immediate reflection of himself, his own wishes, and his own judgments. moreover, with the spread of democratic ideas, the position of a monarch anywhere in the civilized world to-day is not what it was fifty years ago. the general progress in education since then; the drawing together of the nations by common commercial and financial interests; the incessant activity of writers and publishers; the circulation and power of the press--themselves almost threatening to become a despotism--such facts as these tend to change the relations between kings and peoples. monarchs and men are changing places; the ruler becomes the subject, the subject ruler; it is the people who govern, and the monarch obeys the people's will. such is not the view of the german emperor nor of the german people. to both the monarch is no "shadow-king," as both are fond of calling the king of england, but an emperor of flesh and blood, commissioned to take the leading part in decisions binding on the nation, responsible to no one but the almighty, and the sole bestower of state honours. there are, it is true, three factors of imperial government constitutionally--the emperor, the federal council, and the imperial parliament; but while the council has only very indirect relations with the people, the parliament, a consultative body for legislation, is not the depositary of power or authority, or an assembly to which either the emperor, or the council, or the imperial chancellor is responsible. it must be admitted that, while such is the constitutional theory, the actual practice is to a considerable extent different. the emperor is no absolute monarch, even in the domain of foreign affairs, as he is often said to be, but is influenced and guided, certainly of late years, both by the federal council and by public opinion, the power of which latter has greatly augmented in recent times. whether the reichstag really represents public opinion in the empire is a moot-point in germany itself. it can hardly be denied that it does so, at least in financial matters, since with regard to them it has all the powers, or almost all, possessed by the english house of commons in this respect. where its powers fail, it is said, is in regard to administration; for though it deliberates on and passes legislation, it is left by the constitution to the emperor and his ministers to issue instructions as to how legislation is to be carried into effect. the result is to throw excessive power over public comfort and convenience into the hands of the official class of all degrees, which naturally employs it to maintain its own dignity and privileged position. towards one class of the population, and that a highly important and exceptional one, the emperor's attitude of unprejudiced goodwill has never varied. israelites form only a small proportion--about per cent.--of the whole people, and are to be found in very large numbers only in berlin and frankfurt; but to their financial and commercial ability germany owes a debt one may almost describe as incalculable. there is a strong national prejudice against them in all parts of the empire, as there probably is in all countries, and it must be admitted that the manners and customs of the lower-class jew, his unpleasant and insistent curiosity, his intrusiveness where he is not desired, his want of cleanliness, his sharpness at a bargain, his oily bearing to those he wishes to propitiate and his ruthless sweating of the worker in all fields when in his power, are all disagreeable personal qualities. there is also, as a concomitant of the nation's growth in wealth of every sort, and mostly perhaps to be found in the capital a class of jewish parvenu, remarkable for snobbishness, ostentation, and affectation. but one must distinguish; and of a large percentage of the educated class of jew in germany it would be difficult to speak too highly. germans may be the "salt of the earth," as the emperor once told them they were, but jewish talent can with quite as much, perhaps more, justice be called the salt of german prosperity. and not alone in the region of finance and commerce. some of the best intellect, most of the leading enterprise in germany, in all important directions, is jewish. many of her ablest newspaper proprietors and editors are jews. many of her finest actors and actresses are jews and jewesses. many of her cleverest lawyers, doctors, and artists are jews. the career of herr albert ballin, the jewish director of the hamburg-amerika line, the emperor's friend, to whom germany owes a great deal of her mercantile marine expansion, is a long romance illustrative of jewish organizing power and success. the emperor's friendship for herr ballin is obviously not entirely disinterested, but the interest at the root of it is an imperial one. in this spirit he cultivates to-day, as he has done since he took over the empire, the society of all his subjects, german or jew, who either by their talents or through their wealth can contribute to the success of the mighty task which occupies his waking thoughts, and for all one knows, his sleeping thoughts--his dreams--as well. accordingly, the wealthy german is quite aware that if he is to be reckoned among the emperor's friends he must be prepared to pay for the privilege, since the emperor is neither slow nor shy about using his influence in order to make the more fortunate members of the community put their hands deeply into their pockets for national purposes. a little time ago he invited a number of merchant princes and captains of industry, as american papers invariably call wealthy germans, to a _bier-abend_ at the palace. when the score or so of guests were seated, he announced that he was collecting subscriptions for some public object--the national airship fund, perhaps--and sent a sheet of paper to herr friedlander fuld, the "coal-king" of germany, to head the list. herr fuld wrote down £ , , and the paper was taken back to the emperor. "oh, this will never do, lieber fuld," he exclaimed, on seeing the amount. "at this rate people will be putting down their names for £ . you must at least double it." and herr fuld had to do so. a few weeks afterwards there was another invitation to the palace, and the same sort of scene took place. a little later still herr fuld got a third invitation, and as an imperial invitation is equivalent to a command, he had to go. when he arrived he noticed his fellow-industrials looking uneasy, not to say sad. the emperor noticed it too, for his first words were: "dear gentlemen, to-night the beer costs nothing." throughout the reign germany has made it her constant policy to cultivate friendly relations with the united states. chancellor von bülow, in , apropos of samoa, said in the reichstag: "we can confidently say that in no other country has america during the last hundred years found better understanding and more just recognition than in germany." this is true of the educated classes, professional, professorial, and scientific; but the ordinary european german, who does not know and understand america, still displays no particular love for the ordinary american. at the same time he probably prefers him to the people of any other nation. american outspokenness in politics, for example, must be refreshing to minds penned within the limits of the _rechtstaat_. he sees in them, too, millionaires, or at least people who come from a country where money is so abundant that, as many country-people still think, you have only to stoop to pick it up. when it comes to business, however, he is a little afraid of their somewhat too sanguine enterprise, and is given to suspect that a "bluff" of some sort is behind the simplest business proposition. much of this, of course, is due to ignorance heightened by yellow journalism, for as a rule only the vastly interesting, but mostly untrue, "stories" regarding germany printed in the yellow press come back to the fatherland. the german, again, is made uneasy by what he thinks the hasty manners of the americans; he considers them uncivil. so, let it be admitted, they sometimes appear to be to people of other nationalities; but then as a rule americans who jar on european nerves will be found to hail from places where life, to use the american expression, is "woolly," or too strenuous to allow of the delicacies of real refinement. the ordinary idea of the german in germany, held by the stay-at-home american, is a vague species of dislike, founded on the conviction that the american, not the german, is the salt of the earth; that the german regard for tradition makes them a slow and slowly moving race; and that the emperor as war lord--for he is almost solely known to him in that capacity--must be ever desirous of war, in particular wishes to seize a coaling-station or even a country, in south america, and, generally speaking, set at naught the monroe doctrine. the governments on both sides, of course, know and understand each other better. in november, , prince bülow publicly thanked america for her attitude at algeciras, implying that it was due to her representative's conciliatory and reconciliatory conduct that the conference did not end in a fiasco. "this," said the chancellor, "was the second great service to the world rendered by america; the other," he added, "being the bringing about of peace between russia and japan." a great deal of the increased intercourse between the two countries is due to the personal endeavours of the emperor. what his motives are may be conjectured with fair accuracy from a general knowledge of his "up-to-date" character, the commercial policy of his empire, and the events of recent years. he has a whole-hearted admiration for the american character and genius, so akin in many ways to his own character and genius; and if he refuses to recommend for germans similar institutions to those in states, federated in a manner somewhat analogous to that of the kingdoms and states composing his own empire, it is not from want of liberality of mind, but because they are wholly opposed to prussian tradition, because his people do not demand them, and because he honestly believes that in respect of topographical situation, climate, historical development, and race feelings and sentiment, the safeguards and requirements of germany are widely different from those of america. as a young man he naturally had very little to do with america or americans, though among his schoolboy playmates was a young american, poulteney bigelow, who afterwards wrote an excellent appreciation of the fine traits in the emperor's character. at the same time the emperor himself has stated that the country always interested him, and recent visitors bear out the statement fully. in , a year after his accession, he expressed his admiration for america, when receiving the american ambassador, mr. phelps. "from my youth on," the emperor said, "i have had a great admiration for that powerful and progressive commonwealth which you are called on to represent, and the study of its history in peace and war has had for me at all times a special interest. among the many distinguished characteristics of your people, which draw to them the attention of the whole world, are their enterprising spirit, their love of order, and their talent for invention. the predominant sentiment of both peoples is that of affinity and tested friendship, and the future can only strengthen the heartiness of their relations." more than twenty years have elapsed since the words were uttered, and the prediction has been fulfilled. scores of anecdotes, it need hardly be said, are current in connexion with the emperor and american friends. one of them is that of an american, mr. frank wyberg, the husband of a lady who, with her children, used often to visit mr. and mrs. armour on their yacht _uttowana_ at kiel, there met the emperor, and was invariably kindly greeted by him. mr. wyberg was summoned with his friend, general miles, to an audience of the emperor in berlin. before going to the palace mr. wyberg went to a well-known picture-dealer in the city and bought a small but artistic painting costing about £ , . he had the picture neatly done up, and carried it off under his arm to the hotel where he was to meet general miles. as they were leaving for the palace the general asked mr. wyberg what he was carrying. "oh, only a trifle for the kaiser!" was the reply. the general was horrified, and tried to dissuade his friend from bringing the picture, telling him that the proper procedure was to ask through the foreign office or the american embassy for the emperor's gracious acceptance of it. otherwise the emperor would be annoyed, he would think badly of american manners, and so on. mr. wyberg, however, was not to be deterred, and insisted that it would be "all right." while waiting in the reception-room for the emperor, mr. wyberg unwrapped the picture and placed it leaning against the wall on a piano. by and by the emperor came in, and almost the first thing he said, after shaking hands, was to ask what the presence of the picture meant. mr. wyberg explained that it was a mark of gratitude for the kindness the emperor had shown his wife and children at kiel. the emperor smiled, said it was a very kind thought, and willingly accepted the gift. the story has a sequel. a day or two after a court official called at the hotel, to get from general miles mr. wyberg's initials, and after another few days had passed reappeared with a bulky parcel. on being opened the parcel was found to consist of a large silver loving-cup, with mr. wyberg's name chased upon it, and underneath the words, "from wilhelm ii." another anecdote refers to an american naval attaché, a favourite of the emperor's. dinner at the palace was over, and the attaché, wishing to keep a memento of the occasion, took his large menu card and concealed it, as he thought, between his waistcoat and his shirt. unfortunately, when taking leave of the emperor, the card slipped down and part of it became visible. the emperor's quick eye immediately noticed it. "hallo! h----," he exclaimed; "look out, your dickey's coming down!" the story shows the emperor's acquaintance with english slang as well as his geniality. the emperor seems to take pleasure in displaying himself to americans in as republican a light as possible, and when he desires the company of an american friend, stands on no sort of ceremony. the american's telephone bell may ring at any hour of the day or evening, and a voice is heard--"here royal palace. his majesty wishes to ask if the herr so-and-so will come to the palace this evening for dinner." on one occasion this happened to professor burgess. the telephone at the hotel adlon in berlin rang up from potsdam about six in the afternoon, and there was so little time for the professor to catch his train that he was forced to finish his dressing _en route_. or the invitation may be for "a glass of beer" after dinner, about nine o'clock. if it is a dinner invitation, the guest, in evening clothes, with his white tie doubtless a trifle more carefully adjusted than usual, drives or walks to the palace. he enters a gate on the south side facing the statue of frederick the great, and under the archway finds a doorway with a staircase leading immediately to the royal apartments on the first floor. in an ante-room are other guests, a couple of ministers, the rector magnificus of the university, and perhaps a "roosevelt" or "exchange" professor; and if the party is not one of men only, such as the emperor is fond of arranging, and the empress is expected, the wives also of the invited guests. without previous notice the emperor enters, an american lover of slang might almost say "blows in," with quick steps and a bustling air that instantly fills the room with life and energy, and showing a cheery smile of welcome on his face. the guests are standing round in a half or three-quarter circle, and the emperor goes from one to the other, shaking hands and delivering himself of a sentence or two, either in the form of a question or remark, and then passing on. when it is not a bachelors' party, the empress comes in later with her ladies. a servant in the royal livery of red and gold, on a signal from the emperor, throws open a door leading to the dining-room, and the emperor and empress enter first. the guests take their places according to the cards on the table. if it is a men's party of, say, four guests, the emperor will seat them on his right and left and immediately opposite, with an adjutant or two as makeweights and in case he should want to send for plans or books. on these occasions he is usually in the dark blue uniform of a prussian infantry general, with an order or two blazing on his breast. he sits very upright, and starts and keeps going the conversation with such skill and verve that soon every one, even the shyest, is drawn into it. there is plenty of argument and divergence of view. if the emperor is convinced that he is right, he will, as has more than once occurred, jestingly offer to back his opinion with a wager. "i'll bet you"--he will exclaim, with all the energy of an english schoolboy. he enjoys a joke or witticism immensely, and leans back in his chair as he joins in the hearty peal about him. when cigars or cigarettes are handed round, he will take an occasional puff at one of the three or four cigarettes he allows himself during the evening, or sip at a glass of orangeade placed before him and filled from time to time. when he feels disposed he rises, and having shaken hands with his guests, now standing about him, retires into his workroom. a few moments later the guests disperse. conversation, both in england and germany, sometimes turns on the question whether or not the emperor will be known to future generations as william "the great." it is agreed on all sides that he will not take a place among the mediocrities or sink into oblivion. we have, though only negatively and indirectly, his own view of the matter, if, that is, it may be deduced from the fact that he has more than once tried to attach this _epitheton ornans_ to the memory of his grandfather. at hamburg in he desired a statue to the emperor william i to bear the inscription "william the great." the cool common sense of the cautious hamburgers refused to anticipate the decision of posterity and placed on the pedestal the simple words "william the first." in deference to the emperor's well-known wishes, if not at his request, the hamburg-amerika line of steamers christened one of their ocean greyhounds _wilhelm der grosse_. the mere fact that people discuss the question in his lifetime is of happy augury for the emperor. perhaps some other epithet will be found for him. "puffing billy" is one of his titles among english officers, taken from the name given locally to stephenson's first locomotive. but history has many ranks in her peerage and many epithets at her disposal--great, good, fair, lionhearted, silent--_that_ the emperor will not have--and a host more. maybe the greatest rulers were those whom history, as though in despair of finding a single term with which to do them justice, has refrained from decorating. timur, akbar, attila, julius cæsar, elizabeth, victoria, napoleon have no epithets, and need none. however, it is clear that a verdict on the emperor's deserts is premature. suppose him at the bar of history. the case is still proceeding, the evidence is not complete, counsel have not been heard, and--most obvious defect of any--the jury has not been impanelled. more than half a century has passed since the emperor was born. how time flies! "alas, alas, o postumus, postumus, the years glide by and are lost to us, lost to us." but not the memories they enshrine. it is, let us imagine, the night of the emperor's jubilee, and he lies in the old schloss, still awake, reflecting on the past. what a multitude of happenings, gay and grave, throng to his recollection, what a glorious and crowded canvas unrolls itself before his mental vision! the toy steamer on the havel; the games in the palace corridors, with the grim features of the great elector betrayed, one is tempted to think, into a half-smile as he watches the innocent gaiety of the romping children from the old wainscoted walls; the irksome but disciplinary hours in the cassel schoolroom; the youthful escapades with those carefree borussian comrades at the university on the broad bosom of father rhine; the excursions and picnics among the seven hills; the visits to england, its crowded and bustling capital, its country seats with their pleasant lawns and stately oaks; the war-ships in the solent, with their black mass and frowning guns, as they towered, like milton's leviathan, above his head. what a good time it was, and how rich in manifold and picturesque impressions! the canvas continues to unroll and a literary period opens--that age between youth and manhood, of all ages most passionate and ideal, when we are enthralled and moved by what we read--by those studies which "_adolescentiam agunt, senectutem oblectant, secundas res ornant, adversis perfugium ac solatium præbent, delectant domi, non impediunt foris; pernoctant nobiscum, peregrinantur, rusticantur_." it was the lohengrin period, when, filled with the ardour and imaginativeness of high-souled youth, the future emperor was dimly thinking of all he would do in the days to come for the happiness and prosperity of his people, nay, of all mankind. another tableau presents itself. life has now become real and the emperor's soldiering days have begun--never to conclude! his regiment is his world; parades and drills, the orderly-room and the barrack square occupy his time; and would seem monotonous and hard but for the little eden with its eve close beside them. the emperor turns uneasily, for his thoughts recur to the painful circumstances of his accession; but calmness soon succeeds as the curtain rises on the splendid panorama of the reign. he sees himself, a young and hitherto unknown actor, leaving the wings and taking the very centre of the stage, while the vast audience sits silent and attentive, as yet hardly grasping the significance of his words and gestures, emphatic though they are. and then he recalls the years of _sturm und drang_, the growth of empire in spite of grudging rivals and of fellow-countrymen as yet not wholly conscious of their destinies, which one can now see constituted a whole drama in themselves, fraught with great consequences to the world. but we are keeping the emperor awake when he should be left to well-deserved repose. he has doubtless half forgotten it all; the bismarck episode is one of those "... old, unhappy, far-off things and battles long ago" of which the poet sings. one unquiet political care excepted, all the rest must be pleasant for him to remember--the rising with the dawn, the hurried little breakfast with the empress, the pawing horses of the adjutants and escort in the courtyard of the palace; the constant travelling in and far beyond the empire; the incessant speech-making, with its appeals to the past and its promises, nobly realized, of "splendid days" in the future--its calls to the people to arms, to the sea, to the workshop, to school, to church, to anything praiseworthy, provided only it was action for the common good; the dockyards in kiel and danzig, with their noise of "busy hammers closing rivets up"; the ever-swelling trade statistics; and the proud feeling that at last his country was coming into her own. even the sensation the emperor caused from time to time in other countries must have had a certain charm for him--endless telegrams, endless scathing editorials, endless movement and excitement. there is no fun like work, they say. the emperor worked hard and enjoyed working. it was the "personal regiment," maybe, and it could not last for ever; but while it did it was doubtless very gratifying, and, notwithstanding all his critics say, magnificently successful. those strenuous times are long over, and if strenuous times have yet to come they will find the emperor alert and knowing better how to deal with them. he has, one may be sure, no thoughts of well-earned rest or dignified repose--he probably never will, with his strong conception of duty and his interest in the fortunes of his empire. still, he is a good deal changed. time has taught him more than his early tutor, worthy dr. hinzpeter, ever taught him; and if his spring was boisterous, and his summer gusty and uncertain, a mellow autumn gives promise of a hale and kindly winter. index abdul aziz, . absolutism, , , _seq_. accession, date, i; period, _seq_. achilleion, . aegir, song to, . agadir, _seq_. alexandra, queen, . algeciras conference, _seq_.; act of, . alsace-lorraine, _seq_. america, art exhibition, ; germany and, ; frederick the great and, ; squadron at kiel, ; commercial relations with, , _seq_. anarchism, _seq_. anglo-french agreement, , _seq_. anglo-german agreement, , ; , ; relations, - , , , _seq_. anglo-japanese agreement, . anti-semites, . arbitration, compulsory, . aristocracy, german, . armament, limitation of, . army, accession speech to, ; importance of, ; true character of, ; emperor and, . art, emperor on, , _seq_.; speech to sculptors, ; german ideals, . attempt on, emperor, ; on william i, . augusta, empress, wife of william i, , . auguste, victoria, present empress, _seq_. "babel und bibel," . baghdad railway, . balkans, . ballin, . battenberg affair, . bebel, august, , , . _see_ social democracy bennigsen, von, . berlin palace (schloss), . bethmann hollweg, _seq_. biedermeier time, . bismarck, ; empress fred. and, ; william i and, _seq_.; on divine right, _seq_.; on foreign policy, ; resignation, , ; emperor and, , ; "blood and iron" speech, ; emperor's account of quarrel with, ; journey to vienna, ; death, . "bloc" party, , , . boer war, german policy and, , . bonn, emperor at, ; address at, . borussia, , , . bosnia and herzegovina, . boulanger, , . boxer troubles, , _seq_. brandon, . "brilliant second" speech, . brooks, sydney, . bülow, prince von, ; succeeds hohenlohe, ; fainting fit, ; resignation, . burgess, prof., . butler, dr. nicholas murray, . byzantinism, _seq_. cadinen, . camarilla, caprivi, von, ; treaties, , _seq_.; chancellorship, . caroline islands, . casablanca, . centrum, , . chamberlain, mr., , . chamberlain, stewart, . chancellor, "responsibility," _seq_. china, relations with, ; boxer indemnity, . chun, prince, _seq_. churchill, winston, . colonial development, _seq_. commercial treaties, ; american, . conscription, . constitution, german and british compared, . corps, student, _seq_. crefeld, . crown prince, , ; income, ; marriage, ; indian tour, ; at english coronation, ; in aeroplane, . court, comparison with english, ; nobility, . cowes, . _daily telegraph_, interview, _seq_.; text of, ; bülow and, _seq_.; emperor's undertaking, . delcassé, , . delitzsch, prof., . dewey, admiral, . dictator paragraph, . diedrich, admiral, . dingley tariff, . disarmament, . divine right, _seq_. dreibund, _see_ triple alliance. dreyfus case, . dual alliance. (germany and austria), ; (russia and france), . duel, _see_ mensur. dynasty, _see_ hohenzollern. education, emperor on, _seq_. edward vii, at kiel, ; visits berlin, ; funeral, . elector, great, , . emperor, birth, ; marriage, ; brothers and sisters, ; offspring, ; first visit england, ; at bonn, ; on art, ; and theatre, ; on religion, ; character, _seq_.; and people, , . empress, present, marriage, ; character, . farmer, emperor as, . finance reform, . fleet, english, at kiel, ; american, . _see_ navy. flora bust, _seq_. foreign policy, in orient, _seq_.; emperor's, . france, and germany, ; franco-german agreement, , . frankfort, treaty of, . frederick the great, death, ; tomb, ; and navy, ; statue, ; emperor and, . frederick iii, ; as crown prince, ; last illness, . frederick, empress, _seq_.; bismarck and, ; death, . future, "our future lies on the water," . general elections, , . "germans to the front," . germany, "greater," ; to-day, ; foreign policy, , . george v, , , . george, lloyd, speech, . goluchowski, count, . goschen, lord, . government, dynastic not democratic, _seq_. great elector, emperor and, ; german navy and, . grey, sir edward, . grieg, composer, ; death, . griscom, ambassador, . guelphs, . guildhall, speech at, , ; , . hamburg-amerika line, . hannover, . harvard university, . heine, , . heligoland, . henry, prince, ; sent kiautschau, ; visits america, . highcliffe castle, . hill, dr. d.j., _seq_. hinzpeter, dr., . hödel, attempt, . hohenlohe-schillingsfürst, prince, ; character, ; chancellor, ; resigns, . hohenzollern, , , , , , , ; divine right and, _seq_., . iltis, gunboat, . italy, _seq_. jameson raid, emperor's telegram on, ; date of, . jews, emperor and, . journalists, attack on, . junker, . ketteler, von, murder of, . kiautschau, , . kiel, canal, ; first regatta, do.; harbour, ; american squadron at, ; edward vii at, . koenigsberg, speech at, . kruger, telegram, the, _seq_.; european tour, . _kulturkampf_, emperor and, . labourdonnais, . labour party, . leoncavallo, . liberalism, emperor and, . liman, dr. paul, , . limitation of armaments, . list, prof., . lloyd george, speech, . louise, queen, . luderitz, . mackenzie, sir morell, , . madrid convention, . magna charta, germany's, . mahan, captain, . manila, . marakesch, . marble palace, . "march days," _seq_. mensur, _seq_. menzel, painter, ; death, . moabit riots, . mommsen, emperor and, . monroe doctrine, . morocco, _seq_. navy, german, first navy law, ; prince william and, ; early history of, ; auctioned, ; early proposals, _seq_.; legislative stages, ; grey's proposal, . new palace, potsdam, . nobiling, attempt, , . "november storm," _seq_. open door, the, . "our future lies on the water," . oxford university, . palestine, ; journey to, . panther, . parliament, introduction; parliamentary rule, ; chancellor and, ; emperor and, ; _see_ reichstag. "personal regiment," , , . peters, carl, . "place in the sun," . polypus, removed, . potsdam, . prussia, at emperor's birth, ; diet, ; electoral reform in, . quinquennat, . raid, jameson, . rationalism, , . reaction, . _realpolitik_, see _weltpolitik_; in sport, . _rechtstaat_, _seq_. reichstag, introduction, , , . reinsurance treaty, . religion, emperor on, . rhodes, cecil, . richard, prof., . "roland von berlin," . roosevelt, alice, ; president, ; visits berlin, _seq_.; professorships, . russia and germany, relations, . russo-japanese war, . saladin, . samoa, . sans souci, , . sardanapalus, . septennat, , . seymour, admiral, . shimonoseki, treaty of, . "shining armour," . social democracy, introduction; emperor and, ; history of, ; programme, ; causes of, . socialist laws, , _seq_. socialism, ; _see_ social democracy. sport, in germany, . "star of commerce," phrase, . state, german interpretation of, . stein, dr. adolf, . stoessel, general, , . stone, melville, . suffragettes, emperor and, . sultan, promise to, , . swinemunde despatch, . taku forts, . tangier, , ; emperor's speech at, , . theatre, emperor on, ; germans and the, . "times," the, , , , . tirpitz, von, admiral, . tower, ambassador, . trade unionism, _seq_. transvaal, _seq_.; . tree, sir beerbohm, . treitschke, von, on divine right, ; on bismarck, . trench, captain, . triple alliance, emperor on, ; history of, ; provisions, ; renewals, , . "urias letter," . universities, england and germany compared, . "unser fritz," . venezuela, , . victoria louise, princess, . victoria, queen, ; death, . "von gottes gnaden," _seq_.;. doctrine to-day, . waldersee, countess, ; count, , . weihaiwei, . _weltpolitik_, , ; bülow on, ; open door and, ; foreign policy and, , , , . william i, career, ; character, ; death, ; parliament and, . williams, george valentine, . wyberg, frank, . zeppelin, count, . images of public domain material from the google print project.) [illustration: the emperor of germany. (_after a photograph by j. c. schaarwächter, photographer to the emperor._)] a history of germany from the earliest times to the present day by bayard taylor _with an additional chapter by_ marie hansen-taylor new york d. appleton and company copyright, , , by d. appleton and company. electrotyped and printed at the appleton press, u. s. a. preface. when i assented to the request of the publishers that i would edit a new edition of the history of germany, and write an additional chapter finishing the work down to the present date, i was fully aware of both my own shortcomings and the difficulty of the task. that i undertook it, nevertheless, is because i was strongly tempted to perform what i considered, in my case, an act of piety. being naturally familiar with the aim and style of this book, i have tried to compile a new chapter in the simple narrative fashion by which the history has commended itself to its readers. in his "introductory words" to the original edition the author says: "the history of germany is not the history of a nation, but of a race. it has little unity, therefore it is complicated, broken, and attached on all sides to the histories of other countries. in its earlier periods it covers the greater part of europe, and does not return exclusively to germany until after france, spain, england and the italian states have been founded. thus, even before the fall of the roman empire, it becomes the main trunk out of which branch the histories of nearly all european nations, and must of necessity be studied as the connecting link between ancient and modern history. the records of no other race throw so much light upon the development of all civilized lands during a period of fifteen hundred years. "my aim has been to present a clear, continuous narrative, omitting no episode of importance, yet preserving a distinct line of connection from century to century. besides referring to all the best authorities, i have based my labors mainly upon three recent german works--that of dittmar, as the fullest; of von rochau, as the most impartial; and of dr. david müller, as the most readable. by constructing an entirely new narrative from these, compressing the material into less than half the space which each occupies, and avoiding the interruptions and changes by which all are characterized, i hope to have made this history convenient and acceptable to our schools." the book is, indeed, eminently fitted for use in the higher grades of schools. but the scope, comprehensiveness, and style of the work make it in no less a degree inviting and attractive to the general reader. the material for the preparation of the additional chapter was difficult of access, since the history of the last twenty years is on record chiefly in monographs and in the public press. the best guide i have found is the "politische geschichte der gegenwart," by prof. wilhelm müller. the author of the present book was fortunate in being able to close it with the glorious events of the years to , and the birth of the new empire. the additional chapter has no such ending. it deals with the beginning of a new era, and has to state facts, with an eye to their results in the future. marie hansen-taylor. new york, _ _. contents. chapter page i.--the ancient germans and their country. ( b. c.-- b. c.) ii.--the wars of rome with the germans. ( b. c.-- a. d.) iii.--hermann, the first german leader. ( -- a. d.) iv.--germany during the first three centuries of our era. ( -- a. d.) v.--the rise and migrations of the goths. ( -- .) vi.--the invasion of the huns, and its consequences. ( -- .) vii.--the rise and fall of the ostrogoths. ( -- .) viii.--europe, at the end of the migration of the races. ( .) ix.--the kingdom of the franks. ( -- .) x.--the dynasty of the royal stewards. ( -- .) xi.--the reign of charlemagne. ( -- .) xii.--the emperors of the carolingian line. ( -- .) xiii.--king konrad, and the saxon rulers, henry i. and otto the great. ( -- .) xiv.--the decline of the saxon dynasty. ( -- .) xv.--the frank emperors, to the death of henry iv. ( -- .) xvi.--end of the frank dynasty, and rise of the hohenstaufens. ( -- .) xvii.--the reign of frederick i., barbarossa. ( -- .) xviii.--the reign of frederick ii. and end of the hohenstaufen line. ( -- .) xix.--germany at the time of the interregnum. ( -- .) xx.--from rudolf of hapsburg to ludwig the bavarian. ( -- .) xxi.--the luxemburg emperors, karl iv. and wenzel. ( -- .) xxii.--the reign of sigismund and the hussite war. ( -- .) xxiii.--the foundation of the hapsburg dynasty. ( -- .) xxiv.--germany, during the reign of maximilian i. ( -- .) xxv.--the reformation. ( -- .) xxvi.--from luther's death to the end of the th century. ( -- .) xxvii.--beginning of the thirty years' war. ( -- .) xxviii.--tilly, wallenstein and gustavus adolphus. ( -- .) xxix.--end of the thirty years' war. ( -- .) xxx.--germany, to the peace of ryswick. ( -- .) xxxi.--the war of the spanish succession. ( -- .) xxxii.--the rise of prussia. ( -- .) xxxiii.--the reign of frederick the great. ( -- .) xxxiv.--germany under maria theresa and joseph ii. ( -- .) xxxv.--from the death of joseph ii. to the end of the german empire. ( -- .) xxxvi.--germany under napoleon. ( -- .) xxxvii.--from the liberation of germany to the year . ( -- .) xxxviii.--the revolution of and its results. ( -- .) xxxix.--the struggle with austria; the north-german union. ( -- .) xl.--the war with france, and establishment of the german empire. ( -- .) xli.--the new german empire. ( -- .) chronological table of german history. list of maps. page germany under the cæsars the migrations of the races, a. d. empire of charlemagne, with the partition of the treaty of verdun, a. d. germany under the saxons and frank emperors, twelfth century germany under napoleon, metz and vicinity the german empire, a history of germany. chapter i. the ancient germans and their country. ( b. c.-- b. c.) the aryan race and its migrations. --earliest inhabitants of europe. --lake dwellings. --celtic and germanic migrations. --europe in the fourth century b. c. --the name "german." --voyage of pytheas. --invasions of the cimbrians and teutons, b. c. . --victories of marius. --boundary between the gauls and the germans. --geographical location of the various germanic tribes. --their mode of life, vices, virtues, laws, and religion. the germans form one of the most important branches of the indo-germanic or aryan race--a division of the human family which also includes the hindoos, persians, greeks, romans, celts, and the slavonic tribes. the near relationship of all these, which have become so separated in their habits of life, forms of government and religious faith, in the course of many centuries, has been established by the evidence of common tradition, language, and physiological structure. the original home of the aryan race appears to have been somewhere among the mountains and lofty table-lands of central asia. the word "arya," meaning _the high_ or _the excellent_, indicates their superiority over the neighboring races long before the beginning of history. when and under what circumstances the aryans left their home, can never be ascertained. most scholars suppose that there were different migrations, and that each movement westward was accomplished slowly, centuries intervening between their departure from central asia and their permanent settlement in europe. the earliest migration was probably that of the tribes who took possession of greece and italy; who first acquired, and for more than a thousand years maintained, their ascendency over all other branches of their common family; who, in fact, laid the basis for the civilization of the world. [sidenote: b. c.] before this migration took place, europe was inhabited by a race of primitive savages, who were not greatly superior to the wild beasts in the vast forests which then covered the continent. they were exterminated at so early a period that all traditions of their existence were lost. within the last fifty years, however, various relics of this race have been brought to light. fragments of skulls and skeletons, with knives and arrow-heads of flint, have been found, at a considerable depth, in the gravel-beds of northern france, or in caves in germany, together with the bones of animals now extinct, upon which they fed. in the lakes of switzerland, they built dwellings upon piles, at a little distance from the shore, in order to be more secure against the attacks of wild beasts or hostile tribes. many remains of these lake-dwellings, with flint implements and fragments of pottery, have recently been discovered. the skulls of the race indicate that they were savages of the lowest type, and different in character from any which now exist on the earth. the second migration of the aryan race is supposed to have been that of the celtic tribes, who took a more northerly course, by way of the steppes of the volga and the don, and gradually obtained possession of all central and western europe, including the british isles. their advance was only stopped by the ocean, and the tribe which first appears in history, the gauls, was at that time beginning to move eastward again, in search of new fields of plunder. it is impossible to ascertain whether the german tribes immediately followed the celts, and took possession of the territory which they vacated in pushing westward, or whether they formed a third migration, at a later date. we only know the order in which they were settled when our first historical knowledge of them begins. in the fourth century before the christian era, all europe west of the rhine, and as far south as the po, was celtic; between the rhine and the vistula, including denmark and southern sweden, the tribes were germanic; while the slavonic branch seems to have already made its appearance in what is now southern russia. each of these three branches of the aryan race was divided into many smaller tribes, some of which, left behind in the march from asia, or separated by internal wars, formed little communities, like islands, in the midst of territory belonging to other branches of the race. the boundaries, also, were never very distinctly drawn: the tribes were restless and nomadic, not yet attached to the soil, and many of them moved through or across each other, so that some were constantly disappearing, and others forming under new names. [sidenote: b. c. the cimbrians and teutons.] the romans first heard the name "germans" from the celtic gauls, in whose language it meant simply _neighbors_. the first notice of a germanic tribe was given to the world by the greek navigator pytheas, who made a voyage to the baltic in the year b. c. beyond the amber-coast, eastward of the mouth of the vistula, he found the goths, of whom we hear nothing more until they appear, several centuries later, on the northern shore of the black sea. for more than two hundred years there is no further mention of the germanic races; then, most unexpectedly, the romans were called upon to make their personal acquaintance. in the year b. c. a tremendous horde of strangers forced its way through the tyrolese alps and invaded the roman territory. they numbered several hundred thousand, and brought with them their wives, children and all their movable property. they were composed of two great tribes, the cimbrians and teutons, accompanied by some minor allies, celtic as well as germanic. their statement was that they were driven from their homes on the northern ocean by the inroads of the waves, and they demanded territory for settlement, or, at least, the right to pass the roman frontier. the consul, papirius carbo, collected an army and endeavored to resist their advance; but he was defeated by them in a battle fought near noreia, between the adriatic and the alps. the terror occasioned by this defeat reached even rome. the "barbarians," as they were called, were men of large stature, of astonishing bodily strength, with yellow hair and fierce blue eyes. they wore breastplates of iron and helmets crowned with the heads of wild beasts, and carried white shields which shone in the sunshine. they first hurled double-headed spears in battle, but at close quarters fought with short and heavy swords. the women encouraged them with cries and war-songs, and seemed no less fierce and courageous than the men. they had also priestesses, clad in white linen, who delivered prophecies and slaughtered human victims upon the altars of their gods. [sidenote: b. c.] instead of moving towards rome, the cimbrians and teutons marched westward along the foot of the alps, crossed into gaul, devastated the country between the rhone and the pyrenees, and even obtained temporary possession of part of spain. having thus plundered at will for ten years, they retraced their steps and prepared to invade italy a second time. the celebrated consul, marius, who was sent against them, found their forces divided, in order to cross the alps by two different roads. he first attacked the teutons, two hundred thousand in number, at aix, in southern france, and almost exterminated them in the year b. c. transferring his army across the alps, in the following year he met the cimbrians at vercelli, in piedmont (not far from the field of magenta). they were drawn up in a square, the sides of which were nearly three miles long: in the centre their wagons, collected together, formed a fortress for the women and children. but the roman legions broke the cimbrian square, and obtained a complete victory. the women, seeing that all was lost, slew their children, and then themselves; but a few thousand prisoners were made--among them teutoboch, the prince of the teutons, who had escaped from the slaughter at aix,--to figure in the triumph accorded to marius by the roman senate. this was the only appearance of the german tribes in italy, until the decline of the empire, five hundred years later. the roman conquests, which now began to extend northwards into the heart of europe, soon brought the two races into collision again, but upon german or celtic soil. from the earliest reports, as well as the later movements of the tribes, we are able to ascertain the probable order of their settlement, though not the exact boundaries of each. the territory which they occupied was almost the same as that which now belongs to the german states. the rhine divided them from the gauls, except towards its mouth, where the germanic tribes occupied part of belgium. a line drawn from the vistula southward to the danube nearly represents their eastern boundary, while, up to this time, they do not appear to have crossed the danube on the south. the district between that river and the alps, now bavaria and styria, was occupied by celtic tribes. northwards they had made some advance into sweden, and probably also into norway. they thus occupied nearly all of central europe, north of the alpine chain. [sidenote: b. c. the german tribes.] at the time of their first contact with the romans, these germanic tribes had lost even the tradition of their asiatic origin. they supposed themselves to have originated upon the soil where they dwelt, sprung either from the earth, or descended from their gods. according to the most popular legend, the war-god tuisko, or tiu, had a son, mannus (whence the word _man_ is derived), who was the first human parent of the german race. many centuries must have elapsed since their first settlement in europe, or they could not have so completely changed the forms of their religion and their traditional history. two or three small tribes are represented, in the earliest roman accounts, as having crossed the rhine and settled between the vosges and that river, from strasburg to mayence. from the latter point to cologne none are mentioned, whence it is conjectured that the western bank of the rhine was here a debatable ground, possessed sometimes by the celts and sometimes by the germans. the greater part of belgium was occupied by the eburones and condrusii, germanic tribes, to whom were afterwards added the aduatuci, formed out of the fragments of the cimbrians and teutons who escaped the slaughters of marius. at the mouth of the rhine dwelt the batavi, the forefathers of the dutch, and, like them, reported to be strong, phlegmatic and stubborn, in the time of cæsar. a little eastward, on the shore of the north sea, dwelt the frisii, where they still dwell, in the province of friesland; and beyond them, about the mouth of the weser, the chauci, a kindred tribe. what is now westphalia was inhabited by the sicambrians, a brave and warlike people: the marsi and ampsivarii were beyond them, towards the hartz, and south of the latter the ubii, once a powerful tribe, but in cæsar's time weak and submissive. from the weser to the elbe, in the north, was the land of the cherusci; south of them the equally fierce and indomitable chatti, the ancestors of the modern hessians; and still further south, along the head-waters of the river main, the marcomanni. a part of what is now saxony was in the possession of the hermunduri, who together with their kindred, the chatti, were called _suevi_ by the romans. northward, towards the mouth of the elbe, dwelt the longobardi (lombards); beyond them, in holstein, the saxons; and north of the latter, in schleswig, the angles. east of the elbe were the semnones, who were guardians of a certain holy place,--a grove of the druids--where various related tribes came for their religious festivals. north of the semnones dwelt the vandals, and along the baltic coast the rugii, who have left their name in the island of rügen. between these and the vistula were the burgundiones, with a few smaller tribes. in the extreme north-east, between the vistula and the point where the city of königsberg now stands, was the home of the goths, south of whom were settled the slavonic sarmatians,--the same who founded, long afterwards, the kingdom of poland. bohemia was first settled by the celtic tribe of the boii, whence its name--_boiheim_, the home of the boii--is derived. in cæsar's day, however, this tribe had been driven out by the germanic marcomanni, whose neighbors, the quadi, on the danube, were also german. beyond the danube all was celtic; the defeated boii occupied austria; the vindelici, bavaria; while the noric and rhætian celts took possession of the tyrolese alps. switzerland was inhabited by the helvetii, a celtic tribe which had been driven out of germany; but the mountainous district between the rhine, the lake of constance and the danube, now called the black forest, seems to have had no permanent owners. the greater part of germany was thus in possession of germanic tribes, bound to each other by blood, by their common religion and their habits of life. at this early period, their virtues and their vices were strongly marked. they were not savages, for they knew the first necessary arts of civilized life, and they had a fixed social and political organization. the greater part of the territory which they inhabited was still a wilderness. the mountain chain which extends through central germany from the main to the elbe was called by the romans the hercynian forest. it was then a wild, savage region, the home of the aurox (a race of wild cattle), the bear and the elk. the lower lands to the northward of this forest were also thickly wooded and marshy, with open pastures here and there, where the tribes settled in small communities, kept their cattle, and cultivated the soil only enough to supply the needs of life. they made rough roads of communication, which could be traversed by their wagons, and the frontiers of each tribe were usually marked by guard-houses, where all strangers were detained until they received permission to enter the territory. [sidenote: habits of the germans.] at this early period, the germans had no cities, or even villages. their places of worship, which were either groves of venerable oak-trees or the tops of mountains, were often fortified; and when attacked in the open country, they made a temporary defence of their wagons. they lived in log-houses, which were surrounded by stockades spacious enough to contain the cattle and horses belonging to the family. a few fields of rye and barley furnished each homestead with bread and beer, but hunting and fishing were their chief dependence. the women cultivated flax, from which they made a coarse, strong linen: the men clothed themselves with furs or leather. they were acquainted with the smelting and working of iron, but valued gold and silver only for the sake of ornament. they were fond of bright colors, of poetry and song, and were in the highest degree hospitable. the three principal vices of the germans were indolence, drunkenness and love of gaming. although always ready for the toils and dangers of war, they disliked to work at home. when the men assembled at night, and the great ox-horns, filled with mead or beer, were passed from one to the other, they rarely ceased drinking until all were intoxicated; and when the passion for gaming came upon them, they would often stake their dearest possessions, even their own freedom, on a throw of the dice. the women were never present on these occasions: they ruled and regulated their households with undisputed sway. they were considered the equals of the men, and exhibited no less energy and courage. they were supposed to possess the gift of prophecy, and always accompanied the men to battle, where they took care of the wounded, and stimulated the warriors by their shouts and songs. they honored the institution of marriage to an extent beyond that exhibited by any other people of the ancient world. the ceremony consisted in the man giving a horse, or a yoke of oxen, to the woman, who gave him arms or armor in return. those who proved unfaithful to the marriage vow were punished with death. the children of freemen and slaves grew up together until the former were old enough to carry arms, when they were separated. the slaves were divided into two classes: those who lived under the protection of a freeman and were obliged to perform for him a certain amount of labor, and those who were wholly "chattels," bought and sold at will. each family had its own strictly regulated laws, which were sufficient for the government of its free members, its retainers and slaves. a number of these families formed "a district," which was generally laid out according to natural boundaries, such as streams or hills. in some tribes, however, the families were united in "hundreds," instead of districts. each of these managed its own affairs, as a little republic, wherein each freeman had an equal voice; yet to each belonged a leader, who was called "count" or "duke." all the districts of a tribe met together in a "general assembly of the people," which was always held at the time of new or full moon. the chief priest of the tribe presided, and each man present had the right to vote. here questions of peace or war, violations of right or disputes between the districts were decided, criminals were tried, young men acknowledged as freemen and warriors, and, in case of approaching war, a leader chosen by the people. alliances between the tribes, for the sake of mutual defence or invasion, were not common, at first; but the necessity of them was soon forced upon the germans by the encroachments of rome. the gods which they worshipped represented the powers of nature. their mythology was the same originally which the scandinavians preserved, in a slightly different form, until the tenth century of our era. the chief deity was named wodan, or odin, the god of the sky, whose worship was really that of the sun. his son, donar, or thunder, with his fiery beard and huge hammer, is the thor of the scandinavians. the god of war, tiu or tyr, was supposed to have been born from the earth, and thus became the ancestor of the germanic tribes. there was also a goddess of the earth, hertha, who was worshipped with secret and mysterious rites. the people had their religious festivals, at stated seasons, when sacrifices, sometimes of human beings, were laid upon the altars of the gods, in the sacred groves. even after they became christians, in the eighth century, they retained their habit of celebrating some of these festivals, but changed them into the christian anniversaries of christmas, easter and whitsuntide. [sidenote: open to civilization.] thus, from all we can learn respecting them, we may say that the germans, during the first century before christ, were fully prepared, by their habits, laws, and their moral development, for a higher civilization. they were still restless, after so many centuries of wandering; they were fierce and fond of war, as a natural consequence of their struggles with the neighboring races; but they had already acquired a love for the wild land where they dwelt, they had begun to cultivate the soil, they had purified and hallowed the family relation, which is the basis of all good government, and finally, although slavery existed among them, they had established equal rights for free men. if the object of rome had been civilization, instead of conquest and plunder, the development of the germans might have commenced much earlier and produced very different results. chapter ii. the wars of rome with the germans. ( b. c.-- a. d.) roman conquest of gaul. --the german chief, ariovistus. --his answer to cæsar. --cæsar's march to the rhine. --defeat of ariovistus. --cæsar's victory near cologne. --his bridge. --his second expedition. --he subjugates the gauls. --he enlists a german legion. --the romans advance to the danube, under augustus. --first expedition of drusus. --the rhine fortified. --death of drusus. --conquests of tiberius. --the war of the marcomanni. --the cherusci. --tyranny of varus. --resistance of the germans. [sidenote: b. c.] after the destruction of the teutons and cimbrians by marius, more than forty years elapsed before the romans again came in contact with any german tribe. during this time the roman dominion over the greater part of gaul was firmly established by julius cæsar, and in losing their independence, the celts began to lose, also, their original habits and character. they and the germans had never been very peaceable neighbors, and the possession of the western bank of the rhine seems to have been, even at that early day, a subject of contention between them. about the year b. c. two gallic tribes, the Ædui in burgundy and the arverni in central france, began a struggle for the supremacy in that part of gaul. the allies of the latter, the sequani, called to their assistance a chief of the german suevi, whose name, as we have it through cæsar, was ariovistus. with a force of , men, he joined the arverni and the sequani, and defeated the Ædui in several battles. after the complete overthrow of the latter, he haughtily demanded as a recompense one-third of the territory of the sequani. his strength had meanwhile been increased by new accessions from the german side of the rhine, and the sequani were obliged to yield. his followers settled in the new territory: in the course of about fourteen years, they amounted to , , and ariovistus felt himself strong enough to demand another third of the lands of the sequani. [sidenote: under the cÆsars.] [illustration: germany under the cÆsars.] [sidenote: b. c.] southern france was then a roman province, governed by julius cæsar. in the year b. c. ambassadors from the principal tribes of eastern gaul appeared before him and implored his assistance against the inroads of the suevi. it was an opportunity which he immediately seized, in order to bring the remaining gallic tribes under the sway of rome. he first sent a summons to ariovistus to appear before him, but the haughty german chief answered: "when i need cæsar, i shall come to cæsar. if cæsar needs me, let him seek me. what business has he in _my_ gaul, which i have acquired in war?" on receiving this answer, cæsar marched immediately with his legions into the land of the sequani, and succeeded in reaching their capitol, vesontio (the modern besançon), before the enemy. it was then a fortified place, and its possession gave cæsar an important advantage at the start. while his legions were resting there for a few days, before beginning the march against the suevi, the gallic and roman merchants and traders circulated the most frightful accounts of the strength and fierceness of the latter through the roman camp. they reported that the german barbarians were men of giant size and more than human strength, whose faces were so terrible that the glances of their eyes could not be endured. very soon numbers of the roman officers demanded leave of absence, and even the few who were ashamed to take this step lost all courage. the soldiers became so demoralized that many of them declared openly that they would refuse to fight, if commanded to do so. in this emergency, cæsar showed his genius as a leader of men. he called a large number of soldiers and officers of all grades together, and addressed them in strong words, pointing out their superior military discipline, ridiculing the terrible stories in circulation, and sharply censuring them for their insubordination. he concluded by declaring that if the army should refuse to march, he would start the next morning with only the tenth legion, upon the courage and obedience of which he could rely. this speech produced an immediate effect. the tenth legion solemnly thanked cæsar for his confidence in its men and officers, the other legions, one after the other, declared their readiness to follow, and the whole army left vesontio the very next morning. after a rapid march of seven days, cæsar found himself within a short distance of the fortified camp of ariovistus. [sidenote: b. c. cÆsar and ariovistus.] the german chief now agreed to an interview, and the two leaders met, half-way between the two armies, on the plain of the rhine. the place is supposed to have been a little to the northward of basel. neither cæsar nor ariovistus would yield to the demands of the other, and as the cavalry of their armies began skirmishing, the interview was broken off. for several days in succession the romans offered battle, but the suevi refused to leave their strong position. this hesitation seemed remarkable, until it was explained by some prisoners, captured in a skirmish, who stated that the german priestesses had prophesied misfortune to ariovistus, if he should fight before the new moon. cæsar, thereupon, determined to attack the german camp without delay. the meeting of the two armies was fierce, and the soldiers were soon fighting hand to hand. on each side one wing gave way, but the greater quickness and superior military skill of the romans enabled them to recover sooner than the enemy. the day ended with the entire defeat of the suevi, and the flight of the few who escaped across the rhine. they did not attempt to reconquer their lost territory, and the three small german tribes, who had long been settled between the rhine and the vosges (in what is now alsatia), became subject to roman rule. two years afterwards, cæsar, who was engaged in subjugating the belgæ, in northern gaul, learned that two other german tribes, the usipetes and tencteres, who had been driven from their homes by the suevi, had crossed the rhine below where cologne now stands. they numbered , , and the northern gauls, instead of regarding them as invaders, were inclined to welcome them as allies against rome, the common enemy. cæsar knew that if they remained, a revolt of the gauls against his rule would be the consequence. he therefore hastened to meet them, got possession of their principal chiefs by treachery, and then attacked their camp between the meuse and the rhine. the germans were defeated, and nearly all their foot-soldiers slaughtered, but the cavalry succeeded in crossing the river, where they were welcomed by the sicambrians. then it was that cæsar built his famous wooden bridge across the rhine, not far from the site of cologne, although the precise point can not now be ascertained. he crossed with his army into westphalia, but the tribes he sought retreated into the great forests to the eastward, where he was unable to pursue them. he contented himself with burning their houses and gathering their ripened harvests for eighteen days, when he returned to the other side and destroyed the bridge behind him. from this time, rome claimed the sovereignty of the western bank of the rhine to its mouth. [sidenote: b. c.] while cæsar was in britain, in the year b. c., the newly subjugated celtic and german tribes which inhabited belgium rose in open revolt against the roman rule. the rapidity of cæsar's return arrested their temporary success, but some of the german tribes to the eastward of the rhine had already promised to aid them. in order to secure his conquests, the roman general determined to cross the rhine again, and intimidate, if not subdue, his dangerous neighbors. he built a second bridge, near the place where the first had been, and crossed with his army. but, as before, the suevi and sicambrians drew back among the forest-covered hills along the weser river, and only the small and peaceful tribe of the ubii remained in their homes. the latter offered their submission to cæsar, and agreed to furnish him with news of the movements of their warlike countrymen, in return for his protection. when another revolt of the celtic gauls took place, the following year, german mercenaries, enlisted among the ubii, fought on the roman side and took an important part in the decisive battle which gave vercingetorix, the last chief of the gauls, into cæsar's hands. he was beheaded, and from that time the gauls made no further effort to throw off the roman yoke. they accepted the civil and military organization, the dress and habits, and finally the language and religion of their conquerors. the small german tribes in alsatia and belgium shared the same fate: their territory was divided into two provinces, called upper and lower germania by the romans. the vast region inhabited by the independent tribes, lying between the rhine, the vistula, the north sea and the danube, was thenceforth named _germania magna_, or "great germany." cæsar's renown among the germans, and probably also his skill in dealing with them, was so great, that when he left gaul to return to rome, he took with him a german legion of , men, which afterwards fought on his side against pompey, on the battle-field of pharsalia. the roman agents penetrated into the interior of the country, and enlisted a great many of the free germans who were tempted by the prospect of good pay and booty. even the younger sons of the chiefs entered the roman army, for the sake of a better military education. [sidenote: b. c. the expeditions of drusus.] no movement of any consequence took place for more than twenty years after cæsar's last departure from the banks of the rhine. the romans, having secured their possession of gaul, now turned their attention to the subjugation of the celtic tribes inhabiting the alps and the lowlands south of the danube, from the lake of constance to vienna. this work had also been begun by cæsar: it was continued by the emperor augustus, whose step-sons, tiberius and drusus, finally overcame the desperate resistance of the native tribes. in the year b. c. the danube became the boundary between rome and germany on the south, as the rhine already was on the west. the roman provinces of rhætia, noricum and pannonia were formed out of the conquered territory. augustus now sent drusus, with a large army, to the rhine, instructing him to undertake a campaign against the independent german tribes. it does not appear that the latter had given any recent occasion for this hostile movement: the emperor's design was probably to extend the dominions of rome to the north sea and the baltic. drusus built a large fleet on the rhine, descended that river nearly to its mouth, cut a canal for his vessels to a lake which is now the zuyder zee, and thus entered the north sea. it was a bold undertaking, but did not succeed. he reached the mouth of the river ems with his fleet, when the weather became so tempestuous that he was obliged to return. the next year, b. c., he made an expedition into the land of the sicambrians, during which his situation was often hazardous; but he succeeded in penetrating rather more than a hundred miles to the eastward of the rhine, and establishing--not far from where the city of paderborn now stands--a fortress called aliso, which became a base for later operations against the german tribes. he next set about building a series of fortresses, fifty in number, along the western bank of the rhine. around the most important of these, towns immediately sprang up, and thus were laid the foundations of the cities of strasburg, mayence, coblenz, cologne, and many smaller places. [sidenote: b. c.] in the year b. c. drusus marched again into germany. he defeated the chatti in several bloody battles, crossed the passes of the thuringian forest, and forced his way through the land of the cherusci (the hartz region) to the elbe. the legend says that he there encountered a german prophetess, who threatened him with coming evil, whereupon he turned about and retraced his way towards the rhine. he died, however, during the march, and his dejected army had great difficulty in reaching the safe line of their fortresses. tiberius succeeded to the command left vacant by the death of his brother drusus. less daring, but of a more cautious and scheming nature, he began by taking possession of the land of the sicambrians and colonizing a part of the tribe on the west bank of the rhine. he then gradually extended his power, and in the course of two years brought nearly the whole country between the rhine and weser under the rule of rome. his successor, domitius Ænobarbus, built military roads through westphalia and the low, marshy plains towards the sea. these roads, which were called "long bridges," were probably made of logs, like the "corduroy" roads of our western states, but they were of great service during the later roman campaigns. after the lapse of ten years, however, the subjugated tribes between the rhine and the weser rose in revolt. the struggle lasted for three years more, without being decided; and then augustus sent tiberius a second time to germany. the latter was as successful as at first: he crushed some of the rebellious tribes, accepted the submission of others, and, supported by a fleet which reached the elbe and ascended that river to meet him, secured, as he supposed, the sway of rome over nearly the whole of _germania magna_. this was in the fifth year of the christian era. of the german tribes who still remained independent, there were the semnones, saxons and angles, east of the elbe, and the burgundians, vandals and goths along the shore of the baltic, together with one powerful tribe in bohemia. the latter, the marcomanni, who seem to have left their original home in baden and würtemberg on account of the approach of the romans, now felt that their independence was a second time seriously threatened. their first measure of defence, therefore, was to strengthen themselves by alliances with kindred tribes. [sidenote: b. c. the marcomanni: varus.] the chief of the marcomanni, named marbod, was a man of unusual capacity and energy. it seems that he was educated as a roman, but under what circumstances is not stated. this rendered him a more dangerous enemy, though it also made him an object of suspicion, and perhaps jealousy, to the other german chieftains. nevertheless, he succeeded in uniting nearly all the independent tribes east of the elbe under his command, and in organizing a standing army of , foot and , horse, which, disciplined like the roman legions, might be considered a match for an equal number. his success created so much anxiety in rome, that in the next year after tiberius returned from his successes in germany, augustus determined to send a force of twelve legions against marbod. precisely at this time, a great insurrection broke out in dalmatia and pannonia, and when it was suppressed, after a struggle of three years, the romans found it prudent to offer peace to marbod, and he to accept it. by this time, the territory between the rhine and the weser had been fifteen years, and that between the weser and the elbe four years, under roman government. the tribes inhabiting the first of these two regions had been much weakened, both by the part some of them had taken in the gallic insurrections, and by the revolt of all against rome, during the first three or four years of the christian era. but those who inhabited the region between the weser and the elbe, the chief of whom were the cherusci, were still powerful, and unsubdued in spirit. while augustus was occupied in putting down the insurrection in dalmatia and pannonia, with a prospect, as it seemed, of having to fight the marcomanni afterwards, his representative in germany was quinctilius varus, a man of despotic and relentless character. tiberius, in spite of his later vices as emperor, was prudent and conciliatory in his conquests; but varus soon turned the respect of the germans for the roman power into the fiercest hate. he applied, in a more brutal form, the same measures which had been forced upon the gauls. he overturned, at one blow, all the native forms of law, introduced heavy taxes, which were collected by force, punished with shameful death crimes which the people considered trivial, and decided all matters in roman courts and in a language which was not yet understood. [sidenote: b. c.] this violent and reckless policy, which varus enforced with a hand of iron, produced an effect the reverse of what he anticipated. the german tribes with hardly an exception, determined to make another effort to regain their independence; but they had been taught wisdom by seventy years of conflict with the roman power. up to this time, each tribe had acted for itself, without concert with its neighbors. they saw, now, that no single tribe could cope successfully with rome: it was necessary that all should be united as one people: and they only waited until such a union could be secretly established, before rising to throw off the unendurable yoke which varus had laid upon them. chapter iii. hermann, the first german leader. ( -- a. d.) the cherusci. --hermann's early life. --his return to germany. --enmity of segestes. --secret union of the tribes. --the revolt. --destruction of varus and his legions. --terror in rome. --the battle-field and monument. --dissensions. --first march of germanicus. --second march and battle with hermann. --defeat of cæcina. --third expedition of germanicus. --battles on the weser. --his retreat. --views of tiberius. --war between hermann and marbod. --murder of hermann. --his character. --tacitus. [sidenote: a. d. hermann.] the cherusci, who inhabited a part of the land between the weser and the elbe, including the hartz mountains, were the most powerful of the tribes conquered by tiberius. they had no permanent class of nobles, as none of the early germans seem to have had, but certain families were distinguished for their abilities and their character, or the services which they had rendered to their people in war. the head of one of these cheruscan families was segimar, one of whose sons was named hermann. the latter entered the roman service as a youth, distinguished himself by his military talent, was made a roman knight, and commanded one of the legions which were employed by augustus in suppressing the great insurrection of the dalmatians and pannonians. it seems probable that he visited rome at the period of its highest power and splendor: it is certain, at least, that he comprehended the political system by means of which the empire had become so great. when hermann returned to his people, he was a man of twenty-five and already an experienced commander. he is described by the latin writers as a chief of fine personal presence, great strength, an animated countenance and bright eyes. he was always self-possessed, quick in action, yet never rash or heedless. he found the cherusci and all the neighboring tribes filled with hate of the roman rule and burning to revenge the injuries they had suffered. his first movement was to organize a secret conspiracy among the tribes, which could be called into action as soon as a fortunate opportunity should arrive. varus was then--a. d. --encamped near the weser, in the land of the saxons, with an army of , men, the best of the roman legions. hermann was still in the roman service, and held a command under him. but among the other germans in the roman camp was segestes, a chief of the cherusci, whose daughter, thusnelda, hermann had stolen away from him and married. thusnelda was afterwards celebrated in the german legends as a high-hearted, patriotic woman, who was devotedly attached to hermann: but her father, segestes, became his bitterest enemy. [sidenote: a. d.] in engaging the different tribes to unite, hermann had great difficulties to overcome. they were not only jealous of each other, remembering ancient quarrels between themselves, but many families in each tribe were disposed to submit to rome, being either hopeless of succeeding or tempted by the chance of office and wealth under the roman government. hermann's own brother, flavus, had become, and always remained, a roman; other members of his family were opposed to his undertaking, and it seems that only his mother and his wife encouraged him with their sympathy. nevertheless, he formed his plans with as much skill as boldness, while serving in the army of varus and liable to be betrayed at any moment. in fact he _was_ betrayed by his father-in-law, segestes, who became acquainted with the fact of a conspiracy and communicated the news to the roman general. but varus, haughty and self-confident, laughed at the story. it was time to act; and, as no opportunity came hermann created one. he caused messengers to come to varus, declaring that a dangerous insurrection had broken out in the lands between him and the rhine. this was in the month of september, and varus, believing the reports, broke up his camp and set out to suppress the insurrection before the winter. his nearest way led through the wooded, mountainous country along the weser, which is now called the teutoburger forest. according to one account, hermann was left behind to collect the auxiliary german troops, and then, with them, rejoin his general. it is certain that he remained, and instantly sent his messengers to all the tribes engaged in the conspiracy, whose warriors came to him with all speed. in a few days he had an army probably equal in numbers to that of varus. in the meantime the season had changed: violent autumn storms burst over the land, and the romans slowly advanced through the forests and mountain-passes, in the wind and rain. [sidenote: a. d. hermann's conspiracy.] hermann knew the ground and was able to choose the best point of attack. with his army, hastily organized, he burst upon the legions of varus, who resisted him, the first day, with their accustomed valor. but the attack was renewed the second day, and the endurance of the roman troops began to give way: they held their ground with difficulty, but exerted themselves to the utmost, for there was now only one mountain ridge to be passed. beyond it lay the broad plains of westphalia, with fortresses and military roads, where they had better chances of defence. when the third day dawned, the storm was fiercer than ever. the roman army crossed the summit of the last ridge and saw the securer plains before them. they commenced descending the long slope, but, just as they reached three steep, wooded ravines which were still to be traversed, the germans swept down upon them from the summits, like a torrent, with shouts and far-sounding songs of battle. a complete panic seized the exhausted and disheartened roman troops, and the fight soon became a slaughter. varus, wounded, threw himself upon his sword: the wooded passes, below, were occupied in advance by the germans, and hardly enough escaped to carry the news of the terrible defeat to the roman frontier on the rhine. those who escaped death were sacrificed upon the altars of the gods, and the fiercest revenge was visited upon the roman judges, lawyers and civil officers, who had trampled upon all the hallowed laws and customs of the people. the news of this great german victory reached rome in the midst of the rejoicings over the suppression of the insurrection in dalmatia and pannonia, and turned the triumph into mourning. the aged augustus feared the overthrow of his power. he was unable to comprehend such a sudden and terrible disaster: he let his hair and beard grow for months, as a sign of his trouble, and was often heard to cry aloud: "o, varus, varus, give me back my legions!" the location of the battle-field where hermann defeated varus has been preserved by tradition. the long southern slope of the mountain, near detmold, now bare, but surrounded by forests, is called to this day the _winfield_. around the summit of the mountain there is a ring of huge stones, showing that it was originally consecrated to the worship of the ancient pagan deities. here a pedestal of granite, in the form of a temple, has been built, and upon it has been placed a colossal statue of hermann in bronze, feet high, and visible at a distance of fifty miles. [sidenote: a. d.] hermann's deeds were afterwards celebrated in the songs of his people, as they have been in modern german literature; but, like many other great men, the best results of his victory were cast away by the people whom he had liberated. it was now possible to organize into a nation the tribes which had united to overthrow the romans, and such seems to have been his intention. he sent the head of varus to marbod, chief of the marcomanni, whose power he had secured by carrying out his original design; but he failed to secure the friendship, or even the neutrality, of the rival leader. at home his own family--bitterest among them all his father-in-law, segestes--opposed his plans, and the cherusci were soon divided into two parties,--that of the people, headed by hermann, and that of the nobility, headed by segestes. when tiberius, therefore, hastily collected a new army and marched into germany the following year, he encountered no serious opposition. the union of the tribes had been dissolved, and each avoided an encounter with the romans. the country was apparently subjugated for the second time. the emperor augustus died, a. d. : tiberius succeeded to the purple, and the command in germany then devolved upon his nephew, germanicus, the son of drusus. the new commander, however, was detained in gaul by insubordination in the army and signs of a revolt among the people, following the death of augustus, and he did not reach germany until six years after the defeat of varus. his march was sudden and swift, and took the people by surprise, for the apparent indifference of rome had made them careless. the marsi were all assembled at one of their religious festivals, unprepared for defence, in a consecrated pine forest, when germanicus fell upon them and slaughtered the greater number, after which he destroyed the sacred trees. the news of this outrage roused the sluggish spirit of all the neighboring tribes: they gathered together in such numbers that germanicus had much difficulty in fighting his way back to the rhine. [sidenote: a. d. the invasion of germanicus.] hermann succeeded in escaping from his father-in-law, by whom he had been captured and imprisoned, and began to form a new union of the tribes. his first design was to release his wife, thusnelda, from the hands of segestes, and then destroy the authority of the latter, who was the head of the faction friendly to rome. germanicus re-entered germany the following summer, a. d. , with a powerful army, and to him segestes appealed for help against his own countrymen. the romans marched at once into the land of the cherusci. after a few days they reached the scene of the defeat of varus, and there they halted to bury the thousands of skeletons which lay wasting on the mountainside. then they met segestes, who gave up his own daughter, thusnelda, to germanicus, as a captive. the loss of his wife roused hermann to fury. he went hither and thither among the tribes, stirring the hearts of all with his fiery addresses. germanicus soon perceived that a storm was gathering, and prepared to meet it. he divided his army into two parts, one of which was commanded by cæcina, and built a large fleet which transported one-half of his troops by sea and up the weser. after joining cæcina, he marched into the teutoburger forest. hermann met him near the scene of his great victory over varus, and a fierce battle was fought. according to the romans, neither side obtained any advantage over the other; but germanicus, with half the army, fell back upon his fleet and returned to the rhine by way of the north sea. cæcina, with the remnant of his four legions, also retreated across the country, pursued by hermann. in the dark forests and on the marshy plains they were exposed to constant assaults, and were obliged to fight every step of the way. finally, in a marshy valley, the site of which cannot be discovered, the germans suddenly attacked the romans on all sides. hermann cried out to his soldiers: "it shall be another day of varus!" the songs of the women prophesied triumph, and the romans were filled with forebodings of defeat. they fought desperately, but were forced to yield, and hermann's words would have been made truth, had not the germans ceased fighting in order to plunder the camp of their enemies. the latter were thus able to cut their way out of the valley and hastily fortify themselves for the night on an adjoining plain. [sidenote: a. d.] the german chiefs held a council of war, and decided, against the remonstrances of hermann, to renew the attack at daybreak. this was precisely what cæcina expected; he knew what fate awaited them all if he should fail, and arranged his weakened forces to meet the assault. they fought with such desperation that the germans were defeated, and cæcina was enabled, by forced marches, to reach the rhine, whither the rumor of the entire destruction of his army had preceded him. the voyage of germanicus was also unfortunate: he encountered a violent storm on the coast of holland, and two of his legions barely escaped destruction. he had nothing to show, as the result of his campaign, except his captive thusnelda and her son, who walked behind his triumphal chariot, in rome, three years afterwards, and never again saw their native land; and his ally, the traitor segestes, who ended his contemptible life somewhere in gaul, under roman protection. germanicus, nevertheless, determined not to rest until he had completed the subjugation of the country as far as the elbe. by employing all the means at his command he raised a new army of eight legions, with a great body of cavalry, and a number of auxiliary troops, formed of gauls, rhætians, and even of germans. he collected a fleet of more than a thousand vessels, and transported his army to the mouth of the ems, where he landed and commenced the campaign. the chauci, living near the sea, submitted at once, and some of the neighboring tribes were disposed to follow their example; but hermann, with a large force of the united germans, waited for the romans among the mountains of the weser. germanicus entered the mountains by a gorge, near where the city of minden now stands, and the two armies faced each other, separated only by the river. the legends state that hermann and his brother flavus, who was still in the service of germanicus, held an angry conversation from the opposite shores, and the latter became so exasperated that he endeavored to cross on horseback and attack hermann. germanicus first sent his cavalry across the weser, and then built a bridge, over which his whole army crossed. the romans and germans then met in battle, upon a narrow place between the river and some wooded hills, called the meadow of the elves. the fight was long and bloody: hermann himself, severely wounded, was at one time almost in the hands of the romans. it is said that his face was so covered with blood that he was only recognized by some of the german soldiers on the roman side, who purposely allowed him to escape. the superior military skill of germanicus, and the discipline of his troops, won the day: the germans retreated, beaten but not yet subdued. [sidenote: a. d. end of the invasion.] in a short time the latter were so far recruited that they brought on a second battle. on account of his wounds, hermann was unable to command in person, but his uncle, ingiomar, who took his place, imitated his boldness and bravery. the fight was even more fierce than the first had been, and the romans, at one time, were only prevented from giving way by germanicus placing himself at their head, in the thick of the battle. it appears that both sides held their ground at the close, and their losses were probably equally great, so that neither was in a condition to continue the struggle. germanicus erected a monument on the banks of the weser, claiming that he had conquered germany to the elbe; but before the end of the summer of the year he re-embarked with his army, without leaving any tokens of roman authority behind him. a terrible storm on the north sea so scattered his fleet that many vessels were driven to the english coast: his own ship was in such danger that he landed among the chauci and returned across the country to the rhine. the autumn was far advanced before the scattered remnants of his great army could be collected and reorganized: then, in spite of the lateness of the season, he made a new invasion into the lands of the chatti, or hessians, in order to show that he was still powerful. germanicus was a man of great ambition and of astonishing energy. as julius cæsar had made gaul roman, so he determined to make germany roman. he began his preparations for another expedition the following summer; but the emperor tiberius, jealous of his increasing renown, recalled him to rome, saying that it was better to let the german tribes exhaust themselves in their own internal discords, than to waste so many of the best legions in subduing them. germanicus obeyed, returned to rome, had his grand triumph, and was then sent to the east, where he shortly afterwards died, it was supposed by poison. [sidenote: a. d.] the words of the shrewd emperor were true: two rival powers had been developed in germany through the resistance to rome, and they soon came into conflict. marbod, chief of the marcomanni and many allied tribes, had maintained his position without war; but hermann, now the recognized head of the cherusci and their confederates, who had destroyed varus and held germanicus at bay, possessed a popularity, founded on his heroism, which spread far and wide through the german land. even at that early day, the small chiefs in each tribe (corresponding to the later nobility) were opposed to the broad, patriotic union which hermann had established, because it weakened their power and increased that of the people. they were also jealous of his great authority and influence, and even his uncle, ingiomar, who had led so bravely the last battle against germanicus, went over to the side of marbod when it became evident that the rivalry of the two chiefs must lead to war. our account of these events is obscure and imperfect. on the one side, it seems that marbod's neutrality was a ground of complaint with hermann; while marbod declared that the latter had no right to draw the semnones and longobards--at first allied with the marcomanni--into union with the cherusci against rome. in the year the two marched against each other, and a great battle took place. although neither was victorious, the popularity of hermann drew so many of marbod's allies to his side, that the latter fled to italy and claimed the protection of tiberius, who assigned to him ravenna as a residence. he died there in the year , at a very advanced age. a goth, named catwalda, assisted by roman influence, became his successor as chief of the marcomanni. [sidenote: a. d. death of hermann.] after the flight of marbod, hermann seems to have devoted himself to the creation of a permanent union of the tribes which he had commanded. we may guess, but can not assert, that his object was to establish a national organization, like that of rome, and in doing this, he must have come into conflict with laws and customs which were considered sacred by the people. but his remaining days were too few for even the beginning of a task which included such an advance in the civilization of the race. we only know that he was waylaid and assassinated by members of his own family in the year . he was then thirty-seven years old, and had been for thirteen years a leader of his people. the best monument to his ability and heroism may be found in the words of a roman, the historian tacitus; who says: "he was undoubtedly the liberator of germany, having dared to grapple with the roman power, not in its beginnings, like other kings and commanders, but in the maturity of its strength. he was not always victorious in battle, but in _war_ he was never subdued. he still lives in the songs of the barbarians, unknown to the annals of the greeks, who only admire that which belongs to themselves--nor celebrated as he deserves by the romans, who, in praising the olden times, neglect the events of the later years." chapter iv. germany during the first three centuries of our era. ( -- a. d.) truce between the germans and romans. --the cherusci cease to exist. --incursions of the chauci and chatti. --insurrection of the gauls. --conquests of cerealis. --the roman boundary. --german legions under rome. --the _agri decumates_. --influence of roman civilization. --commerce. --changes among the germans. --war against marcus aurelius. --decline of the roman power. --union of the germans in separate nationalities. --the alemanni. --the franks. --the saxons. --the goths. --the thuringians. --the burgundians. --wars with rome in the third century. --the emperor probus and his policy. --constantine. --relative position of the two races. [sidenote: .] after the campaigns of germanicus and the death of hermann, a long time elapsed during which the relation of germany to the roman empire might be called a truce. no serious attempt was made by the unworthy successors of augustus to extend their sway beyond the banks of the rhine and the danube; and, as tiberius had predicted, the german tribes were so weakened by their own civil wars that they were unable to cope with such a power as rome. even the cherusci, hermann's own people, became so diminished in numbers that, before the end of the first century, they ceased to exist as a separate tribe: their fragments were divided and incorporated with their neighbors on either side. another tribe, the ampsivarii, was destroyed in a war with the chauci, and even the power of the fierce chatti was broken by a great victory of the hermunduri over them, in a quarrel concerning the possession of a sacred salt-spring. about the middle of the first century, however, an event is mentioned which shows that the germans were beginning to appreciate and imitate the superior civilization of rome. the chauci, dwelling on the shores of the north sea, built a fleet and sailed along the coast to the mouth of the rhine, which they entered in the hope of exciting the batavi and frisii to rebellion. a few years afterwards the chatti, probably for the sake of plunder, crossed the rhine and invaded part of gaul. both attempts failed entirely; and the only serious movement of the germans against rome, during the century, took place while vitellius and vespasian were contending for the possession of the imperial throne. a german prophetess, of the name of velleda, whose influence seems to have extended over all the tribes, promised them victory: they united, organized their forces, crossed the rhine, and even laid siege to mayence, the principal roman city. [sidenote: . the invasion of cerealis.] the success of vespasian over his rival left him free to meet this new danger. but in the meantime the batavi, under their chief, claudius civilis, who had been previously fighting on the new emperor's side, joined the gauls in a general insurrection. this was so successful that all northern gaul, from the atlantic to the rhine, threw off the roman yoke. a convention of the chiefs was held at rheims, in order to found a gallic kingdom; but instead of adopting measures of defence, they quarrelled about the selection of a ruling family, the future capital of the kingdom, and other matters of small comparative importance. the approach of cerealis, the roman general sent by vespasian with a powerful army in the year , put an end to the gallic insurrection. most of the gallic tribes submitted without resistance: the treviri, on the moselle, were defeated in battle, the cities and fortresses on the western bank of the rhine were retaken, and the roman frontier was re-established. nevertheless, the german tribes which had been allied with the gauls--among them the batavi--refused to submit, and they were strong enough to fight two bloody battles, in which cerealis was only saved from defeat by what the romans considered to be the direct interposition of the gods. the batavi, although finally subdued in their home in holland, succeeded in getting possession of the roman admiral's vessel, by a night attack on his fleet on the rhine. this trophy they sent by way of the river lippe, an eastern branch of the rhine, as a present to the great prophetess, velleda. the defeat of the german tribes by cerealis was not followed by a new roman invasion of their territory. the rhine remained the boundary, although the romans crossed the river at various points and built fortresses upon the eastern bank. they appear, in like manner, to have crossed the danube, and they also gradually acquired possession of the south-western corner of germany, lying between the head-waters of that river and the rhine. this region (now occupied by baden and part of würtemberg) had been deserted by the marcomanni when they marched to bohemia, and it does not appear that any other german tribe attempted to take permanent possession of it. its first occupants, the helvetians, were now settled in switzerland. [sidenote: .] the enlisting of germans to serve as soldiers in the roman army, begun by julius cæsar, was continued by the emperors. the proofs of their heroism, which the germans had given in resisting germanicus, made them desirable as troops; and, since they were accustomed to fight with their neighbors at home, they had no scruples in fighting them under the banner of rome. thus one german legion after another was formed, taken to rome, spain, greece or the east, and its veterans, if they returned home when disabled by age or wounds, carried with them stories of the civilized world, of cities, palaces and temples, of agriculture and the arts, of a civil and political system far wiser and stronger than their own. the series of good emperors, from vespasian to marcus aurelius (a. d. to ) formed military colonies of their veteran soldiers, whether german, gallic or roman, in the region originally inhabited by the marcomanni. they were governed by roman laws, and they paid a tithe, or tenth part, of their revenues to the empire, whence this district was called the _agri decumates_, or tithe-lands. as it had no definite boundary towards the north and north-east, the settlements gradually extended to the main, and at last included a triangular strip of territory extending from that river to the rhine at cologne. by this time the romans had built, in their provinces of rhætia, noricum and pannonia, south of the danube, the cities of augusta vindelicorum, now augsburg, and vindobona, now vienna, with another on the north bank of the danube, where ratisbon stands at present. from the last-named point to the rhine at cologne they built a stockade, protected by a deep ditch, to keep off the independent german tribes, even as they had built a wall across the north of england, to keep off the picts and scots. traces of this line of defence are still to be seen. another and shorter line, connecting the head-waters of the main with the lake of constance, protected the territory on the east. their frontier remained thus clearly defined for nearly two hundred years. on their side of the line they built fortresses and cities, which they connected by good highways, they introduced a better system of agriculture, established commercial intercourse, not only between their own provinces but also with the independent tribes, and thus extended the influence of their civilization. for the first time, fruit-trees were planted on german soil: the rich cloths and ornaments of italy and the east, the arms and armor, the gold and silver, and the wines of the south, soon found a market within the german territory; while the horses and cattle, furs and down, smoked beef and honey of the germans, the fish of their streams, and the radishes and asparagus raised on the rhine, were sent to rome in exchange for those luxuries. wherever the romans discovered a healing spring, as at baden-baden, aix-la-chapelle and spa, they built splendid baths; where they found ores or marble in the mountains, they established mines or hewed columns for their temples, and the native tribes were thus taught the unsuspected riches of their own land. [sidenote: . the roman frontier.] for nearly a hundred years after vespasian's accession to the throne, there was no serious interruption to the peaceful intercourse of the two races. during this time, we must take it for granted that a gradual change must have been growing up in the habits and ideas of the germans. it is probable that they then began to collect in villages; to use stone as well as wood in building their houses and fortresses; to depend more on agriculture and less on hunting and fishing for their subsistence; and to desire the mechanical skill, the arts of civilization, which the romans possessed. the extinction of many smaller tribes, also, taught them the necessity of learning to subdue their internal feuds, and assist instead of destroying each other. on the north of them was the sea; on the east the sarmatians and other slavonic tribes, much more savage than themselves: in every other direction they were confronted by rome. the complete subjugation of their celtic neighbors in gaul was always before their eyes. in hermann's day, they were still too ignorant to understand the necessity of his plan of union; but now that tens of thousands of their people had learned the extent and power of the roman empire, and the commercial intercourse of a hundred years had shown them their own deficiencies, they reached the point where a new development in their history became possible. [sidenote: .] such a development came to disturb the reign of the noble emperor, marcus aurelius, in the latter half of the second century. about the year , all the german tribes, from the danube to the baltic, united in a grand movement against the roman empire. the marcomanni, who still inhabited bohemia, appear as their leaders, and the roman writers attach their name to the long and desperate war which ensued. we have no knowledge of the cause of this struggle, the manner in which the union of the germans was effected, or even the names of their leaders: we only know that their invasion of the roman territory was several times driven back and several times recommenced; that marcus aurelius died in vienna, in , without having seen the end; and that his son and successor, commodus, bought a peace instead of winning it by the sword. at one time, during the war, the chatti forced their way through the tithe-lands and switzerland, and crossed the alps: at another, the marcomanni and quadi besieged the city of aquileia, on the northern shore of the adriatic. the ancient boundary between the roman empire and germany was restored, but at a cost which the former could not pay a second time. for a hundred and fifty years longer the emperors preserved their territory: rome still ruled, in name, from spain to the tigris, from scotland to the desert of sahara, but her power was like a vast, hollow shell. luxury, vice, taxation and continual war had eaten out the heart of the empire; italy had grown weak and was slowly losing its population, and the same causes were gradually ruining spain, gaul and britain. during this period the german tribes, notwithstanding their terrible losses in war, had preserved their vigor by the simplicity, activity and morality of their habits: they had considerably increased in numbers, and from the time of marcus aurelius on, they felt themselves secure against any further invasion of their territory. then commenced a series of internal changes, concerning which, unfortunately, we have no history. we can only guess that their origin dates from the union of all the principal tribes under the lead of the marcomanni; but whether they were brought about with or without internal wars; whether wise and far-seeing chiefs or the sentiment of the people themselves, contributed most to their consummation; finally, when these changes began and when they were completed--are questions which can never be accurately settled. [sidenote: -- . german nationalities.] when the germans again appear in history, in the third century of our era, we are surprised to find that the names of nearly all the tribes with which we are familiar have disappeared, and new names, of much wider significance, have taken their places. instead of twenty or thirty small divisions, we now find the race consolidated into four chief nationalities, with two other inferior though independent branches. we also find that the geographical situation of the latter is no longer the same as that of the smaller tribes out of which they grew. migrations must have taken place, large tracts of territory must have changed hands, many reigning families must have been overthrown, and new ones arisen. in short, the change in the organization of the germans is so complete that it can hardly have been accomplished by peaceable means. each of the new nationalities has an important part to play in the history of the following centuries, and we will therefore describe them separately: . the alemanni.--the name of this division (_allemannen_,[a] signifying "all men") shows that it was composed of fragments of many tribes. the alemanni first made their appearance along the main, and gradually pushed southward over the tithe-lands, where the military veterans of rome had settled, until they occupied the greater part of south-western germany, and eastern switzerland, to the alps. their descendants inhabit the same territory, to this day. [a] _allemagne_ remains the french name for germany. . the franks.--it is not known whence this name was derived, nor what is its meaning. the franks are believed to have been formed out of the sicambrians in westphalia, together with a portion of the chatti and the batavi in holland, and other tribes. we first hear of them on the lower rhine, but they soon extended their territory over a great part of belgium and westphalia. their chiefs were already called kings, and their authority was hereditary. . the saxons.--this was one of the small original tribes, settled in holstein: the name is derived from their peculiar weapon, a short sword, called _sahs_. we find them now occupying nearly all the territory between the hartz mountains and the north sea, from the elbe westward to the rhine. the cherusci, the chauci, and other tribes named by tacitus, were evidently incorporated with the saxons, who exhibit the same characteristics. there appears to have been a natural enmity--no doubt bequeathed from the earlier tribes out of which both grew--between them and the franks. [sidenote: -- .] . the goths.--the traditions of the goths state that they were settled in sweden before they were found by the greek navigators on the southern shore of the baltic, in b. c. it is probable that only a portion of the tribe migrated, and that the present scandinavian race is descended from the remainder. as the baltic goths increased in numbers, they gradually ascended the vistula, pressed eastward along the base of the carpathians and reached the black sea, in the course of the second century after christ. they thus possessed a broad belt of territory, separating the rest of europe from the wilder slavonic races who occupied central russia. the vandals and alans, with the heruli, rugii and other smaller tribes, all germanic, as well as a portion of the slavonic sarmatians, were incorporated with them; and it was probably the great extent of territory they controlled which occasioned their separation into ostrogoths (east-goths) and visigoths (west-goths). they first came in contact with the romans, beyond the mouth of the danube, about the beginning of the third century. . the thuringians.--this branch had only a short national existence. it was composed of the hermunduri, with fragments of other tribes, united under one king, and occupied all of central germany, from the hartz southward to the danube. . the burgundians.--leaving their original home in prussia, between the oder and the vistula, the burgundians crossed the greater part of germany in a south-western direction, and first settled in a portion of what is now franconia, between the thuringians and the alemanni. not long afterwards, however, they passed through the latter, and took possession of the country on the west bank of the rhine, between strasburg and mayence. [sidenote: . incursions of the goths.] caracalla came into collision with the alemanni in the year , and the emperor maximin, who was a goth on his father's side, laid waste their territory, in . about the latter period, the franks began to make predatory incursions into gaul, and the goths became troublesome to the romans, on the lower danube. in the emperor decius found his death among the marshes of dacia, while trying to stay the gothic invasion, and his successor, gallus, only obtained a temporary peace by agreeing to pay an annual sum of money, thus really making rome a tributary power. but the empire had become impoverished, and the payment soon ceased. thereupon the goths built fleets, and made voyages of plunder, first to trebizond and the other towns on the asiatic shore of the black sea; then they passed the hellespont, took and plundered the great city of nicomedia, ephesus with its famous temple, the grecian isles, and even corinth, argos and athens. in the meantime the alemanni had resumed the offensive: they came through rhætiæ, and descended to the garda lake, in northern italy. the emperor, claudius ii., turned back this double invasion. he defeated and drove back the alemanni, and then, in the year , won a great victory over the goths, in the neighborhood of thessalonica. his successor, aurelian, followed up the advantage, and in the following year made a treaty with the goths, by which the danube became the frontier between them and the romans. the latter gave up to them the province of dacia, lying north of the river, and withdrew their colonists and military garrisons to the southern side. both the franks and saxons profited by these events. they let their mutual hostility rest for awhile, built fleets, and sailed forth in the west on voyages of plunder, like their relatives, the goths, in the east. the saxons descended on the coasts of britain and gaul; the franks sailed to spain, and are said to have even entered the mediterranean. when probus became emperor, in the year , he found a great part of gaul overrun and ravaged by them and by the alemanni, on the upper rhine. he succeeded, after a hard struggle, in driving back the german invaders, restored the line of stockade from the rhine to the danube, and built new fortresses along the frontier. on the other hand, he introduced into germany the cultivation of the vine, which the previous emperors had not permitted, and thus laid the foundation of the famous vineyards of the rhine and the moselle. [sidenote: .] probus endeavored to weaken the power of the germans, by separating and colonizing them, wherever it was possible. one of his experiments, however, had a very different result from what he expected. he transported a large number of frank captives to the shore of the black sea; but, instead of quietly settling there, they got possession of some vessels, soon formed a large fleet, sailed into the mediterranean, plundered the coasts of asia minor, greece and sicily, where they even captured the city of syracuse, and at last, after many losses and marvellous adventures, made their way by sea to their homes on the lower rhine. towards the close of the third century, constantine, during the reign of his father, constantius, suppressed an insurrection of the franks, and even for a time drove them from their islands on the coast of holland. he afterward crossed the rhine, but found it expedient not to attempt an expedition into the interior. he appears to have had no war with the alemanni, but he founded the city of constance, on the lake of the same name, for the purpose of keeping them in check. the boundaries between germany and rome still remained the rhine and the danube, but on the east they were extended to the black sea, and in place of the invasions of cæsar, drusus and germanicus, the empire was obliged to be content when it succeeded in repelling the invasions made upon its own soil. three hundred years of very slow, but healthy growth on the one side, and of luxury, corruption and despotism on the other, had thus changed the relative position of the two races. chapter v. the rise and migrations of the goths. ( -- .) rise of the goths. --german invasions of gaul. --victories of julian. --the ostrogoths and visigoths. --bishop ulfila. --the gothic language. --the gothic king, athanaric. --the coming of the huns. --death of hermanric. --the goths take refuge in thrace. --their revolt. --defeat of valens. --the goths under theodosius. --the franks and goths meet in battle. --alaric, the visigoth. --he invades greece. --battle with stilicho. --alaric besieges rome. --he enters rome, a. d. . --his death and burial. --succession of ataulf. --the visigoths settle in southern gaul. --beginning of other migrations. [sidenote: . rise of the goths.] rome, as the representative of the civilization of the world, and, after the year , as the political power which left christianity free to overthrow the ancient religions, is still the central point of historical interest during the greater part of the fourth century. until the death of the emperor valentinian, in , the ancient boundaries of the empire, though frequently broken down, were continually re-established, and the laws and institutions of the romans had prevailed so long throughout the great extent of conquered territory that the inhabitants now knew no other. but beyond the danube had arisen a new power, the independence of which, after the time of aurelian, was never disputed by the roman emperors. the goths were the first of the germanic tribes to adopt a monarchical form of government, and to acquire some degree of civilization. they were numerous and well organized; and constantine, who was more of a diplomatist than a general, found it better to preserve peace with them for forty years, by presents and payments, than to provoke them to war. his best soldiers were enlisted among them, and it was principally the valor of his gothic troops which enabled him to defeat the rival emperor, licinius, in . from that time, , goths formed the main strength of his army. [sidenote: .] the important part which these people played in the history of europe renders it necessary that we should now sketch their rise and growth as a nation. first, however, let us turn to western and northern germany, where the development of the new nationalities was longer delayed, and describe the last of their struggles with the power of rome, during the fourth century. after the death of constantine, in , the quarrels of his sons and brothers for the imperial throne gave the germans a new opportunity to repeat their invasions of gaul. the franks were the first to take advantage of it: they got possession of belgium, which was not afterwards retaken. the alemanni followed, and planted themselves on the western bank of the rhine, which they held, although strasburg and other fortified cities still belonged to the romans. about the year , a frank or saxon, of the name of magnentius, was proclaimed emperor by a part of the roman army. he was defeated by the true emperor, constantius ii., but the victory seems to have exhausted the military resources of the latter, for immediately afterwards another german invasion occurred. this time, the franks took and pillaged cologne, the alemanni destroyed strasburg and mayence, and the saxons, who had now become a sea-faring people, visited the northwestern coasts of gaul. constantius ii. gave the command to his nephew, julian (afterwards, as emperor, called the apostate), who first retook cologne from the franks, and then turned his forces against the alemanni. the king of the latter, chnodomar, had collected a large army, with which he encountered julian on the banks of the rhine, near strasburg. the battle which ensued was fiercely contested; but julian was completely victorious. chnodomar was taken prisoner, and only a few of his troops escaped, like those of ariovistus, years before, by swimming across the rhine. although the season was far advanced, julian followed them, crossed their territory to the main, rebuilt the destroyed roman fortresses, and finally accepted an armistice of ten months which they offered to him. he made use of this time to intimidate the franks and saxons. starting from lutetia (now paris) early in the summer of , he drove the franks beyond the schelde, received their submission, and then marched a second time against the alemanni. he laid waste their well-settled and cultivated land between the rhine, the main and the neckar, crossed their territory to the frontiers of the burgundians (in what is now franconia, or northern bavaria), liberated , roman captives, and made the entire alemannic people tributary to the empire. his accession to the imperial throne, in , delivered the germans from the most dangerous and dreaded enemy they had known since the time of germanicus. [sidenote: . territory of the goths.] not many years elapsed before the franks and alemanni again overran the old boundaries, and the saxons landed on the shores of england. the emperor valentinian employed both diplomacy and force, and succeeded in establishing a temporary peace; but after his death, in the year , the roman empire, the capital of which had been removed to constantinople in , was never again in a condition to maintain its supremacy in gaul, or to prevent the germans from crossing the rhine. we now return to the goths, who already occupied the broad territory included in poland, southern russia, and roumania. the river dniester may be taken as the probable boundary between the two kingdoms into which they had separated. the ostrogoths, under their aged king, hermanric, extended from that river eastward nearly to the caspian sea: on the north they had no fixed boundary, but they must have reached to the latitude of moscow. the visigoths stretched westward from the dniester to the danube, and northward from hungary to the baltic sea. the vandals were for some generations allied with the latter, but war having arisen between them, the emperor constantine interposed. he succeeded in effecting a separation of the two, and in settling the vandals in hungary, where they remained for forty years under the protection of the roman empire. from the time of their first encounter with the romans, in dacia, during the third century, the goths appear to have made rapid advances in their political organization and the arts of civilized life. they were the first of the germanic nations who accepted christianity. on one of their piratical expeditions to the shores of asia minor, they brought away as captive a christian boy. they named him ulfila, and by that name he is still known to the world. he devoted his life to the overthrow of their pagan faith, and succeeded. he translated the bible into their language, and, it is supposed, even invented a gothic alphabet, since it is doubtful whether they already possessed one. a part of ulfila's translation of the new testament escaped destruction, and is now preserved in the library at upsala, in sweden. it is the only specimen, in existence of the gothic language at that early day. from it we learn how rich and refined was that language, and how many of the elements of the german and english tongues it contained. the following are the opening words of the lord's prayer, as ulfila wrote them between the years and of our era: gothic. _atta unsara, thu in himinam, veihnai namo thein._ english. father our, thou in heaven, be hallowed name thine. german. vater unser, du im himmel, geweiht werde name dein. gothic. _quimai thiudinassus theins, vairthai vilja theins,_ english. come kingdom thine, be done will thine, german. komme herrschaft dein, werde wille dein, gothic. _sve in himina, jah ana airthai._ english. as in heaven, also on earth. german. wie im himmel, auch auf erden. [sidenote: .] ulfila was born in , became a bishop of the christian church, spent his whole life in teaching the goths, and died in constantinople, in the year . there is no evidence that he, or any other of the christian missionaries of his time, were persecuted, or even seriously hindered in the good work, by the goths: the latter seem to have adopted the new faith readily, and the arian creed which ulfila taught, although rejected by the church of rome, was stubbornly held by their descendants for a period of nearly five hundred years. somewhere between and , the long peace between the romans and the goths was disturbed; but the emperor valens and the gothic king, athanaric, had a conference on board a vessel on the danube, and came to an understanding. athanaric refused to cross the river, on account of a vow made on some former occasion. the goths, it appears, were by this time learning the art of statesmanship, and they might have continued on good terms with the romans, but for the sudden appearance on the scene of an entirely new race, coming, as they themselves had come so many centuries before, from the unknown regions of central asia. [sidenote: . coming of the huns.] in , the year of valentinian's death, a race of people up to that time unknown, and whose name--the huns--had never before been heard, crossed the volga and invaded the territory of the ostrogoths. later researches render it probable that they came from the steppes of mongolia, and that they belonged to the tartar family; but, in the course of their wanderings, before reaching europe, they had not only lost all the traditions of their former history, but even their religious faith. their very appearance struck terror into the goths, who were so much further advanced in civilization. they were short, clumsy figures, with broad and hideously ugly faces, flat noses, oblique eyes and long black hair, and were clothed in skins which they wore until they dropped in rags from their bodies. but they were marvellous horsemen, and very skilful in using the bow and lance. the men were on their horses' backs from morning till night, while the women and children followed their march in rude carts. they came in such immense numbers, and showed so much savage daring and bravery, that several smaller tribes, allied with the ostrogoths, or subject to them, went over immediately to the huns. the kingdom of the ostrogoths, almost without offering resistance, fell to pieces. the king, hermanric, now more than a hundred years old, threw himself upon his sword, at their approach: his successor, vitimer, gave battle, but lost the victory and his life at the same time. the great body of the people retreated westward before the huns, who, following them, reached the dnieper. here athanaric, king of the visigoths, was posted with a large army, to dispute their passage; but the huns succeeded in finding a fording-place which was left unguarded, turned his flank, and defeated him with great slaughter. nothing now remained but for both branches of the gothic people, united in misfortune, to retreat to the danube. athanaric took refuge among the mountains of transylvania, and the bishop ulfila was dispatched to constantinople to ask the assistance of the emperor valens, who was entreated to permit that the goths, meanwhile, might cross the danube and find a refuge on roman territory. valens yielded to the entreaty, but attached very hard conditions to his permission: the goths were allowed to cross unarmed, after giving up their wives and children as hostages. in their fear of the huns, they were obliged to accept these conditions, and hundreds of thousands thronged across the danube. they soon exhausted the supplies of the region, and then began to suffer famine, of which the roman officers and traders took advantage, demanding their children as slaves in return for the cats and dogs which they gave to the goths as food. [sidenote: .] this treatment brought about its own revenge. driven to desperation by hunger and the outrages inflicted upon them, the goths secretly procured arms, rose, and made themselves masters of the country. the roman governor marched against them, but their chief, fridigern, defeated him and utterly destroyed his army. the news of this event induced large numbers of gothic soldiers to desert from the imperial army, and join their countrymen. fridigern, thus strengthened, commenced a war of revenge: he crossed the balkan, laid waste all thrace, macedonia and thessaly, and settled his own people in the most fertile parts of the plundered provinces. the ostrogoths had crossed the danube at the first report of his success, and had taken part in his conquests. towards the end of the year , the emperor valens raised a large army and marched against fridigern. a battle was fought at the foot of the balkan, and a second, the following year, before the walls of adrianople. in both the goths were victorious: in the latter two-thirds of the roman troops fell, valens himself, doubtless, among them,--for he was never seen or heard of after that day. his nephew, gratian, succeeded to the throne, but associated with him theodosius, a young spaniard of great ability, as emperor of the east. while gratian marched to gaul, to stay the increasing inroads of the franks, theodosius was left to deal with the goths, who were beginning to cultivate the fields of thrace, as if they meant to stay there. he was obliged to confirm them in the possession of the greater part of the country. they were called allies of the empire, were obliged to furnish a certain number of soldiers, but retained their own kings, and were governed by their own laws. after the death of fridigern, theodosius invited athanaric to visit him. the latter, considering himself now absolved from his vow not to cross the danube, accepted the invitation, and was received in constantinople on the footing of an equal by theodosius. he died a few weeks after his arrival, and the emperor walked behind his bier, in the funeral procession. for several years the relations between the two powers continued peaceful and friendly. both branches of the goths were settled together, south of the danube, their relinquished territory north of that river being occupied by the huns, who were still pressing westward. [sidenote: . alaric invades greece.] in italy, valentinian ii. succeeded his brother gratian. his chief minister was a frank, named arbogast, who, learning that he was to be dismissed from his place, had the young valentinian assassinated, and set up a new emperor, eugene, in his stead. this act brought him into direct conflict with theodosius. arbogast called upon his countrymen, the franks, who sent a large body of troops to his assistance, while theodosius strengthened his army with , gothic soldiers. then, for the first time, frank and goth--west-german and east-german--faced each other as enemies. the gothic auxiliaries of theodosius were commanded by two leaders, alaric and stilicho, already distinguished among their people, and destined to play a remarkable part in the history of europe. the battle between the two armies was fought near aquileia, in the year . the sham emperor, eugene, was captured and beheaded, arbogast threw himself upon his sword, and theodosius was master of the west. the emperor, however, lived but a few months to enjoy his single rule. he died at milan, in , after having divided the government of the empire between his two sons. honorius, the elder, was sent to rome, with the gothic chieftain, stilicho, as his minister and guardian; while the boy arcadius, at constantinople, was intrusted to the care of a gaul, named rufinus. alaric, perhaps a personal enemy of the latter, perhaps jealous of the elevation of stilicho to such an important place, refused to submit to the new government. he collected a large body of his countrymen, and set out on a campaign of plunder through greece. every ancient city, except thebes, fell into his hands, and only athens was allowed to buy her exemption from pillage. the gaul, rufinus, took no steps to arrest this devastation; wherefore, it is said, he was murdered at the instigation of stilicho, who then sent a fleet against alaric. this undertaking was not entirely successful, and the government of constantinople finally purchased peace by making alaric the imperial legate in illyria. in the year , he was sent to italy, as the representative of the emperor arcadius, to overthrow the power of his former fellow-chieftain, stilicho, who ruled in the name of honorius. his approach, with a large army, threw the whole country into terror. honorius shut himself up within the walls of ravenna, while stilicho called the legions from gaul, and even from britain, to his support. a great battle was fought near the po, but without deciding the struggle; and alaric had already begun to march towards rome, when a treaty was made by which he and his army were allowed to return to illyria with all the booty they had gathered in italy. [sidenote: .] five years afterwards, when stilicho was busy in endeavoring to keep the franks and alemanni out of gaul, and to drive back the incursions of mixed german and celtic bands which began to descend from the alps, alaric again made his appearance, demanding the payment of certain sums, which he claimed were due to him. stilicho, having need of his military strength elsewhere, satisfied alaric's claim by the payment of , pounds of gold; but the romans felt themselves bitterly humiliated, and honorius, listening to the rivals of stilicho, gave his consent to the assassination of the latter and his whole family including the emperor's own sister, serena, whom stilicho had married. when the news of this atrocious act reached alaric, he turned and marched back to italy. there was now no skilful commander to oppose him: the cowardly honorius took refuge in ravenna, and the goths advanced, without resistance, to the gates of rome. the walls, built by aurelian, were too strong to be taken by assault, but all supplies were cut off, and the final surrender of the city became only a question of time. when a deputation of romans represented to alaric that the people still numbered half a million, he answered: "the thicker the grass, the better the mowing!" they were finally obliged to yield to his demands, and pay a ransom consisting of , pounds of gold, , pounds of silver, many thousands of silk robes, and a large quantity of spices,--a total value of something more than three millions of dollars. in addition to this, , slaves, mostly of germanic blood, escaped to his camp and became free. alaric only withdrew into northern italy, where he soon found a new cause of dispute with the government of honorius, in ravenna. he seems to have been a man of great military genius, but little capacity for civil rule; of much energy and ambition, but little judgment. the result of his quarrel with honorius was, that he marched again to rome, proclaimed attalus, the governor of the city, emperor, and then demanded entrance for himself and his troops, as an ally. the demand could not be refused: rome was opened to the goths, who participated in the festivals which accompanied the coronation of attalus. it was nothing but a farce, and seems to have been partly intended as such by alaric, who publicly deposed the new emperor shortly afterwards, on his march to ravenna. [sidenote: . alaric in rome.] there were further negotiations with honorius, which came to nothing; then alaric advanced upon rome the third time, not now as an ally, but as an avowed enemy. the city could make no resistance, and on the th of august, , the goths entered it as conquerors. this event, so famous in history, has been greatly misrepresented. later researches show that, although the citizens were despoiled of their wealth, the buildings and monuments were spared. the people were subjected to violence and outrage for the space of six days, after which alaric marched out of rome with his army, leaving the city, in its external appearance, very much as he found it. he directed his course towards southern italy, with the intention, it was generally believed, of conquering sicily and then crossing into africa. the plan was defeated by his death, in , at cosenza, a town on the banks of the busento, in calabria. his soldiers turned the river from its course, dug a grave in its bed, and there laid the body of alaric, with all the gems and gold he had gathered. then the busento was restored to its channel, and the slaves who had performed the work were slain, in order that alaric's place of burial might never be known. his brother-in-law, ataulf (adolph), was his successor. he was also the brother-in-law of honorius, having married the latter's sister, placidia, after she was taken captive by alaric. he was therefore strengthened by the conquests of the one and by his family connection with the other. the visigoths, who had gradually gathered together under alaric, seem to have had enough of marching to and fro, and they acquiesced in an arrangement made between ataulf and honorius, according to which the former led them out of italy in , and established them in southern gaul. they took possession of all the region lying between the loire and the pyrenees, with toulouse as their capital. [sidenote: .] thus, in the space of forty years, the visigoths left their home on the black sea, between the danube and the dniester, passed through the whole breadth of the roman empire, from constantinople to the bay of biscay, after having traversed both the grecian and italian peninsulas, and settled themselves again in what seemed to be a permanent home. during this extraordinary migration, they maintained their independence as a people, they preserved their laws, customs, and their own rulers; and, although frequently at enmity with the empire, they were never made to yield it allegiance. under athanaric, as we have seen, they were united for a time with the ostrogoths, and it was probably the renown and success of alaric which brought about a second separation. of course the impetus given to this branch of the germanic race by the invasion of the huns did not affect it alone. before the visigoths reached the shores of the atlantic, all central europe was in movement. leaving them there for the present, and also leaving the great body of the ostrogoths in thrace and illyria, we will now return to the nations whom we left maintaining their existence on german soil. chapter vi. the invasion of the huns, and its consequences. ( -- .) general westward movement of the races. --stilicho's defeat of the germans. --migration of the alans, vandals, &c. --saxon colonization of england. --the vandals in africa. --decline of rome. --spread of german power. --attila, king of the huns. --rise of his power. --superstitions concerning him. --his march into france. --he is opposed by aëtius and theodoric. --the great battle near châlons. --retreat of attila. --he destroys aquileia. --invades italy. --his death. --geiserich takes and plunders rome. --end of the western empire. --the huns expelled. --movements of the tribes on german soil. [sidenote: . movement of the tribes.] the westward movement of the huns was followed, soon afterwards, by an advance of the slavonic tribes on the north, who first took possession of the territory on the baltic relinquished by the goths, and then gradually pressed onward towards the elbe. the huns themselves, temporarily settled in the fertile region north of the danube, pushed the vandals westward toward bohemia, and the latter, in their turn, pressed upon the marcomanni. thus, at the opening of the fifth century, all the tribes, from the baltic to the alps, along the eastern frontier of germany, were partly or wholly forced to fall back. this gave rise to a union of many of them, including the vandals, alans, suevi and burgundians, under a chief named radagast. numbering half a million, they crossed the alps into northern italy, and demanded territory for new homes. stilicho, exhausted by his struggle with alaric, whose retreat from italy he had just purchased, could only meet this new enemy by summoning his legions from gaul and britain. he met radagast at fiesole (near florence), and so crippled the strength of the invasion that italy was saved. the german tribes recrossed the alps, and entered gaul the following year. here they gave up their temporary union, and each tribe selected its own territory. the alans pushed forwards, crossed the pyrenees, and finally settled in portugal; the vandals followed and took possession of all southern spain, giving their name to (v-)andalusia; the suevi, after fighting, but not conquering, the native basque tribes of the pyrenees, selected what is now the province of galicia; while the burgundians stretched from the rhine through western switzerland, and southward nearly to the mouth of the rhone. the greater part of gaul was thus already lost to the roman power. [sidenote: .] the withdrawal of the legions from britain by stilicho left the population unprotected. the britons were then a mixture of celtic and roman blood, and had become greatly demoralized during the long decay of the empire; so they were unable to resist the invasions of the picts and scots, and in this emergency they summoned the saxons and angles to their aid. two chiefs of the latter, hengist and horsa, accepted the invitation, landed in england in , and received lands in kent. they were followed by such numbers of their countrymen that the allies soon became conquerors, and portioned england among themselves. they brought with them their speech and their ancient pagan religion, and for a time overthrew the rude form of christianity which had prevailed among the britons since the days of constantine. only ireland, the scottish highlands, wales and cornwall resisted the saxon rule, as across the channel, in brittany, a remnant of the celtic gauls resisted the sway of the franks. from the year until the landing of william the conqueror, in , nearly all england and the lowlands of scotland were in the hands of the saxon race. ataulf, the king of the visigoths, was murdered soon after establishing his people in southern france. wallia, his successor, crossed the pyrenees, drove the vandals out of northern spain, and made the ebro river the boundary between them and his visigoths. fifteen years afterwards, in , the vandals, under their famous king, geiserich (incorrectly called genseric in many histories), were invited by the roman governor of africa to assist him in a revolt against the empire. they crossed the straits of gibraltar in a body, took possession of all the roman provinces, as far eastward as tunis, and made carthage the capital of their new kingdom. the visigoths immediately occupied the remainder of spain, which they held for nearly three hundred years afterwards. [sidenote: . attila, king of the huns.] thus, although the name and state of an emperor of the west were kept up in rome until the year , the empire never really existed after the invasion of alaric. the dominion over italy, gaul and spain, claimed by the emperors of the east, at constantinople, was acknowledged in documents, but (except for a short time, under justinian) was never practically exercised. rome had been the supreme power of the known world for so many centuries, that a superstitious influence still clung to the very name, and the ambition of the germanic kings seems to have been, not to destroy the empire, but to conquer and make it their own. the rude tribes, which, in the time of julius cæsar, were buried among the mountains and forests of the country between the rhine, the danube and the baltic sea, were now, five hundred years later, scattered over all europe, and beginning to establish new nations on the foundations laid by rome. as soon as they cross the old boundaries of germany, they come into the light of history, and we are able to follow their wars and migrations; but we know scarcely anything, during this period, of the tribes which remained within those boundaries. we can only infer that the marcomanni settled between the danube and the alps, in what is now bavaria; that, early in the fifth century, the thuringians established a kingdom including nearly all central germany; and that the slavonic tribes, pressing westward through prussia, were checked by the valor of the saxons, along the line of the elbe, since only scattered bands of them were found beyond that river at a later day. the first impulse to all these wonderful movements came, as we have seen, from the huns. these people, as yet unconquered, were so dreaded by the emperors of the east, that their peace was purchased, like that of the goths a hundred years before, by large annual payments. for fifty years, they seemed satisfied to rest in their new home, making occasional raids across the danube, and gradually bringing under their sway the fragments of germanic tribes already settled in hungary, or left behind by the goths. in , attila and his brother bleda became kings of the huns, but the latter's death, in , left attila sole ruler. his name was already famous, far and wide, for his strength, energy and intelligence. his capital was established near tokay, in hungary, where he lived in a great castle of wood, surrounded with moats and palisades. he was a man of short stature, with broad head, neck and shoulders, and fierce, restless eyes. he scorned the luxury which was prevalent at the time, wore only plain woollen garments, and ate and drank from wooden dishes and cups. his personal power and influence were so great that the huns looked upon him as a demigod, while all the neighboring germanic tribes, including a large portion of the ostrogoths, enlisted under his banner. [sidenote: .] after the huns had invaded thrace and compelled the eastern empire to pay a double tribute, the emperor of the west, valentinian iii. (the grandson of theodosius), sent an embassy to attila, soliciting his friendship: the emperor's sister, honoria, offered him her hand. both divisions of the empire thus did him reverence, and he had little to fear from the force which either could bring against him; but the goths and vandals, now warlike and victorious races, were more formidable foes. here, however, he was favored by the hostility between the aged geiserich, king of the vandals, and the young theodoric, king of the visigoths. the former sent messages to attila, inciting him to march into gaul and overthrow theodoric, who was geiserich's relative and rival. soon afterwards, a new emperor, at constantinople, refused the additional tribute, and valentinian iii. withheld the hand of his sister honoria. attila, now--towards the close of the year --made preparations for a grand war of conquest. he already possessed unbounded influence over the huns, and supernatural signs of his coming career were soon supplied. a peasant dug up a jewelled sword, which, it was said, had long before been given to a race of kings by the god of war. this was brought to attila, and thenceforth worn by him. he was called "the scourge of god," and the people believed that wherever the hoofs of his horse had trodden no grass ever grew again. the fear of his power, or the hope of plunder, drew large numbers of the german tribes to his side, and the army with which he set out for the conquest, first of gaul and then of europe, is estimated at from , to , warriors. with this, he passed through the heart of germany, much of which he had already made tributary, and reached the rhine. here gunther, the king of the burgundians, opposed him with a force of , men and was speedily crushed. even a portion of the franks, who were then quarrelling among themselves, joined him, and now gaul divided between franks, romans and visigoths, was open to his advance. [sidenote: . the siege of orleans.] the minister and counsellor of valentinian iii. was aëtius, the son of a gothic father and a roman mother. as soon as attila's design became known, he hastened to gaul, collected the troops still in roman service, and procured the alliance of theodoric and the visigoths. the alans, under their king sangipan, were also persuaded to unite their forces: the independent celts in brittany, and a large portion of the franks and burgundians, all of whom were threatened by the invasion of the huns, hastened to the side of aëtius, so that the army commanded by himself and theodoric became nearly if not quite equal in numbers to that of attila. the latter, by this time, had marched into the heart of gaul, laying waste the country through which he passed, and meeting no resistance until he reached the walled and fortified city of orleans. this was in the year . orleans, besieged and hard pressed, was about to surrender, when aëtius approached with his army. attila was obliged to raise the siege at once, and retreat in order to select a better position for the impending battle. he finally halted on the broad plains of the province of champagne, near the present city of châlons, where his immense body of armed horsemen would have ample space to move. aëtius and theodoric followed and pitched their camp opposite to him, on the other side of a small hill which rose from the plain. that night, attila ordered his priests to consult their pagan oracles, and ascertain the fate of the morrow's struggle. the answer was: "death to the enemy's leader, destruction to the huns!"--but the hope of seeing aëtius fall prevailed on attila to risk his own defeat. the next day witnessed one of the greatest battles of history. aëtius commanded the right and theodoric the left wing of their army, placing between them the alans and other tribes, of whose fidelity they were not quite sure. attila, however, took the centre with his huns, and formed his wings of the germans and ostrogoths. the battle began at dawn, and raged through the whole day. both armies endeavored to take and hold the hill between them, and the hundreds of thousands rolled back and forth as the victory inclined to one side or the other. a brook which ran through the plain was swollen high by the blood of the fallen. at last theodoric broke attila's centre, but was slain in the attack. the visigoths immediately lifted his son, thorismond, on a shield, proclaimed him king, and renewed the fight. the huns were driven back to the fortress of wagons where their wives, children and treasures were collected, when a terrible storm of rain and thunder put an end to the battle. between , and , dead lay upon the plain. [sidenote: .] all night the lamentations of the hunnish women filled the air. attila had an immense funeral pile constructed of saddles, whereon he meant to burn himself and his family, in case aëtius should renew the fight the next day. but the army of the latter was too exhausted to move, and the huns were allowed to commence their retreat from gaul. enraged at his terrible defeat, attila destroyed everything in his way, leaving a broad track of blood and ashes from gaul through the heart of germany, back to hungary. by the following year, , attila had collected another army, and now directed his march towards italy. this new invasion was so unexpected that the passes of the alps were left undefended, and the huns reached the rich and populous city of aquileia, on the northern shore of the adriatic, without meeting any opposition. after a siege of three months, they took and razed it to the ground so completely that it was never rebuilt, and from that day to this only a few piles of shapeless stones remain to mark the spot where it stood. the inhabitants who escaped took refuge upon the low marshy islands, separated from the mainland by the lagoons, and there formed the settlement which, two or three hundred years later, became known to the world as venice. attila marched onward to the po, destroying everything in his way. here he was met by a deputation, at the head of which was leo, the bishop (or pope) of rome, sent by valentinian iii. leo so worked upon the superstitious mind of the savage monarch, that the latter gave up his purpose of taking rome, and returned to hungary with his army, which was suffering from disease and want. the next year he died suddenly, in his wooden palace at tokay. the tradition states that his body was inclosed in three coffins, of iron, silver and gold, and buried secretly, like that of alaric, so that no man might know his resting-place. he had a great many wives, and left so many sons behind him, that their quarrels for the succession to the throne divided the huns into numerous parties, and quite destroyed their power as a people. [sidenote: . geiserich takes rome.] the alliance between aëtius and the visigoths ceased immediately after the great battle. valentinian iii., suspicious of the fame of aëtius, recalled him to rome, the year after attila's death, and assassinated him with his own hand. the treacherous emperor was himself slain, shortly afterwards, by maximus, who succeeded him, and forced his widow, the empress eudoxia, to accept him as her husband. out of revenge, eudoxia sent a messenger to geiserich, the old king of the vandals, at carthage, summoning him to rome. the vandals had already built a large fleet and pillaged the shores of sicily and other mediterranean islands. in , geiserich landed at the mouth of the tiber with a powerful force, and marched upon rome. the city was not strong enough to offer any resistance: it was taken, and during two weeks surrendered to such devastation and outrage that the word _vandalism_ has ever since been used to express savage and wanton destruction. the churches were plundered of all their vessels and ornaments, the old palace of the cæsars was laid waste, priceless works of art destroyed, and those of the inhabitants who escaped with their lives were left almost as beggars. when "the old king of the sea," as geiserich was called, returned to africa, he not only left rome ruined, but the western empire practically overthrown. for seventeen years afterwards, ricimer, a chief of the suevi, who had been commander of the roman auxiliaries in gaul, was the real ruler of its crumbling fragments. he set up, set aside or slew five or six so-called emperors, at his own will, and finally died in , only four years before the boy, romulus augustulus, was compelled to throw off the purple and retire into obscurity as "the last emperor of rome." in , the year when geiserich and his vandals plundered rome, the germanic tribes along the danube took advantage of the dissensions following attila's death, and threw off their allegiance to the huns. they all united under a king named ardaric, gave battle, and were so successful that the whole tribe of the huns was forced to retreat eastward into southern russia. from this time they do not appear again in history, although it is probable that the magyars, who came later into the same region from which they were driven, brought the remnants of the tribe with them. [sidenote: .] during the fourth and fifth centuries, the great historic achievements of the german race, as we have now traced them, were performed outside of the german territory. while from thrace to the atlantic ocean, from the scottish highlands to africa, the new nationalities overran the decayed roman empire, constantly changing their seats of power, we have no intelligence of what was happening within germany itself. both branches of the goths, the vandals and a part of the franks had become christians, but the alemanni, saxons and thuringians were still heathens, although they had by this time adopted many of the arts of civilized life. they had no educated class, corresponding to the christian priesthood in the east, italy and gaul, and even in britain; and thus no chronicle of their history has survived. either before or immediately after attila's invasion of gaul, the marcomanni crossed the danube, and took possession of the plains between that river and the alps. they were called the boiarii, from their former home of four centuries in bohemia, and from this name is derived the german _baiern_, bavaria. they kept possession of the new territory, adapted themselves to the forms of roman civilization which they found there, and soon organized themselves into a small but distinct and tolerably independent nation. but the period of the migration of the races was not yet finished. the shadow of the old roman empire still remained, and stirred the ambition of each successive king, so that he was not content with territory sufficient for the needs of his own people, but must also try to conquer his neighbors and extend his rule. the bases of the modern states of europe were already laid, but not securely enough for the building thereof to be commenced. two more important movements were yet to be made before this bewildering period of change and struggle came to an end. chapter vii. the rise and fall of the ostrogoths. ( -- .) odoaker conquers italy. --theodoric leads the ostrogoths to italy. --he defeats and slays odoaker. --he becomes king of italy. --chlodwig, king of the franks, puts an end to the roman rule. --war between the franks and visigoths. --character of theodoric's rule. --his death. --his mausoleum. --end of the burgundian kingdom. --plans of justinian. --belisarius destroys the vandal power in africa. --he conquers vitiges, and overruns italy. --narses defeats totila and teias. --end of the ostrogoths. --narses summons the longobards. --they conquer italy. --the exarchy and rome. --end of the migrations of the races. [sidenote: . odoaker, king of italy.] after the death of ricimer, in , italy, weakened by invasion and internal dissension, was an easy prey to the first strong hand which might claim possession. such a hand was soon found in a chief named odoaker, said to have been a native of the island of rügen, in the baltic. he commanded a large force, composed of the smaller german tribes from the banks of the danube, who had thrown off the yoke of the huns. many of these troops had served the last half-dozen roman emperors whom ricimer set up or threw down, and they now claimed one-third of the italian territory for themselves and their families. when this was refused, odoaker, at their head, took the boy romulus augustulus prisoner, banished him, and proclaimed himself king of italy, in , making ravenna his capital. the dynasty at constantinople still called its dominion "the roman empire," and claimed authority over all the west. but it had not the means to make its claim acknowledged, and in this emergency the emperor zeno turned to theodoric, the young king of the ostrogoths, who had been brought up at his court, in constantinople. he was the successor of three brothers, who, after the dispersion of the huns, had united some of the smaller german tribes with the ostrogoths, and restored the former power and influence of the race. [sidenote: .] theodoric (who must not be confounded with his namesake, the visigoth king, who fell in conquering attila) was a man of great natural ability, which had been well developed by his education in constantinople. he accepted the appointment of general and governor from the emperor, yet the preparations he made for the expedition to italy show that he intended to remain and establish his own kingdom there. it was not a military march, but the migration of a people, which he headed. the ostrogoths and their allies took with them their wives and children, their herds and household goods: they moved so slowly up the danube and across the alps, now halting to rest and recruit, now fighting a passage through some hostile tribe, that several years elapsed before they reached italy. odoaker had reigned fourteen years, with more justice and discretion than was common in those times, and was able to raise a large force, in , to meet the advance of theodoric. after three severe battles had been fought, he was forced to take shelter within the strong walls of ravenna; but he again sallied forth and attacked the ostrogoths with such bravery that he came near defeating them. finally, in , after a siege of three years, he capitulated, and was soon afterwards treacherously murdered, by order of theodoric, at a banquet to which the latter had invited him. having the power in his own hands, theodoric now threw off his assumed subjection to the eastern empire, put on the roman purple, and proclaimed himself king. all italy, including sicily, sardinia and corsica, fell at once into his hands; and, having left a portion of the ostrogoths behind him, on the danube, he also claimed all the region between, in order to preserve a communication with them. he was soon so strongly settled in his new realm that he had nothing to fear from the emperor zeno and his successors. the latter did not venture to show any direct signs of hostility towards him, but remained quiet; while, on his part, beyond seizing a portion of pannonia, he refrained from interfering with their rule in the east. in the west, however, the case was different. five years before theodoric's arrival in italy, the last relic of roman power disappeared forever from gaul. a general named syagrius had succeeded to the command, after the murder of aëtius, and had formed the central provinces into a roman state, which was so completely cut off from all connection with the empire that it became practically independent. the franks, who now held all northern gaul and belgium, from the rhine to the atlantic, with paris as their capital, were by this time so strong and well organized, that their king, chlodwig, boldly challenged syagrius to battle. the challenge was accepted: a battle was fought near soissons, in the year , the romans were cut to pieces, and the river loire became the southern boundary of the frank kingdom. the territory between that river and the pyrenees still belonged to the visigoths. [sidenote: . chlodwig conquers gaul.] while theodoric was engaged in giving peace, order, and a new prosperity to the war-worn and desolated lands of italy, his frank rival, chlodwig, defeated the alemanni, conquered the celts of brittany--then called armorica--and thus greatly increased his power. we must return to him and the history of his dynasty in a later chapter, and will now only briefly mention those incidents of his reign which brought him into conflict with theodoric. in the year , chlodwig defeated the burgundians and for a time rendered them tributary to him. he then turned to the visigoths and made the fact of their being arian christians a pretext for declaring war against them. their king was alaric ii., who had married the daughter of theodoric. a battle was fought in : the two kings met, and, fighting hand to hand, alaric ii. was slain by chlodwig. the latter soon afterwards took and plundered toulouse, the visigoth capital, and claimed the territory between the loire and the garonne. theodoric, whose grandson amalaric (son of alaric ii.) was now king of the visigoths, immediately hastened to the relief of the latter. his military strength was probably too great for chlodwig to resist, for there is no report of any great battle having been fought. theodoric took possession of provence, re-established the loire as the southern boundary of the franks, and secured the kingdom of his grandson. the capital of the visigoths, however, was changed to toledo, in spain. the emperor anastasius, to keep up the pretence of retaining his power in gaul, appointed chlodwig roman consul, and sent him a royal diadem and purple mantle. so much respect was still attached to the name of the empire that chlodwig accepted the title, and was solemnly invested by a christian bishop with the crown and mantle. in the year he died, having founded the kingdom of france. [sidenote: .] the power of theodoric was not again assailed. as the king of the ostrogoths, he ruled over italy and the islands, and the lands between the adriatic and the danube; as the guardian of the young amalaric, his sway extended over southern france and all of spain. he was peaceful, prudent and wise, and his reign, by contrast with the convulsions which preceded it, was called "a golden age" by his italian subjects. although he and his people were germanic in blood and arians in faith, while the italians were roman and athanasian, he guarded the interests and subdued the prejudices of both, and the respect which his abilities inspired preserved peace between them. the murder of odoaker is a lasting stain upon his memory: the execution of the philosopher boëthius is another, scarcely less dark; but, with the exception of these two acts, his reign was marked by wisdom, justice and tolerance. the surname of "the great" was given to him by his contemporaries, not so much to distinguish him from the theodoric of the visigoths, as on account of his eminent qualities as a ruler. from the year to , when he died, he was the most powerful and important monarch of the civilized world. during theodoric's life, ravenna was the capital of italy: rome had lost her ancient renown, but her bishops, who were now called popes, were the rulers of the church of the west, and she thus became a religious capital. the ancient enmity of the arians and athanasians had only grown stronger by time, and theodoric, although he became popular with the masses of the people, was always hated by the priests. when he died, a splendid mausoleum was built for his body, at ravenna, and still remains standing. it is a circular tower, resting on an arched base with ten sides, and surmounted by a dome, which is formed of a single stone, thirty-six feet in diameter and four feet in thickness. the sarcophagus in which he was laid was afterwards broken open, by the order of the pope of rome, and his ashes were scattered to the winds, as those of a heretic. when theodoric died, the enmities of race and sect, which he had suppressed with a strong hand, broke out afresh. he left behind him a grandson, athalaric, only ten years old, to whose mother, amalasunta, was entrusted the regency during his minority. his other grandson, amalaric, was king of the visigoths, and sufficiently occupied in building up his power in spain. in italy, the hostility to amalasunta's regency was chiefly religious; but the eastern emperor on the one side, and the franks on the other, were actuated by political considerations. the former, the last of the great emperors, justinian, determined to recover italy for the empire: the latter only waited an opportunity to get possession of the whole of gaul. amalasunta was persuaded to sign a treaty, by which the territory of provence was given back to the burgundians. the latter were immediately assailed by the sons of chlodwig, and in the year the kingdom of burgundy, after having stood for years, ceased to exist. not long afterwards the visigoths were driven beyond the pyrenees, and the whole of what is now france and belgium, with a part of western switzerland, was in the possession of the franks. [sidenote: . end of the vandals.] while these changes were taking place in the west, justinian had not been idle in the east. he was fortunate in having two great generals, belisarius and narses, who had already restored the lost prestige of the imperial army. his first movement was to recover northern africa from the vandals, who had now been settled there for a hundred years, and began to consider themselves the inheritors of the carthaginian power. belisarius, with a fleet and a powerful army, was sent against them. here, again, the difference of religious doctrine between the vandals and the romans whom they had subjected, made his task easy. the last vandal king, gelimer, was defeated and besieged in a fortress called pappua. after the siege had lasted all winter, belisarius sent an officer, pharas, to demand surrender. gelimer refused, but added: "if you will do me a favor, pharas, send me a loaf of bread, a sponge and a harp." pharas, astonished, asked the reason of this request, and gelimer answered: "i demand bread, because i have seen none since i have been besieged here; a sponge, to cool my eyes which are weary with weeping; and a harp, to sing the story of my misfortunes." soon afterwards he surrendered, and in all northern africa was restored to justinian. the vandals disappeared from history, as a race, but some of their descendants, with light hair, blue eyes and fair skins, still live among the valleys of the atlas mountains, where they are called berbers, and keep themselves distinct from the arab population. [sidenote: .] amalasunta, in the mean time, had been murdered by a relative whom she had chosen to assist her in the government. this gave justinian a pretext for interfering, and belisarius was next sent with his army to italy. the ostrogoths chose a new king, vitiges, and the struggle which followed was long and desperate. rome and milan were taken and ravaged: in the latter city , persons are said to have been slaughtered. belisarius finally obtained possession of ravenna, the gothic capital, took vitiges prisoner and sent him to constantinople. the goths immediately elected another king, totila, who carried on the struggle for eleven years longer. visigoths, franks, burgundians and even alemanni, whose alliance was sought by both sides, flocked to italy in the hope of securing booty, and laid waste the regions which belisarius and totila had spared. when belisarius was recalled to constantinople, narses took his place, and continued the war with the diminishing remnant of the ostrogoths. finally, in the year , in a great battle among the apennines, totila was slain, and the struggle seemed to be at an end. but the ostrogoths proclaimed the young prince teias as their king, and marched southward under his leadership, to make a last fight for their existence as a nation. narses followed, and not far from cumæ, on a mountain opposite vesuvius, he cut off their communication with the sea, and forced them to retreat to a higher position, where there was neither water for themselves nor food for their animals. then they took the bridles off their horses and turned them loose, formed themselves into a solid square of men, with teias at their head, and for two whole days fought with the valor and the desperation of men who know that their cause is lost, but nevertheless will not yield. although teias was slain, they still stood; and on the third morning narses allowed the survivors, about , in number, to march away, with the promise that they would leave italy. thus gloriously came to an end, after enduring sixty years, the gothic power in italy, and thus, like a meteor, brightest before it is quenched, the gothic name fades from history. the visigoths retained their supremacy in spain until , when roderick, their last king, was slain by the saracens, but the ostrogoths, after this campaign of narses, are never heard of again as a people. between hermann and charlemagne, there is no leader so great as theodoric, but his empire died with him. he became the hero of the earliest german songs; his name and character were celebrated among tribes who had forgotten his history, and his tomb is one of the few monuments left to us from those ages of battle, migration and change. the ostrogoths were scattered and their traces lost. some, no doubt, remained in italy, and became mixed with the native population; others joined the people which were nearest to them in blood and habits; and some took refuge among the fastnesses of the alps. it is supposed that the tyrolese, for instance, may be among their descendants. [sidenote: . narses summons the longobards.] the apparent success of justinian in bringing italy again under the sway of the eastern empire was also only a flash, before its final extinction. the ostrogoths were avenged by one of their kindred races. narses remained in ravenna as vicegerent of the empire: his government was stern and harsh, but he restored order to the country, and his authority became so great as to excite the jealousy of justinian. after the latter's death, in , it became evident that a plot was formed at constantinople to treat narses as his great cotemporary, belisarius, had been treated. he determined to resist, and, in order to make his position stronger, summoned the longobards (long-beards) to his aid. this tribe, in the time of cæsar, occupied a part of northern germany, near the mouth of the elbe. about the end of the fourth century we find them on the north bank of the danube, between bohemia and hungary. the history of their wanderings during the intervening period is unknown. during the reign of theodoric they overcame their germanic neighbors, the heruli, to whom they had been partially subject: then followed a fierce struggle with the gepidæ, another germanic tribe, which terminated in the year with the defeat and destruction of the latter. their king, kunimund, fell by the hand of alboin, king of the longobards, who had a drinking-cup made of his skull. the longobards, though victorious, found themselves surrounded by new neighbors, who were much worse than the old. the avars, who are supposed to have been a branch of the huns, pressed and harassed them on the east; the slavonic tribes of the north descended into bohemia; and they found themselves alone between races who were savages in comparison with their own. [sidenote: .] the invitation of narses was followed by a movement similar to that of the ostrogoths under theodoric. alboin marched with all his people, their herds and household goods. the passes of the alps were purposely left undefended at their approach, and in , accompanied by the fragments of many other germanic tribes who gave up their homes on the danube, they entered italy and took immediate possession of all the northern provinces. the city of pavia, which was strongly fortified, held out against them for four years, and then, on account of its strength and gallant resistance, was chosen by alboin for its capital. italy then became the kingdom of the longobards, and the permanent home of their race, whose name still exists in the province of lombardy. only ravenna, naples and genoa were still held by the eastern emperors, constituting what was called the exarchy. rome was also nominally subject to constantinople, although the popes were beginning to assume the government of the city. the young republic of venice, already organized, was safe on its islands in the adriatic. the migrations of the races, which were really commenced by the goths when they moved from the baltic to the black sea, but which first became a part of our history in the year , terminated with the settlement of the longobards in italy. they therefore occupied two centuries, and form a grand and stirring period of transition between the roman empire and the europe of the middle ages. with the exception of the invasion of the huns, and the slow and rather uneventful encroachment of the slavonic race, these great movements were carried out by the kindred tribes who inhabited the forests of "germania magna," in the time of cæsar. chapter viii. europe, at the end of the migration of the races. ( .) extension of the german races in a. d. . --the longobards. --the franks. --the visigoths. --the saxons in britain. --the tribes on german soil. --the eastern empire. --relation of the conquerors to the conquered races. --influence of roman civilization. --the priesthood. --obliteration of german origin. --religion. --the monarchical element in government. --the nobility. --the cities. --slavery. --laws in regard to crime. --privileges of the church. --the transition period. [sidenote: . spread of the german races.] thus far, we have been following the history of the germanic races, in their conflict with rome, until their complete and final triumph at the end of six hundred years after they first met julius cæsar. within the limits of germany itself, there was, as we have seen, no united nationality. even the consolidation of the smaller tribes under the names of goths, franks, saxons and alemanni, during the third century, was only the beginning of a new political development which was not continued upon german soil. with the exception of denmark, sweden, russia, ireland, wales, the scottish highlands, and the byzantine territory in turkey, greece and italy, all europe was under germanic rule at the end of the migration of the races, in the year . the longobards, after the death of alboin and his successor, kleph, prospered greatly under the wise rule of queen theodolind, daughter of king garibald of bavaria, and wife of kleph's son, authari. she persuaded them to become christians; and they then gave up their nomadic habits, scattered themselves over the country, learned agriculture and the mechanic arts, and gradually became amalgamated with the native romans. their descendants form a large portion of the population of northern italy at this day. [sidenote: .] [illustration: the migrations of the races, a. d. .] [sidenote: . location of the tribes.] the franks, at this time, were firmly established in gaul, under the dynasty founded by chlodwig. they owned nearly all the territory west of the rhine, part of western switzerland and the valley of the rhone, to the mediterranean. only a small strip of territory on the east, between the pyrenees and the upper waters of the garonne, still belonged to the visigoths. the kingdom of burgundy, after an existence of years, became absorbed in that of the franks, in . after the death of theodoric, the connection of the visigoths with the other german races ceased. they conquered the suevi, driving them into the mountains of galicia, subdued the alans in portugal, and during a reign of two centuries more impressed their traces indelibly upon the spanish people. their history, from this time on, belongs to spain. their near relations, the vandals, as we have already seen, had ceased to exist. like the ostrogoths, they were never named again as a separate people. the saxons had made themselves such thorough masters of england and the lowlands of scotland, that the native celto-roman population was driven into wales and cornwall. the latter had become christians under the empire, and they looked with horror upon the paganism of the saxons. during the early part of the sixth century, they made a bold but brief effort to expel the invaders, under the lead of the half-fabulous king arthur (of the round table), who is supposed to have died about the year . the angles and saxons, however, not only triumphed, but planted their language, laws and character so firmly upon english soil, that the england of the later centuries grew from the basis they laid, and the name of anglo-saxon has become the designation of the english race all over the world. along the northern coast of germany, the frisii and the saxons who remained behind, had formed two kingdoms and asserted a fierce independence. the territory of the latter extended to the hartz mountains, where it met that of the thuringians, who still held central germany southward to the danube. beyond that river, the new nation of the bavarians was permanently settled, and had already risen to such importance that theodolind, the daughter of its king, garibald, was selected for his queen by the longobard king, authari. east of the elbe, through prussia, nearly the whole country was occupied by various slavonic tribes. one of these, the czechs, had taken possession of bohemia, where they soon afterwards established an independent kingdom. beyond them, the avars occupied hungary, now and then making invasions into german territory, or even to the borders of italy; denmark and sweden, owing to their remoteness from the great theatre of action, were scarcely affected by the political changes we have described. [sidenote: .] finally, the alemanni, though defeated and held back by the franks, maintained their independence in the south-western part of germany and in eastern switzerland, where their descendants are living at this day. each of all these new nationalities included remnants of the smaller original tribes, which had lost their independence in the general struggle, and which soon became more or less mixed (except in england) with the former inhabitants of the conquered soil. the eastern empire was now too weak and corrupt to venture another conflict with these stronger germanic races, whose civilization was no longer very far behind its own. moreover, within sixty years after the migration came to an end, a new foe arose in the east. the successors of mahomet began that struggle which tore egypt, syria and asia minor from christian hands, and which only ceased when, in , the crescent floated from the towers of constantinople. nearly all europe was thus portioned among men of german blood, very few of whom ever again migrated from the soil whereon they were now settled. it was their custom to demand one-third--in some few instances, two thirds--of the conquered territory for their own people. in this manner, frank and gaul, longobard and roman, visigoth and spaniard, found themselves side by side, and reciprocally influenced each other's speech and habits of life. it must not be supposed, however, that the new nations lost their former character, and took on that of the germanic conquerors. almost the reverse of this took place. it must be remembered that the gauls, for instance, far outnumbered the franks; that each conquest was achieved by a few hundred thousand men, all of them warriors, while each of the original roman provinces had several millions of inhabitants. there must have been at least ten of the ruled, to one of the ruling race. [sidenote: . spread of christianity.] the latter, moreover, were greatly inferior to the former in all the arts of civilization. in the homes, the dress and ornaments, the social intercourse, and all the minor features of life, they found their new neighbors above them, and they were quick to learn the use of unaccustomed comforts or luxuries. all the cities and small towns were roman in their architecture, in their municipal organization, and in the character of their trade and intercourse; and the conquerors found it easier to accept this old-established order than to change it. another circumstance contributed to latinize the german races outside of germany. after the invention of a gothic alphabet by bishop ulfila, and his translation of the bible, we hear no more of a written german language until the eighth century. there was at least none which was accessible to the people, and the latin continued to be the language of government and religion. the priests were nearly all romans, and their interest was to prevent the use of written germanic tongues. such learning as remained to the world was of course only to be acquired through a knowledge of latin and greek. all the influences which surrounded the conquering races tended, therefore, to eradicate or change their original german characteristics. after a few centuries, their descendants, in almost every instance, lost sight of their origin, and even looked with contempt upon rival people of the same blood. the franks and burgundians of the present day speak of themselves as "the latin race": the blonde and blue-eyed lombards of northern italy, not long since, hated "the germans" as the christian of the middle ages hated the jew; and the full-blooded english or american saxon often considers the german as a foreigner with whom he has nothing in common. by the year , all the races outside of germany, except the saxons and angles in britain, had accepted christianity. within germany, although the christian missionaries were at work among the alemanni, the bavarians, and along the rhine, the great body of the people still held to their old pagan worship. the influence of the true faith was no doubt weakened by the bitter enmity which still existed between the athanasian and arian sects, although the latter ceased to be powerful after the downfall of the ostrogoths. but the christianity which prevailed among the franks, burgundians and longobards was not pure or intelligent enough to save them from the vices which the roman empire left behind it. many of their kings and nobles were polygamists, and the early history of their dynasties is a chronicle of falsehood, cruelty and murder. [sidenote: .] in each of the races, the primitive habit of electing chiefs by the people had long since given way to an hereditary monarchy, but in other respects their political organization remained much the same. the franks introduced into gaul the old german division of the land into provinces, hundreds and communities, but the king now claimed the right of appointing a count for the first, a _centenarius_, or centurion, for the second, and an elder, or head-man, for the third. the people still held their public assemblies, and settled their local matters; they were all equal before the law, and the free men paid no taxes. the right of declaring war, making peace, and other questions of national importance, were decided by a general assembly of the people, at which the king presided. the political system was therefore more republican than monarchical, but it gradually lost the former character as the power of the kings increased. the nobles had no fixed place and no special rights during the migrations of the tribes. among the franks they were partly formed out of the civil officers, and soon included both romans and gauls among their number. in germany their hereditary succession was already secured, and they maintained their ascendancy over the common people by keeping pace with the knowledge and the arts of those times, while the latter remained, for the most part, in a state of ignorance. the cities, inhabited by romans and romanized gauls, retained their old system of government, but paid a tax or tribute. those portions of the other germanic races which had become subject to the franks were also allowed to keep their own peculiar laws and forms of local government, which were now, for the first time, recorded in the latin language. they were obliged to furnish a certain number of men capable of bearing arms, but it does not appear that they paid any tribute to the franks. slavery still existed, and in the two forms of it which we find among the ancient germans,--chattels who were bought and sold, and dependents who were bound to give labor or tribute in return for the protection of a freeman. the romans in gaul were placed upon the latter footing by the franks. the children born of marriages between them and the free took the lower and not the higher position,--that is, they were dependents. [sidenote: . penalties for crime.] the laws in regard to crime were very rigid and severe, but not bloody. the body of the free man, like his life, was considered inviolate, so there was no corporeal punishment, and death was only inflicted in a few extreme cases. the worst crimes could be atoned for by the sacrifice of money or property. for murder the penalty was two hundred shillings (at that time the value of oxen), two-thirds of which were given to the family of the murdered person, while one-third was divided between the judge and the state. this penalty was increased threefold for the murder of a count or a soldier in the field, and more than fourfold for that of a bishop. in some of the codes the payment was fixed even for the murder of a duke or king. the slaying of a dependent or a roman only cost half as much as that of a free frank, while a slave was only valued at thirty-five shillings, or seventeen and a half oxen: the theft of a falcon trained for hunting, or a stallion, cost ten shillings more. slander, insult and false-witness were punished in the same way. if any one falsely accused another of murder he was condemned to pay the injured person the penalty fixed for the crime of murder, and the same rule was applied to all minor accusations. the charge of witchcraft, if not proved according to the superstitious ideas of the people, was followed by the penalty of one hundred and eighty shillings. whoever called another a _hare_, was fined six shillings; but if he called him a _fox_, the fine was only three shillings. as the germanic races became christian, the power and privileges of the priesthood were manifested in the changes made in these laws. not only was it enacted that the theft of property belonging to the church must be paid back ninefold, but the slaves of the priests were valued at double the amount fixed for the slaves of laymen. the churches became sacred, and no criminal could be seized at the foot of the altar. those who neglected to attend worship on the sabbath three times in succession, were punished by the loss of one-third of their property. if this neglect was repeated a second time, they were made slaves, and could be sold as such by the church. [sidenote: .] the laws of the still pagan thuringians and saxons, in germany, did not differ materially from those of the christian franks. justice was administered in assemblies of the people, and, in order to secure the largest expression of the public will, a heavy fine was imposed for the failure to attend. the latter feature is still retained, in some of the old cantons of switzerland. in thuringia and saxony, however, the nobles had become a privileged class, recognized by the laws, and thus was laid the foundation for the feudal system of the middle ages. the transition was now complete. although the art, taste and refinement of the roman empire were lost, its civilizing influence in law and civil organization survived, and slowly subdued the germanic races which inherited its territory. but many characteristics of their early barbarism still clung to the latter, and a long period elapsed before we can properly call them a civilized people. chapter ix. the kingdom of the franks. ( -- .) chlodwig, the founder of the merovingian dynasty. --his conversion to christianity. --his successors. --theuderich's conquest of thuringia. --union of the eastern franks. --austria (or austrasia) and neustria. --crimes of the merovingian kings. --clotar and his sons. --sigbert's successes. --his wife, brunhilde. --sigbert's death. --quarrel between brunhilde and fredegunde. --clotar ii. --brunhilde and her grandsons. --her defeat and death. --clotar ii.'s reign. --king dagobert. --the nobles and the church. --war with the thuringians. --picture of the merovingian line. --a new power. [sidenote: . the merovingian dynasty.] the history of germany, from the middle of the sixth to the middle of the ninth century, is that of france also. after having conducted them to their new homes, we take leave of the anglo-saxons, the visigoths and the longobards, and return to the frank dynasty founded by chlodwig, about the year , when the smaller kings and chieftains of his race accepted him as their ruler. in the histories of france, even those written in english, he is called "clovis," but we prefer to give him his original frank name. he was the grandson of a petty king, whose name was merovich, whence he and his successors are called, in history, the _merovingian_ dynasty. he appears to have been a born conqueror, neither very just nor very wise in his actions, but brave, determined and ready to use any means, good or bad, in order to attain his end. chlodwig extinguished the last remnant of roman rule in gaul, in the year , as we have related in chapter vii. he was then only years old, having succeeded to the throne at the age of . shortly afterwards he married the daughter of one of the burgundian kings. she was a christian, and endeavored, but for many years without effect, to induce him to give up his pagan faith. finally, in a war with the alemanni, in , he promised to become a christian, provided the god of the christians would give him victory. the decisive battle was long and bloody, but it ended in the complete rout of the alemanni, and afterwards all of them who were living to the west of the rhine became tributary to the franks. [sidenote: .] chlodwig and , of his followers were soon afterwards baptized in the cathedral at rheims, by the bishop remigius. when the king advanced to the baptismal font, the bishop said to him: "bow thy head, sicambrian!--worship what thou hast persecuted, persecute what thou hast worshipped!" although nearly all the german christians at this time were arians, chlodwig selected the athanasian faith of rome, and thereby secured the support of the roman priesthood in france, which was of great service to him in his ambitious designs. this difference of faith also gave him a pretext to march against the burgundians in , and the visigoths in : both wars were considered holy by the church. his conquest of the visigoths was prevented, as we have seen, by the interposition of theodoric. he then devoted his remaining years to the complete suppression of all the minor frank kings, and was so successful that when he died, in , all the race, to the west of the rhine, was united under his single sway. he was succeeded by four sons, of whom the eldest, theuderich, reigned in paris; the others chose metz, orleans and soissons for their capitals. theuderich was a man of so much energy and prudence that he was able to control his brothers, and unite the four governments in such a way that the kingdom was saved from dismemberment. the mother of chlodwig was a runaway queen of thuringia, whose son, hermanfried, now ruled over that kingdom, after having deposed his two brothers. the relationship gave theuderich a ground for interfering, and the result was a war between the franks and the thuringians. theuderich collected a large army, marched into germany in , procured the services of , saxons as allies, and met the thuringians on the river unstrut, not far from where the city of halle now stands. hermanfried was taken prisoner, carried to france, and treacherously thrown from a tower, after receiving great professions of friendship from his nephew, theuderich. his family fled to italy, and the kingdom of thuringia, embracing nearly all central germany, was added to that of the franks. the northern part, however, was given to the saxons as a reward for their assistance. [sidenote: . austria and neustria] four years afterwards the brothers of theuderich conquered the kingdom of burgundy, and annexed it to their territory. about the same time, the franks living eastward of the rhine entered into a union with their more powerful brethren. since both the alemanni and the bavarians were already tributary to the latter, the dominion of the united franks now extended from the atlantic nearly to the river elbe, and from the mouth of the rhine to the mediterranean, with friesland and the kingdom of the saxons between it and the north sea. to all lying east of the rhine, the name of austria (east-kingdom) or austrasia was given, while neustria (new-kingdom) was applied to all west of the rhine. these designations were used in the historical chronicles for some centuries afterwards. while theuderich lived, his brothers observed a tolerably peaceful conduct towards one another, but his death was followed by a season of war and murder. history gives us no record of another dynasty so steeped in crime as that of the merovingians: within the compass of a few years we find a father murdering his son, a brother his brother and a wife her husband. we can only account for the fact that the whole land was not constantly convulsed by civil war, by supposing that the people retained enough of power in their national assemblies, to refuse taking part in the fratricidal quarrels. it is not necessary, therefore, to recount all the details of the bloody family history. their effect upon the people must have been in the highest degree demoralizing, yet the latter possessed enough of prudence--or perhaps of a clannish spirit, in the midst of a much larger roman and gallic population--to hold the frank kingdom together, while its rulers were doing their best to split it to pieces. the result of all the quarrelling and murdering was, that in clotar, the youngest son of chlodwig, became the sole monarch. after forty-seven years of divided rule, the kingly power was again in a single hand, and there seemed to be a chance for peace and progress. but clotar died within three years, and, like his father, left four sons to divide his power. the first thing they did was to fight; then, being perhaps rather equally matched, they agreed to portion the kingdom. charibert reigned in paris, guntram in orleans, chilperic in soissons, and sigbert in metz. the boundaries between their territories are uncertain; we only know that all of "austria," or germany east of the rhine, fell to sigbert's share. [sidenote: .] about this time the avars, coming from hungary, had invaded thuringia, and were inciting the people to rebellion against the franks. sigbert immediately marched against them, drove them back, and established his authority over the thuringians. on returning home he found that his brother chilperic had taken possession of his capital and many smaller towns. chilperic was forced to retreat, lost his own kingdom in turn, and only received it again through the generosity of sigbert,--the first and only instance of such a virtue in the merovingian line of kings. sigbert seems to have inherited the abilities, without the vices, of his grandfather chlodwig. when the avars made a second invasion into germany, he was not only defeated but taken prisoner by them. nevertheless, he immediately acquired such influence over their khan, or chieftain, that he persuaded the latter to set him free, to make a treaty of peace and friendship, and to return with his avars to hungary. in the year charibert died in paris, leaving no heirs. a new strife instantly broke out among the three remaining brothers; but it was for a time suspended, owing to the approach of a common danger. the longobards, now masters of northern italy, crossed the alps and began to overrun switzerland, which the franks possessed, through their victories over the burgundians and the alemanni. sigbert and guntram united their forces, and repelled the invasion with much slaughter. then broke out in france a series of family wars, darker and bloodier than any which had gone before. the strife between the sons of clotar and their children and grandchildren desolated france for forty years, and became all the more terrible because the women of the family entered into it with the men. all these christian kings, like their father, were polygamists: each had several wives; yet they are described by the priestly chroniclers of their times as men who went about doing good, and whose lives were "acceptable to god"! sigbert was the only exception: he had but one wife, brunhilde, the daughter of a king of the visigoths, a stately, handsome, intelligent woman, but proud and ambitious. [sidenote: . family wars in france.] either the power and popularity, or the rich marriage-portion, which sigbert acquired with brunhilde, induced his brother, chilperic, to ask the hand of her sister, the princess galsunta of spain. it was granted to him on condition that he would put away all his wives and live with her alone. he accepted the condition, and was married to galsunta. one of the women sent away was fredegunde, who soon found means to recover her former influence over chilperic's mind. it was not long before galsunta was found dead in her bed, and within a week fredegunde, the murderess, became queen in her stead. brunhilde called upon sigbert to revenge her sister's death, and then began that terrible history of crime and hatred, which was celebrated, centuries afterwards, in the famous _nibelungenlied_, or lay of the nibelungs. in the year , sigbert gained a complete victory over chilperic, and was lifted upon a shield by the warriors of the latter, who hailed him as their king. in that instant he was stabbed in the back, and died upon the field of his triumph. chilperic resumed his sway, and soon took brunhilde prisoner, while her young son, childebert, escaped to germany. but his own son, merwig, espoused brunhilde's cause, secretly released her from prison, and then married her. a war next arose between father and son, in which the former was successful. he cut off merwig's long hair, and shut him up in a monastery; but, for some unexplained reason, he allowed brunhilde to go free. in the meantime fredegunde had borne three sons, who all died soon after their birth. she accused her own step-son of having caused their deaths by witchcraft, and he and his mother, one of chilperic's former wives, were put to death. both chilperic and his brother guntram, who reigned at orleans, were without male heirs. at this juncture, the german chiefs and nobles demanded to have childebert, the young son of sigbert and brunhilde, who had taken refuge among them, recognized as the heir to the frankish throne. chilperic consented, on condition that childebert, with such forces as he could command, would march with him against guntram, who had despoiled him of a great deal of his territory. the treaty was made, in spite of the opposition of brunhilde, whose sister's murder was not yet avenged, and the civil wars were renewed. both sides gained or lost alternately, without any decided result, until the assassination of chilperic, by an unknown hand, in . a few months before his death, fredegunde had borne him another son, clotar, who lived, and was at once presented by his mother as childebert's rival to the throne. [sidenote: .] the struggle between the two widowed queens, brunhilde and fredegunde, was for a while delayed by the appearance of a new claimant, gundobald, who had been a fugitive in constantinople for many years, and declared that he was chilperic's brother. he obtained the support of many austrasian (german) princes, and was for a time so successful that fredegunde was forced to take refuge with guntram, at orleans. the latter also summoned childebert to his capital, and persuaded him to make a truce with fredegunde and her adherents, in order that both might act against their common rival. gundobald and his followers were soon destroyed: guntram died in , and childebert was at once accepted as his successor. his kingdom included that of charibert, whose capital was paris, and that of his father, sigbert, embracing all frankish germany. but the nobles and people, accustomed to conspiracy, treachery and crime, could no longer be depended upon, as formerly. they were beginning to return to their former system of living upon war and pillage, instead of the honest arts of peace. fredegunde still held the kingdom of chilperic for her son clotar. after strengthening herself by secret intrigues with the frank nobles, she raised an army, put herself at its head, and marched against childebert, who was defeated and soon afterwards poisoned, after having reigned only three years. his realm was divided between his two young sons, one receiving burgundy and the other germany, under the guardianship of their grandmother brunhilde. fredegunde followed up her success, took paris and orleans from the heirs of childebert, and died in , leaving her son clotar, then in his fourteenth year, as king of more than half of france. he was crowned as clotar ii. death placed brunhilde's rival out of the reach of her revenge, but she herself might have secured the whole kingdom of the franks for her two grandsons, had she not quarrelled with one and stirred up war between them. the first consequence of this new strife was that alsatia and eastern switzerland were separated from neustria, or france, and attached to austria, or germany. brunhilde, finding that her cause was desperate, procured the assistance of clotar ii. for herself and her favorite grandson, theuderich. the fortune of war now turned, and before long the other grandson, theudebert, was taken prisoner. by his brother's order he was formally deposed from his kingly authority, and then executed: the brains of his infant son were dashed out against a stone. [sidenote: . murder of brunhilde.] it was not long before this crime was avenged. a quarrel in regard to the division of the spoils arose between theuderich and clotar ii. the former died in the beginning of the war which followed, leaving four young sons to the care of their great-grandmother, the queen brunhilde. clotar ii. immediately marched against her, but, knowing her ability and energy, he obtained a promise from the nobles of burgundy and germany who were unfriendly to brunhilde, that they would come over to his side at the critical moment. the aged queen had called her people to arms, and, like her rival, fredegunde, put herself at their head; but when the armies met, on the river aisne in champagne, the traitors in her own camp joined clotar ii. and the struggle was ended without a battle. brunhilde, then eighty years old, was taken prisoner, cruelly tortured for three days, and then tied by her gray hair to the tail of a wild horse and dragged to death. the four sons of theuderich were put to death at the same time, and thus, in the year , clotar ii. became king of all the franks. a priest named fredegar, who wrote his biography, says of him: "he was a most patient man, learned and pious, and kind and sympathizing towards every one!" clotar ii. possessed, at least, energy enough to preserve a sway which was based on a long succession of the worst crimes that disgrace humanity. in , six years before his death, he made his oldest son, dagobert, a boy of sixteen, king of the german half of his realm, but was obliged, immediately afterwards, to assist him against the saxons. he entered their territory, seized the people, massacred all who proved to be taller than his own two-handed sword, and then returned to france without having subdued the spirit or received the allegiance of the bold race. nothing of importance occurred during the remainder of his reign; he died in , leaving his kingdom to his two sons, dagobert and charibert. the former easily possessed himself of the lion's share, giving his younger brother only a small strip of territory along the river loire. charibert, however, drove the last remnant of the visigoths into spain, and added the country between the garonne and the pyrenees to his little kingdom. the name of aquitaine was given to this region, and charibert's descendants became its dukes, subject to the kings of the franks. [sidenote: .] dagobert had been carefully educated by pippin of landen, the royal steward of clotar ii., and by arnulf, the bishop of metz. he had no quality of greatness, but he promised to be, at least, a good and just sovereign. he became at once popular with the masses, who began to long for peace, and for the restoration of rights which had been partly lost during the civil wars. the nobles, however, who had drawn the greatest advantage from those wars, during which their support was purchased by one side or the other, grew dissatisfied. they cunningly aroused in dagobert the love of luxury and the sensual vices which had ruined his ancestors, and thus postponed the reign of law and justice to which the people were looking forward. in fact, that system of freedom and equality which the germanic races had so long possessed, was already shaken to its very base. during the long and bloody feuds of the merovingian kings, many changes had been made in the details of government, all tending to increase the power of the nobles, the civil officers and the dignitaries of the church. wealth--the bribes paid for their support--had accumulated in the hands of these classes, while the farmers, mechanics and tradesmen, plundered in turn by both parties, had constantly grown poorer. although the external signs of civilization had increased, the race had already lost much of its moral character, and some of the best features of its political system. there are few chronicles which inform us of the affairs of germany during this period. the avars, after their treaty of peace with sigbert, directed their incursions against the bavarians, but without gaining any permanent advantage. on the other hand, the slavonic tribes, especially the bohemians, united under the rule of a renegade frank, whose name was samo, and who acquired a part of thuringia, after defeating the frank army which was sent against him. the saxons and thuringians then took the war into their own hands, and drove back samo and his slavonic hordes. by this victory the saxons released themselves from the payment of an annual tribute to the frank kings, and the thuringians became strong enough to organize themselves again as a people and elect their own duke. the franks endeavored to suppress this new organization, but they were defeated by the duke, radulf, nearly on the same spot where, just one hundred years before, theuderich, the son of chlodwig, had crushed the thuringian kingdom. from that time, thuringia was placed on the same footing as bavaria, tributary to the franks, but locally independent. [sidenote: . end of the merovingian power.] king dagobert, weak, swayed by whatever influence was nearest, and voluptuous rather than cruel, died in , before he had time to do much evil. he was the last of the merovingian line who exercised any actual power. the dynasty existed for a century longer, but its monarchs were merely puppets in the hands of stronger men. its history, from the beginning, is well illustrated by a tradition current among the people, concerning the mother of chlodwig. they relate that soon after her marriage she had a vision, in which she gave birth to a lion (chlodwig), whose descendants were wolves and bears, and their descendants, in turn, frisky dogs. before the death of dagobert--in fact, during the life of clotar ii.--a new power had grown up within the kingdom of the franks, which gradually pushed the merovingian dynasty out of its place. the history of this power, after , becomes the history of the realm, and we now turn from the bloody kings to trace its origin, rise and final triumph. chapter x. the dynasty of the royal stewards. ( -- .) the steward of the royal household. --his government of the royal _lehen_. --his position and opportunities. --pippin of landen. --his sway in germany. --gradual transfer of power. --grimoald, steward of france. --pippin of heristall. --his successes. --coöperation with the church of rome. --quarrels between his heirs. --karl defeats his rivals. --becomes sole steward of the empire. --he favors christian missions. --the labors of winfried (bishop bonifacius). --invasion of the saracens. --the great battle of poitiers. --karl is surnamed martel, the hammer. --his wars and marches. --his death and character. --pippin the short. --he subdues the german dukes. --assists pope zacharias. --is anointed king. --death of bonifacius. --pippin defeats the lombards. --gives the pope temporal power. --his death. [sidenote: .] we have mentioned pippin of landen as the royal steward of clotar ii. his office gave birth to the new power which grew up beside the merovingian rule and finally suppressed it. in the chronicles of the time the officer is called the _majordomus_ of the king,--a word which is best translated by "steward of the royal household"; but in reality, it embraced much more extended and important powers than the title would imply. in their conquests, the franks--as we have already stated--usually claimed at least one-third of the territory which fell into their hands. a part of this was portioned out among the chief men and the soldiers; a part was set aside as the king's share, and still another part became the common property of the people. the latter, therefore, fell into the habit of electing a steward to guard and superintend this property in their interest; and, as the kings became involved in their family feuds, the charge of the royal estates was intrusted to the hands of the same steward. the latter estates soon became, by conquest, so extensive and important, that the king gave the use of many of them for a term of years, or for life, to private individuals in return for military services. this was called the _lehen_ (lien, or loan) system, to distinguish it from the _allod_ (allotment), whereby a part of the conquered lands were divided by lot, and became the free property of those to whom they fell. the _lehen_ gave rise to a new class, whose fortunes were immediately dependent on the favor of the king, and who consequently, when they appeared at the national assemblies, voted on his side. such a "loaned" estate was also called _feod_, whence the term "_feudal_ system," which, gradually modified by time, grew from this basis. the importance of the royal steward in the kingdom is thus explained. the office, at first, had probably a mere business character. after chlodwig's time, the civil wars by which the estates of the king and the people became subject to constant change, gave the steward a political power, which increased with each generation. he stood between the monarch and his subjects, with the best opportunity for acquiring an ascendency over the minds of both. at first, he was only elected for a year, and his reëlection depended on the honesty and ability with which he had discharged his duties. during the convulsions of the dynasty, he, in common with king and nobles, gained what rights the people lost: he began to retain his office for a longer time, then for life, and finally demanded that it should be hereditary in his family. [sidenote: . the "lehen" system.] the royal stewards of burgundy and germany played an important part in the last struggle between clotar ii. and brunhilde. when the successful king, in , found that the increasing difference of language and habits between the eastern and western portions of his realm required a separation of the government, and made his young son, dagobert, ruler over the german half, he was compelled to recognize pippin of landen as his steward, and to trust dagobert entirely to his hands. the dividing line between "austria" and "neustria" was drawn along the chain of the vosges, through the forest of ardennes, and terminated near the mouth of the schelde,--almost the same line which divides the german and french languages, at this day. pippin was a frank, born in the netherlands, a man of energy and intelligence, but of little principle. he had, nevertheless, shrewdness enough to see the necessity of maintaining the unity and peace of the kingdom, and he endeavored, in conjunction with bishop arnulf of metz, to make a good king of dagobert. they made him, indeed, amiable and well-meaning, but they could not overcome the instability of his character. after clotar ii.'s death, in , dagobert passed the remaining ten years of his life in france, under the control of others, and the actual government of germany was exercised by pippin. [sidenote: .] the period of transition between the power of the kings, gradually sinking, and the power of the stewards, steadily rising, lasted about fifty years. the latter power, however, was not allowed to increase without frequent struggles, partly from the jealousy of the nobility and priesthood, partly from the resistance of the people to the extinction of their remaining rights. but, after the devastation left behind by the fratricidal wars of the merovingians, all parties felt the necessity of a strong and well-regulated government, and the long experience of the stewards gave them the advantage. grimoald, the son and successor of pippin in the stewardship of germany, made an attempt to usurp the royal power, but failed. this event, and the interference of a steward of france with the rights of the dynasty, led the franks, in --when the whole kingdom was again united under childeric ii.--to decree that the stewards should be elected annually by the people, as in the beginning. but when childeric ii., like the most of his predecessors, was murdered, the deposed steward of france regained his power, forced the people to accept him, and attempted to extend his government over germany. in spite of a fierce resistance, headed by pippin of heristall, the grandson of pippin of landen, he partly maintained his authority until the year , when he was murdered in turn. pippin of heristall was also the grandson of arnulf, bishop of metz, whose son, anchises, had married begga, the daughter of pippin of landen. he was thus of roman blood by his father's, and frank by his mother's side. as soon as his authority was secured, as royal steward of germany, he invaded france, and a desperate struggle for the stewardship of the whole kingdom ensued. it was ended in by a battle near st. quentin, in which pippin was victorious. he used his success with a moderation very rare in those days: he did honor to the frank king, theuderich iii., who had fallen into his hands, spared the lives and possessions of all who had fought against him, on their promise not to take up arms against his authority, and even continued many of the chief officials of the franks in their former places. [sidenote: . pippin of heristall.] from this date the merovingian monarch became a shadow. pippin paid him all external signs of allegiance, kept up the ceremonies of his court, supplied him with ample revenues, and governed the kingdom in his name; but the actual power was concentrated in his own hands. france, switzerland and the greater part of germany were subjected to his government, although there were still elements of discontent within the realm, and of trouble outside of its borders. the dependent dukedoms of aquitaine, burgundy, alemannia, bavaria and thuringia were restless under the yoke; the saxons and frisians on the north were hostile and defiant, and the slavonic races all along the eastern frontier had not yet given up their invasions. pippin, like the french rulers after him, down to the present day, perceived the advantage of having the church on his side. moreover, he was the grandson of a bishop, which circumstance--although it did not prevent him from taking two wives--enabled him better to understand the power of the ecclesiastical system of rome. in the early part of the seventh century, several christian missionaries, principally irish, had begun their labors among the alemanni and the bavarians, but the greater part of these people, with all the thuringians, saxons and frisians, were still worshippers of the old pagan gods. pippin saw that the latter must be taught submission, and accustomed to authority through the church, and, with his aid, all the southern part of germany became christian in a few years. force was employed, as well as persuasion; but, at that time, the end was considered to sanction any means. pippin's rule (we can not call it _reign_) was characterized by the greatest activity, patience and prudence. from year to year the kingdom of the franks became better organized and stronger in all its features of government. brittany, burgundy and aquitaine were kept quiet; the northern part of holland was conquered, and immediately given into charge of a band of anglo-saxon monks; and germany, although restless and dissatisfied, was held more firmly than ever. pippin of heristall, while he was simply called a royal steward, exercised a wider power than any monarch of his time. [sidenote: .] when he died, in the year , the kingdom was for a while convulsed by feuds which threatened to repeat the bloody annals of the merovingians. his heirs were theudowald, his grandson by his wife plektrude, and karl and hildebrand, his sons by his wife alpheid. he chose the former as his successor, and plektrude, in order to suppress any opposition to this arrangement, imprisoned her step-son karl. but the burgundians immediately revolted, elected one of their chiefs, raginfried, to the office of royal steward, and defeated the franks in a battle in which theudowald was slain. karl, having escaped from prison, put himself at the head of affairs, supported by a majority of the german franks. he was a man of strong personal influence, and inspired his followers with enthusiasm and faith; but his chances seemed very desperate. his step-mother, plektrude, opposed him: the burgundians and french franks, led by raginfried, were marching against him, and radbod, duke of friesland, invaded the territory which he was bound by his office to defend. karl had the choice of three enemies, and he took the one which seemed most dangerous. he attacked radbod, but was forced to fall back, and this repulse emboldened the saxons to make a foray into the land of the hessians, as the old germanic tribe of the chatti were now called. radbod advanced to cologne, which was held by plektrude and her followers: at the same time raginfried approached from the west, and the city was thus besieged by two separate armies, hostile to each other, yet both having the same end in view. between the two, karl managed to escape, and retreated to the forest of ardennes, where he set about reconstructing his shattered army. cologne was too strong to be assailed, and plektrude, who possessed large treasures, soon succeeded in buying off radbod and raginfried. the latter, on his return to france, came into collision with karl, who, though repelled at first, finally drove him in confusion to the walls of paris. karl then suddenly wheeled about and marched against cologne, which fell into his hands: plektrude, leaving her wealth as his booty, fled to bavaria. this victory secured to karl the stewardship over germany, but a king was wanting, to make the forms of royalty complete. the direct merovingian line had run out, and raginfried had been obliged to take a monk, an offshoot of the family, and place him on the throne, under the name of chilperic ii. karl, after a little search, discovered another merovingian, whom he installed in the german half of the kingdom, as clotar iii. that done, he attacked the invading saxons, defeated and drove them beyond the weser river. [sidenote: . karl, steward of the empire.] he was now free to meet the rebellious franks of france, who in the meantime had strengthened themselves by offering to duke eudo of aquitaine the acknowledgment of his independent sovereignty in return for his support. a decisive battle was fought in the year , and karl was again victorious. the nominal king, chilperic ii., raginfried and duke eudo fled into the south of france. karl began negotiations with the latter for the delivery of the fugitive king; but just at this time his own puppet, clotar iii., happened to die, and, as there was no other merovingian left, the pretence upon which his stewardship was based obliged him to recognize chilperic ii. raginfried resigned his office, and karl was at last nominal steward, and actual monarch, of the kingdom of the franks. his first movement was to deliver germany from its invaders, and reëstablish the dependency of its native dukes. the death of the fierce radbod enabled him to reconquer west friesland: the saxons were then driven back and firmly held within their original boundaries, and finally the alemanni and bavarians were compelled to make a formal acknowledgment of the frank rule. as regards thuringia, which seems to have remained a dukedom, the chronicles of the time give us little information. it is probable, however, that the invasions of the saxons on the north and the slavonic tribes on the east gave the people of central germany no opportunity to resist the authority of the franks. the work of conversion, encouraged by pippin of heristall as a political measure, was still continued by the zeal of the irish and anglo-saxon missionaries, and in the beginning of the eighth century it received a powerful impulse from a new apostle, a man of singular ability and courage. he was a saxon of england, born in devonshire in the year , and winfried by name. educated in a monastery, at a time when the struggle between christianity and the old germanic faith was at its height, he resolved to devote his life to missionary labors. he first went to friesland, during the reign of radbod, and spent three years in a vain attempt to convert the people. then he visited rome, offered his services to the pope, and was commissioned to undertake the work of christianizing central germany. on reaching the field of his labors, he manifested such zeal and intelligence that he soon became the leader and director of the missionary enterprise. it is related that at geismar, in the land of the hessians, he cut down with his own hands an aged oak-tree, sacred to the god thor. this and other similar acts inspired the people with such awe that they began to believe that their old gods were either dead or helpless, and they submissively accepted the new faith without understanding its character, or following it otherwise than in observing the external forms of worship. [sidenote: .] on a second visit to rome, winfried was appointed by the pope archbishop of mayence, and ordered to take, thenceforth, the name of bonifacius (benefactor), by which he is known in history. he was confirmed in this office by karl, to whom he had rendered valuable political services by the conversion of the thuringians, and who had a genuine respect for his lofty and unselfish character. the spot where he built the first christian church in central germany, about twelve miles from gotha, at the foot of the thuringian mountains, is now marked by a colossal candle-stick of granite, surmounted by a golden flame. after karl had been for several years actively employed in regulating the affairs of his great realm, and especially, with the aid of bishop bonifacius, in establishing an authority in germany equal to that he possessed in france, he had every prospect of a powerful and peaceful rule. but suddenly a new danger threatened not only the franks, but all europe. the saracens, crossing from africa, defeated the visigoths and slew roderick, their king, in the year . gradually possessing themselves of all spain, they next collected a tremendous army, and in , under the command of abderrahman, viceroy of the caliph of damascus, set out for the conquest of france. thus the new christian faith of europe, still engaged in quelling the last strength of the ancient paganism, was suddenly called upon to meet the newer faith of mohammed, which had determined to subdue the world. [sidenote: . the battle of poitiers.] not only france, but the eastern empire, italy and england looked to karl, in this emergency. the saracens crossed the pyrenees with , warriors, accompanied by their wives and children, as if they were sure of victory and meant to possess the land. karl called the military strength of the whole broad kingdom into the field, collected an army nearly equal in numbers, and finally, in october, , the two hosts stood face to face, near the city of poitiers. it was a struggle almost as grand, and as fraught with important consequences to the world, as that of aëtius and attila, nearly years before. six days were spent in preparations, and on the seventh the battle began. the saracens attacked with that daring and impetuosity which had gained them so many victories; but, as the old chronicle says, "the franks, with their strong hearts and powerful bodies, stood like a wall, and hewed down the arabs with iron hands." when night fell, , dead and wounded lay upon the field. karl made preparations for resuming the battle on the following morning, but he found no enemy. the saracens had retired during the night, leaving their camps and stores behind them, and their leader, abderrahman, among the slain. this was the first great check the cause of islam received, after a series of victories more wonderful than those of rome. from that day the people bestowed upon karl the surname of _martel_, the hammer, and as charles martel he is best known in history. he was not able to follow up his advantage immediately, for the possibility of his defeat by the saracens had emboldened his enemies at home and abroad, to rise against his authority. the frisians, under poppo, their new duke, made another invasion; the saxons followed their example; the burgundians attempted a rebellion, and the sons of duke eudo of aquitaine, imitating the example of their ancestors, the merovingian kings, began to quarrel about the succession. while karl martel (as we must now call him) was engaged in suppressing all these troubles, the saracens, with the aid of the malcontent burgundians, occupied all the territory bordering the mediterranean, on both sides of the rhone. he was not free to march against them until , when he made his appearance with a large army, retook avignon, arles and nismes, and left them in possession only of narbonne, which was too strongly fortified to be taken by assault. karl martel was recalled to the opposite end of the kingdom by a fresh invasion of the saxons. when this had been repelled, and the northern frontier in germany strengthened against the hostile race, the burgundian nobles in provence sought a fresh alliance with the saracens, and compelled him to return instantly from the weser to the shores of the mediterranean. he suppressed the rebellion, but was obliged to leave the saracens in possession of a part of the coast, between the rhone and the pyrenees. during his stay in the south of france, the pope, gregory ii., entreated him to come to italy and relieve rome from the oppression of luitprand, king of the longobards. he did not accept the invitation, but it appears that, as mediator, he assisted in concluding a treaty between the pope and king, which arranged their differences for a time. [sidenote: .] worn out by his life of marches and battles, karl martel became prematurely old, and died in , at the age of fifty, after a reign of twenty-seven years. he inherited the activity, the ability, and also the easy principles of his father, pippin of heristall. but his authority was greatly increased, and he used it to lessen the remnant of their original freedom which the people still retained. the free germanic franks were accustomed to meet every year, in the month of march (as on the _champ de mars_, or march-field, at paris), and discuss all national matters. in chlodwig's time the royal dependents were added to the free citizens and allowed an equal voice, which threw an additional power into the hands of the monarch. karl martel convoked the national assembly, declared war or made peace, without asking the people's consent; while, by adding the priesthood and the nobles, with their dependents, to the number of those entitled to vote, he broke down the ancient power of the state and laid the foundation of a more absolute system. shortly before his death, karl martel summoned a council of the princes and nobles of his realm, and obtained their consent that his eldest son, karloman, should succeed him as royal steward of germany, and his second son, pippin, surnamed the short, as royal steward of france and burgundy. the merovingian throne had already been vacant for four years, but the monarch had become so insignificant that this circumstance was scarcely noticed. on his death-bed, however, karl martel was persuaded by swanhilde, one of his wives, to bequeath a part of his dominions to her son, grifo. this gave rise to great discontent among the people, and furnished the subject dukes of bavaria, alemannia and aquitaine with another opportunity for endeavoring to regain their lost independence. [sidenote: . pippin the short made king.] karloman and pippin, in order to strengthen their cause, sought for a descendant of the merovingian line, and, having found him, they proclaimed him king, under the name of childeric iii. this step secured to them the allegiance of the franks, but the conflict with the refractory dukedoms lasted several years. battles were fought on the loire, on the lech, in bavaria, and then again on the saxon frontier: finally aquitaine was subdued, alemannia lost its duke and became a frank province, and bavaria agreed to a truce. in this struggle, karloman and pippin received important support from bonifacius, a part of whose aim it was to bring all the christian communities to acknowledge the pope of rome as the sole head of the church. they gave him their support in return, and thus the franks were drawn into closer relations with the ecclesiastical power. in the year , karloman resigned his power, went to rome, and was made a monk by pope zacharias. soon afterwards grifo, the son of karl martel and swanhilde, made a second attempt to conquer his rights, with the aid of the saxons. pippin the short allied himself with the wends, a slavonic race settled in prussia, and ravaged the saxon land, forcing a part of the inhabitants, at the point of the sword, to be baptized as christians. grifo fled to bavaria, where the duke, tassilo, espoused his cause, but pippin the short followed close upon his heels with so strong a force that resistance was no longer possible. a treaty was made whereby grifo was consigned to private life, the hereditary rights of the bavarian dukes recognized by the franks, and the sovereignty of the franks accepted by the bavarians. pippin the short had found, through his own experience as well as that of his ancestors, that the pretence of a merovingian king only worked confusion in the realm of the franks, since it furnished to the subordinate races and principalities a constant pretext for revolt. when, therefore, pope zacharias found himself threatened by aistulf, the successor of luitprand as king of the longobards, and sent an embassy to pippin the short appealing for his assistance, the latter returned to him this question: "does the kingdom belong to him who exercises the power, without the name, or to him who bears the name, without possessing the power?" the answer was what he expected: a general assembly was called together in , pippin was anointed king by the archbishop bonifacius, then lifted on a shield according to the ancient custom and accepted by the nobles and people. the shadowy merovingian king, childeric iii., was shorn of his long hair, the sign of royalty, and sent into a monastery, where he disappeared from the world. pippin now possessed sole and unlimited sway over the kingdom of the franks, and named himself "king by the grace of god,"--an example which has been followed by most monarchs, down to our day. on the other hand, the decision of zacharias was a great step gained by the papal power, which thenceforth began to exalt its prerogatives over those of the rulers of nations. [sidenote: .] pippin's first duty, as king, was to repel a new invasion of the saxons. his power was so much increased by his title that he was able, at once, to lead against them such a force that they were compelled to pay a tribute of horses annually, and to allow christian missionaries to reside among them. the latter condition was undoubtedly the suggestion of bonifacius, who determined to carry the cross to the north sea, and complete the conversion of germany. he himself undertook a mission to friesland, where he had failed as a young monk, and there, in , at the age of seventy-five, he was slain by the fierce pagans. he died like a martyr; refusing to defend himself, and was enrolled among the number of saints. in the year , pope stephen ii., the successor of zacharias, appeared in france as a personal supplicant for the aid of king pippin. aistulf, the longobard king, who had driven the byzantines out of the exarchy of ravenna, was marching against rome, which still nominally belonged to the eastern empire. to make his entreaty more acceptable, the pope bestowed on pippin the title of "patrician of rome," and solemnly crowned both him and his young sons, karl and karloman, in the chapel of st. denis, near paris. at the same time he issued a ban of excommunication against all persons who should support a monarch belonging to any other than the reigning dynasty. pippin first endeavored to negotiate with aistulf, but, failing therein, he marched into italy, defeated the longobards in several battles, and besieged the king in pavia, his capital. aistulf was compelled to promise that he would give up the exarchy and leave the pope in peace; but no sooner had pippin returned to france than he violated all his promises. on the renewed appeals of the pope, pippin came to italy a second time, again defeated the longobards, and forced aistulf not only to fulfil his former promises, but also to pay the expenses of the second war. he remained in italy until the conditions were fulfilled, and his son karl (charlemagne), then fourteen years old, spent some time in rome. [sidenote: . death of pippin.] the byzantine emperor demanded that the cities of the exarchy should be given back to him, but pippin transferred them to the pope, who already exercised a temporal power in rome. they were held by the latter, for some time afterwards, in the name of the eastern empire. the worldly sovereignty of the popes grew gradually from this basis, but was not yet recognized, or even claimed. pippin, nevertheless, greatly strengthened the influence of the church by gifts of land, by increasing the privileges of the priesthood, and by allowing the ecclesiastical synods, in many cases, to interfere in matters of civil government. the only other events of his reign were another expedition against the unsubdued saxons, and the expulsion of the saracens from the territory they held between narbonne and the pyrenees. he died in , king instead of royal steward, leaving to his sons, karl and karloman, a greater, stronger and better organized dominion than europe had seen since the downfall of the roman empire. chapter xi. the reign of charlemagne. ( -- .) the partition made by pippin the short. --death of karloman. --appearance and character of charlemagne. --his place in history. --the carolingian dynasty. --his work as a statesman. --conquest of lombardy. --visit to rome. --first saxon campaign. --the chief, wittekind. --assembly at paderborn. --expedition to spain. --defeat at roncesvalles. --revolt of the saxons. --second visit to rome. --execution of saxon nobles, and third war. --subjection of bavaria. --victory over the avars. --final submission of the saxons. --visit of pope leo iii. --charlemagne crowned roman emperor. --the plan of temporal and spiritual empire. --intercourse with haroun alraschid. --trouble with the saracens. --extent of charlemagne's empire. --his encouragement of learning and the arts. --the scholars at his court. --changes in the system of government. --loss of popular freedom. --charlemagne's habits. --the norsemen. --his son, ludwig, crowned emperor. --charlemagne's death. [sidenote: .] when king pippin the short felt that his end was near, he called an assembly of dukes, nobles and priests, which was held at st. denis, for the purpose of installing his sons, karl and karloman, as his successors. as he had observed how rapidly the french and german halves of his empire were separating themselves from each other, in language, habits and national character, he determined to change the former boundary between "austria" and "neustria," which ran nearly north and south, and to substitute an arbitrary line running east and west. this division was accepted by the assembly, but its unpractical character was manifested as soon as karl and karloman began to reign. there was nothing but trouble for three years, at the end of which time the latter died, leaving karl, in , sole monarch of the frank empire. this great man, who, looking backwards, saw not his equal in history until he beheld julius cæsar, now began his splendid single reign of forty-three years. we must henceforth call him charlemagne, the french form of the latin _carolus magnus_, karl the great, since by that name he is known in all english history. he was at this time twenty-nine years old, and in the pride of perfect strength and manly beauty. he was nearly seven feet high, admirably proportioned, and so developed by toil, the chase and warlike exercises that few men of his time equalled him in muscular strength. his face was noble and commanding, his hair blonde or light brown, and his eyes a clear, sparkling blue. he performed the severest duties of his office with a quiet dignity which heightened the impression of his intellectual power; he was terrible and inflexible in crushing all who attempted to interfere with his work; but at the chase, the banquet, or in the circle of his family and friends, no one was more frank, joyous and kindly than he. [sidenote: . charlemagne.] his dynasty is called in history, after him, the _carolingian_, although pippin of landen was its founder. the name of charlemagne is extended backwards over the royal stewards, his ancestors, and after him over a century of successors who gradually faded out like the merovingian line. he stands alone, midway between the roman empire and the middle ages, as the one supreme historical landmark. the task of his life was to extend, secure, regulate and develop the power of a great empire, much of which was still in a state of semi-barbarism. he was no imitator of the roman emperors: his genius, as a statesman, lay in his ability to understand that new forms of government, and a new development of civilization, had become necessary. like all strong and far-seeing rulers, he was despotic, and often fiercely cruel. those who interfered with his plans--even the members of his own family--were relentlessly sacrificed. on the other hand, although he strengthened the power of the nobility, he never neglected the protection of the people; half his days were devoted to war, yet he encouraged learning, literature and the arts; and while he crushed the independence of the races he gave them a higher civilization in its stead. charlemagne first marched against the turbulent saxons, but before they were reduced to order he was called to italy by the appeal of pope adrian for help against the longobards. the king of the latter, desiderius, was the father of hermingarde, charlemagne's second wife, whom he had repudiated and sent home soon after his accession to the throne. karloman's widow had also claimed the protection of desiderius, and she, with her sons, was living at the latter's court. but these ties had no weight with charlemagne; he collected a large army at geneva, crossed the alps by the pass of st. bernard, conquered all northern italy, and besieged desiderius in pavia. he then marched to rome, where pope adrian received him as a liberator. a procession of the clergy and people went forth to welcome him, chanting, "blessed is he that comes in the name of the lord!" he took part in the ceremonies of easter, , which were celebrated with great pomp in the cathedral of st. peter. [sidenote: .] in may pavia fell into charlemagne's hands. desiderius was sent into a monastery, the widow and children of karloman disappeared, and the kingdom of the longobards, embracing all northern and central italy, was annexed to the empire of the franks. the people were allowed to retain both their laws and their dukes, or local rulers, but, in spite of these privileges, they soon rose in revolt against their conqueror. charlemagne had returned to finish his work with the saxons, when in this revolt called him back to italy. the movement was temporarily suppressed, and he hastened to germany to resume his interrupted task. the saxons were the only remaining german people who resisted both the frank rule and the introduction of christianity. they held all of what is now westphalia, hannover and brunswick, to the river elbe, and were still strong, in spite of their constant and wasting wars. during his first campaign, in , charlemagne had overrun westphalia, taken possession of the fortified camp of the saxons, and destroyed the "irmin-pillar," which seems to have been a monument erected to commemorate the defeat of varus by hermann. the people submitted, and promised allegiance; but the following year, aroused by the appeals of their duke or chieftain, wittekind, they rebelled in a body. the frisians joined them, the priests and missionaries were slaughtered or expelled, and all the former saxon territory, nearly to the rhine, was retaken by wittekind. charlemagne collected a large army and renewed the war in . he pressed forward as far as the river weser, when, carelessly dividing his forces, one half of them were cut to pieces, and he was obliged to retreat. his second expedition to italy, at this time, was made with all possible haste, and a new army was ready on his return. westphalia was now wasted with fire and sword, and the people generally submitted, although they were compelled to be baptized as christians. in may, , charlemagne held an assembly of the people at paderborn: nearly all the saxon nobles attended, and swore fealty to him, while many of them submitted to the rite of baptism. [sidenote: . assembly at paderborn.] at this assembly suddenly appeared a deputation of saracen princes from spain, who sought charlemagne's help against the tyranny of the caliph of cordova. he was induced by religious or ambitious motives to consent, neglecting for the time the great work he had undertaken in his own empire. in the summer of he crossed the pyrenees, took the cities of pampeluna and saragossa, and delivered all spain north of the ebro river from the hands of the saracen caliph. this territory was attached to the empire as the spanish mark, or province: it was inhabited both by saracens and franks, who dwelt side by side and became more or less united in language, habits and manners. on his return to france, charlemagne was attacked by a large force of the native basques, in the pass of roncesvalles, in the pyrenees. his warriors, taken by surprise in the narrow ravine and crushed by rocks rolled down upon them from above, could make little resistance, and the rear column, with all the plunder gathered in spain, fell into the enemy's hands. here was slain the famous paladin, roland, the count of brittany, who became the theme of poets down to the time of ariosto. charlemagne was so infuriated by his defeat that he hanged the duke of aquitaine, on the charge of treachery, because his territory included a part of the lands of the basques. upon the heels of this disaster came the news that the saxons had again arisen under the lead of wittekind, destroyed their churches, murdered the priests, and carried fire and sword to the very walls of cologne and coblentz. charlemagne sent his best troops, by forced marches, in advance of his coming, but he was not able to take the field until the following spring. during and a part of , after much labor and many battles, he seemed to have subdued the stubborn race, the most of whom accepted christian baptism for the third time. charlemagne thereupon went to italy once more, in order to restore order among the longobards, whose local chiefs were becoming restless in his absence. his two young sons, pippin and ludwig, were crowned by pope adrian as kings of longobardia, or lombardy (which then embraced the greater part of northern and central italy), and aquitaine. [sidenote: .] after his return to germany, he convoked a parliament, or popular assembly, at paderborn, in , partly in order to give the saxons a stronger impression of the power of the empire. the people seemed quiet, and he was deceived by their bearing; for, after he had left them to return to the rhine, they rose again, headed by wittekind, who had been for some years a fugitive in denmark. three of charlemagne's chief officials, who immediately hastened to the scene of trouble with such troops as they could collect, met wittekind in the teutoburger forest, not far from the field where varus and his legions were destroyed. a similar fate awaited them: the frank army was so completely cut to pieces that but few escaped to tell the tale. charlemagne marched immediately into the saxon land: the rebels dispersed at his approach and wittekind again became a fugitive. the saxon nobles humbly renewed their submission, and tried to throw the whole responsibility of the rebellion upon wittekind. charlemagne was not satisfied: he had been mortified in his pride as a monarch, and for once he cast aside his usual moderation and prudence. he demanded that , saxons, no doubt the most prominent among the people, should be given up to him, and then ordered them all to be beheaded on the same day. this deed of blood, instead of intimidating the saxons, provoked them to fury. they arose as one man, and in defeated charlemagne near detmold. he retreated to paderborn, received reinforcements, and was enabled to venture a second battle, in which he was victorious. he remained for two years longer in thuringia and saxony, during which time he undertook a winter campaign, for which the people were not prepared. by the summer of , the saxons, finding their homes destroyed and themselves rapidly diminishing in numbers, yielded to the mercy of the conqueror. wittekind, who, the legend says, had stolen in disguise into charlemagne's camp, was so impressed by the bearing of the king and the pomp of the religious services, that he also submitted and received baptism. one account states that charlemagne named him duke of the saxons and was thenceforth his friend; another, that he sank into obscurity. [sidenote: . subjection of bavaria.] charlemagne was now free to make another journey to italy, where he suppressed some fresh troubles among the lombards (as we must henceforth style the longobards), and forced aragis, the duke of benevento, to render his submission. then, for the first time, he turned his attention to the bavarians, whose duke, tassilo, had preserved an armed neutrality during the previous wars, but was suspected of secretly conspiring with the lombards, byzantines, and even the avars, for help to enable him to throw off the frank yoke. at a general diet of the whole empire, held in worms in , tassilo did not appear, and charlemagne made this a pretext for invading bavaria. three armies, in italy, suabia and thuringia, were set in motion at the same time, and resistance appeared so hopeless that tassilo surrendered at once. charlemagne pardoned him at first, under stipulations of stricter dependence, but he was convicted of conspiracy at a diet held the following year, when he and his sons were found guilty and sent into a monastery. his dynasty came to an end, and bavaria was portioned out among a number of frank counts, the people, nevertheless, being allowed to retain their own political institutions. the incorporation of bavaria with the frank empire brought a new task to charlemagne. the avars, who had gradually extended their rule across the alps, nearly to the adriatic, were strong and dangerous neighbors. in he entered their territory and laid it waste, as far as the river raab; then, having lost all his horses on the march, he was obliged to return. at home, a new trouble awaited him. his son, pippin, whom he had installed as king of lombardy, was discovered to be at the head of a conspiracy to usurp his own throne. pippin was terribly flogged, and then sent into a monastery for the rest of his days; his fellow-conspirators were executed. when charlemagne applied his system of military conscription to the saxons, to recruit his army before renewing the war with the avars, they rose once more in rebellion, slew his agents, burned the churches, and drove out the priests, who had made themselves hated by their despotism and by claiming a tenth part of the produce of the land. charlemagne was thus obliged to subdue them and to fight the avars, at the same time. the double war lasted until , when the residence of the avar khan, with the intrenched "ring" or fort, containing all the treasures amassed by the tribe during the raids of two hundred years, was captured. all the country, as far eastward as the rivers theiss and raab, was wasted and almost depopulated. the remnant of the avars acknowledged themselves frank subjects, but for greater security, charlemagne established bavarian colonies in the fertile land along the danube. the latter formed a province, called the east-mark, which became the foundation upon which austria (the east-kingdom) afterwards rose. [sidenote: .] the saxons were subjected--or seemed to be--about the same time. many of the people retreated into holstein, which was then called north-albingia; but charlemagne allied himself with a branch of the slavonic wends, defeated them there, and took possession of their territory. he built fortresses at halle, magdeburg, and büchen, near hamburg, colonized , saxons among the franks, and replaced them by an equal number of the latter. then he established christianity for the fifth time, by ordering that all who failed to present themselves for baptism should be put to death. the indomitable spirit of the people still led to occasional outbreaks, but these became weaker and weaker, and finally ceased as the new faith struck deeper root. in the year , pope leo iii. suddenly appeared in charlemagne's camp at paderborn, a fugitive from a conspiracy of the roman nobles, by which his life was threatened. he was received with all possible honors, and after some time spent in secret councils, was sent back to rome with a strong escort. in the autumn of the following year, charlemagne followed him. a civil and ecclesiastical assembly was held at rome, and pronounced the pope free from the charges made against him; then (no doubt according to previous agreement) on christmas-day, , leo iii. crowned charlemagne as roman emperor, in the cathedral of st. peter's. the people greeted him with cries of "life and victory to carolo augusto, crowned by god, the great, the peace-bringing emperor of the romans!" if, by this step, the pope seemed to forget the aspirations of the church for temporal power, on the other hand he rendered himself forever independent of his nominal subjection to the byzantine emperors. for charlemagne, the new dignity gave his rule its full and final authority. the people, in whose traditions the grandeur of the old roman empire were still kept alive, now beheld it renewed in their ruler and themselves. charlemagne stood at the head of an empire which was to include all christendom, and to imitate, in its civil organization, the spiritual rule of the church. on the one side were kingdoms, duchies, countships and the communities of the people, all subject to him; on the other side, bishoprics, monasteries and their dependencies, churches and individual souls, subject to the pope. the latter acknowledged the emperor as his temporal sovereign: the emperor acknowledged the pope as his spiritual sovereign. the idea was grand, and at that time did not seem impossible to fulfil; but the further course of history shows how hostile the two principles may become, when they both grasp at the same power. [sidenote: . charlemagne's empire.] the greek emperors at constantinople were not strong enough to protest against this bestowal of a dignity which they claimed for themselves. a long series of negotiations followed, the result of which was that the emperor nicephorus, in , acknowledged charlemagne's title. the latter, immediately after his coronation in rome, drew up a new oath of allegiance, which he required to be taken by the whole male population of the empire. about this time, he entered into friendly relations with the famous caliph, haroun alraschid of bagdad. they sent embassies, bearing magnificent presents, to each other's courts, and at charlemagne's request, haroun took the holy places in palestine under his special protection, and allowed the christians to visit them. with the saracens in spain, however, the emperor had constant trouble. they made repeated incursions across the ebro, into the spanish mark, and ravaged the shores of majorca, minorca and corsica, which belonged to the frank empire. moreover, the extension of his frontier on the east brought charlemagne into collision with the slavonic tribes in the territory now belonging to prussia beyond the elbe, saxony and bohemia. he easily defeated them, but could not check their plundering and roving propensities. in the year , holstein as far as the elbe was invaded by the danish king, gottfried, who, after returning home with much booty, commenced the construction of that line of defence along the eider river, called the _dannewerk_, which exists to this day. charlemagne had before this conquered and annexed friesland. his empire thus included all france, switzerland and germany, stretching eastward along the danube to presburg, with spain to the ebro, and italy to the garigliano river, the later boundary between rome and naples. there were no wars serious enough to call him into the field during the latter years of his reign, and he devoted his time to the encouragement of learning and the arts. he established schools, fostered new branches of industry, and sought to build up the higher civilization which follows peace and order. he was very fond of the german language, and by his orders a complete collection was made of the songs and poetical legends of the people. forsaking paris, which had been the frank capital for nearly three centuries, he removed his court to aix-la-chapelle and ingelheim, near the rhine, founded the city of frankfort on the main, and converted, before he died, all that war-wasted region into a peaceful and populous country. [sidenote: .] no ruler before charlemagne, and none for at least four centuries after him, did so much to increase and perpetuate the learning of his time. during his meals, some one always read aloud to him out of old chronicles or theological works. he spoke latin fluently, and had a good knowledge of greek. in order to become a good writer, he carried his tablets about with him, and even slept with them under his pillow. the men whom he assembled at his court were the most intelligent of that age. his chaplain and chief counsellor was alcuin, an english monk, and a man of great learning. his secretary, einhard (or eginhard) wrote a history of the emperor's life and times. among his other friends were paul diaconus, a learned lombard, and the chronicler, bishop turpin. these men formed, with charlemagne, a literary society, which held regular meetings to discuss matters of science, politics and literature. under charlemagne the political institutions of the merovingian kings, as well as those which existed among the german races, were materially changed. as far as possible, he set aside the dukes, each of whom, up to that time, was the head of a tribe or division of the people, and broke up their half-independent states into districts, governed by counts. these districts were divided into "hundreds," as in the old germanic times, each in charge of a noble, who every week acted as judge in smaller civil or criminal cases. the counts, in conjunction with from seven to twelve magistrates, held monthly courts wherein cases which concerned life, freedom or landed property were decided. they were also obliged to furnish a certain number of soldiers when called upon. the same obligation rested upon the archbishops, bishops, and abbots of the monasteries, all of whom, together with the counts, were called vassals of the empire. [sidenote: . political institutions.] the free men, in case of war, were compelled to serve as horsemen or foot-soldiers, according to their wealth, either three or five of the very poorest furnishing one well-equipped man. the soldiers were not only not paid, but each was obliged to bear his own expenses; so the burden fell very heavily upon this class of the people. in order to escape it, large numbers of the poorer freemen voluntarily became dependents of the nobility or clergy, who in return equipped and supported them. the national assemblies were still annually held, but the people, in becoming dependents, gradually lost their ancient authority, and their votes ceased to control the course of events. the only part they played in the assemblies was to bring tribute to the emperor, to whom they paid no taxes, and whose court was kept up partly from their offerings and partly from the revenues of the "domains" or crown-lands. thus, while charlemagne introduced throughout his whole empire a unity of government and an order unknown before, while he anticipated prussia in making all his people liable, at any time, to military service, on the other hand he was slowly and unconsciously changing the free germans into a race of lords and serfs. it is not likely, either, that the people themselves saw the tendency of his government. their respect and love for him increased, as the comparative peace of the empire allowed him to turn to interests which more immediately concerned their lives. in his ordinary habits he was as simple as they. his daughters spun and wove the flax for his plain linen garments; personally he looked after his orchards and vegetable gardens, set the schools an example by learning to improve his own reading and writing, treated high and low with equal frankness and heartiness, and, even in his old age, surpassed all around him in feats of strength or endurance. there seemed to be no serfdom in bowing to a man so magnificently endowed by nature and so favored by fortune. one event came to embitter his last days. the scandinavian goths, now known as norsemen, were beginning to build their "sea-dragons" and sally forth on voyages of plunder and conquest. they laid waste the shores of holland and northern france, and the legend says that charlemagne burst into tears of rage and shame, on perceiving his inability to subdue them or prevent their incursions. one of his last acts was to order the construction of a fleet at boulogne, but when it was ready the norse vikings suddenly appeared in the mediterranean and ravaged the southern coast of france. charlemagne began too late to make the germans either a naval or a commercial people: his attempt to unite the main and danube by a canal also failed, but the very design shows his wise foresight and his energy. [sidenote: .] towards the end of the year , feeling his death approaching, he called an imperial diet together at aix-la-chapelle, to recognize his son ludwig as his successor. after this was done, he conducted ludwig to the cathedral, made him vow to be just and god-fearing in his rule, and then bade him take the imperial crown from the altar and set it upon his head. on the th of january, , charlemagne died, and was buried in the cathedral, where his ashes still repose. chapter xii. the emperors of the carolingian line. ( -- .) character of ludwig the pious. --his subjection to the priests. --injury to german literature. --division of the empire. --treatment of his nephew, bernard. --ludwig's remorse. --the empress judith and her son. --revolt of ludwig's sons. --his abdication and death. --compact of karl the bald and ludwig the german. --the french and german languages. --the low-german. --lothar's resistance. --the partition of verdun. --germany and france separated. --the norsemen. --internal troubles. --ludwig the german's sons. --his death. --division of germany. --karl the fat. --his cowardice. --the empire restored. --karl's death. --duke arnulf made king. --he defeats the norsemen and bohemians. --his favors to the church. --the "isidorian decretals." --arnulf crowned emperor. --his death. --ludwig the child. --invasions of the magyars. --end of the carolingian line in germany. [sidenote: . ludwig the pious.] the last act of charlemagne's life in ordering the manner of his son's coronation,--which was imitated, a thousand years afterwards, by napoleon, who, in the presence of the pope, pius vii., himself set the crown upon his own head--showed that he designed keeping the imperial power independent of that of the church. but his son, ludwig, was already a submissive and willing dependent of rome. during his reign as king of aquitaine he had covered the land with monasteries: he was the pupil of monks, and his own inclination was for a monastic life. but at charlemagne's death he was the only legitimate heir to the throne. being therefore obliged to wear the imperial purple, he exercised his sovereignty chiefly in the interest of the church. his first act was to send to the pope the treasures amassed by his father; his next, to surround himself with prelates and priests, who soon learned to control his policy. he was called "ludwig the pious," but in those days, when so many worldly qualities were necessary to the ruler of the empire, the title was hardly one of praise. he appears to have been of a kindly nature, and many of his acts show that he meant to be just; the weakness of his character, however, too often made his good intentions of no avail. [sidenote: .] it was a great misfortune for germany that ludwig's piety took the form of hostility to all learning except of a theological nature. so far as he was able, he undid the great work of education commenced by charlemagne. the schools were given entirely into the hands of the priests, and the character of the instruction was changed. he inflicted an irreparable loss on all after ages by destroying the collection of songs, ballads and legends of the german people, which charlemagne had taken such pains to gather and preserve. it is not believed that a single copy escaped destruction, although some scholars suppose that a fragment of the "song of hildebrand," written in the eighth century, may have formed part of the collection. in the year , ludwig was visited in rheims by the pope, stephen iv., who again crowned him emperor in the cathedral, and thus restored the spiritual authority which charlemagne had tried to set aside. ludwig's attempts to release the estates belonging to the bishops, monasteries and priesthood from the payment of taxes, and the obligation to furnish soldiers in case of war, created so much dissatisfaction among the nobles and people, that, at a diet held the following year, he was summoned to divide the government of the empire among his three sons. he resisted at first, but was finally forced to consent: his eldest son, lothar, was crowned as co-emperor of the franks, ludwig as king of bavaria, and pippin, his third son, as king of aquitaine. in this division no notice was taken of bernard, king of lombardy, also a grandson of charlemagne. the latter at once entered into a conspiracy with certain frank nobles, to have his rights recognized; but, while preparing for war, he was induced, under promises of his personal safety, to visit the emperor's court. there, after having revealed the names of his fellow-conspirators, he was treacherously arrested, and his eyes put out; in consequence of which treatment he died. the empress, irmingarde, died soon afterwards, and ludwig was so overcome both by grief for her loss and remorse for having caused the death of his nephew, that he was with great difficulty restrained from abdicating and retiring into a monastery. it was not in the interest of the priesthood to lose so powerful a friend, and they finally persuaded him to marry again. [sidenote: . ludwig's penitence.] his second wife was judith, daughter of welf, a bavarian count, to whom he was united in . although this gave him another son, karl, afterwards known as karl (charles) the bald, he appears to have found very little peace of mind. at a diet held in , at attigny, in france, he appeared publicly in the sackcloth and ashes of a repentant sinner, and made open confession of his misdeeds. this act showed his sincerity as a man, but in those days it must have greatly diminished the reverence which the people felt for him as their emperor. the next year his son lothar, who, after bernard's death, became also king of lombardy, visited rome and was recrowned by the pope. for a while, lothar made himself very popular by seeking out and correcting abuses in the administration of the laws. during the first fifteen years of ludwig's reign, the boundaries of the empire were constantly disturbed by invasions of the danes, the slavonic tribes in prussia, and the saracens in spain, while the basques and bretons became turbulent within the realm. all these revolts or invasions were suppressed; the eastern frontier was not only held but extended, and the military power of the frank empire was everywhere recognized and feared. the saxons and frisians, who had been treated with great mildness by ludwig, gave no further trouble; in fact, the whole population of the empire became peaceable and orderly in proportion as the higher civilization encouraged by charlemagne was developed among them. the remainder of ludwig's reign might have been untroubled, but for a family difficulty. the empress judith demanded that her son, karl, should also have a kingdom, like his three step-brothers. an imperial diet was therefore called together at worms, in , and, in spite of fierce opposition, a new kingdom was formed out of parts of burgundy, switzerland and suabia. the three sons, lothar, pippin and ludwig, acquiesced at first; but when a spanish count, bernard, was appointed regent during karl's minority, the two former began secretly to conspire against their father. they took him captive in france, and endeavored, but in vain, to force him to retire into a monastery. the sympathies of the people were with him, and by their help he was able, the following year, to regain his authority, and force his sons to submit. [sidenote: .] ludwig, however, manifested his preference for his last son, karl, so openly that in his three other sons united against him, and a war ensued which lasted nearly five years. finally, when the two armies stood face to face, on a plain near colmar, in alsatia, and a bloody battle between father and sons seemed imminent, the pope, gregory iv., suddenly made his appearance. he offered his services as a mediator, went to and fro, and at last treacherously carried all the emperor's chief supporters over to the camp of the sons. ludwig, then sixty years old and broken in strength and spirit, was forced to surrender. the people gave the name of "the field of lies" to the scene of this event. the old emperor was compelled by his sons to give up his sword, to appear as a penitent in church, and to undergo such other degradations, that the sympathies of the people were again aroused in his favor. they rallied to his support from all sides: his authority was restored, lothar, the leader of the rebellion, fled to italy, pippin had died shortly before, and ludwig proffered his submission. the old man now had a prospect of quiet; but the machinations of the empress judith on behalf of her son, karl, disturbed his last years. his son ludwig was marching against him for the second time, when he died, in , on an island in the rhine, near ingelheim. the death of ludwig the pious was the signal for a succession of fratricidal wars. his youngest son, karl the bald, first united his interests with those of his eldest step-brother, lothar, but he soon went over to ludwig's side, while lothar allied himself with the sons of pippin, in aquitaine. a terrific battle was fought near auxerre, in france, in the summer of . lothar was defeated, and ludwig and karl then determined to divide the empire between them. the following winter they came together, with their nobles and armies, near strasburg, and vowed to keep faith with each other thenceforth. the language of france and germany, even among the descendants of the original franks, was no longer the same, and the oath which was drawn up for the occasion was pronounced by karl in german to the army of ludwig, and by ludwig in french to the army of karl. the text of it has been preserved, and it is a very interesting illustration of the two languages, as they were spoken a thousand years ago. we will quote the opening phrases: ludwig (_french_). pro deo amur et (pro) christian poblo karl (_german_). in godes minna ind (in thes) christianes folches _english_. in god's love and (that of the) christian folk ludwig. et nostro comun salvament,-- dist di in avant, karl. ind unser bedhero gehaltnissi,--fon thesemo dage framordes, _english_. and our mutual preservation,--from this day forth, ludwig. -- in quant deus savir et podir me dunat, &c. karl. -- so fram so mir god gewiczi ind mahd furgibit, &c. _english_. --as long as to me god knowledge and might gives, &c. [illustration: empire of charlemagne, (with the treaty of verdun, a. d. .)] [sidenote: .] it is very easy to see, from this slight specimen, how much the language of the franks had been modified by the gallic-latin, and how much of the original tongue (taking the gothic bible of ulfila as an evidence of its character) has been retained in german and english. about the same time there was written in the low-german, or saxon dialect, a gospel narrative in verse, called the _heliand_ ("saviour"), many lines of which are almost identical with early english; as the following: _slogun cald isarn_ they drove cold iron _hardo mit hamuron_ hard with hammers _thuru is hendi enti thuru is fuoti;_ through his hands and through his feet; _is blod ran an ertha._ his blood ran on earth. this separation of the languages is a sign of the difference in national character which now split asunder the great empire of charlemagne. lothar, after the solemn alliance between karl the bald and ludwig, resorted to desperate measures. he offered to give the saxons their old laws and even to allow them to return to their pagan faith, if they would support his claims; he invited the norsemen to belgium and northern france; and, by retreating towards italy when his brothers approached him in force, and then returning when an opportunity favored, he disturbed and wasted the best portions of the empire. finally the bishops intervened, and after a long time spent in negotiations, the three rival brothers met in , and agreed to the famous "partition of verdun" (so called from verdun, near metz, where it was signed), by which the realm of charlemagne was divided among them. [sidenote: . separation of germany and france.] lothar, as the eldest, received italy, together with a long, narrow strip of territory extending to the north sea, including part of burgundy, switzerland, eastern belgium and holland. all west of this, embracing the greater part of france, was given to karl the bald; all east, with a strip of territory west of the rhine, from basle to mayence, "for the sake of its wine," as the document stated, became the kingdom of ludwig, who was thenceforth called "the german." the last-named also received eastern switzerland and bavaria, to the alps. this division was almost as arbitrary and unnatural as that which pippin the short attempted to make. neither karl's nor ludwig's shares included all the french or german territory; while lothar's was a long, narrow slice cut out of both, and attached to italy, where a new race and language were already developed out of the mixture of romans, goths and lombards. in fact, it became necessary to invent a name for the northern part of lothar's dominions, and that portion between burgundy and holland was called, after him, lotharingia. as _lothringen_ in german, and _lorraine_ in french, the name still remains in existence. each of the three monarchs received unrestricted sway over his realm. they agreed, however, upon a common line of policy in the interest of the dynasty, and admitted the right of inheritance to each other's sovereignty, in the absence of direct heirs. the treaty of verdun, therefore, marks the beginning of germany and france as distinct nationalities; and now, after following the germanic races over the greater part of europe for so many centuries, we come back to recommence their history on the soil where we first found them. in fact, the word _deutsch_, "german," signifying _of the people_, now first came into general use, to designate the language and the races--franks, alemanni, bavarians, thuringians, saxons, etc.--under ludwig's rule. there was, as yet, no political unity among these races; they were reciprocally jealous, and often hostile; but, by contrast with the inhabitants of france and italy, they felt their blood-relationship as never before, and a national spirit grew up, of a narrower but more natural character than that which charlemagne endeavored to establish. internal struggles awaited both the roman emperor, lothar, and the frank king, karl the bald. the former was obliged to suppress revolts in provence and italy; the latter in brittany and aquitaine, while the spanish mark, beyond the pyrenees, passed out of his hands. ludwig the german inherited a long peace at home, but a succession of wars with the wends and bohemians along his eastern frontier. the norsemen came down upon his coasts, destroyed hamburg, and sailed up the elbe with vessels, burning and plundering wherever they went. the necessity of keeping an army almost constantly in the field gave the clergy and nobility an opportunity of exacting better terms for their support; the independent dukedoms, suppressed by charlemagne, were gradually re-established, and thus ludwig diminished his own power while protecting his territory from invasion. [sidenote: .] the emperor, lothar, soon discovered that he had made a bad bargain. his long and narrow empire was most difficult to govern, and in , weary with his annoyances and his endless marches to and fro, he abdicated and retired into a monastery, where he died within a week. the empire was divided between his three sons: ludwig received italy and was crowned by the pope; to karl was given the territory between the rhone, the alps and the mediterranean, and to lothar ii. the portion extending from the rhone to the north sea. when the last of these died, in , ludwig the german and karl the bald divided his territory, the line running between verdun and metz, then along the vosges, and terminating at the rhine near basle,--almost precisely the same boundary as that which france has been forced to accept in . but the conditions of the oath taken by the two kings in were not observed by either. karl the bald was a tyrannical and unpopular sovereign, and when he failed in preventing the norsemen from ravaging all western france, the nobles determined to set him aside and invite ludwig to take his place. the latter consented, marched into france with a large army, and was hailed as king; but when his army returned home, and he trusted to the promised support of the frank nobles, he found that karl had repurchased their allegiance, and there was no course left to him but to retreat across the rhine. the trouble was settled by a meeting of the two kings, which took place at coblentz, in . ludwig the german had also, like his father, serious trouble with his sons, karlmann and ludwig. he had made the former duke of carinthia, but ere long discovered that he had entered into a conspiracy with rastitz, king of the moravian slavonians. karlmann was summoned to regensburg (ratisbon), which was then ludwig's capital, and was finally obliged to lead an army against his secret ally, rastitz, who was conquered. a new war with zwentebold, king of bohemia, who was assisted by the sorbs, wends, and other slavonic tribes along the elbe, broke out soon afterwards. karlmann led his father's forces against the enemy, and after a struggle of four years forced bohemia, in , to become tributary to germany. [sidenote: . death of ludwig the german.] in , the emperor, ludwig ii. (lothar's son), who ruled in italy, died without heirs. karl the bald and ludwig the german immediately called their troops into the field and commenced the march to italy, in order to divide the inheritance or fight for its sole possession. ludwig sent his sons, but their uncle, karl the bald, was before them. he was acknowledged by the lombard nobles at pavia, and crowned in rome by the pope, before it could be prevented. ludwig determined upon an instant invasion of france, but in the midst of the preparations he died at frankfort, in . he was seventy-one years old; as a child he had sat on the knees of charlemagne; as an independent king of germany, he had reigned thirty-six years, and with him the intelligence, prudence and power which had distinguished the carolingian line came to an end. again the kingdom was divided among three sons, karlmann, ludwig the younger, and karl the fat; and again there were civil wars. karl the bald made haste to invade germany before the brothers were in a condition to oppose him; but he was met by ludwig the younger and terribly defeated, near andernach on the rhine. the next year he died, leaving one son, ludwig the stammerer, to succeed him. the brothers, in accordance with a treaty made before their father's death, thus divided germany: karlmann took bavaria, carinthia, the provinces on the danube, and the half-sovereignty over bohemia and moravia; ludwig the younger became king over all northern and central germany, leaving suabia (formerly alemannia) for karl the fat. karlmann's first act was to take possession of italy, which acknowledged his rule. he was soon afterwards struck with apoplexy, and died in . karl the fat had already crossed the alps; he forced the lombard nobles to accept him, and was crowned emperor at rome, as karl iii., in . meanwhile the germans had recognized ludwig the younger as karlmann's heir, and had given to arnulf, the latter's illegitimate son, the duchy of carinthia. [sidenote: .] ludwig the younger died, childless, in , and thus germany and italy became one empire under karl the fat. by this time friesland and holland were suffering from the invasions of the norsemen, who had built a strong camp on the banks of the meuse, and were beginning to threaten germany. karl marched against them, but, after a siege of some weeks, he shamefully purchased a truce by giving them territory in holland, and large sums in gold and silver, and by marrying a princess of the carolingian blood to gottfried, their chieftain. they then sailed down the meuse, with vessels laden with plunder. all classes of the germans were filled with rage and shame, at this disgrace. the dukes and princes who were building up their local governments profited by the state of affairs, to strengthen their power. karl was called to italy to defend the pope against the saracens, and when he returned to germany in , he found a count hugo almost independent in lorraine, the norsemen in possession of the rhine nearly as far as cologne, and arnulf of carinthia engaged in a fierce war with zwentebold, king of bohemia. karl turned his forces against the last of these, subdued him, and then, with the help of the frisians, expelled the norsemen. the two grand-sons of karl the bald, ludwig and karlmann, died about this time, and the only remaining one, charles (afterwards called the silly), was still a young child. the frank nobles therefore offered the throne to karl the fat, who accepted it and thus restored, for a short time, the empire of charlemagne. once more he proved himself shamefully unworthy of the power confided to his hands. he suffered paris to sustain a nine months' siege by the norsemen, before he marched to its assistance, and then, instead of meeting the foemen in open field, he paid them a heavy ransom for the city and allowed them to spend the following winter in burgundy, and plunder the land at their will. the result was a general conspiracy against his rule, in germany as well as in france. at the head of it was bishop luitward, karl's chancellor and confidential friend, who, being detected, fled to arnulf in carinthia, and instigated the latter to rise in rebellion. arnulf was everywhere victorious: karl the fat, deserted by his army and the dependent german nobles, was forced, in , to resign the throne and retire to an estate in suabia, where he died the following year. [sidenote: . arnulf of carinthia king.] duke arnulf, the grandson of ludwig the german, though not legitimately born, now became king of germany. being accepted at ratisbon and afterwards at frankfort by the representatives of the people, he was able to keep them united under his rule, while the rest of the former frank empire began to fall to pieces. as early as , a new kingdom, called burgundy, or arelat, from its capital arles, was formed between the rhone and the alps; berengar, the lombard duke of friuli, in italy, usurped the inheritance of the carolingian line there; count rudolf, a great-grandson of ludwig the pious, established the kingdom of upper burgundy, embracing a part of eastern france, with western switzerland; and count odo of paris, who gallantly defended the city against the norsemen, was chosen king of france by a large party of the nobles. king arnulf, who seems to have possessed as much wisdom as bravery, did not interfere with the pretensions of these new rulers, so long as they forbore to trespass on his german territory, and he thereby secured the friendship of all. he devoted himself to the liberation of germany from the repeated invasions of the danes and norsemen on the north, and the bohemians on the east. the former had entrenched themselves strongly among the marshes near louvain, where arnulf's best troops, which were cavalry, could not reach them. he set an example to his army by dismounting and advancing on foot to the attack: the germans followed with such impetuosity that the norse camp was taken, and nearly all its defenders slaughtered. from that day germany was free from northern invasion. arnulf next marched against his old enemy, zwentebold (in some histories the name is written _sviatopulk_) of bohemia. this king and his people had recently been converted to christianity by the missionary methodius, but it had made no change in their predatory habits. they were the more easily conquered by arnulf, because the magyars, a branch of the finnish race who had pressed into hungary from the east, attacked them at the same time. the magyars were called "hungarians" by the germans of that day--as they are at present--because they had taken possession of the territory which had been occupied by the huns, more than four centuries before; but they were a distinct race, resembling the huns only in their fierceness and daring. they were believed to be cannibals, who drank the blood and devoured the hearts of their slain enemies; and the panic they created throughout germany was as great as that which went before attila and his barbarian hordes. [sidenote: .] after the subjection of the bohemians, arnulf was summoned to italy, in the year , where he assisted berengar, king of lombardy, to maintain his power against a rival. he then marched against rudolf, king of upper burgundy, who had been conspiring against him, and ravaged his land. by this time, it appears, his personal ambition was excited by his successes: he determined to become emperor, and as a means of securing the favor of the pope, he granted the most extraordinary privileges to the church in germany. he ordered that all civil officers should execute the orders of the clerical tribunals; that excommunication should affect the civil rights of those on whom it fell; that matters of dispute between clergy and laymen should be decided by the bishops, without calling witnesses,--with other decrees of the same character, which practically set the church above the civil authorities. the popes, by this time, had embraced the idea of becoming temporal sovereigns, and the dissensions among the rulers of the carolingian line already enabled them to secure a power, of which the former bishops of rome had never dreamed. in the early part of the ninth century, the so-called "isidorian decretals" (because they bore the name of bishop isidor, of seville) came to light. they were forged documents, purporting to be decrees of the ancient councils of the church, which claimed for the bishop of rome (the pope) the office of vicar of christ and vicegerent of god upon earth, with supreme power not only over all bishops, priests and individual souls, but also over all civil authorities. the policy of the papal chair was determined by these documents, and several centuries elapsed before their fictitious character was discovered. arnulf, after these concessions to the church, went to italy in . he found the pope, formosus, in the power of a lombard prince, whom the former had been compelled against his will, to crown as emperor. arnulf took rome by force of arms, liberated the pope, and in return was crowned roman emperor. he fell dangerously ill immediately afterwards, and it was believed that he had been poisoned. formosus, who died the following year, was declared "accurst" by his successor, stephen vii., and his body was dug up and cast into the tiber, after it had lain nine months in the grave. [sidenote: . ludwig the child.] arnulf returned to germany as emperor, but weak and broken in body and mind. he never recovered from the effects of the poison, but lingered for three years longer, seeing his empire becoming more and more weak and disorderly. he died in , leaving one son, ludwig, only seven years old. this son, known in history as "ludwig the child," was the last of the carolingian line in germany. in france, the same line, now represented by charles the silly, was also approaching its end. at a diet held at forchheim (near nuremberg), ludwig the child was accepted as king of germany, and solemnly crowned. on account of his tender years, he was placed in charge of archbishop hatto of mayence, who was appointed, with duke otto of saxony, to govern temporarily in his stead. an insurrection in lorraine was suppressed; but now a more formidable danger approached from the east. the hungarians invaded northern italy in , and ravaged part of bavaria on their return to the danube. like the huns, they destroyed everything in their way, leaving a wilderness behind their march. the bavarians, with little assistance from the rest of germany, fought the hungarians until , when their duke, luitpold, was slain in battle, and his son arnulf purchased peace by a heavy tribute. then the hungarians invaded thuringia, whose duke, burkhard, also fell fighting against them, after which they plundered a part of saxony. finally, in , the whole strength of germany was called into the field; ludwig, eighteen years old, took command, met the hungarians on the banks of the inn, and was utterly defeated. he fled from the field, and was forced, thenceforth, to pay tribute to hungary. he died in , and germany was left without a hereditary ruler. chapter xiii. king konrad, and the saxon rulers, henry i. and otto the great. ( -- .) growth of small principalities in germany. --changes in the lehen, or royal estates. --diet at forchheim. --the frank duke, konrad, chosen king. --events of his reign. --the saxon, henry the fowler, succeeds him. --henry's policy towards bavaria, lorraine and france. --his truce with the hungarians. --his military preparations. --defeat of the hungarians. --henry's achievements. --his death. --coronation of otto. --his first war. --revolt of duke eberhard and prince henry. --war with louis iv. of france. --otto's victories. --henry pardoned. --conquest of jutland. --otto's empire. --his march to italy. --marriage with adelheid of burgundy. --revolt of ludolf and konrad. --the hungarian army destroyed. --the pope calls for otto's aid. --otto crowned roman emperor. --quarrel with the pope. --third visit to italy. --his son married to an eastern princess. --his triumph and death. [sidenote: .] when ludwig the child died, the state of affairs in germany had greatly changed. the direct dependence of the nobility and clergy upon the emperor, established by the political system of charlemagne, was almost at an end; the country was covered with petty sovereignties, which stood between the chief ruler and the people. the estates which were formerly given to the bishops, abbots, nobles, and others who had rendered special service to the empire, were called _lehen_, or "liens" of the monarch (as explained in chapter x.); they were granted for a term of years, or for life, and afterwards reverted to the royal hands. in return for such grants, the endowed lords were obliged to secure the loyalty of their retainers, the people dwelling upon their lands, and, in case of war, to follow the emperor's banner with their proportion of fighting men. so long as the wars were with external foes, with opportunities for both glory and plunder, the service was willingly performed; but when they came as a consequence of family quarrels, and every portion of the empire was liable to be wasted in its turn, the emperor's "vassals," both spiritual and temporal, began to grow restive. their military service subjected them to the chance of losing their _lehen_, and they therefore demanded to have absolute possession of the lands. the next and natural step was to have the possession, and the privileges connected with it, made hereditary in their families; and these claims were very generally secured, throughout germany, during the reign of karl the fat. only in saxony and friesland, and among the alps, were the common people proprietors of the soil. [sidenote: . the wars of king konrad.] the nobles, or large land-owners, for their common defence against the exercise of the imperial power, united under the rule of counts or dukes, by whom the former division of the population into separate tribes or nations was continued. the emperors, also, found this division convenient, but they always claimed the right to set aside the smaller rulers, or to change the boundaries of their states for reasons of policy. charles the silly, of the carolingian line, reigned in france in , and was therefore, according to the family compact, the heir to ludwig the child. moreover, the pope, stephen iv., had threatened with the curse of the church all those who should give allegiance to an emperor who was not of carolingian blood. nevertheless, the german princes and nobles were now independent enough to defy both tradition and papal authority. they held a diet at forchheim, and decided to elect their own king. they would have chosen otto, duke of the saxons,--a man of great valor, prudence and nobility of character--but he felt himself to be too old for the duties of the royal office, and he asked the diet to confer it on konrad, duke of the franks. the latter was then almost unanimously chosen, and immediately crowned by archbishop hatto of mayence. konrad was a brave, gay, generous monarch, who soon rose into high favor with the people. his difficulty lay in the jealousy of other princes, who tried to strengthen themselves by restricting his authority. he first lost the greater part of lorraine, and then, on attempting to divide thuringia and saxony, which were united under henry, the son of duke otto, his army was literally cut to pieces. a saxon song of victory, written at the time, says, "the lower world was too small to receive the throngs of the enemies slain." [sidenote: .] arnulf of bavaria and the counts berthold and erchanger of suabia defeated the hungarians in a great battle near the river inn, in , and felt themselves strong enough to defy konrad. he succeeded in defeating and deposing them; but arnulf fled to the hungarians and incited them to a new invasion of germany. they came in two bodies, one of which marched through bavaria and suabia to the rhine, the other through thuringia and saxony to bremen, plundering, burning and slaying on their way. the condition of the empire became so desperate that konrad appealed for assistance to the pope, who ordered an episcopal synod to be held in , but not much was done by the bishops except to insist upon the payment of tithes to the church. then konrad, wounded in repelling a new invasion of the hungarians, looked forward to death as a release from his trouble. feeling his end approaching, he summoned his brother eberhard, gave him the royal crown and sceptre, and bade him carry them to duke henry of saxony, the enemy of his throne, declaring that the latter was the only man with power and intelligence enough to rule germany. henry was already popular as the son of otto, and it was probably quite as much their respect for his character as for konrad's last request, which led many of the german nobles to accompany eberhard and join him in offering the crown. they found henry in a pleasant valley near the hartz, engaged in catching finches, and he was thenceforth generally called "henry the fowler" by the people. he at once accepted the trust confided to his hands: a diet of the franks and saxons was held at fritzlar the next year, , and he was there lifted upon the shield and hailed as king. but when archbishop hatto proposed to anoint him king with the usual religious ceremonies, he declined, asserting that he did not consider himself worthy to be more than a king of the people. both he and his wife mathilde were descendants of wittekind, the foe and almost the conqueror of charlemagne. neither suabia nor bavaria were represented at the diet of fritzlar. this meant resistance to henry's authority, and he accordingly marched at once into southern germany. burkhard, duke of suabia, gave in his submission without delay; but arnulf of bavaria made preparations for resistance. the two armies came together near ratisbon: all was ready for battle, when king henry summoned arnulf to meet him alone, between their camps. at this interview he spoke with so much wisdom and persuasion that arnulf finally yielded, and henry's rights were established without the shedding of blood. [sidenote: . treaty with france.] in the meantime lorraine, under its duke, giselbert, had revolted, and charles the silly, by unexpectedly crossing the frontier, gained possession of alsatia, as far as the rhine. henry marched against him, but, as in the case of arnulf, asked for a personal interview before engaging in battle. the two kings met on an island in the rhine, near bonn: the french army was encamped on the western, and the german army on the eastern bank of the river, awaiting the result. charles the silly was soon brought to terms by his shrewd, intelligent rival: on the th of november, , a treaty was signed by which the former boundary between france and germany was reaffirmed. soon afterwards, giselbert of lorraine was sent as a prisoner to henry, but the latter, pleased with his character, set him free, gave him his daughter in marriage, and thus secured his allegiance to the german throne. in this manner, within five or six years after he was chosen king, henry had accomplished his difficult task. chiefly by peaceful means, by a combination of energy, patience and forbearance, he had subdued the elements of disorder in germany, and united both princes and people under his rule. he was now called upon to encounter the hungarians, who, in , again invaded both northern and southern germany. the walled and fortified cities, such as ratisbon, augsburg and constance, were safe from their attacks, but in the open field they were so powerful that henry found himself unable to cope with them. his troops only dared to engage in skirmishes with the smaller roving bands, in one of which, by great good fortune, they captured one of the hungarian chiefs, or princes. a large amount of treasure was offered for his ransom, but henry refused it, and asked for a truce of nine years, instead. the hungarians finally agreed to this, on condition that an annual tribute should be paid to them during the time. this was the bravest and wisest act of king henry's life. he took upon himself the disgrace of the tribute, and then at once set about organizing his people and developing their strength. the truce of nine years was not too long for the work upon which he entered. he began by forcing the people to observe a stricter military discipline, by teaching his saxon foot-soldiers to fight on horseback, and by strengthening the defences along his eastern frontier. hamburg, magdeburg and halle were at this time the most eastern german towns, and beyond or between them, especially towards the south, there were no strong points which could resist invasion. henry carefully surveyed the ground and began the erection of a series of fortified enclosures. every ninth man of the district was called upon to serve as garrison-soldier, while the remaining eight cultivated the land. one-third of the harvests was stored in these fortresses, wherein, also, the people were required to hold their markets and their festivals. thus quedlinburg, merseburg, meissen and other towns soon arose within the fortified limits. from these achievements henry is often called in german history, "the founder of cities." [sidenote: .] having somewhat accustomed the people to this new form of military service, and constantly exercised the nobles and their men-at-arms in sham fights and tournaments (which he is said to have first instituted), henry now tested them in actual war. the slavonic tribes east of the elbe had become the natural and hereditary enemies of the germans, and an attack upon them hardly required a pretext. the present province of brandenburg, the basis of the prussian kingdom, was conquered by henry in ; and then, after a successful invasion of bohemia, he gradually extended his annexation to the oder. the most of the slavonic population were slaughtered without mercy, and the saxons and thuringians, spreading eastward, took possession of their vacant lands. finally, in , henry conquered lusatia (now eastern saxony); bohemia was already tributary, and his whole eastern frontier was thereby advanced from the baltic at stettin to the danube at vienna. [sidenote: . victory over the hungarians.] by this time the nine years of truce with the hungarians were at an end, and when the ambassadors of the latter came to the german court to receive their tribute, they were sent back with empty hands. a tradition states that henry ordered an old, mangy dog to be given to them, instead of the usual gold and silver. a declaration of war followed, as he had anticipated; but the hungarians seem to have surprised him by the rapidity of their movements. contrary to their previous custom, they undertook a winter campaign, overrunning thuringia and saxony in such immense numbers that the king did not immediately venture to oppose them. he waited until their forces were divided in the search for plunder, then fell upon a part and defeated them. shortly afterwards he moved against their main army, and on the th of march, , after a bloody battle (which is believed to have been fought in the vicinity of merseburg), was again conqueror. the hungarians fled, leaving their camp, treasures and accumulated plunder in henry's hands. they were never again dangerous to northern germany. after this came a war with the danish king, gorm, who had crossed the eider and taken holstein. henry brought it to an end, and added schleswig to his dominion rather by diplomacy than by arms. after his long and indefatigable exertions, the empire enjoyed peace; its boundaries were extended and secured; all the minor rulers submitted to his sway, and his influence over the people was unbounded. but he was not destined to enjoy the fruits of his achievements. a stroke of apoplexy warned him to set his house in order; so, in the spring of , he called together a diet at erfurt, which accepted his second son, otto, as his successor. although he left two other sons, no proposition was made to divide germany among them. the civil wars of the merovingian and carolingian dynasties, during nearly years, compelled the adoption of a different system of succession; and the reigning dukes and counts were now so strong that they bowed reluctantly even to the authority of a single monarch. henry died on the th of july, , not sixty years old. his son and successor, otto, was twenty-four,--a stern, proud man, but brave, firm, generous and intelligent. he was married to editha, the daughter of athelstan, the saxon king of england. a few weeks after his father's death, he was crowned with great splendor in the cathedral of charlemagne, at aix-la-chapelle. all the dukes and bishops of the realm were present, and the new emperor was received with universal acclamation. at the banquet which followed, the dukes of lorraine, franconia, suabia, and bavaria, served as chamberlain, steward, cupbearer and marshal. it was the first national event of a spontaneous character, which took place in germany, and now, for the first time, a german empire seemed to be a reality. the history of otto's reign fulfilled, at least to the people of his day, the promise of his coronation. like his father, his inheritance was to include wars with internal and external foes; he met and carried them to an end, with an energy equal to that of henry i., but without the same prudence and patience. he made germany the first power of the civilized world, yet he failed to unite the discordant elements of which it was composed, and therefore was not able to lay the foundation of a distinct _nation_, such as was even then slowly growing up in france. [sidenote: .] he was first called upon to repel invasions of the bohemians and the wends, in prussia. he entrusted the subjection of the latter to a saxon count, hermann billung, and marched himself against the former. both wars lasted for some time, but they were finally successful. the hungarians, also, whose new inroad reached even to the banks of the loire, were twice defeated, and so discouraged that they never afterwards attempted to invade either thuringia or saxony. worse troubles, however, were brewing within the realm. eberhard, duke of the franks (the same who had carried his brother konrad's crown to otto's father), had taken into his own hands the punishment of a saxon noble, instead of referring the case to the king. the latter compelled eberhard to pay a fine of a hundred pounds of silver, and ordered that the frank freemen who assisted him should carry dogs in their arms to the royal castle,--a form of punishment which was then considered very disgraceful. after the order had been carried into effect, otto received the culprits kindly and gave them rich presents; but they went home brooding revenge. eberhard allied himself with thankmar, otto's own half-brother by a mother from whom henry i. had been divorced before marrying mathilde. giselbert, duke of lorraine, otto's brother-in-law, joined the conspiracy, and even many of the saxon nobles, who were offended because the command of the army sent against the wends had been given to count hermann, followed his example. otto's position was very critical, and if there had been more harmony of action among the conspirators, he might have lost his throne. in the struggle which ensued, thankmar was slain and duke eberhard forced to surrender. but the latter was not yet subdued. during the rebellion he had taken otto's younger brother, henry, prisoner; he secured the latter's confidence, tempted him with the prospect of being chosen king in case otto was overthrown, and then sent him as his intercessor to the conqueror. [sidenote: . revolt of otto's brother, henry.] thus, while otto supposed the movement had been crushed, eberhard, giselbert of lorraine and henry, who had meantime joined the latter, were secretly preparing a new rebellion. as soon as otto discovered the fact, he collected an army and hastened to the rhine. he had crossed the river with only a small part of his troops, the remainder being still encamped upon the eastern bank, when giselbert and henry suddenly appeared with a great force. otto at first gave himself up for lost, but determined at least to fall gallantly, he and his followers fought with such desperation that they won a signal victory. giselbert retreated to lorraine, whither otto was prevented from following him by new troubles among the saxons and the subject wends between the elbe and oder. the rebellious princes now sought the help of the king of france, louis iv. (called _d'outre-mer_, or "from beyond sea," because he had been an exile in england). he marched into alsatia with a french army, while duke eberhard and the archbishop of mayence added their forces to those of giselbert and henry. all the territory west of the rhine fell into their hands, and the danger seemed so great that many of the smaller german princes began to waver in their fidelity to otto. he, however, hastened to alsatia, defeated the french, and laid siege to the fortress of breisach (half-way between strasburg and basel), although giselbert was then advancing into westphalia. a small band who remained true to him met the latter and forced him back upon the rhine; and there, in a battle fought near andernach, eberhard was slain and giselbert drowned in attempting to fly. this was the turning-point in otto's fortunes. the french retreated, all the supports of the rebellion fell away from it, and in a short time the king's authority was restored throughout the whole of germany. these events occurred during the year . the following year otto marched to paris, which, however, was too strongly fortified to be taken. an irregular war between the two kingdoms lasted for some time longer, and was finally terminated by a personal interview between otto and louis iv., at which the ancient boundaries were reaffirmed, lorraine remaining german. [sidenote: .] henry, pardoned for the second time, was unable to maintain himself as duke of lorraine, to which position otto had appointed him. enraged at being set aside, he united with the archbishop of mayence in a conspiracy against his brother's life. it was arranged that the murder should be committed during the easter services, in quedlinburg. the plot was discovered, the accomplices tried and executed, and henry thrown into prison. during the celebration of the christmas mass, in the cathedral at frankfort, the same year, he suddenly appeared before otto, and, throwing himself upon his knees before him, prayed for pardon. otto was magnanimous enough to grant it, and afterwards to forget as well as forgive. he bestowed new favors upon henry, who never again became unfaithful. during this time the saxon counts, gero and hermann, had held the wends and other slavonic tribes at bay, and gradually filled the conquered territory beyond the elbe with fortified posts, around which german colonists rapidly clustered. following the example of charlemagne, the people were forcibly converted to christianity, and new churches and monasteries were founded. the bohemians were made tributary, the hungarians repelled, and in driving back an invasion of the king of denmark, harold blue-tooth, otto marched to the extremity of the peninsula of jutland, and there hurled his spear into the sea, as a sign that he had taken possession of the land. he now ruled a wider, and apparently a more united realm, than his father. the power of the independent dukes was so weakened, that they felt themselves subjected to his favor; he was everywhere respected and feared, although he never became popular with the masses of the people. he lacked the easy, familiar ways with them which distinguished his father and charlemagne; his manner was cold and haughty, and he surrounded himself with pomp and ceremony. he married his eldest son, ludolf, to the daughter of the duke of suabia, whom the former soon succeeded in his rule; he gave lorraine to his son-in-law, konrad, and bavaria to his brother henry, while he retained the franks, thuringians and saxons under his own personal rule. germany might have grown into a united nation, if the good qualities of his line could have been transmitted without its inordinate ambition. while thus laying, as he supposed, the permanent basis of his power, otto was called upon by the king of france, who, having married the widow of giselbert of lorraine, was now his brother-in-law, for help against duke hugo, a powerful pretender to the french throne. in he marched at the head of an army of , men, to assist king louis; but, although he reached normandy, he did not succeed in his object, and several years elapsed before hugo was brought to submission. [sidenote: . otto's visit to italy.] in the year , otto's attention was directed to italy, which, since the fall of the carolingian empire, had been ravaged in turn by saracens, greeks, normans and even hungarians. the papal power had become almost a shadow, and the title of roman emperor was practically extinct. berengar of friuli, a rough, brutal prince, called himself king of italy, and demanded for his son the hand of adelheid, the widow of his predecessor. on her refusal to accept berengar's offer, she was imprisoned and treated with great indignity, but finally she succeeded in sending a messenger to germany, imploring otto's intervention. his wife, editha of england, was dead: he saw, in adelheid's appeal, an opportunity to acquire an ascendency in italy, and resolved to claim her hand for himself. accompanied by his brother henry of bavaria, his son ludolf of suabia, and his son-in-law konrad of lorraine, with their troops, otto crossed the alps, defeated berengar, took possession of verona, pavia, milan and other cities of northern italy, and assumed the title of king of lombardy. he then applied for adelheid's hand, which was not refused, and the two were married with great pomp at pavia. ludolf, incensed at his father for having taken a second wife, returned immediately to germany, and there stirred up such disorder that otto relinquished his intention of visiting rome, and followed him. after much negotiation, berengar was allowed to remain king of lombardy, on condition of giving up all the adriatic shore, from near venice to istria, which was then annexed to bavaria. [sidenote: .] duke henry, therefore, profited most by the italian campaign, and this excited the jealousy of ludolf and konrad, who began to conspire both against him, and against otto's authority. the trouble increased until it became an open rebellion, which convulsed germany for nearly four years. if otto had been personally popular, it might have been soon suppressed; but the petty princes and the people inclined to one side or the other, according to the prospects of success, and the empire, finally, seemed on the point of falling to pieces. in this crisis, there came what appeared to be a new misfortune, but which, most unexpectedly, put an end to the wasting strife. the hungarians again broke into germany, and ludolf and konrad granted them permission to pass through their territory to reach and ravage their father's lands. this alliance with an hereditary and barbarous enemy turned the whole people to otto's side; the long rebellion came rapidly to an end, and all troubles were settled by a diet held at the close of . the next year the hungarians came again in greater numbers than ever, and, crossing bavaria, laid siege to augsburg. but otto now marched against them with all the military strength of germany, and on the th of august, , met them in battle. konrad of lorraine led the attack and decided the fate of the day, but, in the moment of victory, having lifted his visor to breathe more freely, a hungarian arrow pierced his neck and he fell dead. nearly all the enemy were slaughtered or drowned in the river lech. only a few scattered fugitives returned to hungary to tell the tale, and from that day no new invasion was ever undertaken against germany. on the contrary, the bavarians pressed eastward and spread themselves along the danube and among the styrian alps, while the bohemians took possession of moravia, so that the boundary lines between the three races then became very nearly what they are at the present day. soon afterwards, otto lost his brother henry of bavaria, and, two years later, his son ludolf, who died in italy, while endeavoring to make himself king of the lombards. a new disturbance in saxony was suppressed, and with it there was an end of civil war in germany, during otto's reign. we have already stated that he was proud and ambitious: the crown of a "roman emperor," which still seemed the highest title on earth, had probably always hovered before his mind, and now the opportunity of attaining it came. the pope, john xii., a boy of seventeen, who found himself in danger of being driven from rome by berengar, the lombard, sent a pressing call for help to otto, who entered upon his second journey to italy in . [sidenote: . otto's coronation in rome.] he first called a diet together at worms, and procured the acceptance of his son otto, then only years old, as his successor. the child was solemnly crowned at aix-la-chapelle; the archbishop bruno of cologne was appointed his guardian and vicegerent of the realm during otto's absence, and the latter was left free to carry out his designs beyond the alps. he was received with rejoicing by the lombards, and the iron crown of the kingdom was placed on his head by the archbishop of milan. he then advanced to rome and was crowned emperor in st. peter's by the boy-pope, on the d of february, . nearly a generation had elapsed since the title had been held or claimed by any one, and its renewal at this time was the source of centuries of loss and suffering to germany. it was a sham and a delusion,--a will-o'-the wisp which led rulers and people aside from the true path of civilization, and left them floundering in quagmires of war. otto had hardly returned to lombardy before the pope, who began to see that he had crowned his own master, conspired against him. the pope called on the byzantine emperor for aid, incited the hungarians, and even entered into correspondence with the saracens in corsica. all italy became so turbulent that three years elapsed before the emperor otto succeeded in restoring order. he took rome by force of arms, deposed the pope and set up another of his own appointment, banished berengar, and compelled the universal recognition of his own sovereignty. then, with the remnants of an army which had almost been destroyed by war and pestilence, he returned to germany in . a grand festival was held at cologne, to celebrate his new honors and victories. his mother, the aged queen mathilde, lothar, reigning king of france, and all the dukes and princes of germany, were present, and the people came in multitudes from far and wide. the internal peace of the empire had not been disturbed during otto's absence, and his journey of inspection was a series of peaceful and splendid pageants. an insurrection having broken out among the lombards the following year, he sent duke burkhard of suabia to suppress it in his name; but it soon became evident that his own presence was necessary. he thereupon took a last farewell of his old mother, and returned to italy in the autumn of . lombardy was soon brought to order, and the rebellious nobles banished to germany. as otto approached rome, the people restored the pope he had appointed, whom they had in the meantime deposed: they were also compelled to give up the leaders of the revolt, who were tried and executed. otto claimed the right of appointing the civil governor of rome, who should rule in his name. he gave back to the pope the territory which the latter had received from pippin the short, two hundred years before, but nearly all of which had been taken from the church by the lombards. in return, the pope agreed to govern this territory as a part, or province, of the empire, and to crown otto's son as emperor, in advance of his accession to the throne. [sidenote: .] these new successes seem to have quite turned otto's mind from the duty he owed to the german people; henceforth he only strove to increase the power and splendor of his house. his next step was to demand the hand of the princess theophania, a daughter of one of the byzantine emperors, for his son otto. the eastern court neither consented nor refused; ambassadors were sent back and forth until the emperor became weary of the delay. following the suggestion of his offended pride, he undertook a campaign against southern italy, parts of which still acknowledged the byzantine rule. the war lasted for several years, without any positive result; but the hand of theophania was finally promised to young otto, and she reached rome in the beginning of the year . her beauty, grace and intelligence at once won the hearts of otto's followers, who had been up to that time opposed to the marriage. although her betrothed husband was only seventeen, and she was a year younger, the nuptials were celebrated in april, and the emperor then immediately returned to germany with his court and army. [sidenote: . death of otto the great.] all that otto could show, to balance his six years' neglect of his own land and people, was the title of "the great," which the italians bestowed upon him, and a princess of constantinople, who spoke greek and looked upon the germans as barbarians, for his daughter-in-law. his return was celebrated by a grand festival held at quedlinburg, at easter, . all the dukes and reigning counts of the empire were present, the kings of bohemia and poland, ambassadors from constantinople, from the caliph of cordova, in spain, from bulgaria, russia, denmark and hungary. even charlemagne never enjoyed such a triumph; but in the midst of the festivities, otto's first friend and supporter, hermann billung, whom he had made duke of saxony, suddenly died. the emperor became impressed with the idea that his own end was near: he retired to memleben in thuringia, where his father died, and on the th of may was stricken with apoplexy, at the age of sixty-one. he died, seated in his chair and surrounded by his princely guests, and was buried in magdeburg, by the side of his first wife, editha of england. otto completed the work which henry commenced, and left germany the first power in europe. had his mind been as clear and impartial, his plans as broad and intelligent, as charlemagne's, he might have laid the basis of a permanent empire; but, in an evil hour, he called the phantom of the sceptre of the world from the grave of roman power, and, believing that he held it, turned the ages that were to follow him into the path of war, disunion and misery. chapter xiv. the decline of the saxon dynasty. ( -- .) otto ii., "the red." --conquest of bavaria. --invasion of lothar of france. --otto's march to paris. --his journey to italy. --his defeat by the saracens, and escape. --diet at verona. --otto's death. --theophania as regent. --alienation of france. --otto iii. --his dealings with the popes. --negotiations with the poles. --his fantastic actions. --his death in rome. --youthful popes. --henry of bavaria chosen by the germans. --his character. --war with poland. --march to italy, and coronation. --other wars. --henry repels the byzantines. --his death. --the character of his reign. --his piety. [sidenote: .] otto ii., already crowned as king and emperor, began his reign as one authorized "by the grace of god." although only eighteen years old, and both physically and intellectually immature, his succession was immediately acknowledged by the rulers of the smaller german states. he was short and slender, and of such a ruddy complexion that the people gave him the name of "otto the red." he had been carefully educated, and possessed excellent qualities of heart and mind, but he had not been tried by adversity, like his father and grandfather, and failed to inherit either the patience or the energy of either. at first his mother, the widowed empress adelheid, conducted the government of the empire, and with such prudence that all were satisfied. soon, however, the empress theophania became jealous of her mother-in-law's influence, and the latter was compelled to retire to her former home in burgundy. the first internal trouble came from henry ii., duke of bavaria, the son of otto the great's rebellious brother, and cousin of otto ii. he was ambitious to convert bavaria into an independent kingdom: in fact he had himself crowned king at ratisbon, but in he was defeated, taken prisoner and banished to holland by the emperor. bavaria was united to suabia, and the eastern provinces on the danube were erected into a separate principality, which was the beginning of austria as a new german power. [sidenote: . battle with the saracens.] at the same time otto ii. was forced to carry on new wars with bohemia and denmark, in both of which he maintained the frontiers established by his father. but lothar, king of france, used the opportunity to get possession of lorraine and even to take aix-la-chapelle, charlemagne's capital, in the summer of . the german people were so enraged at this treacherous invasion that otto ii. had no difficulty in raising an army of , men, with which he marched to paris in the autumn of the same year. the city was so well fortified and defended that he found it prudent to raise the siege as winter approached; but first, on the heights of montmartre, his army chanted a _te deum_ as a warning to the enemy within the walls. the strife was prolonged until , when it was settled by a personal interview of the emperor and the king of france, at which lorraine was restored to germany. in otto ii. went to italy. his mother, adelheid, came to pavia to meet him, and a complete reconciliation took place between them. then he advanced to rome, quieted the dissensions in the government of the city, and received as his guests konrad, king of burgundy, and hugh capet, destined to be the ancestor of a long line of french kings. at this time both the byzantine greeks and the saracens were ravaging southern italy, and it was otto ii.'s duty, as roman emperor, to drive them from the land. the two bitterly hostile races became allies, in order to resist him, and the war was carried on fiercely until the summer of without any result; then, on the th of july, on the coast of calabria, the imperial army was literally cut to pieces by the saracens. the emperor escaped capture by riding into the mediterranean and swimming to a ship which lay near. when he was taken on board he found it to be a greek vessel; but whether he was recognized or not (for the accounts vary), he prevailed upon the captain to set him ashore at rossano, where the empress theophania was awaiting his return from battle. this was a severe blow, but it aroused the national spirit of germany. otto ii., having returned to northern italy, summoned a general diet of the empire to meet at verona in the summer of . all the subject dukes and princes attended, even the kings of burgundy and bohemia. here, for the first time, the lombard italians appeared on equal footing with the saxons, franks and bavarians, acknowledged the authority of the empire, and elected otto ii.'s son, another otto, only three years old, as his successor. preparations were made for a grand war against the saracens and the eastern empire, but before they were completed otto ii. died, at the age of twenty-eight, in rome. he was buried in st. peter's. [sidenote: .] the news of his death reached aix-la-chapelle at the very time when his infant son was crowned king as otto iii., in accordance with the decree of the diet of verona. a dispute now arose as to the guardianship of the child, between the widowed empress theophania and henry ii. of bavaria, who at once returned from his exile in holland. the latter aimed at usurping the imperial throne, but he was incautious enough to betray his design too soon, and met with such opposition that he was lucky in being allowed to retain his former place as duke of bavaria. the empress theophania reigned in germany in her son's name, while adelheid, widow of otto the great, reigned in italy. the former, however, had the assistance of willigis, archbishop of mayence, a man of great wisdom and integrity. he was the son of a poor saxon wheelwright, and chose for his coat-of-arms as an archbishop, a wheel, with the words: "willigis, forget not thine origin." when theophania died, in , her place was taken by otto iii.'s grandmother, adelheid, who chose the dukes of saxony, suabia, bavaria and tuscany as her councillors. during this time the wends in prussia again arose, and after a long and wasting war, in which the german settlements beyond the elbe received little help from the imperial government, the latter were either conquered or driven back. the relations between germany and france were also actually those of war, although there were no open hostilities. the struggle for the throne of france, between duke charles, the last of the carolingian line, and hugh capet, which ended in the triumph of the latter, broke the last link of blood and tradition connecting the two countries. they had been jealous relatives hitherto; now they became strangers, and it is not long until history records them as enemies. [sidenote: . otto iii.'s coronation in rome.] when otto iii. was sixteen years old, in , he took the imperial government in his own hands. his education had been more greek than german; he was ashamed of his saxon blood, and named himself, in his edicts, "a greek by birth and a roman by right of rule." he was a strange, unsteady, fantastic character, whose only leading idea was to surround himself with the absurd ceremonies of the byzantine court, and to make rome the capital of his empire. his reign was a farce, compared with that of his grandfather, the great otto, and yet it was the natural consequence of the latter's perverted ambition. otto iii.'s first act was to march to rome, in order to be crowned as emperor by the pope, john xv., in exchange for assisting him against crescentius, a roman noble who had usurped the civil government. but the pope died before his arrival, and otto thereupon appointed his own cousin, bruno, a young man of twenty-four, who took the papal chair as gregory v. the new-made pope, of course, crowned him as roman emperor, a few days afterward. the people, in those days, were accustomed to submit to any authority, spiritual or political, which was strong enough to support its own claims, but this bargain was a little too plain and barefaced; and otto had hardly returned to germany, before the roman, crescentius, drove away gregory v. and set up a new pope, of his own appointment. the wends, in prussia, were giving trouble, and the scandinavians and danes ravaged all the northern coast of germany; but the boy emperor, without giving a thought to his immediate duty, hastened back to italy in , took crescentius prisoner and beheaded him, barbarously mutilated the rival pope, and reinstated gregory v. when the latter died, in , otto made his own teacher, gerbert of rheims, pope, under the name of sylvester ii. in spite of the reverence of the common people for the papal office, they always believed pope sylvester to be a magician, and in league with the devil. he was the most learned man of his day, and in his knowledge of natural science was far in advance of his time; but such accomplishments were then very rare in italy, and unheard of in a pope. otto iii. remained three years longer in italy, dividing his time between pompous festivals and visits to religious anchorites. in the year he was recalled to germany. his father's sister, mathilde, who had governed the country as well as she was able, during his absence, was dead, and there were difficulties, not of a political nature (for to such he paid no attention), but in the organization of the church, which he was anxious to settle. the poles were converted to christianity by this time, and their spiritual head was the archbishop of magdeburg; but now they demanded a separate and national diocese. this otto granted to their duke, or king, boleslaw, with such other independent rights, that the authority of the german empire soon ceased to be acknowledged by the poles. he made a pilgrimage to the tomb of st. adalbert of prague, who was slain by the prussian pagans, then visited aix-la-chapelle, where, following a half-delirious fancy, he descended into the vault where lay the body of charlemagne, in the hope of hearing a voice, or receiving a sign, which might direct him how to restore the roman empire. [sidenote: .] the new pope, sylvester ii., after otto iii.'s departure from rome, found himself in as difficult a position as his predecessor, gregory v. he was also obliged to call the emperor to his aid, and the latter returned to italy in . he established his court in a palace on mount aventine, in rome, and maintained his authority for a little while, in spite of a fierce popular revolt. then, becoming restless, yet not knowing what to do, he wandered up and down italy, paid a mysterious visit to venice by night, and finally returned to rome, to find the gates barred against him. he began a siege, but before anything was accomplished, he died in , as was generally believed, of poison. the nobles and the imperial guards who accompanied him took charge of his body, cut their way through a population in rebellion against his rule, and carried him over the alps to germany, where he was buried in aix-la-chapelle. the next year pope sylvester ii. died, and rome fell into the hands of the counts of tusculum, who tried to make the papacy a hereditary dignity in their family. one of them, a boy of seventeen, became pope as john xvi., and during the following thirty years four other boys held the office of head of the christian church, crowned emperors, and blessed or excommunicated at their will. this was the end of the grand political and spiritual empire which charlemagne had planned, two centuries before--a fantastic, visionary youth as emperor, and a weak, ignorant boy as pope! the effect was the rapid demoralization of princes and people, and nothing but the genuine christianity still existing among the latter, from whom the ranks of the priests were recruited, saved the greater part of europe from a relapse into barbarism. [sidenote: . henry ii. elected.] at otto iii.'s death there were three claimants to the throne, belonging to the saxon dynasty; but his nearest relative, henry, third duke of bavaria, and great-grandson of king henry i. the fowler, was finally elected. suabia, saxony and lorraine did not immediately acquiesce in the choice, but they soon found it expedient to submit. henry's authority was thus established within germany, but on its frontiers and in italy, which was now considered a genuine part of "the roman empire," the usual troubles awaited him. he was a man of weak constitution, and only average intellect, but well-meaning, conscientious, and probably as just as it was possible for him to be under the circumstances. his life, as emperor, was "a battle and a march," but its heaviest burdens were inherited from his predecessors. he was obliged to correct twenty years of misrule, or rather _no rule_, and he courageously gave the remainder of his life to the task. the polish duke, boleslaw, sought to unite bohemia and all the slavonic territory eastward of the elbe, under his own sway. this brought him into direct collision with the claims of germany, and the question was not settled until after three long and bloody wars. finally, in , a treaty was made between henry ii. and boleslaw, by which bohemia remained tributary to the german empire, and the province of meissen (in the present kingdom of saxony) became an appanage of poland. by this time the wends had secured possession of northern prussia, between the elbe and the oder, thrown off the german rule, and returned to their ancient pagan faith. in italy, arduin of ivrea succeeded in inciting the lombards to revolt, and proclaimed himself king of an independent italian nation. henry ii. crossed the alps in , and took pavia, the inhabitants of which city rose against him. in the struggle which followed, it was burned to the ground. after his return to germany arduin recovered his influence and power, became practically king, and pressed the pope, benedict viii., so hard, that the latter went personally to henry ii. (as leo iii. had gone to charlemagne) and implored his assistance. in the autumn of , henry went with the pope to italy, entered pavia without resistance, restored the papal authority in rome, and was crowned emperor in february, . he returned immediately afterwards to germany; and italy, after arduin's death, the following year, remained comparatively quiet. [sidenote: .] even before the wars with poland came to an end, in , other troubles broke out in the west. there were disturbances along the frontier in flanders, rebellions in luxemburg and lorraine, and finally a quarrel with burgundy, the king of which, rudolf iii., was henry ii.'s uncle, and had chosen him as his heir. this inheritance gave germany the eastern part of france, nearly to the mediterranean, and the greater portion of switzerland. but the burgundian nobles refused to be thus transferred, and did not give their consent until after henry's armies had twice invaded their country. finally, in , when there was temporary peace throughout the empire, the cathedral at bamberg, which the emperor had taken great pride in building, was consecrated with splendid ceremonies. the pope came across the alps to be present, and he employed the opportunity to persuade henry to return to italy, and free the southern part of the peninsula from the byzantine greeks, who had advanced as far as capua and threatened rome. the emperor consented: in he marched into southern italy with a large army, expelled the greeks from the greater portion of their conquered territory, and then, having lost his best troops by pestilence, returned home. he there continued to travel to and fro, settling difficulties and observing the condition of the people. after long struggles, the power of the empire seemed to be again secured; but when he began to strengthen it by the arts of peace, his own strength was exhausted. he died near göttingen, in the summer of , and was buried in the cathedral of bamberg. with him expired the dynasty of the saxon emperors, less pitifully, however, than either the merovingian or carolingian line. when otto the great, towards the close of his reign, neglected germany and occupied himself with establishing his dominion in italy, he prepared the way for the rapid decline of the imperial power at home, in the hands of his successors. the reigning dukes, counts, and even the petty feudal lords, no longer watched and held subordinate, soon became practically independent: except in friesland, saxony and the alps, the people had no voice in political matters; and thus the growth of a general national sentiment, such as had been fostered by charlemagne and henry i., was again destroyed. in proportion as the smaller states were governed as if they were separate lands, their populations became separated in feeling and interest. henry ii. tried to be an emperor of _germany_: he visited italy rather on account of what he believed to be the duties of his office than from natural inclination to reign there; but he was not able to restore the same authority at home, as otto the great had exercised. [sidenote: . end of henry ii.'s reign.] henry ii. was a pious man, and favored the roman church in all practicable ways. he made numerous and rich grants of land to churches and monasteries, but always with the reservation of his own rights, as sovereign. after his death he was made a saint, by order of the pope, but he failed to live, either as saint or emperor, in the traditions of the people. chapter xv. the frank emperors, to the death of henry iv. ( -- .) konrad ii. elected emperor. --movements against him. --journey to italy. --revolt of ernest of suabia. --burgundy attached to the empire. --siege of milan. --konrad's death. --henry iii. succeeds. --temporary peace. --corruptions in the church. --the "truce of god." --henry iii.'s coronation in rome. --rival popes. --new troubles in germany. --second visit to italy. --return and death. --henry iv.'s childhood. --his capture. --archbishops hanno and adalbert. --henry iv. begins to reign. --revolt and slaughter of the saxons. --pope gregory vii. --his character and policy. --henry iv. excommunicated. --movement against him. --he goes to italy. --his humiliation at canossa. --war with rudolf of suabia. --henry iv. besieges rome. --death of gregory vii. --rebellions of henry iv.'s sons. --his capture, abdication and death. --the first crusade. [sidenote: .] on the th of september, , the german nobles, clergy and people came together on the banks of the rhine, near mayence, to elect a new emperor. there were fifty or sixty thousand persons in all, forming two great camps: on the western bank of the river were the lorrainese and the rhine-franks, on the eastern bank the saxons, suabians, bavarians and german-franks. there were two prominent candidates for the throne, but neither of them belonged to the established reigning houses, the members of which seemed to be so jealous of one another that they mutually destroyed their own chances. the two who were brought forward were cousins, both named konrad, and both great-grandsons of duke konrad, otto the great's son-in-law, who fell so gallantly in the great battle with the hungarians, in . for five days the claims of the two were canvassed by the electors. the elder konrad had married gisela, the widow of duke ernest of suabia, which gave him a somewhat higher place among the princes; and therefore after the cousins had agreed that either would accept the other's election as valid and final, the votes turned to his side. the people, who were present merely as spectators (for they had now no longer any part in the election), hailed the new monarch with shouts of joy, and he was immediately crowned king of germany in the cathedral of mayence. [illustration: germany under the saxon and frank emperors. twelfth century] [sidenote: .] konrad--who was konrad ii. in the list of german emperors--had no subjects of his own to support him, like his saxon predecessors: his authority rested upon his own experience, ability and knowledge of statesmanship. but his queen, gisela, was a woman of unusual intelligence and energy, and she faithfully assisted him in his duties. he was a man of stately and commanding appearance, and seemed so well fitted for his new dignity that when he made the usual journey through germany, neither dukes nor people hesitated to give him their allegiance. even the nobles of lorraine, who were dissatisfied with his election, found it prudent to yield without serious opposition. the death of henry ii., nevertheless, was the signal for three threatening movements against the empire. in italy the lombards rose, and, in their hatred of what they now considered to be a foreign rule (quite forgetting their own german origin), they razed to the ground the imperial palace at pavia: in burgundy, king rudolf declared that he would resist konrad's claim to the sovereignty of the country, which, being himself childless, he had promised to henry ii.; and in poland, boleslaw, who now called himself king, declared that his former treaties with germany were no longer binding upon him. but konrad ii. was favored by fortune. the polish king died, and the power which he had built up--for his kingdom, like that of the goths, reached from the baltic to the danube, from the elbe to central russia--was again shattered by the quarrels of his sons. in burgundy, duke rudolf was without heirs, and finally found himself compelled to recognize the german sovereign as his successor. with canute, who was then king of denmark and england, konrad ii. made a treaty of peace and friendship, restoring schleswig to the danish crown, and re-adopting the river eider as the boundary. in the spring of , konrad went to italy. pavia shut her gates against him, but those of milan were opened, and the lombard bishops and nobles came to offer him homage. he was crowned with the iron crown, and during the course of the year, all the cities in northern italy--even pavia, which promised to rebuild the imperial palace--acknowledged his sway. in march, , he went to rome and was crowned emperor by the pope, john xix., one of the young counts of tusculum, who had succeeded to the papacy as a boy of twelve! king canute and rudolf of burgundy were present at the ceremony, and konrad betrothed his son henry to the danish princess gunhilde, daughter of the former. [sidenote: . konrad ii.'s visit to italy.] after the coronation, the emperor paid a rapid visit to southern italy, where the normans had secured a foothold ten years before, and, by defending the country against the greeks and saracens, were rapidly making themselves its rulers. he found it easier to accept them as vassals than to drive them out, but in so doing he added a new and turbulent element to those which already distracted italy. however, there was now external quiet, at least, and he went back to germany. here his step-son, ernest ii. of suabia, who claimed the crown of burgundy, had already risen in rebellion against him. he was not supported even by his own people, and the emperor imprisoned him in a strong fortress until the empress gisela, by her prayers, procured his liberation. konrad offered to give him back his dukedom, provided he would capture and deliver up his intimate friend, count werner of kyburg, who was supposed to exercise an evil influence over him. ernest refused, sought his friend, and the two after living for some time as outlaws in the black forest, at last fell in a conflict with the imperial troops. the sympathies of the people were turned to the young duke by his hard fate and tragic death, and during the middle ages the narrative poem of "ernest of suabia" was sung everywhere throughout germany. konrad ii. next undertook a campaign against poland, which was wholly unsuccessful: he was driven back to the elbe with great losses. before he could renew the war, he was called upon to assist count albert of austria (as the bavarian "east-mark" along the danube must henceforth be called) in a war against stephen, the first christian king of hungary. the result was a treaty of peace, which left him free to march once more against poland and reconquer the provinces which henry ii. had granted to boleslaw. the remaining task of his reign, the attachment of burgundy to the german empire, was also accomplished without any great difficulty. king rudolf, before his death in , sent his crown and sceptre to konrad ii., in fulfilment of a promise made when they met at rome, six years before. although count odo of champagne, rudolf's nearest relative, disputed the succession, and all southern burgundy espoused his cause, he was unable to resist the emperor. the latter was crowned king of burgundy at payerne, in switzerland, and two years later received the homage of nearly all the clergy and nobles of the country in lyons. [sidenote: .] at that time burgundy comprised the whole valley of the rhone, from its cradle in the alps to the mediterranean, the half of switzerland, the cities of dijon and besançon and the territory surrounding them. all this now became, and for some centuries remained, a part of the german empire. its relation to the latter, however, resembled that of the lombard kingdom in italy: its subjection was acknowledged, it was obliged to furnish troops in special emergencies, but it preserved its own institutions and laws, and repelled any closer political union. the continual intercourse of its people with those of france slowly obliterated the original differences between them, and increased the hostility of the burgundians to the german sway. but the rulers of that day were not wise enough to see very far in advance, and the sovereignty of burgundy was temporarily a gain to the german power. early in konrad was called again to italy by complaints of the despotic rule of the local governors, especially of the archbishop heribert of milan. this prelate resisted his authority, incited the people of milan to support his pretensions, and became, in a short time, the leader of a serious revolt. the emperor deposed him, prevailed upon the pope, benedict ix., to place him under the ban of the church, and besieged milan with all his forces; but in vain. the bishop defied both emperor and pope; the city was too strongly fortified to be taken, and out of this resistance grew the idea of independence which was afterwards developed in the italian republics, until the latter weakened, wasted, and finally destroyed the authority of the german (or "roman") emperors in italy. konrad was obliged to return home without having conquered archbishop heribert and the milanese. in the spring of he died suddenly at utrecht, aged sixty, and was buried in the cathedral at speyer, which he had begun to build. he was a very shrewd and intelligent ruler, who planned better than he was able to perform. he certainly greatly increased the imperial power during his life, by recognizing the hereditary rights of the smaller princes, and replacing the chief reigning dukes, whenever circumstances rendered it possible, by members of his own family. as the selection of the bishops and archbishops remained in his hands, the clergy were of course his immediate dependents. it was their interest, as well as that of the common people among whom knowledge and the arts were beginning to take root, that peace should be preserved between the different german states, and this could only be done by making the emperor's authority paramount. nevertheless, konrad ii. was never popular: a historian of the times says "no one sighed when his sudden death was announced." [sidenote: . henry iii.] his son, henry iii., already crowned king of germany as a boy, now mounted the throne. he was twenty-three years old, distinguished for bodily as well as mental qualities, and was apparently far more competent to rule than many of his predecessors had been. germany was quiet, and he encountered no opposition. the first five years of his reign brought him wars with bohemia and hungary, but in both, in spite of some reverses at the beginning, he was successful. bohemia was reduced to obedience; a part of the hungarian territory was annexed to austria, and the king, peter, as well as duke casimir of poland, acknowledged themselves dependents of the german empire. the czar of muscovy (as russia was then called) offered henry, after the death of queen gunhilde, a princess of his family as a wife; but he declined, and selected, instead, agnes of poitiers, sister of the duke of aquitaine. but, although the condition of germany, and, indeed, of the greater part of europe, was now more settled and peaceful than it had been for a long time, the consequences of the previous wars and disturbances were very severely felt. the land had been visited both by pestilence and famine, and there was much suffering; there was also notorious corruption in the church and in civil government; the demoralization of the popes, followed by that of the romans, and then of the italians, had spread like an infection over all christendom. when things seemed to be at their worst, a change for the better was instituted in a most unexpected quarter and in a very singular manner. [sidenote: .] in the monastery of cluny, in burgundy, the monks, under the leadership of their abbot, odilo, determined to introduce a sterner, a more pious and christian spirit into the life of the age. they began to preach what they called the _treuga dei_, the "truce" or "peace of god," according to which, from every wednesday evening until the next monday morning, all feuds or fights were forbidden throughout the land. several hundred monasteries in france and burgundy joined the "congregation of cluny"; the church accepted the idea of the "peace of god," and the worldly rulers were called upon to enforce it. henry iii. saw in this new movement an agent which might be used to his own advantage no less than for the general good, and he favored it as far as lay in his power. he summoned a diet of the german princes, urged the measure upon them in an eloquent speech, and set the example by proclaiming a full and free pardon to all who had been his enemies. the change was too sudden to be acceptable to many of the princes, but they obeyed as far as convenient, and the german people, almost for the first time in their history, enjoyed a general peace and security. the "congregation of cluny" preached also against the universal simony, by which all clerical dignities were bought and sold. priests, abbots, bishops, and even in some cases, popes, were accustomed to buy their appointment, and the power of the church was thus often exercised by the most unworthy hands. henry iii. saw the necessity of a reform; he sought out the most pious, pure and intelligent priests, and made them abbots and bishops, refusing all payments or presents. he then undertook to raise the papal power out of the deplorable condition into which it had fallen. there were then _three_ rival popes in rome, each of whom officially excommunicated and cursed the others and their followers. in the summer of , henry iii. crossed the alps with a magnificent retinue. the quarrels between the nobles and the people, in the cities of lombardy, were compromised at his approach, and he found order and submission everywhere. he called a synod, which was held at sutri, an old etruscan town, miles north of rome, and there, with the consent of the bishops, deposed all three of the popes, appointing the bishop of bamberg to the vacant office. the latter took the papal chair under the name of clement ii., and the very same day crowned henry iii. as roman emperor. to the roman people this seemed no less a bargain than the case of otto iii., and they grew more than ever impatient of the rule of both emperor and pope. their republican instincts, although repressed by a fierce and powerful nobility, were kept alive by the examples of venice and milan, and they dreamed as ardently of a free rome in the twelfth century as in the nineteenth. [sidenote: . appointment of popes.] up to this time the roman clergy and people had taken part, so far as the mere forms were concerned, in the election of the popes. they were now compelled (of course very unwillingly) to give up this ancient right, and allow the emperor to choose the candidate, who was then sure to be elected by bishops of imperial appointment. in fact, during the nine remaining years of henry iii.'s reign, he selected three other popes, clement ii. and his first two successors having all died suddenly, probably from poison, after very short reigns. but this was the end of absolute german authority and roman submission: within thirty years the christian world beheld a spectacle of a totally opposite character. henry iii. visited southern italy, confirmed the normans in their rule, as his father had done, and then returned to germany. he had reached the climax of his power, and the very means he had taken to secure it now involved him in troubles which gradually weakened his influence in germany. he was generous, but improvident and reckless: he bestowed principalities on personal friends, regardless of hereditary claims or the wishes of the people, and gave away large sums of money, which were raised by imposing hard terms upon the tenants of the crown-lands. a new war with hungary, and the combined revolt of godfrey of lorraine, baldwin of flanders and dietrich of holland against him, diminished his military resources; and even his success, at the end of four weary years, did not add to his renown. leo ix., the third pope of his appointment, was called upon to assist him by hurling the ban of the church against the rebellious princes. he also called to his assistance danish and english fleets which assailed holland and flanders, while he subdued godfrey of lorraine. the latter soon afterwards married the widowed countess beatrix of tuscany, and thus became ruler of nearly all italy between the po and the tiber. by the year , all the german states except saxony were governed by relatives or personal friends of the emperor. in order to counteract the power of bernhard, duke of the saxons, of whom he was jealous, he made another friend, adalbert, archbishop of bremen, with authority over priests and churches in northern germany, denmark, scandinavia and even iceland. he also built a stately palace at goslar, at the foot of the hartz mountains, and made it as often as possible his residence, in order to watch the saxons. both these measures, however, increased his unpopularity with the german people. [sidenote: .] leo ix., in , marched against the normans who were threatening the southern border of the roman territory, but was defeated and taken prisoner. the victors treated him with all possible reverence, and he soon saw the policy of making friends of such a bold and warlike people. a treaty of peace was concluded, wherein the normans acknowledged themselves dependents of the papal power: no notice was taken of the fact that they had already acknowledged that of the german-roman emperors. this event, and the increasing authority of his old enemy, godfrey, in tuscany, led henry iii. to visit italy again in . although he held the diet of lombardy and a grand review on the roncalian plains near piacenza, he accomplished nothing by his journey: he did not even visit rome. leo ix. died the same year, and henry appointed a new pope, victor ii., who, like his predecessor, became an instrument in the hands of hildebrand of savona, a monk of cluny, who was even then, although few suspected it, the real head and ruler of the christian world. the emperor discovered that a plot had been formed to assassinate him on his way to germany. this danger over, he had an interview with king henri of france, which became so violent that he challenged the latter to single combat. henri avoided the issue by marching away during the following night. the emperor retired to his palace at goslar, in october, , where he received a visit from pope victor ii. he was broken in health and hopes, and the news of a defeat of his army by the slavonians in prussia is supposed to have hastened his end. he died during the month, not yet forty years old, leaving a boy of six as his successor. [sidenote: . henry iv.] the child, henry iv., had already been crowned king of germany, and his mother, the empress agnes, was chosen regent during his minority. the bishop of augsburg was her adviser, and her first acts were those of prudence and reconciliation. peace was concluded with godfrey of lorraine and baldwin of flanders, minor troubles in the states were quieted, and the empire enjoyed the promise of peace. but the empress, who was a woman of a weak, yielding nature, was soon led to make appointments which created fresh troubles. the reigning princes used the opportunity to make themselves more independent, and their mutual jealousy and hostility increased in proportion as they became stronger. the nobles and people of rome renewed their attempt to have a share in the choice of a pope; and, although the appointment was finally left to the empress, the pope of her selection, nicholas ii., instead of being subservient to the interests of the german empire, allied himself with the normans and with the republican party in the cities of lombardy. at home, the troubles of the empress agnes increased year by year. a conspiracy to murder the young henry iv. was fortunately discovered; then a second, at the head of which was the archbishop hanno of cologne, was formed to take him from his mother's care and give him into stronger hands. in , when henry iv. was twelve years old, hanno visited the empress at kaiserswerth, on the rhine. after a splendid banquet, he invited the young king to look at his vessel, which lay near the palace; but no sooner had the latter stepped upon the deck, than the conspirators seized their oars and pushed into the stream. henry boldly sprang into the water; count ekbert of brunswick sprang after him, and both, after nearly drowning in their struggle, were taken on board. the empress stood on the shore, crying for help, and her people sought to intercept the vessel, but in vain: the plot was successful. a meeting of reigning princes, soon afterwards, appointed archbishop hanno guardian of the young king. he was a hard, stern master, and henry iv. became his enemy for life. within a year, hanno was obliged to yield his place to adalbert, archbishop of bremen, who was as much too indulgent as the former had been too rigid. the jealousy of the other priests and princes was now turned against adalbert, and his position became so difficult that in , when henry iv. was only fifteen years old, he presented him to an imperial diet, held at worms, and there invested him with the sword, the token of manhood. thenceforth henry reigned in his own name, although adalbert's guardianship was not given up until a year later. then he was driven away by a union of the other bishops and the reigning princes, and his rival, hanno, was forced, as chief counsellor, upon the angry and unwilling king. [sidenote: .] the next year henry was married to the italian princess, bertha, to whom his father had betrothed him as a child. before three years had elapsed, he demanded to be divorced from her; but, although the archbishop of mayence and the imperial diet were persuaded to consent, the pope, alexander ii., following the advice of his chancellor, hildebrand of savona, refused his sanction. henry finally decided to take back his wife, whose beauty, patience and forgiving nature compelled him to love her at last. about the same time, his father's enemy and his own, godfrey of lorraine and tuscany, died; another enemy, otto, duke of bavaria, fell into his hands, and was deposed; and there only remained magnus, duke of the saxons, who seemed hostile to his authority. the events of henry's youth and the character of his education made him impatient and mistrustful: he inherited the pride and arbitrary will of his father and grandfather, without their prudence: he surrounded himself with wild and reckless princes of his own age, whose counsels too often influenced his policy. no frank emperor could be popular with the fierce, independent saxons; but when it was rumored that henry iv. had sought an alliance with the danish king, swen, against them,--when he called upon them, at the same time, to march against poland,--their suspicions were aroused, and the whole population rose in opposition. to the number of , , headed by otto, the deposed duke of bavaria (who was a saxon noble), they marched to the harzburg, the imperial castle near goslar. henry rejected their conditions: the castle was besieged, and he escaped with difficulty, accompanied only by a few followers. he endeavored to persuade the other german princes to support him, but they refused. they even entered into a conspiracy to dethrone him; the bishops favored the plan, and his cause seemed nearly hopeless. in this emergency the cities along the rhine, which were very weary of priestly rule, and now saw a chance to strengthen themselves by assisting the emperor, openly befriended him. they were able, however, to give him but little military support, and in february, , he was compelled to conclude a treaty with the saxons, which granted them almost everything they demanded, even to the demolition of the fortresses he had built on their territory. but, in the flush of victory, they also tore down the imperial palace at goslar, the church, and the sepulchre wherein henry iii. was buried. this placed them in the wrong, and henry iv. marched into saxony with an immense army which he had called together for the purpose of invading hungary. the saxons armed themselves to resist, but they were attacked when unprepared, defeated after a terrible battle, and their land laid waste with fire and sword. thus were again verified, a thousand years later, the words of tiberius--that it was not necessary to attempt the conquest of the germans, for, if let alone, they would destroy themselves. [sidenote: . pope gregory vii.] the power of henry iv. seemed now to be assured; but the lowest humiliation which ever befell a monarch was in store for him. the monk of cluny, hildebrand of savona, who had inspired the policy of four popes during twenty-four years, became pope himself in , under the name of gregory vii. he was a man of iron will and inexhaustible energy, wise and far-seeing beyond any of his contemporaries, and unquestionably sincere in his aims. he remodelled the papal office, gave it a new character and importance, and left his own indelible mark on the church of rome from that day to this. for the first five hundred years after christ the pope had been merely the bishop of rome; for the second five hundred years he had been the nominal head of the church, but subordinate to the political rulers, and dependent upon them. gregory vii. determined to make the office a spiritual power, above all other powers, with sole and final authority over the bishops, priests and other servants of the church. it was to be a religious empire, existing by divine right, independent of the fate of nations or the will of kings. he relied mainly upon two measures to accomplish this change,--the suppression of simony and the celibacy of the priesthood. he determined that the priests should belong wholly to the church; that the human ties of wife and children should be denied to them. this measure had been proposed before, but never carried into effect, on account of the opposition of the married bishops and priests; but the increase of the monastic orders and their greater influence at this time favored gregory's design. even after celibacy was proclaimed as a law of the church, in , it encountered the most violent opposition, and the law was not universally obeyed by the priests until two or three centuries later. [sidenote: .] in , gregory promulgated a law against simony, in which he not only prohibited the sale of all offices of the church, but claimed that the bishops could only receive the ring and crozier, the symbols of their authority, from the hands of the pope. the same year, he sent messengers to henry iv. calling upon him to enforce this law in germany, under penalty of excommunication. the surprise and anger of the king may easily be imagined: it was a language which no pope had ever before dared to use toward the imperial power. indeed, when we consider that gregory at this time was quarrelling with the normans, the lombard cities and the king of france, and that a party in rome was becoming hostile to his rule, the act seems almost that of a madman. henry iv. called a synod, which met at worms. the bishops, at his request, unanimously declared that gregory vii. was deposed from the papacy, and a message was sent to the people at rome, ordering them to drive him from the city. but, just at that time, gregory had put down a conspiracy of the nobles to assassinate him, by calling the people to his aid, and he was temporarily popular with the latter. he answered henry iv. with the ban of excommunication,--which would have been harmless enough, but for the deep-seated discontent of the germans with the king's rule. the saxons, whom he had treated with the greatest harshness and indignity since their subjection, immediately found a pretext to throw off their allegiance: the other german states showed a cold and mistrustful temper, and their princes failed to come together when henry called a national diet. in the meantime the ambassadors of gregory were busy, and the petty courts were filled with secret intrigues for dethroning the king and electing a new one. [sidenote: . the humiliation at canossa.] in october, , finally, a convention of princes was held on the rhine, near mayence. henry was not allowed to be present, but he sent messengers, offering to yield to their demands if they would only guard the dignity of the crown. the princes rejected all his offers, and finally adjourned to meet in augsburg early in , when the pope was asked to be present. as soon as henry iv. learned that gregory had accepted the invitation, he was seized with a panic as unkingly as his former violence. accompanied only by a small retinue, he hastened to burgundy, crossed mont cenis in the dead of winter, encountering many sufferings and dangers on the way, and entered italy with the single intention of meeting pope gregory and persuading him to remove the ban of the church. at the news of his arrival in lombardy, the bishops and nobles from all the cities flocked to his support, and demanded only that he should lead them against the pope. the movement was so threatening that gregory himself, already on his way to germany, halted, and retired for a time to the castle of canossa (in the apennines, not far from parma), which belonged to his devoted friend, the countess matilda of tuscany. victory was assured to henry, if he had but grasped it; but he seems to have possessed no courage except when inspired by hate. he neglected the offered help, went to canossa, and, presenting himself before the gate barefoot and clad only in a shirt of sackcloth, he asked to be admitted and pardoned as a repentant sinner. gregory, so unexpectedly triumphant, prolonged for three whole days the satisfaction which he enjoyed in the king's humiliation: for three days the latter waited at the gate in snow and rain, before he was received. then, after promising to obey the pope, he received the kiss of peace, and the two took communion together in the castle-chapel! this was the first great victory of the papal power: gregory vii. paid dearly for it, but it was an event which could not be erased from history. it has fed the pride and supported the claims of the roman church, from that day to this. gregory had dared to excommunicate henry, because of the political conspirators against the latter; but he had not considered that his pardon would change those conspirators into enemies. the indignant lombards turned their backs on henry, the bishops rejected the pope's offer to release them from the ban, and the strife became more fierce and relentless than ever. in the meantime the german princes, encouraged by the pope, proclaimed rudolf of suabia king in henry's place. the latter, now at last supported by the lombards, hastened back to germany. a terrible war ensued, which lasted for more than two years, and was characterized by the most shocking barbarities on both sides. gregory a second time excommunicated the king, but without the slightest political effect. the war terminated in by the death of rudolf in battle, and henry's authority became gradually established throughout the land. [sidenote: .] his first movement, now, was against the pope. he crossed the alps with a large army, was crowned king of lombardy, and then marched towards rome. gregory's only friend was the countess matilda of tuscany, who resisted henry's advance until the cities of pisa and lucca espoused his cause. then he laid siege to rome, and a long war began, during which the ancient city suffered more than it had endured for centuries. the end of the struggle was a devastation worse than that inflicted by geiserich. when henry finally gained possession of the city, and the pope was besieged in the castle of st. angelo, the latter released robert guiscard, chief of the normans in southern italy, from the ban of excommunication which he had pronounced against him, and called him to his aid. a norman army, numbering , men, mostly saracens, approached rome, and henry was compelled to retreat. the pope was released, but his allies burned all the city between the lateran and the coliseum, slaughtered thousands of the inhabitants, carried away thousands as slaves, and left a desert of blood and ruin behind them. gregory vii. did not dare to remain in rome after their departure: he accompanied them to salerno, and there died in exile, in . henry iv. immediately appointed a new pope, clement iii., by whom he was crowned emperor in st. peter's. after gregory's death, the normans and the french selected another pope, urban ii., and until both died, fifteen years afterwards, they and their partisans never ceased fighting. the emperor henry, however, who returned to germany immediately alter his coronation, took little part in this quarrel. the last twenty years of his reign were full of trouble and misfortune. his eldest son, konrad, who had lived mostly in lombardy, was in persuaded to claim the crown of italy, was acknowledged by the hostile pope, and allied himself with his father's enemies. for a time he was very successful, but the movement gradually failed, and he ended his days in prison, in . [sidenote: . treachery of henry iv.'s son.] henry's hopes were now turned to his younger son, henry, who was of a cold, calculating, treacherous disposition. the political and religious foes of the emperor were still actively scheming for his overthrow, and they succeeded in making the young henry their instrument, as they had made his brother konrad. during the long struggles of his reign, the emperor's strongest and most faithful supporter had been frederick of hohenstaufen, a suabian count, to whom he had given his daughter in marriage, and whom he finally made duke of suabia. the latter died in , and most of the german princes, with the young henry at their head, arose in rebellion. for nearly a year, the country was again desolated by a furious civil war; but the cities along the rhine, which were rapidly increasing in wealth and population, took the emperor's side, as before, and enabled him to keep the field against his son. at last, in december, , their armies lay face to face, near the river moselle, and an interview took place between the two. father and son embraced each other; tears were shed, repentance offered and pardon given; then both set out together for mayence, where it was agreed that a national diet should settle all difficulties. on the way, however, the treacherous son persuaded his father to rest in the castle of böckelheim, there instantly shut the gates upon him and held him prisoner until he compelled him to abdicate. but, after the act, the emperor succeeded in making his escape: the people rallied to his support, and he was still unconquered when death came to end his many troubles, in liege, in august, . he was perhaps the most signally unfortunate of all the german emperors. the errors of his education, the follies and passions of his youth, the one fatal weakness of his manhood, were gradually corrected by experience; but he could not undo their consequences. after he had become comparatively wise and energetic, the internal dissensions of germany, and the conflict between the roman church and the imperial power, had grown too strong to be suppressed by his hand. when he might have done right, he lacked either the knowledge or the will; when he finally tried to do right, he had lost the power. [sidenote: .] during the latter years of his reign occurred a great historical event, the consequences of which were most important to europe, though not immediately so to germany. peter the hermit preached a crusade to the holy land for the purpose of conquering jerusalem from the saracens. the "congregation of cluny" had prepared the way for this movement: one of the two popes, urban ii., encouraged it, and finally godfrey of bouillon (of the ducal family of lorraine) put himself at its head. the soldiers of this, the first crusade, came chiefly from france, burgundy and italy. although many of them passed through germany on their way to the east, they made few recruits among the people; but the success of the undertaking, the capture of jerusalem by godfrey in , and the religious enthusiasm which it created, tended greatly to strengthen the papal power, and also that faction in the church which was hostile to henry iv. chapter xvi. end of the frank dynasty, and rise of the hohenstaufens. ( -- .) henry v.'s character and course. --the condition of germany. --strife concerning the investiture of bishops. --scene in st. peter's. --troubles in germany and italy. --the "concordat of worms." --death of henry v. --absence of national feeling. --papal independence. --lothar of saxony chosen emperor. --his visits to italy, and death. --konrad of hohenstaufen succeeds. --his quarrel with henry the proud. --the women of weinsberg. --welf (guelph) and waiblinger (ghibelline). --the second crusade. --march to the holy land. --konrad invited to rome. --arnold of brescia. --konrad's death. [sidenote: . henry v. as emperor.] henry v. showed his true character immediately after his accession to the throne. although he had been previously supported by the papal party, he was no sooner acknowledged king of germany than he imitated his father in opposing the claims of the church. the new pope, paschalis ii., had found it expedient to recognize the bishops whom henry iv. had appointed, but at the same time he issued a manifesto declaring that all future appointments must come from him. henry v. answered this with a letter of defiance, and continued to select his own bishops and abbots, which the pope, not being able to resist, was obliged to suffer. during the disturbed fifty years of henry iv.'s reign, burgundy and italy had become practically independent of germany; hungary and poland had thrown off their dependent condition, and even the wends beyond the elbe were no longer loyal to the empire. within the german states, the imperial power was already so much weakened by the establishment of hereditary dukes and counts, not related to the ruling family, that the king (or emperor) exercised very little direct authority over the people. the crown-lands had been mostly either given away in exchange for assistance, or lost during the civil wars; the feudal system was firmly fastened upon the country, and only a few free cities--like those in italy--kept alive the ancient spirit of liberty and political equality. under such a system a monarch could accomplish little, unless he was both wiser and stronger than the reigning princes under him: there was no general national sentiment to which he could appeal. henry v. was cold, stern, heartless and unprincipled; but he inspired a wholesome fear among his princely "vassals," and kept them in better order than his father had done. [sidenote: .] after giving the first years of his reign to the settlement of troubles on the frontiers of the empire, henry v. prepared, in , for a journey to italy. so many followers came to him that when he had crossed the alps and mustered them on the plains of piacenza, there were , knights present. with such a force, no resistance was possible: the lombard cities acknowledged him, countess matilda of tuscany followed their example, and the pope found it expedient to meet him in a friendly spirit. the latter was willing to crown henry as emperor, but still claimed the right of investing the bishops. this henry positively refused to grant, and, after much deliberation, the pope finally proposed a complete separation of church and state,--that is, that the lands belonging to the bishops and abbots, or under their government, should revert to the crown, and the priests themselves become merely officials of the church, without any secular power. although the change would have been attended with some difficulty in germany, henry consented, and the long quarrel between pope and emperor was apparently settled. on the th of february, , the king entered rome at the head of a magnificent procession, and was met at the gate of st. peter's by the pope, who walked with him hand in hand to the platform before the high altar. but when the latter read aloud the agreement, the bishops raised their voices in angry dissent. the debate lasted so long that one of the german knights cried out: "why so many words? our king means to be crowned emperor, like karl the great!" the pope refused the act of coronation, and was immediately made prisoner. the people of rome rose in arms, and a terrible fight ensued. henry narrowly escaped death in the streets, and was compelled to encamp outside the city. at the end of two months, the resistance both of pope and people was crushed; he was crowned emperor, and paschalis ii. gave up his claim for the investiture of the bishops. [sidenote: . the concordat of worms.] henry v. returned immediately to germany, defeated the rebellious thuringians and saxons in , and the following year was married to matilda, daughter of henry i. of england. this was the climax of his power and splendor: it was soon followed by troubles with friesland, cologne, thuringia and saxony, and in the course of two years his authority was set at nought over nearly all northern germany. only suabia, under his nephew, frederick of hohenstaufen, and duke welf ii. of bavaria, remained faithful to him. he was obliged to leave germany in this state and hasten to italy in , on account of the death of the countess matilda, who had bequeathed tuscany to the church, although she had previously acknowledged the imperial sovereignty. henry claimed and secured possession of her territory; he then visited rome, the pope leaving the city to avoid meeting him. the latter died soon afterwards, and for a time a new pope, of the emperor's own appointment, was installed in the vatican. the papal party, which now included all the french bishops, immediately elected another, who excommunicated henry v., but the act was of no consequence, and was in fact overlooked by calixtus ii., who succeeded to the papal chair in . the same year henry returned to germany, and succeeded, chiefly through the aid of frederick of hohenstaufen, in establishing his authority. the quarrel with the papal power concerning the investiture of the bishops was still unsettled: the new pope, calixtus ii., who was a burgundian and a relation of the emperor, remained in france, where his claims were supported. after long delays and many preliminary negotiations, a diet was held at worms in september, , when the question was finally settled. the choice of the bishops and their investiture with the ring and crozier were given to the pope, but the nominations were required to be made in the emperor's presence, and the candidates to receive from him their temporal power, before they were consecrated by the church. this arrangement is known as _the concordat of worms_. it was hailed at the time as a fortunate settlement of a strife which had lasted for fifty years; but it only increased the difficulty by giving the german bishops two masters, yet making them secretly dependent on the pope. so long as they retained the temporal power, they governed according to the dictates of a foreign will, which was generally hostile to germany. then began an antagonism between the church and state, which was all the more intense because never openly acknowledged, and which disturbs germany even at this day. [sidenote: .] pope calixtus ii. took no notice of the ban of excommunication, but treated with henry v. as if it had never been pronounced. the troubles in northern germany, however, were not subdued by this final peace with rome,--a clear evidence that the humiliation of henry iv. was due to political and not to religious causes. henry v. died at utrecht, in holland, in may, , leaving no children, which the people believed to be a punishment for his unnatural treatment of his father. there was no one to mourn his death, for even his efforts to increase the imperial authority, and thereby to create a national sentiment among the germans, were neutralized by his coldness, haughtiness and want of principle, as a man. the people were forced, by the necessities of their situation, to support their own reigning princes, in the hope of regaining from the latter some of their lost political rights. another circumstance tended to prevent the german emperors from acquiring any fixed power. they had no capital city, as france already possessed in paris: after the coronation, the monarch immediately commenced his "royal ride," visiting all portions of the country, and receiving, personally, the allegiance of the whole people. then, during his reign, he was constantly migrating from one castle to another, either to settle local difficulties, to collect the income of his scattered estates, or for his own pleasure. there was thus no central point to which the germans could look as the seat of the imperial rule: the emperor was a frank, a saxon, a bavarian or suabian, by turns, but never permanently a _german_, with a national capital grander than any of the petty courts. the period of henry v.'s death marks, also, the independence of the papal power. the "concordat of worms" indirectly took away from the roman (german) emperor the claim of appointing the pope, which had been exercised, from time to time, during nearly five hundred years. the celibacy of the priesthood was partially enforced by this time, and the roman church thereby gained a new power. it was now able to set up an authority (with the help of france) nearly equal to that of the empire. these facts must be borne in mind as we advance; for the secret rivalry which now began underlies all the subsequent history of germany, until it came to a climax in the reformation of luther. [sidenote: . lothar of saxony elected.] henry v. left all his estates and treasures to his nephew, frederick of hohenstaufen, but not the crown jewels and insignia, which were to be bestowed by the national diet upon his successor. frederick, and his brother konrad, duke of franconia, were the natural heirs to the crown; but, as the hohenstaufen family had stood faithfully by henry iv. and v. in their conflicts with the pope, it was unpopular with the priests and reigning princes. at the diet, the archbishop of mayence nominated lothar of saxony, who was chosen after a very stormy session. his first acts were to beg the pope to confirm his election, and then to give up his right to have the bishops and abbots appointed in his presence. he next demanded of frederick of hohenstaufen the royal estates which the latter had inherited from henry v. being defeated in the war which followed, he strengthened his party by marrying his only daughter, gertrude, to henry the proud, duke of bavaria (grandson of duke welf, henry iv.'s friend, whence this family was called the _welfs_--guelphs). by this marriage henry the proud became also duke of saxony; but a part of the dukedom, called the north-mark, was separated and given to a saxon noble, a friend of lothar, named albert the bear. lothar was called to italy in by innocent ii., one of two popes, who, in consequence of a division in the college of cardinals, had been chosen at the same time. he was crowned emperor in the lateran, in june, , while the other pope anaclete ii. was reigning in the vatican. he acquired the territory of the countess matilda of tuscany, but only on condition of paying pounds of silver annually to the church. the former state of affairs was thus suddenly reversed: the emperor acknowledged himself a dependent of the _temporal_ papal power. when he returned to germany, the same year, lothar succeeded in subduing the resistance of the hohenstaufens, and then bound the reigning princes of germany, by oath, to keep peace for the term of twelve years. [sidenote: .] this truce enabled him to return to italy for the purpose of assisting pope innocent, who had been expelled from rome. the rival of the latter, anaclete ii., was supported by the norman king, roger ii. of sicily, who, in the summer of , was driven out of southern italy by lothar's army. but quarrels broke out with the pisans, who were his allies, and with pope innocent, for whose cause he was fighting, and he finally set out for germany, without even visiting rome. at trient, in the tyrol, he was seized with a mortal sickness, and died on the brenner pass of the alps, in a shepherd's hut. his body was taken to saxony and buried in the chapel of a monastery which he had founded there. a national diet was called to meet in may, , and elect a successor. lothar's son-in-law, henry the proud, duke of bavaria, saxony and tuscany (which latter the emperor had transferred also to him), seemed to have the greatest right to the throne; but he was already so important that the jealousy of the other reigning princes was excited against him. their policy was, to choose a weak rather than a strong ruler,--one who would not interfere with their authority in their own lands. konrad of hohenstaufen took advantage of this jealousy; he courted the favor of the princes and the bishops, and was chosen and crowned by the latter, three months before the time fixed for the meeting of the diet. the movement, though in violation of all law, succeeded perfectly: a new diet was called, for form's sake, and all the german princes, except henry the proud, acquiesced in konrad's election. in order to maintain his place, the new king was compelled to break the power of his rival. he therefore declared that henry the proud should not be allowed to govern two lands at the same time, and gave all saxony to albert the bear. when henry rose in resistance, konrad proclaimed that he had forfeited bavaria, which he gave to leopold of austria. in this emergency, henry the proud called upon the saxons to help him, and had raised a considerable force when he suddenly died, towards the end of the year . his brother, welf, continued the struggle in bavaria, in the interest of his young son, henry, afterwards called "the lion." he attempted to raise the siege of the town of weinsberg, which was beleaguered by konrad's army, but failed. the tradition relates that when the town was forced to surrender, the women sent a deputation to konrad, begging to be allowed to leave with such goods as they could carry on their backs. when this was granted and the gates were opened, they came out, carrying their husbands, sons or brothers as their dearest possessions. the fame of this deed of the women of weinsberg has gone all over the world. [sidenote: . guelph and ghibelline.] in this struggle, for the first time, the names of _welf_ and _waiblinger_ (from the little town of waiblingen, in würtemberg, which belonged to the hohenstaufens) were first used as party cries in battle. in the italian language they became "guelph" and "ghibelline," and for hundreds of years they retained a far more intense and powerful significance than the names "whig" and "tory" in england. the term _welf_ (guelph) very soon came to mean the party of the pope, and _waiblinger_ (ghibelline) that of the german emperor. the end of this first conflict was, that in , young henry the lion (great-grandson of duke welf of bavaria) was allowed to be duke of saxony. from him descended the later dukes of brunswick and hannover, who retained the family name of welf, or guelph, which, through george i., is also that of the royal family of england at this day. albert the bear was obliged to be satisfied with the north-mark, which was extended to the eastward of the elbe and made an independent principality. he called himself markgraf (border count) of brandenburg, and thus laid the basis of a new state, which, in the course of centuries developed into prussia. about this time the christian monarchy in jerusalem began to be threatened with overthrow by the saracens, and the pope, eugene iii., responded to the appeals for help from the holy land, by calling for a second crusade. he not only promised forgiveness of all sins, but released the volunteers from payment of their debts and whatever obligations they might have contracted under oath. france was the first to answer the call: then bernard of clairvaux (st. bernard, in the roman church) visited germany and made passionate appeals to the people. the first effect of his speeches was the plunder and murder of the jews in the cities along the rhine; then the slow german blood was roused to enthusiasm for the rescue of the holy land, and the impulse became so great that king konrad was compelled to join in the movement. his nephew, the red-bearded frederick of suabia, also put the cross on his mantle: nearly all the german princes and people, except the saxons, followed the example. [sidenote: .] in may, , the crusaders assembled at ratisbon. there were present , horsemen in armor, without counting the foot-soldiers and followers. all the robber-bands and notorious criminals of germany joined the army for the sake of the full and free pardon offered by the pope. konrad led the march down the danube, through austria and thrace, to constantinople. louis vii., king of france, followed him, with a nearly equal force, leaving the german states through which he passed in a famished condition. the two armies, united at constantinople, advanced through asia minor, but were so reduced by battles, disease and hardships on the way, that the few who reached palestine were too weak to reconquer the ground lost by the king of jerusalem. only a band of flemish and english crusaders, who set out by sea, succeeded in taking lisbon from the saracens. during the year the german princes returned from the east with their few surviving followers. the loss of so many robbers and robber-knights was, nevertheless, a great gain to the country: the people enjoyed more peace and security than they had known for a long time. duke welf of bavaria (brother of henry the proud) was the first to reach germany: konrad, fearing that he would make trouble, sent after him the young duke of suabia, frederick red-beard (barbarossa) of hohenstaufen. it was not long, in fact, before the war-cries of "guelph!" and "ghibelline!" were again heard; but welf, as well as his nephew, henry the lion, of saxony, was defeated. during the crusade, the latter had carried on a war against the wends and other slavonic tribes in prussia, the chief result of which was the foundation of the city of lübeck. [sidenote: . konrad's death.] king konrad now determined to pay his delayed visit to rome, and be crowned emperor. immediately after his return from the east, he had received a pressing invitation from the roman senate to come, to recognize the new order of things in the ancient city, and make it the permanent capital of the united german and italian empire. arnold of brescia, who for years had been advocating the separation of the papacy from all temporal power, and the re-establishment of the roman church upon the democratic basis of the early christian church, had compelled the pope, eugene iii., to accept his doctrine. rome was practically a republic, and arnold's reform, although fiercely opposed by the bishops, abbots and all priests holding civil power, made more and more headway among the people. at a national diet, held at würzburg in , it was decided that konrad should go to rome, and the pope was officially informed of his intention. but before the preparations for the journey were completed, konrad died, in february, , at bamberg. he was buried there in the cathedral built by henry ii. chapter xvii. the reign of frederick i., barbarossa. ( -- .) frederick i., barbarossa. --his character. --his first acts. --visit to italy. --coronation and humiliation. --he is driven back to germany. --restores order. --henry the lion and albert the bear. --barbarossa's second visit to italy. --he conquers milan. --roman laws revived. --destruction of milan. --third and fourth visits to italy. --troubles with the popes. --barbarossa and henry the lion. --the defeat at legnano. --reconciliation with alexander iii. --henry the lion banished. --tournament at mayence. --barbarossa's sixth visit to italy. --crusade for the recovery of jerusalem. --march through asia minor. --barbarossa's death. --his fame among the german people. --his son, henry vi., emperor. --richard of the lion-heart imprisoned. --last days of henry the lion. --henry vi.'s deeds and designs. --his death. [sidenote: .] konrad left only an infant son at his death, and the german princes, who were learning a little wisdom by this time, determined not to renew the unfortunate experiences of henry iv.'s minority. the next heir to the throne was frederick of suabia, who was now thirty-one years old, handsome, popular, and already renowned as a warrior. he was elected immediately, without opposition, and solemnly crowned at aix-la-chapelle. when he made his "royal ride" through germany, according to custom, the people hailed him with acclamations, hoping for peace and a settled authority after so many civil wars. his mother was a welf princess, whence there seemed a possibility of terminating the rivalry between welf and waiblinger, in his election. the italians always called him "barbarossa," on account of his red beard, and by this name he is best known in history. since the accession of otto the great, no german monarch had been crowned under such favorable auspices, and none had possessed so many of the qualities of a great ruler. he was shrewd, clear-sighted, intelligent, and of an iron will: he enjoyed the exercise of power, and the aim of his life was to extend and secure it. on the other hand he was despotic, merciless in his revenge, and sometimes led by the violence of his passions to commit deeds which darkened his name and interfered with his plans of empire. [sidenote: . barbarossa's camp in italy.] frederick first assured to the german princes the rights which they already possessed as the rulers of states, coupled with the declaration that he meant to exact the full and strict performance of their duties to him, as king. on his first royal journey, he arbitrated between swen and canute, rival claimants to the throne of denmark, conferred on the duke of bohemia the title of king, and took measures to settle the quarrel between henry the lion of saxony, and henry of austria, for the possession of bavaria. in all these matters he showed the will, the decision and the imposing personal bearing of one who felt that he was born to rule; and had he remained in germany, he might have consolidated the states into one nation. but the phantom of a roman empire beckoned him to italy. the invitation held out to konrad was not renewed, for pope eugene iii. was dead, and his successor, adrian iv. (an englishman, by the name of breakspeare), rejected arnold of brescia's doctrines. it was in frederick's power to secure the success of either side; but his first aim was the imperial crown, and he could only gain it without delay by assisting the pope. in frederick, accompanied by henry the lion and many other princes, and a large army, crossed the brenner pass, in the tyrol, and descended into italy. according to old custom, the first camp was pitched on the roncalian fields, near piacenza, and the royal shield was set up as a sign that the chief ruler was present and ready to act as judge in all political troubles. many complaints were brought to him against the city of milan, which had become a haughty and despotic republic, and began to oppress lodi, como, and other neighboring cities. frederick saw plainly the trouble which this independent movement in lombardy would give to him or his successors; but after losing two months and many troops in besieging and destroying tortona, one of the towns friendly to milan, he was not strong enough to attack the latter city: so, having been crowned king of lombardy at pavia, he marched, in , towards rome. [sidenote: .] at viterbo he met pope adrian iv., and negotiations commenced in regard to his coronation as emperor, which, it seems, was not to be had for nothing. adrian's first demand was the suppression of the roman republic, which had driven him from the city. frederick answered by capturing arnold of brescia, who was then in tuscany, and delivering him into the pope's hands. the latter then demanded that frederick should hold his stirrup when he mounted his mule. this humiliation, second only to that which henry iv. endured at canossa, was accepted by the proud hohenstaufen in his ambitious haste to be crowned; but even then rome had to be first taken from the republicans. by some means an entrance was forced into that part of the city on the right bank of the tiber; frederick was crowned in all haste and immediately retreated, but not before he and his escort were furiously attacked in the streets by the roman people. henry the lion, by his bravery and presence of mind, saved the new emperor from being slain. the same night, arnold of brescia was burned to death by the pope's order. (since , his bust has been placed upon the pincian hill, in rome, among those of the other great men who gave their lives for italian freedom.) the news of the pope's barbarous revenge drove the romans to madness. they rushed forth by thousands, threw themselves upon the emperor's camp, and fought until the next night with such desperation that frederick deemed it prudent to retreat to tivoli. the heats of summer and the fevers they brought soon compelled him to leave for germany; the glory of his coming was already exhausted. he fought his way through spoleto; verona shut its gates upon him, and one robber-castle in the alps held the whole army at bay, until it was taken by otto of wittelsbach. the unnatural composition of the later "roman empire" was again demonstrated. if, during the four centuries which had elapsed since charlemagne's accession to power, the german rule was the curse of italy, italy (or the fancied necessity of ruling italy) was no less a curse to germany. the strength of the german people, for hundreds of years, was exhausted in endeavoring to keep up a high-sounding sovereignty, which they could not truly possess, and--in the best interests of the two countries--_ought not_ to have possessed. on returning to germany, frederick found enough to do. he restored the internal peace and security of the country with a strong hand, executing the robber-knights, tearing down their castles, and even obliging fourteen reigning princes, among whom was the archbishop of mayence, to undergo what was considered the shameful punishment of carrying dogs in their arms before the imperial palace. by his second marriage with beatrix, princess of burgundy, he established anew the german authority over that large and rich kingdom; while, at a diet held in , he gave bavaria to henry the lion, and pacified henry of austria by making his territory an independent dukedom. this was the second phase in the growth of austria. [sidenote: . barbarossa's rule in germany.] henry the lion, however, was more a saxon than a bavarian. although he first raised munich from an insignificant cluster of peasants' huts to the dignity of a city, his energies were chiefly directed towards extending his sway from the elbe eastward, along the baltic. he conquered mecklenburg and colonized the country with saxons, made lübeck an important commercial center, and slowly germanized the former territory of the wends. albert the bear, count of brandenburg, followed a similar policy, and both were encouraged by the emperor, who was quite willing to see his own sway thus extended. a rhyme current among the common people, at the time, says: "henry the lion and albert the bear, thereto frederick with the red hair, three lords are they, who could change the world to their way." the grand imperial character of frederick, rather than what he had actually accomplished, had already given him a great reputation throughout europe. pope adrian iv. endeavored to imitate gregory vii.'s language to henry iv. in treating with him, but soon found that he was deserted by the german bishops, and thought it prudent to apologize. his manner, nevertheless, and the increasing independence of milan, called frederick across the alps with an army of , men, in . milan, then surrounded with strong walls, nine miles in circuit, was besieged, and, at the end of a month, forced to surrender, to rebuild lodi, and pay a fine of , pounds of silver. afterwards the emperor pitched his camp on the roncalian fields, with a splendor before unknown. ambassadors from england, france, hungary and constantinople were present, and the imperial power, almost for the first time, was thus recognized as the first in the civilized world. frederick used this opportunity to revive the old roman laws, or at least, to have a code of laws drawn up, which should define his rights and those of the reigning princes under him. four doctors of the university of bologna were selected, who discovered so many ancient imperial rights which had fallen into disuse that the emperor's treasury was enriched to the amount of , pounds of silver annually, by their enforcement. when this system came to be practically applied, milan and other lombard cities which claimed the right to elect their own magistrates, and would have lost it under the new order of things, determined to resist. a war ensued: the little city of crema was first besieged, and, after a gallant defence of seven months, taken and razed to the ground. [sidenote: .] now came the turn of milan. in the meantime the pope, adrian iv., had died, after threatening the emperor with excommunication. the college of cardinals was divided, each party electing its own pope. of these, victor iv. was recognized by frederick, who claimed the right to decide between them, while most of the italian cities, with france and england, were in favor of alexander iii. the latter immediately excommunicated the emperor, who, without paying any regard to the act, prepared to take his revenge on milan. in march, , after a long siege, he forced the city to surrender: the magistrates appeared before him in sackcloth, barefoot, with ashes upon their heads and ropes around their necks, and begged him, with tears, to be merciful; but there was no mercy in his heart. he gave the inhabitants eight days to leave the city, then levelled it completely to the earth, and sowed salt upon the ruins as a token that it should never be rebuilt. the rival cities of pavia, lodi and como rejoiced over this barbarity, and all the towns of northern italy hastened to submit to all the emperor's claims, even that they should be governed by magistrates of his appointment. in spite of this apparent submission, he had no sooner returned to germany than the cities of lombardy began to form a union against him. they were instigated, and secretly assisted, by venice, which was already growing powerful through her independence. the pope whom frederick had supported, was also dead, and he determined to set up a new one instead of recognizing alexander iii. he went to italy with a small escort, in , but was compelled to go back without accomplishing anything but a second destruction of tortona, which had been rebuilt. in germany new disturbances had broken out, but his personal influence was so great that he subdued them temporarily: he also prevailed upon the german bishops to recognize paschalis iii., the pope whom he had appointed. he then set about raising a new army, and finally, in , made his _fourth_ journey to italy. [sidenote: . fourth journey to italy.] this was even more unfortunate than the third journey had been. the lombard cities, feeling strong through their union, had not only rebuilt milan and tortona, but had constructed a new fortified town, which they named, after the pope, alessandria. frederick did not dare to attack them, but marched on to ancona, which he besieged for seven months, finally accepting a ransom instead of surrender. he then took that part of rome west of the tiber, and installed his pope in the vatican. soon afterward, in the summer of , a terrible pestilence broke out, which carried off thousands of his best soldiers in a few weeks. his army was so reduced by death, that he stole through lombardy almost as a fugitive, remained hidden among the alps for months, and finally crossed mont cenis with only thirty followers, himself disguised as a common soldier. having reached germany in safety, frederick's personal influence at once gave him the power and popularity which he had forever lost in italy. he found henry the lion, who in addition to bavaria now governed nearly all the territory from the rhine to the vistula, north of the hartz mountains, at enmity with albert the bear and a number of smaller reigning princes. as emperor, he settled the questions in dispute, deciding in favor of henry the lion, although the increasing power of the latter excited his apprehensions. henry was too cautious to make the emperor his enemy, but in order to avoid another march to italy, he set out upon a pilgrimage to jerusalem. frederick, however, did not succeed in raising a fresh army to revenge his disgrace until , when he made his _fifth_ journey to italy. he first besieged the new city of alessandria, but in vain; then, driven to desperation by his failure, he called for help upon henry the lion, who had now returned from the holy land. the two met at chiavenna, in the italian alps; but henry steadfastly refused to aid the emperor, although the latter conquered his own pride so far as to kneel before him. [sidenote: .] bitterly disappointed and humiliated, frederick appealed to all the german states for aid, but did not receive fresh troops until the spring of . he then marched upon milan, but was met by the united forces of lombardy at legnano, near como. the latter fought with such desperation that the imperial army was completely routed, and its camp equipage and stores taken, with many thousands of prisoners, who were treated with the same barbarity which the emperor himself had introduced anew into warfare. he fell from his horse during the fight, and had been for some days reported to be dead, when he suddenly appeared before the empress beatrix, at pavia, having escaped in disguise. his military strength was now so broken that he was compelled to seek a reconciliation with pope alexander iii. envoys went back and forth between the two, the lombard cities and the king of sicily; conferences were held at various places, but months passed and no agreement was reached. then the pope, having received frederick's submission to all his demands, proposed an armistice, which was solemnly concluded in venice, in august, . there the emperor was released from the papal excommunication; he sank at alexander's feet, but the latter caught and lifted him in his arms, and there was once more peace between the two rival powers. the other pope, whose claims frederick had supported up to that time, was left to shift for himself. before the armistice ceased, in , a treaty was concluded at constance, by which the italian cities recognized the emperor as chief ruler, but secured for themselves the right of independent government. thus twenty years had been wasted, the best blood of germany squandered, the worst barbarities of war renewed, and frederick, after enduring shame and humiliation, had not attained one of his haughty personal aims. yet he was as proud in his bearing as ever; his court lost none of its splendor, and his influence over the german princes and people was undiminished. he reached germany again in , full of wrath against henry the lion. it was easy to find a pretext for proceeding against him, for the archbishop of cologne, the bishop of halberstadt, and many nobles had already made complaints. henry, in fact, was much like frederick in his nature, but his despotic sternness and pride were more directly exercised upon the people. he raised an army and boldly resisted the imperial power: again westphalia, thuringia and saxony were wasted by civil war, and the struggle was prolonged until , when henry was forced to surrender unconditionally. he was banished to england for three years: his duchy of bavaria was given to otto of wittelsbach; and the greater part of saxony, from the rhine to the baltic, was cut up and divided among the reigning bishops and smaller princes. only the province of brunswick was left to henry the lion, of all his possessions. this was frederick's policy for diminishing the power of the separate states: the more they were increased in number, the greater would be the dependence of each on the emperor. [sidenote: . tournament at mayence.] the ruin of henry the lion fully restored frederick's authority over all germany. in may, , he gave a grand tournament and festival at mayence, which surpassed in pomp everything that had before been seen by the people. the flower of knighthood, foreign as well as german, was present: princes, bishops and lords, scholars and minstrels, , knights, and probably hundreds of thousands of the soldiers and common people were gathered together. the emperor, still handsome and towering in manly strength, in spite of his sixty-three years, rode in the lists with his five blooming sons, the eldest of whom, henry, was already crowned king of germany, as his successor. for many years afterwards, the wandering minstrels sang the glories of this festival, which they compared to those given by the half-fabulous king arthur. immediately afterwards, frederick made his _sixth_ journey to italy, without an army, but accompanied by a magnificent retinue. the temporary union of the cities against him was at an end, and their former jealousies of each other had broken out more fiercely than ever; so that, instead of meeting him in a hostile spirit, each endeavored to gain his favor, to the damage of the others. it was easy for him to turn this state of affairs to his own personal advantage. the pope, now urban iii., endeavored to make him give up tuscany to the church, and opposed his design of marrying his son henry to constance, daughter of the king of sicily, since all southern italy would thus fall to the hohenstaufen family. another excommunication was threatened, and would probably have been hurled upon the emperor's head, if the pope had not died before pronouncing it. the marriage of henry and constance took place in . [sidenote: .] the next year, all europe was shaken by the news that jerusalem had been taken by sultan saladin. a call for a new crusade was made from rome, and the christian kings and people of europe responded to it. richard of the lion-heart, of england; philip augustus of france; and first of all frederick barbarossa, roman emperor, put the cross on their mantles, and prepared to march to the holy land. frederick left his son henry behind him, as king, but he was still suspicious of henry the lion, and demanded that he should either join the crusade or retire again to england for three years longer. henry the lion chose the latter alternative. the german crusaders, numbering about , , met at ratisbon in may, , and marched overland to constantinople. then they took the same route through asia minor which had been followed by the second crusade, defeating the sultan and taking the city of iconium by the way, and after threading the wild passes of the taurus, reached the borders of syria. while on the march, the emperor received the false message that his son henry was dead. the tears ran down his beard, no longer red, but silver-white; then, turning to the army, he cried: "my son is dead, but christ lives! forwards!" on the th of june, , either while attempting to ford, or bathing in the little river calycadnus, not far from tarsus, he was drowned. the stream, fed by the melted snows of the taurus, was ice-cold, and one account states that he was not drowned, but died in consequence of the sudden chill. a few of his followers carried his body to palestine, where it was placed in the christian church at tyre. notwithstanding the heroism of the english richard at ascalon, the crusade failed, since the german army was broken up after frederick's death, most of the knights returning directly home. the most that can be said for frederick barbarossa as a ruler, is, that no other emperor before or after his time maintained so complete an authority over the german princes. the influence of his personal presence seems to have been very great: the imperial power became splendid and effective in his hands, and, although he did nothing to improve the condition of the people, beyond establishing order and security, they gradually came to consider him as the representative of a grand _national_ idea. when he went away to the mysterious east, and never returned, the most of them refused to believe that he was dead. by degrees the legend took root among them that he slumbered in a vault underneath the kyffhäuser--one of his castles, on the summit of a mountain, near the hartz,--and would come forth at the appointed time, to make germany united and free. nothing in his character, or in the proud and selfish aims of his life, justifies this sentiment which the people attached to his name; but the legend became a symbol of their hopes and prayers, through centuries of oppression and desolating war, and the name of "barbarossa" is sacred to every patriotic heart in germany, even at this day. [sidenote: . henry vi. emperor.] henry the lion hastened back to germany at once, and attempted to regain possession of saxony. king henry took the field against him, and the interminable strife between welf and waiblinger was renewed for a time. the king was twenty-five years old, tall and stately like his father, but even more stern and despotic than he. he was impatient to proceed to italy, both to be crowned emperor and to secure the norman kingdom of sicily as his wife's inheritance: therefore, making a temporary truce with henry the lion, he hastened to rome and was there crowned as henry vi. in . his attempt to conquer naples, which was held by the norman prince, tancred, completely failed, and a deadly pestilence in his army compelled him to return to germany before the close of the same year. the fight with henry the lion was immediately renewed, and during the whole of northern germany was ravaged worse than before. in december of that year, king richard of the lion-heart, returning home overland from palestine, was taken prisoner by duke leopold of austria, whom he had offended during the crusade, and was delivered to the emperor. as king richard was the brother-in-law of henry the lion, he was held partly as a hostage, and partly for the purpose of gaining an enormous ransom for his liberation. his mother came from england, and the sum of , silver marks which the emperor demanded was paid by her exertions: still richard was kept prisoner at trifels, a lonely castle among the vosges mountains. the legend relates that his minstrel, blondel, discovered his place of imprisonment by singing the king's favorite song under the windows of all the castles near the rhine, until the song was answered by the well-known voice from within. the german princes, finally, felt that they were disgraced by the emperor's conduct, and they compelled him to liberate richard, in february, . [sidenote: .] the same year a reconciliation was effected with henry the lion. the latter devoted himself to the improvement of the people of his little state of brunswick: he instituted reforms in their laws, encouraged their education, collected books and works of art, and made himself so honored and beloved before his death, in august, , that he was mourned as a benefactor by those who had once hated him as a tyrant. he was sixty-six years old, three years younger than his rival, barbarossa, whom he fully equalled in energy and ability. although defeated in his struggle, he laid the basis of a better civil order, a higher and firmer civilization, throughout the north of germany. henry vi., enriched by king richard's ransom, went to italy, purchased the assistance of genoa and pisa, and easily conquered the sicilian kingdom. he treated the family of tancred (who was now dead) with shocking barbarity, tortured and executed his enemies with a cruelty worthy of nero, and made himself heartily feared and hated. then he hastened back to germany, to have the imperial dignity made hereditary in his family. even here he was on the point of succeeding, in spite of the strong opposition of the saxon princes, when a norman insurrection recalled him to sicily. he demanded the provinces of macedonia and epirus from the greek emperor, encouraged the project of a new crusade, with the design of conquering constantinople, and evidently dreamed of making himself ruler of the whole christian world, when death cut him off, in , in his thirty-second year. his widow, constance of sicily, was left with a son, frederick, then only three years old. chapter xviii. the reign of frederick ii. and end of the hohenstaufen line. ( -- .) rival emperors in germany. --pope innocent iii. --murder of philip of hohenstaufen. --otto iv. becomes emperor. --frederick of hohenstaufen goes to germany. --his character. --decline of otto's power. --frederick ii. crowned emperor. --troubles with the pope. --his crusade to the holy land. --frederick's court at palermo. --henry, count of schwerin. --gregory ix.'s persecution of heretics. --meeting of frederick ii. and his son, king henry. --the emperor returns to germany. --his marriage with isabella of england. --he leaves germany for italy. --war in lombardy. --conflict with pope gregory ix. --capture of the council. --course of pope innocent iii. --wars in germany and italy. --conspiracies against frederick ii. --his misfortunes and death. --the character of his reign. --his son, konrad iv., succeeds. --william of holland rival emperor. --death of konrad iv. --end of william of holland. --the boy, konradin. --manfred, king of naples. --usurpation of charles of anjou. --konradin goes to italy. --his defeat and capture. --his execution. --the last of the hohenstaufens. [sidenote: . two emperors elected.] a story was current among the german people, that, shortly before henry vi.'s death, the spirit of theodoric the great, in giant form on a black war-steed, rode along the rhine presaging trouble to the empire. this legend no doubt originated after the trouble came, and was simply a poetical image of what had already happened. the german princes were determined to have no child again, as their hereditary emperor; but only one son of frederick barbarossa still lived,--philip of suabia. the bitter hostility between welf and waiblinger still existed, and although philip was chosen by a diet held in thuringia, the opposite party, secretly assisted by the pope and by richard of the lion-heart, of england (who had certainly no reason to be friendly to the hohenstaufens!) met at aix-la-chapelle, and elected otto, son of henry the lion. just at this crisis, innocent iii. became pope. he was as haughty, inflexible and ambitious as gregory vii., whom he took for his model: under him, and with his sanction, the inquisition, which linked the christian church to barbarism, was established. so completely had the relation of the two powers been changed by the humiliation of henry iv. and barbarossa, that the pope now claimed the right to decide between the rival monarchs. of course he gave his voice for otto, and excommunicated philip. the effect of this policy, however, was to awaken the jealousy of the german bishops as well as the princes,--even the former found the papal interference a little too arbitrary--and philip, instead of being injured, actually derived advantage from it. in the war which followed, otto lost so much ground that in he was obliged to fly to england, where he was assisted by king john; but he would probably have again failed, when an unexpected crime made him successful. philip was murdered in , by otto of wittelsbach, duke of bavaria, on account of some personal grievance. [sidenote: .] as he left no children, and frederick, the son of henry vi., was still a boy of fourteen, otto found no difficulty in persuading the german princes to accept him as king. his first act was to proceed against philip's murderer and his accomplice, the bishop of bamberg. both fled, but otto of wittelsbach was overtaken near ratisbon, and instantly slain. in , king otto collected a magnificent retinue at augsburg, and set out for italy, in order to be crowned emperor at rome. as the enemy of the hohenstaufens, he felt sure of a welcome; but innocent iii., whom he met at viterbo, required a great many special concessions to the papal power before he would consent to bestow the crown. even after the ceremony was over, he inhospitably hinted to the new emperor, otto iv., that he should leave rome as soon as possible. the gates of the city were shut upon the latter, and his army was left without supplies. the jurists of bologna soon convinced otto that some of his concessions to the pope were illegal, and need not be observed. he therefore took possession of tuscany, which he had agreed to surrender to the pope, and afterwards marched against southern italy, where the young frederick of hohenstaufen was already acknowledged as king of sicily. the latter had been carefully educated under the guardianship of innocent iii., after the death of constance in , and threatened to become a dangerous rival for the imperial crown. otto's invasion so exasperated the pope that he excommunicated him, and called upon the german princes to recognize frederick in his stead. as otto had never been personally popular in germany, the waiblinger, or hohenstaufen party, responded to innocent's proclamation. suabia and bavaria and the archbishop of mayence pronounced for frederick, while saxony, lorraine and the northern bishops remained true to otto. the latter hastened back to germany in , regained some of his lost ground, and attempted to strengthen his cause by marrying beatrix, the daughter of philip. but she died four days after the marriage, and in the meantime frederick, supplied with money by the pope, had crossed the alps. [sidenote: . frederick goes to germany.] the young king, who had been educated wholly in sicily, and who all his life was an italian rather than a german, was now eighteen years old. he resembled his grandfather, frederick barbarossa, in person, was perhaps his equal in strength and decision of character, but far surpassed him or any of his imperial predecessors in knowledge and refinement. he spoke six languages with fluency; he was a poet and minstrel; he loved the arts of peace no less than those of war, yet he was a statesman and a leader of men. on his way to germany, he found the lombard cities, except pavia, so hostile to him that he was obliged to cross the alps by secret and dangerous paths, and when he finally reached the city of constance, with only sixty followers, otto iv. was close at hand, with a large army. but constance opened its gates to the young hohenstaufen: suabia, the home of his fathers, rose in his support, and the emperor, without even venturing a battle, retreated to saxony. [sidenote: .] for nearly three years, the two rivals watched each other without engaging in open hostilities. the stately bearing of frederick, which he inherited from barbarossa, the charm and refinement of his manners, and the generosity he exhibited towards all who were friendly to his claims, gradually increased the number of his supporters. in , otto joined king john of england and the count of flanders in a war against philip augustus of france, and was so signally defeated that his influence in germany speedily came to an end. lorraine and holland declared for frederick, who was crowned in aix-la-chapelle with great pomp the same year. otto died near brunswick, three years afterwards, poor and unhonored. pope innocent iii. died in , and frederick appears to have considered that the assistance which he had received from him was _personal_ and not _papal_; for he not only laid claim to the tuscan possessions, but neglected his promise to engage in a new crusade for the recovery of jerusalem, and even attempted to control the choice of bishops. at the same time he took measures to secure the coronation of his infant son, henry, as his successor. his journey to rome was made in the year . the new pope, honorius iii., a man of a mild and yielding nature, nevertheless only crowned him on condition that he would observe the violated claims of the church, and especially that he would strictly suppress all heresy in the empire. when he had been crowned emperor as frederick ii., he fixed himself in southern italy and sicily for some years, quite neglecting his german rule, but wisely improving the condition of his favorite kingdom. he was signally successful in controlling the saracens, whose language he spoke, whom he converted into subjects, and who afterwards became his best soldiers. the pope, however, became very impatient at the non-fulfilment of frederick's promises, and the latter was compelled, in , to summon a diet of all the german and italian princes to meet at verona, in order to make preparations for a new crusade. but the cities of lombardy, fearing that the army to be raised would be used against them, adopted all possible measures against the meeting of the diet, took possession of the passes of the adige, and prevented the emperor's son, the young king henry of germany, and his followers, from entering italy. angry and humiliated, frederick was compelled to return to sicily. the next year, , honorius died, and the cardinals elected as his successor gregory ix., a man more than eighty years old, but of a remarkably stubborn and despotic nature. he immediately threatened the emperor with excommunication in case the crusade for the recovery of jerusalem was not at once undertaken, and the latter was compelled to obey. he hastily collected an army and fleet, and departed from naples, but returned at the end of three days, alleging a serious illness as the cause of his sudden change of plan. [sidenote: . visit to jerusalem.] he was instantly excommunicated by gregory ix., and he replied by a proclamation addressed to all kings and princes,--a document breathing defiance and hate against the pope and his claims. nevertheless, in order to keep his word in regard to the crusade, he went to the east with a large force in , and obtained, by a treaty with the sultan of egypt, the possession of jerusalem, bethlehem, nazareth and mount carmel, for ten years. his second wife, the empress iolanthe, was the daughter of guy of lusignan, the last king of jerusalem; and therefore, when frederick visited the holy city, he claimed the right, as guy's heir, of setting the crown of jerusalem upon his own head. the entire crusade, which was not marked by any deeds of arms, occupied only eight months. although he had fulfilled his agreement with rome, the pope declared that a crusade undertaken by an excommunicated emperor was a sin, and did all he could to prevent frederick's success in palestine. but when the latter returned to italy, he found that the roman people, a majority of whom were on his side, had driven gregory ix. from the city. it was therefore comparatively easy for him to come to an agreement, whereby the pope released him from the ban, in return for being reinstated in rome. this was only a truce, however, not a lasting peace: between two such imperious natures, peace was impossible. the agreement, nevertheless, gave frederick some years of quiet, which he employed in regulating the affairs of his southern-italian kingdom. he abolished, as far as possible, the feudal system introduced by the normans, and laid the foundation of a representative form of government. his court at palermo became the resort of learned men and poets, where arabic, provençal, italian and german poetry was recited, where songs were sung, where the fine arts were encouraged, and the rude and warlike pastimes of former rulers gave way to the spirit of a purer civilization. although, as we have said, his nature was almost wholly italian, no emperor after charlemagne so fostered the growth of a german literature as frederick ii. but this constitutes his only real service to germany. while he was enjoying the peaceful and prosperous development of naples and sicily, his great empire in the north was practically taking care of itself, for the boy-king, henry, governed chiefly by allowing the reigning bishops, dukes and princes to do very much as they pleased. there was a season of peace with france, hungary and poland, and denmark, which was then the only dangerous neighbor, was repelled without the imperial assistance. frederick ii., in his first rivalry with otto, had shamefully purchased denmark's favor by giving up all the territory between the elbe and the oder. but when henry, count of schwerin, returned from a pilgrimage to the holy land, and found the danish king, waldemar, in possession of his territory, he organized a revolt in order to recover his rights, and succeeded in taking waldemar and his son prisoners. frederick ii. now supported him, and the pope as a matter of course supported denmark. a great battle was fought in holstein, and the danes were so signally defeated that they were forced to give up all the german territory, except the island of rügen and a little strip of the pomeranian coast, beside paying , silver marks for the ransom of waldemar and his son. [sidenote: .] about this time, in consequence of the demand of pope innocent iii. that all heresy should be treated as a crime and suppressed by force, a new element of conflict with rome was introduced into germany. among other acts of violence, the stedinger, a tribe of free farmers of saxon blood, who inhabited the low country near the mouth of the weser, were literally exterminated by order of the archbishop of bremen, to whom they had refused the payment of tithes. in , gregory ix. wrote to king henry, urging him to crush out heresy in germany: "where is the zeal of moses, who destroyed , idolaters in one day? where is the zeal of elijah, who slew prophets with the sword, by the brook kishon? against this evil the strongest means must be used: there is need of steel and fire." conrad of marburg, a monk, who inflicted years of physical and spiritual suffering upon elizabeth, countess of thuringia, in order to make a saint of her, was appointed inquisitor for germany by gregory, and for three years he tortured and burned at will. his horrible cruelty at last provoked revenge: he was assassinated on the highway near marburg, and his death marks the end of the inquisition in germany. in , frederick ii., in order that he might seem to fulfil his neglected duties as german emperor, summoned a general diet to meet at ravenna, but it was prevented by the lombard cities, as the diet of verona had been prevented six years before. befriended by venice, however, frederick marched to aquileia, and there met his son, king henry, after a separation of twelve years. their respective ages were thirty-seven and twenty-one: there was little personal sympathy or affection between them, and they only came together to quarrel. frederick refused to sanction most of henry's measures; he demanded, among other things, that the latter should rebuild the strongholds of the robber-knights of hohenlohe, which had been razed to the ground. this seemed to henry an outrage as well as a humiliation, and he returned home with rebellion in his heart. after proclaiming himself independent king, he entered into an alliance with the cities of lombardy and even sought the aid of the pope. [sidenote: . frederick's marriage at worms.] early in , after an absence of fifteen years, frederick ii. returned to germany. the revolt, which had seemed so threatening, fell to pieces at his approach. he was again master of the empire, without striking a blow: henry had no course but to surrender without conditions. he was deposed, imprisoned, and finally sent with his family to southern italy, where he died seven years afterwards. the same summer the emperor, whose wife, iolanthe, had died some years before, was married at worms to isabella, sister of king henry iii. of england. the ceremony was attended with festivals of oriental splendor; the attendants of the new empress were saracens, and she was obliged to live after the manner of eastern women. immense numbers of the nobles and people flocked to worms, and soon afterwards to mayence, where a diet was held. here, for the first time, the decrees of the diet were publicly read in the german language. frederick also, as the head of the waiblinger party, effected a reconciliation with otto of brunswick, the head of the welfs, whereby the rivalry of a hundred years came to an end in germany; but in italy the struggle between the ghibellines and the guelphs was continued long after the hohenstaufen line became extinct. in the autumn of , frederick conquered and deposed frederick the quarrelsome, duke of austria, and made vienna a free imperial city. a diet was held there, at which his second son, konrad, then nine years old, was accepted as king of germany. this choice was confirmed by another diet, held the following year at speyer. the emperor now left germany, never to return. this brief visit, of a little more than a year, was the only interruption in his thirty years of absence; but it revived his great personal influence over princes and people, it was marked by the full recognition of his authority, and it contributed, in combination with his struggle against the power of rome which followed, to impress upon his reign a more splendid and successful character than his acts deserved. although the remainder of his history belongs to italy, it was not without importance for the later fortunes of germany, and must therefore be briefly stated. [sidenote: .] on returning to italy, frederick found himself involved in new difficulties with the independent cities. he was supported by his son-in-law, ezzelin, and a large army from naples and sicily, composed chiefly of saracens. with this force he won such a victory at cortenuovo, that even milan offered to yield, under hard conditions. then frederick ii. made the same mistake as his grandfather, barbarossa, in similar circumstances. he demanded a complete and unconditional surrender, which so aroused the fear and excited the hate of the lombards, that they united in a new and desperate resistance, which he was unable to crush. gregory ix., who claimed for the church the island of sardinia, which frederick had given as a kingdom to his son enzio, hurled a new excommunication against the emperor, and the fiercest of all the quarrels between the two powers now began to rage. the pope, in a proclamation, asserted of frederick: "this pestilential king declares that the world has been deceived by three impostors, moses, mohammed and christ, the two former of whom died honorably, but the last shamefully, upon the cross." he further styled the emperor, "that beast of revelations which came out of the sea, which now destroys everything with its claws and iron teeth, and, assisted by the heretics, arises against christ, in order to drive his name out of the world." frederick, in an answer which was sent to all the kings and princes of christendom, wrote: "the apostolic and athanasian creeds are mine; moses i consider a friend of god, and mohammed an arch-impostor." he described the pope as "that horse in revelations, from which, as it is written, issued another horse, and he that sat upon him took away the peace of the world, so that the living destroyed each other," and named him further: "the second balaam, the great dragon, yea, even the antichrist." [sidenote: . capture of the pope's council.] gregory ix. endeavored, but in vain, to set up a rival emperor: the princes, and even the archbishops, were opposed to him. frederick, who was not idle meanwhile, entered the states of the church, took several cities, and advanced towards rome. then the pope offered to call together a council in rome, to settle all matters in dispute. but those who were summoned to attend were frederick's enemies, whereupon he issued a proclamation declaring the council void, and warning the bishops and priests against coming to it. the most of them, however, met at nice, in , and embarked for rome on a genoese fleet of sixty vessels; but frederick's son, enzio, intercepted them with a pisan and sicilian fleet, captured one hundred cardinals, bishops and abbots, one hundred civil deputies and four thousand men, and carried them to naples. the council, therefore, could not be held, and pope gregory died soon afterwards, almost a hundred years old. after quarreling for nearly two years, the cardinals finally elected a new pope, innocent iv. he had been a friend of the emperor, but the latter exclaimed, on hearing of his election: "i fear that i have lost a friend among the cardinals, and found an enemy in the chair of st. peter: no pope can be a ghibelline!" his words were true. after fruitless negotiations, innocent iv. fled to lyons, and there called together a council of the church, which declared that frederick had forfeited his crowns and dignities, that he was cast out by god, and should be thenceforth accursed. frederick answered this declaration with a bold statement of the corruptions of the clergy, and the dangers arising from the temporal power of the popes, which, he asserted, should be suppressed for the sake of christianity, the early purity of which had been lost. king louis ix. of france endeavored to bring about a suspension of the struggle, which was now beginning to disturb all europe; but the pope angrily refused. in , the latter persuaded henry raspe, landgrave of thuringia, to claim the crown of germany, and supported him with all the influence and wealth of the church. he was defeated and wounded in the first battle, and soon afterwards died, leaving frederick's son, konrad, still king of germany. in italy, the civil war raged with the greatest bitterness, and with horrible barbarities on both sides. frederick exhibited such extraordinary courage and determination that his enemies, encouraged by the church, finally resorted to the basest means of overcoming him. a plot formed for his assassination was discovered in time, and the conspirators executed: then an attempt was made to poison him, in which his chancellor and intimate friend, peter de vinea--his companion for thirty years,--seems to have been implicated. at least he recommended a certain physician, who brought to the emperor a poisoned medicine. something in the man's manner excited frederick's mistrust, and he ordered him to swallow a part of the medicine. when the latter refused, it was given to a condemned criminal, who immediately died. the physician was executed and peter de vinea sent to prison, where he committed suicide by dashing his head against the walls of his cell. [sidenote: .] in the same year, , frederick's favorite son, enzio, king of sardinia, who even surpassed his father in personal beauty, in accomplishments, in poetic talent and heroic courage, was taken prisoner by the bolognese. all the father's offers of ransom were rejected, all his menaces defied: enzio was condemned to perpetual imprisonment, and languished twenty-two years in a dungeon, until liberated by death. frederick was almost broken-hearted, but his high courage never flagged. he was encompassed by enemies, he scarcely knew whom to trust, yet he did not yield the least of his claims. and fortune, at last, seemed inclined to turn to his side: a new rival king, william of holland, whom the pope had set up against him in germany, failed to maintain himself: the city of piacenza, in lombardy, espoused his cause: the romans, tired of innocent iv.'s absence, began to talk of electing another pope in his stead: and even innocent himself was growing unpopular in france. then, while he still defiantly faced the world, still had faith in his final triumph, the body refused to support his fiery spirit. he died in the arms of his youngest son, manfred, on the th of december, , fifty-six years old. he was buried at palermo; and when his tomb there was opened, in the year , his corpse was found to have scarcely undergone any decay. frederick ii. was unquestionably one of the greatest men who ever bore the title of german (or roman) emperor; yet all the benefits his reign conferred upon germany were wholly of an indirect character, and were more than balanced by the positive injury occasioned by his neglect. there were strong contradictions in his nature, which make it difficult to judge him fairly as a ruler. as a man of great learning and intelligence, his ideas were liberal; as a monarch, he was violent and despotic. he wore out his life, trying to crush the republican cities of italy; he was jealous of the growth of the free cities of germany, yet granted them a representation in the diet; and in sicily, where his sway was undisputed, he was wise, just and tolerant. representing in himself the highest taste and refinement of his age, he was nevertheless as rash, passionate and relentless as the monarchs of earlier and ruder times. in his struggle with the popes, he was far in advance of his age, and herein, although unsuccessful, he was not subdued: in reality, he was one of the most powerful forerunners of the reformation. there are few figures in european history so bright, so brave, so full of heroic and romantic interest. [sidenote: . konrad iv.'s reign.] frederick's son and successor, konrad iv., inherited the hate and enmity of pope innocent iv. the latter threatened with excommunication all who should support konrad, and forbade the priests to administer the sacraments of the church to his followers. the papal proclamations were so fierce that they incited the bishop of ratisbon to plot the king's murder, in which he came very near being successful. william of holland, whom the people called "the priests' king," was not supported by any of the leading german princes, but the gold of rome purchased him enough of troops to meet konrad in the field, and he was temporarily successful. the hostility of the pope seems scarcely to have affected konrad's position in germany; but both rulers and people were growing indifferent to the imperial power, the seat of which had been so long transferred to italy. they therefore took little part in the struggle between william and konrad, and the latter's defeat was by no means a gain to the former. the two rivals, in fact, were near their end. konrad iv. went to italy and took possession of the kingdom of his father, which his step-brother, manfred, governed in his name. he made an earnest attempt to be reconciled with the pope, but innocent iv. was implacable. he then collected an army of , men, and was about to lead it to germany against william of holland, when he suddenly died, in , in the th year of his age. it was generally believed that he had been poisoned. william of holland, since there was no one to dispute his claim, obtained a partial recognition of his sovereignty in germany; but, having undertaken to subdue the free farmers in friesland, he was defeated. while attempting to escape, his heavy war-horse broke through the ice, and the farmers surrounded and slew him. this was in , two years after konrad's death. innocent iv. had expended no less than , silver marks--a very large sum in those days--in supporting him and henry raspe against the hohenstaufens. [sidenote: .] konrad iv. left behind him, in suabia, a son konrad, who was only two years old at his father's death. in order to distinguish him from the latter, the italians gave him the name of _conradino_ (little konrad), and as konradin he is known in german history. he was educated under the charge of his mother, queen elizabeth, and his uncle ludwig ii., duke of bavaria. when he was ten years old, the archbishop of mayence called a diet, at which it was agreed that he should be crowned king of germany, but the ceremony was prevented by the furious opposition of the pope. konradin made such progress in his studies and exhibited so much fondness for literature and the arts, that the followers of the hohenstaufens saw in him another frederick ii. one of his poems is still in existence, and testifies to the grace and refinement of his youthful mind. after konrad iv.'s death, the pope claimed the kingdom of naples and sicily as being forfeited to the church, but found it prudent to allow manfred to govern in his name. the latter submitted at first, but only until his authority was firmly established: then he declared war, defeated the papal troops, drove them back to rome, and was crowned king in . the news of his success so agitated the pope that he died shortly afterwards. his successor, urban iv., a frenchman, who imitated his policy, found manfred too strongly established to be defeated without foreign aid. he therefore offered the crown of southern italy to charles of anjou, the brother of king louis ix. of france. physically and intellectually, there could be no greater contrast than between him and manfred. charles of anjou was awkward and ugly, savage, ignorant and bigoted: manfred was a model of manly beauty, a scholar and poet, a patron of learning, a builder of roads, bridges and harbors, a just and noble ruler. charles of anjou, after being crowned king of naples and sicily by the pope, and having secured secret advantages by bribery and intrigue, marched against manfred in . they met at benevento, where, after a long and bloody battle, manfred was slain, and the kingdom submitted to the usurper. by the pope's order, manfred's body was taken from the chapel where it had been buried, and thrown into a trench: his widow and children were imprisoned for life by charles of anjou. [sidenote: . konradin in italy.] the boy konradin determined to avenge his uncle's death, and recover his own italian inheritance. his mother sought to dissuade him from the attempt, but ludwig of bavaria offered to support him, and his dearest friend, frederick of baden, a youth of nineteen, insisted on sharing his fortunes. towards the end of , he crossed the alps and reached verona with a force of , men. here he was obliged to wait three months for further support, and during this time more than two-thirds of his german soldiers returned home. but a reaction against the guelphs (the papal party) had set in; several lombard cities and the republic of pisa declared in konradin's favor, and finally the romans, at his approach, expelled pope urban iv. a revolt against charles of anjou broke out in naples and sicily, and when konradin entered rome, in july, , his success seemed almost assured. after a most enthusiastic reception by the roman people, he continued his march southward, with a considerable force. on the d of august he met charles of anjou in battle, and was at first victorious. but his troops, having halted to plunder the enemy's camp, were suddenly attacked, and at last completely routed. konradin and his friend, frederick of baden, fled to rome, and thence to the little port of astura, on the coast, in order to embark for sicily; but here they were arrested by frangipani, the governor of the place, who had been specially favored by the emperor frederick ii., and now sold his grandson to charles of anjou for a large sum of money. konradin having been carried to naples, a court of distinguished jurists was called, to try him for high treason. with one exception, they pronounced him guiltless of any crime; yet charles, nevertheless, ordered him to be executed. [sidenote: .] on the th of october, , the last hohenstaufen, a youth of sixteen, and his friend frederick, were led to the scaffold. charles watched the scene from a window of his palace; the people, gloomy and mutinous, were overawed by his guards. konradin advanced to the edge of the platform and threw his glove among the crowd, asking that it might be carried to some one who would avenge his death. a knight who was present took it afterwards to peter of aragon, who had married king manfred's eldest daughter. then, with the exclamation: "oh, mother, what sorrow i have prepared for thee!" konradin knelt and received the fatal blow. after him frederick of baden and thirteen others were executed. the tyranny and inhuman cruelty of charles of anjou provoked a conspiracy which, in the year , gave rise to the massacre called "the sicilian vespers." in one night all the french officials and soldiers in sicily were slaughtered, and peter of aragon, the heir of the hohenstaufens, became king of the island. but in germany the proud race existed no more, except in history, legend and song. chapter xix. germany at the time of the interregnum. ( -- .) change in the character of the german empire. --richard of cornwall and alphonso of castile purchase their election. --the interregnum. --effect of the crusades. --heresy and persecution. --the orders of knighthood. --conquests of the german order. --rise of the cities. --robber-knights. --the hanseatic league. --population and power of the cities. --gothic architecture. --the universities. --seven classes of the people. --the small states. --service of the hohenstaufens to germany. --epic poetry of the middle ages. --historical writers. [sidenote: . changes in germany.] the end of the hohenstaufen dynasty marks an important phase in the history of germany. from this time the character of the empire is radically changed. although still called "roman" in official documents, the term is henceforth an empty form, and even the word "empire" loses much of its former significance. the italian republics were now practically independent, and the various dukedoms, bishoprics, principalities and countships, into which germany was divided, were fast rendering it difficult to effect any unity of feeling or action among the people. the empire which charlemagne designed, which otto the great nearly established, and which barbarossa might have founded, but for the fatal ambition of governing italy, had become impossible. germany was, in reality, a loose confederation of differently organized and governed states, which continued to make use of the form of an empire as a convenience rather than a political necessity. the events which followed the death of konrad iv. illustrate the corrupt condition of both church and state at that time. the money which pope innocent iv. so freely expended in favor of the anti-kings, henry raspe and william of holland, had already taught the electors the advantage of selling their votes: so, when william was slain by the farmers of friesland, and no german prince seemed to care much for the title of emperor (since each already had independent power over his own territory), the high dignity so recently possessed by frederick ii., was put up at auction. two bidders made their appearance, richard of cornwall, brother of henry iii. of england, and king alphonso of castile, surnamed "the wise." the archbishop of cologne was the business agent of the former: he received , silver marks for himself, and eight or nine thousand apiece for the dukes of bavaria, the archbishop of mayence, and several other electors. the archbishop of treves, in the name of king alphonso, offered the king of bohemia, the dukes of saxony and the margrave of brandenburg , marks each. of course both purchasers were elected, and they were proclaimed kings of germany almost at the same time. alphonso never even visited his realm: richard of cornwall came to aix-la-chapelle, was formally crowned, and returned now and then, whenever the produce of his tin-mines in cornwall enabled him to pay for an enthusiastic reception by the people. he never attempted, however, to govern germany, for he probably had intelligence enough to see that any such attempt would be disregarded. [sidenote: .] this period was afterwards called by the people "the evil time when there was no emperor"--and, in spite of the two kings, who had fairly paid for their titles, it is known in german history as "the interregnum." it was a period of change and confusion, when each prince endeavored to become an absolute ruler, and the knights, in imitating them, became robbers; when the free cities, encouraged by the example of italy, united in self-defence, and the masses of the people, although ground to the dust, began to dream again of the rights which their ancestors had possessed a thousand years before. first of all, the great change wrought in europe by the crusades was beginning to be felt by all classes of society. the attempt to retain possession of palestine, which lasted nearly two hundred years,--from the march of the first crusade in to the fall of acre in ,--cost europe, it is estimated, six millions of lives, and an immense amount of treasure. the roman church favored the undertaking in every possible way, since each crusade instantly and greatly strengthened its power; yet the result was the reverse of what the church hoped for, in the end. the bravery, intelligence and refined manners of the saracens made a great impression on the christian knights, and they soon began to imitate those whom they had at first despised. new branches of learning, especially astronomy, mathematics and medicine, were brought to europe from the east; more luxurious habits of life, giving rise to finer arts of industry, followed; and commerce, compelled to supply the crusaders and christian colonists at such a distance, was rapidly developed to an extent unknown since the fall of the roman empire. [sidenote: . growth of independent sects.] as men gained new ideas from these changes, they became more independent in thought and speech. the priests and monks ceased to monopolize all knowledge, and their despotism over the human mind met with resistance. then, first, the charge of "heresy" began to be heard; and although during the thirteenth and a part of the fourteenth centuries the pope of rome was undoubtedly the highest power in europe, the influences were already at work which afterwards separated the strongest races of the world from the roman church. on the one hand, new orders of monks were created, and monasteries increased everywhere: on the other hand, independent christian sects began to spring up, like the albigenses in france and the waldenses in savoy, and could not be wholly suppressed, even with fire and sword. the orders of knighthood which possessed a religious character, were also established during the crusades. first the knights of st. john, whose badge was a black mantle with a white cross, formed a society to guard pilgrims to the holy land, and take care of the sick. then followed the knights templar, distinguished by a red cross on a white mantle. both these orders originated among the italian chivalry, and they included few german members. during the third crusade, however (which was headed by barbarossa), the german order of knights was formed, chiefly by the aid of the merchants of bremen and lübeck. they adopted the black cross on a white mantle as their badge, took the monkish vows of celibacy, poverty and obedience, like the templars and the knights of st. john, and devoted their lives to war with the heathen. the second grand-master of this order, hermann of salza, accompanied frederick ii. to jerusalem, and his character was so highly estimated by the latter that he made him a prince of the german empire. [sidenote: .] inasmuch as the german order really owed its existence to the support of the merchants of the northern coast, hermann of salza sought for a field of labor wherein the knights might fulfil their vows, and at the same time achieve some advantage for their benefactors. as early as , the bremen merchants had founded riga, taken possession of the eastern shore of the baltic and established german colonies there. the native finnish or lithuanian inhabitants were either exterminated or forcibly converted to christianity, and an order, called "the brothers of the sword," was established for the defence of the colonies. this new german territory was separated from the rest of the empire by the country between the mouths of the vistula and the memel, claimed by poland, and inhabited by the borussii, or _prussians_, a tribe which seems to have been of mixed slavic and lithuanian blood. hermann of salza obtained from poland the permission to possess this country for the german order, and he gradually conquered or converted the native prussians. in the meantime the brothers of the sword were so hard pressed by a revolt of the livonians that they united themselves with the german order, and thenceforth formed a branch of it. the result of this union was that the whole coast of the baltic, from holstein to the gulf of finland, was secured to germany, and became civilized and christian. during the thirty-five years of frederick ii.'s reign and the seventeen succeeding years of the interregnum, germany was in a condition which allowed the strong to make themselves stronger, yet left the weaker classes without any protection. the reigning dukes and archbishops were, of course, satisfied with this state of affairs; the independent counts and barons with large possessions maintained their power by temporary alliances; the inferior nobles, left to themselves, became robbers of land, and highwaymen. with the introduction of new arts and the wider extension of commerce, the cities of germany had risen in wealth and power, and were beginning to develop an intelligent middle-class, standing between the farmers, who had sunk almost into the condition of serfs, and the lesser nobles, most of whom were equally poor and proud. upwards of sixty cities were free municipalities, belonging to the empire on the same terms as the dukedoms; that is, they contributed a certain proportion of men and money, and were bound to obey the decrees of the imperial diets. [sidenote: . robber-knights.--cities.] as soon, therefore, as there was no superior authority to maintain order and security in the land, a large number of the knights became freebooters, plundering and laying waste whenever opportunity offered, attacking the caravans of travelling merchants, and accumulating the ill-gotten wealth in their strong castles. many an aristocratic family of the present day owes its inheritance to that age of robbery and murder. the people had few secured rights and no actual freedom in germany, with the exception of friesland, some parts of saxony and the alpine districts. in this condition of things, the free cities soon found it advisable to assist each other. bremen, hamburg and lübeck first formed a union, chiefly for commercial purposes, in , and this was the foundation of the famous hanseatic league. immediately after the death of konrad iv., mayence, speyer, worms, strasburg and basel formed the "union of rhenish cities," for the preservation of peace and the mutual protection of their citizens. many other cities, and even a number of reigning princes and bishops, soon became members of this league, which for a time exercised considerable power. the principal german cities were then even more important than now; few of them have gained in population or in relative wealth in the course of years. cologne had then , inhabitants, mayence , , worms , , and ratisbon on the danube upwards of , . the cities of the rhine had agencies in england and other countries, carried on commerce on the high seas, and owned no less than armed vessels, with which they guarded the rhine from the land-pirates whose castles overlooked its course. during this age of civil and religious despotism, the german cities possessed and preserved the only free institutions to be found. they owed this privilege to the heroic resistance of the republican cities of italy to the hohenstaufens, which not only set them an example but fought in their stead. sure of the loyalty of the german cities, the emperors were not so jealous of their growth; but some of the rights which they conferred were reluctantly given, and probably in return for men or money during the wars in italy. the decree which changed a vassal, or dependent, into a free man after a year's residence in a city, helped greatly to build up a strong and intelligent middle-class. the merchants, professional men and higher artisans gradually formed a patrician society, out of which the governing officers were selected, while the mechanics, for greater protection, organized themselves into separate guilds, or orders. each of the latter was very watchful of the character and reputation of its members, and thus exercised a strong moral influence. the farmers, only, had no such protection: very few of them were not dependent vassals of some nobleman or priest. [sidenote: .] the cities, in the thirteenth century, began to exhibit a stately architectural character. the building of splendid cathedrals and monasteries, which began two centuries before, now gave employment to such a large number of architects and stone-cutters, that they formed a free corporation, under the name of "brother-builders," with especial rights and privileges, all over germany. their labors were supported by the power of the church, the wealth of the merchants and the toil of the vassals, and the masterpieces of gothic architecture arose under their hands. the grand cathedrals of strasburg, freiburg and cologne with many others, yet remain as monuments of their genius and skill. but the private dwellings, also, now began to display the wealth and taste of their owners. they were usually built very high, with pointed gables facing the street, and adorned with sculptured designs: frequently the upper stories projected over the lower, forming a shelter for the open shops in the first story. as the cities were walled for defence, the space within the walls was too valuable to be given to wide squares and streets: hence there was usually one open market-place, which also served for all public ceremonies, and the streets were dark and narrow. in spite of the prevailing power of the roman church, the universities now began to exercise some influence. those of bologna and padua were frequented by throngs of students, who attended the schools of law, while the university of salerno, under the patronage of manfred, became a distinguished school of medicine. the arabic university of cordova, in spain, also attracted many students from all the christian lands of europe. works on all branches of knowledge were greatly multiplied, so that the copying of them became a new profession. for the first time, there were written forms of law for the instruction of the people. in the northern part of germany appeared a work called "the saxon's looking-glass," which was soon accepted as a legal authority by the people. but it was too liberal for the priests, and under their influence another work, "the suabian's looking-glass," was written and circulated in southern germany. the former book declares that the emperor has his power from god; the latter that he has it from the pope. the saxon is told that no man can justly hold another man as property, and that the people were made vassals through force and wrong; the suabian is taught that obedience to rulers is his chief duty. [sidenote: . classes of the people.] from these two works, which are still in existence, we learn how complicated was the political organization of germany. the whole free population was divided into seven classes, each having its own privileges and rules of government. first, there was the emperor; secondly, the spiritual princes, as they were called (archbishops, reigning bishops, &c.); thirdly, the temporal princes, some of whom were partly or wholly "vassals" of the spiritual authority; and fourthly, the counts and barons who possessed territory, either independently, or as _lehen_ of the second and third classes. these four classes constituted the higher nobility, by whom the emperor was chosen, and each of whom had the right to be a candidate. seven princes were specially entitled "electors," because the nomination of a candidate for emperor came from them. there were three spiritual--the archbishops of mayence, treves and cologne; and four temporal--the dukes of bavaria and saxony, the margrave of brandenburg and the king of bohemia. the fifth class embraced the free citizens from among whom magistrates were chosen, and who were allowed to possess certain privileges of the nobles. the sixth and seventh classes were formed out of the remaining freemen, according to their circumstances and occupations. the serfs and dependents had no place in this system of government, so that a large majority of the german people possessed no other recognized right than that of being ruled and punished. in fact, the whole political system was so complicated and unpractical that we can only wonder how germany endured it for centuries afterwards. at the end of the hohenstaufen dynasty there were one hundred and sixteen priestly rulers, one hundred ruling dukes, princes, counts and barons, and more than sixty independent cities in germany. the larger dukedoms had been cut up into smaller states, many of which exist, either as states or provinces, at this day. styria and tyrol were separated from bavaria; the principalities of westphalia, anhalt, holstein, jülich, berg, cleves, pomerania and mecklenburg were formed out of saxony; suabia was divided into würtemberg and baden, the palatinate of the rhine detached from franconia and hesse from thuringia. each of the principal german races was distinguished by two colors--the franks red and white, the suabians red and yellow, the bavarians blue and white, and the saxons black and white. the saxon _black_, the frank _red_, and the suabian _gold_ were set together as the imperial colors. [sidenote: .] the chief service of the hohenstaufens to germany lay in their direct and generous encouragement of art, learning and literature. they took up the work commenced by charlemagne and so disastrously thwarted by his son ludwig the pious, and in the course of a hundred years they developed what might be called a golden age of architecture and epic poetry, so strongly does it contrast with the four centuries before and the three succeeding it. the immediate connection between germany and italy, where the most of roman culture had survived and the higher forms of civilization were first restored, was in this single respect a great advantage to the former country. we cannot ascertain how many of the nobler characteristics of knighthood, in that age, sprang from the religious spirit which prompted the crusades, and how many originated from intercourse with the refined and high-spirited saracens; both elements, undoubtedly, tended to revive the almost forgotten love of poetry in the german race. [sidenote: . german epic poems.] when the knights of provence and italy became as proud of their songs as of their feats of arms; when minstrels accompanied the court of frederick ii. and the emperor himself wrote poems in rivalry with them; when the duke of austria and the landgrave hermann of thuringia invited the best poets of the time to visit them and received them as distinguished guests, and when wandering minstrels and story-tellers repeated their works in a simpler form to the people everywhere, it was not long before a new literature was created. walter von der vogelweide, who accompanied frederick ii. to jerusalem, wrote not only songs of love and poems in praise of nature, but satires against the pope and the priesthood. godfrey of strasburg produced an epic poem describing the times of king arthur of the round table, and wolfram of eschenbach, in his "parcival," celebrated the search for the holy grail; while inferior poets related the histories of alexander the great, the siege of troy, or charlemagne's knight, roland. among the people arose the story of reynard the fox, and a multitude of fables; and finally, during the thirteenth century, was produced the celebrated _nibelungenlied_, or song of the nibelungen, wherein traditions of siegfried of the netherlands, theodoric the ostrogoth and attila with his huns are mixed together in a powerful story of love, rivalry and revenge. the most of these poems are written in a suabian dialect, which is now called the "middle (or mediæval) high-german." among the historical writers were bishop otto of friesing, whose chronicles of the time are very valuable, and saxo grammaticus, in whose history of denmark shakspeare found the material for his play of _hamlet_. albertus magnus, the bishop of ratisbon, was so distinguished as a mathematician and man of science that the people believed him to be a sorcerer. there was, in short, a general intellectual awakening throughout germany, and, although afterwards discouraged by many of the smaller powers, it was favored by others and could not be suppressed. besides, greater changes were approaching. a hundred years after frederick ii.'s death gunpowder was discovered, and the common soldier became the equal of the knight. in another hundred years, gutenberg invented printing, and then followed, rapidly, the discovery of america and the reformation. chapter xx. from rudolf of hapsburg to ludwig the bavarian. ( -- .) rudolf of hapsburg. --his election as emperor. --meeting with pope gregory x. --war with ottokar ii. of bohemia. --rudolf's victories. --diet of augsburg. --suppression of robber-knights. --rudolf's second marriage. --his death. --his character and habits. --adolf of nassau elected. --his rapacity and dishonesty. --albert of hapsburg rival emperor. --adolf's death. --albert's character. --quarrel with pope bonifacius. --albert's plans. --revolt of the swiss cantons. --john parricida murders the emperor. --the popes remove to avignon. --henry of luxemburg elected emperor. --his efforts to restore peace. --his welcome to italy, and coronation. --he is poisoned. --ludwig of bavaria elected. --battle of morgarten. --frederick of austria captured. --the papal "interdict." --conspiracy of leopold of austria. --ludwig's visit to italy. --his superstition and cowardice. --his efforts to be reconciled to the pope. --treachery of philip vi. of france. --the convention at rense. --alliance with england. --ludwig's unpopularity. --karl of bohemia rival emperor. --ludwig's death. --the german cities. [sidenote: .] richard of cornwall died in , and the german princes seemed to be in no haste to elect a successor. the pope, gregory x., finally demanded an election, for the greater convenience of having to deal with one head, instead of a multitude; and the archbishop of mayence called a diet together at frankfort, the following year. he proposed, as candidate, count rudolf of hapsburg (or habsburg), a petty ruler in switzerland, who had also possessions in alsatia. up to his time the family had been insignificant; but, as a zealous partisan of frederick ii. in whose excommunication he had shared, as a crusader against the heathen prussians, and finally, in his maturer years, as a man of great prudence, moderation and firmness, he had made the name of hapsburg generally and quite favorably known. his brother-in-law, count frederick of hohenzollern, the burgrave, or governor, of the city of nuremburg (and the founder of the present house of the hohenzollerns), advocated rudolf's election among the members of the diet. the chief considerations in his favor were his personal character, his lack of power, and the circumstance of his possessing six marriageable daughters. there were also private stipulations which secured him the support of the priesthood, and so he was elected king of germany. [sidenote: . rudolf of habsburg.] rudolf was crowned at aix-la-chapelle. at the close of the ceremony it was discovered that the imperial sceptre was missing, whereupon he took a crucifix from the altar, and held it forth to the princes, who came to swear allegiance to his rule. he was at this time fifty-five years of age, extremely tall and lank, with a haggard face and large aquiline nose. although he was always called "emperor" by the people, he never received, or even desired, the imperial crown of rome. he was in the habit of saying that rome was the den of the lion, into which led the tracks of many other animals, but none were seen leading out of it again. it was easy for him, therefore, to conclude a peace with the pope. he met gregory x. at lausanne, and there formally renounced all claim to the rights held by the hohenstaufens in italy. he even recognized charles of anjou as king of sicily and naples, and betrothed one of his daughters to the latter's son. the church of rome received possession of all the territory it had claimed in central italy, and the lombard and tuscan republics were left for awhile undisturbed. he further promised to undertake a new crusade for the recovery of jerusalem, and was then solemnly recognized by gregory x. as rightful king of germany. but, although rudolf had so readily given up all for which the hohenstaufens had struggled in italy, he at once claimed their estates in germany as belonging to the crown. this brought him into conflict with counts ulric and eberhard ii. of würtemberg, who were also allied with king ottokar ii. of bohemia in opposition to his authority. the latter had obtained possession of austria, through marriage, and of all styria and carinthia to the adriatic by purchase. he was ambitious and defiant: some historians suppose that he hoped to make himself emperor of germany, others that his object was to establish a powerful slavonic nation. rudolf did not delay long in declaring him outlawed, and in calling upon the other princes for an army to lead against him. the call was received with indifference: no one feared the new emperor, and hence no one obeyed. [sidenote: .] gathering together such troops as his son-in-law, ludwig of the bavarian palatinate, could furnish, rudolf marched into austria, after he had restored order in würtemberg. a revolt of the austrian and styrian nobles against bohemian rule followed this movement: the country was gradually reconquered, and vienna, after a siege of five weeks, fell into rudolf's hands. ottokar ii. then found it advisable to make peace with the man whom he had styled "a poor count," by giving up his claim to austria, styria and carinthia, and paying homage to the emperor of germany. in october, , the treaty was concluded. ottokar appeared in all the splendor he could command, and was received by rudolf in a costume not very different from that of a common soldier. "the bohemian king has often laughed at my gray coat," he said; "but now my coat shall laugh at him." ottokar was enraged at what he considered an insulting humiliation, and secretly plotted revenge. for nearly two years he intrigued with the states of northern germany and the poles, collected a large army under the pretext of conquering hungary, and suddenly declared war against rudolf. the emperor was only supported by the count of tyrol, by frederick of hohenzollern and a few bishops, but he procured the alliance of the hungarians, and then marched against ottokar with a much inferior force. nevertheless, he was completely victorious in the battle which took place, on the river march, in august, . ottokar was killed, and his saxon and bavarian allies scattered. rudolf used his victory with a moderation which secured him new advantages. he married one of his daughters to wenzel, ottokar's son, and allowed him the crown of bohemia and moravia; he gave carinthia to the count of tyrol, and austria and styria to his own sons, rudolf and albert. towards the other german princes he was so conciliatory and forbearing that they found no cause for further opposition. thus the influence of the house of hapsburg was permanently founded, and--curiously enough, when we consider the later history of germany--chiefly by the help of the founder of the house of hohenzollern. [sidenote: . rudolf's successes.] after spending five years in austria, and securing the results of his victory, rudolf returned to the interior of germany. a diet held at augsburg in confirmed his sons in their new sovereignties, and his authority as german emperor was thenceforth never seriously opposed. he exerted all his influence over the princes in endeavoring to settle the numberless disputes which arose out of the law by which the territory and rule of the father were divided among many sons,--or, in case there were no direct heirs, which gave more than one relative an equal claim. he proclaimed a national peace, or cessation of quarrels between the states, and thereby accomplished some good, although the order was only partially obeyed. at a diet which he held in erfurt, he urged the strongest measures for the suppression of knightly robbery. sixty castles of the noble highwaymen were razed to the ground, and more than thirty of the titled vagabonds expiated their crimes on the scaffold. in all the measures which he undertook for the general welfare of the country he succeeded as far as was possible at such a time. in his schemes of personal ambition, however, the emperor was not so successful. his attempt to make his eldest son duke of suabia failed completely. then in order to establish a right to burgundy, he married, at the age of sixty-six, the sister of count robert, a girl of only fourteen. although he gained some few advantages in western switzerland, he was resisted by the city of berne, and all he accomplished in the end was the stirring up of a new hostility to germany and a new friendship for france throughout the whole of burgundy. on the eastern frontier, however, the empire was enlarged by the voluntary annexation of silesia to bohemia, in exchange for protection against the claims of poland. in rudolf's eldest son, of the same name, died, and at a diet held in frankfort the following year he endeavored to procure the election of his son albert, as his successor. a majority of the bishops and princes decided to postpone the question, and rudolf left the city, deeply mortified. he soon afterwards fell ill, and, being warned by the physician that his case was serious, he exclaimed: "well, then, now for speyer!"--the old burial-place of the german emperors. but before reaching there he died, in july, , aged seventy-three years. [sidenote: .] rudolf of hapsburg was very popular among the common people, on account of his frank, straightforward manner, and the simplicity of his habits. he was a complete master of his own passions, and in this respect contrasted remarkably with the rash and impetuous hohenstaufens. he never showed impatience or irritation, but was always good-humored, full of jests and shrewd sayings, and accessible to all classes. when supplies were short, he would pull up a turnip, peel and eat it in the presence of his soldiers, to show that he fared no better than they, he would refuse a drink of water unless there was enough for all; and it is related that once, on a cold day, he went into the shop of a baker in mayence to warm himself, and was greatly amused when the good housewife insisted on turning him out as a suspicious character. nevertheless, he could not overcome the fascination which the hohenstaufen name still exercised over the people. the idea of barbarossa's return had already taken root among them, and more than one impostor, who claimed to be the dead emperor, found enough of followers to disturb rudolf's reign. an imperial authority like that of otto the great or barbarossa had not been restored; yet rudolf's death left the empire in a more orderly condition, and the many small rulers were more willing to continue the forms of government. but the archbishop gerard of mayence, who had bargained secretly with count adolf of nassau, easily persuaded the electors that it was impolitic to preserve the power in one family, and he thus secured their votes for adolf, who was crowned shortly afterwards. the latter was even poorer than rudolf of hapsburg had been, but without either his wisdom or honesty. he was forced to part with so many imperial privileges to secure his election, that his first policy seems to have been to secure money and estates for himself. he sold to visconti of milan the viceroyalty over lombardy, which he claimed as still being a german right, and received from edward i. of england £ , sterling as the price of his alliance in a war against philip iv. of france. instead, however, of keeping his part of the bargain, he used some of the money to purchase thuringia of the landgrave albert, who was carrying on an unnatural quarrel with his two sons, frederick and dietzmann, and thus disposed of their inheritance. albert (surnamed the degenerate) also disposed of the countship of meissen in the same way, and when the people resisted the transfer, their lands were terribly devastated by adolf of nassau. this course was a direct interference with the rights of reigning families, a violation of the law of inheritance, and it excited great hostility to adolf's rule among the other princes. [sidenote: . albert of habsburg.] the rapacity of the new emperor, in fact, was the cause of his speedy downfall. in order to secure the support of the bishops, he had promised them the tolls on vessels sailing up and down the rhine, while the abolition of the same tolls was promised to the free cities on that river. the archbishop of mayence sent word to him that he had other emperors in his pocket, but adolf paid little heed to his remonstrances. albert of hapsburg, son of rudolf, turned the general dissatisfaction to his own advantage. he won his brother-in-law, wenzel ii. of bohemia, to his side, and purchased the alliance of philip the fair of france by yielding to him the possession of portions of burgundy and flanders. after private negotiations with the german princes, both spiritual and temporal, the archbishop of mayence called a diet together in that city, in june, . adolf was declared to have forfeited the crown, and albert was elected in his stead by all the electors except those of treves and bavaria. within ten days after the election the rivals met in battle: both had foreseen the struggle, and had made hasty preparations to meet it. adolf fought with desperation, even after being wounded, and finally came face to face with albert, on the field. "here you must yield the empire to me!" he cried, drawing his sword. "that rests with god," was albert's answer, and he struck adolf dead. after this victory, the german princes nevertheless required that albert should be again elected before being crowned, since they feared that this precedent of choosing a rival monarch might lead to trouble in the future. albert of hapsburg was a hard, cold man, with all of his father's will and energy, yet without his moderation and shrewdness. he was haughty and repellent in his manner, and from first to last made no friends. he was one-eyed, on account of a singular cure which had been practised upon him. having become very ill, his physicians suspected that he was poisoned: they thereupon hung him up by the heels, and took one eye out of its socket, so that the poison might thus escape from his head! the single aim of his life was to increase the imperial power and secure it to his own family. whether his measures conduced to the welfare of germany, or not, was a question which he did not consider, and therefore whatever good he accomplished was simply accidental. [sidenote: .] although albert had agreed to yield many privileges to the church, the pope, bonifacius viii., refused to acknowledge him as king of germany, declaring that the election was null and void. but the same pope, by his haughty assumptions of authority over all monarchs, had drawn upon himself the enmity of philip the fair, of france, and albert made a new alliance with the latter. he also obtained the support of the cities, on promising to abolish the rhine-dues, and with their help completely subdued the archbishops, who claimed the dues and refused to give them up. this was a great advantage, not only for the rhine-cities, but for all germany: it tended to strengthen the power of the increasing middle-class. the pope, finding his plans thwarted and his authority defied, now began to make friendly overtures to albert. he had already excommunicated philip the fair, and claimed the right to dispose of the crown of france, which he offered to albert in return for the latter's subjection to him and armed assistance. there was danger to germany in this tempting bait; but in , bonifacius, having been taken prisoner near rome by his italian enemies, became insane from rage, and soon died. albert's stubborn and selfish attempts to increase the power of his house all failed: their only result was a wider and keener spirit of hostility to his rule. he claimed thuringia and meissen, alleging that adolf of nassau had purchased those lands, not for himself but for the empire; he endeavored to get possession of holland, whose line of ruling counts had become extinct; and after the death of wenzel ii. of bohemia, in , he married his son, rudolf, to the latter's widow. but counts frederick and dietzmann of thuringia defeated his army: the people of holland elected a descendant of their counts on the female side, and the emperor's son, rudolf, died in bohemia, apparently poisoned, before two years were out. then the swiss cantons of schwyz, uri and unterwalden, which had been governed by civil officers appointed by the emperors, rose in revolt against him, and drove his governors from their alpine valleys. in november, , that famous league was formed, by which the three cantons maintained their independence, and laid the first corner-stone of the republic of switzerland. [sidenote: . murder of albrecht of habsburg.] the following may, , albert was in baden, raising troops for a new campaign in thuringia. his nephew, john, a youth of nineteen, who had vainly endeavored to have his right to a part of the hapsburg territory in switzerland confirmed by the emperor, was with him, accompanied by four knights, with whom he had conspired. while crossing a river, they managed to get into the same boat with the emperor, leaving the rest of his retinue upon the other bank; then, when they had landed, they fell upon him, murdered him, and fled. a peasant woman, who was near, lifted albert upon her lap and he died in her arms. his widow, the empress elizabeth, took a horrible revenge upon the families of the conspirators, whose relatives and even their servants, to the number of one thousand, were executed. one of the knights, who was captured, was broken upon the wheel. john, called in history _john parricida_, was never heard of afterwards, although one tradition affirms that he fled to rome, confessed his deed to the pope, and passed the rest of his life, under another name, in a monastery. thus, within five years, the despotic plans of both pope bonifacius viii. and albert of hapsburg came to a tragic end. the overwhelming power of the papacy, after a triumph of two hundred years, was broken. the second pope after bonifacius, clement v., made avignon, in southern france, his capital instead of rome, and the former city continued to be the residence of the popes, from , the year of albert's murder, until . the german electors were in no hurry to choose a new emperor. they were only agreed as to who should not be elected,--that is, no member of a powerful family; but it was not so easy to pick out an acceptable candidate from among the many inferior princes. the church, as usual, decided the question. peter, of mayence (who had been a physician and was made archbishop for curing the pope), intrigued with baldwin, archbishop of treves, in favor of the latter's brother, count henry of luxemburg. a diet was held at the "king's seat," on the hill of rense, near coblentz, where the blast of a hunting-horn could be heard in four electorates at the same time, and henry was chosen king. he was crowned at aix-la-chapelle on the th of january, , as henry vii. [sidenote: .] his first aim was to restore peace and order to germany. he was obliged to reëstablish the rhine-dues, in the interest of the archbishops who had supported him, but he endeavored to recompense the cities by granting them other privileges. at a diet held in speyer, he released the three swiss cantons from their allegiance to the house of hapsburg, gave austria to the sons of the murdered albert, and had the bodies of the latter and his rival, adolf of nassau, buried in the cathedral, side by side. soon afterwards the bohemians, dissatisfied with henry of carinthia (who had become their king after the death of albert's son, rudolf), offered the hand of wenzel ii.'s youngest daughter, elizabeth, to henry's son, john. although the latter was only fourteen, and his bride twenty-two years of age, henry gave his consent to the marriage, and john became king of bohemia. in the new emperor called a diet at frankfort, in order to enforce a universal truce among the german states. he outlawed count eberhard of würtemberg, and took away his power to create disturbance; and then, germany being quiet, he turned his attention to italy, which was in a deplorable state of confusion, from the continual wars of the guelphs and the ghibellines. in lombardy, noble families had usurped the control of the former republican cities, and governed with greater tyranny than even the hohenstaufens. henry's object was to put an end to their civil wars, institute a new order, and--be crowned roman emperor. the pope, clement v., who was tired of avignon and suspicious of france, was secretly in favor of the plan, and the german princes openly supported it. towards the close of , henry vii. crossed mont cenis with an army of several thousand men, and was welcomed with great pomp in milan, where he was crowned with the iron crown of lombardy. the poet dante hailed him as a saviour of italy, and all parties formed the most extravagant expectations of the advantage they would derive from his coming. the emperor seems to have tried to act with entire impartiality, and consequently both parties were disappointed. the guelphs first rose against him, and instead of peace a new war ensued. he was not able to march to rome until , and by that time the city was again divided into two hostile parties. with the help of the colonnas, he gained possession of the southern bank of the tiber, and was crowned emperor in the lateran church by a cardinal, since there was no pope in rome: the orsini family, who were hostile to him, held possession of the other part of the city, including st. peter's and the vatican. [sidenote: . ludwig the bavarian elected.] there were now indications that all italy would be convulsed with a repetition of the old struggle. the guelphs rallied around king robert of naples as their head, while king frederick of sicily and the republic of pisa declared for the emperor. france and the pope were about to add new elements to the quarrel, when in august, , henry vii. died of poison, administered to him by a monk in the sacramental wine,--one of the most atrocious forms of crime which can be imagined. he was a man of many noble personal qualities, and from whom much was hoped, both in germany and italy; but his reign was too short for the attainment of any lasting results. when the electors came together at frankfort, in , it was found that their votes were divided between two candidates. henry vii.'s son, king john of bohemia, was only seventeen years old, and the friends of his house, not believing that he could be elected, united on duke ludwig of bavaria, a descendant of otto of wittelsbach. on the other hand, the friends of the house of hapsburg, with the combined influence of france and the pope on their side, proposed frederick of austria, the son of the emperor albert. there was a division of the diet, and both candidates were elected; but ludwig had four of the seven electors on his side, he reached aix-la-chapelle first and was there crowned, and thus he was considered to have the best right to the imperial dignity. ludwig of bavaria and frederick of austria had been bosom-friends until a short time previous; but they were now rivals and deadly enemies. for eight long years a civil war devastated germany. on frederick's side were austria, hungary, the palatinate of the rhine, and the archbishop of cologne, with the german nobles, as a class: on ludwig's side were bavaria, bohemia, thuringia, the cities and the middle class. frederick's brother, leopold, in attempting to subjugate the swiss cantons, the freedom of which had been confirmed by ludwig, suffered a crushing defeat in the famous battle of morgarten, fought in . the austrian force in this battle was , , the swiss , : the latter lost men, the former , soldiers and knights. from that day the freedom of the swiss was secured. [sidenote: .] the pope, john xxii., declared that he only had the right of deciding between the two rival sovereigns, and used all the means in his power to assist frederick. the war was prolonged until , when, in a battle fought at mühldorf, near salzburg, the struggle was decided. after a combat of ten hours, the bavarians gave way, and ludwig narrowly escaped capture; then the austrians, mistaking a part of the latter's army for the troops of leopold, which were expected on the field, were themselves surrounded, and frederick with , knights taken prisoner. the battle was, in fact, an earlier waterloo in its character. ludwig saluted frederick with the words: "we are glad to see you, cousin!" and then imprisoned him in a strong castle. there was now a truce in germany, but no real peace. ludwig felt himself strong enough to send some troops to the relief of duke visconti of milan, who was hard pressed by a neapolitan army in the interest of the pope. for this act, john xxii. not only excommunicated and cursed him officially, but extended the papal "interdict" over germany. the latter measure was one which formerly occasioned the greatest dismay among the people, but it had now lost much of its power. the "interdict" prohibited all priestly offices in the lands to which it was applied. the churches were closed, the bells were silent, no honors were paid to the dead, and it was even ordered that the marriage ceremony should be performed in the churchyards. but the german people refused to submit to such an outrage; the few priests who attempted to obey the pope, were either driven away or compelled to perform their religious duties as usual. the next event in the struggle was a conspiracy of leopold of austria with charles iv. of france, favored by the pope, to overthrow ludwig. but the other german princes who were concerned in it quietly withdrew when the time came for action, and the plot failed. then ludwig, tired of his trials, sent his prisoner frederick to leopold as a mediator, the former promising to return and give himself up, if he should not succeed. leopold was implacable, and frederick kept his word, although the pope offered to relieve him of his promise, and threatened him with excommunication for not breaking it. ludwig was generous enough to receive him as a friend, to give him his full liberty and dignity, and even to divide his royal rule privately with him. the latter arrangement was so unpractical that it was not openly proclaimed, but the good understanding between the two contributed to the peace of germany. leopold died in , and ludwig enjoyed an undisputed authority. [sidenote: . quarrel with the pope.] in , the emperor felt himself strong enough to undertake an expedition to italy, his object being to relieve lombardy from the aggressions of naples, and to be crowned emperor in rome in spite of the pope. in this, he was tolerably successful. he defeated the guelphs and was crowned in milan the same year, then marched to rome, and was crowned emperor early in , under the auspices of the colonna family, by two excommunicated bishops. he presided at an assembly of the roman people, at which john xxii. was declared a heretic and renegade, and a franciscan monk elected pope under the name of nikolaus v. ludwig, however, soon became as unpopular as any of his predecessors, and from the same cause--the imposition of heavy taxes upon the people, in order to keep up his imperial state. he remained two years longer in italy, encountering as much hate as friendship, and was then recalled to germany by the death of frederick of austria. the papal excommunication, which the hohenstaufen emperors had borne so easily, seems to have weighed sorely upon ludwig's mind. his nature was weak and vacillating, capable of only a limited amount of endurance. he began to fear that his soul was in peril, and made the most desperate efforts to be reconciled with the pope. the latter, however, demanded his immediate abdication as a preliminary to any further negotiation, and was supported in this demand by the king of france, who was very ambitious of obtaining the crown of germany, with the help of the church. king john of bohemia acted as a go-between, but he was also secretly pledged to france, and an agreement was nearly concluded, of a character so cowardly and disgraceful to ludwig that when some hint of it became known, there arose such an angry excitement in germany that the emperor did not dare to move further in the matter. [sidenote: .] john xxii. died about this time ( ) and was succeeded by benedict xii., a man of a milder and more conciliatory nature, with whom ludwig immediately commenced fresh negotiations. he offered to abdicate, to swear allegiance to the pope, to undergo any humiliation which the latter might impose upon him. benedict was quite willing to be reconciled to him on these conditions, but the arrangement was prevented by philip vi. of france, who hoped, like his father, to acquire the crown of germany. as soon as this became evident, ludwig adopted a totally different course. in the summer of he called a diet at frankfort (which was afterwards adjourned to rense, near coblentz), and laid the matter before the bishops, princes and free cities, which were now represented. the diet unanimously declared that the emperor had exhausted all proper means of reconciliation, and the pope alone was responsible for the continuance of the struggle. the excommunication and interdict were pronounced null and void, and severe punishments were decreed for the priests who should heed them in any way. as it was evident that france had created the difficulty, an alliance was concluded with england, whose king, edward iii., appeared before the diet at coblentz, and procured the acknowledgment of his claim to the crown of france. ludwig, as emperor, sat upon the royal seat at rense, and all the german princes--with the exception of king john of bohemia, who had gone over to france--made the solemn declaration that the king and emperor whom they had elected, or should henceforth elect, derived his dignity and power from god, and did not require the sanction of the pope. they also bound themselves to defend the rights and liberties of the empire against any assailant whatever. these were brave words: but we shall presently see how much they were worth. the alliance with england was made for seven years. ludwig was to furnish german troops for edward iii.'s army, in return for english gold. for a year he was faithful to the contract, then the old superstitious fear came over him, and he listened to the secret counsels of philip vi. of france, who offered to mediate with the pope in his behalf. but, after ludwig had been induced to break his word with england, philip, having gained what he wanted, prevented his reconciliation with the pope. this miserable weakness on the emperor's part destroyed his authority in germany. at the same time he was imitating every one of his imperial predecessors, in trying to strengthen the power of his family. he gave brandenburg to his eldest son, ludwig, married his second son, henry, to margaret of tyrol, whom he arbitrarily divorced from her first husband, a son of john of bohemia, and claimed the sovereignty of holland as his wife's inheritance. [sidenote: . death of ludwig the bavarian.] ludwig had now become so unpopular, that when another pope, clement vi., in april, , hurled against him a new excommunication, expressed in the most horrible terms, the archbishops made it a pretext for openly opposing the emperor's rule. they united with the pope in selecting karl, the son of john of bohemia (who fell by the sword of the black prince the same summer, at the famous battle of crecy), and proclaiming him emperor in ludwig's stead. all the cities, and the temporal princes, except those of bohemia and saxony, stood faithfully by ludwig, and karl could gain no advantage over him. he went to france, then to italy, and finally betook himself to bohemia, where he was a rival monarch only in name. in october, , ludwig, who was then residing in munich, his favorite capital, was stricken with apoplexy while hunting, and fell dead from his horse. he was sixty-three years old, and had reigned thirty-three years. in german history, he is always called "ludwig the bavarian." during the last ten years of his reign many parts of germany suffered severely from famine, and a pestilence called "the black death" carried off thousands of persons in every city. these misfortunes probably confirmed him in his superstition, and partly account for his shameful and degrading policy. the only service which his long rule rendered to germany sprang from the circumstance, that, having been supported by the free cities in his war with frederick of austria, he was compelled to protect them against the aggressions of the princes afterwards, and in various ways to increase their rights and privileges. there were now such cities, and from this time forward they constituted a separate power in the empire. they encouraged learning and literature, favored peace and security of travel for the sake of their commerce, organized and protected the mechanic arts, and thus, during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, contributed more to the progress of germany than all her spiritual and temporal rulers. chapter xxi. the luxemburg emperors, karl iv. and wenzel. ( -- .) the imperial crown in the market --günther of schwarzburg. --karl iv. emperor. --his character and policy. --the university of prague. --rienzi tribune of rome. --karl's course in italy. --the "golden bull." --its provisions and effect. --coronation in rome. --the last ten years of his reign. --his death. --eberhard the greiner. --the "hansa" and its victories. --achievements of the german order. --wenzel becomes emperor. --the suabian league. --the battle of sempach. --independence of switzerland. --defeat of the suabian cities. --wenzel's rule in prague. --conspiracy against him. --schism in the roman church. --count rupert rival emperor. --convention of marbach. --anarchy in germany. --death-blow to the german order. --rupert's death. [sidenote: .] although the german princes were nearly unanimous in the determination that no member of the house of wittelsbach (bavaria) should again be emperor, they were by no means willing to accept karl of bohemia.[b] ludwig's son, ludwig of brandenburg, made no claim to his father's crown, but he united with saxony, mayence and the palatinate of the rhine, in offering it to edward iii. of england. when the latter declined, they chose count ernest of meissen, who, however, sold his claim to karl for , silver marks. then they took up günther of schwarzburg, a gallant and popular prince, who seemed to have a good prospect of success. in this emergency karl supported the pretensions of an adventurer, known as "the false waldemar," to brandenburg, against ludwig, and thus compelled the latter to treat with him. soon afterwards günther of schwarzburg died, poisoned, it was generally believed, by a physician whom karl had bribed, and by the end of the latter was emperor of germany, as karl iv. [b] of the house of luxemburg. [sidenote: . karl iv.] at this time he was thirty-three years old. he had been educated in france and italy, and was an accomplished scholar: he both spoke and wrote the bohemian, german, french, italian and latin languages. he was a thorough diplomatist, resembling in this respect rudolf of hapsburg, from whom he differed in his love of pomp and state, and in the care he took to keep himself always well supplied with money, which he well knew how and when to use. he had first purchased the influence of the pope by promising to disregard the declarations of the diet of at rense, and by relinquishing all claims to italy. then he won the free cities to his side by offers of more extended privileges; and the german princes, for form's sake, elected him a second time, thus acknowledging the papal authority which they had so boldly defied, ten years before. one of karl's first acts was to found, in prague--the city he selected as his capital--the _first_ german university, which he endowed so liberally and organized so thoroughly that in a few years it was attended by six or seven thousand students. for several years afterwards he occupied himself in establishing order throughout germany, and meanwhile negotiated with the pope in regard to his coronation as roman emperor. in spite of his complete submission to the latter, there were many difficulties to be overcome, arising out of the influence of france over the papacy, which was still established at avignon. karl arrested rienzi, "the last tribune of rome," and kept him for a time imprisoned in prague; but when the latter was sent back to rome as senator by pope innocent vi., in , karl was allowed to commence his italian journey. he was crowned roman emperor on the th of april, , by a cardinal sent from avignon for that purpose. in compliance with his promise to pope innocent, he remained in rome only a single day. instead of attempting to settle the disorders which convulsed italy, karl turned his journey to good account by selling all the remaining imperial rights and privileges to the republics and petty rulers, for hard cash. the poet petrarch had looked forward to his coming as dante had to that of his grandfather, henry vii., but satirized him bitterly when he returned to bohemia with his money. he left italy ridiculed and despised, but reached germany with greatly increased power. his next measure was to call a diet, for the purpose of permanently settling the relation of the german princes to the empire, and the forms to be observed in electing an emperor. all had learned, several centuries too late to be of much service, the necessity of some established order in these matters, and they came to a final agreement at metz, on christmas day, . [sidenote: .] then was promulgated the decree known as the "golden bull," which remained a law in germany until the empire came to an end, just years afterwards. it commences with these words: "every kingdom which is not united within itself will go to ruin: for its princes are the kindred of robbers, wherefore god removes the light of their minds from their office, they become blind leaders of the blind, and their darkened thoughts are the source of many misdeeds." the golden bull confirms the former custom of having seven chief electors--the archbishops of mayence, treves and cologne, the first of whom is arch-chancellor; the king of bohemia, arch-cupbearer; the count palatine of the rhine, arch-steward; the duke of saxony, arch-marshal, and the margrave of brandenburg, arch-chamberlain. the last four princes receive full authority over their territories, and there is no appeal, even to the emperor, from their decisions. their rule is transmitted to the eldest son; they have the right to coin money, to work mines, and to impose all taxes which formerly belonged to the empire. these are its principal features. the claims of the pope to authority over the emperor are not mentioned; the position of the other independent princes is left very much as it was, and the cities are prohibited from forming unions without the imperial consent. the only effect of this so-called "constitution" was to strengthen immensely the power of the four favored princes, and to encourage all the other rulers to imitate them. it introduced a certain order, and therefore was better than the previous absence of all law upon the subject; but it held the german people in a state of practical serfdom, it perpetuated their division and consequent weakness, and it gave the spirit of the middle ages a longer life in germany than in any other civilized country in the world. the remaining events of karl iv.'s life are of no great historical importance. in his son, wenzel, only two years old, was crowned at prague as king of bohemia, and soon afterwards he was called upon by the pope, urban v., who found that his residence in avignon was becoming more and more a state of captivity, to assist him in returning to rome. in , therefore, karl set out with a considerable force, entered southern france, crowned himself king of burgundy at arles--which was a hollow and ridiculous farce--and in reached rome, whither pope urban had gone in advance. here his wife was formally crowned as roman empress, and he humiliated himself by walking from the castle of st. angelo to st. peter's, leading the pope's mule by the bridle,--an act which drew upon him the contempt of the roman people. he had few or no more privileges to sell, so he met every evidence of hostility with a proclamation of amnesty, and returned to germany with the intention of violating his own golden bull, by having his son wenzel proclaimed his successor. his departure marks the end of german interference in italy. [sidenote: . wenzel elected successor.] for ten years longer karl iv. continued to strengthen his family by marriage, by granting to the cities the right of union in return for their support, and by purchasing the influence of such princes as were accessible to bribes. he was so cool and calculating, and pursued his policy with so much patience and skill, that the most of his plans succeeded. his son wenzel was elected his successor by a diet held at frankfort in january, , each of the chief electors receiving , florins for his vote, and this choice was confirmed by the pope. to his second son, sigismund, he gave brandenburg, which he had obtained partly by intrigue and partly by purchase, and to his third son, john, the province of lusatia, adjoining silesia. his health had been gradually failing, and in november, , he died in prague, sixty-three years old, leaving the german empire in a more disorderly state than he had found it. his tastes were always bohemian rather than german: he preferred prague to any other residence, and whatever good he intentionally did was conferred on his own immediate subjects. more than a century afterwards, the emperor maximilian of hapsburg very justly said of him: "karl iv. was a genuine father to bohemia, but only a step-father to the rest of germany." during the latter years of his reign, two very different movements, independent of the imperial will, or in spite of it, had been started in southern and northern germany. in würtemberg the cities united, and carried on a fierce war with count eberhard, surnamed the _greiner_ (whiner). the struggle lasted for more than ten years, and out of it grew various leagues of the knights for the protection of their rights against the more powerful princes. in the north of germany, the commercial cities, headed by lübeck, hamburg and bremen, formed a league, which soon became celebrated under the name of "the hansa," which gradually drew the cities of the rhine to unite with it, and, before the end of the century, developed into a great commercial, naval and military power. [sidenote: .] the hanseatic league had its agencies in every commercial city, from novgorod in russia to lisbon; its vessels filled the baltic and the north sea, and almost the entire commerce of northern europe was in its hands. when, in , king waldemar iii. of denmark took possession of the island of gothland, which the cities had colonized, they fitted out a great fleet, besieged copenhagen, finally drove waldemar from his kingdom and forced the danes to accept their conditions. shortly afterwards they defeated king hakon of norway: their influence over sweden was already secured, and thus they became an independent political power. karl iv. visited lübeck a few years before his death, in the hope of making himself head of the hanseatic league; but the merchants were as good diplomatists as himself, and he obtained no recognition whatever. had not the cities been so widely scattered along the coast, and each more or less jealous of the others, they might have laid the foundation of a strong north-german nation; but their bond of union was not firm enough for that. the german order, by this time, also possessed an independent realm, the capital of which was established at marienburg, not far from dantzic. the distance of the territory it had conquered in eastern prussia from the rest of the empire, and the circumstance that it had also acknowledged itself a dependency of the papal power, enabled its grand masters to say, openly: "if the empire claims authority over us, we belong to the pope; if the pope claims any such authority, we belong to the emperor." in fact, although the order had now been established for a hundred and fifty years, it had never been directly assisted by the imperial power; yet it had changed a great tract of wilderness, inhabited by slavonic barbarians, into a rich and prosperous land, with fifty-five cities, thousands of villages, and an entire population of more than two millions, mostly german colonists. it adopted a fixed code of laws, maintained order and security throughout its territory, encouraged science and letters, and made the scholar and minstrel as welcome at its stately court in marienburg, as they had been at that of frederick ii. in palermo. [sidenote: . the battle of sempach.] there could be no more remarkable contrast than between the weakness, selfishness and despotic tendencies of the german emperors and electors during the fourteenth century, and the strong and orderly development of the hanseatic league and the german order in the north, or of the handful of free swiss in the south. king wenzel (wenczeslas in bohemian) was only seventeen years old when his father died, but he had been well educated and already possessed some experience in governing. in fact, karl iv.'s anxiety to secure the succession to the throne in his own family led him to force wenzel's mind to a premature activity, and thus ruined him for life. he had enjoyed no real childhood and youth, and he soon became hard, cynical, wilful, without morality and even without ambition. in the beginning of his reign, nevertheless, he made an earnest attempt to heal the divisions of the roman church, and to establish peace between count eberhard the whiner and the united cities of suabia. in the latter quarrel, leopold of austria also took part. he had been appointed governor of several of the free cities by wenzel, and he seized the occasion to attempt to restore the authority of the hapsburgs over the swiss cantons. the latter now numbered eight, the three original cantons having been joined by lucerne, zurich, glarus, zug and berne. they had been invited to make common cause with the suabian cities, more than fifty of which were united in the struggle to maintain their rights; but the swiss, although in sympathy with the cities, declined to march beyond their own territory. leopold decided to subjugate each, separately. in , with an army of , austrian and suabian knights, he invaded the cantons. the swiss collected , farmers, fishers and herdsmen, armed with halberds and battle-axes, and met leopold at sempach, on the th of july. the , knights dismounted, and advanced in close ranks, presenting a wall of steel, defended by rows of levelled spears, to the swiss in their leathern jackets. it seemed impossible to break their solid front, or even to reach them with the swiss weapons. then arnold of winkelried stepped forth and said to his countrymen: "dear brothers, i will open a road for you: take care of my wife and children!" he gathered together as many spears as he could grasp with both arms, and threw himself forward upon them: the swiss sprang into the gap, and the knights began to fall on all sides from their tremendous blows. many were smothered in the press, trampled under foot in their heavy armor: duke leopold and nearly of his followers perished, and the rest were scattered in all directions. it was one of the most astonishing victories in history. two years afterwards the swiss were again splendidly victorious at näfels, and from that time they were an independent nation. [sidenote: .] the suabian cities were so encouraged by these defeats of the party of the nobles, that in they united in a common war against the duke of bavaria, count eberhard of würtemberg and the count palatine rupert. after a short but very fierce and wasting struggle, they were defeated at döffingen and worms, deprived of the privileges for which they had fought, and compelled to accept a truce of six years. in , a diet was held, which prohibited them from forming any further union, and thus completely re-established the power of the reigning princes. wenzel endeavored to enforce an internal peace throughout the whole empire, but could not succeed: what was law for the cities was not allowed to be equally law for the princes. it seems probable, from many features of the struggle, that the former designed imitating the swiss cantons, and founding a suabian republic, if they had been successful; but the entire governing class of germany, from the emperor down to the knightly highwayman, was against them, and they must have been crushed in any case, sooner or later. for eight or nine years after these events, wenzel remained in prague where his reign was distinguished only by an almost insane barbarity. he always had an executioner at his right hand, and whoever refused to submit to his orders was instantly beheaded. he kept a pack of bloodhounds, which were sometimes let loose even upon his own guests: on one occasion his wife, the empress elizabeth, was nearly torn to pieces by them. he ordered the confessor of the latter, a priest named john of nepomuck, to be thrown into the moldau river for refusing to tell him what the empress had confessed. by this act he made john of nepomuck the patron saint of bohemia. some one once wrote upon the door of his palace the words: "_venceslaus, alter nero_" (wenzel, a second nero); whereupon he wrote the line below: "_si non fui adhuc, ero_" (if i have not been one hitherto, i will be now). when the city of rothenberg refused to advance him , florins, he sent this message to the authorities: "the devil began to shear a hog, and spake thus, 'great cry and little wool'!" [sidenote: . quarrel with the pope.] in short, wenzel was so little of an emperor and so much of a brutal madman, that a conspiracy, at the head of which were his cousin jodocus of moravia, and duke albert of austria, was formed against him. he was taken prisoner and conveyed to austria, where he was held in close confinement until his brother sigismund, aided by a diet of the other german princes, procured his release. in return for this service, and probably, also, to save himself the trouble of governing, he appointed sigismund vicar of the empire. in he called a diet at frankfort, and again endeavored, but without much success, to enforce a general peace. the schism in the roman church, which lasted for forty years, the rival popes in rome and avignon cursing and making war upon each other, had at this time become a scandal to christendom, and the papal authority had sunk so low that the temporal rulers now ventured to interfere. wenzel went to rheims, where he had an interview with charles vi. of france, in order to settle the quarrel. it was agreed that the former should compel bonifacius ix. in rome, and the latter benedict xiii. in avignon, to abdicate, so that the church might have an opportunity to unite on a single pope; but neither monarch succeeded in carrying out the plan. on the contrary, bonifacius ix. went secretly to work to depose wenzel. he gained the support of the four electors of the rhine, who, headed by the archbishop of mayence, came together in , proclaimed that wenzel had forfeited his imperial dignity, and elected the count palatine rupert, a member of the house of wittelsbach (bavaria), in his place. the city of aix-la-chapelle shut its gates upon the latter, and he was crowned in cologne. a majority of the smaller german princes, as well as of the free cities, refused to acknowledge him; but, on the other hand, none of them made any movement in wenzel's favor, and so there were, practically, two separate heads to the empire. rupert imagined that his coronation in rome would secure his authority in germany. he therefore collected an army, entered into an alliance with the republic of florence against milan, and marched to italy in . near brescia he met the army of the lombards, commanded by the milanese general, barbiano, and was so signally defeated that he was compelled to return to germany. in the meantime wenzel had come to a temporary understanding with jodocus of moravia and the hapsburg dukes of austria, and his prospects improved as rupert's diminished. it was not long, however, before he quarrelled with his brother sigismund, and was imprisoned by the latter. then ensued a state of general confusion, the cause of which is easy to understand, but the features of which it is not easy to make clear. [sidenote: .] a number of reigning princes and cities held a convention at marbach in , and formed a temporary union, the object of which was evidently to create a third power in the empire. both rupert and wenzel at first endeavored to break up this new league, and then, failing in the attempt, both intrigued for its support. the archbishop of mayence and the margrave of baden, who stood at its head, were secretly allied with france; the smaller princes were ambitious to gain for themselves a power equal to that of the seven electors, and the cities hoped to recover some of their lost rights. the league of marbach, as it is called in history, had as little unity or harmony as the empire itself. all germany was given up to anarchy, and seemed on the point of falling to pieces: so much had the famous golden bull of karl iv. accomplished in fifty years! on the eastern shore of the baltic, also, the march of german civilization received an almost fatal check. the two strongest neighbors of the german order, the poles and lithuanians, were now united under one crown, and they defeated the army of the order, , strong, under the walls of wilna, in . after an unsatisfactory peace of some years, hostilities were again resumed, and both sides prepared for a desperate and final struggle. each raised an army of more than , men, among whom, on the polish side, there were , russians and tartars. the decisive battle was fought at tannenberg, in july, , and the german order, after losing , men, retreated from the field. it was compelled to give up a portion of its territory to poland, and pay a heavy tribute: from that day its power was broken, and the slavonic races encroached more and more upon the germans along the baltic. [sidenote: . the anti-emperor rupert.] during this same period holland was rapidly becoming estranged from the german empire, and france had obtained possession of the greater part of flanders. luxemburg and part of lorraine were incorporated with burgundy, which was rising in power and importance, and had become practically independent of germany. there was now no one to guard the ancient boundaries, and probably nothing but the war between england and france prevented the latter kingdom from greatly increasing her territory at the expense of the empire. although rupert of the palatinate acquired but a limited authority in southern germany, he is generally classed among the german emperors, perhaps because wenzel's power, after the year , was no greater than his own. the confusion and uncertainty in regard to the imperial dignity lasted until , when rupert determined to make war upon the archbishop of mayence--who had procured his election, and since the league of marbach was his chief enemy--as the first step towards establishing his authority. in the midst of his preparations he died, on the th of may, . chapter xxii. the reign of sigismund and the hussite war. ( -- .) three emperors in germany and three popes in rome. --sigismund sole emperor. --his appearance and character. --religious movements in bohemia. --john huss and his doctrines. --division of the university of prague. --a council of the church called at constance. --grand assembly of all nations. --organization of the council. --flight and capture of pope john xxiii. --treatment of huss. --his trial and execution. --jerome of prague burned. --religious revolt in bohemia. --frederick of hohenzollern receives brandenburg. --the bohemians rise under ziska. --their two parties. --ziska's character. --the bohemian demands. --ziska's victories. --negotiations with lithuania and poland. --ziska's death. --victories of procopius. --hussite invasions of germany. --the fifth "crusade" against bohemia. --the hussites triumphant. --the council of basel. --peace made with the hussites. --their internal wars. --revolt against sigismund. --his death. [sidenote: .] in , the year of rupert's death, europe was edified by the spectacle of three emperors in germany, and three popes of the church of rome, all claiming to rule at the same time. the diet was divided between sigismund and jodocus of moravia, both of whom were declared elected, while wenzel insisted that he was still emperor. a council held at pisa, about the same time, deposed pope gregory xii. in rome and pope benedict xiii. in avignon, and elected a third, who took the name of alexander v. but neither of the former obeyed the decrees of the council: gregory xii. betook himself to rimini, alexander, soon succeeded by john xxiii., reigned in rome, and the three spiritual rivals began a renewed war of proclamations and curses. in order to obtain money, they sold priestly appointments to the highest bidder, carried on a trade in pardons and indulgences, and brought such disgrace on the priestly office and the christian name, that the spirit of the so-called "heretical" sects, though trampled down in fire and blood, was kept everywhere alive among the people. [sidenote: . the emperor sigismund.] the political rivalry in germany did not last long. jodocus of moravia, of whom an old historian says: "he was considered a great man, but there was nothing great about him, except his beard," died soon after his partial election, wenzel was persuaded to give up his opposition, and sigismund was generally recognized as the sole emperor. in addition to the mark of brandenburg, which he had received from his father, karl iv., he had obtained the crown of hungary through his wife, and he claimed also the kingdoms of bosnia and dalmatia. he had fought the turks on the lower danube, had visited constantinople, and was already distinguished for his courage and knightly bearing. unlike his brother wenzel, who had the black hair and high cheek-bones of a bohemian, he was blonde-haired, blue-eyed and strikingly handsome. he spoke several languages, was witty in speech, cheerful in demeanor, and popular with all classes, but, unfortunately, both fickle and profligate. moreover, he was one of the vainest men that ever wore a crown. before sigismund entered upon his reign, the depraved condition of the roman clergy, resulting from the general demoralization of the church, had given rise to a new and powerful religious movement in bohemia. as early as , independent preachers had arisen among the people there, advocating the pure truths of the gospel, and exhorting their hearers to turn their backs on the pride and luxury which prevailed, to live simply and righteously, and do good to their fellow-men. although persecuted by the priests, they found many followers, and their example soon began to be more widely felt, especially as wickliffe, in england, was preaching a similar doctrine at the same time. the latter's translation of the bible was finished in , and portions of it, together with his other writings in favor of a reformation of the christian church, were carried to prague soon afterwards. the great leader of the movement in bohemia was john huss, who was born in , studied at the university of prague, became a teacher there, and at the same time a defender of wickliffe's doctrines, in , and four years afterwards, in spite of the fierce opposition of the clergy, was made rector of the university. with him was associated jerome (hieronymus), a young bohemian nobleman, who had studied at oxford, and was also inspired by wickliffe's writings. the learning and lofty personal character of both gave them an influence in prague, which gradually extended over all bohemia. huss preached with the greatest earnestness and eloquence against the roman doctrine of absolution, the worship of saints and images, the papal trade in offices and indulgences, and the idea of a purgatory from which souls could be freed by masses celebrated on their behalf. he advocated a return to the simplicity of the early christian church, especially in the use of the sacrament (communion). the popes had changed the form of administering the sacrament, giving only bread to the laymen, while the priests partook of both bread and wine: huss, and the sect which took his name, demanded that it should be administered to all "in both forms." thus the cup or sacramental chalice, became the symbol of the latter, in the struggle which followed. [sidenote: .] the first consequence of the preaching of huss was a division between the bohemians and germans, in the university of prague. the germans took the part of rome, but the bohemians secured the support of king wenzel through his queen, who was a follower of huss, and maintained their ascendency. thereupon the german professors and students, numbering , , left prague in a body, in , and migrated to leipzig, where they founded a new university. these matters were reported to the roman pope, who immediately excommunicated huss and his followers. soon afterwards, the pope (john xxiii.), desiring to subdue the king of naples, offered pardons and indulgences for crimes to all who would take up arms on his side. huss and jerome preached against this as an abomination, and the latter publicly burned the pope's bull in the streets of prague. the conflict now became so fierce that wenzel banished both from the city, many of huss's friends among the clergy fell away from him, and he offered to submit his doctrines to a general council of the church. such a council, in fact, was then demanded by all christendom. the intelligent classes in all countries felt that the demoralization caused by the corruption of the clergy and the scandalous quarrels of three rival popes could no longer be endured. the council at pisa, in , had only made matters worse by adding another pope to the two at rome and avignon; for, although it claimed the highest spiritual authority on earth, it was not obeyed. the chancellor of the university of paris called upon the emperor sigismund to move in favor of a new council; all the christian powers of europe promised their support, and finally one of the popes, john xxiii., being driven from rome, was persuaded to agree, so that a grand oecumenical council, with authority over the papacy, was summoned to meet in the city of constance, in the autumn of the year . [sidenote: . the council of constance.] it was one of the most imposing assemblies ever held in europe. pope john xxiii. personally appeared, accompanied by italians; the other two popes sent ambassadors to represent their interests. the patriarchs of jerusalem, constantinople and aquileia, the grand-masters of the knightly orders, thirty-three cardinals, twenty archbishops, two hundred bishops and many thousand priests and monks, were present. then came the emperor sigismund, the representatives of all christian powers, including the byzantine emperor, and even an envoy from the turkish sultan, with sixteen hundred princes and their followers. the entire concourse of strangers at constance was computed at , , and thirty different languages were heard at the same time. a writer of the day thus describes the characteristics of the four principal races: "the germans are impetuous, but have much endurance, the french are boastful and arrogant, the english prompt and sagacious, and the italians subtle and intriguing." gamblers, mountebanks and dramatic performers were also on hand; great tournaments, races and banquets were constantly held; yet, although the council lasted four years, there was no disturbance of the public order, no increase in the cost of living, and no epidemic diseases in the crowded camps. the professed objects of the council were: a reformation of the church, its reorganization under a single head, and the suppression of heresy. the members were divided into four "nations"--the _german_, including the bohemians, hungarians, poles, russians and greeks; the _french_, including normans, spaniards and portuguese; the _english_, including irish, scotch, danes, norwegians and swedes; and the _italian_, embracing all the different states from the alps to sicily. each of these nations held its own separate convention, and cast a single vote, so that no measure could be carried, unless _three_ of the four nations were in favor of it. germany and england advocated the reformation of the church, as the first and most important question; france and italy cared only to have the quarrel of the popes settled, and finally persuaded england to join them. thus the reformation was postponed, and that was practically the end of it. [sidenote: .] as soon as it became evident that all three of the popes would be deposed by the council, john xxiii. fled from constance in disguise, with the assistance of the hapsburg duke, frederick of austria. both were captured; the pope, whose immorality had already made him infamous, was imprisoned at heidelberg, and frederick was declared to have forfeited his lands. although austria was afterwards restored to him, all the hapsburg territory lying between zurich, the rhine and the lake of constance was given to switzerland, and has remained swiss ever since. a second pope, gregory xii., now voluntarily abdicated, but the third, benedict xiii., refused to follow the example, and maintained a sort of papal authority in spain until his death. the council elected a member of the family of colonna, in rome, who took the name of martin v. he was no sooner chosen and installed in his office than, without awaiting the decrees of the council, he began to conclude separate "concordats" (agreements) with the princes. thus the chief object of the council was already thwarted, and the four nations took up the question of suppressing heresy. huss, to whom the emperor had sent a safe-conduct for the journey to and from constance, and who was escorted by three bohemian knights, was favorably received by the people, on the way. he reached constance in november, , and was soon afterwards--before any examination--arrested and thrown into a dungeon so foul that he became seriously ill. sigismund insisted that he should be released, but the cardinals and bishops were so embittered against him that they defied the emperor's authority. all that the latter could (or did) do for him, was to procure for him a trial, which began on the th of june, . but instead of a trial, it was a savage farce. he was accused of the absurdest doctrines, among others of asserting that there were four gods, and every time he attempted to speak in his own defence, his voice was drowned by the outcries of the bishops and priests. he offered to renounce any doctrine he had taught, if it were proved contrary to the gospel of christ; but this proposition was received with derision. he was simply offered the choice between instantly denying all that he held as truth or being burned at the stake as a heretic. [sidenote: . huss and jerome burned.] on the th of july, the council assembled in the cathedral of constance. after mass had been celebrated, huss, who had steadfastly refused to recant, was led before the congregation of priests and princes, and clothed as a priest, to make his condemnation more solemn. a bishop read the charges against him, but every attempt he made to speak was forcibly silenced. once, however, he raised his voice and demanded the fair hearing which had been promised, and to obtain which he had accepted the emperor's protection,--fixing his eyes sternly upon sigismund, who could not help blushing with shame. the sacramental cup was then placed in huss's hands, and immediately snatched from him with the words: "thou accursed judas! we take from thee this cup, wherein the blood of christ is offered up for the forgiveness of sins!" to which huss replied: "i trust that to-day i shall drink of this cup in the kingdom of god." each article of his priestly dress was stripped from him with a new curse, and when, finally, all had been removed, his soul was solemnly commended to the devil; whereupon he exclaimed: "and _i_ commend it to my lord jesus christ." huss was publicly burned to death the same day. on arriving at the stake he knelt and prayed so fervently, that the common people began to doubt whether he really was a heretic. being again offered a chance to retract, he declared in a loud voice that he would seal by his death the truth of all he had taught. after the torch had been applied to the pile, he was heard to cry out, three times, from the midst of the flames: "jesus christ, son of the living god, have mercy upon me!" then his voice failed, and in a short time nothing was left of the body of the immortal martyr, except a handful of ashes which were thrown into the rhine. huss's friend, jerome, who came to constance on the express promise of the council that he should not be imprisoned before a fair hearing, was thrown into a dungeon as soon as he arrived, and so broken down by sickness and cruelty that in september, , he promised to give up his doctrines. but he soon recovered from this weakness, declared anew the truth of all he had taught, and defended himself before the council in a speech of remarkable power and eloquence. he was condemned, and burned at the stake on the th of may, . [sidenote: .] the fate of huss and jerome created an instant and fierce excitement among the bohemians. an address, defending them against the charge of heresy and protesting against the injustice and barbarity of the council, was signed by four or five hundred nobles, and forwarded to constance. the only result was that the council decreed that no safe-conduct could be allowed to protect a heretic, that the university of prague must be recognized, and the strongest measures applied to suppress the hussite doctrines in bohemia. this was a defiance which the bohemians courageously accepted. men of all classes united in proclaiming that the doctrines of huss should be freely taught and that no interdict of the church should be enforced: the university, and even wenzel's queen, sophia, favored this movement, which soon became so powerful that all priests who refused to administer the sacrament "in both forms" were driven from their churches. the council sat at constance until may, , when it was dissolved by pope martin v. without having accomplished anything whatever tending to a permanent reformation of the church. the only political event of importance during this time was a business transaction of sigismund's, the results of which, reaching to our day, have decided the fate of germany. in , the emperor was in great need of ready money, and borrowed , florins of frederick of hohenzollern, the burgrave (_burggraf_, "count of the castle") of nuremberg, a direct descendant of the hohenzollern who had helped rudolf of hapsburg to the imperial crown. sigismund gave his creditor a mortgage on the territory of brandenburg, which had fallen into a state of great disorder. frederick at once removed thither, and, in his own private interests, undertook to govern the country. he showed so much ability, and was so successful in quelling the robber-knights and establishing order, that in sigismund offered to sell him the sovereignty of brandenburg (which made him, at the same time, an elector of the empire), for the additional sum of , gold florins. frederick accepted the terms, and settled permanently in the little state which afterwards became the nucleus of the kingdom of prussia, of which his own lineal descendants are now the rulers. [sidenote: . ziska heads the bohemians.] when the council of constance was dissolved, sigismund hastened to hungary to carry on a new war with the turks, who were already extending their conquests along the danube. the hussites in bohemia employed this opportunity to organize themselves for resistance; , of them, in july, , assembled on a mountain to which they gave the name of "tabor," and chose as their leader a nobleman who was surnamed _ziska_, "the one-eyed." the excitement soon rose to such a pitch that several monasteries were stormed and plundered. king wenzel arrested some of the ringleaders, but this only inflamed the spirit of the people. they formed a procession in prague, marched through the city, carrying the sacramental cup at their head, and took forcible possession of several churches. when they halted before the city-hall, to demand the release of their imprisoned brethren, stones were thrown at them from the windows, whereupon they broke into the building and hurled the burgomaster and six other officials upon the upheld spears of those below. the news of this event so excited wenzel that he was stricken with apoplexy, and died two weeks afterwards. the hussites were already divided into two parties, one moderate in its demands, called the "calixtines," from the latin _calix_, a chalice, which was their symbol, the other radical and fanatic, called the "taborites," who proclaimed their separation from the church of rome and a new system of brotherly equality through which they expected to establish the millennium upon earth. the exigencies of their situation obliged these two parties to unite in common defence against the forces of the church and the empire, during the sixteen years of war which followed; but they always remained separated in their religious views, and mutually intolerant. ziska, who called himself "john ziska of the chalice, commander in the hope of god of the taborites," had been a friend and was an ardent follower of huss. he was an old man, bald-headed, short, broad-shouldered, with a deep furrow across his brow, an enormous aquiline nose, and a short red moustache. in his genius for military operations, he ranks among the great commanders of the world: his quickness, energy and inventive talent were marvellous, but at the same time he knew neither tolerance nor mercy. [sidenote: .] ziska's first policy was to arm the bohemians. he introduced among them the "thunder-guns"--small field-pieces, which had been first used at the battle of agincourt, between england and france, three years before; he shod the farmers' flails with iron, and taught them to crack helmets and armor with iron maces; and he invented a system of constructing temporary fortresses by binding strong wagons together with iron chains. sigismund does not seem to have been aware of the formidable character of the movement until the end of his war with the turks, some months afterwards, and he then persuaded the pope to summon all christendom to a crusade against bohemia. during the year a force of , soldiers was collected, and sigismund marched at their head to prague. the hussites met him with the demand for the acceptance of the following articles: .--the word of god to be freely preached; .--the sacrament to be administered in both forms; .--the clergy to possess no property or temporal authority; .--all sins to be punished by the proper authorities. sigismund was ready to accept these articles as the price of their submission, but the papal legate forbade the agreement, and war followed. on the st of november, , the "crusaders" were totally defeated by ziska, and all bohemia was soon relieved of their presence. the dispute between the moderates and the radicals broke out again; the idea of a community of property began to prevail among the taborites, and most of the bohemian nobles refused to act with them. ziska left prague with his troops and for a time devoted himself to the task of suppressing all opposition through the country with fire and sword. he burned no less than convents and monasteries, slaying the priests and monks who refused to accept the new doctrines; but he proceeded with equal severity against a new sect called the adamites, who were endeavoring to restore paradise by living without clothes. while besieging the town of raby, an arrow destroyed his remaining eye, yet he continued to plan battles and sieges as before. the very name of the blind warrior became a terror throughout germany. in september, , a second crusade of , men, commanded by five german electors, entered bohemia from the west. it had been planned that the emperor sigismund, assisted by duke albert of austria, to whom he had given his daughter in marriage, and who was now also supported by many of the bohemian nobles, should invade the country from the east at exactly the same time. the hussites were thus to be crushed between the upper and the nether millstones. but the blind ziska, nothing daunted, led his wagons, his flail-men and mace-wielders against the electors, whose troops began to fly before them. no battle was fought; the , crusaders were scattered in all directions, and lost heavily during their retreat. then ziska wheeled about and marched against sigismund, who was late in making his appearance. the two armies met on the th of january, , and the hussite victory was so complete that the emperor narrowly escaped falling into their hands. it is hardly to be wondered that they should consider themselves to be the chosen people of god, after such astonishing successes. [sidenote: . defeat of the second crusade.] at this juncture, prince witold of lithuania, supported by king jagello of poland, offered to accept the four articles of the hussites, provided they would give him the crown of bohemia. the moderates were all in his favor, and even ziska left the taborites when, true to their republican principles, they refused to accept witold's proposition. the separation between the two parties of the hussites was now complete. witold sent his nephew koribut, who swore to maintain the four articles, and was installed at prague, as "vicegerent of bohemia." thereupon sigismund made such representations to king jagello of poland, that koribut was soon recalled by his uncle. about the same time a third crusade was arranged, and frederick of brandenburg (the hohenzollern) selected to command it, but the plan failed from lack of support. the dissensions among the hussites became fiercer than ever; ziska was at one time on the point of attacking prague, but the leaders of the moderate party succeeded in coming to an understanding with him, and he entered the city in triumph. in october, , while marching against duke albert of austria, who had invaded moravia, he fell a victim to the plague. even after death he continued to terrify the german soldiers, who believed that his skin had been made into a drum, and still called the hussites to battle. [sidenote: .] a majority of the taborites elected a priest, called procopius the great, as their commander in ziska's stead; the others, who thenceforth styled themselves "orphans," united under another priest, procopius the little. the approach of another imperial army, in , compelled them to forget their differences, and the result was a splendid victory over their enemies. procopius the great then invaded austria and silesia, which he laid waste without mercy. the pope called a _fourth_ crusade, which met the same fate as the former ones: the united armies of the archbishop of treves, the elector frederick of brandenburg and the duke of saxony, , strong, were utterly defeated, and fled in disorder, leaving an enormous quantity of stores and munitions of war in the hands of the bohemians. procopius, who was almost the equal of ziska as a military leader, made several unsuccessful attempts to unite the hussites in one religious body. in order to prevent their dissensions from becoming dangerous to the common cause, he kept the soldiers of all sects under his command, and undertook fierce invasions into bavaria, saxony and brandenburg, which made the hussite name a terror to all germany. during these expeditions one hundred towns were destroyed, more than fifteen hundred villages burned, tens of thousands of the inhabitants slain, and such quantities of plunder collected that it was impossible to transport the whole of it to bohemia. frederick of brandenburg and several other princes were compelled to pay heavy tributes to the hussites: the empire was thoroughly humiliated, the people weary of slaughter, yet the pope refused even to call a council for the discussion of the difficulty. as for the emperor sigismund, he had grown tired of the quarrel, long before. leaving the other german states to fight bohemia, he withdrew to hungary and for some years found enough to do in repelling the inroads of the turks. it was not until the beginning of the year , when there was peace along the danube, that he took any measures for putting an end to the hussite war. pope martin v. was dead, and his successor, eugene iv., reluctantly consented to call a council to meet at basel. first, however, he insisted on a _fifth_ crusade, which was proclaimed for the complete extermination of the hussites. the german princes made a last and desperate effort: an army of , men, , of whom were cavalry, was brought together, under the command of frederick of brandenburg, while albert of austria was to support it by invading bohemia from the south. [sidenote: . end of the hussite wars.] procopius and his dauntless hussites met the crusaders on the th of august, , at a place called thauss, and won another of their marvellous victories. the imperial army was literally cut to pieces: , wagons, filled with provisions and munitions of war, and cannons, were left upon the field. the hussites marched northward to the baltic, and eastward into hungary, burning, slaying and plundering as they went. even the pope now yielded, and the hussites were invited to attend the council at basel, with the most solemn stipulations in regard to personal safety and a fair discussion of their demands. sigismund, in the meantime, had gone to italy and been crowned emperor in rome, on condition of showing himself publicly as a personal servant of the pope. he spent nearly two years in italy, leading an idle and immoral life, and went back to germany when his money was exhausted. in , finally, three hundred hussites, headed by procopius, appeared in basel. they demanded nothing more than the acceptance of the four articles upon which they had united in ; but after seven weeks of talk, during which the council agreed upon nothing and promised nothing, they marched away, after stating that any further negotiation must be carried on in prague. this course compelled the council to act; an embassy was appointed, which proceeded to prague, and on the th of november, the same year, concluded a treaty with the hussites. the four demands were granted, but each with a condition attached which gave the church a chance to regain its lost power. for this reason, the taborites and "orphans" refused to accept the compact; the moderate party united with the nobles and undertook to suppress the former by force. a fierce internal war followed, but it was of short duration. in , the taborites were defeated, their fortified mountain taken, procopius the great and the little were both slain, and the members of the sect dispersed. the bohemian reformation was never again dangerous to the church of rome. [sidenote: .] the emperor sigismund, after proclaiming a general amnesty, entered prague in . he made some attempt to restore order and prosperity to the devastated country, but his measures in favor of the church provoked a conspiracy against him, in which his second wife, the empress barbara, was implicated. being warned by his son-in-law, duke albert of austria, he left prague for hungary. on reaching znaim, the capital of moravia, he felt the approach of death, whereupon, after naming albert his successor, he had himself clothed in his imperial robes and seated in a chair, so that, after a worthless life, he was able to die in great state, on the th of december, . with him expired the luxemburg dynasty, after having weakened, distracted, humiliated and almost ruined germany for exactly ninety years. chapter xxiii. the foundation of the hapsburg dynasty. ( -- .) albert of austria chosen emperor. --his short reign. --frederick iii. succeeds. --his character. --the council of basel. --the french mercenaries and the swiss. --the suabian cities. --george podiebrad in bohemia and john hunyádi in hungary. --condition of the german empire. --losses of the german order. --rise of burgundy. --charles the bold and his plans. --the battles of grandson and morat. --death of charles the bold. --marriage of maximilian of hapsburg and mary of burgundy. --frederick iii.'s troubles. --aid of the suabian cities. --maximilian's humiliation. --frederick's death. --the fall of the eastern empire. --gutenberg's invention of printing. [sidenote: . albert of hapsburg emperor.] the german electors seemed to be acting contrary to their usual policy, when, on the th of march, , they unanimously voted for albert of austria, who became emperor as albert ii. with him commences the hapsburg dynasty, which kept sole possession of the imperial office until francis ii. gave up the title of emperor of germany, in . albert ii. was duke of austria, and, as the heir of sigismund, he was also king of hungary and bohemia; consequently the power of his house was much greater than that of any other german prince; but the electors were influenced by the consideration that his territories lay mostly outside of germany proper, that they were in a condition which would demand all his time and energy, and therefore the other states and principalities would probably be left to themselves, as they had been under sigismund. nothing is more evident in the history of germany, from first to last, than the opposition of the ruling princes to any close political union of a _national_ character, but it was seldom so selfishly and shamelessly manifested as in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. [sidenote: .] the events of albert ii.'s short reign are not important. he appears to have been a man of strong character, honest and well-meaning, but a new war with the turks called him to hungary soon after his accession to the throne, and he was obliged to leave the interests of the empire in the hands of his chancellor, schlick, a man who shared his views but could not exercise the same authority over the princes. before anything could be accomplished, albert died in hungary, in october, , in the forty-second year of his age. he left one son, ladislas, an infant, born a few days after his death. the electors again met, and in february, , unanimously chose albert's cousin, frederick of styria and carinthia, who, after waiting three months before he could make up his mind, finally accepted, and was crowned at aix-la-chapelle as frederick iii. his indolence, eccentricity and pedantic stiffness seemed to promise just such a wooden figure-head as the princes required: it is difficult to imagine any other reason for the selection. he was more than a servant, he was almost an abject slave of the papal power, and his secretary, Æneas sylvius (who afterwards became pope as pius ii.), ruled him wholly in the interest of the church of rome, at a time when a majority of the german princes, and even many of the bishops, were endeavoring to effect a reformation. the council at basel had not adjourned after concluding the compact of prague with the hussites. the desire for a correction of the abuses which had so weakened the spiritual authority of the church was strong enough to compel the members to discuss plans of reform. their course was so distasteful to the pope, eugene iv., that he threatened to excommunicate the council, which, in return, deposed him and elected amadeus, duke of savoy, who took the name of pope felix v. the prospect of a new schism disturbed the christian world; many of the reigning princes refused to support eugene unless he would grant entire freedom to the church in germany, and he would have probably been obliged to yield, but for the help extended to him by frederick iii., under the influence of Æneas sylvius. the latter, who was no less unscrupulous than cunning, succeeded in destroying the work of reform in its very beginning. by the concordat of vienna, in , frederick neutralized the action of the council and restored the papal authority in its most despotic form. felix v. was forced to abdicate, and the council of basel--which had meanwhile adjourned to lausanne--was finally dissolved, after a session of seventeen years. [sidenote: . attempt to conquer the swiss.] in his political course, during this time, frederick iii. was equally infamous, but less successful. after making a temporary arrangement with hungary and bohemia, he determined to reconquer the former hapsburg possessions from the swiss. a quarrel between zurich and the other cantons seemed to favor his plan; but, not being able to obtain any troops in germany, he applied to charles vii. of france for , of the latter's mercenaries. as charles, with the help of joan d'arc, the maid of orleans, had just victoriously concluded his war with england, he had plenty of men to spare; so, instead of , , he sent , , under the command of the dauphin. this force marched into switzerland, and was met, on the th of august, , at st. jacob, near basel, by an army of devoted swiss, every man of whom fell, after a battle which lasted ten hours. the french were so crippled and discouraged that they turned back and for months afterwards laid waste baden and alsatia; so that only german territory suffered by this transaction. the suabian cities, inspired by the heroic attitude of the swiss, now made another attempt to protect themselves against the encroachment of the reigning princes upon their ancient rights. for two years a fierce war was waged between them and the latter, who were headed by the hohenzollern count, albert achilles of brandenburg. the struggle came to an end in , and so greatly to the disadvantage of the cities that the people of schaffhausen annexed themselves and their territory to switzerland. the following year, as there was a temporary peace, frederick iii. undertook a journey to italy, with an escort of , men. his object was to be crowned emperor at rome, and the pope could not refuse the request of such an obedient servant, especially after the latter had kissed his foot and appeared publicly as his groom. he was the last german emperor who amused the roman people by playing such a part. during the year he spent in italy he avoided milan, and made no attempt to claim, or even to sell, any of the former imperial rights. [sidenote: .] disturbances in hungary and bohemia hastened his return to germany. both countries demanded that he should give up the boy ladislas, son of albert ii., whom he still kept with him. in bohemia george podiebrad, a hussite nobleman, was at the head of the government; in hungary the ruler was john hunyádi (often called _hunniades_ by english historians), one of the most heroic and illustrious characters in hungarian annals. the emperor was compelled to give up austria at once to ladislas, who, at the age of sixteen, was also chosen king of hungary and bohemia. but he died soon afterwards, in , and then matthias corvinus, the son of hunyádi, was elected king by the hungarians, and george podiebrad by the bohemians. even austria, which frederick attempted to retain, passed partly into the hands of his brother albert. the german princes looked on well-pleased, and saw the power of the hapsburg house diminished; only its old ally, the house of hohenzollern, still exhibited an active friendship for frederick iii. the condition of the empire, at this time, was most deplorable. while france, england and spain were increasing their power by better political organization, germany was weakened by an almost unbroken series of internal wars. the independent dukes, bishops, counts, abbots, barons and cities, fought or made peace, leagued themselves together or separated, just as they pleased. so wanton became the spirit of destruction that albert achilles of brandenburg openly declared: "conflagration is the ornament of war,"--and the people described one of his campaigns by saying: "they can read at night, in franconia." frederick iii. called a number of national diets, but as he never attended any, the smaller rulers soon followed his example. although the turks began to ravage the borders of styria and carinthia, and carried away thousands of the inhabitants as slaves, he spent his time in austria, quarrelling with his brother albert, and intriguing alternately with the hungarians and the bohemians, in the attempt to secure for himself the crowns worn by matthias corvinus and george podiebrad. along the baltic shore the growth of the german element was checked, and almost destroyed. after its crushing defeat at tannenberg, the german order not only lost its power, but its liberal and intelligent character. it began to impose heavy taxes on the cities, and to rule with greater harshness the population under its sway. the result was a combined revolt of the cities and the country nobility, who compelled the order to grant them a constitution, guaranteeing the rights for which they contended. they purchased frederick iii.'s consent to this measure for , gold florins. soon afterwards, however, the order paid the emperor , gold florins to withdraw his consent. then the cities and nobles, exasperated at this treachery, rose again, and called the poles to their help. the order appealed to the empire, but received no assistance: it was defeated and its territory overrun; west-prussia was annexed to poland, which held it for three centuries afterwards, and east-prussia, detached completely from the empire, was left as a little german island, surrounded by slavonic races. the responsibility for this serious loss to germany, as well as for the internal anarchy and barbarity which prevailed, rests directly upon the electors, who selected frederick iii. precisely because they knew his character, and who never attempted to depose him during his long and miserable reign of fifty-three years. [sidenote: . the growth of burgundy.] germany was also seriously threatened on the west, not by france, but by the sudden growth of a new power which was equally dangerous to france. this was the duchy of burgundy, which in the course of a hundred years had grown to the dimensions of a kingdom, and was now strong enough to throw off the dependency of the territories it embraced, to france on the one side, and to the german empire on the other. the foundation of its growth was laid in , when king john of france made his fourth son, called philip the bold, duke of burgundy, and the latter, by marrying the countess margaret of flanders, extended his territory to the mouth of the rhine. he died in , and was succeeded by his grandson, philip the good, who extended the sway of burgundy, by purchase, inheritance, or force of arms, over all belgium and holland, so that it then reached from the rhine to the north sea. his court was one of the most splendid in europe, and during his reign of sixty-three years flanders became the rival of italy in wealth, architecture and the fine arts. philip the good died in , and was succeeded by his son, charles the bold, a man whose boldness was his only virtue. he was rash, vindictive, and almost insanely ambitious; and the only purpose of his life seems to have been to extend his territory to the alps and the mediterranean, to gain possession of lorraine and alsatia, and thus to found a kingdom of burgundy, almost corresponding to that given to lothar by the treaty of verdun, in . (see chapter xii.) he first acquired additional territory in belgium, then took a mortgage on all the possessions of the hapsburgs in alsatia and baden by making a loan to sigismund of tyrol. frederick iii. not only permitted these transactions, but met charles at treves in to arrange a marriage between the latter's only daughter, mary of burgundy, and his own son, maximilian. during the visit, which lasted two months, charles the bold displayed so much pomp and splendor that the emperor, unable to make an equal show, finally left without saying good-bye. the interests of germany did not move him, but when his personal vanity was touched, he was capable of action. [sidenote: .] for a short time, frederick exhibited a little energy and intelligence. in order to secure the alliance of the swiss, who were equally threatened by the designs of charles the bold, he concluded a perpetual peace with them, relinquishing forever the claims of the house of hapsburg to authority over any part of their territory. the cities of alsatia and baden advanced money to sigismund of tyrol to pay his debt, and when charles the bold nevertheless refused to give up alsatia and part of lorraine, which he had seized in the meantime, war was declared against him. louis xi. of france, equally jealous of burgundy, favored the movement, but took no active part in it. although charles was driven out of alsatia, and failed to take the city of neuss after a siege of ten months, he succeeded in negotiating a peace, by offering a truce of nine years to louis xi. and promising his daughter's hand to frederick's son, maximilian. in this treaty the emperor, who had persuaded switzerland and lorraine to become his allies, infamously gave them up to charles the bold's revenge. the latter instantly seized the whole of lorraine, transferred his capital from brussels to nancy, and, considering his future kingdom secured, prepared first to punish the swiss. he collected a magnificent army of , men, crossed the jura, and appeared before the town of grandson, on the lake of neufchatel. the place surrendered, on condition that the citizens should be allowed to leave unharmed; but charles seized them, hanged a number and threw the rest into the lake. by this time the swiss army, numbering , , appeared before grandson. before beginning the battle, they fell upon their knees and prayed fervently; whereupon charles cried out: "see, they are begging for mercy, but not one of them shall escape!" for several hours the fight raged fiercely; then the horns of the mountaineers--the "bulls of uri and the cows of unterwalden," as the swiss called them--were heard in the distance, as they hastened to join their brethren. a panic seized the burgundians, and after a short and desperate struggle they fled, leaving all their camp equipage, cannon, and such enormous treasures in the hands of the swiss that the soldiers divided the money by hatfuls. [sidenote: . battles of grandson and morat.] this grand victory occurred on the d of may, . charles made every effort to retrieve his fortunes: he called fresh troops into the field, reorganized his army, and on the d of june again met the swiss near the little town and lake of morat. the battle fought there resulted in a more crushing defeat than that of grandson: , burgundians were left dead upon the field. the aid which the swiss had begged the german empire to give them had not been granted, but it was not needed. charles the bold seems to have become partially insane after this overthrow of his ambitious plans. he refused the proffered mediation of frederick iii. and the pope, and endeavored to resume the war. in the meantime duke rené of lorraine had recovered his land, and when charles marched to retake nancy, the swiss allied themselves with the former. a final battle was fought before the walls of nancy, in january, . after the defeat and flight of the burgundians, the body of charles was found on the field, so covered with blood and mud as scarcely to be recognized. up to this time, the german empire had always claimed that its jurisdiction extended over switzerland, but henceforth no effort was ever made to enforce it. the little communities of free people, who had defied and humiliated austria, and now, within a few months, crushed the splendid and haughty house of burgundy, were left alone, an eye-sore to the neighboring princes, but a hope to their people. the hapsburg dynasty, nevertheless, profited by the fall of charles the bold. mary of burgundy gave her hand to maximilian, in , and he established his court in flanders. he was both handsome and intellectually endowed, and was reputed to be the most accomplished knight of his day. louis xi. of france attempted to gain possession of those provinces of burgundy which had french population, but was signally defeated by maximilian in . three years afterwards, however, when mary of burgundy was killed by a fall from her horse, the cities of bruges and ghent, instigated by france, claimed the guardianship of her two children, philip and margaret, the latter of whom was sent to paris to be educated as the bride of the dauphin. a war ensued which lasted until , when maximilian was reluctantly accepted as regent of flanders. [sidenote: .] while these events were taking place, frederick iii. was involved in a quarrel with matthias corvinus, king of hungary, who easily succeeded in driving him from vienna, and then from austria. still the german princes looked carelessly on, and the weak old emperor wandered from one to the other, everywhere received as an unwelcome guest. in he called a diet at frankfort, and endeavored, but in vain, to procure a union of the forces of the empire against hungary. all that was accomplished was maximilian's election as king of germany. immediately after being crowned at aix-la-chapelle, he made a formal demand on matthias corvinus for the surrender of austria. before any further steps could be taken, he was recalled to flanders by a new rebellion, which lasted for three years. frederick iii., deserted on all sides, and seeing the hapsburg possessions along the frontiers of austria and tyrol threatened by bavaria, finally appealed to the suabian cities for help. he succeeded in establishing a new suabian league, which was composed of twenty-two free cities, the count of würtemberg and a number of independent nobles. a force was raised, with which he first marched to the relief of maximilian, who had been taken and imprisoned at bruges and was threatened with death. the undertaking was successful: maximilian was released, and in his authority was established over all the netherlands. the next step was to rescue austria from the hungarians. an interview between frederick iii. and matthias corvinus was arranged, but before it could take place the latter died, in april, . maximilian, with the troops of the suabian league, retook vienna, and even advanced into hungary, the crown of which country he claimed for himself, but was forced to conclude peace at presburg, the following year, without obtaining it. austria, however, was completely restored to the house of hapsburg. [sidenote: . death of frederick iii.] before the year came to an end, maximilian suffered a new humiliation. the last duke of brittany (in western france) had died, leaving, like charles the bold of burgundy, a single daughter, anna, as his only heir. maximilian, who had been a widower since , applied for her hand, which she promised to him: the marriage ceremony was even performed by proxy. but charles viii. of france, although betrothed to maximilian's young daughter, margaret, now fourteen years old, saw in this new alliance a great danger for his kingdom; so he prevented anna from leaving brittany, married her himself, and sent margaret home to austria. maximilian entered into an alliance with henry vii. of england, secured the support of the suabian league, and made war upon france. the netherlands, nevertheless, refused to aid him; whereupon henry vii. withdrew from the alliance, and the matter was settled by a treaty of peace in , which left the duchy of burgundy in the hands of france. frederick iii. had already given up the government of germany (that is, what little he exercised) to his son. he settled at linz and devoted his days to religion and alchemy. he had a habit of thrusting back his right foot and closing the doors behind him with it; but one day, kicking out too violently, he so injured his leg that the physicians were obliged to amputate it. this accident hastened his death, which took place in august, . he was seventy-eight years old, and had reigned fifty-three years, wretchedly enough--but of this fact he was not aware. he evidently considered himself a great and successful monarch. all his books were stamped with the vowels, a. e. i. o. u.--which was a mystery to every one, until the meaning was discovered after his death. the letters are the initials of the words, _alles erdreich ist oesterreich unterthan_, "all earth is subject to austria"! two events occurred during frederick's reign, one of which illustrated the declining power of the roman church, while the other, unnoticed in the confusion of civil war, was destined to be the chief weapon for the overthrow of the priestly power. the first of these was the fall of the eastern empire, when sultan mohammed ii. conquered constantinople in . although this catastrophe had been long foreseen, the news of it nevertheless created a powerful excitement throughout europe. one-fourth of the zeal expended on any one of the crusades would have saved turkey to christendom: the german empire, alone, could have easily repelled the ottoman invasion; but each petty ruler thought only of himself, and the popes were solely interested in preventing the reformation of the church. the latter, now--especially pius ii. (Æneas sylvius)--were very eager for a new crusade for the recovery of constantinople: there was much talk, but no action, and finally even the talk ceased. [sidenote: .] the other event was a simple invention, which is chiefly remarkable for not having been made long before. the great use of cards for gambling first led to the employment of wooden blocks, upon which the figures were cut and then printed in colors. wood-engraving, of a rude kind, gradually came into use, and as early as the year lawrence coster, of harlem, in holland, produced entire books, each page of which was engraved upon a single block. but john gutenberg, of mayence, about the year , originated the plan of casting movable types and setting them together to form words. his chief difficulty was in discovering a proper metal of which to cast them, and a kind of ink which would give a clear impression. paper made of linen had already been in use, in germany, for about a hundred and thirty years. gutenberg was poor, and therefore took a man named fust, who had considerable means, as his partner. they completed the first printing-press in , but several more years elapsed before the invention achieved any result. there was a quarrel between the two; gutenberg withdrew, and fust took his own assistant, peter schoeffer, as partner in the former's place. schoeffer discovered the right combination of metal for the types, as well as an excellent ink. in appeared the first printed book, a latin psalter; in the latin bible, and two years afterwards a german bible. these bibles are masterpieces of the printer's art: they were sold at from thirty to sixty gold florins a copy, which was just one-tenth the cost of a written bible at that time. the art was at first kept a profound secret, and the people supposed that the books were produced by magic, as they were multiplied so rapidly and sold so cheaply; but when mayence was taken by adolf of nassau, in , during one of the civil wars, the invention became known to the world, and printing-presses were soon established in holland, italy and england. [sidenote: . the invention of printing.] the clergy, and especially the monks, would have suppressed the art, if they had been able. it took away from the latter the profitable business of copying manuscript works, and it placed within the reach of the people the knowledge, of which the former had preserved the monopoly. by the simple invention of movable types, the darkness of centuries began to recede from the world: the life of the middle ages grew faint and feeble, and a mighty, irresistible change swept over the minds and habits of men. but the rulers of that day, great or little, were the last persons to suspect that any such change was at hand. chapter xxiv. germany, during the reign of maximilian i. ( -- .) maximilian i. as man and emperor. --the diet of , at worms. --the perpetual peace declared. --the imperial court. --marriage of philip of hapsburg to joanna of spain. --war with switzerland. --march to italy. --league against venice. --the "holy league" against france. --the diet of . --the empire divided into ten districts. --revolts of the peasants. --the "bond-shoe" and "poor konrad." --change in military service. --character of maximilian's reign. --the cities of germany. --their wealth and architecture. --the order of the "holy vehm." --other changes under maximilian. --last years of his reign. --his death. [sidenote: .] as maximilian had been elected in , he began to exercise the full imperial power, without any further formalities, after his father's death. for the first time since the death of henry vii. in , the germans had a popular emperor. they were at last weary of the prevailing disorder and insecurity, and partly conscious that the power of the empire had declined, while that of france, spain, and even poland, had greatly increased. therefore they brought themselves to submit to the authority of an emperor who was in every respect stronger than any of the electors by whom he had been chosen. maximilian had all the qualities of a great ruler, except prudence and foresight. he was tall, finely-formed, with remarkably handsome features, clear blue eyes, and blonde hair falling in ringlets upon his shoulders; he possessed great muscular strength, his body was developed by constant exercise, and he was one of the boldest, bravest and most skilful knights of his day. while his bearing was stately and dignified, his habits were simple: he often marched on foot, carrying his lance, at the head of his troops, and was able to forge his armor and temper his sword, as well as wear them. yet he was also well-educated, possessed a taste for literature and the arts, and became something of a poet in his later years. unlike his avaricious predecessors, he was generous even to prodigality; but, inheriting his father's eccentricity of character, he was whimsical, liable to act from impulse instead of reflection, headstrong and impatient. if he had been as wise as he was honest and well-meaning, he might have regenerated germany. [sidenote: . perpetual peace proclaimed.] the commencement of his reign was signalized by two threatening events. the turks were renewing their invasions, and boldly advancing into carinthia, between vienna and the adriatic; charles viii. of france had made himself master of naples, and was apparently bent on conquering and annexing all of italy. maximilian had just married blanca maria sforza, niece of the reigning duke of milan, which city, with others in lombardy, and even the pope--forgetting their old enmity to the german empire--demanded his assistance. he called a diet, which met at worms in ; but many of the princes, both spiritual and temporal, had learned a little wisdom, and they were unwilling to interfere in matters outside of the empire until something had been done to remedy its internal condition. berthold, archbishop of mayence, frederick the wise of saxony, john cicero of brandenburg, and eberhard of the beard, first duke of würtemberg, with many of the free cities, insisted so strongly on the restoration of order, security, and the establishment of laws which should guarantee peace, that the emperor was forced to comply. for fourteen weeks the question was discussed with the greatest earnestness: the opposition of many princes and nearly the whole class of nobles was overcome, and a perpetual national peace was proclaimed. by this measure, the right to use force was prohibited to all; the feuds which had desolated the land for a thousand years were ordered to be suppressed; and all disputes were referred to an imperial court, permanently established at frankfort, and composed of sixteen councillors. it was also agreed that the diet should meet annually, and remain in session for one month, in order to insure the uninterrupted enforcement of its decrees. a proposition to appoint an imperial council of state (equivalent to a modern "ministry"), of twenty members, which should have power, in certain cases, to act in the emperor's name, was rejected by maximilian, as an assault upon his personal rights. [sidenote: .] although the decree of perpetual peace could not be carried into effect immediately, it was not a dead letter, as all former decrees of the kind had been. maximilian bound himself, in the most solemn manner, to respect the new arrangements, and there were now several honest and intelligent princes to assist him. one difficulty was the collection of a government tax, called "the common penny," to support the expenses of the imperial court. such a tax had been for the first time imposed during the war with the hussites, but very little of it was then paid. even now, when the object of it was of such importance to the whole people, several years elapsed before the court could be permanently established. the annual sessions of the diet, also, were much less effective than had been anticipated: princes, priests and cities were so accustomed to a selfish independence, that they could not yet work together for the general good. before the diet at worms adjourned, it agreed to furnish the emperor with , men, to be employed in italy against the french, and afterwards against the turks on the austrian frontier. charles viii. retreated from italy on hearing of this measure, yet not rapidly enough to avoid being defeated, near parma, by the combined germans and milanese. in sigismund of tyrol died, and all the hapsburg lands came into maximilian's possession. the same year, he married his son philip, then eighteen years old and accepted as regent by the netherlands, to joanna, the daughter of ferdinand and isabella of castile. the other heirs to the spanish throne died soon afterwards, and when isabella followed them, in , she appointed philip and joanna her successors. the pride and influence of the house of hapsburg were greatly increased by this marriage, but its consequences were most disastrous to germany, for philip's son was charles v. the next years of maximilian's reign were disturbed, and, on the whole, unfortunate for the empire. an attempt to apply the decrees of the diet of worms to switzerland brought on a war, which, after occasioning the destruction of , villages and castles, and the loss of , lives, resulted in the emperor formally acknowledging the independence of switzerland in a treaty concluded at basel in . then louis xii. of france captured milan, interfered secretly in a war concerning the succession, which broke out in bavaria, and bribed various german princes to act in his interest, when maximilian called upon the diet to assist him in making war upon france. after having with much difficulty obtained , men, the emperor marched to italy, intending to replace the sforza family in milan and then be crowned by pope julius ii. in rome. but the venetians stopped him at the outset of the expedition, and he was forced to return ingloriously to germany. [sidenote: . wars with venice and france.] maximilian's next step was another example of his want of judgment in political matters. in order to revenge himself upon venice, he gave up his hostility to france, and in became a party to the league of cambray, uniting with france, spain and the pope in a determined effort to destroy the venetian republic. the war, which was bloody and barbarous, even for those times, lasted three years. venice lost, at the outset, trieste, verona, padua and the romagna, and seemed on the verge of ruin, when maximilian suddenly left italy with his army, offended, it was said, at the refusal of the french knights, to fight side by side with his german troops. the venetians then recovered so much of their lost ground that they purchased the alliance of the pope, and finally of spain. a new alliance, called "the holy league," was formed against france; and maximilian, after continuing to support louis xii. a while longer, finally united with henry vii. of england in joining it. but louis xii., who was a far better diplomatist than any of his enemies, succeeded, after he had suffered many inevitable losses, in dissolving this powerful combination. he married the sister of henry of england, yielded navarre and naples to spain, promised money to the swiss, and held out to maximilian the prospect of a marriage which would give milan to the hapsburgs. thus the greater part of europe was for years convulsed with war chiefly because instead of a prudent and intelligent _national_ power in germany, there was an unsteady and excitable _family_ leader, whose first interest was the advantage of his house. after such sacrifices of blood and treasure, such disturbance to the development of industry, art and knowledge among the people, the same confusion prevailed as before. [sidenote: .] before the war came to an end, another general diet met at cologne, in , to complete the organization commenced in . private feuds and acts of retaliation had not yet been suppressed, and the imperial council was working under great disadvantages, both from the want of money and the difficulty of enforcing obedience to its decisions. the emperor demanded the creation of a permanent military force, which should be at the service of the empire; but this was almost unanimously refused. in other respects, the diet showed itself both willing and earnest to complete the work of peace and order. the whole empire was divided into ten districts, each of which was placed under the jurisdiction of a judicial chief and board of councillors, whose duty it was to see that the decrees of the diet and the judgments of the imperial court were obeyed. the districts were as follows: .--the austrian, embracing all the lands governed by the hapsburgs, from the danube to the adriatic, with the tyrol, and some territory on the upper rhine: bohemia, silesia and hungary were not included. .--the bavarian, comprising the divisions on both sides of the danube, and the bishopric of salzburg. .--the suabian, made up of no less than spiritual and temporal principalities, including würtemberg, baden, hohenzollern, and the bishoprics of augsburg and constance. .--the franconian, embracing the brandenburg possessions, ansbach and baireuth, with nuremberg and the bishoprics of bamberg, würzburg, &c. .--the upper-rhenish, comprising the palatinate, hesse, nassau, the bishoprics of basel, strasburg, speyer, worms, &c., the free cities of the rhine as far as frankfort, and a number of petty states. .--the electoral-rhenish, with the archbishoprics of the palatinate, mayence, treves, cologne, and the principality of amberg. .--the burgundian, made up of states, four of them dukedoms and eight countships. .--the westphalian, with the dukedoms of jülich, cleves and berg, oldenburg, part of friesland, and bishoprics. .--the lower saxon, embracing the dukedoms of brunswick-lüneburg, saxe-lauenburg, holstein and mecklenburg, the archbishoprics of magdeburg and lübeck, the free cities of bremen, hamburg and lübeck, and a number of smaller states. .--the upper saxon, including the electorates of saxony and brandenburg, the dukedom of pomerania, the smaller states of anhalt, schwarzburg, mansfeld, reuss, and many others of less importance. [sidenote: . military changes.] this division of germany into districts had the external appearance of an orderly political arrangement; but the states, great and little, had been too long accustomed to having their own way. the fact that an independent baron, like franz von sickingen, could still disturb a large extent of territory for a number of years, shows the weakness of the new national power. moreover, nothing seems to have been done, or even attempted, by the diet, to protect the agricultural population from the absolute despotism of the landed nobility. in alsatia, as early as , there was a general revolt of the peasants (called by them the _bond-shoe_), which was not suppressed until much blood had been shed. it excited a spirit of resistance throughout all southern germany. in , duke ulric of würtemberg undertook to replenish his treasury by using false weights and measures, and provoked the common people to rise against him. they formed a society, to which they gave the name of "poor konrad," which became so threatening that, although it was finally crushed by violence, it compelled the reform of many flagrant evils and showed even the most arrogant rulers that there were bounds to tyranny. but, although the feudal system was still in force, the obligation to render military service, formerly belonging to it, was nearly at an end. the use of cannon, and of a rude kind of musket, had become general in war: heavy armor for man and horse was becoming not only useless, but dangerous; and the courage of the soldier, not his bodily strength or his knightly accomplishments, constituted his value in the field. the swiss had set the example of furnishing good troops to whoever would pay for them, and a similar class, calling themselves _landsknechte_ (servants of the country), arose in germany. the robber-knights, by this time, were nearly extinct: when frederick of hohenzollern began to use artillery against their castles, it was evident that their days of plunder were over. the reign of maximilian, therefore, marks an important turning-point in german history. it is, at the same time, the end of the stormy and struggling life of the middle ages, and the beginning of a new and fiercer struggle between men and their oppressors. maximilian, in fact, is called in germany "the last of the knights." [sidenote: .] the strength of germany lay chiefly in the cities, which, in spite of their narrow policy towards the country, and their jealousy of each other, had at least kept alive and encouraged all forms of art and industry, and created a class of learned men outside of the church. while the knighthood of the hohenstaufen period had sunk into corruption and semi-barbarism, and the people had grown more dangerous through their ignorance and subjection, the cities had gradually become centres of wealth and intelligence. they were adorned with splendid works of architecture; they supported the early poets, painters and sculptors; and, when compelled to act in concert against the usurpations of the emperor or the inferior rulers, whatever privileges they maintained or received were in favor of the middle-class, and therefore an indirect gain to the whole people. the cities, moreover, exercised an influence over the country population by their markets, fairs, and festivals. the most of them were as largely and as handsomely built as at present, but in times of peace the life within their walls was much gayer and more brilliant. pope pius ii., when he was secretary to frederick iii. as Æneas sylvius, wrote of them as follows: "one may veritably say that no people in europe live in cleaner or more cheerful cities than the germans; their appearance is as new as if they had only been built yesterday. by their commerce they amass great wealth: there is no banquet at which they do not drink from silver cups, no dame who does not wear golden ornaments. moreover, the citizens are also soldiers, and each one has a sort of arsenal in his own house. the boys in this country can ride before they can talk, and sit firmly in the saddle when the horses are at full speed: the men move in their armor without feeling its weight. verily, you germans might be masters of the world, as formerly, but for your multitude of rulers, which every wise man has always considered an evil!" during the fifteenth century a remarkable institution, called "the vehm"--or, by the people, "the holy vehm"--exercised a great authority throughout northern germany. its members claimed that it was founded by charlemagne, to assist in establishing christianity among the saxons; but it is not mentioned before the twelfth century, and the probability is that it sprang up from the effort of the people to preserve their old democratic organization, in a secret form, after it had been overthrown by the reigning princes. the object of the vehm was to enforce impartial justice among all classes, and for this purpose it held open courts for the settlement of quarrels and minor offences, while graver crimes were tried at night, in places known only to the members. the latter were sworn to secrecy, and also to implicit obedience to the judgments of the courts or the orders of the chiefs, who were called "free counts." the head-quarters of the vehm were in westphalia, but its branches spread over a great part of germany, and it became so powerful during the reign of frederick iii. that it even dared to cite him to appear before its tribunal. [sidenote: . last years of maximilian.] in all probability the dread of the power of the vehm was one of the causes which induced both maximilian and the princes to reorganize the empire. in proportion as order and justice began to prevail in germany, the need of such a secret institution grew less; but about another century elapsed before its courts ceased to be held. after that, it continued to exist in westphalia as an order for mutual assistance, something like that of the freemasons. in this form it lingered until , when the last "free count" died. among the other changes introduced during maximilian's reign were the establishment of a police system, and the invention of a postal system by franz of taxis. the latter obtained a monopoly of the post routes throughout germany, and his family, which afterwards became that of thurn and taxis, received an enormous revenue from this source, from that time down to the present day. maximilian himself devoted a great deal of time and study to the improvement of artillery, and many new forms of cannon, which were designed by him, are still preserved in vienna. although the people of germany did not share to any great extent in the passion for travel and adventure which followed the discovery of america in and the circumnavigation of africa in , they were directly affected by the changes which took place in the commerce of the world. the supremacy of venice in the south and of the hanseatic league in the north of europe, began slowly to decline, while the powers which undertook to colonize the new lands--england, spain and portugal--rose in commercial importance. [sidenote: .] the last years of maximilian promised new splendors to the house of hapsburg. in his younger grandson, ferdinand, married the daughter of ladislas, king of bohemia and hungary, whose only son died shortly afterwards, leaving ferdinand heir to the double crown. in , the emperor's elder grandson, karl, became king of spain, sicily and naples, in addition to burgundy and flanders, which he held as the great-grandson of charles the bold. at a diet held at augsburg, in , maximilian made great exertions to have karl elected his successor, but failed on account of the opposition of pope leo x. and francis i. of france, whose agents were present with heavy bribes in their pockets. disappointed and depressed, the emperor left augsburg, and went to innsbruck, but the latter city refused to entertain him until some money which he had borrowed of it should be refunded. his strength had been failing for years before, and he always travelled with a coffin among his baggage. he now felt his end approaching, took up his abode in the little town of wels, and devoted his remaining days to religious exercises. there he died, on the th of january, , in the sixtieth year of his age. chapter xxv. the reformation. ( -- .) martin luther. --signs of the coming reformation. --luther's youth and education. --his study of the bible. --his professorship at wittenberg. --visit to rome. --tetzel's sale of indulgences. --luther's theses. --his meeting with cardinal cajetanus. --escape from augsburg. --meeting with the pope's nuncio. --excitement in germany. --luther burns the pope's bull. --charles v. elected german emperor. --luther before the diet at worms. --his abduction and concealment. --he returns to wittenberg. --progress of the reformation. --the anabaptists. --the peasants' war. --luther's manner of translating the bible. --leagues for and against the reformation. --its features. --the wars of charles v. --diet at speyer. --the protestants. --the swiss reformer, zwingli. --his meeting with luther. --charles v. returns to germany. --the augsburg confession. --measures against the protestants. --the league of schmalkalden. --the religious peace of nuremberg. --its consequences. --john of leyden. --another diet. --charles v. invades france. --the council of trent. --luther's last years. --his death and burial. [sidenote: . martin luther.] when the emperor maximilian died, a greater man than himself or any of his predecessors on the imperial throne had already begun a far greater work than was ever accomplished by any political ruler. out of the ranks of the poor, oppressed german people arose the chosen leader who became powerful above all princes, who resisted the first monarch of the world, and defeated the church of rome after an undisturbed reign of a thousand years. we must therefore leave the succession of the house of hapsburg until we have traced the life of martin luther up to the time of maximilian's death. the reformation, which was now so near at hand, already existed in the feelings and hopes of a large class of the people. the persecutions of the albigenses in france, the waldenses in savoy and the wickliffites in england, the burning of huss and jerome, and the long ravages of the hussite war had made all europe familiar with the leading doctrine of each of these sects--that the bible was the highest authority, the only source of christian truth. earnest, thinking men in all countries were thus led to examine the bible for themselves, and the great dissemination of the study of the ancient languages, during the fifteenth century, helped very much to increase the knowledge of the sacred volume. then came the art of printing, as a most providential aid, making the truth accessible to all who were able to read it. [sidenote: .] the long reign of frederick iii., as we have seen, was a period of political disorganization, which was partially corrected during the reign of maximilian. internal peace was the first great necessity of germany, and, until it had been established, the people patiently endured the oppressions and abuses of the church of rome. when they were ready for a serious resistance to the latter, the man was also ready to instruct and guide them, and the church itself furnished the occasion for a general revolt against its authority. martin luther, the son of a poor miner, was born in the little saxon town of eisleben (not far from the hartz), on the th of november, . he attended a monkish school at magdeburg, and then became what is called a "wandering-scholar"--that is, one who has no certain means of support, but chants in the church, and also in the streets for alms--at eisenach, in thuringia. as a boy he was so earnest, studious and obedient, and gave such intellectual promise, that his parents stinted themselves in order to save enough from their scanty earnings to secure him a good education. but their circumstances gradually improved, and in they were able to send him to the university of erfurt. four years afterwards he was graduated with honor, and delivered a course of lectures upon aristotle. luther's father desired that he should study jurisprudence, but his thoughts were already turned towards religion. a copy of the bible in the library of the university excited in him such a spiritual struggle that he became seriously ill; and he had barely recovered, when, while taking a walk with a fellow-student, the latter was struck dead by lightning at his side. then he determined to renounce the world, and in spite of the strong opposition of his father, became a monk of the augustine order, in erfurt. he prayed, fasted, and followed the most rigid discipline of the order, in the hope of obtaining peace of mind, but in vain: he was tormented by doubt and even by despair, until he turned again to the bible. a zealous study of the exact language of the gospels gave him not only a firm faith, but a peace and cheerfulness which was never afterwards disturbed by trials or dangers. [sidenote: . tetzel's sale of indulgences.] the elector, frederick the wise, of saxony, had founded a new university at wittenberg, and sought to obtain competent professors for it. the vicar-general of the augustine order, to whom luther's zeal and ability were known, recommended him for one of the places, and in he began to lecture in wittenberg, first on greek philosophy, and then upon theology. his success was so marked that in he was sent by the order on a special mission to rome, where the corruptions of the church and the immorality of the pope and cardinals made a profound and lasting impression upon his mind. he returned to germany, feeling as he never had felt before, the necessity of a reformation of the church. in he was made doctor of theology, and from that time forward his teachings, which were based upon his own knowledge of the bible, began to bear abundant fruit. in the year , the pope, leo x., famous both for his luxurious habits and his love of art, found that his income was not sufficient for his expenses, and determined to increase it by issuing a series of absolutions for all forms of crime, even perjury, bigamy and murder. the cost of pardon was graduated according to the nature of the sin. albert, archbishop of mayence, bought the right of selling absolutions in germany, and appointed as his agent a dominican monk of the name of tetzel. the latter began travelling through the country like a pedlar, publicly offering for sale the pardon of the roman church for all varieties of crime. in some places he did an excellent business, since many evil men also purchased pardons in advance for the crimes they intended to commit: in other districts tetzel only stirred up the abhorrence of the people, and increased their burning desire to have such enormities suppressed. only one man, however, dared to come out openly and condemn the papal trade in sin and crime. this was dr. martin luther, who, on the st of october, , nailed upon the door of the church at wittenberg a series of ninety-five theses, or theological declarations, the truth of which he offered to prove, against all adversaries. the substance of them was that the pardon of sins came only from god, and could only be purchased by true repentance; that to offer absolutions for sale, as tetzel was doing, was an unchristian act, contrary to the genuine doctrines of the church; and that it could not, therefore, have been sanctioned by the pope. luther's object, at this time, was not to separate from the church of rome, but to reform and purify it. [sidenote: .] the ninety-five theses, which were written in latin, were immediately translated, printed, and circulated throughout germany. they were followed by replies, in which the action of the pope was defended; luther was styled a heretic, and threatened with the fate of huss. he defended himself in pamphlets, which were eagerly read by the people; and his followers increased so rapidly that leo x., who had summoned him to rome for trial, finally agreed that he should present himself before the papal legate, cardinal cajetanus, at augsburg. the latter simply demanded that luther should retract what he had preached and written, as being contrary to the papal bulls; whereupon luther, for the first time, was compelled to declare that "the command of the pope can only be respected as the voice of god, when it is not in conflict with the holy scriptures." the cardinal afterwards said: "i will have nothing more to do with that german beast, with the deep eyes and the whimsical speculations in his head!" and luther said of him: "he knew no more about the word than a donkey knows of harp-playing." the vicar-general of the augustines was still luther's friend, and, fearing that he was not safe in augsburg, he had him let out of the city at daybreak, through a small door in the wall, and then supplied with a horse. having reached wittenberg, where he was surrounded with devoted followers, frederick the wise was next ordered to give him up. about the same time leo x. declared that the practices assailed by luther were doctrines of the church, and must be accepted as such. frederick began to waver; but the young philip melanchthon, justus jonas, and other distinguished men connected with the university exerted their influence, and the elector finally refused the demand. the emperor maximilian, now near his end, sent a letter to the pope, begging him to arrange the difficulty, and leo x. commissioned his nuncio, a saxon nobleman named karl von miltitz, to meet luther. the meeting took place at altenburg in : the nuncio, who afterwards reported that he "would not undertake to remove luther from germany with the help of , soldiers, for he had found ten men for him where one was for the pope"--was a mild and conciliatory man. he prayed luther to pause, for he was destroying the peace of the church, and succeeded, by his persuasions, in inducing him to promise to keep silence, provided his antagonists remained silent also. [sidenote: . burning the pope's bull.] this was merely a truce, and it was soon broken. dr. eck, one of the partisans of the church, challenged luther's friend and follower, carlstadt, to a public discussion in leipzig, and it was not long before luther himself was compelled to take part in it. he declared his views with more clearness than ever, disregarding the outcry raised against him that he was in fellowship with the bohemian heretics. the struggle, by this time, had affected all germany, the middle class and smaller nobles being mostly on luther's side, while the priests and reigning princes, with a few exceptions, were against him. in order to defend himself from misrepresentation and justify his course, he published two pamphlets, one called "an appeal to the emperor and christian nobles of germany," and the other, "concerning the babylonian captivity of the church." these were read by tens of thousands, all over the country. pope leo x. immediately issued a bull, ordering all luther's writings to be burned, excommunicating those who should believe in them, and summoning luther to rome. this only increased the popular excitement in luther's favor, and on the th of december, , he took the step which made impossible any reconciliation between himself and the papal power. accompanied by the professors and students of the university, he had a fire kindled outside of one of the gates of wittenberg, placed therein the books of canonical law and various writings in defence of the pope, and then cast the papal bull into the flames, with the words: "as thou hast tormented the lord and his saints, so may eternal flame torment and consume thee!" this was the boldest declaration of war ever hurled at such an overwhelming authority; but the courage of this one man soon communicated itself to the people. the knight, ulric von hutten, a distinguished scholar, who had been crowned as poet by the emperor maximilian, openly declared for luther: the rebellious baron, franz von sickingen, offered him his castle as a safe place of refuge. frederick the wise was now his steadfast friend, and, although the dangers which beset him increased every day, his own faith in the righteousness of his cause only became firmer and purer. [sidenote: .] by this time the question of electing a successor to maximilian had been settled. when the diet came together at frankfort, in june, , two prominent candidates presented themselves,--king francis i. of france, and king charles of spain, naples, sicily and the spanish possessions in the newly-discovered america. the former of these had no other right to the crown than could be purchased by the wagon-loads of money which he sent to germany; the latter was the grandson of maximilian, and also represented, in his own person, austria, burgundy and the netherlands. again the old jealousy of so much power arose among the electors, and they gave their votes to frederick the wise, of saxony. he, however, shrank from the burden of the imperial rule, at such a time, and declined to accept. then charles of spain, who had ruined the prospects of francis i. by distributing , gold florins among the members of the diet, was elected without any further difficulty. the following year he was crowned at aix-la-chapelle, and became karl v. in the list of german emperors. although he reigned thirty-six years, he always remained a foreigner: he never even learned to speak the german language fluently: his tastes and habits were spanish, and his election, at such a crisis in the history of germany, was a crime from the effects of which the country did not recover for three hundred years afterwards. luther wrote to the new emperor, immediately after the election, begging that he might not be condemned unheard, and was so earnestly supported by frederick the wise, who had voted for charles at the diet, that the latter sent luther a formal invitation to appear before him at worms, where a new diet had been called, specially to arrange the imperial court in the ten districts of the empire, and to raise a military force to drive the french out of lombardy, which francis i. had seized. luther considered this opportunity "a call from god:" he set out from wittenberg, and wherever he passed the people flocked together in great numbers to see him and hear him speak. on approaching worms, one of his friends tried to persuade him to turn back, but he answered: "though there were as many devils in the city as tiles on the roofs, yet would i go!" he entered worms in an open wagon, in his monk's dress, stared at by an immense concourse of people. the same evening he received visits from a number of princes and noblemen. [sidenote: . luther at the diet of worms.] on the th of april, , luther was conducted by the marshal of the empire to the city hall, where the diet was in session. as he was passing through the outer hall, the famous knight and general, george von frundsberg, clapped him upon the shoulder, with the words: "monk, monk! thou art in a strait, the like of which myself and many leaders, in the most desperate battles, have never known. but if thy thoughts are just, and thou art sure of thy cause, go on in god's name, and be of good cheer, he will not forsake thee!" charles v. is reported to have said, when luther entered the great hall: "that monk will never make a heretic of me!" after having acknowledged all his writings, luther was called upon to retract them. he appeared to be somewhat embarrassed and undecided, either confused by the splendor of the imperial court, or shaken by the overwhelming responsibility resting upon him. he therefore asked a little time for further consideration, and was allowed twenty-four hours. when he reappeared before the diet, the next day, he was calm and firm. in a plain, yet most earnest address, delivered both in latin and german so that all might understand, he explained the grounds of his belief, and closed with the solemn words: "unless, therefore, i should be confuted by the testimony of the holy scriptures and by clear and convincing reasons, i cannot and will not retract, because there is neither wisdom nor safety in acting against conscience. here i stand; i cannot do otherwise: god help me! amen." charles v., without allowing the matter to be discussed by the diet, immediately declared that luther should be prosecuted as a heretic, as soon as the remaining twenty-one days of his safe-conduct had expired. he was urged by many of the partisans of rome, not to respect the promise, but he answered: "i do not mean to blush, like sigismund." luther's sincerity and courage confirmed the faith of his princely friends. frederick the wise and the landgrave philip of hesse walked by his side when he left the diet, and duke eric of brunswick sent him a jug of beer. his followers among the nobility greatly increased in numbers and enthusiasm. [sidenote: .] it was certain, however, that he would be in serious danger as soon as he had been formally outlawed by the emperor. a plot, kept secret from all his friends, was formed for his safety, and successfully carried out during his return from worms to wittenberg. luther travelled in an open wagon, with only one companion. on entering the thuringian forest, he sent his escort in advance, and was soon afterwards, in a lonely glen, seized by four knights in armor and with closed visors, placed upon a horse and carried away. the news spread like wild-fire over germany that he had been murdered, and for nearly a year he was lost to the world. his writings were only read the more: the papal bull and the imperial edict which ordered them to be burned were alike disregarded. charles v. went back to spain immediately after the diet of worms, after having transferred the german possessions of the house of hapsburg to his younger brother, ferdinand, and the business of suppressing luther's doctrines fell chiefly to the archbishops of mayence and cologne, and the papal legate. luther, meanwhile, was in security in a castle called the wartburg, on the summit of a mountain near eisenach. he was dressed in a knightly fashion, wore a helmet, breastplate and sword, allowed his beard to grow, and went by the name of "squire george." but in the privacy of his own chamber--all the furniture of which is preserved to this day, as when he lived in it--he worked zealously upon a translation of the new testament into german. in the spring of he was disturbed in his labors by the report of new doctrines which were being preached in wittenberg. his friend carlstadt had joined a fanatical sect, called the anabaptists, which advocated the abolition of the mass, the destruction of pictures and statues, and proclaimed the coming of god's kingdom upon the earth. the experience of the bohemians showed luther the necessity of union in his great work of reforming the christian church. moreover, his enemies triumphantly pointed to the excesses of the anabaptists as the natural result of his doctrines. there was no time to be lost: in spite of the remonstrance of the elector frederick, he left the wartburg, and rode alone, as a man-at-arms, to wittenberg, where even melanchthon did not recognize him on his arrival. he began preaching, with so much power and eloquence, that in a few days the new sect lost all the ground it had gained, and its followers were expelled from the city. the necessity of arranging another and simpler form of divine service was made evident by these occurrences; and after the publication of the new testament in german, in september, , luther and melanchthon united in the former task. [sidenote: . the peasants' war.] the reformation made such progress that by , not only saxony, hesse and brunswick had practically embraced it, but also the cities of frankfort, strasburg, nuremberg and magdeburg, the augustine order of monks, a part of the franciscans, and quite a large number of priests. now, however, a new and most serious trouble arose, partly from the preaching of the anabaptists, headed by their so-called prophet, thomas münzer, and partly provoked by the oppressions which the common people had so long endured. in the summer of the peasants of würtemberg and baden united, armed themselves, and issued a manifesto containing twelve articles. they demanded the right to choose their own priests; the restriction of tithes to their harvests; the abolition of feudal serfdom; the use of the forests; the regulation of the privilege of the nobles to hunt and fish; and protection, in certain other points, against the arbitrary power of the landed nobility. they seemed to take it for granted that luther would support them; but he, dreading a civil war and desirous to keep the religious reformation free from any political movement, published a pamphlet condemning their revolt. at the same time he used his influence on their behalf, with the reigning priests and princes. the excitement, however, was too great to be subdued by admonitions of patience and forbearance. a dreadful war broke out in : the army of , peasants ravaged a great part of southern germany, destroying castles and convents, and venting their rage in the most shocking barbarities, which were afterwards inflicted upon themselves, when they were finally defeated by the count of waldburg. the movement extended through middle germany even to westphalia, and threatened to become general: some parts of thuringia were held for a short time by the peasants, and suffered terrible ravages. another army of , , headed by thomas münzer, was cut to pieces near mühlhausen, in saxony, and by the end of the year , the rebellion was completely suppressed. in this short time, some of the most interesting monuments of the middle ages, among them the grand castle of the hohenstaufens, in suabia, had been levelled to the earth; whole provinces were laid waste; tens of thousands of men, women and children were put to the sword, and a serious check was given to the progress of the reformation, through all southern germany. [sidenote: .] the stand which luther had taken against the rebellion preserved the friendship of those princes who were well-disposed towards him, but he took no part in the measures of defence against the imperial and papal power, which they were soon compelled to adopt. he devoted himself to the completion of his translation of the bible, in which he was faithfully assisted by melanchthon and others. in this great work he accomplished even more than a service to christianity; he created the modern german language. before his time, there had been no tongue which was known and accepted throughout the whole empire. the poets and minstrels of the middle ages wrote in suabian; other popular works were in low-saxon, franconian or alsatian. the dialect of holland and flanders had so changed that it was hardly understood in germany; that of brandenburg and the baltic provinces had no literature as yet, and the learned or scientific works of the time were written in latin. no one before luther saw that the simplest and most expressive qualities of the german language must be sought for in the mouths of the people. with all his scholarship, he never used the theological style of writing, but endeavored to express himself so that he could be clearly understood by all men. in translating the old testament, he took extraordinary pains to find words and phrases as simple and strong as those of the hebrew writers. he frequented the market-place, the merry-making, the house of birth, marriage or death, to learn how the common people expressed themselves in all the circumstances of life. he enlisted his friends in the same service, begging them to note down for him any peculiar, characteristic phrase; "for," said he, "i cannot use the words heard in castles and courts." not a sentence of the bible was translated until he had found the best and clearest german expression for it. he wrote, in : "i have exerted myself, in translating, to give pure and clear german. and it has verily happened, that we have sought and questioned a fortnight, three, four weeks, for a single word, and yet it was not always found. in job, we so labored, philip melanchthon, aurogallus and i, that in four days we sometimes barely finished three lines." [sidenote: . luther's marriage.] pope leo x. died in , and was succeeded by adrian vi., the last german who wore the papal crown. he admitted many of the corruptions of the roman church, and seemed inclined to reform them; but he only lived two years, and his successor was clement vii., a nephew of leo. the latter induced ferdinand of austria, the dukes of bavaria and several bishops to unite in a league for suppressing the spread of luther's doctrines. thereupon the elector john of saxony (frederick the wise having died in ), philip of hesse, albert of brandenburg, the dukes of brunswick and mecklenburg, the counts of mansfeld and anhalt and the city of magdeburg formed a counter-alliance at torgau, in . at the diet held in speyer the same year, the party of the reformation was so strong that no decree against it could be passed; the question was left free. the organization of the christian church which was by this time adopted in saxony, soon spread over all northern germany. its principal features were: the abolition of the monastic orders and of priestly celibacy; divine service in the language of the country; the distribution of the bible, in german, to all persons; the communion in both forms, for laymen; and the instruction of the people and their children in the truths of christianity. the former possessions of the church were given up to the state, and luther, against melanchthon's advice, even insisted on uniting the episcopal authority with the political, in the person of the reigning prince. he set the example of giving up priestly celibacy, by marrying, in , catharine von bora, a nun of a noble family. this step created a great sensation; even many of luther's friends condemned his course, but he declared that he was right, and he was rewarded by twenty-one years of unalloyed domestic happiness. the emperor charles v., during all these events, was absent from germany. his first war with france was brought to a conclusion by the battle of pavia, in february, , when francis i. was obliged to surrender, and was sent as a prisoner to madrid. but having purchased his freedom the following year, by giving up his claims to italy, burgundy and flanders, he no sooner returned to france than he recommenced the war,--this time in union with pope clement vii., who was jealous of the emperor's increasing power in italy. the old knight george von frundsberg and the constable de bourbon--a member of the royal family of france, who had gone over to charles v.'s side,--then united their forces, which were principally german, and marched upon rome. the city was taken by storm, in , terribly ravaged and the pope made prisoner. charles v. pretended not to have known of or authorized this movement; he liberated the pope, who promised, in return, to call a council for the reformation of the church. the war continued, however,--venice, genoa and england being also involved--until , when it was terminated by the peace of cambray. [sidenote: .] charles v. and the pope then came to an understanding, in virtue of which the former was crowned king of lombardy and emperor of rome in bologna, in , and bound himself to extirpate the doctrines of luther in germany. in austria, bavaria and würtemberg, in fact, the persecution had already commenced: many persons had been hanged or burned at the stake for professing the new doctrines. ferdinand of austria, who had meanwhile succeeded to the crowns of bohemia and hungary, was compelled to call a diet at speyer, in , to take measures against the turks, then victorious in transylvania and a great part of hungary; a majority of catholics was present, and they passed a decree repeating the outlawry of luther and his doctrines by the diet of worms. seven reigning princes, headed by saxony, brandenburg and hesse, and fifteen imperial cities, joined in a solemn protest against this measure, asserting that the points in dispute could only be settled by a universal council, called for the purpose. from that day, the name of "protestants" was given to both the followers of luther, and the swiss reformers, under the lead of zwingli. the history of the reformation in switzerland cannot be here given. it will be enough to say that zwingli, who was born in the canton of st. gall, in , resembled luther in his purity of character, his earnest devotion to study, and the circumstance that his ideas of religious reform were derived from an intimate knowledge of the bible. it was the passionate desire of philip of hesse that both branches of the protestants should become united, in order to be so much the stronger to meet the dangers which all felt were coming. luther, who labored and prayed to prevent the struggle from becoming political, and who had opposed even the league of the protestant princes at torgau, in , was with difficulty induced to meet zwingli. he was still busy with his translation of the bible, with the preparation of a catechism for the people, a collection of hymns to be used in worship, and other works necessary to the complete organization of the protestant church. [sidenote: . meeting of luther and zwingli.] the meeting between the two reformers finally took place in marburg, in . melanchthon, jonas, and many other distinguished men were present: both luther and zwingli fully and freely compared their doctrines, but, although they were united on all essential points, they differed in regard to the nature of the eucharist, and luther positively refused to give way, or even to make common cause with the swiss protestants. this was one of several instances, wherein the great reformer injured his cause through his lack of wisdom and tolerance: in small things, as in great, he was inflexible. so matters stood, in the beginning of , when charles v. returned to germany, after an absence of nine years. he established his court at innsbruck, and summoned a diet to meet at augsburg, in april, but it was not opened until the th of june. melanchthon, with many other protestant professors and clergymen, was present: luther, being under the ban of the empire, remained in coburg, where he wrote his grand hymn, "our lord, he is a tower of strength." the protestant princes and cities united in signing a confession of faith, which had been very carefully drawn up by melanchthon, and the emperor was obliged to consent that it should be read before the diet. he ordered, however, that the reading should take place, not in the great hall where the sessions were held, but in the bishop's chapel, and at a very early hour in the morning. the object of this arrangement was to prevent any but the members of the diet from hearing the document. but the weather was intensely warm, and it was necessary to open the windows; the saxon chancellor, dr. bayer, read the confession in such a loud, clear voice, that a thousand or more persons, gathered on the outside of the chapel, were able to hear every word. the principles asserted were:--that men are justified by faith alone; that an assembly of true believers constitutes the church; that it is not necessary that forms and ceremonies should be everywhere the same; that preaching, the sacraments, and infant baptism, are necessary; that christ is really present in the sacrament of the lord's supper, which should be administered to the congregation in both forms; that monastic vows, fasting, pilgrimages and the invocation of saints are useless, and that priests must be allowed to marry. after the confession had been read, many persons were heard to exclaim: "it is reasonable that the abuses of the church should be corrected: the lutherans are right, for our spiritual lords have carried it with too high a hand." the general impression was favorable to the protestants, and the princes who had signed the confession determined that they would maintain it at all hazards. this "augsburg confession," as it was thenceforth called, was the foundation of the lutheran church throughout germany. [sidenote: .] the emperor ordered a refutation of the protestant doctrines to be prepared by the catholic theologians who were present, but refused to furnish a copy to the protestants and prohibited them from making any reply. he declared that the latter must instantly return to the roman church, the abuses of which would be corrected by himself and the pope. thus the breach was made permanent between rome and more than half of germany. charles v. procured the election of his brother ferdinand to the crown of germany, although bavaria united with the protestant princes in voting against him. the imperial courts in the ten districts were now composed entirely of catholics, and they were ordered to enforce the suppression of protestant worship. thereupon the protestant princes and delegates from the cities met at the little town of schmalkalden, in thuringia, and on the th of march, , bound themselves to unite, for the space of six years, in resisting the imperial decree. even luther, much as he dreaded a religious war, could not oppose this movement. the league of schmalkalden, as it is called, represented so much military strength, that king ferdinand became alarmed and advised a more conciliatory course towards the protestants. sultan solyman of turkey, who had conquered all hungary, was marching upon vienna with an immense army, and openly boasted that he would subdue germany. it thus became impossible for charles v. either to suppress the protestants at this time, or to repel the turkish invasion without their help. he was compelled to call a new diet, which met at nuremberg, and in august, , concluded a religious peace, both parties agreeing to refrain from all hostilities until a general council of the church should be called. then the protestants contributed their share of troops to the imperial army, which soon amounted to , men, commanded by the famous general, sebastian schertlin, himself a protestant. the turks were defeated everywhere; the siege of vienna was raised, and the whole of hungary might have been reconquered, but for ferdinand's unpopularity among the catholic princes. [sidenote: . the league of schmalkalden.] other cities and smaller principalities joined the league of schmalkalden, the power of which increased from year to year. the religious peace of nuremberg greatly favored the spread of the reformation, although it was not very strictly observed by either side. in würtemberg, which was then held by ferdinand of austria, was conquered by philip of hesse, who reinstated the exiled duke, ulric. the latter became a protestant, and thus würtemberg was added to the league. charles v. would certainly have interfered in this case, but he had left germany for another nine years' absence, and was just then engaged in a war with tunis. the reigning princes of brandenburg and ducal saxony (thuringia), who had been enemies of the reformation, died and were succeeded by protestant sons: in the league of schmalkalden was renewed for ten years more, and the so-called "holy alliances," which were attempted against it by bavaria and the archbishops of mayence and salzburg, were of no avail. the protestant faith continued to spread, not only in germany, but also in denmark, sweden, holland and england. the first of these countries even became a member of the schmalkalden league, in . out of the "freedom of the gospel," which was the first watch-word of the reformers, smaller sects continued to arise, notwithstanding they met with almost as much opposition from the protestants as the catholics. the anabaptists obtained possession of the city of münster in , and held it for more than a year, under the government of a dutch tailor, named john of leyden, who had himself crowned king of zion, introduced polygamy, and cut off the heads of all who resisted his decrees. when the bishop of münster finally took the city, john of leyden and two of his associates were tortured to death, and their bodies suspended in iron cages over the door of the cathedral. about the same time simon menno, a native of friesland, founded a quiet and peaceful sect which was named, after him, the mennonites, and which still exists, both in germany and the united states. [sidenote: .] while, therefore, charles v. was carrying on his wars, alternately with the barbary states, and with francis i. of france, the foundations of the protestant church, in spite of all divisions and disturbances, were permanently laid in germany. although he had been brilliantly successful in tunis, in , he failed so completely before algiers, in , that francis i. was emboldened to make another attempt, in alliance with sultan solyman of turkey, denmark and sweden. so formidable was the danger that the emperor was again compelled to seek the assistance of the german protestants, and even of england. he returned to germany for the second time and called a diet to meet in speyer, which renewed the religious peace of nuremberg, with the assurance that protestants should have equal rights before the imperial courts, and that they would be left free until the meeting of a _free_ council of the church. having obtained an army of , men by these concessions, charles v. marched into france, captured a number of fortresses, and had reached soissons on his way to paris, when francis i. acknowledged himself defeated and begged for peace. in the treaty of crespy, in , he gave up his claim to lombardy, naples, flanders and artois, while the emperor gave him a part of burgundy, and both united in a league against the turks and protestants, the allies of one and the other. in order, however, to preserve some appearance of fidelity to his solemn pledges, the emperor finally prevailed upon the pope, paul iii., to order an oecumenical council. it was just years since the roman church had promised to reform itself. the delay had given rise to the protestant reformation, which was now so powerful that only a just and conciliatory course on the part of rome could settle the difficulty. instead of this, the council was summoned to meet at trent, in the italian part of the tyrol, the pope reserved the government of it for himself, and the protestants, although invited to attend, were thus expected to acknowledge his authority. they unanimously declared, therefore, that they would not be bound by its decrees. even luther, who had ardently hoped to see all christians again united under a purer organization of the church, saw that a reconciliation was impossible, and published a pamphlet entitled: "the roman papacy founded by the devil." [sidenote: . luther's last days.] the publication of the complete translation of the bible in was not the end of luther's labors. his leadership in the great work of reformation was acknowledged by all, and he was consulted by princes and clergymen, by scholars and jurists, even by the common people. he never relaxed in his efforts to preserve peace, not only among the protestant princes, who could not yet overcome their old habit of asserting an independent authority, but also between protestants and catholics. yet he could hardly help feeling that, with such a form of government, and such an emperor, as germany then possessed, peace was impossible: he only prayed that it might last while he lived. luther's powerful constitution gradually broke down under the weight of his labors and anxieties. he became subject to attacks of bodily suffering, followed by great depression of mind. nevertheless, the consciousness of having in a great measure performed the work which he had been called upon to do, kept up his faith, and he was accustomed to declare that he had been made "a chosen weapon of god, known in heaven and hell, as well as upon the earth." in january, , he was summoned to eisleben, the place of his birth, by the counts of mansfeld, who begged him to act as arbitrator between them in a question of inheritance. although much exhausted by the fatigues of the winter-journey, he settled the dispute, and preached four times to the people. his last letter to his wife, written on the th of february, is full of courage, cheerfulness and tenderness. two days afterwards, his strength began to fail. his friend, dr. jonas, was in eisleben at the time, and luther forced himself to sit at the table with him and with his own two sons; but it was noticed that he spoke only of the future life, and with an unusual earnestness and solemnity. the same evening it became evident to all that his end was rapidly approaching: he grew weaker from hour to hour, and occasionally repeated passages from the bible, in german and latin. after midnight he seemed to revive a little: dr. jonas, the countess of mansfeld, the pastor of the church at eisleben, and his sons, stood near his bed. then jonas said: "beloved father, do you acknowledge christ, the son of god, our redeemer?" luther answered "yes," in a strong and clear voice; then, folding his hands, he drew one deep sigh and died, between two and three o'clock on the morning of the th of february. [sidenote: .] after solemn services in the church at eisleben, the body was removed on its way to wittenberg. in every village through which the procession passed, the bells were tolled, and the people flocked together from all the surrounding country. the population of halle, men and women, came out of the city with loud cries and lamentations, and the throng was so great that it was two hours before the coffin could be placed in the church. "here," says an eyewitness of the scene, "we endeavored to raise the funeral psalm, _de profundis_ ('out of the depths have i cried unto thee'); but so heavy was our grief that the words were rather wept than sung." on the d of february the remains of the great reformer were given to the earth at wittenberg, with all the honors which the people, the authorities and the university could render. chapter xxvi. from luther's death to the end of the th century. ( -- .) attempt to suppress the protestants. --treachery of maurice of saxony. --defeat and capture of the elector, john frederick. --philip of hesse imprisoned. --tyranny of charles v. --the augsburg interim. --maurice of saxony turns against charles v. --the treaty of passau. --war with france. --the religious peace of augsburg. --the jesuits. --abdication of charles v. --ferdinand of austria becomes emperor. --end of the council of trent. --protestantism in germany. --weakness of the empire. --loss of the baltic provinces. --maximilian ii. emperor. --his tolerance. --the last private feud. --revolt of the netherlands. --death of maximilian ii. --rudolf ii.'s character. --persecution of protestants. --condition of germany at the end of the th century. [sidenote: . hostilities to the protestants.] the woes which the german electors brought upon the country, when they gave the crown to a spaniard because he was a hapsburg, were only commencing when luther died. charles v. had just enough german blood in him to enable him to deceive the german people; he had no interest in them further than the power they gave to his personal rule; he used germany to build up the strength of spain, and then trampled it under his feet. the council of trent, which was composed almost entirely of spanish and italian prelates, followed the instructions of the pope and declared that the traditions of the roman church were of equal authority with the bible. this made a reconciliation with the protestants impossible, which was just what the pope desired: his plan was to put them down by main force. in fact, if the spirit of the protestant faith had not already entered into the lives of the mass of the people, the reformation might have been lost through the hesitation of some princes and the treachery of another. the schmalkalden league was at this time weakened by personal quarrels among its members; yet it was still able to raise an army of , men, which was placed under the command of sebastian schertlin. charles v. had a very small force with him at ratisbon; the troops he had summoned from flanders and italy had not arrived; and an energetic movement by the protestants could not have failed to be successful. [sidenote: .] but the two chiefs of the schmalkalden league, john frederick of saxony and philip of hesse, showed a timidity almost amounting to cowardice in this emergency. in spite of schertlin's entreaties, they refused to allow him to move, fearing, as they alleged, to invade the neutrality of bavaria, or to excite ferdinand of austria against them. for months they compelled their army to wait, while the emperor was constantly receiving reinforcements, among them , italian troops furnished by the pope. then, when they were absolutely forced to act, a new and unexpected danger rendered them powerless. maurice, duke of saxony (of the younger line), suddenly abjured the protestant faith, declared for charles v., and took possession of the territory of electoral saxony, belonging to his cousin, john frederick. the latter hastened home with his own portion of the army, and defeated and expelled maurice, it is true, but in doing so, gave up the field to the emperor. duke ulric of würtemberg first humbly submitted to the latter, then ulm, augsburg, strasburg, and other cities: schertlin was not left with troops enough to resist, and the imperial and catholic power was restored throughout southern germany, without a struggle. in the spring of , charles v. marched into northern germany, surprised and defeated john frederick of saxony at mühlberg on the elbe, and took him prisoner. the elector was so enormously stout and heavy that he could only mount his horse by the use of a ladder; so the emperor's spanish cavalry easily overtook him in his flight. charles v. now showed himself in his true character: he appointed the fierce duke of alba president of a court which tried john frederick and condemned him to death. the other german princes protested so earnestly against this sentence that it was not carried out, but john frederick was compelled to give up the greater part of saxony to the traitor maurice, and be content with thuringia or ducal saxony--the territory embraced in the present duchies of meiningen, gotha, weimar and altenburg. he steadfastly refused, however, to submit to the decrees of the council of trent, and remained firm in the protestant faith during the five years of imprisonment which followed. [sidenote: . tyranny of charles v.] his wife, the duchess sibylla, heroically defended wittenberg against the emperor, but when john frederick had been despoiled of his territory, she could no longer hold the city, which was surrendered. charles v. was urged by alba and others to burn luther's body and scatter the ashes, as those of a heretic; but he answered, like a man: "i wage no war against the dead." herein he showed the better side of his nature, although only for a moment. philip of hesse was not strong enough to resist alone, and finally, persuaded by his son-in-law, maurice of saxony, he promised to beg the emperor's pardon on his knees, to destroy all his fortresses except cassel, and to pay a fine of , gold florins, on condition that he should be allowed to retain his princely rights. these were charles v.'s own conditions; but when philip, kneeling before him, happened (or seemed) to smile while his application for pardon was being read, the emperor cried out: "wait, i'll teach you to laugh!" breaking his solemn word without scruple, he sent philip instantly to prison, and the latter was kept for years in close confinement, both in germany and flanders. charles v. was now also master of northern germany, except the city of magdeburg, which was strongly fortified, and refused to surrender. he entrusted the siege of the place to maurice of saxony, and returned to bavaria, in order to be nearer italy. he had at last become the arbitrary ruler of all germany: he had not only violated his word in dealing with the princes, but defied the diet in subjecting them by the aid of foreign soldiers. his court, his commanders, his prelates, were spaniards, who, as they passed through the german states, abused and insulted the people with perfect impunity. the princes were now reaping only what they themselves had sown; but the mass of the people, who had had no voice in the election,--who saw their few rights despised and their faith threatened with suppression--suffered terribly during this time. [sidenote: .] in may, , the emperor proclaimed what was called the "augsburg interim," which allowed the communion in both forms and the marriage of priests to the protestants, but insisted that all the other forms and ceremonies of the catholic church should be observed, until the council should pronounce its final judgment. this latter body had removed from trent to bologna, in spite of the emperor's remonstrance, and it did not meet again at trent until , after the death of pope paul iii. there was, in fact, almost as much confusion in the church as in political affairs. a number of intelligent, zealous prelates desired a correction of the former abuses, and they were undoubtedly supported by the emperor himself; but the pope with the french and spanish cardinals and bishops, controlled a majority of the votes of the council, and thus postponed its action from year to year. the acceptance of the "interim" was resisted both by catholics and protestants. charles v. used all his arts,--persuasion, threats, armed force,--and succeeded for a short time in compelling a sort of external observance of its provisions. his ambition, now, was to have his son philip chosen by the diet as his successor, notwithstanding that ferdinand of austria had been elected king in , and had governed during his brother's long absence from germany. the protestant electors, conquered as they were, and abject as many of them had seemed, were not ready to comply; ferdinand's jealousy was aroused, and the question was in suspense when a sudden and startling event changed the whole face of affairs. maurice of saxony had been besieging magdeburg for a year, in the emperor's name. the city was well-provisioned, admirably defended, and the people answered every threat with defiance and ridicule. maurice grew tired of his inglorious position, sensitive to the name of "traitor" which was everywhere hurled against him, and indignant at the continued imprisonment of philip of hesse. he made a secret treaty with henry ii. of france, to whom he promised lorraine, including the cities of toul, verdun and metz, in return for his assistance; and then, in the spring of , before his plans could be divined, marched with all speed against the emperor, who was holding his court in innsbruck. the latter attempted to escape to flanders, but maurice had already seized the mountain-passes. nothing but speedy flight across the alps, in night and storm, attended only by a few followers, saved charles v. from capture. the council of trent broke up and fled in terror; john frederick of saxony and philip of hesse were freed from their long confinement, and the protestant cause gained at one blow all the ground it had lost. [sidenote: . albert of brandenburg's raid.] maurice returned to passau, on the danube, where ferdinand of austria united with him in calling a diet of the german electors. the latter, bishops as well as princes, admitted that the protestants could be no longer suppressed by force, and agreed to establish a religious peace, independent of any action of the pope and council. the "treaty of passau," as it was called, allowed freedom of worship to all who accepted the augsburg confession, and postponed other questions to the decision of a german diet. the emperor at first refused to subscribe to the treaty, but when maurice began to renew hostilities, there was no other course left. the french in lorraine and the turks in hungary were making rapid advances, and it was no time to assert his lost despotism over the empire. with the troops which the princes now agreed to furnish, the emperor marched into france, and in october, , arrived before metz, which he besieged until the following january. then, with his army greatly reduced by sickness and hardship, he raised the siege and marched away, to continue the war in other quarters. but it was four years before the quarrel with france came to an end, and during this time the protestant states of germany had nothing to fear from the imperial power. the margrave albert of brandenburg-kulmbach, who was on the emperor's side, attempted to carry fire and sword through their territories, in order to pay himself for his military services. after wasting, plundering and committing shocking barbarities in saxony and franconia, he was defeated by maurice, in july, . the latter fell in the moment of victory, giving his life in expiation of his former apostasy. the greater part of saxony, nevertheless, has remained in the hands of his descendants to this day, while the descendants of john frederick, although representing the elder line, possess only the little principalities of thuringia, to each of which the saxon name is attached, as saxe-weimar, saxe-gotha, &c. [sidenote: .] charles v., who saw his ambitious plans for the government of the world failing everywhere, and whose bodily strength was failing also, left germany in disgust, commissioning his brother ferdinand to call a diet, in accordance with the stipulations of the treaty of passau. the diet met at augsburg, and in spite of the violent opposition of the papal legate, on the th of september, , concluded the treaty of religious peace which finally gave rest to germany. the protestants who followed the augsburg confession received religious freedom, perfect equality before the law, and the undisturbed possession of the church property which had fallen into their hands. in other respects their privileges were not equal. by a clause called the "spiritual reservation," it was ordered that when a catholic bishop or abbot became protestant he should give up land and title in order that the church might lose none of its possessions. the rights and consciences of the people were so little considered that they were not allowed to change their faith unless the ruling prince changed his. the monstrous doctrine was asserted that religion was an affair of the government,--that is, that he to whom belonged the rule, possessed the right to choose the people's faith. in accordance with this law the population of the palatinate of the rhine was afterwards compelled to be alternately calvinistic and lutheran, four times in succession! the treaty of augsburg did not include the followers of zwingli and calvin, who were getting to be quite numerous in southern and western germany, and they were left without any recognized rights. nevertheless, what the lutherans had gained was also gained for them, in the end; and the treaty, although it did not secure equal justice, gave the highest sanction of the empire to the reformation. the pope rejected and condemned it, but without the least effect upon the german catholics, who were no less desirous of peace than the protestants. moreover, their hopes of a final triumph over the latter were greatly increased by the zeal and activity of the jesuits, who had been accepted and commissioned by the church of rome fifteen years before, who were rapidly increasing in numbers, and professed to have made the suppression of protestant doctrines their chief task. this treaty was the last political event of charles v.'s reign. one month later, to a day, he formally conferred on his son, philip ii., at brussels, the government of the netherlands, and on the th of january, , he resigned to him the crowns of spain and naples. he then sailed for spain, where he retired to the monastery of st. just and lived for two years longer as an imperial monk. he was the first monarch of his time and he made spain the leading nation of the world: his immense energy, his boundless ambition, and his cold, calculating brain reëstablished his power again and again, when it seemed on the point of giving way; but he died at last without having accomplished the two chief aims of his life--the reunion of all christendom under the pope, and the union of germany with the spanish empire. the german people, following the leaders who had arisen out of their own breast,--luther, melanchthon, reuchlin and zwingli--defeated the former of these aims: the princes, who had found in charles v. much more of a despot than they had bargained for, defeated the latter. [sidenote: . ferdinand of austria emperor.] the german diet did not meet until march, , when ferdinand of austria was elected and crowned emperor, at frankfort. although a catholic, he had always endeavored to protect the protestants from the extreme measures which charles v. attempted to enforce, and he faithfully observed the treaty of augsburg. he even allowed the protestant form of the sacrament and the marriage of priests in austria, which brought upon him the condemnation of the pope. immediately after the diet, a meeting of protestant princes was held at frankfort, for the purpose of settling certain differences of opinion which were not only disturbing the lutherans but also tending to prevent any unity of action between them and the swiss protestants. melanchthon did his utmost to restore harmony, but without success. he died in , at the age of sixty-three, and calvin four years afterwards, the last of the leaders of the reformation. on the th of december, , the council of trent finally adjourned, eighteen years after it first came together. the attempts of a portion of the prelates composing it to reform and purify the roman church had been almost wholly thwarted by the influence of the popes. it adopted a series of articles, to each one of which was attached an anathema, cursing all who refused to accept it. they contained the doctrines of priestly celibacy, purgatory, masses for the dead, worship of saints, pictures and relics, absolution, fasts, and censorship of books--thus making an eternal chasm between catholicism and protestantism. at the close of the council the cardinal of lorraine cried out: "accursed be all heretics!" and all present answered: "accursed! accursed!" until the building rang. in italy, spain and poland, the articles were accepted at once, but the catholics in france, germany and hungary were dissatisfied with many of the declarations, and the church, in those countries, was compelled to overlook a great deal of quiet disobedience. [sidenote: .] at this time, although the catholics had a majority in the diet (since there were nearly priestly members), the great majority of the german people had become protestants. in all northern germany, except westphalia, very few catholic congregations were left: even the archbishops of bremen and magdeburg, and the bishops of lübeck, verden and halberstadt had joined the reformation. in the priestly territories of cologne, treves, mayence, worms and strasburg, the population was divided; the palatinate of the rhine, baden and würtemberg were almost entirely protestant, and even in upper-austria and styria the catholics were in a minority. bavaria was the main stay of rome: her princes, of the house of wittelsbach, were the most zealous and obedient champions of the pope in all germany. the roman church, however, had not given up the struggle: she was quietly and shrewdly preparing for one more desperate effort to recover her lost ground, and the protestants, instead of perceiving the danger and uniting themselves more closely, were quarrelling among themselves concerning theological questions upon which they have never yet agreed. there could be no better evidence that the reign of charles v. had weakened instead of strengthening the german empire, than the losses and the humiliations which immediately followed. ferdinand i. gave up half of hungary to sultan solyman, and purchased the right to rule the other half by an annual payment of , ducats. about the same time, the emperor's lack of power and the selfishness of the hanseatic cities occasioned a much more important loss. the provinces on the eastern shore of the baltic, which had been governed by the order of the brothers of the sword after the downfall of the german order, were overrun and terribly devastated by the czar ivan of russia. the grand master of the order appealed to lübeck and hamburg for aid, which was refused; then, in , he called upon the diet of the german empire and received vague promises of assistance, which had no practical value. then, driven to desperation, he turned to poland, sweden and denmark, all of which countries took instant advantage of his necessities. the baltic provinces were defended against russia--and lost to germany. the swedes and danes took esthonia, the poles took livonia, and only the little province of courland remained as an independent state, the grand master becoming its first duke. [sidenote: . the grumbach rebellion.] ferdinand i. died in , and was immediately succeeded by his eldest son, maximilian ii. the latter was in the prime of life, already popular for his goodness of heart, his engaging manners and his moderation and justice. the protestants cherished great hopes, at first, that he would openly join them; but, although he so favored and protected them in austria that vienna almost became a protestant city, he refused to leave the catholic church, and even sent his son rudolf to be educated in spain, under the bitter and bigoted influence of philip ii. his daughter was married to charles ix. of france, and when he heard of the massacre of st. bartholomew (in august, ) he cried out: "would to god that my son-in-law had asked counsel of me! i would so faithfully have persuaded him as a father, that he certainly would never have done this thing." he also endeavored, but in vain, to soften the persecutions and cruelties of philip ii.'s reign in the netherlands. maximilian ii.'s reign of twelve years was quiet and uneventful. only one disturbance of the internal peace occurred, and it is worthy of note as the last feud, after so many centuries of free fighting between the princes. an independent knight, william von grumbach, having been dispossessed of his lands by the bishop of würzburg, waylaid the latter, who was slain in the fight which occurred. grumbach fled to france, but soon allied himself with several dissatisfied franconian knights, and finally persuaded john frederick of saxony (the smaller dukedom) to espouse his cause. the latter was outlawed by the emperor, yet he obstinately determined to resist, in the hope of wresting the electorate of saxony from the younger line and restoring it to his own family. he was besieged by the imperial army in gotha, in , and taken prisoner. grumbach was tortured and executed, and john frederick kept in close confinement until his death, twenty-eight years afterwards. his sons, however, were allowed to succeed him. the severity with which this breach of the internal peace was punished put an end forever, to petty wars in germany: the measures adopted by the diet of , under maximilian i., were at last recognized as binding laws. [sidenote: .] the revolt of the netherlands, which broke out immediately after maximilian ii.'s accession to the throne, had little, if any, political relation to germany. under charles v. the netherlands had been quite separated from any connection with the german empire, and he was free to introduce the inquisition there and persecute the protestants with all the barbarity demanded by rome. philip ii. followed the same policy: the torture, fire and sword were employed against the people until they arose against the intolerable spanish rule, and entered upon that struggle of nearly forty years which ended in establishing the independence of holland. on the th of october, , at a diet where he had declared his policy in religious matters to be simply the enforcement of the treaty of augsburg, maximilian ii. suddenly fell dead. according to the custom which they had now followed for years, of keeping the imperial dignity in the house of hapsburg, the electors immediately chose his son, rudolf ii., an avowed enemy of the protestants. unlike his father, his nature was cold, stern and despotic: he was gloomy, unsocial and superstitious, and the circumstance that he aided and encouraged the great astronomers, kepler and tycho de brahe, was probably owing to his love for astrology and alchemy. he was subject to sudden and violent attacks of passion, which were followed by periods of complete indifference to his duties. like frederick iii., a hundred years before, he concerned himself with the affairs of austria, his direct inheritance, rather than with those of the empire; and thus, although internal wars had been suppressed, he encouraged the dissensions in religion and politics, which were gradually bringing on a more dreadful war than germany had ever known before. one of rudolf ii.'s first measures was to take from the austrian protestants the right of worship which his father had allowed them. he closed their churches, removed them from all the offices they held, and, justifying himself by the treaty of augsburg that whoever ruled the people should choose their religious faith, did his best to make austria wholly catholic. many catholic princes and priests, emboldened by his example, declared that the articles promulgated by the council of trent abolished the treaty of augsburg and gave them the right to put down heresy by force. when the archbishop of cologne became a protestant and married, the german catholics called upon alexander of parma, who came from the netherlands with a spanish army, took possession of the former's territory, and installed a new catholic archbishop, without resistance on the part of the protestant majority of germany. thus the hate and bitterness on both sides increased from year to year, without culminating in open hostilities. [sidenote: . growth and condition of germany.] the history of germany, from the accession of rudolf ii. to the end of the century, is marked by no political event of importance. spain was fully occupied in her hopeless attempt to subdue the netherlands: in france henry of navarre was fighting the duke of guise; hungary and austria were left to check the advance of the turkish invasion, and nearly all germany enjoyed peace for upwards of fifty years. during this time, population and wealth greatly increased, and life in the cities and at courts became luxurious and more or less immoral. the arts and sciences began to flourish, the people grew in knowledge, yet the spirit out of which the reformation sprang seemed almost dead. the elements of good and evil were strangely mixed together--intelligence and superstition, piety and bigotry, civilization and barbarism were found side by side. as formerly in her history, it appeared nearly impossible for germany to grow by a gradual and healthy development: her condition must be bad enough to bring on a violent convulsion, before it could be improved. such was the state of affairs at the end of the sixteenth century. in spite of the material prosperity of the country, there was a general feeling among the people that evil days were coming; but the most desponding prophet could hardly have predicted worse misfortunes than they were called upon to suffer during the next fifty years. chapter xxvii. beginning of the thirty years' war. ( -- .) growth of the calvinistic or "reformed" church. --persecution of protestants in styria. --the catholic league. --the struggle for the succession of cleves. --rudolf ii. set aside. --his death. --matthias becomes emperor. --character of ferdinand of styria. --revolt in prague. --war in bohemia. --death of matthias. --ferdinand besieged in vienna. --he is crowned emperor. --blindness of the protestant princes. --frederick of the palatinate chosen king of bohemia. --barbarity of ferdinand ii. --the protestants crushed in bohemia and austria. --count mansfeld and prince christian of brunswick. --war in baden and the palatinate. --tilly. --his ravages. --miserable condition of germany. --union of the northern states. --christian iv. of denmark. --wallenstein. --his history. --his proposition to ferdinand ii. [sidenote: .] the beginning of the seventeenth century found the protestants in germany still divided. the followers of zwingli, it is true, had accepted the augsburg confession as the shortest means of acquiring freedom of worship; but the calvinists, who were now rapidly increasing, were not willing to take this step, nor were the lutherans any more tolerant towards them than at the beginning. the dutch, in conquering their independence of spain, gave the calvinistic, or, as it was called in germany, the reformed church, a new political importance; and it was not long before the palatinate of the rhine, baden, hesse-cassel and anhalt also joined it. the protestants were split into two strong and unfriendly sects at the very time when the catholics, under the teaching of the jesuits, were uniting against them. duke ferdinand of styria, a young cousin of rudolf ii., began the struggle. styria was at that time protestant, and refused to change its faith at the command of the duke, whereupon he visited every part of the land with an armed force, closed the churches, burned the hymn-books and bibles, and banished every one who was not willing to become a catholic on the spot. he openly declared that it was better to rule over a desert than a land of heretics. duke maximilian of bavaria followed his example: in he seized the free protestant city of donauwörth, on the danube, on account of some quarrel between its inhabitants and a monastery, and held it, in violation of all laws of the empire. a protest made to the diet on account of this act was of no avail, since a majority of the members were catholics. the protestants of southern germany formed a "union" for mutual protection, in may, , with frederick iv. of the palatinate at their head; but, as they were mostly of the reformed church, they received little sympathy or support from the protestant states in the north. [sidenote: . the "succession of cleves."] maximilian of bavaria then established a "catholic league" in opposition, relying on the assistance of spain, while the "protestant union" relied on that of henry iv. of france. both sides began to arm, and they would soon have proceeded to open hostilities, when a dispute of much greater importance diverted their attention to the north of germany. this was the so-called "succession of cleves." duke john william of cleves, who governed the former separate dukedoms of jülich, cleves and berg, and the countships of ravensberg and mark, embracing a large extent of territory on both sides of the lower rhine, died in without leaving a direct heir. he had been a catholic, but his people were protestants. john sigismund, elector of brandenburg, and wolfgang william of the bavarian palatinate, both relatives on the female side, claimed the splendid inheritance; and when it became evident that the catholic interest meant to secure it, they quickly united their forces and took possession. the emperor then sent the archduke leopold of hapsburg to hold the state in his name, whereupon the protestant union made an instant alliance with henry iv. of france, who was engaged in organizing an army for its aid, when he fell by the dagger of the assassin, ravaillac, in . this dissolved the alliance, and the "union" and "league," finding themselves agreed in opposing the creation of another austrian state, on the lower rhine, concluded peace before any serious fighting had taken place between them. [sidenote: .] the two claimants to the succession adopted a similar policy. wolfgang william became a catholic, married the sister of maximilian of bavaria, and so brought the "league" to support him, and the elector john sigismund became a calvinist (which almost excited a rebellion among the brandenburg lutherans), in order to get the support of the "union." the former was assisted by spanish troops from flanders, the latter by dutch troops from holland, and the war was carried on until , when it was settled by a division which gave john sigismund the lion's share. meanwhile the emperor rudolf ii. was becoming so old, so whimsical and so useless, that in the princes of the house of hapsburg held a meeting, declared him incapable of governing, "on account of occasional imbecilities of mind," and appointed his brother matthias regent for austria, hungary and moravia. the emperor refused to yield, but, with the help of the nobility, who were mostly protestants, matthias maintained his claim. he was obliged, in return, to grant religious freedom, which so encouraged the oppressed protestants in bohemia that they demanded similar rights from the emperor. in his helpless situation he gave way to the demand, but soon became alarmed at the increase of the heretics, and tried to take back his concession. the bohemians called matthias to their assistance, and in rudolf lost his remaining kingdom and his favorite residence of prague. as he looked upon the city for the last time, he cried out: "may the vengeance of god overtake thee, and my curse light on thee and all bohemia!" in less than a year (on the th of january, ) he died. matthias was elected emperor of germany, as a matter of course. the house of hapsburg was now the strongest german power which represented the church of rome, and the catholic majority in the diet secured to it the imperial dignity then and thenceforward. the protestants, however, voted also for matthias, for the reason that he had already shown a tolerant policy towards their brethren in austria, hungary and bohemia. his first measures, as emperor, justified this view of his character. he held a diet at ratisbon for the purpose of settling the existing differences between the two, but nothing was accomplished: the protestants, finding that they would be outvoted, withdrew in a body and thus broke up the diet. matthias next endeavored to dissolve both the "union" and the "league," in which he was only partially successful. at the same time his rule in hungary was menaced by a revolt of the transylvanian chief, bethlen gabor, who was assisted by the turks: he grew weary of his task, and was easily persuaded by the other princes of his house to adopt his nephew, duke ferdinand of styria, as his successor, in the year , having no children of his own. [sidenote: . beginning of the thirty years' war.] ferdinand, who had been carefully educated by the jesuits for the part which he was afterwards to play, and whose violent suppression of the protestant faith in styria made him acceptable to all the german catholics, was a man of great energy and force of character. he was stern, bigoted, cruel, yet shrewd, cunning and apparently conciliatory when he found it necessary to be so, resembling, in both respects, his predecessor, charles v. of spain. in return for being chosen by the bohemians to succeed matthias as king, he confirmed them in the religious freedom which they had extorted from rudolf ii., and then joined the emperor in an expedition to hungary, leaving bohemia to be governed in the interim by a council of ten, seven catholics and three protestants. the first thing that happened was the destruction of two protestant churches by catholic bishops. the bohemian protestants appealed immediately to the emperor matthias, but, instead of redress, he gave them only threats. thereupon they rose in prague, stormed the council hall, seized two of the councillors and one of their secretaries, and hurled them out of the windows. although they fell a distance of twenty-eight feet, they were not killed, and all finally escaped. this event happened on the d of may, , and marks the beginning of the thirty years' war. after such long chronicles of violence and slaughter, the deed seemed of slight importance; but the hundredth anniversary of the reformation (counting from luther's proclamation against tetzel, on the st of october, ) had been celebrated by the protestants the year before, england was lost and france barely restored to the church of rome, the power of spain was declining, and the catholic priests and princes were resolved to make one more desperate struggle to regain their supremacy in germany. only the protestant princes, as a body, seemed blind to the coming danger. relying on the fact that four-fifths of the whole population of the empire were protestants, they still persisted in regarding all the political forms of the middle ages as holy, and in accepting nearly every measure which gave advantage to their enemies. [sidenote: .] although the protestants had only three councillors out of ten, they were largely in the majority in bohemia. they knew what retaliation the outbreak in prague would bring upon them, and anticipated it by making the revolution general. they chose count thun as their leader, overturned the imperial government, banished the jesuits from the country, and entered into relations with the protestant nobles of austria, and the insurgent chief bethlen gabor in hungary. the emperor matthias was willing to compromise the difficulty, but ferdinand, stimulated by the jesuits, declared for war. he sent two small armies into bohemia, with a proclamation calling upon the people to submit. the protestants of the north were at last aroused from their lethargy. count mansfeld marched with a force of , men to aid the bohemians, and , more came from silesia; the imperial army was defeated and driven back to the danube. at this juncture the emperor matthias died, on the th of may, . ferdinand lost not a day in taking the power into his own hands. but austria threatened revolution, hungary had made common cause with bohemia, count thun was marching on vienna, and he was without an army to support his claims. count thun, however, instead of attacking vienna, encamped outside the walls and began to negotiate. ferdinand, hard pressed by the demands of the austrian protestants, was on the very point of yielding--in fact, a member of a deputation of sixteen noblemen had seized him by the coat,--when trumpets were heard, and a body of cavalry, which had reached the city without being intercepted by the besiegers, appeared before the palace. this enabled him to defend the city, until the defeat of count mansfeld by another portion of his army, which had entered bohemia, compelled count thun to raise the siege. then ferdinand hastened to frankfort to look after his election as emperor by the diet, which met on the th of august, . it seems almost incredible that now, knowing his character and designs, the three chief electors who were protestants should have voted for him, without being conscious that they were traitors to their faith and their people. it has been charged, but without any clear evidence, that they were bribed: it is probable that ferdinand, whose jesuitic education taught him that falsehood and perjury are permitted in serving the church, misled them by promises of peace and justice; but it is also very likely that they imagined their own sovereignty depended on sustaining every tradition of the empire. the people, of course, had not yet acquired any rights which a prince felt himself called upon to respect. [sidenote: . frederick v. driven from bohemia.] ferdinand was elected, and properly crowned in the cathedral at frankfort, as ferdinand ii. the bohemians, who were entitled to one of the seven chief voices in the diet, claimed that the election was not binding upon them, and chose frederick v. of the palatinate as their king, in the hope that the protestant "union" would rally to their support. it was a fatal choice and a false hope. when maximilian of bavaria, at the head of the catholic "league," took the field for the emperor, the "union" cowardly withdrew. frederick v. went to bohemia, was crowned, and idled his time away in fantastic diversions for one winter, while ferdinand was calling spain to attack the palatinate of the rhine, and borrowing cossacks from poland to put down his protestant subjects in austria. the emperor assured the protestant princes that the war should be confined to bohemia, and one of them, the elector john george of saxony, a lutheran, openly went over to his side in order to defeat frederick v., a calvinist. the bohemians fell back to the walls of prague before the armies of the emperor and bavaria; and there, on the white mountain, a battle of an hour's duration, in november, , decided the fate of the country. the former scattered in all directions; frederick v. left prague never to return, and spanish, italian and hungarian troops overran bohemia. ferdinand ii. acted as might have been expected from his despotic and bigoted nature. the , cossacks which he had borrowed from his brother-in-law, king sigismund of poland, had already closed all protestant churches and suppressed freedom of worship in austria; he now applied the same measures to bohemia, but in a more violent and bloody form. twenty-seven of the chief protestant nobles were beheaded at prague in one day; thousands of families were stripped of all their property and banished; the protestant churches were given to the catholics, the jesuits took possession of the university and the schools, until finally, as a historian says, "the quiet of a sepulchre settled over bohemia." the protestant faith was practically obliterated from all the austrian realm, with the exception of a few scattered congregations in hungary and transylvania. [sidenote: .] there is hardly anywhere, in the history of the world, such an instance of savage despotism. a large majority of the population of austria, bohemia and styria were protestants; they were rapidly growing in intelligence, in social order and material prosperity; but the will of one man was allowed to destroy the progress of a hundred years, to crush both the faith and freedom of the people, plunder them of their best earnings and make them ignorant slaves for years longer. the property which was seized by ferdinand ii., in bohemia alone, was estimated at forty millions of florins! and the strength of germany, which was protestant, looked on and saw all this happen! only the common people of austria arose against the tyrant, and gallantly struggled for months, at first under the command of a farmer named stephen fadinger, and, when he was slain in the moment of victory, under an unknown young hero, who had no other name than "the student." the latter defeated the bavarian army, resisted the famous austrian general, pappenheim, in many battles, and at last fell, after the most of his followers had fallen, without leaving his name to history. the austrian peasants rivalled the swiss of three centuries before in their bravery and self-sacrifice: had they been successful (as they might have been, with small help from their protestant brethren), they would have changed the course of german history, and have become renowned among the heroes of the world. the fate of austria, from that day to this, was now sealed. both parties--the catholics, headed by ferdinand ii., and the protestants, without any head,--next turned to the palatinate of the rhine, where a spanish army, sent from flanders, was wasting and plundering in the name of the emperor. count ernest of mansfeld and prince christian of brunswick, who had supported frederick v. in bohemia, endeavored to save at least the palatinate for him. they were dashing and eccentric young generals, whose personal reputation attracted all sorts of wild and lawless characters to take service under them. mansfeld, who had been originally a catholic, was partly supported by contributions from england and holland, but he also took what he could get from the country through which he marched. christian of brunswick was a fantastic prince, who tried to imitate the knights of the middle ages. he was a great admirer of the countess elizabeth of the palatinate (sister of charles i. of england), and always wore her glove on his helmet. in order to obtain money for his troops, he plundered the bishoprics in westphalia, and forced the cities and villages to pay him heavy contributions. when he entered the cathedral at paderborn and saw the silver statues of the apostles around the altar, he cried out: "what are you doing here? you were ordered to go forth into the world, but wait a bit--i'll send you!" so he had them melted and coined into dollars, upon which the words were stamped: "friend of god, foe of priests!" he afterwards gave himself that name, but the soldiers generally called him "mad christian." [sidenote: . prince christian of brunswick.] against these two, and george frederick of baden, who joined them, ferdinand ii. sent maximilian of bavaria, to whom he promised the palatinate as a reward, and tilly, a general already famous both for his military talent and his inhumanity. the latter, who had been educated by the jesuits for a priest, was in the bavarian service. he was a small, lean man, with a face almost comical in its ugliness. his nose was like a parrot's beak, his forehead seamed with deep wrinkles, his eyes sunk in their sockets and his cheek-bones projecting. he usually wore a dress of green satin, with a cocked hat and long red feather, and rode a small, mean-looking gray horse. early in the imperial army under tilly was defeated, or at least checked, by the united forces of mansfeld and prince christian. but in may of the same year, the forces of the latter, with those of george frederick of baden, were almost cut to pieces by tilly, at wimpfen. they retreated into alsatia, where they burned and plundered at will, while tilly pursued the same course on the eastern side of the rhine. he took and destroyed the cities of mannheim and heidelberg, closed the protestant churches, banished the clergymen and teachers, and supplied their places with jesuits. the invaluable library of heidelberg was sent to pope gregory xv. at rome, and remained there until , when a part of it came back to the university by way of paris. [sidenote: .] frederick v., who had fled from the country, entered into negotiations with the emperor, in the hope of retaining the palatinate. he dissolved his connection with mansfeld and prince christian, who thereupon offered their services to the emperor, on condition that he would pay their soldiers! receiving no answer, they marched through lorraine and flanders, laying waste the country as they went, and finally took refuge in holland. frederick v.'s humiliation was of no avail; none of the protestant princes supported his claim. the emperor gave his land, with the electoral dignity, to maximilian of bavaria, and this act, although a direct violation of the laws which the german princes held sacred, was acquiesced in by them at a diet held at ratisbon in . john george of saxony, who saw clearly that it was a fatal blow aimed both at the protestants and at the rights of the reigning princes, was persuaded to be silent by the promise of having lusatia added to saxony. by this time, germany was in a worse condition than she had known for centuries. the power of the jesuits, represented by ferdinand ii., his councillors and generals, was supreme almost everywhere; the protestant princes vied with each other in meanness, selfishness and cowardice; the people were slaughtered, robbed, driven hither and thither by both parties: there seemed to be neither faith nor justice left in the land. the other protestant nations--england, holland, denmark and sweden--looked on with dismay, and even cardinal richelieu, who was then practically the ruler of france, was willing to see ferdinand ii.'s power crippled, though the protestants should gain thereby. england and holland assisted mansfeld and prince christian with money, and the latter organized new armies, with which they ravaged friesland and westphalia. prince christian was on his way to bohemia, in order to unite with the hungarian chief, bethlen gabor, when, on the th of august, , he met tilly at a place called stadtloon, near münster, and, after a murderous battle which lasted three days, was utterly defeated. about the same time mansfeld, needing further support, went to england, where he was received with great honor. ferdinand ii. had in the meantime concluded a peace with bethlen gabor, and his authority was firmly established over austria and bohemia. tilly with his bavarians was victorious in westphalia; all armed opposition to the emperor's rule was at an end, yet instead of declaring peace established, and restoring the former order of the empire, his agents continued their work of suppressing religious freedom and civil rights in all the states which had been overrun by the catholic armies. the whole empire was threatened with the fate of austria. then, at last, in , brunswick, brandenburg, mecklenburg, hamburg, lübeck and bremen formed a union for mutual defence, choosing as their leader king christian iv. of denmark, the same monarch who had broken down the power of the hanseatic league in the baltic and north seas! although a protestant, he was no friend to the north-german states, but he energetically united with them in the hope of being able to enlarge his kingdom at their expense. [sidenote: . alliance with christian iv.] christian iv. lost no time in making arrangements with england and holland which enabled both mansfeld and prince christian of brunswick to raise new forces, with which they returned to germany. tilly, in order to intercept them, entered the territory of the states which had united, and thus gave christian iv. a pretext for declaring war. the latter marched down from denmark at once, but found no earnest union among the states, and only , men collected. he soon succeeded, however, in bringing together a force much larger than that commanded by tilly, and was only hindered in his plan of immediate action by a fall from his horse, which crippled him for six weeks. the city of hamelin was taken, and tilly compelled to fall back, but no other important movements took place during the year . ferdinand ii. was already growing jealous of the increasing power of bavaria, and determined that the catholic and imperial cause should not be entrusted to tilly alone. but he had little money, his own military force had been wasted by the wars in bohemia, austria and hungary, and there was no other commander of sufficient renown to attract men to his standard. yet it was necessary that tilly should be reinforced as soon as possible, or his scheme of crushing the whole of germany, and laying it, as a fettered slave, at the feet of the roman church, might fail, and at the very moment when success seemed sure. in this emergency, a new man presented himself. albert of waldstein, better known under his historical name of wallenstein, was born at prague in . he was the son of a poor nobleman, and violent and unruly as a youth, until a fall from the third story of a house effected a sudden change in his nature. he became brooding and taciturn, gave up his protestant faith, and was educated by the jesuits at olmütz. he travelled in spain, france and the netherlands, fought in italy against venice and in hungary against bethlen gabor and the turks, and rose to the rank of colonel. he married an old and rich widow, and after her death increased his wealth by a second marriage, so that, when the protestants were expelled from bohemia, he was able to purchase of their confiscated estates. adding these to that of friedland, which he had received from the emperor in return for military services, he possessed a small principality, lived in great splendor, and paid and equipped his own troops. he was first made count, and then duke of friedland, with the authority of an independent prince of the empire. [sidenote: .] wallenstein was superstitious, and his studies in astrology gave him the belief that a much higher destiny awaited him. here was the opportunity: he offered to raise and command a second army, in the emperor's service. ferdinand ii. accepted the offer with joy, and sent word to wallenstein that he should immediately proceed to enlist , men. "my army," the latter answered, "must live by what it can take: , men are not enough. i must have , , and then i can demand what i want!" the threat of terrible ravage contained in these words was soon carried out. wallenstein was tall and meagre in person. his forehead was high but narrow, his hair black and cut very short, his eyes small, dark and fiery, and his complexion yellow. his voice was harsh and disagreeable: he never smiled, and spoke only when it was necessary. he usually dressed in scarlet, with a leather jerkin, and wore a long red feather on his hat. there was something cold, mistrustful and mysterious in his appearance, yet he possessed unbounded power over his soldiers, whom he governed with severity and rewarded splendidly. there are few more interesting personages in german history. chapter xxviii. tilly, wallenstein and gustavus adolphus. ( -- .) the winter of -- . --wallenstein's victory. --mansfeld's death. --tilly defeats christian iv. --wallenstein's successes in saxony, brandenburg and holstein. --siege of stralsund. --the edict of restitution. --its effects. --wallenstein's plans. --diet at ratisbon. --wallenstein's removal. --arrival of gustavus adolphus. --his positions and plans. --his character. --cowardice of the protestant princes. --tilly sacks magdeburg. --decision of gustavus adolphus. --tilly's defeat at leipzig. --bohemia invaded. --gustavus at frankfort. --defeat and death of tilly. --gustavus in munich. --wallenstein restored. --his conditions. --he meets gustavus at nuremberg. --he invades saxony. --battle of lützen. --death of gustavus adolphus. --wallenstein's retreat. --union of protestant princes with sweden. --protestant successes. --secret negotiations with wallenstein. --his movements. --conspiracy against him. --his removal. --his march to eger. --his assassination. [sidenote: . wallenstein.] before the end of the year , and within three months after ferdinand ii. had commissioned wallenstein to raise an army, the latter marched into saxony at the head of , men. no important operations were undertaken during the winter: christian iv. and mansfeld had their separate quarters on the one side, tilly and wallenstein on the other, and the four armies devoured the substance of the lands where they were encamped. in april, , mansfeld marched against wallenstein, to prevent him from uniting with tilly. the two armies met at the bridge of the elbe, at dessau, and fought desperately: mansfeld was defeated, driven into brandenburg, and then took his way through silesia towards hungary, with the intention of forming an alliance with bethlen gabor. wallenstein followed by forced marches, and compelled gabor to make peace with the emperor: mansfeld disbanded his troops and set out for venice, where he meant to embark for england. but he was already worn out by the hardships of his campaigns, and died on the way, in dalmatia, in november, , years of age. a few months afterwards prince christian of brunswick also died, and the protestant cause was left without any native german leader. [sidenote: .] during the same year the cause received a second and severer blow. on the th of august christian iv. and tilly came together at lutter, a little town on the northern edge of the hartz, and the army of the former was cut to pieces, himself barely escaping with his life. there seemed, now, to be no further hope for the protestants: christian iv. retreated to holstein, the elector of brandenburg gave up his connection with the union of the saxon states, the dukes of mecklenburg were powerless, and maurice of hesse was compelled by the emperor to abdicate. new measures in bohemia and austria foreshadowed the probable fate of germany: the remaining protestants in those two countries, including a large majority of the austrian nobles, were made catholics by force. in the summer of wallenstein again marched northward with an army reorganized and recruited to , men. john george of saxony, who tried to maintain a selfish and cowardly neutrality, now saw his land overrun, and himself at the mercy of the conqueror. brandenburg was subjected to the same fate; the two mecklenburg duchies were seized as the booty of the empire; and wallenstein, marching on without opposition, plundered and wasted holstein, jutland and pomerania. in the emperor bestowed mecklenburg upon him: he gave himself the title of "admiral of the baltic and the ocean," and drew up a plan for creating a navy out of the vessels of the hanseatic league, and conquering holland for the house of hapsburg. after this should have been accomplished, his next project was to form an alliance with poland against denmark and sweden, the only remaining protestant powers. while the rich and powerful cities of hamburg and lübeck surrendered at his approach, the little hanseatic town of stralsund closed its gates against him. the citizens took a solemn oath to defend their religious faith and their political independence to the last drop of their blood. wallenstein exclaimed: "and if stralsund were bound to heaven with chains, i would tear it down!" and marched against the place. at the first assault he lost , men; at the second, , ; and then the citizens, in turn, made sallies, and inflicted still heavier losses upon him. they were soon reinforced by , swedes, and then wallenstein was forced to raise the siege, after having lost, altogether, , of his best troops. at this time the danes appeared with a fleet of vessels, and took possession of the port of wolgast, in pomerania. [sidenote: . the edict of restitution.] in spite of this temporary reverse, ferdinand ii. considered that his absolute power was established over all germany. after consulting with the catholic chief-electors (one of whom, now, was maximilian of bavaria), he issued, on the th of march, , an "edict of restitution," ordering that all the former territory of the roman church, which had become protestant, should be restored to catholic hands. this required that two archbishoprics, twelve bishoprics, and a great number of monasteries and churches, which had ceased to exist nearly a century before, should be again established; and then, on the principle that the religion of the ruler should be that of the people, that the protestant faith should be suppressed in all such territory. the armies were kept in the field to enforce this edict, which was instantly carried into effect in southern germany, and in the most violent and barbarous manner. the estates of , noblemen in franconia, würtemberg and baden were confiscated; even the property of reigning princes was seized; but, instead of passing into the hands of the church, much of it was bestowed upon the emperor's family and his followers. the archbishoprics of bremen and magdeburg were given to his son leopold, a boy of ! in carrying out the measure, catholics began to suffer, as well as protestants, and the jealousy and alarm of all the smaller states were finally aroused. wallenstein, while equally despotic, was much more arrogant and reckless than ferdinand ii. he openly declared that reigning princes and a national diet were no longer necessary in germany; the emperor must be an absolute ruler, like the kings of france and spain. at the same time he was carrying out his own political plans without much reference to the imperial authority. both catholics and protestants united in calling for a diet: ferdinand ii. at first refused, but there were such signs of hostility on the part of holland, denmark, sweden and even france, that he was forced to yield. the diet met on the th of june, , at ratisbon, and maximilian of bavaria headed the universal demand for wallenstein's removal. the protestants gave testimony of the merciless system of plunder by which he had ruined their lands; the catholics complained of the more than imperial splendors of his court, upon which he squandered uncounted millions of stolen money. he travelled with carriages and more than , horses, kept cooks for his table, and was waited upon by pages of noble blood. jealousy of this pomp and state, and fear of wallenstein's ambitious designs, and not the latter's fiendish inhumanity, induced ferdinand ii. to submit to the entreaties of the diet, and remove him. [sidenote: .] the imperial messengers who were sent to his camp with the order of dismissal, approached him in great dread and anxiety, and scarcely dared to mention their business. wallenstein pointed to a sheet covered with astrological characters, and quietly told them that he had known everything in advance; that the emperor had been misled by the elector of bavaria, but, nevertheless, the order would be obeyed. he entertained them at a magnificent banquet, loaded them with gifts, and then sent them away. with rage and hate in his heart, but with all the external show and splendor of an independent sovereign, he retired to prague, well knowing that the day was not far off when his services would be again needed. tilly was appointed commander-in-chief of the imperial armies. at the very moment, however, when wallenstein was dismissed, and his forces divided among several inferior generals, the leader whom the german protestants could not furnish came to them from abroad. their ruin and the triumph of ferdinand ii. seemed inevitable; twelve years of war in its most horrible form had desolated their lands, reduced their numbers to less than half, and broken their spirit. then help and hope suddenly returned. on the th of july, , gustavus adolphus, king of sweden, landed on the coast of pomerania, with an army of , men. as he stepped upon the shore, he knelt in the sight of all the soldiers and prayed that god would befriend him. some of his staff could not restrain their tears; whereupon he said to them: "weep not, friends, but pray, for prayer is half victory!" gustavus adolphus, who had succeeded to the throne in , at the age of , was already distinguished as a military commander. he had defeated the russians in livonia and banished them from the baltic; he had fought for three years with king sigismund of poland, and taken from him the ports of elbing, pillau and memel, and he was now burning with zeal to defend the falling protestant cause in germany. cardinal richelieu, in france, helped him to the opportunity by persuading sigismund to accept an armistice, and by furnishing sweden with the means of carrying on a war against ferdinand ii. the latter had assisted poland, so that a pretext was not wanting; but when gustavus laid his plans before his council in stockholm, a majority of the members advised him to wait for a new cause of offence. nevertheless, he insisted on immediate action. the representatives of the four orders of the people were convoked in the senate-house, where he appeared before them with his little daughter, christina, in his arms, asked them to swear fealty to her, and then bade them a solemn farewell. all burst into tears when he said: "perhaps for ever," but nothing could shake his resolution to undertake the great work. [sidenote: . gustavus adolphus.] gustavus adolphus was at this time years old; he was so tall and powerfully built that he almost seemed a giant; his face was remarkably frank and cheerful in expression, his hair light, his eyes large and gray and his nose aquiline. personally, he was a striking contrast to the little, haggard and wrinkled tilly and the dark, silent and gloomy wallenstein. ferdinand ii. laughed when he heard of his landing, called him the "snow king," and said that he would melt away after one winter; but the common people, who loved and trusted him as soon as they saw him, named him the "lion of the north." he was no less a statesman than a soldier, and his accomplishments were unusual in a ruler of those days. he was a generous patron of the arts and sciences, spoke four languages with ease and elegance, was learned in theology, a ready orator and--best of all--he was honest, devout and conscientious in all his ways. the best blood of the goths from whom he was descended beat in his veins, and the germans, therefore, could not look upon him as a foreigner; to them he was a countryman as well as a deliverer. the protestant princes, however, although in the utmost peril and humiliated to the dust, refused to unite with him. if their course had been cowardly and selfish before, it now became simply infamous. the duke of pomerania shut the gates of stettin upon the swedish army, until compelled by threats to open them; the electors of brandenburg and saxony held themselves aloof, and gustavus found himself obliged to respect their neutrality, lest they should go over to the emperor's side! out of all protestant germany there came to him a few petty princes whose lands had been seized by the catholics, and who could only offer their swords. his own troops, however, had been seasoned in many battles; their discipline was perfect; and when the german people found that the slightest act of plunder or violence was severely punished, they were welcomed wherever they marched. [sidenote: .] moving slowly, and with as much wisdom as caution, gustavus relieved pomerania from the imperial troops, by the end of the year. he then took frankfort-on-the-oder by storm, and forced the elector of brandenburg to give him the use of spandau as a fortress, until he should have relieved magdeburg, the only german city which had forcibly resisted the "edict of restitution," and was now besieged by tilly and pappenheim. as the city was hard pressed, gustavus demanded of john george, elector of saxony, permission to march through his territory: it was refused! magdeburg was defended by , soldiers and , armed citizens against an army of , men, for more than a month; then, on the th of may, , it was taken by storm, and given up to the barbarous fury of tilly and his troops. the city sank in blood and ashes: , of the inhabitants perished by the sword, or in the flames, or crushed under falling walls, or drowned in the waters of the elbe. only , , who had taken refuge in the cathedral, were spared. tilly wrote to the emperor: "since the fall of troy and jerusalem, such a victory has never been seen; and i am sincerely sorry that the ladies of your imperial family could not have been present as spectators!" gustavus adolphus has been blamed, especially by the admirers and defenders of the houses of brandenburg and saxony, for not having saved magdeburg. this he might have done, had he disregarded the neutrality asserted by john george; but he had been bitterly disappointed at his reception by the protestant princes, he could not trust them, and was not strong enough to fight tilly with possible enemies in his rear. in fact, george william of brandenburg immediately ordered him to give up spandau and leave his territory. then gustavus did what he should have done at first: he planted his cannon before berlin, and threatened to lay the city in ashes. this brought george william to his senses; he agreed that his fortresses should be used by the swedes, and contributed , dollars a month towards the expenses of the war. so many recruits flocked to the swedish standard that both mecklenburgs were soon cleared of the imperial troops, the banished dukes restored, and an attack by tilly upon the fortified camp of gustavus was repulsed with heavy losses. [sidenote: . defeat of tilly.] landgrave william of hesse cassel was the first protestant prince who voluntarily allied himself with the swedish king. he was shortly followed by the unwilling but helpless john george of saxony, whose territory was invaded and wasted by tilly's army. ferdinand ii. had given this order, meaning that the elector should at least support his troops. tilly took possession of halle, naumburg and other cities, plundered and levied heavy contributions, and at last entered leipzig, after bombarding it for four days. then john george united his troops with those of gustavus adolphus, who now commanded an army of , men. tilly and pappenheim had an equal force to oppose him. after a good deal of cautious manoeuvring, the two armies stood face to face near leipzig, on the th of september, . the swedes were without armor, and gustavus distributed musketeers among the cavalry and pikemen. banner, one of his generals, commanded his right, and marshal horn his left, where the saxons were stationed. the army of tilly was drawn up in a long line, and the troops wore heavy cuirasses and helmets: pappenheim commanded the left, opposite gustavus, while tilly undertook to engage the saxons. the battle-cry of the protestants was "god with us!"--that of the catholics "jesu maria!" gustavus, wearing a white hat and green feather, and mounted on a white horse, rode up and down the lines, encouraging his men. the saxons gave way before tilly, and began to fly; but the swedes, after repelling seven charges of pappenheim's cavalry, broke the enemy's right wing, captured the cannon and turned them against tilly. the imperial army, thrown into confusion, fled in disorder, pursued by the swedes, who cut them down until night put an end to the slaughter. tilly, severely wounded, narrowly escaped death, and reached halle with only a few hundred men. [sidenote: .] this splendid victory restored the hopes of the protestants everywhere. duke bernard of saxe-weimar had joined gustavus before the battle: in his zeal for the cause, his honesty and bravery, he resembled the king, whose chief reliance as a military leader, he soon became. john george of saxony consented, though with evident reluctance, to march into bohemia, where the crushed protestants were longing for help, while the swedish army advanced through central germany to the rhine. tilly gathered together the scattered imperial forces left in the north, followed, and vainly endeavored to check gustavus. the latter took würzburg, defeated , men under charles of lorraine, who had crossed the rhine to oppose him, and entered frankfort in triumph. here he fixed his winter-quarters, and allowed his faithful swedish troops the rest which they so much needed. the territory of the archbishop of mayence, and of other catholic princes, which he overran, was not plundered or laid waste: gustavus proclaimed everywhere religious freedom, not retaliation for the barbarities inflicted on the protestants. he soon made himself respected by his enemies, and his influence spread so rapidly that the idea of becoming emperor of germany was a natural consequence of his success. his wife, queen eleanor, had joined him; he held a splendid court at frankfort, and required the german princes whom he had subjected to acknowledge themselves his dependents. the winter of -- was given up to diplomacy, rather than war. richelieu began to be jealous of the increasing power of the swedish king, and entered into secret negotiations with maximilian of bavaria. the latter also corresponded with gustavus adolphus, who by this time had secured the neutrality of the states along the rhine, and the support of a large majority of the population of the palatinate, baden and würtemberg. in the early spring of , satisfied that no arrangement with maximilian was possible, gustavus reorganized his army and set out for bavaria. the city of nuremberg received him with the wildest rejoicing: then he advanced upon donauwörth, drove out maximilian's troops and restored protestant worship in the churches. tilly, meanwhile, had added maximilian's army to his own, and taken up a strong position on the eastern bank of the river lech, between augsburg and the danube. gustavus marched against him, cannonaded his position for three days from the opposite bank, and had partly crossed under cover of the smoke before his plan was discovered. on the th of april tilly was mortally wounded, and his army fled in the greatest confusion: he died a few days afterwards, at ingolstadt, years old. [sidenote: . wallenstein restored to power.] the city of augsburg opened its gates to the conqueror and acknowledged his authority. then, after attacking ingolstadt without success, he marched upon munich, which was unable to resist, but was spared, on condition of paying a heavy contribution. the bavarians had buried a number of cannon under the floor of the arsenal, and news thereof came to the king's ears. "let the dead arise!" he ordered; and pieces were dug up, one of which contained , ducats. maximilian, whose land was completely overrun by the swedes, would gladly have made peace, but gustavus plainly told him that he was not to be trusted. while the protestant cause was so brilliantly victorious in the south, john george of saxony, who had taken possession of prague without the least trouble, remained inactive in bohemia during the winter and spring, apparently as jealous of gustavus as he was afraid of ferdinand ii. the emperor had long before ceased to laugh at the "snow king." he was in the greatest strait of his life: he knew that his trampled austrians would rise at the approach of the swedish army, and then the catholic cause would be lost. before this he had appealed to wallenstein, who was holding a splendid court at znaim, in moravia; but the latter refused, knowing that he could exact better terms for his support by waiting a little longer. the danger, in fact, increased so rapidly that ferdinand ii. was finally compelled to subscribe to an agreement which practically made wallenstein the lord and himself the subject. he gave the duchies of mecklenburg to wallenstein, and promised him one of the hapsburg states in austria; he gave him the entire disposal of all the territory he should conquer, and agreed to pay the expenses of his army. moreover, all appointments were left to wallenstein, and the emperor pledged himself that neither he nor his son should ever visit the former's camp. having thus become absolute master of his movements, wallenstein offered a high rate of payment and boundless chances of plunder to all who might enlist under him, and in two or three months stood at the head of an army of , men, many of whom were demoralized protestants. he took possession of prague, which john george vacated at his approach, and then waited quietly until maximilian should be forced by necessity to give him also the command of the bavarian forces. this soon came to pass, and then wallenstein, with , men, marched against gustavus adolphus, who fell back upon nuremberg, which he surrounded with a fortified camp. instead of attacking him, wallenstein took possession of the height of zirndorf, in the neighborhood of the city, and strongly intrenched himself. here the two commanders lay for nine weeks, watching each other, until gustavus, whose force amounted to about , , grew impatient of the delay, and troubled for the want of supplies. [sidenote: .] he attacked wallenstein's camp, but was repulsed with a loss of , men; then, after waiting two weeks longer, he marched out of nuremberg, with the intention of invading bavaria. maximilian followed him with the bavarian troops, and wallenstein, whose army had been greatly diminished by disease and desertion, moved into franconia. then, wheeling suddenly, he crossed the thuringian mountains into saxony, burning and pillaging as he went, took leipzig, and threatened dresden. john george, who was utterly unprepared for such a movement, again called upon gustavus for help, and the latter, leaving bavaria, hastened to saxony by forced marches. on the th of october he reached erfurt, where he took leave of his wife, with a presentiment that he should never see her again. as he passed on through weimar to naumburg, the country-people flocked to see him, falling on their knees, kissing his garments, and expressing such other signs of faith and veneration, that he exclaimed: "i pray that the wrath of the almighty may not be visited upon me, on account of this idolatry towards a weak and sinful mortal!" wallenstein's force being considerably larger than his own, he halted in naumburg, to await the former's movements. as the season was so far advanced, wallenstein finally decided to send pappenheim with , men into westphalia, and then go into winter-quarters. as soon as gustavus heard of pappenheim's departure he marched to the attack, and the battle began on the morning of november th, , at lützen, between naumburg and leipzig. on both sides the troops had been arranged with great military skill. wallenstein had , men and gustavus , . the latter made a stirring address to his swedes, and then the whole army united in singing luther's grand hymn: "our lord he is a tower of strength." for several hours the battle raged furiously, without any marked advantage on either side; then the swedes broke wallenstein's left wing and captured the artillery. the imperialists rallied and retook it, throwing the swedes into some confusion. gustavus rode forward to rally them and was carried by his horse among the enemy. a shot, fired at close quarters, shattered his left arm, but he refused to leave the field, and shortly afterwards a second shot struck him from his horse. the sight of the steed, covered with blood and wildly galloping to and fro, told the swedes what had happened; but, instead of being disheartened, they fought more furiously than before, under the command of duke bernard of saxe-weimar. [sidenote: . the battle of lÜtzen.] at this juncture pappenheim, who had been summoned from halle the day before, arrived on the field. his first impetuous charge drove the swedes back, but he also fell, mortally wounded, his cavalry began to waver, and the lost ground was regained. night put an end to the conflict, and before morning wallenstein retreated to leipzig, leaving all his artillery and colors on the field. the body of gustavus adolphus was found after a long search, buried under a heap of dead, stripped, mutilated by the hoofs of horses, and barely recognizable. the loss to the protestant cause seemed irreparable, but the heroic king, in falling, had so crippled the power of its most dangerous enemy that its remaining adherents had a little breathing-time left them, to arrange for carrying on the struggle. wallenstein was so weakened that he did not even remain in saxony, but retired to bohemia, where he vented his rage on his own soldiers. the protestant princes felt themselves powerless without the aid of sweden, and when the chancellor of the kingdom, oxenstierna, decided to carry on the war, they could not do otherwise than accept him as the head of the protestant union, in the place of gustavus adolphus. a meeting was held at heilbronn, in the spring of , at which the suabian, franconian and rhenish princes formally joined the new league. duke bernard and the swedish marshal horn were appointed commanders of the army. electoral saxony and brandenburg, as before, hesitated and half drew back, but they finally consented to favor the movement without joining it, and each accepted , thalers a year from france, to pay them for the trouble. richelieu had an ambassador at heilbronn, who promised large subsidies to the protestant side: it was in the interest of france to break the power of the hapsburgs, and there was also a chance, in the struggle, of gaining another slice of german territory. [sidenote: .] hostilities were renewed, and for a considerable time the protestant armies were successful everywhere. william of hesse and duke george of brunswick defeated the imperialists and held westphalia; duke bernard took bamberg and moved against bavaria; saxony and silesia were delivered from the enemy, and marshal horn took possession of alsatia. duke bernard and horn were only prevented from overrunning all bavaria by a mutiny which broke out in their armies, and deprived them of several weeks of valuable time. while these movements were going on, wallenstein remained idle at prague, in spite of the repeated and pressing entreaties of the emperor that he would take the field. he seems to have considered his personal power secured, and was only in doubt as to the next step which he should take in his ambitious career. finally, in may, he marched into silesia, easily out-generaled arnheim, who commanded the protestant armies, but declined to follow up his advantage, and concluded an armistice. secret negotiations then began between wallenstein, arnheim and the french ambassador: the project was that wallenstein should come over to the protestant side, in return for the crown of bohemia. louis xiii. of france promised his aid, but chancellor oxenstierna, distrusting wallenstein, refused to be a party to the plan. there is no positive evidence, indeed, that wallenstein consented: it rather seems that he was only courting offers from the protestant side, in order to have a choice of advantages, but without binding himself in any way. ferdinand ii., in his desperation, summoned a spanish army from italy to his aid. this was a new offence to wallenstein, since the new troops were not placed under his command. in the autumn of , however, he felt obliged to make some movement. he entered silesia, defeated a protestant army under count thurn, overran the greater part of saxony and brandenburg, and threatened pomerania. in the meantime the spanish and austrian troops in bavaria had been forced to fall back, duke bernard had taken ratisbon, and the road to vienna was open to him. ferdinand ii. and maximilian of bavaria sent messenger after messenger to wallenstein, imploring him to return from the north without delay. he moved with the greatest slowness, evidently enjoying their anxiety and alarm, crossed the northern frontier of bavaria, and then, instead of marching against duke bernard, he turned about and took up his winter-quarters at pilsen, in bohemia. [sidenote: . wallenstein's conspiracy.] here he received an order from the emperor, commanding him to march instantly against ratisbon, and further, to send , of his best cavalry to the spanish army. this step compelled him, after a year's hesitation, to act without further delay. he was already charged, at vienna, with being a traitor to the imperial cause: he now decided to become one, in reality. he first confided his design to his brothers-in-law, counts kinsky and terzky, and one of his generals, illo. then a council of war, of all the chief officers of his army, was called on the th of january, ; wallenstein stated what ferdinand ii. had ordered, and in a cunning speech commented on the latter's ingratitude to the army which had saved him, ending by declaring that he should instantly resign his command. the officers were thunderstruck: they had boundless faith in wallenstein's military genius, and they saw themselves deprived of glory, pay and plunder by his resignation. he and his associates skilfully made use of their excitement: at a grand banquet, the next day, all of them, numbering , signed a document pledging their entire fidelity to wallenstein. general piccolomini, one of the signers, betrayed all this to the emperor, who, twelve days afterwards, appointed general gallas, another of the signers, commander in wallenstein's stead. at the same time a secret order was issued for the seizure of wallenstein, illo and terzky, dead or alive. both sides were now secretly working against each other, but wallenstein's former delay told against him. he could not go over to the protestant side, unless certain important conditions were secured in advance, and while his agents were negotiating with duke bernard, his own army, privately worked upon by gallas and other agents of the emperor, began to desert him. what arrangement was made with duke bernard, is uncertain; the chief evidence is that he, and wallenstein with the few thousand troops who still stood by him, moved rapidly towards each other, as if to join their forces. [sidenote: .] on the th of february, , wallenstein reached the town of eger, near the bohemian frontier: only two or three more days were required, to consummate his plan. then colonel butler, an irishman, and two scotch officers, gordon and leslie, conspired to murder him and his associates--no doubt in consequence of instructions received from vienna. illo, terzky and kinsky accepted an invitation to a banquet in the citadel, the following evening; but wallenstein, who was unwell, remained in his quarters in the burgomaster's house. everything had been carefully prepared, in advance: at a given signal, gordon and leslie put out the lights, dragoons entered the banquet-hall, and the three victims were murdered in cold blood. then a captain devereux, with six soldiers, forced his way into the burgomaster's house, on pretence of bearing important dispatches, cut down wallenstein's servant and entered the room where he lay. wallenstein, seeing that his hour had come, made no resistance, but silently received his death-blow. when duke bernard arrived, a day or two afterwards, he found eger defended by the imperialists. ferdinand ii. shed tears when he heard of wallenstein's death, and ordered , masses to be said for his soul; but, at the same time, he raised the assassins, butler and leslie, to the rank of count, and rewarded them splendidly for the deed. wallenstein's immense estates were divided among the officers who had sworn to support him, and had then secretly gone over to the emperor. chapter xxix. end of the thirty years' war. ( -- .) the battle of nördlingen. --aid furnished by france. --treachery of protestant princes. --offers of ferdinand ii. --duke bernard of saxe-weimar visits paris. --his agreement with louis xiii. --his victories. --death of ferdinand ii. --ferdinand iii. succeeds. --duke bernard's bravery, popularity and death. --banner's successes. --torstenson's campaigns. --he threatens vienna. --the french victorious in southern germany. --movements for peace. --wrangel's victories. --capture of prague by the swedes. --the peace of westphalia. --its provisions. --the religious settlement. --defeat of the church of rome. --desolation of germany. --sufferings and demoralization of the people. --practical overthrow of the empire. --a multitude of independent states. [sidenote: . defeat of the protestants.] the austrian army, composed chiefly of wallenstein's troops and commanded nominally by the emperor's son, the archduke ferdinand, but really by general gallas, marched upon ratisbon and forced the swedish garrison to surrender before duke bernard, hastening back from eger, could reach the place. then, uniting with the spanish and bavarian forces, the archduke took donauwörth and began the siege of the fortified town of nördlingen, in würtemberg. duke bernard effected a junction with marshal horn, and, with his usual daring, determined to attack the imperialists at once. horn endeavored to dissuade him, but in vain: the battle was fought on the th of september, , and the protestants were terribly defeated, losing , men, beside , prisoners, and nearly all their artillery and baggage-wagons. marshal horn was among the prisoners, and duke bernard barely succeeded in escaping with a few followers. the result of this defeat was that würtemberg and the palatinate were again ravaged by catholic armies. oxenstierna, who was consulting with the protestant princes in frankfort, suddenly found himself nearly deserted: only hesse-cassel, würtemberg and baden remained on his side. in this crisis he turned to france, which agreed to assist the swedes against the emperor, in return for more territory in lorraine and alsatia. for the first time, richelieu found it advisable to give up his policy of aiding the protestants with money, and now openly supported them with french troops. john george of saxony, who had driven the imperialists from his land and invaded bohemia, cunningly took advantage of the emperor's new danger, and made a separate treaty with him, at prague, in may, . the latter gave up the "edict of restitution" so far as saxony was concerned, and made a few other concessions, none of which favored the protestants in other lands. on the other hand, he positively refused to grant religious freedom to austria, and excepted baden, the palatinate and würtemberg from the provision which allowed other princes to join saxony in the treaty. [sidenote: .] brandenburg, mecklenburg, brunswick, anhalt, and many free cities followed the example of saxony. the most important, and--apparently for the swedes and south-german protestants--fatal provision of the treaty was that all the states which accepted it should combine to raise an army to enforce it, the said army to be placed at the emperor's disposal. the effect of this was to create a union of the catholics and german lutherans against the swedish lutherans and german calvinists--a measure which gave germany many more years of fire and blood. duke bernard of saxe-weimar and the landgrave of hesse-cassel scorned to be parties to such a compact: the swedes and south-germans were outraged and indignant: john george was openly denounced as a traitor, as, on the catholic side, the emperor was also denounced, because he had agreed to yield anything whatever to the protestants. france, only, enjoyed the miseries of the situation. ferdinand ii. was evidently weary of the war, which had now lasted nearly eighteen years, and he made an effort to terminate it by offering to sweden three and a half millions of florins and to duke bernard a principality in franconia, provided they would accept the treaty of prague. both refused: the latter took command of , french troops and marched into alsatia, while the swedish general banner defeated the saxons, who had taken the field against him, in three successive battles. the imperialists, who had meanwhile retaken alsatia and invaded france, were recalled to germany by banner's victories, and duke bernard, at the same time, went to paris to procure additional support. during the years and nearly all germany was wasted by the opposing armies; the struggle had become fiercer and more barbarous than ever, and the last resources of many states were so exhausted that famine and disease carried off nearly all of the population whom the sword had spared. [sidenote: . duke bernard in paris.] duke bernard made an agreement with louis xiii. whereby he received the rank of marshal of france, and a subsidy of four million livres a year, to pay for a force of , men, which he undertook to raise in germany. after the death of gustavus adolphus, the hope of the protestants was centred on him; soldiers flocked to his standard at once, and his fortunes suddenly changed. the swedes were driven from northern germany, with the aid of the elector of brandenburg, who surrendered to the emperor the most important of his rights as reigning prince: by the end of , banner was compelled to retreat to the baltic coast, and there await reinforcements. at the same time, duke bernard entered alsatia, routed the imperialists, took their commander prisoner, and soon gained possession of all the territory with the exception of the fortress of breisach, to which he laid siege. on the th of february, , the emperor ferdinand ii. died, in the fifty-ninth year of his age, after having occasioned, by his policy, the death of , , of human beings. yet the responsibility of his fatal and terrible reign rests not so much upon himself, personally, as upon the jesuits who educated him. he appears to have sincerely believed that it was better to reign over a desert than a protestant people. as a man he was courageous, patient, simple in his tastes, and without personal vices. but all the weaknesses and crimes of his worst predecessors, added together, were scarcely a greater curse to the german people than his devotion to what he considered the true faith. his son, ferdinand iii., was immediately elected to succeed him. the protestants considered him less subject to the jesuits and more kindly disposed towards themselves, but they were mistaken: he adopted all the measures of his father, and carried on the war with equal zeal and cruelty. [sidenote: .] more than one army was sent to the relief of breisach, but duke bernard defeated them all, and in december, , the strong fortress surrendered to him. his compact with france stipulated that he should possess the greater part of alsatia as his own independent principality, after conquering it, relinquishing to france the northern portion, bordering on lorraine. but now louis xiii. demanded breisach, making its surrender to him the condition of further assistance. bernard refused, gave up the french subsidy, and determined to carry on the war alone. his popularity was so great that his chance of success seemed good: he was a brave, devout and noble-minded man, whose strong personal ambition was always controlled by his conscience. the people had entire faith in him, and showed him the same reverence which they had manifested towards gustavus adolphus; yet their hope, as before, only preceded their loss. in the midst of his preparations duke bernard died suddenly, on the th of july, , only thirty-six years old. it was generally believed that he had been poisoned by a secret agent of france, but there is no evidence that this was the case, except that a french army instantly marched into alsatia and held the country. duke bernard's successes, nevertheless, had drawn a part of the imperialists from northern germany, and in banner, having recruited his army, marched through brandenburg and saxony into the heart of bohemia, burning and plundering as he went, with no less barbarity than tilly or wallenstein. although repulsed in , near prague, by the archduke leopold (ferdinand iii.'s brother), he only retired as far as thuringia, where he was again strengthened by hessian and french troops. in this condition of affairs, ferdinand iii. called a diet, which met at ratisbon in the autumn of . a majority of the protestant members united with the catholics in their enmity to sweden and france, but they seemed incapable of taking any measures to put an end to the dreadful war: month after month went by and nothing was done. then banner conceived the bold design of capturing the emperor and the diet. he made a winter march, with such skill and swiftness, that he appeared before the walls of ratisbon at the same moment with the first news of his movement. nothing but a sudden thaw, and the breaking up of the ice in the danube, prevented him from being successful. in may, , he died, his army broke up, and the emperor began to recover some of the lost ground. several of the protestant princes showed signs of submission, and ambassadors from austria, france and sweden met at hamburg to decide where and how a peace congress might be held. [sidenote: . victories of torstenson.] in the swedish army was reorganized under the command of torstenson, one of the greatest of the many distinguished generals of the time. although he was a constant sufferer from gout and had to be carried in a litter, he was no less rapid than daring and successful in all his military operations. his first campaign was through silesia and bohemia, almost to the gates of vienna; then, returning through saxony, towards the close of the year, he almost annihilated the army of piccolomini before the walls of leipzig. the elector john george, fighting on the catholic side, was forced to take refuge in bohemia. denmark having declared war against sweden, torstenson made a campaign in holstein and jutland in , in conjunction with a swedish fleet on the coast, and soon brought denmark to terms. the imperialist general, gallas, followed him, but was easily defeated, and then torstenson, in turn, followed him back through bohemia into austria. in march, , the swedish army won such a splendid victory near tabor, that ferdinand iii. had scarcely any troops left to oppose their march. again torstenson appeared before vienna, and was about commencing the siege of the city, when a pestilence broke out among his troops and compelled him to retire, as before, through saxony. worn out with the fatigues of his marches, he died before the end of the year, and the command was given to general wrangel. during this time the french, under the famous marshals, turenne and condé, had not only maintained themselves in alsatia, but had crossed the rhine and ravaged baden, the palatinate, würtemberg and part of franconia. although badly defeated by the bavarians in the early part of , they were reinforced by the swedes and hessians, and, before the close of the year, won such a victory over the united imperialist forces, not far from donauwörth, that all bavaria lay open to them. the effect of these french successes, and of those of the swedes under torstenson, was to deprive ferdinand iii. of nearly his whole military strength. john george of saxony concluded a separate armistice with the swedes, thus violating the treaty of prague, which had cost his people ten years of blood. he was followed by frederick william, the young elector of brandenburg; and then maximilian of bavaria, in march, , also negotiated a separate armistice with france and sweden. ferdinand iii. was thus left with a force of only , men, the command of which, as he had no catholic generals left, was given to a renegade calvinist named melander von holzapfel. [sidenote: .] the chief obstacle to peace--the power of the hapsburgs--now seemed to be broken down. the wanton and tremendous effort made to crush out protestantism in germany, although helped by the selfishness, the cowardice or the miserable jealousy of so many protestant princes, had signally failed, owing to the intervention of three foreign powers, one of which was catholic. yet the peace congress, which had been agreed upon in , had accomplished nothing. it was divided into two bodies: the ambassadors of the emperor were to negotiate at osnabrück with sweden, as the representative of the protestant powers, and at münster with france, as the representative of the catholic powers which desired peace. two more years elapsed before all the ambassadors came together, and then a great deal of time was spent in arranging questions of rank, title and ceremony, which seem to have been considered much more important than the weal or woe of a whole people. spain, holland, venice, poland and denmark also sent representatives, and about the end of the congress was sufficiently organized to commence its labors. but, as the war was still being waged with as much fury as ever, one side waited and then the other for the result of battles and campaigns; and so two more years were squandered. after the armistice with maximilian of bavaria, the swedish general, wrangel, marched into bohemia, where he gained so many advantages that maximilian finally took sides again with the emperor and drove the swedes into northern germany. then, early in , wrangel effected a junction with marshal turenne, and the combined swedish and french armies overran all bavaria, defeated the imperialists in a bloody battle, and stood ready to invade austria. at the same time königsmark, with another swedish army, entered bohemia, stormed and took half the city of prague, and only waited the approach of wrangel and turenne to join them in a combined movement upon vienna. but before this movement could be executed, ferdinand iii. had decided to yield. his ambassadors at osnabrück and münster had received instructions, and lost no time in acting upon them: the proclamation of peace, after such heartless delays, came suddenly and put an end to thirty years of war. [sidenote: . the peace of westphalia.] the peace of westphalia, as it is called, was concluded on the th of october, . inasmuch as its provisions extended not to germany alone, but fixed the political relations of europe for a period of nearly a hundred and fifty years, they must be briefly stated. france and sweden, as the military powers which were victorious in the end, sought to draw the greatest advantages from the necessities of germany, but france opposed any settlement of the religious questions (in order to keep a chance open for future interference), and sweden demanded an immediate and final settlement, which was agreed to. france received lorraine, with the cities of metz, toul and verdun, which she had held nearly a hundred years, all southern alsatia with the fortress of breisach, the right of appointing the governors of ten german cities, and other rights which practically placed nearly the whole of alsatia in her power. sweden received the northern half of pomerania, with the cities of wismar and stettin, and the coast between bremen and hamburg, together with an indemnity of , , thalers. electoral saxony received lusatia and part of the territory of magdeburg. brandenburg received the other half of pomerania, the archbishopric of magdeburg, the bishoprics of minden and halberstadt, and other territory which had belonged to the roman church. additions were made to the domains of mecklenburg, brunswick, and hesse-cassel, and the latter was also awarded an indemnity of , thalers. bavaria received the upper palatinate (north of the danube), and baden, würtemberg and nassau were restored to their banished rulers. other petty states were confirmed in the position which they had occupied before the war, and the independence of switzerland and holland was acknowledged. in regard to religion, the results were much more important to the world. both calvinists and lutherans received entire freedom of worship and equal civil rights with the catholics. ferdinand ii.'s "edict of restitution" was withdrawn, and the territories which had been secularized up to the year were not given back to the church. universal amnesty was decreed for everything which had happened during the war, except for the austrian protestants, whose possessions were not restored to them. the emperor retained the authority of deciding questions of war and peace, taxation, defences, alliances, &c. with the concurrence of the diet: he acknowledged the absolute sovereignty of the several princes in their own states, and conceded to them the right of forming alliances among themselves or with foreign powers! a special article of the treaty prohibited all persons from writing, speaking or teaching anything contrary to its provisions. [sidenote: .] the pope (at that time innocent x.) declared the treaty of westphalia null and void, and issued a bull against its observance. the parties to the treaty, however, did not allow this bull to be published in germany. the catholics in all parts of the country (except austria, styria and the tyrol) had suffered almost as severely as the protestants, and would have welcomed the return of peace upon any terms which simply left their faith free. nothing shows so conclusively how wantonly and wickedly the thirty years' war was undertaken than the fact that the peace of , in a religious point of view, yielded even more to the protestants than the religious peace of augsburg, granted by charles v. in . after a hundred years, the church of rome, acting through its tools, the hapsburg emperors, was forced to give up the contest: the sword of slaughter was rusted to the hilt by the blood it had shed, and yet religious freedom was saved to germany. it was not zeal for the spread of christian truth which inspired this fearful crusade against twenty-five millions of protestants, for the catholics equally acknowledged the authority of the bible: it was the despotic determination of the roman church to rule the minds and consciences of all men, through its pope and its priesthood. thirty years of war! the slaughters of rome's worst emperors, the persecution of the christians under nero and diocletian, the invasions of the huns and magyars, the long struggle of the guelphs and ghibellines, left no such desolation behind them. at the beginning of the century, the population of the german empire was about thirty millions: when the peace of westphalia was declared, it was scarcely more than twelve millions! electoral saxony, alone, lost , lives in two years. the population of augsburg had diminished from , to , , and out of , inhabitants, würtemberg had but , left. the city of berlin contained but three hundred citizens, the whole of the palatinate of the rhine but two hundred farmers. in hesse-cassel seventeen cities, forty-seven castles and three hundred villages were entirely destroyed by fire: thousands of villages, in all parts of the country, had but four or five families left out of hundreds, and landed property sank to about one-twentieth of its former value. franconia was so depopulated that an assembly held in nuremberg ordered the catholic priests to marry, and permitted all other men to have two wives. the horses, cattle and sheep were exterminated in many districts, the supplies of grain were at an end, even for sowing, and large cultivated tracts had relapsed into a wilderness. even the orchards and vineyards had been wantonly destroyed wherever the armies had passed. so terrible was the ravage that in a great many localities, the same amount of population, cattle, acres of cultivated land and general prosperity, was not restored until the year , two centuries afterwards! [sidenote: . desolation of germany.] this statement of the losses of germany, however, was but a small part of the suffering endured. only two commanders, gustavus adolphus and duke bernard of saxe-weimar, preserved rigid discipline among their troops, and prevented them from plundering the people. all others allowed, or were powerless to prevent, the most savage outrages. during the last ten or twelve years of the war both protestants and catholics vied with each other in deeds of barbarity; the soldiers were nothing but highway robbers, who maimed and tortured the country people to make them give up their last remaining property, and drove hundreds of thousands of them into the woods and mountains to die miserably or live as half-savages. multitudes of others flocked to the cities for refuge, only to be visited by fire and famine. in the year , when ferdinand ii. died, the want was so great that men devoured each other, and even hunted down human beings like deer or hares, in order to feed upon them. great numbers committed suicide, to avoid a slow death by hunger: on the island of rügen many poor creatures were found dead, with their mouths full of grass, and in some districts attempts were made to knead earth into bread. then followed a pestilence which carried off a large proportion of the survivors. a writer of the time exclaims: "a thousand times ten thousand souls, the spirits of innocent children butchered in this unholy war, cry day and night unto god for vengeance, and cease not: while those who have caused all these miseries live in peace and freedom, and the shout of revelry and the voice of music are heard in their dwellings!" [sidenote: .] in character, in intelligence and in morality, the german people were set back two hundred years. all branches of industry had declined, commerce had almost entirely ceased, literature and the arts were suppressed, and except the astronomical discoveries of copernicus and kepler there was no contribution to human knowledge. even the modern high-german language, which luther had made the classic tongue of the land, seemed to be on the point of perishing. spaniards and italians on the catholic, swedes and french on the protestant side, flooded the country with foreign words and expressions, the use of which soon became an affectation with the nobility, who did their best to destroy their native language. wallenstein's letters to the emperor were a curious mixture of german, french, spanish, italian and latin. politically, the change was no less disastrous. the ambition of the house of hapsburg, it is true, had brought its own punishment; the imperial dignity was secured to it, but henceforth the head of the "holy roman empire" was not much more than a shadow. each petty state became, practically, an independent nation, with power to establish its own foreign relations, make war and contract alliances. thus germany, as a whole, lost her place among the powers of europe, and could not possibly regain it under such an arrangement: the emperor and the princes, together, had skilfully planned her decline and fall. the nobles who, in former centuries, had maintained a certain amount of independence, were almost as much demoralized as the people, and when every little prince began to imitate louis xiv. and set up his own versailles, the nobles in his territory became his courtiers and government officials. as for the mass of the people, their spirit was broken: for a time they gave up even the longing for rights which they had lost, and taught their children abject obedience in order that they might simply _live_. [sidenote: . the german states.] after the thirty years' war, germany was composed of nine electorates, twenty-four religious principalities (catholic), nine princely abbots, ten princely abbesses, twenty-four princes with seat and vote in the diet, thirteen princes without seat and vote, sixty-two counts of the empire, fifty-one cities of the empire, and about one thousand knights of the empire. these last, however, no longer possessed any political power. but, without them, there were two hundred and three more or less independent, jealous and conflicting states, united by a bond which was more imaginary than real; and this confused, unnatural state of things continued until napoleon came to put an end to it. chapter xxx. germany, to the peace of ryswick. ( -- .) contemporary history. --germany in the seventeenth century. --influence of louis xiv. --leopold i. of austria. --petty despotisms. --the great elector. --invasions of louis xiv. --the elector aids holland. --war with france. --battle of fehrbellin. --french ravages in baden. --the peace of nymwegen. --the hapsburgs and hohenzollerns. --louis xiv. seizes strasburg. --vienna besieged by the turks. --sobieski's victory. --events in hungary. --prince eugene of savoy. --victories over the turks. --french invasion of germany. --french barbarity. --death of the great elector. --the war with france. --peace of ryswick. --position of the german states. --the diet. --the imperial court. --state of learning and literature. [sidenote: .] the peace of westphalia coincides with the beginning of great changes throughout europe. the leading position on the continent, which germany had preserved from the treaty of verdun until the accession of charles v.--nearly years--was lost beyond recovery: it had passed into the hands of france, where louis xiv. was just commencing his long and brilliant reign. spain, after a hundred years of supremacy, was in a rapid decline; the new republic of holland was mistress of the seas, and sweden was the great power of northern europe. in england, charles i. had lost his throne, and cromwell was at work, laying the foundation of a broader and firmer power than either the tudors or the stuarts had ever built. poland was still a large and strong kingdom, and russia was only beginning to attract the notice of other nations. the italian republics had seen their best days: even the power of venice was slowly crumbling to pieces. the coast of america, from maine to virginia, was dotted with little english, dutch and swedish settlements, only a few of which had safely passed through their first struggle for existence. [sidenote: . election of leopold i.] the history of germany, during the remainder of the seventeenth century, furnishes few events upon which the intelligent and patriotic german of to-day can look back with any satisfaction. austria was the principal power, through her territory and population, as well as the imperial dignity, which was thenceforth accorded to her as a matter of habit. the provision of religious liberty had not been extended to her people, who were now forcibly made catholic; the former legislative assemblies, even the privileges of the nobles, had been suppressed, and the rule of the hapsburgs was as absolute a despotism as that of louis xiv. when ferdinand iii. died, in , the "great monarch," as the french call him, made an attempt to be elected his successor: he purchased the votes of the archbishops of mayence, treves and cologne, and might have carried the day but for the determined resistance of the electors of brandenburg and saxony. even had he been successful, it is doubtful whether his influence over the most of the german princes would have been greater than it was in reality. ferdinand's son, leopold i., a stupid, weak-minded youth of eighteen, was chosen emperor in . like his ancestor, frederick iii., whom he most resembled, his reign was as long as it was useless. until the year he was the imaginary ruler of an imaginary empire: vienna was a faint reflection of madrid, as every other little capital was of paris. the hapsburgs and the bourbons being absolute, all the ruling princes, even the best of them, introduced the same system into their territories, and the participation of the other classes of the people in the government ceased. the cities followed this example, and their burgomasters and councillors became a sort of aristocracy, more or less arbitrary in character. the condition of the people, therefore, depended entirely on the princes, priests, or other officials who governed them: one state or city might be orderly and prosperous, while another was oppressed and checked in its growth. a few of the rulers were wise and humane: ernest the pious of gotha was a father to his land, during his long reign; in hesse, brunswick and anhalt learning was encouraged, and frederick william of brandenburg set his face against the corrupting influences of france. these small states were exceptions, yet they kept alive what of hope and strength and character was left to germany, and were the seeds of her regeneration in the present century. [sidenote: .] throughout the greater part of the country the people relapsed into ignorance and brutality, and the higher classes assumed the stiff, formal, artificial manners which nearly all europe borrowed from the court of louis xiv. public buildings, churches and schools were allowed to stand as ruins, while the petty sovereign built his stately palace, laid out his park in the style of versailles, and held his splendid and ridiculous festivals. although saxony had been impoverished and almost depopulated, the elector, john george ii., squandered all the revenues of the land on banquets, hunting-parties, fireworks and collections of curiosities, until his treasury was hopelessly bankrupt. another prince made his italian singing-master prime minister, and others again surrendered their lives and the happiness of their people to influences which were still more disastrous. the one historical character among the german rulers of this time is frederick william of brandenburg, who is generally called "the great elector." in bravery, energy and administrative ability, he was the first worthy successor of frederick of hohenzollern. no sooner had peace been declared than he set to work to restore order to his wasted and disturbed territory: he imitated sweden in organizing a standing army, small at first, but admirably disciplined; he introduced a regular system of taxation, of police and of justice, and encouraged trade and industry in all possible ways. in a few years a war between sweden and poland gave him the opportunity of interfering, in the hope of obtaining the remainder of pomerania. he first marched to königsberg, the capital of the duchy of prussia, which belonged to brandenburg, but under the sovereignty of poland. allying himself first with the swedes, he participated in a great victory at warsaw in july, , and then found it to his advantage to go over to the side of john casimir, king of poland, who offered him the independence of prussia. this was his only gain from the war; for, by the peace of , he was forced to give up western pomerania, which he had in the mean time conquered from sweden. [sidenote: . war with louis xiv.] louis xiv. of france was by this time aware that his kingdom had nothing to fear from any of its neighbors, and might easily be enlarged at their expense. in , he began his wars of conquest, by laying claim to brabant, and instantly sending turenne and condé over the frontier. a number of fortresses, unprepared for resistance, fell into their hands; but holland, england and sweden formed an alliance against france, and the war terminated in by the peace of aix-la-chapelle. louis's next step was to ally himself with england and sweden against holland, on the ground that a republic, by furnishing a place of refuge for political fugitives, was dangerous to monarchies. in he entered holland with an army of , men, took geldern, utrecht and other strongly-fortified places, and would soon have made himself master of the country, if its inhabitants had not shown themselves capable of the sublimest courage and self-sacrifice. they were victorious over france and england on the sea, and defended themselves stubbornly on the land. even the german archbishop of cologne and bishop of münster furnished troops to louis xiv. and the emperor leopold promised to remain neutral. then frederick william of brandenburg allied himself with holland, and so wrought upon the emperor by representing the danger to germany from the success of france, that the latter sent an army under general montecuccoli to the rhine. but the austrian troops remained inactive; louis xiv. purchased the support of the archbishops of mayence and treves; westphalia was invaded by the french, and in frederick william was forced to sign a treaty of neutrality. about this time holland was strengthened by the alliance of spain, and the emperor leopold, alarmed at the continual invasions of german territory on the upper rhine, ordered montecuccoli to make war in earnest. in the diet formally declared war against france, and frederick william marched with , men to the palatinate, which marshal turenne had ravaged with fire and sword. the french were driven back and even out of alsatia for a time; but they returned the following year, and were successful until the month of july, when turenne found his death on the soil which he had turned into a desert. before this happened, frederick william had been recalled in all haste to brandenburg, where the swedes, instigated by france, were wasting the land with a barbarity equal to turenne's. his march was so swift that he found the enemy scattered: dividing and driving them before him, on the th of june, , at fehrbellin, with only , men, he attacked the main swedish army, numbering more than double that number. for three hours the battle raged with the greatest fury; frederick william fought at the head of his troops, who more than once cut him out from the ranks of the enemy, and the result was a splendid victory. the fame of this achievement rang through all europe, and brandenburg was thenceforth mentioned with the respect due to an independent power. [sidenote: .] frederick william continued the war for two years longer, gradually acquiring possession of all swedish pomerania, including stettin and the other cities on the coast. he even built a small fleet, and undertook to dispute the supremacy of sweden on the baltic. during this time the war with france was continued on the upper rhine, with varying fortunes. though repulsed and held in check after turenne's death, the french burned five cities and several hundred villages west of the rhine, and in captured freiburg in baden. but louis xiv. began to be tired of the war, especially as holland proved to be unconquerable. negotiations for peace were commenced in , and on the th of february, , the "peace of nymwegen" was concluded with holland, spain and the german empire--except brandenburg! leopold i. openly declared that he did not mean to have a vandal kingdom in the north. frederick william at first determined to carry on the war alone, but the french had already laid waste westphalia, and in he was forced to accept a peace which required that he should restore nearly the whole of western pomerania to sweden. austria, moreover, took possession of several small principalities in silesia, which had fallen to brandenburg by inheritance. thus the hapsburgs repaid the support which the hohenzollerns had faithfully rendered to them for four hundred years: thenceforth the two houses were enemies, and they were soon to become irreconcilable rivals. leopold i. again betrayed germany in the peace of nymwegen, by yielding the city and fortress of freiburg to france. [sidenote: . the seizure of strasburg.] louis xiv., nevertheless, was not content with this acquisition. he determined to possess the remaining cities of alsatia which belonged to germany. the catholic bishop of strasburg was his secret agent, and three of the magistrates of the city were bribed to assist. in the autumn of , when nearly all the merchants were absent, attending the fair at frankfort, a powerful french army, which had been secretly collected in lorraine, suddenly appeared before strasburg. between force outside and treachery within the walls, the city surrendered: on the d of october louis xiv. made his triumphant entry, and was hailed by the bishop with the blasphemous words: "lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for his eyes have seen thy saviour!" the great cathedral, which had long been in the possession of the protestants, was given up to this bishop: all protestant functionaries were deprived of their offices, and the clergymen driven from the city. french names were given to the streets, and the inhabitants were commanded, under heavy penalties, to lay aside their german costume, and adopt the fashions of france. no official claim or declaration of war preceded this robbery; but the effect which it produced throughout germany was comparatively slight. the people had been long accustomed to violence and outrage, and the despotic independence of each state suppressed anything like a national sentiment. leopold i. called upon the princes of the empire to declare war against france, but met with little support. frederick william positively refused, as he had been shamefully excepted from the peace of nymwegen. he gave as a reason, however, the great danger which menaced germany from a new turkish invasion, and offered to send an army to the support of austria. the emperor, equally stubborn and jealous, declined this offer, although his own dominions were on the verge of ruin. [sidenote: .] the turks had remained quiet during the whole of the thirty years' war, when they might easily have conquered austria. in the early part of leopold's reign they recommenced their invasions, which were terminated, in , by a truce of twenty years. before the period came to an end, the hungarians, driven to desperation by leopold's misrule, especially his persecution of the protestants, rose in rebellion. the turks came to an understanding with them, and early in , an army of more than , men, commanded by the grand vizier kara mustapha, marched up the danube, carrying everything before it, and encamped around the walls of vienna. there is good evidence that the sultan, mohammed iv., was strongly encouraged by louis xiv. to make this movement. leopold fled at the approach of the turks, leaving his capital to its fate. for two months count stahremberg, with only , armed citizens and , mercenary soldiers under his command, held the fortifications against the overwhelming force of the enemy; then, when further resistance was becoming hopeless, help suddenly appeared. an army commanded by duke charles of lorraine, another under the elector of saxony, and a third, composed of , poles, headed by their king, john sobieski, reached vienna about the same time. the decisive battle was fought on the th of september, , and ended with the total defeat of the turks, who fled into hungary, leaving their camp, treasures and supplies to the value of , , dollars in the hands of the conquerors. the deliverance of vienna was due chiefly to john sobieski, yet, when leopold i. returned to the city which he had deserted, he treated the polish king with coldness and haughtiness, never once thanking him for his generous aid. the war was continued, in the interest of austria, by charles of lorraine and max emanuel of bavaria, until , when a great victory at mohacs in hungary forced the turks to retreat beyond the danube. then leopold i. took brutal vengeance on the hungarians, executing so many of their nobles that the event is called "the shambles of eperies," from the town where it occurred. the jesuits were allowed to put down protestantism in their own way; the power and national pride of hungary were trampled under foot, and a diet held at presburg declared that the crown of the country should thenceforth belong to the house of hapsburg. this episode of the history of the time, the taking of strasburg by louis xiv., the treatment of frederick william of brandenburg, and other contemporaneous events, must be borne in mind, since they are connected with much that has taken place in our own day. in spite of the defeat of the turks in , they were encouraged by france to continue the war. max emanuel took belgrade in , the margrave ludwig of baden won an important victory, and prince eugene of savoy (a grandnephew of cardinal mazarin, whom louis xiv. called, in derision, the "little abbé," and refused to give a military command) especially distinguished himself as a soldier. after ten years of varying fortune, the war was brought to an end by the magnificent victory of prince eugene at zenta, in . it was followed by the treaty of carlowitz, in , in which turkey gave up transylvania and the slavonic provinces to austria, morea and dalmatia to venice, and agreed to a truce of twenty-five years. [sidenote: . renewed war with france.] while the best strength of germany was engaged in this turkish war, louis xiv. was busy in carrying out his plans of conquest. he claimed the palatinate of the rhine for his brother, the duke of orleans, and also attempted to make one of his agents archbishop of cologne. in , an alliance was formed between leopold i., several of the german states, holland, spain and sweden, to defend themselves against the aggressions of france, but nothing was accomplished by the negotiations which followed. finally, in , two powerful french armies suddenly appeared upon the rhine: one took possession of the territory of treves and cologne, the other marched through the palatinate into franconia and würtemberg. but the demands of louis xiv. were not acceded to; the preparation for war was so general on the part of the allied countries that it was evident his conquests could not be held; so he determined, at least, to ruin the territory before giving it up. no more wanton and barbarous deed was ever perpetrated. the "great monarch," the model of elegance and refinement for all europe, was guilty of brutality beyond what is recorded of the most savage chieftains. the vines were pulled up by the roots and destroyed; the fruit-trees were cut down, the villages burned to the ground, and , persons were made beggars, besides those who were slain in cold blood. the castle of heidelberg, one of the most splendid monuments of the middle ages in all europe, was blown up with gunpowder; the people of mannheim were compelled to pull down their own fortifications, after which their city was burned, speyer, with its grand and venerable cathedral, was razed to the ground, and the bodies of the emperors buried there were exhumed and plundered. while this was going on, the german princes, with a few exceptions (the "great elector" being the prominent one), were copying the fashions of the french court, and even trying to unlearn their native language! [sidenote: .] frederick william of brandenburg, however, was spared the knowledge of the worst features of this outrage. he died the same year, after a reign of forty-eight years, at the age of sixty-eight. the latter years of his reign were devoted to the internal development of his state. he united the oder and elbe by a canal, built roads and bridges, encouraged agriculture and the mechanic arts, and set a personal example of industry and intelligence to his people while he governed them. his possessions were divided and scattered, reaching from königsberg to the rhine, but, taken collectively, they were larger than any other german state at the time, except austria. none of the smaller german rulers before him took such a prominent part in the intercourse with foreign nations. he was thoroughly german, in his jealousy of foreign rule; but this did not prevent him from helping to confirm louis xiv. in his robbery of strasburg, out of revenge for his own treatment by leopold i. when personal pride or personal interest was concerned, the hohenzollerns were hardly more patriotic than the hapsburgs. the german empire raised an army of about , men, to carry on the war with france; but its best commanders, max emanuel and prince eugene, were fighting the turks, and the first campaigns were not successful. the other allied powers, holland, england and spain, were equally unfortunate, while france, compact and consolidated under one despotic head, easily held out against them. in , finally, the margrave ludwig of baden obtained some victories in southern germany which forced the french to retreat beyond the rhine. the seat of war was then gradually transferred to flanders, and the task of conducting it fell upon the foreign allies. at the same time there were battles in spain and savoy, and sea-fights in the british channel. although the fortunes of germany were influenced by these events, they belong properly to the history of other countries. victory inclined sometimes to one side and sometimes to the other; the military operations were so extensive that there could be no single decisive battle. all parties became more or less weary and exhausted, and the end of it all was the treaty of ryswick, concluded on the th of september, . by its provisions france retained strasburg and the greater part of alsatia, but gave up freiburg and her other conquests east of the rhine, in baden. lorraine was restored to its duke, but on conditions which made it practically a french province. the most shameful clause of the treaty was one which ordered that the districts which had been made catholic by force during the invasion were to remain so. [sidenote: . decline of the empire.] nearly every important german state, at this time, had some connection or alliance which subjected it to foreign influence. the hapsburg possessions in belgium were more spanish than german; pomerania and the bishoprics of bremen and verden were under sweden; austria and hungary were united; holstein was attached to denmark, and in augustus the strong of saxony, after the death of john sobieski, purchased his election as king of poland by enormous bribes to the polish nobles. augustus the strong, of whom carlyle says that "he lived in this world regardless of expense," outdid his predecessor, john george ii., in his monstrous imitation of french luxury. for a time he not only ruined but demoralized saxony, starving the people by his exactions, and living in a style which was infamous as well as reckless. the national german diet, from this time on, was no longer attended by the emperor and ruling princes, but only by their official representatives. it was held, permanently, in ratisbon, and its members spent their time mostly in absurd quarrels about forms. when any important question arose, messengers were sent to the rulers to ask their advice, and so much time was always lost that the diet was practically useless. the imperial court, established by maximilian i., was now permanently located at wetzlar, not far from frankfort, and had become as slow and superannuated as the diet. the emperor, in fact, had so little concern with the rest of the empire, that his title was only honorary; the revenues it brought him were about , florins annually. the only change which took place in the political organization of germany, was that in ernest augustus of hannover (the father of george i. of england) was raised to the dignity of elector, which increased the whole number of electors, temporal and spiritual, to nine. [sidenote: .] during the latter half of the seventeenth century, learning, literature and the arts received little encouragement in germany. at the petty courts there was more french spoken than german, and the few authors of the period--with the exception of spener, francke, and other devout religious writers--produced scarcely any works of value. the philosopher, leibnitz, stands alone as the one distinguished intellectual man of his age. the upper classes were too french and too demoralized to assist in the better development of germany, and the lower classes were still too poor, oppressed and spiritless to think of helping themselves. only in a few states, chief among them brunswick, hesse, saxe-gotha and saxe-weimar, were the courts on a moderate scale, the government tolerably honest, and the people prosperous. chapter xxxi. the war of the spanish succession. ( -- .) new european troubles. --intrigues at the spanish court. --leopold i. declares war against france. --frederick i. of brandenburg becomes king of prussia. --german states allied with france. --prince eugene in italy. --operations on the rhine. --marlborough enters germany. --battle of blenheim. --joseph i. emperor. --victory of ramillies. --battle of turin. --victories in flanders. --louis xiv. asks for peace. --battle of malplaquet. --renewed offer of france. --stupidity of joseph i. --recall of marlborough. --karl vi. emperor. --peace of utrecht. --karl vi.'s obstinacy. --prince eugene's appeal. --final peace. --loss of alsatia. --the kingdom of sardinia. [sidenote: . troubles in sweden and spain.] the beginning of the new century brought with it new troubles for all europe, and germany--since it was settled that her emperors must be hapsburgs--was compelled to share in them. in the north, charles xii. of sweden and peter the great of russia were fighting for "the balance of power"; in spain king charles ii. was responsible for a new cause of war, simply because he was the last of the hapsburgs in a direct line, and had no children! louis xiv. had married his elder sister and leopold i. his younger sister; and both claimed the right to succeed him. the former, it is true, had renounced all claim to the throne of spain when he married, but he put forth his grandson, duke philip of anjou, as the candidate. there were two parties at the court of madrid,--the french, at the head of which was louis xiv.'s ambassador, and the austrian, directed by charles ii.'s mother and wife. the other nations of europe were opposed to any division of spain between the rival claimants, since the possession of even half her territory (which still included naples, sicily, milan and flanders, besides her enormous colonies in america) would have made either france or austria too powerful. charles ii., however, was persuaded to make a will appointing philip of anjou his successor, and when he died, in , louis xiv. immediately sent his grandson over the pyrenees and had him proclaimed as king philip v. of spain. [sidenote: .] leopold i. thereupon declared war against france, in the hope of gaining the crown of spain for his son, the archduke karl. england and holland made alliances with him, and he was supported by most of the german states. the elector, frederick iii. of brandenburg (son of "the great elector"), who was a very proud and ostentatious prince, furnished his assistance on condition that he should be authorized by the emperor to assume the title of king. since the traditional customs of the german empire did not permit another king than that of bohemia among the electors, frederick was obliged to take the name of his detached duchy of prussia, instead of brandenburg. on the th of january, , he crowned himself and his wife at königsberg, and was thenceforth called king frederick i. of prussia. but his capital was still berlin, and thus the names of "prussia" and "the prussians"--which came from a small tribe of mixed slavonic blood--were gradually transferred to all his other lands and their population, german, and especially saxon, in character. prince eugene of savoy saw the future with a prophetic glance when he declared: "the emperor, in his own interest, ought to have hanged the ministers who counselled him to make this concession to the elector of brandenburg!" the elector max emanuel of bavaria and his brother, the archbishop of cologne, openly espoused the cause of france. several smaller princes were also bribed by louis xiv., but one of them, the duke of brunswick, after raising , men for france, was compelled by the elector of hannover to add them to the german army. with such miserable disunion at home, germany would have gone to pieces and ceased to exist, but for the powerful participation of england and holland in the war. the english parliament, it is true, only granted , men at first, but as soon as louis xiv. recognized the exiled stuart, prince james, as rightful heir to the throne of england, the grant was enlarged to , soldiers and an equal number of sailors. the value of this aid was greatly increased by the military genius of the english commander, the famous duke of marlborough. [sidenote: . fighting along the rhine.] the war was commenced by louis xiv. who suddenly took possession of a number of fortified places in flanders, which max emanuel of bavaria, then governor of the province, had purposely left unguarded. while the recovery of this territory was left to england and holland, prince eugene undertook to drive the french out of northern italy. he made a march across the alps as daring as that of napoleon, transporting cannon and supplies by paths only known to the chamois-hunters. for nearly a year he was entirely successful; then, having been recalled to vienna, the french were reinforced and recovered their lost ground. an important result of the campaign, however, was that victor amadeus, duke of savoy (ancestor of the present king of italy), quarrelled with the french, with whom he had been allied, and joined the german side. the struggle now became more and more confused, and we cannot undertake to follow all its entangled episodes. france encouraged a rebellion in hungary; the archbishop of cologne laid waste the lower rhine; max emanuel seized ulm and held it for france; marshal villars, in , pressed back ludwig of baden (who had up to that time been successful in the palatinate and alsatia), marched through the black forest and effected a junction with the bavarian army. his plan was to cross the alps and descend into italy in the rear of the german forces which prince eugene had left there; but the tyrolese rose against him and fought with such desperation that he was obliged to fall back on bavaria. marshal villars and max emanuel now commanded a combined army of , men, in the very heart of germany. they had defeated the austrian commander, and ludwig of baden's army was too small to take the field against them. but the duke of marlborough had been brilliantly victorious in belgium and on the lower rhine, and he was thus able to march on towards the danube. prince eugene hastened from hungary with such troops as he could collect, and the two, with ludwig of baden, were strong enough to engage the french and bavarians. they met on the th of august, , on the plain of the danube, near the little village of blenheim. after a long and furious battle, the french left , men upon the field, lost , prisoners, and fled towards the rhine in such haste that scarcely one-third of their army reached the river. marlborough and eugene were made princes of the german empire, and all europe rang with songs celebrating the victory, in which marlborough's name appeared as "malbrook." his proposal to follow up the victory with an invasion of france was rejected by the emperor, and the war, which might then have been pressed to a termination, continued for ten years longer. [sidenote: .] in leopold i. relieved germany, by his death, of the dead weight of his incapacity. he was succeeded by his son, joseph i., who possessed, at least, a little ordinary common sense. he manifested it at once by making prince eugene his counsellor, instead of surrounding him with spies, as his jealous and spiteful father had done. both sides were preparing for new movements, and the principal event for the year took place in spain, where the archduke, who had been conveyed to barcelona by an english fleet, obtained possession of catalonia and aragon, and threatened philip v. with the loss of his crown. the previous year, , the english had taken gibraltar. in operations were recommenced, on a larger scale, and with results which were very disastrous to the plans of france. marlborough's great victory at ramillies, on the d of may, gave him the spanish netherlands, and enabled the emperor to declare max emanuel and the archbishop of cologne outlawed. the city of turin, held by an austrian garrison, was besieged, about the same time, by the duke of orleans, with , men. then prince eugene hastened across the alps with an army of , , was reinforced by , more under victor amadeus of savoy, and on the th of september attacked the french with such impetuosity that they were literally destroyed. among the spoils were cannon, , barrels of powder, and a great amount of money, horses and provisions. by this victory prince eugene became also a hero to the german people, and many of their songs about him are sung at this day. the "prussian" troops, under prince leopold of dessau, especially distinguished themselves: their commander was afterwards one of frederick the great's most famous generals. the first consequence of this victory was an armistice with louis xiv., so far as italian territory was concerned: nevertheless, a part of the austrian army was sent to naples in , to take possession of the country in the name of spain. the archduke karl, after some temporary successes over philip v., was driven back to barcelona, and louis xiv. then offered to treat for peace. austria and england refused: in marlborough and prince eugene, again united, won another victory over the french at oudenarde, and took the stronghold of lille, which had been considered impregnable. the road to paris was apparently open to the allies, and louis xiv. offered to give up his claim, on behalf of philip v., to spain, milan, the spanish-american colonies and the netherlands, provided naples and sicily were left to his grandson. marlborough and prince eugene required, in addition, that he should expel philip from spain, in case the latter refused to conform to the treaty. louis xiv.'s pride was wounded by this demand, and the negotiations were broken off. [sidenote: . peace rejected by joseph i.] with great exertion a new french army was raised, and marshal villars placed in command. but the two famous commanders, marlborough and eugene, achieved such a new and crushing victory in the battle of malplaquet, fought on the th of september, , that france made a third attempt to conclude peace. louis xiv. now offered to withdraw his claim to the spanish succession, to restore alsatia and strasburg to germany, and to pay one million livres a month towards defraying the expenses of expelling philip v. from spain. it will scarcely be believed that this proposal, so humiliating to the extravagant pride of france, and which conceded more than germany had hoped to obtain, was rejected! the cause seems to have been a change in the fortunes of the archduke karl in spain: he was again victorious, and in held his triumphal entry in madrid. yet it is difficult to conceive what further advantages joseph i. expected to secure, by prolonging the war. germany was soon punished for this presumptuous refusal of peace. a court intrigue, in england, overthrew the whig ministry and gave the power into the hands of the tories: marlborough was at first hampered and hindered in carrying out his plans, and then recalled. while keeping up the outward forms of her alliance with holland and germany, england began to negotiate secretly with france, and thus the chief strength of the combination against louis xiv. was broken. in the emperor joseph i. died, leaving no direct heirs, and the archduke karl became his successor to the throne. the latter immediately left spain, was elected before he reached germany, and crowned in mayence on the d of september, as karl vi. although, by deserting spain, he had seemed to renounce his pretension to the spanish crown, there was a general fear that the success of germany would unite the two countries, as in the time of charles v., and holland's interest in the war began also to languish. prince eugene, without english aid, was so successful in the early part of that even paris seemed in danger; but marshal villars, by cutting off all his supplies, finally forced him to retreat. [sidenote: .] during this same year negotiations were carried on between france, england, holland, savoy and prussia. they terminated, in , in the peace of utrecht, by which the bourbon, philip v., was recognized as king of spain and her colonies, on condition that the crowns of spain and france should never be united. england received gibraltar and the island of minorca from spain, acadia, nova scotia, newfoundland and the hudson's bay territory from france, and the recognition of her protestant monarchy. holland obtained the right to garrison a number of strong frontier fortresses in belgium, and prussia received neufchatel in switzerland, some territory on the lower rhine, and the acknowledgment of frederick i.'s royal dignity. karl vi. refused to recognize his rival, philip v., as king of spain, and therefore rejected the treaty of utrecht. but the other princes of germany were not eager to prolong the war for the sake of gratifying the hapsburg pride. prince eugene, who was a devoted adherent of austria, in vain implored them to be united and resolute. "i stand," he wrote, "like a sentinel (a watch!) on the rhine; and as mine eye wanders over these fair regions, i think to myself how happy, and beautiful, and undisturbed in the enjoyment of nature's gifts they might be, if they possessed courage to use the strength which god hath given them. with an army of , men i would engage to drive the french out of germany, and would forfeit my life if i did not obtain a peace which should gladden our hearts for the next twenty years." with such forces as he could collect he carried on the war along the upper rhine, but he lost the fortresses of landau and freiburg. louis xiv., however, who was now old and infirm, was very tired of the war, and after these successes, he commissioned marshal villars to treat for peace with prince eugene. the latter was authorized by the emperor to negotiate: the two commanders met at rastatt, in baden, and in spite of the unreasonable stubbornness of karl vi. a treaty was finally concluded on the th of march, . [sidenote: . end of the war.] austria received the spanish netherlands, naples, milan, mantua and the island of sardinia. freiburg, old-breisach and kehl were restored to germany, but france retained landau, on the west bank of the rhine, as well as all alsatia and strasburg. thus the recovery of the latter territory, which joseph i. refused to accept in , was lost to germany until the year . by the treaty of utrecht, duke victor amadeus of savoy had received sicily as an independent kingdom. a few years afterwards he made an exchange with austria, giving sicily for sardinia: thus originated the kingdom of sardinia, which continued to exist until the year , when victor emanuel became king of italy. chapter xxxii. the rise of prussia. ( -- .) wars of charles xii. of sweden. --invasion of saxony. --enlargement of prussia and hannover. --the "pragmatic sanction." --sacrifices of austria. --battle of peterwardein. --treaty of passarowitz. --war in italy. --frederick i. of prussia. --frederick william i. --his character and habits. --his policy as a ruler. --his giant body-guards. --the tobacco college. --decay of austria. --the other german states. --first emigration to america. --war of the polish succession. --french invasion. --german disunion. --the treaty of vienna. --marriage of maria theresa. --disastrous war with turkey. --prussia at the death of frederick william i. --austria at the death of karl vi. [sidenote: .] while the war of the spanish succession raged along the rhine, in bavaria and the netherlands, the north of germany was convulsed by another and very different struggle. the ambitious designs of charles xii. of sweden, who succeeded to the throne in , aroused the jealousy and renewed the old hostility, of denmark, russia and poland, and in they formed an alliance against sweden. denmark began the war, the same year, by invading holstein-gottorp, the duke of which was the brother-in-law of charles xii. the latter immediately attacked copenhagen, and conquered a peace. a few months afterwards he crushed the power of peter the great, in the battle of narva, and was then free to march against poland. augustus the strong was no match for the young northern hero, who compelled the polish nobles to depose him and elect stanislas lesczinsky in his stead, then marched through silesia into saxony, in the year , and from his camp near leipzig dictated his own terms to augustus. a year later, having exhausted what resources were left to the people after the outrageous exactions of their own electors, charles xii. evacuated saxony with an army of , men, many of them german recruits, and marched through poland on his way to the fatal field of pultowa. the immediate consequences of his terrible defeat there, in , were that peter the great took possession of the baltic provinces, and prepared to found his new capital of st. petersburg on the neva. then denmark and saxony entered into an alliance with russia, augustus the strong was again placed on the throne of poland, and the swedish-german provinces on the baltic and the north sea were overrun and ravaged by the danish and russian armies. towards the end of the year , after peace had been concluded with france, charles xii. suddenly appeared in stralsund, having escaped from his long exile in turkey and travelled day and night on horseback across europe, from the shores of the black sea. then prussia and hannover, both eager to enlarge their dominions at the expense of sweden, united against him. he had not sufficient military strength to resist them, and after his death at frederickshall, in , sweden was compelled to make peace on conditions which forever destroyed her supremacy among the northern powers. [sidenote: . the pragmatic sanction.] by the treaties of stockholm, made in and , prussia acquired stettin and all of pomerania except a strip of the coast with wismar, stralsund and the island of rügen, paying , , thalers to sweden: hannover acquired the territories of bremen and verden, paying , , thalers: denmark received schleswig, and russia all of her conquests except finland. the power of poland, already weakened by the corruptions and dissensions of her nobles, began steadily to decline after this long and exhausting war. the collective history of the german states,--for we can hardly say "history of germany" when there really was no germany--at this time, is a continuous succession of wars and diplomatic intrigues, which break out in one direction before they are settled in another. in , frederick i. of prussia died, and was succeeded by his son, frederick william i.: in , george i., elector of hannover, was made king of england, and about the same time the emperor karl vi. issued a decree called the "pragmatic sanction," establishing the order of succession to the throne, for his dynasty. he was led to this step by the example of spain, where the failure of the direct line had given rise to thirteen years of european war, and by the circumstance that he himself had neither sons nor brothers. a daughter, maria theresa, was born in , and thus the provision of the pragmatic sanction that the crown should descend to female heirs in the absence of male, preserved the succession in his own family, and forestalled the claim of the elector of bavaria and other princes who were more or less distantly related to the hapsburgs. [sidenote: .] the pragmatic sanction was accepted in austria without difficulty, as there was no power to dispute the emperor's will, but it was not recognized by the other states of germany and other nations of europe until after twenty years of diplomatic negotiations and serious sacrifices on the part of austria. prussia received more territory on the lower rhine, the duchies of parma and piacenza in italy were given to spain, and the claims of augustus iii. of saxony and poland were so strenuously supported that in the so-called "war of the polish succession" broke out. in the meantime, however, two other wars had occurred, and, although both of them affected austria rather than the german empire, they must be briefly described. in the emperor karl vi. formed an alliance with the venetians against the turks, who had taken the morea from venice. the command was given to prince eugene, who marched against his old enemy, determined to win back what remaining hungarian or slavonic territory was still held by turkey. the grand-vizier, ali, opposed him with a powerful force, and after various minor engagements a great battle was fought at peterwardein, in august, . eugene was completely victorious: the turks were driven beyond the save and sheltered themselves behind the strong walls of belgrade. eugene followed, and, after a siege which is famous in military annals, took belgrade by storm. the victory is celebrated in a song which the german people are still in the habit of singing. the war ended with the treaty of passarowitz, in , by which turkey was compelled to surrender to austria the banat, servia, including belgrade, and a part of wallachia, bosnia and croatia. before this treaty was concluded, a new war had broken out in italy. philip v. of spain, incensed at not being recognized by karl vi., took possession of sardinia and sicily, with the intention of conquering naples from austria. england, france, holland and austria then formed the "quadruple alliance," as it was called, for the purpose of enforcing the treaty of utrecht, and spain was compelled to yield. [sidenote: . rise of prussia.] the power of prussia, during these years, was steadily increasing. frederick i., it is true, was among the imitators of louis xiv.: he built stately palaces, and spent a great deal of money on showy court festivals, but he did not completely exhaust the resources of the country, like the electors of saxony and the rulers of many smaller states. on the other hand, he founded the university of halle in , and commissioned the philosopher leibnitz to draw up a plan for an academy of science, which was established in berlin, in . he was a zealous protestant, and gave welcome to all who were exiled from other states on account of their faith. as a ruler, however, he was equally careless and despotic, and his government was often entrusted to the hands of unworthy agents. frederick the great said of him: "he was great in small matters, and little in great matters." his son, frederick william i., was a man of an entirely different nature. he disliked show and ceremony: he hated everything french with a heartiness which was often unreasonable, but which was honestly provoked by the enormous, monkey-like affectation of the manners of versailles by some of his fellow-rulers. while augustus of saxony spent six millions of thalers on a single entertainment, he set to work to reduce the expenses of his royal household. while the court of austria supported , officials and hangers-on, and half of vienna was fed from the imperial kitchen, he was employed in examining the smallest details of the receipts and expenditures of his state, in order to economize and save. he was miserly, fierce, coarse and brutal; he aimed at being a _german_, but he went back almost to the days of wittekind for his ideas of german culture and character; he was a tyrant of the most savage kind,--but, after all has been said against him, it must be acknowledged that without his hard practical sense in matters of government, his rigid, despotic organization of industry, finance and the army, frederick the great would never have possessed the means to maintain himself in that struggle which made prussia a great power. some illustrations of his policy as a ruler and his personal habits must be given, in order to show both sides of his character. he had the most unbounded idea of the rights and duties of a king, and the aim of his life, therefore, was to increase his own authority by increasing the wealth, the order and the strength of prussia. he was no friend of science, except when it could be shown to have some practical use, but he favored education, and one of his first measures was to establish four hundred schools among the people, by the money which he saved from the expenditures of the royal household. his personal economy was so severe that the queen was only allowed to have one waiting-woman. at this time the empress of germany had several hundred attendants, received two hogsheads of tokay, daily, for her parrots, and twelve barrels of wine for her baths! frederick william i. protected the industry of prussia by imposing heavy duties upon all foreign products; he even went so far as to prohibit the people from wearing any but prussian-made cloth, setting them the example himself. he also devoted much attention to agriculture, and when , protestants were driven out of upper austria by the archbishop of salzburg, after the most shocking and inhuman persecutions, he not only furnished them with land but supported them until they were settled in their new homes. [sidenote: .] the organization of the prussian army was entrusted to prince leopold of dessau, who distinguished himself at turin, under prince eugene. although during the greater part of frederick william's reign peace was preserved, the military force was kept upon a war footing, and gradually increased until it amounted to , men. the king had a singular mania for giant soldiers: miserly as he was in other respects, he was ready to go to any expense to procure recruits, seven feet high, for his body-guard. he not only purchased such, but allowed his agents to kidnap them, and despotically sent a number of german mechanics to peter the great in exchange for an equal number of russian giants. for forty-three such tall soldiers he paid , dollars, one of them, who was unusually large, costing , . the expense of keeping these guardsmen was proportionately great, and much of the king's time was spent in inspecting them. sometimes he tried to paint their portraits, and if the likeness was not successful, an artist was employed to paint the man's face until it resembled the king's picture. frederick william's regular evening recreation was his "tobacco college," as he called it. some of his ministers and generals, foreign ambassadors, and even ordinary citizens, were invited to smoke and drink beer with him in a plain room, where he sat upon a three-legged stool, and they upon wooden benches. each was obliged to smoke, or at least to have a clay pipe in his mouth and appear to smoke. the most important affairs of state were discussed at these meetings, which were conducted with so little formality that no one was allowed to rise when the king entered the room. he was not so amiable upon his walks through the streets of berlin or potsdam. he always carried a heavy cane, which he would apply without mercy to the shoulders of any who seemed to be idle, no matter what their rank or station. even his own household was not exempt from blows; and his son frederick was scarcely treated better than any of his soldiers or workmen. [sidenote: . condition of germany.] this manner of government was rude, but it was also systematic and vigorous, and the people upon whom it was exercised did not deteriorate in character, as was the case in almost all other parts of germany. austria, in spite of the pomp of the emperor's court, was in a state of moral and intellectual decline. karl vi. was a man of little capacity, an instrument in the hands of the jesuits, and the minds of the people whom he ruled gradually became as stolid and dead as the latter order wished to make them. their connection with germany was scarcely felt; they spoke of "the empire outside" almost as a foreign country, and the strength of the house of hapsburg was gradually transferred to the bohemian, hungarian and slavonic races which occupied the greater part of its territory. the industry of the country was left without encouragement; what little education was permitted was in the hands of the priests, and all real progress came to an end. but, for this very reason, austria became the ideal of the german nobility, nine-tenths of whom were feudalists and sighed for the return of the middle ages: hundreds of them took service under the emperor, either at court or in the army, and helped to preserve the external forms of his power. in most of the other german states the condition of affairs was not much better. bavaria, the palatinate, and the three archbishops of mayence, treves and cologne, were abject instruments in the hands of france: hannover was governed by the interests of england, and saxony by those of poland. after george i. went to england, the government of hannover was exercised by a council of nobles, who kept up the court ceremonials just as if the elector were present. his portrait was placed in a chair, and they observed the same etiquette towards it as if his real self were there! in würtemberg the duke, eberhard ludwig, so oppressed the people that many of them emigrated to america between the years and , and settled in pennsylvania. this was the first german emigration to the new world. [sidenote: .] after a peace of nineteen years, counting from the treaty of rastatt, or thirteen years from the treaty of stockholm, germany--or rather the emperor karl vi.--became again involved in war. the pragmatic sanction was at the bottom of it. karl's endless diplomacy to insure the recognition of this decree led him into an alliance with russia to place augustus iii. of saxony on the throne of poland. louis xv. of france, who had married the daughter of the polish king, stanislas lesczinsky, took the latter's part. prussia was induced to join austria and russia, but the cautious and economical frederick william i. withdrew from the alliance as soon as he found that the expense to him would be more than the advantage. the polish diet was divided: the majority, influenced by france, elected stanislas, who reached warsaw in the disguise of a merchant and was crowned in september, . the minority declared for augustus iii., in whose aid a russian army was even then entering poland. france, in alliance with spain and sardinia, had already declared war against germany. the plan of operations had evidently been prepared in advance, and was everywhere successful. one french army occupied lorraine, another crossed the rhine and captured kehl (opposite strasburg), and a third, under marshal villars, entered lombardy. naples and sicily, powerless to resist, fell into the hands of spain. prince eugene of savoy, now more than seventy years of age, was sent to the rhine with such troops as austria, taken by surprise, was able to furnish: the other german states either sympathized with france, or were indifferent to a quarrel which really did not concern them. frederick william of prussia finally sent , well-disciplined soldiers; but even with this aid prince eugene was unable to expel the french from lorraine. in poland, however, the plans of france utterly failed: in june, , king stanislas fled in the disguise of a cattle-dealer. the following year, , russians appeared on the rhine, as allies of austria, and louis xv. found it prudent to negotiate for peace. [sidenote: . death of frederick william i.] the treaty of vienna, concluded in october, , put an end to the war of the polish succession. francis of lorraine, who was betrothed to karl vi.'s daughter, maria theresa, was made grand-duke of tuscany, and lorraine (now only a portion of the original territory, with nancy as capital) was given to the ex-king stanislas of poland, with the condition that it should revert to france at his death. spain received naples and sicily; tortona and novara were added to sardinia, and austria was induced to consent to all these losses by the recognition of the pragmatic sanction, and the annexation of the duchies of parma and piacenza, in italy. prussia got nothing; and frederick william i., who had been expecting to add jülich and berg to his possessions on the lower rhine, was so exasperated that he entered into secret arrangements with france in order to carry out his end. the enmity of austria and prussia was now confirmed, and it has been the chief power in german politics from that day to this. in francis of lorraine and maria theresa were married, and prince eugene of savoy died, worn out with the hardships of his long and victorious career. the next year, the empress anna of russia persuaded karl vi. to unite with her in a war against turkey, her object being to get possession of azov. by this unfortunate alliance austria lost all which she had gained by the treaty of passarowitz, twenty years before. there was no commander like prince eugene, her military strength had been weakened by useless and unsuccessful wars, and she was compelled to make peace in , by yielding belgrade and all her conquests in servia and wallachia to turkey. on the st of may, , frederick william i. died, fifty-two years of age. he left behind him a state containing more than , square miles, and about , , of inhabitants. the revenues of prussia, which were two and a half millions of thalers on his accession to the throne, had increased to seven and a half millions annually, and there were nine millions in the treasury. berlin had a population of nearly , , and stettin, magdeburg, memel and other cities had been strongly fortified. an army of more than , men was perfectly organized and disciplined. there was the beginning of a system of instruction for the people, feudalism was almost entirely suppressed, and the charge of witchcraft (which, since the fifteenth century, had caused the execution of several hundred thousand victims, throughout germany!) was expunged from the pages of the law. although the land was almost wholly protestant, there was entire religious freedom, and the catholic subjects could complain of no violation of their rights. [sidenote: .] on the th of october, , karl vi. died, leaving a diminished realm, a disordered military organization, and a people so demoralized by the combined luxury and oppression of the government that for more than a century afterwards all hope and energy and aspiration seemed to be crushed among them. the outward show and trappings of the empire remained with austria, and kept alive the political superstitions of that large class of germans who looked backward instead of forward; but the rude, half-developed strength, which cuts loose from the past and busies itself with the practical work of its day and generation, was rapidly creating a future for prussia. frederick william i. was succeeded by his son, frederick ii., called frederick the great. karl vi. was succeeded by his daughter, the empress maria theresa. the former was twenty-eight, the latter twenty-three years old. chapter xxxiii. the reign of frederick the great. ( -- .) youth of frederick the great. --his attempted escape. --lieutenant von katte's fate. --frederick's subjection. --his marriage. --his first measures as king. --maria theresa in austria. --the first silesian war. --maria theresa in hungary. --prussia acquires silesia. --frederick's alliance with france and the emperor karl vii. --the second silesian war. --frederick alone against austria. --battles of hohenfriedberg, sorr and kesselsdorf. --war of the austrian succession. --peace. --frederick as a ruler. --his habits and tastes. --answers to petitions. --religious freedom. --development of prussia. --war between england and france. --designs against prussia. --beginning of the seven years' war. --battle at prague. --defeat at kollin. --victory of rossbach. --battle of leuthen. --help from england. --campaign of . --victory of zorndorf. --surprise at hochkirch. --campaign of . --battle of kunnersdorf. --operations in . --frederick victorious. --battle of torgau. --desperate situation of prussia. --campaign of . --alliance with russia. --frederick's successes. --the peace of hubertsburg. --frederick's measures of relief. --his arbitrary rule. --his literary tastes. --first division of poland. --frederick's last years. --his death. [sidenote: . youth of frederick the great.] few royal princes ever had a more unfortunate childhood and youth than frederick the great. his mother, sophia dorothea of hannover, a sister of george ii. of england, was an amiable, mild-tempered woman who was devotedly attached to him, but had no power to protect him from the violence of his hard and tyrannical father. as a boy his chief tastes were music and french literature, which he could only indulge by stealth: the king not only called him "idiot!" and "puppy!" when he found him occupied with a flute or a french book, but threatened him with personal chastisement. his whole education, which was gained almost in secret, was chiefly received at the hands of french _émigrés_, and his taste was formed in the school of ideas which at that time ruled in france, and which was largely formed by voltaire, whom frederick during his boyhood greatly admired, and afterward made one of his chief correspondents and intimates. the influence of this is most clearly to be traced throughout his life. [sidenote: .] his music became almost a passion with him, though it is doubtful whether any of the praises of his proficiency that have come down to us are more than the remains of the flatteries of the time. his compositions, which were performed at his concerts, to which leading musicians were often invited, do not give any evidence of the genius claimed for him in this respect; but it is certain that he attained a considerable degree of mechanical skill in playing the flute. in after-life his musical taste continued to influence him greatly, and the establishment of the opera at berlin was chiefly due to him. his father's persistent opposition rather fanned than suppressed the eagerness which he showed in this and other studies, as a boy; and doubtless contributed to a thoroughness which afterward stood him in good stead. in , when only sixteen years old, he accompanied his father on a visit to the court of augustus the strong, at dresden, and was for a time led astray by the corrupt society into which he was there thrown. the wish of his mother, that he should marry the princess amelia, the daughter of george ii., was thwarted by his father's dislike of england; the tyranny to which he was subjected became intolerable, and in , while accompanying his father on a journey to southern germany, he determined to run away. his accomplice was a young officer, lieutenant von katte, who had been his bosom-friend for two or three years. a letter written by frederick to the latter fell by accident into the hands of another officer of the same name, who sent it to the king, and the plot was thus discovered. frederick had already gone on board of a vessel at frankfort, and was on the point of sailing down the rhine, when his father followed, beat him until his face was covered with blood, and then sent him as a prisoner of state to prussia. katte was arrested before he could escape, tried by a court-martial and sentenced to several years' imprisonment. frederick william annulled the sentence and ordered him to be immediately executed. to make the deed more barbarous, it was done before the window of the cell in which frederick was confined. the young prince fainted, and lay so long senseless that it was feared he would never recover. he was then watched, allowed no implements except a wooden spoon, lest he might commit suicide, and only permitted to read a bible and hymn-book. the officer who had him in charge could only converse with him by means of a hole bored through the ceiling of his cell. [sidenote: . frederick's restoration.] the king insisted that he should be formally tried; but the court-martial, while deciding that "colonel fritz" was guilty, as an officer, asserted that it had no authority to condemn the crown-prince. the king overruled the decision, and ordered his son to be executed. this course excited such horror and indignation among the officers that frederick was pardoned, but not released from imprisonment until his spirit was broken and he had promised to obey his father in all things. for a year he was obliged to work as a clerk in the departments of the government, beginning with the lowest position and rising as he acquired practical knowledge. he did not appear at court until november, , when his sister wilhelmine was married to the margrave of baireuth. the ceremony had already commenced when frederick, dressed in a plain suit of grey, without any order or decoration, was discovered among the servants. the king pulled him forth, and presented him to the queen with these words: "here, madam, our fritz is back again!" in frederick was forced to marry the princess elizabeth of brunswick-bevern, whom he disliked, and with whom he lived but a short time. his father gave him the castle of rheinsberg, near potsdam, and there, for the first time, he enjoyed some independence: his leisure was devoted to philosophical studies, and to correspondence with voltaire and other distinguished french authors. during the war of the polish succession he served for a short time under prince eugene of savoy, but had no opportunity to test or develop his military talent. until his father's death he seemed to be more of a poet and philosopher than anything else: only the few who knew him intimately perceived that his mind was occupied with plans of government and conquest. when frederick william i. died, the people rejoiced in the prospect of a just and peaceful rule. frederick ii. declared to his ministers, on receiving their oath of allegiance, that no distinction should be allowed between the interests of the country and the king, since they were identical; but if any conflict of the two should arise, the interests of the country must have the preference. then he at once corrected the abuses of the game and recruiting laws, disbanded his father's body-guard of giants, abolished torture in criminal cases, reformed the laws of marriage, and established a special ministry for commerce and manufactures. when he set out for königsberg to receive the allegiance of prussia proper, his whole court travelled in three carriages. on arriving, he dispensed with the ceremony of coronation, as being unnecessary, and then succeeded in establishing a much closer political union between prussia and brandenburg, which, in many respects, had been independent of each other up to that time. [sidenote: .] the death of the emperor karl vi. was the signal for a general disturbance. maria theresa, as the events of her reign afterwards proved, was a woman of strong, even heroic, character; stately, handsome and winning in her personal appearance, and morally irreproachable. no hapsburg emperor before her inherited the crown under such discouraging circumstances, and none could have maintained himself more bravely and firmly than she did. the ministers of karl vi. flattered themselves that they would now have unlimited sway over the empire, but they were mistaken. maria theresa listened to their counsels, but decided for herself: even her husband, francis of lorraine and tuscany, was unable to influence her judgment. the elector karl albert of bavaria, whose grandmother was a hapsburg, claimed the crown, and was supported by louis xv. of france, who saw another opportunity of weakening germany. the reigning archbishops on the rhine were of course on the side of france. poland and saxony, united under augustus iii., at the same time laid claim to some territory along the northern frontier of austria. frederick ii. saw his opportunity, and was first in the field. his pretext was the right of brandenburg to four principalities in silesia, which had been relinquished to austria under the pressure of circumstances. the real reason was, as he afterwards confessed, his determination to strengthen prussia by the acquisition of more territory. the kingdom was divided into so many portions, separated so widely from each other, that it could not become powerful and permanent unless they were united. he had secretly raised his military force to , men, and in december, , he marched into silesia, almost before austria suspected his purpose. his army was kept under strict discipline; the people were neither plundered nor restricted in their religious worship, and the capital, breslau, soon opened its gates. several fortresses were taken during the winter, and in april, , a decisive battle was fought at mollwitz. the austrian army had the advantage of numbers and its victory seemed so certain that marshal schwerin persuaded frederick to leave the field; then, gathering together the remainder of his troops, he made a last and desperate charge which turned defeat into victory. all lower silesia was now in the hands of the prussians. [sidenote: . maria theresa in hungary.] france, spain, bavaria and saxony immediately united against austria. a french army crossed the rhine, joined the bavarian forces, and marched to linz, on the danube, where karl albert was proclaimed arch-duke of austria. maria theresa and her court fled to presburg, where the hungarian nobles were already convened, in the hope of recovering the rights they had lost under leopold i. she was forced to grant the most of their demands; after which she was crowned with the crown of st. stephen, galloped up "the king's hill," and waved her sword towards the four quarters of the earth, with so much grace and spirit that the hungarians were quite won to her side. afterwards, when she appeared before the diet in their national costume, with her son joseph in her arms, and made an eloquent speech, setting forth the dangers which beset her, the nobles drew their sabres and shouted: "we will die for our _king_, maria theresa!" while the support of hungary and austria was thus secured, the combined german and french force did not advance upon vienna, but marched to prague, where karl albert was crowned king of bohemia. this act was followed, in february, , by his coronation in frankfort as emperor, under the name of karl vii. before this took place, austria had been forced to make a secret treaty with frederick ii. the latter, however, declared that the conditions of it had been violated, and in the spring of he marched into bohemia. he was victorious in the first great battle: england then intervened, and persuaded maria theresa to make peace by yielding to prussia both upper and lower silesia and the principality of glatz. thus ended the first silesian war, which gave prussia an addition of , , to her population, with large and small cities, and about , villages. [sidenote: .] the most dangerous enemy of austria being thus temporarily removed, the fortunes of maria theresa speedily changed, especially since england, holland and hannover entered into an alliance to support her against france. george ii. of england took the field in person, and was victorious over the french in the battle of dettingen (not far from frankfort), in june, . after this saxony joined the austrian alliance, and the landgrave of hesse, who cared nothing for the war, but was willing to make money, sold an equal number of soldiers to france and to england. frederick ii. saw that france would not be able to stand long against such a coalition, and he knew that the success of austria would probably be followed by an attempt to regain silesia; therefore, regardless of appearances, he entered into a compact with france and the emperor karl vii., and prepared for another war. in the summer of he marched into bohemia with an army of , men, took prague on the th of september, and conquered the greater part of the country. but the bohemians were hostile to him, the hungarians rose again in defence of austria, and an army under charles of lorraine, which was operating against the french in alsatia, was recalled to resist his advance. he was forced to retreat in the dead of winter, leaving many cannon behind him, and losing a large number of soldiers on the way. on the th of january, , karl vii. died, and his son, max joseph, gave up his pretensions to the imperial crown, on condition of having bavaria (which austria had meanwhile conquered) restored to him. france thereupon practically withdrew from the struggle, leaving prussia in the lurch. frederick stood alone, with austria, saxony and poland united against him, and a prospect of england and russia being added to the number: the tables had turned, and he was very much in the condition of maria theresa, four years before. in may, , silesia was invaded with an army of , austrians and saxons. frederick marched against them with a much smaller force, met them at hohenfriedberg, and gave battle on the th of june. he began with a furious charge of prussian cavalry at dawn, and by nine o'clock the enemy was utterly routed, leaving sixty-six standards, , dead and wounded, and , prisoners. this victory produced a great effect throughout europe. england intervened in favor of peace, and frederick declared that he would only fight until the possession of silesia was firmly guaranteed to him; but maria theresa (who hated frederick intensely, as she had good reason to do) answered that she would sooner part with the clothes on her body than give up silesia. [sidenote: . the second silesian war.] frederick entered bohemia with , men, and on the th of september was attacked, at a village called sorr, by a force of , . nevertheless he managed his cavalry so admirably, that he gained the victory. then, learning that the saxons were preparing to invade prussia in his rear, he garrisoned all the passes leading from bohemia into silesia, and marched into saxony with his main force. the "old dessauer," as prince leopold was called, took leipzig, and, pressing forwards, won another great victory on the th of december, at kesselsdorf. frederick, who arrived on the field at the close of the fight, embraced the old veteran in the sight of the army. the next day, the prussians took possession of dresden: the capital was not damaged, but, like the other cities of saxony, was made to pay a heavy contribution. peace was concluded with austria ten days afterwards: prussia was confirmed in the possession of all silesia and glatz, and frederick agreed to recognize francis of lorraine, maria theresa's husband, who had already been crowned emperor at frankfort, as francis i. thus ended the second silesian war. frederick was first called "the great," on his return to berlin, where he was received with boundless popular rejoicings. the "war of the austrian succession," as it was called, lasted three years longer, but its character was changed. its field was shifted to italy and flanders: in the latter country maurice of saxony (better known as marshal de saxe), one of the many sons of augustus the strong, was signally successful. he conquered the greater part of the netherlands for france, in the year . then austria, although she had regained much of her lost ground in northern italy, formed an alliance with the empress elizabeth of russia, who furnished an army of , men. the money of france was exhausted, and louis xv. found it best to make peace, which was concluded at aix-la-chapelle in october, . he gave up all the conquests which france had made during the war. austria yielded parma and piacenza to spain, a portion of lombardy to sardinia, and again confirmed frederick the great in the possession of silesia. [sidenote: .] after the peace of dresden, in , prussia enjoyed a rest of nearly eleven years. frederick's first care was to heal the wounds which his two silesian wars had made in the population and the industry of his people. he called himself "the first official servant of the state," and no civil officer under him labored half so earnestly and zealously. he looked upon his kingdom as a large estate, the details of which must be left to agents, while the general supervision devolved upon him alone. therefore he insisted that all questions which required settlement, all changes necessary to be made, even the least infractions of the laws, should be referred directly to himself, so that his secretaries had much more to do than his ministers. while he claimed the absolute right to govern, he accepted all the responsibility which it brought upon him. he made himself acquainted with every village and landed estate in his kingdom, watched, as far as possible, over every official, and personally studied the operation of every reform. he rose at four or five o'clock, labored at his desk for hours, reading the multitude of reports and letters of complaint or appeal, which came simply addressed "to the king," and barely allowed himself an hour or two towards evening for a walk with his greyhounds, or a little practise on his beloved flute. his evenings were usually spent in conversation with men of culture and intelligence. his literary tastes, however, remained french all his life: his many works were written in that language, he preferred to speak it, and he sneered at german literature at a time when authors like lessing, klopstock, herder and goethe were gradually lifting it to such a height of glory as few other languages have ever attained. his rough, practical common-sense as a ruler is very well illustrated by his remarks upon the documents sent for his inspection, many of which are still preserved. on the back of the "petition from the merchant simon of stettin, to be allowed to purchase an estate for , thalers," he wrote: " , thalers invested in commerce will yield eight per cent., in landed property only four per cent.; this man does not understand his own business." on the "petition from the city of frankfort-on-oder, against the quartering of troops upon them," he wrote: "why, it cannot be otherwise. do they think i can put the regiment in my pocket? but the barracks shall be rebuilt." and finally, on the "petition of the chamberlain, baron müller, for leave to visit the baths of aix-la-chapelle," he wrote: "what would he do there? he would gamble away the little money he has left, and come back like a beggar." the expenses of frederick's own court were restricted to about , dollars a year, at a time when nearly every petty prince in germany was spending from five to ten times that sum. [sidenote: . frederick as ruler.] in the administration of justice and the establishment of entire religious liberty, prussia rapidly became a model which put to shame and disturbed the most of the other german states. frederick openly declared: "i mean that every man in my kingdom shall have the right to be saved in his own way:" in silesia, where the protestants had been persecuted under austria, the catholics were now free and contented. this course gave him a great popularity outside of prussia among the common people, and for the first time in two hundred years, the hope of better times began to revive among them. frederick was as absolute a despot as any of his fellow-rulers of the day; but his was a despotism of intelligence, justice and conscience, opposed to that of ignorance, bigotry and selfishness. frederick's rule, however, was not without its serious faults. he favored the education of his people less than his father, and was almost equally indifferent to the encouragement of science. the berlin academy was neglected, and another in which the french language was used, and french theories discussed, took its place. prussian students were for a while prohibited from visiting universities outside of the kingdom. on the other hand, agriculture was favored in every possible way: great tracts of marshy land, which had been uninhabited, were transformed into fertile and populous regions; canals, roads and bridges were built, and new markets for produce established. the cultivation of the potato, up to that time unknown in germany as an article of food, was forced upon the unwilling farmers. in return for all these advantages, the people were heavily taxed, but not to such an extent as to impoverish them, as in saxony and austria. the army was not only kept up, but largely increased, for frederick knew that the peace which prussia enjoyed could not last long. [sidenote: .] the clouds of war slowly gathered on the political horizon. the peace of europe was broken by the quarrel between england and france, in , in regard to the boundaries between canada and the english colonies. this involved danger to hannover, which was not yet disconnected from england, and the latter power proposed to maria theresa an alliance against france. the minister of the empress was at this time count kaunitz, who fully shared her hatred of frederick ii., and determined, with her, to use this opportunity to recover silesia. she therefore refused england's proposition, and wrote a flattering letter to madame de pompadour, the favorite of louis xv., to prepare the way for an alliance between austria and france. at the same time secret negotiations were carried on with elizabeth of russia, who was mortally offended with frederick ii., on account of some disparaging remarks he had made about her. louis xv., nevertheless, hesitated until maria theresa promised to give him the austrian (the former spanish) netherlands, in return for his assistance: then the compact between the three great military powers of the continent was concluded, and everything was quietly arranged for commencing the war against prussia in the spring of . so sure were they of success that they agreed beforehand on the manner in which the prussian kingdom should be cut up and divided among themselves and the other states. through his paid agents at the different courts, and especially through the crown prince peter of russia, who was one of his most enthusiastic admirers, frederick was well-informed of these plans. he saw that the coalition was too powerful to be defeated by diplomacy: his ruin was determined upon, and he could only prevent it by accepting war against such overwhelming odds. england was the only great power which could assist him, and austria's policy left her no alternative: she concluded an alliance with prussia in january, , but her assistance, afterwards, was furnished in the shape of money rather than troops. the small states of brunswick, hesse-cassel and saxe-gotha were persuaded to join prussia, but they added very little to frederick's strength, because bavaria and all the principalities along the rhine were certain to go with france, in a general german war. [sidenote: . war in bohemia.] knowing when the combined movement against him was to be made, frederick boldly determined to anticipate it. disregarding the neutrality of saxony, he crossed its frontier on the th of august, , with an army of , men. ten days afterwards he entered dresden, besieged the saxon army of , in their fortified camp on the elbe, and pushed a column forwards into bohemia. maria theresa collected her forces, and sent an army of nearly , in all haste against him. frederick met them with , men at lobositz, on the st of october, and after hard fighting gained a victory by the use of the bayonet. he wrote to marshal schwerin: "never have my prussians performed such miracles of bravery, since i had the honor to command them." the saxons surrendered soon afterwards, and frederick went into winter-quarters, secure against any further attack before the spring. this was a severe check to the plans of the allied powers, and they made every effort to retrieve it. sweden was induced to join them, and "the german empire," through its almost forgotten diet, declared war against prussia. all together raised an armed force of , men, while frederick, with the greatest exertion, could barely raise , : england sent him an utterly useless general, the duke of cumberland, but no soldiers. he dispatched a part of his army to meet the russians and swedes, marched with the rest into bohemia, and on the th of may won a decided but very bloody victory before the walls of prague. the old hero, schwerin, charging at the head of his troops, was slain, and the entire loss of the prussians was , killed and wounded. but there was still a large austrian army in prague: the city was besieged with the utmost vigor for five weeks, and was on the very point of surrendering when frederick heard that another austrian army, commanded by daun, was marching to its rescue. he thereupon raised the siege, hastened onwards and met daun at kollin, on the elbe, on the th of june. he had , men and the austrians , : he prepared an excellent plan of battle, then deviated from it, and commenced the attack against the advice of general zieten, his chief commander. his haste and stubbornness were well nigh proving his ruin; he tried to retrieve the fortunes of the day by personally leading his soldiers against the austrian batteries, but in vain,--they were repulsed, with a loss of , dead and wounded. that evening frederick was found alone, seated on a log, drawing figures in the sand with his cane. he shed tears on hearing of the slaughter of all his best guardsmen; then, after a long silence, said: "it is a day of sorrow for us, my children, but have patience, for all will yet be well." [sidenote: .] the defeat at kollin threw frederick's plans into confusion: it was now necessary to give up bohemia, and simply act on the defensive, on prussian soil. here he was met by the news of fresh disasters. his other army had been defeated by a much superior russian force, and the useless duke of cumberland had surrendered hannover to the french. but the russians had retreated after their victory, instead of advancing, and frederick's general, lehwald, then easily repulsed the swedes, who had invaded pomerania. by this time a combined french and german array of , men, under marshal soubise, was approaching from the west, confident of an easy victory and comfortable winter-quarters in berlin. frederick united his scattered and diminished forces: they only amounted to , , and great was the amusement of the french when they learned that he meant to dispute their advance. after some preliminary manoeuvring the two armies approached each other, on the th of november, at rossbach, not far from naumburg. when marshal soubise saw the prussian camp, he said to his officers: "it is only a breakfast for us!" and ordered his forces to be spread out so as to cut off the retreat of the enemy. frederick was at dinner when he received the news of the approaching attack: he immediately ordered general seidlitz to charge with his cavalry, broke up his camp and marshalled his infantry in the rear of a range of low hills which concealed his movements. the french, supposing that he was retreating, pressed forwards with music and shouts of triumph; then, suddenly, seidlitz burst upon them with his , cavalry, and immediately afterwards frederick's cannon began to play upon their ranks from a commanding position. they were thrown into confusion by this surprise: frederick and his brother, prince henry, led the infantry against them, and in an hour and a half from the commencement of the battle they were flying from the field in the wildest panic, leaving everything behind them. nine generals, other officers and , men were made prisoners, and all the artillery, arms and stores captured. the prussian loss was only dead and wounded. [sidenote: . the battle of leuthen.] the remnant of the french army never halted until it reached the rhine. all danger from the west was now at an end, and frederick hastened towards silesia, which had in the mean time been occupied by a powerful austrian army under charles of lorraine. by making forced marches, in three weeks frederick effected a junction near breslau with his retreating prussians, and found himself at the head of an army of about , men. charles of lorraine and marshal daun had united their forces, taken breslau, and opposed him with a body of more than , ; but, instead of awaiting his attack, they moved forward to meet him. near the little town of leuthen, the two came together. frederick summoned his generals, and addressed them in a stirring speech: "against all the rules of military science," he said, "i am going to engage an army nearly three times greater than my own. we must beat the enemy, or all together make for ourselves graves before his batteries. this i mean, and thus will i act: remember that you are prussians. if one among you fears to share the last danger with me, he may resign now, without hearing a word of reproof from me." the king's heroic courage was shared by his officers and soldiers. at dawn, on the th of december, the troops sang a solemn hymn, after which shouts of "it is again the th!" and "rossbach!" rang through the army. frederick called general zieten to him, and said: "i am going to expose myself more than ordinarily, to-day. should i fall, cover my body with your cloak, and say nothing to any one. the fight must go on and the enemy must be beaten." he concealed the movement of his infantry behind some low hills, as at rossbach, and surprised the left flank of the austrian army, while his cavalry engaged its right flank. both attacks were so desperate that the austrians struggled in vain to recover their ground: after several hours of hard fighting they gave way, then broke up and fled in disorder, losing more than , in killed, wounded and prisoners. the prussian loss was about , . the cold winter night came down on the battle-field, still covered with wounded and dying and resounding with cries of suffering. all at once a prussian grenadier began to sing the hymn: "now let all hearts thank god;" the regiment nearest him presently joined, then the military bands, and soon the entire army united in the grand choral of thanksgiving. thus gloriously for prussia closed the second year of this remarkable war. [sidenote: .] frederick immediately took breslau, with its garrison of , austrians, and all of silesia except the fortress of schweidnitz. during the winter maria theresa made vigorous preparations for a renewal of the war, and urged russia and france to make fresh exertions. the reputation which frederick had gained, however, brought him also some assistance: after the victories of rossbach and leuthen, there was so much popular enthusiasm for him in england that the government granted him a subsidy of , , thalers annually, and allowed him to appoint a commander for the troops of hannover and the other allied states. frederick selected duke ferdinand of brunswick, who operated with so much skill and energy that by the summer of he had driven the french from all northern germany. frederick, as usual, resumed his work before the austrians were ready, took schweidnitz, re-established his rule over silesia, penetrated into moravia and laid siege to olmütz. but the austrian marshal laudon cut off his communications with silesia and forced him to retreat across the frontier, where he established himself in a fortified camp near landshut. the russians by this time had conquered the whole of the duchy of prussia, invaded pomerania, which they plundered and laid waste, and were approaching the river oder. on receiving this news, frederick left marshal keith in command of his camp, took what troops could be spared and marched against his third enemy, whom he met on the th of august, , near the village of zorndorf, in pomerania. the battle lasted from nine in the morning until ten at night. frederick had , men, mostly new recruits, the russian general fermor , . the prussian lines were repeatedly broken, but as often restored by the bravery of general seidlitz, who finally won the battle by daring to disobey frederick's orders. the latter sent word to him that he must answer for his disobedience with his head, but seidlitz replied: "tell the king he may have my head when the battle is over, but until then i must use it in his service." when, late at night, the russians were utterly defeated, leaving , dead upon the field--for the prussians gave them no quarter--frederick embraced seidlitz, crying out: "i owe the victory to you!" [sidenote: . the surprise at hochkirch.] the three great powers had been successively repelled, but the strength of austria was not yet broken. marshal daun marched into saxony and besieged the fortified camp of prince henry, thus obliging frederick to hasten to his rescue. the latter's confidence in himself had been so exalted by his victories, that he and his entire army would have been lost but for the prudent watchfulness of zieten. all except the latter and his hussars were quietly sleeping at hochkirch, on the night of the th of october, when the camp was suddenly attacked by daun, in overwhelming force. the village was set on fire, the prussian batteries captured, and a terrible fight ensued. prince francis of brunswick and marshal keith were killed and prince maurice of dessau severely wounded: the prussians defended themselves heroically, but at nine o'clock on the morning of the th they were compelled to retreat, leaving all their artillery and camp equipage behind them. this was the last event of the campaign of , and it was a bad omen for the following year. frederick tried to negotiate for peace, but in vain. the strength of his army was gone; his victories had been dearly bought with the loss of all his best regiments. austria and russia reinforced their armies and planned, this time, to unite in silesia, while the french, who defeated the duke of brunswick in april, , regained possession of hannover. frederick was obliged to divide his troops and send an army under general wedel against the russians, while he, with a very reduced force, attempted to check the austrians in silesia. wedel was defeated, and the junction of his two enemies could no longer be prevented; they marched against him, , strong, and took up a position at kunnersdorf, opposite frankfort-on-oder. frederick had but , men, after calling together almost the entire military strength of his kingdom, and many of these were raw recruits who had never smelt powder. on the th of august, , after the good news arrived that ferdinand of brunswick had defeated the french at minden, frederick gave battle. at the end of six hours the russian left wing gave way; then frederick, against the advice of seidlitz, ordered a charge upon the right wing, which occupied a very strong position and was supported by the austrian army. seidlitz twice refused to make the charge; and then when he yielded, was struck down, severely wounded, after his cavalry had been cut to pieces. frederick himself led the troops to fresh slaughter, but all in vain: they fell in whole battalions before the terrible artillery fire, until , lay upon the field. the enemy charged in turn, and the prussian army was scattered in all directions, only about , accompanying the king in his retreat. for some days after this frederick was in a state of complete despair, listless, helpless, unable to decide or command in anything. [sidenote: .] prussia was only saved by a difference of opinion between marshal daun and the russian general, soltikoff. the latter refused to advance on berlin, but fell back upon silesia to rest his troops: daun marched into saxony, took dresden, which the prussians had held up to that time, and made , prisoners. thus ended this unfortunate year. prussia was in such an exhausted condition that it seemed impossible to raise more men or more money, to carry on the war. frederick tried every means to break the alliance of his enemies, or to acquire new allies for himself, even appealing to spain and turkey, but without effect. in the spring of , the armies of austria, "the german empire," russia and sweden amounted to , , to meet which he was barely able, by making every sacrifice, to raise , . in hannover ferdinand of brunswick had , , opposed by a french army of , . silesia was still the bone of contention, and it was planned that the austrian and russian armies should unite there, as before, while frederick was equally determined to prevent their junction, and to hold the province for himself. but he first sent prince henry and general fouqué to silesia, while he undertook to regain possession of saxony. he bombarded dresden furiously, without success, and was then called away by the news that fouqué with , men had been defeated and taken prisoners near landshut. all silesia was overrun by the austrians, except breslau, which was heroically defended by a small force. marshal laudon was in command, and as the russians had not yet arrived, he effected a junction with daun, who had followed frederick from saxony. on the th of august, , they attacked him at liegnitz with a combined force of , men. although he had but , , he won such a splendid victory that the russian army turned back on hearing of it, and in a short time silesia, except the fortress of glatz, was restored to prussia. [sidenote: . capture of berlin.] nevertheless, while frederick was engaged in following up his victory, the austrians and russians came to an understanding, and moved suddenly upon berlin,--the russians from the oder, the austrians and saxons combined from lusatia. the city defended itself for a few days, but surrendered on the th of october: a contribution of , , thalers was levied by the conquerors, the saxons ravaged the royal palace at charlottenburg, but the russians and austrians committed few depredations. four days afterwards, the news that frederick was hastening to the relief of berlin compelled the enemy to leave. without attempting to pursue them, frederick turned and marched back to silesia, where, on the d of november, he met the austrians, under daun, at torgau. this was one of the bloodiest battles of the seven years' war: the prussian army was divided between frederick and zieten, the former undertaking to storm the austrian position in front, while the latter attacked their flank. but frederick, either too impetuous or mistaken in the signals, moved too soon: a terrible day's fight followed, and when night came , of his soldiers, dead or wounded, lay upon the field. he sat all night in the village church, making plans for the morrow; then, in the early dawn, zieten came and announced that he had been victorious on the austrian flank, and they were in full retreat. after which, turning to his soldiers, zieten cried: "boys, hurrah for our king!--he has won the battle!" the men answered: "hurrah for fritz, our king, and hurrah for father zieten, too!" the prussian loss was , , the austrian , . although prussia had been defended with such astonishing vigor and courage during the year , the end of the campaign found her greatly weakened. the austrians held dresden and glatz, two important strategic points, russia and france were far from being exhausted, and every attempt of frederick to strengthen himself by alliance--even with turkey and with cossack and tartar chieftains--came to nothing. in october, , george ii. of england died, there was a change of ministry, and the four, millions of thalers which prussia had received for three years were cut off. the french, under marshals broglie and soubise, had been bravely met by prince ferdinand of brunswick, but he was not strong enough to prevent them from quartering themselves for the winter in cassel and göttingen. under these discouraging aspects the year opened. [sidenote: .] the first events were fortunate. prince ferdinand moved against the french in february and drove them back nearly to the rhine; the army of "the german empire" was expelled from thuringia by a small detachment of prussians, and prince henry, frederick's brother, maintained himself in saxony against the much stronger austrian army of marshal daun. these successes left frederick free to act with all his remaining forces against the austrians in silesia, under laudon, and their russian allies who were marching through poland to unite with them a third time. but their combined force was , men, his barely , . by the most skilful military tactics, marching rapidly back and forth, threatening first one and then the other, he kept them asunder until the middle of august, when they effected a junction in spite of him. then he entrenched himself so strongly in a fortified camp near schweidnitz, that they did not dare to attack him immediately. marshal laudon and the russian commander, buturlin, quarrelled, in consequence of which a large part of the russian army left, and marched northwards into pomerania. then frederick would have given battle, but on the st of october, laudon took schweidnitz by storm and so strengthened his position thereby that it would have been useless to attack him. frederick's prospects were darker than ever when the year came to a close. on the th of december, the swedes and russians took the important fortress of colberg, on the baltic coast: half pomerania was in their hands, more than half of silesia in the hands of the austrians, prince henry was hard pressed in saxony, and ferdinand of brunswick was barely able to hold back the french. on all sides the allied enemies were closing in upon prussia, whose people could no longer furnish soldiers or pay taxes. for more than a year the country had been hanging on the verge of ruin, and while frederick's true greatness had been illustrated in his unyielding courage, his unshaken energy, his determination never to give up, he was almost powerless to plan any further measures of defence. with four millions of people, he had for six years fought powers which embraced eighty millions; but now half his territory was lost to him and the other half utterly exhausted. [sidenote: . prussia again successful.] suddenly, in the darkest hour, light came. in january, , frederick's bitter enemy, the empress elizabeth of russia, died, and was succeeded by czar peter iii., who was one of his most devoted admirers. the first thing peter did was to send back all the prussian prisoners of war; an armistice was concluded, then a peace, and finally an alliance, by which the russian troops in pomerania and silesia were transferred from the austrian to the prussian side. sweden followed the example of russia, and made peace, and the campaign of opened with renewed hopes for prussia. in july, , peter iii. was dethroned and murdered, whereupon his widow and successor, catharine ii., broke off the alliance with frederick; but she finally agreed to maintain peace, and frederick made use of the presence of the russian troops in his camp to win a decided victory over daun, on the st of july. austria was discouraged by this new turn of affairs; the war was conducted with less energy on the part of her generals, while the prussians were everywhere animated with a fresh spirit. after a siege of several months frederick took the fortress of schweidnitz on the th of october; on the th of the same month prince henry defeated the austrians at freiberg, in saxony, and on the st of november ferdinand of brunswick drove the french out of cassel. after this frederick marched upon dresden, while small detachments were sent into bohemia and franconia, where they levied contributions on the cities and villages and kept the country in a state of terror. in the meantime negotiations for peace had been carried on between england and france. the preliminaries were settled at fontainebleau on the d of november, and, although the tory ministry of george ii. would have willingly seen prussia destroyed, frederick's popularity was so great in england that the government was forced to stipulate that the french troops should be withdrawn from germany. the "german empire," represented by its superannuated diet at ratisbon, became alarmed at its position and concluded an armistice with prussia; so that, before the year closed, austria was left alone to carry on the war. maria theresa's personal hatred of frederick, which had been the motive power in the combination against him, had not been gratified by his ruin: she could only purchase peace with him, after all his losses and dangers, by giving up silesia forever. it was a bitter pill for her to swallow, but there was no alternative; she consented, with rage and humiliation in her heart. on the th of february, , peace was signed at hubertsburg, a little hunting-castle near leipzig, and the seven years' war was over. [sidenote: .] frederick was now called "the great" throughout europe, and prussia was henceforth ranked among the "five great powers," the others being england, france, austria and russia. his first duty, as after the second silesian war, was to raise the kingdom from its weak and wasted condition. he distributed among the farmers the supplies of grain which had been hoarded up for the army, gave them as many artillery and cavalry horses as could be spared, practised the most rigid economy in the expenses of the government, and bestowed all that could be saved upon the regions which had most suffered. the nobles derived the greatest advantage from this support, for he considered them the main pillar of his state, and took all his officers from their ranks. in order to be prepared for any new emergency, he kept up his army, and finally doubled it, at a great cost; but, as he only used one-sixth of his own income and gave the rest towards supporting this burden, the people, although often oppressed by his system of taxation, did not openly complain. frederick continued to be sole and arbitrary ruler. he was unwilling to grant any participation in the government to the different classes of the people, but demanded that everything should be trusted to his own "sense of duty." since the people _did_ honor and trust him,--since every day illustrated his desire to be just towards all, and his own personal devotion to the interests of the kingdom,--his policy was accepted. he never reflected that the spirit of complete submission which he was inculcating weakened the spirit of the people, and might prove to be the ruin of prussia if the royal power should fall into base or ignorant hands. in fact, the material development of the country was seriously hindered by his admiration of everything french. he introduced a form of taxation borrowed from france, appointed french officials who oppressed the people, granted monopolies to manufacturers, prohibited the exportation of raw material, and in other ways damaged the interests of prussia, by trying to _force_ a rapid growth. [sidenote: . frederick's policy as king.] the intellectual development of the country was equally hindered. in frederick invited voltaire to berlin, and the famous french author remained there nearly three years, making many enemies by his arrogance and intolerance of german habits, until a bitter quarrel broke out and the two parted, never to resume their intimacy. it is doubtful whether frederick had the least consciousness of the swift and splendid rise of german literature during the latter years of his reign. although he often declared that he was perfectly willing his subjects should think and speak as they pleased, provided they _obeyed_, he maintained a strict censorship of the press, and was very impatient of all opinions which conflicted with his own. thus, while he possessed the clearest sense of justice, the severest sense of duty, his policy was governed by his own personal tastes and prejudices, and therefore could not be universally just. what strength he possessed became a part of his government, but what weakness also. one other event, of a peaceful yet none the less of a violent character, marks frederick's reign. within a year after the peace of hubertsburg augustus iii. of poland died, and catharine of russia persuaded the polish nobles to elect prince poniatowsky, her favorite, as his successor. the latter granted equal rights to the protestant sects, which brought on a civil war, as the catholics were in a majority in poland. a long series of diplomatic negotiations followed, in which prussia, austria, and indirectly france, were involved: the end was, that on the th of august, , frederick the great, catharine ii. and maria theresa (the latter most unwillingly) united in taking possession of about one-third of the kingdom of poland, containing , square miles and , , inhabitants, and dividing it among them. prussia received the territory between pomerania and the former duchy of prussia, except only the cities of dantzig and thorn, with about , inhabitants. this was the region lost to germany in , when the incapable emperor frederick iii. failed to assist the german order: its population was still mostly german, and consequently scarcely felt the annexation as a wrong, yet this does not change the character of the act. [sidenote: .] the last years of frederick the great were peaceful. he lived to see the american colonies independent of england, and to send a sword of honor to washington: he lived when voltaire and maria theresa were dead, preserving to the last his habits of industry and constant supervision of all affairs. like his father, he was fond of walking or riding through the parks and streets of berlin and potsdam, talking familiarly with the people and now and then using his cane upon an idler. his court was spartan in its simplicity, and nothing prevented the people from coming personally to him with their complaints. on one occasion, in the streets of potsdam, he met a company of school-boys, and roughly addressed them with: "boys, what are you doing here? be off to your school!" one of the boldest answered: "oh, you are king, are you, and don't know that there is no school to-day!" frederick laughed heartily, dropped his uplifted cane, and gave the urchins a piece of money that they might better enjoy their holiday. the windmill at potsdam, which stood on some ground he wanted for his park, but could not get because the miller would not sell and defied him to take it arbitrarily, stands to this day, as a token of his respect for the rights of a poor man. when frederick died, on the th of august, , at the age of seventy-four, he left a kingdom of , , inhabitants, an army of more than , men, and a sum of millions of thalers in the treasury. but, what was of far more consequence to germany, he left behind him an example of patriotism, of order, economy and personal duty, which was already followed by other german princes, and an example of resistance to foreign interference which restored the pride and revived the hopes of the german people. chapter xxxiv. germany under maria theresa and joseph ii. ( -- .) maria theresa and her government. --death of francis i. --character of joseph ii. --the partition of poland. --the bavarian succession. --last days of maria theresa. --republican ideas in europe. --joseph ii. as a revolutionist. --his reforms. --visit of pope pius vi. --alarm of the catholics. --joseph among the people. --the order of jesuits dissolved by the pope. --joseph ii's disappointments. --his death. --progress in germany. --a german-catholic church proposed by four archbishops. --"enlightened despotism." --the small states. --influence of the great german authors. [sidenote: . maria theresa.] in the empress maria theresa, frederick the great had an enemy whom he was bound to respect. since the death of maximilian ii., in , austria had no male ruler so prudent, just and energetic as this woman. one of her first acts was to imitate the military organization of prussia: then she endeavored to restore the finances of the country, which had been sadly shattered by the luxury of her predecessors. her position during the two silesian wars and the seven years' war was almost the same as that of her opponent: she fought to recover territory, part of which had been ceded to austria and part of which she had held by virtue of unsettled claims. the only difference was that the very existence of austria did not depend on the result, as was the case with prussia. maria theresa, like all the hapsburgs after ferdinand i., had grown up under the influence of the jesuits, and her ideas of justice were limited by her religious bigotry. in other respects she was wise and liberal: she effected a complete reorganization of the government, establishing special departments of justice, industry and commerce; she sought to develop the resources of the country, abolished torture, introduced a new criminal code,--in short, she neglected scarcely any important interests of the people, except their education and their religious freedom. nevertheless, she was always jealous of the assumptions of rome, and prevented, as far as she was able, the immediate dependence of the catholic clergy upon the pope. [sidenote: .] in , her husband, francis i. (of lorraine and tuscany) suddenly died, and was succeeded, as german emperor, by her eldest son, joseph ii., who was then twenty-four years of age. he was an earnest, noble-hearted, aspiring man, who had already taken his mother's enemy, frederick the great, as his model for a ruler. maria theresa, therefore, kept the government of the austrian dominions in her own hands, and the title of "emperor" was not much more than an empty dignity while she lived. in august, , joseph had an interview with frederick at neisse, in silesia, at which the polish question was discussed. the latter returned the visit, at neustadt in moravia, the following year, and the terms of the partition of poland appear to have been then agreed upon between them. nevertheless, after the treaty had been formally drawn up and laid before maria theresa for her signature, she added these words: "long after i am dead, the effects of this violation of all which has hitherto been considered right and holy will be made manifest." joseph, with all his liberal ideas, had no such scruples of conscience. he was easily controlled by frederick the great, who, notwithstanding, never entirely trusted him. in a new trouble arose, which for two years held germany on the brink of internal war. the elector max joseph of bavaria, the last of the house of wittelsbach in a direct line, died without leaving brother or son, and the next heir was the elector karl theodore of the palatinate. the latter was persuaded by joseph ii. to give up about half of bavaria to austria, and austrian troops immediately took possession of the territory. this proceeding created great alarm among the german princes, who looked upon it as the beginning of an attempt to extend the austrian sway over all the other states. another heir to bavaria, duke karl of zweibrücken (a little principality on the french frontier), was brought forward and presented by frederick the great, who, in order to support him, sent two armies into the field. saxony and some of the smaller states took the same side; even maria theresa desired peace, but joseph ii. persisted in his plans until both france and russia intervened. the matter was finally settled in may, , by giving bavaria to the elector karl theodore, and annexing a strip of territory along the river inn, containing about square miles and , inhabitants, to austria. [sidenote: . death of maria theresa.] maria theresa had long been ill of an incurable dropsy, and on the th of november, , she died, in the sixty-fourth year of her age. a few days before her death she had herself lowered by ropes and pulleys into the vault where the coffin of francis i. reposed. on being drawn up again, one of the ropes parted, whereupon she exclaimed: "he wishes to keep me with him, and i shall soon come!" she wrote in her prayer-book that in regard to matters of justice, the church, the education of her children, and her obligations towards the different orders of her people, she found little cause for self-reproach; but that she had been a sinner in making war from motives of pride, envy and anger, and in her speech had shown too little charity for others. she left austria in a condition of order and material prosperity such as the country had not known for centuries. when frederick the great heard of her death, he said to one of his ministers: "maria theresa is dead; now there will be a new order of things!" he evidently believed that joseph ii. would set about indulging his restless ambition for conquest. but the latter kept the peace, and devoted himself to the interests of austria, establishing, indeed, a new and most astonishing order of things, but of a totally different nature from what frederick had expected. joseph ii. was filled with the new ideas of human rights which already agitated europe. the short but illustrious history of the corsican republic, the foundation of the new nation of the united states of america, the works of french authors advocating democracy in society and politics, were beginning to exercise a powerful influence in germany, not so much among the people as among the highly educated classes. thus at the very moment when frederick and maria theresa were exercising the most absolute form of despotism, and the smaller rulers were doing their best to imitate them, the most radical theories of republicanism were beginning to be openly discussed, and the great revolution which they occasioned was only a few years off. [sidenote: .] joseph ii. was scarcely less despotic in his habits of government than frederick the great, and he used his power to force new liberties upon a people who were not intelligent enough to understand them. he stands almost alone among monarchs, as an example of a revolutionist upon the throne, not only granting far more than was ever demanded of his predecessors, but compelling his people to accept rights which they hardly knew how to use. he determined to transform austria, by a few bold measures, into a state which should embody all the progressive ideas of the day, and be a model for the world. the plan was high and noble, but he failed because he did not perceive that the condition of a people cannot be so totally changed, without a wise and gradual preparation for it. he began by reforming the entire civil service of austria; but, as he took the reform into his own hands and had little practical knowledge of the position and duties of the officials, many of the changes operated injuriously. in regard to taxation, industry and commerce, he followed the theories of french writers, which, in many respects, did not apply to the state of things in austria. he abolished the penalty of death, put an end to serfdom among the peasantry, cut down the privileges of the nobles, and tried, for a short time, the experiment of a free press. his boldest measure was in regard to the church, which he endeavored to make wholly independent of rome. he openly declared that the priests were "the most dangerous and most useless class in every country"; he suppressed seven hundred monasteries and turned them into schools or asylums, granted the protestants freedom of worship and all rights enjoyed by catholics, and continued his work in so sweeping a manner that the pope, pius vi., hastened to vienna in , in the greatest alarm, hoping to restore the influence of the church. joseph ii. received him with external politeness, but had him carefully watched and allowed no one to visit him without his own express permission. after a stay of four weeks during which he did not obtain a single concession of any importance, the pope returned to rome. not content with what he had accomplished, joseph now went further. he gave equal rights to jews and members of the greek church, ordered german hymns to be sung in the catholic churches and the german bible to be read, and prohibited pilgrimages and religious processions. these measures gave the priesthood the means of alarming the ignorant people, who were easily persuaded that the emperor intended to abolish the christian religion. they became suspicious and hostile towards the one man who was defying the church and the nobles in his efforts to help them. only the few who came into direct contact with him were able to appreciate his sincerity and goodness. he was fond of going about alone, dressed so simply that few recognized him, and almost as many stories of his intercourse with the lower classes are told of him in austria as of frederick the great in prussia. on one occasion he attended a poor sick woman whose daughter took him for a physician: on another he took the plough from the hands of a peasant, and ploughed a few furrows around the field. if his reign had been longer, the austrian people would have learned to trust him, and many of his reforms might have become permanent; but he was better understood and loved after his death than during his life. [sidenote: . joseph ii.'s reforms.] one circumstance must be mentioned, in explanation of the sudden and sweeping character of joseph ii.'s measures towards the church. the jesuits, by their intrigues and the demoralizing influence which they exercised, had made themselves hated in all catholic countries, and were only tolerated in bavaria and austria. france, spain, naples and portugal, one after the other, banished the order, and pope clement xiv. was finally induced, in , to dissolve its connection with the church of rome. the jesuits were then compelled to leave austria, and for a time they found refuge only in russia and prussia, where, through a most mistaken policy, they were employed by the governments as teachers. their expulsion was the sign of a new life for the schools and universities, which were released from their paralyzing sway, and joseph ii. evidently supposed that the church of rome itself had made a step in advance. the archbishop of mayence and the bishop of treves were noted liberals; the latter even favored a reformation of the catholic church, and the emperor had reason to believe that he would receive at least a moral support throughout germany. he neither perceived the thorough demoralization which two centuries of jesuit rule had produced in austria, nor the settled determination of the papal power to restore the order as soon as circumstances would permit. joseph ii.'s last years were disastrous to all his plans. in flanders, which was still a dependency of austria, the priests incited the people to revolt; in hungary the nobles were bitterly hostile to him, on account of the abolition of serfdom, and an alliance with catharine ii. of russia against turkey, into which he entered in ,--chiefly, it seems, in the hope of achieving military renown--was in every way unfortunate. at the head of an army of , men, he marched against belgrade, but was repelled by the turks, and finally returned to vienna with the seeds of a fatal fever in his frame. russia made peace with turkey before the fortunes of war could be retrieved; flanders declared itself independent of austria, and a revolution in hungary was only prevented by his taking back most of the decrees which had been issued for the emancipation of the people. disappointed and hopeless, joseph ii. succumbed to the fever which hung upon him: he died on the th of february, , only forty-nine years of age. he ordered these words to be engraved upon his tomb-stone: "here lies a prince, whose intentions were pure, but who had the misfortune to see all his plans shattered!" history has done justice to his character, and the people whom he tried to help learned to appreciate his efforts when it was too late. [sidenote: .] the condition of germany, from the end of the seven years' war to the close of the eighteenth century, shows a remarkable progress, when we contrast it with the first half of the century. the stern, heroic character of frederick the great, the strong, humane aspirations of joseph ii., and the rapid growth of democratic ideas all over the world, affected at last many of the smaller german states. their imitation of the pomp and state of louis xiv., which they had practised for nearly a hundred years, came to an end; the princes were now possessed with the idea of "an enlightened despotism"--that is, while retaining their absolute power, they endeavored to exercise it for the good of the people. there were some dark exceptions to this general change for the better. the rulers of hesse-cassel and würtemberg, for example, sold whole regiments of their subjects to england, to be used against the american colonies in the war of independence. although many of these soldiers remained in the united states, and encouraged, by their satisfaction with their new homes, the later german emigration to america, the princes who sold them covered their own memories with infamy, and deservedly so. [sidenote: . "enlightened despotism."] there was a remarkable movement, about the same time, among the catholic archbishops, who were also temporal rulers, in germany. the dominions of these priestly princes, especially along the rhine, showed what had been the character of such a form of government. there were about , inhabitants, fifty of whom were priests and two hundred and sixty beggars, to every twenty-two square miles! the difference between the condition of their states and that of the protestant territories adjoining them was much more strongly marked than it now is between the protestant and catholic cantons of switzerland. by a singular coincidence, the chief catholic archbishops were at this time men of intelligence and humane aspirations, who did their best to remedy the scandalous misrule of their predecessors. in the year , the archbishops of mayence, treves, cologne and salzburg came together at ems, and agreed upon a plan of founding a national german-catholic church, independent of rome. the priests, in their incredible ignorance and bigotry, opposed the movement, and even joseph ii., who had planned the very same thing for austria, most inconsistently refused to favor it; therefore the plan failed. it must be admitted, as an apology for the theory of "an enlightened despotism," that there was no representative government in europe at the time, where there was greater justice and order than in prussia or in austria under joseph ii. the german empire had become a mere mockery; its perpetual diet at ratisbon was little more than a farce. poland, holland and sweden, where there was a legislative assembly, were in a most unfortunate condition: the swiss republic was far from being republican, and even england, under george iii., did not present a fortunate model of parliamentary government. the united states of america were too far off and too little known, to exercise much influence. some of the smaller german states, which were despotisms in the hands of wise and humane rulers, thus played a most beneficent part in protecting, instructing and elevating the people. baden, brunswick, anhalt-dessau, holstein, saxe-gotha, and especially saxe-weimar, became cradles of science and literature. karl augustus, of the last-named state, called herder, wieland, goethe, schiller and other illustrious authors to his court, and created such a distinguished circle in letters and the arts that weimar was named "the german athens." the works of these great men, which had been preceded by those of lessing and klopstock, gave an immense impetus to the intellectual development of germany. it was the first great advance made by the people since the days of luther, and its effect extended gradually to the courts of less intelligent and humane princes. even the profligate duke karl eugene of würtemberg reformed in a measure, established the karl's-school where schiller was educated, and tried, so far as he knew how, to govern justly. frederick augustus of saxony refrained from imitating his dissolute and tyrannical ancestors, and his land began to recover from its long sufferings. as for the scores of petty states, which contained--as was ironically said--"twelve subjects and one jew," and were not much larger than an average illinois farm, they were mostly despotic and ridiculous; but they were too weak to impede the general march of progress. [sidenote: .] among the greater states, only bavaria remained in the background. although temporarily deprived of his beloved jesuits, the elector held fast to all the prejudices they had inculcated, and kept his people in ignorance. chapter xxxv. from the death of joseph ii. to the end of the german empire. ( -- .) the crisis in europe. --frederick william ii. in prussia. --leopold ii. in austria. --his short reign. --francis ii. succeeds. --french claims in alsatia. --war declared against austria. --the prussian and austrian invasion of france. --valmy and jemappes. --the first coalition. --campaign of . --french successes. --hesitation of prussia. --the treaty of basel. --catharine ii.'s designs. --second partition of poland. --kosciusko's defeat. --suwarrow takes warsaw. --end of poland. --french invasion of germany. --success of the republic. --bonaparte in italy. --campaign of . --austrian successes. --bonaparte victorious. --peace of campo formio. --new demands of france. --the second coalition. --suwarrow in italy and switzerland. --bonaparte first consul. --victories at marengo and hohenlinden. --peace of luneville. --the german states reconstructed. --character of the political changes. --supremacy of france. --hannover invaded. --bonaparte emperor. --the third coalition. --french march to vienna. --austerlitz. --treaty of presburg. --end of the "holy roman empire." [sidenote: . condition of europe.] the mantles of both frederick the great and joseph ii. fell upon incompetent successors, at a time when all europe was agitated by the beginning of the french revolution, and when, therefore, the greatest political wisdom was required of the rulers of germany. it was a crisis, the like of which never before occurred in the history of the world, and probably never will occur again; for, at the time when it came, the people enjoyed fewer rights than they had possessed during the middle ages, and the monarchs exercised more power than they had claimed for at least fifteen hundred years before, while general intelligence and the knowledge of human rights were increasing everywhere. the fabrics of society and government were ages behind the demands of the time: a change was inevitable, and because no preparation had been made, it came through violence. [sidenote: .] frederick the great was succeeded by his nephew, frederick william ii., whom, with unaccountable neglect, he had not instructed in the duties of government. the latter, nevertheless, began with changes which gave him a great popularity. he abolished the french system of collecting duties, the monopolies which were burdensome to the people, and lightened the weight of their taxes. but, by unnecessary interference in the affairs of holland (because his sister was the wife of william v. of orange), he spent all the surplus which frederick had left in the prussian treasury; he was weak, dissolute and fickle in his character; he introduced the most rigid measures in regard to the press and religious worship, and soon taught the people the difference between a bigoted and narrow-minded and an intelligent and conscientious king. joseph ii. was succeeded by his brother, leopold ii., who for twenty-five years had been grand-duke of tuscany, where he had governed with great mildness and prudence. his policy had been somewhat similar to that of joseph ii., but characterized by greater caution and moderation. when he took the crown of austria, and immediately afterwards that of the german empire, he materially changed his plan of government. he was not rigidly oppressive, but he checked the evidences of a freer development among the people, which joseph ii. had fostered. he limited, at once, the pretensions of austria, cultivated friendly relations with prussia, which was then inclined to support the austrian netherlands in their revolt, and took steps to conclude peace with turkey. he succeeded, also, in reconciling the hungarians to the hapsburg rule, and might, possibly, have given a fortunate turn to the destinies of austria, if he had lived long enough. but he died on the st of march, , after a reign of exactly two years, and was succeeded by his son, francis ii., who was elected emperor of germany on the th of july, in frankfort. by this time the great changes which had taken place in france began to agitate all europe. the french national assembly very soon disregarded the provisions of the peace of westphalia (in ), which had only ceded the possessions of _austria_ in alsatia to france, allowing various towns and districts on the west bank of the upper rhine to be held by german princes. the entire authority over these scattered possessions was now claimed by france, and neither prussia, under frederick william ii., nor austria under leopold ii. resisted the act otherwise than by a protest which had no effect. although the french queen, marie antoinette, was leopold ii.'s sister, his policy was to preserve peace with the revolutionary party which controlled france. frederick william's minister, hertzberg, pursued the same policy, but so much against the will of the king, who was determined to defend the cause of absolute monarchy by trying to rescue louis xvi. from his increasing dangers, that before the close of hertzberg was dismissed from office. then frederick william endeavored to create a "holy alliance" of prussia, austria, russia and sweden against france, but only succeeded far enough to provoke a bitter feeling of hostility to germany in the french national assembly. [sidenote: . france and prussia.] the nobles who had been driven out of france by the revolution were welcomed by the archbishops of mayence and treves, and the rulers of smaller states along the rhine, who allowed them to plot a counter-revolution. an angry diplomatic intercourse between france and austria followed, and in april, , the former country declared war against "the king of bohemia and hungary," as francis ii. was styled by the french assembly. in fact, war was inevitable; for the monarchs of europe were simply waiting for a good chance to intervene and crush the republican movement in france, which, on its side, could only establish itself through military successes. although neither party was prepared for the struggle, the energy and enthusiasm of the new men who governed france gained an advantage, at the start, over the lumbering slowness of the german governments. it was not the latter, this time, but their enemy, who profited by the example of frederick the great. prussia and austria, supported by some but not by all of the smaller states, raised two armies, one of , men under the duke of brunswick, which was to march through belgium to paris, while the other, , strong, was to take possession of alsatia. the movement of the former was changed, and then delayed by differences of opinion among the royal and ducal commanders. it started from mayence, and consumed three weeks in marching to the french frontier, only ninety miles distant. longwy and verdun were taken without much difficulty, and then the advance ceased. the french under dumouriez and kellermann united their forces, held the germans in check at valmy, on the th of september, , and then compelled them to retrace their steps towards the rhine. while the prussians were retreating through storms of rain, their ranks thinned by disease, dumouriez wheeled upon flanders, met the austrian army at jemappes, and gained such a decided victory that by the end of the year all belgium, and even the city of aix-la-chapelle, fell into the hands of the french. [sidenote: .] at the same time another french army, under general custine, marched to the rhine, took speyer, worms and finally mayence, which city was made the head-quarters of a republican movement intended to influence germany. but these successes were followed, on the st of january, , by the execution of louis xvi., and on the th of october of marie antoinette,--acts which alarmed every reigning family in europe and provoked the most intense enmity towards the french republic. an immediate alliance--called the first coalition--was made by england, holland, prussia, austria, "the german empire," sardinia, naples and spain, against france. only catharine ii. of russia declined to join, not because she did not favor the design of crushing france, but because she would thus be left free to carry out her plans of aggrandizing russia at the expense of turkey and poland. the greater part of the year was on the whole favorable to the allied powers. an austrian victory at neerwinden, on the th of march, compelled the french to evacuate belgium: in july the prussians reconquered mayence, and advanced into alsatia; and a combined english and spanish fleet took possession of toulon. but there was no unity of action among the enemies of france; even the german successes were soon neutralized by the mutual jealousy and mistrust of prussia and austria, and the war became more and more unpopular. towards the close of the year the french armies were again victorious in flanders and along the rhine: their generals had discovered that the rapid movements and rash, impetuous assaults of their new troops were very effectual against the old, deliberate, scientific tactics of the germans. spain, holland and sardinia proved to be almost useless as allies, and the strength of the coalition was reduced to england, prussia and austria. [sidenote: . the treaty of basel.] in a fresh attempt was made. prussia furnished , men, who were paid by england, and were hardly less mercenaries than the troops sold by hesse-cassel twenty years before. in june, the french under jourdan were victorious at fleurus, and austria decided to give up belgium: the prussians gained some advantages in alsatia, but showed no desire to carry on the war as the hirelings of another country. frederick william ii. and francis ii. were equally suspicious of each other, equally weak and vacillating, divided between their desire of overturning the french republic on the one side, and securing new conquests of polish territory on the other. thus the war was prosecuted in the most languid and inefficient manner, and by the end of the year the french were masters of all the territory west of the rhine, from alsatia to the sea. during the following winter they assisted in overturning the former government of holland, where a new "batavian republic" was established. frederick william ii. thereupon determined to withdraw from the coalition, and make a separate peace with france. his minister, hardenberg, concluded a treaty at basel, on the th of april, , by which cleves and other prussian territory west of the lower rhine was relinquished to france, and all of germany north of a line drawn from the river main eastward to silesia, was declared to be in a state of peace during the war which france still continued to wage with austria. the chief cause of prussia's change of policy seems to have been her fear that russia would absorb the whole of poland. this was probably the intention of catharine ii., for she had vigorously encouraged the war between germany and france, while declining to take part in it. the poles themselves, now more divided than ever, soon furnished her with a pretext for interference. they had adopted an hereditary instead of an elective monarchy, together with a constitution similar to that of france; but a portion of the nobility rose in arms against these changes, and were supported by russia. then frederick william ii. insisted on being admitted as a partner in the business of interference, and catharine ii. reluctantly consented. in january, , the two powers agreed to divide a large portion of polish territory between them, austria taking no active part in the matter. prussia received the cities of thorn and dantzig, the provinces of posen, gnesen and kalisch, and other territory, amounting to more than , square miles, with , , inhabitants. the only resistance made to the entrance of the russian army into poland, was headed by kosciusko, one of the heroes of the american war of independence. although defeated at dubienka, where he fought with , men against , , the hopes of the polish patriots centred upon him, and when they rose in to prevent the approaching destruction of their country, they made him dictator. russia was engaged in a war with turkey, and had not troops enough to quell the insurrection, so prussia was called upon to furnish her share. in june, , frederick william himself marched to warsaw, where a russian army arrived about the same time: the city was besieged, but not attacked, owing to quarrels and differences of opinion among the commanders. at the end of three months, the king got tired and went back to berlin; several small battles were fought, in which the poles had the greater advantage, but nothing decisive happened until the end of october, when the russian general suwarrow arrived, after a forced march, from the seat of war on the danube. [sidenote: .] he first defeated kosciusko, who was taken prisoner, and then marched upon warsaw. on the th of november the suburb of praga was taken by storm, with terrible slaughter, and three days afterwards warsaw fell. this was the end of poland, as an independent nation. although austria had taken no part in the war, she now negotiated for a share in the third (and last) partition, which had been decided upon by russia and prussia, even before the polish revolt furnished a pretext for it. catharine ii. favored the austrian claims, and even concluded a secret agreement with francis ii. without consulting prussia. when this had been made known, in august, , prussia protested violently against it, but without effect: russia took more than half the remaining territory, austria nearly one-quarter, and prussia received about , square miles more, including the city of warsaw. after the treaty of basel, which secured peace to the northern half of germany, catharine ii., victorious over turkey and having nothing more to do in poland, united with england and austria against france. it was agreed that russia should send both an army and a fleet, austria raise , men, and england contribute , , pounds sterling annually towards the expenses of the war. during the summer of , however, little was done. the french still held everything west of the rhine, and the austrians watched them from the opposite bank: the strength of both was nearly equal. suddenly, in september, the french crossed the river, took düsseldorf and mannheim, with immense quantities of military stores, and completely laid waste the country in the neighborhood of these two cities, treating the people with the most inhuman barbarity. then the austrians rallied, repulsed the french, in their turn, and before winter recovered possession of nearly all the western bank. [sidenote: . bonaparte's campaign in italy.] in january, , an armistice was declared: spain and sardinia had already made peace with france, and austria showed signs of becoming weary of the war. the french republic, however, found itself greatly strengthened by its military successes: its minister of war, carnot, and its ambitious young generals, bonaparte, moreau, massena, &c., were winning fame and power by the continuance of hostilities, and the system of making the conquered territory pay all the expenses of the war (in some cases much more), was a great advantage to the french national treasury. thus the war, undertaken by the coalition for the destruction of the french republic, had only strengthened the latter, which was in the best condition for continuing it at a time when the allies (except, perhaps, england) were discouraged, and ready for peace. the campaign of was most disastrous to austria. france had an army under jourdan on the lower rhine, another under moreau--who had replaced general pichegru--on the upper rhine, and a third under bonaparte in italy. the latter began his movement early in april; he promised his unpaid, ragged and badly-fed troops that he would give them milan in four weeks, and he kept his word. plunder and victory heightened their faith in his splendid military genius: he advanced with irresistible energy, passing the po, the adda at lodi, subjecting the venetian republic, forming new republican states out of the old italian duchies, and driving the austrians everywhere before him. by the end of the year the latter held only the strong fortress of mantua. [sidenote: .] the french armies on the rhine were opposed by an austrian army of equal strength, commanded by the archduke karl, a general of considerable talent, but still governed by the military ideas of a former generation. instead of attacking, he waited to be attacked; but neither jourdan nor moreau allowed him to wait long. the former took possession of the eastern bank of the lower rhine: when the archduke marched against him, moreau crossed into baden and seized the passes of the black forest. then the archduke, having compelled jourdan to fall back, met the latter and was defeated. jourdan returned a second time, moreau advanced, and all baden, würtemberg, franconia, and the greater part of bavaria fell into the hands of the french. these states not only submitted without resistance, but used every exertion to pay enormous contributions to their conquerors. one-fourth of what they gave would have prevented the invasion, and changed the subsequent fate of germany. frankfort paid ten millions of florins, nuremberg three, bavaria ten, and the other cities and principalities in proportion, besides furnishing enormous quantities of supplies to the french troops. all these countries purchased the neutrality of france, by allowing free passage to the latter, and agreeing further to pay heavy monthly contributions towards the expenses of the war. even saxony, which had not been invaded, joined in this agreement. towards the end of summer the archduke twice defeated jourdan and forced him to retreat across the rhine. this rendered moreau's position in bavaria untenable: closely followed by the austrians, he accomplished without loss that famous retreat through the black forest which is considered a greater achievement than many victories in the annals of war. thus, at the close of the year , all germany east of the rhine, plundered, impoverished and demoralized, was again free from the french. this defeated bonaparte's plan, which was to advance from italy through the tyrol, effect a junction with moreau in bavaria, and then march upon vienna. nevertheless, he determined to carry out his portion of it, regardless of the fortunes of the other french armies. on the d of february, , mantua surrendered; the archduke karl, who had been sent against him, was defeated, and bonaparte followed with such daring and vigor that by the middle of april he had reached the little town of leoben, in styria, only a few days' march from vienna. although he had less than , men, while the archduke still had about , , and the austrians, styrians and tyrolese, now thoroughly aroused, demanded weapons and leaders, francis ii., instead of encouraging their patriotism and boldly undertaking a movement which might have cut off bonaparte, began to negotiate for peace. of course the conqueror dictated his own terms: the preliminaries were settled at once, an armistice followed, and on the th of october, , peace was concluded at campo formio. [sidenote: . the congress of rastatt.] austria gave lombardy and belgium to france, to both of which countries she had a tolerable claim; but she also gave all the territory west of the rhine, which she had no right to do, even under the constitution of the superannuated "german empire." on the other hand, bonaparte gave to austria dalmatia, istria, and nearly all the territory of the republic of venice, to which he had not the shadow of a right. he had already conquered and suppressed the republic of genoa, so that these two old and illustrious states vanished from the map of europe, only two years after poland. nevertheless, the illusion of a german empire was kept up, so far as the form was concerned. a congress of all the states was called to meet at rastatt, in baden, and confirm the treaty of campo formio. but france had become arrogant through her astonishing success, and in may, , her ambassadors suddenly demanded a number of new concessions, including the annexation of points east of the rhine, the levelling of the fortress of ehrenbreitstein (opposite coblentz), and the possession of the islands at the mouth of the river. at this time bonaparte was absent, on his expedition to egypt, and only england, chiefly by means of her navy, was carrying on the war with france. the new demands made at the congress of rastatt not only prolonged the negotiations, but provoked throughout europe the idea of another coalition against the french republic. the year , however, came to an end without any further action, except such as was secretly plotted at the various courts. early in , the second coalition was formed between england, russia (where paul i. had succeeded catharine ii. in ), austria, naples and turkey: spain and prussia refused to join. an austrian army under the archduke defeated jourdan in march, while another, supported by naples, was successful against the french in italy. meanwhile, the congress continued to sit at rastatt, in the foolish hope of making peace after the war had again begun. the approach of the austrian troops finally dissolved it; but the two french ambassadors, who left for france on the evening of april th, were waylaid and murdered near the city by some austrian hussars. no investigation of this outrage was ever ordered; the general belief is that the court of vienna was responsible for it. the act was as mad as it was infamous, for it stirred the entire french people into fury against germany. [sidenote: .] in the spring of , a russian army commanded by suwarrow arrived in italy, and in a short time completed the work begun by the austrians. the roman republic was overthrown and pope pius vii. restored: all northern italy, except genoa, was taken from the french; and then, finding his movements hampered by the jealousy of the austrian generals, suwarrow crossed the st. gothard with his army, fighting his way through the terrific gorges of the alps. to avoid the french general, massena, who had been victorious at zurich, he was compelled to choose the most lofty and difficult passes, and his march over them was a marvel of daring and endurance. this was the end of his campaign, for the emperor paul, suspicious of austria and becoming more friendly to france, soon afterwards recalled him and his troops. during the campaign of this year, the english army under the duke of york, had miserably failed in the netherlands, but the archduke, although no important battle was fought, held the french thoroughly in check along the frontier of the rhine. the end of the year, and of the century, brought a great change in the destinies of france. bonaparte had returned from egypt, and on the th of november, by force of arms, he overthrew the government and established the consulate in the place of the republic, with himself as first consul for ten years. being now practically dictator, he took matters into his own hands, and his first measure was to propose peace to the coalition, on the basis of the treaty of campo formio. this was rejected by england and austria, who stubbornly believed that the fortune of the war was at last turning to their side. in prussia, frederick william ii. had died in november, , and was succeeded by his son, frederick william iii., who was a man of excellent personal qualities, but without either energy, ambition or clear intelligence. bonaparte's policy was simply to keep prussia neutral, and he found no difficulty in maintaining the peace which had been concluded at basel nearly five years before. england chiefly took part in the war by means of her navy, and by contributions of money, so that france, with the best generals in the world and soldiers flushed with victory, was only called upon to meet austria in the field. [sidenote: . bonaparte first consul.] at this crisis, the archduke karl, austria's single good general, threw up his command, on account of the interference of the court of vienna with his plans. his place was filled by the archduke john, a boy of nineteen, under whom was an army of , men, scattered in a long line from the alps to frankfort. moreau easily broke through this barrier, overran baden and würtemberg, and was only arrested for a short time by the fortifications of ulm. while these events were occurring, another austrian army under melas besieged massena in genoa. bonaparte collected a new force, with such rapidity and secrecy that his plan was not discovered, made a heroic march over the st. bernard pass of the alps in may, and came down upon italy like an avalanche. genoa, thousands of whose citizens perished with hunger during the siege, had already surrendered to the austrians; but, when the latter turned to repel bonaparte, they were cut to pieces on the field of marengo, on the th of june, . this magnificent victory gave all northern italy, as far as the river mincio, into the hands of the french. again bonaparte offered peace to austria, on the same basis as before. an armistice was concluded, and francis ii. made signs of accepting the offer of peace, but only that he might quietly recruit his armies. when, therefore, the armistice expired, on the th of november, moreau immediately advanced to attack the new austrian army of nearly , men, which occupied a position along the river inn. on the d of december, the two met at hohenlinden, and the french, after a bloody struggle, were completely victorious. there was now, apparently, nothing to prevent moreau from marching upon vienna, and the archduke karl, who had been sent in all haste to take command of the demoralized austrians, was compelled to ask for an armistice upon terms very humiliating to the hapsburg pride. [sidenote: .] after all its combined haughtiness and incompetency, the court of vienna gratefully accepted such terms as it could get. francis ii. sent one of his ministers, cobenzl, who met joseph bonaparte at lunéville (in lorraine), and there, on the th of february, , peace was concluded. its chief provisions were those of the treaty of campo formio: all the territory west of the rhine, from basel to the sea, was given to france, together with all northern italy west of the adige. the duke of modena received part of baden, and the duke of tuscany salzburg. other temporal princes of germany, who lost part or the whole of their territory by the treaty, were compensated by secularizing the dominions of the priestly rulers, and dividing them among the former. thus the states governed by archbishops, bishops, abbots or other clerical dignitaries, nearly one hundred in number, were abolished at one blow, and what little was left of the fabric of the old german empire fell to pieces. the division of all this territory among the other states gave rise to new difficulties and disputes, which were not settled for two years longer. the diet appointed a special commission to arrange the matter; but, inasmuch as bonaparte, through his minister talleyrand, and alexander i. of russia (the emperor paul having been murdered in ), intrigued in every possible way to enlarge the smaller german states and prevent the increase of austria, the final arrangements were made quite as much by the two foreign powers as by the commission of the german diet. on the th of april, , the decree of partition was issued, suddenly changing the map of germany. only six free cities were left out of fifty-two,--frankfort, hamburg, bremen, lübeck, nuremberg and augsburg: prussia received three bishoprics (hildesheim, münster and paderborn), and a number of abbeys and cities, including erfurt, amounting to four times as much as she had lost on the left bank of the rhine. baden was increased to double its former size by the remains of the palatinate (including heidelberg and mannheim), the city of constance, and a number of abbeys and monasteries: a great part of franconia, with würzburg and bamberg, was added to bavaria. würtemberg, hesse-darmstadt and nassau were much enlarged, and most of the other states received smaller additions. at the same time the rulers of baden, würtemberg, hesse-cassel and salzburg were dignified by the new title of "electors"--when they never would be called upon to elect another german emperor! [sidenote: . french invasion of hannover.] an impartial study of these events will show that they were caused by the indifference of prussia to the general interests of germany, and the utter lack of the commonest political wisdom in francis ii. of austria and his ministers. the war with france was wantonly undertaken, in the first place; it was then continued with stupid obstinacy after two offers of peace. but except the loss of the left bank of the rhine, with more than three millions of german inhabitants, germany, though humiliated, was not yet seriously damaged. the complete overthrow of priestly rule, the extinction of a multitude of petty states, and the abolition of the special privileges of nearly a thousand "imperial" noble families, was an immense gain to the whole country. the influence which bonaparte exercised in the partition of , though made solely with a view to the political interests of france, produced some very beneficial changes in germany. in regard to religion, the chief electors were now equally divided, five being catholic and five protestant; while the diet of princes, instead of having a catholic majority of twelve, as heretofore, acquired a protestant majority of twenty-two. france was now the ruling power on the continent of europe. prussia preserved a timid neutrality, austria was powerless, the new republics in holland, switzerland and italy were wholly subjected to french influence, spain, denmark and russia were friendly, and even england, after the overthrow of pitt's ministry, was persuaded to make peace with bonaparte in . the same year, the latter had himself declared first consul for life, and became absolute master of the destinies of france. a new quarrel with england soon broke out, and this gave him a pretext for invading hannover. in may, , general mortier marched from holland with only , men, while hannover, alone, had an excellent army of , . but the council of nobles, who governed in the name of george iii. of england, gave orders that "the troops should not be allowed to fire, and might only use the bayonet _moderately_, in extreme necessity!" of course no battle was fought; the country was overrun by the french in a few days, and plundered to the amount of , , thalers. prussia and the other german states quietly looked on, and--did nothing. [sidenote: .] in march, , the first consul sent a force across the rhine into baden, seized the duke d'enghien, a fugitive bourbon prince, carried him into france and there had him shot. this outrage provoked a general cry of indignation throughout europe. two months afterwards, on the th of may, bonaparte assumed the title of napoleon, emperor of the french: the italian republics were changed into a kingdom of italy, and that period of arrogant and selfish personal government commenced which brought monarchs and nations to his feet, and finally made him a fugitive and a prisoner. on the th of august, , francis ii. imitated him, by taking the title of "emperor of austria," in order to preserve his existing rank, whatever changes might afterwards come. england, austria and russia were now more than ever determined to cripple the increasing power of napoleon. much time was spent in endeavoring to persuade prussia to join the movement, but frederick william iii. not only refused, but sent an army to prevent the russian troops from crossing prussian territory, on their way to join the austrians. by the summer of , the third coalition, composed of the three powers already named and sweden, was formed, and a plan adopted for bringing nearly , soldiers into the field against france. although the secret had been well kept, it was revealed before the coalition was quite prepared; and napoleon was ready for the emergency. he had collected an army of , men at boulogne for the invasion of england: giving up the latter design, he marched rapidly into southern germany, procured the alliance of baden, würtemberg and bavaria, with , more troops, and thus gained the first advantage before the russian and austrian armies had united. the fortress of ulm, held by the austrian general mack, with , men, surrendered on the th of october. the french pressed forwards, overcame the opposition of a portion of the allied armies along the danube, and on the th of november entered vienna. francis ii. and his family had fled to presburg: the archduke karl, hastening from italy, was in styria with a small force, and a combined russian and austrian army of nearly , men was in moravia. prussia threatened to join the coalition, because the neutrality of her territory had been violated by bernadotte in marching from hannover to join napoleon: the allies, although surprised and disgracefully defeated, were far from appreciating the courage and skill of their enemy, and still believed they could overcome him. napoleon pretended to avoid a battle and thereby drew them on to meet him in the field: on the d of december at austerlitz, the "battle of the three emperors" (as the germans call it) occurred, and by the close of that day the allies had lost , killed and wounded, , prisoners and cannon. [sidenote: . end of the german empire.] two days after the battle francis ii. came personally to napoleon and begged for an armistice, which was granted. the latter took up his quarters in the palace of the hapsburgs, at schönbrunn, as a conqueror, and waited for the conclusion of a treaty of peace, which was signed at presburg on the th of december. austria was forced to give up venice to france, tyrol to bavaria, and some smaller territory to baden and würtemberg; to accept the policy of france in italy, holland and switzerland, and to recognize bavaria and würtemberg as independent kingdoms of napoleon's creation. all that she received in return was the archbishopric of salzburg. she also agreed to pay one hundred millions of francs to france, and to permit the formation of a new confederation of the smaller german states, which should be placed under the protectorship of napoleon. the latter lost no time in carrying out his plan: by july, , the _rheinbund_ (confederation of the rhine) was entered into by seventeen states, which formed, in combination, a third power, independent of either austria or prussia. immediately afterwards, on the th of august, , francis ii. laid down his title of "emperor of the holy roman empire of the german nation," and the political corpse, long since dead, was finally buried. just a thousand years had elapsed since the time of charlemagne: the power and influence of the empire had reached their culmination under the hohenstaufens, but even then the smaller rulers were undermining its foundations. it existed for a few centuries longer as a system which was one-fourth fact and three-fourths tradition: during the thirty years' war it perished, and the hapsburgs, after that, only wore the ornaments and trappings it left behind. the german people were never further from being a nation than at the commencement of this century; but the most of them still clung to the superstition of an empire, until the compulsory act of francis ii. showed them, at last, that there was none. chapter xxxvi. germany under napoleon. ( -- .) napoleon's personal policy. --the "rhine-bund." --french tyranny. --prussia declares war. --battles of jena and auerstädt. --napoleon in berlin. --prussia and russia allied. --battle of friedland. --interviews of the sovereigns. --losses of prussia. --kingdom of westphalia. --frederick william iii.'s weakness. --congress at erfurt. --patriotic movements. --revolt of the tyrolese. --napoleon marches on vienna. --schill's movement in prussia. --battles of aspera and wagram. --the peace of vienna. --fate of andreas hofer. --the duke of brunswick's attempt. --napoleon's rule in germany. --secret resistance in prussia. --war with russia. --the march to moscow. --the retreat. --york's measures. --rising of prussia. --division of germany. --battle of lützen. --napoleon in dresden. --the armistice. --austria joins the allies. --victories of blücher and bülow. --napoleon's hesitation. --the battle of leipzig. --napoleon's retreat from germany. --cowardice of the allied monarchs. --blücher crosses the rhine. [sidenote: .] after the peace of presburg there was nothing to prevent napoleon from carrying out his plan of dividing the greater part of europe among the members of his own family, and the marshals of his armies. he gave the kingdom of naples to his brother joseph; appointed his step-son eugene beauharnais viceroy of italy, and married him to the daughter of maximilian i. (formerly elector, now king) of bavaria; made a kingdom of holland, and gave it to his brother louis; gave the duchy of jülich, cleves and berg to murat, and married stephanie beauharnais, the niece of the empress josephine, to the son of the grand-duke of baden. there was no longer any thought of disputing his will in any of the smaller german states: the princes were as submissive as he could have desired, and the people had been too long powerless to dream of resistance. [sidenote: . the "rhine-bund."] the "rhine-bund," therefore, was constructed just as france desired. bavaria, würtemberg, baden, hesse-darmstadt and nassau united with twelve small principalities--the whole embracing a population of thirteen millions--in a confederation, which accepted napoleon as protector, and agreed to maintain an army of , men, at the disposal of france. this arrangement divided the german empire into three parts, one of which (austria) had just been conquered, while another (prussia) had lost all its former prestige by its weak and cowardly policy. napoleon was now the recognized master of the third portion, the action of which was regulated by a diet held at frankfort. in order to make the union simpler and more manageable, all the independent countships and baronies within its limits were abolished, and the seventeen states were thus increased by an aggregate territory of about , square miles. bavaria took possession, without more ado, of the free cities of nuremberg and augsburg. prussia, by this time, had agreed with napoleon to give up anspach and bayreuth to bavaria, and receive hannover instead. this provoked the enmity of england, the only remaining nation which was friendly to prussia. the french armies were still quartered in southern germany, violating at will not only the laws of the land, but the laws of nations. a bookseller named palm, in nuremberg, who had in his possession some pamphlets opposing napoleon's schemes, was seized by order of the latter, tried by court-martial and shot. this brutal and despotic act was not resented by the german princes, but it aroused the slumbering spirit of the people. the prussians, especially, began to grow very impatient of their pusillanimous government; but frederick william iii. did nothing, until in august, , he discovered that napoleon was trying to purchase peace with england and russia by offering hannover to the former and prussian poland to the latter. then he decided for war, at the very time when he was compelled to meet the victorious power of france alone! napoleon, as usual, was on the march before his enemy was even properly organized. he was already in franconia, and in a few days stood at the head of an army of , men, part of whom were furnished by the rhine-bund. prussia, assisted only by saxony and weimar, had , , commanded by prince hohenlohe and the duke of brunswick, who hardly reached the bases of the thuringian mountains when they were met by the french and hurled back. on the table-land near jena and auerstädt a double battle was fought on the th of october, . in the first (jena) napoleon simply crushed and scattered to the winds the army of prince hohenlohe; in the second (auerstädt) marshal davoust, after some heavy fighting, defeated the duke of brunswick, who was mortally wounded. then followed a season of panic and cowardice which now seems incredible: the french overwhelmed prussia, and almost every defence fell without resistance as they approached. the strong fortress of erfurt, with , men, surrendered the day after the battle of jena; the still stronger fortress-city of magdeburg, with , men, opened its gates before a gun was fired! spandau capitulated as soon as asked, on the th of october, and davoust entered berlin the same day. only general blücher, more than sixty years old, cut his way through the french with , men, and for a time gallantly held them at bay in lübeck; and the young officers, gneisenau and schill, kept the fortress of colberg, on the baltic, where they were steadily besieged until the war was over. [sidenote: .] when napoleon entered berlin in triumph, on the th of november, he found nearly the whole population completely cowed, and ready to acknowledge his authority; seven ministers of the prussian government took the oath of allegiance to him, and agreed, at once, to give up all of the kingdom west of the elbe for the sake of peace! frederick william iii., who had fled to königsberg, refused to confirm their action, and entered into an alliance with alexander i. of russia, to continue the war. napoleon, meanwhile, had made peace with saxony, which, after paying heavy contributions and joining the rhine-bund, was raised by him to the rank of a kingdom. at the same time he encouraged a revolt in prussian poland, got possession of silesia, and kept austria neutral by skilful diplomacy. england had the power, by prompt and energetic action, of changing the face of affairs, but her government did nothing. pressing eastward during the winter, the french army, , strong, met the russians and prussians on the th of february, , in the murderous battle of eylau, after which, because its result was undecided, napoleon concluded a truce of several months. frederick william appointed a new ministry, with the fearless and patriotic statesmen, hardenberg and stein, who formed a fresh alliance with russia, which was soon joined by england and sweden. nevertheless, it was almost impossible to reinforce the prussian army, and alexander i. made no great exertions to increase the russian, while napoleon, with all prussia in his rear, was constantly receiving fresh troops. early in june he resumed hostilities, and on the th, with a much superior force, so completely defeated the allies in the battle of friedland, that they were driven over the river memel into russian territory. [sidenote: . the peace of tilsit.] the russians immediately concluded an armistice: napoleon had an interview with alexander i. on a raft in the river memel, and acquired such an immediate influence over the enthusiastic, fantastic nature of the latter, that he became a friend and practically an ally. the next day, there was another interview, at which frederick william iii. was also present: the queen, louise of mecklenburg, a woman of noble and heroic character, whom napoleon had vilely slandered, was persuaded to accompany him, but only subjected herself to new humiliation. (she died in , during germany's deepest degradation, but her son, william i., became german emperor in .) the peace of tilsit was declared on the th of july, , according to napoleon's single will. hardenberg had been dismissed from the prussian ministry, and talleyrand gave his successor a completed document, to be signed without discussion. prussia lost very nearly the half of her territory: her population was diminished from , , to , , . a new "grand-duchy of warsaw" was formed by napoleon out of her polish acquisitions. the contributions which had been levied and which prussia was still forced to pay amounted to a total sum of three hundred million thalers, and she was obliged to maintain a french army in her diminished territory until the last farthing should be paid over. russia, on the other hand, lost nothing, but received a part of polish prussia. a new kingdom of westphalia was formed out of brunswick, and parts of prussia and hannover, and napoleon's brother, jerome, was made king. the latter, whose wife was an american lady, miss patterson of baltimore, was compelled to renounce her, and marry the daughter of the new king of würtemberg, although, as a catholic, he could not do this without a special dispensation from the pope, and pius vii. refused to give one. thus he became a bigamist, according to the laws of the roman church. jerome was a weak and licentious individual, and made himself heartily hated by his two millions of german subjects during his six years' rule in cassel. [sidenote: .] frederick william iii. was at last stung by his misfortunes into the adoption of another and manlier policy. he called stein to the head of his ministry, and allowed the latter to introduce reforms for the purpose of assisting, strengthening and developing the character of the people. but , french troops still fed like locusts upon the substance of prussia, and there was an immense amount of poverty and suffering. the french commanders plundered so outrageously and acted with such shameless brutality, that even the slow german nature became heated with a hate so intense that it is not yet wholly extinguished. but this was not the end of the degradation. napoleon, at the climax of his power, having (without exaggeration) the whole continent of europe under his feet, demanded that prussia should join the rhine-bund, reduce her standing army to , men, and, in case of necessity, furnish france with troops against austria. the temporary courage of the king dissolved: he signed a treaty on the th of september, , without the knowledge of stein, granting nearly everything napoleon claimed,--thus compelling the patriotic statesman to resign, and making what was left of prussia tributary to the designs of france. at the same time napoleon held a so-called congress at erfurt, at which all the german rulers (except austria) were present, but the decisions were made by himself, with the connivance of alexander i. of russia. the latter received finland and the danubian principalities. napoleon simply carried out his own personal policy. he made his brother joseph king of spain, gave naples to his brother-in-law, murat, and soon afterwards annexed the states of the church, in italy, to france, abolishing the temporal sovereignty of the pope. every one of the smaller german states had already joined the rhine-bund, and the diet by which they were governed abjectly obeyed his will. princes, nobles, officials, and authors vied with each other in doing homage to him. even the battles of jena and friedland were celebrated by popular festivals in the capitals of the other states: the people of southern germany, especially, rejoiced over the shame and suffering of their brethren in the north. ninety german authors dedicated books to napoleon, and the newspapers became contemptible in their servile praises of his rule. [sidenote: . revolt of the tyrolese.] austria, always energetic at the wrong time and weak when energy was necessary, prepared for war, relying on the help of prussia and possibly of russia. napoleon had been called to spain, where a part of the people, supported by wellington, with an english force, in portugal, was making a gallant resistance to the french rule. a few patriotic and courageous men, all over germany, began to consult together concerning the best means for the liberation of the country. the prussian ex-minister, baron stein, the philosopher fichte, the statesman and poet arndt, the generals gneisenau and scharnhorst, the historian niebuhr, and also the austrian minister, count stadion, used every effort to increase and extend this movement; but there was no german prince, except the young duke of brunswick, ready or willing to act. the tyrolese, who are still the most austrian of austrians, and the most catholic of catholics, organized a revolt against the french-bavarian rule, early in . this was the first purely popular movement in germany, which had occurred since the revolt of the austrian peasants against ferdinand ii. nearly two hundred years before. the tyrolese leaders were andreas hofer, a hunter named speckbacher and a monk named haspinger; their troops were peasants and mountaineers. the plot was so well organized that the alps were speedily cleared of the enemy, and on the th of april, hofer captured innsbruck, which he held for austria. when the french and bavarian troops entered the mountain-passes, they were picked off by skilful riflemen or crushed by rocks and trees rolled down upon them. the daring of the tyrolese produced a stirring effect throughout austria; for the first time, the people came forward as volunteers, to be enrolled in the army, and the archduke karl, in a short time, had a force of , men at his disposal. napoleon returned from spain at the first news of the impending war. as the rhine-bund did not dream of disobedience, as prussia was crippled, and the sentimental friendship of alexander i. had not yet grown cold, he raised an army of , men and entered bavaria by the th of april. the archduke was not prepared: his large force had been divided and stationed according to a plan which might have been very successful, if napoleon had been willing to respect it. he lost three battles in succession, the last, at eckmühl on the d of april, obliging him to give up ratisbon, and retreat into bohemia. the second austrian army, which had been victorious over the viceroy eugene, in italy, was instantly recalled, but it was too late: there were only , men on the southern bank of the danube, between the french and vienna. [sidenote: .] the movement in tyrol was imitated in prussia by major schill, one of the defenders of colberg in . his heroism had given him great popularity, and he was untiring in his efforts to incite the people to revolt. the secret association of patriotic men, already referred to, which was called the _tugendbund_, or "league of virtue," encouraged him so far as it was able; and when he entered berlin at the head of four squadrons of hussars, immediately after the news of hofer's success, he was received with such enthusiasm that he imagined the moment had come for arousing prussia. marching out of the city, as if for the usual cavalry exercise, he addressed his troops in a fiery speech, revealed to them his plans and inspired them with equal confidence. with his little band he took halle, besieged bernburg, was victorious in a number of small battles against the increasing forces of the french, but at the end of a month was compelled to retreat to stralsund. the city was stormed, and he fell in resisting the assault; the french captured and shot twelve of his officers. the fame of his exploits helped to fire the german heart; the courage of the people returned, and they began to grow restless and indignant under their shame. by the th of may, napoleon had entered vienna and taken up his quarters in the palace of schönbrunn. the archduke karl was at the same time rapidly approaching with an army of , men, and napoleon, who had , , hastened to throw a bridge across the danube, below the city, in order to meet him before he could be reinforced. on the st, however, the archduke began the attack before the whole french army had crossed, and the desperate battle of aspern followed. after two days of bloody fighting, the french fell back upon the island of lobau, and their bridge was destroyed. this was napoleon's first defeat in germany, but it was dearly purchased: the loss on each side was about , . napoleon issued flaming bulletins of victory which deceived the german people for a time, meanwhile ordering new troops to be forwarded with all possible haste. he deceived the archduke by a heavy cannonade, rapidly constructed six bridges further down the river, crossed with his whole army, and on the th of july fought the battle of wagram, which ended with the defeat and retreat of the austrians. [sidenote: . the duke of brunswick's attempt.] an armistice followed, and the war was concluded on the th of october by the peace of vienna. francis ii. was compelled to give up salzburg and some adjoining territory to bavaria; galicia to russia and the grand-duchy of warsaw; and carniola, croatia and dalmatia with trieste to the kingdom of italy,--a total loss of , , of population. he further agreed to pay a contribution of eighty-five millions of francs to france, and was persuaded, shortly afterwards, to give the hand of his daughter, maria louisa, to napoleon, who had meanwhile divorced himself from the empress josephine. the tyrolese, who had been encouraged by promises of help from vienna, refused to believe that they were betrayed and given up. hofer continued his struggle with success after the conclusion of peace, until near the close of the year, when the french and bavarians returned in force, and the movement was crushed. he hid for two months among the mountains, then was betrayed by a monk, captured, and carried in chains to mantua. here he was tried by a french court-martial and shot on the th of february, . francis ii. might have saved his life, but he made no attempt to do it. thus, in north and south, schill and hofer perished, unsustained by their kings; yet their deeds remained, as an inspiration to the whole german people. during the summer of , the duke of brunswick, whose land napoleon had added to jerome's kingdom of westphalia, made a daring attempt to drive the french from northern germany. he had joined a small austrian army, sent to operate in saxony, and when it was recalled after the battle of eckmühl, he made a desperate effort to reconquer brunswick with a force of only , volunteers. the latter dressed in black, and wore a skull and cross-bones on their caps. the duke took halberstadt, reached brunswick, then cut his way through the german-french forces closing in upon him, and came to the shore of the north sea, where, it was expected, an english army would land. he and his troops escaped in small vessels: the english, , strong, landed on the island of walcheren (on the coast of belgium), where they lay idle until driven home by sickness. [sidenote: .] for three years after the peace of vienna, napoleon was all-powerful in germany. he was married to maria louisa on the d of april, ; his son, the king of rome, was born the following march, and austria, where metternich was now minister instead of count stadion, followed the policy of france. all germany accepted the "continental blockade," which cut off its commerce with england: the standing armies of austria and prussia were reduced to one-fourth of their ordinary strength; the king of prussia, who had lived for two years in königsberg, was ordered to return to berlin, and the french ministers at all the smaller courts became the practical rulers of the states. in , the kingdom of holland was taken from louis bonaparte and annexed to the french empire; then northern germany, with bremen, hamburg and lübeck, was annexed in like manner, and the same fate was evidently intended for the states of the rhine-bund, if the despotic selfishness of napoleon had not put an end to his marvellous success. the king of prussia was next compelled to suppress the "league of virtue": germany was filled with french spies (many of them native germans), and every expression of patriotic sentiment was reported as treason to france. in the territory of the rhine-bund, there was, however, very little real patriotism among the people: in austria the latter were still kept down by the jesuitic rule of the hapsburgs: only in the smaller saxon duchies, and in prussia, the idea of resistance was fostered, though in spite of frederick william iii. indeed, the temporary removal of the king was for awhile secretly advocated. hardenberg and scharnhorst did their utmost to prepare the people for the struggle which they knew would come: the former introduced new laws, based on the principle of the equality of all citizens before the law, their equal right to development, protection and official service. scharnhorst, the son of a peasant, trained the people for military duty, in defiance of france: he kept the number of soldiers at , , in accordance with the treaty, but as fast as they were well-drilled, he sent them home and put fresh recruits in their place. in this manner he gradually prepared , men for the army. [illustration: germany under napoleon, .] [sidenote: .] alexander i. of russia had by this time lost his sentimental friendship for napoleon. the seizure by the latter of the territory of the duke of oldenburg, who was his near relation, greatly offended him: he grew tired of submitting to the continental blockade, and in adopted commercial laws which amounted to its abandonment. then napoleon showed his own overwhelming arrogance; and his course once more illustrated the abject condition of germany. every ruler saw that a great war was coming, and had nearly a year's time for decision; but all submitted! early in the colossal plan was put into action: prussia agreed to furnish , soldiers, austria , , and the rhine-bund, which comprised the rest of germany, was called upon for , . france furnished more than , , and this enormous military force was set in motion against russia, which was at the time unable to raise half that number of troops. in may napoleon and maria louisa held a grand court in dresden, which a crowd of reigning princes attended, and where even francis i. and frederick william iii. were treated rather as vassals than as equals. this was the climax of napoleon's success. regardless of distance, climate, lack of supplies and all the other impediments to his will, he pushed forward with an army greater than europe had seen since the days of attila, but from which only one man, horse and cannon out of every ten returned. after holding a grand review on the battle-field of friedland, he crossed the niemen and entered russia on the th of june, met the russians in battle at smolensk on the th and th of august, and after great losses continued his march towards moscow through a country which had been purposely laid waste, and where great numbers of his soldiers perished from hunger and fatigue. on the th of september, the russian army of , men met him on the field of borodino, where occurred the most desperate battle of all his wars. at the close of the fight , dead and wounded (about an equal number on each side) lay upon the plain. the russians retreated, repulsed but not conquered, and on the th of september napoleon entered moscow. the city was deserted by its inhabitants: all goods and treasures which could be speedily removed had been taken away, and the next evening flames broke out in a number of places. the conflagration spread so that within a week four-fifths of the city were destroyed: napoleon was forced to leave the kremlin and escape through burning streets; and thus the french army was left without winter-quarters and provisions. [sidenote: . the retreat from russia.] after offering terms of peace in vain, and losing a month of precious time in waiting, nothing was left for napoleon but to commence his disastrous retreat. cut off from the warmer southern route by the russians on the th of october, his army, diminishing day by day, endured all the horrors of the northern winter, and lost so many in the fearful passage of the beresina and from the constant attacks of the cossacks, that not more than , men, famished, frozen and mostly without arms, crossed the prussian frontier about the middle of december. after reaching wilna, napoleon had hurried on alone, in advance: his passage through germany was like a flight, and he was safe in paris before the terrible failure of his campaign was generally known throughout europe. when frederick william iii. agreed to furnish , troops to france, his best generals--blücher, scharnhorst, gneisenau--and three hundred officers resigned. the command of the prussian contingent was given to general york, who was sent to riga during the march to moscow, and escaped the horrors of the retreat. when the fate of the campaign was decided, he left the french with his remaining , prussian soldiers, concluded a treaty of neutrality with the russian general diebitsch, called an assembly of the people together in königsberg, and boldly ordered that all men capable of bearing arms should be mustered into the army. frederick william, in berlin, disavowed this act, but the prussian people were ready for it. the excitement became so great, that the men who had influence with the king succeeded in having his court removed to breslau, where an alliance was entered into with alexander i., and on the th of march, , an address was issued in the king's name, calling upon the people to choose between victory and ruin. the measures which york had adopted were proclaimed for all prussia, and the patriotic schemes of stein and hardenberg, so long thwarted by the king's weakness, were thus suddenly carried into action. [sidenote: .] the effect was astonishing, when we consider how little real liberty the people had enjoyed. but they had been educated in patriotic sentiments by another power than the government. for years, the works of the great german authors had become familiar to them: klopstock taught them to be proud of their race and name; schiller taught them resistance to oppression; arndt and körner gave them songs which stirred them more than the sound of drum and trumpet, and thousands of high-hearted young men mingled with them and inspired them with new courage and new hopes. within five months prussia had , soldiers under arms, part of whom were organized to repel the coming armies of napoleon, while the remainder undertook the siege of the many prussian fortresses which were still garrisoned by the french. all classes of the people took part in this uprising: the professors followed the students, the educated men stood side by side with the peasants, mothers gave their only sons, and the women sent all their gold and jewels to the treasury and wore ornaments of iron. the young poet, theodor körner, not only aroused the people with his fiery songs, but fought in the "free corps" of lützow, and finally gave his life for his country: the _turner_, or gymnasts, inspired by their teacher jahn, went as a body into the ranks, and even many women disguised themselves and enlisted as soldiers. with the exception of mecklenburg and dessau, the states of the rhine-bund still held to france: saxony and bavaria especially distinguished themselves by their abject fidelity to napoleon. austria remained neutral, and whatever influence she exercised was against prussia. but sweden, under the crown prince bernadotte (napoleon's former marshal) joined the movement, with the condition of obtaining norway in case of success. the operations were delayed by the slowness of the russians, and the disagreement, or perhaps jealousy, of the various generals; and napoleon made good use of the time to prepare himself for the coming struggle. although france was already exhausted, he enforced a merciless conscription, taking young boys and old men, until, with the german soldiers still at his disposal, he had a force of nearly , men. the campaign opened well for prussia. hamburg and lübeck were delivered from the french, and on the th of april the viceroy eugene was defeated at möckern (near leipzig) with heavy losses. the first great battle was fought at lützen, on the d of may, on the same field where gustavus adolphus fell in . the russians and prussians, with , men, held napoleon, with , , at bay for a whole day, and then fell back in good order, after a defeat which encouraged instead of dispiriting the people. the greatest loss was the death of scharnhorst. shortly afterwards napoleon occupied dresden, and it became evident that saxony would be the principal theatre of war. a second battle of two days took place on the th and st of may, in which, although the french outnumbered the germans and russians two to one, they barely achieved a victory. the courage and patriotism of the people were now beginning to tell, especially as napoleon's troops were mostly young, physically weak, and inexperienced. in order to give them rest he offered an armistice on the th of june, an act which he afterwards declared to have been the greatest mistake of his life. it was prolonged until the th of august, and gave the germans time both to rest and recruit, and to strengthen themselves by an alliance with austria. [sidenote: . alliance of austria.] francis ii. judged that the time had come to recover what he had lost, especially as england formally joined prussia and russia on the th of june. a fortnight afterwards an agreement was entered into between the two latter powers and austria, that peace should be offered to napoleon provided he would give up northern germany, the dalmatian provinces and the grand-duchy of warsaw. he rejected the offer, and so insulted metternich during an interview in dresden, that the latter became his bitter enemy thenceforth. the end of all the negotiations was that austria declared war on the th of august, and both sides prepared at once for a final and desperate struggle. the allies now had , men, divided into three armies, one under schwarzenberg confronting the french centre in saxony, one under blücher in silesia, and a third in the north under bernadotte. the last of these generals seemed reluctant to act against his former leader, and his participation was of little real service. napoleon had , men, less scattered than the germans, and all under the government of his single will. he was still, therefore, a formidable foe. [sidenote: .] just sixteen days after the armistice came to an end, the old blücher won a victory as splendid as many of napoleon's. he met marshal macdonald on the banks of a stream called the katzbach, in silesia, and defeated him with the loss of , killed and wounded, , prisoners and cannon. from the circumstance of his having cried out to his men: "forwards! forwards!" in the crisis of the battle, blücher was thenceforth called "marshal forwards" by the soldiers. five days before this the prussian general bülow was victorious over oudinot at grossbeeren, within ten miles of berlin; and four days afterwards the french general vandamme, with , men, was cut to pieces by the austrians and prussians, at kulm on the southern frontier of saxony. thus, within a month, napoleon lost one-fourth of his whole force, while the fresh hope and enthusiasm of the german people immediately supplied the losses on their side. it is true that schwarzenberg had been severely repulsed in an attack on dresden, on the th of august, but this had been so speedily followed by vandamme's defeat, that it produced no discouragement. the month of september opened with another prussian victory. on the th, bülow defeated ney at dennewitz, taking , prisoners and cannon. this change of fortune seems to have bewildered napoleon: instead of his former promptness and rapidity, he spent a month in dresden, alternately trying to entice blücher or schwarzenberg to give battle. the latter two, meanwhile, were gradually drawing nearer to each other and to bernadotte, and their final junction was effected without any serious movement to prevent it on napoleon's part. blücher's passage of the elbe on the d of october compelled him to leave dresden with his army and take up a new position in leipzig, where he arrived on the th. the allies instantly closed in upon him: there was a fierce but indecisive cavalry fight on the th, the th was spent in preparations on both sides, and on the th the great battle began. napoleon had about , men, the allies , : both were posted along lines many miles in extent, stretching over the open plain, from the north and east around to the south of leipzig. the first day's fight really comprised three distinct battles, two of which were won by the french and one by blücher. during the afternoon a terrific charge of cavalry under murat broke the centre of the allies, and frederick william and alexander i. narrowly escaped capture: schwarzenberg, at the head of a body of cossacks and austrian hussars, repulsed the charge, and night came without any positive result. napoleon sent offers of peace, but they were not answered, and the allies thereby gained a day for reinforcements. on the morning of the th the battle was resumed: all day long the earth trembled under the discharge of more than a thousand cannon, the flames of nine or ten burning villages heated the air, and from dawn until sunset the immense hosts carried on a number of separate and desperate battles at different points along the line. napoleon had his station on a mound near a windmill: his centre held its position, in spite of terrible losses, but both his wings were driven back. bernadotte did not appear on the field until four in the afternoon, but about , saxons and other germans went over from the french to the allies during the day, and the demoralizing effect of this desertion probably influenced napoleon quite as much as his material losses. he gave orders for an instant retreat, which was commenced on the night of the th. his army was reduced to , men: the allies had lost, in killed and wounded, about , . [sidenote: . the battle of leipzig.] all germany was electrified by this victory; from the baltic to the alps, the land rang with rejoicings. the people considered, and justly so, that they had won this great battle: the reigning princes, as later events proved, held a different opinion. but, from that day to this, it is called in germany "the battle of the peoples": it was as crushing a blow for france as jena had been to prussia or austerlitz to austria. on the morning of the th of october the allies began a storm upon leipzig, which was still held by marshal macdonald and prince poniatowsky to cover napoleon's retreat. by noon the city was entered at several gates; the french, in their haste, blew up the bridge over the elster river before a great part of their own troops had crossed, and poniatowsky, with hundreds of others, was drowned in attempting to escape. among the prisoners was the king of saxony, who had stood by napoleon until the last moment. in the afternoon alexander i. and frederick william entered leipzig, and were received as deliverers by the people. the two monarchs, nevertheless, owed their success entirely to the devotion of the german people, and not at all to their own energy and military talent. in spite of the great forces still at their disposal, they interfered with the plans of blücher and other generals who insisted on a rapid and vigorous pursuit, and were at any time ready to accept peace on terms which would have ruined germany, if napoleon had not been insane enough to reject them. the latter continued his march towards france, by way of naumburg, erfurt and fulda, losing thousands by desertion and disease, but without any serious interference until he reached hanau, near frankfort. at almost the last moment (october ), maximilian i. of bavaria had deserted france and joined the allies: one of his generals, wrede, with about , bavarians and austrians, marched northward, and at hanau intercepted the french. napoleon, not caring to engage in a battle, contented himself with cutting his way through wrede's army, on the th of october. he crossed the rhine and reached france with less than , men, without encountering further resistance. [sidenote: .] jerome bonaparte fled from his kingdom of westphalia immediately after the battle of leipzig: würtemberg joined the allies, the rhine-bund dissolved, and the artificial structure which napoleon had created fell to pieces. even then, prussia, russia and austria wished to discontinue the war: the popular enthusiasm in germany was taking a _national_ character, the people were beginning to feel their own power, and this was very disagreeable to alexander i. and metternich. the rhine was offered as a boundary to napoleon: yet, although wellington was by this time victorious in spain and was about to cross the pyrenees, the french emperor refused and the allies were reluctantly obliged to resume hostilities. they had already wasted much valuable time: they now adopted a plan which was sure to fail, if the energies of france had not been so utterly exhausted. three armies were formed: one, under bülow, was sent into holland to overthrow the french rule there; another, under schwarzenberg, marched through switzerland into burgundy, about the end of december, hoping to meet with wellington somewhere in central france; and the third under blücher, which had been delayed longest by the doubt and hesitation of the sovereigns, crossed the rhine at three points, from coblentz to mannheim, on the night of new-year, . the subjection of germany to france was over: only the garrisons of a number of fortresses remained, but these were already besieged, and they surrendered one by one, in the course of the next few months. chapter xxxvii. from the liberation of germany to the year . ( -- .) napoleon's retreat. --halting course of the allies. --the treaty of paris. --the congress of vienna. --napoleon's return to france. --new alliance. --napoleon, wellington and blücher. --battles of ligney and quatrebras. --battle of waterloo. --new treaty with france. --european changes. --reconstruction of germany. --metternich arranges a confederation. --its character. --the holy alliance. --reaction among the princes. --movement of the students. --conference at carlsbad. --returning despotism. --condition of germany. --changes in . --the zollverein. --death of francis ii. and frederick william iii. --frederick william iv. as king. --the german-catholic movement in . --general dissatisfaction. [sidenote: . napoleon's defense.] napoleon's genius was never more brilliantly manifested than during the slow advance of the allies from the rhine to paris, in the first three months of the year . he had not expected an invasion before the spring, and was taken by surprise; but with all the courage and intrepidity of his younger years, he collected an army of , men, and marched against blücher, who had already reached brienne. in a battle on the th of january he was victorious, but a second on the st of february compelled him to retreat. instead of following up this advantage, the three monarchs began to consult: they rejected blücher's demand for a union of the armies and an immediate march on paris, and ordered him to follow the river marne in four divisions, while schwarzenberg advanced by a more southerly route. this was just what napoleon wanted. he hurled himself upon the divided prussian forces, and in five successive battles, from the th to the th of february, defeated and drove them back. then, rapidly turning southward, he defeated a part of schwarzenberg's army at montereau on the th, and compelled the latter to retreat. [sidenote: .] the allies now offered peace, granting to france the boundaries of , which included savoy, lorraine and alsatia. the history of their negotiations during the campaign shows how reluctantly they prosecuted the war, and what little right they have to its final success, which is wholly due to stein, blücher, and the bravery of the german soldiers. napoleon was so elated by his victories that he rejected the offer; and then, _at last_, the union of the allied armies and their march on paris was permitted. battle after battle followed: napoleon disputed every inch of ground with the most marvellous energy, but even his victories were disasters, for he had no means of replacing the troops he lost. the last fight took place at the gates of paris, on the th of march, and the next day, at noon, the three sovereigns made their triumphal entrance into the city. not until then did the latter determine to dethrone napoleon and restore the bourbon dynasty. they compelled the act of abdication, which napoleon signed at fontainebleau on the th of april, installed the count d'artois (afterwards charles x.) as head of a temporary government, and gave to france the boundaries of . napoleon was limited to the little island of elba, maria louisa received the duchy of parma, and the other bonapartes were allowed to retain the title of prince, with an income of , , francs. one million francs was given to the ex-empress josephine, who died the same year. no indemnity was exacted from france; not even the works of art, stolen from the galleries of italy and germany for the adornment of paris, were reclaimed! after enduring ten years of humiliation and outrage, the allies were as tenderly considerate as if their invasion of france had been a wrong, for which they must atone by all possible concessions. in southern germany, where very little national sentiment existed, the treaty was quietly accepted, but it provoked great indignation among the people in the north. their rejoicings over the downfall of napoleon, the deliverance of germany, and (as they believed) the foundation of a liberal government for themselves, were disturbed by this manifestation of weakness on the part of their leaders. the european congress, which was opened on the st of november, , at vienna, was not calculated to restore their confidence. francis ii. and alexander i. were the leading figures; other nations were represented by their best statesmen; the former priestly rulers, all the petty princes, and hundreds of the "imperial" nobility whose privileges had been taken away from them, attended in the hope of recovering something from the general chaos. a series of splendid entertainments was given to the members of the congress, and it soon became evident to the world that europe, and especially germany, was to be reconstructed according to the will of the individual rulers, without reference to principle or people. [sidenote: . napoleon's return to france.] france was represented in the congress by talleyrand, who was greatly the superior of the other members in the arts of diplomacy. before the winter was over, he persuaded austria and england to join france in an alliance against russia and prussia, and another european war would probably have broken out, but for the startling news of napoleon's landing in france on the st of march, . then, all were compelled to suspend their jealousies and unite against their common foe. on the th of march a new alliance was concluded between austria, russia, prussia and england: the first three agreed to furnish , men each, while the last contributed a lesser number of soldiers and , , pounds sterling. all the smaller german states joined in the movement, and the people were still so full of courage and patriotic hope that a much larger force than was needed was soon under arms. napoleon reached paris on the th of march, and instantly commenced the organization of a new army, while offering peace to all the powers of europe, on the basis of the treaty of paris. this time, he received no answer: the terror of his name had passed away, and the allied sovereigns acted with promptness and courage. though he held france, napoleon's position was not strong, even there. the land had suffered terribly, and the people desired peace, which they had never enjoyed under his rule. he raised nearly half a million of soldiers, but was obliged to use the greater portion in preventing outbreaks among the population; then, selecting the best, he marched towards belgium with an army of , , in order to meet wellington and blücher by turns, before they could unite. the former had , men, most of them dutch and germans, under his command: the latter, with , , was rapidly approaching from the east. by this time--the beginning of june--neither the austrians nor russians had entered france. [sidenote: .] on the th of june two battles occurred. napoleon fought blücher at ligny, while marshal ney, with , men, attacked wellington at quatrebras. thus neither of the allies was able to help the other. blücher defended himself desperately, but his horse was shot under him and the french cavalry almost rode over him as he lay upon the ground. he was rescued with difficulty, and then compelled to fall back. the battle between ney and wellington was hotly contested; the gallant duke of brunswick was slain in a cavalry charge, and the losses on both sides were very great, but neither could claim a decided advantage. wellington retired to waterloo the next day, to be nearer blücher, and then napoleon, uniting with ney, marched against him with , men, while grouchy was sent with , to engage blücher. wellington had , men, so the disproportion in numbers was not very great, but napoleon was much stronger in cavalry and artillery. the great battle of waterloo began on the morning of the th of june. wellington was attacked again and again, and the utmost courage and endurance of his soldiers barely enabled them to hold their ground: the charges of the french were met by an equally determined resistance, but the fate of the battle depended on blücher's arrival. the latter left a few corps at wavre, his former position, in order to deceive grouchy, and pushed forward through rain and across a marshy country to wellington's relief. at four o'clock in the afternoon napoleon made a tremendous effort to break the english centre: the endurance of his enemy began to fail, and there were signs of wavering along the english lines when the cry was heard: "the prussians are coming!" bülow's corps soon appeared on the french flank, blücher's army closed in shortly afterwards, and by eight o'clock the french were flying from the field. there were no allied monarchs on hand to arrest the pursuit: blücher and wellington followed so rapidly that they stood before paris within ten days, and napoleon was left without any alternative but instant surrender. the losses at waterloo, on both sides, were , killed and wounded. this was the end of napoleon's interference in the history of europe. all his offers were rejected, he was deserted by the french, and a fortnight afterwards, failing in his plan of escaping to america, he surrendered to the captain of an english frigate off the port of rochefort. from that moment until his death at st. helena on the th of may, , he was a prisoner and an exile. a new treaty was made between the allied monarchs and the bourbon dynasty of france: this time the treasures of art and learning were restored to italy and germany, an indemnity of , , francs was exacted, savoy was given back to sardinia, and a little strip of territory, including the fortresses of saarbrück, saarlouis and landau, added to germany. the attempt of austria and prussia to acquire lorraine and alsatia was defeated by the cunning of talleyrand and the opposition of alexander i. of russia. [sidenote: . the congress of vienna.] the jealousies and dissensions in the congress of vienna were hastily arranged during the excitement occasioned by napoleon's return from elba, and the members patched together, within three months, a new political map of europe. there was no talk of restoring the lost kingdom of poland; prussia's claim to saxony (which the king, frederick augustus, had fairly forfeited) was defeated by austria and england; and then, after each of the principal powers had secured whatever was possible, they combined to regulate the affairs of the helpless smaller states. holland and belgium were added together, called the kingdom of the netherlands, and given to the house of orange: switzerland, which had joined the allies against france, was allowed to remain a republic and received some slight increase of territory; and lorraine and alsatia were lost to germany. austria received lombardy and venetia, illyria, dalmatia, the tyrol, salzburg, galicia and whatever other territory she formerly possessed. prussia gave up warsaw to russia, but kept posen, recovered westphalia and the territory on the lower rhine, and was enlarged by the annexation of swedish pomerania, part of saxony, and the former archbishoprics of mayence, treves and cologne. east-friesland was taken from prussia and given to hannover, which was made a kingdom: weimar, oldenburg and the two mecklenburgs were made grand-duchies, and bavaria received a new slice of franconia, including the cities of würzburg and bayreuth, as well as all of the former palatinate lying west of the rhine. frankfort, bremen, hamburg and lübeck were allowed to remain free cities: the other smaller states were favored in various ways, and only saxony suffered by the loss of nearly half her territory. fortunately the priestly rulers were not restored, and the privileges of the free nobles of the middle ages not reëstablished. napoleon, far more justly than attila, had been "the scourge of god" to germany. in crushing rights, he had also crushed a thousand abuses, and although the monarchs who ruled the congress of vienna were thoroughly reactionary in their sentiments, they could not help decreeing that what was dead in the political constitution of germany should remain dead. [sidenote: .] all the german states, however, felt that some form of union was necessary. the people dreamed of a nation, of a renewal of the old empire in some better and stronger form; but this was mostly a vague desire on their part, without any practical ideas as to how it should be accomplished. the german ministers at vienna were divided in their views; and metternich took advantage of their impatience and excitement to propose a scheme of confederation which introduced as few changes as possible into the existing state of affairs. it was so drawn up that while it presented the appearance of an organization, it secured the supremacy of austria, and only united the german states in mutual defence against a foreign foe and in mutual suppression of internal progress. this scheme, hastily prepared, was hastily adopted on the th of june, (before the battle of waterloo), and controlled the destinies of germany for nearly fifty years afterwards. the new confederation was composed of the austrian empire, the kingdoms of prussia, bavaria, saxony, würtemberg and hannover, the grand-duchies of baden, hesse-darmstadt, mecklenburg-schwerin and strelitz, saxe-weimar and oldenburg; the electorate of hesse-cassel; the duchies of brunswick, nassau, saxe-gotha, coburg, meiningen and hildburghausen, anhalt-dessau, bernburg and köthen; denmark, on account of holstein; the netherlands, on account of luxemburg; the four free cities; and eleven small principalities,--making a total of thirty-nine states. the act of union assured to them equal rights, independent sovereignty, the peaceful settlement of disputes between them, and representation in a general diet, which was to be held at frankfort, under the presidency of austria. all together were required to support a permanent army of , men for their common defence. one article required each state to introduce a representative form of government. all religions were made equal before the law, the right of emigration was conceded to the people, the navigation of the rhine was released from taxes, and freedom of the press was permitted. [sidenote: . the holy alliance.] of course, the carrying of these provisions into effect was left entirely to the rulers of the states: the people were not recognized as possessing any political power. even the "representative government" which was assured did not include the right of suffrage; the king, or duke, might appoint a legislative body which represented only a class or party, and not the whole population. moreover, the diet was prohibited from adopting any new measure, or making any change in the form of the confederation, except by a _unanimous_ vote. the whole scheme was a remarkable specimen of promise to the ears of the german people, and of disappointment to their hearts and minds. the congress of vienna was followed by an event of quite an original character. alexander i. of russia persuaded francis ii. and frederick william iii. to unite with him in a "holy alliance," which all the other monarchs of europe were invited to join. it was simply a declaration, not a political act. the document set forth that its signers pledged themselves to treat each other with brotherly love, to consider all nations as members of one christian family, to rule their lands with justice and kindness, and to be tender fathers to their subjects. no forms were prescribed, and each monarch was left free to choose his own manner of christian rule. a great noise was made about the holy alliance at the time, because it seemed to guarantee peace to europe, and peace was most welcome after such terrible wars. all other reigning kings and princes, except george iv. of england, louis xviii. of france, and the pope, added their signatures, but not one of them manifested any more brotherly or fatherly love after the act than before. the new german confederation having given the separate states a fresh lease of life, after all their convulsions, the rulers set about establishing themselves firmly on their repaired thrones. only the most intelligent among them felt that the days of despotism, however "enlightened," were over; others avoided the liberal provisions of the act of union, abolished many political reforms which had been introduced by napoleon, and oppressed the common people even more than his satellites had done. the elector of hesse-cassel made his soldiers wear powdered queues, as in the last century; the king of würtemberg court-martialled and cashiered the general who had gone over with his troops to the german side at the battle of leipzig; and in mecklenburg the liberated people were declared serfs. the introduction of a legislative assembly was delayed, in some states even wholly disregarded. baden and bavaria adopted a constitution in , würtemberg and hesse-darmstadt in , but in prussia an imperfect form of representative government for the provinces was not arranged until . austria, meanwhile, had restored some ancient privileges of the same kind, of little practical value, because not adapted to the conditions of the age; the people were obliged to be content with them, for they received no more. [sidenote: .] no class of germans were so bitterly disappointed in the results of their victory and deliverance as the young men, especially the thousands who had fought in the ranks in and . at all the universities the students formed societies which were inspired by two ideas--union and freedom: fiery speeches were made, songs were sung, and free expression was given to their distrust of the governments under which they lived. on the th of october, , they held a grand convention at the wartburg--the castle near eisenach, where luther lay concealed,--and this event occasioned great alarm among the reactionary class. the students were very hostile to the influence of russia, and many persons who were suspected of being her secret agents became specially obnoxious to them. one of the latter was the dramatic author, kotzebue, who was assassinated in march, , by a young student named sand. there is not the least evidence that this deed was the result of a widespread conspiracy; but almost every reigning prince thereupon imagined that his life was in danger. a congress of ministers was held at carlsbad the same summer, and the most despotic measures against the so-called "revolution" were adopted. freedom of the press was abolished; a severe censorship enforced; the formation of societies among the students and turners was prohibited, the universities were placed under the immediate supervision of government, and even commissioners were appointed to hear what the professors said in their lectures! many of the best men in germany, among them the old teacher, jahn, and the poet arndt, were deprived of their situations, and placed under a form of espionage. hundreds of young men, who had perpetrated no single act of resistance, were thrown into prison for years, others forced to fly from the country, and every manifestation of interest in political subjects became an offence. the effort of the german states, now, was to counteract the popular rights, guaranteed by the confederation, by establishing an arbitrary and savage police system; and there were few parts of the country where the people retained as much genuine liberty as they had enjoyed a hundred years before. [sidenote: . revolutionary movements.] the history of germany, during the thirty years of peace which followed, is marked by very few events of importance. it was a season of gradual reaction on the part of the rulers, and of increasing impatience and enmity on the part of the people. instead of becoming loving families, as the holy alliance designed, the states (except some of the little principalities) were divided into two hostile classes. there was material growth everywhere: the wounds left by war and foreign occupation were gradually healed; there was order, security for all who abstained from politics, and a comfortable repose for such as were indifferent to the future. but it was a sad and disheartening period for the men who were able to see clearly how germany, with all the elements of a freer and stronger life existing in her people, was falling behind the political development of other countries. the three days' revolution of , which placed louis philippe on the throne of france, was followed by popular uprisings in some parts of germany. prussia and austria were too strong, and their people too well held in check, to be affected; but in brunswick the despotic duke, karl, was deposed, saxony and hesse-cassel were obliged to accept co-rulers (out of their reigning families), and the english duke, ernest augustus, was made viceroy of hannover. these four states also adopted a constitutional form of government. the german diet, as a matter of course, used what power it possessed to counteract these movements, but its influence was limited by its own laws of action. the hopes and aspirations of the people were kept alive, in spite of the system of repression, and some of the smaller states took advantage of their independence to introduce various measures of reform. [sidenote: .] as industry, commerce and travel increased, the existence of so many boundaries, with their custom-houses, taxes and other hindrances, became an unendurable burden. bavaria and würtemberg formed a customs union in , prussia followed, and by all of germany except austria was united in the _zollverein_ (tariff union), which was not only a great material advantage, but helped to inculcate the idea of a closer political union. on the other hand, however, the monarchical reaction against liberal government was stronger than ever. ernest augustus of hannover arbitrarily overthrew the constitution he had accepted, and ludwig i. of bavaria, renouncing all his former professions, made his land a very nest of absolutism and jesuitism. in prussia, such men as stein, gneisenau and wilhelm von humboldt had long lost their influence, while others of less personal renown, but of similar political sentiments, were subjected to contemptible forms of persecution. in march, , francis ii. of austria died, and was succeeded by his son, ferdinand i., a man of such weak intellect that he was in some respects idiotic. on the th of june, , frederick william iii. of prussia died, and was also succeeded by his son, frederick william iv., a man of great wit and intelligence, who had made himself popular as crown-prince, and whose accession the people hailed with joy, in the enthusiastic belief that better days were coming. the two dead monarchs, each of whom had reigned forty-three years, left behind them a better memory among their people than they actually deserved. they were both weak, unstable and narrow-minded; had they not been controlled by others, they would have ruined germany; but they were alike of excellent personal character, amiable, and very kindly disposed towards their subjects so long as the latter were perfectly obedient and reverential. there was no change in the condition of austria, for metternich remained the real ruler, as before. in prussia, a few unimportant concessions were made, an amnesty for political offences was declared, alexander von humboldt became the king's chosen associate, and much was done for science and art; but in their main hope of a liberal reorganization of the government, the people were bitterly deceived. frederick william iv. took no steps towards the adoption of a constitution; he made the censorship and the supervision of the police more severe; he interfered in the most arbitrary and bigoted manner in the system of religious instruction in the schools; and all his acts showed that his policy was to strengthen his throne by the support of the nobility and the civil service, without regard to the just claims of the people. [sidenote: . the german-catholic movement.] thus, in spite of the external quiet and order, the political atmosphere gradually became more sultry and disturbed, all over germany. in , a catholic priest named ronge, disgusted with the miracles alleged to have been performed by the so-called "holy coat" (of the saviour) at treves, published addresses to the german people, which created a great excitement. he advocated the establishment of a german-catholic church, and found so many followers that the protestant king of prussia became alarmed, and all the influence of his government was exerted against the movement. it was asserted that the reform was taking a political and revolutionary character, because, under the weary system of repression which they endured, the people hailed any and every sign of mental and spiritual independence. ronge's reform was checked at the very moment when it promised success, and the idea of forcible resistance to the government began to spread among all classes of the population. there were signs of impatience in all quarters; various local outbreaks occurred, and the aspects were so threatening that in february, , frederick william iv. endeavored to silence the growing opposition by ordering the formation of a legislative assembly. but the _provinces_ were represented, not the people, and the measure only emboldened the latter to clamor for a direct representation. thereupon, the king closed the assembly, after a short session, and the attempt was probably productive of more harm than good. in most of the other german states, the situation was very similar: everywhere there were elements of opposition, all the more violent and dangerous, because they had been kept down with a strong hand for so many years. chapter xxxviii. the revolution of and its results. ( -- .) the revolution of . --events in berlin. --alarm of the diet. --the provisional assembly. --first national parliament. --divisions among the members. --revolt in schleswig-holstein. --its end. --insurrection in frankfort. --condition of austria. --vienna taken. --the war in hungary. --surrender of görgey. --uprising of lombardy and venice. --abdication of ferdinand i. --frederick william iv. offered the imperial crown of germany. --new outbreaks. --dissolution of the parliament. --austria renews the old diet. --despotic reaction everywhere. --evil days. --lessons of . --william i. becomes regent in prussia. --new hopes. --italian unity. --william i. king. [sidenote: .] the sudden breaking out of the revolution of february, , in paris, the flight of louis philippe and his family, and the proclamation of the republic, acted in germany like a spark dropped upon powder. all the disappointments of thirty years, the smouldering impatience and sense of outrage, the powerful aspiration for political freedom among the people, broke out in sudden flame. there was instantly an outcry for freedom of speech and of the press, the right of suffrage, and a constitutional form of government, in every state. baden, where struve and hecker were already prominent as leaders of the opposition, took the lead: then, on the th of march the people of vienna rose, and after a bloody fight with the troops compelled metternich to give up his office as minister, and seek safety in exile. in berlin, frederick william iv. yielded to the pressure on the th of march, but, either by accident or rashness, a fight was brought on between the soldiers and the people, and a number of the latter were slain. their bodies, lifted on planks, with all the bloody wounds exposed, were carried before the royal palace and the king was compelled to come to the window and look upon them. all the demands of the revolutionary party were thereupon instantly granted. the next day frederick william rode through the streets, preceded by the ancient imperial banner of black, red and gold, swore to grant the rights which were demanded, and, with the concurrence of the other princes, to put himself at the head of a movement for german unity. a proclamation was published which closed with the words: "from this day forward, prussia becomes merged in germany." the soldiers were removed from berlin, and the popular excitement gradually subsided. [sidenote: . a national parliament called.] before these outbreaks occurred, the diet at frankfort had caught the alarm, and hastened to take a step which seemed to yield something to the general demand. on the st of march, it invited the separate states to send special delegates to frankfort, empowered to draw up a new form of union for germany. four days afterwards, a meeting which included many of the prominent men of southern germany was held at heidelberg, and it was decided to hold a provisional assembly at frankfort, as a movement preliminary to the greater changes which were anticipated. this proposal received a hearty response: on the st of march quite a large and respectable body, from all the german states, came together in frankfort. the demand of the party headed by hecker that a republic should be proclaimed, was rejected; but the principle of "the sovereignty of the people" was adopted, schleswig and holstein, which had risen in revolt against the danish rule, were declared to be a part of germany, and a committee of fifty was appointed, to coöperate with the old diet in calling a national parliament. there was great rejoicing in germany over these measures. the people were full of hope and confidence; the men who were chosen as candidates and elected by suffrage, were almost without exception persons of character and intelligence, and when they came together, six hundred in number, and opened the first national parliament of germany, in the church of st. paul, in frankfort, on the th of may, , there were few patriots who did not believe in a speedy and complete regeneration of their country. in the meantime, however, hecker and struve, who had organized a great number of republican clubs throughout baden, rose in arms against the government. after maintaining themselves for two weeks in freiburg and the black forest, they were defeated and forced to take refuge in switzerland. hecker went to america, and struve, making a second attempt shortly afterwards, was taken prisoner. [sidenote: .] the lack of practical political experience among the members soon disturbed the parliament. the most of them were governed by theories, and insisted on carrying out certain principles, instead of trying to adapt them to the existing circumstances. with all their honesty and genuine patriotism, they relied too much on the sudden enthusiasm of the people, and undervalued the actual strength of the governing classes, because the latter had so easily yielded to the first surprise. the republican party was in a decided minority; and the remainder soon became divided between the "small-germans," who favored the union of all the states, except austria, under a constitutional monarchy, and the "great-germans," who insisted that austria should be included. after a great deal of discussion, the former diet was declared abolished on the th of june; a provisional central government was appointed, and the archduke john of austria--an amiable, popular and inoffensive old man--was elected "vicar-general of the empire." this action was accepted by all the states except austria and prussia, which delayed to commit themselves until they were strong enough to oppose the whole scheme. the history of is divided into so many detached episodes, that it cannot be given in a connected form. the revolt which broke out in schleswig-holstein early in march, was supported by enthusiastic german volunteers, and then by a prussian army, which drove the danes back into jutland. great rejoicing was occasioned by the destruction of the danish frigate _christian viii._ and the capture of the _gefion_, at eckernförde, by a battery commanded by duke ernest ii. of coburg-gotha. but england and russia threatened armed intervention; prussia was forced to suspend hostilities and make a truce with denmark, on terms which looked very much like an abandonment of the cause of schleswig-holstein. this action was accepted by a majority of the parliament at frankfort,--a course which aroused the deepest indignation of the democratic minority and their sympathizers everywhere throughout germany. on the th of september barricades were thrown up in the streets of frankfort, and an armed mob stormed the church where the parliament was in session, but was driven back by prussian and hessian troops. two members, general auerswald and prince lichnowsky, were barbarously murdered in attempting to escape from the city. this lawless and bloody event was a great damage to the national cause: the two leading states, prussia and austria, instantly adopted a sterner policy, and there were soon signs of a general reaction against the revolution. [sidenote: . end of the hungarian war.] the condition of austria, at this time, was very critical. the uprising in vienna had been followed by powerful and successful rebellions in lombardy, hungary and bohemia, and the empire of the hapsburgs seemed to be on the point of dissolution. the struggle was confused and made more bitter by the hostility of the different nationalities: the croatians, at the call of the emperor, rose against the hungarians, and then the germans, in the legislative assembly held at vienna, accused the government of being guided by slavonic influences. another furious outbreak occurred, count latour, the former minister of war, was hung to a lamp-post, and the city was again in the hands of the revolutionists. kossuth, who had become all-powerful in hungary, had already raised an army, to be employed in conquering the independence of his country, and he now marched rapidly towards vienna, which was threatened by the austrian general windischgrätz. almost within sight of the city, he was defeated by jellachich, the ban of croatia: the latter joined the austrians, and after a furious bombardment, vienna was taken by storm. messenhauser, the commander of the insurgents, and robert blum, a member of the national parliament, were afterwards shot by order of windischgrätz, who crushed out all resistance by the most severe and inhuman measures. hungary, nevertheless, was already practically independent, and kossuth stood at the head of the government. the movement was eagerly supported by the people: an army of , men was raised, including cavalry which could hardly be equalled in europe. kossuth was supported by görgey, and the polish generals, bern and dembinski; and although the hungarians at first fell back before windischgrätz, who marched against them in december, they gained a series of splendid victories in the spring of , and their success seemed assured. austria was forced to call upon russia for help, and the emperor nicholas responded by sending an army of , men. kossuth vainly hoped for the intervention of england and france in favor of hungary: up to the end of may the patriots were still victorious, then followed defeats in the field and confusion in the councils. the hungarian government and a large part of the army fell back to arad, where, on the th of august, kossuth transferred his dictatorship to görgey, and the latter, two days afterwards, surrendered at vilagos, with about , men, to the russian general rüdiger. [sidenote: .] this surrender caused görgey's name to be execrated in hungary, and by all who sympathized with the hungarian cause throughout the world. it was made, however, with the knowledge of kossuth, who had transferred his power to the former for that purpose, while he, with bem, dembinski and a few other followers, escaped into turkey. in fact, further resistance would have been madness, for haynau, who had succeeded to the command of the austrian forces, was everywhere successful in front, and the russians were in the rear. the first judgment of the world upon görgey's act was therefore unjust. the fortress of comorn, on the danube, was the last post occupied by the hungarians. it surrendered, after an obstinate siege, to haynau, who then perpetrated such barbarities that his name became infamous in all countries. in italy, the revolution broke out in march, . marshal radetzky, the austrian governor in milan, was driven out of the city: the lombards, supported by the sardinians under their king, charles albert, drove him to verona: venice had also risen, and nearly all northern italy was thus freed from the austrian yoke. in the course of the summer, however, radetzky achieved some successes, and thereupon concluded an armistice with sardinia, which left him free to undertake the siege of venice. on the th of march, , charles albert resumed the war, and on the d, in the battle of novara, was so ruinously defeated that he abdicated the throne of sardinia in favor of his son, victor emanuel. the latter, on leaving the field, shook his sword at the advancing austrians, and cried out: "there shall yet be an italy!"--but he was compelled at the time to make peace on the best terms he could obtain. in august, venice also surrendered, after a heroic defence, and austria was again supreme in italy as in hungary. [sidenote: . dissolution of the parliament.] during this time, the national parliament in frankfort had been struggling against the difficulties of its situation. the democratic movement was almost suppressed, and there was an earnest effort to effect a german union; but this was impossible without the concurrence of either austria or prussia, and the rivalry of the two gave rise to constant jealousies and impediments. on the d of december, , the viennese ministry persuaded the idiotic emperor ferdinand to abdicate, and placed his nephew, francis joseph, a youth of eighteen, upon the throne. every change of the kind begets new hopes, and makes a government temporarily popular; so this was a gain for austria. nevertheless, the "small-german" party finally triumphed in the parliament. on the th of march, , frederick wilhelm iv. of germany was elected "hereditary emperor of germany." all the small states accepted the choice: bavaria, würtemberg, saxony and hannover refused; austria protested, and the king himself, after hesitating for a week, declined. this was a great blow to the hopes of the national party. it was immediately followed by fierce popular outbreaks in dresden, würtemberg and baden: in the last of these states the grand-duke was driven away, and a provisional government instituted. prussia sent troops to suppress the revolt, and a war on a small scale was carried on during the months of june and july, when the republican forces yielded to superior power. this was the end of armed resistance: the governments had recovered from their panic, the french republic, under the prince-president louis napoleon, was preparing for monarchy, italy and hungary were prostrate, and nothing was left for the earnest and devoted german patriots, but to save what rights they could from the wreck of their labors. the parliament gradually dissolved, by the recall of some of its members, and the withdrawal of others. only the democratic minority remained, and sought to keep up its existence by removing to stuttgart; but, once there, it was soon forcibly dispersed. prussia next endeavored to create a german confederation, based on representation: saxony and hannover at first joined, a convention of the members of the "small-german" party, held at gotha, accepted the plan, and then the small states united, while saxony and hannover withdrew and allied themselves with bavaria and würtemberg in a counter-union. the adherents of the former plan met in berlin in : on the st of september, austria declared the old diet opened at frankfort, under her presidency, and twelve states hastened to obey her call. the hostility between the two parties so increased that for a time war seemed to be inevitable: austrian troops invaded hesse-cassel, an army was collected in bohemia, while prussia, relying on the help of russia, was quite unprepared. then frederick william iv. yielded: prussia submitted to austria in all points, and on the th of may, , the diet was restored in frankfort, with a vague promise that its constitution should be amended. [sidenote: .] thus, after an interruption of three years, the old machine was put upon the old track, and a strong and united germany seemed as far off as ever. a dismal period of reaction began. louis napoleon's violent assumption of power in december, , was welcomed by the german rulers, all of whom greeted the new emperor as "brother"; a congress held in london in may, , confirmed denmark in the possession of schleswig and holstein; austria abolished her legislative assembly, in utter disregard of the provisions of , upon which the diet was based; hesse-cassel, with the consent of austria, prussia and the diet, overthrew the constitution which had protected the people for twenty years; and even prussia, where an arbitrary policy was no longer possible, gradually suppressed the more liberal features of the government. worse than this, the religious liberty which germany had so long enjoyed, was insidiously assailed. austria, bavaria and würtemberg made "concordats" with the pope, which gave the control of schools and marriages among the people into the hands of the priests. frederick william iv. did his best to acquire the same despotic power for the protestant church in prussia, and thereby assisted the designs of the church of rome, more than most of the catholic rulers. placed between the disguised despotism of napoleon iii. and the open and arrogant despotism of nicholas of russia, germany, for a time, seemed to be destined to a similar fate. the result of the crimean war, and the liberal policy inaugurated by alexander ii. in russia, damped the hopes of the german absolutists, but failed to teach them wisdom. prussia was practically governed by the interests of a class of nobles, whose absurd pride was only equalled by their ignorance of the age in which they lived. with all his wit and talent, frederick william iv. was utterly blind to his position, and the longer he reigned the more he made the name of prussia hated throughout the rest of germany. [sidenote: . william i. regent of prussia.] but the fruits of the national movement in and were not lost. the earnest efforts of those two years, the practical experience of political matters acquired by the liberal party, were an immense gain to the people. in every state there was a strong body of intelligent men, who resisted the reaction by all the legal means left them, and who, although discouraged, were still hopeful of success. the increase of general intelligence among the people, the growth of an independent press, the extension of railroads which made the old system of passports and police supervision impossible,--all these were powerful agencies of progress; but only a few rulers of the smaller states saw this truth, and favored the liberal side. in october, , frederick william iv. was stricken with apoplexy, and his brother, prince william, began to rule in his name. the latter, then sixty years old, had grown up without the least prospect that he would ever wear the crown: although he possessed no brilliant intellectual qualities, he was shrewd, clear-sighted, and honest, and after a year's experience of the policy which governed prussia, he refused to rule longer unless the whole power were placed in his hands. as soon as he was made prince regent, he dismissed the feudalist ministry of his brother and established a new and more liberal government. the hopes of the german people instantly revived: bavaria was compelled to follow the example of prussia, the reaction against the national movement of was interrupted everywhere, and the political horizon suddenly began to grow brighter. the desire of the people for a closer national union was so intense, that when, in june, , austria was defeated at magenta and solferino, a cry ran through germany: "the rhine must be defended on the mincio!" and the demand for an alliance with austria against france became so earnest and general, that prussia would certainly have yielded to it, if napoleon iii. had not forestalled the movement by concluding an instant peace with francis joseph. when, in , all italy rose, and the dilapidated thrones of the petty rulers fell to pieces, as the people united under victor emanuel, the germans saw how hasty and mistaken had been their excitement of the year before. the interests of the italians were identical with theirs, and the success of the former filled them with fresh hope and courage. [sidenote: .] austria, after her defeat and the overwhelming success of the popular uprising in italy, seemed to perceive the necessity of conceding more to her own subjects. she made some attempts to introduce a restricted form of constitutional government, which excited without satisfying the people. prussia continued to advance slowly in the right direction, regaining her lost influence over the active and intelligent liberal party throughout germany. on the d of january, , frederick william iv. died, and william i. became king. from this date a new history begins. chapter xxxix. the struggle with austria; the north-german union. ( -- .) reorganization of the prussian army. --movements for a new union. --reaction in prussia. --bismarck appointed minister. --his unpopularity. --attempt of francis joseph of austria. --war in schleswig-holstein. --quarrel between prussia and austria. --alliances of austria with the smaller states. --the diet. --prussia declares war. --hannover, hesse and saxony invaded. --battle of langensalza. --march into bohemia. --preliminary victories. --halt in gitchin. --battle of königgrätz. --prussian advance to the danube. --peace of nikolsburg. --bismarck's plan. --change in popular sentiment. --prussian annexations. --foundation of the north-german union. --the luxemburg affair. [sidenote: . william i., king.] the first important measure which the government of william i. adopted was a thorough reorganization of the army. since this could not be effected without an increased expense for the present and a prospect of still greater burdens in the future, the legislative assembly of prussia refused to grant the appropriation demanded. the plan was to increase the time of service for the reserve forces, to diminish that of the militia, and enforce a sufficient amount of military training upon the whole male population, without regard to class or profession. at the same time a convention of the smaller states was held in würzburg, for the purpose of drawing up a new plan of union, in place of the old diet, the provisions of which had been violated so often that its existence was becoming a mere farce. prussia proposed a closer military union under her own direction, and this was accepted by baden, saxe-weimar and coburg-gotha: the other states were still swayed by the influence of austria. the political situation became more and more disturbed; william i. dismissed his liberal ministry and appointed noted reactionists, who carried out his plan for reorganizing the army in defiance of the assembly. finally, in september, , baron otto von bismarck-schönhausen, who had been prussian ambassador in st. petersburg and paris, was placed at the head of the government. this remarkable man, who was born in , in brandenburg, was already known as a thorough conservative, and considered to be one of the most dangerous enemies of the liberal and national party. but he had represented prussia in the diet at frankfort in , he understood the policy of austria and the general political situation better than any other statesman in germany, and his course, from the first day of receiving power, was as daring as it was skilfully planned. [sidenote: .] even metternich was not so heartily hated as bismarck, when the latter continued the policy already adopted, of disregarding the will of the people, as expressed by the prussian assembly. every new election for this body only increased the strength of the opposition, and with it the unpopularity of prussia among the smaller states. the appropriations for the army were steadfastly refused, yet the government took the money and went on with the work of reorganization. austria endeavored to profit by the confusion which ensued: after having privately consulted the other rulers, francis joseph summoned a congress of german princes to meet in frankfort, in august, , in order to accept an "act of reform," which substituted an assembly of delegates in place of the old diet, but retained the presidency of austria. prussia refused to attend, declaring that the first step towards reform must be a parliament elected by the people, and the scheme failed so completely that in another month nothing more was heard of it. soon afterwards, frederick vii. of denmark died, and his successor, christian ix., prince of glücksburg, accepted a constitution which detached schleswig from holstein and incorporated it with denmark. this was in violation of the treaty made in london in , and gave germany a pretext for interference. on the th of december, , the diet decided to take armed possession of the duchies: austria and prussia united in january, , and sent a combined army of , men under prince frederick karl and marshal gablenz against denmark. after several slight engagements the danes abandoned the "dannewerk"--the fortified line across the peninsula,--and took up a strong position at düppel. here their entrenchments were stormed and carried by the prussians, on the th of april: the austrians had also been victorious at oeversee, and the danes were everywhere driven back. england, france and russia interfered, an armistice was declared, and an attempt made to settle the question. the negotiations, which were carried on in london for that purpose, failed; hostilities were resumed, and by the st of august, denmark was forced to sue for peace. [sidenote: . austria and prussia at war.] on the th of october, the war was ended by the relinquishment of the duchies to prussia and austria, not to germany. the prince of augustenburg, however, who belonged to the ducal family of holstein, claimed the territory as being his by right of descent, and took up his residence at kiel, bringing all the apparatus of a little state government, ready made, along with him. prussia demanded the acceptance of her military system, the occupancy of the forts, and the harbor of kiel for naval purposes. the duke, encouraged by austria, refused: a diplomatic quarrel ensued, which lasted until the st of august, , when william i. met francis joseph at gastein, a watering-place in the austrian alps, and both agreed on a division, prussia to govern in schleswig and austria in holstein. thus far, the course of the two powers in the matter had made them equally unpopular throughout the rest of germany. austria had quite lost her temporary advantage over prussia, in this respect, and she now endeavored to regain it by favoring the claims of the duke of augustenburg in holstein. an angry correspondence followed, and early in austria began to prepare for war, not only at home, but by secretly canvassing for alliances among the smaller states. neither she, nor the german people, understood how her policy was aiding the deep-laid plans of bismarck. the latter had been elevated to the rank of count, he had dared to assert that the german question could never be settled without the use of "blood and steel" (which was generally interpreted as signifying the most brutal despotism), and an attempt to assassinate him had been made in the streets of berlin. when, therefore, austria demanded of the diet that the military force of the other states should be called into the field against prussia on account of the invasion of holstein by prussian troops, only oldenburg, mecklenburg, the little saxon principalities and the three free cities of the north voted against the measure! [sidenote: .] this vote, which was taken on the th of june, , was the last act of the german diet. prussia instantly took the ground that it was a declaration of war, and set in motion all the agencies which had been quietly preparing for three or four years. the german people were stunned by the suddenness with which the crisis had been brought upon them. the cause of the trouble was so slight, so needlessly provoked, that the war seemed criminal: it was looked upon as the last desperate resource of the absolutist, bismarck, who, finding the prussian assembly still five to one against him, had adopted this measure to recover by force his lost position. few believed that prussia, with nineteen millions of inhabitants, could be victorious over austria and her allies, representing fifty millions, unless after a long and terrible struggle. prussia, however, had secured an ally which, although not fortunate in the war, kept a large austrian army employed. this was italy, which eagerly accepted the alliance in april, and began to prepare for the struggle. on the other hand, there was every probability that france would interfere in favor of austria. in this emergency, the prussian government seemed transformed: it stood like a man aroused and fully alive, with every sense quickened and every muscle and sinew ready for action. the th of june brought the declaration of war: on the th, saxony, hannover, hesse-cassel and nassau were called upon to remain neutral, and allowed twelve hours to decide. as no answer came, a prussian army from holstein took possession of hannover on the th, another from the rhine entered cassel on the th, and on the latter day leipzig and dresden were occupied by a third. so complete had been the preparations that a temporary railroad bridge was made, in advance, to take the place of one between berlin and dresden, which it was evident the saxons would destroy. the king of hannover, with , men, marched southward to join the bavarians, but was so slow in his movements that he did not reach langensalza (fifteen miles north of gotha) until the d of june. rejecting an offer from prussia, a force of about , men was sent to hold him in check. a fierce battle was fought on the th, in which the hannoverians were victorious, but, during their delay of a single day, prussia had pushed on new troops with such rapidity that they were immediately afterwards compelled to surrender. the soldiers were sent home, and the king, george v., betook himself to vienna. [sidenote: . battle of kÖniggrÄtz.] all saxony being occupied, the march upon austria followed. there were three prussian armies in the field: the first, under prince frederick karl, advanced in a south-eastern direction from saxony, the second, under the crown-prince, frederick william, from silesia, and the third, under general herwarth von bittenfeld, followed the course of the elbe. the entire force was , men, with pieces of artillery. the austrian army, now hastening towards the frontier, was about equal in numbers, and commanded by general benedek. count clam-gallas, with , men, was sent forward to meet frederick karl, but was defeated in four successive small engagements, from the th to the th of june, and forced to fall back upon benedek's main army, while frederick karl and herwarth, whose armies were united in the last of the four battles, at gitchin, remained there to await the arrival of the crown-prince. the latter's task had been more difficult. on crossing the frontier, he was faced by the greater part of benedek's army, and his first battle, on the th, at trautenau, was a defeat. a second battle at the same place, the next day, resulted in a brilliant victory, after which he advanced, achieving further successes at nachod and skalitz, and on the th of june reached königinhof, a short distance from gitchin. king william, bismarck, moltke and roon arrived at the latter place on the d of july, and it was decided to meet benedek, who with clam-gallas was awaiting battle near königgrätz, without further delay. the movement was hastened by indications that benedek meant to commence the attack before the army of the crown-prince could reach the field. on the d of july the great battle of königgrätz was fought. both in its character and its results, it was very much like that of waterloo. benedek occupied a strong position on a range of low hills beyond the little river bistritz, with the village of sadowa as his centre. the army of frederick karl formed the prussian centre, and that of herwarth the right wing: their position only differed from that of wellington, at waterloo, in the circumstance that they must attack instead of resist, and keep the whole austrian army engaged until the crown-prince, like blücher, should arrive from the left and strike benedek on the right flank. the battle began at eight in the morning, and raged with the greatest fury for six hours: again and again the prussians hurled themselves on the austrian centre, only to be repulsed with heavier losses. herwarth, on the right, gained a little advantage; but the austrian rifled cannon prevented a further advance. violent rains and marshy soil delayed the crown-prince, as in blücher's case at waterloo: the fate of the day was very doubtful until two o'clock in the afternoon, when the smoke of cannon was seen in the distance, on the austrian right. the army of the crown-prince had arrived! then all the prussian reserves were brought up; an advance was made along the whole line: the austrian right and left were broken, the centre gave way, and in the midst of a thunderstorm the retreat became a headlong flight. towards evening, when the sun broke out, the prussians saw königgrätz before them: the king and crown-prince met on the battle-field, and the army struck up the same old choral which the troops of frederick the great had sung on the field of leuthen. [sidenote: .] the next day the news came that austria had made over venetia to france. this seemed like a direct bid for alliance, and the need of rapid action was greater than ever. within two weeks the prussians had reached the danube, and vienna was an easy prey. in the meantime, the bavarians and other allies of austria had been driven beyond the river main, frankfort was in the hands of the prussians, and a struggle, which could only have ended in the defeat of the former, commenced at würzburg. then austria gave way: an armistice, embracing the preliminaries of peace, was concluded at nikolsburg on the th of july, and the seven weeks' war came to an end. the treaty of peace, which was signed at prague on the d of august, placed austria in the background and gave the leadership of germany to prussia. it was now seen that the possession of schleswig-holstein was not the main object of the war. when austria was compelled to recognize the formation of a north-german confederation, which excluded her and her southern allies, but left the latter free to treat separately with the new power, the extent of bismarck's plans became evident. "blood and steel" had been used, but only to destroy the old constitution of germany, and render possible a firmer national union, the guiding influence of which was to be prussian and protestant, instead of austrian and catholic. [sidenote: . the north-german union.] an overwhelming revulsion of feeling took place. the proud, conservative, feudal party sank almost out of sight, in the enthusiastic support which the nationals and liberals gave to william i. and bismarck. it is not likely that the latter had changed in character: personally, his haughty aristocratic impulses were no doubt as strong as ever; but, as a statesman, he had learned the great and permanent strength of the opposition, and clearly saw what immense advantages prussia would acquire by a liberal policy. the german people, in their indescribable relief from the anxieties of the past four years--in their gratitude for victory and the dawn of a better future--soon came to believe that he had always been on their side. before the year came to an end, the prussian assembly accepted all the past acts of the government which it had resisted, and complete harmony was reëstablished. the annexation of hannover, hesse-cassel, nassau, schleswig-holstein and the city of frankfort added nearly , , more to the population of prussia. the constitution of the "north-german union," as the new confederation was called, was submitted to the other states in december, and accepted by all on the th of february, . its parliament, elected by the people, met in berlin immediately afterwards to discuss the articles of union, which were finally adopted on the th of april, when the new power commenced its existence. it included all the german states except bavaria, würtemberg and baden, twenty-two in number, and comprising a population of more than thirty millions, united under one military, postal, diplomatic and financial system, like the states of the american union. the king of prussia was president of the whole, and bismarck was elected chancellor. about the same time bavaria, würtemberg and baden entered into a secret offensive and defensive alliance with prussia, and the policy of their governments, thenceforth, was so conciliatory towards the north-german union, that the people almost instantly forgot the hostility created by the war. [sidenote: .] in the spring of , napoleon iii. took advantage of the circumstance that luxemburg was practically detached from germany by the downfall of the old diet, and offered to buy it of holland. the agreement was nearly concluded, when bismarck in the name of the north-german union, made such an energetic protest that the negotiations were suspended. a conference of the european powers in london, in may, adjudged luxemburg to holland, satisfying neither france nor germany; but bismarck's boldness and firmness gave immediate authority to the new union. the people, at last, felt that they had a living, acting government, not a mere conglomeration of empty forms, as hitherto. chapter xl. the war with france, and establishment of the german empire. ( -- .) changes in austria. --rise of prussia. --irritation of the french. --napoleon iii.'s decline --war demanded. --the pretext of the spanish throne. --leopold of hohenzollern. --the french ambassador at ems. --france declares war. --excitement of the people. --attitude of germany. --three armies in the field. --battle of wörth. --advance upon metz. --battles of mars-la-tour and gravelotte. --german residents expelled from france. --mac mahon's march northwards. --fighting on the meuse. --battle of sedan. --surrender of napoleon iii. and the army. --republic in france. --hopes of the french people. --surrenders of toul. strasburg and metz. --siege of paris. --defeat of the french armies. --battles of le mans. --bourbaki's defeat and flight into switzerland. --surrender of paris. --peace. --losses of france. --the german empire proclaimed. --william i. emperor. [sidenote: . changes in austria.] the experience of the next three years showed how completely the new order of things was accepted by the great majority of the german people. even in austria, the defeat at königgrätz and the loss of venetia were welcomed by the hungarians and slavonians, and hardly regretted by the german population, since it was evident that the imperial government must give up its absolutist policy or cease to exist. in fact, the former ministry was immediately dismissed: count beust, a saxon and a protestant, was called to vienna, and a series of reforms was inaugurated which did not terminate until the hungarians had won all they demanded in , and the germans and bohemians enjoyed full as much liberty as the prussians. the seven weeks' war of , in fact, was a phenomenon in history; no nation ever acquired so much fame and influence in so short a time, as prussia. the relation of the king, and especially of the statesman who guided him, count bismarck, towards the rest of germany, was suddenly and completely changed. napoleon iii. was compelled to transfer venetia to italy, and thus his declaration in that "italy should be free, from the alps to the adriatic," was made good,--but not by france. while the rest of europe accepted the changes in germany with equanimity, if not with approbation, the vain and sensitive people of france felt themselves deeply humiliated. thus far, the policy of napoleon iii. had seemed to preserve the supremacy of france in european politics. he had overawed england, defeated russia, and treated italy as a magnanimous patron. but the best strength of germany was now united under a new constitution, after a war which made the achievements at magenta, solferino and in the crimea seem tame. the ostentatious designs of france in mexico came also to a tragic end in , and her disgraceful failure there only served to make the success of prussia, by contrast, more conspicuous. [sidenote: .] the opposition to napoleon iii. in the french assembly made use of these facts to increase its power. his own success had been due to good luck rather than to superior ability: he was now more than sixty years old, he had become cautious and wavering in his policy, and he undoubtedly saw how much would be risked in provoking a war with the north-german union; but the temper of the french people left him no alternative. he had certainly meant to interfere in , had not the marvellous rapidity of prussia prevented it. that france had no shadow of right to interfere, was all the same to his people: they held him responsible for the creation of a new political germany, which was apparently nearly as strong as france, and that was a thing not to be endured. he yielded to the popular excitement, and only waited for a pretext which might justify him before the world in declaring war. such a pretext came in . the spaniards had expelled their bourbon queen, isabella, in , and were looking about for a new monarch from some other royal house. their choice fell upon prince leopold of hohenzollern, a distant relation of william i. of prussia, but also nearly connected with the bonaparte family through his wife, who was a daughter of the grand-duchess stephanie beauharnais. on the th of july, napoleon's minister, the duke de gramont, declared to the french assembly that this choice would never be tolerated by france. the french ambassador in prussia, benedetti, was ordered to demand of king william that he should prohibit prince leopold from accepting the offer. the king answered that he could not forbid what he had never advised; but, immediately afterwards (on the th of july), prince leopold voluntarily declined, and all cause of trouble seemed to be removed. [sidenote: . france insists on war.] the french people, however, were insanely bent upon war. the excitement was so great, and so urgently fostered by the empress eugenie, the duke de gramont, and the army, that napoleon iii. again yielded. a dispatch was sent to benedetti: "be rough to the king!" the ambassador, who was at the baths of ems, where william i. was also staying, sought the latter on the public promenade and abruptly demanded that he should give france a guarantee that no member of the house of hohenzollern should ever accept the throne of spain. the ambassador's manner, even more than his demand, was insulting: the king turned upon his heel, and left him standing. this was on the th of july: on the th the king returned to berlin, and on the th france formally declared war. it was universally believed that every possible preparation had been made for this step. in fact, marshal le boeuf assured napoleon iii. that the army was "more than ready," and an immediate french advance to the rhine was anticipated throughout europe. napoleon relied upon detaching the southern german states from the union, upon revolts in hesse and hannover, and finally, upon alliances with austria and italy. the french people were wild with excitement, which took the form of rejoicing: there was a general cry that napoleon i.'s birthday, the th of august, must be celebrated in berlin. but the german people, north and south, rose as one man: for the first time in her history, germany became one compact, _national_ power. bavarian and hannoverian, prussian and hessian, saxon and westphalian joined hands and stood side by side. the temper of the people was solemn, but inflexibly firm: they did not boast of coming victory, but every one was resolved to die rather than see germany again overrun by the french. this time there were no alliances: it was simply germany on one side and france on the other. the greatest military genius of our day, moltke, had foreseen the war, no less than bismarck, and was equally prepared. the designs of france lay clear, and the only question was to check them in their very commencement. in eleven days, germany had , soldiers, organized in three armies, on the way, and the french had not yet crossed the frontier! further, there was a german reserve force of , , while france had but , , all told, in the field. by the d of august, on which day king william reached mayence, three german armies (general steinmetz on the north with , men, prince frederick karl in the centre with , , and the crown-prince frederick william on the south with , ) stretched from treves to landau, and the line of the rhine was already safe. on the same day, napoleon iii. and his young son accompanied general frossard, with , men, in an attack upon the unfortified frontier town of saarbrück, which was defended by only uhlans (cavalry). the capture of this little place was telegraphed to paris, and received with the wildest rejoicings; but it was the only instance during the war when french troops stood upon german soil--unless as prisoners. [sidenote: .] on the th the army of the crown-prince crossed the french frontier and defeated marshal mac mahon's right wing at weissenburg. the old castle was stormed and taken by the bavarians, and the french repulsed, after a loss of about , on each side. mac mahon concentrated his whole force and occupied a strong position near the village of wörth, where he was again attacked on the th. the battle lasted thirteen hours and was fiercely contested: the germans lost , killed and wounded, the french , , and , prisoners; but when night came mac mahon's defeat turned into a panic. part of his army fled towards the vosges mountains, part towards strasburg, and nearly all alsatia was open to the victorious germans. on the very same day, the army of steinmetz stormed the heights of spicheren near saarbrück, and won a splendid victory. this was followed by an immediate advance across the frontier at forbach, and the capture of a great amount of supplies. thus, in less than three weeks from the declaration of war, the attitude of france was changed from the aggressive to the defensive, the field of war was transferred to french soil, and all napoleon iii.'s plans of alliance were rendered vain. leaving a division of baden troops to invest strasburg, the crown-prince pressed forward with his main army, and in a few days reached nancy, in lorraine. the armies of the north and centre advanced at the same time, defeated bazaine on the th of august at courcelles, and forced him to fall back upon metz. he thereupon determined, after garrisoning the forts of metz, to retreat still further, in order to unite with general trochu, who was organizing a new army at châlons, and with the remnants of mac mahon's forces. moltke detected his plans at once, and the army of frederick karl was thereupon hurried across the moselle, to get into his rear and prevent the junction. [illustration: metz and vicinity.] [sidenote: . german advance upon metz.] the struggle between the two commenced on the th, near the village of mars-la-tour, where bazaine, with , men, endeavored to force his way past frederick karl, who had but , , the other two german armies being still in the rear. for six hours the latter held his position under a murderous fire, until three corps arrived to reinforce him. bazaine claimed a victory, although he lost the southern and shorter road to verdun; but moltke none the less gained his object. the losses were about , killed and wounded on each side. after a single day of rest, the struggle was resumed on the th, when the still bloodier and more desperate battle of gravelotte was fought. the germans now had about , soldiers together, while bazaine had , , with a great advantage in his position on a high plateau. in this battle, the former situation of the combatants was changed: the german lines faced eastward, the french westward--a circumstance which made defeat more disastrous to either side. the strife began in the morning and continued until darkness put an end to it: the french right wing yielded after a succession of heroic assaults, but the centre and left wing resisted gallantly until the very close of the battle. it was a hard-won victory, adding , killed and wounded to the german losses, but it cut off bazaine's retreat and forced him to take shelter behind the fortifications of metz, the siege of which, by prince frederick karl with , men, immediately commenced, while the rest of the german army marched on to attack mac mahon and trochu at châlons. [sidenote: .] there could be no question as to the bravery of the french troops in these two battles. in paris the government and people persisted in considering them victories, until the imprisonment of bazaine's army proved that their result was defeat. then a wild cry of rage rang through the land: france had been betrayed, and by whom, if not by the german residents in paris and other cities? the latter, more than , in number, including women and helpless children, were expelled from the country under circumstances of extreme barbarity. the french people, not the government, was responsible for this act: the latter was barely able to protect the germans from worse violence. mac mahon had in the meantime organized a new army of , men in the camp at châlons, where, it was supposed, he would dispute the advance on paris. this was his plan, in fact, and he was with difficulty persuaded by marshal palikao, the minister of war, to give it up and undertake a rapid march up the meuse, along the belgian frontier, to relieve bazaine in metz. on the d of august, the crown-prince, who had already passed beyond verdun on his way to châlons, received intelligence that the french had left the latter place. detachments of uhlans, sent out in all haste to reconnoitre, soon brought the astonishing news that mac mahon was marching rapidly northwards. gen. moltke detected his plan, which could only be thwarted by the most vigorous movement on the part of the german forces. the front of the advance was instantly changed, reformed on the right flank, and all pushed northwards by forced marches. [sidenote: . mac mahon's march.] mac mahon had the outer and longer line, so that, in spite of the rapidity of his movements, he was met by the extreme right wing of the german army on the th of august, at stenay on the meuse. being here held in check, fresh divisions were hurried against him, several small engagements followed, and on the st he was defeated at beaumont by the crown-prince of saxony. the german right was thereupon pushed beyond the meuse and occupied the passes of the forest of ardennes, leading into belgium. meanwhile the german left, under frederick william, was rapidly driving back the french right and cutting off the road to paris. nothing was left to mac mahon but to concentrate his forces and retire upon the small fortified city of sedan. napoleon iii., who had left metz before the battle of mars-la-tour, and did not dare to return to paris at such a time, was with him. the germans, now numbering , , lost no time in planting batteries on all the heights which surround the valley of the meuse, at sedan, like the rim of an irregular basin. mac mahon had , men, and his only chance of success was to break through the wider ring which inclosed him, at some point where it was weak. the battle began at five o'clock on the morning of september st. the principal struggle was for the possession of the villages of bazeilles and illy, and the heights of daigny. mac mahon was severely wounded, soon after the fight began; the command was then given to general ducrot and afterwards to general wimpffen, who knew neither the ground nor the plan of operations. the german artillery fire was fearful, and the french infantry could not stand before it, while their cavalry was almost annihilated during the afternoon, in a succession of charges on the prussian infantry. by three o'clock it was evident that the french army was defeated: driven back from every strong point which was held in the morning, hurled together in a demoralized mass, nothing was left but surrender. general lauriston appeared with a white flag on the walls of sedan, and the terrible fire of the german artillery ceased. napoleon iii. wrote to king william: "not having been able to die at the head of my troops, i lay my sword at your majesty's feet,"--and retired to the castle of bellevue, outside of the city. early the next morning he had an interview with bismarck at the little village of donchery, and then formally surrendered to the king at bellevue. [sidenote: .] during the battle, , french soldiers had been taken prisoners: the remaining , , including , officers, surrendered on the d of september: cannon, _mitrailleuses_, and , horses also fell into the hands of the germans. never before, in history, had such a host been taken captive. the news of this overwhelming victory electrified the world: germany rang with rejoicings, and her emigrated sons in america and australia joined in the jubilee. the people said: "it will be another seven weeks' war," and this hope might possibly have been fulfilled, but for the sudden political change in france. on the th (two days after the surrender), a revolution broke out in paris, the empress eugénie and the members of her government fled, and a republic was declared. the french, blaming napoleon alone for their tremendous national humiliation, believed that they could yet recover their lost ground; and when one of their prominent leaders, the statesman jules favre, declared that "not one foot of soil, not one stone of a fortress" should be yielded to germany, the popular enthusiasm knew no bounds. but it was too late. the great superiority of the military organization of prussia had been manifested against the regular troops of france, and it could not be expected that new armies of volunteers, however brave and devoted, would be more successful. the army of the crown-prince marched on towards paris without opposition, and on the th of september came in sight of the city, which was defended by an outer circle of powerful detached fortresses, constructed during the reign of louis philippe. gen. trochu was made military governor, with , men--the last remnant of the regular army--under his command. he had barely time to garrison and strengthen the forts, when the city was surrounded, and the siege commenced. for two months thereafter, the interest of the war is centred upon sieges. the fortified city of toul, in lorraine, surrendered on the d of september, strasburg, after a six weeks' siege, on the th, and thus the two lines of railway communication between germany and paris were secured. all the german reserves were called into the field, until, finally, more than , soldiers stood upon french soil. after two or three attempts to break through the lines bazaine surrendered metz on the th of october. it was another event without a parallel in military history. there marshals of france, , officers, , unwounded soldiers, eagles, pieces of artillery, and , chasse-pot rifles, were surrendered to prince frederick karl! [sidenote: . new french armies.] after these successes, the capture of paris became only a question of time. although the republican leader, gambetta, escaped from the city in a balloon, and by his fiery eloquence aroused the people of central and southern france, every plan for raising the siege of paris failed. the french volunteers were formed into three armies--that of the north, under faidherbe; of the loire, under aurelles de paladine (afterwards under chanzy and bourbaki); and of the east, under kératry. besides, a great many companies of _francs-tireurs_, or independent sharp-shooters, were organized to interrupt the german communications, and they gave much more trouble than the larger armies. about the end of november a desperate attempt was made to raise the siege of paris. general paladine marched from orleans with , men, while trochu tried to break the lines of the besiegers on the eastern side. the latter was repelled, after a bloody fight: the former was attacked at beaune la rolande, by prince frederick karl, with only half the number of troops, and most signally defeated. the germans then carried on the winter campaign with the greatest vigor, both in the northern provinces and along the loire, and trochu, with his four hundred thousand men, made no further serious effort to save paris. frederick karl took orleans on the th of december, advanced to tours, and finally, in a six days' battle, early in january, , at le mans, literally cut the army of the loire to pieces. the french lost , in killed, wounded and prisoners. faidherbe was defeated in the north, a week afterwards, and the only resistance left was in burgundy, where garibaldi (who hastened to france after the republic was proclaimed) had been successful in two or three small engagements, and was now replaced by bourbaki. the object of the latter was to relieve the fortress of belfort, then besieged by general werder, who, with , men, awaited his coming in a strong position among the mountains. notwithstanding bourbaki had more than , men, he was forced to retreat after a fight of three days, and then general manteuffel, who had been sent in all haste to strengthen werder, followed him so closely that on the st of february, all retreat being cut off, his whole army of , men crossed the swiss frontier, and after suffering terribly among the snowy passes of the jura, were disarmed, fed and clothed by the swiss government and people. bourbaki attempted to commit suicide, but only inflicted a severe wound, from which he afterwards recovered. [illustration: the german empire .] [sidenote: . surrender of paris.] the retreat into switzerland was almost the last event of the _seven months' war_, as it might be called, and it was as remarkable as the surrenders of sedan and metz. all power of defence was now broken: france was completely at the mercy of her conquerors. on the th of january, after long negotiations between bismarck and jules favre, the forts around paris capitulated and trochu's army became prisoners of war. the city was not occupied, but, for the sake of the half-starved population, provisions were allowed to enter. the armistice, originally declared for three weeks, was prolonged until march st, when the preliminaries of peace were agreed upon, and hostilities came to an end. by the final treaty of peace, which was concluded at frankfort on the th of may, , france gave up alsatia with all its cities and fortresses except belfort, and _german_ lorraine, including metz and thionville, to germany. the territory thus transferred contained about , square miles and , , inhabitants. france also agreed to pay an indemnity of _five thousand millions_ of francs, in instalments, certain of her departments to be occupied by german troops, and only evacuated by degrees, as the payments were made. thus ended this astonishing war, during which great battles and minor engagements had been fought, fortified places taken, , soldiers (including , officers) made prisoners, and , cannon and , stand of arms acquired by germany. there is no such crushing defeat of a strong nation recorded in history. [sidenote: .] even before the capitulation of paris the natural political result of the victory was secured to germany. the cooperation of the three southern states in the war removed the last barrier to a union of all, except austria, under the lead of prussia. that which the great majority of the people desired was also satisfactory to the princes: the "north-german union" was enlarged and transformed into the "german empire," by including bavaria, würtemberg and baden. it was agreed that the young king of bavaria, ludwig ii., as occupying the most important position among the rulers of the three separate states, should ask king william to assume the imperial dignity, with the condition that it should be hereditary in his family. the other princes and the free cities united in the call; and on the th of january, , in the grand hall of the palace of versailles, where richelieu and louis xiv. and napoleon i. had plotted their invasions of germany, the king formally accepted the title of emperor, and the german states were at last united as one compact, indivisible nation. the emperor william concluded his proclamation to the german people with these words: "may god permit us, and our successors to the imperial crown, to give at all times increase to the german empire, not by the conquests of war, but by the goods and gifts of peace, in the path of national prosperity, freedom and morality!" after the end of the war was assured, he left paris, and passed in a swift march of triumph through germany to berlin, where the popular enthusiasm was extravagantly exhibited. four days afterwards he called together the first german parliament (since ), and the organization of the new empire was immediately commenced. it was simply, in all essential points, a renewal of the north-german union. the imperial government introduced a general military, naval, financial, postal and diplomatic system for all the states, a uniformity of weights, measures and coinage,--in short, a thoroughly national union of locally independent states, all of which are embraced in a name which is no longer merely geographical--germany. here, then, the history of the race ceases, and that of the nation begins. chapter xli. the new german empire. ( -- .) the first german parliament by direct vote. --the political factions. --the ultramontane party in opposition to the government. --struggle with the church of rome. --"kulturkampf." --falk appointed minister of culture. --his first success. --animosity of the pope. --the jesuits expelled from germany. --the may laws. --the roman catholic clergy rebel. --civil marriage made requisite. --the "bundesrath." --meeting of the three emperors. --armaments. --peace secured by diplomacy. --financial questions. --bismarck obliged to look to the ultramontanes for parliamentary support. --a conciliatory policy towards the roman church. --falk resigns. --the social-democrats, and the attacks on the life of william i. --the exceptional law. --party dissensions. --a higher protective policy introduced. --new taxes. --the opening of parliament in . --scheme of the government for bettering the condition of the workingmen. --the colonial question. --war-clouds. --france finds a sympathizer in russia. --the triple alliance. --the military budget. --the dissolution of parliament. --the government gains a victory by new elections. --ludwig ii. of bavaria and his tragic end. --the death of emperor william i. --fatal disease of the crown-prince. --the latter as frederick iii. --his death. --his successor, william ii. --resignation of bismarck. --general caprivi made chancellor. --the german-english agreement. --the triple alliance renewed. --new commercial treaties. --withdrawal of the school bill. --a new army bill rejected and parliament dissolved. --new elections result in victory for the government. [sidenote: . first session of parliament.] after many a dark and gloomy century, the dream of a united germany was realized. the outer pile stood complete before the awakening nation and an astonished world; now there remained to be done the patient, painstaking work of consolidating the federation of states in all particulars, making the different parts one within as well as without. on the st of march, , the first german parliament, elected by the direct vote of the people, met at berlin, the capital of the federation, and the political parties took their stand. bismarck, prince, chancellor of the empire, acknowledged as the first statesman of europe, saw the advantage of a liberal policy, which secured for the government the support of the nationals and the liberals, and with them a sufficient majority to carry out its plans. at the same time the chancellor had to reckon with an opposition that was threatening to german unity. chief among it were the ultramontanes (or papal party), so called because they looked beyond the alps for their sovereign guide--the church of rome. they formed the centre party, and around them all the dissatisfied elements grouped themselves--the particularists, who still held on to their petty provincial interests; the poles from eastern prussia; the danes from northern schleswig; the social-democrats; and later the representatives of alsatia and lorraine. on the utmost right sat the old feudal nobility, which was reactionary at the outset. although diverging far apart in aims and purposes, these different factions joined hands against the federal government whenever their interests were concerned, and thus at times constituted a powerful foe. [sidenote: .] it soon became evident that the chief battle to maintain union and freedom had to be fought with the ultramontanes, who were inspired by the counsel of the vatican and upheld by the authority actually wielded in germany by the roman catholic church. the concessions made to it in prussia by the romantic spirit of frederick william iv. had borne their bitter fruit, and the protestant kingdom had become even more a foothold for the church of rome than catholic bavaria. on the same day on which france declared war against germany the papal power sounded another war-trumpet by proclaiming the dogma of papal infallibility. germany had been the victor in the combat with france; it now had to encounter the other foe in defence of the best life of the nation--an untrammelled conscience, free schools, the sway of reason, and the light of science. the task of fighting a state within the state, which confronted the federal government and the nation at the very outset, was hard and bitter on both sides. it took place in parliament as well as in the prussian and bavarian assemblies, and as a struggle for the preservation of the blessings of modern civilization it has been designated "kulturkampf," a fight for culture. in the beginning of the chancellor knew himself sufficiently supported by the national-liberals in parliament and in the prussian assembly to take up the combat with the roman church and its adherents in both political bodies. he caused the reactionary minister of culture, von mühler, to resign his office, and invited adalbert falk, a statesman of keen insight and fearless energy, to take his place. falk undertook to define the boundaries between the state and the church by a series of laws, and his first success was in carrying through the prussian assembly a bill that made the public schools independent of the church, and gave their supervision to the state. the pope's answer to this measure was his refusal to receive the emperor's ambassador, cardinal hohenlohe, who had been nominated for diplomatic representation at the vatican on account of his conciliatory spirit. at this period bismarck made his famous declaration, "to canossa _we_ do not go!" the conflict waxed hotter, and from all parts of germany the enlightened portions of the people sent petitions to parliament, asking it to exclude from the precincts of the empire the jesuits, who were known to be the pope's advisers, and as such were at the root of the evil. the demand was granted. a bill to that effect was introduced into parliament, and, after much passionate debate, became a law. before the close of the year every member of the society of jesus had to leave germany, and all institutions belonging to that organization were closed. [sidenote: . the may laws.] the year brought about the important legislation by which the lines between the competencies of state and church were conclusively defined. it was designed primarily to benefit prussia, but its effect in the end was of advantage to the whole of germany. the bills destined to restrict the undue power of the roman catholic church, in spite of violent opposition on the part of the ultramontanes and the reactionary feudals, were carried through the prussian assembly in the month of may, and hence are called the "may laws." they were met by open rebellion on the part of the prussian episcopacy. the catholic clergy closed the doors of their seminaries to the government supervisors; they published protests of every form against legislation that had not the sanction of the papal see; they omitted to make announcement to the provincial governments of newly appointed curates or beneficiaries, and demonstrated in every way their insubordination to the lay authorities. in accordance with the new laws, these rebellious acts were punished by the withdrawal of dotations that had been granted by the state to roman catholic seminaries or schools, and the latter in some instances were closed. the curates appointed without consent of the head authorities were forbidden to officiate, and their religious functions declared to be null and void. then the rebellious prelates were fined or imprisoned, and, as a last resort, declared to be out of office, while the endowments of their dioceses were administered by lay officials. [sidenote: .] in civil marriage was made obligatory by law, first in prussia, and then, after receiving also the sanction of parliament, throughout the empire. with this measure a powerful weapon was wrenched from the hands of the clergy, and another blow was dealt. other measures followed, under protests from pope and clergy, and hot debating was continued in the legislative bodies, until, in , matters of another nature and more momentous importance forced themselves to the front. the work for organization and reform, up to this time, had progressed in various directions, and the proposed measures for cementing german unity had received more or less ready support in parliament and the assemblies of the different states. the latter had their representatives at berlin, who were nominated by their respective sovereigns. they met in a body called the bundesrath--the counsel of the federation. any step taken by the federal government towards legislation affecting the whole of the empire had to be laid before and agreed to by the bundesrath before it could be introduced into parliament. thus the rights of the states were preserved, and the reigning princes were made still to feel their importance, which tended to create harmony between them and the empire. while the interior growth of the latter was of a healthy and steady nature, the genius of the great statesman, prince bismarck, was busy likewise in allaying the fears and, in a measure, mollifying the envy and jealousies of neighboring powers. in september, , the emperors of germany, austria, and russia met at berlin, to renew assurances of friendship and thus convince the world of their peaceable intentions. the cordial relations between the reigning families of germany and italy were strengthened by visits from court to court, and even denmark was somewhat pacified in regard to its loss of schleswig-holstein. but france still frowned at a distance, and was preparing for revenge. the meeting of the three emperors gave her additional offence, and she strove to reorganize and enlarge her army. this called forth counter-movements in germany, where the reorganization of the army--even before the late wars a pet project of william i.--had been agreed to by parliament. a prudent diplomacy, and the friendly demonstrations of alexander ii. to the german emperor and his chancellor, dispelled for a time the rising war-clouds, and the peaceful work of interior organization was continued. [sidenote: . revision of the may laws.] after the roman church had been restricted to its lawful boundaries, the most important questions looming up were those in reference to financial matters. the income of the empire proved insufficient to cover the enormous outlay for necessary changes and reforms to be perfected, while at the same time influences were brought about to forward a higher protective policy than had been adhered to hitherto. in order to bring about an increased tariff, and such taxation as the financial situation required, the chancellor had to look for the support of other parties than the nationals and the liberal-conservatives. he took it where it was offered, and here the ultramontanes or centre party saw their opportunity. the consequence was a tacit compromise with the latter. the contest with the vatican faltered; a conciliatory policy was adopted in matters concerning the catholic church, and falk, seeing his work crippled, resigned his office, in , to make room for a reactionary minister of culture. in a revision of the may laws took place; the refractory bishops were allowed to return, the ecclesiastical institutions were reopened, salaries were paid once more to the clergy by the state, and other restitutions were made, for all of which the pope only acceded to the demand that new appointments of ecclesiastics should be announced in due form to the german government. at this period the political situation was aggravated by the agitation of the social-democrats, and by what seemed to be its direct outgrowth, the repeated murderous attempts on the life of the emperor william i. in may and june, . these startling events opened the eyes of the people to a danger in their very midst--a danger threatening society and all its most sacred institutions. to avert it, the chancellor at once caused a bill to be drawn up for an exceptional law, meant to suppress all aggressive movements of the social-democrats and reduce them to silence. when it was laid before parliament, it found no favor with the majority, and was rejected; whereupon the chancellor, in the name of the emperor, declared parliament to be dissolved. the new elections did not bring about any considerable change; but a majority was obtained, and the exceptional law was established for two years and a half, which period afterwards was prolonged several times. [sidenote: .] the steady inner growth of the first eight or nine years had now been checked by party dissension and political discord, brought on chiefly by the financial difficulties, in which the new empire found itself involved, and the steady demand from centres of industry and agriculture for higher protective measures. these demands, being favored by the chancellor, were gaining the upper hand: customs were increased, a new duty was raised on cereals, and a considerable tax was put upon spirits. all this made it easy for the radicals to agitate and alarm the masses of the people, and in consequence the parliamentary elections of gave a majority to the extreme liberals in opposition to the government. when the new parliament convened, the venerable emperor, william i., opened it in person, and read a message the tenor of which was more than usually solemn, pointing with great emphasis to the social evils of the time, and the best remedies for healing them. the sequel of this message was a project of great magnitude, which the federal government introduced into parliament for the purpose of bettering the conditions of the laboring classes. to carry it out required successive bills and years of indefatigable work, incessant debating, and many a hard struggle with opposition, until at present the whole system is in working order. it comprises a series of insurances for laborers, to secure them from losses by sickness, accidents, invalidity, and age. these insurances are obligatory, and the cost of them is borne jointly by the government, the employers, and the laborers themselves. about this time the colonial question also caused a clashing of parties. to open new channels of commerce and enterprise, certain mercantile houses had acquired large tracts of land on foreign continents, and now asked the protection of the empire for their efforts. germany, now a first-class power and in possession of a growing navy, needed coaling-stations in foreign waters, new lines of steamers to connect directly with africa and eastern asia, and an outlet for her rapidly multiplying population, which she would rather colonize under her own flag than lose by emigration to other countries. the federal government therefore took up this matter in its own interest, and asked parliament for appropriations and subsidies to carry out those enlarged plans. the demand was received on the part of the liberals and radicals with violent opposition; but, in the end, the decision, with the assistance of the centre party, was in favor of the government. [sidenote: . the triple alliance.] in the meantime fresh war-clouds were gathering on the political horizon, on account of the accumulation of russian troops on the frontiers of germany and austria. the violent death of alexander ii. of russia had deprived germany of a friend whom his successor, alexander iii., did not mean to replace. his sympathies were with the growing pan-slavistic party, which through its press was exciting hatred against all that was german. thus france felt herself drawn towards russia, and both the republic and the semi-barbarian empire stood ready at any moment to make common cause for the ruin of germany. this constant menace and its attendant rivalry in armament could not but be a misfortune, not merely for germany but for all the powers concerned. to avert the danger of war as long as possible, the deep insight of the great man at the helm of the federal government of germany had led him to take an important step in good time. as early as he had created a counterpoise to the threatening attitude of france and russia by concluding an alliance for defensive purposes between germany and austria, which a few years later was joined by italy, and, as the "triple alliance," has been the wedge to keep apart the hostile powers in the east and the west, securing peace thereby. in the time approached for a new military budget. the armaments of both russia and france had reached such enormous dimensions that the german government could not but know the military forces of the empire to be no longer on an equal footing with the hostile powers. consequently, it now asked parliament not only for a new septennial budget for military purposes, as twice before since , but also for appropriations to raise a larger contingent of soldiers (one per cent. of the whole population, which, according to the last census, made , men more than at that time), and additional sums for fortifications, barracks, arms, etc. thereupon ensued another parliamentary contest. the opposition proved themselves not sufficiently patriotic to take a large view, and, in concert with the centre, the liberals demanded that the contingent of soldiers should be diminished and the budget granted for three years only. after much passionate debate, and in spite of bismarck's weighty eloquence, the motion of the government was carried in a crippled condition and by only a small majority. then parliament was once more dissolved, and new elections took place about a month afterwards ( st of february, ), which made evident the temper of the people, since the liberals and social-democrats were heavy losers. only half of their former number was returned to parliament. the military bill was now carried by a large majority of conservatives and nationals, and financial as well as other matters of importance were brought to a quick issue. [sidenote: .] the almost miraculous rise of a united germany, and its wonderful inner growth, had its reverses in the tragical events that took place in the royal houses of bavaria and prussia, during and . king ludwig ii. of bavaria, a man of superior intellectual qualities and gifted with great charms, had been a victim of late years to mental hallucinations, which at last began to endanger the finances and constitutional rights of the country. it became necessary to declare him insane and to establish a regency in his name. this and his confinement to his lonely castle of berg led the king to drown himself in the lake bordering the grounds. his corpse and that of his attendant physician were found where the gravel bottom of the shallow water gave evidence of a struggle having taken place. since the successor of ludwig ii., his younger brother, otto, was a confirmed maniac, the regency still remained with prince luitpold, the uncle of both these unfortunate kings. he was imbued with the national idea of german unity, and continued the same wise and liberal policy that governed the actions of ludwig ii. in his best days--a policy which earned for him the fame of being called one of the founders of a united german empire. early in the emperor, nearly ninety-one years old, showed signs of declining vitality, and in march the end was at hand. it was peaceful, though clouded by a great sorrow which filled the last months of his life. there was a vacant place among the members of his family who surrounded his death-bed. his son, the crown-prince, now fifty-six years of age, was detained by a fatal disease at san remo, in italy. william i., beloved by the german people as no sovereign before him had been, died on the th of march, and his son and heir, frederick iii., began his reign of ninety-nine days. sick as he was, and deprived of speech in consequence of his cruel disease, his inborn sense of duty caused him to set out for berlin as soon as the news of the old emperor's death reached him. his proclamation to the people and his rescript to prince bismarck are evidences of the noble and patriotic spirit that animated him; but he was too ill, and his reign was too short, to determine what he would have been to germany had he lived. he died on the th of june, , and almost his last words to his son and successor were: "learn to suffer without complaint." [sidenote: . william ii.] william ii., born on the th of january, , now became emperor of germany. many were the doubts with which he was seen to succeed to the throne. he was young in years, in view of the heavy responsibilities awaiting him; impulsive, where a steady head was required; and a soldier with all his heart. nevertheless, there was nothing to indicate during the first years of his reign that the "old course" had been abandoned. the first important event took place in march, , when the startling news was heard that prince bismarck had sent his resignation to the emperor, and that it had been accepted. for a moment the fate of germany seemed to hang in suspense; but the public mind soon recovered from the shock it had received, and the most thoughtful of people realized that a young ruler, imbued with modern ideas, and with an individuality all his own, could not be expected to remain in harmony with or to be guided by a statesman who, however great and wise, was growing old and in a measure incapable of seeing a new light in affairs of internal policy. on march th the ex-chancellor left berlin to retire to his estates. along his drive to the railway station he received the spontaneous ovations of an immense concourse of people, who by their enthusiastic cheers showed their appreciation for the creator of the new germany. [sidenote: .] the emperor nominated general caprivi chancellor of the empire in place of bismarck. it was a good choice, since william ii. evidently meant in future to be his own chancellor. he was of too vivacious a nature to accept a policy of state and empire made ready to his hands. he had knowledge, and ideas of his own which he expected to carry out. the first serious dissension between the emperor and bismarck seems to have turned upon the question of socialism. bismarck was in favor of combating it with the utmost vigor, in order to avert the dangers threatening to state and society; the emperor, on the contrary, was for conciliatory measures; for listening to the demands of the laboring classes, and remedying by arbitration and further legislation the evils of which they complained. the repressive measures hitherto resorted to, and the new ones proposed, were abandoned, and thus far there is no cause to condemn this "new course." although the dangers from socialism have not grown less, it is no longer necessary for the enemy of social order and justice to hide his face, and by that much it is easier to fight him and to strike at the right spot. another event of note which took place in the same year, is the german-english agreement of july st, by which the respective limits of colonial possessions in africa were regulated, and germany became the possessor of the island of helgoland as a compensation for the lion's share secured in africa by england. the only value germany derives from this acquisition will show itself in a future war, when the fortified island-rock may serve as an outpost, disputing the advance of hostile war ships toward the northern coast of germany. in the following year the triple alliance was renewed, and had the wholesome effect of stopping various rumors of war. besides, russia, who had exchanged uncommon civilities with france, was in no condition to go to war, crippled as she was by the dreadful suffering of her people through famine consequent upon the failure of crops. still another incentive was furnished for france and russia to remain at peace by an understanding between england and italy to keep intact the _status quo_ in the mediterranean. although not a treaty in the literal sense of the word, it was sufficient to raise the prestige of the triple alliance, and thus to strengthen its pacific tendencies. [sidenote: . the army bill.] but the most important feature of internal policy is to be found in the new commercial treaties which germany contracted, first with the two other powers of the triple alliance--austria-hungary and italy--and then with belgium and switzerland, as the most favored nations. the treaties were planned and carefully drafted to bring relief to the industrial classes by opening fresh channels for the exports of the country; but inasmuch as the tariff was lowered by them on the necessities of life, they also favored the rest of the population and especially the laboring classes. these treaties were ratified in parliament by a large majority. in the spring of the year (april th) germany lost one of her greatest men, the field-marshal count moltke, who had lived more than ninety years in the full enjoyment of his powers. another man, who also had been prominent in his way, windthorst, had died just one month before moltke, but he was missed only by the roman catholic centre party, who lost in him their ablest leader. the following year a bill was laid before the prussian assembly purporting to reform the public schools, but introducing at the same time such clauses as would render both public and private schools confessional. the bill was no sooner made public than it became evident that only the ultra conservatives and the centre or ultramontane party were in favor of it, while the other parties, and behind them their constituents, declared themselves extremely opposed to it. in consequence of this bill the whole of germany became greatly agitated; numerous protests were sent to the assembly and the minister of culture, and men of note and intellect put in print their ominous warnings. all this resulted in the withdrawal of the bill and the resignation of the minister of culture, count zedlitz. but before the end of the year a new army measure began to stir afresh the minds of politicians and people. in his speech delivered before parliament on november d, caprivi explained that new sacrifices in money and taxation were necessary, in order to make the german army efficient to fight enemies "on two fronts." he went on to demonstrate that, although no war was in sight, france had surpassed germany in her military organization and numbers, while russia was continually perfecting her strategical railway system, and locating her best troops on her western frontier. to keep up an equal footing with her neighbors, it was necessary for germany to add , men to the present number of soldiers. in order to do this the existing obligation to serve in the army would have to be extended to every one capable of carrying arms. the cost was estimated at $ , , for the first year, and $ , , for every year succeeding. as a compensation for the heavy burdens to be imposed, the government offered to reduce the time for active service from three to two years. [sidenote: .] there was from the first a widespread doubt among the people of the necessity for such heavy sacrifices as were entailed by this bill, and the possibility of carrying it successfully through parliament. the body deferred dealing with it until the following year, when the fate of the bill was adversely decided on the th of may by a majority of forty-eight out of three hundred and seventy-two votes. parliament was at once dissolved, and new elections were ordered to take place on the th of june. in the interval some unexpected splits favoring the government's cause occurred in the centre party and among the liberals, or radicals--a name now more befitting. as the election proceeded, it became more and more evident that the opposition was losing and the government gaining ground. [sidenote: . the army bill.] the newly elected parliament was opened on july th, and the army bill, in a slightly modified form, was passed without delay after the third reading by a majority of sixteen out of three hundred and eighty-six votes. small as this majority seems, it was a decided victory for the government, since the latter had abstained throughout the elections from influencing them in any way. the ultimate passage of the bill, however, leaves the implied financial problem still unsolved. the outlook is not cheerful. although an objective view of recent events is out of the question, there is room for doubting that the future of germany will be tranquil. owing to the general depression in industrial and agricultural fields, the financial question is sure to engender bitterness and strife. nor is there any encouragement to be gained when we consider the numerous factions into which the parliamentary representation of the empire is divided at the present time. what with the proportionately large gain of the social-democrats during the late elections, the numerically powerful centrists acting in the interest of roman catholicism, the particularists asserting themselves again, and the anti-semites with their socialistic affinities, it would seem inevitable that great struggles are yet to come. but we might hopefully say that germany, in the evolution of her national growth, is just now passing through a trying period of change, the mists of which will be swept away in time, when by a clearer apprehension of parliamentary life and practice, and the exercise of a more concentrated patriotism, she will be strong, indeed, in freedom and in unity. chronological table =of german history.= the history of germany is generally divided into five periods, as follows: i.--from the earliest accounts to the empire of charlemagne. ii.--from charlemagne to the downfall of the hohenstaufens. iii.--from the interregnum to the reformation. iv.--from the reformation to the peace of westphalia. v.--from the peace of westphalia to the present time. some historians subdivide these periods, or change their limits; but there seems to be no other form of division so simple, natural, and easily borne in the memory. while retaining it, however, in the chronological table which follows, we shall separate the different dynasties which governed the german empire, up to the time of the interregnum, which is removed, by an irregular succession during two centuries, from the permanent rule of the hapsburg family. first period. (b. c. --a. d. .) =primitive history.= b. c. . the cimbrians and teutons invade italy. . marius defeats the teutons. . marius defeats the cimbrians. . julius cæsar defeats ariovistus. -- . cæsar twice crosses the rhine. -- . campaigns of drusus in northern germany. a. d. . defeat of varus by hermann. -- . campaigns of germanicus. . death of hermann. . revolt of claudius civilis. . tacitus writes his "germania." -- . war of the marcomanni against marcus aurelius. -- . union of the german tribes under new names. . probus invades germany. . julian defeats the alemanni. -- . bishop ulfila converts the goths to christianity. =the migrations of the races.= . the coming of the huns. . the emperor valens defeated by the visigoths. . theodosius divides the roman empire. . alaric's invasion of greece. . alaric meets stilicho in italy. . stilicho defeats the german hordes at fiesole. . alaric takes rome. . alaric dies in southern italy. . ataulf leads the visigoths to gaul. . the vandals, under geiserich, invade africa. . the saxons and angles settle in england. . march of attila to gaul; battle of châlons. . attila in italy. . rome devastated by geiserich and the vandals. . the roman empire overthrown by odoaker. -- . chlodwig, king of the franks. . end of the roman rule in gaul. . theodoric and his ostrogoths conquer italy. . chlodwig defeats the burgundians. . death of theodoric the great. -- . reign of justinian. . the franks conquer thuringia. . the franks conquer burgundy. . belisarius overthrows the vandal power in africa. . extermination of the ostrogoths by narses. =kingdom of the franks.= -- . reign of clotar, king of the franks. . alboin leads the longobards to italy. -- . spread of christianity under pope gregory the great. -- . wars of fredegunde and brunhilde. . murder of brunhilde. -- . clotar ii., king of the franks. . pippin of landen, steward to the royal household. . pippin of heristall. . the saracens conquer spain from the visigoths. . karl martel defeats the saracens at tours. . death of karl martel; pippin the short. . winfried (bonifacius), archbishop of mayence. . pippin the short becomes king of the franks. . pippin founds the temporal power of the popes. . bonifacius slain in friesland. . death of pippin; his sons, karl and karloman. second period. ( -- .) =the carolingian dynasty.= . karl (charlemagne) sole ruler. -- . his wars with the saxons. -- . march to italy; overthrow of the lombard kingdom. -- . charlemagne's invasion of spain. . tassilo, duke of bavaria, deposed. . war with the wends, east of the elbe. . war with the avars, in hungary. . charlemagne crowned emperor in rome. . death of charlemagne. -- . ludwig the pious. . partition of verdun. -- . ludwig the german. . the kingdom of arelat (lower burgundy) founded. -- . karl the fat unites france and germany. -- . arnulf of carinthia. . arnulf defeats the norsemen in belgium. -- . ludwig the child. -- . konrad i., the frank, king of germany. -- . wars with the hungarians. =the saxon emperors.= -- . king henry i., of saxony (the fowler). . victory over the wends. . great victory over the hungarians, near merseburg. . upper and lower burgundy united as one kingdom. -- . otto i., the great. . otto subjects the german dukes. . rebellion against his rule. . the hungarians defeated on the lech. . otto renews the empire of charlemagne. -- . otto ii. . his defeat by the saracens. -- . otto iii.; decline of the imperial power. -- . henry ii.; increasing power of the bishops. . the normans settle in southern italy. =the frank emperors.= -- . konrad ii., emperor. . his visit to rome; friendship with canute the great. . burgundy attached to the german empire. -- . henry iii.; poland, bohemia, and hungary, subject to the empire. . synod of sutri; henry iii. removes three popes. . the "congregation of cluny;" the "peace of god." . pope leo ix. captured by the normans. -- . henry iv. . henry iv.'s abduction by bishop hanno. . revolt of the saxons. . hildebrand becomes pope as gregory vii. . henry iv. deposes the pope, and is excommunicated. . henry iv.'s humiliation at canossa. . death of the anti-king, rudolf of suabia. . henry iv. in rome; ravages of the normans. . death of pope gregory vii. . revolt of konrad, son of henry iv. . the first crusade. . jerusalem taken by godfrey of bouillon. . rebellion of henry, son of henry iv. -- . henry v. . he imprisons pope paschalis ii. . defeat of the saxons. . he is defeated by the saxons. . orders of knighthood founded. . the concordat of worms. . rise of the hohenstaufens. -- . lothar of saxony, emperor. . the north-mark given to albert the bear. . henry the proud, duke of bavaria and saxony. =the hohenstaufen emperors.= -- . king konrad iii.; guelphs and ghibellines. . henry the lion, duke of saxony. . albert the bear, margrave of brandenburg. . the second crusade. -- . frederick i., barbarossa. . union of the lombard cities. . barbarossa's defeat at legnano. . reconciliation with the pope at venice. . otto of wittelsbach, duke of bavaria. . henry the lion banished. . the peace of constance. . the third crusade; death of barbarossa; foundation of the german order. -- . henry vi. (receives also naples and sicily). . richard of the lion-heart imprisoned. . death of henry the lion. -- . philip of suabia; otto iv. of brunswick rival emperor; civil wars. . murder of philip of suabia. . frederick ii., hohenstaufen, comes to germany. -- . frederick ii.'s reign. . the german order occupies prussia. . frederick ii. excommunicated by pope gregory ix. . the fifth crusade, led by frederick ii. . rebellion of frederick's son, henry. . frederick ii.'s victory at cortenuovo. . pope innocent iv. excommunicates the emperor. . death of henry raspe, anti-emperor. . foundation of the hanseatic league. -- . konrad iv. . union of cities of the rhine. . death of william of holland, anti-emperor. . battle of benevento; death of king manfred. . konradin's march to italy, defeat, and execution. third period. ( -- .) =emperors of various houses.= . richard of cornwall and alfonso of castile elected. -- . rudolf of hapsburg, emperor. . defeat of king ottokar of bohemia. -- . adolf of nassau. . union of three swiss cantons. . albert of austria defeats and slays adolf of nassau. -- . albert i. of austria. . he is murdered by john parricida. -- . henry vii. of luxemburg. . the papacy removed from rome to avignon. . henry vii.'s son, john, king of bohemia. . henry vii. poisoned in italy. -- . ludwig the bavarian. -- . frederick of austria, anti-emperor. . battle of morgarten. . ludwig's victory at mühldorf. . he gets possession of brandenburg. . his journey to rome; pope john xxii. deposed. . convention of german princes at rense. . invention of gunpowder. . the pope declares ludwig deposed, and appoints karl iv. of bohemia. . death of ludwig the bavarian. -- . karl iv. (luxemburg). . günther of schwarzburg, anti-emperor. . proclamation of "the golden bull." . tyrol annexed to austria. . the hanseatic league defeats waldemar iii. of denmark. . karl iv. acquires brandenburg. . war of suabian cities with count eberhard. -- . schism in the catholic church. -- . wenzel of bohemia (luxemburg). . battle of sempach. . war of the suabian cities. . wenzel deposed. -- . rupert of the palatinate. . the council of pisa. . the german order defeated by the poles. . three emperors and three popes at the same time. . frederick of hohenzollern receives brandenburg. -- . sigismund of bohemia. -- . the council at constance. . martyrdom of huss. . end of the schism; martin v., pope. -- . the hussite wars; ziska; procopius. -- . council of basel. . death of sigismund. =the hapsburg emperors.= -- . albert ii. of austria; beginning of the uninterrupted succession of the hapsburgs. -- . frederick iii. . battle of st. james. . invention of printing. . constantinople taken by the turks. . treaty of thorn; prussia tributary to poland. . war with charles the bold of burgundy. . battles of grandson and morat. . death of charles the bold; marriage of maximilian of austria and mary of burgundy. -- . frederick the wise, elector of saxony. -- . maximilian i. . perpetual peace declared; the imperial court. . division of germany into districts. fourth period. ( -- .) =the reformation.= . martin luther born. . he enters the university of erfurt. . is appointed professor at wittenberg. . luther's journey to rome. . luther nails his ninety-five theses, against the sale of indulgences, to the church-door in wittenberg. . interview with cajetanus in augsburg. . interview with miltitz in altenburg. . luther burns the pope's bull. -- . charles v., emperor. . luther at the diet of worms; his concealment. . his return to wittenberg. . ferdinand of austria and the bavarian dukes unite against the reformation. . the peasants' war. -- . john the steadfast, elector of saxony. . albert of brandenburg joins the reformers; end of the german order; battle of pavia. . ferdinand of austria inherits hungary and bohemia. . the league of torgau. . war of charles v. against francis i. and the pope; rome taken by the constable de bourbon. . peace of cambray; diet of speyer; the name of "protestants;" luther meets zwingli; vienna besieged by the turks; charles v. crowned at bologna. . diet of augsburg; the "augsburg confession." . league of schmalkalden. . religious peace of nuremberg. -- . john frederick, elector of saxony. . duke ulric of würtemberg joins the protestants. -- . charles v.'s third war with francis i. . ignatius loyola founds the order of jesuits. -- . charles v.'s fourth war with francis i. -- . the council of trent. . death of luther; the schmalkalden war; treachery of maurice of saxony. . battle of mühlberg; capture of john frederick of saxony; philip of hesse imprisoned. . the augsburg "interim." . maurice of saxony marches against charles v.; henry ii. of france takes toul, metz, and verdun. . death of maurice of saxony. . the religious peace of augsburg. . abdication of charles v. -- . ferdinand i. . death of charles v. . death of melanchthon. -- . maximilian ii. . grumbach's rebellion. -- . rudolf ii. . rise of the netherlands against spain. . rudolf ii.'s brother, matthias, rules in austria. . the "protestant union" founded. . the "catholic league" founded; "war of the succession of cleves." -- . matthias, emperor. . end of the "war of the succession of cleves." =the thirty years' war.= . outbreak in prague. -- . ferdinand ii.; frederick v. of the palatinate chosen king of bohemia. . battle near prague; flight of frederick v. . victories of tilly in baden. . tilly defeats prince christian of brunswick. . union of the northern states. . christian iv. of denmark appointed commander; wallenstein enters the field. . defeat of mansfeld by wallenstein: defeat of christian iv. by tilly. . wallenstein's siege of stralsund. . the "edict of restitution." . diet in ratisbon; wallenstein removed: richelieu helps the protestants; gustavus adolphus of sweden lands in germany. . tilly destroys magdeburg; gustavus adolphus defeats tilly and marches to frankfort. . death of tilly; gustavus adolphus in munich; his attack on wallenstein's camp; battle of lützen, and death. . union of protestants under oxenstierna. . murder of wallenstein; defeat of the protestants at nördlingen. . saxony concludes a "separate peace." . victories of baner. -- . ferdinand iii. . duke bernard of weimar victorious in alsatia. . death of duke bernard. . diet at ratisbon. . victories of the swedish general, torstenson. . torstenson's campaign in denmark. . torstenson's victories in bohemia; his march to vienna; the french generals, turenne and condé, in germany. . protestant victories; königsmark takes prague. . the peace of westphalia. fifth period. ( -- .) -- . frederick william of brandenburg, the "great elector." -- . louis xiv., king of france. -- . war of sweden and poland. . battle of warsaw. -- . leopold i. . the duchy of prussia independent of poland. -- . louis xiv.'s invasion of the spanish netherlands; the peace of aix-la-chapelle. -- . louis xiv.'s war against holland. . the "great elector" assists holland. . the battle of fehrbellin. . the elector conquers pomerania. . the peace of nymwegen. . strasburg taken by louis xiv. . siege of vienna by the turks; john sobieski. . the shambles of eperies. -- . frederick, elector of brandenburg. -- . attempts of louis xiv. to obtain the palatinate. . peace of ryswick; prince eugene of savoy defeats the turks at zenta; augustus the strong of saxony becomes king of poland. . peace of carlowitz. . prussia is made a kingdom. -- . war of the spanish succession. . battle of blenheim. -- . joseph i. . victories of marlborough at ramillies and prince eugene at turin. . charles xii. of sweden in saxony. . battle of oudenarde. . battle of malplaquet. -- . karl vi. -- . frederick william i., king of prussia. . the peace of utrecht. . the peace of rastatt; the elector george of hannover becomes king george i. of england. . taking of belgrade by prince eugene. . treaty of passarowitz. . treaty of stockholm; prussia acquires pomerania. -- . war of the polish succession. . death of karl vi. =the age of frederick the great.= . frederick born, in berlin. . his attempted flight; execution of katte. . succeeds to the throne as frederick ii. of prussia. -- . first silesian war. -- . war of the austrian succession. -- . karl vii. (of bavaria), emperor. . peace of breslau; prussia gains silesia. . battle of dettingen. . east friesland annexed to prussia. -- . second silesian war. . battles of hohenfriedberg, sorr, and kesselsdorf; peace of dresden; death of karl vii. -- . francis i. of lorraine. . peace of aix-la-chapelle. . voltaire comes to berlin. -- . the seven years' war. . frederick's successes in saxony and bohemia. . frederick's victory at prague; defeat at kollin; victories at rossbach and leuthen. . ferdinand of brunswick defeats the french; siege of olmütz; victory of zorndorf; surprise of hochkirch. . battles of minden and kunnersdorf; misfortunes of prussia. . battle of liegnitz; taking of berlin; victory of torgau. . frederick hard pressed; losses of prussia. . death of elizabeth of russia; alliance with czar peter iii.; catharine ii.; prussian successes. . the peace of hubertsburg. -- . joseph ii. . interview of frederick the great and joseph ii. . first partition of poland. -- . american war of independence. . troubles with the bavarian succession. . death of maria theresa. . death of frederick the great. -- . frederick william ii., king of prussia. . prussia interferes in holland. -- . austria joins russia against turkey. . death of joseph ii. =wars with the french republic and napoleon.= . beginning of the french revolution. -- . leopold ii. . france declares war against austria and prussia. . campaign in france; battles of valmy and jemappes. -- . francis ii. . second partition of poland; the first coalition; successes of the allies. . france victorious in belgium; prussia victorious on the upper rhine. . third and last partition of poland; prussia makes peace with france. . bonaparte in italy; jourdan defeated in germany; moreau's retreat. . peace of campo formio. -- . frederick william iii., king of prussia. . congress of rastatt; bonaparte in egypt. . the second coalition; suwarrow in italy; bonaparte first consul. . battles of marengo and hohenlinden. . peace of lunéville; france extends to the rhine. . reconstruction of germany; french invasion of hannover. . duke d'enghien shot; napoleon, emperor. . the third coalition; battle of austerlitz; defeat of austria and russia; peace of presburg. . the "rhine-bund" established; francis ii. gives up the imperial crown: battle of jena; all prussia in the hands of napoleon. . battles of eylau and friedland; peace of tilsit; jerome bonaparte made king of westphalia. . napoleon and alexander i. in erfurt; joseph bonaparte, king of spain. . austria begins war with france; revolts of hofer and schill; napoleon marches to vienna; battles of aspern and wagram; peace of schönbrunn. . marriage of napoleon and maria louisa; annexation of holland and northern germany to france. . germany compelled to unite with napoleon against russia; battle of borodino; burning of moscow; the retreat; general york's alliance with russia. . the war of liberation; frederick william iii. yields to the pressure; the army of volunteers; battles of lützen and bautzen; armistice; the fifth coalition; austria joins the allies; victories of the katzbach, kulm, and dennewitz; great battle of leipzig; napoleon's retreat; battle of hanan; germany liberated. . the campaign in france; the allies enter paris; napoleon's abdication; the congress of vienna. . napoleon's return from elba; the new german confederation; battles of ligny and waterloo; end of napoleon's rule; second peace of paris; the "holy alliance." =germany in the nineteenth century.= . the students' convention at the wartburg. . the conference at carlsbad. . a "provincial" representation in prussia. . the july revolution in france; outbreaks in germany. . the zollverein established. -- . ferdinand i., emperor of austria. -- . frederick william iv., king of prussia. . revolution in germany; conflicts in austria, prussia, and baden; war in schleswig-holstein; the national parliament at frankfort; insurrection in hungary and italy; bombardment of vienna; francis joseph, emperor. . frederick william iv. rejects the imperial crown; civil war in baden; austria calls upon russia for help; surrender of görgey; subjection of italy. . troubles in hesse and holstein; end of the national parliament in germany. . restoration of the diet; louis napoleon, emperor. . conference at london concerning schleswig-holstein. -- . war of england and france against russia. . william, prince of prussia, regent. . war of france and sardinia against austria; battles of magenta and solferino. . william i., king of prussia. . bismarck, prime-minister; political troubles in prussia; congress of princes at frankfort. . continued rivalry of austria and prussia. . war in schleswig-holstein; denmark gives up the duchies; the prince of augustenburg in holstein. . agreement of gastein; schleswig and holstein divided between austria and prussia. . austria prepares for war; the german diet dissolved. . battle of langensalza; invasion of saxony and bohemia; battle of königgrätz; the war on the main; truce of nikolsburg; annexation of hannover, hesse-cassel, nassau, and frankfort to prussia; the peace of prague. . establishment of the north-german union; the question of luxemburg; hostility of france. . oecumenical council in rome. . france declares war against prussia; all the german states, except austria, unite; battles of weissenburg and wörth; the german armies move on metz; battles of courcelles, mars-la-tour, and gravelotte; the battle of sedan, and surrender of napoleon iii.; the republic declared in paris; capitulation of strasburg and metz; siege of paris; the war on the loire and in the northern provinces. . victories of prince frederick karl at le mans; bourbaki's repulse by werder; surrender of paris; bourbaki's retreat into switzerland; william i. of prussia proclaimed emperor of germany; the peace of frankfort; foundation of the new german empire. . beginning of conflict between the german government and the roman church; falk made minister of culture; the jesuits banished from germany. . the boundaries defined between state and church; the may laws. . civil marriage made obligatory. . the _kulturkampf_ beginning to lag. . two murderous attempts on the life of emperor william i.; the exceptional law against the social-democrats put in force. . falk resigns; appointment of reactionary minister of culture; alliance with austria. . emperor william i. opens parliament; legislation for bettering the condition of the working classes. . revision of the may laws; triple alliance. . warlike attitude of russia and france; death of ludwig ii. of bavaria. . parliamentary conflict in regard to the military budget; dissolution of parliament; new elections result in favor of the government. . death of emperor william i.; frederick iii., emperor; his reign of ninety-nine days; his death; succession of william ii. . bismarck resigns the chancellorship; general caprivi succeeds him; german-english agreement. . renewal of triple alliance; new commercial treaties. . introduction of a new military bill. . defeat of army bill; dissolution of parliament; the bill carried as a result of new elections. the end. transcriber's notes italic phrases are enclosed with underlines [_] in the text version and bold phrases are enclosed by equal signs [=]. sidenotes replace page headings from the original. they are moved to the nearest following paragragh break. images are moved to the nearest paragraph break to make the text more readable. the following are used interchangeably: grand-sons grandsons eugenie eugénie gunther günther luneville lunéville cooperation coöperation page xxx (text to be searched). action taken. page (the name is written). changed from 'writen' to 'written'. page (he met pope adrian iv.,). changed 'adrain' to 'adrian'. page (--change in military service.). changed 'servive' to 'service'. page ( , king stanislas). changed 'king' to king'. page (at the different courts,). was 'differents courts' in original. page (longwy). as in original. generously made available by case western reserve university preservation department digital library) alsace-lorraine a study of the relations of the two provinces to france and to germany and a presentation of the just claims of their people by daniel blumenthal formerly deputy from strasbourg in the reichstag; senator from alsace-lorraine; and mayor of the city of colmar with an introduction by douglas wilson johnson associate professor of physiography in columbia university g. p. putnam's sons new york and london the knickerbocker press copyright, by daniel blumenthal the knickerbocker press, new york introduction the problem of alsace-lorraine is in a very real sense an american problem. we entered this war to help crush the teutonic scheme of world domination and to free the democratic nations of the earth from the menace of militaristic autocracy. any issue which involves these fundamental causes of american intervention in the great struggle must command the careful attention of every thoughtful american citizen. alsace and lorraine provide just such an issue. in these provinces were forcibly torn from france and annexed to a militaristic autocracy, despite the bitter protests of the mother country and the impassioned appeals of her unfortunate children. this crime was but one of many incident to the scheme of building up a world empire controlled by a prussianized germany; but in a peculiar degree it outraged the democratic sympathies of the world and enhanced the prestige of autocratic militarism in the opinion of the german people. as the most recent and most striking fruit of the prussian policy of conquest, alsace-lorraine is today the visible pledge of the professed efficiency of autocracy and the supposed decadence of democracy. the vindication of democracy demands the "disannexation" of alsace-lorraine and its return to democratic france. the security of the world demands that the prussian policy of military conquest be discredited and destroyed by depriving the german people of the unholy profits of that policy. justice to the mother country and to her lost children demands that their combined protests be heard and that the crime of ' be rectified. americans are fighting for the vindication of democracy, for the security of the world, and for the triumph of justice. when they fully understand that a peace which should leave alsace-lorraine under german control would be a denial of democracy, a peril to civilization, and a travesty on justice, our chivalrous people will refuse to lay down the sword until the lost children of our gallant ally are restored to their rightful sovereignty. no one is more eminently qualified to bring to the american people the facts in the case of alsace-lorraine than is the honourable daniel blumenthal. himself an alsatian by birth, he can speak from the heart on behalf of his brothers and sisters. honoured by his fellow citizens with election to the high office of mayor of the important alsatian city of colmar for a period of nine years, he speaks with the authority of one who has the full confidence of those alsatians who know him best. a member of the german reichstag and of the alsace-lorraine senate for many years, he speaks with peculiar knowledge of the imperial government's treatment of the conquered lands. condemned to death eight times and carrying sentences aggregating more than five hundred years of penal servitude, all imposed upon him by the imperial german government because he escaped from the empire to tell the world the truth about alsace-lorraine, he comes to us with the highest recommendations which the prussian autocracy has power to give. americans will read with unusual interest his testimony regarding the lost provinces of france. douglas wilson johnson. new york city, november , . alsace-lorraine [illustration: map of alsace and lorraine. the darker shading shows portion of territory ceded to germany in .] the problem of alsace-lorraine the problem of alsace-lorraine began with the treaty of frankfort made between the german empire and the french republic, may , . beaten by the german armies, france, at the mouth of the cannon, was forced, notwithstanding the solemn protests of the inhabitants, to give up part of her territory. the alsace-lorraine problem has a three-fold character. it concerns germany, france, and the world. france not having stipulated in the treaty of frankfort any clause as to the treatment of the people of alsace-lorraine now become german, the german empire alone had the formal right to decide their fate, and it is _vis-à-vis_ to germany that alsace-lorraine must make its claims. the question of the rule of alsace-lorraine became a problem of the internal policy of the empire, and therefore a purely german affair. the french government has always scrupulously respected the treaty of frankfort, but the french people have never given up the hope of redressing the gross wrong of , and all the french policy has been based on the necessity of protection against renewed german aggression. in vain did germany declare that no alsace-lorraine question existed; not only does this question exist, but it has become the principal obstacle in the way of political reconciliation between france and germany. whether one wishes it or not, it is _the_ franco-german question _par excellence_. at the same time it has an _international_ character of the highest importance. the form of alliances, the bidding for armaments, the terms of armed peace, these were the natural consequences of this state of things. france never would have undertaken, and alsace-lorraine never would have demanded, a war of revenge to secure the return of alsace-lorraine to france. but since the horrors of war have been let loose upon the world by the criminal folly of germany, the problem of alsace-lorraine has become a _world problem_ of the highest importance. from the beginning of the war, the president of the french republic, the president of the senate, the president of the chamber of deputies, the president of the council, and all the heads of government who have succeeded one another, and recently parliament itself, the senate, and chamber of deputies, all have in accord with the whole french nation, manifested the unshaken determination not to end the war without the assurance of the return of alsace-lorraine to the mother country. alsace-lorraine has constituted a striking example of the denial of the principle of the right of the people to govern themselves, but now the question has become actually of great practical importance. being the principal object of france in the future peace treaty, it is quite natural that all the nations, and above all the belligerent ones, should be obliged to give to it very particular attention. even for the united states, who will have a most important rôle to play in the congress of peace, the question of alsace-lorraine is one which they cannot treat as being of interest only to france and germany. in its nature and from the fact that it is the corner-stone of the first claim to be made by france, it concerns right and justice. it is consequently opportune that even those who up to the present time have had no special reason for interest in alsace-lorraine should come to know certain facts about this little country in order to be able to form for themselves a just and trustworthy opinion of the disputed question. territory alsace-lorraine is bounded on the north by bavaria, prussia, luxembourg, and france; on the south by switzerland and france, on the east by the grand duchy of baden, and on the west by france. it is entirely made up of territory surrendered by france to germany by the treaty of frankfort. this included the following parts of france: the department of the lower rhine, the department of the upper rhine with the exception of belfort, three quarters of the department of moselle, a third of the department of meurthe, and two cantons of the vosges. the area is about , square kilometres. population german official statistics give on the st of december, , a population of , , inhabitants. the last census of gives , , souls ( , men, , women). this population includes about , , alsaces-lorraines of french descent, who themselves or their parents were born in alsace-lorraine before the st of may, , and who, except for the treaty of frankfort, would have been french. the aliens (notably the italians, french, swiss, and the people of luxembourg) make up a contingent of about , . the rest, , in all, are german immigrants since the war of - , and their descendants, including the military and government officials with their families. the original french people of the ceded territories were allowed to preserve their french nationality on condition of making an express declaration before october , , and to transfer, within the same extension of time, their domicile outside of alsace-lorraine. from the official german reports, there were about , options declared in alsace-lorraine, of which only , were valid. the options given in france amounted to about , . the statistics of emigration and immigration for - give an excess of emigration of , souls. the result of the migration of the population in august, , can thus be characterized: some hundred thousand alsatians left the country, the greater part of whom settled in france. the number of the native population has remained stationary; , germans and , foreigners must be added. the german population is almost entirely concentrated in the cities. in metz, the immigrants make up the majority; in strasbourg, they are a third of the population. in the country, one finds in general only a few officials. concerning the language, distinction must be made between alsace and lorraine. in most parts of lorraine, french is spoken exclusively, whereas, in the greater part of alsace, we find a german patois mixed up with many french words and expressions; and so entirely distinct is it from the _hochdeutsch_ of the germans, that after forty-seven years they are not able to understand it. everyone who is at all educated speaks french, in spite of the obstacles the germans are always putting in the way of teaching the french tongue. all who know french speak it from preference, and no one who speaks good german, and they have all learned it in the schools, ever use it in private life. the official language is of course german. as to religion: after the census of , there were found to be % catholics, % protestants, - / % jews, and a / % miscellaneous. the _professional_ census of gives the following results: about one fourth of the population are in agriculture, half are occupied in commerce and industry, and a quarter enter the liberal professions or follow no trade at all. as to the ethnological origin of the aboriginal people, the germans at once declare that alsace was settled by the teutons. about lorraine they prefer to be silent. but while it is certain that alsace after the migration of the tribes presents a mixed population composed of celtic and germanic elements, it would be very difficult to analyse today such an amalgamation. do not let us forget that julius cæsar in his famous work, _de bello gallico_, has said that the country of the celts which he calls galli (gaul) was bounded by the "_flumen rhenum_" (the rhine), and tacitus, the illustrious historian, declares: "_germania omnis a gallis rheno separatur_" (the whole of germany is separated from gaul by the rhine). the invasion of alsace by ariovistus was victoriously repulsed at the battle of ochsenfeld b.c., and a new attempt of the germanic tribes to invade alsace in a.d. failed before the army of julian the philosopher. during the centuries of roman domination, which have left deep traces on the country (building of cities, construction of roads, commercial and industrial development of all kinds), alsace enjoyed great prosperity. moreover, a recent authoritative work, _wohin gehoert elsass-lothringen_, shows that from the last scientific researches, the shape of the german skull, which the germans love to indicate as the sign of the superiority of the german race, is represented in alsace only in the proportion of one to three, and the so-called germanic type (blue eyes and yellow hair) is nowhere predominant. alsace is in fact a conclusive example of the fact that the use of a dialect of german origin does not necessarily indicate the race of those who speak it and certainly does not prove a community of sentiments or ideas. this applies also to the german names of the alsatian communes. let us remember on this subject, that very recently german names have been officially given to french localities in lorraine. when the germans wish to accomplish a master stroke of policy they are careful to quote the herren professoren in justification of the establishment of an historic precedent. renan, in a mildly bantering spirit, complimented them on their extraordinary talent in these ridiculous attempts. "with the philosophy of history," says he, "as practised by the germans, there are no legal rights in the world but those of the ourang-outangs, unjustly deprived of these by the perfidy of civilized man." in the main, it matters little to whom alsace-lorraine has belonged during the vicissitudes of history. that only which is important from the point of view of modern history is the act of by which germany tore alsace-lorraine from france when all the inhabitants of the ceded territories were thoroughly french and wished so to remain. this is the truth, and it is confirmed by an authority little suspected by the germans. professor theobald ziegler, who up to the present moment was professor of science at the university of strasbourg, and a liberal democrat, has changed to a pan-germanist of the most pronounced type. here is what the herr professor ziegler acknowledges, writing in the review _die grenzboten_, march , : "what makes a nation? not the feeling of race nor the consciousness of belonging to the same stock which is often lost in the uncertainty and obscurity of history; not the soil, which may be transferred from one people to another as in the case of alsace; not the language--one has only to think of switzerland where three languages are spoken; not even interests in common, for these exist in every society, but just the living together of two centuries shared with the great nation of france has made alsace-lorraine french." but ziegler and his friends have forgotten that to live together there must be mutual understanding and esteem. history teaches that no appreciable advantage is to be gained unless the peoples agree, or if one nation tries to impose its brutal domination over another. and yet it is just this which is the great obstacle that prevents germany from assimilating alsace-lorraine and has condemned all its efforts to eternal failure. incompatibility of disposition of the germans and the inhabitants of alsace-lorraine in his excellent volume, _the peril of prussianism_, professor douglas w. johnson has traced, in a masterly fashion, the difference between the two ideals of government, one starting with the principle that the state is made to serve the people, the other, that the people are made to serve the state, a view personified by the kaiser in germany today. the alsaces-lorraines have always had great independence of character; they are thoroughly democratic and republican, for which reason they so quickly and solidly became a part of the french nation, which, even under different forms of monarchical government, respected their liberty and democratic ideals. the political history of alsace-lorraine furnishes a new proof of this fact on every page. lorraine became a part of france at the convention of friedwald in hessen, january , , when the german protestant princes at war with the catholic house of austria, gave metz, toul, and verdun to the king of france, henry ii., in exchange for subsidies furnished by france. in the treaty of westphalia in , alsace was ceded to france in exchange for services which the king gave to the german protestant princes fighting against the catholic empire. alsace was conquered for france by the german prince, bernard de saxe-weimar, on the demand and in the interest of germany which had called upon france for help. strasbourg, which had remained a free independent city, opened her gates to france in . the republic of mulhouse, which made a part of helvetia, asked, and obtained the request, to be incorporated into france in . neither alsace nor lorraine ever made part of the german empire founded in , and to which vanquished france was obliged to give up these territories. when these two provinces came into the possession of france, they were bound by rather loose ties to the holy roman empire, of which the house of austria was at the head. the austria-hungary empire did not survive the napoleonic wars, and i do not know that it ever claimed any part of alsace-lorraine. on the contrary, in order to found the german empire and appropriate alsace-lorraine, prussia had to make war on austria in to put her out of germany. the german empire is wrong, therefore, in making an appeal to anything but _force_ to explain, if not to justify the spoliation of france. alsace-lorraine was never a political entity before . we have seen that alsace was still a part of the holy roman empire, while lorraine had already belonged to france for a hundred years. alsace, alone, had never been a state. this is how the learned professor of the university of caen, georges weil, describes in his remarkable book, _french alsace from to _, the period after the reunion of alsace with france: "it was a strange mosaic of different freeholds, of principalities both lay and ecclesiastical, of free cities or those almost autonomous. among these freeholds many belonged to german princes. a sixth part of alsace was owned by foreigners." the emperor's authority had been only nominal. on his visits, which were few and far between, he was received with courtesy, money was freely given to him, but the people always rejoiced when they saw him leave. the alsatians received but little assistance from the empire; alsace secured no help when menaced or invaded by foreign armies. the ten ancient cities flourished under an almost autonomous rule. even before the reunion with france, cultivated society was filled with the french spirit. after the thirty years' war, the country felt the benefit of the protection of a powerful state with a well-ordered government which respected its habits and customs and which administered justice. so their sympathies were quickly given to their new political country with which, by reason of their democratic ideals, they were already politically in sympathy. that which rapidly attached the people to the new régime was, on the one hand, the friendly and intelligent interest of the royal intendants who protected the subjects from arbitrary lords and other local authorities, and on the other hand, the sovereign council of alsace, sitting at colmar, which was to simplify, and, if possible, to unify, the customs that were in force in different parts of the country and also insure a sound administration of justice. the success was complete. a german, françois d'ichterscheim, was obliged to acknowledge, in a work published in , that the sovereign council "rules with strict justice, law-suits are not too lengthy, expenses are not too heavy, and above all, no favour is shown to either litigant, the subject often winning his suit against the sovereign,--the poor against the rich, the layman against the clergy, the christian against the jew, and _vice-versa_." the people were contented and satisfied. the alsatian has always had a pronounced taste for the military career. many young peasants enlisted in french regiments and were well received. the nobility furnished a number of officers to the french army. alsatian gentlemen enjoyed taking part in the gay social life of the french aristocracy. alsatian scholars kept in constant touch with paris, where they received every encouragement and were much appreciated. it is not astonishing then, that monsieur schmettan, ambassador of russia to the king of france, should write in : "it is well-known that the alsatians are more french than the parisians themselves." the holding in common of the same ideas and feelings was even more accentuated at the time of the revolution, and no part of france was better prepared by her past history for the coming of a rule of democracy and equality. in , alsace was called upon for the first time to elect a provincial assembly which would represent the interests of a large number of domains, princely seignorial, and municipal, the commission chosen to make a report to the assembly declared: "that which tends to feudalism carries a mark of servitude not to be tolerated in a well-constituted society." in the elections for the États généraux, the little bourgeoisie won in all the cities against the oligarchy which desired to retain the control. reubell, who played an important rôle in the revolution, and who was a member of the directory, was elected at colmar. the peasants hailed with enthusiasm the decree of august , , which marked the end of the feudal régime. the suppression of the custom-house duties between alsace and the rest of france sealed the economic union between the new and the old countries so that the creation of the departments of the upper and the lower rhine was effected without any difficulty. after the proclamation of the equality of the french people, the right to levy on the feudal rents in france, which the german princes who owned property in alsace had exercised, could no longer exist. the germans protested and the conflict which followed, in , was the first war against the french republic. in the report which the well-known civilian, merlin de douai, made to the _constituante_, october , , is the following passage, very characteristic of the bonds which unite alsace to france: "the alsatian people have united themselves to france because they wish so to do; it is their own desire, therefore, and not the treaty of münster which has legalized the union." in february, , dietrich was elected mayor of strasbourg against the conservative candidate, and in june, , the partisans of the _constituante_ celebrated amid great pomp and with the co-operation of the clergy of different denominations, the fêtes of the federation of the rhine. the alsatian national guard set up in the middle of a bridge over the rhine, a tri-coloured flag which bore the inscription: "here the land of liberty begins." it was on the night following the day that it was known at strasbourg (april , ), that war had been declared, that captain rouget de l'isle composed "the war song for the army of the rhine," which under the name of _la marseillaise_ became the national hymn of france. kléber, who at that time commanded a battalion from the upper rhine, writes, november , , in reference to the warlike enthusiasm of the alsatian volunteers, "not one of them ever dreams of deserting his flag; the wounded, yes, and even the sick have implored me for mercy's sake, to keep them with the battalion." in , there was the menace of another war, and the inhabitants were most zealous in strengthening the fortresses. an official of the lower rhine wrote in his report on the subject of the alsatians: "they will, like the rhine, always be the impregnable bulwark of the republic" (g. weil). the assimilation of france and alsace was made complete during the revolution. fustel de coulanges well summed up this truth when he wrote in : "do you know what has made alsace french? it is not louis xiv., but it is our revolution of . from that moment alsace has followed our fortunes; she has lived our life; she thinks as we think; she feels as we feel; our glories and our faults, our joys and our sorrows." the wars of the empire gave to the alsatians a chance to display their military aptitude which they rendered the more generously to the service of the country, as promotion was given to each according to his merits; each soldier carried in his knapsack the baton of a maréchal de france! the generals of alsace and of lorraine who distinguished themselves in the army of the republic and with napoleon are numerous. among the best known are kléber, kellermann, rapp, lefévre, ney, mouton, lasalle, shérer, westermann, and schramm. the names of twenty-eight alsatian generals are engraved upon the arc de triomphe at paris. * * * * * many able alsatians devoted themselves to the administration of the german countries that were at that time under the french government. their knowledge of german helped them in their task. after the disasters in russia and in leipzig, in , the alsatians showed exemplary devotion in their preparations for defence and sacrifices for the army. in his _mémoires_, ségur says on this subject: "there were no better, braver, more generous frenchmen in all france." never, during all these trying days, did they remember that their forebears had been subjects of the holy empire. at the beginning of the nineteenth century, after the fall of napoleon, the pan-germans made a campaign for the annexation of alsace-lorraine in launching the slogan: _der rhein, deutschlands strom nicht deutschlands grenze_ (the rhine is a german river and not germany's boundary). this found no echo in alsace, which forced from the poet, rückert, the heartfelt cry of indignation which fell from the lips of the german soldiers, who were obliged to evacuate alsace: "and thou alsace! degermanized race, thou too dost jeer at us, oh, deepest infamy!" the alsatian poet, ehrenfried stoeber, whom the germans readily invoked on account of his dialect, said that if his harp was german his sword was french. referring to the revolution he said: "if we speak of the wars of the revolution in which we fought for our independence and the protection of the indefeasible rights of man, it is because we are proud of our fervent ardour and enthusiasm." under the restored kingdom of the bourbons, orderly citizens knew how to command respect in their new country without sacrificing in the least their democratic and republican ideals. a prefect of the upper rhine registered in his report of : "all are submissive, but none are royalist." de serre, an elector of the department wrote: "ultra-royalism is not the spirit which actuates my constituents." the prefect, puymaigre, candidly complains in of the advanced ideas of the citizens: "they give faith," said he, "with a most deplorable credulity, to all the most dangerous political systems." the same year, after his tour in alsace, general foy expressed himself as follows: "if all that is good and generous in the hearts of the inhabitants of ancient france ever becomes enfeebled, they must journey over the vosges and come to alsace to renew their patriotism and energy." the monarchy of july marks a period of uninterrupted prosperity for alsace. the return of the tri-colour was hailed with joy. the democratic idea grew and was represented chiefly by the _courrier du bas-rhin_ which influenced public opinion. after , the reactionary persecutions abated against the germans who were liberal minded and they received an hospitable welcome to alsace. with their innate absence of tact, many of them tried to convince their hosts that alsace was still a german province, and in this way they forfeited all sympathy. the alsatians desire there should be no misunderstanding as to the nature of the sympathy shown to unjustly persecuted refugees, and the international courtesy practised by them even towards the germans. in , when the german delegates to the scientific congress of france were received at strasbourg, the mouthpiece of the alsatians spoke of the sympathies of his countrymen for germany; but to avoid any mistake he added: "but if we gaze toward her, it is not with the eyes of a child torn from the paternal home, but rather, if you will permit the comparison, with the affectionate look with which the young wife greets once more her mother's house, happy under the new roof which shelters her, and with the name of her husband which she bears with pride." alsace has never wavered from this fidelity to france. in the second republic was accepted with satisfaction. under louis philippe the country had enjoyed great material prosperity, but the middle classes were restless because the government took no measures to reform the electorate in the democratic sense. at this time great fêtes were held to celebrate the two hundredth anniversary of the union of alsace and france. the mayor of strasbourg said on this occasion: "it is without doubt no longer necessary to make a solemn and public profession of undying devotion to france. she does not doubt us, she has faith in alsace; but if germany still lulls herself with futile illusions, if she still finds in the persistence of the german language a sign of irresistible sympathy and attraction toward her, she is mistaken. alsace is just as much french as brittany, flanders, and the country of the basques, and she will so remain." the affection of france kept pace always with the profession of democratic and republican ideals. when the prince-president came to strasbourg in , he was received in all the villages of alsace with shouts of _vive la république!_ the municipal council of strasbourg had refused to give any funds for his reception. at strasbourg and at mulhouse the national guard was dismissed by the government. the colonel of the strasbourg legion said in his farewell address: "it is true that at times you express with great vigour republican sentiments, but this is with you an original sin, and i fear me that the remedy applied will not be effectual in its correction." during the second empire, alsace was a hotbed of republican resistance, particularly in the upper rhine. however, at this time, the country again enjoyed a great prosperity. the military career continued to attract the alsatians. the great advantages assured to the reinlisted soldiers induced many of them to enter the army as volunteers. the wars in algeria under louis philippe had already shown, among the combatants, a great number of alsatians. the intellectual culture of the provinces turned towards france and made great progress. erckmann and chatrian expressed marvellously well the aspirations and democratic ideals of the people in magnifying the rôles of the alsatians and the lorrainers in the heroic period of the revolution and the first empire. the peoples of alsace and lorraine were, like those of the rest of france, divided into political parties, and one often saw disagreements, generally legal, with the ideas of the respective governments. but no one ever evinced the slightest regret at no longer belonging to the holy empire, or the least desire to re-enter the bosom of germany. when the war of broke out, alsace and lorraine were very french, and during that war the people of both provinces bravely and patriotically did their duty to france. the people were thus badly prepared for a change of nationality, and far from looking on their new teuton compatriots as brothers, they cordially detested the germans who during the war had conducted themselves to the limit of savagery. the forced community of life with the germans soon showed an irreconcilable opposition between the native and the immigrant population. alsace-lorraine could live whole centuries with the germans without becoming germanized, whereas two centuries of life in common with france, freely consented to, had proved sufficient to make them frenchmen. this spontaneous fusion could never have been possible if alsace-lorraine and france had not always had the same ideals of civilization. the alsatian and the lorrainer leaned always toward french culture, and from the moment they were politically separated from the holy empire they had nothing more in common with german _kultur_. the alsatian-lorrainer, who from the point of view of character greatly resembles the free citizen of america, is a very practical man. he willingly makes use of all the opportunities in life to improve his economic condition, but joined to these qualities is a deeply rooted idealism which will make any sacrifice to secure his independence, and to assure for him the dignity of freedom. he has brilliant military qualities, but he will never be a militarist. he will fight bravely for the defence of a just cause about which he is enthusiastic, because it means the fulfilment of a sacred duty. but he will never be willing to remain under the dominion of a power like that of prussia and be forced to carry arms for causes that he detests and disdains. the alsatian-lorrainer has no affection for dynasty, he is absolutely wanting in respect for the hierarchy; he has a feeling for order and equality before the law, he is loyal and respectful to authority but exempt from all servitude. the german, on the contrary, with his class feeling, abasing himself, as it were, in platitudes before his superiors, hard and arrogant toward his inferiors, in admiration before the _angestammtes herrscherhaus_ (traditional dynasty), accustomed to march under the lash, without any idealism, finding in the distribution of the booty of war a compensation for all humiliations,--such a man does not understand that the alsatian-lorrainer does not rejoice to find himself belonging to a nation of the elect, a nation that has the most formidable war machine to crush, from time to time according to its whim, any growth of material prosperity effected by free competition in the economic struggle. alsace-lorraine is impervious to those ideas. against her will, she was torn from france and she wishes to return. it is this which makes clear her history from to this day. the protest as soon as it was a question of the necessity of giving up a part of the territory, all the deputies of the threatened departments signed a declaration, february , , which, among other passages, contained the following: "alsace and lorraine do not wish to be alienated. associated for more than two centuries with france, both in good and bad fortune, these two provinces, exposed without intermission to the blows of the enemy, have constantly sacrificed themselves for the greatness of the nation; they have sealed with their blood the insoluble compact which binds them to france. made doubtful by the claims of the enemy, they assert, through all the obstacles and all the dangers under the yoke even of the invader, their unshaken fidelity. unanimously the citizens in their homes, the soldiers who rallied beneath the flag, those who voted and those who fought, all signified to germany and to the world the immutable will of alsace and of lorraine to remain french." march , , the same deputies signed a new protest which they deposited at the bureau of the national assembly in which we find the following announcement: "we declare once more null and void a pact which disposes of us without our consent. the claim to our rights always remains open to each and to all in the form and the measure that our conscience dictates to us." when the alsatians were permitted by germany to send deputies to the reichstag, the fifteen who were elected protested on their side against annexation february , . we find in their declaration the following passage: "in choosing us all, just as we are, our electors before everything else wish to affirm their sympathy with france and their right to govern themselves." these solemn declarations have never been revoked by any equivalent or contrary statement. not even during the actual war and reign of terror established in the annexed provinces has the german government succeeded in forcing from the representatives of alsace-lorraine a statement expressing the desire to remain german. the attempt to make such a manifestation by the votes of the council-generals, of whom the suspected members had previously been deported to germany, saying that the economic interest of alsace-lorraine necessitated the maintenance of the _status quo_, only served to demonstrate the insecurity of the political situation of the german empire in alsace-lorraine. what lamentable drivel in comparison to the dignified and generous language of the magnificent protests of bordeaux. it accords well with the philosophy of german diction which the baron de bulach, secretary of state, jeeringly dared recommend to his compatriots as a line of conduct: "_wess brod ich ess des lied ich sing_" (whose bread i eat, his song i sing). nothing, moreover, would be less exact than to think that the alsatians lived on the germans or that their material well-being depended in any way on the economic life of the german empire, or that the prosperity of the country was in all, or even in great part, to be credited to the germans. it is not within the scope of our essay to present a study of the economic situation of the country, which, if she has been prosperous in some directions, has often been hindered by the predominance given to rival interests of other german countries. the project of constructing a canal from ludwigshafen to strasbourg was abandoned because contrary to the interests of the town of mannheim. the canalling of the sarre and of the moselle was basely sacrificed to the interests of the prussian industries of la ruhr, which looked with an enemy's eye on any progress in the industry of lorraine. the prohibition of american plants for the replacing of the destroyed vines, in execution of the law concerning the fight against the blight of the vine, was dictated by a sentiment of protection for the german vine-culture against the vine-culture of alsace-lorraine. often also, the administration took arbitrary measure against certain trades and industries to injure their interests for the profit of their competitors, or for some determined political end. the illegal prohibition made to the french insurance companies of assurances to continue business in alsace-lorraine, by which a blow was given to a number of agents in their enterprises, and the threat made to the alsatian society of mechanical construction of grafenstaden to countermand the orders from prussia if the society refused to dismiss a director suspected of french sympathy, are convincing proofs of the antagonism of the government. we mention the flagrant injustice with which the german interests were always advanced to the detriment of alsace-lorraine in the distribution of contracts for public works. but, if alsace-lorraine in general could prosper economically, notwithstanding a detestable policy, hated by its population, in what way, we ask ourselves, could that prosperity be compromised by the return of alsace-lorraine to france? above all, as france is a republic, a form of government which was welcomed with joy by the people september , , and which answers in the best manner to their time-honoured worldly aspirations. the loss of the market which alsace-lorraine has made for herself in germany will find a rapid offset in the reopening of its business relations with france. certain great industries, such as the iron mines of lorraine and those of potash in alsace, would certainly increase. but that is not at all the question. we have to do with a great moral issue for transcending the material considerations which the german thinks so important and which in his mind are all-conclusive. evidence of this is the following quotation from the _gazette de voss_ published july, : "the act of yielding alsace would involve giving up valuable beds of potash and this would be disastrous to german agriculture of which it is an absolutely necessary ingredient." one sees by this kind of reasoning the nature of the affection of germany for alsace-lorraine. alsace-lorraine under german rule it would take volumes to describe in detail the martyrdom of alsace-lorraine under the domination of germany. i can enumerate only a few of the acts and methods that have characterized german rule. the impartial reader will easily conclude that alsatians are not made to live with germans and that the return of their province to the mother country of france is the only possible solution of the alsatian question with justice and equity. alsace-lorraine was given to the german empire unconditionally. the new master could do with the country just as he pleased. if he has not divided it between the members of the confederation it is because it was difficult to agree on the division of the spoils, and because also bismarck wished to make a "glacis" which would cement the union of the germans by continually showing them the danger that threatened in the west. the only thing the germans did not think of in deciding the fate of alsace-lorraine was the interest of the alsatians themselves. bismarck did not hesitate to acknowledge this and stated in the reichstag to the first deputies who protested: "it is not for your interest that we have conquered you, but for the interest of the empire." and the official paper of strasbourg, the _strassburger post_, after forty years of german domination, also summarizes the attitude of the german empire towards the alsatians in this odious phrase: _oderint dum metuant_ (let them hate, so long as they fear). the german empire, which is composed of twenty-five confederated states, made of the annexed territory a "reichsland," that is to say, an undivided joint property. this new political entity received the name of elsass-lothringen (alsace-lorraine). german scholars are still arguing today over the legal aspect of this decision. it is certain, as against the german states which possess equal rights, that alsace-lorraine is arbitrarily ruled by the empire without any inherent right. alsace-lorraine was always treated as a state when it was a question of meeting certain obligations (contributions, military service, assessments for the expenses of the empire). the honour was even paid of trusting them with the receipt of custom-house dues for the account of the empire on their territory. this brought upon the province an unwarranted outlay of more than a million marks a year, representing the excess of the customs above the amount refunded to the provinces. alsace-lorraine possessed only those "rights" which the empire grudgingly conceded. whereas louis xv. accorded to the provinces united to france the enjoyment of their ancient privileges, the german empire began by treating the alsatians less liberally than its german subjects. in germany each state has the constitution it wishes for itself, but alsace-lorraine has a constitution imposed upon it by the empire, and this can be suspended or suppressed at the imperial will. the different constitutions that have been granted in the course of forty-two years (the latest went into effect in ) to the reichsland, which had been ruled by a dictatorship as a legal constitution, were alike in this, that the legislative and the executive powers were left completely in the hands of the kaiser and the king of prussia. the kaiser exercises the power of the state (_staatsgewalt_) for the account of the empire. there is a parliament (_landtag_) made up of two chambers to which the second is given universal suffrage, and the first (of which i had the honour of being a member, elected by the town of colmar) composed in a way to assure a majority to the kaiser, who has the right to name as many members as the number of those elected and those holding by right. as there are members not named for life, and as among those who are so by right and by choice there are always a large number who are not independent, the kaiser can never be in the minority in the senate. but if by any chance such a thing should happen, it could have no importance because the kaiser is himself the chief factor in legislation. in order that a law for alsace-lorraine may come into force, it must have the consent of the two chambers and of the emperor. under these conditions it is prussia that rules, and i know that no attempt to pass a law in alsace-lorraine can be made without first obtaining a favourable opinion from the ministry of prussia. in order never to be thwarted by the passive resistance of the second chamber, our constitution, which the germans characterize as democratic, provides that if parliament refuses to vote the budget, the government has the right to incur expenditure based on the figures of the preceding budget. the germans have wished to emphasize as a great concession to the claims of alsace-lorraine the fact that in the last constitution given to reichsland they have been given a voice in the _bundesrat_ (federal council). this _bundesrat_ is composed of the representatives of the chief of the states of the empire. it is this council that with the consent of the reichstag, which is the representative of the german people, gave universal suffrage and that makes the laws for the empire. now, owing to the importance of territory and number of inhabitants, alsace-lorraine ought to hold sixth rank among the states of the empire. she has been given three votes in the council. but, as it is the _staatshalter_ (vice-king) of alsace-lorraine who gives the instructions as to how those three votes will be cast, and as the vice-king is an office-holder subject to recall by the emperor who is the king of prussia, there is no danger that those votes will ever operate against prussia. this dependence on prussia of the votes of alsace-lorraine has been disingenuously marked by a special provision inserted on this occasion in the constitution of the empire, in which it is said that every time a favourable majority vote for prussia cannot be polled in the _bundesrat_ except with the help of the alsatian vote, those votes will not be counted. up to this day alsace-lorraine has never ceased to be governed by a legislation outside of the common right. today even, an act is pending in berlin which provides exceptional measures for the suppression of journals printed in french. all the efforts of the germans, the special legislation for alsace-lorraine, the activities of the functionaries, chiefly germans brought from the four corners of the empire, even the administration of justice, have had the tendency to exterminate and replace by the _deutschtum_ (german culture) the spirit and the sentiments of the french people. all this effort and labour were doomed to failure. the alsatians remained faithful to their ideals and to the policy expressed in their protest. of course the form of this protest has changed with the current of events. the simple negation which marked the solemn protests of bordeaux in and of berlin in could not after the lapse of time, and should not now, determine the conduct of the people. the first necessity is to continue to exist, and there were finally organized political parties which fought passionately, as happens in every country in the world. but towards the germans the real alsatians were as one man as soon as some particular occasion presented itself, to show their aversion to the _herrenvolk_ (the dominant people), as it pleased the germans to call themselves. the demand of self-government for alsace-lorraine within the limits of the german empire was only one way of showing the desire to be distinguished as much as possible from the germans. it was the maximum that the alsatians could legally require but the minimum of her real claim which always demanded the absolute return to france, the mother country. a very suggestive fact on this subject is that, in the electoral struggles between the natives, the different parties did not hesitate to mutually reproach each other with the desire to lean on the will or the influence of germany. the first demonstration against the germans was the exodus of a part of the population. the annual emigration continued until the war of . another sign of protest was the considerable number of _refractaires_ (defaulting conscripts) who up to that day had annually left the country by the hundreds to avoid german military service. their property was seized and they never could return to the country. the greater number entered the foreign legion to fight for france. the french language continued to be spoken in the family, notwithstanding all the governmental precautions to insure its disuse. families continued to send their children to france to learn french, young girls particularly being placed in french boarding schools to complete their instruction and education. up to that time commercial books had been published in french; bookkeeping was done in francs, even in those houses where the circumstances made it necessary to use the german language simultaneously. the condemnation of seditious utterances and the wearing of seditious emblems were no longer noticed and never ceased. the public has specially marked the case of conspicuous persons who have been implicated in prosecutions (the samain brothers, hausi and zislin, the caricaturists, the abbé wétterlie), but alongside of these cases, thousands of obscure soldiers of the alsace-lorraine cause, victims of their attachment to france, have paid their tribute to their country. for shouting "_vive la france!_", for singing of the _marseillaise_, for showing a tri-colour ribbon, innumerable sentences, in some cases running into years of imprisonment, have been pronounced. when, in , the situation in france, under the influence of the boulanger movement, disclosed the possibility of a conflict at arms with germany, the election of the reichstag for that year resulted in sending to berlin a protesting deputation, notwithstanding the tremendous governmental pressure put upon the electors. that was the signal for increased persecutions in alsace-lorraine. student societies, singing classes, athletic associations, people suspected of cultivating french sympathies, newspapers showing french tendencies, all of these were suppressed and the members of the league of patriots were betrayed and condemned for high treason. bismarck introduced the régime of passports to cut off all relations between alsace-lorraine and france. the _statthalter_ of hohenlohe-schillingsfürst, at that moment governor of alsace-lorraine, has said in his _mémoires_ that he had the impression that bismarck wished to drive the population to insurrection. this plan fell through, thanks to the wisdom of the people who knew how to resist such a provocation. the result was simply to strengthen french patriotism. the rising generation which had gone through the german schools and german army fooled the german statesmen who had counted on them for the assimilation of german _kultur_. on the contrary, these young people were most ardent in manifesting their devotion to france. better prepared for the struggle than their elders, knowing the german language perfectly, familiarized by their studies with the teuton dialects, they became most formidable adversaries. my comrade in combat, jacques preiss, killed during this war, a victim of german persecutions, has very well described the character and rôle of the youth in a discourse given in the reichstag in . he said: "we young fellows, we are not of the generation of whom choice and emigration have deprived of elements which are the firmest and most unresisting. if you do not introduce a more liberal régime, you will find by experience that this new generation is much more energetically opposed to fusion than has been the case since ." in fact, not only has germanization made no progress, but the alsatians become each day more impatient of the german yoke. the two populations, the native and immigrant, have never had social intercourse. the native societies or clubs have always been closed to the immigrant. on the national fête, july th, the alsatians will cross the frontier by tens of thousands to partake communion under the religion of their own land and with their brothers of france. they return with the tri-colour ribbon in their buttonholes, and this creates each year a number of unpleasant incidents. in vain germany wished to change the appearance of things by trying to win the masses, by means of a lower chamber elected by general suffrage. we have shown the factitious value of this concession, which as a consequence only increased opposition. the affair of grafenstaden, and the trouble at saverne caused by the attempt to cover up the exactions of a young lieutenant, brought indignation to a climax. the military authorities arrested haphazard the civilian natives and even the german immigrants, instituting in the midst of peace, a military dictatorship and aroused the irreconcilable antagonism between the german mentality and that of alsace-lorraine. after some slight attempts of independence on the part of the alsace-lorraine government and the reichstag _vis-à-vis_ the military, the whole german world fell upon the obstinate and hard-headed alsatians who, according to them, were the cause of all the trouble because they refused to admire the beauty of the german _kultur_. the saverne affair resulted in the dismissal of the government of alsace-lorraine which had among its officials two won-over alsatians, and the replacing this by a group of prussians of rank. the minister of war, general von falkenhayn, announced to the reichstag: "we want to uproot from the people's mind the feeling that has been manifested up to this time and which has provoked the saverne incident." and this feeling is none other than the french democratic, republican spirit of the alsatians, incompatible with prussian militarism. on the same occasion, deputy von calker, unfortunate candidate from strasbourg, but elected in a prussian district, and an exceptionally friendly immigrant, confessed in the following fashion the defeat of germanization in alsace-lorraine, shouting aloud in the reichstag: "i cry out in anguish. for sixteen years i have worked to wipe out misunderstanding and to reconcile the natives and the immigrants, and now we have arrived at the point where we can say, it all again amounts to nothing (_kaput_)." the conservatives very wisely answered this undeceived elector that if it was merely the saverne incident that had caused this failure, it was evident that the desired harmony had rested on a very slender foundation. chancellor von bethmann-hollweg was conscious of the great mistake that had been made in annexing alsace-lorraine and had a foreboding of the coming loss of the reichsland. he thus expresses himself in a letter written june , , to professor lamprecht at leipzig: "we are a young nation; we have yet perhaps too much naïve faith in force, we make too little importance of subtle measures, and we do not understand that those who are conquered by force cannot be kept by force alone." the prefect of police at berlin, von jagow, declared in january, , in relation to the saverne affair: "the germans in alsace are in an enemy country." and during this war more than one german general has said to his troops at the time of marching into alsace-lorraine: "now we will march into the enemy country." it is easy to imagine what has been the fate of the country since the opening of hostilities. it is the reign of terror. in the first place persons inscribed on the black list, that is to say, those most suspected, have been arrested and imprisoned. those, who like the author, have succeeded in escaping the talons of the germans, have been the objects of prosecution for so-called high treason, liable to capital punishment. they have had their property seized and--supreme misfortune--they have been declared to have forfeited their german nationality. the future only will tell us the fate of those who were captured. the suspects not on the list and the families of the imprisoned were by thousands deported into germany. the council of war was in permanent operation. it gave sentences of thousands of years of imprisonment with hard labour against alsatians guilty of the slightest anti-german manifestation or for the simplest token of sympathy given the french prisoners or the wounded. all classes of society fill the prisons. the penalties imposed on persons having committed the crime of speaking french have been so numerous that a facetious jailor said to a lady, who with tears in her eyes appeared at the prison door: "do not weep, madam, you will be in good society here, for this is the only spot where one still speaks french." the summary executions can no longer be counted. only the crimes committed by the germans in belgium can surpass the horrors practised in alsace-lorraine. the french sentiment showed its greatest strength in the wholesale desertion of the alsatians to take service in the french army; and also by the fact that the alsace-lorrainers, made prisoners of war by the french, have asked to be enrolled in the french army. many of the alsatians, who had the chance to go to the colonies so as not to run the risk of being shot as "traitors" in case of being captured by the germans, have begged to be sent to the front to fight the germans, thus risking their lives twice in the service of france. i think i am understating the truth in estimating at , , the number of alsatians who were mobilized in the german forces and who have gone over to the ranks of the french army. the latter has always had a great attraction for the alsatian, and whereas the number of alsatians serving as officers in the german army does not amount to a dozen, of whom only one is a brigadier-general, the french army has thousands of alsatian officers among whom are hundreds of generals. it is the same thing among the civilians. many office-holders of all grades are of alsatian origin, whereas the alsatian who has accepted an office or looked for any general position in germany is exceptional. wherever the french troops have been able to penetrate into alsace-lorraine, they have been received with enthusiasm, and when they were obliged to retreat many people followed them into france in order to escape the reprisals which were waiting for them. with the press muzzled and the severe censorship of letters, it will be only after the war that we shall have exact knowledge of what alsace-lorraine has passed through during this dreadful period. but what we are certain of at present is that the attitude of the people is the same now as in the past. the alsatians, faithful in their devotion to france, await with a patriotic impatience, but with an unshaken faith in the victory of their holy cause, their deliverance from the german yoke. deputy preiss, already quoted, was able to say to the reichstag, june , : "the assimilation, the germanization has not taken a single step forward.... it is terror that governs and poisons our political life. the government does not understand the people and the people do not understand the government.... history will say, the german empire was able to conquer alsace-lorraine materially, but was not able to conquer her morally; she has not known how to win the heart and the soul of the people." is it not like a paraphrase of the celebrated verse so often sung all through the country: "vous n'aurez pas l'alsace et la lorraine et malgré vous nous resterons français! vous avez pu germaniser la plaine, mais notre coeur, vous ne l'aurez jamais!" "alsace-lorraine ne'er will you own, in spite of you, frenchmen are we, others may serve with a curse and a groan, but ever our hearts shall be free!"? the situation has never changed. this is what one could read a short time before the war in a book of professor forster's of munich in a study on the failure of german policy in the frontier provinces: "alsace, a country of arch-german origin, forty years after her return to germany, has still to an astonishing degree french sympathies, or at least it has no german sympathies. after more than forty years, we have not been able to re-germanize this population." let us finish by another german testimony. this is how, from the _matin_, july , , the _kieler zeitung_ expresses itself on the results of the germanization of alsace-lorraine: "the wise conservatives thought that thanks to the reunion under the established rule of the empire, they could reconcile two provinces different from each other, and having in common only an arrogant defiance of the ambitions of the empire." this confidence was an ignominious mistake. lorraine bound itself solidly and stubbornly to french congenial ideas, vigorously developed in her in a large measure by the mother tongue; while, as to alsace, she was like the twig of a german bough strayed away from its ethnic tree and rotted to the core by french climate. they can be reclaimed neither by benevolence nor by force. one understands why the german press and the german government are interested in the dismemberment of alsace-lorraine and their division between the confederated states without thought of taking the opinion of the people. such opinion counts for nothing with the rulers of the country, because the sentiments of the people are already well known. they are french and for that reason alsace-lorraine will, without the slightest difficulty, again become french. in an article of the _revue de paris_, january, ("the sentiments of alsace-lorraine"), at a time when the question seemed to have only a theoretical interest, i attempted to make this clear. that which the author of the article in the _kieler zeitung_, in his ill-tempered german hatred, calls "rottenness" is, i contend, the gentle radiance of the french spirit. it is the bloom of a civilization in which the savage adherent of _kultur_ recognizes a lasting antagonist. yes, alsace-lorraine has suffered under the prussian rule of germany. this rule has weakened the strength of the country but could not kill the spirit of its people. there is but one way in which the two provinces can regain their health. they must again be united to france, their mother country, their rightful home. we depend upon america, strong and generous, to help to bring about this great result. it is america which will give the decisive aid required for the allies in their great struggle to preserve against the barbarous assaults of german militarism, right, justice, and civilization. the end transcriber's note: page scan source: http://www.archive.org/details/bartholomewsastr sastiala [illustration: charles the fifth.] bartholomew sastrow being the memoirs of a german burgomaster translated by albert d. vandam. introduction by herbert a. l. fisher, m.a. _with illustrations_. london archibald constable & co ltd contents part i introduction chapter i abominable murder of my grandfather--my parents and their family--fatal misadventure of my father--troubles at stralsund--appeal of the evangelical preachers chapter ii my student's days at greifswald--victor bole and his tragical end--a servant possessed by the devil--my brother johannes' preceptors and mine--my father's never-ending law suits chapter iii showing the ingratitude, foolishness and wickedness of the people, and how, when once infected with a bad spirit, it returns with difficulty to common-sense--smiterlow, lorbeer, and the duke of mecklenberg--fall of the seditious regime of the forty-eight chapter iv dr. martin luther writes to my father--my studies at rostock and at greifswald--something about my hard life at spires--i am admitted as a public notary--dr. hose chapter v stay at pforzheim--margrave ernest--my extreme penury at worms, followed by great plenty at a receiver's of the order of st. john's--i do not lengthen this summary, seeing that but for my respect for the truth, i would willingly pass over many episodes in silence chapter vi travels in italy--what happened to me in rome--i take steps to recover my brother's property--i become aware of some strange particulars--i suddenly leave rome chapter vii from rome to stralsund, by viterbo, florence, mantua, trent, innspruck, ratisbon and nuremberg--various adventures part ii chapter i i am appointed pomeranian secretary--something about my diurnal and nocturnal journeys with the chancellor--missions in the camps--dangers in the wake of the army chapter ii a twelve months' stay at augsburg during the diet--something about the emperor and princes--sebastian vogelsberg--concerning the interim journey to cologne chapter iii how i held for two years the office of _solicitator_ at the imperial chamber at spires--visit to herr sebastian münster--journey to flanders--character of king philip--i leave the prince's service part iii chapter i arrival at greifswald--betrothal and marriage--an old custom--i am in peril--martin weyer, bishop chapter ii severe difficulties after my marriage--my labours and success as a law-writer and notary, and subsequently as a procurator--an account of some of the cases in which i was engaged chapter iii the greifswald council appoints me the city's secretary--delicate mission to stralsund--burgomaster christopher lorbeer and his sons--journey to bergen--i settle at stralsund illustrations charles the fifth _frontispiece_ martin luther stettin, wittenberg, spires the diet of augsburg an execution at the time of the reformation ferdinand the first melanchthon view of stralsund introduction if we wish to understand the pedestrian side of german life in the sixteenth century, i know of no better document than the autobiography of bartholomew sastrow. this hard-headed, plain-spoken pomeranian notary cannot indeed be classed among the great and companionable writers of memoirs. here are no genial portraits, no sweet-tempered and mellow confidings of the heart such as comfortable men and women are wont to distil in a comfortable age. the times were fierce, and passion ran high and deep. one might as well expect to extract amiability from the rough granite of an icelandic saga. there is no delicacy, no charm, no elevation of tone in these memoirs. everything is seen through plain glass, but seen distinctly in hard and fine outlines, and reported with an objectivity which would be consistently scientific, were it not for some quick touches of caustic humour, and the stored hatreds of an active, unpopular and struggling life. nobody very readily sympathizes with bitter or with prosperous men, and when this old gentleman took up his pen to write, he had become both prosperous and bitter. he had always been a hard hitter, and at the age of seventy-five set himself down to compose a fighting apologia. if the ethics are those of mr. tulliver, senior, we must not be surprised. is not the blood-feud one of the oldest of teutonic institutions? i frankly confess that i do not find mr. bartholomew sastrow very congenial company, though i am ready to acknowledge that he had some conspicuous merits. many good men have been naughty boys at school, and it is possible that even distinguished philanthropists have tippled brandy while orbilius was nodding. if so, an episode detailed in these memoirs may be passed over by the lenient reader, all the more readily since the sastrovian oats do not appear to have been very wildly or copiously sown. it is clear that the young man fought poverty with pluck and tenacity. he certainly had a full measure of teutonic industry, and it argues no little character in a man past thirty years of age to attend the lectures of university professors in order to repair the defects of an early education. i also suspect that any litigant who retained sastrow's services would have been more than satisfied with this swift and able transactor of business, who appears to have had all the combativeness of bishop burnet, with none of his indiscretion. he was just the kind of man who always rows his full weight and more than his weight in a boat. but, save for his vigorous hates, he was a prosaic fellow, given to self-gratulation, who never knew romance, and married his housemaid at the age of seventy-eight. a modern german writer is much melted by sastrow's protestantism, and apparently finds it quite a touching spectacle. sastrow was of course a lutheran, and believed in devils as fervently as his great master. he also conceived it to be part of the general scheme of things that the sastrows and their kinsmen, the smiterlows, should wax fat and prosper, while all the plagues of egypt and all the afflictions of job should visit those fiends incarnate, the horns, the brusers and the lorbeers. for some reason, which to me is inscrutable, but which was as plain as sunlight to sastrow, a superhuman apparition goes out of its way to help a young pomeranian scribe, who upon his own showing is anything but a saint, while the innocent maidservant of a miser is blown up with six other persons no less blameless than herself, to enforce the desirability of being free with one's money. this, however, is the usual way in which an egoist digests the popular religion. bartholomew sastrow was born at greifswald, a prosperous hanseatic town, in . the year of his birth is famous in the history of german protestantism, for it witnessed the publication of luther's three great reformation tracts--the _appeal to the christian nobility of the german nation_, the _babylonish captivity_, and the _freedom of a christian man_. it seemed in that year as if the whole of germany might be brought to make common cause against the pope. the clergy, the nobility, the towns, the peasants all had their separate cause of quarrel with the old régime, and to each of these classes in turn luther addressed his powerful appeal. for a moment puritan and humanist were at one, and the printing presses of germany turned out a stream of literature against the abuses of the papal system. the movement spread so swiftly, especially in the north, that it seemed a single spontaneous popular outburst. but the harmony was soon broken. the rifts in the political and social organization of germany were too deep to be spanned by any appeal to merely moral considerations. the emperor charles v, himself half-spanish, set his face against a movement which was directly antagonistic to the imperial tradition. the peasants revolted, committed excesses, and were ruthlessly crushed, and the violence of anabaptists and ignorant men threw discredit on the lutheran cause. then, too, dogmatic differences began to reveal themselves within the circle of the reformers themselves. there were disputes as to the exact significance and philosophic explanation of the lord's supper. a conference was held at marburg, in , under the auspices of philip of hesse, with a view to adjusting the differences between the divines of saxony and switzerland, but luther and zwingli failed to arrive at a compromise. the lutheran and the reformed churches now definitely separated, and the divisions of the protestants were the opportunity of the catholic church. the emperor tried in vain to reconcile germany to the old faith. rival theologians met, disputed, formulated creeds in the presence of temporal princes and their armed retainers. in the diet of augsburg forbade protestant teaching and ordered the restoration of church property. then a protestant league was signed at smalkald by john of saxony, by hesse, brunswick-luneberg, anhalt, and several towns, and the emperor was defied. this was in . it was the beginning of the religious wars of germany, the beginning of that tremendous duel which lasted till the peace of westphalia in , the duel between the league of smalkald and charles v, between gustavus adolphus and wallenstein, between the protestant north and the catholic south. in the initial stage of this combat the great military event was the rout of the smalkaldic allies at muhlberg, in april, , where charles captured john frederic of saxony, transferred his dominions--save only a few scattered territories in thuringia--to his ally, maurice, and reduced all north germany save the city of magdeburg. it seemed for a moment as if this battle might decide the contest. charles summoned a diet at augsburg in , and carried all his proposals without opposition. he strengthened his political position by the reconstitution of the imperial chamber, by the organization of the netherlands into a circle of the empire, and by the formation of a new military treasury. he obtained the consent of the diet to a religious compromise called the interim which, while insisting on the seven sacraments in the catholic sense, vaguely agreed to the lutheran doctrine of justification by faith, and declared that the two questions of the communion in both kinds and the celibacy of clergy were to be left till the summoning of a free christian council. the strict lutheran party--and pomerania was a stronghold of strict lutheranism--regarded the interim as a base betrayal of protestant interests. their pamphleteers called it the _interitum_, or the death-blow, and the conversion of a prince like joachim of brandenburg to such a scheme was regarded as an ominous sign for the future. in reality, however, the success of the emperor rested upon the most brittle foundations. that he was chilly, reserved, un-german, and therefore unpopular was something, but not nearly all. the princes of germany had conquered practical independence in the thirteenth century, and were jealous of their prerogatives. the hanseatic towns formed a republican confederacy in the north, corresponding to the swiss confederacy in the south. there was no adequate central machinery, and the jesuit order was only just preparing to enter upon its career of german victories. the spanish troops made themselves detestable, outraging women--a dire offence in a nation so domestic as germany--and there was standing feud between the famous castilian infantry and the german lansquenets. the popes did not like the emperor's favourite remedy of a council, and busily thwarted his ecclesiastical schemes. henry ii of france was on the watch for german allies against a powerful rival. the allies were ready. a great spiritual movement can never be stifled by the issue of one battle. for good or evil, men had taken sides; interests intellectual, moral, and material had already been invested either in the one cause or the other; there had been brutal iconoclasm; there had been ardent preaching, so simple and moving that ignorant women understood and wept; there had been close and stubborn dogmatic controversy; there had been the shedding of blood, and the upheavals in towns, and the building of a new church system, and the growth of a new religious literature. almost a whole generation had now been consumed in this controversy, a controversy which touched all lives, and cemented or divided families. the children were reading luther's bible, and singing luther's hymns, and learning luther's short catechism. could it be expected that such a river should suddenly lose itself in the sand? nevertheless there is something surprising in the quick revolution of the story. in maurice of saxony intrigues with the protestants, and in the following year definitely goes over to their side. in the emperor has to flee for his life, and the peace of passau seals the victory of the protestant cause. one of the first provinces to be conquered for lutheranism was the duchy of pomerania. john bugenhagen, himself a pomeranian and the historian of pomerania, was the chief apostle of this northern region, and those who visit the baltic churches will often see his sable portrait hanging side by side with huss and luther on the whitewashed walls. sastrow gives us an excellent picture of the various forces which co-operated with the teaching of bugenhagen to effect the change. in eastern pomerania there was the violent propaganda of dr. amandus, who wanted a clean sweep of images, princes, and established powers. there was the democratic movement in stralsund, led by the turbulent rolof moller, who, accusing the council of malversation, revolutionized the constitution of his city. there was the mob of workmen who were only too glad of an excuse to plunder the priests and break the altars. but side by side with greed and violence there was the moral revolt against "the fables, the absurdities, and the impious lies" of the pulpit, and against the vices of priest and monk. the recollection of the early days of puritan enthusiasm, when the fathers of the protestant movement preached the gospel to large crowds in the open air, as, for instance, under "st. george's churchyard elm" at stralsund, remained graven on many a lowly calendar. even the texts of these sermons were remembered as epochs in spiritual life. sastrow records how, ceding to the request of a great number of burgesses, mr. ketelhot (being detained in the port of stralsund by contrary winds), preached upon matthew xi. : "come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and i will give you rest"; and then upon john xvi. : "verily, verily, i say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the father in my name, he will give it you"; and, finally: "go ye therefore and teach all nations." the general pride in civic monuments proved to be stronger than the iconoclastic mood. certainly the high altar in the nicolai kirche at stralsund--probably the most elaborate specimen of late fifteenth-century wood carving which still survives in germany--would have received a short shrift from cromwell's ironsides. it was burgomaster nicholas smiterlow, of stralsund, who brought protestantism into the sastrow family. he had seen luther in , had heard him preach at wittenberg, and became a convert to the "true gospel." smiterlow's daughter anna married nicholas sastrow, a prosperous brewer and cornfactor of greifswald, and nicholas deserted the mass for the sermon. their eldest son, john, was sent to study at wittenberg, where he made the acquaintance of luther and melanchthon. he became something, of a scholar, wrote in praise of the english divine, robert barns, and was crowned poet laureate by charles v in . the second son was bartholomew, author of these memoirs. three years after his arrival the family life at greifswald was rudely disturbed. bartholomew's father had the misfortune to commit manslaughter (uncharitable people called it murder), and greifswald was made too hot to hold the peccant cornfactor. the father of our chronicler lived in banishment for several years, while his wife brought up the children at greifswald, and carried on the family business. it happened that bartholomew's great-uncle, burgomaster nicholas smiterlow the second, of stralsund, was at that time residing at greifswald. he possessed the avuncular virtues, had his great-nephew taught latin, and earned his eternal gratitude. in time the heirs of the slain man were appeased and , marks of blood-money enabled the elder sastrow to return to his native city. he did not, however, remain long in greifswald, but sold his house and settled in the neighbouring city of stralsund, the home of his wife's relations. bartholomew received his early education at greifswald and stralsund, but in was sent to rostock (a university had been founded in this town in ), where he studied under two well-known pupils of luther and melanchthon, burenius and heinrich welfius (wulf). the teaching combined the chief elements of humanism and of protestant theology, the works of cicero and terence on the one hand, and the _de anima_ of melanchthon on the other. meanwhile ( - ) there were great disturbances in stralsund. an ambitious demagogue of lubeck, george wullenweber, had involved the hanseatic league in a danish war. smiterlow and nicolas sastrow thought that the war was wrong and foolish, and that it would endanger the interests of stralsund. but a democracy, when once bitten by the war frenzy, is hard to curb, and regards moderation in the light of treason. stralsund rose against its conservative council, forced smiterlow to resign and compelled the elder sastrow to remain a prisoner in his house for the period of a year. father and son never forgot or forgave these years of plebeian uproar. for them the art of statesmanship was to avoid revolution and to keep the people under. "i recommend to my children submission to authority, no matter whether pilate or caiaphas governs." this was the last word of bartholomew's political philosophy. in - the forces of the hanse were defeated both by land and sea, and the war party saw the error of its ways. sastrow was released, and his uncle-in-law was restored to office to die two years later, in . but meanwhile things had gone ill with the sastrow finances. some skilful but dishonest ladies had purchased large consignments of cloth, not to speak of borrowing considerable sums of money from nicholas sastrow, and declined to pay their bill. during his imprisonment nicholas had been unable to sell the stock of salt which he had laid in with a view to the schonen herring season. a certain mrs. bruser, wife of a big draper, with a hardy conscience, had bought , florins' worth of the sastrow cloth of the dishonest ladies. the sastrows determined to get the money out of the brusers. bruser first avowed the debt, and then repudiated it, taking a mean advantage of the civic troubles of stralsund and the decline of the smiterlow-sastrow interest. thereupon began litigation which was not to cease for thirty-four years. the case was heard before the town court of stralsund, then before the council of stralsund, then before the _oberhof_ or appellate court of lubeck, and finally before the imperial court of spires. bartholomew accompanied his father on the lubeck journey, obtained his first insight into legal chicanery, and was, no doubt, effectually inoculated with the anti-bruser virus. in the elder sastrow obtained permission to return to greifswald, and bartholomew attended for a year the lectures of the greifswald professors. the family circumstances, however (there were by this time five daughters and three sons), were too straitened to support the youth in idleness. accordingly, in june, , the two eldest sons left their home, partly to seek their fortunes, but more especially to watch the great bruser case, which was winding its slow and slippery course through the reticulations of the imperial court at spires. there is no need to anticipate the lively narrative of bartholomew's experiences in this home of litigation long-drawn-out. the reader will, however, note that he was lucky enough to come in for a diet, and has an excellent story to tell of how the emperor was inadvertently horsewhipped by a swabian carter. on may , , sastrow received the diploma of imperial notary, and a month later he left spires and entered the chancellerie of margrave ernest of baden, at pforzheim. this, however, was destined to prove but a brief interlude. in the summer of sastrow is in the service of a receiver of the order of st. john, christopher von löwenstein, who, after his turkish wars, was living a frolicsome old age among his frisian stallions, his huntsmen and his hounds. the picture of this frivolous old person, with his dwarf, his mistress, and his chaplain, is drawn with some spirit. sastrow, who had so long felt the pinch of poverty, was now luxuriating in good fare and fine raiment. he has little to do, plenty to eat and drink, and his festivity was untempered by moral considerations. "do not think to become a doctor in my house," said the genial host, and it must be confessed that the surroundings were not propitious to the study of the institutes. the news of john sastrow's death put an end to this jollity. the poet laureate had been crossed in love, and sought oblivion in italy. the panegyrist of barns entered the service of a cardinal, and died at acquapendente, without explaining theological inconsistencies, pardonable perhaps in lovelorn poets. bartholomew determined to recover the property of his deceased brother, and set out for italy on april , . he walked to venice over the brenner, thence took ship to ancona, and then travelled over the apennines to rome, by way of loretto. the council was sitting at trent, but theological gossip does not interest our traveller so much as the alto voices in the church choirs, and "the tomb of the infant simeon, the innocent victim of the jews." nor is he qualified to play the rôle of intelligent tourist among the antiquities and art treasures of italy. he was not a benvenuto cellini, still less a nathaniel hawthorne, bent on instructing the philistine in the art of cultured enthusiasm. "a magnificent palace, a church all of marble, variously tinted and assorted with perfect art, twelve lions and lionesses, two tigers and an eagle that is all i remember of florence." many modern tourists may not remember as much without sastrow's excuses. italy was by this time by no means a safe place for a german. paul iii was recruiting mercenaries to help the emperor to fight the league of smalkald, and the spanish inquisition was industriously raging in rome. it was sufficient to be a german to be suspected of heresy, and for the heretic, the pyre and the gibbet were ready prepared. it would be difficult to conceive a moment less propitious for aesthetic enjoyment. "not a week without a hanging," says sastrow, who was apparently careful to attend these lugubrious ceremonies. the excellence of the roman wine increased the risk of an indiscretion, and by july sastrow had determined that it would be well to extricate himself from the perils of rome. his reminiscences of the papal capital are vivid and curious. we seem to see the cardinal sweating in his shirt sleeves under the hot italian sun, while his floor is being watered. heavy-eyed oxen of the campagna are dragging stone and marble through the streets to build the farnese palace and splendid houses for the cardinals; the whole town is a tumult of building and unbuilding. streets are destroyed to improve a view. if one of the effects of a celibate clergy is to promote immorality, another is to improve the cuisine of the taverns. upon both topics sastrow is eloquent, and there are too many confirmations from other quarters to permit us to doubt the substantial accuracy of his indictment. by august , , sastrow was back at stralsund. through the good offices of dr. knipstrow, the general superintendent, he secured a post in the ducal chancellerie at wolgast. his acuteness and industry obtained the respect of the pomeranian chancellor, james citzewitz, and he was given the most important business to transact. on march , , he accompanied the ducal chancellors in the character of notary on a mission to the emperor. ten years before the dukes of pomerania had joined the league of smalkald, and they were now thoroughly alarmed at the imperial victory at muhlberg, and anxious to make their peace with charles. the journey of the envoys is full of historical interest. sastrow had to cross the field of muhlberg and received ocular assurance of the horrors of the war and of the barbarities practised by the spanish troops. he was a spectator of the humiliation of the landgrave philip of hesse, at halle, and to his narrative alone we owe the knowledge of the ironical laugh of the prince, and the angry threat of the emperor. from halle the pomeranian envoys followed charles to augsburg, having the good fortune to fall in with the drunken but scriptural duke frederick iii of liegnitz, of whose wild doings sastrow can tell some surprising tales. it must have been an astonishing experience, this life at augsburg, while the diet was sitting. the gravest theological and political problems, problems affecting the destiny of the empire, were being handled in an atmosphere of unabashed debauchery and barbarism. every one, layman and clerk, let himself go. joachim of brandenburg consented to the interim for a bribe, and the cardinal granvelle, like talleyrand afterwards, was able to build up an enormous fortune out of "the sins of germany." in the midst of the coarse revels of the town the horrid work of the executioner was everywhere manifest. and, meanwhile, the grim emperor dines silently in public, seeming to convey a sullen rebuke to the garrulous hospitality of his brother ferdinand, and to the loose morals of the princes. the cause of the pomeranian mission did not much prosper at augsburg, and sastrow and his friends pursued the emperor to brussels, where they were at last able to effect the desired reconciliation. for the services rendered on this occasion sastrow was made the pomeranian solicitor at the court of spires. the second spires residence was clearly a period of honourable and not ungainful activity. sastrow is busy with ducal cases; he makes another journey to the netherlands in order to present cardinal granvelle with some golden flagons, and has occasion to admire the treasures of the great flemish cities. the seagirt stralsund, with its thin gusty streets, high gables, red gothic gateways and tall austere whitewashed churches could not, of course, show the ample splendours of brussels or antwerp. then, too, upon this flemish voyage he saw king philip and was impressed by the young man's stupid face and stiff spanish formality. such a contrast to his father charles! again he was sent on a mission to basle, carrying information about pomerania to sebastian munster, the "german strabo," as he loved to hear himself called, that it might be incorporated in that learned scholar's universal cosmography. in , however, sastrow became aware that his position was being undermined by the councillors at stettin. he accordingly gave up his ducal appointment, and determined to confine himself to private practice. he marries a wife (january , ), settles at greifswald, and builds up a prosperous business, and from this date his memoirs are mostly concerned with the cases in which he was engaged. there is yet one more change of place and occupation to be noticed in this bustling life. in sastrow was enticed to stralsund by the offer of the post of secretary, and for the next eight-and-forty years, till his death in , he lived in that town, battling in the full stream of municipal politics, councillor in , burgomaster in , and frequently chosen to represent the city on embassies and other ceremonial occasions. a _rubricken bock_, or collection of municipal diplomata testifies to another branch of his useful activities. enemies were as plentiful as gooseberries, and he never wanted for litigation. his second marriage created a scandal, and furnished an occasion for the foeman to scoff. but the choleric old gentleman was fully capable of taking care of himself. "at stralsund," he says, "i fell full into the infernal caldron, and i have roasted there for forty years." but he took good heed that the enemy should roast likewise, and at the age of seventy-five began to lay the fire. the first two parts of the memoirs were composed in , the third at the end of , doubtless on the basis of some previous diary. they were composed for the benefit of his children, that they might enjoy the roasting. we too now can look on while the flames crackle. herbert a. l. fisher. new college, oxford. part i chapter i abominable murder of my grandfather--my parents and their family--fatal misadventure of my father--troubles at stralsund--appeal of the evangelical preachers my father was born in , in the village of rantzin, in the inn close to the cemetery, on the road to anclam. even before his marriage, my grandfather, johannes sastrow, exceeded by far in worldly goods, reputation, power and understanding, the horns, a family established at rantzin. hence, those horns, frantic with jealousy, constantly attacked him, not only with regard to his property, but also in the consideration he enjoyed among his fellow-men; they did not scruple to attempt his life. not daring to act openly, they incited one of their labourers to go drinking to the inn, to pick a quarrel with its host, and to fall upon him. their inheritance, in fact, was so small that they only needed one ploughmaster. what was the upshot? my grandfather, who was on his guard, got wind of the affair, and took the offensive. the emissary had such a cordial reception as to be compelled to beat a retreat "on all fours," and even this was not accomplished without difficulty. the enmity of the horns obliged my grandfather to look to his security. about the year , in virtue of a friendly agreement with the old overlord johannes osten von quilow, he redeemed his vassalage (lastage), and acquired the citizenship of greifswald, where he bought a dwelling at the angle of the butchers' street. thither he gradually transferred his household goods. johannes sastrow, therefore, left the ostens and became a citizen before my father's birth. the infamous attempt occurred in this way. in , there was a christening not far from rantzin, namely at gribon, where there lived a horn. in his capacity of a near relative my grandfather received an invitation, and as the distance was short, he took my father, who was then about seven, with him. the horns took advantage of the opportunity; on the pretext of paying a visit to their cousin, they repaired to gribon. they had come down in the world, and they no longer minded either the company or the fare of the peasantry; consequently, during the meal that followed they sat down at the same table with my grandfather. when they had drunk their fill towards nightfall, they all got up together to have a look at the stables. they fancied they were among themselves; as it happened one of our relatives was hiding in a corner, and heard them discuss matters. they intended to watch sastrow's going, to gallop after him and intercept him on the road, and to kill him and his child. my grandfather, having been warned, immediately took the advice not to delay his departure for a moment. taking his son by the hand, he started there and then. alas, the atrocious murderers who were lying in wait for him in a clearing, trampled him under their horses' hoofs, inflicted ever so many wounds; then, their rage not being spent, they dragged him to a large stone on the road, and which may be seen unto this day, chopped off his right hand at the wrist, and left him for dead on the spot. the child had crept into some damp underwood, inaccessible to horses; the fast gathering darkness saved him from being pursued. the labourers on the horn farm, driven by curiosity, had mounted their cattle; they picked up the victim, and pulled the child from his hiding place. one of them galloped to rantzin, whence he returned with a cart on which they laid the wounded man, who scarcely gave a sign of life, and, in fact, breathed his last at the entrance to the village. the nearest relatives realized the inheritance of the orphan, sold the house, the proceeds of the whole amounting to , florins.[ ] lords who allow their vassals to amass similar sums are rare nowadays. the child was brought up carefully; he was taught to read, to write and to cipher, afterwards he was sent to antwerp and to amsterdam to get a knowledge of business. when he was old enough to manage his own affairs, he bought the angle of long street and of huns' street, on the right, towards st. nicholas' church, that is, two dwelling houses and two shops in huns' street.[ ] one of these houses he made his residence; the other he converted into a brewery, and on the site of the shops he built the present front entrance. all this cost a great deal of trouble and money. he was an attractive young fellow with an assured bit of bread, so he had no difficulty in obtaining the hand of the daughter of the late bartholomäi smiterlow, and the niece of nicholas smiterlow, the burgomaster of stralsund.[ ] young and pretty, rather short than tall, but with exquisitely shaped limbs, amiable, clever, unpretending, an excellent managers, and exceedingly careful in her conduct, my mother unto her last hour was an honest and god-fearing woman. my father's register shows that the marriage took place in , the sunday after st. catherine's day; the husband, as i often heard him say, was still short of five and twenty. at the fast just before advent, in , providence granted the young couple a son who was named johannes, after his paternal grandfather; he died in , at aquapendente, in italy. in , _in vigilia nativitatis mariae_, my sister anna was born; she died on august , , at the age of seventy-seven; she was the widow of peter frobose, burgomaster of greifswald. on tuesday, august , , at six in the morning, i came into the world and was named bartholomäi, after my maternal grandfather. i leave to my descendants the task of recording my demise, to which i am looking forward anxiously in my seventy-fifth winter. the year witnessed the birth of my sister catherine, a charming, handsome creature, amiable, loyal and pious. when my brother johannes returned from the university of wittemberg, she asked him what was the latin for "this is certainly a good-looking girl?" "profecto formosa puella," was the answer. "and how do they say, 'yes, not bad?'" was the next question. "sic satis," replied johannes. some time after that, three students from wittemberg, young fellows of good family, stopped for a short while in our town, and christian smiterlow asked his father, the burgomaster, to let them stay with him. the burgomaster, who had three grown-up daughters, invited my sister catherine. naturally, the young people talked to and chaffed each other, and the lads themselves made some remarks in latin, which would, perhaps, have not sounded well in german to female ears. one of them happened to exclaim: "profecto formosa puella!" "sic satis!" retorted catherine, and thereupon the students became afraid that she had understood the whole of their lively comments. in catherine married christopher meyer, an only son, but an illiterate, dissipated, lazy and drunken oaf, who spent all his substance, and ruined a servant girl while my sister was in childbed. god punished him for his misdeeds by bringing abject misery and a loathsome disease upon him, but catherine died at twenty-six, weary of life. my sister magdalen was born in ; she died a single woman at twenty-two. these five children were born to my parents in greifswald; the last three saw the light at stralsund; namely, in , christian, who lived till he was sixty; in , barbara, who only reached eighteen; and in , gertrude. from their very earliest age my sisters were taught by my mother the household and other work appropriate to their sex. one day while gertrude, who was then about five, was plying her distaff--the spinning wheel was not known then--my brother johannes announced the news that the emperor, the king of the romans, the electors, the princes and counts, in short all the great nobles, were to foregather at a diet. "what for?" asked gertrude. "to look to the proper government of the world," was the answer. "good lord," sighed the child, "why don't they forbid little girls to spin." the pest of took away my mother, gertrude, magdalen and catherine. as her daughters were weeping bitterly my mother said: "why do you weep? rather ask the lord to shorten my sufferings." she died on july . on the th it was gertrude's turn. magdalen was also dying; she left her bed to get her own shroud and that of gertrude out of the linen press, and bade me be careful to fling only a little earth on her sister's grave, because she herself would soon be put into it; after which she returned to her bed and expired on july , the morning after gertrude's burial. magdalen was the tallest and most robust of my sisters, an accomplished manageress, hardworking, and her head screwed tightly on her shoulders. catherine sent me all this news on september , two days before her own death of the plague. she did not try to disguise her approaching end; on the contrary, she prayed fervently for it, and bade me be resigned to it. she had had two children by her worthless husband; i undertook the care of the boy, christopher meyer, and my sister frobose at greifswald mothered the girl, who was but scantily provided for. christopher gave me much trouble; neither remonstrance nor punishment proved of any avail; when he grew up he would not settle down, and practically followed in the footsteps of his father, yielding to dissipation, and indulging in all kinds of vice. nevertheless, i made him contract a good marriage which gave him a kind of position. he left two sons; the elder was placed by his guardians at dantzig, with most respectable people, who, however, declined to keep him. the younger remained with me for two years, going to school meanwhile, and causing me greater trouble than was consistent with my advanced age. but i had hoped to do some good with him; alas! he was so bent upon following his father's example as to make me rejoice getting rid of the cub. my sister barbara had been sent to greifswald; when the plague abated, my father recalled her, for he was old, wretched and bowed down with care. barbara was only fifteen, very pretty, amiable and hardworking. she married bernard classen, then a widower for the second time. my father did not like this son-in-law, against whom he had acted in the law courts for the other side; but classen was not to be shaken off, and finally obtained my father's consent. the wedding took place on st. martin's day (november ), . on my return from spires, i paid a visit to the young couple; my brother-in-law showed me the window of his study ornamented with my monogram and name, taking care to mention that he had paid a stralsund mark to the glazier; i loosened my purse-strings and counted the sum to him, but the proceeding did not commend itself to me after the protestations of friendship my father had conveyed to me from classen's part.[ ] in , at the diet of worms, where doctor martin luther so courageously made his confession of faith, duke bagislaw x, the grandfather of the two dukes at present reigning, received from his imperial majesty charles v the solemn investiture under the open sky and with the standards unfurled, to the great displeasure of the elector of brandenburg. the imperial councillors were instructed to bring the two competitors to an agreement at nuremberg, or to refer the matter further to his majesty in case of the failure of negotiations. in occurred the disturbances in connexion with rolof moller, a young man of about thirty, if that. his grandfather had been burgomaster, and in consequence he had detained in his possession a register of the revenues and privileges of the city. having summoned a number of citizens to the monastery of st. john, he tried to prove by means of said register the enormous revenues of the city, and to accuse the council of malversation; after which he invaded the town hall, took the councillors to task, and treated them all like so many thieves, including one of his own relatives, herr schroeder, whom he reproached with being small in stature, but big in scoundrelism. burgomaster zabel oseborn indignantly denied the accusation, and worked himself into such a state of excitement that he had to be conveyed home. in consequence of these slanders moller constituted himself a following among the burghers; his numerous adherents chose forty-eight of their own (double the number of the members of the council), to exercise the chief power; the council saw its influence annulled, an act defining the limits of its competence and rules for its conduct was presented for signature to the councillors, and they were furthermore required to take the oath. herr nicholas smiterlow alone resisted; hence, during the whole period of their domination, namely up to , the forty-eight made him pay for his courage by unheard-of persecutions. the primary cause of this agitation, so disastrous to the city, was the absence of a permanent record-office. the burgomasters, or the secretary, took the secret papers home with them[ ]; at the magistrate's death those documents passed to the children and grandchildren, then fell into the hands of strangers; and the natural result were indiscreet revelations hurtful to the public weal. johannes bugenhagen, the pomeranian, and rector of the school of treptow on the rega, converted several monks of the monastery of belbuck to the pure faith. they left the monastery. among them should be mentioned herr christian ketelhot, herr johannes kurcke, and herr george von ukermünde, whom the stralsund people chose as their preacher. but when, after three sermons at st. nicholas', he saw the citizens resolved to keep him, in spite of the council who forbade him the pulpit, when he saw the papist clergy increase their threats, and the dukes expel ketelhot and kurcke from treptow, he was siezed with fear and went away in secret.[ ] johannes kurcke was about to set sail for livonia, intending to engage in commerce there, when he was detained at stralsund to preach, in the first place in the st. george's cemetery, then at the cloister of st. catherine, and finally at st. nicholas'. he died in , and was buried at st. george's. ketelhot had been prior of the monastery of belbuck during sixteen weeks. at the instigation of the abbot johannes boldewan, the same who had given him the prior's hood, he left for the living of stolpe, and preached the gospel there for some time. the slanders of the priests induced the prince to prohibit him. in vain did he claim the right to justify himself by word of mouth and in writing before the sovereign, the prelates, the lords and the cities. he failed to obtain a hearing or even a safe-conduct. as a consequence he went to mecklenburg, intending to adopt a trade; but unable to find a suitable master, he came to stralsund determined to take ship for livonia. contrary winds kept him for several weeks in port; this gave him the opportunity of hearing the fables, absurdities and impious lies delivered from the pulpit; he beheld the misconduct of the priests, their debauchery, drunkenness, gluttony, fornication, adultery and worse. acceding to the wish of a great number of burghers, and the church of st. george's being too small to hold the crowd, he preached on the sunday before ascension day under the great lime tree of the cemetery. he first took for his text matthew xi. : "come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and i will give you rest"; then john xvi. : "verily, verily, i say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the father in my name, he will give it you"; and finally: "go ye therefore and teach all nations." in spite of the opposition of the council, which felt inclined to yield to the frantic protestation of the clergy, the burghers practically forced ketelhot to come into the city, and made him preach at st. nicholas'. in , duke bogislaw, accompanied by four hundred horsemen, proceeded to nuremberg to settle his disagreement with the elector of brandenburg. among his suite were burgomaster nicholas smiterlow and his son christian. the lad, lively and strong for his age, made his horse curvet and prance, so that it threw him and crushed him with all its weight. young smiterlow was deformed all his life; but when it became evident that there was no remedy, his father sent him to the university of wittemberg; but for the accident he would have placed him in business at lubeck. on his way home duke bogislaw stopped at wittemberg to see luther, the turbulent monk. before they had exchanged many words, the prince in a jocular tone said: "master doctor, you had better let me confess to you." luther, however, replied very quickly: "no, no, gracious lord! your highness is too exalted a penitent, and i am too lowly to give him absolution." luther was thinking of the august birth of his interlocutor, who, moreover, was exceedingly tall of stature, but the duke took the reply as an allusion to the gravity of his backslidings, and dismissed luther without inviting him to his table. during the absence of duke bogislaw, the images were destroyed at stralsund as i am going to narrate. on monday of holy week, , frau schermer sent her servant to st. nicholas' for a box containing relics which she wished to have repaired.[ ] some workmen, noticing that a sacred object was being taken away, began to knock down everything; their constantly increasing numbers ran riot in the churches and in the convents; the altars were overtoppled, and the images thrown to the four winds. with the exception of the custodian of st. john's, monks and priests fled from the city. thereupon the council issued an order that everybody had to bring back his loot on the following wednesday to the old market. the burghers only obeyed reluctantly; they only restored the wooden images, but the more valuable ones were not to be found. two women were brought before the council; the woman bandelwitz deliberately defied the burgomaster, looked him straight into the face and addressed him as follows: "what dost thou want with me, johannes heye? why hast thou summoned me before thee? what crime have i committed?" "thou shalt know very soon," replied the burgomaster, and had her put under lock and key. the same fate befell the other woman. in the market place the partisans of the old doctrines had taken to arms and were much excited, while the evangelists loudly expressed their indignation at this double incarceration. bailiff (or sheriff) schroeder made his appearance on horseback, and showed with a kind of affectation a communion cup he had confiscated, and swore to "do" for all the evangelicals. leaping on to a fishmonger's bench, l. vischer cried in a thundering voice: "rally to me all those who wish to live and die for the gospel."[ ] the greater number rallied to his side. from the windows of the town house the councillors had been watching the scene, and they began to fear for their personal safety when they should wish to go home. rolof moller went upstairs to make the situation clear to them; the two women were discharged after an imprisonment of less than an hour, and the council asked the burghers to let the matter rest there, professing their goodwill towards them; but the crowd, slow to abate its anger, occupied the place up to four o'clock, after which the councillors could make their way without danger. when duke bogislaw returned, the stralsund council endeavoured to persuade his highness that the destruction of the images had taken place in spite of them. in his great anger the prince would not hear of any justification; he accused the people of stralsund of having failed in their duty towards religion as well as against the sovereign who was the patron of the city's churches. he added that the devil would bring them to account for it. the duke died on september of the same year at stettin, leaving two sons, george and barnim.[ ] the disturbances, nevertheless, continued, for the burghers saw with displeasure that the council, following the example of princes george and barnim, persisted in popish practices, thereby delaying the progress of evangelism. on the monday of st. john, , rolof moller, at the head of a big troop of men, made his appearance in the old market place and, mounted also on a fishmonger's stall, began addressing the people, who applauded him. the dissensions between the magistrates and the burghers became more accentuated every day, and plainly foretold the ruin of public business. moller observed no measure in his attacks on the council. he was just about thirty, clever, and, with an attractive personality, he might count upon being sooner or later elected burgomaster. it was only a question of time. his presumption blinded him to the reality; intoxicated with popular favour, he allowed himself certain excesses against the council, took his flight before his wings had grown, and dragged a number of people down with him in his fall. the city itself did not recover from the effects of all this for close upon a century. burgomaster nicholas smiterlow, a personage of great consideration, a clever spokesman, and of a firm and generous disposition, was a member of the council for seventeen years. duke bogislaw, who fully appreciated his work, took him to the conference at nuremberg. the journey enabled the burgomaster to hear the gospel preached in its purity, and to become aware of the fatal error of papism. at wittemberg he heard luther preach. as a consequence, he was the first to proclaim the wholesome doctrine in open council, though the opposition of that body prevented him from supporting the propagators of the true faith when they kept within reasonable limits. he interposed between the council, the princes, and the exalted personages of the land, who were still wedded to papism, and rolof moller, the forty-eight, and their adherents who wished to carry things with too high a hand. smiterlow told the council to show themselves less unbending with the burghers in all just and reasonable things. on the other hand, he exhorted the citizens to show more deference to the magistrates, giving the former the assurance that the preachers should not be molested, and that the gospel should not be hampered in its course. unfortunately, his efforts failed on both sides. then the crisis occurred. the ringleaders--among the most turbulent, franz wessel, l. vischer, bartholomäi buchow, hermann meyer and nicholas rode lifted rolof moller from his fishmonger's bench--took him to the town house, and made him take his seat in the burgomaster's chair.[ ] the council was compelled to accept rolof and christopher lorbeer as burgomasters, and eight of the citizens as councillors. in order to save their heads, the magistrates found themselves compelled to share with their sworn enemies both the small bench of the four burgomasters and the larger bench of twenty-four councillors. as for smiterlow, his was the fate of those who interfere between two contending parties, the peacemakers invariably coming to grief like the iron between the anvil and the hammer. when rolof moller entered the burgomaster's pew smiterlow left it, and inasmuch as his consummate experience foretold him of his danger he came to greifswald with his two sons to ask my mother's hospitality.[ ] the tolerance shown at this conjuncture by the young princes george and barnim was due to two reasons. in the first place they expected to get the upper hand of the city without much trouble after it became worn out with domestic dissensions. secondly, a band of zealots, with dr. johannes amandus at their head, scoured the country, especially eastern pomerania, inciting the people to break the images, and preaching from the pulpit the sweeping away of all refuse, princes included. in the eyes of the papists, those people and the evangelicals were but one and the same set, and as their number happened to be imposing, the princes considered it prudent to lay low. the flight of the priests and monks gave the magistrates the opportunity of listening to the preaching of christian ketelhot and his colleagues. in a short while the council's eyes were opened to the true light, and in accord with the forty-eight and the burghers themselves, they assigned the churches to the evangelical preachers; the monastery, that is, the supreme direction of all the ministers and servitors of the church being confided to ketelhot, who exercised it for twenty-three years, in fact, up to the day of his death. canons and vicars had taken the precaution to collect all the specie, valuables and title deeds, amounting to considerable sums; they entrusted to certain councillors of greifswald chests and lockers filled with chalices, rich chasubles and various holy vessels. they occasionally converted these into money and handed to the debtors certain annuities at half-price. consequently, the hospitals, churches, and pious foundations lost both their capital and their income. a long time after these events the sons of my relative, christian schwartz, dispatched to me for restitution to the council of stralsund, a sailor's locker which had stood for forty years under their father's bed. it contained velvet chasubles embroidered with silver and pearls, in addition to a couple of silver crucifixes. though their rules forbade the monks of st. john to touch coined metal, the father custodian did not scruple to carry away with him all that the convent held in clinking coin and precious objects. called to the ministry by a small group of citizens who had not given a thought to the question of his salary, ketelhot had no other resource for his daily sustenance than the city "wine cellar" and _the king arthur_.[ ] he found hospitable board and good company, but the life was detrimental to his studies. a jew with whom he flattered himself he was studying the _lingua sancta_ induced him to announce from the pulpit the _error a judaeo conceptus_. as a consequence the council promptly appointed johannes knipstro as superintendent at stralsund. he was the first that bore the title there, and ketelhot neither suffered in consideration, rank, nor benefices. he remained all his life _primarius pastor_, and his effigy at st. nicholas, facing the pulpit, is inscribed with the words: _repurgator ecclesiae sundensis_. appointed in , knipstro, by his talent and solicitude, succeeded in leading ketelhot back to the right path, for he broke for ever with the _error_. the two ministers lived in the most brotherly understanding. ketelhot was no more jealous of the superintendent than knipstro, took umbrage at the title of _primarius pastor_. they were not vainglorious, as were later on runge and kruse. gradually the dukes admitted that the evangelicals, far from making common cause with the zealots of eastern pomerania, energetically opposed them. the stralsund preachers were henceforth left in peace; they were more firmly established in their functions, and neither the council nor the citizens were any longer molested for having called them. i now beg to resume the story of my family from the year . my parents started house-keeping in the midst of plenty; they had a mill and a brewery, sold their corn, butter, honey, wool and feathers, and were even blessed with the superfluous. everything was so cheap that it seemed easy to make money. it seemed as if the golden age had returned. nevertheless, prosperity had to make room for misfortune. in the course of that year ( ), in fact, george hartmann, the son-in-law of doctor stroïentin,[ ] bought of my father a quantity of butter. a violent discussion having occurred between them, hartmann, who was on his way to burgomaster peter kirchschwanz with a short sword belonging to the latter, went instead to his mother-in-law to pour his grievances into her ears. this haughty and purse-proud woman, full of contempt for very humble folk because she happened to have married a doctor and a ducal counsellor (i omit for charity's sake some details which i shall tell my children by word of mouth), that woman, i say, presented her son-in-law with a hatchet, saying: "there, go to market with this piece of money, and buy a bit of courage." emboldened by a safe-conduct of the prince, which doctor stroïentin had got for him, hartmann fell in with my father at the top of the sporenmacher strasse. he was going to the public weigh-house to have a case of honey weighed, and he had not as much as a pocket knife wherewith to repel an assailant armed with a sword and a hatchet. he rushed into a spurmaker's shop, getting hold of a large pitchfork, but the bystanders wrenched it out of his hands; moreover, they prevented him taking refuge in the gallery. thereupon my father snatched up a long stick with an iron prod standing against the wall, and going back into the street, shouted: "let the fellow who wants to take my life come out and show himself." at these words, hartmann issued from an adjoining workshop. not satisfied with his short sword and his hatchet, he had taken a hammer from the anvil and flung it at my father, who warded it with his stick, though only partly, for my father spat blood for several days. the hatchet went the same way, and just caught my father on the shoulder. the double exploit having imbued him with the idea that the game was won, the aggressor made a rush with his bare sword, but my father spitted him on his iron-prodded pole, and hartmann dropped down dead. this is the true account of this deplorable accident. i am quite aware of the version invented by the ill-will of the others, which is to the effect that my father having found hartmann altogether disarmed behind the stove in the spurmaker's room, straightway killed him on the spot. these are vain rumours, _nugae sunt, fabulae sunt_. my father sought asylum with the "black" monks, to whom he was known. they hid him at the top of the church in a recess near the vault. in a little while doctor stroïentin, at the head of his servants and of a numerous group of followers, came to search every nook and corner of the convent. naturally, he went into the church, and the fugitive, fancying it was all over with him, was going to speak in order to prove his innocence; fortunately providence closed his lips and shut his enemies' eyes. in the middle of the night the monks smuggled him over the wall. keeping to the high road, he succeeded in reaching neuenkirchen, where a peasant's cart, sent by his father-in-law, was waiting for him. he managed to squeeze himself into a sack of fodder by the side of a sack of barley. doctor stroïentin stopped the vehicle on the road. the driver told him he was going to stralsund. "what have you got there?" asked the doctor, beating the sacks with him. "barley and my fodder," was the answer. "have not you noticed any one going in a great hurry either on horseback or on foot?" "yes; i saw a man galloping as hard as he could in the direction of horst. i may have been mistaken, but i fancy it was sastrow, of greifswald, and i was wondering why he should be scouring the highway at that hour of night." stroïentin wanted to hear no more. he turned his horse's head as fast as it would go in the direction of horst. my father reached stralsund without further trouble; the council gave him a safe-conduct, which was only a broken reed in the way of a guarantee, for he had to deal with proud, rich and powerful enemies. doctor stroïentin, his highness' counsellor, took particular advantage of the fact that hartmann enjoyed the protection of duke george. my father went from pillar to post in denmark, at lubeck, at hamburg, and other spots; finally, he appeased his suzerain by paying him a considerable sum in cash; then, after long-drawn negotiations, his father-in-law succeeded in reconciling him with his adversaries. the expiatory fine was , marks, but greifswald, where the family of the deceased resided, remained closed to him. nor did the , marks prove any benefit to the son of hartmann; the contrary has been the case. misfortune pursued him without cessation in his health, his wealth, his wife and children. at the gates of stralsund stood the monastery of st. brigitta; monks and nuns inhabited different parts. a wall divided the gardens. it was, however, by no means high enough to prove an obstacle to a nimble climber. it is the monks that did the cooking, and the dishes came to the nuns in a kind of lift large enough for one person. how the vow of chastity was observed was proved on the day of the invasion of the convent, when the skeletons, head and bones of new-born children were found everywhere. at the period of the invasion of the churches and the monasteries, franz wessel, who at that time had discharged the functions of councillor for more than a twelvemonth, was charged with preventing at st. catherine's the abstraction of precious objects. in order to cut short the idolatrous practices, he had a trench dug at the door of the garden of eighteen ells long, in which the images were buried. on the holy thursday, between four and six in the morning, the nuns whose retreat had been attacked were taken to st. catherine's. wessel received them courteously on the threshold of the cloister, took the abbess by the hand and intoned the popish hymn _veni, sponsa salvatoris_, etc. the abbess begged of him to cease this joking, and rather to welcome her with some flagons of wine. wessel objected that the hour was too early to begin drinking. i have narrated the circumstances which compelled burgomaster nicholas smiterlow to take refuge at my mother's with his two sons, nicholas and bertrand. the first-named, a doughty young man, good-looking and of independent character, had with great credit to himself terminated his studies. i have rarely seen such beautiful handwriting as his. impatient to see the world, he felt himself cramped in pomerania, and when he heard that emperor charles had an army in italy, he induced his father to give him an outfit and to allow him to join it. provided with a well-lined purse, he joined the imperial troops, took part in the storming and sacking of rome, got a great deal of loot, but fell ill and died. fate proved not more lenient to doctor zutfeld wardenberg, also the son of a burgomaster. berckmann and other writers have made him pass as a great prelate. be this as it may; he certainly fancied himself a member of the trinity which rules the universe. in his official functions he observed no law but his own sweet will. his own house contained a prison, and he behaved as if the council did not exist. in short, he wound up by setting the magistrates against him to such an extent that one night he judged it prudent to leave the city. his brother, joachim, opened the gates to him without authority--a piece of daring which cost him ten weeks of imprisonment in the blue tower. at the sacking of rome, zutfeld wardenberg tried to hide himself among the invalids of a hospital. he was soon discovered, killed, and everything taken away from him. in the church of st. mary, at stralsund, stands the handsome mausoleum he had prepared for himself, together with an epitaph setting forth his titles, but his body lies somewhere at rome, no one knows where. burgomaster smiterlow was as frank in his speech as he was open of heart. when he conversed in the street his strong and clear voice could be heard a couple of yards off. all his speeches began with "yes, in the name of jesus." one day, after dinner, he went into his stables where, as a rule, he had three horses; he saw one of his stablemen strike one of the animals with a pitchfork, saying, in imitation of himself, "in the name of jesus." smiterlow snatched the implement away from him, then stuck it between his shoulders so that he dropped down, and quietly remarked: "now and again i cause people to cry 'in the name of all the devils.'" according to the custom of the papists, my mother went at half-past twelve, especially during lent, to recite a pater noster and an ave maria before each of the three altars of her ordinary church. she always took her little bartholomäi with her. on one occasion i sat down on the steps of the first altar and began to relieve nature; when she passed on to the second, i followed her and continued the operation, which i finished on the third. when my mother perceived what had occurred she rushed home in hot haste and sent a servant with a broom to repair the mischief. seeing how young she was when separated from her husband and left with four young children, it is not surprising that my mother had moments of sadness and discouragement. one day that she was cutting up some dry fish, a piece fell from the block. i picked it up. without noticing my mother stooped at the same time, and as i was rising, the edge of the hatchet cut my forehead. the scar was never effaced. the lord be praised, though, the accident had no further consequence. hartmann's family having received satisfaction, my father appointed to meet his wife and his children at the manse of neuenkirchen. it was in the autumn and the pears were ripe. after having shaken down and eaten as many as they could, the children began to pelt each other with them. a big pear dropped under the hoofs of a couple of horses tied to a large pear tree. when i stooped to get hold of it, one of the animals dealt me a severe kick at the temple. there was general consternation, and the wound being seemingly dangerous, we came back immediately to town, and i was taken to the doctor. the dukes george and barnim came to stralsund with four hundred horsemen; they received homage and confirmed the privileges of the city. as for the claims of the priests, it was decided to refer them to the imperial chamber. burgomasters, councillors, burghers, preachers (in all about threescore), were summoned to depose on oath before the imperial commissioners, sitting at greifswald. the lawsuit cost the city a considerable sum; the clergy practically flung the money away, but the rector, hippolytus steinwer, began to perceive that the chances were turning against them, and one day he was found dead. it was believed he had strangled himself from vexation. that event put an end to the litigation. the priests returned one after another to stralsund. gradually the sobered citizens began to open their eyes to the serious prejudice which was being done to public and private interests by the agitation of moller. on the other hand, the princes had learned to know smiterlow during the journey to nuremberg; they were also aware of the esteem in which he had been held by their father. all those feelings showed themselves on the occasion of the rendering of homage. rolof moller was obliged to leave the city, and burgomaster smiterlow re-entered it on august , . moller, after a stay of several years at stettin, received permission to come back to stralsund, smiterlow giving his consent; but scarcely a fortnight after his return had gone by when he died, it was said, of grief; and the assumption was sufficiently plausible. hence, smiterlow spent the time of his exile at my mother's, at greifswald, while his house at stralsund sheltered my father. the wives of the two banished men went constantly and at all seasons from one town to another, through hail, snow, rain, frost and cold, and also to the great detriment of their purse and their health. i have often been told afterwards i was a restless, energetic child. i often went up to the tower of st. nicholas's, and on one occasion i made the round of it outside. my mother, standing on the threshold of her house, facing the church, was a witness of the feat, and dared scarcely breathe until her son came down safe and skin-whole. it would appear that little bartholomäi had his reward at her hands. while at greifswald i had already been sent to school. besides reading, i was taught declension, comparisons and conjugation, according to the grammar of donat; after which we passed to torrentinus. on palm sunday i was selected to intone the _quantus_; the preceding years i had sung at first the short, then the long _hic est_. what an honour for the child and for the parents! it was a real feast, for as a rule the sharpest boys are chosen those who, undeterred by the crowds of priests and laymen, bring out their clearest notes, especially for the _quantus_. the continuation of this story will, however, soon show how, from being sanguine, my temperament became melancholy, and how my gaiety and recklessness vanished. chapter ii my student's days at greifswald--victor bole and his tragical end--a servant possessed by the devil--my brother johannes' preceptors and mine--my father's never-ending law suits having acquired the certainty that the hartmanns would never consent to my father's return to greifswald, my parents, like the conscientious married couple they were, desired to bear in common the domestic burdens. in the spring of my mother, after having let her dwelling at greifswald, joined her husband at stralsund, where he had the freeman's right and a tumble-down old house. my maternal grandfather, christian schwarz, at that time city treasurer, kept me with him in order to let me pursue my studies. i underwent the ceremonial of installation, a kind of burlesque function of initiation applied to novices. my tutor was george normann, of the island of rügen, who terminated his career in the service of the king of sweden. i was the reverse of a studious boy and fonder of roving about with my relative in his journeys about greifswald than of books. as a consequence my mental progress was in proportion to my efforts. there was at greifswald a burgomaster named victor bole, belonging to a notable family of the island of rügen. before he attained his civic honours he was a good evangelical and a zealous friend of the preachers, but his apostasy was thorough. as much as he had supported the ministry before his election, as much did he oppose them afterwards. i remember seeing him at the meetings of the corporation seated in the front place in virtue of his dual quality of eldest member and burgomaster, more or less in liquor, browbeating and talking everybody down (in high-german always). as he had taken part in several expeditions, fighting was the invariable theme of his discourses. he generally summoned the musicians, cymbal players and pipers before him. "dost thou know a war cry?" he asked of a piper. "yes, certainly," was the reply, while shrill notes rent the air. but the burgomaster was beaming. "this, at any rate, is a useful kind of fellow; while that knipstro of stralsund stammers in the pulpit about _pap_, _pap_, _pap_, i am sure he could play a war cry. then what's the good of him?" "those who laugh last laugh loudest," says the proverb. that same year, , the king of the may was bertrand smiterlow. i walked in front of him carrying his crown. bole did smiterlow the honour to prance by his side, being very pleased to parade his servants and his horses, of the latter of which he had four in his stable. if the skies had shown a little bit more clement we should have been very happy. but though it was the st may, there was not a bud nor a blade of grass to be seen. on the contrary, the snow powdered our procession with large flakes, both on coming and on going. as a consequence everybody was in a hurry to get back again. odd to relate, the seed did not seem to suffer. after they had presented the crown to the may king in the city, everybody galloped back to his own roof tree. when the burgomaster reached his house he was taken with such violent colic that he had scarcely time to hand his horse to his servant before he dropped down dead. his neck was entirely twisted round, and his face was black. as a matter of course, people ascribed it to a visitation of god for having made fun of those who preached his word. in the states were called together at stettin to ratify the pact of succession between the elector of brandenburg and the dukes of pomerania. the deputy of greifswald, burgomaster gaspard bunsaw, my mother's first cousin, took me with him as page, or rather as companion, and also to enable me to see something new. our host had a magnificent garden; on the banks of a vast lake uprose a vast tower with an inside staircase, closed by a trap. one day that the company was amusing itself in watching the carps from that tower, i hauled myself up to the window out of curiosity, but i forgot the yawning trap door behind me, and was flung right to the bottom. it was a miracle that i did not break my neck, or, at any rate, my arms and my legs. heaven preserved me by means of its angels, who frustrate the tricks of the evil one. at the age of five, nicholas, the eldest son of bertrand smiterlow, was already much taller and stronger than i; this incarnate fiend worried all the children of the neighbourhood, and instead of reprimanding him, his father took no notice of the complaints against him. this indulgence bore such excellent fruit that in order to prevent disputes and perhaps personal violence between young nicholas' father and the neighbours, christian schwarz considered it advisable to take nicholas to live with him, and so we shared the same bed. one morning as we were dressing on the big locker at the foot of the bed, the youngster, without saying a word and out of sheer mischief, hit me right in the chest and made me tumble backward, a downright dangerous fall. the grandfather gave a dinner-party to his children and other people. late in the evening the servants came with links to take their masters home. while they were waiting for that purpose, nicholas began to play them tricks, which they endured from fear of the grandfather. rendered bold by impunity, nicholas struck some of the servants on the lips, but one of these retorted by a box on the ears which sent nicholas whining to his grandfather. after the banquet the lanterns were lighted, and everybody was preparing to get home quietly when bertrand smiterlow, drawing his knife, rushed at the offending servant, who was lighting his master on his way, and wounded him seriously in the shoulder. on account of all this christian schwarz preferred to send me back to stralsund to leaving me to enjoy the risky society of nicholas. the boy grew up and his faults with him, for they amused his father, who encouraged them while nobody dared to say a word in protest. nicholas had reached the age of twenty-seven when travelling to rostock, he stopped for the night at roevershagen. some travellers, knowing his quarrelsome character, preferred to take themselves and their conveyance to the inn opposite. one of these had a sporting dog, which, running about, found its way into the hostel where smiterlow was staying. the latter tied up the animal, did not send it back, and next morning the rightful owner saw it being taken away on a leash. naturally, the man claimed his dog. smiterlow, instead of giving him a civil answer, takes aim at him; the other, more prompt, quickly fires a bullet into the thigh. smiterlow, in his wounded condition, got as far as rostock, had his wound attended to; nevertheless died a few days later in consequence. the merchant continued his route without troubling himself, and no one lodged a complaint. bertrand smiterlow contracted the itch in the back; father and son, therefore, had their just reward. heaven preserve me from criticizing the descendants of herr smiterlow, to whom i am doubly related, but i trust that mine will bring up their children in a more severe discipline and in the respect of their fellow-men. in the english pest which had already been spoken of during the previous year, carried away many people at stralsund. my mother had two attacks, from both of which she fortunately recovered. being _enceinte_ with my brother christian, she ordered, like the good housewife she was, a general cleaning before her confinement. it so happened that we had a servant-girl who was possessed. nobody had the faintest suspicion of this. when, at the moment of cleaning the kitchener and cooking utensils, she began noisily to fling about saucepans, frying-pans, etc., crying at the top of her voice, "i want to get out, i want to get out." her mother, who lived in the zinngiesser strasse (pewterers' street), had to take her back. the poor girl was taken several times in a sleigh to st. nicholas's, and they exorcised her after the sermon. her case, as far as the answers tended to show, was as follows: the mother had brought new cheese at the market. in her absence, the daughter had opened the cupboard and made a large breach in the cheese; the mother, on her return, had expressed the wish that the devil might take the perpetrator of this thing, and from that moment dated the "possession." the girl had, nevertheless, been to communion since; how, then, could the evil one have kept his position? the priest, interrogated on that point, had answered: "the scoundrel, who has hidden himself under a bridge, lets the honest man pass over his head"; in other words, during the sacramental act, the evil one hid himself under the girl's tongue. the evil one was excommunicated and exorcised by the faithful on their bended knees. the formula of exorcism was received with derision. when the priest summoned him to go, he exclaimed: "i am agreeable, but you do not expect me to go with empty hands. i want this, and that, and the other." if they refused him one thing he asked for something quite different; and inasmuch as one of the faithful had remained "covered" during prayers, the evil one politely snatched up his hat, and if god had let him have his own way, hair and skin would have accompanied the headgear. at about the same period i witnessed an analogous fact. frau kron, an honest and pious matron, was possessed by a demon; the minister was preparing to drive it out at all costs when frau wolff entered. she was a young woman who surpassed her sisters in the art of beautifying her face, arranging her cap, and posing before the looking glass. when the evil spirit caught sight of her, he shouted. "ah, you are here, are you? just wait a bit till i arrange your cap before the mirror. your ears shall tingle, i can tell you." to come back to our own servant. when the power of mischief noticed that the time for tormenting her had passed away, and that the lord was granting the prayers of the faithful, the evil one asked in a mocking tone a pane of the belfry's window, which request was no sooner accorded to him than the pane shivered into ever so many splinters. the girl, however, ceased to be possessed; she married in the village, and had several children. my brother johannes had for his first tutor herr aepinus, before the latter had his doctor's degree,[ ] and afterwards hermannus bonus,[ ] who would have been pleased to settle at stralsund with fifty florins per annum, but the council of that particular period did not contain one member who had had a university training. like the princes the council inclined towards papism, and looked askance at men of letters; hence, it rejected bonnus' overtures. the latter soon afterwards became the tutor of the young king of denmark, for whose use he composed his _praecepta grammaticae_, which was much more easy than the donat grammar, and prevails to the present day under the title of the _grammatica bonni_. at his return from denmark, bonnus was appointed superintendent at lubeck, where he is interred _honorifice_ behind the choir. when my brother left the school at lubeck, my parents made many heavy sacrifices to keep him at wittemberg for several years, where, notwithstanding some _delicta juventutis_, he studied with advantage. my tutor's name was matthias brassanus. at the outset of his career he had been a monk at the monastery of camp, but at the suppression of the institution he had lived at wittemberg at the cost of the prince, like leonard meisisch, the future court preacher and minister at wolgast, and afterwards pastor at altenkirchen--a downright epicurean pig! brassanus, on the other hand, was a small, polite, temperate, well-bred, evenly balanced man. after his stay at wittemberg he became the preceptor of george and johannes smiterlow, and afterwards _rector scholae_. their worships of lubeck having prevailed upon the council of stralsund to part with this able teacher, brassanus devoted the whole of his life successfully directing the school of lubeck. i profited as much by the lessons as my natural restlessness of character permitted. there was a great deal of aptitude, but the application failed. in the winter time i ran amusing myself on the floating ice with my fellow-scholars of my own age. johannes gottschalk, our ringleader, always got scot-free, thanks to his long legs, while the rest of the gang (and i was invariably with them) took many enforced footbaths in order to get safely to the banks. my father, in crossing the bridge had occasion more than once to witness the prowess of his son, who received many a sound drubbing when he came to dry himself before the stove, for my father was a choleric gentleman. in summer i was in the habit of bathing with my chums behind lorbeer's grange, which at present is my property. burgomaster smiterlow, having noticed me from his garden, told of me, and one day, while i was still asleep, my father planted himself in front of my bed, flourishing a big stick. he spoke very loudly while placing himself into position, and i was obliged to open my eyes. the sight of the club told me that my hour had come; i burst into tears and pleaded for mercy. "very well, my good sir," said my father; when he called me "my good sir" it was a bad sign. "very well, my good sir, you have been bathing; now allow me to rub you down." saying which, he got hold of his weapon, pulled my shirt over my head, and did frightful execution. my parents brought us up carefully. my father was somewhat hasty, and now and again his anger carried him beyond all bounds. i put him out of temper one day when he was in the stable and i at the door. he caught up a pitchfork and flung it at me. i had just time to get out of the way; the pitchfork stuck into a bath made of oak, and they had much trouble to get it out. in that way the evil one was frustrated in all his designs against me by providence. in a similar case, my mother, who was gentleness and tenderness itself, came running to the spot. "strike harder," she said, "the wicked boy deserves all he gets." at the same time she slyly held back the arm of her husband, preventing the stick from coming down too heavily. oh, my children, pray that the knowledge may be vouchsafed to you of bringing up your family in the way they should go. correct them temperately, without compromising either their health or their intelligence, but at the same time do not imitate the apes who from excess of tenderness, smother their young. rector brassanus insisted upon his pupils being present when he preached. some were clever enough to get away on the sly; they went to buy pepper cakes, and repaired afterwards to the dram shop. the trick was done before there was time to look round. when the sermon drew to its close, every one was in his place again, and we went back to school as if nothing had happened. one day, however, we drank so much brandy that i felt horribly sick and vomited violently, and found it impossible either to keep on my legs or to articulate a syllable. the strongest of my schoolfellows took me home. my parents were under the impression that i was seriously ill; had they suspected the real cause of my malady, their treatment would have been less tender. when, at last, i avowed the truth, the fear of punishment had long ago vanished. the adventure was productive of some good. it inspired me with a thorough disgust for brandy, so that i could not even bear the smell of it. my daily playmate was george smiterlow, for we were neighbours, nearly relatives, and of about the same age, i being but a year older than he. one day he cut me with his knife between the index and the thumb, and i still bear the scar. as i was whittling a piece of wood, my sister anna snatched it away from me, and in trying to get it back again, i drove the chisel into my right thigh up to the handle. master joachim gelhaar, an excellent _chirurgus_, renowned far and wide, began by probing the wound, and by getting the bad blood out of it; after which he dressed it with a cabbage leaf which was constantly kept moist. i was just recovering the use of my leg again when i took it into my head to go to the wood with my schoolfellows, for it was always difficult for me to keep still. the fatigue thus incurred caused a relapse. next morning i dragged myself as far as the surgeon, who suspected my excursion, and swore at seeing a month of his efforts wasted. i should have been in a nice predicament if he had complained to my father. in , on the monday before st. bartholomew, they burned at stralsund, bischof, a tailor who had outraged his own daughter, aged twelve. the fellow was so strong that he jumped from the pyre when the fire had destroyed his bonds, but the executioner plunged his knife into him, and flung him back into the flames. the following happened in june, . a young fellow, good-looking, and with most fascinating manner, but by no means well enough in worldly goods, courted a more or less well-preserved widow, notwithstanding her nine children of her first husband, which subsequently she increased by another nine of her second. tempted by the amiability, the appearance, and the demeanour of the youngster, the dame consented to be his wife. the happy day was already fixed, the viands ordered, and the preparations completed, but the bridegroom was at a loss how to pay for his wedding clothes, the customary presents and other things. hence, one fine evening he left the city, and in the early morn reached the village of putten, where, espying a ladder on a peasant's cart, he puts it against the wall of the church, breaks one of its windows, gets inside, forces the reliquary, possessing himself of the chalices, other holy vessels, all the gold and silver work, not forgetting the wooden box containing the money. after which, taking the way whence he had come, he flung away the box and entered the city laden with the spoil. a local cowherd, driving his cattle to the field, happened to pick up the box. at the selfsame moment the sight of the ladder and of the broken window sets the whole of the place, rector, beadle, clerk, and peasantry, mad with excitement. the whole village is up in arms; the neighbouring roads are scoured in search of the perpetrator of the sacrilege. at twelve o'clock, the cowherd comes back with the box. he is arrested; the patrons of the church, who reside in the city, have him put to the torture. he confesses to the theft. there was, nevertheless, the absolute impossibility for him to have got rid of the stolen objects, inasmuch as he had been guarding his cattle during the five or six hours that had gone by between the robbery and his arrest; the slightest inquiry would have conclusively proved his innocence. in spite of this, the confession dragged from the poor wretch by unbearable pain, appears most conclusive. condemned there and then, he is there and then put on the wheel. the real culprit watched the execution with the utmost composure. the proceeds of this first crime were, however, by no means sufficient to defray the cost of the wedding, and the bridegroom forced another church. he took a reliquary and a holy vessel, reduced them to fragments, and tried to sell them to some goldsmiths at greifswald. this time he was unable to lead the pursuers off the scent. having been arrested in the house of my wife's parents, he was racked alive, and his body left to the carrion birds. a similar tragedy took place between the easter and whitsun of . i anticipate events, because the horror of them was pretty well equal, but there was a great difference in the procedure. in the one case, deplorable acts, at variance with all wisdom, and disgraceful to christians; in the other place, a thoroughly laudable conduct, consistent with right and reason. on his return from leipzig, whither he had gone to buy books, johannes altingk, the son of the late werner altingk, a notable citizen and bookseller of stralsund, was killed on the road from anelam to greifswald. in consequence of active inquiries, two individuals on whom rested grave suspicions, were incarcerated at wolgast. but the case was proceeded with more methodically than the one i have just narrated. the magistrates went with the instruments of torture to the prisoner, who seemed the least resolved. he made a complete avowal. his companion and he had put up for the night at an inn at grosskistow; johannes altingk had taken his seat at their table and shared their meal. then, before going to bed, he had paid for all three, showing at the same time a well filled purse. the scoundrels had at once made up their minds between them to kill him at a little distance from the inn on the foot-road, intersected here and there by deep ruts, and where consequently there was only room to pass in single file. "next morning, then, when the young bookseller was marching along between his fellow-travellers, i struck him at the back of the head;" said the accused. "the blow knocked him off his feet; we soon made an end of him altogether, and flung his body to the bottom of the deep bog. with my part of the spoil i bought myself this hat and this pair of shoes." after this interrogatory, the judges, accompanied by the executioner and his paraphernalia, went to the second prisoner, who denied everything. it was in vain they pressed him and told him of his accomplice's avowal; he went on denying everything. when they were confronted, the one who had been first examined repeated all the particulars of the crime, beseeching the other to prevent a double martyrdom, inasmuch as the truth would be dragged from them by torture, and the punishment was unavoidable. no doubt the stralsund authorities, those who had judged the above named perpetrator of the sacrilege, would have put the accused on the rack without the least compunction or ceremony, _de simplice et piano, sine strepitu judicii, quemadmodum deus procedere solet_. at wolgast, on the contrary, though the hangman had orders to hold himself in readiness, _ad actum propinquum_, the magistrates preferred to exercise some delay. the prince had the bog examined, but no body was found there. when taken to the spot, the prisoner who had confessed his guilt recognized the place of the murder, without being able, however, to point it out accurately. the landlord and his wife at gross-kistow, when examined carefully, denied having lodged any one at the period indicated. finally, a messenger of the brandenburg march brought the news that an assassin condemned to death confessed to having killed in pomerania a young librarian, for which crime two individuals were under lock and key at wolgast. when taxed with having almost caused the death of innocent people by false avowals, the self-confessed murderer replied that death seemed to him preferable to the "criminal question," as that kind of torture was called. their acquittal was pronounced on their taking the oath to bring no further action. but this only shows the precautions to be taken before applying the instruments of torture to merely suspected men. on the other hand, it has been shown over and over again that some of the guilty hardened to that kind of thing will allow themselves to be torn to pieces sooner than avow. in that year ( ) duke george died in the prime of his life. his second wife was the sister to margrave joachim; they got rid of her for about , florins, and she subsequently married a prince of anhalt, but finally she eloped with a falconer. my mother having realized all her property at greifswald, my parents really possessed a considerable fortune in sterling coin, and they called my father "the rich man of the passen strasse." it wanted, however, but a few years to shake his credit and to impair the happiness of his family. without exaggeration, two women, named lubbeke and engeln were the principal causes of our reverses. not content to buy on credit our cloth, which they resold to heaven knows who, they borrowed of my father, fifty, a hundred, and as much as a hundred and fifty crowns on the slightest pretext. the crown in those days was worth eight and twenty shillings of lubeck. they promised to refund at eight and twenty and a half, and to settle for their purchases at the same rate; but if now and again they happened to make a payment on account of a hundred florins, they took care to buy at the same time goods for double the amount. my mother did not look kindly upon those two customers; she imagined that her money would be better invested at five per cent., and she spared neither warnings, prayers, nor tears to dissuade my father from trusting them. she even took pastor knipstrow and others into her confidence to that effect. finally, the account came to a considerable amount, while the debtors were unable to pay as much as twenty florins. then it transpired what had become of the cloth. the mother of one townsman, jacob leveling, had had florins of it; the wife of another, hermann bruser, , florins. hermann bruser was a big cloth merchant who sold retail much cheaper than any of his fellow-tradesmen. my father having taken proceedings against his two customers as well as against the woman bruser, the latter and her husband promised to pay the , florins. nicholas rode, who had married bruser's sister, and the syndic of the city, johannes klocke, afterwards burgomaster, induced my father to accept that arrangement, and bruser secured conditions after having signed an acknowledgment beginning as follows: "i, together with my legitimate wife, declare to be duly and lawfully indebted to etc., etc." the syndic had drawn up this act with his own hand. he had affixed his signature to it, and his seal, and rode had in the latter two respects done the same. but the period of the first payment coinciding with the tumult against nicholas smiterlow, bruser, one of the ringleaders, thought he could have the whip hand of my father as well as of the burgomaster. on his refusal to pay, the case came before the court once more; and then, while denying his debt, in spite of the formal terms of his declaration, bruser denounced as usurious agreements obtained by litigation. klocke and rode assisted him with their advice and influence; the first-named, in his capacity of a lawyer, conducted the suit, and quoting the _leges et doctorum opiniones_, easily convinced his non-legally educated colleagues of the council. the westphalian cyriacus erckhorst, the son-in-law of rode, and a velvet merchant, plotted on his side. there were golden florins for the all-powerful burgomaster lorbeer, and pieces of dress-material for mrs. burgomaster; so that, after long arguments on both sides, bruser was allowed to swear that he was ignorant of the affair, which, moreover, was tainted with usury. my father could not conceive that this personage would have the audacity to deny his signature, and, supported in his supposition by burgomaster nicholas smiterlow, he did not appeal against the judgment, and at the next sitting bruser appeared at the bar of the inner court, took the oath, and offered to comply with the second part of the order; only, in consequence of the absence of his witness he claimed a delay of a twelvemonth and a day, which was accorded to him; after which my father appealed to the council of stralsund and afterwards to that of lubeck. in due time my father started for lubeck, and took me with him. at rostock, we lodged at the sign of _the hop_, in the market place. my father had a considerable sum upon him to pay cash for his purchases of salt, salted cod-fish and soap, and as a measure of precaution, he carried that money in his small clothes, for mecklenburg was infested by footpads and highwaymen. while undressing, he dropped his purse under the bed, an accident which he did not notice until next day about twelve o'clock, when we had reached bukow. as the court was just about to open it fell to my lot to take the road back to rostock _per pedes_. on that day i could get no further than berkentin, but very early next morning i was at rostock. naturally, i rushed to the inn and to the room. luckily the servants had not made the beds. i soon espied the little bag and was in time to take the coach to wismar. my father, uneasy on my account, was already reproaching himself for having let me go. their worships of lubeck condemned bruser to keep his written promise; he then appealed to the imperial chamber. the suit dragged along for several years; finally, the supreme decision was to the effect that it had been well judged, but improperly thrown into appeal in the first instance, and that in the second it had been faultily judged and properly sent for appeal. the defendant was condemned to pay the costs to be determined by the judge. and now i may be permitted to give an instance of the disloyalty of the procurators of the imperial chamber. doctor simeon engelhardt, my father's procurator, did not hesitate to write to him that he had won his case, and asked for the bill of costs of the two previous instances, so that he might hand them to the taxing judge and apply for execution. he added that the trouble he had taken with the affair seemed to him to warrant special fees. my parents, elated with the news, promptly transmitted the bill of costs and their fees for the execution. engelhardt produced the _cedula expensarum_; bruser's procurator requested copy, not without pretending to raise objection. engelhardt delivered the required copy, leaving to the judge the case of designating the winning party; in other words, the one who had the right to present the _designatio expensarum_. well, that right was adjudged to bruser, who drew up the _cedula_ after _ours_. engelhardt was compelled to hold his tongue and my father had to pay florins. that point having been settled, they passed to the second _membrum_ of the stralsund judgment; namely, whether the conditions stipulated for by my father were tainted with usury? after such an expensive and protracted lawsuit, the court, considering that bruser had failed in his attempt to bring proof, condemned him to fulfil his engagements. against that sentence he appealed to lubeck. having been non-suited there, he wished to have recourse to the imperial chamber, but we signified opposition to the _exceptio devolutionis_. according to us, he had not complied with the privilege of lubeck. bruser's procurator maintained the contrary. the whole of the discussion bore entirely on the sense of the word "_wann_" inserted in the lubeck _vidimus_. was it a _conjunctio causalis, cum posteaquam_, or an _adverbium temporis, quando_? after long-drawn debates, the appeal was rejected, and bruser had all the costs to pay. then, to frustrate his adversary, he pleaded poverty on oath, although he gave to his daughter as many pearls and jewels as a burgomaster's girl could possibly pretend to. foreseeing the upshot of the lawsuit, he had already disposed of one of his houses; after which he bestirred himself to safeguard his dwelling-house, his cellar and his various other property from being seized. nicholas rode, he who had signed the obligation, deposed to that effect, a document professedly anterior to my father's claim, an act constituting in his favour a general mortgage on all bruser's property. as a matter of course, this led to a new lawsuit, which occupied respectively the courts of stralsund and of lubeck and the imperial chamber. the latter registered rode's appeal at the moment the protestant states denied its jurisdiction. a suspension of six years was the result, but after the reconstitution of the chamber and the closure of the debates, i did not succeed, in spite of two years' stay at spires, in getting a judgment. weary of being involved in law for thirty-four years, my father wound up by acquitting the heirs of rode of all future liabilities in consideration of a sum of one thousand florins. as it happened the original debt was seventeen hundred and five and twenty florins; in addition to this, my father had refunded to bruser one hundred and sixty-four florins expenses, his own costs exceeded a thousand florins and he had waited forty years for his money. the whole affair was nothing short of a downright calamity to our family; it interrupted my studies and caused the death of my brother johannes. "_dimidium plus toto_," says hesiod, and the maxim is above all wise in connexion with a law-suit at the imperial chamber. writing, as i do, for the edification of my children, i consider it useful to mention here the subsequent fate of our godless adversaries. the seventy-fifth psalm says: "for in the hand of the lord there is a cup, and the wine is red, and he poured out of the same, but the dregs thereof all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out and drink them." yes, the almighty has comforted me, he has permitted me to see the scattering of my enemies. the two principal ones, hermann bruser and his fraudulent wife, fell into abject misery; they lived for many years on the bounty of parents and friends; finally the husband became valet of joachim burwitz who from the position of porter and general servant at the school when i was young had risen to be the secretary of the king of sweden. the devil, however, twisted bruser's neck at stockholm. he was found in his master's wardrobe, his face all distorted. his daughter, dowered _in fraudem mei patris_, did, for all that, not escape very close acquaintance with poverty. she sold her houses and her land; and at her death her husband became an inmate of the asylum of the holy ghost, where he is to this day. bruser's son, it is true, rose to be a secretary in sweden, but far from prospering, he committed all kind of foolish acts everywhere. his first wife, the daughter of burgomaster gentzkow,[ ] died of grief at stralsund, where he had left her with her children at his departure for sweden. he was found dead one morning in his room; his descendants are vegetating some in the city, some in the country. the author of the plot, the honest dispenser of advice, johannes klocke, managed to keep his wealth, but he was racked with gout and had to be carried in a chair to the town hall; he died after having suffered martyrdom for many years. the four sons of nicholas rode were reduced to beggary; the house bruser sold in order to cheat my father actually belongs to my son-in-law. as for burgomaster christopher lorbeer, so skilled in prolonging law-suits, does he not expiate, he and his, every day, the wrong in having lent himself to corruption. erckhorst, the man who tempted him, was robbed while engaged in transporting from one town to another two large bundles of velvet, silk, jewellery and pearls, the whole being estimated at several thousands of florins. his second wife was the byword of the city for her levity of conduct; at every moment she was caught in her own dwelling-house and in the most untoward spots committing acts of criminal intercourse with her apprentices. what had been saved from the thieves was devoured by his wife's paramours. absolutely at a loss to reinstate himself in his former position, erckhorst made an end of his life by stabbing himself. my father's other debtor, the woman leveling, was left a widow with an only son. her property in houses and in land yielded, it was said, a golden florin and a fowl per day. that fortune, nevertheless, melted away, and leveling, worried by her creditors, was obliged to quit her house with nothing but what she stood up in. lest her son, a horrible ne'er-do-well of fifteen, should spend his nights in houses of ill-fame, she kept a mistress for him at home; after that she married him at such an early age as to astonish everybody, but he cared as much about the sanctity of marriage as a dog cares about lent. during the ceremonies connected with rendering homage to duke philip, the duchess lodged at leveling's and stood godmother to his new-born daughter, which honour had not the slightest effect in changing the scandalous life he led with a concubine. one night, in company with a certain valentin buss, he emptied the baskets in the pond of the master of the fishmongers. an arrant thief, he was fast travelling towards the gallows. buss, who wound up by going to prison, would have been hanged but for leveling, who in order to redeem himself parted to the council with his last piece of ground, namely, that in which his father's body rested in the church. one day at the termination of the sermon, leveling, sword in hand, pursued my father, who had just time to reach his domicile and to shut the door in his face. on the other hand, master sonnenberg, who sheltered the old woman leveling while she was negotiating with her creditors, was not content with egging on her son to all sorts of evil deeds, but had the effrontery to say to my father: "i'll tame you so well that you shall come and eat out of my hands." after having squandered his inheritance, leveling died in the most abject poverty; his daughter marie, the duchess' goddaughter, sells fish in the market. such was the end of the wealthy popinjay. mother and son followed the traditions of their family without having profited by the lessons of the past; one of the woman leveling's relatives was, in fact, that burgomaster wulf wulflam, reputed the richest man on that part of the coast,[ ] whose wife was so fond of show and splendour that at her second marriage she sent for the prince's musicians from stettin and walked from her house to the church on an english carpet. for her own wear she only used the finest riga flax. so much vainglory was punished by the god of justice, who expels from his kingdom the proud and haughty. the only thing she had finally left of all her magnificence was a silver bowl with which she went begging from door to door. "charity," she cried, "for the poor rich woman." one day she asked from one of her former servants a shift and some linen for a collar to it. moved with pity, the latter did not refuse. "madame," she said, "this linen was made of the flax you used for your own wear. i have carefully picked it up, cleaned and spun it."[ ] the arrangement made by the levelings with their creditors gave to my father the passage of the muhlen-strasse. inasmuch as the premises were tumbling to pieces, masons, carpenters, stonecutters and plasterers were soon set to work and began by expelling the rats, mice and doubtful human creatures that had taken up their quarters there. the best tenement adjoining the city wall with a beautiful look-out on the moats and the open country was occupied by the concubine of zabel lorbeer. she was one of the three maries, and had presented him with either seven or eight bastards. my father, finding the door locked one morning, ordered the workmen to knock down the wall which fell on the bed where the scamp and the girl were sleeping; the only thing they could do was to get out of the way as quickly as possible. lorbeer brought up his progeny according to the principles that guided him; and finally had his son beheaded to save him the disgrace of the gallows. a short digression is necessary in connexion with the three maries.[ ] they were sisters, exceedingly good-looking, but the poet's "_et quidem servasset, si non formosa fuisset_," essentially applied to them. many traps are laid for beauty, and they one after another fell into them. they lived on their charms, being particularly careful about their appearance and dress in order to attract admirers. their attempts to obtain such notice were seconded by an unspeakable old crone, anna stranck, who had been a downright messalina in her time, and of whom it was said that she could reckon on the whole of the city among her parentage, although she had neither husband nor children, but that she had had illicit intercourse with every male, young, old and middle-aged, fathers, sons and brothers. anna stranck invented for the use of the three maries a kind of loose coif, the fashion of which our womenkind have religiously preserved; even those who have discarded it wearing a velvet hood based upon that model. they brought their hair, black or grey about two inches down on the forehead. then came as many inches of gold lace or embroidery, so that the real cap, intended to keep the head warm did not in the least cover the brain. i am purposely quoting the name of anna stranck, for it is well to remind people to whom the headgear was due in the first instance; and may it please our dames to preserve it for ever in memory of the woman, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother of their husbands. i now resume my personal narrative. during the rebuilding of this new property, i was fetching and carrying all the while. one day my father sent me to our own house for the luncheon for himself and for the carpenters. the workmen were just knocking down a chimney; they were working higher than the chimney on a gangway made of boards which at each extremity overlapped the stays. a great number of large nails were strewn about the scaffolding. i climbed up, with my arms full of provisions, but scarcely did i set my foot on the gangway than the gangway toppled over and i was flung into space, the nails descending in a shower on my head. i just happened to fall by the side of the open chimney; half an ell more or less and i should have been through its aperture on the ground floor. as it was, the accident proved sufficiently serious. i had dislocated my right elbow and horribly bruised my arm. they took me home, whence my mother took me to master joachim gelhaar. he was absent, and inasmuch as the case seemed urgent, they had recourse to the barber in the old market, who dressed the bruises without noticing that the bone was dislocated. next morning master gelhaar came. a simple glance was sufficient for him; he grasped my arm, pulled and twisted it and put the bones back into their sockets. but the limb was bruised and swollen and twisted. i shall never forget the pain i suffered. in a little while, though, i was enabled to go about the house as usual with one arm in a sling, and the other available for our childish pastimes. the old beams and rafters of the premises under repair were stacked at our place. one day, while perched on one of the piles, i struck out with a hammer in my left hand; one of the beams rolled down and my leg was caught between it and the other wood. the pain made me cry out lustily, but it was impossible to disengage my leg. my mother was not strong enough for the task, and making sure that my leg was crushed, she shouted and fetched the navvies and the brewery workmen; they delivered me. when she was certain that no harm had come to me, my mother, still excited, treated me to a good drubbing. on new year's day, , my father was elected dean of the corporation of drapers.[ ] chapter iii showing the ingratitude, foolishness and wickedness of the people, and how, when once infected with a bad spirit, it returns with difficulty to common-sense--smiterlow, lorbeer and the duke of mecklenburg--fall of the seditious regime of the forty-eight the ecclesiastical affairs of stralsund had assumed more or less regular conditions; the gospel was preached in all the churches without opposition either on the part of the princes or of the council. smiterlow had sanctioned the return of rolof moller. nevertheless, peace was not maintained for long, lubeck, rostock, stralsund and wismar having revolted against their magistrates. in fact, at the death of king frederick of denmark, george wullenweber,[ ] burgomaster of lubeck, having for his acolyte marx meyer, decided to declare war upon duke christian of holstein. according to wullenweber, the conquest of denmark was a certainty; and inasmuch as the magistrates of lubeck, belonging to the old families, looked with apprehension on the enterprise, they were deposed and sixty burghers added to their successors. marx meyer was a working blacksmith with a handsome face and figure. being a skilful farrier he had accompanied the cavalry in several campaigns, and his conduct both with regard to his comrades and the enemy had been such as to gain for him the highest grades. he was created a knight in england and amassed a considerable fortune. his rise in the world filled him, however, with inordinate pride and vanity. nothing in the way of sumptuous garments and golden ornaments seemed good enough to emphasize his knightly dignity. he had a crowd of retainers and a stable full of horses, for like the majority of folk of low birth, he knew of no bounds in his prosperity. odd to relate, he was courted by people of good condition; women both young, rich and well-born fell in love with this, and it would appear that he gave them no cause to regret their infatuation. i have read a letter written to him by one of the foremost ladies of quality of hamburg: "my dear marx, after having visited all the chapels, you might for once in a way come to the cathedral." may his death be accounted as an instance of everlasting justice. in june the councillors of the wendish cities,[ ] apprehending a disaster and being moreover exceedingly grieved at this struggle against the excellent duke of holstein, foregathered at hamburg to consider the state of affairs. wullenweber, however, presumptuous as was his wont, became more obstinate than ever and rejected with scorn most acceptable terms of peace. hence, the stralsund delegate, burgomaster nicholas smiterlow, addressed the following prophetic words to him: "i have been present at many negotiations, but never have i seen matters treated like this, signor george. you will knock your head against the wall and you shall fall on your beam end." after that apostrophe, wullenweber, furious with anger, left the council-chamber, made straight for his inn, had his and meyer's horses saddled and both took the way back to lubeck, where immediately after his arrival wullenweber summoned his undignified council and the aforementioned sixty burghers, who between them decree in the twinkling of an eye a levy of troops; dispatching meanwhile to the council of stralsund a blatant sedition-monger, johannes holm, with verbal instructions and a missive couched substantially as follows: "wullenweber is zealously working to bring principalities and kingdoms under the authority of the cities, but the opposition of burgomaster smiterlow has driven him from the diet. in spite of this, the struggle is bound to continue, so it lays with you to act." nothing more than that was wanted to stir the whole of the citizens against smiterlow. the forty-eight came to tender their condolence to burgomaster lorbeer who was secretly jealous of his colleague. pretending to be greatly concerned, he exclaimed: "this is too much, impossible to defend him any longer." his hearers took it for granted that smiterlow was left to their discretion, while, according to lorbeer himself, the ambiguous words merely signified: "smiterlow has so many enemies that i can no longer come to his aid." at smiterlow's return, the fire so skilfully fed by lorbeer broke into flame. people hailed each other with the cry, "nicholas the pacific is here." the delegate had to deliver an account of his mission to the burghers summoned to that effect at six in the morning, at the town hall, with the city-gates closed and the cannon taken out of the arsenal and placed in position in the old markets the crowd poured into the streets, and at the town hall itself people were crushing the life out of each other. when nicholas smiterlow came to his statement that he had opposed wullenweber's warlike motions, there was a hurricane of cries, curses and insults; it sounded as if they had all gone stark mad at once. it was proposed to fling the speaker out of the window; an axe was flung at the councillors' bench and in endeavouring to intercept the weapon the worshipful master kasskow was severely wounded. one individual placed himself straight in front of the burgomaster. "you scum of the earth," he yelled; "did you not unjustly fine me twenty florins? now it is my turn." "what's your name?" asked smiterlow. "that's right," he said on its being given; "it was a piece of injustice, he ought to have had the gallows. i was sheriff at the time and the council instructed me to fine you twenty florins. my register of fines can show you that i did not keep them for myself, but spent them for the good of the city." his interlocutor wished to hear no more and disappeared in the crowd. it should also be noted that the beggars who generally hung about the burgomaster's dwelling were all the while vociferating under the windows of the town hall. "fling nicholas the pacific down to us," they shouted; "we'll cut him up and play ball with the pieces." one of the forty-eight having asked, "what do you think of it, my worthy burghers?" the rabble yelled, "yes, yes," without the faintest idea of the nature of the question. somebody thereupon observed, "why are you shouting 'yes'? are you willing to hand over the public chest?" thereupon there was an equally unanimous and stentorian "no." unquestionably the devil had occasion on that day to laugh at the people in his sleeve. this martyring of the first burgomaster, an eminent, virtuous man, who had, moreover, attained a certain age, was prolonged till seven o'clock at night. finally, he received the order not to leave his quarters. similar injunctions were inflicted on my father in his capacity of nephew by marriage to the burgomaster, and to joachim rantzow for having exclaimed, "gently, gently; at least give people a chance to explain themselves." the soldiers and sailors were enjoined at the sound of the drum to man the galleys, and a strict watch was kept. at night a strong squad encamped in front of smiterlow's dwelling; the soldiers, among other pastimes, amused themselves with firing at the front door; the bullets passed out at the other side of the passage through a circular glazed aperture. there were many hours of anguish for the burgomaster, his wife and children, who expected at every moment to have their home invaded by the mob. on the monday of st. john they elected two burgomasters, namely, joachim prütze, the erewhile town clerk, an honest and sensible man, and johannes klocke, the actual town clerk and syndicus. seven burghers were elected councillors; with the exception of secretary johannes senckestack, who had had no hand in the thing, they were all honest, uninteresting folk, as simple-minded as they were upright and virtuous. johannes tamme, for instance, a worthy and straightforward man, replied to the artizans and others who came to complain of the bad state of business: "make your mind easy; it will change now that seven capable people form part of the council." antique simplicity indeed. nicholas baremann boasted of earning ten marks each time he left his home. one day he went into the cellar to look at a barrel of salt-fish, he was accompanied by a servant who was not altogether right in his head. in those days men wore round their necks a very narrow collar of pleated tulle. while the master was bending over the fish, the servant with one blow of his hatchet clean cut his head off. instead of taking flight he quietly went back to his work. when interrogated about the motive of his crime, he replied that his master presented his neck so gently as to make the operation merely child's play. in spite of his unquestionable mental state, the murderer was broken alive on the wheel. my father was practically imprisoned for fifteen months in his own house, whence resulted an enormous loss to his own business, for in view of the coming herring-fair at falsterbo, in the province of schonen,[ ] his cellar and hall were packed with luneburg salt; there was also a considerable quantity of dried cod, besides a big assortment of cloth, and amidst all this he was forbidden to cross the threshold of his house and no one was allowed to come and see him. my mother was, moreover, pregnant at the time, and as the date of her confinement drew near my father asked for leave to take up his quarters with a neighbour until it was over. his petition was refused, and at the critical moment he found himself compelled to get into the adjoining house by the roof. he was also prevented from personally inviting the godparents. george wullenweber and his undisciplined followers opened the hostilities by sea and by land. in this bitter struggle the duke of holstein preserved the advantage, though he fought as one against two, but the almighty was on his side. humiliated by these reverses, with their prestige diminished and threatened with an ignominious fall, the fribbling authors of the war expected to save everything by substituting another chief for wullenweber. after a week of negotiations the emissaries of lubeck, rostock, and stralsund assembled at wismar offered to duke albrecht of mecklenburg the throne of denmark. the act, drawn up in due form and signed and sealed by lubeck, rostock and wismar was dispatched to stralsund, the signature and seal of which was wanting to it. the fine phrases of the lubeckian message got the better of the opposition of the council; the forty-eight broke open the casket containing the great seal, affixed it to the document and sent it back to wismar. every rule had been strictly observed; the duke of mecklenburg invited the representatives of the cities for the next day to a banquet, at which the act was to be handed to him. but during the morning itself the delegates of stralsund, under the pretext of wishing to examine the parchment, asked to look at it, and christopher lorbeer, borrowing a pocket-knife of his colleague, franz wessel, cut the strings of the stralsund seal, after which they made off as far as their carriage would let them. they were half-way to rostock while the other ambassadors were still waiting for them with dinner. undeterred by this, albrecht, accompanied by his wife, her ladies, servants, horses and dogs, took the road to copenhagen, like a legitimate sovereign. lorbeer himself, his children, and the rest of his relations have sung in all manner of keys the resolute--others would say, the audacious--conduct he displayed on that occasion; nobody, whether townsman, rustic or alien was to remain ignorant of the feat; and to this day people keep repeating that burgomaster lorbeer, scorning all danger (_non enim sine periculo facinus magnum et memorabile_), made himself illustrious by this signal act, by this heroic exploit. if, however, we turn the leaf, what do we read? _qui periculum amat peribit in eo_; real courage will never be confounded with reckless audacity. that the act was provided with the great seal of stralsund is a fact known to the representatives of lubeck, rostock and wismar, who handled the document on the strength of which, when ratified by the forty-eight, duke albrecht went and shut himself up in copenhagen, where he sustained a siege, and practically obliged stralsund to make the same sacrifices for him the other cities had made. consequently, one has the right to ask: "where was the advantage of detaching the seal?" if lorbeer had utilized his energy in keeping in port vessels, soldiers and ammunition, then he would have rendered a signal service, and, besides, prevented the waste of much money. do lorbeer's admirers imagine that duke albrecht would not have avenged the outrage when once his throne was consolidated? the least he would have done was to close the sound against us, and to hamper our commerce everywhere. verily they are right, the citizens who keep on praising the mad trick of lorbeer. burgomaster smiterlow bore his enforced retirement with admirable patience. instead of meddling with public affairs, he assiduously read the holy scriptures, and spent most of his time in prayer. he finally knew by heart the psalms of david. as a daily visitor to his home, i can say that no bitter word ever fell from his lips. he often repeated, "they are my fellow-citizens; the lord will move their spirit. it is my duty to suffer for the love of my children." our gracious prince, duke philip, sent to request the liberation of the burgomaster. the envoys were told that the answer would be sent to them to the hostel. the discussion was a very long one, after which they deputed the very host of the envoys, hermann meier, together with nicholas rode, the one as illiterate as the other, and both densely ignorant on every subject. hermann meier, who was a native of parow, had amassed much property in cash, in land, and in houses. being the owner of the two villages of parow, he had practically for his vassals his uncles and his cousins, whom he ruled at his will. nicholas rode was a well-to-do merchant, but who had never associated with people of condition. hermann meier had undertaken to address the envoys, but he began to stumble at the first sentence, and finally, stricken dumb altogether, he left his colleague behind, rushed from the room, and went helter-skelter down the stairs. when he reached the yard, he fell altogether ill with excitement. nevertheless, he plucked up his courage and went back--to apologize, as one would suppose. not at all. scorning all exordium, and without even giving the envoys their titles, he went straight to the point. "the council and the forty-eight," he said, "have decided in the name of the citizens that we should signify to you as follows: inasmuch as they did not consult the prince to inflict the confinement, they shall not consult him to annul it." verily, a speech worthy of the orator and of those who sent him, _similes habent labra lactucas_. i wonder what would happen if somebody took it into his head to-day to address a prince in that manner. considering that all the magistrates of that period were of most mediocre capacity (i am using a mild term), two suppositions are admissible. it was either the intention of the forty-eight to make the young duke ridiculous by choosing such delegates, or the three or four intelligent members of the council declined this foolish mission. the embassy had, however, one result. my father was summoned to the town hall, where he was told that he could recover his freedom in consideration of a fine of a hundred marks. he wished to know what fault he had committed, and was told not to "argufy." "hundred marks or the collar. you can take your choice." as a matter of course my father chose the former, although the only crime that could be imputed to him was his marriage with the niece of burgomaster smiterlow. the same mode of procedure was applied to the case of joachim rantzow, an honest and honoured citizen, who subsequently became a member of the council. shortly after this councillors nicholas rode and nicholas bolte came to enjoin burgomaster smiterlow, in conjunction with two of his relatives, to sign a document already engrossed and provided with the wax for three seals. according to them it was the only means to end his captivity and to avoid all further and even more serious dangers. in this piece of writing burgomaster smiterlow confessed to having been a traitor to the city, a perjurer, guilty of the most infamous conduct, and to have forfeited all his rights. the two councillors made it their special business to paint the situation in the most sombre colours. terror-stricken and dissolved in tears, the burgomaster's wife implored her husband to accede to the request of these two fanatics until the lord himself could come to his aid. unmanned by all this, smiterlow asked my father to seal the act with him. "no," exclaimed the latter, "i shall not sign your dishonour." but his two sons-in-law, overcome by the tears of their mother-in-law, affixed their seals. thereupon the burgomaster, escorted by the two councillors, his two sons-in-law and my father, repaired to the town hall. on their way, he went into the st. nicholas' church, knelt down in the stall near the great st. christopher, and said a short prayer. the council of the forty-eight was holding its meeting in the summer council-room. requested by christopher lorbeer to resume his usual seat, smiterlow refused. "i cannot do so," he said, "after the document i have just signed." nevertheless, they insisted until he took his seat. then he addressed them, reminding them that he had travelled in the city's service a hundred and odd days (i have forgotten the exact number, for i was only sixteen years old). "if it can be proved that i have spent one florin unnecessarily, been guilty of one neglect or caused a single prejudice, i am ready to yield all i possess and my life besides. if, on the other hand, i can show my innocence, then can i count upon the same protection as that enjoyed by the other citizens; that is, frequent the churches, cross the bridges, appear in the market place, and attend to my business in all freedom and security." the reply being affirmative, he rose from his seat, wished the council a peaceful term of administration, and, followed by his nearest relatives, went back to his home. the situation remained the same until . strong in the consciousness of his own honesty, and leaving the forty-eight to govern at their own sweet will, smiterlow remained perfectly tranquil in his retirement. he was an assiduous churchgoer, and when the weather was fine, took excursions into the country accompanied by his daughters, his sons-in-law, my parents and their family. his jovial disposition delighted them all. on the other hand, the forty-eight were constantly assailed by fear. the success of the war became more and more doubtful, in spite of the sacrifice of hundreds of lives, in spite of the pillaging of the town hall, in spite of the enormous sums wasted--thrown into the water, it would be more correct to say. they converted the bells of the city and of the villages into money; all these took the road to lubeck, where, to our disgrace be it said, the mark of stralsund can still be seen on a bronze pile-driver. twice did the citizens, from the highest to the lowest, pay the tax of the hundredth halfpenny on the strength of their oath. when they saw their power tottering, the forty-eight imitated the unjust steward of st. luke, and compelled the community to confirm, renew and extend the infamous declaration violently dragged from the council of . the new act had apparently some good in it. it enjoined upon the magistrates judicious rules of conduct which, however, were not at all within their competence. in reality, the ancient council acknowledged to have incurred by its resistance a fine which was remitted to them by their magnanimous successors. it took the engagement to favour the cause of the forty-eight. no dissension, misunderstanding, accusation or recrimination, whether relating to the past or the present, would in future be tolerated. any contravention to that effect entailed upon the councillors the loss of their dignities; upon other citizens, the loss of their civic rights; upon women and children, a fine of fifty florins, payable by the father or husband, and going to the fund for public buildings. that much was decided on the friday after candlemas, . nevertheless, the forty-eight kept trembling in their shoes. the very next year witnessed the promulgation of another decree, threatening with the utmost bodily penalty any and every one, young or old, rich or poor, magistrate or simple burgher who should decline the responsibility of the expedition to denmark, or should influence others on the subject. this act was transcribed sequentially to that of , with the formula: given under our administration anno and day as above. hence it was antedated. it was a clumsy trick, for a unique act does not admit of a codicil. but does the ass ever succeed in hiding its ears? in , on the day of _esto mihi_, duke philip married, at the castle of torgau, fräulein marie, sister of the duke of saxony, johannes friedrich. the marriage rites were performed by dr. martin luther, who after the ceremony said to the husband: "gracious prince and lord, should the event so much desired be somewhat tardy in coming, let not your highness be discouraged. _saxum_ means stone, and nothing can be drawn from a rock without time or patience. your highness shall be included in my prayers: _semen tuum non deficit_." the duchess, in fact, gave birth to her first child only about four years later. the punishment of the wicked and the triumph of the just marched abreast, _inclusio unius est exclusio alterius et e contra_. amidst the torments of hell the damned watch the bliss of the happy ones whom they have persecuted on earth. i am bound to insist upon this antithesis while pursuing my narrative. i expect no thanks, for men are so thin-skinned as to cause them to quiver at the slightest touch; and that is the reason why all those who have written on stralsund, such as thomas kantzow, valentin eichstedt,[ ] and johannes berckmann passed their pens to their successors when they got as far as . i have no desire to flatter or to find fault, but i intend to speak the real truth, however disagreeable it may turn out to be. my sole concern is to preserve the dignity of history. if people will take the trouble to read carefully the authors just named, and especially berckmann, otherwise the augustine monk, his impertinent libels will enable them to appreciate the usefulness of the present pages. the approval of honest folk is the only reward i care for; the rest is of no consequence. it is almost incredible that the duke of mecklenburg should have committed the blunder of yielding to the suggestions of wullenweber, whom all good citizens virtually disavowed. never was there a more unjust war. in disposing of a country which, on no assumption whatever, could possibly belong to them, the cities caused an incalculable prejudice to the duke of holstein, the lord's anointed, the legitimate, well-beloved, and expected sovereign. he showed great firmness. the leader of a powerful army, and master of its communications by sea and by land, he was fully aware of his superiority to an adversary who, shut up in copenhagen, only thought of pleasure, hunts and banquets. in spite of his just resentment, magnanimous christian obtained a victory over himself, and while the surrender of the city was being negotiated, he sent provisions to the duchess of mecklenburg, at that time in childbed. this was tantamount to giving her charity. after the retreat of duke albrecht, charles made a triumphal entry into copenhagen, where he was crowned in , and the presence at the pomp and ceremony of the coronation of the ambassadors of the cities was calculated to give him complete satisfaction. as for the duke of mecklenburg, he had learned to his cost the folly of disregarding the words of the holy spirit: "my son, fear thou the lord and the king, and meddle not with them that are given to change: for their calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the ruin of them both?" (proverbs xxiv. , ). at lubeck the pitiful collapse of the council brought about the reinstatement of the old magistracy. in a spirit of pacification they gave wullenweber the captaincy of bergendorf; but wullenweber, while crossing the territory of the abbey of werden, was seized by order of christopher, bishop of bremen, who handed him over to his brother, duke heindrich of brunswick. after a cruel captivity at wolfenbüttel, and in consequence of indictments as numerous as they were grave (especially from lubeck, represented by his secretary), he was sentenced to death in september, , and his body quartered. at the taking of the fortress of wardenburg, duke christian captured marx meyer, his brother gerard meyer, and a notorious danish priest. these three were executed by the sword, quartered, and their bodies shown on the rack to the great satisfaction of the danish people and the honest lubeckenaars so long oppressed. nicholas nering, a citizen of those parts, had sold to johannes krossen a farm with all its live stock and belongings, but, according to him, he had reserved for himself the foal of a handsome mare, if it should happen to be a colt, and a colt it turned out to be. at the period of its weaning, in , he claimed the young animal. krossen contested the claim. thereupon, according to the evidence of his step-son, peter klatteville, who was about fifteen, and whose evidence was recorded in the black register of the court, nering, not to be outdone, mounted his black horse, the lad trotting barefooted by his side, and both went at five a.m. to krossen's farm. nering got the colt out of the stables while the youngster kept watch. nering hid his spoil for three weeks at schwartz's, at the new mill, and after having made peter promise to keep the secret on the penalty of the most terrible punishment. different is the version recorded in the new register, written on parchment and bound in white sow's skin. "in , on the monday after _reminiscere_, nicholas nering, accused of pillage, has confessed before the court that riding along the frankische landstrasse, after passing the gate, he noticed three colts; that moved by a wicked inspiration, he had gone up to them and thrown the leash over one of these, and fastened it to the pommel of his saddle, and in that way brought it to his own stables. after having heard the above confession, it was decided to take nicholas nering outside the city and hang him on the gallows." nicholas nering's bad reputation did not dispose the council in his favour; hence all his friends had employed him to restore the colt in order to prevent the matter going into the courts, but he had proved obstinate. while he was in his cell, he repeated that he was indifferent to death, but that he deplored the calamities which his execution would entail. it was an evident proof of his having concocted a scheme of vengeance with his confidants. this became obvious enough after his death, when his kindred left the city and began setting fire to mills, homesteads and villages of the neighbourhood, and recruiting accomplices by sheer weight of money. two of these malefactors were taken at bart, and put on the rack. at stralsund they arrested ten individuals at once, among others, christian parow, the dean of the drapers, and johannes blumenow, the dean of the shoemakers. young peter klatteville confessed to having set the new mill on fire at the instigation of his mother, nering's widow. three were put on the rack; they declared having received of parow ten marks for committing the crime, and the ministers who conducted them to the execution had much trouble to make them retract the accusation in the presence of the crowd. the following is the version in the _annales_ of berckmann, one of the ministers: "this is what i have personally seen. when parow took his stroll in the market place, the raven of barber grellen ran to peck at his legs, so that parow considered it the best part of valour to quit the place. i am bound to admit, though, that this bird was in the habit of annoying the peasants who happened to wear wide linen breeches. parow, who was an old man, did not pay sufficient attention to his appearance as to have his breeches properly pulled up like those of his companions; hence, there is nothing to prove that providence made use of the raven to declare which kind of death parow deserved." berckmann is simply nothing more nor less than satan's slave when he tries to make parow odious. it is true that this worthy man signed and sealed the avowal of his forfeit; the act happened to fall into my hands when i was secretary of the city. i destroyed it, in that way saving an honourable family from future affronts, without causing any damage to the public welfare. besides, this concession was known to every one. it had in the opinion of those who gave themselves time to think the same value as that of burgomaster smiterlow branding himself as a traitor and an infamous creature. during the inquiry, everybody could see how incensed parow was with the nerings. if he did give them ten marks, it was because the money was extorted from him bit by bit by a certain smit who perished on the rack. nering's stepson klatteville even declares that parow came one day to his mother and had a long conversation with her. he does not know what parow said to her, but he seemed heartbroken at the behaviour of the nerings, for he wept like a child and went away weeping. in the draper's company no one ever objected to sitting next to him at table, except olaff lorbeer, a ridiculous personage, and the son of one of the principal faction-mongers. he always overwhelmed the good old man with his coarse allusions. johannes blumenow, condemned to death on tuesday, was only led to the scaffold on the following thursday. i saw the execution. the corpse remained on the wheel, wrapped up by means of a cord in the blue dress he wore every day. this was done in order to prevent the crows from going to work too quickly. this blumenow, a lively, though grey-haired fellow, the dean of the shoemakers, was the wealthiest of the forty-eight. he was very ambitious for the burgomastership which, he flattered himself, he could discharge better than any body. at the last burgomaster's banquet, that of nicholas sonnenberg, frau blumenow said to the matron next to her: "i did not wish to come, but i ought to know what to do when our turn comes to give the banquet." i have seen blumenow busy cleaning skins and during that time many a notable personage clad in furs bowed down before him with more respect than before any former burgomaster. berckmann attributes no other wrong to him than that of having induced nering to renounce his citizenship (that is honest enough); but, he insinuates they had made up their minds to ruin him because he had in his possession the famous act elaborated by the forty-eight. what a pity it is that berckmann sets so little store by the truth. who compelled him to commit so many foolish fabrications to paper? with a little trouble on his part he could have learnt that about forty years previously a priest had been assassinated in his dwelling. the murderer remained unknown until blumenow, being put to the torture, confessed to being the author of the crime. he had counted upon a big sum of money, but the victim did not possess more than a few pence. that, my very dear berckmann, was what brought blumenow to the scaffold. the sedition mongers had taken their precautions so well in the act of and in its appendix that, but for the nering lawsuits, the honest part of the community would have never had the joy of seeing their oppressors pay for their misdeeds. i have already recounted the pitiful end of rolof moller; the whole of his line was overtaken with similar punishment. his eldest son, george, who had been my schoolfellow at rostock, was only a stripling when he caught a nameless disease through frequenting a certain class of women. he wanted to play the young country squire, did little work and spent much. his stepfather took him away from his studies, and sent him to england to learn the language of the country, and then to antwerp, to get an insight into business. the young fellow, however, continued his spendthrift ways, and it became necessary to recall him. rolof moller's second son, for a mere trifle, stabbed in the open street his cousin with whom he had been drinking claret at an apothecary's. the name of moller is fated to be extinguished in a short time. what shall i say about burgomaster lorbeer, the instigator of the three riots, and especially of the third against smiterlow? everybody is aware of the contempt into which he fell even during his lifetime, and of the horrible malady that carried him slowly to the grave. after his death his wife and daughters still believed themselves to be the masters, as in the days when visiting an estate of the city they were greeted with the formula of reception, "be welcome, dear ladies, on thy lands," and when the passers-by hailed them with a "god preserve you, young and dear burgomasters." this deference had inflated their presumption to such an extent that they lost all respect for both the council and the law courts. they ended up by exhausting the divine patience. the master-miller nicholas hildebrand was not the least influential among the forty-eight. a busybody, self-interested, he meddled with everything that could bring water to his milldam. having had certain private reasons for retiring to wolgast, he intrigued so barefacedly as to compel the duke to imprison him; and inasmuch as nobody dreamt of interceding for him, he spent the whole winter in a cell. at his discharge his legs were frost-bitten and he was eaten up with vermin. another active and restless firebrand, the erewhile tailor marschmann, who came to wolgast to escape his creditors, kept hildebrand company the whole of the winter. knigge took to making false coin; but for doctor gentzkow, whose step-daughter he had married, the capital sentence passed on him would not have been commuted into banishment. christian herwig died in abject misery. they had given him the nickname of count christian, because in his prosperous days he strutted about in his best dress, one hand on his hip, and taking up the whole width of the street by himself. his wife became an inmate of the st. john's asylum. one of his daughters, a downright slattern, had to beg her bread and was found dead one morning; the rest vegetated in the most sordid conditions. nicholas loewe, a quarrelsome creature who tried to look like a captain in his white dress set off with red velvet, in the end considered himself lucky at the st. john's asylum to don the grey small clothes provided for him by charity. long before his death he became stone blind. his daughter anna was the talk of the town. i could easily extend this list, for, as far as i recollect, not one of those sedition-mongers escaped the punishment inflicted by the almighty on rebels unto the third and fourth generations. stralsund, there is no doubt, is likely to feel for a long while the pernicious effects of rolof moller; but just as history praises cambyses, that arch-tyrant, _monstrum hominis el vera cloaca diaboli_ for having ordered the death of the prevaricating judge and for having had his skin nailed on the judgment seat; so on one point, and on one only, are the sedition-mongers entitled to commendation. they replaced the banquets of the burgomaster and the councillors by presents of goldsmith's work or by a piece of silver. nowadays the city receives from the burgomaster a piece of silver-gilt; a councillor merely gives a piece of silverwork. the guilds have also done away with the banquets of reception and election. instead of foolishly wasting their money in gormandizing, the new dean or the new companion offers a present of silver which does duty at the fêtes and gatherings, so that nowadays the wooden and pewter goblets have made room for silver tankards. on twelfth night the council and the corporations make a display of their treasure, to show to the public that it is not only intact, but increased. after the tragedy of the passion comes the glory of easter day. nicholas smiterlow had suffered civil death; and among certain individuals on the magistrates' bench the password had gone round to prevent his resurrection. when, however, the disastrous issue of the war but too plainly confirmed the prophecies of the old burgomaster, the ironical nickname of "pacific" became the chief claim to his glory. councillors and burghers in plenary meeting assembled, dispatched two of the former to him with the request for him to repair to the town hall. burgomaster lorbeer tried to stop the mission by rubbing his arm and saying that the letter of avowal signed by smiterlow was a most indispensable document on that occasion, inasmuch as it was a question of annulling it. his attempt to redress the balance of his own game by a delay of twenty-four hours was a failure. his objection was simply put aside, and the secretary went at once to blumenow's for the said letter, together with the pact imposed by the forty-eight. when smiterlow entered the council-room all the burghers cried, "here is our beloved father, nicholas the pacific." he was conducted to his former seat, above lorbeer's; they begged him to give them the help of his experience, and they promised that henceforth he should be exempt from all missions and embassies. standing on the treasury chest, so as to afford a sight to everybody, the secretary tore the famous agreement into two, and detached smiterlow's seal from it. but the burghers were not at all satisfied, and shouted to him to stick his penknife into and to lacerate the letter of avowal in a similar fashion. and thus ended the domination of the forty-eight. faithful--perhaps too faithful--to his habit, the ex-augustine monk berckmann limns smiterlow in the falsest colours. he fancies he is using irony when he exclaims, "burgomaster nicholas smiterlow was a fine specimen of a man, conscious of his own worth, handsome, eloquent, prudent and wise, and enjoying much consideration from princes and nobles." it so happens that all this is simply so much bare truth, and added to all these merits, smiterlow had the fear of god and a wide knowledge of the scriptures. the _annales_ of master gerhard droege quote him as the oldest patron and protector of the evangelical ministries; hence, everything that berckmann writes in connexion with or about him is inexact. here is an instance. berckmann states that smiterlow was confined to his bed twelve weeks, while in reality he was taken ill one sunday and died the next tuesday, in . his son george, my junior by a twelvemonth, was burgomaster for twenty-two years. he had inherited all his father's virtues; he went through similar ordeals, and was vouchsafed the same comforts from on high, and i see no reason to modify my letter to duke ernest ludwig. that prince, egged on by the caballers of his court, exclaimed at the news of smiterlow's demise, "i had two enemies at stralsund. smiterlow is dead, and the devil will soon take sastrow." i wrote to his highness as follows: "gracious prince and lord,--the defunct burgomaster was neither bad naturally nor of base condition. his loyalty towards your highness and stralsund never failed, as could be proved by his numerous services. if he could have changed a farthing into a florin to the advantage of the city he would unquestionably have done so. neither he nor his ever cheated the treasury. hard-working, just and incorruptible, his speech expressing the feelings of his heart he, was a slave to duty, and severe or lenient as circumstances and persons dictated. not at all obstinate, he was particularly amenable to reason, for the public weal was his sole guide. he administered the law with the strictest impartiality. a foe to dissipation and excess, he led a useful and retired life; though frugal and saving, he never remained behind where honour demanded the spending of money. the greatest harmony prevailed between him, his wife, and his servants. though he had not pursued the ordinary course of studies, he was endowed with supreme wisdom. he had a most wonderful memory, and an equally wonderful gift of elocution. as a loyal subject, i can but address to god one prayer. the king of the persians, darius, prayed for as many zopyres as a pomegranate contains pips; may your highness be enabled to count as many smiterlows in the city and in the fields, not to mention the court; and while including the latter i wish to cast no reflection on any one. what then are we to think of those who dare to slander the defunct and to blacken his character in your highness' eyes, besides causing grief to his wife, his children and his friends?" everybody on the other hand would freely admit that rolof moller was overbearing, presumptuous, crafty, greedy, ungrateful, relentless, and turbulent. smiterlow and moller were so utterly different in character as to be unable to breathe the same air. at the council, in church, nay in the city itself, the presence of one was sufficient to drive away the other. great, therefore, was the surprise when george smiterlow married moller's niece. how would people, for whom the space of a large city seemed insufficient, agree under the same roof, at the same board, in the same bed? what strange _communicatio idiomatum_ was going to result from that marriage? hence, i should openly disadvise the election of such a smiterlow for the council, and least of all should i make him a burgomaster, for they have many more of their mother's than of the father's characteristics; _in hac lucta duarum diversarum naturarum_ the mollers appear to have had the advantage. nevertheless, this new generation is still sufficiently young to be susceptible of improvement. from the bottom of my heart i wish it may be so, for the sake both of its reputation and its welfare. i have written the foregoing pages somewhat oppressed by the thought of the ill-will i am drawing on my devoted head in praising smiterlow at the expense of rolof moller. the descendants of the latter will never forgive me. but i derive consolation and strength from the appreciation of educated men. they know that the historian's duty is to go straight for his aim, and to proclaim the truth, whether for good or evil, whether it pleases or displeases, and let come what may. i recommend to my children submission to the authorities, no matter whether pilatus or caiaphas governs. for the good of their soul and the welfare of their body they ought never to make pacts with sedition-mongers. chapter iv dr. martin luther writes to my father--my studies at rostock and at greifswald--something about my hard life at spires--i am admitted as a public notary--dr. hose my parents recalled me in , having discovered that at greifswald i more often accompanied my grandfather in his strolls than sat over my books. i attended school during the stay of a twelvemonth at the paternal home. one instance will show into what kind of hands the chief power had fallen. in , duke philip, travelling to rügen with his wife, made his first entry into stralsund, and burgomaster christopher lorbeer, who fancied himself to be the incarnation of eloquence, made the following speech to him: "philip, by the grace of god, duke of stettin, pomerania, of the cassubes and the wends, prince of rügen, and count of gutzkow, the council is indeed very pleased to see you. be welcome." in subsequent days i have often been chaffed about this speech; usher michael kussow, among others, never opened the door to me without crying out, the moment he caught sight of me, "and indeed philip, by the grace of god ..." my brother johannes had been admitted _magister_--the first of thirteen--at wittemberg, and on leaving he brought with him a letter from dr. luther to my father, who, in consequence of the bruser-leveling lawsuit, had stayed away for many years from the communion table. the letter was couched as follows: "to the honourable guildmaster, nicholas sastrow, my good friend: grace and peace be with you. your dear son, _magister_ johannes, after having expressed to me his sorrow at your having kept away for many years from the holy communion table--which absence is calculated to create a bad example--has requested me to rescue you from that dangerous path. not one hour of our lives in reality belongs to ourselves. his filial solicitude, therefore, induced me to send you these present lines. let me exhort you as a christian, as a brother, according to the precept of christ, to change your resolution, and well to remember the much greater sufferings of the son of god, who forgave his executioners. bear in mind that at your last hour you will be bound to forgive, as a brigand who is tied to the gallows forgives. wait for the decision of the court before whom your suit is pending, but do not forget that nothing prevents you from participating in the holy supper. if it were otherwise i myself and our princes would have to remain away from the holy board until our differences with the papists be settled. leave the matter in the hands of the law, and say to yourself for the comfort of your conscience: 'it is the judge's place to decide where lies the right; meanwhile, i forgive those who have wronged me and i will partake of the holy communion.' you consider yourself as having been wronged. you have had recourse to the courts; it is they who shall decide. nothing can be more simple. take in a friendly spirit this exhortation which was prompted to me at the instance of your son. may god watch over you, amen. wednesday after _miser. dni_. . martinus luther." [illustration: martin luther. _from a drawing by_ lucas cranach.] i trust my descendants will transmit religiously from generation to generation the autograph of the saintly man to whom the whole world owes gratitude and affection. together with this letter, and as a proof of the wise outlay of the paternal allowance, my brother brought home with him a number of his _poemata_ printed in a volume. my parents' means not admitting of his being maintained in a foreign land, he spent nearly four years at home, studying all the while. besides the _progymnasmata quaedam_, issued from the lubeck press in , he published in at rostock an _elegia de officio principis_ dedicated to duke magnus of mecklenberg; and in the same year at lubeck, a _querela de ecclesia_ and the _epicidion martyris christi doctoris ruberti barns_, which caused a good deal of trouble both to him and his printer.[ ] at the advice of my brother, my parents sent me to study at rostock with arnoldus burenius and henricus lingensis. my brother, who became intimately acquainted with the latter, wrote to him that i had already gone through the ceremony of initiation; but the students found out that since then i had gone back to school at stralsund, and each day my entrance at the _lectorium_ caused a fearful tumult.[ ] the _depositor_ having pulled me by my cloak, i hurled a large inkstand which i happened to have in my hand at him. the ink soaked his long grey mantle with black fastenings, a fashionable garment of the time. verily, i got my reward, when, for the sake of peace, i submitted a second time to the ordeal. it literally rained blows. the _depositor_ pressed my upper lip with his wooden razor and the wound was a long while healing, for no sooner did it close up than my food, and, above all, salted things inflamed it once more. the two _magistri_ directed in common the purses (scholarships or otherwise) of the arnsburg, which was the most numerous, as it consisted of thirty students. we took our meals at jacob broecker's, and we paid sixteen florins per annum for our breakfast and two other meals, _plus_, in the summer afternoons, some curdled milk or other refreshments. at the end of two years my parents complained of the expense involved in my stay at rostock; they were, moreover, displeased at my leaning towards theology. in fact, i felt neither old enough nor sufficiently advanced in learning to choose between the different faculties, but being unwilling to relinquish my studies i exposed my difficult position to my tutors, who at once decided to forego their fees, and also induced our host broecker to feed me for eight florins per annum. truly, i had to lay the table, attend at meals, to clear it, and in addition to this to look after young broecker, who was about my size and who was afterwards confined at ribbenitz, to dress and undress him, to clean his shoes and to arrange his books. on the other hand, there were certain services to be rendered to _magister_ h. lingenfis. i had to brush his shoeleather, make his bed, keep his room heated, accompany him to church and to other places, and to carry his lantern in winter. it seemed very hard to me at first not to be served any longer, and not to sit down to meals with my college chums, but there was no help for it. besides, we had fallen into good hands. arnoldus burenius read us twice cicero's _offices_, which he interpreted in a thoroughly artistic manner, and afterwards the orations _pro milone_, _pro rege deiotaro_, _pro marco marcello_, _pro roscio amerino_, _pro domo sua_, and the _de aruspicum responsis_, the _epistolae familiares_, the long and beautiful chapter _ad quintum fratrem_, the _rhetorica ad herennium_, etc. his colleague expounded terence, the _dialectica molleri_, even the _sphaera joannis de sacrobusto_, the _theoriae planetarum_, the _computum ecclesiasticum spangenbergii_, the _libellus de anima philippi_, and finally he presided over useful _exercitia styli et disputationum_. my bedroom fellows were franz von stetten and johannes vegesack, the nephew of the bishop of dorpat, who kept him on a grand footing, and allowed him the staff of servants of a grand seigneur rather than that of a youngster. vegesack practised all kind of sword-play, but i have heard that after the death of the bishop, he became a schoolmaster in livonia. my private tutor, danquart, coached him in the _praecepta grammaticae_, gave him themes to treat in german, and corrected his exercises. the money we received from our parents had to be handed to our tutor lingenfis; he gave it back to us as we needed it. we were bound to make notes of even our most trifling expenses. my tutors showed much interest in me, either out of consideration for my brother or because of my own unwearied application. i, on the other hand; served them zealously and faithfully, and was always at their bidding. the cross looks of my fellow-students, however, suggested the advisability of a change of residence; my brother counselled greifswald. in duke philip came to greifswald for the ceremony of receiving homage. the exiles came with him; some held the tail, others the harness of his horse. my father was specially invited by the prince to hold the stirrup. the duke took up his quarters at hannemann's, his wife with the stoïentins. frau stoïentin, her daughter, her grandson, and all the relatives, when doing obeisance to the princess, claimed the upholding of the decree of expulsion against my father. the duchess specially recommended two of her principal officers to transmit the request to her august spouse; but the latter's reply effectually prevented her from returning to the charge, and the gates of greifswald were reopened to my father. i left rostock in . my stay at home was, nevertheless, very short. i soon transferred myself and my books to greifswald, where i rented a room with joachim loewenhagen, the pastor that was to be of st. nicholas' at stralsund. master anthony walter who shortly afterwards became rector of the paedagogium of stettin, instructed me in the _dialectica caesarii_. master kismann explained and interpreted ovid's _fasti_. on christmas day, , a vessel hailing from colberg, and laden with barrels for falsterbo, anchored at stralsund. the coopers were in a great state of excitement, declared an embargo, and would not even allow the cargo to be sold at stralsund.[ ] in vain did the council guarantee proceedings against the purchaser of that merchandise; they went on agitating, refused to buy the barrels themselves, and replied with blows to those who spoke common sense. one burgher died from the consequences of their ill-treatment. they finally destroyed the barrels. five people were arrested. johannes vogt, their dean, fled to garpenhagen, but he was brought back to stralsund and placed under lock and key. there was but a narrow escape from the executioner's sword. the coopers were summoned to the town hall, where the prisoners made their appearance with the iron collar round their necks and their hands and feet fettered. the corporation was fined four marks per head. its privileges were withdrawn; it had, moreover, to rebuild at its own expense part of the city walls. i have already mentioned that my brother _magister joannes_, had various _poemata_ published at lubeck and rostock. from the latter city he returned by stage coach to stralsund in company of heinrich sonnenberg and a woman. by their side rode johannes lagebusch and a good-looking young man, hermann lepper, who had been to the mint at gadebusch to exchange old florins for new coin. that money was in the carriage. a gang of thieves, or rather highwaymen, got wind of the affair. in consequence of the mild laws of repression, these gentry swarmed throughout mecklenburg, and the names of the noblest families figured among them, which fact gave substance to the poet who wrote: nobilis et nebulo parvo discrimine distant, sic nebulo magnus nobilis esse potest. of course these lines do not apply to many honourable personages belonging to the nobility. but to return to my story. when the travellers had got beyond the village of willershagen they left the coach, and, provided with their firearms proceeded on foot, for the country was by no means safe. instead of prudently escorting the vehicle the two horsemen went on in front. the brigands came up with them and entered into conversation. suddenly one of them snatched the loaded pistol lagebusch was carrying at his saddle-bow--the fashion of carrying two had not come in--fired it at lepper, who was galloping back to the carriage, killing him there and then, while lagebusch set spurs to his horse in time to warn sonnenberg, who hid himself in the brushwood. my brother, armed with a pole, and standing with his back against the carriage to prevent an attack from behind, offered a stout and not unsuccessful resistance. he managed to wound in the thigh an assailant who, carried away by his horse, bit the dust further up the road. but another miscreant, charging furiously, sliced away a piece of my brother's skull as big as a crown (the fragment of bone that adhered to the skin was the size of a ducat), and at the same time dealt him a deep gash at the throat. as a matter of course, my brother lost consciousness; nay, was left for dead while the bandits sacked the carriage, caught the horse of their wounded comrade, but seeing that he could not be transported, abandoned him and decamped with their spoil. they, however, did not take the carriage team. in a little while sonnenberg emerged from his hiding-place, and, with the aid of the driver, hauled my brother into the carriage. the woman bandaged his head and kept it on her knees. lepper's body was placed between the legs of the wounded young man, and in that condition they reached ribbenitz, where the surgeon closed the gash in the neck by means of pins. the rostock council promptly sent its officials to the spot. the brigand was conveyed to the city, but almost immediately after his being lodged in prison, he died without naming his accomplices. there was, moreover, no great difficulty in finding them out, but their friends succeeded in hushing up the whole affair; the authorities acted very mildly. the dead robber was nevertheless judged and beheaded. his head remained for many years exposed on a pike. lagebusch brought the news to stralsund, and the council immediately offered my father a closed carriage with four horses. we started that same night, provided with mattresses, and reached ribbenitz next morning after daybreak. my brother was very weak. while the horses were stabled and after the court had drawn up a detailed report, we gave lepper an honourable and christian burial. we began our homeward journey at dusk, going slowly all through the night, and got to stralsund at midday. master joachim gelhaar attended to my brother, but in spite of his acknowledged skill, he did not succeed in curing the wound of the neck; the improvement of one day was counteracted the next. in the end they discovered that the surgeon of ribbenitz had closed the wound askew; the edges did not join, and one had been flattened by means of a large copper pin, the head of which had disappeared. master joachim repaired the mischief, not without causing great pain to his patient, who, however, promptly regained his health. after reading the _epicedion ruberti barns_, the king of england sent ambassadors to threaten lubeck, the book having been issued from johannes balhorn's presses. although the author had no connexion with the city, the council nevertheless apologized for him on the ground of his youth. he had simply aimed at giving a _specimen doctrinae_, but to pacify the king, balhorn was banished, and had to leave the city at sunrise. he was allowed to return a few months later. the costly bruser lawsuit had deprived my parents of the means of sending us to study in foreign countries, so they bought two horses and dispatched me and my brother to spires to watch the progress of the affair, and to do as best we could for ourselves. we started from stralsund on june , . our parents accompanied us as far as greifswald, where we stopped one day to bid good-bye to our grandmother and the rest of the family. i was in high spirits. johannes was dull and depressed. "dear son," said our mother, "why this sadness? look at bartholomäi, how gay he is." "my brother," replied johannes, "has no care weighing on his mind; he has no thought for the future." we made for stettin, then for berlin and wittemberg; in fact, "we rode straight on," as people say. at wittemberg, johannes ran against dr. martin luther, standing before the bookshop near the cemetery. dr. luther shook hands with me. philip melanchthon and other learned personages gave us letters of introduction to the procurators and advocates of spires. half-way between erfurt and gotha there is a big inn where we halted for half a day to rest our horses and to mend our clothes. we settled our bill before going to bed. next morning on reaching gotha my brother found he had lost his purse; he had left it under his pillow. it was a great misfortune, for we were not overburdened with means, and the look of the inn left but little hope of getting our own back again. immediately after my horse had had its feed, i retraced my steps, galloping all the way. when i reached the hotel i tied up my horse and in the twinkling of an eye ran up to the room with the servant at my heels. we both flung ourselves on the purse. i had the luck of laying hands on it first, but i fancied he was entitled to a tip. if either the girl or the young man had come near the bed after our going we should have never seen our money again. in spite of the gathering darkness, i was in the saddle again, for it would have been unwise to spend the night alone under such a roof. half a mile (german) farther there was a nice village, and as night had set in altogether i made up my mind to stop there. the inn was full of peasants. it happened to be sunday, and these worthy folk, who had noticed my riding by like possessed two hours before, said to each other: "well, we were mistaken after all. it's his highness' messenger." thereupon the host told the servant to look to my horse; nothing would induce him to let me do it myself. he, moreover, insisted on my sitting down to the table immediately; they brought me boiled and roast meats and excellent wine. the peasants in their turn show me all kinds of attentions, and when i mention the settlement of my bill before going to bed, the host declares that he could not hear of such a thing, and moreover swears by all his household gods that he'll not let me go in the morning without a good basin of soup, and that if i were to stay for a week he would not accept a farthing, because he could never do enough for his gracious prince. they put me into a very white and very soft bed, where i slept long and soundly. while i was enjoying every comfort, my poor brother was bemoaning his imprudence of having sent me to look for the purse. i did not know the country, the hotel had a queer appearance. i had not returned, although it had been settled that the town gates should be opened to let me pass. my brother's anxiety may therefore be readily imagined. he dispatched an express messenger with a description of myself, and that of the horse; the messenger passed the inn at the very moment i was starting. he recognized me and informed me of my brother's anxiety. at spires we put up at the _arbour_, and when our horses were sufficiently rested my brother sold them to the landlord of the _crown_. we could not afford, though, to stay at the inn, so we rented a small room with one bed, and with this we had to be content for more than five weeks. at meal times we went to eat three or four rolls under the city walls, after which we drank half a measure of wine at the tavern. the days when bartholomäi sastrow led the dance, and feasted at the big wine cellars like _könig arthur_ and the _rathskeller_ were over. philip melanchthon had recommended us to his half-brother, doctor johannes hochel, procurator, and to doctor jacob schenck, advocate at the imperial chamber. thanks to the latter, johannes found bed and board, _mensa splendida et delicata_ at the provost's of the chapter, a great personage occupying the handsomest mansion of spires, the habitual quarters of the emperor. this provost entertained daily a number of guests, but he himself lived upon fowl broth and apothecary's stuff prescribed by his doctor. he was fond of listening to the discussions of his guests, some of whom sided with luther and others with the pope. if, at the end of the debate, he now and again added a few words, it was simply to admit that he had never read "st. paul," but that, on the other hand, he had read in terence: "_bonorum extortor, legum contortor_." he was practically in the same boat with the bishop of wurzburg, who is reported to have said: "i thank heaven that i have never read 'st. paul,' for i should have become a heretic just like luther." on august , dr. hochel obtained a place for me at dr. frederick reiffstock's, one of the oldest procurators of the imperial chamber, a most learned lawyer and excellent practitioner, who was altogether unlike the majority of the procurators at spires. he had spent several years of his youth at rome as auditor of the "rote" (ecclesiastical jurisdiction). he was very conscientious and energetic. at the issue of the sittings, he immediately wrote to the party whose case had been called; then, the moment the minutes and other documents had been copied by his principal clerk, he sealed the whole, and deposited it in a large box on the table of his office. when this or that messenger came to announce his next departure the procurator examined the box to see whether there was anything to dispatch in that direction, and he marked on the outside wrapper the vail to be given according to the condition of the roads or their distance from the main ones. his practice was made up of princes, nobles, and eminent personages. one day he replied to duke albrecht of mecklenburg who had sent him a case, that, unless new facts could be adduced, he advised the withdrawal of the suit. the fees were nevertheless very considerable. the duke handed the case to dr. leopold dick, who allowed himself to be directed to the _juramentum calumniae_ and lost the whole affair. my master had four sons, all of whom took their doctor's degree. the three elder had returned, one from france, the two others from leipzig; hence i had three horses to take care of, and three rooms to keep heated. doctor reiffstock was determined i should not be idle. one day he placed before me a bundle of documents as thick as my hand but very well written. he told me to copy them, and then to collate them carefully with his second clerk. i was under the impression that it was a most important affair; when it was finished the procurator told me that he simply wished to give me something to do. on december , , an imposing deputation of the protestant states repudiated as suspect the imperial chamber, and declared its decisions and enactments null and void until its complete reformation. the procurators immediately reduced their staff, and dr. reiffstock dismissed me, which grieved me very much. as i foresaw, my parents would think me guilty of some grave misconduct, but a letter from johannes soon undeceived them. though a writer's place could easily be had away from spires, i would not leave my brother or the city before the termination of the lawsuit. we also hoped that the chamber would be reconstituted at the next diet. for all these reasons combined i entered into the service of my father's procurator, simeon engelhardt. i might as well have taken service in hell. dr. engelhard was an honest man, but he and his family belonged to the schwenkfeld sect.[ ] he had three daughters and a son between eight and nine whom i had to teach his declensions and conjugations. the matron of the establishment was a virago of the worst description, mean and bitter-spoken, who grudged her husband his food. often and often did i see her snatch the glass from his lips. people may think she did it for the best, lest he should get drunk. not in the least; she did that kind of thing at the family table; besides, his worst enemy could not have called him a wine-bibber. the pewter goblet of each child (there were two grown-up daughters) held about the contents of a pigeon's seed-box. the cup was filled once with wine, twice with mayence beer (an abominable concoction), after which you were at liberty to swill as much water as you pleased. as for the two servants and the two scribes, the pittance was meagre indeed. a piece of meat not as big as an egg, floating in beef tea pellucid to a degree. this was followed by cabbages, turnips, lentils, herbs, oatmeal porridge, dried potatoes, etc., even on fish days. at the end of the meal a goblet (?) of wine. whoever was thirsty after that--a by no means uncommon state of things--could go and pull the well-rope. truly, it would be difficult to say how much water i swallowed in that house. dr. simeon engelhardt had nearly as many lawsuits on hand as dr. reiffstock, about four hundred. each document was copied four times. the first remained with the principal bundle of papers, the second was sent to the client, the third and fourth went to the registry of the court which kept one, wrote the word "productum" on the other, and dispatched it immediately by the beadle to the procurator of the opposing party. there were two sittings per week, sometimes a third for fiscal cases. the copying of the protocol and of the acts imposed very hard work upon us. being only two clerks, there was no time, on court days, for swallowing a piece of bread. on the other hand, the mistress of the house took no notice of anything like that. what her daughters or the servant girls could have done, namely, laying the table, bringing the cold or hot water for washing up, clearing the table and getting rid of the dish-water; all this came to bartholomäi's share, whether he happened to be head over heels in other work or not, and the master of the house did not dare to utter a syllable. amidst the biggest stress of business, when we did without our meals, the lady cried across the yard: "bartholomäi, will you mind troubling yourself to come and throw the dish-water away?" and as if the satire was not obvious enough, she added: "look at the lazy scamp. he has not attended to the water at all." i was forbidden to go out without asking, even to call upon my brother. nor was this all. in the morning i saved the servant girls marketing; a basket slung on my arm like gretchen, i bought the provisions for the household; cabbages, turnips, bread, and what not, and when i came back there was faultfinding without end for not having haggled enough. on washing day, which came round too often to please me, i pumped the water. when the pump was out of order it was i who went down the well to repair the mischief. and i was not a child, but a young man of twenty-three. i was paying for the good times of stralsund. at each visit my brother was bewailing my fate and preaching patience. "in days to come, when you shall have a wife, children, and servants of your own, you will be able to tell them of your less happy days." when mistress engelhardt was in her "tantrums," she went about for a week without addressing a friendly word to her husband. at such periods her son solomon would come into the office to tell me that his father was a dissipated brute who had not slept with his mother for a week, etc., etc. the youngest of the girls fell ill and died; her mother put the corpse into a sack in guise of a coffin. an old crone carried it to the cemetery on her back. one can only hope that she dug a grave and placed her burden into it, for no one accompanied the dead child; no one superintended the burial. thanks to his capital practice, made up of the nobles and the cities paying him yearly retaining fees, thanks also to the avarice of this virago, dr. engelhardt easily put aside two thousand florins per annum. he lent money to the client-cities at interest. for two years running i made payments of two thousand florins each on a simple receipt. in , on his return from italy, the emperor hurried on his preparations for a war against the duke of juliers. ulm and augsburg cast some magnificent pieces of field artillery, with their carriages and wheels; and as it was considered easier to transport the carriages separately, a numberless troop of swabian carters was engaged. his imperial majesty stayed at spires, the artillery not being ready. autumn overtook him, and as the roads of the netherlands were very bad at that season, his majesty, to his great vexation, had to defer the attack. one day, being on horseback, he hustled a waggoner whose team proceeded too slowly to his taste, and spoke, moreover, very harshly to him. the swabian, who had no idea of the identity of his interlocutor, merely made a grimace and shrugged his shoulders. a smart rap with a riding crop from the emperor was the result. so far from submitting, however, the stubborn clown promptly belabours his assailant's head with his whip, uttering imprecations all the while: "may the thunder strike and blast you, you scum of a spaniard," and so forth. of course the emperor's suite laid hold of him, and he had to pay dearly for his mistake. not so dearly, though, as he might have done if the colonels entrusted with inquiries and the drawing up of the indictment had not purposely dragged the thing along to let the emperor's anger spend itself. charles had forgotten all about the affair. he probably thought that his orders had been carried out and that the swabian culprit was comfortably swinging from this or that gibbet, when the said colonels and captains humbly submitted the reasons for his being pardoned. there was first of all the ignorance of the waggoner, secondly the often excessive roughness of the spaniards towards these poor swabians. furthermore, there was the august leniency of all great potentates and the gratitude of which the army would feel bound to give proof, if it were exercised upon such an occasion as the present. the prince relented to the extent of deciding that the culprit should have his nose cut off in memory of the assault. the colonels and the captains expressed their respectful gratitude, and the condemned man learnt the commutation of his sentence with great joy. they cut off his nose flush with his face. he bore the operation with a good grace, and for the remainder of his life sang the praises of the emperor. for many years he could be seen urging his cattle along the roads between the rhine and the danube. i happened to come several times into contact with him at the inns. i asked him before other travellers about the nature of the accident that had cost him his nose, whether he had left it in the french country. "nay, nay," he replied, and with great glee recounted his adventure, showering blessings on his imperial majesty. while the emperor was warring in africa, martin van rosse[ ] profited by the diversion to work his own will in the netherlands. he had, for instance, imposed a ransom on antwerp on the penalty of burning it to the ground. his majesty, having learnt that he was conducting the expedition as a landsknecht, felt curious to get a glimpse of this personage. martin van rosse was warned too late; the emperor was already there. he pulled up his horse before the rebel. the latter, dropping on his knee, begged that the past might be forgotten, and swore to shed his last drop of blood for the emperor, who touched him lightly with his stick on the shoulder, and forgave him everything. "we forgive you, martin," he said, "but do not begin again." on february , , the diet was opened at spires. i have heard it said that the elector palatine lewis always endeavoured to dissuade his majesty from choosing that town, because his _mathematicus_ had predicted that he should die at spires. in consequence of this, perhaps, he presented himself in person to the emperor at the very beginning of the session, and at the end of a few days took his leave to return to heidelberg, where he died on march . in default of a church, the elector of saxony had religious service performed in a tavern where he had put up a seat for the ministers. lutes, fifes, cornets, trumpets and violins, instead of an organ, constituted a most agreeable concert. the elector's horse was a most robust animal, and there was a stepping stone attached to his saddle. on the eve of maundy thursday at sunset twenty-four flagellants of both sexes marched by in their shirts, their faces covered with pieces of stuff into which were cut holes for their eyes and mouth, their backs sufficiently bare for the birch provided with steel-pointed hooks to touch the flesh. it was a hideous spectacle, the hooks tearing pieces of flesh away, and causing the blood to trickle down to the ground. the penitents advanced very slowly, one by one, in two single files, divided as it were by spanish gentlemen of high degree, each carrying a thick wax candle. the whole street was lighted with them. when they reached the church of the barefooted carmelites the procession fell on its knees and dragged itself from the porch to the crucifix in the choir in that way. near the entrance the surgeons dressed the wounds; rumour had it that two corpses were carried away. the emperor washed the feet of twelve poor men; the king of the romans did the same. care had however been taken to ascertain that those people were in good health; nay, their feet had been washed beforehand. the two sovereigns with napkins round their waists merely dried the feet, after which they waited upon the poor at table. "friends," they cordially said to them, "eat and drink." like all gatherings of eminent personages, this diet entailed a rise in the prices of food, but especially of fish. a rhine salmon cost sixteen crowns; for half of one the purveyor of the duke of mecklenburg paid eight crowns. a spanish gentleman who had taken up his quarters with an amiable widow who was looking to his comfort, became imbued with the idea that she would not refuse him her favours; so one night he crept into her bed; but the widow having got hold of a knife plunged it into his body and killed him there and then. of course, she did not know how to get rid of the body; but though certain of her own ruin, she did not stir from her home. her anguish at the prospect of the consequences had reached its height when the emperor, informed of the real state of the case, sent to reassure her. the spaniards came to take the body of their countryman, and to perform the last duties to it. on march , , the emperor granted the privilege of a coat of arms to my brother johannes, and conferred the title of poet laureate[ ] on him, in recognition of a poem dedicated to him. johannes stigelius also offered the emperor a _scriptum poeticum_. his majesty replied to him through the pen of his vice-chancellor, seigneur jean de naves: "_carmen placet imperatori; poeta petat, quid velit habebit; si voluerit esse nobilis, erit; si poeta laureatus, erit id quoque; sed pecuniam non petat, pecuniam, non habebit._" it might serve as a warning to stralsund not to lavish its money on the first comer who thinks fit to dedicate some poor rhymes to it. on may , , i was made a notary by imperial diploma. prelate otto truchess, of waldburg, bestowed upon my brother a gold chain for a _carmen gratulatorium_ on the occasion of his recent installation in the see of augsburg. doctor christopher hose, ex-procurator and advocate of stralsund, who had been struck off on account of his evangelical faith, had built himself a handsome residence at worms. he came to spires during the diet. a veteran practitioner, a straightforward and agreeable man, he was a favourite with his colleagues, and especially with the young ones. he was, however, highly esteemed by everybody, and nobody minded him exposing the astute moves of his adversaries. a learned doctor had invited him and several colleagues, master engelhardt among the number. when i got there with my lantern to escort my master home, the evening cup was being poured out, and whether i liked it or not, the host and dr. hose, who were acquainted with my family's circumstances, made me sit down at the lower end of the table and offered me cakes, pastry, etc. thereupon master engelhardt got up brusquely and wanted to go. "seeing that my servant is sitting down, i had better go. at any rate i shall not sit down again unless he remains standing to attend to me," he said. dr. hose, however, went on with his little speech to me. "look you here, pomeranian," he remarked, "the words 'procurator at the imperial court' are simply synonymous with those of hardened rogue, and that is the gist of the matter." (the latter was a favourite interjection of his.) "at your age," he went on, "i was also with a procurator who run up costs very heavily with his clients without doing much for them. now, just listen to this story. a franconian gentleman entrusted a most important case to my master, gave him a considerable retaining fee, and promised him another big sum at the end of the year. when the case had been put upon the rolls, the procurator put the documents relating to it into a bag, showing the names of the parties to the suit in large letters; after which he suspended the bag in the usual way with many others in the registry room with which you are familiar. at the end of the year he claimed his fees, announcing at the same time the termination of the suit and his hurrying on of the judgment. the client added to the sum agreed upon a gratification and a present for us, the engrossing and copying clerks. nevertheless, he fancied the affair was dragging along, and one fine day he came to spires and rung at our door, and on its being opened my master a once recognized the visitor. you are aware that procurators generally have their own rooms facing the door, in order to see who came in and went out. thereupon my master runs to the registry chamber, takes down the bag in question, and places it on the table. after which he has the franconian shown in, receiving him very cordially, imbuing him at the same time with the idea that he never loses sight of his documents. he also tells him that he was constantly demanding the execution of the judgment, but that he will insist still more strongly, and will send an express to his noble client. the latter departed exceedingly satisfied, after having offered a rich gift to the procurator's lady. well, as a fact, the lawsuit was not even in its first stage. "take my word for it," he went on, "the procurators of the imperial chamber are past-masters of trickery, and that's the gist of the matter. if you have made up your mind to practise at spires, pomeranian, you must provide yourself with three bags: one for the money, one for the documents, and the third for patience. in the course of the suit you will see the purse get flatter, the documents grow bigger, and patience desert altogether; but you will comfort yourself with the thought that the emperor writes to you: 'we, charles v, by the grace of god roman emperor, perpetual aggrandizer of the germanic empire, king of spain, the two sicilies, jerusalem, hungary, dalmatia, etc., assure our dear and faithful bartholomäi sastrow, of our grace and goodwill.' think of the pleasure and the honour of receiving that missive, while you are sitting in the inglenook amidst your family. assuredly it is money well spent." that was the manner of dr. hose's discourse. the diet dissolved. king ferdinand with his two sons, maximilian and ferdinand, reconducted the landgrave. at their return there was a terrible storm, accompanied by hailstones as big as hazel nuts. in spires itself several hundred florins worth of windows were broken. the cavalry, hussars and royal trabans fled panic-stricken; it was nothing less than a general rout, and the gathering darkness increased the confusion. the runaways only reached spires after the gates were closed, and lay down in the outer moats in order to save their lives. king ferdinand appeared on the scene, absolutely alone. he called and knocked, shouted his name, and finally succeeded in finding some one who recognized him, when of course the gates were thrown open, and they sped towards him with many torches. the first question of the king was about his sons; nobody had seen them come up. thereupon more confusion, shouting, questioning, and contemplated saddling of horses; but just in the nick of time the princes rode up, escorted by a small number of men. the trabans pleaded mortal danger in excuse for their neglect of duty, and their wounds in fact confirmed the plea, for the king, having made them strip, could see how the hailstones had literally riddled their bodies. all declared that their mounts no longer answered the bit. the reconstitution of the imperial chamber was adjourned. i should have regretted returning to the paternal roof before our lawsuit was in a fair way of being settled; on the other hand, life at master engelhardt's was intolerable in consequence of his accursed wife, who was a fiend incarnate. her dreadful character inspired me from that day forward with an aversion for petticoat government, and i am likely to preserve it until i draw my last breath. my father's interest dictated resignation, for my stay at spires in hurrying up affairs also saved expenses of procedure and of correspondence, the latter of which threatened to be heavy now and again, when a messenger had to be dispatched to stralsund. i was sufficiently versed in the scribal art and in high-german to find employment elsewhere. i was offered a post at the chancellerie of the margrave ernest of baden and hochberg, landgrave of sansenberg, overlord of roetteln and badenweiler, etc., whose residence was at pforzheim. it was only six miles (german) distant from spires, and i accepted. i and my fellow-scribe had been constantly engaged in engrossing deeds. as a rule these were petitions addressed either to the emperor or to some prince in behalf of the jews of swabia or of the palatinate, who paid largely. our master left us free in that respect. he knew that we were not inclined to work for nothing. eager to earn money we even encroached upon our hours of sleep in order to get all the possible benefit of the diet. we had, furthermore, the tips of clients in return for our promise not to neglect their affairs. the receipts were dropped into a solid iron box, secured to the window of the office. dr. engelhardt kept the key of it. we estimated the treasure at a hundred crowns, and looked forward with joy to its division. when i was about to leave, the procurator came into the office, opened the box in my presence, and emptied it. we gloated over the admirable collection of florins, crowns, and other specimens of beautiful german and welch coinage. master engelhardt gave me a crown, another to my fellow-clerk, and pocketed the rest. stupefied and dumbstricken we saw him walk away with the proceeds of our vigils and our labour. no! dr. hose did not libel master engelhardt. chapter v stay at pforzheim--margrave ernest--my extreme penury at worms, followed by great plenty at a receiver's of the order of st. john--i do not lengthen this summary, seeing that but for my respect for the truth, i would willingly pass over many episodes in silence my brother accompanied me as far as rheinhausen. from thence i got to bruchsall, the residence of the bishop of spires, then to heidelsheim, brettheim, and at last to _patria philippi_, pforzheim. i entered upon my duties at the chancellerie on june , . my brother johannes went with his master to the baths of zell, where he met with an honourable, young, and good-looking girl from esslingen. the young girl's guardian and her kinsfolk (licentiates, the syndic of esslingen, and other notables) allowed the couple to plight their troth, subject to the consent of our parents. it was agreed that my brother should proceed to italy to get his doctor's degree, that he should get married on his return, and take his wife with him to pomerania. johannes asked me to go to esslingen to see the young girl and her family; her birth, character and dowry left nothing to desire. we wrote home each on his side; my parents opposed a categorical refusal. after that i never saw my brother really in good spirits. the young girl married a wealthy goldsmith of strasburg. when my mother informed us that she and her husband gave their consent, it was, alas, too late. poor johannes, undermined by regret, was visibly wasting away. pforzheim is not a large place, and it has only one church. the town lies in a hollow amidst smiling plains, watered by a clear, health-giving stream, swarming with delicate fish. it is a charming place in the summer. the neighbouring lofty mountains are covered with dense, almost impenetrable forests full of game. though lying in a valley, the castle commands the town. there are among the population a great many learned, modest, pleasant and well brought-up men. all the necessities of life, both in good and bad health, are at hand: apothecaries, barbers, innkeepers, artisans, etc.; in addition to these there are the canticles and sermons of the evangelical religion. the life at court was conducted on economical principles, but on a very decent footing, however, and without the slightest attempt at parsimony unworthy of a prince. yet the difference between their usages and those of pomerania was great. the meals consisted of meat, fish, vegetables, dried figs, oatmeal porridge, cabbages and a fair ration of bread, and in a pewter goblet some ordinary wine, unfortunately in insufficient quantity, especially in summer. the counsellors were, however, served a second time. there was always plenty of work; there was a secretary of seventy, and a chancellor not much his junior, and the most morose of all doctors of law. in margrave ernest concluded a pact of succession with his nephews; the negotiations were only waiting for an exchange of deeds. i was entrusted with the engrossing of one copy. the text was so long that it would scarcely hold on one skin of parchment; it was, therefore, necessary to write very close and small. i was rather frightened, for the chancellor was difficult to please; one might scrape and scratch till the erasure was invisible; he would light a candle in plain daylight, hold the deed before the flame, find out the flaw, and tear up the document while giving a strong reprimand. i had been working at that copy for forty-eight hours, when all of a sudden an omission of at least a line struck me all at once. i had never been in such an awkward position in my life. i might count on several days' imprisonment; the only thing that could save me was a stratagem. the castle was on the heights, the chancellerie at the foot of them in the town itself. when the bugle sounded for dinner i stopped behind till everybody was gone; then in the twinkling of an eye i got hold of a cat, dipped its tail into the ink, and let it loose on the skin of parchment; the deed was all smeared over, the marks of the animals feet as distinct as possible. i shut it up and went to my meal. when it was over i let my colleagues go first; as they opened the door the cat flew at them, and on the table they caught sight of its latest masterpiece. at that moment i entered, and they showed me the disaster, explaining at the same time how the cat "went" for them. naturally i played at being in despair, equally naturally they all tried to comfort me, and thus i came with flying colours out of what threatened to be an ugly scrape. whenever a condemned man was led to execution, margrave ernest made him come to him in order to reconcile himself with him. after having asked pardon of him for his compulsory sternness, he recommended him to show himself firm and bold, the blood of jesus christ having been shed not in order to save the righteous, but the unjust. then he shook hands with him, and the wretched man was led away. the margrave had his apartments right over the principal entrance of the castle, so as to see everybody that came in or went out. one day he caught sight of the head cook taking away such a magnificent carp that its tail showed from under his cloak. "just listen," exclaimed his highness; "the next time you rob me, either take a carp less big or a longer cloak." while they were putting wine in his highness's cellar, two cooks who were going into the town passed by; one had a couple of capons stuffed away in his belt. the margrave called them to lend a hand, and wishing to be quick they flung off their cloaks. the scamp was not thinking about the birds, which began to peck at his arms while he was pulling the rope; thereupon they called all the serving wenches out to enjoy the spectacle. there is no need to add that they were the laughingstock of them all. as there was to be a diet at worms, i was anxious to have an interview with my brother. in order to save time i hired a trotter, which carried me in a day to spires, and back the next morning to pforzheim. the return journey, though, nearly cost me my life. i was leaving the hotel of brettheim when i was hailed by a horseman coming out of another inn. "whither are you going?" he asked. "to pforzheim." "that's capital; that's my road; we'll ride together." a mile farther on a side path of which i knew enabled us to cut across the country, but at its other end they had put down four poles. instead of turning back i urged my horse, which at first puts a forepaw betwixt the poles; it does not free itself in time, gets its hind leg in the wrong place, and finally falls on its left side. my companion shouts to me to catch hold of the animal's head to prevent its moving; then he jumps down himself, unbridles and unharnesses my mount, and after having told me to leave go its head, starts it with a smart stroke of his riding whip, while i am on the ground seated in my saddle, and with one spur caught in the belly-band. had i been alone and without divine help, i should have been dragged along and dashed to pieces. when all danger was over, the horseman told me that our roads parted on that spot. in vain did i remind him of his intention to go to pforzheim; he wished me good-night, recommending me to the care of god and all his angels. i was anxious to offer him a finger's breadth of wine at the next inn; he declined my offer, on the pretext that its acceptance would cause too great a delay. i shall never cease to believe that my saviour was a holy angel. johannes approved of my intention to leave pforzheim for worms, where the diet would most probably proceed with the reconstitution of the imperial chamber. then would be the right moment to return to spires. the margrave when i left, sent me half a golden florin, besides a court dress. all at once there grew under my right nostril a pustule as big as a grain of barley; i punctured it frequently, and there came more blood from it than one could have imagined, but the kind of tumour did not disappear, not even when the surgeon whom i consulted cut it. it kept growing again, so, in order to destroy its root, as he said, he rubbed it with what i suppose was _aqua fortis_, for it caused me a horrible pain. i suffered most when going to spires, owing to the cold and the wind; my nose swelled enormously. on april my brother accompanied me to hütten, a mile and a half distant from spires. there we parted, weeping bitterly; we had a presentiment that we should never see each other again, or even write. next morning johannes started for italy. his imperial majesty being detained in the netherlands with gout, the king of the romans opened the diet of worms on march , . only a small number of princes came, so the emperor, when he arrived, prorogued the diet until the next year. the spiteful, impious and fiendish wife of procurator engelhardt had made my life at spires a misery, but at worms i suffered hunger and thirst and all the wretchedness of downright distress. i wish this to be remembered not only by my children, but by all those who happen to read me. i carried the whole of my belongings upon me, namely: the court dress given to me at pforzheim, two shirts, a sword with a silver tip to its sheath, and the six florins the margrave had sent me, the whole constituting but a scant provision. the absence of the emperor interfered with my livelihood; there was little work to do for copyists, and under those unfavourable conditions i stayed for twelve weeks. a canon, brother to johannes' employer, gave me shelter during the first fortnight, after which he left for mayence. the envoy of the dukes of pomerania, maurice domitz, captain of ukermünde, who knew my family very well, put, it is true, his purse at my disposal, knowing as he did that he would be reimbursed at stralsund; the syndic of lubeck was also at worms with franz von sitten, my rostock chum; neither the one nor the other would have refused to do me a service; borrowing meant, however, imposing new sacrifices upon my parents, so i preferred to suffer privation. my nose caused me severe pain for a long while; when it gave me some respite, my mornings and afternoons were spent in walks, either with my countrymen from mecklenburg, pomerania or lubeck, or with the friends i had made in worms. nobody had any idea of my being as poor as i was. at the dinner hour, when everybody repaired to the inn, i bought a pfenning's worth of bread, and the public fountain supplied the drink gratis; it was very rare that i took a little soup with a piece of meat as big as an egg in it, at the eating house. the owner of the establishment allowed me, in consideration of a kreutzer, to spend the night on a wooden seat; a bed would have cost half a batz (a batz was equal to about a penny of those days), and the wooden seat seemed preferable, inasmuch as i had sufficient "live stock" of my own, without picking up that of others. i sold the silver tip of my sword sheath, an iron tip as it seemed to me, to meet all my requirements. i subsequently disposed of one of my two shirts for what it would fetch; the six florins had melted away, and i wanted the wherewithal to buy dry bread. when my remaining shirt was dirty i went to wash it in the rhine, and waited in the sun while it was drying; all this was so much money saved, no cost of laundry, soap, ironing or pleating. my small clothes fell on my heels; i myself could no longer repair them. the "snip" at worms would have asked not less than a batz; at spires, on the other hand, it would have been done for half the price. so i made up my mind to go to spires. i only reached the outer fortifications after the closing of the gates. dying with hunger, thirst and fatigue, i lay down in the moat where i almost perished with cold. next morning, at the tailor's, after having undressed, i sat huddled up all the while he was mending my clothes. i went back to worms at a "double quick," having done twelve miles to save half a batz. the constant want of nourishment had made me weak, and with my blood in a bad state, incapable of holding a pen if i had found any copying to do. my distress was at its worst when one of my kindest acquaintances the secretary of the bishop of strasburg, informed me that being in need of a writer, he was going to recommend me to his master, but the prelate said no because pomeranians professed the evangelical religion. finally, through the good offices of the secretary of the order of st. john, the chancellor succeeded in getting me a place at the receiver's of the said order. great indeed, was the deliverance, and joy reigned in my heart instead of despondency. it was only later on that my eyes were opened to the dangers of my new condition. on july , , then, christopher von loewenstein, receiver of the order of st. john for lower and upper germany (he had been present at the taking of rhodes by the turks), engaged my services as a scribe. he promised me a complete dress and boots, such as his other servants received, but he did not stipulate the amount of my salary; he gave me to understand, though, that i should have no reason to grumble. the function of receiver consisted in collecting the revenues of the various commanderies on account of the knights of rhodes actually at malta. at the demise of a commander, the receiver takes possession of the property of the defunct, and despatches it with the ordinary interest by means of bills of exchange to the grand master of the order, who at that time was a frankish gentleman, don jean de homedes. the grand master confers for life the vacant benefice upon this or that knight who has distinguished himself before the enemy. the right of installing the new commander belongs to the receiver, who derives enormous profits from his office. my master had, moreover, seven commanderies of his own; he was, therefore, perfectly justified in having eight horses in his stable like a great noble. he gave me the money to take the coach to oppenheim, whence i was to proceed by water to mayence, where he himself was to make a stay of several days. mayence, frankfurt and niederweisel were the three commanderies which most often required his personal attention. niederweisel is an imperial town of the wetterau, between butzbach and fribourg. herr von loewenstein spent the greater part of the year in a magnificent dwelling, replete with every imaginable comfort; spacious dwellings kept in excellent condition had been erected around a vast court; granges, stables, riding school, brewery and bakery, kitchens, atop of which were the refectory and the servants' quarters; at one end of the court the master himself occupied a handsome room and dressing-room, affording an uninterrupted view of the whole. a deep moat crossed by a drawbridge ran round the structure. and i, after having wanted the strictly necessary at worms, found myself suddenly wading in plenty. the effect of the abrupt change of fortune may easily be imagined. though short in height, my master had won his benefices by his bravery at the siege of rhodes. in his riper age he remained the soldier he had been in his youth. daily feasting, succulent cheer, washed down by copious libations--a numerous company always around him--his revenues enabled him to lead that kind of expensive existence. the commandery being on the high road, landsknecht and horseman, sure of liberal entertainment, regularly made a halt there; the neighbours themselves were not more sparing with their visits; in short, gaming, feasting and drinking took up all the time. the commander had practically a concubine under his own roof. he chose her with an eye to beauty, dressed and adorned her according to his means; when he wished a little more freedom, he married her to one of his equerries, gave her a home at butzbach, and provided her against want. butzbach being within a stone's throw of niederweisel, he reserved to himself the option of seeing her when he liked. in my time, he lived with marie koenigstein, the daughter of the defunct town clerk of mayence; she was, moreover, his god-daughter, and by her father's will his ward. beauty, education, excellent manners, kindliness: all these and many other qualities were hers. why had she not met with a more staid and sober guardian? she was about eighteen, when one fine day the commander came to mayence in a closed carriage, sent for the young girl, told her to get in for a few moments and drove her as fast as the horses would carry them to neiderweisel. so effectually did he hide her that for seven or eight weeks her brothers and relations did not know what had become of her. finally, by dint of gifts, the commander succeeded in mollifying the brother, whom he sent to the grand master of the order. as for marie, she had everything she could wish for in the matter of silken gowns, gold-embroidered cuffs and sable furs. i was lucky enough to find favour with the commander. every peasant-tenant of the seven commanderies held his homestead on a lease; and i had a crown for each renewal. i wore a dress like that of the equerries. madame marie looked to my shirts, handkerchiefs and night-caps and kept them in good condition. a nice well furnished room, close to the drawbridge did duty both as a bedchamber and study. i had my meals at the commander's board with his guests, marie, the chaplain and the three equerries. well fitting clothes, a sword with a silver sheath-tip, and a golden ring on my little finger contributed greatly to transform me into a young gallant; my pitiful figure of worms was completely transformed; i improved physically and found favour in the eyes of the fair. as for my duties, they were not very heavy; the only commanderies that gave us trouble now and again were those of the landgrave of hesse; they grudgingly settled their dues in consequence of the antipathy of the landgrave, for my master, who did not worry himself much about religious matters, was neither a papist nor a lutheran, only knight of the order. the intrigues of the court compelled herr von loewenstein, therefore, to summon the hessian commanderies before the tribunals; and the results, as far as i was concerned, were frequent journeys to cassel and to the chancellerie of marburg. the commander had a rich collection of bits, bridles, saddles and saddle-cloths; he kept three equerries, though only one bore that title; the stable held seven or eight young stallions from friesland that had been bought at the frankfort fair. when the commander went out on horseback, a frequent occurrence, i accompanied him with the equerries; he made us change our mounts each time and entrusted us with horses costing between sixty and seventy, while he himself only rode an indifferent cob not worth half-a-score of florins. his horses were all of the same colour; when he grew tired of that colour he sold the cattle at half-price or gave them away, just to get rid of them. on one occasion he fancied a good ambling animal; he had happened to meet with a dappled grey, strong, clean-limbed and a capital pacer. it was valued at a hundred crowns; he, however, soon afterwards offered it to the elector of mayence who was very anxious for it and reserved it for his personal use. the commander kept a fool of about eighteen, but who had been downright mad from the day of his birth. on one occasion the fellow entered his master's room and told him that he had been embracing the cowherd's daughter in the shed. he spoke out plainly without the least disguise. "after dinner, we mean to begin again in the same spot," he added. "beware of st. valentine's evil," said the commander. "yes, sir, at the stroke of twelve, at the grange; your grace will be able to bear witness to it." the commander hurried up and arrived _opere operato_. he sent to friburg for the operator and signified his sentence to the fool who kicked against it. the commander, however, promised him a pair of crimson boots. "true, will your grace give me your hand on the promise?" said the idiot. the commander gave him his hand; thereupon the fool exclaimed: "come, master johannes, make haste." the operator stretched him on a bench, where the other servants kept him motionless, for at the first cut of the razor he began to resist. master johannes proceeded quickly and surely.[ ] ... the patient remained for nine days on his back on a narrow couch, bound hand and foot so that he could not move an inch. the commander had given instructions to treat him with every care. master johannes very soon deemed the fool sufficiently recovered to get rid of him, but at the commander's wish he kept him for some time longer in his room to the great annoyance of master johannes' young and good-looking wife; the latter had a strong objection to the fool's telling all sorts of tales about herself and her husband, on whose doings he spied night and day. he became a great nuisance, for in spite of his operation he grew fat and saucy, and at the death of the commander, landgrave philippe sent for him to come to cassel. the chaplain was a fine specimen of the young debauchee. instead of preaching the pure doctrine of luther he performed mass twice a week in the chapel of the commandery. to get to the chapel he had to go through the servants' refectory just at breakfast time. he simply sat down, got hold of a spoon and dipped it into the soup. "master johannes," said we, "you know it is forbidden to eat before the mass?" "nonsense," he replied; "the saviour gets through bolts and locks; the soup won't stop him." herr von loewenstein owned an old ape, a strong customer, who could get into formidable passions. the animal, which was kept on a chain, would only allow its master, the baker and myself, to come near it. most dangerous was it when showing its teeth, as if laughing. when i sat down within its reach, i dared not get up without its leave; perched on my shoulder, it amused itself by scratching my head, and i had to wait till it got tired; then i shook hands with it and i was allowed to go. one day a landsknecht, a handsome, well built fellow, tempted by the prospect of a good meal, came into the commandery. he carried a javelin, and the ape, who unfortunately was free of his chain, jumped at him, and after having wrenched the weapon from him, bit him in several places that it was most pitiful to see; after which it crossed the moat, climbed to its master's window, opened it, and made its way into the room. with one glance the commander perceived that the animal was in a rage; he endeavoured to soothe it with kindly words. it so happened that a silver dagger was lying near the window sill; our ape ties it round its waist; thereupon the commander gently draws the weapon from its sheath, plunges it into the animal, and notwithstanding its bites, holds it pinned down until the breath is out of it. there is no denying that an ape is a terrible creature when it gets on in years and grows big. after the harvest our master wished to go partridge-hawking, for his hawks were well trained. as his dapple-grey was being brought round--the one that ambled so capitally--the unexpected visit of several strange horsemen interrupted the party; the commander gave me his hawk, telling me to go without him. just as i am getting my right leg over the saddle the bird beat its wings, the horse frightened, gets out of hand of the groom, and i am caught in the stirrup; more concerned for the hawk than for my safety, i drop backward, the horse continues to plunge, drags me along, kicking me all the while, the commander and his frightened guests looking powerlessly on. luckily my shoe and my left hose give way and stick to the stirrup, while i am left on the ground, with nothing more serious, though, than a couple of swollen limbs. nevertheless, on that day i had a very narrow escape from death. the elector of saxony and the landgrave of hesse constantly raising levies against the duke of brunswick, the commandery swarmed with colonels and captains.[ ] they offered me the post of secretary; the arrangement was, in fact, concluded, but i did not wish to go except with the consent of the commander. he granted me my leave, though giving me to understand that i should not expect to return to his service after the war. and inasmuch as the war was to be a short one, the warning gave me food for reflection. the winter was coming on; i certainly had no wish for a repetition of my privations at worms. i remained, for the following lines recurred to my memory: _si qua sede sedes, et erat tibi commoda sedes illâ sede sede, nec ab illâ sede recede_. several companies of landsknechten were reviewed; and nothing could have been more diverting than to watch the inspector examine the weapons and the shape of the men, their dress and their gait. he made them march past him rather twice than once. how each man tried to hide his shortcomings, and how those who were "passed" as fit blew themselves, and swaggered and talked loud and boastfully like the hirelings they were. the war came to an end on october , with the capture of duke henry of brunswick and his son, charles victor; his second son, philippe, hastened to rome to ask for help of the pope. at the autumn fair herr von loewenstein took up his quarters at frankfurt with the whole of his household for six weeks. my old chum, franz von stiten, coming across me once more, i told him everything about my position, and when i had given him the address of the house of the knights of st. john, he arranged to come and pay me a visit one morning before the commander was stirring. and, in fact, he came, and had a long conversation with marie, to whom he gave particulars about my parents, birth, and family circumstances. the information still further disposed the damsel in my favour; in short, i am bound to confess that i lost all claim to the meritorious reputation of joseph the chaste. since then i have acknowledged my sin to the almighty, and i have sufficiently expiated it during my journey to rome to count upon my pardon; besides, amidst the privations, dangers and trials which i am about to relate, however just the punishment may have been, the divine mercy has never failed me, sending me protection and deliverance as it did in its admirable ways. while my master drank and gamed with his guests (he was rarely alone, and in frankfurt less than elsewhere) i read, in the quietude of my own room, the _institutes_, which i nearly always carried about with me. in vain did herr von loewenstein tell me again and again not to expect to become a doctor of law while i was with him. i did not fear any opposition from that quarter. in february my master having been summoned to spires, the habitual residence of the superior of the order for germany, only left marie and myself behind at mayence. a letter from my parents, telling me of the death of my brother in rome, made me decide upon my journey to rome. there was not the slightest trace left of the sufferings i had undergone at worms; my health was excellent, i had a well-stocked wardrobe, and my purse was fairly lined. on the other hand, the loose morals of the knights of st. john were calculated to take me to hell rather than to heaven; the money earned in such a service could not bring luck; it was better to spend it on the high roads, and to cut myself adrift from such a reprehensible mode of life. undoubtedly the time had come. besides, it was absolutely necessary to ascertain the circumstances of my brother's death; i knew the sum of money he had with him, and the idea of his having spent it in so short a time was inadmissible. i told my reasons, though not all, to marie; we parted on the most amicable footing. in the letter she gave me for the commander, she informed him of the sum she had given me at my departure, leaving it to him to increase it. herr von loewenstein wished me happiness and luck, and advised me, if i valued my life, to abstain in italy, but above all in rome, from all theological controversy; finally, he added a double ducat to marie's gift. from spires i went a little out of my way to see my friends at pforzheim; after having said goodbye to them i began my long journey, alone and on foot, under the holy safeguard of the almighty. chapter vi travels in italy--what happened to me in rome--i take steps to recover my brother's property--i become aware of some strange particulars--i suddenly leave rome i started from mayence on april , , and after crossing an unknown country by bad roads, i reached kempten, an ancient imperial city at the foot of the alps, and the see of an important abbey. the unpleasant parts of the journey hitherto had been solitude and fatigue, when at a quarter of an hour from kempten there appeared two wolves of very good size. they were making for a plantation of oaks on the other side of the road, but when they got to the highway, at a stone's throw from where i was, they stopped "to take stock of me." evidently they were going to make a mouthful of my poor, insignificant person. what was i to do? to beat a retreat was practically to invite their pursuit. to advance was to lessen at every step the distance dividing us. trusting to god's good will, i kept marching on, and the wolves disappeared in the underwood. i hurried on, to escape the double risk of meeting the carnivora again or to find the city gates shut against me, for night was coming on apace. at the hostelry nobody seemed surprised at the meeting, for the neighbouring mountains swarmed with large packs of the animals. what they wondered at was the manner in which i got out of the danger. i offered thanks to the lord. i lay two nights at kempten, because i was told not to venture alone in those mountains, where wild beasts and murderers prevailed. meanwhile three hollanders, proceeding to rome and to naples, arrived at the inn; it was the very opportunity i wanted; other travellers going to venice joined our little caravan. every evening, or at least one out of every two, we plunged our feet into running water; it proved a sovereign remedy against fatigue, recommended by the hollanders. the council was sitting at trent. before that town we made a halt in the middle of the day, in one of the burghs called markets, because they are too large for a village and too small for a town, notwithstanding their having a few stone houses. after having cooled our feet in the running stream we prepared for ourselves a meal of hot milk, eggs, and other eatables we had managed to find. the host and hostess who had been invited to the feast were most obliging; they foresaw a fat bill. having had a good rest and plenty of food and drink, and having paid our reckoning, we bade them goodbye, and we already were at a considerable distance when a horseman came galloping after us, signalling us to stop by raising his hat. he brought me the satchel of brown damask that contained the whole of my fortune. i had left it behind lying on the table. the man absolutely refused to accept any reward. i wonder if i could find any instance of such disinterestedness in our country? at easter i heard most delicious singing in the trent churches. i have heard the musicians of duke ulrich of würtenberg (and they were a subject of pride with him), of the elector of saxony, of the king of the romans, not to mention those of the emperor, but what a difference. old men, with beards almost reaching to their waists, sang the upper notes with a purity and skill fit to compare with those of the most accomplished youngster. trent boasts of the most elegant castle of germany and italy. i also saw there the tomb of the child simeon, the innocent victim of the jews.[ ] a great personage had posted from venice to the council; the rider, who was to take the carriage back, allowed me for a trifle to mount the second horse. it was agreed that i should wait for my companions at _the white lion_ in venice. at a short distance from trent one gets into lombardy. after a lone and difficult journey across the alps, during which there is nothing to be seen but the sky and the mountains rearing their heads against the clouds, it was like entering into another world. the air was balmy, the country revelling in green; and if i had wanted a thousand florins' worth of cherries, i could have got them far more easily than in pomerania in the middle of june. lombardy is a beautiful land, of fertile and well cultivated plains. the trees are planted at thirty feet from each other, with an interval of sixty feet between each row; the vine extends its branches from one tree to another, and the grapes ripen between pears and apples. the corn grows between the trees; at the end of the fields there are reservoirs the water of which is distributed every morning by means of locks into the irrigation canals. the country resembles a vast prairie. the sun sheds his rays the whole day; no wonder that the earth is so fruitful. there are two crops of grain every year. from trent to venice there are also many important towns and castles. i reached venice towards the end of april. the public promenade helped me to kill the time while waiting for the arrival of my companions; and as my dress attracted the notice of the children in the street, who pursued me with the cry: "_tu sei tedesco, percio luterano!_" i had it altered to the welch fashion. an aged priest, travelling with a servant to attend to his horse, had left the low countries with the mad intention of visiting the holy sepulchre; my companions practically catechized him on the subject of religion, and the poor man showed himself so little versed that i came to his aid by pretending to be a roman catholic. in acknowledgment of the service i had rendered him, he paid my reckoning at the inn, and wished to take me with him at his expense to jerusalem. i cannot say if he saw his own household gods again, but he did not shake my resolution to proceed to rome. venice and its environs, especially murano, where the most precious glass is manufactured, would be sufficient to claim one's interest and attention for a whole twelvemonth; but our resources required husbanding, and we proceeded to chioggia to embark in a big ship sailing for ancona. contrary winds kept us in port a considerable time; to pass the time we played skittles outside the walls. we carried our daggers at our backs in walloon fashion, which caused us to be summoned before the authorities. how did we dare to appear in public armed with daggers--a crime which was punished with hanging in italy? in consideration of our presumed ignorance of the law, mercy would be shown to us this once, but we ought to take it as a warning. the magistrates inquired whence we came, and whence we hailed, etc., and their astonishment was intense when they learnt that my country was two hundred leagues away on the shores of the baltic, and was called pomerania. then the interrogatory went on: "do you profess the catholic religion?" "yes," i answered. "do you admit the doctrine of our holy father, the pope?" "what is your opinion with regard to the mother of god, the saints and the celebration of mass?" "in our country the church teaches that at the moment st. john baptized christ, god the father spoke these words: 'this is my beloved son, in whom i am well pleased; listen to him.' the doctrine of the son of god and of the apostles is, therefore, the pure catholic doctrine; and whosoever preaches it deserves belief. with regard to the blessed virgin mary, the saints and the mass, we entirely submit to the word of god." finally, on our statement that we were going to rome, the magistrates, inclining their heads with a smile, recommended us to god's keeping and to his holy angels. at the first favourable wind we took ship, provided with the quantity of provisions the pilot had told us. after having passed ravenna and other beautiful cities of the adriatic, we cast anchor at ancona, a town driving a considerable trade, and provided with an excellent port in the shape of a half moon, affording shelter from the most violent tempests. here our company was still further increased by a certain petrus from the low countries, a handsome young fellow, tall and well set up, who for a long time had been soldiering in welch countries. he made us go round by our lady of loretto, a locality famed for the indulgences granted to its pilgrims. it would be difficult to conceive anything more wild than the country--a veritable brigands' haunt. the town has but one long street, at the end of which there is a small chapel, the tenement reputed to have been occupied by the virgin mary at nazareth and transported thence by the angels. in a niche there is an image of the virgin, alleged to be the work of st. luke. for a certain consideration a priest will rub the rosaries against the image, and under those conditions the pilgrim obtains so many indulgences that he would not part with them for an empire. the quills of the porcupine constitute one of the principal articles for sale at loretto. i saw a great many of those animals alive; they are about the size of a hedgehog. i ornamented my hat with a large leaden medal of the virgin surmounted by three quills fastened with a silken thread, and each with a small flag at the end. i also saw at loretto a live chamois, the only one i ever beheld, though chamois are not rare in that country, and above all in the alps. the flesh of the chamois is preferred to that of the deer. i have tasted it; i have even worn several pair of small clothes of chamois leather; it is excellent, and you can wash it like linen, and the skin remains as soft as ever. petrus was known everywhere, and principally in the mountains. without ever having studied to that effect, he could pride himself upon being a good musician and being able to sing at sight. in every town he took us straight to a monastery, where the young monks hailed him by his name, feasted him, bringing him wine and refreshment; then they sang a piece of music, drank a cup of wine, and we took our leave. this petrus was a precious travelling companion; added to his knowledge of the country, he had a most agreeable disposition, _et comes facundus in via pro vehiculo est_. he told us where he was born and how many years he had lived in italy, far away from his parents, whom, however, he was most anxious to see again. i, in my turn, told him the business that called me to rome; he offered to accompany me on the return journey. the voyage from milan and across france was delightful, he said; he was familiar with the roads as far as the low countries. i was delighted with the proposal, which, as will be seen, was wellnigh fatal to me. in rome, after having settled us in a hostelry, petrus gave me his address, and we agreed to meet often. on may , , i presented myself at the house of doctor gaspard hoyer, who, at the first glance, knew my identity by my likeness to magister johannes. he changed my straw hat, ornamented with the holy relic which i had bought at loretto, for a black biretta of italian fashion, a headgear very much worn in those days at rome. he had with him gerard schwartz, the younger brother of master arndt schwartz, and in talking together we discovered that we had left trent on the same day without having fallen in with each other, schwartz having travelled by way of ferrara. he was a very scholarly young man, and a near kinsman of dr. hoyer. i never saw him again; and one day, when i asked master arndt schwartz, he told me that gerard had come back to stralsund mentally affected, and that subsequently he disappeared. i have got an idea that he had contracted an illness in rome which he dared not avow to his relatives. master gaspard hoyer had only learnt of the death of my brother thirteen days before my arrival, in a letter from my father. the news had grieved and surprised him, but there remained the fact that my parents in pomerania had been informed more promptly of the misfortune than an inhabitant of rome. i conceived many tragic suspicions, on the subject of which i could only trust to god. dr. hoyer proved his goodwill by accompanying me to the cardinal count de st. flore,[ ] whose servant my late brother had been; he presented me, exposed my wretched situation, and renewed the request he had preferred at the receipt of my father's letter. the cardinal was exquisitely sympathetic; he had promptly communicated with his steward at acquapendente, and he expected the reply, together with my brother's belongings, at every moment. nevertheless, master hoyer had to wait until july without receiving another summons to call. he considered my presence necessary, and on our way he told me that he and the cardinal had offered my brother a canonry at lubeck, and that in consequence of his refusal my brother had become strongly suspected of lutheranism. we were taken at once to the cardinal, who handed me five-and-twenty golden crowns, three double ducats, two golden florins, two rose nobles, one florin of hungary, three angelots (french money), a golden chain of twenty and a half crowns, three golden rings (the first being a seal, the second a keepsake, and the third set with a turquoise), worth seven and a half crowns, another half-crown in gold, and three juliuses. i was told at the same time that my brother had spent thirty crowns in clothes, that during his illness he had bequeathed twenty crowns to the poor, and that his tombstone had cost another thirty. according to roman custom, the servants had divided his wardrobe among themselves. the cardinal said also to me: "_legit aliquoties libros mihi admodum suspectos, et quanquam admonui eum, ut non legeret, tamen deprehendi saepius legentem._" after this he asked me several questions of interest about pomerania. was it as hot there as in rome? the cardinal, in fact, was sitting in his shirt sleeves, in a large room whose window panes were made of linen instead of glass; the floor was constantly sprinkled with water, which by a nice contrivance ran away. my reply caused the cardinal to exclaim: "_o utinam et romae ejusmodi temperatum aërem haberemus._" after master hoyer had thanked him in both our names, we took our leave. "did you hear what the cardinal said?" asked the doctor, when we were in the streets once more. "no doubt i did," was the answer. "yes," he remarked, "master johannes' stay at acquapendente was a very short one; and yet, no german was ever less fond of italian fruit, fresh figs, melons, etc., than he." people ought to know that those fruits are delicious, but harmful to those who are not used to them. many a german on his first arrival yields to the temptation, and pays for the imprudent act with his life. besides, dr. hoyer had not had the slightest anxiety with regard to my brother, whom only very recently he had met in the street. i left the money and the trinkets with dr. hoyer until my departure. master gaspard hoyer was an honest, loyal and obliging little man; may the lord watch over him. in order to make my money hold out, he took a good deal of trouble to find me a place with the superintendent of the hospitium of santa-brigitta, an aged swedish priest, who took boarders from among the advocates, procurators and suitors of the tribunal of the rote. to cook, to wash up, to make the beds, to lay the table, and to clear it, to bring the wine from the cellar, and to serve it, these were my functions, for which i received half a crown per month. apparently they were satisfied with my culinary talent; it is true, i had only to prepare the soup, called "minestra"; the other dishes came from the tavern. in rome, where there are so many people who cannot publicly live with a woman, and where it swarms with suitors and pleaders who would find it difficult to keep up a house, there are excellent taverns, providing fish, flesh, game, poultry roast, boiled pasties, and delicate wines; in short, everything necessary to a princely banquet. one day, while at meat, my master announced the happy tidings of the death of dr. luther; the heresiarch had met with the end he deserved; a legion of devils had swooped down upon him, and a horrible din had put all those around him to flight. luther himself had bellowed like a bull, and at the last moment he had uttered a terrible yell; his spirit went on haunting the house. the boarders vied with each other in falling foul of "that abominable luther," that limb of satan, doomed, like all the other demons, to everlasting fire. the only one who did not join in this charitable colloquy was a procurator of the rote; he only opened his lips to murmur now and again: "_o jesu, fili dei, miserere mei_," to the tune of that famous italian song, to which there seems no end, "_fala lilalela_." my master, who performed mass at the chapel of the hospitium, hit upon the idea to take me as his acolyte; my ignorance of the various movements and my lukewarmness to learn, made him exclaim: "_profecto tu es lutheranus!_" "_sum christianus_," i replied, "my schooling in my native country, and my daily work at spires by the receiver of the order of st. john, left me no leisure to think of mass." i am bound to confess that as we went on, the suspicions of my new master did not fail to inspire me with fears for my safety. my master officiated at all the masses on saints' days, both in town and in the neighbourhood; there were as many as three on the same day; and as the journey from one church to the other was long, and we left at daybreak to return very late at night, our satchel contained a large flagon of wine and substantial food. each altar was completely prepared for mass; our master halted before the altar nearest to the entrance, put on his chasuble and said a mass. the first one i heard; then we departed for another church, and there, while my master officiated, i sat down behind the altar, my satchel on my knee, and ate a comfortable morsel, and washed it down with a moderately full cup. at meal time the priest noted the deficiency, and asked me for an explanation; i frankly confessed my inability to prolong the fast, which after all i was not bound to observe, inasmuch as i did not say mass. the explanation was more or less graciously received. this visit to the various stations enabled me to see and to learn a great many in a short time, for my master, who knew the city thoroughly, was very pleased to show me its curiosities, and often went a long way round for my sake. rome has close upon one hundred and fifty churches, seven of which count as principal ones. there are many abbeys, convents and asylums. i did not see all these buildings, and the majority of those i saw did not strike me as remarkable. at the door of each church a tablet tells the dates of the pilgrimages and the number of indulgences to be gained; the general list of the pilgrimages and of the indulgences is also sold separately. the annual number of stations or pilgrimages exceeds a hundred; hence, one can redeem all one's sins at least a dozen times; that is, eleven times more than is necessary, and one is furthermore gratified with a hundred thousand years of indulgences. o, good jesus, why didst not thou remain in heaven, if our salvation is after all to depend upon holy popes and their magnificent indulgences, notwithstanding which they have to go and join the devils in hell. a special mention is due to the asylum of the holy spirit, the pride of rome, and which is considered by the wise as the most meritorious work of christendom. rome contains a mass of single folk of both sexes; the pope's _entourage_ consists of fifteen or sixteen cardinals, whose establishments are kept on a footing as good as that of the courts of our princes of germany. then there are about a hundred bishops having servants, and several thousand prelates, canons and priests with their servitors. i refrain from numbering the young monks, who keep their vow of chastity as a dog observes lent. nor should we forget the assessors, advocates, procurators, notaries and pleaders of a hundred different countries who crowd the law courts. all these are forbidden to have a wife. nevertheless, thousands of them shelter under their roofs persons of the fair sex, supposed cooks, washerwomen and chambermaids. and now calculate the number of disorderly women. they, however, enjoy a wonderful liberty, and it is safer to wound or even to kill a man in rome than to treat roughly an importunate harlot. at vespers, great lords, pope, cardinals, bishops and prelates send for these "damsels of joy." they come to their homes in male disguise; the others know exactly where to find them. the courtesans sell their wares at a high price, for they stroll about attired in velvet, damasks, silks, and resplendent in gold. they cannot sell their favours cheaply, inasmuch as they pay a heavy tax, which, together with the proceeds of masses, constitutes the revenues of the priests with which rome swarms. if one wishes to ascertain the revenues of an ecclesiastic, he asks: "how many harlots?" and the figures show whether he, the ecclesiastic, is more or less favoured. no wonder, then, that, privileged in that manner, magnificently dressed and kept in splendour, prostitutes come to rome from all parts. it is worthy of notice that the young girls of rome emulate the others with zest. (dr. hoyer's cook, a native of nuremburg, must have been once a beautiful creature. her master always called her madonna margarita.) at thirty or thirty-five, when they find their admirers desert them, these persons become cooks, laundresses, serving wenches, without, however, disdaining a good windfall. the result was this: they smothered, they flung into the cloaca, they drowned in the tiber more new-born than there were massacred at bethlehem. herod after all was an impious and barbaric tyrant, and resorted to this butchery in order to defend his crown. yet by whom were the poor innocents in rome deprived of baptism and life? by their mothers, by those to whom they owed their birth, by the saints of this world, the vicars of christ. to cure the evil by means established by god himself was not to be thought of, marriage having been declared incompatible with the sacerdotal office. pope sixtus iv, however, having set his heart upon stopping those horrible murders, restored from roof to cellar the asylum of the holy spirit, tumbling to ruin, and enlarged it by several handsome structures; he established an important brotherhood there, at the head of which he inscribed his own name, an example followed by many cardinals. each member of the fraternity has the privilege of choosing for himself a confessor; and power was given to said confessor to give plenary absolution once when the penitent was in a state of good health; when dying, an unlimited number of times, even for the cases usually reserved for the apostolic see. the wards of the hospital are handsome and roomy, the beds and appurtenances leave nothing to desire. the sick of every country are treated with unremitting care; when they are cured they pay, if they are able and willing; but the very poor are sent away dressed in new clothes from head to foot, and provided with some money. the staff is composed of sick-nurses of both sexes, physicians and surgeons; the establishment has, moreover, an excellent dispensary abundantly stocked with everything, and recourse to which was often had from outside. the institution--apart from the hospital--brings up foundlings and orphans; the governors have the boys taught this or that trade, according to their aptitude or taste, nor are the girls allowed to remain idle. while still very young they begin to knit, to spin, to sew and to weave; in fact, under the direct supervision of the mistresses attached to the establishment, they are taught all the occupations of their sex. if one of the inmates wishes to get married, he or she must inform the administrators either directly or through an intermediary. inquiries are made about the suitors, about their means of maintaining a family, etc. the girls get a modest marriage-portion, an outfit, household goods and utensils, and at whitsuntide six or seven unions are celebrated at the institution on the same day. truly, it is a great institution, which seems to defy all criticism. in spite of enormous expenses, the existence of the establishment is assured by its resources. of course sixtus iv. has contributed largely from his private purse, but those contributions were as nothing to the practically incredible sums collected by the courtesans throughout christendom in aid of the hospital, germany included, and even pomerania, if i may trust to the recollections of my young days. one day, while taking a stroll with dr. hoyer, i ventured to ask him if he had no wish to come back to his native country, where he had friends, relatives, property and livings. he said he had not such a wish, in consequence of the difference of religion, adding: "may my countrymen amend their ways and become converted, like all those who have turned away from the true and primitive catholic doctrine." "but," replied i, "it's we who have the true and primitive catholic doctrine in its purity." dr. hoyer retorted: "it is written, 'ye shall know them by their fruits.' well, let them show me anywhere in germany an institution to be compared to the hospital and the asylum of the holy spirit." "i know this saying of christ," i remarked, "and i turn it against the papists. good fruits, indeed; a life of abomination, the murder of innocent creatures, a premium on debauch by picking up the new-born. the pope, the cardinals, bishops, prelates, canons, their servants, monks, assessors and other hangers-on of the priesthood, would not all these be better off in taking to themselves wives? for as much as the almighty condemns fornication, as much does he recommend to the priest, as well as to the layman, the holy state of marriage, the antidote to the roman horrors of a certain kind. do not we read in the epistles of paul: 'marriage is honourable among all things'? and if so, there would be no more murdering of innocents, mothers and fathers would themselves look after their offspring, the asylum of the holy spirit would become useless, an immense saving would be effected, and everybody would have a clear conscience with regard to that kind of thing." dr. hoyer did not answer me, but what a wry face he pulled! rome contains a great number of handsome mansions, for the popes, in order to perpetuate their memory, erect three-storied and four-fronted palaces; whole streets of houses are demolished if in any way they obstruct the view. the material employed is a magnificently hard stone; there is a popular saying to that effect: "in rome, great blocks of marble, great personages, great scoundrels." nor are the cardinals and bishops satisfied with modest buildings, least of all with humble huts; as a consequence, the stone masons always have their hands full. buffaloes, a species of very strong oxen, convey the stones, which are hoisted up in the easiest possible manner, by means of curious engines. on corpus christi day there is a grand procession, in which the pope takes part. the streets through which he passes are bestrewn with green, the houses are ornamented with rich hangings, there is the firing of cannon, and clever pieces of fireworks are let off from the various palaces; naturally there is an immense crowd, and people could walk on each other's heads; the smallest window has a number of spectators. at the castle of st. angelo there was an admirable piece of fireworks in the shape of a sun; the whole structure seemed to be ablaze. at st. peter's there was a discharge of heavy artillery, and the cannons of st. angelo and of the cardinals replied to the salute. there was so much smoke and so much noise that one could neither hear nor see anything. at last both subsided, and then the pope appeared on the balcony, where they presented a book bound in gold to him, from which he read, but i could not catch a word he said. all at once the whole of the enormous throng, thousands of people, fall on their knees, i alone remain standing; those around me stare at me with stupefaction, thinking, no doubt, that i have taken leave of my senses. when the reading was over (it was a short one) the pope blessed the people, who cried: "_vivat papa paulus, vivat_." close to the church of maria de pace stands the huge statue of pasquin, which every morning denounces, without ceremony and with impunity, as it were, the mistakes and crimes of the great ones of the land, the cardinals and the pope paul iii were often taken to task; numberless were the allusions with reference to his acquisition of the cardinal's hat. a german, who had come to rome for absolution, confessed, among other things, to having spoken ill of the pope. the confessor was greatly perplexed. it was difficult to account this as a sin to the penitent, when at any minute the latter might hear the pope insulted openly; on the other hand, to refrain from condemnation on the ground that the case was a common one at rome was virtually discrediting the papacy in the estimation of the germans. clever man that he was, the confessor asked: "_ubi maledixisti pontifici, in patriâ vel hic romae?_" "_in patriâ_." was the answer. "_o!_" exclaimed the priest, "_commisisti grande peccatum; romae licet pontifici maledicere, in patriâ vero non._" at that time the pope was recruiting, to the sound of the drum, troops to aid the emperor against the lutherans. about , foot soldiers and light horse, both exceedingly well-equipped, enlisted. they mustered at bologna; the pope's grandson octavius, governor of st. angelo,[ ] received the command of the contingent. the spanish inquisition grew more and more energetic in order to arouse the religious ardour of the horse and foot soldiers. a spaniard, convicted of lutheranism, was paraded seated on a horse, covered to its hoofs with placards representing the devil; the gallows were erected close to the pyre in front of sancta maria super minervam. the poor wretch was hanged and his body burnt; after which a chattering monk demonstrated at length the temporal and spiritual dangers of the lutheran heresy. the cardinals gave a grand banquet in honour of duke philip of brunswick. a well-born spaniard slipped in among the servants of the prelate where the entertainment took place. that nation is greatly addicted to pilfering. most people know the answer of emperor charles v to the spaniards, who wished to induce him to suppress the habitual drunkenness of the germans: "it would practically remove the opportunity of spaniards to do a bit of robbery now and again," said charles. fancying that such an opportunity had come, the spaniard got hold of some bread and a flagon of wine, hid himself under the table, the cloths of which reached to the floor. in the event of his being caught, he was ready with the plea of a practical joke, knowing that the host was himself very fond of them. two of his servants were posted near the great mansion. the banquet was not over before midnight, and the stewards of his eminence, worn out with fatigue, considered that the silver would not take wing when the doors were shut. they therefore left it where it was, merely shutting the doors behind them. emerging from his hiding-place, the spaniard introduces his confederates, and they all carry away as much as they can. the spoil is sold to the jews, with the exception of the least cumbersome pieces, which the scoundrel intends to keep for making a show of his own; and then the three depart in the direction of naples as fast as their horses will carry them. his eminence's retainers having gone to bed late, were not up betimes, and their astonishment on entering the banquetting hall may easily be imagined. their flesh crept. how were they going to avoid being sent to prison? were they to preserve silence about the affair, or inform the cardinal? they decided upon the latter course. they were locked up, and couriers were dispatched in hot haste to warn the innkeepers; the express order of the pope was to bring back to rome any person in whose possession the stolen objects were found. it so befell that, tired and hungry, the spaniard stopped at a hostelry; they laid the table for him, but at the sight of the earthenware he waxed indignant. "what's the meaning of this?" he bellowed. "am i a nothing at all?" thereupon he orders his servant to bring out his own silver. the landlord, who had ample time, in the kitchen, to look at it, recognized it from its description, sent for reinforcements, and his three customers were taken back to rome. when interrogated, the spaniard denounced the jews as receivers; his money was taken from him, the silver was found at the jews' houses, and they were immediately put under lock and key. a great number of jews dwell in rome, practically confined to one long street, closed at both ends. any one who should be imprudent enough to come out of that street during passion week, commemorating, as it does, the martyrdom of christ, would infallibly be murdered. when easter is gone jews are as secure as they were before; they go everywhere, and transact their business without being hampered or molested. the two receivers were the principal and the richest members of their tribe; thousands of crowns were offered for their ransom, but it was all in vain. the five criminals perished on the gallows, erected by the st. angelo bridge, the spaniard in the centre, a copper crown on his head, to single him out as king of the thieves. in fact, no week went by without a hanging. i was an eye-witness of the following. the hangman was about to push a condemned man from the ladder, when a friendly voice in the crowd cried: "_messere nicolao, confide in uno dio!_" to which the thief replied: "_messere, si._" at the same moment he was hurled into space. i have often seen the strappado given; among others, to priests guilty of having said more than one mass per day, a practice considered hurtful to the interest of their fellow-priests. a pulley is fixed to the coping of the roof; in the middle of the rope there is a stick which stops the rope running along the groove farther than that. the culprit, his hands tied behind his back, is attached to the one end of the rope, which is in the street. after that he is hoisted up and left to fall suddenly to within a yard of the ground. in that way the wrists pass over the head, and the shoulders are dislocated. after three hoistings he is unbound, taken into the house, where his limbs are set, an operation which the _lictores_ perform with the greatest ease in virtue of their great practice. there are, however, patients who remain maimed all their lives; on the other hand, i have known a priest, who, in consideration of a julius, consented to suffer those three turns. i was beginning to think about my homeward journey, and felt greatly perplexed about it. the dog-days were drawing near, and northern folk are unable to bear them in italy. on the other hand, along the whole of my route war was raging, and the welch soldiers are a hundred times greater devils than the germans; though in germany itself it would have been a difficult task to get through the lines of those formidable imperial cohorts, the savage bands of bohemians, and, in fine, the protestant army. was i to prolong my stay in rome? wisdom said no. i remembered but too well cardinal st. flore remark about my brother, "_frustra eum admonui, ut non legeres libros suspectos_." moreover, my opinion on the asylum of the holy spirit had scandalized dr. hoyer, and the provider of the st. brigitta institute had exclaimed with an oath: "_profecto tu es lutheranus_." the spanish inquisition was acting with the utmost rigour; and inasmuch as the wine was excellent i was very nigh forgetting for a little while the prudent counsel of my former master, the commander of st. john. consequently, after ripe reflection, full of trust in the almighty, and also counting on the faithful company of petrus, i told dr. hoyer of my impending departure. he considered it incumbent on him to point out the dangers of the journey, but perceiving that my mind was fully made up, he handed me my brother's property and gave me a letter for my father. i parted with the swede _bonâ cum veniâ_, seeing that he gave me a crown for the six weeks i had served him. i had told my friend petrus that until my going i should confide to dr. hoyer the valuables the cardinal had restored to me. from that particular moment he talked about leaving rome, especially as the enlisting had begun, and the mercenaries were almost immediately after their registration dispatched to bologna. we finally fixed our departure for july . god, once more, took me under his wing. i had become acquainted with a companion of my own age, named nicholas, the son of a tailor at lubeck. he told me that after many years stay at rome he wished to see his own country again, but that he had not the necessary money for the journey. if i did not mind paying his expenses on the road, he would reimburse them at lubeck, and consider himself my debtor ever afterwards. i was really glad at his request, for i considered him a man of honour and most loyal. he was, moreover, thoroughly master of italian, which i knew very badly. i therefore thanked providence who sent me a _comitem mente fideque parem_. on the eve of our departure i went to inform petrus of the excellent news. he turned pale, grew low-spirited, and did not utter a syllable. i ascribed his coolness to something that had annoyed him, and told him that we should come for him very early in the morning. after a moment's hesitation he said "yes," and walked away. next morning nicholas and i, prepared and equipped for our journey, knocked at his door. petrus lodged with poor people; he was a simple landsknecht, and, according to his landlady, he carried all his belongings on his back. the woman then told us that petrus, after leaving us, had promptly enlisted and betaken himself off, from fear of his creditors and in spite of his promise to pay them all with the money he was shortly expecting. let my children give praise to the almighty who saved my life at the moment i was blindly going to trust it to the mercy of a vagrant mercenary. no doubt that, shortly after leaving the city, he would have killed me in some solitary spot, of which there is no lack in the neighbourhood of rome. not a soul would have troubled about what had become of me. the least he would have done to me was to rob me of everything i possessed before letting me go free, and, as i am ignorant of the language of the country, i cannot help shuddering at the thought of the fate that was in store for me. and here i record, for the benefit of my children, the prediction of that sainted doctor martin luther. "war," he had said, "will make germany expiate her sins. it shall be staved off while i live, but the moment i am gone it will break out." now, he went to sleep in the lord on february of this year ( ) at eisleben, his natal town; and the historians have stated that the preparations for war commenced in february at the moment he fell ill. i myself had superabundant proofs in april of both the emperor and the pope arming on all sides; and it was at the beginning of june that the cardinal of trent reached rome, dispatched by his imperial majesty to hurry the departure of the , italian foot-soldiers and the light horsemen. chapter vii from rome to stralsund, by viterbo, florence, mantua, trent, innspruck, ratisbon and nuremberg--various adventures on the morning of july , , in my twenty-sixth year, i left rome with my faithful companion nicholas. my gold was sewn up in my neck collar, the chain in my small clothes. in the way of luggage i had a small satchel containing a shirt and the poems composed by my brother at spires and in rome; slung across my shoulders i wore a kind of strap to which i tied my cloak in the day. i had my sword by my side and a rosary dangling from the belt, like a soldier joining his regiment. we had agreed (it being a question of life and death) that i should pretend to be dumb; hence nicholas did not stir from my side for a moment wherever i went. the landsknechten, who spoke to me on the road without receiving an answer, were informed by him of my pretended infirmity. "what a pity," they said; "and such a handsome fellow, too. never mind," they added, "he'll none the less split those brigands of lutherans lengthwise." "you may be sure of that," replied my comrade, and thanks to this stratagem we got across the lines of the welch soldiery. on the morning after our leaving rome, duke octavius went by, posting. he was accompanied by five people. when we got to ronciglione, about two miles from viterbo, we made up our minds to sup there, and go to bed afterwards, in order to arrive early in the city fresh and hearty, though not before daylight, inasmuch as we wanted to lay in a stock of things. scarcely had we sat down to table when a turbulent crowd of soldiers invaded the inn; the host told us to remain quiet, for he was shaking in his shoes for himself. the bandits commenced by flinging him out of his own door; the larder was pillaged, and after having drunk to their heart's content, they staved in the barrels and swamped the cellars with the wine. it was an abominable bit of business and unquestionably the welch, and latin mercenaries are greater ruffians than the german landsknechten; at any rate, if we are to judge from what they did in a friendly country, and virtually under the very eyes of the pope. they invited us to accompany them to viterbo, in spite of nicholas pointing out to them that night was coming on apace, and that the gates would be shut. "we'll get in for all that," they said. we were bound to follow them. we got there about midnight, and they were challenged by the guard. "who goes there?" he asked. "soldiers of duke octavius," was the answer, and thereupon the gate was opened. i recommend the following to the meditation of my children; let them compare my adventure with that of simon grynaeus, related at length in the writings of philip melanchthon, selneccerus, camerarius, manlius and other learned personages. in grynaeus, then professor of mathematics at heidelberg, came to see melanchthon at the diet of spires; he heard faber, one of his old acquaintances, emit from the pulpit many errors in connexion with transubstantiation. having gone up to him when they came out of church, they started a discussion, and faber, on the pretext of wishing to resume it, invited him to come to his inn the next morning. melanchthon and his friends dissuaded grynaeus from going. the next day, at the dinner hour, a weakly-looking old man stopped manlius at the entrance to the hall asking him where grynaeus was to be found, the process-servers, according to him, being on the look out to arrest him. thereupon the various learned men who had foregathered there immediately conducted grynaeus out of the town, and waited on the banks until he had crossed the rhine; they had come upon the law-officers three or four houses away from the inn; luckily the latter neither knew them nor grynaeus. as for the old man, there was no further trace of him; they made sure it was an angel. i myself am inclined to think it was some pious nicodemus who, having got wind of the wicked designs of faber, made it his business to frustrate them without compromising himself. now for my own adventure. we entered viterbo in the middle of the night. prudence dictated the avoidance of the mercenaries' lodgings, for a meeting with petrus would have been fatal to us; as it happened, the soldiers swarmed everywhere. wandering from house to house, and devoured with anxiety, we invoked the lord, our last hope. and behold a man of forty and of excellent appearance accosted us. we had never seen him, and not a syllable had fallen from our lips. we were dressed in the welch fashion; everybody, even in plain daylight, would have taken us for soldiers. well, without the slightest preamble, he addressed us in our own language. "you are germans," he said, "and in a welch country; don't forget it. if the podesta lays hold of you, it means the strappado, and perhaps worse. you are making for germany." (how did he know, except by reading our thoughts?) "let me put you into the right road." dumb with astonishment, we followed him in silence as far as the gates of the town; he exchanged a few words with the custodian, who, in his own gibberish, said to us: "for the love of you, friends, i'll disobey my orders, which expressly forbid me to open the gates before dawn. you'll find nothing in the faubourg, i warn you; the soldiers have pillaged and burnt everything, but you'll not die for being obliged to do one night without food and drink." saying which he showed us out and promptly shut the gates upon us. who had been our guide? i am still asking myself the question. as for us, reassured by the consciousness of the divine presence; and in our hearts we gave praise for this miraculous deliverance. the faubourg, destroyed by fire, was simply a mass of ruins. we slept in the open air on the straw of a barn where the wheat is threshed out by oxen and horses. it was daylight when we opened our eyes, and the first thing we saw was a gallows. towards midday we got as far as montefiascone, a pretty town famed for its muscat wine. thanks be to god, we continued our journey without being again alarmed, and we did not catch sight of any mercenaries until we came to bologna. we halted at montefiascone until the evening and enjoyed the roast fowls and savoury dishes, but the oppressive heat interfered with our appetite, though the bottle was more frequently appealed to. a story is told a of traveller who was in the habit of getting his servant to taste the wine at every hostelry they stopped.[ ] "_est_," said the latter if the wine was bad, "_est, est_" if it was passable, "_est, est, est_" if it was good. and his master either continued his route or dismounted according to the signal. at montefiascone, however, the servant did not fail to cry: "_est, est, est_," and his master drank so long as to contract an inflammation, of which he died. when the relatives inquired about the cause of his death, the servant replied: "_est, est, est facit quod dominus meus hic jacet_," and in his grief he kept repeating: "_o est, est, est, dominus meus mortuus est_." on july we reached acquapendente, where my brother died, i visited the church without being able to discover his burial place. to ask questions would have been tantamount to betraying ourselves, considering that the germans were the butt of public hatred. sienna, an important town with a celebrated university, is called _siena virgo_, though it lost its virginity long ago. from a neighbouring mountain one notices two small burghs; the one is called cent, the other nonagent. the pope being at sienna, a monk undertook to show him _centum nonaginta civitates_. when he got his holiness to the top he showed him the two places in question. lovely florence is the pearl of italy. at the entrance to each town they said to us, "liga la spada" (tie the hilt to the sheath). at florence we had to give up our weapons. if we had only crossed the city a man would have accompanied us to restore them at the other gate, but on our declaring that we were going to stay until the evening our swords were taken from us, and the hilts provided with a wooden label, part of which they gave us to keep. besides, some one came into the city with us, and, among other useful information, showed us a beautiful hostelry where they treated us remarkably well for our money. a magnificent palace, a church entirely constructed of variegated marble, adjusted with marvellous skill and art, a dozen lions and lionesses, two tigers and an eagle, that is all i remember. there were ever so many other curiosities to see, but our heads were full of germany. when the heat of the day abated we pursued our journey; our arms were restored to us on our presenting part of the label. after having crossed mount scarperia, which fully deserves its name, seeing that it constitutes the most fatal passage of italy to shoeleather and feet, we got to bologna in the morning of july . bologna is a big city belonging to the pope (_bononia grassa, padua la passa_), and endowed with a famous university. the town was teeming with mercenaries, so we were not particularly anxious to stop in it. at some distance from bologna begins a canal dug by the hand of man. there the lord caused us to meet with an inhabitant of mantua who had just enlisted. we proposed to hire a boat as far as ferrara together. "whither are you going?" he asked. as we had the appearance of soldiers, and as he might conceive some surprise at seeing us turn our backs on headquarters, we hit upon the idea of telling him that our master was at the council of trent. "oh," he remarked, "you are going farther, then?" we said neither "yes" nor "no." he knew a little latin, like myself, and so i no longer kept up my part of a dumb man before him. he professed but small regard for the pope and papism. "how dare you," i exclaimed, "talk in that way in italy, and on the very territory of the church? and why, if these are your opinions, do you take service against the evangelicals?" "what does it matter?" he replied; "i am not risking the loss of a cardinal's hat. i am a fighting man, and fight for those who pay me." when we got near to the pô, he said: "ferrara lies no doubt in your most direct road to germany, but what could you see there of interest? it is only a big town of the old style. you had better come to mantua, the country of virgil, a handsome, pleasant, and strong city, with a superb castle. the rest you are likely to get in the boat will compensate for your coming out of your way. i'll go on shore just before ferrara, and will get a boatman; the place is famed for its fat geese, which, at this season of the year, one eats smoking hot from the spit. i'll bring one back with me, together with bread and wine, and i shall only be gone a little while." ferrara, with its famous university, its actual importance, and ancient origin, unquestionably aroused our curiosity. nevertheless, the advice of our soldier-friend was not to be despised, because by going up the pô, we advanced in spite of the heat. our guide soon came back, bringing with him everything he had promised. the boatman whom he brought was simply in his shirt sleeves, and drank at one draught a whole measure of heavy wine we offered him; then, flinging the towing rope over his shoulder, he towed us to mantua, ostiglia being our halting place for the night. having got to mantua in the morning of july , we were enabled to wander through the town before dinner time. our expectations were in no way disappointed. after having shown us the castle and the principal buildings, our amiable soldier-friend insisted upon entertaining us at the inn. "are you provided with small change that is current everywhere?" he asked us. "the fact is," he went on, "that the landlords pursue a regular system of cheating. they refuse to take your small money, so that you are obliged to change a crown, and then at the next inn they decline to accept the coin given to you except under its value. give me a crown, and i'll get you money for it which is current as far as trent." he brought back good pieces of silver, not to the amount of one crown, but of two crowns, asking us to accept the value of the second as a present, "because," he said, "i consider you very honest and straightforward companions." when we were outside the walls, he gave us full particulars of the route we were to take, recommended us to the safeguard of all the angels, and gave us his blessing. "it is worth more in the sight of the almighty and against the devil than the blessing of pope paul at rome by his own sacred hands." this was indeed a happy meeting, and we had reason to be grateful to the lord. not far from mantua, at a spot where the road branches off into four different directions, we came upon two travellers coming from verona. if we had said one pater more or less with our good friend we should have missed them, which would have been a pity, for they turned out to be my former fellow-travellers from kempten to rome, who, having pushed as far as naples, had returned by way of venice; they were making for home by milan and france. they wished me to go their way, and i was very willing; but as nicholas was altogether of a different mind, it would have been wrong to vex the comrade god had so marvellously provided for me. when i told them all about petrus, my interlocutors had no doubt about the danger i had incurred by my imprudent confidence. italians are not of much account. germans, after a long stay in that country, end up by not being worth anything at all; and the proverb to that effect is a true one: "_tedesco italianato è un diavolo incarnato._" i learnt later on, both from writing and from oral news, about the troubles between france and the low countries, and about the obstacles we should have encountered if we had selected the route of milan. it gave me a new subject for being grateful to the lord. we passed near enough to verona to catch a glimpse of the buildings, to judge by which it must be a big town. at trent, where both languages are spoken, and even more german than italian, my pretended infirmity ceased, and it was nicholas' turn to be mute, for the lubeckian dialect is not understood until one gets to brunswick. in italy the scorpions slip in everywhere; into the rooms, under the beds, in the sheets. hence they place before the windows scorpion oil, that is oil in which one of these reptiles has been drowned. when put on the sting the oil stops the effect of the poison. personally, i never caught a glimpse of a scorpion during the whole of my stay in italy. on july we reached botzen, a town of importance, famed for its rich mines. on the th we were at brixen, a pleasant burgh, prettily situated. its chapter enjoys great consideration. dr. gaspard hoyer was its canon, and died there. the augsburg troops under the orders of sebastian schaertlin[ ] had carried the castle of ehrenberg. king ferdinand tried to enter the place with the aid of the miners of botzen, but the pay ran short, and, greatly vexed, the savage horde, which, though by no means devout, after all preferred luther to the pope, made its way home. between brixen and sterzing we had the misfortune of falling in with them. at the sight of our italian dress, and our soldier-like equipment, they shook their spears. "kill the papists; down with the welch scum," they cried. nicholas, who was accustomed to enact the spokesman, uttered a few words in his own dialect; thereupon the imprecations grew louder. "they belong to the low countries; they are no better than the italians." "brothers," i shouted, "you make a mistake. we are faithful germans, lutherans and evangelicals like yourselves. hence, no violence." thereupon we fell a-talking to each other. they complained bitterly of the king, and of his pretensions to carry on a war without a red cent. "kicks instead of pay," they said. "we are much obliged. we are going back to our mines, where, at any rate, we can earn something." we parted quite cordially, and i once more recommended my faithful nicholas to hold his tongue for the future, and to let me do the talking. innspruck, the capital of the tyrol, is a moderately big town with long streets, consisting largely of stables for some thousands of horses, for the kings, the austrian archdukes and their suites frequently halt there. the objurgations of the miners of botzen induced us to change our dress according to the german fashion. our most direct route lay by ulm, cannstadt, spires, frankfurt, then by hesse and brunswick. there are, as it happens, two routes from innspruck, the one for bavaria, the other for swabia. having met at the city gates some people who professed to be going to germany, we followed them without further inquiry. what then was our surprise at getting, not into swabia, but into bavaria, to hall and to ratisbon. well, as we learnt later on, at that very moment the numerous troops the emperor was expecting from france and spain were preparing to enter swabia; the papal troops, whom the imperial messages left little or no truce, arrived at landshut, while all the protestant forces, with the elector of saxony and the landgrave of hesse at their head, occupied the country. but for the lord constituting himself our guide we should have run innumerable perils. we intended to go from hall to ratisbon on a raft, but on the overladen craft there was a horse stamping about in a most disquieting manner, causing the water to well up between the disjointed timber. we preferred to land and to tire our legs to swallowing more water than was necessary to our thirst. half a league down the stream, the pole-men having got rid of the horse, drew near the shore once more to renew their offers of service. we remained faithful, however, to solid earth. when we got to the beautiful monastery of ebersberg, our curiosity tempted us to get an idea of the results of a mendicant's life. as such we humbly and contritely addressed the chancellor, when we entered the abbot's presence. "we have come all the way from rome; our resources are exhausted," we said. after having promised us to do what he can, the chancellor begins to inquire about the italian army. "we left it at bologna," we replied; "it was being reviewed. you'll see it very shortly." this had the effect of turning the saintly dwelling upside down. the monks crowded round the abbot and took to running hither and thither as if bereft of their senses, because for a monastery situated as this was, in the open country, roman mercenaries or schmalkalden soldiers were practically one and the same thing. and inasmuch as our humble persons were forgotten in all this confusion, i said to nicholas: "let us go to the inn and show these 'frocked' individuals that we can do without their soup. a snap for that business, unless we have been too inexperienced at it." we ordered the best dishes and washed them down with generous wine. the echoes of our gay repast must have reached the monastery, and when we had paid our reckoning, we pursued our journey. we stopped four days in the big and beautiful city of ratisbon. king ferdinand, his wife, his daughters and the court ladies in gorgeous dresses, lodged in the principal square, the houses of which where elegantly decorated. we saw the carriage sent by the duke of mantua to his betrothed. it was entirely white, and perfectly built; the iron was replaced everywhere by silver, even for the smallest nail. the team consisted of four magnificent white mares, without the tiniest spot; the harness was of silver, and their crups were ornamented with three rings of the precious metal. dressed in white silk, with boots and whip of the same colour, and silver spurs, the coachman slowly drove thrice round the square. it was very evident that both the emperor and the king were using all their energy. night and day, at home and beyond the frontier, strict guard was kept. the army of bohemia was encamped beyond the danube, while the germans occupied the head of the bridge on the side of the city. we were warned of the danger of venturing among the bohemians; between these madmen and the german soldiers there was nearly every day a fresh dispute resulting in wounds which often proved fatal. on the other hand, the protestant troops were on the move, and it was most difficult to cross their lines. we could, however, not remain in ratisbon. so we plucked up our courage and started, decided not to lose our heads in case of arrest, but to ask to be taken before the superior officer, for, after all, we had no need to fear an interrogatory. what was the danger of saying whence we came and whither we were going? our lot was, moreover, in the hands of him who in italy had confided us to the protection of his angels.[ ] we trudged straight on to nuremberg. the weather was fine, the roads good, and the inns well provisioned. nuremberg is the _oculus germaniae_. "germany," according to the italians, "has but one eye, nuremberg." nuremberg harbours the tradesmen, augsburg the big merchants. we stayed three days in this interesting city, the study of whose civil and ecclesiastical institutions is by no means a waste of time. we there completed our german attire by doublets with short waists. it seemed to me unnecessary to hide the gold and jewels any longer in my clothes, for in spite of the eighty miles from our own native land, we already fancied ourselves in it. the lord of plawe had taken up his quarters at our hostelry. he was a bohemian of important station, an experienced soldier, and a cool-headed, prudent, and clever personage, enjoying much favour with the electors and the princes. he was known by all the dignitaries of france, germany, and italy. his history may prove interesting to my children. the lord of plawe had no children, and to prevent the lapse of his fiefs to the suzerain lord, he prevailed upon his wife to pretend being pregnant, and arranged with a shepherd of the neighbourhood, a strong, robust fellow, whose wife was genuinely in that condition. the newborn being of the male sex, it was carried clandestinely to the castle, where they had great rejoicings, a magnificent christening with high-born godparents. seven years later, however, the lady of plawe really gave birth to a son; the two children were brought up like brothers. when he came of age the elder visited the courts, and received a cordial welcome everywhere. the father died, and the elder, feeling himself cramped at home, abandoned the property to the younger in consideration of a yearly allowance. the mother is taken ill in her turn, and before her death reveals to her own child the whole of the secret. the elder, whose allowance is stopped, institutes a claim, and is answered that he is the mere son of a shepherd. the affair is referred to king ferdinand, the suzerain lord, the lords of prawe bearing the title of burgrave of mesnia, and first chancellor of the kingdom of bohemia. to prove his parentage he produced the many letters in which his father recommended him in special terms to the emperor, and to the princes as his lawful heir. several important personages, the majority belonging to the evangelicals took an interest in his case, and provided largely for his maintenance. the principal welch and german universities all declared that he proved his affiliation. king ferdinand, though, leant to the other side, no doubt _ratione papisticae religionis_. under these difficult circumstances, this gentleman considered it better not to take service in the war between the emperor and the league of schmalkalden, inasmuch as he would neither be unfaithful to his master nor to his conscience. the catastrophe which he dreaded nevertheless overtook him. about six months after the termination of the war, when, probably, he felt exceedingly pleased with himself on account of his clever abstention, he was laid by the heels by order of king ferdinand, shipped on a raft, and taken to hungary; and from that time he was no more heard of. on august we only reached nordhausen in the harz mountains, just as they were closing the city gates, but sufficiently early, though, to notice ten corpses tied to as many posts. the guard, which had been reinforced, was inclined to leave us outside. they pointed to the men that had been executed. "if they are there, it is because they deserved it," we answered; "ours is a different case." when we got inside we could not find a shelter anywhere. i inquired for the dwelling of the burgomaster and found him at home. after the few customary inquiries about our names, our place of birth and our destination, the burgomaster questioned us about the beginning of the hostilities. we told him what we knew, and then exposed our embarrassing situation to him. "never during this painful journey, not even in italy, had we met with such inhuman conduct," we said. "we are not asking for charity. we are willing to pay for what we get; nobody shall have cause to complain of us. we ask you, therefore, to direct us to a respectable place of shelter." our very sordid appearance did not prevent the burgomaster from considering us altogether inoffensive, and, like a man of sense, he explained apologetically, "our citizens," he remarked, "are still under the influence of a strong alarm, for we know for certain that a band subsidized by the confederate of hell who reigns at rome is scouring the saxon country, poisoning wells and pastures and setting fire to everything else. the proof of it is in the ten executed men whom you must have noticed at your arrival. their crime admits of no doubt." "agreed," i replied, "but if our conscience were in the least reproaching us, do you think we should have the courage to present ourselves before the first magistrate of the town?" the burgomaster told one of his servants to take us with his compliments to a certain private individual, who happened to be a butcher with a stock of beautiful, luscious meat. on the hearth the beef was simmering in a large pot, no doubt to be retailed hot next morning. we asked him for some of that; then inquired about the liquor he could offer us. "i have got some excellent nordhausen beer," he said. we, however, were used to wine. "cannot you give us some wine? that's what we want with our meat." "if you care to pay for it. it's so much per measure." "here's the money." "do you want any fish?" "yes; let us have a comfortable evening after this rough day. come and sit yourself down with us and keep us company." he stared at us very hard, not knowing what to think. in spite of his knowing look, he behaved very well to us. when our hunger and thirst were appeased, the butcher asked us whether we would go to bed or remain where we were. "bring us some clean straw, and that will be enough for us. we shall not have the trouble of dressing in the morning," we answered. besides the straw he gave us pillows, downright excellent beds, and snowy sheets; hence, in wishing him good-night, we assured him that we were born to understand each other. next morning, the one who was the first to rise found the door bolted; we were obliged to wait for our host. we settled the reckoning with him, and the servant who had prepared our couch got a tip. we stopped a day and a half at luneburg, which we reached on august , and in view of our approaching meeting with our nearest and dearest, we paid attention to our dress. we crossed the burgh of moelln, where eulenspiegel lies buried, but at lubeck a messenger who caught us up informed me that my uncle andreas schwartz was living at moelln with his wife and children, and begged of me to retrace my steps. i spent a whole day with him, and when we had chatted to our heart's content he provided me with a horse and attendant as far as lubeck. at the city gate i wanted to turn short; perhaps i was still feeling the effect of the stirrup cup. my horse gave way, and for a moment the rider and the animal lay motionless. they were under the impression that i had broken the left thigh bone; but i got up safe and well. at lubeck my faithful travelling companion loyally repaid his debt. i took the coach, and at last, after a journey of eight weeks' (eighteen days of which had been spent in resting at various places, the distance from rome to stralsund being german miles, and consequently five times as many welch ones), i heard the "welcome" from my father, mother, brother and five sisters, all of whom were in excellent health. together with dr. hoyer's letter, i handed over the objects restored by cardinal st. flore according to the inventory. my parents gave me two of the rings. as i was as sore as the most foundered horse, my mother had a bath prepared for me twice a week, and she herself rubbed my thigh with curd soap, so that my limbs soon recovered their usual suppleness. part ii chapter i i am appointed pomeranian secretary--something about my diurnal and nocturnal journeys with the chancellor--missions in the camps--dangers in the wake of the army when i had recovered from the fatigue of my travels, i came to the conclusion that a life of monotony and frequent visits to the tavern were not at all to my taste. the day would come when i had a wife and children to maintain; i therefore wanted a means of livelihood. i voted for the scribal occupation, and had recourse to the influence of superintendent-general knipstrow to obtain a position at the chancellery of wolgast. our friend's efforts having been successful, i was summoned to wollin, where the prince was going to hold a diet. the journey by coach enabled me to make ample acquaintance both with the councillors and with my colleagues. i entered upon my duties on november , . the staff of the chancellery was composed of jacob citzewitz, chancellor; erasmus hausen, accountant-general; joachim rust, proto-notary; johannes gottschalk, lawrence dinnies, christopher labbun and heinrich altenkuke, secretaries. i need only mention for form's sake valentine von eichstedt, a student from greifswald, whom the chancellor wished to initiate in the dispatch of current affairs. valentine hung about the office, now and again copying a fragment of a letter. he was wretchedly dressed; his poor blue jacket scarcely reached to his waist, while, on the other hand, his hose fell over his boots. rust and gottschalk refused to have him at the clerks' table; he had his meals lower down with the servants. in spite of this, valentine, at the retirement of erasmus hausen, was appointed to the audit office through the influence of the chancellor. in order to get him into the habit of pleading he was entrusted with the cases that were settled by mutual agreement; after which he was sent to wittenberg to finish his studies, and in a very short period he became accountant-general. a few years later citzewitz gave up his position of chancellor to him. the protégé paid his benefactor in the usual way of the world, and on that chapter i myself could say a great deal. the experience i had gained at the imperial chamber and in the chancelleries compelled rust and gottschalk to acknowledge that i could handle my pen, and inasmuch as the chancellor preferred my work to theirs, they seized every opportunity to do me harm. i had only to ask them for a few materials for this or that work to be sure to get it badly done and teeming with inaccuracies. the dissolution of the league of schmalkalden[ ] and the threatening attitude of the emperor imparted a feverish activity to the correspondence which was being exchanged between our princes, the elector of brandenburg and the elector of saxony. the latter spent the winter very sadly at altenburg. chancellor jacob citzewitz was the soul of these negotiations; his experience of imperial and provincial diets, his learning heightened by eloquence, the personal consideration he enjoyed, his imposing figure, his lofty mind, and his assiduous labours all these, in fact, singled him out to represent the princes both in the councils and on more solemn occasions. being fully aware of the weightiness of his task, he wholly devoted himself to it; all the enactments of the princes were drawn up by his pen and defied criticism. when citzewitz at the termination of a debate asked: "who undertakes the inditing?" all the councillors cried in chorus: "that's solomon's business," for that was the nickname they had bestowed upon him. day and night, on horseback or on wheels, i scoured the highways in company of the chancellor. starting from berlin in the evening, we reached stettin the next afternoon in sufficient time to present the report. then there were the nights spent at work with the chancellor, who dictated to me the decisions to be submitted to the council on the morrow. i made a fair draft of them before the sitting, so that immediately after their having been read they could be sealed and dispatched. if my children should wish to compute the amount of labour i gave to the court and to stralsund they will derive a salutary lesson from the reward these labours have brought me in my old days: _in fine laborum_, ingratitude. owing to those constant journeys i did not spend four weeks in six months at wolgast, and still less at the chancellery. i lodged with master ernest, the cook of his serene highness duke philip, and of his august father and grandfather. ernest was an honest and god-fearing man. the year was an anxious one for the courts of stettin and wolgast, and the news that the duke of wurtemberg had tendered his submission accelerated the departure of a mission to the emperor. it was instructed to deny all participation of the princes in the league of schmalkalden. the envoys of duke barnim were dr. falcke, in the capacity of chancellor, and captain jacob putkammer; those of duke philip, captain moritz damitz and heinrich normann. i was designated to accompany those four personages, and on march we started by way of silesia. at zittau we were obliged to leave damitz in the doctor's hands; after which we crossed the forest of bohemia and reached lertmeritz; next to prague, the principal and best fortified town of the kingdom. we spent several days there in order to get an idea of the condition of affairs. the dislike of the bohemians to march against the elector of saxony was evident, but king ferdinand brought heavy pressure to bear upon them, he called up many of his troops both from silesia and from hungary. these hungarian horsemen, called husards, happen to be pitiless brigands. the king had placed them under the command of sebastian von der weitmülen, who, at the beginning of the war, had been appointed regent of the kingdom. the headquarters were at eger, where this soldiery cut the children's hands and feet off to put them into their hats instead of plumes. the councillors sent me to reconnoitre in the direction of eger, at schlackenwerth, and at schlackenwald. my guide followed on foot. he was an intelligent lad, speaking both german and bohemian. i ascertained that the bohemians had cut down the trees in the wood, and as such made the route impassable for the horse and artillery, it was even impossible for the landsknechten to cross it with their standards flying. after that, the councillors sent me to the castle of gaspard pflug, to whom the states of the country had entrusted the command of the troops.[ ] he was very reserved. "what are we to do?" he said, looking perplexed. "the elector of saxony is our ally, our co-religionist; we cannot leave him to his fate. on the other hand, ferdinand is our king. are we to jeopardize our liberties?" gaspard pflug, having taken refuge at magdeburg after the capture of the elector, built himself opposite the cathedral an elegant dwelling, where he ended his days, the king having confiscated his property. while the elector encamped before leipzig, the emperor overran the algau and swabia, imposing heavy fines and big garrisons to the towns forced to capitulate. the spaniards committed every excess, and above all, in wurtemberg.[ ] on april and the sun assumed so sombre an aspect that everybody rushed to the threshold of his house; both experts and scientific men foretold strange events. [illustration: stettin. wittenberg. spires. _from old prints_.] one day i was strolling alone outside lertmeritz around the walls (for the time hung heavily on my hands), when an individual, his eyes blazing with anger, assailed me without warning, vilifying me and trying to fling me into the moat. he was evidently under the impression of having come upon a spy. i endeavoured to convince him to the contrary; the difficulty was to understand each other. finally, with hands clasped together as if they were bound, i gave him to understand with a sign of the head that i was ready to enter the town with him. thanks to heaven, he consented to this, although he did not cease his imprecations. before i had fairly entered our hostelry two members of the council came to ask our deputies to forbid their people to leave the city and the promenading on the walls. "we know very well that we have nothing to fear from you," they said, "but our citizens are quick to take umbrage, and just now one of your folk narrowly escaped coming to grief." on april the news came to lertmeritz that two days previously the elector of saxony had been made a prisoner. immediately leaving bohemia we started in the direction of torgau, but to get to the camp at wittemberg the perils were endless, for the spanish troops, whose lines we had to cross, shrank from no misdeeds.[ ] hence it was resolved that i should go to wittenberg to get a safe-conduct--a decision against which i protested. "how am i to pass without the smallest bit of parchment?" "never mind," exclaimed damitz; "the lord is the best safeguard." "in that case," i retorted, "are you not yourselves under the divine protection?" my argument was, however, in vain; my life weighed less in the balance than that of my superiors. in my capacity of a member of the missions to bohemia and to the camp of the elector, i wore a yellow gorget which was the insignia of the protestants. i was obliged to hide it in my breast and to replace it with the one bought for me, the red gorget of the imperialists. and thus i started. if they had caught me with the double insignia upon me, my account would soon have been settled. i should have been slung up on the nearest tree. i crossed mühlberg, where the elector, wounded in the cheek, had been made a prisoner on the very spot where his passion for the chase caused so much damage to his unfortunate subjects. wherever the eye turned there were signs of the recent battle; broken lances, shattered muskets, and torn-up harnesses littered the ground, and all along the road soldiers dying of their wounds and from want of sustenance. around wittenberg itself all the villages were deserted; the inhabitants had taken flight without leaving anything behind them. here, the corpse of a peasant, a group of dogs fighting for the entrails; there, a landsknecht with just a breath of life left to him, but the body putrefying, his arms stretched out at their widest, and his legs far enough apart to put a bar between them. at the end of my journey and within sight of the spanish troops i passed a spaniard, who said to me: "my good and handsome horseman, your service with the emperor is but of recent date." i rode a few steps further; then, undoing my gorget, i rubbed it against my boot to make it appear less new. at last, i reached the camp, where i lost several days in fruitless endeavours. every now and again there was firing from wittenberg. some pomeranian horse-troopers with whom i had made acquaintance warned me not to keep to the high road if i should venture in that direction, but to go at random in order to avoid becoming a butt. a couple of steps in front of me a ball whizzed so closely past an individual's head that the shock or the fright felled him to the ground, where he was picked up for dead. from that moment i suspended my strolls. dr. seld, the vice-chancellor, whom i succeeded in seeing,[ ] did not disguise the deep irritation of the emperor. i answered that neither duke philip nor his brother, barnim, notwithstanding the former's marriage with the sister of the elector of saxony, had given the slightest assistance to the protestants, either in money, men or deeds, and that it would not be difficult for his majesty to convince himself of this. nevertheless my negotiations made no progress. it was said in the camp that after the defeat of the elector, when christopher carlowitzi[ ] the principal counsellor of maurice, came to salute the emperor, whose docile instrument he was, the latter exclaimed: "well, carlowitz, what is going to happen?" "everything is in your majesty's hands," carlowitz replied. "yes, yes, something will happen," was the retort. and when the elector bent the knee before the emperor, saying, "most clement emperor and lord," king ferdinand interrupted with, "ah, so he is your emperor now? but what about ingoldstadt?[ ] wait a while. we shall soon settle your account." and when the death sentence was delivered, ferdinand insisted upon its prompt execution. the marquis de saluces, on the other hand, repeated to the emperor, even before the arrival of the elector of brandenburg, that the best sheep in his flock was the elector of saxony, and that his execution would rouse the whole of germany. as i found it impossible to get a safe-conduct, i returned to torgau, and immediately after hearing my report, our embassy ordered its carriages and took the direct road to stettin. inasmuch as the elector of brandenburg loudly promised his good offices with the emperor, the princes dispatched me with a letter of thanks to him to the camp at wittenberg. they also prompted the language i was to hold to the vice-chancellor and to the other imperial counsellors.[ ] to accelerate matters they prepared six relays of horses for me, with precise indications on paper as to their whereabouts, though i started from wolgast on a pitiful cart-horse, equipped anyhow, for neither saddle, bridle nor stirrups were in condition. they thought that it did not matter, as i had to change animals at a short distance. so far so good. but neither at the first, second, third, fourth nor fifth stage was there a sign of a horse. the last stage was brandenburg--the old. abraham gatzkow, a gentleman of lower pomerania, had indeed provided a downright good and properly equipped saddle-horse for me, only on the day of my arrival he had mounted it for a ride to the camp, so that the same jade carried me to the end of my journey. on june i alighted at the tent of the elector of brandenburg, and when presenting my dispatch, i begged of chancellor weinleben to spare me a long stay. next morning when i called again, he exclaimed: "oh, the affair takes more time than you think," which remark did not prevent my insisting upon an answer on june , inasmuch as the elector went several times a day to the emperor, and that therefore he had no lack of opportunity to broach the subject. moreover, there was need for urgency; they had just thrown a bridge across the elbe and the emperor had transferred his quarters to the other side of the river, a sure sign of his approaching departure. to all which arguments on my part, chancellor weinleben angrily replied: "the interests of princes are discussed with minds at rest. just look at the presumption of a simple messenger. wait till you are told to go and then go. here, this is the elector's reply. take it, go, and leave me in peace." i stopped at the first dense clump of trees in the wood, opened the letter, and immediately turned my horse's head. "what do you want now?" yelled the chancellor, when he caught sight of me. "am i not to have any peace from you?" "my gracious masters," i replied, "have authorized me to open the letter of his electoral highness and to act in consequence. the letter i have just read proves once more the brotherly feelings of the elector, but as he is striking his tent, i think it necessary respectfully to remind him of his generous assurances. i shall wait for him at his leaving the emperor's presence, for i am bound to bring back to wolgast something more than vague words." at this little speech the chancellor altered his tone. he ceased to address me familiarly as "thou," and, in fact, made somewhat exaggerated apologies, swearing by all his gods that in reality he had not the faintest idea of the affair, but that henceforth he was my staunch ally and that his master should not leave the emperor without ardently pleading the cause of our princes. when the elector went to the imperial tent i followed him at a distance, and the moment he got into the saddle again i galloped on his track, for i foresaw his departure for berlin. i was just at the head of the bridge of boats, which was entirely unprovided with parapets or barriers, when i espied coming from the opposite side a heavy cart. time was precious. i pursue my quarry, and my right stirrup catches in the wheel and my valiant mount, in spite of its prancing and rearing, cannot extricate itself, or even hold its own against four strong draught horses. there is no room to turn, and there seems not even a possibility of saving myself by sacrificing the animal; both it and i seem inevitably doomed to perish by drowning. as for any human help, i do not as much as expect it. even if they could have assisted me, the spaniards at the end of the bridge would have been particularly careful not to do so. just fancy their delight at seeing a german making a plunge with his horse into the elbe; the sight would have been too delightful willingly to forego it. when our distress is at its height, when neither our father nor our mother is able to save us, providence stretches forth his protecting hand. it happened then, by this merciful grace; the rotten strap suddenly gave way, leaving the stirrup entangled in the wheel and freeing my leg. it was a startling confirmation of the divine word that the righteous shall see good come out of evil; for had the equipment been brand-new, of the most solid leather and even embroidered with gold and pearls, that harness would have sent me into the stream as food for the fishes. at last i managed to join the elector. he sent me word that the opportunity for interceding with the emperor in behalf of the princes of pomerania had not presented itself, but that the counsellors he left behind with the emperor would look to the affair and keep the dukes informed of everything. why had i not gone to the bottom of the elbe? in the camp itself the tale went round that the king of the romans, duke maurice, and after them, the emperor had made a very careful inspection of the church of the castle of willemberg, having been led to believe (the emperor and the king especially) that lamps and wax tapers were constantly burning day and night on luther's tomb, and that prayers were said there just as in the romish churches before the relics of the saints. at treuenbrietzen i made my report to chancellor citzewitz. as he was awaiting the arrival of the pomeranian counsellors who were to accompany the emperor to halle, he sent me to retain quarters and to give notice to the brunswicker captain, werner hahn, to have twenty horsemen ready at bitterfeld on june . on the morning of the th, in fact, the mission alighted at the general hostelry outside bitterfeld. the captain of the husard-escort had, however, given the preference to an inn in the town. seeing no sign of the brunswickers, the counsellors put up their carriage, so that the captain at his return was under the impression that the mission was gone, and meeting with the horsemen, ordered them to face about, he being convinced that the deputies had taken another route. evening was drawing near; my business was finished, the quarters had been retained, the supper ordered, and the beds ready. i had taken advantage of the opportunity to renew my wardrobe, and, with my new clothes on, i took a stroll outside the gates through which the mission had to pass. espying from the top of a mound a troop of advancing horsemen, i went back in hot haste afraid of a reprimand. at the same moment two spanish bandits, half-naked, for their rags scarcely covered them, ran after me across the fields, the one on foot, the other on a kind of wretched farmer's cob--apparently stolen--and with a pistol at the saddle bow. casting a careful look round to assure themselves that there were no witnesses to their contemplated deed, one had already raised his pistol when the brunswicker horsemen arrived on the spot. "_sunt isti ex tuâ parte?_" he asked. "_senior, si_," i quickly answered. "ah, landsknecht, landsknecht," he said, replacing his weapon, and followed by his companion, making off as fast as he could. the adventures of that evening were, however, not at an end. i found the gates of the town shut, and a trumpeter galloping along the walls and blowing with all his might. i had not the faintest idea of what it all meant, when the captain of husards appeared upon the spot, recognizes, and hails me. "what are you doing here, and what has happened?" he asked. "why are the gates shut, and why is the alarm being sounded?" while confessing my total ignorance, i began to ask about the ambassadors; thereupon great surprise of the captain at their being waited for. the matter seemed all the more strange to him in that he on the road fell in with some spanish horsemen, who told him that they had been sent to meet a mission. what if our counsellors should have been attacked by these people, decoyed into the wood, and plundered? of course, i felt very anxious to inform the brunswicker captain, so that he might send a reconnoitring party in the direction of bitterfeld. finally, the noise ceased in the town, and the gates were reopened. i immediately reported matters to w. hahn, who in the early morning sent out his horsemen. an hour afterwards there appeared upon the scene abraham gatzkow, the same gentleman from lower pomerania who had been instructed to keep a fresh horse for me for the last stage from brandenburg-the-old to the camp at wittenberg. the envoys had sent him on in front, impatient to know why the escort had failed to appear at the appointed spot, a mishap which prejudiced them against me. odd to relate, neither sleidan nor beuter mentions the alarm to which i referred just now; hence, some further particulars will not be deemed superfluous. nothing is more frequent in the army and less easy to prevent than the stealing of horses. if an animal takes your fancy, some scoundrel is ready to get it for you for a matter of six or eight crowns. if you keep it six or eight weeks elsewhere, so as to change its habits, and change its tail, its mane and other peculiarities, you may safely bring it back to the camp. a certain german gentleman proceeded in that way with the stallion of a spaniard; he sent it away to his estates. when the affair had been forgotten the animal reappeared. it so happened that the german horsemen (eight squadrons at the lowest computation) encamped in the middle of a delightful plain, watered by the saale, while the whole of the infantry of their nation was quartered in the town; a providential circumstance, for if the foot had come to the aid of the horse, there would have been nothing short of a massacre. the emperor, therefore, was well inspired in ordering at once the closing of all the gates. the spaniards occupied the height around the castle. at dusk, when taking the horses to be watered, a spanish lad recognizes the stallion, cries out that it belongs to his master and wants to lead it away. the young german groom resists, and is supported by three or four of his countrymen. the spaniard rallies a dozen, and the german immediately finds himself at the head of a score. the two parties increase every minute, and the first shots are fired. posted on the heights, the spaniards have the advantage of the position, their balls going through the walls of the tents, kill several gentlemen who are seated at table; the germans give as good as they get. a spanish lord issues from the town with words of peace from the emperor; he has magnificent golden chains round his neck and is riding a superb animal. at the sight of him there is a general cry: "fire on the dog of a spaniard." he advances, nevertheless, on the bridge, but a projectile brings down his mount, which rolls into the saale, and is drowned there with his master, the wearer of the beautiful collar. nine days before this, at wittenberg, a rotten strap had, with the help of god, saved my life. the gentleman covered with gold and dressed in velvet, on the other hand, miserably perished. the emperor, while all this was going on, sent the son of king ferdinand, the archduke maximilian (afterwards emperor). he felt convinced that it would suffice to restore order, but the moment the archduke opened his lips the germans repeated the cry: "down with the spaniard." the archduke was wounded in the right arm, which he wore during several weeks in a black sling. the emperor himself had to come forth. "dear germans," he said, "i know you to be without reproach. i therefore ask you to be calm. you shall be indemnified fully and in every respect, and on my imperial word, to-morrow you shall see the spaniards strung up on the highest gibbets." this promise had the effect of quieting the riot, and the gates were opened. the inquiry having shown that the loss of the germans amounted to eighteen grooms or stablemen besides seven horses, and that of the opposing party to not less than seventy men, the emperor, though professing to be ready to make good the value of the horse and even to punish the spaniards according to his promise, expressed the hope that the germans would consider themselves sufficiently avenged, inasmuch as their adversaries had suffered four times more than they had. during the evening of june , the electors of saxony and brandenburg made their entry into halle with the landgrave philip of hesse in their midst. at six in the afternoon of the next day the landgrave "made honourable amends" in the great hall of the imperial quarters in the presence of the electors, princes, foreign potentates, ambassadors, counts, colonels, captains, and in one word, of everybody who could find room inside or catch a glimpse of the scene through the windows. but while his chancellor, on his knees, close against him, humbly craved pardon, philip, ever inclined to raillery, smiled with an air of bravado, and to such a degree as to make the emperor exclaim, while threatening him with his outstretched index: "go on; i'll teach you to laugh." alas, he kept his word. our counsellors decided to leave me behind incognito at the imperial camp with a gentleman of lower pomerania named george von wedel, who having murdered his cousin and having been exiled by duke barnim, had entered the emperor's service with nine-and-twenty horse troopers. his goodwill towards our mission and my instances finally got him his pardon. that was how the horse on which i had left wolgast was to carry me as far as augsburg. having started from halle on june , the emperor stopped three days at naumberg. on the th, very early in the morning, he was at the general headquarters at some distance beyond the wall. he wore a violet cap and a black cloak trimmed with velvet several inches wide. suddenly there was a shower, and immediately the emperor sent for a hat and a grey felt cloak to the town; but meanwhile he turned the cloak he wore and kept his headdress under it. poor man, who spent untold gold on the war, and who stood bareheaded in the rain rather than spoil his clothes. the spanish escort of the landgrave preceded his imperial majesty by a day's march, and committed unheard-of excesses. next morning the corpses were strewn where the emperor passed. women and girls suffered the most terrible outrages; as for the men, after having suspended them by their genital parts, the barbarians tortured them to make them reveal the places where they had hidden their money, after which, with one stroke of their swords, flush with the abdomen, they detached the victim. the emperor slept at coburg, in franconia. the german horsemen took up their quarters in the adjacent villages. every house was deserted, the dwellings of the nobility as well as the peasant's farms; nowhere was there a soul to be seen, for, having been sorely tried the previous day by the passage of the spaniards, the population dreaded renewed scenes of horror. in one house we found a _membrum virile_; elsewhere, stretched on a bed a bloodstained body, exactly in the condition in which those abominable miscreants had put them one after the other. the servants of von wedel dug a grave by my orders for the corpse and the _membrum virile_. our first encampment after that was a village amidst fertile plains. i unsaddled my horse in order to let it graze in peace until the morning. in the same spot there was a handsome gentleman's dwelling, in its open courtyard a wagon with four strong horses; on the wagon two barrels of exquisite wine. capons, poultry and pheasants were running about in all directions. i leave people to imagine the massacre, and how, on our return to our tent, we quickly plucked, boiled and roasted the game. we were the absolute masters. there was nothing to fear; the granary was full to overflowing, and we replenished our sacks to the very edge. in short, horses, vehicle and wine, and everything else was carried away. the barrels were emptied on our way; the team was sold at nuremberg for what it would bring, for we ourselves had had it very cheaply. the sight of our plenty attracted the notice of duke frederick von liegnitz,[ ] so we invited him to share it. two joyous damsels in gorgeous silk attire were of the party and performed their duty well. the servants also shared in the feast which was prolonged till dawn. the nights, however, were very short. it was full daylight when, wishing to saddle my horse, i discovered it had been stolen. immediately, according to 'the usages and customs of war, i chose the best nag at hand, currycombed, bridled and mounted it in the space of a few minutes. on july , towards midday, the emperor made his entry into bamberg with a numerous suite. the elector of saxony occupied a house on the outside of the town on the right, just at the turn of the road, so that he could watch the city and the country. the captive was at the window just as his imperial majesty passed, mounted on a small spanish horse. he made a profound bow; thereupon the emperor burst out laughing sarcastically, and stared at him as long as he could. the spaniards took with them from bamberg four hundred women, girls and female servants, and did not let them go until they reached nuremberg. the fathers, husbands and brothers followed in their wake; the father looking for his daughter, the husband for his better half, the brother for his sister; at nuremberg each found his own again. oh, those spaniards! what a nation, to dare do such things after the cessation of hostilities, in a friendly country and under the very eyes of the sovereign. the latter, however, displayed a relentless severity. each evening they put up a gibbet as well as his tent, and the former did not remain long untenanted, but it was all in vain. i suddenly came across my horse in a meadow near the nuremberg gates. i put my saddle on its back, and left the animal i had taken at coburg. his majesty journeyed by small stages in consequence of the excessive heat. the diet, in fact, was summoned only for september . this slowness gave me the leisure to ride with george von wedel on the flank of the army, from its head to its tail. it was an interesting spectacle, this mass of men under arms and in battle order; here germans, farther on spaniards. in the evening we returned to our own. far from keeping to the highway, the soldiers marched straight in front of them, making a roadway four times wider than the ordinary one, upsetting all obstacles, knocking down enclosures and filling in moats and ditches. one day the restive horse of george von wedel insisted on getting into the ranks of the spanish, who could not or would not get out of the way, and as the rider cried angrily: "very well, let the french kill thee, then," a half-drunken soldier, mistaking the words, retorted: "_senor mio, no soy frances, mas soy un espanol_." the spaniards, in fact, think themselves much superior to the french. as we were getting near nuremberg there was no longer any need for me to hide myself. i took up my quarters at the hotel selected by duke frederick von liegnitz, at that period trying to interest the emperor in his paternal affairs. that prince was never sober, and at the refusal of his counsellors, he caroused with the suite of margrave johannes. one day the duke and six servitors of the margrave cut the right sleeves out of their doublets and their shirts. with bare arms, their hose undone so as to show their shirts, their heads uncovered, and list slippers on their feet, the seven persons marched in single file behind the town musicians, playing with all their might, and went after dinner to the duke henry of brunswick's. prince frederick held in one hand a set of dice, and in the other a quantity of gold pieces; naturally the crowd ran with them, the foreigners foremost, italians and spaniards delighted to see "these sots of germans" go by. the wine produced such a strong effect that liegnitz, on entering the apartment of the duke, stumbled across the table, both hands foremost. there was only one dice left, and not a trace of the gold. he was unable to utter a syllable, and dropped on the floor. four brunswick gentlemen carried him to a bed on the story above. the emperor, it is said, was very angry at the germans making such a show of themselves. it would be a mistake to conclude that prince frederick's education had been neglected, for only a few days beforehand, though he had also been drinking, i was quite surprised at the many stories of the old testament he narrated without quoting the sacred text; he even applied some of them very ingenuously to his own situation. certainly there can be nothing surpassing a careful education, provided the holy spirit guides the young man when he becomes responsible for his own acts; that is what we ought to pray for to the almighty. as for the consequences of drunkenness, that inexhaustible fount of many sins, the duke von liegnitz was a terrible example of them. one night when he could no longer find some one in the humour to "keep up with him," he came to my door, trying to beguile me out of my bed. i finally told him that to sit drinking at such an hour was beyond my strength, and that i humbly begged his serene highness to husband both our healths. he resigned himself, though reluctantly, to take "no" for an answer. i took good care not to open. after a fortnight's stay, the emperor left nuremberg. duke frederick was so matutinal on the day of departure that on arriving about six o'clock at the imperial residence, he was told the emperor had been gone for at least two hours. not daring to follow the sovereign, he merely sent two counsellors to augsburg. i had bought at nuremberg a handsome rapier which i wore with a spanish belt. one morning after breakfast, being alone, i fell asleep in my chair. when i awoke i found that a skilful thief had cleverly unfastened it and carried it away. i bought another weapon, and when i had settled my bill, saddled my horse and made for augsburg, where i landed three days before the emperor. prince frederick went back to his own country with his suite; he never improved. two students were returning to their homes; _en route_ they breakfast at liegnitz, and feeling jovial and gay they started singing. the duke, who was in his cups, was annoyed at the noise, had them apprehended, conducted outside the town, and beheaded. next morning, before recommencing his libations, he took a ride with some of his counsellors in the direction of the place of execution. at the sight of the blood he begins to ask questions, and is informed that the executed men are the two students he sentenced the previous day. "what had they done?" he asked in the greatest surprise. at the end of one of his orgies he ordered his counsellors to lock him up in prison on bread and water. if they disobeyed him they would answer with their heads. the dungeon already held several occupants. his highness was taken to it, and the gaoler received the strictest instructions. when the fumes of his wine had vanished, the duke, in a livelier mood, conversed for a while with the other prisoners; then he shouted to the warder to let him out. "i am too strictly forbidden to do so," was the answer. he, nevertheless, went to inform the counsellors; the latter delayed for three days, during which time the prince left not a moment respite to the turnkeys. finally, the counsellors came themselves; they heard his shouting and his supplications, but they remembered his threat to have their heads off, and they knew that on that subject he did not jest. he had to reassure them over and over again before he was allowed to go free. three years later the same prince journeyed to stettin for no other purpose than to have a drinking bout with some of the courtiers. at the news of his coming, duke barnim went away with everybody except the women. at his arrival the visitor found neither the duke nor any gentlemen of the least standing, and at the castle they sent him into the town to a house assigned to him as his quarters. an old man lay dying there, and they naturally expected that this would shorten liegnitz's visit. the very opposite happened. the prince comfortably settled himself at the dying man's bedside, recited passages from the scriptures to him until his last moment, and closed his eyes when the breath was out of him. the collector valentin presenting himself, poor box in hand, the duke dropped a few crowns into it; after this, he sent for mourning cloth for two cloaks, one for himself, one for valentin, with whom, he said, he wished to accompany the corpse to the cemetery. the duchess, however, would not hear of this. he was therefore quartered in the castle, just above the chancellerie, and opposite the women's quarters, so that they could converse from one window to another. i had been to the kitchen. as i was crossing the courtyard, the duke, passing his head out of the window and making a speaking trumpet of his hands, shouted with all his might to me: "hi-there!" i knew him from nuremberg, and was consequently familiar with the manner of treating him, so i answered: "hello!" at which he was delighted. "what a nice fellow," he cried. "for heaven's sake, come up; we'll keep each other company, and try to enliven each other." i thanked him humbly and continued my way. duke barnim's absence being somewhat prolonged, his guest liegnitz had eventually to think about going. the princely presents of the duchess made him comfortable for some time. health, welfare, country, were all ruined by his roystering conduct. when drink had killed him, his wife, a duchess of mecklenburg, saw herself and her children reduced to the direst privation. she had to inform not only her equals, but the magistrates of stralsund of her distress, and to declare herself unable to bring up her son according to his rank. she merely asked for slight help, scarcely more than alms. the council of stralsund sent her a few crowns by one of the messengers she dispatched in all directions. [illustration: the diet of augsburg. _from an old engraving_.] chapter ii a twelve months' stay at augsburg during the diet--something about the emperor and princes--sebastian vogelsberg--concerning the interim--journey to cologne on july , , i dismounted at an inn in the wine market at augsburg. the host was a person of consideration, and endowed with good sense; he was a master of one of the corporations. the latter had administered the city's affairs for more than a century. during a similar number of years the corporations of nuremberg had ceded their power in that respect to the patricians. the augsburg corporations, being evangelicals, had sided against the emperor; consequently his imperial majesty proposed to exclude them at the forthcoming diet from the government, in favour of the aristocracy, which had remained faithful to the ancient faith. i took two rooms (each with an alcove, or sleeping closet, attached to it), of which the host had no need for his travelling patrons. the ambassadors settled in one; the other was set apart for their administration, which was composed of jacob citzewitz, chancellor; two secretaries of duke barnim, and myself. i sold my horse with its equipment, which was not worth much. i took what i could get for it; fodder was very dear, and the animal was no longer of the least use to me. the emperor and his army arrived at the end of july. the landgrave remained behind at donauwerth, under the guard of a spanish detachment, while the elector, brought to augsburg, took up his quarters with the welsers, two houses away from the imperial residence, and on the other side of a kind of alley by the side of my inn. a passage made between these two houses by means of a bridge thrown over the alley provided communication between the apartments of his imperial majesty and those of the elector. the captive prince had his own kitchens. his chancellor, von monkwitz, was always near him; he was served by his own attendants, so that the spaniards had no pretext to enter his room or his sleeping closet. the duke of alva and other gentlemen of the imperial suite constantly kept him company; the time was spent in pleasant conversations and equally agreeable recreations. they had arranged a list for the jousts in the courtyard of the dwelling, which was as superb a mansion as any royal one. the elector went out on horseback to the beautiful sites and spots of the town, namely, the various gardens, cultivated with much art. he had been very fond from his youth of swordplay, and while he remained well and active he indulged in all kinds of martial exercise. they therefore left him to superintend the assaults at arms, but he did not stir without an escort of spanish soldiers. he was left free to read what he pleased, except in the latter days, namely, after his refusal to accept the interim. at donauwerth, on the other hand, the landgrave had a guard even in his own apartment. if he looked out of the window two spaniards craned their necks by his side. drums and fifes told him of the guard coming on duty and of the guard that was being relieved. armed sentries watched in the prisoner's room; they were relieved once during the night, and when those coming on duty entered the room, the others, when the shrill music had ceased, drew the curtains of the bed aside, saying: "we commit him to your care. keep a good watch." the emperor's words to the landgrave, "i'll teach you to laugh," were not an empty threat. before retiring to rest, his imperial majesty, to the terror of many, had a gibbet erected in front of the town hall; by the side of the gibbet, the strapado, and, facing it, a scaffold at about an ordinary man's height from the ground. this was intended to hold the rack, and the beheading, the strangulating, the quartering, and kindred operations were to be carried out on it. the emperor had sent to spain for his secretary, a grandee, it will be seen directly, who stood high in his favour. as the said secretary sailed down the elbe, coming from torgau, a faithful subject of the captive elector hid himself in a wood on the bank of the stream. he was a skilful arquebusier, and when the craft was well within range, he fired a shot. they brought the emperor a corpse. the mortal remains of the secretary were taken to spain in a handsome coffin; the murderer fled across hungary in the direction of turkey, but active pursuit resulted in his capture, and he was dispatched to augsburg. he was driven in an open cart from st. ulrich to the town hall, by way of the wine market. hence, the elector had the extreme annoyance of seeing him pass under his windows. the condemned man had between his knees a pole, to which his right hand was tied as high as possible. in the midst of the drive, the sword severed the wrist from the arm; hemorrhage was prevented by dressing the wound, and the hand was nailed to a post put up in the street for the purpose. in front of the town hall the poor wretch was taken from the cart and was put on the rack. the landsknechten quartered at augsburg had not received their pay for several months. it was to come out of the fines imposed upon the landgrave and the towns. the rumour ran that the fines had been paid, but that the duke of alva had lost the money gaming with the elector, so that the troops were still waiting. in the thick of all this, a number of soldiers made their way into the rooms of the ensigns, carrying off three standards, unfurling them, and marching in battle array to the wine market. near the spot where the arquebusier had had his hand severed from his wrist, a proud spaniard, impelled by the mad hope of securing the imperial favour by rendering his name for ever glorious, flung himself into the advancing ranks and tried to get hold of a standard; behind it, however, marched three men with big swords, and one of these split the intruder in two just as he would have split a turnip. "_qui amat periculum, peribit in eo_." thus it is written. roused to great excitement by the coming of the column, the spanish soldiers promptly occupied the streets adjoining the market. the elector was transferred to the imperial quarters, lest he should be carried off. the population were getting afraid of being pillaged in case the idea of paying themselves should present itself to the landsknechten. the tradesmen were more uneasy than the rest, for in expectation of the coming diet their shops were crammed with precious wares, rich silk stuffs, golden and silvern objects, diamonds and pearls. there was an indescribable tumult to the accompaniment of cries and people foregathering in knots, though most of them barricaded themselves in their houses and armed themselves with pikes, muskets, or anything they could lay hands on. in short, as sleidan expresses it, "the day bade fair to be spent in armed alarm." the emperor sent to ask the mercenaries what they wanted. "money or blood," replied the arquebusiers, their weapons reposing on the left arm, the lighted match in their right hands, and dangerously near the vent-hole. his imperial majesty promised them their arrears within twenty-four hours, but before dispersing they claimed impunity for what they had done, which demand the emperor granted. next day they received their pay and were disbanded at the same time. now for the end of the adventure. secret orders were given to accompany the ringleaders on their road, and at the first offensive remark on their part with regard to the emperor to call in armed assistance, and to bring them back to augsburg. as a consequence, at the end of two or three days, some of the firebrands, having their wallets well-lined and sitting round frequently re-filled flagons at the inn, began to hold forth without more reserve than if they were on the territory of prester john. the last thought in their minds was about informers being among them. "we'll give him soldiers for nothing--this charles of ghent![ ] may the quartan fever get hold of him. we'll teach him how to behave. may the lightning blast him," and so forth. not for long though. the words had scarcely left their lips than they were seized, taken to augsburg, and hanged in front of the town hall, each with a little flag fluttering from the tab of their small clothes. [illustration: an execution at the time of the reformation. _from a drawing by_ lucas cranach.] two spaniards, probably guilty of robbery, as was their custom, were strung up at the same gibbet. towards night the hangman came with his cart, cut the ropes and took the bodies of the seditious men outside the town. after which there appeared a gang of spaniards who, with more ceremony, detached their countrymen, and placed them in a bier covered with a kind of white linen. then they spread the funeral cloth over them, and the procession started. young scholars dressed in white cloaks marched at its head, intoning psalms; the rest, in handsome dresses and carrying lighted tapers, followed two by two. they proceeded in that manner to the church given up to the spaniards for their worship, where the two bodies were buried. it is difficult to withhold solemn funerals from thieves when you yourself are an incorrigible thief. the italian and spanish troops were distributed in the towns of the algau and swabia. memmingen and kempten compounded their liability to quarter them respectively for thirty thousand and twenty thousand florins. thereupon a certain imperial commissioner hit upon the idea of presenting himself in various towns as having been instructed to quarter a couple of hundred spaniards for the winter. the terror-stricken burghers implored him to spare them such a scourge, and considered themselves only too happy to present the commissioner with a little gratification of two, three, and four hundred crowns, paid on the nail. thanks to that ingenious system, the commissioner managed to pocket some important sums. but the rumour of the thing having reached the emperor's ears, the cheat was arrested, sentenced to death, and executed in front of the town hall at augsburg. the work of the hangman began by strangulation. the patient (?) was placed on a wooden seat against the rail of the scaffold, his forehead tightly bound in case of convulsions, his arms bound behind his back, and fastened to the balustrade. the hangman, after having flung a rather short rope round his neck, slipped a thick stick down his nape, and began to twist it round in the manner they press bales of wares. when the wretch was strangled, he was undressed except his shirt, laid out on a board, the hangman lifted the shirt, cut away the sexual parts, ripped open the body from bottom to top, removed the intestines, and threw them into a pail under the board, and finally cut the body into four quarters. george von wedel stayed at my hotel. he invited the duke of brunswick and his steward to dinner, and chose me as the third guest. the repast consisted of six courses; the first was soup with a capon in it. i know that our landlady paid a crown for the bird, and that she charged wedel a crown per head. i did not forget to mention to my host and my fellow guests that at rome i had seen the hanging of the spaniard, his servants, and the two jews. the duke was delighted at my recollecting this, and he himself reminded us that the banquet had been given in his honour. his account of the story was, however, much longer than mine. while awaiting the arrival of the pomeranian delegates, i borrowed two hundred crowns of the captive elector of saxony, for my functions at the diet necessitated a decent appearance, considering that i was called upon to confer with grand personages, such as the vice-chancellor seld, the bishop of arras and dr. johannes marquardt, imperial counsellor. besides, everything was horribly dear at augsburg; there was no possibility of getting along without money. our ambassadors arrived on st. matthew's day (september ). i immediately refunded the two hundred crowns. since we left wittenberg i had never missed an opportunity of speaking to the imperial counsellors and advisers, sometimes to one, then to another. more than once, for instance, i happened to be riding by the side of the bishop of arras, _intimus consiliarius imperatoris_. i solicited his intervention for a safe-conduct for our princes, in order that they might come and plead their cause in person, or be represented by some high dignitaries. the kindly tone of his answers afforded me much hope, although he abstained from all positive promises. one evening between nuremberg and augsburg chance made me alight at the hostelry where lazarus von schwendi was putting up.[ ] at that time he was a beardless young man. we supped together, and he declared quite spontaneously that, having been sent by the emperor to the brandenburg march as far as the pomeranian frontiers to get information about the attitude of the dukes during the late war, he had not been able to find the slightest charge against them. he further stated that he had written to that effect to the emperor, and he announced his intention of repeating it to him by word of mouth. in spite of this evidence, when i saw the bishop of arras, his father, messire de granvelle, the most trusty adviser of his imperial majesty, dr. seld and dr. marquardt at augsburg, they seemed to vie with each other at looking askance at me, and at formulating a refusal in hard, haughty terms and entirely unexpected by me; such as: "_bannus decernetur contra principes tuos_."[ ] our dukes sent their principal advisers. to do them justice, they spared neither time nor trouble, but it was all in vain, for the bishop of arras went as far as to growl at them: "to suppose the emperor capable of punishing innocent people as your princes pretend to be; that alone already constitutes the crime of treason against the sovereign, and deserves chastisement." his imperial majesty closed his ears to the truth; he was determined to act against the dukes of pomerania. at wittenberg dr. seld had said to me: "we are going to examine the challenge of ingoldstadt and will note for reference its instances of audacity, its offensive expressions, and its provocations. his imperial majesty means to show to the whole of the empire that he is neither deficient in german blood nor in power to chastize as he thinks fit no matter whom." this was an allusion to the following passage of the document defying him: "and we inform charles that we consider him a traitor to his duty to god, a perjurer towards us, and the german nation, and deserving the divine punishment, and also as too devoid of noble and german blood to carry out his threats." our ambassadors paid daily visits to the important ecclesiastical personages. they went in couples, save chancellor citzewitz, who considered himself, not unjustly, capable of dispensing with assistance. he laboured, however, under the disadvantage of "repeating himself," and of wearying his listeners. the chancellor of the elector of cologne, to whom citzewitz paid a visit one night, said the next day to two of our ambassadors: "what is your chancellor thinking of? he constantly repeats the same things. does he credit me with so short a memory as to forget in three or four days the _status causae vestrorum principum_, or does he imagine that our affairs leave me sufficient leisure to listen to his never ending litanies. he reminds me of a hen about to lay. at first she flutters to the top of the open barn door, clucking, 'an egg, an egg.' then she gets a little higher up to the hay-loft: 'an egg, an egg; i want to lay an egg.' from there she goes up to the rafters: 'look out, friends, look out. i am going to lay an egg.' finally, when she has cackled to her heart's content, she goes back to her nest and produces the tiniest imaginable egg. i prefer the goose who squats silently on the dung-heap and lays an egg as big as a child's head." the archbishop of cologne would not forgive our princes for having secularized the monastery of neu-camp, a branch of the parent institution of alt-camp, in the diocese of cologne. besides, the clergy of pomerania had become suspect to him ever since its choice for the see of cammin had fallen upon the pious, able and learned chancellor bartholomew schwabe. hence, the terms in which the emperor forbade our princes to recognize the new dignitary as such were the reverse of courteous, and he moreover summoned the chapters to augsburg to take the oath of fidelity and do homage, pending his own selection of a chief for them. the princes, the chapters, the landed gentry, and the towns, with the exception of colberg, appealed; the pomeranian mission was entrusted with the negotiations; the states also delegated martin weyer, canon of cammin, who subsequently became a bishop. nor was the elector of brandenburg in the emperor's good books. where then could we find somebody successfully to intercede for us? all my supplications were in vain, for at courts and in large towns _causae perduntur quae paupertate reguntur_. finally, dr. marquardt hinted discreetly that a well trained small horse would be very useful to him to proceed to the council, according to imperial etiquette. i immediately wrote to pomerania, whence they sent me a pretty animal, with instructions to buy an equipment to match. the present, supplemented by three "portuguese,"[ ] seemed to please the doctor mightily, and he accepted everything without much persuasion. the melting of double ducats and rhenish florins gave us some excellent gold of crown standard, which served to make two cups, each weighing seven marks. citzewitz took them several times to messire de granvelle without finding the opportunity of offering them to him. these were indeed untimely scruples. that present, or even one of double its value, would no more have been refused then than it was later on at brussels. in fact, in return for his friendly offices with the emperor, granvelle willingly submitted to be presented with gold, silver, and precious objects, so that at his departure there were several vans and numerous mules laden with them. when he was asked what were the contents of that long convoy, he answered: "_peccata germaniae_!" after many fruitless efforts our ambassadors found themselves reduced to inactivity, and compelled as a pastime to read two latin pamphlets they received. the one dealt with the personality and acts of "_carolus quintus_"; the title of the other was, "_de horum temporum statu_," with pasquin and marforio as interlocutors in roman fashion. there were ten flag-companies of landsknechten quartered at augsburg, besides the spaniards and germans accompanying the emperor, while the outskirts held spanish and italian fighting men. six hundred horsemen from the low countries and more than twelve flag-companies of spaniards, who had been quartered during the winter at biberach, were posted on the shores of lake constance; seven hundred neapolitan horsemen, who had wintered at wissemburg, lay in the nordgau. the days, therefore, were truly spent in "armed alarm," but there was also extraordinary splendour, pomp, and magnificence. augsburg, in fact, had the honour of having within its walls his imperial majesty, his royal majesty, all the electors in person, with imposing suites; the elector of brandenburg with his wife; the cardinal of trent, duke heindrich of brunswick and his two sons, charles victor and philip; margrave albert; duke wolfgang, count palatine; duke augustus; duke albert of bavaria; the duke of cleves; herr wolfgang, grand master of the teutonic order; the bishop of eichstedt; his grace of naumberg, julius pflug; abbé weingarten; madame marie, the sister of the emperor, who was accompanied by her niece, the dowager of lorraine; the wife of the margrave; the duchess of bavaria, and the envoys of the foreign potentates. the king of denmark was represented by a learned and prudent man, who had given proof of his wisdom in many a mission, namely, petrus suavenius, the same who had accompanied luther to worms and had returned with him. the king of poland was represented by stanislas lasky, a magnificent, experienced, learned, eloquent and elegant, amiable, great magnate, and most charming _in familiari colloquio_. [illustration: ferdinand the first. _from an old print._] it is almost impossible to enumerate the crowd of vicars, counts and other personages of note, but i must not forget the jew michael, who aped the great lord, and showed himself off on horseback in gorgeous clothes, golden chains round his neck, and escorted by ten or a dozen servants, all jews, but who might have fairly passed muster as horse troopers. michael himself had an excellent appearance; he was said to be the son of one of the counts of rheinfeld. the old hereditary marshal von pappenheim, who had grown very short-sighted, came up with him one day, and, not content with taking off his hat, made him a low bow, as to a superior. when he discovered his mistake, he vented his anger very loudly: "may the lightning blast you, you big scoundrel of a jew," he bellowed. the presence of so many princesses, countesses and other noble dames, handsome, and attired in a way that baffles my powers of description, afforded daily opportunities for banquets, welch and german dances. king ferdinand was rarely without guests. he gave magnificent receptions, splendid ballets, and beautiful concerts by a numerous and well trained band of vocal and instrumental performers. behind the king's chair there stood a chattering jester; his master had frequent "wit combats" with him. the king kept up the conversation at table, and his tongue was never still for a moment. one evening i saw at his reception, a spanish gentleman, with a cloak reaching to his heels, dancing an "algarda" or "passionesa" (i do not know the meaning of either word) with a young damsel. they both jumped very high, advancing and retreating, without ceasing to face each other. it was most charming. after that another couple performed a welch dance. the emperor, on the contrary, far from giving the smallest banquet, kept nobody near him; neither his sister, nor his brother, nor his nieces, nor the duchess of bavaria, nor the electors, nor any of the princes. after church, when he reached his apartments, he dismissed his courtiers, giving his hand to everybody. he had his meals by himself, without speaking a word to his attendants. one day, returning from church, he noticed the absence of carlowitz. "_ubi est noster carlovitius?_" he asked of duke maurice. "most gracious emperor," replied the latter, "he feels somewhat feeble." immediately the emperor turned to his physician. "vesalius, gy zult naar carlowitz gaan, die zal iets wat ziek zyn, ziet dat gy hem helpt." (anglicé, "you had better go and see carlowitz. he is not well; you may be able to do something for him.") i have often been present (at spires, at worms, at augsburg, and at brussels) at the emperor's dinner. he never invited his brother, the king. young princes and counts served the repast. there were invariably four courses, consisting altogether of six dishes. after having placed the dishes on the table, these pages took the covers off. the emperor shook his head when he did not care for the particular dish; he bowed his head when it suited, and then drew it towards him. enormous pasties, large pieces of game, and the most succulent dishes were carried away, while his majesty ate a piece of roast, a slice of a calf's head, or something analogous. he had no one to carve for him; in fact, he made but a sparing use of the knife. he began by cutting his bread in pieces large enough for one mouthful, then attacked his dish. he stuck his knife anywhere, and often used his fingers while he held the plate under his chin with the other hand. he ate so naturally, and at the same time so cleanly, that it was a pleasure to watch him. when he felt thirsty, he only drank three draughts; he made a sign to the _doctores medicinae_ standing by the table; thereupon they went to the sideboard for two silver flagons, and filled a crystal goblet which held about a measure and a half. the emperor drained it to the last drop, practically at one draught, though he took breath two or three times. he did, however, not utter a syllable, albeit that the jesters behind him were amusing. now and again there was a faint smile at some more than ordinarily clever passage between them. he paid not the slightest attention to the crowd that came to watch the monarch eat. the numerous singers and musicians he kept performed in church, and never in his apartment. the dinner lasted less than an hour, at the termination of which, tables, seats, and everything else were removed, there remaining nothing but the four walls hung with magnificent tapestry. after grace they handed the emperor the quills of feathers wherewith to clean his teeth. he washed his hands and took his seat in one of the window recesses. there, everybody could go up and speak to him, or hand a petition, and argue a question. the emperor decided there and then. the future emperor maximilian was more assiduously by the side of the emperor than by that of his father. duke maurice soon made acquaintance with the bavarian ladies, and at his own quarters melancholy found no place, for he lodged with a doctor of medicine who was the father of a girl named jacqueline, a handsome creature if ever there was one. she and the duke bathed together and played cards every day with margrave albrecht.[ ] one day, the latter, thinking he was going to have the best of the game, ventured several crowns. "very well," answered the damsel; "equal stakes. mine against yours." "put down your money," retorted the margrave, "and the better player wins." all this in plain and good german, while jacqueline gave him her most charming smile. such was their daily mode of life. the town gossiped about it, but the devil himself was bursting with pleasure. clerics or laymen, every one among those notable personages did as he pleased. i myself have seen young margrave albrecht, as well as other young princes, drinking and playing "truc" with certain bishops of their own age, but of inferior birth.[ ] at such moments they made very light of titles. the margrave cried abruptly; "your turn, priest. i'll wager your stroke isn't worth a jot." the bishop was often still more coarse, inviting his opponent to accompany him outside to perform a natural want. the young princes squatted down by the side of the noblest dames on the floor itself, for there were neither forms nor chairs; merely a magnificent carpet in the middle of the room, exceedingly comfortable to stretch one's self at full length upon. one may easily imagine the kissing and cuddling that was going on.[ ] both princes and princesses spent their incomes in banquets of unparalleled splendour. they arrived with their money caskets full to overflowing, but in a little while they were compelled to take many a humiliating step in order to obtain loans; the rates were ruinous, but anything, rather than leave augsburg defeated and humbled in their love of display. several sovereigns, among others the duke of bavaria, had received from their subjects thousands of dollars as "play money." they lost every penny of it. our ambassadors lived very retired. they neither invited nor were invited; nevertheless, when a visitor came, they were bound to offer a collation, and to amuse their guests. one day they entertained jacob sturm of strasburg.[ ] during dinner the conversation turned on cammin. sturm gave us the history of that bishopric, of its foundation, of its expansion. then he told us of the ancient prerogatives of the dukes of pomerania; of the negotiations set on foot seven years before at the diet of ratisbon. in short, it was as lucid, as complete, and as accurate a summary of the subject as if he had just finished studying it. our counsellors greatly admired his wonderful memory. verily, he was a superior, experienced, eloquent, and prudent man, who had had his share in many memorable days from an imperial as well as from a provincial view; for, in spite of his heresy, the emperor had at various times entrusted him with important missions. without him, sleidan could have never written his history. he avows it frankly, and renders homage to sturm in many passages of his _commentaries_. nobody throughout the empire realized to the same degree as he the motto: "_usus me genuit, mater me peperit memoria_." a person of note having asked him if the towns of the league of schmalkalden were all at peace with the emperor, he answered: "_constantia tantum desideratur_."[ ] it would be impossible better to express both the isolation of constance and the mistake to which the protestants owed their reverses. should my children have a desire to know what sturm was like facially, they will only have to look at my portrait, which bears such a remarkable resemblance to him as to have baffled apelles to improve upon it.[ ] our ambassadors also received the visits of musculus and lepusculus, but each came by himself. the moment for serious debate had struck, for the interim was being gradually drawn up. the time for jesting had gone by; the only thing to do was to get at the root of matters.[ ] i sometimes brought my countryman, friend, and co-temporary valerius krakow home with me. he was secretary to carlowitz, and, excluded as they were from all negotiations, our counsellors were glad to learn from his lips what was being plotted. during the campaign he had not stirred from the side of carlowitz, who, in reward for his services, had got him into the chancellerie of prince maurice. another countryman of mine who came to see us was the traban simon plate, one of my old acquaintances, for we had pursued our studies together more or less usefully at greifswald, under george normann. the counsellors did not care for him, for he was of no earthly use to them. the trabans had some respectable, honest, well set-up and plucky fellows in their ranks, and enjoyed a certain amount of consideration. the emperor was particular about their dress; they wore black velvet doublets, cloaks with large bands of velvet, and the spanish head-dress of the same material. plate was never tired of praising his fellow-soldier sleeping next to him, and the ambassadors gave him leave to bring his friend. he wore a most beautiful golden chain. plate had not exaggerated. finally he even took umbrage at the favour shown to the new comer, so that one day he exclaimed: "no doubt he is very upright and honest. he has shown his courage, consequently he pleases the emperor. it is a pity, though, that he is not a gentleman by birth." the remark, i am bound to say, displeased our ambassadors greatly, and above all chancellor citzewitz; but let my children look to it. i have heard many pomeranian nobles hold the same language. according to them, intelligence, sound judgment and ability were the exclusive appanage of birth. plate showed himself in a better light on another occasion. our counsellors had received several visits, and some flagons had been joyously emptied. when our guests were gone, moritz damis, captain of ukermünde, a rollicking, lively creature, suddenly took a fancy to go to the court ball which was taking place that evening, not in the apartments of the emperor, but in those of his sister and niece, who likewise occupied the fugger mansion in the wine market. his colleagues, who had not forgotten the emperor's threat to the landgrave, "i'll teach you to laugh," were afraid of a scandal, and pointed out that our princes were in disgrace; but damitz got angry. "our princes will give me money, but they cannot give me health," he exclaimed. "what am i doing here? why should i deny myself the sight of such rejoicings? how am i to keep alive? i may as well make up my mind never to cast eyes on pomerania again." saying which, he rushed down the stairs; a counsellor tried to hold him back by his golden chain, the links of which, however, broke, and our captain ran to the ball. simon plate had remained perfectly cool, and they asked him to follow the madcap. there was no difficulty for plate to get inside the ball-room, and the first person of note of whom he caught sight was the puissant and renowned warrior-chief, johannes walther von hirnheim,[ ] moodily walking to and fro at the lower end of the room. damitz had noticed standing close by the dancers a handsome woman gorgeously dressed and glittering with jewels, and in less time than it takes to tell he had addressed her: "charming creature," he said, "are you not going to dance?" "oh no, sir," was the answer; "dancing is only fit for young people, and i am an old woman." "what, are you married?" asked the captain. "i could have sworn that you were only a girl, and if i were told to choose with the most beautiful woman here, my choice would fall upon you." "ah, sir, you are merely jesting." "and what is your husband's name?" the captain went on unabashed. "johannes walther von hirnheim." "johannes walther? oh, i know him well." the husband, somewhat curious with regard to the captain's conversation, had drawn near, though still continuing to walk up and down in silence. damitz, though, taking no notice of either him or simon plate, continued his interrogatory. "have you any children?" "no; god has ordained it otherwise." "ah, if i had such a wife, i know what i am. god would soon grant us children." this incursion of the captain into the physical domain induced simon plate to interfere, to turn the conversation, and to take damitz back to his domicile. in december our ambassadors decided to send one of their body to pomerania, and heindrich normann was selected for the journey. it was bitterly cold, and normann endeavoured to provide against it. he put on a linen nightcap, over that a fur one, and a second of cloth, with a big muffler fastened behind and in front (just as the peasantry still wear it), and finally a thick hat, embroidered in silk. on his hands white thread gloves, chamois leather ones lined with fur; over these, and over the latter again thicker gloves of wolf's skin. his body was encased in a linen shirt, a knitted tightly-fitting garment in the italian fashion; over that a vest of red english cloth, a doublet wadded with cotton, another lined jacket, a long coat of wool trimmed with wolf's skin, covering the whole; finally, on his feet, linen socks, louvain gaiters reaching above the knee, cloth hose, stockings lined with sheep's skin, and high boots. when everybody had done giving special commissions, the servants hoisted him into the saddle, for he could have never got into it without their help. he went as far as donauwerth; when he got there, his equipment decidedly seemed to him too uncomfortable. as, however, he had no desire to be frozen to death, he turned his horse's head and made for the good city of augsburg. inasmuch as the narrative of sleidan is very incomplete, i am going to write the story of sebastian vogelsberg. having been an eye-witness, i made it my business to note down his last speeches. vogelsberg was tall and of imposing appearance, his width being in proportion to his height; in short, a handsome, well-proportioned man with a head as round as a ball, a beard reaching to his waist, and an open face. no painter could have found a better model for a manly man. he had a certain amount of education. according to some people, he had been a schoolmaster in italy. count wilhelm von fürstenberg, who entered the "paid" service of the belligerent monarchs as a colonel, took him as a semi-secretary, semi-accountant. vogelsberg, having been promoted to an ensignship, rendered distinguished service in the field; ambitious, glib of tongue, not to say eloquent and rarely at a loss what to do, he quickly attained the grade of captain, and high and mighty potentates soon preferred him to fürstenberg. the latter felt most annoyed at this, belonging as he did to a class of men to whom merit is inseparable from birth. he constantly inveighed against vogelsberg, who, in his turn, did not spare his rival. pamphlets were printed on both sides. the count appears to have begun; he appealed to his peers, their honour seemed to him at stake. the protestant states sided with vogelsberg, their co-religionist, while the popish camp swore mortal hatred to him. weary of fruitless polemics, and knowing full well that it would have been folly to take the law into his own hands, vogelsberg decided upon bringing an action before the imperial chamber for damages for defamation of character. i was at the time clerk to his procurator, dr. engelhardt; consequently, i knew every particular of the affair. after protracted debates, the court finding for vogelsberg, condemned count wilhelm to a fine of four hundred florins, a sentence which caused wilhelm's brother, frederick von fürstenberg, and everybody who bore the title of count to consider themselves the injured parties. three _causae proægoumenae_, to use the language of the dialecticians, may be plainly discerned in this drama; namely, religion, the soldierly qualities of vogelsberg, and the hostility of the nobles and papists. we may add two _causae procatarcticae_: the first, mentioned by sleidan, to the effect that a twelvemonth previously vogelsberg had taken a regiment of landsknechten to the king of france; the second, which i saw with my own eyes at wissenburg on the rhine, that vogelsberg had built himself in that imperial town a beautiful mansion of hewn stone with the arms of france, three big _fleurs de lis_ artistically sculptured over the door. the papists, feeling confident that in the probable event of a new war of religion, the valiant captain would give them a great deal of trouble, and thirsting as they did for his blood, like a deer in summer pants for cooling streams, they took time by the forelock. their skill in exploiting with his imperial majesty the _causae irritatrices_ stood them in good stead. they were instrumental in getting two doctors of their following appointed as judges. the one was german, and the other welch, but both promptly pronounced a sentence of death which was immediately carried out. on february , , shortly after eight in the morning, an ensign-corps of soldiers from the outskirts of "our lady," and two other ensign-corps from the outskirts of "st. jacob," took up their position in the square of the town hall. sleidan says the scaffold was erected for the purpose of executing vogelsberg. this is an error on sleidan's part. the scaffold had been there for six months, and had served many times. an officer from the welch, whom they call _magister de campo_ was detached from the troops with about thirty men to fetch the condemned man from the peilach tower. the latter was brought back to the sound of drums and fifes. vogelsberg wore a black velvet dress and a welch hat embroidered with silk. at his entrance into the circle surrounding the scaffold he caught sight of count reinhard von solms, whose nose was half-eaten away by disease, and ritter conrad von boineburg. without taking any notice of the count, a relentless papist, who detested him on account of fürstenberg, he asked of the ritter: "herr conrad, is there any hope?" "dear bastian," replied boineburg, "may god help you." "certainly, he will help me," was vogelsberg's rejoinder. and with his firmest step, his head erect, and his usual assurance, he climbed the steps to the scaffold. he looked for a long while at the crowd. all the windows were occupied by members of the nobility. at those of the town hall there were serried rows of electors, princes of the church and of the empire, barons, counts, and knights. in a manly voice and as steady a tone as if he were at the head of his troops, vogelsberg began to speak: "your serenissime highnesses, highnesses, excellencies, noble, puissant, valiant seigneurs and friends. as i am this day ..." at that moment the _magister de campo_ (quarter-master-general) told the executioner to proceed with his duty, but the latter, addressing the condemned man, said: "gracious sir, i shall not hurry you. speak as long as you please." thereupon vogelsberg went on: "i am to lose my life by order of the emperor, our very merciful and gracious master, and i now will tell you the cause of my death-warrant. it is for having raised ten ensign-companies last summer for the coronation of the praiseworthy king of france. no felonious act can be imputed to me during the ten years i served the emperor. as i am innocent, i beseech of you to keep me in kind memory, and to pity my undeserved misfortunes. watch over my kindred, so that they may not come to grief on account of all this, and may benefit by the fruit of my services, for the whole of my life was that of an honest man. i am being sacrificed to the implacable resentment of that infamous lazarus schwendi." the latter was at the window facing the scaffold, and suddenly disappeared, but vogelsberg did not interrupt his speech. "he came to me to wissemburg to tell me that he was in disgrace in consequence of the murder of a spanish gentleman in the suite of his imperial majesty, and that the spaniards were also looking for me. he proposed to me to fly to france together, and borrowed two hundred crowns of me. i even gave him a horse as a present for his advice. well, the traitor took me straight to the spaniards. while i was in prison i asked him, for my personal need, for some of the crowns i had lent him, but he turned a deaf ear to all my requests. i beg of you to be on your guard against that skunk of a thief who bears the name of lazarus schwendi. no one ought to have any dealings with him. he has even dared to denounce to his imperial majesty his serenissimo highness the elector palatine as having entered into a league with the king of france. it is an infamous slander. if i had another life to stake, i should stake it on that. i have been refused the last assistance of a minister, of a confessor--a refusal which has no precedent. i nevertheless die innocent and redeemed by the blood of jesus christ." after this he walked round the circle, though above it, asking everybody to forgive him as he forgave everybody. then he seated himself. the executioner divided his long beard into two and knotted the two ends together on the skull. having craved his pardon, and invited him to say a pater and the credo, he performed his office. the head rolled like a ball from the scaffold to the ground; the executioner caught it by the beard and placed it between the legs of the body, spreading a cloak over the whole, except the feet which showed from under it. after that the officer and his thirty arquebusiers went to fetch jacob mantel and wolf thomas, of heilbron, who had been brought to augsburg at the same time as vogelsberg. thomas was left at the foot of the scaffold. mantel walked round the platform and said a few words, which many people could not hear. as his stiff leg made it difficult for him to kneel down, the executioner slipped a footstool under the paralyzed limb. he failed to sever the head at the first stroke, and had to finish the operation below; then he once more covered up the body. there only remained wolf thomas. to judge by his dress and bearing he was not an ordinary man. he stared fixedly at the feet of vogelsberg, showing from under the cloak; then he took his eyes off, and told those around that he had been a loyal and faithful soldier for twenty-seven years, and that he died absolutely innocent, his sole crime consisted in having served the king of france during three months, as many an honest noble and squire had done before him without incurring the least punishment. he asked those around to forgive him as he forgave them, and to pray for him as he would intercede in their favour, he being firmly assured of a place near the almighty. he asked those who promised to say a pater and the _credo_ for him to hold up their hands. after that he was beheaded. at the termination of the triple execution the executioner cried in a loud voice from the scaffold: "in the name of his imperial majesty it is expressly forbidden to any one to serve the king of france on the penalty of sharing the fate of these three men." the death of vogelsberg caused universal regret. the unanimous opinion was that a soldier of such mettle was worth his weight in gold to a warlike monarch. sleidan alleges erroneously that the two judges exculpated lazarus von schwendi. it was the emperor who caused to be printed and distributed everywhere a small proclamation of half a sheet, declaring schwendi free from all blame, inasmuch as he strictly carried out the imperial orders, and that the speech of vogelsberg was obviously dictated by the desire to escape the most fully deserved punishment. the king of france, it was said, was so displeased at the cry of the executioner from the scaffold that by his orders the marquis de saluces, on his return from germany, was arrested and beheaded. this was the nobleman who at wittenberg had disadvised the execution of the elector of saxony. in april, augsburg witnessed the arrival of muleg-hassan, king of tunis. thirteen years previously he had been driven forth by barbarossa; subsequently he was re-established on his throne by the emperor, but his eldest son had ousted him and put his eyes out. a fugitive and wretched, he came to place himself under the protection of the emperor, and was soon joined in his exile by one of his sons. i often met these two on horseback, in company of lasky, the polish ambassador, who spoke their language. as the pope opposed, against all expectation, the holding at trent of a christian, free and impartial council, and experience having taught people besides that the learned men of both parties would never come to an agreement, the states of the empire proposed to his imperial majesty to confide to a restricted number of learned and god-fearing men the task of drawing up a document for the furtherance of the reign of god and the preservation of the public peace. in pursuance of this the emperor delegated personally the bishop of mayence, dr. george sigismund seld, and dr. heindrich hase. the king of the romans selected messire gandenz von madrutz. the elector of mayence chose his bishop suffragan; the elector of treves, johannes von leyen, canon of treves and of wurzburg; the elector of cologne, his provincial; the elector palatine, ritter wolf von affenstein; the elector of saxony, dr. fachs; the elector of brandenburg, eustacius von schlieben. the princes selected the bishop of augsburg, dr. heinrichmann; the duke of bavaria, dr. eck. the prelates selected the abbé von weingarten; the counts, count hugo de montfort; the towns: strasburg, jacob sturm; ulm, george besserer. these personages met on friday, february , , but they failed to agree, which might have easily been foreseen. the ecclesiastical members of the diet took advantage of the opportunity to have the book of the interim composed respectively by the bishop of naumburg, johannes pflug; by the bishop suffragan of mayence, appointed a little later on to the see of meiseburg, and by the court preacher to the elector of brandenburg, johannes agricola, otherwise eisleben, who coveted the bishopric of cammin. the imperial assent to this had to be obtained; they set to work in the following manner. the elector of brandenburg and his wife lived on a sumptuous footing at augsburg. the elector was fond of display; the electress, the daughter of a king of poland, was even more lavish than her spouse. the dearth of everything and the frequency and the profusion of the entertainments had already for a long time reduced the finances of his serene highness to a critical state. seven years previously, at the gathering of ratisbon, dr. conrad holde had already lent the prince close upon six thousand crowns. their repayment had been constantly, but unsuccessfully demanded. finally, at augsburg, in default of ready money, he received the written promise of repayment in four instalments at the dates of the frankfurt fairs. it was duly signed and sealed. nothing was wanting to its perfect legality; the most suspicious would have been satisfied. nevertheless, the payments were not made when due, and the creditor instituted proceedings before the imperial chamber. the elector did not know which way to turn; there was not a purse open to him. he was absolutely at a loss how to get his wife and his numerous suite decently away from augsburg when the bishop of salzburg made an end of his embarrassments by advancing him sixteen thousand hungarian florins on the duly executed promise of their being repaid in a short time. but the principal condition of the loan was that the elector of brandenburg should present to his imperial majesty the work of the three above-named personages, and bind himself and his subjects to submit to its provisions. the elector of saxony instructed christopher carlowitz to send a copy of the "interim" to philip melanchthon.[ ] the latter's reply was singularly devoid of courage. it was supposed to be inspired by the theologians of wittenberg and leipzig, who in that way sounded the first notes of "adiaphorism." carlowitz promptly communicated this epistle everywhere. it aroused general surprise, as well as the most opposed feelings; grief and consternation among the adherents to the augsburg confession, matchless jubilation among the catholics. and the lord alone knows how they bellowed it about in the four corners of germany, how they availed themselves of it to proclaim their victory. [illustration: melanchthon. _from a drawing by_ lucas cranach.] the ecclesiastical electors sent melanchthon's letter, together with the book, to the pope, and what with backslidings and plotting the pear was very soon ripe. the publication of the "interim" took place on may , at four o'clock in the afternoon, in presence of the states assembled. the emperor had it printed in latin and in german. in the first proofs handed to the emperor the passage from st. paul, "_justificati fide pacem habemus_," was altogether changed by the suppression of the word _fide_; the confessionists protested energetically, and confounded the would-be authors of the fraud. the stern tone of the act of promulgation stopped neither speeches nor scathing writings. sterling refutations were published even outside germany; the two best known are the latin treatise of calvin, which spread all over the empire--in italy, in france, in poland, etc.; and a piece of writing in german, which was more to the taste of everybody, and one of whose authors was Æpinus, superintendent of hamburg. seigneur de granvelle and his son, the bishop of arras, strongly persuaded the elector of saxony to adhere to the "interim," in order to regain his freedom, but the prince remained faithful to the confession of augsburg. thereupon they took away his books; there was no meat on his table on fast days, and his chaplain, whom he had kept with him with the consent of the emperor, had to fly in disguise. the landgrave, on the other hand, who did not care to profess greater wisdom than the fathers of the church, consented to recommend the book to his subjects, and begged to be pardoned for the sake of christ and all his saints. at the closure of the diet, i took, like his imperial majesty, the road to the low countries. the stay of the emperor at ulm brought about the dismissal of the council, which was replaced by more devoted creatures. the six ministers were bidden to accept the "interim." four of them were not to be shaken, and they were led away captive in the suite of the emperor; the other two, in spite of their apostasy, had to leave wives and children, and scant consideration was shown to them. at spires, the prior of the barefooted carmelites was, like all the brothers of his monastery, a good evangelical, though all had preserved the dress of their order. during four years i had seen him going to and fro in the town, dressed in his monk's frock; each sunday he went into the pulpit and the church was crowded to the very porch. never did he breathe a word about the pope or about luther, but he was a master of pure doctrine, and at the approach of the emperor he fled in a layman's dress. worms and the whole of the country lost their preachers. landau possessed a select group of learned and distinguished ministers, because the town offered many advantages; a delightful situation, excellent fare, and a splendid vineyard at the very gates of the town; but the ministers had to abandon the place to the popish priests, scamps without experience, without instruction, without piety, and without decency. i often had occasion afterwards to go to landau, where the advocate of my father, dr. engelhardt, resided. one sunday, at the termination of the mass, i heard a young and impudent good-for-nothing hold forth from the pulpit in the following strain: "the lutherans are opposed to the worship of mary and the saints. now, my friends, be good enough to listen to this. the soul of a man who had just died got to the door of heaven, and peter shut it in his face. luckily, the mother of god was taking a stroll outside with her sweet son. the deceased addresses her, and reminds her of the paters and the aves he has recited to her glory, the candles he has burned before her images. thereupon mary says to jesus, 'it's the honest truth, my son.' the lord, however, objected, and addressed the supplicant: 'hast thou never read that i am the way and the door to everlasting life?' he asks. 'if thou art the door, i am the window,' replies mary, taking the 'soul' by the hair and flinging it into heaven through the open casement. and now i ask you, is it not the same whether you enter paradise by the door or by the window? and those abominable lutherans dare to maintain that one must not invoke the virgin mary." that was the kind of scandalous irreligion exhibited in the places where formerly the healthy evangelical doctrine was preached. the landgrave's submission to the "interim" only brought him into contempt. his wife, who had hastened to spires to beseech the emperor, was allowed to remain day and night with the prisoner during his week's stay there. at the departure for worms i saw the landgrave pass at eight in the morning, with his escort of spaniards with long arquebuses. they hemmed him in in front, behind, and at the sides, while he himself was bestriding a broken-down nag with empty and open holsters, and the hilt of his sword securely tied to its sheath. a serried crowd of strangers and inhabitants, women and servants, old and young, were pressing around his escort, as if there had been an order given to that effect. they cried: "here goes the wretched rebel, the felon, the scoundrel that he is." they said worse things which, from certain scruples, i abstain from repeating. it looked like the procession of a vulgar malefactor who was being taken to the scaffold. pure chance made me an eye-witness of a diverting scene at augsburg. i have already said that duke maurice had ingratiated himself very much with the bavarian court ladies. one sunday, in december, when the weather was fine, he was ready to go out in a sleigh. i happened to be at the door with several others, who also heard the following dialogue. carlowitz came down the stairs of the chancellerie in hot haste, exclaiming: "whither is your highness going?" "to munich," was the answer. "but your highness has an audience to-morrow with the emperor." "i am going to munich," repeated the duke. thereupon carlowitz: "if, thanks to me, the electoral dignity is practically yours, it is nevertheless true that your frivolity causes you to be despised of their majesties and of all honourable people." maurice merely laid the whip on his horses, which started off at a gallop, carlowitz shouting at the top of his voice: "very well, then; go to the devil, and may heaven blast you and your sledge." when the prince returned, carlowitz announced his intention of going to leipzig. "if i miss the new year's fair," he said, "i shall lose several thousand crowns." the elector had only one means to make him stay, namely, to count out the sum to him. as the restoration of the imperial chamber necessitated my return to spires to watch my father's lawsuit, i wrote to pomerania to be dispensed from following the emperor. this is the answer from our princes. "greetings to our loyal and well-beloved. our counsellors have informed us of thy request, which we should willingly grant thee if it were not prejudicial to our interests and those of the country, and which thou hast up to the present administered. we therefore invite thee to exercise some patience, and to serve us with zeal and fidelity as heretofore; inclined as we are to recall thee after the diet to give thee unquestionable proofs of our great satisfaction, as well as the means satisfactorily to bring to an end the paternal affairs. we rely on thy obedience, and bind ourselves to confirm all our promises as above. given under our hand at stettin-the-old, sunday after st. james, in the year ." i had lived uninterruptedly for a twelvemonth at augsburg, save for one ride to munich, a city well worth seeing. the diet being about to dissolve, i bought a horse, an acquisition which that big dreamer of a normann deferred from day to day. of course, the inevitable happened. the moment the emperor had announced his forthcoming departure everybody wanted horses, and he who had ordered himself a handsome dress, sold it at half-price in order to get a roadster. normann, who, in spite of my warnings, had waited till the eleventh hour, unable to find a suitable mount, took mine, which had been well fed and looked after in anticipation of the long journey. i by no means relished this unceremonious proceeding, but i could not help myself, and was compelled to put up with a seat on a big fourgon, in which i placed the golden cups intended for granvelle. at ulm, martin weyer decided that normann should give me back my horse when we reached spires, and that he should go the rest of the way by the rhine. when we got to spires, normann was not to be found there, and we finally learnt that he had gone to the baths of zell with the chimerical hope of getting rid of his pimples which disfigured him. i confided the two pieces of goldsmith's work to dr. louis zigler, the procurator to our princes, then went by coach to oppenheim, and by water to mayence. on september our ship reached cologne, and next morning i went in search of a good horse to pursue my route in company of friends, when, whom should i meet in the street but normann. as a consequence, i was obliged to change my inn, and to part with my company. normann was in treaty for a horse, which he finally bought. in that way we were both provided for, but without a servant, each man taking care of his own horse; however, the ostlers were excellent, and there was no need to watch; one had only to command. we started for the low countries on september , the emperor going down the rhine in a boat. next day, at the branching off of the high road, we hesitated. on inquiring at the nearest inn we were told that one road led to maestricht, and the other to aix-la-chapelle. the first-named was the shorter by six miles; on the other hand, aix-la-chapelle is the famous city founded by charlemagne. it contains the royal throne, it is the city where the emperor is crowned after his election at frankfurt. after we had discussed the "for" and "against" at some length, we hit upon the idea of giving our horses their heads, and leaving the bridles on their necks. by some subtle and mysterious intuition the animals chose, according to our secret desire, the road to aix-la-chapelle. the city itself is large and in ancient style. the country around is barren, the soil consisting of coal, stone and slate. previous to the foundation of the city it was simply a wilderness. there are some excellent mineral springs; the bath, constructed in beautiful hewn stone, is square, and about fourteen feet long; three steps enable one to sit down with the water up to the throat, or to be immersed at a small depth. except the baths of the landgravate of baden, i know of no other arrangement equally comfortable. at the town hall, castle, and arsenal of charlemagne there are hundreds of thousands of sharp iron arrows stowed away in closed chests. on entering the church one immediately notices an ivory and gold armchair, fastened with exceeding great art. at the lower end of the nave, to the west, a huge crown of at least twelve feet diameter is suspended. i do not know the nature of the material, but it is gilt and painted in colours. in the way of relics there are the hose of joseph. they are only shown at stated times, but whoever has the privilege of seeing them has a great many of his sins remitted. on september we reached brussels in brabant, and there i received the order to go back to my country, the functions of solicitor to the imperial chamber having been conferred upon me. hence, on st. denis' day, i began this journey of more than a hundred miles, alone and across unknown countries, with abominable roads, above all in westphalia. i was often obliged to stay the night at places which were more than suspect, and when only half-way my horse came to grief in consequence of normann's former rough usage. i had to swop it, paying a sum of money besides, and was unfortunate enough to have come across a veritable crock which i was obliged to keep, there being no help for it. finally, through good and evil i reached wolgast on all saints' day. chapter iii how i held for two years the office of _solicitator_ at the imperial chamber at spires--visit to herr sebastian münster--journey to flanders--character of king philip--i leave the princes' service as soon as my nomination was drawn up, i was dispatched with it to chancellor citzewitz, at his estate of muttrin, near dantzig. the principal personages of the land had come to consult him, and he kept me for more than ten days with him in excellent company, making me share their favourite recreation, and the thing that bored me most, namely, the chase, to which the country admirably lends itself. i returned with the chancellor to stettin, where my warrant of appointment was duly signed and sealed. at wolgast duke philip interrogated me at length in his own study, and with no one else present, on the condition of affairs at augsburg and brussels. he was much surprised at my boldness in having given him such a plain and straightforward account of the doings of the court. "if only one of your letters had been intercepted, they would have strung you up at the nearest tree," he said. this was no exaggeration on his part; and supposing such a catastrophe had happened, he would, in spite of everything, have remained a prince of the empire, while there would have been an end of me. of course, my behaviour gave him the measure of my devotion to him. he promised me a good horse; besides this, the ducal kitchen provided all that was necessary for a farewell banquet, and, in fact, at supper some pages brought us two hares from the prince's larder. i received a hundred crowns for my loyal services, and an appointment of one hundred and forty per annum; the cost of copying and dispatch of messengers being charged to their highnesses. i went to say good-bye to my parents at stralsund. my mother had ordered for my sister chains and clasps which the goldsmith had as yet not delivered. i paid for them, and, moreover, left thirty crowns at home. "use them, if there be any need. i'll manage to make both ends meet with what remains." duke philip had given me a strong and lively hunter. behind the saddle i had a small saddle-bag, like the court messengers. my brother christian accompanied me as far as leipzig, where we wished to be for the fair. our journey was an uneventful one, except that one day in mesnia, having lost our way, we came at the end of a big forest upon a small tenement which was the residence of a poor gentleman. the fast gathering darkness compelled us to knock at the noble's dwelling, which was inhabited by a young widow of only a few weeks' standing with her mother-in-law. the bad-tempered old woman roughly refused us shelter. "go wherever you like," she snarled. her daughter-in-law, on the other hand, said; "we did not expect any one, and we do not keep an inn, but it is getting darker and darker, and you would have to go a long way before finding one. if you will be content with our humble accommodation, you may remain for the night." at these words the other one storms and raves. "may the devil take you and them. you have found some youngsters who are to your taste, and you have already forgotten my son." i tried to appease her. "we have never before been in this country," i said to her; "at daybreak we'll be able to find our way. you need not be afraid of our using unsuitable language or doing aught that is not right, and we'll be satisfied with whatever accommodation you can give us, as long as our horses have some fodder and some straw. for all this we'll willingly pay." the virago, however, turned a deaf ear to this. if we were not the lovers of her daughter-in-law why should we have come at this late hour in the neighbourhood where no stranger ever came? the young woman was very patient throughout. after having provided us with hay and straw for our horses, she took us to a lofty room of very modest appearance. there was no man or woman servant to be seen; our supper, though, was none the worse for it. after she had set all our provisions before us, our hostess sat down and told us the sad existence she was leading. the bed was moderately comfortable, and the sheets were clean. we paid more than was asked. at leipzig i stopped two days to rest my horse. i gave my brother the wherewithal for his return journey, and continued my way alone. the country as far as frankfurt was known to me. from butzbach i went by niederweisel and the hundfruck, a route i had often pursued with my former master, the commander of st. john. it is more direct than by friburg, but it swarms with highway robbers. as i was walking my horse up the slope of the forest i caught sight of two horsemen who were evidently bent on waiting for me, as they posted themselves, the one to the left and the other to the right of the road, and when i was between them they began interpellating me in a gruff voice. "from what country?" "from pomerania." "what hast thou got in thy valise?" "letters." "whither art thou going?" "to spires." "to whom dost thou belong?" "to the dukes of pomerania. here is my safe-conduct." thereupon one of them became more friendly. "and how is his highness duke philip, that excellent prince? i knew him very well at heidelberg." and on my recommendation for them to go their way and to let me go mine, they looked at me very hard for a few moments, but did not follow me. i sold my horse and equipment at frankfurt, and went down the main as far as mayence, whence, going up the rhine, i got to oppenheim, and by the coach to worms and spires. i reached the latter town on january , . i hired a room with a dressing closet at a clothshearer's, who was also a councillor. i also boarded with him, like many young doctors of law and other notable persons detained at spires by their functions or by their wish to get practical experience. dr. simeon engelhardt, who, by the express act of a formal decision of his imperial majesty, had not been reinstated in his office of procurator any more than his brother-in-law, the licentiate bernard mey and johannes helfmann had transferred his household goods to landau. at his recommendation, dr. johannes portius, for procurator, and i brought him so many clients that he would accept no fees from me. engelhardt remained my advocate, notwithstanding the inconvenience of the distance between us. how often have i walked the four miles between spires and landau! by starting at the closing of the gates, i reached landau for the hour fixed for their opening; the morning sufficed to transact my business with the doctor, and my return journey was accomplished in the afternoon. nor did engelhardt claim any fees, but i remember having taken to him a client who for a single act paid him twenty crowns without his asking. the correspondence, thanks to the pomeranian couriers always at my disposal, was equally cheap. the lloytz of stettin chose me as their solicitor.[ ] martin weyer, in the "cammin" affair, did the same. there were others, and all, except weyer, paid me handsomely. i was getting well known among the procurators, and i finally acted _pro principale vel adjuncto notario_. i earned, then, sufficient to live comfortably without having recourse to the paternal purse. i even could put aside the whole of my appointments, and something over. the chief benefit, however, lay in the acquisition of experience, the fruits of which have extended to the whole of my family, because my pen has always been the sole means of livelihood. if that business be well learnt and well carried out, it leaves no one to starve. folks may mention the word scribe with as much contempt as they please; the fact remains that i have had many a choice morsel, and drunk delicious draughts through being a scribe. from spires i wrote to sebastian münster that their highnesses were particularly anxious not to hurry the printing of his excellent _cosmographie_, because a special messenger was to bring him a description of pomerania the moment it was finished, and that it would prove not the least valuable ornament of his work. he sent word that it was impossible for him to delay; his step-son was so deeply engaged in the undertaking that he would be ruined if he missed the next lent fair at frankfurt. i transmitted the reply to pomerania; the same messenger brought back a big bundle of notes, unfortunately incomplete, as they pointed out to me. i promptly sent them to sebastian münster, promising to let him have the rest the moment i received them. he kindly sent me an autograph letter, which my children will find joined to that of dr. martin luther.[ ] it struck me that an interview with sebastian münster would enable me to inform our princes accurately. the imperial chamber had its vacation. it was an excellent opportunity to see alsace, flowing with corn and wine, so many handsome towns, the seat of the margrave of baden, bishops and courts, and, above all, the city of basle. hence, i undertook the journey on foot, an affair of about sixty miles there and back. at strasburg i lodged at my friend's, daniel capito, a poor home, but we took our meals at the tavern of the _ammeister_.[ ] in the church at basle i saw the stone statue of desiderius erasmus, of rotterdam. i invited herr lepusculus, the fugitive of augsburg, to dinner, and we talked of many interesting things. i also became well acquainted with sebastian münster, who gave me a most hearty welcome. a huge room of his house contained a quantity of plates, either cast, engraved on wood or on copper. they had come from germany, italy or france; they were geographical, astronomical, or mathematical drawings, representing pieces of engineering work for the use of miners, and views of cities, countries, castles, or convents, that were to figure in his _cosmographie_. he was most anxious for me to stay with him, so that he might show me the objects of interest connected with the town; unfortunately, my time was too short. after having taken leave of münster and lepusculus, i went back to spires on foot. i was just in time for a message from pomerania relative to the lawsuit between duke barnim and the town of stolpe. the latter, on the pretext of an attempt against its privileges, had deputed simon wolder to attend upon the emperor. wolder was a young jackanapes without education, but pushing and cunning, and by dint of intriguing he obtained the confirmation of the said privileges, and for himself the imperial safeguard. the people of stolpe had their triumph, and to judge by their swaggering one would have concluded they had no longer anything in common with their prince and lord. duke barnim, though, having entered the town amidst his soldiers, summoned the council and the burghers to the town hall, and when he got them there, he forbade those who had had a hand in the intriguing to stir, while the others should stand aside. the majority of those present changed their positions; the rest, and notably the burgomaster schwabe, a near relation to the bishop of cammin, were imprisoned at stettin, at greiffenberg, and at treptow, while simon wolder fled to the emperor, who was fighting the white moors (?) in africa. he succeeded in obtaining from the emperor the categorical order for releasing the prisoners, on the express penalty of being put "under the ban"; but that injunction arrived too late. the friends of the prisoners humbly interceded for them, and each liberation was bought at a heavy fine and after a long detention. as for wolder, far from resting on his oars, he pursued his intrigues at the imperial court, ingratiating himself with the princes, the nobles, and the cities. he enjoyed great favour; he dressed magnificently. where did the money for all this display come from? in short, at the restoration of the imperial chamber, an action was begun. the dukes of pomerania had unquestionably cause for anxiety, for their relations with the emperor were already very strained, and the latter's victory made him very disinclined to exercise much consideration to the partisans of the augsburg confession. simon wolder was jubilant; he looked upon the business as good as won; judges and assessors were papists, and their highnesses under a cloud of imperial disgrace. we devoted the most serious attention at spires to the suit; procurator ziegler and advocate johannes kalte amply did their duty; if need had been, i was there to spur them on. at stettin, on the contrary, martin weyer and dr. schwallenberger, to whom the affair was entrusted, were mere sluggards whose conduct was disgraceful. we shall meet with schwallenberger again. in may our counsellors wrote to me to take the two golden cups to brussels to them. the rumour ran, in fact, that the emperor's son was coming from spain in great pomp; and our envoys hoped to secure, through the influence of certain important personages, his intercession with the emperor. i started immediately, going down the rhine as far as the meuse, and pursuing my journey by land by way of s'hertogenbosch (bois le due) and louvain. when i had delivered my precious deposit, the wish to see something of flanders impelled me to ghent. it is a big city, formerly endowed with important privileges. for instance, the emperor could impose no taxes in flanders or demand anything without the assent of the said city. charles v has deprived it of its privileges. he has razed a convent and several houses to the ground, and on their site built a castle with huge, deep moats filled with water, besides other remarkable outworks, so that the city is at his mercy. in the centre of ghent there rises a high steeple. i climbed to the top, and it is from there that the emperor and his brother ferdinand chose the spot whereon to build their fortress; they traced there, _propriis manibus_, their symbolum in red chalk. the castle where charles v saw the light is a decrepit, unsightly kind of tenement, surrounded by water, and accessible only by a drawbridge. at the head of the bridge, on the parapet, there are two bronze statues; one is kneeling, and behind it there is the second with uplifted sword. tradition has it that they represent two men condemned to death, father and son, for whom no executioner could be found. they then promised the father a full pardon if he would behead his son. at his refusal the offer was made to the son, who accepted it with joy and gratitude, and severed his father's head from the trunk. in antwerp i met with herr heinrich buchow, the future counsellor of stralsund. we had both heard much about the house of gaspard duitz, about a good mile distant from the city. people compared it to the castle of trent, some even said that it was handsomer. we obtained a letter from the owner to his steward, who showed us everything, and really rumour had not been guilty of exaggeration. though there were a great number of them, each room was differently decorated; each contained a bed and a table. the hangings were of the same colour as the bed-curtains, and the cloth on the table which was either of velvet or damask, black, red or violet, as the case might be. musical instruments everywhere, but varying in every room. here a kettledrum; there polish viols, elsewhere lutes, harps, zithers, hautboys, bassoons, swiss fifes, etc. the girl who showed us over the place quite correctly played the kettledrum, the viol and the lute. in front of the house a beautiful garden cultivated with art, and enhanced by many exotics. further on a zoological collection. the ground floor has one hall of such magnificence that one day madame marie entertained her brother there. the emperor, having looked and appreciated everything, asked: "to whom, sister mine, belongs this house?" "to our treasurer." "well," rejoined the emperor, "our treasurer evidently knows the science of profit-making." this gaspard duitz, an italian by birth, a shrewd and even cunning merchant, had exercised commerce on a large scale at antwerp, and failed twice if not three times. when he had thousands upon thousands of crowns in hand, he asked his creditors for five years' delay. madame marie, for instance, gave him such letters of respite. of course, those rogueries made him very wealthy, and when madame marie was in need of money, her treasurer came to her aid. a house in antwerp, which had cost him thousands of florins, not having realized his expectations--the drawbacks of a structure becoming only apparent after it is finished--he had it razed to the ground and rebuilt according to his taste. the count maximilian van buren (the same who, in the schmalkalden campaign, took the dutch horsemen to the emperor), having heard of duitz's famous country seat, "invited himself" to it. master gaspard treated his visitor magnificently, showed him everything, and when taking leave inquired if perchance the count had noticed some fault or shortcoming in the decorations or general disposition of the whole; for, if such were the case, he would alter it, even if he had to send for artists from venice or rome. "no," replied the count; "the only thing wanting is a high gallows at the entrance, with gaspard duitz securely swinging from it." that was the count's acknowledgment of his host's hospitality, and he might have added: "with a crown on his head, as an arch-thief."[ ] from antwerp i went to malines. what an admirable country! louvain, brussels and antwerp, three big and handsome cities, are at an equal distance from each other, and malines, which one always has to cross to get to either, stands in the centre. along the route there are magnificent castles and lordly dwellings. malines is a pretty city, though the smallest of the four; the water is brought there _labore et industriâ hominum_, and enables one to reach antwerp by boat. i saw the damage caused by the lightning of august , , when it fell on a powder magazine, which was entirely destroyed, together with the outer wall; huge quarters were hurled on the roofs of houses. there was a great loss of life and property. at malines i went to see vogel heine, who, in the days of maximilian i, the great-great-grandfather of the present emperor, went in advance to prepare the night quarters. the emperor had left him sufficient to live upon; the woman who took care of him had her lodging and firing. heine was so old and so decrepit as to be unable to stir from a room that was constantly heated. people gave the woman a small tip to see her charge, and in that way she made for herself a small income instead of wages. from louvain i took the most direct and shortest road to juliers and cologne; at the latter place i put up at _the angel_. the host had a raven that spoke, and even understood what was said to it. if, in the evening, there was a knock at the door, the bird asked: "is anybody knocking?" "yes," replied the new-comer. but as the travellers' room happened to be at the back of the house, overlooking the rhine, nobody stirred, and the knocking was repeated, the bird, on its part, repeating the same question. "can't you hear?" said the claimant for admission, out of patience, and knocking much louder, so that they could hear it from the travellers' room. naturally, the servant came to open the door, and endeavoured to mollify the would-be guest's anger by saying that they had heard no knocking. thereupon the other called him a liar, or at any rate treated him as such; thereupon the cage with the bird in it was pointed out as evidence, and everything was well. the bird, upon the whole, was most remarkable, and many great personages made the most tempting offers for it, which were always refused. six or seven years later, when i visited cologne again, i inquired what had become of the bird, and its owner told me that he was then at law with a gentleman who, coming in drunk, had drawn his sword and cut the bird's head off. the host assured me that he would sooner have lost three hundred crowns. after having gone up the rhine as far as mayence, i took the coach to spires. in june king philip, the emperor's son, came to spires with a numerous suite. his father had appointed the cardinal of trent, a seigneur de madrutz, as his marshal. the king was then about twenty-two years of age, my junior by seven. his far from intellectual face gave little hope of his equalling his father one day. the elector of heidelberg, the other counts palatine, the ecclesiastical electors, all of them in their state carriages, attended on him when he went to church. well, i often saw his father under similar circumstances. when he came out of his apartments and mounted his horse in the courtyard, where princes and electors already in the saddle awaited him, he was the first to take his hat off. if it happened to rain, so much the worse. he remained bare-headed, and was not the less affable either in speech or gesture. he held out his hand to everybody, and did the same when he came back. when, at the foot of the staircase, he turned out, faced his escort, took off his hat, and bade them farewell in a gracious manner. king philip, on the contrary, was most exacting with the electors and the princes, though many of them were old men. while the latter dismounted at the door of the church, philip went in without troubling about them, making signs behind his back with his hands for them to march by his side, but they merely followed him. after the service they accompanied the king back to the palace. he jumped down, and went up the stairs without a look or a word of farewell. his marshal had, nevertheless, told him that there was a great difference between spanish and german princes. as a proof of this, he quoted to him the paternal example, as typified by the consideration shown to the german nobles by the emperor, but philip answered: "between myself and my father, the difference is as great, for he is only the son of a king; i am the son of an emperor." after having officially made their appearance, the princes promptly left for their own states. philip spent a few more days hunting and going about, his suite being reduced to fourteen or twelve horses, and then the duke of aarschot came for him, by order of the emperor, to take him with a magnificent escort to brussels. notwithstanding my constant reminders to them of the mortal danger of delay, the stettin authorities were terribly slow in sending me the most indispensable documents for the serious lawsuit against the town of stolpe. as some people, moreover, were attempting to discredit me with duke barnim, i wrote to chancellor falck, who answered me: "you do not deserve the slightest reproach. all the neglect is on this side; but, in truth, the whole of your letter is so much arabic to me, because i have not the faintest idea of the lawsuit itself." that is how things are managed at courts. on the banks of the rhine it is the custom to organize at twelfth night a complete court--king, marshal, steward, cup-bearer, etc. as a matter of course, the court fool is indispensable. the charges are drawn for by lot; each pays part of the expenses; alone the fool is exempt. in there gathered round our table a young baron from the low countries, a bright young fellow, with considerable experience of the world, also several persons of consideration who were detained at spires by their law business. it fell to my lot to be king, with the baron for my marshal. as for the fool, chance had picked out our host, the priest, and nature seemed really to have created him for the part. in my capacity of king i had a many-coloured hooded cloak of english linen made for him. when we had visitors, and, thanks to the gay baron, this happened frequently, our host put on his cloak and took our guests to task. we shook with laughter, but he himself fared very well by it, for his buffoonery brought him many silver and even gold pieces. he bought himself silver bells for his cap, and his cloak became spangled with gold and silver coins. this went on until "kingdom" time, which is celebrated one sunday evening between twelfth night and shrovetide. there are three or four kingdoms each sunday, and the masked people of both sexes go from one gathering to another in fancy dress and accompanied by musicians. they have the right of three dances with those who give the entertainments. all this afforded capital opportunities for every kind of dissipation and debauch. one evening, for instance, it happened that a husband and his wife, after having danced together, divided for the second dance and came together for the third, without, however, recognizing each other. side by side they went to another house, and having understood each other's desires by the pressure of their hands, they indulged their sudden fancy on their way in the penumbra of a clothworker's shop in the market place, and never did the hallowed joys of matrimony taste like the forbidden fruit of infidelity; at any rate, so each imagined. being anxious to know who was his partner, the swain cut a snippet from her dress and, moreover, made her a present of a gold piece, then both joined the rest of the company. the husband was a chamois-leather dresser, and next morning some one came to buy a skin, and tendered a large coin. as he had no change himself, he took his wife's satchel and found the golden piece, which he recognized at once. when the customer was gone, the dame had to show the gown she wore on the previous evening, the husband confronted her with the abstracted piece of stuff. denial was impossible, but the one happened to be as guilty as the other. we gave our fool ample opportunity to adorn his dress. at the carnival he made himself conspicuous by many pleasant quips and pranks; the marshal also did wonders, standing erect before his majesty, and zealously attending upon him by bringing up the dishes, carving the viands, and cleaning the table with many genuflections and kissing of hands. the king paid very dearly for his three or four hours' reign. our host was a careless, irresponsible creature, more fit for the life of camps or of courts than for the priesthood; a gambler, a rogue, a boaster, a drunkard, a brawler, and an adept at jesting and practical joking. he did not care whether his boarders were papists or evangelicals. he was one of the three who celebrated early mass at the cathedral. his young boarders, the graduates, were fond of cards, and clever gamblers. they thought that a seasoned gamester like their host must necessarily be a valuable adviser, so they spent their night round the board. about three in the morning their landlord cried: "brothers, don't you move; i am going to say mass. but it will be short and sweet; just long enough to blow the dust off the altar, and i'll be back." and he was as good as his word. it was a custom to place, during the night of good friday, a crucifix in one of the lateral chapels, and the three priests who said early mass were deputed to watch over it. long files of matrons prostrated themselves, face downward, and deposited their offerings. on one occasion, towards three in the morning, the reverend guardians who no longer expected contributors, divided the receipts and began to gamble. thanks to his long practice, our host won every penny to the annoyance of his colleagues. a quarrel ensued at the foot of the cross, followed by blows; our man being the strongest, the victory and the money remained with him. in "rogation week" the clergy in their richest vestments, and carrying crosses, banners, and relics, perambulate the fields, followed by crowds of men and women. a young priest, thinking this a propitious time for an assignation, left the procession, and disappeared among the standing corn, whither a young damsel went after him. two workmen, though, had noticed the manoeuvre; they watched for the opportune moment, surprised the couple, and only left the "black beetle" after having stripped him of his gown and surplice, both which "proofs positive" they brought to the dean of the chapter. i have not the least doubt that the king of spain interceded in favour of our princes. assiduous solicitations, but above all the goldsmiths' work and the gratifications so much prized at courts and in large cities, mollified the influential counsellers, the seigneur de granvelle, his son, the bishop of arras, and others. the emperor finally consented to an arrangement, one of the conditions of which was the payment of a fine of ninety thousand florins. the imperial chancellerie demanded three thousand florins for engrossing the act of reconciliation, which i could have done as elegantly in one day. the bishop of arras, to whom reverted half the chancellery fees, abandoned them in our favour, but he lost nothing by his generosity. in sum, this little matter cost two hundred thousand florins. one of the conditions imposed upon our princes was the acceptance of the "interim." the pomeranian clergy unanimously rejected this work of satan. the council of stralsund summoned the ministers before it to forbid them pronouncing the word "interim" from the pulpit, and, above all, to add any ill-sounding expression to it on the penalty of being deposed from their sacred office. as for the doctrines themselves, they were at liberty to weigh and to refute them by the holy scriptures. but superintendent johannes freder, an obstinate and narrow-minded man, replied that as a good shepherd he neither could nor would deliver his flock to the rage of devouring wolves, for to do this would be to imperil his own body and soul. he furthermore said that if he were dismissed god would provide, and that, moreover, men of education were not liked at stralsund. the council adjourned the meeting, and two of its members intimated his dismissal to freder. the next day the ministers presented a petition signed by all except johannes niemann. they claimed their liberty of conscience and their right to serve the cause of truth by denouncing from the pulpit the damnable abominations of the "interim." "one must obey god rather than men," they said. the impetuous alexis grosse and johannes berckmann were conspicuous by their anger. they hurled the most offensive accusations against honest niemann, and tried to carry things with such a high hand that the council, greatly irritated, decided there and then upon the dismissal of grosse, after payment of the arrears due to him. the other preachers expected the same fate, but matters went no farther, so niemann would have risked nothing by adding his signature to that of his colleagues. besides, the interim was assailed from every direction; the attacks were made in german, in latin, in italian, in french, and in spanish. every line was weighed and refuted in the name of the holy word. the pope, for very shame, did not know where to hide his face. let my children bear in mind the high degree of fortune attained by the emperor. at the summit of that prosperity, when everything seemed to proceed according to his desires, he imagined that unhindered he could break his promise to undertake nothing against the augsburg confession. for love of the pope, he contemplated ruining the unshakable stronghold of luther. from that moment the emperor's star waned; all his enterprises failed. instead of being razed to the ground, luther's stronghold was, on the contrary, furnished with solid ramparts, and to-day it counts powerful defenders in germany, such as the duke of prussia, the margrave of baden, the margrave ernest von pforzheim, and others, while among other nations the number of champions inspired by the blood of the martyrs is constantly on the increase. that stronghold shall set its enemies at defiance for evermore. at stettin they went on blackening my character so effectually that dr. schwallenberg succeeded in getting himself sent on a mission to repair the effects of my supposed neglect. on my side, i had made up my mind to resign the functions of solicitor, and to leave spires in december. i wrote to that effect to chancellor citzewitz, giving him the motives for my decision. at his arrival dr. schwallenberg took up his quarters at a canon's of his acquaintance--an easy method of being boarded and lodged for nothing; he had retrenched in that way all along the route, though taking care to put down his expense in the usual manner. when i presented myself at his summons, he was at table; he did not ask me to sit down, adopted a haughty tone, and even wished me to serve him. i, however, protested energetically. "this is not part of my duty. if there was an attempt to impose it upon me, i should refuse it; in that respect i have finished my apprenticeship. on the other hand, the advocate and i are very anxious to have your views on the affairs of our princes which have entailed so much writing upon me, at present without any result. will you please name your own time?" "i'll see the advocate by himself," replied schwallenberg. and, in fact, he went to the lawyer, but instead of entering upon the discussion of the urgent questions, he insinuated that i was a fifth wheel on the coach. "get him dismissed, and his emoluments will increase your modest fees," he remarked. the advocate was an honourable man. he replied that i was being slandered, and that he did not care about earning money by means of a cabal. thereupon dr. schwallenberg went for a trip to strasburg. at his return the arguments of the case were ready, but he refused to read them, alleging that they had to be submitted to the dukes. i dispatched a messenger, who also carried a missive from schwallenberg. the latter then departed for the diet of ratisbon. in due time came the princes' answer, and feeling certain that it related to the lawsuit, i opened it and read as follows: "very learned, dear and faithful! we are pleased to express to thee our particular satisfaction at thy diligence at re-establishing our affairs, so greatly compromised by our solicitor that without thy arrival on the spot they would have entirely lapsed. as for the arguments thou hast elaborated with the advocate, we have ordered them to be returned to thee the moment our counsellors shall have examined and according to need amended them. we also authorize thee to go to the diet of ratisbon at our cost, etc." it would be difficult to conceive blacker treachery. for at least a twelvemonth i had despatched messenger after messenger for instructions. in spite of that, all the delay had been imputed to me. a rogue presented as his work arguments not one word of which belonged to him; he had not even taken the trouble to read the documents. and while the princes tendered him their thanks, my disgrace was complete. i had no longer anything to expect from my fellow-men; the almighty, however, chose that moment to make my innocence patent to every one, and to confound my enemies. thus was mordecai laden with honours after the ignominious fall of haman. yes, even before the arguments were sent back from pomerania, the chamber delivered the following judgment: "in the matter of the town of stolpe and of simon wolder against his grace barnim, duke of pomerania, etc., we decide and declare that the said duke is acquitted of all the charges and obligations advanced against him by the plaintiffs." what hast thou to say against that, infamous libeller? hide thy head with shame, vile hypocrite! the feelings with which i despatched a special messenger to the duke may easily be imagined. it may be equally taken for granted that i did not mince matters in pointing out the merits of dr. schwallenberg. and although his diabolical machinations had filled my heart with sadness, they turned to my profit and my salvation, so true it is that the lord converts evil into good. i was, however, strengthened in my decision to abandon the office of solicitor, and, above all, the princes' service, and that notwithstanding citzewitz's offer, both verbal and in writing, of a profitable position at the chancellerie of wolgast. i had become disgusted with the life at courts. a new career was open to me in a town where, though the devil and his acolytes have not quite given up the game, there is nevertheless a means of enjoying one's self and to live and die according to god's precepts. my sister, who was married to peter frubose, burgomaster of greifswald, proposed to me to marry her sister-in-law. as i expected to be at greifswald on new year's day, i wrote to her to arrange the wedding before the carnival. a cabinet messenger, who was going home for good, sold me a young grey trotting horse, with its bridle and saddle. everything being wound up and settled with the advocates and procurators, etc., and having taken regular leave of them, i bade farewell to spires on december , , so disgusted with the imperial chamber as to have made up my mind never to return to it during my life. i had remained in foreign parts for five years in the interests of my father's lawsuit, in addition to the two years i had spent in behalf of the dukes of pomerania. these years were not altogether without result. in fact, both in the chancelleries of margrave ernest and of the commander of st. john, as well as at the secretary's office of our dukes and at the diets, i furthered my own affairs and amassed more money than many a doctor. it had all been done by my talent as a law writer, an art which is neither taught in bartolus nor in baldus, but which requires much application, memory, readiness to oblige and constant practice. truly, i had worked day and night, and, as this narrative shows, incurred many dangers. many folk after me, dazzled by my success, tried in their turn to become law writers, but they very soon succumbed to the monotony of the business, to the incessant labour, to the protracted vigils, to hunger, thirst, cares and dangers. barely one in a hundred succeeds. i reached stettin on december , and, all things considered, there was nothing to grumble at in the welcome i received. the counsellors, among whom were schwallenberg's confederates, heard my explanations at length as they said on behalf of the prince. i was warned that they had agreed upon baulking me of an audience. the next day they informed me that the duke was as pleased with the energy i had shown as with the tenour of my report, and that i was authorized to bring a plaint against schwallenberg. as for the prince's promise of a gratification, he had not forgotten it, and he asked me to exercise patience for a few days. he evidently wished to consult with the court of wolgast. i answered as follows: "great is my joy to learn that my lord and master appreciates my devotion and acknowledges how undeserved was my disgrace. i should be grieved to have to attack dr. schwallenberger on the eve of my marriage. the evidence, however, is conclusive; the duke is more interested than i in the punishment of the rogue. what, after all, have i to gain by a lawsuit now that the prince, heaven be praised, thanks me by word of mouth and in writing? nor is it possible for me to wait here for the promised recompense. i prefer to come back after the wedding." when they became aware of my determination to abandon the court for the city, all the counsellors intoned a "hallelujah." there was an instantaneous change of language and behaviour to me. they were lavish with offers of service, but the first sentence of chancellor citzewitz at our meeting was: "a plague upon the bird that will not wait for the stroke of fortune." here ends the story of my life previous to my marriage. part iii chapter i arrival at greifswald--betrothal and marriage--an old custom--i am in peril--martin weyer, bishop i reached greifswald on january , , at nightfall. i was thirty years old. after i had written to stralsund for my parents' consent, and had conferred with my greifswald relatives and those of my future wife, the invitations for the betrothal were sent out on both sides. on january , in the chapel of the grey friars, at eight in the morning, master matthew frubose made a solemn promise to give me his daughter, in the presence of the burgomasters, councillors, and a large number of notable burghers. burgomaster bunsow gave me a loan of two hundred florins. the worshipful council had been obliged to suppress the dances at weddings, because the manner in which the men whirled the matrons and damsels round and round had become indecent. those who infringed the order, no matter what was their condition, were cited before the minor court. it so happened that a week after our betrothal my intended and i were invited to a wedding at one of the principal families. when the wedding banquet was over, my betrothed came back to me, and, being ignorant of the council's orders, i danced with her, but most quietly, and a very short time. notwithstanding this, an officer of the court came the next morning and summoned me to appear. at the first blush i could scarcely credit such an instance of incivility. moreover, it boded ill, and i could not help foreseeing struggles, animosities, and persecution in this manner of bidding me welcome by a satellite of the hangman after an absence of eight years. does not the poet say, _omina principiis semper inesse solent_? i was very indignant, and ran to the eldest of the burgomasters. he pointed out to me that urgent and severe proceedings were necessary against the coarse licence of the students and others, but my case being entirely different, he promised to stay all proceedings. i had not said a word about the dowry, and least of all had i inquired as to its amount; but my sister told me that my father-in-law gave his daughter two hundred florins. i made no answer. my chief concern was to get a wife. according to my brother's calculations, one hundred marks yearly would suffice to keep the house. experience told me a different story. i went to stralsund for my wedding clothes and other necessary things. my father gave me some sable furs he had had for many years. i bought the cloth for the coat as well as the rest of my marriage outfit. my father had put in pledge the things i intended offering to my bride. i was obliged to redeem them. among several other objects there was a piece of velvet for collarettes for my betrothed and my sister. at frankfurt-on-the-main i had bought a dagger ornamented with silver. those various purchases exhausted my stock of money. although i had invited my numerous stralsund relatives on both sides in good time, only johannes gottschalk, my old schoolfellow and colleague at the chancellerie of wolgast, came to my wedding. he made me a present of a golden florin of lubeck. my marriage took place at greifswald on february , . as i was one of the last to "mount the stone," it may be interesting to give an account of that old custom. at three in the afternoon, and just before the celebration of the marriage service, the bridegroom was conducted to the market place between two burgomasters, or, in default of these, between the two most prominent wedding guests. at one of the angles of the place there was a square block of stone, on which the bridegroom took up his position, the guests ranging themselves in good order about fifty paces away. the pipers gave him a morning greeting lasting about five or six minutes, after which he resumed his place in the wedding procession. the purpose of the ceremony, according to tradition, was to give everybody an opportunity of addressing some useful remark to the bridegroom at that critical moment. these remarks were often more forcible and outspoken than flattering, and were not always distinguished by their strict adherence to the truth. johannes bunsow, the son of the burgomaster, had been a suitor for my wife's hand; the preliminary arrangements to the marriage were as good as completed, and the invitations to the betrothal festivities were about to be sent out when everything was broken off, in consequence of the exacting demands of the proud wife of the burgomaster from the parents of the girl. the burgomaster's wife was considerably upset about all this. it so happened that on the wedding-day at the breakfast my wife was seated between the dames bunsow and gruwel. my father, who was her cavalier, sat opposite. all at once, the burgomaster's wife said to the bride, "eat, my girl, eat, for this is the happiest day of thy life. i had made other plans for thy happiness, but thou didst not fall in with them. the culprit is either thy brother or his wife. keep thy husband at a distance, for if thou givest him an inch he will take an ell; therefore, be 'stand-offish' with him in the beginning." at these words dame gruwel exclaimed: "good heaven, what sad advice! make thy mind easy, child; there are many happy days in store for thee." eighteen months later, as we were standing talking in the street, peter and matthew schwarte and i, dame bunsow who went by, spoke to us. with the admirable volubility that distinguishes the women of greifswald, she had a word for all of us. "dear cousins," she said to the schwartes, "how do you do? how are your wives? and how are your children?" then, turning to me, "and how are you, cousin? how is your wife? i need not ask you about the children. you are having a good year of it. in these hard days one may as well save the bread." "that's farthest from our thoughts," i answered, "but that's because my wife is not 'stand-offish' enough with me." she knew what i was driving at, turned crimson, and went away without saying another word. a week after my marriage, on the sunday, i returned to stettin, as had been agreed upon. it was a fatiguing, not to say dangerous journey, because of the inundations. from the moment of my marriage the devil seemed to have declared war against me. it was, i suppose, his revenge for my having disappointed him by leaving the court, where i might have proved of great service. on the other hand, his master, our lord and saviour, took me under his protection. a very heavy snowfall had been succeeded by a sudden thaw, the effect of a warm and continuous rain. as a consequence, the overflowing of banks everywhere, the mill-stream near ukermünde had swept away the roadway at several spots. on the very day of my departure, a van laden, among other things, with a case of sealed letters, registers, documents and parchments, had passed that way, coming from wolgast. our travellers, knowing that they were on the high road, went ahead. suddenly the horses fell into a deep rut; the cart was overturned, and only by a mighty effort did beasts and men escape drowning. they had to spend the night at ukermünde to dry the letters. i came to the spot of the accident in the afternoon. i was gaily trotting along, for i was following the highway and the fresh traces of the vehicle from wolgast. my good fortune befriended me in the shape of a miller's lad who was standing by the water. he called out and showed me a little lower down, to the right, the way to a small burgh, having passed which i should find a long road and a bridge, the only available passage left. though night was gathering fast, i ventured into the sodden road, beaten by big muddy waves. my horse was soon breast deep in the water, the force of the current threatening at every moment to sweep it off its legs. the poor beast was perfectly conscious of its danger, and reared whenever it felt the ground slipping away. finally, the journey was accomplished without serious mishap, though it was completely dark when i got to the inn at ukermünde, where the travellers from wolgast and the host himself could scarcely believe their eyes. i felt confident of having faithfully served duke barnim; i was, therefore, justified in my expectation of a princely remuneration. heaven forbid that i should impute unfairness to this excellent gentleman, but part of the counsellors connected by birth with the people of stolpe, were dissatisfied with the issue of the lawsuit, while others, such as martin weyer, had disgraced themselves by assisting schwallenberg in his intrigues. in short, they discussed me so well that the prince only allowed me five and twenty florins as a gratification, while duke philip, whose business had not given me a hundredth part of the worry, presented me with five and twenty crowns. the court at wolgast had waited to see what stettin should do. later on it employed me in a great many cases yielding large fees and spreading my name throughout the country. from wolgast they sent me for my wedding a wild boar and four deer; at stettin, the marshal told me that they intended to do likewise, but no one had paid any further attention to the matter. on returning from stettin night overtook me on the heath. it was infested with wolves, boars, and other dangerous animals; moreover, strange apparitions and terrible noises were often seen and heard there. i saw nothing; i heard nothing; and, besides, felt not in the least afraid. i have already mentioned that the discussion with regard to the bishopric of cammin had been brought before the imperial diet.[ ] canon martin weyer, the delegate of the chapter, was on most friendly terms with the bishop of arras; they had studied together at bologna. in the course of their discussions on the subject, they put themselves this question: if the deposition of the bishop is to be persisted in, where can we find a candidate agreeable to the emperor, and not too antipathetic to the dukes of pomerania? thereupon his grace of arras conceived the idea of proposing weyer himself. at first, the latter opposed the project altogether, objecting that he was not of the popish religion. his interlocutor assured him, however, that there was a means of arranging with the legate to obtain a dispensation. briefly, when restored to favour, the dukes of pomerania asked the emperor to accept as bishop of cammin martin weyer, their faithful subject, servitor and counsellor, and besides, a saintly man, almost an angel. he soon laid bare the bottom of his heart, _honores enim mutant mores et magistratus virum docet_. at the manifest instigation of the legate and of the bishop of arras, the new prelate sent his secretary to rome to render homage to the pope, who afterwards granted the bulls _in optimâ formâ_. i fancied the time had come for martin weyer largely to remunerate the services i had rendered him as his solicitor at the imperial chamber during two years, but to my written requests he answered with very bad grace when he answered at all. i must admit that having been for a twelvemonth or so weyer's companion at augsburg, and during the journey to the low countries, i did, perhaps, not treat him with sufficient ceremony according to his taste. i deemed it sufficient to address him as "your grace," without the "serenissime," and that vexed him. besides, he failed to digest the defeat of schwallenberg and his gang, not the least accessory to which he had been. i have seen at the chancellerie of wolgast a missive from weyer to duke philip couched in the following terms: "from the authentic copy herewith of the papal bulls, your grace" (he did not add "serenissime") "will perceive that his holiness, yielding to his inclination for my person even more than to your grace's recommendation, has entrusted me with the spiritual government of cammin." the affair ended in a convocation of one day at cammin, where weyer was assisted by dr. tauber, of wittenberg, invested with the title of chancellor. it was positively stated that he had promised him fifteen hundred golden florins. i went to the convocation with the delegates of greifswald to try to drag something from the new bishop, and finally, canon von wolde succeeded in getting thirty crowns for me. i had therefore an opportunity of witnessing a sitting of the diet. two tables covered with black velvet cloths had been placed in the hall fifteen paces apart. at the one sat duke bogislaw, acting for himself and in the name of his brothers, at that time absent from the country. standing before him were the marshal ulrich schwerin, the chancellor citzewitz, and several counsellors and delegates of the states. the bishop occupied the other table, tauber standing by his side; and in front the episcopal counsellors and the delegates of the chapter. each party exposed at length the rights with which it was invested. citzewitz having said, "the princes are lords of the chapter," dr. tauber replied, "yes, _sed secundum quid_? his grace," turning towards the bishop, "is in plenary possession of the right of administration of the chapter." ulrich schwerin, who was not well versed in letters, asked the meaning of _secundum quid_. "it's a term of contempt," said citzewitz; "it's tantamount to saying that the dukes are princes like those on the playing cards." schwerin's angry face was worth watching. "a plague upon the scoundrel for treating our princes like playing card personages." from that time tauber was known throughout the land as the doctor _secundum quid_. after a most lengthy disputation, each party presented its formula for the convocation of the bishop to the diets and sittings. that of the princes was as follows: "to our venerable chief prelate, counsellor, dear and faithful seignor martin, bishop of cammin. our greetings, dear, venerable and beloved! the welfare of our countries and of the common fatherland forbidding us from further delay in the convocation of a diet, we have decided to hold it on the ... in our city of stettin, where we graciously request you to be present on the said day, to hear our intentions." as for the bishop, his formula was indited somewhat differently: "to the high and venerable in god, the seignor martin, bishop of cammin, our signal friend. our friendly greeting, high and venerable in god, and signal friend. the welfare of our countries and of our common fatherland forbidding us from further delay in the convocation of a diet, we have decided to hold it on the ... in our city of stettin, where we amicably request you to be present on the said day." i never knew the issue of the debate, and took no trouble to find out, as at the conclusion of the first sitting i embraced an opportunity of returning home by carriage. i am disposed to think that the chapter had better remain under the authority of the house of pomerania. princely titles are best suited to born princes; people of mediocre condition do not know how to bear them. they carry their heads too high, and their would-be magnificence exceeds all bounds. chapter ii severe difficulties after my marriage--my labours and success as a law-writer and notary, and subsequently as a procurator--an account of some of the cases in which i was engaged i trust my children may be enabled to read the following attentively and remember the same as my justification. they will learn that i devoted every moment to my work, and avoided all useless expense, that i kept away from the tavern, went but rarely to weddings or banquets, and only entertained guests when not to do so would have been unbecoming, as, for instance, on occasions of family feasts or of civic repasts. it is--thanks to that retired life, scarcely diversified by the rare indulgence of a favourite dish washed down by a copious libation--that i have been enabled to amass a sufficient competence to make the devil and his acolytes burst with envy. their jealousy goes as far as to accuse me of having arrived very poor at stralsund, and to have ransomed the city, magnified my travelling expenses, and abused the custody of the seals. this third part of the story of my life will explain the origin of my fortune. stralsund has never been instrumental in making my position, and i have never proved false to my oath. my monetary provision after my wedding consisted of gottschalk's golden florin, hence, two florins of current coin; my savings and the gratifications were nothing more than a memory. i had nothing to expect from my father. we were in a bare and cold tenement we had rented; in default of a boiler my wife did the washing in an earthen jar. without money and without a livelihood, i did not dare to ask my father-in-law for the promised two hundred florins, for he had warned me that it was my father's duty to begin paying up. i was obliged to listen to the humiliating words, "to get married without anything to live upon." my wife herself was getting fretful; a loaf of fine flour on our table set her grumbling as a luxury beyond our means. she said to her mother, "you did not advise me; you simply handed me over." a friend of her childhood, a burgomaster's daughter, had married a wealthy old man. wallowing in luxury, the owner of two houses (i was his tenant), she overwhelmed us with jokes, and asked my wife what she intended to do with her swallow's tail, alluding to the sword i continued to wear. what a deplorable beginning! god's help has, nevertheless, enabled me to provide during the space of forty-six years for my wants and those of my family. it was not a small affair, considering that the maintenance and starting in life of my children cost more than nine thousand florins, and my household, one year with another, three hundred florins. i, moreover, own a well appointed house, and am enabled to live _ex fructibus pecuniae salvo capitali_, and for the last forty-six years could truthfully say: "i am better off to-day than yesterday." and i have accomplished all this with my pen. thanks be to the lord. the people of the city asked me to be their scribe. the richest grain merchant, a personage without merit save that of his money, dictated a long petition to me, intended for the sovereign. he was pleased with my editing and writing of it, and he asked me how much he owed me. as i did not care to accept any remuneration, he flung two schellings of lubeck on the table, exclaiming, "don't be an ass. have you not got your paunch to fill?" from the lips of any one else this would have savoured of sarcasm, but that man meant no harm. the public and private courses of the _artistae, philosophi et jurisperiti_ of greifswald could only be profitable to a scribe and notary; hence, i spent every available moment attending them. i hired a room in the priory building, and was there from morn till night, only going home to dine, and coming back immediately afterwards. my first clerk was the son of master peter schwarz, but i could do nothing with him; then i took martin speckin, who by now is a rich young fellow. his greifswald people brought him to me; part of his duty was to keep my room at the priory sufficiently heated, and to precede me with the lantern when i went out. he was a zealous servitor. meanwhile, i incurred everybody's criticism, and my wife showed her displeasure pretty openly. people, she said, thought it disgraceful for me to return to school once more. my maternal grandmother asked me if as yet i had not learnt to keep a family. the remarks did not affect me in the least. i continued attending the lectures of joachim moritz, and day by day it appeared to me i got a better understanding of the practice of law. my interest in useful literature also increased day by day. _crescit amor studii quantum ipsa scientia crescit_. not less true did the other proverb begin to appear: _crescit amor nummi quantum ipsa pecunia crescit_. i also followed the public courses of balthazar rau, to-day dr. rau of the _libellus de anima_ of philip melanchthon. nor was i ashamed to join his _discipuli privati_, to whom he expounded at his house the _dialectica_ of the same author. i felt very satisfied with myself for doing all this, and on february , , the imperial chamber inscribed my name on the roll of its notaries, on the presentation of duke philip. my eldest son saw the light on august of the same year. the confinement was a most critical one, and through the midwife's blundering, he had a stiff neck for his life.[ ] on september he was christened, and received the name of johannes. his two godfathers were the burgomasters gaspard bunsow and peter gruwel, and his great-grandmother stood as his godmother. my eldest daughter, catherine, was born on december , , and christened the next day.[ ] the wife of v. prien, a daughter of the house of maltzan, had taken possession of the fief of schorsow, in virtue of the privilege accorded to noble damsels by the laws of mecklenburg. when she died, and even before she was buried, the maltzans of mecklenburg violently invaded the fief. joachim maltzan, of osten and of nerung, who had helped his cousins by sending them reinforcements, was cited before the imperial chamber, in _poenam fractae pacis_. as he was most uneasy about the issue of the suit, dr. b. vom walde and chancellor citzewitz advised him to send me to spires provided with counsel's opinion of joachim moritz. i complied with their wish, though the journey was exceedingly inconvenient to me. joachim maltzan provided me with two completely equipped horses, and the necessary funds; the chancellor and the doctor promised me a handsome gratification at my return. instead of a servant, i took my brother christian, and we started on the sunday of quasimodo (the sunday after easter). at spires i fully instructed both procurator and advocate. the document drawn up by moritz elicited their praise. they had no idea of the existence on the shores of the baltic of a lawyer of that merit. they soon considered their client as being out of his difficulties, and, my mind at rest, i set out for my return journey to pomerania. i got there at whitsuntide. when sending back the horses to maltzan, i added my report, which put an end to his anxiety, and at the same time forwarded an account of my expenses day by day, the price of each meal, etc., leaving him to decide the amount of my honorarium. well, the moment he felt reassured, maltzan did not show the least inclination to settle with me; on the contrary, he accused me of having been too lavish. "look at the fellow, and then consider the copious meals he took. may all the evils of job befall thee." that was his favourite objurgation. in vain did i call to my aid the two counsellors who, as it were, had forced my hand. maltzan turned a deaf ear to all my requests. at the beginning he would have given hundreds to get over his difficulties, but now he sang out, "i have broken the rope, and i do not care." he was very rich, but very mean and coarse beyond description. one night at wolgast, i saw him send his hose at bedtime to be repaired. when early next morning the tailor brought the garment back, he asked a florin for his work. maltzan refused to give more than a schelling, and overwhelmed the poor wretch with curses. the latter had, however, to take what he could get. maltzan, who could neither write nor read, was obliged to have a secretary, but in consequence of his avarice, he had to be content with mediocre individuals. dr. gentzkow found him one who was satisfied with earning his food and a small salary. after a couple of years, during which his master had dragged him about with him to rostock and elsewhere, everybody knew him as maltzan's servant. he knew all maltzan's investments, as well as the dates of his revenues being due; it was he who stored away the money in linen bags. "put a hundred crowns into each bag, and place them in a line," said maltzan. "in that way, i can see at a glance where i am; ten bags make a thousand crowns." one fine morning the secretary stamped a blank sheet of paper with the seal of his employer, departed for rostock, took on credit at the ordinary tradesman's as much velvet, satin and damask as he could conveniently carry away, filled in the blank sheet in his master's name, then returned and took from each bag only ten crowns in order to dissimulate his theft. after that he went collecting the outstanding debts, farmers' and tenants' rents, etc., and disappeared with a sum sufficient to remunerate a good secretary for a decade of years or more. maltzan himself had the annoyance of having to make good the merchant's losses. he had never been married, and his property, amounting to a hundred thousand golden florins, fell to two cousins, who spent it in feasting, swilling, and riotous living. one died burdened with debt; the other is alive, but in a similar position. ill-gotten goods do not last. the only means of bringing maltzan to book seemed to me to inform the spires procurator of everything, and to ask him to write to maltzan that he was going to lose his case in default of some documents that had remained in my possession. duke philip immediately recommended me to hand them over on the penalty of being held responsible for all the damages that might accrue. i promptly replied that i would bring them into court, where i should have the honour of presenting my respects to signor maltzan, and to claim at the same time the salary due to me. this had the effect of making the generous gentleman swear like a devil incarnate, to the vast joy and diversion of the prince and the counsellors, who took great pleasure in pouring oil upon the flames. maltzan was obliged to count out to me there and then a hundred crowns, which was much more than i had originally asked, and he received, besides, a severe reprimand. my energy in the matter was fully acknowledged, and they added: "if ever we should ask you a similar service, you may refuse to render it without the fear of displeasing us." the sacristan of müggenwald committed homicide. the lord of the manor, who wished to get him out of the trouble, entrusted the case to me. a relative of the victim had retained dr. nicholas gentzkow and christian smiterlow for the prosecution. i obtained a verdict for the accused. dr. johannes knipstrow having announced from the pulpit, in the name and by order of the prince, that master j. runge was going to succeed him in the office of superintendent, the greifswald council considered the nomination as an infringement of its rights. its _syndicus_ at stralsund, dr. gentzkow, formulated before me, a public notary convened for the purpose, both a verbal and written protest, of the latter of which i delivered a duly executed duplicate to the council of greifswald, the legitimate charge for the same being three crowns. bartholomew, of greifswald, a most intelligent, but also an exceedingly depraved goldsmith, had established himself at stralsund with his son-in-law, nicholas schladenteuffel. as their expenditure exceeded their income, bartholomew made counterfeit coin, lubeck, rostock, wismar and stralsund currency. the schellings supposed to issue from the latter city's mint contained nothing but copper. by means of some tartaric composition he made them look so wonderfully like silver as to deceive everybody. in a very short time both the city and the country were inundated with this spurious coin, for nicholas made large purchases of cattle for the slaughter-houses. finally, in september , when the farmers and peasantry came to pay their rent, the suspicions of the ducal land-steward were aroused, and the fraud discovered. the witnesses' depositions pointing unanimously to a cattle-dealer of stralsund, the prince wrote to the council, asking it if they struck money of that description. at that very time schladenteuffel was going his business rounds. warning was given, and one morning, when he came back to the city with some cattle, he was apprehended and taken to prison, where his wife and five accomplices promptly joined him. among the latter there was one of the vicious sedition-mongers mentioned in the first part of my recollections, namely, nicholas knigge. he was, in reality, the leader of the gang; he furnished both the copper and the silver, and he found an outlet in sweden for sham silver, spoons, goblets, jugs, etc. dr. gentzkow, whose daughter he had married, had his sentence changed to one of lifelong banishment. bartholomew, although the people who came to arrest him were close upon his heels, managed to escape. in the semmlow strasse there lived a very rich merchant named c. middleburgh. his sordid avarice kept him away from church. on the other hand, he carried on an extensive and harmful traffic. he exported bogislaw schillings and other good coin; he also got hold of gold and silver pieces, and clipped those that appeared to him to be overweight. in spite of this, he did not benefit by his wealth. one day he took the rostock coach, but instead of coming down at midday to dine with the other travellers, he had a sleep. when the company returned and while the ostler put in the horses, he asked the price of the meal. he was told it was two schellings. "very well," he said; "i have earned two schellings by going to sleep." he was always ready to lend money on silver plate--of course at high interest. he lived and scraped money for many, many years. his widow continued his trafficking; she was, however, less cautious, and fell into the hands of scoundrels, who reduced her to beggary. to come back to middelburg. on october , , at two in the afternoon, he found himself in possession of a big cask containing twelve barrels of gunpowder of twenty-four pounds each; hence in all weighing two hundred and eighty-eight pounds. close to the cask there sat a young servant weaving some kind of woollen lace, and, as it was very cold, she had a small stove filled with charcoal under her feet. at that moment there appeared upon the scene old tacke and made a payment of a hundred bogislaw schellings, which, having been carefully counted by middelburg, were left on the table while he went to the stable for a moment. during his short absence, the servant stirs the incandescent charcoal, a spark of which falls on the floor and ignites the grains of powder; the house and the next to it are blown up; walls, beams, rafters come crashing down with a horrible noise. the city imagines that the end of the world has arrived. of the young girl herself they found a foot here, an arm there, a leg elsewhere, and fragments of flesh pretty well everywhere. it was never known what had become of the hundred schellings that were lying on the table or of the furniture. one servant-girl was dug out from the ruins without a hurt; she was more fortunate than the brother-in-law of the burgomaster of riga. they managed to drag him out by sawing some rafters beneath which he was buried, but he died of his wounds on the third day. two children, though stark dead when picked up, still held a slice of bread and butter in their tiny hands. three persons from the country, a mother and daughter and the latter's intended husband, who had stopped before the house to make some purchases for their new home, were killed outright on the spot. there were in all seven people killed. the neighbours brought an action against middelburg which he had to settle. even as far as the passen-strasse my father had the window of his entrance hall broken; the stove in one of the upper rooms cracked and could never be used again; a hook used for hanging the salmon to be smoked, and belonging to middelburg, was found in the gutter on our roof. the advice of some well-meaning people, and ever growing necessity caused me to make up my mind to practise as procurator at the aulic court of wolgast, though counsellor joachim moritz, who boarded with my uncle, tried to dissuade me. as a professor of law at greifswald, a jurisconsult of the court, and an assessor of the tribunal, he had had some close experience of the idiocy, the ignorance, and the underhand methods of my future colleagues. "_procuratorum officium vilissimum est_," he said to me. in fact, with the exception of dr. picht, the procurators were but little versed _in grammaticâ vel jure_. when their dean, who was a judge at brandenburg, and a mecklenburg counsellor, came up for his degree of _licenctiâ juris_ at rostock, he referred to an insolvent litigant, "_non est solvendus_," which provoked the repartee of the promoter: "_recte dicit dominus licentiandus, quia non est ligatus_." one day at rostock we happened to take our dinner at the same table with this procurator and the burgomaster of brandenburg who, however, was fairly well versed in the _grammatica_. the conversation turned on a witch who was in prison at brandenburg, and who professed to be pregnant by the devil. the burgomaster having put the question, "_quod diabolus cum muliere rem habere et impregnare eam posset?_" our licentiate replied without wincing: "_imo possibile est, nam diabolus furat semen a viribus et perfert ad mulieribus_." simon telchow, another procurator, for a long while master auditor at eldenow, and who was married to a damsel of noble birth, after having set up as a brewer at greifswald, had "to shut up" shop and come back to his pen. having contracted at court a taste for drink, he never went to bed without being "muddled." as a matter of course, he was not very matutinal. he, moreover, only practised _pro nudo procuratore_, and his clients had to provide themselves with an advocate. _in causis mandatorum_, when the _mandatarii_ eluded execution, telchow asked for an _arctiorem mandatum_. sworn procurators there were none in those days, and as the procedure in general was oral, any one endowed with the "gift of the gab" could present himself at the bar. since then things have changed to the glory of the prince and the advantage of litigants. the experience i had gained at spires was most useful to me in my new career. the judges, the chancellor, and the litigants themselves seemed to listen to me with pleasure; nay, this or that party who had not entrusted me with his cause, made me, nevertheless, accept his money, because he wished to retain my services, if the occasion required, or, at any rate, deprive his opponent of them. people came to fetch me from the country with chariot and horses to mediate between them. i was brought back in the same manner, and each time, besides the hard cash i received, i was laden with all kinds of provisions, hares, shoulders of mutton, haunches of venison or of wild boar, magnificent hams, quarters of bacon, butter, cheese, and eggs by the dozen, bundles upon bundles of flax. my reception at home may be easily imagined. there was no longer any risk of hearing the sad complaint, "mother, you did not advise me; you simply handed me over." peter thun, of schleminn, a violent-tempered man, and but too prompt to fire a shot or to draw the sword, was at constant loggerheads with his neighbour ber. they were joint owners of a nice pond. ber claimed the exclusive enjoyment of the half adjoining his estate, and which also happened to be the better stocked with fish. thun, on the other hand, maintained that the whole of the pond was joint property. ber having planted hemp along the common road, thun sent his cattle to graze there, and went himself on horseback so that his mount might trample the plant down. finally, a lot of peasants went under the personal command of thun to ber's windmill, and promptly sapped its foundations, so that it came down with a crash. naturally, the law is set in motion. thun is condemned to indemnify ber _constrictibus_; then comes an appeal to the imperial chamber, which upholds the first verdict with _executoriales cum refusione expensarum_; the total amounting to about nine hundred florins. puffed up with his success and purse-proud besides, ber applauded each scurvy trick his people played his enemy. thun, on the other hand, was not a man to be played with. one of ber's servants (in fact, his illegitimate son, a young, brazen and robust fellow), finally assailed thun. the latter stood his ground valiantly, but his affrighted wife seized his arm; the bastard's sword went right through him. thun's only heir was his nephew, a minor, the succession was most involved, and its liquidation cost me a great deal of trouble and a number of fatiguing journeys. my honorarium was fixed at twenty florins per annum. i only took ten from the minor, because i never returned from schleminn empty-handed. later on, his guardians made it up to me in presents of money and in kind; they provided for my building operations splendid oaks, which made magnificent joists. in sum, this affair yielded a good three hundred crowns to me. h. smeker, of wüstenfeld, was a character who ruined himself in litigation and in building. he left this or that structure which was ready to be roofed in to be spoilt by the rain or the snow, after which he had it completely razed to the ground. a mecklenburger named negendanck was, it would appear, one of his important creditors. to get his claim settled he employed a means rather common in his country. one night he arrived at wüstenfeld at the head of a troop of armed horsemen. smeker was asleep in his room, and his wife, who had just been brought to bed, lay in an adjoining closet. lievetzow, her brother, a handsome young fellow, had been accommodated with a room near the drawbridge. negendanck, swearing and bellowing, orders the bridge to be lowered. lievetzow, in his shirt, issues from his room and tries to appease him by informing him of the condition of his sister. negendanck replies with a shot which kills the defenceless and scantily-dressed stripling on the spot. then, taking the passage by storm, he gets as far as the invalid's room, lays his hand upon everything, shatters the silver chest, which he knew where to find, takes whatever he likes, and finally drags the body of her brother to the foot of the sister's bed. smeker, who had been awakened by the noise, had taken flight in his nightgown. knowing the moat to be fordable, he had crossed it with the water shoulders high, and after making for the stables, had taken refuge in a kind of bog inaccessible to the horsemen. negendanck took all the horses and cattle away with him. naturally, the imperial chamber was finally called upon to try the affair. a rule having been granted to prove his allegations, smeker came to greifswald to enlist my services. he was an old man with a grey head and short beard; a fluffy white gown with large pleats and black girdle reached to his feet. in short, the feathers pretty well indicated the nature of the bird. i had so often heard them call out at spires, "smoker _contra_ negendanck," "the duke heindrich of mecklenburg _contra_ heindrich smoker," as to make the name familiar to me. to my question if he was the identical smoker, he replied in a surly tone, "my name is smeker, not smoker." he produced a host of witnesses, many of whom lived in outlying regions of pomerania or mecklenburg; their hearing involved constant travelling. smeker would have never got out of the difficulty by himself, in consequence of his want of ready money. the moment he found himself in possession of some, he got hold of the horse of one of his peasantry as if to ride to the nearest village, and never drew rein until he got to spires. if, during his journey, the money ran short, he borrowed from people who all knew him and were sure of being repaid by his son mathias. not only did he pay nothing to his procurator, dr. schwartzenberg, but the latter had to feed him, to advance the chancellery fees, and to look to his return journey. mathias, on the other hand, was most open-handed. his secretary, who came to greifswald in order to watch the proceedings, lavished claret wine and tarts on the commissaries, and even sent some to my wife. each session was worth from between fifty to seventy crowns to me. that secretary appreciated my trouble like a true expert. said inquiry brought me about two hundred and fifty crowns. on the occasion of a suit before the imperial chamber, and in which little heindrich gained the day against big heindrich--that was the designation of smeker respectively of himself and his adversary--the duke of mecklenburg, the latter carried off all smeker's sheep. among the flock there was an old ram, accustomed to get a bit of bread at meal times from his master's hands. the animals either escaped, or perhaps the duke had them driven back to wüstenfeld. at any rate, the ram appeared at the head of the flock, its appetite sharpened by the march, and, moreover, fond of bread, ran towards the table. no sooner did smiterlow catch sight of it than he got up, doffed his hat, and bade it welcome. "what an agreeable surprise!" he exclaimed. "_bene veneritis!_ the soup of princes is not to thy taste, it appears, inasmuch as thou comest back already." but smeker caught at the chance of another lawsuit at spires which brought me twenty crowns. his son and his son-in-law, who did their best to save the considerable paternal fortune, hit upon the idea to credit the suzerain, duke heindrich, with the intention of retiring the fiefs. starting from that gratuitous supposition, they pointed out to the old man that the journeys to spires became more and more difficult to him; that, moreover, he incurred the risk of being dispossessed, and that, in such a case, his son would have the greatest possible trouble to be reinstated. what, on the other hand, could be more simple than the averting of the blow by a pretended renunciation in favour of mathias? he, the father, would take up his quarters for some time in a house close by, which he liked very much; he should always come and take his meals with his sons, or merely eat and drink there when he liked; they would give him a young, nice and bright peasant girl to take care of him, for in spite of his age he refused to dispense with female company. heindrich smeker, having been prevailed upon, signed an act duly engrossed on vellum, which the principal county gentlemen of mecklenburg attested with their seals, and to which duke heindrich promptly affixed his ratification. when the old man's eyes opened to the deception it was too late. he was furious, and accused his son of having enacted the traitor to him, calling him all kind of names. then he begged of me to bring the affair before the imperial chamber, but i had an excellent excuse for refusing, as i was only a notary. his robust constitution enabled him to make another journey to spires--on a cart-horse as usual. having been politely bowed out by dr. schwartzenberg, he simply wasted his breath with the other procurators--all of whom knew him. finally, schwartzenberg gave him the money to go home. like a dutiful son, mathias loyally kept his promise and showed his father every attention and consideration. he invited his father to his table or had his meals taken to him. he sent him beer and wine, and there was always a capital bed at his disposal when the fancy took him to lay at his former domicile. it was the sweetest existence imaginable, but the administration of his property was denied to him. the worshipful council of rostock having been cited before the imperial chamber by the kindred of an individual named von der lühe, who had been beheaded for highway robbery, the commissaries entrusted with the case took me as their notary in the inquiry made at rostock, and as delegate notary in the inquiry set on foot by the plaintiffs. the _attestationes_ and the _sententia definitiva_ conclusively proved my assiduity in the matter; hence my honorarium amounted to four hundred crowns, _plus_ a present in silver worth fifty crowns. the counsellor anthony drache, a most pious gentleman, had only one brother who was drowned and left no issue. drache pretended to reduce the widow's share, in accordance with the feudal laws of pomerania; but besides his fiefs or hereditary tenures of land, the deceased possessed considerable property, the dividing of which was to be effected according to the urban or local statutes. duke philip, of blessed memory, having carried the affair into court, the trustee of the widow confided the case to me. i worked it up very conscientiously, assisted as i was by my particular studies, by the courses i had followed of joachim moritz and other professors at greifswald, and finally by my private consultations with moritz, who was good enough to give me his directions _in specie_. i had a verdict on all counts, though dr. gentzkow was on the other side, which, moreover, could count on the sympathy of the judges and even of the prince. this success had the effect of spreading my name throughout the land, and it prompted dr. gentzkow to propose my appointment as secretary to the council of stralsund. my client gave me twenty crowns, a quantity of butter and a flitch of bacon. chancellor citzewitz took me with him to stettin, and afterwards to stargardt to assist him in a personal lawsuit. there was no question of honorarium, for we were both of opinion that his kindness to me warranted such gratuitous service. in the owstin family had a lengthy lawsuit with reference to a village which citzewitz finally took away from them. in my capacity of notary to the owstins, i received forty crowns for my work. when valentin von eichstadt, the new chancellor, married his daughter to an owstin, he bore his predecessor a grudge for his success in the matter. meanwhile, the grand marshal of the court of wolgast, ulrich schwerin, became involved in litigation with dr. b. vom walde; the latter and citzewitz took sides against schwerin and eichstadt, and each tried to harm the other as much as possible. duke ernest louis intervened. the report of his displeasure was maliciously exaggerated. in a fit of despair citzewitz stabbed himself to death. j. vom kalen, at that time high bailiff of rügen (although he could neither read nor write), had sentenced an individual for having caught a small fish in the stream flowing past his garden. the angler appealed against the sentence, probably at the instigation of expert people, wishing to do the bailiff a good turn. the latter had entrusted the affair to me, merely saying that when i got to wolgast i should get to know what it was "all about"; but when i presented myself and obtained communication of the documents, i declined to move in the matter. i nevertheless considered myself entitled to the three crowns i had received as a deposit; besides, they were not claimed. the city of pasewalk had to stand the brunt of a man named fürstenberg, who, because matters did not always proceed according to his wishes, had renounced his citizenship. not satisfied with that, he one night nailed to the post before the city gates a placard threatening to set fire to the place. he was almost as good as his word, for he set fire to several barns outside the walls. he was arrested at lebus, and confined in the tower of the castle. the duke chose me to assist the two counsellors entrusted with the prosecution by the authorities of pasewalk. the prisoner was put to the rack in our presence, judged the next day, and beheaded by the sword. to our great surprise the council allowed us to depart without offering the smallest present. on the other hand, the duke sent to my home two measures of rye, worth at that time about ten florins. holste, the governor of the convent of puddegla, an eccentric and even dangerous young man, came to greifswald to entrust me with his law affairs. he promised to remunerate me largely, and as an earnest gave me ten crowns. shortly afterwards he had a difference with the duke, who had him confined to his quarters, but i succeeded in settling the affair to the satisfaction of both. my client was short of money for the time being, but the convent of puddegla is situated on the banks of a beautiful lake teeming with fish (as a rule monks are not in the habit of choosing the worst spots). there was an abundance of enormous cray-fish, of various kinds of perch, of breams an ell long, of fat eels, of carp as black as soot and having only one eye, the fat and flesh having closed the other; they were indeed fit for a king's table. holste filled my conveyance with victuals of that description, and i was glad to cry quits with him for some time to come. it was well i felt so disposed, for in a short time he got another affair on his hands. at first he thought that the advice of his maternal uncle george vom kalen, and three captains from rügen would be sufficient to settle matters, and as a matter of course he invited them to his small property at wusterhausen, where he filled them with food and drink night and day. it was all in vain; their brain refused to suggest a way out of the difficulty except that he should send for me, which recommendation he followed. i drew up a humble petition to the duke. as i intended to leave early the next morning, holste gave me six crowns, for the liquor that was in him already rendered him more generous than usual and than there was any occasion, considering the state of his revenues. the gentlemen caroused till deep into the night, for long after i had retired i was awakened by george vom kalen steadying himself by grasping my pillow. he came to propose to me to transact his law business for the future. as i was by no means anxious for that practice, i declined, though in most guarded terms. notwithstanding this refusal, my interlocutor drew three crowns from his wallet, and slipped them into my purse, which he took from under my pillow. his two companions follow his example, and present me each with two crowns. in vain do i point out to them that i cannot accept what i have not earned, and i take the seven coins from my purse to hand them back. thereupon george vom kalen tells me plainly that if i persist in refusing this money, he will flay me alive as i am lying there. knowing the people with whom i had to deal, i deemed it more prudent to listen no longer to my scruples. the company resumed their drinking, and by the time i was back at greifswald with my thirteen crowns in my pocket, they were probably still snoring stretched under the table. a small farmer had got his step-daughter with child. when the truth leaked out, the girl's mother moved heaven and earth to shield her husband from the death penalty by flight. as for her daughter, her only child, to fling her upon the world in that condition was exposing her to disgrace, to starvation, and perhaps to everlasting punishment. at the request of some friends, i personally went to wolgast and presented a petition to be handed immediately to the prince. after considerable waiting, i saw him come out of his apartment. "why does this woman speak of her daughter and not of her husband?" he asked. "because he has taken flight," i answered; "besides, considering the heinousness of the crime, she is afraid that to mention him will not avail much." "you lawyers," retorted his highness, "you have a way of presenting things, of polishing and whitening the most atrocious and blackest horrors. it really requires some experience to determine whether your petitions are compatible either with law, equity, or religion. i am bound to remember that god has entrusted me with the punishment of gross and impious excesses. i shall not decide upon this case to-day, but think it over." these are the words of a just, but nevertheless merciful prince, and the petitioner had the proof of it. michael hovisch, the son of poor peasants, had been brought up from his earliest years in town, put to school, and then into a business establishment. he succeeded in gaining the confidence of his employers, who sent him to sweden and denmark. gradually he began to operate on his own account. modest in behaviour, neat, and even elegant in appearance, he could aspire to a good match. meanwhile captain dechow took it into his head to claim him for gratuitous and enforced seignorial labour. an old ducal farm had to be rebuilt. in vain did hovisch offer a considerable sum instead. dechow resolved to constrain him by imprisonment. he was a relentless despot, who tried to make himself conspicuous by oppressing the peasantry and, wherever it could be done, also the urban populations. hovisch was compelled to take flight. at the request of some personages whom i was anxious to oblige, and being moreover strongly interested in the young fellow himself, i personally presented to duke philip a petition in which the vexatious proceedings of the captain were set forth at length. i defy people to guess the prince's reply. here it is: "that my subjects load thee with butter, eggs, cheese, poultry, geese, sheep and the rest, is all very well, nay, perfect in its way," he said. "take my word for it, though," he went on, "that i can manage to govern them rightly enough with the assistance of my captain without your meddling." i told citzewitz plainly that if the oppressed were thus deprived of their right of humble petition there was "no saying" how things would end. "dechow," remarked citzewitz, "is an arbitrary, hasty brute, but he has managed to ingratiate himself with the duke. fortunately, his highness has been warned. i'll recur to the subject when i get an opportunity; there must be a change." dechow left wolgast for lubeck, where the people soon got tired of him. michael hovisch was never again heard of. it was the last time i took it into my head to present a petition, and especially to wait for its answer. to sum up, in the space of two years, the occupation of procurator, and, above all, of notary, brought me eleven hundred and four and twenty crowns in hard cash. _magister_ j. schoenefeld acted as notary in four cases before the court presided over by dr. von walde. duke philip was the plaintiff. as it happened, schoenefeld was too old to proceed energetically; the going from "pillar to post" frightened him; besides, people had become more exacting. he therefore decided upon handing his documents over to me, and they contained several interesting items. the prince, for instance, summoned lutke maltzan to prove his right to the fiefs of sarow, gantzkendorf, and carin. maltzan declined, pleading prescription in virtue of thirty years' possession. the fiefs in question had belonged to jacob voss, nephew and ward of berendt maltzan, surnamed "the bad." (berckmann and other historians amply explain the reasons for the sobriquet.) the uncle having advanced two hundred or three hundred florins on the lands of his nephew, persuaded the latter to go to the war with a couple or so of horses. he made sure of never beholding him again. jacob voss, a model of honour and courage, distinguished himself in many a campaign, and the esteem in which he was held by all enabled him to borrow the necessary sum to redeem the paternal property. he gave notice to berendt maltzan of his intention to refund the money at the new year, and at the appointed time he arrived at his uncle's--a fortified domicile, most appropriate to his brigandage, rapine and exactions. for several days maltzan loaded him with kindness, they drank together, played cards and diced; in short, honest jacob voss, instead of redeeming his lands, lost the borrowed money. his despair and his thirst for vengeance prompted him to extreme measures, and with a servant expressly engaged for the purpose, he several times set fire to his former possessions. thereupon his uncle enjoined his tenants to proceed to his nephew's capture. one sunday voss and his companion having fallen asleep in the wood near gantzkendorf, which they intended to burn down that night, were discovered by a little dog of some peasants gathering nuts; and not later than the monday following berendt maltzan had the son of his sister "racked" alive. during the journey jacob voss apostrophized the tenants at labour by their names. "johannes, peter, nicholas," he exclaimed, "can you understand this horrible and ignominious death for claiming my own property?" to come back to the suit of the prince against maltzan. the judge sent the document to the faculty of law at leipzig, which asked an honorarium of forty crowns. its decision, the seal of which was broken in the presence of the parties as represented by their counsel and read there and then, concluded in favour of maltzan, to the great vexation of the ducal advisers, chancellor citzewitz severely reprimanding dr. von walde for not having opened the reply in order to amend it. an appeal was entered at the imperial chamber, and the case only ended several years after my establishment at stralsund. the parties paid me more than one thousand crowns. towards a dane said to christopher von der lanckin, of rügen, that the willow bow-nets for the catching of fish in the danish fashion would be more profitable to him than two big houses he had at stralsund. in fact from the time two of those contrivances arrived, christopher, who had been very hampered in money matters, settled his debts very quickly. struck with the result, two notable burghers of stralsund, namely councillor conrad oseborn and olof lorbeer, the son of the burgomaster, went into partnership with some of their kindred, and promptly exploited the invention. the new nets, though, in consequence of their size, obstructed the entrance to the streams; the fish no longer passed, and it meant ruin to the inhabitants of the interior. there were protests on all sides. duke philip wrote to stralsund; the council replied ironically that fish not being taken by hand, everybody was free to ply for it as he liked. an inquiry was set on foot, the prince prohibited the big bow-nets, and had those belonging to lorbeer seized. thereupon the whole gang began to shout that the liberties of the city were in peril, a galley was fitted out to guard the nets, and finally, stralsund resorted to law. if, in taking the succession of schoenefeld, i had suspected my countrymen of being so unreasonable as they were in this instance, i should certainly have declined the brief, albeit that my presence counterbalanced the hostility of the inquiring magistrate. in his examination c. von der lanckin stated loyally that from his point of view, the danish bow-nets were excellent, inasmuch as they had enabled him to pay his debts, but that on his faith and honour of a gentleman the new contrivance would ruin the country. the deposition of the fishermen was very clear: "whosoever will rid us of those nets will no longer need to go to church or to say paters. we ask for nothing else from heaven from morn till night." in spite of everything, stralsund persisted in its wrong. finally, on the opinion of counsel and the verdict of september , , the duke gained his cause, and the city was condemned in costs. on the spur of the moment the council wanted to lodge an appeal, but it thought the better of it. the suit had lasted twelve years, and had bred between the two parties a feeling of misunderstanding which only vanished with the death of the prince. as there had been two hundred and fifty witnesses, the six hundred crowns i received in fees was, i take it, not an excessive remuneration. chapter iii the greifswald council appoints me the city's secretary--delicate mission to stralsund--burgomaster christopher lorbeer and his sons--journey to bergen--i settle at stralsund the greifswald magistrates, who had the opportunity of seeing me daily at work, gradually arrived at the conclusion that i could not be altogether devoid of merit, considering that highly placed personages and even the prince himself entrusted me with important affairs. schoenefeld, being no longer up to the standard required, they offered me his charge on the condition of my completely relinquishing my practice as procurator. in consequence of this, on december , , i was appointed secretary to the city of greifswald. [illustration: view of stralsund. _from an old print_.] the first burgomaster of stralsund, christopher lorbeer, had two sons, who spent their time in the chase, in the taverns, and at the brilliant receptions of the nobility and of the opulent burgher class. they took it for granted that they might do anything they liked, and operated with dogs and nets on greifswald territory. it so happened, though, that several young nobles and rich burghers of the latter town had excellent packs of hounds, and were, in consequence, often invited by the prince. as a matter of course, they objected to this poaching on the part of the lorbeers. one day the two parties came face to face, and the attitude of the greifswald people caused the others to face about and to abandon their nets. as a balm to their wounded pride, the lorbeers, lying in ambush at the inn at testenhagen, assailed pistol in hand a carter from greifswald, maltreated him, and finally carried off his best horse. the greifswald council wrote to stralsund in the most measured terms, as ought to be done among neighbours. the reply was supercilious, and couched in most intemperate terms. i was, therefore, instructed to draw up an appeal to the duke. the moment was unquestionably exceedingly well chosen, considering the behaviour of stralsund in the matter of the bow-nets. and although the reports of that lawsuit were as yet not published, i was familiar with them, and had no difficulty in conceiving the irritation of the prince against the lorbeers. i nevertheless disadvised having recourse to his intervention; i deemed it more prudent to go to stralsund and discuss the matter. the moment i had presented my credentials the stralsund council met in solemn assembly. one of them received me most graciously, and introduced me. burgomaster lorbeer's polite anxiety to make room for me on the bench of the council showed to me his secret hope of seeing me betray the interests of my clients, and of metaphorically falling at his feet. after the usual civilities, i pointed out to the meeting the seriousness of the case, going fully into the facts in a firm and perhaps somewhat plain language, reminding them of the imperial "orders" with regard to the preservation of the public peace. nor did i scruple to represent, as a good neighbour ought to have done, the danger of obstinacy, above all with a prince who was already more or less displeased. i could read the exoneration for this bold speech on many a countenance, but christopher lorbeer and his staunch adherents, who were not accustomed to hear the truth to their faces, turned colour; their hitherto affable looks changed into scowls, and the burgomaster, beside himself with anger, rose and said: "thou art too eager to break thy first lance. i beg to submit that this man be strictly watched." "and clapped into gaol if necessary," i retorted. thereupon lorbeer walked out, and i was dismissed without being reconducted as i had been introduced. in a little while, word was sent that the affair requiring further examination, the answer would be communicated later on. a couple of hours afterwards dr. gentzkow, the syndic, sent for me to come to the st. nicholas' church. "i am obliged to admit," he said, "that your language was justified in law as in fact, but master christopher has taken mortal offence at it, inasmuch as he is not accustomed to have people adopt this tone with him, or to hear himself and his sons taxed with disturbing the public peace. he can do you a great deal of good or a great deal of harm. his influence, both in the city and in the country, is immense. in short, if the council have rightly interpreted your message, the greifswald folk desire to terminate this affair in a friendly manner; very well, let us appoint a day at reinberg to arrange matters as good neighbours should. i am asking you for your best endeavours to bring this about." the stralsund people made their preparations for the day in question by slaughtering a great many birds and game, by roasting and boiling the same, and by broaching casks upon casks of beer and wine. besides the principal burghers of the city related to them by blood and in thorough sympathy, the lorbeers invited their friends from the neighbourhood, and their young boon companions, who appeared armed with pistols, arquebuses and spikes, so that the gathering looked more like a call to arms than like a friendly meeting. consequently, some of the councillors and citizens of stralsund secretly warned the people of greifswald to send no one to the spot, and my father was particularly cautioned not to let me go, for that i should surely be killed. the greifswald magistrates remained coy, and did not reply a word to the invitation; then, at the very hour of the invasion of reinberg by the lorbeer band, they wrote that if the horse were returned to them in three days they would return the nets sequestrated in just reprisal. if this were not done, the prince would be requested to dispense justice. at the news of greifswald's abstention from the quasi-festivities the lorbeer camp broke into an avalanche of imprecations and threats. wound up with drink, they swore that they would murder everybody. nevertheless, before the three days had expired, a stable-man brought back the horse, receiving in return the nets; and so there was an end of that disagreement. there was a time when "milord" burgomaster christopher lorbeer did pretty well as he liked with everybody without meeting with any resistance, and as a matter of course, his wife and children followed suit. odd to relate, my mission was coincident with the heyday of his fortune, and it was really owing to a few simple words from my lips that his star suddenly waned. he did not mind being treated as ungodly, and as a soul likely to incur eternal punishment, and when i say this i am speaking on the authority of his eldest son, but he objected to being accused of endangering the public peace, or, in other words, to forfeiting his honour; it is that which put him beside himself. his annoyance at having failed in his contemplated revenge against greifswald and against me seriously undermined his health. a most painful illness confined him to his bed for six months, during which no one was allowed to see him. it seemed a terrible retribution which profoundly moved both the city and the country. the burgomaster's victims raised their voices, and the exactions by which he had hitherto kept up his grand style of living were at an end. when his wife attempted to revictual the establishment as of old, she met with refusals. a grain dealer to whom she had sent her pigs to fatten brought them back to her, pretending "hard times." she was beginning to "ride the high horse" with him, but he pointed to the room of the burgomaster, saying: "don't forget that 'i command you' is lying there." after a protracted agony, which practically reduced him to the condition of a mere animal, christopher lorbeer died on october , , and was buried in the choir of the st. nicholas' church, by the side of my mother and my two sisters, and under the same flagstone where my father subsequently lay. the council, greatly affected by his death, let three weeks pass before naming a successor to the deceased; after which the syndic, n. gentzkow, and the first secretary, anthony lickow, were solemnly and joyously elected to the dignity. though as yet my emoluments were not fixed, the greifswald council had already given me several proofs of its high confidence. at stralsund, on the other hand, i was the constant butt of the violent enmity of the most notable citizens, who would have rent me to pieces if they had got hold of me. stralsund being thus closed to me, no place was more suitable as a residence than greifswald, where i was born and had many of my kindred. but the owner of the house i rented made me very uncomfortable with his mania for transforming the dwelling into a storehouse for the most lumbering material, such as wood, stone, mortar, sand, etc.; he also used the place for the weddings of his servants, without the least regard for my wife, whether she was sick or in childbed. all our objections were met with the same answer: "if you do not like it you had better move." hence, i finally made the acquisition of a house in the fischhandler strasse (fishmonger street), belonging to johannes velschow, the father-in-law of brand hartmann. its price was three hundred and fifty florins, payable in four quarterly instalments. brand hartmann was the son of that george hartmann with whom my father had had such grave differences. he felt very wroth at seeing the house his father had built for his use pass into my possession, but the sale was effected in due legal form. i had given the deposit (god's pfenning) and put down the first hundred florins in the presence of several councillors and notable burghers. masons and carpenters were set to work at once. the front door had to be widened, the heavy roof to be strengthened, the rooms, stables, cellar and yard to be overhauled. my father had had a great deal of building done in his days and gained much experience. he came to superintend matters. now and again he somewhat bullied the workmen, and even dismissed them, replacing them by others. looking back on all this, i cannot help wondering at my audacity, for my purse was practically empty, and the workmen had to be paid on saturdays. with god's help my practice provided the necessary money every week. my profession took me away from home a great deal; hence, there was some delay in the building operations, but for every florin i lost in that way, i earned ten and more elsewhere. on september , , duke philip, with a numerous suite stopped at stralsund for the night and was entertained by the council. he was going to bergen, in the island of rügen, where he stayed until october , and at his return he lay once more at stralsund, equally at the expense of the city. the aim of the journey was to check the encroachments of the jasmund nobility, which, not content with cutting down the forest of stubenitz for its own benefit, conceded the same rights to others--for a consideration. the prince took me with him as secretary. the aristocracy having proposed a friendly settlement, there was much parleying, during which the duke was at a loss to kill time. he was lodged in the apartments of the prior at the monastery of bergen, and which looked out upon the courtyard, and spent hours in watching from his windows the pages and valets and their constant bickerings, quarrels and fights. he could even hear their opinions of him. one day, when standing in his usual coign of vantage while four polish violins performed several pieces of music in the room itself, he heard a valet below saying to his fellow, "the people of stralsund have much better musicians than their prince. what he has got is simply ridiculous. duke bogislaw keeps four trumpeters and a kettledrum player; they, at any rate, produce some effect. but this prince up there, with his caterwauling things, is absurd." the duke sent prior gottschalck to ascertain who was talking in that strain, but gottschalck, having noticed a relative of his in the group, made them a sign to be off, and went upstairs, saying that they had been too quick for him, and that he had failed to recognize any one. the prince promptly repeated to his familiars word for word what he had heard on the art of keeping up his rank, and long afterwards he was fond of reminding them of the incident. another anecdote: a lot of boys were noisily playing in the courtyard, and one of the most turbulent was the illegitimate son of the bailiff (his real father having sent him to school, though he bore the name of his putative parent, arndts, the tailor of bergen). his highness having given order to drive the yelling beggars away and to box their ears if necessary, the footmen executed his orders to the letter, right and left. the prince noticed, though, that they spared arndts, and he shouted that he more than any of the others deserved correction, but the servant to whom the recommendation was addressed simply smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "do you hear me?" cried the duke; "rub it into the little devil." "oh, no," replied the flunkey. "oh, yes, lay it on thickly." "nay, nay; heaven preserve me from doing such a thing." "and why, what's to prevent you?" "what? to trounce the son of a bailiff! i should repent it afterwards." at these words the duke burst out laughing. he told the story to every one, even in the bailiff's presence. on one occasion the boy was sent for and placed by the side of his father. his eyes, his nose, his head and his legs were compared with those of his sire. the governor of cammin, after having made the lad march up and down the room, said to the bailiff, "that's your son, right enough; he is shaped like you." the attempt at conciliation having failed, the parties met at the monastery in a large room provided with chairs, seats and two tables, one for his highness, the other for the _pares curiae_. i took place at the latter in my capacity of _notarius judicii_. the chancellor, in his master's name, gave a summary of the facts, after which, the prince, rising from his seat, came to the second table, and there, facing me, he made a long speech, not at all badly composed. i only give its conclusion: "in your presence, master notary, i maintain having been animated by most friendly intentions towards my subjects, but they rejected all attempts at settling matters. in consequence of this, and as a guarantee of my rights, i command you to state everything that has happened, including the present declaration, and to draw up a duly attested act which you shall remit to me in consideration of your lawful remuneration." the matter did not go farther that day, but the duke instructed me to pursue the inquiry jointly with the governor of cammin, which took us several days. the "instrument" gave me a great deal of trouble, filling, as it did, seven of the largest skins of parchment, constituting fourteen sheets. it contained more matter than a quire of paper. there was no room to affix my signature and the _signum notariatus_ at the end of the deed, according to custom, so i made an impression in wax of my seal engraved on lead, and suspended it from the string holding the sheets together. his highness, without asking, gave me a fee of thirty crowns. _magister_ joachim moritz, _professor juris_ at greifswald and ducal counsellor, had never been to stralsund, and knew nobody there. at my return from bergen he asked me to "put him up" at my father's, which i was very glad to do. having risen early to see the city, he went shortly after seven into st. nicholas' to hear the sermon. zabel lorbeer, who caught sight of him, mistook him for his former boon companion, george steinkeller. the likeness between these two seems to have been so striking as to have deceived people generally. many a gentleman upon beholding moritz on the bench at wolgast, said to his neighbour, "and where the devil did steinkeller get his knowledge of the law from, to constitute him a judge?" lorbeer, then, coming from behind, takes moritz by the ears and shakes him for full a minute, the professor, altogether nonplussed, asking himself all the while who it could be giving him such an energetic welcome. he made sure it was me. finally, he managed to turn round, and lorbeer, perceiving his mistake, was most profuse with apologies. moritz was fond of relating the adventure, especially in the hearing of the stralsunders, and no one enjoyed the story more than the duke. the stralsund council took the opportunity of my visit (which happened during the very week of burgomaster lorbeer's funeral), to offer me the position of secretary. my surprise may easily be imagined. i considered myself so compromised in the eyes of the stralsunders that, without the company of the governor of cammin and the commission i held of the prince, i should not have deemed myself safe in the city. those overtures, though, caused me as much pleasure as they did to my kindred; nevertheless, i felt bound not to give a definite answer until i was relieved of my engagement at greifswald, although i had not taken the oath. being anxious to hasten my return, the stralsund council sent me a messenger to greifswald with a saddle-horse. i pointed out to my friends and to the magistrates at greifswald that, although i had to a certain extent begun my functions, there had as yet been no positive agreement; not a syllable had been uttered, for instance, about salary. why then should i decline the important stralsund appointment? my uncle and godfather, burgomaster bertram smiterlow, summoned the council to the chancellerie, and a fixed salary of eighty florins was allotted to me. never had a secretary been so well paid. i asked to let the matter stand over till the next morning, so that i might consult with my family. my wife's relatives implored me to accept; my father-in-law, a centenarian, promised me, with tears in his eyes, a hundred florins if i stayed. at the instance of all these, i declared myself ready to receive the luck-penny (the earnest-money) commensurate with the dignity of the office and of the council, it being, furthermore, understood that i should be allowed to remain at the chancellerie and not be elected to the council. the _camerarii_ counted me out eight crowns as earnest-money, and my predecessor, johannes schoenefeld, sent me word to engross my own act of appointment. more than one precedent justified me in expecting about a year's salary as earnest-money, but after some hesitation i took the eight crowns. my father-in-law was anxiously waiting for the result of the interview. i flung the money on the table. "just look, father," i exclaimed, "did i not sell myself at my worth? you had better get your hundred florins ready." but he had apparently recovered from his first depression, and seemed not at all touched by my obvious sacrifice, for he said tetchily, "if it suits you to go, very well, go; but you'll not have one florin as far as i am concerned." i felt hurt, although i fully intended to refuse the hundred florins, lest my brother-in-law should look askance at me. i put the stralsund horse up in burgomaster smiterlow's stable, my own not being ready. my first impulse was to send it back the same day. then i began to reflect that it would be better to draw up my "act of appointment"; after that, the letter to the stralsund council would not take long. in drawing up the act, i could, however, not help noticing that neither the period nor the place of payment was stated, and next morning i went to ask schoenefeld about all this. he told me that i should receive two florins one day from this person, and half a florin the next from another, so that at the end of the year the eighty florins would be complete. i certainly did congratulate myself for having kept a back door open, for the misunderstanding was very serious, casual instalments and fixed appointments being by no means the same thing. after leaving schoenefeld, i ran against burgomaster smiterlow and the _camerarii_ in the market-place, and told them that if schoenefeld's version was true, i preferred returning the wretched earnest-money. "your conduct will surprise them," they replied. "to summon the council at such a short notice is no more possible than to take back the earnest-money without its leave." i, on the other hand, maintained that it was yet time to arrange affairs. "should i be deserving of the magistrates' confidence if i were so incapable of conducting my own affairs? i am going to the burgomaster at once to deposit the earnest-money on his daughter's table. she'll know right enough to whom to hand it. after which i shall get into the saddle and take the road to stralsund." thereupon the council was summoned. i went to tell my wife, her brother, and my sister whom he had married. my wife, not satisfied with shedding tears, declared categorically that she should not leave greifswald. she would take a room somewhere and earn her living knitting. my sister and her husband were also much excited. "what shall you do with your nice house?" said my sister. "why vex our parents? stop here out of consideration for them; here where there are so many opportunities of being useful to them." an old aunt, a sensible, upright and honest matron whom my wife had called to her aid was the only one to express a contrary opinion. "dear nephew," she said, "though i should be too pleased to keep you near me, for after god you are the prop of my old age, i'm bound to admit that there is no comparison between the post of greifswald and that of stralsund. if i placed an obstacle to your stroke of good fortune, my conscience would reproach me afterwards, so take my advice and carry out your plan. do you remember how your wife mourned her mother? does she still cry at the mention of her name? well, she'll get just as used to living at stralsund." my wife's tears flowed all the faster at these words. the messenger from stralsund went to saddle my horse. booted and spurred i joined him almost immediately, and had the animal brought round to burgomaster smiterlow's door where, somewhat impatiently, i awaited on the steps his return from the town hall. he told me that no secretary in the past had received the appointments allotted to me, and that no secretary in the future was likely to receive them, and yet i had still found better; hence the council felt most reluctant to hamper my career and sent their best wishes for my welfare. i immediately got into the saddle and left the town, avoiding our house, on the threshold of which i could see my wife standing surrounded by her kindred. it was on november , . my residence at greifswald dated from january , . during that period my earnings amounted to five thousand three hundred florins, exclusive of presents in kind, which often exceeded the strictly necessary. here ends the third part of the story of my life. the end index aarschot, acquapendente, xx. , , aepinus, johannes, , affenstein, ritter wolf von, agricola, johannes, aix-la-chapelle, , , albrecht, duke of mecklenburg, , , , , , alexander iii., algau, , alpinus, johannes, alsace, alsen, island of, altenkirchen, altenkuke, heinrich, altingk, johannes, , werner, alva, duke of, , amandus, dr. johannes, xv., ammeister, amsterdam, anclam, ancona, xx. , anelam, anglus, dr. antonius, anhault, xii. _annales pomeraniae_, , , antwerp, xxiii. , , , _appeal to the christian nobility_, xi. arndts, , arnsburg, arras, bishop of, , , , , , ascagne, count st. florian, artopaeus, herr petrus, augsburg, xiii., xxii., , , , , , - , , - , , , , , , bishop of, augustus, duke, babylonish captivity, the, xi. baden, , margrave of, xix. , badenweiler, balhorn, bamberg, , barbarossa, baremann, nicholas, barns, xx. barnes, , , barth, basle, xxiii., , bavaria, duke albert of, , , duchess of, becker, peter, belbuck, , benter, ber, berckmann, johannes, , , , , , , , , bergen, , berkentin, berlin, , bensançon, besserer, george, beuter, biberach, _bilder aus der deutschen kulturgeschichte_, bischof, bitterfeld, , blumenow, johannes, , , , bole, victor, bogislaw x., duke, , , , , , duke barnim, , , , , , , , , , , , , , duke george, , , , , boineburg, ritter conrad von, bois le duc, boldewan, abbot, , bologna, , , , , , , bolte, nicholas, bonus, herrman, bonnus, botzen, , brabant, brandenburg, xxiii., , , , , culmbach, elector of, , , , , wachim of, xiii., xxiii. brandenburg-the-old, brassanus, matthias, , bremen, christopher, bishop of, brenner, xx. brettheim, brixen, , broecker, jacob, bruchsall, brunswick, duke henry of, , , , duke philip of, brunswick-luneberg, xii. bruser, hermann, , , , , bruser, leveling, bruser, mrs. xviii., xix. brussels, xxiii., , , , , , buchow, bartholomäi, buchow, heindrich, bugenhagen, johannes, bukow, bunsaw, gaspard, , , bunsow, dame, bunsow, johannes, , burgrave of mesnia, burenius arnoldus, xvii., burn, count maximilian, burnet, bishop, x. burtenbach, captain schaerthin von, burwitz, joachim, buss, valentine, butzbach, , , calvin, , camerarius, cammin, , , , , bishop of, , , , cannstadt, capito daniel, carin, carlowitz, christopher, , , , , , carmelites, cassel, cassules, castle of st. angelo, cellini, benvenuto, xx. charlemagne, , charles v., xii., xiii., xxii., , , , , , , , , citzewitz, jacob, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , citzewitz, james, xxii. classen, bernard, , clerike, jacob, cleves, anne of, cleves, duchy of, , duke of, , coburg, , colburg, , cologne, , , elector of, compestella, constance, copenhagen, , _cosmographie_, munster's, , damitz, captain moritz, , , , , danquart, dantzig, , , _de anima_, xvii. dechow, captain, , denmark, king of, deux fonts, prince, devonne, dialectica caesarii, dick, dr. leopold, düren, dinnies, laurence, domitz, maurice, donat, donauwerth, , dorpat, bishop of, drache, anthony, droege, gerard, , duitz, gaspard, , , eck, dr., , eger, eichstedt, valentin, , bishop of, einfriedlaw, eisleben, , elbe, , eldenow, _emek habakha_, engelhardt, dr. simeon, , , , , , , , , , engeln, _epitome annalium pomerania_, erasmus, desiderius, erckhorst, cyriacus, , erfurt, ernest, margrave, , , , esslingen, faber, fachs, dr., falck, chancellor, falcke, dr., falsterbo, , farnese, peter aloys, _fasti_, ovid's, ferrara, , ferdinand, king, , , , , , , florence, franconia, frankfurt, , , , , , , , frederick, iii., duke, xxii., , , frederick, king of denmark, , freder, johannes, _freedom of a christian man_, xi. frese, widow, friesland, fribourg, , , friedrich, johannes, , frobose, peter, , , frock, otto, froment, frubose, matthew, furstenburg, count wilhelm, , frederick von, , gadebusch, gantzkendorf, , garpenhagen, gatzkow, abraham, gelhaar, joachim, , , geneva, , gentzkow, dr. nicholas, , , , , , , burgomaster nicholas, ghent, charles of, goeslin, margaret, gotha, gottschalk, heinrich, johannes, , , , , prior, _grammatica bonni_, granvelle, cardinal, xxiii. nicholas, perremot de, , , , , greiffenberg, greifswald, xi. xvii., xix., xxiv., , - , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , - grellen, barber, gribou, grosse, alexis, gruwel, peter, , gruyère, count michael de, grynaeus, simon, , guelderland, gutzkow, count, , hahn, werner, , halle, xxii., , hamburg, , , hannemann, hartmann, brand, george, , , , , hase, dr. heinrich, , hausen, erasmus, , hawthorne, xx. heidelberg, , , elector of, heidelsheim, heimsdorff, heindrich, duke, , heinrichmann, dr., helfmann, johannes, henry ii. of france, xiv. henry viii., hentzer, heine vogel, hertogenbosch, herwig, christian, hesiod, hesse, philip of, xii. hildebrand, nicholas, hirnheim, johannes walther von, hochberg, hochel, dr. johannes, holde, dr. conrad, holme, johannes, holste, , holstein, duke christian, , , homedes, jean de, horns, the family of, , hose, dr. christopher, , , hovisch, michael, , hoyer, dr. gaspard, , , , , , , hundfruck, hutten, ulrich, von, ingoldstadt, innspruck, _itinerarium germanicae_, juliers, duke of, , kalen, george von, kalen, j. von, kalte, johannes, kantzow, thomas, kasskow, master, kempe, george, kempten, , , , ketelhot, christian, xvi., , , , , _king arthur_, kirchschwarz, kismann, klatteville, peter, , kloche, johannes, , krugge, nicholas, , knipstrow, dr. xxii., , , , , , koenigstein, krahow, valerius, krossen, johannes, krou, frau, kruse, , kurcke, johannes, kussow, michael, labbun, christopher, lagebusch, johannes, , , lanckin, christopher von der, , landau, , landshut, lasky, stanislas, , leipzig, , , , , , , , lepper, hermann, , , lepusculus, , , lertmeritz, , , leveling, , , marie, lezen, johannes von, lickow, liegnitz, xxii. duke frederick von, , , , lievetzow, lingensis, heinrich, , , livonia, lloytz, the, of stettin, loewe, nicholas, loewenstein, christopher von, , , , loewenhagen, joachim, lorbeer, christopher, , , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , olaff, , zabel, , , loretto, xx., lorraine, dowager of, louvain, , lubeck, xvii., xix., , , , , , , - , - , , , , , , , , , , , , lubbeke, ludwig, duke ernest, lake, constance, lühe von der, luther, martin, xi.-xvii., , , , , , , , , , , , , , , madrid, madrutz, gandenz von, , maestricht, magdeburg, xiii., malines, manlius, mantel, jacob, mantua, , , duke of, marburg, xii., marforio, marie, fräulein, of saxony, maries, the three, , marquardt, johannes, , , , marschmann, mattzan, berendt, , joachim, , , - lutke, maurice, duke, , , , mauritz, maximilian, archduke, , , mayence, , , , , , , , bishop of, elector of, mecklenburg, , , , , , , , meisisch, leonard, meiseburg, memmingen, melanchthon, philip, xvi., xvii., , , , mesnia, mense, mey, bernard, meyer, christopher, , meyer, gerard, meyer, hermann, , meyer, marx, - , middleburgh, c. , milan, , , moller, rolof, xv., , , , , , , , , , , , moller, george, monkwitz, von, montefiascone, montfort, count hugo von, moritz, joachim, , , , , , mount scarperia, muggenwald, muhlberg, xxii., , , , muleg hassan, king of tunis, munich, munster, sebastian, , , , musculus, muthrin, nares, naumberg, bishop of, naumberg, duke of, naves, seigneur jean, negendanck, , nering, nicholas, , , , , nerung, new camp, neuenkirchen, nicholas, , , , niederweisel, , , , niemann, johannes, , nordgau, nordhauser, normann, george, , , , , heinrich, , nuremburg, , , , , , , , octavius, duke, , _offices_, cicero's, offing, oppenheim, , , ornans, oseborn, zabel, , osnaburgh, osten, , ostiglia, ovid, palatine, count, elector of, pappenheim, marshal von, parow, christian, , pasewalk, pasquin, paul iii., pope, , petrus, , , , , pflug, gaspard, , johannes, julius, , pforzheim, xix., , , , , ernest von, philip, duke, , , , , , , , , , , philip i., , philip v. of spain, picht, dr., place moland, plate simon, - plawe, pô, , poland, king of, pomerania, xii., xv., , , , , , , , , , , , duke of, _pomeranus_, portius, dr. johannes, _praecepta grammaticae_, prestor, john, prien, v., prussia, duke of, pritze, joachim, puddegla, putkammer, dr., putten, quilow, johannes osten von, ranke, rantzau, count johannes, , rantzin, , rantzow, joachim , ratisbon, , , , diet of, rau, balthazar, ravenna, reiffstock, dr. frederick, , , , reinburg, rheinfeld, rheinhausen, rhodes, , ribbenitz, , richter, rhode, nicholas, , , , , roetteln, roevershagen, rode, nicholas, , rome, , , , , , rostock, xvii., , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , rosse, martin van, rotterdam, rubricken, bock, xxiv., rugen, , , , , prince of, runge, , rust, joachim, , sachsen, st. angelo, governor of, st. brigitta, , , st. flore, cardinal, count de, , , st. simon, duke, st. alrich, saluces, marquis de, , salzburg, sandow, sansenberg, sarow, sastrow, amnistia, anna, barbara, , bartholomew, ix., x., xv., xvi., xix., xx.-xxiv., , , , , , catherine, , , christian, gertrude, jeremy, john, xx., , , , , , , , , , , , magdalen, sastrow, nicholas, xvi., xvii., xviii., , saxony, duke of, elector of, , , , , , , , , , john of, xii., xiii. maurice of, xiii., xv., schaerlini, schenck, dr. jacob, schermer, frau, schladenteuffel, nicholas, schlackenwerth, schlemm, , schlieben, eustacius, schmalkalden, league of, , , , , , schwallenberg, , schoenfeld, johannes, , , , , schorsow, schwede, bailiff, , schwabe, bartholomew, , schwallenberger, dr., , , , , schwarte, matthew, peter, schwartz, arndt, christian, , , , schwartzenberg, , schwartz, dr. peter, schwendi, lazarus von, schwendi, lazarus, , , schwenkfeld, gaspard von, schwerin, marshal ulrich, , seld, dr. george sigismund, , , , selneccerus, senckestack, johannes, sickermann, heindrich, siena, virgo, sievershausen, , silesia, , , sitten, nanz von, sixtus iv., pope, , skramon, admiral peter, sleidan, , , , , , , , smalkald, xxi., xxii. smeker, h., , , , smiterlow, anna, xvi. bartholamäi, bertrand, , , , , - christian, , , smiterlow, george, , , , johannes, nicholas, xvi., xviii., , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , solms, count reinhard, sonnenberg, nicholas, , , heinrich, speckin, martin, spires, xii., xix., xxiii., , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , stargurdt, stainbruck, steinkiller, steinwer, canon hippolytus, , sterzing, stettin, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , stiten, franz von, , storentin, frau, stochkolm, stolpe, , , , , stralsund, xv., xvi.-xix., xxiv., , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - stranck, anna, , strasburg, , , , , , bishop of, stroïentin, dr. valentin, - stubenitz, forest of, sturm, jacob, , , , suave, peter, suavenius, petrus, svendsburg, swabia, , , , , tauber, dr., , telchow, simon, , terence, xvii. testenhagen, thomas, wolf, thun, peter, , tollenstein, torgau, , , castle of, torrentius, trent, xx., , , , , , cardinal of, council of, trepstow, , treuenbrietzen, treves, elector of, truchess, prelate otto, tulliver, sen., mr., x. tunis, king of, ulm, , , , , ulrich, duke, upsal, archbishop of, ukermünde, geo. von, , , , , , valentine, , _valley of tears_, venice, , verona, , virgil, vischer, l., , viterbo, vogelsberg, sebastian, , - vogt, johannes, voss, jacob, walde, dr. b. von, , , wallenstein, xii. walter, anthony, wardenburg, zutfeld, , wedel, george von, , , , weingarten, abbé von, , weinleben, chancellor, welch, welfius, heinrich, xvii. welsers, wessels, franz, , , westphalia, xiii., wetteran, wetzlar, weitmulen, sebastian von, wezer, martin, , , , , - willemberg, castle of, willershagen, wismar, , , , , wissemberg, , , , wittenberg, xvi., , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , wolde, canon von, wolder, simon, , wolfenbuttel, wolff, frau, wolgang, wolgast, xxii., , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , worms, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , wulflam, wulf, wullenweber, george, xvii., , - , , , , , wurzburg, bishop of, , wustenfeld, , wustenhausen, zell, , ziegesar, ziegler, zigler, dr. louis, zittau, zober, zwingli, xii. footnotes: [footnote : at the beginning of the sixteenth century the monetary unit in pomerania was the golden florin, which within a fraction was equivalent to the rhenish florin and represented eight francs, sixty-five centimes, regard being had to the fact that the value of silver compared to that of gold was a third more than to-day. the golden florin was divided into forty-eight schellings (not shillings), sixteen of which constituted a mark; the schelling again was divided into twelve pfenning. the schelling of hamburg and of lubeck were worth double that of stralsund.--translator.] [footnote : house property was classified in three categories: dwelling houses (_häuser_), shops (_buden_), which were very light constructions set apart for trade or for accommodating strangers, and cellars (_keller_), or places below the level of the ground floor. the scale of house-tax was for booths, stalls or shops half, for cellars a quarter of that due for dwelling-houses. a census of gives for stralsund houses, , booths or shops, and cellars; of which numbers dwelling houses, booths and cellars are not tenanted. to these figures must be added for the faubourgs or beyond the gates tenements of lesser importance. on the site of the house in huns' street stands or stood a few years ago the hotel jarmer. an inscription on its frontage recalls the birth of jeremy sastrow. according to a competent etymological authority, the name of the hunnenstrasse in greifswald has not the faintest connexion with the huns, but is simply a low german corruption of hundestrasse, _platea canum_, like in lubeck and in barth. in the latter town the thoroughfare thus designated was the locale of the prince's pack of hounds.--translator.] [footnote : nicholas smiterlow, who was councillor in and burgomaster in , enacted an important part at stralsund at a period when the political influence of that city spread far beyond its walls. events pleaded loudly in favour of the resolute and prudent burgomaster against his adventurous adversary, george wullenweber. in spite of his dislike to popular agitation, smiterlow was "one of the first and best upholders of the reformation," if we are to believe the evidence of a chronicler of the sixteenth century. he died in july, . hailing originally from greifswald, he had got married at stralsund in . the smiterlows, schmiterlows, or smiterloews interpreted their name in the sense of "smiters of lions." their arms represented a man wielding a club and a lion by his side. it was said that during the crusades their ancestor had laid low one of those animals with the blow of a club.--translator.] [footnote : it was the custom to give a present to a relative or to a friend as a contribution to the furnishing of his house.--translator.] [footnote : when sastrow became secretary of stralsund he took care to collect, under the title of "rubrikenbuch" all the documents relating to the privileges and property of the city; a collection which proved useful to the magistrates in office and which is of interest to-day as a contribution to the local history.--translator.] [footnote : the ancient monastery of belbuck, near treptow on the rega, became, under abbot boldewan, a nursery of learning. from thence came george von ukermünde, who was the first to preach the reformed doctrine at stralsund; the impassioned preacher kurcke or kureke; ketelhot, born in , died in , whom the chronicler berckmann calls the "apostle of stralsund and the founder of the holy doctrine"; peter suave, the pioneer of the reformation in denmark and holstein; and finally, johannes bugenhagen, famous under the name of _pomeranus_, born in , died in , pastor at wittemberg since , the author of the first historical work on pomerania, the translator of the bible into low-german, and the veritable organizer of protestantism into those northern regions. duke bogislaw x, displeased with the spirit that prevailed at belbuck, suppressed that institution in ; the dispersion of the monks only resulted in the prompter diffusion of the new doctrines. the chronology of the history of the reformation at stralsund remained uncertain up to , in which year the archives of the imperial chamber, forgotten at wetzlar, brought to light the documents in connexion with the lawsuit brought by canon hippolytus steinwer against stralsund, in order to despoil the city of certain revenues and privileges. the principal dates may be fixed as follows: .--first conflict of the city with the catholic clergy who refuse to be taxed; zutfeld wardenburg, administrator of the diocese, flies to rome. or end of .--arrival of the first reformed monks and preachers, george kempe, heindrich sichermann, george von ukermünde. .--first preachings of ketelhot (at easter), and of kurcke on st. michael's day. .--the monday after palm sunday (april ), the churches and convents are invaded; suppression of catholic worship. .--the sunday after all saints' (november ), official recognition of the reformation through the promulgation of the ecclesiastical and scholastic ordinances of johannes alpinus. with regard to political events the confusion was the same. otho frock, the recent historian of pomerania, made it his business to apply the remedy, and the following are the results arrived at. , from may to june.--installation of the forty-eight; voluntary exile of smiterlow. , january.--frustrated attempt of smiterlow to return to stralsund with the support of the hanseatic towns. (probably april ).--riotous election of rolof moller and christopher lorbeer as burgomasters, of franz wessel, hermann meyer and six other partisans of the reformation as councillors. (at st. john).--entry into stralsund of dukes george and barnim; the rendering of homage and confirmation of privileges. (july ?).--rolof moller leaves stralsund, and on august or smiterlow returns. .--return and death of rolof moller.--translator.] [footnote : there are various versions of the origin of this famous tumult. according to some documents the servant's mistress was a widow named frese, who lived in the old market.--translator.] [footnote : the fishmonger's bench or stall of vischer reminds one of that of the reformer froment, preaching on the place molard at geneva, just as the departure of the nuns of st. brigitta, at stralsund, reminds one, though not quite so seriously, of the flitting from geneva of the sisters of santa clara.--translator.] [footnote : in the ducal house of pomerania the law of succession admitted all the sons indistinctly to the throne. they reigned in common, but if an understanding was impossible, the county was divided between them. in the whole of pomerania was united under the sceptre of bogislaw x. at the death of this able prince, which took place in , dukes george and barnim wielded power conjointly, in spite of their utterly opposed sentiments. george remained faithful to the old belief; barnim, on the other hand, proceeded to the university of wittemberg, and in had accompanied luther to leipzig when he was disputing with eck. the honour accrued to barnim in his capacity of rector, a dignity seldom conferred upon a student. george died in , leaving an only son, philippe. the division of pomerania long desired by barnim occurred the following year. barnim's chance gave him eastern pomerania as far as the swine, and with stettin as a residence. to his nephew, philip i, fell western pomerania, of which wolgast became once more the capital. that agreement, concluded for ten years, was renewed in , and its effects were prolonged until , at which date there was a new reunion under bogislaw xiv, of the stettin branch, who died in , the last of the house. the franchises of stralsund, in fact, were so extensive as to reduce the authority of the princes to a mere nominal rule. the bond between them only consisted of a kind of perfunctory rendering of homage and the payment of a small tribute, the amount of which had been fixed once for all. the suzerain only entered the city after a notice of three months. in , with the political and religious crisis at its height, the rendering of homage was preceded by protracted negotiations. no safe-conduct, though delivered by the prince, was valid at stralsund unless it was countersigned by the council. the city exercised its jurisdiction not only within its walls, but in its exterior domains. though exempt from military obligations as far as the reigning dukes were concerned, the city imposed compulsory service both by sea and by land on its citizens. it had the power to conclude treaties and was its sole arbiter with regard to peace or war. these privileges were preserved by stralsund during the whole of the sixteenth century, in spite of the decline of the hanseatic bond.--translator.] [footnote : franz wessel, born at stralsund, september , , died may , , was the son of a brewer of the lange strasse. at a very early age--when scarcely more than twelve--he embraced a commercial career and made long stays in foreign countries, besides pilgrimages to trèves, aix-la-chapelle, einfriedlaw, and st. james of compostella. in he was back at stralsund, and was one of the most energetic and first promoters of the reformation. councillor in , burgomaster in , he played a scarcely less important political part. wessel is the author of a curious piece of writing on divine worship at stralsund at the period of papistry. the very year of his death, gerard droege, who had been brought up in his house, published his biography at rostock.--translator.] [footnote : christopher lorbeer, who was councillor in , burgomaster in , and who died in , belonged to a much respected family of stralsund and enjoyed great consideration there.--translator.] [footnote : according to tradition king arthur or artus, chief of the knights of the round table, lived in the sixth century. he and his companions had devoted themselves to the recovery of the holy grail. arthur himself is supposed to have conquered sweden and norway. on the other hand, the historian johannes magnus, archbishop of upsal, who died in , mentions a swedish arthur famed for his doughty deeds, and he adds: "even in our days, there exist in certain towns along the baltic, for instance at dantzig and stralsund, houses, _domus arthi_, on which the term illustrious has been bestowed; it is there that the notables foregather for the relaxation of their minds, as if it were a kind of school of the highest courtesy and amenity." hence in the trading cities of the north the magnificent structures set apart for public and private rejoicings, as well as for commercial transactions, were intimately bound up with the tradition of a legendary hero. if i am not mistaken, only one of those buildings still remains, namely, the _artushof_ of dantzig, which does duty as an exchange, and the ancient halls of which were the scene of the interview of the german emperor and the czar in september, . the local chroniclers assert that the _artushof_ of stralsund was built with the ransom of duke eric of saxony, taken prisoner by the city troops in the great fire of june , , completely destroyed it. on its site stands the official residence of the military governor of the place. when near his end ketelhot expressed his regret at having, at that period of his scant resources, too eagerly accepted the burgher's hospitality. johannes knipstro (knypstro or knipstrow), born may , , at sandow in the march, was at first a franciscan monk. he and ketelhot are considered as the most active propagators of the reformation at stralsund. but for the earnings of his wife, it is said, he would have been compelled to beg his bread, his salary being too small to keep body and soul together. she was an erewhile nun, and provided for both with her needle. knipstro became superintendent-general at wolgast in , and professor of theology at greifswald. he died october , .--translator.] [footnote : doctor and ducal councillor valentin stroïentin was the friend of ulrich von hutten. bugenhagen dedicated his _pomerania_ to him. he died in .] [footnote : johannes aepinus (in german hoeck or hoch, high), was born in at ziegesar in the urich, and died in superintendent at hamburg, where he had discharged the ministry since . aepinus laboured hard at ecclesiastical and scholastic reform. many writings, especially against the interim, came from his pen.--translator.] [footnote : hermann bonnus, born in , near osnaburgh; he preached the new doctrine at greifswald, stralsund and copenhagen, and died on february , , superintendent at lubeck, a post which had been confided to him in . bonnus has written a chronicle of lubeck.--translator.] [footnote : nicholas gentzkow, doctor of law, born december , , the son of a shoemaker, according to the annalist berckmann, and deceased february , , was elected burgomaster of stralsund in . he, nevertheless, remained syndic, that is, legal adviser to the city, just as, after his admission to the council, sastrow continued his functions of protonotary, or first secretary. sastrow, who had many disagreements with gentzkow, as, in fact, with others, succeeded him in the dignity of burgomaster. gentzkow left a diary of which zober published extracts in .--translator.] [footnote : wulf wulflam, the head of the patricians of stralsund, and illustrious in virtue of his warlike exploits, treated on a footing of equality with the crowned heads of the fourteenth century.--translator.] [footnote : the same story is related of the schwerin family at lubeck.--translator.] [footnote : a jocular allusion to the three maries of bethany, viz., the mother of james the minor and sister of the virgin; the mother of the apostles james and john, and mary of magdala.--translator.] [footnote : the dean of the drapers had precedence of the deans of all the other corporations; in all the ceremonies he came immediately after the council.--translator.] [footnote : george wullenweber was born about , probably at hamburg. when the political and religious struggle broke out at lubeck, he was settled there as a merchant, and he distinguished himself by being in the front rank clamouring for changes. at the end of february, , he was elected councillor and afterwards burgomaster. from that moment the whole of his attempts tended in the direction of the restoration of the commercial monopoly the hanseatic cities had so long possessed on the shores of the baltic. the aim was to close those ports to the dutch merchant navy, and to cause the influence of lubeck to prevail in the three scandinavian kingdoms. in the spring of , lubeck made up its mind to come to close quarters with the dutch, those detested rivals. a well-equipped fleet stood out to sea; the erewhile landsknecht, marcus meyer, who began by being a blacksmith at hamburg, and had married the rich widow of a burgomaster, assumed the command of the mercenaries. the others had, however, been forewarned, and only some unimportant captures were made. meyer, after having confiscated english merchandize found on board of the captured craft, made the mistake of landing on the english coast to revictual; he was arrested for piracy and taken to london. by a whim of henry viii, jealous of the power of the netherlands and of charles v, marx meyer, instead of being put to death, received a knighthood and immediately served as an intermediary between the king and wullenweber in the more or less serious negotiations they started. this first campaign had cost much, and its issue was not very profitable. the dutch fleet had got some good prizes, and pillaged on the schonen (swedish) coast some of the factories belonging to the hanseatic combination. the complaints of the traders themselves became general. was the war to be pursued? a diet foregathered at hamburg in march, , in order to come to an understanding. wullenweber was received with universal recrimination; his haughty attitude drew from the stralsund delegate the famous and prophetic reminder recorded by sastrow a few pages further on. the proud burgomaster left the place at the end of a few days, angry and embittered at heart; in spite of this, an armistice of four years was signed: naturally, wullenweber felt it incumbent to retrieve this check. the elective throne of denmark had become vacant through the death of frederick i of holstein: his son, christian iii, was unfavourably disposed towards the hanseatic cities. under those circumstances wullenweber hit upon the idea of the candidature of christian ii, who had been deposed and afterwards confined to the castle of sunderburg in the island of alsen. a condottiere of high birth, christopher of oldenburg, accepted the chief command of the expedition. but the bold burgomaster, not satisfied with the restoration of christian ii., offered to duke albrecht of mecklenburg the crown of sweden at that time borne by gustavus wasa. that monarch had committed the blunder of not showing himself sufficiently grateful for the aid lent to him by lubeck in days gone by. the beginnings of the campaign were successful. copenhagen opened even its doors to the count of oldenburg. christian iii, however, had secured an able captain in count johannes rantzau, who, leaving the enemy to carry on his devastations in sealand, boldly came to invest lubeck, inflicted a bloody defeat on marx meyer and captured eight vessels of war. wullenweber understood that it was time to make concessions; his partners retired from the councils, and on november , , the very curious convention with rantzau was concluded at stockeldorf by which the lubeckers were left free to continue warring in denmark in favour of christian ii, but bound themselves to cease hostilities in holstein. the candidates for the danish throne increased. albrecht of mecklenburg and even count christopher laid more and more stress upon their pretensions; wullenweber, in order to conciliate the emperor, put forward at the eleventh hour the name of a personage agreeable to the house of hapsburg, namely, count palatine frederick, the son-in-law of christian ii. the war went on with christian iii, whose cause gustavus wasa had espoused. marx meyer fell into the hands of the enemy; left prisoner on parole, he broke his pledge, made himself master of the very castle of warburg that had been assigned to him as a residence, and his barbaric and cruel incursions terrified the country all round. the naval battle of borholm on june , , was not productive of a decisive result, a storm having dispersed the opposing fleets, but on june johannes rantzau scored a victory on land in denmark; and finally, on june , at svendsburg, the lubeck fleet fell without firing a shot into the hands of admiral peter skramon. added to all these catastrophes, lubeck was threatened with being put outside the pale of the empire; the game was evidently lost. nevertheless peace with christian iii was only signed on february , . marx meyer, after a splendid defence, surrendered warburg, on the condition of his retiring with the honours of war; in spite of their promise, the danes tried and executed him together with his brother on june , . on july of the same year copenhagen capitulated, after having sustained a twelve months' investment, aggravated by famine. christian iii gave their liberty to duke albrecht of mecklenburg and to count christopher, although he inflicted repeated humiliations on the latter. as for the duke, the adventure left him crestfallen for a long while. at lubeck the men of the old regime obtained power once more, wullenweber having resigned towards the end of august, . in the beginning of october, while crossing the territory of the archbishop of bremen, the brother of his enemy, duke heinrich the younger, of brunswick, he was arrested, taken to the castle of rothenburg, and put on the rack as a traitor, an anabaptist and a malefactor. after which he was transferred to the castle of stainbrück, between brunswick and hildesheim, and flung into a narrow dungeon, where to this day the following inscription records the event: "here george wullenweber suffered, - ." finally, on september , a court of aldermen summoned at tollenstein, near wolfenbüttel, by heindrich of brunswick, sentenced the wretched man to suffer death by the sword, a sentence which was carried out immediately, the executioner quartering the body and putting it on the wheel. such was the deplorable end of the man whose ambition had dreamt the political and commercial domination of his country in the north of europe. according to a sailor's ditty of old, "the people of lubeck are regretting every day the demise of master george wullenweber." the historian waitz has devoted three volumes to the career of the famous burgomaster; the purely literary men and dramatic authors, kruse and gutzkow, have also seized upon this dramatic figure.--translator.] [footnote : under the name of wends, the sclavs settled on the shores of the baltic, engaged in maritime traffic, and became the founders of the hanseatic league. in the sixteenth century the kernel of that confederation still consisted of the group of the six wendish cities: "lubeck the chief one, hamburg, luneburg, rostock, stralsund and wismar."--translator.] [footnote : the hanseatic league had established its most important factories, and above all for the herring traffic, in schonen; enormous fairs were being held there from the beginning of july to the end of november. the centre of all this commerce was falsterbo, at the extreme southwest of sweden.--translator.] [footnote : valentin eichstedt died in as chancellor of wolgast. he wrote the life of duke philip i, an _epitome annalium pomerania_ and _annales pomeraniae_. johannes berckmann, a former monk of the order of st. augustine, and preacher, an eye-witness of the scenes of the reformation at stralsund, is the author of a chronicle of that city which was published in by mohnike and gober. sastrow has now and again borrowed from him for events anterior to his personal recollections; he nevertheless rarely misses an opportunity of attacking his fellow-worker in history. this may have been due to hatred of the popular party and perhaps to professional jealousy, apart from the fact of berckmann being more favourable to his patron christopher lorbeer than to burgomaster nicholas smiterlow. born about the end of the fifteenth century, berckmann died in .--translator.] [footnote : robert barnes, chaplain to henry viii, and sent by the latter to wittemberg in order to consult the theologians on the subject of henry's divorce from catherine of arragon. at his return to london he showed so much zeal for the new faith that henry sent him to the tower. he recanted in order to recover his freedom; then overwhelmed with remorse fled to wittemberg and stayed there several years with bugenhagen under the name of dr. antonius anglus. henry viii, after his rupture with the pope, reinstated barnes as his chaplain and entrusted him with the negotiations of his marriage with anne of cleves; but when the divorce took place, barnes was brought before parliament and was burned july , . he wrote the lives of the roman pontiffs from st. peter to alexander iii.--translator.] [footnote : arnold büren, the son of a peasant, took his name from the hamlet of büren, in westphalia, in the neighbourhood of which he was born, in . he spent fifteen years at wittemberg with luther and melanchthon. the latter recommended him to the duke of mecklenburg, henry the pacific, as a tutor to his son magnus, who was reported to be the most learned prince of his times. to büren belongs the credit of having restored the prestige of the university of rostock, seriously impaired by the pest and by the troubles of the reformation. he died on september , . his tomb is in st. mary's, at rostock; among the scutcheons adorning it are the genevese key and eagle.--translator.] [footnote : the herring fishery and the brewing industry gave a great importance to the coopers' guild, which was moreover protected against foreign competition by ancient enactments.--translator.] [footnote : gaspard von schwenkfeld, born in at the castle of offing, in silesia, died at ulm in . entered into holy orders, he reproached luther with restoring the reign of literal interpretation and with neglecting the spirit. banished from silesia as a fanatic, he made his way to southern germany, and stayed at strasburg, augsburg, spires and ulm. for some time he seemed to incline towards the anabaptists, but soon parted from them to found a particular sect. he taught that god reveals himself in direct communication to every man, and that regeneration is accomplished by the spiritual life and not by outward means of grace. his profound conviction and great piety gained him many adherents, notably in swabia and silesia. a colony of his persecuted disciples settled in philadelphia, u.s.--translator.] [footnote : at the head of the bands recruited by the duke of cleves and the king of denmark, martin van rosse, or von rossheim, acting in concert with the french troops, had ravaged brabant. not only did the duke of cleves retain guelderland, on which charles v pretended to have claims, but he continued his intrigues with france and denmark. to put an end to these, charles, in , got together , men, spaniards, italians and germans, and proceeded down the rhine. the fortified place of düren having been carried by assault, the duke considered himself lucky to be able to conclude a peace which only cost him guelderland, and martin van rosse took service once more with the emperor.--translator.] [footnote : sastrow has the whole of the grant of poet laureate, with the full description of the arms conferred. in reality it was not a patent of nobility in the proper significance of the term.--translator.] [footnote : les especes enlevées, il renferma la bourse et le fou de s'écrier: "monseigneur, appelez votre coquin de prêtre (il ne le calumnioit point) qu'on le taille à son tour. votre grace sait qu'il a engrossé une fille de butzbach." on suspendit derrière le poêle les angelots cousus dans un sachet.] [footnote : duke henry of brunswick endeavoured to hold his own against the protestant princes, but in , abandoned by the mercenaries, he was compelled to surrender to the landgrave philip of hesse.--translator.] [footnote : on the subject of the child simeon, the following may be read with interest in the martyrology of the israelites, entitled _emek habakha_, or _the valley of tears_ (published by julian sée, ): "at that period ( ), a scoundrel named enzo, of trent, in italy, killed a child of two years old with the name of simeon and flung it secretly into a pond, not far from the house of the jew samuel without any one having seen the deed. immediately, as usual, the jews were accused of it. at the order of the bishop their houses were entered into; the child, of course, was not found, and everybody went back to his home. the body was found afterwards. the bishop, after having had it examined on the spot itself, ordered the arrest of all the jews, who were harassed and tortured to such a degree as to confess to a thing which had never entered their mind. only one among them, a very old man, named moses, refused to avow this signal falsehood and died under his torture. may the lord reward him according to his piety." two christians, learned and versed in the law came from padua to judge for themselves. the wrath of the inhabitants of trent was kindled against them and they were nearly killed. the bishop condemned the jews, heaped bitterness upon them, tortured them with red-hot pincers, finally burned them, and their guiltless souls ascended to heaven. he subsequently took possession of all their property as he had intended, and filled his cellars with spoil. the child was already reported as admitted among the saints, and was supposed to perform miracles. the bishop disseminated the announcement of it throughout all the provinces, crowds rushed to see, and they did not come empty-handed. all the people of that country began to show great hatred to the jews in the spots where they resided, and ceased to speak peacefully to them. meanwhile, the bishop having asked the pope to canonize the child, considering that it was among the saints, the pope sent one of his cardinals with the title of legate to examine the affair more closely, and the latter did not fail before long to discover that it was nothing but an imposture and fancy. he also wished to see the corpse; the corpse was embalmed. thereupon the cardinal began to jeer; he declared in the presence of the people that it was nothing but sheer deception. the people, however, became furious against him; he was obliged to flee and to take refuge in a neighbouring town. when there he sent for all the documents relating to the avowals of the unfortunate jews and the measures taken against them, had the servant of the scoundrel who killed the child arrested, and the latter declared that the crime had been committed by order of the bishop in order to ruin the jews. the cardinal took the servant with him to rome, gave an account of his mission to the pope, who refused to canonize the child as the bishop kept asking him. the child was only "beatified," but up to the present ( ) it has not been "canonized." still, it was canonized in , and its "day" is celebrated with great pomp at trent on march .--translator.] [footnote : ascagne, count of st. florian and cardinal, was the son of constance farnese, daughter of pope paul iii.--translator.] [footnote : duke octavius was the son of peter-aloys farnése.--translator.] [footnote : this epicure was prelate of augsburg, johannes fugger, who in reality travelled for the sole purpose of getting a knowledge of the different vintages. his servant had the following words cut on his tombstone: "_est, est, est et propter nimium est; dominus meus mortuus est._" the defunct left a legacy to empty so many bottles of wine on his grave once a year, a ceremony replaced nowadays by a distribution of bread to the poor. the wine of montefiascone owes its name of _est, est, est_ to this adventure.--translator.] [footnote : the famous captain schaertlin von burtenbach had received the command of the protestant forces, among which figured the contingents of ulm and augsburg: the successful night-surprise against the fortress of ehrenberg-klause marks the beginning of the war of schmalkalden. from that moment schaertlin, having become master of the passages of the tyrol, could stop the reinforcements despatched from italy to the emperor; he could descend into the plain and drive away the council of trent. the citizens of augsburg, though, being anxious for the safety of their own town, pressed him to come back. "he obeyed, racked," says one of his own companions, "by the same despair that hannibal felt when recalled from italy by carthage." the taking of the same fortress by mauritz of saxony in compelled charles v to leave innspruck in hot haste.--translator.] [footnote : here follows a very unsavoury passage, showing the lamentable want of cleanliness even among the educated middle classes in the sixteenth century throughout europe, for the particulars given by sastrow did not apply to germany only.--translator.] [footnote : it is not the final dissolution brought about by the defeat of mühlberg. a passage from sleidan explains the league of schmalkalden at the end of . "the embassies of the protestants, which were not agreed, foregathered with the hope of being enabled to deliberate more efficiently. but inasmuch as the 'allied of the religion' gave no help, and the confederates of luneburg and pomerania did not assist in anything, inasmuch as the other states and towns of saxony were most sparing with their subsidies, as there came nothing from france, and the army dwindled down day by day because the soldiers took their discharge on account of the season and other discomforts, it was proposed to adopt one of three measures: to give battle, to retire and put the soldiers into winter quarters, or to make peace. the discussion resulted in a hint to make peace. but because the emperor, who was aware of the state of things through his spies, proposed too onerous conditions, it was decided to take the whole of the army into saxony. in consequence of all this, the war was by no means successfully conducted."--translator.] [footnote : gaspard pflug, the chief of the protestant party in bohemia, must not be mistaken for julius pflug, bishop of naumburg, one of the three men who drew up "the interim."--translator.] [footnote : sastrow gives only one specimen, but i cannot reproduce it.--translator.] [footnote : after the victory of mühlberg, the imperial army went to lay siege to wittenberg, which finally capitulated at the advice of johannes friedrich of sachsen himself.--translator.] [footnote : the jurist, george sigismund seld, born in , the son of a goldsmith at augsburg, had become vice-chancellor at the death of nares. his deputies were johannes marquardt of baden, and heinrich hase, formerly counsellor to the count palatine and the prince of deux-ponts. seld died in .--translator.] [footnote : christopher von carlowitz, born at heimsdorff, near dresden, on december , , died on january , . he was the able counsellor of the valiant but changeable maurice of saxony, who, as is well known, deserted the protestant side for that of the emperor, and was rewarded with the electoral dignity of which his kinsman and neighbour johannes-friedrich was deprived. a few years later, maurice, at the head of the vanquished of mühlberg, recommenced the struggle against the emperor, and in imposed upon that monarch the peace of passau. in july maurice met with a glorious death on the battlefield of sievershausen, where the margrave of brandenburg suffered a defeat.--translator.] [footnote : it was at ingoldstadt that the challenge of the protestant princes was presented to charles v. by a young squire, accompanied by a trumpeter. the emperor simply sent word to the two messengers that he granted them a safe-conduct; as for those by whom they were sent, he should know how to deal with them. that is the modern version of ranke. according to sastrow there were two challenges and he gives them both. the first was brought to landshut by a gentleman accompanied by a trumpeter. charles refused to receive him. the second is that of ingoldstadt, and is posterior by three weeks to the other. it was presented on september . "this missive," adds sastrow, "has been the cause of all the great ills that have befallen germany, and i verily believe that wishing to chastise the german nation for her sins, god allowed it to be written with infernal ink. neither sleidan nor beuter mentions it; it seems to me that there was an attempt to garble or altogether to suppress it."--translator.] [footnote : sastrow had no easy task for his diplomatic beginnings: charles v had gained the crushing victory of mühlberg over the german protestants on april , ; the league of schmalkalden had ceased to exist; its chiefs, the elector johannes-friedrich of sachsen and the landgrave of hesse, philip the magnanimous, were both prisoners. though they were members of that league since , the dukes of pomerania had, it is true, observed a neutral attitude during the latter years; nevertheless, the emperor's resentment inspired them, not without reason, with great fear. preparations for defence commenced everywhere; greifswald and stralsund strengthened and increased their fortifications. finally, the dukes obtained their pardon, in consideration of humiliating excuses, the acceptance of the interim, and the payment of a large contribution, towards which stralsund contributed , florins.--translator.] [footnote : the duke frederick iii von liegnitz in silesia, born in , had become reigning duke in . his ill-regulated conduct caused him to be called "the extravagant." finally, the emperor ordered him to be deposed. frederick iii, who died in , spent the last six years of his life dependent upon private charity at the castle of liegnitz. heindrich xi, his son and successor, followed his example in every respect. far distant from silesia, in a mountainous region of switzerland, there lived at that period another offshoot of an illustrious princely house, namely, count michael de gruyère, who, the last of his race, was soon compelled to abandon to his creditors even the manor of his ancestors by a curious coincidence the two incorrigible spendthrifts met at the french court and became, it appears intimately acquainted, for the noble silesian paid a visit to the french noble in at his seat at devonne, near geneva. it would be impossible to conceive a better matched couple. michael, finding his guest to be suffering from fever caused by a fall from his horse at lyons, took him to the castle of gruyère. true to his custom, frederick soon asked for a loan, and obtained a big sum which the count himself had borrowed. when it came to repayment they fell out; there was a lawsuit at friburg, and the duke, ordered to refund, gave some jewels as security, which, after all, were not redeemed. a letter from the countess de gruyère says, in fact, that count michael, holding several precious stones of great beauty, having belonged to the duke von liegnitz, has pledged part of them with the lords of lucerne and another part with various people of friburg. an innkeeper of that town with whom the prince had lodged put a distraint on certain jewels and other objects. frederick succeeded in leaving the country, as usual, without paying.--translator.] [footnote : those who refused to charles v the title of emperor called him charles of ghent.--translator.] [footnote : lazarus von schwendi was born in . after a brilliant university career at basle and strasburg, he entered the service of charles v, who employed him both in warfare and in diplomatic negotiations. it was he who was ordered to arrest, at wissemburg, sebastian vogelsberg, who, in spite of the emperor's prohibition, had taken service with france, and was relentlessly executed as an example to schaerlin and other protestant captains who had taken refuge at the court of the king. schwendi became a member of the imperial council for german affairs. he went through all the campaigns in germany, the low countries and hungary. in he was appointed general-in-chief against the turks. he retired to alsace, and died there in may, , bequeathing to strasburg ten thousand florins for poor students.--translator.] [footnote : nicholas perrenot de granvelle, born at ornans (doubs) in , died at augsburg in . he was the most influential minister of charles v. his son, anthony, who was born at besançon in , inherited the paternal omnipotence. appointed bishop of arras at twenty-three years of age, he died a cardinal at madrid in .--translator.] [footnote : these "portuguese" golden coins were pieces of mark and often served as presents.--translator.] [footnote : margrave albrecht of brandenburg-culmbach, nicknamed alcibiades, was born in and died in . these two princes were fated to oppose each other in at sievershausen, where maurice, though victorious, perished. he had been ordered to reduce albrecht to order, as the latter continued to trouble the peace of the empire.--translator.] [footnote : "truc" was a kind of game of skill, not unlike billiards, but more like bagatelle. there is a reproduction from an ancient picture of a "truc" board in richter's _bilder aus der deutschen kulturgeschichte_, vol. ii. p. .--translator.] [footnote : at a grand ball at the court of philip v of spain, the duke de saint simon saw nearly two centuries later the ladies seated on the carpet covering the floor of one of the reception rooms.--translator.] [footnote : jacob sturm, of sturmeck, the great magistrate and reformer of strasburg, "the ornament of the german nobility," and who undertook not less than ninety-one missions between and . he was born at strasburg in , and died therein .--translator.] [footnote : of all the towns of upper germany constance was the last to submit to the emperor. on august , , it was suddenly placed without the ban of the empire, and on the same day a contingent of spaniards endeavoured to take it by force. though surprised, the inhabitants took up arms. the enemy, already master of the advanced part of the town, made for the bridge over the rhine, and it was feared that they would enter pell-mell with the retreating defenders. at that critical moment, a burgher who was hard pressed by two spaniards, performed an act of heroism; he took hold of his adversaries, and recommending his soul to god, dragged them into the stream with him, giving his townsmen time to close the gates. constance escaped for the nonce, but, after having vainly waited for help, it had to capitulate on the following october .--translator.] [footnote : sastrow's portrait is wanting in the collection of portraits of the burgomasters of stralsund. the passage above suggests sastrow's likeness to jacob sturm.--translator.] [footnote : the "interim" was the document drawn up by charles v in , which, until the decision of a general church convocation, was to guide both catholics and protestants, which document was disliked by both.--translator.] [footnote : johannes walther von hirnheim belonged to an old knightly family and had no children by his wife margaret goeslin.--translator.] [footnote : in , after the promulgation of the "interim," melanchthon and some other theologians proposed a _modus vivendi_ which was called the "leipzig interim." they accepted the jurisdiction of bishops, confirmation and last unction, fasts and feasts, even those of the _corpus domini_, and nearly the whole of the ancient canon of the mass. all this, according to them, was so much _adiophora_, in other words, things of no importance, to submit to which was perfectly permissible for the sake of the unity and peace of the church. this concession, which was considered as a sign of weakness by many, caused an animated polemical strife.--translator.] [footnote : the lloytz were the richest merchants of stettin. they went bankrupt in for twenty "tuns" of gold, i.e. for , pounds sterling. half a century later the council of stettin still attributed the bad state of business to that failure.--translator.] [footnote : the letter of the celebrated geographer is in latin and reads as follows: "i received thy letter dated from spires january , together with a large bundle of manuscripts and maps coming from pomerania. the ducal chancellor citzewitz when i saw him promised me those documents before christmas without fail. we even waited for another month, and nothing having come, we proceeded with our work. the same thing happened with the duchy of cleves. in the one case as in the other, i decline all responsibility, for in both i gave the rulers of those countries ample notice. herr petrus artopaeus asks me to send thee the map of pomerania, which he dispatched to me from augsburg two years ago. i comply with his wish; thou no doubt knowest what to do with it. at the frankfurt fair i shall write to the chancellor of pomerania; i am too busy to do so at present: we are printing the last sheets of the _cosmographiae_; the printer must be ready to offer this costly work for sale at the next fair, and it must be illustrated with a number of figures. among the things sent from pomerania, i have found the drawing of a big black fish with an explanation which i detach from it in order for thee to copy it clearly, for i have my doubts about the word '_braunfisch_' (if i have read aright), and even stronger doubts with regard to the english and spanish. i shall feel obliged by thy writing me those names more distinctly and to send them to me at the easter vacation by one of the many merchants from basle who pass through spires on their return from the fair. meanwhile, i wish thee good health! basle, wednesday after _riminiscere_ (the second sunday in lent)." the printer of the _cosmographie_ was h. petri. artopaeus points out the theologian peter becker as the author of the description of pomerania largely consulted by münster.--translator.] [footnote : a very ancient custom obliged the ammeister, or first magistrate of strasburg, regularly to take his two meals per day during his year of office at the expense of the city, at "the lantern," unless he preferred the stewpans patronized by his own tribe. the table was open to every one willing to pay the fixed price. "_ad istum prandium omnibus et incolis et peregrinis pro certo pretio accedere licet_," says the _itinerarium germaniae_ of hentzer, who visited strasburg in . seven years later a gentleman from the march mentions also in his journal the _ammeisterstube_ (the _ammeister's_ room), where the _ammeister_ and two _stadmeister_ take their daily meals. everybody is free to go in and to be served by paying. each tribe (set) has its particular stewpan. what becomes of the _ammeister's_ usual haunt when the _ammeister_ is a member of that particular tribe? nevertheless, the establishment mostly patronized is that of the grain market, which is conveniently situated. among other strictly observed formalities are the blessing and the grace, announced by the rapping with a wand, and the proceedings are always opened by a reminder of the submission due to the authorities. the custom no doubt had its origin in the provisions for public order which induced the magistrates of geneva to close all the taverns in . they were replaced by five so-called abbeys, each having at its head one of the four syndics or their lieutenant; but after a few weeks, this reform, the idea of which had been brought, perhaps, from strasburg by calvin had to be abandoned. the _ammeister_ for being too feeble to eat twice a day at the expense of the city, the supper was suppressed. it would appear, however, that the magistrates "forgot themselves" at table, for the council of fifteen made an order in obliging the _ammeister_ to be at the town hall at one o'clock. "the magistrates too often only appeared at the senate and at the chancellerie between three and four o'clock," says a chronicler. apparently the order did not remedy the evil, as in it was decided to do away with the ancient institution.--translator.] [footnote : an allusion to the thief whose execution sastrow saw in rome.--translator.] [footnote : the bishopric of cammin had been secularized; the importance of the debate bore wholly upon the revenues.--translator.] [footnote : this son, who became a doctor of law and who died in without issue, had a very hasty temper. on one occasion he drew his sword at a sitting of the council whither his father had sent him to present a document. on another occasion he shook the hall by violently striking the magisterial bench with his fist, while his father kept saying: "gently, johannes, gently."--translator.] [footnote : it is to his two daughters catherine and amnistia, and to his two sons-in-law heinrich gottschalk and jacob clerike, and to their children, that sastrow has dedicated his _memoirs_, his son being already dead.--translator.] * * * butler & tanner, the selwood printing works, frome, and london. * * * * * +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | transcriber's note: | | | | inconsistent hyphenation in the original document has | | been preserved. | | | | obvious typographical errors have been corrected. for | | a complete list, please see the end of this document. | | | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ * * * * * the new germany by george young _author of "portugal old and young"; "nationalism and war in the balkans"; "le corps de droit ottoman," etc._ new york harcourt, brace and howe _printed in great britain_ author's preface the following account of events in germany during the period from the armistice to the treaty of versailles was written mostly in the summer of . but the events of the succeeding period from the signature of the treaty to its ratification during the autumn and winter call for no alteration and but little addition to the text. the six months hereinafter described from february to august were a--perhaps the--critical period for germany and for europe. it was the formative and creative stage for new germany and for new europe. if the whole phase through which central europe passed after the collapse of the central powers is considered as the genesis of a new age, then the week of actual revolution was a phase of intense heat and fierce energy, in which the old political organisms were boiled down to their most simple and essential types and in which the germs of new political institutions appeared in primitive forms such as the councils. thereafter came the period under review, in which the old and new types fought for a survival of the fittest; and the old--aided by the general cooling off of the revolution--to some extent reasserted their supremacy. indeed during this last winter i have even occasionally thought that the types of old germany might succeed in suppressing the new, thereby making it necessary to change the title and tone of this book. but i know this impression is largely due to the pessimistic and perverted point of view towards all events in central europe affected by the british press with few exceptions. for our "dailies" germany is only a subject for "scare heads" and "stories," in which adventurous special correspondents see the kaiser emerging from the netherlands to re-ravage europe like the brontosaurus out of the nyassa swamp. whereas the reality seems to be that reaction has moderated as the revolution became more amenable, and that a "modus vivendi" between the two is now more of a possibility than it was. it now seems less probable than it did last summer that the solution in germany will be a "second revolution" as in russia. weak as it is politically, the present german governmental system seems too strong police-ically to be overthrown by force. the situation to-day in germany rather suggests that in great britain two years hence than that in russia two years ago. the new germany of this winter of - is essentially, then, the same as that of last summer. it is not the old germany of the autumn of , nor the young germany of the autumn of . but it has developed rapidly in some respects in the course of this winter. thus the rough and ready rule by frei-corps expeditions and garrisons has been supplemented by a gendarmerie (_sicherheitswehr_); and the middle-class militia (_bürgerwehr_) has been replaced by an organisation of armed special constables (_einwohnerwehr_). the effect and perhaps the object of this change is to obscure the class character of the conflict between reaction and revolution--between property and the proletariat. the police is no longer a weapon for use by a possible militarist reaction or monarchist restoration, and in return it will be supported by the moderate revolutionaries. reaction and revolution are reuniting as reconstruction; and this tendency appears in all regions of political activity. thus the revolutionary council system now seems established as a secondary representative institution supplementary to parliament. this development is, however, not due to maturity of political experience--as it would be in similar conditions in an anglo-saxon community--but merely to mortal weakness. german political vitality, owing to mediæval calamities, has always been low in modern times. now, as a result of a four years' frenzy of war and a fifth year in a fever of revolution, german political vitality is a very flickering flame. so long as france and great britain continue to enforce the principles and procedures of the treaty of versailles and of the paris council, germany will remain a danger to europe--a danger, not because of its recent relapse into a conservative reaction, nor even because of the decreasing risk of a communist "second" revolution, but because germany is an essential and vital member of our european body politic that is being kept in a morbid, even moribund, condition by the provisions of the peace. the paris diplomatists have not yet learnt the lesson taught by a great french diplomatist two hundred years ago at the time of the last great european settlement but one. m. de callières then wrote in his treatise on diplomacy--"we must think of the states of which europe is composed as being joined ... in such a way that they may be regarded as members of one republic, and that no considerable change can take place in any one of them without affecting the condition or disturbing the peace of all the others." a majority of the rank and file of greater britain does so think of germany to-day, but unless and until it can compel its rulers to act accordingly it will not get peace. peace is only for men of good will. christmas, . , strand on the green, chiswick. contents chapter i page the revolution chapter ii the reaction chapter iii the council republics chapter iv ruin and reconstruction chapter v council government chapter vi the treaty of versailles chapter vii the constitution index the new germany the new germany chapter i the revolution when, in january, , i resigned my commission and made my way out to berlin as correspondent for the _daily news_, i had two purposes in view. one was to find out to what extent we had really won the war--in the only way it could be won--by forcing the german people into revolution; and incidentally to take any opportunity that might offer of furthering that revolution. my second purpose was to find out what prospects there were of making a more or less permanent peace--in the only way it could be made--by establishing the forces of reform in germany; and incidentally to point out any openings favourable to the furthering of such a peace. the following book brings together and sums up conclusions communicated to the _daily news_ from time to time and is put forward as an answer to the double question: have we won the war against prussianism and have we made a permanent peace? the answer to this question was only to be got in berlin. the first mistake made by the soldiers and workers who had won the war was in not insisting on their representatives making peace with the german people and at berlin. an experience of twenty years in diplomacy, beginning with the arbitration treaties of lord pauncefote and ending with those of lord bryce, followed by two years of war experience, beginning with political secret service and ending in the ranks, had convinced me from the first that true peace could only be got by developing the forces of democracy of the defeated peoples centering in berlin, and not by any bickerings between diplomatic formulæ of the victorious governments collected in paris. that is why i preferred going as a journalist to berlin rather than in any other capacity to paris. and that is why the following papers are published. they show that anyone who spent the first six months of in berlin and the big german towns would have seen easily enough how it was that, in spite of military occupations and religious thanksgivings and bonfires and bonuses all round, we were not winning the war but losing it: and how, in spite of territorial partitions and financial reparations, and signatures with gold pens and the setting-up of a league of nations, we were not making peace but manufacturing wars. we have not yet won the war because we have not as yet supported in germany the progressive--that is, the revolutionary--elements and suppressed the prussian--that is, the reactionary--spirit: while we have, of late, been really losing the war by actually assisting german reaction against german revolution. and we are doing this just from the ignorance of our democracy and the _insouciance_ of our diplomacy. our democracy has been prevented from ascertaining, and our diplomacy has been precluded from understanding what the german revolution really means, both to germany and to great britain. although we are slow to understand foreign movements, yet ignorance of such a movement as this would have been impossible but for the conditions under which the war closed. the german revolution, banned, boycotted, and blockaded, became to us a stone of offence, an odious ruin of the war, and so we failed to recognise it as the only possible foundation stone for peace. the six months i spent in germany were none too much to realise the radical and rapid changes going on; and i can see how difficult it has been for english readers to get an idea of what is really happening there from the little that has been written about it. they cannot do so at all unless they clear their minds of the cartoons and caricatures and clichés forced on them during the last five years by the propaganda and the press. it is no use drawing germany from the life for people who still have before their eyes the "boches" and "bolsheviks" of _punch_ and _john bull_. one has, indeed, to clear away two strata of misrepresentation, that of our government and press and that of the german government and press; for the latter is as much opposed to the german revolution as the former. it would have been better for germany had it shown more courage and collapsed less completely last autumn. a few weeks' patient endurance under punishment in a losing fight would have gone far towards restoring it some measure of the sympathies of the civilised world. while the consequent occupation of the whole country would have brought us into direct contact with the german revolution, and would have prevented the fatal split between reformers and revolutionaries, between majority and independent socialists. as it was, we english were left to draw such conclusions as we could from the reports of the few correspondents who penetrated to berlin. but, with two exceptions, the english press could at this time publish nothing about germany that was not merely malevolent. and of the few englishmen in berlin as correspondents in january, almost all were replaced before the treaty of peace by foreign jews who would supply the sort of propaganda poppycock with which public opinion is still being poisoned. what people in england wanted to know was whether the german revolution was a real riddance of the evil we had been fighting and a real renascence of good that we could favour; whether it had gone far enough and deep enough to be a sincere repentance and a sufficient remediation. for, unless germany was born again, it could not enter the community of nations, and until it did so, there could be no true peace. they could guess that kaiserism was dead and gone and junkerism down and out. but even so picturesque and positive an event as the fall of kaiserism had been only baldly mentioned in a bare telegram of a line or two. how could the british public realise that the black eagle of prussia was no phoenix and that the blaze of november had left nothing of it but a bad odour and a white feather. but in berlin there could be no doubt. kaiserism was dead--deader even than tsarism--because the kaiser was still alive. his shot-shattered and mob-swept palace was the only reminder of him. and every berliner had more or less vivid recollections of his fall, recollections too lamentable, too ludicrous, to allow of any restoration of the kaiser legend even now. after reading your morning paper about revolution in dublin and revolt in glasgow and reconstruction in london, as you walk down to your office past the dutch decorum of kensington palace, the scotch skimpiness of st. james's, or the generous germanosities of buckingham palace, does it ever occur to you to wonder what goes on in a palace when there is a revolution? well, this is what happened to the kaiserschloss in berlin on november . the curious crowd that always collects outside the house of anyone mentioned in the papers, whether it's an absconded postmaster or an abdicated potentate, found that the sentries no longer challenged them, and first filtered, then flooded into the inner courts. thereupon the police and guards left, and the palace remained in charge only of the kastellan and a few servants and soldiers. all doors were kept locked, and beyond some shouting everything was orderly, for the prestige of the imperial precincts still prevailed. then one schwieringer, not otherwise distinguished, made his way to the kastellan and got leave to address the crowd from a window. having draped the balcony with a red cloth borrowed for the purpose, he declared the palace national property. this broke the spell somewhat. the rest of the soldiers left, and the crowd became noisy. late in the afternoon came liebknecht, who engaged another balcony, borrowed more red curtains, made another speech, and after holding a sort of levée in the throne room left again. later came soldiers and hoisted a red flag. so far the kastellan had remained master of the situation, conducting his unwelcome visitors through the rooms, unlocking and locking behind him as on ordinary occasions with any ordinary tourists. then on november came one bujakowski, with a slavonic eye for the possibilities of the situation. having collected such soldiers and civilians as were hanging about, he made them a speech, and called on them to elect a council, and himself commandant of the castle, which they did. he then said he must have a suitable uniform. the council agreed, and appointed a delegation to make selections from the imperial wardrobe. happy delegates--happy, happy bujakowski! five hundred uniforms and, say, five pieces to each. how many combinations does that give in which to find the perfect expression of a spartacist commandant of a hohenzollern castle. he did his best in the time no doubt. delegate schwartz, try a combination of those english and hungarian uniforms! delegate schmidt, see if that hunting costume goes with a turkish fez! history does not record the result, beyond a cavilling incrimination about a diamond-headed cane. but it must have been effective, for the commandant returned from the reichstag with his commission confirmed. the rest of the company played up to his spirited lead, and the next morning his "adjutant" attempted a _coup d'état_. bujakowski suppressed it with a revolver, but was, however, deposed a day or two later by an ex-convict, who generously appointed him his secretary. these three men then formed a triumvirate, which spent most of its time making excursions in fancy dress with the imperial cars, and, oddly enough, kept the castle in fairly good condition. it was not until the sailors' revolutionary corps turned them out that all order disappeared. some ten commandants then succeeded each other rapidly. the seventh shot the sixth, and was knocked on the head by the eighth. the palace became a resort of bad characters, and was stripped bare. eventually, it was retaken by force, and the sailors were ejected. berliners shake their heads over the loss, estimated in millions (of war marks). but i don't know that there is much to lament. personally, i am grateful to bujakowski. his burlesque buffoonery has exorcised the imperial incubus that still brooded over the deserted shrine of departed littleness, and i forgive him for his share in destroying or dispersing some of the ugliest _objets d'art_ in europe. kaiserism died when william the second fled to amerongen and bujakowski broke into his wardrobe. nor has it been revived by the revulsion in favour of william of hohenzollern that we have evoked by our proposal to put him on his trial in england. we have thereby rallied in his support many adherents of the monarchical principle who had previously abandoned him, and by persisting in making a martyr of him, by taking him out of this german pillory and by putting him on an international pedestal, we have already opened the door to a restoration of the hohenzollern dynasty as a constitutional monarchy. this would mean a restoration of junkerism and prussianism, but not of kaiserism. that peculiar blend of divine right and demagogy is gone for ever. and what about junkerism? that cannot be so shortly answered. junkerism expresses itself in both regions of the ruling class to which germany has been hitherto subjected--the civil and the military. it is the evil genius of both those great services; and seldom has the world produced public services with so much power for good in them and so much evil as in the german army and bureaucracy. and it is indisputable that the fate of germany and the future of europe now depend on whether the revolutionary spirit is strong enough to exorcise the evil genius of prussianism and of junkerism from the army and civil service. but the question as to how far, so far, germany's good angel has fired its bad one out can only be answered as yet by a careful and impartial observation of events in germany since the revolution. and if these events seem to suggest that the revolution has lost its impetus and that reaction has dominated it, let us remember that the results of a renascence of public conscience, such as occurred in the november revolutions, should be estimated by comparing the concrete conditions of to-day, not with the abstract principles then for a time extant, but with the concrete conditions existing before the upheaval. as most have already got or can easily get a general knowledge of what general conditions in germany were before the revolution of november and of what were the general principles promulgated by the revolution, much of what follows will consist of evidence as to how far the revolution has so far failed in realising those principles. for revolution has now resulted in a reaction in which every vantage point gained by the first revolutionary rush is counter-attacked and every early victory is contested again. as every consequent loss cannot be referred back to the deadlock before the offensive the general impression is that of failure. but the prussianism that now fills german prisons with political suspects is rather a reflection of reaction abroad than a revival of the ancient _régime_. by the first rush of revolution in november , the military power of the officer caste was broken and the political power of land and money was reduced to insignificance. but there was no strong obstacle to their recovery, and the power of the bureaucracy was unimpaired. though the instigators of the crimes of the old _régime_ had been removed, the instruments remained; while the 'independent' intellectuals, the public prosecutors of those crimes, were before long voted down. and yet before we refuse absolution to the new german democracy we must be quite sure that these relapses are real unregeneracy and not reactions caused by fear of russian revolution on the one side or allied retribution on the other. we can only judge of this by reviewing the revolution. the history of the german revolution can be shortly described and sharply defined. after the first explosion on november came a month of equilibrium between revolution and reaction. then a month of which the first fortnight was a swing slowly to the right until the breach with the independents on december , and a swing swiftly the second fortnight until the fighting with the spartacists in january. thereafter a month of rapid return to the point where it was before the explosion, a point reached with the formation of the coalition government by the national assembly on february . indeed the government of scheidemann only differed from that of max von baden in being one degree more to the left, a development which was due in any case apart from the revolution. the german revolution is peculiar in having reached its highest point at once and in having then relapsed to where it started from without any positive reaction. this in itself suggests that it was due in its origin to external forces--propaganda from russia on the one side and pressure from us on the other. our military and naval pressure broke first the prestige then the power of kaiserism and militarism, while the russian precedent gave the forces of rebellion and revolution a practical example how to express themselves in co-ordinated councils of workmen and soldiers--the soviet system. we knocked german kaiserism out of the saddle, and russia gave german socialism a leg up. and that's why it went so far so fast. that's also why it never got anywhere. for it came to power before it developed its own personalities and policies, and it had, therefore, to put its trust in pre-revolutionary politicians. the council system had no time to produce leaders--men with enough confidence in their own position and enough character to impose themselves on the permanent officials. the central council--the true revolutionary executive--and the congress of councils--the true revolutionary legislature--never got any power. it was all monopolised by the people's commissioners, who were not really a revolutionary institution at all, but an ordinary provisional government of parliamentarians. and though they nominally held their mandate from the congress of councils a majority of them considered themselves as trustees for a constituent assembly. such parliamentarians could work well enough with the permanent officials, and, indeed, welcomed their assistance. whereas the councils, of course, came into violent collision with them. where the council system prevailed, as in the army, it made a real revolution, and broke the officer caste until the frei-corps replaced the conscript army. but the workmen were not so drastic in the civil service as were the soldiers in the cadres, and they allowed the parliamentarians to spare the amalekite. only the political heads of departments were replaced by social democrats; and, in one case i know, a revolutionary minister allowed his predecessor, out of courtesy, to keep his official residence. this was, of course, all very nice, but it meant that the old machine was not broken up, nor even brought under control. the result was that a coalition between the mere reformers among the commissioners and the civil servants was enough to counter-balance the more revolutionary commissioners and the councils; until finally external circumstances determined the deadlock in favour of the former. the german revolution never took its bastille in the wilhelmstrasse. the sentries set by the soldiers' councils at the doors of the government offices, who loudly demanded your pass and only looked foolish if you ignored them, were symbolic of the failure of the german revolution. so insignificant were these sentinels of revolution that no one saw the significance when they were finally replaced by steel-helmeted frei-corps mercenaries last april. by the first week of december it had become evident that the course of events was leading away from the congress of councils to the constituent assembly, and away from social revolution to political reconstruction. the central council that should have been the driving-wheel of the socialist engine was becoming no more than a drag shoe on the old state coach. before the german revolution was a month old--that is, by the end of the first week of december--it was entering its second phase, in which the parliamentary commissioners having ousted the proletarian councils from control, then divided among themselves into reformers and revolutionaries. and at the end of the second phase, early in january, we find that the reformers have ousted the revolutionaries. this came about thus. the german social democratic party was professedly revolutionary. its political attitude had been traditionally one of refusal of all co-operation or even compromise with the imperial political system. on this negative basis it had been possible to combine in a common front comrades of very different points of view and of political thought. but this superficial solidarity could not stand the strain of the war. a sense of patriotism carried one section--the majority socialists--first into countenancing and then into supporting the government; while pacifist sentiment against war in general, and this war in particular, carried the minority into more obstinate opposition. this finally split the party much as it split our labour party. the majority social-democrats moved towards the government, while the government towards the end of the war came to meet them. until finally the ministry of prince max of baden, that ended the war, not only represented the reichstag majority, but also the majority social-democrats. when prince max went down in the revolution, he remitted the reins of government to ebert and scheidemann. they, knowing that alone they could not rule the whirlwind, called in the minority social-democrats--the independents, offering them equal representation in the cabinet, then called the people's commissaries, and in the central council. this arrangement was ratified by the congress of councils, though very perfunctorily, as it was considered only a provisional makeshift. now, while the social-democrats of the majority were just parliamentary reformers, the independents of the minority, haase and kautsky, were revolutionaries. liebknecht was a radical revolutionary who would not come into the coalition. consequently, whereas ebert and scheidemann considered themselves as merely commissioners to prepare a constituent assembly, the independents considered themselves commissaries for the congress of councils. the former considered the revolution was probably unnecessary, and in any case had done its work in preparing the way for universal suffrage and a united germany. the latter considered that the revolution had only begun, and could only do its work through the soviet system and a general socialisation. the first serious difference came over the poles, with whom the independents had practically concluded an arrangement which was, however, upset by landsberg, a jew from posen, one of the people's commissaries. then came serious differences over german policy towards the entente. the independents were in favour of admitting culpability in the war crisis, belgium, submarine warfare, etc., and of accepting such liability as might be shown to be equitable, while frankly discussing such assets as could be realised in payment. this the majority rejected, preferring a negative policy of passive inaction. but the final breach came over internal policy and the use of force against the revolutionaries, the communists, who were trying to force the revolution out of the rut of parliamentary reform into which it was slipping. this communist left, commanded but not controlled by liebknecht, was working for a second revolution in alliance with russian agents. its fighting faction, that called itself "spartacus"--with the accent on the second syllable--was strong in the industrial districts of the centre and west, among the sailors in the coast towns, and in berlin. its ranks were filled rapidly with discontented workmen, disbanded soldiers, and "derailed" youths. rifles were plentiful, and against such irregulars, supported by sailors, the government was at first helpless. but as the regulars that had kept their ranks returned from the front it was found that some regiments were ready to act against the mob. such a policy was denounced by the independents, haase and kautsky, while ebert, perhaps also scheidemann, had doubts; but landsberg, who had found a strong man in noske, the prussian war minister, drove matters to a breach. on the first fighting with the sailors at the marstall on december , haase and kautsky resigned. thus the intellectual and idealist element of the revolution was removed from all influence over the conduct of affairs. the result was to cause in january a fight to a finish between the real-politikers of the government and the radicals of the opposition. police precautions against the russian agents, combined with a press propaganda against the spartacists, provoked the latter to action. they seized the offices of the _vorwärts_ and other papers most offensive to them, and used them for publishing their own pamphlets. they had not apparently planned anything more than a demonstration, and did not anyhow exploit the success they had seized by surprise. the government, however, after some difficulty in concentrating and supplying sufficient troops, converted the "putsch" into a pitched battle. noske regulars with all the machinery of modern war, made short work of the half-hearted half-armed irregulars of eichhorn, the spartacist police commissioner. the revolution was crushed in berlin and driven back to the coast ports, whence it came and whither it could later be pursued. liebknecht and rosa luxemburg, its berlin leaders, were arrested and at once brutally murdered by their escort with the approval and assistance of the officers in charge. this murder, perfectly well known in berlin at the time, was only proved by court-martial four months later, after which the culprits were allowed to escape abroad. so the independents having committed hari-kari and the spartacists being hoist with their own petard, middle-class and moderate germany heaved a sigh of relief, and hoped that the bogey of bolshevism was buried. the elections to the national assembly were held a few days later without disturbance, and the german revolution entered its third and last phase. the german revolution which began in november--in old german the "month of fogs"--and ended in february--the "month of fools"--was fogged from the beginning and fooled to the end. its third and last phase began about the middle of january with the establishing of provisional government by the moderate majority socialists, the crushing of spartacus, and the elections. the radical opposition had tried to delay the convocation of the constituent assembly, partly because it was for the moment discredited by its secession from the coalition and its connection with the communists, and partly because it recognised that a reaction towards nationalism and conservatism had already been set up by the attitude of the allies and would be given exaggerated expression at the polls. the drift of a weakened and wearied mass can raise a dictator to "save society"; only the driving power of a devoted and determined minority can realise a social revolution. but the independents had missed their opportunity of seizing power and securing such foreign support for the revolution as they had earned by their attitude on the war. their subsequent policy of obstruction had as little success as it deserved. by the middle of february, when the new government was proclaimed at weimar, a communist revolution had been converted into a constitutionalist reconstruction; and that this corresponded with the desire of the majority of the people was shown by the election result. every man and woman over twenty was entitled to vote, and a high percentage did so; while the system of proportional representation employed, whatever its defects, at least gave a fair numerical representation of the party presentments of public opinion. as in the english election, nationalism decided the issue in favour of the party in power. the independent opposition was discredited by bolshevism, the conservative opposition by kaiserism. apart from the women the social-democrats would probably have had an independent majority; but, as was shown by the pfalz results in which the women's voices were kept separate, they were more conservative and clerical than the men. as it was, the majority socialists with out of members were forced into alliance, not with the independent socialists who had only votes, but with the democratic liberals who had . and as this relieved them of all responsibility to the revolution there was no reason why they should not further strengthen their parliamentary position by taking in the clerical centre with its votes as well. and thus germany got from losing the war a coalition as strong parliamentarily and as weak politically as that which winning the war gave to us. while the revolution was being side-tracked in parliament, it was being sandbagged in the proletariat. a division of frei-corps with all the machinery of modern war, tanks, aeroplanes, etc., was sent against the north-western coast ports where the revolution had originated and where spartacus was pursuing its policy of aggravating the food difficulty by preventing the sailing of food ships as arranged under the armistice. bremen was entered by force, after fighting; and the other towns opened negotiations. on the eastern frontier a front was formed against the poles, who had occupied nearly all posen province, and fighting continued until the allies stopped it. great efforts were made to get together some sort of effective force as a basis for government; and the resultant frei-corps, though at this early date still few and inferior, were already enough to give check to the "bolshevist" menace within and without the frontier. meantime the whole "soviet" system of councils was practically 'frozen out' and politically 'snowed under.' the central council was got to abdicate in favour of the constituent assembly: the socialisation commission to which execution of the economic revolution had been referred, resigned _re infecta_: while the workmen's and soldiers' councils were quietly ignored. a provisional constitution was published in which all ideas of a centralised socialist republic were abandoned, and the federal reich was restored with the substitution of presidents for princes. finally the seat of the assembly was transferred to weimar, professedly to steep it in the sedative atmosphere of the old pre-prussian "kultur" of the philosophers and poets, and practically to withdraw it from the too stimulating atmosphere of berlin, which was still an independent stronghold. even so might a demoralised and democratised england placate a victorious and victorian america by transferring parliament to the shakespeare theatre at stratford-on-avon. all these strong measures were really signs of weakness. spartacus had to be put down to please the allies, the poles pushed back to please the nationalists, the clericals bribed with government posts to counteract french bids for their support in separatist intrigues. the constitution had to conciliate particularist sentiment in prussia and the southern principalities because this sentiment prevailed in the general exhaustion of national and revolutionary forces. the old driving power of national sentiment, so much abused during the war and that might still have been called on for a desperate national defence, was worn out. the new energy of the revolution had been wasted; and the country, so far as its government was concerned, was back where it was when the revolution broke out, materially much the worse for its three months' excursion into revolution. in a word, the spirit of the new german government was diplomatic not democratic. the revolution had come full circle and the scheidemann government of april might have been the government of max von baden of six months before. morally, however, it was not the old germany that had bowed before the "forty-seven princes hats." it had brought back with it from the perilous peaks and bottomless abysses of revolution a wider outlook and a deeper insight. and if it returned from its adventure only more weary and wasted it had at least learned to lift up its eyes to the hills. chapter ii the reaction just a quarter of a century ago i arrived in weimar fresh from eton, and as a budding diplomatist was invited to dinner by the grand duke. the ceremony was a credit to the court of pumpernickel. exactly a week before there came caracoling to the door what might have been one of napoleon's marshals, and was one of the weimar army. for weimar had then an army whose business it was to deliver invitations about a foot square. then on the evening itself and just half an hour before dinner, appeared a court carriage and pair, in which you drove through the ancient barbican of the castle to a flourish of trumpets. next came presentation to serenissimus, a very big, very grand old gentleman, who was always urbanely inane except when he was inanely urbane. after that came presentation to the grand duchess, a very little, very grand old lady, who sat in a glass case. this was said to be on account of draughts, but she looked so fragile and precious that no maid could ever have been trusted with dusting her. the only time i ever saw her taken out of it was for a presentation of orders of merit to deserving domestics--an institution of her own which royalty might adopt with advantage in these days when k.c.m.g.'s are commoner than kitchen maids. and now arriving in germany fresh from the army, i was again invited to an evening party at the schloss. but times have changed and the schloss has been promoted from the seat of a grand duke of a mediatised and mediæval principality to the seat of government of a modern and middle-class german republic. the guard in the old barbican no longer proclaimed my arrival on a trumpet, but presented a very business-like looking bayonet. inside the castle the state apartments were severely bare, as befits democratic simplicity. and instead of bland and blethering serenissimus i was received by scheidemann blandly, blandishingly serene. instead of gold-laced grandees dining off gold plates i find a job lot of journalists bolting "belegte brödchen"; and if there were fewer good things to be eaten there were many more to be heard. everything struck me first as completely different and then as curiously the same as ever. only the dresden china grand duchess had no republican reincarnation. and perhaps some day i shall find a still newer weimar, the centre of a twentieth century germany that will rise from the ashes of the nineteenth century and the dust of the eighteenth. not the picturesque, poetic weimar of the past, nor the practical, prosaic weimar of the present, but a weimar of wide vistas and broad views, in which young germany will learn to plan the future. and as i dreamed of this new weimar, walking back through the moonlit streets of the picturesque old town i was roused by the rumbling of field-guns on the march against the revolution. the drivers and gunners, hidden under their helmets and heavy cloaks, hunched on their saddles or huddled on the guns, were borne by slowly, silently, shapeless shifting shadows, passing out from the town where a few lights still shone, into the dark. the new germany is not yet. in the old days, when weimar was only the german stratford-on-avon, the theatre was the centre of local society. the first thing you did on arrival was to present yourself and a box of cigars to the old gentleman in the box-office and get a seat for the season from which you could survey from a respectful distance the social lights on the stage and the serene luminaries in the grand ducal box. but nowadays, when the stage of the weimar theatre has become the seat of government, it is as hard to get a ticket for a session of the assembly as it used to be for the selamlik of abdul hamid. incidentally, germany is to-day much more like turkey than its old, well-fed-up, well-fitted-out self. dingy soldiers everywhere, dirt, decay and deprivation everywhere, listlessness and laissez-faire on the surface, with unrest and upheaval below. but once inside the theatre things are not so different from the old days. the young ladies from the pensions can still "schwärmen" for the debonnaire premier scheidemann or the distingué brockdorff-rantzau, or "schauern" at handsome koenen, the saturnine tribune of halle, or at merges, the hunchback tailor of brunswick. but personally i find a weimar "full session" about as entertaining and enlightening as was weimar grand opera. a stout elderly gentleman advances to the centre of the stage and reads steadily and stolidly through a pile of typewritten recitative. the independents, who go in for bravura and even gag a little, are now nearly always away on tour in the provinces. so the assembly can continue daily from three to six digesting a pleasantly conservative constitution and a pleasingly liberal lunch. for weimar is an oasis of peace and plenty in a land swept by famine and fighting. yet even the sleepy backwater of thuringia has become a whirlpool of revolution, and weimar was then ringed in by a region of revolutionary strikes that threatened it from three sides. one day a scouting party of spartacists would be arrested at the station, on another the line to berlin would be cut by a strike in some northern town. the first week of the national assembly was nominally occupied with such formal matters as appointing a president, voting the provisional constitution, pronouncements on foreign policy, and programmes of legislation. but naturally what most concerned everyone was the novel and fascinating business of cabinet-making. the game was played with great spirit up to the finish, and the night before the final announcement had to be made the cabinet was once more reconstructed. it was hard on germany that its first-born cabinet should have been triplets, a trinity of the three co-eternal and co-equal parties--radical, neutral, and reactionary. but if the present political system was to be maintained and given a majority its social-democratic supporters had to be reinforced from the two parties next to the right, the democrats and the centre. for the independent socialists to the left were intransigent and in voting power insignificant. so, after a long haggle between the party leaders as to the number and nature of the posts each party was to have, there followed another hard fight as to the persons each party should nominate for their posts. it would have required a strong government to reconstitute the german polity, reconstruct society, restore solvency, and revive economic vitality, especially after so much of the momentum of the revolution had been lost. and the men who had come to the top in the old reichstag days were not such as to compensate for want of power in the machine. the new president, ebert, the saddler of heidelberg, had effaced himself during the storm of the revolution and has apparently been eliminated altogether by his new responsibility. the premier, scheidemann, on the other hand, showed himself to be an able and active politician who could speak well on any subject and sing many songs without book. a clever man, but not the compelling personality to control the dynamic forces of socialism or to coerce the static forces of separatism. his second in command in the difficult task of making a working constitution was preuss, the minister of the interior, a jew, a jurist, and an adjuster. a man with great finesse, but little force. the questions of the constitutional future of prussia, of the south german states, of the north-western republics, of the rhine province, and of german-austria, treated by adjustment along a line of least resistance, seemed likely to be interminable in their intricacies. dr. preuss, clever as he was, soon got into a terrible tangle trying to untie knots that would have been cut by the revolution. the post third in importance, foreign affairs, a non-party appointment, was retained by count brockdorff-rantzau--no longer "dr. rantzau"--since counts, as he told the assembly, can be democratic. he had both character and capacity, and if he achieved no success either at weimar or versailles he behaved with dignity under most distressing conditions. of the remaining ministers landsberg at justice, a red jew from the province of posen, who was one of the provisional government and previously a people's commissary, had a singular and somewhat sinister reputation. he was held responsible by those who knew for the policy of breaking with the poles and with spartacus. bauer at labour was a trade union politician, a bourgeois turned bureaucrat. he is now premier in the government that signed the peace. noske at home defence (not "war," mark you, germany has had enough of war), is the well-known prussian minister, the "saviour of society," the _bolsheviktonos_. wissel at national economy had a post with possibilities, but nothing so much became him in it as the leaving of it--when he found nothing could be done. these were all social-democrats and constituted such driving force as that government had. the inner cabinet consisted of landsberg, noske, and scheidemann--brain, backbone, and jaw. heart it had none. the new government was, then, a coalition between pre-revolution politicians, and its programme had to be a compromise between pre-revolution policies. it was only a government to tide over a crisis and give the country time to recover itself. but it was at least composed of experienced parliamentarians who kept up appearances and did their best to reconstruct with pen and ink the state that bismarck had wrought with blood and iron. the debate that followed the announcement of the new government showed clearly enough that the three parties of which the government was composed, though they parliamentarily formed a bloc and socially represented the burgerstand, yet politically had a different basis and a divergent bias. red, white, and black make a very effective national colour, but whether red socialism, a colourless liberalism, and black clericalism can make up an effective cabinet seemed more than dubious. scheidemann, as premier, opened the debate with a fighting speech for social-democracy. he threw the responsibility for the misfortunes abroad on the right, the responsibility for misunderstandings at home on the left, and proclaimed that the government would work methodically at realising the results of the revolution. he was followed for the centrum by the venerable gröber, who preached a sermon to the effect that all power was from on high, that the revolution came very much from below, and consequently the only things left of any importance were state rights, rights of property, and the church of rome. thereafter came dr. naumann, for the democrats, with an eloquent funeral oration, in which he buried the monarchy, wept over the lost colonies and provinces, and prayed that all of germany that was left might live in unity. here we have the three points of view--the radical reconstructionist, the clerical reactionary, and the liberal rhetorical--red, black, and white. and the government's programme presented the same parti-coloured patchwork. in foreign policy: an early peace on wilsonian principles, restoration of the colonies and prisoners, equal participation in a league of nations with mutual disarmament, compulsory arbitration and no secret diplomacy. in internal policy: democratic administration, ditto education and army, economic reconstruction, rationing, public control of monopolies, especially mines and power, right of association and wage boards, public health, rights for civil servants, agricultural development and settlement preferably on reclaimed land, taxation of war profits, income-tax, death duties graduated but not confiscatory, freedom of conscience, freedom of the press, freedom of meeting--all sorts of freedom. obviously, there was nothing very red or revolutionary there, or rather the red was so cautiously peppered into the black and white that the net result was a colourless liberalism. it was perhaps no less symbolic that the assembly substituted the black, red and yellow of the frankfort liberalism of ' as the new national colours. german liberalism has always had a yellow streak in it. the failure of weimar is the failure of german liberalism. german liberalism always has failed germany, and to this may be attributed the periodic catastrophes of germany and the calamities they have brought upon europe. german liberalism fell an easy prey to french imperialism in the napoleonic epoch and to prussian imperialism in the bismarckian epoch; and the one result of german liberal movements has hitherto been to drive abroad the flower of the german "intelligentsia." the descendants of the "forty-niners" in england and america have been as valuable an element as were the huguenots of france or the flemings from the netherlands, and they have joined heartily with us in overthrowing the despotism that exiled them. but if they had been a bit tougher and had fought their own fight out a half century ago they would have saved europe and germany the last five years. and the process is repeating itself. weimar has failed, so far, more miserably than did frankfort a half century ago. the failure of frankfort was the failure of political inexperience--that of weimar has been the failure of political impotence. frankfort was over-confident in this power of popular idealism. it thought a revolution for right and reason could be made by righteousness and reasoning. weimar was too cynical to think that the ideals of the november revolution could ever be a power at all in the europe of the paris conference and of the russian campaigns. frankfort failed because its liberalism was too young. weimar is failing because its liberalism is too old. german liberalism and its institution parliamentary party government failed in the first place because they could not come to power before their day was already past. in the second place they failed because when their ideals did get realised they did so without opposition and consequently on too theoretic lines. the german system of proportional representation for example is the most accurately and equitably representative of all electoral systems. but it did not provide the one thing germany wanted, a powerful and popular government, and it did a fatal injury to germany by helping to split the socialist party. thirdly german liberals failed because their leaders were men grown middle-aged and muddle-headed in hopeless opposition. they had consequently neither the energy nor the experience for popular leadership. and fourthly they failed because the peculiar combination of nationalism and internationalism that constitutes liberalism was deprived of all prestige with the german people by the policy followed at paris. this policy made it almost impossible for a german to hold any middle position between extreme nationalism and extreme internationalism. weimar lost its best chance of acceptance when the german parliamentary state was excluded from the league of nations. and yet weimar and german liberalism had everything in its favour in the autumn of . the reactionary factors that had so little difficulty in stultifying the liberalism of bethmann-hollweg, von kühlmann, and their predecessors were cancelled for the time being. parliamentary government on the party system, the form of government developed by liberalism on the english model, never having had a trial in germany was accepted by nearly all political minds as the panacea. the minority of extremists who already advocated council government on the russian model as the only political system that could realise the revolution had not as yet converted any large body of workmen. the trades unions held the workmen to the parliamentary system, and only some of the soldiers and most of the sailors were really revolutionary. the idea that the soldiers' and workmen's councils could be anything more than a mere improvisation for destruction and could have any constructive, still more constitutional, function never entered the heads of any political thinker. even liebknecht joined the coalition provisional government and only withdrew on second thoughts that were probably those of the much more far-sighted rosa luxemburg. the surrender of their authority by the peoples' commissaries to the constituent assembly in december was received without criticism, and the subsequent similar surrender by the central council passed almost without comment. germany was to have the most liberal of constitutions and that was to be enough for the realisation of the german revolution and for the reconciliation of the enemies of germany. it was only as the weeks and months passed and it became evident that german liberalism, whether expressed in the diplomatic ideals or the democratic institutions of weimar, was doing nothing either for the revolution or the reconciliation, that the german workmen began to pass over to the revolutionaries. then, before very long, this political process expressed itself in local strikes and street fighting. the centre of political disturbance and development moved away from the theatre at weimar to the streets of berlin and of the industrial towns. no doubt it was good policy in one way to transfer the constituent assembly to weimar. an assembly whose vitality is that of an elderly politician after a contested election and whose voice is that of a tired lawyer talking in his sleep, could not make itself heard, still less felt, against the violence, and volleyings of modern berlin. whether its work will be worth much must depend on how slow things move. they could easily move too fast for the pace of the assembly. but at least as dr. preuss said to me of his constitution--"it will not get in the way of anything better." one thing was certain, that the assembly rested for its sanction, even for its survival, on the government, not the government on the assembly. and listening to a deputy in the tribune reading a treatise on constitutional niceties as to federation and free-state-rights, i think of the previous afternoon, when i was listening to a street orator in halle shouting very nasty and unconstitutional tirades about food and freedom to an armed party of soldiers and workmen about to attack the government troops. and then, again, i think of an afternoon in the weimar theatre a quarter of a century ago. a prominent member of the stock company of these days was an old horse blind of one eye--who was always led on with his blind side to the footlights. on this occasion he got turned round, and realised for the first time what a fool they'd made of him for years--and the rest was chaos and the curtain. the constituent assembly has determined the constitutional future of germany, but the fate of germany has not been decided there. the struggle between revolution and repression has not been fought out between the stalls and the stage of the weimar theatre, but in berlin and the other big towns where the government speaks with minenwerfer and machine-guns, and the opposition obstruct with barricades. while the pressure of general strikes and local street fighting has won a constitutional recognition for socialising property and for sanctioning the council system never contemplated by the most revolutionary parliamentarians, on the other hand class war has given reaction the support of the whole country against the working class. the stagnant stodgy atmosphere of weimar was very different from the starved and struggling air of berlin. though at first sight berlin did not seem any more alive than weimar. for berlin to-day is a town of deserted temples and of dethroned gods. all along unter den linden--from the temples of mammon--the great hotels, to the temple of moloch--the imperial palace--everywhere is decay and dilapidation, an abomination of desolation in every façade and on every face. mammon has indeed come off better than moloch; for the palace and public buildings are shattered with shell and starred with shots and the balcony where the war-lord appeared to his worshippers has a hole in the middle. whereas the shrines of mammon are full of worshippers from all quarters of the world. the hotel lobbies are crowded with vulture-like profiles brooding over the carcase of german economic enterprise. yet berlin, though dirty and dilapidated, is by no means dead but the centre of the conflict between two faiths--two religions. for the revolution has ended the foreign war only to begin a civil war between nationalists and internationalists. on the one side, the old believers in the orthodox faith of nationalism, founded on wars of liberation, fomented by generations of political propaganda and excited to fanaticism by a war against the world. on the other side the new dissenters of the revolution preaching internationalism and a commune of heaven in which only the poor shall have a place. in december internationalism was dominant in berlin; nationalism was developing under pressures from paris; while imperialism was dormant. for at this time in paris the internationalism of wilsonian principles was still counterbalancing imperialist and nationalist policies of the allies. it was curious to note as the issues at paris were decided one by one against internationalism how nationalism ousted internationalism from control of policy in germany. by the time the treaty of versailles was published the old orthodox factor was again firmly established and the dissenters--the revolutionary internationalists--had been driven into the wilderness. any sunday morning in berlin during the sessions of the paris conference would probably have given more than one opportunity of observing the revival of the only real religion existing in modern capital cities--nationalism. on one sunday i have in mind there were several protest meetings against the proposals reported from paris for partitioning off german populations in the saar district, west prussia, danzig, german bohemia, and the tyrol, and for preventing the union of german-austria. for instance, you might have gone to the sport-palast with erzberger in the pulpit. i myself did not. the rotund, rubicund, ebullient, emollient erzberger, ex-minister of propaganda and delegate to spa, who looks like winston churchill turned papal legate, was too ritualistic for me. i went to a "service" at the circus busch, where the sermon was broader. come with me then along unter den linden past the gilt crosses and cupolas of the evangelical dom and the shell-shattered sham classic façade of the imperial palace--deserted shrines of the faith--to a very dilapidated and dingy circus. there was a time when the protestants of germany were driven into the depths of the woods and the dens of wild beasts to hold their services. and to-day we find the pastors of protestant nationalism symbolically perched on pasteboard rocks amid woodland scenery, with a very realistic atmosphere of menagerie. the congregation is characteristically middle-class and by no means so formidable in appearance as the hungry, haggard workmen and their women that we should have found in a meeting of the dissenting internationalists. * * * * * as we come in freiherr von richthofen is perorating a sort of commination service, each verse of which is received with a loud response. the paris conference is worse than the congress of vienna (ah). france is outraging and robbing germany when wounded and a prisoner (aah). but not a yard of german soil shall be surrendered without consent of its population (aaah). germany can be dissected alive, but england will be disgraced and america dishonoured (aaah), and a time will come when such outrages will find their retribution (aaah). a roar of applause which rouses the wild beasts in their dens, so that they roar in unison. the paris diplomats have at last succeeded in stirring up again the weary wolves of war where they were lying licking their wounds. but then, like a thin trickle of cold water into a boiling pot, comes the aged, anxious voice of the patriarchal bernstein. he begins by reading the resolution of the berne conference; but we are here to attack the paris conference, and get restless, shouting "zur sache" (come to the point). he speaks of the fair-mindedness of the british delegates there, trade unionists as well as independents, and concludes that england as a people wishes to be fair to germany; this can even be seen in developments at paris. but we don't share this optimism--_blödsinn_ (bosh), is about the mildest of our interjections. still bernstein, nothing daunted, maintains that if germans bring facts before the english the english will be fair. "quite true," shouts an elderly man near by. "what do you know about it?" cries a youth some rows away. "i have been longer in england than you have in the world, _lausbub_," retorts the man. bernstein again becomes audible, talking about alsace-lorraine. once we might have appealed to foreign fairness there, too, he says, but now it is too late. alsace-lorraine is lost, and we lost it. this is too much for us, and we shout: "but you're speaking for partition. _quatsch!_ (bosh). _parteibulle!_ (party claptrap), etc." bernstein dominates the storm enough to shout: "you have been so long fed on lies you can't swallow the truth." but we are not here to have truth shoved down our throats. eduard bernstein withdraws--a prophet without honour, he has this week both left the opposition party and lost his government post. he is followed by the representative of german-austria, the new type of professor-politician, with a victorian appearance and a wilsonian address--very earnest and emphatic. the union of germany and german-austria is, he maintains, an internal affair and quite inevitable. we give professor hartmann a rousing reception, and file out into the cold, clear winter weather of berlin. outside is a large black, red, and gold republican flag, and a number of enthusiasts carrying placards, "no partitioning of germany," "no peace of violence," and so forth. a long procession forms and moves off. look at that group, mostly elderly men and women of the middle class, thin and threadbare with the look given by hardship and hunger that once in germany one saw only in paintings of the middle ages--dull faces, but not without devotional fervour. so they shuffle along round a placard inscribed "wilson's fourteen points," as their ancestors once shuffled in procession for luther's theses. unhappily wilson did not succeed in nailing his theses to the portals of the quai d'orsay. we reach the wilhelmstrasse, where we join the processions from the other meetings. all learn with gratification that the sport-palast has hooted erzberger because he won't declare for a restoration of posen to germany, and that the officers' meeting passed a resolution calling for the exclusion from the peace delegation of the internationalist professor schücking. the procession from the officers' meeting is headed by a band playing "deutschland über alles," and by the old black, white, and red national flag, which is fast becoming the standard of reaction. after the finance minister, schiffer, has welcomed our quite unobjectionable resolution from a balcony of the reichskanzlei, a young officer suddenly appears in another balcony waving a black, white, and red flag, and adjuring us to swear loyalty to it. we are prepared to swear anything by now without much bothering what it is, and find ourselves being moved along towards the tiergarten. as we pass the british embassy suddenly the officers' procession begins to shout and wave to a flabby-faced portly person bowing and smiling on the kerb. ludendorff! by the undying jingo! well! what next? then to bismarck's statue, where officers offer tributes of rhetoric and wreaths, and finally a schoolboy, climbing the pedestal, calls for cheers for the kaiser, while a claque below start up "heil dir im siegerkranz." but this is a bit too much for the bystanders. "where's your kaiser? where's your victory?" shouts one. "you give us the kaiser," growls a soldier behind me, "and we'll give him a wreath all right--round his neck, and pulled tight." the german dynasties exploited luther and his protestant movement. i doubt they will succeed in exploiting the national protestants of germany, who are revolting against the infallible imbecilities of diplomacy. but undoubtedly our demagogues and diplomatists have succeeded in setting up again the idols our soldiers and sailors had overthrown. the scene described above took place in march and then it was already becoming difficult to see the other side of berlin political life--the internationalist and revolutionary. reaction had begun to drive revolution underground and revolution was resisting spasmodically in eruptions and explosions. let us take another day in march, one during the street fighting, to see what this other side of life in berlin was like. before the war the life that filled the public places of berlin was as vivid and vivacious as it was vulgar and vicious. unter den linden was like a scene in a second-rate revue; the company in one of the rococo restaurants was like the food, exuberant and cheap, but neither interesting nor choice. nowhere were nouveaux riches so obviously new and so obtrusively rich. everything was bright and loud, everyone looked overfed and over-dressed. materially there was a sort of red-faced, raucous-voiced rotundity about berlin. morally it was in a decadence like that of the second empire at paris when a charlatan despot and a cheap-jack government were trying to dazzle the eyes and distract the ears of a half-deluded public. but now, after four years' war, berlin is like an empire exhibition that has been deserted and decaying through the storms of four winters. the stucco ornaments have fallen, the gilding is long gone, and the whole structure is rotting away. indeed, the first impression you get is that both city and people are dying of a decline. the people, like their houses, are dirty and dingy; everywhere crippled beggars and ruined or unroofed buildings show the direct effects of war. clothes are threadbare, faces thin. stalwart, straight-backed americans, warmly clothed and well fed, stand out like solid shapes among shadows. as they stride through the streets you expect to see them pass through these grey, drifting figures as through ghosts. yet there is life still in berlin, for men must be alive who can face death for a cause, whether it be for law or for liberty. but you must go further afield to find it than unter den linden where are haunting only ghosts of the past. we are hunting the genius of the future. we shall be out all day on this hunt, and had better breakfast on bully beef and biscuit--a present from american friends--for black bread and substitutes are no foundation for a long walk; and of the vast transportation system of underground and overhead trains, electric trams, motor-buses, and taxis that used to carry over three million passengers daily, little indeed is now left. moreover the wretched remains are to-day tied up by the general strike and street fighting. and so, avoiding the streets where sniping is in progress or barb-wire barricades threaten a search for arms and inspection for passes, we come to the general assembly of berlin councils--that for the moment alone retains political control of the situation, since the government took military command of it by the severest form of martial law and the general use of machine-guns. here we find a large music hall which before the war was a typical scene of flamboyant berlin night-life. on this grey winter's morning it is crammed full of grimly earnest men--the delegates. on the stage is the executive council. the chairman the independent, richard müller, is of the pastor or professor type--his colleague däumig a heavily built, grey-haired man, might be an english engineer or merchant captain. on the left of the hall are the communists, in the middle the independents, and on the right the social-democrats, with a little knot of democrats--the two latter parties supporters of the government and opposers of the strike--but in a minority here. the business before the assembly is the filling of the vacancies on the executive council left by the communists who seceded from it when it declared the strike off, and the appointing of delegates to the national congress of councils which is to meet next month. but the communists intend to force a discussion of the government's policy as to the street fighting which is still going on at lichtenberg, and the chairman has to concede this. first come forward representatives of the councils' commissions delegated to investigate the stories of cruelties by the insurgents and to negotiate a cessation of hostilities between them and the government commanders. they give their reports in impartial and unimpassioned language, but indicate their impression that the military authorities they had to deal with were less concerned to restore order with as little loss of life and of time as possible, than to create the impression that the disorder was worse than it really was. they were exploiting a local "putsch" so as to carry out a general "pogrom." the first speaker, richard müller, for the independents, deplores the disorder, but denounces the government for instructing its troops to shoot everyone found with arms, in reprisal for atrocities invented by its own secret service. the defence of the government is undertaken by a social-democrat, who declares the independents responsible for the disorders, amid stormy interruptions from the communists. the chairman can hardly get him a hearing, and he leaves the stage, indignantly threatening that his party will secede unless it is better treated. next dashes on to the stage the communist leader, who delivers an effective indictment of the government's proceedings--at first interrupted by angry interjections from the right. but as he develops the tragedy of what is going on outside, gives one name after another of comrades shot on no more than suspicion and describes the ring of howitzers firing into the crowded tenements of lichtenberg, a silence falls over the meeting, and at last expressions of disapproval and dissociation come from supporters of the government. for here is an assembly that is alive enough, and though organised in parties, yet still open to the appeal of facts and to the force of arguments. but suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, the speaker stops, leaps from the desk, and dashes off the stage at the back--while a confused uproar breaks out at the back of the hall, dominated by sharp military orders. the whole assembly comes to its feet and faces about. the left shout and shake fists at a row of steel-helmeted soldiers, with loaded rifles at the ready and a minatory machine-gun. the right wave hands and shrug shoulders to assure the left they are not accomplices. the platform proclaims that the proceedings will continue. a democrat is put up to speak, but even his mind, conscious of right, and his courageous determination to express equal disapproval with the left as to the entry of the troops are not enough to overcome the mesmerism of that machine-gun. the assembly for the moment is reunited, but its vitality is gone. we have been present at the first scene of the forcible suppression of the councils movement in its constitutional centre--a suppression that has since become continuous. the next covert we have to draw in our hunt is a club of intellectuals, mostly independents, meeting weekly at a private house. berlin never had a club life, and this is only an embryo of a political club before it emerges from a social gathering. the members sit round in a great ring, sometimes all joining in a general debate, sometimes breaking up into small discussions. they are of all types and tendencies. the well-bred, well-dressed man with a balliol manner is a rhodes scholar and a successful diplomatist of ultra-radical views--for such an anomaly is possible under count brockdorff-rantzau. the soldier in faded field grey describing a scheme for educating workman members of councils in their duties, is a communist. the diplomat is maintaining that germany should join the league of nations, even if it and the peace conditions are unsatisfactory. the worse the material position of germany the better its moral position for taking the lead in a revision of the peace and of the league. the communist brushes this aside as sophistry. how can you found internationalism on national governments or even on national parliaments? wilsonism and weimarism are both out of date and off the mark. an international soviet of washerwomen would be of more real value and vitality. he is interrupted by cheers greeting the arrival of a famous fighting flying man, who was believed to have been one of the twelve hundred arrests of opposition leaders. an early victorian middle-aged man in side whiskers and a frock coat, an ex-minister in touch with the government, begins to explain the necessity of reconstructing the cabinet by eliminating the men most compromised by the loss of life, and including new men from the left. he considers that while opinion is moving to the left the government is moving to the right, and that as the breach widens the outbreaks will get worse. he fears, however, that men who have grown old in opposition and have only just tasted power will not be torn away from it and will find it simple to govern by machine-guns. but the young men are not interested in the cabinet--they drift off into discussing their schemes for the councils. here, too, is life--the life radiated by young men who feel that power is coming to them before youth has gone, the life reflected from middle-aged men who have broken the dull crust in which circumstance was encasing them. when this club was suppressed shortly after, berlin could ill afford the loss of vitality. for the absence of all healthy, happy and youthful faces made it like a world of gnomes and goblins. in the case of the men this was mainly owing to the war, and in the case of the women and children to the blockade. over a million of the fittest men had been killed, and the result was a survival of all the unfit; while the food and fuel hardships had fallen heaviest on the women and children of the towns. but there was another reason for the disappearance of all young men that had youth and manliness. their warfare was not yet accomplished, and they had only come back from fighting the whole world on three fronts for four years to fight against each other in the streets of their capital cities. they went to war against the world for two ideals--patriotism and progress; and now these two ideals had themselves collided in civil war. of the two german ideals, that of patriotism is the one we know best. that dull devotion and forced fervour that fights in massed formations to sentimental songs. it is a form of patriotism that does not appeal to us. to athens sparta is anti-pathetic. but there were fine fellows among the spartans as well as tyrants and helots, and now that the tyrants are gone such as are left of the fine fellows have a chance of realising their spartan ideals. now that those trumpery tinsel tyrants, the kaiser and his courtier generals, have retired to scribble and squabble and scuffle over dirty linen--a valhalla of washerwomen--the men of the real spartan breed, who carried the german arms from conquest to conquest until the catastrophe was complete, are working hard to restore ideals shattered by rout and revolution. of the real fine fellows that i've met in germany half were officers and men who had responded to the various appeals for home defence and who were working to revive the old spartan tradition in the war-wearied youth. here are two notices from the advertisement columns of the _lokal anzeiger_, which seem to me to contrast the real spartan and the junker: "to all old soldiers of the prince moritz of anhalt-dessau fifth pomeranian infantry regt., no. . regimental comrades! from day to day the impudence of the poles increases. from day to day they seize more german land and more german food. from day to day they come nearer to--they claim more of--our old pomerania. all you brave old nd who ever undefeated have defended german soil against more formidable foes, rejoin your beloved regiment to defend your homes against the ungrateful poles to liberate whom so many of your comrades died. report to headquarters, stralsund. conditions of service are pay, allowances, etc., as on active service with mks. extra daily, and a fortnight's notice. obedience required to military regulations and to those in authority, with whom are associated councils of delegates. signed f----, member of soldiers' council, first lieut. k----regimental commandant." note the signature of the representative of the soldaten-rat preceding that of the commandant. in those days even frei-corps recruited in this manner had their soldiers' councils. and it was the remains of this council organisation that prevented these corps from being used to overthrow the republic in the _coup-d'état_ planned when the treaty was signed. compare now the appeal of the junker--a _vortanzer_ no doubt at many a court ball and a flunkey still. "officer of elegant appearance and engaging manners with experience of polite society, seeks employment. would undertake to supervise restaurant." moreover, as a result of class war, the students, hitherto always the young guard of revolution in germany, have this time taken sides with what may well be called reaction. in the various volunteer corps--the "noske guards"--that are used for fighting the revolutionary troops and the workmen, the largest and best elements are young ex-officers or n.c.o.'s and students. i remember when a workmen's meeting was broken up by a picket of the reinhard corps noting that the privates almost all wore pince-nez. the workmen called them mercenaries and murderers, but it was absurd to accuse fine young men who looked like balliol, with a leaven of blues and bloods, of selling themselves for eight shillings a day and extra rations. these spartans and their ideals will be heard of again unless germany is given a square deal and a fair field. and the other half of the fine fellows i've met in germany were spartacists--fighters for the ideal of progress. for this ideal has had in germany as many devotees as the other. no country had so large a radical and revolutionary political element as germany before the war. in no country did the economics and politics of socialism occupy so many minds. sovietism is only a rough russian realisation of german ideals. the rebellion under spartacus of revolted gladiators and escaped slaves, which challenged for years the imperialism and militarism of rome, does give some idea of what these men are and what their cause is. the handsomest and most intelligent man i've met in germany was a spartacist, a film actor by profession. the last time i saw him--with a rifle slung over his shoulder and stick bombs in his belt--he explained what he was fighting for. german militarism, he said, had revived, encouraged by the entente attitude; the present government was as much in the hands of reactionary officers as any during the war. the war had crippled militarism, but only real revolution, the council system, could kill it. he was glad he had escaped the war, so as to have a life to offer to the right side. the next day he was taken and shot. now, i do not intend to convey that the germany of to-day is a fighting country. it is quite the reverse. but a section of idealists at each extreme has decided that they are bound to die for their ideals as spartans or spartacists. that they will die in vain is inevitable. if only because there is no sparta and no spartacus. there is no german land where such an ideal as that of the reactionary "spartans" can now be realised, not even in rural prussia; and there is no spartacus to command and control the "spartakists" of germany. but there is another reason also--that there are too few young germans left. on a sunday morning i went to the academy of singing to hear old german music. one number on the programme, "a scottish ballad of a lost battle," proved to be a translation of lady lindsay's "lament after flodden." sung to a plaintive eighteenth century air, with the thin far-away accompaniment of lute and spinet, it was like an echo from the lost battles and lost beauty of all time. with bowed heads and tear-filled eyes, men and women sat silent long after the last heartrending refrain had died away. in the afternoon i went out to the "greenwood" of berlin, a district of pine woods, hills, and lakes, where the young people of berlin used to flock for picnics and water-parties. the berliners are noisy in their enjoyments, and on sunday afternoons before the war the woods of the havelland would ring with shouting and singing and laughter, with feasting and flirting, as though pan himself held festival. to-day a few girls were there wandering sadly through the silent woods, pale ghosts of dead delights, and there was no sound but the sighing of the pines-- "sair moaning in ilka green loaning, the flowers o' the forest are a' wede awa'." chapter iii the council republics the first result of the failure of german liberalism and of the weimar assembly was that revolution and reaction came into active collision with each other in the provincial capitals. these two conflicts ran concurrently, and collision in the provinces was a necessary consequence of collision in the capital. moreover, when the revolution had failed twice to assert itself by force in berlin, it stood little chance of surviving in bavaria, brunswick, or bremen. such spontaneous and sporadic appeals to force met by organised police measures and prosecutions only prevented the socialist party from reuniting, and forced german politics into a duel between the propertied classes and the proletariat, in which the latter had no prospect of success. this duel started in berlin in the december and january conflicts which were settled in favour of the government, and its subsequent continuance in the provinces had the same result. the outbreaks in the coast ports and the coal districts of westphalia were remote, and their unexpectedly easy repression by flying columns only confirmed the government in a policy of coercion. the outbreaks in munich and the south were outside the political orbit in which the government was moving. if the spread of the general strike from the west to saxony, which broke germany in two and cut berlin off from weimar, was more serious, yet the maerker column soon succeeded, in removing any danger to weimar and in reopening communications with berlin. these outbreaks were not formidable enough to force the government to depart from its policy of suppressing not only revolts, but the revolution. but the general strike and street fighting in eastern berlin during march although it was intentionally exaggerated so as to impress paris with the bolshevist danger, did for a few days imperil not only the scheidemann government, but the whole parliamentary system. both were consequences of the coalition which by giving the government a class basis had made it quite incapable of going halfway to meet the revolutionary demands for recognition of the council system and for socialisation. at first, party ties had held the moderate mass of the social-democratic workmen; but as time passed and the middle-class mentality of the men in power became more and more marked, dissatisfaction with the government and defections to the opposition grew rapidly. even _vorwärts_ admitted there was cause of complaint. in vain did the government poster the streets with pathetic protests that "socialisation is already here," and issued manifestoes pointing to its legislative achievements--eight-hour day, unemployment benefit, land settlement, what we should call "whitley councils" in coal-mining districts, war pensions, and repeal of war measures. these had already been put in force provisionally by the previous government, and did not amount to much any way. in vain did the government profess its intention of pushing through the two bills approving, in principle, nationalisation of coal mines and potash deposits; for no one wanted nationalisation except as a step to socialisation. the workmen felt that the government was, as one put it to me, "a revolution profiteer." it had perverted the purposes and pocketed the profits of the revolution. they felt that weimar, as another one expressed it, was only a "soviet of profiteers" and would produce no socialist legislation. the revolutionary opponents of the coalition saw their opportunity, but their leaders could secure no combination or concerted action. nothing, indeed, was more surprising than the incapacity of the germans to associate and organise for a political purpose. the general impression one got was that germany had so grown to look on political responsibility as the function of a specialised class that they never could consider anyone outside that class as capable of replacing any member of it. we see something of the same sort of helplessness growing up in england, where it is becoming increasingly difficult for the man in the street to conceive a cabinet formed from outside a small clique of the ruling class. and the german revolutionaries of the opposition showed themselves as incapable of making use of their opportunities as did their liberal opponents in the government. the game was in the revolutionaries' hands in the early months of the year if they could have combined. but the different disturbed districts declared war on the government at just such intervals of time as allowed them to be conveniently beaten in detail by very small forces. each district again was divided into all manner of dissentient organisations in different stages of development. in some the councils were really representative, in others they had co-opted themselves; while there were as many kinds of revolutionary corps as of councils. in berlin alone there were some ten different corps. a leader of one of the last insurgent parties to hold out, told me, during an attack by the government troops, that it was not the great disparity of numbers and munitions that had defeated him, but the difficulty of getting the revolutionaries to work together. moreover, the issue between reaction and revolution in berlin was fought out in two different and quite distinct conflicts, that were invariably confused by the foreign press. one took the form of strikes the other of street fighting. the general strike was the resistance of the workmen's council organisations to suppression by the middle-class ministry. the street fighting was the resistance of the remains of the old revolutionary forces to suppression by the new frei-corps "mercenaries" of the reaction. the two developed concurrently though with little connection. the strikes that were always breaking out everywhere for no apparent reason culminated in the berlin general strike of march. this general strike was forced on the reluctant majority socialists by the independents, themselves propelled by the communists. for these two latter controlled the executive committee of the berlin councils. but though the majority socialists did not oppose the general strike, they did their best to make it a failure, and when, after three days, the communists pressed for its extension to water, gas, electricity, and food supply in order to support the fighting spartacists, the majoritarians withdrew, and by the end of the week the strike was declared off. the majority socialists' proposal for unconditional surrender was rejected, that of the independents for surrender on conditions of amnesty accepted, and the conditions were agreed to by the government. thereupon the left of the communists, including the brilliant clara zetkin, took the opportunity of this crisis and of the party caucus (parteitag) then sitting in berlin to secede to the spartacists. the loss of their left wing was, however, more than compensated to the independents by the movement leftward in the ranks of the social-democrats, the supporters of the government. and this leftward trend was accentuated by disapproval of the action of the government in bombarding whole quarters of berlin and in shooting wholesale its political opponents. this rapid response of the council system to a trend in public opinion was in strong contrast to the irresponsive inertia of the weimar assembly, which remained representative only of a nationalist mood, and remote from the whole socialist movement. the ministry had to give to the political pressure. already before the strike it indicated concessions as to industrial socialisation and constitutional sanction of the councils, and these were elaborated and established by negotiations at weimar with missions sent from the central and executive councils. these concessions were in principle very considerable, and much more than could ever have been imposed in practical application on the centrum supporters of the government. the result of this crisis was therefore to prepare the way for a reconstruction of the government on a moderate socialist basis, between a centrum-conservative opposition to the right and a communist to the left. this would have represented the true balance of political power at the time; and the fact that it would not have had a majority at weimar would have been only a formal difficulty. but this, the natural, solution was made impossible by the extraordinary severity with which the armed resistance to the government was punished. for this severity made it impossible for even the most moderate independents to join the government. and this fighting was not a development of the strike, but of the campaign carried on by the government with volunteer flying columns against the revolutionary corps throughout germany. of these corps, of which there were many in berlin, the most important were the republican guard and the marine division. the former had from the first supported the government, while the marine division of kiel sailors had already been in collision with it in december. the other corps were all more or less in opposition, and some were mere camouflage for bad characters. until these corps were dispersed the constitutional government had no complete control of berlin apart from their "council" rival, the executive committee. a first step was made towards their suppression by the arrest of sixty ringleaders; whereupon the marine division and the other corps prepared for resistance, with the assistance of the spartacist irregulars and a rabble of roughs and rascals. these were joined later by about half the republican guard, which had come into collision with the frei-corps--the government volunteer contingents. the strikers, however, took no part in the fighting. the strike was declared on a monday; tuesday passed in preparations by the regulars and plunderings by the rabble, and on wednesday the garrisons of government buildings in the east central district of berlin were attacked and besieged. they were hard pressed, but held out, being supplied by aeroplane until relieved by an offensive of the government's troops on thursday afternoon. for some hours a tremendous bombardment was carried on round the alexanderplatz and neighbouring streets, but the damage to property though considerable could only have been as little as it was if at least half the "hows" and "minnies" had been firing blank; for the benefit rather of the correspondents than of the insurgents. the insurgents' positions were eventually made untenable by aeroplane observation and bombing. during the following days they were driven, with terrific fusillades and some fighting, through the east end into the suburbs, where the bombardments were continued for no obvious reason for several days. berlin will long remember those ides of march. so shall i, not because of thursday's fighting--you could generally get your fill of such fighting in germany those days--but because on that thursday i got a real lunch. it was a good lunch--oysters, veal cutlets, and pancakes. it was given me by a banker, and cost just about four shillings a mouthful. i know, because i counted them. and in the cellars of the same house were families living on lbs. of bad potatoes and lbs. of black bread a week. the banker and i were enemies, and i was nominally and nationally engaged in starving him; though, as members of our respective independent labour parties, we were politically working in the same cause. and a few streets away men of one race and one class were killing each other respectively in the names of law and liberty. such was european civilisation in the year of our lord . but probably you are more interested in the fighting; so, if you like, i will take you two excursions through it. we will start the first on thursday afternoon, when the insurgent soldiers and spartacists were trying to force their way westward from their base in the east end, across the spree, past the schloss, to the linden, and the government troops were trying to drive them eastward. the main battleground was the alexanderplatz, from which radiate the main thoroughfares leading east. at the west end of the linden all is much as usual. instead of the omnibuses laid up by the general strike long german farm carts drawn by ponies are carrying passengers perched on planks resting on packing-cases. lorries with mounted machine-guns patrol up and down, and machine-gun pickets guard all important buildings. as we go east the roadway empties and the traffic on the pavements thickens into hesitating groups all facing eastward, or knots encircling some political discussion. further on the roadway is blocked by artillery of the lüttwitz volunteer corps going into action--field-guns, trench mortars, and minenwerfer, the latter towed behind lorries loaded with the missiles, great brown conical cylinders ft. high. here, too, is the first cordon, and the game of "passes" begins. the main rules are not to revoke by playing a pass from the wrong side, and not to put on a higher card than is necessary. i take this trick with quite a low card, the foreign office pass. at the next cordon i try quite a good card--a pink weimar press pass with a photograph, but he won't have it. i go one better with a british passport, royal arms and all, but he trumps this by shoving his rifle under my nose and saying, "be off!" i have still a special pass from the kommandantur, and, best of all, a visiting card with "noske" scribbled on it, but the game is over here. these government volunteers, boys of eighteen or nineteen, shoot from the hip or anyhow, and are all on hair triggers. we try round another way. a soldier with a rifle at the ready comes down the middle of the empty street scanning the windows. "window shut," he shouts, aiming at one. a red poster proclaims that anyone loitering will be shot at. we are now in the danger zone. a lorry hurries forward, the bottom spread with brown stained mattresses. the noise becomes bewildering--the _crack_ of roof snipers and the _rap_ of the machine-guns are incessant. a field-gun is banging away round the corner, and that heavy boom is a minenwerfer shelling the alexanderplatz. the main struggle has already passed into the roads radiating eastward, which the insurgents are barricading hastily, while others on tugs retreat south down the spree. but of this fight we can only see the aeroplanes swooping a few hundred feet over the roofs and bombing the machine-gun nests. an insurgent plane engages for a few minutes, but retires outnumbered. the battle is over; though fighting will go on for days as the troops drive the insurgents from one street to another through the eastern quarter out into the suburbs. and now it is the following tuesday, and i will take you for our second excursion into the insurgent camp at lichtenberg--the most easterly suburb of berlin, where the main body still holds out. this morning's government bulletin has told us that the victorious government troops have cleared the whole east end, except lichtenberg, which is encircled with a "ring of steel." that several thousand insurgents have barricaded all approaches and are sweeping them with field-guns. that they have destroyed hundreds of tons of flour. that they have shot sixty--a hundred--two hundred prisoners. that others have been torn in pieces by the mob, which has taken wounded from the ambulances and clubbed them to death. that no one in a decent coat can venture on the street without being murdered. that in consequence of these "bestial atrocities" anyone found with arms will be shot. but we've read war bulletins before! on our way we pass a convoy of prisoners, hands handcuffed behind their backs, armed motor-cars before and behind. a young soldier blazes off several shots to scatter the crowd, at which a well-dressed woman remonstrates, but she is at once arrested and put with the convoy. here we are at the warschauer brücke over the spree, where there is an imposing concourse of steel-helmeted troops and guns, and a cordon. we pass this after being searched for arms, and across the bridge come on a lot of guns and machine-guns firing fiercely down the warschauer strasse, though there is no audible reply or visible reason. after watching the shells holing houses, we start working our way round to the south through empty streets, keeping close to the house-fronts and taking cover when bullets whisper a warning. at last crowded streets again, and through them to a broad avenue crossed by shallow trenches and ramshackle barricades--the much-bulletined frankfurter allee. here an insurgent picket takes charge of us and undertakes to bring us to the secret headquarters. "but where are your field-guns?" we ask. "field-guns? we haven't any," they say, surprised. "and how do you keep the troops in check?" "oh, those boys! two of us take machine-guns, charge with them down each side of the street, and they run." "and how many of you are there?" "some two or three hundred perhaps--it varies, but we're all old soldiers--we allow no boys to fight for us." "and have you shot the sixty policemen you took in the lichtenberg station?" "sixty policemen? there aren't that number in all lichtenberg. two got shot defending the station, but after they surrendered to a quarter of their number we let them all go home. you can go and see any of them." it is impossible not to believe these intelligent, even intellectual and eminently honest faces. so the sixty policemen follow the field-guns and the "ring of steel" into the limbo of "white" lies. we pass a railway goods yard where plundered flour is being carried away in sacks. "where is that going?" we ask. "to the bakers, and afterwards to be distributed gratis to the crowd." we see later women with red crosses distributing loaves from a cart to women and children. we reach our destination, only to be warned by a woman just in time that it is now occupied by troops--a narrow escape that so shakes the nerve of our guide that he takes refuge in a dressing station improvised in a shop. here are "neutral" doctors and nurses, very angry at the bombardment of crowded tenement houses and the reckless shooting by the young volunteers. they run great risks, as robbers have so often misused the red cross that it is now no protection against the government troops. here are many wounded, mostly women and children, and but a few fighters. the latter all indignantly deny having shot prisoners, though they know the other side are doing it. and then at last to the evasive headquarters, where the leaders tell us of what they hope to achieve by this desperate resistance of a few hundred men armed with rifles and bombs against as many thousands armed with all the machinery of modern war. "noske," they say, "is only a puppet in the hands of majors gilsa and hammerstein, and they are agents of the eden hotel, the headquarters of the cavalry guard and the centre of reaction. the old story again of bethmann-hollweg, ludendorff, and the general staff, militarism and monarchism is what all this bombardment means, for they want to convince the entente that they must have a large standing army. they have just raised the pay and doubled the rations of these young mercenaries. why don't the entente abolish them and insist on a swiss militia here? "if this white guard goes on, we shall organise a red guard, and we shall win. but that will mean bolshevism. we are not bolsheviks, but socialists to-day. we have offered to keep order in berlin and here, with a militia representing all parties, but they go on bombarding. it is the old prussian terrorism again. they have learnt nothing from the war." and, so, in the twilight, back the way we came, wondering at the working of moral laws that have now subjected berlin to a self-inflicted punishment of bombardments and bombings worse than any of those it inflicted on other cities. firing heavy artillery at crowded tenement houses, even with reduced charges and plentiful blank, means a butcher's bill of several thousands, mostly women and children, and damage to property of several millions. next day we extract the following from the advertisement sheet of our daily paper:-- "reinhard brigade. mine-throwers." "officers, non-commissioned officers and men with mine-thrower training urgently required. comrades! consider the crisis! come and help! spartacus must be crushed with every weapon. report to the brigade reinhard, at the new criminal court, turmerstrasse ." "obituary." "on the th march, innocent victims of these troubled times, through the destruction of my house by a mine-thrower, my little adolf and bertha, aged and years." the behaviour of the government can only be explained by their having left the whole matter to noske, who, in turn, left it to his military advisers, majors gilsa, pabst, and hammerstein, who again were agents only of the militarist reactionary faction. this faction intended to exploit the crisis by killing two birds with one stone--the anti-bolshevists at paris and the pro-bolshevists at berlin. their policy was to make an excuse for raising a large professional army with which to suppress the revolution and, if the gods were kind, to restore germany's ancient _régime_ and its racial frontiers. for this purpose atrocities were invented as a pretext for reprisals and for recruiting and raising the pay of the frei-corps. the government could have kept order of a sort through the revolutionary corps if it had kept in touch with the revolutionary councils; but it fought the corps with flying columns of under-trained over-armed boys, and it fought the councils with its patched-up majority of old parliamentary hands and party hacks. in the resultant civil war that raged, and still rages, all over germany one may distinguish certain combats more decisive than the others. there were the conflicts in berlin--of december against the marine division, of january against the spartacists, and of march against the republican guard and other corps. in the provinces, the expeditions against bremen, halle, brunswick, and munich. i saw nothing of the first of these, but something of the fall of the revolutionary movements of halle, brunswick, and munich. and with each of these failures ended some distinctive element of the german revolution. with each of these failures the german revolution took a fresh impetus and a more extreme form. the trouble at bremen was merely a collision between the centre of the renascent reaction at berlin and the original source of the revolution among the soldiers and sailors of the seaboard towns. the revolution first broke out at bremen and was spread from there by parties of sailors who established themselves in the leading towns of the interior, including berlin; and wherever they settled they became the "red guard" of the revolution. bremen was therefore not only the bethlehem of the new gospel, but was also the key position to the control of the coast. and this control was indispensable to the government, which was negotiating with the allies for the importation of foodstuffs in mitigation of the blockade. for the revolutionary extremists, recognising that the blockade was breeding revolt, kept throwing every difficulty in the way of importing food. they first refused to allow the german steamers to sail under the agreement, and then refused to allow foodstuffs to be unloaded. the government were thus forced, probably not unwillingly, into military action against the revolution in the interests of famine relief. when gerstenberg's flying column occupied bremen in february with little serious fighting, the revolutionary policy of barring off germany from the conservative west and turning it towards the council government of russia finally failed. the desperate plan of strangling and starving germany into revolution was defeated by the german middle class, who preferred, even at the cost of immediate civil war, to go into economic slavery to france and england rather than to go into political outlawry with russia. the fall of bremen really finished all immediate chances of russian "bolshevism" in germany. the halle affair in march was a less crucial business, though critical enough for a time. the saxon towns had been in a state of economic unrest that increased as the impotence of the weimar assembly became more obvious. thus the smaller towns in the immediate neighbourhood of weimar, like erfurt and jena, became outposts of revolution, permanently menacing the deliberations of the assembly in the classic groves of the ilm. small bands of revolutionaries even penetrated weimar itself, until the roads and railways were barred. it was some weeks before the saxon frei-corps of jagers, under general maerker, were strong enough to attempt expeditions against the smaller thuringian towns. and the general himself had, in these early days, more than one narrow escape. his small force was still very weak in numbers and discipline when a general strike was declared at halle, with the avowed political object of cutting communications between the legislature at weimar and the administration at berlin. obviously, if weimar could be seized, or even surrounded by the revolutionaries, the parliamentary system of government must collapse and a revolutionary saxony would divide the prussian bureaucrats from the south german burghers. this plan--if plan it was--and not merely a process of inchoate and unconscious forces, was defeated by the maerker expedition to halle; and those who are interested in the outside as well as the inside of political events may learn something of what the civil war in germany was like in the following diary of my experiences with this expedition. _friday afternoon._--the green room of the weimar theatre--now the national assembly--and the war minister noske on a sofa, a big beetle-browed, bullet-headed type of german, a bismarck mk. ii., but evidently underfed and overstrained. on a chair a sharp-nosed intelligence officer, for war ministers must be careful these days who they see and what they say. after some talk i ask leave to go with the government troops who are to reopen the rail to berlin by occupying halle. the intelligence officer demurs, but noske good humouredly agrees to my arguments, scribbles a word or two on the back of my card, and hurries off to catch the berlin train. he will have to spend all night going round by chemnitz and dresden. _friday midnight._--a fourth-class carriage in the third of three troop trains conveying , men and guns to halle. five of us are perched on the narrow wooden seats; two officers in mufti, and two halle deputies going as government delegates, one a brisk little democrat, the other a patriarchal social-democrat, in a long white beard and a broad black hat. we make the best of it. one officer has a candle, the other a stock of war adventures; i have a bottle of wine and a budget of news from outside; the patriarch has sections of an eel and views on the food question, which he roars like a hungry lion. bump! we are mostly on the floor. the engine of no. has broken down, and we have trodden on and derailed its tail. we pile into train no. , and get cushioned seats. the officers snore, the patriarch dozes, rumbling like a distant storm. only the little democrat sits brooding. "oh, halle! halle!" he mutters, "that i should ever come to you like this." _saturday morning._--the general and i are marching up the road to halle; behind us officers in mufti, beside us the head of the column of volunteers. the little general is telling me this is the seventh town he and his flying column have occupied, but the first real big one. an expert in bolshevist busting, this tiny general of a toy army, with the face and manner of a dear demure little old maiden lady. he ignores politely the women and boys, who are shouting, "bloodhounds!" "brutes!" "vultures!" "vermin!" and salutes scrupulously any burgher bold enough to wave. so we enter halle, pass the factories and skyscrapers, where the hands live stacked in tiers, and then occupy the station yard. the general with a few officers and men, marches straight through the great deserted station into the guardroom of the insurgent troops. the guard, taken by surprise, seize their rifles, and some cock and point them, shouting threats. the little general raps out an order like a machine-gun, and after a long half-minute a man drops his rifle, the others follow suit, and all file out--one shouting in a heart-broken voice, "is this all we can do?" a deputation of sailors arrives, fine upstanding fellows, with intelligent faces. these are the real fighters, and some hundreds of them are occupying a building in the town. they have probably only come to find out what chance there is of holding it, and the guns outside are answer enough, for they leave abruptly. the general sends a summons to evacuate after them, and they have cleared before their building is surrounded. "those cursed blue boys," says a young officer. "what wouldn't i have done for them during the war, and now they've brought us to this." _saturday afternoon._--the general with a few officers and a half-company, is walking down to the town hall to arrange with the local authorities. i am congratulating him on everything being so well over--and add, as i see the market-place ahead packed with people and ugly-looking roughs hooting us--that in england things would be about going to begin. i've hardly said it before they do begin. the crowd, annoyed at the hauling down of the red flag and hoisting of the red, white, and black, storms the town hall, tears the machine-guns and rifles from our guard there, and smashes them, seizes a motor and an ambulance, which it afterwards runs blazing into the river, and carries off two officers, whom it shuts up in the red tower, a mediæval fortress. they then turn on our little party, which is in rapid retreat on the post office, but we stand them off until we are behind the iron gates. an angry mob howls outside, but when they get to shaking or scaling the gates a movement from the sentries inside is enough still to stop them. at last reinforcements arrive, forcing their way through the crowd, which, however, falls on the last files and tries to haul them off. we sally out and pull them in, shouting to the soldiers, now as angry as the mob, not to shoot. but already there comes the crack of rifles and the rattle of a machine-gun from another position up the street. firing becomes general. the crowd scatters in all directions, and the empty streets round are picketed with machine-guns. the general, regardless of roof snipers, comes round, patting his young soldiers on the back. "well," says he to me, "here we are, and the only question is, are we holding halle or is halle holding us?" _saturday evening._--a long table in the post office. at one end the little general, behind him two officers, one smiling, the other scowling. on his right the two "independent" tribunes of the people, representing the workmen's councils, beyond them commandants of the local barracks, at the foot representatives of the burgher committee and the little democrat, on the general's left representatives of the soldiers' council, probably students. the patriarch has, however, disappeared, the march of events having been too rapid for him. the general is very short with the student soldiers, and very urbane with the independent politicians who are or were in control of halle--one is another bismarck type, mk. iii. this time, the other a bernard shaw mk. ii. a strong combination of authority with audacity; but i doubt the general with his steel-helmeted troops and machine-guns will be stronger. their case is that they kept order until the troops came, and they can only restore it if the troops go. the general and the burgher delegates accuse them of arming and agitating the proletariat, which they indignantly deny. the discussion is interrupted at intervals by the irruption of dingy individuals, who report disorders and discoveries, and i suspect the general of having realised the dramatic value of the messenger in greek tragedy. finally, the two tribunes agree to put out posters that the troops have nothing to do with the strike, and must be let alone. this negative result horrifies the burghers, and the general, leaving the table, is besieged by earwigging notables imploring him to arrest the two tribunes. "i saw them leaving the house that fired the first shot," hisses a flabby frock-coated party with a grog-blossomy nose. "bernard shaw" overhears him, but only strokes his thin beard and his moustaches curl in a cynical smile. he knows the general knows his business. _saturday midnight._--i've been out and in through the pickets and among the armed parties of the other side several times, and a major in mufti and i are going out to a hotel. two journalists who've made their way in, and regret it, decide to follow us. nearing the cleared street, we turn up a side street and come right on an armed party. the journalists, a few paces behind, bolt round the corner, which leads to our being stopped and questioned. i engage their attention all i can to give the major a chance of slipping off, which he wisely does. unfortunately, this gives time for a larger crowd to gather than i can manage, and they march me off to the market-place, where they become a mob. ugly roughs and excited boys keep pressing in, and several have seen me with the general. the ring round me gets savage, and i have increasing difficulty in keeping those round me quiet. a man shouts at me in russian, asking whether i'm from joffe. i repudiate joffe, but knowing russian gets me a friend or two. one calls up some armed sailors and persuades them to take me to their guard-house. a plucky little burgher who has been appearing and disappearing in the welter attaches himself to the party. the crowd follows until a machine-gun opens near by and scatters it. our party gets smaller each time we run or shelter from the machine-guns, which are playing on the plundering parties. i find the burgher will take me in if i get rid of the escort, so, distributing some small notes, i suggest we should all be better off at home. some agree, others object, but a machine-gun closures the debate without a division and i spend the night on the friendly burgher's sofa. _sunday morning._--i hear from the burgher that an aide-de-camp of the general caught by the mob in mufti with the general's orders in his pocket, soon after my escape, has been thrown into the river and shot as he swam. the town is still in the hands of the revolutionaries, but quite quiet except round the buildings held by the troops. after changing my appearance and borrowing the burgher's hat, i go round in a crowd of sunday sightseers staring at the looted shops and the bullet-starred houses. near the post office there is sniping from the roofs, and a hand grenade is thrown almost on top of us. there are ugly red blotches in the streets among the broken glass. running the gauntlet of the pickets, i find the general very glad to see me. the scowling officer shows me a sniper behind a chimney-pot who has just shot the smiling officer. the situation militarily and politically is temporarily at a deadlock, and the only interest in staying is the risk of being sniped in the post office or mobbed in the town. the general offers me a passage to weimar with the "flying post." _sunday afternoon._--the halle flying ground. while one of the few planes left is being patched up the officer is telling me of his difficulties. he daren't leave the men alone for an hour. the plane with the post for weimar i travel with has to be represented as going to magdeburg, or the men might stop its starting. he holds on because the planes are indispensable to the government, but when he came back from the front, and the orders and badges were torn from his coat, "something broke in him." his family has always been military, but now it's over, and he is going to the argentine. but my pilot is tougher stuff. a man of the middle class, pilot since , fighting scout through the war, a friend of the great fliers and of fokker, he had had good openings abroad. "but no," says he; "germany's going down out of control, but if it crashes i crash with it." so after careful scrutiny to see that nothing has been half sawn through, as it was a few days before, we climb in. the roar of the motor drowns the distant rattle of the machine-guns, and halle disappears below into the dusk as we drive into the red glare of the setting sun. germany at this time was like a seething pot. outbreaks such as that at halle were only bubbles breaking out on the surface. at any moment one expected the whole heaving, simmering mass to boil over. but, wherever a centre of ebullition declared itself the government quenched the upheaval with a douche of frei-corps. such a centre from the first days of revolution was brunswick. indeed, brunswick had been such a centre of disturbance from the earliest days of german history. the chronicles of brunswick show the workmen of that town always in the van not only of german but of european movements. they were indeed bolsheviks as early as ; and it was largely owing to the improvement in the workmen's position that they forced on the german towns in the following century that the general risings of the proletariat, that led to civil war in england and france, were in saxony comparatively bloodless.[a] and, as soon as the revolution broke out in the north sea coast towns, brunswick gave it its first welcome to the interior. bodies of sailors, travelling up from the coast as the vanguard of revolution, had established it in brunswick, the day after the first outbreak at wilhelmshaven; and thereafter brunswick threw itself wholeheartedly into a real revolutionary _régime_. the little state of brunswick consists of the mediæval town and a ring of industrial suburbs separate from the town, with satellite rural townlets and villages. the political life and vital heat of brunswick centre now in this mushroom ring of factories, where the old rebel character of the state is more truly reproduced than among the burghers and bauers of the dead town and dormant villages. under pressure from the workmen in these factories brunswick established a government that, unlike that of berlin, was sufficiently revolutionary to attempt to realise the social revolution. when the inevitable split came between the social-democrats in power and the independents in opposition, brunswick declared for the independents. the free republic of brunswick became a citadel of the independent extremists, a centre of revolutionary propaganda and a _corpus vile_ for the application of revolutionary principles. and it was unfortunate that it made itself so obnoxious to its big neighbour, berlin, in its first two characters that its services in the third capacity were overlooked. for brunswick was working out a _régime_ which was in fact a compromise between the revolutionary institutions of council government and the established parliamentary system of its constitutional government. true parliamentary institutions had under the leadership of extremists like merges been relegated rather to the background. but they had not been abolished and remained ready to function, when required, as a sort of second chamber and conservative counterbalance to the radical _régime_ of the workmen's and soldiers' councils. nor had this _régime_ so far as i could ascertain done any irremediable material harm, while it had certainly done real moral service. the propertied and professional classes had been alarmed certainly; but had learnt to defend themselves very effectively by strikes and refusal of taxes, and had thereby obtained recognition of their rights as a numerical minority. feeling, of course, ran high; but the freedom of speech of the burghers was never curtailed while the workmen's party was in power. of course, the workmen's leader, the hunchback tailor merges, was represented as a sort of ogre throughout germany, but the brunswick burghers rather despised than dreaded him. their opinion of the rule of the "arbeiter rat," or workmen's board, is expressed in these lines pasted on the pedestal of the equestrian statue representing duke william of ever pious and still immortal memory (obiit, ). "good old bill, if you'll get down, merges shall give up your crown. we'll put you on the board, of course, and put the tailor on your horse." as reaction developed at berlin and revolution at brunswick it became evident that once again in its history a bullying berlin would bash a bumptious brunswick. this simple solution as between the two centres of the main conflict that has divided germany was delayed by cross complications coming from conflicts belonging to another plane, and to an older chapter. brunswick town, unlike halle or hamburg, was a free republic--more than that it was a semi-sovereign state. the semi-sovereign rights of the lesser german states were one of the ancient bulwarks used by the reactionary government as defences against a levelling revolution. they were particularly dear to the centrum supporters of the government as the temporal entrenchments of the clerical position. and so the free and independent republicans of brunswick had a longer lease of power than might have been expected. finally, political and personal considerations combined to overcome the reluctance of the berlin government to take military action against a free state. as usual the personal factor probably forced the decision and the incident throws a sidelight on german politics of this period. magdeburg, an industrial town on the main line between berlin and brunswick and on the borders of brunswick state, had been a political stronghold of majoritarian social-democracy. but it had been so affected by the drift of the workmen to the left that by the end of april the independents believed they had a majority in that parliamentary constituency. now the representative of this constituency was the moving spirit, the machiavelli, of the ministry--landsberg. this polish jew has already been referred to as the brains of the government. he, as representing majoritarian social democracy and erzberger as representing middle-class clericalism, were the cement of the coalition between social-democracy and the centrum, a coalition based on love of office and fear of the opposition. so landsberg finding his own seat threatening defection to the opposition and joining a general strike of the saxon towns, went down to magdeburg. but on his arrival he was seized by the revolutionaries, put in a car, and sent off to brunswick to be held to ransom. this kidnapping of the reactionary minister of justice, second only to noske himself in importance, was a score for the revolution. but a red jew is kittle cattle to drive. landsberg escaped from his captors, and within a few days general maerker and his merry men were marching on magdeburg from halle. magdeburg was occupied after slight resistance, and became the base for operations against brunswick. only a _casus belli_ was required and this was supplied when brunswick, encouraged by the munich revolution, proclaimed a "räte republik," and invited the saxon towns to rally to the revolution and the "soviet system." this was immediately countered by the officials and clerks of brunswick organising a strike that crippled the prussian railway and the german postal and telegraph system. whereupon berlin declared that it had ground for intervention in brunswick, the state frontier was closed and frei-corps expeditions advanced from magdeburg and hanover. skirmishes occurred at helmstadt, borsum and wolfenbüttel and both sides had losses. brunswick called off the general strike, protested against the violation of state right and tried to make terms. there followed a pause in the operations during which the moderates on both sides were trying to arrange matters. meantime the communists and council revolutionaries of brunswick were preparing resistance, in the confidence that the revolutionaries of the saxon towns would rise in the rear of the troops; while the reactionaries were mobilising rapidly tanks and howitzers with the intention of giving the revolution the _coup de grâce_. it was at this moment that i decided to go to brunswick partly to study its revolutionary institutions before they were wiped out, partly to prevent bloodshed if possible by informing the revolutionary leaders as to the small prospect of brunswick, if it resisted, getting any support from saxony or prussia. it was not an easy journey and the following account of it from my diary may serve as an illustration of germany at this time. _monday evening._--the notorious eden hotel, headquarters of the berlin garrison and military police. i am waiting for a permit to go with the expedition against brunswick. when i went with the same troops against halle a month ago i got my permit from noske himself, but the captain in charge at the eden hotel is only second in real importance to the war minister. there is, i suppose, a war office and general staff still, with generals and colonels, but the government is based on the volunteer corps and they are run from the eden hotel. and now brunswick, not for the first time, has championed the cause of german revolution and challenged berlin, which has become, not for the first time, the centre of german reaction. and berlin has determined to bash the head of revolution in brunswick as it broke its back in halle. true, brunswick is a free state with its own constitution, which only differs from that of prussia in preserving the principles of the november revolution; but it has become a centre of revolutionary opposition connecting the industrial districts of westphalia with those of saxony. there has been a plan for concerted action. brunswick has given the signal too soon and realised its mistake too late. brunswick, says the eden hotel, will fight in the hope of support from the saxon towns, not knowing that they will not rise, for it has been isolated for a week. _tuesday morning._--a fourth-class carriage in the "parliamentary" to magdeburg. there are third-class carriages, but a haversack on the floor is more comfortable than a straight-backed wooden bench. but imagine traffic between london and derby reduced to three trains daily, two of which stop at every station. a peasant woman sitting on a sack is complaining:--"we get up at four every morning and work till dark. the cabbages and potatoes lie at the stations for days; the sun shines on them, the rain rains on them, and they rot--no trains--so we starve in the fields and you starve in the towns. a burgher frau tells how a barge load of american wheat has arrived at her town--"but what use is it at that price?" a man explains the high price is only for the extra ration and that most of it goes to make up the old ration at the old rate. "but," objects another, "we shall have to pay for it all the same, and we can't." "emigration, that's what it means," says a soldier. "why emigrate?" says a young man--"socialisation and council government are what's wanted, then the workmen will work and we can pay." you can hear more sound politics and economics now in fourth-class carriages than at weimar, for hunger is the best political education. but--"oh, politics, always politics now," protests a pretty girl the soldier gallantly responds and the debate becomes a beatrice and benedict duel, altogether too shakespearean to report. _tuesday evening._--the general's headquarters. i hand my friend the general my credentials from my right-hand pocket, in my left are letters to brunswick leaders. public disorder makes for personal orderliness, and getting passes mixed in his pockets cost an officer acquaintance of mine his life lately. the general tells me he is marching against brunswick--horse, foot and artillery--next evening. i can go ahead in the armoured train or an armoured car. but i explain this time i want to see the occupation from the other side and so must get into brunswick well ahead. however, the general doesn't respond to my request to be set down outside brunswick from one of the aeroplanes employed in distributing proclamations. brunswick has been cut off by road and rail for days, and he evidently prefers it should remain so. brunswick, he says, means to fight and must get a sharp lesson. anyway it's impossible for anyone to get in now. and at first sight one would say he was right. brunswick is sixty miles from magdeburg by rail, trains only run in other directions, and even for them one must have a permit. all planes and cars are under control of the troops. so it will have to be the "underground railway" for me. for, when you drive a revolution underground it won't be long before there's an underground railway. it's quite easy even for a foreigner without local friends to get down the lifts and along the passages to it, provided he can find the way in. and a good place to look for the entrance is a newspaper office. _wednesday morning._--a back room in a beerhouse of a back street in magdeburg. i am being booked through to brunswick on the underground. the "tickets" are being made out among the slops and my guide is getting his instructions. for all tours on the underground are personally conducted. _wednesday evening._--a beerhouse in a back street of brunswick. we have run the blockade successfully, and are waiting to be sent for by the revolutionary government. we reached brunswick soon after dark, having travelled hard all day. first, leaving magdeburg by train and going north, we got out at a wayside station where a carriage and pair was waiting. this drove us at a great pace over the rolling uplands to the outskirts of a village. whom it belonged to i didn't hear, but it had the best pair of horses i saw in germany. next came a sharp run across country to a halt on a local steam tramway, which took us down to a junction where we got a train. the train had to be left unostentatiously _en route_. fortunately, german trains don't go very fast nowadays; but standing on the end platform and waiting to jump while my communist guide turned somersaults on the embankment, i should have preferred even my lop-winged halle aeroplane to the brunswick "underground." another walk to a local station from which a train ran backwards and forwards to brunswick. as we arrived it came up loaded with refugees who were retiring to country farms to escape the imminent invasion of the prussian troops. _wednesday midnight._--government house brunswick.--the town is plunged in darkness but the government building is all ablaze with lights and a-bustle with figures hurrying to and fro past the lighted windows. inside there is a curious nightmare feeling of hampered haste and of imminent menace. round a long table in an upper room sits a sort of council of war distractedly discussing whether brunswick shall resist the prussian troops that are due to arrive at dawn. in a sort of drawing-room adjoining, other members of the independent government sit about listlessly in fauteuils brought over from the palace, or pace restlessly about the room. a communist is trying to spur the council on to fight, assuring them that the soldiers and sailors are ready to face the tanks and trench mortars--which is true, and that the workmen will support them--which is not. a sailor suddenly appears in the council room excitedly waving an object in his hand which it seems is a bomb that has just been found hidden in the cellars--but whether intended to blow up the revolutionaries or to be subsequently found by the reactionaries and exploited as an "atrocity" is not clear. anyway, no one pays any attention to him, and annoyed at this he proceeds to take it to pieces to prove it's a real bomb. i persuade him to go away and drown it. soon after the council decide not to fight. this definite decision wakes us all up from the nightmare. telephone orders are at once sent out to the outposts, everyone hurries off on some mission, and as we go home the dark alleys are full of dim hastening groups hauling heavy objects--machine-guns and rifles to be thrown into the river or buried. _thursday morning._--a hotel window looking on the main square. i am taking down the history of revolutionary brunswick from the dictation of one of the leading revolutionaries, while below the prussian troops are marching in. the organisation of the independent government has made good in its last crisis and not a shot has been fired, to the openly expressed disappointment of the invaders. the hotel, awkwardly enough, has been commandeered as an auxiliary headquarters, and i have to escort my informant out past groups of officers and see him safely away into the "underground railway." he is one of the few wanted men who get clean away. merges and others escaping in aeroplanes and in cars are with few exceptions caught. merges himself, subsequently, is released by friendly jailers. the burghers in the streets exult at their deliverance and some of the girls throw flowers to the troops. a young volunteer in an armoured car catches a bunch gracefully and i recognise him as a scion of the princely house of reuss. at the back of the crowd stalwart men in ill-fitting civilian clothes glower gloomily. a girl at an attic window in a side street cries shrill abuse at the "steel helmets" and one boy in joke points his rifle at her. it goes off, the bullet stars the plaster and the boy looks as terrified as the girl. it is the only shot fired at the fall of the free republic of brunswick. _thursday evening._--the general has deposed the government of independents and set up another of majoritarians, has arrested all the leaders he can find and has proclaimed the severest form of martial law. many burghers are already regretting the revolutionary _régime_. the streets are almost deserted for it is already dusk and no one may be out of doors after sundown. in the shadows under the overhanging gables of the mediæval market-place gleams the steel helm of a prussian picket. other cloaked and helmed figures gather round a fire down a side street. brunswick is back in the middle ages and these might be tilly's men. a fat burgher creeps cautiously past the hotel. every evening for years he has trotted to the cosy beer cellar round the corner. shall these bedamned prussians keep a free brunswicker from his beer. after several false starts he marches boldly out across the market. bang goes a blank cartridge from the prussian sentry and the burgher bolts back into obscurity. the liberty of brunswick is no more. the establishment of a räte republik at munich got more attention than the brunswick attempt but was really less interesting because less indigenous. the relative importance of the two was more accurately assessed at berlin. berlin has always had a difficulty in taking munich politics seriously. it has had to recognise its superiority in art and literature, but compensates itself in matters political by an amused arrogance not unlike the attitude of london to dublin. but munich is not bavaria. if it were, the prussians and wurtembergers would never have ventured to interfere; for the bavarian is far too fierce a fighter and too jealous of his freedom for all the rest of germany to coerce him as a nation. however, it soon became evident that munich communism represented only a section of the munich workmen and was resented by bavaria as a whole, with the exception of the proletariat in the large industrial towns. even so, the berlin government acted cautiously. it was indeed in a difficult position; for the policy that scheidemann's socialism stood for was one of compromise with political clericalism and provincial particularism. his minister, preuss, then framing the constitution, had been reluctantly compelled to reject the conception of the more radical reformers who had hoped to found a wholly uniform and wholly united centralised german socialist state. the government had been forced to use the political jealousies of the german states and the clerical prejudices of the centrum as weapons against the social revolution. it would not be too much to say of this period of german politics that only the revolutionary adherents of the council movement were germans; while the upper and middle classes had again become prussians, saxons or bavarians. and now it had become necessary to coerce the capital of bavaria, the centre of roman catholicism and the most sensitive and important of the minor kingdoms. and this, too, at the very time when everything was being done to induce german-austria, bavaria's neighbour, to accept the same sort of position in the realm as that held by bavaria. it was a most awkward predicament and the german government showed less than its usual tactlessness in dealing with it. it arranged with the bavarian bourgeois government, when matters came to a crisis at munich, that it should take refuge at bamberg, where it could be protected by the government's troops centred at weimar. then it arranged with würtemberg and baden to supply troops to restore this bamberg _ancien régime_, supporting them with saxons and, at first, keeping the prussian corps in the background. operations were then begun, first against the franconian towns of north bavaria, where bavarian sentiment was weak. any attempt against munich was delayed until a raging press propaganda against the rule of the munich bolshevists in the wittelsbach palais, and the crushing of the movement everywhere else, had excited the class feeling of the propertied farmers and burghers and had exorcised temporarily bavarian jealousy of prussia. all this, however, would not have ensured berlin success, but for the inherent weakness of the munich revolutionaries. the movement for council government and general communism had lost all chance of success when it was forced either by the policy of its enemies or by the jealousies of its supporters into the hands of men like the russian extremists, leviné and levien. i saw a good deal of both men during my stay in munich a few days before their fall, and both were very frank as to the hopelessness of their position. they were very different. leviné was a black jew of a common and rather criminal type, with a bad record, but great ability of a sort. levien was a cosmopolitan and a bohemian--in appearance and abilities a dissolute and demoralised version--a bohemian and bolshevist caricature--of the treasury official who now represents us and rules germany on the reparation commission. a curious picture it was this communist dictatorship in the wittelsbach palace. outside--crowds of workmen waiting for the posting of the bulletins in which decrees were proclaimed. inside--a great coming and going of seedy-looking revolutionaries--a frantic clattering of typewriters pounded by unkempt girls--hurried conclaves in corners--remains of meals on marble tables--the dubious atmosphere of a quartier latin garret--the high pressure of a bolshevist headquarters and the melancholy madness of a wittelsbach pavilion. the political situation in bavaria after the revolution had rested entirely on the personal power of the idealist jew, kurt eisner. his influence over both revolutionaries and reformers produced in munich a coalition of socialists in which the predominant element was progressive; whereas in berlin, for want of any such personality the coalition split up into reactionaries and revolutionaries. the assassination of eisner and the disablement of auer on st february were succeeded by some weeks of the hoffmann government during which the issue as between parliamentary and council government was defining itself. the distribution of force at this time appears from a division in the assembly of councils where the proclamation of a räte-republik (a council state) was outvoted by to ; levien himself, the bolshevist, declaring against it as premature. but during march the strong movement to the left and towards a council constitution, noticeable in the berlin räte-congress, made apparently even greater progress in the bavarian industrial towns. majority-socialists, the social-democrats, found their followers going over _en masse_ to the independents, while the latter lost equally heavily to the communists. in prussia the majoritarians had made up for this loss of popular support by creating a military force strong enough to resist any attempt to overthrow them by other than constitutional means. but in bavaria the majority party found itself being left in the air. it seems thereupon to have adopted a policy of outbidding its opponents. at augsburg, late in march, niekisch, a leading majoritarian, declared for a räte-republik exclusive of parliament, and succeeded in getting it voted. the vote was later rescinded under influence of the independents and communists, but restored under majoritarian pressure. the same curious reversal of rôles followed in munich, where a majoritarian, thomas, pressed for a räte-republik. a commission of left majoritarians and right independents was appointed on april th and adopted a programme including the dictatorship of the working class, the organisation of a council system on an industrial and professional basis, the socialisation of industries, banks, and land, the revolutionising of administrative, judicial, and educational systems, the separation of church and state, compulsory work for all classes, the formation of a red army, and alliance with hungary and russia. this programme was to be executed by a central council and commissioners, equally composed of independents, communists, and social-democrats. at first the communists refused to join and attacked the new government bitterly as a humbug; but later, after proclamation of the räte-republik and a council constitution, agreed to co-operate in the central council in an advisory capacity. the räte-republik was proclaimed on april th. the hoffmann government left; but soon after reappeared, first at nuremberg and then at bamberg, where it established itself as a sort of bavarian weimar. the berlin government at once refused recognition to the new _régime_, while it gave every countenance and support to the bamberg government. a few days later, sunday the th, a "_putsch_" under the leadership of a _ci-devant_, von seifertitz, and a majoritarian, löwenfeld, supported by the republican _schutztruppe_, overthrew this government and arrested the independent members of the central council, as also mühsam, a non-partisan idealist. the communists then took immediate action and a hundred or so armed workmen under toller, a young independent officer, ejected as many soldiers from the railway station at the cost of two killed and a few wounded and some broken windows--a scuffle represented in berlin as a desperate battle in which the station and surrounding houses had been completely destroyed. the communists then formed a "bolshevist" government under commissioners, among whom were included the russians levien and leviné, and an executive council, on which were two independents and a moderate, maenner--an able man in charge of finance. of course in this curious _chasser-croiser_ it is open to anyone to regard the majoritarians as mere governmental _agents provocateurs_, working for a premature proclamation of the räte-republik, with such motives as it may suit the critic to attribute to them. this was the view taken by the _times_; but personally i am inclined to see merely the manoeuvring of demagogues ambitious of power, in a people with little political experience. to retain power, the majoritarian socialists of prussia were prepared to re-introduce militarism; while those of bavaria were prepared to introduce "bolshevism" for the same object. both the course and the collapse of munich communism give an answer to the question whether russian bolshevism can take root in germany. if bolshevism meant sovietism and merely is a constitutional conflict between parliamentary and council government, it could. there is no such traditional belief in the parliamentary system in germany as to make it an essential foundation of constitutional government. neither the old berlin reichstag nor the weimar assembly acquired popular confidence. but if by bolshevism we mean an economic class conflict concerning the dictatorship of the proletariat, the answer seems to be that it cannot be established in germany, under normal conditions. the short life of the munich commune seemed to show this. the government consisted of commissioners--a sort of inner cabinet, an executive council--a sort of ministry, and an assembly of councils--the legislature. the first was bolshevist, in general standpoint, the second independent socialist and moderate communist, the third predominantly moderate socialist. the commissioners, especially the russians, did not enjoy the confidence of the assembly, still less of the garrison. i believe that they would soon have been replaced by a socialist _régime_, but for the military action of prussia and würtemberg. nor were the measures taken by this _régime_ what could be called bolshevist. the absurd newspaper yarns, reproducing all the old calumnies against russian council government, including the communisation of women, gave quite a false impression. i have a complete list of the communist measures, and they contain nothing very sensational and mostly existed anyway only on paper. i will give two examples which i heard discussed before the assembly. the _cafés chantants_, a great feature of munich, had all been closed on moral grounds, not without justification, as those who know munich will admit. the delegates of the employés appealed against this as throwing three thousand people out of work. the debate showed that this measure was largely a protest of the workmen against the irregular lives of the communist leaders themselves, and the cafés were allowed to re-open under the control of a committee of the assembly. further, the middle-class papers had been suspended by the commissioners. so representatives of the communist and independent papers rose to say they would suspend publication until this prohibition was removed. this threat was carried out and at the time i left the prohibition was about to be repealed. as to the practical results of the bolshevist _régime_ it was difficult to judge from the two or three weeks it was running; all the more that half this time was passed in the general strike proclaimed by the communists which they could not prevent after their accession to power. but after work was resumed it was clear that conditions were normal. order was not disturbed and the revolutionary tribunal as to which wild stories were told was a mild affair. it was even recognised by the local bar--and when an agent of the anti-bolshevist league was caught with false communist papers and large funds he was only fined the amount in his possession. telegraph officials, accomplices of a spy in running a secret telegraphic service to nuremberg, were acquitted as only irresponsible agents. russian bolshevism would have given them a short shrift. the only practical difference between communist munich and independent brunswick was that the munich revolutionaries not having the hearty support of the garrison had to form volunteer corps of red guards. these, like the government volunteers, were highly paid and fed, the means being provided partly by money confiscated as illegal remittances abroad, partly by printing new notes. the extent of the attempted exportation of money may be guessed from the thousand mark note, the only convenient means of exportation, having been worth fourteen hundred marks. the removal of the note printing presses to bamberg embarrassed the communists for a time, but they had succeeded while i was there in printing twenty mark notes, which were, of course, declared worthless by the german government. at the time i left munich the garrison had declared in favour of negotiating with the expeditions menacing munich from augsburg and ingolstadt, and the workmen, though against negotiating with the troops, would clearly have welcomed a peaceful solution even at the cost of expelling the russians. this i was able to report to the premier hoffmann at bamberg, whom i found under the impression that negotiations were hopeless. three days later, they were opened at his invitation at nuremberg, but led to nothing, as the workmen would not agree to disarm. the troops accordingly marched in, driving the "red army" before them; and munich, less happy in its leaders than brunswick, became the scene of the usual sniping and skirmishing by insurgents with machine-gunning and bombarding by the troops. the influence of the russians was probably responsible for one particularly ugly incident, the cold-blooded murder of a number of "hostages" in reprisal for the wholesale shooting of prisoners by the troops. leviné, the leading member of the russian clique, was captured and shot and several less dangerous and even quite harmless revolutionary or radical leaders also perished, some "by accident." levien was arrested some months later but escaped to vienna. the new bavarian ministry, or rather the old bamberg government restored, then took on the same character as the ministry in berlin; that is a government by military force behind a moderate socialist façade. the failure of the revolution in munich was its last effort in this first volume of the german revolution. the movement thereafter adopted leipzig as its centre, an independent stronghold; but when later the government picked a quarrel with leipzig, occupied it with troops and abolished its independent _régime_, there was no resistance. in this autumn of the german revolution seems hunted to death. it has, however, only gone to ground. footnotes: [a] "brunswick succeeded more thoroughly than any other german town in reaching the goal of the whole development of mediæval civic life--that is the emancipation and elevation of the working class.... "the guilds developed unusually early in brunswick those activities which rendered them everywhere schools of political education and centres of revolution. in brunswick first of all did the workmen make head against the burghers. and if old records can be trusted what immoderate ambitions appear even in their first rising in . they were not merely in revolt against abuses or for some moderate participation in government, but proposed nothing less than the suppression of the old constitution and to make themselves absolute masters of the town." chroniken der deutschen städte. braunschweig. vol. i., p. xxvi. chapter iv ruin and reconstruction the mistake we are all making about germany over here, and a very natural one, is that we can't realise what germany to-day is like. while we are rapidly getting back to the material and mental conditions of pre-war days, germany is daily getting farther and farther away from us. it is difficult to express the difference. we all know the curious psychological change that comes over our lives when the doctor tells us we must "give up"; how then in a moment, as we sink into bed, we are changed from responsible personalities, ruling our own and others' lives, to helpless encumbrances ruled by doctors and nurses; and how we only recover our rights through a long convalescence. germany has given up. it carried on until it collapsed, and now lies semi-comatose; and we, still absorbed in our quarrel, keep pestering it with solicitors and foreclosures instead of patching it up with doctors and food. descriptions of economic conditions in germany must therefore be read with the realisation that they are morbid symptoms. germany may be, no doubt is, working its way through revolution to a saner, sounder condition, but at present is as abnormal and helpless as a snake changing its skin. meantime, we, using the complete control over europe that the war has put into our hands, have so interfered with this process as to risk making out of germany as great a danger to the existing order in europe as we made out of russia. nor is the danger one of to-day only. in ten years' time when the blockade will be no more than a memory, but when the surviving childhood of germany, bodily wasted and mentally warped, comes to maturity, europe will suffer for it. the fathers will have eaten their sour grapes by then, but the children's teeth will still be set on edge. "i do not complain of your blockade, it ended the war," said to me a former minister and a leader of political thought. "yes, i've lost four stone since i left the trenches"--he was indeed only the framework of a once big and burly man with the low voice and languid bearing of the underfed. "i'm all right on what i get, it's the children--i could give you statistics, but you wouldn't believe them; i never do. go and see them yourself." so i went. first a tour of the cellars of the great tenement houses of berlin--cellars closed before as unfit for habitation, but now, under stress of house shortage, lived in by the large families of the german working class. in one i find a war widow keeping five children on the bare ration: lb. of potatoes, lb. of bread per head a week, ½ lb. of meal and lb. of jam when they can afford it and find it. the bigger children get a quart of skim-milk a week, too sour for anything but soup--the younger about two quarts of full-milk. they are having their supper--cabbage and potatoes. the younger children nibble suspiciously at gifts of chocolate. they do not know what it is and suspect a new "substitute." the younger children look better than the elder. the eldest boy has lost his job because he "can't keep his feet." the mother is emaciated. next door is another family--the father, a painter, is in work, but is continually losing days from "stomach-trouble." they have lost one child from decline. and so on, always the same stories of struggle against decline from want of fats or sugar, for the sugar supply failed when the poles occupied posen--against dirt from want of soap--against dark and cold, for the gas and coal are getting daily shorter. then i went to a public soup kitchen where a long queue of every class was waiting for its plate of potato-soup, just potatoes, absolutely nothing else, and they too deducted from the week's ration. "splendid, splendid soup," says an enthusiastic little man, a small shopkeeper, perhaps, "not a rotten potato in the whole plateful." thence to the crèches and children's hospitals of the organisation started by the empress frederick and run for many years by english ladies. in these big, bright rooms there was the same ominous quiet as in the dark cellars. "we can keep them alive when we get them in time, but we can't do more. we can fill them, but we can't feed them with this," said the sister, ladling out potatoes and cabbage to the older children and oatmeal gruel to the younger. everywhere swollen bellies and shrunken limbs--children of three that had nothing actually wrong with them but couldn't yet stand--children with "english sickness" as rickets is called--children of school age that couldn't be sent to school because they were so mentally and physically backward. here and there a sturdy infant that owed a better start to some stronger mother, but the most of them lying silent or wailing feebly. "we could save even that one," says the sister, unwrapping a baby so shrivelled it looked scarcely human, "but we can get nothing, though they give us here whatever there is. they know it's the children that matter most now." children have always meant much to the germans, and in those days of growing disgust with the past and of growing despair as to the future they meant so much that nothing else seemed ever to matter to the women at any rate. i heard a woman prominent in politics say she was glad to hear that the allies were going to occupy essen, düsseldorf and the industrial district, because then they must see what was happening to the children there, owing to the blockade and to the barring off of the milk supply from across the rhine. i soon saw enough to be satisfied that though food could still be got at a price in the eating houses of berlin, private households of the whole working class and lower middle class were so straitened for food that some members of each family were being starved; either because they were too sickly to digest such food as could be got or because they were giving it to the children. the same conclusion was come to by the numerous commissions sent out to report, even though these were generally composed of young officers; instead, as they should have been, of experienced medical men and food experts. these commissions were given every facility for estimating how far under-nourishment had deteriorated the working power of the poor and was deterring them from work. also how far the low development and high death-rate of the children was due to this. and their reports show what a terrible responsibility we assumed when we maintained the blockade after the armistice, as a means of political pressure and a method of penal procedure. these reports are easily accessible to english readers, so i will only give here, for what they are worth, the conclusions come to by one representative neutral and one native authority. a copenhagen association for studying the economic results of the war, estimated that the german population, which at the beginning of the war was about . millions, would, but for the war, have risen by now to about millions and had sunk to about millions. of this decrease . millions was due to diminished birth-rate and . millions to increased mortality. in the last years of war the birth-rate fell to one-half. of the increased deaths, , were ascribable to insufficient nourishment, mainly in the last two years of war. in the death-rate for both sexes over increased by half and doubled for children between and . my observations also suggest that it was children of this age that suffered most from the blockade. the loss of about two millions of men in the prime of life, the decreased vitality of the women and children who suffered especially from the blockade, and the general economic conditions of the country, make any early re-establishment of previous productivity impossible. again, in the _deutsche medizinische wochenschrift_ one, geheimrat rübner, compares losses by war and blockade as follows:-- military losses by civil losses wounds. disease. by blockade. st year of war , , , nd " " , , , rd " " , , , th " " , , , [b] th " " , , --- --------- ------- -------- , , , , --------- ------- -------- according to this estimate the blockade by the third year was causing almost as heavy losses as the war itself; and a calculation on this basis suggests that the continuance of the blockade after the armistice for six months, must have cost germany at least , lives. presumably we intended the pressure of our blockade to ensure prompt acceptance of our peace conditions. if this was our policy, it was a dangerous mistake. a people, as docile and disciplined as the germans, would have accepted any terms dictated them while still under the impression of their military defeat and of the moral derailment caused by the revolution. they would have welcomed our armies as allies in spite of the efforts to rally them made by chauvinist or bolshevist extremists. and nothing that a foreign state could have done was better calculated to make such efforts successful than the blockade and the boycott. neither in germany nor in russia have we learnt that it is better to feed an idealist than to fight him. it is only those who fast who see visions. the food scarcity from which germany was suffering during the six months i spent there, was something between the food shortage from which we were then emerging and the famine we were imposing on russia. germans were not dropping dead in the streets as they were in russia; but, on the other hand, germans were not merely being restricted to a sufficient ration of simple food as were we in england. the german rations were insufficient both in quantity and quality. this was especially the case in the essential elements of nourishment; in bread-stuffs, fats, and sugar. bread was particularly bad; and i realised as i never had before that if one cannot live by bread alone, bread alone is what one cannot live without. so rotten bad was the blockade bread that the staff of life became little better than a stab in the vitals. this punishment of the prussian prometheus should not be overlooked when we cast up the reckoning. but how can we realise it? i remember, the day after i got back from germany, seeing a girl in a berkshire village come out from a baker's shop with a large piece of white bread and give it to her donkey. three days before i would have pulled her and her cart all round the town for that bread. during my first weeks in berlin i found that i was being continually reminded of the lines of the american poet:-- the window has a little pane, and so have i. the window's pane is in its sash, i wonder why. and after wondering why for some time i asked a doctor friend. "oh," said he, "that's only the war bread. it will last some two months or so, and then you'll be all right again. if it goes on longer i'll give you a medical certificate for invalids' bread." but i could not face those two months. i used to bring bread back from weimar, where it was better in quality, and after it went mouldy, boil it up into puddings. travelling, i lived mainly off imported tins of oatmeal cooked in a stove of my own invention, for portable fuel such as petrol, spirits of wine, etc., was unprocurable. here is the patent, which tourists on the continent may find useful pending the permanent peace promised us by paris. you take a small oblong biscuit tin and cut out one end. you stand your pot or a pan on the tin, roll up a newspaper, light it and shove the lighted end into the tin, stopping it from burning too fast with the tin lid. you can boil a kettle with a number of the _tag-blatt_, and the morning paper heats your porridge instead of, as usual, cooling it. i say nothing of the mental and moral advantages. and if the bread was deleterious, the showy-looking biscuits and cakes that flaunted shamelessly in the shop windows were positively deadly. what they were made of german "substitute" experts alone know, but mainly, i should think, saccharine and sawdust. while this state of affairs was mostly due to the blockade, statistics of german home cereal production before the war suggest that, with anything like the increase of home production that we brought about in england, there should have been enough to provide the population with wholesome bread. and germany, both from its superior administrative organisation and from its far larger proportion of home-grown food, seemed likely to have done better than we did. but, both in total production and in production per acre there was a heavy fall, amounting to as much as about per cent. in such important crops as rye and potatoes; while the slight recovery recorded in was due to a very favourable season. and the reason for this collapse was loss of labour power in men and animals and of fertilisers, natural and artificial. women in germany do not play the large part in field work that many of us supposed. the greater proportion of the heavy work of cereal production was done by immigrant labour, and for that the prisoner labour seems to have been a very inadequate substitute. when this disappeared the effort to induce unemployed to go on the land was as complete a failure as might have been expected from our experience. to this loss of labour must be added the loss of agricultural land in the province of posen, now occupied by the poles, from which berlin and the saxon industrial districts drew their grain and potatoes. thereafter the potato ration in leipzig was for some time reduced from lb. to lb. weekly. the importation of flour from america made at first little difference. it cost far too much and came to far too little. meat was nearly always procurable at a price, and, if one knew where to go, was good enough. and for a hundred marks or so, equivalent to five pounds at the pre-war rate of money, quite a decent dinner could be got in select restaurants.[c] the organisation of food supply was distinctly good. the conditions in germany were indeed far more difficult than in england. instead of having merely to control the importation at the main ports in germany the supply had to be controlled before it left the hands of the individual farmer. this could, of course, only be done on broad lines. the system followed was to divide the country up into administrative areas corresponding to the local governments and roughly to apportion the supply of food products to the population. this resulted in certain areas becoming surplus and others deficit regions; and the surplus regions were then compelled to supply a certain proportion of their abundance to their less fortunate neighbours. but, of course, no control, however meticulous, could prevent rural districts from feeding full before anything went to the industrial districts, or could stop illicit trading between the well-to-do and the farmers. this "schleich-handel" or sneak trade kept the profiteer well supplied throughout the war with farm produce. after the revolution this profiteers' sneak trade was supplemented by a proletariat sneak trade, in which plundered stores were hawked through the poor quarters by broken soldiers and miscellaneous brigands. in berlin, round the alexanderplatz, there was perpetual skirmishing between these "wild traders" and the patrols of the frei-corps. the efforts to suppress the sneak trade of the well-to-do classes supporting the government were not so drastic. butter could generally be bought through the hotel waiters at forty marks a pound. there was noticeable in all this a marked deficiency of public spirit in respect to private life. the german has for so long been drilled and dragooned in his public life that his civic conscience is little developed. whereas in england one had the impression that the government and authorities, and especially the army, were the worst offenders against national economy and the mass of the middle class the most conscientious, in germany it seemed quite the other way. undoubtedly one of the irritants that excited the revolution was the failure of the rationing system to secure an equitable distribution--or anything more than a minimum of certain staple foods. this food shortage is, of course, a cause as well as a consequence of the economic collapse of germany. german economic life, swept away for years on the tide of war effort, now revolves round and round in a vicious circle like a dead carcase in an eddy after a flood. famine and fighting have made the people too weak and too weary to work; but until they work they cannot get food from abroad or grow it at home. that is the economic vicious circle. the boycott and blockade have made the people too restless and revolutionary to reconstruct and remodel their constitutional institutions; and until they do so they are to be boycotted and embargoed. that is the political vicious circle in foreign affairs. in all regions of economic life one finds this endless chain of cause and effect revolving round paris and fettering such energies as are left to germany. this is not the place for an estimate of the material sacrifices we have made and are making, so as to coerce germany into accepting the peace conditions of paris and into suppressing its own revolutionary movements. i would only point out that a brisk trade between france and germany was proceeding all through these months of blockade. for example, an acquaintance in switzerland who wanted in february a certain well-known make of french tyre was told by his garage that they could get them cheaper than in france if he did not mind where they came from. they came via germany. and no sooner was the treaty signed than a swarm of american agents descended on berlin, buying up businesses right and left, as also such stocks as were left. small wonder, with the mark at one-quarter its pre-war value. as to _objets d'art_ and paintings, the ruin of the plutocracy and the low rate of exchange threaten to strip germany far more effectively than any german raiders could strip the villas of france and belgium. but in this legitimate indemnity we english have not benefited. we are too much afraid of "dumping," no doubt. there are still probably many in england who fear that german competition will begin immediately with the raising of the blockade. apart from the political and social conditions that make impossible an early convalescence of german industry from its complete collapse, the following official data taken from the preface to new regulations for the textile industry, show the conditions to which this industry was reduced before the revolution. this document it may be noted, is not one prepared for foreign consumption. at the outbreak of war german industry had a stock of , bales of cotton on hand, and as much more was held by the bremen merchants. and as much more again was imported up to the breach with italy in may, . the stock then was , bales. during the war , bales were seized in belgium and poland. this supply allowed the german mills an output of per cent. to per cent. of their annual peace output of about a million tons. the annual local wool production during the war was , tons, flax , tons, hemp , tons, artificial wool , tons, and artificial cotton from rags, etc., , tons. attempts to grow cotton substitutes were a failure. nettle fibre in amounted to tons, turf fibre , tons, reed fibre , tons. artificial fabrics (stapel-fasser), on the other hand, rose to an annual amount of , tons, and seem to have a future. paper thread rose to , tons annually, but is only a war expedient. the home production of fibre was about per cent. of the previous importation. these official figures show that the arrears now required are such that if they could be supplied they could not be paid for. a value of about five milliards is required as compared with a value of -½ milliards imported before the war, and milliards is about the total value of all raw material imported annually before the war. the only prospect of supply otherwise is from home-made artificial fibres, and that only if they are protected against foreign cotton, which is absurd. all the proposals now under discussion for improving methods of production by co-ordinating and controlling the factories even if feasible and effective will not, in the opinion of competent persons here, make up for any material proportion of the loss of productive power due to present conditions both of capital and labour. they wish to get this and other industries restarted, not with any prospect of profit, but to provide clothing and work for the industrial population. of course, if the economic policy of the treaty is ever realised and we artificially stimulate the production of germany and strangle its consumption, we shall, if the country recovers, and is resigned to work under such conditions, run a real danger of a dumping of a most dangerous character. the semi-servile employment of the germans could under such conditions be used to fight the efforts of our workmen for economic freedom; just as the semi-servile enlistment of hessians and hanoverians was used to fight the efforts of our american colonies for political freedom. but this policy, if policy it is, depends on whether and when germany is sufficiently recovered to work again. when we measure the exhaustion of germany on the one side against the enormity of its burdens on the other, it is difficult to believe that it can ever recover in the near future. german economic life has had to endure three crushing blows--the war, the revolution, and the peace. it was financially ruined by the war, industrially ruined by the revolution, and economically ruined by the peace terms. little need be said as to the financial ruin caused by the war. in its general lines it is the same as that suffered by all belligerent peoples; in its details it would require a book to itself. war losses reduced the industrial, agricultural, and mental producing power of the male population by about a fifth, which may well be doubled to cover the reduced productivity of the remainder due to physical anæmia and political agitation. the productivity of the soil was reduced by over a quarter, owing to want of labour and fertilisers. livestock was reduced by two-thirds. deadstock, including industrial plant, railway rolling stock, shipping, buildings, etc., was all much more reduced in value than with us, owing to the greater material concentration of germany on its war effort. the state was bankrupt even in the opinion of the most optimistic. but all this was remediable, even rapidly remediable, as soon as the people recovered their vitality. and then came the armistice which for nine months blockaded and bled the patient. if one were to enquire which of the particular bleedings most contributed to his relapse into his present condition of coma one would choose the taking away of the , locomotives. the tie up of internal transportation that followed did more than anything else to injure the economic vitality of the country. german unity was economic rather than political in its origin and dates from the zollverein and the railway system. germany was made a nation economically by railway construction in the '`forties'; though, unfortunately, the attempt to realise this unity politically on a liberal basis, in , failed. even in the present constitution, we can recognise the degree to which the railways are relied on for binding the country together across the mediæval barriers of provincial frontiers. it was to some extent realisation of its political importance that made the german railway system the pride of the country; and it was the manner in which this system met the extraordinary demands of modern warfare that enabled germany to exploit strategically to the full its internal position and fight a war on four fronts. and now the condition of the railways is a striking illustration of the economic and political conditions of the country. here is an account of a journey from berlin to munich undertaken last easter. in peace time, if you wanted to go to munich from berlin there were half a dozen trains daily which did the journey in seven or eight hours, and provided reading cars, eating cars, and sleeping cars at a rate no more than an english third-class fare. even after the war one train daily only took eighteen hours, and the second-class carriages, though very crowded, were comfortable enough. so, when i was warned that if i wanted to see the russian communist _régime_ in munich at work i must lose no time, it seemed worth spending easter week examining whether russian bolshevism can take root in germany. as a matter of fact, i got just twenty-four hours in munich, the rest of the week going in travelling. the first difficulty was a strike of bank clerks, so that i had to leave short of money. the next was that owing to the coal strike all passenger trains in saxony had stopped running, and the only route open was round by frankfort. the spa night express was, of course, running; a long train of sleepers for the allied officers and official or officious personages, and a few ordinary carriages. thanks to some british tommies, for whom a first-class carriage was reserved, failing to turn up, i got a seat, and so comfortably enough to cassel about dawn. there i found that the suspension of passenger traffic had been extended, and that a hundred miles of dead country lay between me and würtemberg, where trains still ran. fortunately, a party of prisoners from england were being sent south on a goods train, and i got leave from the red guard to join them. the station officials objected strongly, but the prisoners, some of whom had been reading _the daily news_, overruled them. and so, bumping slowly along on a wooden bench all day, discussing, cooking and card-playing with the prisoners, past stations with names reminiscent of pre-war high living. leaving the goods yard at frankfort about ten that night, i was lucky enough to run across a motor-bus just starting for darmstadt, in würtemberg, and got there about one in the morning with a jolly party of south germans. three hours on a waiting-room bench, and then at dawn on easter monday a train south into baden, and then from heidelberg east through würtemberg. all this country seemed to have suffered little from the war and to be wonderfully happy and prosperous. the change came again in the afternoon after crossing the bavarian frontier and climbing slowly up on to the swabian plateau. down in baden it was full spring, with fruit trees in bloom and warm sunshine. here was winter, a bitter east wind and snow flurries, bare uplands and dark pine woods. after passing ulm were the first signs of the winter of discontent, some telegraph poles sawn through. and finally, just when a bed at augsburg after two nights up seemed assured, we were all turned out about eleven at night at a miserable swabian village called dinckelscherben. there was fighting in augsburg and all access to the town was barred by the würtemberg troops there. it was freezing hard, with a bitter wind, and i joined a forlorn party of some score travellers who wandered about knocking vainly at the doors of the big farms that made up the village--no swabian farmer opens to a stranger at midnight these days. the only beerhouse was packed two deep with travellers from an earlier train, but took in the women on our threatening to storm it. the rest started off to tramp the rails to augsburg, seventeen miles away; but as this meant abandoning my provisions i broke into a hayloft and bested the rude swabian boor. the bauer by daylight was somewhat less of a swab and gave me milk for my porridge, the first i had had for three months. he also produced at a price a queer little shay, with a half-broken ukrainian, swerving erratically about beside a long pole, in which i drove over the plateau to augsburg, getting there about noon. coming in to oberhausen, the workmen's quarter, there were all the usual signs of trouble--deserted streets, bullet-starred walls, and broken windows. the street was blocked by a crowd that was being addressed by a speaker, from a window. the shay was surrounded by men armed with rifles and bombs; and half-starved bavarian workmen, without sleep for days and fighting against odds, made an ugly looking crowd. they were not at first satisfied with my papers; said they, "if you are an english _genosse_ make us a speech and if it's all right we'll let you through, if not--" it was a severer _viva voce_ than i'd had for the diplomatic service, but i passed, and some of the elder men escorted the shay through the lines for fear of accidents. they promised not to draw fire from the government machine-guns until we were across and the würtemberg outpost was safely reached. that afternoon was spent in augsburg, the base of the würtemberg expeditionary force, and the next stage was the fifty miles of road to munich. no motor would go for fear of being confiscated by the communists, and in all augsburg there was only one fly with a pair of horses that could do it. it asked £ for the round trip, about four times what i had with me. however, having bought an option on the fly, i had a monopoly of the transport to munich, and had only to float a company. a merchant, an officer in mufti, probably a spy, and a charming lady in the dress of the red cross took the other three seats at £ each, and i had still the seats for the return journey. these eventually brought a handsome profit that i divided between the anti-bolshevist league and the communist party. these negotiations, and finding out what was happening in augsburg, took the afternoon, and at dawn next morning we started over the rolling uplands for munich. outside bruck we came on a score or so of red guards bivouacking in a barn, and nearer munich passed through several pickets which searched for weapons, but gave no trouble. and so about two in the afternoon of wednesday into munich, having left berlin saturday evening. the return journey was better. i had intended to leave munich by the carriage for augsburg on friday, but on thursday afternoon i heard the two parties had agreed to let a special train run for munich merchants exhibiting at the leipzig fair. having done nearly all that i came for, this chance was not to be missed. so i paid levien, the communist commissioner, a farewell visit, and got a special permit from him to go by the leipzig train. leaving munich about four with a train load of munich merchants and their assistants, we went very slowly round by landshut to nuremberg, with nothing more sensational than searches for arms first by red then by white guards. the special arrived at nuremberg about dawn, and was to wait six hours there; so finding a train was leaving for bamberg, the seat of the hoffmann government, i went on there, and spent the morning in the picturesque old town, then the "weimar" of bavaria. like weimar, the station was barricaded, and a pass was required to enter the town. like weimar, the town was worth entering, for food was plentiful. having seen the premier, i got back to pick up the leipzig special. but the railway officials had other views, and there was no red guard to overrule them. my communist permit was useless, and there was no time to get one from the bamberg government. so i had to see the special steam out. this might have meant a day's delay, as bavarian passenger traffic was by now also suspended, the bohemian coal having been cut off. i was lucky in getting on in a wooden box hitched on to a regular dachshund of a goods train, it was so long and slow. it crawled gasping up into the thuringer wald, and there after dark ten miles from anywhere lay down with no sign of life but an occasional sigh. after some hours a prussian engine came down, and pulled it over the ridge, and we got clear of bavaria at probstcella about midnight. here there was a great row between the prussian and bavarian railwaymen. the prussians complaining the bavarians kept them up to all hours by being always late and the bavarians saying it was the bad coal the prussians sent them. our small party, headed by some bavarian officers, profited, because we backed the bavarians, who in return insisted on our being taken on with the train. behind the prussian engine we developed a surprising turn of speed, and rattled along expecting at every station to be turned out or shunted until we got into the main line at halle. a judicious change at a way station into a passenger train that overtook us, and three hours' standing up in a carriage with fourteen people, a large dog, two goats, and a baby, brought me to berlin about two on saturday afternoon. nor was this a unique experience. on my last journey home the locomotive broke down and had to be changed three times before we got to hanover. a german train with its immense but impotent engine, its ponderous but dilapidated carriages, its officials once resplendent and arrogant, now servile and seedy, its groaning crawl from one breakdown to another, is a painful picture of the german state. and the financial position of the state railways is illustrative of the condition of state finances. before the war the prussian state railways contributed to the budget a surplus of million marks--now they show a deficit of , millions. in the intervals between the crisis of its internal convulsions germany worries feebly about its finances, much as a merchant in mortal illness may worry about his bankruptcy. but, of course, nothing has been done or could be done because the business was still closed and the chief creditor had not yet filed his claim. now we know what paris expects germany to pay, and we also know something of the financial position from the statements of the finance ministers, schiffer, dernburg, and erzberger. the german debt before the war was an annual charge of million marks, the peace expenditure excluding the army millions. the war debt in december, , was milliards, increased in january by . milliards, in february by . milliards, in march by milliards and estimated to increase further by -½ milliards per month on an average for the coming financial year. to this must be added ½ milliard for cost of expropriations, -½ milliards for reconstruction of ravaged territories in prussia, -½ milliards for compensation of german shipowners, separation allowance subsidies to the german states, etc., in all milliards about, with an annual charge of milliards. reduction of this item by total or partial repudiation of this debt, though advocated by the opposition, is impossible without causing economic ruin and political revolution. the new army is estimated to require milliards; about the same as before the war, because of the enormously exaggerated expense of this small volunteer force compared with the old conscript army. if, to the great political advantage of germany, a swiss militia were substituted for the frei-corps, this item could be halved easily. the estimate of -½ milliards for pensions is the same as that of france and will probably be exceeded, though as yet less than half that is being paid. this makes up a total annual estimated expenditure of , million marks, the mark at pre-war exchange being equal to a shilling. as herr erzberger's speech on the budget showed, he is faced by a financial position unparalleled in the history of national bankruptcies. the interest which he has to find on the imperial debt amounts by itself to mk. milliard; and his total annual requirements, exclusive of the allies' demands under the peace treaty, are estimated at mk. milliard. before the war the revenue from imperial taxation was under mk. milliard. additional taxation imposed during the war yields about mk. milliard. to-day therefore germany is faced with an annual expenditure of mk. milliard and an annual revenue of mk. milliard--_i.e._, an annual deficit of mk. milliard, nearly ten times greater than the whole revenue of . the new taxes actually proposed are estimated to bring in about mk. milliard. but the main sources upon which the finance minister is going to rely are two: a levy on capital and a tax on sales. the levy establishes a graded tax on all property, starting at per cent. and reaching a maximum of . per cent. payment may be made by instalments spread over years, and it is estimated that the tax will bring in about mk. milliard annually. the tax on sales is still more drastic. it really consists of three different taxes: ( ) a general tax of per cent. on all sales, ( ) a tax of per cent. on retail trade, ( ) a tax on the producer of luxuries of per cent., and on retail trade in luxuries of per cent. this tax is estimated to bring in about mk. milliard. but even after this raid on the owners of property and upon capital, the unfortunate minister of finance is faced with a deficit of mk. milliard. he proposes to get mk. -½ milliard out of beer, petroleum, stamps, flour and meat, and the remainder, mk. -½ milliard out of a uniform income tax for the whole country and an excess profits tax. the magnitude of these sums can be estimated when it is remembered that the total incomes of all prussians earning more than a pound a week only amounts to milliards, and that helfferich's estimate of the pre-war income of all germany was milliards. but that was a very different germany from the present. germany has lost a greater part of its mineral wealth, the coal of the saar, the potash of alsace, the ores of luxembourg. she has lost her colonies with their great potential wealth. she has also lost her fleet and a great part of her railway material. over a million and a-half, or per cent. of the male working population are dead. industry has neither the capital nor the energy to reconvert itself to peace productivity. much of the capital left is either concealed or has been carried abroad. german holdings of foreign securities were estimated at twenty milliards before the war and not more than one milliard now. over a milliard of the gold reserve at the deutsche bank has been paid for foreign provisions, leaving only a milliard and a-half to cover a note issue of thirty milliards. germany must by march, , deliver up all payment in kind, _i.e._, goods, ships, coal, etc., which might possibly exceed the total of £ , , provided by the treaty. on the other hand, germany must pay the pensions due to disabled soldiers and the relatives of the fallen, which in the case of france alone amounted to £ , , , . in all, germany is liable for a sum of £ , , , , which should be paid off in a period of thirty-six years. for the two first years after the war she will pay nothing, but subsequently she must pay £ , , , with interest at per cent. the total amount paid by germany will therefore amount to £ , , , at the end of thirty-six years. and most serious loss of all--she has lost for a time, anyway, all will to work. improvement in food and general conditions of life will do something for this, socialisation of industry and introduction of the council system would do more, but it will take time. even if germany obtained at once a return of energy, a reopening of markets, a re-entry of raw material and a free recourse to foreign capital, and she will have to wait long for all of these, even so it seems very doubtful whether she could make a living under such a load of debt. this will mean the emigration of from ten to twenty million germans in the course of the next few years, to the west if it is open to them, but otherwise to the east. germany will, in fact, be brought down to the political and economic conditions of portugal. we pursued this policy of ruining germany for a century because we were still under the impression of animosities and anxieties that belonged to war conditions. our attitude was that the allies should get what they could out of germany while they could; and if the attempt ruined germany, germany had deserved it. this was the attitude that prevailed during the armistice period. but the peace of versailles has inaugurated a more systematic and far-reaching exploitation. this is no place to review its economic and financial provisions; but no one could read them without realising that our policy is apparently to make germany work for us as its bankers, brokers, shippers and creditors with unlimited claims. to take a rake-off as merchants and middlemen from all german manufactures and to set up a receivership over germany that we call a reparation commission, with the right to claim any remaining profit. the powers of this receivership are such as to prevent the development of any german competition with us in the conduct or control of german production. combined with the claims for damages these powers would, indeed, make all government impossible. for example, under them germany is liable to pay the pension claims of the dependents of sikhs, senegalese or south carolina negroes to the exclusion of its own wounded and widows. but the policy, in so far as a compilation of the unchecked schedules and uncriticised schemes of war profiteers can be said to have a policy, is that of making the german workmen produce for british big business. the functions ascribed to the so-called "reparation commission" represent an attempt to make the german proletariat work under foreign exploitation. experiments in foreign financial control we have had in eastern europe, with semi-civilised peoples; but this is an attempt to set up foreign economic control over a people which in industry had won for itself the first place in europe. at first sight one is inclined to reject this policy as a practical impossibility; but so extreme is the debility of germany, and so exceptional the docility of the people, that i am inclined to think it might have had some temporary and partial success but for one thing--the council movement and the demands of the workmen for the socialisation of industry. without some measure of socialisation of industry, without some measure of political representation through councils, the unemployed will not return to work and the employed will only work in fitful intervals between strikes. between the november revolution and the end of february the coalminers alone forfeited million marks of wages in more or less meaningless strikes; and this was before the great strikes of the spring, which had an obvious political purpose. this is three times the loss incurred in the last pre-war strike of . the decrease in production rose from a quarter-million tons in december to a million in february, and this was little compared with the loss that followed, estimated at no less than ten million tons. during the first six months of there were always at least a million and a half workmen drawing an unemployment pay of about two-thirds of their average wage.[d] add to this outlay that of the force raised to prevent the workmen from realising their revolution--the seven hundred thousand frei-corps, engaged at such a high pay that this prussian volunteer force of to-day is budgeted for at the same total as the vast german armies that dominated europe before the war. it is curious that germany should now be paying the same amount to terrorise a few working quarters that it paid five years ago to terrorise the world. and the second attempt is as hopeless as the first, for the revolution will not be denied. even the bureaucratic social-democrats of the present government recognise this and try to placate it with words. "socialisation has come," proclaim the government posters all over berlin, and when i was in berlin i thought i'd see if i could find it. first, i went to the special department responsible, where in a commandeered hotel i was introduced by a charming lady typist to an equally charming temporary official. he was an enthusiastic alpinist, and asked affectionately after my brother and other english climbers; and, finally, with the help of the typist we unearthed some pamphlets and propaganda leaflets. it was quite a shock on leaving to find oneself in the wilhelmstrasse, not in whitehall. then i tried westminster--i mean weimar--where i found two government bills being shoved through in a great hurry, because the socialist supporters of the government had, like me, been investigating what was behind the posters and pamphlets, and had found only brick walls and bureaucrats. and to what does it all amount? practically nothing, except as regards the coal industry, and so far rather less than nothing there. but the course of events is instructive and particularly interesting for us. the german coal industry, even more than ours, has in the last quarter-century become a monopoly under control of great capitalist combines. their power is not affected either by the state-owned prussian mines or by any possibility of new coalfields, as these are either held in reserve by the combines or are too unremunerative to compete. already before the war this monopoly had been recognised by all parties as not in the public interest; but "nationalisation" in the sense of state exploitation was prejudiced by the poor results given by the state-owned properties of the saar fields. this inferiority was due not to inferior industry on the part of the workmen but to inferior initiative and independence in the management. what effect over-papered, under-paid officialdom can have on the productiveness of a coalfield is shown in the following annual percentages of total production: westphalia. silesia. saar. year. private. private. state. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . but with the revolution came an alternative to "nationalisation"--"socialisation"--in which all those connected with the coal industry should have an interest in it. an autonomous guild might preserve initiative and energy; while the interest of the consumer and of the community might be safeguarded by representation in the guild and by state supervision. a beginning was made towards such a solution in regulations, passed in the first months of the revolution, recognising the functions of the workmen's councils and attempting to reconcile their activities with expert administration and official supervision. no progress was, however, made by weimar during the spring in this practical process of working through a sort of whitley council system to a sort of guild socialism; and the general strike of march found the government with nothing in particular to which it could refer its critics. accordingly two acts were hurriedly run through the assembly. one, the "socialisation bill," recorded the right of the citizen to employment or to support (amended to reserve "personal liberty")--the right of the state to socialise all economic enterprises (restricted by amendment to cases of urgent necessity and adequate compensation)--the administration of socialised industries by autonomous guilds--(amended to include the state or other government authorities). and from this it will be seen that an act intended to establish general "socialisation" in principle, on a basis of expropriation was amended into one contemplating "nationalisation" in urgent cases, with compensation. a clause in this act required immediate application of the principle of socialisation to coal mines, and a coal bill has accordingly also been passed. by this the state takes over the industry and entrusts it to a coal board, reserving the right to regulate prices. nothing is said as to the composition of this board, but nothing is changed in the proprietary basis of the industry further than its organisation in regional syndicates. there is also to be an expert council, representing employers, workmen, and officials equally. the retail coal trade remains untouched. as to "socialisation" generally, the reports of the socialisation commission have all been rejected and the commission, that last relic of the revolution, resigned as long ago as may. the recommendations of wissels, an active minister, had as little success and he resigned in june. the government had promised that socialisation was to be established in the constitution; but art. of the constitution does no more than give the state the power to "socialise" and syndicalise industry, while art. says that private royalties are to be legislatively transferred to the state. therefore, in spite of plaintive posters, it is not communistic socialisation, but capitalistic syndicalisation, that has been introduced in germany. while loudly proclaiming a step forward, the government has taken a long stride back.[e] "socialisation" has not as yet affected the economic basis of the prussianism that we have been fighting. this basis was a coalition between the old political interest of the landed proprietors and the new political interest of the captains of industry, or, to express it shortly, between the junkers and the jews. the free trade and liberalism that kept great britain from "prussianism" in spite of the power retained by a few feudal families and the landed gentry was due to the different relationship in england between the upper and middle classes. in england our "junkers" and "jews" coalesced during our great industrial development, perhaps because our upper class had already more jews than junkers. in germany they remained apart but combined for their own interests. we have seen to what extent the revolution has threatened the economic authority of the captain of industry--the industrial profiteer. is the feudal landed proprietor also threatened? the first effort of the revolution further east in russia, hungary and the baltic states has been to "socialise" land. either, where the agricultural industry is primitive, as in russia, by simply dividing up the land among the peasants, or where it is progressive, as in the model-farm estates of hungary, by putting the estate under control of a council of workers as though it was a factory. but in germany the urban character of the revolution, which has accounted for the comparative ease with which the government have coerced it, is shown by land tenure being as yet little affected. the only definite action against the large landed estates, that i know of, is a measure of the prussian assembly postponing action until . this characteristic procrastination is, of course, explained to the revolutionaries as merely allowing a short period for voluntary breaking up of the big estates, and to the reactionaries as a postponement of all action. meantime financial conditions in germany are quite as favourable to the dispersal of large estates as with us; for wherever the farming system obtains the farmers have made even larger fortunes in germany than in england. but the system of landed tenure is much more varied in germany. there is a large proportion of freeholders and copyholders, while big estates are farmed by bailiffs with hired labourers. in the region of these big estates--the land of the junker (mecklenburg, pomerania and brandenburg)--the revolution is openly defied. the agrarians of these regions not long ago had a regular trial of strength with the present _régime_, and though worsted were none the worse. the strength of the german revolution is in labour, its weakness is in the land. footnotes: [b] to end of . [c] the advertisement columns of the daily papers, those most trustworthy of documents, told many a tale of distress. here is one such advertisement:-- "valuable violin--antonius stradivarius cremonentis, authentic, will exchange for provisions: meat, sugar preferred." but it's an ill wind that blows nobody good, and if it blows away the family heirloom it blows off the mortgage on the family property:-- "summer holidays in peace and plenty. farmhouse in harz mountains will receive family and provide them with farm produce, milk, butter, eggs, etc., in return for redemption of mortgage of , marks." [d] the following percentages of unemployment during and after the war may be of interest:-- average month. - . . . . . . jan. . . . . . . feb. . . . . . . march . . . . . . april . . . . . . may . . . . . . june . . . . . . july . . . . . . aug. . . . . . . sept. . . . . . . oct. . . . . . . nov. . . . . . . dec. . . . . . . [e] to do justice to the german revolution i annex a schedule of measures passed by the peoples commissaries before the weimar parliament met and reaction set in. how far these are being at present enforced i do not know. unemployment provision--regulations of th november and th january. the cost is borne one-half by the reich, one-third by the state and one-sixth by the locality. the rates must be reduced by april, , to a maximum of six marks per day. it can be withdrawn on refusal to work for insufficient reasons. employment regulations of th and th january. previous employés on demobilisation must be re-employed and persons employed in their absence only discharged under certain conditions. legislative regulations of labour. an order of th november, , restored to force all sanitary and social regulations and restrictions suspended during the war. labour disputes. settlement regulated by order of rd december, , which sets up workmen's committees responsible for questions of wages, etc. prohibition of night baking, rd november, . prevention of venereal diseases, th and th december. this measure penalises with three years' imprisonment those exposing others to infection even ignorantly and prescribes compulsory medical attendance. chapter v council government from its present position and at its present pace the weimar parliament will never overtake events. i remember once as a boy pointing out to a cavalcade in red coats jogging along a by-lane that the hunt was off in a different direction. "the hounds, you mean," said an old gentleman severely; "we are the hunt," and they all jogged happily on. meantime the dogs of war--of civil war between the constitutional and council movements, between conservatives and communists--are still running at a fearful pace and quite out of hand. the workmen will not work unless some real socialisation is introduced, and this is only possible if more steam be brought into the political machine than the parliamentary system can raise. socialisation and reconstruction have been going back, not forward. the socialisation commission and the responsible minister have both resigned, because weimar would not give effect to their mildly socialistic recommendations. yet nothing can save germany from bankruptcy and bolshevism but a re-energising and reorganising of the people for peace at least as effective as that they underwent in the war. nothing can do this but a new ideal and new institutions. and the ideal of direct political power for the workmen and the institution of an industrial councils system is, so, far as i can see, alone capable of drawing out such force as is still left and of driving the country through the slough of war weariness and waste. the councils movement in germany, at first, followed much the same course at much the same pace as it did in russia. in germany, as in russia, the councils, after reaching at a bound the sole power during the days of revolution, relapsed under a re-assertion of parliamentary and party government; then recovered, and, in the case of russia, realised the second revolution. the german movement was last spring ( ) in the early stage of recovery. its development is of special interest to us, in that eventually the german movement will probably take a middle place between the russian and our own. before the revolution the labour movement in germany was very much in the same condition as with us. the attempt to combine on a patriotic platform all productive forces, and to concentrate capital and labour on winning the war, had only superficially smoothed over the distrust between employers, associations and labour organisations, or the dissension between heads of unions and the bodies of workers. when the revolution broke out on november th it was carried through first by committees of sailors, then of soldiers, and finally of workmen, that sprang up simultaneously and assumed supreme authority. the advent of this new authority, however, brought about an alliance between the previous authorities thus put on one side, the employers' associations and the trades unions. the employers, who had hitherto been resisting claims for an eight-hour day and a share in control, found themselves threatened with expropriation. under the leadership of a captain of industry, hugo stinnes, they at once opened negotiations with the unions led by legien; and by november th reached agreement on the eight-hour day and the establishment of labour associations (_arbeitsgemeinschaften_) equivalent to our whitley councils, and labour chambers (_arbeitskammern_), for dealing with wages and welfare, in which employers and employed would have equal representation. as dr. reichert, spokesman for the metal industries, has pointed out to his supporters, these concessions looked more than they were. for the eight-hour day would have to be abandoned unless, as was unlikely, it became general in europe; and as to the associations, it should always be possible to get in and bring over a "christian" representative of one of the labour organisations under the influence of the catholic centrum. it is this agreement, none the less, between the trust and trade union bosses that is the basis of the present coalition government's labour policy, and that is embodied in the new constitution. but, since the revolution, the real labour movement of germany has passed to the "councils" (_räte_), as we must call them for want of a better word. for "moot" is too archaic and "committee" suggests either a party of bores and busybodies or a _posse_ of bulgarian brigands; while soviet, which is only the russian for council, would mean branding the movement as "bolshevist." of these councils then, the three main divisions in germany are workmen's councils (_arbeiterräte_), or industrial councils (_betriebsräte_), soldiers' councils, and communal councils. of these, the first only seem to have a constitutional future in germany. the communal councils have not yet been fully admitted to the council system, and seem to have but little vitality. the soldiers' councils, which played the more prominent part in the revolution, and still form part of the organisation, have not succeeded in making headway against the efforts of the government to demobilise them. thus a regulation of january th reduced them to welfare committees and restricted their right of deposing officers to a mere recommendation. attempts of the more revolutionary corps to resist authority in december, january and march were put down by the frei-corps with excessive and progressive severity; and the large bodies of revolutionary troops that survived the demobilisation, as "republican guards," "public safety guards," "people's naval division," &c., &c., have been gradually dispersed by the government's frei-corps.[f] so that the soldiers' councils as the political organ of the revolutionary fighting forces are losing their importance. now that the british admiralty have recognised "welfare committees" in the navy, it is safe to assert that the council movement in germany so far as concerns the armed forces is no longer in advance of ours. returning, therefore, to the industrial councils, we find that in the early days of the revolution the movement spontaneously developed an organisation consisting of a national central council, elected by a national congress of councils, in its turn elected by local executive councils. these were all political institutions, which for a few days enjoyed entire political power. this power passed back to the old political parties and parliamentary system, owing to the council accepting as "commissaries of the people" parliamentary politicians, whose sole idea and secret intention it was to reconstitute a cabinet and reconstruct a chamber on reformed but not revolutionary lines. the capital error was in trying to realise the revolution by only establishing revolutionary bodies--the councils--in supervision of, instead of in substitution for, politicians and officials of the old _régime_. this was the cause of the relapse into reaction. the real revolutionaries realised this mistake and liebknecht, after accepting office, withdrew and joined the communists and "spartacists." the communists were and are, of course, "whole-hoggers" in the council movement, whose war cries are, "all power to the soviets" and "down with the assembly." the independents ranged from men like ledebour, däumig and richard müller, who saw in the councils the salvation, not only of the revolution, but of civilisation, to men like haase, cohn and breitscheidt, who believed that parliamentary democracy and proletarian dictatorship could be co-ordinated. the social-democrats ranged from members of the council organisation, who believed that the councils should have economic functions, and who were last summer coming over to the independents, down to men like legien, who would abolish the councils as a revolt against the trade unions, or noske, who would abolish them as rebels against authority. the democrats included intellectuals, who recognised the political utility of the councils, but consisted mostly of liberals with no appreciation for them: though many of these latter had been coming over to the idea, as, for instance, the veteran economist, brentano, or the internationalist, schucking. owing to a tactical blunder of the independents, the central council, as well as the cabinet of commissaries, came under the sole control of the social-democrats, the trade unions, and moderate socialists. consequently, the central council, instead of being the citadel of the council system, became a salient from which the enemies of the system could undermine its whole position. the central council, pursuing the government's policy that all power in the hands of revolutionary authorities must be surrendered to the parliamentary institutions, in february publicly and formally recommitted its mandate, whatever that might be, to the assembly. one might have supposed that this solemn suicide of its central authority would have been the end of the council movement. but exactly the same surrender of the central council occurred at a similar stage of the russian revolution, with the result, not that the movement collapsed, but that control of it passed from the socialists to the communists. this seems likely to be the result in germany. the first consequence of the abdication of the central council was that leadership passed to the executive council of berlin, where the independents and communists were already in a majority. the executive council proceeded to press for a convocation of the congress of councils, and thereby a re-election of the central council. the latter procrastinated, but gave way on the executive council threatening to convene the congress itself, but even then succeeded in having it postponed more than once. now, while the opposition was moving to the left in attempts to realise the revolution, the government was moving to the right, and rapidly restoring the old police-state behind a façade of parliamentary institutions. the consequence was a growing dissatisfaction with the government, which, for want of proper expression through the council organisation, broke out in periodic strikes and street fights. these were exploited by the government as excuses for repressive and reactionary measures, which all contributed to reinforcing the council movement. it was the vicious circle that we in england have come perilously near more than once. the defection of the central council also resulted in depriving the whole council movement of any stability and solidarity, and drove it into local offensives or "_putsches_," which were beaten in detail. first bremen and the coast ports, then dusseldorf and the coal area, next saxony and the industrial districts, and finally, in the first week of march, berlin itself, all declared general strikes in which recognition of the council system was the principal demand. and the berlin strike, following close on that of saxony, did frighten the government into what might have been a considerable concession. as late as the end of february the government had declared semi-officially that no member of the government had the slightest intention of having the council system incorporated in the constitution either legislatively or administratively; but two days after the outbreak of the berlin strike, early in march, the government announced, not only the socialisation of mines but the sanction of the council system in the constitution. the first government scheme for organising the councils was of much the same character as the socialisation that it promised at the same time--an elaborate organisation of factory councils, industrial councils and labour chambers with "economic functions"; which all boiled down to little more than the "whitley council" principle previously proposed and rejected by the workmen. since then the government has had to concede more, and art. of the constitution as signed in august, recognises the workmen's councils without representation of the employers, though they have to associate themselves with employers' representatives in order to discharge their constitutional functions. thus associated they can intervene in social and economic legislation through a central economic council. but it was clear that neither this nor any other concession likely to be made by the assembly would satisfy the workmen. a bi-cameral system might have done so, but this the coalition government could never have imposed on its centrum and middle-class supporters. the best chance of arriving at a compromise between parliamentary and council government was through the congress of councils which at last met in berlin in may. this congress had also another function of the first importance. it afforded the only gauge available as to the velocity and volume of the revolutionary revival. the assembly at weimar was in this, as in most respects, useless. the press was so coloured by class and party feeling as to be quite unreliable. while owing to general disorganisation of the country and the disintegrated nature of the revolutionary movement the leaders of it themselves did not know what their forces were. all that was known was that there had been a steady defection from the majority socialists supporting the government and the parliamentary system to the independents, in opposition, who advocated a combination of parliament and councils; and from the independents to the communists, who were for "all power to the councils." so steady had this leftward flow been that probably the congress, if left to itself, would have reflected it by coming together with a majority for the opposition. it would then have been able to begin at once its function of elaborating a suitable compromise between parliament and councils. for it is to be assumed that the communists and the right majoritarians would have been each in a small minority, with an absolute majority for delegates representing the independent position. that this was, at the time, the prevalent opinion in the movement is suggested by the delegates from german-austria associating themselves with the independents. however, partly for the better preservation of party, power, and place, partly from the pressure of constant "officious" admonitions from us that peace would only be made with a parliamentary government, the german government did their best to falsify the character of the congress and get as many majority socialists into it as possible by hook or crook. the hook used was a new electoral arrangement prepared by the central council which most of the great towns rejected. in some, as in breslau, the delegates first elected were recalled, and real workmen's representatives substituted. and when the government found its lost sheep weren't coming home, like bo-peep, it took its little crook, determined for to find them; and found them indeed, but with the historical result. for if by hook and by crook you make workmen's delegates of country lawyers or country magistrates you cannot expect them to bring much of a working-class tail behind them. so when the council came together it was distinctly rather parliamentarian than proletarian in its character. but if the government's object was to cripple and control the congress it failed. because the first result of their gerrymandering was that the communists refused to take part, thereby greatly facilitating the subsequent _rapprochement_ between the two socialist factions, the majority and the independents. the congress, when it met, was found to consist of majority socialists, independents, soldiers' representatives, and about miscellaneous and absent; and of these quite a large number were not working men at all. but all the same the difference between the atmosphere of parliamentary and council government at once appeared when it got to work. for this much gerrymandered and very jerry-built congress showed itself capable of adapting itself to pressures in a way that the national assembly could not. it showed itself to be a real deliberative body, capable of coming rapidly to a joint decision radically different from the several views subscribed by its individual members before its meeting. in other words, the congress had vitality enough to make its constituents real representatives instead of merely instructed delegates. its response to the general trend of opinion to the left and against "government by the frei-corps" was shown by its first vote which, by to called for the release of ledebour, an independent "intellectual" imprisoned for alleged complicity in the january disorders. this was followed by a vote of congratulation to hungary; while a similar congratulation to bavaria, where a "council republic" had just been proclaimed, was very properly postponed as prejudging the whole question of council government that was before the congress. the first days were passed in general debate, during which much negotiation between section leaders and a general alignment of forces were going on in the lobbies. a fictitious interest was given to this work of "realising the revolution" by the congress having met in the herren-haus, the old prussian house of lords, the shrine of reaction. it was piquant to see a fervent majority socialist and a fiery independent discussing whether parliament and universal suffrage were not irretrievably reactionary, under the cold marble nose of a prussian princelet who had looked on them as the ultimate chaos and dark night of revolution. but as will be seen, the _genius loci_, won in the latter end. the congress took some days in making up its mind what line to take. the majority leaders did not know which way to turn, associating themselves when they could with attacks on the government, and when they could not, apologising. for though the independents on one side and the small democratic section on the other were disciplined bodies, the majoritarian bloc was disorganised. when it came to a vote they obeyed the whip, but many slipped out, and the vote was very different from what was expected. the government's advisers in politics and in the press, finding that so far from bringing over the independents to the government the congress was fast drawing the majority into opposition, strongly recommended the government to close the congress on the ground that it was only wasting time in futile and inflammatory agitation. the independents countered this by forcing an immediate issue on the main question--the constitutional recognition of the council system. the opening of the discussion showed that a majority of the congress favoured a combination of parliament and councils in which the latter should have political as well as economic functions. whether the majoritarian leaders in the congress were genuinely convinced of the necessity of giving the council system recognition or whether they were forced to compromise in order to retain command of their followers, and through them control their following among the workmen, i do not know. anyway, after a series of speeches, in which the majoritarian leaders, kalinsky and cohn-reuss, vied in concessions, a compromise was put forward that represented practically the position held by their opponents the independents a few weeks before. the compromise between the parliamentary system and council system they proposed was probably workable; though arrived at from an unsound position--that of regarding the central council as a controlling authority over the national assembly; whereas it would really be supplying the driving power and the assembly the brake. now, although the independents, for the same tactical reasons that had driven the majoritarians to the left, were now proclaiming the principle of "all power to the councils" (which had been until then the position of the absent communists) they were rather embarrassed at finding themselves "bolshevists," explicitly demanding the dictatorship of the proletariat. the spring running of german politics to the left had been so headlong that the parliamentarian leaders of the left had had to sprint hard to keep ahead of their followers. but if they had kept one eye anxiously gauging the pace of the avalanche surging at their heels they had kept the other guessing no less anxiously at the position of the abyss of "bolshevism" ahead. and small wonder if they were a little bewildered and out of breath. for as late as december they had been still accepting the assembly as the sole executant of the revolution, and looking on the councils as practically extinct and politically eccentric. by january they had been forced to accept the councils as a fact that had to be fitted in somehow. in february their periodicals were full of schemes for giving economic powers to the councils, while reserving all political power, national and provincial, to the assemblies. by march they had recognised that they must have political power as well and by april they had reached the compromise of a bi-cameral constitution now adopted by their conservative opponents, the majoritarians. and now, in order to clear the leftward road for the majoritarians and keep pace with the communists, old parliamentary hands, like haase, oscar cohn and breitscheidt, found themselves condemning their newly born and much beloved parliamentary democracy to be smothered in its cradle for the benefit of a bolshevist changeling. no wonder they were ready to join forces with their socialist comrades of the majority in a compromise which found a place for their firstborn the weimar parliament and for their familiar world of party politics. thus the socialist parties, still hopelessly divided in that cold storage of faction, the weimar assembly, had been re-fused and re-moulded by the volcanic fires of the congress. one sunday afternoon, after the congress had been a week at work, i heard that the leaders of these two sections had that morning privately agreed to reconstitute the central council on a principle of parity, _i.e._, twelve majoritarians and twelve independents, with a few democrats and soldiers. this private agreement, unreported until after it had been repudiated, was a political event of an importance second only to the revolution itself. it reunited the socialist party on a platform of realising the revolution through the council system by constitutional action. the congress of councils, for whose dissolution the whole press were clamouring openly and every secret sinister influence was conspiring, had in six days gone further towards the reconstruction and re-orientation of germany than weimar had in six months. but one obvious result of this new alliance between majoritarians and independents in the council system would have been the jettisoning of majoritarian ministers, such as noske, landsberg and scheidemann, compromised by their complicity with reaction and the brutalities of the frei-corps. it was therefore not surprising that the full force of party pressure and of administrative authority was brought to bear on the majoritarian parties to the agreement. under this pressure, like good citizens and genuine germans, they buckled up and broke down, repudiating the principle of parity. they offered instead a proportion of fourteen majoritarians to ten independents in the central council or a representation corresponding to the numerical proportion of parties in the gerrymandered congress. these offers were refused, the congress came to an end, and the pusillanimity and place-hunting of parliamentary politicians had ruined the revolution a second time. the first was when the independents, under pressure from the left, withdrew from the coalition with the majoritarians in december. the second was when the majoritarians, under pressure from the right, now in their turn withdrew from the reconstituted coalition in may. the council was reconstituted with majoritarians, and the independents were thrown back upon the communists and "direct action." the only course then left to the adherents of the council movement was to perfect their organisations and wait until parliamentary government was overthrown, either by reaction or revolution. the first essential for such organisation was a general electoral system which would put the councils on a regular basis and prevent such interference and intrigues as had preceded the previous congress. the last meeting that i attended of the plenary assembly of berlin councils, the driving body of the movement, was occupied with discussing the crucial question as to who should be considered a workman and qualified to vote and stand for a council. it was there tentatively agreed that a workman might have a few assistants without becoming an employer, and that scientists, experts, and such like connected with an industry, other than managers, directors and such, might count as workmen. on the other hand the assembly had to adjourn for a time in disorder owing to protests against the presence of a police official as a delegate of the democrats. it was clearly going to be difficult to express in terms of an electoral law a disability obvious enough in each individual case. the german workmen were ready to admit to equality anyone with any industrial productive status, who was not in the service of declared enemies of the councils--such as the captains of industry or the coalition government. and so important is this suffrage question as a gauge of the liberality of the council movement in germany and of its distinction from bolshevism, that i append as a footnote the regulation of the berlin executive council, published previous to the convention of the second congress of councils.[g] this work of making the council system really representative has been much hampered of late by the growing reaction which is still trying to break the neck of the movement by arresting its leaders, and impeding its development in every way. at the same time, schemes are being continually put forward by the less reactionary elements for drawing the teeth of the movement by "diddling" concessions. among such may be counted the clauses "anchoring" the councils in the constitution. the word itself shows how rapidly the german politicians are picking up the devices of parliamentary democracy. again and again, on the platform and in the press, the workmen are assured that all is well with the councils because they are "anchored" in the constitution. what the workmen want is not to see them "anchored" so much as under way; but it is creditable diddling is that catchword, "anchored in the constitution." and another diddling device is the electoral law advocated by the majoritarians that the government are trying to impose on the councils, which would penetrate the movement with propertied interests and partition it up into regional areas. of late, indeed, the council movement proper--the revolutionary movement--has been almost driven underground. the central office of the berlin executive council has been repeatedly raided, its leaders are continually being arrested, and its meetings broken up. at a conference of the industrial councils of germany recently held (august th, ) at halle from which all majoritarians were excluded, the general tone was pessimistic. it was recognised that the german workman was not as a whole revolutionary in sentiment, that the mass movement to the left that had marked the first months of reaction had to some extent been checked and that the government policy of compromising with the council movement had had some measure of success. no agreement could be reached at this conference, even on such primary questions of policy as to whether the government proposals should be considered or whether the trades unions should be co-operated with. finally, centres of the revolutionary movement were established at halle and leipzig. from this it would seem that the revolutionary council movement is just at present passing through a phase of depression due to the government's diplomatic policy. it will be seen that so far the german councils are no political system, but only a surge of spontaneous self-government. if they can be really co-ordinated with the new political machinery, and if they can be concentrated on the economic reconstruction of germany, it may be the salvation, not only of germany but of europe. for, though the years of war have accustomed us to looking on germans as barbarians and better dead than alive, as a matter of fact this unattractive people is still, as it always has been, the sturdiest and steadiest of the workers of the world; and germany is still the centre of gravity of the european social system. there can be no stability in europe if the germans are on strike. the consequences of driving the russians into extremes are before us now in the worst menace to the existing social order since the peasants' rising of the middle ages. it will take much pressure to drive the german revolution into extremes, but if germany once develops a real bolshevism of its own, it will not be long before the rest of the continent follows its example. it is a national characteristic of us english to fight new ideas and institutions in principle abroad, while, in practice, we introduce them at home under different names. this has worked well on the whole. while reaction is occupied with damning and downing the novelty as an absurdity and atrocity introduced by the brutal and barbarous foreigner, _real-politik_ finds that the same novelty, under some new name, helps production at home. thus, while we fight the _soviets_ with military expeditions and poison gas, and the milder _räte-republics_ of germany with military missions and diplomatic notes, we work away at our guild socialism and our shop stewards' committees, extend whitley councils to the civil service and welfare committees to the navy, and even admit employés to joint control of our railways. there is an english revolution not only impending, but in progress, and those to whom revolution means barricades and "bolshevism" will be relieved to hear that the course of events, both in germany and russia, suggests that our british revolution is so well advanced that these stimulants of a revolution, that has stiffened and stagnated, will not be required. england, not being wholly, at all events for long, run by london clubs and political cliques, manages to achieve its political revolution by way of economic reconstruction, and it is doing this on the same principles as germany, though by a different procedure. that is why it was as foolish for the british to try to upset the council movement of the berliners as it was for the berliners to upset it among the brunswickers and bavarians. moreover, if the councils can still be killed, the germans themselves will eventually kill them by diddling concessions or by diplomatic compromises. for such compromises as those already put forward in germany show a fatal ignorance of, or indifference to, the fundamental facts of this revolutionary movement. i much doubt whether the german revolutionary workmen and their political leaders, whether independent or communist, can ever be got to accept the labour chamber (_arbeitskammer_) with its parity of representation between employers and employed; at all events, until the employer is represented by the state. and such "nationalisation "is only valued by the german workman as a preliminary to "socialisation." the workers are attached to the council idea largely because it attacks the capitalist, and gives the workmen protection against him in a way the union cannot. if the councils are to be widened into a democracy including all classes, the power of private capital must first be broken or brought in bounds. so desperate is the economic condition of the country that even the employers' associations of berlin have declared in favour of a large measure of council government. but this is an exception. the german ruling class, and their middle-class supporters, recognise that their class supremacy is challenged. they retort by attacking council government as class government and, consequently, as undemocratic. the issue is represented as being between a parliamentary democracy, as in england, and a soviet despotism, as in russia. it seems worth while, therefore, to the german ruling class to fight the revolution with its own weapon of violence, rather than face the risks of council government; and this same view would doubtless be taken in england if the question of principle were raised. in the recent railway strike our government, by appealing for national support against a leading section of labour, did, in fact, go far to create a class war. but, as a matter of fact, the demand for a dictatorship by the proletariat is not an essential element in the council movement. such a demand is not the cause, but the consequence, of class conflict. essentially and fundamentally the council movement, so far from being less democratic than our parliamentary system, is a revolt back to the purest and most primitive democracy from the artificialities and anomalies of modern parliamentary representation. it is no more undemocratic than the renaissance was inartistic, the reformation unchristian, or the french revolution anarchical. as the german revolution best shows, the growth of councils is the result of a revolutionary impulse in a modern community. such an impulse uses any form of association between men and women for the urgent political purpose of appointing a spokesman and leader. the most widely spread and deeply rooted association nowadays is industrial--in the workshop. consequently, we find the councils taking predominantly an industrial character and origin, as in our native embryo the shop stewards' committee. but any association will serve; and so, in the german revolution, besides the workmen's councils there were soldiers' councils, communal councils, and even unemployed councils. if this new system were to develop, so to say, in a vacuum, without opposition, it would theoretically provide a democratic representation for every human relationship. as it is, such representation is reduced, as in germany, by political pressure, to association that is rooted in the most vital relationship; and we find the unemployed councils, communal councils, and even soldiers' councils being choked off, and only the workmen's councils surviving. this is why the practical process in germany is, as said before, leading to the same conclusions as those come to by the _a priori_ reasoning of our own guild socialists when they divide the citizen into consumer and producer, and, in his latter capacity, give him representation through a council system. i found, in fact, that my most useful function in germany at one time was putting german labour leaders in possession of the conclusions of our guild socialists. nor, when we come to examine constitutional history, is there any real difference between the democracy of the council system and the democracy of parliament. they are the same in origin and will probably be the same in development. for parliament, it must be remembered, grew out of a council with an industrial suffrage--land tenure--which was later reinforced by a general industrial suffrage through the boroughs and their guild organisations. but, for the first two centuries of its existence, say to , parliament, the national council of our angevin kings, was a _soviet_, a _betriebsrat_. it was to this body that we owe our magna charta of , the foundation of our democracy. and, in the fourteenth clause of the great charter, the clause constituting parliament, we read that the summons was to be sent direct to the archbishops and bishops, earls and greater barons, and, through the sheriff, to all those "who hold of us in chief." it was this latter body of tenants of the crown that became the knights of the shire in our house of commons. the knights of the shire represented the landed industrial interest as directly as the representatives of the boroughs represented other forms of industry and commerce. of course, later, the regional and representative system gradually overlaid and obscured the original industrial basis, much as it has done with the council system in russia and is doing in germany. the council system in germany has, in three months, indeed, covered the course that took our parliamentary system three centuries. this corresponds roughly to the increased pace of political development to-day. if we were to translate the council movement of to-day into the terms of the parliamentary movement of seven centuries ago, we might say that, before our present democracy could begin, industry had to be nominally socialised by the principle that all land was held of the king, and a strong central government established on a popular basis of industrial councils, with equal representation for the two other estates, the feudal or military and the clerical or official. for we can see the progenitors of the soldiers' councils of to-day in the feudal courts of yesterday, and of the civil service bureaucracy of to-day in the chancellors and justiciars of yesterday. thus we may, if we like, see in the short history of the russian council movement an epitome of our whole constitutional history. or, we may compare the present council movement in england with the political situation early in the thirteenth century, when the greater barons, progenitors of our captains of industry, were about to force clause of magna charta and a national whitley council on a civil service of arrogant ascetics, who were vainly trying to retain power for a silly and selfish ruling class. in applying this analogy to the present day, the parliament of to-day would be no more than a survival of a previous constitutional epoch, a witanagemot applying anglo-saxon dooms. and this will, any way, give an idea of the way parliaments are looked upon to-day by german workmen. possibly, in the end, the representative and regional system will rule the roost again, and will force the industrial suffrage upstairs into a house of lords that will, in time, exercise mainly the judicial functions peculiar to its original industrial character. but we have first to get our magna charta and our statutes of westminster. that the council system of to-day is a truer democracy than existing parliamentary systems is also shown practically by its being a much surer and safer machine for the realisation of public opinion. theoretically, the pyramidal piling up of councils, each represented in a superior council, until a central council caps the pile, would seem to be indirect election raised to infinity; and indirect election is theoretically undemocratic. but this was not the conclusion forced on one in germany when one compared the working of the two systems. the inferiority in the position of politicians, owing their power to the parliamentary system, compared with that of those based on the council system, was very striking. the parliamentarians never knew where they were or what was what. out of touch, necessarily, with their enormous constituencies, they seemed to be always crawling about with their ears to the ground, dependent on agents and reporters of every sort, even on the press, for an idea of what was going on. as they never knew where the hounds were, they could not use such knowledge of the country as they had to lead the field. the leaders of the council movement, on the other hand, had an immediate indication of every trend of opinion in the changing composition of the lower strata of councils; and their difficulty was rather to control the energies that came pouring up to them through the system. the parliamentary leader seemed like a water finder, wandering about and waiting for the twig to twiddle, while the council leader was more like a marine engineer with his eye on the pressure gauge and his hand on the lever. perhaps indirect election is only undemocratic when the function of the lower body is mainly to elect to a higher, but becomes democratic when it has vital functions of its own that are merely controlled by the higher body. and yet another point and a paradox. whereas the results of council representation of opinion in germany are not revolutionary, the results of the parliamentary system are becoming more and more so, and not only in germany but in great britain. the failure of the parliamentary system to express the forces making for change--a failure not confined to germany--and the fictitious relationship between the elector and the elected has two results. it diverts a large part of these forces of progress into various forms of direct action, all of them revolutionary, whether actively so, such as street fighting, or passively so, such as strikes. it also gives a revolutionary character to the periodical elections. for the vast constituencies vote merely along the line of the least common multiple of their mob minds. this line is generally a vague dissatisfaction; and unless it be diverted by "stunts" or otherwise diddled, will result in violent pendulum swings. under these impulses parliament will become still less representative, and will tend to be either revolutionary or reactionary. for an exaggerated majority is the extremists' opportunity. the council movement, on the other hand, slowly changing from below upwards, should never drop much behind the drift of opinion, and consequently should be in little danger of being driven ahead of it. the german parliament, as the results of an election decided by this l.c.m. motive of the mob mind--a motive of assuring power to whichever party seemed to offer the best prospect of peace abroad and at home--is to-day reactionary. whereas the political condition of germany to-day is such that it absolutely must have a government responsive to the requirements of reconstruction, or relapse into civil war. the weimar parliament is so dead that only civil war can galvanise it to action. if reinforced by a council system, the weimar party government and the preuss federal constitution would perhaps have steam enough to work. the councils are as essential to germany to-day as the commons were to us a century ago. indeed, our insistence on the supremacy of the weimar assembly as a guarantee for the maintenance of peace, can be paralleled by our insistence a century ago on the maintenance of upper houses in the constitutions of the states revolutionised from france. the function of the territorially elected parliament will, in germany, and probably everywhere, become more and more that of an upper house; while the industrially elected congress will be the creative and constructive institution. the whole difficulty lies in finding a working compromise, or rather co-operation. just as feudalism imposed its political system which survives in the house of lords, just as liberalism imposed its system as represented in the house of commons, which now obviously requires supplementing, so socialism must have its political system in the councils. this is not revolution but evolution. the revolution comes from thwarting and threatening it. footnotes: [f] they have since been replaced by two anti-revolutionary bodies, a sort of gendarmerie and a local middle class militia (einwohnerwehr). the frei-corps have become the reichswehr. [g] the re-organisation and reconstruction of our political and economic existence calls for the co-operation of the whole effective population. the revolution has given us the means of such reconstruction in the council system. in order to give the council system its full development and a better foundation, fresh elections to the workmen's councils are indispensable. . all hand and head workers over years without distinction of sex who earn their living by labour of public utility without exploiting the labour of others are entitled to vote. are also entitled those who employ a limited number of helpers for their livelihood, as doctors, druggists, writers, jurists, artists, etc.--as also small industrials and craftsmen who do not employ others. . are excluded from voting those owners of means of production who use them to their own advantage and always through the labour of others. also those who rent a private-capitalist industry or institutions worked by the labour of others. also those who live from ground rents or interest as also those like directors, etc., paid in percentage fees. . elections to workmen's councils are by proportional representation and by professions or industries. great industries form distinct electoral bodies while medium and small industries will be associated. professions and professional groups that do not work with other employés within a particular industry will form professional electoral bodies; employés in domestic service, housewives, unemployed and invalids will be provided for in special regulations. further instructions as to the electoral regulations and procedure will be issued shortly. the executive council, richard mÜller, fritz prolat. chapter vi the treaty of versailles coming back from germany to great britain one finds oneself in the position of an explorer returned from a new world. for our edwardian england knows to-day as little of the real conditions in central europe as elizabethan england knew of central africa. and our press cartoonists and propaganda caricaturists have filled the blank spaces of our mental maps with fancy pictures of monsters whom they label boches and bolsheviks, huns and spartacists, just as did the old cartographers. whereas these fancy pictures are no more like the real wild beasts of europe than the unicorns and behemoths of the old maps were like the rhinoceroses and hippopotamuses of africa; and anyway are about as important an element in the problems of central europe to-day as the hippopotamuses are in those of central africa. the difficulty is that our natural intuitions of policy and our natural instincts of humanity have been for five years persistently perverted and distorted. we do not know that we are seeing everything as in a glass darkly, and that we are being prevented from coming face to face with real facts and forces. that is why in this summer of , as in that summer of five years ago, appeals to our conscience and common sense are useless. we are letting ourselves be hurried hopelessly and helplessly into the worst of peaces, as we then let ourselves be hurried into the worst of wars. but with this difference; that five years ago the principal criminals were the junkers and war lords of germany; to-day they are the jingoes and peace delegates of the entente. the germans have paid, or are paying, the penalty of trusting their war lords; both those germans who passively submitted to that folly and those who actively protested against it. we, too, shall all have to pay for putting our trust in our princes of the peace. we are paying--many of my old corps have already paid with their lives--for the mistakes of our diplomatists with the russian revolution. we shall pay for their mistakes with the german revolution when we too come face to face with realities again. for that is the main difference between the germans and ourselves to-day. they have been reduced to realities. the artificialities of their shoddy kaiser and their shallow kultur have fallen in ruins round them. the monstrous military machine they built up for their own protection, and used for the oppression of europe, is smashed. there remains just the german burgher and the german worker, both slow-witted simple souls. so slow and simple indeed, that they have allowed a few hundred german bureaucrats to go on governing them; thereby giving us a wrong impression of what they are thinking and wanting. in reality the germans to-day are like the russians of two years ago, a molten mass awaiting a new mould, ready to be inspired by such new political ideas as may be instilled into them. in germany now a new idea will take root, flower and bear fruit in a few days. i have watched the process myself with ideas imported from england. but instead of throwing open the western frontier of germany to free commerce and communication we maintained our blockade and our boycott, thereby forcing new germany to turn to the east for its ideals and institutions. and now comes this treaty with a further development of this same policy of blockade and boycott. germany is for a generation or so to be sentenced to loss of its sovereign rights, confiscation of its whole estate and penal servitude. we have overlooked the opportunity we had of making germany a moral dependency, a natural ally looking at the world from our political point of view, absorbing our ideas and associating itself with our ideals; and we have abused the opening given us by unlimited military power in order to attempt the material exploitation of germany. we might have made germany a racial and regional border province of anglo-saxondom, and a barrier against the asiatic irruption that is once again advancing against europe across the russian plains. we have preferred to try and reduce it to another ireland--an ireland of seventy millions with russia at its back. i am reminded of the remark of a german politician: "give us an open door and we shall be no worse than poor relations; build a chinese wall against us and you will make us into tartars." an adequate criticism of the treaty that we are proposing to force on germany would be as long as the treaty itself. there are two main difficulties in such criticism; one is that, owing to the secret preparation of the treaty and the public indifference as to its provisions, very few people in england have any idea even of what the financial and economic clauses amount to. german protests are ignored, of course, as mere "squealing." we have a general feeling that what is bad for the germans is good for the world; and, anyway, we don't want to be bothered with germany any more. the other difficulty is the treaty's formlessness and its want of design. a careful comparison of the articles and their appendices suggests that the essential policy of the whole is a compromise between, or rather a cobbling together of, two contradictory points of view, the french and the anglo-saxon; while in its externals it is an attempt to camouflage european imperialism with american idealism. in the jehad we have just fought against germany, the low material object of the french was to extirpate; while that of the english was rather to enslave. the high moral object of the french was to rescue alsace-lorraine; the high moral object of the english was to protect belgium. consequently, reading the treaty is something like reading the koran. the mind cannot get the point of view or purpose. it loses itself in dicta, as determinative in detail for the weal or woe of mankind as they are disconnected in themselves and dissociated from any general doctrine, or even from any especial dogma. one soon gives up trying to grasp the treaty. and one puts it aside with the consoling thought that "the koran or the sword" is good enough for those who, like the huns, are not "people of the law"; and that everything depends on the "idjra," the "interpretative effort" of future pundits. there is something tragic about such petty killings and cruelties as those ordained by the sinister reactionaries of the eden hotel in berlin. but there is something ludicrous about the miseries and murders _en masse_ organised by the highly respectable reactionaries of the hotel majestic. it is as though we:-- had resolved to extirpate the vipers with twenty balliol men and forty lady typers. on the morning of that thursday in may, the german reading public took up its morning paper with a sigh of relief that the long suspense was ended--and dropped it again with a gasp of despair. but germany wore its rue with a difference. the opposition to the treaty was of two kinds. the original split of the independent idealists with the majoritarian real-politikers had been over foreign policy--first in the prosecution of the war, then in the preparation for peace. these independents condemned such crimes as the u-boat war and the military murders of miss cavell and captain fryatt, uncompromisingly. their main reason for leaving the coalition socialist government in december was that they could not get their liberal policy carried in respect either of poland and the baltic provinces, or as to a frank recognition of responsibility for the war and full reparation to france and belgium. their main objection to the present government had been that it prejudiced the german political revolution and spiritual renascence in the eyes of the entente. and they now, as representing the main forces of idealism in germany, opposed the peace terms on international not on national grounds--as a conspiracy against the peace and prosperity of the european worker, not as a combination against the power and progress of the german empire. consequently, as the main body of the workers, that is, the driving power of the country, were of this party and had moreover been forced out of practical politics by the reaction party, when the terms were published there was no spontaneous explosion of emotion in germany. crushing as they were, there was no moral force to oppose against them; either national, as a century before in revolutionary france, or international, as a year before in revolutionary russia. the whole tone of private conversations and of press _communiqués_ on thursday and friday showed that the government with individual exceptions, would sign the terms. and further the whole tradition of the majority-socialist and of the centrum rank and file suggested that they would in this follow the lead of the government and give it a parliamentary majority. indeed, such passive acquiescence reflected accurately enough the prevalent point of view in a disorganised and devitalised community. late on that friday night, judging from an account given me of the proceedings in the cabinet and from general considerations, i telegraphed that germany would sign even such conditions as those published.[h] but where all is negative and minus, a very small positive and plus factor can make itself predominant. the democratic party represented politically such nationalist idealism as was left. theodor wolff, in the _berliner tageblatt_, started a campaign for non-signature, at first only with the compromising support of the extreme right. within a few hours the feeble government and half-famished capital came under pressure from two points--paris and the provinces. the german delegation to paris had been made very representative in order to strengthen the government in eventually imposing unacceptable terms on various interests; but the effect of their week's wait in their wired pen at fontainebleau seems to have been to give them all an incipient attack of "barb wire fever." as the guiding brain of the cabinet, landsberg had been substituted for david on the delegation owing to personal and political reasons, and as influential majority socialists were on it also, this was serious. opposition to signature appeared in the cabinet; and the leading article in sunday's _vorwärts_ by stampfer, the editor, who had gone to paris hoping to meet his french _confrères_ indicated that the majority socialists were also dividing on the question of signature. accordingly the democratic parliamentary party having declared unanimously against signature, the centrum and majority socialists followed suit with large majorities--only five in the latter party voting for signature. the government press then began to challenge the independents to make good their professed policy; with the intention of forcing them to form a government which would take the odium of signing. the independent leaders were approached on these lines. the independents found themselves in a difficulty. at first they were inclined to accept, but realised in time that if they did so they would be utterly prejudiced both politically and popularly. moreover, their left wing and the communists would not join any government on a parliamentary basis; while the majority socialists would probably help the right in throwing them out again on a nationalist reaction as soon as they had signed. they accordingly decided to declare for signature, but to refuse to relieve the government from the responsibility for its own policy. the parliamentary situation accordingly developed by monday into the usual deadlock. but in germany the parliamentary situation represents, even less than elsewhere, the realities of life. the meeting of the assembly on monday, which was to be a national demonstration, was a failure both in staging and in steam. held in the university aula, under the great fresco of fichte rallying the german youth to its resurrection after the peace of tilsit, it only served to accentuate the difference between the nationalist idealism that rebuilt germany in the last century and the internationalist idealism that may rebuild it now. for, in this assembly of more or less compromised and wholly commonplace elderly politicians there was nothing vital or novel. the set speeches had mostly been written by propaganda officials and the very applause had been planned beforehand. on the following day were open-air meetings, which gave a better index of public opinion. of the two i saw, the first was a big majority socialist gathering, addressed by fischer on the koenigsplatz in a speech curiously like scheidemann's. thence a crowd that, if small, was select, one might say "super" select, demonstrated before the hotel adlon, the centre of the foreign correspondents and missions, until dispersed by a rather dilatory detachment. but the foreign correspondents of course responded to these efforts for their entertainment and enlightenment with sensational "stories" of "scenes in berlin." the conclusion i came to was that those german working men who were still under trade unionist and party leaders, would, with the middle class, follow the government lead in this, as in anything else. the other meeting, in a remote workmen's quarter, was addressed by the independent breitscheidt, whose every point was punctuated by guttural growls from half-starved workmen and women. the recital of germany's renunciations and restrictions under the treaty was listened to in silence; but the conclusion that the old _régime_, if victorious, would have done this and worse was received with an emphatic "sehr richtig" (quite true). the interruptions from two middle-class youths near me, to the effect that an englishman or frenchman saying what breitscheidt had said in london or paris would have to run for his life--true enough too--were badly received. "fat cheeks," screamed a haggard woman, pointing out that the young men were chubby. "frei-corps puppies," shouted a workman, giving the explanation of their being well fed. and it would have gone hard with them if the independent leaders had not intervened to get them clear. the speaker's conclusions that the peace must be signed at once, that it must be signed by those responsible for it, and that thereafter there would be an "independent" government, was received with a diminuendo of assent. the poorer and less political german workman wanted peace, but had no will to power. there was indeed no fight left in germany; though i doubt if anyone in england realises how near the conditions imposed by paris went to provoking a desperate appeal to arms. when it became evident that no mitigation of importance was to be got, every member of the government of any character, whether reactionary or radical, resigned; leaving only men like landsberg and erzberger. while the revolutionary opposition persisted in their refusal to take the responsibility of signing. when it became obvious that this "rump" was prepared to sign, and that the weimar assembly would support it in doing so, a military conspiracy was organised to prevent signature by a _coup d'état_. weimar, the week before signature, filled with generals, and small bodies of frei-corps threatened the complaisant cabinet. but obviously the coercion of weimar into refusing signature was not enough, and would only have resulted in a second revolution rather than a reaction. the main operation was to have been a march south to berlin and weimar, of the army of the east in west prussia. but, at the last moment, these frei-corps refused to move. the better elements of them had volunteered to defend the frontiers against poles and russians, not to overthrow the national assembly at the orders of reactionary generals. the worse elements were ready to fight their own countrymen, the revolutionaries, given a superiority of ten to one; but had no stomach for a last ditch defence against the entente with the odds reversed. so landsberg and erzberger, the jew and the jesuit, by extraordinary and characteristic exertions, secured signature by a cabinet of nonentities under the burly and worthy trades union boss, bauer. i do not propose to criticise the different provisions of the treaty of versailles or show in detail where they are unjust and why they are unsound. but it may be of use to report the effect that certain of these provisions have had in germany and will have in europe; and to represent how the force on which this treaty depends for its execution--the static force of an enormous entente preponderance in the balance of power, comes into collision with the forces at work in europe--the dynamic forces of the industrial revolution that are at present more active in germany than anywhere else. first, then, as to its injustice and the effect this is having in germany. there are three main foci of public opinion in germany as in every country: right, centre and left: conservative, liberal and radical: upper middle and lower: privilege, property and proletariat; or, however else you may chose to denote the eternal political triangle. the treaty deals each of these two blows; one blow slashes off its right hand and the other slaps it in the face. and it is the insult and not the injury that will most affect the future of europe. let us take the conservative idealists first--the prussian landowner, the berlin official, the bavarian cleric, the officer, and the student. the surrender of west prussia and danzig to poland, and the severance of east prussia for its future inclusion in a baltic federation, mean the loss of its right arm to this ruling class. an idea of how it appears to them can be given, perhaps, by supposing that we had lost the war, that germany had set up ireland and scotland as separate states, had annexed wales to ireland on racial grounds, had included therein shropshire and cheshire with their ancient county families, and had made a corridor across wessex to weymouth, cutting off somerset and devon, while cornwall went to a new state of brittany. i do not mean, of course, that this would be exactly similar, but that the blow to the sensibilities of our patriots would be as severe. should we not have a halo cast about the victorian, the elizabethan, the alfredian and the arthurian legends that would make the lost provinces a holy land to be redeemed at any sacrifice? fortunately germans are not like english in this and the territorial settlement may last our time, though it will lead to unintended results. the gloomy comment to me of a polish conservative on the danzig settlement was that in two generations poland would be jew-german. the even more gloomy view of a russian radical was that, unless bolshevism made good, the whole middle belt of baltic states, with poland, lithuania, and the ukraine, would fall under german bourgeois influence. while, most pessimistic of all, a cosmopolitan jew considered that the result of breaking up austria and barring off germany must be to balkanise central and eastern europe first, and to bolshevise it afterwards. all one can say, is, that where such revolutionary forces are loosened as are now at large in central europe, german nationalism offered us a stronger line to hold than that of lithuanian or ukrainian or even polish independence. and we might have held both lines, but for that slap in the face. the time i spent in germany after the publication of the peace was made painful, not by the danzig or saar questions, but by the menace of penal proceedings against individual germans. if our object was to find something that would impress our hatred and contempt on the germans we succeeded. only the most moderate of those with nationalist opinions could speak of it at all: the majority, thereafter, closed their doors to me as an english-man. if anything could have rehabilitated the kaiser, we should have done it by putting him at the head of men, like submarine commanders, who, in german eyes, had done desperate deeds to break a barbarous blockade. our prosecution in fact outraged both the sense and sensibilities of all german gentlemen as much as the crimes themselves had outraged ours. this may seem fanciful, but it is a fact. if action is taken under these criminal clauses we shall light such a candle to the memories of our dead as will some day set europe on fire again. whether we could ever have proceeded by international action to trace the responsibility for military murders, such as those of miss cavell and captain fryatt, without arousing a national sense of wrong in germany, no longer matters; we cannot do so now. next, as to the effect of the treaty on the liberals, the moderates, the men of property. if the ideals of the conservatives and their interests in land made them nationalist, the ideals of the liberals and their interests in industry tended to make them imperialist. and the treaty cuts off germany from all imperial ideals and cripples it in industry. the growth of german industry in late years, comparable only to industrial growth in north america, was due, as with us, to the combination of coal with iron and of first-rate management with foreign markets. the treaty has deprived germany, in the east, of the silesian coalfields with their dependent industries, and, in the west, of the lorraine and saar ores; which, together, may be compared to the loss of south wales and northumberland. it has also deprived germany, not only of its colonies, but also of its commercial establishments abroad, so closing foreign markets to it except by way of foreign intermediaries, bankers, brokers and shippers. there is nothing left of german foreign commerce and little left of german industry but a mutilated torso; for it has not only lost its right hand in lorraine but also its left in silesia. yet, what german men of business feel it hardest to forgive is not the injury done by the treaty but the insult. that camouflaged receivership, the reparation commission, prejudges germany as a fraudulent bankrupt. if we had in the treaty fixed our claims as creditors and negotiated with germany as to how they could be paid, the german middle class would have taken a pride in showing itself equal to the enormous emergency even as the french did in the far less searching trial of . but this foreign commission has been given such powers as have never yet been proposed for foreign financial control, even of the most wholly bankrupt and barbarous sovereign state. those powers will, of course, never be exercised, and they would defeat the object of the financial provisions of the treaty if they were; but the unnecessary insult they involve has cost us the co-operation of the german middle classes in rebuilding the economic system of europe. and, now for the last mistake. the one desire of the lower classes of germany, whether industrial or agricultural, is for peace and plenty. in condemning them to a continuance of war conditions for nine months after their surrender and revolution we turned them from internationalists, ready to welcome us as representatives of democracy and as crusaders for an international ideal, into either nationalists who looked on us as enemies seeking the destruction of all germans, or into internationalists who looked on us as enemies of the revolution seeking their destruction as we were seeking that of the russians. the result has been that we have lost the co-operation of the german working class in extending our system of parliamentary government to central and eastern europe. and it requires no profound political knowledge of continental conditions to recognise that, without such co-operation, british political ideas and institutions and with them british political influence will not penetrate europe. to this result two actions on our part especially contributed. the first, our opposition to the union of german-austria with germany; the second, our refusal to admit germany to the league of nations. these were the two meaningless, almost motiveless insults that in my opinion have done us more lasting harm in europe than such mistakes in practical policy as the maintenance of the blockade. the repudiation, presumably at french dictation, of both the principle of nationality and that of self-determination was bad enough. it was worse to try to buttress an artificial barrier between two sections of the german race by assigning german populations to neighbouring states--germans of bohemia to tchecho-slovakia--germans of karinthia to yugo-slavia--germans of the tyrol to italy. this diplomatic device failed even in a far more thorough form in poland over a century ago. just as the policy of artificial separation failed in the case of eastern roumelia. but, apart from such moral considerations which must in the long run defeat our policy of segregating austro-germans, that policy might have been seen to be impolitic even in its most material and immediate aspects. the idea of a union of germany and austria presented itself to our minds as an aggrandisement of germany. but if the union of germany and austria would have been a concession to the force of german nationality, yet it would have been no reinforcement of german nationalism. union with german-austria would indeed have been the best guarantee against germany's relapse into prussianism. for the marriage of prussia and austria would not be due to affection nor to ambition nor even to advantage, but to affinity. german-austria might indeed consider herself fortunate in having a relation bound by family ties to take her for better or worse, for richer or poorer, with all her dowry of decrepitude and debt. "tu felix austria nube" would have acquired a new meaning. the phrase, "union of germany with austria" might suggest a great extension eastwards of german imperialism over eastern europe and asia minor. but a glance at the map shows that, whereas previously germany enjoyed by alliance with austria political control eastwards to the carpathians and balkans and economic control to the Ægean and black sea, now germany is barricaded on the east at its national frontier by strong national states; and by union with german-austria would receive an extension of its own national frontier not eastward but southward. the effect of union with austria would be to add to germany not another east prussia or silesia, but another baden or bavaria. what would be the political consequence of this geographical extension southward? we all know the blood differences between southerner and northerner in german politics. the north with a protestant and prussian mentality, a bureaucratic and burgher government, an efficient and energetic morale, a land of big business and big battalions; and the south a catholic and conservative mentality, an easy-going and eclectic morale, a land of fat farms and the fine arts. and war and revolution have only changed without lessening these differences. the new austrian province in the south would have acted as ballast to steady the rollings of the ship of state, top-heavy with its northern profiteers and proletariat. nor would we be right if we assumed from the short-lived räte-republik of munich that vienna would bring an accession of strength to the communists. it is the clerical centrum, parliamentary government and federalism that would have benefited from the union. and, not only as a community, but as individuals, austrians would have a useful political _rôle_ in the new german democracy. some of us may have noticed how the bavarians and rheinländers come to the front in germany as liberal speakers and writers. the austrians would have brought a like leaven into the lump of half-baked german civilisation. the austrian in all the elegancies of life is as superior to the german as he is inferior to him in all life's efficiencies. finally, they would have served as interpreters and intermediaries between germans and other races. it is as difficult to dislike an austrian as to like a prussian. as to the material effect of the union, we find that the total population of the german republic after union would have been no more than was that of the german empire before the war. at the beginning of the war the latter was millions. up to january, , the excess of deaths over births was , , the war casualties . millions. losses in alsace-lorraine, posen and schleswig will reduce this, at least, to millions and probably to below millions. german-austria cannot bring in more than millions and may bring in as little as millions. so that germany would about have regained in the south what it has lost in the east, north and west. now, as to money. the public debt of austria, without hungary, was . milliard kronen. this has still to be apportioned among the new national states; but even on the most favourable basis for german-austria, that of population, it will mean a debt of about milliard kronen with an annual charge of . milliards. this will mean a much heavier charge per head than that in germany. the note circulation was . milliards, of which less than per cent. is secured in gold; and a restoration of the currency will therefore be a costly business. economically, german-austria is a poor country with a few prosperous rural districts and an imperial capital. its agriculture produces between half and two-thirds per acre of the average german production. its live stock is so depleted as to be practically destroyed. its few factories and inferior railways are in worse condition even than the german, which is saying much. it has no coal supplies and no port. as to vienna, it is difficult to say what will happen to it. it may have a future as the land-port of germany on the east, as hamburg is on the west, and as a commercial and financial centre for the new nations; but for the next few years it will be in industrial and financial liquidation, as the imperial banks and businesses reorganise and redistribute themselves among the nations. vienna's machine, motor and railway works and the alpine montant company with large iron ore deposits, are the most important assets that go with german-austria. of course, there are wealthy industrial districts and mineral deposits in german-bohemia and the sudetic country, but the question of their union with germany is a different one. the bohemian republic is making a strong bid to the industrial "interests" of these german districts, which fear the competition of saxony should they enter the german union. it will be interesting to see whether this alliance between plutocracy and diplomacy will avail to keep these german populations permanently in the tchech state. but with the exception of a few dynastic, clerical and capitalistic interests, german-austria is to-day german, not austrian. you would have a better idea of the difference between german-austria and the old austrian empire if you had visited dr. hartmann, the representative of german-austria in the old austrian embassy in berlin. there, in a palladian palace that was once a centre of the peculiar blend of courtly brilliance and corrupt brutality with which the austrian empire kept itself going, you found a modest rather melancholy don and a young secretary; looking like lost souls of a national democracy buried in the sarcophagus of imperialist diplomacy. but after a few minutes' talk you also found that these mild-mannered men represented that force that broke to fragments the iron crown of the house of habsburg, and that will break its way to union over the paper barricade of the hall of mirrors. there is, indeed, nothing to be said for the insistence of the supreme council at paris on delaying the union of austro-germany with germany. the forcible splitting off of east prussia and the subjection of millions of germans to polish, tchecho-slovak and yugo-slav governments, though indefensible in principle, may be defended by practical arguments--for instance that these german ports and lands are geographically essential to the new states, while their german population will be a valuable element in them. the assignment of the tyrol to italy may have a diplomatic defence as a design to falsify future relations between germans and italians, to the advantage of france and england. the acquisition of german lorraine and the saar valley by france may be explained by the policy of making france industrially independent of germany and of preventing any future economic hegemony of germany in europe. an insistence on austro-germany entering the german republic might have been explained as an attempt to save germany from bolshevism and prussianism, and to keep it quiet. but an insistence on austro-germany remaining independent, with its corollary in the intrigues for a separate rhine republic, seem to me as diplomatically ill-considered as they are democratically ill-conceived. we intended a material injury to german nationalists, but we have only inflicted a mortal insult on the german nation. the treaty of versailles has then no elements either of permanence or of peace; because it runs counter both to facts and to forces both in the region of national and in that of international relationships. in the national region it stultifies its own objects most effectively. now nationalist idealism, though existing in germany to-day only among the conservative gentry and a small section of upper-class progressives, is not a negligible quantity. for nationalism has control of the whole coalition government, the whole press, with the exception of a few opposition labour papers, and the whole of the frei-corps and the armed police. owing to our continuation of a state of war after the armistice, the german government has, by a logical process it would take too long to trace, become purely nationalist, instead of mainly socialist and internationalist. more than that, it has come into collision with socialism and the german revolution in its efforts to maintain a _régime_ such as we would recognise. the nationalist forces, that it relies on to maintain parliamentary party government and the supremacy of the propertied class to the exclusion both of council government and of a possible supremacy of the proletariat, were, in the first place, the more liberal bureaucracy and the officers, and in the second place the "frei-corps." but as pointed out already the treaty we imposed on germany forced out of the government all the better elements of the bureaucratic and bourgeois classes. while the "frei-corps" with which the government now holds all the principal towns under military rule have as moral ideals patriotism, privilege and property, and as material inducements high pay and quadruple rations. they embody not only the survivors of the officer caste, but also the young burghers and students, hitherto the young guard of revolution. their formation was due partly to our delusion that a professional army is necessarily democratic because we have one, and that a short service militia is necessarily militarist because germany used that method for its recovery a century ago; and partly to a reaction against the revolution in germany itself. by now they have become the foundation of the present parliamentary _régime_. but the treaty requires their reduction from over , to a quarter of that number, while it utterly discredits the nationalist government by imposing on it humiliations such as no modern nation has ever yet undergone. therefore, while our policy requires the maintenance of the present german parliamentarians and their police as the only possible native agents for the realisation of our economic exploitation of germany, our procedure renders their retention of power materially and morally impossible. as i myself think that the economic policy is as shortsighted as it is wrongheaded, i do not regret that the territorial and military provisions will, unless materially modified, prevent any possibility of realising any part of it. that they will shortly revive racial and religious frontier wars in which we shall probably be involved is a minor matter. better we should lose more men and millions in expeditions to subject frontier provinces to their racial and religious enemies, than try to subjugate all germany to our imperial system as we apparently aspire to do in the economic and financial clauses. in the international region also the treaty has similarly stultified itself. it depends for its execution on the acceptance by germany not only of its provisions but of the principles on which it is based. these principles assume that germany will conform constitutionally to the european system that we are setting up. that is that germany will have a parliamentary government in which the upper and middle classes will preponderate. this germany was quite prepared to do, and regarded its revolution chiefly as the qualification for admission to the allied system on an equal footing. parliamentary government meant to germany last winter not so much liberty as equality and fraternity--equality in the world's markets and fraternity in a league of nations. in other words, peace and food. when germany found that it was to be excluded from the league and outlawed, parliamentary government _à l'anglaise_ was left without a leg to stand on. it lost its right leg because nationalists reverted to militarism and its left leg because internationalists turned towards sovietism. it can fairly be said that the weimar assembly and the national government that signed the treaty of peace represented no german force but merely german weakness. if the treaty is ever to be enforced it can only be so through the reichstag, and what it stands for, and yet the treaty has gone out of its way to weaken the reichstag. in respect of such criticisms i am continually being told by my quondam diplomatic colleagues that they quite agree, but that they could get nothing better; and, given the conditions under which they worked at paris, they think that things might have been much worse. and this seems to be the line also of the american delegation, with the exception of some bolder younger spirits who broke off into open opposition. of course, given these conditions, they could do no better. but that's just what they ought to have provided against. every diplomatist knows, or ought to know, that the result of his negotiations will depend on two things; his success in interpreting to and impressing on his foreign surroundings the forces he represents whether they be ironclads or ideals; and his success in selecting such surroundings as will be most effectively impressed. it is mainly because they have not learnt the second part of this lesson that american diplomatists fail. it was a great discovery when we found after years of negotiation at washington in which either nobody got any forrarder at all or we got altogether the worst of it, that it was only necessary to transfer the venue to the hague or paris or london, and american diplomacy collapsed. i am not going into detail, interesting though it might be. but i used to explain it to myself by analysing american diplomacy as an attitude of business instincts and moral ideals which felt itself absurd in the cold, courtly, and cynical atmosphere of diplomacy; so, instead of imposing its own rules and standards, it either became helpless or tried hurriedly to adapt and adjust itself. we have only to read the memoirs of american ambassadors to see that it takes a benjamin franklin to realise that broadcloth and beaver are more effective at court than gold lace and a feathered hat. for it is this and nothing more that explains how an american failed in the greatest political opportunity offered to mortal man in modern times. and if president wilson, with all the trumps in his hands, could win so few tricks and left the table politically bankrupt, it may seem perhaps absurd to have expected anything from our liberal representatives, tied and bound abroad by the chains of their secret treaties, tethered and burdened at home by their dependence on a conservative clique and on an imperialist newspaper proprietor. yet, those of our rulers who wanted a real peace treaty not a mere truce for dividing the spoils, ought to have known, what the americans did not, that no peace could be got through a diplomatic conference at paris. they should, in the first place, have secured a real representation of the popular forces of the british empire, and in the second place, a forum where those forces could take effect. public opinion had already provided the foundation of such a forum in the demand for a league of nations. the proper procedure, obviously, was to stop hostilities, subject to guarantees, and to set up a league of nations that should make peace. it would have taken little longer to get together than did the diplomatic delegations, and would certainly have taken no longer in reaching a result. both its constitution and its conclusions would probably have been resisted to the verge of rupture by the french and italian governments; but would, with the moral sanction of the league and with the urgent pressure of the military situation, have been easily enforced by the british and americans. mm. clemenceau and tardieu could override messrs. lloyd george and philip kerr easily enough, for, after all, the former do stand for forces, the latter are merely phenomena. they could even override messrs. wilson and lansing, for though these did represent real forces, they could not reproduce them in paris. but mixed french and italian delegations of all parties would have offered points of contact to british and american liberals and even to german and russian socialists. the cleavages between the various national interests would have been bridged and an internationalist cement introduced to counteract the imperialist cleavages. of course, such a body would not have elaborated the details of peace in a plenary debate. it would have proceeded as national constituent assemblies always have done after civil war. it would have debated and approved general principles for its own permanent constitution and the resettlement of europe, and referred them for elaboration to committees controlling the diplomatic experts. it will be objected that such a new and untried institution could never have succeeded where the fine flower of diplomacy failed, or would have been merely a stalking horse for diplomatic intrigue and imperialistic interests. but an institution is strong in proportion to the public powers it has acquired and the public acquiescence in them: not in proportion to its degree of constitutional development, or the perfection of its machinery. a british parish council, with its carefully defined powers, can do little and does nothing. a german revolutionary communal council could do anything and does a good deal. the league of nations would have given the americans a means of expressing their moral and neutral policies and of exercising the pressure that president wilson would not or could not apply. even if the league had not succeeded in imposing respect for his "fourteen points" on the diplomats, and it might have done so, it would at least have regulated procedure. we should not have had vital decisions reached in a few minutes' talk one afternoon, and reversed for some unknown reason the next, without reference to expert conclusions or regard for principle and precedent. also this procedure would have made it possible to deal with our main obstacles to a permanent peace, the secret treaties. we could not escape from these national diplomatic obligations in a diplomatic conference of national delegates. but we could have got a dispensation from them had they been referred to a supreme international and super-diplomatic authority. no doubt this procedure would have affected such questions as the international status of germany and ireland or india. germany would have been admitted to the league in time to take part in arranging its own penalties and we should thereby have got the best guarantee possible for the permanence of the peace in respect to germany. the peace treaty would thus have become a compact instead of a coercion act. as to ireland, it is outside my scope: but as our national authority avowedly finds reconciliation of the two irish factions insoluble, there would seem to be no great harm in trying what an international authority could do. on such lines as this, a league of nations might have been established. as things are the league is, of course, no more than an alliance to enforce the imperialist and nationalist decisions of paris on conquered races, and to combat revolution. it is a combination of a balkan league and a holy alliance. the effect of this prostitution of a public ideal to the profiteering of the paris conclave has made the peace as disastrous morally to europe as was the war materially. the treaties have, for a time, bolshevised eastern europe, balkanised central europe and bottomleyised western europe. but here we are concerned with the effect on germany. and if it be objected that it does not matter what germany thinks of it, i reply that the test of the league's utility will be the confidence that it can inspire in the former enemy states. unless germans, bulgars, and even bolsheviks, see in it something more than a league against themselves, they will not accept its authority and we are back on a basis of a balance of power. our relations with germany in this respect are especially important. we went into the war for international ideals--the defence of france and the abolition of militarism; and, having fought it to a conclusion, we allowed our rulers to substitute for that internationalism the worst form of imperialism. germany went into the war for imperialist ideals, or, at best, for nationalist ideals; but after defeat replaced those ideals by an internationalism involving the acceptance of international control by a league of nations. that internationalist point of view is still held by the german people, though no one would think it from the character of their present government, and the tone of their press. the internationalist point of view of the german people has so far failed to find expression for two reasons: one was the pressure of allied imperialism, the other the partial failure of the german revolution through the innate political incapacity of the people. the armistice, while nominally suspending hostilities, really continued the war on national lines. this treaty, while nominally restoring peace, really continues the war on imperial lines. under these conditions german internationalism could scarcely survive except among the working class, where it was too deeply rooted in the realities of life for any poison gas from paris to kill it. but, except among the workmen and their idealist leaders, the independent socialists, the feeling that the world in general, and germany in particular, was at the mercy of the imperialist and nationalist elements among the victors caused the abandonment of the new protestantism--internationalism, and reversion to the old orthodoxy--nationalism. this recantation was indeed in response to intimations from paris that germany was expected to renounce the devil bolshevism and all its works. that the realisation of the german revolution, whether it is the work of a devil or no, is the one and only protection for germany against bolshevism is, of course, beyond the political penetration of paris. the principal force of public opinion created by the sacrifices of the war expressed itself in the movement for a league of nations to guarantee peace. in germany this movement was especially strong. for germany was left without other protection than that which it could get from such internationalism. any suggestion that could strengthen the league or germany's claim to participate in it was eagerly grasped. a private suggestion that the german constitution should contain a formal recognition of the league and be the first national constitution to do so, was at once adopted by the very cautious and conservative committee. another from a similar source that the german proposals for the league should correct the democratic deficiencies of the paris project was also adopted. the german scheme for a league was, indeed, in every respect better than that of the allies.[i] but the paris project and the provisions of the treaty hopelessly prejudiced the whole idea of the league with german progressives. after their publication the clause recognising the precepts of the league and the provisions of treaties as the supreme law of the land disappeared[j] from art. of the constitution. the league of paris and the treaty of versailles are now to be obeyed as "force majeure"--they are not recognised as german law. and whereas the league could have secured from germany a willing acceptance of obligations that would not only have guaranteed the peace of europe so far as the german race was concerned, but would also have made good to some extent the ruin of the last war, now it is looked upon throughout germany as mere cynical camouflage. the german, whether nationalist or internationalist, listens to american or english preachments about the league with despair and disgust. here is one such opinion from my note book: "i can endure with patience germany being robbed of everything that is easily rob-able and even its being reduced to economic servitude. but what i cannot stand is the confidence trick of wilson's 'points' and the camouflage of the league of nations. bismarck in respect of his emperor and bethmann-hollweg in respect of belgium both committed a breach of trust, but they did it under necessity of war. wilson in his fourteen points and lord robert cecil in the league have done the same in the name of peace." already the internationalism of germany and central europe is under the pressure of paris, taking a form almost impossible to reconcile with the form of this league of nations. until the appearance of the paris project for the league and the peace conditions, germany, whether national or international, was wholeheartedly a supporter of it. but now it is not too much to say that the league is moribund, not only in germany, but in continental europe generally, as an ideal. its place is rapidly being taken by the ideal of an international council on a basis of social and industrial representation, instead of that of a league on a basis of national or territorial representation. just as the leaders of the german workmen and the younger democrats caught at the theories of guild socialism, so now they are turning eagerly to a new idea, also introduced from england, of an international soviet system--an organisation that will be really international because, instead of being based as is the wilsonian league on the nationalism of states, it will be based on the internationalism of trades. that will have as its sanction an international strike instead of a national boycott, and as its authority a central council of delegates instead of a conference of diplomats. this development would have come in due course anyway, but a successful wilsonian league might have delayed it even as the prestige of the house of commons is delaying council government, and as the prestige of the crown delayed parliamentary government itself. to us liberals and labour folk here in england--relieved at getting a league in any form and ready as we english always are to make the best of what we've got, however bad--this international council movement may seem to be a waste of strength. for it would seem likely to require the full force of all progressive continental movements to get the league of nations put on a democratic basis. but the attitude of america makes it doubtful whether the league can be so developed as to do more good than harm. and in any case the movement for an international council will proceed concurrently and will help rather than harm the movement for an international parliament. nor will it encounter the same difficulties. the international organisation of labour provides a better medium in which to establish an international institution than does the present international organisation of governments--the foreign offices and foreign missions. moreover, it should prove as easy to extend a soviet system or council commonwealth into the international relationship as it is difficult and dangerous to extend the principle of state sovereignty and parliamentary supremacy there. the council commonwealth, with its essentially international basis, with its democracy of superimposed councils in constant contact with each other and with the international strike for sanction, is as sound and safe a foundation for such a superstructure as the parliamentary state, with its long-term parliaments, its large constituencies, its all-dominating national sentiment and its national blockade or boycott, is unsound. anyway, the international industrial congress and executive council are bound to come, either in substitution for or supplementary to the league of nations, just as the national council congress and central council are bound to come either in substitution for or supplementary to the parliamentary systems. the only question is whether they will come as supplementary to or in substitution for the league. as to the sop thrown to the workmen of the world in section of the treaty, with its international labour organisation, the german workmen, at least, have no use for it. the revolutionaries with their independent leaders would not probably co-operate at all in the proceedings at washington now beginning. the trades unionists and social-democrats have done so, but under no illusions as to results. a criticism of their organ, _vorwärts_, points out that this section is inspired by as profound a distrust of the proletariat as the rest of the treaty shows of prussia; and that the provisions as to submission of agenda some months before, as to veto by the governments except when there is a two-thirds majority, while the workmen's representation is no more than a fourth, and as to enforcing decisions, deprive the whole section of most of its value. the _vorwärts_, representing the general point of view now dominant in germany and the point of view which but for other influences would have given the most sympathetic supporters to such procedure as that proposed, now damns it as humbug. but whatever the form of the eventual international institution may be, one fact must be faced. we have not yet made peace with germany. if the paris treaties with germany, austria and bulgaria have appeased the angry passions excited by war and finally discredited secret diplomacy, they will have fulfilled a function and cleared the road for peace. the armistice demands were the first stage to peace--these diplomatic damnifications the second. what will be the third and last? footnotes: [h] this telegram had, i believe, a curious backlash, rather illustrative of the times in germany. a countess with political ambitions, who had set up an independent salon, had had that friday her usual "evening," at which i had looked in for a few minutes. on monday she was arrested and banished to a provincial townlet for supplying false information to a foreign correspondent. needless to say, one did not need a countess to tell one that germany would sign in its collapsed condition. [i] in the german project all signatories of the hague convention as well as the new states arisen since the war were admitted. instead of all authority being assigned to an executive council of nine in which the victorious great powers reserved themselves a majority of five, the remaining four being elected by smaller states, the german project had the executive council elected by a congress of states, corresponding to the assembly of delegates in the paris project. it also provided a world parliament of parliamentary delegations. the german project is also more drastic in its provisions for mediation, arbitration, and protection of minorities. it approaches the functions of the league for international social legislation in a much more liberal and constructive spirit. [j] this article of the constitution had been amended by the addition of the words in italics: "the generally accepted principles of international law _the pronouncements of the league of nations and the provisions of treaties_ have binding force as german constitutional law." it has now been amended back by their omission. chapter vii the constitution looking at the new german constitution, without troubling about its inner meanings, and comparing it with the constitution of , we are struck at once by the very considerable advance it represents in democratic development. one need not be a constitutional lawyer to assert with confidence that this is the most democratic constitution possessed by any of the principal european peoples, and to add that it seems to have avoided many of the mistakes that have been marked in other republican constitutions, whether american, french, portuguese or russian. the president's powers, for example, and the relation of the ministry to parliament suggest that dr. preuss, the constitutional jurist responsible for its drafting and elaboration, had studied foreign constitutional history with a prussian thoroughness and a hebrew perspicacity. but a closer study of this constitution will give us a different view of it. and this view will depend on whether we study it in the light of its development from the revolution or of its difference from the _ancien régime_. if we compare it with the principles of the revolution we shall be tempted to condemn and reject it, like the german revolution, as mere camouflaged reaction. it would certainly have been a very different document had it been produced in the first weeks of november. the revolution, in so far as it had a constitutional conception at all, contemplated a "räte system" (that is a council government), which should secure political power to the proletariat under a central committee, on the russian model. if it had admitted parliamentary institutions at all they would only have been subordinate to council control. as to any survival of the old state sovereignties, they were looked on as having disappeared with the state dynasties from which they had originated. thus the erfurt proclamation of the thuringian states on december th, , proposed that the motley medley of those petty principalities be unified into one administrative department of a centralised republic. but this revolutionary impetus did not last. as power relapsed to the upper and middle classes particularism reappeared. as the flood tide of revolution drained back, the old channels and watersheds appeared again. every crisis in modern german history, , and , had been in the main a movement towards national unity that eventually failed in great measure owing to peculiarities of german character and of germany's circumstances. and this last revolution of was to a large extent the same; but whereas the previous movements had been thwarted by conservative ideals and institutions, and by the citadels of the past, this movement was most embarrassed by its association with communist ideals and innovations, like the councils. so much indeed was this national and centralising factor of the revolution obscured by the international and socialising feature of it that, at the election of the constitutional assembly, such questions as to whether the constitution should be that of a centralised republic, like france, or a coalition of republics, like switzerland, never came before the public at all. public opinion was too much occupied with the revolution in its effect on private life and property, on food and peace, to consider it in its character as another chapter in the history of german unity. the result of the election, however, temporarily settled the issue against centralisation by splitting the socialist party, and making the moderate socialist government dependent on the support of clerical and sectional interests. the constructive impetus of the revolution was lost and constitution-making became once more, as on previous occasions, a complicated negotiation with the lesser states. but the revolution had at least succeeded in giving the constitution a good start towards centralisation by having a draft prepared, by a committee under dr. preuss, then secretary of state for the interior in the provisional government. this first draft--a shapeless makeshift affair--nevertheless established certain principles of national unity which eventually survived all attacks on them. and a tactical success was scored at once by publishing this draft simultaneously with the decision of the constituent assembly, on the st of january. but that was as far as the matter could be carried without calling the states into consultation, and a conference of their representatives met in berlin on january th. at this conference, or rather in the special train on the way to it, the particularist opposition declared itself. and this, not only where it might have been expected, in the clerical, liberal and conservative parties, but among socialists themselves. this opposition of southern socialists followed the line of an old factious schism in the social democratic party that had declared itself at the nürnberg conference, and was headed by kurt eisner, the leading revolutionary and real ruler of bavaria. kurt eisner was not only opposed to prussia on political but on personal grounds, having shaken the dust of berlin off his feet some years before. under his leadership the centralised republic of preuss was gradually remodelled into a decentralised federation of republics. and it looked, at one time, as though the failure of the paulskirche assembly was to be repeated, and a movement towards german unity and social liberty was to relapse and recoil into reaction. fortunately there has been to-day no bismarck to profit by the opportunity given by the southern particularists.[k] it is curious to note how the resignation of the constituent states changes in the successive drafts of the constitution. first they appear as "member states" (_glied staaten_), then as "free states," finally as "countries" (_lander_). again, we find the federal body or senate, representing these states, as states, appearing first as a state committee (_staaten auschuss_), then as a state house (_staaten haus_) sharing sovereignty with a _volks haus_ or commons and combining with it to form the reichstag, and finally as a council of the realm (_reichsrat_) with merely a suspensory veto over the reichstag. these changes of nomenclature suggest a reaction into decentralisation followed by a recoil back into centralisation. the successive drafts of this constitution are indeed documents of intense interest to a student of german political development and of revolution in general. they mark stages in a historic movement that is scarcely elsewhere recorded; if only because its course was so rapid that it accomplished in weeks what would normally have taken years, and because post-war conditions cut it off from competent observation. but, by comparing the various drafts of the constitution, we see how a proletarian revolution starting in prussia in favour of a centralised consolidated republic gradually yielded to a reaction favouring southern particularism, which converted the constitution into a decentralised federation of republics. then, with the capture of the saxon and bavarian states, by the revolutionary council movement and their collapse under prussian military occupation, came the final phase in which centralisation recovered most of its lost ground. the question is whether this ground has been recovered for reaction or for revolution. this raises the question, all important for our purpose, as to the position of prussian reaction under the new constitution. prussia as a political power stands to us for prussianism, and prussianism represents the political point of view that we have been fighting in this war. in the past prussia dominated germany through the dynasty and the ruling class. prussia was a force making for reaction, owing to its antiquated suffrage and constitution and to the activities of its upper and middle classes. prussia still dominates the german republic much as england would dominate in a british federation. but it is not the same prussia. if prussia is still the citadel of reaction it is also the centre of revolution. the fight between the two is not yet fought out, but if, as seems probable, neither wins, the result will be that the prussian influence in new germany will be a somewhat colourless compromise, what we should call liberalism. if this is so, and the course of recent events tends to confirm a conjecture made soon after my arrival in germany, then a centralisation that tends to maintain prussian hegemony in germany is not in principle objectionable. it remains to be seen whether the constitution as now recentralised offers opportunities to a recrudescence of prussianism in the bad sense. the position of prussia, having four-sevenths of the population, an even larger proportion of the ruling class and of the military caste, also the capital and the civil service, was the main difficulty of the constitution-makers. the revolutionary solution was at first the partition of prussia, and it seemed feasible enough. prussian unity had centred more than that of any other german state in the crown; and as the prussian revolution had three main distinct regions, not very different from the old racial divisions, a division of the state into three seemed as easy as expedient. dr. preuss and constitutional jurists of all parties stood in favour of such partition. at the same time, if prussia were to be partitioned, obviously a rearrangement of the other states might be attempted, so as to give the new german constitution that uniformity and precision so precious to the german mind. accordingly, all manner of fancy schemes were put forward by which the reich was divided geographically, racially, religiously, economically, and even industrially. but all the time the revolution, that alone could have carried through any such reconstruction, was being thwarted and throttled, so that none of these schemes became practical politics. the revolutionary impetus that the constitution-makers could use for the realisation of their reconstructive ideals proved far too weak. there were, however, plenty of interested efforts to abolish the anomalies and absurdities of the old dynastic frontiers. thus hamburg merchants wished to annex bremen; brunswick revolutionaries wished to annex anhalt; coburg councils declared their independence of gotha councils; waldeck burghers clamoured for release from the tyranny of pyrmont. but when it came to effecting any such change, in no case was there sufficient support. it would indeed have been easier to redivide germany on altogether new lines than to partition up and patch together the old states. dr. preuss was, at a very early stage, obliged to restrict himself to laying down principles for procedure which should make subsequent rearrangements as easy as possible; and he was eventually obliged to content himself with putting, as he himself said, the least possible obstacle in the way of change. the whole policy of partitioning prussia very soon broke down before a prussian, national unity that was the growth of centuries. this national sentiment expressed itself in violent opposition not only from the prussian ruling class, to whom prussian unity was a necessary condition for a monarchical and militarist reaction, but also to the prussian proletariat, who considered it a necessary condition for the success of the revolution. nor, oddly enough, was it favoured even by the southern and catholic interest who in the past had been most jealous of prussia. for they argued that if prussia were reduced to provincial departments, their own state rights would not remain unrestricted. and state right had become all the more precious to the clerical parties since revolution had threatened them both from above and below, from a socialist central government above and from communist council governments below. partition had therefore to be abandoned and the difficulty of prussian preponderance was solved by an arbitrary reduction of prussian representation, as in the constitution of . in the old bundesrat prussia was represented by votes out of (counting alsace-lorraine). art. of the present constitution restricts prussia to two-fifths of the total votes, having raised the proportion from one-third in the previous drafts. that is, prussia used to have rather more than a quarter, and now has rather more than a third of the votes in the federal body. this might look like a reaction into prussianism; but only until the functions of this federal body are examined. sovereignty, under the old constitution, resided in the dynasties, and the old bundesrat was a council of diplomatic delegates, comparable to the supreme council at paris. these delegates, as representatives of the crown, intervened, not only in legislative but even in administrative matters, such as appointments. moreover, in this council, the prussian representatives had a privileged position, as they received their instructions from the prussian government in which the imperial chancellor was premier. in the first drafts of the constitution we find the sovereignty divided between representatives of the state and representatives of the people. thus the staatenhaus and volkshaus combine to make the sovereign reichstag. but in the present constitution, all sovereignty expressly resides in the popular chamber, the reichstag. the reichsrat becomes no more than a sort of imperial conference with defined and carefully delimited constitutional powers; and, in the reichsrat, prussia has no privileged position whatever. the great strength of prussianism was in the prussian constitution and in the crown. but art. now prescribes that every state must have a constitution as a free state of a democratic character. and as to the crown, prussia has not the same relations to the president as it had to the emperor. the kaiser was primarily king of prussia by right divine, the president is primarily executive of germany by popular election.[l] moreover, under the old _régime_, the kaiser's chancellor was also prussian premier. the republic's chancellor has nothing to say to prussia; he and the ministers form a federal cabinet responsible to the reichstag. and, if we carry this comparison into other political regions, we find the same result; that prussianism and junkerism have lost their vantage grounds and have been put under democratic control. in foreign affairs the influence of prussia was, as we have cause to know, especially fatal to germany and to europe. but that is now at an end. the german constitution not only affords the usual guarantees of parliamentary government for a democratic foreign policy, but guards the nation against defects in those guarantees that have been found dangerous even in our own constitution. two innovations have for years been urged by reformers in our own country, the institution of a permanent parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, and the submission of important treaties, as well as of declaration of war, to parliament. had germany had these safeguards at the time of the war there would have been no war. had we had them then we should now have peace. articles and of the german constitution are worthy of our careful consideration. the financial relationship between states and the central government is always a difficult matter to arrange. if the federal government is dependent on subsidies from the states, it can have no strength, nor even any real democratic basis. if the states depend on the central government, they have no vitality and become in time mere administrative departments. under the old constitution there was no clear principle, but the fiscal authority resided nominally in the states, while the reich really by all manner of devices encroached on this autonomy. now there is a clear general principle that the states must content themselves with such sources of revenue as are left to them by the reich. and we certainly cannot criticise a centralisation which is indispensable to germany in the enormous effort it must make to meet the financial obligations imposed on it by the treaty of versailles. moreover, prussia can no longer dominate germany financially and economically as before. prussia's economic preponderance has been greatly reduced by the loss of lorraine, the saar, and silesia. in communications, too, prussia can no longer give the lead and lay down the law to the lesser states; for communications come under federal control. within two years railroads, posts and telegraphs and canals are transferred to the reich. in the region of public welfare we find that the new german constitution is more satisfactory than might have been expected from the conditions of its genesis. it meets adequately two main requisites for progress; the formulation of the general principles inspiring the practical provisions of recent progressive legislation, and the attribution of responsibility for further legislative development of such principles. thus, besides establishment of equality of sexes, we find such principles as that "marriage is established on the equality of the sexes." "families with numerous children are entitled to equitable and equalising treatment." "motherhood is entitled to protection of and provision by the state" (art. ). illegitimate children are to have "similar conditions for their corporal, spiritual and social development" (art. ), "childhood is to be protected against exploitation" (art. ), and so forth. while all these questions are attributed to the reichstag (art. , § ). the same approbation can safely be accorded to the chapter on public work. the economic purpose of society is to "guarantee to all an existence proper to men." "property has its obligations, and its use must also serve the common good." while these _voeux pieux_ are given more definite application in provisions for housing and contributory insurance, and in recognition of "nationalisation" in art. . moreover, these principles are, to some extent, guaranteed by the previously discussed recognition of industrial councils in art. , which provides a measure of "socialisation," and by the specific recognition of socialisation as a principle in art. , § . when we come to the all-important region of education, the conditions of compromise in which the constitution took shape have prevented the establishment of any very clear principle or very cut and dried procedure. this was indeed one of the most contentious chapters of which 'clericalism' contested every inch. the democrats and dr. preuss had originally introduced a uniform and secular system; but they and the social-democrats, in the abstention of the independents, were unable to carry this through against the clerical centrum. the resultant compromise is not unlike that now prevailing in england. it may work but it satisfies nobody. and finally coming to the army the effect of the success secured by the centralising party is even more questionable. the revolution originally contemplated merely a militia on the swiss model, under federal control. the first result of reaction was to substitute a professional and highly paid force, the frei-corps, under prussian command and control. the consequence of this was that the southern states insisted on retaining their separate military systems, and these were duly recognised in the early drafts of the constitution, to the great disgust of nationalists and militarists. but then came the proclamation of räte-republics in saxony and bavaria, and their suppression by prussian frei-corps with some assistance from würtemberg and baden. this re-established, _de facto_, a military predominance of prussia which enabled the prussian jurists to replace military matters under the federal government. art. now gives complete authority to the minister of defence; and the special military autonomies of bavaria and other states, reserved in previous drafts, disappear. but, so long as the frei-corps continue, with their prussian organisation and officers, a federal army is, for the present, at least, nothing else than a prussian army. though noske is the minister of defence, not minister of war, as he is sometimes called, and is a member of a federal cabinet and not, as before, a prussian minister, and though the eden hotel clique has been transferred to the ministry of defence--yet the armed forces of the republic are, for the present, the armed forces of prussia. this is, however, a transition stage. the prussian officer is the creation of conditions that no longer exist to-day, and the frei-corps a creation of conditions that will not exist to-morrow. when germany again gets peace, prussia will lose a predominance that it owes to past conditions, but not to the constitution. it is indeed in its efficiency as a bond between the past and the future that the constitution must be judged; as a bond that will reduce revolution to rapid evolution. dr. preuss, its author, claims no more for it than that it will not act as a bar to any normal and natural growth. but it will have to do more than this. it must serve as a bridge by which germany can safely pass over the immense gulf that separates the germany of yesterday from the germany of to-morrow; the germany of the courts of potsdam and of pumpernickel, from the germany of the executive councils of berlin and brunswick. it is a formidable span for any bridge, and, when we look at this constitution and find one abutment of it in article consecrating an ultra-mediæval particularism, and the other abutment in article "anchoring" the ultra-modern forms of industrial councils, we may wonder whether the intervening structure will ever stand the strain. can the constitutional compromise of dr. preuss ever safely convey seventy million people from government by the divine right of princes to government by industrial representation? even if it does not, and this constitution is swept away by a second flood-tide of revolution, it will have served a purpose. it will have finally exorcised the constitutional incubus of northern prussianism and southern particularism. the vague and dangerous powers of prussian imperial sovereignty and the less dangerous but equally disabling national sovereignties of the principalities have been swept away. art. of the constitution establishes the commonwealth as a republic and assigns its sovereignty to the people.[m] moreover, art. repeals the constitution of , while art. puts the constitution in force on the authority of the national assembly alone, thereby finally ending the claim put forward at first by bavaria that it should be ratified by the landtag. the difference between the constitution of and that of can indeed best be seen at a glance by comparing their preambles. here is that of . "h.m. the king of prussia in the name of the north german confederation, h.m. the king of bavaria, h.m. the king of würtemberg, h.r.h. the grand duke of baden and h.r.h. the grand duke of hesse and by rhine, for those parts of the grand dukedom of hesse south of the rhine, conclude a perpetual confederation." compare that with the preamble of this constitution. "the german people, united in its races, and inspired by the will to restore and reinforce its realm in liberty and equity, to ensure peace, both inward and outward, and to further social progress, has accorded itself this constitution." it only remains therefore, for europe and england to recognise this new departure and to ratify it by admitting germany to the league of nations. and even if this new constitution be held to be no more than new wine in old bottles and new patches on an old garment, that is no reason why germany should not be included in the league as at present conceived and constituted. footnotes: [k] delbrück, the leader of the right, who defended bismarck's constitution in the assembly against the supporters of the present constitution, ignored the fundamental difference caused by the fall of the dynasties. even bismarck could not have succeeded had he not had the king of prussia, the emperor of austria and the princes of germany on which to build his structure. [l] it was at first proposed, when decentralisation was at its strongest, that each state should have its own president, and that the reichs president and prussian president should be kept separate. but there is as yet no prussian president, nor does there seem likely to be one. [m] the sovereignty of the southern states was always a danger to german unity, as in the last crisis when great efforts were made by france to start secession movements in the south and west. the diplomatic right of representation was also an embarrassment in every crisis; as when a bavarian representative suddenly appeared at brest-litovsk in the high tide of reaction, or again at berne in the height of the revolution. appendix the german constitution introductory note before the revolution of november, , the constitution in force was that of april, --the "constitution of the german reich," which had replaced the "constitution of the german bund" of november, . but the following constitution has less in common with these later constitutions, based on alliances between sovereign princes, than with the abortive "constitution of the german reich" of march, , which embodied the nationalist and democratic revolution of . the november revolution brought to power a provisional government--the council of people's commissaries--which in its first proclamation of november, , announced that the future constitution would be framed by a national assembly elected by universal suffrage and proportional representation. under electoral regulations of november, , elections were held on january, . the national assembly met in weimar on february, , and on february voted the provisional constitution; whereupon the council of commissaries resigned their authority to the assembly. this constitution gave the assembly sole power to vote the constitution; but its provisions could only be submitted with consent of a "state committee" of representatives of the "free states." this provisional constitution was supplemented by an "interim act" of march, which maintained in force previous legislation of the reich and decrees of the provisional government. the drafting of the constitution was entrusted to dr. hugo preuss, professor of public law in the commercial university of berlin, secretary of the interior in the provisional government, and minister of the interior in the first coalition government. the democratic party, of which he is a member, having left the coalition on the question of signature of the treaty of versailles, dr. preuss retained responsibility for the passage of the constitution as special commissioner. the first draft of the constitution was published in january and was submitted to the assembly on february. it was introduced by preuss with lengthy expositions in sessions on february and and march, and thereafter submitted to a committee of twenty-eight under the presidency of the deputy conrad haussmann. after being completely recast in committee it was debated in second reading - july; when the status of the free states, the education question, and the recognition of industrial councils were especially contested and eventually compromised. the third reading, - july, ended in its being voted by to , the minority consisting of the conservatives and the independent socialists. constitution of the german realm the german people united in its every branch and inspired by the determination to renew and establish the realm in liberty and justice, to ensure peace at home and abroad, and to further social progress, has given itself this constitution. first part the realm: its organisation and functions section i realm and lands article . the german realm is a republic.[ ] constitutional power proceeds from the people.[ ] article . the territory of the realm consists of the territories of the german lands.[ ] other territories may be incorporated in the realm by an act of the realm, if their populations should so desire in virtue of the right of self-determination. article . the colours of the realm are black-red-gold. the commercial flag is black-white-red with the national colours in the inner upper corner.[ ] article . the generally recognised rules of international law are held to be integral and obligatory parts of the law of the german realm.[ ] article . constitutional power shall be exercised, in matters pertaining to the realm, by the constitutional bodies of the realm on the basis of the constitution of the realm, in matters pertaining to the lands, by the constitutional bodies of the lands on the basis of the constitutions of the lands. article . the realm has exclusive legislative authority in:-- ( ) foreign relations.[ ] ( ) colonial affairs.[ ] ( ) nationality, freedom of domicile, immigration and emigration, extradition. ( ) national defence.[ ] ( ) currency. ( ) tariffs, and the customs and commercial union and freedom of trade. ( ) posts and telegraphs, including telephones.[ ] article . the realm has legislative authority in the following subjects:-- ( ) citizenship. ( ) the criminal code. ( ) judicial procedure, including the execution of justice; further, official co-operation between public authorities. ( ) passports and police supervision of aliens. ( ) poor relief and vagrancy. ( ) the press, the right of association, the right of meeting. ( ) population questions, care of mothers, infants, children, and young persons. ( ) public health, veterinary regulations, and protection of plants against disease and pests. ( ) the right to work, insurance and protection of workers and employees, and employment exchange. ( ) the institution of vocational associations extending over the realm. ( ) the care of discharged soldiers and their dependants. ( ) the right of expropriation. ( ) socialisation of natural resources and of economic enterprises, further the manufacture, production, distribution, and price regulation of economic commodities for general use.[ ] ( ) the commercial code, weights and measures, the issue of paper money, banking, and stock exchange regulations. ( ) dealings in foodstuffs and food luxuries, and also in essential commodities of daily use. ( ) industry and mining. ( ) insurance. ( ) merchant shipping, high-sea and coastwise fishing. ( ) railways, canal traffic, motor traffic by land, sea, and air, and the construction of roads serving general traffic and national defence.[ ] ( ) theatres and cinemas. article .[ ] the realm has further the right of legislating as to taxation and other revenues, in so far as they are wholly or partially appropriated to its purposes. should the realm appropriate taxes or other revenues hitherto assigned to the lands, it must keep in view the proper requirements of the lands. article . the realm has the right to legislate on the following subjects, or, if and when it is necessary to issue uniform regulations:-- ( ) social welfare work. ( ) protection of public order and public safety. article .[ ] the realm can by act, frame general principles regulating:-- ( ) rights and responsibilities of religious communities. ( ) education, including all higher education and scientific libraries. ( ) rights of the officials of all public bodies. ( ) right to the land, land distribution, land settlement and small holdings, the law of entail, housing, and distribution of the population. ( ) burial of the dead. article . the realm can by way of legislation, frame general principles concerning the validity and collection of taxes levied by the lands to protect important interests of society and prevent:-- ( ) prejudice to the revenues or commercial relations of the realm. ( ) levies on public communications or institutions if excessive or such as to interfere with communication. ( ) where, in the course of traffic between the different federal states or provinces, commodities entering a certain state suffer financial disabilities as compared with the same class of commodity manufactured in such state. ( ) in order to exclude export premiums or to safeguard important social interests. article . as long as, and in so far as, the realm makes no use of its rights of legislation, the lands retain the right of legislating. this does not apply to legislation which belongs to the realm exclusively. the government of the realm has the right of veto against any legislation of the lands which affects the provisions of number of article , in so far as the interests of the whole community of the realm are thereby affected. article . law of the realm prevails against law of the lands. should any doubt or difficulty arise as to whether an act of the land legislature is compatible with the law of the realm, the competent authorities of the realm or land may appeal to the decision of a supreme national court of judicature; as may be subsequently determined by an act of the realm. article . acts of the realm are administered by authorities of the lands except in so far as may be otherwise determined by acts of the realm. article . the government of the realm has the right of supervision over those matters in which it has the right of legislation. the government of the realm may lay down general directions where acts of the realm are administered by the authorities of the lands. it may send commissioners to the authorities of the lands, and with their concurrence to subordinate authorities in order to supervise the execution of the acts of the realm. the land governments are bound to remedy, on demand of the government of the realm, any deficiencies which may have appeared in the course of executing the acts of the realm. in cases of dispute, both national government of the realm and governments of the lands may appeal to the decision of a supreme court of judicature, except where an act of the realm declares another court to be competent. article . officials directly charged with administrative affairs of the realm in any land shall, as a rule, be citizens of that land. officials, employees, and workers in the employ of the realm shall, if they so desire, be employed within their home land, in so far as this is possible, and in so far as the requirements of the service or of their training are not prejudiced. article . every land must have a liberal constitution.[ ] the representative body must be elected by universal, equal, direct, and secret suffrage by all nationals of either sex, on the system of proportional representation.[ ] the government of the lands must have the confidence of the representative body.[ ] the principles laid down for the election of the representative body apply also to the elections to local bodies. nevertheless, land legislation may require, as an elector's qualification, domicile within the locality not exceeding one year.[ ] article .[ ] the division of the realm into lands shall have in view the highest economic and cultural progress of the people, while paying all possible regard to the wishes of the population affected. an act of the realm in the form of a constitutional amendment is required for any modification of the frontiers of federal states, or for the creation of new lands within the realm. where the lands directly affected consent, a simple act of the realm shall suffice. a simple act of the realm shall further suffice where one of the lands affected does not consent, but where the alteration of a frontier or the creation of a new land is demanded by the wishes of the population and there is an overwhelming national interest in favour of it. the wishes of the population shall be ascertained by means of a plebiscite. the government of the realm shall order a plebiscite to take place if one-third of the total number of those who have a vote for the reichstag, living within the territory affected, demand it. three-fifths of the votes recorded, and at least a majority of the total number of electors, are necessary to determine any alteration of frontier or the foundation of a new land. even where there is only question of separating part of a prussian county or of a bavarian district, or of the corresponding divisions in any other land, the wishes of the population inhabiting the whole district affected must be ascertained. should there be no regional relationship between the portion to be disconnected and the whole district, a special act of the realm may declare the wishes of the portion which is to be disconnected to be sufficient. when the wishes of the population have been ascertained, the government of the realm shall embody them in an act for decision by the reichstag. should any dispute arise on the occasion of a union or a separation of territory in respect of property claims, the decision shall lie with the supreme national court of judicature of the whole realm on appeal of either party. article . should a constitutional dispute arise within a land, for deciding which there is no competent court, or should a dispute of a public nature arise between lands or between the realm and a land, either of the disputing parties may appeal, unless another court of the realm is competent, to the supreme national court of judicature, which shall decide. execution of the decision of the supreme court of judicature shall lie with the president of the realm. section ii the reichstag article .[ ] the reichstag is composed of the deputies of the german people. article . the deputies are representatives of the whole people. they are subject to their conscience only and are not bound by instructions. article . the deputies shall be elected by universal, equal, direct, and secret suffrage by those of either sex over twenty years of age, on the principles of proportional representation. the day of the election must be a sunday or public holiday. an electoral law of the realm shall lay down further detailed regulations. article . the reichstag shall be elected for four years. new elections must take place at latest within sixty days after the expiration of its term of office. the reichstag must hold its first meeting at latest on the thirtieth day after election. article . the reichstag shall meet on the first wednesday of november in every year at the seat of the government. the president of the reichstag is bound to call it together at an earlier date if the president of the realm, or at least one-third of the deputies, demand it. the reichstag determines the date of the close of its session and the date of its reassembly. article .[ ] the president of the realm has power to dissolve the reichstag, but may only do so once on the same ground. new elections must be held at latest on the sixtieth day after the dissolution. article . the reichstag shall choose its own president, vice-president, and secretaries. it shall regulate its own procedure. article . the business of the house between two sessions or between two election periods shall be conducted by the president of the reichstag and the vice-president holding office during the preceding session. article . disciplinary and police powers within the reichstag building pertain to the president of the reichstag. he also has the administration of the house. he has control of the income and expenditure of the house within the limits laid down by the national budget, and he represents the house in all the legal proceedings and legal business involved in its administration. article . the sittings of the reichstag are public. the public may be excluded on the demand of fifty deputies and by a two-thirds majority vote. article . true reports of the proceedings at the public sittings of the reichstag, of the proceedings at a landtag, of the proceedings at committees of the reichstag or landtag, are privileged matter. article . a court of inquiry into election proceedings shall be formed in connection with the reichstag. such court shall also decide whether any deputy has forfeited his mandate. the court of inquiry into election proceedings shall be formed of members of the reichstag, who shall be elected by the reichstag for the duration of the electoral period, and further of members of the supreme administrative court, who shall be nominated by the president of the realm on the suggestion of the presiding officers of this court. the court of inquiry into election proceedings shall pronounce judgment in public and oral session through three members of the reichstag, and two legal members. apart from inquiries actually conducted before the court of inquiry, proceedings may be taken before an officer of the realm appointed by the president of the realm. further, procedure shall be determined by the court of inquiry. article . a resolution of the reichstag requires a simple majority of votes, except where some other proportion of votes is laid down by the constitution. the standing orders of the reichstag may admit exceptions to this rule in the case of elections carried out by the reichstag. the standing order shall regulate all questions of the validity of resolutions. article . the reichstag and its committees of the reichstag are entitled to demand the presence of the chancellor or of any other minister of the realm. the chancellor, the ministers, and their deputies have access to the sittings of the reichstag and to the sittings of the committees of the reichstag. the lands are entitled to send plenipotentiaries to these sittings who shall submit the views of their government on the question under discussion. the representatives of the lands may demand to be heard during the discussion; the representatives of the government of the realm may do so under suspension if necessary of the orders of the day. such representatives are subject to the rulings of the chair. article .[ ] the reichstag may set up committees of inquiry: it must do so if one-fifth of the members demand it. such committees shall in open session inquire into such evidence as they consider necessary, or the petitioners consider necessary. the public may be excluded by resolution of a two-thirds majority of the committee of inquiry. the standing orders shall regulate the procedure of the committee and determine the number of its members. the courts and the civil service must submit any evidence demanded by these committees; the committees may demand to see their records. the regulations of the criminal code apply to the taking of evidence by the committees or by such authorities as they have instructed; nevertheless, the secrecy of the post office, of the letter, telegraph, and telephone services remains unaffected. article .[ ] the reichstag shall appoint a permanent committee for foreign affairs; which committee may sit during the recess, or after the election period has come to an end, or after the dissolution until the meeting of the new reichstag. the sittings of such committee are not public, unless the committee itself decides on publicity by a two-thirds majority. the reichstag shall further appoint a permanent committee for the protection of the rights of the people's representatives against the government of the realm for those periods during which it is out of session, and for the period following the termination of an election period. such committees have the same rights as the committees of inquiry. article . no member of the reichstag or of a landtag may at any time be made subject to judicial or administrative penalty, or may be made responsible outside the house, on account of his vote or on account of any utterances made in virtue of his office as deputy. article . no member of the reichstag or of a landtag may, without the consent of the house of which he is a member, be arrested or subjected to examination, while the house is in session, on account of any act for which criminal proceedings are threatened unless and except he have been arrested while committing the said act or at latest in the course of the following day. a like consent is necessary for every other restriction of personal liberty calculated to obstruct a deputy in the free exercise of his office. the reichstag or a landtag may require any criminal proceedings, any arrest, or any other restriction placed on the personal liberty of one of its members to be suspended for the duration of the session. article . the members of the reichstag and of the landtags are entitled to refuse their evidence, both as to the identity of persons who have made communications to them in their capacity as deputies, and as to the nature of these communications themselves. with regard to the seizure of documents their position is further identical with that of persons who have the legal right of refusing evidence. a search or seizure of documents may not take place within the precincts of the reichstag or a landtag except by consent of the president concerned. article . officials or members of the armed forces require no leave in order to exercise their functions as members of the reichstag, or of a landtag. should they be candidates for a seat in these bodies such leave as their candidature requires must be granted to them. article . the members of the reichstag are entitled to free passes on all german railways, and also to allowances as provided by act of the realm. section iii the president of the realm and the government of the realm article . the president of the realm shall be elected by the whole german people. every german who has completed his thirty-fifth year is eligible, and an act of the realm shall make further provision. article . the president of the realm shall take the following oath on assuming office---- i swear that i will devote my powers to the good of the german people, that i will promote and protect the people's interests, will maintain the constitution and the laws, will fulfil my duties conscientiously, and will exercise justice towards all. the addition of a religious oath is permissible. article . the president holds office for seven years and is re-eligible. the president of the realm may be deposed from office before the expiry of his term by popular plebiscite on initiative of the reichstag. the resolution of the reichstag must have a two-thirds majority. it precludes the president from any further exercise of office. should the plebiscite reject deposition, such vote counts as a new election and entails the dissolution of the reichstag. the president of the realm may not be criminally prosecuted without consent of the reichstag. article . the president of the realm cannot be concurrently a member of the reichstag. article . the president of the realm represents the realm in international intercourse. he contracts alliances and other treaties with foreign powers in the name of the realm. he accredits and receives ambassadors. declaration of war and conclusion of peace shall be by act of the realm. alliances and treaties with foreign states concerning subjects of national legislation require the consent of the reichstag. article . the president of the realm appoints and dismisses officials and officers of the realm, except as may be otherwise provided. he can exercise his rights of appointment and dismissal through other authorities. article . the supreme command over the whole armed forces of the realm resides in the president of the realm. article .[ ] should any land fail to fulfil the obligations imposed on it by the constitution or laws of the realm, the president of the realm may constrain it thereto by armed force. should public order and safety be seriously disturbed or threatened in the german realm, the president of the realm may take the necessary measures to restore public order and safety; in case of need he may use armed force. for this purpose he may, for the time being, suspend wholly or partly the fundamental civil rights detailed in articles , , , , , , and . the president of the realm is bound without delay to communicate to the reichstag all measures taken by him in virtue of clause or clause of this article. the reichstag may require such measures to be abrogated. a land government may take temporary measures of the nature indicated in clause , should delay be dangerous. the president of the realm or the reichstag may require such measures to be abrogated. an act of the realm shall make further provision. article . the president of the realm exercises the right of pardon. amnesties affecting the whole realm require an act of the realm. article . all orders and decrees of the president of the realm, including those regarding national defence, require for validity the counter-signature of the chancellor or of the competent minister of the realm. responsibility is assumed with this counter-signature. article . should the president of the realm be prevented from acting, he shall be represented in the first place by the chancellor. should it seem probable that he will be so prevented for a lengthy period, an act of the realm shall provide for his representation. the same applies in the case of a premature vacancy in the presidency for the period preceding a new election. article . the government of the realm consists of the chancellor and the ministers of the realm. article . the president of the realm appoints and dismisses the chancellor and, on his recommendation, the ministers of the realm. article . chancellor and ministers of the realm require the confidence of the reichstag for the exercise of office. any one of them must resign should the reichstag withdraw its confidence by express resolution. article .[ ] the chancellor presides over the government of the realm and conducts its business on the basis of standing orders, which shall be drawn up by the government of the realm and approved by the president of the realm. article . the chancellor lays down general policy and is responsible therefor to the reichstag. each minister of the realm carries on his department independently within such lines, and is individually responsible therefor to the reichstag. article . the ministers of the realm shall submit for discussion and resolution to the cabinet all bills; further, all matters which either the constitution or the laws require to be so submitted; also, differences of opinion on topics which touch more than one ministerial department. article . the government of the realm decides by simple majority. where the voting is equal the chair has a casting vote. article . the reichstag may impeach the president of the realm, the chancellor, and the ministers in the state court of judicature, on the ground of conscious violation of the constitution or law of the realm. the resolution calling for impeachment must be signed by at least one hundred members of the reichstag, and requires, in order to be valid, the same majority as in the case of a constitutional amendment. the act instituting the supreme court of the realm shall make further provision. section iv the reichsrat article .[ ] a reichsrat shall be formed in order to represent the german lands in the legislation and administration of the realm. article . each land shall have at least one vote in the reichsrat. in the case of the larger lands there shall be one vote per million inhabitants. any excess over a million not less than the total number of the inhabitants of the smallest state shall be reckoned as a full million. no land may have more than two-fifths of the total number of votes.[ ] german-austria shall, after it has joined the german realm, have the right to participate in the reichsrat with such votes as correspond to its population. until that time the representatives of german-austria shall have an advisory voice.[ ] the number of votes shall be determined afresh by the reichsrat after each general census. article . no land may have more than one vote on committees formed by the reichsrat. article . the lands shall be represented in the reichsrat by members of their governments. but one-half of the prussian votes shall be held by the prussian provincial administrations; and further provision therefor will be made by prussian legislation.[ ] article . the government of the realm is bound to summon the reichsrat should one-third of the members of the reichsrat demand it. article . a member of the government of the realm shall preside over the meetings of the reichsrat. the members of the government of the realm may take part in the proceedings of the reichsrat and of its committees; they are bound to do so if summoned. they are entitled to be heard at their request at any time of the proceedings. article . the government of the realm, and also each member of the reichsrat may propose resolutions there. the reichsrat shall regulate its procedure by standing orders. the plenary sessions of the reichsrat are public. publicity may be suspended by standing order in particular discussions. the voting shall be decided by simple majority. article . the reichsrat shall be kept informed of the course of current business by the ministers. the competent committees of the reichsrat shall be consulted by the ministers in matters of importance. section v legislation of the realm article . bills shall be introduced by the government, or from the body of the house. acts of the realm shall be passed by the reichstag. article . bills proposed by the government require the consent of the reichsrat. should the government and the reichsrat fail to come to an agreement, the government may nevertheless introduce its bill, but must append the dissenting opinion of the reichsrat. should the reichsrat pass a bill from which the government dissents, the government must introduce such bill in the reichstag together with an exposition of its own views. article . the president of the realm shall have laws, constitutionally passed, properly engrossed, and shall proclaim them, within a month, in the gazette of the realm. article . acts of the realm, unless otherwise provided, come into force on the fourteenth day after the date of publication of the gazette in the capital of the realm.[ ] article . proclamation of an act of the realm shall be deferred for two months on request of one-third of the reichstag. laws which the reichstag and the reichsrat declare to be urgent may be proclaimed by the president of the realm notwithstanding this request. article . an act passed by the reichstag must, before being proclaimed, be submitted to a plebiscite, should the president of the realm so decide within a month. an act whereof the proclamation has been deferred on request of one-third of the members of the reichstag must be submitted to plebiscite should one-twentieth of the voters demand it. a plebiscite must further be taken if one-tenth of the voters demand the introduction of a bill; such a popular request must be based on a bill prepared in due form. the government of the realm must inform the reichstag of such request together with an explanation of its own views. no plebiscite shall be held should the reichstag accept the bill demanded without amendment. the president of the realm is alone entitled to institute a plebiscite concerning the budget, taxation, or payment of officials. an act of the realm shall make further provisions as to such plebiscite and initiative. article . the reichsrat can veto acts passed by the reichstag. such veto must be communicated to the reichstag by the government within two weeks after its passage, and within two further weeks the reasons therefor must also be submitted. in case of such veto the act affected shall be submitted to the reichstag for reconsideration. should the reichstag and reichsrat fail to reach agreement by this means, the president of the realm may, within three months, refer the issue to a plebiscite. should the president fail to exercise this right, the act shall lapse. should the reichstag, by a two-thirds majority, decide against the veto of the reichsrat, the president must, within three months, either proclaim the act as passed by the reichstag, or order a plebiscite. article . no vote of the reichstag may be abrogated by plebiscite unless a majority of the voters record their votes. article . the constitution may be legislatively amended. nevertheless constitutional amendments by the reichstag are only valid if two-thirds of the members are present, and at least two-thirds of those present are in favour. further, constitutional amendments by the reichsrat require a majority of two-thirds of the recorded votes. should a plebiscite be held by popular initiation on a constitutional amendment, a majority of the electorate must be in favour. should the reichstag vote a constitutional amendment over the veto of the reichsrat the president shall not proclaim such act should the reichsrat, within two weeks, demand a plebiscite.[ ] article . the government of the realm shall, unless otherwise enacted, issue general administrative regulations for the execution of acts of the realm. the assent of the reichsrat is requisite where the execution of a national law rests with the government of a land. section vi administration of the realm article . the conduct of foreign affairs pertains exclusively to the realm. the lands may make treaties with foreign states on matters which fall within their own legislative competence; such treaties require the consent of the realm. agreements with foreign states concerning alteration of the national frontiers shall be concluded by the realm after the land affected has given its consent. frontier alterations can be effected by act of the realm only, except in mere rectifications of frontiers in uninhabited districts. the realm shall take the necessary measures and make the necessary arrangements, in agreement with the lands affected, to safeguard such interests of those lands as may be involved in their peculiar economic connections with or in their geographical contiguity to foreign states. article . national defence is an affair of the realm. an act of the realm shall uniformly regulate the military constitution of the german people, with due regard for local conditions. article . colonial affairs pertain exclusively to the realm. article . all german merchant vessels constitute a united mercantile marine. article . germany constitutes a customs and commercial union enclosed in a common customs frontier. the customs frontier coincides with the foreign frontier. towards the sea the continental coast line with the islands belonging to the realm forms the customs frontier. deviations may be admitted where the customs frontier reaches the sea or other waters. the territory of foreign states, wholly or partly, may be included within the customs union by treaty or other agreement. parts of the union may be excluded under special necessity. in the case of free harbours such exclusion can be terminated only by constitutional amendment. territories excluded from the union may be joined to a foreign union by treaty or by agreement. all products of nature, industry and art in free circulation within the realm may be exported, imported, or transited across the frontiers of the lands or local communities. exceptions to this may be made by act of the realm. article . the authorities of the realm shall administer all tariffs and all indirect taxes.[ ] where the authorities of the realm administer national taxation, provision shall be made preserving to the lands their peculiar interests in the sphere of agriculture, commerce, manufacture, and industry. article . the realm shall, by legislation, regulate:-- ( ) financial administration within the lands in so far as required in the interests of the uniform execution of the national fiscal laws; ( ) the organisation and functions of the authorities entrusted with the execution of the national fiscal laws; ( ) accountancy between the realm and the lands; ( ) re-imbursement of the costs of fiscal administration. article . all income and expenditure of the realm must be estimated yearly and incorporated in the budget. the budget shall be passed as an act before the opening of the financial year. expenditure shall normally be voted for a year; in special cases it may also be voted for a longer period. in general, no clause in the budget is admissible which extends beyond the financial year, or which does not refer to income or expenditure of the realm or to financial administration. the reichstag may not increase items of expenditure proposed in the budget or insert new items of expenditure without the consent of the reichsrat. failing consent of the reichsrat the provisions of article apply. article . the minister of finance shall, with a view to discharging the responsibility of the government, submit to the reichstag and to the reichsrat an account of all appropriations made out of the national revenues in the year following that in which the appropriations have been made. an act of the realm shall provide further for the auditing of such accounts. article . money may be raised by loan only for extraordinary expenditure and, as a rule, only on account of expenditure for remunerative purposes. money may only be raised by loan or other liability assumed on behalf of the realm with the sanction of an act of the realm. article . posts, telegraphs, and telephones are exclusively the affair of the realm. stamps are uniform throughout the realm. the government shall, with the consent of the reichsrat, establish regulations and rates for the use of communications. with the consent of the reichsrat it may delegate this power to the minister of posts. the government shall, with the consent of the reichsrat, set up an advisory committee for posts, telegraphs, telephones, and their rates. the realm alone has power to contract with foreign states concerning communications.[ ] article . the realm shall acquire as its property all railways serving public communication and administer them according to a uniform system. the rights of the lands to buy private railways shall be transferred to the realm on its demand.[ ] article . the realm, in acquiring the railways, shall acquire all rights of expropriation and all sovereign prerogatives in connection with the railway system. in case of dispute the supreme court of judicature shall decide the extent of such rights. article . the government shall, with the consent of the reichsrat, issue all regulations concerning construction, management, and traffic of the railways. with the consent of the reichsrat it may delegate these powers to the competent minister. article . the national railways shall be administered as an independent economic concern though their budget and their accounts shall be incorporated in the national budget and accounts; they shall be responsible for their own expenditure, including interests on, and sinking-fund for, their own debt, and they shall accumulate their own reserve-fund. a special law shall regulate the extent of the sinking-fund and of the reserve-fund, as well as the purposes to which the reserve-fund may be put. article . the government shall, with the consent of the reichsrat, set up advisory committees for railway communication and rates for the national railways. article . when the realm has taken over the railways serving public communication within a particular district, new railways serving public communication may not be built within such district except by the realm or with the consent of the realm. should the building of new lines, or the alteration of existing lines, touch on the province of the police authorities of a land, the railway administrative authorities must consult the local authorities before deciding. where the realm has not yet taken over the administration of the railways, it may, by act of the realm, build at its own cost, or commission others to build, with the right of expropriation, such railways as may be essential to public communication or national defence notwithstanding that those lands, through whose territories such railways run, object; nevertheless, the sovereign prerogatives of the lands shall not hereby be affected. every railway must permit another railway to effect a junction with it at the cost of the latter. article . railways serving purposes of public communication which are not administered by the realm are subject to the supervision of the realm. railways subject to the supervision of the realm shall be constructed and equipped on the same principles as those laid down by the realm. they must be maintained in good working order and must be extended to meet traffic requirements. passenger and goods traffic must be served according to their requirements. in regulating rates, the aim must be to maintain uniform and low rates. article . all railways, including those not serving purposes of public communication, must accede to requirements of the realm made in the interests of national defence. article . the realm shall acquire as its property and administer the waterways serving purposes of public communication. when the realm has taken over the waterways, new waterways serving the purposes of public communication shall not be constructed or extended except by the realm or with its consent. in administering, extending, or constructing waterways, the realm shall co-operate with the lands to safeguard the requirements and development of agriculture and of irrigation. every waterways administration must permit another inland waterways system to effect a junction with it at the cost of the latter. the same shall apply to the connections between waterways and railways. in taking over the waterways the realm acquires the right to expropriate, to fix rates, and to administer the river police system. the undertakings of the river development companies in regard to the natural waterways of the rhine, weser, and elbe shall be taken over by the realm. article . the government shall, with the consent of the reichsrat set up advisory committees to co-operate in the administration of waterways. article . no dues may be levied over natural waterways except such as are applied to construction, plant, or other works facilitating communication. they must not exceed, in the case of state or municipal construction, the costs incurred by building and upkeep. costs incurred by the building and upkeep of works which do not exclusively facilitate communication but are also designed for other purposes, may only be defrayed out of dues levied on shipping pro rata. interest and sinking-fund for the capital involved are reckoned as part of the cost of construction. this shall apply to dues levied on artificial waterways and on constructions in connection with them or in harbours. in the administration of inland canals shipping dues may be levied on a basis of the total combined costs of a canal, a river, or of a whole waterways system. this shall also apply to floating of constructions on the navigable waterways. the realm is alone entitled to levy heavier dues on foreign ships and their freights than are levied on german ships and their freights. the realm is entitled, by legislation, to obtain contributions from users of the waterways by other methods, in order to serve the upkeep and extension of the german waterways system. article . an act of the realm may levy part of the cost of upkeep and construction of inland waterways on any person benefiting, otherwise than by navigation, from the construction of dams in cases where more than one federal state has participated in the costs of construction or where such costs have been borne by the realm. article . the realm shall acquire and administer all marine signals, in particular beacons, light-ships, buoys, and land beacons. when the realm has taken these over, new marine signals shall not be constructed or extended except by the realm or with its consent. section vii justice article . judges are independent and subject to the law only. article . the normal judicature shall be exercised by the court of the realm and the courts of the lands. article . judges of the normal judicature shall be appointed for life. they may not be deposed from their office, either permanently or temporarily, nor may they be transferred to another bench, nor may they be pensioned off against their will, except in consequence of a judicial decision, and then only for the reasons, and in the form, laid down by law. legislation may fix a retiring age, on reaching which judges must accept a pension. this clause shall not affect suspension from office carried out in virtue of a legal enactment. in the case of a redistribution of courts, or of circuits, the judicial administrations of the lands may compel judges to accept transference to another bench, or pensions, but only with payment of full salary. this does not apply to commercial judges, assessors, or jurors. article . extraordinary courts are forbidden. every person has the right to demand that he be produced before the competent court. legal enactments concerning military courts and courts-martial are not hereby affected. military courts of honour are abolished. article . the military judicature shall be abolished except in time of war and on board men of war. an act of the realm shall make further provision. article . administrative courts both in the realm and lands shall be set up by legislation for the protection of the individual against decrees and ordinances of the administrative authorities. article . an act of the realm shall set up a supreme court for the german realm. german constitution second chapter fundamental rights and duties of citizens[ ] section i the individual article .[ ] all germans are equal before the law. men and women have, as citizens, fundamentally the same civil rights and duties. public privileges or disadvantages arising out of birth or rank shall be abolished. titles of nobility count only as part of a name; they may no longer be conferred. only such titles may be conferred as indicate an office or a profession; academic rank is not hereby affected. the state may confer no orders or insignia. no german may accept titles or orders from a foreign state.[ ] article . nationality of the realm and of the lands shall be acquired and lost as may be regulated by act of the realm. every national of a land is at the same time a national of the realm. every german has, in every land, the same rights and duties as the nationals of that land. article . all germans have the right of free movement throughout the realm. every german has the right of staying and of settling in any part of the realm he please; he has the right of acquiring property there and of earning his livelihood. this may only be restricted by act of the realm. article . every german may emigrate to a foreign country. emigration may only be restricted by act of the realm. all nationals have the right to the protection of the realm both within and without the realm, as against a foreign country. no german may be handed over to a foreign government for prosecution or punishment.[ ] article . the foreign speaking parts of the realm shall not be obstructed, either legislatively or administratively, in the free development of their ethnological characteristics, especially in the use of their mother tongue in educational establishments, in internal administration and in the administration of justice. article . liberty of the person is inviolable. restrictions on, or deprivation of, personal liberty may not be imposed by the public authorities except in virtue of a law. persons who have been deprived of their liberty must be informed on the following day at latest by what authority and on what grounds this has been ordered; they must have immediate opportunity of lodging objections against such deprivation of liberty. article . every german is master in his own dwelling, which is inviolable. exceptions are only admissible when the law so provides. article . acts are punishable only if they have been designated by law as punishable before they were committed. article . the secrecy of the post, telegraph, and telephone service is inviolable. exceptions are only admissible under act of the realm. article . every german may express his opinion in speech, writing, print, pictorially, or by any other means, within the limits imposed by the law. he may not be obstructed in this right by any contract relating to his work or his employment; no disadvantage may be imposed on him by any person, should he make use of his right. there is no censorship; nevertheless, restrictions may be laid down by law with regard to cinemas. moreover, legislative action is admissible for the suppression of obscene or indecent literature, as well as for the protection of young persons at public performances or exhibitions. section ii the community article . marriage, as being the basis of family life and of the maintenance and growth of the nation, shall be under the special protection of the constitution. it rests on the equality of the two sexes. the state and the local authorities shall undertake to perfect, purify and promote family life. numerous families shall be protected proportionately. motherhood can claim protection and provision by the state. article . the education of their offspring in physical, spiritual, and social efficiency is the supreme duty and natural right of the parents; the social state supervises such activities. article . legislation shall provide for illegitimate children the same opportunities for physical, spiritual, and social development as are provided for legitimate children. article . young persons shall be protected against exploitation and against moral, spiritual, and physical neglect. the necessary arrangements shall be instituted by the state and municipalities. protective provisions of a compulsory character can only be imposed by law. article . all germans are entitled to meet together, peaceably and unarmed, without previous notice or special permission. an act of the realm may require notification of open-air meetings, and, where there is direct danger to public security, may forbid them. article . all germans are entitled to form associations or unions for purposes which are not in contravention of the penal law. this right may not be restricted by preventive measures. the same holds good for religious unions and associations.[ ] every association may acquire corporate rights in accordance with the provisions of the civil code. corporate rights may not be refused to any association on the ground that its aims are of a political, social, political, or religious nature. article . the liberty and secrecy of the ballot are guaranteed. an electoral law shall make further provision. article . every german may address a written petition or complaint to the competent authority or the people's representatives. this right may be exercised both by the individual or by several persons in common. article . local authorities and associations of local authorities have the right to administer their own affairs within the limits laid down by the law. article . all citizens without exception are eligible for public office as provided by the law, and in proportion to their suitability and services. all exceptional measures against women officials are abolished. an act of the realm shall regulate the civil service. article . officials shall be appointed for life, except as may be otherwise provided by law. pensions and the pensions of dependants shall be regulated by law. rights duly acquired by officials are inviolable. officials may have legal remedy for recovering financial claims. officials shall not be dismissed, nor provisionally or permanently pensioned, nor transferred to another office with less salary, except under provisions and procedure established by law. every official penalty must be subject to appeal and revision. unfavourable entries may not be made in the personal record of any official unless he has had opportunity to reply to them. officials have the right to examine their record. the inviolability of duly acquired rights and the right to have recourse to legal process for the recovery of financial claims are especially guaranteed to professional soldiers. in all other respects their position shall be regulated by an award of the realm. article . officials are servants of the community, not of a party. freedom of political opinion and freedom of meeting shall be secured to all officials. legislation of the realm shall provide officials with special civil service representation. article . should an official, in exercising his public authority, be guilty of a breach of his official duty towards a third party, responsibility therefor shall fundamentally attach to the state of the body employing such official. they may reserve the right of retributory action against the official. recourse to an ordinary court of law must not be excluded. the competent legislature shall provide for that. article . every german is bound to undertake honorary duties in accordance with the law. article . every german is bound to give personal service on behalf of the state or the local authority in accordance with the law. military service shall be as provided in the law of national defence of the realm. the same law shall determine how far any fundamental citizen's rights shall be restricted for those on military service in the interests of their duties and of discipline. article . all citizens without exception shall contribute proportionately to their means to all public burdens in accordance with the law. section iii religion and religious bodies article . all residents in the realm enjoy entire freedom of faith and of conscience. the undisturbed practice of religion is guaranteed by the constitution and under the protection of the state. general legislation shall not be affected thereby. article . the free exercise of religious practices shall neither condition nor limit the civil and constitutional rights and duties of citizens. enjoyment of civil and constitutional rights and entry into public office are independent of religious faith. no person is bound to publish his religious convictions. the public authorities may not inquire into any person's membership of a religious body except where rights and duties or a legally instituted statistical census are involved. no person may be forced to take part in any religious act or ceremony or to be present at any religious service or to adopt any religious form of oath. article .[ ] there is no state church. freedom of association in religious bodies is guaranteed. no limits shall be imposed on the formation of religious associations within the realm. every religious association shall order and administer its own affairs independently, subject to general legislative limitations. such associations shall appoint to their offices without co-operation of the state or the local authorities. religious associations acquire a juridic personality according to the general regulations in the civil code. religious associations retain the status of public corporations if they have previously enjoyed it. other religious associations may obtain it, on demand, should their constitution and their membership guarantee their permanent character. should several such public corporate bodies join to form one federation, such federation is itself a public corporate body. religious associations which are public corporate bodies may tax their members on the basis of the rate assessments and subject to land legislation. associations whose aim is to promote the cult of a common view of life shall be on a par with religious associations. the land legislatures shall be responsible for any further regulation of the application of these principles. article . the land legislatures shall discharge any liabilities due to religious bodies in virtue of a law, contract, or deed. the realm shall lay down general principles on this matter. the property of religious bodies and religious associations shall be guaranteed, as also their rights in respect of their institutions, foundations, and other funds devoted to worship, education, and social welfare.[ ] article . sundays and feast days recognised by the state are maintained as holidays and days of spiritual refreshment. article . men on military service must be granted sufficient free time to fulfil their religious duties. article . in so far as a need of religious services and of religious ministration makes itself felt in the army, in hospitals, prisons, or other public institutions, admission shall be accorded to religious associations, but in this there shall be no compulsion. section iv schools and education article . art, knowledge, and their instruction are free. the state guarantees to protect them and co-operates to promote them. article . the education of youth is provided for in public institutions established by the realm, the lands, and local authorities in conjunction. the training of teachers shall be uniformly regulated for the whole realm on the general lines laid down for higher education. teachers in public schools have the rights and duties of state officials. article . all education is under state supervision, in which the state may associate the local authorities. such supervision is exercised by senior officials with special training. article . education is universally compulsory. it is effected in elementary schools, with at least eight years' attendance, and in continuation schools, up to the completed eighteenth year. education and educational apparatus in elementary and continuation schools are free of charge. article .[ ] public education shall be organically developed. the foundation school, which shall be common to all, shall lead on to the secondary and higher school system. this organisation shall keep in view the variation of vocations; and admission to schools shall have in view the capacities and inclinations of the child, and not the financial or social position of its parents or their religious beliefs. nevertheless, on demand of the parents or guardians, elementary schools for their particular religious faith or their particular views shall be set up within a municipality, always provided that the regular school programme in the sense of clause be not hereby prejudiced. the wishes of parents and guardians shall be considered as far as possible. the land legislatures shall provide further, subject to the general principles of an act of the realm. realm, lands, and local authorities shall provide funds to enable poorer members of the community to attend the secondary and higher schools; in particular, they shall provide maintenance grants for the parents of children who are deemed suitable to receive further education in the secondary and higher schools for the period of such education. article . private schools, in place of public schools, require the consent of the state and must conform to land law. the consent of the state must be given if such private schools are not inferior to the public schools in respect of their educational aims and arrangements, and in respect of the professional standard of their teaching staffs, and if no distinctions are made between scholar and scholar on account of the financial position of their parents. consent shall be refused if the financial and legal position of the teaching staff be not sufficiently secured. private elementary schools may only be set up if a minority of parents or guardians, claiming consideration under clause of article , have no public elementary school for their faith or views, or if the educational administrative authorities recognise that special educational interests are involved. private preparatory schools are abolished. the legal status of private schools which do not take the place of public schools is unchanged. article . all schools shall aim at inculcating moral character, a civic conscience, personal and professional efficiency in the spirit of the german national character and of international conciliation. the teacher in public schools shall avoid offence to those of contrary opinion. education in citizenship and technical instruction are part of the curricula. every scholar shall, on leaving school, receive a copy of the constitution. realm, lands, and local authorities shall promote popular and university education. article . religious instruction is an ordinary part of the curriculum except in the non-religious (secular) schools. it shall be regulated by the legislation on education. religious instruction shall be given in harmony with the principles of the religious association concerned, without prejudice to the control of the state. the giving of religious instruction and the instituting of church ceremonies shall be dependent on consent of the teacher; the acceptance of religious instruction and participation in church ceremonies and acts shall be dependent on consent of those persons responsible for a child's religious education. the theological faculties in the universities shall be maintained. article . monuments of artistic, historic, natural, or picturesque interest shall be under the protection and care of the state. the realm is responsible for preventing the export of german artistic treasures to foreign countries. section v--the economic system.[ ] article . the social economic system must conform to the principles of equity with the special object of guaranteeing an honourable livelihood to all. within these limits economic freedom shall be secured to each individual. legal compulsion is only admissible to maintain rights which have been threatened or to secure an overwhelming public interest. freedom of trade and of manufacture shall be guaranteed by acts of the realm. article . in commerce freedom of contract shall prevail subject to the law. usury is forbidden. contracts contrary to public morality are null and void. article . property is guaranteed by the constitution. its rights and responsibilities and restrictions are to be laid down by law. expropriation can only be undertaken in the common interest and in virtue of a law. adequate compensation shall be paid, unless otherwise provided by act of the realm. any dispute as to the amount of compensation shall be referred to the ordinary courts. property of the lands, the local authorities, or public associations can only be expropriated by the realm against compensation. property imposes obligations. its use by the owner must at the same time serve the common good. article . the right of inheritance shall be guaranteed in accordance with the civil code. the laws shall determine the proportion of inherited property accruing to the state. article . distribution and cultivation of the soil shall be supervised by the state so as to ensure against abuses and to endeavour to secure healthy housing for every german, and suitable homes for each german family, especially those with many children, in which they can live and work. in drawing up a housing code special consideration shall be paid to the claims of those who have fought in the war. landed estate may be expropriated if it is required for housing, or for a settlement or reclamation policy, or in the interests of agriculture. entails shall be abolished. the owner of the soil is bound to cultivate and make use of his land, in the common interest. increment value due to no expenditure of work or of capital shall be utilised for the common good. all riches of the soil and all natural resources of economic use shall be under the supervision of the state. private royalties shall, by law, be transferred to the state. article . an act of the realm may without prejudice to the payment of compensation, and subject to the regulations concerning expropriation, transfer to public ownership private businesses suitable for socialisation. it may name itself, the lands, or local authority as partners in the administration of such business undertakings or associations, or in any other way assure itself a predominant influence therein. the realm may further legislate, in case of urgent necessity and in the interest of the national economy, to oblige business undertakings or associations to combine, on the basis of self administration, with a view to securing the co-operation of all the productive forces of the nation, to associating employers and employed in the administration, and to regulating production, manufacture, distribution, employment, prices, as also import and export of goods on principles of public economy. distributive productive co-operative societies and their federations may, on their own demand, and with due regard to their constitution and character, be incorporated in the public economic system. article . the labour forces of the nation are under the special protection of the realm. the realm shall draw up a uniform labour code. article . intellectual work, the rights of discoverers, inventors, and artists, shall be under the care and protection of the realm. international agreements shall secure validity and protection in foreign countries for german intellectual, artistic, and technical creations. article . freedom of association with the object of guaranteeing and improving conditions of work and of employment shall be secured to all individuals and all professions. all compacts or measures which seek to limit or obstruct this freedom are illegal. article . any person occupying the position of employee or worker is entitled to have such free time as is necessary to avail himself of his rights as citizen, and, in so far as serious injury is not thereby done to his employment, such free time as is necessary to discharge honorary public offices conferred on him. his claims to compensation shall be determined by legislation. article . the realm, with the controlling co-operation of insured persons, shall create a comprehensive system of insurance for the maintenance of health and efficiency, for the protection of motherhood, and for provision against old age, infirmity, and change of circumstances. article . the realm shall support the principle of international regulation of the legal rights of workers, with the object of securing a uniform minimum of social rights to the working classes of mankind. article . every german is morally bound, without prejudice to his personal liberty, to make such use of his intellectual and physical capacities as shall be required by the common good. every german shall be given the possibility of earning his living by economic labour. in so far as suitable employment cannot be found for him, provision shall be made for his necessary maintenance. acts of the realm shall make further provision. article . legislative and administrative measures shall be taken to encourage the independent middle class in agriculture, industry, and commerce and protect it against exploitation and extortion. article . workers and employees are called on to co-operate with the employers on a basis of equality, in regulating wage and work conditions and in furthering the general economic development of the forces of production. the organisations of either side and their agreements shall be recognised. workers and employees shall, for the prosecution of their social and economic interests, receive legal representation in works councils, and also in district workers' councils organised by economic spheres, and in a central workers' council. district workers' councils and the central workers' council shall be combined with the employers' representatives and local representatives in district economic councils and in a central economic council, for the execution of their economic functions and for joint enforcement of the socialisation laws. district economic councils and the central economic council shall be so constituted as to include representatives of all important professional groups in proportion to their economic and social importance. bills on social and economic questions of fundamental importance must be submitted by the government of the realm to the central economic council for consideration before being introduced. the central economic council is entitled itself to initiate such bills, and if the government of the realm objects, it must, nevertheless, submit such draft to the reichstag with an explanation of its views. the central economic council may appoint one of its members to support the bill in the reichstag. functions of control and of administration may be transferred to workers' and economic councils within the spheres assigned to each. the organisation and objects of the workers' and economic councils, and their relations to other social autonomous bodies, are exclusively in the jurisdiction of the realm.[ ] temporary clauses and final clauses. article . until the supreme administrative court has been constituted, the supreme court shall appoint to the court of electoral revision. article . the provisions of clauses to of article shall only come into force two years after proclamation of the constitution. article . until the act of the realm referred to in article is promulgated, but at most for one year, the prussian votes in the reichsrat may be exercised by members of the government. article . the government of the realm shall determine at what date the regulation laid down in clause of article shall come into force. collection and administration of customs and excise may, on their demand, be left to the lands for a reasonable transition period. article . the postal and telegraph departments of bavaria and würtemberg shall be transferred to the realm at latest on april st, . in so far as agreement concerning the terms of the transfer has not been reached by october st, , the supreme court of judicature shall decide. existing rights and responsibilities of bavaria and würtemberg shall remain in force until the transfer. nevertheless, postal and telegraphic communication with foreign countries shall be exclusively regulated by the realm. article . state railways, waterways, and marine lights shall be transferred to the realm at latest on april st, . in so far as agreement concerning the terms of transfer has not been reached by october st, , the supreme court of judicature shall decide. article . until the law constituting a supreme court of judicature comes into force its functions shall be carried out by a senate of seven members, of whom four shall be chosen from among their own members by the reichstag and three by the supreme court. it shall regulate its own procedure. article . until promulgation of the act of the realm referred to in article , existing grants of the state to the religious associations in virtue of laws, contracts, or deeds shall continue. article . until the act of the realm above referred to in clause of article is promulgated, previous legislation shall remain in force. the act shall pay special regard to those districts where a school which makes no religious distinction is established by law. article . the provisions of article do not affect orders and insignia bestowed for service during the years - . article . all public officials and those on military service must take the oath to this constitution. the president of the realm shall make further provision. article . where the existing law prescribes the formula of oath in a religious form, an individual may also be legally sworn so as to omit the religious form by saying the words: i swear. in all other respects the legal oath remains unaffected. article . the constitution of the german realm, dated april th, , and the act for the provisional government, dated february th, , are repealed. the remaining laws and ordinances of the realm remain in force, in so far as consonant with this constitution. the conditions of the peace treaty signed at versailles on june th, , are not affected by this constitution. orders legally issued by the public authorities in virtue of previously existing laws remain valid until replaced by further orders or legislation. article . in so far as reference is made in laws or ordinances to regulations or institutions abolished by this constitution, there shall be substituted therefor the corresponding regulations or institutions of this constitution. in particular the reichstag shall be substituted for the national assembly, the reichsrat for the states' committee, and for the president of the realm, elected under the act for the provisional government, a president of the realm elected in virtue of this constitution. the function of issuing ordinances pertaining to the states' committee in virtue of previous regulations shall pass to the government of the realm; in issuing ordinances the government of the realm shall require the consent of the reichsrat as laid down in this constitution. article . until the first reichstag, the national assembly shall count as reichstag.[ ] until the first president of the realm shall enter upon office, his functions shall be carried out by the president elected under the act for the provisional government. article . the german nation has pronounced upon and passed this constitution through its national assembly. it comes into force on the day of its proclamation. (signed) president ebert. ministers erzberger, muller, david noske, schmidt, schlicke, giesberts, mayer, bell. _schwarzburg, th august, ._ notes. [ ] art. .--the whole character of this constitution is contained in this provision that the "reich" is a republic. it was introduced in order to convey that new germany, while retaining the ancient title and tradition of "reich," had given it a new significance, and that thereby no concession was intended either to monarchists or imperialists or militarists. therefore "reich" is not to be translated empire. commonwealth would perhaps be the best rendering, but realm will be used here as more convenient. [ ] this clause is of crucial importance. henceforward all sovereignty is of the german people and not of the princes or principalities. the german bund of was a mere confederation between sovereigns or staaten bund. the north german bund of was a federation of semi-sovereigns, or bundes staat. the present german republic is still a federal state, but sovereignty is inherent in the people, not in the constituent governments. [ ] art. .--the transformation of this constitution from a centralised republic into a confederation and back to a federation has been reviewed already. the word "lander" is literally translated for this and other reasons. [ ] art. .--"whether these colours black-red-gold, are really the colours of the ancient reich, which historians dispute, or are those of the lutzow free company, we look rather to the political ideals and aims associated with them during the nineteenth century. it was the idea of political freedom and of national unity that kept the black-red-gold, an honoured symbol in german austria long after the black-white-red had flown over the german empire. as the historian constantine franz has said, in mediæval times there was an austro-germany, in modern times a prusso-germany, and now there must be a german germany."--dr. preuss, introductory speech, th february, . the clause as it stands is a compromise between the "right," who wished to retain the black, white, and red, and the "left," who wanted the red flag. a compromise in which the right have as elsewhere had the best of it--as the red flag is not allowed. [ ] art. .--"german democracy can only welcome a league of nations that has itself a really democratic constitution and that recognises without reserve or restriction the liberty and equality of all its members. we shall have no members of inferior status in our commonwealth, but neither will we be of inferior status in the league of nations."--dr. preuss, speech introducing the draft constitution, february, . the phases of this clause have been reviewed above, see p. . [ ] art. .--see art. as to the rights in foreign relations retained by the lands. [ ] see art. . [ ] this simple attribution of military matters to the reich replaces the complicated recognitions of the "reserved rights" of the southern states in the early drafts. see p. for the importance of this clause. [ ] the first draft gave the reich exclusive jurisdiction over railways, canals, and air traffic, which it now shares with the lands.--see art. , § . [ ] art. .--this, with § , represents a gain to socialism, as the transfer of "socialisation" to the reich prevents indefinite obstruction by a conservative landtag. see art. . [ ] see art. . [ ] art. .--see art. for rights retained by a landtag; also p. for the general effect of this provision. [ ] art. .--the earlier drafts formulated such principles as an integral part of the constitution. [ ] art. .--what a "free state" constitution means was not defined by the authors of the constitution. its opponents argued that it might admit of a monarchist restoration in prussia, but this has since been barred constitutionally by the provision that the reich is a republic (art. ). [ ] the first draft established a single chamber legislation in the lands. [ ] this sentence was added apparently to bar the setting up of further unparliamentary räte republics in opposition to the chambers, as in bavaria, brunswick, etc. [ ] this residential qualification was added to meet objections that otherwise landtag elections might be influenced by an influx of outside voters. [ ] art. .--this, the most contentious article in the constitution, embodies the concessions made by the centralising purists--its authors--to the federalising particularists--its critics. the history of its phases has been given above, see p. . its form in the first draft follows:-- "it is open to the german people to establish new free states within the realm, irrespective of the previous frontiers, in so far as the racial character of the population, economic conditions, and historical traditions favour their formation. such new free states should have at least two million inhabitants. "the union of two or more constituent states into a new free state is effected by governmental convention between them, subject to the approval of the legislatures and the government of the realm. "if the population of a district wish to secede from their allegiance and join one or more german free states, or form a free state, a plebiscite is necessary. the plebiscite will be initiated by the government of the land or of one or more autonomous bodies comprising at least a quarter of the population concerned. it will be instituted by the government of the realm and enforced by the local authority." the general effect of the constitution combined with present political conditions is that there will be no change of any importance in the composition of the countries constituting the realm. see also art. suspending operation of pars. to of this article for two years. [ ] art. .--in the first draft the sovereign reichstag consisted, not, as here, of the popular chamber only, but of the volkshaus--the popular chamber, and the staatenhaus--the representatives of the states. the latter, now known as the reichsrat (see art. ), is no longer part of the sovereign body and has merely a suspensory veto against it (see art. ). [ ] art. .--the president's power of dissolution was unrestricted in the early drafts. [ ] art. .--this article, a late addition, constitutionalises a procedure that strengthens democracy as against bureaucracy. [ ] art. .--the institution of a permanent committee on foreign affairs for which our advocates of democratic diplomacy have laboured in vain for twenty years has been commented on above, see p. . [ ] art. .--it was in virtue of the article corresponding to this in the provisional constitution that berlin attacked and suppressed the council governments set up in munich, brunswick, bremen, and elsewhere. [ ] art. .--the chancellor is consequently no longer the sole responsible minister, but merely as elsewhere in democratic constitutions _primus inter pares_, the premier. moreover, he has, of course, lost his special authority from the crown and his special association with prussia. it would have been better in the circumstances to have dropped the title of chancellor. [ ] art. .--the reichsrat is the much reduced remains of the bundesrat. (see p. and arts. and .) [ ] art. .--for the importance of this restriction in respect of prussia, see p. . [ ] this clause as to german austria was objected to by the supreme council at paris as contrary to art. of the treaty of versailles: "germany acknowledges and will respect strictly the independence of austria.... she agrees that this independence shall be inalienable except with the consent of the council of the league of nations." the exchange of notes on the subject is not worth appending, as it expresses an ephemeral phase of diplomacy and not any essential principle of international law. in so far as the german constitution is concerned, the objection seems unimportant in view of art. , par. . [ ] art. .--a compromise between the former bundesrat, where the delegates were plenipotentiaries representing semi-sovereign states, and the centralising draft of preuss, where they were no more than politicians chosen on party, not on particularist, grounds. [ ] art. .--a curious little example of provincial jealousy, which substituted "capital" for "berlin." [ ] art. .--"it is an essential of democratic constitutions that they be difficult of amendment" (preuss). on the other hand, such difficulties have their danger, as in , when louis napoleon obtained a simple majority but not a two-thirds majority for an amendment; which led eventually to a _coup d'etat_ and a complete overthrow of the constitution. [ ] see art. . [ ] see art. . [ ] see art. . [ ] these principles were formerly mostly provided for in the german code; though some, and they the most important, were previously only guaranteed by state law. [ ] see art. . [ ] art. .--equality of the sexes and abolition of titles, is of course, an innovation. [ ] art. .--this has no effect as against demands for extradition made under the treaty of versailles, in view of art. , § . [ ] art. .--this repeals a provision of the prussian constitution that religious associations can only be incorporated by special legislation. [ ] art. .--this article is a much-contested compromise in which the socialists have secured in the end a striking success over the roman catholic centrum and right. the latter entered the fight with the full intention of maintaining state churches everywhere. probably the set-back suffered in the south from the communist capture of munich reconciled them to disestablishment without disendowment. that par. would give "bolshevism" a claim to equal treatment with protestantism is not of immediate importance. [ ] see art. . [ ] art. .--the separation of church and school effected in this and preceding articles was bitterly opposed by the roman catholics. defeated in this article, they secured a respite in art. which postpones its application until further legislation. see art. . [ ] this chapter breaks new ground, as might be inferred from the abstract character of its provisions and constant reference to special legislation. [ ] art. .--an act regulating these councils has already been introduced (aug., ). for the importance of this article, see above, pp. , , . [ ] on the strength of this clause the government have transformed the national or constituent assembly into a reichstag, without the election certainly contemplated when it was first convoked. index index a adlon-hotel, demonstrations, advertisements, as documents, , , aeroplanes, german, alsace-lorraine, cession, , , , , , anhalt, army, v. frei-corps, prussia, constitution "atrocities," v. lichtenberg, munich, halle augsburg, fighting, austria, german, union, , _et seq._ ---- and council movement, ---- and treaty, , author, personal experiences v. berlin, halle, munich, brunswick, augsburg, bamberg, etc. b bamberg, temporary bavarian capital, , ---- visit to, (v. hoffmann, munich) bauer, minister, ; premier, berlin, visit to, ; appearance, , , , ; strike, ; fighting, , , , _et seq._ berlin and brunswick, _et seq._ ---- and munich, _et seq._ bernstein, speech, bethmann-hollweg, reference, bismarck, references, , blockade, effect, _et seq._; breaches, , bohemia, german, , ---- coal, bolshevism, berlin, , , ; brunswick, ; munich, , ; failure, , ; peace, , , , v. sovietism bombardment, berlin, , bread, quality, breitscheidt, politician, , bremen, fighting, ; and hamburg, brentano, reference, brockdorff-rantzau, personality, , brunswick, fighting, _et seq._; and anhalt, bryce, lord, reference, bujakowski, demagogue, butter, price of, c catholic, v. centrum, clericals, southern states cavell, miss, , central council, origin, ; abdication, , , (v. council movement) centrum, party, elections, ; policy, , , , , , (v. clericals) chancellor, powers, , children, starvation, circus busche, scene in, clemenceau, reference, clericals, and french, ; education, coal, production, , ; nationalisation, coalition government, (v. centrum, scheidemann) coburg, commissioners, peoples, , , communal councils, communist party, , , , , ---- ---- at munich, _et seq._, ---- ---- at brunswick, , congress of councils, , , _et seq._ constituent assembly, v. national assembly constitution, new, , _et seq._, ; for text, v. appendix. cotton production, council movement, nature, , , , ; failure, , , ; necessity, , ; history, , , ; and constitution, , , , , ; and entente, ; and league of nations, d _daily news_, articles, , danzig, cession, , daümig, labour leader, , debt, german, , , dolbrück, conservative leader, democrats, party, elections, ; policy, , ; in councils, , ; at halle, ; and treaty, diplomacy, failure, , , duke william of brunswick, e east prussia, severance, ebert, president, policy, ; personality, eden hotel, influence, , ; interview, education, constitutional provisions, , eichhorn, revolutionary, eight-hour day, , eisner, bavarian premier, , election, national assembly, , , erfurt, proclamation, erzberger, centrum leader, policy, , ; personality, , , executive council, berlin, , , , f finance, german, , , ; in constitution, flag, german, food, scarcity, , , _et seq._, ; importation, , , ; production, , ; organisation, foreign affairs, committee and control, ---- ---- of federal states, frankfort assembly, frei-corps, , , , , , , ; recruiting, , ; fighting, _et seq._, ; character, , , , , , ; expenses, , ; peace treaty, , g germans, political incapacity, , , , , , germany, collapse, , , ; ignorance of, , gerstenberg, general, gotha, guild socialism, , , h haase, policy, , halle, fighting, ; personal experiences, , ; "atrocities," ; council conference, hamburg, hartmann, austrian envoy, ,; interview, hoffmann, bavarian premier, , ; interview, i independents, , , , ; club, ; foreign policy, , ; policy, , , ; failure, , , ; berlin, ; halle, , , ; brunswick, , ; munich, ; and treaty, , , , industry, german, _et seq._; and treaty, international council, internationalism, , ; and treaty, , ireland and league, j joffe, bolshevist agent, junkers, , ; example, ; in industry, ; in land, k kaiser, , kaiserism, , , , , , ; in elections, kaiserschloss, sack, kautsky, politician, koenen, halle independent, , kohn, independent leader, l labour, , ; international land socialisation, landsberg, coalition minister, personality, , , ; polish policy, ; brunswick, ; berlin, , ; peace, league of nations, , , , , , ledebour, independent leader, , legien, majoritarian, , leipzig, levien, communist, character, , ; policy, ; fate, , leviné, do., do. liberalism, german, failure, , , , , ; peace, lichtenberg, fighting, , _et seq._; "atrocities," , liebknecht, revolutionary, , ; policy, ; death, lloyd george, locomotives, surrender, ludendorff, general, luxemburg, rosa, policy, ; death, m maerker, general, weimar, , ; halle, _et seq._; brunswick, _et seq._ magdeburg, , majority socialists, origin, , ; policy, , , , , ; foreign policy, ; peace, , (v. halle, brunswick, munich, etc.) marine division, , , ; berlin, , ; halle, ; brunswick, , marriage, constitutional provisions, max von baden, government, , merges, revolutionary, , , monarchists, , , , müller, richard, revolutionary, , , munich, fighting, , _et seq._, ; "atrocities," ; journey to, n national assembly, , , , (v. weimar) nationalism, , ; peace, , , , naumann, democratic leader, noske, , , , , ; personality, ; interview, p pabst, captain, , paris conference, (v. treaty of versailles) passes, game of, , paulskirche assembly, pauncefote, lord, reference, poles, dispute, , , , , , population, decrease, , , president, powers, (v. ebert) press misrepresentations, , , , preuss, minister,; personality, ; views, ; constitution, , , , , , proportional representation, prussia, sentiment, , , , ; partition, , , ; hegemony, , , , prussianism, fall, , , ; guarantees, , ; revival, , pyrmont, r railways, german, , , ; "underground", ; collapse, ; central, red guard, berlin, , ; munich, , reich, , reichsrat, reichstag, , , reparation commission, , republic, , reuss, prince, revolution, german, meaning, , , ; history, _et seq._, , , , , , , , , ; failure, , , , , ; peace, ; constitution, , (v. independents, communists) revolutionary corps, character, , (v. marine division) rhodes scholars, richthofen, nationalist, speech, russian revolution, , , , ; and british, , s saar, cession, , , saxony, revolution, , , , scheidemann, premier, personality, , , , ; government, , , , , ; policy, , , , , , schücking, professor, secret treaties, silesia, cession, "sneak trade," social democrats, v. majoritarians socialisation, commission, , ; interview, ; policy , , , ; acts, , ; constitution, , (v. land) soldiers' councils, , , , , , southern states, , , , , , , , , , , ; finance, ; foreign affairs, ; army, spartacists, ideals, , ; fighting, , , _et seq._ stampfer, editor _vorwärts_, _q.v._ strikes, origin, ; effect, ; statistics, students, t taxes, trade, , , treaty of versailles, , , _et seq._, ; economic effect, , , , , , ; extraditions, , ; signature, , ; conservatives, ; liberals, ; labour, turkey, reference, tyrol, cession, u unemployment benefit, ; council, v vienna, _vorwärts_, , , , w waldeck, washington conference, (v. wilson) weimar, assembly, , ; failure, , , , , , , , , ; peace, , ; court, ; theatre, , west prussia, cession, "whitley councils," , , , , wilson, "points," , , ; failure, , , wissal, minister, wittelsbach palais, wolff, theodore, würtemberg, fighting, _et seq._, printed in great britain by richard clay and sons, limited, brunswick street, stamford street, s.e. , and bungay, suffolk. * * * * * +------------------------------------------------------------------+ | typographical errors corrected in text: | | | | page : centring replaced with centering | | page : parteibrulle! replaced with parteibulle | | page : clara zietken replaced with clara zetkin | | page : "chroniken. der deutschën städte." | | replaced with | | "chroniken der deutschen städte." | | page : holmstadt replaced with helmstadt (a city in germany) | | page : goverment replaced with government | | page : wurtemberg replaced with würtemberg | | page : nikisch replaced with niekisch | | page : illiicit replaced with illicit | | page : daümig replaced with däumig | | page : rconstituted replaced with reconstituted | | page : reicbstag replaced with reichstag | | page : commerical replaced with commercial | | page : dolbrück replaced with delbrück | | page : maercker replaced with maerker | | page : wissal replaced with wissel | | | | unusual words: | | | | page : obiit is the latin word for he/she died | | page : forrarder is a british word meaning further ahead | | | +------------------------------------------------------------------+ * * * * * and the kaiser abdicates. published by the yale university press in memory of lieutenant earl trumbull williams st united states field artillery of the class of yale college who died may th and the kaiser abdicates the german revolution november --august by s. miles bouton with the constitution of the german commonwealth translated by william bennett munro and arthur norman holcombe [illustration] revised edition new haven yale university press london : humphrey milford : oxford university press mdccccxxi copyright , by yale university press _first published october, ._ _second edition, revised and enlarged,_ _september, ._ to the honorable ira nelson morris american minister to sweden the man, the diplomat, and the loyal friend, this book is affectionately dedicated by the author contents. chapter i. the governmental structure of germany. revolutions--not unknown in germany--prussia and the hohenzollerns--frederick the great--germany under foreign domination--the battle of the brotherhood of man--lassalle's national socialists join the _internationale_--germany's political backwardness--the war of - --erection of the german empire--why the reichstag failed to become a real parliament--the emperor's powers as kaiser and as king of prussia. chapter ii. the german conception of the state. individualism repressed for efficiency's sake--authority the keynote--the _beamter_ and his special privileges--prussian ideals of duty--education--the officer corps as supporters of the throne--militarism--dreams of a _welt-imperium_--the fatal cancer of socialism. chapter iii. internationalism and _vaterlandslose gesellen_. the menace of internationalism--marx and engels--socialist teachings of the brotherhood of man--lassalle's national socialists join the _internationale_ of marx, engels and liebknecht--socialism becomes a political factor--bismarck's special laws fail--he tries state socialism--kaiser wilhelm denounces the socialists--labor-union movement a child of socialism--german "particularism"--socialism weakens feelings of patriotism and undermines the church. chapter iv. germany under the "hunger-blockade." germany's inability to feed and clothe her inhabitants--the war reduces production--germany's imports in --food conservation--the "turnip-winter"--everybody goes hungry--terrible increase of mortality--discontent engendered and increased by suffering--illegitimate trade in the necessaries of life--rations at the front become insufficient. chapter v. internationalism at work. general enthusiasm at the war's outbreak--socialists support the government--liebknecht denounces the war--otto rühle, franz mehring, clara zetkin and rosa luxemburg--the "spartacus letters"--extreme socialists begin to follow liebknecht--the first open break in the party--the seceders attack the war--liebknecht sent to prison--the russian revolution as a factor--the political strikes of january, --the army disaffected--shortage of trained officers. chapter vi. propaganda and morale. submarine losses shake sailors' morale--independent socialists' propaganda--admiral von cappelle admits serious mutiny at wilhelmshafen--haase, dittmann and vogtherr denounced--lenine passes through germany--russian bolshevist propaganda in germany--treaty of brest-litovsk throws down the bars--activities of the bolshevist ambassador joffe--haase, cohn and other independent socialists work with him--joffe expelled from germany--allied propaganda helps weaken german morale at home and on the fronts--atrocity stories. chapter vii. germany requests an armistice. chancellor michaelis resigns and is succeeded by count hertling--empire honeycombed with sedition--count lichnowsky's memoirs--another chancellor crisis--socialists consent to enter a coalition government--bulgaria surrenders--hertling admits desperateness of situation--the german front begins to disintegrate--prince max of baden becomes chancellor, with the socialist philip scheidemann as a cabinet member--max requests an armistice--lansing's reply. chapter viii. the last days of imperial germany. reforms come too late--the independent socialists attack the government--liebknecht released from prison and defies the authorities--the kaiser makes sweeping surrenders of powers--austria-hungary's defection--revolution in vienna--socialists demand the kaiser's abdication--the new cabinet promises parliamentary reforms. chapter ix. a revolt which became a revolution. mutiny at kiel--troops fire on mutinous sailors--demands of the mutineers granted--noske arrives--the red flag replaces the imperial standard--prince henry's flight--independent socialists and spartacans seize their opportunity--soviets erected throughout northwestern germany--official cowardice at swinemünde--noske becomes governor of kiel. chapter x. the revolution reaches berlin. lansing announces that the allied governments accept wilson's fourteen points with one reservation--max appeals to the people--hamburg revolutionaries reach berlin--government troops brought to the capital--independent socialists meet in the reichstag building--the revolution spreads--majority socialists join hands with the revolutionaries--supposedly loyal troops mutiny--revolution. chapter xi. the kaiser abdicates. ebert becomes premier for a day--the german republic proclaimed--liebknecht at the royal palace--officers hunted down in the streets--the rape of the _bourgeois_ newspapers by revolutionaries--the first shooting--ebert issues a proclamation and an appeal--a red sunday--revolutionary meeting at the circus busch--a six-man cabinet formed--the _vollzugsrat_--far-reaching reforms are decreed. chapter xii. "the german socialistic republic." the end of the dynasties--the kaiser flees--central soviet displays moderate tendencies--wholesale jail-releases--the police disarmed--_die neue freiheit_--a red guard is planned, but meets opposition from the soldiers--liebknecht organizes the deserters--armistice terms a blow to the cabinet--the blockade is extended. chapter xiii. "the new freedom." germany's armed forces collapse--some effects of "the new freedom"--the reichstag is declared dissolved--the cabinet's helplessness--opposition to a national assembly--radicals dominate the _vollzugsrat_--charges are made against it--the red soldiers' league--the first bloodshed under the new régime. chapter xiv. the majority socialists in control. front soldiers return--the central congress of germany's soviets--radicals in an insignificant minority--a new _vollzugsrat_ of majority socialists appointed--the people's marine division revolts--independent socialists leave the cabinet--the spartacus league organized--the national government's authority flouted--aggressions by czechs and poles--an epidemic of strikes. chapter xv. liebknecht tries to overthrow the government; is arrested and killed. the first bolshevist uprising--prominent berlin newspapers seized by the spartacans--the independent socialists' double-dealing--capture of the _vorwärts_ plant--ledebour, liebknecht and rosa luxemburg arrested--liebknecht and luxemburg killed--the bolsheviki turn their attention to coast cities. chapter xvi. the national assembly. germany's political parties reorganize--theodor wolff--composition of the national assembly--convenes at weimar--spartacans stage various uprisings--friedrich ebert elected provisional president of the german republic--germany's desperate financial situation--the difference between theory and practice. chapter xvii. the spartacans rise again. germany still hungering--promised supplies of food delayed--gas and coal shortage--strikes add to people's sufferings--the spartacans plan another uprising--severe fighting in berlin--the radical newspaper _die rote fahne_ suppressed--independent socialists go over to the spartacans--independent socialist and spartacan platforms contrasted. chapter xviii. red or white internationalism: which? radicalism encouraged by bolshevism's success in hungary. chapter xix. the weimar constitution. history of the new constitution--an advancedly democratic institution--important change in constitution on third reading--the imperial constitution ceases to exist--two "main divisions"--construction of the state--preambles of old and new constitutions compared--fundamental and sweeping changes--radical curtailment of states' rights--the president--the reichstag, importance assigned to it--the reichsrat--legislative procedure--referendum and initiative--amendments--"fundamental rights and fundamental duties of the germans"--articles on social and economic life--socialist influence becomes unmistakable--sweeping socialization made possible--workmen's council is "anchored" in the constitution. the constitution of the german commonwealth. translation by william bennett munro and arthur norman holcombe. reprinted by permission of the world peace foundation. foreword. the developments leading up to the german revolution of november, , and the events marking the course of the revolution itself are still but imperfectly known or understood in america. for nearly two years preceding the overthrow of the monarchy, americans, like the people of all other countries opposing germany, were dependent for their direct information upon the reports of neutral correspondents, and a stringent censorship prevented these from reporting anything of value regarding the conditions that were throughout this period gradually making the german empire ripe for its fall. to a great extent, indeed, not only these foreign journalists, but the great mass of the germans themselves, had little knowledge of the manner in which the empire was being undermined. during the crucial days of the revolution, up to the complete overthrow of the central government at berlin, a sharpened censorship prevented any valuable direct news from being sent out, and the progress of events was told to the outside world mainly by travelers, excited soldiers on the danish frontier and two or three-day-old german newspapers whose editors were themselves not only handicapped by the censorship, but also ignorant of much that had happened and unable to present a clear picture of events as a whole. when the bars were finally thrown down to enemy correspondents, the exigencies of daily newspaper work required them to devote their undivided attention to the events that were then occurring. hence the developments preceding and attending the revolution could not receive that careful consideration and portrayal which is necessary if they are to be properly understood. an attempt is made in this book to make clear the factors and events that made the revolution possible, and to give a broad outline of its second phase, from the middle of november, , to the ratification by germany of the peace of versailles. a preliminary description of germany's governmental structure, although it may contain nothing new to readers who know germany well, could not be omitted. it is requisite for a comprehension of the strength of the forces and events that finally overthrew the kaiser. much of the history told deals with matters of which the author has personal knowledge. he had been for several years before the war resident in berlin as an associated press correspondent. he was in vienna when the dual monarchy declared war on serbia, and in berlin during mobilization and the declarations of war on russia and france. he was with the german armies on all fronts during the first two years of the war as correspondent, and was in berlin two weeks before america severed diplomatic relations with germany. the author spent the summer of in russia, and watched the progress of affairs in germany from stockholm and copenhagen during the winter of - . he spent the three months preceding the german revolution in copenhagen, in daily touch with many proved sources of information, and was the first enemy correspondent to enter germany after the armistice, going to berlin on november , . he attended the opening sessions of the national assembly at weimar in february, , and remained in germany until the end of march, witnessing both the first and second attempts of the spartacans to overthrow the ebert-haase government. the author's aim in writing this book has been to give a truthful and adequate picture of the matters treated, without any "tendency" whatever. it is not pretended that the book exhausts the subject. many matters which might be of interest, but which would hinder the straightforward narration of essentials, have been omitted, but it is believed that nothing essential to a comprehension of the world's greatest political event has been left out. a word in conclusion regarding terminology. _proletariat_ does not mean, as is popularly supposed in america, merely the lowest grade of manual laborers. it includes all persons whose work is "exploited" by others, i. e., who depend for their existence upon wages or salaries. thus actors, journalists, clerks, stenographers, etc., are reckoned as proletarians. the _bourgeoisie_ includes all persons who live from the income of investments or from businesses or properties (including real estate) owned by them. in practice, however, owners of small one-man or one-family businesses, although belonging to what the french term the _petite bourgeoisie_, are regarded as proletarians. the nobility, formerly a class by itself, is now _de facto_ included under the name _bourgeoisie_, despite the contradiction of terms thus involved. no effort has been made toward consistency in the spelling of german names. where the german form might not be generally understood, the english form has been used. in the main, however, the german forms have been retained. socialism and social-democracy, socialist and social-democrat, have been used interchangeably throughout. there is no difference of meaning between the words. s. miles bouton asheville, new york, november , . chapter i. the governmental structure of germany. the peoples of this generation--at least, those of highly civilized and cultured communities--had little or no familiarity with revolutions and the history of revolutions before march, , when tsar nicholas ii was overthrown. there was and still is something about the very word "revolution" which is repugnant to all who love ordered and orderly government. it conjures up pictures of rude violence, of murder, pillage and wanton destruction. it violates the sentiments of those that respect the law, for it is by its very nature a negation of the force of existing laws. it breaks with traditions and is an overcoming of inertia; and inertia rules powerfully the majority of all peoples. the average american is comparatively little versed in the history of other countries. he knows that the united states of america came into existence by a revolution, but "revolutionary" is for him in this connection merely an adjective of time used to locate and describe a war fought between two powers toward the end of the eighteenth century. he does not realize, or realizes but dimly, the essential kinship of all revolutions. nor does he realize that most of the governments existing today came into being as the result of revolutions, some of them bloodless, it is true, but all at bottom a revolt against existing laws and governmental forms. the extortion of the magna charta from king john in was not the less a revolution because it was the bloodless work of the english barons. it took two bloody revolutions to establish france as a republic. all the balkan states are the products of revolution. a man need not be old to remember the overthrow of the monarchy in brazil; the revolution in portugal was but yesterday as historians count time. only the great wisdom and humanitarianism of the aged king oscar ii prevented fighting and bloodshed between sweden and norway when norway announced her intention of breaking away from the dual kingdom. the list could be extended indefinitely. the failure to recall or realize these things was one of the factors responsible for the universal surprise and amazement when the hohenzollerns were overthrown. the other factor was the general--and justified--impression that the government of germany was one of the strongest, most ably administered and most homogeneous governments of the world. and yet germany, too, or what subsequently became the nucleus of germany, had known revolution. it was but seventy years since the king of prussia had been forced to stand bareheaded in the presence of the bodies of the "march patriots," who had given their lives in a revolt which resulted in a new constitution and far-reaching concessions to the people. even to those who did recall and realize these things, however, the german revolution came as a shock. the closest observers, men who knew germany intimately, doubted to the very last the possibility of successful revolution there. and yet, viewed in the light of subsequent happenings, it will be seen how natural, even unavoidable, the revolution was. it came as the inevitable result of conditions created by the war and the blockade. it will be the purpose of this book to make clear the inevitableness of the _débâcle_, and to explain the events that followed it. for a better understanding of the whole subject a brief explanation of the structure of germany's governmental system is in place. this will serve the double purpose of showing the strength of the system which the revolution was able to overturn and of dispelling a too general ignorance regarding it. the general condemnation of prussia, the prussians and the hohenzollerns must not be permitted to obscure their merits and deserts. for more than five hundred years without a break in the male line this dynasty handed down its inherited rights and produced an array of great administrators who, within three centuries, raised prussia to the rank of a first-rate power. the kingdom that subsequently became the nucleus for the german empire lost fully half its territory by the peace of tilsit in , when, following the reverses in the napoleonic wars, germany was formally dissolved and the confederation of the rhine was formed by napoleon. the standing army was limited to , men, and trade with great britain was prohibited. the confederation obeyed the letter of the military terms, but evaded its spirit by successively training levies of , men, and within six years enough trained troops were available to make a revolt against napoleonic slavery possible. the french were routed and cut to pieces at the battle of the nations near leipsic in , and prussian germany was again launched on the road to greatness. a certain democratic awakening came on the heels of the people's liberation from foreign domination. it manifested itself particularly in the universities. the movement became so threatening that a conference of ministers of the various states was convoked in to consider counter-measures. the result was an order disbanding the political unions of the universities, placing the universities under police supervision and imposing a censorship upon their activities. the movement was checked, but not stopped. in ominous signs of a popular revolution moved king frederick william iv of prussia to summon the diet to consider governmental reforms. the chief demand presented by this diet was for a popular representation in the government. the king refused to grant this. a striking commentary upon the political backwardness of germany is furnished by the fact that one of the demands made by a popular convention held in mannheim in the following year was for trial by jury, a right granted in england more than six hundred years earlier by the magna charta. other demands were for the freedom of the press and popular representation in the government. the revolution of in prussia, while it failed to produce all that had been hoped for by those responsible for it, nevertheless resulted in what were for those times far-reaching reforms. a diet was convoked at frankfort-on-the-main. it adopted a constitution establishing some decided democratic reforms and knit the fabric of the german confederation more closely together. the structure of the confederation was already very substantial, despite much state particularism and internal friction. an important event in the direction of a united germany had been the establishment in of the _zollverein_ or customs union. the existence of scores of small states,[ ] each with its own tariffs, currency and posts, had long hindered economic development. there is a well-known anecdote regarding a traveler who, believing himself near the end of his day's journey, after having passed a dozen customs-frontiers, found his way barred by the customs-officials of another tiny principality. angered at the unexpected delay, he refused to submit to another examination of his effects and another exaction of customs-duties. [ ] there were more than three hundred territorial sovereignties in germany when the new constitution of the union was adopted at the congress of vienna in .--there were principalities of less than one square mile in extent. the particularism engendered by this state of affairs has always been one of the greatest handicaps with which federal government in germany has had to contend. "you aren't a country," he said. "you're just a spot. i'll go around you." and this he did, without being seriously delayed in reaching his destination. the growing power of germany aroused the fear of the french, who realized what the union of the vital, energetic and industrious german races would mean. years of tension culminated in the war of - . the result is known. unprepared for the conflict, the french were crushed, just as austria had been crushed four years earlier. the last external obstacle in the way of german unity and strength had thus strangely been removed. on january , , while the victorious german armies still stood at the gates of paris, king william i was proclaimed german emperor as kaiser wilhelm i. the designation as "german emperor" should be noted, because it is significant of the manner of union of the german empire. the aged monarch was insistent that the title should be "emperor of germany." to this the sovereigns of the other german states objected, as carrying the implication of their own subjection. between "german emperor" or "emperor in germany" and "emperor of germany," they pointed out, there was a wide difference. "german emperor" implied merely that the holder of that title was _primus inter pares_, merely the first among equals, the presiding officer of an aggregation of sovereigns of equal rank who had conferred this dignity upon him, just as a diet, by electing one of its number chairman, confers upon him no superiority of rank, but merely designates him to conduct their deliberations. these sovereigns' jealousy of their own prerogatives had at first led them to consider vesting the imperial honors alternately with the prussian and bavarian king, but this idea was abandoned as impracticable. at the urgent representations of bismarck the aged king consented, with tears in his eyes, it is said, to accept the designation of german emperor. the german empire as thus formed consisted of twenty-five states and the _reichsland_ of alsace-lorraine, which was administered by a viceroy appointed by the king of prussia. the empire was a federated union of states much on the pattern of the united states of america, but the federative character was not completely carried out because of the particularism of certain states. the bavarians, whose customs of life, easy-going ways, and even dialects are more akin to those of the german austrians than of the prussians,[ ] exacted far-reaching concessions as the price of their entrance into the empire. they retained their own domestic tariff-imposts, their own army establishment, currency, railways, posts, telegraphs and other things. certain other states also reserved a number of rights which ought, for the formation of a perfect federative union, to have been conferred upon the central authority. on the whole, however, these reservations proved less of a handicap than might have been expected. [ ] the bavarians have from early days disliked the prussians heartily. _saupreuss'_ (sow-prussian) and other even less elegant epithets were in common use against the natives of the dominant state. it must in fairness be admitted that this dislike was the natural feeling of the less efficient bavarian against the efficient and energetic prussian. the imperial german constitution adopted at this time was in many ways a remarkable document. it cleverly combined democratic and absolutist features. the democratic features were worked out with a wonderful psychological instinct. in the hands of almost any people except the germans or slavs the democratic side of this instrument would have eventually become the predominant one. that it did not is a tribute to the astuteness of bismarck and of the men who, under his influence, drafted the constitution. the german parliament or _reichsrat_ was composed of two houses, the _bundesrat_, or federal council, and the _reichstag_, or imperial diet. the federal council was designed as the anchor of absolutism. it was composed of fifty-eight members, of whom seventeen came from prussia, six from bavaria, and four each from saxony and württemberg. the larger of the other states had two or three each, and seventeen states had but one each. in three members were granted to alsace-lorraine by a constitution given at that time to the _reichsland_. the members of the federal council were the direct representatives of their respective sovereigns, by whom they were designated, and not of the people of the respective states. naturally they took their instructions from their sovereigns. nearly all legislative measures except bills for raising revenue had to originate in the federal council, and its concurrence with the reichstag was requisite for the enactment of laws. a further absolutist feature of the constitution was the provision that fourteen votes could block an amendment to the constitution. in other words, prussia with her seventeen members could prevent any change not desired by her governing class. the reichstag, the second chamber of the parliament, was a truly democratic institution. let us say rather that it could have become a democratic institution. why it did not do so will be discussed later. it consisted of members, who were elected by the most unlimited suffrage prevailing at that time in all europe. it is but recently, indeed within the last five years, that as universal and free a suffrage has been adopted by other european countries, and there are still many which impose limitations unknown to the german constitution. every male subject who had attained the age of twenty-five years and who had not lost his civil rights through the commission of crime, or who was not a delinquent taxpayer or in receipt of aid from the state or his community as a pauper, was entitled to vote. the vote was secret and direct, and the members of the reichstag were responsible only to their constituents and not subject to instructions from any governmental body or person. they were elected for a term of three years,[ ] but their mandates could be terminated at any time by the kaiser, to whom was reserved the right to dissolve the reichstag. if he dissolved it, however, he was compelled to order another election within a definitely stated period. [ ] this was later altered to five years. one very real power was vested in the reichstag. it had full control of the empire's purse strings. bills for raising revenue and all measures making appropriations had to originate in this chamber, and its assent was required to their enactment. the reason for its failure to exercise this control resolutely must be sought in the history of the german people, in their inertia where active participation in governmental matters is concerned, and in those psychological characteristics which bismarck so well comprehended and upon which he so confidently counted. no people on earth had had a more terrible or continuous struggle for existence than the various tribes that later amalgamated to form the nucleus for the german empire. their history is a record of almost continuous warfare, going back to the days of julius cæsar. in the first years of the christian era the germans under arminius (hermann) crushed the romans of varus's legions in the teutoburg forest, and the land was racked by war up to most modern times. most of its able-bodied men were exterminated during the thirty years war ( - ).[ ] this almost constant preoccupation in war had a twofold result: it intensified the struggle for existence of the common man and kept him from devoting either his thoughts or energies to problems of government, and it strengthened the powers of a comparatively small ruling-class, who alone possessed any culture and education and whose efforts were naturally directed to keeping their serfs in the subjection of ignorance. these conditions prevailed until well into the last century. [ ] the population of germany dropped from twenty to less than seven millions during this war. the conditions can best be appreciated by a comparison with the conditions existing in england at the same time. england, too, had had her wars, but her soil was but rarely ravaged by foreign invaders, and never to the extent in which germany repeatedly suffered. parliamentary government of a sort had existed more than three centuries in england before it reached germany. a milder climate than that of north germany made the struggle for the bare necessaries of life less strenuous, and gave opportunity to a greater proportion of the people to consider other things than the mere securing of enough to eat and drink. they began to think politically centuries before political affairs ceased to rest entirely in the hands of the nobility of germany. the germans of the lower and middle classes--in other words, the vast majority of the whole people--were thus both without political training and without even the inclination to think independently along political lines. some advance had, it is true, been made along these lines since the napoleonic wars, but the events of nevertheless found the great mass of the people without political tutelage or experience. people even more politically inclined would have found themselves handicapped by this lack of training, and the german--particularly the southern german--is not politically inclined. this will be discussed more fully in the chapters dealing with the course of events following the revolution of . it will be sufficient to point out here the german's inclination to abstract reasoning, to philosophizing and to a certain mysticism; his love of music and fine arts generally, his undeniable devotion to the grosser creature-comforts, eating and drinking, and his tendency not to worry greatly about governmental or other impersonal affairs provided he be kept well fed and amused. it is, in brief, the spirit to which the roman emperors catered with the _panem et circenses_, and which manifests itself strikingly in the german character. the result of all this was a marked inertia which characterized german political life up to recent years. even when a limited political awakening came it was chiefly the work of german-jews, not of germans of the old stock. these, then, were the conditions that prevented the democratic features of the imperial constitution from acquiring that prominence and importance which they would have acquired among a different people. the kaiser could dissolve the reichstag at will. why, then, bother oneself about opposing the things desired by the kaiser and his brother princes? it merely meant going to the trouble of a new election, and if that reichstag should prove recalcitrant also, it could in its turn be dissolved. apparently it never occurred to the mass of the germans that the kaiser could not go on indefinitely dissolving a representative body which insisted upon carrying out the people's will. the reichstag, being on the whole neither much wiser nor more determined than the people that elected it, accepted this view of the situation. occasionally it showed a bit of spirit, notably when it adopted a vote of censure against the government in the matter of the zabern affair in . on the whole, however, it accepted meekly the rôle that caused it to be termed, and justly, a "debating club." and this was precisely the rôle that had been planned for it by the drafters of the constitution. in justice to the reichstag, however, one thing should be pointed out. when the german empire was formed the country was still predominantly an agricultural land. the election districts were on the whole justly erected, and no one section of the country had a markedly disproportionate number of representatives. it was not long, however, before the flight to the cities began in germany as in other countries, and at the beginning of the present century the greater part of germany's population lived in the cities. the result was speedily seen in the constitution of the reichstag, since no redistricting was ever made since the original districting of . greater berlin, with a population around four million, elected but six representatives to the reichstag. in other words, there were some , inhabitants for every delegate. the agricultural districts, however, and especially those of northern germany--east elbia, as it is termed--continued to elect the same number of representatives as at the beginning to represent a population which had increased but little or not at all. there were districts in east and west prussia, brandenburg, mecklenburg, pomerania and posen where fewer than ten thousand voters were able to send a representative to the reichstag. the result was the natural one. throughout the world conservatism has its headquarters on the farms. the farmers cling longest to the old order of things, they free themselves the most slowly from tradition, they are least susceptible to sociological and socialistic ideas and, in so far as they own their own land, they are among the strongest supporters of vested property-rights. in no other country was this more the case than in germany, and especially in the districts mentioned, where large estates predominate and whence have come for two hundred years the most energetic, faithful and blindly loyal servants of their sovereign. the cities, on the other hand, and particularly the larger cities are the strongholds of new ideas. they are in particular the breeding-places of socialism and communism. five of the six reichstag members elected from greater berlin in were social-democrats, and the sixth was a progressive with advanced democratic ideas. with the shifting population and the consequent distortion of the election districts, a tremendous advantage accrued to the rural communities; in other words, the forces opposed to democratic reforms and in favor of maintaining and even increasing the powers of the king and emperor steadily increased proportionately their representation in the reichstag at the expense of the friends of democracy. at the reichstag election of the socialists cast roundly thirty-five per cent of the total popular vote. handicapped by the unjust districting, however, they were able to elect only delegates, whereas their proportion of the total vote entitled them to . the progressives, most of whose strength also lay in the cities, likewise received fewer members than their total vote entitled them to have. under a fair districting these two parties would together have had nearly a clear majority of the reichstag. there is reason to believe that the whole course of history of the last years would have been altered had germany honestly reformed her reichstag election districts ten years ago. on such small things does the fate of nations often rest. the kaiser, as the president of the empire, was authorized to "represent the empire internationally." he named the diplomatic representatives to foreign courts and countries and to the vatican. he was empowered to make treaties, and to declare defensive warfare provided the enemy had actually invaded german territory. he could not declare an offensive war without the consent of the federal council, nor a defensive war unless the invasion mentioned had taken place. he was commander-in-chief of the navy, and of the prussian army and the armies of the other federal states except of saxony and bavaria, which maintained their own military establishments. he appointed--in theory--all federal officials and officers of the army and navy. on the whole, however, his powers as german emperor were strictly limited and hardly went beyond the powers of the ruler of any constitutional monarchy. it was as king of prussia, however, that he really exercised the greatest power, and thus vicariously strengthened his powers in the empire at large. the parliamentary system of prussia was archaic and designed to make impossible any really democratic government or a too severe limitation upon the powers of the king. it was, like the imperial parliament, made up of two chambers, a house of lords and a diet. the upper chamber, the house of lords, was composed of men appointed by the king, either for a fixed term or for life. it goes without saying that all these men were strong supporters of the monarchic system and outspoken enemies of democracy. no legislation could be enacted against their will. the composition of the diet, moreover, was such that the house of lords had until very recent years little to fear in the way of democratic legislation. it was elected by the so-called three-class system, under which a wealthy man frequently had greater voting power than his five hundred employees together. the ballot moreover was indirect, the delegates being elected by a complicated system of electors. in addition to all this, the ballot was open, not secret. this placed a powerful weapon in the hands of the employing classes generally and of the great estate-owners particularly. the polling-places in rural districts were generally located on land belonging to one of these estates, and the election officials were either the estate-owners themselves or men dependent on them. in these circumstances it took a brave man to vote otherwise than his employer desired, and there was no way of concealing for whom or what party he had voted. bismarck himself, reactionary and conservative as he was, once termed the prussian three-class voting-system "the most iniquitous of all franchise systems." around this a fight had waged for several years before the revolution. the kaiser, as king of prussia, flatly promised, in his address from the throne in , that the system should be reformed. it is a matter of simple justice to record that he made the promise in good faith and tried to see that it was kept. his efforts along this line were thwarted by a small clique of men who were determined "to protect the king against himself," and who, lacking even the modicum of political prescience possessed by the kaiser-king, failed to see that if they did not make a concession willingly they would eventually be forced to make a concession of much greater extent. from year to year measures to reform the three-class system were introduced, only to be killed by the house of lords. under the stress of the closing days of the war such a measure was perfected and would have become a law had not the revolution intervened. but it came too late, just as did scores of other reforms undertaken in the eleventh hour. and thus, while the kaiser's power as german emperor was sharply limited, he enjoyed powers as king of prussia which in some degree approached absolutism. the dominance of prussia in the empire, while it could not transfer these powers to the emperor _de jure_, did unquestionably effect to some degree a _de facto_ transfer, which, while it did not in the long run have a very actual or injurious internal effect, nevertheless played a no inconsiderable part in the outside world and was responsible for a general feeling that germany was in effect an absolute monarchy. german apologists have maintained that wilhelm ii had less actual power as german emperor than that possessed by the president of the united states. this statement is undoubtedly true, but with an important limitation and qualification. the president's great powers are transitory and cannot--or in practice do not--extend more than eight years at the most. his exercise of those powers is governed and restrained during the first four years by his desire to be re-elected; during the second four years he must also use his powers in such a way that a democratic people will not revenge itself at the next election upon the president's party. but the kaiser and king was subject to no such limitation. he ruled for life, and a dissatisfied people could not take the succession away from the hohenzollerns except by revolution. and nobody expected or talked of revolution. the only real control over abuses of power rested with a reichstag which, as has already been explained, was too faithful a reflex of a non-political and inert constituency to make this control of more than mild academic interest. chapter ii. the german conception of the state. we have seen how the whole manner of life and the traditions of the germans were obstacles to their political development. mention has also been made of their peculiar tendency toward abstract philosophic habits of thought, which are not only inexplicable by the manner of the people's long-continued struggle for existence, but seem indeed to prevail in defiance of it. in addition to this powerful factor there existed another set of factors which worked with wonderful effectiveness toward the same end--the crippling of independent and practical political thinking. this was the conception of the state held by the ruling-classes of germany and their manner of imposing this conception upon the people. it may briefly be put thus: the people existed for the sake of the state, not the state for the sake of the people. the state was the central and great idea; whatever weakened its authority or power was of evil. it could grant free play to individualism only in those things that could not affect the state directly, such as music and the fine arts, and to abstract philosophy and literature--particularly the drama--as long as they avoided dangerous political topics. its keynote was authority and the subjection of the individual to the welfare of the state. the tendency of this system to make for efficiency so far as the actual brute power of a state is concerned cannot be denied in the light of the events of the world war. we have seen how in america itself, the stronghold of political and religious liberty, individualism was sternly repressed and even slight offenses against the authority of the state were punished by prison sentences of a barbarous severity unknown in any civilized country of europe. we have seen the churches, reinterpreting the principles of the new testament, and the schools, rewriting history to supposed good ends, both enlisted in this repression of individualism for the sake of increasing the efficiency of the state at a time when the highest efficiency was required. but the distinction between such conditions here and the pre-war conditions in germany is that they obtained, although in milder form, in germany in peace times as well. and the anglo-saxon conception of the state is as of a thing existing for the sake of the people and with no possible interests that cannot be served by the democratic and individualistic development of its people. between this conception and the conception held by germany's rulers there is a wide and irreconcilable difference. apart, however, from any consideration of the merits of the german system, it must be admitted that the world has never seen another such intelligent application of principles of statecraft to the end sought to be attained. that the system eventually collapsed was not due to its internal faults, but to abnormal and unforeseeable events. the extent of its collapse, however, was directly due to the structure of the system itself. it has already been pointed out that authority was the keynote of the german system. this authority, embodied in school and church, began to mold the plastic mind of the german child as early as the age of six. "the emperor is the father of his country and loves his children like a father; we owe him the obedience due to a father," taught the school. "submit yourselves unto authority," said the church, using paul's words to serve the ends of the state. the child came from school and church to his military service and found authority enthroned there. he had to obey the orders of every _vorgesetzter_ (superior in authority) from field marshal down to corporal. he found that, in the absence of officers or non-commissioned officers, he must submit himself to the authority of the _stubenältester_, the senior soldier in the same room with him. insubordination was punished rigorously. precept, example and punishment were but a part of a system calculated to make discipline and submission to authority advisable and profitable. the penalties prescribed by the german penal and military codes for infractions of the laws were far less severe than the penalties prescribed in the code of any american state, but conviction was followed by a consequence of great moment in germany: the man who was _vorbestraft_, that is, who had been punished for any transgression, found himself automatically excluded from any opportunity to become a _beamter_, or government official. the system of punishment had always as its chief purpose the laying of emphasis upon duty, and this was often arrived at in an indirect way. for example, the soldier who failed to keep his valuables in the locker provided for him in his barracks and who lost them by theft, was punished for his own negligence. no other country in the world employed so large a proportion of its total population in the administration of government, and in no other country was the system so cleverly calculated to make government office attractive to the average man. the salaries were not larger than those earned by men of the same class in non-official employments, but employment under the government offered in addition both material and moral advantages. the chief material advantage was the right to retire after a specified number of years of service on liberal pension. the moral advantages rested in the dignity of government service and in the special protection afforded government servants. a carefully graded scale of titles made its appeal to personal vanity. this has frequently been described as particularly german, but it was, in the last analysis, merely human. there are comparatively few men in any country, not excluding america, who are totally indifferent to titles, and there is at least one state whose fondness for them has become a stock subject for all american humorists. what was, however, particularly german was the astuteness with which the ruling-classes of germany had turned this human weakness to account as an asset of government, and also the extent to which it had been developed, especially downward. mr. smith, who cleans the streets of an american city, would not be especially gratified to be addressed as mr. street-cleaner, but his german colleague felt a glow of pride at hearing the address "herr street-cleaner schmidt," and this feeling was a very real asset to his government. it was the same at the other end of the scale. the government councillor was the more faithful and energetic in his devotion to the government's work because he knew that by faithfulness and energy he would eventually become a "privy government councillor" and the next step would be to "real privy government councillor, with the predicate 'your excellency'." and since wives bore the titles of their husbands, the appeal was doubly strong. the _beamter_ enjoyed furthermore special protection under the law. to call an ordinary person "idiot," for example, was a _beleidigung_ or insult, but the same term applied to a _beamter_ became _beamtenbeleidigung_, or "insult to an official," and involved a much sharper punishment, and this punishment increased with the dignity of the person insulted until the person of the kaiser was reached, an insult to whom was _majestätsbeleidigung_, an insult to majesty, or _lèse majesté_, as the french term it. prosecutions for _majestätsbeleidigung_ were not frequent, but the law was occasionally invoked. one of the last prosecutions for this offense occurred in , when a man who had demonstratively turned a picture of the kaiser toward the wall in the presence of a large gathering was sent to jail for four months. personal vanity was further exploited by a system of orders, decorations and civil-service medals. this system originated from an ancient custom which, with increasing travel, had become onerous. royalty was everywhere expected to tip servants only with gold, and since the smallest gold coin was the equivalent of the american $ . -piece, this constituted a severe financial tax on the poorer ruler of small principalities, who traveled much. one of these petty rulers conceived the bright idea of creating a system of bronze orders or medallions and substituting these inexpensive decorations for tips. the event justified his expectations; they were esteemed more highly than cash tips by people whose vanity was flattered at receiving a "decoration" from royalty. eventually all states and the empire adopted them. on fête days railway station-masters could be recognized on the streets by their numerous decorations. the railway-engineer, the mail-carrier, the janitor in a government office--all these men knew that so many years of loyal service meant recognition in the form of some sort of decoration for the coat-lapel, and these, in the stratum of society in which they moved, were just as highly regarded as was the red eagle or hohenzollern house order in higher classes of society. there is no room whatever for doubt that these things, whose actual cost was negligible, played a large part in securing faithful and devoted service to the government and compensated largely--and especially in the case of higher officials--for somewhat niggardly salaries. a prominent english statesman, visiting berlin some years before the war, expressed to the writer his regret that england had not built up a similar system, which, in his opinion, was a powerful factor in securing a cheap and good administration of public affairs. like the system of titles, it took advantage of a weakness not merely german, but human. instances of the refusal of foreign orders and decorations by americans are rare. all these things, then, were factors of almost inestimable value in building up a strong governmental machine. at bottom, however, the whole structure rested upon another factor which should receive ungrudging admiration and recognition, regardless of one's attitude toward germany or its governing classes. this was the strong sense of duty inculcated in every german, man or woman, from lowest to highest. self-denial, a spartan simplicity, faithfulness in the discharge of one's obligations--these were the characteristics that set their seal upon the average german. in some of the larger cities, and notably in berlin, the spartan ideals of life had been somewhat abandoned in the years preceding the war, but elsewhere they persisted, and nowhere to a greater extent than among the ruling-classes of prussia, the so-called _junker_. former ambassador gerard has paid a deserved tribute to this class,[ ] and the universal condemnation visited upon them by democratic peoples cannot justify a refusal to give them their due. [ ] "there is no leisure class among the junkers. they are all workers, patriotic, honest and devoted to the emperor and the fatherland. if it is possible that government by one class is to be suffered, then the prussian junkers have proved themselves more fit for rule than any class in history. their virtues are spartan, their minds narrow but incorruptible, and their bravery and patriotism undoubted. one can but admire them and their stern, virtues." james w. gerard, _my four years in germany_, p. . this uncompromising devotion to duty had its roots in old prussian history. frederick william i, father of frederick the great, threatened his son with death if he were found derelict in what the stern old man regarded as the duty of a future ruler. the whole rule of frederick the great was marked by a rigid sense of duty. he termed himself "the first servant of the state," and no servant worked harder or allowed himself less leisure or fewer bodily comforts. it was this monarch who, told of a brave act of sacrifice by one of his officers, refused to consider it as anything calling for special recognition. _er hat nur seine verdammte pflicht und schuldigkeit getan_ (he did only his accursed duty), said the king. this saying became the formula that characterized the attitude of the prussian-german _beamten_ in their relations to the state. whatever was (or was represented as) their "accursed duty" must be done, regardless of personal considerations or rewards. in the catalogue of virtues enumerated we have one important group of prerequisites to efficient government. there remain two things: intelligence and education. the first can be dismissed briefly. the average of intelligence in all civilized countries is probably much the same. there would not be much difference in native capacity and ability between the best thousand of a million germans or of a million men of any other race. in respect of education and training, however, german officials as a whole were at least the equal of any body of government servants anywhere in the world and the superior of most. in the first place, educational qualifications were definitely laid down for every category of officials. nor were these qualifications determined, as in the american civil-service, by an examination. the candidate must have attended school and taken the prescribed course for a term of years, varying with the importance of the government career to which he aspired. this insured the possession of adequate educational qualifications of civil servants, and there was another thing of first importance in the building up of a strong and efficient civil-service. the "spoils system" in connection with public office was absolutely unknown in germany. the idea that appointments to the government's service should depend upon the political faith of the appointee was one that never occurred to any german. if it had occurred to him it would have been immediately dismissed as inconsistent with the best administration of the government's affairs, as, indeed, it is. the only partisan qualification, or rather limitation, upon eligibility to public office was that members of the social-democratic party were ineligible, and that government employees might not become members of that party. from the standpoint of the ruling-classes this was natural. it was more; it was requisite. for the german socialists were the avowed and uncompromising enemies of the existing government; they were advocates of a republic; they were the outspoken enemies of all authority except the authority of their own class, for which they assumed to be the only legitimate spokesmen, and they were, like socialists the world over, internationalists first and patriots second. no government could be expected to help its bitterest opponents to power by giving places of honor and profit to their representatives. the tenure of government officials, except, of course, that of ministers, was for life. promotion was by merit, not by influence. the result was an efficiency which is generally admitted. the municipal administration of german cities in particular became the model for the world. the system withstood the practical test; it worked. the chief burgomaster of greater berlin is a man whose whole life-training has been devoted to the administration of cities. beginning in a subordinate position in a small city, he became eventually its burgomaster (mayor), then mayor of a larger city, and so on until he was called to take charge of the administration of the empire's largest city. his career is typical of the german pre-revolutionary methods of choosing public servants, and the same principle was applied in every department of the government's service. from the purposely brief sketch of german officialdom's characteristics and efficiency which has been presented it will be apparent that such a system was a powerful weapon in the hands of any ruling-class. its efficiency might reasonably be expected to crush any revolution in the bud, and the loyalty of the men composing it might equally be expected to maintain to the last their allegiance to the classes that represented authority, with its supreme fount in the person of the ruler himself. that these expectations were not fulfilled would seem to testify to the inherent and irresistible strength of the revolution that upset it. we shall see later, however, that it was a different class of men with whom the revolution had to cope. against the spirit of german officialdom of ante-bellum days revolution would have raised its head in vain. the authority of the german state had another and even more powerful weapon than the _beamtentum_. this was the military establishment and the officer-corps. upon this in the first instance the throne of the hohenzollerns was supported. enlightened democracy discovered centuries ago that a large standing army may easily become the tool of absolutism and the enemy of free institutions. this discovery found expression in england in the consistent refusal of parliament to create an army in permanence. the laws establishing the english army had to be renewed periodically, so that it was possible at any time for the representatives of the people to draw the teeth of the military force if an attempt should be made to use that force for tyrannical ends. but the germans, as has already been explained, lacked democratic training and perceptions. germany was moreover in a uniquely dangerous position. no other great power had such an unfavorable geographical situation. on the west was france, and there were thousands of germans who had been told by their fathers the story of the napoleonic slavery. on the east was russia, stronghold of absolutism, with inexhaustible natural resources and a population more than twice germany's. great britain commanded the seas, and germany had to import or starve. it cannot fairly be doubted that, placed in a similar situation, the most pacific nation would have armed itself to the teeth. but--and this is all-important--it is difficult to imagine that such other nation would have become militaristic. the stock answer of german apologists to the accusations regarding "militarism" as exemplified in prussia-germany has been the assertion that france spent more money _per capita_ on her military establishment than did germany. this statement is true, but those making it overlooked the real nature of the charge against them. they did not realize that militarism, as the world saw it in their country, was not concrete, but abstract; it was, in brief, a state of mind. it could have existed equally well if the army had been but a quarter as large, and it did not exist in france, which, in proportion to her population, had a larger army than germany. it exalted the profession of arms above all else; it divided the people into two classes, military and civilians. its spirit was illustrated strikingly by the fact that when wilhelm ii ascended the throne, his first act was to issue a proclamation to the army, but it was not until three days later that his proclamation to the people was issued. militarism gave the youngest lieutenant at court precedence over venerable high civilian officials. the spirit of militarism permeated even to the remotest corners of daily activity in all walks of life. the gatekeeper at a railway crossing must stand at attention, with his red flag held in a prescribed manner, while the train is passing. a berlin mail-carrier was punished for saluting a superior with his left hand, instead of with the right. a street-car conductor was fined for driving his car between two wagons of a military transport. this was in peace times, and the transport was conveying hay. that the passengers in the car would otherwise have had to lose much time was of no consequence; nothing could be permitted to interfere with anything hallowed by connection with the military establishment. when herr von bethmann hollweg was appointed imperial chancellor it was necessary to give him military rank, since he had never held it. he was created a general, for it could not be suffered that a mere civilian should occupy the highest post in the empire next to the kaiser. the kaiser rarely showed himself in public in civilian attire. it was but natural that the members of the officer-corps held an exalted opinion of their own worth and dignity. militarism is everywhere tarred with the same stick, and army officers, if freed from effective civil control, exhibit in all lands the same tendency to arbitrariness and to a scorn and contempt for mere civilians. such release from control is seen in other lands, however, only in time of war, whereas it was a permanently existing state of affairs in germany. it worked more powerfully there than would have been the case anywhere else, for all the country's traditions and history were of a nature to exalt military service. ravaged by war for centuries, germany's greatness had been built up by the genius of her army leaders and the bravery and loyalty of her soldiers. hundreds of folksongs and poems known to every german child glorified war and its heroes. the youthful theodor körner, writing his _gebet vor der schlacht_ (prayer before the battle) by the light of the bivouac-fires a few hours before the battle in which he was killed, makes a picture that must appeal even to persons who abhor war. how much greater, then, must its appeal have been to a military folk! the german officer was encouraged to consider himself of better clay than the ordinary civilian. his "honor" was more delicate than the honor of women. it was no infrequent occurrence for an officer, willing to right by marriage a woman whom he had wronged, to be refused permission either because she did not have a dowry corresponding to his rank, or because she was of a lower social class. duelling among officers was encouraged, and to step on an officer's foot, or even to stare too fixedly at him _(fixieren)_ was an insult calling for a duel. an officer's credit was good everywhere. his word was as readily accepted as a civilian's bond, and honesty requires that it be said that his trust was rarely misplaced. his exaggerated ideas of honor led frequently to an arrogant conduct toward civilians, and occasionally to assaults upon offenders, which in a few instances took the form of a summary sabering of the unfortunate victim.[ ] [ ] some travelers and a certain class of correspondents have unduly exaggerated the conditions referred to. they have pictured murders of this sort as of frequent occurrence, and, if they could be believed, german officers made it a custom to require women in the street cars to surrender their seats to them. in many years' residence in germany the author learned of but two cases of the murder of civilians by officers, and he never saw a display of rudeness toward a woman. the german officer almost invariably responded in kind to courtesy, but he did expect and require deference from civilians. the crassest of the outward, non-political manifestations of militarism in recent years was the zabern affair. a young lieutenant had sabered a crippled shoemaker for a real or fancied offense against military rules. the townspeople made a demonstration against the officer, and the colonel commanding the regiment stationed at zabern locked a number of the civilians in the cellar of the barracks and kept them there all night. this was too much even for a docile german reichstag, and an excited debate was followed by the passing of a vote of censure on a government which, through the mouths of its chancellor and war minister, had justified the colonel's actions. the colonel and the lieutenant were convicted upon trial and adequate sentences were imposed upon them, but the convictions were significantly set aside upon appeal and both escaped punishment. it was in connection with this affair that the german crown prince earned the censure of the soberer german elements by sending an encouraging telegram to the arbitrary colonel. militarism, in the aspects discussed, was a purely internal affair and concerned only the german people themselves. but there was another aspect, and it was this that made it a menace to the peace of the world and to true democracy. the very possession of an admirable weapon is a constant temptation to use it. this temptation becomes stronger in proportion as it springs with inclination. the germans of the last fifty years were not a bellicose people. they had suffered too greatly from wars within the recollection of millions of men and women still living. on the other hand, they were familiar with war and the thought of it did not invoke the same repugnant fears and apprehensions as among less sorely tested peoples. the mothers of every generation except the youngest knew what it meant to see husbands, sons and brothers don the king's coat and march away behind blaring bands; they knew the anxiety of waiting for news after the battle, and the grief that comes with the announcement of a loved one's death, and they considered it dimly, if they philosophized about it at all, as one of the things that must be and against which it were unavailing to contend. but the officers as a whole were bellicose. the reasons are multifold. it is inherent in the profession that officers generally are inclined to desire war, if for no other reason, than because it means opportunities for advancement and high honors. beyond this, the german officer's training and traditions taught him that war was in itself a glorious thing. in trying to understand the influences that dominated the government of germany in its relations to foreign countries it must be clearly realized and remembered that the real rulers of germany came from the caste that had for nearly two centuries furnished the majority of the members of the officer-corps. the emperor-king, assuming to rule by the grace of god, in reality ruled by the grace of the old nobility and landed gentry of prussia, from whose ranks he sprang. this had been aptly expressed eighty years earlier by the poet chamisso, in whose _nachtwächterlied_ appear the lines: _und der könig absolut,_ _wenn er unseren willen tut!_ (let the king be absolute so long as he does our will.) it was inevitable that the views of this class should determine the views of government, and the only remarkable thing about the situation was that some of the men who, by the indirect mandate of this caste, were responsible for the conduct of the government, were less bellicose and more pacific than their mandate-givers. there were some men who, infected with the virus of militarism, dreamed of the _welt-imperium_, the eventual domination of the world by germany, to be attained by peaceful methods if possible, but under the threatening shadow of the empire's mighty military machine, which could be used if necessary. yet even in their own caste they formed a minority. such, in brief outline, was germany--an empire built on the bayonets of the world's greatest and most efficient army and administered by tens of thousands of loyal and efficient civil servants. how was it possible that it could be overthrown? in the last analysis it was not overthrown; it was destroyed from within by a cancer that had been eating at its vitals for eighty years. and the seeds of this cancer, by the strange irony of fate, were sown in germany and cultivated by germans. the cancer was socialism, or social-democracy, as it is termed in germany. chapter iii. internationalism and vaterlandslose gesellen. the concluding statement in the previous chapter must by no means be taken as a general arraignment of socialism, and it requires careful explanation. indiscriminately to attack socialism in all its economic aspects testifies rather to mental hardihood than to an understanding of these aspects. a school of political thought which has so powerfully affected the polity of all civilized nations in the last fifty years and has put its impress upon the statutes of those countries cannot be lightly dismissed nor condemned without qualification. citizens of the recently allied countries will be likely also to see merit in socialism because of the very fact that, in one of its aspects, it played a large part in overthrowing an enemy government. let this be clearly set down and understood at the very beginning: the aspects of socialism that made the german governmental system ripe for fall were and are inimical not only to the governmental systems of all states, but to the very idea of the state itself. more: the men responsible for the _débâcle_ in germany--and in russia--regard the united states as the chief stronghold of capitalism and of the privilege of plutocracy, and the upsetting of this country's government would be hailed by them with as great rejoicing as were their victories on the continent. the aspect of socialism that makes it a menace to current theories of government is "internationalism"--its doctrine that the scriptural teaching that all men are brothers must become of general application, and the negation of patriotism and the elimination of state boundaries which that doctrine logically and necessarily implies. and this doctrine was "made in germany." the basic idea of socialism goes back to the eighteenth century, but its name was first formulated and applied by the englishman robert owen in . essentially this school of political thought maintains that land and capital generally--the "instruments of production"--should become the property of the state or society. "the alpha and omega of socialism is the transformation of private competing aggregations of capital into a united collective capital."[ ] ethically socialism is merely new testament christianity, but, as will be seen later, it is in effect outspokenly material, irreligious and even actively anti-religious. [ ] _die quintessenz des sozialismus_, by schäffle. socialism received its first clear and intelligent formulation at the hands of karl marx and friedrich engels, both germans, although marx was of jewish descent. in these two men reorganized under the name "communist league" a society of socialists already in existence in london. the "manifesto of the communist league" issued by these two men in was the first real proclamation of a socialism with outspoken revolutionary and international aims. it demanded that the laboring-classes should, after seizure of political might, "by despotic interference with the property rights and methods of production of the _bourgeoisie_, little by little take from them all capital and centralize all instruments of production in the hands of the state, i. e., in the hands of the proletariat organized as the ruling-class." marx and engels recommended therefore the expropriation of real estate, the confiscation of the property of all emigrants and the centralization in the hands of the state of all means of credit (banks) and transportation. the dominant idea of the socialism of this period was that set forth by marx in his book, _das kapital_, which became the textbook of the movement. it was, in brief, that all wealth is produced by labor, and that the surplus above the amount necessary for the bare existence of the laborers is appropriated by the capitalists. marx's admirers have often endeavored to show that the communism advocated by him in these first years was not the violent communism that has eventuated in the last years in bolshevism and kindred movements under other names. the question is of only academic interest, in view of the fact that marx himself later realized that existing institutions could not so easily be overturned as he had hoped and believed in . engels had also come to a realization of the same fact, and in , when the two men prepared a new edition of the manifesto of twenty-four years earlier, they admitted frankly: "the practical application of these principles will always and everywhere depend upon historically existing conditions, and we therefore lay no especial stress upon the revolutionary measures proposed. in the face of the tremendous development of industry and of the organization of the laboring-classes accompanying this development, as well as in view of practical experience, this program is already in part antiquated. the commune (of in paris) has supplied the proof that the laboring-class cannot simply take possession of the machinery of state and set it in motion for its own purposes." this awakening, however, came, as has been pointed out, nearly a quarter of a century after the founding of a socialist kindergarten which openly taught revolution. in its first years this kindergarten concerned itself only with national (german) matters, and was only indirectly a menace to other countries by its tendency to awaken a spirit of unrest among the laboring-classes and to set an example which might prove contagious. in , however, the _internationale_ was founded with the coöperation of marx and engels, and socialism became a movement which directly concerned all the states of the world. this development of socialism was logical and natural, for its creed was essentially and in its origins international. it had originated in england in the days of the inhuman exploitation of labor, and especially child-labor, by conscienceless and greedy capitalists. it had been tried out in france. prominent among its advocates were many russians, notably michael bakunin, who later became an anarchist. perhaps the majority of its advocates on the continent were jews or of jewish descent, for no other race has ever been so truly international and so little bound by state lines. the _internationale_ had been in the air for years before it was actually organized; that organization was delayed for sixteen years by no means indicates that the idea was new in . the basic idea of the _internationale_ has already been referred to. it accepted as a working-creed the biblical doctrine that god "hath made of one blood all nations of men," but it disregarded the further declaration in the same verse of the scriptures that he "hath determined the bounds of their habitation." the socialist creed teaches the brotherhood of man and the equality of all men irrespective of race, color or belief. the inescapable corollary of this creed is that patriotism, understood as unreasoning devotion to the real or supposed interests of the state, cannot be encouraged or even suffered. and this standpoint necessarily involves further the eventual obliteration of the state itself, for any state's chief reason for existence in a non-altruistic world is the securing of special privileges, benefits, advantages and protection for its own citizens, without consideration for the inhabitants of other states. if this exercise of its power be prohibited, the state's reason for existence is greatly diminished. indeed, it can have virtually only a social mission left, and a social mission pure and simple cannot inspire a high degree of patriotism. many non-socialist thinkers have perceived the antithesis between the doctrine of the universal brotherhood of man and the particularism of national patriotism. björnstjerne björnson wrote: "patriotism is a stage of transition." this doctrine may come as a shock to the average reader, yet it is undoubtedly a prophetic and accurate statement of what will some day be generally accepted. thoughtfully considered, the idea will be found less shocking than it at first appears. neither björnson nor any other non-socialist contemplates the abandonment of patriotism and state lines except by natural development. the world, in other words, is in a transitional stage, and when this transition shall have been completed it will find a world where the egoism of national patriotism has made way for the altruism of internationalism. and this will have been accomplished without violent revolutionary changes, but merely by a natural and peaceful evolutionary development. against such a development, if it come in the manner described and anticipated, nobody can properly protest. but the socialists of the international school--and this is what makes international socialism a menace to all governments and gradually but surely undermined the german state--will not wait upon the slow processes of transition. upon peoples for whom the flags of their respective countries are still emblems of interests transcending any conceivable interests of peoples outside their own state boundaries, emblems of an idea which must be unquestioningly and unthinkingly accepted and against which no dictates of the brotherhood of other men or the welfare of other human beings have any claim to consideration, the socialists would impose over night their idea of a world without artificial state lines, and would substitute the red flag for those emblems which the majority of all mankind still reverence and adore. it requires no profound thinking to realize that such a change must be preceded by a long period of preparation if anarchy of production and distribution is to be avoided. to impose the rule of an international proletariat under the present social conditions means chaos. the world has seen this exemplified in russia, and yet russia, where the social structure was comparatively simple and industry neither complex nor widely developed, was the country where, if anywhere today, such an experiment might have succeeded. socialist leaders, including even the internationalists, have perceived this. the murdered jaurès saw it clearly. but in the very nature of things, the vast majority of the adherents of these doctrines are not profound thinkers. socialism naturally recruits itself from the lower classes, and it is no disparagement to these to say that they are the least educated. even in states where the higher institutions of learning are free--and there are very few such places--the ability of the poor man's son to attend them is limited by the necessity resting upon him to make his own living or to contribute to the support of his family. the tenets of national socialism naturally appeal to the young man, who feels that he and his fellows are being exploited by those who own the "instruments of production," and who sees himself barred from the educational advantages which wealth gives. from the acceptance of the economic tenets of national socialism to advocacy of internationalism is but a small step, easy to take for one who, in joining the socialist party, finds himself the associate of men who address him as "comrade" and who look forward to a day when all men, white, black or yellow, shall also be comrades under one flag and enlisted in one cause--the cause of common humanity. these men realize no more than himself the fact that existing social conditions are the result of historical development and that they cannot be violently and artificially altered without destroying the delicate balance of the whole machine. and since this is the state of mind of the majority of the "comrades," even the wisest leaders can apply the brakes only with great moderation, for the leader who lags too far behind the majority of his party ceases to be a leader and finds his place taken by less intelligent or less scrupulous men. ferdinand lassalle, the brilliant but erratic young man who organized the first socialist party in germany, was a national socialist. his party grew slowly at first, and in , when he died, it had but , members. in marx aided by august bebel and wilhelm liebknecht,[ ] formed the rival confederation of german unions upon an internationalistic basis. this organization joined the _internationale_ at its congress in nuremburg in . the parties of marx and lassalle maintained their separate identities until , when they effected a fusion at a congress in gotha. the marx adherents numbered at that time about , men and the lassalle adherents some , , but the latter had already virtually accepted the doctrines of international socialism and the _internationale_, and the german socialists had until the breaking out of the world war maintained their place as the apostles and leaders of internationalism. [ ] called "the elder liebknecht" to distinguish him from his son karl liebknecht, who was killed while under arrest in berlin in the winter of . socialism first showed itself as a political factor in germany in , when five socialists were elected to the north german diet. two _genossen_[ ] were sent to the first reichstag in , with a popular vote of , , and six years later nearly a half million red votes were polled and twelve socialists took their seats in the reichstag. the voting-strength of the party in berlin alone increased from , in to , in , or almost ninefold. [ ] _genosse_, comrade, is the term by which all german-speaking socialists address each other. a propaganda of tremendous extent and extreme ability was carried on. no _bourgeois_ german politician except bismarck ever had such a keen appreciation of the power of the printed word as did those responsible for socialism's missionary work. daily newspapers, weekly periodicals and monthly magazines were established, and german socialism was soon in possession of the most extensive and best conducted socialist press in the world. the result was two-fold: the press contributed mightily to the spreading of its party's doctrines and at the same time furnished a school in which were educated the majority of the party leaders. probably three quarters of the men who afterward became prominent in the party owed their rise and, to a great extent, their general education to their service on the editorial staffs of their party's press. by intelligent reports and special articles on news of interest to all members of the _internationale_, whether german, french, english, or of what nationality they might be, this press made itself indispensable to the leaders of that movement all over the world, and contributed greatly to influencing the ideas of the socialists of other lands. bismarck's clear political vision saw the menace in a movement which openly aimed at the establishment of a german republic and at the eventual overthrow of all _bourgeois_ governments and the elimination of local patriotism and state lines. in he secured from the reichstag the enactment of the famous _ausnahmegesetze_ or special laws, directed against the socialists. they forbade socialist publications and literature in general, prohibited the holding of socialist meetings or the making of speeches by adherents of the party. even the circulation of socialist literature was prohibited. the _ausnahmegesetze_ legalized as an imperial measure the treatment that had already been meted out to socialists in various states of the empire. following the gotha congress in , fifty-one delegates to the congress were sent to prison. wilhelm liebknecht received a sentence of three years and eight months and bebel of two years and eleven months. in saxony, from to , fifty socialists underwent prison sentences aggregating more than forty years. but socialism throve on oppression. in politics, as in religion, the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. it would be praising any statesman of the ' 's too highly to say that he had learned that ideas cannot be combated with brute force, for the rulers of the world have not yet learned it. but bismarck did perceive that, to give any promise of success, opposition to socialism must be based upon constructive statesmanship. to many of the party's demands no objection could be made by intelligent society. and so, in the address from the throne in , an extended program of state socialism was presented. with the enactment of this program into law germany took the first important step ahead along the road of state socialism, and all her legislation for the next thirty years was profoundly influenced by socialistic thought, in part because of a recognition of the wisdom of some of socialism's tenets, in part because of a desire to draw the party's teeth by depriving it of campaign material. more than a decade earlier the catholic church in germany had recognized the threatening danger and sought to counteract it by the organization of catholic labor unions. it succeeded much better in its purpose than did the government, which is not to be wondered at, since the temporal affairs of the church have always been administered more intelligently than have the state affairs of any of the world's governments. for many years socialism made comparatively small gains in roman catholic districts. a similar effort by the lutheran (state) church in accomplished little, and bismarck's state socialism also accomplished little to stop the spread of socialist doctrines. kaiser wilhelm ii early realized the menace to the state of these enemies of patriotism and of all _bourgeois_ states. in a much quoted speech he termed the socialists _vaterlandslose gesellen_ (fellows without a fatherland). the designation stung all german socialists, who, ready as they were in theory to disavow all attachment to any state, did not relish this kind of public denunciation by their monarch. the word _gesellen_, too, when used in this sense has an unpleasant connotation. the socialists, whose political tenets necessarily made them opponents of royalty and monarchism everywhere, were particularly embittered against a kaiser whose contempt for them was so openly expressed. their press, which consistently referred to him baldly as "wilhelm ii" sailed as closely into the wind of _lèse majesté_ as possible, and sometimes too closely. leading socialist papers had their special _sitzredacteur_, or "sitting-editor," whose sole function consisted in "sitting out" jail sentences for insulting the kaiser or other persons in authority. police officials, taking their keynote from the kaiser, prosecuted and persecuted socialists relentlessly and unintelligently. funeral processions were stopped to permit policemen to remove red streamers and ribbons from bouquets on the coffins, and graves were similarly desecrated if the friends or mourners had ventured to bind their floral offerings with the red of revolutionary socialism. the laws authorizing police supervision of all public meetings were relentlessly enforced against socialists, and their gatherings were dissolved by the police-official present at the least suggestion of criticism of the authorities. there was no practical remedy against this abuse of power. an appeal to the courts was possible, but a decision in june that a meeting in the preceding january had been illegally dissolved did not greatly help matters. socialist meetings could not be held in halls belonging to a government or municipality, and the socialists often or perhaps generally found it impossible to secure meeting-places in districts where the conservatives or national liberals were in control. federal, state and municipal employees were forbidden to subscribe for socialist publications, or to belong to that party. the extent of these persecutions is indicated by a report made to the socialist congress at halle in , shortly after the _ausnahmegesetze_ had expired by limitation, after a vain attempt had been made to get the reichstag to reenact them. in the twelve years that the law had been in operation, journals and , books and pamphlets had been prohibited; members of the party had been banished from germany without trial; , had been arrested on various charges and of these punished for violations of the law. the _ausnahmegesetze_ failed of their purpose just as completely as did the six acts[ ] of in england. even in , the very year these laws were enacted, the socialists polled more votes than ever before. in their total popular vote in the empire was , , , which was larger than the vote cast for any other single party. they should have had eighty members in that year's reichstag, but the shift in population and consequent disproportionateness of the election districts kept the number of socialist deputies down to thirty-seven. at the reichstag election of their popular vote was , , , with forty-four deputies. [ ] these acts were passed by parliament after the manchester riots of : to prevent seditious meetings for a discussion of subjects connected with church or state; to subject cheap periodical pamphlets on political subjects to a duty; to give magistrates the power of entering houses, for the purpose of seizing arms believed to be collected for unlawful purposes. it may be seriously questioned whether bismarck's unfortunate legislation did not actually operate to increase the socialists' strength. certain it is that it intensified the feeling of bitterness against the government, by men whose very creed compelled them to regard as their natural enemy even the most beneficent _bourgeois_ government, and who saw themselves stamped as pariahs. this feeling found expression at the party's congress in at wyden, when a sentence of the program declaring that the party's aim should be furthered "by every lawful means" was changed to read, "by every means." it must in fairness be recorded, however, that the revolutionary threat of this change appeared to have no effect on the subsequent attitude of the party leaders or their followers. the record of german socialism is remarkably free from violence and sabotage, and the revolution of was, as we shall see, the work of men of a different stamp from the elder liebknecht and the sturdy and honest bebel. two great factors in the growth of socialism in germany remain to be described. these were, first, the peculiar tendency of the teutonic mind, already mentioned, to abstract philosophical thought, without regard to practicalities, and, second, the accident that the labor-union movement in germany was a child of party-socialism. socialism, in the last analysis, is nearer to new testament christianity than is any other politico-economic creed, and the professions and habits of thought of nearly all men in enlightened countries are determined or at least powerfully influenced by the precepts of christ, no matter how far their practices may depart from these precepts. few even of those most strongly opposed to socialism oppose it on ethical grounds. their opposition is based on the conviction that it is unworkable and impracticable; that it fails to take into consideration the real mainsprings of human action and conduct as society is today constituted. in an ideally altruistic society, they admit, it would be feasible, but, again, such a society would have no need of it. in other words, the fundamental objection is the objection of the practical man. whether his objection is insuperable it is no part of the purpose of the writer to discuss. what it is desired to make plain is that socialism appeals strongly to the dreamer, the closet-philosopher who concerns himself with abstract ethical questions without regard to their practicality or practicability as applied to the economic life of an imperfect society. and there are more men of this type in germany than in any other country. loosely and inefficiently organized labor unions had existed in germany before the birth of the socialist movement, but they existed independently of each other and played but a limited rôle. the first labor organization of national scope came on may , , at leipsic, when lassalle was instrumental in founding _der allgemeine deutsche arbeiterverein_ (national german workmen's union). organized labor, thus definitely committed to socialism, remained socialist. to become a member of a labor union in germany--or generally anywhere on the continent--means becoming an enrolled member of the socialist party at the same time. the only non-socialist labor organizations in germany were the catholic hirsch-duncker unions, organized at the instance of the roman catholic church to prevent the spread of socialism. these were boycotted by all socialists, who termed them the "yellow unions," and regarded them as union workmen in america regard non-union workers. it goes without saying that a political party which automatically enrolls in its membership all workmen who join a labor union cannot help becoming powerful. that international socialism is inimical to nationalism and patriotism has already been pointed out, but a word remains to be said on this subject with reference to specific german conditions. we have already seen how the germany of the beginning of the nineteenth century was a loose aggregation of more than three hundred dynasties, most of which were petty principalities. the heritage of that time was a narrowly limited state patriotism which the germans termed _particularismus_, or particularism. let the american reader assume that the state of texas had originally consisted of three hundred separate states, each with its own government, and with customs and dialects varying greatly in the north and south. assume further that, after seventy years filled with warfare and political strife, these states had been re-formed into twenty-six states, with the ruler of the most powerful at the head of the new federation, and that several of the twenty-six states had reserved control over their posts, telegraphs, railways and customs as the price for joining the federation. even then he will have but a hazy picture of the handicaps with which the imperial german government had to contend. particularism was to the last the curse and weakness of the german empire. the prussian regarded himself first as a prussian and only in second place as a german. the bavarian was more deeply thrilled by the white-and-blue banner of his state than by the black-white-red of the empire. the republican hamburger thanked the providence that did not require him to live across the elbe in the city of altona, which was prussian, and the inhabitants of the former kingdoms, duchies and principalities of western germany that became a part of prussia during the decades preceding the formation of the empire regularly referred to themselves as _muss-preussen_, that is, "must-prussians," or prussians by compulsion. the attempt to stretch this narrowly localized patriotism to make it cover the whole empire could not but result in a seriously diluted product, which offered a favorable culture-medium for the bacillus of internationalism. and in any event, to apply the standards of abstract ethical reasoning to patriotism is fatal. the result may be to leave a residue of traditional and racial attachment to one's state, but that is not sufficient, in the present stage of human society, for the maintenance of a strong government. patriotism of the my-country-right-or-wrong type must, like revealed religion, be accepted on faith. german patriotism was never of this extreme type, and in attacking it the socialists made greater headway than would have been the case in most countries. the socialists had thus seriously weakened the state at two vital points. by their continuous advocacy of a republic and their obstructive tactics they had impaired to a considerable extent the authority of the state, and autocratic government rests upon authority. by their internationalist teachings they had shaken the foundations of patriotism. and there is still another count against them. opponents of socialism accuse its advocates of being enemies of the christian religion and the church. socialists declare in reply that socialism, being a purely economic school of thought, does not concern itself with religious matters in any manner. they point out further that the programs of socialist parties in all lands expressly declare religion to be a private matter and one about which the party does not concern itself. this is only part of the truth. it is true that socialism officially regards religion as a private matter, but german socialism--and the socialism of other lands as well--is in practice the bitter enemy of the organized church. there is an abundance of evidence to prove this assertion, but the following quotations will suffice. august bebel, one of the founders of german socialism, said: "we aim in the domain of politics at republicanism, in the domain of economics at socialism, and in the domain of what is today called religion at atheism."[ ] [ ] quoted by w. h. dawson in _german socialism and ferdinand lassalle_, ch. . _vorwärts_, central organ of german socialism, wrote on july , : "we would fight churches and preachers even if the preachers and curates were the most conscientious of men." _vorwärts_ contrived also to add insult to the statement by using the word _pfaffen_ for preachers, a word having a contemptuous implication in this sense throughout northern germany. karl kautsky, for years one of the intellectual leaders of the socialist movement in germany and one of its ablest and most representative publicists, said:[ ] "the one-sided battle against the congregations, as it is being carried on today in france, is merely a pruning of the boughs of the tree, which then merely flourishes all the more strongly. the ax must be laid to the roots." [ ] die neue zeit, , vol. i, p. . _genosse_ dr. erdmann, writing after the war had begun, said: "we have no occasion to conceal the fact that social-democracy is hostile to the church--whether catholic or evangelical--and that we present our demands with special decision because we know that we shall thus break the power of the church."[ ] [ ] sozialistische monatshefte, , vol. i, p. . _vorwärts_ headlined an article in january, : "all religious systems are enemies of women." (the socialists nevertheless had the effrontery during the campaign preceding the election of delegates to the national assembly at weimar in january to put out a placard saying: "women, protect your religion! vote for the social-democratic party of germany!"). the initial activities of the workmen's and soldiers' councils in hamburg and brunswick following the revolution were correctly described in a speech made in the national assembly on march , , by deputy mumm. he said: "the revolutionary government in hamburg has retained the bordells and abolished religious instruction. in brunswick the school children of the capital, , in number, were assembled in the cathedral by the people's commissioners for an anti-christian christmas celebration." at the same session, deputy hellmann, a member of the majority (parent) socialist party, said in a speech in answer to mumm: "the church, like all social institutions, is subject to constant change, and will eventually disappear." quotations like the preceding could be multiplied indefinitely, as could also acts consistent with these anti-religious views. the first minister of cults (_kultusminister_) appointed by the revolutionary government in prussia was adolf hoffmann, a professed atheist, although this ministry has charge of the affairs of the church. the socialist literature and press in all countries abound in anti-religious utterances. to quote one is to give a sample of all. the _social-demokraten_ of stockholm, official organ of the swedish socialists and reckoned among the sanest, ablest and most conservative of all social-democratic press organs, forgets, too, that religion is a private matter. it reports a sermon by archbishop söderblom, wherein the speaker declared that the church must have enough expansive force to conquer the masses who are now coming to power in various lands, and adds this characteristic comment: "the archbishop is a brave man who is not afraid to install a motor in the venerable but antiquated skiff from the lake of genesareth. if only the boat will hold him up!" this attitude of socialism is comprehensible and logical, for no student of world history can deny that an established church has been in all ages and still is one of the strongest bulwarks of an autocratic state. from the very dawn of organized government, centuries before the christian era, the priesthood, where it did not actually govern, has powerfully upheld the arm of civil authority and property rights. even in democratic england it teaches the child to "be content in the station whereto it has pleased god to call me," and is thus a factor in upholding the class distinctions against which socialism's whole campaign is directed. in opposing the church as an institution social-democracy is thus merely true to its cardinal tenets. if the power of the church be destroyed or materially weakened, a serious blow is dealt to the government which that church supported. people who, at the command of the church, have been unquestioningly rendering unto cæsar the things that are cæsar's, begin to ask themselves: "but what things are cæsar's?" and when the people begin seriously to consider this question, autocracy is doomed. the effect of the socialist campaign against the church began to make itself felt a decade or more before the war began. withdrawals from the church became so frequent that the government was seriously concerned. the number of those who termed themselves _dissident_ (dissenter) or _religionslos_ (without any religion) increased rapidly. clergymen preached the doctrines of christ to empty benches; _religionslose genossen_ preached the doctrines of class warfare and disloyalty to state to socialist audiences that filled their meeting-places. thus the cancer ate its way into the vitals of the empire. chapter iv. germany under the "hunger-blockade." the men whose duty it was to take every measure to increase germany's preparedness for war and her ability to carry on an extended conflict had long realized that the empire had one very vulnerable point. this was her inability to feed and clothe her inhabitants and her consequent dependence on imports of foodstuffs and raw materials. germany in the days of her greatness occupied so large a place in the sun that one is prone to forget that this mighty empire was erected on an area much less than that of the state of texas. texas, with , square miles, was , square miles greater than the whole german empire. and germany's population was two-thirds that of the entire united states! germany was, moreover, comparatively poor in natural resources. the march (province) brandenburg, in which berlin is situated, is little more than a sandheap, and there are other sections whose soil is poor and infertile. nor was it, like america, virgin soil; on the contrary, it had been cultivated for centuries. driven by stern necessity, the germans became the most intelligent and successful farmers of the world. their average yields of all crops per acre exceeded those of any other country, and were from one and a half to two times as large as the average yield in the united states. the german farmer raised two and one half times more potatoes per acre than the average for the united states. he was aided by an adequate supply of cheap farm labor and by unlimited supplies of potash at low prices, since germany, among her few important natural resources, possessed a virtual monopoly of the world's potash supply. try as they would, however, the german farmers could not feed and clothe more than about forty of germany's nearly seventy millions. even this was a tremendous accomplishment, which can be the better appreciated if one attempts to picture the state of texas feeding and clothing four of every ten inhabitants of the united states. strenuous efforts were made by the german government to increase this proportion. moorlands were reclaimed and extensive projects for such reclamation were being prepared when the war came. the odds were too great, however, and the steady shift of population toward the cities made it increasingly difficult to cultivate all the available land and likewise increased the amount of food required, since there is an inevitable wastage in transportation. what this shift of population amounted to is indicated by the fact that whereas the aggregate population of the rural districts in was . per cent of the total population, it was but per cent in . during the same period the percentage of the total population living in cities of , population or over had increased from . to . . in the most favorable circumstances about three-sevenths of the food needed by germany must be imported. the government had realized that a war on two fronts would involve a partial blockade, but neither the german government nor any other government did or could foresee that a war would come which would completely encircle germany in effect and make an absolute blockade possible. even if this had been realized it would have made no essential difference, for it must always have remained impossible for germany to become self-supporting. another factor increased the difficulties of provisioning the people. the war, by taking hundreds of able-bodied men and the best horses from the farms, made it from the beginning impossible to farm as intensively as under normal conditions, and resulted even in the second summer of the war in a greatly reduced acreage of important crops. livestock, depleted greatly by slaughtering and by lack of fodder, no longer produced as much manure as formerly, and one of the main secrets of the intelligent farming-methods of the germans was the lavish use of fertilizer. and thus, at a time when even the maximum production would have been insufficient, a production far below the normal average was being secured. germany's dependence on importations is shown by the import statistics for . the figures are in millions of marks. cereals . eggs . fruits . fish . wheaten products . animal fats . butter . rice . southern fruits . meats . live animals . coffee . cacao . it will be observed that the importations of cereals (bread-stuffs and maize) alone amounted to roughly $ , , , without the further item of "wheaten products" for $ , , . fodder for animals was also imported in large quantities. the figures for cereals include large amounts of indian corn, and oilcakes were also imported in the same year to the value of more than $ , , . germany was no more able to clothe and shoe her inhabitants than she was to feed them. further imports for were (in millions of marks): cotton . wool . hides and skins . cotton yarn . flax and hemp . woolen yarn . imports of chemicals and drugs exceeded $ , , ; of copper, $ , , ; of rubber and gutta-percha, $ , , ; of leaf-tobacco, $ , , ; of jute, $ , , ; of petroleum, $ , , . of foodstuffs, germany exported only sugar and vegetable oils in any considerable quantities. the primarily industrial character of the country was evidenced by her exportations of manufactures, which amounted in to a total of $ , , , , and even to make these exportations possible she had imported raw materials aggregating more than $ , , , . the war came, and germany was speedily thrown on her own resources. in the first months various neutrals, including the united states, succeeded in sending some foodstuffs and raw materials into the beleaguered land, but the blockade rapidly tightened until only the scandinavian countries, holland, and switzerland could not be reached directly by it. sweden, with a production insufficient for her own needs, soon found it necessary to stop all exports to germany except of certain so-called "compensation articles," consisting chiefly of paper pulp and iron ore. a continuance of these exports was necessary, since germany required payment in wares for articles which sweden needed and could not secure elsewhere. the same was true of the other neutral countries mentioned. denmark continued to the last to export foodstuffs to germany, but she exported the same quantity of these wares to england. all the exports of foodstuffs and raw materials from all the neutrals during the war were but a drop in the bucket compared with the vast needs of a people of seventy millions waging war, and they played a negligible part in its course. although the german government was confident that the war would last but a few months, its first food-conservation order followed on the heels of the mobilization. the government took over all supplies of breadstuffs and established a weekly ration of four metric pounds per person (about seventy ounces). other similar measures followed fast. meat was rationed, the weekly allowance varying from six to nine ounces in different parts of the empire.[ ] the germans were not great meat-eaters, except in the cities. the average peasant ate meat on sundays, and only occasionally in the middle of the week, and the ration fixed would have been adequate but for one thing. this was the disappearance of fats, particularly lard, from the market. the germans consumed great quantities of fats, which took the place of meat to a large extent. they now found themselves limited to two ounces of butter, lard, and margarine together per week. pork, bacon, and ham were unobtainable, and the other meats which made up the weekly ration were lean and stringy, for there were no longer american oilcakes and maize for the cattle, and the government had forbidden the use of potatoes, rye or wheat as fodder. there had been some twenty-four million swine in germany at the outbreak of the war. there were but four million left at the end. cattle were butchered indiscriminately because there was no fodder, and the survivors, undernourished, gave less and poorer meat per unit than normally. [ ] this allowance had dropped to less than five ounces in prussia in the last months of the war. how great a part milk pays in the feeding of any people is not generally realized. in the united states recent estimates are that milk in its various forms makes up no less than nineteen per cent of the entire food consumed. the percentage was doubtless much greater in germany, where, as in all european countries, much more cheese is eaten per capita than in america. what the german farmer calls _kraftfutter_, such concentrated fodder as oilcakes, maize-meal, etc., had to be imported, since none of these things were produced in germany. the annual average of such importations in the years just preceding the war reached more than five million metric tons, and these importations were virtually all cut off before the end of . the result was that the supply of milk fell off by nearly one half. only very young children, invalids, women in childbed and the aged were permitted to have any milk at all, and that only in insufficient quantities and of low grade. the city of chemnitz boasted of the fact that it had been able at all times to supply a quarter of a liter (less than half a pint!) daily to every child under eight. that this should be considered worth boasting about indicates dimly what the conditions must have been elsewhere. the value of eggs as protein-furnishing food is well known, but even here germany was dependent upon other countries--chiefly russia--for two-fifths of her entire consumption. available imports dropped to a tenth of the pre-war figures, and the domestic production fell off greatly, the hens having been killed for food and also because of lack of fodder. restriction followed upon restriction, and every change was for the worse. the _kriegsbrot_ (war bread) was directed to be made with twenty per cent of potatoes or potato flour and rye. barley flour was later added. wheat and rye are ordinarily milled out around to per cent, but were now milled to per cent. the bread-ration was reduced. the sugar-ration was set at - / pounds monthly. american housewives thought themselves severely restricted when sugar was sold in pound packages and they could buy as much heavy molasses, corn syrups and maple syrup as they desired, but the - / -pound allowance of the german housewife represented the sum total of all sweets available per month. by the autumn of conditions had become all but desperate. it is difficult for one who has not experienced it personally to realize what it means to subsist without rice, cereals such as macaroni, oatmeal, or butter, lard or oil (for two ounces of these articles are little better than none); to be limited to one egg each three weeks, or to five pounds of potatoes weekly; to have no milk for kitchen use, and even no spices; to steep basswood blossoms as a substitute for tea and use dandelion roots or roasted acorns as coffee for which there is neither milk nor sugar, and only a limited supply of saccharine. germany had been a country of many and cheap varieties of cheese, and these took the place of meat to a great extent. cheese disappeared entirely in august, , and could not again be had. in common with most european peoples, the germans had eaten great quantities of fish, both fresh and salted or smoked. the bulk of the salted and smoked fish had come from scandinavia and england, and the blockade cut off this supply. the north sea was in the war-zone, and the german fishermen could not venture out to the good fishing-grounds. the german fishermen of the baltic had, like their north seacoast brethren, been called to the colors in great numbers. their nets could not be repaired or renewed because there was no linen available. fresh fish disappeared from view, and supplies of preserved fish diminished so greatly that it was possible to secure a small portion only every third or fourth week. even this trifling ration could not always be maintained. no german will ever forget the terrible _kohlrübenwinter_ (turnip winter) of - . it took its name from the fact that potatoes were for many weeks unobtainable, and the only substitute that could be had was coarse fodder-turnips. the lack of potatoes and other vegetables increased the consumption of bread, and even in the case of the better-situated families the ration was insufficient. the writer has seen his own children come into the house from their play, hungry and asking for a slice of bread, and go back to their games with a piece of turnip because there was no bread to give them. the situation of hard manual laborers was naturally even worse. the turnip-winter was one of unusual severity, and it was marked by a serious shortage of fuel. thus the sufferings from the cold were added to the pangs of hunger. there was furthermore already an insufficiency of warm clothing.articles of wear were strictly rationed, and the children of the poorer classes were inadequately clad. the minimum number of calories necessary for the nourishment of the average individual is, according to dietetic authorities, , , and even this falls some short of a full ration. yet as early as december, , the caloric value of the complete rations of the german was , , and, if the indigestibility and monotony of the fare be taken into account, even less. to be continuously hungry, to rise from the table hungry, to go to bed hungry, was the universal experience of all but the very well-to-do. not only was the food grossly insufficient in quantity and of poor quality, but the deadly monotony of the daily fare also contributed to break down the strength and, eventually, the very morale of the people. no fats being available, it was impossible to fry anything. from day to day the germans sat down to boiled potatoes, boiled turnips and boiled cabbage, with an occasional piece of stringy boiled beef or mutton, and with the coarse and indigestible _kriegsbrot_, in which fodder-turnips had by this time been substituted for potatoes. the quantity of even such food was limited. a little fruit would have varied this diet and been of great dietetic value, but there was no fruit. _wo bleibt das obst_ (what has become of the fruit?) cried the people, voicing unconsciously the demands of their bodies. the government, which had imported $ , , worth of fruit in , could do nothing. the comparatively few apples raised in germany were mixed with pumpkins and carrots to make what was by courtesy called marmalade, and most of this went to the front, which also secured most of the smaller fruits. a two-pound can of preserved vegetables or fruits was sold to each family--not person--at christmas time. this had to suffice for the year. a delegation of women called on the mayor of schöneberg, one of the municipalities of greater berlin, and declared that they and their families were hungry and must have more to eat. "you will not be permitted to starve, but you must hunger," said the mayor.[ ] [ ] the mayor's statement contains in german a play on words: _ihr sollt nicht verhungern, aber hungern müsst ihr_. the other privations attendant upon hunger also played a great part in breaking down the spirit of the people. in order to secure even the official food-pittance, it was necessary to stand in queues for hours at a time. the trifling allowance of soap consisted of a substitute made largely of saponaceous clay. starch was unobtainable, and there is a deep significance in the saying, "to take the starch out of one." the enormous consumption of tobacco at the front caused a serious shortage at home, and this added another straw to the burdens of the male part of the population. the shortage of cereals brought in its wake a dilution of the once famous german beer until it was little but colored and charged water, without any nourishment whatever. the physical effects of undernutrition and malnutrition made themselves felt in a manner which brought them home to every man. working-capacity dropped to half the normal, or even less. mortality increased by leaps and bounds, particularly among the children and the aged. the death rate of children from to years of age increased per cent; that of children from to by per cent. in alone this increased death rate among children from to years meant an excess of deaths over the normal of more than , in the whole empire. in the year , , deaths from tuberculosis were reported in german municipalities of , inhabitants or more. the same municipalities reported , deaths from tuberculosis in the first six months of , an increase of more than per cent. in berlin alone the death rate for all causes jumped from . per thousand for the first eight months of to . for the first eight months of . according to a report laid before the united medical societies in berlin on december , , the "hunger blockade" was responsible for , deaths in the empire. these figures are doubtless largely based on speculation and probably too high, but one need not be a physician to know that years of malnutrition and undernutrition, especially in the case of children and the aged, mean a greatly increased death rate and particularly a great increase of tuberculosis. in addition to the excess deaths alleged by the german authorities to be directly due to the blockade, there were nearly , deaths from spanish influenza in . these have not been reckoned among the , , but it must be assumed that many would have withstood the attack had they not been weakened by the privations of the four war-years. the enthusiasm that had carried the people through the beginnings of their privations cooled gradually. no moral sentiments, even the most exalted, can prevail against hunger. starving men will fight or steal to get a crust of bread, just as a drowning man clutches at a straw. there have been men in history whose patriotism or devotion to an idea has withstood the test of torture and starvation, but that these are the exception is shown by the fact that history has seen fit to record their deeds. the average man is not made of such stern stuff. _mens sana in corpore sano_ means plainly that there can be no healthy mind without a healthy body. hungry men and women who see their children die for want of food naturally feel a bitter resentment which must find an object. they begin to ask themselves whether, after all, these sacrifices have been necessary, and to what end they have served. the first answer to the question, what has compelled these sacrifices was, of course, for everybody, the war. but who is responsible for the war? germany's enemies, answered a part of the people. but there were two categories of germans whose answer was another. on the one side were a few independent thinkers who had decided that germany herself bore at least a large share of the responsibility; on the other side were those who had been taught by their leaders that all wars are the work of the capitalistic classes, and that existing governments everywhere are obstacles to the coming of a true universal brotherhood of man. these doctrines had been forgotten by even the socialist leaders in the enthusiasm of the opening days of the struggle, but they had merely lain dormant, and now, as a result of sufferings and revolutionary propaganda by radical socialists, they awakened. and in awakening they spread to a class which had heretofore been comparatively free from their contagion. socialism, and more especially that radical socialism which finds its expression in bolshevism, communism and similar emanations, is especially the product of discontent, and discontent is engendered by suffering. the whole german people had suffered terribly, but two categories of one mighty class had undergone the greatest hardships. these were the _unterbeamten_ and the _mittelbeamten_, the government employees of the lowest and the middle classes. this was the common experience of all belligerent countries except the united states, which never even remotely realized anything of what the hardships of war mean. wages of the laboring classes generally kept pace with the increasing prices of the necessaries of life, and in many instances outstripped them. but the government, whose necessities were thus exploited by the makers of ammunition, the owners of small machine-shops and the hundreds of other categories of workers whose product was required for the conduct of the war, could not--or at least did not--grant corresponding increases of salary to its civil servants. the result was a curious social shift, particularly observable in the restaurants and resorts of the better class, whose clientele, even in the second year of the war, had come to be made up chiefly of men and women whose bearing and dress showed them to be manual workers. the slender remuneration of the _beamten_ had fallen so far behind the cost of living that they could neither frequent these resorts nor yet secure more than a bare minimum of necessaries. the result was that thousands of these loyal men and women, rendered desperate by their sufferings, began in their turn to ponder the doctrines which they had heard, but rejected in more prosperous times. thus was the ground further prepared for the coming of the revolution. there was yet another factor which played a great part in increasing the discontent of the masses. not even the genius of the german government for organization could assure an equitable distribution of available foodstuffs. except where the supply could be seized or controlled at the source, as in the case of breadstuffs and one or two other products, the rationing system broke down. the result of the government's inability to get control of necessaries of life was the so-called _schleichhandel_, literally "sneak trade," the illegitimate dealing in rationed wares. heavy penalties were imposed for this trade, applicable alike to buyer and seller, and many prosecutions were conducted, but to no avail. the extent of the practice is indicated by a remark made by the police-president of a large german city, who declared that if every person who had violated the law regarding illegitimate trade in foodstuffs were to be arrested, the whole german people would find itself in jail. it has often been declared that money would buy anything in germany throughout the war. this statement is exaggerated, but it is a fact that the well-to-do could at all times secure most of the necessaries and some of the luxuries of life. but the prices were naturally so high as to be out of the reach of the great mass of the people. butter cost as much as $ a pound in this illegitimate trade, meat about the same, eggs to cents apiece, and other articles in proportion. the poorer people--and this, in any country, means the great majority--could not pay these prices. themselves forced to go hungry and see their children hunger while the wealthy _bourgeoisie_ had a comparative abundance, they were further embittered against war and against all governments responsible for war, including their own. the german soldiers at the front had fared well by german standards. in the third year of the war the writer saw at the front vast stores of ham, bacon, beans, peas, lentils and other wares that had not been available to the civil population since the war began. soldiers home on furlough complained of being continuously hungry and returned to the lines gladly because of the adequate rations there. with the coming of the fourth year, however, conditions began to grow bad even at the front, and the winter of - brought a marked decrease of rations, both in quantity and quality. cavalrymen and soldiers belonging to munition or work columns ate the potatoes issued for their horses. they ground in their coffee-mills their horses' scant rations of barley and made pancakes. a high military official who took part in the drive for the english channel that started in march, , assured the writer that the chief reason for the failure to reach the objective was that the german soldiers stopped to eat the provisions found in the enemy camps, and could not be made to resume the advance until they had satisfied their hunger and assured themselves that none of the captured stores had been overlooked. ludendorff, hearing of this, is said to have declared: "then it's all over." this, while probably untrue, would have been a justified and prophetic summing-up of the situation. not only were the soldiers hungry by this time, but they were insufficiently clad. their boots were without soles, and they had neither socks nor the _fusslappen_ (bandages) which most of them preferred to wear instead of socks. a shirt issued from the military stores in the summer of to a german soldier-friend of the writer was a woman's ribbed shirt, cut low in the neck and gathered with a ribbon. the military reverses of this summer thus found a soldiery hungry and ill-clad, dispirited by complaints from their home-folk of increasing privations, and, as we shall see in the following chapter, subjected to a revolutionary propaganda of enormous extent by radical german socialists and by the enemy. chapter v. internationalism at work. no people ever entered upon a war with more enthusiasm or a firmer conviction of the justice of their cause than did the germans. beset for generations on all sides by potential enemies, they had lived under the constant threat of impending war, and the events of the first days of august, , were hailed as that "end of terror" (_ein ende mit schrecken_) which, according to an old proverb, was preferable to "terror without end" (_schrecken ohne ende_). the teachings of internationalism were forgotten for the moment even by the socialists. the veteran august bebel, one of the founders of german socialism, had never been able entirely to overcome an inborn feeling of nationalism, and had said in one famous speech in the reichstag that it was conceivable that a situation could arise where even he would shoulder _die alte büchse_ (the old musket) and go to the front to defend the fatherland. such a situation seemed even to the extremest internationalists to have arisen. at the memorable meeting in the white hall of the royal palace in berlin on august , , the socialist members of the reichstag were present and joined the members of the _bourgeois_ parties in swearing to support the fatherland. the kaiser retracted his reference to _vaterlandslose gesellen_. "i no longer know any parties," he said. "i know only germans." hugo haase, one of the socialist leaders and one of the small group of men whose efforts later brought about the german revolution and the downfall of the empire and dynasty, was carried away like his colleagues by the enthusiasm of the moment. he promised in advance the support of his party to the empire's war measures, and when, a few hours later, the first war-appropriation measure, carrying five billion marks, was laid before the deputies, the socialists voted for it without a dissenting voice, and later joined for the first time in their history in the _kaiserhoch_, the expression of loyalty to monarch and country with which sessions of the reichstag were always closed. nothing could testify more strongly to the universal belief that germany was called upon to fight a defensive and just war. for not only had the socialist teachings, as we have seen, denounced all warfare as in the interests of capital alone, but their party in the reichstag included one man whose anti-war convictions had already resulted in his being punished for their expression. this was dr. karl liebknecht, who had been tried at the supreme court in leipsic in on a charge of high treason for publishing an anti-military pamphlet, convicted of a lesser degree of treason and sentenced to eighteen months' imprisonment. haase himself had bitterly attacked militarism and war in a speech in the reichstag in april, , in opposition to the government's military bills, and only his parliamentary immunity protected him from sharing liebknecht's fate. one of the strongest defenders of the war in bavaria was kurt eisner, already an intellectual bolshevist and communist, who had been compelled earlier to leave the editorial staff of the _vorwärts_ because of his far-going radicalism and dreamy impracticality. all these men were subsequently bitterly attacked by socialists of enemy lands for their surrender of principles. the feeling that dictated these attacks is comprehensible, but adherents of the my-country-right-or-wrong brand of patriotism are precluded from making such attacks. it cannot be permitted to any one to blow hot and cold at the same time. he may not say: "i shall defend my country right or wrong, but you may defend yours only if it is right." to state the proposition thus baldly is to destroy it. unquestioning patriotism is applicable everywhere or nowhere, and its supporters cannot logically condemn its manifestation by the german socialists in the opening months of the world war. the first defection in the ranks of the socialists came in the second war session of the reichstag in december, , when liebknecht, alone among all the members of the house, refused to vote for the government's war-credit of five billion marks. amid scenes of indignant excitement he tried to denounce the war as imperialistic and capitalistic, but was not permitted to finish his remarks. there has been observable throughout the allied countries and particularly in america a distinct tendency to regard liebknecht as a hero and a man of great ability and moral courage. but he was neither the one nor the other. he was a man of great energy which was exclusively devoted to destroying, and without any constructive ability whatever, and what was regarded as moral courage in him was rather the indifferent recklessness of fanaticism combined with great egotism and personal vanity. liebknecht's career was in a great degree determined by his feeling that he was destined to carry on the work and fulfil the mission of his father, wilhelm liebknecht, the friend of marx, bebel and engels, and one of the founders of the socialist party in germany. but he lacked his father's mental ability, commonsense and balance, and the result was that he became the _enfant terrible_ of his party at an age when the designation applied almost literally. educated as a lawyer, the younger liebknecht devoted himself almost exclusively to politics and to writing on political subjects. last elected to the reichstag from the potsdam district in , he distinguished himself in april, , by a speech in which he charged the krupp directors with corrupting officials and military officers. he also named the kaiser and crown prince in his speech. the result was an investigation and trial of the army officers involved. in making these charges liebknecht performed a patriotic service, but even here his personal vanity asserted itself. before making the speech he sent word to the newspapers that he would have something interesting to say, and requested a full attendance of reporters. he delayed his speech after the announced time because the press-gallery was not yet full. a consistent enemy of war, he attacked the international armament industry in a speech in the reichstag on may , . in the following month he charged the prussian authorities with trafficking in titles. but in all the record of his public activities--and he was forty-three years old when the war broke out--one will search in vain for any constructive work or for any evidence of statesmanlike qualities. liebknecht visited america in . when he returned to germany he attacked america in both speeches and writings as the most imperialistic and capitalistic of all countries. he declared that in no european country would the police dare handle citizens as they did in america, and asserted that the american constitution is "not worth the paper it is written upon." in berlin on december , , he said to the writer: "the war has proved that your constitution is no better today than it was when i expressed my opinion of it nine years ago. your people have been helpless in the face of it and were drawn into war just like the other belligerents. the national assembly (weimar) now planned will bequeath to us a charter equally as worthless. the workingmen are opposed to the perpetuation of private ownership." in the face of this, it must be assumed that american glorification of liebknecht rests upon ignorance of the man and of what principles he supported. for a few months after the beginning of the war liebknecht stood almost alone in his opposition. as late as september, , we see haase heading a mission of socialists to italy to induce her to be faithful to her pledges under the triple alliance and to come into the war on germany's side, or, failing that, at least to remain neutral. haase, who was a middle-aged königsberg (east prussia) lawyer, had for some years been one of the prominent leaders of the social-democratic party and was at this time one of the chairmen of the party's executive committee. he was later to play one of the chief rôles in bringing about the revolution, but even in december, , he was still a defender of the war, although already insistent that it must not end in annexations or the oppression of other peoples. it was not until a whole year had passed that he finally definitely threw in his lot with those seeking to weaken the government at home and eventually destroy it. the real undermining work, however, had begun earlier. several men and at least two women were responsible for it at this stage. the men included liebknecht, otto rühle, a former school teacher from pirna (saxony), and now a member of the reichstag, and franz mehring. rühle, a personal friend of liebknecht, broke with his party at the end of and devoted himself to underground propaganda with an openly revolutionary aim, chiefly among the sailors of the high seas fleet. mehring was a venerable socialist author of the common idealistic, non-practical variety, with extreme communistic and international views, and enjoyed great respect in his party and even among non-socialist economists. the two women referred to were clara zetkin, a radical suffragette of familiar type, and rosa luxemburg. the luxemburg woman was, like so many others directly concerned in the german revolution, of jewish blood. by birth in russian poland a russian subject, she secured german citizenship in by marrying a _genosse_, a certain dr. lübeck, at dresden. she left him on the same day. frau luxemburg had been trained in the school of russian socialism of the type that produced lenin and trotzky. she was a woman of unusual ability--perhaps the brainiest member of the revolutionary group in germany, male or female--and possessed marked oratorical talent and great personal magnetism. like all internationalists and especially the jewish internationalists, she regarded war against capitalistic and imperialistic governments, that is to say, against all _bourgeois_ governments, as a holy war. speaking russian, polish and german equally well and inflamed by what she considered a holy mission, she was a source of danger to any government whose hospitality she was enjoying. she became early an intimate of liebknecht and the little group of radicals that gathered around him, and her contribution to the overthrow of the german empire can hardly be overestimated. the first of the anti-war propaganda articles whose surreptitious circulation later became so common were the so-called "spartacus letters," which began appearing in the summer of . there had been formed during the revolution of a democratic organization calling itself the "spartacus union." the name came from that roman gladiator who led a slave uprising in the last century of the pre-christian era. this name was adopted by the authors of these letters to characterize the movement as a revolt of slaves against imperialism. the authorship of the letters was clearly composite and is not definitely known, but they were popularly ascribed to liebknecht. his style marks some of them, but others point to frau luxemburg, and it is probable that at least these two and possibly other persons collaborated in them. they opposed the war, which they termed an imperialistic war of aggression, and summoned their readers to employ all possible obstructive tactics against it. revolution was not mentioned in so many words, but the tendency was naturally revolutionary. despite all efforts of the authorities, these letters and other anti-war literature continued to circulate secretly. in november, , liebknecht, frau luxemburg, mehring and frau zetkin gave out a manifesto, which was published in switzerland, in which they declared that their views regarding the war differed from those of the rest of the socialists, but could not be expressed in germany under martial law. the manifesto was so worded that prosecution thereon could hardly have been sustained. the swiss newspapers circulated freely in germany, and the manifesto was not without its effect. the socialist party saw itself compelled on february , , to expel liebknecht from the party. this step, although doubtless unavoidable, proved to be the first move toward the eventual split in the party. there were already many socialists who, although out of sympathy with the attitude of their party, had nevertheless hesitated to break with it. many of these, including most of liebknecht's personal followers, soon followed him voluntarily, and the allegiance of thousands of others to the old party was seriously weakened. outwardly, however, what was eventually to become a revolutionary movement made no headway during the spring and summer of . the shortage of food, although making itself felt, had not yet brought general suffering. the german armies had won many brilliant victories and suffered no marked reverse. mackensen's invasion of galicia in may and june revived the spirits of the whole nation, in which, as among all other belligerent nations, a certain war-weariness had already begun to manifest itself. the open break in the socialist party first became apparent at the session of the reichstag on december , . the government had asked for a further war-credit of ten billion marks. haase had a week earlier drawn up a manifesto against the war, but the newspapers had been forbidden to print it. at this reichstag session he employed his parliamentary prerogatives to get this manifesto before the people in the form of a speech attacking the war as one of aggression, and announced that he would vote against the credit asked. fourteen other members of his party voted with him. the german people's solid war-front had been broken. the motives of most of those who thus began the revolt against the government and who were later responsible for the revolution are easy to determine. many were honest fanatics, and some of these, chief among them liebknecht, carried their fanaticism to a degree calling for the serious consideration of alienists. others again were moved by purely selfish considerations, and some of them had criminal records. haase presented and still presents a riddle even for those who know him well. judged by his speeches alone, he appears in the light of an honest internationalist, striving to further the welfare of his own and all other peoples. judged by his conduct, and particularly his conduct in the months following the revolution, he appears in the light of a political desperado whose acts are dictated by narrow personal considerations. he was particularly fitted for leadership of the government's opponents by the absence from his makeup of the blind fanaticism that characterized the majority of these, and by an utter unscrupulousness in his methods. he was free also from that fear of inconsistency which has been called the vice of small minds. the questions growing out of the manner of conducting the submarine warfare became acute in the first months of . the government was determined to prevent any open debate on this subject in the reichstag, and the deputies of all parties bowed to the government's will. haase and his little group of malcontents, however, refused to submit. they carried their opposition to the authority of their own party to such an extent that a party caucus decided upon their exclusion. the caucus vote was followed on the same day--march , --by the formal secession from the party of haase and seventeen other members, who constituted themselves as a separate party under the designation of "socialist working society" (_arbeitsgemeinschaft_). the seceders included, among others, georg ledebour, wilhelm dittmann, dr. oskar cohn, emil barth, ernst däumig and eduard bernstein. liebknecht, who had been excluded from the party a year earlier, allied himself to the new group. all its members were internationalists. the formation of the new party furnished a rallying point for all radical socialists and also for the discontented generally, and the numbers of these were increasing daily. under the protection of their parliamentary immunity these members were able to carry on a more outspoken and effective agitation against the war. haase, ledebour and other members of the group issued a manifesto in june, , wherein it was declared that the people were starving and that the only replies made by the government to their protests took the form of a severe application of martial law. "the blockade should have been foreseen," said the manifesto. "it is not the blockade that is a crime; the war is a crime. the consolation that the harvest will be good is a deliberate deception. all the food in the occupied territories has been requisitioned, and people are dying of starvation in poland and serbia." the manifesto concluded with an appeal to the men and women of the laboring-classes to raise their voices against the continuance of the war. the underground propaganda against the war and the government assumed greater proportions, and encouraged the revolutionaries in the reichstag. grown bold, haase announced that a pacifist meeting would be held in berlin on august . it was prohibited by the police. sporadic strikes began. rühle had staged the first avowedly political strike at leipsic on may day. it failed, but set an example which was followed in other parts of the empire. liebknecht, who had been mustered into the army and was hence subject to military regulations, was arrested on may day in berlin for carrying on an anti-war and anti-government agitation among the workingmen. on trial he was sentenced to thirty months' imprisonment and to dishonorable dismissal from the army. this was the signal for widespread strikes of protest in various cities. there was serious rioting in berlin on july st, and grave disorders also occurred at stuttgart, leipsic and other cities. liebknecht appealed from the conviction and the appellate court raised the sentence to four years and one month, with loss of civil rights for six years. this caused a recrudescence of july's demonstrations, for a sentence of this severity was most unusual in germany. liebknecht's personal followers and party friends swore vengeance, and many others who had theretofore kept themselves apart from a movement with which they secretly sympathized were rendered more susceptible to radical anti-war propaganda. the autumn of brought the government's so-called _hilfsdienstgesetz_, or auxiliary service law, intended to apply military rules of enrollment and discipline to the carrying out of necessary work at home, such as wood-cutting, railway-building, etc. this law produced widespread dissatisfaction, and haase, by attacking it in the reichstag, increased his popularity and poured more oil upon the flames of discontent. in march, , he declared openly in the reichstag that germany could not win the war and that peace must be made at once. the russian revolution of this month was a factor whose influence and consequences in germany can hardly be exaggerated. not even the wildest dreamer had dared to believe that a revolution could be successfully carried through in war-time while the government had millions of loyal troops at its disposal. that it not only did succeed, but that many of the tsar's formerly most loyal officers, as, for example, brussiloff, immediately joined the revolutionaries, exerted a powerful effect. and thus, while germans loyal to their government hailed the revolution as the downfall of a powerful enemy, the masses, starving through this terrible _kohlrübenwinter_, cold, miserable, dispirited by the bloody sacrifices from which few families had been exempt, infected unconsciously by the doctrines of international socialism and skillfully propagandized by radical agitators, began to wonder whether, after all, their salvation did not lie along the route taken by the russians. the radical socialists who had left the old party in organized as the independent socialist party of germany at a convention held in gotha in april, . eighteen men had left the party a year earlier, but one hundred and forty-eight delegates, including fifteen reichstag deputies, attended the convention. haase and ledebour were chosen chairmen of the executive committee, and a plan of opposition to the further conduct of the war was worked out. party newspaper organs were established, and some existing socialist publications espoused the cause of the new party. revolution could naturally be no part of their open policy, and there may have been many members of the party who did not realize what the logical and inevitable consequences of their actions were. the leaders, however, were by this time definitely and deliberately working for the overthrow of the government, although it may be doubted whether even they realized what would be the extent of the _débâcle_ when it should come. reference has already been made to strikes in various parts of the empire. these had been, up to , chiefly due to dissatisfaction over material things--hunger (the strong undercurrent of all dissatisfaction), inadequate clothing, low wages, long hours, etc. they were encouraged and often manipulated by radical socialists who perceived their importance as a weapon against the government, and were to that extent political, but the first great strike with revolution as its definite aim was staged in berlin and essen at the end of january, . the strength of the independent socialists and of the more radical adherents of liebknecht, ledebour, rosa luxemburg and others of the same stamp, while it had increased but slowly in the rural districts and the small towns, had by this time reached great proportions in the capital and generally in the industrial sections of westphalia. two great munition plants in berlin employing nearly a hundred thousand workers were almost solidly independent socialist in profession and bolshevist in fact. the infection had reached the great plants in and around essen in almost equal degree. a great part of these malcontents was made up of youths who, in their early teens when the war broke out, had for more than three years been released from parental restraint owing to the absence of their soldier-fathers and who had at the same time been earning wages that were a temptation to lead a disordered life. they were fertile ground for the seeds of propaganda whose sowing the authorities were unable to stop, or even materially to check. even liebknecht, from his cell, had been able to get revolutionary communications sent out to his followers. the january strike assumed large proportions, and so confident were the berlin strikers of the strength of their position that they addressed an "ultimatum" to the government. this ultimatum demanded a speedy peace without annexations or indemnities; the participation of workingmen's delegates of all countries in the peace negotiations; reorganization of the food-rationing system; abolishing of the state of siege, and freedom of assembly and of the press; the release of all political prisoners; the democratization of state institutions, and equal suffrage for women. the strikers appointed a workmen's council to direct their campaign, and this council chose an "action commission," of which haase was a member. the authorities, in part unable and in part unwilling to make the concessions demanded, took determined steps to put down the strike. their chief weapon was one that had been used repeatedly, and, as events proved, too often and too freely. this weapon was the so-called _strafversetzungen_, or punitive transfers into the front-army. the great part of the strikers were men subject to military duty who had been especially reclaimed and kept at work in indispensable industries at home. they were, however, subject to military law and discipline, and the imminent threat of being sent to the front in case of insubordination had prevented many strikes that would otherwise have come, and the carrying into effect of this threat had broken many revolts in factories. thousands of these men, who had been drawing high wages and receiving extra allowances of food, were promptly sent into the trenches. every such _strafversetzung_ was worse than a lost battle in its effect. the victims became missionaries of revolution, filled with a burning hatred for the government that had pulled them from their comfortable beds and safe occupations and thrown them into the hail of death and the hardships of the front. they carried the gospel of discontent, rebellion and internationalism among men who had theretofore been as sedulously guarded against such propaganda as possible. the morale of the soldiery was for a time restored by the successes following the offensive of march, , and it never broke entirely, even during the terrible days of the long retreat before the victorious allied armies, but it was badly shaken, and the wild looting that followed the armistice was chiefly due to the fellows of baser sort who were at the front because they had been sent thither for punishment. yet another factor played an important part in increasing discontent at the front. one can say, without fear of intelligent contradiction, that no other country ever possessed as highly trained and efficient officers as germany at the outbreak of the war. there were martinets among them, and the discipline was at best strict, but the first article of their creed was to look after the welfare of the men committed to their charge. drawn from the best families and with generations of officer-ancestors behind them, they were inspired by both family and class pride which forbade them to spare themselves in the service of the fatherland. the mortality in the officer-corps was enormous. about forty per cent of the original officers of career were killed, and a majority of the rest incapacitated. the result was a shortage of trained men which made itself severely felt in the last year of the war. youths of eighteen and nineteen, fresh from the schools and hastily trained, were made lieutenants and placed in command of men old enough to be their fathers. the wine of authority mounted to boyish heads. scores of elderly german soldiers have declared to the writer independently of each other that the overbearing manners, arbitrary orders and arrogance of these youths aroused the resentment of even the most loyal men and increased inestimably the discontent already prevailing at the front. chapter vi. propaganda and morale. even before the anti-war and revolutionary propaganda had attained great proportions there were indications that all was not well in one branch of the empire's armed forces. rumblings of discontent began to come from the navy early in the second year of the war, and in the summer of there was a serious outbreak of rioting at kiel. its gravity was not at first realized, because kiel, even in peace times, had been a turbulent and riotous city. but a few months later the rioting broke out again, and in the early summer of there came a menacing strike of sailors and shipyard and dock laborers at wilhelmshaven. this was mainly a wage-movement, coupled with a demand for more food, but it had political consequences of a serious nature. the first displays of mutinous spirit among the men of the fleet were not so much due to revolutionary and radical socialist propaganda as to a spontaneous internal dissatisfaction with the conditions of the service itself. no continuously extensive use of the submarines had been made up to the middle of the winter of . there had been spurts of activity with this weapon, but no sustained effort. by march, , however, many u-boats were being sent out. at first they were manned by volunteers, and there had been a surplus of volunteers, for the men of the submarine crews received special food, more pay, liberal furloughs and the iron cross after the third trip. within a year, however, conditions changed decidedly. the percentage of u-boats lost is not yet known, but the men of the fleet reckoned that a submarine rarely survived its tenth trip. the admiralty naturally published no accounts of boats that failed to come back, and this added a new terror to this branch of the service. volunteers were no longer to be had. the result was that drafts were resorted to, at the first from the men of the high seas fleet, and later from the land forces. such a draft came to be considered as equivalent to a death-sentence.[ ] disaffection increased in the fleet. the independent socialists were prompt to discover and take advantage of these conditions. the sailors were plied with propaganda, oral and written. the character of this propaganda was not generally known until october , , when the minister of marine, admiral von capelle, speaking in the reichstag, informed the astonished nation that a serious mutiny had occurred in the fleet two months earlier, and that it had been necessary to execute some of the ringleaders and imprison a number of others. [ ] the heavy losses among army aviators had brought about a similar state of affairs at this time in the army. volunteers for the fighting planes ceased offering themselves, and a resort to forced service became necessary. von capelle's disclosures came as answer to an interpellation by the independent socialist deputies regarding pan-german propaganda at the front and the prohibition of the circulation of twenty-three socialist newspapers among the men of the ships. the independent wilhelm dittmann made a long speech supporting the interpellation, and voiced a bitter complaint over the fact that pan-german agitation was permitted at the front and among the fleet, while the independent socialist propaganda was forbidden. dr. michaelis, the imperial chancellor, made a brief response, in which he announced that admiral von capelle would answer the independents. "i will merely say one thing," he said, "and that is that deputy dittmann is the last man in the world who has a right to talk about agitation in the army and navy." michaelis referred then to a complaint by dittmann that he (michaelis) had not been true to his promise, made upon assuming office, to treat all parties alike. "dittmann has forgotten to add the qualification which i made at that time," said the chancellor. "i said all parties that do not threaten the existence of the empire or follow aims dangerous to the state. the party of the independent social-democrats stands on the other side of that line so far as i am concerned." this was the first open declaration by the government of war on the party of haase, dittmann, et al. the majority socialists--as the members of the old or parent organization were now termed--joined in the tumult raised by their seceding brethren. when the storm had laid itself, admiral von capelle made his sensational disclosures. he said: "it is unfortunately a fact that the russian revolution has turned the heads of a few persons on board our fleet and caused them to entertain matured revolutionary ideas. the mad plan of these few men was to secure accomplices on all ships and to subvert the whole fleet, all members of the crews, to open mutiny, in order, by force if necessary, to paralyze the fleet and compel peace. "it is a fact that these men have entered into relations with the independent socialist party. it has been formally established by the evidence that the ringleader presented his plans to deputies dittmann, haase and vogtherr in the caucus-room of the independent socialists here in the reichstag building, and that it received the approval of these men. "it is true that these deputies pointed out the extreme danger of the proposed action and warned the conspirators to observe the greatest caution, but they promised their whole-hearted support through the furnishing of agitation material designed to incite the fleet to mutiny." von capelle's speech was interrupted at this point by cries of indignation from the parties of the right and center, and by abusive remarks directed against the speaker from the socialists of both factions. when the presiding-officer had succeeded in restoring a semblance of order, the admiral continued: "in view of this situation it was my first duty to prevent with all possible means at my disposal the circulation of the incitatory literature among the fleet. "i do not care at this time to go into details concerning the further happenings in the fleet. some few men who had forgotten honor and duty committed grave crimes and have undergone the punishment which they deserved. i will only add here that the rumors in circulation, which have naturally come also to my ears, are exaggerated beyond all measure. the preparedness of the fleet for battle has not been brought in question for a single moment, and it shall and will not be." the three deputies named by von capelle defended themselves in speeches which, judged even on their merits and without reference to the personalities and records of the men making them, did not ring quite true or carry complete conviction. in the light of the previous and subsequent conduct of the trio and of the occurrences of november, , their shifty and evasive character is apparent. we have already learned something of haase's activities, and the other two were among his ablest and most energetic lieutenants. dittmann, virtually a communist and pronounced internationalist, was later arrested for pro-revolutionary activities. erwin vogtherr, the third member of the group, had from the very beginning been one of the most perniciously active of all revolutionary propagandists and agitators. he had been for some time the editor of _der atheist_ (the atheist), and was of that uncompromising type of atheists who consider it necessary to keep their hats on in church to show their disbelief in a creator. haase, in his reply to the charges against him, admitted that the mutineers' ringleader had had a conference with him, dittmann and vogtherr. but this, he declared, was nothing out of the ordinary, since it was both his custom and his duty to receive the men who came to him from both army and navy to complain of conditions. the sailor referred to by admiral von capelle had visited him during the summer and complained bitterly about the conditions which he and his colleagues were compelled to endure. haase continued: "he declared further that the sailors, and especially those of lengthy service, felt keenly the lack of mental stimulus, that great numbers of them had subscribed to independent socialist publications, were reading them zealously and receiving stimulus from them. it was their intention to educate themselves further and to devote themselves to political discussions in meetings on land. to this end they desired to have literature. although, as has been shown in the last days, political discussions have been carried on under full steam, even officially, i called this sailor's attention to the fact that what was in itself permissible, might, under the peculiar conditions under which we lived, become dangerous, and i warned him to be cautious. this much is correct." haase denied that the sailor had submitted any revolutionary plan to him or his colleagues, and challenged admiral von capelle to produce his evidence. it is difficult for one who, like the writer, has a thorough acquaintance with the independent socialist publications, to take seriously the statement that they were desired merely for "mental stimulus" by sailors who wished to "educate themselves further." the plain tendency of all these publications, disguised as cleverly as it might be in an attempt to escape confiscation of the issue or prosecution for treason, was revolutionary. a certain degree of venomousness, scurrility and abuse of _bourgeois_ opponents has always characterized all but a few socialist publications in all lands, and the independent socialist press far outdid the organs of the old party in this respect. it preached internationalism and flouted patriotism; it ridiculed all existing authority; it glorified the russian revolution in a manner calculated to induce imitation by its readers, and, following the bolshevik revolution in russia in november, , it published regularly the reports of the _isvestia_ and other bolshevik organs, with laudatory editorial comment. the man who "educated himself further" by a reading of the independent socialist publications was educating himself for revolution and for nothing else. vogtherr set up a straw man in his reply and demolished it to the complete satisfaction of himself and his brother socialists, including, strangely enough, also the majority socialists, who, despite the fact that the independent socialist press had classified them with _bourgeoisie_ and attacked them even more bitterly, on this occasion exhibited solidarity of feeling with their more radical colleagues. vogtherr declared that von capelle had charged the independents with having worked out a plan for revolution in the fleet. this alleged charge he denied. he spoke with a certain pathos of the oppressed sailors who recognized in the independents their real friends and naturally came to them instead of going to deputies in whom they had no confidence. he, too, demanded that the minister of marine produce his proof. vogtherr, like haase before him, devoted a part of his speech to a general attack on von capelle and michaelis, plainly the attempt of a practical politician to confuse the issue. dittmann spoke briefly along the lines followed by haase and vogtherr. he had, he said, carefully warned his sailor-visitors to keep within safe bounds. he refused to permit either admiral von capelle or chancellor michaelis to restrict his rights as reichstag deputy to receive visitors and hear their complaints. dittmann cleverly enlisted further the sympathy of the majority socialists by pointing out that several of their publications had also come under the ban of the admiralty. von capelle responded to the challenge of the trio to produce his evidence. he read the following testimony, given at the court-martial by one of the lieutenants of the mutineers' ringleader, a man named sachse. this witness testified: "i, too, made a personal visit to deputy dittmann in the reichstag after reichpietsch (the ringleader) had visited him. i introduced myself by saying that i came from reichpietsch and that i came in the same matter. dittmann indicated that he knew what i meant. he was glad to see me and said: 'we must go ahead in the same way, but we must use great caution.' "regarding his conference with the members of the party reichpietsch told me the following: he had not been with dittmann alone, but there had been a kind of a party conference, participated in by dittmann, vogtherr and haase. reichpietsch communicated to them the plan and the results thus far attained by the organization, which, according to his declaration, was very enthusiastic about the matter. "after discussion of the details of the organization, the deputies told reichpietsch that this was a prohibited and punishable undertaking and a very daring one, and he must be very careful. so far as they were concerned, they would support his agitation in every manner, and especially through pamphlets and other literature." admiral von capelle further read from the testimony of the ringleader, reichpietsch, who, after reading sachse's testimony, had said under oath: "insofar as this testimony concerns me it is correct. that is to say, what i told sachse was a true report of what had happened in berlin." friedrich (fritz) ebert, the majority socialist leader who later became the first president of the german republic, defended the independent socialists and declared that the government had offered no evidence to substantiate its accusations against haase, dittmann and vogtherr. deputy naumann of the progressive party also defended them indirectly, and both he and deputy trimborn of the center (clerical party) protested against any effort to place a reichstag party outside the pale. in view of the revolutionary activities of the independent socialists even before that date and of the occurrences of the succeeding year, which culminated in the overthrow of the government, this attitude of supposedly loyal and patriotic parties of the reichstag appears at first sight astonishing and almost inexplicable. there were, however, two reasons (in the case of the majority socialists three reasons) for it. neither the _bourgeois_ parties nor the majority socialists had any conception of the extent of the revolutionary propaganda being carried on by the independents and their more radical accomplices. as we shall see later, even the old party socialists were completely taken by surprise when the actual revolution came, and revolution was almost an accomplished fact in berlin, six days after it had begun in kiel, before they awakened to what was happening. hence the accusations against their colleagues of another party appeared to the three parties of the anti-annexationist wing of the reichstag as a blow directed against all opponents of the pan-german program of the parties of the right. the second reason was psychological and to be found in the atmosphere of the day's session. it had started, as already reported, with the discussion of an interpellation regarding pan-german propaganda at the front and in the fleet. the anti-chauvinist majority of the reichstag had earlier found its way together in a _bloc_ composed of the progressives, clericals and majority socialists, and had adopted, on july , , a resolution, in the main the work of mathias erzberger of the clericals, calling for a peace without annexations or indemnities, and reserving the right of self-determination to all nations. equally with the independent socialists, this _bloc_ had been stirred to indignation by the shameless manner in which the high civil and military authorities not only permitted the advocates of an imperialistic and annexationist peace to carry on their propaganda among the soldiers and sailors, but even encouraged and actively assisted in that work. not only all socialist publications, but even many _bourgeois_ papers of the stamp of the berlin _tageblatt_ were absolutely forbidden by the commanders of many troop units, and the soldiers were compelled to listen to speeches by members of the pan-german _vaterlandspartei_ (fatherland party) and similar organizations. ignorant of the extent and nature of the independent socialists' efforts to undermine authority, the _bloc_ parties saw in admiral von capelle's charges only another manifestation of the spirit against which their own fight was directed. that, in these circumstances, they should defend the independents was but natural. the third reason affecting the course of the majority socialists has already been referred to in passing. this was the feeling of party solidarity, which still existed despite the fact that the independents had had their own party organization for some six months. most of the prominent men in both socialist parties had worked together in a common cause for many years, and while, in the heat of purely partisan conflicts this was sometimes forgotten for the moment, it nevertheless united the two factions when, as now, the attack came from the extreme right. complete details of the mutiny of this summer have never been given out. according to the best reports available, it started on the battleship _westfalen_ at wilhelmshaven and included altogether four vessels, one of which was the _nürnberg_. the captain of the _nürnberg_ is said to have been thrown overboard. rumor and enemy report made the most of the affair and undoubtedly exaggerated it greatly, but there can be no doubt that it was serious and that the morale of the fleet was greatly affected by it. some of the ring-leaders--how many it is not known--were executed, and a considerable number were imprisoned for long terms. the extent and severity of the sentences added fuel to the discontent already prevailing throughout the fleet. the men's fighting spirit sank as their revolutionary spirit rose. von capelle's boast that the fleet's preparedness for battle "shall and will not be brought in question for a moment" was a vain boast. the fleet was already rotten at the core. ironic fate had led the men who directed the affairs of the german empire to forge one of the weapons with which it was later to be destroyed. on april , , nicholas lenine, with thirty-two fanatical followers, had been brought from switzerland through germany in a sealed car and sent into russia to sow the seeds of bolshevism. how the plan succeeded is only too well known. november brought the overthrow of the kerensky government. released from the necessity of the intensive pre-revolutionary propaganda at home, the bolsheviki turned their attention to imperialistic germany. their missionaries, liberally equipped with corruption funds, entered germany by secret routes and worked with germans in sympathy with their cause, notably liebknecht. foremost among their propagandists was a man who called himself radek. his real name was sobelsohn, a jew from austrian galicia. expelled from his labor union before the war for robbing a _genosse_, he had settled in bremen and was even then the guiding spirit in the most radical and rabid circles. after the russian bolshevik revolution he quickly took up the severed threads of his former connections. he was intimate with all the independent socialist leaders already named, and with many others. a man of acknowledged organizing and propagandizing ability, he contributed markedly to making germany ripe for revolution. all the gates were thrown down to bolshevism following the treaty of brest-litovsk, when joffe, the bolshevik ambassador, was permitted to come to berlin and establish himself in the palace of the former imperial russian embassy in _unter den linden_. he brought a staff of men and women whose sole duty it was to carry on bolshevist propaganda against the government to which he was accredited. leading independent socialists were frequent visitors at the embassy, and haase, at an elaborate banquet held there in may, , responded to the toast, "the red international." closest to joffe of all germans was dr. oskar cohn, one of the founders of the independent socialist party. cohn, who is a berlin lawyer, possesses that curious combination of characteristics so often encountered in extreme socialism. in his private life of undoubted probity, he rejoiced at an opportunity to accept and distribute money given by a foreign government to overthrow the government of his own fatherland. mild-mannered and an opponent of force, he made the cause of liebknecht's murderous spartacans his own. scholarly and of deep learning, he associated freely with the dregs of the population, with thieves and murderers, in furtherance of the cause of the international proletariat. he became the legal adviser of joffe and one of the main distributors of the bolsheviki's corruption fund. the political police were at all times cognizant of the revolutionary propaganda that was being carried on, but they were greatly hampered in their work by a limitation which had been imposed in upon the so-called _schutzhaft_, literally "protective arrest." this had been freely used against suspected persons from the beginning of the war, and hundreds had sat in jail for weeks in what was equivalent to a sentence of imprisonment, without having had an opportunity to hear what the charge against them was. the abuse of this right became so glaring that it was provided in that arrested persons could not be detained without a definite crime being charged against them. the police made a long report on joffe's activities in june, , and the authorities, with some hesitation, placed the matter before the "ambassador." he lied bravely, declaring that he cherished no plans against the integrity of the german empire and that his large staff existed solely to carry on the legitimate business of the embassy. the authorities, unconvinced, maintained a watch on the activities of the russians. they were particularly suspicious of the unusual number of diplomatic couriers passing between berlin and petrograd. their number was said to reach nearly four hundred. the press began to voice these suspicions. joffe, with a fine show of indignation, declared that it "was beneath his dignity" to take any notice of them. the tenuity of herr joffe's dignity and the value of his word became apparent on november , , in the revolution week, when a box in the luggage of a courier arriving from russia was--"accidentally," as the official report put it--broken open at the railway station. its contents proved to be bolshevik propaganda literature inciting the germans to institute a reign of terror against the _bourgeoisie_, to murder the oppressors of the proletariat and to overthrow the government. one of these appeals came from the spartacan _internationale_ and contained a carefully worked-out program for instituting a reign of terror. even the _vorwärts_, which had been reluctant to credit the charges against _genosse_ joffe, was now compelled to admit that he had lied and misused his diplomatic privileges. joffe, still denying his guilt, was escorted from the embassy in the middle of the following night by an armed guard and placed aboard a special train for moscow, with the whole staff of the embassy and of the rosta telegraph agency, ostensibly a news agency, but really an institution for carrying on bolshevik propaganda. once safe in russia, joffe admitted his activities in germany and gloried in them. in a wireless message sent on december , , he said the bolshevik literature had been circulated "through the good offices of the independent socialists." he declared further that a much greater number of weapons than had been alleged had been handed over to the independent barth, together with "several hundred thousand roubles." he added: "i claim for myself the honor of having devoted all my powers to the success of the german revolution through my activities, which were carried on in agreement with the independent socialist ministers haase and barth and with others." following the publication of this wireless message, cohn also issued an explanation of his activities in connection with joffe. he said: "is any particular explanation or justification needed to make it clear that i gladly accepted the funds which the russian comrades sent me by the hand of comrade joffe for the purposes of the german revolution? comrade joffe gave me the money in the night of november th. this had nothing to do with the money which he had previously given me for the purchase of weapons. i used the money for the purpose intended, namely, the spreading of the revolutionary idea, and regret only that circumstances made it impossible for me to use all of it in this manner." bolshevik centers had been organized all over germany when the revolution came. on the same day joffe was expelled, the police in düsseldorf closed a bolshevik nest which was ostensibly conducted as a news agency. it was but one of scores of similar centers of revolution. the revolutionary propaganda being carried on inside the empire was powerfully aided and supplemented by the activities of germany's enemies along the same lines. no detailed report of the extent of this branch of warfare is yet available, but it was, in the words of one of germany's leading generals in a talk with the writer, "devilishly clever and effective." from the air, through secret channels, through traitors at home, the german soldier or sailor was worked upon. he was told truths about the forces against him that had been suppressed by the german censors. the folly of longer trying to oppose the whole world was pointed out, and every possible weakness in the german character was cunningly exploited. the good effect of this propaganda cannot be doubted. testimony regarding the part played by enemy propaganda in bringing about the final collapse of germany has been given by one of the men best qualified to know the facts. in an article in _everybody's magazine_ for february, , george creel, chairman of the american committee on public information, gives full credit to the work of the american soldiers, but declares that, in the last analysis, germany was defeated by publicity. the military collapse of germany was due to "a disintegration of morale both on the firing line and among the civilian population." it was the telling of the truth to the germans by their enemies that finally caused the _débâcle_ at a time when the german army "was well equipped with supplies and ammunitions, and behind it still stretched line after line almost impregnable by reason of natural strength and military science."[ ] [ ] german assertions that their armies were never defeated in a military sense regularly arouse and will long continue to arouse anger and scornful indignation among their enemies, yet here we have official testimony to support their contentions. it is no detraction from the valor and military successes of the allies to assert again that if the german troops had not been weakened physically by starvation and morally by enemy propaganda, they could have carried on the war for many months more. the propaganda literature was prepared by historians, journalists and advertising specialists, and even some psychologists were enlisted to help in its writing. germany's borders, however, were so carefully guarded that it was difficult to get the matter into the country. mr. creel relates interestingly how this was done. aëroplanes were employed to some extent, but these were so badly needed for fighting purposes that not enough could be obtained for distribution of propaganda literature. "the french introduced a rifle-grenade that carried pamphlets about six hundred feet in a favoring wind, and a seventy-five millimeter shell that carried four or five miles. the british developed a six-inch gun that carried ten or twelve miles and scattered several thousand leaflets from each shell. the italians used rockets for close work on the front, each rocket carrying forty or fifty leaflets. the obvious smash at german morale was through america's aim and swift war-progress, and for this reason the allies used the president's speeches and our military facts freely and sometimes exclusively. "to reach further behind the lines, all fronts used paper balloons filled with coal-gas. they would remain in the air a minimum of twenty hours, so as to make a trip of six hundred miles in a thirty-mile wind. on a belgian fête-day such balloons carried four hundred thousand greetings into belgium, and some flew clear across belgium. fabric balloons, carrying seventeen or eighteen pounds of leaflets, were also employed, but with all the balloons the uncertainty of the wind made the work haphazard. "the attempt was made to fly kites over the trenches and drop leaflets from traveling containers that were run up the kite-wire, but this method could be used only on fronts where aëroplanes were not active, because the wires were a menace to the planes. the paper used in the leaflets was chemically treated so that they would not spoil if they lay out in the rain. "an american invention that gave promise of supplanting all others was a balloon that carried a tin container holding about ten thousand pamphlets. a clock attachment governed the climb of the balloon, it had a sailing range of from six to eight hundred miles, and the mechanism could be set in such a manner as to have the pamphlets dropped in a bunch or one at a time at regular intervals, the whole business blowing up conclusively with the descent of the last printed 'bullet'." similar methods were used against austria-hungary, writes mr. creel, and did much to shatter their feelings of allegiance to germany. a proof of the effectiveness of the propaganda came when an order from the german general staff was found, "establishing death as a penalty for all those seen picking up our matter or found with it in their possession. austria-hungary had earlier given orders to shoot or imprison all soldiers or citizens guilty of the abominable crime of reading 'printed lies' against the government." indirectly, too, the germans were subjected to allied propaganda throughout the war. in one matter the german government's attitude was more democratic and ethically defensible than the attitude of its enemies. it is discouraging to the abstract moralist to find that this worked out to the detriment of those adopting the more admirable course. of all belligerent countries, germany was the only one that permitted the free circulation and sale within its borders of the enemy press. leading french and english editors were able with much difficulty to secure copies of some german papers, and occasionally the large press associations and some of the leading newspapers in america were permitted to see a few ancient copies, but nowhere could they be had by the private citizen, nor even read with safety in public places by those entitled to have them. there was never a time in berlin, from the first declaration of war to the armistice, when the leading american, french, english, italian and russian papers could not be bought openly at a dozen newsstands or hotels, and the same was true generally throughout germany. the well-disciplined germans at first rejected as lies all reports in these papers differing from the official german versions of the same happenings. many kept this attitude to the last, but even these began after a while, in common with the less sturdy believers, to be morally shaken by the cumulative evidence of the worldwide unpopularity of the germans and to be dismayed by the tone of the enemy toward everything that they had heretofore held holy. the average german stoically endured for a long time to be called "hun," but, in homely phrase, it got on his nerves after a while. the wild atrocity stories also played their part. all intelligent readers of history know that tremendous exaggerations of such reports have always accompanied all wars. before the present war the associated press, the world's greatest newsgathering agency, barred war-atrocity stories from its reports because experience had demonstrated that these were often--perhaps generally--untrue and almost always exaggerated. when the enemy press converted the german army's _kadaververwertungs-anstalt_ (carcass utilization factory) into a corpse utilization factory (_leichenverwertungs-anstalt_) and declared that bodies of fallen german soldiers were being rendered out for the fat, the germans were at first indignant and angry. this feeling changed to one of consternation and eventual depression when they learned from the enemy newspapers that the story was universally believed. in the course of the long war, the constant repetition of atrocity reports, both true and false, had a cumulative depressive effect which seriously shook the morale of all but the sturdiest of the people and was one of the factors inducing the general feeling of hopelessness that made the final _débâcle_ so complete. that everybody knew some of the reports to be true was an aggravation of their effect. a great part, perhaps, indeed, the greater part of all germans condemned bitterly the belgian deportations, just as the best minds of the nation condemned the new _schrecklichkeit_ of the u-boat warfare, but they were helpless so long as their government was under the iron thumb of the military caste, and their helplessness increased their despair when they saw the opinion of the world embittered against their nation. there is plenty of german testimony to show how effective this enemy propaganda was. siegfried heckscher, reichstag member and chief of the publicity department of the hamburg-america line, writing at the end of september, pointed out the need of a german propaganda ministry to counteract the attacks being made on germany by the propaganda work under the direction of lord northcliffe. "the german practice of silence in the face of all the pronouncements of enemy statesmen cannot be borne any longer," said herr heckscher. "anybody who watches the effect of the northcliffe propaganda in foreign countries and in germany can have only one opinion--that this silence is equivalent to a failure of german statesmanship. "with masterly skill every single speech of the english leaders is adapted not only to its effect in england, but also to its influence on public opinion among the neutrals and also, and especially, in germany. * * * * hundreds of thousands of germans, reading a pronouncement by the president of the united states, ask themselves bitterly what the german government will say. thus there is formed a cloud of discontent and dark doubt, which, thanks to this northcliffe propaganda, spreads itself more and more over the german people. * * * * "we try to protect our country from enemy espionage and from the work of agents and scoundrels, but with open eyes we leave it defenseless while a stream of poisonous speeches is poured over its people. "it will not, of course, do for enemy pronouncements of importance to be withheld from our people, but it is as necessary for our people as their daily bread that the anglo-franco-american influence should be met by the german view, and that the justice and greatness of the german cause and of the german idea should be brought into the clear, full light of day. nor is defense sufficient. we must also aggressively champion our cause in the forum of the civilized world. "i repeat what i have said for years, that reuter and the english news propaganda are mightier than the english fleet and more dangerous than the english army." the _kölnische volkszeitung_ echoed the demand for a propaganda ministry. it wrote: "as our good name has been stolen from us and made despicable throughout the world, one of our peace demands must be that our enemies publicly and officially confess that they have circulated nothing but lies and slanders. * * * the greatest need of the moment is a campaign of enlightenment, organized by all the competent authorities, to hammer into german heads that, if further sacrifices and efforts are required of us, it is not the caprice of a few dozen people in germany nor german obstinacy, but the enemy's impulse to destroy, that imposes them on people at home and at the front." chapter vii. germany requests an armistice. dr. michaelis, unequal to his task, laid down the imperial chancellorship. his successor was count hertling, minister-president of bavaria. the decision to appoint this man imperial chancellor may have been influenced largely by a desire to strengthen the bonds between prussia and the next largest german state. it is possible also that hertling's intimate relations with the papal court were taken into consideration, but the choice was a striking commentary on the dearth of good chancellorship material in germany. count hertling's age alone unfitted him to bear the terrible burdens of this post, for he was well along in the seventies, and not strong physically. he had distinguished himself as an educator and as a writer on certain topics, especially roman catholic church history, and had a record of honorable and faithful service as a member of the bavarian government. in his rôle as statesman he had exhibited perhaps a little more than average ability, but never those qualities which the responsible head of a great state should possess. a monarchist by birth and conviction, count hertling was particularly unfitted for the chancellorship at a time when the nation-wide demand for democratic reforms of government was increasing in strength every moment. in assuming his post he declared that he was fully cognizant of the strength and justice of the demand for an increased share of participation by the people in the government, and he pledged himself to use his best efforts to see that this demand was met. there is no reason to doubt the honesty of his intentions, but it was too much to expect that an aged conservative of the old school should so easily shake off old notions or even realize adequately what the great mass of the people meant when they cried out for a change of system. probably no man could have carried out the task confronting the chancellor; that count hertling would fail was inevitable. the empire was honeycombed with sedition when the military reverses of the summer began. these reverses, disastrous enough in themselves, were greatly magnified by faint-hearted or malicious rumor. the military commander in the marches (brandenburg) issued a decree on september th providing for a year's imprisonment or a fine of , marks for persons spreading false rumors. the decree applied not only to rumors of defeats, but also to reports exaggerating the enemy's strength, casting doubts on the ability of the german armies to withstand the attack or bringing in question the soundness of the empire's economic situation. reports of serious dissensions in austria-hungary came at the same time to add to the general depression. the vienna _arbeiterzeitung_ said: "in questions regarding food we are compelled to negotiate with hungary as if we were negotiating with a foreign power. the harvest is the best since the war began, but the hungarians are ruthlessly starving the austrians, although there is plenty for us all." the austro-hungarian government saw the trend of events. premier baron burian told berlin that the dual monarchy could not keep up the struggle much longer. the people, he said, were starving, and disloyalty and treachery on the part of subject non-german races in hungary, bohemia and the slav population had attained alarming proportions. "if the rulers do not make peace the people will make it over their heads," said the premier, "and that will be the end of rulers." he appealed to germany to join with austria-hungary in making an offer of peace. berlin counseled against such a step. the german government had long lost any illusions it might have cherished in respect to austria-hungary's value as an ally, and it was fully informed of the desperateness of the situation there. despite this it realized that such a step as vienna proposed would be taken by the enemy as a confession of weakness, and it clung desperately to the hope that the situation on the west front might still be saved. burian, however, cherished no illusions. austria asked for peace, but made it clear that she did not mean a separate peace. the german people saw in vienna's action the shadow of coming events, and their despondency was increased. prince lichnowsky, germany's ambassador at the court of st. james at the out-break of the war, had earlier confided to a few personal friends copies of his memoirs regarding the events leading up to the war. captain von beerfelde of the german general staff, into whose hands a copy came, had a number of copies made and circulated them generally. the memoirs were a frank disclosure of germany's great share of the guilt for the war. the authorities tried to stop their circulation, but they were read by hundreds of thousands, and did much to destroy general confidence in the justice of germany's cause. count hertling, trying blunderingly to redeem his democratic promises, made a tactlessly naïve speech in the prussian house of lords in favor of the government's franchise-reform measures. these bills, although representing a decided improvement of the existing system, had been bitterly criticized by all liberal elements because they did not go far enough, but had finally been reluctantly accepted as the best that could be hoped for in the circumstances. a majority existed for them in the prussian diet, but the junkers and noble industrialists of the house of lords would hear of no surrender of their ancient rights and privileges. the chancellor in his speech warned the lords that they could avoid the necessity of making still more far-reaching concessions later by adopting the government's measures as they stood. to reject them, he declared, would be seriously to imperil the crown and dynasty. he closed with an appeal to his hearers to remember the services rendered to the fatherland by men of all political creeds, including the socialists. count hertling's speech displeased everybody. the conservative press assailed him bitterly. the _deutsche tageszeitung_, chief organ of the junkers, called him "the gravedigger of the prussian monarchy." the _kreuzzeitung_ charged him with minimizing the crown's deserts and exaggerating the services of the socialists. the liberal _bourgeois_ and the socialist press said in effect: "and so this is our new democratic chancellor who advises the house of lords to block an honest democratic reform of prussia's iniquitous franchise system." the _germania_, chief organ of the clericals, hertling's own party, damned the speech with faint praise. talk of a "chancellor crisis" was soon heard, and by the middle of september there was little doubt that hertling's days were numbered. nothing else can so adequately indicate the reversal of conditions in germany as the fact that one of the men named oftenest even in _bourgeois_ circles as a likely successor to count hertling was philip scheidemann, a leader of the majority socialists. the _vaterlandslose gesellen_ were coming into their own. the crisis became acute on september th. the government unofficially sounded the majority socialists as to their willingness to participate in a coalition government. the question was discussed on september d, at a joint conference of the socialist reichstag deputies and the members of the party's executive committee. although one of the cardinal tenets of socialism had always forbidden participation in any but a purely socialist government, the final vote was nearly four to one in favor of abandoning this tenet in view of the extraordinary situation confronting the empire. with eighty votes against twenty-two the conference decided to send representatives into a coalition government under the following conditions: . the government shall unqualifiedly accept the declaration of the reichstag of july , ,[ ] and declare its willingness to enter a league of nations whose fundamental principles shall be the peaceful adjustment of all conflicts and universal disarmament. [ ] _vide_ chapter vi. . the government shall make an absolutely unambiguous declaration of its willingness to rehabilitate (_wiederherstellen_) belgium and reach an understanding regarding compensation to that land, and also to rehabilitate serbia and montenegro. . the peace treaties of brest-litovsk and bucharest shall not be permitted to stand in the way of a general treaty of peace; civil government shall be immediately established in all occupied territories; occupied territories shall be evacuated when peace is concluded; democratic representative assemblies shall be established at once. . autonomy shall be granted to alsace-lorraine; general, equal, secret and direct right of franchise shall be granted in all german federal states; the prussian diet shall be dissolved if the deliberations of the house of lords do not immediately result in the adoption of the franchise-reform bills. . there shall be uniformity in the imperial government, and irresponsible unofficial auxiliary governments (_nebenregierungen_) are to be eliminated; representatives of the government shall be chosen from the majority of the reichstag or shall be persons who adhere to the policies of this majority; political announcements by the crown or by military authorities shall be communicated to the imperial chancellor before they are promulgated. . immediate rescission of all decrees limiting the right of assembly or the freedom of the press; the censorship shall be employed only in purely military matters (questions of tactics and strategy, movements of troops, fabrication of munitions of war, etc.); a political control shall be instituted for all measures resorted to under the authority of the state of siege; all military institutions that serve to exert political influence shall be abolished. on the whole this was a program which appealed to the vast majority of the german people. the conservatives and one wing of the national liberals would have none of it, but the conviction that nothing but a change of system would save germany had been making rapid headway in the last few weeks. even many of those opposed in principle to democratic government began to recognize that nothing else could unite the people. an article in the _vorwärts_ by scheidemann and another in the international correspondence, an ably conducted news agency, pointing out the vital necessity of making any sacrifices that would save the country, were widely reprinted and made a strong appeal. chancellor count hertling, addressing the reichstag on september th, made a speech which, read between the lines, was a veiled admission of the desperateness of the situation and the increasingly discouraged condition of the people. he admitted frankly that the german armies had met serious reverses on the west front. but germany, he declared, had met and triumphed over more serious situations. russia and roumania had been eliminated from the list of enemies, and he was confident that the people would not lose heart because of temporary setbacks and that the soldiers would continue to show their old spirit. austria's peace _demarche_ had been taken in the face of serious doubts on the part of the german government regarding its advisability, but germany, now as always, was ready to conclude a just peace. general von wrisberg, said the chancellor, reported that the english successes against the marne position and between the ancre and the aisne had been due to fog and the extensive employment of tanks. counter-measures had been taken and there was no reason for uneasiness. the germans had lost many prisoners and guns, but the enemy's losses had been frightful. "the american armies need not frighten us," said count hertling. "we shall take care of them."[ ] [ ] the german government deceived its own people grossly in the matter of the american forces in france. hans delbrück, editor of the _preussische jahrbücher_, published on december , , a statement that the government had forbidden him to publish secretary baker's figures of the american strength, as republished in the london _times_. in response to his protest, the supreme army command declared that baker's figures were "purely american bluff, calculated and intended to mislead the german people." but the government not only concealed the truth; it lied about the number of americans in france and even compelled the press to lie. a confidential communication issued to the press in the middle of may, , declared that "the number of american combatant troops in france is about ten divisions, of which only four are at the front. the total of all troops, both at the front and behind the lines, does not exceed , to , . press notices concerning these matters should state that america has not been able to fulfil its expectations in the way of sending troops, and that the earlier estimates of the german general staff as to what america could accomplish have proved to be true. the actual figures given above should in no case be mentioned." at this time there were nearly one million americans in france, and it is inconceivable that the german supreme army command did not know it. captain von brüninghaus of the admiralty reported that the u-boats were sinking much more tonnage than was being built, and that the losses of submarines were much smaller than those reported by the enemy. the tone of the aged chancellor's speech was such that his words carried no conviction. the war-weary, discouraged people could not but see in them an admission that all was lost. and then came a blow that was felt by everybody. bulgaria surrendered. the first breach had been made in the alliance of the central powers; the collapse had begun and its significance was plain to the humblest german. bulgaria's defection came as no surprise to the government, which had known for nearly a week that such an event was at least probable. on september d, king ferdinand of bulgaria had summoned a grand council to consider the situation. the result was that a formal demand was made on berlin and vienna for immediate assistance. germany and austria recognized the urgency of the situation, but they were unable to meet bulgaria's demands. both governments promised help in the near future and besought king ferdinand to keep up the struggle for a short time. the king realized the emptiness of these promises. there was, moreover, a powerful personal dynastic interest at stake. revolution of the reddest type already threatened his crown. workmen and soldiers were organizing soviets in sofia on the familiar bolshevik plan, and riotous demonstrations had been held in front of the royal palace. help from berlin and vienna was obviously out of the question. ferdinand turned to the entente. the negotiations were brief. bulgaria surrendered unconditionally. her railways and all other means of transportation were handed over to the allies to be used for military or any other purposes. all strategic points in the kingdom were likewise given into the control of germany's enemies, and bulgaria undertook to withdraw immediately all her troops from greece and serbia and disarm them. as an ally bulgaria had long ceased to play a decisive part in germany's military operations, but her surrender, apart from its moral effect, was nevertheless disastrous for germany. general mackensen's army suddenly found itself in a hostile land, with its route of retreat threatened. thousands of german locomotives and cars, badly needed at home, stood on tracks now handed over to the control of germany's enemies. worst of all, completed enemy occupation of bulgaria meant the isolation of germany from another ally, for the only route to constantinople ran through bulgaria. the days of the balkan express, whose initial trip had been acclaimed as the inauguration of what would some day become the berlin-to-bagdad line, were numbered. turkey, isolated, would no longer be able to carry on the war, and reports were already current that turkey would follow bulgaria's example. british troops were but a few miles from damascus, and bonar law, reporting in a speech at guildhall the surrender of bulgaria, added: "there is also something in connection with turkey which i cannot say, but which we can all think." uneasy rumors that austria was also about to follow the lead of bulgaria spread through germany. the kaiser, wiser than his reactionary advisers, issued on the last day of september a proclamation, in which he declared it to be his will that "the german people shall henceforth more effectively coöperate in deciding the destinies of the fatherland." but the destinies of the fatherland had already been decided by other than political forces. the iron wall in the west that had for more than four years withstood the shocks of the armies of a great part of the civilized world was disintegrating or bending back. in the north the belgians, fighting on open ground, were encircling roulers, lying on the railway connecting lille with the german submarine bases in zeebrugge and ostende, and another junction on this important route, menin, was menaced by the british. unless the enemy could be stopped here, all the railways in the important triangle of lille, ghent, and bruges must soon be lost, and their loss meant the end of the u-boats as an important factor in the war. to the north and west of cambrai the british, only a mile from the center of the city, were forcing their way forward relentlessly, and the french were closing in from the south on the doomed city, which was in flames. british and american troops were advancing steadily on st. quentin and the french were approaching from the south. the american forces between the argonnes and the meuse were moving ahead, but slowly, for the germans had weakened their lines elsewhere in order to concentrate heavy forces against the men from across the sea. count hertling confessed political shipwreck by resigning the chancellorship. with him went vice chancellor von payer and foreign minister von hintze. the kaiser asked prince max (maximilian), heir to the throne of the grand duchy of baden, to accept the post. he complied. the choice of prince max was plainly a concession to and an acknowledgement of the fact that germany had become overwhelmingly democratic, and it was at the same time a virtual confession that the military situation was desperate and that peace must soon be sought. baden had always been one of the most democratic of the german federal states, and the prince was, despite his rank, a decidedly democratic man. in the first years of the war he had distinguished himself as a humane enemy, and had well earned the tribute paid to him by ambassador james w. gerard in the ambassador's book, _my four years in germany_. this tribute was paid in connection with a proposal to place prince max at the head of a central organization for prisoners of war in germany. the appointment, said gerard, would have redounded to the benefit of germany and the prisoners. prince max had for some years been recognized as the leader of the delbrück group of moderates, and his name had been considered for the chancellorship when dr. michaelis resigned. that he was not then appointed was due chiefly to his own reluctance, based upon dynastic reasons. he had never been in sympathy with _schrecklichkeit_ in any of its manifestations, and was known to be out of sympathy with the ruling caste in prussia. early in he had made public a semi-official interview outlining his ideas as to what germany's peace terms should be. these were in general in accordance with the resolution of the majority _bloc_ of the reichstag of july , , and condemned all annexations of foreign territory and all punitive indemnities. he declared also that the interests of europe and america would be best served by a peace which should not disrupt the anglo-saxon-teutonic peoples, since germany must be maintained as a bulwark against the spread of bolshevism to the nations westward. the conclusion seems justified that the government believed that prince max, uncompromised and with known democratic leanings, could secure a more favorable peace for germany than any other man who could be named. and the government knew that peace must be had. it had heard so on october , the day before prince max's appointment, from the lips of a man who brought a message from hindenburg and ludendorff. what had long been feared had become a reality--an armistice must be requested. the bearer of these calamitous tidings was major von busche. word had been sent that he was coming, and the leaders of the various reichstag parties assembled to hear his message. nominally the message came from hindenburg, as commander-in-chief, but really it was ludendorff speaking through hindenburg and his emissary. the message was brief; hindenburg, said major von busche, had become convinced that a request for an armistice must be made. the general field marshal had declared, however, that if the request should be refused, or if dishonoring conditions should be imposed, the fight must and could go on. he had no intention of throwing his rifle into the ditch. if necessary, germany could continue fighting in enemy territory for months. von busche did not admit in so many words that all hope of an eventual victory had been lost, but that was the effect of his message. the men who heard from the highest military authorities in this blunt manner that the situation was even worse than they had feared were dumfounded. if hindenburg and ludendorff had given up, there was nothing to be said. it was decided to ask for an armistice. prince max was inclined to refuse to become imperial chancellor if it meant that his first act must be a confession of the impossibility of carrying on the war longer--for that, he perceived clearly, would be the natural and logical deduction from a request for an armistice. he particularly disapproved of making the request as the first act of his chancellorship. this, he pointed out, would give a needless appearance of desperate haste and increase the depressing effect of the action, which would in any event be serious enough. prince max's attitude at this crisis was explained by him in an article in the _preussische jahrbücher_ following the armistice. he wrote then: "my peace policy was gravely hampered by the request for an armistice, which was presented to me completely formulated when i reached berlin. i opposed it on practical political grounds. it seemed to me to be a great mistake to permit the new government's first step toward peace to be followed by such a surprising confession of german weakness. neither our own people nor the enemy countries estimated our military situation to be such that a desperate step of this kind was necessary. i made a counter-proposal. the government should as its first act draw up a detailed program of its war-aims, and this program should demonstrate to the whole world our agreement with wilson's principles and our honest willingness to make heavy national sacrifices for these principles. "the military authorities replied that it was impossible to await the result of such a declaration. the situation at the front required that a request for an armistice be made within twenty-four hours. if i refused to make it, the old government would make it. i thereupon decided to form a new government and to support the unavoidable request for an armistice with the authority of a cabinet of uncompromised men. a week later the military authorities informed me that they had erred in their estimate of the situation at the front on october st." dr. solf, formerly head of the german colonial office, became foreign minister, and philip scheidemann, the socialist leader, and deputy groeber, a clerical leader, also entered the new ministry. it was the first german ministry to contain a social-democrat, and the first which could be said to have strong democratic leanings. opinion in washington, according to a cablegram reaching copenhagen early on october th, was that the makeup of the cabinet was regarded in america "as a desperate attempt of german militarists to hoodwink the entente and the german people into the belief that germany is being democratized." this opinion was inspired more by the passions of war than by clear thinking. germany was being democratized. that the democratic concessions attempted by various state rulers were inspired by fear is true, but their motives are of no importance. it is fruits that count, and the time had come when the german people could not longer be hoodwinked themselves by the militarists, nor be used as tools in hoodwinking anybody else. that time, however, had come too late. on october th, prince max, addressing the reichstag, announced that a request for an armistice had been made. this request, which was addressed to president wilson, said: "the german government requests the president of the united states to take in hand the restoring of peace, to acquaint all the belligerent states with this request, and to invite them to send plenipotentiaries for the purpose of opening negotiations. "it accepts the program set forth by the president of the united states in his message to congress on january th, and in his later pronouncements, particularly his speech of september th, as a basis for peace negotiations. "with a view to avoiding further bloodshed, the german government requests the immediate conclusion of an armistice on land and water and in the air." secretary of state lansing sent the following reply on october th: "before replying to the request of the imperial[ ] german government, and in order that that reply shall be as candid and straightforward as the momentous interests involved require, the president of the united states deems it necessary to assure himself of the exact meaning of the note of the imperial chancellor. does the imperial chancellor mean that the imperial german government accepts the terms laid down by the president in his address to the congress of the united states on the th of january last and in subsequent addresses, and that its object in entering into discussions would be only to agree upon the practical details of their application? [ ] it will be noticed that prince max did not use the designation "imperial" in connection with the government. the omission was undoubtedly deliberate and intended to emphasize the democratic nature of the new cabinet. "the president feels bound to say with regard to the suggestion of an armistice that he would not feel at liberty to propose a cessation of arms to the governments with which the government of the united states is associated against the central powers so long as the armies of those powers are upon their soil. the good faith of any discussion would manifestly depend upon the consent of the central powers immediately to withdraw their forces everywhere from invaded territory. the president also feels that he is justified in asking whether the imperial chancellor is speaking merely for the constituted authorities of the empire who have so far conducted the war. he deems the answer to these questions vital from every point of view." foreign secretary solf replied four days later with a note accepting president wilson's peace terms as laid down in the "fourteen points" and the supplementary five points later enunciated. he declared that the german government was prepared to evacuate occupied territory, and suggested the appointment of a mixed commission to arrange the details. he asserted that the chancellor, in making his request, was supported by the vast majority of the reichstag and spoke in the name of the german government and the german people. the effect of the request for an armistice was, so far as the enemy countries were concerned, precisely what prince max had foreseen: it was everywhere taken as an admission of the hopelessness of the german cause. but its first effect within the empire was not unfavorable. indeed, there is reason to declare that it was favorable. the mass of the people reposed much confidence in the new cabinet, and the prospect of an early peace buoyed up both the civil population and the soldiers. the front, still being forced slowly back, nevertheless held on to every available position with grim tenacity and in the face of heavy losses. on october th, they repulsed a determined assault at the center of their long front and even counter-attacked in quite the old style. chapter viii. the last days of imperial germany. prince max, although inspired by the best intentions and filled with modern and liberal ideas, failed to realize that what was needed was not a change of men, but a change of methods. radical, fearless and immediate action was necessary, but the government did not perceive that every passing day lessened its chances and possibilities. it relied upon the slow progress of ordinary business routine. it accomplished much, it is true, but it accomplished it too slowly and too late. too late the conservatives in the prussian diet abandoned their opposition to a reform of the franchise system. on october th, they adopted this resolution: "in the hour of the fatherland's greatest distress and with a realization that we must be equipped for hard battles for the integrity of the fatherland's soil, the conservative party in the diet considers it its duty to lay aside all internal conflicts. it is also ready to make heavy sacrifices for the ends in view. it believes now, as ever, that a far-reaching radicalization of the prussian constitution will not further the welfare of the prussian people. it is nevertheless prepared to abandon its opposition to the introduction of equal franchise in prussia in accordance with the latest decisions of its friends in the house of lords in order to assure the formation of a harmonious front against the outside world." this resolution removed the last obstacle to a real reform of the prussian franchise. too late the federal council adopted radical amendments to the imperial constitution. on october th and th, it accepted measures repealing article , paragraph , which provided that reichstag members should forfeit their seats if they accepted salaried state or imperial offices, and providing that cabinet members should no longer be required to be members of the federal council, but should at all times have the right to demand a hearing before the reichstag. it also amended article to read: "the consent of the federal council and the reichstag is required for a declaration of war in the empire's name, except in a case where imperial territory has already been invaded or its coasts attacked." section of the same article was amended to read: "treaties of peace and treaties with foreign states which deal with affairs coming under the competence of the imperial law-giving bodies require the consent of the federal council and the reichstag." too late the rulers of different states promised democratic reforms. the crown council of saxony on october th summoned the landtag (diet) for october th, and directed the minister of the interior to draft a measure "which shall substitute for the franchise now obtaining for the landtag's second chamber a franchise based on a broader foundation." saxony then had a four-class system. the crown council also considered requesting the socialists to join the government. the king of bavaria caused it to be announced that the crown had decided to introduce reforms enabling bavaria's popularly elected representatives to participate directly in governing the kingdom. minister dandl was directed to form a new ministry with some socialist members. it was announced also that a proportional franchise system was to be introduced and the upper chamber reformed along progressive lines. the government of baden announced that steps would be taken to abolish the three-class franchise and to introduce the proportional system. in württemberg measures were prepared providing that the kingdom's representatives in the federal council should take their instructions direct from the people's elected representatives, instead of from the government. a democratization of the first chamber was also promised. the grand duke of oldenburg, in the address from the throne at the opening of the landtag, declared that reforms were contemplated giving the people increased power to decide all important questions of state. the grand duke of saxe-weimar accepted the resignation of his whole ministry and announced that a new ministry would be formed from among the members of the diet. the diet at darmstadt unanimously adopted measures providing for a parliamentary form of government in hesse. but while these concessions were being made at home, _schrecklichkeit_ continued to rule unhampered on the sea. the _leinster_, a passenger boat plying between kingston and holyhead, was torpedoed by a submarine, and of her passengers were lost. the wave of indignation in enemy countries following this act was reflected at home in an uneasy feeling that the new chancellor could as little curb militarism as could his predecessors. ludendorff, too, had regained his lost nerve. he told prince max that the military situation was better than he had believed when he recommended that an armistice be requested. minister of war general scheuch had promised to send six hundred thousand new troops to the front. the chancellor's position was also rendered more difficult at this time by an agitation for a _levée en masse_ begun by some fire-eating germans of the old school. the possibility of a military dictatorship was discussed, and an appeal was made to "the spirit of ." the natural result was to increase the prevailing hostility to everybody in authority, whether he had been connected with the former governments or not. the independent socialists and their spartacan brethren grew bolder. dr. oskar cohn, who had made a speech in the reichstag four months earlier, denouncing the war as "a hohenzollern family affair," now openly declared in the same assembly that the kaiser must go. "the question can no longer be evaded," he said. "shall it be war with the hohenzollerns or peace without the hohenzollerns? world-revolution will follow on world-imperialism and world-militarism, and we shall overcome them. we extend our hands to our friends beyond the frontiers in this struggle." liebknecht, released from prison on october th by a general amnesty, celebrated his release by attacking the kaiser and the government that released him. on october th, he addressed a half dozen independent socialist meetings, and called for a revolution of the proletariat and the overthrow of the capitalists and _bourgeoisie_ of all lands. he closed each speech with cries of "down with the hohenzollerns!" and "long live the socialist republic!" nothing could more clearly demonstrate the helplessness of the government than the fact that liebknecht was neither compelled to stop talking nor arrested. there were outbreaks of rioting in berlin on the same day, but they were largely due to the unwise and provocatory measures of the police, who to the last preserved a steadfast loyalty to the government and to that grim sense of duty that had marked the prussian _beamter_ in former days. the reichstag passed on last reading the measures sent from the federal council to put into effect the kaiser's recommendations of september th. their most important provision was one placing the military command under control of the civil government, which had been demanded by the majority socialists as one of their conditions for participation in the government. the kaiser sent to the imperial chancellor on october th the following decree: "i send your grand ducal highness in the enclosure the measures for the alteration of the imperial constitution and of the laws concerning the representative powers of the chancellor, of march , , for immediate promulgation. it is my wish, in connection with this step, which is so full of meaning for the german people, to give expression to the feelings that move me. prepared by a number of acts of the government, a new order of things now becomes effective, transferring fundamental rights from the person of the kaiser to the people. thus there is closed a period which will endure in honor in the eyes of future generations. "despite all struggles between inherited powers and forces striving to raise themselves, this period discloses itself unforgettably in the wonderful accomplishments of the war. in the fearful storms of the four years of the war, however, old formulae have been shattered, not to leave ruins, but rather to give way to new forms of life. in view of the accomplishments of this period, the german people can demand that no right shall be withheld from them which insures a free and happy future. the measures proposed by the allied governments[ ] and now accepted by the reichstag owe their existence to this conviction. [ ] here meaning merely the german federal states. "i accept these decisions of the people's representatives, together with my exalted allies, in the firm desire to coöperate, as far as lies in my power, in rendering them effective, and in the conviction that i shall thus serve the interests of the german people. "the post of kaiser means service of the people (_das kaiseramt ist dienst am volke_). "may the new order release all good forces which our people need in order to endure the hard trials that have been visited upon the empire, and to win the way, with firm step, from out the dark present to a bright future." these were fine phrases, but, like all other pronunciamentos and reforms of october, they came too late. the political censorship had recently been relaxed, and the people, ignorant though they may have been of actual conditions at home, knew what was going on within the borders of their greatest ally. ten days earlier a strike had been begun at prague as a peace demonstration, and had involved much of bohemia and moravia. at budapest revolution was in the air, and the magyar deputies of the parliament were openly discussing the question of declaring hungary's independence. on october th, kaiser karl announced that steps were to be taken to reorganize the monarchy on a federalized basis. two days later president wilson rejected baron burian's peace offer. he declared that the united states government had recognized the czecho-slovak state and the aspirations of the jugo-slavs, and he was therefore "no longer at liberty to accept the mere autonomy of these peoples as a basis of peace, but is obliged to insist that they and not he shall be the judges of what action on the part of the austro-hungarian government will satisfy their aspirations and their conception of their rights and destiny as members of the family of nations." count michael karolyi, leader of the opposition in hungary, on the same day, in a speech in the lower house of parliament at budapest, attacked the alliance of austria-hungary with germany. he admitted that the central powers had lost the war, and appealed to his countrymen to "try to save the peace." a memorial was sent to kaiser karl declaring that "hungary must return to its autonomy and complete independence." the czechs were already in virtual control in prague. magyar hungary was rotten with bolshevism, the fruits of the propaganda of returned soldiers and russian agents. croatian soldiers at fiume had revolted. baron burian retired and was succeeded by count andrassy. much of this was known to all germans when the kaiser's decree was issued. but they did not know what the kaiser and his advisers knew, and they did not know why ludendorff had deserted the sinking ship a day earlier, sending his resignation to the kaiser and being succeeded as quartermaster-general by general groener. all indications had, indeed, pointed to the defection of austria, but so long as it did not come the germans--that is, such of them as had not completely lost hope or been infected with internationalist doctrines--still had a straw to cling to. on october th kaiser karl informed the german emperor that he intended to ask for peace "within twenty-four hours." he invited germany to join in the request. before the german reply could be received count andrassy sent a note to washington accepting president wilson's conditions for an armistice and for peace, and declaring that austria-hungary was ready, "without awaiting the result of other negotiations, to enter into negotiations upon peace between austria-hungary and the states in the opposing group, and for an immediate armistice upon all the dual monarchy's fronts." on october th the government at vienna issued a report declaring that a note had been sent to secretary lansing, asking him to "have the goodness to intervene with the president of the united states in order that, in the interests of humanity as well as in the interests of all those peoples who live in austria-hungary, an immediate armistice may be concluded on all fronts, and for an overture that immediate negotiations for peace may follow." a semi-official statement was issued the same day in an attempt to make it appear that the dual monarchy had not been recreant to its treaty agreement not to conclude a separate peace. count andrassy's note to lansing, it was explained, did not "necessarily mean an offer of a separate peace. it means merely that austria-hungary is ready to act separately in the interests of the reëstablishment of peace." the fine distinction between "separate peace" and "separate action to reëstablish peace" could deceive nobody. all germany staggered under the blow, and while she was still staggering, there came another. turkey quit. germany stood alone, deserted, betrayed. fast on the heels of the austrian collapse came the terror of defeated governments--revolution. the ink had not dried on vienna's note on october th before students and workingmen began assembling in front of the parliament buildings in the austrian capital. officers in uniform addressed cheering thousands, and called on the soldiers among their hearers to remove the national colors from their caps and uniforms. president dinghofer of the national council declared that the council would take over the whole administration of the country, "but without the habsburgs." when, on the same afternoon, the national assembly came together for its regular session, a crowd gathered in front of the diet and cheered a huge red flag unfurled by workingmen on the very steps of the diet building. revolution is both contagious and spontaneous in defeat. the news from vienna was followed by reports of revolution in hungary. in budapest laborers plundered the military depots and armed themselves. in prague the _prager haus-regiment_, no. , took charge of the revolution. this was one of the regiments that had been disbanded in for treachery in the carpathians. now it came into its own. count michael karolyi telegraphed on october st to the berlin _tageblatt_: "revolution in budapest. national council has taken over the government. military and police acknowledge national council completely. inhabitants rejoicing." the message was signed by karolyi as president of the national council. the revolution in bohemia exercised a particularly depressing effect upon loyal germans because of its outspoken anti-german character. even in these first days the czechish newspapers began discussing the division of german territories. the _vecer_ demanded vienna as a part of the new czecho-slovak state on the ground that a majority of the city's inhabitants or their ancestors originally came from bohemia and moravia. the _narodini listy_ gave notice that the germans of northern bohemia would not be permitted to join germany. these were among the more moderate demands made by this press. "what will the kaiser do?" asked the berlin _vorwärts_ in its leading article on the last day of october. the article voiced a question which all but the most extreme reactionaries had been asking for two weeks. even men devoted to the monarch personally and themselves convinced monarchists in principle realized that the only hope of securing a just peace lay in sacrificing kaiser wilhelm. scheidemann, the socialist secretary of state, wrote to chancellor prince max, declaring that the kaiser must retire, and that his letter had been written "in agreement with the leaders of the socialist party and its representatives in the reichstag." up to the time of the publication of the _vorwärts_ leader the authorities had forbidden any public discussion of the kaiser's abdication. the censorship restrictions on this subject were now removed and the press was permitted to discuss it freely. but while many of the party leaders were already inwardly convinced that the supreme sacrifice of abdication must be made by the kaiser, none of the empire's political parties except the two socialist parties considered it politically expedient to make the demand. even the progressives, farthest to the left of all the _bourgeois_ parties, not only refused to follow the socialists' lead, but went on record as opposed to abdication. at a convention of the party in greater berlin on november th, dr. mugdan, one of the party's prominent reichstag deputies, reporting the attitude of the party on the question of abdication, said: "the progressives do not desire to sow further unrest and confusion among the german people." this was the attitude of a majority of the leaders among the people. it was dictated less by loyalty to the sovereign than by a realization that the disintegrating propaganda of the internationalists had affected so large a part of the people that the abdication of the kaiser would almost inevitably bring the collapse of the state. they could not yet realize that this collapse was inevitable in any case, nor that the number of those devoted to the kaiser was comparatively so small that it was of little consequence whether he remained on the throne or abdicated. the kaiser himself, as will be seen later,[ ] was mainly moved by the same considerations. he believed chaos would certainly follow his abdication. it is also far from improbable that he had not yet abandoned all hope of military victory. the german army leaders, in trying to deceive the people into a belief that a successful termination of the war was still possible, had doubtless deceived their monarch as well. possibly they had even deceived themselves. field marshal von hindenburg sent a message to the press on november d, wherein he declared: "our honor, freedom and future are now at stake. we are invincible if we are united. if the german army be strongly supported by the will of the people, our fatherland will brave all onslaughts." [ ] _vide_ chapter x. but while hindenburg was writing the situation was altering for the worse with every hour. kaiser karl had fled from vienna. german officers had been attacked in bucharest. bavarian troops had been refused permission to use railways in austrian tirol. german troops had been disarmed and robbed in bohemia and even in hungary. the german armies in the west were still fighting bravely, but even the ingeniously worded communiques of great headquarters could not conceal the fact that they were being steadily thrown back, with heavy loss of prisoners and guns. rumors of serious revolts in the fleet were circulating from mouth to mouth and, after the manner of rumors, growing as they circulated. even the monarchist, conservative _lokal-anzeiger_ had to admit the gravity of the situation. on november th it declared that "a mighty stream" was rolling through the land, and every one who had eyes to see and ears to hear could perceive "whither this current is setting." it continued: "new factors of great importance have increased the confusion: the collapse of our allies, their complete submission to the will of our enemies, the multiplication thereby of the military dangers that surround us, and, not least, the catastrophic dissolution of all order in austria-hungary. the blind fanaticism of bolshevism, which would with brutal force tear down everything in its way and destroy in germany as well every remnant of authority, is planning now, in the very moment when the final decision must be reached, to play into the hands of our enemies through internal revolution. we will not at this time discuss whether the authorities have done their complete duty in putting down this movement, which everyone could see growing. it is enough to say that the danger is here, and duty demands that we stand together from left to right, from the top to the bottom, to render these destroying elements harmless or, if it be too late for that, to strike them to the ground. "and another thing must be said. just as the people's government has undertaken to bring about a peace that does not destroy the vital interests of the german people, * * * it must just as energetically endeavor to protect us from internal collapse with all the strength and all the authority which its constitution as a people's government confers upon it. * * * when, as now, the overthrow of all existing institutions is being preached, when the people's government is disregarded and recourse is had to force, the government must realize that there is but one thing to do. the people, whose representatives the members of government are, want concrete evidence that an insignificant minority will not be permitted to trample upon the institutions of state and society under whose protection we have heretofore lived. * * * the german empire is not yet ripe for the disciples of lenine and trotzky." general von hellingrath, bavarian minister of war, issued a proclamation calling on the people to preserve order and not to lose their confidence in the government. a report that bavarian troops had been sent to the north tirol to protect bavaria's borders against possible aggression by czechish and jugo-slavic troops of the former ally further depressed all germans, and particularly the south germans. the new government made an appeal to the people's reason. in a proclamation issued on november th and signed by prince max and all other members of the cabinet, including scheidemann, it called attention to the parliamentary reforms already accomplished and summoned the people to give their fullest support to the government. these reforms were: equal franchise in prussia; the formation of a government from the majority parties of the reichstag; the chancellor and his ministers could retain office only if they possessed the confidence of the reichstag and hence of the people; declarations of war and conclusions of peace now required the assent of the reichstag; the military had been subordinated to the civil authorities; a broad amnesty had been declared, and the freedom of assemblage and of the press assured. "the alteration of germany into a people's state, which shall not stand in the rear of any state in the world in respect of political freedom and social reforms, will be carried further with decision," said the proclamation. it was a very respectable array of real reforms that was thus set forth. if they had come a few months earlier the subsequent course of germany's and the whole world's history would doubtless have been changed. but, unknown to the great mass of germans except through wild rumor, revolution had already come and the german empire was tottering to its fall. chapter ix. a revolt which became a revolution. the elements that had long been working to bring about a revolution had for months been nearer their goal than even they themselves suspected, but they were nevertheless not ready for the final step when events, taking the bit into their teeth, ran away with the revolutionists along the very road which they had wanted to follow. it lies in the nature of the employment of those that go down to the sea in ships that they are more resolute and reckless than their shore-keeping brothers, and less amenable to discipline. they are also subject to certain cosmopolitan, international influences which do not further blind patriotism. furthermore, the percentage of rude, violent and even criminally inclined men is proportionately higher afloat than ashore. the russian revolution of started among the sailors in cronstadt. the same men set the example in atrocities against officers in the russian revolution of . sailors played a prominent part in the portuguese revolution, and there are few fleets in the world without their history of rough deeds done by mutinous mariners. on october th there came an order from the admiralty at berlin that the fleet was to be prepared for a cruise into the north sea. just what this cruise was intended to accomplish is not clear. high naval officers have assured the writer that it was to have been primarily a reconnaissance, and that no naval battle was intended or desired. the report circulated among the crews, however, that a last desperate stand was to be made, in which the whole fleet would be sacrificed, but in which as great losses as possible were to be inflicted on the british fleet. this was not at all to the liking of men demoralized by long idleness--an idleness, moreover, in which bolshevist satans had found much work for them to do. just at this time, too, came a gruesome story which further unfavorably affected the crews' morale. a submarine cruiser, it was reported, had become entangled in a net, but had freed itself and reached port, dragging the net with it. when the net was pulled ashore, it was declared, three small u-boats were found fast in it, their crews dead of suffocation. the story was probably false, but it increased the men's opposition to the cruise ordered. they were also disquieted by the fact that large numbers of floating mines were being brought aboard the speedier cruisers. rumblings of the coming storm were heard first on board the battleships _thüringen_ and _helgoland_, a part of whose crews flatly refused to obey orders to carry out the cruise ordered by the admiralty. the mutiny was not general even aboard these ships, and it was quickly quelled. the embers, however, smouldered for three days and then burst into flame. alone among the great revolutions of the world, the german revolution was the work of the humblest of the proletariat, unplanned and unguided by _bourgeois_ elements. it came from below not only in the figurative but also in the literal sense of the word, for it came from the very hold of a battleship. it was the stokers of the _markgraf_ at kiel who set rolling the stone which became the avalanche of revolution. the crews of the _markgraf_ and of some of the other ships in the kiel squadron demanded that the mines be taken ashore and the projected cruise abandoned. the officers refused their demands. thereupon the stokers of the _markgraf_ left the ship and went ashore. this was on sunday morning, november d. the stokers were joined by members of other ships' crews ashore at the time, and a meeting was held. when the stokers returned to the _markgraf_ they found her guarded by marines and they were not permitted to come aboard. they boarded another ship nearby and demanded their dinner. messtime had passed while they were holding their meeting ashore, and their demand was refused. the stokers broke into the provision-rooms and helped themselves. thereupon the mutineers, about one hundred and fifty in number, were arrested and taken to the military prison in the center of the city. all the small boats of the _markgraf_ were taken ashore to prevent the rest of the crew from reaching land. when the arrest of the mutinous stokers became known aboard their battleship there was an outburst of indignation. the officers, in sending the boats ashore, had overlooked an old barge which lay alongside the ship. as many of the crew as the barge could carry clambered into it and rowed ashore, using boards as paddles. then they sent the small boats back to bring ashore the rest of their comrades. at four o'clock in the afternoon practically the entire crew of the _markgraf_ held a meeting on the large promenade and maneuver grounds near the harbor. a great many members of other ships' crews attended this meeting. violent speeches were made and it was decided to demand the immediate release of the _markgraf's_ stokers. shortly before six o'clock the inflamed mob--it was already little else--went to the waldwiese (city park), where a company of the first marine division was quartered. the mutineers demolished the barracks, released several men who were locked up for minor military offenses, and stole all the arms and ammunition in the place. an ordered procession then started toward the center of the city. it grew steadily in size as it went through accretions from sailors, marines and other members of war-vessels' crews, and also from the riotous and criminal elements common to all larger cities and especially to harbor-cities. the military authorities had meanwhile made preparations to deal with the mutineers. as early as four o'clock _erhöhte alarmbereitschaft_ (literally, "increased readiness to respond to an alarm") had been ordered. buglers and drummers passed through the streets, proclaiming the order and warning against demonstrations. the mutineers' procession reached the central railway station about p.m., and proceeded, its numbers increasing steadily, through the holsteinstrasse to the market place. it passed through the dänische strasse and brunswigerstrasse toward feldstrasse, in which was situated the military prison where the _markgraf_ stokers were confined. the procession had by this time become a howling, whistling, singing mob, whose progress could be heard many blocks away. passers-by were compelled to join the procession. the entrances to the hospitalstrasse and to the karlstrasse at the so-called _hoffnung_, near the prison, were guarded by strong military forces, and the prison itself was protected by a machine-gun detachment. firemen were also ready to turn their hoses on the mob. the procession reached the _hoffnung_ and prepared to force its way into the karlstrasse. the commander of the troops stationed there ordered the mob to halt. his order was disregarded. the troops fired a blind volley over the heads of the mutineers, who nevertheless forged steadily ahead. the next volley was poured into the ranks of the marchers. it was followed by shrieks of rage, by scattering shots from the mutineers and by some stone-throwing. there was a sharp conflict for two or three minutes, and then the mob, howling and cursing, scattered panic-stricken.[ ] eight of them lay dead on the street, and twenty-nine were wounded. the officer in command of the troops and one lieutenant were also fatally injured, the former by knife-thrusts and stones. [ ] in all the clashes that marked the subsequent course of the german revolution not one instance can be found where the enemies of authority failed to run like sheep before loyal troops and determined officers. the "martyrs of the revolution" were mainly killed by stray bullets or overtaken by bullets while they were running away. an hour later the street was quiet, and the night passed without further disturbances. the city was strongly patrolled, but otherwise there was nothing to indicate that the curtain had gone up on the world's greatest and most tragic revolution. the leaders of the mutineers spent most of sunday night and monday morning in conference. a soldiers' council was formed--the first in germany. the military governor of kiel issued a proclamation, calling upon the mutineers to formulate and present their demands. they complied. their demands were: the release of all persons arrested for breach of discipline; recognition of the soldiers' council; abolishing of the duty to salute superiors;[ ] officers and men to have the same rations; the proposed expedition of the fleet to be abandoned, and, in general, better treatment of the ships' crews. the governor accepted all these demands, and announcement was made to that effect by wireless to all ships in the kiel squadron. the mutineers declared themselves satisfied, and promised to resume their duties, to obey orders and to preserve order in the city and board their ships. [ ] it is difficult to understand why socialists attach such importance to this question. it will be remembered that the very first decree issued by kerensky was his famous (and fatal) "prikaz no. ," abolishing the salute. the socialists, it is true, hate authority as embodied in a state, yet they voluntarily submit to a party authority quite as rigid as that of prussian militarism. in circumstances at all approaching the normal this would have marked the end of the revolt. but all the circumstances were abnormal. the men of the navy had, indeed, suffered fewer actual privations and hardships than those of the land forces, but even they had been underfed. their families, in common with all germans at home, had endured bitter want, and had written thousands of complaining letters to their relatives afloat.[ ] the socialist contagion--particularly of the independent brand--had affected wide circles among sailors and marines. indeed, the chief field of operations of the rühles, haases, cohns and their russian helpers had been the navy, where idle hands invited the finding of mischief for them to do. the morale of the members of the navy had also, in common with the morale of the land troops and of the whole german people, been badly shaken by the reverses that began in july, , and by the desertion of germany by her allies. [ ] complaining letters from home to the men in the trenches were early recognized by the authorities as a source of danger for the spirit of the troops. in addition to and above all this there were two fatal factors: authority, the corner stone of all civilized governments, had been shaken, and the mutineers had learned their own strength. if horses were sentient beings with means of communicating their thoughts, and if all the horses of a certain community suddenly discovered that they were really immeasurably stronger than their masters, it would require no great effort of imagination to realize that few horses in that community would thereafter suffer themselves to be harnessed. the only ones that would submit would be a small number of especially intelligent animals who could look ahead to the winter, with deep snow covering the pastures, with no straw-bedded stalls and walls set up against the cold winds. so it was in kiel. the mutineers had made their first kill; they had tasted blood. from all the ships of the squadron they streamed into the city. patrols, established to maintain order, began going over to the revolting seamen. the mutineers secured more arms and ammunition from the barracks at the shipyards and the soldiers stationed there joined them. in the afternoon (monday) the mutineers joined for a giant demonstration. a procession numbering possibly twenty thousand sailors, marines and soldiers, with a band at the head, marched to the different civil and military prisons and lockups and released the prisoners, who joined the procession. the civil and military authorities of kiel, gravely disquieted, had meanwhile communicated with the government at berlin and asked for help. the government replied that it would send conrad haussmann and gustav noske. haussmann, who had for many years been one of the leaders of the clerical (catholic) party in the reichstag, was a member of prince max's cabinet. he was chosen as the government's official representative. noske, who was later to demonstrate himself to be one of the few really able and forceful men of germany, had been for some years a member of the reichstag as majority socialist. a woodworker by trade, he had as a youth lifted himself out of the ruck of his party by energy, ambition, hard work and straightforwardness. he became a party secretary and later editor of a socialist paper in chemnitz.[ ] although not so widely known as many other socialist leaders in the reichstag, he nevertheless played a prominent part in his party's councils and was highly regarded and respected. he enjoyed also a wide popularity among members of the fleet, and it was confidently expected that he would be able to calm the unruly troublemakers and restore order. [ ] the typical career of a german socialist leader. it is not far afield to estimate that seven of every ten of the socialist leaders and government officials in germany have been or still are members of the editorial staffs of socialist newspapers or magazines. most of the others are lawyers; proletarians who earn their bread by the actual sweat of their brows are rare in the party leadership. haussmann and noske reached kiel late monday afternoon. the parading mutineers met them at the station. noske, speaking from the top of an automobile, addressed the crowd, appealing to their patriotism and to the german instinct for orderly procedure. their main demands, he pointed out, had already been granted. the government, representing all parties of the empire, promised that all grievances should be heard and redressed. the speech appeared to have some effect. isolated demonstrations took place until into the evening, but there were no serious clashes anywhere. the situation seemed somewhat more hopeful. the leaders on both sides either could not or did not realize what powerful and pernicious influences were working against them. the governor felt his hand strengthened by the presence of haussmann, the minister; the workmen's and soldiers' council was both calmed and encouraged by the presence of noske, the party leader. the members of the council and the men representing the kiel government began a joint session in the evening. four delegates of the social-democratic party of kiel also attended the conference, although their party had already, at a meeting a few hours earlier, virtually decided to order a general sympathy strike. the deliberations of the conference showed that the situation had suddenly assumed the aspect of a strike, a mere labor and party question. the soldier and sailor delegates left the debate largely to the party leaders. both sides, government and strikers alike, showed themselves honestly desirous of finding a peaceful settlement. the difficulties proved, however, to be very great. at : a.m., on tuesday, the conference took a recess. noske telegraphed to berlin: "situation serious. send me another man." but despite all difficulties both sides were hopeful. of the many thousands of mutineers, however, there were many who were not disposed to await an orderly adjustment of the situation. already potential masters of the squadron, they set about transmuting potentiality into actuality. on one ship after another the red flag of sedition, the emblem of the negation of loyalty to native land, replaced the proud imperial standard. it is an amazing thing that in all germany not a dozen of the thousands of officers whose forefathers had for two centuries enjoyed the privileges of an exclusive and loyal caste gave their lives for their king in an effort to oppose revolt and revolution. at kiel, and later at hamburg, swinemünde, berlin--in fact, everywhere--the mutineers and revolutionaries met no resistance from the very men of whom one might have expected that they would die, even in a forlorn cause, in obedience to the old principle of _noblesse oblige_. at kiel there were but three of this heroic mold. these men, whose names deserve to be remembered and honored wherever bravery and loyalty are prized, were commander weniger, captain heinemann and lieutenant zenker of the battleship _könig_, who were shot down as, revolver in hand, they defended the imperial standard and killed several of the men who were trying to replace it with the red rag of revolution. captain heine, commandant of the city of kiel, was shot down in the hallway of his home tuesday evening by sailors who had come to arrest him. these four men were the only officers deliberately shot in kiel, except the two fatally wounded in sunday night's fighting at the military prison. admiral krafft, commander of the kiel squadron, finally decided to leave port with his ships. but it was too late. some of the ships had to be left behind, for the mutineers, coming alongside in small fishing-steamers and other craft, had compelled the loyal remnants of the crews to refuse to obey the order to accompany the squadron. even on the ships least affected by the mutiny, hundreds of the crews refused to come aboard. word of the revolt had moreover reached other coast cities, and when the ships reached lübeck, flensburg, swinemünde and other ports, it proved impossible to keep the missionaries of mutiny ashore and on shipboard from communicating with each other. thus the contagion was spread further. tuesday was a day of tense excitement at kiel. there was some shooting, due--as was also the case later in berlin--to false reports that officers had fired from houses on the mutineers. the streets were filled with automobiles carrying red flags, and red flags began to appear over various buildings. noske, feverishly active, devoting all his iron energy to restoring order and finding a peaceful solution of the revolt, conferred continuously with representatives of the city government, with military and naval authorities and with the strikers. the movement still had outwardly only the aspect of a strike, serious indeed, but still a strike. he succeeded in having countermanded an order bringing troops to the city. despite this, the suspicious mutineers compelled the governor to go with them to the railway station in order to send the troops back if it should prove that the counterorder had not reached them in time. at the request of the mutineers--who treated the governor with all courtesy--he remained at the station until the troop train arrived empty. the situation on tuesday was adversely affected by the flight of prince heinrich, brother of the kaiser. he was not unpopular with the men of the navy and he was never even remotely in danger. yet he fled from kiel in an automobile and, fleeing, destroyed the remnant of authority which his government still enjoyed. the flight itself rendered the strikers nervous, and the fact that the death of a marine, who was shot while standing on the step of the prince's automobile, was at first ascribed to him, enraged the mutineers and was a further big factor in rendering nugatory the efforts of noske and all others who were honestly striving to find a way out of the situation. autopsy showed that the marine had been shot in the back by one of the bullets fired after the fleeing automobile by the victim's own comrades. this disclosure, however, came a day later, and then it was too late to undo the mischief caused by the first report. a "non-resistance" order, the first one of many that helped make the revolution possible, was also issued on tuesday by the military authorities. officers were commanded not to use force against the strikers. "only mutual understanding of the demands of the moment can restore orderly conditions," said the decree. wednesday, the fourth day of the revolt at kiel, was the critical and, as it proved, the decisive day. when night came the mutineers were crowned with victory, and the forces of orderly government had lost the day. and yet, strangely enough, neither side realized this. the strikers believed themselves isolated in the corner of an undisturbed empire. the more conservative among them began to consider their situation in a different light. there was an undercurrent of feeling that no help could be looked for from other quarters and that a reconciliation with the authorities should be sought. noske shared this feeling. speaking to the striker's delegates late on wednesday evening, he advised them to compromise. seek an agreement with the government, he said in effect. the government is ready and even eager to reach a fair compromise. we stand alone, isolated. neither noske nor the bulk of the mutineers yet knew what had been going on elsewhere in northwestern germany. the independent socialist and spartacan plotters for revolution at berlin saw in the kiel events the opportunity for which they had been waiting for more than three years, and they struck promptly. haase and some of his followers went immediately to hamburg, and other revolutionary agents proceeded to the other coast cities to incite strikes and revolts. the ground had been so well prepared that their efforts were everywhere speedily successful. in the few cities where the people were not already ripe for revolution, the supineness of the authorities made the revolutionaries' task a light one. leaders of the kiel mutineers met the berlin agitators in different cities and coöperated with them. the procedure was everywhere the same. workmen's and soldiers' councils were formed, policemen and loyal troops were disarmed and the city government was taken over by the soviets. by thursday evening soviet governments had been established in hamburg, cuxhaven, wilhelmshaven, bremen, hanover, rostock, oldenburg and other places. the soviets in virtually all these places were controlled by independent socialists--even then only a slight remove from bolsheviki--and their spirit was hostile not alone to the existing government, but equally to the majority socialists. at hamburg, for instance, the workmen's and soldiers' council, which had forcibly taken over the majority socialist organ _hamburger echo_ and rechristened it _die rote fahne_, published a proclamation forbidding the press to take any notice whatever of proclamations issued by the majority socialists or the leaders of trade-unions. the proclamation declared that "these elements will be permitted to coöperate in the government, but they will not be permitted to present any demands." any attempt to interfere with the soviet was declared to be counter-revolutionary, and it was threatened that such attempts would "be met with the severest repressive measures." the revolution at hamburg was marked by much shooting and general looting. a semblance of order was restored on november th, but it was order only by comparison with the preceding day, and life and property were for many days unsafe in the presence of the vicious elements in control of the city. prisoners were promiscuously released. russian prisoners of war, proudly bearing red ribbons and flags, marched with their "brothers" in the demonstrations. a detachment of marines went to harburg, near by, and liberated all the prisoners confined in the jail there. the cowardice, supineness and lack of decision of the authorities generally have already been referred to. a striking and characteristic illustration is furnished by the story of the revolution at swinemünde, on the baltic sea. two warships, the _dresden_ and _augsburg_, were in the harbor when news came of the kiel mutiny. the admiral was count schwerin and one of his officers was prince adalbert, the sailor-son of the kaiser. the crews of the ships were loyal, and the prince was especially popular with them. the garrison at swinemünde was composed of fifteen hundred coast artillerists and some three hundred marines. the artillerists were all men of the better class, technically educated and thoroughly loyal. at a word from their commanding-officer they would have blown any mutinous ship out of the water with their heavy coast guns. and yet admiral count schwerin and prince adalbert donned civilian clothing and took refuge with civilian friends ashore. thirty-six submarines arrived at five o'clock in the afternoon, but left two hours later because there was no food to be had at swinemünde. the coast artillerists begged to be allowed to wipe out the mutineers. the mayor of swinemünde protested. shells from the sea, he said, might fall into the city and damage it. and so, under the guns of loyal men, the sailors looted the ships completely during the evening and night. a committee of three marines called on major grunewald, commander of the fortress, and insolently ordered him to direct the garrison to appoint a soldiers' council. the artillerists were dumfounded when the major complied. the council appointed consisted of three marines, one artillerist and one infantryman, of whom there were about a hundred in the garrison. one of the members was an officer, major grunewald having been ordered to direct the appointment of one. when the council had been formed the troops were drawn up to listen to a speech by a sergeant of marines. the major, his head bared, listened obediently. "we are the masters here now," said the sergeant. "it is ours to command, yours to obey. the salute is abolished. when we meet a decent officer we may possibly say 'good day, major,' to him, but when we meet some little runt (_schnösel_) of a lieutenant we shan't recognize him. the officers may now go to their quarters. we don't need them. if we should need them later we shall tell them."[ ] [ ] the flight of prince heinrich and later of the kaiser made a painful impression in germany, especially among germans of the better class, and did much to alienate sympathy from them. it had been thought that, whatever other faults the hohenzollerns might possess, they were at least not cowards. the flight of prince adalbert is even today not generally known. the government at berlin and the majority socialists endeavored, even after the events already recorded, to stem the tide, or at least to lead the movement into more orderly channels. stolten and quarck, socialist reichstag deputies, and blunck, progressive deputy, and stubbe and schumann, socialists, representing the executive committee of the central labor federation, went to hamburg. but haase, ledebour and the other agitators had done their work too well. thursday morning brought the reports of the successes of the uprisings to the mutineers at kiel, who were on the point of returning to their ships. a workmen's and soldiers' council was formed for the whole province of schleswig-holstein. the revolt had already become revolution. the revolutionaries seized the railway running from hamburg to berlin, and also took charge of telephonic and telegraphic communication. their emissaries started for berlin. it has been set forth in a previous chapter that the promise of president wilson to give the germans a just peace on the basis of his fourteen points and the supplementary points, and his declaration that the war was against a system and not against the german people themselves had played a very considerable part in making the revolution possible. this appears clearly in the report of the events at bremen. on november th a procession, estimated at thirty thousand persons, passed through the city and halted at the market place. a number of speeches were made. one of the chief speakers, a soldier, reminded his hearers that wilson had said that a peace of justice was possible for the germans only if they would take the government into their own hands. this had now been done, and nobody could reproach the revolutionaries with being unpatriotic, since their acts had made a just peace possible. a similar address was made at a meeting of the revolutionaries in hanover, where the speaker told his hearers that the salvation of germany depended upon their loyal support of the revolution, which had placed all power in the hands of the people and fulfilled the conditions precedent entitling them to such a peace as the president had promised them. at the request of the government noske assumed the post of governor of kiel. order was restored. the relations between the mutineers and their former officers were strikingly good. the spirit of the majority socialists prevailed. not until the berlin revolution had put the seal upon their work did the mutineers of kiel realize that it was they who had started the revolution. chapter x. the revolution reaches berlin. the first news of the kiel revolt reached berlin on november th, when the morning papers published a half-column article giving a fairly accurate story of the happenings of sunday, november d. the report ended: "by eight o'clock the street" (karlstrasse, where the firing occurred) "was clear. only a few pools of blood and numerous shattered windows in the nearby buildings gave evidence that there had been sad happenings here. the late evening and the night were quiet. excited groups stood about the street corners until midnight, but they remained passive. reinforced patrols passed through the city, which otherwise appeared as usual. all public places are open and the performances in the theaters were not interrupted." the papers of the following day announced that "official reports concerning the further course of events in kiel and other cities in north germany had not been made public here up to noon. we are thus for the moment unable to give a report concerning them." this was but half the truth. the capital was already filled with reports, and the government was by this time fully informed of what was going on. rumors and travelers' tales passed from mouth to mouth, but even yet the movement was not considered directly revolutionary, nor, indeed, was it revolutionary, although it became so within the next twenty-four hours. the executive committee of the german federation of labor published a declaration regarding "the recent spreading of anonymous handbills summoning laborers to strikes and disorders for political ends." it was also reported by the press that kurt eisner, who had been released from prison by the october amnesty, had made a violent revolutionary speech at a meeting of the independent socialists in munich. a further significant newspaper item complained of the distribution in germany of vast quantities of revolutionary literature printed in sweden and denmark and smuggled across the danish border. joffe, convicted of abusing his privileges as a diplomat and of lying, had been escorted to a special train, together with his staff, and headed for russia. with him went the berlin representatives of the rosta telegraph agency. but it was too late. not only had the mischief already been done, but the loyalist germans had also been disgusted with the government's timorous failure to grasp this nettle earlier and the independent socialists and their spartacan soul-brothers were still further enraged, if possible, by the expulsion and the manner in which it was carried out. it is doubtful whether the government even yet realized that it had an embryo revolution to deal with. a more homogeneous government, composed of men with executive as well as legislative experience, would have realized it, but homogeneity and executive experience were sadly lacking in this cabinet. it is significant that the experienced men at the head of the political police had already begun preparations to crush any uprising and had burned certain archives which they did not desire to have fall into the hands of revolutionary elements. the government was also embarrassed by the uncertain attitude of the majority socialists. ostensibly these did not desire the overthrow of the monarchy, but merely of the kaiser; scheidemann had declared in so many words that his party, despite the fact that it had always striven for an eventual republic, was willing to wait for such a development and was for the present not opposed to the maintaining of a constitutional monarchy. as late as november th scheidemann told von payer that the socialists did not insist on the abolition of the monarchy. there were even socialists who did not desire the kaiser's abdication. herr marum, a socialist member of the baden diet, in a speech at the end of october, had warned his hearers that any attempt to depose the kaiser would bring chaos and imperil the state. he declared that the overwhelming majority of germans were still monarchists, and although the socialists were advocates of a republic, that question was now subordinate. the kaiser, said marum, had, in common with all germans, learned much, and it would be a great risk to try to force a republic upon an unwilling majority. dr. dietz, a socialist city councillor, seconded marum, and expressed indignation at any efforts to make a scapegoat of the kaiser. the wednesday evening papers published a note from lansing, wherein it was stated that the allied nations accepted wilson's fourteen points of january , , and the supplementary points enunciated in the mount vernon speech, except that relating to the freedom of the seas. the german delegation "for the conclusion of an armistice and to begin peace negotiations" left berlin for the west. it was composed of general von gündell, general von winterfeldt, admiral meurer and admiral von hintze. thursday, november th, brought more reassuring news from kiel. the official wolff bureau reported: "the military protection of the baltic by the marine is completely reëstablished. all departing warships carry the war-flag. the movement among the sailors and workmen has taken a quieter course. the soldiers of the garrison are endeavoring to take measures against violations of order. a gradual general surrender of weapons is proceeding. private houses and business places, as well as lazarets and hospitals, are unmolested. nearly all banks are doing business. the provisioning in the barracks and on the ships is being carried out in the usual manner. the furnishing of provisions to the civilian population has not been interfered with. the strike at the factories continues. the people are quiet." reports from other coast cities were less favorable. wolff reported: "in hamburg there is a strike in the factories. breaches of discipline and violent excesses have occurred. the same is reported from lübeck. except for excesses in certain works, private property has not been damaged nor touched. the population is in no danger." chancellor prince max issued a proclamation, declaring that germany's enemies had accepted wilson's program, except as to the freedom of the seas. "this," he said, "forms the necessary preliminary condition for peace negotiations and at the same time for armistice negotiations." he declared that a delegation had already been sent to the west front, but "the successful conduct of negotiations is gravely jeopardized by disturbances and undisciplined conduct." the chancellor recalled the privations endured by the people for more than four years and appealed to them to hold out a little longer and maintain order. the situation was, however, already lost. if scheidemann, ebert and their fellow members in the central committee of the majority socialist organization had had their followers in hand the revolution could probably still have been prevented, or at least transformed into an orderly dethroning of the kaiser and institution of parliamentary reforms. but they did not have them in hand, and the result was that _vorwärts_, the party's central organ, published in its morning issue a further demand for the kaiser's abdication. _vorwärts_ declared that his sufferings could not be compared to those of most german fathers and that the sacrifice he was called upon to make was comparatively small. the appearance of this article was followed a few hours later by an ultimatum to the government, demanding that the kaiser abdicate within twenty-four hours and declaring that if he failed to do so, the socialists would withdraw from the government. it is probable that scheidemann, ebert and some of the other leaders of the party presented the ultimatum with reluctance, realizing what it would involve, but they were helpless in the face of the sentiment of the mass of their party and of the attitude of the independent socialists. the attitude of the kaiser toward abdication was already known to them. following scheidemann's demand a week earlier, dr. drews, the minister of the interior, had submitted the demand to the kaiser. scheidemann had declared that, if the kaiser did not abdicate, the independent socialists would demand the introduction of a republic, in which case the majority socialists would be compelled to make common cause with them. the kaiser, doubtless still convinced of the loyalty of the troops, was not moved by drews's report. he declared that his abdication would mean complete anarchy and the delivering of germany into the hands of the bolsheviki. he could not accept the responsibility for such a step. that scheidemann and ebert, although they were cognizant of the kaiser's attitude, consented to thursday's ultimatum gives color to a report that informal negotiations had in the meantime been carried on between them and certain independent leaders.[ ] [ ] these negotiations had nothing to do with a revolution as such, nor with the formation of soviets. it must be emphasized that the majority socialists still had no part in these plans and were themselves surprised by the events of friday evening and saturday. revolution was now fairly on the march. the independent socialists and liebknecht's spartacans were already endeavoring to form a workmen's and soldiers' council for greater berlin. general von linsingen, commander in the marches, made a last desperate attempt to forbid the revolution by issuing the following decree: "in certain quarters there exists the purpose to form workmen's and soldiers' councils after the russian pattern, in disregard of the provisions of the laws. "institutions of this kind conflict with the existing state order and endanger the public safety. "under paragraph b of the law regarding a state of siege i forbid any formation of such associations and the participation therein." this was the last order issued by the military authorities in berlin. a counterpiece was the last anti-revolutionary order issued by the old police authorities, which forbade eight mass meetings which the independent socialists proposed to hold thursday evening, with "the anniversary of the russian revolution" as their theme. the police order, however, was enforced. the first revolutionary emissaries reached berlin thursday evening, in the form of various detachments of armed marines from hamburg. the military authorities, more resolute than those in the provincial cities, sent troops to the railway station to receive them. the marines suffered themselves to be disarmed and went without resistance to barracks, with the exception of one detachment of about two hundred and fifty men, of whom all but some seventy escaped into the streets with their weapons. these men formed the nucleus of the revolution in berlin. berlin was still without any but the most meager news of the revolution friday. the papers complained of an even more narrow-minded and arbitrary censorship by the new government than that under the old régime. the press was on the whole restricted to printing official reports, although some of them added a few paragraphs of explanatory comment. an inspired report that the excesses in the northwest bore no political character was contradicted by the _vorwärts_, which declared that they had a "liberty seeking socialistic character everywhere." unimportant disturbances took place during the day in rosenthalerstrasse, in the old city, and a few arrests were made, but the day passed quietly on the whole. crowds stood in front of the bulletin boards of the various newspapers all day, waiting for news from grand headquarters. would the kaiser abdicate? the term of the socialist ultimatum expired. scheidemann gave notice that the party would wait another twenty-four hours, and a few hours later the term was extended until after the decision regarding the armistice, the terms of which were expected to reach berlin on saturday. the government, weak, irresolute, inexperienced, faced a situation which would have confounded stronger men. a day earlier they had consented to summon from kiel and hamburg about a thousand marines who were supposed to be devoted to noske. this attempt to cast out the devil with beelzebub indicates in some degree the desperateness of the situation. more troops were brought to the capital on friday. they were the naumburg _jäger_ (sharpshooters) and the lübben _jäger_, excellent troops, who had been in the finland contingent, had distinguished themselves by patriotic daring and exemplary discipline, and who were considered absolutely reliable. these men, about four thousand in all, were in part quartered in different large restaurants and in part in the barracks of the alexander regiment. it was in these barracks that (ironic coincidence!) kaiser wilhelm made his well-known speech on march , , in which he asserted his confidence that, if the berliners should again become "insolent and disobedient" (_frech und unbotmässig_) as in , his troops would know how to protect their imperial master. in all there were perhaps twenty thousand soldiers in berlin at this time, including several regiments of the prussian guard. throughout thursday and friday the independent socialists were feverishly active. liebknecht, "red rosa" luxemburg and other spartacans joined the independent agitators in revolutionary propaganda among the soldiers and in making preparations for the final coup. the police, loyal and alert to the last, arrested däumig on a charge of high treason and closed the central bureau of the independent socialist party. again too late! there were plenty left to carry on the work. the majority socialists, or at least their leaders, knew in a general way of the activities of these revolutionary forces, but they were still ignorant of the details. prince max telegraphed the kaiser, offering to resign. the kaiser asked him to remain in office for the time being at least. friday night the berlin workmen's and soldiers' council was organized at a meeting summoned by barth, haase and other independents. in addition to the independents and spartacans at the meeting, there were a number of more or less well-known men who had not theretofore been identified with these parties. one of them, a man who was to play a prominent rôle in the events of saturday, the day of the real revolution, was lieutenant colin ross, a prominent journalist and war correspondent. another was captain von beerfelde. it was von beerfelde who, at that time a member of the general staff, betrayed a friend's confidence by making public the lichnowsky memorandum. this resulted, quite naturally, in his arrest and imprisonment. the government could not have acted otherwise, but there is no doubt that von beerfelde was subjected to unnecessary indignities during his arrest, and these, in connection with the arrest itself, transformed the somewhat unbalanced and egotistic man into a bitter enemy of all existing institutions. the general staff was further represented at friday night's meeting by first lieutenant tibertius, a man of no particular prominence or importance, who came to the meeting in company with the independent leaders. barth had bought some sixteen hundred revolvers with money given him by joffe, and these were distributed at the meeting and outside, to soldiers and civilians alike. barth presided at the meeting, which was held in the reichstag chamber. the majority socialists now saw the hopelessness of keeping apart from the movement. they declared their solidarity with the independents, and, in the few hours that remained, set about trying to save whatever could be saved out of the wreck which was plainly coming. friday night, despite these occurrences, passed quietly. the streets were unusually crowded until after midnight, but it was mainly a curious crowd, awaiting further news, particularly of the kaiser's expected abdication. the royal palace was strongly cordoned by steel-helmeted troops, a searchlight played from the tower of the city hall and the streets of the old city were well patrolled by troops and policemen. the police chiefs of various municipalities of greater berlin conferred with general von linsingen on ways and means of meeting eventual disturbances. they decided that further military forces were not needed. saturday, revolution day, dawned with the great mass of the inhabitants still ignorant of the events of the preceding days. the coming events nevertheless cast their shadows before. the morning papers reported that the kaiser's son-in-law, duke ernest august of brunswick, had abdicated after an eleventh-hour attempt to stem the tide by a decree for franchise reform. it was also evident that the kaiser must go, for the clericals, national liberals and progressives in the government permitted it to be reported that, while they were still supporters of a monarchical form of government, they had, in view of the extraordinary circumstances, decided that personal considerations must be disregarded. the wolff bureau was forced to admit that the revolt that started at kiel had extended to many other places in the empire. the report said: "a certain carefully planned procedure is now disclosing itself. everywhere the same picture: from the chief centers, kiel and hamburg, trains carrying armed marines and agitators are being sent out into the country. these men endeavor to seize the centers of communication and abolish the military commands. they then attach to themselves criminal elements, among whom there are great numbers of deserters, and endeavor to corrupt the troops by representing to them that it is not a question of a revolutionary movement, but one to secure military reforms. the attempt has been successful with many troops, but it has met energetic resistance from others. the whole movement plainly proceeds from russia, and it is proved that the former members of the berlin representation of the soviet republic have coöperated in it. as the russian government has itself admitted, it hopes by this means to cause bolshevist ideas to spring into new life here in germany and thereafter in all europe." this was the first open admission that the kiel revolt had developed into a revolution. the newspapers were permitted also to publish reports from various water-front cities, showing that the workmen's and soldiers' councils were in power in bremen, hamburg, lübeck, kiel and other places, and that these councils "are in charge of the government in nearly all garrisons in the province of holstein." they were also permitted to report the proclamation of the republic in bavaria, and the complete text of kurt eisner's bombastic address to the people. it was reported from frankfort-on-main that general von studnitz, commander in that city, had ordered all garrisons there to hold meetings on friday evening for the formation of soldiers' councils. this action followed representations from frankfort's majority socialists, acting in concert with the progressives. nowhere, however, was any mention made of friday night's events in berlin itself. the papers published articles couched in general terms, warning all citizens to preserve order, and reminding them that the city's provisioning would be gravely disturbed by disorders. in fact, the daily supply of milk had already dropped ninety thousand liters as a result of the "sudden interruption of railway traffic." the majority socialists had summoned a meeting for the early morning of saturday in the reichstag building. they had been in session only a short time when the news came that a large parade of workingmen was proceeding down the chausseestrasse. this was about : a.m. the parade was largely made up of employees from the schwartzkopff works, which had been for two years a hotbed of discontent, of radical socialism and bolshevism. the marchers entered the barracks of the fusilier guards--known in berlin and north germany generally as the _maikäfer_--and demanded that the soldiers surrender their weapons. a captain, the first officer encountered, shot down four of the rioters before he was himself killed. he was the only officer in berlin rash, brave and loyal enough to give his life deliberately for his monarch and for the old system. the soldiers then meekly surrendered their rifles and the parade moved on, reinforced in every street with deserters, criminals, hooligans and other undesirable elements such as are to be found in all large cities. the majority socialists realized that their only hope was to try to lead the movement and direct it into comparatively orderly channels. they appointed scheidemann, ebert and david to confer with the independent socialist delegates dittmann, vogtherr and ledebour, regarding the organization of a new government. further reports came of street demonstrations. bloodshed appeared imminent. colin ross went to the palace of the chancellor and found prince max. the prince was nervous and all but entirely unstrung. ross told him the majority socialists had decided that there must be no firing on the people, and asked him to issue an order to that effect. max said he would do so. ross thereupon went to minister of war scheuch and told him that the chancellor had ordered that the troops should not fire on the citizens. the order was communicated to the various garrisons and also to police headquarters. what would have occurred if this order had not been issued is a matter of conjecture. assuredly there would have been bloodshed. quite apart from the question of the reliability or unreliability of the troops there were the berlin police to deal with. their ranks had been thinned by calls to the front, but those still on duty were no inconsiderable factor. the force was made up entirely of veteran non-commissioned officers, who must have served twelve years in the army. they were, moreover, like all great city police forces, picked men, above the average physically, and far above the average in bravery, resoluteness and loyalty. only a negligible number of them had been perverted by red doctrines, and they were well armed and fully prepared for the day's events. high police officials assured the author that they could have put down the revolution in its very beginnings if the order had not come forbidding them to offer resistance. viewed in the light of subsequent events, this statement must be rejected. the police could and would have put up a brave battle, but there were too few of them for one thing, and for another, the revolution had too great momentum to be stopped by any force available to the authorities. one military defection had already occurred when saturday dawned. a corporal of the naumburg _jäger_, who were quartered in the alexander barracks, had been arrested for making an incendiary speech to some comrades, and when the troops were alarmed at : a.m. and ordered to be ready to go into action they refused to obey. major ott, commander of the battalion directly affected, came and told the men that the kaiser had already abdicated. they sent a delegation to the _vorwärts_, where they learned that the major's statement was not true. the delegation thereupon announced that the battalion would place itself on the side of the workingmen. the kaiser alexander guards followed the _jäger's_ example. there were some good troops in berlin--such as the _jäger_ already mentioned--but the great majority of the men were by no means of the highest standard. the best troops were naturally at the front, and those at home were in large part made up of men who had been away from the firing-line for some weeks or even longer, and who had been subjected to a violent campaign of what the socialists call _aufklärung_, literally, clearing up, or enlightenment. the word is generally used as part of a phrase, _aufklärung im sozial-demokratischen sinne_, that is, "enlightenment in the social-democratic sense." the great majority of any army is made up of men who work with their hands. a great part of the others consists of small shopkeepers, clerks and others whose associations in civilian life are mainly with the workingmen. an appeal not to shoot one's "proletarian brother" is, in the nature of things, an appeal which strikes home to these people. the kaiser was still nominally occupying the throne, but it was certain that he would abdicate. this was a further element of weakness for the government, since such of the troops as were still _kaisertreu_ (loyal to the kaiser) saw themselves about to be deprived of their monarch, who, however they may have regarded him personally, nevertheless represented for them the majesty and unity of the german state. hence, even before the order came not to fire on the people, the troops had begun to place themselves on the side of the revolutionaries and were everywhere permitting themselves to be disarmed. otto wels, a majority socialist member of the reichstag, and others of his colleagues made the round of the barracks, appealing to the soldiers not to shed their brothers' blood. and then came the no-resistance order. the streets filled with marching crowds, civilians and soldiers, arm in arm, cheering and singing. hawkers appeared everywhere with small red flags, red rosettes, red ribbons, red flowers. the red flag of revolution began breaking out on various buildings. soldiers tore off their regimental insignia and removed the cockades from their caps. factories were deserted. the revolution had come! chapter xi. the kaiser abdicates. events moved with lightning rapidity. all that has been related in the foregoing chapter concerning the developments of november th had happened before : a.m. the majority socialists, still in session in the reichstag and now in complete fellowship with the independents and members of the workmen's and soldiers' council, decided that the republic must be proclaimed. some enterprising individuals prepared an article reporting the kaiser's abdication. ross took it to the _vorwärts_, which published it in an extra edition, nearly two hours before the abdication actually took place. the paper was fairly torn from the hands of the venders in the streets, and processions of red-ribboned marchers became more frequent. the cabinet had meanwhile been in almost constant telephonic communication with the kaiser. it had been repeatedly represented to him that only his abdication could prevent rioting and bloodshed. but the decision which he was called upon to make was not an easy one, and it cannot be wondered that he hesitated. he was particularly insistent that, while he could consider abdicating as german emperor, he could not and would not abdicate as king of prussia. the decision had still not been reached at noon. the cabinet, fearing to delay longer, had the following report sent out by the wolff bureau: "the kaiser and king has decided to surrender the throne (_dem throne zu entsagen_). the imperial chancellor will remain in office until the questions connected with the abdication of the kaiser, the abandoning by the crown prince of the german empire and prussia of his rights to the throne, and the installation of a regency shall have been adjusted. it is his intention to propose to the regent the appointment of deputy ebert as imperial chancellor and to submit to him a draft of a measure regarding the immediate calling of general elections for a constituent german national assembly, which shall finally determine the future form of government of the german people, and also of those peoples that may desire to be included within the borders of the empire. (signed) "the imperial chancellor, "max, prince of baden." it will be observed that this, so far from being the proclamation of a republic, clearly contemplated the continued existence of the monarchy. the question of the future form of government was, it is true, to be left to the national assembly, but if the events of saturday afternoon and sunday had not occurred it is probable that this assembly would have decided upon a constitutional monarchy. speculations along this line are of merely academic interest, but for a better understanding of the extent of the reversal of these two days it may be pointed out that a clear majority of the german people was undoubtedly monarchic in principle. the only body of republican opinion was represented by the social-democrats of both wings, who composed less than forty per cent of the total population, and even among them, as we have seen, there were men who felt that the time had not yet come for a republic. prince max's proclamation anticipated by a full hour the kaiser's actual abdication. it was furthermore erroneous in its assertion that "the king" had abdicated. the kaiser's first abdication did not include the royal throne of prussia. only when all hope was definitely lost did he surrender this. a detachment of _jäger_ occupied the reichstag, and a great crowd gathered outside. scheidemann, in an address from the reichstag steps, told the crowd that the dynasty had been overthrown, and that ebert had been appointed to form a new government on republican lines and with the participation of all political parties.[ ] scheidemann, like max, also anticipated events, for the republic had not yet been authoritatively proclaimed, nor had ebert been appointed chancellor. [ ] the majority socialists honestly intended to form a people's government representing all parties. that only socialists were eventually admitted was due to the flat refusal of the independents to let the despised _bourgeoisie_ have any voice whatever in the governmental affairs. two hours later, shortly after : p.m., ebert, scheidemann, braun and two members of the workmen's and soldiers' council, prolat and hiller, went to the palace of the chancellor in an automobile carrying a red flag and guarded by armed soldiers. they informed prince max that they considered it absolutely necessary to form a socialistic government,[ ] since this alone could save germany. the prince thereupon requested ebert to accept the chancellorship. ebert complied and thus became for one day "imperial chancellor," the possessor of an office which did not exist in an empire which no longer existed. [ ] "socialistic" in a non-partisan sense; a republic based on the socialist party's tenets, but not necessarily conducted exclusively by them. the exclusion of the _bourgeoisie_ was a later idea. ebert's first act was to proclaim the republic officially. he did this in an address to a crowd which filled wilhelmstrasse and wilhelmplatz in front of the chancellor's official residence. hysteric cheering followed the announcement that the german empire had become history. the greatest revolution of all times was an accomplished fact before three o'clock on saturday afternoon, november th. the old system, with its tens of thousands of trained and specialized officials; with armies that had successfully fought for years against the combined resources of the rest of the world; with citizens trained from their very infancy to reverence the kaiser and to obey those in authority; with the moral support of the monarchic germans, who far outnumbered the republican--this system fell as a rotten tree falls before a gale. the simile lacks in perfection because the tree falls with a crash, whereas the old german governmental system made less noise in its collapse than did the kingdom of portugal some years earlier. it simply disappeared. _fuit germania_. up to this time the majority socialists, by stealing the thunder of the independents and acting with a good deal of resolution, had kept themselves in the center of the stage. the real makers of the revolution, the independents and spartacans, had been confined to off-stage work. it was liebknecht, with his instinct for the theatrical and dramatic, who now came to the front. a vast crowd had gathered around the royal palace. it was made up in part of the "class-conscious proletariat," but in large part also of the merely curious. liebknecht, accompanied by adolf hoffmann[ ] and another left wing socialist, entered the palace and proceeded to a balcony in the second story, where, lacking a red flag, he hung a red bed-blanket over the rail of the balcony and then delivered an impassioned harangue to the crowd below. the real revolution, he declared, had only begun, and attempts at counter-revolution could be met only by the vigilance of an armed proletariat. the working-classes must arm themselves, the _bourgeoisie_ must be disarmed. hoffmann, who spoke briefly, said that he was enjoying the happiest and proudest moment of his life. while he was still speaking a red flag was hoisted over the palace, to the cheers of the people gathered around the building. [ ] hoffman was for several years a member of the prussian diet and prominent in the councils of the social-democratic party. although a professed atheist and unable to write a sentence of his mother-tongue without an error in spelling or grammar, he became under the first revolutionary government prussian minister of education (_kultusminister_), with charge over the church and schools. hoffman left the old party at the time of the split in , and has since been an abusive and virulent enemy of his former colleagues. he distinguished himself in the diet chiefly by disregard of the ordinary amenities of civilized intercourse and parliamentary forms. speaking from the speaker's rostrum in the diet, with his back to the presiding-officer--after the usual european custom--he would utter some insult to the royal house, the authorities in general, one of the _bourgeois_ parties of the house or one of the members. he appeared to know instinctively whenever his remarks were inadmissible, for he would pause, hunch up his shoulders like one expecting to be struck from behind, and wait for the presiding-officer to ring his bell and call him to order. a few minutes later the same scene would be reënacted. some of the palace guard had given up their rifles and left their posts. others had joined the revolutionaries. the looting of the palace began. it did not assume great proportions on this first day, but many valuable articles had disappeared when night came. government property of all kinds was sold openly in the streets by soldiers and civilians. rifles could be had for a few marks, and even army automobiles were sold for from three to five hundred marks. processions kept moving about the city, made up in part of soldiers and in part of armed civilians. persons without red badges were often molested or mishandled. cockades in the imperial or some state's colors were torn from soldiers' caps, their shoulder insignia were ripped off and their belts taken away by the embryo and self-constituted "red guard." the patriotic cockades inflamed their revolutionary hearts; the belts, being of good leather--a rare article--could be used for repairing the shoes of the faithful. officers were hunted down, their shoulder-straps torn off and their swords and revolvers taken from them. many officers were roughly handled. hundreds escaped a like fate by a quick change into civilian clothing. the _mobile vulgus_ had forgotten that forty per cent of germany's active officer corps had been killed in fighting for their country, and that a great part of those left were crippled by wounds. it saw in these men only the representatives of an iron discipline and of authority--and authority is hated by all truly class-conscious _genossen_. it was this same feeling that led, on the following day, to the disarming of the police--a measure which so quickly avenged itself in an increase of crime from which even the proletariat suffered that their sabers and revolvers were restored to the police within a month. thus far the revolution had been all but bloodless. the brave officer of the _maikäfer_ and the four revolutionaries who fell before him were the only victims. but about : p.m., as an automobile ambulance turned into the palace courtyard, a single shot was heard. observers thought they saw the smoke of the shot in the central entrance to the royal stables, which are situated across the street just south of the palace. while the source of the shot was being investigated a second shot was fired. almost immediately machine guns began firing from the cellar windows and the first and second stories of the stables.[ ] the crowd filling the square melted away. members of the soldiers' council returned the fire. the shooting continued until late into the night, when members of the soldiers' council entered the stables. they found nobody there. [ ] this story of the origin of saturday evening's shooting comes from the soldiers' council, and is undoubtedly exaggerated. no other report of the incident is, however, available. by whom or with what intention the first shots were fired is not known. the most radical of the revolutionaries, and especially the liebknecht followers, saw in them the beginning of the dreaded "counter-revolution." the stables were at the time occupied by some of the marines who had been brought to berlin two days earlier. these men, who were later to cause the new government so much trouble,[ ] were in large part what is so aptly expressed by the slang term "roughnecks." their leader was a degraded officer named heinrich dorrenbach.[ ] viewed in the light of their subsequent conduct it is impossible that they could have been won for any counter-revolutionary movement. the revolutionaries, however, who knew that they had been summoned by prince max's government, concluded that the shots had been fired by them. there were few casualties from the encounter. [ ] it was these men who surrounded the imperial chancellery on december th, held the cabinet members there _incommunicado_ by severing the telephone wires, and compelled the government to grant their wage demands and to permit them to retain the royal stables as barracks. they also helped loot the palace. the government had to disarm them during the second "bolshevik week" in berlin early in march, when twenty-four of them were summarily executed. [ ] dorrenbach was afterward indicted in brunswick for bribery and looting. the majority socialists' three delegates conferred again with dittmann, vogtherr and ledebour, the independents' representatives. they were unable to come to an agreement, and the independents withdrew to confer with their party's executive committee. this committee debated the question for some hours with the workmen's and soldiers' council.[ ] liebknecht, still nominally an independent, for the _spartacus bund_ had not yet been formally organized as a separate party; ledebour, dittmann, and barth, who was chairman of the council, took a leading part in the debate that ensued. it was finally decided to make the independents' participation in the government conditional upon the granting of certain demands. first of all, the new government must be only a _provisorium_ for the conclusion of the armistice, and its existence was to be limited to three days. before the expiration of that term the soviet was to decide what course should then be taken. the republic must be a socialistic republic,[ ] and all legislative, executive and judicial power must rest in the hands of the workmen's and soldiers' councils, who were to be elected by "the laboring population _under the exclusion of all bourgeois elements_."[ ] [ ] that the radical wing of the german socialists conferred in a party matter with this council, which was supposed to represent socialists of both parties, is significant. as a matter of fact, the real power in the council was from the beginning in the hands of the independent and spartacan members, and their ascendancy grew steadily. [ ] here, as the demands show, "socialistic" in the most rigid and "class-conscious" partisan sense. [ ] the italics are those of the independents themselves, as used in publishing their demands in their party organ. these demands were communicated to the majority socialist delegates, who, after a conference with their party's executive committee, rejected them. they especially opposed the exclusion of all _bourgeois_ statesmen from the government, declaring that this would make the provisioning of the people impossible. they demanded coöperation of the two parties until the convening of a constituent assembly, and rejected the three-day limitation upon the existence of the government to be formed. further negotiations between the two sets of delegates were agreed on for sunday morning. the german socialists have always had a keen appreciation of the influence of the press. no other country has such an extensive, well-edited and influential array of socialist newspapers and periodicals as germany, and in no other country are the socialists so carefully disciplined into taking their political views from their party organs. as the parent party, the majority socialists already had their press. the independents had no organ of any importance in berlin, and liebknecht's spartacans had none at all. this, for persons who, if not in abstract theory, nevertheless in actual practice refuse to admit that the _bourgeoisie_ has any rights whatever, was a matter easily remedied. liebknecht, at the head of a group of armed soldiers, went in the evening to the plant of the conservative _lokal-anzeiger_, turned out the whole staff and took possession. the paper appeared sunday morning as _die rote fahne_ (the red flag). independent socialists and members of the workmen's and soldiers' council at the same time took violent possession of the venerable _norddeutsche allgemeine zeitung_, which they published sunday morning as _die internationale_. the wolff bureau had already been occupied by members of the workmen's and soldiers' council. it was compelled to send out any articles coming from that council, and its other news dispatches were subjected to a censorship quite as rigid and _tendencieuse_ and even less intelligent than that prevailing under the old régime. the committee put in charge of the wolff bureau was nominally composed of an equal number of majority and independent socialists, but the latter, by dint of their rabid energy and resolution, were able for a long time to put their imprint on all news issuing from the bureau. _die rote fahne_ of sunday morning published on the first page a leading article which undoubtedly was written by liebknecht himself. it began: "proudly the red flag floats over the imperial capital. berlin has tardily followed the glorious example of the kiel sailors, the hamburg shipyard laborers and the soldiers and workingmen of various other states." the article glorified the revolution and declared that it must sweep away "the remains and ruins of feudalism." there must be not merely a republic, but a socialistic republic, and its flag must not be "the black, red and gold flag of the _bourgeois_ republic of , but the red flag of the international socialistic proletariat, the red flag of the commune of and of the russian revolutions of and . **** the revolutionary, triumphant proletariat must erect a new order out of the ruins of the world war. **** the first tasks in this direction are speedy peace, genuine proletarian domination, reshaping of economic life from the pseudo-socialism of the war to the real socialism of peace." the article closed with an appeal to workingmen and soldiers to retain their weapons and go forward "under the victorious emblem of the red flag." on the third page of the same issue appeared another article, also probably from liebknecht's pen. it was an appeal to the "workmen and soldiers in berlin" to fortify the power already won by them. "the red flag floats over berlin,"[ ] wrote liebknecht again. but this was only a beginning. "the work is not finished with the abdication of a couple of hohenzollerns. still less is it accomplished by the entrance into the government of a couple more government socialists. these have supported the _bourgeoisie_ for four years and they cannot do otherwise now." [ ] no one can long study objectively the manifestations of partisan social-democracy without feeling that there is something pathological about the fetichistic worship of the red flag by the radical elements among the socialists. "mistrust is the first democratic virtue," declared liebknecht. the government must be completely reorganized. he then set forth the demands that must be presented. they are of interest as the first formulation of the program of those who afterward became the supporters of bolshevist ideals in germany. except for certain points designed only to meet then existing conditions this program is still in essentials that of the german communists, as the spartacans now term themselves. it follows: . disarming of the whole police force, of all officers and also of such soldiers as do not stand on the base of the new order; arming of the people;[ ] all soldiers and proletarians who are armed to retain their weapons. [ ] _bewaffnung des volkes_; "people" used as a synonym for the proletarian section of it. the _bourgeoisie_ are not _das volk_ (the people) to the extreme socialist. . taking over of all military and civil offices and commands by representatives (_vertrauensmänner_) of the workmen's and soldiers' council. . surrender of all weapons and stores of munitions, as well as of all other armaments, to the workmen's and soldiers' council. . control by the workmen's and soldiers' council of all means of traffic. . abolishment of courts-martial; corpse-like obedience (_kadavergehorsam_) to be replaced by voluntary discipline of the soldiers under control of the workmen's and soldiers' council. . abolishment of the reichstag and of all parliaments,[ ] as well as of the existing national government; taking over of the government by the berlin workmen's and soldiers' council until the formation of a national workmen's and soldiers' council. [ ] americans inclined to extend sympathy to liebknecht (or his memory) are again reminded that he and his followers are violent opponents of democracy. the same is true of the real leaders of the independent socialists. . election throughout germany of workmen's and soldiers' councils, in whose hands exclusively the lawgiving and administrative power shall rest. . abolishment of dynasties[ ] and separate states; our parole is: united socialistic republic of germany. [ ] several of the german dynasties were still in existence on the morning of november th. king friedrich august of saxony, grand duke ernst ludwig of hesse and grand duke friedrich august of oldenburg were deposed on november th, and prince heinrich xxvii of reuss (younger line) abdicated on the same day. the king of saxony accepted his deposition by a formal act of abdication two days later. duke karl eduard of saxe-coburg-gotha, and grand duke friedrich franz of mecklenburg-schwerin abdicated on november th. king ludwig of bavaria, whom kurt eisner had already declared deposed, issued a statement on november th liberating all officials from their oath of allegiance, "since i am no longer in a position to direct the government." the munich soviet acknowledged this as an act of abdication. prince friedrich of waldeck-pyrmont, refusing to abdicate, was deposed on the same day. grand duke friedrich of baden and prince adolf of schaumburg-lippe did not leave their thrones until november th. . the immediate establishing of relations with all workmen's and soldiers' councils existing in germany, and with the socialistic brother parties of foreign countries. . the immediate recall to berlin of the russian embassy. this proclamation closed by declaring that no real socialist must enter the government as long as a single "government" socialist (majority) belonged to it. "there can be no coöperation with those who have betrayed us for four years," said the proclamation. this item followed: "_die rote fahne_ sends its first and warmest greeting to the federative socialistic soviet republic (russia) and begs that government to tell our russian brethren that the berlin laboring-class has celebrated the first anniversary of the russian revolution by bringing about the german revolution." _die internationale_ also published a leader glorifying the revolution and declaring that "the red flag floats over the capital." it called on its readers to be on their guard and closed with a _lebe hoch_![ ] for the german socialistic republic and the _internationale_. [ ] literally, "may it live high!" the french _vive_ and the english "hurrah for--!" all the sunday morning papers published a proclamation and an appeal by the "imperial chancellor," ebert. the proclamation was addressed to "fellow citizens,"[ ] and was a formal notice that ebert had taken over his office from prince max and was about to form a new government. he requested the aid of all good citizens and warned especially against any acts calculated to interfere with supplying food to the people. the appeal was a summons to all officials throughout the country to place themselves at the disposition of the new government.[ ] "i know it will be hard for many to work with the new men who have undertaken the conduct of the government," said the appeal, "but i appeal to their love for our people." [ ] _mitbürger._ subsequent proclamations were, with few exceptions, addressed to _genossen_. the government could not shake off its party fetters. [ ] it is not possible to withhold admiration from the tens of thousands of officials throughout germany who, hating and despising party socialism, and themselves monarchic in principle by tradition and training, nevertheless stayed at their posts and did what they could to prevent utter chaos. the choice was especially hard for the men in higher positions, since most of these not only had to carry out orders of a revolutionary red government, but also had to submit to having their daily acts controlled and their orders altered and countersigned by a _genosse_ who was often an unskilled manual laborer. the best traditions of german officialdom were honorably upheld by these men, and it is to them, rather than to those at the head of the government, that credit is due for even the small measure of order that was preserved. sunday was ushered in with the crack of rifle fire and the rattle of machine-guns. nervous _genossen_, incited by fanatics or irresponsible agitators saw the specter of counterrevolution on every hand and circulated wild tales of officers firing on the people from various buildings, chiefly the victoria café and the bauer café at the corner of unter den linden and friedrichstrasse, some buildings near the friedrichstrasse railway station, other buildings farther down unter den linden, and the engineers' society building and the official home of the reichstag president, the two last-named buildings situated across the street to the east of the reichstag. while it is barely possible that some loyal cadets may have fired on a crowd in one or two places, it has never been definitely proved. the talk of resistance by officers is absurd. the only occupant of the residence of the reichstag president, which was fired at with machine guns from the roof of the reichstag, was one frightened old woman, who spent the day crouching in a corner of the cellar. there was nobody in the engineers' building. the day's victims were all killed to no purpose by the wild shooting of persons--mainly youths--who lost their heads. the shooting continued on monday, but gradually died out. the stories sent to the outside world through the soviet-controlled wolff bureau of officers firing on the revolutionaries and then escaping by subterranean passages were the inventions of excited and untrained minds. it had been decided at saturday night's conference to hold an election on sunday morning for district workmen's and soldiers' councils, and to hold a meeting at the circus busch at five o'clock sunday afternoon to form the government. sunday morning's papers published the summons for the election. the larger factories were directed to elect one delegate for every thousand employees. factories employing fewer than five hundred persons were directed to unite for the election of delegates. each battalion of soldiers was also to choose one delegate. these delegates were directed to meet at circus busch for the election of a provisional government. the majority socialists were in a difficult position. the independents claimed--and with right--that they had "made the revolution." the preponderance of brute force was probably, so far as berlin alone was concerned, on their side. in any event they had a support formidable enough to compel scheidemann and his followers to make concessions to them. the three delegates from each party met again. the result of their deliberations was concessions on both sides. the majority socialists agreed to exclude _bourgeois_ elements from the cabinet, but the independents agreed that this should not apply to those ministers (war, navy, etc.), whose posts required men of special training--the so-called _fachminister_. the independents consented to enter the government without placing a time-limit on their stay or on its existence. each party was to designate three "people's commissioners" (_volksbeauftragte_), who were to have equal rights. the independents stipulated further in their conditions (which were accepted): "the political power shall be in the hands of the workmen's and soldiers' councils, which shall be summoned shortly from all parts of the empire for a plenary session. "the question of a constituent assembly will not become a live issue until after a consolidation of the conditions created by the revolution, and shall therefore be reserved for later consideration." the independents announced that, these conditions being accepted, their party had named as members of the government hugo haase, wilhelm dittmann and emil barth. dittmann had but recently been released from jail, where he was serving a short sentence for revolutionary and anti-war propaganda. he was secretary of the independent socialist party's executive committee, an honest fanatic and but one step removed from a communist. barth was in every way unfit to be a member of any government. there were grave stories afloat, some of them well founded, of his moral derelictions, and he was a man of no particular ability. some months later, and several weeks after he had resigned from the cabinet, he was found riding about southern germany on the pass issued to him as a cabinet member and agitating for the overthrow of the government of which he had been a part. the majority socialists selected as their representatives in the government friedrich (fritz) ebert, phillip scheidemann and otto landsberg, the last named an able and respected lawyer and one of the intellectual leaders of the berlin socialists. when, at : p.m., the combined workmen's and soldiers' councils of greater berlin met in the circus busch, ebert was able to announce that the differences between the two socialist parties had been adjusted. the announcement was greeted with hearty applause. the meeting had a somewhat stormy character, but was more orderly than might have been expected. a considerable number of front-soldiers were present, and the meeting was dominated throughout by them. they demonstrated at the outset that they had no sympathy with fanatic and ultraradical agitators and measures, and liebknecht, who delivered a characteristic passionate harangue, demanding the exclusion of the majority socialists from any participation in the government, had great difficulty in getting a hearing. the choice of the six "people's commissioners" was ratified by the meeting. it is a striking thing, explainable probably only by mass-psychology, that although the meeting was openly hostile to liebknecht and his followers, it nevertheless voted by an overwhelming majority, to "send the russian workmen's and soldiers' government our fraternal greetings," and decided that the new german government should "immediately resume relations with the russian government, whose representative in berlin it awaits." the meeting adopted a proclamation declaring that the first task for the new government should be the conclusion of an armistice. "an immediate peace," said this proclamation, "is the revolution's parole. however this peace may be, it will be better than a continuation of the unprecedented slaughter."[ ] the proclamation declared that the socialization of capitalistic means of production was feasible and necessary, and that the workmen's and soldiers' council was "convinced that an upheaval along the same lines is being prepared throughout the whole world. it expects confidently that the proletariat of other countries will devote its entire might to prevent injustice being done to the german people at the end of the war."[ ] following the adoption of this proclamation, the meeting elected a _vollzugsrat_ or executive council from the membership of the workmen's and soldiers' councils present. it was made up of twenty-eight men, fourteen workmen and fourteen soldiers, and the majority and independent socialists were represented on each branch of the council with seven members. the twenty-eight men chosen were emil barth, captain von beerfelde, bergmann, felix bernhagen, otto braun, franz buchel, max cohen (reuss), erich däumig, heinrich denecke, paul eckert, christian finzel, gelberg, gustav gerhardt, gierth, gustav heller, ernst jülich, georg ledebour, maynitz, brutus molkenbuhr, richard müller, paul neuendorf, hans paasche, walter portner, colin ross, otto strobel, waltz and p. wegmann. captain von beerfelde was made chairman of the soldiers' branch and müller of the workmen's representatives on this council. müller, a metal-worker by trade, was a rabid independent socialist, a fiery agitator and bitter opponent of a constituent assembly. it was largely due to his leadership and to the support accorded him by ledebour and certain other radical members of the _vollzugsrat_ that this council steadily drifted farther and farther toward the independent and spartacan side and ultimately became one of the greatest hindrances to honest government until its teeth were drawn in december. [ ] germany would have accepted almost any kind of peace in november. this is but one of many things indicating it. [ ] there is something both characteristic and pathetic in the german socialists' confidence that the proletariat in the enemy countries would follow their example. the wish was, of course, father to the thought, but it exhibited that same striking inability to comprehend other peoples' psychology that characterized the germans throughout the war. the council, however, started out well. its first act, following the circus busch meeting, was to order the _lokal-anzeiger_ and the _norddeutsche allgemeine zeitung_ restored to their lawful owners, and this was done. the council formally confirmed the choice of the six _volksbeauftragte_ and established rules for their guidance. neither the council nor the people's commissioners could claim to have their mandate from the whole empire, but they assumed it. revolutionary governments cannot be particular, and berlin was, after all, the capital and most important city. there was, furthermore, no time to wait for general elections. the circus busch meeting had good revolutionary precedents, and some sort of central government was urgently necessary. there was still some scattered firing in berlin on monday, but comparative order was established. the six-man cabinet was in almost uninterrupted session, and the first result of its deliberation was an edict, issued on tuesday, making many fundamental changes in existing laws. the edict lifted the "state of siege," which had existed since the outbreak of the war. all limitations upon the right of assembly were removed, and it was especially provided that state employees and officials should enjoy the right freely to assemble. the censorship was abolished, including also the censorship of theaters.[ ] "expression of opinion in word and print" was declared free.[ ] the free exercise of religion was guaranteed. amnesty was granted all political prisoners, and pending prosecutions for political offenses were annulled.[ ] the domestic servants law was declared repealed.[ ] it was promised that a general eight-hour law should become effective not later than january , . other sociological reforms were promised, and woman's suffrage was introduced with the provision that "all elections for public offices shall hereafter be conducted under equal, secret, general and direct vote on the proportional system by all males and females twenty years old or over."[ ] the same system, it was decreed, should be followed in the elections for the national assembly. [ ] consistent efforts were made by those interested in discrediting all news sent from germany after the revolution to make the general public believe that a rigid censorship of outgoing letters and news telegrams was still maintained. the american so-called military intelligence--which is responsible for an appalling amount of misinformation--reported in january that the censorship was stricter than during the war. this was untrue. the author, at that time a working journalist in berlin, was repeatedly entrusted with the censor's stamp and told to stamp his own messages when they were ready, since the censor desired to leave his office. the only reason for maintaining even the formality of a censorship was to prevent the illegitimate transfer of securities or money out of the country. there was no censorship whatever on news messages. [ ] the immediate result of this was a flood of new papers, periodicals and pamphlets, some of them pornographic and many of them marked by the grossness which unfortunately characterizes much of the german humor. some of the publishers fouled their own nests in a manner difficult to understand. one pamphlet sold on the streets was _die französischen liebschaften des deutschen kronprinzen während des krieges_. [ ] this principle was to make much trouble later for the government, for the radical socialists consider murder a "political crime" if the victim be a _bourgeois_ politician. there are also extremists for whom any prisoner is a victim of capitalism, and hundreds of dangerous criminals were released in berlin and various other cities in raids on jails and prisons. [ ] domestic servants, particularly those in hotels, were real gainers by the revolution. chambermaids, for example, who had always been on duty from a.m. until or p.m., suddenly found themselves able, for the first time in their lives, to get enough sleep and to have some time at their own disposal. [ ] twenty-five years had formerly been the age entitling one to vote. the reduction undoubtedly operated primarily in favor of the socialists, for youth is inclined to radicalism everywhere. _vorwärts_, in a leader on the same day, spoke of the constituent assembly as of a thing assured. a good impression was made by the report that hindenburg had remained at his post and placed himself at the disposition of the new government. prince leopold of prussia also assured the government of his support. the revolution had started well. reports that the poles were plundering in posen and upper silesia made little impression. the proletariat was intoxicated with its new liberty. the saner _bourgeoisie_ were differently minded: "_das böse sind wir los; die bösen sind geblieben_."[ ] [ ] we have shaken off the great evil; the evil-doers have remained. chapter xii. "the german socialistic republic." the character and completeness of the revolution were even yet not realized in all parts of germany. rulers of various states, in some places aided by majority socialists, made desperate eleventh-hour attempts to save their thrones. prince regent aribert of anhalt received a deputation of national liberals, progressives and socialists, who presented a program for parliamentarization. the socialists, progressives, clericals and guelphs in brunswick coalesced "to further a policy of peace and progress and to spare our people severe internal disorders." the two reuss principalities amalgamated, and a reformed franchise and parliamentarization were promised. the government in hesse-darmstadt ordered thorough parliamentary reforms. the württemburg ministry resigned and the progressive reichstag deputy liesching was appointed minister-president. grand duke ernst wilhelm of saxe-weimar renounced the right of exemption from taxation enjoyed not only by him personally, but by all his family and court officials. grand duke friedrich franz of mecklenburg-schwerin received a deputation to discuss parliamentary reforms. a socialist meeting in breslau broke up in disorder because the majority socialists opposed the independent socialists' demand that force be employed to secure the fulfillment of their demands. but dynasties could not longer be saved. when night came on monday, the revolution in germany was to all practical intents an accomplished fact. fourteen of the twenty-five states, including all four kingdoms and all the other really important states, were already securely in the revolutionaries' hands. the red flag waved over the historic royal palace in berlin. king ludwig of bavaria had been declared deposed and had fled from his capital. king friedrich august of saxony was still nominally occupying his throne, but soldiers' councils had taken over the government both in dresden and leipsic, and were considering the king's abdication. württemberg had been declared a republic and the king had announced that he would not be an obstacle to any movement demanded by the majority of his people. the free cities of hamburg, bremen and lübeck were being ruled by socialists. in the grand duchies of oldenburg, baden, hesse and the mecklenburgs the rulers' power was gone and their thrones were tottering. grand duke ernst august of brunswick, the kaiser's son-in-law, abdicated. and the kaiser and king of prussia fled. nothing more vividly illustrates the physical, mental and moral exhaustion of the german people at this time than the fact that the former ruler's flight hardly evoked more than passing interest. many newspapers published it with no more display than they gave to orders by germany's new rulers, and none "played it up" as a great news item. the clearest picture of the occurrences at the kaiser's headquarters on the fatal november th has been given by general count von schulenberg, chief of the general staff of the crown prince's army. von schulenberg was present also on november st, when minister of the interior drews presented the government's request that the kaiser abdicate. drews had hardly finished speaking, reports von schulenberg, before the kaiser exclaimed: "you, a prussian official, who have sworn the oath of fealty to your king, how can you venture to come before me with such a proposal? "have you considered what chaos would follow? think of it! i abdicate for my person and my house! all the dynasties in germany collapse in an instant. the army has no leader, the front disintegrates, the soldiers stream in disorder across the rhine. the revolutionaries join hands, murder, incendiarism and plundering follow, and the enemy assists. i have no idea of abdicating. the king of prussia may not be false to germany, least of all at a time like this. i, too, have sworn an oath, and i will keep it." hindenburg and groener (ludendorff's successor) shared the kaiser's opinion at this time that abdication was not to be thought of. the situation, however, altered rapidly in the next few days. von schulenburg declares that scheidemann[ ] was the chief factor in the movement to compel the monarch to go. early on the morning of november th, when von schulenberg reached headquarters building in spa, he found general depression. "everybody appeared to have lost his head." the various army chiefs were present to report on the feeling among their men. hindenburg had reported to them that revolution had broken out in germany, that railways, telegraphs and provision depots were in the revolutionaries' hands, and that some of the bridges across the rhine had been occupied by them. the armies were thus threatened with being cut off from the homeland. von schulenberg continues: "i met generals von plessen and marschall, who told me that the field marshall (hindenburg) and general groener were on the way to tell the kaiser that his immediate abdication was necessary. i answered: 'you're mad. the army is on the kaiser's side.' the two took me with them to the kaiser. the conference began by hindenburg's saying to the kaiser that he must beg to be permitted to resign, since he could not, as a prussian officer, give his king the message which he must give. the kaiser answered: 'well, let us hear the message first.' thereupon groener gave a long description of the situation, the homeland in the hands of revolutionists, revolution to be expected in berlin at any minute, and the army not to be depended on. to attempt with the enemy in the rear to turn the army about and set it in march for civil warfare was not to be thought of. the only salvation for the fatherland lay in the kaiser's immediate abdication. hindenburg, the general intendant and chief of military railways agreed with groener." [ ] cf. scheidemann's statement to von payer, chapter viii. the kaiser asked von schulenberg's opinion. he disagreed with the others, and counseled resistance. he agreed that it would be impossible to invade all germany with united front, but advocated an attack on a few places, such as cologne and aachen, with picked troops, and an appeal to the people to rise against the marines, who had been "incited to action by the jews, who had made great profits in the war, and by persons who had escaped doing their duty in the war and were now trying to knife the army in the back." the kaiser approved this counsel. he would not abdicate, he declared, nor would he have any part in bringing about civil warfare, but cologne, aachen and verviers must be attacked immediately. groener was unconvinced. he declared that the revolution had gone too far and was too well organized throughout germany to make it possible to put it down by force of arms. moreover, he said, several army chiefs had reported that the army could no longer be depended on. the kaiser thereupon asked for a report from every army chief on the army's dependability. a summons to this effect was sent out, and groener, hindenburg and von schulenberg remained with the kaiser. one calamitous report after another began coming from berlin. the military governor reported that he had no longer any dependable troops. the chancellor telephoned that civil war was inevitable unless the kaiser's abdication was received within a few minutes. the kaiser and the crown prince conferred together. another report came from the chancellor that the situation in berlin was steadily becoming graver. admiral von hintze, minister of foreign affairs, who had joined the little group in the kaiser's rooms, declared that the monarchy could not be saved unless the kaiser abdicated at once. von schulenberg continues: "his majesty thereupon told excellency von hintze to telephone to the chancellor that, in order to prevent bloodshed, he would abdicate as kaiser, but that he would remain as king of prussia and not leave his army. i declared that his majesty's decision should be formulated in writing and telephoned to the chancellor only when it bore the kaiser's signature. his majesty thereupon commissioned excellency von hintze, generals von pless and marschall and myself to draw up the declaration. while we were at work on it, the chief of the imperial chancellery, excellency von wahnschaffe, telephoned. i talked with him myself, and when he said that the abdication must be in berlin within a few minutes, answered that such an important matter as the kaiser's abdication could not be completed in a few minutes. the decision was made and was now being put into form; the government must be patient for the half-hour that would be required to place the abdication in its hands. the declaration had the following form: "' . his majesty is prepared to abdicate as kaiser if further bloodshed can be hindered thereby. "' . his majesty desires that there be no civil war. "' . his majesty remains as king of prussia and will lead his army back to the homeland in disciplined order.' "this declaration was approved and signed by his majesty, and was telephoned by excellency von hintze to the chancellery. at : o'clock in the evening his majesty received from the office of the imperial chancellor a report of the announcement made public through the wolff bureau, in which the imperial chancellor, without waiting for the kaiser's answer, had reported the kaiser's abdication as kaiser and king. his majesty received the news with the deepest seriousness and with royal dignity. he asked my views on the situation. i answered: "'it is a coup d'état, an abuse of power to which your majesty must not submit. your majesty is king of prussia, and there is now more than ever a pressing necessity for your majesty to remain with the army as supreme commander. i guarantee that it will be true to your majesty.' "his majesty replied that he was and would remain king of prussia, and that he would not abandon the army. thereupon he commissioned generals von pless and marschall and excellency von hintze to report to the field marshal what had happened. he then took leave of the crown prince and of me. after i had left, he called me back, thanked me once more and said: "'i remain king of prussia and i remain with the troops.' "i answered: "'come to the front troops in my section. your majesty will be in absolute safety there. promise me to remain with the army in all events.' "his majesty took leave of me with the words: "'i remain with the army.' "i took leave of him and have not seen him again." in the general condemnation of the kaiser, his flight to holland has been construed as due to cowardice. his motives are unimportant, but this construction appears to be unjust. he was convinced that he had nothing to fear from his people, nor is there any reason to suppose that he would for a moment have been in danger if he had remained. it is also probable that he entertained hopes of leading a successful counter-revolutionary movement. but his protests were overruled by men in whom he had great confidence. hindenburg and groener, following an unfavorable report from nearly all the army chiefs regarding the feeling in their commands, told the kaiser that they could not guarantee his safety for a single night. they declared even that the picked storm-battalion guarding his headquarters at spa was not to be depended on. others added their entreaties, and finally, unwillingly and protestingly, the kaiser consented to go. with him went the crown prince. there was no one left in germany to whom adherents of a counter-revolution could rally. scheming politicians for months afterward painted on every wall the spectre of counter-revolution, and it proved a powerful weapon of agitation against the more conservative and democratic men in charge of the country's affairs, but counter-revolution from above--and that was what these leaders falsely or ignorantly pretended to fear--was never possible from the time the armistice was signed until the peace was made at versailles. counter-revolution ever threatened the stability of the government, but it was the gory counter-revolution of bolshevism. the kaiser's flight had the double effect of encouraging the socialists and discouraging the conservatives, the right wing of the national liberals and the few prominent men of other _bourgeois_ parties from whom at least a passive resistance might otherwise have been expected. the junkers disappeared from view, and, disappearing, took with them the ablest administrative capacities of germany, men whose ability was unquestioned, but who were now so severely compromised that any participation by them in a democratic government was impossible. "the german people's republic" as it had been termed for a brief two days, became the "german socialistic republic." numerically the strongest party in the land, the socialists of all wings insisted upon putting the red stamp upon the remains of imperial germany. in their rejoicing at the revolution and the end of the war, the great mass of the people forgot for the moment that they were living in a conquered land. those that did remember it were lulled into a feeling of over-optimistic security by the recollection of president wilson's repeated declarations that the war was being waged against the german governmental system and not against the german people, and by the declaration in secretary lansing's note of the previous week that the allies had accepted the president's peace points with the exception of the second. the soldiers' and workmen's councils held plenary sessions on monday and ratified the proceedings of sunday. the spirit of the proceedings, especially in the soldiers' council, was markedly moderate. ledebour, one of the most radical of the independent socialists, was all but howled down when he tried to address the soldiers' meeting in the reichstag. colin ross, appealing for harmonious action by all factions of social-democracy, was received with applause. the _vollzugsrat_, which was now in theory the supreme governing body of germany, also took charge of the affairs of prussia and berlin. two majority and two independent socialists were appointed "people's commissioners" in berlin. it is worthy of note that all four of these men were jews. almost exactly one per cent of the total population of germany was made up of jews, but here, as in russia, they played a part out of all proportion to their numbers. in all the revolutionary governmental bodies formed under the german socialistic republic it would be difficult to find a single one in which they did not occupy from a quarter to a half of all the seats, and they preponderated in many places. the _vollzugsrat_ made a fairly clean sweep among the prussian ministers, filling the majority of posts with _genossen_. many of the old ministers, however, were retained in the national government, including dr. solf as foreign minister and general scheuch as minister of war, but each of the _bourgeois_ ministers retained was placed under the supervision of two socialists, one from each party, and he could issue no valid decrees without their counter-signature. the same plan was followed by the revolutionary governments of the various federal states. some of the controllers selected were men of considerable ability, but even these were largely impractical theorists without any experience in administration. for the greater part, however, they were men who had no qualifications for their important posts except membership in one of the socialist parties and a deep distrust of all _bourgeois_ officials. the majority socialist controllers, even when they inclined to agree with their _bourgeois_ department chiefs on matters of policy, rarely dared do so because of the shibboleth of solidarity still uniting to some degree both branches of the party. later, when the responsibilities of power had sobered them and rendered them more conservative, and when they found themselves more bitterly attacked than the _bourgeoisie_ by their former _genossen_, they shook off in some degree the thralldom of old ideas, but meanwhile great and perhaps irreparable damage had been done. the revolutionary government faced at the very outset a more difficult task than had ever confronted a similar government at any time in the world's history. the people, starving, their physical, mental and moral powers of resistance gone, were ready to follow the demagogue who made the most glowing promises. the ablest men of the empire were sulking in their tents, or had been driven into an enforced seclusion, and the men in charge of the government were without any practical experience in governing or any knowledge of constructive statecraft. every one knew that the war was practically ended, but thousands of men were nevertheless being slaughtered daily to no end. in all the empire's greater cities the revolutionaries, putting into disastrous effect their muddled theories of the "brotherhood of man," had opened the jails and prisons and flooded the country with criminals. what this meant is dimly indicated by the occurrences in berlin ten days later, when spartacans raided police headquarters and liberated the prisoners confined there. among the forty-nine persons thus set free were twenty-eight thieves and burglars and five blackmailers and deserters; most of the others were old offenders with long criminal records. this was but the grist from one jail in a sporadic raid and the first ten days of november had resulted in wholesale prison-releases of the same kind. the situation thus created would have been threatening enough in any event, but the new masters of the german cities, many of whom had good personal reasons for hating all guardians of law and order, disarmed the police and further crippled their efficiency by placing them under the control of "class-conscious" soldiers who, at a time when every able-bodied fighting man was needed on the west front, filled the streets of the greater cities and especially of berlin. the result was what might have been expected. many of the new guardians of law and order were themselves members of the criminal classes, and those who were not had neither any acquaintance with criminals and their ways nor with methods of preventing or detecting crime. the police, deprived of their weapons and--more fatal still--of their authority, were helpless. and this occurred in the face of a steadily increasing epidemic of criminality, and especially juvenile criminality, which had been observed in all belligerent countries as one of the concomitants of war and attained greater proportions in germany than anywhere else. nor was this the only encouragement of crime officially offered. in ante-bellum days, when german cities were orderly and efficient police and _gendarmerie_ carefully watched the comings and goings of every inhabitant or visitor in the land, every person coming into germany or changing his residence was compelled to register at the police-station in his district. but now, when the retention and enforcement of this requirement would have been of inestimable value to the government, it was generally abolished. the writer, reaching berlin a week after the revolution, went directly to the nearest police-station to report his arrival. "you are no longer required to report to the police," said the _beamter_ in charge. and thus the bars were thrown down for criminals and--what was worse--for the propagandists and agents of the russian soviet republic. _die neue freiheit_ (the new freedom) was interpreted in a manner justifying goethe's famous dictum of a hundred years earlier that "equality and freedom can be enjoyed only in the delirium of insanity" (_gleichheit und freiheit können nur im taumel des wahnsinns genossen werden_). the _vollzugsrat_, from whose composition better things had been expected, immediately laid plans for the formation of a red guard on the russian pattern. on november th it called a meeting of representatives of garrisons in greater berlin and of the first corps of königsberg to discuss the functions of the soldiers' council. it laid before the meeting its plan to equip a force of two thousand "socialistically schooled and politically organized workingmen with military training" to guard against the danger of a counterrevolution. it redounds to the credit of the soldiers that they immediately saw the cloven hoof of the proposal. "why do we need two thousand red guards in berlin?" was the cry that arose. opposition to the plan was practically unanimous, and the meeting adopted the following resolution: "greater berlin's garrison, represented by its duly elected soldiers' council, will view with distrust the weaponing of workingmen as long as the government which they are intended to protect does not expressly declare itself in favor of summoning a national assembly as the only basis for the adoption of a constitution." the meeting took a decided stand against bolshevism and, in general, against sweeping radicalism. all speakers condemned terrorism from whatever side it might be attempted, and declared that plundering and murder should be summarily punished. the destructive plans of the spartacus group found universal condemnation, and nearly all speakers emphasized that the soldiers' council had no political rôle to play. its task was merely to preserve order, protect the people and assist in bringing about an orderly administration of the government's affairs. the council adopted a resolution calling for the speediest possible holding of elections for a constituent assembly. on the following day the _vollzugsrat_ announced that, in view of the garrisons' opposition, orders for the formation of the red guard had been rescinded. the soldiers' council deposed captain von beerfelde, one of their fourteen representatives on the executive council, "because he was endeavoring to lead the revolution into the course of the radicals." it was von beerfelde who, supporting the fourteen workmen's representatives on the _vollzugsrat_, had been largely instrumental in the original decision to place the capital at the mercy of an armed rabble. the steadfast attitude of the soldiers was the more astonishing in view of the great number of deserters in greater berlin at this time. their number has been variously estimated, but it is probable that it reached nearly sixty thousand. with an impudent shamelessness impossible to understand, even when one realizes what they had suffered, these self-confessed cowards and betrayers of honest men now had the effrontery to form a "council of deserters, stragglers and furloughed soldiers," and to demand equal representation on all government bodies and in the soviets. liebknecht played the chief rôle in organizing these men, but ledebour, already so radical that he was out of sympathy even with the reddest independent socialists, and certain other independents and spartacans assisted. this was too much for even the revolutionary and class-conscious soldiers under arms, and nearly a month later at least one berlin regiment still retained enough martial pride to fire on a procession of these traitors. in these deserters and stragglers, and in the thousands of criminals of every big city, including those liberated from jails and prisons by the revolution, liebknecht and his lieutenants found tools admirably adapted to their ends. the spartacans had already been indirectly recognized as a separate political party in an announcement made by the workmen's and soldiers' council on november th, which, referring to the seizure of the _lokal-anzeiger_ by the spartacans and of the _norddeutsche allgemeine zeitung_ by the independents, pointed out that "all the socialist factions in berlin now have their daily paper." the spartacans now organized. ledebour, an aged fanatic, temperamental, never able to agree with the tenets or members of any existing party, organized an "association of revolutionary foremen," which was recruited from the factories and made up of violent opponents of democratic government. to all intents and purposes this association must be reckoned as a wing of the spartacus group. it played a large part in the january and march uprisings against the government, and throughout strengthened the hands of the opponents of democracy and the advocates of soviet rule in germany. despite all its initial extravagances, the _bona fides_ of the ebert-haase government at this time cannot fairly be questioned. it honestly desired to restore order in germany and to institute a democratic government. with the exception of barth, the least able and least consequential member of the cabinet, all were agreed that a constituent assembly must be summoned. haase and dittmann, the two other independent socialist members, had not yet begun to coquet with the idea of soviet government, although, in the matter of a constituent assembly, they were already trying to hunt with the hounds and run with the hares by favoring its summoning, but demanding that the elections therefor be postponed until the people could be "enlightened in the social-democratic sense." this meant, of course, "in the independent social-democratic sense," which, as we shall see, eventually degenerated into open advocacy of the domination of the proletariat. to this government, facing multifold tasks, inexperienced in ruling, existing only on sufferance and at best a makeshift and compromise, the armistice of november th dealt a terrible moral and material blow. a wave of stupefied indignation and resentment followed the publication of its terms, and this feeling was increased by the general realization of germany's helplessness. hard terms had, indeed, been expected, but nothing like these. one of the chief factors that made bloodless revolution possible had been the reliance of the great mass of the german people on the declarations of leaders of enemy powers--particularly of the united states--that the war was being waged against the german governmental system, the hohenzollerns and militarism, and not against the people themselves. there can be no doubt that these promises of fair treatment for a democratic germany did incalculably much to paralyze opposition to the revolution. in the conditions of the armistice the whole nation conceived itself to have been betrayed and deceived. whether this feeling was justified is not the part of the historian to decide. it is enough that it existed. it was confirmed and strengthened by the fact that the almost unanimous opinion of neutral lands, including even those that had been the strongest sympathizers of the allied cause, condemned the armistice terms unqualifiedly, both on ethical and material grounds. it is ancient human experience that popular disaffection first finds its scapegoat in the government, and history repeated itself here. the unreflecting masses forgot for the moment the government's powerlessness. it saw only the abandonment of rich german lands to the enemy, the continuance of the "hunger-blockade" and, worst of all, the retention by the enemy of the german prisoners. of all the harsh provisions of the armistice, none other caused so much mental and moral anguish as the realization that, while enemy prisoners were to be sent back to their families, the germans, many of whom had been in captivity since the first days of the war, must still remain in hostile prison-camps. the authority of the government that accepted these terms was thus seriously shaken at the very outset. the government was as seriously affected materially as morally by the armistice. during the whole of the last year food and fuel conditions had been gravely affected by limited transportation facilities. now, with an army of several millions to be brought home in a brief space of time, five thousand locomotives and , freight cars had to be delivered up to the enemy. this was more than a fifth of the entire rolling stock possessed by germany at this time. moreover, nearly half of all available locomotives and cars were badly in need of repairs, and a considerable percentage of these were in such condition that they could not be used at all. nor was this all. although nothing had been stipulated in the armistice conditions regarding the size or character of the engines to be surrendered, only the larger and more powerful ones were accepted. one month later it had been found necessary to transport locomotives to the places agreed upon for their surrender, and of these only had been accepted. of , cars submitted in the same period, only , had been accepted. the result was a severe over-burdening of the german railways. what this meant for germany's economic life and for the people generally became apparent in many ways during the winter, and in none more striking than in a fuel shortage which brought much suffering to the inhabitants of the larger cities. the coalfields of the ruhr district required twenty-five thousand cars daily to transport even their diminishing production, but the number available dropped below ten thousand. only eight hundred cars were available to care for the production in upper silesia, and a minimum of three thousand was required. the effect on the transportation of foodstuffs to the cities cannot so definitely be estimated, but that it was serious is plain. the armistice provided that the blockade should be maintained. in reality it was not only maintained, but extended. some of the most fertile soil in germany lies on the left bank of the rhine, and cities along that river had depended on these districts for much of their food. with enemy occupation, these supplies were cut off. what this meant was terribly apparent in düsseldorf after the occupation had been completed. düsseldorf, with a population of nearly , , had depended on the left bank of the rhine for virtually all its dairy products. these were now cut off, and the city authorities found themselves able to secure a maximum of less than , quarts of milk daily for the inhabitants. a further extension of the blockade came when german fishermen were forbidden to fish even in their territorial waters in the north sea and the baltic. the available supply of fish in germany had already dropped, as has been described, to a point where it was possible to secure a ration only once in every three or four weeks. and now even this trifling supply was no longer available. vast stores of food were abandoned, destroyed or sold to the inhabitants of the occupied districts when the armies began the evacuation of france and belgium, and millions of soldiers, returning to find empty larders at home, further swelled the ranks of the discontented. only the old maxim that all is fair in war can explain or justify the great volume of misleading reports that were sent out regarding food conditions in germany in the months following the armistice. men who were able to spend a hundred marks daily for their food, or whose observations were limited to the most fertile agricultural districts of germany, generalized carelessly and reported that there were no evidences of serious shortage anywhere, except perhaps, in one or two of the country's largest cities. men who knew conditions thoroughly hesitated to report them because of the supposed exigencies of war and wartime policies, or, reporting them in despite thereof, saw themselves denounced as pro-german propagandists. months later, when perhaps irreparable damage had been done, the truth began to come out. the following associated press dispatch is significant: "london, july .--germany possessed a sound case in claiming early relief, according to reports of british officers who visited silesia in april to ascertain economic conditions prevailing in germany. a white paper issued tonight gives the text of their reports and the result of their investigations. "it is said that there was a genuine shortage of foodstuffs and the health of the population had suffered so seriously that the working classes had reached such a stage of desperation that they could not be trusted to keep the peace." one is told officially that the old régime in russia fell "because as an autocracy it did not respond to the democratic demands of the russian people."[ ] this is an ascription to the russian people of elevated sentiments to which they have not the shadow of a claim. the old régime fell because it did not respond to the demands of the russian people for food. wilhelm ii fell because the germans were hungry. it was hunger that handicapped the efforts of the ebert-haase government throughout its existence and it was hunger that proved the best recruiting agent for liebknecht and the other elements that were trying to make democracy impossible in germany. if any people with experience of hunger were asked to choose between the absolutism of peter the great with bursting granaries and the most enlightened democracy with empty bins, democracy would go away with its hands as empty as its bins. [ ] _war cyclopedia_, issued by the committee on public information, p. . "give us this day our daily bread" is the first material petition in the prayer of all the christian peoples of the world, but only those who have hungered can realize its deep significance. the fact is not generally known--and will doubtless cause surprise--that a determined effort was made by the american, french and british governments after the armistice to make first-hand independent reporting of events in germany impossible. assistant secretary of state polk followed the example of the other governments named by issuing on november th an order, which was cabled to all american embassies and legations abroad, prohibiting any american journalist from entering germany. the state department refused to issue passports to journalists desiring to go to adjoining neutral countries except upon their pledge not to enter germany without permission. requests for permission were either denied, or (in some instances) not even acknowledged. there were, however, some american journalists stationed in lands adjoining germany, and a few of these, although warned by members of their diplomatic corps, conceived it to be their duty to their papers and to their people as well, to try to learn the truth about the german situation, instead of depending longer upon hearsay and neutral journalists. some of the most valuable reports reaching washington in these early days came from men who had disobeyed the state department's orders, but this did not save at least two of the disobedient ones from suffering very real punishment at the hands of resentful officials. what the purpose of the state department was in thus attempting to prevent any but army officers or government officials from reporting on conditions in germany the writer does not know. it is probable, however, that the initiative did not come from washington. chapter xiii. "the new freedom." the conclusion of the armistice was the signal for a general collapse among germany's armed forces. this did not at first affect the troops in the trenches, and many of them preserved an almost exemplary spirit and discipline until they reached home, but the men of the _étappe_--the positions back of the front and at the military bases--threw order and discipline to the winds. it was here that revolutionary propaganda and red doctrines had secured the most adherents in the army, and the effect was quickly seen. abandoning provisions, munitions and military stores generally, looting and terrifying the people of their own villages and cities, the troops of the _étappe_ straggled back to the homeland, where they were welcomed by the elements responsible for germany's collapse. the government sent a telegram to the supreme army command, pointing out the necessity of an orderly demobilization and emphasizing the chaotic conditions that would result if army units arbitrarily left their posts. commanding officers were directed to promulgate these orders: " . relations between officers and men must rest upon mutual confidence. the soldier's voluntary submission to his officer and comradely treatment of the soldier by his superior are conditions precedent for this. " . officers retain their power of command. unconditional obedience when on duty is of decisive importance if the return march to the german homeland is to be successfully carried out. military discipline and order in the armies must be maintained in all circumstances. " . for the maintenance of confidence between officers and men the soldiers' councils have advisory powers in matters relating to provisioning, furloughs and the infliction of military punishments. it is their highest duty to endeavor to prevent disorder and mutiny. " . officers and men shall have the same rations. " . officers and men shall receive the same extra allowances of pay and perquisites." "voluntary submission" by soldiers to officers might be feasible in a victorious and patriotic army, but it is impracticable among troops infected with socialist doctrines and retreating before their conquerors. authority, once destroyed, can never be regained. this was proved not only at the front, but at home as well. _die neue freiheit_ (the new freedom), a phrase glibly mouthed by all supporters of the revolution, assumed the same grotesque forms in germany as in russia. automobiles, commandeered by soldiers from army depots or from the royal garages, flying red flags, darted through the streets at speeds defying all regulations, filled with unwashed and unshaven occupants lolling on the cushioned seats. cabmen drove serenely up the left side of unter den linden, twiddling their fingers at the few personally escorted and disarmed policemen whom they saw. gambling games ran openly at street-corners. soldiers mounted improvised booths in the streets and sold cigarettes and soap looted from army stores. earnest revolutionaries traveled through the city looking for signs containing the word _kaiserlich_ (imperial) or _königlich_ (royal), and mutilated or destroyed them. court purveyors took down their signs or draped them. the _kaiser keller_ in friedrichstrasse became simply a _keller_ and the bust of the kaiser over the door was covered with a piece of canvas. the royal opera-house became the "opera-house unter den linden." one of the most outstanding characteristics of the german people in peace times had been their love of order. even the superficial observer could not help noticing it, and one of its manifestations earned general commendation. this was that the unsightly billboards and placarded walls that disfigure american cities were never seen in germany. neat and sightly columns were erected in various places for official, theatrical or business announcements, and no posters might be affixed anywhere else. nothing more strikingly illustrates the character of the collapse in germany than the fact that it destroyed even this deeply ingrained love of order. _genossen_ with brushes and paste-pots calmly defaced house-walls and even show windows on main streets with placards whose quality showed that german art, too, had suffered in the general collapse of the empire. there was something so essentially childish in the manner in which a great part of the people reacted to _die neue freiheit_ that one is not surprised to hear that it also turned juvenile heads. several hundred schoolboys and schoolgirls, from twelve to seventeen years old, paraded through the main streets of berlin, carrying red flags and placards with incendiary inscriptions. the procession stopped before the prussian diet building, where the workmen's and soldiers' council was in session, and presented a list of demands. these included the vote for all persons eighteen years old or over, the abolition of corporal punishment and participation by the school-children in the administration of the schools. the chairman of the _vollzugsrat_ of the council addressed the juvenile paraders, and declared that he was in complete sympathy with their demands. a seventeen-year-old lad replied with a speech in which he warned the council that there would be terrible consequences if the demands were not granted. the procession then went on to the reichstag building, where speeches were made by several juvenile orators, demanding the resignation or removal of ebert and scheidemann and threatening a general juvenile strike if this demand was not accepted immediately. enthusiasm was heightened in the first week of the revolutionary government's existence by reports that enemy countries were also in the grip of revolution. tuesday's papers published a report that foch had been murdered, poincaré had fled from paris and the french government had been overthrown. reports came from hamburg and kiel that english sailors had hoisted the red flag and were fraternizing with german ships' crews on the north sea. the soldiers' council at paderborn reported that the red flag had been hoisted in the french trenches from the belgian border to mons, and that french soldiers were fraternizing with the germans. that these reports found considerable credence throws a certain light on the german psychology of these days. the reaction when they were found to be false further increased the former despondency. the six-man cabinet decreed on november th the dissolution of the prussian diet and the abolishment of the house of lords. replying to a telegram from president fehrenbach of the reichstag, asking whether the government intended to prevent the reichstag from coming together in the following week, the cabinet telegraphed: "as a consequence of the political overturn, which has done away with the institution of german kaiserdom as well as with the federal council in its capacity of a lawgiving body, the reichstag which was elected in can also not reconvene." the cabinet--subject to the control theoretically exercisable by the _vollzugsrat_--was thus untrammeled by other legislative or administrative institutions. but it was, as we have seen, trammeled from without by the disastrous material conditions in germany, by the mental and moral shipwreck of its people, by the peculiar german psychology and by the political immaturity of the whole nation--a political immaturity, moreover, which even certain cabinet members shared. from within the cabinet was also seriously handicapped from the start by its "parity" composition, that is to say, the fact that power was equally divided between majority and independent socialists without a deciding casting vote in case of disagreement along party lines. if the independent socialist cabinet members and the rank and file of their party had comprehended the real character and completeness of the revolution, as it was comprehended by some of the theorists of the party--notably karl kautsky and eduard bernstein--and if they had avoided their disastrous fellowship with joffe and other bolshevik agents, the subsequent course of events would have been different. but they lacked this comprehension and they had been defiled in handling the pitch of bolshevism. all the revolutions of the last century and a quarter had been of _bourgeois_ origin. they had, however, been carried into effect with the aid of the proletariat, since the _bourgeoisie_, being numerically much weaker than the proletariat, does not command the actual brute force to make revolution. at first the _bourgeoisie_, as planners of the overthrow, took control of the authority of the state and exercised it for their own ends. the proletariat, which had learned its own strength and resources in the revolutionary contests, used its power to compel a further development of the revolution in a more radical direction and eventually compelled the first holders of authority to give way to a government more responsive to the demands of the lower classes. thus the events of in paris were followed by the victory of the montane party, the events of september , , by those of march , , and the kerensky revolution in petrograd by the bolshevik revolution of november, . the german revolution, however, alone among the great revolutions of the world, was, as has already been pointed out, both in its origins and execution, proletarian and socialistic. the _bourgeoisie_ had no part in it and no participation in the revolutionary government. any attempt to develop the revolution further by overthrowing or opposing the first revolutionary government could therefore serve only factional and not class interests. factional clashes were, of course, inevitable. the members of the paris commune split into four distinct factions, jacobins, blanquists, proudhonists and a small group of marxist internationalists. but these, bitterly as they attacked each other's methods and views, nevertheless presented at all times a united front against the _bourgeoisie_, whereas the german independent socialists, from whom better things might have been expected, almost from the beginning played into the hands of the spartacans, from whom nothing good could have been expected, and thus seriously weakened the government and eventually made a violent second phase of the revolution unavoidable. if it be admitted that socialist government was the proper form of government for germany at this time, it is clear that the independent socialists had a very real mission. this was well expressed in the first month of the revolution in a pamphlet by kautsky, in which he wrote: "the extremes (majority socialists and spartacans) can best be described thus: the one side (majority) has not yet completely freed itself from _bourgeois_ habits of thought and still has much confidence in the _bourgeois_ world, whose inner strength it overestimates. the other side (spartacans) totally lacks all comprehension of the _bourgeois_ world and regards it as a collection of scoundrels. it despises the mental and economic accomplishments of the _bourgeoisie_ and believes that the proletarians, without any special knowledge or any kind of training, are able to take over immediately all political and economic functions formerly exercised by the _bourgeois_ authorities. "between these two extremes we find those (the independents) who have studied the _bourgeois_ world and comprehend it, who regard it objectively and critically, but who know how properly to value its accomplishments and realize the difficulties of replacing it with a better system. this marxist center must, on the one hand, spur the timorous on and awaken the blindly confiding, and on the other, put a check upon the blind impetuosity of the ignorant and thoughtless. it has the double task of driving and applying the brakes. "these are the three tendencies that contend with each other within the ranks of the proletariat." indications of the coming split with the cabinet were observable even in the first week of the government's existence. together with its decree dissolving the diet, the cabinet announced that "the national government is engaged in making preparations for the summoning of a constituent assembly at the earliest possible moment." the overwhelming majority of the german people already demanded the convening of such a body. only the spartacans, who had formally effected organization on november th, openly opposed it as a party, but there was much anti-assembly sentiment in independent socialist ranks, although the party had as yet taken no stand against it. richard müller, the dangerous independent socialist demagogue at the head of the workmen's section of the _vollzugsrat_, was one of the most rabid opponents of a national assembly and one of the men responsible for his party's subsequent opposition to it. speaking at a meeting of the _vollzugsrat_ on november th he said: "there is a cry now for a national assembly. the purpose is plain. the plan is to use this assembly to rob the proletariat of its power and lay it back in the hands of the _bourgeoisie_. but it will not succeed. we want no democratic republic. we want a social republic." haase, speaking for the cabinet, cleverly avoided putting himself on record as to whether or not a national assembly would eventually be called. it could not be called together yet, he said, because preparations must first be made. election lists must be drawn up and the soldiers in the field must have an opportunity to vote. moreover, the soldiers, who had been "mentally befogged" by the pan-german propaganda at the front, must be "enlightened" before they could be permitted to vote. large industries must also be socialized before time could be taken to summon a _constituante_. it soon became apparent that the work in the cabinet was not going smoothly. ebert, scheidemann and landsberg, socialists though they were, lacked any trace of that fanaticism which marks so many socialist leaders. they were sobered by their new responsibilities. looked at from above, administrative problems presented a different picture from that which they had when viewed from below by men whose chief rôle had been one of opposition and criticism. sweeping socialization of all industries, regulation of wages and hours of work, the protection of society against criminals, the raising of revenue, the abolishing of capitalism and capitalists--these things were less simple than they had seemed. to socialize the administration of the state was not difficult, for that was a mechanism which had been built up. but society, as these novices in government now comprehended more clearly than before, is an organism which has grown up. the product of centuries of growth cannot be recklessly made over in a few weeks. the majority socialist trio, realizing the impracticability of tearing down old institutions before there was something better to take their place, moved slowly in instituting reforms. this was little to the liking of the radicals within and without the cabinet. haase, politician before all else, and dittmann, class-conscious fanatic, insisted on speedier reforms along orthodox socialist lines, and particularly on a far-reaching socialization of big industries. nearly a year earlier haase, cohn and ledebour, attending the notorious joffe banquet, had approved bolshevik attacks on the majority socialists and excused the slow progress of the revolutionary propaganda by saying that "those--eberts and scheidemanns" could not be brought to see reason. it was hardly to be expected that the independents would be milder now. the work of the cabinet was hampered already, although the independent members kept up a pretense of working with the old party's representatives. haase, dittmann and barth were supported by the _vollzugsrat_. this body, which had started out by ordering the restoration to their owners of the newspapers seized during the revolution, had so far faced about two days later that liebknecht and rosa luxemburg were able to exhibit to the publishers of the _lokal-anzeiger_ an order from the _vollzugsrat_ directing them to place their plant at the disposal of the spartacans for the printing of _die rote fahne_, whose editor the luxemburg woman was to be. the order did not even hint at any compensation for the publishers. naturally they refused flatly to obey it, and the greater berlin soldiers' council, still dominated by men of the better sort, meeting two days later, indignantly denounced the action of the _vollzugsrat_ and compelled the withdrawal of the order. despite the fact that the majority and independent socialists were evenly represented on this council, the latter dominated it. brutus molkenbuhr, the majority socialist co-chairman with richard müller was no match for his fanatic colleague, and most of the other members were nobodies of at most not more than average intelligence. a more poorly equipped body of men never ruled any great state, and whatever of good was accomplished by the cabinet in the first month of its existence was accomplished against the opposition of a majority of these men. müller's radicalism grew daily greater. "the way to a national assembly must lead over my dead body" he declared in a speech filled with braggadocio, and his hearers applauded. the soldiers' council noted with increasing displeasure the drift of the _vollzugsrat_ toward the left. at the end of november, after a stormy session, the council adopted a resolution expressing dissatisfaction with the attitude of the _vollzugsrat_ and appointing one representative from each of the seven regiments stationed in berlin to weigh charges against the executive council and, if necessary, to reform it. the resolution charged the _vollzugsrat_ with holding secret sessions, usurping powers, grafting, nepotism,[ ] failure to take steps to protect the country's eastern border against the aggressions of the poles and hindering all practical work. [ ] a long chapter could be written upon this subject alone. the trail of german revolutionary governments (but not the national cabinet) is slimy with graft, robbery and nepotism. eichhorn, in the two months that he held the office of berlin's police president, made not a single one of the daily reports required of him and never accounted for moneys passing through his hands. himself drawing salary from _rosta_ and also as police-president, he appointed his wife to a highly paid clerkship and his young daughter drew a salary for receiving visitors. an independent socialist minister's wife drew a large salary for no services. the _vollzugsrat_ employed a hundred stenographers and messengers who had nothing to do except draw their salaries. the _ er ausschuss_, a committee of marines and soldiers which took entire charge of the admiralty and conducted its affairs without any regard to the national government, voted itself sums larger than had been required to pay all the salaries of the whole department in other days. the police captain of a berlin suburb, a youthful mechanic, received ninety marks a day, his wife was made a clerk at fifty marks, and he demanded and received an automobile for his private use. the first revolutionary military commandant of munich tried to defraud a bank of , marks on worthless paper. the _vollzugsrat_ never made an honest accounting for the tremendous sums used by it. hundreds of soldiers' and workmen's committees constituted themselves into soviets in tiny villages and paid themselves daily salaries equaling the highest weekly pay that any of them had ever earned. robbery through official requisition became so common that the people had to be warned against honoring any requisitions. the independent socialists' ascendancy in the executive body was assured on december th, when an election was held to fill two vacancies among the soldier members. two independents were chosen, which gave that party sixteen of the council's twenty-eight members. even by this time the shift of sentiment in the ranks of independent socialism had proceeded to a point where this party's continued ascendancy would have been as great a menace to democratic government as would liebknecht's spartacans. adolph hoffmann, the party's prussian minister of cults, openly declared that if an attempt were made to summon the national assembly it must never be permitted to meet, even if it had to be dispersed as the russian bolsheviki dispersed the constituent assembly in petrograd, and his pronouncement was hailed with delight by _die freiheit_, the party's official organ in berlin, and by independents generally. emil eichhorn, who was once one of the editors of _vorwärts_ but now prominent in the independent socialist party, and who had been appointed police-president of berlin, was on the payroll of _rosta_, the russian telegraph agency which served as a central for the carrying on of bolshevik propaganda in germany. he did as much as any other man to make the subsequent fighting and bloodshed in berlin possible by handing out arms and ammunition to liebknecht's followers, and by dismissing from the city's republican guard--the soldier-policemen appointed to assist and control the policemen--men loyal to the new government. the spartacans were feverishly active. liebknecht and his lieutenants organized and campaigned tirelessly. _der rote soldatenbund_ (the red soldiers' league) was formed from deserters and criminals and armed with weapons furnished by eichhorn from the police depots, stolen from government stores or bought with money furnished by russian agents. the funds received from this source were sufficient also to enable the spartacan leaders to pay their armed supporters twenty marks a day, a sum which proved a great temptation to many of the city's unemployed whose sufferings had overcome their scruples. the first demonstration of strength by the spartacans came on november th, when they forcibly seized the piechatzek crane works and the imperator motor company, both big berlin plants. spartacan employees assisted liebknecht's red soldiery to throw the management out. the funds and books of both plants were seized, soldiers remained in charge and plans were made to run the plants for the sole benefit of the workers. the cabinet ordered the plants restored to their owners, and the order was obeyed after it became apparent that the _vollzugsrat_, although in sympathy with the usurpers, did not dare oppose the cabinet on such an issue. the openly revolutionary attitude of the liebknecht cohorts and their insolent defiance of the government, resulted in armed guards being stationed in front of all public buildings in berlin. but here was again exhibited that peculiar unpractical kink in the socialist mentality: the guards were directed not to shoot! the reason for the existence of this kink will be apparent to one who has read carefully the preceding chapters regarding socialism's origin and the passages therein reporting the attitude of the two wings of the party in the reichstag following admiral von capelle's charges in the autumn of . the first article in the socialist creed is solidarity. "proletarians of all lands: unite!" cried marx and engels in their communist manifesto seven decades ago. the average socialist brings to his party an almost religious faith; for hundreds of thousands socialism is their only religion. all members of the party are their "comrades," the sheep of one fold, and their common enemies are the _bourgeois_ elements of society, the wolves. black sheep there may be in the fold, but they are, after all, sheep, and like must not slaughter like, _genossen_ must not shoot _genossen_. the supporters of the government were to learn later by bitter experience that some sheep are worse than wolves, but they had not yet learned it. spartacans coolly disarmed the four guards placed at the old palace in unter den linden and stole their guns. they disarmed the guards at the chancellor's palace, the seat of the government, picked the pockets and stole the lunch of the man in charge of the machine-gun there, and took the machine-gun away in their automobile. they staged a demonstration against otto wels, a majority socialist who had been appointed city commandant, and had no difficulty in invading his private quarters because the guards posted in front had orders not to shoot and were simply brushed aside. when the demonstration was ended, the spartacans proceeded on their way rejoicing, taking with them the arms of the government soldiers. the spartacans were by this time well equipped with rifles, revolvers and ammunition, and had a large number of machine-guns. they secured one auto-truck full of these from the government arsenal at spandau on a forged order. they even had a few light field guns and two or three minethrowers. in the absence of any opposition except the futile denunciations of the _bourgeois_ press and the _vorwärts_, their numbers were increasing daily and they were rapidly fortifying themselves in various points of vantage. neukölln, one of the cities making up greater berlin, was already completely in their power. the workmen's and soldiers' council of this city consisted of seventy-eight men, all of whom were spartacans. this council forcibly dissolved the old city council, drove the mayor from the city hall and constituted itself the sole legislative and administrative organ in the city. a decree was issued imposing special taxes upon all non-socialist residents, and merchants were despoiled by requisitions enforced by armed hooligans. the "council of deserters, stragglers and furloughed soldiers" announced a number of meetings for the afternoon of december th to enforce a demand for participation in the government. the largest of these meetings was held in the germania hall in the chausseestrasse, just above invalidenstrasse and near the barracks of the _franzer_, as the kaiser franz regiment was popularly known. the main speaker was a man introduced as "comrade schultz," but whose hebraic features indicated that this was a revolutionary pseudonym. he had hardly finished outlining the demands of "us deserters" when word came that the _vollzugsrat_ had been arrested. it developed later that some misguided patriots of the old school had actually made an attempt to arrest the members of this council, which had developed into such a hindrance to honest government, but the attempt failed. the report, however, threw the meeting into great excitement. a motion to adjourn and march to the chancellor's palace to protest against the supposed arrest was carried and the crowd started marching down chausseestrasse, singing the laborers' marseillaise. at the same time the crowd present at a similar meeting in a hall a few blocks away started marching up chausseestrasse to join the germania hall demonstrants. both processions found their way blocked by a company of _franzer_, drawn up in front of their barracks, standing at "ready" and with bayonets fixed. the officer in command ordered the paraders to stop: "come on!" cried the leaders of the demonstration. "they won't shoot their comrades!" but the _franzer_ had not yet been "enlightened." a rattling volley rang out and the deserters, stragglers and furloughed paraders fled. fifteen of them lay dead in the street and one young woman aboard a passing street car was also killed. the incident aroused deep indignation not only among the spartacans, but among the independent socialists as well. the bulk of the independents were naturally excited over the killing of "comrades," and the leaders saw in it a welcome opportunity further to shake the authority of the majority socialist members of the government. even the _vorwärts_, hesitating between love and duty, apologetically demanded an investigation. the government eventually shook off all responsibility and it was placed on the shoulders of an over-zealous officer acting without instructions. this may have been--indeed, probably was--the case. the cabinet's record up to this time makes it highly improbable that any of its members had yet begun to understand that there are limits beyond which no government can with impunity permit its authority to be flouted. the day following the shooting saw the first of those demonstrations that later became so common. liebknecht summoned a meeting in the siegesallee in the tiergarten. surrounded by motor-trucks carrying machine-guns manned by surly ruffians, he addressed the assembled thousands, attacking the government, demanding its forcible overthrow and summoning his hearers to organize a red guard. it is significant that, although actual adherents of spartacus in berlin could at this time be numbered in thousands, tens of thousands attended the meeting. between the spartacans and thousands of independent socialists of the rank and file there were already only tenuous dividing lines. chapter xiv. the majority socialists in control. the independent socialist trio in the cabinet had been compelled to give up--at least outwardly--their opposition to the summoning of a national assembly. popular sentiment too plainly demanded such a congress to make it possible to resist the demand. also the majority members of the cabinet had been strengthened by two occurrences early in december. joffe, the former russian bolshevik ambassador, had published his charges against haase, barth and cohn, and, although these were merely a confirmation of what was generally suspected or even definitely known by many, they had an ugly look in the black and white of a printed page and found a temporary reaction which visibly shook the authority of these men who had accepted foreign funds to overthrow their government. the other factor strengthening the hands of ebert, scheidemann and landsberg was the manner of the return of the german front-soldiers. gratifying reports had come of the conduct of these men on their homeward march. where the soldiers of the _étappe_ had thrown discipline and honor to the winds and straggled home, a chaotic collection of looters, the men who, until noon on november th, had kept up the unequal struggle against victorious armies, brought back with them some of the spirit that kept them at their hopeless posts. they marched in good order, singing the old songs, and scores of reports came of rough treatment meted out by them to misguided _genossen_ who tried to compel them to substitute the red flag for their national or state flags, or for their regimental banners. the first returning soldiers poured through the brandenburger tor on december th. a victorious army could not have comported itself differently. the imperial black-white-red, the black-and-white of prussia, the white-and-blue of bavaria and the flags of other states floated from the ranks of the veterans. flowers decked their helmets. flowers and evergreens covered gun-carriages and caissons, flowers peeped from the muzzles of the rifles. women, children and old men trudged alongside, cheering, laughing, weeping. time was for the moment rolled back. it was not december, , but august, . the people greeted the troops as if they were a conquering army. they jammed the broad unter den linden; cheering and handclapping were almost continuous. the red flags had disappeared from the buildings along the street and been replaced by the imperial or prussian colors. only the _kultusministerium_, presided over by adolph hoffmann, illiterate director of schools and atheistic master of churches, stayed red. the flag of revolution floated over it and a huge red carpet hung challengingly from a second-story window. it was evident on this first day, as also on the following days, that red doctrines had not yet destroyed discipline and order. the men marched with the cadenced step of veterans, their ranks were correctly aligned, their rifles snapped from hand to shoulder at the command of their officers. the bands blared national songs as the long lines of field-gray troops defiled through the central arch of the great gate, once sacredly reserved for the royal family. a hush fell on the waiting crowds. the soldiers' helmets came off. a massed band played softly and a chorus of school-children sang the old german anthem: _wie sie so sanft ruh'n, alle die seligen, in ihren gräbern._ ebert delivered the address of welcome, which was followed by three cheers for "the german republic." it was no time for cheers for the "german socialist republic." the soldiers had not yet been "enlightened." the scenes of this first day were repeated on each day of the week. the self-respecting, sound attitude of the front-soldiers angered the spartacans and independents, but was hailed with delight by the great majority of the people. the _vollzugsrat_, resenting the fact that it had not been asked, as the real governing body of germany, to take part officially in welcoming the soldiers, sent one of its members to deliver an address of welcome. he had hardly started when bands began to play, officers shouted out commands, the men's rifles sprang to their shoulders and they marched away, leaving him talking to an empty square. the six-man cabinet announced that a national assembly would be convened. the date tentatively fixed for the elections was february d, which was a compromise, for the majority socialists wanted an earlier date, while the independent trio desired april. it was announced also that a central congress of all germany's workmen's and soldiers' councils had been summoned to meet in berlin on december th. this congress was to have power to fix the date for the national assembly and to make the necessary preparations. no definite rules were laid down covering the manner of choosing delegates to the congress. despite the consequent possibility that the elections of delegates would be manipulated by the less scrupulous spartacans and independents, the congress chosen was a remarkably representative body. the numerical weakness of the two radical wings of socialism found striking illustration in the makeup of the congress. of its total membership of some four hundred and fifty, the spartacans and independents together had only about forty delegates. that this accurately represented the proportionate strengths of the conservative and the radical camps was proved at the elections for the national assembly a month later, when the independents, with four per cent of the total popular vote, again had one-eleventh of the majority socialists' forty-four per cent. in considering the rôle played by the radicals in the second phase of the revolution it must be remembered that the majority of their strength lay in berlin, where they eventually won a greater following than that of the old party. if berlin and the free cities of hamburg and bremen could have been isolated from the empire and allowed to go their own way, ordered government in germany would have come months sooner.[ ] [ ] it is not merely in very recent times that the largest cities have become the strongholds of radicalism. in a session of the prussian diet on march , , a deputy charged the government with lack of confidence in the people. bismarck replied: "the deputy having declared here that the government distrusts the people, i can say to him that it is true that i distrust the inhabitants of the larger cities so long as they let themselves be led by self-seeking and lying demagogues, but that i do not find the real people there. if the larger cities rise up again in rebellion, the real people will have ways of bringing them to obedience, even if these must include wiping them off the face of the earth." the following account of the sessions of the central congress is copied from the author's diary of those days. there is nothing to add to or take from the estimates and comments set down at that time. "december th. the central congress of germany's workmen's and soldiers' councils convened today in the _abgeordnetenhaus_ (prussian diet). there are about four hundred and fifty delegates present, including two women. there is a fair sprinkling of intelligent faces in the crowd, and the average of intelligence and manners is far above that of the berlin soldiers' council. none of the delegates keeps his hat on in the chamber and a few who have started smoking throw their cigars and cigarettes away at the request of the presiding officer, leinert from hanover, who was for some years a member of the prussian diet and is a man of ability and some parliamentary training. "after organization, which is effected with a show of parliamentary form, richard müller, chairman of the executive committee of the _vollzugsrat_, mounts the speaker's tribune to give an extended report of the committee's activities. the report, which turns out to be really a defense of the committee, gets a cool reception. the _vollzugsrat_ has drifted steadily to the left ever since it was appointed, and is strongly independent socialist and spartacan, and it is already evident that the majority socialists have an overwhelming majority in the congress. "chairman leinert interrupts müller's speech with an announcement that a _genosse_ has an important communication to make. a man who declares that he speaks 'in the name of at least , of berlin's proletariat, now assembled before this building,' reads a series of demands. the first, calling for the strengthening of the socialist republic, is greeted with general applause, but then come the familiar spartacan (bolshevik) demands for the disarming of the _bourgeoisie_, weaponing of 'the revolutionary proletariat,' formation of a red guard (loud cries of 'no!'), and 'all power to remain in the hands of the workmen's and soldiers' councils.' in other words, the russian soviet republic. "a half dozen officer-delegates present join in the protests against the demands. loud cries of '_raus die offiziere!_' (out with the officers!) come from a little group of spartacans and independent socialists at the right of the room. order is finally restored and müller completes his defense of the _vollzugsrat_. "a delegate moves that 'comrades liebknecht and rosa luxemburg be invited to attend the session as guests with advisory powers, in view of their great services to the revolution.'[ ] the motion is voted down, five to one. it is renewed in the afternoon, but meets the same fate, after a turbulent scene in which the spartacans and their independent socialist allies howl and shout insults at the top of their voices. [ ] neither liebknecht nor luxemburg had been chosen as delegate, although desperate efforts were made to have them elected. "liebknecht, who has entered the building while this was going on, addresses his followers in the street in front from the ledge of a third-story window. the ' , of berlin's proletariat' prove to be about seven thousand, nearly half of them women and girls and a great majority of the rest down-at-the-heels youths. his speech is the usual bolshevik rodomontade. a middle-aged workman who leaves the crowd with me tells me: "'two-thirds of the people there are there because they have to come or lose their jobs. one has to eat, you know.' "i learned later in the day that many of the paraders had been induced to attend by the representation that it was to be a demonstration in favor of the national assembly. it is also asserted that others were forced by spartacans with drawn revolvers to leave their factories. "december th. the second day's session of the congress was marked by a virulent attack on ebert by ledebour, between whom and liebknecht there is little difference. the reception of his speech by the delegates again demonstrated that the majority socialists make up nine-tenths of the assembly. barth also took it upon himself to attack ebert and to disclose secrets of the inner workings of the cabinet. ebert answered with an indignant protest against being thus attacked from the rear. barth has the lowest mentality of all the six cabinet members, and i am informed on good authority that he has an unsavory record. his alleged offenses are of a nature regarded by advanced penologists as pathological rather than criminal, but however that may be, he seems hardly fitted for participation in any governing body. "liebknecht's followers staged another demonstration like that of yesterday. the congress had decided that no outsiders should be permitted again to interrupt the proceedings, but a delegation of some forty men and women from the schwarzkopff, knorr and other red factories, bearing banners inscribed with bolshevik demands, insisted on entering and nobody dared oppose them. they filed onto the platform and read their stock resolutions, cheered by the little group of their soul-brothers among the deputies and by fanatics in the public galleries. beyond temporarily interrupting the proceedings of the congress they accomplished nothing. "the incompetence--to use no stronger word--of the _vollzugsrat_ was again demonstrated today, as well as its careless financial methods. "december th. a well-dressed german who stands beside me in the diplomatic gallery insists on explaining to all occupants of the gallery that it is intolerable that the speaker now in the tribune should be permitted to speak of the late 'revolt.' 'it was not a revolt; it was a revolution, and they ought to compel him to call it that,' he says. how typical of the mentality of a great number of the delegates themselves! they have spent precious hours discussing marx and bebel and the brotherhood of man--which, however, appears to extend only to the proletariat--but only two or three clear heads have talked of practical things. the failure of the socialists generally to realize that it is not now a question of doing what they would like to do, but what they must do, is extraordinary and amazing. one speaker has read nearly a chapter from one of bebel's books. only a few leaders are clear-sighted enough to insist that it is more important just now to save germany from disintegration and the german people from starvation than to impose the doctrines of internationalism upon a world not yet ready for them. the members of the average high school debating club in any american city have a keener sense for practical questions than has the great majority of this congress.[ ] [ ] this may appear to be an extravagant comparison, but it is so near the truth that i let it stand. "december th. the congress tonight changed the date for the national assembly from february th to january th. hardly forty of the delegates opposed the change. these forty--independents and spartacans--tried vainly to have a resolution passed committing germany to the russian soviet system, but the vast majority would have none of it. haase spoke in favor of the national assembly. if he maintains this course his coöperation with the three majority members of the cabinet will be valuable, but he is a trimmer and undependable. "the congress was enabled by a bolt of the independents to accomplish another valuable bit of work, viz., the appointment of a new central _vollzugsrat_ made up entirely of majority socialists. it includes some excellent men, notably cohen of reuss, whose speech in advocacy of the national assembly and of changing its date has been the most logical and irrefutable speech made during the congress, and leinert, first chairman of the congress. with the support of this new executive committee the cabinet will have no excuse if it continues to shilly-shally along and fails to exhibit some backbone. "but i am apprehensive. a scraggly-bearded fanatic in one of the public galleries today repeatedly howled insults at majority socialist speakers, and, although repeated remonstrances were made, nobody had enough energy or courage to throw him out. leinert once threatened to clear the galleries if the demonstrations there were repeated. the spectators promptly responded with hoots, hisses and the shaking of fists, but the galleries were not cleared. "german government in miniature! the same mentality that places guards before public buildings and orders them not to use their weapons! _sancta simplicitas!_" it will be observed that the foregoing report, comparatively lengthy though it is, fails to record an amount of legislative business commensurate with the length of the session. and yet there is little to add to it, for but two things of importance were done--the alteration of the date for holding the elections for the national assembly and the appointment of the new _vollzugsrat_. outside this the accomplishments of the congress were mainly along the line of refusing to yield to independent and spartacan pressure designed to anchor the soviet scheme in the government. new light is thrown on the old _vollzugsrat_ by the fact that it had invited the russian government to send delegates to the congress. the cabinet had learned of this in time, and a week before the congress was to assemble it sent a wireless message to petrograd, asking the government to abstain from sending delegates "in view of the present situation in germany." the russians nevertheless tried to come, but were stopped at the frontier. the manner in which haase and dittmann had supported their majority socialist colleagues in the cabinet by their speeches during the congress had demonstrated that, while there were differences between the two groups, they were not insurmountable. the events of the week following the congress of soviets, however, altered the situation completely. it has been related how, in the days preceding the actual revolution in berlin, the so-called "people's marine division" had been summoned to the capital to protect the government. it was quartered in the royal stables and the royal palace, and was entrusted with the custody of the palace and its treasures. it speedily became apparent that a wolf had been placed in charge of the sheepfold. the division, which had originally consisted of slightly more than six hundred men, gradually swelled to more than three thousand, despite the fact that no recruiting for it nor increase in its numbers had been authorized. a great part of the men performed no service whatever, terrorized inoffending people, and, as investigation by the finance ministry disclosed, stole everything movable in the palace. the division demanded that it be permitted to increase its numbers to five thousand and that it be made a part of the republican soldier guard in charge of the city's police service. this demand was refused by the city commandant, otto wels, since the ranks of the soldier guard were already full. a compromise was eventually reached by which those of the division who had formerly been employed on police duty and who were fathers of families and residents of berlin, would be added to the police force if the marine division would surrender the keys to the palace which it was looting. the marines agreed to this, but failed to surrender the keys. on december st a payment of eighty thousand marks was to be made to them for their supposed services. wels refused to hand over the money until the keys to the palace had been surrendered. wels had incurred the deep hatred of the more radical elements of the capital by his sturdy opposition to lawlessness. he was almost the only majority socialist functionary who had displayed unbending energy in his efforts to uphold the authority of the government, and public demonstrations against him had already been held, in which he was classed with ebert and scheidemann as a "bloodhound." the leaders of the marine division decided reluctantly to give up the palace keys, but they would not hand them over to the hated wels. early in the afternoon of december d they sought out barth, the member of the cabinet who stood closest to them, and gave the keys to him. barth telephoned to wels that the keys had been surrendered. wels pointed out that ebert was the member of the cabinet in charge of military affairs, and declared that he would pay out the eighty thousand marks only upon receipt of advices that the keys were in ebert's possession. the delivery to barth of the keys had been entrusted two marines who constituted the military post at the chancellor's palace. these men, informed of wels's attitude, occupied the telephone central in the palace, and informed ebert and landsberg that dorrenbach, their commander, had ordered that no one be permitted to leave or enter the building. an hour later, at five-thirty o'clock, the marines left the building, but in the evening the whole division appeared before the palace and occupied it. government troops, summoned by telephone, also appeared, and an armed clash appeared imminent. ebert, however, finally induced the marines to leave on condition that the government troops also left. while this was going on, a detachment of marines had entered wels's office, compelled him at the point of their guns to pay out the eighty thousand marks due them, and had then marched him to the royal stables, where he was locked up in a cellar and threatened with death. ebert, scheidemann and landsberg, without consulting their colleagues, ordered the minister of war to employ all force necessary for the release of wels. at the last moment, however, negotiations were entered into and wels was released shortly after midnight on the marines' terms. spartacans and radical independents took the part of the marines. richard müller, ledebour, däumig and other members of the defunct original _vollzugsrat_ were galvanized into new opposition. ledebour's "revolutionary foremen of greater berlin industries" demanded the retirement of the independent socialist members of the cabinet, and the demand was approvingly published by _die freiheit_, the party's official organ. the head and forefront of the majority cabinet members' offending was their order to the war minister to use force in upholding the government's authority, and radical revolutionists condemn force when it is employed against themselves. the position of haase and dittmann as party leaders was seriously shaken. the left wing of their party, led by eichhorn and ledebour, was on the point of disavowing them as leaders and even as members of the party. at the party's caucuses in greater berlin on december th, held to nominate candidates for delegates to the coming national assembly, ledebour refused to permit his name to be printed on the same ticket with haase's, and eichhorn secured votes to for the party's head. on the evening of the same day the independents in the cabinet submitted eight formulated questions to the _vollzugsrat_, in which this body was asked to define its attitude as to various matters. the _vollzugsrat_ answered a majority of the questions in a sense favorable to the independents. its answer to one important question, however, gave the independents the pretext for which they were looking. the question ran: "does the _vollzugsrat_ approve that the cabinet members ebert, scheidemann and lansberg on the night of december d conferred upon the minister of war the authority, in no manner limited, to employ military force against the people's marine division in the palace and stables?" the executive council's answer was: "the people's commissioners merely gave the order to do what was necessary to liberate comrade wels. nor was this done until after the three commissioners had been advised by telephone by the leader of the people's marine division that he could not longer guarantee the life of comrade wels. the _vollzugsrat_ approves." the _vollzugsrat_ itself presented a question. it asked: "are the people's commissioners prepared to protect public order and safety, and also and especially private and public property, against forcible attacks? are they also prepared to use the powers at their disposal to prevent themselves and their organs from being interfered with in their conduct of public affairs by acts of violence, irrespective of whence these may come?" the independents, for whom dittmann spoke, hereupon declared that they retired from the government. thus they avoided the necessity of answering the _vollzugsrat's_ question. in a subsequent statement published in their press the trio declared that the majority members were encouraging counter-revolution by refusing to check the power of the military. they themselves, they asserted, were a short while earlier in a position to take over the government alone, but they could not do so since their principles did not permit them to work with a majority socialist _vollzugsrat_. what they meant by saying that they could have assumed complete control of the cabinet was not explained, and it was probably an over-optimistic statement. there is no reason to believe that the independents had up to this time been in a position enabling them to throw the majority socialists out of the cabinet. ebert, scheidemann and landsberg, in a manifesto to the people, declared that the independents had, by their resignations, refused to take a stand in favor of assuring the safety of the state. the manifesto said: "by rejecting the means of assuring the state's safety, the independents have demonstrated their incapacity to govern. for us the revolution is not a party watchword, but the most valuable possession of the whole wealth-producing folk. "we take over their tasks as people's commissioners with the oath: all for the revolution, all through the revolution. but we take them over at the same time with the firm purpose to oppose immovably all who would convert the revolution of the people into terror by a minority." the _vollzugsrat_ elected to fill the three vacancies: gustav noske, still governor of kiel: herr wissell, a member of the old reichstag, and herr loebe, editor of the socialist _volkswacht_ of breslau. loebe, however, never assumed office, and the cabinet consisted of five members until it was abolished by act of the national assembly in february. the majority socialists staged a big demonstration on sunday, december th, in favor of the new government. thousands of the _bourgeoisie_ joined in a great parade, which ended with a tremendous assembly in front of the government offices in the wilhelmstrasse. the size and character of the demonstration showed that the great majority of berlin's law-abiding residents were on the side of ebert and his colleagues. the majority socialists did not take over the sole responsibility for the government with a light heart. they had begun to realize something of the character of the forces working against them and were saddened because they had been compelled to abandon party traditions by relying upon armed force. yet there was clearly no way of avoiding it. the spartacans were organizing their cohorts in bremen, hamburg, kiel and other cities, and had already seized the government of düsseldorf, where they had dissolved the city council and arrested mayor oehler. the soviets of solingen and remscheid had accepted the spartacan program by a heavy majority. the state government of brunswick had adopted resolutions declaring that the national assembly could not be permitted to meet. at a meeting of the munich communists emil mühsam[ ] had been greeted with applause when he declared that the summons for the assembly was "the common battle-cry of reaction." resolutions were passed favoring the nullification of all war-loans.[ ] [ ] mühsam was one of the characteristic types of bolsheviki. for years he had been an unwashed, unshorn and unshaven literary loafer in berlin cafés, whose chief ability consisted in securing a following of naïve persons willing to buy drinks for him. [ ] the left wing of the independent socialist party already demanded nullification, and the whole party drifted so rapidly leftward that a platform adopted by it in the first week of the following march definitely demanded nullification. the spartacans (on december th) had reorganized as the "communist laborers' party of germany--spartacus league." radek-sobelsohn, who had for some weeks been carrying on his bolshevik propaganda from various hiding places, attended the meeting and made a speech in which he declared that the spartacans must not let themselves be frightened by the fear of civil war. rosa luxemburg openly summoned her hearers to battle. the authority of the national government was small in any event, and was openly flouted and opposed in some places. sailors and marines had organized the republic of oldenburg-east frisia and elected an unlettered sailor named bernhard kuhnt as president. the president of the republic of brunswick was a bushelman tailor named leo merges, and the minister of education was a woman who had been a charwoman and had been discharged by a woman's club for which she had worked for petty peculations. kurt eisner, minister-president of bavaria, was a dreamy, long-haired communist writer who had earlier had to leave the editorial staff of _vorwärts_ because of an utter lack of practical common-sense. he was a fair poet and an excellent feuilletonist, but quite unfitted to participate in governmental affairs. his opposition to the national government severely handicapped it, and the bavarian state government was at the same time crippled by the natural antagonism of a predominantly catholic people to a jewish president. to the south the czechs had occupied bodenbach and tetschen in german bohemia, and were threatening the border. to the east the poles, unwilling to await the awards of the peace conference, had seized the city of posen, were taxing the german residents there for the maintenance of an army to be used against their own government, and had given notice that a war loan was to be issued. paderewski, head of the new polish government, had been permitted to land at danzig on the promise that he would proceed directly to warsaw. instead, he went to posen and made inflammatory speeches against the germans until the english officer accompanying him was directed by the british government to see that the terms of the promise to the german government were obeyed. the german government, endeavoring to assemble and transport sufficient forces to repel polish aggressions against german territory, found opposition among the spartacans and independent socialists at home, and from the bolshevik brunswick authorities, who announced that no government troops would be permitted to pass through the state, or to be recruited there. government troops entering brunswick were disarmed. the state government gave the berlin cabinet notice that decrees of the minister of war had no validity in brunswick. general scheuch, the minister of war, resigned in disgust. what later became an epidemic of strikes began. seventy thousand workers were idle in berlin. upper silesia reported serious labor troubles throughout the mining districts, due to russian and german bolshevist agitators and poles. a less happy new year for men responsible for the affairs of a great state was doubtless never recorded. chapter xv. liebknecht tries to overthrow the government; is arrested and killed. in the six weeks that emil eichhorn had been police-president of berlin the situation in his department had become a public scandal. the arming of the criminal and hooligan classes by this guardian of public safety, which had at first been carried on quietly, was now being done openly and shamelessly, and had reached great proportions. liebknecht and ledebour, spartacan and independent, were in constant and close fellowship with him. a considerable part of the republican soldier guard had been turned from allegiance to the government that had appointed them and could be reckoned as adherents of eichhorn. the berlin police department had become an _imperium in imperio_. the _vollzugsrat_ conducted a formal investigation of eichhorn's official acts. the investigation, which was conducted honestly and with dignity, convicted the police-president of gross inefficiency, insubordination, diversion and conversion of public funds, and conduct designed to weaken and eventually overthrow the government. _vorwärts_ was able to disclose the further fact that eichhorn had throughout his term of office been drawing a salary of , marks monthly from lenine's _rosta_, the bolshevik propaganda-central for germany. the _vollzugsrat_ removed eichhorn from office. eichhorn, relying on the armed forces at his disposal and doubtless equally on the probability that a socialist government would not dare use actual force against _genossen_, refused to comply with the order for his removal. the more ignorant of his followers--and this embraced a great proportion--saw in the _vollzugsrat's_ action the first move in that counter-revolution whose specter had so artfully been kept before their eyes by their leaders. it is a current saying in england that when an englishman has a grievance, he writes to the _times_ about it. when a german has a grievance, he organizes a parade and marches through the city carrying banners and transparencies, and shouting _hoch_! (hurrah!) for his friends and _nieder_! (down) with his enemies. on sunday, january th, a great demonstration was staged as a protest against eichhorn's removal. it is significant that, although eichhorn was an independent socialist, the moving spirit and chief orator of the day was the spartacan liebknecht. this, too, despite the fact that at the convention where the spartacus league had been reorganized a week earlier, the independents had been roundly denounced as timorous individuals and enemies of simon-pure socialism. similar denunciations of the spartacans had come from the independents. the psychology of it all is puzzling, and the author contents himself with recording the facts without attempting to explain them. sunday's parade was of imposing proportions, and it was marked by a grim earnestness that foreboded trouble. the organizers claimed that , persons were in the line of march. the real number was probably around twenty thousand. transparencies bore defiant inscriptions. "down with ebert and scheidemann, the bloodhounds and grave-diggers of the revolution!" was a favorite device. "down with the bloodhound wels!" was another. cheers for "our police-president" and groans for the cabinet were continuous along the line of march. the great mass of the paraders were ragged, underfed, miserable men and women, mute testimony to the sufferings of the war-years. liebknecht addressed the paraders. counter-revolution, he declared, was already showing its head. the ebert-scheidemann government must be overthrown and the real friends of the revolution must not shrink from using violence if violence were necessary. others spoke in a similar vein. conditions appeared propitious for the _coup_ that had been preparing for a month. late sunday evening armed spartacans occupied the plants of the _vorwärts_, _tageblatt_, the ullstein company (publishers of _die morgenpost_ and _berliner zeitung-am-mittag_), the _lokal-anzeiger_ and the wolff bureau. the spartacans in the _vorwärts_ plant published on monday morning _der rote vorwärts_ (the red _vorwärts_). it contained a boastful leading article announcing that the paper had been taken over by "real revolutionists," and that "no power on earth shall take it from us." the liebknechtians also seized on monday the büxenstein plant, where the _kreuz-zeitung_ is printed. there was much promiscuous shooting in various parts of the city. spartacans fired on unarmed government supporters in front of the war ministry, killing one man and wounding two. there were also bloody clashes at wilhelm platz, potsdamer platz and in unter den linden. the _vollzugsrat_ rose to the occasion like a _bourgeois_ governing body. it conferred extraordinary powers on the cabinet and authorized it to use all force at its disposal to put down the bolshevist uprising. that it was bolshevist was now apparent to everybody. the cabinet, still hesitant about firing on _genossen_, conferred with the independents haase, dittmann, cohn and dr. rudolf breitscheid, the last named one of the so-called "intellectual leaders" of the independent socialists. these men wanted the government to "compromise." the cabinet declared it could listen to no proposals until the occupied newspaper plants should have been restored to their rightful owners. the delegation withdrew to confer with the spartacan leaders. these refused flatly to surrender their usurped strongholds. several lively street battles marked the course of tuesday, january th. the spartacans succeeded in driving the government troops from the brandenburger tor, but after a short time were in turn driven out. spartacan and independent socialist parades filled the streets of the old city. the government did nothing to stop these demonstrations. haase and the other members of monday's delegation spent most of the day trying to induce the government to compromise. their ingenious idea of a "compromise" was for the entire cabinet to resign and be replaced by a "parity" government made up of two majority socialists, two independents and two spartacans. this, of course, would have meant in effect a government of four bolsheviki and two majority socialists. despite their traditions of and training in party "solidarity," the cabinet could not help seeing that the "compromise" proposed would mean handing the government over bodily to liebknecht, for haase and dittmann had long lost all power to lead their former followers back into democratic paths. the bulk of the party was already irrevocably committed to practical bolshevism. the scholarly eduard bernstein, who had followed haase and the other seceders from the majority socialists in , had announced his return to the parent party. in a long explanation of the reasons for his course he denounced the independents as lacking any constructive program and with having departed from their real mission. they had become, he declared, a party committed to tearing down existing institutions. other adherents of the party's right wing refused to have anything to do with the new course. the night of january th was marked by hard fighting. spartacans repeatedly attacked government troops at the anhalt railway station in the königgrätzerstrasse, but were repulsed with heavy losses. they also attacked the government troops defending the potsdam railway station, a quarter of a mile north from the anhalt station, but were also repulsed there. government soldiers, however, had considerable losses in an unsuccessful attempt to retake the wolff bureau building at charlottenstrasse and zimmerstrasse. on wednesday, the section of the city around the brandenburger tor was again filled with parading bolsheviki, but the government had plucked up enough courage and decision to decree that no parades should be permitted to enter wilhelmstrasse, where the seat of government is situated. spartacans attempted to invade this street in the afternoon, but scattered when government soldiers fired a few shots, although the soldiers fired into the air. the independent go-betweens again assailed the cabinet in an effort to secure the "compromise" government suggested the day before. the delegation was hampered, however, both by the fact that the cabinet realized what such a compromise would mean and by the fact that the independents could promise nothing. the spartacans stubbornly refused to surrender the captured newspaper plants, and the independents themselves were committed to the retention in office of eichhorn. eichhorn, still at his desk in police headquarters, refused even to admit to the building police-president richter of charlottenburg, who had been named as his successor, and he and his aides were still busily arming deluded workingmen and young hooligans of sixteen and seventeen, as well as some women. the people's marine division announced that it sided with the government, but it played little part in its defense. the rattle of machine-guns and the crack of rifles kept berliners awake nearly all night. the hardest fighting was at the _tageblatt_ plant, in front of the foreign office and the chancellor's palace, and around the brandenburger tor. thursday morning found the government decided to put an end to the unbearable conditions. it was announced that no parades would be tolerated and that government soldiers had been ordered to shoot to kill if any such aggregations disobeyed orders to disperse. spartacus, realizing that the government meant what it said, called no meetings, and the streets were free of howling demonstrants for the first time since sunday. the government further addressed a proclamation to the people, addressing them this time as _mitbürger_ (fellow-citizens), instead of _genossen_. it announced that negotiations had been broken off with the rebels, and assailed the dishonest and dishonorable tactics of the independent socialists represented by the haase-dittmann delegation. _die freiheit_ and _der rote vorwärts_ assailed the government; still the proclamation had a good effect and decent elements generally rallied to the government's support. the day's fighting was confined to the _tageblatt_ plant, where three hundred bolsheviki were entrenched to defend the liberty of other people's property. the place could have been taken with artillery, but it was desired to spare the building if possible. friday passed with only scattered sniping. the spartacans and their independent helpers grew boastful. they had not yet learned to know what manner of man gustav noske, the new cabinet member, was. they made his acquaintance early saturday morning. before the sun had risen government troops had posted themselves with artillery and mine-throwers a few hundred yards from the _vorwärts_ plant. the battle was short and decisive. a single mine swept out of existence the spartacans' barricade in front of the building, and a few more shots made the building ripe for storm. the government troops lost only two or three men, but more than a score of bolsheviki were killed and more than a hundred, including some russians and women, were captured. the _vorwärts_ plant was a new building and much more valuable than some of the other plants occupied by the spartacans, but it was selected for bombardment because the cabinet members wished to show, by sacrificing their own party's property first, that they were not playing favorites. the fall of the _vorwärts_ stronghold and the firm stand of the government disheartened the mercenary and criminal recruits of the spartacans. police headquarters, the real center of the revolutionary movement, was taken early sunday morning after a few . -centimeter shells had been fired into it. the official report told of twelve spartacans killed, but their casualties were actually much higher. eichhorn had chosen the better part of valor and disappeared. the bolsheviki occupying the various newspaper plants began deserting _en masse_ over neighboring roofs and the plants were occupied by government troops without a contest. news came that liebknecht's followers had also abandoned the boetzow brewery in the eastern part of the city, one of their main strongholds. late in the afternoon they also fled from the silesian railway station, where they had been storing up stolen provisions, assembling arms and ammunition and preparing to make a last desperate stand. the government, averse though it was to the employment of force to maintain its authority, had realized at the beginning of december the increasing strength of the spartacans, and had begun assembling a military force of loyal soldiers in various garrisons outside the city. three thousand of these troops now marched into the city. hundreds of the men in the ranks carried rifles slung across officers' shoulder-straps. they marched as troops ought to march, sang patriotic songs and looked grimly determined. for miles along their route they were greeted by frantic cheering and even by joyous tears from the law-abiding citizens who had been terrorized by the scum of a great capital.[ ] [ ] the task of the government was made harder throughout its darkest days by the aid and comfort given its enemies by the character of the reports published in certain enemy papers regarding conditions in germany. nearly the entire paris press regularly published extravagantly untrue reports concerning the situation, and many english and american papers followed suit. the london _times_ of december th gravely told its readers that "in a political sense ebert is suspected of being a mere tool of the old régime, whose difficult task it is to pave the first stages of the road to the restoration of the hohenzollerns months or years hence." three days later it declared that "the german army chiefs propose to let the spartacans upset the government so that they can summon hindenburg to save the day and reëstablish the monarchy."articles of this stamp were eagerly pounced upon and republished by independent socialist and spartacan organs of the stamp of _die freiheit_, _die republik_, liebknecht's _die rote fahne_, and others, and were of great assistance to the enemies of good government in their efforts to convince the ignorant and fanatical that the government was organizing a "white guard" for counter-revolutionary purposes and was plotting the restoration of the monarchy. one dispatch from paris, published extensively in the american press on february th, quoted in all seriousness "a prominent american socialist in close touch with german liberals and with exceptional sources of secret information," who had learned that "the german revolution was a piece of theatrical manipulation by agents of the militaristic oligarchy to win an armistice." that such a report could be published in responsible organs is a staggering commentary on the manner in which the war-psychosis inhibited clear thinking. the conservative deputy hergt, speaking in the prussian diet on march th, said: "we conservatives are not conscienceless enough to plunge the land into civil warfare. we shall wait patiently until the sound sense of the german people shall demand a return to the monarchic form of government." american papers carried the following report of this statement: "speaking before the new prussian diet in berlin, deputy hergt proposed that prussia should restore the monarchy." volumes could be written about these false reports alone. the week of terror had practically ended. there was still some sniping from housetops and some looting, but organized resistance had been crushed. liebknecht and rosa luxemburg had gone into hiding. liebknecht's seventeen-year-old son and sister had been arrested. ledebour, more courageous or, perhaps, more confident that a veteran _genosse_ had nothing to fear from a socialist government, remained and was arrested. it had been no part of the cabinet's plan or desire to have their veteran colleague of former days arrested. on january th the writer, speaking with one of the most prominent majority socialist leaders, said: "you can now hardly avoid having ledebour locked up." the man addressed shrugged his shoulders reflectively and answered: "well, you see, herr kollege, we can't very well do so. ledebour is an old comrade, he was for many years one of the party's secretaries and has done great services for the party." "but he has taken part in an armed uprising to overthrow the government and to destroy that same party," persisted the writer. the socialist leader admitted it. "but he is acting from ideal motives," he said. this refusal to judge opponents by their acts instead of by their motives hampered the government throughout its career. it is less specifically socialistic than german, and is the outgrowth of what is termed _rechthaberei_ in german an untranslatable word exactly illustrated by the colloquy reported above. it is not the least among the mental traits that make it impossible for the average german ever to become what is popularly known as a practical politician; a trait that kept the german people in their condition of political immaturity. in ledebour's case, however, the government found itself compelled to act drastically. a proclamation was found which declared the government deposed and taken over temporarily by the three men who signed it. these were liebknecht, ledebour and another independent socialist named scholtze. in the first days of the uprising they had sent a detachment of spartacans to the war ministry to present the proclamation and take charge of that department's affairs, and only the presence of mind and courage of a young officer had prevented the scheme from succeeding. in the face of this, no government that demanded respect for its authority could permit ledebour to remain at liberty. his arrest was nevertheless the signal for some adverse criticism even from majority socialists whose class-conscious solidarity was greater than their intelligence. liebknecht was still in hiding, but it was less easy to hide in berlin than it had been a month earlier, for the old criminal police were at work again. the experiment with soldier-policemen had resulted so disastrously that every berliner who had anything to lose welcomed the return of these men who had been so denounced and hated in other days. the search lasted but two days. on january th liebknecht's apartment was searched, and great amounts of propagandist pamphlets and correspondence showing him to be in constant touch with the russian soviet government were found. on the evening of the next day policemen and soldiers surrounded the house of a distant relative of liebknecht's wife in the western part of the city and liebknecht was found. he denied his identity at first, but finally admitted that he was the man wanted. he was taken to the eden hotel in charlottenburg, which had been occupied in part by the staff of the government troops. rosa luxemburg, found hiding in another house, was brought to the hotel at the same time. after the two had been questioned, preparations were made to take them to the city prison in moabit. despite all precautions, news of the arrests had transpired, and the hotel was surrounded by a vast crowd, mainly made up of better class citizens, since the district where the hotel is situated is one of the best residential districts of greater berlin. the feeling of these people against the two persons who were in so great measure responsible for the terrors of the week just past naturally ran high. the appearance of the soldiers guarding the two was the signal for a wild rush. the luxemburg woman was struck repeatedly and liebknecht received a blow on the head which caused a bloody wound. neither the man nor woman ever reached prison. soldiers brought to the morgue late that night the body of "an unidentified man," alleged to have been shot while running away from his guards. one bullet had struck him between the shoulders and another in the middle of the back of the neck. the woman disappeared utterly. on the following day (january th) it became known that both liebknecht and luxemburg had been killed. exactly who fired the fatal shots was never clearly established, but an investigation did establish that the officers in charge of the men guarding the two prisoners were guilty of a negligence which was undoubtedly deliberate, and intended to make the killings possible. the impression was profound. the _deutsche tageszeitung_, while deploring lynch law and summary justice, declared that the deaths of the two agitators must be regarded as "almost a divine judgment." this was the tenor of all _bourgeois_ comment, and even _vorwärts_ admitted that the dead man and woman had fallen as victims of the base passions which they themselves had aroused. they had summoned up spirits which they could not exorcise. there was nevertheless much apprehension regarding the form which the vengeance of the victims' followers might take, but this confined itself in the main to verbal attacks on the _bourgeoisie_ and majority socialists, and denunciation of noske's "white guard," as the loyal soldiers who protected the law-abiding part of the population were termed. disorders were feared on the day of liebknecht's funeral, but none came. the government gained a much needed breathing spell through these events. with liebknecht and luxemburg dead, radek in hiding, ledebour locked up and eichhorn--as it transpired later--fled to brunswick, the spartacans, deprived of their most energetic leaders and shaken by their bloody losses of bolshevik week, could not so quickly rally their forces for another _coup_. their losses are not definitely known, but they were estimated at approximately two hundred dead and nearly a thousand wounded. the losses of the government troops were negligible. noske, who had taken over from ebert the administration of military affairs, announced that there would be no further temporizing with persons endeavoring to overthrow the government by force. he issued a decree setting forth the duty of the soldiers to preserve order, protect property and defend themselves in all circumstances. the decree said further: "no soldier can be excused for failure to perform his duty if he have not, in the cases specified above, made timely and adequate use of his weapons to attain the purpose set forth." some six years earlier police-president von jagow had brought a flood of socialist abuse on his head because, in a general order to the police, he referred to the fact that there had been an unusual number of escapes of criminals and attacks on policemen and added: "henceforth i shall punish any policeman who in such case has failed to make timely use of his weapons." and now a socialist issued an order of much the same tenor. the _genossen_ had learned by bitter experience that there is a difference between criticizing and governing, and that moral suasion occasionally fails with the lowest elements of a great city. defeated in berlin, the bolsheviki turned their attention to the coast cities. the "republic of cuxhaven" was proclaimed, with a school-teacher as president. it collapsed in five days as a result of the government's decisive action. an attempted _coup_ in bremen also failed, but both these uprisings left the spartacans and independents of these cities in possession of large supplies of arms and ammunition. january th, the forty-seventh anniversary of the founding of the german empire, brought melancholy reflections for all germans. the bolshevist-hued socialists were impotently raging in defeat; the _bourgeoisie_ lamented past glories; the majority socialists were under a crossfire from both sides. the conservative _kreuz-zeitung_ wrote: "january th: what feelings are awakened on this day under prevailing conditions! in other times we celebrated today the empire's glory, its resurrection from impotence and dissension to unity and strength. we believed its existence and power assured for centuries. and today? after less than half a century the old misery has come upon us and has cast us down lower than ever. this time, too, germany could be conquered only because it was disunited. in the last analysis it was from the social-democratic poison of internationalism and negation of state that the empire became infected and defenseless. how painfully wrong were those who, in smiling optimism, ever made light of all warnings against the social-democratic danger. it will be our real danger in the future also. if we do not overcome the social-democratic spirit among our people we cannot recover our health." the _kreuz-zeitung's_ diagnosis was correct, but it had required a national post-mortem to establish it. chapter xvi. the national assembly. in preparation for the national assembly, the various existing political parties effected generally a sweeping reorganization, which included, for the most part, changes of designations as well. the conservatives and free conservatives coalesced as the german national people's party (_deutsch-nationale volkspartei_). the right wing of the national-liberals, under the leadership of dr. stresemann, became the german people's party (_deutsche volkspartei_). the left wing of the old party, under the leadership of baron von richthofen joined with the former progressives (_fortschrittliche volkspartei_) to form the german democratic party (_deutsch-demokratische partei_). the clericals retained their party solidarity but christened themselves german christian party (_deutsch-christliche partei_). the majority and independent socialists retained their old organizations and party designations. the spartacans, as outspoken enemies of any national assembly, could not consistently have anything to do with it and placed no ticket in the field. most of the independent socialists were also opponents of a constituent assembly, but the party organization was still trying to blow both hot and cold and had not yet gone on record officially as favoring a soviet government and the dictatorship of the proletariat. of the parties as reorganized, the national people's and the people's parties were monarchic. the christian party (clericals) contained many men who believed a limited monarchy to be the best form of government for germany, but as a whole the party was democratically inclined and out of sympathy with any attempt at that time to restore the monarchy. the two socialist parties were, of course, advocates of a republic and bitter opponents of monarchs and monarchies. the democratic party came into existence mainly through the efforts of theodor wolff, the brilliant editor of the berlin _tageblatt_. no other non-socialist editor realized so early or so completely as wolff whither the policy of the old government was taking germany. he had opposed the submarine warfare, condemned the treaty of brest-litovsk, attacked the methods and influence of the pan-germans and constantly advocated drastic democratic reforms. probably no other _bourgeois_ newspaper had been so often suppressed as the _tageblatt_, and it shared with socialist organs the distinction of being prohibited in many army units and in some military departments at home. although wolff held no political office, his influence in the progressive party and with the left wing of the national-liberals was great, and even many socialists regularly read his leading articles, which were more often cabled to america than were the editorials of any other german publicist, not excepting even the _poseur_ maximilian harden-witkowski. the revolution was hardly an accomplished fact before wolff saw the necessity for a democratic, non-socialist political party which must be free of elements compromised in any manner by participation in the old government or by support of its militaristic and imperialistic policies. he took it upon himself to issue the summons for the formation of such a party. the response was immediate and gratifying. help came even from unexpected quarters. prince lichnowsky, former ambassador to great britain; count brockdorff-rantzau, who had succeeded dr. solf as foreign minister; baron von richthofen of the national-liberals, count johannes bernstorff, former ambassador to the united states, and many other prominent members of the higher german nobility[ ] joined with _bourgeois_ political leaders to organize the new party. not all compromised elements could be kept out of the party, but they were excluded from any active participation in the conduct of its affairs or the shaping of its policies. [ ] a surprisingly large number of americans cannot or will not believe that a prince or a count can be a real democrat. this is plainly due to a too prevalent confusion of the words democratic with republican. all republics are, footnote: in theory at least, democratic, but a monarchist can consistently be a democrat. the two most democratic countries in the world are denmark and norway, yet both are kingdoms. the democratic sentiments of the men named above, with the possible exception of one, were of no recent growth; they long antedated the revolution. taken as a whole, the party stood far to the left. wolff, at the extreme left of his organization, might be described either as a _bourgeois_ socialist or a socialistic _bourgeois_ politician. the recruits from the former national-liberal party were less radical, but even they subscribed to a platform which called for the nationalization (socialization) of a long list of essential industries, notably mines and water and electrical power, and, in general, for sweeping economic reforms and the most direct participation of the people in the government. the fact that the new party was chiefly financed by big jewish capitalists caused it to be attacked by anti-semites and proletarians alike, but this detracted little from its strength at the polls, since germany's anti-semites were never found in any considerable numbers among the _bourgeois_ parties of the left, and the proletarians were already for the most part adherents of one of the socialist factions. the campaign for the elections to the national assembly was conducted with great energy and equally great bitterness by all parties. despite an alleged shortage of paper which had for months made it impossible for the newspapers to print more than a small part of the advertisements submitted to them, tons of paper were used for handbills and placards. the streets, already filthy enough, were strewn ankle-deep in places with appeals for this or that party and vilifications of opponents. aëroplanes dropped thousands of dodgers over the chief cities. new daily papers, most of them unlovely excrescences on the body of the press, made their appearance and secured paper grants for their consumption. one feature of the campaign illustrated strikingly what had already been clear to dispassionate observers: germany's new government was unashamedly a party government first and a general government second. majority socialist election posters were placed in public buildings, railway stations, etc., to the exclusion of all other parties. its handbills were distributed by government employees and from government automobiles and aëroplanes. the _bourgeois hallesche zeitung's_ paper supply was cut in half in order that the new socialist _volkszeitung_ might be established, and its protest was dismissed by the soldiers' council with the statement that the _volkszeitung_ was "more important." not even the most reactionary of the old german governments would have dared abuse its power in this manner. it may be doubted whether the revolutionary government was at all conscious of the impropriety of its course, but even if it had been it would have made no difference. one of the great sources of strength of socialism is its conviction that all means are sacred for the furtherance of the class struggle. the spartacans had boasted that the elections would not be permitted to be held, but the decided attitude of the government made their boast an empty one. soldiers in steel helmets, their belts filled with hand-grenades and carrying rifles with fixed bayonets, guarded the polling places whereever trouble was expected. in harburg the ballot-boxes were burned, and reports of disorders came from two or three small districts elsewhere, but the election as a whole was quietly and honestly conducted. election day in manhattan has often seen more disorders than were reported from all germany on january th. the result of the election contained no surprises; it was, in general, practically what had been forecast by the best observers. the majority socialists, who had hoped for an absolute majority but had not expected it, polled about per cent of the total popular vote and secured delegates to the national convention. this was an increase of nearly per cent since the last general election of . the independent socialists demonstrated considerable strength in greater berlin, but only one in every twenty-five of the whole country's voters supported them and only twenty-two of their followers were elected. kurt eisner, minister-president of bavaria, failed of election although his name was on the ticket in more than twenty election districts. the total membership of the national convention was to have been delegates, but the french authorities in charge of the troops occupying alsace-lorraine refused to permit elections to be held there, which reduced the assembly's membership to . a majority was thus , and the two socialist parties, with a combined total of , could accomplish nothing without additional votes from some _bourgeois_ party. as it later developed, moreover, the government party could count on the support of the independents only in matters where socialist solidarity was sentimentally involved; on matters affecting economic policies there was much more kinship between the majority socialists and the democrats than between them and the followers of haase. the democrats, with delegates, were the second strongest non-socialist party, the former clericals having . by virtue of their position midway between right and left they held the real balance of power. the national people's party, the former conservatives and free conservatives, made a surprisingly good showing in the elections, securing delegates. this number, however, included the delegates of the middle and the national-liberal parties of bavaria and the citizens' party and peasants' and vineyardists' league of württemberg. the remnant of the old national-liberal party was able to elect only delegates. there were, in addition to the parties enumerated, the bavarian peasants' league with delegates, the schleswig-holstein peasants' and farm-laborers' democratic league with delegate, the brunswick state election association with and the german-hanoverian party (guelphs) with delegates. not even the urgent need of uniting dissevered elements so far as possible could conquer the old german tendency to carry metaphysical hairsplitting into politics. the german reichstags regularly had from twelve to sixteen different parties, and even then there were generally two or three delegates who found themselves unable to agree with the tenets of any one of these parties and remained unattached, the "wild delegates" (_die wilden_), as they were termed. there were ten parties in the national assembly, and one of these, as has been said, was a combination of five parties. democracy had an overwhelming majority in the assembly. the majority socialists and democrats together had a clear joint majority of votes, and the clericals' strength included many democratic delegates. no fewer than eight of the party's delegates were secretaries of labor unions. thirty-four women, the greatest number ever chosen to any country's parliament, were elected as delegates. the majority socialists, the original advocates of woman's suffrage in germany, fittingly elected the greatest number of these-- ; the clericals were next with , the democrats elected , the conservatives , and the independent socialists . the government announced that the national assembly would be held in weimar on february th. hardly a fortnight had passed since the first "bolshevik week," and the cabinet feared disorders, if nothing worse, if an attempt were made to hold the assembly in berlin. it was also easier to afford adequate protection in a city of thirty-five thousand than in the capital. although it was never declared in so many words, it is probable that a sentimental reason also played a part in the choice. there was no taint of prussianism about weimar. as the "intellectual capital of germany" it has an aura possessed by no other german city. goethe, schiller and herder spent the greater part of their lives in this little thuringian city and are buried there. it has given shelter to many other men whose names are revered by educated people the world over. it is reminiscent of days when militarism and imperialism had not yet corrupted a "people of thinkers and dreamers," of days when culture had not yet given way to _kultur_, of days before a simple, industrious people had been converted to a belief in their mission to impose the ideals of _preussen-deutschland_ upon the world with "the mailed fist" and "in shining armor." it is characteristic that men in high places believed--and they undoubtedly did believe--that a recollection of these things could in some way redound to the benefit of germany. the days between the elections and the convening of the national assembly brought further serious complications in germany's domestic situation. disaffection among the soldiers was increased by an order of colonel reinhardt, the new minister of war, defining the respective powers of officers' and the soldiers' councils. the order declared that the power of command remained with the officers in all matters affecting tactics and strategy. the councils' functions were confined to matters of provisioning and to disciplinary punishments. this order, although in accordance with the original decree of the cabinet regarding the matter, failed to satisfy men who had become contemptuous of all authority except their own. the workmen's and soldiers' councils of the whole country were also disquieted by the announcement of the government that, with the convening of the national assembly, all political power would pass to the assembly, and revolutionary government organs everywhere and of all kinds would cease to exist. this was not at all to the taste of most of the members of the soviets, who were affected less by political considerations than by the prospect of losing profitable sinecures and being compelled to earn a living by honest effort. the combined soviets of greater berlin voted, to , to demand the retention of the workmen's and soldiers' councils in any future state-form which might be adopted. other soviets followed the example, and there was talk of holding a rival congress in berlin contemporaneously with the sessions of the national assembly in weimar. the spartacans, already beginning to recover from their defeats of a few days earlier, began planning another _coup_ for the first week of february. noske's troops were kept constantly in action. the bolsheviki in wilhelmshaven staged an armed uprising, but it was quickly put down. they seized power in bremen, defied the government to cast them out, and several regiments were required to defeat and disarm them. there was rioting in magdeburg, and also in düsseldorf. polish aggressions, particularly between thorn and graudenz, continued. it was difficult to move troops against them because of the opposition of the independents and spartacans, and a great part of the soldiers, arrived at the front, refused to remain and could not be detained, since, under socialist methods, they had the right to quit at any time on giving a week's notice. serious strikes further embarrassed and handicapped the government. the determination and energy displayed by the cabinet in these difficult days deserve generous acknowledgment, and especially so in view of the fact that it required a high degree of moral courage for any body of socialist rulers to brave the denunciations of even well meaning _genossen_ by relying on armed force to compel respect for their authority and to carry out the mandate given them now by the great majority of the german people. preparations for the national assembly were well made. no person was permitted even to buy a railway ticket to weimar unless he was in possession of a special pass bearing his photograph, and a detachment of picked troops was sent to the city to protect the assembly against interruption. machine-guns commanded all entrances to the beautiful national theater which had been converted to the purposes of the assembly, and a special detail of experienced berlin policemen and plain-clothes detectives was on hand to assist the soldiers. the local garrisons of weimar, eisenach, gotha and other nearby places made a futile attempt to prevent the sending of troops from berlin, but never got farther than the beginning. their attitude was not due to any political considerations, but was dictated by selfishness and wounded pride: they insisted that the sending of outside troops was an insult to them, since they could furnish all the troops necessary to preserve order, and they also felt that they were entitled to the extra pay and rations dealt out to noske's men. the national assembly convened on february th with nearly a full attendance. it was called to order by ebert, who appealed for unity and attacked the terms of the november armistice and the additional terms imposed at its renewals since. the speech received the approval of all members of the assembly except the independent socialists, who even on this first day, started their tactics of obstruction, abuse of all speakers except their own and rowdyish interruptions of the business of the sessions. on february th dr. eduard david, a scholarly man who had been for many years one of the majority socialists' leaders, was elected president (speaker) of the national assembly. the other officers chosen came from the christian, democratic and majority socialist parties, the extreme right and extreme left being unrepresented. organization having been effected, a provisional constitution was adopted establishing the assembly as a law-giving body. it provided for the election of a national president, to serve until his successor could be elected at a general election, and for the appointment of a minister-president and various ministers of state. the constitution created a so-called committee of state, to be named by the various state governments and to occupy the position of a second chamber, and empowered the assembly to enact "such national laws as are urgently necessary," particularly revenue and appropriation measures. friedrich ebert was elected provisional president of the german republic on february th by a vote of out of a total of votes. hardly a decade earlier the german emperor had stigmatized all the members of ebert's party as _vaterlandslose gesellen_ and as "men unworthy to bear the name of german." now, less than three months after that monarch had been overthrown, a socialist was placed at the head of what was left of the german empire. a young and inconsequential prussian lieutenant had six years earlier been refused permission to marry the girl of his choice because her mother sold eggs. the new president of the country had been a saddler. he had once even been the owner of a small inn in hamburg. ebert belongs to that class which the french call the _petite bourgeoisie_, the lower middle class. he possesses all the solid, domestic virtues of this class, and is a living exemplification of old copy-book maxims about honesty as the best policy and faithfulness in little things. without a trace of brilliancy and without any unusual mental qualities, his greatest strength lies in an honesty and dependability which, in the long run, so often outweigh great mental gifts. few political leaders have ever enjoyed the confidence and trust of their followers to a greater degree. the ministry chosen was headed by scheidemann as minister-president. other members were: minister of defense (army and navy), noske; interior, hugo preuss; justice, sendsberg; commerce, hermann müller; labor, bauer; foreign affairs, count brockdorff-rantzau; under-secretary for foreign affairs, baron von richthofen; finance, dr. schiffer; posts and telegraphs, geisberg. erzberger, david and wissell were made ministers without portfolio. the first sessions of the national assembly made on the whole a good impression. the members were for the most part earnest men and women, fully up to the intellectual average of legislative bodies anywhere; there were comparatively few among them who were compromised by relations with the old government, and these were not in a position to do no harm. the extreme right was openly monarchic, but the members of this group realized fully the hopelessness of any attempt to restore either the hohenzollerns or a monarchic state-form at this time, and manifested their loyalty to the former ruler only by objecting vigorously to social-democratic attacks on the kaiser or to depreciation of the services of the crown in building up the empire. apart from the pathologically hysterical conduct of the independent socialists, and particularly of the three women delegates of that party, the assembly's proceedings were carried on in what was, by european parliamentary standards, a dignified manner. from the very beginning, however, the proceedings were sicklied o'er by the pale cast of care. after the sufferings and losses of more than four years of war, the country was now rent by internal dissensions and fratricidal strife. to the costs of war had been added hundreds of millions lost to the state through the extravagance, dishonesty or incompetence of revolutionary officials and particularly soviets. the former net earnings of the state railways of nearly a billion marks had been converted into a deficit of two billions. available sources of revenue had been almost exhausted. the german currency had depreciated more than sixty per cent. industry was everywhere crippled by senseless strikes. an insight into germany's financial situation was given by the report of finance minister schiffer, who disclosed that the prodigious sum of nineteen billion marks would be required in the coming year to pay interest charges alone. the war, he declared, had cost germany one hundred and sixty-one billion marks, which exceeded by nearly fourteen billions the credits that had been granted. the incubus of the terrible armistice terms rested upon the assembly. enemy newspapers, especially those of paris, were daily publishing estimates of indemnities to be demanded from germany, and the most modest of these far exceeded germany's total wealth of all descriptions. naïve german editors faithfully republished these articles, failing to realize that they were part of the enemy propaganda and designed further to weaken the germans' morale and increase their feeling of helplessness and despondency. not even the fiercest german patriots and loyalists of the old school could entirely shake off the feeling of helplessness that overshadowed and influenced every act of the national assembly. the majority socialists had come to realize more fully the difference between theory and practice. the official organ of the german federation of labor had discovered a week earlier that "the socialistic conquests of the revolution can be maintained only if countries competing with german industry adopt similar institutions." there were already concrete proofs available that socialization, even without regard to foreign competition, was not practical under the conditions prevailing in the country. at least two large factory owners in northern germany had handed their plants over to their workmen and asked them to take full charge of manufacture and sale. in both instances the workmen had, after a trial, requested the owners to resume charge of the factories. how shall we socialize when there is nothing to socialize? asked thoughtful men. the answer was obvious. _gegen den tod ist kein kraut gewachsen_ (there is no remedy against death) says an old german proverb, and industry was practically dead. the government party now discovered what marx and engels had discovered nearly fifty years before. "the practical application of these principles will always and everywhere depend upon historically existing conditions. * * * the commune has supplied the proof that the laboring class cannot simply take possession of the machinery of state and set it in motion for its own purposes."[ ] [ ] introduction to the second edition of the manifesto of , quoted in chapter iii. the tardy realization of this fact placed the delegates of the government party in a serious dilemma. sweeping socialization had been promised, and the rank and file of the party expected and demanded it. in these circumstances it was obvious that a failure to carry out what was at the same time a party doctrine and a campaign pledge would have serious consequences, and it must be reckoned to the credit of the leaders of the party that they put the material welfare of the state above party considerations and refused to let themselves be hurried into disastrous experiments along untried lines. their attitude resulted in driving many of the members of the socialist party into the ranks of the independents, but in view of the fact that the government nevertheless remained strong enough to defeat these elements wherever they had recourse to violence, and of the further fact that to accede to the demands of these intransigeants would have given the final blow to what little remained of german industry, the leaders must be said to have acted wisely and patriotically. with organization effected, the national assembly settled down to work. but it was work as all similar german organizations in history had always understood it. all the political immaturity, the tendency to philosophical and abstract reasoning, the ineradicable devotion to the merely academic and the disregard of practical questions that are such prominent characteristics of the people were exhibited just as they had been at the congress at frankfort-on-the-main seventy years earlier. it has been written of that congress: "but the germans had had no experience of free political life. nearly every deputy had his own theory of the course which ought to be pursued, and felt sure that the country would go to ruin if it were not adopted. learned professors and talkative journalists insisted on delivering interminable speeches and on examining in the light of ultimate philosophical principles every proposal laid before the assembly. thus precious time was lost, violent antagonisms were called forth, the patience of the nation was exhausted, and the reactionary forces were able to gather strength for once more asserting themselves."[ ] [ ] _encyclopedia britannica_, title "germany." except that the reactionary forces were too weakly represented at weimar to make them an actual source of danger this characterization of the frankfort congress might have been written about the proceedings of the national assembly of february. it is a significant and illuminating fact that the greatest animation exhibited at any time during the first week of the assembly was aroused by a difference of meaning as to the definition of a word. professor hugo preuss, prussian minister of the interior, to whom had been entrusted the task of drafting a proposed constitution for the new republic, referred in a speech elucidating it, to "an absolute majority." "does 'absolute majority' mean a majority of the whole number of delegates?" asked some learned delegate. the other delegates were galvanized instantly into the tensest interest. here was a question worth while! what does "absolute majority" mean? an animated debate followed and was listened to with a breathless interest which the most weighty financial or economic questions had never succeeded in evoking. and while the national assembly droned thus wearily on, clouds were again gathering over berlin and other cities in the troubled young republic. chapter xvii. the spartacans rise again. article xxvi of the armistice of november th declared: "the allies and the united states have in view the provisioning of germany during the armistice to the extent deemed necessary."[ ] [ ] les alliés et les États-unis envisagent le ravitaillement de l'allemagne, pendant l'armistice, dans la mesure reconnue nécessaire. even by the end of november it had become apparent to all intelligent observers on the ground and to many outside germany that such provisioning was urgently necessary, and that if it did not come at once the result would be a spread of bolshevism which would endanger all europe. allied journalists in germany were almost a unit in recognizing the dangers and demands of the situation, but they were greatly hampered in their efforts to picture the situation truthfully by the sentiments prevailing in their respective countries as a result of the passions engendered by the conflict so lately ended. this was in the highest degree true as to the americans, which was especially regrettable and unfortunate in view of the fact that america was the only power possessing a surplus of immediately available foodstuffs. american correspondents, venturing to report actual conditions in germany, found themselves denounced as "pro-germans" and traitors by the readers of their papers. more than this: they became the objects of unfavorable reports by officers of the american military intelligence, although many of these men themselves were convinced that empty stomachs were breeding bolshevism with every passing day. one correspondent, who had been so bitterly anti-german from the very beginning of the war that he had had to leave germany long before america entered the struggle, was denounced in a report to the military intelligence at washington on march d as "having shown pro-german leanings throughout the war." an american correspondent with a long and honorable record, who had taken a prominent part in carrying on american propaganda abroad and upon whose reports high diplomatic officials of three of the allied countries had relied, was astounded to learn that the military intelligence, in a report of january , , had denounced him as "having gone to berlin to create sentiment in the united states favorable to furnishing germany food-supply." there was less of this sort of thing in england, and many prominent englishmen were early awake to the dangers that lay in starvation. early in january lord henry bentinck, writing to the london _daily news_, declared there was no sense in maintaining the blockade. it was hindering the development of industry and the employment of the idle in england, and in middle europe it was killing children and keeping millions hungry and unemployed. the blockade, said lord henry, was the bolshevists' best friend and had no purpose except to enable england to cut off her own nose in order to spite germany's face. many other leaders of thought in england took the same stand. despite the (at least inferential) promise in the armistice that germany should be revictualled, not a step had been taken toward doing this when, on january th, more than two months after the signing of the armistice, president wilson sent a message to administration leaders in congress urging the appropriation of one hundred million dollars for food-relief in europe. "food-relief is now the key to the whole european situation and to the solution of peace," said the president. "bolshevism is steadily advancing westward; is poisoning germany. it cannot be stopped by force, but it can be stopped by food, and all the leaders with whom i am in conference agree that concerted action in this matter is of immediate and vital importance." so far, so good. this was a step in the right direction. but it had to be qualified. this was done in the next paragraph: "the money will not be spent for food for germany itself, because germany can buy its food, but it will be spent for financing the movement of food to our real friends in poland and to the people of the liberated units of the austro-hungarian empire and to our associates in the balkans. former ambassador henry white, a member of the american peace delegation, supported the president's appeal with a message stating that "the startling westward advance of bolshevism now dominates the entire european situation. * * * the only effective barrier against it is food-relief." the house adopted the president's recommendation without question, but the senate insisted on adding a stipulation that no part of the money should be spent for food for germany and no food bought with these funds should be permitted to reach that country. just how an ulcer in germany was to be cured by poulticing similar ulcers in other countries is doubtless a statesmen's secret. it is not apparent to non-official minds. germany, despite her poverty and the depreciation of her currency, might have been able to buy food, but she was not permitted to buy any food. at least one of "the liberated units of the austro-hungarian empire" was in equally bad case. count michael karolyi, addressing the people's assembly at budapest, declared that the allies were not carrying out their part of the armistice agreement in the matter of food-supplies for hungary, and that it was impossible to maintain order in such conditions. whether the armistice actually promised to supply food is a matter of interpretation; that no food had been supplied is, however, a matter of history. on january th a supplementary agreement was entered into between the allies and germany, in which the former undertook to permit the importation of two hundred thousand tons of breadstuffs and seventy thousand tons of pork products to germany "in such manner and from such places as the associated governments may prescribe." this was but a part of the actual requirements of germany for a single month, but if it had been supplied quickly it would have gone far toward simplifying the tremendous problem of maintaining a semblance of order in germany. weeks passed, however, and no food came. with the bolshevik conflagration spreading from city to city, long debates were carried on as to what fire department should be summoned and what kind of uniforms the firemen should wear. more districts of east prussia and posen, the chief granaries of northeastern germany and berlin, were lost to germany. there was a serious shortage of coal and gas in the cities. strikes became epidemic. work was no longer occasionally interrupted by strikes; strikes were occasionally interrupted by work. berlin's electric power-plant workers threw the city into darkness, and the example was followed in other cities. the proletarians were apparently quite as ready to exploit their brother proletarians as the capitalists were. coal miners either quit work entirely or insisted on a seven-hour day which included an hour and a half spent in coming to and going from work, making the net result a day of five and a half hours. street-car employees struck, and for days the undernourished people of the capital walked miles to work and home again. the shops were closed by strikes, stenographers and typewriters walked out; drivers of garbage wagons, already receiving the pay of cabinet ministers, demanded more pay and got it. from every corner of the country came reports of labor troubles, often accompanied by rioting and sabotage. in most of these strikes the hand of spartacus and the independent socialists could be discerned. the working people, hungry and miserable, waiting vainly week after week for the food which they believed had been promised them, were tinder for the bolshevist spark. the government's unwise method of handling the problem of the unemployed further greatly aggravated the situation. the support granted the unemployed often or perhaps generally was greater than their pay in their usual callings. a man with a wife and four children in greater berlin received more than fourteen marks daily. the average wage for unskilled labor was from ten to twelve marks, and the result was that none but the most conscientious endeavored to secure employment, and thousands deliberately left their work and lived on their unemployment-allowances. two hundred thousand residents of greater berlin were receiving daily support from the city by the middle of february, and this proportion was generally maintained throughout the country. this vast army of unemployed further crippled industry, imposed serious financial burdens upon an already bankrupt state, and--inevitable result of idleness--made the task of bolshevist agitators easier. the spartacans, who since their defeat in berlin in january had been more carefully watched, began to assemble their forces elsewhere. essen became their chief stronghold, and the whole ruhr district, including düsseldorf, was virtually in their hands. other spartacan centers were leipsic, halle, merseburg, munich, nuremberg, mannheim and augsburg. all this time, however, they were also feverishly active in berlin. a general strike, called by the spartacans and independent socialists for the middle of february, collapsed. a secret sitting of the leaders of the red soldiers' league on february th was surprised by the authorities, who arrested all men present and thus nipped in the bud for a time further preparations for a new revolt. the independents made common cause with the spartacans in demanding the liberation of all "political prisoners," chief among whom were ledebour, who helped organize the revolt of january th, and radek, "this international criminal," as deputy heinrich heine termed him in a speech before the prussian diet. the respite, however, was short. on monday, march d, the workmen's council now completely in the hands of the enemies of the government called a general strike. street cars, omnibuses and interurban trains stopped running, all business was suspended and nightfall plunged the city into complete darkness. this was the signal for the first disturbances. there was considerable rioting, with some loss of blood, in the eastern part of the city beyond alexander platz, a section always noted as the home of a large criminal element. spartacans, reinforced by the hooligan and criminal element--or let it rather be said that these consisted and had from the beginning consisted mainly of hooligans and criminals--began a systematic attack on police-stations everywhere. thirty-three stations were occupied by them during the night, the police officials were disarmed and their weapons distributed to the rabble that was constantly swelling the ranks of the rebels. the first serious clash of this second bolshevik week came at the police-presidency, which the spartacans, as in january, planned to make their headquarters. this time, however, the building was occupied by loyal government troops, and the incipient attack dissolved before a few volleys. the night was marked by extensive looting. jewelers in the eastern part of the city suffered losses aggregating many million marks. the situation grew rapidly worse on tuesday. nearly thirty thousand government troops marched into the city, bringing light and heavy artillery, mine-throwers and machine-guns. berlin was converted into an armed camp. the revolt would have been quickly put down but for an occurrence made possible by the government's weakness at christmas time. the people's marine division, looters of the royal palace, parasites on the city's payroll and "guardians of the public safety," threw off the mask and went over to the spartacans in a body. a considerable number of the republican soldier guards, eichhorn's legacy to berlin, followed suit. the government's failure to disarm these forces six weeks earlier, when their bolshevist sentiments had become manifest, now had to be paid for in blood. the defection was serious not only because it added to the numbers of the bolsheviki, but also because it greatly increased the supplies of weapons and munitions at the disposal of the enemies of the government. the defection, too, came as a surprise and at a most unfortunate time. the marine division, upon which the commanders of the government troops had naïvely depended, had been ordered to clear the alexander platz, a large open place in front of the police-presidency. they began ostensibly to carry out the order, but had hardly reached the place when they declared that they had been fired on by government troops. thereupon they attacked the police-presidency, but were beaten off with some twenty-five killed. they withdrew to the marine house at the jannowitz bridge, which they had been occupying since their expulsion from the royal stables, and set about fortifying it. the following day--ash wednesday--was marked by irregular but severe fighting in various parts of the city. the government proclaimed a state of siege. more loyal troops were brought to the city. from captured spartacans it was learned that a massed attack on the police-presidency was to be made at eleven o'clock at night by the people's marine division, the red soldiers' league and civilian spartacans. the assault did not begin until nearly three o'clock thursday morning. despite the government troops' disposition, the spartacans succeeded, after heavy bombardment of the building, in occupying two courts in the southern wing. the battle was carried on throughout the night and until thursday afternoon. few cities have witnessed such civil warfare. every instrument known to military science was used, with the exception of poison-gases. late on thursday afternoon the attackers were dispersed and the spartacans in the police-presidency, about fifty men, were arrested. the marine house was also captured on the same afternoon. the defenders hoisted the white flag after a few mines had been thrown into the building, but had disappeared when the government troops occupied it. what their defection to the spartacans had meant was illustrated by the finding in the building of several thousand rifles, more than a hundred machine guns, two armored automobiles and great quantities of ammunition and provisions. the republican soldiers' guard, barricaded in the royal stables, surrendered after a few shells had been fired. the fighting so completely took on the aspects of a real war that the wildest atrocity stories began to circulate. they were, like all atrocity stories, greatly exaggerated, but it was established that spartacans had killed unarmed prisoners, including several policemen, had stopped and wrecked ambulances and killed wounded, and had systematically fired on first-aid stations and hospitals. noske rose to the occasion like a mere _bourgeois_ minister. he decreed: "all persons found with arms in their hands, resisting government troops, will be summarily executed." despite this decree, the spartacans, who had erected street-barricades in that part of berlin eastward and northward from alexander platz, put up a show of resistance for some days. they were, however, seriously shaken by their heavy losses and weakened by the wholesale defections of supporters who had joined them chiefly for the sake of looting and who had a wholesale respect for noske as a man of his word. they had good reason to entertain this respect for the grim man in charge of the government's military measures. the government never made public the number of summary executions under noske's decree, but there is little doubt that these went well above one hundred. a group of members of the mutinous people's marine division had the splendid effrontery to call at the office of the city commandant to demand the pay due them as protectors of the public safety. government troops arrested the callers, a part of whom resisted arrest. twenty-four of these men, found to have weapons in their possession, were summarily executed. _die freiheit_ and _die republik_ denounced the members of the government as murderers. the office of the spartacans' _die rote fahne_ had been occupied by government troops on the day of the outbreak of the bolshevik uprising. the _bourgeois_ and majority socialist press supported the government whole-heartedly, and the law-abiding citizens were encouraged by their new rulers' energy and by the loyalty and bravery of the government troops. there was a general recognition of the fact that matters had reached a stage where a minority, in part deluded and in part criminal, could not longer be permitted to terrorize the country. the uprising collapsed rapidly after the spartacans had been driven from their main strongholds. they maintained themselves for a few days in lichtenberg, a suburb of berlin, and--as in the january uprisings--sniping from housetops continued for a week. no list of casualties was ever issued, but estimates ran as high as one thousand, of which probably three-quarters were suffered by the spartacans. they were further badly weakened by the loss of a great part of their weapons, both during the fighting and in a general clean-up of the city which was made after the uprising had been definitely put down. as we have seen, the efforts of the german bolsheviki, aided by the left wing of the independent socialists, to overthrow the government by force had failed wherever the attempt had been made. not only in berlin, but in a dozen other cities and districts as well, the enemies of democracy had been decisively defeated. in munich and brunswick alone they were still strong and defiant, but they were to be defeated even there later. in these circumstances it might have been expected that they would not again be able to cause serious trouble to the government. but a new aspect was put on circumstances by an occurrence whose inevitability had long been recognized by close observers. the independent social-democratic party went over to the spartacans officially, bag and baggage. in theory, to be sure, it did nothing of the kind. it maintained its own organization, "rejected planless violence," declared its adherence to "the fundamental portion of the erfurt program," and asserted its readiness to use "all political and economic means" to attain its aims, "including parliaments," which were rejected by the spartacans. apart from this, however, there was little difference in theory and none in practice between the platforms of the two parties, for the independents declared themselves for soviet government and for the dictatorship of the proletariat, and their rejection of violent methods existed only on paper. the party congress convened at berlin on march d and lasted four days. haase and dittmann, the former cabinet members, were again in control, and it could not be observed in their attitude that there had been a time when they risked a loss of influence in the party by standing too far to the right. the "revolution-program" adopted by the party declared that the revolutionary soldiers and workingmen of germany, who had seized the power of the state in november, "have not fortified their power nor overcome the capitalistic class-domination." it continued: "the leaders of the socialists of the right (majority) have renewed their pact with the _bourgeois_ classes and deserted the interests of the proletariat. they are carrying on a befogging policy with the words 'democracy' and 'socialism.' "in a capitalistic social order democratic forms are a deceit. so long as economic liberation and independence do not follow upon political liberation there is no true democracy. socialization, as the socialists of the right are carrying it out, is a comedy." the program declared a new proletarian battling organization necessary, and continued: "the proletarian revolution has created such an organization in the soviet system. this unites for revolutionary activities the laboring masses in the industries. it gives the proletariat the right of self-government in industries, in municipalities and in the state. it carries through the change of the capitalistic economic order to a socialistic order. "in all capitalistic lands the soviet system is growing out of the same economic conditions and becoming the bearer of the proletarian world-revolution. "it is the historic mission of the independent social-democratic party to become the standard bearer of the class-conscious proletariat in its revolutionary war of emancipation. "the independent social-democratic party places itself upon the foundation of the soviet system. it supports the soviets in their struggle for economic and political power. "it strives for the dictatorship of the proletariat, the representatives of the great majority of the people, as a necessary condition precedent for the effectuation of socialism. "in order to attain this end the party will employ all political and economic means of battle, including parliaments." with this preface, these "immediate demands" of the party were set forth: " . inclusion of the soviet system in the constitution: the soviets to have a deciding voice in municipal, state and industrial legislation. " . complete disbandment of the old army. immediate disbandment of the mercenary army formed from volunteer corps. organization of a national guard from the ranks of the class-conscious proletariat. self-administration of the national guard and election of leaders by the men. abolishment of courts-martial. " . the nationalization of capitalistic undertakings shall be begun immediately. it shall be carried through without delay in the mining industry and production of energy (coal, water, electricity), iron and steel production as well as other highly developed industries, and in the banking and insurance business. large estates and forests shall immediately be converted into the property of society, whose task it shall be to raise all economic undertakings to the highest point of productivity by the employment of all technical and economic means, as well as to further comradeship. privately owned real estate in the cities shall become municipal property, and the municipalities shall build an adequate number of dwellings on their own account. " . election of officials and judges by the people. immediate constitution of a state court which shall determine the responsibility of those persons guilty of bringing on the war and of hindering the earlier conclusion of peace. " . war profits shall be taxed entirely out of existence. a portion of all large fortunes shall be handed over to the state. public expenditures shall be covered by a graduated tax on incomes, fortunes and inheritances. the war loans shall be annulled, but necessitous individuals, associations serving the common welfare, institutions and municipalities shall be indemnified. " . extension of social legislation. protection and care of mother and child. a care-free existence shall be assured to war widows and orphans and the wounded. superfluous rooms of the possessing class shall be placed at the disposition of the homeless. fundamental reform of public-health systems. " . separation of church from state and of church from school. uniform public schools of secular character, which shall be erected on socialistic-pedagogic principles. every child shall have a right to an education corresponding to his capacities, and to the furnishing of means toward that end. " . a public monopoly of newspaper advertisements shall be created for the benefit of municipalities. " . establishment of friendly relations with all nations. immediate resumption of diplomatic relations with the russian soviet republic and poland. reëstablishment of the workmen's _internationale_ on the basis of revolutionary social policy in the spirit of the international conferences of zimmerwald and kienthal." it will be observed that the difference between these demands and those of the bolsheviki (spartacans) is precisely the difference between tweedledum and tweedledee--one of terminology. some even of these principles were materially extended by interpretation three weeks later. on march th the independent socialists in the new prussian diet, replying to a query from the majority socialists as to their willingness to participate in the coming prussian constituent assembly, stated conditions which contained the following elaboration of point in the program given above: "the most important means of production in agriculture, industry, trade and commerce shall be nationalized immediately; the land and its natural resources shall be declared to be the property of the whole people and shall be placed under the control of society." the answer, by the way, was signed by adolph hoffmann, whose acquaintance we have already made, and kurt rosenfeld, the millionaire son-in-law of a wealthy leather dealer. the essential kinship of the independents and spartacans will be more clearly apparent from a comparison of the latters' demands, as published on april th in _die rote fahne_, then appearing in leipsic. they follow: "ruthless elimination of all majority socialist leaders and of such independents as have betrayed the soviet system and the revolution by their coöperation with majority socialists. "unconditional acceptance of the demands of the spartacus party's program.[ ] [ ] _vide_ chapter xi. "immediate introduction of the following measures: (a) liberation of all political prisoners; (b) dissolution of all parliamentary gatherings; (c) dissolution of all counter-revolutionary troop detachments, disarming of the _bourgeoisie_ and the internment of all officers; (d) arming of the proletariat and the immediate organization of revolutionary corps; (e) abolition of all courts and the erection of revolutionary tribunals, together with the trial by these tribunals of all persons involved in bringing on the war, of counter-revolutionaries and traitors; (f) elimination of all state administrative officials and boards (mayors, provincial councillors, etc.), and the substitution of delegates chosen by the people; (g) adoption of a law providing for the taking over by the state without indemnification of all larger undertakings (mines, etc.), together with the larger landed estates, and the immediate taking over of the administration of these estates by workmen's councils; (h) adoption of a law annulling war-loans exceeding twenty thousand marks; (i) suppression of the whole _bourgeois_ press, including particularly the majority socialist press." some of the members of the former right wing of the independent socialists left the party and went over to the majority socialists following the party congress of the first week in march. they included the venerable eduard bernstein, who declared that the independents had demonstrated that they "lacked utterly any constructive program." the dictates of party discipline, however, together with the desperation of suffering, were too much for the great mass of those who had at first rejected bolshevist methods, and the german bolsheviki received material reinforcements at a time when they would have been powerless without them. the spartacans had lost their armed battle against the government, but they had won a more important bloodless conflict. chapter xviii. red or white internationalism which? all revolutions have their second phase, and this phase ordinarily presents features similar in kind and varying only in degree. after the actual overthrow of the old government a short period of excited optimism gives place to a realization of the fact that the administration of a state is not so simple as it has appeared to the opposition parties, and that the existing order of things--the result of centuries of natural development--cannot be altered over night. under the sobering influence of this realization ultra-radicalism loses ground, the revolutionary government accepts the aid of some of the men who have been connected with the deposed government, and the administration of affairs proceeds along an orderly middle course. but other revolutions, as has been stated, have had a different inception, and none have depended for their successful execution and subsequent development on a people so sorely tried, so weakened physically and morally, and--last but not least--so extensively infected with the virus of internationalism. in so far as revolutions were not the work of a group of selfish aspirants for power, they were brought about by patriotic men whose first and last thought was the welfare of their own country, and who concerned themselves not at all about the universal brotherhood of man or the oppressed peoples of other lands or races. the german revolutionists, however, scoffed at patriotism as an outworn dogma. the majority of their adherents came from the poorest and most ignorant stratum of the people, the class most responsive to the agitation of leaders who promised that division of property contemplated by communist socialism. the independent socialists had "made the revolution." they claimed the right to determine its development. the _bourgeoisie_, itself incapable of restoring the old order and, for the most part, not desiring to do so, supported the parent socialist party as the lesser of two evils. the independents found themselves without the power to determine what course "their revolution" should take. all revolutionary history showed that this course would not be that desired by the independent leaders and promised by them to their radical followers. the occurrences of the first month following the revolution again demonstrated what might be called the natural law of revolutionary development. the majority socialists in the government refused to let themselves be hurried into disastrous socializing experiments. they refused to ban intelligence and ability merely because the possessors happened not to be _genossen_. they even believed (_horribile dictu!_) that private property-rights should not be abolished out of hand. they were so recreant to the principles of true internationalism that they resented foreign aggressions against germans and german soil, and they actually proposed to resist such aggressions by force. with heretics like these there could be no communion. they could not even be permitted to hold communion among themselves if it could be prevented, and the result was, as we have seen, the efforts of the independents and spartacans to wreck the tabernacle. to recount the developments of the period from the crushing of the march uprising to the signing of the peace of versailles would be but to repeat, with different settings, the story of the first four months of republican germany. this period, too, was filled with independent socialist and spartacan intrigues and armed opposition to the government, culminating in the brief but bloody reign of the communists in munich in april. strikes continued to paralyze industry. no food supplies of any importance were received. the national assembly at weimar continued to demonstrate the philosophic tendencies, academic learning and political immaturity of the german people. distinct left wings came into being in both the majority socialist and democratic parties. particularism, the historic curse of the country, again raised its head. red internationalism in germany received a marked impetus from the events in hungary at the end of march, when count michael karolyi handed the reins of government over to the bolshevist leader bela kun. an effort has been made to represent this as a bit of theatricals staged by karolyi with the support and encouragement of berlin. such an explanation is symptomatic of the blindness of those who will not see the significance of this development. to assert that the german government, itself engaged in a life-and-death struggle with bolshevism at home and threatened with an irruption of the bolshevist forces of russia, would deliberately create a new source of infection in a contiguous land requires either much mental hardihood or a deep ignorance of existing conditions. the author is able to state from first-hand knowledge that the german government was completely surprised by the news from budapest, and that it had no part, direct or indirect, in bringing about karolyi's resignation or the accession to power of the hungarian bolsheviki. the developments in hungary were made inevitable by the unwisdom with which this "liberated unit of the austro-hungarian empire" was treated. when the november armistice was concluded, there was a "gentlemen's agreement" or understanding that the demarcation line established by the armistice should be policed by french, english or american troops. it was not observed. jugo-slavs, serbians and roumanians were permitted not only to guard this line, but to advance well beyond it. the enemy occupation of the country extended to nearly all portions of hungary upon which the central part, including budapest, depended for coal, metals, wood, meats and even salt. the czechs took possession of pressburg, rechristened it wilson city, and advanced along the danube to within twenty miles of budapest. distress became acute. then, on march th, the french colonel vix sent a note to karolyi establishing a new demarcation line far inside the one established in november and at places even inside the lines held by allied troops. karolyi's position was already insecure. he had been welcomed when he assumed office as the restorer of nationalism and peace. the support accorded him had been largely due to his record as an opponent of austria and a friend of the entente. he had been under surveillance almost throughout the war because of his known pro-ally sentiments, and only his prominence saved him from arrest. now, when his supposed influence with the allies was discovered to be non-existent, his only remaining support was shattered and he went. hungary, infected with bolshevism by russian propagandists and returned prisoners of war, went over to the camp of lenine. another factor contributed greatly to the growth of the radical independent socialist and bolshevist movement in germany. this was the obvious dilemma of the allies in the case of russia, their undeniable helplessness and lack of counsel in the face of applied bolshevism. thousands of germans came to believe that bolshevism was a haven of refuge. nor was this sentiment by any means confined to the proletariat. a berlin millionaire said to the writer in march: "if it comes to a question of choosing between bolshevism and allied slavery, i shall become a bolshevik without hesitation. i would rather see germany in the possession of bolshevist germans than of any _bourgeois_ government wearing chains imposed by our enemies. the allies dare not intervene in russia, and i don't believe they would be any less helpless before a bolshevist germany." scores of well-to-do germans expressed themselves in the same strain to the author, and thousands from the lower classes, free from the restraint which the possession of worldly goods imposes, put into execution the threat of their wealthier countrymen. with the conclusion of the peace of versailles we leave germany. the second phase of the revolution is not yet ended. bolshevism, crushed in one place, raises its head in another. industry is prostrate. currency is so depreciated that importation is seriously hampered. the event is on the knees of the gods. but while the historian can thus arbitrarily dismiss germany and the conditions created by the great war, the world cannot. from a material economic viewpoint alone, the colossal destruction of wealth and means of transportation, and the slaughter of millions of the able-bodied men of all nations involved are factors which will make themselves felt for many years. these obstacles to development and progress will, however, eventually be overcome. they are the least of the problems facing the world today as the result of the war and--this must be said now and it will eventually be realized generally--as a result of the peace of versailles. the men responsible for this peace declare that it is the best that could be made. until the proceedings of the peace conference shall have been made public, together with all material submitted to it, including eventual prewar bargains and treaty commitments, this declaration cannot be controverted. one must assume at least that the makers of the peace believed it to be the best possible. the _bona fides_ of the peace delegates, however, while it protects them from adverse criticism, is a personal matter and irrelevant in any consideration of the treaty and its probable results. nor is the question whether any better treaty was possible, of any relevancy. what alone vitally concerns the world is not the sentiments of a few men, but what may be expected from their work. as to this, many thoughtful observers in all countries have already come to realize what will eventually be realized by millions. the treaty of versailles has balkanized europe; it has to a large degree reëstablished the multiplicity of territorial sovereignties that handicapped progress and caused continuous strife more than a century ago; it has revived smouldering race-antagonisms which were in a fair way to be extinguished; it has created a dozen new _irredentas_, new breeding-places of war; it has liberated thousands from foreign domination but placed tens of thousands under the yoke of other foreign domination, and has tried to insure the permanency not only of their subjection, but of that of other subject races which have for centuries been struggling for independence. preaching general disarmament, it has strengthened the armed might of one power by disarming its neighbors, and has given to it the military and political domination of europe. to another power it has given control of the high seas. it has refused to let the laboring masses of the world--the men who fought and suffered--be represented at the conference by delegates of their own choosing. such a treaty could not bring real peace to the world even if the conditions were less critical and complex. as they are, it will hasten and aggravate what the world will soon discover to be the most serious, vital and revolutionary consequence of the war. what this will be has already been dimly foreshadowed by the almost unanimous condemnation of the treaty by the socialists of france, italy, england and nearly all neutral countries. virtually all americans and even most europeans have little conception of the extent to which the war and its two great revolutions have awakened the class-consciousness of the proletariat of all lands. everywhere the laboring masses have been the chief sufferers. everywhere composing an overwhelming majority of the people, they have nowhere been able to decide their own destinies or have an effective voice in government except through revolution. everywhere they have been the pawns sacrificed on the bloody chessboard of war to protect kings and queens, bishops and castles. they are beginning to ask why this must be and why they were not permitted to have a voice in the conference at versailles, and this question will become an embarrassing one for all who try to find the answer in the textbooks of governments as governments today exist. deplore it though one may, internationalism is on the march. nor is it confined even today to people who work with their hands. its advocates are to be found--have been found by hundreds in america itself--in the ranks of the thinkers of every country. the press in america has for months been pointing out the prevalence of internationalist sentiments among school-teachers and university professors, and it has been gravely puzzled by this state of affairs. it considers it a paradox that internationalism exists among presumably well educated persons. one might as well call it a paradox for a victim of smallpox to have an eruption. it is no paradox. it is a symptom. and, incorrectly diagnosed and ignorantly treated, it is a dangerous disease. the physician diagnoses a disease at the outset, if he can, and aborts it if possible. if it be contagious, he employs precautions against its spread. no part of these precautions consists in ordering other people at the point of a rifle not to catch the disease. the greatest task of the governments of the world today is to diagnose correctly and treat intelligently. the proletarians have learned their strength. a new era is dawning. that era will be marked by an internationalism whose character and extent will depend upon the wisdom with which the masters of the world administer the affairs of their peoples. and the question which every man should ask himself today is: shall this internationalism be red or white? chapter xix the weimar constitution the provisional constitution adopted at weimar in february, , was naturally only a makeshift. it contained but ten paragraphs, furnishing the barest outline for the organization of the new state. its basis was a draft of a proposed constitution made by dr. hugo preuss, a leading authority on constitutional law, who had been appointed minister of the interior. this draft was published on january th. more than a hundred representatives of the various german states met in the department of the interior at berlin on january th to consider it. this conference appointed a commission from its number, which was in session for the next five days in berlin and then adjourned to weimar, where it finished the draft of the provisional constitution. even the short period intervening between the first publication of the preuss draft and its submission to the national assembly had sufficed to bring about one important and significant development. preuss himself was an advocate of the so-called _einheitsstaat_, a single state on the french plan, divided into departments merely for administrative purposes. many of his friends of the german democratic party and all socialists also wanted to do away with the separate states, both for doctrinal and selfish partisan reasons. preuss realized from the beginning the impossibility of attaining his ideal completely, but he endeavored to pave the way by a dismemberment of prussia, the largest and dominant german state, and by doing away completely with several of the smaller states, such as anhalt, oldenburg, etc. his constitutional draft of january proposed the creation of sixteen "territories of the state" (_gebiete des reichs_): prussia (consisting of east prussia, west prussia, and bromberg), silesia, brandenburg, berlin, lower saxony, the three hansa cities (hamburg, bremen, lübeck), upper saxony, thuringia, westphalia, hesse, the rhineland, bavaria, baden, wurtemberg, german-austria, and vienna. it became quickly apparent that preuss and his followers had underestimated the strength of the particularistic, localized patriotism and respect for tradition cherished by a great part of the germans. not only were the south germans aroused to opposition by the implied threat of a possible eventual onslaught on their own state boundaries, but the great majority of the prussians as well protested mightily against the proposed dismemberment of prussia. the unitarians saw themselves compelled to yield even in the temporary constitution by inserting a provision that "the territory of the free states can be altered only with their consent." the plan to reduce the states to mere governmental departments was thus already defeated. with the erection by the national assembly of the _staatenausschuss_, or committee of the states,[ ] the draft of the constitution was laid before that body for further consideration. on february st the committee submitted the result of its deliberations to the national assembly, which referred it in turn to a special committee of twenty-eight members, whose chairman was conrad haussmann, a member of the german democratic party. [ ] _vide_ p. . the national assembly began the second reading of the constitution on july d and finished it on july d. the third reading began on july th. this brought a number of important changes, one of which is of deep significance as indicating the extent to which the members of the national assembly had already succeeded in freeing themselves from the hysterical mode of thinking induced by the immediate revolutionary period. all drafts of the constitution up to that date had provided that no member of a former reigning house in germany should be eligible to the presidency. this provision was stricken out on third reading. the constitution was finally adopted on july , , by a vote of ayes to nayes. the negative votes were cast by the german national people's party, the german people's party, the bavarian peasants' league, and one member of the bavarian people's party (dr. heim). the constitution was signed by president ebert and the ministry at schwarzburg on august th, and went into effect three days later. on this date the imperial constitution of april , , several paragraphs of which were still in effect under the provisional constitution of february, , ceased to exist. the weimar constitution consists of two "main divisions." the first, dealing with the construction of the state, is divided into seven sections, which are subdivided into articles. the second main division, dealing with "fundamental rights and fundamental duties of the germans," has five sections, with articles. a comparison of the preambles of the old and new constitutions indicates the different point of view from which they were approached. the constitution of began: "his majesty the king of prussia, in the name of the north german federation, his majesty the king of bavaria, his majesty the king of wurtemberg, his royal highness the grand duke of baden, and his royal highness the grand duke of hesse and on the rhine, for those parts of the grand duchy of hesse situated south of the main, form an everlasting federation for the protection of the territory of the federation and of the right prevailing within its borders, as well as for the furtherance of the welfare of the german people." the new constitution's preamble reads: "the german people, united in its races[ ] and inspired by the desire to renew and establish more firmly its state in freedom and justice, to serve the ends of peace at home and abroad and to further social progress, has given itself this constitution." [ ] _das deutsche volk, einig in seinen stämmen._ there is no adequate english translation of _stämme_ (plural of _stamm_), except the word "tribes," which, of course, is in place only when speaking of uncivilized peoples. article reads: "the german state[ ] is a republic. the power of the state comes from the people." [ ] _das deutsche reich ist eine republik._ revolutionary though they were, the constitution-makers could not bring themselves to discard the old name _reich_, although it really means empire. hence "state" is an inadequate translation, but it is also impossible to say that "the german empire is a republic." the only solution appears to be the adoption of the german word _reich_--a solution generally accepted in europe. the revolutionary nature of the change is further emphasized in article , which substitutes black-red-gold for the black-white-red of the old imperial flag.[ ] [ ] black-white-red were retained as the colors of the merchant-flag, but with the addition of the colors of the reich in the upper inner corner. outwardly the most striking and apparent change of structure of the government is, of course, the fact that a president takes the place of the kaiser, and that the various federated states are also required to have a republican form of government, with legislatures chosen by the direct, secret ballot of all male and female germans, after the proportional election system. in fact, however, these are by no means the most important changes. "republic" is, after all, more or less a shibboleth; the actual form and representative character of governments depend less on whether their head is a president or a hereditary monarch than on the extent to which they make it possible for the people themselves to make their will prevail quickly and effectively. the changes wrought by the other seventeen articles of the first section are fundamental and sweeping. their general nature is indicated at the outset, in article , which declares that "the territory of the reich consists of the territories of the german lands." the choice of the name "lands" instead of states, as formerly, shows the smaller importance and lesser degree of self-government assigned to them. all the old _reservatrechte_ or special rights reserved by several states under the monarchy[ ] are done away with. the federal government assumes the exclusive right of legislation concerning foreign relations, post, telegraphs, and telephones, coinage, immigration and emigration, and customs duties. [ ] _vide_ p. . it reserves to itself further the right to enact uniform civil and criminal codes and procedure, and to legislate regarding the press, associations, the public health, workmen and their protection, expropriation, socialization, trade, commerce, weights and measures, the issue of paper currency, banks and bourses, mining, insurance, shipping, railways, canals and other internal waterways, theaters and cinematographs. "in so far as there is necessity for uniform regulations," the reich may legislate concerning the public welfare and for the protection of the public order and security. the reich reserves further the right to establish basic principles of legislation affecting religious associations, schools, manufacture, real estate, burial and cremation. it can also prescribe the limits and nature of the laws of the lands (states) affecting taxation, in so far as this may be necessary to prevent a reduction of the national income or a prejudicing of the reich in its commercial relations, double taxation, the imposition of excessive fees which burden traffic, import taxes against the products of other states when such taxes constitute an unfair discrimination, and export premiums. the constitution takes from the states the power to collect customs and excises. the federal government is empowered to exercise a direct control in the various lands over all matters falling under its competence. not only are all the things enumerated above, and many more, reserved to the reich, but there is no provision conferring expressly any powers whatever on the lands. nor is there any provision reserving to the states powers not expressly reserved to the reich or expressly prohibited to the states. article , the only provision along this line, states merely that "so long and in so far as the reich makes no use of its law-giving powers, the lands retain the right of legislating. this does not apply to legislation reserved exclusively to the reich." article provides that "the law of the reich takes precedence over the law of the lands." in case of a disagreement between state and federal government as to whether a state law is in conflict with a federal law, an issue can be framed and placed before a federal supreme court. preuss and some of his supporters wanted a provision expressly conferring upon the supreme court at leipsic such power to rule on the constitutionality of legislation as has been assumed by the united states supreme court, but their views did not prevail. the president of the reich is elected by the direct vote of all germans, male and female, who have attained the age of twenty. the term of office is seven years, and there is no limit to the number of terms for which the same president may be elected. every german who has reached the age of thirty-five is eligible for the presidency. there is no requirement that he be a natural born citizen, nor even as to the length of time that he must have been a citizen. a limitation of eligibility to natural born citizens, as in the united states constitution, was considered, but was rejected, mainly because it was expected at the time the constitution was adopted that austria would become a german land, and such a provision would have barred all living austrians from the presidency. there was also opposition on general principles from the internationalists of the left, the most extreme of whom would as soon see a russian or a frenchman in the president's chair as a german. articles and , defining the powers of the president, take over almost bodily articles and of the imperial constitution, which defined the powers of the kaiser. like the kaiser, the president "represents the reich internationally"; receives and accredits diplomatic representatives; concludes treaties with foreign powers; appoints civil servants and officers of the army and navy, and is commander-in-chief of the country's military and naval forces. in only one important respect are the president's apparent powers less than the kaiser's were: war can be declared and peace concluded only by act of the reichstag and reichsrat. under the monarchy, a declaration of war required only the assent of the federal council and even this was not required if the country had been actually invaded by an enemy. the president has no power of veto over legislation, but he can order that any law be submitted to the people by referendum before it can go into effect. he can dissolve the reichstag at any time, as could the kaiser, but only once for the same reason--a limitation to which the kaiser was not subject. he has the general power to pardon criminals. he can, if public safety and order be threatened, temporarily suspend most of the provisions of the constitution regarding freedom of speech and of the press, the right of assembly, the secrecy of postal and wire communications, freedom of organization, security against search and seizure in one's own dwelling, etc. all these provisions appear to confer very extensive powers upon the president. his appointments of diplomatic representatives do not require the assent of a legislative body. he appoints his own chancellor and, upon the latter's recommendation, the ministers of the various departments, also without requiring the assent of the legislative body. by referring a legislative enactment to a referendum vote he exercises what is in effect a suspensive veto. two articles of the constitution, however, render all these powers more or less illusory. article provides: "all orders and decrees of the president, including those affecting the country's armed forces, require for their validity to be countersigned by the chancellor or the competent minister. the official who countersigns accepts thereby the responsibility for the order or decree in question." a similar provision in the american constitution would be of no importance, for the members of the cabinet are not responsible to either the people or the congress for their acts. once appointed, there is no way of getting rid of them against the will of the president, no matter how inefficient or even harmful they may be to the best interests of the country. the german constitution confers much more effective power upon the people and the people's representatives. its article provides: "the chancellor and the ministers of the reich require the confidence of the reichstag for the conduct of their offices. any one of them must resign if the reichstag, by express decision, withdraws its confidence from him." it is readily apparent that the president's powers are greatly limited by these two articles. as against a hostile reichstag he is all but powerless. the chancellor or other member of the government required to countersign orders or decrees knows in advance that such countersigning means his own official suicide if the matter be one in which a majority of the reichstag is at odds with the president. it is apparent from a study of the proceedings of the national assembly and its constitutional committee that it was intended to give the president independent powers in respect of two important matters--the dissolution of the reichstag and the suspensive veto by appeal to the people--but article says unqualifiedly that "all" orders and decrees must be countersigned. the legislative functions of the reich are vested in the reichstag and the reichsrat, or council of the reich, which succeeds the federal council of the monarchy. the members of the reichstag are elected by direct vote of the people for a term of four years, after the proportional election system. the reichstag must convene for the first time not later than thirty days after the election, which must be held on a sunday or a public holiday, and the election for the succeeding reichstag must be held within sixty days from the date of the expiration or dissolution of the preceding one. it convenes regularly on the first wednesday of every november. the president of the reichstag must call an extraordinary session at the demand of the president of the reich or when a third of the members of the reichstag itself demand it. all the constitution's provisions regarding the reichstag indicate the determination of the framers of the instrument to make it a thoroughly representative, independent body of great dignity. the deputies are clothed with more far-reaching immunities than is the case in most countries, and in addition to that there is a specific provision extending to them the right to refuse to reveal, even in court proceedings, any matters communicated to them in their capacity as members of the reichstag. there is a provision for a standing committee on foreign affairs, which may hold sessions at any time and holds office after the expiration of the members' terms or after dissolution of the reichstag until the succeeding reichstag convenes. it is expressly provided that the sessions of this committee shall not be public unless two-thirds of the members vote at any particular time to hold a public session. this provision, adopted by a body, the majority of whose members were outspoken opponents of secret diplomacy, is not without interest. it would seem to be a tacit admission that preliminary negotiations between nations cannot always be carried on advantageously in public. the federal council was, under the monarchy, the chief bulwark of the princes, whose representatives, not the people's, its members were.[ ] in the new reichsrat, the successor of the federal council, the various lands are represented "by members of their governments."[ ] these are the cabinet ministers of the respective states. the weimar constitution provides that such ministers shall be directly responsible to the diets of their respective lands, in like manner as the members of the federal government are responsible to the reichstag. hence, although chosen indirectly, being named, as under the imperial constitution, by their respective state governments, they are nevertheless subject to constant, effective control by the people's representatives, who can remove them at any time by a simple vote of lack of confidence. [ ] _vide_ p. . [ ] weimar constitution, art. . each state is entitled to send at least one representative to the reichsrat. the larger states are entitled to one representative for each , inhabitants, and a remainder of at least , entitles them to one additional member. it is provided, however, that prussia may not have more than two-fifths of the entire number of representatives.[ ] the reichsrat consists of sixty-six members, apportioned as follows: prussia, ; bavaria, ; saxony, ; wurtemberg, ; baden, ; thuringia, ; hesse, ; hamburg, ; mecklenburg-schwerin, ; oldenburg, ; brunswick, ; anhalt, ; bremen, ; lippe, ; lübeck, ; mecklenburg-strelitz, ; waldeck, ; schaumburg-lippe, . [ ] original drafts of the constitution, as well as the provisional constitution adopted in february, provided that no state should have more than one-third of the total number. prussia, with four-sevenths of the total population of germany, successfully opposed this attempt to reduce her representation so disproportionately. she was, however, compelled to accept a provision that half her representatives should be appointed by the state government and the other half by the provincial governments. in the other lands the state government appoints all the representatives. the fifth section of the constitution containing articles to inclusive, is devoted to the legislative functions of the reich. article reads: "bills are proposed by the government of the reich[ ] or by the members of the reichstag. [ ] "the government of the reich" or "the reich government" means the chancellor and all the ministers of his cabinet. "the laws of the reich are enacted by the reichstag." while the reichsrat cannot directly propose legislative measures, however, it can compel the government to submit to the reichstag measures drafted by it. if the government be in disagreement with the reichsrat, it must accompany its submission with a statement of its attitude toward the measure in question. the reichsrat, while it cannot take any positive part in enacting legislation, has the right to vote disapproval of any measure enacted by the reichstag, and such disapproval acts as a suspensive veto. in such case, the measure goes back to the reichstag. if the reichstag reenacts it by a two-thirds majority, the president of the reich must duly proclaim the law within three months or else order a popular referendum. if a smaller majority than two-thirds again votes in favor of the measure, the president may order a referendum within three months thereafter. if he fail to do this, the measure is lost.[ ] [ ] this seems to be the sole instance in which the president possesses any real, independent power. in such a case it would be possible for him to ally himself with the reichsrat against both reichstag and government, for he cannot be compelled to order a referendum. the express approval by the reichsrat of proposed legislation is not required for its enactment. it must express its disapproval within two weeks after an act has been passed finally by the reichstag; if it fail to do so, the act becomes law. one is again impressed by the importance assigned to the reichstag, the direct creation of the people. the national government is responsible to it, as is also the president through the provision that all his decrees must be countersigned by a member of the government. a two-thirds majority of the reichstag can overrule the reichsrat, and the same number can impeach the president or any member of the government, or even submit directly to the people the question as to whether the president shall be recalled. its decision to hold such a referendum automatically inhibits the president from exercising any of the functions of his office. it is the people themselves, however, to whom the supreme power is given, or, perhaps better expressed, who have reserved the supreme power for themselves by extensive provisions for referendum and initiative. in addition to the provisions for referendum already referred to, the president can decree, within one month after its passage, that any law enacted by the reichstag shall be referred to the people. the law-giving powers delegated to the reichstag can also be exercised directly by the people. one-twentieth of the registered voters can require that a referendum be held on any reichstag enactment against whose formal proclamation as law at least one-third of the reichstag members shall have protested. one-tenth of the registered voters can present the draft of a legislative measure and demand that it be referred to a general election. the reichstag can prevent the holding of such a referendum only by adopting the proposed measure unchanged. enactments of the reichstag can be declared invalid by referendum only by the vote of a majority of a majority of all registered voters. only the president can order that a referendum be held on the national budgets, customs and taxation, and salaries of officials and civil servants. no initiative is possible as to these things. the people's initiative was one of the various concessions to the socialists of which more will be said later. it was not contemplated by the framers of the original drafts of the constitution and was introduced at a late period in the deliberations. the provisions regulating the amendment of the constitution are more definite than those of the united states constitution, and they also make it possible for the voters to make their will known by the democratic method of the direct ballot.[ ] amendments originating with the reichstag or government may be adopted by the same procedure as is prescribed for ordinary legislative measures, except that two-thirds of two-thirds of all members, i.e., four-ninths of the whole house, must vote for them.[ ] a tenth of the registered voters of the country may present a draft of a proposed amendment, as is provided for ordinary bills, and this amendment must be referred to a vote of the people unless the reichstag adopt it unchanged. for the adoption of an amendment by referendum the affirmative vote of a majority of the registered voters is required.[ ] [ ] the united states supreme court has decided that the constitutional requirement of a vote of "two-thirds of both houses" (art. v) for amendments does not mean two-thirds of both houses, but merely two-thirds of a quorum of both houses. it has further decided that the people of the various states have no right to vote directly upon constitutional amendments; they are confined to indirect representation through their legislatures. [ ] every european people regards its constitution merely as a fundamental law, and ascribes no sacrosanct character to it. hence the departure from the american requirement of an affirmative vote of three-fourths of the states. on the other hand, the framers of the weimar constitution, by providing for a direct vote of the people, rendered it impossible for an aggressive and unscrupulous minority to force through an amendment against the wishes of a majority of the people. [ ] the question of the return of the monarchy in some form is and will be for some years chiefly of academic interest, but it will be noted that, from a purely juristic viewpoint, a monarchy can be re-established at any time by a bare majority of all german men and women twenty years of age or over, and that one-tenth of the voters, or somewhat less than four millions, could at any time force a vote on the question. seven articles deal with the judicial department of the government. they make no important changes from the old constitution, except that courts-martial are forbidden except in time of war or aboard warships. an attempt by the parties of the left to do away with state courts and place the dispensing of justice solely in the hands of the federal courts failed. the second "main division" of the constitution deals with the "fundamental rights and fundamental duties of the germans." excluding fifteen "transitional and concluding decrees," the constitution contains articles. no less than of these, or more than one-third, are devoted to sections bearing the following titles: the individual; social life; religion and religious societies; education and school; economic life. the first ten articles, dealing with the individual, begin by declaring the equality of all germans before the law. all titles of nobility are abolished, but they may be borne hereafter as parts of a name. orders and decorations may not be conferred by the state, and "no german may accept titles or orders from a foreign government."[ ] that part of the bill of rights contained in amendments i, iv, vi, and xiv of the american constitution is taken over in effect, but with much enlargement of the rights of the individual. thus, to the provision for freedom of speech and the press is added the declaration that "no employment or salaried relation shall deprive any person of this right, and no person may prejudice him for making use of this right." later, in the articles dealing with economic life, it is further provided: [ ] this goes even farther than the american constitution, which provides merely that "no person holding any office of profit or trust" under the federal government shall, without the consent of congress, accept any present or title from a foreign power. (art. i, sect. , par. .) "freedom to associate for the protection and furthering of labor and economic conditions is guaranteed to every person and for all callings. all agreements and measures which endeavor to restrict or prevent the exercise of this freedom are illegal.[ ] [ ] under this provision workmen cannot be required to sign contracts binding them not to join labor-unions, nor can employers contract with each other not to hire members of such unions. a right to the protection of the reich as against foreign countries is expressly granted "to all nationals of the reich both within and without the territory of the reich."[ ] nor may any german be delivered up to a foreign nation for prosecution or punishment. it is expressly provided that men and women "have, in principle, the same rights and duties." the right to assemble peaceably without previous notification or permission is granted--a flat contrast to the situation under the monarchy--but the reichstag is empowered to enact a law requiring previous notification of such assemblages if they are to be held outdoors, and may prohibit them in case the public safety be threatened. [ ] this, too, is a departure from the american model. an american citizen has no constitutional right to the protection of his government while he is without the country. up to this point the weimar constitution does not present any marked evidence of the circumstances under which it came into being. in comparison with the imperial constitution it may fairly be regarded as revolutionary, but considered by itself it is merely an advancedly democratic instrument with provisions insuring thoroughly parliamentary government in the best sense of the word. it is not until one reaches the articles dealing with social and economic life, the church and the school that the traces of socialist influence become unmistakable. there, however, they are found on every page, beginning with the declaration that "motherhood has a right to the protection and care of the state," followed by an article providing that "illegitimate children are to be granted by legislation the same conditions for their bodily, mental and social development as are granted to legitimate children." essentially, of course, neither provision is especially socialistic, but both really represent a compromise with the parties of the left. the majority socialists tried to have an article inserted giving to illegitimate children full rights of inheritance with legitimate children of their father's estate, and the right to bear his name. the motion was defeated, to votes. the independent socialists wanted a provision protecting women civil servants who become mothers of illegitimate children, and granting them the right to be addressed as _frau_ (mrs.) instead of _fräulein_ (miss). this, too, was defeated. other articles due to socialist advocacy, some of a principal nature, others merely doctrinaire, are: providing that legal rights may not be refused to any association because it has a political, politico-social or religious aim; providing that "no person is obliged to state his religious belief"; disestablishing the state church; providing for secular (non-religious) schools, freeing teachers from the duty to give religious instruction, and permitting parents or guardians to free their children from religious instruction; providing that "the cultivation and use of land is a duty which the owner owes to the community.[ ] increase in value of the land which is not due to labor or the investment of capital in it is to be utilized for the good of the people"; [ ] this is an interesting novelty as to real estate, but the principle is by no means new, being well established in patent law. failure to exploit a patent right may lead to its loss. "property imposes obligations. its enjoyment shall be at the same time a service for the common weal"; directing the dissolution of entailed estates; declaring that civil servants "are servants of the whole people, not of a party." the anti-christian and anti-religious sentiments of the socialists did not find as complete expression in the constitution as those parties had desired. the church is disestablished, but it retains the right to tax its members and have legal process for the collection of the taxes. the property of the church is left untouched. subsidies formerly paid from public funds are discontinued. sunday is protected as "a day of rest and spiritual elevation." religious bodies may hold services in hospitals, prisons, army barracks, etc., "in so far as need for divine services and ministerial offices exists," but no person can be compelled to attend. all these provisions are, of course, of comparatively minor importance--except that dissolving the entailed estates--and many are mere doctrinarianism, but the final section of the constitution, dealing with economic affairs, brings principles which, if the combined socialist parties should ever succeed in getting a bare majority of the country's voters under their banner, would make possible far-reaching changes along marxian lines. article reads: "property can be expropriated only for the common welfare and by legal methods. expropriation is to be made upon just compensation, _so far as a law of the reich does not prescribe otherwise_." (italics by the author.) article reads: "the reich can, by law, without prejudice to the question of compensation, with due employment of the regulations governing expropriations, transfer to the ownership of the people private economic undertakings which are adapted for socialization. it can itself participate, or cause the lands or municipalities to participate, in the administration of economic undertakings and associations, or can in other manner secure to itself a deciding influence therein. "the reich can also, in case of urgent necessity and in the interests of the public, consolidate by law economic undertakings and associations on the basis of self-administration, for the purpose of securing the coöperation of all creative factors of the people, employers and employees, in the administration, and of regulating production, manufacture, distribution, utilization and prices, as well as import and export, of the economic properties upon principles serving the interests of the people." "labor enjoys the especial protection of the reich." gained by the revolutionary parties in framing the constitution. they not only make sweeping socialization possible, in the event of the socialists coming into power, but also, as the italicized sentence in article indicates, socialization without compensation to the former private owners. there are still two socialistic articles to be considered. one, article , says: "labor enjoys the especial protection of the reich." _die arbeitskraft_, translated above by labor, means the whole body of workmen. the provision is another bit of doctrinarianism without any particular value, but it is nevertheless at variance with the equal-rights-to-all and all-germans-equal-before-the-law spirit that is so carefully emphasized elsewhere in the constitution. the other article calling for particular mention is no. , the last article of the constitution proper. this is a direct heritage of november, . from the very outset, as has been pointed out repeatedly in this work, the spartacans were determined to impose the soviet form of government upon germany. later on the independent socialists also threw off their parliamentary mask and joined in the demand for the _räterepublik_ on the bolshevist model. there were some leaders of the majority socialist party who were willing to consider a combination of parliamentarism and sovietism, but most of the older leaders, including ebert, had no sympathy with the idea. they were socialists, but also democrats. when it began to become apparent to the advocates of the soviet system that they were in the minority, they raised a demand that the workmen's council should be "anchored" in the constitution. the framers of that document did not take the demand seriously, and the draft prepared for presentation to the national assembly after the adoption of the provisional constitution made no reference to the councils. the extremer socialists, however, renewed their original demand, and even the more conservative leaders of the parent party, much against their will, saw themselves compelled for partisan political reasons to support the demand. the result was article , inserted in the draft in june. this article begins by declaring that workmen and other wage-earners have equal rights with their employers in determining wage and working conditions and in coöperating "in the entire economic development of productive powers." it provides that they shall, for the protection of their social and economic interests, have the right to be represented through workmen's shop councils (_betriebsarbeiterräte_), as well as in district workmen's councils (_bezirksarbeiterräte_), and in a national workmen's council (_reichsarbeiterrat_). the district and national councils combine with the representatives of the employers "and other interested circles of the people" to form district economic councils (_bezirkswirtschaftsräte_), and a national economic council (_reichswirtschaftsrat_). "the district economic councils and the national economic council are to be so constituted that all important groups of interests are represented in proportion to their economic and social importance." article continues: "politico-social and politico-economic bills of fundamental importance shall, before their introduction, be laid by the government of the reich before the national economic council for its consideration and report. the national economic council has the right to propose such bills itself. if the government does not approve of them, it must nevertheless lay them before the reichstag, together with a statement of its attitude. the national economic council is empowered to have the bill advocated before the reichstag by one of its members. "powers of control and administration can be conferred upon the workmen's and economic councils over matters lying in their sphere of action." thus the "anchor" of the workmen's councils in the german constitution. it is difficult to find in it the importance assigned to it by the socialists. the national council has, in the last analysis, only such power as the reichstag may choose to confer upon it. there was no sharp opposition to the article from the _bourgeois_ parties, doubtless due in large part to the fact that, even long before the revolution, the right of workmen to combine and negotiate as organizations with their employers was recognized by everybody, and that germany, with less than two-thirds of the population of the united states, has roundly three times as many organized workmen. in the circumstance, article did not bring any really revolutionary change. the foregoing is a brief outline of the more important features of the constitution of the german republic. considering all the attendant circumstances of its birth--the apathy of the people, the weakness of the government, the disruption of the germans into factions which bitterly hated and opposed each other, the savage conditions of the peace, following the crushing conditions of the armistice, the disappearance from the political field of most of the trained minds of the old empire, the strength of the elements inspired by purely materialistic and egoistic aims or by a naive trust in the internationalists of other lands, the constant pressure from the enemy--the framers and proponents of the constitution accomplished a national deed of dignity and worth. they might easily have done much worse; it is impossible for one who watched the developments of those trying days to assert that they could have done much better. (the author's acknowledgments are due as to this chapter to dr. hugo preuss, for valuable information as to the course of the deliberations of the various constitutional commissions and for interpretations of the constitution, and to dr. fremont a. higgins, a.m., ll.b. (columbia), j.u.d. (university of kiel), who generously gave the benefit of his wide knowledge of german law and bibliography.) _through the courtesy of the world peace foundation the yale university press is enabled to reprint "the constitution of the german commonwealth" as it appeared in the_ league of nations _for december, . the following note on "the terminology of the constitution" by the translators, william bennett munro and arthur norman holcombe, appeared in the introduction to the translation_: a word should be added in explanation of the way in which certain technical terms have been translated. it is no longer fitting, for example, to translate _reich_ as empire. yet it is not clear to what extent the old spirit as well as the old forms have changed. certainly the "strange trappings and primitive authority" of the imperial government are gone. how far has the spirit as well as the form of government of, by, and for the people taken its place? it is too soon to say. whatever the event may be, it seems best for americans at this time to substitute for empire the less specialized expression, commonwealth. another difficulty arises when _reichs_- is used as a qualifier. is the _reichsrat_, for example, a federal council or a national council? this raises a fundamental question concerning the effect of the revolution. is the german commonwealth a unified state or does it remain a confederation? apparently the former federal states have not yet surrendered all their sovereign powers. the residue of sovereignty left to the states, however, is slight and unsubstantial. recently, indeed (december, ), the assembly of the principal state, prussia, is reported to have adopted a resolution in favor of further centralization. as the constitution stands, the commonwealth appears to be a federation in which the rights of the states are subordinated to those of the union to a far greater extent than in our own united states. it has seemed proper, therefore, to use the term "national" rather than "federal." the term _reichsregierung_ might be translated national government, or administration, or cabinet. we have adopted the term cabinet because of its greater precision. both the other expressions have a more general as well as a specialized meaning and would ordinarily be understood by americans to include the president as well as the chancellor and ministers, who alone are the members of the cabinet in the strict sense of the term. the _regierung_ must be distinguished from the _ministerium_. the latter term may designate either the whole body of ministers or the department of any one minister. in the text of the german constitution it is used only in the latter sense. the translations adopted for the principal political terms of the new constitution are indicated in the glossary. in general the purpose has been to adhere as closely to a literal rendering of the german as was compatible with an intelligible english version. preference has been given throughout the translation to the terminology of republican government as developed in the united states. for a correct understanding of a foreign constitution, no translation can however suffice; the original text with a commentary must be carefully studied by anyone who wishes to obtain a thorough comprehension of such a document. the translators are glad to acknowledge their indebtedness to professor john a. walz and dr. f. w. c. lieder of the department of german in harvard university, and to dean roscoe pound of the harvard law school for careful scrutiny of the proofs and many helpful suggestions on difficult passages. w. b. m. a. n. h. january , . glossary. german translation reich _commonwealth_ reichs- _of the commonwealth, national_ reichsarbeiterrat _national workers' council_ reichsgericht _national judicial court_ reichskanzler _national chancellor_ reichsminister _national minister_ reichsministerium, pl.,-ien _national department_ reichsprasident _president of the commonwealth,_ _national president_ reichsrat _national council_ reichsregierung _national cabinet_ reichstag _national assembly_ reichsverwaltungsgericht _national administration court_ reichswirtschaftsrat _national economic council_ land _state (as integral part of the_ _commonwealth)_ landes- _of the state, state_ landesregierung _state cabinet_ landtag _state assembly_ wahlprufungsgericht _electoral commission_ staat _country, state (one of the family of nations); referring to germany, it designates the commonwealth and separate states as a single political entity._ staatsgerichtshof _supreme judicial court_ staatlich _political_ freistaatlich _republican_ the constitution of the german commonwealth _preamble_ the german people, united in all their branches, and inspired by the determination to renew and strengthen their commonwealth in liberty and justice, to preserve peace both at home and abroad, and to foster social progress, have adopted the following constitution. chapter i structure and functions of the commonwealth. _section i_ commonwealth and states article the german commonwealth is a republic. political authority is derived from the people. article the territory of the commonwealth consists of the territories of the german states. other territories may be incorporated into the commonwealth by national law, if their inhabitants, exercising the right of self-determination, so desire. article the national colors are black, red and gold. the merchant flag is black, white and red, with the national colors in the upper inside corner. article the generally recognized principles of the law of nations are accepted as an integral part of the law of the german commonwealth. article political authority is exercised in national affairs by the national government in accordance with the constitution of the commonwealth, and in state affairs by the state governments in accordance with the state constitutions. article the commonwealth has exclusive jurisdiction over: . foreign relations; . colonial affairs; . citizenship, freedom of travel and residence, immigration and emigration, and extradition; . organization for national defense; . coinage; . customs, including the consolidation of customs and trade districts and the free interchange of goods; . posts and telegraphs, including telephones. article the commonwealth has jurisdiction over: . civil law; . criminal law; . judicial procedure, including penal administration, and official cooperation between the administrative authorities; . passports and the supervision of aliens; . poor relief and vagrancy; . the press, associations and public meetings; . problems of population; protection of maternity, infancy, childhood and adolescence; . public health, veterinary practice, protection of plants from disease and pests; . the rights of labor, social insurance, the protection of wage-earners and other employees, and employment bureaus; . the establishment of national organizations for vocational representation; . provision for war-veterans and their surviving dependents; . the law of expropriation; . the socialization of natural resources and business enterprises, as well as the production, fabrication, distribution, and price-fixing of economic goods for the use of the community; . trade, weights and measures, the issue of paper money, banking, and stock and produce exchanges; . commerce in foodstuffs and in other necessaries of daily life, and in luxuries; . industry and mining; . insurance; . ocean navigation, and deep-sea and coast fisheries; . railroads, internal navigation, communication by power-driven vehicles on land, on sea, and in the air; the construction of highways, in so far as pertains to general intercommunication and the national defense; . theaters and cinematographs. article the commonwealth also has jurisdiction over taxation and other sources of income, in so far as they may be claimed in whole or in part for its purposes. if the commonwealth claims any source of revenue which formerly belonged to the states, it must have consideration for the financial requirements of the states. article whenever it is necessary to establish uniform rules, the commonwealth has jurisdiction over: . the promotion of social welfare; . the protection of public order and safety. article the commonwealth may prescribe by law fundamental principles concerning: . the rights and duties of religious associations; . education, including higher education and libraries for scientific use; . the law of officers of all public bodies; . the land law, the distribution of land, settlements and homesteads, restrictions on landed property, housing, and the distribution of population; . disposal of the dead. article the commonwealth may prescribe by law fundamental principles concerning the validity and mode of collection of state taxes, in order to prevent: . injury to the revenues or to the trade relations of the commonwealth; . double taxation; . the imposition of excessive burdens, or burdens in restraint of trade on the use of the means and agencies of public communication; . tax discriminations against the products of other states in favor of domestic products in interstate and local commerce; or . export bounties; or in order to protect important social interests. article so long and in so far as the commonwealth does not exercise its jurisdiction, such jurisdiction remains with the states. this does not apply in cases where the commonwealth possesses exclusive jurisdiction. the national cabinet may object to state laws relating to the subjects of article , number , whenever the general welfare of the commonwealth is affected thereby. article the laws of the commonwealth are supreme over the laws of the states which conflict with them. if doubt arises, or difference of opinion, whether state legislation is in harmony with the law of the commonwealth, the proper authorities of the commonwealth or the central authorities of the states, in accordance with more specific provisions of a national law, may have recourse to the decision of a supreme judicial court of the commonwealth. article the laws of the commonwealth will be executed by the state authorities, unless otherwise provided by national law. article the national cabinet supervises the conduct of affairs over which the commonwealth has jurisdiction. in so far as the laws of the commonwealth are to be carried into effect by the state authorities, the national cabinet may issue general instructions. it has the power to send commissioners to the central authorities of the states, and, with their consent, to the subordinate state authorities, in order to supervise the execution of national laws. it is the duty of the state cabinets, at the request of the national cabinet, to correct any defects in the execution of the national laws. in case of dispute, either the national cabinet or that of the state may have recourse to the decision of the supreme judicial court, unless another court is prescribed by national law. article the officers directly charged with the administration of national affairs in any state shall, as a rule, be citizens of that state. the officers, employees and workmen of the national administration shall, if they so desire, be employed in the districts where they reside as far as is possible and not inconsistent with their training and with the requirements of the service. article every state must have a republican constitution. the representatives of the people must be elected by the universal, equal, direct and secret suffrage of all german citizens, both men and women, according to the principles of proportional representation. the state cabinet shall require the confidence of the representatives of the people. the principles in accordance with which the representatives of the people are chosen apply also to municipal elections; but by state law a residence qualification not exceeding one year of residence in the municipality may be imposed in such elections. article the division of the commonwealth into states shall serve the highest economic and cultural interests of the people after most thorough consideration of the wishes of the population affected. state boundaries may be altered and new states may be created within the commonwealth by the process of constitutional amendment. with the consent of the states directly affected, it requires only an ordinary law of the commonwealth. an ordinary law of the commonwealth will also suffice, if one of the states affected does not consent, provided that the change of boundaries or the creation of a new state is desired by the population concerned and is also required by a preponderant national interest. the wishes of the population shall be ascertained by a referendum. the national cabinet orders a referendum on demand of one-third of the inhabitants qualified to vote for the national assembly in the territory to be cut off. three-fifths of the votes cast, but at least a majority of the qualified voters, are required for the alteration of a boundary or the creation of a new state. even if a separation of only a part of a prussian administrative district, a bavarian circle, or, in other states, a corresponding administrative district, is involved, the wishes of the population of the whole district must be ascertained. if there is no physical contact between the territory to be cut off and the rest of the district, the wishes of the population of the district to be cut off may be pronounced conclusive by a special law of the commonwealth. after the consent of the population has been ascertained the national cabinet shall introduce into the national assembly a bill suitable for enactment. if any controversy arises over the division of property in connection with such a union or separation, it will be determined upon complaint of either party by the supreme judicial court of the german commonwealth. article if controversies concerning the constitution arise within a state in which there is no court competent to dispose of them, or if controversies of a public nature arise between different states or between a state and the commonwealth, they will be determined upon complaint of one of the parties by the supreme judicial court of the german commonwealth, unless another judicial court of the commonwealth is competent. the president of the commonwealth executes judgments of the supreme judicial court. _section ii_ the national assembly article the national assembly is composed of the delegates of the german people. article the delegates are representatives of the whole people. they are subject only to their own consciences and are not bound by any instructions. article the delegates are elected by universal, equal, direct and secret suffrage by all men and women over twenty years of age, in accordance with the principles of proportional representation. the day for elections must be a sunday or a public holiday. the details will be regulated by the national election law. article the national assembly is elected for four years. new elections must take place at the latest on the sixtieth day after its term comes to an end. the national assembly convenes at the latest on the thirtieth day after the election. article the national assembly meets each year on the first wednesday in november at the seat of the national government. the president of the national assembly must call it earlier if the president of the commonwealth, or at least one-third of the members of the national assembly, demand it. the national assembly determines the close of its session and the day of reassembling. article the president of the commonwealth may dissolve the national assembly, but only once for the same cause. the new election occurs at the latest on the sixtieth day after such dissolution. article the national assembly chooses its president, vice-president and its secretaries. it regulates its own procedure. article during the interval between sessions, or while elections are taking place, the president and vice-president of the preceding session conduct its affairs. article the president administers the regulations and policing of the national assembly building. the management of the building is subject to his direction; he controls its receipts and expenses in accordance with the provisions of the budget, and represents the commonwealth in all legal affairs and in litigation arising during his administration. article the proceedings of the national assembly are public. at the request of fifty members the public may be excluded by a two-thirds vote. article true and accurate reports of the proceedings in public sittings of the national assembly, of a state assembly, or of their committees, are absolutely privileged. article an electoral commission to decide disputed elections will be organized in connection with the national assembly. it will also decide whether a delegate has forfeited his seat. the electoral commission consists of members of the national assembly, chosen by the latter for the life of the assembly, and of members of the national administrative court, to be appointed by the president of the commonwealth on the nomination of the presidency of this court. this electoral commission pronounces judgment after public hearings through a quorum of three members of the national assembly and two judicial members. proceedings apart from the hearings before the electoral commission will be conducted by a national commissioner appointed by the president of the commonwealth. in other respects the procedure will be regulated by the electoral commission. article the national assembly acts by majority vote unless otherwise provided in the constitution. for the conduct of elections by the national assembly it may, in its rules of procedure, make exceptions. the quorum to do business will be regulated by the rules of procedure. article the national assembly and its committees may require the presence of the national chancellor and of any national minister. the national chancellor, the national ministers, and commissioners designated by them, have the right to be present at the sittings of the national assembly and of its committees. the states are entitled to send their plenipotentiaries to these sittings to submit the views of their cabinets on matters under consideration. at their request the representatives of the cabinets shall be heard during the deliberations, and the representatives of the national cabinet shall be heard even outside the regular order of business. they are subject to the authority of the presiding officer in matters of order. article the national assembly has the right, and, on proposal of one-fifth of its members, the duty to appoint committees of investigation. these committees, in public sittings, inquire into the evidence which they, or the proponents, consider necessary. the public may be excluded by a two-thirds vote of the committee of investigation. the rules of procedure regulate the proceedings of the committee and determine the number of its members. the judicial and administrative authorities are required to comply with requests by these committees for information, and the record of the authorities shall on request be submitted to them. the provisions of the code of criminal procedure apply as far as is suitable to the inquiries of these committees and of the authorities assisting them, but the secrecy of letter and other post, telegraph, and telephone services will remain inviolate. article the national assembly appoints a standing committee on foreign affairs which may also act outside of the sittings of the national assembly and after its expiration or dissolution until a new national assembly convenes. its sittings are not public, unless the committee by a two-thirds vote otherwise provides. the national assembly also appoints a standing committee for the protection of the rights of the representatives of the people against the national cabinet during a recess and after the expiration of the term for which it was elected. these committees have the rights of committees of investigation. article no member of the national assembly or of a state assembly shall at any time whatsoever be subject to any judicial or disciplinary prosecution or be held responsible outside of the house to which he belongs on account of his vote or his opinions uttered in the performance of his duty. article no member of the national assembly or of a state assembly shall during the session, without the consent of the house to which he belongs, be subject to investigation or arrest on account of any punishable offense, unless he is caught in the act, or apprehended not later than the following day. similar consent is required in the case of any other restraint of personal liberty which interferes with the performance by a delegate of his duties. any criminal proceeding against a member of the national assembly or of a state assembly, and any arrest or other restraint of his personal liberty shall, at the demand of the house to which he belongs, be suspended for the duration of the session. article the members of the national assembly and the state assemblies are entitled to refuse to give evidence concerning persons who have given them information in their official capacity, or to whom they have given information in the performance of their official duties, or concerning the information itself. in regard also to the seizure of papers their position is the same as that of persons who have by law the right to refuse to give evidence. a search or seizure may be proceeded with in the precincts of the national assembly or of a state assembly only with the consent of its president. article civil officers and members of the armed forces need no leave to perform their duties as members of the national assembly or of a state assembly. if they become candidates for election to these bodies, the necessary leave shall be granted them to prepare for their election. article the members of the national assembly shall have the right of free transportation over all german railroads, and also compensation as fixed by national law. _section iii_ the national president and the national cabinet article the national president is chosen by the whole german people. every german who has completed his thirty-fifth year is eligible for election. the details will be regulated by a national law. article the national president, on assuming his office, takes before the national assembly the following oath: i swear to devote all my energy to the welfare of the german people, to increase their prosperity, to protect them from injury, to preserve the constitution and the laws of the commonwealth, to perform my duties conscientiously, and to deal justly with all. the addition of a religious affirmation is permitted. article the term of the national president is seven years. he is eligible for reelection. the president may be removed before the end of his term by vote of the people on proposal of the national assembly. the act of the national assembly in such case requires a two-thirds majority vote. upon such action the president is suspended from further exercise of his office. a refusal by the people to remove the president has the effect of a new election and entails the dissolution of the national assembly. the national president shall not be subject to criminal prosecution without the consent of the national assembly. article the national president may not at the same time be a member of the national assembly. article the national president represents the commonwealth in matters of international law. he concludes in the name of the commonwealth alliances and other treaties with foreign powers. he accredits and receives ambassadors. war is declared and peace concluded by national law. alliances and treaties with foreign states, relating to subjects within the jurisdiction of the commonwealth, require the consent of the national assembly. article the president appoints and dismisses the civil and military officers of the commonwealth if not otherwise provided by law. he may delegate this right of appointment or dismissal to other authorities. article the national president has supreme command over all the armed forces of the commonwealth. article if any state does not perform the duties imposed upon it by the constitution or by national laws, the national president may hold it to the performance thereof by force of arms. if public safety and order in the german commonwealth is materially disturbed or endangered, the national president may take the necessary measures to restore public safety and order, and, if necessary, to intervene by force of arms. to this end he may temporarily suspend, in whole or in part, the fundamental rights established in articles , , , , , and . the national president must immediately inform the national assembly of all measures adopted by authority of paragraphs or of this article. these measures shall be revoked at the demand of the national assembly. if there is danger from delay, the state cabinet may for its own territory take provisional measures as specified in paragraph . these measures shall be revoked at the demand of the national president or of the national assembly. the details will be regulated by a national law. article the national president exercises the right of pardon for the commonwealth. national amnesties require a national law. article all orders and directions of the national president, including those concerning the armed forces, require for their validity the countersignature of the national chancellor or of the appropriate national minister. by the countersignature responsibility is assumed. article the national president is represented temporarily in case of disability by the national chancellor. if such disability seems likely to continue for any considerable period, he shall be represented as may be determined by a national law. the same procedure shall be followed in case of a premature vacancy of the presidency until the completion of the new election. article the national cabinet consists of the national chancellor and the national ministers. article the national chancellor and, on his proposal, the national ministers are appointed and dismissed by the national president. article the national chancellor and the national ministers require for the administration of their offices the confidence of the national assembly. each of them must resign if the national assembly by formal resolution withdraws its confidence. article the national chancellor presides over the national cabinet and conducts its affairs in accordance with rules of procedure, which will be framed by the national cabinet and approved by the national president. article the national chancellor determines the general course of policy and assumes responsibility therefor to the national assembly. in accordance with this general policy each national minister conducts independently the particular affairs intrusted to him and is held individually responsible to the national assembly. article the national ministers shall submit to the national cabinet for consideration and decision all drafts of bills and other matters for which this procedure is prescribed by the constitution or by law, as well as differences of opinion over questions which concern the departments of several national ministers. article the national cabinet will make its decisions by majority vote. in case of a tie the vote of the presiding officer will be decisive. article the national assembly is empowered to impeach the national president, the national chancellor, and the national ministers before the supreme judicial court of the german commonwealth for any wrongful violation of the constitution or laws of the commonwealth. the proposal to bring an impeachment must be signed by at least one hundred members of the national assembly and requires the approval of the majority prescribed for amendments to the constitution. the details will be regulated by the national law relating to the supreme judicial court. _section iv_ the national council article a national council will be organized to represent the german states in national legislation and administration. article in the national council each state has at least one vote. in the case of the larger states one vote is accorded for every million inhabitants. any excess equal at least to the population of the smallest state is reckoned as equivalent to a full million. no state shall be accredited with more than two-fifths of all votes. [german-austria after its union with the german commonwealth will receive the right of participation in the national council with the number of votes corresponding to its population. until that time the representatives of german-austria have a deliberate voice.][ ] [ ] stricken out at the demand of the supreme council of the allied and associated powers. the supreme council addressed the following demand to germany on september , : "the allied and associated powers have examined the german constitution of august , . they observe that the provisions of the second paragraph of article constitute a formal violation of article of the treaty of peace signed at versailles on june , . this violation is twofold: " . article by stipulating for the admission of austria to the reichsrat assimilates that republic to the german states composing the german empire--an assimilation which is incompatible with respect to the independence of austria. " . by admitting and providing for the participation of austria in the council of the empire article creates a political tie and a common political action between germany and austria in absolute opposition to the independence of the latter. "in consequence the allied and associated powers, after reminding the german government that article of the german constitution declares that 'the provisions of the treaty of versailles can not be affected by the constitution,' invite the german government to take the necessary measures to efface without delay this violation by declaring article , paragraph , to be null and void. "without prejudice to subsequent measures in case of refusal, and in virtue of the treaty of peace (and in particular article ), the allied and associated powers inform the german government that this violation of its engagements on an essential point will compel them, if satisfaction is not given to their just demand within days from the date of the present note, immediately to order the extension of their occupation on the right bank of the rhine." article of the treaty of peace refers to map no. which shows the boundaries of germany and provides that the text of articles and will be final as to those boundaries. article reads as follows:-- "germany acknowledges and will respect strictly the independence of austria, within the frontiers which may be fixed in a treaty between that state and the principal allied and associated powers; she agrees that this independence shall be inalienable, except with the consent of the council of the league of nations." a diplomatic act was signed at paris on september , , by the representatives of the principal allied and associated powers and germany in the following terms: "the undersigned, duly authorized and acting in the name of the german government, recognizes and declares that all the provisions of the german constitution of august , , which are in contradiction of the terms of the treaty of peace signed at versailles on june , , are null. "the german government declares and recognizes that in consequence paragraph of article of the said constitution is null, and that in particular the admission of austrian representatives to the reichstag could only take place in the event of the consent of the council of the league of nations to a corresponding modification of austria's international situation. "the present declaration shall be approved by the competent german legislative authority, within the fortnight following the entry into force of the peace treaty. "given at versailles, september , , in the presence of the undersigned representatives of the principal allied and associated powers." the number of votes is determined anew by the national council after every general census. article in committees formed by the national council from its own members no state will have more than one vote. article the states will be represented in the national council by members of their cabinets. half of the prussian votes, however, will be at the disposal of the prussian provincial administrations in accordance with a state law. the states have the right to send as many representatives to the national council as they have votes. article the national cabinet must summon the national council on demand by one-third of its members. article the chairmanship of the national council and of its committees is filled by a member of the national cabinet. the members of the national cabinet have the right and on request [of the national council] the duty to take part in the proceedings of the national council and its committees. they must at their request be heard at any time during its deliberations. article the national cabinet, as well as every member of the national council, is entitled to make proposals in the national council. the national council regulates its order of business through rules of procedure. the plenary sittings of the national council are public. in accordance with the rules of procedure the public may be excluded during the discussion of particular subjects. decisions are taken by a majority of those present. article the national council shall be kept informed by the national departments of the conduct of national business. at deliberations on important subjects the appropriate committees of the national council shall be summoned by the national departments. _section v_ national legislation article bills are introduced by the national cabinet or by members of the national assembly. national laws are enacted by the national assembly. article the introduction of bills by the national cabinet requires the concurrence of the national council. if an agreement between the national cabinet and the national council is not reached, the national cabinet may nevertheless introduce the bill, but must state the dissent of the national council. if the national council resolves upon a bill to which the national cabinet does not assent, the latter must introduce the bill in the national assembly together with a statement of its attitude. article the national president shall compile the laws which have been constitutionally enacted and within one month publish them in the national bulletin of laws. article national laws go into effect, unless otherwise specified, on the fourteenth day following the date of their publication in the national bulletin of laws at the national capital. article the promulgation of a national law may be deferred for two months, if one-third of the national assembly so demands. laws which the national assembly and the national council declare to be urgent may be promulgated by the national president regardless of this demand. article a law enacted by the national assembly shall be referred to the people before its promulgation, if the national president so orders within a month. a law whose promulgation is deferred at the demand of at least one-third of the national assembly shall be submitted to the people, if one-twentieth of the qualified voters so petition. a popular vote shall further be resorted to on a measure initiated by the people if one-tenth of the qualified voters so petition. a fully elaborated bill must accompany such petition. the national cabinet shall lay the bill together with a statement of its attitude before the national assembly. the popular vote does not take place if the desired bill is enacted without amendment by the national assembly. a popular vote may be taken on the budget, tax laws, and laws relating to the classification and payment of public officers only by authority of the national president. the procedure in connection with the popular referendum and initiative will be regulated by national law. article the national council has the right to object to laws passed by the national assembly. the objection must be filed with the national cabinet within two weeks after the final vote in the national assembly and must be supported by reasons within two more weeks at the latest. in case of objection, the law is returned to the national assembly for reconsideration. if an agreement between the national assembly and the national council is not reached, the national president may within three months refer the subject of the dispute to the people. if the president makes no use of this right, the law does not go into effect. if the national assembly disapproves by a two-thirds majority the objection of the national council, the president shall promulgate the law in the form enacted by the national assembly within three months or refer it to the people. article an act of the national assembly may be annulled by a popular vote, only if a majority of those qualified take part in the vote. article the constitution may be amended by process of legislation. but acts of the national assembly relating to the amendment of the constitution are effective only if two-thirds of the legal membership are present, and at least two-thirds of those present give their assent. acts of the national council relating to the amendment of the constitution also require a two-thirds majority of all the votes cast. if an amendment to the constitution is to be adopted by the people by popular initiative, the assent of a majority of the qualified voters is required. if the national assembly adopts an amendment to the constitution against the objection of the national council, the president may not promulgate this law, if the national council within two weeks demands a popular vote. article the national cabinet issues the general administrative regulations necessary for the execution of the national laws so far as the laws do not otherwise provide. it must secure the assent of the national council if the execution of the national laws is assigned to the state authorities. _section vi_ the national administration article the conduct of relations with foreign countries is exclusively a function of the commonwealth. the states, in matters subject to their jurisdiction, may conclude treaties with foreign countries; such treaties require the assent of the commonwealth. agreements with foreign countries regarding changes of national boundaries will be concluded by the commonwealth with the consent of the state concerned. changes of boundaries may be made only by authority of a national law, except in cases where a mere adjustment of the boundaries of uninhabited districts is in question. to assure the representation of interests arising from the special economic relations of individual states to foreign countries or from their proximity to foreign countries, the commonwealth determines the requisite arrangements and measures in agreement with the states concerned. article the national defense is a function of the commonwealth. the organization of the german people for defense will be uniformly regulated by a national law with due consideration for the peculiarities of the people of the separate states. article colonial policy is exclusively a function of the commonwealth. article all german merchant ships constitute a unified merchant marine. article germany forms a customs and trade area surrounded by a common customs boundary. the customs boundary is identical with the international boundary. at the seacoast the shore of the mainland and of the islands belonging to the national territory constitutes the customs boundary. deviations may be made for the course of the customs boundary at the ocean and at other bodies of water. foreign territories or parts of territories may be incorporated in the customs area by international treaties or agreements. portions of territory may be excluded from the customs area in accordance with special requirements. in the case of free ports this exclusion may be discontinued only by an amendment to the constitution. districts excluded from the customs area may be included within a foreign customs area by international treaties or agreements. all products of nature or industry, as well as works of art, which are subjects of free commerce within the commonwealth, may be transported in any direction across state and municipal boundaries. exceptions are permissible by authority of national law. article customs duties and taxes on articles of consumption are administered by the national authorities. in connection with national tax administration by the national authorities, arrangements shall be provided which will enable the states to protect their special agricultural, commercial, trade and industrial interests. article the commonwealth has authority to regulate by law: . the organization of the state tax administrations so far as is required for the uniform and impartial execution of the national tax laws; . the organization and functions of the authorities charged with the supervision of the execution of the national tax laws; . the accounting with the states; . the reimbursement of the costs of administration in connection with the execution of the national tax laws. article all revenues and expenditures of the commonwealth must be estimated for each fiscal year and entered in the budget. the budget is adopted by law before the beginning of the fiscal year. appropriations are ordinarily granted for one year; in special cases they may be granted for a longer period. otherwise, provisions extending beyond the fiscal year or not relating to the national revenues and expenditures or their administration, are inadmissible in the national budget law. the national assembly may not increase appropriations in the budget bill or insert new items without the consent of the national council. the consent of the national council may be dispensed with in accordance with the provisions of article . article in the following fiscal year the national minister of finance will submit to the national council and to the national assembly an account concerning the disposition of all national revenue so as to discharge the responsibility of the national cabinet. the auditing of this account will be regulated by national law. article funds may be procured by borrowing only in case of extraordinary need and in general for expenditures for productive purposes only. such procurement of funds as well as the assumption by the commonwealth of any financial obligation is permissible only by authority of a national law. article the postal and telegraph services, together with the telephone service, are exclusively functions of the commonwealth. the postage stamps are uniform for the whole commonwealth. the national cabinet, with the consent of the national council, issues the regulations prescribing the conditions and charges for the use of the means of communication. with the consent of the national council it may delegate this authority to the postmaster general. the national cabinet, with the consent of the national council, establishes an advisory council to co-operate in deliberations concerning the postal, telegraph and telephone services and rates. the commonwealth alone concludes treaties relating to communication with foreign countries. article it is the duty of the commonwealth to acquire ownership of the railroads which serve as means of general public communication, and to operate them as a single system of transportation. the rights of the states to acquire private railroads shall be transferred to the commonwealth on its demand. article with the taking over of the railroads the commonwealth also acquires the right of expropriation and the sovereign powers of the states pertaining to railroad affairs. the supreme judicial court decides controversies relating to the extent of these rights. article the national cabinet, with the consent of the national council, issues the regulations governing the construction, operation and traffic of railroads. with the consent of the national council it may delegate this authority to the appropriate national minister. article the national railroads, irrespective of the incorporation of their budget and accounts in the general budget and accounts of the commonwealth, shall be administered as an independent economic enterprise which shall defray its own expenses, including interest and the amortization of the railroad debt, and accumulate a railroad reserve fund. the amount of the amortization and of the reserve fund, as well as the purpose to which the reserve fund may be applied, shall be regulated by special law. article the national cabinet with the consent of the national council establishes advisory councils for the national railroads to co-operate in deliberations concerning railroad service and rates. article if the commonwealth takes over the operation of railroads which serve as means of general public communication in any district, additional railroads to serve as means of general public communication within this district may only be built by the commonwealth or with its consent. if new construction or the alteration of existing national railroad systems encroaches upon the sphere of authority of the state police, the national railroad administration, before its decision, shall grant a hearing to the state authorities. where the commonwealth has not yet taken over the operation of the railroads, it may lay out on its own account by virtue of national law railroads deemed necessary to serve as means of general public communication or for the national defense, even against the opposition of the states, whose territory they will traverse, without, however, impairing the sovereign powers of the states, or it may turn over the construction to another to execute, together with a grant of the right of expropriation if necessary. each railroad administration must consent to connection with other roads at the expense of the latter. article railroads serving as means of general public communication which are not operated by the commonwealth are subject to supervision by the commonwealth. the railroads subject to national supervision shall be laid out and equipped in accordance with uniform standards established by the commonwealth. they shall be maintained in safe operating condition and developed according to the requirements of traffic. facilities and equipment for passenger and freight traffic shall be maintained and developed in keeping with the demand. the supervision of rates is designed to secure non-discriminatory and moderate railroad charges. article all railroads, including those not serving as means of general public communication, must comply with the requirements of the commonwealth so far as concerns the use of the roads for purposes of national defense. article it is the duty of the commonwealth to acquire ownership of and to operate all waterways serving as means of general public communication. after they have been taken over, waterways serving as means of general public communication may be constructed or extended only by the commonwealth or with its consent. in the administration, development, or construction of such waterways the requirements of agriculture and water-supply shall be protected in agreement with the states. their improvement shall also be considered. each waterways administration shall consent to connection with other inland waterways at the expense of the latter. the same obligation exists for the construction of a connection between inland waterways and railroads. in taking over the waterways the commonwealth acquires the right of expropriation, control of rates, and the police power over waterways and navigation. the duties of the river improvement associations in relation to the development of natural waterways in the rhine, weser, and elbe basins shall be assumed by the commonwealth. article advisory national waterways councils will be formed in accordance with detailed regulations issued by the national cabinet with the consent of the national council to co-operate in the management of the waterways. article charges may be imposed on natural waterways only for such works, facilities, and other accommodations as are designed for the relief of traffic. in the case of state and municipal public works they may not exceed the necessary costs of construction and maintenance. the construction and maintenance costs of works designed not exclusively for the relief of traffic, but also for serving other purposes, may be defrayed only to a proportionate extent by navigation tolls. interest and amortization charges on the invested capital are included in the costs of construction. the provisions of the preceding paragraph apply to the charges imposed for artificial waterways and for accommodations in connection therewith and in harbors. the total costs of a waterway, a river basin, or a system of waterways may be taken into consideration in determining navigation tolls in the field of inland water transportation. these provisions apply also to the floating of timber on navigable waterways. only the commonwealth imposes on foreign ships and their cargoes other or higher charges than on german ships and their cargoes. for the procurement of means for the maintenance and development of the german system of waterways the commonwealth may by law call on the shipping interests for contributions also in other ways [than by tolls]. article to cover the cost of maintenance and construction of inland navigation routes any person or body of persons who in other ways than through navigation derives profit from the construction of dams may also be called upon by national law for contributions, if several states are involved or the commonwealth bears the costs of construction. article it is the duty of the commonwealth to acquire ownership of and to operate all aids to navigation, especially lighthouses, lightships, buoys, floats and beacons. after they are taken over, aids to navigation may be installed or extended only by the commonwealth or with its consent. _section vii_ the administration of justice article judges are independent and subject only to the law. article ordinary jurisdiction will be exercised by the national judicial court and the courts of the states. article judges of ordinary jurisdiction are appointed for life. they may against their wishes be permanently or temporarily removed from office, or transferred to another position, or retired, only by virtue of a judicial decision and for the reasons and in the forms provided by law. the law may fix an age limit on reaching which judges may be retired. temporary suspension from office in accordance with law is not affected by this article. if there is a re-organization of the courts or of the judicial districts, the state department of justice may order involuntary transfers to another court or removal from office, but only with allowance of full salary. these provisions do not apply to judges of commercial tribunals, lay associates, and jurymen. article extraordinary courts are illegal. no one may be removed from the jurisdiction of his lawful judge. provisions of law relating to military courts and courts-martial are not affected hereby. military courts of honor are abolished. article military jurisdiction is abolished except in time of war and on board war-vessels. details will be regulated by national law. article there shall be administrative courts both in the commonwealth and in the states, in accordance with the laws, to protect the individual against orders and decrees of administrative authorities. article in accordance with a national law a supreme judicial court will be established for the german commonwealth. chapter ii fundamental rights and duties of germans. _section i_ the individual article all germans are equal before the law. men and women have fundamentally the same civil rights and duties. privileges or discriminations due to birth or rank and recognized by law are abolished. titles of nobility will be regarded merely as part of the name and may not be granted hereafter. titles may be conferred only when they designate an office or profession; academic degrees are not affected by this provision. orders and honorary insignia may not be conferred by the state. no german may accept a title or order from a foreign government. article citizenship in the commonwealth and in the states will be acquired and lost in accordance with the provisions of a national law. every citizen of a state is at the same time a citizen of the commonwealth. every german has the same rights and duties in each state of the commonwealth as the citizens of that state. article all germans enjoy the right to travel and reside freely throughout the whole commonwealth. everyone has the right of sojourn and settlement in any place within the commonwealth, the right to acquire land and to pursue any gainful occupation. no limitations may be imposed except by authority of a national law. article every german has the right to emigrate to foreign countries. emigration may be limited only by national law. all german citizens, both within and without the territory of the commonwealth, have a right to its protection with respect to foreign countries. no german may be surrendered to a foreign government for prosecution or punishment. article those elements of the people which speak a foreign language may not be interfered with by legislative or administrative action in their free and characteristic development, especially in the use of their mother tongue in the schools or in matters of internal administration and the administration of justice. article personal liberty is inviolable. an interference with or abridgment of personal liberty through official action is permissible only by authority of law. persons, who are deprived of their liberty, shall be informed at latest on the following day by what authority and on what grounds they have been deprived of liberty, and they shall without delay receive an opportunity to present objections against such loss of liberty. article the house of every german is his sanctuary and is inviolable. exceptions are permissible only by authority of law. article an act can be punishable only if the penalty was fixed by law before the act was committed. article the secrecy of postal, telegraphic, and telephonic communications is inviolable. exceptions may be permitted only by national law. article every german has a right within the limits of the general laws to express his opinion freely by word, in writing, in print, by picture, or in any other way. no relationship arising out of his employment may hinder him in the exercise of this right, and no one may discriminate against him if he makes use of this right. there is no censorship, although exceptional provisions may be made by law in the case of moving pictures. legal measures are also permissible for combatting obscene and indecent literature as well as for the protection of youth at public plays and spectacles. _section ii_ community life article marriage, as the foundation of family life and of the maintenance and increase of the nation, is under the special protection of the constitution. it is based on the equal rights of both sexes. the maintenance of the purity, the health, and the social advancement of the family is the task of the state and of the municipalities. families with numerous children have a claim to equalizing assistance. motherhood has a claim to the protection and care of the state. article the physical, mental, and moral education of their offspring is the highest duty and the natural right of parents, whose activities are supervised by the political community. article illegitimate children shall be provided by law with the same opportunities for their physical, mental, and moral development as legitimate children. article youth shall be protected against exploitation as well as against neglect of their moral, mental, or physical welfare. the necessary arrangements shall be made by state and municipality. compulsory protective measures may be ordered only by authority of the law. article all germans have the right of meeting peaceably and unarmed without notice or special permission. previous notice may be required by national law for meetings in the open, and such meetings may be forbidden in case of immediate danger to the public safety. article all germans have the right to form associations or societies for purposes not contrary to the criminal law. this right can not be limited by preventive measures. the same provisions apply to religious associations and societies. every association has the right of incorporation in accordance with the civil law. no association may be denied this right on the ground that it pursues a political, social-political, or religious object. article the liberty and secrecy of the suffrage are guaranteed. details will be regulated by the election laws. article every german has the right to petition or to complain in writing to the appropriate authorities or to the representatives of the people. this right may be exercised by individuals as well as by several persons together. article municipalities and unions of municipalities have the right of self-government within the limits of the laws. article all citizens without distinction are eligible for public office in accordance with the laws and according to their ability and services. all discriminations against women in the civil service are abolished. the principles of the official relation shall be regulated by national law. article civil officers are appointed for life, in so far as is not otherwise provided by law. pensions and provisions for surviving dependents will be regulated by law. the duly acquired rights of the civil officers are inviolable. claims of civil officers based upon property rights may be established by process of law. civil officers may be suspended, temporarily or permanently retired, or transferred to other positions at a smaller salary only under the legally prescribed conditions and forms. a process of appeal against disciplinary sentence and opportunity for reconsideration shall be established. reports of an unfavorable character concerning a civil officer shall not be entered in his official record, until he has had the opportunity to express himself. civil officers shall also be permitted to inspect their official records. the inviolability of the duly acquired rights and the benefit of legal processes for the establishment of claims based on property rights are also assured especially to regular soldiers. in other respects their position is regulated by national law. article the civil officers are servants of the whole community, not of a part of it. to all civil officers freedom of political opinion and of association are assured. the civil officers receive special representation in their official capacity in accordance with more precise provisions of national law. article if a civil officer in the exercise of the authority conferred upon him by law fails to perform his official duty toward any third person, the responsibility is assumed by the state or public corporation in whose service the officer is. the right of redress [by the state or public corporation] against the officer is reserved. the ordinary process of law may not be excluded. detailed regulations will be made by the appropriate law-making authority. article every german, in accordance with the laws, has the duty of accepting honorary offices. article all citizens are obliged, in accordance with the laws, to render personal services to the state and the municipality. the duty of military service will be defined in accordance with the provisions of the national defense law. this will determine also how far particular fundamental rights shall be restricted in their application to the members of the armed forces in order that the latter may fulfill their duties and discipline may be maintained. article all citizens, without distinction, contribute according to their means to the support of all public burdens, as may be provided by law. _section iii_ religion and religious societies article all inhabitants of the commonwealth enjoy complete liberty of belief and conscience. the free exercise of religion is assured by the constitution and is under public protection. this article leaves the general laws undisturbed. article civil and political rights and duties are neither conditioned upon nor limited by the exercise of religious liberty. the enjoyment of civil and political rights as well as eligibility to public office is independent of religious belief. no one is under any obligation to reveal his religious convictions. the authorities have a right to inquire about religious affiliation only so far as rights and duties are dependent thereon or in pursuance of a statistical enumeration prescribed by law. no one may be forced to attend any church ceremony or festivity, to take part in any religious exercise, or to make use of any religious oath. article there is no state church. freedom of association in religious societies is guaranteed. the combination of religious societies within the commonwealth is not subject to any limitations. every religious society regulates and administers its affairs independently within the limits of the general law. it appoints its officers without interference by the state or the civil municipality. religious societies may be incorporated in accordance with the general provisions of the civil law. existing religious societies remain, to the same extent as heretofore, public bodies corporate. the same rights shall be accorded to other religious societies if by their constitution and the number of their members they offer a guaranty of permanence. if a number of such public religious societies unite, this union is also a public body corporate. the religious societies, which are recognized by law as bodies corporate, are entitled on the basis of the civil tax rolls to raise taxes according to the provisions of the laws of the respective states. the associations, which have as their aim the cultivation of a system of ethics, have the same privileges as the religious societies. the issuance of further regulations necessary for carrying out these provisions comes under the jurisdiction of the states. article state contributions to religious societies authorized by law, contract, or any special grant, will be commuted by state legislation. the general principles of such legislation will be defined by the commonwealth. the property of religious societies and unions and other rights to their cultural, educational, and charitable institutions, foundations, and other possessions are guaranteed. article sundays and legal holidays remain under the protection of law as days of rest and spiritual edification. article the members of the armed forces shall be granted the necessary leave for the performance of their religious duties. article in so far as there is need for religious services and spiritual care in hospitals, prisons or other public institutions, the religious societies shall be permitted to perform the religious offices, but all compulsion shall be avoided. _section iv_ education and schools article art, science and the teaching thereof are free. the state guarantees their protection and takes part in fostering them. article the education of the young shall be provided for through public institutions. in their establishment the commonwealth, states and municipalities co-operate. the training of teachers shall be regulated in a uniform manner for the commonwealth according to the generally recognized principles of higher education. the teachers in the public schools have the rights and duties of state officers. article the entire school system is under the supervision of the state; it may grant a share therein to the municipalities. the supervision of schools will exercised by technically trained officers who must devote their time principally to this duty. article attendance at school is obligatory. this obligation is discharged by attendance at the elementary schools for at least eight school years and at the continuation schools until the completion of the eighteenth year. instruction and school supplies in the elementary and continuation schools are free. article the public school system shall be systematically organized. upon a foundation of common elementary schools the system of secondary and higher education is erected. the development of secondary and higher education shall be determined in accordance with the needs of all kinds of occupations, and the acceptance of a child in a particular school shall depend upon his qualifications and inclinations, not upon the economic and social position or the religion of his parents. nevertheless, within the municipalities, upon the petition of those entitled to instruction common schools shall be established of their faith or ethical system, in so far as this does not interfere with a system of school administration within the meaning of paragraph . the wishes of those entitled to instruction shall be considered as much as possible. details will be regulated by state laws in accordance with principles to be prescribed by a national law. to facilitate the attendance of those in poor circumstances at the secondary and higher schools, public assistance shall be provided by the commonwealth, states, and municipalities, particularly, assistance to the parents of children regarded as qualified for training in the secondary and higher schools, until the completion of the training. article private schools, as a substitute for the public schools, require the approval of the state and are subject to the laws of the states. approval shall be granted if the private schools do not fall below the public schools in their educational aims and equipment as well as in the scientific training of their teachers, and if no separation of the pupils according to the wealth of their parents is fostered. approval shall be withheld if the economic and legal status of the teacher is not sufficiently assured. private elementary schools shall be only permissible, if for a minority of those entitled to instruction whose wishes are to be considered according to article , paragraph , there is no public elementary school of their faith or ethical system in the municipality, or if the educational administration recognizes a special pedagogical interest. private preparatory schools shall be abolished. the existing law remains in effect with respect to private schools which do not serve as substitutes for public schools. article all schools shall inculcate moral education, civic sentiment, and personal and vocational efficiency in the spirit of german national culture and of international conciliation. in the instruction in public schools care shall be taken not to hurt the feelings of those of differing opinion. civics and manual training are included in the school curriculum. every pupil receives a copy of the constitution on completing the obligatory course of study. the common school system, including university extension work, shall be cherished by the commonwealth, states and municipalities. article religious instruction is included in the regular school curriculum, except in the nonsectarian (secular) schools. the imparting of religious instruction is regulated by the school laws. religious instruction is imparted in accordance with the principles of the religious society concerned, without prejudice to the right of supervision of the state. the imparting of religious instruction and the use of ecclesiastical ceremonies is optional with the teachers, and the participation of the pupils in religious studies, and in ecclesiastical ceremonies and festivities is left to the decision of those who have the right to control the religious education of the child. the theological faculties in the universities will be continued. article the artistic, historical and natural monuments and scenery enjoy the protection and care of the state. the prevention of the removal of german art treasures from the country is a function of the commonwealth. _section v_ economic life article the regulation of economic life must conform to the principles of justice, with the object of assuring humane conditions of life for all. within these limits the economic liberty of the individual shall be protected. legal compulsion is permissible only for safeguarding threatened rights or in the service of predominant requirements of the common welfare. the freedom of trade and industry is guaranteed in accordance with the national laws. article freedom of contract prevails in economic relations in accordance with the laws. usury is forbidden. legal practices which conflict with good morals are void. article the right of private property is guaranteed by the constitution. its nature and limits are defined by law. expropriation may be proceeded with only for the benefit of the community and by due process of law. there shall be just compensation in so far as is not otherwise provided by national law. if there is a dispute over the amount of the compensation, there shall be a right of appeal to the ordinary courts, in so far as not otherwise provided by national law. the property of the states, municipalities, and associations of public utility may be taken by the commonwealth only upon payment of compensation. property-rights imply property-duties. exercise thereof shall at the same time serve the general welfare. article the right of inheritance is guaranteed in accordance with the civil law. the share of the state in inheritances is determined in accordance with the laws. article the distribution and use of the land is supervised by the state in such a way as to prevent its misuse and to promote the object of insuring to every german a healthful dwelling and to all german families, especially those with numerous children, homesteads corresponding to their needs. war-veterans shall receive special consideration in the enactment of a homestead law. landed property, the acquisition of which is necessary to satisfy the demand for housing, to promote settlement and reclamation, or to improve agriculture, may be expropriated. entailments shall be dissolved. the cultivation and utilization of the soil is a duty of the land-owner toward the community. an increase of the value of land arising without the application of labor or capital to the property shall inure to the benefit of the community as a whole. all mineral resources and all economically useful forces of nature are subject to the control of the state. private royalties shall be transferred to the state, as may be provided by law. article the commonwealth may by law, without impairment of the right to compensation, and with a proper application of the regulations relating to expropriation, transfer to public ownership private business enterprises adapted for socialization. the commonwealth itself, the states, or the municipalities may take part in the management of business enterprises and associations, or secure a dominating influence therein in any other way. furthermore, in case of urgent necessity the commonwealth, if it is in the interest of collectivism, may combine by law business enterprises and associations on the basis of administrative autonomy, in order to insure the co-operation of all producing elements of the people, to give to employers and employees a share in the management, and to regulate the production, preparation, distribution, utilization and pecuniary valuation, as well as the import and export, of economic goods upon collectivistic principles. the co-operative societies of producers and of consumers and associations thereof shall be incorporated, at their request and after consideration of their form of organization and peculiarities, into the system of collectivism. article labor is under the special protection of the commonwealth. the commonwealth will adopt a uniform labor law. article intellectual labor, the rights of the author, the inventor and the artist enjoy the protection and care of the commonwealth. the products of german scholarship, art, and technical science shall also be recognized and protected abroad through international agreement. article the right of combination for the protection and promotion of labor and economic conditions is guaranteed to everybody and to all professions. all agreements and measures which attempt to limit or restrain this liberty are unlawful. article any one employed on a salary or as a wage earner has the right to the leave necessary for the exercise of his civil rights and, so far as the business is not substantially injured thereby, for performing the duties of public honorary offices conferred upon him. to what extent his right to compensation shall continue will be determined by law. article for the purpose of conserving health and the ability to work, of protecting motherhood, and of guarding against the economic effects of age, invalidity and the vicissitudes of life, the commonwealth will adopt a comprehensive system of insurance, in the management of which the insured shall predominate. article the commonwealth commits itself to an international regulation of the legal status of the workers, which shall strive for a standard minimum of social rights for the whole working class of the world. article every german has, without prejudice to his personal liberty, the moral duty so to use his intellectual and physical powers as is demanded by the welfare of the community. every german shall have the opportunity to earn his living by economic labor. so long as suitable employment can not be procured for him, his maintenance will be provided for. details will be regulated by special national laws. article the independent agricultural, industrial, and commercial middle class shall be fostered by legislation and administration, and shall be protected against oppression and exploitation. article wage-earners and salaried employees are qualified to co-operate on equal terms with the employers in the regulation of wages and working conditions, as well as in the entire economic development of the productive forces. the organizations on both sides and the agreements between them will be recognized. the wage-earners and salaried employees are entitled to be represented in local workers' councils, organized for each establishment in the locality, as well as in district workers' councils, organized for each economic area, and in a national workers' council, for the purpose of looking after their social and economic interests. the district workers' councils and the national workers' council meet together with the representatives of the employers and with other interested classes of people in district economic councils and in a national economic council for the purpose of performing joint economic tasks and co-operating in the execution of the laws of socialization. the district economic councils and the national economic council shall be so constituted that all substantial vocational groups are represented therein according to their economic and social importance. drafts of laws of fundamental importance relating to social and economic policy before introduction [into the national assembly] shall be submitted by the national cabinet to the national economic council for consideration. the national economic council has the right itself to propose such measures for enactment into law. if the national cabinet does not approve them, it shall, nevertheless, introduce them into the national assembly together with a statement of its own position. the national economic council may have its bill presented by one of its own members before the national assembly. supervisory and administrative functions may be delegated to the workers' councils and to the economic councils within their respective areas. the regulation of the organization and duties of the workers' councils and of the economic councils, as well as their relation to other social bodies endowed with administrative autonomy, is exclusively a function of the commonwealth. transitional and final provisions article until the establishment of the national administrative court, the national judicial court takes its place in the organization of the electoral commission. article the provisions of article , paragraphs to , become effective two years after the promulgation of the national constitution. article until the adoption of the state law as provided in article , but at the most for only one year, all the prussian votes in the national council may be cast by members of the state cabinet. article the national cabinet will determine when the provisions of article , paragraph , shall become effective. temporarily, for a reasonable period, the collection and administration of customs-duties and taxes on articles of consumption may be left to the states at their discretion. article the postal and telegraphic administrations of bavaria and wurtemberg will be taken over by the commonwealth not later than april , . if no understanding has been reached over the terms thereof by october , , the matter will be decided by the supreme judicial court. the rights and duties of bavaria and wurtemberg remain in force as heretofore until possession is transferred to the commonwealth. nevertheless, the postal and telegraphic relations with neighboring foreign countries will be regulated exclusively by the commonwealth. article the state railroads, canals and aids to navigation will be taken over by the commonwealth not later than april , . if no understanding has been reached over the terms thereof by october , , the matter will be decided by the supreme judicial court. article until the national law regarding the supreme judicial court becomes effective its powers will be exercised by a senate of seven members, four of whom are to be elected by the national assembly and three by the national judicial court, each choosing among its own members. the senate will regulate its own procedure. article until the adoption of a national law according to article , the existing state contributions to the religious societies, whether authorized by law, contract or special grant, will be continued. article until the adoption of the national law provided for in article , paragraph , the existing legal situation will continue. the law shall give special consideration to parts of the commonwealth where provision for separate schools of different religious faiths is not now made by law. article the provisions of article do not apply to orders and decorations conferred for services in the war-years - . article all public officers and members of the armed forces shall be sworn upon this constitution. details will be regulated by order of the national president. article wherever by existing laws it is provided that the oath be taken in the form of a religious ceremony, the oath may be lawfully taken in the form of a simple affirmation by the person to be sworn: "i swear." otherwise the content of the oath provided for in the laws remains unaltered. article the constitution of the german empire of april , , and the law of february , , relating to the provisional government of the commonwealth, are repealed. the other laws and regulations of the empire remain in force, in so far as they do not conflict with this constitution. the provisions of the treaty of peace signed on june , , at versailles, are not affected by the constitution. official regulations, legally issued on the authority of laws heretofore in effect, retain their validity until superseded by other regulations or legislation. article in so far as reference is made in laws or executive orders to provisions and institutions which are abolished by this constitution, their places are taken by the corresponding provisions and institutions of this constitution. in particular, the national assembly takes the place of the national convention, the national council that of the committee of the states, and the national president elected by authority of this constitution that of the national president elected by authority of the law relating to the provisional government. the power to issue executive orders, conferred upon the committee of the states in accordance with the provisions heretofore in effect, is transferred to the national cabinet; in order to issue executive orders it requires the consent of the national council in accordance with the provisions of this constitution. article until the convening of the first national assembly, the national convention will function as the national assembly. until the inauguration of the first national president the office will be filled by the national president elected by authority of the law relating to the provisional government. article the german people have ordained and established this constitution by their national convention. it goes into effect upon the day of its promulgation. schwarzburg, august , [_signed_] the national president: ebert. the national cabinet: bauer, erzberger, hermann mÜller, dr. david, noske, schmidt, schlicke, giesberts, dr. mayer, dr. bell. finis errata page , line : for "diregarded" read "disregarded." page , line : for "this expression" read "their expression." page , line : for "and this" read "and thus." page , lines and : for "michälis" read "michaelis." page , line : for "michälis" read "michaelis." page , line : for "michälis" read "michaelis." page , line : for "michälis" read "michaelis." page , lines and : for "_étape_" read "_étappe_." page , line : for "_étape_" read "_étappe_." page , line : for "by their acts, but rather by their motives" read "by their acts instead of by their motives." page , line : for "hamburg" read "harburg." page , line : for "intransigent" read "intransigeant." page , line : for "governments' troops disposition" read "government troops' disposition." page , line : for "bosheviki" read "bolsheviki." printed in the united states of america transcriber notes: passages in italics were indicated by _underscores_. small caps were replaced with all caps. throughout the document, the oe ligature was replaced with "oe". the errors noted in the errata have been corrected. errors in punctuations and inconsistent hyphenation were not corrected unless otherwise noted. for instance, sometimes wurtemberg is used instead of württemberg. in the table of contents, "_inter_-many's" was replaced with "_internationale_--germany's". on page , "epecially" was replaced with "especially". on page , "occured" was replaced with "occurred". on page , "arbitary" was replaced with "arbitrary". on page , "wilheim" was replaced with "wilhelm". on page , "ninteen" was replaced with "nineteen". on page , "dittman" was replaced with "dittmann". on page , "agressively" was replaced with "aggressively". on page , "beween" was replaced with "between". on page , "situtation" was replaced with "situation". on page , "possiblities" was replaced with "possibilities". on page , "cooperate" was replaced with "coöperate". on page , there is reference to the "narodini listy," although some other sources refer to it as "narodni list". on page , "panic-striken" was replaced with "panic-stricken". on page , "cantagion" was replaced with "contagion". on page , "hoplessness" was replaced with "hopelessness". on page , in footnote , a quotation mark was put before "class-conscious" on page , "abdiction" was replaced with "abdication". on page , "februry" was replaced with "february". on page , "februry" was replaced with "february". on page , the comma after "republican germany" was replaced with a period. on page , in footnote , "sems" was replaced with "seems". on page , "agricultral" was replaced with "agricultural". the secrets of potsdam _first impression, march, . second impression, march, ._ the secrets of potsdam _a startling exposure of the inner life of the courts of the kaiser and crown-prince_ revealed for the first time by count ernst von heltzendorff _commander of the order of the black eagle, &c. late personal-adjutant to the german crown-prince_ chronicled by william le queux london: london mail ltd. , king street, covent garden. w.c. _copyright in the united states of america by william le queux, translation and cinema rights reserved_ _"veneux nadon, "par moret-sur-loing "(seine-et-marne). "february th, ._ "my dear le queux, "_i have just finished reading the proofs of your book describing my life as an official at the imperial court at potsdam, and the two or three small errors you made i have duly corrected._ "_the gross scandals and wily intrigues which i have related to you were, many of them, known to yourself, for, as the intimate friend of luisa, the ex-crown-princess of saxony, you were, before the war, closely associated with many of those at court whose names appear in the pages of this book._ "_the revelations which i have made, and which you have recorded here, are but a tithe of the disclosures which i could make, and if your british public desire more, i shall be pleased to furnish you with other and even more startling details which you may also put into print._ "_my service as personal-adjutant to the german crown-prince is, happily, at an end, and now, with the treachery of germany against civilization glaringly revealed, i feel, in my retirement, no compunction in exposing all i know concerning the secrets of the kaiser and his profligate son._ "_with most cordial greetings from_ "_your sincere friend_, "ernst von heltzendorff." the secrets of potsdam secret number one the tragedy of the leutenbergs you will recollect our first meeting on that sunny afternoon when, in the stuffy, nauseating atmosphere of perspiration and a hundred parisian perfumes, we sat next each other at the first roulette table on the right as you enter the rooms at monte carlo? ah! how vivid it is still before my eyes, the jingle of gold and the monotonous cries of the croupiers. ah! my dear friend! in those pre-war days the riviera--that sea-lapped paradise, with its clear, open sky and sapphire mediterranean, grey-green olives and tall flowering aloes, its gorgeous blossoms, and its merry, dark-eyed populace who lived with no thought of the morrow--was, indeed, the playground of europe. and, let me whisper it, i think i may venture to declare that few of its annual habitués enjoyed the life more than your dear old ink-stained self. what brought us together, you, an english novelist, and i a--well, how shall i describe myself? one of your enemies--eh? no, dear old fellow. let us sink all our international differences. may i say that i, count ernst von heltzendorff, of schloss heltzendorff, on the mosel, late personal-adjutant to his imperial highness the crown-prince, an official attached to that precious young scoundrel's immediate person, call you my dear friend? true, our nations are, alas! at war--the war which the kaiser and his son long sought, but which, as you well know, i have long ago detested. i have repudiated that set of pirates and assassins of whom i was, alas! born, and among whom i moved until i learned of the vile plot afoot against the peace of europe and the chastity of its female inhabitants. on august th, , i shook the dust of berlin from my feet, crossed the french frontier, and have since resided in the comfortable old-fashioned country house which you assisted me to purchase on the border of the lovely forest of fontainebleau. and now, you have asked me to reveal to you some of the secrets of potsdam--secrets known to me by reason of my official position before the war. you are persuading me to disclose some facts concerning the public and private life of the emperor, of my imperial master the crown-prince, known in his intimate circle as "willie," and of the handsome but long-suffering cecil duchess of mecklenbourg, who married him ten years ago and became known as "cilli." phew! poor woman! she has experienced ten years of misery, domestic unhappiness, by which she has become prematurely aged, deep-eyed, her countenance at times when we talked wearing an almost tragic look. no wonder, indeed, that there is a heavy and, alas! broken heart within the beautiful marble palace at potsdam, that splendid residence where you once visited me and were afterwards commanded to a reception held by his imperial highness. i risk much, i know, in taking up my pen to tell the truth and to make these exposures to you, but i do so because i think it only just that your british nation should know the true character of the emperor and of the unscrupulous and ubiquitous "willie," the defiant young blackguard of europe, who is the idol of the swaggering german army, and upon whom they pin their hopes. it is true that the commander of the death's head hussars--the "commander" who has since the war sanctioned the cold-blooded murder of women and children, the shooting of prisoners, rapine, incendiarism, and every other devil's work that his horde of assassins could commit--once declared that "the day will come when social democrats will come to court." true, he has been known to be present at the golden wedding festivities of a poor cobbler in potsdam; that he has picked up in his yellow ninety-horse-power car--with its black imp as a mascot--a poor tramp and taken him to the hospital; and that he possesses the charming manner of his much-worshipped grandfather, the emperor frederick. but he is as clever and cunning as his criminal father, wilhehm-der-plötzliche (william the sudden) or der einzige (the only), as the kaiser is called by the people of the palace. he shows with double cunning but one side of his character to the misguided german people, the prussian junker party, and the tom-dick-and-harry of the empire who have been made cannon-fodder and whose bones lie rotting in flanders and on the aisne. ah, my dear friend, what a strange life was that of the german court before the war--a life of mummery, of gay uniforms, tinsel, gilded decorations, black hearts posing as virtuous, and loose people of both sexes evilly scandalizing their neighbours and pulling strings which caused their puppets to dance to the war-lord's tune. i once lifted the veil slightly to you when you stayed at the palast hotel in potsdam and came to us at the marble palace, and i suppose it is for that reason that you ask me to jot down, for the benefit of your readers in great britain and her dominions, a few facts concerning the plots of the kaiser and his son--the idol of germany, the kronprinz "willie." what did you think of him when i presented you? i know how, later on that same night, you remarked upon his height, his narrow chest, and his corset-waist, and how strangely his animal eyes set slant-wise in his thin, aquiline face, goggle eyes, which dilate so strangely when speaking with you, and which yet seem to penetrate your innermost thoughts. i agreed with you when you declared that there was nothing outwardly of the typical hohenzollern in the imperial rake. true, one seeks in vain for traces of martial virility. though his face is so often wreathed in boyish smiles, yet his heart is as hard as that of the true hohenzollern, while his pretended love of sport is only a clever ruse in order to retain the popularity which, by dint of artful pretence, he has undoubtedly secured. indeed, it was because of the all-highest one's jealousy of his reckless yet crafty son's growing popularity that we were one day all suddenly packed off to danzig to be immured for two long years in that most dreary and provincial of all garrisons. of the peccadilloes of the elegant young blackguard of europe--who became a fully-fledged colonel in the german army at the age of thirty-one--i need say but little. his life has been crammed with disgraceful incidents, most of them hushed up at the kaiser's command, though several of them--especially certain occurrences in the engadine in the winter of --reached the ears of the crown-princess, who, one memorable day, unable to stand her husband's callous treatment, threatened seriously to leave him. indeed, it was only by the kaiser's autocratic order that "cilli" remained at the marmor palace. she had actually made every preparation to leave, a fact which i, having learned it, was compelled to report to the crown-prince. we were at the palace in the zeughaus-platz, in berlin, at the time, and an hour after i had returned from potsdam i chanced to enter the crown-prince's study. the door was a self-locking one, and i had a key. on turning my key i drew back, for his majesty the emperor, a fine figure in the picturesque cavalry uniform of the königsjäger--who had just come from a review, and had no doubt heard of the threatened royal scandal--was standing astride in the room. "i compel it!" cried the emperor, pale with rage, his eyes flashing as he spoke. "she shall remain! go to her at once--make your peace with her in any way you can--and appear to-night with her at the theatre." "but i fear it is impossible. i----" "have you not heard me?" interrupted the emperor, disregarding his son's protests. and as i discreetly withdrew i heard the kaiser add: "cannot you, of our house of hohenzollern, see that we cannot afford to allow cilli to leave us? the present state of the public mind is not encouraging, much as i regret it. remember frederick august's position when that madcap luisa of tuscany ran away with the french tutor giron. now return to marmor without delay and do as i bid." "i know cilli. she will not be appeased. of that i am convinced," declared the young man. "it is my will--the will of the emperor," were the last words i heard, spoken in that hard, intense voice i knew so well. "tell your wife so. and do not see that black-haired englishwoman again. i had a full report from the engadine a fortnight ago, and this _contretemps_ is only what i have expected. it is disgraceful! when will you learn reason?" ten minutes later i was seated beside the crown-prince in the car on our way to potsdam. on the road, driving recklessly as i sat by his side, he laughed lightly as he turned to me, saying: "what an infernal worry women really are--aren't they, heltzendorff--more especially if one is an imperial prince! even though one is a hohenzollern one cannot escape trouble!" how the conjugal relations were resumed i know not. all i know is that i attended their imperial highnesses to the lessing theatre, where, in the royal box, the kaiser--ever eager to stifle the shortcomings of the hohenzollerns--sat with us, though according to his engagements he should have been on his way to düsseldorf for a great review on the morrow. but such public display allayed all rumour of his son's domestic infelicity, and both emperor and kronprinz smiled benignly upon the people. early next day the crown-prince summoned me, in confidence, and an hour later i left on a secret mission to a certain lady whom i may call miss lilian greyford--as it is not fair in certain cases in these exposures to mention actual names--daughter of an english county gentleman, who was staying at the "kulm" at st. moritz. twenty-four hours afterwards i managed to see the winter-sports young lady alone in the hotel, and gave her a verbal message, together with a little package from his imperial highness, which, when she opened it, i found contained a souvenir in the shape of an artistic emerald pendant. with it were some scribbled lines. the girl--she was not much more than twenty--read them eagerly, and burst into a torrent of tears. ah! my dear le queux, as you yourself know from your own observations, there are as many broken hearts beating beneath the corsets of ladies-in-waiting and maids-of-honour, as there are among that frantic feminine crowd striving to enter the magic circle of the royal entourage or the women of the workaday world who pass up unter-den-linden on a sunday. phew! what a world of fevered artificiality revolves around a throne! very soon after this incident--namely, in the early days of --i found myself, as the personal-adjutant of his imperial highness the crown-prince, involved in a very strange, even inexplicable, affair. how shall i explain it? well, the drama opened in the emperor's palace in berlin on new year's night, , when, as usual, a grand court reception was held. the scene was one which we who revolve around the throne know so well. court gowns, nodding plumes, gay uniforms, and glittering decorations--a vicious, tinselled, gossip-loving little world which with devilish intent sows seeds of dark suspicion or struggles for the kaiser's favour. in the famous white salon, with its ceiling gaudily emblazoned with the arms of the hohenzollerns as burgraves, electors, kings, emperors, and what-not, its walls of coloured marble and gilded bronze, and its fine statues of the prussian rulers, we had all assembled and were waiting the entrance of the emperor. kiderlen-waechter--the foreign secretary--was standing near me, chatting with von jagow, slim, dark-haired and spruce. the latter, who was serving as german ambassador in rome, happened to be in berlin on leave, and the pair were laughing merrily with a handsome black-haired woman whom i recognized as the baroness bertieri, wife of the italian ambassador. philip eulenburg, one of the emperor's personal friends (by the way, author, with von moltke, of the kaiser's much-advertised "song to Ægir"--a fact not generally known), approached me and began to chat, recalling a side-splitting incident that had occurred a few days before at kiel, whither i had been with the crown-prince to open a new bridge. oh, those infernal statues and bridges! of a sudden the tap of the chamberlain's stick was heard thrice, the gold-and-white doors instantly fell open, and the emperor, his decorations gleaming beneath the myriad lights, smilingly entered with his waddling consort, the crown-prince, and their brilliant suite. all of us bowed low in homage, but as we did so i saw the shrewd eyes of the all-highest one, which nothing escapes, fixed upon a woman who stood close to my elbow. as he fixed his fierce gaze upon her i saw, knowing that glance as i did, that it spoke volumes. hitherto i had not noticed the lady, for she was probably one of those unimportant persons who are commanded to a grand court, wives and daughters of military nobodies, of whom we at the palace never took the trouble to inquire so long as their gilt command-cards, issued by the grand chamberlain, were in proper order. that slight contraction of the emperor's eyebrows caused me to ponder deeply, for, knowing him so intimately, i saw that he was intensely annoyed. for what reason? i was much mystified. naturally i turned to glance at the woman whose presence had so irritated him. she was fair-haired, blue-eyed, _petite_ and pretty. her age was about twenty-five, and she was extremely good-looking. beside her stood a big, fair-haired giant in the uniform of a captain of the first regiment of the hussars of the guard, of which the crown-prince was colonel-in-chief. within a quarter of an hour i discovered that the officer was count georg von leutenberg, and that his pretty wife, whom he had married two years before, was the eldest daughter of an english financier who had been created a baron by your rule-of-thumb politicians. "pretty woman, eh?" lisped eulenburg in my ear, for he had noticed her, and he was assuredly the best judge of a pretty face in all berlin. next day, just before noon, on entering the crown-prince's private cabinet, i found "willie" in the uniform of the nd grenadiers, apparently awaiting me in that cosy apartment, which is crammed with effigies, statuettes, and relics of the great napoleon, whom he worships just as the war lord reveres his famous ancestor frederick the great. "sit down, heltzendorff," said his elegant highness, waving his white, well-manicured hand to a chair near by, and puffing at his cigarette. "it is really pleasant to have an hour's rest!" he laughed, for he seemed in merry mood that day. "look here! as you know, after the little affair with the crown-princess i trust to your absolute discretion. do you happen to know count georg von leutenberg, of the hussars of the guard?" "by sight only," was my reply. mention of that name caused me to wonder. "he is a very good fellow, i understand. do you know his wife--a pretty little englishwoman?" "unfortunately, i have not that pleasure." "neither have i, heltzendorff," laughed the prince, with a queer look in those slant-set eyes which appear so strangely goggly sometimes. "but i soon shall know her, i expect. in that direction i want your assistance." "i am yours for your highness to command," i replied, puzzled to know what was in progress. after a few seconds of silence the crown-prince suddenly exclaimed: "so good is the report of von leutenberg that has reached the emperor that--though he is as yet in ignorance of the fact--he has been promoted to the rank of major, and ordered upon a foreign mission--as military attaché in london. he will leave berlin to-night to take up his new post." "and the countess?" "by a secret report i happen to have here it is shown that they are a most devoted pair," he said, glancing at a sheet of buff paper upon which was typed a report, one which i recognized as emanating from the secret bureau at the polizei-prasidium, in alexander platz. "they live in the lennestrasse, no. , facing the tiergarten. note the address." then his highness paused, and, rising, crossed to the big writing-table set in the window, and there examined another report. afterwards, glancing at the pretty buhl clock opposite, he suddenly said: "the count should call here now. i have sent informing him of the emperor's goodwill, and ordering him to report here to take leave of me as his colonel-in-chief." scarcely had he spoken when count von leutenberg was announced by a flunkey in pink silk stockings, and a moment later the tall officer clicked his heels together and saluted smartly on the threshold. "i thought you would be pleased at your well-merited promotion," said his highness in quite a genial tone. "the emperor wishes you to leave for london by the ten o'clock express for flushing to-night, so as to report to his excellency the ambassador before he departs on leave. hence the urgency. the countess, of course, will remain in berlin. you will, naturally, wish for time to make your arrangements in london and dispose of your house here." "i think she will wish to accompany me, your imperial highness," replied the fond husband. "london is her home." "ah! that is absurd!" laughed "willie." "why, you who have been married two whole years are surely not still upon your honeymoon?" and his close-set eyes glinted strangely. "you will be far too busy on taking up your new appointment to see much of her. no. let her remain comfortably at home in berlin until you are quite settled. then i will see that kiderlen grants you leave to return to put your house in order." from the count's manner i could see that he was very much puzzled at his sudden promotion. indeed, on entering he had stammered out his surprise at being singled out for such high distinction. von leutenberg's hesitation was the crown-prince's opportunity. "good!" went on his highness in his imperious, impetuous way. "you will leave for london to-night, and the countess will remain until you have settled. i congratulate you most heartily upon your well-deserved advancement, which i consider is an honour conferred by the emperor upon my regiment. i know, too, that you will act to the honour of the fatherland abroad." and with those words the major was dismissed. "a charming man!" remarked the prince, after the door had closed. "he has only been brought to my notice quite recently. an enthusiastic officer, he will be of great use to us at carlton house terrace. there is much yet to be done there, my dear heltzendorff. fortunately we have put our friends the english comfortably to sleep. it has cost us money, but money talks in london, just as it does in berlin." and he drew a long, ecstatic breath at the mere thought of the great international plot in progress--of the staggering blow to be struck against france, and the march upon paris with those men who were his boon companions--von kluck, von hindenburg and von der goltz. "heltzendorff," he exclaimed a few moments later, after he had reflected deeply between the whiffs of his cigarette. "heltzendorff, i wish you to become acquainted with the countess von leutenberg, and you must afterwards introduce me. i have a fixed and distinct reason. i could obtain the assistance of others, but i trust you only." "but i do not know the lady," i protested, for i had no desire whatsoever to become implicated in any double-dealing. "hohenstein knows her well. i will see that he introduces you," replied the kaiser's son, with that strange look again in his eyes. "she's uncommonly pretty, so mind you don't fall in love with her!" he laughed, holding up his finger reprovingly. "i've heard, too, that count georg is a highly jealous person, but, fortunately, he will be very busy writing secret reports at carlton house terrace. so go and see hohenstein at once, and get him to introduce you to the pretty little englishwoman. but, remember, not a word of this conversation is to be breathed to a single soul." what did it all mean? why had the emperor singled out for advancement the husband of that woman, the sight of whom had so greatly annoyed him? i confess that i became more than ever puzzled over the curious affair. within a week, however, thanks to the introduction of that old roué, hohenstein, i had dined at count von leutenberg's pretty house in the lennestrasse in a fine room, the long windows of which commanded a delightful view over the tiergarten and the siegesallee. the countess, extremely charming and refined, having the misfortune of being english, had not been taken up warmly by berlin society. she was, i found, a most delightful hostess. the party included laroque, the elegant first secretary of the french embassy, and his parisian wife, together with baron hoffmann, the burly, round-faced minister of the interior, and doctor paulssen, under-secretary at the colonial office, against whom you will remember there were allegations of atrocities committed upon the natives in german east africa. hohenstein was, however, not there, as he had been suddenly dispatched by the emperor upon a mission to corfu. at table the talk ran upon leutenberg's sudden promotion, whereupon the minister hoffmann declared: "his majesty only gives reward when it is due. when he discerns talent he is never mistaken." a week later the crown-prince had returned from a surprise visit the kaiser had made to stettin. the emperor had played his old game of rousing the garrison in the middle of the night, and then laughing at the ludicrous figures cut by his pompous generals and colonels rushing about in their night attire eager to greet their sovereign. i was in the prince's private room arranging the details of a military programme at potsdam on the following day when he suddenly entered and exclaimed: "well, heltzendorff, and how are you proceeding in the lennestrasse, eh?" and he looked at me with those crafty eyes of his. "i hear you were at the house last night." i started. was i being watched? it was quite true that i had called on the previous evening, and, finding the countess alone, had sat in her pretty drawing-room enjoying a long and delightful chat with her. "yes. i called there," i admitted. "the count is returning from london next week to take his wife back with him." the crown-prince smiled mysteriously, and critically examined the curious snake ring which he always wears upon the little finger of his left hand. "we need not anticipate that, i think. kiderlen will not grant him leave. he is far better in carlton house terrace than in the lennestrasse." "i hardly follow your highness," i remarked, much mystified at his words. "h'm. probably not, my dear count," he laughed. "i do not intend that you should." and with that mysterious remark he turned to meet count von zeppelin, the round-faced, snow-haired, somewhat florid inventor, who was one of his highness's most intimate friends, and who had at that moment entered unannounced. zeppelin was a character in berlin. he sought no friends, no advertisement, and shunned notoriety. "ha, my dear ferdinand!" cried the prince, shaking the hand of the man who so suddenly became world-famous at the age of seventy. "you have travelled from stuttgart to see me--unwell as you are! it is an honour. but the matter is one of greatest urgency, as i have already written to you. i want to show you the correspondence and seek your advice," and the prince invited his white-haired friend to the big, carved arm-chair beside his writing-table. then, turning to me, he said: "will you see von glasenapp for me, and hand him those orders for posen? he must leave to-night. the general court-martial at stendal i have fixed for the th. i shall be with the emperor this afternoon. report here at seven to-night--understand?" thus was i dismissed, while his imperial highness and count zeppelin sat together in secret counsel. at ten minutes to seven that evening i unlocked the crown-prince's room with the key i carried, the other two keys being in the hands of the crown-princess and her husband. i had placed upon the table a bundle of reports which had just been brought round from the ministry of war, and required that scribbly signature, "wilhelm kronprinz," when i noticed three private letters that had evidently been placed aside. the envelopes were addressed in a thin, angular, female hand, and bore an english address. i noted it. the name on each was that of a lady residing in aylesbury avenue, hampstead, london. the letters bore german stamps. in keen curiosity, i took one and examined it, wondering whether it could be the correspondence which the crown-prince had been so eager to show count von zeppelin in secret. i drew the letter from the envelope and scanned it rapidly. what i read caused me to hold my breath. the signature to the letters was "enid von leutenberg." those letters of hers had, it was plain, been seized in the post on their way to london. the countess either had a traitor in her household or secret watch was being kept by the secret service upon her correspondence. all three of those letters i read--letters which opened my eyes and broadened my mind. then, taking up my bundle of reports, i crept away from the room, carefully re-latching the door. i intended that his highness should return, discover the letters left there inadvertently, and put them away ere my arrival, in which case he would never suspect that i had any knowledge of their contents. with the papers in my hand i passed along the many carpeted corridors to the south wing of the palace, where i found tresternitz, marshal of the prince's court, in his room. the crown-prince imitated his father's sharp punctuality, therefore i knew that he would be there at seven or soon afterwards. tresternitz was always full of scandal concerning those who lived in the higher circles of berlin, and it was to one of these stories of court scandal concerning one of the ladies-in-waiting which i listened while i smoked one of his excellent russian cigarettes. then, glancing at the clock, i rose suddenly and left him, returning again to the private room. i found his highness there, and as i entered i noticed that he had hidden those remarkable letters which he had in secret shown to count zeppelin. a fortnight went past. the kaiser, with his mad love of constant travel, had been rushing up and down the empire--to krupp's at essen, to the trials of a newly-invented howitzer, thence to an inspection at kassel, and afterwards to unveil monuments at cologne and at erfurt. the crown-prince and princess had accompanied him, the kaiserin being indisposed, and i, of course, had been included in "willie's" suite. the week had been a strenuous one of train-travel, luncheons, tiring dinners, receptions, dancing, and general junketings, and i was glad enough to get back to my bachelor rooms--those rooms in the krausenstrasse that you knew so well before the bursting of the war-cloud. to dance attendance upon an imperial crown-prince, as well as upon an autocratic emperor, becomes after a time a wearisome business, however gay and cosmopolitan a man may be. i had only been at home a few hours when a telephone message summoned me at five o'clock to the crown-prince's palace. his imperial highness, who had, i knew, been lunching with the emperor at the königliches schloss across the bridge, seemed unusually serious and thoughtful. perhaps the emperor had again shown his anger at his peccadilloes, as he did so frequently. "count," he said, after a few seconds of silence, during which i noted that upon his table lay a private letter from the german ambassador in london. "you will recall my conversation regarding the countess von leutenberg--eh?" "perfectly," was my reply. "i told you that i should require you to introduce me," he said. "well, i want you to do so this evening. she has taken a box at the königliche opera to-night, where they are to play _falstaff_. i shall be there, and you will be with me. then you will introduce me to your pretty friend. understand?" and he grinned. that night, in accordance with my instructions, i sat in the emperor's box with the crown-prince, tresternitz, and two personal-adjutants, and, recognizing the countess von leutenberg in a box opposite, accompanied by an elderly lady, i took the crown-prince round, and there presented her to him, greatly to her surprise and undisguised delight. the prince and the countess chatted together, while i sat with her elderly companion. then, when we had withdrawn, my imperial master exclaimed: "ah! my dear heltzendorff. why, she is one of the prettiest women in all berlin! surely it is unfortunate--most unfortunate." what was unfortunate? i was further puzzled by that last sentence, yet i dare not ask any explanation, and we went back to our own box. after our return to the palace the crown-prince, who was standing in one of the corridors talking with the slim, fair-haired baroness von wedel, one of his wife's ladies-in-waiting, left her and beckoned me into an adjoining room. "i wish you, heltzendorff, to call upon the countess von leutenberg at nine o'clock to-morrow evening. she will expect you." i looked at his highness, much puzzled. how did he know that the pretty countess would expect me? but he gave me no time to reply, merely turning upon his heel, and striding down the corridor to the private apartments. punctually at nine o'clock that wintry evening i called at the lennestrasse, but josef, the elderly manservant, informed me that his mistress was engaged, adding that his imperial highness the crown-prince had paid a surprise call. "the crown-prince here!" i gasped, astounded. "yes, count. and, further, my mistress is in high glee, for my master returned this morning quite unexpectedly from london. he has been out at the ministry for foreign affairs all the evening, and i expect him home at any moment. the crown-prince ordered me to ask you to await him here." count von leutenberg in berlin! what did it mean? he was absurdly jealous, i recollected. he might return at any moment and find the crown-prince alone in the countess's drawing-room. if so, the situation might certainly be a most unpleasant one. hardly had the thought crossed my mind when i heard the count enter, his spurs clinking and his sabre rattling as he strode up the stairs. i crept forth, listening breathlessly. a few seconds later i heard the count's voice raised in anger and high, bitter words. next moment i sprang up the stairs and, dashing into the room, found the pretty countess standing near the window, white and rigid as a statue, while the two men in uniform faced each other. von leutenberg's countenance was distorted with rage as he abused the crown-prince, and openly charged him with having brought about his exile to london. his highness made no reply, but only smiled sarcastically and shrugged his narrow shoulders. so enraged the other became at this latter gesture that, with a sudden movement, he drew his sword. the countess shrieked and swooned as i sprang forward and stayed her husband's hand. it was a dramatic moment. the count instantly realized the enormity of his crime, and his hand dropped. "enough!" cried the crown-prince, waving his adversary aside. then, turning to me, he said in a calm, hard voice: "heltzendorff, you are witness that this man has drawn his sword upon the heir to the throne." and with those haughty words he bowed stiffly and strode out of the room. two hours later i was commanded to the kaiser's presence, and found him in counsel with his son. the emperor, who wore the uniform of the guards, looked pale and troubled, yet in his eyes there was a keen, determined look. as i passed the sentries and entered the lofty study, with its upholstery and walls of pale green damask--that room from which the empire and the whole world have so often been addressed--the kaiser broke off short in his conversation. turning to me as he still sat at his littered table, he said in that quick, impetuous way of his: "count heltzendorff, the crown-prince has informed me of what has occurred this evening in the lennestrasse. i wish you to convey this at once to count von leutenberg and to give it into his own hand. there is no reply." and his majesty handed me a rather bulky envelope addressed in his own bold handwriting, and bearing his own private cipher impressed in black wax. thus commanded, i bowed, withdrew, and took a taxicab straight to the lennestrasse, being ushered by josef into the presence of husband and wife in that same room i had quitted a couple of hours before. i handed the count the packet the emperor had given me, and with trembling fingers he tore it open. from within he drew three letters, those same letters which his wife had written to london, and which had been intercepted by the secret service--the letters which i had read in his highness's room. as he scanned the lines which the emperor had penned his face blanched. a loud cry of dismay escaped his wife as she recognized her own letters, and she snatched the note from her husband's hand and also read it. the light died instantly from her beautiful countenance. then, turning to me, she said in a hoarse, hopeless tone: "thank you, count von heltzendorff. tell his majesty the emperor that his command shall be--yes, it shall be obeyed." those last words she spoke in a deep, hoarse whisper, a strange, wild look of desperation in her blue eyes. an hour later i reported again at the imperial palace, was granted audience of the emperor, and gave him the verbal reply. his majesty uttered no word, merely nodding his head slowly in approval. next afternoon a painful sensation was caused throughout berlin when the _abendpost_ published the news that count von leutenberg, the man so recently promoted by the emperor, and his pretty wife had both been found dead in their room. during the night they had evidently burned some papers, for the tinder was found in the stove, and having agreed to die together, they being so much attached during life, they had both taken prussic acid in some wine, the bottle and half-emptied glasses being still upon the table. the romantic affair, the truth of which i here reveal for the first time, was regarded by all berlin as an inexplicable tragedy. the public are still unaware of how those intercepted letters contained serious warnings to the british government of the emperor's hostile intentions towards britain, and the probable date of the outbreak of war. indeed, they recounted a private conversation which the countess had overheard between the kaiser and count zeppelin, repeating certain opprobrious epithets which the all-highest had bestowed upon one or two british statesmen, and she also pointed out the great danger of a pending rupture between the two powers, as well as explaining some details regarding the improved zeppelins in course of construction secretly on lake constance, and certain scandals regarding the private life of the crown-prince. it was for the latter reason that the heir, aided by the war-lord, took his revenge in a manner so crafty, so subtle, and so typical of the innate cunning of the hohenzollerns. thus the well-meant warnings of one of your good, honest englishwomen never reached the unsuspicious address to which they were sent, and thus did "willie"--who, as i afterwards discovered, devised that subtle vengeance--act as the emperor's catspaw. secret number two the crown-prince's revenge the trautmann affair was one which caused a wild sensation at potsdam in the autumn of . in the emperor's immediate entourage there was a great deal of gossip, most of it ill-natured and cruel, for most ladies-in-waiting possess serpents' tongues. their tongues are as sharp as their features, and though there may be a few pretty maids-of-honour, yet the majority of women at court are, as you know, my dear le queux, mostly plain and uninteresting. i became implicated in the unsavoury trautmann affair, in a somewhat curious manner. a few months after the leutenberg tragedy i chanced to be lunching at the "esplanade" in berlin, chatting with laroque, of the french embassy. our hostess was frau breitenbach, a wealthy jewess--a woman who came from dortmund--and who was spending money like water in order to wriggle into berlin society. as personal-adjutant of the crown-prince i was, of course, one of the principal guests, and i suspected that she was angling for a card of invitation to the next ball at the marmor palace. who introduced me to the portly, black-haired, rather handsome woman i quite forget. probably it was some nobody who received a commission upon the introduction--for at the berlin court introductions are bought and sold just as the succulent sausage is sold over the counter. in the big white-and-gold _salle-à-manger_ of the "esplanade," which, as you know, is one of the finest in europe, frau breitenbach was lunching with sixteen guests at one big round table, her daughter elise, a very smartly dressed girl of nineteen, seated opposite to her. it was a merry party, including as it did some of the most renowned persons in the empire, among them being the imperial chancellor, bethmann-hollweg, of the long, grave face and pointed beard, and that grand seigneur who was a favourite at court, the multi-millionaire serene highness prince maximilian egon zu fürstenberg. of the latter it may be said that no man rivalled his influence with the emperor. what he said was law in germany. fürstenberg was head of the famous "prince's trust," now dissolved, but at that time, with its capital of a hundred million pounds, it was a great force in the german commercial world. indeed, such a boon companion was he of the kaiser's that an august but purely decorative and ceremonial place was actually invented for him as colonel-marshal of the prussian court, an excuse to wear a gay uniform and gorgeous decorations as befitted a man who, possessing twenty millions sterling, was an important asset to the emperor in his deep-laid scheme for world-power. another prince of the "trust" was fat old kraft zu hohenlohe oehringen, but as he had only a paltry ten millions he did not rank so high in the war-lord's favour. fürstenberg, seated next to the estimable jewess, was chatting affably with her. her husband was in america upon some big steel transaction, but her pretty daughter elise sat laughing merrily with a young, square-headed lieutenant of the death's head hussars. that merry luncheon party was the prologue of a very curious drama. i was discussing the occult with a middle-aged lady on my right, a sister of herr alfred ballin, the shipping king. in society discussions upon the occult are always illuminating, and as we chatted i noticed that far across the crowded room, at a table set in a window, there sat alone a dark-haired, sallow, good-looking young civilian, who, immaculate in a grey suit, was eating his lunch in a rather bored manner, yet his eyes were fixed straight upon the handsome, dark-haired young girl, elise breitenbach, as though she exercised over him some strange fascination. half a dozen times i glanced across, and on each occasion saw that the young man had no eyes for the notables around the table, his gaze being fixed upon the daughter of the great financier, whose interests, especially in america, were so widespread and profitable. somehow--why i cannot even now decide--i felt a distinct belief that the young civilian's face was familiar to me. it was not the first time i had seen him, yet i could not recall the circumstances in which we had met. i examined my memory, but could not recollect where i had before seen him, yet i felt convinced that it was in circumstances of a somewhat mysterious kind. two nights later i had dined with the breitenbachs at their fine house in the alsenstrasse. the only guest beside myself was the thin-faced, loud-speaking old countess von bassewitz, and after dinner, served in a gorgeous dining-room which everywhere betrayed the florid taste of the parvenu, frau breitenbach took the countess aside to talk, while i wandered with her daughter into the winter garden, with its high palms and gorgeous exotics, that overlooked the gardens of the austrian embassy. when we were seated in cane chairs, and the man had brought us coffee, the pretty elise commenced to question me about life at the crown-prince's court, expressing much curiosity concerning the private life of his imperial highness. such questions came often from the lips of young girls in society, and i knew how to answer them with both humour and politeness. "how intensely interesting it must be to be personal-adjutant to the crown-prince! mother is dying to get a command to one of the receptions at potsdam," the girl said. "only to-day she was wondering--well, whether you could possibly use your influence in that direction?" in an instant i saw why i had been invited to dinners and luncheons so often, and why i had been left alone with the sweet-faced, dark-eyed girl. i reflected a moment. then i said: "i do not think that will be very difficult. i will see what can be done. but i hope that if i am successful you will accompany your mother," i added courteously, as i lit a cigarette. "it is really most kind of you," the girl declared, springing up with delight, for the mere thought of going to court seemed to give her intense pleasure. yet all women, young and old, are alike in that respect. the struggle to set foot near the throne is, as you yourself have seen, always an unseemly one, and, alas! the cause of many heart-burnings. when i looked in at tresternitz's room in the palace next morning, i scribbled down the name of mother and daughter for cards. "who are they?" grunted the old marshal, removing a big cigar from his puffy lips. "people i know--they're all right, and the girl is very good-looking." "good. we can do with a little beauty here nowadays. we've had an infernally ugly lot at the balls lately," declared the man, who was the greatest gossip at court, and who thereupon commenced to tell me a scandalous story regarding one of the ladies-in-waiting to the kaiserin who had disappeared from the new palace, and was believed to be living in scotland. "the emperor is furious," he added. "but he doesn't know the real truth, and never will, i expect." a week later the crown-prince and princess gave a grand ball at the marmor palace at potsdam, and the emperor himself attended. frau breitenbach, gorgeously attired, made her bow before the all-highest, and her daughter did the same. that night i saw that the kaiser was in no good mood. he seldom was at the court functions. indeed, half an hour before his arrival the crown-prince had told me, in confidence, of his father's annoyance at the failure of some diplomatic negotiations with britain. the emperor, in his brilliant uniform, with the order of the black eagle, of which he was _chef-souverain_, and the diamond stars of many foreign orders, presented a truly imperial figure, his shrewd, unrelenting gaze everywhere, his upturned moustache accentuated, his voice unusually sharp and commanding. i spoke with elise, and afterwards, when i danced with her i saw how impressed she was by the glitter and glamour of the potsdam court circle, and by the fact that she was in the presence of the all-highest one, without whose gracious nod nothing could hope to prosper in the fatherland, and without whose approval no public work could be undertaken in berlin. those statesmen, admirals and generals present might plan, but he alone willed. his approval or his frown was as a decree of providence, and his autocratic will greater than that of his "brother," nicholas of russia. i remember how, one day in the militär-kabinett, an old buffer at court whom we called "hans" hohenlohe--he was one of the hundred and sixty odd members of the aristocratic family of hohenlohe which swarm the fatherland, mostly penurious, by-the-way, salary-grabbers, all elbowing each other to secure the kaiser's favour--made a very true remark which has ever remained in my memory. it was very soon after herr von libenau, the imperial master of ceremony, had been arrested owing to a scandal at court, though perfectly innocent. my friend "hans" hohenlohe said in a low, confidential whisper at a shooting party, after the french ambassador had wished us a merry _bon jour_ and passed out: "my dear friend heltzendorff, you, like myself, know that war is inevitable. it must come soon! the reason is to be found in the madness of the emperor, which has spread among our military party and among the people, till most of them are no more sane than himself. hypnotized by good fortune, we have become demented with an overweening vanity and a philosophy which must end in our undoing. the emperor's incessant drum-beating, sabre-rattling, and blasphemous appeals to the almighty have brought our german nation to that state which, since the world began, has ever gone before destruction." no truer words were ever spoken of modern germany. they recurred to me as, while waltzing with the pretty daughter of the dortmund parvenu, i noticed the emperor standing aside, chatting with old von zeppelin, who every now and then patted his silvery hair, a habit of his when in conversation. with the pair stood ernst auguste, the young duke of brunswick, who in the following year married the emperor's daughter, the rather petulant and go-ahead victoria louise. the prince, who wore the uniform of the prussian guard, was laughing heartily over some remark of old zeppelin's as, with my partner, i passed quite close to them. the dainty elise was, i found, quite an entertaining little person. old tresternitz had already whispered his opinion of her. "undoubtedly the prettiest girl at court," he had declared, with a twinkle in his grey eyes. from words the pretty elise let drop that night as she hung upon my arm i wondered whether she was really as ingenuous as she pretended. and yet frau breitenbach was one of dozens of others who strove to enter the court circle, flapping their wings vainly to try and cross the wide gulf which separated the "high life" in berlin from "court life." the rooms were stifling, therefore i took my pretty dancing partner along a corridor and through several deserted apartments into the east wing of the palace, showing her some of the crown-princess's private rooms, until at length we stepped through a french window on to the long terrace before the lake, the heilige-see. there we were alone. the white moon was reflected upon the waters, and after the heat of the ball-room the balmy air was delightful. against the marble balustrade beside the water i stood chatting with her. all was silent save for the tramp of soldiers passing near, for the guard was at that hour changing. as became a courtier, i chaffed and laughed with her, my intention being to learn more concerning her. but she was, i found, an extremely discreet and clever little person, a fact which further increased the mystery. one night about two months later i had an appointment with max reinhardt at the deutsches theater, in berlin, to arrange a royal visit there, and after the performance i went back to the palace, prior to retiring to my rooms in the krausenstrasse. the guards saluted as i crossed the dark courtyard, and having passed through the corridors to the private apartments i entered with my key the crown-prince's locked study. to my surprise, i found "willie" seated there with the emperor in earnest discussion. with apology, i bowed instantly and withdrew, whereupon the kaiser exclaimed: "come in, heltzendorff. i want you." then he cast a quick, mysterious glance at the young man, who had thrown himself in lazy attitude into a long cane lounge chair. it was as though his majesty was hesitating to speak with me, or asking his son's permission to do so. "tell me, heltzendorff," exclaimed his majesty suddenly, "do you know this person?" and he placed before my astonished gaze a very artistic cabinet photograph of the pretty elise. "yes," i answered frankly, quite taken aback. "it is fräulein breitenbach." "and what do you know of her?" inquired his majesty sharply. "you introduced her and her mother to court, i believe." i saw that the emperor had discovered something which annoyed him. what could it be? at once i was compelled to admit that i had set down their names for invitation, and, further, i explained all that i knew about them. "you are certain you know nothing more?" asked the emperor, his brows contracted and his eyes fixed steadily upon mine. "understand that no blame attaches to you." i assured him that i had revealed all that i knew concerning them. "hold no further communication with either mother or daughter," his majesty said. "leave for paris by the eight o'clock train to-morrow morning, and go to baron von steinmetz, the chief of our confidential service in france." then, turning to the crown-prince, he said: "you have his address." "yes," said the younger man. "he is passing as monsieur felix reumont, and is living at bis, avenue de neuilly, close to the pont." i scribbled the name and address upon the back of an envelope, whereupon his majesty said: "carry my verbal orders to steinmetz, and tell him to act upon the orders i sent him by courier yesterday. and you will assist him. he will explain matters fully when you arrive." then, crossing to the crown-prince's writing-table, his majesty took a large envelope, into which, with the same hand, he dexterously placed the photograph with several papers, and sealed them with the crown-prince's seal. at the moment the crown-princess entered, said some words to her husband in a low voice, and went out again. "give this to von steinmetz from me," his majesty said after she had gone. i bowed as i took it from his majesty's hand, my curiosity now greatly excited regarding frau breitenbach and her pretty daughter. what, i wondered, was in the wind? "and, heltzendorff, please report to me," remarked the heir, still lounging lazily in the chair, his white, well-manicured hands clasped behind his head. "where shall you stay?" "at the hôtel chatham. i always stay there in preference to the larger hotels." "and not a bad judge," laughed his majesty merrily. "i remember when i used to go to paris incognito one could dine at the 'chatham' most excellently--old-fashioned, but very good. vian's, across the road, is also good." the kaiser knows paris well, though he has never visited the french capital openly. bowing, i took leave of my imperial master, and next morning at eight o'clock, set out upon my mysterious mission. i found the baron von steinmetz living in a good-sized house in the leafy avenue de neuilly, not far from the bridge. one of the cleverest and most astute officials that germany possessed, and a man high in the kaiser's favour, he had, in the name of felix reumont, purchased, with government funds of course, a cinema theatre in the rue lafayette, and ostensibly upon the proceeds of that establishment lived comfortably out at neuilly. at eleven o'clock in the morning his valet, evidently a german, showed me in. "i quite understand, my dear heltzendorff," he said, as in his cosy little den he took from the emperor's packet the picture of fräulein elise and stood gazing at it thoughtfully. "it is quite plain why you should have been sent by his majesty." "why. i don't understand. but his majesty told me that you would explain. the young lady and her mother are friends of mine." "exactly. that's just it!" exclaimed the round-faced, rather florid man whom i had once met before. "you apparently know but little of them--eh?--or you would not call them your friends!" those mysterious words surprised me, but i was the more astounded when he continued: "you of course know of those disgraceful anonymous letters which have been continually arriving at court--of the emperor's fury concerning them." i replied in the affirmative, for, as a matter of fact, for the past three months the whole court had been flooded with most abusive and disgraceful correspondence concerning the camarilla that had again sprung up around the kaiser. the emperor, the empress, the crown-prince and princess, prince eitel, sophie caroline, prince henry of prussia and others had received letters, most of them in typewriting, containing the most intimate details of scandals concerning men and women around the emperor. fully a dozen of these letters addressed to the crown-prince he had handed to me--letters denouncing in some cases perfectly innocent people, destroying the reputations of honest men and women, and abusing the heir to the throne in an outrageous manner. on at least three occasions "willie" had shown me letters addressed to the kaiser himself, and intercepted by the kaiserin, who, in consequence of this flood of anonymous epistles that had produced such a terrible sensation at potsdam, had ordered that all such letters found in the imperial post-bag should be handed at once to her. the great war-lord's feelings had been sorely wounded by the vitriolic shafts, and his vanity much injured by the boldness of the unknown letter-writer who had dared to speak his mind concerning the eulenburg scandals, which maximilian harden had some time before exposed in the _zukunft_. all berlin was gossiping about the scandal of the letters and the horrible innuendoes contained in them. the _allerhöchste person_, though boiling over with anger, blissfully believed that outside the palaces nothing was known of the contents of the correspondence. but the emperor, in his vanity, never accurately gauges the mind of his people. "the identity of the writer is the point that is engaging my attention," the baron said, as, seating himself at his big, carved-oak writing-table, he opened a drawer and drew forth a bundle of quite a hundred letters, adding: "all these that you see here have been addressed either to the emperor or the empress," and he handed me one or two, which on scanning i saw contained some outrageous statements, allegations which would make the hair of the all-highest one bristle with rage. "well!" i exclaimed, aghast, looking up at the baron after i had read an abusive letter, which in cold, even lines of typewriting commenced with the words: "you, a withered crook in spectacular uniform better fitted for the stage of the metropol theatre, should, instead of invoking the aid of providence, clear out your own augean stable. its smell is nauseous to the nostrils of decent people. surely you should blush to have feasted in the castle of liebenberg with the poet, prince philip, and your degenerate companions, hohenau, johannes lynar, and your dearly beloved kuno!" and the abusive missive proceeded to denounce two of my friends, ladies-in-waiting at the neues palais, and to make some blackguardly allegations concerning the idol. von hindenburg. "well," i exclaimed, "that certainly is a very interesting specimen of anonymous correspondence." "yes, it is!" exclaimed the baron. "in berlin every inquiry has been made to trace its author. schunke, head of the detective police, was charged by the emperor to investigate. he did so, and both he and klewitz failed utterly. now it has been given into my hands." "have you discovered any clue to the writer?" i asked anxiously, knowing full well what a storm of indignation those letters had produced in our own circle. presently, when i sat with the baron at his table, he switched on an intense electric light, even though it was day-time, and then spread out some of the letters above a small, square mirror. "you see they are on various kinds of note-paper, bearing all kinds of watermarks, of french, english, and german manufacture. some we have here are upon english paper, because it is heavy and thick. again, three different makes of typewriter have been used--one a newly-invented importation from america. the written letters are, you will see, mostly in a man's hand." "yes, i see all that," i said. "but what have you discovered concerning their author? the letter i received bore a french stamp and the postmark of angers." he placed before me quite a dozen envelopes addressed to the emperor and empress, all bearing the postmark of that town in the maine-et-loire. others had been posted in leipzig, wilhelmshaven, tours, antwerp, berlin-wilmersdorf, and other places. "the investigation is exceedingly difficult, i can assure you," he said. "i have had the assistance of some of the best scientific brains of our empire in making comparisons and analyses. indeed, professor harbge is with me from berlin." as he uttered those words the professor himself, an elderly, spectacled man in grey tweeds, entered the room. i knew him and greeted him. "we have been studying the writing-papers," the professor said presently, as he turned over the letters, some of which were upon commercial typewriting paper, some on cheap thin paper from fashionable "blocks," and others upon various tinted paper of certain mills, as their watermarks showed. the papers were various, but the scurrilous hand was the clever and evasive one of some person who certainly knew the innermost secrets of the german court. "sixteen different varieties of paper have been received at the neues and marmor palaces," the baron remarked. "well, i have worked for two months, night and day, upon the inquiry, for, as you know, the tentacles of our teuton octopus are everywhere. i have discovered that eleven of these varieties of paper can be purchased at a certain small stationer's shop, lancry's, in the boulevard haussmann, close to the 'printemps.' one paper especially is sold nowhere else in paris. it is this." and he held over a mirror a letter upon a small sheet of note-paper bearing the watermark of a bull's head. "that paper was made at a mill in the south of devonshire, in england, destroyed by fire five years ago. paper of that make cannot be obtained anywhere else in france," he declared. i at once realized how much patience must have been expended upon the inquiry, and said: "then you have actually fixed the shop where the writer purchased his paper?" "yes," he replied. "and we know that the newly-invented typewriter, a specimen one, was sold by the maison audibert, in marseilles. the purchaser of the typewriter in marseilles purchases his paper and envelopes at lancry's, in the boulevard haussmann." "splendid!" i said enthusiastically, for it was clear that the baron, with the thousand-and-one secret agents at his beck and call, had been able, with the professor's aid, to fix the source of the stationery. "but," i added, "what is wanted from me?" why, i wondered, had his majesty sent the baron that photograph of elise breitenbach? "i want you to go with me to the central door of the 'printemps' at four o'clock this afternoon, and we will watch lancry's shop across the way," the baron replied. this we did, and from four till six o'clock we stood, amid the bustle of foot passengers, watching the small stationer's on the opposite side of the boulevard, yet without result. next day and the next i accompanied the prosperous cinema proprietor upon his daily vigil, but in vain, until his reluctance to tell me the reason why i had been sent to paris annoyed me considerably. on the fifth afternoon, just before five o'clock, while we were strolling together, smoking and chatting, the baron's eyes being fixed upon the door of the small single-fronted shop, i saw him suddenly start, and then make pretence of utter indifference. "look!" he whispered beneath his breath. i glanced across and saw a young man just about to enter the shop. the figure was unfamiliar, but, catching sight of his face, i held my breath. i had seen that sallow, deep-eyed countenance before. it was the young man who, two months previously, had sat eating his luncheon alone at the "esplanade," apparently fascinated by the beauty of little elise breitenbach! "well," exclaimed the baron. "i see you recognize him--eh? he is probably going to buy more paper for his scurrilous screeds." "yes. but who is he? what is his name?" i asked anxiously. "i have seen him before, but have no exact knowledge of him." the baron did not reply until we were back again in the cosy room in neuilly. then, opening his cigar-box, he said: "that young man, the author of the outrageous insults to his majesty, is known as franz seeliger, but he is the disgraced, ne'er-do-well son of general von trautmann, captain-general of the palace guard." "the son of old von trautmann!" i gasped in utter amazement. "does the father know?" the baron grinned and shrugged his shoulders. then after i had related to him the incident at the "esplanade," he said: "that is of greatest interest. will you return to berlin and report to the emperor what you have seen here? his majesty has given me that instruction." much mystified, i was also highly excited that the actual writer of those abominable letters had been traced and identified. the baron told me of the long weeks of patient inquiry and careful watching; of how the young fellow had been followed to angers and other towns in france where the letters were posted, and of his frequent visits to berlin. he had entered a crack regiment, but had been dismissed the army for forgery and undergone two years' imprisonment. afterwards he had fallen in with a gang of clever international hotel thieves, and become what is known as a _rat d'hôtel_. now, because of a personal grievance against the emperor, who had ordered his prosecution, he seemed to have by some secret means ferreted out every bit of scandal at potsdam, exaggerated it, invented amazing additions, and in secret sown it broadcast. his hand would have left no trace if he had not been so indiscreet as to buy his paper from that one shop close to the rue de provence, where he had rooms. on the third night following i stood in the emperor's private room at potsdam and made my report, explaining all that i knew and what i had witnessed in paris. "that man knows a very great deal--but how does he know?" snapped the emperor, who had just returned from berlin, and was in civilian attire, a garb quite unusual to him. he had no doubt been somewhere incognito--visiting a friend perhaps. "see schunke early to-morrow," he ordered, "and tell him to discover the link between this young blackguard and your friends the breitenbachs, and report to me." i was about to protest that the breitenbachs were not my friends, but next instant drew my breath, for i saw that the great war-lord, even though he wore a blue serge suit, was filled with suppressed anger. "this mystery must be cleared up!" he declared in a hard voice, reflecting no doubt upon the terrible abuse which the writer had heaped upon him, all the allegations, by-the-way, having contained a certain substratum of truth. next morning i sat with the bald-headed and astute schunke at the headquarters of the detective police in berlin, and there discussed the affair fully, explaining the result of my journey to paris and what i had seen, and giving him the order from the kaiser. "but, count, if this woman breitenbach and her pretty daughter are your friends you will be able to visit them and glean something," he said. "i have distinct orders from the emperor not to visit them while the inquiry is in process," i replied. schunke grunted in dissatisfaction, stroked his iron-grey beard, but made no further comment. we walked out together, and i left him at the door of the etat-major of the army in the königsplatz. later that same morning i returned to the marmor palace to report to the crown-prince, but found that his highness was absent upon an official visit of inspection at stuttgart. the marshal of the court, tresternitz, having given me the information, laughed, and added: "officially, according to to-day's newspapers, his highness is in stuttgart, but unofficially i know that he is at the palace hotel, in brussels, where there is a short-skirted variety attraction singing at the eden theatre. so, my dear heltzendorff, you can return to the krausenstrasse for a day or two." i went back to berlin, the crown-princess being away at wiesbaden, and from day to day awaited "willie's" return. in the meantime i several times saw the great detective, schunke, and found that he was in constant communication with baron steinmetz in paris. the pair were evidently leaving no stone unturned to elucidate the mystery of those annoying letters, which were still falling as so many bombs into the centre of the kaiser's court. suddenly, one sunday night, all berlin was electrified at the news that general von trautmann, captain-general of the palace guard--whom, truth to tell, the crown-prince had long secretly hated because he had once dared to utter some word of reproach--had been arrested, and sent to a fortress at the emperor's order. an hour after the arrest his majesty's personal-adjutant commanded me by telephone to attend at the berlin schloss. when we were alone the kaiser turned to me suddenly, and said: "count von heltzendorff, you will say nothing of your recent visit to paris, or of the authorship of those anonymous letters--you understand? you know absolutely nothing." then, being summarily dismissed by a wave of the imperial hand, i retired, more mystified than ever. why should my mouth be thus closed? i dared not call at the alsenstrasse to make my own inquiries, yet i knew that the police had made theirs. when i returned to my rooms that evening schunke rang me up on the telephone with the news that my friends the breitenbachs had closed their house and left early that morning for brussels. "where is seeliger?" i inquired in great surprise. "in brussels. the breitenbachs have gone there to join him, now that the truth is out and his father is under arrest." the emperor's fury was that of a lunatic. it knew no bounds. his mind, poisoned against the poor old general, he had fixed upon him as the person responsible for that disgraceful correspondence which for so many weeks had kept the court in constant turmoil and anxiety. though his majesty was aware of the actual writer of the letters, he would not listen to reason, and openly declared that he would make an example of the silver-haired old captain-general of the guard, who, after all, was perfectly innocent of the deeds committed by his vagabond son. a prosecution was ordered, and three weeks later it took place _in camera_, the baron, schunke and a number of detectives being ordered to give evidence. so damning, indeed, was their testimony that the judge passed the extreme sentence of twenty years' imprisonment. and i, who knew and held proofs of the truth, dared not protest! where was the general's son--the real culprit and author of the letters? i made inquiry of schunke, of the baron, and of others who had, at the order of the all-highest, conspired to ruin poor von trautmann. all, however, declared ignorance, and yet, curiously enough, the fine house in the alsenstrasse still remained empty. later, i discovered that the crown-prince had been the prime mover in the vile conspiracy to send the elderly captain-general to prison and to the grave, for of this his words to me one day--a year afterwards--were sufficient proof: "it is a good job, heltzendorff, that the emperor rid himself at last of that canting old pest, von trautmann. he is now in a living tomb, and should have been there four years ago!" and he laughed. i made no response. instead, i thought of the quiet, innocent old courtier languishing in prison because he had somehow incurred the ill-will of the emperor's son, and i confess that i ground my teeth at my own inability to expose the disgraceful truth. about six months after the secret trial of the unfortunate general i had accompanied the crown-prince on a visit to the quirinal, and one afternoon while strolling along the corso, in rome, suddenly came face to face with the dainty little figure of fräulein elise breitenbach. in delight i took her into ronzi's, the noted confectioner's at the corner of the piazza colonna, and there, at one of the little tables, she explained to me how she and her mother, having become acquainted with franz seeliger--not knowing him to be the general's son--they suddenly fell under the suspicion of the berlin secret police, and, though much puzzled, did not again come to court. some weeks later mother and daughter chanced to be in paris, and one day called at seeliger's rooms in the rue de provence, but he was out. they, however, were shown into his room to wait, and there saw upon his table an abusive and scurrilous typewritten letter in german addressed to the emperor. then it suddenly dawned upon them that the affable young man might be the actual author of those infamous letters. it was this visit which, no doubt, revealed to the baron the young man's hiding-place. both mother and daughter, however, kept their own counsel, met seeliger next day, and watched, subsequently learning, to their surprise, that he was the son of general von trautmann, and, further, that he had as a friend one of the personal valets of the emperor, from whom, no doubt, he obtained his inside information about persons at court. "when his poor father was sentenced we knew that the young man was living in brussels, and at once went there in order to induce him to come forward, make confession, and so save the general from disgrace," said the pretty girl seated before me. "on arrival we saw him alone, and told him what we had discovered in the rue de provence, whereupon he admitted to us that he had written all the letters, and announced that he intended to return to berlin next day and give himself up to the police in order to secure his father's release." "and why did he not do so?" i asked eagerly. "because next morning he was found dead in his bed in the hotel." "ah, suicide." "no," was her half-whispered reply. "he had been strangled by an unknown hand--deliberately murdered, as the brussels police declared. they were, of course, much mystified, for they did not know, as we know, that neither the young man's presence nor his confession were desired in berlin." fearing the emperor's wrath, the breitenbachs, like myself, dare not reveal what they knew--the truth, which is here set down for the first time--and, alas! poor general von trautmann died in prison at mulheim last year. secret number three how the kaiser persecuted a princess the truth of the dastardly plot which caused the downfall of the unfortunate and much-maligned imperial princess luisa antoinette marie, archduchess of austria, and wife of friedrich-august, now the reigning king of saxony, has never yet been revealed. i know, my dear le queux, that you had a good deal to do with the "skittish princess," as she was called, and her affairs after she had left the court of saxony and went to live near you in the via benedetto da foiano, in florence. you were her friend, and you were afterwards present at her secret marriage in london. therefore, what i here reveal concerning a disgraceful conspiracy by which a clever, accomplished, and generous princess of the blood royal was hounded out of germany will, i think, be of peculiar interest to yourself and to those readers for whom you are setting down my reminiscences. as you know, before being appointed to my recent position in the crown-prince "willie's" household, i was personal-adjutant to his majesty the emperor, and in that capacity accompanied der einzige (the one) on his constant travels. always hungry for popular applause, the emperor was ever on the move with that morbid restlessness of which he is possessed, and which drove him from city to city, hunting, yachting, unveiling statues, opening public buildings, paying ceremonial visits, or, when all excuses for travel became exhausted, he presented new colours to some regiment in some far-off garrison. indeed, within that one year, , i accompanied "william-the-sudden" and his host of adjutants, military and civil secretaries, valets, chasseurs and flunkeys, to twenty-eight different cities in germany and scandinavia, where he stopped and held court. some cities we visited several times, being unwelcome always because of the endless trouble, anxiety and expense caused to the municipal authorities and military casinos. i, of course, knew the charming imperial highness the crown-princess luisa of saxony, as she often came on visits to the kaiserin, but i had never spoken much with her until at easter the emperor went to visit dresden. he took with him, among other people, one of his untitled boon companions, judicial councillor löhlein, a stout, flabby-faced hanger-on, who at the time possessed great influence over him. indeed, he was really the emperor's financial agent. this man had, some time ago, very fortunately for the emperor, opened his eyes to the way in which kunze had manipulated the amazing schloss freiheit lottery, and had been able to point out to the all-highest one what a storm of ridicule, indignation and defiance must arise in berlin if he attempted to carry out his huge reconstruction and building scheme. i was present in the emperor's room at potsdam when old löhlein, with whom sat herr von wedell, openly declared to the emperor that if he prosecuted his pet building scheme great indignation must arise, not only in the capital, but in hanover, wiesbaden, and kassel. the kaiser knitted his brows and listened attentively to both of his advisers. i well remember how, next day, the press, in order to allay the public dissatisfaction, declared that the huge building projects of the emperor never existed. they had been purely imaginary ideas put forward by a syndicate of speculative builders and taken up by the newspapers. without doubt the podgy, fair-haired man in gold-rimmed spectacles, the judicial councillor löhlein, by crushing the kaiser's mad scheme gained considerable popularity in a certain circle. he was, however, a man of exceptional craft and cunning, and during the eight years or so he remained the intimate friend of the emperor he must have, by advising and looking after the imperial investments, especially in america, amassed a great fortune. on the occasion of our easter visit to the saxon court--a court which, to say the least, was a most dull and uninteresting one--we all went, as is the custom there, to the shoot at the vogelschiessen, a large wooden bird made up of pieces which fall out when hit in a vital part. the bird target is set up at the easter fair held close to dresden, and on that afternoon the whole court annually go to try their skill at marksmanship. we were a merry party. the emperor went with the old king and queen of saxony, being accompanied by the crown-prince friedrich-august and the crown-princess luisa, merry, laughing, full of spirits, and unusually good-looking for a royalty. the saxon royal family all shot, and, thanks to her father's tuition, the crown-princess knocked a piece out of the bird at the first shot, which sent the public wild with enthusiasm. luisa was the most popular woman in saxony, and deservedly so, for hers had been a love match. her father, ferdinand iv., grand duke of tuscany, had, at the suggestion of the emperor francis joseph, endeavoured to arrange a match between the princess and the man now known as "foxy" ferdinand of bulgaria. with that object a grand _dîner de cérémonie_ was held one night at the imperial castle of salzburg, and at that dinner luisa, suspecting the conspiracy, publicly insulted the ruler of bulgaria, which for ever put an end to the paternal plans. after her marriage to the saxon crown-prince the kaiser, in one of his whimsical moods, became greatly attached to her because of her frankness, her love of outdoor life, and her high educational attainments, hence we often had her visiting at potsdam or at the berlin schloss. she was known to be one of the few feminine royalties in whom the kaiser took the slightest interest. after our return from the public shooting to the royal palace in dresden, a banquet was, of course, held in honour of the emperor in that great hall where, on the walls, the four estates are represented by scenes from the history of the emperor henry i. at the grand ball afterwards i found myself chatting with luisa, who, i recollect, wore a most charming and artistic gown of sea-green chiffon, _décolleté_, of course, with pink carnations in her hair and a few diamonds upon her corsage, as well as the order of st. elizabeth and her magnificent rope of matched pearls, which went twice round her neck and reached to her knees--a historic set which had once belonged to marie antoinette. she looked very charming, and, in her frank way, asked me: "how do you like my dress, count? i designed it myself," she added. i complimented her upon it, but i afterwards heard that the old king of saxony had been horrified at the lowness to which the bodice had been cut, and, further, that every yard of green chiffon in dresden had been sold out before noon next day and the dress copied everywhere. as we stood chatting in a corner of the room, watching the scene of unusual brilliancy because of the kaiser's presence, the princess, turning to me, said suddenly: "do you believe in omens, count von heltzendorff?" "omens!" i exclaimed, rather surprised at her question. "really, i'm afraid i am a little too matter-of-fact to take such things seriously, your highness." "well, a curious thing happened here about a month ago," she said. "i was----" at that instant the emperor, in the uniform of the nd regiment of saxon grenadiers, of which he was chief, and wearing the order of crancelin of the house of saxony, strode up, and, standing before us exclaimed: "well, luisa? what is the very interesting topic of conversation, eh?" he had evidently overheard her words about some curious thing happening, for, laughing gaily, he asked; "now, what did happen a month ago?" her imperial highness hesitated, as though endeavouring to avoid an explanation, but next second she waved her lace fan quickly and said: "well, something remarkable. i will tell your majesty if you really wish to hear it." "by all means, luisa, by all means," replied his majesty, placing his sound hand behind his back and drawing himself up very erect--a habit of his after asking a question. "well, recently friedrich-august and myself have moved into rooms in the older wing of the palace--rooms that have not been occupied for nearly forty years. they are old-world, charming, and remind me constantly of augustus the strong and the times in which he lived. just about a month ago the king and queen of roumania were paying us a visit. we were at dinner, and while we were all laughing and talking, for 'carmen sylva' had been telling us one of her stories, we heard a great clatter of horses' hoofs and the heavy rumble of wheels, just as though a stage coach was crossing the small courtyard. all of us listened, and in the silence we heard it receding quite distinctly. i at once sent my lady-in-waiting to ascertain who had arrived or departed, four-wheeled coaches being quite unusual nowadays. it seemed just as though the coach had driven out of the palace gate. the message brought back from the guardroom was that no carriage had entered or left. i told this to those around the table, and the queen of roumania, who had taken much interest in omens and folk-lore, seated opposite me, seemed much impressed, and even perturbed." "then the noise you heard must have been quite an uncanny one, eh?" asked the emperor, deeply interested. "quite. two of the women at the table declared that it must have been thunder, and then the conversation proceeded. i, however, confess to your majesty that i was very much puzzled, and the more so because only two nights ago, while we sat at dinner friedrich-august and myself _en famille_, we heard exactly the same sounds again!" "really!" laughed the emperor. "quite uncanny. i hope, here in dresden, you are not believing in spooks, as london society believes in them." "not at all," said the princess earnestly. "i don't believe in omens. but, curiously enough, the king told me yesterday that his two old aunts, who formerly lived in our wing of the palace, had sometimes heard the clatter of horses' hoofs, the jingle of harness, the grinding of the brakes, and the rumbling of heavy carriage wheels." "h'm!" grunted the emperor. "i've heard that same story before, luisa. the departing coach means trouble to the reigning family." "that is exactly what the king said to me only last evening," answered luisa frankly. "does it mean trouble to me, i wonder?" "certainly not," i declared. "your imperial highness need not worry for one moment over such things. nobody nowadays regards such phenomena as presage of evil. there is no doubt some perfectly natural explanation of the sounds. every old palace, castle, and even private house, has its traditions." "quite right, heltzendorff," laughed the emperor, "especially in england and scotland. there they have white ladies, grey ladies, men with heads like stags, lights in windows, the sound of mysterious bells ringing, and all sorts of evil omens. oh, those dear, superstitious english! how ready they are to take up anything unpractical that may be a pleasant change to the senses." "your majesty does not believe in omens?" i ventured to remark. "omens!" he exclaimed, fixing his gaze upon me. "no; none but cowards and old women believe in them." then, turning to the princess, he smiled, saying: "if i were you, luisa, i would give your chief of police orders to question all the servants. somebody rattled some dishes, perhaps. you say it was during dinner." but the pretty crown-princess was serious, for she said: "well, all i can say is that not only did i myself hear, but a dozen others at table also heard the noise of horses, not dishes." "ah, luisa! i see you are a trifle nervous," laughed the emperor. "well, as you know, your royal house of saxony has lasted from the days of albert the courageous in the early fifteenth century, and the dynasty of the ravensteins has been prosperous from then until to-day, so don't trouble yourself further. why, you are really quite pale and unnerved, i see," his majesty added, for nothing escapes those shrewd, wide-open eyes of his. then the emperor, after acknowledging the salute of baron georg von metzsch, controller of the royal household--a tall, thin, crafty-eyed man, with hair tinged with grey, and wearing a dark blue uniform and many decorations--changed the topic of conversation, and referred to the saxon easter custom which that morning had been carried out. the kaiser was in particularly merry mood that night. he had gone to dresden against his inclination, for he had long ago arranged an easter review on the tempelhofer feld, but the visit was, i knew, for the purpose of a consultation in secret with the king of saxony. a week before, in the berlin schloss, i had been sent by the emperor to obtain a paper from his table in the upstairs study, and in looking for the document in question--one that he had signed and wished to send over to the reichsamt des innern (office of the interior)--i came across a letter from king george of saxony, begging the emperor to visit him, in order to discuss "that matter which is so seriously threatening the honour of our house." several times i wondered to what his majesty of saxony had referred. that morning emperor and king had been closeted alone together for fully three hours, and the outcome of the secret conference seemed to have put the all-highest into a most excellent mood. he left us, accompanied by baron von metzsch and judicial councillor löhlein, and i noticed how both men were talking with the emperor in an undertone. to my surprise also i saw how löhlein cast furtive glances towards where i still stood with the crown-princess. a few moments later, however, a smart officer of the prussian guard, whom i recognized as count von castell rudenhausen, a well-known figure in the gay life of berlin, came forward, and, bowing, invited the princess to waltz. and a moment later luisa was smiling at me across the shoulder of her good-looking cavalier. suddenly, while waltzing, her magnificent rope of historic matched pearls accidentally caught in the button of a passing officer, the string snapped, and many of the pearls fell rattling upon the polished floor. in a moment a dozen officers in tight uniforms were groping about to recover them from the feet of the dancers when, during the commotion, i heard the voice of judicial councillor löhlein remark quite loudly: "ah! now we can all see who are the crown-princess' admirers!" luisa flushed instantly in anger and annoyance, but said nothing, whilst her lady-in-waiting in silence took the broken rope of pearls, together with those recovered from the floor, and a few moments later the significant incident ended. the saxon crown-prince and his wife were at that time a most devoted couple, though all of us knew that the modern ideas luisa had brought to dresden from the hapsburg court had much shocked old king george and his consort. the saxon court was unused to a pretty woman with buoyant spirits rejoicing in life with a capital "l." according to the court whisperings, trouble had started a few days after marriage, when the king, having given his daughter-in-law a tiara of diamonds, a royal heirloom, with strict injunctions to wear them just as they were--a style of the seventeenth century--he one evening at the opera saw her wearing the stones re-set in that style known as _art nouveau_. the king became furious, and ordered them to be set again in their original settings, whereupon luisa coolly returned the present. such was the commencement of the old king's ill-feeling towards her. the state ball that night was certainly a brilliant one for such a small court, and next day we all returned to potsdam, for the emperor had suddenly cancelled a number of engagements and arranged to pay a visit to wilhelmshaven, where the kaiserliche werft (imperial dockyard) contained certain naval secrets he wished to see. before we left dresden, however, i met the crown-princess in one of the corridors. it was nine o'clock in the morning. she wore her riding-habit, for, being a splendid horsewoman, she had just come in from her morning canter. "well, count!" she laughed. "so you are leaving us unexpectedly! i shall be coming to pay another visit to potsdam soon. the emperor invited me last night. au revoir!" and after i had bent over her small white hand she waved it merrily and passed the sentry towards her private apartments, wherein she had heard the ghostly coach and four. her imperial highness paid her promised visit to the empress at the neues palais in july. at the time of her arrival the emperor had left suddenly and gone away to hubertusstock. when anything unusual upset him he always went there. i overheard him the day before his departure shouting to löhlein as i passed along one of the corridors. the judicial councillor seemed to be trying to pacify him, but apparently entirely without avail, for the emperor is a man not easily convinced. "you are as sly as all the rest!" i heard the emperor declare in that shrill, high-pitched tone which always denotes his anger. "i'll hear none of it--no excuses. i want no fawning, no jew-juggling." then, fearing to be discovered, i slipped on past the door. the next i heard was that the kaiser had left for that lonely retreat to which he went when he wished to be alone in those periods of crazy impetuosity which periodically seized the mad dog of europe; and, further, that he had taken with him his crafty crony, löhlein. during that mysterious absence--when the tinselled world of potsdam seemed at peace--the good-looking saxon crown-princess arrived. i was on duty on the railway platform to bow over her hand and to welcome her. "ah! count von heltzendorff! well, did i not say that i should not be very long before i returned to potsdam, eh?" she exclaimed. then, in a whisper, she said with a merry laugh: "do you remember those clattering hoofs and my broken rope of pearls? nothing has happened yet." "and nothing will," i assured her as, with a courtier's obeisance, i conducted her imperial highness to the royal carriage, where the crown-prince "willie" was awaiting her, chatting with two officers of the guard to while away the time. three days later an incident occurred which caused me a good deal of thought, and, truth to tell, mystified me considerably. that somewhat indiscreet journal, the _militär wochenblatt_, had published a statement to the effect that friedrich-august of saxony and the handsome luisa had had a violent quarrel, a fact which caused a great deal of gossip throughout court circles. old von donaustauf, who at that time was master of the ceremonies at the emperor's court, busied himself by spreading strange scandals regarding the crown-princess luisa. therefore, in the circumstances, it struck me as strange that her highness should have been invited to the puritanical and hypocritical circle at potsdam. that afternoon, soon after the guard had been changed, i chanced to be writing in my room, which overlooked the big central courtyard, when i heard the guard suddenly turn out in great commotion, by which i knew that his majesty had suddenly returned from hubertusstock. ten minutes later my telephone rang, and, passing the sentries, i went by order to his majesty's study, that chamber of plots and secrets, hung with its faded pale green silk damask, its furniture covered with the same material, and its net curtains at the windows threaded with ribbons of the same shade. the moment i entered the emperor's countenance showed me that he was very angry. his low-bowing crony, löhlein, always a subtle adviser, had returned with him, and stood watching the emperor as the latter impatiently paced the room. i saluted, awaiting orders in silence, as was my habit, but so preoccupied was his majesty that he did not notice my presence, but continued his outburst of furious wrath. "only see what von hoensbroech has reported!" he cried, suddenly halting against one of those big buhl chests of drawers with grey marble tops--heavy pieces of furniture veneered with tortoise-shell in which the emperor keeps his official papers. "i am being made a laughing-stock--and you know it, löhlein! it has been said of us that a woman, a whim, or a word will to-day raise any person to high rank in our empire! that blackguard, harden, has actually dared to write it in his journal. well, we shall see. that woman--she shall----" as the kaiser uttered those words he suddenly realized that i was present, and hesitated. next second both his tone and his manner changed. "heltzendorff--i--i--wish you to go to dresden and take a private letter. it will be ready in half an hour. say nothing to anyone concerning your departure, but report to me here at"--and he glanced at the small bronze clock on the overmantel between two elegant candelabra--"at four o'clock." as commanded, i reported, but the kaiser was with the empress, who, in one of her private apartments, was holding _petit cercle_, the princess luisa being present. indeed, as i entered that semi-circular salon the kaiser was standing astride before luisa's chair laughing gaily with her. surely none who saw him at that moment would ever have believed that not half an hour before his face had been blanched by anger. he could alter his moods just as he changed his three hundred odd uniforms. there was something mysterious in the wind--of that i felt absolutely convinced. the atmosphere of that faded green upstairs room was always one of confidential conversations, intimate conferences and secret plots--plots despicable and vile, as has since been proved--against the peace of the world. the emperor, noticing that i had entered the imperial presence, came forward, and i followed him back into the softly-carpeted corridor. then his action further aroused my curiosity, for he took from the inner pocket of his tunic an envelope of what you in england call "court" size--linen-lined, as are all envelopes used by the emperor for his private correspondence. i saw it had been sealed in black by his own hand. then, as he handed it to me, he said: "go to dresden as quickly as possible and obtain a reply to this." i clicked my heels together, and, saluting, left upon my secret mission to the saxon court. the letter was addressed to baron georg von metzsch at dresden. next day, when i presented it to the tall, thin controller of the household, who sat in his small but cosy room in the royal palace, i saw that its contents greatly puzzled him. he wrote a reply, and as imperial messenger i returned at once to potsdam, handing it to the emperor as he strode alone from the shell saloon, through which he was passing after dinner. he took it from my hand without a word. the all-highest never bestows thanks upon those who obey his orders. it is, indeed, said to-day that hindenburg has never once, during his whole official career, been verbally thanked by his imperial master. the emperor, with impatient fingers, tore open the envelope, read its contents, and then smiled contentedly, after which i went to old von donaustauf's room, and, tired out by the long journey, smoked a good cigar in his company. next day we were all back at the berlin schloss--for we never knew from day to day where we might be--hamburg, stuttgart, düsseldorf or danzig. during the morning his majesty inspected the berlin garrison in the tempelhofer feld, and the princess luisa rode with him. that same afternoon, while i was busy writing in the long room allotted to me in the berlin schloss, her imperial highness, to my surprise, entered, closing the door quietly after her. "count von heltzendorff, you have been on a secret mission to that spy, von metzsch, in dresden, have you not?" i rose, bowed, and without replying courteously offered her a chair. "why do you not admit it?" she asked quickly. "princess, if the emperor gives me orders to preserve secrecy, then it is my duty to obey," i said. "i know," she answered, and then i realized how upset and nervous she seemed. "but von metzsch hates me, and has put about all sorts of scandalous reports concerning me. ah! count," she sighed, "you do not know how very unhappy i am--how i am surrounded by enemies!" these words caused me much surprise, though i had, of course, heard many unsavoury rumours regarding her unhappy position at the saxon court. "i much regret to hear that," i said. "but your imperial highness has also many friends, of whom i hope i may be permitted to number myself." "ah! it is extremely good of you to say that--very good. if you are really my friend, then you can help me. you are in a position to watch and discover what is in progress--the reason the emperor exchanges those constant confidences with von metszch, the man who has twisted my husband around his little finger, and who has, with my lady-of-the-bedchamber, frau von fritsch, already poisoned his mind against me. ah!" she sighed again, "you have no idea how much i have suffered!" she seemed on the verge of a nervous crisis, for i saw that in her fine eyes stood the light of unshed tears, and i confess i was much puzzled, for i had certainly believed, up to that moment, that she was on excellent terms with her husband. "but surely his highness the crown-prince of saxony does not believe any of those wicked reports?" i said. "ah! then you have heard. of course, you have. von metzsch has taken good care to let the whole world know the lies that he and the countess paule starhemberg have concocted between them. it is cruel!" she declared in a paroxysm of grief. "it is wicked!" "no, no. calm yourself, princess!" i urged sympathetically. "i am at least your friend, and will act as such should occasion arise." "i thank you," she sighed in relief, and she put out her hand, over which i bent as i took it in friendship. "ah!" she exclaimed in a low voice. "i fear i shall require the assistance of a friend very soon. do you recollect my broken pearls?" and a few moments later she left my room. through all that day and the next i wondered what sly, underhand work could be in progress. i pitied the good-looking, unconventional imperial princess who, because of her somewhat hoydenish high spirits, had aroused the storm of anger and jealousy in the saxon court. but the hapsburgs had ever been unfortunate in their loves. on the day before the crown-princess's visit to the berlin court was due to end, at about six o'clock in the evening, i passed the sentries and ascended to the emperor's study with some papers i had been going through regarding the reorganization of the stettin garrison. i was one of the very few persons ever admitted to that wing of the palace. as i approached the door, treading noiselessly upon the soft carpet, i heard voices raised excitedly, the door being slightly ajar. naturally i halted. in my position i was able to hear a great deal of palace intrigue, but never had i listened to a conversation that held me more breathless than at that moment. "woman," cried the emperor, "do you, then, openly defy my authority?" "what that crafty sycophant, von metzsch, has told you is, i repeat, a foul and abominable lie," was the reply. and i knew that the unfortunate princess was defending her reputation, which her enemies at the court of saxony had torn to shreds. "no woman ever admits the truth, of course," sneered the emperor. "i consider you a disgrace to the dresden court." "so this is the manner in which you openly insult your guests!" was the princess's bitter retort. "you, who believe yourself the idol of your people, now exhibit yourself in your true light as the traducer of a defenceless woman!" "how dare you utter those words to me!" cried the all-highest one, in fury. "i dare defend myself--even though you may be emperor," replied luisa, in a cold, hard tone of defiance. "i repeat that your allegations are untrue, and that you have no right to make them. surely you can see that my enemies, headed by the king of saxony, are all conspiring to effect my downfall. i know it! i have written proof of it!" "bosh! you say that because you know that the statements are true!" "you lie!" she cried fiercely. "they are not true. you cannot prove them." "very well," answered the emperor in that tone of cold determination that i knew too well. "i will prove the charges to my entire satisfaction." i was startled at the manner in which the princess had dared to call the emperor a liar. surely nobody had ever done so before. i drew a long breath, for as i crept away unseen i recollected the kaiser's unrelenting vindictiveness. poor princess! i knew that the red talons of the hohenzollern eagle would sooner or later be laid heavily upon her. she left berlin two hours later, but half an hour before her departure i found a hurriedly-scribbled note upon my table explaining that she had had "a few unpleasant words with the emperor," and that she was leaving for dresden a day earlier than had been arranged. a fortnight passed. twice baron von metzsch came to potsdam, and was on each occasion closely closeted with the emperor, as well as having frequent consultations with judicial councillor löhlein. i had strong suspicion that the vile conspiracy against the lively daughter of the hapsburgs was still in progress, for i felt assured that the kaiser would never forgive those words of defiance from a woman's lips, and that his vengeance, slow and subtle, would assuredly fall upon her. i did not know at the time--not, indeed, until fully three years later--how the blackguardly actions of von metzsch, who was a creature of the kaiser, had from the first been instigated by the all-highest, who, from the very day of the prince's marriage, had, notwithstanding his apparent graciousness towards her, determined that a hapsburg should never become queen of saxony. for that reason, namely, because the emperor in his overweening vanity believes himself to be the heaven-sent ruler of the destinies of the german empire, was much opposed to an austrian princess as a potential queen at dresden, he set himself the task to ruin the poor woman's life and love and to arouse such a terrible scandal concerning her that she could not remain in saxony with every finger pointing at her in opprobrium and scorn. a fresh light, however, was thrown upon what i afterwards realized to be a dastardly conspiracy by the receipt of a cipher message late one november night at potsdam. i was at work alone with the emperor in the pale green upstairs room, reading and placing before him a number of state documents to which he scrawled his scribbly signature, when the telegram was brought. "decipher that, heltzendorff," he commanded, and went on with the work of reading and signing the documents, while i sat down with the red leather-covered personal code book which bore the imperial coronet and cipher, and presently found that the message, which was from dresden, read: "frau von fritsch to-day had an interview with giron, the french tutor to the crown-princess's children, but unfortunately the latter refuses to admit any affection for luisa. giron angrily declared his intention to leave dresden, because of von fritsch's suggestion. this course, i saw, would be unfortunate for our plans, therefore i urged the king to induce luisa to request him to remain. she has done so, but to no avail, and giron left for brussels to-night. may i be permitted to come to discuss with your majesty a further elaboration of the plan?--von metzsch." the emperor read the secret message twice. then he paused, with knit brows, and brushed his moustache with his hand, a habit of his when perplexed. "we go to erfurt to-morrow, do we not?" he said. "telegraph in cipher to von metzsch to meet us there to-morrow evening at seven. and destroy that message," he added. i obeyed his orders, and afterwards continued to deal with the state papers, much enlightened by the news transmitted by the emperor's creature. the imperial hand was slowly destroying the conjugal happiness of a pair who really loved each other, even though they were of the blood royal. the long arm of the emperor was outstretched to crush and pulverize the soul of the woman who had dared to defend herself--who had defied the imperious will of that man whose hand he had, with awful blasphemy in addressing his brandenburgers, declared to be the hand of god. i confess that i felt the deepest sympathy for the helpless victim. at the schloss, high above the old-world town of erfurt, the sneaking sycophant von metzsch had a long conference with the emperor but i was unable to overhear any word of it. all i know is that the controller of the saxon household left erfurt for dresden by special train at midnight. a quarter of an hour after the saxon functionary had departed i was with the emperor receiving orders for the following day, and found him in high spirits, by which, knowing him so intimately, i knew that he was confident in his ultimate triumph. poor, defenceless luisa! you, my dear le queux, to whom the princess a few months afterwards flew for advice, know well how sterling, how womanly and honest she was; how she was one victim of many of the unholy, unscrupulous intrigues by which the arrogant war-lord of germany, aided by his devil's spawn, has until the present managed to retain his now tottering throne. well, i watched the course of events; watched eagerly and daily. twice i had received letters from her imperial highness, short notes in her firm, bold handwriting. from von metzsch came several cipher messages to the emperor after we had returned to potsdam, but zorn von bulach, my colleague, deciphered all of them, and, as he was not my friend, i did not inquire as to their purport. i knew, however, that matters in dresden were fast approaching a crisis, and that the unfortunate hapsburg princess could no longer sustain the cruel and unjust pressure being put upon her for her undoing. that a hundred of germany's spies and _agents-provocateurs_ were busy i realized from the many messages by telephone and telegraph passing between berlin and dresden, and i felt certain that the ruin of poor princess luisa was nigh. a significant message came to potsdam late one december night--a message which, when i deciphered it and handed it to the emperor, caused him to smile in triumph. i bit my lip. the princess had left dresden! three days later, on december th, a further cipher telegram came from von metzsch, the emperor's sycophant in dresden, which read: "luisa has learnt of the sonnenstein project, and has left salsburg for zurich, her brother accompanying.--von metzsch." sonnenstein! that was a private lunatic asylum! i held my breath at the awful fate which the emperor had decided should be hers. in a few moments the kaiser had summoned, by his private telephone, koehler, then chief of the berlin secret police, and given orders that the princess was to be watched in switzerland. half an hour later three police agents were on their way to zurich to follow and persecute the poor, distracted woman, even beyond the confines of the empire. she was, no doubt, in deadly fear of being sent to a living tomb, so that her mouth should be closed for ever. the emperor, not content with casting her out of germany, intended to wreak a terrible and fiendish revenge upon her by closing her lips and confining her in an asylum. she knew that, and seeing herself surrounded by enemies and spies on every hand--for even her brother leopold, with whom she had travelled to switzerland, now refused to assist her--she adopted the only method of further escape that at the moment presented itself. alone and without anyone to advise her, she, as you know, took a desperate resolve, one, alas! fraught with disastrous consequences. the iron had indeed entered the poor princess's soul. note by william le queux _the dénouement of this base intrigue of the emperor's will be best related in her imperial highness's own words. in one of her letters, which i have on my table as i write, she says:_ _"i saw before me in those never-to-be-forgotten days all the horrors of a 'maison de santé.' what could i do? i was friendless in a strange hotel. even leopold seemed disinclined to be further troubled by a runaway sister. i knew frau von fritsch, that unscrupulous liar, had accused me falsely of having secret love affairs, and that the emperor had directed the whole plot which was to culminate in my confinement in an asylum. suddenly a solution occurred to me. i remembered that monsieur giron, who had already suffered greatly through his friendship with me. if he joined me, then my flight from dresden would be considered as an elopement, and i should escape a living death in a madhouse! monsieur giron was at that moment my only friend, and it was for that reason that i telegraphed to him at brussels. well, he joined me, and by doing so completed the emperor's triumph."_ _the subtle, ever-scheming madman of europe, warped as he is in soul as in body, had, with his true hun craftiness and unscrupulousness, aided by judicial councillor löhlein and the spy von metzsch, succeeded in hounding down an honest, defenceless woman as high born as his own diseased self, and casting her in ignominy and shame out of his now doomed empire._ secret number four the mysterious frau kleist the clever intrigues of frau kleist were unknown to any outside the court circle at potsdam. she was indeed a queer personage, "only less of a personality than his majesty," as that shiftiest of german statesmen, prince bülow, declared to me one day as we sat together in my room in the berlin schloss. frau kleist was the court dancing-mistress, whose fastidious judgment had to be satisfied by any young débutante or officer before they presumed to dance before royalty at the state balls. before every ball frau kleist held several dance rehearsals in the weisser-saal (white salon) at the berlin schloss, and she was more exacting than any pompous general on parade. perhaps she was seventy. her real age i never knew. but, friends that we were, she often chatted with me and deplored the flat-footedness of the coming generation of teutons, and more than once i have seen her lift her skirts and, displaying neat silk-stockinged ankles on the polished floor of the weisser-saal, make, for the benefit of the would-be débutantes, graceful tiptoe turns with a marvellous grace of movement. truly frau kleist, with her neat waist and thin, refined face, was a very striking figure at the berlin court. the intricacies of the minuet and gavotte, as well as those of the old-world dances in which she delighted, were taught by the old lady to prince joachim and princess victoria luise, both of whom always went in deadly fear of her caustic tongue and overbearing manner. the emperor never permitted any dancing at court which was not up to a high standard of excellence, and all who sought to dance were compelled to pass before the critical eye of the sharp-tongued old lady in her stiff silken gown. once, i remember, certain young people of the smart set of berlin sought to introduce irregularities in the lancers, but they soon discovered that their cards were cancelled. whence she had come or who had been responsible for her appointment nobody knew. one thing was quite certain, that though at an age when usually rheumatism prevents agility, yet she was an expert dancer. another thing was also certain, that, if a débutante or a young military elegant were awkward or flat-footed, she would train them privately in the terpsichorean art, especially in the old-world dances which are so popular at court, and, accepting a little palm-oil, would then pass them--after squeezing them sufficiently--as fit to receive the imperial command to the court balls. the old woman, sharp-featured and angular as became her age, with her complexion powdered and rouged, lived in considerable style in a fine house close to the glienicke bridge at potsdam, beneath the babelsberg, a power to be reckoned with by all who desired to enter the court circle. regarding her, many strange stories were afloat. one was that she was an ex-dancer, the mother of the famous mademoiselle "clo-clo" durand, _première danseuse_ of the paris opera, and another was that she had been mistress of the ballet at the imperial opera in petrograd in the days of the emperor alexander. but so great a mystery were her antecedents that nobody knew anything for certain, save that, at the age of nearly seventy, she had access at any hour to the kaiser's private cabinet. i have often seen her whisper to his majesty strange secrets which she had picked up here and there--secrets that were often transferred to certain confidential quarters which control the great teuton octopus. those at court who secured the benignant smiles of frau kleist knew that their future path in life would be full of sunshine, but woe betide those upon whom she knit her brows in disapproval. it was all a question of bribery. frau kleist kept her pretty house and her big mercédès car upon the secret money payments she received from those who "for value" begged her favours. with many young officers the payment to frau kleist was to open the back door to the emperor's favour. we in the neues palais (new palace) knew it. but surely it did not concern us, for all of us looked askance at those who strove so strenuously and eagerly for "commands" to court functions, and really we were secretly glad if the parvenus of both sexes were well bled before they were permitted by frau erna to make their obeisance before royalty. the palace world at every european court is a narrow little world of its own, unknown and unsuspected by the man in the street. there one sees the worst side of human nature without any leaven of the best or even nobler side. the salary-grabber, the military adventurer, the pinchbeck diplomat, the commercial parvenu, and the scientist, together with their heavy-jowled, jewel-bedecked women-folk, elbow each other in order to secure the notice of the all-highest one, who, in that green-upholstered private room wherein i worked with him, often smiled at the unseemly bustle while he calmly discriminated among men and women according to their merits. it is in that calm discretion that the emperor excels, possessing almost uncanny foresight, combined with a most unscrupulous conscience. "i know! frau kleist has told me!" were the words his majesty used on many occasions when i had ventured perhaps to express doubt regarding some scandalous story or serious allegation. therefore i was confident, even though a large section of the entourage doubted it, that the seventy-year-old dancing-mistress, whose past was a complete mystery, was an important secret agent of the emperor's. and what more likely? the kaiser, as ruler of that complex empire, would naturally seek to know the truth concerning those who sought his favour before they were permitted to click their heels or wag their fans and bow the knee in his imperial presence. and he had, no doubt, with that innate cunning, appointed his creature to the position of court dancing-mistress. the most elegant, corsetted prussian officer, even though he could dance divinely, was good-looking and perfectly-groomed, would never be permitted to enter the court circle unless a substantial number of marks were placed within the old woman's palm. it was her perquisite, and many in that ill-paid entourage envied her her means of increasing her income. in no court in europe are the purse-strings held so tightly as in that of potsdam. the emperor and empress, though immensely wealthy, practise the economy of london suburbia. but at every court bribery is rife in order to obtain royal warrants and dozens of other small favours of that kind, just as open payment is necessary to-day to obtain titles of nobility. the colour of gold has a fascination which few can resist. if it were not so there would be no war in progress to-day. on october th, , i had returned with the emperor and his suite from hamburg, where his majesty had been present at the launching of one of herr ballin's monster american liners, and at three o'clock, after the kaiser had eaten a hurried luncheon, i was seated at the side table in his private room in the berlin schloss, taking down certain confidential instructions which he wished to be sent at once by one of the imperial couriers to the commandant of posen. suddenly von kahlberg, my colleague, entered with a message that had been taken by the telegraphist attached to the palace, and handed it to his majesty. having read it, the kaiser at once grew excited, and, turning to me, said: "the crown-prince sends word from potsdam that the american, orville wright, is flying on the bornstedter feld. we must go at once. order the cars. and, von kahlberg, inform her majesty at once. she will accompany us, no doubt." quickly i placed before his majesty one of his photographs--knowing that it would be wanted for presentation to the daring american--and he took up his pen and scrawled his signature across it. afterwards i placed it in the small, green-painted dispatch-box of steel which i always carried when in attendance upon his imperial majesty. within a quarter of an hour three of the powerful cars were on their way to potsdam, the emperor with herr anton reitschel--a high german official at constantinople--and professor vambéry, who happened to be at the palace at the time, in the first car; the kaiserin with her daughter, victoria luise, and the latter's _ober-gouvernante_ (governess), with one of the court ladies, in the next; while in the third i rode with major von scholl, one of the equerries. cheers rose from the crowds as we passed through the berlin streets, and the emperor, full of suppressed excitement at the thought of seeing an aeroplane flight, constantly saluted as we flew along. on arrival at the bornstedter feld it was already growing dusk, and a great disappointment awaited us. the crown-prince rode up to inform us gravely that the flying was over for the day. at this the kaiser grew angry, for he had been out once before upon a wild-goose chase, only to find that orville wright had gone home, declaring the wind to be too strong. at his father's anger, however, "willie" burst out laughing, declaring that he was only joking, and that all was in readiness. indeed, as he spoke the aviator, in his leather jacket, came up, and i presented him to his majesty, while from everywhere soldiers and police appeared, in order to keep back the crowd to the road. then, while we stood alone in the centre of the great, sandy plain, mr. orville wright clambered into his machine and, rising, made many circuits high above us. the emperor stood with herr reitschel and the shaggy old professor, straining his eyes with keenest interest. it was the first time his majesty had seen an aeroplane in flight. much had been promised of old von zeppelin's invention, yet the german public had, until those demonstrations by the american aviator, taken but little heed of the heavier-than-air machine. at that time, indeed, the emperor had not taken up von zeppelin, and it was only after seeing orville wright's demonstrations that he entered with any enthusiasm into aeronautical problems. high above us against the clear evening sky, wherein the stars had already begun to twinkle, the daring american rose, dipped, and banked, his machine droning like a huge gad-fly, much to the interest and astonishment of the emperor. "marvellous!" he exclaimed, as i stood beside him, with the empress on his right. "how is it done?" the crowds went wild with enthusiasm. the sight of a man flying in the air, manoeuvring his machine at will, rising swiftly, and then planing down with the engine cut off, was one of the most amazing spectacles the loyal potsdamers had ever seen. even the emperor, with all his wild dreams of world-power, could never for a moment have foreseen what a great factor aeroplanes would be in the war which he was so carefully plotting. at last wright came down in a spiral, banked slightly, steadied himself, and then came lightly to earth within a few yards of where we stood, having been the first to exhibit to the great war-lord how completely the air had been conquered. then, quiet, rather unassuming man that he was, he advanced to receive the imperial congratulations, and to be handed the signed photograph which, at the proper moment, i produced like a conjurer from my dispatch-box. afterwards, though it had now grown dark, the emperor, by the powerful headlamps of the three cars, thoroughly examined the american's aeroplane, the aviator explaining every detail. from that moment for months afterwards the kaiser was constantly talking of aviation. he commanded photographs of various types of aeroplanes, together with all literature on the subject, to be placed before him. indeed, he sent over to britain, in secret, two officers to attend the aeroplane meetings held at doncaster and blackpool, where a large number of photographs were secretly taken, and duly found their way to his table. indeed, it would greatly surprise your english friends, my dear le queux, if they had only seen the many secret reports and secret photographs of all kinds regarding britain's military, naval, and social life, which i have found upon the emperor's table. during my appointment i had through my hands many amazing reports concerning the financial and social position of well-known english politicians and officials, reports made with one ulterior motive--that of attempted bribery. the emperor meant war, and he knew that before he could hope for success he must thoroughly "germanize" great britain--with what result we all now know. i have recalled the emperor's first sight of an aeroplane in flight, in company with herr anton reitschel and professor vambéry, because of an incident which occurred that same day. just before midnight the emperor, seated in his room in the berlin schloss, was giving me certain instructions to be sent to carlton house terrace, when the door opened without any knock of permission, and upon the threshold there stood that arch-intriguer, frau kleist, in her stiff black silk gown, and wearing a gleaming diamond brooch, the glitter of which was cold as her own steely eyes. "have i your majesty's permission to enter?" she asked, in her high-pitched voice. "of course, of course," replied the emperor, turning in his chair. "come in and close the door. it has turned quite cold to-night. well?" he asked, looking at her inquiringly. the emperor is a man of very few words, except when he tells a story. the court dancing-mistress hesitated for a second. their eyes met, and in that glance i saw complete understanding. "may i speak in confidence with your majesty?" she asked, advancing into the room, her stiff, wide skirts rustling. except the court ladies she was the only female at court whom the sentries stationed at the end of the corridor allowed to pass to his majesty's private cabinet. but frau kleist had access everywhere. her eyes were the eyes of the emperor. many a diplomat, financier, military or naval commander has been raised to position of favourite because he first secured--by payment, of course, according to his means--the good graces of the _ex-ballerina_. and, alas! many a good, honest man has been cast out of the potsdam circle into oblivion, and even to death, because of the poisonous declaration of that smiling, bejewelled old hag. "of what do you wish to speak?" inquired the emperor, who, truth to tell, was very busy upon a most important matter concerning the building of new submarines, and was perhaps a little annoyed by the intrusion, though he did not betray it, so clever was he. "of the reitschel affair," was the old woman's low reply. at her words the kaiser frowned slightly, and dismissed me. i bowed myself out, and closed the door upon the emperor and his clever female spy. that she should have at that late hour come from potsdam--for, looking down into the courtyard, i saw the lights of her big mercédès--showed that some underhand work was in progress. only a week before i had been discussing anton reitschel and his position with my intimate friend, old von donaustauf, master of ceremonies, who was supposed to control the ex-dancer, but who in reality was in a subordinate position to her, because she had the ear of the emperor at any hour. petty jealousies, dastardly plots, and constant intrigues make up the daily life around the throne. half the orders given in the emperor's name are issued without his knowledge, and many an order transmitted to the provinces without his authority. by handling, as i did, hundreds of those secret reports which reached the emperor i had learned much concerning herr anton reitschel, and from old von donaustauf i had also been able to obtain certain missing links concerning the intrigue. reitschel, a burly, round-faced, fair-haired prussian of quite superior type, held the position of chief director of the german-ottoman bank in constantinople. his duty for the past three years had been to conciliate the sultan and to lend german money to any industrial enterprise in which any grain of merit could possibly be discovered. he had been singled out, taken from the dresdner bank, and sent to constantinople by the kaiser in order to play germany's secret game in turkey--especially that of the bagdad railway--and to combat with german gold great britain's diplomacy with tewfik pasha and old abdul hamid, in view of "the day," which the emperor had long ago determined should soon dawn. was he not the war-lord? and must not a war-lord make war? as old von donaustauf had put it, between the whiffs of one of those exquisite cigarettes, a consignment of the sultan's own which came from the yildiz kiosk to potsdam weekly: "our emperor intends that, notwithstanding britain's policy in the near east, germany shall soon rule from berlin to bagdad. herr reitschel is in reality charged with the work of "germanizing" the ottoman empire." that i already knew by the many secret reports of his which arrived so constantly from constantinople, reports which showed quite plainly that though the great german embassy, with its huge eagles of stone set at each end, might have been built for the purpose of impressing the turks, yet the shrewd, farseeing herr anton, as head of that big financial corporation, held greater sway at that rickety set of offices known to us as the sublime porte than did his excellency the ambassador, with all his beribboned crowd of underlings. truly the game which the emperor was playing in secret against the other powers of europe was a crooked and desperate one. on the one hand the kaiser was making pretence of fair dealing with great britain and france, yet on the other his agent, herr reitschel, was ever busy lending money in all directions, and bribing turkish officials in order to secure their favour in germany's interest. yet a further game was being played--one that, in addition to the imperial chancellor, i alone knew--namely, that while the kaiser was making pretence of being the best friend of the sultan abdul hamid, visiting constantinople and palestine, building fountains, endowing institutes, and bestowing his imperial grace in so many ways, yet he was also secretly supporting the young turk party so as to effect the sultan's downfall as part of his sly, machiavellian policy--a plot which, as you know, ultimately succeeded, for poor old abdul the damned and his harem were eventually packed off, bag and baggage, to salonika, notwithstanding his majesty's wild entreaty to berlin for protection. i happened to be with the emperor on the imperial yacht at tromsö when he received by telegram the personal appeal addressed to him from his miserable dupe, and i well recollect how grimly he smiled as he remarked to me that it needed no response. well, at the period of which i am making the present disclosure, herr anton had been paying a number of flying visits to berlin, and had had many private audiences of both kaiser and sultan, and had on several occasions been invited informally to the imperial luncheon table, a mark of esteem bestowed by the kaiser upon those who may at the moment be serving his interests particularly well. suddenly all of us were surprised by the announcement that the kaiser's favoured civilian in turkey had married mademoiselle julie de lagarenne, daughter of paul de lagarenne, son of the great french sugar refiner, and secretary of the french embassy at rome. we heard also that, having married in italy, he was bringing his wife to berlin. indeed, a week after that news was spread i met them both in kranzler's in unter den linden, and there he introduced me to a pretty, dark-haired, vivacious young frenchwoman, who spoke german well, and who told me that her husband had already given in her name for presentation at the next court. that was about a month prior to orville wright's flight and the midnight visit of frau kleist to the emperor. truth to tell, the old woman's mention of herr reitschel's name caused me considerable misgivings, because three weeks before i had gathered certain strange facts from a secret report of a spy who in constantinople had been set to watch herr reitschel's doings. that spy was frau kleist's son. the kaiser trusts nobody. even his favourites and most intimate cronies are spied upon, and reports upon those familiar blue papers are furnished regularly. in view of what i had read in that report from karl kleist, i stood amazed when, at the grand court a week later, i had witnessed herr reitschel's french wife bow before the emperor and empress and noticed how graciously the kaiser had smiled upon her. truly the emperor is sphinx-like and imperturbable. outside the privacy of his own room, that chamber of cunning plots and fierce revenge, he never allows his sardonic countenance to betray his inner thoughts, and will grasp the hand of his most hated enemy with the hearty warmth of friendship, a satanic _volte-face_ in which danger and evil lurk always, a trait inherited to its full degree by the crown-prince. the days that followed frau kleist's midnight visit were indeed busy, eventful days. certain diplomatic negotiations with washington had been unsuccessful; von holleben, the ambassador, had been recalled, and given an extremely bad half-hour by both kaiser and chancellor. in addition, some wily american journalist had fathomed the amazing duplicity of prince henry's visit to the states and germany's press bureau in america, while the yellow press of new york had published a ghastly array of facts and figures concerning the latter, together with facsimile documents, all of which had sent his majesty half-crazy with anger. nearly three months passed. herr reitschel often came from constantinople, and frequently brought his handsome young wife with him, for he was _persona grata_ at court. to me this was indeed strange in view of the reports of the ex-opera dancer's son--who, by the way, lived in constantinople in the unsuspicious guise of a carpet-dealer, and unknown to the bank director. the latter had, assisted by his wife's fortune, inherited from her grandmother, purchased the schloss langenberg, the splendid ancestral castle and estates of the princes of langenberg, situate on a rock between ilmenau and zella, in the beautiful thuringian forest, and acknowledged to be one of the most famous shooting estates in the empire. it was not, therefore, surprising that the emperor, to mark his favour, should express a desire to shoot capercailzie there--a desire which, of course, delighted herr reitschel, who had only a few days before been decorated with the order of the black eagle. one afternoon in mid-autumn the emperor, accompanied by the crown-prince and myself, together with the suite, arrived by the imperial train at the little station of ilmenau, where, of course, reitschel and his pretty wife, with the land-rats, head and under foresters, and all sorts of civil officials in black coats and white ties bowed low as the all-highest stepped from his saloon. the kaiser was most gracious to his host and hostess, while the schloss, we found, was almost equal in beauty and extent to that of prince max egon zu fürstenberg at donau-eschingen, which place we always visited once, if not twice, each year. the emperor had complained of a slight cold, and in consequence, just before we left berlin, i had been instructed to summon by telegraph a certain dr. vollerthun from augsburg, who was a perfect stranger to us all, but who had, i supposed, been recommended to the emperor by somebody who, for some consideration, wished to advance him in his profession. while the emperor and his host were out shooting, the crown-prince and several of the suite being of the party, i remained alone in a big, circular, old-world room in one of the towers of the castle, where the long, narrow windows overlooked the forest, dealing with a flood of important state papers which a courier had brought from berlin two hours before. papers followed us daily wherever we might be, even when yachting at cowes or in the norwegian fjords. about midday dr. vollerthun was ushered in to me--a short, stout, guttural-speaking man of about sixty, rather bald, and wearing big, round, gold-rimmed spectacles. i quickly handed him over to the major-domo. he was a stranger, and no doubt one who sought the emperor's favour, therefore as such i took but little interest in him. about three o'clock that same afternoon, however, a light tap came at the door, and on looking round, i saw my hostess standing upon the threshold. she was quietly but elegantly dressed, presenting the true type of the smart parisienne, but in an instant i realized that she was very pale and agitated. indeed her voice trembled when she asked permission to enter. since her marriage i had many times chatted with her, for she often came to the palace when her husband visited berlin, as he did so frequently. i had danced with her; i had taken her in to dinner at various houses where we met, always finding her a bright and very intellectual companion. she quietly closed the door, and, crossing the room with uneven steps, advanced to the table from which i had risen. "count von heltzendorff!" she exclaimed in a low, strained voice. "i--i have come to seek your aid because--well, because i'm distracted, and i know that you are my husband's friend," she exclaimed in french. "and yours also, madame," i said earnestly, bowing and pulling forward a chair for her. "my husband is out with the emperor!" she gasped in a curious, unnerved tone. "and i fear; oh, i fear that we are in great peril--deadly peril every hour--every moment!" "really, madame, i hardly follow you," i said, standing before the dark-haired, handsome french girl--for she was little more than a girl--who had inherited the whole fortune of the biggest sugar refinery in europe, the great factory out at st. denis which supplied nearly one-sixth of the refined sugar of the world. "my husband, whom i love devotedly, has done his best in the interests of his emperor. you, count, know--for you are in a position to know--the real aims of the kaiser in turkey. these last six months i have watched, and have learned the truth! i know how, when the emperor went to constantinople five months ago in pretence of friendship towards the sultan, with professor vambéry as interpreter, he practically compelled abdul hamid to give him, in return for certain financial advances, those wonderful jewels which the empress catherine, wife of peter the great, gave in secret to the grand vizier to secure the escape of the russian army across the pruth. i know how the emperor seized those wonderful emeralds, and, carrying them back to potsdam, has given them to the empress. i know, too, how he laughed with my husband at the cleverness by which he is fooling the too trustful turks. i----" "pardon, madame," i said, interrupting her, and speaking in french, "but is it really wise to speak thus of the emperor's secrets? your husband is, i fear, guilty of great indiscretion in mentioning such matters." "i am his wife, count, and he conceals little, if anything, from me." i looked the pretty young woman straight in the face in fear and regret. possession of those ancient jewels which, with reluctance, abdul hamid had brought out from his treasury, was one of the kaiser's greatest secrets, a secret of potsdam known to no more than three people, including myself. the emperor had specially imposed silence upon me, because he did not wish the powers to suspect his true eastern policy of bribery and double-dealing, blackmail and plunder. and yet she, the daughter of a french diplomat, knew the truth! instantly i realized the serious danger of the secret being betrayed to france. "madame," i said, leaning against the writing-table as i spoke in deepest earnestness. "if i may be permitted, i would urge that the emperor's diplomacy neither concerns your husband, as an official, nor yourself. it is his own private affair, and should neither be discussed nor betrayed." "i know," she said. "that is just why i have ventured to come here to consult you, m'sieur! you have been my good friend as well as my husband's, and here to-day, while the emperor is our guest beneath our roof, i feel that i am in greatest peril!" "why?" i asked with considerable surprise. "the emperor has already learnt that i know the truth regarding his secret," was her slow reply. "by what means his majesty has discovered it, i, alas! know not. but i do know from a confidential quarter that i have incurred the emperor's gravest displeasure and hatred." "who is your informant?" i inquired sternly, eager to further investigate the great intrigue. "a certain person who must be nameless." "have you spoken to anybody of the emperor's secret plans in turkey, or of his possession of the empress catherine's jewels?" "i have not uttered a word to a single soul except my husband. i swear it." "your husband was extremely indiscreet in revealing anything," i declared again quite frankly. "i fully admit that. but what can i do? how shall i act?" she asked in a low, tense voice. "advise me, do." for some moments i remained silent. the situation, with a pretty woman seeking my aid in such circumstances, was difficult. "well, madame," i replied after reflection, "if you are really ready to promise the strictest secrecy and leave the matter to me, i will endeavour to find a way out of the difficulty--providing you--good german that you are by marriage--will take, before the emperor himself, an oath of complete secrecy?" "i am ready to do anything--anything for my dear husband's sake," the handsome young woman assured me, tears welling in her fine dark eyes. "in that case, then, please leave the matter entirely in my hands," i said. and later on she left. that same night, about ten o'clock, the emperor, in the dark-green uniform which he always wears at dinner after hunting or shooting, entered the room to which i had just returned to work. "send frau kleist to me," he snapped. "and i will summon you later when i want you, heltzendorff." frau kleist! i had no idea the woman had arrived at the castle. but i dispatched one of the servants to search for her, and afterwards heard her high-pitched voice as she ascended the stairs to hold secret and, no doubt, evil counsel with his majesty. below i found the fat, fair-haired little doctor from augsburg, who was still an enigma, but eager to see his imperial patient, and with him i smoked a cigarette to while away the time. i was anxious to return to his majesty, and, as became my duty as his adjutant, to explain what i had learnt from the lips of our french hostess. suddenly one of the imperial flunkeys bowed at the door, commanding the doctor to the royal presence, and he left me, hot and flurried, as all become who are unused to the court atmosphere, its rigid etiquette, and its constant bows. had the emperor called the unknown doctor into consultation with frau kleist? inquiries i had made concerning the doctor from augsburg showed that he was quite a well-known specialist on mental diseases, and he had also written a text-book upon bacteriology and the brain. why had the kaiser summoned him? he required no brain specialist. "we leave to-morrow at noon," the emperor exclaimed brusquely when, an hour later, i was summoned to his room. this amazed me, for our arrangements were to remain three days longer. i recollected madame reitschel's words. "i do not feel at all well," his majesty added, "and this dr. vollerthun orders me rest at potsdam." in silence i bowed, and then ventured to refer to what was uppermost in my mind. "may i be permitted to speak to your majesty upon a certain confidential subject?" i begged, standing against the table whereat i had been writing the greater part of that day. "what subject?" snapped the all-highest. "your majesty's negotiations with the sultan of turkey. frau reitschel has learnt of them, but she is eager to come before you and take oath of entire secrecy." the kaiser's eyes narrowed and glowed in sudden anger. "a woman's oath!" he cried. "bah! never have i believed in silence imposed upon any woman's tongue--more especially that of a born enemy! i appreciate your loyalty and acumen, von heltzendorff, but i have, fortunately, known this for some little time, and in strictest secrecy have taken certain measures to combat it. remember that these words have never been uttered to you! remember that! you are adjutant, and i am emperor. understand! i fully appreciate and note your loyal report, but it is not woman's sphere to enter our diplomacy, except as a secret agent of our fatherland. let us say no more." ten minutes later, being dismissed, i wandered back through the great, silent, echoing corridors of the ancient castle to my own room. a great human drama, greater than any ever placed upon the stage, was now being enacted. throwing his loaded dice, the emperor, with all his craft, cunning, and criminal unscrupulousness behind his mask of christianity, and aided by his unprincipled son, the crown-prince, was actually plotting the downfall of the turkish empire and the overthrow of islam in europe. between the all-highest one and the realization of those dastardly plans for world-power so carefully and cleverly thought out in every detail night after night in the silence of that dull, faded green room upstairs at potsdam, stood one frail little parisienne, the vivacious, well-meaning madame reitschel! next day we left the schloss langenberg, but before doing so we heard with regret that our charming little hostess had been suddenly taken ill during the night, and the kaiser, as a mark of favour, had ordered his doctor, vollerthun, to remain behind to attend her. that herr reitschel was in great distress i saw from his face as he stood taking leave of his imperial guest on the little platform at ilmenau. back in berlin, i wondered what was in progress in that far-off schloss in thuringia, but a week later the truth became vividly apparent when i read in the _staats-anzeiger_ an announcement which disclosed to me the terrible truth. i held my breath as my eyes followed the printed lines. frau reitschel, the young wife of the famous anton reitschel of constantinople, had, the journal reported, been seized by a sudden and somewhat mysterious illness on the night prior to the emperor's departure from the schloss langenberg, and though his majesty had graciously left his own physician behind to attend her, the unfortunate lady had developed insanity to such a hopeless degree that it had been necessary to confine her in the rosenau private asylum at coburg. in a second i realized how the dancing-mistress and the mental specialist from augsburg had been the tools of the emperor. that "mysterious illness," developing into madness, was surely not the result of any natural cause, but had been deliberately planned and executed by means of a hypodermic syringe, in order that the woman who had learnt the secret of the emperor's double cunning in the near east should be for ever immured in a madhouse. outside the trio responsible for the cruel and dastardly act, i alone knew the truth how, by the emperor's drastic action, he had prevented the secret of his chicanery leaking out to the powers. poor madame reitschel! she died early in , a raving lunatic. her devoted husband, having served the emperor's purpose, had been recalled to berlin, where, bereft of the kaiser's favour, he predeceased her by about six months, broken-hearted, but in utter ignorance of that foul plot carried out under his very nose and in his own castle. secret number five the girl who knew the crown-prince's secret late on the night of november th, , i was busily at work in the crown-prince's room--that cosy apartment of which i possessed the key--at the marble palace at potsdam. i, as his imperial highness's personal-adjutant, had been travelling all day with him from cologne to berlin. we had done a tour of military inspections in westphalia, and, as usual, "willie's" conduct, as became the heir-apparent of the psalm-singing all-highest one, had not been exactly exemplary. with his slant eyes and sarcastic grin he openly defied the emperor, and frequently referred to him to his intimates as "a hoary old hypocrite"--the truth of which recent events have surely proved. on the night in question, however, much had happened. the emperor had, a month before, returned from a visit to england, where he had been engaged by speeches and hand-shakes, public and private, blowing a narcotic dust into the nostrils of your dear but, alas! too confiding nation. you british were all dazzled--you dear english drank the imperial sleeping-draught, prepared so cunningly for you and your cabinet ministers in what we in berlin sometimes called "the downing-strasse." you lapped up the cream of german good-fellowship as a cat laps milk, even while agents of our imperial war staff had held staff-rides in various parts of your island. all of you were blind, save those whom your own people denounced as scaremongers when they lifted their voices in warning. we at potsdam smiled daily at what seemed to us to be the slow but sure decline of your great nation from its military, naval, and commercial supremacy. the kaiser had plotted for fourteen years, and now he was being actively aided by his eldest son, that shrewd, active agnostic with a criminal kink. "heltzendorff!" exclaimed the crown-prince, as he suddenly entered the room where i was busy attending to a pile of papers which had accumulated during our absence in westphalia, and which had been sorted into three heaps by my assistant during our absence. "do get through all those letters and things. burn them all if you can. what do they matter?" "many of them are matters of grave importance. here, for instance, is a report from the chief of military intelligence in washington." "oh, old friesch! tear it up! he is but an old fossil at best. and yet, heltzendorff, he is designed to be of considerable use," he added. "his majesty told me to-night that after his visit to england he has conceived the idea to establish an official movement for the improvement of better relations between britain and germany. the dear british are always ready to receive such movements with open arms. at carlton house terrace they strongly endorse the emperor's ideas, and he tells me that the movement should first arise in commercial and shipping circles. herr ballin will generate the idea in his offices in london and the various british ports, while his majesty has von gessler, the ex-ambassador at washington, in view as the man to bring forth the suggestion publicly. indeed, to-night from the wilhelmstrasse there has been sent a message to his schloss on the mosel commanding him to consult with his majesty. von bernstorff took his place at washington a few months ago." "but von gessler is an inveterate enemy of britain," i exclaimed in surprise, still seated at my table. "the world does not know that. the whole scheme is based upon britain's ignorance of our intentions. we bring von gessler forward as the dear, good, anglophile friend with his hand outstretched from the wilhelmstrasse. oh, heltzendorff!" he laughed. "it is really intensely amusing, is it not?" i was silent. i knew that the deeply-laid plot against great britain was proceeding apace, for had i not seen those many secret reports, and did i not possess inside knowledge of the evil intentions of the emperor and his son. "get through all that--to-night if you can, heltzendorff," the crown-prince urged. "the crown-princess leaves for treseburg, in the harz, to-morrow, and in the evening we go to nice." "to nice!" i exclaimed, though not at all disinclined to spend a week or so on the riviera. "yes," he said. "i have a friend there. the riviera is only pleasant before the season, or after. one cannot go with the crowd in january or february. i have already given orders for the saloon to leave at eleven to-morrow night. that will give us ample time." a friend there! i reflected. i, knowing his partiality to the eternal petticoat, could only suppose that the attraction in nice was of the feminine gender. "then the lady is in nice!" i remarked, for sometimes i was permitted, on account of my long service with the emperor, to speak familiarly. "lady, no!" he retorted. "it is a man. and i want to get to nice at the earliest moment. so get through those infernal documents. burn them all. they are better out of the way," he laughed. and, taking a cigarette from the golden box--a present to him from "tino" of greece--he lit it, and wishing me good night, strode out. just before eleven o'clock on the following night we left the marmor palace. his imperial highness travelled incognito as he always did when visiting france, assuming the name of count von grünau. with us was his personal valet, schuler, the military secretary, major lentze, and eckardt, the commissioner of secret police for his highness's personal protection, who travelled with us wherever we went. in addition, there was an under-valet, and knof, the crown-prince's favourite chauffeur. when abroad cars were either bought and afterwards re-sold, or else hired, but knof, who was a celebrated racing motorist and had driven in prince henry's tour of exploration through england, and who had gained many prizes on the various circuits, was always taken as "driver." after a restless night--for there were many stoppages--i spent next day with the crown-prince in long and tiring discussions on military affairs as we travelled due south in the beautifully-fitted imperial car, replete with its smoking saloon with wicker chairs, its four bathrooms, and other luxuries. i endeavoured to obtain from him some reason why we were proceeding to nice, but to all my inquiries he was smilingly dumb. he noticed my eagerness, and i saw that he was amused by it. yet somehow, as we travelled towards the italian frontier--for our road lay through austria down to milan, and thence by way of genoa--he seemed to become unduly thoughtful and anxious. only a fortnight before he had had one of those ever-recurring and unseemly quarrels with his long-suffering wife. "cilli is a fool!" he had declared openly to me, after she had left the room in anger. we had been busy arranging a programme of official visits in eastern germany, when suddenly the crown-princess entered, pale with anger, and disregarding my presence--for i suppose i was regarded as one who knew all the happenings of the palace, and whose discretion could be relied upon--began to demand fiercely an explanation of a certain anonymous letter which she held in her hand. "kindly read that!" she said haughtily, "and explain what it means!" the crown-prince grinned idiotically, that cold, sinister expression overspreading his countenance, a look which is such a marked characteristic of his. then, almost snatching the letter from his young wife's fingers, he read it through, and with a sudden movement tore it up and flung it upon the carpet, saying: "i refuse to discuss any unsigned letter! really, if we were to notice every letter written by the common scum we should, indeed, have sufficient to do." his wife's arched brows narrowed. her pale, delicate face, in which the lines of care had appeared too prematurely, already betrayed fiercest anger. "i happen to have inquired, and i now know that those allegations are correct!" she cried. "this dark-haired singer-woman, irene speroni, has attained great success on the variety stage in italy. she is the star of the sala margherita in rome." "well?" he asked in defiance. "and what of it, pray?" "that letter you have destroyed tells me the truth. i received it a few days ago, and sent an agent to italy in order to learn the truth. he has returned to-night. see!" and suddenly she produced a crannied snapshot photograph, of postcard size, of the crown-prince in his polo-playing garb, and with him a smartly-dressed young woman, whose features were in the shadow. i caught sight of that picture, because when he tossed it from him angrily without glancing at it, i picked it up and handed it back to the crown-princess. "yes," she cried bitterly, "you refuse, of course, to look upon this piece of evidence! i now know why you went to wiesbaden. the woman was singing there, and you gave her a pair of emerald and diamond earrings which you purchased from vollgold in unter den linden. see! here is the bill for them!" and again she produced a slip of paper. at this the crown-prince grew instantly furious, and, pale to the lips, he roundly abused his long-suffering wife, telling her quite frankly that, notwithstanding the fact that she might spy upon his movements, he should act exactly as his impulses dictated. that scene was, indeed, a disgraceful one, ending in the poor woman, in a frantic paroxysm of despair, tearing off the splendid necklet of diamonds at her throat--his present to her on their marriage--and casting it full into his face. then, realizing that the scene had become too tragic, i took her small hand, and, with a word of sympathy, led her out of the room and along the corridor. as i left her she burst into a sudden torrent of tears; yet when i returned again to the crown-prince i found his manner had entirely changed. he treated his wife's natural resentment and indignation as a huge joke, and it was then that his imperial highness declared to me: "cilli is a fool!" that sunny afternoon the crown-prince had sprawled himself on the plush lounge of the smoking car as the train travelled upon that picturesque line between genoa and the french frontier at ventimiglia, the line which follows the coast for six hours. with the tideless sapphire mediterranean lapping the yellow beach on the one side and high brown rocks upon the other, we went through savona, albenga, the old-world porto maurizio to the glaring modern town of san remo and palm-embowered bordighera, that beautiful italian riviera that you and i know so well. "listen, heltzendorff," his highness exclaimed suddenly between the whiffs of his cigarette. "in nice i may disappear for a day or two. i may be missing. but if i am, please don't raise a fuss about it. i'm incognito, and nobody will know. i may be absent for seven days. if i am not back by that time then you may make inquiry." "but the commissary of police eckardt! he will surely know?" i remarked in surprise. "no. he won't know. i shall evade him as i've so often done before," replied his imperial highness. "i tell you of my intentions so that you may curb the activities of our most estimable friend. tell him not to worry, and he will be paid a thousand marks on the day count von grünau reappears." i smiled, for i saw the influence of the eternal feminine. "no, heltzendorff. you are quite mistaken," he said, reading my thoughts, and putting down his cigarette end. "there is no lady in this case. i am out here for secret purposes of my own. for that reason i take you into my confidence rather than that unnecessary inquiry should be made and some of those infernal journalists get hold of the fact that the count von grünau and the crown-prince are one and the same person. i was a fool to take this saloon. i ought to have travelled as an ordinary passenger, i know, but," he laughed, "this is really comfortable and, after all, what do we care what the world thinks--eh? surely we can afford to laugh at it when all the honours of the game are already in our hands." and at that moment we ran into the pretty, flower-decked station of san remo, the place freshly painted for the attraction of the winter visitors who annually went south for sunshine. his words mystified me, but i became even more mystified by his actions a few days later. i was in ignorance that a fortnight before hermann hardt, one of his highness's couriers, had left potsdam and on arrival at nice had rented for three months the fine villa lilas--the winter residence of the american millionaire leather merchant, james g. jamieson, of boston, who had gone yachting to japan. you know nice, my dear le queux--you know it as well as i do, therefore you know the villa lilas, that big white mansion which faces the sea on montboron, the hill road between the port of nice and villefranche. half hidden among the mimosa, the palms, and grey-green olives, it is after the style of mr. gordon bennett's villa at beaulieu, with a big glass front and pretty verandas, with climbing geraniums flowering upon the terraces. we soon settled there, for the household staff had arrived three days before, and on the evening of our arrival i accompanied the crown-prince down into the town to the jetée promenade, the pier-pavilion where the gay cosmopolitan world disports itself to chatter, drink and gamble. it was a glorious moonlit night, and "willie," after strolling through the great gilded saloons, in one of which was a second-rate variety entertainment--the season not having yet commenced--went outside. we sat at the end of the pier smoking. "nice is dull as yet, is it not?" he remarked, for each year he always spent a month there incognito, the german newspapers announcing that he was away shooting. but "willie," leading the gay life of the imperial butterfly, much preferred the lively existence of the côte d'azur to the remote schloss in thuringia or elsewhere. i agreed with him that nice had not yet put on the tinsel and pasteboard of her carnival attractions. as you know, carnival in nice is gay enough, but, after all, it is a forced gaiety got up for the profit of the shops and hotels, combined with the "cercle des bains" of monaco--the polite title of the prince's gilded gambling hell. we smoked together and chatted, as we often did when his imperial highness became bored. i was still mystified why we had come to the riviera so early in the season, because the white and pale green paint of the hotels was not yet dry, and half of them not yet open. yet our coming had, no doubt, been privately signalled, because within half an hour of our arrival at the villa lilas a short, stout old frenchman, with white, bristly hair--whom i afterwards found out was monsieur paul bavouzet, the newly-appointed prefect of the department of alpes-maritimes--called to leave his card upon the count von grünau. the imperial incognito only means that the public are to be deluded. officialdom never is. they know the ruse, and support it all the world over. his highness the crown-prince was paying his annual visit to nice, and the president had sent his compliments through his representative, the bristly-haired little prefect. soon after eleven that night the crown-prince, after chatting affably with me, strolled back to the promenade des anglais, where knof, the chauffeur, awaited us with a big open car, in which we were whizzed around the port and up to montboron in a few minutes. as i parted from the crown-prince, who yawned and declared that he was tired, he said: "ah! heltzendorff. how good it is to get a breath of soft air from the mediterranean! we shall have a port on this pleasant sea one day--if we live as long--eh?" that remark showed the trend of events. it showed how, hand in hand with the emperor, he was urging preparations for war--a war that had for its primary object the destruction of the powers which, when the volcano erupted, united as allies. the bright autumn days passed quite uneventfully, and frequently i went pleasant motor runs into the mountains with his highness, up to the frontier at the col di tenda, to la vésubie, puget-théniers, and other places. yet i was still mystified at the reason of our sojourn there. after we had been at the villa lilas about ten days i was one afternoon seated outside the popular café de l'opéra, in the place masséna, when a lady, dressed in deep mourning and wearing the heavy veil in french style, passed along the pavement, glanced at me, and then, hesitating, she turned, and, coming back, advanced to the little table in the corner whereat i was sitting. "may i be permitted to have a word with you, monsieur?" she asked in french, in a low, refined voice. "certainly," was my reply, and, not without some surprise, i rose and drew a chair for her. she glanced round quickly, as though to satisfy herself that she would not be overheard, but, as a matter of fact, at that hour the chairs on the terraces of the café were practically deserted. at the same moment, viewing her closely, i saw that she was about twenty-four, handsome, dark-haired, with well-cut features. "i know, monsieur, that i am a complete stranger to you," she exclaimed with a smile, "but to me you are quite familiar by sight. i have passed you many times in berlin and in potsdam, and i know that you are count von heltzendorff, personal-adjutant to his highness the crown-prince--or count von grünau, as he is known here in france." "you know that!" i exclaimed. she smiled mysteriously, replying: "yes. i--well, i happen to be a friend of his highness." i held my breath. so this pretty young frenchwoman was one of my young imperial master's friends! "the fact is, count," she went on, "i have travelled a considerable distance to see you. i said that i was one of the crown-prince's friends. please do not misunderstand me. i know that he has a good many lady friends, but, as far as i am concerned, i have never been introduced to him, and he does not know me. i am his friend because of a certain friendliness towards him." "really, madame, i don't quite understand," i said. "of course not," she answered, and then, glancing round, she added: "this place is a little too public. cannot we go across to the garden yonder?" at her suggestion i rose and walked with her to a quiet spot in the gardens, where we sat down, and i listened with interest to her. she told me that her name was julie de rouville, but she would give no account of where she lived, though i took it that she was a young widow. "i have ventured to approach you, count, because i cannot approach the crown-prince," she said presently. "you probably do not know the true reason of his visit here to nice?" "no," i said. "i admit that i do not. why is he here?" "it is a secret of his own. but, curiously enough, i am aware of the reason, and that is why i have sought you. would it surprise you if i told you that in a certain quarter in france it will, in a few days, be known that the german emperor is establishing a movement for an _entente_ between germany and britain, and that the whole affair is based upon a fraud? the emperor wants no _entente_, but only war with france and with britain. the whole plot will be exposed in a few days!" "from what source have you derived this knowledge?" i asked, looking at her in amazement that she should know one of the greatest state secrets of germany. but she again smiled mysteriously, and said: "i merely tell you this in order to prove to you that i am in possession of certain facts known to but few people." "you evidently are," i said. "but who intends to betray the truth to france?" "i regret, count, that i cannot answer your question." "if you are, as you say, the crown-prince's friend, it would surely be a friendly act to let us know the truth, so that steps may be taken, perhaps, to avoid the secret of germany's diplomacy from leaking out to her enemies." "all i can tell you, count, is that the matter is one of gravest importance." "but will you not speak openly, and give us the actual facts?" "i will--but to his imperial highness alone," was her answer. "you wish to meet him, then?" i asked, rather suspicious that it might after all be only a woman's ruse. and yet what she had said showed that she knew the emperor's secret, for she had actually mentioned von gessler's name in connection with the pretended anglo-german _entente_. "if his highness will honour me with an interview, then i will reveal all i know, and, further, will suggest a means of preventing the truth from leaking out." "but you are french," i said. "i have told you so," she laughed. "but probably his highness will refuse to see julie de rouville, therefore i think it best if you show him this." from her little gold chain-purse she produced a small, unmounted photograph of herself, and handed it to me. "when he recognizes who wishes to see him he will fully understand," she said, in a quiet, refined voice. "a letter addressed to julie de rouville at the post restante at marseilles will quickly find me." "at marseilles?" i echoed. "yes. i do not wish the letter to be sent to me here. from marseilles i shall duly receive it." i was silent for a few moments. "i confess," i exclaimed at last. "i confess i do not exactly see the necessity for an interview with his highness, when whatever you tell me--as his personal-adjutant--will be regarded as strictly in confidence." truth to tell, i was extremely suspicious of her. she might be desirous of meeting the prince with some evil intent. "i have already said, count heltzendorff, that i am his highness's friend, and wish to approach him with motives of friendship." "you wish for no payment for this information, eh?" i asked suspiciously, half believing that she might be a secret agent of france. "payment--of course not!" she answered, half indignantly. "show that photograph to the crown-prince, and tell him that i apply for an interview." then, rather abruptly, she rose, and, thanking me, wished me good afternoon, and walked away, leaving me with her photograph in my hand. the crown-prince was out motoring, and did not get back to the villa until after seven o'clock. as soon as i heard of his return i went to his room, and recounted my strange adventure with the dark-haired young woman in black. he became keenly interested, and the more so when i told him of her secret knowledge of the kaiser's intended establishment of a bogus _entente_ with great britain. "she wishes to see you," i said. "and she told me to give you her photograph." i handed it to him. at sight of it his face instantly changed. he held his breath, and then examined the photograph beneath the light. afterwards i noticed a strange, hard look at the corners of his mouth, while his teeth set themselves firmly. next second, however, he had recovered his self-possession, and with a low laugh said: "yes. of course, i know her. she wants me to write to julie de rouville at the post restante at marseilles, eh? h'm--i'll think it over." and i could see that sight of the photograph had not only displeased him, but it also caused him very considerable uneasiness. late in the afternoon, two days later, his highness, who had been walking alone, and who had apparently evaded the vigilance of the ever-watchful eckardt, returned to the villa with a stranger, a tall, rather thin, fair-haired man, undoubtedly a german, and the pair were closeted together, holding counsel evidently for a considerable time. where his highness met him i knew not, but when later on i entered the room i saw that the pair were on quite friendly terms. his highness addressed him as herr schäfer, and when he had left he told me that he was from the wilhelmstrasse, and had been attached to the embassy at washington, and afterwards in london, "for affairs of the press"--which meant that he was conductor of the german press propaganda. it seemed curious that the young man schäfer should be in such high favour with the crown-prince. i watched closely. whatever was in progress was a strict secret between the pair. the more i saw of hans schäfer the more i disliked him. he had cruel eyes and heavy, sensuous lips--a coarse countenance which was the reverse of prepossessing, though i could see that he was a very clever and cunning person. for a full fortnight the crown-prince and the man schäfer were almost inseparable. was it for the purpose of meeting schäfer that we had gone to nice? the man had been back from london about two months, and had, i learnt, been lately living in paris. one evening while strolling in the sunset by the sea along the tree-lined promenade des anglais, i suddenly encountered julie de rouville, dressed in mourning, a quiet, pathetic figure, just as we had last met. i instantly recollected that since the evening when i had given her photograph to the crown-prince he had never mentioned her, and i could only believe that for some mysterious reason sight of the picture had recalled some distasteful memory. "ah, count!" she cried, as i halted and raised my hat. "this is, indeed, a welcome meeting! i have been looking out for you for the past two days." "i've been staying over at cannes," was my reply. "well?" she indicated a seat, and upon it we sat together. "i have to thank you for giving my photograph and message to his highness," she said in that sweet, refined voice that i so well remembered. "i trust that the crown-prince has written to you--eh?" she smiled, a trifle sadly i thought. "well, no----" was her rather vague reply. "then how are you aware that i gave your message?" she shook her head and again smiled. "i had my own means of discovery. by certain signs i knew that you had carried out your promise," she said. "but as i have heard nothing, i wish you, if you will, to deliver another message--a very urgent one. tell him i must see him, for i dread daily lest the truth of the kaiser's real intentions be known at the quai d'orsay." "certainly," was my polite reply. "i will deliver your message this evening." "tell him that my sole desire is to act in the interests of the emperor and himself," she urged. "but, forgive me," i said, "i cannot see why you should interest yourself in the crown-prince if he declines to communicate with you." "i have my reasons, count von heltzendorff," was her rather haughty reply. "please tell him that the matter will not brook further delay." i had seen in the london newspapers during the past week how eagerly the english journalists, with the dust cast into their eyes, were blindly advocating that the british public should welcome the great german national movement, headed by baron von gessler, supported by ballin, delbrück, and von wedel, with the hearty co-operation of the emperor and the imperial chancellor--the movement to establish better relations with great britain. i knew that the secret should at all hazards be kept, and that night i told the crown-prince of my second meeting with the pretty woman in black and her urgent request. he laughed, but made no remark. yet i knew by his tone that he was not so easy in his mind as he desired me to believe. it also seemed strange why, if the young frenchwoman was so desirous of meeting him, she did not call at the villa. about a week later it suddenly occurred to me to endeavour to discover the real identity of the lady in black, but as i was not certain whether she actually lived in nice it was rather difficult. nevertheless, by invoking the aid of my friend belabre, inspector of the sûreté of nice, and after waiting a few days i made an astounding discovery, namely, that the lady who called herself de rouville was an italian café concert singer named irene speroni--the woman who had aroused the jealousy of the crown-princess! and she knew that important state secret of germany! the situation was, i saw, a most serious one. indeed, i felt it my duty to mention my discovery to his highness, when, to my surprise, he was not in the least angry. he merely said: "it is true, heltzendorff--true what the crown-princess declared--that i went to wiesbaden and that i gave the woman a pair of emerald earrings which i ordered from old vollgold. but there was no reason for jealousy. i saw the woman, and gave her the present in the hope of closing her lips." in a moment i understood. the pretty variety artiste was endeavouring to levy blackmail. but how could she, in her position, have learnt the secret of the emperor's intentions? she was, i found, living as signorina speroni, with her maid, at the hôtel bristol over at beaulieu, just across the blue bay of villefranche, and as the days went on i realized the imminent danger of exposure, and wondered if the kaiser knew of it. i made a remark to that effect to his highness one morning, whereupon he replied: "don't disturb yourself, my dear heltzendorff! i have not overlooked the matter, for it is one that closely concerns both the emperor and myself. the woman obtained the secret by opening the dispatch-box of one who believed her to be his friend, and then she attempted to use her knowledge in order to drag me into her net. but i do not think i am very likely to be caught--eh?" at that moment herr schäfer entered the room, therefore further discussion was out of the question. from inquiries i made later on i found that the concert singer had suddenly left the hotel, therefore i went over to beaulieu and had an instructive chat with the hall porter, a german of course. from him i learnt that the signorina had been staying there ever since the date when we had arrived at nice, and, further, that two gentleman had been frequently in the habit of calling upon her. one was a smart young frenchman who came in a motor-car, and the other was a german. from the description of the latter i at once came to the conclusion that it was none other than herr schäfer! "the one gentleman did not know of the other's visits," said the bearded porter, with a laugh. "the signorina always impressed silence upon me, because she thought one would be jealous of the other. the german gentleman seemed very deeply in love with her, and she called him hans. he accompanied her when she left here for san remo." i reported this to his highness, but he made no remark. that some devilish plot was being carried out i suspected. the hohenzollerns are ready to go to any length to prevent their black secrets from leaking out. my surmise proved correct, for, a week later, some fishermen found upon the brown rocks near capo verde, beyond san remo, the body of a woman, fully dressed, afterwards identified as that of irene speroni, the singer so popular in rome. it was proved that on the previous night she had been seen by two peasants walking along the sea road near san lorenzo, accompanied by a tall, thin man, who seemed greatly excited, and was talking in german. it was believed by the italian police that the unknown german, in a fit of jealousy, threw her into the sea. from facts i gathered some months later i realized that the whole plot had been most cunningly conceived by the crown-prince. schäfer, after his return from america, had met the woman speroni, who was performing in london, and she had, unknown to him, opened his dispatch-box, and from some secret correspondence had learned the real truth regarding the proposed _entente_ which the emperor contemplated. schäfer, alarmed at the woman's knowledge, and yet fascinated by her charms, had gone to the crown-prince, and he, in turn, had seen the woman in wiesbaden. finding her so dangerous to the emperor's plans, his highness then conceived a fiendish plot. he first introduced her to a young french marquis, de vienne by name, who pestered her with his attentions, and followed her to beaulieu. having so far succeeded, the crown-prince went to nice, and cleverly played upon schäfer's love for the woman, pointing out that she was playing a double game, and urging him to watch. he did so, and discovered the truth. then there occurred the tragedy of jealousy, exactly as the police believed. herr schäfer, the tool of his imperial highness, had, however, escaped to germany, and the police of san remo are still in ignorance of his identity. secret number six the affair of the hunchbacked countess i suppose that none of your british friends have ever heard the name of thyra adelheid von kienitz. she was a funny little deformed person, aged, perhaps, seventy, widow of the great general von kienitz, who had served in the franco-german campaign, and who, before his death, had been acknowledged to be as great a strategist as your own lord roberts, whom every good german--i did not write prussian--salutes in reverence. countess von kienitz was the daughter of a certain countess von borcke, and after living for many years in retirement in her picturesque old schloss perched on a rock not far from the famous wine district of berncastel, on the winding mosel river, became suddenly seized with an idea to re-enter berlin society. with this view she rented a fine house not far from the liechtenstein bridge, and early in commenced a series of wildly-extravagant entertainments--luncheons, dinners, and supper concerts, at which were artistes to whom three-thousand-mark fees were often paid--with a view, as it seemed to me, to attract the more modern and go-ahead section of berlin society. at first the smarter set looked askance at the ugly, deformed, painted-up old woman with the squeaky voice, and they strenuously declined invitations to her splendid, newly-furnished mansion in the stulerstrasse. indeed, the name of the countess von kienitz became synonymous for all that was grotesque, and her painted, doll-like countenance and yellow wig were the laughing-stock of both the upper and middle classes. nevertheless she strenuously endeavoured to surround herself with young society of both sexes, and many smart dances were given at the stulerstrasse during the season--dances at which the swaggering prussian officer was seen at his gorgeous best. one afternoon, seated by the crown-prince as he drove recklessly his great mercédès car along the bismarckallee in the direction of potsdam, we passed an overdressed old woman, very artificial, with yellow hair, and short of stature. "look, heltzendorff! is she not like that old crow, von kienitz?" "yes, her figure is very similar," i admitted. "ah! the old woman was introduced to me the other night at bismarck-bohlen's house. _himmel!_ what a freak! have you seen her wig?" i replied that i had visited once or twice at the stulerstrasse, and that the company i had met there were certainly amusing. i mentioned some of their names, among them that of young von ratibor, major gersdorff, of the death's head hussars, von heynitz, of the königsjäger, a well-known man about town, his friend winterfeld, together with a number of ladies of the very ultra go-ahead set. at this his highness seemed highly interested. "she certainly seems a very curious old person," he laughed. "fancies that she's but twenty-five, and actually had the audacity to dance at bismarck-bohlen's. somebody was cruel enough to ask her to sing a french _chansonnette_!" "did she?" i inquired. "of course. she put herself into a martial attitude, and sang something about 'le drapeau' of 'jacques bonhomme,' as though we wished to know anything about it. the man who suggested the song was sorry." i laughed heartily. sometimes the crown-prince could be humorous, and it certainly must have been distinctly quaint when, as a result of the joke played upon the old countess, she so completely turned the tables upon the party by singing a song full of french sentiment. that circumstance told me that she must be a very clever old lady, even though she wore that tow-coloured wig which sometimes on nights of merriment got a trifle askew. judge my great surprise, however, when, about six weeks later, frau von alvensleben, the pretty _grande maîtresse_ of the court of the crown-princess, stopped me in one of the corridors of the marmor palace and, drawing me aside, whispered: "i have news for you, my dear count. we have a new arrival at court--frau yellow-wig." i looked at her, for the moment puzzled. she saw that i did not follow her. "countess von kienitz--a friend of yours, i believe." "friend of mine!" i echoed. "i've only been to her house three or four times, just in a crowd, and out of curiosity." "_oh, là là!_ well, she has told the crown-princess that you are her friend, and, in brief, has entirely fascinated her imperial highness." i gasped. at what a pass we had arrived when the crown-princess was receiving that old woman whose reputation was of the gayest and most scandalous! what the _grande maîtresse_ had told me was perfectly correct, for three days later a dance was held, and as i entered the room i saw amid that gay assemblage the yellow-haired old widow of the long-forgotten military hero wagging her lace fan and talking quite familiarly with her imperial highness. to my utter amazement also, his majesty the emperor, in the gay uniform of the rd regiment of uhlans of saxony--of whom he was chief, among a hundred-and-one other high military distinctions--advanced and smiled graciously upon her as she bowed as low as rheumatism and old age allowed. the fascination which the ugly, shrill-voiced old woman exercised over "cilli" was quickly remarked, and, of course, gossip became more rife than ever, especially when, a week later, it was announced that she had actually been appointed a lady-in-waiting. the crown-prince, too, soon became on friendly terms with her, and many times i saw them chatting together as though exchanging confidences. why? his highness, usually so utterly piggish towards ladies, given to snubbing even the highest-born in the empire, was always smiling and gracious towards her. "i can't make it out," declared von behr, the chamberlain _du service_, to me one day two months later, while i was smoking with him in his room. "the old woman has the most complete control over her highness. because she was averse to the journey, we are not going to norway this year. besides, since her appointment she has succeeded in plotting the dismissal of both countess von scheet-plessen and countess von brockdorff." "i know," i replied. i had been discussing it only a few hours before with major von amsberg, aide-de-camp of the prince eitel frédéric, and he, too, had expressed himself both mystified and disgusted with the mysterious power exercised by the old woman in the yellow wig. "it seems so extraordinary," i went on, "that the court should so utterly disregard the woman's reputation." "bah, my dear heltzendorff!" laughed the chamberlain. "when a woman arrives at seventy she has outlived all the peccadilloes of youth. and, after all, the reputations of most of us here are tarnished--more or less--eh?" his remarks were indeed true. nevertheless, it did not lessen the mystery of the appointment of the little old countess as a lady-in-waiting, nor did it account for the strange influence which she held over the imperial pair. one evening i went to the countess's house in the stulerstrasse to a dinner-party, at which there were present the crown-prince, admiral von spee from kiel, and von ilberg, the emperor's doctor, together with the old duke von trachenberg, who held the honorary and out-of-date office of grand cupbearer to the emperor, and the eternal "uncle" zeppelin. with us were a number of ladies, including their serene highnesses the princess von radolin and the duchess von ratibor, both ladies of the court of the kaiserin, and several others of the ultra-smart set. after the meal there was a small dance, and about midnight, after waltzing with a pretty girl, the daughter of the baron von heintze-weissenrode, we strolled together into the fine winter garden with its high palms, its plashing fountains, and its cunningly-secreted electric lights. i was seated with her, chatting gaily, for we had met in july at stubbenkammer, on the island of rügen. she had been staying with her father at eichstadt's, in nipmerow, and we had all three been on some pleasant excursions along the baltic coast, with its picturesque beech woods, white cliffs, and blue bays. we were recalling a delightful excursion up to the herthaburg, on the road to sassnitz, that "altar of sacrifice" which tradition connects with the mysterious rites of the beautiful goddess hertha, mentioned by tacitus, when suddenly we overheard voices. two persons were approaching somewhere behind us, conversing in italian--a man and a woman. "hush!" i whispered mischievously. "listen! do you know italian?" "alas! no," was her reply. "do you?" i did not answer, for i had already recognized the voices as those of our hostess and the crown-prince. next moment, however, my companion's quick ears caught that unmistakable squeaky voice. "why, it's the countess!" she exclaimed. i made no reply, but continued to recall that glorious summer's day beside the blue baltic, while his highness and the little old lady-in-waiting seated themselves out of sight a short distance away, and continued a very confidential discussion in an undertone in the language in which, after german, i happened perhaps to be most proficient. the pair were discussing somebody named karl krahl, and the curious discussion was undoubtedly regarding some evil intent. "i saw the emperor to-day," declared the old woman in her sibilant italian, so that no one should understand, for italian is seldom spoken in germany. "his majesty shares my views now, though he did not do so at first. indeed, i was very near being dismissed in disgrace when i first broached the affair. but, fortunately, he now knows the truth and sees the advantage of--well, you know, eh?" "_certo, contessa_," replied the crown-prince, who speaks italian extremely well, though not with half the fluency of his hostess. "i quite foresee the peril and the force of your argument." "how shall we act?" asked the old woman. "it remains for you to devise a plan. at any moment matters may approach a crisis. one can never account for the confidences exchanged by those who love each other. and, remember, krahl is in love." the crown-prince grunted, but as several couples entered at that moment the pair suddenly broke off their confidential chat, and, rising, went out together. who was this karl krahl against whom some deep-laid plot was levelled? i searched various directories, lists of persons engaged in the government offices in the wilhelmstrasse, the leipzigerstrasse, and unter den linden; i consulted the director of berlin police, von jagow; the well-known detective schunke, and heinrich wesener, assistant-director of the secret service of the general staff; but nobody knew karl krahl. there seemed to be no record of him anywhere. in october i went with the crown-prince and the emperor upon a round of ceremonial military inspections to the garrisons in silesia--namely, breslau, leignitz, and oppeln--and afterwards to lübeck, where we presented new colours to two regiments. thence, while the emperor and his staff returned direct to berlin, i accompanied his imperial highness to ballenstedt, the beautiful schloss in the harz mountains. here once or twice each season the crown-prince's habit was to invite a few of his most intimate chums to shoot in the forests of stecklenberg and the lauenberg, and along that curious sandstone ridge known as the teufelsmauer, or "devil's wall." the sport was always excellent, especially about the romantic district of neue schenke, near suderode. the guns consisted of five well-known officers from berlin, together with dr. zeising, the master-general of forests, and lieut.-general von oertzen, the fat old inspector-general of cavalry. as usual, we all had a most enjoyable time. on the third day, after a champagne luncheon taken at the forester's little house at neue schenke, we were about to resume our sport. indeed, all the guests had gone outside, preparing to go to their allotted stations, when the head forester, a stalwart man in green livery, entered, and, addressing the crown-prince, said: "there is a man to see your imperial highness, and refuses to leave. he gives his name as karl krahl." in an instant i pricked up my ears. his highness's brows narrowed for a second, which showed his annoyance, then, smiling affably, so clever was he, like his imperial father, in the concealment of his real feelings--he replied: "oh, yes--krahl! i recollect. yes, i will see him here." next moment the person whom i had heard discussed so strangely in the little old woman's beautiful winter garden was ushered in. he was dark-haired, aged about twenty-eight, i judged, with small, shrewd black eyes, dressed in a well-cut suit of grey country tweeds, and but for his german name i should have taken him for an english tourist, one of those familiar objects of the harz in peace time. his appearance instantly interested me, the more so owing to the fact that he had come to that remote spot and at that hour to pay a visit to the emperor's son. "come in, karl!" exclaimed the crown-prince affably, as he grasped his visitor's hand. his highness did not often offer his manicured hand to others, and at this i was, i admit, greatly surprised. "the forester did not know you, of course. well, i am very pleased to see you. have you come straight here?" "yes, your highness. i went first to berlin, and learning that you were here i thought i had better lose no time." "quite right," laughed his highness who, turning to me, said: "heltzendorff, will you tell the others to go on--that i am detained for an hour on state business, and--and that i will join them as soon as possible. i will find you in the woods, on the left of the quedlinburg road, before one comes to the wurmtal. apologize for me, but the delay is inevitable. i have a conference with herr krahl." while his highness remained behind at the forester's house to chat alone with the mysterious karl krahl, we went out among the birds and had some excellent sport. yet the sight of that ferret-eyed young man, whom i had long endeavoured in vain to trace, caused me considerable wonderment. who was that young fellow in whom the little old countess seemed to take such deep and peculiar interest? what was his offence that she, with the crown-prince, should concoct, as it seemed to me, such a plot as that i had partly overheard? that there was a woman in the case i felt assured, but her name had not been mentioned, and i had no suspicion of whom it could be. i realized, however, that something important must be in progress, otherwise his highness, devoted to sport as he was, would never have given up the best afternoon to consult with that stranger in grey tweeds. the forester and beaters had come with us, as the crown-prince had, at his own request, been left alone with his mysterious visitor. after a couple of short beats we arrived at the spot on the forest road to quedlinburg, a most romantic and picturesque gorge, where his highness had arranged to meet us, and there we sat down and waited. both von oertzen and dr. zeising, being unduly stout, had been puffed in coming up the steep mountain side, and as we sat we gossiped, though impatient to set forth again. a full half-hour had passed, yet the head forester, who was keeping a look-out along the road, did not signal his highness's approach. "i wonder what can have detained him?" remarked the inspector-general of cavalry. i explained that a strange young man had come to the forester's house. "well," laughed a smart young lieutenant of uhlans, "i could have understood the delay if it had been a lady!" an hour went past. the light would soon fade, and we, knowing "willie's" utter disregard for his appointments, at last decided to continue the shoot, leaving one of the foresters to tell his highness the direction we had taken. the crown-prince did not, however, join us, and darkness had fallen ere we returned to the forester's house. of his highness there was no sign, a fact which much surprised us. in the room wherein i had left him his gun and green tyrolese hat were lying upon a chair, and the fact that all the cars were still ranged outside showed that he had not driven back to the castle. the crown-prince had disappeared! knof, his highness's chauffeur, who had been walking with us, was sent back post-haste to the schloss to ascertain whether he had been seen there, for his highness's movements were often most erratic. we knew that if the whim took him he would perhaps go off in an opposite direction, or trudge back to the castle with utter disregard of our natural anxiety. lights were lit, and we enjoyed cigars awaiting knof's return. in an hour he was back with the news that nothing had been heard of his highness. soon after we had left that morning, however, a young man in a grey suit had called and seen the major-domo, who had directed him where his highness might be found. upon eckardt--the commissary of police responsible for his highness's safety--the onus rested. yet, had he not been sent out with the party, as his highness had expressed to me a wish to be left alone with the stranger, whose name i alone knew. while we were discussing the most judicious mode of action--for i scented much mystery in this visit of karl krahl--one of the party suddenly discovered, lying upon the ledge of the window, a lady's small and rather elegant handbag of black _moiré_ silk. "hulloa!" i cried when he held it up for inspection. "this reveals to us one fact--a woman has been here!" i opened the bag, and within found a small lawn handkerchief with a coronet embroidered in its corner, a tiny tortoise-shell mirror, and four one-hundred-mark notes, but no clue whatever as to its owner. the mystery was increasing hourly, but the gay party, knowing "willie's" susceptibility where the fair sex were concerned, only laughed and declared that his highness would assuredly turn up before the evening was over. truth to tell, i did not like the situation. his highness's disappearance was now known to fifty or so persons, beaters, and others, and i feared lest it might get into the berlin papers. with that object i called them together and impressed upon them that most complete silence must be maintained regarding the affair. then knof drove me alone back to the schloss. i wondered if his highness, wishing to get away unobserved, returning in secret there, had left me a written message in his room. he had done that on one occasion before. i dashed up to the small, old-world room which by day overlooked the romantic and picturesque valley, but upon the table whereat i had been writing early that morning there was nothing. as i turned to leave i heard a footstep, and next instant saw the little deformed old countess facing me. her appearance quite startled me. apparently she had just arrived, for she was in a dark blue bonnet and warm travelling coat. "ah! count von heltzendorff!" she cried in that squeaky, high-pitched voice of hers. "is his imperial highness here? i must see him immediately." "no, countess. his imperial highness is not here," was my reply. "this afternoon he mysteriously disappeared from the forester's lodge at neue schenke, and we are unable to trace him." "disappeared!" gasped the old lady, instantly pale and agitated. "yes," i said, looking her straight in the face. "do you know whether he had a visitor to-day--a young, dark-haired man?" "he had, countess. a man called, and saw him. at his highness's request i left him alone with his visitor at the forester's house. the man's name was karl krahl." "how did you know his name?" she asked, staring at me with an expression of distinct suspicion. "because--well, because i happen to have learnt it some time ago," i said. "and, further, on returning to the house we found this little bag in the room wherein i had left the crown-prince." "why!--a lady's bag!" she exclaimed as i held it out for inspection. "yes," i said in a somewhat hard tone. "do you happen to recognize it?" "me? why?" asked the old woman. "well, because i think it is your own property," i said with a sarcastic smile. "i have some recollection of having seen it in your hand!" she took it, examined it well, and then, with a hollow, artificial laugh, declared: "it certainly is not mine. i once had a bag very similar, but mine was not of such good quality." "are you really quite certain, countess?" i demanded in a low, persuasive voice. "quite," she declared, though i knew that she was lying to me. "but why trouble about that bag while there is a point much more important--the safety and whereabouts of his imperial highness?" she went on in a great state of agitation. "tell me, count, exactly what occurred--as far as you know." i recounted to her the facts just as you have already written them down, and as i did so i watched her thin, crafty old face, noticing upon it an expression full of suspicion of myself. she was, i now realized, undecided as to the exact extent of my knowledge. "how did you know that the young man's name was krahl?" she asked eagerly. "you had perhaps met him before--eh?" but to this leading question i maintained a sphinx-like silence. that the little old woman who had so unexpectedly become a lady-in-waiting was playing some desperate double game i felt sure, but its exact import was still an enigma. "in any case," she said, "would it not be as well to return to the neue schenke and make search?" i smiled. then, in order to let her know that i was acquainted with italian, the language she had spoken on that well-remembered night in her own conservatory, i exclaimed: "ahe! alle volte con gli occhi aperti si far dei sogni." (sometimes one can dream with one's eyes open.) her thin eyebrows narrowed, and with a shrug of her shoulders the clever old woman replied: "dal false bene viene il vero male." (from an affected good feeling comes a real evil.) i realized at that moment that there was more mystery in the affair than i had yet conceived. his imperial highness was certainly missing, though the female element of the affair had become eliminated by my recognition of her own handbag. she, too, had been in secret to the forester's house--but with what object? half an hour later we were back at the little house in the forest. the guests had all returned to the castle, and only eckardt, the police commissary, remained, with the forester and his underlings. already search had been made in the surrounding woods, but without result. of his imperial highness there was no trace. in the long room, with its pitch-pine walls, and lit by oil lamps, the crafty old countess closely questioned eckardt as to the result of his inquiries. but the police official, who had become full of nervous fear, declared that he had been sent off by his highness, and had not since found any trace of him. he spoke of the little black silk bag, of course, and attached great importance to it. within half an hour we had reorganized the beaters from the neighbourhood and, with lanterns, set out again to examine some woods to the east which had not been searched. about ten o'clock we set forth, the countess accompanying us and walking well, notwithstanding her age, though i could see that it was a fearful anxiety that kept her active. to the men with us every inch of the mountain side was familiar, and for hours we searched. suddenly, not far away, a horn was blown, followed by loud shouts. quickly we approached the spot, and eckardt and myself, as we came up, looked upon a strange scene. close to the trunk of a great beech tree lay the form of the crown-prince, hatless, outstretched upon his face. instantly i bent, tore open his shooting jacket, and to my great relief found that his heart was still beating. he was, however, quite unconscious, though there seemed no sign of a struggle. as he had left his hat and gun in the house, it seemed that he had gone forth only for a moment. and yet we were quite a mile from the forester's house! the countess had thrown herself upon her knees and stroked his brow tenderly when i announced that he was still living. by her actions i saw that she was filled by some bitter self-reproach. with the lanterns shining around him--surely a weird and remarkable scene which would, if described by the journalists, have caused a great sensation in europe--the crown-prince was brought slowly back to consciousness, until at last he sat up, dazed and wondering. his first words to me were: "that fellow! where is he? that--that glass globe!" glass globe! surely his highness's mind was wandering. an hour later he was comfortably in bed in the great old-world room in the castle, attended by a local doctor--upon whom i set the seal of official silence--and before dawn he had completely recovered. yet, even to me, he declared that he retained absolutely no knowledge of what had occurred. "i went out quickly, and i--well, i don't know what happened," he told me soon after dawn, as he lay in bed. strangely enough, he made no mention of the man, karl krahl. later on he summoned the countess von kienitz, and for twenty minutes or so he had an animated discussion with her. being outside the room, however, i was unable to hear distinctly. well, i succeeded, by bribes and threats, in hushing up the whole affair and keeping it out of the papers, while by those who knew of the incident it was soon forgotten. i suppose it must have been fully three months later when one evening, having taken some documents over to the emperor for signature at the berlin schloss, i returned to the prince's private room in the palace, when, to my great surprise, i found the man karl krahl seated there. he looked very pale and worn, quite unlike the rather athletic figure he presented at the forester's house. "if you still refuse to tell me the truth, then i shall take my own measures to find out--severe measures! so i give you full warning," the crown-prince was declaring angrily, as i entered so unexpectedly. i did not withdraw, pretending not to notice the presence of a visitor, therefore his highness himself beckoned the young man, who followed him down the corridor to another room. the whole affair was most puzzling. what had happened on that afternoon in the harz mountains i could not at all imagine. by what means had his highness been rendered unconscious, and what part could the little old countess have played in the curious affair? in about half an hour the crown-prince returned in a palpably bad humour, and, flinging himself into his chair, wrote a long letter, which he addressed to countess von kienitz. this he sealed carefully, and ordered me to take it at once to the stulerstrasse and deliver it to her personally. "the countess left for stockholm this morning," i was informed by the bearded manservant. "she left by the eight o'clock train, and has already left sassnitz by now." "when do you expect her to return?" the man did not know. on going back to his highness and telling him of the countess's departure, he bit his lip and then smiled grimly. "that infernal old woman has left germany, and will never again put her foot upon our soil, heltzendorff," he said. "you may open that letter. it will explain something which i know must have mystified you." i did so. and as i read what he had written i held my breath. truly, it did explain much. imposing the strictest silence upon me, the crown-prince then revealed how utterly he and the crown-princess had been misled, and how very narrowly he had escaped being the victim of a cunning plot to effect his death. the little old countess von kienitz had, it seemed, sworn to avenge the degradation and dismissal of her son, who had been in the famous death's head hussars. she had secretly traced the crown-prince as author of a subtle conspiracy against him, the underlying motive being jealousy. with that end in view she had slowly wormed her way into his highness's confidence, and introduced to him karl krahl, a neurotic young saxon who lived in london, and who pretended he had unearthed a plot against the kaiser himself. "it was to tell me the truth concerning the conspiracy that krahl came to me in secret at ballenstedt. he remained with me for half an hour, when, to my great surprise, we were joined by the countess. the story they told me of the plot against the emperor was a very alarming one, and i intended to return at once to berlin. the countess had left to walk back to the schloss, when presently we heard a woman's scream--her voice--and we both went forth to discover what was in progress. as i ran along a little distance behind krahl, suddenly what seemed like a thin glass globe struck me in the chest and burst before my face. it had been thrown by an unknown hand, and, on breaking, must have emitted some poisonous gas which was intended to kill me, but which happily failed. until yesterday the whole affair was a complete mystery, but krahl has now confessed that the countess conceived the plot, and that the hand that had thrown the glass bomb was that of her son, who had concealed himself in the bushes for that purpose." though, of course, i hastened to congratulate his highness upon his fortunate escape, yet i now often wonder whether, if the plot had succeeded, the present world-conflict would ever have occurred. secret number seven the british girl who baulked the kaiser "how completely we have put to sleep these very dear cousins of ours, the british!" his imperial highness the crown-prince made this remark to me as he sat in the corner of a first-class compartment of an express that had ten minutes before left paddington station for the west of england--that much-advertised train known as the cornish-riviera express. the crown-prince, though not generally known, frequently visited england and scotland incognito, usually travelling as count von grünau, and we were upon one of these flying visits on that bright summer's morning as the express tore through your delightful english scenery of the thames valley, with the first stopping-place at plymouth, our destination. the real reason for the visit of my young hotheaded imperial master was concealed from me. four days before he had dashed into my room at the marmor palace at potsdam greatly excited. he had been with the emperor in berlin all the morning, and had motored back with all speed. something had occurred, but what it was i failed to discern. he carried some papers in the pocket of his military tunic. from their colour i saw that they were secret reports--those documents prepared solely for the eyes of the kaiser and those of his precious son. he took a big linen-lined envelope and, placing the papers in it, carefully sealed it with wax. "we are going to london, heltzendorff. put that in your dispatch-box. i may want it when we are in england." "to london--when?" i asked, much surprised at the suddenness of our journey, because i knew that we were due at weimar in two days' time. "we leave at six o'clock this evening," was the crown-prince's reply. "koehler has ordered the saloon to be attached to the hook of holland train. hardt has already left berlin to engage rooms for us at the 'ritz,' in london." "and the suite?" i asked, for it was one of my duties to arrange who travelled with his imperial highness. "oh! we'll leave eckardt at home," he said, for he always hated the surveillance of the commissioner of secret police. "we shall only want schuler, my valet, and knof." we never travelled anywhere without knof, the chauffeur, who was an impudent, arrogant young man, intensely disliked by everyone. and so it was that the four of us duly landed at harwich and travelled to london, our identity unknown to the jostling crowd of cook's tourists returning from their annual holiday on the continent. at the "ritz," too, though we took our meals in the restaurant, that great square white room overlooking the park, "willie" was not recognized, because all photographs of him show him in elegant uniform. in a tweed suit, or in evening clothes, he presents an unhealthy, weedy and somewhat insignificant figure, save for those slant animal eyes of his which are always so striking in his every mood. his imperial highness had been on the previous day to carlton house terrace to a luncheon given by the ambassador's wife, but to which nobody was invited but the embassy staff. and that afternoon in the great dining-room, in full view of st. james's park and whitehall, the toast of "the day" was drunk enthusiastically--the day of great britain's intended downfall. that same evening an imperial courier arrived from berlin and called at the "ritz," where, on being shown into the crown-prince's sitting-room, he handed his highness a sealed letter from his wife. "willie," on reading it, became very grave. then, striking a match, he lit it, and held it until it was consumed. there was a second letter--which i saw was from the emperor. this he also read, and then gave vent to an expression of impatience. for a few minutes he reflected, and it was then he announced that we must go to plymouth next day. on arrival there we went to the royal hotel, where the crown-prince registered as mr. richter, engaging a private suite of rooms for himself and his secretary, myself. for three days we remained there, taking motor runs to dartmoor, and also down into cornwall, until on the morning of the fourth day the crown-prince suddenly said: "i shall probably have a visitor this morning about eleven o'clock--a young lady named king. tell them at the bureau to send her up to my sitting-room." at the time appointed the lady came. i received her in the lobby of the self-contained flat, and found her to be about twenty-four, well-dressed, fair-haired and extremely good-looking. knowing the crown-prince's _penchant_ for the petticoat, i saw at once the reason of our journey down to plymouth. miss king, i learned, was an english girl who some years previously had gone to america with her people, and by the heavy travelling coat and close-fitting hat she wore i concluded that she had just come off one of the incoming american liners. one thing which struck me as i looked at her was the brooch she wore. it was a natural butterfly of a rare tropical variety, with bright golden wings, the delicate sheen of which was protected by small plates of crystal--one of the most charming ornaments i had ever seen. as i ushered her in she greeted the crown-prince as "mr. richter," being apparently entirely unaware of his real identity. i concluded that she was somebody whom his highness had met in germany, and to whom he had been introduced under his assumed name. "ah! miss king!" he exclaimed pleasantly in his excellent english, shaking hands with her. "your boat should have been in yesterday. i fear you encountered bad weather--eh?" "yes, rather," replied the girl. "but it did not trouble me much. we had almost constant gales ever since we left new york," she laughed brightly. she appeared to be quite a charming little person. but his fast-living highness was perhaps one of the best judges of a pretty face in all europe, and i now realized why we had travelled all the way from potsdam to plymouth. "heltzendorff, would you please bring me that sealed packet from your dispatch-box?" he asked, suddenly turning to me. the sealed packet! i had forgotten all about it ever since he had handed it me at the door of the marmor palace. i knew that it contained some secret reports prepared for the eye of the emperor. the latter had no doubt seen them, for the crown-prince had brought them with him from berlin. as ordered, i took the packet into the room where his highness sat with his fair visitor, and then i retired and closed the door. hotel doors are never very heavy, as a rule, therefore i was able to hear conversation, but unfortunately few words were distinct. the interview had lasted nearly half an hour. finding that i could hear nothing, i contented myself in reading the paper and holding myself in readiness should "mr. richter" want me. of a sudden i heard his highness's voice raised in anger, that shrill, high-pitched note which is peculiar both to the emperor and to his son when they are unusually annoyed. "but i tell you, miss king, there is no other way," i heard him shout. "it can be done quite easily, and nobody can possibly know." "never!" cried the girl. "what would people think of me?" "you wish to save your brother," he said. "very well, i have shown you how you can effect this. and i will help you if you agree to the terms--if you will find out what i want to know." "i can't!" cried the girl, in evident distress. "i really can't! it would be dishonest--criminal!" "bah! my dear girl, you are looking at the affair from far too high a standpoint," replied the man she knew as richter. "it is a mere matter of business. you ask me to assist you to save your brother, and i have simply stated my terms. surely you would not think that i should travel from berlin here to plymouth in order to meet you if i were not ready and eager to help you?" "i must ask my father. i can speak to him in confidence." "your father!" shrieked mr. richter in alarm. "by no means. why, you must not breathe a single word to him. this affair is a strict secret between us. please understand that." then, after a pause, he asked in a lower and more serious voice: "your brother is, i quite admit, in direst peril, and you alone can save him. now, what is your decision?" the girl's reply was in a tone too low for me to overhear. its tenor, however, was quickly apparent from the crown-prince's words: "you refuse! very well, then, i cannot assist you. i regret, miss king, that you have had your journey to england for nothing." "but won't you help me, mr. richter?" cried the girl appealingly. "do, do, mr. richter!" "no," was his cold answer. "i will, however, give you opportunity to reconsider your decision. you are, no doubt, going to london. so am i. you will meet me in the hall of the carlton hotel at seven o'clock on thursday evening, and we will dine together." "but i can't--i really can't do as you wish. you surely will not compel me to--to commit a crime!" "hush!" he cried. "i have shown you these papers, and you know my instructions. remember that your father must know nothing. nobody must suspect, or you will find yourself in equal peril with your brother." "you--you are cruel!" sobbed the girl. "horribly cruel!" "no, no," he said cheerfully. "don't cry, please. think it all over, miss king, and meet me in london on thursday night." after listening to the appointment i discreetly withdrew into the corridor on pretence of summoning a waiter, and when i returned the pretty english girl was taking leave of "mr. richter." her blue eyes betrayed traces of emotion, and she was, i saw, very pale, her bearing quite unlike her attitude when she had entered there. "well, good-bye, miss king," said his highness, grasping her hand. "it was really awfully good of you to call. we shall meet again very soon--eh? good-bye." then, turning to me, he asked me to conduct her out. i walked by her side along the corridor and down the stairs, but as we went along she suddenly turned to me, remarking: "i wonder if all men are alike?" "alike, why?" i asked, surprised. "mr. richter--ah! he has a heart of stone," she declared. "my poor brother!" she added, in a voice broken in emotion. "i have travelled from america in order to try and save him ere it is too late." "mr. richter is your friend--eh?" i asked as we descended. "yes. i met him at frankenhausen two years ago. i had gone there with my father to visit the barbarossa cavern." "then you have lived in germany?" "yes, for several years." by this time we were at the door of the hotel, and i bowed to her as she smiled sadly and, wishing me adieu, passed out into the street. on returning to the crown-prince, i found him in a decidedly savage mood. he was pacing the floor impatiently, muttering angrily to himself, for it was apparent that some deeply-laid plan of his was being thwarted by the girl's refusal to conform to his wishes and obtain certain information he was seeking. the crown-prince, when in a foreign country, was never idle. his energy was such that he was ever on the move, with eyes and ears always open to learn whatever he could. hence it was at two o'clock that afternoon knof brought round a big grey open car, and in it i sat beside the emperor's son while we were driven around the defences of plymouth, just as on previous occasions we had inspected those of portsmouth and of dover. on the following thursday evening we had returned to london, and the crown-prince, without telling me where he was going, left the ritz hotel, merely explaining that he might not be back till midnight. it was on that occasion, my dear le queux, you will remember, that i dined with you at the devonshire club, and we afterwards spent a pleasant evening together at the "empire." i merely told you that his highness was out at dinner with a friend. you were, naturally, inquisitive, but i did not satisfy your curiosity. secrecy was my duty. on returning to the hotel i found the crown-prince arranging with knof a motor run along the surrey hills on the following day. he had a large map spread before him--a german military map, the curious marks upon which would have no doubt astonished any of your war office officials. the map indicated certain spots which had been secretly prepared by germany in view of the projected invasion. to those spots we motored on the following day. his imperial highness, at the instigation of the emperor, actually made a tour of inspection of those cunningly-concealed points of vantage which the imperial general staff had, with their marvellous forethought and bold enterprise, already prepared right beneath the very nose of the sleeping british lion. from the crown-prince's jaunty manner and good spirits i felt assured that by the subtle persuasive powers he possessed towards women--nearly all of whom admired his corseted figure and his gay nonchalance--he had brought the mysterious miss king into line with his own cunningly-conceived plans--whatever they might be. we lunched at the burford bridge hotel, that pretty old-fashioned house beneath box hill, not far from dorking. after our meal in the long public room, newly built as an annexe, we strolled into the grounds for a smoke. "well, heltzendorff," he said presently, as we strolled together along the gravelled walks, "we will return to the continent to-morrow. our visit has not been altogether abortive. we will remain a few days in ostend, before we return to potsdam." next afternoon we had taken up our quarters at a small but very select hotel on the digue at ostend, a place called the "beau séjour." it was patronized by old-fashioned folk, and "herr richter" was well known there. there may have been some who suspected that richter was not the visitor's real name, but they were few, and it always surprised me how well the crown-prince succeeded in preserving his incognito--though, of course, the authorities knew of the imperial visit. whenever "willie" went to ostend his conduct became anything but that of the exemplary husband. ostend in the season was assuredly a gay place, and the crown-prince had a small and select coterie of friends there who drank, gambled and enjoyed themselves even more than they did at nice in winter. but his mind was always obsessed by the coming war. indeed, on that very evening of our arrival, as we strolled along the gaily-illuminated digue towards the big, bright kursaal, he turned to me suddenly and said: "when the hour comes, and prussia in her greatness strikes them, this place will soon become german territory. i shall make that building yonder my headquarters," and he jerked his thumb in the direction of the summer palace of the king of the belgians. the following day, about three o'clock, while the crown-prince was carelessly going through some letters brought by courier from potsdam, a waiter came to me with a message that a miss king desired to see mr. richter. in surprise i received her, welcoming her to ostend. from the neat dress of the pretty english girl i concluded that she had just crossed from dover, and she seemed most anxious to see his highness. i noted, too, that she still wore the beautiful golden butterfly. when i entered his room to announce her his slant brows knit, and his thin lips compressed. "h'm! more trouble for us, heltzendorff, i suppose!" he whispered beneath his breath. "very well, show her in." the fair visitor was in the room for a long time--indeed, for over an hour. their voices were raised, and now and then, curiously enough, i received the impression that, whatever might have been the argument, the pretty girl had gained her own point, for when she came out she smiled at me in triumph, and walked straight forth and down the stairs. the crown-prince threw himself into a big arm-chair in undisguised dissatisfaction. towards me he never wore a mask, though, like his father, he invariably did so in the presence of strangers. "those accursed women!" he cried. "ah! heltzendorff, when a woman is in love she will defy even satan himself! and yet they are fools, these women, for they are in ignorance of the irresistible power of our imperial house. the enemies of the hohenzollerns are as a cloud of gnats on a summer's night. the dew comes, and they are no more. it is a pity," he added, with a sigh of regret. "but those who are either conscientious or defiant must suffer. has not one of our greatest german philosophers written: 'it is no use breathing against the wind'?" "true," i said. then, hoping to learn something further, i added: "surely it is a nuisance to be followed and worried by that little english girl!" "worried! yes. you are quite right, my dear heltzendorff," he said. "but i do not mind worry, if it is in the interests of prussia, and of our house of hohenzollern. i admit the girl, though distinctly pretty, is a most irritating person. she does not appeal to me, but i am compelled to humour her, because i have a certain object in view." i could not go further, or i might have betrayed the knowledge i had gained by eavesdropping. "i was surprised that she should turn up here, in ostend," i said. "i had written to her. i expected her." "she does not know your real rank or station?" "no. to her i am merely herr emil richter, whom she first met away in the country. she was a tourist, and i was captain emil richter, of the prussian guards. we met while you were away on holiday at vienna." i was anxious to learn something about miss king's brother, but "willie" was generally discreet, and at that moment unusually so. one fact was plain, however, that some secret report presented to the emperor had been shown to her. why? i wondered if his highness had been successful in coercing her into acting as he desired. certainly the girl's attitude as she had left the hotel went to show that, in the contest, she had won by her woman's keen wit and foresight. i recollected, too, that she was british. a fortnight afterwards we were back again at potsdam. about three months passed. the crown-prince had accompanied the emperor to shoot on the glatzer gebirge, that wild mountainous district beyond breslau. for a week we had been staying at a great, high-up, prison-like schloss, the ancestral home of prince ludwig lichtenau, in the wölfelsgrund. the emperor and his suite had left, and our host had been suddenly called to berlin by telegram, his daughter having been taken ill. therefore, the crown-prince and we of the suite had remained for some further sport. on the day after the emperor's departure i spent the afternoon in a small panelled room which overlooked a deep mountain gorge, and which had been given up to me for work. i was busy with correspondence when the courier from potsdam entered and gave me the battered leather pouch containing the crown-prince's letters. having unlocked it with my key, i found among the correspondence a small square packet addressed to his imperial highness, and marked "private." now, fearing bombs or attempts by other means upon his son's precious life, the emperor had commanded me always to open packets addressed to him. this one, however, being marked "private," and, moreover, the inscription being in a feminine hand, i decided to await his highness's return. when at last he came in, wet and very muddy after a long day's sport, i showed him the packet. with a careless air he said: "oh, open it, heltzendorff. open all packets, whether marked private or not." i obeyed, and to my surprise found within the paper a small leather-covered jewel-case, in which, reposing upon a bed of dark blue velvet, was the beautiful ornament which i had admired at the throat of the fair-haired british girl--the golden butterfly. i handed it to his highness just as he was taking a cigarette from the box on a side table. the sight of it electrified him! he held his breath, standing for a few seconds staring wildly at it as though he were gazing upon some hideous spectre, sight of which had frozen his senses. he stood rigid, his thin countenance as white as paper. "when did that arrive?" he managed to ask, though in a hoarse voice, which showed how completely sight of it had upset him. "this afternoon. it was in the courier's pouch from potsdam." he had grasped the back of a chair as though to steady himself, and for a few seconds stood there, with his left hand clapped over his eyes, endeavouring to collect his thoughts. he seemed highly nervous, and at the same time extremely puzzled. receipt of that unique and beautiful brooch was, i saw, some sign, but of its real significance i remained in entire ignorance. that it had a serious meaning i quickly realized, for within half an hour the crown-prince and myself were in the train on our two-hundred-mile journey back to berlin. on arrival his imperial highness drove straight to the berlin schloss, and there had a long interview with the emperor. at last i was called into the familiar pale-green room, the kaiser's private cabinet, and at once saw that something untoward had occurred. the emperor's face was dark and thoughtful. yet another of the black plots of the hohenzollerns was in process of being carried out! of that i felt only too confident. the crown-prince, in his badly-creased uniform, betraying a long journey--so unlike his usual spick-and-span appearance--stood nervously by as the kaiser threw himself into his writing-chair with a deep grunt and distinctly evil grace. "i suppose it must be done," he growled viciously to his son. "did i not foresee that the girl would constitute a serious menace? when she was in germany she might easily have been arrested upon some charge and her mouth closed. bah! our political police service grows worse and worse. we will have it entirely reorganized. the director, laubach, is far too sentimental, far too chicken-hearted." as he spoke he took up his pen and commenced to write rapidly, drawing a deep breath as his quill scratched upon the paper. "you realize," he exclaimed angrily to his son, taking no notice of my presence there, because i was part and parcel of the great machinery of the court, "you realize what this order means?" he added, as he appended his signature. "it is a blow struck against our cause--struck by a mere slip of a girl. think, if the truth came out! why, all our propaganda in the united states and britain would be nullified in a single day, and the 'good relations' we are now extending on every hand throughout the world in order to mislead our enemies would be exposed in all their true meaning. we cannot afford that. it would be far cheaper to pay twenty million marks--the annual cost of the whole propaganda in america--than to allow the truth to be known." suddenly the crown-prince's face brightened, as though he had had some sudden inspiration. "the truth will not be known, i promise you," he said, with a strange, evil grin. i knew that expression. it meant that he had devised some fresh and devilish plan. "the girl is defiant to-day, but she will not remain so long. i will take your order, but i may not have occasion to put it in force." "ah! you have perhaps devised something--eh? i hope so," said the emperor. "you are usually ingenious in a crisis. good! here is the order; act just as you think fit." "i was summoned, your majesty," i said, in order to remind him of my presence there. "ah! yes. you know this miss king, do you not?" "i received her in plymouth," was my reply. "ah! then you will again recognize her. probably your services may be very urgently required within the next few hours. you may go," and his majesty curtly dismissed me. i waited in the corridor until his imperial highness came forth. when he did so he looked flushed and seemed agitated. there had, i knew, occurred a violent scene between father and son, for to me it seemed as though "willie" had again fallen beneath the influence of a pretty face. he drove me in the big mercédès over to potsdam, where i had a quantity of military documents awaiting attention, and, after a change of clothes, i tackled them. yet my mind kept constantly reverting to the mystery surrounding the golden butterfly. after dinner that night i returned again to my workroom, when, upon my blotting-pad, i found a note addressed to me in the crown-prince's sprawling hand. opening it, i found that he had scribbled this message: "_i have left. tell eckardt not to trouble. come alone, and meet me to-morrow night at the palast hotel, in hamburg. i shall call at seven o'clock and ask for herr richter. i shall also use that name. tell nobody of my journey, not even the crown-princess. explain that i have gone to berlin._--wilhelm, kronprinz." i read the note through a second time, and then burned it. next day i arrived at the palast hotel, facing the binnenalster, in hamburg, giving my name as herr richter. at seven o'clock i awaited his highness. eight o'clock came--nine--ten--even eleven--midnight, but, though i sat in the private room i had engaged, no visitor arrived. just after twelve, however, a waiter brought up a note addressed to herr richter. believing it to be meant for me, i opened it. to my great surprise, i found that it was from the mysterious miss king, and evidently intended for the crown-prince. it said: "_my brother was released from the altona prison this evening--i presume, owing to your intervention--and we are now both safely on our way across to harwich. you have evidently discovered at last that i am not the helpless girl you believed me to be. when your german police arrested my brother walter in bremen as a spy of britain i think you will admit that they acted very injudiciously, in face of all that my brother and myself know to-day. at plymouth you demanded, as the price of walter's liberty, that i should become attached to your secret service in america and betray the man who adopted me and brought me up as his own daughter. but you never dreamed the extent of my knowledge of your country's vile intrigues; you did not know that, through my brother and the man who adopted me as his daughter, i know the full extent of your subtle propaganda. you were, i admit, extremely clever, herr richter, and i confess that i was quite charmed when you sent me, as souvenir, that golden butterfly to the hotel in frankenhausen--that pretty ornament which i returned to you as a mark of my refusal and defiance of the conditions you imposed upon me for the release of my brother from the sentence of fifteen years in a fortress. this time, herr richter, a woman wins! further, i warn you that if you attempt any reprisal my brother will at once expose germany's machinations abroad. he has, i assure you, many good friends, both in britain and america. therefore if you desire silence you will make no effort to trace me further. at frankenhausen you called me 'the golden-haired butterfly,' but you regarded me merely as a moth! adieu!_" twelve hours later i handed that letter to the crown-prince in potsdam. where he had been in the meantime i did not know. he read it through; then, with a fierce curse upon his thin, curled lips, he crushed it in his hand and tossed it into the fire. secret number eight how the crown-prince was blackmailed the crown-prince had accompanied the emperor on board the _hohenzollern_ on his annual cruise up the norwegian fjords, and the kaiserin and the crown-princess were of the party. i had been left at home because i had not been feeling well, and with relief had gone south to the lake of garda, taking up my quarters in that long, white hotel which faces the blue lake at gardone-riviera. a truly beautiful spot, where the gardens of the hotel run down to the lake's edge, with a long veranda covered with trailing roses and geraniums, peaceful indeed after the turmoil and glitter of our court life in germany. one morning at luncheon, however, just as i had seated myself at my table set in the window overlooking the sunlit waters, a tall, rather thin-faced, bald-headed man entered, accompanied by an extremely pretty girl, with very fair hair and eyes of an unusual, child-like blue. the man i judged to be about fifty-five, whose blotchy face marked him as one addicted to strong liquors, and whose dress and bearing proclaimed him to be something of a roué. he walked jauntily to the empty table next mine, while his companion stared vacantly about her as she followed him to the place which the obsequious _maître d'hôtel_ had indicated. the stranger's eyes were dark, penetrating, and shifty, while there was something about the young girl's demeanour that aroused my interest. her face, undeniably beautiful, was marred by a stare of complete vacancy. she glanced at me, but i saw that she did not see. it was as though her thoughts were far away, or else that she was under the spell of some weird fascination. that strange, blank expression in her countenance caused me to watch her. on the one hand, the man had all the appearance of a person who had run the whole gamut of the vices; while the fair-haired, blue-eyed girl was the very incarnation of maiden innocence. perhaps it was because i kept my eyes upon her that the dark-eyed man knit his brows and stared at me in defiance. instinctively i did not like the fellow, for as they started their meal i saw plainly the rough, almost uncouth, manner in which he treated her. at first i believed that they might be father and daughter, but this suggestion was negatived when, on inquiry at the bureau, i was told that the man was martinez aranda, of seville, and that his companion was his niece, lola serrano. the latter always appeared exquisitely dressed, and the gay young men, italian officers and others, were all eager to make her acquaintance. yet it seemed to me that the man aranda forbade her to speak to anyone. indeed, i watched the pair closely during the days following, and could plainly discern that the girl went in mortal fear of him. on the third day, while walking along the terrace facing the lake, i came across the spaniard, who, in affable mood, started a conversation, and as we leaned upon the stone balustrade, smoking and gossiping, the pretty girl with hair so fair even though she were a southerner came up, and i was introduced. she wore a cool white linen gown, a big sun-hat, and carried a pale blue sunshade. but my eye, expert where a woman's gown is concerned, told me that that linen frock was the creation of one of the paris men-dressmakers, whose lowest charge for such a garment is one thousand francs. aranda and his pretty niece were certainly persons of considerable means. "how very beautiful the lake always appears at any hour!" the girl exclaimed in french after her uncle had exchanged cards with me. "truly italy is delightful." "ah, mademoiselle," i replied. "but your brilliant spain is ever attractive." "you know spain?" inquired the bald-headed man at once. "yes, i know spain, but only as a spring visitor," was my reply. and from that conversation there grew in a few days quite an affable friendship. we went together on excursions, all three of us, once by the steamer up to riva, where on landing and passing through the customs we sat at the café and sipped that delicious coffee topped by a foam of cream, the same as one got at the "bristol" in vienna, or the "hungaria" in budapest. then at evening, while the pretty lola gossiped with a weedy old italian marchioness, whose acquaintance she had made, her uncle played billiards with me, and he was no bad player either! as soon as the spaniard learnt of my position as personal-adjutant of his imperial highness the crown-prince he became immediately interested, as most people were, and plied me with all sorts of questions regarding the truth of certain scandals that were at the moment afloat concerning "willie." as you know, i am usually pretty discreet. therefore, i do not think that he learned very much from me. we were alone in the billiard-room, having a game after luncheon one day, when a curious conversation took place. "ah, count! you must have a very intimate knowledge of life at the berlin court," he remarked quite suddenly, in french. "yes. but it is a strenuous life, i assure you," i declared, laughing. "the crown-prince sometimes goes abroad incognito," he said, pausing and looking me straight in the face. "yes--sometimes," i admitted. "he was in rome in the first week of last december. he disappeared from potsdam, and the emperor and yourself were extremely anxious as to what had become of him. he had gone to berlin alone, without any attendant, and completely disappeared. yet, while you were all making secret inquiries, and fearing lest the truth should leak out to the press, his imperial highness was living as plain herr wilhelm nebelthau in an apartment at number seventeen, lungtevere mellini. isn't that so?" i stared agape at the spaniard. i thought myself the only person who knew that fact--a fact which the crown-prince had revealed to me in the strictest secrecy. could this man martinez aranda be an agent of police? yet that seemed quite impossible. "you appear to have a more intimate knowledge of his highness's movements than i have myself," i replied, utterly amazed at the extent of the man's information. his dark, sallow face relaxed into a mysterious smile, and he bent to make another stroke without replying. "his highness should be very careful in the concealment of his movements when he is incognito," he remarked presently. "you met him there, eh?" i asked, eager to ascertain the truth, for that secret visit to rome had been a most mysterious one, even to me. "i do not think i need reply to that question," he said. "all i can say is that the crown-prince kept rather queer company on that occasion." those words only served to confirm my suspicions. whenever "willie" disappeared alone from potsdam i could afterwards always trace the disappearance to his _penchant_ for the eternal feminine. how often, indeed, had i been present at scenes between the crown-princess and her husband, and how often i had heard the emperor storm at his son in that high-pitched voice so peculiar to the hohenzollerns when unduly excited. the subject soon dropped, but his statements filled me with apprehension. it was quite plain that this well-dressed, bald-headed spaniard was in possession of some secret of the crown-prince's, a secret which had not been revealed to me. more than once in the course of the next few days, when we were alone together, i endeavoured to learn something of the nature of the secret which took his highness to the eternal city, but aranda was very clever and discreet. in addition, the attitude of the girl lola became more than ever strange. there was a blank look in those big, beautiful eyes of hers that betrayed something abnormal. but what it was i failed to decide. one evening after dinner i saw her walking alone in the moonlight along the terrace by the lake, and joined her. so preoccupied she seemed that she scarcely replied to my remarks. then suddenly she halted, and as though unable to restrain her feelings longer i heard a low sob escape her. "mademoiselle, what is the matter?" i asked in french. "tell me." "oh, nothing, monsieur, nothing," she declared in a low, broken voice. "i--i know i am very foolish, only----" "only what? tell me. that you are in distress i know. let me assist you." she shook her handsome head mournfully. "no, you cannot assist me," she declared in a tone that told me how desperate she had now become. "my uncle," she exclaimed, staring straight before her across the moonlit waters, whence the dark mountains rose from the opposite bank. "count, be careful! do--my--my uncle." "i don't understand," i said, standing at her side and gazing at her pale countenance beneath the full light of the moon. "my uncle--he knows something--be careful--warn the crown-prince." "what does he know?" "he has never told me." "are you in entire ignorance of the reason of the visit of his highness to rome? try and remember all you know," i urged. the girl put both her palms to her brow, and, shaking her head, said: "i can remember nothing--nothing--oh! my poor head! only warn the man who in rome called himself herr nebelthau!" she spoke in a low, nervous tone, and i could see that she was decidedly hysterical and much unstrung. "did you meet herr nebelthau?" i asked eagerly. "me? ah, no. but i saw him, though he never saw me." "but what is the secret that your uncle knows?" i demanded. "if i know, then i can warn the crown-prince." "i do not know," she replied, again shaking her head. "only--only--well, by some means my uncle knew that you had left potsdam, and we travelled here on purpose to meet you to obtain from you some facts concerning the crown-prince's movements." "to meet me?" i echoed in surprise. in a moment i saw that aranda's intentions were evidently evil ones. but just at that juncture the spaniard came forth in search of his niece. "why are you out here?" he asked her gruffly. "go in. it is too cold for you." "i came out with the count to see the glorious panorama of the lake," explained the girl in strange humbleness, and then, turning reluctantly, she obeyed him. "come and have a hand at bridge," her uncle urged cheerfully. "the signora montalto and young boileau are ready to make up the four." to this i agreed, and we followed the girl into the big, white-panelled lounge of the hotel. two days later, about four o'clock in the afternoon, aranda received a telegram, and an hour later left with his niece, who, as she parted from me, whispered: "warn the crown-prince, won't you?" i promised, and as they drove off to the station i stood waving my hand to the departing visitors. a week later i had word from cuxhaven of the arrival of the _hohenzollern_ from trondhjem, and at once returned to the marmor palace, where on the night of my arrival the crown-prince, wearing his saxon uhlan uniform, entered my room, gaily exclaiming: "well, heltzendorff, how are things on the lake of garda, eh?" i briefly explained where i had been, and then, as he lit a cigarette, standing astride near the fireplace, i asked permission to speak upon a confidential matter. "more trouble, eh?" he asked, with a grin and a shrug of the shoulders. "i do not know," i said seriously, and then, in brief, i related how the man aranda had arrived with the girl lola at the hotel, and what had followed. as soon as i mentioned the lungtevere mellini, that rather aristocratic street, which runs parallel with the tiber on the outskirts of rome, his highness started, his face blanched instantly, and he bit his thin lip. "_himmel!_" he gasped. "the fellow knows that i took the name of nebelthau! impossible!" "but he does," i said quietly. "he is undoubtedly in possession of some secret concerning your visit to rome last december." in his highness's eyes i noticed a keen, desperate expression which i had scarcely ever seen there before. "you are quite certain of this, heltzendorff, eh?" he asked. "the man's name is martinez aranda?" "yes. he says he is from seville. his niece, lola serrano, told me to warn you that he means mischief." "who is the girl? do i know her?" "no." "why does she warn me?" "i cannot say," was my reply. "as you are aware, i have no knowledge of the nature of your highness's visit to rome. i merely report all that i could gather from the pair, who evidently went to gardone to meet me." "where are they now?" "in paris--at the hotel terminus, gare st. lazare. i found out that they had taken tickets to verona and thence to paris, therefore i telegraphed to my friend pinaud, of the sûreté, who quickly found them and reported to me by wire within twenty-four hours." "h'm! this is serious, heltzendorff--infernally serious," declared the crown-prince, with knit brows, as he commenced to pace the room with his hands clasped behind his back. suddenly he halted in front of me and smoothed his hair--a habit of his when perplexed. "first, the emperor must know nothing, and the crown-princess must be kept in entire ignorance at all costs," he declared. "i can now foresee a great amount of trouble. curse the women! i trusted one, and she--ah! i can see it all now." "is it very serious?" i asked, still anxious to glean the truth. "serious!" he cried, staring at me wildly. "serious! why, heltzendorff, it means everything to me--everything!" the crown-prince was not the kind of man to exhibit fear. though degenerate in every sense of the word, and without the slightest idea of moral obligations, yet he was, nevertheless, utterly oblivious to danger of any sort, being wildly reckless, with an entire disregard of consequences. here, however, he saw that the secret, which he had fondly believed to be his alone, was known to this mysterious spaniard. "i cannot understand why this girl, lola--or whatever she calls herself--should warn me. i wonder who she is. what is she like?" i described her as minutely as i could, more especially the unusual fairness of her hair, and the large, wide-open, blue eyes. she had a tiny mole upon her chin, a little to the left. the description seemed to recall some memory, for suddenly he exclaimed: "really, the girl you describe is very like one that i met about a year ago--a thief-girl in the montmartre, in paris, called lizette sabin. i came across her one night in one of the cabarets." as he spoke he went across to a big antique chest of drawers, one of which he unlocked with his key, and after a long search he drew out a cabinet photograph and handed it to me. i started. it was a picture of the pretty lola! he watched my face, and saw that i recognized it. then he drew a long sigh, tossed his cigarette away savagely, and throwing back the photograph into the drawer, relocked it. "yes," he declared, turning to me again. "the situation is most abnormally disturbing, heltzendorff. a storm is brewing, without a doubt. but the emperor must know nothing, remember--not the slightest suspicion. ah! what an infernal fool i was to believe in that woman. bah! they are all alike. and yet----" and he paused--"and yet if it were not for the petticoat germany's secret diplomacy--the preparation for the great 'day' when we shall stagger the world--could not proceed. this, my dear heltzendorff, has shown me that you may with advantage use a woman of whatever age as your catspaw, your secret agent, your bait when angling for important information, or your go-between in secret transactions; but never trust one with knowledge of your own personal affairs." "then i take it that this girl-thief of the montmartre whom you met when out for an evening's amusement is the cause of all this trouble? and yet she said that she did not know you!" "because it was to her advantage to disclaim knowledge of me. personally i do not think that the pretty lizette is my enemy or she would not warn me against this infernal spaniard, whoever he may be." "if the matter is so serious, had i not better go to paris to-morrow and see pinaud?" i suggested. "excellent!" he exclaimed. "watch must be kept upon them. the one thing to bear in mind, however, is that neither the emperor nor my wife learn anything. go to paris to-morrow, and tell pinaud from me to do his best on my behalf." next morning i left for paris, and on arrival spent half an hour with georges pinaud in his room at the sûreté. "so his imperial highness does not wish the arrest of the girl lizette sabin?" he exclaimed presently. "i have her _dossier_ here," and he indicated a cardboard portfolio before him. "it is a pretty bad one. her last sentence was one of twelve months for robbing an english baronet at a dancing-hall in the rue du bac." "his highness does not wish for her arrest. he only desires the pair to be kept under close observation." "the man aranda is, i have discovered, a dangerous person," said the famous detective, leaning back in his chair. "he has served a sentence at cayenne for the attempted murder of a woman in lyons. he is, of course, an adventurer of the most expert type." i longed to reveal to my friend pinaud the whole facts, but this was against my instructions. i merely asked him as a favour to institute a strict vigilance upon the pair, and to report to me by telegraph if either of them left paris. aranda was still living at the hotel terminus, but the pretty lizette had gone to stay with two girl friends, professional dancers, who lived on the third floor of a house half-way up the rue blanche. so having discharged my mission, i returned on the following day to potsdam, where, on meeting me, the crown-prince seemed much relieved. his only fear--and it was a very serious one--was that to the emperor there might be revealed the reason of that secret visit of his to italy. i confess that i myself began to regard that visit with considerable suspicion. its nature must have been, to say the least, unusual if he had been so aghast at the real truth being discovered. in the strenuous days that followed, weeks, indeed, i frequently reflected, and found myself much mystified. more than once his highness had asked me: "any news from pinaud?" and when i replied in the negative "willie's" relief was at once apparent. one day i had been lunching in berlin at the "bristol," in unter den linden, at a big party given by the baroness von bülow. among the dozen or so present were von ruxeben, the grand marshal of the court of saxe-coburg-gotha; gertrud, baroness von wangenheim, grand mistress of the court of the duchess; the minister dr. rasch; and, of course, old "uncle" zeppelin, full of plans, as always, of new airships and of the destruction of london. indeed, he sat next me, and bored me to death with his assurances that on "the day" he would in twenty-four hours lay london in ruins. the guests around the table, a gay and clever circle, saw that "uncle" had button-holed me, and knew from my face how utterly bored i was. truth to tell, i was much relieved when suddenly, when the meal was nearly over, a waiter whispered that somebody wished to see me out in the lounge. it was a messenger from potsdam with a telegram that had come over the private wire. it read: "aranda left paris two days ago. destination unknown.--pinaud." the information showed that the fellow had cleverly evaded the agents of the sûreté, a very difficult feat in such circumstances. that very fact went to prove that he was a cunning and elusive person. half an hour later i was sitting with heinrich wesener, assistant-director of the secret service of the general staff. i sought him in preference to the famous detective, schunke, because, while matters passing through the secret service bureau were always regarded as confidential, those submitted to the berlin police were known to many subordinates who had access to the _dossiers_ and informations. i told wesener but little--merely that his imperial highness the crown-prince was desirous of knowing at the earliest moment if a spaniard named martinez aranda should arrive in berlin. the curiosity of the assistant-director was immediately aroused. so many scandals were rife regarding "willie" that the stout, fair-haired official was hoping to obtain some further details. "excuse me for a moment," he said, and, after ringing his bell, a clerk appeared. to the man he gave orders to go across and inspect the police register of strangers, and ascertain if the man aranda had arrived in the capital. ten minutes later the clerk returned, saying that a spaniard named aranda had arrived from paris early that morning with a young lady named sabin, and that they were staying at the central hotel, opposite the friedrich-strasse station. upon this information i went to the "central," and from the hall-porter discovered that aranda had left the hotel an hour before, but that his supposed niece was upstairs in her room. afterwards i hurried back to potsdam as quickly as possible, only to find that the crown-prince was out with knof motoring somewhere. of the crown-princess i inquired whither he had gone, but, as usual, she had no idea. "willie" was ever erratic, and ever on the move. six o'clock had already struck when he returned, and the sentry informed him that i was extremely anxious to see him. therefore, without removing his coat, he ascended to my room, where he burst in breezily. when i told him what i had discovered in berlin the light died instantly out of his face. "is the fellow really here, heltzendorff?" he gasped. "i had a letter from him a week ago declaring his intention to come here." "you did not reply, i hope?" "no. the letter i found upon my dressing-table, but i have not discovered who placed it there," he said. "the fellow evidently intends to carry out his threat and expose me to the emperor." "what can he expose?" i queried. but "willie" was not to be caught like that. he merely replied: "well--something which must at all hazards be concealed. how this spaniard can know i cannot in the least imagine--unless that woman gave me away!" for the next two days i was mostly out with his highness in the car, and in addition the kaiser reviewed the prussian guard, a ceremony which always gave me much extra work. on the third day i had in the morning been out to the wildpark station, and, passing the sentries, had re-entered the palace, when one of the footmen approached me, saying: "pardon, count, but there is a gentleman to see his imperial highness. he will give no name, and refuses to leave. i called the captain of the guard, who has interrogated him, and he has been put into the blue ante-room until your return." at that moment i saw the captain of the guard striding down the corridor towards me. "a bald-headed man is here to see his highness, and will give no name," he told me. "he is waiting now. will you see him?" "no," i said, my suspicions aroused. "i will first see the crown-prince." after some search i found the latter lolling at his ease in his own smoking-room in the private apartments, reading a french novel and consuming cigarettes. "hulloa, heltzendorff! well, what's the trouble?" he asked. "i see something is wrong from your face." "the man aranda is here," i replied. "here!" he gasped, starting up and flinging the book aside. "who let him in?" "i don't know, but he is below demanding to see you." "has he made any statement? has he told anybody what he knows?" demanded the crown-prince, who at that moment presented what might be termed a white-livered appearance, cowed, and even trembling. in his slant eyes showed a look of undisguised terror, and i realized that the truth, whatever it might be, was a damning and most disgraceful one. "i can't see him, heltzendorff," he whined to me. "see him; hear what he has to say--and--and you will keep my secret? promise me." i promised. and i should have kept that promise were it not for his brutal and blackguardly acts after the outbreak of war--acts which placed him, with his imperial father, beyond the pale of respectable society. i was turning to leave the room, when he sprang towards me with that quick agility of his, and, placing his white, manicured hand upon my arm, said: "whatever he may say you will not believe--will you?" "and if he wants money?" i asked. "ascertain the amount, and come here to me." a quarter of an hour later martinez aranda sat in my room opposite my table. i had told him that unfortunately his imperial highness was engaged, for the emperor had come over from the neues palace for luncheon. then i inquired the nature of his business. "well, count, you and i are not altogether strangers, are we?" was his reply, as he sat back calmly and crossed his legs, perfectly at his ease. "but my business is only with his highness, and with nobody else." "his highness sees nobody upon business. i am appointed to deal with all his business affairs, and anything told to me is the same as though spoken into his ear." the spaniard from montmartre was silent for a moment. "if that is the case, then i would be glad if you will obtain his permission for me to speak. he will remember my name." "i already received orders before i invited you up," i said. "his highness wishes you to deal with me. he knows that you are here to settle some delicate little piece of business concerning that secret visit of his to rome--eh?" "yes," he answered, after a few seconds' pause. "i am well aware, count, that for mention of the reason i am here you might call the guard to arrest me for blackmail. but first let me assure his highness that such action would not be advisable in the interests of either himself or of the emperor. i have already made arrangements for exposure in case his highness endeavours to close my mouth by such means." "good. we understand each other. what is your complaint?" i inquired. "i know the truth concerning the mysterious death of the woman, claudia ferrona, in rome last december," he said briefly. "oh!" i exclaimed. "perhaps you will tell me next that the crown-prince is an assassin? come, that will be really interesting," i laughed. "perhaps you will tell me how it all happened--the extent of your knowledge." "why should i do that? go to the crown-prince and tell him what i allege--tell him that the girl, lizette sabin, whom he knows, was a witness." "well, let us come to business," i said. "how much do you want for your silence?" "i want nothing--not a sou!" was the hard reply. "all i want is to reveal to the emperor that his son is responsible for a woman's death. and that is what i intend doing. you hear that! well, count von heltzendorff, please go and tell him so." quickly realizing the extreme gravity of the situation, i returned to the crown-prince and told him the startling allegation made against him. his face went as white as paper. "we must pay the fellow off. close his mouth somehow. help me, heltzendorff," he implored. "what can i do? he must not reveal the truth to the emperor!" "then it really is the truth!" i exclaimed, astounded. the crown-prince hung his head, and in a low, hoarse voice replied: "it is my accursed luck! the woman must have told the truth to this scoundrel of a spaniard before--before she died!" "and lizette?" i asked. "she is a witness, the fellow says." "no, no!" cried his highness wildly, covering his white face with his hands as though to hide the guilt written upon his countenance. "say no more! ask the fellow's price, and pay him. we must not allow him to go to the emperor." three minutes later i went back to my room, but it was empty. the spaniard had walked out, and would, no doubt, be wandering somewhere in the private apartments. at that instant the telephone rang, and, answering it, i heard that his majesty had just arrived by car, and was on his way up to the room wherein i stood--the room in which he generally met his son. for a moment i was perplexed, but a few seconds later i held my breath when i saw coming down the corridor the emperor, and walking with him the adventurer, who had apparently met him on his way downstairs. i confess that at that most dramatic moment i was entirely nonplussed. i saw how cleverly aranda had timed his visit, and how, by some means, he knew of the internal arrangements of the marmor palace. "yes," the emperor exclaimed to the spaniard. "you wish to have audience. well?" in a second i broke in. "may i be permitted to say a word, your majesty?" i said. "there is a little business matter pending between this gentleman and his imperial highness the crown-prince--a little dispute over money. i regret that your majesty should be disturbed by it. the matter is in course of settlement." "oh, money matters!" exclaimed the emperor, who always hated mention of them, believing himself to be far too important a person to trouble about them. "of course, you will see to a settlement, count." and the emperor turned his back deliberately upon the man who accosted him. "it is not money that i want," shouted the adventurer from paris, "but i----" i did not allow him to conclude his sentence, but hustled him into an adjoining room, closing the door after him. "now, monsieur aranda, you want money, i know. how much?" i asked determinedly. "two hundred thousand marks," was his prompt reply, "and also fifty thousand for lola." i pretended to reflect. he saw my hesitation, and then added: "for that sum, and not a sou less, i am prepared to sign a statement that i have lied, and that there is no truth in the allegation." "of what? tell me the facts, as you know them, and i will then repeat them to his imperial highness." for a few seconds he was silent, then in a cold, hard voice he revealed to me what was evidently the truth of the crown-prince's secret visit to rome. i listened to his statement utterly dumbfounded. the allegations were terrible. it seemed that a popular spanish variety actress, whom the populace of rome knew as "la bella," but whose real name was claudia ferrona, lived in a pretty apartment on the lungtevere mellini, facing the tiber. his highness had met her in coblenz, where she had been singing. "la bella" had as her particular friend a certain high official in the italian ministry of war, and through him she was enabled to furnish the crown-prince with certain important information. the general staff in the wilhelmstrasse were eager to obtain some very definite facts regarding italy's new armaments, and his highness had taken upon himself the task of obtaining it. as herr nebelthau he went in secret to rome as guest of the vivacious claudia, whose maid was none other than the thief-girl of the montmartre, lizette sabin. this girl, whose intellect had become weakened, was entirely under the influence of the clever adventurer aranda. on the second night after the arrival of the crown-prince in rome, he and the actress had taken supper together in her apartment, after which a fierce quarrel had arisen between them. seized by a fit of remorse, the variety singer blankly refused to further betray the man to whom her advancement in her profession was due, whereupon his highness grew furious at being thwarted at the last moment. after listening to his insults, "la bella" openly declared that she intended to reveal the whole truth to the italian official in question. then the crown-prince became seized by one of those mad, frenzied fits of uncontrollable anger to which he is at times, like all the hohenzollerns, subject, and with his innate brutality he took up a bottle from the table and struck the poor girl heavily upon the skull, felling her like a log. afterwards with an imprecation on his lips, he walked out. so terribly injured was the girl that she expired just before noon next day. not, however, before she had related the whole circumstances to the maid, lizette, and to the man aranda, who, truth to tell, had placed the maid in the actress's service with a view of robbing her of her jewels. he saw, however, that, with the death of claudia ferrona, blackmail would be much more profitable. having heard this amazing story, i was careful to lock the spaniard in the room, and then returned to where the crown-prince was so anxiously awaiting me. half an hour later the adventurer left the palace, bearing in his pocket a draft upon the private banking house of mendelsohn, in the jägerstrasse in berlin, for two hundred and fifty thousand marks. in return for that draft the wily spaniard signed a declaration that he had invented the whole story, and that there was not a word of truth in it. it was only, however, when i placed that document into the hands of the crown-prince that his imperial highness breathed freely again. secret number nine the crown-prince's escapade in london it was five o'clock on a bright september morning when his imperial highness climbed with unsteady gait the three flights of stairs leading to the handsome flat which he sometimes rented in a big block of buildings half-way along jermyn street when he made secret visits to london. as his personal-adjutant and keeper of his secrets i had been awaiting him for hours. i heard him fumbling with the latch-key, and, rising, went along the hall and opened the door. "hulloa, heltzendorff!" he exclaimed in a thick, husky voice. "_himmel!_ i'm very glad to be back." "and i am glad to see your highness back," i said. "i was beginning to fear that something unpleasant had happened. i tell you frankly, i do not like you going out like this alone in london. somebody is certain to discover you one day." "oh, bosh! my dear heltzendorff. you are just like a pastor--always preaching." and as he tossed his crush hat upon the table and divested himself of his evening overcoat he gave vent to a half-drunken laugh, and then, just as he was, in his dress-coat and crumpled shirt-front, with the stains of overnight wine upon it, he curled himself upon the couch, saying: "tell that idiot of a valet not to disturb me. i'm tired." "but don't you think you ought to go to bed?" i queried. "too tired to undress, heltzendorff--too tired," he declared with an inane grin. "oh, i've had a time--phew! my head--such a time! oh, old lung ching is a real old sport!" and then he settled himself and closed his eyes--surely a fine spectacle for the german nation if he could then have been publicly exhibited. his mention of lung ching caused me to hold my breath. that wily chinaman kept an establishment in the underworld of limehouse, an opium den of the worst description, frequented by yellow men and white women of the most debased class. a year before one of the crown-prince's friends, an attaché at the embassy on carlton house terrace, had introduced him to the place. the fascinations of the opium pipe had attracted him, and he had been there many times to smoke and to dream, but always accompanied by others. the night before, however, he had declared his intention to go out alone, as he had been invited to dine by a great german financier living in park lane. it was now evident, however, that he had not been there, but had gone alone to that terrible den kept by lung ching. there, in the grey light of dawn, i stood gazing down upon the be-drugged son of the emperor, feeling relief that he was back again, and that no trouble had resulted from his escapade. i called the valet, and, having handed his master over to him, i went out, and, finding a taxi, drove out to lung ching's place in limehouse. i knew the sign, and was soon admitted into the close, sickly-smelling place, which reeked with opium. the villainous chinaman, with a face like parchment, came forward, and instantly recognized me as the companion of the young german millionaire, herr lehnhardt. of him i inquired what my master had been doing during the night. "oh, 'e smoke--'e likee pipee!" was the evil, yellow-faced ruffian's reply. "was he alone?" "oh, no. 'e no alonee. 'e lil ladee," and he grinned. "she likee pipee. come, you see--eh?" the fellow took me into the long, low-ceilinged room, fitted with bunks, in which were a dozen or so sleeping chinamen. suddenly he indicated a bunk wherein lay a girl huddled up--a well-dressed english girl. her hat and jacket had been removed, and she lay, her face full in the light, her arm above her head, her eyes closed in sound slumber, with the deadly pipe beside her. i bent to examine her pale countenance more closely. i started. yes! i had not been mistaken. she was the young daughter of one of the best-known and most popular leaders of london society. i had no idea until that moment that she and the crown-prince were such friends. a fortnight before the crown-prince, as herr lehnhardt, had attended a gay river party at henley, and i had accompanied him. at the party the pair had been introduced in my presence. and now, within those few days, i found her oblivious to the world in the worst opium den in london! after considerable effort, i aroused her. but she was still dazed from the effect of the drug, so dazed, indeed, that she did not recognize me. however, i got her into a taxi, and having ascertained her mother's address from the "royal blue book" in the london club of which i was a member, and where i arrived at an unearthly hour, i took her to upper brocklion street. of the woman who opened the door i learned, to my relief, that the family were at their place in scotland, and that the house, enshrouded in dust-sheets, was in the hands of herself and her husband as caretakers. when i half lifted the young lady--whom i will here call miss violet hewitt for the sake of the good name of her family--out of the taxi the woman became greatly alarmed. but i assured her there was nothing wrong; her young mistress had been taken ill, but was now much better. a doctor was not needed. for half an hour i remained there with her, and then, as she had recovered sufficiently, i rose to go, intending to let her make her own explanations to the caretaker. we were alone, and she was seated in a big arm-chair. she saw my intention to leave, whereupon she struggled to her feet, for she now realized to her horror what had occurred. "you are count von heltzendorff!" she exclaimed, passing her hand across her brow, as though suddenly recollecting. "we met at henley. ah! i know i--i can't help it. i have been very foolish--but i can't help it. the craving grows upon me." "you met my friend lehnhardt last night, did you not?" "yes, i did. quite accidentally. i was waiting in the lounge of the 'ritz' for a man-friend with whom i had promised to dine when mr. lehnhardt came in and recognized me. my friend had not turned up, so i accepted his invitation to have dinner at claridge's. this we did, and during the meal he spoke of opium, and i admitted that i was fond of it, for i smoke it sometimes at a girl-friend's at hampstead. therefore we agreed to go together to lung ching's." "he left you there," i said. "i know. i certainly did not expect him to go away and leave me in such a place," said the girl, who was very pretty and not more than twenty, even though addicted to the terrible opium habit. "but," she added, "you will keep my secret--won't you?" "most certainly, miss hewitt," was my reply. "this should serve as a severe lesson to you." then i bade her farewell, and left her in the good hands of the caretaker. on my return to jermyn street the crown-prince was in bed, sleeping soundly. i remember standing at the window of that well-furnished bachelor's sitting-room--for the place was owned by an old german-american merchant, who, i expect, had a shrewd suspicion of the identity of the reckless young fellow named lehnhardt who sometimes, through a well-known firm of house-agents, rented his quarters at a high figure. the crown-prince used eight different names when abroad incognito, lehnhardt being one of them. "his highness is very tired," the valet declared to me, as he entered the room. "before i got him to bed he asked for you. i said you had gone out." "and what did he say?" "well, count, all he said was, 'ah, our dear heltzendorff is always an early riser. he gets up before i go to bed!'" and the ever-faithful valet laughed grimly. when the crown-prince went upon those frequent debauches in the capitals of europe, his valet always carried with him a certain drug, a secret known to the chinese, an injection of which at once sobered him, and put both sense and dignity into him. i have seen him in the most extreme state of helpless intoxication at five in the morning, and yet at eight, he having received his injection, i have watched him mount his horse and ride at the head of his regiment to an inspection, as bright and level-headed as any trooper following. the drug had a marvellous and almost instantaneous effect. but it was used only in case of great emergency, when, for instance, he was suddenly summoned by the emperor, or perchance he had to accompany his wife to some public function. that the drug had bad effects i knew quite well. i have often seen him pacing the room holding his hands to his head, when, three hours later, the dope was gradually losing its potency, leaving him inert and ill. when the valet had retired, i stood gazing down into the growing life of jermyn street, deploring the state of society which had resulted in the pretty violet hewitt becoming, at twenty, a victim to opium. truly in the world of london, as in berlin, there are many strange phases of life, and even i, familiar as i was with the gaieties of the capitals, and the night life of berlin, the montmartre in paris, and the west end in london, here confess that when i discovered the pretty girl sleeping in that dirty bunk in that fetid atmosphere i was staggered. before three o'clock in the afternoon "willie" reappeared, well groomed and perfectly dressed. i had been out lunching at the "berkeley" with a friend, and on re-entering the chambers, found him in the sitting-room smoking a cigarette. the effects of his overnight dissipation had entirely passed. he seated himself upon the arm of a chair and asked: "well, heltzendorff, i suppose you've been out to lunch--eh? anything interesting in this town?" "the usual set at the 'berkeley,'" i replied. "oh! the 'berkeley!' very nice, but too respectable. that is where one takes one's aunt, is it not?" he laughed. i admitted that it was a most excellent restaurant. "good food and good amusement, my dear heltzendorff, one can never find together. the worse the food the better the entertainment. do you remember the 'rat mort'--eh?" "no," i said sharply. "that is a long-past and unwelcome memory." the imperial profligate laughed heartily. "oh, my dear heltzendorff, you are becoming quite pharisaical. you! oh! that is really amusing!" "the 'rat mort' never amused me," i said, "a café of the montmartre where those who dined were----" i did not finish my sentence. "were very pretty and interesting women, heltzendorff," he declared. "ah! don't you recollect when you and i dined there not long ago, all of us at a long table--so many charming ladies--oh!" "i have forgotten it, prince," i said, rebuking him. "it has passed from my memory. that place is just as unfitted for you as is lung ching's." "lung ching's! ah--yes, the old yellow fellow is a good sort," he exclaimed, as though recollecting. "and the lady you took there--eh?" "the lady?" he echoed. "why, _gott!_ i left her there. i did not remember. _gott!_ i left little miss violet in that place!" he gasped. "well?" i asked. "well, what can i do. i must go and see." i smiled, and then told him what i had done. "h'm," he exclaimed. "you are always a good diplomat, heltzendorff--always a good friend of the erratic hohenzollerns. what can i do to-night--eh? suggest something." "i would suggest that you dined _en famille_ at the embassy," i replied. "the embassy! never. i'm sick and tired of his excellency and his hideous old wife. they bore me to death. no, my dear heltzendorff. i wonder----" and he paused. "well?" i asked. "i wonder if miss hewitt would go to the theatre to-night--eh?" "no," i snapped, for my long service gave me permission to speak my mind pretty freely. "she is, i admit, a very charming young lady, but remember she does not know your identity, and if her parents discover what happened last night there will be a most infernal lot of trouble. recollect that her father, a financial magnate, is acquainted with the emperor. they have raced their yachts against each other. indeed, henry hewitt's won the kiel cup last year. so, personally, i think the game that your imperial highness is playing is a distinctly dangerous one." "bah! it is only amusement. she amuses me. and she is so fond of the pipe. she has been a visitor of lung ching's for over a year. she has a faithful maid who goes with her, and i suppose she pays the old chinaman well." "i suppose so," i remarked, for i knew that if the villainous old ching were paid well he would guarantee her safety in that den of his. i could see by the crown-prince's face that he was unimpressed by my warning. too well did i know to what mad, impetuous lengths he would go when of a sudden a pretty face attracted him. so utterly devoid is he of self-control that a woman's eyes could lead him anywhere. a glance at that weak chin of his will at once substantiate my statement. his visit to lung ching's had left him somewhat muddled and limp, and the next few days passed uneventfully. we went down into surrey to stay with a certain baron von rechberg, who had been a fellow-student of his highness's at bonn. he was now head of a german bank in london, and lived in a beautiful house surrounded by a large park high among the surrey hills. count von hochberg, "willie's" bosom friend, whom he always addressed as "mickie," while the count in turn called him "cæsar," being in london at the time, accompanied us, and so merrily did the time pass that the incident at lung ching's went out of my memory. one night when we had all three returned to london "willie" and von hochberg spent the evening in the lounge of the empire theatre, and both returned to the prince's rooms about one o'clock in the morning. "heltzendorff, mickie is going with me to scotland to-morrow morning," said his highness, as he tossed his overcoat upon the couch of that luxurious little sitting-room within sight of the maison jules. "you will stay here and attend to anything that may come through from potsdam. a courier should arrive to-morrow night, or is it knof who is coming? i forget." "your highness sent knof over to get the correspondence," i reminded him, for it was necessary that all pressing matters should be attended to, or the emperor's suspicions might be aroused that his son was absent abroad. "ah, the good knof! of course, he will be back to-morrow night. he will have seen the princess and told her how ill i have been, and how i am gradually growing better," he laughed. "trust knof to tell a good, sound lie." "all chauffeurs can do that, my dear cæsar," exclaimed von hochberg, with a grin. naturally i was filled with wonder regarding the nature of the expedition which the pair were about to undertake, but, though we all three smoked together for an hour, "willie" seemed unusually sober, and did not let drop a single hint regarding their mysterious destination. von hochberg was living at the coburg hotel, and before he left "willie" arranged to breakfast with him at eight o'clock next morning, so that they might leave euston together by the ten o'clock express. i roused the valet, who worked for an hour packing his highness's suit-case. "one case only," the crown-prince had ordered. "i shall only be up there a couple or three days. no evening clothes. i shall not want them." that remark told me that he did not intend to pay any formal visit, as he had done on most of his journeys to scotland. "your imperial highness will take guns, of course," i remarked. "guns!" he echoed. "no--no guns this time. if i want to shoot rabbits i can borrow a farmer's blunderbuss," he laughed. that "mickie," the hare-brained seeker after pleasure, was to be his companion caused me some uneasiness. it was all very well for the crown-prince to live in london as herr lehnhardt. london was a big place, and those who catered for his imperial pleasures were paid well, and did not seek to inquire into his antecedents or whether he was really what he represented himself to be. money talks in the underground london, just as it does on the stock exchange. but it sometimes, i assure you, took a long purse to keep the foreign papers quiet regarding the wild escapades of the kaiser's heir. that night somehow i felt a good deal of apprehension regarding this mysterious flying visit to scotland. that the pair had some deeply-laid scheme on hand i knew from their evasiveness. but what it was i failed to discover. early that morning i put "cæsar" into a taxi with his suit-case. he wore a rough suit of tweeds, and took with him his walking-stick and a khaki-coloured waterproof coat, presenting the picture of a young man going north to shoot. "i'll be back in a few days, heltzendorff. attend to the letters," he urged. "throw away as many as you can. if i want you i will telegraph." and with that he drove to the "coburg" to meet his old chum, "mickie." about three o'clock that same afternoon, while walking along piccadilly, i was surprised to come face to face with von hochberg. "why! i thought you had gone north!" i exclaimed. "no, heltzendorff. cæsar went alone," he replied, somewhat confounded at our unexpected meeting. "he wanted to be alone, i think." "where has he gone?" i inquired. "he left me no address." "no. and i have none either," the count replied. this set me thinking. the situation was even worse with the crown-prince wandering in scotland alone. his indiscretions were such that his identity might very easily leak out, and the truth concerning his absence would quickly reach the emperor's ears. as i stood chatting with his highness's gay companion i confess that i felt annoyed at the manner in which i had been tricked. he was often afraid of my caustic tongue when i spoke of his indiscretions, and it was further quite plain to me that von hochberg had simply pretended that he was accompanying his friend north. that evening knof arrived from potsdam with a satchelful of correspondence, and until a late hour i was kept busy inventing replies which would eventually be taken to holzemme, in the harz mountains, and posted from there. we always made arrangements for such things when his highness was secretly out of germany. i snatched a meal at jules', close by, and resumed my work till long after midnight, inventing some picturesque fictions in reply to many official documents. one letter was from her imperial highness. at her husband's order i opened it, read it, and sealed it up again. it contained reproaches, but nothing of extreme urgency. there had been occasions when i had read "cilli's" letters in the absence of her erratic husband, and sent to her little untruths by wire, signed "wilhelm, kronprinz." truly my position was one of curious intimacy. sometimes his highness trusted me with his innermost secrets, while at others he regarded me with distinct suspicion. that the elegant von hochberg knew of "willie's" whereabouts i felt convinced, but apparently his highness had given him orders not to divulge it to me. the next day and the next i waited in vain for some word from his highness. i had sent knof back to the harz to post the replies i had written, and with nothing to do i idled about london. on the third day, when i returned to jermyn street after lunch, i found a stout german, named henkel, who carried on a hairdresser's business near high street, kensington, but who was really a secret agent. he was one of the few persons who knew of the crown-prince's visit, for each time we came to london we took this man into our confidence. "i have received a telegram from holzemme, count," he said as i entered, and then he handed me the message, which, after a few minutes' examination--for though in plain language it was nevertheless not what it purported to be--i saw to my dismay was an important message to "willie" from the emperor, who was at that moment in corfu. the message had been received by koch, my assistant, whom i had left at holzemme. he had disguised it and re-transmitted it to henkel to hand to me. we always took this precaution, because when abroad incognito, both the crown-prince and myself frequently changed our names. so, by employing henkel in london and a man named behm in paris, we were always certain of receiving any important message. when the spy henkel had left i stood looking out of the window down into jermyn street, quite at a loss how to act. the message was one of the greatest importance, and, if not replied to at once, the emperor would, i knew, institute inquiries, for he was well aware of his son's wild escapades. my first impulse was to wire koch a reply to be dispatched to his majesty, but on reflection i realized that the question was one which i could not answer with truth. no. i must find his highness at all hazards. at once i went to the coburg hotel, and fortunately found count von hochberg, who at first refused to reveal where his friend was hidden. but when i showed him the telegram and explained the great urgency of a reply, in order to prevent the emperor from inquiring and knowing the truth, he realized the necessity. "well, heltzendorff," he said, somewhat reluctantly, "cæsar is at some little place they call st. fillans, in scotland." "i know it," i cried eagerly. "a place at the end of loch earn! we motored past it one day about two years ago. i shall go north at once." "but you can telegraph to him," the count suggested. "to what address?" "ah! why, of course, i don't know his address--only that he is at st. fillans. i had a note yesterday." travelling by way of perth and gleneagles, i next morning found myself strolling along the picturesque village at the end of the beautiful loch, which presented a truly delightful picture in the autumn sunlight. at the hotel nothing was known of mr. lehnhardt, and though i devoted the whole morning to making inquiries i could find no trace of his highness. the latter would certainly not betray himself as a german, for, speaking english so well, he might very easily adopt an english name. i ate my lunch at the hotel which faces the loch, with ben voirlich rising high beyond, and afterwards resumed my wanderings. in many quarters i described my "friend" of whom i was in search, but nobody seemed to have seen him. the precious hours were flying, and i knew that the emperor at corfu was impatiently awaiting a reply. i hired a car and drove seven miles to the farther end of the loch, to the village of lochearnhead. there i made inquiry at the hotel and elsewhere, afterwards going on to balquidder with similar result. it was past six o'clock when i returned to st. fillans with the feeling that his highness had deceived even his friend "mickie," and that i had had my long journey and quest for nothing. not a soul seemed to have seen anybody answering to "willie's" description. i snatched another hasty meal at the hotel, and then, in the dusk, set off in the opposite direction along the pretty road which led to comrie. the light was fast fading, but i knew that there would be a full moon, and the night was perfect. i had walked about three miles, and had probably lost my way, for i was off the main road, when, on my left, saw the lighted windows of a comfortable-looking cottage standing back from the road behind a well-kept flower garden. there were woods on each side of the road, and i concluded that it was a keeper's house. as i passed i heard voices, and saw two figures standing at the garden gate--a man and a woman--chatting confidentially. in the next second i recognized the man's voice as that of the crown-prince, and as quickly i stepped upon the grass so that they might not be attracted by my footsteps. concealed by the shadow of the hedge on the opposite side of the road, i stealthily approached until i could distinguish, by the light from the open door of the cottage, that the woman was a stout, elderly person, probably the keeper's wife. both surprised and interested, i stood there watching. it seemed as though they were awaiting someone, for after a few moments, they both retired inside the cottage. presently, however, "willie" emerged alone. he had on his hat and carried a stick, and as he swung through the gate and went forward he whistled softly to himself the air of a gay waltz of which he was particularly fond. within myself i chuckled at being thus able to watch his mysterious movements, for he seemed entirely preoccupied and quite unconscious of being followed, though i fear my footsteps fell heavily at times. suddenly, while passing along a part of the road overshadowed by woods on either side, he halted in the darkness. i heard him speak, and i also heard the welcome he received in a girl's voice. it was as i had surmised, and i drew a long breath. i heard the pair talking, but from where i stood i could not overhear any of their conversation. i heard his highness laugh gaily, and though he lit a cigarette his companion's face was turned from me so that i could not catch a glimpse of it in the fitful light. presently, after he had held her in his arms and kissed her, they turned back in my direction. as they passed i heard the girl say: "i've been waiting for quite a quarter of an hour, mr. lehnhardt. i thought perhaps something had prevented you from keeping the appointment." "all my mistake, dear," was his reply. "my mistake. forgive me." "of course," she said, laughing, and i saw that she had her arm linked in his as they walked back in the direction of the keeper's cottage. i followed in wonder, and not without anger. for the heir of the hohenzollerns to ramble upon such rural escapades was, i knew, distinctly dangerous. exposure might come at any moment. they had strolled together nearly half a mile when of a sudden, as they again passed into the deep shadows, the girl gave vent to a loud scream for help, and at the same moment men's angry voices were heard. the pair had been attacked by three men who had apparently been lying hidden in the wood. i heard a man shout, and then a sharp crack like that of a whip. the kaiser's son was shouting, too, while the girl was screaming and crying shame upon those who had attacked the man with whom she had been walking. "you infernal german!" i heard one of the men shriek. "i'll teach you to come sneaking here and take my sister out for midnight walks! take that--you cur--and that!--whoever you are!" next second the startling truth was plain to me. his imperial highness the german crown-prince was being ignominiously and soundly thrashed by an irate brother! i saw that it was high time that i interfered. the crown-prince had been flung upon the ground, and the angry young man was lashing him as i dashed in among them with my revolver drawn. "come, cease that," i shouted. "down with that whip. you've attacked these people on the high road, and if you strike again i'll fire." "hulloa!" cried one man. "why, here's another german!" "german or not--enough!" i commanded, and bending down, assisted the fallen prince to rise. "you--you shall pay for this, i swear!" declared "willie," angrily facing the man who had struck him. then, turning to me, he apparently recognized my voice, for he asked--"how in the name of fate did you come here, heltzendorff?" "i will explain later," i replied in german. "let us get out of this." "but i cannot leave violet. i--i----" he had replied in the same language, which the men apparently did not understand. "enough; come," i said. then in english i added, "we will wish these gentlemen good-night." i took his arm and led him away amid the derisive laughter of the irate brother and his two friends, leaving the girl with them. when we were out of earshot i told him of the emperor's telegram, and added: "that lady was miss hewitt, was she not?" "yes. her father's estate is a few miles from here. she's a perfect little fiend for opium--got bitten with the habit when she was travelling with her married sister in china, and maggie, her old nurse, who lives in the cottage we shall pass in a minute, lets her go there on the quiet and smoke. i have had two or three pipes there lately," he added merrily. "_himmel!_" i gasped. "how dangerous! she has no idea of who you are, i hope?" "not in the least." "good. let us attend to the emperor's telegram at once." and a quarter of an hour later we were discussing the kaiser's inquiry in a clean, comfortable, but out-of-the-way cottage in which "willie" had established himself so as to be near the pretty girl for whom he had conceived that passing fascination. until to-day violet hewitt has been entirely ignorant of the identity of the man who, like herself, was so addicted to opium. these lines, if they meet her eye, will reveal to her a curious and, no doubt, startling truth. secret number ten how the kaiser escaped assassination "the emperor commands you to audience at once in the private dining-room," said one of the imperial servants, entering the kaiser's study, where i was awaiting him. it was seven o'clock on a cold, cheerless morning, and i had just arrived at potsdam from altona, the bearer of a message from the crown-prince to his father. i knew that the emperor always rose at five, and that he was breakfasting, as was his habit, alone with the empress in that coquettish private dining-room of the sovereigns, a room into which no servant is permitted, augusta preparing and serving the coffee with her own hands. it was the one hour which the all-highest before the war devoted to domesticity, when husband and wife could gossip and discuss matters alone and in secret. as i passed downstairs to the room, to which entrance was forbidden even to the crown-prince himself, i naturally wondered why i had been commanded to audience there. on tapping upon the mahogany door of the little private salon the empress's hard voice gave permission to enter, whereupon i bowed myself into the cosy little place, hung with reseda silk and with pictures by loncret, perne and watteau. upon one side of the room was a beautiful buhl cabinet, and at the little round table placed near the window sat the imperial pair. the empress was reading a letter, but his majesty rose as i entered. he was wearing a grey tweed suit, a well-worn and, no doubt, easy one, in which nobody ever saw him, for he always changed into uniform before he went to his study. "have you any knowledge of the contents of the letter which you have brought from the crown-prince?" he asked me bluntly, and i saw by his eyes that he seemed somewhat mystified. i replied in the negative, explaining that i had been with his imperial highness to kiel, and afterwards to altona, where the crown-princess had performed the opening ceremony of a new dock. "where are you going now?" he asked suddenly. "there are other engagements, i believe?" "to thorn. his imperial highness inspects the garrison there on thursday," i said. "ah! of course. i intended to go, but it is impossible." then, after a pause, the emperor looked me straight in the face and suddenly said: "heltzendorff, have you any knowledge of any man called minckwitz?" i reflected. "i know count von minckwitz, grand-master of the court of the duke of saxe-altenbourg," was my reply. "no. this is a man, wilhelm minckwitz, who poses as a musician." i shook my head. "you are quite certain that you have never heard the name? try to recollect whether the crown-prince has ever mentioned him in your presence." i endeavoured to recall the circumstance, for somehow very gradually i felt a distinct recollection of having once heard that name before. "at the moment i fail to recall anything, your majesty," was my answer. the emperor knit his brows as though annoyed at my reply, and then grunted deeply in dissatisfaction. "remain here in potsdam," he said. "telegraph to the crown-prince recalling him at my orders, and i will cancel the inspection at thorn. tell the crown-prince that i wish to see him to-night immediately upon his return." then, noticing for the first time that the emperor held a paper in his hand, i realized that by its colour it was one of those secret reports furnished for the kaiser's eye alone--a report of one of the thousands of spies of germany spread everywhere. minckwitz! i impressed that name upon my memory, and, being dismissed, bowed myself out of the imperial presence. returning to the marmor palace i sent a long and urgent message over the private wire to "willie" at altona, repeating his majesty's orders, and recalling him at once. quite well i knew that such an unusual message would arouse his highness's apprehension that for some offence or other he was about to receive a paternal castigation. but i could not be explicit, because i had no knowledge of the reason the emperor was cancelling our engagement at thorn. at nine o'clock that night the crown-prince, gay in his hussar uniform, burst into the room wherein i was attending to the correspondence. "what in the name of fate does all this mean, heltzendorff?" he demanded. "why did the emperor fail to reply to my message?" "i delivered it," i said. and then i described what took place in the emperor's private dining-room. when i mentioned the name of minckwitz the crown-prince started and his cheeks blanched. "did he ask you that?" he gasped. "yes. i told him the only person i knew of that name was count von minckwitz." "ah, that little fat, old master of the court. oh! the emperor knows him well enough. it is somebody else he is referring to." "do you know him?" i asked eagerly. "me? why--why, of course not!" was "willie's" quick reply, in a tone which showed me that he was not telling the truth. "his majesty wishes to see you at once," i urged, full of wonder. i could plainly see that his imperial highness had been much upset at mention of the mysterious person called minckwitz. what could the emperor know of him? was there some scandal at the root of it all, some facts which the crown-prince feared might be revealed? travel-stained, and without changing his tunic, "willie" went to the telephone and ordered knof to bring back the car. and in it he drove across to the neues palais to see the emperor. i had an important appointment in berlin that night, and waited until quite late for "willie's" return. as he did not come i left for the capital, and on arrival at my rooms rang up wolff's agency, and gave out a paragraph to the press that his imperial highness the crown-prince had been compelled to abandon his journey to thorn, owing to having contracted a chill. his wife "cilli"--the contraction for cecilia--had, however, gone to visit princess henry of rohnstock at fürstenstein. several weeks went by, and one day we were at the ancient schloss at oels, in far silesia, the great estate which the crown-prince inherited on coming of age. the castle is a big, prison-like place, surrounded by wide lands and dense forests, lying between the town of breslau and the polish frontier, a remote, rural place to which "willie" loved sometimes to retire with a few kindred spirits in order to look over the estate and to shoot. the guests included old count von reisenach, court chamberlain, of the prince of schombourg-lippe, who was a noted raconteur and bon-vivant, with major von heidkämper, of the th bavarian light cavalry, a constant companion of "willie's," and karl von pappenheim, a captain of the prussian guard, who had been educated at oxford, and who was so english that it was often difficult for people from london to believe that he was a prussian. von pappenheim, a tall, good-looking, fair-moustached man under thirty, was one of "willie's" new friends. he was the son of a great landowner of erfurt, and the pair had for the past month been inseparable. he was a shrewd, keen-eyed man, who seemed ever on the alert, but, of course, obsessed by military dignity, and as full of swagger as any prussian officer could be. he had a sister, margarete, a pretty girl, a year or so his junior, who had been to the marmor palace on one occasion. the crown-princess had received her, but from the fact that she was not invited a second time i concluded that the inevitable jealousy had arisen, because in my presence "willie" had more than once referred to her beauty. i sometimes suspected that "willie's" sudden and close friendship with von pappenheim had some connection with his intense admiration of the latter's sister. i, however, learnt the truth concerning their intimacy in a curious way while at the schloss oels. one day i had accompanied the party out after stag, for, being a fair shot, i frequently snatched a day's sport. soon after luncheon, which we took at a forester's house, we went forth again, and i concealed myself at a point of vantage, lying behind a screen of ferns and branches specially constructed as cover. i was alone, at some considerable distance from the others, and had been there waiting for nearly an hour with my gun in readiness when suddenly i heard the cracking of dried wood not far away. something was moving. i raised my gun in breathless eagerness. next moment, however, i heard the voices of two men.--"willie" and his friend, von pappenheim. they were approaching me, speaking in low, confidential tones. "you quite understand," "willie" was saying. "my position is a terrible one. i don't know how to extricate myself. if i dare reveal the truth then i know full well what their vengeance will be." "but, my dear cæsar," was karl von pappenheim's reply, for he was on such intimate terms that he called his highness by the name von hochberg had bestowed upon him, "is it not your duty to risk all and tell the truth?" he suggested seriously. the pair had halted only a few yards from me and taken cover behind a dead bush which had been cut down and placed conveniently at the spot, in case the shooting party were a large one and the screen behind which i had concealed myself was insufficient. so near were they that i could hear all that was said. "the emperor would neither believe me nor forgive me," "willie" said. "minckwitz is a clever devil. he would bring manufactured evidence which must implicate me." minckwitz! that was the name which the emperor had uttered, asking me if i knew him! that incident at the neues palais flashed across my memory. i recollected, too, how, when i had referred to the circumstance, his highness had become pale and agitated. mention of the name had affected him curiously. "but can he bring evidence?" asked his companion. "yes, curse him!--he can!" "you can refute it, surely?" "no, i can't. if i could i should make a clean breast of the whole matter," "willie" declared. from the tone of his voice i realized how utterly bewildered he was. "but cannot i help you? cannot i see minckwitz and bluff him?" his friend suggested. "you don't know him," was the reply. "he holds me in the hollow of his hand." "ah! then you have been horribly indiscreet--eh?" "i have. i admit i have, karl; and i do not see any way out of it." "but, my dear cæsar, think of the danger existing day by day--hour by hour!" cried von pappenheim. "think what there is at stake! that letter you showed me this morning reveals only too plainly what is intended." "it is a letter of defiance, i admit." "and a catastrophe must inevitably occur if you do not act." "but how can i act?" cried the crown-prince, in despair. "suggest something--i cannot. if i utter a syllable minckwitz will most certainly carry out his threat against me." "contrive to have him arrested upon some charge or other," karl suggested. "if i did he would produce the evidence against me," declared the crown-prince. a silence then fell between the pair. suddenly karl asked: "does von heltzendorff know?" "he knows nothing," was "willie's" answer. "the emperor questioned him, but he was in ignorance of minckwitz's existence. he was naturally surprised, but i did not regard it as judicious to enlighten him." "he is your confidential adjutant. if i were you i should tell him the truth. no time should be lost, remember." then, after a few seconds of silence. von pappenheim went on: "why, i never thought of it! my sister margarete knows minckwitz. she might perhaps be useful to us--eh?" "why, yes!" cried "willie," "a woman can frequently accomplish a thing where a man would fail. a most excellent idea. let us leave the others to their sport and get back to the schloss and discuss a line of action--eh?" and in agreement the pair emerged from their ambush, and retraced their steps along the path they had come. still greatly puzzled at the nature of the secret which the crown-prince was withholding from me, i came out of my hiding-place and presently rejoined the party. that night we all dined together, as was our habit when at oels, but i saw that "willie" was upset and nervous, and noticed that he drank his champagne heavily. on the contrary, von pappenheim was wary and watchful. next evening von pappenheim's sister margarete, fair-haired, _petite_ and rather doll-like, arrived at the castle. during dinner an imperial courier arrived from berlin with a letter from the emperor, and "willie" opened it, read it, and then, excusing himself, left the table. i rose and followed him, as was my duty, but when outside the room his highness sent me back, saying in a thick, husky voice: "i shall not want you. von heltzendorff; i will write the reply myself." on my return the guests were discussing the effect of the emperor's message upon their host, von pappenheim being particularly anxious. he said something in a low voice to his sister, when the latter became at once thoughtful. indeed, the remainder of the meal was a very dull affair, and it was with relief that we rose and went out into the big ancient hall, with its vaulted ceiling, where coffee was always served. the courier had left on his return journey to the capital, yet "willie" did not again reappear. at eleven o'clock i found him lying in a very advanced state of intoxication upon the sofa in the room set apart for me for my writing. near him stood an empty brandy bottle and an empty syphon of soda-water. i called his faithful valet, and together we half carried him to his room, where he was undressed and put to bed. hardly had i returned to my room when von pappenheim entered in search of his host. "his highness is not well, and has retired to his room," i said. "he expressed a desire to see nobody to-night." von pappenheim's face changed. "oh!" he cried in despair. "why did he not see me and tell me the truth! precious hours are flying, and we must act if the situation is to be saved." "what situation?" i asked, in pretended ignorance. "you know nothing, von heltzendorff, eh?" he asked, looking me straight in the face. "nothing," was my reply. "you have no knowledge of the trap into which the crown-prince fell when he was in paris with you six months ago, and when he and i first met?" "a trap! what do you mean?" "has he told you nothing?" "not a syllable." "ah! then i cannot be frank with you until i obtain his highness's permission. he told me that you knew nothing, but i did not believe it. knowing well what implicit confidence he places in you, i believed that you knew the ghastly truth." "you alarm me," i said. "if the situation is grave, then i may be able to be of some assistance, more especially if time is pressing." he hesitated, but refused to reveal a single fact before receiving the crown-prince's permission. into what trap had "willie" fallen during our last visit to paris i could not conceive. his wild orgies in the montmartre, his constant absences alone, his terrible craving for excitement, his wild and reckless search for pleasure in the lowest haunts of vice, had ever been a source of anxiety to me. times without number had i lifted a warning finger, only to be derided and ridiculed by the son of the all-highest one. next day, soon after his highness was dressed, he entered my room. "heltzendorff," he said, "i have been chatting with von pappenheim and his sister upon a little matter of business which closely concerns myself. i want you to leave in an hour's time and go to hanover. in the kirchröder strasse, no. , out at kleefeld there lives a certain man named minckwitz--a pole by birth. he has two nieces--one about twenty and the other two years older. with them you have no concern. all i want is that you engage a photographer, or, better, yourself take a snapshot of this man minckwitz, and bring it to me. be discreet and trust no one with the secret of your journey." "exactly. there is a doubt as to the man's identity, eh?" "willie" nodded in the affirmative. satisfied that i should at last see the mysterious person whose identity the emperor had wished to establish, i set out from oels on my long journey right across germany. in due course i arrived in hanover, and found the house situate in the pleasant suburb. here i found that "willie's" suspicions were correct, and the man minckwitz was living under the name of sembach and pretending to be a musician. i watched, and very soon with my own camera took in secret a snapshot of the mysterious individual as he walked in the street. with this i left two days later on my return to oels. the photograph was that of a thin, narrow-faced, deep-eyed man, with a scraggy, pointed beard--a typical pole, and when i handed it to "willie" he held his breath. "look!" he cried, turning to von pappenheim and his sister, who were both present. "look! there is no mistake! that is the man. what shall we do? no time must be lost. how can i act?" brother and sister exchanged glances blankly. from inquiries i had made in hanover, it seemed that the man was a stranger, a music-master, who had arrived there about a month ago. i feared to make inquiry through the police, because my official capacity as personal-adjutant to the crown-prince was too well known, and suspicion might have thus been aroused. the trio again held secret counsel, but i was not told the nature of their deliberations. all i knew was that the crown-prince was in some terrible and most dangerous difficulty. that afternoon i met the girl margarete walking alone in the grounds near the schloss. the autumn sun was pleasant, though there was a sharp nip in the air, which told of the coming of the early silesian winter. most of the trees were already bare, and the ground was carpeted with the gold-brown leaves of the great beeches. we had walked together for some distance, when i suddenly halted and asked her point-blank why they were all in such great fear of herr minckwitz. she started, staring at me with her big blue eyes. "his highness has not told you, count. therefore, it would ill become me to reveal his secret," was her cold rebuke. "but if the situation is so grave, and if i have been entrusted with the secret mission to hanover, i may, perhaps, be of service in the matter. i understand that you are acquainted with herr minckwitz, _alias_ sembach--eh?" "who told you that?" "nobody. i learnt it myself," i answered, with a smile. for a second she reflected, then, with a woman's cleverness, she said: "i can tell you nothing. ask the crown-prince himself." and she refused to discuss the matter further. indeed, she left the castle two hours later. that night i went boldly to "willie," finding him alone in a little circular room in one of the towers of the castle, to which he often retired to smoke and snooze. i stood before him, and without mincing matters told him what i had overheard and all i knew. the effect of my words was almost electrical. he sat up, staring at me almost dazed at my statement. "it is true, heltzendorff. alas! true!" he replied. but he would even then give me no inkling of the reason of his fear. "if this herr minckwitz means mischief, then surely it would be easy to secure his arrest for some offence or other, and you need not appear in it," i suggested. "i've thought of all that. but if the police lay hands upon him, then he will revenge himself on me. he will carry out his threat--and--and, heltzendorff, i could never hold up my head again." "why?" "i can't be more explicit. i'm in a hole, and i cannot extricate myself." i reflected for a moment. then i said: "you appear to fear some action of minckwitz's. if that is so, i will return to hanover and watch. if there is any hostile intent, i will endeavour to prevent it. fortunately, he does not know me." next night i was back again in hanover, having stopped in berlin to pick up a friend of mine upon whose discretion i could rely implicitly--a retired member of the detective force named hartwieg. together we started to watch the movements of the mysterious polish musician, and to our surprise we found that he had three friends, one of them a furrier living in the burgstrasse, who visited him regularly each evening. they always arrived at the same hour, and generally left about eleven o'clock. through five days we kept watch, alternately closely shadowing the man who called himself sembach, and becoming acquainted with his friends, most of whom seemed of a very queer set. there was no doubt that minckwitz and the two young women were associates of some criminal gang, and, further, i was staggered one evening to watch the arrival at the house of a young man whom i recognized as brosch, an under-valet of the emperor's at the neues palais. for what reason had he come from potsdam? he remained there till noon on the following day. when he emerged, accompanied by minckwitz, the pair went into the city, and we followed, when, curiously enough, i came face to face with von pappenheim's sister, who was apparently there for the same purpose as myself! happily she was too intent in her conversation with minckwitz, whom she met as though accidentally, to notice my presence. then, at last, the musician raised his hat and left her, rejoining the young man brosch. the pair went to a bookshop in the herschelstrasse, and presently, when they came forth again, brosch was carrying a good-sized volume wrapped in brown paper. my curiosity was aroused, therefore i went into the shop, made a purchase, and learned from the shopman that the younger of the pair had purchased a well-known german reference-book, professor nebendahl's "dictionary of classical quotations." strange that such a book should be purchased by an under-valet! leaving the detective hartwieg to watch, i took the next train back to potsdam, where i was fortunate enough to find the emperor giving audience to the imperial chancellor. at the conclusion of the audience i sought, and was accorded, a private interview, at which i recalled his majesty's anxiety to ascertain something regarding the man minckwitz. "well--and have you found him?" asked the emperor very eagerly. i replied in the affirmative. then he told me something which held me breathless, for, unlocking a drawer, he showed me an anonymous letter of warning he had received, a letter which, posted in paris, stated that an attempt was to be made upon his life, and hinting that the crown-prince might be aware of it. "of course," he laughed, "i do not regard it seriously, but i thought we ought to know the whereabouts of this man minckwitz, who is probably an anarchist." "will your majesty leave the matter entirely in my hands?" i suggested. "the police must not be informed." "it shall be as you wish. i give you authority to act just as you deem best if you really anticipate danger." "i do anticipate it," i replied, and a few moments later bowed myself out of the imperial presence. during that day i idled about the palace, gossiping with the officials and _dames du palais_, awaiting the return of the young man brosch. that night he did not come back, but he arrived at the palace about seven o'clock on the following morning. the head valet was furious at his absence, but the young man made a very plausible excuse that his sister out at lichtenberg was very dangerously ill. i had had no sleep that night, but as soon as i was informed of the under-valet's return, i repaired to the emperor's study and secreted myself beneath a great damask-covered settee which runs along the wall opposite the door. for nearly an hour i remained there, when the door was opened stealthily and there entered the young man whom i had seen in hanover on the previous day. he carried a book in his hand. this he swiftly exchanged for another similar book of the same appearance, and a moment later crept out again, closing the door noiselessly. quickly i came forth and took up the classical dictionary, a copy of which was usually upon the emperor's table. it presented just the same appearance as the book that brosch had taken away, only it was considerably heavier. without delay i dashed out, sought the emperor's valet, and was admitted to his majesty's presence. three minutes later we were both in the study. i took up the book and held it to his ear. just as i had heard, he could detect the faint ticking of a watch within. the book had been hollowed out and a time bomb inserted! it was, no doubt, set to explode between eight and nine o'clock, when the emperor would be at his desk. "take it out quickly!" shrieked the kaiser in terror, when he realized the true import of the plot. in obedience, handling the book very carefully, i rushed with it downstairs out into the open. i placed it on the grass some distance away, while the emperor followed me, utterly astounded at the discovery. having deposited it, i dashed back to where the emperor was standing upon the steps, greatly to the surprise of the sentries, when hardly had i reached him than there showed a blood-red flash, followed by a terrific report and concussion--an explosion which, had it occurred in the upstairs study, must have blown the emperor's head off as he sat. his majesty stood white and rigid, instantly realizing what a narrow escape he had had, while the noise caused the greatest alarm, and people began rushing hither and thither to ascertain the cause. in a few seconds his majesty was calm again. "say nothing of this, heltzendorff," he said. "let it remain a mystery. come upstairs and i will speak on the telephone to the police." "your majesty gave the matter unreservedly into my hands," i reminded him. "ah! that is so. i forgot," he exclaimed, and after thanking me he added: "take what steps you like, but have the offenders punished, and also try to discover who sent me that anonymous warning." the young valet, who had been, no doubt, heavily bribed by minckwitz to substitute the book, had already disappeared, and, as a matter of fact, has never been seen in germany since. the man minckwitz had also, it seemed, suddenly left hanover on the night of my departure, for hartwieg, following him, reported to me by wire that he was in paris. without delay i travelled to the french capital, saw my old friend pinaud of the sûreté, and told him the whole story, explaining in confidence that for some mysterious reason the crown-prince feared that if the man were arrested he might reveal something unpleasant. "i quite understand," replied the french detective, with a smile. "i know that, six months ago, while the crown-prince was in paris, he was one night enticed by a girl into the gaming-house kept by the notorious minckwitz. there a quarrel ensued, and the crown-prince, fearing attack, drew his revolver, which went off and shot one of minckwitz's confederates stone dead. the crown-prince has ever since been paying big sums to hush up the affair. until recently minckwitz conceived the idea that if the emperor died and the crown-prince came to the throne it would mean to him considerably more money each year. therefore he conceived that diabolical plot. i warned the crown-prince of it, and he threatened to expose minckwitz and have him arrested. minckwitz, in turn, threatened that if his highness made the slightest movement to thwart his plans he would expose to the world that the german crown-prince, during his latest escapade in the montmartre, had killed a man. finding this to be the case, i myself wrote that anonymous letter of warning, which i addressed to the emperor." "and which has had the effect of saving his majesty's life," i remarked. that night minckwitz found himself arrested upon a charge of blackmailing a portugese nobleman, and was later on sentenced to fifteen years' imprisonment. in his solitary hours in prison he often wonders, i expect, why his dastardly plot failed. had it been successful, however, it certainly would have had a great effect upon the future history of the world. the end _printed at the chapel river press, kingston, surrey._ note added by count ernst von heltzendorff: _i propose, with the assistance of my friend the commendatore william le queux, to issue in great britain a further instalment of my revelations of "the secrets of potsdam" at an early date._ _in the press. uniform with this volume._ for the queen by e. phillips oppenheim author of "those other days," "mr. wingrave, millionaire." etc., etc. london: london mail ltd. , king street, covent garden, w.c. * * * * * transcriber's notes obvious punctuation errors repaired. both hotel and hôtel appear and were not changed. page : umlaut added to three occurrences of "fürstenberg". page : hyphen removed from "ear[-]rings". page : "leichtenstein" changed to "liechtenstein" (liechtenstein bridge). transcriber's notes: . page scan source: http://www.archive.org/details/picturesgermanl freygoog . diphthong oe is represented by [oe]. pictures of german life in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. second series. * * * * * vol. i. pictures of german life in the xviiith and xixth centuries. second series. by gustav freytag. translated from the original by mrs. malcolm. _copyright edition.--in two volumes_. vol. i. london: chapman and hall, piccadilly. . london: bradbury and evans, printers, whitefriars. contents. seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. introduction.--the nation and the individual--aim of the book--peculiarities in the development of the german people since the thirty years' war chapter i. life of the german peasant ( - ).--the duration of modern nations--german agriculture in the time of the romans, the carlovingians, and the hohenstauffen--description of the peasants by neidhart von reuenthal--narrative of young helmbrecht, by wernher the gardener--the fifteenth century--the peasant war--eberlin von günzburg--condition of the peasants after the war; their service and burdens; their different condition according to districts, and deterioration by oppression--first signs of improvement--description of the german peasant by christian garve--insurrection of the peasantry in , and their present position chapter ii. the life of the lower nobility ( - ).--the country nobles in the sixteenth century--the court nobles--the detrimental effects of the great war--description of a wealthy nobleman from - --patents of nobility--description of the life of the newly-ennobled merchants from - --the country nobles and krippenreiters from - --description of the same from "the nobleman," by paul winckler--better condition after --privileges of the nobles--introduction of a new culture--gellert--union of the nobles with the citizens chapter iii. the german citizen and his shooting festivals ( - ).-gradual development of the citizen class--decline after the thirty years' war--the prize shooting as an example of their former wealth and importance--may feasts of the old citizens--prize shooting before --preparations for the festival--the pritschmeister and procession--prizes and fortune's urn--hospitality, and conclusion of the festival--zurich and strasbourg--differences of the festivals according to districts--their decline--description of the breslau "königschiessens" of , by kundmann chapter iv. the state policy and the individual ( - ).--the dissolution of the german empire--the prince's parties--the despotic official administration--the statesmen after the war--the insecurity of the subject; its influence on the character--characteristics of the state system in a flying sheet of --tendencies up to chapter v. the "stillen im lande," or pietists ( - ).--tendencies of protestantism till --consequences of the war--the older pietism--spener--hatred of worldly pleasures--the women--self-contemplation and social intercourse--good effects on morals--the revival--characters of petersen and his wife--narrative of johanna eleonora petersen--narrative of dr. johann wilhelm petersen--fate of this couple, and their revelations--the later pietism and its aberrations--opposition--lamentations of the student, ernst johann semler--progress of the people through pietism chapter vi. the dawning of light ( ).--changes in the human mind from the invention of printing--mathematical discipline and natural science--law--philosophy and its position with respect to theology--the leaders--change of literature by wolf and his disciples--description of a german city about , its police and artisans--the gentry--merchants and their commerce--ecclesiastics, teachers, and schools--post and travelling--dress and manners--sentimentality, tears, and self-contemplation--marriage a business matter--women and house duties--narrative of johann salomo semler--letter from a bride to her bridegroom in the year pictures of german life. second series. introduction. the man and the nation! the course of life of a nation consists in the ceaseless working of the individual on the collective people, and the people on the individual. the greater the vigour, diversity, and originality with which individuals develop their human power, the more capable they are of conducing to the benefit of the whole body; and the more powerful the influence which the life of the nation exercises on the individual, the more secure is the basis for the free development of the man. the productive power of man expresses itself in endless directions, but the perfection of all powers is the political development of the individual, and of the nation through the state. the mind, the spirit, and the character are influenced and directed by the political life of the state, and the share which the individual has in the state is to him the highest source of honour and manly happiness. if in the time of our fathers and grandfathers the german contemplated his own position among other men, he might well question whether his life was poor or rich, whether hope or sorrow predominated; for his earthly position was in every way peculiar. whilst he felt with pleasure that he was in the enjoyment of a free and refined cultivation, he was daily oppressed by the harsh despotism, or the weak insignificance of his state, in which he lived as a stranger without the protection of the law; he looked with pride on the gigantic workings of german science, but he perceived, with bitter sorrow, that millions of his countrymen were separated by a deep chasm from the highest results of scientific labour. he found himself amidst the working of a popular energy, which ventured with heroic courage on the boldest conclusions in the realm of mind; and, on the other hand, saw around him narrow-hearted obstinacy, where simple and close results ought to have been the aim. he felt with thousands an eager desire for an object of life which would exalt and animate him, and again he found himself surrounded and shackled by narrow-mindedness and by provincial and local exclusiveness. whoever should thus feel, may well inquire whether we germans are old or young, whether it is destined by fate that the german nature should only find expression in the individual virtuosoship of art and science, or whether an harmonious development of the nation in its practical and ideal tendencies, in labour and enjoyment. state, church, science, art, and industry, lies before us in the future: whether we shall ever again, as members of a great state, play the part of masters in europe, which old records inform us our ancestors, in remote ages, won by their swords and the energy of their natures. there is still a time in our memory when hope was so faint, that one may be excused for giving a doubtful answer to such questions. after the war of freedom, the decay of the old method of culture became the characteristic of the time; but we now approach, with youthful vigour, new ideas and an energetic will, to a new and higher climax. in the characters of that past time we find, only too frequently, isolation, hopelessness, and deficiency in political morality; in the new time we have a sharper vision, a higher interest for the nation as a whole, and a power of viewing things in a practical light which makes us feel the need of close union between all of like mind. the realism, which is called, either in praise or blame, the stamp of the present time, is in art, science, and faith, as in the state, nothing but the first step in the cultivation of the rising generation, which endeavours to spiritualise the details of present life in all directions, in order to give a new tendency to the spirit. but, though it may be no longer necessary to cheer the soul with hope, yet it is a pleasing task to demonstrate the point to which we have attained in comparison with the past, and in comparison with other civilised nations; why we were obliged to remain behind in many things which our neighbours possess in abundance, and why we have made other acquisitions in advance of them. it is instructive for us to make such inquiries, and the answer that we shall find may be instructive to other nations. no individual can give a satisfactory solution to each single question; even the strongest mind can but imperfectly comprehend the great life of his nation: the clearest eye and the most ingenuous judgment is contracted in comparison with the great unity of the people. but, however imperfect may be the portrait given by individuals of the life of their nation, yet each contemporary will discover some main features of the picture lying in his own soul, more especially he who stands in the same grade of cultivation with the delineator. this kind of delineation of the period of the reformation and the thirty years' war, was the object of the former series of pictures of the past life of germany; the following will be a sketch of some of the phases of development of german character during the last century up to the present day. again shall the narratives of those who are gone, as well as the living, portray the times in which they figure; but the nearer we approach the present, the less do the records of individuals give an impression of the nature of the general community. first, because from the greater proximity we are able more accurately to distinguish the individual from the community, and also, because the diversity of character and the difference of culture become ever greater the further the german mind advances in profound investigation; therefore these examples will probably lose for the reader some of the charm afforded by those of former centuries. and in addition to this, the records of these latter times are far more known and realised by our popular writers. lastly, the political history, as well as the development of the german mind, since the time of frederick the great, has, through copious works, become the property of the nation. it is not therefore intended here to enter upon a representation of the scientific mind, or of the political condition of the nation; but only to represent those phases of the spirit and social circumstances, which more especially define the character of a people. by these the continuity and many peculiarities of our present cultivation will be illustrated. the new time began in germany, after the invention of printing, by a struggle in which germans broke the fetters of the papal church of the middle ages, and passed from submissive belief in authority, to an energetic, independent search after truth. but they did not at the same time succeed in building up a compact monarchy out of the unsymmetrical feudalism of the middle ages. the imperial house of hapsburg became the zealous opponent of the national development. owing to this opposition arose the power of separate territorial princes, and the political weakness of germany became the more perceptible, the more the rising vigour of the nation demanded an answering development of political energy. from this the german character suffered much. ecclesiastical disputes were for a long period the only national interest; there was but too great a deficiency in germans of that pride and pleasure in a fatherland, and of that whole circle of moral feelings, to which political independence gives life, even in the most obscure individual. after the reformation it became the fate of the german nation to develope its character under conditions which were materially different from those of the other civilised people of europe. in france, the protestant party was struck down with bloody zeal by the crown under the despotic government of louis xiv.; and the revolution was the growth of this victory. in england, the protestant party gained the dominion under the tudors; the struggle against the stuarts and the completion of the english constitution was the result. in germany, the opposition of parties was not followed either by victory or conciliation; the result was the thirty years' war, and the political paralysis of germany, from which it is only now beginning to recover. this thirty years' war, the worst desolation of a populous nation since the national exodus, is the second period of german history which gave a peculiar tendency to the character of the people. the war shattered into ruins the popular strength, but it also certainly removed the dangers which threatened german cultivation, by the alliance of the imperial house with the roman hierarchy. it also separated the imperial state, politically, from the rest of germany; what was lost to france in the west by the hapsburgers, was gradually regained to germany in the east by another royal house. the great destruction caused by the war, changed the state life of germany to a hollow form; it threw the germans almost two centuries back, in comparison with their english kinsmen, in wealth, population, and political condition. it must again be repeated that it destroyed at least two thirds, probably three fourths of the population, and a still greater portion of their goods and cattle, and deteriorated the morals, arts, education, and energies of the survivors. out of these remains of german life, the modern character of germans was slowly and feebly developed--individual life under despotic government. it is this period, in which our popular strength was slowly raised from the deepest degradation, which will be here portrayed by the narratives of contemporaries. again a great time, but a period of german development of which the last and highest results have not yet become history. the way in which the people raised themselves from this abyss is peculiar to the germans. marvellous as was the destruction, so also was the revival. more than one nation has been overpowered by outward enemies or cast down under political oppression, each of which has had to undergo special trials which have given them from time to time a hopeless aspect, but through the whole course of history a renovation has been effected, so that the strengthening of the state has gone hand-in-hand with intellectual progress. when the greeks during the persian war felt their own political worth, their science and art blossomed almost simultaneously; when augustus had given a new support and constitution to the declining roman republic, there began forthwith a new imperial culture in enjoyment-seeking rome: the intellectual life, from horace and virgil to tacitus, followed the destiny of the state; the increased expansive power of the empire ever gave a wider stretch and stronger independence to individual minds. and again in england,--when the war of the red and white roses was ended, when the people peacefully danced round the maypole, and a brilliant court life enforced courtly manners upon the wild barons, when daring merchants and adventurers waylaid the spanish galleons, and conveyed the spices of india up the thames,--then the popular energies found expression in the greatest poetic soul of modern nations. even in france the splendid despotism of louis xiv., after the wars of the huguenots and the fronde, gave suddenly to the tranquillised country a brilliant courtly bloom of art and literature. it was quite otherwise in germany. whilst everywhere else the state might be compared to the body whose abundant energy calls forth the creative development of the nation, in germany, since the thirty years' war, owing to the awakening popular energy, a new national civilisation has gradually arisen in a shattered, decaying government, under corrupting and humiliating political influences of every kind,--first dependent upon strangers; then independent and free; finally, a shining pattern for other people, producing blossoms of poetry, and blossoms of science of the greatest beauty, of the highest nobility, and the greatest inward freedom: it was developed by individuals who were deficient in just that discipline of the mind and character, which is only given to them when they are members of a great state. the german culture of the eighteenth century was indeed the wonderful creation of a soul with out a body. it is still more remarkable that this new national cultivation helped, in an indirect way, to turn the germans into political men. from it the enthusiasm and struggle for an endangered german state, passions, parties, and at last political institutions were developed. never did literature play such a part or solve such great problems, as the german, from to the present day. for it is thoroughly unlike the modern endeavours of other nations, who from patriotism, that is to say, from the need of political progress, mature an objective literature. in these cases art and poetry serve, from the beginning, as handmaids to politics; they are perhaps artificially fostered, and the artistic and scientific worth is probably less than the patriotic aim. in germany, science, literature, and art only existed for their own sake: the highest creative power and the warmest interests of the educated classes were engrossed with them alone; they were always german and patriotic, in opposition to the overpowering french taste; but, with the exception of a few outbreaks of political anger or popular enthusiasm, they had no other aim than to serve truth and beauty. nay, the greatest poets and scholars considered the political condition under which they lived, as a common reality out of which art alone could elevate mankind. as therefore in germany art and science desired nothing but honourable exertion within their own sphere, their pure flames refined the sensitive disposition of germans till it was hardened for a great political struggle. before giving pictures of the german character during the last two centuries, we will endeavour to portray the peculiarities which are developed in the family relations of the different classes of ancient germany, both the peasantry, the nobility, and the citizens. but the aim of the book is to show how, by means of the hohenzollern state, germans changed gradually from private to public men; how dramatic power and interest entered into lyrical individual life; how the burgher class was strengthened by increasing education, and the nobility and peasantry submitted to its influence; finally, how it cast aside the specialities of classes, and began to form characters according to its own needs and points of view. chapter i. the life of the german peasant. ( - .) in seven hundred years the independent life of the greeks terminated; about a thousand embraces the growth, dominion, and decline of the roman power; but the german empire had lasted fifteen hundred years from the fight in the teutoburg forest,[ ] before it began to emerge from its epic time. so entirely different was the duration of the life of the ancient world to that of the modern; so slow and artificial are our transformations. how rich were the blossoms which greek life had matured in the five centuries from homer to aristotle! how powerful were the changes which the roman state had undergone, from the rise of the free peasantry on the hills of the tiber to the subjection of the italian husbandmen under german landlords! but the germans worked for fifteen centuries with an intellectual inheritance from the romans and the east, and are now only in the beginning of a development which we consider as peculiar to the german mind, in contradistinction to the roman, of the new time, to the ancient. it is indeed no longer an isolated people which has to emerge from barbarism by its own creations; it is a family of nations more painstaking and more enduring, which has risen, at long and laborious intervals, from the ruins of the roman empire, and from the intellectual treasures of antiquity: one nation reciprocally acting on the other, under the law of the same faith. the romans from free peasants had become farmers, and they were ruined because they could not overcome the social evil of slavery. the german warriors also, in the time of tacitus, took little pleasure in cultivating their own fields, and were glad to make use of dependents. it was only shortly before the year , that the german cities arrived at the conviction that the labour of freemen is the foundation of prosperity, opulence, and civilisation. but in the country, even after the thirty years' war, the mass of the labourers--more than half of the whole german nation--were in a state of servitude, which in many provinces differed little from slavery. it is only in the time of our fathers that the peasant has become an independent man, a free citizen of the state: so slowly has the groundwork of german civilisation and of the modern state been developed. all earthly progress does not take the straight course which men expect when improvement begins; thus the position of the german husbandman in was worse in many respects than a hundred years before; nay, even in our time it is not comparatively so good as it was years earlier, in the time of the hohenstaufen. the german peasant for centuries lost much that was valuable in order to attain a higher condition; his freedom and elevation to citizenship in our state was effected in an apparently indirect way. at the time of the carlovingians more than half the peasants were free and armed, and the pith of the popular strength; at the time of frederick the great, almost all the country people were under strict bondage,--the beasts of burden of the new state, weak and languishing, without political object or interest in the state. somewhat of the old weakness still clings to them. we shall therefore first take a short review of an earlier period, comparing it with the peasant life of the last two centuries. what the romans mention of the condition of the german agricultural districts, is only sufficient to give us a glimpse of ancient peasant life. according to their accounts, the germans were long considered to be a wild warrior race, who lived in transition from a wandering life to an uncertain settlement, and it was seldom inquired how it was possible that such hordes should for centuries carry on a victorious resistance to the disciplined armies of the greatest power on earth. when cheruskers, chattens, bructerers, batavers, and other people of less geographical note, occasioned terror, not only to single legions, but to large roman armies, not once, but in continual wars for more than one generation,--when a markomannen chief disciplined , infantry and cavalry after the fashion of legions; when a roman, after a century of devastating wars between the rhine and the elbe, puts before us with great emphasis the powerful masses of the germans,--we may conclude that single tribes which, with their allies, could sometimes bring into the field more than , warriors, must have counted a population of hundreds of thousands. and we equally approach to a second conclusion, that such a multitude in a narrowly limited space, surrounded by warlike neighbours, could only exist by means of a simple, perhaps, but regular and extensive cultivation of field products. that the agriculture of the germans should appear meagre to the romans, after the garden cultivation of italy and gaul, is comprehensible; nevertheless they found corn, millet, wheat, and barley; but the common corn of the country was oats, the meal of which they despised, and rye, which pliny calls an unpalatable growth of the alpine country, productive of colic. but in the year , the corn which made the german black bread, was introduced as the third article of commerce in the corn bourse of greece and asia minor. and from barley the german brewed his home drink, beer; he also brewed from wheat. now we know that in the time of the romans, most of the german races lived in a condition similar to that in which it appears from records they lived shortly after their great exodus, in the early centuries of the christian era: sometimes on single farms, but generally in enclosed villages, with boundaries marked out by posts. they had a peculiar method of laying out new village districts, and the romans found it difficult to understand the mode of farming customary to the country. probably the dwellers in the marshes near the north sea had, as pliny writes, made the first simple dykes against the encroachments of the water; already were their dwellings built on small hillocks, which, in high tides, raised them above the water, and their sheep pastured in the summer on the grass of the new alluvial soil;[ ] but further from the coast the peasant dwelt in his blockhouse, or within mud walls, which he then loved to whitewash. herds of swine lay in the shadows of the woods,[ ] horses and cattle grazed on the village meadows, and long-woolled sheep on the dry declivities of the hills. large flocks of geese furnished down for soft pillows; the women wove linen on a simple loom, and dyed it with native plants, the madder and the blue woad; and made coats and mantles of skins, which had already borders of finer fur introduced from foreign parts. well-trod commercial roads crossed the territory from the rhine to the vistula in every direction. the foreign trader, who brought articles of luxury and the gold coins of rome in his wagon to the house of the countryman, exchanged them with him for the highly-prized feathers of the goose, smoked hams, and sausages, the horns of the ure ox and antlers of the stag, fur skins, and even articles of toilet, such as the blonde hair of slaves, and a fine pomade to colour the hair. he bought german carrots, which had been ordered as a delicacy by his emperor tiberius; he beheld with astonishment in the garden of his german host, gigantic radishes, and related to his country-people that a german had shown him honeycombs eight feet long. the warlike householder, it is true, held his weapons in higher esteem than his plough, not because agriculture was unimportant or despised, but because in the free classes there was already an aristocratic development. for, although the warrior did not employ himself in any field labour, he insisted upon his household cultivating his ground, and his bondmen had to pay a tribute in corn and cattle. the bondman dwelt with his wife and child near his master in special huts, which were erected on the land that was allotted to him for cultivation. freemen were not only associated in communities, but several races were joined in one confederacy, being by the old constitution knit together by religious memories and public worship. the boundaries of the province were marked out, like those of the village, by casts of the holy hammer, and consecrated by processions of divine cars. notwithstanding the numerous feuds of individual tribes, there were many points of union which served to reconcile and keep them together,--blood relationship and marriage alliances, similitude in customs and privileges, and, above all, the feeling of the same origin, the same language, and those pious rites which keep alive the memory of ancient communion. although the german of tacitus appears to us as a fierce warrior, who, clothed in skins, watched with spear and wooden shield over the abatis which guarded his village against the assaults of enemies; yet this same german is shown, by the results of new researches, to have been a householder and landlord. he looked with satisfaction on the great brewer's copper which had been wrought by his neighbour, the skilful smith; or he stood in coloured linen smock-frock before the laden harvest wagon, on which his boy was throwing the last sheaf of rye, and his daughter placing the harvest wreath with pious ejaculations. the german is incomprehensible to us, when, according to the roman, he worshipped mercury as the highest god; but we can realise the figure of the asengott woden, when we see the connection, of the wild hunter of our traditions and the sleeping emperor of kyffhäuser, with german antiquity. now, we know how lovingly and actively the gods and spirits hovered round the hearths, farms, fields, rivers, and woods of our forefathers. from this tendency also the old chatte or hermundure has been transformed into a hessian or thuringian householder, who in the twilight looks wistfully up to his rooftree, on which the little household spirit loves to sit, and who, when the storm rages, carefully covers the window-openings, in order that a spectral horse's head from the train of the wild god who rides on the blast may not look into his hall. even from the productions of the germans in that century that were most full of heart and soul, their songs, which no careful hand transcribed on parchment, we may draw some conclusions. their oldest kind of poetry is not entirely unknown to us,--the native epic verse, with its alliterations--and in some of the popular songs and proverbs which have been preserved, we still find the ancient love of contests of wit and of enigmas, with which a troubadour delighted his hearers by the hearth of the saxon chief. after the great national exodus, written records begin slowly to appear in germany. they came, together with that irresistible power which changed so much of the whole spirit of the german people,--with christianity. however energetically religion turned the mind into new paths, and however fearful was the destruction occasioned by popular tumults at that period of immigration, the changes in the germans arising from both sources were not sufficient to shatter everything ancient into ruins. we are too apt to consider the national exodus as a chaotic process of destruction. it is true that it drove from their homes many of the most powerful german nationalities that were located in and beyond east germany, and the depopulated domiciles were filled with the sclavonians who followed. the bavarians migrated from bohemia to the danube; the suevi, allemanni, and burgundians, southwards to their present localities. the names of old nationalities have disappeared, and new ones have spread themselves far across the rhine. but nearly half the germany which was known to the romans--the wide territory from the north sea to the thuringian woods and the rhone, from the saal to near the rhine--retains, on the whole, its old inhabitants; for the thuringians, the chattens, and indeed most of the races of lower saxony, only came in partial swarms; they probably greatly diminished in marching through foreign lands, and by emigrations of their kinsmen; they were also, as for example the thuringians, frequently intermingled with foreign hordes, who settled among them. but the nucleus of the old inhabitants remained through all fluctuations, and maintained their own old home traditions, peculiarities of speech, customs, and laws. about the year the oldest law books and records in the new franconia, afford us the richest insight into the life of the german countryman. each had a right to a holding, generally of morgans, on the common land, the morgan being decided according to the nature of the soil. on each holding there was a yard fenced round, closed by a gate, within which was the dwelling-house with stables and barn, and by the side of it a garden; and in the southwest of germany frequently a vineyard. these homesteads formed villages divided by lanes; it was only in part of lower saxony that the inhabitants of the marsh and hilly country lived in separate farms, in the midst of their holdings. but amongst most germans the holding is not a connected tract of land. the collective arable land of the village was divided into three portions--winter, summer, and fallow fields; each of these fields, according to soil and situation, again into small parcels; and in each of these parcels in every field each holder had his share. thus the arable land of every holding consisted of a number of square acres which, lying dispersed through the three principal divisions of the village district, gave, as far as possible, an equal measure of land in each. besides this, a share of the pastures, meadows, and wood of the community belonged to the holding; for round the arable land lay the meadow land of the community, and its woods, in which were the treasured acorns. already the boundaries were carefully marked, and on the boundary hills boys received blows on their cheeks and had their ears pulled, and already was it called an old custom to set up a small bundle of straw as a warning on a forbidden footway. already we find the property not unfrequently divided, where the vassals dwell in the house and farm, the grades of their vassalage and their burdens being various. the households of freemen also contained bondservants, who differed little from roman slaves; only in the service of god could they be equal with the free; they shared in all the holy usages of the church; they could become priests and perform marriages with the permission of their masters, but the master had a right over their life. among the farms of freemen and vassals might be found the farm of a larger landed proprietor, who had a manor house with a hall, and a great number of huts for domestics and labourers. for as yet, artisans, wheelwrights, potters, armourers, and goldsmiths were most of them bondmen; as the number of markets and cities were small, their influence in the country was still unimportant. all kinds of grain were cultivated in the fields, which are now used in our succession of crops, and in the gardens, almost all the vegetables of our markets, also gherkins, pumpkins, and melons; the laws were vigilant for the protection of the orchards. the clergy brought from italy costly grafts, and peaches and apricots were to be found in the gardens of the wealthy. already the old bavarian house began to appear, formed of beams, with galleries outside, and its flat projecting roof; and it may be assumed also, that the old saxon house with its heathen horses' heads on the gable ends, its thatched roof over the porch, its hearth, sleeping cells, and cattle stalls, spread widely over the country, and that the thuringians, even then, as in a century later, lived in the unfloored hall, in the background of which a raised daïs--the most distinguished part of the house--separated from the hall the women's apartments and the sleeping-rooms. dwellings were seldom without a bathhouse; for their winter work the women descended into their underground chamber, which had already astonished the romans, where stood the loom; the places for the mistresses and servants were separated. in the court-yard fluttered numerous poultry, amongst them swans and even cranes, which, up to the thirty years' war, were treasured as masters of the german poultry yard. the greatest pleasure of the countryman was the training of his horse, and the steeds which were used in war were of great value. they pastured with their feet hobbled; any one was severely punished who stole them from their pasture; the impositions of horse dealers also were well known, and the laws endeavoured to afford protection against them. all the south germans fastened bells round the necks of their cattle, and the franconians round the swine in the woods. every means of ascertaining the relative number of bond and freemen in the time of charles v. is deficient, even in that part of the country which had for a long time been won over to christianity; yet we see distinctly that the whole strength of the nation lay in the masses of free yeomen. but even in his time, larger landed proprietors, tyrannical officials, and the not less domineering church, eagerly endeavoured to diminish the number of the free by obtruding upon them their protection, and thus placing them under a gentle servitude. the position of the free peasant must have been frequently insupportable; the burdens laid upon him by the monarchy were very great, such as the tithes, the military service, and the supply of horses and vehicles for the journeys of the king and his officials. there was no law to protect him against the powerful, and he was especially tormented by robber hordes and the violence of his neighbours. therefore he found safety by giving up his freedom, surrendering his house and farm into the hands of a powerful noble, and receiving it back again from him. then he delivered to his new master as a symbol of his service, a fowl from his farm yard, and a portion of the produce of his field or of his labour as a yearly tax. in return for this, his new master undertook to defend him, and to perform his military service for him by means of his own followers. thus began the diminution of the national strength of germany, the oppression of the peasants, the deterioration of the infantry, and the origin of the feudal lords, and of their vassal-followers, from which arose in the next century the higher and lower german nobility. every internal war, every invasion of foreign enemies,--of normans, of hungarians, or of sclaves,--drove numerous freemen into servitude, and without ceasing did the church work to recommend itself or its saints as feudal lords to repentant sinners.[ ] yet about the year , under the great saxon emperors, the free peasant had still some consciousness of strength. the bondman, indeed, was still under severe oppression; he was slightly esteemed, and obliged to give outward proof of the difference between himself and the freeman, by bad dress and short hair. the free peasant then wore the long linen or cloth dress of a similar cut to the emperor himself; with his sword by his side he went to the assembly under the tree, or to the judgment stone of his village. and if he descended from four free ancestors, and possessed three free hides, he was, according to saxon law, higher in rank than some of the noble courtiers who had serf blood in their veins, and whoever injured him had to make atonement as to one of princely blood. it was then he began to cultivate his fields more carefully; it appears to have been about this time that the practice arose of ploughing a second time before sowing the summer seed. in the neighbourhood of rich cloisters, fine garden-culture progressed, vineyards were carefully cultivated, and in the low countries of the rhine, in holland and flanders, there was a husbandry of moor and marsh grounds, which in the next century was carried by numerous colonists of these races, into the elbe country, and far into the east. the peasant in the time of otto the great, had become a good christian, but the old customs of the heathen faith still surrounded him in his house and fields, his phantasy filled nature, beasts, and plants with warm life. whatever flew or bounded over his fields, whether hare, wolf, fox, or raven, were to him familiar forms, to whose character and fate he gave a human turn, and of whom with cheerful spirit he used to sing in heroic terms, or tell beautiful tales. in his house were numerous trained birds; and those were valued the highest which could comport themselves most like men. the starling repeated in a comic way the paternoster; the jackdaw welcomed him on his return home; and he rejoiced in the dance of the trained bear. he loved his cattle with all his heart, he honoured his horses, oxen, cows, and dogs with the names of the ancient gods, to whom he still continued to attach ideas of dignity and sanctity. this craving for familiar intercourse with all that surrounded him was the peculiar characteristic of the german peasant in the olden time. this great love of beasts, tame birds, dogs and horses continued long, as late as luther's time, a few years before the great peasant war. a true-hearted peasant having in the fullness of his joy kissed his decorated foal upon the neck, a lurking monk who happened to see it, cited him before the ecclesiastical court, and inflicted a heavy fine upon him, because it was unseemly. on this account karsthans clenched his fists at the priests.[ ] in the eleventh century, the countryman still sang by his hearth the stirring heroic songs, the subject-matter of which is in part older than the great exodus,--those of siegfried and the virgin of battle brunhild, of the treachery of the burgundian king, gunthar; of the struggle of the strong walthar with hagen, and of the downfall of the nibelungen. though his language was clumsy in writing, it flowed from his lips solemn and sonorous, with full terminations and rich in alternations of the vowels. still had the solemnly spoken word in prayer, in forms of law, and in invocations, a mysterious power of magic effect: not only is the meaning of the speech, but also its sound full of significance. a wise saw was the source of great good fortune to him who possessed it; it could be bought and sold, and the buyer could return it again if it was useless to him. about the beginning of the twelfth century there was a change in the life and position of the peasant. the disquiets and passions of the crusades reached him also by degrees. to the serf, who lived in an insecure possession of his hut, from which the landed proprietor could eject him and his children, it was very attractive to obtain, by a sign affixed to his shoulder by the hand of a priest, freedom for himself, exemption from rent and other burdens, and the protection of the church for his family left at home. from this the lord of the manor was himself in danger of losing his husbandmen, and becoming a beggar by the departure of his serfs; in order therefore to avert this danger bondmen had often the inheritance of their possessions given to them, and greater personal freedom, thus the position of serfs became more favourable. besides this, the distinction between the old freemen and bondmen, both in the agricultural districts and the cities, was obliterated by the new societies of citizens and officials. in the cities bond and free-men were under the same law; in the palaces of princes, freemen claimed the same privileges which were originally for the advantage of the vassal retinue of territorial lords, and both bond and free-men bore, as serving men, the knightly shield. we can obtain an insight into the spirit of the country-people of this period, and many details of their life. since the middle of the twelfth century, the manuscripts of the hohenstaufen time have handed down to us many invaluable features of the life of the lower orders. we discover, with astonishment, from these sources, that the countryman of that time formed a portion of the national strength, very different from what he did some centuries later. the thriving peasant lived on his farm; the young people gambolled about, blythesome and fond of enjoyment, on the village green and in the lanes; the countryman passed through life in the calm consciousness of strength, the preserver of old customs, in contradistinction to the nobleman, with his new-fangled modes, who adorned himself with foreign discourse and language, and with great pretentions set up distinguished court usages in opposition to country manners. great was the pleasure of the country people in the awakening of nature: impatiently did the maidens await the breaking forth of the first catkins on the willow and hazel; they look for the leaves that burst from the buds, and search the ground for the first flowers. the earliest summer game is with the ball, in the village streets or on the tender grass of the green,--it is thrown by old and young, men and women. whoever has a coloured feather ball to throw sends it with a greeting to her he loves. the agile movements, the powerful throw, the short cheer to friends and opponents, are the pleasures both of players and spectators. when sunny may comes, then the maidens get their holiday attire from the press, and twine wreaths for their own hair and that of their friends. thus they go, crowned with garlands and adorned with ribbons, the hand-glass as an ornament by their sides, with their playfellows to the green; full a hundred maidens and women are there assembled for the dance. thither also hasten the men, smart also is their dress, the waistcoat trimmed with coloured buttons, perhaps even with bells, which for a long time had been the most choice attire of persons of distinction; there is no want of silk, nor in winter of fur trimmings. the belt is well inlaid with shining metal, the coat of mail is quilted in the dress, and the point of the sword, in walking, clinks against the heel. the proud youths are defiant, take great pleasure in fight, and are jealous of their own importance. vehement is the energy displayed in the great dances, they are venturesome in their springs, jubilant in their joy; everywhere there is the poetry of enjoyment of the senses. the chorus of bystanders sing loudly to the dance, and the maidens join softly in the melody. still greater becomes our astonishment when we examine closer the rhythm and words of these old national dances, there is a grace not only in the language but in its social relation, which reminds us much more of the ancient world than of the feelings of our country people. introductory strophes, which extol in countless variations the advent of spring, are followed by others which have little coherence, and are, as it were, improvised, like the _schnader hüpflen_, which is still retained in upper germany among the popular dances. the subject is often a dispute between mother and daughter, the daughter dressing herself for the festivity, the mother wishing to keep her back from the dance; or it is the praise of a beautiful maiden, or droll enumerations of dancing couples; often the text conveys attacks upon opposite parties amongst the dancers, who are depicted and turned into ridicule. parties are easily formed amongst the dancers, the opponents are challenged in caustic verses; the glory of the young lad is not to put up with any slight, and to be the most vigorous dancer, cheeriest singer, and the best fighter. the dances are followed by feasting, with loud and boisterous merriment. the winter brings new pleasures; the men amuse themselves with dice, and with sledging on the ice, and the people assemble in a large room for the dance. then stools and tables are carried out; the music consists of two violins; the conductor begins the melody, and the head dancer leads off. the rondes and other dances are various in character; more antique and popular is the measure and text of the chain dance in the old national style of two parallel rows; the winter dances are more artistic and modish. for in the song dances, which we may consider as the beautified copy of the old rhythm and text, the courtly law of triplets in the strophes is everywhere followed; one perceives in them the imitation of romanesque knightly customs. among the different kinds of dances may be mentioned the sclave reidawac. the noble dances and drinks with the peasants in these village diversions, though with the pride of more refined manners; but however much he may be inclined to ridicule those around him, he fears them, not only their fists and weapons, but also the strokes of their tongues. the long-haired and curly peasant offers the goblet to the _junker_, and snatches it back as he attempts to grasp it, places it then according to court custom before drinking, on his head, and dances through the room, then the knight rejoices if the goblet falls from the lout's head and is spilt over him; but the knight has no scruple in making use of contemptuous oaths, when the indignant village youths call him to account for having shown too much attention to their wives and sweethearts. such is the aspect of village life given us in the songs of neidhart von reuenthal, the most witty and humorous songster of the thirteenth century. all his poetry dwells on the joys and sufferings of the peasantry, and the greater part of his life was spent amongst them. he has the complete self-dependence of a refined and cultivated man, but in spite of that, he had not always the advantage over the country people. a peasant youth, engelhard, occasioned him the greatest sorrow of his life. it appears that he had made his love friderun, a peasant girl, unfaithful to him; the thorn remained in the heart of the knight as long as he lived; but afterwards, also, in his courtship of the village maidens, the nobleman had much to fear from the wooing of the young peasants, and was frequently tormented by bitter jealousy. this connection of the knight, neidhart, and the peasantry was no exception in the beginning of the thirteenth century; for though in the period that immediately followed, the pride of the nobles, with respect to the citizen and peasant, quickly hardened into an exclusive class feeling, yet in , when knightly dignity was in great request, and pride in noble quarterings had risen high, at least in swabia, bavaria, and upper austria, still the knight married the daughter of the rich peasant, and gave him his daughter in marriage; and the rich peasant's son became vassal and knight, with one knightly shield.[ ] even in the sixteenth century this state of things continued in some provinces--for example, in the isle of rügen. after the reformation also, the wealthy peasants put themselves on an equality with the nobles. they lived, as a nobleman of that time relates, arrogantly and contentiously, and these lamentable marriages were not unfrequent. some score of years after neidhart, in the same districts of germany, the idealism of knighthood, its courtly manners and refined form, were lost; a large portion of the nobles had become robbers and highwaymen. the ceaseless and sorrowful complaints of the better sort of the nobility testify how bad were the doings of the greater part. in comparison with such fellows, in spite of their privileges, the peasant might well regard his own life with pride. it was still with a sense of wealth and power that he entered on the beginning of a hard period. at this time a travelling singer, wernher, the gardener, gave a portraiture of the life of the peasantry, particularly rich in characteristic features--a picture of the times of the highest value, and a poem of great beauty. unfortunately only an abstract of the contents can be given here; but even in extracts, his narrative gives a surprising insight into the life of the country people in . the poem, "helmbrecht," is edited by moriz haupt, according to the manuscripts in volume iv. of the zeit periodical on german antiquity. "the old former, helmbrecht--in bavaria, not far from the austrian frontier--had a son. the blonde locks of the young helmbrecht hung upon his shoulder; he confined them in a beautiful silk cap, embroidered with doves, parrots, and many figures. this cap had been embroidered by a nun who had run away from her cell on account of an amour, as happens to so many. from her, helmbrecht's sister, gotelind, learned to embroider and sew; the maiden and her mother deserved well of the nun, for they gave her a cow, much cheese, and eggs. the mother and sister attired the boy in fine linen, a doublet of mail and a sword, with a pouch and mantle, and a beautiful surcoat of blue cloth, adorned with gold, silver, and crystal buttons, which shone bright when he went to the dances; the seams were trimmed with bells, and whenever he bounded about in the dance, they tinkled in the ears of the women. "when the proud youth was thus attired he said to his father, 'now i will go to court; i pray you, dear father, give me somewhat to help thereto.' the father answered, 'i could easily buy you a swift steed that would leap hedge and ditch; but, dear son, desist from your journey to court. its usages are difficult for him who has not been accustomed to it from his youth. take the plough and cultivate the farm with me, thus will you live and die in honour. see how i live--true, honourable and upright. i give my tenths every year, and have never experienced hatred or envy throughout my life. farmer ruprecht will give you his daughter in marriage, and with her many sheep and pigs, and ten cows. at court you will have a hard life, and be deprived of all affection; there you will be the scorn of the real courtiers,--in vain will you endeavour to be like them; and, on the other hand, you will incur the hatred of the peasants, who will delight in revenging on you what they have lost by the noble robbers.' but the son replied, 'silence, dear father. never shall your sacks graze my shoulders; never will i load your waggon with dung; that would ill suit my beautiful coat and embroidered cap; and i will not be encumbered with a wife. shall i drag on three years with a foal or an ox, when i may every day have my booty? i will help myself to strangers' cattle and drag the peasants by their hair through the hedges. hasten, father, i will not remain with you any longer.' then the father bought a steed, and said, 'alas, how this is thrown away!' but the youth shook his head, looked at himself and exclaimed, 'i could bite through a stone so wild is my courage; i could even eat iron. i will gallop over the fields, without care for my life, in defiance of all the world.' on parting from him his father said, 'i cannot keep you--i give you up; but once more i warn you, beautiful youth, take care of your cap with the silken birds, and guard your long locks. you go amongst those whom men curse, and who live upon the wrongs of the people. i dreamt i saw you groping about on a staff, with your eyes out; and again i dreamt i saw you standing on a tree, your feet fall a fathom and a half from the grass. a raven and a crow sat on a branch over your head, your curly hair was entangled; on the right hand the raven combed it, and on the left the crow parted it. i repent me that i have reared you.' but the son exclaimed, 'never will i give up my will as long as i live. god protect you, father, mother and children.' "so he trotted off and rode up to a castle, whose lord lived by fighting, and was glad to retain any who would serve him as a trooper. there the lad became one of the retainers, and soon was the most nimble of robbers. no plunder was too small for him, and none too great; he took horses and cattle, he took mantles and coats, what others left he crammed into his sack. the first year everything went according to his wishes; his little vessel sailed with favourable winds. then he began to think of home; he got leave of absence from the court, and rode to his father's house. all flocked together--man and maid-servant did not say, 'welcome, helmbrecht;' they were advised not to do so. but they said, 'young gentleman, god give you welcome!' he answered, '_kindeken, ik yunsch üch ein gud leven_'[ ] (children, i wish you a good life). his sister ran and embraced him; then he spoke to her, '_gratia vestra!_' the old people followed, and oft embraced him; then he called to his father, '_dieu vous salut!_' and to his mother he spoke in bohemian, '_dobraybra!_' the father and mother looked at one another, and the latter said to her husband, 'goodman, are we not out of our senses? it is not our child; it is a bohemian or a wend.' the father exclaimed, 'it is a foreigner; he is not my son whom i commended to god, however like he may appear to him.' and his sister gotelind said, 'he is not your son, he spoke latin to me; he must truly be a priest.' and the servant, 'from what i have seen of him he must belong to saxony or brabant; he said _ik_ and _kindeken_; he must, undoubtedly, be a saxon.' "then the master of the house spoke in homely phrase, 'are you my son helmbrecht? show your respect for your mother and me by speaking a word of german, and i myself will rub down your horse--i, and not my servant.' '_ei wat segget ihr gebureken? min parit_,[ ] _minen klaren lif soll kein bureumaun nimmer angripen_' (what are you boors saying? my steed and my fine body shall be touched by no boors). then the master of the house, quite horrified, replied, 'are you helmbrecht, my son? in that case i will this very night boil one hen and roast another; but if you are a stranger--a bohemian or a wend--you may go to the winds. if you are of saxony or brabant, you must take your repast with you; from me you will receive nothing, though the night should last a whole year. for a junker, such as you, i have no meal or wine; you must seek that from the nobles.' "now it had waxed late, and there was no host in the neighbourhood who would have received the youth, so, having weighed the matter, he said, 'truly i am your son, i am helmbrecht; once i was your son and servant.' the father answered 'you are not him.' 'but i am so.' 'tell me the four names of my oxen.' then the son mentioned the four names, '_auer_, _räme_, _erke_, _sonne_. i have often flourished my switch over them; they are the best oxen in the world; will you recognise me now? let the door be opened to me.' the father cried out, 'gate and door, chamber and cupboard, shall all be opened to you now.' "thus the son was well received, and had a soft bed prepared for him by his sister and mother, and the latter called out to her daughter, 'run, fetch a bolster and a soft cushion.' that was put under his arm and laid near the warm stove, and he waited in comfort till the meal was prepared. it was a supper for a lord; finely minced vegetables with good meat, a fat goose as large as a bustard, roasted on the spit, roasted and boiled fowls. and the father said, 'if i had wine it should be drunk to-day; but drink, dear son, of the best spring that ever flowed out of the earth.' "the young helmbrecht then unpacked his presents for his father, a whetstone, a scythe, and an axe, the best peasant-treasures in the world; for his mother, a fur cloak, which he had stolen from a priest; to his sister, gotelind, a silk sash and gold lace, which would have better suited a lady of distinction,--he had taken it from a pedlar. then he said, 'i must sleep, i have ridden far, and rest is needful for me to night.' he slept till late the next day in the bed over which his sister gotelind had spread a newly washed shirt, for a sheet was unknown there. "so the son abode with his father. "after a time the father inquired of his son what were the court customs where he had been living. 'i also,' he said, 'went once when i was a boy, with cheese and eggs to court. the knights were then very different from now, courteous, and with good manners; they occupied themselves with knightly games, they danced and sang with the ladies; when the musician came with his fiddle, the ladies stood up, the knights advanced to them, took them elegantly by the hand, and danced featly; when that was over, one of them read out of a book about one _ernst_;[ ] all was carried on then with cheerful familiarity. some shot at a mark with bow and arrows, others went out hunting and deer shooting; the worst of them would now be the best. for now those are esteemed who are liars and eaves-droppers, and truth and honour are changed for falsehood; the old tournaments are no longer the custom, others are in vogue instead of them. formerly one heard them call out in the knightly games "hurrah, knight, be joyful!" there now only resounds through the air, "hunt knight, hunt; stab, strike, and mutilate this one, cut off this man's foot for me, and the hands of that one, and hang the other for me, or catch this rich man who will pay us a hundred pounds." i think, therefore, things were better formerly than now. relate to me, my son, more of the new manners.' "'that i will. drinking is now the court fashion. gentlemen exclaim "drink, drink; if you drink this, i will drink that." they no longer sit with the ladies, but at their wine. believe me, the old mode of life which is lived by such as you, is now abjured both by man and woman. excommunication and outlawry are now held in derision.' "'son,' said the father, 'have nothing to do with court usages, they are bitter and sour. i had much rather be a peasant than a poor courtling, who must always ride for his living, and take care that his enemies do not catch, mutilate, and hang him.' "'father,' said the young man, 'i thank you, but it is more than a week that i have drank no wine; since then i have taken in my girdle by three holes. i must capture some cattle before my buckle will return to its former place. a rich man has done me a great injury. i saw him once riding over the standing crops of my godfather the knight; he shall pay dear for it. i shall trot off his cattle, sheep, and swine, because he has trampled over the fields of my dear godfather. i know another rich man who has also grievously injured me; he eat bread with his tartlets; by my life i will revenge that. i know yet another rich man who has occasioned me more annoyance than almost any other; i will not forgive it him, even if a bishop should intercede for him, for once when he was sitting at table he most improperly dropped his girdle. if i can seize what is called his, it shall help me to a christmas dress. there is yet another simple fool who was unseemly enough to blow the froth of his beer into a goblet. if i do not revenge that, i will never gird sword to my side, nor be worthy of a wife. you shall soon hear of helmbrecht.' "the father answered 'alack! tell me who are the companions who taught you to rob a rich man if he eats pastry and bread together.' then the son named his ten companions; 'lämmerschling (lamb devourer), schluckdenwidder (ram swallower), höllensack (hell sack), ruttelshrein (shake press), kühfrass (cow destroyer), knickekelch (goblet jerker), wolfsgaumen (wolf's jaw), wolfsrüssel (wolf's snout), and wolfsdarm (wolf's gut)[ ]--the last name was given by the noble duchess of nonarra narreia--these are my schoolmasters.' "the father said, 'and how do they name you?' "i am called schlingdengau. i am not the delight of the peasants; their children are obliged to eat porridge made with water; what the peasants have is mine; i gouge the eyes of one, i hack the back of another, i tie this one down on an ant-hill, and another i hang by his legs to a willow.' "the father broke forth. 'son, however violent those may be whom you have named and extolled, yet i hope, if there is a righteous god, the day will come when the hangman may seize them, and throw them off from his ladder.' "'father, i have often defended your geese and fowls, your cattle and fodder, from my associates, i will do it no more. you speak too much against the honour of my excellent companions. i had wished to make your daughter gotelind the wife of my friend lämmerschling; she would have led a pleasant life with him; but that is over now, you have spoken too coarsely against us.' he took his sister gotelind aside, and said to her secretly, 'when my companion, lämmerschling, first asked me about you, i said to him; you will get on well with her; if you take her do not fear that you will hang long upon the tree, she will take you down with her own hands and carry you to the grave on the cross-road, and she will fumigate your bones with frankincense and myrrh for a whole year. and if you have the good fortune to be only blinded, she will lead you by the hand along the highways and roads through all countries; if your foot is cut off, she will carry your crutches every morning to your bed; and if you lose your hand, she will cut your bread and meat as long as you live. then said lämmerschling to me, "i have three sacks, heavy as lead, full of fine linen, dresses, kirtles, and costly jewels, with scarlet cloth and furs. i have concealed them in a neighbouring cave, and will give them to her for a dowry." all this, gotelind, you have lost, owing to your father; now give your hand to a peasant, with whom you may dig turnips, and at night lie on the heart of an ignoble boor. go to your father, for mine he is not; i am sure that a courtier has been my father, from him i have my high spirit.' "the foolish sister answered, 'dear brother schlingdengau, persuade your companion to marry me, i will leave father, mother, and relations.' the parents were unaware of the conversation held secretly by the brother and sister. the brother said, 'i will send a messenger to you, whom you are to follow; hold yourself in readiness. god protect you, i go from hence; the host here is as little to me as i to him. mother, god bless you.' so he went on his old way, and told his companion his sister's wish. he kissed his hands for joy, and made obeisance to the wind that blew from gotelind. "many widows and orphans were robbed of their property when the hero lämmerschling and his wife gotelind sat at their marriage feast. young men actively conveyed in waggons and on horses stolen food and drink to the house of lämmerschling's father. when gotelind came, the bridegroom met her, and received her with, 'welcome, dame gotelind.' 'god reward you, herr lämmerschling.' so they gave each other a friendly greeting. and an old man, wise of speech, rose, and placing both in the circle, asked three times of the man and the maiden, 'will you take each other in marriage, yea or nay?' so they were united. all sang the bridal song, and the bridegroom trod on the foot of the bride.[ ] then was the marriage feast prepared. it was wonderful how the food disappeared before the youths, as if a wind blew it from the table; they eat incessantly of everything that was brought from the kitchen by the servants, and there remained nothing but bare bones for the dogs. it is said that any one who eats so immoderately approaches his end.[ ] gotelind began to shudder and to exclaim, 'woe to us! some misfortune approaches; my heart is so heavy! woe is me that i have abandoned my father and mother; whoever desires too much, will gain little; this greediness leads to the abyss of hell.' "they had sat awhile after their meal, and the musicians had received their gifts from the bride and bridegroom, when a magistrate appeared with five men. the struggle was short; the magistrate with his five, was victorious over the ten; for a real thief, however bold he may be, and willing to confront a whole army, is defenceless against the hangman. the robbers slipped into the stove and under the benches, and he who would not have fled before four, was now by the hangman's servant alone dragged out by the hair. gotelind lost her bridal dress, and was found behind a hedge terrified, stripped, and degraded. the skins of the cattle which the thieves had stolen were bound round their necks, as the perquisite of the magistrate. the bridegroom, in honour of the day carried only two, the others more. the magistrate could sooner have been bribed to spare a wild wolf than these robbers. nine were hung by the hangman; the life of the tenth was allowed to the hangman as his right, and this tenth was schlingdengau helmbrecht; the hangman revenged the father, by putting out his eyes, and the mother, by cutting off a hand and a foot. thus the blind helmbrecht was led with the help of a staff, by a servant, home to his father's house. "hear how his father greeted him: 'dieu salue, monsieur blindman, go from hence, monsieur blindman; if you delay, i will have you driven away by my servant; away with you from the door!' "'sir, i am your child.' "'is the boy become blind, who called himself schlingdengau? now do you not fear the threats of the hangman or all the magistrates in the world! heigh! how you 'ate iron' when you rode off on the steed for which i gave my cattle. begone, and never return again!' "again the blind man spoke. 'if you will not recognise me as your child, at least allow a miserable man to crawl into your house, as you do the poor sick; the country people hate me; i cannot save myself if you are ungracious to me.' "the heart of the host was shaken, for the blind man who stood before him was his own flesh and blood--his son; yet he exclaimed with a scornful laugh, 'you went out daringly into the world; you have caused many a heart to sigh, and robbed many a peasant of his possessions. think of my dream. servant, close the door and draw the bolt; i will betake me to my rest. as long as i live, i had rather take in a stranger whom my eyes never beheld, than share my loaf with you.' thus saying, he struck the servant of the blind man. 'i would do so to your master, if i were not ashamed to strike a blind man; take him, whom the sun hates, from before me!' thus did the father exclaim, but the mother put a loaf in his hand as to a child. so the blind man went away, the peasants hooting and scoffing at him. "for a whole year he endured great hardships. early one morning when he was going through the forest to beg bread, some peasants who were gathering wood saw him, and one of them from whom he had taken a cow called to the others to help him. all of them had been injured by him, he had broken into the hut of one and stripped it; he had dishonoured the daughter of another; and a fourth, trembling like a reed with passion, said, 'i will wring his neck; he thrust my sleeping child into a sack, and when it awoke and cried, he tossed it out into the snow, so that it died.' thus they all turned against helmbrecht. 'now take care of your hood.' the embroidery which the hangman had left untouched was now torn, and scattered on the road with his hair. they allowed the miserable wretch to make his confession, and one of them broke a fragment from the ground and gave it to the worthless man as gate money for hell fire. then they hung him to a tree. "if there be still any children living with their father and mother who feel disposed to be jovial knights, let them take warning from the fate of helmbrecht." thus ends the story of young helmbrecht, who was desirous of becoming a knight. and such on the whole we may consider was the condition and disposition of the free peasantry at the beginning of the long period of decline, which loosened the connection of the german empire, founded the power of the great princely houses, made the burgher communities of fortified cities rich and powerful, and which was also the beginning of that wild time of self-help and free fraternization of cities, as of nobles. but the details of the changes which the german peasant underwent from to , can no longer be accurately discerned by us. the wild deeds of violence and oppression of the robber-nobles, drove the helpless into the cities, and the enterprising into foreign countries. there were always opportunities of fighting under the sign of the cross against sclavonians, wends, and poles, and on the east of the elbe, broad countries were opened for the weapons and the plough of the german countryman. there was agitation also in the minds of men. the new despotism of the roman papacy and of the fanatical mendicant friars, drove the katharers on the rhine, and the stedingers in lower saxony, to apostacy from the church. where the free peasants were thickly located and favoured by the nature of their country, they rose in arms against the oppression of feudal lords. in the valleys of switzerland and in the marsh lands on the german ocean, the associated country people gained victories over the mailed knights, which still belong to the glorious reminiscences of the people. but in the interior of germany, the peasantry under the increasing oppression of the nobles and a degenerate church, became weaker, more incapable, and coarser; ever more powerfully did the barons lord it over them. even the resident free peasant of lower saxony was cast down from the place of honour, which he once maintained above the knightly serving man. the consciousness of a higher civilisation and more refined manners caused the citizen also to despise the countryman,--his love of eating, his rough simplicity, and his crafty shrewdness were treated with endless derision. and yet the countryman in the fifteenth century still retained much of his good old habits and somewhat of his old energy. he still continued to extol his own calling in his songs, and was inclined to view with ridicule the unstable life of others. in a well-known popular song, three sisters married--one a nobleman, another a musician, and the third a peasant. both brothers-in-law came with their wives to pay a visit at the peasant's farm. "there the gay musician played, the hungry nobleman danced, and the peasant sat and laughed." at the end of the fifteenth century a dancing scene in a hessian village is described in a city poem, the same customs as in the time of neidhart, only wilder and coarser. the proud labourers come from different villages, armed with halberds and pikes, to dance under the linden tree; the parties are divided by distinctive marks, willow and birch twigs and hop leaves on the shoulder and on the cap. from one village the whole four-and-twenty labourers are clothed in red plush, with yellow waistcoat and breeches. a gaily-attired maiden, a favourite dancer, will only dance with one party, sharp words follow, and weapons are drawn, the citizen, being a clerk, is persecuted with such forcible, pungent words, that he is obliged to withdraw himself by ignominious flight from the wild company.[ ] the life of the countryman within the village gates was still rich in festivals and poetical usages, his privileges--so far as they were not interfered with by deeds of violence--were valuable, and interwoven with his life; and all his occupations were established by customs and etiquette, by ceremonies and dramatic co-operation with his village association. but the oppression under which he lived became insupportable. after the end of the fifteenth century he began to make a powerful resistance to his masters. it is probable that the great agitation in the european money-market contributed to the excitement of the countryman. the sinking of the value of metal since the discovery of america, was considered by producers at first as a lasting rise in the price of corn. to the peasant every sheffel of corn, and his labour also, became of higher value; and, in the same measure, both were of higher importance to the landed proprietor. it was natural, therefore, that the peasant should take a proportionate view of his freedom, and here and there think of relief from his burdens, whilst it became the interest of the landed proprietor to maintain his servitude--nay, even to increase it. yet, one need not ascribe the great movement to such reasons. the pride of victory of the swiss who had prostrated the knights of burgundy, the self-dependence of the new landsknechts, and, above all, the religious movement, and the social turn which it took in south germany, made a deep impression on the mind of the peasant. for the first time his condition was viewed by the educated with sympathy. the countryman was almost suddenly introduced into the literature as a judge and associate. his grievances against the priesthood, and also against the landed proprietors, were ever brought forward in popular language with great skill. a few years before, he had played the standing _rôle_ of a clown in the shrove-tide games of the nürembergers, but now even hans sachs[ ] wrote dialogues full of hearty sympathy with his condition, and the portraiture of the simple, intelligent, and industrious peasant, called karsthans,[ ] was repeatedly assumed, in order to show the sound judgment and wit of the people against the priests. but, dangerous as the great peasant insurrection appeared for many weeks, and manifold as were the characters and passions which blazed forth in it, the peasants themselves were little more than an undulating mass; the greater part of their demagogues and leaders belonged to another class; on the whole, it appears to us that the intelligence and capacity of the leaders, whether peasants or others, was but small, and equally small the warlike capacity of the masses. therefore here where the peasant for the first time is powerfully influenced by the literary men of the period, more pleasure is experienced in the contemplation of the minds that roused up his soul. it was the case here, as it always is in popular insurrections, that the masses were first excited by those who were more influential and far-sighted, nobler and more refined; then they lost the mastery, which was seized by vain, coarse demagogues, like andreas karlstadt and thomas münzer. but the way in which, in this case, the more rational lost their control is specially characteristic of that time. next to luther, no individual before the war exercised so powerful an influence on the dispositions of the country people of southern germany, as a barefooted franciscan, who came among the people at ulm from the cloisters of the franciscan monastery, johann eberlin von günzburg. he had many of the qualities of a great agitator, and was one of the most amiable among those that figure in the early period of the reformation. more than any other, he took up the social side of the movement. in the year , he published, anonymously, in the national form of a small popular flying sheet, his ideal of a new state and a new social life. the old claims which were subsequently drawn up by a preacher, in twelve articles, for the peasantry, are to be found, with many others, collectively in the fifteen "_bundesgenossen_."[ ] the eloquence of eberlin irresistibly influenced the listening multitudes; a flow of language, a poetical strain, a genial warmth, and at the same time a vein of good humour and of dramatic power, made him a favourite wherever he appeared. to that was added a harmless self-complacency, and just sufficient enjoyment of the present moment, as was necessary to make his success valuable and the persecutions of his opponents bearable. and yet he was only a dexterous demagogue. when he left his order from honourable convictions, with a heart passionately excited by the corruption of the church and the distress of the people, he could hardly pass, even according to the standard of the time, for an educated man; it was only by degrees that he became clear on certain social questions; then he conscientiously endeavoured to recal his former assertions; with whatever complacency he may speak of himself, there is always a holy earnestness in him concerning the truth. he had, withal, a quiet, aristocratic bias; he was the child of a citizen; his connections were people of consideration, and even of noble origin; coarse violence was contrary to his nature, in which a strong common sense was incessantly at work to control the ebullition of his feelings. he clung with great devotion to all his predecessors who had advanced his education, especially to the wittemberg reformers. after he had restlessly roamed about the south of germany for many years, he went to wittemberg; there melancthon powerfully influenced the fiery southern german; he became quieter, more moderate, and better instructed. but later he belonged--like his monastic companion, heinrich von kettenbach--to the preachers who collected round hutten and sickengen. this personal union, which lasted up to sickengen's catastrophe, kept the national movement in a direction which could not last. for a short time it appeared as if the religious and social movement of south germany, even if not led, could be made use of, by the noble landed proprietors; it was an error into which both the knights and their better friends fell; neither hutten nor sickengen had sufficient strength or insight to win the country people really to them. this came to light when sickengen was overpowered by the neighbouring princes. the peasants became the most zealous assistants of the princes in persecuting the junkers of the sickengen party and burning their castles; this warfare may, indeed, be considered as the prelude to the present war. it had unshackled the country people in the neighbouring provinces, and accustomed them to the pulling down of castles. a dialogue of the year has been preserved to us, in which the fury of the country people against the nobles already breaks forth.[ ] from that period the decided demagogues gained the ear of the peasants, and the moderate amongst the popular leaders lost their supremacy. eberlin had once more, at erfurt, an opportunity of showing, as a mediator, the power of his eloquence over the revolted peasant hosts; under its influence the assembled populace fell on their knees, pious and penitent; but the weakness of his advice made this last endeavour fruitless. he died the following year, and with him passed away most of the poetry of the reformation. cruelly was the revolt against the terrified princes punished, and the smaller tyrants were the most eager to bring the conquered again under their yoke. yet in south germany and thuringia there was a real improvement in the condition of the country people; for it happened at a period in which a learned class of jurists spread over the country, and the working of roman law in germany became everywhere perceptible. the point of view taken by the jurists of the roman school, of the relations between the landed proprietors and their villeins, was indeed not always favourable to the latter; for the lawyers were inclined to fix every kind of subjection upon the peasant from the deficiency in his right of property in his holding; but they were equally ready to recognise his personal freedom. thus, in the first half of the sixteenth century, the old serfdom which still existed in a very harsh form in many provinces was mitigated, and villeinage substituted. besides this, a more patriarchal feeling began to prevail among the higher german sovereigns, and in the new ordinances which they projected in conjunction with their clergy, the welfare of the peasantry was taken into consideration. this was the case above all with the wettiner princes in franconia, thuringia, and meissen; and, lastly, with elector august. the authority, also, of the saxon chancery, which had been established in germany since the fifteenth century, contributed essentially to this, by making the saxon laws a pattern for the rest of germany. but some ten years before the thirty years' war, an advance in the pretensions of the nobles became apparent, at least in the provinces beyond the elbe; for example, in pommerania and silesia. under weak rulers the courtly influence of the nobility increased, the constant money embarrassments of the princes raised the independence of the states, which granted the taxes; and the peasants had no representatives in the states, except in the tyrol, east friesland, the old bailiwick of swabia, and a few small territories. the landed proprietors indemnified themselves for the concessions made to the princes by double exactions on the peasantry. serfdom was formally re-established in pommerania in . it was just at this period of reaction that the thirty years' war broke out. it devastated alike the houses of the nobles and the huts of the peasants. it brought destruction on man and beast, and corrupted those that were left.[ ] after the great war--in the period which will be here portrayed--a struggle began on the part of the landed proprietors and the newly established government against the wild practices of the war time. the countryman had learned to prefer the rusty gun to handling the plough. he had become accustomed to perform court service, and his mind was not rendered more docile by disbanded soldiers having settled themselves on the ruins of the old village huts. the peasant lads and servants bore themselves like knights, wearing jack-boots, caps faced with marten's fur, hats with double bands, and coats of fine cloth; they carried rifles and long-handled axes when they came together in the cities, or assembled on sundays. at one time perhaps these had been useful against robbers and wild beasts; but it had become far more dangerous to the nobles and their bailiffs, and still more insupportable to their villeins,--it was always rigorously forbidden.[ ] the settlement of disbanded soldiers, who brought their prize money into the village, was welcome; but whoever had once worn a soldier's dress revolted against the heavy burdens of the bondsman. it was, therefore, established that whoever had served under a banner became free from personal servitude; only those who had been camp-followers continued as bondsmen. the inhabitants of the different states had been interspersed during the war; subjects had wilfully changed their dwellings, and established themselves on other territories, with or without the permission of the new lords of the manor. this was insupportable, and a right was given to the landed proprietor to fetch them back; and if the new lord of the manor thought it his interest to protect them, and refused to give them up, force might be used to recover them. thus the noblemen rode with their attendants into a district to catch such of their villeins as had escaped without pass-tickets.[ ]--the opposition of the people must have been violent, for the ordinances even in the provinces, where villeinage was most strict--as, for example, in silesia--were obliged to recognise that the villeins were free people, and not slaves. but this remained a theoretical proposition, and was seldom attended to in the following century. the depopulation of the country, and the deficiency in servants and labourers, was very injurious to the landowner. all the villagers were forbidden to let rooms to single men or women; all such lodgers were to be taken before the magistracy, and put into prison in case they should refuse domestic service, even if they maintained themselves by any other occupation--such as labouring for the peasant for daily hire, or carrying on business with money or corn.[ ] through a whole generation we find, in the ordinances of the territorial lords, bitter complaints against the malicious and wilful menials who would not yield to their hard conditions, nor be content with the pay assigned by law. it was forbidden to individual proprietors to give more than the tax established by the provincial states. nevertheless, the conditions of service shortly after the war are sometimes better than they were a hundred years later; in menials in silesia had meat twice in the week; but in our century there are provinces where they get it only three times in the year.[ ] the daily pay also was higher immediately after the war than in the following century. thus was an iron yoke again bound slowly round the necks of the undisciplined country people, closer and harder than before the war. during the war small villages, and still more the single farms, which had been so favorable to the independence of the peasants, had vanished from the face of the earth; in the palatinate, for example, and on the hills of franconia, they had been numerous, and even in the present day their names cling to the soil. the village huts concentrated themselves in the neighbourhood of the manor house, and control over the weak community was easier when under the eye of the lord or his bailiff. what was the course of their life in the time of our fathers will be distinctly seen when one examines more closely the nature of their service. a cursory glance at it will appear to the youth of the present generation like a peep into a strange and fearful world. the conditions under which the german country people suffered were undoubtedly various. special customs existed, not only in the provinces, but in almost every community. if the names by which the different services and imposts were designated were arranged they would form an unpleasant vocabulary.[ ] but, notwithstanding the difference in the names and extent of these burdens, there was an unanimity throughout the whole of europe on the main points, which is, perhaps, more difficult to explain than the deviations. the tenths were the oldest tax upon the countryman--the tenth sheaf, the tenth portion of slaughtered beasts, and even a tenth of wine, vegetables and fruit. it was probably older in western germany than christianity, but the early church of the middle ages cunningly claimed it on the authority of scripture. it did not, however, succeed in retaining it only for itself; it was obliged to share it with the rulers, and often with the noble landed proprietors. at last it was paid by the agricultural peasant, either as a tax to the ruler or to his landlord, and besides as the priest's tithe to his church. however low his harvest yield might be valued, the tenth sheaf was far more than the tenth share of his clear produce. but the countryman had, in the first place, to render service to the landed proprietor, both with his hands and with his team; in the greatest part of germany, in the middle ages, three days a week,--thus he gave half of the working time of his life. whoever was bound to keep beasts of burden on his property was obliged to perform soccage, in the working hours, with the agricultural implements and tools till sunset; the poorer people had to do the same with hand labour--nay, according to the obligations of their tenure, with two, four, or more hands, and even the days were appointed by the landlords: they were well off if during such labour they received food. these obligations of ancient times were, in many cases, increased after the war by the encroachments of the masters--chiefly in eastern germany. these soccage days were arbitrarily divided into half or even quarter days, and thereby the hindrance to the countryman and the disorder to his own farm were considerably increased. the number of the days was also increased. such was the case even in the century which we, with just feelings of pride, call the humane. in the year , just when goethe's "torquato tasso" made its first appearance in the refined court of saxony, the peasants of meissen rose against the landowners, because they had so immoderately increased the service that their villeins seldom had a day free for their own work.[ ] again in , when schiller's "wallenstein" was exciting the enthusiasm of the warlike nobility of berlin, frederick william iii. was obliged to issue a cabinet order, enjoining on his nobility not to lay claim to the soccage of the peasants more than three days in the week, and to treat their people with equity. the second burden on the villeins was the tax on change of property by death or transfer; the heriot and fine on alienation. the best horse and the best ox were once the price which the heir of a property had to pay to the landowner for his fief. this tax was long ago changed into money. but though in the sixteenth century, even in countries where the peasant was heavily oppressed, the provincial ordinances allowed that peasant's property might be bought and sold, and that the lord of the peasant who sold could take no deduction upon it,[ ] yet in the same province in , before the thirty years' war, it was established that landlords might compel their villeins against their will to sell their property, and that in case no purchaser should be found they themselves might buy it at two-thirds of the tax. it was under frederick the great that the inheritance and rights of property of villeins were first secured to them in most of the provinces of the kingdom of prussia. this ordinance helped to put an end to a burden on the country people which threatened to depopulate the country. for in the former century, after the landowners had resolved to increase the revenue of their estates, they found it advantageous to rid themselves of some of their villeins, whose holdings they attached to their own property. the poor people, thus driven from their homes, fell into misery; and the burdens became quite unbearable to the remaining villeins, for they were expected by the landed proprietor to cultivate those former holdings, whose possessors had hitherto by their labour assisted in the cultivation of the whole estate. this system of ejection had become particularly bad in the east of germany. when frederick ii. conquered silesia there were many thousand farms without occupiers; the huts lay in ruins, and the fields were in the hands of the landed proprietors. all the separate homesteads had to be reformed and reoccupied, furnished with cattle and implements, and given up to the farmer as his own heritable property. in rügen this grievance occasioned a rising of the peasantry, in the youth of ernst moritz arndt; soldiers were sent thither, and the rioters were put in prison; the peasants endeavoured to revenge themselves for this by laying in wait for and slaying individual noblemen. in the same way in electoral saxony as late as this grievance occasioned a revolt. the children also of villeins were subject to compulsory service. if they were capable of work they were brought before the authorities, and, if these demanded it, had to serve some time, frequently three years, on the farm. to serve in other places it was necessary to have a permit, which must be bought. even those who had already served elsewhere had once a year--frequently about christmas--to present themselves to the lord of the manor for choice. if the child of a villein entered into a trade or any other occupation, a sum had to be paid to the authorities for a letter of permission. it was considered a mitigation of the old remains of feudalism, when it was decided that the daughters of peasants might marry on to other properties without indemnifying their lord. but then the new lord had to greet the other in a friendly letter in acknowledgment of this emancipation.[ ] the price which the villein had to give for the emancipation of himself and his family varied extremely, according to the period and the district. under frederick ii. it was reduced in silesia to one ducat per head. but this was an unusually favourable rate for the villein. in rügen, at a still later date, the emancipation was left to the valuation of the proprietor; it could even be refused: a fine-looking youth had there to pay full a hundred and fifty, and a pretty girl fifty or sixty, thalers. but the peasant was employed in other ways by the landed proprietor. he was bound to aid, with his hands and teams, in the cultivation of the estate; he was also bound to act as messenger. whoever wished to go to the town had first to ask the bailiff and lord of the manor whether they had any orders. no householder could, except in special cases, remain a night out of the village without the previous sanction of the magistrate of the place. he was obliged to furnish a night watch of two men for the nobleman's mansion. he had, when a child of the lord of the manor was to be married, to bring a contribution of corn, small cattle, honey, wax, and linen to the castle; finally, he had almost everywhere to carry to his lord his rent-hens and eggs, the old symbol of his dependence for house and farm. but what was still more repugnant to the german peasant than many greater burdens, was the landlord's right of chase over his fields. the fearful tyranny with which the right of chase was practised by the german princes in the middle ages, was renewed after the thirty years' war. the peasant was forbidden to carry a gun, and poachers were shot down. where the cultivated ground bordered on the larger woods, or where the lord of the manor held the supreme right of chase, a secret and often bloody war was carried on for centuries betwixt the foresters and poachers. as long as wolves continued to prowl about the villages, the irritated peasant dug holes round the margin of the wood which he covered with branches, and the bottom of them was studded with pointed stakes. he called them wolf-pits, but they were well known to the law as game-traps, and were forbidden under severe penalties. he ventured to let such portions of ground as were most exposed to be injured by game, to soldiers or cities, but that also was forbidden him; he endeavoured to defend his fields by hedges, and his hedges were broken down. in the erzgebirge of saxony the peasants, in the former century, had watched by their ripening corn; then huts were built on the fields, fires were lighted in the night, the watchers called out and beat the drum, and their dogs barked; but the game at last became accustomed to these alarms, and feared neither peasant nor dog. in electoral saxony, at the end of a former century, under a mild government, where a moderate tax might be paid as indemnity for damage to game, it was forbidden to erect fences for fields above a certain height, or to employ pointed stakes, that the game might not be injured, nor prevented seeking its support on the fields, till at last fourteen communities in the hohnstein bailiwick in a state of exasperation combined for a general hunt, and frightened the game over the frontier. the logs which the sheep dogs wore round their necks were not sufficient to hinder them from hurting the hares, so they were held by cords on the fields. but the countrymen were bound, when the lord of the manor went to the chase, to go behind the nets and, as beaters, to swing the rattles. the coursing, moreover, spoilt his fields, as the riders with their greyhounds uprooted and trampled on the seed. to these burdens, which were common to all, were added numerous local restrictions, of which only some of the more widely diffused will be here mentioned. the number of cattle that villeins were permitted to keep was frequently prescribed to them according to the extent of their holdings. a portion of the pasture land upon his holding before seed time, and of the produce after the harvest, belonged to the landowner. this right, to which pretensions had been already made in the middle ages, became a severe plague in the last century, when the noblemen began increasing their flocks of sheep. for they made demands on the peasants' fields generally, when fodder for cattle was failing: how, then, could the peasants maintain their own animals? as early as it was held as a maxim in silesia, that peasants must not keep sheep unless they possessed an old authorisation for it. the keeping of goats was altogether forbidden in many places. this old prohibition is one of the reasons why the poor in wide districts of eastern germany are deprived of these useful animals. elector august of saxony in denounced in his ordinances the pigeons of the peasants, and since that time they have been prohibited in other provincial ordinances. other tyrannies were devised by the love of game. shortly after the war it was held to be the duty of peasants to offer everything saleable, in the first instance, to the lord of the manor,--dung, wool, honey, and even eggs and poultry: if the authorities would not take his goods, he was bound to expose them for a fixed period in the nearest town; it was only then that the sale became free. but it was truly monstrous, when the authorities compelled their subjects to buy goods from the manorial property which they did not need. these barbarisms were quite common, at least in the east of germany, after , especially in moravia, bohemia, and silesia. when the great proprietors drew their ponds and could not sell the fish, the villeins were obliged to take them, in proportion to their means, at a fixed rate. the same was the case with butter, cheese, corn, and cattle. this was the cause of so many of the country people in bohemia becoming small traders, as they had to convey these goods into neighbouring countries, often to their own great loss.[ ] in vain did the magistrates in silesia in endeavour to check this abuse.[ ] we will only mention here the worst tyranny of all. the nobleman had seigneurial rights: he decreed through the justices, who were dependent on him, the punishments of police offences: fines, imprisonment, and corporal punishment. he was also in the habit of using the stick to the villeins when they were at work. undoubtedly there was already in the sixteenth century, in the provincial ordinances, a humane provision, which prohibited the nobles from striking their villeins; but in the two following centuries this prohibition was little attended to. when frederick the great re-organized silesia, he gave the peasants the right of making complaint to the government against severe bodily punishment! and this was considered a progress! but other burdens also weighed upon the life of the peasant. for, beside the landowner, the territorial ruler also demanded his impost or contribution, a land-tax or poll-tax; he could impress the son of the peasant under his banner, and demand waggons and gear for relays in time of war. and again, above the territorial ruler, was the holy roman empire of the german nation, which claimed in those parts of germany where the constitution of the circles was still in force, a quota for their exchequers. the peasants, however, were not everywhere under the curse of bondage. in the old domain of the ripuarian franks, the provinces on the other side of the rhine from cleves to the moselle, and the grafschaft of mark, essen, werden, and berg, had already in the middle ages freed themselves from bondage: those who had not property as landowners were freemen with leases for life. in the rest of germany, freedom had taken refuge in the southern and northern frontiers, on the coasts of the north sea and among the alps. east friesland, the marsh lands on the coasts of the weser and the elbe up to ditmarschen,--those almost unconquerable settlements of sturdy peasant communities,--have remained free from the most ancient times. in the south, the tyrol and the neighbouring alps, at least the greatest portion of them, were occupied by free country-people; in upper austria also the free peasantry were numerous; and in steiermark the tenths, which was the chief tax paid to the landed proprietors, was less oppressive than soccage was elsewhere. wherever the arable land was scarce, and the mountain pastures afforded sustenance to the inhabitants, the legal condition of the lower orders was better. on the other hand, in the countries of old saxony from the time of the carlovingians, with the exception of a few free peasant holdings, a severe state of bondage had been developed. the brunswickers, the dwellers on the church lands of bremen and verden, were in the most favourable condition, those of hildesheim and the grafschaft of hoya in the worst. in the bishopric of münster the soccage service of villeins was generally changed into a moderate money payment; the only thing that pressed heavily on them was the compulsory leading, and the necessity of buying exemption from their burdens. on the other hand, the right of the landed proprietor over the inheritance of villeins existed to the greatest extent. as late as the year the country-people, who--exceptionally--desired to save money, endeavoured to preserve their property to their heirs, by fictitious transactions with the citizens; consequently more than a fourth portion of the münster land remained uncultivated. a similar condition, in a somewhat milder form, existed in the bishopric of osnabruck. among the races of the interior, hessians, thuringians, bavarians, suabians, and allemanni, the number of free peasants was continually decreasing during the whole of the middle ages: it was only in upper bavaria that they still formed a powerful part of the population. in thuringia also the number of freemen was not inconsiderable. there the rule of the princes over the serf peasantry was lenient. far worse, except in a large part of holstein, was the condition of all the countries east of the elbe,--in fact wherever germans colonized sclave countries, that is almost half present germany; but worst of all was the life of the villeins in bohemia and moravia, in pomerania and mecklenberg: in the last province villeinage is not yet abolished. it was in these countries that villeinage became more oppressive after the thirty years' war; only the free peasants, and the "_erb-und gerichtsscholtiseien_," as they were still called in memory of the circumstances of the old germanization, formed themselves into a pauper aristocracy. in the last century it might easily be perceived, from the agriculture and the prosperity of the villagers, whether they were freemen or serfs; and even now we may sometimes still discover, from the intelligence and personal appearance of the present race, what was the condition of their fathers. the peasants on the lower rhine, the westphalian inhabitants of the marshes, the east frieslanders, the upper austrians and upper bavarians, attained a certain degree of prosperity soon after the war; on the other hand, the remaining bavarians, about the year , complained that the third portion of their fields lay waste, and we learn of bohemia in that the fourth part of the ground which had been under culture before the thirty years' war was overgrown with wood. the value of land there was lower by one half than in the other provinces. undoubtedly those freemen were to be envied who felt the advantage of their better position, but only a small portion were so fortunate. generally, even in the eighteenth century, freemen with little or no land of their own, preferred being received as villeins on some great landed property. when frederick i. of prussia, shortly after , wished to free the serfs in pomerania, they refused it, because they considered the new duties imposed upon them more severe than what they had hitherto borne. and in fact the free peasants were scarcely less burdened with new service than those who had been the villeins of the old time. it is difficult to judge impartially of the human condition which developed itself under this oppression. for such a life looks very different in daily intercourse, to what it does in the statute-book. much that appears insupportable to us was made bearable by ancient custom. undoubtedly the kind-hearted benevolence of the nobles, of old families who had grown up with their country-people through many generations, mitigated the severity of servitude, and a cordial connexion existed between master and serfs. still more frequently the brutal selfishness of the masters was softened and kept within bounds by that prudence which now influences the american slaveholders. the landed proprietor and his family passed their lives among the peasants, and if he endeavoured to instil fear, he also had cause for fear. easily on a stormy night might the flames be kindled among his wooden farm buildings, and no province was without its dismal stories of harsh landlords or bailiffs who had been slain by unknown hands in field or wood. however much we may admit the goodness or prudence of masters, the position of the peasants still remains the darkest feature of the past time. for we find everywhere in the scanty records of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries an unhealthy antagonism of classes. _and it was the larger portion of the german people which was ruined by this oppression._[ ] men even of uncommon strength and intelligence seldom succeeded in extricating themselves from the proscribed boundaries by which their life was fenced in. ever greater became the chasm which separated them from the smaller portion of the nation, who, by their perukes, bagwigs, and pigtails, showed from afar that they belonged to a privileged class. up to the end of the seventeenth century these polished classes seldom entertained a friendly feeling towards the peasant; on all sides were to be heard complaints of his obduracy, dishonesty, and coarseness. at no period was the suffering portion of the people so harshly judged as in that, in which a spiritless orthodoxy embittered the souls of those who had to preach the gospel of love. none were more eager than the theologians in complaining of the worthlessness of the country people, among whom they had to live; they always heard hell-hounds howling round the huts of the villeins; their whole conception of life was, indeed, dark, pedantic, and joyless. a well-known little book, from the native district of christopher von grimmelshausen, is especially characteristic. this book, entitled "des bauerstands lasterprob"--the exposure of the vices of the peasant class[ ]--never ceased to point out from the deeds of the villagers, that the lives of the peasantry, from the village justice to the goose-herd, were worthless and godless; that they were in the habit of representing themselves as poor and miserable, and of complaining on all occasions; that they were rude and overbearing to those whom they did not fear; that they considered none as their friends, and ungratefully deceived their benefactors. this book is much more cruel than "the lexicon of deceit," by the hypochondriacal coburger hönn, which some centuries later analysed the impositions of all classes,--and amongst others, those of the peasants,--alphabetically, morosely, and with apt references. to such defects, which are peculiar to the oppressed, others must, indeed, be added, the consequences of the long war and its demoralization. in the rooms of the village inns, about , neither candlesticks nor snuffers were to be seen, for everything had been pilfered by the wayfarers; even the prayer-book had been stolen from the host; a small looking-glass was a thing not to be thought of, though years earlier the village maiden, when she adorned herself for the dance, took her little hand-glass with her as an ornament; and if a householder lodged carriers, he was obliged to conceal all portable goods, and to lock up all barns and hay-lofts. it was even dangerous sometimes for a traveller to set foot in an inn. the desolate room was filled, not only with tobacco-smoke, but also with the fumes of powder; for it was a holiday amusement of the country people to play with powder, and to molest unlucky strangers by throwing squibs or small rockets before their feet or on their perukes; this was accompanied by railery and abuse.[ ] we are frequently disposed to observe with astonishment, in these and similar complaints of contemporaries, how the german nature maintained, amidst the deepest degradation, a vital energy which, more than a hundred years after, made the beginning of a better condition possible; and we may sometimes doubt whether to admire the patience, or to lament the weakness, which so long endured such misery; for, in spite of all that party zeal has ever said in excuse of these servile relations, they were an endless source of immorality both to the masters, their officials, and to the people themselves. the sensuality of landed proprietors, and the self-interest of magistrates and stewards, were exposed to daily temptation at a period when a feeling of duty was weak in all classes. more than once did the sluggish provincial governments exert themselves to prevent bailiffs from compelling the peasant to feed cattle, sow linseed, and spin for them; and foresters were in ill repute who carried on traffic with the peasants, and winked at their proceedings when the stems of the lordly wood were felled.[ ] what was the feeling of the country people against the landed proprietors, may be concluded from the wicked proverb which became current about , and fell from the mouth of the rich mansfeld peasant--"the young sparrows and young nobles should have their heads broken betimes."[ ] slowly did the dawn of a new day come to the german peasant. if we would seek from whence arose the first rays of the new light, we shall find them, together with the renovation of the people, in the studies of the learned, who proclaimed the science, which was the most strange and most incomprehensible to the country-people, then called philosophy. after the teaching of leibnitz and wolff had found scholars in a larger circle of the learned, there was a sudden change in the views held about the peasant and his state. everywhere began a more human conception of earthly things, the struggle against the orthodox errors. we find, again, in the scholars and proclaimers of the new philosophy, somewhat of the zeal of an apostle to teach, to improve, and to free. soon after a hearty interest in the life of the peasant appears again in the small literature. the soundness of his calling, the utility and blessings of his labour, were extolled, and his good qualities carefully sought out; his old songs, in which a manly self-consciousness finds graceful expression, and which had once been polished by the single-minded theologians of the sixteenth century, were again spread in cheap publications. in these the poor countryman modestly boasts that agriculture was founded by adam; he rejoices in "his falconry"; the larks in the field, the swallows in the straw of his roof, and the cocks in the farm-yard; and amidst his hard labour again seeks comfort in the "heavenly husbandman, jesus."[ ] on the other hand, there was even help in the severity of a despotic state. the oppressed peasant gave, through his sons, to the ruler the greater part of his soldiers, and, through his taxes, the means of keeping up the new state. by degrees it was discovered that such material ought to be taken care of. about this may everywhere be perceived in the provincial laws. the imperial court, also, was influenced in its way by this awakening philanthropy. in it even gave a grand privilege to the shepherds, wherein it declared them and their lads honourable, and graciously advised the german nation to give up the prejudice against this useful class of men, and no longer to exclude their children from being artisans, on account of magic and plying the knacker's trade. a few years afterwards it gave armorial bearings; it also granted them the rights of a corporate body, with seal, chest, and banner, on which a pious picture was painted.[ ] more stringent was the interference of the hohenzollerns, who were themselves, during four generations, the princely colonists of eastern germany. frederick ii. made the most fundamental reforms in the conquered provinces; many examples are cited of the blessings resulting from them. when he took possession of silesia, the village huts were block-houses, formed from the stems of trees, and roofed with straw or shingles, without brick chimneys; the baking ovens, joined on to the houses, exposed them to the danger of fires; the husbandry was in a pitiful plight; great commons and pastures covered with mole-hills and thistles, small weak horses, and lean cows; and the landed proprietors were for the most part harsh despots, against whom the clumsy imperial and magisterial administration could scarcely enforce any law. the king carried on three severe wars in silesia, during which his own soldiers, the austrians, and the russians, consumed and ravaged the province. yet, only a few years after the seven years' war, new villages and new cottages were erected, and frequently stone houses and tiled roofs were to be seen. all the wooden chimneys and all the clay ovens had been pulled down by the conqueror, and the people were compelled to build anew; horses were brought from prussia, and the sheep shorn once in the year; peat cutters from westphalia, and silkworm-breeders from france, were introduced into the country. oaks and mulberries were planted, and premiums were given for the laying out of vineyards. at his command the new potato was introduced; at the beginning of the seven years' war, by the celebrated patent of the minister of justice, von carmer, commons and general pastures were abolished, and divided among separate holders. with far-sighted forethought, a state of things was introduced which has only recently been carried out. the inheritance of property, also, was secured by law to the villeins. the peasant obtained the right of complaint to the royal government, and this right became for him a quick and vigorous law, for, however much the king favoured the nobility when it was serviceable to the state, yet he was constantly occupied, together with his officials, in elevating the mass of tax-payers. the most insignificant might present his petition, and the whole people knew, from numerous examples, that the king read them. many of this great prince's attempts at civilization did not succeed; but on all sides the pressure of a system was felt which so assiduously raised the strength of the people, in order to utilise them to the utmost in the state. nowhere is the work of this mighty ruler so thankfully acknowledged by contemporaries as by the peasantry of the conquered province. when, on his numerous journeys through silesia, the country-people thronged round his carriage with respectful awe, every look, every fleeting word that he addressed to a village magistrate was treasured as a dear remembrance, handed down carefully from generation to generation, and still lives in all hearts. ever greater became the sympathy of the literary classes. it is true that poetry and art did not yet find in the life of the peasant, material which could foster a creative spirit. when goethe wrote "hermann and dorothea," it was a new discovery for the nation that the petty citizen was worthy of artistic notice; it was long, however, before any one ventured lower among the people; but the honourable philanthropists, the popular promulgators of enlightenment in the burgher classes, preached and wrote with hearty zeal upon the singular, uncouth, and yet numerous fellow-creature, the peasant, whose character frequently only appeared to consist of an aggregate of unamiable qualities, but who, nevertheless, was undeniably the indispensable foundation of the other classes of human society. one of the most influential writings of this kind was by christian garve, "upon the character of the peasants, breslau, ," taken from lectures given shortly before the outbreak of the french revolution. the author was a clear-sighted, upright man, who was anxious for the public weal, and was listened to with respect throughout the whole of germany, whenever he spoke upon social questions. his little book has a thoroughly philanthropic tendency; the life of the peasant was accurately known by him as it was by many others who were then occupied with the improvement of the country people. the propositions which he makes for the elevation of the class are sensible, but unsatisfactory; as indeed are almost all theories with respect to social evils. yet, when we scan the contents of this well-meaning book, we are seized with alarm; not at what he relates concerning the oppression of the peasant, but at the way in which he himself seems necessitated to speak of two-thirds of the german people. they are strangers to him and his contemporaries: it is something new and attractive to their philanthropy to realize the condition of these peculiar men. there is an especial charm to a conscientious and feeling mind in ascertaining clearly, what is the exact nature and cause of the stupidity, coarseness, and evil qualities of the country people. the author even compares their position with that of the jews; he discusses their condition of mind much in the same way that our philanthropists do those of gaol prisoners; he sincerely wishes that the light of humanity may fall on their huts; he compares their sloth and indolence with the energetic working power which, as was even then known, the colonists developed in the ancient woods of the new world. he gives this well-meaning explanation of the contrast, that in our old and as it were already becoming antiquated state, the many work for the one, and a multitude of the industrious go without remuneration, therefore zeal and desire are extinguished in a great portion of them. almost all that he says is true and right, but this calm kindliness, with which enlightened men of the period of immanuel kant and the poetic court of weimar regarded the people, was unaccompanied by the slightest suspicion, that the pith of the german national strength must be sought in this despised and ruined class; that the condition of things under which he himself, the author, lived, was hollow, barbarous, and insecure; that the governments of his time possessed no guarantee of stability, and that a political state--the great source of every manly feeling, and of the noble consciousness of independence--was impossible, even for the educated, so long as the peasant lived as a beast of burden; and little did he think that all these convictions would be forced upon the very next generation, after bitter sufferings in a hard school, by the conquest of an external enemy. his work, therefore, deserves well to be remembered by the present generation. the following pages depict not only the condition of the peasantry, but the literary class. garve speaks as follows:-- "one circumstance has great influence on the character of the peasantry: they hang much together. they live far more sociably one with another than do the common burghers in the cities. they see each other every day at their farm work; in the summer in the fields, in the winter in the barns and spinning-rooms. they associate like soldiers, and thus get an _esprit de corps_; many results arise from this: first, they become polished after their fashion, and more acute through this association. they are more fit for intercourse with their equals; and they have better notions than the common artisan of many of the relations of social life; that is to say, of all those which occur in their class and in their own mode of life. this constant intercourse, this continual companionship, is with them, as with soldiers, what lightens their condition. it is a happy thing to hare much and constant companionship with others, if they are your equals; it gives rise to an intimate acquaintance and a reciprocal confidence, at least in outward appearance, without which no intercourse can be agreeable. the noble enjoys this advantage; he associates for the most part only with his equals, being separated by his pride from those below him, and he and his equals live much together, as leisure and wealth enable him to do so. the peasant enjoys singular advantages from opposite reasons. his insignificance is so great that it prevents his having the wish, still more the opportunity, of associating with those above him; he hardly ever sees anything but peasants, and his servitude and his work bring him frequently in companionship with these his equals. "but this very circumstance causes the peasants to act in a body; thus the inconveniences of a democratic constitution are introduced, so that a single unquiet head from their own body exercises great power over them, and often influences the whole community. it is, moreover, the reason why persons of another class have so little influence over them, and can only sway them by authority and compulsion. they seldom see or hear the judgments, conceptions, and examples of the higher orders, and only for a brief space. "i have long studied the special signification of the word _tückisch_, which i have never heard so frequently as when the talk has been of peasants. it denotes, without doubt, a mixture of childish character, of simplicity, and weakness, with spite and cunning. "every one, without doubt, remembers having seen faces of peasant boys, in which one or both eyes leer out, as if by stealth, from under the half-closed eyelids, with the mouth open and drawn into a jeering yet somewhat vacant laugh, with the head bent down, as if they would conceal themselves; in a word, faces which depict a mixture of fear, shamefacedness, and simplicity, with derision and aversion. such boys, when one speaks to or requires anything of them, stand dumb and motionless as a log; they answer no questions put to them by the passersby, and their muscles seem stiff and immovable. but as soon as the stranger is a little way off, they run to their comrades, and burst out laughing. "the low condition of the peasant, his servitude, and his poverty produce in him a certain fear of the higher orders; his rearing and mode of life make him on the one hand unyielding and insolent, and on the other, in many respects, simple and ignorant; the frequent antagonism of his own will and advantage, to the will and the commands of those above him, implants in his mind the germs of animosity. thus, if the failings of his class are not counteracted by his personal qualities, he becomes such as the boy described, especially in his demeanour to his superiors. it is these superiors and lords of the peasants who are to blame for his _tückischen_ character. he will use dissimulation in place of open resistance; he will be humble and yielding, nay, even appear devoted in their presence; but when he thinks he can act secretly, he will do everything against their will and interest. he will think of tricks and intrigues, which, nevertheless, are not so finely woven but that they may be easily seen through. "one may discover two main differences, both in the fate and the character of the peasantry. he who is entirely under subjection, who sighs under the yoke of a complete slavery, will, under usual circumstances, submit to everything with apathy, without attempting the least resistance, and even without a wish to lighten his own lot; he will throw himself at the feet of any one who will tread on him. but if he is roused from this torpor by special circumstances, by agitators, by a cunning and bold leader, then he will become like a raging tiger, and will lose at once, with the humility of the slave, all the feelings of humanity. "the half-serf who has property, and enjoys the protection of the laws, but under more or less burdensome conditions, is bound to the glebe, and at the same time to the service of the proprietor, to whose jurisdiction he is amenable; this peasant does not usually bear his burdens without wincing. there is no fear that he will endeavour to throw them off his neck by open violence as a rebel; but he will carry on a continual secret war with his master. to diminish his profit, and to increase his own, is a wish that he has always at heart, and an object which covertly, and as often as is practicable, he endeavours to pursue. he practises crafty and small thefts on the property of his master, and does not consider them so disgraceful as if he did the same by his equal. he is not the entirely humble slave, nor yet the dreaded enemy of his master, but he is not an obedient dependent, from free will and a good heart; he is that which probably has been intended to be expressed in some sort by the word _tückisch_. "one may add, as an ingredient or as a consequence of the '_tückischen_' nature, a certain amount of stubbornness which distinguishes the peasant when his mind is agitated, or when a prejudice is once rooted in him. his soul in this case appears to become stiff, like his body and his limbs. he is then deaf to all representations, however obvious they may be, or however capable he might be, in an impartial state of mind, of seeing their justice. the lawyers employed in the lawsuits of peasants will sometimes have known such individuals, in whom it is doubtful whether the obstinacy with which they cling to an obviously absurd idea, arises from their blindness or from determined malice. sometimes whole communities become thus addle-headed. they then resemble certain crazy people, who, as it is expressed, have a fixed idea, that is, a conception which their mind takes up incessantly or returns to on the slightest occasion, and which, however false it may be, can neither be removed by the evidence of the senses nor by the representations of reason, because it is not really in the mind, but has its foundation in the tenor of their organization." thus speaks christian garve. his final counsel was: "better village schools." some among the landed proprietors acted with a similar philanthropic feeling. we would gladly say that their number was great; but the frequent complaints to the contrary, and the zeal with which benevolent commentators bring forward individual examples--like one rochow, of rekahn, who established village schools at his own cost--justify the conclusion that such benevolence would have been less striking had it been more frequent. in fact it required individuals to be very prudent in showing their good feeling for the peasants in deeds, as it was often observed that they gave their service far more willingly to strict nobles than to citizen proprietors; and that when these, with a warmer feeling for the peasant, wished to show him kindness, their goodwill sometimes met with a bad return. thus a citizen proprietor, taking possession of his property, gave each of his peasants a present in money, and showed consideration for them in many ways; the not unnatural consequence was, that they renounced all service to him, and broke out into open resistance. whilst the german philanthropists were anxiously thinking and writing for the countryman, a storm was already brewing on the other side of the rhine which in a few years was to destroy in germany also, the servitude of the peasants, together with the old form of government. about the peasants began to occupy themselves eagerly with politics. the schoolmaster read and explained the newspapers to them; the hearers sat motionless, amidst thick tobacco smoke, all ears. in electoral saxony some already made use of the new circulating library in the neighbouring city.[ ] in the palatinate, and in the upper rhine, the country people became disturbed, and refused service. in the same year, in the richest part of electoral saxony, in the lommatzscher district, and on the property of the graf von schönburg, a peasant revolt once more broke out. once more did the insurgents seize the weapon of the slave, the wooden club with iron hoops. the peasants, by a deputation, renounced all villein service to the landholders; they sent to the neighbouring communities; from village to village hastened the secret messengers; the magistrates, in the service of noblemen, were expelled or beaten with sticks; the quiet parishes were threatened with fire and sword; in every village saddled horses were standing to send information to the neighbours of the march of the military. there were the same secret conspiracy, the same outbreak, spreading with the speed of lightning, the same union of measureless hate, with a natural feeling of their rights, as in the peasant war of the sixteenth century. reciprocal agreements were laid before the landed proprietors, which most of them subscribed amicably; and severe nobles were threatened with the worst. their demands quickly increased; soon they required, not only exemption from tenths and soccage service, but also the reimbursement of fines that had been paid. the peasants collected in troops of more than a thousand men; they threatened the town of meissen, and attacked small detachments. but they never withstood larger divisions of military. the most daring bands threw their caps and clubs away, as soon as the cavalry were ordered to charge through them. one of the chief leaders, a stubborn, daring old man of seventy years of age, while still in chains, complained of the faintheartedness of his bands. the movement was suppressed without much bloodshed. it was characteristic of the time, that the landowners, from fear, did everything in their power to bring about a mutual forgiveness and forgetfulness, and that the condemned, during their penal labour, were separated from other criminals and treated with leniency; they were also excused the prison dress. from records of that period it may clearly be seen how general was the feeling among the higher magistrates, that the position of the peasant did not come up to the requirements of the times. two years later, also, the german peasants in the palatinate and in the electorate of mainz danced round the red cap on the tree of freedom. incessantly did french influence overspread germany. the state of the great frederick was shattered; germany became french up to the elbe. in the new french possessions, villeinage and servitude were abolished, with a haste and recklessness which was intended to win the people to the new dominion. the princes of the rhine confederation followed this example, with greater consideration for those whom they patronised; but still under the strong influence of french ideas. in prussia the governments and people saw, with alarm, how insecure was the constitution of a state which employed so much the bodies and working powers of the peasants, and took so little account of their souls. in the year the great change in the relations of the country people began in prussia; the definition of the rights of the landowners and peasants has lasted there, with many fluctuations and interruptions, for half a century, and has not yet arrived at a full conclusion. at this period the position of the countryman throughout germany has so improved, that no other progress of civilization can be compared to it. the villein of the landowner has--with the exception of mecklenburg, where the condition of the middle ages still exists--become the free citizen of his state; the law protects and punishes him and the landowner alike; he sends representatives, not of his class only, but of the nation, in union with the other classes of voters, to the capital; he has legally ceased everywhere to be a separate order in the state--in many provinces he has laid aside, with his present dress, his old frowardness; he begins to dress himself _à la mode_, and--sometimes in a clumsy, unpleasing form--to take his share in the inventions and enjoyments of modern civilization. but, however great these changes may be, they are not yet great enough generally, in germany, to give the countryman that position which, as a member of the state, a citizen, and an agriculturist, he must attain, if the life of the people is to give an impression in all respects of perfect soundness and power. his interest in, and comprehension of, that highest earthly concern of man--the state--is much too little developed; his craving for instruction and cultivation, considered on the whole, is too small; and in the larger portion of the fatherland his soul is still encumbered by some of the qualities which are nurtured by long oppression, hard egotism, distrust of men differently moulded, litigiousness, awkwardness, and a deficient understanding of his rights and position as a citizen. the minds which have shaken off the old spell are still in the form of transition which gives them a specially unfinished and unpleasing aspect. the agriculture of the german peasantry may still be considered as not having, on the whole, reached that point which is necessary for an energetic development of our national strength; nevertheless, we have reason to rejoice in having made great progress in this direction. intellect is everywhere incessantly occupied in introducing to the simple countryman new discoveries--machines, seeds, and a new method of cultivation. in some favoured districts the agriculture of the small farmer can scarcely be distinguished from the well-studied system of the larger model farms. nor has the german peasant, in the times of the deepest depression, like the oppressed slavonian, ever lost the instinct of self-acquisition. for the very qualities which are his characteristics, enduring systematic industry and strict parsimony, are the groundwork of the highest earthly prosperity. there still subsists, however, in wide districts, the old thraldom of the three-course system with rights of common, and all the pressure which this system entails on individuals. even well-tested improvements are therefore difficult to the countryman; because, with all his perseverance, he is yet wanting in enterprising activity, and because the great scantiness of his youthful instruction and technical education makes it difficult for him to comprehend anything new. thus the development of the german peasant to greater inward freedom and capacity is steady, but slow. the noble landed proprietor also, from entirely different reasons, frequently neglects to raise the culture of the soil by energy, technical knowledge, and the utmost exertion of his power; and, in like manner, we find in other branches of production--in manufactures, trade, commerce, and political life--a corresponding slowness of progress. it places us still at a disadvantage in comparison with the better-situated countries of europe. for the position of germany among the states of europe is such, that all other progress depends on the development of its own agriculture, that is, on the degree of intelligence and productive power which is perceptible in this primeval manly occupation. we have no command of the sea; we have no colonies, and no subjected countries, to which we can export the produce of our industry. if this circumstance is perhaps a surety for our stability, on the other hand it raises the vital importance which the german countryman and the system of his agriculture exercise on the other classes of the german people. if therefore it is allowable to compare two very different phases of human development, one may well say that the peasant of has not yet gained, comparatively with the other classes of the people, the independence and the conscious power which existed six centuries ago in the provinces of reithart von reuenthal and farmer helmbrecht. and whoever would teach us from the life of the past, how it has happened that the strength of the nation has passed from the rural districts into cities, and that the nobleman has raised himself so much above his neighbour the peasant, must beware of asserting, that this depression of the country-people is the natural consequence of the establishment of a higher culture and more artistic forms of life by the side of the simple agriculture of the lower class. he who follows his plough will seldom be a member of a company which extend their speculations to the distant corners of the earth; he will not read homer in the original, he will hardly read the work of a german philosopher upon logic, and the easy intercourse of a modern _salon_ will scarcely be enlivened by his wit. but the results of the collective culture, of that which the learned find, which the artist forms, which manufacturers create, must, at a period when the nation is vigorous and sound, when accessible to the simple countryman of sound judgment, be comprehended and valued by him. is it necessary that our neighbour the countryman should so seldom read a good book, and still less often buy one? is it necessary that he should, as a rule, take in no other newspaper than the small sheet of his own district? is it necessary that it should be unknown to him, and unfortunately sometimes also to his schoolmaster, how an angle is determined, a parallelogram measured, and an ellipse drawn? whoever would now place a poem of goethe's in the hand of a peasant woman, would probably do a useless thing, and raise a dignified smile in a "well-educated spectator." must all that we possess of most beautiful be incomprehensible to half our nation? six hundred years ago, the poem of farmer helmbrecht was understood in the village parlour, and the charm of his sonorous verse, the poetry and the warm eloquence of his language, were appreciated; and the rhythm and measure of those old songs that accompanied the dances of the thirteenth century are just as elegant and artistic as the finest verses now in the poems of the greatest modern poets. there was a time when the german peasant had the same lively susceptibility for noble poetry which we now assume as the privilege of the highly educated. is it necessary that the peasant of the present day should be deficient in it? the bohemian village musician still plays with heartfelt delight the harmonious tones produced by the genius of haydn and mozart; is it necessary that few other musical sounds should be permitted to the german peasant than the stale measures of spiritless dances? all this is not necessary; something of the same barbarism benumbs our life which we perceive with astonishment in the time of christian garve. what, however, we consider at first as one of the still remaining weaknesses of the peasants, is also the characteristic weakness of our whole culture, which has become too artificial, because it has bloomed in comparatively small and isolated circles of society, without the regulation and ever-increasing invigoration which the collective popular mind would have afforded it by cordial reciprocity and warm sympathy. the peasant's having for so many centuries been a stranger to social culture has, in the first place, made him weak, and also made the culture of the other classes too unstable, over-refined, and sometimes unmanly and impracticable. chapter ii. the life of the lower nobility. ( - .) the lot of the german peasant and of the german noble are closely bound together; the sufferings of the one become the disease of the other: the one has been lowered by servitude; the capacity, cultivation, and worth of the other to the state have been impaired by the privileges of a favoured position. now both appear to be convalescent. the lower german noble, before the beginning of the thirty years' war, was experiencing an important transition; he was about to forget the traditions of the middle ages, and on the point of gaining a new importance at court. the predatory junkers of the saddle had become quarrelsome, drink-loving landed proprietors. at the end of the sixteenth century it was still difficult for the sons of the old robber associates to keep the peace. whilst they were fighting with the pen, and intriguing at the kammergericht,[ ] they were frequently tempted to take forcible revenge; not only the turbulent knights of the empire in franconia, suabia, and on the rhine, but also the vassals of the powerful princes of the empire who were under the strong law of the land. even where they were in the exercise of their rights, they preferred doing it by violence, from pride in their own power. thus george behr, of düvelsdorf, in pomerania, shortly before the storm of the thirty years' war broke upon his province, hired an armed band in order to obtain club law in a private quarrel; he also claimed supreme jurisdiction on his property, in he caused a former secretary of his family who had forged the seal of his master and drawn a false bond, to be hung on a gallows without any further ado, and at his leisure gave a laconic account of it to his duke.[ ] much of the old roistering remained in the daily life of the country noblemen; they were still prone, as once in the middle ages, to excite quarrels in the inns and under the village lindens. the young wore embroidered clothes with concealed weapons, an iron ring in the hat, and low morions; besides this, very long rapiers and stilettoes, and in the eastern frontier countries, also hungarian axes. thus they went in crowds to the popular festivals and marriages, especially when these took place in the households of the hated citizens. there they began quarrels with the populace and invited guests; they behaved with offensive petulance, and sometimes committed grievous outrages; they burst open the doors of the houses, broke into the women's rooms when they had gone to rest, and into the cellars of the householders. it was not always easy to obtain justice against the offenders, but in some provinces the complaints were so loud and general that, as for example in the imperial hereditary lands, numerous ordinances appeared enforcing the duty of giving information of such villanies. those most complained of were the rovers who settled here and there in the country. they were, in the worst cases, compelled to serve at their own cost against the hereditary enemy,[ ] so difficult is it to eradicate old evil habits. the quarrels also of the country nobles among themselves were endless. in vain were they denounced by the ordinances of the rulers, in vain did they declare that it was not necessary for the person challenged to come forward.[ ] the language of the junker was rich in strong expressions, and custom had stamped some of these as unpardonable offences. at this period, after the termination of tournaments, armorial bearings and ancestors became of great importance; marriages with ladies not of noble birth became less frequent; they were eager to blazon coats of arms and genealogies, and endeavoured to show a pure descent through many generations of ancestors, in which there was frequently great difficulty, not only from the want of church books and records, but from other causes. whoever endeavoured, therefore, to force a quarrel with another, found fault with his pedigree, his knightly position, name, and armorial bearings, and questioned his four descents. such an offence could only be appeased by blood. to diminish these brawls, shortly before the thirty years' war, courts of honour were here and there introduced. the ruler of the country or feudal lord was president; the assessors, noblemen of distinction, formed the court of honour. the parties chose three companions, through whom letters of challenge and apologies were transmitted; and in order to make these subtle formalities easy to those who had little practice in writing, a form was accurately prescribed for such letters of summons. whilst thus the poorer nobles of the country struggled at home against the new _régime_, the more enterprising were led by the old german love of travelling into foreign parts. the noble youths willingly followed the drum, and even before it was a frequent complaint that the junkers of the nobility had everywhere promotion in the army, whilst it was difficult for a man of worth and capacity, from the people, to rise from the ranks. even before the heirs of rich families of pretension, travelled to france, there to learn the language and the art of war, and to cultivate their minds. not only in paris, but in other great cities of france, they congregated in such numbers, as do now the idle russians and english; they only too often endeavoured to resemble the french in immorality and duels, and were even then notorious as awkward imitators of foreign customs. even before most of the western german courts were so devoted to french manners, that french was considered the elegant language for conversation and writing. thus it was in the court of frederick the palatine, the winter king of bohemia. the cleverest of the nobility, however, sought for fine manners, pleasures, and office in the courts of the numerous german princes. after the abdication of charles v. a jovial life prevailed not only at the imperial court, but also in those of the greater princes of the empire, above all in electoral saxony, bavaria, würtemberg, and the palatinate. besides great hunting parties and drinking bouts, there were also great court festivals; masquerades, knightly exercises, and prize-shooting had become the fashion, especially at coronations, marriages, christenings, and visits of ceremony. the old tournaments were sham fights, fine scenic representations, in which the costume and the dramatic show were of more importance than the passage of arms itself. as early as they were arranged according to the spanish custom, when the new fashion of running at the ring was introduced. great stages, with mythological and allegorical figures, were drawn in procession on these occasions. the contending parties appeared in wonderful attire; they strove together for prizes, as challengers and knight-errants--_manuten adoren_ and _avantureros_--or married men against bachelors, man against man and troop against troop, not only on horse but on foot but the weapons were blunt, the spears so prepared that they must break at the weakest shock, and the number of thrusts and passes which one could make against another was accurately prescribed. the whole was announced to the spectators by a cartel--written invitation or challenge: it was printed and posted up, and explained to the public. some of these specimens of the composition of educated people of the court have been preserved to us; for example, a cartel of , when the emperor maximilian ii. had assembled a large circle of nobles around him, in which a necromancer, zirfeo, announced that he knew of three worthy heroes enchanted in a mountain,--king arthur and his companions, sigestab the strong, and ameylot the happy,--whom he would disenchant, and arouse to a struggle against adventurers. at the festival itself a great wooden structure was presented to view, which represented a rock with an infernal opening, ravens flew out of it, devils danced busily round its summit, and scattered fire about them; at last the magician himself appeared, made his incantations, the hill opened, the knights sprang up into daylight in ancient armour, and awaited the foreign combatants, who in equally strange costume encountered them. even before , gala days, including pastoral _fêtes_, were announced with a flourish by similar cartels, sometimes in verse, as, after the great war, were the common village weddings and fairs. these were especially welcome to the authorities and nobles, because in them etiquette was suspended, and many opportunities given for free pleasantry and confidential familiarity. in some courts, as at that of the anhaltiners, the landgrave of hesse, and the duke philip of pomerania, the nobles had opportunities of turning their attention to education, and the acquisition of knowledge; at these courts they began already to take pleasure in the possession of objects of art. the emperor rudolph collected the pictures of albert dürer, and the princes and some of the wealthy nobles around them collected rare coins, weapons, drinking-cups, and the works of the goldsmiths of nüremberg and the cabinet makers of augsburg. the patricians of the great imperial cities, superior in education to the court nobility, as political agents and managers of the imperial princes, were the purveyors of these novelties of art to the german courts and their cavaliers. it was not an unheard-of thing to find a courtier who avoided long drinking bouts, and knew how to value a conversation upon the course of the world; nay, could even compose a latin distich, and leave to his heirs a collection of books; and it was even considered honourable among the better sort to concern themselves about their households, and to increase, as far as possible, the revenues of their property. on the whole, the importance of the nobility at court had increased even before the war, as well as the oppression which they exercised over their dependent country-people; yet, in an equal degree--nay, indeed, beyond them--the free strength of the nation irresistibly developed itself. the new culture of the reformation period, introduced by burgher theologians and professors, brought into contempt the coarseness of the country junkers. the business affairs of the princes and their territories, the places in the _kammergericht_, the _spruch collegien_, or (consultative legal boards) of the universities; indeed almost the whole administration of justice and government ceased to be in the hands of the nobles; the greatest opulence and comfort were introduced into the cities by trade and commerce. thus, up to the year , the nation was in a fair way to overcome the egotistical junkerdom of the middle ages, and of putting down pretensions which had become incompatible with the new life. it was one of the ruinous consequences of the great war, that all this was changed. it broke the strength of the burgher class, and the weakness of the nobility was fostered, under the protection which was secured to it in most of the provinces by the new military discipline of the princes and, above all, of the imperial court, to the prejudice of the masses. as the income of the landed proprietor was diminished, he drew his chief advantage from the labour of the working peasant. the families of the country nobility being decimated, the imperial court was very ready to procure a new nobility for money. in the course of the war the captain or colonel had willingly bought with his booty a letter of nobility and some devastated property. after the peace, these nobles by patent became a hateful extension of the order. a childish offensive tuft-hunting, a worship of rank, servility and a greed for titles and outward distinctions, were now general in the cities. the commercial cities on the north sea were those that suffered least, and those countries most which were immediately dependent on the imperial court. it was customary then in vienna to accost as noblemen all those who appeared to have a right to social pretensions. among the mass of privileged persons who now considered themselves as a peculiar ruling class, in contradistinction to the people, there was undoubtedly the greatest difference in culture and capacity; but no injustice is done to many honourable, and some distinguished men, when the fact is brought forward, that the period from to , in which the nobility ruled, and were of most importance, was the worst in the whole of the long history of germany. undoubtedly, in the time of weakness since , a most comfortable life was led by the wealthy scion of an old family, who possessed large property, and was protected by old alliances with influential persons and rulers. his sons gained profitable court appointments, or high military places; and his daughters, who were well dowered, increased the circle of his influential "friends." the landed proprietor himself had served in the army, had travelled to france or holland, and brought with him from thence a number of curiosities; arms and painted articles from the eastern nations, a hollow ostrich-egg, polished shells, artistically carved cherry-stones, and painted pottery, or marble limbs that had been dug up in italy. he had, perhaps, somewhere favoured a learned man with his acquaintance, and received from time to time a ponderous legal treatise, or a volume of poems, with a respectful letter. he might have visited in his travels the courts of anhalt or weimar, and been created, by letters patent, a poet or author; he was member of the _frucht-bringende gesellschaft_[ ] (the fruit-producing society), had a beautiful medal attached to a silk ribbon, on which his herb, sage or, mint--or, if he had been sarcastic at court--a radish, was represented; he bore the surname of "scarifier," and comforted himself with the motto--"sharp and nutritious;"[ ] and he sometimes wrote letters on the improvement of the german mother tongue, unfortunately with many french phrases. for his own information he, with other cavaliers of education, took in, at considerable cost, a written newspaper, which a well-instructed man in the capital secretly sent to good customers; for it was revolting to him to read the common, superficial scribbling of the printed newspapers. he spoke some french, perhaps also italian; and if he had been at a university, which did not frequently happen, he might be able to recite a latin lucubration. in this case he was probably commissary of the ruler of the country, a dignitary of his province; then he had business journeys, and occasionally negotiations, and he managed, to the best of his power, what was intrusted to him, with the help of his secretaries. he was courteous, even to those who were beneath him, and was on good terms with the citizens. he looked down upon the people with confident self-complacency; he was, in fact, high bred, and knew right well that his nobility did not rest on many titles, nor on the knightly ensigns on his escutcheon; and he smiled at the lions, bears, turks'-heads, and wild men, which were painted on the coats of arms, and bestowed by the heralds' office at vienna. he regarded with contempt the french nobility, among whom, through paris merchants and italian adventurers, too much foreign blood had been intermingled; on the hungarians, who complacently allowed their nobility to be conferred for a bow and a chancery fee by the palatine; on the danes, whose noblemen had a monopoly of the cattle trade; and on the italians, who made unceasing _mésalliances_. the fine-gentleman airs, also, of the greater part of his german equals annoyed him: for even at the meeting of his states he had frequent contentions for precedence, especially with the prince's councillors, who were not of the nobility, but wished to assert the privileges of their rank. if there were citizens and noble councillors in the same board, to these in the sittings, a higher position and seniority in office, gave the priority; but at banquets and all representations, according to imperial decision, the nobleman, as he well knew, had the precedence. it was his usual complaint, that the nobles themselves assumed their titles, armorial bearings, and dignities, or sought them in foreign countries; also that, whoever had received the diploma of count or baron from the imperial chancery, expected to be called _reichsgräfliche_ or _reichsfreiherrliche gnaden_, literally countly or baronial grace, and speaks of himself in the royal plural.[ ] the worthy gentleman still retained some of the traditions of knighthood; a valiant officer was treated by him with respect, and he valued arms and horses much. the best adornment of the walls of his well-built house, besides the great family pictures, were beautiful weapons, pistols, _couteaux-de-chasse_, and every kind of hunting implement. by the side of the flower-garden, kitchen-garden, and orchard, lay a riding-ground, where were to be found apparatus for riding at the ring, or for breaking light wooden lances at the _faquin_, or _quintin_, a wooden figure. his horses had still italian or french names,--furioso, bellarina, &c., for as yet the english blood had not been introduced; they had been bred from neapolitan and hungarian horses. turkish nags, as now the pony, were much sought after; thoroughbred horses bore a comparatively higher price than now, for the long war had shamefully lowered the breed of horses throughout europe. his dog-kennel was well furnished, for, besides bulldogs, he required hounds, pointers, and terriers; to these influential companions of his life he also gave high sounding names--favour, rumour, &c. it is true, the chase of the higher game was the right of his sovereign; but the hateful custom of _baiting_ the game had been long ago introduced into the country from france. thus he rode eagerly with his hounds after hares and foxes, or, by invitation, he accompanied[ ] some great lord deer-hunting, and received visits from some friendly court official, who had the command of some falcons, which were flown at crows. in october he was not ashamed of going after larks, and inspecting the sprynges. he began the day decorously, and ended it with pleasure; he regularly took an aperient, was bled, and went to church; he held every week his magisterial or justice days. after the morning greetings with his family, on leisure days he had his horses exercised; in the harvest week he rode to the fields, and looked after the reapers and the inspector. a great portion of his time was passed in visits which he received or made in the neighbourhood. at his repast, which took place soon after twelve, game played the principal part; if he had guests, seven or eight dishes were served generally at the same time. if conversation took a high flight, politics were cautiously touched upon, matters of faith very unwillingly; many fine sentences and maxims were still in vogue with people of the world; it was considered refined to quote writers of antiquity or elegant french authors without pedantry; the peculiarities of foreign nations, and also the curiosities of natural history, as known from reading and observation, were gladly discussed. it was considered good taste to inquire the opinions of individuals by turns. such conversation, even among cavaliers of the highest quality, would appear to us more formal and pedantic than what we should meet with now in the society of poor schoolmasters; but even from this conversation, of which some accidental specimens remain to us, we may discover, in spite of a narrow point of view and numerous prejudices, the striving of the time for enlightenment and understanding of the world. usually, indeed, the conversation runs on family stories, compliments, doubtful anecdotes, and coarse jokes. there was much deep drinking, and only the most refined withdrew from drinking bouts. sometimes a social meeting with ladies was arranged in another place, at an hotel or inn; then each lady provided some dishes, the gentlemen wine and music. if there was a bath in the neighbourhood, a journey to it was seldom neglected. shooting matches were arranged, with appointed prizes, "the first was, then, an ox or a ram;" the gentlemen shot either together or with the populace. the dress, also, of the landed proprietor was splendid; his rank might be recognised from afar, for the old ordinances respecting dress were still maintained, and a value was placed upon their wardrobe, both by men and women, which we can now scarcely comprehend. before the war no insignificant portion of the property was vested in velvet and gold embroidery, in rings and jewels; the greater portion of this was lost, but pleasure in such possessions remained, and the jewels of the daughter long continued an essential part of her dowry. numerous were the members of the household, amongst whom there were frequently some original characters. perhaps, besides the tutor, there might be an old soldier of the great war, addicted to drinking, who knew how to relate many stories about torstenson, or jean de worth; he taught the nobleman's son to fence, and "to play with the banner."[ ] there seldom failed to be a poor relation of the family, who ruled over the kennel by the title of "master of the chase;" the preserver of mysterious hunting customs, he knew how to charm the gun, and had greater acquaintance with the infernal night-hunter than the pastor of the place thought right; he was considered as a trusty piece of old household furniture, and would assuredly have sacrificed his life without hesitation for his cousin; but he did not scruple to procure more wood for the peasant, with whom he drank at the inn, than was right; and if the old junker had his _couteau-de-chasse_ ornamented with silver, the origin of which was doubtful, the landed proprietor was obliged to wink at it.[ ] thus passed the life of a wealthy landowner between and . it was perhaps not quite so worthy as it might have been, but it may have transmitted to the next generation family feeling and kindliness of heart. yet it must be observed that it was only a very small minority of the german nobility who were in so favoured a position in the seventeenth century. those who wished to make their fortunes in foreign lands far from their families, were threatened with other dangers, from which only the most energetic could escape. the wars in hungary and poland, the shameful struggle against france, and a long residence in paris, were not calculated to preserve good morals. the vices of the east, and of the corrupt court of france were brought by them into germany. the old love of quarrelling was not improved by the new cavalier cartel, the profligate intercourse with peasant women and noble ladies of easy virtue, became worse by the nightly orgies of fashionable cavaliers, at which they represented festive processions with mythological characters, and draped themselves as dryads, and their ladies as venuses and nymphs.[ ] the old landsknecht game of dice was not worse than the new game of hazard, which became prevalent at the baths and courts, and which foreign adventurers now added to those of the country. but there are two more classes of nobles of that period who appear to us still more strange and grotesque, both numerous, and both in strong contrast to one another. they were designated as city nobles and country nobles, and expressed their mutual antipathy by the use of the ignominious terms _pfeffersäcke_ and _krippenreiter_.[ ] vain and restless citizens strove to exalt themselves by acquiring the emperor's patent of nobility. these patents had of old been a favourite source of income to needy german emperors. wenzel and sigismund had unsparingly ennobled traders and persons of equivocal character: in short, every one who was ready to pay a certain amount of florins. on the other hand, in , at the council of constance, the princes and nobles of the rhine, saxony, suabia, and bavaria, had set up their backs, made a revision of their own circle, and cashiered the intruders. but the emperor's patents did not cease on that account. charles v. himself, who sometimes looked down on the german lords with galling irony, and willingly gave to his chancellor and secretaries the chance of perquisites, had the sad repute "of audaciously raising, for a few ducats, every salt-boiler to the order of nobility." still more business-like were these proceedings under ferdinand ii. and his successor. for after the thirty years' war, not only the living, but the bones in the graves of their ancestors were ennobled, nay, the dead ancestors were even declared worthy of being admitted into noble foundations and to tournaments. at last, after , this traffic of the imperial court was carried on to such an extent that the princes and states at the breaking up of the imperial diet of , and a hundred years later at the election of charles vii., protested against the detriment which accrued to their own rights of sovereignty and revenues from such a privilege. the newly ennobled in the cities were therefore not to be exempt from the burdens of citizens, and the possessor of a property by villein tenure was not to be invested with the privileges attached to a noble estate. in vain did the imperial court threaten those with punishment who would not concede the purchased privileges to its patents of nobility. those also who were declared fit for tournaments and noble benefices, were not on that account received into any knightly order, or noble endowment, nor in any old noble provincial unions. the noble benefices generally did not take patents of nobility, as proofs of noble extraction; it was only the members of old noble families possessing no such patents who were admissible into these endowments. it was only exceptionally that these corporations gave way to a high recommendation. even the court offices, those of chamberlain, groom of the bed-chamber, equerry, hunting and other noble pages, were privileges of the old nobility. the patents of nobility never forgot to celebrate the virtues and the services rendered both to the prince and commonwealth by the newly ennobled and his ancestors; but, as a zealous defender of the old nobility complains, it was too well-known that, in general, it was only for the "_macherlohn_" (pay, for the making) that nobility was given. in the larger cities, which were not the residence of princes, the position of the nobility was very different. in hamburg, lübeck, and bremen, the nobles had no political weight; on the other hand, at nüremberg, frankfort-on-the-maine, augsburg, and ulm, the old race of nobility lived in proud isolation from the rest of the citizens. worst of all were the nürembergers, who considered it even degrading to carry on commerce. of two noble societies of frankfort-on-the-maine, one, the house of alten-limpurg, required of every member who presented himself for admission, eight ancestors, and that he should keep out of trade; the other society, of the house of frauenstein, consisted mostly of newly-ennobled merchants "of distinction." in augsburg, the old patricians were more indulgent to merchants: he who had married the child of a patrician family, could be received into the noble society. the remaining commercial cities of note, prague and breslau, were most amply supplied with newly ennobled merchants. there was bitter complaint that, under the emperor leopold, even a chimney-sweeper, whose trade was then in particularly low esteem, could for a little money procure nobility, and that frequently tradesmen, with patents of nobility in their pockets, might be found packing up herrings for their customers in old paper. after the thirty years' war, officers also sought for patents of nobility, and they were often granted to them for their services, as also to the higher officials and members of the city administration in the larger cities. it was through families who had taken part in the literary and poetical culture of the time, that patents of nobility in this and the following century entered into our literary class. many poets of the silesian school, nay, leibnitz, wolf, and haller, were placed among the privileged of their time by patents of nobility, which they themselves or their fathers had acquired. wholesale traders were never esteemed in germany, nor held in that consideration by the privileged classes of the people, which the great interest they frequently represented deserved. they had of old been mistrusted and disliked; this originated, perhaps, in the time when the astute romans exchanged, among the simple children of tuisko, the foreign silver coin, for the early products of the country. the feudal system of the middle ages required this disregard of wealth, and not less so christianity, which commanded men to despise the riches of this world, and granted to the wealthy so little prospect of the kingdom of heaven. since the time of the hohenstaufen, after the nobles were constituted as a privileged order, the antagonism between the rich money-makers of the city and the needy warriors of the country, was more and more strongly developed. in the hanse towns of the north undoubtedly the warlike merchant obtained dominion and respect by his armed vessels, even in distant countries. but the rich and highly cultivated gentlemen of nüremberg and augsburg, were scarcely less distasteful to the people than to the princes and nobles who dwelt in predatory habits on the frontiers of their domain; it was not the fuggers alone who were accused by the reformers of usury and un-german feeling. after the thirty years' war, this enmity bore new fruit, and one can easily believe that the great merchants gave no little occasion to keep alive such antipathy. no human occupation requires such free competition and such unfettered intercourse as trade. but the whole tendency of the olden time was to fence in from the outer world, and to protect individuals by privileges; such a tendency of the time could not fail to make the merchant hard and reckless; his endeavours to obtain a monopoly, and to evade senseless laws with respect to the interest of money, gave the people, frequently with justice, the feeling that the gains of the merchant were produced by the pressure they exercised on the consumer. this feeling became particularly vigorous after the thirty years' war. whilst in holland and in england the modern middle classes were pre-eminently strengthened by widely extended commerce, german commerce--except in the larger sea-port towns--was prevented from attaining a sound development by the subdivision of territory, the arbitrary dues, the varying standard of money, and, not least, by the poverty of the people; on the other hand, there was constant temptation to every kind of usurious traffic. the diversity of german coinage, and the unscrupulousness of the rulers, favoured an endless _kipperei_: to buy up good coin at an advantage, to clip gold of full weight, and to bring light money into circulation, became the most profitable occupation. as now, multifarious stockjobbing, so then, illegal traffic in coined metal, was to a great extent the plague of commercial towns. it was not to be exterminated. if sometimes the scandal became too great, then indeed the governments tried a blundering interference: but their courts were hoodwinked. thus, in frankfort-on-the-maine, the clipping of ducats was carried on to such an extent, that a special commission was sent from vienna to the free imperial city; jews had been the _colporteurs_ of christian commercial houses, among which many great firms, whose names are still in existence, were the great culprits. the only result was that the imperial commissaries pocketed the larger portion of the illicit gains. such wealth, acquired rapidly, and contrary to law, had, as now, all the characteristics of an unstable acquisition: it seldom lasted to the third generation. it turned the culprits into spendthrifts and pleasure-seekers; their arrogance and deficiency of culture, and their ostentation, became especially offensive to their own fellow-citizens. it was more particularly such individuals who bought patents of nobility; and it was assuredly no accident that, of the numerous noble families of this kind, many in proportion have become extinct. one of the newly ennobled of such a circle kept his real name in the firm, but among his fellow-citizens he adhered jealously to the privileges of his new order. he liked to have his coat of arms carved in stone and richly gilt on the outside of his large house, but the stone did not guarantee long duration to its possessor. it was striking, for example, to observe in breslau, how quickly the houses on the great crescent, which then belonged almost exclusively to the new patent nobles, changed their possessors. in the interior of the house ostentatious luxury was displayed, which in this period of misery was doubly grating to the people. the rooms were decorated with costly carpets, with venetian mirrors of immense size, with silk hangings and tapestry, which on festive occasions were fixed on the walls or on a special framework, and afterwards removed. the women sewed diamond buckles on their shoes, and it was a subject of complaint that they would wear no lace that was not brought from venice or paris, and did not cost at least twenty thalers the ell; nay, it was reported of them that their night utensils were of silver. great was the number of their lackeys; their carriages were richly gilt, the coachmen drove from a high box four horses, which were then harnessed abreast; but when the splendid equipage rattled through the streets, the people called out deridingly, "that the pot always tasted of the first soup." the rich man could well keep fine horses, as he at the same time traded in them; and the workmen in the business, the porter, carpenter, and apprentice, were put into the costume of lackeys, but the page who went behind the lady was generally a child from the poor school. in such houses there was also the most luxurious living. the invited guest was received with a formality that was then characteristic of the highly educated; the host met him on the staircase, and to one of the highest distinction went even to the house door; verbose were the compliments on receiving precedence or the higher place at table, and yet the greatest value was attached to not humbling themselves too much. as soon as they were seated at table, the buffet was opened, in which was a mass of costly plate. the dishes were large and the viands in keeping, but out of all proportion to the number of guests; the most expensive things were procured, with a refinement that still astonishes us; great pies, filled with various game, black game, pike liver, and italian salad. the pheasants and partridges were caponed and fed, a brace cost as much as a ducat; it was thought horrible that these spendthrifts gave a gulden for a fresh herring, and from eight to ten thalers for a hundred oysters. to these were added the costly wines of the seventeenth century, tokay, canary, marzenin, frontignac, muscat, and finally wine of lebanon; at dessert there was no longer marchpane, but candied citron, the fashionable delicacy. the ladies sat adorned and silent. it was complained that their principal anxiety in the choice of a husband was, that their intended should be of rank, that they might follow near to the corpse at funerals, and have a high place at weddings. on such occasions they went little short of boxing each other's ears for precedence. so far was the eagerness for rank carried, that he considered himself materially better whose new patent of nobility dated ten years earlier than that of another; and these city nobles considered fresh creations in nowise their equals. whoever had been lately ennobled was only called "wohledel" (just ennobled), but he who had for some time been in possession of his patent, was called, "hoch-and-edelgeborne gestrengigkeit" (high and noble-born worship). every effort was made to obtain a title in addition to their city dignity. the military dignities also of the city were often occupied by the greenhorns of such families; a poor wight who had never been on a battle-field, with a staff thickly set with silver, with armed jäger behind him, might be seen passing daily from city gate to city gate, in order to parade before the people, and to receive the salute of the guard. only one thing was required of him, he must know how to handle his sword, for duels were part of the existence of the nobleman. it was desirable for him to have been at least once called out by cartel. he then rode with his second to the nearest village; behind a hedge he pulled off his riding-boots, put on light fencing shoes, fastened his long curly hair under his cap,[ ] took off his upper garments, and had to choose one of the rapiers which were presented to him. they fought in rounds, by cut and thrust, and a well-settled duel never failed to be followed by a reconciliatory drinking bout. they liked to boast of such heroic deeds. such were the "_pfeffersäcke_," who were called also by the country nobles, "_heringsnasen_" (flatnoses). this country nobility was of quite another stamp. they were more numerous two centuries ago than at present. besides the family seat, they possessed village-houses, and small farms. sometimes a family had increased so much, that in the neighbourhood of an old estate, many villages were occupied by relatives; and still more frequently did branches of different families dwell indiscriminately in a village, in every grade of authority. even in our century there have been middle-sized villages, enclosing ten, twelve, and more gentlemen's seats. in such districts, each little despot exercised dominion over a few miserable villagers, and had a seigneurial right to a portion of the village district; but the poorest had no real property, and sometimes only rented their dwellings. thus it was in almost all the provinces of germany, more especially east of the elbe, in the colonised sclavonian countries; also in franconia, thuringia, and swabia. many of the _junkers_ only differed from the other country people in their pretensions, and their contempt for field labour. even before the war, most of them had been impoverished, and when peace came at last, they were in still worse plight. war and pestilence had made havoc among them, and the survivors had not become better. the more powerful had tried their luck as soldiers and partisans, differing little sometimes from highway robbers. during the war they had laid out their booty in the purchase of some small estate, on which they dwelt, restless and discontented. these fortunate individuals received frequent visits from old comrades, and then ventured to make raids from their property on their own account, which seldom ended without bloodshed. after the war they ceased plundering; but the lawlessness, the craving for excitement, the restless roving, and the inclination for wild revelry and quarrels remained in the next generation. they united themselves into a large company, which, in spite of endless brawls, continued to hold together, like entangled water-plants on a marsh. this family connection became a ceaseless plague to the better disposed, and a misfortune for the whole class; and more than any other evil retarded, during the following century, the culture, civilisation, and prosperity of the landed nobility. the sons of these poor landowners learnt to ride, dance, and fence, and perhaps the first rudiments of latin from a poor candidate; then, if the father had connections, they served as pages at some small court, or to a distinguished nobleman. there they learnt, to a certain extent, good manners; and, more certainly, the weaknesses and vices of the higher orders. if they remained some years in noble service they were, according to old usage, declared capable of bearing arms, and released as junkers with a gracious box on the ear. then they returned to the parental estate, or the parents sold what they could spare to procure them an outfit befitting a gentleman, and sent them as aspirants for subaltern places in the imperial army. few of them prospered in the inglorious wars of that period; most returned home, after some campaigns, corrupted and poor both in honour and booty, to share with their sisters the paternal inheritance. soon they differed little from the relations who had remained at home. these landowners dwelt in buildings of clay and wood, roofed with straw or shingles,--a sufficient number of casual descriptions and drawings have been preserved to us; across the roof lay the great fire-ladders; the front and back doors of the hall were provided with crossbars for closing them at night. on the ground-floor was the large sitting-room; near it the spacious kitchen, which was a warm abode for the servants; next the sitting-room there was a walled vault, with iron gratings to the window, and if possible with iron doors, as a protection against thieves and fire,--whatever valuables a landowner possessed were kept there, and if a sum of money was deposited there, a special watchman was placed before the house. above this vault, in the upper floor, was the bedroom of the master of the house; there was the marriage-bed, and there also was a concealed safe, either in the wall or floor, wherein some plate and the jewellery of the women were kept. the children, the tutor, and the housekeeper slept in small closets, which could not be warmed, divided by trellis-work. sometimes a wooden gallery was attached to the upper floor, the "little pleasure walk;" there the linen was dried, the farmyard inspected, and the work of the women done. the house was under the special care of some old trooper, or poor cousin, who slept within as watcher. wild dogs roamed about the farmyard and round the house during the night; these were specially intended to guard against beggars and vagrants. but all these measures of precaution could not entirely hinder the inroads of armed bands. even a good-sized estate was an unsatisfactory possession. most of the landowners were deeply in debt; ruinous lawsuits, which had begun during the war, were pending over hearth and hill. the farm was carried on wretchedly under the superintendence of a poor relation or untrustworthy bailiff; the farm-buildings were bad and falling into ruins, and there was no money, and frequently no good wood wherewith to renew them. for the woods had suffered much from the war; where there was an opportunity of sale, the foreign commanders had caused large forests to be felled and sold. in the neighbourhood of fortified places the stems were employed for fortifications, which then required large quantities of wood; and after the peace much was felled for the necessary erection of villages and suburbs. the farm also bore little produce. not only teams, but hands, were wanting for the tillage; and the average price of corn, after the war, was so low that the product hardly paid for the carriage, and in consequence they kept few horses. new capital was difficult to acquire; money was dear, and mortgages on the properties of nobles were not considered an advantageous investment. they, undoubtedly, gave a certain amount of security; but the interest was too often irregularly payed, and the capital could not easily be recovered. the acquisition of mortgaged goods, also, by the creditor, was possible only in certain cases, and by tedious proceedings; it was sometimes even dangerous, for the friends and neighbours of the debtor would threaten the new possessor with their hatred. in the eastern frontier countries the dissatisfied creditors endeavoured to indemnify themselves by selling their bonds to polish nobles. these procured the money by making reprisals on travellers from the district of the debtor, and taking the sum from the first comers. this had, indeed, happened before the great war; and repeated prohibitions show how much commerce suffered from those deeds of violence.[ ] by such evils even a sensible landed proprietor was soon easily thrown into a desperate position. a bad harvest, or a mortality among the cattle, would probably ruin him. but the chief evil was that a great number had not sense enough to occupy themselves perseveringly with their farming, and to limit their expenses within the certain income of the property. thus few were prosperous. most of them passed their lives amidst embarrassments, lawsuits, and endless debts; even those who had entered on the possession of their property with better hopes, became at last, like the greater number of those of their own class, members of the great association which the people nicknamed "krippenreiter." these impoverished gentlemen rode in bands from farm to farm; they invaded the neighbourhood like troublesome parasites whenever a feast was celebrated, whenever they scented the provisions in the kitchen and cellar. woe to the new acquaintance whom they picked up at the houses of others; they immediately volunteered to accompany him home for a day or week. where they had once quartered themselves it was very difficult to get rid of them. not select in their intercourse, they drank and brawled with the peasants at the tavern; when drunk, they would do a citizen, with a full purse, the honour of receiving him into their brotherhood. then kneeling amid broken glasses and flasks, the brotherhood was sealed, eternal fidelity sworn, and generally, he, was denounced as the worst scoundrel, who did not preserve unbroken friendship. such brotherhood did not, however, prevent a great fight the very next hour. but, common as they made themselves on these occasions, they never forgot that they were "wild noblemen of ancient family." citizens, and those who had patents of nobility from the emperor might, indeed, become brothers. this kind of familiarity was after the way of the world, but he could not obtain the acknowledgment of family association conveyed by the terms "uncle" and "cousin;" and even if allied to them by marriage, he was not admitted to their relationship unless he were of noble race. their children went about in tatters; their wives sometimes collected provisions from relations, and they themselves trotted over the stubble on shaggy horses, in old greatcoats, with a bit of carved wood instead of a second pistol in the old holster. their usual place of rest was at the village tavern, or, if they came to a town, in the worst inn. their language was coarse, full of stable expressions and oaths. they had adopted many of the usages of the rogues, both in language and habits; they smelt of "_finckeljochen_" (a bad kind of spirit) more than was agreeable to others. they were, indeed, ragamuffins; and, with all their pugnacity, without real courage. they were considered the pest of the country, and those who had anything to lose compared them to bluebottle-flies; more than once sharp decrees[ ] were issued against them by the different rulers, and even from the imperial court, but they were, notwithstanding, haughty and thoroughly aristocratic-minded fellows. their genealogy, their escutcheons, and their family connection were to them the highest things upon earth. unbounded was the hate and contempt with which they regarded the rich citizens; they were always ready to begin a quarrel with the newly ennobled, if they did not give them their full titles, or presumed to bear a coat of arms similar to their own. the following account will make us better acquainted with these fellows, and their mode of intercourse. it carries us to the right bank of the oder in silesia, a corner of germany where "_krippenreiterei_" was particularly bad. there, according to an old popular jest, the devil burst the sack when he endeavoured to carry off in the air a number of "_krippenreiters_," and thus emptied out the whole rubbish on this district. the following description is taken from the narrative entitled "the nobleman," written a few years before his death, by paul winckler, a silesian, political agent and councillor at breslau of the great elector; he died . the narrative was first published after his death in two editions, and finally at nüremberg, - . there is no great skill or invention in it, but it is the more useful here on that account. winckler was a well-educated man of the world, and an eminent jurist, and his numerous travels and alliances, and accurate knowledge of the condition of the german landed proprietors, made him particularly capable of forming a sound judgment. he possessed also qualities which are not rarely found in a silesian; he knew how to accommodate himself easily to the world, was a cheerful companion, impartial in judgment, and a lively narrator. his being a member of the "_fruchtbringende_," or literary society, probably contributed to keep alive his interest in german literature, and encouraged him to modest attempts at authorship. but he was too sensible a man not to regard with contempt the purist pedantry with which the associates of his society endeavoured to raise the german poetry. "they sit behind the kitchen of parnassus, and satisfy themselves with the odour of the roast." he was about fifty when he wrote his narrative, confined to his room by the gout. his object was to point out by a portraiture, what a right sort of nobleman ought to be; for it had been his fate, throughout his whole life, to live in business relations and personal intercourse with the nobles of different provinces. his wife was a descendant of the poet von logau, and he himself was nephew of andreas gryphius. his own experience undoubtedly gave him a peculiarly sharp eye for the absurdities of the privileged classes, but he was the true son of his time, and preserved at heart a deep respect for genuine nobility. his narrative, therefore, is not by any means a satire, though it has indeed been called so, and the delineations here imparted give a peculiar impression of being accurate portraits. that which has been a hindrance to modern narrators who have a moral tendency, has indeed been the case with him. he has clearly depicted what the nobles ought not to be; but his good characters fail in sharp outline and colouring, nay, they become tedious, because he brings forward their education and principles in lengthy conversations. his narratives may be compared with the tale simplicissimus, but in creative power, fancy, and fulness of detail the silesian is incomparably inferior. grimmelshausen, however, though possessing greater poetic talent, has an inclination for the strange and fantastic, which reminds one of the style of the romance writers, and leaves an impression that what is there represented is not a thoroughly true picture of the time. from this defect the silesian is entirely free; he narrates, in a lively and frank style, what he has himself seen, not much, nothing particular, but plainly and precisely. the events of the narrative are very simple. the dutch then held in german society about the same position in the german courts that was accorded to englishmen not long ago, the importance of their nation being almost equal to a letter of nobility. a rich young dutchman comes to breslau, becomes witness of a duel between one of the new nobles and a country junker, hears from his landlord a description of country life, visits the house of an extravagant "_pfeffersack_," is invited by a young herr von k., an acquaintance of former times, to a country seat, gains thereby much knowledge of the "_krippenreiters_" from personal observation, hears an account of an adventure of a silesian with an english officer, and passes the rest of the time of his country visit, in grave but very prosy conversation (in which the author introduces much of his own views and learning), upon the education of the soldier, upon the nobles by birth and those risen from trade, upon the state of politics, and upon the culture of the ancients in comparison with that of the present day, &c. on his return to breslau, the dutchman learns that the rich merchant who had before invited him to dinner, had become bankrupt and secretly absconded; his life is then related, and the hero leaves breslau. thus the whole long narrative contains only five descriptions which would be interesting: two of them will be given. some coarse expressions are softened; they are a little shortened, and the language, only where it appears indispensable, modernised. first the landlord relates how he studied as the son of a tailor, then married a wealthy "kretschmerin" (or landlady), and after her death, from an unfortunate striving to become great, bought a patent of nobility in order to settle in the country. he then continues thus:-- "a not very trusty friend advised me to settle in a part of the country where certainly the noble estate was at a low price, but of which the income also was small; another friend, it is true, advised me against this, and pointed out to me what vexations and crosses i should be exposed to from the '_krippenreiters_;' but this did not disturb me, as i knew i was a match for them with the sword, so i dismissed the useful warning from my mind. in short, i bought an estate for thalers, but soon discovered that i had exposed myself to the lightning, in avoiding the thunder, and that my good friend with his prophecy had shot very near the mark. for when i had scarcely half settled myself, a certain _junker_, vogelbach, with a couple of his associates, were the first to victimise me, as they call it. he lived about half a mile off; not that he had any property of his own, for he only rented a peasant's farm worth about imperial thalers, and spent his life, like others of the same sort, in '_krippenreiterei_.' how he maintained his wife and child i know not, but only that i frequently saw his wife with a cart and two ragged children on the estate of opulent nobles, collecting corn, bread, cheese, butter, and the like. they generally came once a month to beg all such articles of me. this vogelbach was, as has been mentioned, the first who, with two of his associates, came to have a 'housewarming.' the first and second time they behaved themselves with some degree of discretion, wherefore i put before them what was best in the house. but this, in their opinion, was abundantly balanced by the honour of the noble brotherhood into which they had admitted me, and at last they could no longer refrain from their shabby tricks. 'it would become you, brother _kretschmer_,' he began one day that he had filled himself with beer and brandy up to the eyes. but i made him remember these words by an unexpected box on the ear in such a sort that the good fellow was tumbled over into the middle of the room with his stool. my groom, a robust man who had been a soldier, and whom i had taken chiefly as a guardian spirit for the like cases of need, when he saw this, seized the other junker w. by the collar, so that he could not stir. 'what,' said he, 'you villain, is it not enough for you to come here so constantly, to fill your hungry body and to fatten your meagre carcass? do you choose to give my master this _deo gratias_? the devil take me if one of you stir; i will so trim his junker jacket, that there shall be a blue fringe on his bare back for six weeks.' 'we have nothing to do with these quarrels,' answered the two; 'if brother vogelbach has begun one, he will know how to carry it out like a true cavalier.' the latter had meanwhile picked himself up, and was about to seize his sword. 'keep your miserable blood-drawer in its scabbard,' i said, 'or i will assuredly stick the broken leg of this stool into you if you are not satisfied yet.' thereupon he held his tongue, and went away with a black eye, accompanied by his noble companions. they mounted their horses and rode out of the gate. but as soon as they considered themselves safe, then they began to rail; they nicknamed me a hundred times a trade-fallen ostler. one of them tried to fire his pistol, but could not succeed; doubtless because there was neither cock nor trigger to the lock. at last they perceived that i was coming after them with half-a-dozen peasants; so they, hastened off, and sent me, about a fortnight afterwards, all three at the same time, a challenge, in the belief that i should never have the courage to meet them sword in hand in the open field; but they found themselves much mistaken. "being fearful, however, that the whole swarm of surrounding _krippenreiters_ would fall upon me, and unite in giving me a good drubbing, i took with me two troopers who were then in the country, and in the first pass gave v. such a good cut over the shoulder, that his sword fell from his hand, which he could no longer use. w. therefore lost at once all courage, so that on my second fight he was fain to make peace. no one conducted himself better than michael von s., whom i had before considered the most faint-hearted. he fought well enough, till at last this threefold duel ended thus: the two companions were reconciled to me, but vogelbach stipulated to have two more passes on horseback as soon as his arm should be healed, which, nevertheless, he has not carried out up to the present day. "thus i obtained rest from the brawls of '_krippenreiters_,' though there was no diminution of their visits; nevertheless, i soon experienced a much greater and more costly annoyance. my vendor had not only cheated me a good deal in the sale itself, but had concealed from me also an important redeemable interest; besides which, he had not given up all that was set down in the inventory. so i was obliged to bring a complaint against him before the government, and to employ an advocate. it was long beginning i was little disposed to do so; it was my wish to obtain the daughter of some good citizen with a few thousand thalers, and thereby to improve my housekeeping. but the false friend who over-persuaded me to the purchase, advised me to marry no one that was not of the old nobility, and also in the neighbourhood. 'in the first place,' said he, 'it is very uncertain whether the gentleman will meet with a rich party in breslau, although he has got ennobled. but further, such city ladies as these have so little knowledge of country housekeeping that they do not even know a cow or an ox, nor what cheese or curds are. but the gentleman's household requires a mistress who has been brought up to it from her youth; such a marriage also is the only means of forming his children in time into country nobles.' with this view he proposed a lady of the neighbourhood, and offered himself to be the wooer. 'she is pretty, a good housekeeper, has some fortune, and is of old family; it will be impossible for the gentleman to find all that together in the city.' when i asked him what was the extent of her means, he boasted that it was thalers. i certainly doubted this, even then, as it was so large a marriage dower for the country, that any baron would have snapped at it; yet i let myself be persuaded at last, as the lady was not ill-educated, and my new nobility had driven all sound sense out of my brain. i soon found that the above pretended thalers sank to ; even these were pending in a doubtful lawsuit, which would scarcely leave as much as would amount to the costs incurred, or as would pay for nuptials suitable to my position. nevertheless, in the beginning i loved her on account of her good looks, and everything was knocked out of my head. as she had brought with her, however, no jewels, clothes, or other female ornaments, i inquired once of my lady mother-in-law where the chains, rings, and two taffeta dresses were, in which i had found my love dressed when i wooed her. but she answered me with a jeering smile, that if i had got her only in her shift i ought to be content, and feel thankful that such a noble family had demeaned itself so far as to give me their child, and they would still have trouble enough to wipe off this disgrace among their friends, who would decidedly not have consented to this marriage. but as concerned the dresses and ornaments, i must know that they had other daughters to think of and provide for. it was, besides, the custom in the country to procure a dress and ornaments which might do for two or three daughters; when one of them was smartly attired, it was the duty of the others to attend to the housekeeping, or if guests arrived, to feign illness, and content themselves with bed, till it was their turn. therefore i must be satisfied, and if i would not let my wife appear so as to be a disgrace to me, i should, out of my own means, provide her with dress and ornaments befitting a noble lady. thus all my ready money went, especially as the wedding had cost me much, for almost the whole province, with their wives, children, servants, and horses, fastened themselves upon me for a fortnight, and i could not rid myself of them so long as anything was to be found in the kitchen and cellar. also what i procured for my wife was never rich and costly enough to please her and her mother; they always found some deficiency, and wished to have everything more perfect. "nevertheless, i controlled myself, and would have minded no expense, if i had only gained the smallest thanks for it; but what most pained me, was to feel that neither my wife nor any of her friends held me in the slightest consideration. moreover my dear mother-in-law was a thoroughly malicious, proud, false woman, and as, according to the root of the tree, so are the leaves, her daughter followed in her footsteps. and as on this account i could no longer be fond of her, my groom often met with more friendly looks than i did. i had no reason to complain of her relatives not visiting me, for they did so oftener than i liked, and they did their best to consume all that they found. they thought that the devil would take them if they called me brother-in-law or uncle; the brotherhood must be considered all allegorical, and my mother-in-law took care, that the word 'son' should not escape her lips, especially if strangers were present. never were they so comfortably together as when i was absent at breslau or elsewhere; then they had the best opportunity to make themselves jolly at my expense, and they did so with some wine of which i kept three or four bottles in my cellaret for myself and my wife, and i found it quite empty when i returned home. yet even that might have passed, if they had only not taken from me the corn from the ground, nay, even the cows and calves without my knowledge, and conveyed them away secretly for their noble relatives. but he who receives four thalers, and has to spend six, has no reason to care for a purse. so that i could easily calculate that in a short time i should become as good a _krippenreiter_ as my neighbours. "but it pleased god to deliver me from this danger by the death of my beloved, who died in childbirth. even under these circumstances i had to undergo a severe storm from my vexatious noble mother-in-law. she filled heaven and earth with her lamentations over the decease of her daughter, and wished to persuade all the world that the good woman had died of grief, that she had not married suitably to her position, and that it had been her (the mother-in-law's) fault i bore with her folly for a time, in hopes that the game would some day come to an end; but at last she broke out still further, and desired to have the ornaments and dresses i had bought for her daughter, and whatever else she had in her keeping, for another daughter. i threw at her feet some rags she had brought with her, and caused the corpse to be placed in a respectable coffin in the family vault, without inviting the mother-in-law or any other relations. i then determined to sell the property at the first good opportunity and betake myself again to the city. "sitting one evening thoughtfully at the window, looking at the servant doing his work, i accidentally observed that some one was at the gate defending himself with naked sword against the assault of the dog. i called out to the servant to hold back the dog, whereupon i was accosted by a well-dressed man with many compliments. 'my lord uncle,' he said, 'will not take it amiss if, according to knightly fashion, i do myself the honour of calling on you for a night's lodging in order to have the honour of making your acquaintance.' 'not in the least,' i replied, 'if the noble gentleman will please to be satisfied.' i invited him in, and as the cavalier was so free with his cousinship, i could easily perceive that he was not of the neighbourhood. he soon let me know that he was a free knight of the empire, from alsace, and had been so ruined by the french, that he preferred turning his back upon his burnt property to submitting to their sway; now he was going to the imperial court to seek military service. i could perceive the emptiness of this braggadocio from his knowing none of the noble families with whom i had made acquaintance in a former residence in alsace. therefore i dealt cautiously with the fellow, and the good lord and brother of the imperial nobility was obliged to be satisfied with a straw mattress and pillow for his head. when i rose the next morning, i found neither junker nor bedclothes, and missed, besides, my sword and pistols, which i had left in the sitting-room. i forthwith ordered my servants to mount and pursue him with clubs, and if they found the rascal, to knock him down and then let him escape, but bring back my things; for i was convinced that the man was a pickpocket, and that i should gain no advantage by his capture, but an expensive penal process, and have at last to pay for his hanging. the servants found him with his booty in the nearest wood, and executed my orders thoroughly. they brought my things back, but these cost me dear in the end; for, scarcely four days after, my place was burnt over my head in the night, without doubt by this rascal, so that i could hardly save the dwelling-house, but was obliged to look on at the destruction of the barns and stables, which with corn and cattle were burnt to the ground. "this misfortune disgusted me so with country life, that i only built a couple of stalls for the remaining cattle, and shortly afterwards sold for thalers the property for which i had given . after that i betook myself to the city." such is the narrative of the country householder to the young dutchman. a few days after, the stranger had an opportunity himself of observing the life of an impoverished silesian country noble. a young herr von k., an educated and travelled cavalier, invited him to the property of his parents, and asked him to take a ride with him from thence to a neighbouring property where a christening was to be celebrated. the herr von k. begged our hero to consent to allow himself to be introduced as a major in the dutch service, "for i know," he said, "that otherwise these noble peasants will have no scruple in giving you the last place, and will show you no consideration, in spite of your superior education, and although, without impoverishing yourself, you might easily buy the whole of their property put together." what the dutchman then observed he relates as follows:-- "the entertainment was of such a nature that there was no danger of the table breaking down under the weight of the dishes: a good dish of small fish with onion sauce, calf's head and trimmings, the whole interior of a pig in as many various dishes as there were parts, a couple of geese, and two hares; besides this, such rough watery beer, that one was soon obliged to have recourse to not much better brandy. in spite of this the society, which consisted of some twenty persons, was right merry, and the ladies more lively than the affected mercantile ladies of the city nobility. when the table was removed, a portion of the cavaliers danced about merrily to a couple of fiddles, and the room was filled with the fumes of tobacco. then frau von k. began, 'i have taken a fancy for this foreign cavalier, and have hopes that my son, who is also an officer, will be as much loved and esteemed in other places.' frau ilse von der b. answered, 'i, dear and honoured sister, am quite of another opinion. i could never exercise such tyranny on those belonging to me as to thrust them among these fierce soldiers, for i hear that they sometimes fare badly enough--have no warm beds for many nights, and besides, have no one to make them a mug of warm beer or bring them a glass of brandy. if i should hear that my son had been devoured by a long-necked tartar, such as i have lately seen painted at kretschem, i should be choked with grief. therefore, i have thought it better to maintain my junker hans christoph as well as i can on our little property at home. i must acknowledge that he has already cost me more than enough; for when i fitted him out as became a noble, my two best cows went, and i have not been able to replace the loss. but what does that matter; i see with pleasure that he knows how to behave himself like a nobleman. only see, dear honoured sister, does he not dance nimbly, and hasn't he got a capital knack of whirling round with the ladies; he does not refuse to drink a glass of beer or brandy with any one; tobacco is his only pleasure in life; in all societies he makes himself so agreeable, that he sometimes does not come home for three weeks, possibly with a black eye. from that i can quite believe that he lays about him, and defends himself valiantly like a cavalier. such also shall my junker martin andres become.' the junker who was standing by her, laid his head on the lap of his dear mother. 'the wild lad knows already that he is a junker, therefore he does not desire to learn, but prefers riding in the fields with the young horsemen; he has already got into his head that he must wear a sword. this is a new anxiety to me, for i well know that in the end it will cost me a horse, and without special help from god, i shall have to part with a couple more cows. i must, however, buy him an alphabet, for his father always wished him to become a thorough scholar, as he himself was. yes, if it cost nothing, and it were not necessary to buy so many expensive books for the learned lad, it would delight me. my eyes run with tears when i think how beautifully his honoured father said grace after meals, and did it as well as the pastor; also how he once recited before the prince, for a whole half hour, something, i know not what, in pure latin. one thing pleases me much in my martin andres, that he has such a subtle, reflecting head. he himself suggested to me to help him sometimes to gain money, by allowing him to keep the redemption money for the stray cattle impounded on my fields. he is so intent upon this that he lurks the whole day in the corn to catch a couple of pigs or the like, whereby he has already gained as much as half a thaler. but, nevertheless, if i only knew for certain that my junker hans christoph would prosper in this war business, like your noble sons, honoured sister, i would not let another year pass without endeavouring to persuade him to go. if he would but become for certain an officer or a baron, and obtain a rich wife. she, however, to suit me, must be of true, real, noble blood, for otherwise, i swear she should never be permitted to appear before me, even though she were up to her ears in gold. and who knows, dear honoured sister? i have all my life long heard that in other countries the nobility are not so good as with us, and that in holland, from whence this officer comes, the women are driven to the market naked as god has created them, just like the cows. for my deceased honoured mother's sister, the dear frau grete von t. lived to see her son devil-ridden, and he brought home just such a wild woman. this so grieved her that she did not live much longer, and she could not be persuaded to see this wild woman more than once. but to return to my son. junker hans christoph, if it should so happen that he were not sent among the tartars, nor obliged to be a sentinel, i would try to persuade my old maid, who altogether reared and waited upon him, to accompany him for a year, and look after him, to wash his shirts and keep his head clean, and i would provide for her by sowing a half peck of flax seed on her account.' "the frau von k. would, probably have given a good answer to this nonsense, if she had not been led off to dance by herr von k. thus she left the old lady alone, with whom the junker vogelbach, who was present, and had a tobacco-pipe of a finger's length in his mouth, held this discourse:--'how are you--how fares it with you, my honoured and dear cousin? i observe that you rejoice to see junker hans christoph enjoy himself. my word for it, he is an honest lad; i could have wished that he had been with me some days ago, when i had a tussle with a 'peppersack' of breslau; he would have seen with wonder how i belaboured the fellow; he had to beg for life, and afterwards to give a stately banquet in the best style to me and my seconds, at which we so enjoyed ourselves, that the good wine flowed like a river.' to this the old lady von der b. replied: 'it is truly to your honour that, for the sake of a drinking bout, you make yourself so common with the citizens; and, above all, you, junker martin heinrich, who are always hankering after wine, if only you can catch a glass, you drink in brotherhood with all sorts of people, be they citizens or nobles. yes, you, indeed, as i have heard, call these peppersacks uncle or cousin. if i could be sure of this, i swear that all my life long i will never call you cousin. tell me, what is that scar you have on your forehead? without doubt you have got it in another quarrel with them. that would do well enough if you would only not mix with the citizens.' "'do you take me for a fool,' said junker vogelbach, 'that i should call these fellows uncle or cousin, though the emperor should have given them ever so grand a patent? brother is well enough, so long as they give good wine; but we say, henceforth we will let the knaves alone.' "meanwhile the guests made themselves merry with tobacco, drinking, and varied converse, during which the dutchman remarked, that, of the two tolerably well educated daughters of the host, one only was to be seen at a time at the dance, and each was dressed from head to foot the same as the other; from which he concluded that these good maidens were obliged to content themselves with one and the same dress, and that whilst one danced in the room, the other, who had retired, had to wait patiently without till her turn came again. 'are not those dear children?' said their mother, who had seated herself with the other ladies, to frau von der b.; 'they do all in so noble and suitable a style, it does my heart good to see how everything becomes them. if the peppersacks in the city were to hang ever so much finery about them, the citizen would still peep out.' 'you say rightly,' said the other; 'my heart leaps within me when i see these city people swagger about in such fine dresses and ornaments, in their gilded carriages. think i to myself, be as ostentatious as you will, were you every day, even to drink pearls instead of your best wine, you are still citizens, will remain citizens, and can never become equal to us.' "amidst such woman's prattle, laughing, shouting, dancing, and jumping, the night wore away, and as von k. could well anticipate, that this entertainment would be concluded with the usual brawls and quarrels, he gave our dutchman a wink, and retired with him to the house of a peasant of his acquaintance, where they passed the night on straw. the groom of the herr von k. awoke them the following morning, saying, if they desired to witness a three-fold fight, in which vogelbach would be the most distinguished combatant, they must rise quickly and betake themselves to a spot near the village, on the polish frontier. neither of them having any desire to do so, von k., who felt ashamed that his countrymen were such ragamuffins, made a sign to his groom to be silent; they then mounted, and rode away conversing together pleasantly." here we conclude the narrative of paul winckler. about the year , the habits of the country nobles became more civilised, their life more comfortable, and the bands of _krippenreiters_ became rarer. still, however, individuals were sometimes tempted to defy the weak laws of the country, and repeatedly did the governments exert themselves against the cunning and violence by which unlawful possession was taken of the property of the deceased. still did the greater part of the country nobles suffer from the burden of mortgages; frequent were the complaints about the rashness with which they were given and sold; and, as it is usually the custom to cheat in drawing up such mortgage-deeds, they far exceeded the value of the estate. under these circumstances, there were everywhere legal auctions, where they were not prevented by feudal tenure or family regulations; only too frequently were the wax lights again seen burning, which, according to old custom, were burnt on the morning of an auction, and the duration of their flame marked the time during which the bidding of those who were desirous to purchase would be accepted.[ ] in most of the districts of germany the acquisition of a nobleman's estate depended on the _ritterrecht_, or laws and usages prevalent among the nobility in that district. undoubtedly this custom was not in accordance with common law, but almost everywhere the noble proprietors of the district formed a powerful corporation, which excluded those who were not noble from the fall enjoyment of seigneurial rights of _standschaft_, and from their assemblies. even where those who were not noble were capable of holding a fief, they were so only under limitations. sometimes the citizens of certain privileged cities had the right of acquiring the properties of noblemen, but this expired as soon as they ceased to belong to the favoured city. an exception, also, was sometimes made in favour of the city councillors forming part of the government of the country, and members of the universities. but the general rule was that those not noble, could only occupy a property as a mortgage, not with seigneurial rights as a possession. even those who had been ennobled were not free to acquire a nobleman's estate as a possession; it required the consent of the rulers of the country or of the noble states. in the imperial hereditary provinces this right could only be obtained by those noblemen who were raised to some rank of the higher nobility; and even then this right had to be purchased in each individual case, and from the sovereign ruler, and secured by a diploma. the emperor endeavoured to obtain money even from the old families by obliging them to renew this right by the purchase of a general diploma for all their members. but the imperial court imposed other limitations, dividing, up to the most modern times, the last escutcheon of its nobility into _edle_, nobles, _herren_, gentlemen, and _ritter_, knights. whoever was transferred from the order of citizens to that of nobles or knights, could not be buried with mourning horses and escutcheons if he continued his vocation as a citizen. and so far did imperial administration reach, that even in a noble lady was forbidden to marry a lutheran ecclesiastic, because that would be unbecoming a noble.[ ] but the approach of a new time may be clearly perceived, soon after , in the life of the noble, as well as that of the peasant. it consisted in a better tone of feeling, both as head of a household and as a landed proprietor. a new literature started up suddenly, large and copious compilations, in which were introduced systematically the duties and secrets of agriculture, husbandry, and housekeeping; also of domestic and gentlemanlike education and training; they are respectable folios, handsomely bound and adorned with copper-plates, and it was considered meritorious to educate yourself from them. in , von hochberg had already dedicated his "country life of the noble" to the landed proprietors of upper austria soon after, the count palatine, franz philipp, under the name of florinus, wrote a similar work, "to the prudent householder versed in the law." already, in holstein, and soon after in mecklenburg, the system of double rotation was introduced on the properties of the nobility. at the same time there was in most of the wealthy old families an increasing interest in art and science; it was thought becoming to have some historical and legal knowledge, to be acquainted with family traditions, and well versed in the aids to history, numismatics, and heraldry. the wives of the country nobles were benefitted by the deeper earnestness of the new pietism, and also, after , from the sensible, sober character of the new culture. they were so often told that it was praiseworthy for a lady of rank to concern herself about her household affairs, and to bring up her children as christian gentlemen in the fear of god, that one may well believe that these views entered into their daily life. about , a travelled nobleman describes with pleasure what the daily work of the housewife ought to be. indeed, a nobleman, in the middle of the last century, who lived peaceably on his property, and was tolerably wealthy, had a right to consider himself as one of the most fortunate representatives of his time. he lived uprightly, concerned himself about the great world no more than was necessary, lived in familiar family intercourse with the whole nobility of the neighbourhood, was only occasionally tipsy, reared his foals, sold his wool, and disputed with his pastor; by moderate strictness he got on tolerably well with his villeins, and had but rarely a suspicion how detrimental even to himself was the servitude of his labourers. if an old family was in danger of becoming impoverished, they were advised by the aforementioned zealous and well-meaning coadjutor of the noble, to marry with a rich heiress of the respectable citizen class, in case of necessity the family of the lady might be ennobled, and provided with ancestors on both father's and mother's side; the business, it is true, caused a small blot on their escutcheons, but it would be folly to regard that much. but the old families were saved from sinking again into the people by numerous lucrative privileges. very large was the number of benefices and prebends, and of sinecures in the cathedral church, in the orders of malta and st. john, and in the monasteries of the nobles and other ecclesiastical endowments; and there was hardly an old family that had not some connection with them. very general was the feeling among the nobility, that the roman catholic nobles were better off, because they could more easily provide for their sons and daughters; whilst the protestant princes had seized most of the foundations. with pride, therefore, did the so-called knights of the empire in franconia, swabia, and on the rhine, look down upon the landed nobility; the imperial capitulation not only assured them privileges, dignity, and greatness, but they were also closely united with the ecclesiastical princes and the foundations in their territories, and their families lived, with almost heritable right, to numerous ecclesiastical benefices. but, unfortunately, this support had not the effect of ensuring lasting prosperity to their families; nay, it was a chief cause of many becoming impoverished and corrupted in their isolation. but still more fatal to the lower nobility was a privilege to which, even in the present day, they cling fast as a valuable advantage, and the lowering effect of which is not confined to them,--their right of admittance at court. the principle that any of the old nobility must have free access at court, and that it was not befitting a prince to have social intercourse in any other circle, acquired great importance after the year . at this period the german courts gradually developed the tendencies which they have maintained up to the present day. the imperial court, and that of louis xiv., were the pattern; but, at the same time, old home usages were continued at particular courts. ever greater became the number of court appointments; needy princes even sold them for money.[ ] the lord steward was over the whole court. there was a marshal, called "_hofmarschall_" who had charge of the royal household; on occasions of ceremony he marched in front, with his gold staff and keys, and at the festive table he stepped behind the chair of his gracious sovereign as soon as the confectionery was served. the lord high-chamberlain really superintended the wardrobe of his royal master; sometimes with the advice of the royal lady, his wife, and distributed the cast-off clothes, not only to the valet, but to poor cavaliers.[ ] his office also was important, for the costumes at most of the courts were numerous and various; it was only at the prussian court, and those connected with it, that the simple military coat of home-made cloth was the usual dress. elsewhere, not only the gala dresses, but also the special costumes and fancy dresses for the high festivals, were subjects for great consideration, and it was no trifle for the chamberlain to ascertain accurately how the wardrobe at the different entertainments should be fittingly arranged; as when, for example, at the turkish garden near dresden the whole court appeared as mussulmen, or when an extraordinary coronation dress was to be invented, as for the elector friedrich august of saxony at the coronation at cracow.[ ] even the stable became noble; it was under the master of the horse, as the hunt was under the grandmaster of the chase. as ceremonial had become the peculiar science of court, it was represented at most of the great courts by a grandmaster of the ceremonies. none watched more jealously than the princes themselves the marks of honour which they were to give and receive at visits; if on a visit sufficient respect was not shown to them, they rode away in anger, and threatened reprisals. endless, therefore, were the complaints and grievances laid before the emperor and aulic council; and yet this jealous watch over externals was not the result of self-respect, for in dealing with the powerful they were but too deficient in this. regulations concerning precedence were always being renewed; almost every new ruler had pleasure in thus showing his supremacy, but, in spite of all ordinances, the disputes about rank, offices, and titles were endless--worse than the men, were the ladies. in , at one of the royal courts, all the ladies of the nobility left their places in church because the daughter of one of the newly ennobled officials--a "_wirklichen geheimerath_"--sought for a place in their choir. this wide sphere of trifling interests gave great importance to the nobility, calculating from the imperial court at vienna down to the household of the baron of the empire, who always maintained one or more poor _junkers_ in his circle; together with the collateral and lateral branches of the greater families, it might be estimated that there were somewhere about or court households in germany, besides households of "knights of the empire;" so that, undoubtedly, there were more than court offices and employments. the enormous number of these court places was not advantageous to the manly character of the noble. to be able to endure with smiles the humours and roughness of an unbridled sovereign, to be complaisant as the pliant servant of the despot's licentious desires, and of the mistresses' establishment, was not the worst effect. he was in imminent danger of becoming so base that the coarseness of the poor _krippenreiter_ appeared comparatively virtuous. it was a period when the noble mother gave her daughter with pleasure into the arms of the profligate prince; and when the courtier gave up his wife to him for money. and it was not only done by poor nobles, but also by the offshoots of royal houses. the nobles in some german provinces took the opportunity of practising similar complaisance, even in our century, towards napoleon's princes and marshals. but the worst was that the great mass of the court nobility drew also the families of landed proprietors, who were related to them, to their residences. sensible men were never weary of complaining that the country nobles no longer dwelt on their properties to the great damage of their coffers and morals; but thronged to the neighbourhood of the princes to ruin themselves, their wives and daughters in the pestilential atmosphere of the court. but these were fruitless warnings in the greater part of germany till the middle of the eighteenth century. those who had more manly ambition filled civil or military offices. there was a peculiar aspect, also, about these nobles that bore office. if the son of an old family studied law, he easily gained by his family connection the situation of councillor; and rose from thence, if clever and well informed, to the highest offices, even to be _de facto_ a ruler of states, or political agent and ambassador at foreign courts. besides divers rogues who were drawn forth in these bad times, there were also some men of education, worth, and capacity, among the german nobility of this class, who already in the time of leibnitz formed the real aristocracy of the order. it became gradually customary for nobles to occupy the highest official positions and the posts of ambassadors, after they had become an established court institution; also the appointments of officers in the army. whilst the imperial armies, to which the young nobles from the greater part of germany were attracted, retained, even after the reforms of prince eugene, somewhat of the aspect of the old landsknecht army under the hohenzollerns; the new organization of the prussian army formed the ground-work of an excellent education for the officers. the elector frederic william had perceived that the wild country nobles of his devastated realm could be best turned to account in the army which he created amid the roar of cannon in the thirty years' war. he restrained their love of brawls by military discipline; regulated their rude sense of honour by _esprit de corps_ and military laws; and gave them the feeling of being in a privileged position, by raising none but nobles to the rank of officers. thus was effected one of the most remarkable changes in the civilization of the eighteenth century, especially when king frederic william i. and frederic ii. had so emphatically declared that every prince of the hohenzollern house must be both soldier and officer, wear the same coat, be under the same subordination and the same law of honour as the most insignificant _junker_ from the country. thus it happened that the descendants of many families that had lived as drones in the commonwealth became closely bound up with the fondest recollections of the people. but this political privilege of the nobility became, it is true, even in the state of the hohenzollerns, a source of new danger to the families of the nobility, and, which was still more important, to the state itself. we shall have occasion to speak of this later. thus the nobility, about , were at their highest point--everywhere the ruling class. thousands of their sons did homage, in both the great and small courts; scarcely a less number established themselves in the stalls of ecclesiastical endowments, occupied prebends and carried imperial "_panisbriefs_"[ ] in their pockets. the softest seats in the senate, the foremost places in the state carriages of diplomats, were taken by them; almost the whole of the state domains were in their hands. but it was just at this period that a great change took place in the minds of the german people; a new culture arose, and new views of the value of the things of this world spread themselves, quietly, gradually, imperceptibly, no one knew how or from whence. the german sentences received a new cadence; german verses became less majestic, and soon even simple. this new seeking after simplicity spread still further. certain bold enthusiasts ventured to despise powder, and perukes; this was contrary to all etiquette, but new ideas and new feelings came into circulation. beautiful tender hearts, and the dignity of man were spoken of. soon, also, distinguished personages among the nobility caught the infection, even sovereigns; the duchess of weimar went with a certain wieland in a carrier's cart; two _reichsgrafen_ von stolborg were not disinclined to bend the knee to one klopstock, and embraced by moonlight the citizen students. among the _bel-esprits_ of the citizens who now gained an influence, none was more adapted to reconcile the nobles to the new times than gellert. he was not genial: he knew well what was due to every one, and he gave every one his proper place; he had a refined, modest disposition, but was rather a pessimist; he was very respectable, and had a mild and benevolent demeanour towards both ladies and gentlemen. great was the influence that he exercised over the country nobles of upper saxony, thuringia, and lower germany. the culture of the new time soon got a footing in these families. the ladies especially opened their hearts to the new feeling for literature, and many of them became proud of being patronesses of the beautiful art of poetry, whilst the gentlemen still looked distrustfully on the new state of things. as in germany, poetry had the wonderful effect of bringing the nobility into unprecedented union with the citizen class, so at the same time in austria, music had for a time a similar effect. but there were greater results than the mere poetical emotions with which kalb, stein, and the loveable lengfelds received the german poets. science now began to speak more earnestly and more powerfully. what she commended or condemned became, as if by magic, among hundreds of thousands, the law of life or the object of aversion. not many years after , in a wide circle of highly cultivated minds, which included the most vigorous of the burgher class, together with the noblest spirits among the nobility, the privileges which gave the nobles a position among the people, were considered as obsolete; and the state ordinances which preserved them were regarded with coldness and contempt. again there came a stern period; the noble generals of the prussian army could not maintain the state edifice of the old hohenzollerns; they were the first to give up the state of frederick the great, and pusillanimously to surrender the prussian fortresses to a foreign enemy. one of the necessary conditions for the preservation and restoration of prussia and germany was, that the nobility must renounce their valued privileges in civil offices, and officers' appointment. since the rising of the people in , the life and prosperity of the state has mainly rested on the power and progress of culture in the german citizen. the citizens are no longer, as in the middle ages, a class confronting the other classes; they form the nation. whoever would place himself in opposition to it by egotistical pretensions, begins a hopeless struggle. all the privileges by which the nobility up to the present day have sought to maintain a separate position among the people, have become a misfortune and fatality to themselves. many of the best among them have long comprehended this; they are in every domain of intellectual and material interests, in art, science, and state, the representatives of the new life of the nation. even the country noble, who within the boundary of his village district holds faithfully and lovingly to the recollections of the olden time, has in some degree made friends with the new time, and in some sort yielded unwillingly to its demands. but among the weaker of them there remains even now somewhat of the hearty disposition of the old mounted rovers. the modern _junker_ is an unfavourable caricature of the nobility; if one observes closely, he is only a pretentious continuation of the old krippenreiter. under uniforms and decorations are concealed the same hatred of the culture of the times, the same prejudices, the same arrogance, the same grotesque respect for decaying privileges, and the same rough egotism with regard to the commonwealth. not a few of these court and country nobles still consider the state like the full store-room of a neighbour, as their ancestors did two centuries ago; against these rise the hatred and contempt of the people. chapter iii. the citizen and his shooting festivals. ( - .) it is on the simple truth, that every man is only valuable to his nation and state in proportion to his work, that the power and pride of citizenship rests; that is to say, in so far as he contributes to the welfare of others. but eighteen hundred years were necessary to establish this principle, and to make it perceptible to germans, and still does the struggle continue to realize it, to introduce into the cities free competition instead of the corporate privileges of guilds, and into the state the right of personal character against the rights of birth. and yet it is only since this truth has penetrated into society, morals and legislature, that a sure, and as far as man can judge, indestructible foundation has been formed for the vitality of the nation. so slow has been the progress here of modern development. it was from the capacity and the pride of the working citizen that the conviction arose in the german mind of the value of work. it first made the serf a free labourer of the commonalty; then it created a wealthy citizen class which spread itself firmly between the other classes; then it helped to add science to the mechanical labour and art of the citizen, and thus made him the representative of intellect, the guardian of civilisation, and the centre of the national strength. by this he ceased to be one of a class, and formed the essential element of the nation. nothing is more instructive than to observe the way in which the power of the german citizen became effective. however great was the industry, and however much developed the technical skill of handicraft under the roman supremacy, the collective industrial activity lay under the ban of disregard. in the cities indeed at the beginning of the great migration, the remains of a sumptuous life still continued amidst marble columns and the vaulted halls of costly baths; and the guilds of the old handicrafts, with their chapels and exchanges were not only the casual forerunners of the later guilds of the middle ages, but perhaps their real progenitors, from whom the germans acquired numerous handicraft implements and technical dexterities; nay, even many noble customs. but a great portion of the handicraft of antiquity was not the work of freemen: at least where anything of the nature of manufactures paid well, slave labour increased. nevertheless, many freed men entered the old guilds; having been furnished by their masters with a small capital, they bought themselves into a roman corporation: but it must be observed, that not only was such handicraft held to a certain degree in contempt by the full citizens up to the latest time, but the artizans, according to roman tradition, were allowed little share in the government of the city; they had, together with undeniable local patriotism, a deficiency of the political culture, the self-respect, and the capacity of self-defence of free-born citizens. even among the ancient germans, who came with the great migration, manual labour was not considered the most honourable occupation of the warrior; the poor alone used to cultivate the fields or to forge weapons at the smithy; long did the feeling remain, that there was less honour in earning money than in taking the property of others, in the shape of imposts or booty. under such a condition of insecurity and violence did the cities arise. they were surrounded by strong walls, and shut out from the country, as once were the cities of old latium; they were the refuge of oppressed country people, not only from the incursions of enemies, but also from the numerous small tyrants of the open country. for centuries they were governed by privileged free-born citizens, merchants, and speculators, similar to the roman empire; but under the patricians, the guilds were strengthened in the course of long and often bloody struggles within the walls; they acquired a share in the government, with essentially equal rights and equal duties. as a free man capable of bearing arms, the german citizen found that he could obtain riches, consideration, and affluence by means of his handicraft and his art. at the end of the middle ages, it became clear that the intellectual life of germany had taken root in the cities. undoubtedly handicraft was under different conditions to what it is now. whilst the common produce of individual mechanical labour was accurately defined in respect to material, form, and price, and the creative energy of individuals was entirely restrained by the traditions of their city and guild, a creative tendency appeared in all that required more delicate handling. the painter still rubbed his colours himself, and melted the varnish, but he also carved in wood, and engraved copper-plates. albert dürer still sold in the market stalls picture sheets with woodcuts, for which perhaps he himself made the letter-press, whilst the arrangements of houses and churches frequently remained fixed, even in respect to size, in all fundamental points, the countless and often too florid details of the arabesques in the stonework showed the inward satisfaction with which the builder, when permitted the free exercise of his own fancy, followed the impulse to give expression to his own mind. the goldsmith was also designer and modeller; he took pleasure in making every article of value a work of art, into which he threw his whole soul. but it was just this union of restrictive tradition and free invention which was so beneficial to the handicraft of the cities, developing everywhere greater wealth, higher morality and culture. throughout the whole country the cities became like the knots of a net of free societies, to which the gentry of the rural districts, far behindhand in civilisation, were in constant hostility. long did an active hatred continue betwixt the money-getting citizen and the predatory landed proprietor; and on both sides there was bitter animosity. it is true that the noble order of landowners were held in greater consideration; they were sustained by the pride of noble blood and of military skill, and by a multitude of prerogatives and privileges; but in fact the money-making citizen had already acquired the best rights, for so completely did he engross the whole culture and wealth of his time, that without him the country would have relapsed into barbarism. thus he became the aid of the reformation, and the victim of the thirty years' war. but even after the devastation of that period, he, the weak and impoverished artizan of the city, felt himself a privileged man, whose prosperity depended on the superior rights he possessed. he endeavoured carefully to guard against strangers the privileges of his guild, of his patrician chamber, and of his community; he was only helpless in his relations with his sovereign. he was still an order in the new state, from which other orders were excluded. his work had lost much of its excellence, and this weakness has lasted up to the present day. not only were trade and commerce impeded, but the technical skill of most of the artizans became less. wood carvings and painted glass had almost perished, the arts of stone and wood carving were at the lowest ebb, and the houses were built small, tasteless, and bare. printing and paper, which the small printing presses had deteriorated already before the war, continue poor even in our century. equally so were the arts of the metal workers, goldsmiths, and armourers. the works of the cabinet-maker alone maintained their excellence through the rococco time, though even the _chef d'[oe]uvres_ of the celebrated meister von neuwied could not compare with the artistic chests of the augsburgers about ; the art of weaving also, especially damask, came into fashion soon after , but not in the cities preeminently. the new trades which attained to great importance, like that of peruke-maker, were of doubtful value to the national industry. equally great was the change which took place after the thirty years' war in the social life of the citizens, in their intercourse with each other and with strangers. in a former volume it was shown to what an extent individuals withdrew into their families. it is worth the trouble of examining more nearly what they lost by this. first, that feeling of self-dependence which the most diffident man acquires by frequent intercourse with strangers, the capability of co-operating with others in a larger sphere, of representing a conviction, acting in a manly way, and not submitting to any affront or unjust treatment, but at the same time yielding up pride and pretensions to the common weal; added to this the skill to organise themselves in new positions and more extended society, and to accommodate themselves to these altered circumstances. such a tone of mind, the groundwork of all man's political capacity, was to be found in abundance at an earlier period. the power of the empire and of the princes having become very weak, the aptitude of individuals to act in masses was strongly developed, but after the war the laws of the newly-formed states pressed with such an iron hand, that all the art and practice of self-government was lost. this change shall be here shown, in a single phase of citizen life--the great prize shooting festivals. they are more especially adapted to give a picture in detail of the stately and splendid public life of the german citizen in olden times, and to show that we are only now beginning--though certainly with higher aims--again to attain to what our ancestors had already found. it has been a german custom, older than christianity, to celebrate the awakening life of nature in may. this has always been a martial feast, in which the fundamental idea of the old heathen faith, the victory of the awakening divinities of nature over the demons of winter, was dramatically represented. in the rising cities it was the warlike youth of the freeborn citizens who lead the may sports, and in the hohenstaufen time these sports assumed the form of fashionable knightly festivals. thus in the year , at magdeburg, on the borders of the rhine, where saxon blood had formed one of the strongest fortresses of german life against the sclavonian, the whitsuntide feast was celebrated quite in knightly style. the young mounted yeomen arranged a great tournament in their elbe island "the marsh," under their maigraf, bruno von stövenbecke; the arrangements were all written down, and the merchants of goslar, hildesheim, braunschweig, halberstadt, and quedlinburg invited. they came splendidly-equipped, and courteously broke a lance with two young comrades of magdeburg in front of the city, and then rode festively through the gates to the island on which many tents were pitched. the prize settled by the magdeburgers for this may tilt was, like the figure on their coat-of-arms, a maiden.[ ] an old merchant from goslar won the beautiful sophie; he took her with him and married her, giving her so good a dowry as to enable her to live ever afterwards honourably. a century later, in may , the magdeburgers celebrated a great festival on the "marsh," and again they contended for a maiden; but the combat was no longer in the style of a tournament, such as their bishop held at the same time on the other side of the city, but it was in a great archery court. to this archery meeting they again invited the friendly cities of brunswick, halberstadt, quedlinburg, aschersleben, blackenberg, kalbe, salza, and halle. a citizen of aschersleben won the maiden. during this century there was a great change in the life and constitution of the german cities; the patrician youth with their knightly customs were no longer the representatives of the power of the burgher class, the commonalty of the city already began to feel themselves masters, and their weapon, the cross-bow, gained the prizes. soon after , the societies of archers arose in the german cities, with their regulations, archery houses, and yearly shooting festivals; as a brotherhood they erected an altar or built a chapel, and obtained from the pope's legate absolution for all who attended the mass, which they established on the day of their patron saint, the holy st. sebastian. these guilds were favoured by the city magistrates, who helped to arrange the great prize shootings of their city. but however much the citizen bow superseded the knightly lance at the feasts of arms of the cities, some of the terms of knightly language continued long in use. the prizes were still in the sixteenth century called "_ventures_;" still longer did the term "_tilting_" denote the contention between individual marksmen who had shot into an equal number of circles, and a "course" signified a certain number of shots. after the time of that archery court of the magdeburgers, mutual shooting festivals are mentioned by the chronicles of other cities. they were quite common, at least in southern germany, about ; for example, munich sent its archers almost every second year to contend in the neighbouring cities, and the "customs" of the public shootings were already at that period firmly established. thenceforward they spread over the whole of germany, increasing in magnitude and splendour. they, as well as the german burgher-class, were at their highest acme about ; in the century of the reformation they became more extensive and costly, and more diversified in customs and characteristics, but shortly before the thirty years' war they showed many symptoms of decline. the increasing power of the princes, and the commencement of modern court splendour, were mixed up with the old customs--the festivals became very costly, and a refined love of pleasure began to appear. prize-meetings were not only established in the cities, they were held sometimes by the princes and wealthy nobles, as early as the fifteenth century, and still more frequently when in the century of the reformation armour and lances declined in importance. the great landed proprietors of the neighbourhood, or the princes of the country, were received as honoured guests at these meetings of the cities. still the archers were for the most part citizens, and the occasional princes and nobles were placed under their banners. at an early period even free peasants were allowed to enter the lists, but this became rare in germany after the peasant war, though they continued to do so in switzerland, where a powerful peasantry have never ceased to exist. the equal right of all, without distinction of ranks, both as to prizes and penalties, is a citizen characteristic, and by far the greatest number of associations, as well as the most important, came from the cities. during so long a period many of their usages altered, and others were developed in different provinces, but yet the unity of their proceedings from the oder to the rhine, from the alps to the vistula, is very striking. they represent during this whole period a brilliant phase of german life, the noble hospitality exercised by martial city communities towards other friendly cities. the self-respect of the citizen found in them its most powerful expression. many characteristic qualities of our forefathers are more especially perceptible in them; pride in their own city, a lively and sensitive feeling of honor even with respect to friends, satisfaction in appearing in processions, whether on serious occasions or in sport, and in representing with dignity, and above all, pleasure in showing, on public occasions, among many thousands, their manliness, worth, and charity in word and deed. if a prize shooting was determined upon in a city, messengers bore the proclamation of the council, and frequently also of the archery association, to their good neighbours far in the country. the number of cities invited was sometimes very great. in , cities were invited to one shooting festival, held at halle, and archers came from fifty, though the weather was bad and the prizes not high. at strasburg seventy places were represented in , in there were cross-bow men sent from thirty-nine places to zwickau, amongst them were three swabian peasants from göppingen, all of whom, to the great vexation of the proud citizens, won prizes. at the cross-bow shooting at ratisbon, in , thirty-five towns were represented by cross-bow men. at the costly prize-shooting in , at dresden, twenty-one of the invited cities sent representatives, but eleven did not. but the hospitality was not limited to those alone who were invited: at an earlier period special prizes were, assigned to those who came from greater distances; thus the augsburgers, in , rejoiced that a german marksman came even from paris, and another time a marksman, who came from striegau, in silesia, obtained a golden ring, the prize for strangers. sometimes it was expressly denoted in the invitation that every qualified man was welcome, or the places invited were requested to spread the notice among the nobles and archers of their neighbourhood. when the feasts became very costly, the uninvited guests were, though allowed to shoot, not entitled to a share in the chief prizes which had been assigned by the giver of the feast. that such limitations were, however, not usual is shown by the grief of the two amstädters, who, at the cross-bow shooting at coburg in ,[ ] were excluded by the duke johann casimir from his principal prizes; they wished to return home, and were with difficulty persuaded to remain. in the programme all the conditions of the prize-shooting were accurately enumerated; with fire-arms the weight of the ball, and with the cross-bow the length of the bolt was accurately defined; for the latter the size was generally established by a parchment ring, the distance from the stand to the target was given in feet, and the length of the usual foot was expressed by black lines in the programme. sometimes they measured by paces, in that case two of the stranger competitors, a neighbour from the nearest city, and one from the most distant, stepped the distance and settled it together. the number of shots also allowed to each was affixed on the butt and target. at the smaller meetings in ancient times, they were about twelve, fifteen, or sixteen; later, at the great meetings, they rose to thirty, forty, or even more shots. with fire-arms the shooter sometimes fired three shots in succession from his place, but with the cross-bow only one, and they shot in divisions, quarters, and standards, sometimes arrayed under banners according to the towns. at the grand cross-bow shooting at ratisbon, in , a pattern meeting of moderate size, the protestant and catholic places were carefully divided. then each of the three, four or five standards had to shoot in a definite time; when all the standards had shot once, it was called one shot, or one course, the best shot of each standard of each course was called the bull's eye. the most ancient weapon was the cross-bow, with steel bow and bolt, which was stretched by a pulley; it began to supplant the hand bow and arrow shortly before , but the latter was still used in the army for some time, for example, in the burgundian war, nay, it was sometimes used in the sixteenth century, at the shooting games.[ ] the cross-bow, after , became shorter and more handy, and at the end of the prize-shooting festivals, a smaller one was used with a trigger for amusement. the cross-bow was drawn in braces, or secured in a network, so that no accident might arise if it sprung; the bolt with an iron point and a feather shaft was provided for the popinjay, with filed iron teeth, which, in hitting, split the joints of the wood; the pointed or, later, the blunt bolt served for target practice; the archer shot without a rest. the cross-bow, up to the thirty years' war, was considered by the prize-shooters as the most distinguished weapon, and continued so, even long after it had been supplanted by fire-arms in war and in the chase; it was more especially retained by the aristocratic party, the princes and patricians. if a prize-shooting with crossbow and fire-arms was announced, the competition between the cross-bow and the arbalat was at the beginning, the fire-arms at the conclusion with inferior prizes; much of the fun of the festival was attached to the cross-bow shooting. but at the beginning of the sixteenth century, at all the prize shootings, the use of fire-arms had increased at least twofold. about the year , fire-arms began to be heard at the prize-shooting festivals. at ausgburg, in , hand-guns and muskets were used, and guns with small lead balls. in the first prize shooting with arquebuses and muskets was held; afterwards the hand-gun in its various forms always prevailed. the practical swiss were among the first to give the preference to fire-arms. as early as , at the great prize shooting at zurich, only guns were announced; after that, at important festivals, both weapons had prizes assigned to them, but at smaller ones frequently only fire-arms. the gun of the prize-shooter, up to , was the smooth hand-gun for one ounce balls, with a straight or crooked stock,--all grooves were forbidden.[ ] the shooter fired without a rest; the gun when fired was not to rest upon the shoulder; it was not to be supported by any strap in the sleeve or round the neck; it was only to be loaded with one ball; the gun was only to have a small round sight at the end. after rifled weapons, for the first time, received prizes at special meetings. at basle, in , a prize shooting for arquebuses was announced, the distance feet, the target two and a half feet round the nail; and for muskets with crooked or straight grooves and balls of one ounce--distance, feet; target, three and a half feet. it must be mentioned, by the way, that sometimes at great shooting festivals heavy guns were also used, such as arquebuses, falconets and serpents, as in strasburg , at breslau in , and frequently at leipsic, where these exercises were preferred; however splendidly these festivals, after the pattern of the old prize shootings, were appointed, they had more especially a practical aim, and were not generally attended by strangers. different as the weapons so was the mark. the bird on the pole was very ancient. but when guests began to appear in numbers the bird was inconvenient. the duration of the shooting could not be reckoned upon; a violent wind easily diverted the course of the bolts. at last the pole fell altogether, or the bird broke off, before it was shot into splinters; the falling splinters also gave occasion to much quarrelling and discontent. the consequence was, that in the greater part of germany, the more convenient shooting butt very soon supplanted the bird at all large cross-bow meetings; this was the case in switzerland and suabia. on the other hand, the thuringians, meisseners and silesians, long adhered to the bird. in breslau the popinjay shooting was practised in great perfection; there, after , a heavy bird of silver, richly gilded, with gold chains and golden shield, and the city arms on the breast, was carried before the king of the shooters. but at the prize shooting of the silesians many birds were set up of different colours and with prizes of different value. thus in breslau, in , they set up three birds--red, green, and black; each person who knocked off one of the forty joints of the birds gained a silver spoon; but, besides this, there was also cross-bow shooting at a mark, a small square target. in the year there were again three at breslau; and at the grand shooting at löwenberg, in , there were five birds. the fallen splinters which had not brought special prizes were weighed, and only those of half an ounce were of value. but the butt targets, also for cross-bows and fire-arms, were various. for the cross-bow a small circular plate, sometimes plated, and the outer circle painted with a garland, was fixed on the dark shooting butt, and after each course exchanged for a new one; for the fire-arms there was almost always a hanging target, and in at breslau a shield--that is to say, a painted wooden table. the distance from the shooting stand to the mark for the cross-bows was , and later feet; for the fire-arms from to feet. these are wide distances for weapons so imperfect in comparison with our times. on special occasions, when any young princes attended the festival, nearer marks were prepared for them--a half distance,--and other prizes. at such shooting feasts the whole of the adjoining court took part. the preparations in the city began some months before the feast. the lodgings were prepared for the guests; the safety of the city was provided for; the goldsmiths worked in silver the prize cups and vases, and struck also medals and show specimens; the tailors stitched incessantly at new festival dresses for halberdiers, pages of honour, and motley personages; the shield painters drew arms, garlands, and ciphers, on more than a hundred standards. on the shooting ground the lists were marked; wooden boards brightly coloured, and adorned with representations of fir-trees, garlands, and colonnades; the interior of the shooting-house was newly painted, and later carpeted; shooting-stands and pavilions erected for the shooters, and clerks booths; outside the lists there were kitchens, bowling-grounds and booths; also a spring for the water-drinkers, which, in case of need, was newly dug. especial care was taken, at these cross-bow meetings, of the small target where the bull's-eye was. as these cross-bow meetings were in all respects arranged in the most finished style, and were a pattern for other similar shooting-meetings, we will describe many of their usages. the target place was a large wooden building, that represented the front of a house with doors and many stories, or looked like a triumphal arch, or a temple with cupola towers, or sometimes like the high wooden altar of the sixteenth century, all beautifully painted with the colours of the city or country, ornamented with coats of arms and figures. at strasburg, in , there stood great sculptures, a griffin and a lion keeping watch on each side; beneath, in the middle of the building, was the butt, either covered with some dark colour or canvas. it could be turned round by mechanism, in order that after each course the bolts might be drawn out without danger, and the butt provided with a new circular plate, for the next shooting meeting of the society. sometimes the whole heavy building which rose above it was movable, and turned to face the rows of seats for the different divisions of shooters. beside the butt itself, there were in the building sometimes small projecting guard-houses, or little turrets, for the markers, from which they could watch the target without being hit. at the top of the building there was a complicated clock, with the ciphers from one to four on the dial-plate, and over it a bell. on the highest point stood generally a movable carved figure, often fortune on a ball (for example, in , at strasburg; , at ratisbon; in , at dresden), which after a bad shot turned her back on the shooter; or as at coburg, in , a mannikin on a tower, who after a good shot waved a banner, or for a bad shot mockingly bit his thumb. when these preparations of the honest citizens approached their completion, it became necessary for the council to search out some of those minor officials of the festivities whose occupation is not what can be called very noble, but was quite indispensable, the _pritschmeister_.[ ] for a great festival, four, five, or more of these fellows were desirable; but they were not to be found in every city. if they were not at the place, they were sent for to nüremberg and augsburg, or wherever else in the country they happened to be wandering. it was a very ancient vocation that they followed at the same time that the fantastic city tournaments of the young patrician were transformed into the useful shooting exercises of the martial citizen, this tomfoolery had changed into a peaceful civic occupation, which retains something of the duties of the old herald, and not less of the old festive jesting of the roving fool. they were criers, improvisatori, police-officers, and buffoons of the prize shooters; they understood accurately the _convenance_, manners, and every ceremonial of the shooting-ground; gave good counsel to hesitating regulators of the festival; delivered the poetical festival speeches; punished light transgressions against the rules of the shooting-ground with the fool's baton; and even helped at the festive banquet, when necessary, by a rough joke, or even by serving. they had come from far, and knew how to deal with proud princes and strict councillors. when it was not festival time, they carried on a modest trade that did not require much perseverance. but sieve-making or the wool trade did not please them in the long run: at least they describe themselves, in the numerous verses they have left behind them, as poor devils,[ ] who eagerly looked out for the rumour of some great festival at court, and went many days' journey, speculating whether perhaps they might have an opportunity to exercise their office at some prize shooting. if they did not succeed in that, there still remained to them the pleasure, during the festival, of waiting upon old patrons among the shooters, and, by dint of toadying, of obtaining wherewith to fill their hungry stomachs; finally, they had the old consolation of poets, to describe in verses the occupation they had no longer the pleasure of joining in, and collecting remuneration for these verses. it is true that their descriptions of friendly and distinguished prize shootings are almost always in very bad rhyme; but they are very valuable to us, because they introduce us to the smallest details of those festivals. the office, too, of _pritschmeister_ is worthy of observation. it is only in accordance with german nature to make the fool the police-officer of the festival. the blow of his baton strikes the lord as well as the peasant boy, and his irony lashes the arrogant prince's son, and brings the colour into the cheeks of the most impudent. the sensitive pride of the _junker_,--every offence to which, from a yeoman of the guard, would have been resented as a deadly affront,--unresistingly suffered the _pritschmeister_, in the exercise of his office, to seize and drag him to the place of punishment. but even the jests of the _pritschmeister_ are deserving of observation, for they are lasting; an endless variety of tricks and pleasantries, a definite hereditary art of being merry, typical forms of foolery many hundred years old; and they were earned on with a certain earnestness,--nay, even pedantry. undoubtedly these stale tricks had their irresistible effect only when men were disposed to be in a merry humour, but their antiquity makes them to us like woodcuts, in the angular lines of which there lies a certain charm. when, for example, at the end of the shooting, the unfortunate shooter, who had won the last prize, received this prize,--a sow with six young ones,--from the _pritschmeister_, who wished him happiness, and calculated at length the increase of the porcine family in his house from year to year, and that he would after three years become master of head, the hearers of the joke were not the less amused because they had heard the same reckoning made ever since their childhood on similar occasions; for it acts like a melody, that exercises its greatest magic on the hearer when it has become familiar to him. the _pritschmeister_ knew well that it was his duty to be a fool. it is true, there were some proud fellows among them who were ashamed of their cap; but they were derided by their own companions. thus in , the _pritschmeister_ of zwickau was serious and haughty; but he suffered for it under the contemptuous shrugging of the shoulders of his colleague, benedict edelbeck, who had wandered from bohemia to the prize shooting, and knew better what became a _pritschmeister_. they bore also certain tokens of the fool,--the cap, and a striking variegated dress, in the colours of the city, which they kept as a festival present. at particularly distinguished shooting feasts they were very grandly attired; for example, at coburg in , there were five of them who wore the colours of the royal house,--yellow silk waistcoat, black hosen, yellow english stockings, long black and yellow knee ribands, beautiful cordova shoes with silk ribands, a spanish velvet hat with yellow feathers, a kasseke with loose sleeves, red, yellow, and black embroidery before and behind, with coats of arms; besides all this, the large club, and round the knee a string of bells, which rattled loud. their batons, often preposterously large, of leather or of split clacking wood, and sometimes gilded, had much to do on the shooting-ground. with them they cleared the lists of the thronging people, and punished those who transgressed the rules. anyone who ran between the shooter and his mark after the clock was set, anyone who disturbed the shooters at their stand, who misbehaved from drunkenness or insolence, or who injured the weapons of strangers from wantonness or spite, fell under their jurisdiction without respect of rank; and this jurisdiction was exercised in a remarkable way. far on one side of the shooting-ground was erected a conspicuous scaffold, on which were two coloured benches. this building was called, according to an old bitter jest, "the gallows;" and later, the "_pritschmeister's_ pulpit;" to it the culprit was led with many grotesque ceremonies, there laid upon the bench, and belaboured with the baton in a way which was neatly expressed in the old technical language by this sentence, "his head was cut off at the tail." at the same time the _pritschmeister_ delivered a discourse, which did not make his position more agreeable. one may conceive how attractive this practice of the law was to all who did not partake of it. the custom was carried on through the whole of germany, most moderately by the serious swiss, and decorously and impartially in the cities. at a later period, when great princes arranged shooting festivals, traces of royal humour are to be found, which enjoined the performance of this scene on minor personages for insignificant misdemeanours. thus, after the prize shooting in , elector johann georg diverted himself by having not only some scullions, but even one of his bears cudgelled; the bear had to be chained to the bench. the _pritschmeister_ obeyed his electoral grace, but in his inward heart he felt that such things were not in his office. as assistants to the _pritschmeister_, some of the most idle boys of the city were chosen, and they also were put in fool's attire. among this insolent brood the most zealous guardians of the law were to be found; they easily learnt some of the tricks of their master, and they carried goose wings, wooden clappers, and short pipes. they fell like a pack of hounds on any peasant child that ran across the shooting-ground, and greeted such as had shot ill with grimaces and monkey gestures. at coburg they went in procession in a great band, dressed in black linen with white seams and patches, following a tall dark man, who wore a similar dress, and trousers after the old landsknecht fashion. he was the head shoemaker, martin pauker, a gloomy, haggard fellow, who never spoke a word, but during the whole shooting was incessantly assuming grotesque disguises. in the procession he trailed along an enormous linen banner, the doubtful badge of honour for those who had shot worst of all; but on the return home he bore the great kettle drum, which he allowed to be beat upon his back; on the shooting-ground he appeared as a wild man, enveloped in straw and brushwood; then as a monk or nun; but soon he came in a splendid dress, riding on an ass, and at last waddled about in bearskin; he was always disguising himself, always drunk and dismal, but he had his own quiet enjoyment in the whole affair.[ ] if _pritschmeisters_ were engaged by the givers of the feast, and the city was in repute for doing its duty, possessed good friends, and had announced grand prizes, there was sure to be a great concourse. the invited cities had the festival announced to their citizens by affixing public notices, or by proclamations. it was with them an affair of honour to be represented by good marksmen, and these frequently received money for their journey out of the city coffers, in return for which, when they went home, they handed over the silk banners they had won to the council or shooting society. these deputies were generally men of distinction; but besides these there were other citizens who went to the meeting at their own cost. thus at coburg in , besides the four shooters who were sent by the city of schweinfurt, one hans schüssler, a small, insignificant man, had come on his own account. his fellow-citizens looked askance at him and excluded him from their society, but he hit the bull's-eye at the first shot: then he jumped for joy, and exclaimed, "i was not good enough for my country people to bring me with them; now, god willing, i will do better still." he made the most bull's-eye shots, and won a beautiful goblet. a day or two before the festivities, the strangers who came to shoot arrived from all parts. the council had to provide them with cheap quarters, and it was enjoined on the citizens that they were to abstain from annoying them. many of the strangers met with a hospitable reception from some of the cities. if royal persons were invited, their arrival was announced by a courier; they were received by the council, lodged, and provided with the usual gift of honour,--wine, beer, and fish. sometimes a preliminary shooting trial took place with the guests who had arrived before the first day of the festival; on such an occasion at ratisbon in , a beautiful large goat, covered with red lund cloth, together with a beautiful banner, was presented by the council to the best shot. in suabia and bavaria a goat thus attired was often given at these smaller shooting trials. on the morning of the festival the _pritschmeister_, with the city band, went through the streets, calling the strangers to the meeting at the shooting-ground. the givers of the festival marched in solemn procession, the _pritschmeister_ in front; behind, the markers, equally in new dresses and the colours of the city, their marking rods in their hands; then the trumpeters and fifers; next the dignitaries and marksmen of the city, followed by a train of young boys of the city, all dressed alike in festal attire, sons of families of distinction, who bore the small target banners; after them perhaps, led by a _pritschmeister_ or some other jovial personage, the boys with the contumelious banners, the derisive distinction of the bad shots. then came other boys, who bore coloured chests, in which were the bolts and the principal prizes of the shooting. the large and small goblets were either brought out during the procession, or placed in a special pavilion on the shooting-ground, under the care of the city police. on the shooting-ground the drum was again beat, and the marksmen called together by the _pritschmeister_. the deputy of the city then delivered a solemn address of greeting, in which he called to mind the old friendship of the invited cities, and expressed his best wishes for the festival. the _pritschmeisters_ went again with music round the shooting-ground, and one of them proclaimed aloud once more the programme of the invitation, and admonished the marksmen to collect together by cities, and choose their "_siebeners_" or "_neuners_." these were magistrates of the shooting-ground, the higher judges of shooting law; they were chosen out of the most distinguished men of the town, some by the givers of the feast, others by the shooters according to their districts. if the larger cities, nüremberg, augsburg, or magdeburg, were among the guests at the beating of the drum, it was decided by them which should be chosen as representatives of the strangers. the free imperial cities were more particularly designated for this, equally so any royal personages present, who often even undertook the wearisome task of "_neuner_." these were treated with particular distinction at the entertainment. among them were the secretaries, frequently three, who noted down in special tents the announcements of the shooting. every marksman had to show beforehand his bolts and bullets, cross-bow and gun; each bolt was examined, whether its iron point could pass through the opening of the parchment ring, for the thicker bolts made a larger opening in the target, and the measurement being taken from the edge of the hole to the centre point, the difference of thickness in one bolt would be prejudicial to the others. if the bolt was proof-worthy, the name of the possessor was written on the shaft, and only bolts so inscribed could be used. every shooter had, besides, to make his money deposit before he was allowed to shoot. these preparations occupied many hours, often the greater part of the first day. the time was frequently filled up by a collation, given by the city council to the strangers who shot: in the earlier and more moderate period it consisted of wine, good beer, and simple food, fruit, cakes, butter and cheese. when the marksmen were inscribed and had made their deposits, they were divided into "quarters" or banners,--three, five, and more banners; frequently each "quarter" had its special stand. now at last began the great shooting in "courses," or "shots with the cross-bow," so that the "quarter" shot one after the other, each shooter one shot. opposite to the place of the target, in a special wooden building, were the stands of the shooters. but their method of shooting appears striking to us. before the beginning of the course, a _pritschmeister_ went over the shooting-ground with fifes and drums, and called the marksmen by divisions to their stands. they pressed forward to it in haste, and sat in rows, according to regulation, by lot, each in the stand to which his name was affixed. as long as the division was shooting, no one left his stand, and none of the neighbours must disturb them by word or movement. thus they sat, cross-bow in hand; then the _pritschmeister_ called out, "marker, set the clock going." at the signal the hand was set in motion, each "quarter" being signified by the striking of the clock. during this time each marksman was to shoot; he shot sitting, at least such was the custom in the interior of germany after the middle of the sixteenth century, but they were not allowed to support either themselves or their crossbows. when the hand had finished its circuit round the clock, the bell sounded, a steel mirror was lowered by a hempen cord, and covered the dial-plate, and a grating either rose from the earth, or descended from the wooden building in front of the butt, in order to guard it from the eager shooters. then began the labours of the _neuner_, secretaries and markers. if the butt was movable, it was turned round. behind it stood a table for the secretaries, the inscribed bolts were drawn out, the bull's-eye shot and those in the circles were transcribed, the farthest shot also was noted down. but the marker filled up the holes made by the bolts, blackened the injured places in the butt, and put on a new plate. in this way the collective divisions of marksmen having fired one shot, the bolts were borne in solemn procession with the _pritschmeister_, fifes and drums, to the shooting-house: there the less successful bolts were placed in the box of their owner, but those which had been distinguished shots were laid in an ornamental wooden _attrape_; in zwickau, in , it was a large white swan, the city arms. the bolt of the bull's-eye had a place of honour, and the most distant had also a distinguished place. after this first course the distribution of prizes began. they endeavoured to give marks of distinction in every direction, and to provide as many marksmen as possible with prizes; but our ancestors did not object to humiliate by bitter jests those who had performed ill. prizes were awarded to those who hit the bull's-eye, also to those who had shot oftenest near it, and if his remaining shots were not near enough for him to gain a chief prize, he had a special present. but the great prizes were for the marksmen who, at the end of the shooting, scored the greatest number of shots in the circles. all who could not obtain a prize within the prescribed number of shots, had the right, before the end of the meeting, to contend among themselves for smaller prizes. all the prizes of the festival, were settled by the givers of the feast, and they were reckoned in the programme collectively with their worth in silver. every shooter at the beginning of the festival before his name was inscribed, had to make a deposit of money; this deposit was not insignificant, and became higher in proportion to the pretensions of the festival. whilst at a former period two gulden had been deposited, it rose to six and eight imperial gulden in the last fifty years of the prize shootings; indeed they deposited as much as twelve imperial thalers at the cross-bow shooting given by the elector johann georg at dresden in , which, according to the value of silver and corn, would answer to about thirty thalers of our money. but undoubtedly all prize shootings were not so aristocratic. a portion often of the deposits at these festivals was voluntary. the obligatory deposits were turned into secondary prizes, and these were distributed in small sums among as many of the shooters as possible. with the voluntary deposits, small articles of plate were frequently bought for an after-shooting. sometimes also the giver of the feast spent something for this; in that case these deposits of the shooters were employed as small money prizes for the after-shooting. with all the prizes at the great shooting feasts large and small banners were presented, with the colours of the town or country, and the arms or garlands, painted on them, and often also the value of the prize. to bear away such a banner was a great honour. the strangers took them proudly to their homes, and delivered them to the council of their city, or to their shooting brotherhood, who had paid the costs of their journey. very modest at first were the prizes of the victors: they were long designated as "ventures:" a romantic charm still attached to the foreign word, which originated in the jargon of the old tournaments. a fine ram was the first prize at munich about , and at kelheim in . soon afterwards an ox, a horse, or a bull, and the animals often covered with a valuable cloth: thus, in , at nüremberg, a horse covered with a red cloth was the best. the secondary prizes were small goblets, silver vases, girdles, cross-bows, swords, or a prize which has always been a special object of preference with the inferior shooters, and everywhere, up to modern times, has clung to shooting societies--material for a beautiful pair of small-clothes. he who came from the greatest distance to the shooting, received, at augsburg, in , a golden ring. but at the same place, in , the first prize was already a sum of money, forty gulden; and the horses and cattle were the last. they rose rapidly in value at augsburg in ; gulden was the best, and about this sum became usual: in , at zurich, gulden was the chief prize, the second, and so in succession down to one gulden, all doubled for cross-bows and guns, and, which is not rare at the swiss shooting meetings, all in money. the prizes continued to rise in value; at leipzig, in , for the cross-bow gulden; at the great shooting meeting at strasburg, in , the first prize for rifle and gun was imperial gulden; at basle, in , for muskets (with rifled barrels), a goblet worth gulden. this sum, according to the value of silver and corn, answers to thalers of our money. the chief prizes then, were money or plate, goblets and vases of all forms and sizes, of that elegance and taste which distinguished the work of the goldsmith in the sixteenth century. the deposits also were frequently paid in special coins and medals, which were coined for the festival, large and small, and also gilt,--often _klippen_.[ ] sometimes a bull's-eye shot was rewarded by a _klippe_, which was hung to the victorious banner. at the costly cross-bow meeting at dresden, for each bull's-eye shot was given on the banner a gilt medal, weighing five imperial thalers--almost exactly a quarter of a pound of our customs weight. smaller towns also coined medals and _klippen_; they continue as choice rarities in our collections of coins, and show the greatest diversity of emblems and devices, of size, form, and value. small silver pieces were coined for children and the poor, and distributed in remembrance of the festivals. but besides these good prizes, there were also tantalising prizes. the last shot who could make any pretence to a prize was honoured with a doubtful distinction,--he received, according to old custom, as has been already mentioned, amidst many derisive congratulations from the _pritschmeisters_ the smallest money prize, and an animal of the pig tribe, great or small, sow or sucking-pig, according to the humour of the giver of the feast; besides that, a good prize banner, but with satirical figures on it. at the coburg shooting, in the year , it is reported that this banner was particularly and beautifully embroidered, but one may assume that its emblems did not occasion any great pleasure to the possessor. the banners and presents to the worst shots were a caricature of the prizes for the bull's-eye; and he who had made the worst shot of all was obliged, at least at the last period of the prize-shootings, to carry at the end of the festival, surrounded by the fools, a gigantic coarse banner of sackcloth. when the bolts of the bull's-eye shots and of the most distant shots were placed after the first course in their _attrape_, the _pritschmeister_ went up to his pulpit; he then called forth with a loud voice the best shooter of the first course, and greeted him with a short extempore speech in doggerel rhyme, wherein he extolled his deserts and his prizes; he then announced to him that, as a memento of the shooting, he will receive a beautiful silk banner, to which was appended a silver _klippe_; besides this, a tin plate with a fried trout on it, a roll of bread, and a glass of wine, together with an orange. skilful musicians, trumpeters or pipers, went before, and conducted him to his seat. thus did the fortunate marksman march amidst music; the officials of the city delivered to him the banner and the coins, with the jovial plate of honour. afterwards the _pritschmeister_ distributed to the other circle shots, and finally he called to the unfortunate who had made the widest shot; he did not advance willingly; the _pritschmeister_ bowed himself before him and said, "look to it, you fine shot, that you learn your art better. i have here some lads who will teach you how to hit. you need pay them no money. franz floh, take the brush and sprinkle him with holy water; it is very possible that he is bewitched. come, hans hahn, and ring your wooden bells about his ears! yet i observe that you are a good christian; you wish to leave something to others; therefore, dear tantalisers, take him under your protection; the man has deserved well of others; pipe a beautiful dance before him, and bite your thumbs at him, but be decorous, and do it behind his back. bring him his gift of honour. first, a banner of the kind of satin in which peasants bring their oats to the city. the _klippe_ which hangs on it is unfortunately only of tin; besides, there is a plate of wood, and on it a fine whey cheese; instead of the orange an apple, and in an earthen bowl a drink of light beer." thus did the _pritschmeister_ deride him, and at last presented him with a fool's cap and cock's feathers. meanwhile the _pritschmeister's_ boys yelled, rattled, and piped around the marksman, cut summersaults, and followed him with their grimaces up to his stand, whilst a bagpipe-player preceded him, and forced from his bags their most dissonant tones. it was afterwards seriously maintained by the marksmen that in this buffoonery those with the highest pretensions did not come off better than the rest. but to the person concerned it was very painful. he seldom succeeded in concealing beforehand the widest bolt, which always excited general displeasure. to princes who were present some consideration was shown: at least, the words of the _pritschmeister_ to them, which are printed, sound very mild. if the sovereign himself had made the widest shot, one of his suite took it upon himself, as at zwickau in . thus was the festival carried on, round after round, each succeeded by the rewards. these interludes took not a little time; thus it happened that not more than seven or eight courses of shots took place in a day, still less at the great meetings. at the end of the festival, in most of the districts in germany, the shooting was interrupted by a pleasing custom which shall here be described as it took place, in the second half of the sixteenth century, in the cities of suabia, franconia, thuringia, and meissen. many of the most distinguished maidens of the city went in procession, festively clad, accompanied by councillors, city pipers, and yeomen of the guard, to the shooting-ground. one of them carried, in an ornamental box, a costly garland--sometimes of silver and gold, with pearls and precious stones--another bore a beautiful banner. their procession stopped on the ground; then the shooters of a friendly city were summoned, a herald of the city delivered an address, the maidens handed over to them, as a gift of honour from their city, the garland and banner, and invited them to a dance of honour. the invited thanked them in choice language in the name of their city; one of them placed the garland on his head, and they led the maidens in a stately dance over the shooting-ground. such a garland imposed upon the city which received it the agreeable duty of giving the next prize-shooting. it was carefully kept, and mentioned in the programme of the garlanded city as the principal ground of the prize-shooting, in order that the garland might not wither. afterwards, when the princes participated eagerly in the shooting, they also received garlands; if the prince was the giver of the feast, he bestowed the garland on one of the princesses. this old custom bound together the cities of a district in one great festive brotherhood. the dances on the open shooting-ground ceased about the year . but these great citizen festivals offered other opportunities of display of strength and art. when they were in their full vigour in the fifteenth century, there were public games arranged for the marksmen, and prizes appointed for the conquerors. in these games ancient traditions were maintained. they were prize contentions similar to that in the niebelung, of siegfried against brunhild, hurling the stone, leaping, and running. they were in the programme in the prize-shooting of ; the zuricher, hans waldmann, carried off the prize for leaping, who, later as burgomaster, lost his proud head on the block. at the cross-bow shooting at augsburg in , a golden ring was prepared for him who could hurl furthest a stone of forty-five pounds weight, at an easy run, with three throws, according to the laws of the game; a knight, wilhelm zaunried, won the prize. thus also at zurich, in , there were three prizes for hurling stones of fifteen, thirty, and fifty pounds. christoph, duke of bavaria, won the golden ring at augsburg in , for leaping. the task was three springs on one leg with a run, afterwards a jump with both feet, then again three springs on the other leg, and a second jump. in zurich, in , leaps of three different kinds were prescribed: from the spot with both feet, in the run with both feet, and in a run three springs on one foot. all this was done with great earnestness, and was actually notified to the guests in the programme of the council. in prize races in , at augsburg, the course measured paces; duke christoph, of bavaria, won the gold ring also for running. at zurich, in , the length of the course was paces. at breslau, in , the prizes for running were articles of the favourite pewter. besides the men, sometimes horses ran: as at the rifle-shooting at augsburg, in , fourteen horses appeared in the lists; the prize was a piece of scarlet cloth; the conqueror was a horse of duke albrecht's, which he had sent from munich for the races.[ ] at the races at the same place, in , a horse of duke wolfgang's, of bavaria, won a prize of forty-five gulden. wrestling, and even dancing, obtained prizes, as in again, at augsburg. and at the same place a whimsical prize was won by the person who could amuse the people with the greatest lies. to these national popular amusements were added others not less old, but from the traditions of foreign life. the descendants of the roman gladiators, whose rough struggles had once caused great scandal to strict christians, led a despised life as roving fighters[ ] through the whole of the middle ages. in the fifteenth century they had taken refuge behind the city gates and in the guardrooms of the royal court, in various mercenary service, as fencing-masters, soldiers, police, valets, and messengers. out of the secret brotherhoods which were formed by these strolling fighters had arisen associations which were openly tolerated; they were arranged in two societies, as _marxbrüder_ (the fraternity of st. mark), and _federfechter_ (champions of the feather), which cherished a violent antipathy to each other. the _federfechter_ displayed a winged griffin on their armorial shield; they boasted of having received privileges from a duke of mecklenburg, and found later a mild patron in the elector of saxony. at the lists, when they raised their swords, they called out, "soar aloft, feather; mark what we do; write with ink which looks like blood."[ ] the marxbrüders, on the other hand, had for their armorial bearings a lion, and cheered themselves by the defiant rhyme, "thou noble lion, elevate thy curly hair; thou perceivest the griffin; him shalt thou hew down and tear his feathers." they were privileged by king maximilian in . these masters of the long sword were under a captain, and their meetings were held at the harvest fair of frankfort-on-the-maine. thither resorted any one who wished to receive the freedom of their company; he had to fence with four masters, then in public meeting to accept a challenge from any one who chose to fight with him. if he stood the trial, he was struck with the sword of ceremony crosswise over the loins; he then took the oath of fellowship, and laid two golden guldens on the sword; then he received the secret sign of recognition of the brotherhood, and the right to instruct others in his art, and to hold fencing schools, that is to say, to arrange public fights. for a long time these public fights were a pleasure to princes and citizens; after the battle of mühlberg, they enlivened the imprisoned elector of saxony during the great imperial diet at augsburg. it was considered by the people an especial privilege for frankfort, that it was the only town in which one could become a prize-fighter.[ ] the fighters made their way into the prize-shootings--already at augsburg in --especially when princes took a part in the civic pleasures. the procession, and many of the usages of the fighters, remind one strongly of the roman gladiatorial games, though the combats seldom came to so bloody an end. the princes and cities hired whole bands of fighters, who attended at the prize-shootings and other great festivals. thus at stuttgardt, in , the fighters strove in pairs on the shooting-ground; the royal ladies also drove out to see this combat; the first victor received a beautiful waistcoat of taffety; every other prize consisted of two thalers. at a cross-bow meeting at zwickau, , the margrave of anspach introduced a fighting band of forty men, against whom the elector august of saxony arranged his _federfechters_. they contended for two days, in pairs, with the long sword, the wooden sword, the long spear, and the short lance, bareheaded, according to old custom, and some made many passes without conquering the other. there was much bravado in these combats, but they gave rise to great jealousy, violent blows, and bad wounds. the society of fencers outlived the prize-shootings and the great war. they lost the old expressions for their art, but substituted french words, and maintained their position in the larger cities in spite of the foreign fencing-masters. in nüremberg their public combats were forbidden shortly before ; but parties long ran high among the people for the two factions: there was no boy in the city who did not contend for the marxbrüder or federfechter, who frequently gave their performances in private houses. the last great fencing match took place, in , at breslau, in the churchyard of magdalena. on the day when the young king of prussia, with careless mien and dishevelled hair, and his small parade sword, came to receive the homage of the conquered silesia on the throne of the emperor matthias, when the dawn of a new time broke over germany, the old fencers, like shadowy figures of a distant time, performed once more their antics over the graves of a past generation, and then passed away. other popular amusements intruded themselves into the prize-shootings; the pleasures became more noisy, more abundant, and excited; and whoever takes a view of the shooting-ground at the end of the sixteenth century will see, from the proceedings of spectators, that times had altered. formerly the marksmen, among them princes and nobles, had taken part in the public gymnastics; the wittelsbacher had hopped on one leg among the citizens of the imperial town, and had hurled the heavy stone. at the end of the sixteenth century the nobles looked on, so also did the already genteel citizen-marksmen; but the peasant lads came in their sunday attire, with their lasses, and performed their country dance for the amusement of others. there was great pleasure in seeing the peasant maidens compete in running for a camisol or a stomacher; high springs, fluttering dresses, and sometimes a tumble in their haste, excited especial satisfaction, and their village demeanour contributed to increase the enjoyment of others. it was more particularly the princes who took pleasure in all this; there seldom failed to be grotesque processions and dances of the country people, when a prince made the programme of the festival. the pert waggery of the _pritschmeister_ to the country people excited a laughter on the shooting-ground which would be offensive to us. the dancers, in couples, garlanded with the red berries of the mountain ash, or with carrots, advanced on the ground; men threw themselves on unsaddled horses, and galloped past a goose which was hung above them, and the joke was, that they slid off their nags, and the like. the amusement of the children, also, was provided for. there was a jesting fool, who, armed with a shield and short leather club, challenged any one to assail him with a lance. if the challenge was accepted, the fool knew so well how to parry the lance, throw his opponent on his back, and belabour him with his club, that the laugh was always on his side. beside him stood (as at ratisbon, in ) a wild man, who threw balls into his open mouth, nine balls for a kreuzer. a little mannikin was set on a pony: they threw at him with a ball, and whoever hit oftenest won something. spirited boys climbed up a smooth pole to fetch a cock out of the basket which was hung at the top. the shooting-ground was fenced in by barriers or ropes, but alongside it stood the tents and booths, where goldsmiths laid out their goblets, vases, spoons, and chains. the pewter-booths were great favourites, before which they gambled for household utensils, throwing dice in the _brente_, which was painted red and white, similar to our backgammon board; anxious faces thronged round the gambling-booths; vagrants and vagabonds staked more on the game than their last stolen penny; but they were not unobserved, for the city police in their festal attire paced gravely along these booths to see that no offence was committed to disturb the peace of the shooting-ground. special attention was paid by the giver of the feast to the bowling-ground, which was then not so frequently found in town or country, as now. there were often two, indeed three, prepared for the festival; here, also, there were prizes affixed. thus, at breslau, , an ox and pewter utensils were bowled for, on two grounds. in silesia, saxony, and thuringia, they were favourite additions to the festival. but of all that made the festival agreeable to the people, and attained to the greatest development, was an entertainment of a most doubtful character,--the fortune's urn, the modest ancestor of the state and other lotteries. as early as it made its appearance at the cross-bow meeting at munich. in , at the great prize-shooting at augsburg, it was a well-known part of the programme; the prizes were goblets, materials for dress, velvet girdles, and weapons; there were twenty-two prizes, and more than , tickets, at eight pfennigs each; a cook won the best prize, which was an agreeable evidence to the people that it had been carried on honourably. by means of the rifle-shooting at zurich, in , the urn was introduced into switzerland; the tickets there cost one shilling each. the drawing was much the same as now. there was scaffolding erected in the public place, before the council-house, and thereon a booth, in which the prizes were placed; beside it, the secretaries and the urns. there were two urns, into one of which the names of those were thrown who had drawn a ticket, in the other were the prizes and blanks; a boy of sixteen, who was placed between the urns, drew from both at the same time. first, the name was called out, then the prize or blank. the first ticket and the last in the urn with the names, won something; at zurich, a ram; those who took many tickets got them cheaper. in , at zurich, the prizes were already in money; but in germany the pleasant custom still continued at the prize-shootings for another century, of playing for artistic objects of value; the love of gambling was great, the women especially thronged round the urn; and, if one may judge from the lists of prizes that have been preserved, the inferior clergy of the old church amused themselves with fortune's um. seldom, in the sixteenth century, did the urn fail to appear at the greater prize-shootings; it was an important concern, and the chroniclers recorded assiduously the prizes and fortunate winners. thus, only to mention one year, there were, in central germany alone, in , two urns of fortune; for there were prize-shootings at frankenhausen and hof; at the latter the drawing lasted five days; in both cities the last prize from the urn was the jocose prize--a sow, which had been introduced from the shooting-ground into the urn of fortune. in , at strasburg, the urn of fortune was very considerable; there were prizes--the first, value gulden; the sale of the tickets was so rapid that they were obliged to increase the number and the prizes in equal proportion. count palatine casimir, an enterprising prince, had bought tickets, but did not gain much. the zuricher guests also, with their pot of porridge, took some thousand tickets--in the name of the fortunate ship and of their native city--which, together, cost gulden; for this they won silver to about half the amount. the drawing lasted fourteen days, and the throng of people about the urn was so troublesome that at last they were obliged to use force to secure the urn. from these beginnings arose the lottery in italy and holland, in the sixteenth century; first, they played for wares, but soon for money, and it was used as a source of income by individuals, and then by communities. the first money lottery at hamburg was established in . such was the course of the great feasts of arms of our ancestors. for weeks did the multitude buzz about the shooting-ground and booths, and in the streets of the hospitable city. when the society of marksmen had finished the prescribed number of shots, all those to whom an equal number of circle shots had been scored had to shoot for their prize at a special target, and he who made the worst shot had the smallest prize. in the same way all shot for the knightly prize who had carried away no prize from the great shooting. the chief and the knightly prizes were solemnly delivered with the banner; the money prizes were in coloured silk purses, which hung to the banner; prizes and banners were arranged beforehand in long rows for show, for in the olden days they knew well how to make a grand display of such distinctions. then followed generally an after shooting for the voluntary deposits of the shooters, more simple and unrestrained, and sometimes at other distances. last, on the shooting-ground, came the great farewell oration of thanks from the giver of the feast, expressing once more to the guests the pleasure it had given to the city. finally, there was the great march from the shooting-ground to the city. this was an important ceremony. all the splendour of the festival was again displayed in the long procession. trumpets and pipes were blown, the big drum and the kettle-drums thundered, the _pritschmeisters_ clattered with their bats; the dignitaries of the festival, councillors, and _neuners_, marched in front with their long silk scarfs; behind them the fortunate winners of the great prizes, each with his prize borne before him, and accompanied by two men of distinction. the other shooters followed under the banner of their "quarter," and proudly did each carry his prize banner; but the mocking banners also were sometimes to be seen in the procession, and humbly were they carried by their bearers; behind them came the young tomfools. our ancestors were right when they moved with a feeling of elation in such processions. the dress was already rich in colour; men of even moderate income endeavoured to wear rich materials, silk and velvet, on such occasions. all were accustomed to show themselves before others, and knew well how to maintain a stately pace. with a feather on the cap or hat, the weapon by the side, and one arm supported on the hip under the mantle, they strode along in march time, placing their feet wide apart, as is the custom now, thus moving the body in an easy way, now towards the right, now the left. thus they went to the last evening entertainment; those who were departing had often the escort of their friends, for protection and honour, far into the country. there is something very attractive to our feelings in this hospitality given to the shooters. not only were they frequently provided with drink on the shooting-ground during the shooting-hours, and refreshed by a collation, but they were at least once, and generally oftener, entertained in the city, sometimes daily, by the councillors; besides this, there were evening dances, in which the daughters of the most distinguished families partook. these hospitalities to the guests, in the fifteenth century, though very hearty, were also very simple; but at a later period they became sometimes profuse, and when such a festival lasted a fortnight, or, as at strasburg, as much as five weeks, they must have been very expensive to the givers of the feast; more than once did critical chroniclers complain of the immoderate demands on their city coffers. loud reproaches were made even at strasburg, and it was reported of the löwenbergers, after their bird-shooting in , that the city had exerted itself far beyond its powers; for all had been very costly and splendid. in the fifteenth century, they knew better how to calculate. the great cross-bow shooting at augsburg, in , cost the city more than gulden, a high sum according to the then value of corn; and yet the influx of strangers was so great that the augsburgers afterwards said they had suffered no loss. but, indeed, the entertainment of the stranger guests was very simple. the number of marksmen at the earlier cross-bow shootings was not large. at augsburg, in , there were only ; in , ; and in , . after fire-arms had been introduced, at the great country meetings, the number of marksmen was double. thus, in , at st. gallen, there were collected cross-bows and guns; and in , at augsburg, there were cross-bows and guns. according to the old arrangements of the shooting, this large number of men protracted the festival to a great length; consequently, in the sixteenth century, we find efforts sometimes made to limit the number of invitations, but to increase the deposits of the shooters; and it appears that a festival, with from to shooting-guests, was considered most agreeable; in that case it lasted a week; the individual became of more importance, and the body of men was easier to guide. even with a moderate number of marksmen, the concourse of strangers was incomparably greater than it would be now. each marksman was accompanied by a lad, who waited upon him with cross-bow or gun; if princes or nobles were invited, they arrived with a large retinue of junkers, servants, halberdiers, and horses; a large rabble of beggars and rogues also flocked together, and the watchmen of the city had to guard against theft, robbery, and fire. it was not always easy for the givers of the feast to keep order between the inhabitants and the strangers, for, together with a natural heartiness and wish to adapt themselves to their guests, there was in many haughty minds a very sensitive pride of home and self-confidence, which inclined them, more than would be the case now, to turn into ridicule the unusual dress, manners, and language of strangers. betwixt certain districts there always floated, like small thunder-clouds, certain old satirical sayings and ironical stories. swiss and suabians, thuringians and franconians, hessians and rhinelanders, reported laughable things of each other. but a word spoken when drinking, or a mocking reminder, might disturb the peace of the festival, or excite parties to sudden anger; and words of conciliation and redoubled friendliness were not always successful. thus the "_seehasen_"[ ] and the "_kühmelker_" had a severe quarrel at the cross-bow shooting at constance in . a man from constance, who was playing at dice with one from lucerne, called the bernese coin plappart, which he had won, a cow-plappart; the lucerner fired up, blows and uproar followed. the lucerne marksmen remained to the end of the festival; but they complained loudly that the laws of hospitality were broken, and their honour wounded. after their return home the people of lucerne and unterwalden raised the war-banner and fell on the territory of constance, the inhabitants of which had to pay gulden as an expiation. yet, in general, it was provided that such disturbances should be reconciled on the spot, or satisfaction given to the guests. strictly were the shooting regulations administered by the chosen judges, and zealously did hosts and guests endeavour to enhance the feeling of duty in those belonging to them. among the numerous specimens of city hospitality of that time the most pleasing is the kindly connection which existed for more than years betwixt zurich and strasburg, frequently interrupted by many passionate ebullitions, but always renewed. in , six years after the swiss had established the first great shooting-feast at sursee, in the country of lucerne, some young swiss, in the early dawn of morning, conveyed a large pot of hot millet porridge, in a vessel, from zurich to strasburg; they arrived in the evening; threw the famed zurich rolls among the people, and delivered the still warm millet porridge to the council of the friendly city, as a token of how quickly their swiss friends would come to their aid if they ever needed it in earnest; they danced the same night with the strasburg maidens. after that, the excitement and sufferings of the reformation knit new spiritual ties betwixt zurich and the great imperial city. bucer and the swiss reformers, the literati and artists of both cities, had been in close alliance; though differences of confession had for a short time produced alienation. the strasburgers had often experienced the hospitality of the swiss. now when, years after the first journey of the porridge-pot, the city of strasbourg had again announced a brilliant prize-shooting for crossbow and gun, and a strong detachment from zurich had celebrated with them the first fortnight of the cross-bow shooting, then a number of young zurichers, under the lead of some gentlemen of the council, determined to repeat the old voyage. again, like their ancestors, they placed the great metal pot, weighing pounds, filled with hot porridge, in the ship, and voyaged in the early dawn of morning, all dressed alike in rose and black, from the limmat into the aar, from the aar into the rhine, with trumpeters and drummers. the places by which the ship flew, in the sunny mid-day, greeted the jolly fellows with acclamations; in the evening they reached strasburg, having been long before announced from the towers. the citizens thronged to meet them; delegates from the council greeted them; they carried the pot on shore and delivered it to the councillors; they scattered amongst the children of strasbourg strings of zurich rolls, and again were the manly words spoken: "quickly as we have come to-day in sport, we will come to help in earnest." and at the abundant supper the old homely dish, still warm, was enjoyed with pleasure. the strasburger fischart has described with hearty satisfaction the journey of the porridge-pot, and we find in his verses the warmth which then animated both hosts and guests. the course of the voyage of the porridge-pot, and even the sums which the swiss deposited in the urn of fortune--"in the name of the fortunate ship and of the parent town"--were paid by the city of zurich. in return they received the small silver utensils which were won in the urn by the zurichers. the collective costs of the journey which zurich then paid for its marksmen amounted to gulden. it is of great interest to consider these brotherly festivals of the city communities, according to districts. in the middle of the sixteenth century, a journey from nuremburg to augsburg was neither so easy nor free from danger, as now from leipsig to zurich. the birds of prey of the country gladly flew from their castellated eyries into the woods which surrounded, in wide circles, the hospitable city; more than once was the fortunate marksman waylaid and robbed, by noble horsemen, of the beautiful purse with the guldens he had won, and his banner broken. even to greater companies the road was insecure, and the travelling toilsome; the inns at small places were frequently very bad, without meat or drink. it is easily understood that at the largest prize-shooting, to which every unexceptional man was welcome, persons from a distance only took a part when accident had brought them into the neighbourhood. therefore it is matter of surprise that the district to which cities sent their invitations was so large. the wittenburghers were welcome guests at ratisbon and the men of stuttgart at meissen. sometimes accident or the friendship of distinguished citizens, knit these bonds of hospitality betwixt far-distant cities; then the invitations went forty, fifty, or one hundred miles. but, on the whole, we may divide these hospitable cities into groups. the swiss, suabians, and bavarians were in close union. augsburg, more than nuremberg, was long the centre and pattern of these groups. to it belonged the rhine as far as strasbourg. the greatest and most splendid prize-shootings were for two centuries celebrated in this part of germany. in bavaria, about , all the more powerful places were in firm intercommunion. there, the city whose marksmen, at one shooting, had won the first prize, was bound at the next shooting festival to produce the same first prize. thus kehlheim, which had won the ram at munich, invited the munichers, in , to contend for it again.[ ] but smaller festivals also comprehended a wide circle. at ratisbon, for example, the bavarians and suabians shot with the larger cities of thuringia and meissen; also with lindau, salzburg, and some places in bohemia. the tyrolese and salzburghers collected more especially at small shooting meetings of their districts; so also the franconians north of the maine. a lasting union of middle-sized and smaller places existed there. this franconian union comprehended in the sixteenth century, together with würzburg and schweinfurt, forty-one cities and forty-two villages with free peasants, particularly from the bishopric of würzburg and the royal county of henneberg. the chief prize was a neck chain--"the jewel of the country"--which the victor wore round his neck for a year, and which imposed upon the victorious place the duty of giving the next shooting meeting. if the community of the union who had to give the feast was small and poor, the meeting was badly attended. thus at neustadt, on saale, in , only delegates from eighteen cities and three villages appeared. the small participation of the village communities, at this period, is a proof that their strength was diminished in comparison with the former period. another group comprehended the possessions of the house of saxony; the thuringians and many franconians and meisseners who sent the garland to one another. these also zealously maintained the cross-bow at their prize-shootings; the popinjay was seldom erected, except at smaller meetings, where it was long upheld. at these festivals the franconians, up to and beyond nuremberg, were regular guests; some of the suabians and more of the german bohemians. but, on the frontiers of this group, at halle, another association began, the centre of which was magdeburg; here the popinjay was more frequent. thus at the great prize-shooting at halle, in , the expression "shooting court" appears, and many special usages. this circle embraced the harz cities up to brunswick, and the altmark, and reaches further to the east and north, for the people of halle sent their invitations as far as berlin, brandenburg, and even griefswald. again, the cities of the great province of silesia were in close union, with breslau for their centre point; there the popinjay shooting attained to its highest development, and the festivals were very frequent. competition was not unfrequent between two cities; thus, in , between liegnitz and neisse, when the breslauers said, in answer to the invitation of neisse, that they had already accepted the invitation of liegnitz, and therefore could not go. the chief places of meeting of the cities of middle rhine were cologne and aix-la-chapelle; but the great prize-shootings of this country, which flourished at the end of the fifteenth century, were embittered by religious discord. it is remarkable that in the countries of lower saxony, on the north sea and baltic, where the old hanse towns had founded such noble city unions, the prize-shootings were less frequent and distinguished. the most zealous supporters of them were the swiss, suabians, thuringians, meisseners, and silesians. with the swiss these great festivals attained the character of exercises of arms; they were practical and serious; the waggish humour and the tricks of the _pritschmeister_ flourished in middle germany.[ ] it is not accidental that in the whole of the protestant portion of the german empire, the power and comfort of the citizen have been most nobly developed. if these particulars give only a very imperfect picture of the splendour, the opulence, and the independence which were developed in these festivals by the german cities in ancient times, yet they will succeed in making the reader feel, that though we have gained much in comparison with those times, we have also lost something. only very lately it would have appeared hazardous to the greatest city communities to arrange festivals which, according to our rate of money, would cost perhaps more than fifty thousand thalers; not to do honour to the visit of some sovereign, but for the pleasure of german fellow-citizens, and which would last three or even five weeks, and commit many hundreds, or even thousands of guests during this period to the friendly hospitality, partly of individuals and partly of the city community. it is true that time has become more valuable to us, life is enjoyed more rapidly, and we compress into days what would have employed our ancestors for weeks. it is true that modern men seek recreation in summer in ways which were almost unknown three centuries ago. they isolate themselves from the bustle and hard daily labour of the world among mountain woods and alpine valleys; whilst our ancestors, on the contrary, sought pleasure and refreshment in large societies of men, and left the narrow boundaries of their walls,--the guild room and the council hall,--for those great re-unions in which they could gain honour and prizes by their own exertions. but it must not be forgotten that it was just in those last two centuries in which the great civic festivals became impossible, that many general interests were developed in german citizen life, which, however unsatisfactory they may be, form an immeasurable step in advance of the olden time. there is also a fundamental difference in culture which distinguishes us from our ancestors; but this difference does not rest on the necessary progress of a later race. we feel that the old brotherhood of cities and districts had something noble in it, in which our life is very deficient. the joyful self-assertion of man in social intercourse with others, the facility with which common usages unite together hundreds and indeed thousands, and, above all, the imposing vigour with which cities asserted their position, all this has been too long wanting to us. if it was seldom granted to our forefathers to feel, on the great occasions of life, the unity of german interests in church and state, and through a common action and great triumph to ennoble the life of every individual, yet they knew at least how to open, by their fellowship, a domain in which expression was given to the german nature, to human relations and to community of spirit. it is only within a few years that it has become a necessity to germans to expand their life in this direction. it was no mere accident that made german men of science, in their wandering meetings, the first to give significant expression to some of the noblest interests of the nation by national association. they were followed by the singers and others, then the gymnasts, finally the shooters. we are now, after more than two centuries of preparation, again treading in the same path in which our ancestors so grandly trod, but with a freer and nobler feeling. it has been a long-denied pleasure for us thus to be able to vaunt ourselves. but we should at the same time be mindful, and it is the object of these pages to remind us, that the citizen-class of germany has striven, for more than two centuries since the thirty years' war, to become again as powerful and manly in this respect as their ancestors were. but even of that time of weakness, the century that followed the great war, a picture shall be given. but it must be short. the hospitable prize-shootings of the cities had ceased; here and there a ruler gave a family festival, or, as a special act of grace, a large country shooting meeting, at which prizes were awarded, and their subjects allowed to participate. in the cities the old shooting associations still existed, though in many cases robbed of their prize cups, chains, and jewels; even the cautious leipzigers had not preserved the silver statue of their holy sebastian. many old customs were maintained in their desolate shooting houses; the cross-bow, at the popinjay and target, had dragged on a miserable existence; it lasts in a few cities as a curiosity up to the present day; the rifled weapon became naturalised; in larger communities the new imperial nobility favoured shooting guilds and their old "_königsschiessen_,"[ ] and these festivals acquired a stiff pretentious character of pedantic state action. this great change in the city festival,--the only meagre feast of arms which remained to the german citizen in the eighteenth century,--is apparent in a description of the breslau shooting in the year . it is found where one would hardly look for it, in the laborious work of the physician johann christian kundmann, entitled "beruhmte schlesier in müntzen," , i., p. , and is given as follows, literally, with few omissions:-- "at this time the following solemnities were observed at the '_königsschiessen_.' on whitsunday the king of the preceding year went with the elders, the zwinger brotherhood, also with some invited friends, in some twenty carriages, out to the zwinger.[ ] by the side of the carriage went the secretaries as servants, two outriders, the markers, and the king's own servant; they were received with kettle-drums and trumpets. after that, the perquisites of the king were read aloud to the shooters in the room, and those who wished to shoot for the kingdom were to sign their names with their own hand. then appeared two gentlemen, commissaries of the worshipful and illustrious council, who are usually the two youngest councillors of the nobility; they wore spanish mantles, trimmed with lace or fringe, and placed themselves opposite to the king in the room,--who stayed there in his kingly attire, bearing the great golden bird. the councillors state that they, as commissioners, have to be present at this shooting. after this the king goes to the shooting ground, accompanied by the commissioners, the elders, and shooters. "as, according to old usages, a popinjay was to be the mark, a large carved bird with outspread wings was set up, instead of a target, and at this there were six courses, that is, each shooter fired six times. a small silver bird, or a large _klippe_, was attached to the king as a badge of honour, instead of the large gilt bird, which was too heavy and incommodious to carry. he kept the badge till one of the others had made the winning shot with a bullet. the king shoots always first, amidst the sounding of kettle-drums and trumpets. after these shots the new king is presented to the commissaries, by the zwinger-orator,--usually an advocate, with a well composed speech,--and the usual presents are presented to the king. the first gentleman of the council answers with a similar speech. after that they go to the zwinger repast, and when they rise from table the king is accompanied with kettle-drums and trumpets home. or the king and the brotherhood march with music and wine round the city, and do honour thereby to their patrons and good friends. the wednesday after, the king gives his usual silver shooting, at which there are six prizes of silver, that consist of cups and spoons. after the completion of this, the king gives his first entertainment. "the saturday following, early in the morning, about eight o'clock, the king is conducted, with his retinue, in his costly attire, before the illustrious and worshipful council in the council room, where the zwinger-orator again delivers an oration, and begs for the king all the immunities; the president answers with a similar speech, confirms him in his kingdom, conveys to him the regal dues, and concludes with congratulations. then the day for the king's benefit is solicited, generally some monday a few weeks later. this is a pleasure shooting of twelve courses. he who makes the best shot, and he who with gun and dice (the equally bad shots cast lots by dice), fails most, must both place themselves in front of the shooting-house. to the first a large orange will be delivered on a pewter plate, together with a glass of wine and a garland of roses, and some verses will be recited in his praise, when the kettle-drums and trumpets will sound. but he who has failed gets a whey cheese in a wreath of nettles on a wooden plate, together with a glass of beer, upon which the bagpipes and a small fiddle are played; the verses are generally very pungent, and the zwinger poets are frequently wont to recite truths in jest to their dear friends. besides this, for each shot on the outer circle of the target in all the courses, a citron is given, and in like manner to every one who hits, a citron, an orange, or a curd cheese, which are painted on the target, together with other pictures characteristic of the time. then they go to another meal, when the zwinger-orator and the first deputy of the council deliver speeches, and distribute the banners and prizes to the best shots and the victors in the twelve courses, with the sounding of kettle-drums and trumpets. then the king gives a costly repast, which often lasts nearly till daybreak. over the king hangs the great king's bird: he himself sits in a large arm chair. from thence the king is accompanied to the patrons and then home, and this solemnity generally finishes with some merriment. finally, the king gives, the following day, a sausage shooting, and appoints a prize of silver and gold; this is again concluded by an entertainment, followed by dice playing for pewter." here ends the account of kundmann. of how little importance was such a "_königsschiessen_" of the seventeenth century may be gathered from the description. the popular festival of the olden time had become a pretentious solemnity. to do everything in a genteel way was the great desire; only the wealthy could become kings; to drive in carriages, to be accompanied by servants, to give costly meals and expensive prizes, were the main objects; the shooting was a minor point: and it was very significant that the king was no longer expected to speak publicly before his fellow-citizens; he represented in dumb show; the advocate spoke for the citizen at the festival also. lastly, it may be perceived that the remnants of some of the old jovial customs had still been retained; they stand out in contrast to the prudery and susceptibility of the time; the improvisation of the _pritschmeister_ had ceased, and even the ironical verses on bad shots had to be prepared; gradually the reminiscences of a more vigorous time were laid aside as obsolete and absurd. it was not, however, the wretchedness of the people alone,--the bitter fruit of the war,--that destroyed the great brotherly feasts of the citizen, nor yet the ruling tendency to haughty exclusiveness against all who held a modest position in life, but equally injurious was the peculiar stamp impressed upon even the best and most highly cultivated, after that period of humiliation. it is time now to observe the great change in the german popular mind, which turned the martial citizen, who knew how to use powder and shot and to direct a gun, into the shy, timid gentleman, who hastened his steps when he heard near him the thump of the butt end of a musket, and feared lest his son should grow too tall, and come into the horrible position of having to shoulder a weapon in rank and file. this change was effected by the new polity of the princes. chapter iv. state policy and the individual. ( - .) the last stage of the process of dissolution which the holy roman empire passed through occupies the hundred and fifty years from oxenstern to napoleon. the mortal disease began in , when charles v., the burgundian hapsburger, was crowned emperor of germany; the death struggle itself did not begin till the election of ferdinand ii., the jesuit protector, in . the peal of bells that celebrated the westphalian peace was a death-knell; what followed was the last slow destruction of an expiring organism. but it was also the beginning of a new organic formation. the rise of the prussian state coincides precisely with the end of the thirty years' war. whether joy or sorrow ought to predominate in the consideration of such a period depends not only on the political point of view, but on the culture and character of those who form a judgment on it. to those who love to depict with poetic warmth the glories of a german empire, such as perhaps might have been, the advent and character of a time so poor in great men and in national pride can only be repugnant; whoever is in the unfortunate position of considering the interests of the hapsburgers or those of the order of jesus as essentially german, will form an imaginary picture of the past, which will be as far removed from the reality, as the relique worship of the ancient church is from the free man's worship of god. but whoever investigates temperately and sensibly the connection of events, should be careful, in writing the history of this period, not to forget, in the hatefulness of appearances, to do justice to what was legitimate in the reality, and equally so, not for the sake of what, is good, to throw a veil over that which is odious. it is not purely accidental that it is only easy to one who is both a protestant and a prussian, to regard with conscious pride and a cheerful heart the historical development of the last two centuries. immediately after the peace of münster and osnabruck, two views of german politics confronted one another, the one which, in spite of the diminution of the hapsburg influence and the decision of the westphalian peace, still maintained the old traditions of imperial supremacy, and the other that of the great territorial princes who sought to secure full freedom of action and independence for themselves, and who had, in fact, become sovereigns. the history of these opposing principles comprehends, in the main, the history of the political development of our fatherland up to the present day. still do the two parties remain, but the aims and the means of agitation of both are changed, for above them has arisen a new formation, a third party. after it was the imperial party who strongly proclaimed the unity of germany; the political supremacy was claimed for the house of hapsburg, and that was desired which is almost precisely what is at present termed the diplomatic and military lead then weak public opinion, in which there was still a lively recollection of the old connection with the empire, was for the most part, even among the protestants, on its side, and the imperial politicians endeavoured to enlist supporters through the press. if a few literary men, who stood up for german nationality in opposition to foreign influences, murmured at the weakness of the fatherland, the conclusion always presented itself to them, that the emperor was pre-eminently entitled to revive the old supremacy of the empire. at that time the strength of this party lay in the fact, that the only german state power of any magnitude was that of the house of hapsburg, but their weakness consisted in this, that the policy of the emperor was not in the main german, and that the bigotry and intrigues of the vienna court did not inspire either the princes with fear, or the estates with confidence. on the other hand, the opposition party of princely politicians, looking to their own advantage, with very little consideration for the empire, sought the isolation of individual states, the weakening of the connection of the empire, the policy of the free hand and temporary alliances of the courts among themselves, instead of submitting to the power of the diet; and their mutual union at the diet, and in all diplomatic negotiations, tended to counteract the influence and policy of the emperor. in the midst of this struggle betwixt two adverse principles, a new state arose in germany, the princes of which, allying themselves sometimes with one party, sometimes with the other, endeavoured to make use of both, and collected round them a nation, which at the end of the eighteenth century appeared capable of a more vigorous development of german strength than the inheritance of the hapsburgers. and so completely has the situation of germany changed, that now the imperial party acts with most of the german princes against the party of the new state. the old opponents have united in a struggle against the new party, both in the difficult position of having to uphold what is unsatisfactory, both under the fatal necessity of working against a long-cherished desire of the nation. it was a desperate political situation which placed the centre of gravity of german power in the hands of individual german princes, and gave them the almost unlimited disposal of the property and lives of their subjects. the political weakness of germany, the despotic sway and corruption of the rulers, the servility of the subjects, the immorality of the courts, and the dishonesty of officials, was the sad result, and has often been sufficiently pourtrayed. but with this time begins also the modern state life of germany. the progress of a nation is not always understood and valued by contemporaries, the necessary changes are not always effected by great men; sometimes the good genius of a nation requires the bad, the insignificant, and the shortsighted, as instruments in a powerful reconstruction. not in the french revolution alone has a new life proceeded from evil deeds: in germany also, iron necessity, despotism, and contempt for old rights, have produced much that we now consider as the necessary groundwork of well-regulated state life. the school of diplomats and statesmen who had been trained during the war in germany, defended the interests of the german sovereigns up to the time of the french revolution. the endless peace negotiations brought together in germany the most distinguished politicians of europe. pupils of richelieu, able netherlanders, countrymen of macchiavelli, and the proud followers of gustavus adolphus. the struggle of antagonisms gave to a large number of talented germans superabundant opportunities of forming themselves; for around the representatives of the great powers were more than a hundred political agents, writing and haranguing. from the passionate struggle which was brought to a conclusion at münster and osnabruck amid the constraint of ceremonials and with an appearance of cold tranquillity, from the chaotic confusion of numberless contending interests, and from the mountains of acts, controversial writings, replications, and projects of treaty, a generation of politicians was, after the peace, spread over the country, hard men, with stubborn will and indomitable perseverance, with gigantic power of work and acute judgment, learned jurists and versatile men of the world, with great knowledge of human nature, but at the same time sceptical despisers of all ideal feelings, unscrupulous in the choice of means, dextrous in making use of the weak point of an opponent, experienced in demanding and giving honour, and well inclined not to forget their own advantage. they became the leaders of politics at the courts and in the imperial cities, quiet leaders or dextrous tools of their lords--in fact, the real rulers of germany. they were the creators of the diplomacy and bureaucracy of germany. their method of negotiating may appear to us very prolix and pettifogging, but it is just in our time, when a superficial dilettanteism is to be complained of in diplomacy and state government, that the legal culture and sagacious dexterity of the old school should be looked back upon with respect. it was not the fault of these men that they were obliged to spend their lives in a hundred little quarrels, and that only few of them found themselves in the happy position of promoting a great and wise policy. but it will always be to their honour, that under unfavourable circumstances they more than once preserved the esteem and respect of the external enemies of germany, for german diplomacy, where they no longer felt it for the power of german armies. they regulated also the internal concerns of the devastated provinces of the new "state." according to their model was formed the official class, also the colleges of judges and administrators; often, it is true, more awkward and pedantic, but just as tenacious of rank, and not unfrequently as corruptible, as the chancellors and privy councillors on whom they depended. the new politicians carried on also important negotiations with the provincial diets, and had no easy task to render them pliant or harmless. ever since the end of the fifteenth century there existed, in almost all the larger territories of germany, state representatives of the country, who voted the taxes, attaching conditions to such votes, and also giving their opinion on the application of the taxes; in the sixteenth century they had attained to increased importance, as they superintended a provincial bank, which assisted the government in raising money. at the end of the great war, these provincial banks became the last and most important help, for they had strained their credit to the uttermost to provide a war contribution to rid the country of foreign armies. thus after the peace they were most influential corporations, and the existence of the great portion of creditless sovereigns depended, in fact, upon them. unfortunately the provincial states were ill fitted to be the true representatives of the country; they consisted for the most part of prelates, lords, and knights, all of them representatives of the nobility, who were, as regarded their own persons and property, exempt from taxes: under them were the deputies of the desolated and deeply involved cities. thus they were not only inclined to lay the burden of these money grants upon the mass of the people, but it also became possible for the government, through the preponderance of the aristocratic element, to exercise every kind of personal influence. whilst the ruler drew the nobles of his province to his court, in order to divert himself in fitting society, his chief officials knew how to take advantage of their craving for rank and titles, and through offices, dignities, and gifts, and lastly by threats of royal displeasure, to break the resistance of individuals. thus in the eighteenth century the states in most of the principalities sank into insignificance, in some they were entirely abolished. still some continued to exist, and did not everywhere lose their influence and importance. the sums, however, which they were able to grant did not by any means suffice for the new state--to maintain a costly court, numerous officials and soldiers. regular imposts had to be devised which would be independent of their grants. the indirect taxes quickly increased to a threatening extent. the necessaries of life--bread, meat, salt, wine, beer--and many other things, were taxed to the consumers, at the end of the seventeenth century. the custom and excise officials were stationed at the city gates, and custom-houses were placed at the frontiers, for the merchandise which passed in and out. commercial intercourse was made use of through stamped paper, even the pleasures of the subject were made available for the state; for example (in in the imperial hereditary lands), not only public but private dances were taxed, and also, in , tobacco. at last the poor comedians were likewise obliged to pay a gulden for each representation, and even the quack and eye doctors paid at each yearly market a few kreuzers, and heavy claims were made on the jews. it was long before either people or officials could accustom themselves to the pressure of the new imposts; the tariff and the mode of levying it were always being altered, and frequently the governments saw with dissatisfaction their expectations disappointed. on the impoverished people the pressure of the new taxes fell very severely; loud and incessant were the complaints in the popular literature. meanwhile the subject worked with the plough and the hammer; he sat at the writing-desk, and saw around and over him everywhere the wheels of the great state machine; he heard its clicking and creaking, and was hindered, tormented, and endangered by its every movement. he lived under it as a stranger, timid and suspicious. in about six hundred great and small courts, he saw daily the splendid households of his rulers, and the gold-embroidered dresses of the court people; the lace of the lacqueys and the tufts of the footmen were to him objects of the highest importance, his usual topic of discourse. when the ruling lord kept a grand table, the citizens had sometimes the privilege of seeing the court dine. when the court, forming a sledge party, or a so-called _wirthschaft_,[ ] drove through the streets in disguise, the subjects might look on. in winter they might even themselves take a share in a great masquerade, but a barrier was erected which separated the people from the sports of the court. once the prince had contended with the citizens, shooting at the same target, and was only treated in the jokes of the _pritschmeister_ with somewhat greater consideration. now the court were entirely separated from the people; and if a courtier condescended to notice a citizen, it was generally no advantage to the purse or family peace of the privileged one. thus the poor citizen acquired an abject feeling. to obtain an office or title which would give him somewhat of this courtly power, became the object of his ambition, and the same even with the artisan. in the five or six hundred court establishments the desire for titles spread from the nobles and officials down to the lowest class of the people. shortly before began the monstrous custom of giving court titles to the artisans, and with these an order of precedence. the court shoemaker tried by petitioning and bribery to obtain the right of nailing the coat of arms of his sovereign over his door; and the court tailor and court gardener quarrelled bitterly which should go before the other, for the tailor, according to the letter of the rule of precedence, went as a matter of course before the gardener, but the latter had obtained the right of bearing a sword.[ ] wealth was the only thing besides rank that gave a privileged position. whoever calls ours a money-seeking time, should remember how great was the influence of money in former times, and how eagerly it was sought by the poor. the rich man could, it was thought, effect everything. he could be made a nobleman, provided with a title, or by his presents put his rulers under an obligation to him. these presents, were in general received willingly. greedily did the chancellor, the judge, or the councillor accept them, and even the most sensitive rarely withstood a delicately offered gift. the protection, however, obtained by the citizen in the new state was still very deficient; it was difficult for him to obtain justice against people of distinction and influence. lawsuits in most of the german territories were endless. a difficult case of inheritance, or a bankruptcy business, would go on to the second and third generation. government, with the best will, could not always punish even violent injury to property from burglary or robbery. it is instructive to investigate the proceedings against the bold robber bands; even when they succeeded in catching the delinquent, the stolen goods could seldom be restored to the owners. the neighbouring governments sometimes delivered up, on requisition and petition, the criminal who had found an asylum in their country, but such deliveries were generally preceded by special influence, and frequently by presents of money; but the confiscated possessions of the criminal were in many cases retained, and disappeared in the hands of the officials. when in , at coburg, a gold and silver manufactory was robbed, and strong suspicion fell on a wealthy jewish trader, the proceedings were often stopped and interfered with, in consequence of the relations the jew had with the court; and even after he was known to be in intimate connection with a band of robbers and murderers, the proceedings against his assistants could not be pursued further, because the magistrates of the place in hesse where the robbers dwelt, helped their flight; and the further ramifications of the band, which spread to bavaria and silesia, could not be traced on account of the unwillingness of the tribunals. and yet this trial was carried on with great energy, and the person who had been robbed had made distant journeys and offered large sums. everywhere the multiplicity of rulers, and the dismemberment of territories, were productive of weakness. the margravate of brandenburg and a portion of lower saxony formed almost the only great connected unity, except the imperial possessions. in the rest of germany lay interspersed many thousands of large and small domains, free cities, and parcels of land appertaining to the nobility. but even a modest pride in their own province could not be cultivated in individuals. for each of the countless frontiers occasioned far more isolation than in the olden time. even in the larger cities, excepting in the cities on the northern ocean, municipal spirit had disappeared. besides his own interests, the german had little to occupy him but the tittle-tattle of the day concerning family events and any remarkable news. it may be seen from many examples how trifling, pedantic, and malicious was the talk of the city for three generations, and how morbidly sensitive, on the other hand, men had become. anonymous lampoons in prose and verse, an old invention, became ever more numerous, coarse, and malicious; they stirred up not only families, but the whole community of citizens; they became dangerous for the propagators, if they ever ventured to, attack any influential person or royal interests. yet they increased everywhere; no government was in a position to prevent them; for an artful publisher easily found opportunity to print and distribute them on the other side of the frontier. under such circumstances some qualities were developed in the german character which have not yet quite disappeared. a craving for rank and title, servility to those who, whether as officials, or as persons of rank, lived in a higher position, fear of publicity, and above all a striking inclination to form a morose, mean, and scornful judgment of the character and life of others. this gloomy, hopeless, discontented, and ironical disposition showed itself everywhere, after the thirty years' war, by individuals giving vent to their thoughts about the state within whose jurisdiction they lived. it is true that the germans continued after the great war to take an interest in politics: newspapers of all kinds increased gradually, and bore the news to every house; confidential reports from the seats of government and great commercial cities were circulated; the half-yearly reports of fairs comprised an abstract of the occurrences of many months; and numberless flying sheets, representing party interests, appeared upon every weighty event, both internal and external. the execution of the king, in england, was generally condemned by german readers as a frightful crime, and the sympathies of the whole nation were long with the stuarts; but shortly before william of orange put to sea against james ii. it was read and believed that james had ventured to substitute a false child as heir to the throne. no one, however, excited public opinion so strongly against himself as louis xiv. if ever a man was hated by the whole of germany, he was. it is remarkable, that whilst the manners of his court and the fashions of his capital were everywhere imitated by the upper classes, and even the people could not escape from their influence, his politics were from the first rightly estimated by them. countless were the flying sheets which were scattered about from all sides against him. he was the disturber of the peace, the great enemy, and in the lampoons also the proud fool. after the palatinate was laid in ashes, the people called their dogs melac and teras; after the taking of strasburg, a deeper cry of woe passed through the land. finally, when in the great war of succession the german armies long kept the upper hand, a feeling of self-respect was excited, which appeared in the small literature of the day. had there been a german prince who could have awakened an energetic patriotism in the weak people, this hatred would have helped him. but a powerful outburst of patriotic feeling was hindered by the political condition of the country; in cologne and bavaria, french printing-presses were at work, and german pens wrote against their own countrymen. one cannot, therefore, say that the germans were deficient altogether in political feeling in the century from to , for it burst forth everywhere; even in works of imagination, in novels, and also in the drama, political conversation found a place, as did aesthetic talk in goethe's time. but it was unfortunate that this feeling vented itself on the political quarrels of other countries, and that the transactions in germany itself, excited less interest than the daily occurrences of the parisian court, or the abdication of the queen of sweden. the indifferent public still continued to occupy itself as earnestly about comets, witches, appearances of the devil, a quarrel amongst ecclesiastics, disputes between councillors and citizens of some imperial city, or the conversion of some small prince by the jesuits, as about the battle of fehrbellin. the preparations of the turks and the war in hungary were, perhaps, spoken of with a shake of the head; but to pay money for it, or render assistance, was seldom thought of; even after the siege of vienna by the turks, in , count stahremberg was scarcely as interesting to the great german public as the spy kolschitzky, who had brought the account from the city to the imperial main army; his figure was engraved in copper in turkish dress, and sold in the market. it is true he shared this glory with every distinguished thief and murderer who had ever been executed anywhere, to the great diversion of the public. sometimes, indeed, the attention of the germans was fixed with deeper interest on one man, the elector of brandenburg. in southern germany, also, he was spoken of respectfully; he was a powerful-minded prince, but, unfortunately, his means were small. this was the general opinion; but, as upon his character, so, likewise, upon other vital questions, did the german people give their opinion with as much tranquillity as if it were a question of the muscovite czar, or of the distant japan, concerning which jesuit accounts had been narrated centuries before. and this was not the result of the trammels of the press, though it certainly was much fettered; for, in spite of all the recklessness with which the ruling powers sought to revenge themselves on its unruly spirit, the multiplicity of states, and the mutual hatred of neighbouring governments, made it difficult to crush an unbridled press. it was other causes which made the people so indifferent to their own interests. neither was it deficiency in judgment. if the numberless political discourses of that time are clumsy and diffuse in composition, without any sufficient knowledge of facts and persons, yet they deserve credit for much sound sense and frequently a surprising comprehension of the condition of germany. the germans, even before , were not deficient in political discernment; nay, before the thirty years' war, much progress was apparent. but it was their peculiar characteristic that, with this comprehension of their dangerous situation, of the helplessness of the empire, and of its miserable, dislocated state, the people calmly and quietly recognised it with a shake of the head; even their literary teachers were rarely roused to manly indignation, still less to determined will, nor even to form fruitless projects. thus, the nation in the seventeenth century might be compared to a hopeless invalid, who, free from the excitement of fever, soberly, calmly, and sensibly contemplates his own condition. we know, indeed, that it is our own century which has cured this morbid state of the german people; but we also perceive the cause of the singular, cold, and gloomy objectiveness which became so peculiar to our nation, and of which traces are yet to be discovered in many individuals. it is the disease of a rightly-gifted, genial nature, whose volition has been crushed by the horrors of war and the struggles of fate, and whose warm heart has been benumbed. a clear, circumspect, just spirit remains to the german; noble political enthusiasm is lost to him. he no longer finds pleasure and honour in being the citizen of a great state; he has no nation that he loves, no state that he honours; he is an individual among individuals; he has well-wishers and detractors, good friends and bad enemies, scarcely any fellow-citizens as yet, scarcely yet any countrymen. as characteristic of such a frame of mind, a flying-sheet will here be given, which, in the allegorical style of the seventeenth century, makes bitter observations on the new state policy. even during the great war, bogislaw philipp chemnitz, one of the most zealous and talented adherents of the swedish party, made a prodigious sensation by a book, in which he complains of the imperial house as the principal cause of the misery of germany, and finds the only salvation of the country in the independence and complete power of the german princes. from the title of the book,[ ] "_staatsraison_," this expression became the usual term for denoting the new system of government which, after the peace, began to prevail in the german territories. since that, this _staatsraison_ was through half a century condemned in numerous moral treatises from the popular press; it was represented as double and triple headed, and in books, pictures, and satirical verses, always accused of being arbitrary, hard, and hypocritical. to this effect are the contents of the following work, which is here given with some abbreviations and alterations which are indispensable for its easier comprehension[ ]:-- "as the _ratio status_ is now not only honoured in the world, but held to be an irrevocable law, so are truth and honesty, on the other hand, no longer valued. when a situation in the service of the state is vacant, there is, indeed, no want of candidates; but out of nine the prince finds scarcely three that will suit him. therefore, they must be examined. and if, in the examination, any one, in answer to the question, what should be the first and most distinguished virtue of a prince's councillor, should say: 'the men of the olden time teach that a prince should be none other than a servant for the general welfare; therefore, it is his duty to rule according to law and justice, for god and nature have implanted in the heart of every one a true balance for weighing the gold; do to others as you would they should do unto you;' then the prince would give him a courteous dismissal. "such a candidate had not long ago got through an examination at a certain court, by shrewd and cautious answers; he was nominated councillor, and as the prince was kindly disposed towards him, he gave him in marriage the daughter of his vice-chancellor. after the new councillor had taken the oath of fidelity and secresy, the vice-chancellor got the keys of the state apartments, and took his son-in-law in to initiate him into state secrets. "in the first room hung many state mantles of all colours, on the outside beautifully trimmed, but badly lined inside, a portion of them having wolf or fox skins in addition to the bad lining. the son-in-law expressed surprise at this, but the chancellor answered: 'these are state mantles, which must be used when one has to propose anything suspicious to subjects, in order to persuade them that black is white; then must one disguise the matter in the mantle of state necessity, in order to induce the subjects to submit to contributions, rates, and other taxes. therefore, the first mantle, embroidered in gold, is called the welfare of the subject; the second, with fringe, the advancement of the commonwealth; the third, which is red, the maintenance of divine service: it is used when one desires to drive any one, whom one cannot otherwise catch, from house and home, or give him a bloody back, under pretence of false teaching. the fourth is called zeal for the faith; the fifth, the freedom of fatherland; the sixth, the maintenance of privileges.' last of all, there hung one very old and much worn, like an old banner or horse cover, concerning which the son-in-law laughed, wondering much; but the father-in-law said--'the daily and too great misuse of this has worn the hair off, but it is called good intentions, and is oftener sought after at the courts of the great than daily bread. for, if one lays insupportable burdens on subjects, and reduces them to skin and bone with soccage service, and if one cuts the bread from their mouths, it is said to be done with the best intentions; if one begins an unnecessary war, and plunges the country and its inhabitants in a sea of blood under fire and sword, it is done with the best intentions. who could know that it would turn out so ill? if one sends innocent people to prison or to the rack, or drives them into utter misery, and their innocence comes to light, still it must have been with good intentions. if one passes an unjust judgment from hatred, envy, favour, bribery, or friendship, it is only done with a good intention. it comes at last to such a point, that one shall make use of the help of the devil with the best intentions. if one or other of these mantles are too short to disguise the roguery, one may cloak it with two, three, or more.' this room appeared very strange to the new councillor; he, nevertheless, followed his noble father-in-law into another; there they found all sorts of masks, so ingeniously formed both in colour and features that they might be the natural faces of men. 'when the mantles,' said the chancellor, 'do not suffice to the attainment of the above-mentioned object, one must make a change; for if one appears too often in one or the other mantle successively before the states, or subjects, or before neighbouring potentates, they at last learn to understand it, and say: "it is the old story; we know what he wants, he wishes to obtain money; but how can we always get it? one might at least be informed to what these repeated taxes are applied." the masks serve to meet this discontent one is called the oath; another, calumny; a third, deceit; these delude people, be they good or bad, and effect more than all the arguments of logic. but, above all, the oath is the masterpiece of court logic; for an honourable man always thinks that another is like-minded with himself; he holds more to an oath and good faith than to all temporal goods; but if a man is a knave, he must still give credence to an oath, otherwise he puts himself under suspicion that he neither values oaths nor duty. if both the others fail, calumny must be resorted to, to relieve subjects from the burden of some thousand gulden according to their means.' "in the third chamber were hanging, in all directions, razors and brass basins; the shelves were covered with cupping-glasses and sponges. there were many vessels containing strong alkalies, tourniquets, and pincers, and shears lay on the tables and window-seats. the young councillor crossed himself; what could they have to do at court with this surgical apparatus, as even many artisans hesitate to admit bath-keepers, shepherds, millers, and trumpeters into their guilds? 'it is not so ill imagined,' said the old man; 'this is the least deceptive handiwork of the state policy, and is more profitable than pen and ink. it is so necessary, that no prince, without this handiwork, can long maintain with dignity his state and his reputation; and its use is so general, that even the country nobles practise it in a masterly way on their peasants; hence the maxim comes, that "if a nobleman draws too much blood from the peasants' veins, he himself is ruined." of what use to the prince are his land and people, if he cannot shear their wool for the rents that are due, and draw contributions with cupping-glasses, and cleanse disobedient leaders by the alkali of sharp punishment? nay, the potentates shave, pinch, and cup one another, also, whenever they can. thus did the generals in the last war draw, now from the imperial cities, now from the benefices, much of their best blood; and the holy roman empire has been as severely pinched by foreign crowns as if it had been done by born bath-servants, only they have made the lie too hot. many have held the basin to the foreigners, and things have gone so far, that insignificant cavaliers have ventured to shear other princes. but what the princes do not do in person is performed by their councillors, treasurers, and other officials, who allow themselves to be used as the sponge, and where they have attached themselves to an office, a city, or a village, and have sucked up so much moisture that they well-nigh burst asunder, then comes the prince, and gives them such a squeeze of the hand, that they are obliged to disgorge all that they have absorbed, and become as empty as cast-off serpent skins.' "silently did the young councillor listen, and entered the fourth chamber. there lay many cases of state spectacles of different kinds. 'some, when they are put on, make a thing ten times larger than it is, so that a midge appears like an elephant--a thread like a rope--and a farthing like a rose-noble; they serve to blind the eyes of subjects. if the prince presents them with a couple of timber-trees, remits somewhat of their contribution, or gives them the liberty to appear before him in velvet and silk, they prize this as highly as if he had given them many thousand ducats. these spectacles so injure the eyes of the unfortunate courtiers, that the least favour, such as the prince laying his hand upon their shoulder, or even looking upon them, is valued more highly than if they had received from him a rent of gulden. nay, the prince has, through his most august understanding, discovered a special profitable use of these spectacles. if he finds the states unwilling to give him contributions, he gets up a cry that the enemy is at hand; that we need thus much and more of provisions, money, and men to meet the barbarous enemy, otherwise all would fall into his jaws. by these exaggerations the people are rendered willing, and give as much as they possibly can. but so soon as the fish is caught, then it is found that god has roused up great princes, who, for the sake of peace, have mediated, and the contributions are used for other purposes. another kind of spectacles have, on the contrary, the property of making a mountain appear not greater than a hazel-nut or bean; they are fixed on the cities and frontier lands, right in the face of which the princes have built castles and fortresses; in order to persuade them that these are only pleasure and garden houses, custom-houses and hunting-boxes. the third kind of spectacles, through which the white appears black, and the black snow white, will always be used when one wishes anything bad to have a glittering appearance; they serve also for those who are induced to marry--under the supposition that they are virtuous ladies--the females who wait upon the royal household, make their beds, and curl their hair.' "after this the chancellor reached down a box of brown powder, and desired his son-in-law to guess what it was. 'it is eye-powder or dust,' said the old man, 'which rulers sprinkle in the eyes of their subjects. it is one of the principal tricks to keep the populace quiet; for when there arise among them turbulent spirits, who open the eyes of subjects by certain political doctrines, and lead them to inquire into the secrets of government, to read the hearts of princes, bring together their grievances, and attach themselves to lynx-eyed agitators, then insurrection and war are at the door.' after this a vessel of court-peas was produced. the old man stated that this was one of the most noxious expedients employed at court, not indeed used by the rulers, but by their false courtiers. 'how so?' said the son. 'i regret that i must explain it to you,' answered the father, 'for i fear, if i teach it you too well, you may sometime try the art upon myself; where gain is to be made one puts even a father's nose out of joint. the peas are strewed in the council-room and chancery, on the stairs, here and there, in the hope of tripping up those whom you cannot otherwise get rid of, especially if they are conscientious, and think they can make their way by good intentions. "'as most of the potentates know little themselves of these political tricks, unless machiavellian councillors make them acquainted with them, who can blame the councillors if they make use of their secret to enrich and elevate themselves? then follows the state policy of private persons, for where god builds a church the devil will have a chapel also; thus i have, by the side of my sovereign's principality, made myself a small one, and as i am now becoming old i will reveal to you, my son-in-law, these tricks, that you may be able to follow in my steps. but to the point i have never soiled myself with peasants and their dung-carts, but preferred great assemblages. imperial, electoral, and princes' diets; for the larger the pond, the better it is to fish in. yet have i so far acted with moderation that i have never intermeddled too far nor tied myself to one party alone; but have always remained a free man. like the sleek fox, i adapted myself to every one's humour and business, and turned to the best account my jests. i led the various parties by the nose, so that they always had recourse to me, followed and trusted me; and, moreover, allowed themselves to be fooled. thus i did from the beginning. when my prince discovered these qualities in me, he made me his councillor and then chancellor. now the nobles must bring with them whole cartloads of wine, whole waggons full of corn, and the like gifts, if they would obtain a favourable decision in chancery, or wish to procure a bill of feoffment or decree of court. all the citizens and peasants, too, must make presents, or their causes lie in a heap undecided. but especially the following trick brought me good luck: when a rich man, having committed an evil deed, has been ill spoken of by the prince, &c., then i gave him to understand how great was the anger of the prince against him, and that it might cost him his life if he did not employ me in the business. if he agreed, i concealed his guilt; or, at least, helped him out of it. but if he did not, i would institute a suit against him, and he was exposed to danger and death. if he endeavoured to succeed, through the means of attorneys, in spite of me, i would make use of all my cunning to prevail against and ruin him. when the fox's skin did not answer, i assumed that of the lion; what i could not acquire by wiles and cunning, i usurped _de facto_, and discovered how i could obtain by violence. if any one complained of the old chancellor, and wished to bring a suit against him at court, i offered to submit myself to a judicial action, for the councillors, as colleagues, were on my side. i displaced in village and field the boundary stone, made other ditches and frontier lines, squeezed out of my neighbours some hundred _morgens_ of arable land, meadows, and woods. in like manner i laid hands on the property of rich widows, orphans, and wards; bought rents and perpetual leases, and lent out money which, in three years, was doubled. it would be tedious to relate the gains i made by assignments, bills of exchange, wine, corn, and salt traffic.' "all this the son-in-law listened to with great attention, and said, 'noble father, you have well administered for your family, and brought it into prosperity; but the question is whether your descendants will prosper so as to inherit it in the third or fourth generation; for "ill-gotten gains seldom prosper."' "'that signifies as little to me as a midge on the wall. let any one say what he will, i, on the other hand, have what i will. he who would gain something must venture something, and not mind what people say. i have revealed and confided to you more than to my own wife and children. now come home with me to supper.'" such is the purport of the sad irony of the flying sheet, which is peculiarly appropriate here, as it evidently gives expression to the common sentiments of the time. at the conclusion of it one particular intrigue of a small german court is more alluded to than related. even after , this cold, bitter way of speaking of the political condition of germany continued generally; for the "_aufklärungs_" literature, which sprang up at this period, altered the style more than the spirit. indeed, from the end of the war of succession till , during the longest period of peace which germany had experienced for a century, a diminution of political interest is discernible in the small literature. it is always the extraordinary destinies of individuals which more specially interest the public--the prophecies of a pietist, the trial of a woman for child murder, the execution of an alchymist, and such like. when on christmas night, , two poor peasants were suffocated by coal vapours in a vineyard-hut at jena, whilst they, together with a student and a torn copy of faust's book of necromancy, were endeavouring to raise a great treasure, this misfortune gave rise to full a dozen flying sheets--clerical, medical, and philosophical--which fiercely contended as to whether the claw of the devil or the coals had been the cause of death. all the battles that had been fought, from that of hochstädt to malplaquet, had not made a greater sensation. even in the "dialogues from the kingdom of the dead,"--a clumsy imitation of lucian, in which opinions were given of the public characters of the day,--it is evident that it is more particularly the anecdotes and the private scandal which attracted the people. once more an interest was powerfully excited by the expulsion of the protestant salzburger; but in the year a great political character impressed itself on the soul of germany, and announced by the thunder of his cannon the beginning of a new time. but it was not the "state system" alone which loosened the connection of the burgher class, and turned the german into an isolated individual: the powers which usually confirm and strengthen the united life of individuals, faith and science, worked to the same effect. chapter v. "die stillen im lande," or pietists. ( - .) the contrast between the epic time of the middle ages, and the new period which has already been often called the lyrical, is very perceptible in every sphere of human life, and not least in the realm of faith. the roman catholic church of the middle ages had consecrated the life of every individual by a multitude of pious usages, and shut it up in an aristocratic spiritual state, in which the spirit of the individual was fast bound in rigid captivity, with little spontaneous action. the reformation destroyed in the greater part of germany these fetters of the popular mind; it set freedom of decision and mental activity in opposition to the outward constraint and splendid mechanism of the old church. but protestantism gave a system of doctrine, as well as freedom and depth, to the german mind. in the great soul of luther, both these tendencies of the new faith were in equilibrium; the more passionately he struggled for his explanation of holy writ and the dogmas of his school, the stronger and more original was the mental process through which, after his own way, he sought his god in free prayer. it is, nevertheless, clear that the great progress which accrued to the human race from his teaching, could not fail to result in forming two opposite tendencies in protestantism. the two poles of every religion, knowledge and the emotions of the soul, the intellectual boundaries of religious knowledge and the fervid resignation of self to the divine, must prevail in the soul with varying power, according to the wants of the individual and the cultivation of the period; now one, now the other will preponderate, and the time might arrive when both tendencies would come into strife and opposition. at first protestantism waged war against the old church, and against the parties that arose within itself,--a necessary consequence of greater freedom and independence of judgment. it is difficult to judge how far this liberal tendency of protestantism would have led the nation, if adversity had not come upon them. the great war, however, gave rise to a peculiar apathy even in the best. each party engaged bore a token of their faith upon their banners, each brought endless misfortune upon the people, and in all, it was apparent how little baptism and the lord's supper availed to make the professors of any confession good men. when the flames of war were dying away, men were much inclined to attribute a great portion of their own misery and that of the country to the strife of the contending persuasions. it naturally followed that the colder children of the world attached little value to any religion, and turned from it with a shrug of the shoulder when the old ecclesiastical disputes, which even during the war had never been entirely silenced, began to rage with loud bluster in the pulpit and the market-place. in many districts the mass of the people had been compelled, by dragonades and the most, extreme methods of coercion, to change their persuasion three and four times, and the formulas of belief were not more valued by them, from their having learnt them by rote. thus waste and empty had become the inward life of the church, which, together with the coarseness and vices introduced among men by the long war, gave to the ten years after it an aspect so peculiarly hopeless. there was little to love, very little to honour upon earth. yet it was just at this period, when each individual felt himself in constant fear of death, that a kind providence often interposed to save them from destruction. sudden and fearful were the dangers, and equally sudden and wonderful the rescue. that the strength of man was as nothing in this terrible game of overwhelming events, was deeply imprinted on the soul of every one. when the mother with her children hid herself trembling in the high corn whilst a troop of horsemen were passing by, and in that moment of danger murmured a prayer with blanched lips, she naturally ascribed her preservation to the special protection of a merciful god. if the harassed citizen, in his hiding-place in the woods, folded his hands and prayed fervently that the croats who were plundering the town might not find his concealed treasure, and afterwards, upon raking up the cinders of his burnt house, found his silver pieces untouched, he could not help believing that a special providence had blinded the greedy eyes of the enemy. when terrible strokes of fate overtake individuals in rapid succession, a belief in omens, forebodings, and supernatural warnings is inevitably fostered. whilst the superstition of the multitude fixes itself on the northern lights and falling stars, on ghosts and the cry of the screech-owl, more polished minds seek to discover the will of the lord from dreams and heavenly revelations. the long war had, it is true, hardened the hearts of men against the miseries of others; it had also deprived them of all equability of mind; and the vacant gaze into a desolated world, and cold indifference, were in most only interrupted by fits of sudden weakness, which perhaps were produced by insignificant causes, and a reckless sinner was suddenly plunged into sorrow and contrition. life was undoubtedly poor in love and elevation, but the necessity of loving and honouring which lies so deep in the german nature, after the peace, sought painfully for something high and steadfast, in order to give an aim and an interest to his poor wavering life. thus the mind clung to the holy conceptions of faith, which it again with quiet reverence endeavoured to realise heartily, affectionately, and confidingly. from such longings in the hearts of the people, a new life was developed in the christian church. it was not only among the followers of luther, but equally in the calvinistic persuasion, and almost as much in the roman catholic church; it was also not only in germany and the countries which then partook of german cultivation, denmark, sweden, eastern sclavonia, and hungary, but almost at the same time in england, and even earlier in france and holland, where religious schism and political faction have rent asunder the souls of men in bitter controversy for centuries. nay, even among the jesuits we may find the working of this same craving after a new ideal in a cheerless life. in the history of the christian church, this pietism--as the new tendency has been called by its opponents since --has been a transitory impulse, which blossomed and withered in little more than a century. the effect it has exercised on the culture, morals, and spirit of the german people may still be perceived. in some respects it has been an acquisition to the nation, and a short account of it shall now be given. as this pietism was no new doctrine proclaimed by some great reformer, but only a tendency of the spirit which burst forth among many thousands at the same time, the greater number of its professors remained firm at first in the dogmas of their church. in fact, in the beginning it only expressed wide-spread convictions, to which the best natures had already, before the thirty years' war, given utterance; that the points of union of religions parties, and not the deviations of doctrinal opinions, were the main objects of faith; that personal communion with god was independent of dogmas; that it availed little to hear sermons and take the sacrament, to confess that one was a great sinner and relied on the merits of christ only and not on our own works, nor to refrain from great sins and to say a few lifeless prayers at appointed hours. and yet this was the usual christianity of both ecclesiastics and laity: a dead faith, a mere outward form of godliness, the letter without the spirit. little did the baptism of children signify without conversion on arriving at maturity, little also did communionship with the church avail, by which the laity only received passively the gifts of salvation: each individual ought to establish the priesthood of the lamb in his own heart. such was the feeling of thousands. of the many in germany that followed this tendency of the heart, none exercised for many years so great an influence as jacob spener, between and . born in alsace, where for more than a century the doctrines of luther and of the swiss reformers flourished conjointly and contended together, where the learning of the netherlands and even the pious books of england were harboured, his pious heart early imbibed a steadfast faith through the earnest teaching of schools, and under the protection accorded to him by ladies of distinction in difficult times. even as a boy he had been severe upon himself and when he had once ventured to a dance he felt obliged to leave it from qualms of conscience. he had been a tutor at a prince's court, and also studied at basle. at geneva he saw with astonishment how jean de labadie, by his sermons on repentance, had emptied the wine-houses, caused gamblers to give back their gains, and stamped upon the hearts of the children of calvin the doctrines of inward sanctification and of following after christ with entire self-renunciation. from thence spener went to frankfort-on-the-maine as pastor, and by his labours there produced a rich harvest of blessing, which assumed ever-increasing proportions, and soon procured him followers throughout germany. happily married, in prosperous circumstances, peace-loving and prudent, with calm equanimity and tender feelings, a loving, modest nature, he was specially adapted to become the counsellor and confidant of oppressed hearts. over women especially this refined, kind-hearted, dignified man had great influence. he established meetings of pious christians in a private dwelling; they were the far-famed _collegia pietatis_, in which the books of the holy scriptures were explained and commented upon by the men, whilst the women listened silently in a space set apart for them. when later he had to deliver these discourses in the church, they lost, for the zealous, the attractive power which in the calm exclusiveness of the select society they had exercised; parties arose, and a portion of his scholars separated from the church. he himself, after twenty years of active exertion, was called from frankfort to dresden, and from thence soon after to berlin. spener himself was disinclined to sectarianism, the mysticism of arndt, and still more of jacob böhme, was repulsive to him, and he disapproved when some of his friends abandoned the church; he struggled incessantly against the enemies who wished to drive him out of it, and during the last half of his life maintained a quiet struggle against his own followers, who publicly showed their disrespect to the dogmas of the church. he was decidedly no enthusiast; that the christian religion was one of love, that in one's own life one was to imitate that of christ, and value little the transitory pleasures of the world, that, after his example, one was to show love to one's fellow-creatures: this was always the noble keystone of his teaching. and yet there was something in his nature, without his wishing it, which was favourable to the isolation and seclusion in which, in the following century, the religious life of the pietists wore away. the stress which he laid upon private devotion, and the solitary striving of the soul after god, and, above all, the critical distrust with which he regarded worldly life, could not fail to bring his followers soon into opposition with it. the insignificance and shallowness of many pretenders to sanctity who clung yearningly to him, made it inevitable that a similar mode of feeling and of judging life would shortly become mere mannerism, which would show itself in language, demeanour, and dress. god was still the loving father who was to be stormed by the power of prayer, and might be moved to listen. but this generation had learnt resignation, and a gentle whisper to god took the place of the urgent prayer in which luther had "brought the matter home to his lord god." the inscrutable ways of providence had been imprinted by fearful lessons on the soul, and the progress of science gave such presage of the grandeur of the world's system, that the weakness and insignificance of man had to be more loudly proclaimed. the sinner had become more in awe of his god, the _naïve_ ingenuousness of the reformation was lost. the craving for marvels had therefore increased--increased in this generation--and zealously did they endeavour in indirect ways to fathom the will of the lord. dreams were interpreted, prognostics discerned; every beautiful feeling of the soul, every sudden discovery made by the combinations of the mind, were considered as direct inspirations from god. it was an old popular belief, that accidental words which were impressed on the mind from outward sources were to be considered as significant, and this belief had now become a system. as the jutlander steno--the roman catholic bishop of hanover, and acquaintance of leibnitz--suddenly became a fanatic, because a lady had spoken out of the window some indifferent words, which he in passing by conceived to be a command from heaven, so did accidental words sway the minds of the pietists. it was a favourite custom in cases of doubt to open suddenly upon some verse in the bible or hymn book, and from the tenor of the words to decide these doubts--the sentence on which the right-hand thumb was set was the significant one--a custom which to this day remains among the people, and the opponents of which, as early as , called deridingly "thumbing." if any one had a call from the external world, the system was to refuse the first time, but, if repeated, then it was the call of the lord. it may easily be conceived that the believing soul might, even in the first refusal, unconsciously follow a quiet inclination of the heart which had secretly said yes or no. that in a period of unbridled passions, the reaction against the common lawlessness should overstep moderation is natural. after the war, a crazy luxury in dress had begun; the women loved to make a shameless display of their charms, the dances were frivolous, the drinking carousals coarse, and the plays and novels often only a collection of impurities. thus it was natural that those who were indignant at all this should choose to wear high dresses, simple in style and dark in colour, and that the women should withdraw from dances and other amusements; the drinking wine was in bad repute, the play not visited, and dances esteemed a dangerous frivolity. but zeal went still further. mere cheerful society also appeared doubtful to them--men should always show that they valued little the transitory pleasures of the world; even the most harmless, offered by nature to men's outward senses, its smiling blossoms and the singing of birds, were only to be admired with caution, and it was considered inadmissible, at least on sunday, to pluck flowers or to put them in the hair or bosom. that praiseworthy works of art should not find favour with the holders of such opinions was natural. painting and profane music were as little esteemed as the works of the poets by whom the anxieties of earthly love are portrayed. the world was not to be put on an equality with the redeemer. those who follow not the ways of "piety," live in conformity with the world. he who thus withdraws himself from the greater portion of his fellow-men, may daily say to himself that he lives with his god in humility and resignation, but he will seldom preserve himself from spiritual pride. it was natural that the "stillen im lande," as they early called themselves, should consider their life the best and most excellent, but it was equally natural that a secret conceit and self-sufficiency of character should be fostered by it. they had so often withstood the temptations of the world, so often made great and small sacrifices; and as they had the illumination of god's grace, they were his elect. their faith taught them to practise christian duties in a spirit of benevolence to man, to do good to others, like the samaritan to the traveller, in the wilderness of life. but it was also natural that their sympathy and benevolence to others should be chiefly engrossed by those who had the same religious tendencies. thus their mutual union became, from many circumstances, peculiarly firm and remarkable. it was not, in the first instance, particularly learned ecclesiastics who were pietists; on the contrary, the greater portion of the clergy in stood firm to the orthodox point of view in opposition to them. but they lived more by the gospel than the law; they sought carefully to avoid the appearance of exercising, as preachers, dominion over the consciences of the community. this captivated the laity--the strong minds and warm hearts of all classes, scholars, officials, not a few belonging to the higher nobility, and, above all, women. for the first time since the ancient days of germany--with the exception of a short period of chivalrous devotion to the female sex--were german women elevated above the mere circle of family and household duties; for the first time did they take an active share as members of a great society in the highest interests of humankind. gladly was it acknowledged by the theologians of the pietists, that there were more women than men in their congregations, and how assiduously and zealously they performed all the devotional exercises, like the women who remained by the cross when the apostles had fled. their inward life, their struggle with the world, their striving after the love of christ and light from above, were watched with hearty sympathy by all in their intimacy, and they found trusty advisers and loving friends among refined and honourable men. the new conception of faith which laid less stress on book-learning than on a pure heart, acted on them like a charm. the calm, the seclusion, and the aristocratic tendency of the system, attracted them powerfully; even their greater softness, the energy of their impulsive feelings, and their excitable, nervous nature, made them more especially subjects for emotions, enthusiasm, and the wonderful workings of the godhead. already had the gifted anna maria von schurmann, at utrecht--the most learned of all maidens and long the admiration of travellers--been separated from the church through jean de labadie; and the pious and amiable lady had, in , in her holy zeal, withdrawn all her works, though they contained nothing unchristian. like her, many other women endeavoured to be the representatives of their priesthood to the people; many of these pious theologians could boast of strong-minded women, who prayed with and comforted them, ever strengthening them amid the difficulties of faith, and partaking of their light. thus it came to pass that women of all classes became the most zealous partisans of the pietists. there was scarcely a noble or rich family which did not count among its ladies one that was pious, nor who, though they might at first be angered, were not gradually influenced by their intrinsic worth and moral exhortations. to such noble ladies there was a great charm in being able to protect persons of talent in their community. they became zealous patronesses, unwearied proselytisers, and trustworthy confidants, and helpers in the distresses of others. but whilst they laboured for the interests of their faith, their own life was subject to many influences. they came into contact with men of different classes, they were accustomed to correspond with those who were absent, and they learnt to give vent to the secrets of the heart, and to the tender feelings of their souls. although this was often done in the canting expressions of the community, yet it produced in many a deepening of the inner life. there was, indeed, something new added to the spirit of the people. the habit of reflecting on their own condition, of judging themselves under strong inward emotions, was quite new to the german mind. it is very touching to observe the child-like pleasure with which these pious people watched the processes of their mental activity, and the emotions of their hearts. much was strange and surprising to them which we, from greater practice in the observation of our own inward life and that of others, only find common. every train of conceptions which rapidly formed themselves into an image, a thought, or an idea, every sudden flash of feeling, the mainspring of which they could not discover, appeared to them wonderful. the language of the bible, which, after long groping, they began to understand, was unfolded to them. their visions, which, owing to their assiduous application to the scriptures, assumed frequently the form of bible figures, were carefully, after their awakening, brought into rational coherence, and, unconscious of the additions of their imagination, were polished into a small poem. their lyrical tendencies gave a new form to their diaries, which hitherto had been only a register of casual occurrences; the confidential pages became now clumsy attempts to express in grand words, impassioned feelings, and were filled with observations on their own hearts. when a pietist, shortly after , writes: "there were so many deep thoughts in my heart, that i could not give expression to them," or, "i had a strong feeling about these thoughts," this sounds to us like the utterance of a later time, in the style of bettine arnim, who undoubtedly was, in many respects, an echo of the excited women who once prayed, under the guidance of spener, on the banks of the maine. this same facility of self-contemplation found its way into poetry, and later into novels. together with pietism there began also in germany a new style of social intercourse. seldom was a quiet life the lot of the heads of the pious communities; they were transplanted, driven away, and moved about hither and thither. the disciples, therefore, who sought for instruction, comfort, and enlightenment, were often obliged to travel into distant countries. everywhere they found souls in unison, patrons and acquaintances, and often a good reception and protection from strangers. those who did not travel themselves, loved to write to kindred spirits concerning their dispositions, temptations, and enlightenment. such letters were carried about, copied, and sent far and wide. thus arose a quiet communion of pious souls throughout germany, a new human tie, which first broke through the prejudices of classes, made women important members of a spiritual society, and established a social intercourse, the highest interest of which was the inward life of the individual. and this social tendency of the pious, determined the form and method of intercourse of the finer minds for a hundred years later than the time of spener; indeed, the social relations between our great poets and german princesses and ladies of rank, was only rendered possible because the "_stillen im lande_" had lived at courts in a similar way. the whole system was the same: the visits of travellers, the letters, and the quiet community of refined souls. the sentimentality of the werther period was only the stepdaughter of the emotional mania of the old pietism. the beneficial influence, also, exercised by the pietists on the manners and morals of the people should not be under-rated, although much of this influence was undoubtedly lost by their proneness to separate from the multitude. but, wherever the labours of spener, as shepherd of souls, had found imitators, especially where pietism had been recognised by the church of the state, the practical christianity of the new teaching was perceptible. like spener, his followers felt the importance of religious instruction for the young, and gladly availed themselves of the opportunities when the youthful souls of the parish and the parents opened themselves to them, to counsel them on the more important occurrences of the day, and give a practical turn to their teaching. it was they who, with warm hearts, first, after the devastating war, provided schools for the people; and to them must be attributed the first regular supervision of the poor in the large cities. it is known that the german orphan-houses were established through them; the example of franke, in halle, was followed in many other cities--these great institutions were looked upon as a wonder by contemporaries. throughout all ages these foundations of our pious ancestors ought to be regarded with special interest by our nation; for they are the first undertakings for the public welfare which have been formed _by the voluntary contributions of individuals from the whole of germany_. for the first time did the people become conscious how great may be the results of many with small means working together. it is not surprising that this experience seemed then to the people like a fabulous tale, when one considers that in the ten years before and after , the "_stillen_" must have collected in the countries where the german tongue is spoken, far more than a million of thalers for orphan-houses and other similar benevolent institutions; this was, undoubtedly, not from private sources alone, but in that poor and depopulated country such sums are significant. thus did pietism prepare men for rapid progress in many directions, and its best offering to its votaries, a more elevated sense of duty, and a greater depth of feeling, passed from the "_stillen im lande_" into the souls of many thousands of the children of the world; it contributed scarcely less than science to the beginning of that period of enlightenment, by mitigating the wild and rough practices which everywhere prevailed in the second half of the seventeenth century, and by giving to the family life of germans, at least in the cities, greater simplicity, order and morality. the families from whom our greatest scholars and poets have sprung, the parental houses of goethe and schiller, show the influence which the pietism of the last generation exercised on their forefathers. that many of the pietists might lose themselves in extravagancies and dangerous by-ways, is easily comprehensible. it was natural that with those who, after inward struggles and long strivings, had obtained strength for a godly life, the delivery of man from sin should become the main point; and as they were yearning, above all, for the direct working of god on their own life, it followed that they ascribed this awakening to the special grace of god; that they sought earnestly in prayer for the moment when this special illumination and sanctification should take place by a manifestation of the divinity; and that when, after severe tension of the soul, they reached a state of exaltation, they considered this as the beginning of a new life to which the grace of god was assured. luther, also, had striven for this illumination; he also had experienced the transports of exaltation, inward peace, repose, certainty, and a feeling of superiority to the world; but it had been with him, as with the strong-minded among his contemporaries, an ever-enduring struggle, a frequently-repeated victory, a powerful mental process which appeared sometimes, indeed, wonderful to himself, but in which with his sound, strong nature, there was nothing morbid, and of which the special form, the struggles with the devil, were the natural consequences of the _naïve_, simple-hearted popular faith, which had changed the old household spirits and hobgoblins of our heathen ancestors into christian angels and the devil. the pietists, on the other hand, lived in a time when the life both of nature and man was more rationally viewed as to cause and effect, when a multitude of scientific conceptions were popular, when a practical worldly mind prevailed which made itself few illusions; and when the hearts of men were seldom elevated by enthusiasm and great ideas. already we begin to trace the beginnings of rationalism. in such a time this regeneration, this moment of awakening, was not a frame of mind easily produced--not a condition in which, with a sound mental constitution, one could place oneself without a certain degree of violence. it was necessary to wait for it--to prepare oneself strenuously, and constrain body and soul to it, by a self-contemplation, in which there was something unsound; one must watch anxiously one's own soul, to discover when the moment of awakening was nigh. and this moment of awakening itself was to be entirely different from every other frame of mind. in order to arrive at the conviction of its presence, that was not sufficient for them, which, after severe struggles, had given a happiness to the great reformers that rested on their countenances like a reflection of the godhead; the peace and serenity which come after the victorious end of a struggle betwixt duty and inclination. this outpouring of grace with the pietists was frequently accompanied by ecstasies, visions, and similar pathological phenomena, which at no period have been wanting, but which were then sought after as the highest moments of human life and recounted with admiration. it will shortly be shown that this was the rock on which pietism struck. with such tendencies, even the reading of the scriptures was fraught with special danger. when they explained the holy scriptures, being under the conviction that god favoured them with a direct influence, they were in the unfortunate position of considering every accidental incident that presented itself to them in any part, as an unerring manifestation. now, the yearning of a weak age for a better condition, and the inclination of the pious for special illumination, rendered the prophetic books of the old and new testament particularly attractive. thus it came to pass that the pietists drew from them a multitude of revelations and prophecies. it is of no importance at what results they arrived; but this engrossing attention to the dark passages of the prophets, and especially the revelation of st john, did not contribute to render their judgment clearer, nor their scientific culture more solid: for in their time the key to the better understanding these records had not been found. moreover, the knowledge of languages even among scholars was generally unsatisfactory, although, after the example of schurmann, there was already here and there a pious maiden who began to learn hebrew. it was not long before all worldly knowledge appeared, to most of them, useless and detrimental. thus, pietism was threatened with great dangers immediately after its rise; but the life of the early pietists, who from frankfort spread themselves all over germany, was more simple and harmless than the later proceedings at halle, under the separatists of the eighteenth century. two autobiographies of pious individuals of spener's school have been preserved to us, which throw light on other phases of german life. it is a husband and wife who have bequeathed them to us,--kind-hearted people, with warm feelings, some learning and no particular powers of mind,--the theologian, johann wilhelm petersen, and his wife, johanna eleanor, born von merlau. after they were united in marriage, they led together a spiritual life, in perfect unanimity, and, like a pair of birds, flitted through the temptations and troubles of this earthly valley. heavenly consolation and manifestation came to them alike. the world considered them as enthusiasts, but they were held in honour to the close of their life by the best among the pietists, undoubtedly because of the goodness of their hearts, which were not choked up with spiritual pride. the husband was industrious and faithful to his duties, a man with poetical feeling and some philosophical culture; but he needed another to lean on, and was evidently much influenced by his more decided wife, whose worldly position, as being noble, gave her consideration even among the pious. it was soon after his marriage that a restless excitement, and sometimes an immoderate zeal, became visible in him. his wife, who was some years older than himself, had attained to a rigid piety, whilst struggling against the worldly life of the small prince's court, where she had lived. one may conclude from her biography, that she was not free from ambition and love of power, with a slight touch of asperity. her long, quiet struggle had made her over-zealous, and she and the pious _frau_ bauer von eyseneck, with whom she lived later at frankfort, both belonged to the enthusiastic members of the community, who were inclined to conventicles, and caused great sorrow on that account to their pastor, spener. it may therefore be assumed that it was chiefly the influence of the wife that drove her husband on in the course which at last removed him from his office, and gave him the repute of being an enthusiast and millennarian. but the hatred of the orthodox party has done injustice to both; they were honest even when predicting marvels. we will first give the youthful years of the wife, then some characteristic traits from the life of the husband, related in their own words. johanna eleonora petersen, by birth von merlau, was born at merlau the th of april, . she narrates as follows[ ]:-- "the fear of the lord has guarded me, and his goodness and truth have led me. "i have felt the quieting of his good spirit from childhood, but have resisted it from ignorance. my high position in the world has been a great hindrance to his working; because i loved the world equally with him, till i came to a right understanding, and till the saving word wrought powerfully in me to conviction. for when i was about four years old it came to pass that my dear parents, who had lived at frankfort on account of the troubles of war, returned into the country, as peace was established. they brought many things into the country, and my now deceased mother lived with me and both my sisters on a property at hettersheim, called philippseck, where she believed herself to be out of harm's way. then came the servants and told her that a troop of horsemen were coming, whereupon every one quickly put away what belonged to them and left; my now deceased mother, with three little children, alone, of whom the eldest was seven and i four years old, and the third at the breast. then did my deceased mother take the youngest in her arms, and both of us by the hand, and went without a maid-servant to frankfort, which was distant a long half-league. but it was summer, the corn was standing in the fields, and one could hear the noise of the soldiers, who were marching about a pistol's shot from us. then did my deceased mother become much alarmed, and bade us pray. but when we came to the outermost gate of the city, where we were in security, my deceased mother sat herself down with us, and exhorted us to thank the most high god who had protected us. then said my eldest sister, who was three years older than i, 'why should we pray now? now they cannot come to us.' then was i grieved to the heart at this speech, that she would not thank god, or thought that it was no longer necessary. i rebuked her for this, having fervent love for the lord, whom i thanked with my whole heart--item, as i was persuaded that the midwife had brought the children from heaven, i had a great desire to talk to her; i charged her to greet heartily the lord jesus, and desired to learn from her whether the dear saviour loved me. these were the first childish emotions that i can distinctly remember. "when i was nine years old we became motherless orphans, and matters went ill with us; for our father dwelt at a farm five miles from our property, and brought the widow of a school-master into the house to take care of us. she had her own children to help on, and spent upon them what should have been ours, leaving us in want, so that we often gladly took what others would not have. it happened too through her artifices that she left us alone in the house in the evening. then came certain people, dressed in white shirts, and their faces rubbed with honey and sprinkled with flour; they went about the house with lights, broke open chests and coffers, and took from out of them what they wished. this gave us such a fright that we huddled together behind the stove, and perspired with fear. this went on till the whole house was emptied. as our father was very severe with us, we had not the heart to complain, but were only glad when he left us; so we bore with this annoyance till von praunheim, who is now married to my sister, visited us,--he was then very young. to him we complained of our distress, and he undertook to remain concealed in the house till evening, to see whether the spirits would come again. when they did come, and one went straight to the cupboard to break it open, then he sprang out, and found that they were people from the country town--sons of a wheelwright, who were intimate with the widow who had charge of us. but, as he was alone, they rushed away and would not allow that it was them; but the spirits did not return, and we recovered much that they had left on the floor of the kitchen. "this widow was discharged by my deceased father, and it was proposed to him to take a captain's wife, who was in repute for her housekeeping and cleverness in other ways; then my deceased father thought he had provided well for us. but she was an unchristian woman, and did not forget her soldier tricks. for once, when she saw some strange turkeys on the road, she had them driven to the house; seized the best, and drove the others away. to cook this stolen roast she wished to have some dry wood, and in order to obtain this sent me to a square tower, five stories high. there had been a pigeon-house under the roof, where loose dry boards were lying, some of which i was to fetch. when i had thrown down some, and was trying to tear away one that was still firm, i was thrown back and fell down two stories on to a flight of steps, and had i turned myself round i should have fallen two stories more. i lay there about half an hour in a swoon, and when i came to myself did not, at once, know how i came there; i stood up and felt that i was very faint. i went down the staircase, and laid myself on a bed that stood in a room in this same tower, on which my deceased father used to sleep when he was at home. there i slept some hours, and when i got up was quite fresh and sound. but during the whole of this time there were no inquiries made after me; and when i said that i had fallen i was only scolded for not having been more prudent. i sat apart, for i would not eat of the stolen roast; it appeared to me truly disgraceful, and yet i had not courage to say so. "when i was in my eleventh year my deceased sister, who was three years older than me, was sent to the pastor to be instructed for her confirmation. then a strong desire came over me to go with her, but my deceased father would not allow me, as i was only ten years old. i persisted, however, till my father gave his consent, if his reverence the pastor should consider me fit for it. this latter had me brought to him, questioning me not only as to the words, but also concerning the sense of what i read. but god gave me such grace in answering that his reverence the pastor was well content, and admitted me. "some time afterwards my sister went to stuttgart, and i had to take upon me the housekeeping, and to render an account of everything, which was very difficult for me; because my deceased father, whenever he came home, treated me with great severity, and called me to account for all that was broken, or in any way not to his mind, and i was often severely punished when i was innocent. "owing to this, such servile fear took possession of me, that i shuddered whenever i heard a voice that resembled that of my father. concerning this i breathed forth many sighs to my god; but, when he was away again, i became in good spirits, and sang and danced in gladness of heart. i had at the same time a thorough aversion to everything that was unseemly or childish, and would not have anything to do with the games of marriages and christenings, and the like, of other girls, for i was ashamed of them. "when twelve years old i was taken to court to the countess von solms-rödelheim. she was about to be confined, and was sometimes not right in her mind; when i went, however, she was tolerably well. but soon after, she was confined and had two children, a young gentleman and a lady, and became worse from day to day, so that she often took me for her dog, which was a little lion-dog, called me by his name, and beat me like him. it happened frequently that we drove in the water, for in the winter time the meadows between frankfort and rödelheim were quite overflowed with water, so that it entered the carriages; then the carriages were driven empty, but we went in a boat and got in again when we came to the end of the water. when we thus drove she often pushed me into the water; i was to swim as her little dog, but the most high preserved me. once i discovered that she had taken a knife with a sheath out of her cupboard, and put it in her pocket. i mentioned it to the maidservant, who was rather elderly, but she would not listen to me; and thought the countess had no knife, and it was childishness in me. there was a door from the bedroom of the countess into our room, and another into that of the count. now when night came i would not lie down for thinking of the knife; but the maid was angry with me, and threatened to tell the count how childishly i behaved; but i would only lie down on the bed with my clothes on. in the night, hearing a great disturbance, i woke up every one and rose from bed. then the count was heard running out of the room; and forth came the countess, with a night-light and the bare knife in her hand. when she saw us all awake, she became terrified and let the knife fall; then i sprang towards her as if i wished to reach her the knife, but i ran with it out of the door and down the stairs in the dark. when i was on the stairs i heard the count call out, 'where is my wife?'--to whom i answered that i had got the knife; but i was so frightened that i would not trust myself to turn back again, but went into a hall, which is called the giant hall and is very gloomy, and there i remained. but the maid, who was a serf of the countess's mother, from bohemia, went off and did not return. so i was left some weeks alone with the countess, and had to dress and undress her, which was very hard upon me. "but my deceased father happened to hear from others that i was in such danger, and took me away. after this i went at about fifteen years old to the duchess of holstein, born landgravine of hesse, who had married duke philipp ludwig, of the suderburg family. the duke had by a first marriage a daughter, who had just married the count von zinzendorf, president of the imperial chamber. i was taken as maid of honour to this royal bride; her woman of the bedchamber was a von steinling, who was thirty years of age. immediately after my arrival, the journey to lintz, where the marriage was to take place, was begun. we went by the danube, and very jovial it was; the drums and trumpets sounded beautiful on the water, and everywhere throughout the journey we were splendidly received; the preparations having been made by those who had been sent to fetch the bride. it was very joyful to me after my former terror, and i had no anxieties except the thought that my soul might suffer, because i was going to a popish place. whenever we came to a resting-place, i looked out for a chamber where there was no one else, fell on my knees and prayed that god would prevent everything that might be injurious to my salvation. the chamber-maid of the bride remarked how i retired apart, and slipt after me once to see what i did alone, for she still looked upon me as very childish, because i was small. when, however, she found me praying on my knees, she went quietly back without my knowing that she had seen me. but once, when the royal bride inquired whether i ever prayed, the woman of the bedchamber answered that they need have no anxiety about me. now when we came to lintz, the marriage took place at the imperial castle, and everything went off grandly. the following day the royal bride went to the chapel of the castle, and there a blessing was pronounced upon her, and a goblet full of wine was given; this was called the johannis blessing, and of this she and the count were to partake. now, after the marriage was celebrated, when every one was to settle down in their proper places, there arose a dispute among the authorities concerning me. the count von zinzendorf said that he would only admit the lady of the bedchamber (as the noble maidens were then called) to his table; that the others must have their meals with the '_hoffmeisterin_.' this the duke would not consent to, as he said that she was only from the burgher class, whereas i was of an old family, and not inferior to the others, and he could not permit that such a distinction should be made between us, especially as i was his wife's goddaughter. "as this, however, was of no avail, it was determined that i should return with the duchess, and when the reason was explained to me, it appeared to me quite wonderful, for it was my wish to have my meals along with the '_hoffmeisterin_,' rather than at the prince's table. but i did not know that god had so ordained it in his mercy, and that my poor prayers had been so graciously listened to; for after the course of some years the princess and all the persons who had accompanied her, fell away to the popish religion. but at the time i was much troubled to be obliged to return; i thought they might imagine i had not comported myself right, and i also feared to be brought again under the severe discipline of my father. "but the duke of holstein had obtained wiesenburg from saxony, which was about ten miles from leipzig and one from zwickau, and dwelt there, so it pleased the duchess to keep me with her. i practised myself in all kinds of accomplishments, so that i was much liked; in dancing, too, i excelled others, so that these vanities were dear and pleasing to me; i had also a real liking for splendid dress and the like trifles, because it became me well, and i was much commended by every one. never did any one tell me that it was not right, but, on the contrary, praised me for these vanities, and considered me godly because i liked to read and pray, and went to church and was often able to give a good account of all the main points of the sermon; i even knew what had been preached upon the same text the preceding year. i was looked upon as a godly maiden both by spiritual and worldly persons, yet i pursued my course with worldly thoughts, and was not really a true follower of christ. "then it was ordained by god's mercy that the son of a lieutenant-colonel, of the family of brettwitz, fell in love with me; and when, through the medium of his father, he asked me in marriage of my royal master and mistress, and of my deceased father, they all replied yes; but that he must first serve a year as a cornet, and then have his father's company, who was lieutenant-colonel under the elector of saxony. now when he went forth to the war, i heard from others that he did not lead a godly, but a worldly life; then i was secretly troubled and threw myself on my face before god, and prayed that either his spirit or our engagement might be changed. but i did not know that the most high had brought this to pass, that i might be preserved from other noble marriages, for i was then still very young, and had many opportunities of marrying, all of which i escaped through this betrothal, though on his side he had thought of many others, and engaged himself here and there in that foreign country. this lasted several years, during which i experienced much secret sorrow, which threw a damp over the pleasures of the world. in the course of these years, brettwitz was always changing his mind, fixing his thoughts upon others, and when nothing came of it, he turned again to me, and wrote about constancy, all which i committed to the most high, and sought to unite myself closer to god. hence much refreshment from the holy scriptures was imparted to me, sometimes in sleep through holy dreams, in which i powerfully spoke out the words of scripture, and thereupon awoke, so that my companion, who had a godly heart, was often sore troubled that she could not experience the like. i always comforted her by saying that she should regard me as a child that required to be enticed by her father, but that she was so confirmed in faith she would have no need of such enticement. and this came from my heart, for i saw well that my joyous spirit drew me to the world, but my god drew me again to him by his love. "at last he who had been so changeable came home and visited our court. but my spiritual condition did not please him, because he thought so much bible reading would not befit a soldier's wife: he would have been glad if i would have renounced him, as his father knew of a rich marriage for him in dresden, if he could with decency free himself from me; but he did not like to be called faithless, so he would fain have thrown the blame upon me. i remained quiet, however, and did not mind him, but trusted to my heavenly father, who would order all aright. now there was one, named von fresen, who would fain have warned me, thinking i did not observe that the said brettwitz was not acting uprightly; so he wrote me a letter, for he had no opportunity of speaking to me, as i was always with my duchess in her room. this letter fell into the hands of the said brettwitz, who thought to find therein great evidence upon which to accuse me, either of having an affection for another, or of courting others. his father, who was then present, also thought that it would be a good opportunity, and that they might with a good grace enter upon the rich marriage; so he went to the duke and showed him the letter as proof that others were wooing me, and therefore his son neither could nor would entertain any further hopes of me, but would seek happiness elsewhere. it vexed the duke much to hear such things of me, who had hitherto, to their great astonishment, repelled all advances. it grieved me much that my royal master and mistress should thus think of me. but when i went to my room weeping, the words came into my mind, 'what i do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter;' from these i derived consolation. when on the following day the letter was read correctly, it appeared that in it the writer complained that he had never been able to gain an opportunity of speaking with me, and declaring his honourable love, and that i kept myself in reserve for a person who was false, rejecting the love of others. thus it became known that i was innocent, and the brettwitzes could not get out of it in that way. the duke and duchess then asked me what my wishes were, as it must now be decided. then i begged that brettwitz might not be driven to marry me. thereupon the said von brettwitz sent two cavaliers to me in order to learn how i was minded towards him, and whether he was still to wait some time for his happiness. but i gave him liberty, as far as i was concerned, to seek his happiness where he liked; for i felt no longer bound to retain my affection for one so faithless, who, if possible, would have made me out guilty of want of fidelity. thereupon he paid me the false compliment of saying that he regretted the misunderstanding: and it was then settled that he was to make no further pretensions to me. the rich marriage, however, did not take place, and later he became paralytic. "thus i was relieved from this burden, and i had become so strong in spirit that i did not entertain any further thoughts of marriage. i always felt that amongst the nobility there were many evil habits which were quite contrary to christianity--first, because they had more opportunities of drinking; and secondly, that for every thoughtless word they must endanger body and soul, if they would not be disgraced. i reflected deeply on this, that they should dare to imagine themselves christians, and yet live quite contrary to the doctrines of christ; and that it never occurred to them once to abstain from such proceedings. this took away from me all disposition to marry; for although i knew some fine natures that had a horror of all these vices, yet i thought that one's descendants would be exposed to the same dangers. still i felt i ought not to take a husband from another class, as my deceased father thought much of his ancient family. "but god continued to impart more grace to me; and i became acquainted in frankfort with a truly godly man. for when my noble master and mistress were travelling to the baths at emser, a stranger was on board the vessel in which we went. by god's special providence he seated himself next me, and we fell into a spiritual discourse which lasted some hours, so that the four miles from frankfort to mayence, where he disembarked, appeared to me only a quarter of an hour. we talked without ceasing, and it seemed just as if he read my heart. then i gave vent to all, concerning which i had hitherto lived in doubt. indeed i found in this friend what i had despaired of ever finding in any man in the world. long had i looked around me to discover whether there might be any true doers of the word, and it had been a stumbling-block to me that i could find none. but when i perceived in this man such great penetration, that he could see into the very recesses of my heart, also such humility, gentleness, holy love, and earnestness to teach the way of truth, then i was truly comforted and much strengthened.[ ] then was my heart filled with godly convictions, and i felt an ever-increasing distaste to the world: and i said to myself, 'shall i defraud my spiritual nature for the sake of contemptible transitory pleasures? no; i will by god's help prevail, let it cost what it may.' i wrote thereupon to the friend who had imparted to me so many godly gifts, that i loved him as a father, and that i purposed to loosen myself from all worldly ties. he was, moreover, fearful that i should not have strength enough to bear all that i should meet with. but the parable of the five foolish virgins and other similar salutary passages of holy writ were ever in my heart, and they impelled me to give up the pleasures of the world; yet i felt a fear of my master and mistress which i could not conquer. then i frequently danced with tears in my eyes, and knew not how to help myself. 'ah,' thought i frequently, 'if i were but the daughter of a herdsman, i should not be blamed for living in the simplicity of christ's teaching. no one would mind me.' but when i became conscious that no position could excuse me, i determined that nothing should be a hindrance to me either in life or death. i therefore went to my duchess, and begged for my dismissal. this was refused; but, as she wished to know what had moved me to this, i told her openly, that the life i was obliged to lead at court was against my conscience. then did my dear duchess try to divert my mind from this, looked upon it as a fit of melancholy, and said, 'you always live like a virtuous maiden, and read and pray assiduously; you see also that others who are good christians do the like things; they are not forbidden if the heart is not set upon them.' but i pointed out to her the example of christ and his word; i did not judge other men, but could not be content to follow their example. as now my dear duchess saw that she could not change my mind, she promised to excuse me everything that i felt to be contrary to my conscience, only she would have me remain with her and perform my duties in all other respects as before. but i represented that she would be deprived of much service by this, especially when strangers came, when it might easily happen that the other maiden should fall sick, then she would be without attendance, because i would not be present at appointed gaieties, and that would give occasion for ridicule. she would not, however, be deterred from her object, but promised me faithfully that i should be relieved from all attendance at mere amusements. then she mentioned it to the duke, who contended with me sharply, and said it was the suggestion of the devil, that i, who was a young lady, beloved by high and low, should expose myself to so much contempt, that i should be considered a fool; besides, what would my relatives say? now, when all this persuasion was of no avail, they sent several clergymen to me, who tried to persuade me that i did not rightly understand the words of scripture. but i put it to their consciences which of these two ways was safest: to follow after the footsteps of christ in all simplicity, or, while enjoying worldly pleasures, merely to talk of it and treat it with respect, yet doing otherwise. then they said that the first would certainly be the best; but who could so live?--we were all sinful men. then i replied, 'it is commanded me to choose the better way, and as to the power of doing it, i left that to my god,' then they left me in peace. "they now tried to move me in another way, by ridicule. for at the royal table they often looked at one another, and then at me, laughing amongst themselves; they often said also that it was not becoming a woman of the bedchamber to read the bible so much, she would become too clever. but i let them jeer. when this had gone on almost a year, during which i was treated with contempt by even the most insignificant at the court, excepting some pious souls, whilst i thought little of suffering for christ's sake, there was a sudden change. the great and glorious god brought such fear into all hearts, the highest as well as the lowest, that they did not venture to say or do anything wrong in my presence; although they did not fear the court preachers, yet before me they were quiet, and the otherwise wild young people controlled themselves when they saw me coming. then did tears come into my eyes, whilst i thought within myself, 'oh, wonderful god, with what power have i been enabled to bring it to pass, that both great and small fear to do wrong in my presence!' this thought did not puff up my heart, but led me to humility; i poured out my soul before god, as i had experienced his power, and saw that he could turn the hearts of princes like the waters of a rivulet. in this condition of things i continued yet three years at court, and i can truly say that i experienced much kindness, not alone from my dear master and mistress, but from every one: but by god's grace i did not accept many favours from the great, nor employ them upon temporal things. "having then for three years lived at court in all simplicity, and rejected all transitory pleasures, whereby the body, and not the spirit, is recreated, it came to pass that my deceased father required me to keep his house, as my stepmother had died in childbed, and the child was still alive, and so i was called from court. it was, however, very difficult for me to obtain my dismissal, as my dear duchess loved me as if i were her child, and lamented my departure with many tears: she even sent after me to beg i might return, and did not desist till i promised that if i ever returned to court i should consider myself bound to them before all others. but when i came home i found that the child had meanwhile died, and my father had determined to become high steward of the princess von philippseck. thus i was free to settle myself with a noble and godly widow, baurin von eyseneck--her maiden name was hinsbergen--whose manner of life was known to every one in frankfort, and whose end was blessed. with her i was six years, and we loved one another as though of one heart and soul. "about this period, being in danger of shipwreck, the lord so mightily strengthened me, that i was joyful while others trembled and desponded. it happened that i was on the passage-boat from frankfort to hanau going to visit my sister; there were divers people on board, among them some soldiers, who were carrying on very coarse and improper jokes with poor women. i was sorrowful that these people were so entirely unmindful of their souls, and, leaning against the side of the vessel, endeavoured to sleep that i might not hear such talk. in my sleep i dreamt of the sentence in psalm xiv., 'the lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men.' upon this i awoke, and in waking it appeared to me as if a great storm of wind turned the ship round; then was i terrified and thought within myself, 'art thou really awake? what is thy state of mind?' not a quarter of an hour afterwards there came a mighty whirlwind which took hold of the ship. we were in very great danger, so that all cried out with anguish, and called upon the name of jesus for help--he whom they had so often before named carelessly in their frivolous jesting. then did god open my mouth, to make them feel how good it is to walk in the fear of the lord, and that he is a refuge in the time of trouble. when now the most high mercifully laid the unexpected storm, one of the women was so impudent as to say jestingly, that our ship would have been overwhelmed by the waves, 'but, as there is a saint on board, we have been saved;' so saying she laughed loud, whereupon i became much excited, and said, 'you impudent woman, think you that the hand of the lord could not reach us?' and scarcely had i closed my mouth, when the former wind rose again, a leak appeared in the boat, and all gave up hope of life; but i felt an unusual joy, and thought, 'shall i now see my jesus? what will now remain in the water? nothing but the mortal--that which has so often hindered me. that which has been life in me will never die,' &c., &c. the ship was already filling with water; all the caulking and pumping was of no avail; the storm also held on, so that it was impossible to turn to the land, either on the right or left hand, and we thought that the ship would sink; but all at once the wind was lulled, and the ship reached the shore. then did all spring out of the ship, and the wild soldiers who had been moved by my words, looked after me with great care, so that i came well to land, and thanked god that i had been able to speak to their hearts. "when i had been about a year with the widow baurin, my dear master and mistress heard that my father no longer needed me, so my dear mistress wrote, herself, to me to return and resume my service; she would send the carriage for me and give me double salary, and i was to be called mistress of the robes; but i excused myself by saying that i must take charge of my father's property, and therefore be often present there. but when i had passed six years with dear frau baurin, it was ordained by the most high god that my dear husband, who had seen me some years before at frankfort, began to think of marrying me; he gave at lübeck a commission to a certain person to speak to me concerning it, who did it, but after some time had passed, for want of an opportunity. but when i first heard it, i could not think of marrying, and after offering up my prayers to god, i sat down and wrote to this effect, and suggested to him another very excellent person. but my dear husband would not be deterred, and wrote to my dear friend, also to sundry distinguished ecclesiastics, and to my deceased father. this letter i at first retained, till my conscience constrained me to deliver it to my father, as it had no other aim than to serve to the glory of god. then i wrote and sent him the letter, and at the same time remained as calm as if it were nothing concerning myself. all the contents of the letter to my father were unknown to me, and i did not think that my deceased father would give his consent. but when his answer came--wherein he wrote that he had many reasons for not wishing me so far from him in his old age, and had never yet made up his mind to allow his child to marry below her station, yet he could not withstand the will of god,--it went to my heart, and i thought it must be of god, because my father's heart had been touched beyond all expectation. he left the matter to my disposal, which i did not, however, agree to, but submitted it entirely to his will. my brother-in-law, von dorfield, high steward at the court of hanau, was much against it, but my deceased father answered him in a most christian spirit,[ ] that it was not good for us, of the evangelical faith, to esteem the clergy so little, as the papists held their priests so high; further, that his daughter was not suited to a worldly man; that she would not marry inconsiderately out of her class, as was known to every one. but god had called me to this vocation. they were therefore obliged to be quiet, and my father gave his consent. "thereupon my dear husband came to frankfort, and we were married on the th september, , by d. spener, in the presence of her highness the princess von philippseck, my father, and some noble persons of distinction; there were about thirty, and everything went off in such a quiet and christian manner, that every one was pleased. but the demon of calumny could not refrain from his malice; it vexed his tools that the marriage was not accompanied by eating and drinking and wild doings, after the manner of the world. then they invented this lie, that the holy spirit had appeared in the chamber in which we were married, in a form of fire, and that we had interpreted the revelation of st. john. such lies were also reported to the rev. dr. heiler, who had been himself at our wedding. but when he contradicted them, and stated that he had been present, that nothing had passed but what was truly christian, they were ashamed of their lies." thus far the wife. the narration of the husband forms a supplement to hers. but first we will give his account of his youth, and of his experiences as shepherd of souls. dr. johann wilhelm petersen begins thus:-- "i was born in the renowned city of osnabrück, on the st of june, , after the conclusion of the peace of westphalia, where my father, george petersen, had been sent from lubeck on business concerning the peace. when i grew older, my parents sent me to the latin school at lubeck. they never had to force me to study, for i paid attention to all my lessons, and concealed candles, in order that i might thus study whilst others slept. i then also copied divers small books, as i could not obtain printed copies. but i more especially applied myself to prayer, as i had seen my mother do, after i had heard from her that one could obtain everything from god through prayer, on which account i always, before i began my studies, called upon god to bless them. and once, when i was in want of money to buy a certain book, i went to st. mary's church, placed myself on the long stools before the altar, and prayed to god to grant me wherewith to buy the desired book. now when i had knelt down and finished my prayer, behold there lay a heap of money on the bench before which i had knelt; this strengthened me much. but when, in consequence, i wished to make a custom of it, and again sought to obtain money by prayer, through the wise guidance of god i found nothing, for he only hears us when in childlike simplicity we appear before him without any after-thought. but yet once, when about to be punished, i turned to god in prayer, and punishment was averted. "now when i came to the third class, i had been very diligent; therefore the herr conrector put the others to shame by my example, and said that i had surpassed them all and gained the crown, and, as he expressed himself, would throw sand into their eyes. this vexed the scholars much, and excited their envy; they painted a crown in my book, and strewed it thick with sand, with this inscription: 'this is petersen's crown, and the sand he would cast in our eyes.' at last i was afraid to repeat my lesson too readily, though i had learnt it thoroughly, lest i should be beaten by the other scholars. when i was removed into the first class, i found there excellent preceptors. at this period i put many verses in print, especially on the death of my dearly beloved mother. i also delivered two orations on the restoration of peace at lubeck; and the choice of hercules. in i went to the university of giessen. "when i had become master of arts at giessen, i was much loved by the professors, and also was, as far as lay in my power, on terms of friendship with every one. then was dr. spener, of frankfort, strongly recommended to me; therefore i resolved to go to frankfort to visit him, in order to see whether the reality came up to the praise. i found him far superior to what i had heard; his was quite a different life and character to what i had seen in general i had indeed, after my fashion, feared god and loved the holy scriptures; but by the light of my merely worldly learning these were very obscure to me, so that when i presided at a disputation i feared many passages of scripture which were brought against me by others. now i became aware how important it was to understand rightly the spiritual meaning of the holy scriptures, and that the learning was not worth much which could be obtained by mere human industry. "there came at that time to frankfort, for the purpose of enjoying the friendship and intercourse with the rev. dr. spener, a noble lady, who had formerly been maid of honour at a court; and as i desired much to have, if only for once, some talk with her, i begged the reverend doctor to give me her address in a note. this he did, and i went to her, and presented her with my last disputation, under the impression that it would not be disagreeable to her, as she had learnt hebrew and had much acquaintance with the holy scriptures. but she told me that i had therein glorified 'the god petersen,' and that, for a true knowledge of god in christ, far more was required than such worldly learning, which produced generally a boastful spirit, and whereby one could hardly attain to the godly simplicity of heavenly things. this speech sank deep into my heart, and i was at once convinced of the truth of it. after that i began to write a little book, wherein i noted down what i heard from pious people concerning the way to true godliness; and i began to practise what i had thus learnt, for without this effectual working all else would be fruitless. "now when i had been strengthened in this course, i went back to giessen, where the change in me was soon perceived; and they began to ridicule me on account of my 'piety.' but i cared little for it." (petersen afterwards returned to his home, at lubeck, and became there professor of poetry, but met with great enmity from the jesuits. in he became preacher at hanover; and was called from thence, in , to cutin, as the court preacher to the duke of holstein.) "but i had not been long court preacher at cutin, when it happened that thalers were stolen out of the room of one of the gentlemen of the bedchamber. in order to recover his money he went to a hereditary blacksmith,[ ] at the village of zernikaw, that he might 'knock out the thief's eye;' and in order that the smith might do it better he let him know, through an _einspänner_,[ ] that the bishop desired it, which was not the case. when the smith is to perform a work of this kind he must prepare a nail three successive sundays, and on the last sunday strike this nail into a head made for the purpose; whereupon the thief, as they say, will lose his eye. he must, also, at midnight rise up naked, and go backwards to a hut which he has newly built in an open field, and go up to a large new bellows; take it and blow out the fire with it; upon this two large hell-hounds will appear. this performance having taken place in the night of the first sunday, the villagers of zernikaw came to me to complain, as the whole village had no rest for this terrible howling, which they had heard in the smithy, and said i ought to make it known to the duke, that he might stop this wicked work. i told them that these were important things which they had related to me; and asked, seriously, whether the affair was really such as they represented it. they answered that the whole village could bear witness of it, and that the _einspänner_ had empowered the smith to do it. thereupon i went to the bishop[ ] (with whom, as it so happened, the gentleman of the bedchamber then was), and i told him i wished to say something to him privately. when i had related all to him he was horrified, sought for further information concerning the matter, and learnt that the _einspänner_ had enjoined the smith to do this in the bishop's name; then he inquired of me what was to be done. i replied that, as his name had been misused for these public wicked proceedings, it was necessary that the hut, which had been built in honour of the devil, should be destroyed in the name of god; this was approved of. thereupon i proceeded to do it; the boys from the school, noble pages, and many noblemen accompanied me to destroy the work of the devil. the smith had already run away, but his wife came and begged that she might be allowed to keep the new bellows and the iron utensils. but i said she ought to be ashamed of herself to desire to keep among her things what the devil had handled; whereupon she desisted from her petition. but the noble pages set fire to and burnt the hut and bellows, and cast the iron work into deep water. now there came some merchants, travelling from hamburgh, who looked on and listened to my discourse. it was just during the period of christmas, so i took the passage, 'behold a house of god among men,' and explained it shortly, but said in direct application: 'behold a house of the devil among the zernikawers. this is the place where formerly the idol of the holsteiners, zernebog, was worshipped, who wishes again to install himself; but has been driven away by the injunction of the bishop.' at the catechising, also, at which the duke, with his court, were in the habit of attending, i made an impressive speech, saying that the thief must be among the court; also that there were conjectures afloat as to who it was, and that if the thief would bring me this money, i called god to witness, i would not betray him. so the thief, at night, would have laid down the stolen money in the churchyard near my house, but could not because the gentleman of the bedchamber had placed his people there to catch the thief. thus he himself prevented the restoration. the bishop was very angry with the gentleman of the bedchamber, who was obliged to leave the court. but he uttered menaces against me, because i had disgraced him in my sermon, having said that his name, which the smith must have mentioned in his proceedings, would be known by the devils in hell, and that he should take care not to get there himself. but i did not care for his threats, but trusted myself to my god and my office. "the courtiers, however, leagued themselves against me; they sided almost all with the court mareschal, a mecklenburger. but the mareschal sought out all kinds of occasions against the duchess and her maid of honour, naundorf, and made the duke imagine that the duchess followed the advice of naundorf in everything, and thereby the duke was irritated against the duchess. but, as i was not in their league, the court mareschal asked me in the public saloon, to which party i belonged, the great or the little. by the great party, they meant themselves. i answered that i was on the side of god and justice. the mareschal replied, that they would soon shorten my cloak for me. now as i perceived that the ill will of the duke to the duchess continued increasing, i went to him, and spoke persuasively to him, that he should not be so alienated from his wife, as those who desired it sought only their own interests. thereupon the duke went with me to the duchess, and they became reconciled in my presence; and i, as it were, united them again. the bishop told me to keep this secret; but from this time he noted the intrigues of the court mareschal and dismissed him. "there was also another evil business, for a nobleman of the illustrious court of plön quarrelled with a nobleman of our court, and they challenged one another. as soon as i discovered this i went to this sheep of my flock, and pointed out to him what an unchristian thing duelling was, as christ had commanded us to love our enemies. he told me he would take care the quarrel was adjusted, so i was in some measure reassured. but at dawn of day on the morrow, i heard a troop of horses passing by my house, and it occurred to me that the devil was going to have his pastime with this sheep of my flock. i rose, awoke my servant, and as, from my great haste, i could not get a carriage, i went after them on foot. when i had gone a mile i heard some shots at a distance, the signal of the arrival of both parties at their respective places. but i thought that they had already exchanged shots, so i fell down on my knees and prayed god that neither of them might murder the other. then i ran on, guided by the footprints of the horses, which i could easily see, as many of the holstein junkers had accompanied my sheep; and as i found them both ready to commence the duel, i went up to my sheep and advised him to abstain from this evil deed. but his opponent thought that he had settled with me to do this, which i denied most solemnly; i also spoke persuasively to the others from the plönish court. but neither of them would be reconciled. then said i, 'now, if you will not, may god make such an example of you both, together with the others that have come here for this duel, as may show his wrath in the eyes of the whole world.' yet in my heart i wished that they might be preserved from it. then god so ordained, that the seconds persuaded them and they became reconciled; and i got a carriage which conveyed me back to the house. who could be more joyful than i, who had deprived the devil of a roast? nevertheless, the holstein noblesse were disposed in their hearts to speak evil concerning it, and observed to my lord that in future he would get no honourable cavalier to sit at his table. he, also, in the beginning, was inclined to speak ill of me; and for this reason, because i had followed them on foot. then one of the equerries came to me and said that my lord had been so offended by my bad conduct that he had taken to his bed. i answered, by the time he rises from his bed he will find that i have done nothing but what was required of me by my duty as a faithful shepherd. thereupon my lord sent for me, and i showed him that his table could not be adorned by those who opposed themselves to christ. if i was so watchful and faithful towards a servant, how much more would i be so towards my lord himself. then was my lord, who truly feared god, quite softened. soon after, the duke von plön visited our court; and my heart feared his reproaches on account of what i had done; but he commended me, and, on the other hand, blamed his court preacher, who had been so near the duellists and had known the affair, yet had not stirred a foot in it. this pleased my lord much, and he thereupon caused a severe edict to be published against duelling. "up to this period i remained unmarried, and should have continued so if my dear father had not exhorted me to marry. a patrician lady had already been suggested to me at lubeck, who met me in her smartest attire, and whom my father would have been glad for me to marry; but she was too fine for me, and i said that she would hardly suit a clergyman. if i was to marry, no one would suit me better than _fräulein_ von merlan, who would not be a hindrance to me in my office; but i was shy about paying my addresses to her, lest she should think i had on this account sought her acquaintance at frankfort. but some one who was going to frankfort undertook to tell her my wishes; my love, however, would not give an answer to him who wooed her for me; but she wrote to me, that, though she had no engagement, still she was not at liberty to answer yes; and she proposed to me another young _docterin_ in frankfort, who was more highly gifted, and would suit me well; but i answered, either she or none, and wrote immediately to herr doctor spener, that he might persuade her to consent. i wrote also to her noble father, who knew me, as i had once been at the philippseck court, where he was high steward, and preached before his duke. he answered me, that though he had never had an idea of giving his daughter to one who was not of noble family, yet, he did not know how it happened, he was so troubled in mind when he wished to refuse his consent, that he thought it must be the will of god that he should entrust his daughter to the superintendent petersen; therefore, he sent herewith his fatherly yes. this letter was sent me by my love, johanna, and doctor spener congratulated me. who could be more joyful than i when i found that my prayer had been heard? for i had knelt in prayer to my god, that he might interpose to prevent the marriage if it were not his will, but if it were, that he would so trouble the father's mind that he could not withstand it. when, therefore, i read in the father's letter that he had been thus troubled, i perceived that this was what god had intended from all eternity. then did i travel joyfully by hamburg to frankfort, where the bans were published, and i was afterwards married by herr doctor spener. "in , the holy revelation which god made through his angel in certain visions to the apostle and evangelist john was disclosed in a wonderful way to me and my love. formerly i had always feared to read such a book, because it was generally considered that it was a sealed book, which no one could understand. but on a certain day i was powerfully moved, and led by my god to read this book, and on the same day and at the same hour, without my knowing it, my love felt the same impulse, and began to read the book, equally not knowing that i had felt a like impulse. now, when i had gone to my study to note down something that i had discovered, from the accordance of the prophet daniel with the thirteenth chapter of the book of revelation--what the beast and the little horn were--behold, my love came there and told me how she had seriously undertaken to read the holy book, and what she had found therein, and this harmonised with mine, which i showed her, as i had written it down, and the ink was not dry. then were we mutually amazed, and agreed we would confer together at the end of a month, and observe what we had further found; but we could not withhold it, when we discovered anything singular and of undoubted truth; and it so happened that what she and i found was always precisely the same. we rejoiced much thereat, and thanked god in all simplicity that he had so invigorated us both by his enlightening spirit, as to be able to know the future fate of the church, and to bear witness thereof. for a long time we kept it to ourselves, till we made acquaintance with the fraulein rosamunda juliana von der asseburg, who, in her testimony, had borne witness to the same, yet not from searching the holy scriptures, but by extraordinary grace vouchsafed her from above. herewith i must also note what happened to my love when she was eighteen, which i here set down in her own words:--'i dreamt that the numerals were written in golden ciphers on the heaven; on my right i saw a man who pointed to the numbers and said to me, "see at that time will great things happen, and somewhat shall be revealed unto you." now, it was in this year, , that the great persecution took place in france, and in the same year was the blessed millennial kingdom of the apocalypse revealed to me and my dear husband, at the same hour; and, without one knowing of the other, did both our treatises so coincide, that we were ourselves amazed at it we were therefore, by divine guidance, convinced of the truth of what we had discovered in holy scripture concerning the kingdom of our king. and later we imparted to others in all simplicity our discovery, not caring when learned and unlearned alike gainsaid it.'" here we end the narrative of petersen. they passed the first years of their marriage in peace. he had once accidentally placed his thumb on the passage--"sarah shall bear a son;" the year following he was made happy by johanna eleonora bringing a son into the world, who was, indeed, small at his birth, but who shortly afterwards raised his head in a wonderful way out of his little bed and gave other delightful signs that he would become something remarkable and pleasing in the sight of the lord. he did actually become, later, a royal russian councillor, and was able to protect his dear parents when the millennial kingdom made their life full of cares; for, alas! it was not granted to them to keep the great light which had been kindled at the same time in both, under a bushel. it would have been better for their earthly comfort had they done so. what the worthy couple learned from the revelation, combined with numerous passages from the bible--in reading which they were assisted by earnest prayer, followed by divine inspiration--was remarkable. the millennium was not already come, but was approaching. it was to begin, at no very distant time, by the return of christ on earth; when this should take place, a portion of the dead would rise; in great periods of thousands of years, the whole human race, living and dead, were to attain salvation; the calvinists and lutherans were to be united, and all jews and heathen converted; then all even the worst sinners would be redeemed from hell; and, last of all, the devil himself brought out of his miserable condition, and, through repentance and penance, changed again into an angel; but this last would only be at the end of , years: from that time there would be endless bliss, love and joy. they were inclined to think that the beginning of this glorious time would be from to . in the year , petersen accepted the appointment of superintendent at luneburg. they considered it as a special providence that he had been called there, because once, in passing through on a journey, he had preached a beautiful sermon which had given much satisfaction; but in luneburg he found many orthodox opponents who vexed and irritated him, and some mocked him on account of the opinions which he held concerning the millennial kingdom. they were, besides, injured by the intimacy with the fraulein rosamunda von der asseburg, whose violent excitement and nervous exaltation had created a great sensation. the tender and innocent character of the maiden captivated both the petersens; they supported the divine nature of her revelations, and defended her in the press, especially as the dear maiden revealed exactly the same concerning the already-mentioned return of the lamb of god which had been disclosed to them. the private devotions which they held with the sick maiden gave great offence to the worldly-minded, and they were maliciously calumniated. when petersen once was in great danger of drowning on the elbe, he thought himself like the prophet jonas, who was cast by the lord into the body of a whale because he would not proclaim the secret of the lord's word; and in this hour of danger he vowed that henceforth he would no longer conceal from the world his great secret. and he honestly kept his word. the millennial kingdom, and the return of the lamb, were brought forward incessantly in his sermons. his hearers were amazed, his opponents denounced him, and he was removed from his office in . they both bore this misfortune with love and trust in god. from that time they passed their life in travelling about and writing books, in visits to those who were like-minded, and in constant disputes with the orthodox. they became to the multitude like persons of evil repute, to whom calumny and ill-natured gossip seemed to cling; they were obliged usually to keep their names secret on their journeys; but never were they wanting in warm patrons and friends. in the castles of princes, in the houses of the nobles, among the city authorities, and in the rooms of artisans, they found admirers. more than all others was kniphausen, the president of the supreme court of justice, their protector. the year petersen was dismissed, he obtained for them a pension from the court of berlin, and granted them a house at magdeburg; other patrons also sent them money, and gave them recommendations, so that they were in a position to buy a small property at magdeburg. they were, nevertheless, annoyed by the peasants and the clergymen of the place, and by denunciations in berlin; but the queen herself maintained intercourse with the proclaimer of a revelation so full of hope, and rejoiced that he promised salvation finally to the wicked. thus he remained safe, though, indeed, the harmless proclaimer of a coming kingdom of glory was in danger of being deceived by wolves in sheep's clothing for among the pious people travelling about there were many deceivers. once there came a troop of mendicant students, who maintained that they were pietists, and demanded donations; then an adventurer desired instruction, having heard that every one who allowed himself to be converted would receive ten thalers. at last there came a false officer, who, in the absence of the husband, under the pretence of being a follower of the lamb, insinuated himself into the confidence of the frau doctorin, who, probably from an indelible recollection of her noble birth, was disposed to bear special goodwill to the distinguished believer; but the husband returned home, just in time to prevent the foreign deceiver persuading his guileless wife to give him a letter of recommendation. on a journey to nuremberg, they were received into the pegnitzer blumen order--he as petrophilus, she as ph[oe]be. such success comforted them amid the flood of flying sheets that surged up against them. the true-hearted petersen complained that every one rose up in controversy against him, to prove themselves orthodox, and be made doctors of theology; and when even the pious stumbled at his doctrine of the seven trumpets, or if they reproached him, that he had once, when the opportunity offered, reappeared in the character of the old professor of poetry, and had celebrated the coronation of frederick i. of prussia and other worldly events in latin verses which flowed from him like water, he bore it with resignation. the last years of their life they dwelt in the pious district of zerbst at thymern, where they had obtained a property, as their former property at nieder-dodeleben had been too unquiet for them, and the peasants had become too hostile. in , petersen succeeded, by victorious disputations, in restoring to the evangelical communion the duke moritz wilhelm von sachsen-zeitz. they died at a great age--she in , he in . after spener had been removed to berlin, the university of halle became the intellectual centre of pietism; it was there that the impassioned franke, with his companions breithaupt and anton, led the theological party. henceforth the youth were systematically trained in the faith of the pietists; immense was the concourse of students; only luther had collected a greater number at wittemberg. at halle the dangers of the new tendency were evident: the colleges became mere schools for the propagation of their views; industrious, patient labour in the paths of human science appeared almost superfluous; not only the controversial points of the orthodox, but all the dogmas of the church were treated by many with indifference and contempt. the mind was overstrained by intense prayer and spiritual exercises. instead of unruly lads who sharpened their backswords on a stone, and drank immense glasses of beer, "_fioricos or hausticos_," in one draught, pale fellows crept through the streets of the city in a state of inward abstraction, with vehement movements of the hands, and loud outcries. all the believers rejoiced over this wonderful manifestation of divine grace; but their opponents complained of the increasing melancholy, and of distractions of the spirit, and of nefarious proceedings of the worst kind. vain were the warnings of the moderate spener. from halle, pietism spread to the other universities. wittemberg and rostock withstood it long, and were for many years the last bulwarks of orthodoxy. even at the courts this faith gained influence: it forced its way among the governments, and after filled the country churches of most of the german territories. and its dominion was not confined to germany: an active intercourse with the pious of denmark and sweden, and the sclavonian east, contributed to maintain the inward communion of these countries with the spiritual life of germany, which lasted till the end of the century. even the orthodox opponents were, without knowing it, transformed by this pietism; the old scholastic disputes were silenced, and they endeavoured to defend their own point of view with greater dignity and learning. meanwhile the defects in the faith of the pietists became greater, the deterioration more striking. since the process of spiritual regeneration had become the secret act of a man's life, after which the whole soul morbidly strained, all the bliss of salvation depended on his admittance into the community of the pious. he who by a special act of god's grace was brought into the condition of regeneration, lived in a state of grace; his soul was guarded from all sin by the lord; he breathed a purer and more heavenly atmosphere, secure of the mercy of the lamb, already redeemed from sin here. but it was difficult for the more cultivated minds to go through this spiritual process: it did not prosper with all conscientious men, as it did with the jurist johann jacob moser. touching are the accounts delivered to us of the strivings of individuals, of the anguish and self-torture which fruitlessly ground down body and soul. among the weaker we find every kind of self-delusion and hypocrisy. very soon it became doubtful whether the regenerate was an enthusiast or a deceiver: occasionally he was both at the same time. after pietism had won the favour of persons of distinction and the governing powers, it became a remunerative concern, a fashionable thing, an assistance to very worldly objects. generally those who received the holiest revelations were tender, weak natures, whom one could not suppose capable of the strenuous work which is necessary for worldly service; they lived at the cost of their patrons. the artisans were received into the society of the upper classes in order to assure their spiritual progress, and whoever desired protection, hastened as penitents to attend the meetings for edification, of some great lord, which they preferred holding in special chambers prepared for the purpose, rather than in the chapels of their castles. sighs, groans, wringing the hands, and talk about illumination, became now here and now there a lucrative speculation. in the regenerate clergy, who held the souls of weak nobles and gentry in their hands, might be found all the faults peculiar to ambitious favourites, pride and mean selfishness. soon also the morality of many came into ill repute, and when, after the decease of a devout lord, a society of ambitious pietists were expelled, a feeling of malicious pleasure was generally excited. thus an opposition to pietism arose on all sides, equally among the orthodox, the worldly, and the learned, and finally in the sound common sense of the people. how the judgment of the thoughtful against it was expressed in the first half of the eighteenth century shall here be shown by a short example. the worthy semler, of whom more details will be given later, relates among his youthful reminiscences the sorrowful fate of his brother ernst johann, who returned in a distracted state to his parental home, from the regenerate circle of magister brumhardt and of professor buddeus at the university of jena. the passage gives such a good insight into the period of decaying pietism, that it shall be given here with a few abbreviations. "my brother was so habitually upright that he even mistrusted his own feelings. easy though it was to many of the brotherhood to declare the day and the hour of their being sealed to redemption, which warranted their living in a state of pure, spiritual, heavenly joyfulness, and raised them to the rank of god's children, yet little could my brother forgive himself this spiritual falsehood; he could not coincide in what was so lightly and so repeatedly spoken of by others. he therefore fell into immoderate grief over the greatness of his sins, which were alone his hindrance; he not only prayed, but he moaned half the night before the lord, but there was no change in his feelings. he seldom eat meat, no white or wheaten bread; he considered himself quite unworthy even of existence. every night, when i had gone to sleep, he stole secretly out of bed, crept into the small adjoining library, knelt or lay down on the floor, and gradually lost, in his passionate emotions, all caution as to speaking softly and gently. his moaning and lamenting awoke me. i sought him out, and small confidence as i had in myself to produce any great effect--being as yet little advanced in conversion,--yet i repeated to him at intervals such beautiful lines and verses, both greek and hebrew, that he often embraced me and sighed, haying, 'ah, if this would but begin in me.' i answered sometimes hastily, that this was perversion instead of conversion, and how impossible it was for that way to be right and true, wherein one acted contrary to the intentions of god, and made one's-self into an utterly useless, helpless creature. 'yes,' he said, 'that is what i am, and cannot sufficiently acknowledge it.' i talked with my mother, who wept over her son, who might now have been our mainstay, if he had not been spoilt by these false ideas. my father disapproved of all this still more strongly, and expatiated at such length from dogmatic and polemical divinity, that i could well see in what account he held these new spiritual institutions. meanwhile he was obliged to be on his guard, for the whole court were in favour of this party; many were undoubtedly very well-meaning christians, but there were also undeniably many idlers and adventurers, who entered these institutions, and found their good, comfortable life very easy. all the evidence of their life in the flesh--which evidence was not rare nor imperceptible--was of no avail; who could succeed here? occasionally there was a convert who lived in shame with his maidservant; it was not investigated, it was a calumny, and in case of necessity they placed him elsewhere, if his peasants were too lutheran. by degrees my brother insinuated that my father also had not yet entered the narrow way, and that he could not be helped to it. they roamed about the woods day and night, so that moonlight devotion, which many now again recommend, is nothing new. they sang the new hymns together; the duke often indeed gave the conveyances for these meetings, together with refreshments; nay, he often himself was the coachman, when he wished publicly to do honour to some old shoemakers' wives who had much faith, for the saviour's sake. i am so far from wishing to exaggerate the state of things, that indeed i have not said all. the period for the annual pilgrimage came, for this custom had been retained from the old times and institutions of the monks. in many places the grace of the saviour was supposed to dwell abundantly, almost visibly, and thither did the brothers and sisters make their pilgrimages, in reality contrary to the principle laid down by christ, that neither jerusalem nor samaria was the special abiding-place of his spirit. many of them brought their provisions with them. my brother assuredly did not travel to ebersdorf without money, but brought nothing back, for he had bought this or that little book to give to the brothers as a memento. this enthusiasm had its real views, that aspired to great ends, although directly afterwards they were moderated, because the philadelphian reckoning did not coincide with them. during these my brother's pious journeys, my mother died, for the remembrance of whom i daily bless my god. my brother found her in her coffin when he returned; he felt all the grief of a son, threw himself upon her, and lay there long, crying aloud, 'ah, if i, useless creature, had but died in my mother's stead!' now we obtained an entrance to his heart; this journey on foot had much weakened his hypochondria; the exhortations of the brotherhood called forth some ideas which he could not himself realize; he was to a certain extent calmed, or began to believe himself so. we represented to him that he must make his gifts serviceable to his fellow-men, however small they might be. he first took a situation as preceptor in a small orphan-house, and afterwards with herr von dieskau, who dwelt in a castle of that name, in the most beautiful country that one could select for oneself one portion of this old castle stands upon the city wall; under the wall there is a small footpath with a hedge planted as a protection against slipping, but just under this fragment of rock flows the saale, sometimes very full and broad, but always deep enough to allow the passage of rafts and boats; from the castle the eye falls upon a half circle of wood and hills. here my brother might perhaps have found rest and refreshment, but he did not live much longer." here we close sender's narrative. he himself became infected later by the prevailing spiritual tendency, and he strove, whilst still a youth, after regeneration, but the powerful tone of his mind enabled him to recover. the state of the times also helped to bring this about. the year was fatal to pietism. the new king of prussia was as averse to the pietists, as his father had been favourable to them. almost at the same time they ceased to prevail in the saxon courts. the time of enlightenment now began; the nation pursued another path; the "_stillen im lande_" only existed as an isolated community. the association of brothers, of count zinzendorf, for a longer period developed a praiseworthy missionary activity in foreign countries, but they ceased to influence the stream of german life, which now began to flow on with a deeper and more powerful current. pietism had drawn together large numbers of individuals; it had raised them from the narrowness of mere family life, it had increased in the soul the longing after a deeper spiritual aim, it had introduced new forms of intercourse; here and there the strong distinctions of classes had been broken through, and it had called forth greater earnestness and more outward propriety in the whole nation, but it had not strengthened national union. he who gave himself up to it with zeal, was in great danger of withdrawing himself, with those who were like-minded, from the great stream of life, and of looking down from his solitude, like the shipwrecked man from his island, on the great waste of waters around him. the new scientific development also produced, at first, only individual men of learning; then a free culture; after that a nation, which dared to struggle and to die, and finally to live, for its independence. chapter vi. the dawning of light. ( .) from the german cities, on the boundaries betwixt guild labour and free invention, did the art of printing come into the world--the greatest acquisition of the human race, after that of the alphabet. the mind of man could now be conveyed, bound up in wood and leather, upon a thousand roads at the same time, all over the earth; the powers of man in church and state, in science and handicraft, were unfolded, not only more powerfully, more variously, and more richly, but in a totally different manner from the quiet plodding of the past. a change was produced in nations in one century which formerly would have taken a thousand years. every individual was bound together in one great intellectual unity with his contemporaries, and every nation with other civilized nations. for the first time a regular connection in the intellectual development of the human race was secured. the mind of the individual will continue to live upon earth perhaps many thousand years after he has ceased to breathe; but the soul of each individual nation gains a capacity of renovating itself which will, we hope, remove its decease, according to the old laws of nature, to an incalculable distance. the black art had not been invented many years when a spring-tide arose in the soul. from the study of the latin writers, the humanitarians proclaimed, with transport, how much there had been of the beautiful and the grand in the ancient world. eagerly did they maintain the treasure of noble feelings, which had fallen on their souls from the distant past, against the coarse or corrupt life that they beheld around them. with the holy book in their hands, pious ecclesiastics contended for the words of scripture, against the despotism of rome and the false traditions of the church. by thousands of books written by themselves, they raised the consciences of the people, for the greatest spiritual struggle that had ever taken place since the star of bethlehem had appeared to the human race; and again through thousands of books, after the first victory, they consecrated anew for their people all earthly relations, the duties and rights of men, of the family, and of the governing powers, as the first educators and teachers of the great multitude. but it was not the pleasure derived from the ancient poets and statues, nor the mighty struggle which was carried on concerning the teaching of the church, nor the theologians and the philologists of the sixteenth century, that were the greatest blessings bestowed by the new art; it is not they alone that have given richness to thought, and security to judgment, and made love and hatred greater. this was brought about in yet another way--through the medium of types and woodcuts; slowly, imperceptibly, to contemporaries, but to us wonderfully. men learnt gradually a different mode of seeing, observing, and judging. sharp as was the mental activity of individuals in the middle ages, the impressions which were conveyed to their minds from the outer world were too easily distorted by the activity of their imagination, which united dreams, forebodings, and immature combinations with the object. now the distinct black upon white was always at work, to give a durable, unvarying report of multitude of new conceptions upon the mutual relations of the state, and the position held in it by the individual man. how various have been the lawgivers who have dominated over the lives of individuals--the jewish priests, the community of apostles, the jurist schools of ancient rome, the longobard kings and the ambitious popes; and, again, together with laws which had originated in past ages and nations, there were the reminiscences from german antiquity--legal decisions, ordinances, codes of law, regulations and privileges. according to their decisions a man preserved or lost his house and farm, wife and child, and his property, either inherited or acquired. and just after the great war, the despotic will of the ruler, and the tyrannical power of a heartless system, had exalted itself above all law. amid such a chaos of laws, and the suppression of rights by the power of the state, the minds of men sought a firm support. and as the pietists demanded of the church a worthier conception of human rights and duties, the jurists also began, after the great war, to place the natural law of men in opposition to the injustice of despotic states, and to vindicate the reasonable law of states against intriguing politicians. together with mathematical discipline and natural philosophy, the science of law became the laboratory in which minds were reared to ideal requirements. from them sprang a new philosophy. after the thirty years' war there began, in the great civilized nations, a systematic exposition of those convictions which science, from its then standing-point, was able to give concerning god, the creation and the government of the world. the french descartes, the english locke, the dutch spinoza, and the german leibnitz, thomasius and wolf, were the great exponents of this philosophy. they all, with the exception of the free-thinker spinoza, sought to keep their system, concerning the divine rule in nature and in the soul of man, in unison with the doctrines of christian theology. after descartes had put forth his propositions, nothing appeared fair or true to the inquiring spirit of man but what could be proved by unanswerable demonstration,--all belief in authority passed away; science assumed a new dominion. the divines, also, once her severe rulers,--even luther had placed the words of holy scripture above the human reason,--now found that natural theology was the ally of revelation. young theologians eagerly sought in this philosophy new supports to their faith. the necessity and wisdom of a creator were demonstrated from the movements of the stars, the volcanic fires, or the convolutions of a snail's shell. on the other hand, there was no lack of men who denied the creating power of a personal god and the immortality of the soul. but against such isolated deists and atheists, most of the philosophers, and the christian piety of the great mass of the people, rose in arms. the great german philosophers who, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, were the leaders of this movement, carried a holy fervour into the various circles of german life. leibnitz, the great creative intellect of his time, a wonderful mixture of elastic pliancy and firm tranquillity, of sovereign certainty and tolerant geniality, worked, by his countless monographs and endless letters, especially on the leaders of the nation and on foreigners, on princes, statesmen, and scholars, opening a path on all sides, and hastening forward to disclose the widest prospects. besides him, thomasius, spiritual, emotional, combative, and greedy of approbation, excited even the indifferent and insignificant, by his noisy activity, to take a part in the struggle. as the first german journalist, he contended through the press, both jestingly and in earnest--now in alliance with the pietists against intolerant orthodoxy, now as opponent of fanatical revivals, for toleration and pure morality against every kind of superstition and fanaticism. lastly, the younger christian wolf, the great professor; he was a methodical, clear, and sober teacher, who, during long years of useful activity, drew up a system and founded a school. a period such as this, in which the great discoveries of individuals inspired their numerous disciples with enthusiasm, is a happy period for millions who perhaps have no immediate share in the new acquisition. somewhat of apostolical consecration seems to rest upon the first efforts of a school. what has been progressively formed in the soul of a teacher, painfully amidst inward struggles, works on young souls as something great, firm, and elevating. with enthusiasm and pietism is united the impulse to work out by self-exertion the new acquisition. rapid is the spread of theorems among the people; they work not only on the individual sciences, but on all the tendencies of the practical mind, on lawgiving, statesmanship, household regulations, and family training; in the studio and workshop of the artist, and handicraftsman. this new scientific light was first kindled in . academies, learned periodicals, and prizes were established. the leaders adjusted the german language to the exigencies of science, and thus placed it victoriously on an equality with latin; and this glorious deed was the first step towards bringing the mass of the nation into a new relation with the learned. thus a new life forced its way, about , with irresistible power into the houses, writing-rooms, and workshops of the citizens. every sphere of human activity was searchingly investigated. agriculture, commerce, and the technicalities of trade were made accessible by hand-books of instruction, which are still in the present day the groundwork of our technological literature. books were written on raw materials, and the method of working them; on minerals, colours, and machines; in many places popular periodicals appeared, which endeavoured to make the new discoveries of science available to the artizan and manufacturer. even into the hut of the poor peasant did some rays of bright light penetrate; for him, also, arose a small philanthropic literature. the moral working of every earthly vocation was also exhibited; much that was elevating was said concerning the worth and importance of operatives and of officials; the inward connection of the material and spiritual interests of the nation were proclaimed; incessantly was the necessity pointed out of abandoning the beaten track of old customs, of taking interest in the progress of foreign countries, and of learning their character and requirements. men wrote upon dress and manners in a new style, with humour, irony, and reproof, but always with the wish of remoulding and improving. the spiritual failings of the various classes and professions, the weakness of women, and the roughness and dishonesty of men were incessantly criticised and chastised, undoubtedly in an uncouth style, and sometimes with pedantry and narrow-mindedness, but in an earnest and upright spirit. the whole private life of germany was thrown into a state of restless excitement; new ideas struggled everywhere with old prejudices; everywhere the citizen beheld around and within him a change which it was difficult to withstand. the period was still poor in great phenomena, but everywhere in smaller events an impulsive power was perceptible. only a few years later, the new enlightenment was to bear blossoms of gladness to the whole world. still is philosophy and popular culture of the people dependent on mathematics and natural science; but since johann matthias gesner, the knowledge of antiquity, the second pole of all scientific culture, has begun to bear upon the historical development of the popular mind. a few years after , winkelmann travelled to italy. and how did the citizens live, from whose homes the greater part of our thinkers and discoverers, our scholars and poets have gone forth, who were to carry out the new culture further and bolder, more freely and more beautifully? let us examine a moderate-sized city about . the old brick walls are still standing, with towers, not only over the gates, but here and there upon the walls. a temporary wooden roof is placed on many, the strongest have prisons in them, others that were decayed, having been riddled with shot, are pulled down. the city walls also are repaired; projecting angles and bastions still lie in ruins; blooming elder and garden flowers are planted behind, and trail over the stones; the city moat lies for the most part dry, the cows of some of the citizens pasture within it, or the clothmakers have their frames set up with rows of small iron hooks, and quietly spread their cloths over them. the usual colour since the pietists, is pepper and salt, as it was then called; the old favourite blue of the germans is also seen, though no longer made from german woad, but from foreign indigo. the narrow openings in the doors have still wooden planks, often two behind one another, and they are closed at night by the city watchmen, who stand at their post, but have often to be awakened by knocking and ringing, when anyone desires admission. on the inner side of the city wall, fragments of wooden galleries are still to be seen, on which once the archers and arquebuziers stood; but the passage along the wall is no longer free through its whole length, there are already many poor cottages and shops built on it. in the interior of the city, the houses are unadorned, and not so numerous as in former centuries; there are still some waste spaces between, but most have been bought by people of rank and turned into gardens. perhaps there is already a coffee garden, laid out after the pattern of the famed one of leipzig; it contains some rows of trees and benches, and in the coffee-room, near the bar, are arranged the clay pipes of the habitués; but the maple head and the costly meerschaum are just coming into fashion. in the neighbourhood of the chief market-place, the houses are more stately, the old arcades are not preserved; these covered passages, which existed once throughout the greater part of germany, led through the basement story to the market-places, protecting the foot passengers from rain, and acted as a communication from the house to the street. the old pillars and vaults are attached to the massive edifice of the council-house by coarse rough-cast cement and intermediate walls; in the dim poorly lighted rooms of the interior hang cobwebs, gray piles of records raise their heads amidst layers of dust; in the council-room, in a raised space, the railing of which separates the councillors from the citizens, are stiff-cushioned chairs, covered with green cloth, and fastened with brass nails; everything is unadorned, even the whitewash neglected, and everything poor and tasteless, for in the new state money is deficient, and no pleasure is felt in adorning public edifices, which are considered by the citizens as a necessary evil. most of the houses in the market-place have pointed gables; they look out on the street, and betwixt the houses broad rushing gutters pour their water on the bad pavement, which is made of rough stones. among the houses stands an occasional church or abandoned monastic buildings, with buttresses and pointed arches. the people look with indifference on these remains of the past, bound up with which there is scarcely any fond remembrance, for they have lost all appreciation of ancient art; owing to this, the edifices of the ancient times are everywhere ruined, as the castle of marienburg was by frederic of prussia. the magistrates have carefully turned the empty space into a parsonage-house or schoolroom, knocked out the windows, and made a plaster ceiling; and the boys look from their latin grammar with admiration on the stone rosettes and delicate work of the chisel,--remains of a time when such inutilities were still erected; and in the crumbling cloisters where once trod monks with earnest step, they now spin their humming tops; for the "_circitor susurrans_," or "monk," is still the favourite game of this period, which gentlemen of rank also, in a smaller form, sometimes carry in their pockets. there is already much order in the city: the streets are swept, the dung-heaps, which fifty years before, even in towns of some calibre, lay in front of the doors--the ancient cleanliness having disappeared in the war--are again removed by an ordinance, which the councillors of the sovereign have sent to the superior officials, and these to the senate. the stock of cattle in the streets is also much diminished; the pigs and cattle, which not long before enjoyed themselves amidst the children at play, in the dirt of the street, are strictly kept in farmyards and out-houses, for the government does not like that the cities should keep cattle within the walls, for it has introduced the _octroi_, and a disbanded non-commissioned officer paces backwards and forwards near the gate, with his cane in his hand in order to examine the cans and baskets of the country people. thus the rearing of cattle is carried on in the needy suburbs and farms: it is only in the small country towns that citizens employ agriculture as a means of support. there is a police also now, that exercises a strict vigilance over beggars and vagabonds, and the passport is indispensable for ordinary travellers. constables are visible in the streets, and watch the public-houses. at night a fire watchman is posted near the council-house, and the warders of the towers by means of flags and large speaking trumpets, give danger signals. the engine-house is also kept in good order; clumsy fire-barrels stand beside the council-house under open sheds, and above them hang the iron-cased fire-ladders. the night watch are tolerably watchful and discreet; after the great war they here and there sang offensive verses, when they called out the hours, but now the pious parson has insisted upon both words and melody being spiritual. the artisan continues to work in the old way, each one adheres steadily to his guild; the painters also are incorporated, and execute as a masterpiece a crucifixion with the usual number of prescribed figures. in the roman catholic districts they live by very moderate performances of the pictures of the saints; in the protestant, they paint shields and targets, and the coats of arms of the sovereigns, which are to be seen in numbers on public buildings and over the doors of artisans. most of the artisans adhere strictly to their old customs, and especially to their guild rights. any one who enters the guild not according to artisan law, is treated as a bungler, and persecuted with a hatred, the intention of which is to exclude him from their society. serious business is still transacted in front of the open shops; apprentices are taken, fellows receive the freedom, quarrels are accommodated, and the formula "by your kind permission," which introduces every speech, sounds unceasingly at all the meetings of the masters and the fellows; but the old colloquies and sayings of the middle ages are only half understood, rough jests have been introduced, and the better class already begin not to attach much value to the guild; indeed there are those who consider the old constitution of the guild as a burden, because it stubbornly resists their endeavours to enlarge their manufacturing activity; such was the case with the clothmakers and iron-workers. and the jovial annual feasts which were once the joy and pride of almost every artisan have nearly ceased. the processions in masks, and the old peculiar dances, are incompatible with the culture of a time in which the individual fears nothing so much as to lose his dignity, in which it is preached from the pulpit, that noisy, worldly amusements are sinful, and the learned men of the city find no adequate reason for such disturbance in the streets. the gentry of the city are separated from the citizens by dress and titles. as much as the nobles look down upon them, so do they upon the citizens, and these again upon the peasants. a merchant has already a place among the gentry, especially if he occupies some city office or has wealth. in the families also of merchants of distinction, as the first wholesale houses are denominated, and in those of traders of consideration, as the possessors of large retail shops are called, a pleasing change may be observed in the mode of life. the coarse luxury of a former generation is restrained, better training at home and greater rectitude in business are everywhere perceptible. it is already a subject of boast that the members of old solid commercial houses are not those who sue for patents of nobility; nay, such vain new nobles are despised by the high commercial class.[ ] and the unprejudiced cavalier is brought to confess, that in fact there is no difference between the wife of the landed proprietor, who goes with dignity into the cow-house to overlook the skimming of the cream, and the wife of a merchant of distinction at frankfort, who during the fair sits in the warehouse; "she is well and handsomely dressed, she gives orders to her people like a princess, she knows how to behave to people of rank, commoners, and those of the lower classes, each according to their class and position; she reads and understands many languages, she judges sensibly, and knows how to live, and bring up her children well." other circumstances, besides the intellectual energy of the time, contributed to elevate the german merchant. the influx of the expelled huguenots had not in some respects been favourable to our german character, yet the influence that they exercised on german commerce must be highly estimated. about their families dwelt in almost all the larger commercial cities; they formed there a small aristocratic community, lived in social seclusion, and maintained carefully their relations with their connections in france, who, up to the present day, form an aristocracy of french wholesale traders, serious and strict, and rather of the old-fashioned aristocratic school. it was among the german huguenots that the puritanical character of the genevan and flemish separatists found many adherents, their staid demeanour had exercised an influence on other great houses both in frankfort and along the rhine. but german commerce had now acquired new vigour, and healthy labour raised the tone of its character. the impoverished country again took an honourable share in the commerce of the world. already did the germans export their iron and steel wares from mark, solingen and suhl, cloth from all the provinces, fine cloth also of portuguese and spanish wool from aix-la-chapelle, damask from westphalia, linen and lawn from silesia; to england, spain, portugal, and the colonies, whose products in return had a great market in germany; while the whole of the east of europe, up to the frontiers of turkey and the steppes of asia, were supplied by german merchants. the poverty of the people, that is to say, the low rate of wages, made the outlay of many manufactures light and remunerative. in hamburg and the cities of the rhine, from frankfort to aix-la-chapelle, the wholesale trade throve, and equally so in the frontier lands towards poland, though in a ruder form, as it was one of barter. goods and travellers were still conveyed down the danube in rough wooden boats, which were built for a single voyage, and taken to pieces at the end of it, and sold as planks. and at breslau the bearded traders from warsaw and novogorod sold the carts and horses of the steppes, on which they had brought their wares in long caravans to barter them for the costly products of western civilisation. already do the silesian merchants begin to complain that the caravans come less often, and foreigners are dissatisfied on account of the new prussian red-tapism and customhouse regulations of a strict government. at the same time travelling traders, with their sample cases of knife-blades, and needles, began to find their way from lennep and bartscheid to the seine and the thames, and the younger sons of great manufacturers met together with hamburghers in london, lisbon, cadiz, and oporto, and there, as bold and expert speculators, founded numerous firms. as early as , cosmopolitanism had developed itself in the families of great merchants, who looked down with contempt on the limited connections of home. and something of the enterprising and confident character of these men has been communicated to their business friends in the interior. a manly, firm, and independent spirit is to be found about this time pervading all classes. but most of the gentry in every city belonged to the literary classes--theologians, jurists, and medical men. they represented probably every shade of the culture of the time, and the strongest contrasts of opinion were to be found in every great city. now, the clergy were either orthodox or pietist. the first, generally pleasant in social intercourse; not unfrequently _bon vivants_, able to stand a good bottle of wine, and tolerant of the worldly jokes of their acquaintances. they had lost a good deal of their old pugnacity and inquisitorial character; they condescended sometimes to quote a passage from horace, occupied themselves with the history of their parish church and school, and already began to regard with secret goodwill the dangerous wolf, because he was so striking a contrast to their opponents, the pietists. where pietist clergy resided they were probably in better relations with other confessions, and were especially reverenced by the women, jews, and poor of the city. their faith, also, had become milder; they were, for the most part, worthy men--pure in morals, faithful shepherds of souls, with a tender, lovable character. their preaching was very pathetic and flowery; they liked to warn people against cold subtleties, and recommended what they called a juicy, racy style, but which their opponents found fault with as affected tautology. their endeavours to isolate their parishioners from the bustle of the world was even now regarded with distrust by a great majority of the citizens; and in the taverns it was usual to say, mockingly, that the pious sat groaning over leather aprons, shoemakers' lasts, and tailors' geese, and were on the watch for regeneration. the teachers of the city schools were still learned theologians, and, for the most part, poor candidates; the rector, perhaps, had been appointed from the great school of the halle orphan asylum. they were an interesting class, accustomed to self-denial, frequently afflicted with weakly bodies, the result of the hard, necessitous life through which they have had to work upwards. there were original characters among them; many were queer and perverse, and the majority had no comprehensive knowledge. but in very many of them was hid, perhaps, under strange forms, somewhat of the freedom, greatness, and candour of the ancient world; they had been, since the reformation, the natural opponents of all pious zelots, even those that came from the great orphan asylum, from the training of the two frankes and of joachim lange were generally more moderate than was satisfactory to the pietist pastors. the leaves of their cornelius nepos were from constant use frightfully black; their lot was to rise slowly from the sixth or fifth form to the dignity of conrectors, with a small increase in their scanty salary. the greatest pleasure of their life was to find sometimes a scholar of capacity, in whom they could plant, besides the refinements of latin syntax and prosody, some of their favourite ideas--a heathenish view of the greatness of man, influences on which the scholar, perhaps, in his manhood, looked back with a smile. but in this thankless and little esteemed occupation they laboured incessantly to form in the germans a feeling for the beauty of antiquity, and a capacity for comprehending other races of men. and the unceasing influence exercised by thousands of them on the living generation was increased when gesner naturalised the greek language in the schools, and established an entirely new foundation for the instruction of scholars, which was spread by the teachers with enthusiasm; the spirit of antiquity, a thorough comprehension of the writers, not the merely grammatical construction, became the main object. the school of every important town was a latin one. if it attained to so high a point as to prepare the upper classes for the university, the boys who were to become artisans left when they got to the fourth form. this arrangement contributed to insure a certain amount of education to the citizen, which is now sometimes wanting. it was certainly in itself no great gain for the guild master to have some knowledge of mavor, and of cupid and venus's doves, which were brought forward in all the poems of the learned, and embellished even the almanacks and gingerbread; but, together with these conceptions from antiquity, his mind imbibed also the seed of the new ideas of the time. it is owing to this kind of school culture that enlightenment of mind has so rapidly spread among intelligent citizens. strict was the school discipline; the usual words of encouragement which the poor scholars then wrote in one another's albums were--"patience! joyfully onward!" but strictness was necessary, for in the under classes grown-up youths sat beside the children, and the bad tricks of two generations were in constant conflict. through a great part of germany there existed a custom which has been retained up to the present day, that the boys who were on the foundation must, under the lead of a teacher, sing as choristers. if they did not walk in funeral processions behind the cross, in their blue mantles, it was a grievous neglect, which much disturbed the discipline of the school, and as early as was complained of as an irregularity. the followers of wolf were to be found everywhere among the gentry, as the scholars of the new "enlightenment," the watchmen of toleration, and the friends of scientific progress. in the course of this year they were in anxious discussion on some old controversial points, for the leipziger, crusius, had just published his "introduction to the rational contemplation of natural occurrences;" and, with this work, and a cosmos of the year , in their hands, they were once more taking into consideration whether they were to assume that space was a plenum or a vacuum, and whether the final cause of movement was to be sought in the active force of elastic bodies. indignantly did these men of progress regard the theological faculty at rostock, who had, just at this period, compelled a young herr kosegarten to make a recantation, because he had dared to maintain that the human nature of the redeemer on earth had only been to a certain degree supported by his divine nature; that he had learnt like others, and had not in all things a perfect foreknowledge. on the other hand, they accorded a benignant smile to the physico-theological contemplations of those who proved the possibility of the resurrection, in spite of the continual change of matter--or, to use the language of the time, in spite of the change of particles of the body--or took pains to show wisdom and foresight in the white fur of the hare in livonia. they could also prize german poetry and eloquence. herr professor gottsched and his wife were then at leipzig. like others, they had their weaknesses; but there was a noble nature in them, decorum of character, dignity, and knowledge. they also belonged to this school, and they wished, through the medium of german poetry, to introduce greater refinement and better taste into the country. they met with much enmity, but their periodical, the "neuen büchersaal," could scarcely be dispensed with by those that followed the course of the _belles lettres_. beside this elder generation, a younger one was already springing up in the cities, who no longer considered the fine arts merely as agreeable ornaments, but looked to their influence for noble feelings and a freer morality, at which the literary party disapprovingly shook their heads. and thus these disciples--it was only a small number--conducted themselves for two years with an excitement which led them into great exaggerations; they carried books in their pockets, they gave them to the women of their acquaintance, they declaimed loudly, and pressed one another's hands. it was the first dawn of a new life which was hailed with so much joy. in the monthly journal, the "bremer beiträge," appeared the first cantos of the "messiah," by herr klopstock; the perplexity which, in the beginning, was excited by its ancient metre, was now followed, in a small circle, by unreserved admiration. in the preceding year another poem, "the spring," by an unknown writer, had been published; no one knew who had written it, but it was supposed to be the same agreeable poet who, under the armorial bearings of breitkopf, had contributed, together with kästner, gellert, and mylius, to the monthly journal "belustigungen des verstandes und witzes" ("diversions of wit and intellect"). and just at this time, also, the beginning of another heroic poem, "noah," by another unknown writer, had been published by weidmann; it was supposed to be by a swiss, because the name sipha appeared in it, which had formerly been used by bodmer. all these poems were in roman metre, and this new style caused an excitement of mind such as had never before been known. there appeared to be a regular rebellion among the _bels-esprits_; and there was shortly to be a still greater uproar. the cities were still deficient in such theatrical representations as could satisfy a thoughtful mind. but any one who then travelling in northern germany had met the schönemannsche troop, would still remember a young man of disadvantageous figure, with a short neck, of the name of eckhof, who afterwards became the most refined and finished actor of germany. and just within these weeks a new book had come from the leipzig fair, "beiträge zur historie und aufnahme des theaters" ("contributions to the history and rise of the theatre"), which had been written by two young literati of leipzig; of whom one was called lessing. in the same batch of books was "pamela," by richardson, who, the year before had written "clarissa." but what was then read in the houses of the citizens was of quite another quality. as yet there were no circulating libraries; only the small second-hand booksellers sometimes lent books to trustworthy acquaintance. but there sprang up a voluminous literature of novels, which were eagerly bought by unassuming readers. they were narratives, slight and carelessly put together, in which strange events were related. these adventures were represented in the seventeenth century in various ways: either in dull imitations of the old chivalrous and pastoral novels, with a phantastic background, and without the advantage of detailed description; or a coarse copy of real life, without beauty, often common and vulgar. there was then a concurrence of a decaying style and of the beginning of a new one. after , the realistic tendency became the ruling one. from the amadis novels, arose loose court and tourist adventures. "simplicissimus" was followed by a great number of war romances, robinsonades, and stories of adventurers; the greater part of them are very carelessly composed, and german gossip or newspaper information of extraordinary occurrences abroad, partly diaries, are worked in. "fassmann's dialogues from the kingdom of the dead," are collected in a similar way from flying-sheets and story-books, which that disorderly character, who then resided in franconia, had gathered together from the pastor of the place. those who wrote thus were thoroughly despised by literary men, but they exercised a very great influence--one difficult to estimate--on the mind of the people. they were two separate spheres that revolved together. and this contrast between the reading of the people and that of the educated class, exists but too much, even in the present day. among the gentry of the town, however, there were in still other literati. no town of any importance failed to possess a patriotic man, who examined old chronicles, church documents, and records from the council archives, and could give valuable contributions towards a history of the place and district. as yet little was known of the monuments of antiquity; but they, as well as old inscriptions and the false idols of our primeval ancestors, were copied as curiosities. still greater was the interest excited by physical science. it continues the most popular branch of knowledge in the smaller cities. not inconsiderable is the number of respectable periodicals which give information concerning the new discoveries of science. we also revert to them with respect; the representations and style are sometimes admirable; as, for example, in "kästner's hamburg magazine;" and they are unweariedly occupied in presenting the scientific discoveries of commerce, trade, and agriculture to every circle of practical interests. their rational influence, however, did not entirely displace all that was untenable. the old inclination for alchemy was not conquered. still did men, sensible and upright men, continue this kind of work; earnestly was the great secret sought for, and ever did something interpose to hinder final success. this work was carried on secretly, but well did the city know that the councillor or the secretary still used his chemical apparatus to make gold. but a pleasure in chemical processes, distillations in retorts, and cold solvents was prevalent among many; powerful tinctures were distributed to acquaintances, and housewifes loved to distil various artificial waters; in advertisement sheets, medicaments were recommended, pills for the gout, powders for the scrofula, &c., charlatanry was comparatively greater than now, and lies, equally barefaced. a zeal for scientific collections became general; boys also began to pin butterflies and beetles, and to examine dendrites and minerals in their father's microscope; and the more wealthy rejoiced over "rösel's insect recreations," and the first number of "frischen's representations of birds." the well educated, even in the humblest places, prided themselves on collecting a library. twice a year, at easter and michaelmas, the lover of books made his regular purchases; then the bookseller brought from the leipzig fair the "novelties" which he had either bought with money or exchanged for other works published by himself. these new books he laid in his shop for inspection, as a trader now does his drapery. this was an important time for literary amateurs; the shops were the focus of literary intercourse; the chief customers seated themselves there, gave their opinions, chose and rejected books, and received the lists of new works of the great firms,--as, for example, that of breitkopf,--and obtained information of other novelties from the literary world, such as, that in göttingen a new scientific society had been founded; that herr klopstock had received a pension of thalers from the king of denmark, without any duties attached to it; and that herr von voltaire had been appointed chamberlain at berlin. about this period many other desirable purchases made their way through the country in the bales of books. there were many opportunities also of acquiring old as well as new books. an interest had already been excited in the old editions of the classics. besides those of aldus, those of elzivir were sought after with especial curiosity. but the second-hand book trade was as yet inconsiderable, except in halle and leipzig; it was not easy, unless by accident or at some auction, for individuals to acquire books which, in the last century, had been collected by the patricians of the imperial cities whose families had gradually died out, or perhaps from monastic libraries, the books of which had been sold in an underhand way by unscrupulous monks. an ecclesiastic in the neighbourhood of gräfenthal in franconia sold, for twenty-five gulden, which were to be paid by instalments, many ells of folios and quartos beautifully bound; the ells of the larger-sized books were somewhat dearer than those of the smaller ones; many works were of course incomplete, because, the measurement being precise, the ell was shorter than the number of volumes. there was no choice allowed. it was generally the backs that were measured. this barbarism, however, was an exception. those authors who wrote books, if in high repute, obtained from the booksellers an amount of compensation far from insignificant. their position, in this respect, had much improved since the beginning of the century. as the predilection for theological and legal treatises still continued, they were sometimes more highly paid than they would be now. he, nevertheless, who did not stand, as university teacher, on the vantage-ground of science, gained but a small income. when the right rev. herr lesser, in , made an agreement with his publisher for the publication of "the chronicle of nordhausen," he was "satisfied" to take as payment for each sheet of that conscientious work, the sum of sixteen _gute groschen_, which he was to receive in the shape of books, but at the same time to promise that, in case the contents of his work should involve the publisher in any troubles with the authorities, he would indemnify him. in the latter part of the morning the apothecary's shop became a pleasant rendezvous for the city gentry. there, politics and city news were discussed along with small glasses of _eau de vie_; and from the ceiling and upper cornice, the old frippery attire of exploded quacks and worm doctors, also skeletons of sharks, stuffed apes, and other horrors, looked down goggle-eyed upon the eager disputes of the society. besides the city gossip, politics had already become a favourite subject of discourse, which was carried on no longer with the calm of mere wise maxims, but with heartfelt interest. whether king or empress, whether saxony or prussia, were principally discussed, it could be discovered to which party each individual present belonged. a few years later, these kind of disputes became so vehement that they destroyed family life and the peace of households. meanwhile the imaginations of the lesser citizens, the servants and children, were filled with other ideas, for the old superstition wove its web round their life. there was scarcely an old house that had not its haunted room; ghosts showed themselves on the graves and within the church doors; even the engine-house was haunted before a fire broke out; still was the mysterious wail of lament heard, a variation of the belief in the wild army which had entered into the souls of the people through the great war; still were old cats considered as witches; and apparitions, presentiments, and significant dreams were discussed with anxious faith. ever yet was the search after concealed treasures an affair of importance; no city was without a credible story of a treasure trove which had taken place in the neighbourhood, or had been frustrated by untimely words. but the prudent father of a family already tries earnestly to enlighten his children and servants on such points. the enlightened man does not deny unqualifiedly the possibility of a mysterious connexion with the other world, but he regards every single case with distrust; he admits that behind the ruined altar of the old church and in the ruins of the neighbouring castle something curious may be concealed, and that it might well repay a person to dig for it; but he holds in sovereign contempt the flames and the black dog, and he recounts with special pleasure numerous instances where this faith of the "olden time" had been misused by deceivers. seldom do the months pass without bringing a periodical containing well-written treatises, in which the mountain sprite is entirely put out of the question, fiery meteors are explained, and thunderbolts are considered as petrifactions. in no city are excited people wanting who are tormented by apparitions; the clergy still continue to pray for these poor people; but not only physicians and literary laymen, but also clever citizens, maintain that such kinds of devils are expelled by medicine and fasting, and not by prayer, as they are only produced by the morbid fancies of hypochondria. among the daily events is the interesting arrival and departure of the mail-coach. about this time all the promenaders like to move into the vicinity of the post-office. the usual land-post is a very slow, clumsy means of conveyance; its snail pace was notorious even fifty years later. of made roads there are as yet none in germany; soon after the seven years' war the first _chaussees_ were formed,--still very bad. whoever wishes to travel comfortably takes the extra post; for greater economy, care is taken that all the places shall be occupied, and in the local papers which have existed for some little time in most of the larger cities, a travelling companion is sometimes advertised for. for long journeys, private carriages are bought, which are sold again at the end of the journey. the badness of the roads gives the postmaster the right to put four horses to a light carriage, and it is a privilege to the traveller if the government will give him a licence to take only two horses extra post. he who is not sufficiently wealthy for this, looks out for a return carriage, and these opportunities are announced several days beforehand. if there is much intercourse between two places, besides the ordinary post and the more speedy mail, a licensed stagecoach goes on specified days. these more especially facilitate the personal intercourse of the lower orders. in there was one from dresden to berlin every fortnight; to altenburg, chemnitz, freiberg, and zwickau, once a week; to bautzen and görlitz, the number of passengers was not sufficiently certain for the coachman to be able to go on a specified day; the green and the red passage-boats went between dresden and meissen, each once a week. even with the best drivers, travelling was very slow. five german miles a day, at the rate of a mile in two hours, seems to have been the usual rate of travelling. a distance of twenty miles could not be accomplished by a carriage under three days, and generally four were necessary. when, in the july of the year which is here described, klopstock travelled with gleim, in a light carriage drawn by four horses, from halberstadt to magdeburg, six miles in six hours, the rapidity appeared to him so extraordinary that he compared it with the races at the olympic games. but when the country roads were very bad, which was always the case in the rainy season of the spring and autumn, a journey was avoided unless it was inevitable, as it was considered as a risk not to be encountered without grievous adventures. in the year , it was still thought remarkable by the hanoverians, that their ambassador had succeeded in reaching frankfort-a-m., for the coronation of the emperor, in spite of the bad roads, without any other damage than a broken axle. thus we find that a journey at this period is an undertaking to be well considered, which can hardly be carried through without long preparation; the arrival of travelling strangers in a city is the event of the day, and the curious multitude collect round the carriage during its detention. it is only in the larger commercial towns that the hotels are fashionably arranged; leipzig is in great repute in this respect. people were glad to be accommodated at the house of an acquaintance, ever taking into consideration the expenditure; for he who travels must make accurate calculations. a person of any pretensions avoids a journey on foot, on account of the bad roads, dirty inns, and rough encounters. well-dressed pedestrians in search of the picturesque are, as yet, unheard of. the traveller was not only accompanied by the lively sympathy of his friends, he was also employed in their business, as then among acquaintances there was more mutual accommodation than now. he was amply supplied with clothes, letters of recommendation, cold meat, and prudent precepts; but he was also burdened with commissions, purchases of every kind, and delicate business; also with the collecting of debts, the engaging of tutors, nay, even with reconnoitring and mediating in affairs of the heart. if he travelled to some great fair, he must take care of certain special coffers and chests to satisfy the wishes of his acquaintances. this kind of reciprocal service was absolutely needful, for the conveyance of money and packages by the post was still very dear and not always very sure. betwixt neighbouring cities therefore a regular messenger service was established, as for example in thuringia, where it continues to the present day. these messengers--frequently women--carried letters and errands on fixed days, alike through snow and under a scorching sun; they had charge of all kinds of purchases, and, as trustworthy persons, enjoyed the confidence of the magistrates, who entrusted them with official letters and public papers, and when they arrived at their destination had an appointed place, where letters and return parcels for their native home were delivered to them. if the intercourse between two places was very active, a goods conveyance, with compartments with drawers in it, of which sometimes two associated families had the key, was sent backwards and forwards. scanty and spare was the housekeeping of the citizens; few of them were sufficiently wealthy to be able to invest their household arrangements and their life with any polish; and the rich were always in danger of falling into unseemly luxury, such as corrupted the courts and the families of the nobility. those who had a comfortable competency lived very simply, only showing their wealth by their hospitality and the adornment of their house and table on festive occasions. therefore feasts were ungenial state affairs, for which the whole household was deranged. nothing distinguishes the man of the world more than the easy style of his society. strict were the regulations in the citizen's household: everything was precisely defined, even on the smallest points, as to what one was to render to or receive from another. the interchange of good wishes and compliments, that is to say, the courtesies of conversation, and even the _trinkgeld_, all had their accurately prescribed form and amount. through these innumerable little regulations, social intercourse acquired a stiff formality which strongly contrasts with the freedom from constraint of the present day. it was still customary to be bled and take medicine on appointed days, to pay your bills and make visits at stated intervals. equally fixed were the enjoyments of the year: the cake which was suitable to every day, the roast goose, and, if possible, the sledge-drives. fixed was the arrangement of the house: the massive furniture which had been bought by the bridal couple on their first settling down, the stuffed chair which had perhaps been bought at an auction by the husband as a student, the folding-table for writing, and the cupboards, had been the companions of many generations. but underneath this network of old customs freer views began to germinate: already did the troublesome question arise--wherefore? even with respect to the most trifling usages. everywhere might individuals be found who set themselves with philosophic independence against these customs, which appeared to them not to be founded on reason; in many more did there work a deep impulse to freedom, self-dependence, and a new purport of life, which they held apart from the multitude and from society, which had the effect of giving them an appearance of originality. the interiors of the houses were still undecorated; the ground-floor, with its polished boards, had no other ornament than the bright colour of the wood, which was preserved by incessant washing, which made the dwelling at least once a week damp and uncomfortable. the stairs and entrance-hall were still frequently strewn with white sand. but they liked to have their rooms nicely fitted up; the furniture, among which the commode was a new invention, was carefully worked and beautifully inlaid. painting was still uncommon on the walls; but the distempered plaster walls were in little esteem: papers were preferred. the wealthy liked to have the stamped leather, which gave the room a particularly comfortable aspect; leather was also much liked as covers for furniture. copper and tin utensils were still the pride of the housewife. they were used on "state" occasions: this new and significant word had penetrated into the kitchen. at nuremberg, for example, there were in wealthy families state kitchens, which used to be opened to small societies for morning collations, at which cold meats were served. in such kitchens pewter and copper glittered all around like bright mirrors; even the wood for burning, which lay there piled up in great heaps, was covered with bright tin, all only for show and amusement, as now the kitchen of a little girl. but porcelain had already begun to be placed alongside the pewter; in refined saxony, more especially, the wealthy housewife seldom failed to have a table set out with china cups, jugs, and little ornamental figures. and the fashionable pet of the ladies, the pug, might by a wayward movement produce a crash which endangered the peace of the house. just at that time this curious animal stood at the height of his repute; it had come into the world no one knew from whence, and it passed away from it again equally unperceived. but the heart of the housewife was attached to her weaving as well as her pewter and porcelain. the linen damask was very beautifully prepared, with artistic patterns which we still admire; to possess such damask table-covers was a most particular pleasure, and great value was also set upon fine body-linen; the ruffled shirt which gellert received as a present from lucius was not forgotten in the description of his audience. the dress worn in public was still regarded by serious men as a matter of station; the pietists had accustomed the citizen to wear dark or sober colours; but fine textures, buttons, unpretending embroidery and linen, demonstrated not less than perukes and swords the high-bred man. this was the dress to be worn in public, and must especially be put on when going out; and as it was inconvenient and--at least the perukes--difficult to put on and to powder without the help of others, a contrast wan produced by this between home and society which proscribed social intercourse at certain hours in the day, and made it formal and elaborate. at home a dressing-gown was worn, in which literary men received visits, and the "best" dress was carefully spared. many things which appear to us as common necessaries were still quite unknown, and the absence of many comforts was not felt. in the year an austrian non-commissioned officer begged of an imprisoned officer, from whom he had taken a watch, to wind it up for him; he had never had one in his hands. the worthy semler had become a professor before he obtained by the aid of a bookseller his first silver watch; and he complained, about , that then every master of arts, nay, every student thought he must have a watch; now, in every family of similar station, the third-form boy has a silver, and the student a gold watch. besides the landed nobility, only the highest state officials and the richest merchants kept their own carriage and horses, and this more rarely than fifty years before. but literary men were then often advised by physicians not to fear the dangers of riding; schools were established, and riding-horses let out for hire. it did not indeed happen to every one as to the invalid gellert, to have as a present for the second time, after the death of his renowned dapple, a horse from the elector's stables, with velvet saddle and housings embroidered in gold, which the dear professor, much moved after his manner, accepted, though with the greatest distrust as to the good temper of the horse, and was never weary of speaking of it to his acquaintance, whilst his groom showed the prodigy for money to the leipzigers. as the dress of that day made people very sensitive to damp, sedan-chairs came into fashion; they were as frequently used as now the droschky; the bearers were known by a kind of livery, had their appointed stations, and were to be found wherever the nobility and the public appeared in numbers: at great dances, on sunday at the church doors, and at the theatres. strict was the discipline of the house. in the morning, even in those families that were not pietists, short prayers were read with the children and servants, a verse was sung, a prayer or exhortation followed, and then a hymn. they rose and retired to bed early. the intercourse at home was formal: extreme respect, with ceremonious forms, was required of both children and servants; and husbands and wives among the gentry still continued generally to speak to each other in the third person plural. all who appertained to the family, whether friends or distant acquaintance, in their simple and often needy life, were invested with great importance. still were advancement, interest, and favours sought for and expected, through the friends of the family. to protect and become a partisan was a duty; therefore it was considered great good fortune to have noble and influential acquaintances; and in order to secure this it was necessary to be mindful of congratulations on birthdays and verses at family festivals. under such protection people sought their fortunes in the world. devotion to the great was immense: it was still correct to kiss the hand of a patron. when count schwerin, on the th of august, , received the oath of allegiance for his sovereign in the royal _salon_ at breslau, the protestant church inspector, burg, on shaking hands with him, wished to kiss his hand. the breslauers were not astonished at this obsequiousness, but only that a field-marshal should have embraced and kissed a citizen theologian. sponsorship was, among the citizens, the foundation of a still nearer relation: the godfather was bound to provide for the advancement of his godchild; and this parental relation lasted to the end of his life. if he was wealthy, the parents gladly allowed him a decisive voice as to the future of their child, but it was also expected that he should show his goodwill by his last testament. this life of citizens in humble circumstances developed certain peculiarities of character and education. first a softness of nature which, about , was called tender and sentimental. the foundation of this remarkable softness was implanted in the soul by the great war and its political results, and pietism had strikingly developed it. almost every one had the habit of exciting and stirring up themselves and others. in the last century, family prayer had been heartless and formal; now, the edifying contemplations and moral reflections of the father of a family gave occasion for dramatic scenes within it. extemporary prayers especially, accustomed the members of a family to express openly what was really in their hearts. vows and promises, solemn exhortations and pathetic reconciliations betwixt husbands and wives, parents and children, sentimental scenes, were as much sought after and enjoyed as they are now avoided. even in schools the easy excitability of that generation frequently came to light. when a worthy teacher was in trouble, he caused the scholars to sing verses which harmonised with his frame of mind, and it was agreeable to him to feel that the boys understood him and showed their sympathy in their devotions. in the same way the preacher in the pulpit loved to make his congregation the confidants of his own struggles and convictions; his sorrows and joys, repentance and inward peace, were listened to with respect and consecrated by prayer. the generation of had more especially a craving for excitement and exaltation of feeling. a feeling, an action, or a man was easily reckoned great; grand epithets were heaped upon friends; and, again, your own sorrows and the misfortunes of others were enjoyed with a certain gloomy satisfaction. tears flowed readily both over your own sufferings and those of others; and also from joy, gratitude, devotion, or admiration; but it was not through foreign literature, not by gellert, nor by the literary worshippers of klopstock, that this sentimentality was implanted: it lay deep in the national character. when, in , the young doctor semler took leave of the university of halle, he was very sorrowful, for he had secretly adored the daughter of his dear teacher, professor baumgarten, notwithstanding he had at his home, saalfeld, another love of his youthful days; this sorrow affected him so powerfully, that with difficulty he took his doctors degree. he, however, succeeded, and after having done so, he delivered, before his model baumgarten--who was in the chair as president--an extempore latin gratulatory oration, so impassioned, that not only he himself, but also most of his hearers, wept. again, at home he sat down and wept over his fate, and his truehearted comrade wept with him almost the whole afternoon. that he should shed tears at his departure was natural, but he still wept when in the course of his long journey he arrived at merseburg; and when, on reaching home, he gave the laudatory letter of baumgarten to his father, the latter wept also for joy. in this case the emotion was justifiable, and tears flowed from the heart; but it could not fail to happen that the habit of self-consciousness, and of watching each inward emotion, degenerated into acting a part, and admiration of noble affections, into affectation. this soon showed itself in the german language. the higher emotions still found no adequate expression. the language of books still dominated, and all the nobler feelings of men had to adapt themselves to its forms and periods. just at that time however this language had gained a certain degree of aptitude in expressing clearly and simply the calm, methodic work of the reflecting mind; but when passionate feelings sought expression in words, they were still restrained within the threadbare forms of the ancient rhetoric, and nestled in the dry leaves of old phrases. the pietists had to invent a phraseology of their own for their peculiar feelings, and these expressions soon degenerated into mannerism. it was the same case with those new turns of expression by which highly-gifted individuals sought to enrich the language of the heart. if a poet spoke of feeling the soft tremor of a friendly kiss, hundreds imitated him, delighted with the high-flown expression. thus, also, tears of sorrow and of gratitude, and the sweets of friendship, became stereotyped phrases, which at last had little meaning in them. and this poverty of language became general. almost everywhere, when we expect the simple expression of an inward feeling, we find a display of reflections which is as repulsive in letters and speeches, as in poems. this speciality of the old time becomes insupportable to us, and we readily accuse it of hypocrisy, callousness, and hollowness. but our ancestors have a sufficient excuse. they could not do otherwise. still did there remain in their souls somewhat of the epic constraint of the middle ages, the yearning for an outpouring of greater passion, for enthusiasm, and for the melody of feeling: it becomes almost morbid; everywhere there is an aspiration after a higher self-development; everywhere a seeking and a longing; but still do their feelings lack power, and their increased knowledge the corresponding free culture of the character; and so do the poets, who have always been the leaders of the people. even in the amiable character that figures in the dawn of a higher life, in ewald von kleist, the lyrical strivings are very remarkable. already are his descriptions rich in beautiful details, and an abundance of poetical conceptions group themselves spontaneously around the leading idea of his poem, which almost always rests on an honourable and deep-seated feeling; but, amid all his poetical imagery, he could not give utterance to an elevated poetical frame of mind, and still less cause the full harmony of a beautiful feeling to echo in the listener's heart. for his tones were not yet powerful enough, nor were those of his older contemporaries who, so painfully sought after all that was beautiful and noble in the soul, and so often boasted to have found it. but the self-contemplation of the educated did not extend to the inward life alone: they were equally watchful of their outward appearance, and of the impression which they made on others. in this respect they appear to us ridiculously refined. the tight dress and powder, the fact of being unusually smart, put men in a state of agitation and formal cheerfulness which easily became affectation. the stereotyped forms of social intercourse, and the rhetorical compliments, were so artificial, that society became like a play, and the germans of actors who made themselves laughable if they did not act cleverly. when any one approached a patron, he had to take care that his pace was not too quick, nor too bold, nor too shy--that his voice was properly subdued, and that he held his hat in his left arm, so that it formed a proper angle; he had to prepare himself beforehand, that his address of salutation might not be too long and too commonplace, and just respectful enough to awaken goodwill; he had to pay much attention to the intonation of his voice, so that what had been well considered before might have the effect of being natural. if any one wished to kiss the hand of a lady or gentleman of distinction, he took pains even in this act to express a feeling suitable to the occasion; whether, as a sign of confidential respect, he pressed it against his eyes and brow, as well as to his mouth, how long he kept the hand, and how slowly he released it, all this was very important, and, if possible, well considered beforehand; any mistake committed, occasioned afterwards probably great trouble to the guilty party. he who had to exhibit himself before a larger assembly, took into serious consideration the position and demeanour by which he could produce an effect. however troubled was the young semler when he stood before the professor's chair for his doctor's degree, yet he did not forget "to take a peculiar but not offensive attitude," in which he answered his opponents so rapidly, that he scarce waited for the end of their speech; nor did he forget to tell, how indifferent the "tender emotions of his heart" had made him to every possible objection of his antagonist. the women had also to study well, not only the motions of their fans, but their smiles and the casting-down of their eyes; it was required that they should do it unaffectedly, with grace and tact. undoubtedly this pressure of convenance was frequently, with the germans, broken through by characteristic rectitude and firmness. but the stedfast enduring power of will, which we honour as man's highest quality, was then very rare in germany. it was to be gained by experience and necessity, by the labour and practice of arduous duty; then it broke forth with surprising energy. but this quality was deficient in some manly characteristics. the pressure of a despotic state had continued for a century; it had made the citizen shy, dull, and fainthearted. this frame of mind had been promoted by pietism. a continual contemplation of their own unworthiness diminished in more finely organized minds the capacity of enjoying themselves heartily, or of giving frank expression to their own nature. the severe training and immoderate exertions of memory of literary men, and their many night watches in close rooms amid the fumes of tobacco, only too often implanted disease. we may gather from many examples how frequently consumption and hypochondria destroyed the life of young scholars. and we find generally among the citizen families of that time, sentimental, irritable, sensitive natures, helpless and feckless in respect of all that was unusual to them. but that was not the worst. not only the will, but the certainty of their convictions and the feeling of duty were easily extinguished by external influences. of that quiet self-respect which we look for in a good and highly educated man, little is as yet to be seen. money and outward honour still exercise too great a power even over the most upright gellert, who was a pattern to his contemporaries of tender feeling and unselfishness, when a professor at leipzig, was joyfully surprised that a foreign nobleman from silesia, whom he did not personally know, but with whom he had once exchanged a few letters, offered his mother a yearly pension of twelve ducats. in his answer the assurance of tears of gratitude did not fail. he never felt a scruple in accepting sums of money from persons unknown to him. and one may venture to maintain that in , throughout the whole of germany, there was scarcely a man, even among the best, who would have refused an anonymous present. when frederick william the first called upon the professors of his university at frankfort, to engage in a public disputation with his reader, morgenstein, who stood on the lecturer's platform in a grotesque attire, with a fox's brush by his side, no one dared to gainsay the tyrannical whim, except johann jacob moser, who considered himself in the relation of a stranger to the brandenburgers, and preserved the proud consciousness of being in high consideration in the imperial court. and even he was so excited by the occurrence, that he fell dangerously ill. where there exists such a deficiency of self-respect in men engaged in the struggle of life, their vanity grows exuberantly. it so clouded the minds of most men of that period, that but few leave an agreeable impression behind them; and it was no wonder that only the strongest were free from it. men were sentimental and sensitive; it was a matter of decorum to pay compliments; respect for truth was less than now, and the necessity for politeness greater. he who exercised an influence on others by his intellectual labours, or by his own powers had won consideration in his sphere, was accustomed to receive much praise and honour, and missed it if withdrawn. he who had no rank or title, had acquired no office in the state, and did not enjoy the privileges of a superior position, was recklessly crushed and oppressed. not merit, but the approbation of influential persons was of value; not learning alone availed with publishers and readers: a position at the university, and a great circle of auditors who bought and spread the works of the teacher, were necessary. insecure was every earthly position; everywhere strong and arbitrary power prevailed. even the greatest reputations trusted far more to the support of personal admirers, than to the sound dignity of merit. thus every individual expression of praise and blame obtained an importance which we can now hardly comprehend. every one was therefore careful to oblige others, in order to be approved of by strangers. german life was still deficient in an enlightened daily press, and many individuals were entirely without the discipline and restraint which is produced by a powerful public opinion. nothing is so difficult as to form a correct judgment of the morality in families of a far-distant period. for it is not sufficient to estimate the sum of striking errors, which in itself is very difficult; it is equally necessary to understand the individual injustice in particular cases which is often impossible. among the citizens, the intercourse of both sexes was almost entirely confined to the family circles: larger societies were rare. in the houses of intimates, the habits of the young people were lively and unrestrained; the friends of the sisters and the comrades of the brothers became part of the family. the custom still continued of making confidences in jest which would now be considered objectionable. embracing and kissing were not restricted to games of forfeits. such a custom, however harmlessly and innocently carried on by the young people, was calculated to give rise to feelings of levity which we should view with regret, and it frequently gave birth to a certain bold freedom in the intercourse between the young men and maidens. tender liaisons were quickly formed in families between the unmarried members; no one thought them wrong, and they were as speedily dissolved. these transient liaisons, full of sentiment, seldom increased to a deeper passion, nay, in general, the poetry of youth was extinguished by them. they seldom led, either, to betrothal or marriage; for marriage at that period, about , was still as much an affair of business as of the heart. and the endless blessing of love and faithfulness, which just then began to dawn upon them, rested generally on other grounds than on the glow of a pure passion, or a deep-seated communion of feeling preceding the betrothal. the behaviour of the parties interested in the conclusion of a marriage strikes us as remarkable. if the man had the prospect of an employment which would enable him to keep a family, his acquaintances, men and women, exerted themselves to devise, propose, and negotiate a marriage for him. match-making was then a duty which no one could easily escape. grave scholars, distinguished officials, rulers and princesses of the country, assiduously transacted the like disinterested business. a marriageable man in a respectable position had to endure much from the admonitions, the mischievous hints, and numerous projects of his acquaintances. when gellert first exchanged a few letters with demoiselle caroline lucius,--whom he had never seen,--he asked her, in the first long letter with which he had favoured her, whether she would marry an acquaintance of his, the precentor at st. thomas's school. when herr von ebner, chancellor of the university of altorf, spoke for the first time to the young professor semler, he made him the kind offer of providing a rich wife for him. the young professor pütter, who was at vienna in his travels, had the offer of a wealthy merchant's daughter as a good _partie_, from a count, who was his neighbour at table, but entirely a stranger to him. this proposal, however, was declined. but, equally cool as the offers, were the decisions of the parties interested. men and women decided upon marrying each other often after a passing view, or after they had exchanged a few words, never having had any affectionate intercourse. on both sides a good recommendation was the main point. the following is an example of a similar betrothal, which appeared to the parties interested as especially vehement and impassioned. the assessor of the supreme court of judicature, von summermann, became acquainted at the schwalbach baths, in , with a fräulein von bachellé, an amiable lady of the court of a disagreeable langravine; he saw her frequently at country parties, to which both were invited by a married acquaintance. some weeks later he revealed his wish to marry the fräulein, to an acquaintance at wetzlar, after he had cautiously collected information concerning the character of the young lady. the confidant,--it was pütter--visited the innocent court lady: "after some short common-place conversation, i said that i had to make a proposal to her, to which i must beg for an answer. she replied shortly, 'what kind of proposal?' i equally shortly and frankly asked, 'whether she could make up her mind to marry the herr von summermann?' 'ah, you joke!' was her answer. i said, 'no, i do not, i am quite in earnest; here i have already a ring and yet another present (a silk purse with a hundred carlines), by which i can verify my proposal.' 'now, if you are in earnest, and bring the proposal from herr von summermann, i do not hesitate a moment.' thus she took the ring, but refused to accept the hundred carlines, and empowered me to convey her assent." the further course also of this very exciting business was extraordinary and dramatic. the happy lover had settled that his wooer should obtain for him more certain information. now, it is true that a written line in this scribbling age might have been possible, but it appears that written information was considered too prolix, and it was undoubtedly then difficult to give it in one line without titles and congratulations; so it was determined that, as in "tristan and isolde," the result of an undertaking was telegraphed by a black or a white seal, so here by the transmission of a certain volume of a valuable legal work of the state chancery, it was to be signified that the proposal was accepted; another volume of the same work would have intimated the contrary. and the difference of the new conscientious period from the old one of queen isolde consisted only in this, that no false signal would be given. but though in this union the heart to a certain degree asserted its rights, it was less often the case with men of education and capacity. professor achenwall, a distinguished law teacher at göttingen, made an offer to a daughter of johann jacob moser without ever having seen her, and she in like manner accepted; after her death he married a demoiselle jäger, of gotha, to whom he proposed after he had seen her accidentally on a journey, passing some days in the house of an acquaintance. thus it was generally the position and the household which was the object of women, as it still is in many circles of the people. the quiet dreams of the candidates for matrimony were frequently exactly as portrayed by the sober-minded pütter: "the meals at the _restaurant_ did not answer to their wishes; to eat alone was not to their mind; fellow-boarders were not to be reckoned upon; the household cares concerning the wash, beer, and sugar were disagreeable occupations; and in the evening, when tired after work, to pay visits to others when one did not know whether it was opportune, or to await the visits of others who were themselves in the same dilemma,--all these were circumstances of consideration, experience, and observation, which seemed to prove that one could not be happy continually in one's present position." undoubtedly also the importance of this step was not all underrated: quiet deliberation lasted long, and a secret wavering between eligible parties was frequent. therefore in general the matter was left to a benevolent providence; and an accidental meeting, or the pressing recommendation of a certain person, was still always considered as a sign from above. those who so thought, were then the spiritual leaders of the people, the scholars and followers of leibnitz, thomasius, and wolf,--estimable, good, and perhaps very learned men; and also the maidens and wives of the best families. it was certainly an ancient german custom to subordinate the individual; in this most important concern of life, to the judgment and interests of the family; undoubtedly marriage was considered more especially the great business of life which was to be arranged with strict adherence to duty, and not according to the delusive ideas of the fancy. but these sober, sensible views were beginning in to give way to the higher requirements of the individual already were men inclined to indulge themselves with a richer mental life and greater independence. when caroline lucius modestly but firmly declined the offered hand of the precentor of thomas's church, gellert felt a little ashamed that he had judged his correspondent by the ordinary criterion, and in his letters afterwards a sincere respect may be observed. but, however frequently the wooing was deficient in the magic of the most beautiful of earthly passions, the marriages, as far as we can judge, were not on that account the less happy. that one must suit oneself in life is a very popular rule of wisdom. the man who proposed to share a respectable position and a certain income with the object of his choice, offered her much, according to the views of that time; she was to show her gratitude by unceasing faithful service, and to lighten his arduous, laborious life--nay, already had a more exalted feeling taken root in the souls of women, which we may well call the poetry of home. the amount of knowledge acquired by a german woman was on the whole small. if people of rank could not spell, this may be explained by the fluctuations in education between french and german,--by a mongrel culture which spoilt the style even of men, not only of frederic ii. and other rulers, but also of the highest officials, like the imperial ambassador who wrote to gellert, and begged him to send back his letter with corrections, that he might thereby learn the secret of good writing. but even the german trained daughter of a well-educated citizen family was generally deficient both in style and correctness of writing. many women, indeed, learnt french, and in protestant germany italian was more frequently studied than at present; even the students of halle, under the guidance of their teacher, caused italian treatises to be printed. in other respects education appears to have done little for women; even instruction in music, beyond the practice of light airs on the harpsichord, was rare. but so much the more was the practice of house duties inculcated. to look after the welfare and comfort of those around them, of parents and brothers, and afterwards of husbands and children, was the task of the grown-up daughters. that this should be the object of their life was unceasingly impressed upon them; it was understood according to every one's own views. and this care was no longer limited, as in the sixteenth century, to giving orders in the kitchen, the preparation of electuaries, and the arrangements of the linen: women were, during the last century, brought imperceptibly into a worthier position with respect to their husbands--they had become their friends and confidants. although with perhaps scanty knowledge, many of them could boast of firm minds, clear judgment, and depth of feeling; concerning some of these, information has accidentally remained to us. we find it, also, in the wives of simple artisans. if the men, under the influence of the state and of pietism, became more timid and less independent, the women of the same period were manifestly more elevated. we will draw a comparison with the past. let us remember kate bora, who begged of the laborious luther to suffer her to be near him. she sits there for hours silent, holds his pen for him, and gazes with her large eyes on the mysterious head, of her husband; and, anxiously gathering, together in her own mind all her poor knowledge, suddenly breaks out with the question, which, transposing it into the position of , would run thus: "is the elector of brandenburg brother to the king of prussia?" and when luther laughingly replies, "he is the same man," his feeling, notwithstanding all his affection, is--"poor simplicity."[ ] on the other hand, in , elizabeth gesner, sits opposite her husband in the sitting-room of the conrectorat at weimar; he is working at his "_chrestomathie des cicero_," and writes with one hand while he rocks the cradle with the other. meanwhile elizabeth industriously mends the clothes of her children, and playfully disputes with the little ones, who object to the patches, till at last the mother proposes to them to cut out the new pieces as sun, moon, and stars, and to sew them on in this beautiful form. the bright light which then shone from the heart of the housewife through the poorly furnished room, and the cheerful smile that played on the countenance of the husband, may be discovered from his account. when she died, after a long and happy union, the grey-headed scholar said: "one of us must remain alone, and i had rather be the forlorn one myself than that she should be so." he followed her a few months later. again, soon after , we find frau professorin semlerin at halle, sitting with her industrious husband, some feminine work in her hand; both rejoice that they are together, that he uses his study only as a receptacle for his books, and that she considers all society as a separation from her husband. he has so accustomed himself to work in her presence, that neither the play and laughter, nor even the loud noise, of his children disturb him; he has an unbounded respect for the discretion and judgment of his wife. she rules with unlimited sway in her household; if the excitable man is disquieted by any adverse occurrence, she knows how to smooth it down quickly, in her gentle way. she is his true friend and his best counsellor, even in his relations with the university; his firm support, always full of love and patience, yet she has learnt little, and her letters abound in errors of writing. there will be farther notice of her. similar women, simple, deep-feeling, pious, clear-headed, firm and decided, sometimes also with extraordinary vigour and cheerfulness, were at this period so frequent that we may truly reckon them as characteristic of the time. they are the ancestresses and mothers, to whose worth the literary men, poets, and artists who have sprung up in the following generations may attribute a portion of their success. it was not able men, but good housewives,--not the poetry of passion, but the home life of the family,--to which we owe our training during the first half of the last century. and if we, the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those who lived when goethe and schiller grew up, smile at the constraint of the feelings which appears in the wooings and betrothals of ; at the want of genuine tenderness, in spite of the general yearning for tender and pathetic feelings; and at the incapacity to give full expression in language and demeanour to the most exquisite of passions, we must remember, that just then the nation stood at the portals of a new time which was to change this poverty into wealth. the reign of pietism had introduced a mild sentimentality into the nation; the philosophy of mathematics had spread over language and life a calm brightness, and the following fifty years of intense political activity and powerful productiveness in every realm of science were to bring the nation a richer development of the mental life. after this took place, the german was so far fortified by the good spirit of his home, that, even after the most horrible devastation and destruction, his soul was strengthened, through the interests of private life, for greater tasks and more manly labours. after spener, wolf, and goethe came the volunteers of . but here we will verify what has been said of the condition, character, and wooing of germans about the year by the record of a contemporary. he who speaks has already been mentioned several times in the preceding pages; he is one of whom science will ever preserve a kindly remembrance. johann salomo semler, professor of theology at halle, who lived from to , was one of the first who broke loose from the orthodox faith of the protestant church; and, following their own investigations, ventured, with the help of the scientific culture of the period, to form a judgment on the origin and changes of the church dogmas. his youth was passed in struggle with pietism, but at the same time, under its dominion, his warm heart clung, as long as it continued to beat, like luther and the pietists, to the child-like relation to his god and father; but, as a scholar, this same man who, in respect to the daily occurrences of life, was so often yielding, uncertain, and dependent on those around him, became bold, decided, and sometimes radical. with him began the criticism of holy traditions; he was the first who ventured to handle systematically the historical development and changes of christianity, and exhibited theology as an historical process, and as a momentum in the gradual development of the human mind, not logically, and with very deficient understanding of ancient times, but yet according to the laws of science. he veiled from himself the opposition between his faith and his researches in science, by making a rigid distinction, like the pietists, betwixt religion and theology--betwixt the eternal cravings of human nature, which were satisfied by the old revered forms of revealed faith, and the eternal impulse of the mind to understand every earthly phenomenon. he has been called the father of rationalism; in truth he was only an enlightened pietist, one of those who seem called to prepare, by the union of opposite conceptions, a new life. he was born in saalfeld, the son of an ecclesiastic, a scholar at halle of the learned baumgarten; then for a year the _rédacteur_ of the newspaper at coburg, and for a year professor of history and poetry at the nuremberg university of altorf. he was called back by baumgarten to halle, where he, for nearly forty years, combated the old pietists victoriously, and died one of the most worthy heads of the great university. the following is the account which he himself gives of his love and wooing; it cannot be given here without some small alteration in the language, for semler has--what is characteristic of him--little in his style of the broad, sure method of his philosophical contemporaries, but much of the indistinct mode of speech of the pietists. he does not use figurative language nor primitive phrases, but he loves, like them, a certain mysterious circumlocution and remote allusions, that sometimes make the meaning almost incomprehensible and require slow reading. yet it is necessary to remember one thing, that the following narrative may not disappoint expectation: he who here narrates was in fact a man of worth and refined feeling, who rightly enjoyed the full esteem and veneration of those who lived with him. semler has gone through the separation from the family of baumgarten, has returned as master of arts from halle to his father's house at saalfeld, and has there renewed his acquaintance with a young lady friend. he relates thus:-- "my residence in saalfeld did not last long, but was not quite satisfactory to me. i saw, it is true, that worthy friend very often, and we enjoyed ourselves together as much as with our virtuous gravity we could; but there was nothing in it of the rapture or of the great joy which our new contemporaries[ ] describe as superhuman in so many novels, or, still more, paint poetically and represent quite sentimentally. it was truly as if we anticipated that this rare harmony of two souls and characters was something too elevated for such a union to fail to our lot. this improbability seemed to me to arise from her situation; to her, from mine, from very different grounds. my prospects were remote, as i could not attain the great happiness of becoming '_conrector_,' to which position even, she was prepared to lower herself. i saw also that i must shortly incur some debts which i could not mention to so estimable a person. thus i found myself unavoidably dependent, as it were, on any chance prospect. but her parents were rather old, and her brothers and sisters entirely unprovided for: how could she think of pledging herself to me on an uncertainty, and, by making it known, render herself inaccessible to more fortunate admirers? meanwhile, with tender sadness, we promised each other everything we could, and were convinced of our mutual integrity, but also determined not to place each other in a difficult position. "my father had written to an old friend at coburg, _kammerrath_, fick, and begged of him to make some friendly efforts for getting me a situation. this he did honourably and with the best intentions."--(semler travelled to coburg, obtained there the title of professor, but without salary; became editor of the "coburg state and literary gazette," and lodged with the widow of doctor döbnerin, a cheerful, lively woman, who was glad to converse with him, and put many theological and historical questions to him. it was a quiet, respectable household: one daughter, the demoiselle döbnerin, was still at home, about whom the professor, who had much work and little income, concerned himself little. thus he lived for a year; then he learnt from an acquaintance that a professor was wanted at the university of altorf, which he could easily obtain, but he must present himself there. this information excited him much; he was powerfully attracted towards the university; he had seen no possibility of it; now a prospect was open to him, but he had no money for the journey--nay, he was in debt to his landlady for rent and board; he long pined away in silence.) "the doctor's widow, my landlady, remarked that for some days i had not conversed with the cheerfulness that had before pleased her so well, because it gave her the opportunity of introducing her usual complaints and old tales; i was no longer of use to her in this, and, still worse, was always withdrawing from them. so she asked me what was the reason? i was so surprised, that i confessed i had a proposal to be professor at altorf; it required a quick decision, and i must take it into serious consideration. this information, that i might soon leave, appeared to excite both mother and daughter, and i now began to be sharper in my observations than i had been formerly. hitherto i had thought nothing about the daughter, who took care of everything in the house, and seldom remained after we had finished our meals, and only treated her according to the laws of civility; and i did not consider it a part of this civility, either to kiss her hand, or to indulge in small talk. the mother, with all her gay vivacity, had kept her daughter very strictly, as she was not quite pleased with the free mode of life which already began to prevail among her sex at coburg. she maintained the old principles, in which she had herself been brought up in saalfeld; she had few visitors at her house, as indeed she had not much time for it, so orderly was the manner in which the household was managed. it is true it was called avarice and parsimony, but for a city such housekeeping is very necessary; and those who so willingly spend their money, that they must borrow, should at least not judge ill of the indispensable benefactors from whom they borrow. i knew the daily tranquil enjoyment that pervaded this home, and i found therein assuredly far more happiness than in many others where there were splendour and bustle. "now i called to mind that some persons in coburg had already warned me against this acquaintance, which i nevertheless found so uniformly blameless. i watched more narrowly, and it appeared to me as if i was regarded favourably; only when i came to draw my conclusions, whether i should endeavour to help myself by means of this quiet and virtuous daughter, my heart fell within me. what reason had i to entertain any hopes, as i had for nearly a whole year been guilty of marked inattention? she had already refused a professor, and i knew other proofs of her acting with independent and not over hasty deliberation, where many others, from an inclination to vanity, would have decided hastily. it was the less probable that she would accept me, as i had no outward advantages to offer. i nevertheless showed greater attention, both to mother and daughter, than i had done hitherto, but still undecided in my mind. "at this time i wrote to my sister at saalfeld; the contents of this letter were sad enough; it was to this effect, that on account of some small debts, merely caused by the difficulty of raising money, i should be obliged to renounce altogether the dear friend of that place, who nevertheless, i honoured profoundly. i was not in a position to follow the bent of my affections. "if i was to attempt to borrow money in saalfeld, my father would certainly prevent it, as i had clearly remarked, that he had always endeavoured to dissuade me from my plans, and admonished me not to run counter to providence by over haste. i passed many sorrowful hours before i received an answer from saalfeld, and still more when i did receive it, and found that this separation was finally settled. very serious reflections upon many similar cases tranquillised me by degrees, although my high esteem for that worthy young person was unalterable. "but so much the more i felt my very insignificant position; and, thus truly humiliated, i reproached myself continually. i asked myself whether i was to call upon this dutiful and virtuous daughter to give so much money for me, of which she certainly had as little thought as her mother; for it was undoubtedly not with this view that she had shown me so many courtesies. she had long considered me as having a decided inclination for some one; she often reminded me in a friendly way about halle, and how i had often praised openly and with such great feeling the incomparable dr. baumgarten; and just because i had shown so much diffidence and lively feeling with regard to halle, she had thought favourably of me, and had assumed that i had a settled engagement there. how was i now all at once to convince her that it was otherwise, without giving an open field for divers detrimental thoughts and observations on myself? i alone know how entirely depressed was my spirit at this time; how i spent my days and nights restless and dejected, till at last i learnt to bow myself to the universal law of god's government. "i more than once perplexed myself again with strong doubts whether i was important enough for divine providence to occupy himself with me, and whether all my anxieties were not the consequences of my faults and my inconsiderate conduct; in short, i could no longer continue in this depressing condition, as i had no time to lose in complaints. i must announce myself at nuremberg so many days before petri pauli. now i wrote two letters, one to the mother, and inclosed in it another to the daughter, wherein i revealed my views, but at the same time distinctly showed my present position, and appealed to their own knowledge and judgment of my principles, and confided myself to them. it was impossible for me by word of mouth to express so carefully and clearly all the necessary details. "this letter i took with me when i went to supper, and placed it in the mother's prayer-book, which always lay by her place, so that the letter must, without fail, come into her hands this same evening. i did not otherwise allow anything to be perceived, but went away somewhat earlier than i had hitherto done, that there might be more time left for the discovery, and for their deliberation. "in the letter i begged of the mother, if she found what i proposed was decidedly objectionable, that she would not lay the letters before her daughter, but would send them both back to me, and then would kindly ascribe my too great confidence to her indulgence. in proportion as my life had been hitherto solitary, the deeper was the impression made in my soul by my anxious and uncertain wishes; my spirit now began to raise itself more earnestly to god in a deep and entire submission, that i might more and more be weaned from the trivial occurrences of life and their results, by looking to eternity. i found an increase of tranquillity, and a contented submission to all the dispensations of providence, which i had long so vainly endeavoured to create in myself. "three days passed, during which we met as inmates of the same house, as though nothing had passed between us which required an answer, and i was persuaded that it was a kind way of sparing my feelings, that my proposal was to be buried in silence, as they wished to relieve me from an unpleasant explanation. as usual, i was always too desponding. the following sunday--it was the th of june, --as i was leaving the table after dinner, the _frau doctorin_ asked me to drink a cup of coffee with her that afternoon. still she kept her countenance so completely, that i could not promise myself much advantage from this invitation. the next two hours i spent promenading in the open air, in a very composed state of mind, recalling many vanished ideas and wishes, and in much sorrow at the prospect of my shortly impending journey, which must now take me far from saalfeld and halle.[ ] thus i did not return very soon, and went straight to her room. i immediately discovered such an expression of natural, earnest, and approving friendship in the countenance of the mother, who came forward to meet me, that i could no longer doubt the success of my proposal, and my feelings also became equally visible when i began to speak. the feelings of all three were similar and showed themselves perceptibly in our eyes, a kind of joyful solemnity ensued, and we all three returned thanks to god. the mother laid before me the two letters, and asked, 'do you confess that you have written these?' 'oh, yes,' i said, and kissed her hand. she kissed me warmly, and assured me of her most hearty approbation. "the daughter very soon after lost her heretofore shyness, and raised her eyes pleasantly, because she knew it did not displease her mother, and she had now a right to make herself pleasant. we had neither of us had any romantic training, otherwise she would not have waited for this till i had spoken and had obtained the mothers consent. thus this affair, which was so difficult and so important for me, took a smooth course, without the intervention of any other person, or the employment of those arts or intrigues with which brides are entrapped by many. "it is not necessary for me to tell the holy and humble thankfulness of my soul to god, nor how much i endeavoured to preserve my inward peace and tranquillity, in spite of the gossip that followed upon this my resolution. "i immediately investigated the character of my bride; she had an agreeable aspect, although the smallpox, which she had passed through after she was grown up, had materially injured her complexion. her education had been carried on partly under the eyes of a grandmother and an excellent aunt, partly by the mother, who kept a tutor for her and her brother. after the death of the father, the mother and daughter had lived in great retirement. but she had only the more cultivated all those qualifications which are most advantageous to her sex; her judgment was so good, that her mother generally preferred it to her own in household arrangements. the style of her letters was good, the handwriting pretty and even, and there were very few faults of orthography. in this she excelled all her many relations. accounts she understood far better than her mother, and had, when scarcely fifteen years of age, during a long absence of her mother, so accurately reckoned up the details of an income of gulden, that there was nothing missing. she had for some years kept her own accounts in respect of a property which she had inherited from an uncle at coburg, amounting to a thousand gulden or more. she had learned to dance, and held herself well, but was not particularly fond of it; her head-dresses she made herself, and many of her clothes, and always in good taste. this pleasure in the work of her own hands was considered by others of her own age, who had no such pleasure in it, as the result of great parsimony, which it certainly was not, as i shall presently show. "we now associated more freely, and during the few remaining days of my stay, often walked together, especially in the great garden on the lossau. there we sat, sometimes under the trees overlooking the city. she was so frank with me, that she said to me of her own accord, 'now you must exert yourself, and take some control over me, to wean me from the faults which long solitude has engendered in me. i may, by my devotion perhaps, and by my pure good heart, recommend myself to you; but, as we must mix with many people and become a portion of the so-called great world, you must help me, that i may not then appear to disadvantage, till i can myself judge rightly with respect to externals. for you are superior to me in understanding and in the refinements of language and social intercourse.' this honesty brought tears into my eyes. she wept with me, asking whether i now repented, and whether i had not long known these defects of hers? "in answer to this, i said, 'i have more cause to be uneasy than you, lest you should repent of having given your hand and heart to a professor, whom you will soon find deficient in all external means, although very laborious. and now i will lay before you all my anxieties, entirely without reserve. you know it is true that my father can give me nothing; but you do not know that i cannot at present pay you for board and lodging, and that i must incur many small debts, that we may leave coburg in suitable style.' "she looked at me tenderly, and said: 'if you have really no other cause for uneasiness, i am truly very happy to say that i can help to place you in a better position. think, therefore, only of making me more worthy of you, that i may not injure you in society. i am mistress of my own fortune, in the management of which i have hitherto sometimes asked advice of dr. berger, as my guardian. he esteems you too highly, for him to put the least obstacle in the way of my serving you when i wish to do so.' "thus this worthy person has always evinced an unselfish, honourable manner of thinking, and relieved me from all shame and uneasiness about my position. "now i began to think about my journey, that i might not arrive too late at nuremberg. "at nuremberg there were still very many features of great antiquity, which made much impression on me. birkmann, preacher at the church of st. giles, had kindly offered that i should take up my quarters with him. i was received by him very lovingly, and he gave me a room up-stairs, in which were his books; a neighbourhood which was very useful to me, as i was able in the evening to search out some accounts of nuremberg, that everything might not be so entirely strange to me. as soon as i possibly could i presented myself before the gentlemen of the council, in the great hall of the council-house, at the hour when they entered the hall from their separate rooms. the great impression made on me by this grand building, and the unusual circumstances in which i was placed, had a good effect upon me, so that i with modesty and emotion spoke out freely, which, together with my pressing recommendations, obtained me the gracious approbation of these venerable persons. herr von ebner, whose own learning and noble manner of thinking filled every one with respect, desired me afterwards to be told that he expected me in the afternoon at his house. i sought to recover the composure of my mind, that i might be distracted as little as possible by so many unexpected events, and turn this visit the more to my advantage. as this gentleman was almost blind i was deprived of much assistance, for by an unaffected modest attitude, which i always liked, i had elsewhere frequently procured myself a hearing, even from those who hitherto had been prepossessed against me. after i had stood some minutes, and had expressed my feelings of gratitude in the best sentences i could utter, avoiding equally bombast and common-place, he said: 'herr professor, your voice and speech please me so much that i regret not being able to see you distinctly. seat yourself near me; i must speak to you on various things. the great man whom we have lost, professor schwarz, has especially and confidentially recommended you to me; but there is truly no want of competitors for the place which he has vacated.' now he came to my '_miscellaneas lectiones_' parts of which had been read to him, and asked so many particulars that the conversation resembled an examination. at last he said to me, with evident pleasure, 'you are just the man; if i say it you will be chosen. i heartily wish you happiness for yourself and altorf.' then he caused trident wine to be brought, and the servant was not to allow the glass to stand empty. now he was so gracious, that when i rose he said, 'if i can provide you with a rich wife, tell me so straightforwardly.' i kissed his hand reverently, pressed it with my forehead, and said at once, with great feeling, 'i thank you.' 'i shall be all the better pleased,' he said, 'if you have no disquiet in your outward life.' he desired me, when i returned again from altorf, to ask for him; meanwhile he took me into his garden, and wished to talk on other matters with me, which afterwards took place. i must say that such noble affability, and active regard, as were shown by the gentlemen of nuremberg to their men of learning, i have seldom met with elsewhere. "the preacher birkmann travelled with me to altorf. on the way i thought it right to give the excellent man to understand that herr von ebner had wished to make a good marriage for me; but i had found it necessary already at coburg to discharge this duty, and free myself from the anxiety, so that all other well-meant arrangements were useless. meanwhile i revolved many new thoughts in my mind. "i arrived safely at coburg, and brought the vocation with me. on the th august, , the amiable döbnerin was married to me in the sacristy."-- thus far we give the account of the husband, who, in the further course of his autobiography, takes every opportunity of expressing his love and admiration for the wife of his choice, and composed a special eulogy on her after death. unfortunately no letter has been preserved from the frau professorin, whose style was so much praised by the professor. but a love-letter will be given of the year , from one of her circle of coburg acquaintance,[ ] which one may presume gives pretty accurately the style of the demoiselle döbnerin; the same customary forms and artificial tenderness under which the warm feelings of a human heart are only occasionally perceptible. this letter, from a betrothed to her intended in coburg, runs thus:-- "chosen one of my heart! as i do not doubt that the holy christmas season will have brought with it to my loved child all its best and most desired blessings, so do i hope that the good god will mercifully hear my fervent prayers, and pour upon him in rich measure so much health, bliss, and all pleasures, that i may continually have cause to praise him. i also send my congratulations on the approaching new year, and will express my sincere heartfelt wishes in these few words: 'most highest, hear my prayer! for the sake of my dearest child take the half of my life and add it to his years, so will my temporal welfare which germinates through his goodness soon develope the ripe fruit of bliss, in spite of the foaming of envy and malevolence.' "my love has given me very great pleasure by his agreeable letter, as i have seen that he, whose frequent occupations might easily cause me to be forgotten, has not been hindered from thinking most kindly of me, therefore i return my beloved my most bounden thanks. he was pleased in his dear letter to mention that the ring is ready, but it is not stated what i am to pay for it, i therefore expect in the next a few lines concerning this, and also touching the honourable brother-in-law. "if my beloved desires that i should know or look after aught else, may it please him to speak out freely: his orders shall at all times be commands to me. to the most highly-esteemed frau mamma and the frau schwester i send my dutiful congratulations on this new year, and request of them further their gracious favour. my papa and mamma send equally their compliments, and wish my beloved to enjoy in undisturbed contentment all blessings and prosperity. we expect with great desire a kind answer, and my papa is the more desirous to receive one, as he himself dictated mamma's letter. i am anxious to learn what resolution his honour has come to touching this matter. i beg leave, my heart, to send with this a bad specimen of my workmanship for a waistcoat, humbly requesting his honour not to regard the smallness of its value, but rather the goodwill with which it is given, for i assure him there are not as many stitches in it, as there are good wishes accompanying it. in conclusion, i remain, with constant esteem, "my beloved one's "most affectionate "c. c. k. "a. monsieur, monsieur ... at coburg." so cautious, formal, and florid were the love-letters of a true-hearted frank maiden, like the dear wife of professor semler. but he himself, johann salomo semler,--the father of modern theology, long the highly-honoured head of the university, who, in his scientific views, was a bolder, rasher man than his older contemporaries,--how should we judge him, if measured by the standard of our time? because he has no money for his journey, and some debts in coburg, he determines to marry; he informs his love in saalfeld of his situation, and woos the daughter of his wealthy landlady, to whom hitherto he had appeared indifferent. the like of this in our time, speaking mildly, would be called--pitiful. and yet when the aged professor gave his narrative to the public, he plainly assumed that his conduct would not appear dishonourable in the eyes of his contemporaries. there is no reason to doubt that the friends of his youth thought exactly the same, perhaps somewhat less conscientiously. when he was young, what rights had the heart of a poor scholar against a cold, tyrrannical world? little as yet. what was the aim and object of his life? to learn and labour from early mom till dead of night, in order to instil his painfully gained knowledge into other souls, to spread by writings and teaching, all that was important and new that he searched out, descried, or conceived. therein lay his highest duty and honour, the object and pride of his earthly days; to this must his private life be adapted and accommodated. thus it was not only the few, that felt a burning ambition, it was a general feeling, as with semler, in many hundreds who starved, bowed themselves before the powerful and changed their faith, in order to be able to live for science. there is nothing noble in this, but it is nevertheless a seeking after something nobler; it is the old german yearning for something to be devoted to, which is immeasurably more estimable than devotion to self. let manly power be united with such a tone of mind, together with the feeling of being a ruler upon earth, and something will arise which all following ages will call great and good. footnotes: [footnote : in this battle (a.d. ) armin defeated the romans, and freed germany.] [footnote : j. arends, in "east friesland and jever" (vol. ii. p. ), has collected traces of ancient culture on the excavated ground. the coast of the north sea, from borkum to schleswig, stretched, in the time of the romans, probably farther to the north; the encroachment of the sea had already begun at the time that pliny wrote, and since that it has taken more than it has given. the dollart and the zuyderzee ( ) were formed by several great inundations after the crusades, and the jahde in the fifteenth century.] [footnote : the smoked meats of germany were named as an article of traffic under diocletian.] [footnote : thus, for example, in the monastery of alpirspach, in the black forest, from which ambrosius blaurer escaped in , a certain holy pelagius and john the baptist had both their vassals, who rejoiced in peculiar privileges.] [footnote : dialogue of "new karsthans." this is the fictitious name assumed by ulrich von hutten, the author of a political squib at that period.] [footnote : seifried helbling, viii., in moriz haupt, periodical for german antiquity, vol. iv., p. . the austrian knight laments the intrusion of the peasant into his order as an abuse. he wrote, according to karajan, the eighth of his little books about .] [footnote : the quaint way in which the old language is here mixed with foreign dialects cannot be rendered.] [footnote : our word _pferd_ (horse), then the roman elegant word for the german horse.] [footnote : duke ernst of swabia, a celebrated poem of the middle ages.] [footnote : these names could hardly have been invented by helmbrecht, to characterise the robbers; it is probable, from what follows, that the like wild nicknames were humorously given by the nobles themselves, and used as party names.] [footnote : the old german wedding custom. in the thirteenth century the church had seldom any concern in the nuptials of country people and courtlings. it was only in the fourteenth century it began to be considered unrefined not to have the blessing of a priest. when our junkers declaim against civil marriages they forget that it was the fashion of their forefathers.] [footnote : an ancient popular superstition. it was similar with the wooers in the "odyssey" before their end.] [footnote : this song is to be found in kornmann's "frau veneris berg," p. . similar songs in uhland.] [footnote : the great poet for the people, a native of nuremberg.] [footnote : means hoejack, which was adopted by ulrich von hutten as a characteristic title of a political squib in defence of the peasantry.--_trans_.] [footnote : quaint title of a series of pamphlets denouncing abuses in church and state, published about .--_trans_.] [footnote : a colloquy between a fox and wolf, in the "staigerwaldt," , p. . under the similitude of a wolf and fox two fugitive junkers of the sickingen party discourse together. the plundering of the nobles having been strongly spoken of, the wolf says: "by this voracity, we have made enemies of many citizens and peasants, who have lately bound themselves to take away all our lives, if they can catch us." fox: "who are these citizens and peasants?" wolf: "those who live in upper swabia, augsburg, ulm, kempten, bibrach, memmingen, and by the neckar, and the nurembergers and bavarians on the frontier."] [footnote : full details of the sufferings of the country people during the war will be found in the second volume of "the pictures of german life."] [footnote : "imperial privileges and sanctions for silesia," vols. i., p. ; iii., .] [footnote : ib., vol. i., pp. - .] [footnote : "imperial privileges and sanctions for silesia," vol. i., p. .] [footnote : ib., vol. i., p. .] [footnote : seven hundred and fifty of these have been reckoned by c. h. von lang, in his "historical development of german taxation," .] [footnote : f. von liebenroth: "fragments from my diary," , p. . the writer was a saxon officer, a sensible and loyal man.] [footnote : district regulations for the principalities of oppeln and ratibor of the year .] [footnote : the provincial ordinances for the principalities of oppeln and ratibor, year .] [footnote : von hohberg: "country life of the nobles," . see the introduction.] [footnote : imperial privil. and sanct., vol. iv., p. .] [footnote : one may nearly estimate the proportion of the peasants to the collective population of germany, about , at from to per cent.; of these four-fifths were villeins, thus more than half the people.] [footnote : "the exposure of the vices, morals, and evils of the thick-skinned, coarse-grained, and wicked peasantry," by _veroandro_, of _truth castle_, . the author appears to have been the same clergyman who added verses to the later editions of the simplicissimus, and pointed the moral.] [footnote : "the happy and unhappy peasantry," p. . frankfort, s. a. about .] [footnote : "lasterprob," p. .] [footnote : "the happy and unhappy peasant class." p. .] [footnote : "kurtze beschreibung, der acker-leuthe und ehrenlob," p. . hof. .] [footnote : "imperial privil. and sanct.," vols. ii., p. ; v., .] [footnote : f. von liebenroth, p. .] [footnote : supreme court of the empire.] [footnote : j. v. bohlen; "georg von behr; a picture of pomeranian life," p. , .] [footnote : imp. priv. and sanct., , , , vols. i., , ; iii., .] [footnote : even in the years and ; ib., vol. iii, .] [footnote : a well-known literary society.--_tr_.] [footnote : dietrich von kracht, the brandenburg colonel, was called in this society "the biter;" his herb was the horseradish.] [footnote : this complaint may be found in "imp. sanct.," th feb., .] [footnote : for most of these details from the manuscript diary of an austrian, baron von teuffel, in and the following years, the editor has to thank the kindness of graf wolf baudissin.] [footnote : compare this with the silesian robinson, oct. , , vol. i., p. . the first part of this robinsonade is a vivid sketch from the diary of a silesian noble, which appears to be lost.] [footnote : p. winckler, "the nobleman," p. .] [footnote : we are averse to quoting the erotic books which corrupted german readers; we shall only mention a short and scarce tale, wherein some such orgies are described after the dutch original: "the perverted, but at the same time converted, soldier adrian wurmfeld von orsoy," by crispinus bonifacius von düsseldorp, p. . . to.] [footnote : _pfeffersäcke_, pepper-sack, and _krippenreiter_, a poor country squire, who rides about living on the bounty of the gentry.--_tr_.] [footnote : the student's cap used in sham fights.] [footnote : in this was already denounced from vienna; the abuse became very bad during the war.--kais. privil. und sanct., vol. i., p. .] [footnote : kais. privil. und sanct., vol. iv., p. .] [footnote : kais. privil. und sanct., vol. i, p. , year .] [footnote : kais. privil. und sanct., vol. iii., pp. and .] [footnote : j. b. von bohr, "ceremoniel wissenschaft," p. .] [footnote : j. b. von bohr, _ibid._, p. .] [footnote : for when the splendid prince had arrived at the object of his wishes by countless bribery to the polish grandees, and after he had proved his new catholicism to his party--less through the enforced testimony of the pope than by the expenditure of some thalers and a half measure of brandy to each noble elector--then, at his eventful coronation on the th of september, , the inventive powers of the chamberlain were strained to the uttermost, for the costume was to be antique, at the same time polish and also fashionable and suitable to a cavalier. therefore the king wore on his well-powdered head a polish cap with a heron's plume; on his body a strong golden breastplate, over his short french breeches a short roman tunic, on his feet sandals, over all a blue ermine cloak; the whole dress covered with splendid precious stones. he became faint at the coronation, and it was doubtful whether it was owing to the uncomfortable costume or to shame. the poles ate on this day three roast oxen, while at the emperor's coronation at frankfort only one was customary.--compare förster, "höfe und cabinette europas," vol. iii., p. .] [footnote : letters of recommendation entitling the holder to sustenance in some ecclesiastical foundation.--_tr_.] [footnote : she certainly was not a girl of loose character, as hüllmann in the "städtewesen," vol. ii., assumes; on the contrary, she passed in the sports as the symbol of a city which was supposed to be under the protection of the holy virgin, and, till the time of tilly, boasted of never having been taken. it is possible that the maiden may have been a serf, but this is not certain.] [footnote : wolffgang ferber, prietzschenmeister--jest maker--"gründliche beschreibung eines fürnehmen fürstlichen armbrustschiessens zu coburg," .] [footnote : on a franconian gem of the sixteenth century an archer and a crossbow are portrayed.--bechstein museum, ii., figure .] [footnote : for example, in the circular of the meiningens, , "crooked or straight rifled barrels are forbidden." quarrels must have arisen sometimes concerning this at the public shooting meetings, for in elector august of saxony decided that rifled barrels should only be allowed, if all the shooters agreed to it.] [footnote : pritschmeister, a species of merry andrew--master of the ceremonies and provost marshal.--_tr_.] [footnote : the favourite preamble of their poem. they wander poor and full of cares into the free expanse of nature; then comes joyful news of a shooting meeting. it was undoubtedly traditional, and it was a fitting and refined beginning, which one learned from the other.] [footnote : wolfgang ferber. "gründliche beschreibung eines armbrust schiessens zu coburg." .] [footnote : a square coin.] [footnote : welser-gasser, "chronika von augspurg," p. .] [footnote : compare vol. ii of "pictures of german life," chap. "rogues and adventurers."] [footnote : benedict edlbeck, pritschmeister: "ordentliche beschreibung des grossen schiessen in zwickau," , p. .] [footnote : even the valiant quad von kinkelbach counts this as one of the wonders of frankfort: "teutscher nation herlichbuit," , p. . compare it with christoff rösener: "ehren tittel der ritterlichen freyen kunst der fechter," , p. . the _federfechter_ gave their freedom to their scholars at princes' courts; also, for example, at dresden, , at the great schaufechter which followed the prize-shooting, where a fechter was stabbed by a rapier.--wolffgang ferber's "relation eines fürnehmen stahlschiessens zu dresden," .] [footnote : derisive terms applied to certain localities.--_tr_.] [footnote : invitation circular of the kehlheimers in "bairische annalen."] [footnote : the swiss also were subject to the _pritschmeister_. in the woodcut on the title-page of the curious poem "aussreden der schützen von hans heinrich grob, zürich, ," there is delineated a rifle shooting, in which the _pritschmeister_, in complete fool's dress, is castigating two shooters in the way above described.] [footnote : called königsschiessen, as a king was elected for the occasion.--_tr_.] [footnote : an open space round the town.--_tr_.] [footnote : a court entertainment, representing life in an inn.--_tr_.] [footnote : von rohr, "ceremoniel-wissenschaft," p. .] [footnote : "_de ratione status in imperio nostro romano-germanico_, ." the expression is not invented by chemnitz, it had been introduced before him in diplomatic jargon by the italians--their _ragione di dominio_, or _di stato_ (in latin, _ratio status_; in french, _raison d'estat_; in german, _staatsklugheit_) denotes the method of dealing in the finesses of politics, a system of unwritten maxims of government in which only practical statesmen were versed.] [footnote : the title runs thus: "_idolum principium_, that is, the rulers' idol, which they worship in these days and call _ratio status_, described in a not fabulous fable, after the manner of history."] [footnote : "lebens beschreibung johannis petersen," ; nd edit. , . "leben frauen johanna eleonora petersen," ; nd edit. , .] [footnote : the stranger was spener.] [footnote : the father now held a situation at a pious court; the princess, whose attendant he was, was an active promoter of the match.] [footnote : a special virtue was ascribed by the superstitious not only to inherited metal but to inherited knowledge, particularly of smiths, shepherds, and executioners.] [footnote : mounted mercenaries who had no groom boy. the einspänner performed in peace the service of gensdarmes.] [footnote : the duke of holstein is bishop of lubeck. the court preacher called him, according to the case, his duke or bishop. this double position of the weak prince, and his conduct, denote the helpless condition of the protestant church.] [footnote : j. m. von loen, "der adel," , pp. - .] [footnote : he related the story later with glee; his wife, from living with him, had become quite different. but kate's question, whether the german commander-in-chief was brother of the prussian duke, appeared so extraordinary to luther, because just then, , all details concerning albrecht of prussia were discussed in the circle of the wittenbergers; and she, the most closely united to luther, knew nothing of him. katherine had then already lived in the families of friends at wittenberg two years, so that it was not entirely the fault of the convent that she sat so quiet and helpless in the house of her husband.] [footnote : dr. johann salomo semler's "lebensbeschriebung," drawn up by himself, nd part, appeared in . the here-mentioned lady friend is not named; she appears to have been noble, or of the higher official class.] [footnote : he sought for composure by thinking of both the demoiselles, in halle and saalfeld.] [footnote : the letter is given, because its purport is almost identical with one written by the beautiful ursula freherin to her bridegroom in , in vol. i. of "pictures of german life," p. . for the letter here published the editor has to thank baron ernst von stockmar.] end of vol. i. london: bradbury and evans, printers, whitefriars. transcriber's notes: . page scan source: google books http://books.google.com/books?pg=pa &dq=editions: zfixnpq cc&id= zf ixnpq cc . the diphthong oe is represented by [oe]. pictures of german life in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries. * * * * * vol. i. pictures of german life in the xvth xvith and xviith centuries. by gustav freytag translated from the original by mrs. malcolm. _copyright edition.--in two volumes_. vol. i. london: chapman and hall, piccadilly. . london: printed by william clowes and sons, stamford street. translator's preface. the great interest which these graphic pictures of life in germany have created in that country, has induced me to translate them. the object of the distinguished author seems to have been, to convey a lesson, a warning, and at the same time an encouragement to his countrymen, derived from the experience of the past; whilst he demonstrates to other nations how it is, that a people so superior in intellectual power, has remained so far behind in social and political development. i have also felt as an additional reason, that at the present moment, the british public must take a deep interest in everything connected with the past, and future, of the country in which the daughter of our beloved queen has cast her lot, and which was the fatherland of the revered prince, who has been a source of blessing to england for so many years, and whose irreparable loss we now so deeply deplore. georgiana malcolm. contents. fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. introduction.--life of a german proprietor, , , and years ago--in what respect the life of the past appears alien to us--greater repression of the individual mind--significance of the last four centuries chapter i. scenes from the hussite war ( )--emigration of germans to the east after the thirteenth century--silesia and its sclave princes--colonization, the blessing of free labour recognized-- character and fate of the german silesians--contrast of the bohemians--narrative by martin von bolkenhain--consequences of the hussite war and subsequent fate of the silesians chapter ii. a german lady of the royal court ( )--development of the popular mind in the hussite time--life at court--the last of the luxemburgers--the hungarian crown--narration of helen kottanner--struggles of conscience in the fifteenth century chapter iii. a travelling student ( )--characteristics of the fifteenth century--introductions in the sixteenth century--excitement in the people, wandering propensities, exciting news, landsknechte, art of printing--german learning; the humanitarians--the latin schools, the children of the people as scholars--narrative of thomas platter--influence of the latin schools upon the people chapter iv. the mental struggles of a youth, and his entrance into a monastery ( )--the wants of the popular mind--the church--brotherhoods; indulgences--opposition to them--narrative of friedrich myconius chapter v. out of the cloister into the struggle ( )--the storm among the people--luther's popularity--narration of ambrosius blaurer--the knight from the wartburg--narrative of johann kessler chapter vi. doctor luther ( to )--his importance to us--the tragic in his life--distinct periods in it--his father--mental struggle in the monastery, and how he delivered himself from it--his character in --three letters to the pope--an inward struggle--luther as a writer--at the wartburg--adherence to scripture, and defects in his method--the marriage of priests--return to wittenberg--his political position--the crisis--how he married--activity of his latter years--his spirit, his family, his god, his temptations, and ideas of the end of the world--from the funeral discourse of melancthon--letter of luther to the elector friedrich the wise, march, chapter vii. german princes at the imperial diet ( )--luther and charles v.--the roman empire--possibility of a new confirmation--the man wanting--princes of the sixteenth century--charles v.--narrative of bartholomäus sastrow--weakness of the imperial power--alliance of the german opposition with france--internal disorganization of the empire chapter viii. a burgher family ( )--insight into the lower circles of german life--increasing popular strength--social superiority of the protestant provinces ( )--insecurity of life--family history of bartholomäus sastrow chapter ix. the marriage and housekeeping of a young student ( )--the female sex among the germans--position of women in the middle ages--marriage considered as an alliance between families--the betrothal--narrative of felix platter chapter x. of a patrician house ( to )--the patricians rich and educated--hans schweinichen's account of the riches of the fuggers--their women--clara pirkheimer and argula von grumbach--letters of a lady of the glauburg family chapter xi. german nobility in the sixteenth century ( )--false position in the nation--unproductiveness--gradual change--character of götz von berlichingen--extract from his autobiography--character of schärtlin--narrative of schärtlin--hans von schweinichen and duke heinrich von liegnitz--narrative of schweinichen--transition to modern life chapter xii. german ideas of the devil in the sixteenth century ( )--the introduction of german traditions concerning him; change in the middle ages--luther spiritualizes the ideas regarding the devil--activity of the devil in the new church--compacts with the devil after luther's time--favourable position of the possessed--the money devil at frankfort--satan exorcised from one possessed--witches--dreadful persecutions--gloomy state of men's minds at the end of the sixteenth century dedication. to my dear friend solomon hertzel. without your knowledge i dedicate this work to you, who have taken so kind an interest in it, whose excellent library has so often helped when other sources failed, and where, as industrious collectors, we have examined so many old flying sheets and manuscripts. to you also these records of the olden times, in which the private life and feelings of the writers are portrayed, are especially valuable, for by them a clear light is thrown on events in our political history which till now have been only occasionally noticed, and we may discover from them how the german people have felt, suffered, and lived. if these records of individuals can be judiciously arranged according to periods and their position in life, it appears to me that an instructive insight may be obtained into the gradual development of the mind of the german people. i have endeavoured to carry this out from the middle ages to the beginning of the present era. what i have added of my own is simple explanation: i have avoided saying anything where it could be given in the original; only where the old records fail to give a complete picture have i supplied the deficiency. as there are very few who can read the language of the fifteenth, or even the seventeenth, century with ease, i have thought it necessary to translate the records into modern german, but at the same time to preserve something of the old style. accept kindly then, my friend, what of right belongs to you, for your flag waves on every vessel that i launch; and i trust that the freight that i have this time prepared, may meet with your hearty approbation. gustav freytag. _siebleben, th october_, . introduction. in vain does the german seek for "the good old times." if even the pious zealot who condemns hegel and humboldt as the greatest of atheists, or the conservative proprietor who is struggling for the privileges of his order, were to be thrown back into one of the last centuries, he would feel first unmitigated astonishment, then horror, at the position in which he would find himself placed. what now appears to him so desirable would make him miserable, and he would be driven to despair at the loss of all the advantages of that civilization which he at present so little appreciates. let a german proprietor endeavour to realize to himself the position of one of his ancestors in the year . instead of the house he has now, built in the old german style, surrounded by its english pleasure-grounds, he would find himself shut up in a gloomy, dirty, and comfortless building, placed either on a height destitute of water, and exposed to the cutting blasts of the wind, or else surrounded by the f[oe]tid smells of stagnant ditches. it is true that three generations back dim panes had been added to the small windows,[ ] and large stoves of dutch tiles, which were fed with logs from the neighbouring forest, kept the cold out of the sitting-rooms; but the accommodation was limited, as it was occasionally necessary to defend the house against attacks from the citizens of the nearest town, roving bands of marauders, or reckless soldiers bent on revenge because they had been cheated of half their pay by the neighbouring prince. comfortless and dirty is the house, for it is occupied by many others beside the family of the owner: younger brothers and cousins, with their wives and children, numberless servants, amongst them many of doubtful character, men-at-arms, labourers, and in , mercenaries, may be added. in the court-yard, from the dung-heap is heard the cry of children quarrelling, and from round the kitchen fire the no less inharmonious sound of wrangling women. the children of the house grow up amongst horses, dogs, and servants; they receive scanty instruction in the village school; the boys keep the geese[ ] and poultry for their mother, or they go with the village people to the wood to collect wild pears and mushrooms, which are dried for the winter meal; the lady of the castle is housekeeper, head cook, and doctor of the establishment, and is well accustomed to intercourse with lawless men and to the ill-treatment of her drunken husband. she is faithful, a thorough manager, proud of her escutcheon, of the gold chains and brocades belonging to the family; she looks suspiciously on the dress and finery of the wives of the counsellors of the town, who she considers have no right to wear sable and ermine, velvet dresses, pearls in their hair, and precious stones round their necks. the love and tenderness of her nature frequently gave elevation to her countenance and manners; but in those days, both in the homes of the nobles and in the courts of princes, much was considered decorous and was permitted to women of the highest character in familiar conversation which now would be condemned as unseemly in the wife of a common labourer. the daily life of the landed proprietor is one of idleness or wild excitement. the hunting is certainly excellent. where the forest has not been laid waste by the reckless stroke of the axe, grow the stately trees of the primeval wood; the howl of the wolf is still heard in the winter nights; the hunters sally forth on horseback, with spear and cross-bow, against beasts of prey, stags, roedeer, and the wild boar, and all adopt the habits of the rough hunters. but whilst hunting, even in his own wood, every one must be provided with weapons against other foes than the wolf and the boar. there are few hunting-grounds concerning which there is not some quarrel with a neighbour or feudal lord, who often claims the right of following the chase up to the squire's castle; the squire is also set at defiance by the peasants of the nearest village, whose crops have been laid waste by the stag and the boar, and who hates the master of the castle for having beaten or thrown him into prison for crossing the path of the chase; and not unfrequently an arrow whistles through the darkness of the wood with other aim than a wild animal; or an armed band breaks through a clearing, and then begins a race for freedom and life. we will suppose the game to be brought home and cut up in the castle yard; then follows the banquet, with endless drinking of healths and wild revelry, and seldom a night passes without the whole party breaking up in a state of intoxication. drunkenness was at this time a national evil, prostrating alike the powers of princes, nobles, and people. the guests at the hunt and the banquet are of the same rank as their host--some are old cavaliers, constantly swearing, and relating anecdotes of the knightly feats they have performed in the greenwood against the traders and townspeople; others a younger race, hangers-on of the great feudal lords, who proudly wear the gold-laced caps given by these lords to their vassals. thus the week passes away. on sunday it is considered a duty to attend the village church, and listen to the preacher's endless sermon, which generally breathes hatred to calvinists or papists, and denounces the factious schwenkfeld or the apostate melancthon. there is but little intercourse with foreign countries: the country gentleman gratifies his curiosity by buying from the itinerant pedler what was then called a newspaper, being a few quarto sheets published at intervals in the towns, containing very doubtful intelligence, such as a horrible fight having taken place between the sons of the turkish sultan, a young maiden being possessed by the devil, or the french king having been struck on the head by one of his nobles. sometimes the young squire listens to the songs of ballad singers, who recite similar news to old popular tunes, or, what is still more welcome, satirical verses on some neighbour, which the singer has been paid to propagate far and wide through the country. the reading which gives most pleasure at home, is either some astrological absurdity, such as a prophecy of old wilhelm friese or gottfried phyllers, or a description of the funeral festival of the emperor charles v. at augsburg; besides these, theological writings find their way into the castle. this life, which in spite of all its excitement is so meagre and monotonous, is sometimes varied by the discovery of a murdered man in the fields, or by some old woman of the village being accused of witchcraft. these incidents give rise to judicial proceedings, in the first case tardy and of little interest, in the latter fierce and bloodthirsty. there are other annoyances in these times from which the landed proprietor is seldom free,--lawsuits and many difficulties. his father had sought to obtain money for the payment of his debts on the highway in his breastplate and saddle, and thus revenged himself for his injured rights. but now a new age has begun, and law asserts its supremacy over the self-will and independence of individuals; it is however an uncertain, dilatory, distorted law, which overlooks the powerful, and too often favours the wealthy. the young squire still rides his charger, armed with lance and pistol, but he is no longer eager to obtain fame and booty in war. the foot-soldier with pike and musket, and light-horseman of the town have outstripped him. even at the tournament he prefers running at the ring; and if perchance he should encounter in the lists any person of distinction, he finds it more advantageous to allow himself to be unhorsed, than to contend manfully. the condition of his peasantry is wretched: they have sunk from freemen to slaves; the rent they have to pay in labour, corn, and money, swallows up their earnings, yet he benefits little by it. the roads being bad and unsafe, it is impossible to export his produce: he is just able to keep himself and his household, for his income is small; everything has become dear; the new gold which has been brought to europe from america is amassed in the great commercial towns, and is of little advantage to him, and he is unable to maintain the state suitable to his position. he holds obstinately to all he considers his right, and supports or resists his feudal lord according to his personal advantage; occasionally he follows him to the imperial diet. but in the provincial states, he eagerly resists the impost of new taxes; he has no real love of his country, and only feels himself german in opposition to italians and spaniards, whom he hates; but looks with a selfish interest on france, whose king burns cursed calvinists and engages german lutherans at high salaries. the province in which he lives has no political unity; the sovereignty of his feudal lord is no longer a firm edifice, and his attachment is therefore only occasional. his egotism alone is firm and lasting, a miserable hateful egotism, which has scarce power to excite him to deeds of daring, not even to bind him to others of his own class. rarely does the feeling of his own social position ennoble his conversation or actions; his education and knowledge of the world are not greater than those of a horsedealer of the present day. a century has passed, it is the year --ten years since the conclusion of the great german war. the walls of the old castles have been shattered, foreign soldiers have encamped within them, whose fires have blackened the ruins, and whose fury has emptied the granaries and destroyed all the household goods. the squire has now erected a new building with the stones of the old one; it is a bare house, with thick walls, and without ornament; the windows look on a miserable village, which is only partly built, and on a field which, for the first time for many years, is prepared for cultivation; the flock of sheep has been replenished, but there are no horses, and the peasants have learned to plough with oxen. the owner of the house has no longer to provide for the horses of troopers and knights; a coach stands in a hovel,--a kind of lumbering chest on leather straps, but nevertheless the pride of the family. the house is surrounded by walls and moats with drawbridges; massive locks and strong iron work defend the entrances, for the country is still insecure. gipsies and bands of marauders lurk in the neighbourhood, and the daily conversation is of robberies and horrible murders. there is great regularity both in house and village, and strict order is kept by the squire amongst his children, servants, and retainers; but many wild figures may be still seen about the court-yard,--disbanded soldiers who have taken service as messengers, foresters, halberdiers, &c. the village school is in sad decay, but the squire's children receive instruction from a poor scholar. the squire wears a wig with flowing curls; instead of the knightly sword, a slender rapier hangs at his side; in society his movements and conversation are stiff and formal; the townspeople call him your honour, and his daughter has become "fraulein" and "damoiselle;" the lady of the house wears a bunch of keys at her side; she is great in receipts and superstitious remedies, and her repose is troubled by ghostly apparitions in the old tower of the castle. when a visitor approaches, the spinning-wheel is hidden, an embroidered dress is quickly put on, the scanty family treasures of silver goblets and tankards laid out on the sideboard, a groom, who is just capable of making a bow, is hastily put into livery, and perfumes are burnt in the room. the young squire when he visits appears as a gallant à la mode,--in lace coat and wig, and pays the most fulsome compliments to the lady of the house; he is her most devoted slave, he extols the daughter as a heart-enslaver, and declares that she is quite angelic in her appearance; but these finely turned compliments are bad sauce to coarse manners, and are generally interspersed with stable language and oaths. when conversation begins to flow more freely, it is directed by preference to subjects which are no longer ambiguous, and women listen, not with the naïveté of former times, but with secret pleasure, to the boldness of such language, for it is the fashion to relate improper anecdotes, and by enigmatical questions to produce a pretty affected embarrassment in the ladies. but even such conversation soon wearies, and the wine begins to circulate, the hilarity becomes noisy, and they finish by getting very drunk, after the old german fashion. they smoke clay pipes, and cavaliers of high breeding take snuff from silver boxes. the chase is again the amusement of the country gentleman: he tries to exterminate the wolves, which during the late war have become numerous and insolent; he exhibits rifles among his hunting gear, but no longer mounts his steed as an armed knight; his armour is rusty, his independence is gone, war is carried on by the soldiers of the prince, and he appears at court only as the obsequious servant of his illustrious lord. he is still firm in his faith, and adheres to the rites of the church; but he holds in contempt the theological controversies of the clergy, and does not object to holding intercourse with unbelievers, though he prefers jesuits to zealous sectarians. the pastor of his village is poor and devout, and from living amongst lawless men, has lost much of his priestly pride; he strives to support himself by agriculture, and considers it an honour to dine at the squire's table, and has in return to laugh at his patron's jokes, and retail the news of the day. when it is a fête day at the castle he presents a pompous poem, in which he calls on venus, the muses and graces, to celebrate in olympus the birthday of the lady of the house. on such days there is music at the castle, and the viola da gamba is the fashionable instrument. once a week the newspaper is brought to the castle, from thence it is sent to the parsonage, then to the schoolmaster and forester: the chief reading besides this consists of tedious novels and histories of adventures, or anecdotes of ghostly apparitions and discoveries of treasure; sometimes also dissertations on the phenomena of nature, the first glimmering of a more intellectual literature. the squire interests himself in politics; he distrusts sweden, and abhors the regicide tendencies of england, but admires everything french, and whosoever can give him news of paris is a welcome guest. he attends the diet, but it is only for the sake of maintaining the privileges of his order; he lounges in antechambers, and by bribery endeavours to secure for his relations some appointment about the court. he unwillingly allows his son to study law, with the hope that he may, as royal counsellor, advance the interests of his family; in short, he looks upon the court and the government as wine vats to be tapped, so as to afford him a good draught. germany is to him a mere geographical spot, which he neither loves nor hates; his family or his order are all that he serves or cares for, and if one abstracts from him his high pretensions, and compares the remains of the kernel with the men of our own time, we should find more sense and rectitude in the stubborn head of a corporation of the smallest town than in him. again a century has passed, a time of little energy or national strength, and yet great changes have taken place. the year is in the youth of our grandfathers; numberless remembrances cling to our hearts; it will be sufficient to recall a few. the squire's house has no longer a bare front: a porch has been added, supported by stone pillars; the staircase is ornamented with vases; over the hall door a rudely carved angel holds the family arms emblazoned on a spiral shell. on one side of the building lies the farm-yard, on the other the garden, laid out with trim beech hedges and obelisks of yew. the old whitewashed walls are almost all covered with plaster-of-paris, and some are highly ornamented. there is an abundance of household furniture beautifully carved in oak or walnut; near the ancient family portraits hang modern pastil pictures, amongst them perhaps the daughter of the house as a shepherdess with a crook in her hand. in the apartments of the lady of the house there is a porcelain table with coloured tankards, small cups, pug-dogs, and cupids of this newly discovered material. propriety reigns everywhere with a strict stern rule; women and servants speak low, children kiss their parents' hands, the master of the house calls his wife "ma chère," and uses other french phrases. the hair is powdered, and the ladies wear stiff gowns and high head-dresses; violent emotions or strong passions seldom disturb the stiff formality of their carriage or the tranquillity of the house. the squire has become economist, and looks a little after the farming; he tries by selecting choice breeds to improve the wool of his flocks, and raises carefully the new bulb called the potato, which is to be a source of unfailing nourishment to man and beast. the mode of life is quiet, simple, and formal. the mother shakes her head about gellert's 'life of the swedish countess;' the daughter is delighted with kleist's 'spring,' and sings to the harpsichord of violets and lambs; and the father carries in his pocket the 'songs of a grenadier.' coffee is placed before the visitors, and on high holidays chocolate makes its appearance. everything is managed by government officials, and much is required of the country gentleman, who has to pay taxes without being consulted: he is a person of more consideration than the citizen, but is now far removed from the prince. the great noble looks with contempt on him, and it is well for him if he does not feel the weight of his stick: the officials of the capital interfere with his farming; they order him to dig a drain, to build a mill, even to plant mulberry-trees, and send him the eggs of silkworms, insisting upon his rearing them. it is a weary time; the third, or seven years', war is raging between the king and emperor; the squire is walking about his room, wringing his hands and weeping. how is it that this hard man has so completely lost his composure? the letter on the table has informed him that his son, an officer in the king's army, has come unscathed out of the fight at cunnersdorf; why then does he weep and wring his hands? his king is in distress; the state to which he belongs is in danger of destruction, and it is for this that he grieves. he is greater, richer, and better than any of his ancestors, for he has a fatherland; the training of his generation is rough, manners coarse, and government despotic; his knowledge of the world is not greater than that of a subordinate official of the present day, but this feeling within him, either in life or death, makes him a man. life in every period of the german past was much rougher than now; but it is not the hardships of individuals which make the old time appear so strange to us, it is that the whole mode of life, in every thought and feeling, is so essentially different. the reason of this difference is, that at all periods of the past the mind of the individual was less free and more subordinate to the spirit of the nation; we may see this especially in the middle ages, but it may still be observed in the last century. there was no such thing as public opinion. the individual submitted his conscience to the approbation of those with whom he lived; he committed to them his honour, interests, and safety, and only felt that he existed as a member of the society, thus rendering the necessity of union more urgent. how strikingly this tendency of the old times was exemplified in the clubs of hanseatic stations! the constraint within their closed walls was almost monkish. every word and gesture at the dinner-table was regulated, and this rule was maintained by severe punishments. the soldiers who roamed about together in troops from all parts of germany, made laws for themselves, by which they kept the strictest discipline, each being accuser and judge of the other. upon a sea voyage the passengers selected from amongst themselves a magistrate, judge, and police-officer, who declared the law, imposed fines, and awarded even bodily punishment; and if at the conclusion of the journey any individual wished to free himself from this control, he had to take an oath that he would not revenge himself for any annoyance or injury he might have suffered under the ship's law; and it was the same with pilgrimages to the holy land, especially where it was question of any dangerous enterprise. for instance, when, in the year , five-and-twenty men from amberg undertook to explore the cavern of the "awful" mountains, their first act at the entrance to the caverns was to choose two leaders, and take an oath of obedience to stand by one another in life or death. the same feature is to be found amongst the artists of the middle ages: thus did the life of individuals first find its full expression, in association with others. one peculiar charm which we find in the national character of those early ages, is the union of a strong love of freedom with a spirit of obedience. to this characteristic of the old times may be added another. all, from the emperor to the wandering beggar, from their birth to their death, from morning till night, were fenced in by customs, forms, and ceremonies. a wonderful creative genius produced endless pictures and symbols, by which everything on earth was idealized. by these means was expressed the way in which the people understood their relations with god, and the right direction of all human energy; there were also many mysterious rituals which served as means of defence against the supposed influence of unearthly powers. even in law mimic and figurative proceedings were laid down. whoever sought revenge before a court of justice for the murder of a relative, had everything as to garments and gestures, the very words of the accusation, and even their complaints, prescribed to them. every transfer of property, every investiture and contract, had its significant forms and precise words, on which its legality depended. the knights were summoned to the lists by the herald; the bride was claimed and the guests invited to the wedding by fixed forms of speech; it was considered of importance which foot was placed first on the ground in the morning, which shoe was first put on, and what stranger was first met on going out; also, how the bread was laid on the table at each meal, and where the salt-cellar was placed. all that concerned the body, the cutting of the hair, baths, and bleeding, had their appointed time and appropriate regulations. when the agriculturist turned up the first clod, when he brought in the last sheaf, leaving a truss of corn in the field, in short, all the incidents of labour had their peculiar usages; there were customs for every important day of the year, and they abounded at every festival. many relics of these remain to our day; we maintain some for our amusement, but most of them appear to us useless, senseless, and superstitious. many of these practices had been derived in germany from the heathen faith and ancient laws and customs. the church of the middle ages followed in the same track, idealizing life. the services became more frequent, the ceremonials more artificial. in the same way that it had sanctified the great epochs of life by the mystery of its sacraments, it tried, rivalling the heathen traditions, to influence even the trifling actions of every-day life. it consecrated fountains and animals, and professed that it could stop the effusion of blood and turn away the enemy's shot by its blessing. its endeavours to make the spiritual perceptible to the senses of the multitude, produced many proverbs and symbolical actings, which gave rise to the dramas of the middle ages. but whilst it thus met the imaginative tendencies of the people, its own spiritual and moral character was injured by all these outward observances; and when luther accused the church of thirty-seven errors, from the sale of indulgences, to the consecrated salt, and the baptism of bells with their two hundred godfathers, he was not in a position to perceive that the old church had given growth to these excrescences, by having yielded too much to the imaginative disposition of the german popular mind. the artisans liked to reproduce the formulas of their religion and guilds for their amusement: dialogue and gesture were interchanged, and thus dramatic representations arose. the initiated and best informed of every class became known by this; they had an opportunity of showing their nature under the traditional form. in such a way every young nation tries to represent life, and among the germans, this inclination, together with the love of mystery, worked most powerfully in the same direction. it gave much opportunity for dramatic acting, though it was a peculiarly undramatic period in the life of the people, for words and characteristic gestures do not flow from the inward man; they come with imposing power from external circumstances, leading, forming, and restraining the individual. such union of order and discipline belongs to the epic time of the people. how the german mind outgrew these bonds we shall learn from the following stories of the olden time. in the course of four centuries the great change was accomplished--a powerful action of the mind brought freedom in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and a fearful political catastrophe brought destruction in the seventeenth.[ ] after a long deathlike sleep the modern spirit of the people awoke in the eighteenth century. pictures of german life. chapter i. scenes from the hussite war. (about .) among the events of the thirteenth century, the wonderfully rapid colonization of the sclave country east of the elbe has never been sufficiently appreciated. in the course of one century a numerous body of german emigrants of all classes, almost as many as now go to america, spread themselves over a large tract of country, established hundreds of cities and villages, and united it for the most part firmly to germany. nearly the whole of the eastern part of prussia extends over a portion of the territory that was thus colonized. the time however of this outpouring of national strength was not the heroic period of germany. the enthusiasm of the crusades, the splendour of the hohenstaufen, the short reign of german chivalry, and the greatest elevation of german art, were at the end of the twelfth and beginning of the thirteenth century, whereas the colonization of the sclave frontier was carried on with most energy towards the close of it. this was the period when neumark and prussia were conquered, and lausitz, mecklenburg, pomerania, rugen, and silesia colonized. but there was a striking difference in the case of silesia; for whilst in the other sclave countries the people were crushed by the iron hand of the conqueror, and were compelled to adopt german habits of life, silesia became the centre of a quiet, peaceful colonization, which spread itself far and wide over, the frontier towards the east. how powerful a passion the love of wandering became in the german people at this period, is a point we will not attempt to enter upon. the expeditions of the hohenstaufens into italy, and still more the crusades, had roused and excited the masses, who became restless and eager for foreign adventure; and the life of the peaceful labourer in germany was full of danger, indeed almost insupportable. pious monks, enterprising nobles, even princely brides were to be seen knocking at the doors of their peasantry, and trying to induce the young labourers to follow them to poland. but little is known concerning this emigration; we do not even know from what province the great stream of silesian wanderers flowed. there are grounds for thinking that most of them came from magdeburg, thuringia, and perhaps franconia. there is no mention of it in the ancient manuscripts or chronicles; the only evidence concerning it might perhaps be found in the silesian and thuringian dialects, but even these have not been sufficiently investigated. we have however more knowledge as to who invited the germans into the country of the oder. it was the sclavonian dukes of the piasten family, who were then rulers of the country. at the end of the twelfth century a race of ancient polish princes resided on their paternal inheritance in silesia; inferior to these were numerous sclave nobles, and below them again a much oppressed and enslaved people. the country was thinly populated, and poor both in capital and labour. the heights of the riesenberge and the plains of the oder were clothed with wood; between them stretched out miles of desolate heath. herds of wild boars laired in the swamps, bears picked the wild honey from the hollow trunks of the trees, and the elks fed on the branches of the pine; the beaver made its home beside the rivers, the fish eagle hovered about the ponds, and above him soared the noble falcon. the beaver and falcon were more valuable in the eyes of the princes than their serfs. the peasants looked from their miserable huts with horror on the lords of the water and air, for the preservation of which they had to pay exorbitant penalties. what the earth yielded freely they had to collect for their rigorous masters and the church. they had to pay tribute from the water and the heath of fish and honey, and heavy imposts on their arable land, sheaves of corn, grain and money; and a certain amount of service was required of them. the greater part were serfs; few were free. and not only the peasants, but also the artisans and tradesmen of all kinds lived in every gradation of servitude, ground down by oppression without hope or pleasure in their work. the sclave cities only differed from the villages in being a larger collection of bare huts, surrounded by a moat and wooden palisades, and usually situated in the vicinity of a nobleman's castle, under whose protection they lived. in peaceable times markets were held in the towns. even till the end of the twelfth century the merchants often made their payments, as in poland, with the tails of martins and skins of squirrels instead of money. but the silesian mines were already being worked; they yielded silver and gold, copper and lead, and mining, which was considered the nobleman's right, was carried on actively. mints were erected in all the great market towns, and, as in poland, the coinage was changed three times a year; and the princes derived some of their income from tolls on the market-places, butchers' stalls, and public-houses. such was the country that was then ruled by the royal piasten families under the polish sovereignty, which, however, was often disputed, and sometimes entirely thrown off. a great dissimilarity might however be discerned in the different branches of the family. the piastens of upper silesia united themselves closely with poland, and kept up the sclave habits in their country, so that even at the present day a sclave population is to be found there; but the rulers of lower silesia adhered to the germans. it was their policy to marry the daughters of the german princes: they set the highest value upon everything german, and german manners were introduced into the court; their children were sent to travel in germany, and often brought up there, so that in the beginning of the thirteenth century, the piasten family was held in great consideration throughout that country; they sought for knighthood from their relations in the west, and out of courtesy to them dressed their followers in their colours. they knighted their own nobles with the german straight sword, instead of using the crooked sclave sabre; they preferred getting drunk on malmsey and rhine wines, instead of the old mead. the german dances were in great request among the ladies of the court. in this way a numerous german nobility was established in the country, for these courtiers or adventurers and their relations soon became landed proprietors, and the sclavonian institution of the castellan was replaced by the german feudal tenure. but an influx of priests and monks tended still more to the promotion of german habits; a stream of them poured incessantly from the west into the half-civilized country. monasteries, cloisters, and other pious establishments sprang up rapidly, and became as it were the strongholds of german life; for the brotherhoods of the west sent their best and most distinguished members, and continued to furnish them with learning, books, and spiritual energy. the princes, nobles, and clergy soon became aware of the difference between german and sclave labour; under the latter, large tracts of country yielded little produce, except wood from the forest and honey from the heath. the landed proprietors therefore, with due regard to their own interests, introduced everywhere german labour. thus in silesia the great truth first dawned upon men, on which rests the whole system of modern life, that the labour of free men, can alone give stability to a nation and make it powerful and prosperous. the landed proprietors gave up the greater part of the claims which, according to the polish law, they had upon men who dwelt on their property, and which were so exorbitant that they derived but little benefit from them. the princes granted the inhabitants as a favour, the right of founding cities and villages in accordance with german law, that is to say, free communities, and this privilege was eagerly sought after, especially by the ecclesiastical bodies, such as cistertians, augustines, &c. a regular method was pursued in founding these communities; but the fate of the villages was very different from that of the cities in the latter part of the middle ages. in the cities, as the body politic continually gained fresh strength, their rights and independence increased; the burgesses acquired by purchase the mayoralty, with its rights and jurisdiction; whilst, on the other hand, the villages were unable to protect themselves from the exactions of the landed proprietors and the burdens laid upon them by their princes; they lost much of their freedom, and many rights they had possessed at their foundation in the thirteenth century were only restored to them in the beginning of this present one. it was thus that after the beginning of the thirteenth century a new german race sprang up with a surprising rapidity, bordering on the oder, between the reisenberge and the plains of poland. the emigration continued for a considerable period, and the quiet struggle between the german and polish races lasted long after the former had gained the predominance; indeed, in some districts it has not yet ceased. but for the most part the pliant sclave race of silesia peaceably adopted the new customs, as it was very advantageous to put themselves under german law. and thus the new race showed in its dialect, manners, and education a new phase of the german popular character which one may perceive has arisen from the union of the german and sclave races. the people who thus sprang up were not destined to an easy life, and it required all the excitability they derived from the sclaves, together with the higher capacity they inherited from the germans, to preserve them from annihilation. driven in like a wedge between bohemia and poland quite to the vicinity of hungary, they contended with all these nations, dispensing blows and receiving them from their stronger neighbours. they were never able to attain to the independence of a united people. however strong particular communities and confederations became when it was a question of external enemies, the silesians were almost always divided. in the fifteenth century the country was visited by that terrible scourge the hussite war. it is in that fearful time, when the fanatical warriors of the chalice burnt the silesian villages and cloisters, and threw everything ecclesiastical into the flames, when the land was devastated for nearly a century by the horrors of war, that the peculiar silesian character may be traced in contradistinction to that of the races dwelling in the adjoining country. whilst in the regions adjoining the oder, and still farther off by the shores of the baltic, the german race, proud of their recent conquest over the sclaves, desired to improve themselves by union with germany, a great sclave population had arisen in the middle of the german states, the toughest and most stable of all that family: it was firmly incorporated in the empire, and had long been under the influence of german culture. prague in the beginning of the fifteenth century might have passed for a german city, for not only in its laws and commerce, but also in science and art it exhibited all the vigour and independence of german life. about the king of bohemia rode as a german elector to the election of the emperor, and waved the golden glass at the coronation; the bohemian minstrels and chroniclers wrote in the swabian language and style, and bohemian artists painted pictures of saints and windows for the german churches. under the luxemburgers bohemia became the centre of the empire. the bohemian throne was adorned with the german imperial eagle and crown, and the flower of germany's youth flocked to the many-turreted moldavian city, in order to win in the first german university a nobler patent of nobility than the sword could give. it seemed then for a considerable period as if this fine compact sclave country, lying with its mountain ramparts in the midst of germany like a gigantic fortress, was likely to become the kernel of a great united empire, spreading far beyond the rhine on the west, and to the vistula on the east, or even perhaps to the swamps of the theis. but just at this time an energetic reaction of sclave popular feeling was roused in bohemia against the germans, and a long struggle ensued which fearfully shook the political, religious, and social life of germany, rent the unity of the roman catholic church, weakened the empire and threw it into confusion, depopulated large districts by a war full of cruelty, and amidst the flames of burning cities and the waning of millions, gave the death-blow to the holy roman empire of the middle ages. it was the peculiar destiny of germany that this great struggle should first break out among the teachers and scholars in the halls of the universities, and that the funeral pile of a bohemian professor should give a new direction to the policy of german princes and people. the auto-da-fé of huss did not appear to the germans a very striking or blamable occurrence; people in those days were hastily condemned to death, and there hardly passed a year that the torch was not laid to the stake in every large city. however great the grief and indignation of the national party of bohemia might be at these proceedings, the wild fanaticism of the people was first roused by another, and greater crime of the reckless emperor sigismund, who, at the head of the orthodox german fanatics, began the strife by the great massacre in ; this outrage gave the bohemians the strength of despair, and was the beginning of the wars which raged between the germans and the sclaves to the end of that century. even after dissensions had broken out amongst the bohemians themselves, and after the death of georg von podiebrad, feuds continued, and predatory bands spread themselves over the neighbouring lands, the people and nobility of bohemia as well as those of the suffering frontier lands became lawless, and a hatred of races, less passionate but more savage and more enduring, took the place of fanaticism. no land suffered more from the terrors of the hussite time than silesia, and it must be confessed that the silesians showed to less advantage in this century than at any other period of their history; by the division of their country they were politically weak, and quite unfitted to withstand by their own strength the attacks of powerful enemies; when danger approached a feeling of the helplessness of their position came over them and disheartened them; but whenever they could breathe more freely, they became overbearing and full of high-flown plans which generally ended in nothing. as neighbours they were bitter enemies of the bohemians, and from hatred to them, zealous in their orthodoxy; they were actively engaged in the first disgraceful devastation of bohemia, and thus, by breach of faith, brought down on themselves the vengeance of the bohemians. as in the roman time the truth of a carthaginian was a byword, so now in silesia was that of a bohemian; but the silesians had no right to reproach the bohemians with breach of faith. their dangerous position did not make them more careful, and they allowed their possessions and cities to be destroyed from the want of timely succour; they were always irritating their enemies and causing fresh attacks by their insolent witticisms and small perfidies. their vigour and elasticity, however, were most enduring; as often as the bohemians burnt down their cities and villages, they rebuilt them, and patched up whatever would hold together; they never tired of irritating the heretical girsik, as they called georg von podiebrad.[ ] if, however, they were in need of his assistance, they tried to appease him by a present of a hundred oxen. after a time, however, their hatred became more manly; they took up arms and fought him valiantly; and when at last he sank into the grave, they had the satisfaction of feeling that they had embittered the life and thwarted the ambitious plans of this determined character by their perpetual opposition. it is the beginning of this unhappy period which is described in the following narrative. it is taken from the report of a merchant in bolkenhain,[ ] named martin, the fragment of his notes which we possess, published by heinrick hoffman (in scriptores rerum lusaticarum i., ). "in the year of our lord , the hussites appeared one saturday evening before the town of wünschelburg. on sunday, about the time of vespers, they made breaches in the walls, and by their overwhelming force gained an entrance. the people flew to the house of the mayor,[ ] which was a high stone building. when all the men and women had arrived there, they set fire to the city from the mayor's house, and thought thereby to save themselves; but the bohemians waited till the fire had burnt out, then rushed in a powerful body against the stone house, endeavouring to storm and undermine it. then followed a parley: the mayor let himself down to the hussites by means of a coarse tilt,[ ] that he might negotiate with them whether the citizens should be allowed to go free. he was so long absent in the town that the people began greatly to fear, especially the pastor of the town, who was godfather to the mayor; he called out to them, asking whether the mayor was still below, requiring him to show and report himself, and come back to them; whereupon the mayor returned to the house and was again drawn up. when he had come up, his godfather the pastor asked how it had gone with him, and whether he had obtained from the enemy freedom for himself and his chaplain. then spake the mayor: 'no, godfather; they give no mercy to priests!' then the pastor and his chaplain were sore troubled, and said, 'how miserably you abandon and betray me, be god almighty your judge. when aforetime i wished to fly, you bade me remain with you, saying you would abide by me for good or for evil, even unto death; and you said, shall the shepherd fly from his sheep? and now, alack, evil is the day, the sheep fly from the shepherd.' then spake the women and the citizens' wives to him, weeping, 'we will disguise you and your chaplains, and will bring you down with us safely.' then spoke the pastor herr megerlein, 'that, please god, will i never do. i must not disavow my office and dignity, for i am a priest and not a woman; but look to it well, you men; see in what a pitiful way you deliver me over to death to save yourselves.' no one heeded these complaints; but the two chaplains allowed themselves to be disguised, and carried children on their shoulders--not so the pastor. "whilst they thus held converse together, the mayor agreed with the citizens on what terms they would surrender. they then went down, one after the other, and the bohemians and hussites were there in front of the building, and made prisoners of them all; they allowed only the women and children to go free. but many of the women, maidens, and children had been in such fear that they had taken refuge in the cellars; so when the fire reached them they were suffocated and perished. now when all in the house had surrendered, there remained only the pastor, with a few journeymen and artisans who had been unable to purchase their liberty, and who feared death and imprisonment; these the pastor exhorted as follows: 'dear companions, look well after your necks, and be firm, for if they make you prisoners they will torment and martyrize you.' then they replied they would do as he advised. but when they saw that the citizens had all surrendered, great fear came over them, and they went down and submitted themselves; but the pastor remained there with an old village priest to the last. then the hussites went up to them and brought them down, and led them into the midst of the army and the multitude. then master ambrosius, a heretic of grätz, being present, spoke to these gentlemen in latin: 'pastor, wilt thou gainsay and retract what thou hast preached? thus thou mayst preserve thy life; but if thou wilt not do this, thou must be burnt.' then answered herr megerlein the pastor, and said, 'god forbid that i should deny the truth of our holy christian faith on account of this short pain. i have taught and preached the truth at prague, at görlitz, and at grätz,[ ] and for this truth will i gladly die.' then one of them ran and fetched a truss of straw, which they bound round about his body so that he could not be seen; they then set fire to the straw, and made him, thus surrounded by flames, run and dance about in the midst of the multitude, till he was suffocated. then they took him as a corpse and threw him into a brewer's vat of boiling water; they also threw in the old village priest, and let them boil therein; thus they were both martyred; but the two chaplains of whom i have before spoken, came out with the women concealed in women's clothes, and the child that one of these priests bore on his arm began to weep and to cry after its mother, and the priest tried to comfort and quiet it. so the hussites discovered by the voice that it was a man, and one of them took the veil off him; then he let fall the child, took to flight, and ran with all his might; they followed after and killed him. the other came away with the women and children. this happened at wünschelburg. " . soon after this the hussites returned home, but remained there scarcely six weeks; they called out for another campaign, collected again in great strength, and passed into the land of meissen. the meisseners, however, were strong in the field, with others such as brunswickers, saxons, and people from the marshes, also some from the imperial cities. the hussites entered the country with fire and sword, killing and taking prisoners and living lawlessly. now when the hussites had advanced to where a large army of meisseners and people from the imperial cities were collected together, they encamped opposite to them, and threw up a barricade of waggons. when the armies were thus lying opposite each other they exchanged letters. the meisseners wrote thus:--'oh! you apostates from the faith, and cursed heretics, we shall, god willing, fight you to-morrow, and make you food for the dogs.' to which the hussites thus replied:--'oh! you hounds, we shall, god willing, make you food for the dogs, only wait for us to-morrow.' when it was still quite early on the following morning, the hussites prepared themselves for the fight; they first heard mass, than ate and drank their fill, and when they moved forward to begin the fight, they received intelligence that the meisseners had fled. when they heard this, they hastened onward and chased them two whole days. when they found they could not catch them, they deliberated, and dividing themselves spread all over the country, burning, killing, and making prisoners, and entering the towns from which the people had retired. " . the country armed and prepared itself, and raised a troop of four hundred horse. it was known that the bohemians and hussites intended making an inroad upon the country, therefore the states encamped themselves some miles from schweidnitz by bögendorf, in order to watch the enemy, as they knew not at what point they would enter. but hein von czirnan had a presentiment that they would come to bolkenhain (where he had settled), as did indeed happen; therefore he sent a horseman in all haste to bolkenhain, to inform the burgomaster, and beg him to set a strong and vigilant watch, as he had certain intelligence that the enemy would enter the country in that quarter. the burgomaster sent warning to the villagers, but hein von czirnan's messenger arriving only in the evening, the watch not being well established in the city, the enemy appeared on the walls at the dawn of morning; for they had approached the city early in the evening and concealed themselves behind the hills and among the rocks, and had in the night quite at their leisure prepared ladders. the ladders were short, each of four rundles, so that four of these ladders could hardly reach up the wall; but the first piece of ladder had in front a little wheel; when this was placed, not being fixed, it advanced up the wall. the other ladders were so contrived that one fitted into the other, and fastened together by an iron band. with such cunning and malice had they so early set to work against us. they had placed these same ladders in the night by the walls where the city and hill were highest, the ladders were so broad and wide that two of the enemy could mount at a time. as now at daybreak they had placed many of the ladders, they began to ascend four at once, but when they arrived at the top of the wall they found no passage on it towards the city, and were obliged for some distance to slide and creep along till they came to a watch-house, where they found some steps; so, alas! they came upon us in the city. and when in this way many of them had assembled, they began to cry and to holloa out most terribly, like devils. this took place the last thursday before bartlemy-tide. when we heard this terrible noise and tumult, we were woefully frightened, and every one that was able fled to the towers of the gate, church, or any other tower that was accessible; but we could not get into the stronghold, as the enemy had surrounded it, and whoever attempted to enter it was slain. as the people of the city thus concealed themselves, the hussites went in great troops about the town; some rushed to the churches, others to the best houses; about eight came to my house and forced themselves up into the shop, and placed two of their number with naked swords at the door, and let no one enter the house till they had plundered and divided the whole of my shop and goods. my wife was at that time in the midst of her confinement, god be merciful to her, and she had in her room many valuable things, such as her bed-linen and her clothes; they treated her however with such respect, that no one entered her room. but two of them who were well known to her, and to whom she had shown great kindness, went to the door of her room, told her how they pitied her, and brought her secretly a coverlet and bed-cover, and said, 'good woman, they will soon set fire to the city, therefore lose no time in being carried to the cellar with all that you desire to save, for we shall be off immediately.' when they had pillaged all the houses they would gladly have left the town, but could not, for the inhabitants who had taken refuge in the towers and gate-houses, threw down stones upon them, so that they could not pass through the gates, however much they wished it. at last they found an old gate which for many years had been walled up; this they broke open, and carried through it all their plunder, with which they loaded their waggons, and intended to return to bohemia; they fired the city, and marched off to landshut. when the troops of the provincial states assembled at bögendorf beheld such a great smoke and fire, they said to one another, 'it is indeed at bolkenhain, or in its neighbourhood;' then they started off at full speed for landshut, and overtook their enemies. when therefore the bohemians and hussites began to retrace their steps, they perceived a great host of our town-people coming towards them over the galgenberg; so they in great fear took to flight. then our people fell upon them, and the men who had charge of the waggons loaded with our goods, abandoned them and fled for refuge into the woods; thus we deprived them of their plunder, and made many prisoners, both horse and foot, who were distributed among the cities."--so writes martin of bolkenhain. this endless war ruined german silesia: the plains lay waste and desolate, and most of the german peasantry in this century of fire and sword sank into a state little removed from that of the sclave serfs. the smaller cities were burnt down and impoverished, and only a few of the larger ones have since attained any degree of importance. the silesian nobles became rude and predatory; they learnt from the bohemians to steal cattle, to seize merchants and traders, and to levy contributions on the cities. the princes in their endless disputes with one another allied themselves sometimes with the bohemians, and shared their booty with them; indeed, some of them took pleasure in a wild robber life, carrying it on even in their own country. these deeds of violence and lamentable struggles continued quite into the sixteenth century, till the reformation gave a new bent to this lively and impressible race, and brought with it new sufferings. through all these times the silesians retained their love of orderly arrangements, even in the most desperate situations. when, for example, in the year , duke hans of sagen, one of the lawless characters who figured in the border wars, imprisoned seven honourable counsellors of his own city, glogau, in a tower, and starved them to death because they had refused to act contrary to a solemn engagement; these seven martyrs, in a truly german manner, punctually and conscientiously kept a diary of their sufferings, and left in writing, prayers to the almighty for mercy and a happy death; but it is a truly silesian and almost modern trait, that the writer of this fearful journal had a certain gloomy pleasure in reflecting on his painful fate, and in the last lines he wrote before his death, he endeavoured to depict the destitution of his situation by mentioning that he had been obliged to use the black of the burnt wick as ink.[ ] in the century of the reformation, the silesians, as might be expected of a people of such quick susceptibilities, were for the most part zealous for the new teaching. they had been bound by strong ties to the old church, like most of the other races; for it was partly at the call of the church that their ancestors had come into that country; notwithstanding which, almost the whole people freed themselves from rome, and manfully ventured life and property for their convictions. and most severely was their constancy tried; for the supreme power, which had been in polish and bohemian hands, had now fallen into those of the house of austria.[ ] of all the countries under the power of the house of hapsburg, silesia is the only one which did not make a sacrifice of the new faith to the iron hand of reaction, but maintained a desperate resistance even into the eighteenth century. these were indeed two most unhappy centuries; the thirty years' war laid the country waste, and not a third part of the former population escaped from the brutality of the soldiers, or from pestilence, or famine. but just at this time, when the whole of germany had become one vast burial-ground, in which not even the loud wail of sorrow was heard, the genius of silesia, as the representative of germany, entered on the only domain in which advance was possible. whilst they were still exchanging blows with the imperial soldiers, they took pleasure in poetry and songs. already the delicate and polished writings of the vapid opitz gave pleasure amidst the coarse language of the camp; but truly refreshing to the heart was the short; humorous laugh of logau, at a period when nothing was to be seen save sad or angry faces. the whole of the educated silesians were eager to sympathize with opitz, logau, gryphius, and günther, and to vie with them in making heroic verses. their songs have few charms for us, but we must always feel thankful to them that they had the power of giving expression to the ideal feelings of germany. it was a great thing to be able to show at such a time, when the coarse and the commonplace overlaid the german life, that there was still something beautiful on earth, and a more intellectual enjoyment than could be found in dissolute revelry, and also that behind the grey and colourless sky which overspread the land, there was another world, full of brilliant colours, and of nobler and more refined feelings. but whilst the songs of the silesian "swans and nightingales" were held in honour by the other german races, and the fame of the silesian poets rose high, the worldly position of the silesians themselves was lamentable. the thirty years' war was followed by a century of persecution and oppression, which so diminished their energies, that at last it appeared as if they would fall into the same condition as that in which they had found the sclaves,--a death-like apathy, and a future without hope. the silesians never became utterly downcast, for they took every opportunity of enjoying themselves, but it was only in feasting and revelry. when, however, the misery of the country was at the highest, the prussian drum sounded on the frontier from müncheberg, and the trumpets of the ziethen hussars pealed along the same roads on which five hundred years before the first song of the german colonists had resounded with the good words, "we come in god's name." the germanizing of the country was not thoroughly accomplished till it was conquered by prussia; it is only since that time that the silesians have become conscious of being an integral part of the german nation. what was begun by the sclave piastens of the thirteenth, was concluded by the german hohenzollern of the eighteenth, century. chapter ii. a german lady of the royal court. (about .) many incidents may be found in the descriptions of the struggles between the silesians and hussites, which are characteristic of the minds and manners of the people in their epic period. we are made sensible of the great dissimilarity between the past and present by the style of martin's narration. in his scanty yet graphic description he gives us the facts, but makes no reflections on them. the writer undoubtedly feels how noble and manly was the death of the pastor megerlein; but he does not consider it necessary, and, indeed, seems to want the facility and confidence requisite, to give expression to his judgment. decisions hastily taken were on the impulses of the moment as hastily given up. the pastor, even when abandoned by his flock, still advised resistance to the young men that remained, though there was little hope of saving himself; but he rejected the proposal of his hussite friend, and met death like a man. little value was set upon human life: hard hearted and cruel, the people murdered each other without compunction; yet the infuriated bohemians kept respectfully out of the sick woman's room, and the plunderers with touching zeal requited past kindness. we find unbridled egotism together with heroic self-denial, rude levity with the deepest religious convictions: the minds of individuals moved in a narrow circle, but with firmness and decision. an insight into the mental struggles of the fifteenth century may be supplied by another narrative, in which the life and feelings of a clever and strong-minded woman are made known. the circle in which she moved was the court of the german emperor's daughter. few of our court officials are aware, how much their office has increased in comfort, honour, and decorum since the days of their predecessors, at whose heads the emperor wenzel threw his boots, or on whom margaret maltash used to inflict blows with her clenched fist. it was necessary for the men and women of a court in former centuries to have strong nerves and good health, to bear heat and cold, to endure in winter the draughts of badly constructed dwellings, and in summer whole days of riding on rough hacks: men had to drink deep and yet keep sober longer than their worthy masters, if they would not be blackened with coals, and trodden under foot by them and other drunken princely guests; the women of the court had to jest with crowds of drunken men with rough manners, or to have their nights' rest disturbed by the clashing of naked swords, or by the cries of an excited multitude. it actually happened once at the imperial court, that there was no money in the chest for the purchase of new shoes, and frequently the honest citizens declined to furnish the court with the necessary supplies of bread and meat. most of the great courts led a wandering life, and on their journeys, bad inns, worse roads, and scanty fare were by no means their greatest discomforts: the roads were unsafe, and the reception at the end of the journey was often doubtful. the scenes we are about to portray are of a hungarian court, but the royal family and the narrator are german. it is the court of queen elizabeth, daughter of the emperor sigismund, widow of albrecht of austria, king of hungary, who died in the year . the german imperial race of luxemburg was, after charles iv., the least worthy of renown of all who have ruled over central europe, and the emperor sigismund was one of the worst of his race. his daughter elizabeth suffered under the curse of her house: it was her fate to throw hungary into confusion and weakness; but as she must be judged from history, it appears she was somewhat better than her father or her reprobate mother: she had a feeling of her own dignity, and was, unlike her parents, a person of distinguished manners. this did not hinder her committing, for political purposes, unworthy actions, which every age has stigmatized as mean; but she attached people to her by that fascination of manner which often takes the place of better qualities. it was thus that one of her attendants, helen kottenner, was devoted to her with the most unshaken fidelity; she was bed-chamberwoman and governess to the young princess, a child of four years old, and at the same time she was confidante and counsellor of her mistress. her ardent loyalty and motherly love for the little king ladislaus made her the most zealous partisan of his family. she secretly stole for her sovereign the hungarian crown, and she carried the little ladislaus through the swamps of hungary and the rebellious magnates to his coronation, and became his instructress when fate separated him from his mother. it was remarkable that this woman, in a stirring time, when writing was troublesome and difficult even to men, recorded the important events of her life and her share in politics in the shape of a memoir. our surprise at so unusual a circumstance increases, when we examine closely the fragment of her memoirs which is preserved to us. her narrative is strikingly detailed, clear, and graphic. there is no doubt that the fragment is genuine: it was published at leipzig, , with some explanatory remarks by stephen endlisher, from the manuscript still preserved in the imperial library at vienna (no. ), under the title, 'from the memoirs of helen kottenner, , .' the principal event recorded is the theft of the hungarian crown, by which the coronation of the child ladislaus was effected. to enable the reader to understand this, we must mention that up to the present time a mysterious importance has been attached by the hungarians to the crown of the holy stephen, "_die heilige_," without which no one could become rightful king of hungary; and this mysterious importance has, as is well known, added many romantic adventures to the long and sorrowful history of this crown. when king albrecht died, his widow elizabeth had not given birth to the heir who was to secure the succession of the throne of hungary. amid the fierce and egotistical quarrels of the nobles who then decided the fate of the country, two large parties may be distinguished,--the national and the german. the national party was desirous of giving the throne to the king wladislaus of poland, whilst the germans sought every means of preserving it to the royal family of germany. helen kottenner writes as follows:-- "her highness the noble queen came to reside at plintenburg,[ ] and many hungarian lords with her. these went down to the vaults and brought up from thence a chest in which was kept the holy crown, which they took out with its case: there were many seals to this, which they broke open, and looked to see that it was all right. i was present. then they placed the holy crown in a small chest. this was standing near a bed in which lay the noble queen, about to be confined, and in the same room with her were two maidens, one called barbara, the daughter of a hungarian lord, the other called ironacherin, and there was a wax taper for a nightlight, as is the custom amongst princesses. one of these maidens got up in the night, and upset the light without perceiving it; and a fire broke out in the room, and was burning so near the chest that it was singed, and a hole as large as a hand's breadth was burnt in a blue velvet cushion that layover the chest. now observe this wonder: the king who was to wear the holy crown was yet within his mother's womb, and they were scarcely two fathoms apart from the chest, and the evil one would gladly have injured them by the fire; but god was their protector, and caused the queen to awake at the right time. i was then with the young princess. then came the maidens and bade me quickly rise up, as there was fire in the chamber wherein lay my honoured lady. i was sore afraid, rose up hastily, and went into the room, which was full of smoke: having extinguished the fire, i let in fresh air to clear away the smoke, so that the noble queen might be able to remain there. in the morning the hungarian lords waited on my honoured lady. her highness told them what had happened in the night, and how nearly both she and the holy crown had been burnt. then the lords were much amazed, and they advised that the holy crown should be replaced in its chest, and carried again down to the vault from whence it had been taken; which was done at once. the door was sealed again as before, but with fewer seals. and the hungarian lords desired that the castle might be given over to her cousin, lassla wan von gara,[ ] which was also done. herr lassla wan took possession of the castle, and placed it under the superintendence of a burgrave. "after all this had happened, the noble widow, my honoured lady, departed for ofen, in great anxiety of mind, because the hungarian lords wished her to take another husband; and the king of poland was the one whom her cousin lassla wan was desirous she should choose. this, however, she would not do, as her doctors had assured her she would bear a son: she hoped that this might prove true, but not having any certainty thereof, she was undecided how to act. then the noble queen had begun to consider and devise how she could get the holy crown from the hungarian lords. these hungarian lords would have been glad for the confinement of the noble queen to have taken place at the plintenburg; but that did not please her highness, and she would not return to the castle; for having weighed the matter well, she had reason to fear that were she there, she and her child might be forcibly detained; still less could she think of going there now, as she was endeavouring to obtain possession of the holy crown. the noble queen had taken her youngest daughter, princess elizabeth, with her from the castle, as also myself and two young maidens, and left all the others there. every one was astonished that her highness should leave the remainder of the court up at the castle; the reason was known only to god, her highness, and myself. "the noble queen went with her youngest daughter, princess elizabeth, to komorn. here count ulric von eily[ ] came to visit her highness,--a faithful friend, with whom she consulted by what means she could bring away the holy crown from the plintenburg. then came my honoured lady to me, desiring that i should undertake it, as there was no one else she could trust, or who knew so well the locality. this sorely troubled me; for it was a dangerous venture for me and my little children, and i turned it over in my mind what i should do, for i had no one to take counsel of but god alone; and i thought if i did it not, and evil arose therefrom, i should be guilty before god and the world. so i consented to risk my life on this difficult undertaking, but desired to have some one to help me. then i was asked whom i should consider fit for this: i proposed a croat whom i thought faithfully devoted to my lady. he was called into secret council, and we laid before him what we desired of him: the man was so terrified that he changed colour, and became as one, half dead: he would not consent, and went forthwith to the stable for his horse. i know not whether it came to pass through his own awkwardness, or if it was the will of god, but an account was received at court that he had had a bad fall from his horse, and as soon as he recovered he made the best of his way to croatia; so the plan was delayed, and my honoured lady was very sorrowful that one who was so weak hearted should know of the affair, and i also was in great anxiety. "when the time came that the almighty had ordained that this great work should be done, he sent us a hungarian who was willing to undertake to obtain the holy crown; his name was the....[ ]; he set about it in a wise and manly manner. we arranged what we should require, and took certain keys and two files. this man who was about to venture his life--as i was mine--in this affair, put on a black velvet dressing-gown and a pair of felt shoes, and in each shoe he placed a file, and he hid the keys under his dress. i took my honoured lady's little seal and the keys of the front door; at the side of the door there was a chain and hook; we had before we left put on a lock, so as to prevent any one else from putting another. when we were ready, my honoured lady sent forward a messenger to the plintenburg, to let the burgrave and the maidens know that the latter were to prepare themselves to join her highness at komorn, as soon as the carriage arrived. when the carriage which was to be sent for the maidens, and also the sledge which was to convey me and my confederate were ready, two hungarian noblemen were directed to accompany me. we proceeded, and information was given to the burgrave, that i had arrived for the maidens. he and the other courtiers were surprised that i had left my young mistress, because she was so little, and they all knew well that i was rarely allowed to do so. the burgrave was ill, and had intended to place his bed near the first door of the place where the holy crown was kept; but god ordained that his illness should increase, and he was unable to sleep there, and he could not place servants there, it being in the women's apartment; therefore he placed a cloth over the padlock, which we had placed on the chain, and sealed it up. "when we arrived at the plintenburg, the maidens were right glad to find they were to rejoin my honoured lady: they immediately made preparations, and had a trunk made for their clothes; this occupied a long time, even up to the eighth hour. my confederate came also into the apartment of the women, and jested with the maidens. now there was a little heap of fire-wood lying near the stove, under which he hid the files; but the servants who waited on the maidens observed this, and began to whisper among themselves. i heard them, and forthwith told him; this frightened him so much that he changed colour, but he took the files away and concealed them elsewhere, and said to me, 'woman, take care that we have a light.' and i begged of the old woman to give me some tapers, because i had many prayers to say, for it was the first saturday night after the carnival. i took the tapers and hid them near me. when the maidens and every one else slept, there remained in the small room besides myself, only the old woman whom i had brought with me, who did not know a word of german, nor anything about my business; she had also no knowledge of the house, and lay there sleeping soundly. at the right time my confederate came through the chapel and knocked at the door, which i opened and closed again after him. he had brought a servant with him to help him, who was called by the same christian name as himself, and was bound to him by oath. i then intended to give him the tapers, but they had disappeared. i was in such terror that i knew not what to do, and the business had well-nigh miscarried only for want of the lights. then i bethought me that i would go and quietly awake the woman who had given me the tapers; and i told her the tapers were lost, and i had yet some time to pray; so she gave me more. then i was glad, and gave them to him with the keys and the little seal of my honoured lady, that he might fasten and seal everything up again. i gave him also the three keys which belonged to the first door. he took off the cloth with the seal of the castle, which had been placed on it by the burgrave, opened the door and went in with his servant, and worked so hard at the other locks that the noise of the knocking and filing became alarming. but though the watchers and the burgrave's people were more than usually vigilant that night in the care of the crown, yet almighty god stopped their ears, so that they did not hear the noise. i however heard it all, and kept watch in great trouble and anxiety. and i devoutly prayed to god and the holy virgin that they would support and help me; yet i was in greater anxiety for my soul than for my life, and i prayed to god that he would be merciful to my soul, and let me die at once there, rather than that anything should happen against his will, or that should bring misfortune on my country and people. whilst i was thus praying, i heard a loud noise and rustling, as if many armed men were at the door through which i had admitted my confederate, and it appeared to me as if they desired to break open the door. in great fear i rose from my knees, and was about to warn him to desist from his work, when it occurred to me to go first to the door, which i did; when i came to the door, the noise was at an end, and no one seemed to be there; then i bethought me that it was a spirit, and went again to my prayers; and i vowed to our dear lady a pilgrimage to zell[ ] barefooted, and until i could fulfil it, i would every saturday night forego my feather bed, and also as long as i lived would make an especial prayer to the holy virgin, thanking her for her favour, and begging her to express my gratitude to our dear lord jesus christ, for the great mercy which out of his compassion he had shown me. whilst i was still at my prayers, i thought again that there was a great noise and rustling of armour at the other door, which was the special entrance into the women's room; and this frightened me so much that i trembled and perspired all over, and thought it was surely not a spirit, but that they had gone round to this door whilst i was still standing at that of the chapel. i knew not what to do, and listened to find out whether the maidens had heard anything. but i heard no one, then i went slowly down the small stairs through the chamber of the maidens, to the door which was the usual entrance into the women's apartments; when i came to the door there was no one. then was i glad, and thanked god, and went again to my prayers, and bethought me it was the devil who wished to hinder our business. "when i had ended my prayer i got up, and determined to go to the vault and see what they were doing: the man met me, and told me to rejoice, as it was all accomplished. they had filed away the locks of the doors, but that on the case was so fast they could not file it, and were obliged to burn the wood. from this arose a great smoke, and i was again in much anxiety lest inquiry should be made about it; but god averted this danger. as we had now got the holy crown we closed the doors again, and fixed on other locks instead of those we had broken, and put on them again the seal of my honoured lady: we made fast the outer door, and replaced on it the cloth with the seal of the castle, as had been done by the burgrave, and as we had found it. and i threw the file into the privy that was in the women's apartments; and if it were broken open, the file would be found in evidence of the truth of all this. the holy crown we carried out through the chapel, wherein rest in god the remains of st. elizabeth; and i, helen kottenner, owe to this chapel a priestly garment for the mass, and an altar cloth, which shall be paid by my honoured lord, king lassla. my confederate took a red velvet cushion which he opened, and taking a portion of the feathers out, placed the holy crown therein, and then sewed it up again. "in the meanwhile it was almost daylight, the maidens and every one had arisen, and we were to depart: now the maidens had in their service an old woman, who my honoured lady had commanded should have her wages paid, and be left behind, that she might return home to ofen. when she had received her wages she came to me, and told me that she had seen a curious thing lying before the stove, and did not know what it might be. i was much alarmed at this, for i saw plainly that it was part of the case in which the holy crown had been kept; and i did my best to persuade her not to believe her own eyes; but i went secretly to the stove, and threw the fragments that i found into the fire, that they might be entirely burnt; and i took the woman with me on the journey. every one was surprised at my doing this; but i said that i intended asking my honoured lady for a benefice at st. martins at vienna for her, which i afterwards did. "when the maidens and the retinue were ready to depart, my confederate took the cushion in which the holy crown was concealed, and commanded his servant to carry it from the house to the sledge on which he and i were to sit. then the good fellow took the cushion on his shoulders, and threw over it an old cowhide with the tail on, which hung down behind, and every one who saw it began to laugh. "when we arrived in the market-place we would gladly have had something to eat, but could find nothing except herrings. when we had eaten a little, and assisted at the usual mass in the church, the day was far advanced, and we had to go that day from the plintenburg to komorn, which was full twelve german miles off. on mounting the sledge i took great care not to sit on the corner of the cushion in which the holy crown was concealed, and thanked god almighty for all his mercies; yet i often turned round to see if any one followed us; and there was no end to my anxiety, for my thoughts troubled me much. "on arriving at the inn where we intended to dine, the faithful servant to whom the care of the cushion was intrusted carried it into the chamber, and laid it on a table before me, so that it was under my eye the whole time that we were eating; and before starting, the cushion was replaced. we journeyed onwards, and about dark arrived at the danube, which was still frozen over, but the ice in some places was very thin. when we were half way across the river the ice gave way under the carriage in which the maidens were, and it was upset; they raised a great cry, for it was so dark they could not see each other. i was in great fear that we, with the holy crown, should be lost in the danube; but god was our help, so that no one got under the ice, but many things from the carriage fell into the water under the ice. then i took the duchess of silesia and the principal maidens into the sledge with me, and we, with all the others, got safe over the river. when we arrived at the castle of komorn, my confederate took the cushion with the holy crown, and carried it to a place of safety, and i went to my honoured lady the noble queen, who received me graciously, and said, 'that with god's help, i had been a good messenger.' "the noble queen received me in bed, and told me how she had suffered during the day. two widow ladies had come from ofen to her highness, bringing with them two nurses, one was the midwife, the other the wet-nurse; and the latter had brought her child with her, which was a son, for the wise people think that the milk which comes with a son is better than that which comes with a daughter. these women were to have gone with her highness to presburg, where she was to have been confined, for according to their reckoning her highness had yet another week to go; but either the reckoning was wrong, or, as i said to the noble queen, it was god's will: her grace told me that the women from ofen had given her a bath, after which her pains had come on. i discovered from this that the birth was now approaching. the women from ofen were staying in the market-place, but we had a midwife with us, called margaret, who had been sent to my honoured lady by the countess hans von schaumberg, as being particularly good, which she was. then i said, 'honoured lady, it seems to me that you will not go to-morrow to presburg;' so her highness got up and began to prepare herself for the event. then i sent for the hungarian housekeeper who was called aessem margit, who came immediately, and also the maiden called ironacherin, and i hastened to call the midwife whom the countess von schaumberg had sent. she was in the room with my young lady,[ ] and i said, 'margaret, rise quickly, for the hour of my honoured lady is come;' the woman being heavy with sleep answered, 'by the holy cross, if the child is born to-night we shall hardly go to presburg to-morrow;' and she would not get up. the contest between us appeared to me so long that i hastened back to my honoured lady, lest anything should go wrong, as those who were with her did not understand such things; and she inquired, 'where is margaret?' and i gave her the foolish answer of the woman; and her highness said, 'go again quickly, and bid her come, for this is no jesting matter.' i hurried back in great anger, and brought the woman with me; and in less than half an hour after she came to my honoured lady, almighty god sent us a young king. the same hour that the holy crown came from the plintenburg to komorn, the king lassla was born. the midwife was sharp-witted, and exclaimed, 'honoured lady, grant me my wish, and i will tell you what i have in my arms.' the noble queen answered, 'yes, dear mother;' and the nurse said, 'i have a young king in my arms.' this made the noble queen very happy: she raised her hands to god, and thanked him for his mercy. when she had been arranged comfortably in her bed, and no one was with her save i alone, i knelt down and said to the queen, 'honoured lady, your highness must thank god as long as you live for his great mercy, and for the miracle which he has wrought in bringing the crown and the king together in the same hour.' the noble queen replied, 'it is indeed a great miracle of god almighty, the like of which has never happened before.' "when the noble and faithful count ulric von eily heard that a king and friend was born to him, who was both his lord and cousin, he was overjoyed, as were also the croats, and all the lords and attendants on the court. the noble count von eily had bonfires made, and they had a procession on the water with torches, and amused themselves till after midnight. early in the morning they sent for the bishop of gran to come and christen the young king: he came, accompanied by the pastor of ofen, master franz. and my honoured lady desired that i should be godmother; but i answered, 'honoured madam, i am bound to obey your highness always, but i beg of you to take the aessem margit instead of me,' which her highness did. when the noble king was to be baptized, we took off the black dress from the young princess, which she had worn for the great and dear prince, king albrecht, and put on her a golden dress woven with red; and the maidens were all gaily dressed to the honour and praise of god, who had given an hereditary king to the people and country. "not long after, there came certain intelligence that the king of poland was approaching, and had designs upon ofen, which proved true. it became therefore necessary to make secret and hasty preparations for the coronation; and my honoured lady sent to ofen to get cloth of gold for the coronation dress of the little king lassla; but this took so long a time that we feared it would be too late, for the coronation must take place on a high festival, and pentecost, which was the first, was near at hand, so that it was necessary to make haste. now there was a rich and beautiful vestment for the mass which had belonged to the emperor sigismund; it was red and gold, with silver spots worked on it; this was cut up and formed into the first dress of the young king that he was to wear with the holy crown. i sewed together the small pieces, the surplice and the humeral, the stole and the banner, the gloves and the shoes; and i was obliged to make these secretly in the chapel with bolted doors. "in the evening, when every one had gone to rest, my honoured lady sent for me to come to her immediately; this made me fear that something had gone wrong. the noble queen's thoughts had been wandering to and fro, and she said to me, 'what would you advise? our affairs are not going on well; they desire to stop us on our way; where shall we conceal the holy crown? it will be a great misfortune if it falls into the hands of the enemy.' i stepped aside for a little while, wishing to reflect and to pray to the mother of all mercy to intercede with her son, that we might manage our business so that no evil should accrue from it. then i returned to the noble queen and said, 'honoured lady, with deference to your wisdom, i will advise what seems good to me: your highness knows well that the king is of more importance than the holy crown; let us lay the holy crown in the cradle under the king, so that wherever god leads the king there will the crown be also.' this counsel pleased her highness, who answered: 'we will do so, and thus let him take care of the crown himself.' in the morning i took the holy crown and packed it carefully in a cloth, and laid it in the mattress of the cradle, for his highness did not yet lie on a feather-bed; and laid there also a long spoon, such as we use for mixing the child's pap. this i did to make any one who felt in the cradle, believe that what lay therein was the vessel in which the pap for the noble king was prepared. "on the tuesday afternoon before whitsunday the noble queen set out with the young king, the noble count von eily, the croatian counts, and the dukes of lindbach. a large boat had been prepared for the noble queen, her son, and daughter; and many good people went on board with them, so that the boat being heavy laden was scarce a hand's breadth above the water: there was much fear and danger, especially as the wind was high; but god took us prosperously over the river. the young king was carried in the cradle by four men, most of them armed, and i myself rode by the side of it. he had not been carried far when he began to cry violently, and would not remain in the cradle; so i descended from my horse and carried him in my arms: and the roads were bad, for there had been much rain; but there was a pious knight there, herr hans of pilach, who conducted me through the swampy ground. "we went on in great anxiety, for all the peasants had fled from their villages into the wood, and most of them were vassals of the lords who were our enemies; therefore, when we came to the mountains, i dismounted from my horse and took the noble king out of his cradle, and placed him in the carriage, wherein sat the noble queen and her young daughter elizabeth; and we women and maidens formed a circle round the noble family, so that if any one fired at the carriage we should receive the shots. and there were many foot-soldiers who went on both sides of the carriage, and searched in the underwood, lest there should be any enemies there who might injure us. thus, with god's help, we crossed the mountain without hurt. then i took the noble king again out of the carriage, and placed him in his cradle, riding by the side of it: we had not gone far when he began again to cry; he would not remain in the cradle or carriage, and the nurse could not quiet him. then i took him up in my arms and carried him a good bit of the way; the nurse also carried him till we were both tired, when i laid him again in his cradle; thus we continued to change during the whole of our journey. sometimes it rained so that the noble king was quite wet. i had brought a fur pelisse with me for my own wear, but when the rain was very heavy i covered the cradle with it, till it was wet through, i then had it wrung out, and again covered the cradle with it as long as it was wanted. the wind also was so high that it blew the dust into the cradle, so that the king could hardly open his eyes; and at times it was so hot that he perspired all over, and from that a rash broke out upon him afterwards. it was almost night when we arrived at the inn; and when every one had eaten, the gentlemen placed themselves round the house in which the royal family were, and made a fire, keeping watch all night, as is the custom in the kingdom of hungary. the next day we journeyed to weissenburg. "when we arrived near weissenburg, miklosch weida of the free city rode to meet us, accompanied by full five hundred horse. "when we went through the marshy ground the young king began again to cry, and would not remain in the cradle or carriage; and i was again obliged to carry his highness in my arms, till we arrived in the city of weissenburg. then the gentlemen sprang from their horses, and formed themselves into a wide circle of armed men, holding naked swords in their hands, and i, helen kottenner, had to carry the young king in the midst of this circle; and count bartholomä of croatia went on one side of me, and another on the other side, to do honour to the noble king; thus we went through the city till we arrived at the inn. this was on whitsun eve. "on our arrival my honoured lady sent for the elders of the city; she showed them the holy crown, and gave directions to prepare everything that was meet for the coronation, according to the old usages. and there were certain burghers there, who remembered the coronation of the emperor sigismund, having been present at it. on whitsun morning i got up early, bathed the young king, and dressed him as well as i could; then they carried him to the church, where all the kings were crowned, and there were many good people there, both ecclesiastics and laymen. when we arrived at the church they carried the young king to the choir, but the door of the choir was closed; the citizens were within, and my honoured lady was outside the door with her son, the noble king. my honoured lady spoke hungarian with them, and the burghers answered her highness in the same language: her highness took the oath instead of her son, for his highness was only twelve weeks old that day. when all this was accomplished according to the old customs, they opened the door and let in their rightful lord and lady, and all the others who were summoned, both ecclesiastics and laymen. and the young princess elizabeth stood up by the organ, that her highness might not be injured in the throng, as she was only just four years old. when the service was about to begin, i had to raise up the young king that his highness might be confirmed. now miklosch weida had been appointed to knight the young king, because he was a genuine hungarian knight. the noble count von eily had a sword which was thickly ornamented with silver and gold, and on it was a motto that ran thus: 'indestructible.' this sword he gave to the young king that his highness might be knighted with it. then i, helen kottenner, raised the young king in my arms, and the knight of the free city took the sword; and he gave the king such a blow that i felt it on my arm. this the noble queen, who stood near me, remarked, and said to the knight of the free city: 'istemere nem misertem!' that is to say, 'for god's sake do not hurt him!' to which he replied: 'nem;' that is to say, 'no,' and laughed. then the right reverend prelate, the archbishop of gran, took the holy oil, and anointed the noble child, king; and the dress of cloth of gold, such as is worn by kings, was put on the noble child; and the archbishop took the holy crown and placed it on his head; and thus he, king albrecht's son, grandson of the emperor sigismund, who throughout all holy christendom is recognized as king lassla, was crowned at weissenburg by the archbishop of gran, with the holy crown, on whitsunday. for there are three laws in the kingdom of hungary which must not be departed from, as without them no king is deemed legally crowned. one of these is, that a king of hungary must be crowned with the holy crown; another that it must be done by the archbishop of gran; and the third, that it shall take place at weissenburg. when the archbishop placed the crown on the head of the noble king lassla, he held his head quite upright with the strength of a child of a year old, which is seldom to be seen in children of twelve weeks. after the noble king, seated in my arms, had been crowned at the altar of st. stephen, i carried him up a small staircase to a high gallery, according to custom, and the prescribed ritual for the festival was read; but there being no golden cloth for the king to sit on, after the old usage, i took for the purpose a red and gold cover lined with ermine from his cradle; and whilst the noble king was held upon the golden cloth, count ulric von eily held the crown over his head during the chanting of the office. "the noble king had little pleasure in his coronation, for he wept aloud, so that all in church heard him; and the common people were astonished, and said, 'it was not the voice of a child of twelve weeks; it might be taken for that of a child of a year old, which, however, he was not. then knighthood was conferred by miklosch weida on behalf of the noble king lassla. when the office was completed i carried the noble king down again, and laid him in the cradle, for he was very tired from sitting so long upright. then he was borne to st. peter's church, where i was again obliged to take him out of his cradle and place him on a chair, as it is the custom for every king when crowned to be seated there. again i carried his highness down and laid him in his cradle; and he was taken from st. peter's church, followed by his noble family on foot, back to the inn. the only one who rode was count von eily, for he had to hold the holy crown over the head of the noble king, that every one might see it was the holy crown which had been placed on the head of the holy st. stephen and other hungarian kings. count bartholomä carried the orb, and the duke von lindbach the sceptre; a legate's staff was borne before the noble king, because he did not hold any part of hungary on feudal tenure from the holy roman empire; and the sword with which his highness had been knighted was also carried before him, and pence were scattered among the people. the noble queen was so humble and showed such respect to her son, that i, poor woman, had to walk before her, next to the noble king, because i had held his highness in my arms at the anointing and coronation. when the noble king had arrived at the inn, he was put to rest, as his highness was very tired. the lords and all others went away, and the noble queen remained alone with her son. then i knelt down before her, and reminded her of the service which i had rendered to her highness and the noble king; and also to her other children and members of the royal family. thereupon the noble queen gave me her hand and said, 'rise up, and if please god our affairs prosper, i will exalt you and your whole race. you have well deserved it, for you have done for me and my children what i myself could not have done.' then i inclined myself humbly, and thanked her highness for her kind encouragement." thus far helen kottenner. history tells us in what consternation the party of king wladislaus of poland was placed by the robbery of the crown, and also how the crown itself was mortgaged by the queen to the emperor frederick iii., but of the after life of helen kottenner we know nothing. what interests us most in this narrative is the night scene in which the holy crown of hungary is purloined, and the mental struggles of a strong female character. but these inward struggles and scruples of conscience assume to the daughter of the fifteenth century a palpable form: they become to her an outward reality that mysteriously assails her. her soul is not tormented with thoughts alone that accuse and excuse each other, but with delusive appearances that strike her with terror. this activity of the senses, which clothes with an appearance of outward life all that rises in the soul, of the fearful and incomprehensible, is generally and peculiarly characteristic of the early life of every people. the souls of individuals are not sufficiently free to enable them to understand the inward struggles of their own minds: they begin by contending against what torments them, as if it were an outward form or enemy. such were the noble struggles of luther; and when the incomparable english poet of the sixteenth century caused his tragic hero to struggle with the apparitions of murdered men, and with the dagger which was the implement of his crime, this conception, which we consider as a highly poetical and spiritual creation, had a far deeper truth for him and his spectators. chapter iii. the travelling student. ( , and following years.) the fifteenth century passed away. to us germans it appears an introduction to the great events of the following one,--a period of earnest but imperfect striving towards improvement. the excitement of the masses in the great half-sclave population of the roman empire had brought death and destruction over the german provinces, and the fanaticism of the hussites had appeared to exhaust itself in the burning ruins of hundreds of cities and villages; but the same feeling had stirred the hearts of two generations, and in the next century the flame again blazed forth, more powerful and unquenchable, a pillar of fire to all europe. the house of luxemburg had passed away; its last heirs had mortgaged the hungarian crown to the austrian hapsburgers, and bequeathed to them their claims to the wide and insecure acquisitions of their race. in the next century charles v. made them the greatest dynasty of the world. it was a century of strife and reckless egotism, and on all sides arose knightly associations and confederacies; but it was also a time when the german mind, having become more practical in its tendencies, arrived at the greatest of all new discoveries,--the art of printing; when, in spite of fighting on the highways and bloody quarrels within the cities, commerce and trade began to flourish; when citizens and peasants acquired the habits of regular soldiers; when the german merchant established his supremacy on the northern seas, while the italian navigator pressed on through the mists of boundless oceans, to unknown regions of the earth; finally, it was the time in which the alpine mules bore, together with the spices of the east and the papal bulls, the manuscripts of a foreign nation, by means of which a new enlightenment was spread over germany,--the early dawn of modern life. with the sixteenth century began the greatest spiritual movement that ever roused a nation. this century has for ever impressed its seal on the spirit and temper of the german people. a wonderful time, in which a great nation anxiously yearning after its god, sought peace for the burdened soul, and a moral and mental aim for a life hitherto so poor and joyless. this effort of the popular mind to found a new collective life by a deep apprehension of the eternal, produced a political development in germany which is strikingly distinct from that of other nations. the whole powers of the nation were so engrossed in this passionate struggle, that it sank into a state of extreme exhaustion: the political concentration of germany was delayed for centuries; most fearful civil wars were followed by a deathlike lassitude; german was divided from german, and a deep chasm was formed between the new and the middle ages. the result was, that a large portion of the german people, who might carry back their history in uninterrupted continuity up to the struggles of arius and arminus, now regard the time of the hohenstaufen, and even the imperial government of the first maximilian, as a dark tradition; for their state polity, their rights, and their municipal laws are hardly as old as those of the free states of north america. the oldest of the proud nations that arose from the ruins of the roman empire, is now in many respects the youngest member of the european family. but whatever may have been the influence of the sixteenth century on the political formation of the fatherland, every german should look back to it with respect, for we owe to it all which now is our hope and pride; our power of self-sacrifice, our morality and freedom of mind, an irresistible impulse for truth, our art, and our unrivalled system of science, and lastly, the great obligation which our ancestors have imposed upon us of accomplishing what they failed in. it is especially now, in the midst of a political struggle for german national life, that it would be useful to us to consider how this struggle began three centuries and a half ago. whoever attempts to examine the german mind at the beginning of the sixteenth century, will observe a secret restlessness, something like that of migratory birds when spring approaches; this indefinite impulse reproduced frequently the old german love of wandering. many causes combined to make the poor restless and desirous of novelty. the number of vagrants, young and old, such as pedlers, pilgrims, beggars, and travelling students, was very great; many of the adventurers went to france, but the greater part to italy. wonderful reports came from distant lands. beyond the mediterranean, in the countries contiguous to jerusalem (which was annually visited by the german pilgrims), a new race and a new and obnoxious religion had spread itself. every pilgrim who came from the south related in the hostelries tales of the warlike power of the turks, of their polygamy, of the christian children whom they stole and brought up as slaves, and of danger to the christian islands and seaports. on the other hand the fancy was led from the terrors of endless seas to the new gold lands,--countries like paradise, coloured tribes who knew nothing of god, and endless booty and dominion for believing christians. to this was added the news from italy itself,--how discontented the inhabitants were with the pope, how wanton the simony, and how wicked the princes of the church. and those who brought these tidings into the city and country were no longer timid traders or poor pilgrims, but sunburnt hardy troopers, bold in aspect, and well accoutred; children of neighbours, and trustworthy men, who had accompanied the emperor as mercenaries to italy, where they had fought with italians, spaniards, and swiss, and now returned home with all kinds of booty, gold in their purses, and the golden chains of knighthood round their necks. the youths of the village gazed with respect on the warrior who thrust his halberd into the ground before the inn, and took possession of the rooms for himself and his guests, as if he were a nobleman or a prince; for he, the peasant's son, had trodden under foot italian knights, and dipped deep into the money coffers of italian princes; had obtained full dispensation from the pope for his deeds, and, it was even whispered, a secret blessing which made him invulnerable. the lower orders began for the first time to have an idea of their own strength and capacities; they felt that they also were men; the hunting-spear hung in their huts, and they carried the long knife in their belt. but what was their position at home? the use of their hands and their teams was required by the landed nobleman for his fields; to him belonged the forest and the game within it, and the fish in their waters; and when the peasant died, his heir was obliged to give up the best of his herd, or its worth in money. in every feud in which the nobleman was engaged they were the victims: the enemy's soldiers fell upon their cattle, and they themselves were shot down with arrows, and imprisoned in dark dungeons till they were able to pay ransom. the church also sought after their sheaves and concealed money. dishonest, cunning, and voluptuous were the deans, who rode through their villages, falcon on hand, with troopers and damsels; the priests, whom the peasants could neither choose nor dismiss, seduced their wives, or lived scandalously at home. the mendicant monks forced their way into their kitchens, and demanded the smoked meats from their chimneys, and the eggs from their baskets. all the communities throughout southern germany were in a state of silent fermentation, and already, at the end of the fifteenth century, local risings had begun, the forerunners of the peasant war. but more wonderful still was the influence of the new art, through which the poorest might acquire knowledge and learning. the method of multiplying written words by thousands was discovered on the banks of the rhine in the middle of the fifteenth century. the printing of patterns by means of wooden blocks had been practised for many centuries, and frequently single pages of writing had in this way been struck off; at last it occurred to a citizen that whole books might be printed with cast metal type. its first effect was to give intelligence to the industry of the artisan, and a way was thus opened to the people of turning their mental acquirements to profit. the learning of the middle ages still occupied the professors' chairs at the german universities, but it was without soul, and consisted in dry forms and scholastic subtleties. there was little acquaintance with the ancient languages, hebrew and greek were almost unknown; the solid learning of the olden times was taught in bad monkish latin; the bible and fathers of the church, the roman historians, institutes and pandects, the greek text of aristotle, and the writers upon natural philosophy and medicine, were found only in dusty manuscripts; nothing but the commentators and systematizers of the middle ages were ever expounded or learnt by heart. such was the state of things in germany. but in italy, for more than a century, mental cultivation had begun, from the study of roman and greek poets, historians, and philosophers. the men of high intellect on the other side of the alps rejoiced in the beauty of the latin language and poetry, admired the acute logic of cicero, and regarded with astonishment the powerful life of the roman people. their whole literature entwined itself, like the tendrils of a creeper, round the antique stem. it was soon after the invention of printing, and during the war carried on by the germans in the peninsula, that this new humanitarian learning was gradually introduced into germany. the latin language, which appeared to the germans like a new discovery, was industriously studied in the classical schools, and disseminated through the means of manuals. the close attention and long labour necessary in germany to acquire the foreign grammar, acted as discipline to the mind. acuteness and memory were strongly exercised; the logical construction of the language was more attended to than the phonetic; the grandeur and wisdom of the subject, more than the beauty and elegance of the style: the german mind required more exercise, therefore the result was more lasting, because the mastery had to be gained over two languages of different roots. a number of earnest teachers first spread the new learning; among these were jacob wimpfeling and alexander hegius, crato of udenheim, sapidus, and michael hilspach. to these may be added the poets henry bebel and conrade celtes, ulrich zasius the lawyer, and others; in close union with them were to be found all the men of powerful talent in germany; sebastian brand, author of narrenschiffs, and also the great preacher john geiler of kaisersberg, although he had been brought up in the scholastic teaching. they were sometimes led by their knowledge of ancient philosophy into secret speculations upon the being of god, and all were opposed to the corruptions of the romish church; but their opposition differed from that of italy in this respect, that the german mind gave it more elevation. it is true that many of the humanitarian teachers considered the german language as barbarous; they latinized their names, and in their confidential letters took the liberty of calling their countrymen unpolished; they hated the despotic arrogance with which the romish priests looked down upon them and their nation; yet they did not cease to be good christians. besides their unceasing attacks on the vices of the italian priesthood, they ventured, though with hesitation and caution, upon an historical critique on the foundation of the claims of the papacy. they were united in bonds of friendship, and formed one large community. bitterly persecuted by the representatives of the old scholastic school, they nevertheless gained allies everywhere,--in the burgher houses of the imperial cities, in the courts of the princes, in the entourage of the emperor, and even in the cathedral chapters and on the episcopal thrones. the mental culture of these men, however, could not keep a lasting hold on german life; its groundwork was too foreign to the real needs of the mental life of the people; its ideal, which it had gathered from antiquity, was too vague and arbitrary; its fantastical occupation with a bygone world, of whose real meaning they knew so little, was not favourable to the development of their character. some indeed became forerunners in the struggle of faith, but others, offended by the roughness and narrowness of the new teaching, fell back to the old church which they had before so severely judged. one of this school, the enthusiastic and high-minded ulrich von hutten, who was passionately german, and attached to the teaching of luther, suffered for his devotion to the popular cause. in the beginning of the century, however, the humanitarians carried on almost alone the struggle against the oppression under which the nation groaned. they exercised a powerful influence on the minds of the multitude; even what they wrote in latin was not lost upon them, and the rhymesters of the cities were never weary of propagating the witticisms and bitter attacks of the humanitarians in the form of proverbs, jocose stories, and plays. the desire for learning became powerful amongst the people. children and half-grown boys rushed from the most distant valleys into the unknown world to seek for knowledge; wherever there was a latin school established, there the children of the people congregated, often undergoing the greatest sufferings and hardships, demoralized by the uncertainty of their daily life; for though the founders and managers of the schools, or the burghers of the cities, gave these strangers sometimes a roof over their heads, and beds to lie on, they were obliged for the most part to beg for their daily subsistence. little control was exercised over them; only one thing was strictly enjoined,--that there should be some method in the lawlessness of their life; it was only under appointed forms, and in certain districts of the city, that they were allowed to beg. when the travelling scholar came to a place where there was a latin school, he was bound to join the association of scholars, that he might not make claims on the benevolence of the inhabitants, to the prejudice of the schoolmaster or of those already there. an organization was formed among these scholars, as was always the case where germans assembled together in the middle ages, and a code was established, containing many customs and demoralizing laws, with which every one was obliged to comply; besides this there was the rough poetry of an adventurous life, which few could go through without injury to their characters in after life. the younger scholars, called schützen, were, like the apprentices of artisans, bound to perform the most humiliating offices for their older comrades, the bacchanten: they had to beg and even to steal for their tyrants, who in return gave them the protection of their strength. it was considered honourable and advantageous for a bacchant to have many schützen, who obtained gifts from the benevolent, on which he lived; but when the rough bacchant rose to the university, he was paid off for all the tyrannical injustice he had practised towards the younger scholars: he had to lay aside his school dress and rude manners, was received into the distinguished society of students with humiliating ceremonies, and was obliged in his turn to render service and to bear rude jests like a slave. the scholars were perpetually changing their schools, for with many the loitering on the high roads was the main object; their youth was passed in wild roving from school to school, in begging, theft, and dissoluteness. whilst we rejoice in finding a few individuals who, by strength of mind and ability, rose through all this to intellectual preeminence, we must bear in mind how many a pet child died miserably under some hedge, or in the lazar-house of a foreign city, whose youthful minds had looked forward with hope to reaching the same goal. the instruction in the latin schools was very deficient, for a book was a rare treasure: the boys had often to copy the text for themselves, and the old grammar of donat still served as the groundwork by which they learned to read latin. there was still much useless scholastic pedantry, and what was then admired as elegant latin, has somewhat of a monkish flavour. but the great teacher wimpfeling took every opportunity of selecting examples which might excite the boys to honesty, integrity, and the fear of god; he endeavoured to impart not merely the knowledge of forms, or the subtle distinctions of words, but the spirit that flows from the ancients. the mind was to be ennobled; intellect and faith were to be advanced; learning was to act as a preservative against war, to promote peace, the greatness of states, and the reformation of the catholic church, for its object was knowledge of the truth. some idea of the life of a travelling student has been preserved to us in the description of thomas platter, the poor shepherd boy from visperthale, in the valais, later a renowned printer and schoolmaster at basle; his autobiography has been published by dr. fechter, basle, . in those days no travellers in search of the picturesque had begun to roam in the wild mountain valley from which the visp rushes towards the rhone, nor to visit zermatt, the matterhorn, and the glaciers of monte rosa. the shepherd boy grew up amidst the rocks, with no companions but his goats; his herd straying into a corn-field, or an eagle hovering threateningly above him, his climbing a steep rock, or being punished by his severe master, were the only events of his childhood; how he was cast out into the wide world from his solitude he shall himself relate. "when i was with the farmer, one of my aunts, named frances, came to see me; she wished me, she said, to go to my cousin, herr anthony platter, to learn the scriptures; thus they speak when they want one to go to school. the farmer was not well pleased at this; he told her i should learn nothing: he placed the forefinger of his right hand in the middle of the left, and went on to say, 'the lad will learn about as much, as i can push my finger through there.' this i saw and heard. then said my aunt: 'who knows? god has not denied him gifts; he may yet become a pious priest.' so she took me to that gentleman. i was, if i remember right, about nine or ten years old. first it fared ill with me, for he was a choleric man, and i but an unapt peasant lad. he beat me cruelly, and ofttimes dragged me by the ears out of the house, which made me scream like a goat into which the knife had been stuck; so that the neighbours oft talked of him as if he wished to murder me. "i was not long with him, for just at that time my cousin came, who had been to the schools at ulm and munich, in bavaria; the name of this student was paulus of summermatten. my relations had told him of me, and he promised that he would take me with him to the schools in germany. when i heard this i fell on my knees, and prayed god almighty that he would preserve me from the 'pfaffs,'[ ] who taught me almost nothing and beat me lamentably, for i had learned only to sing a little of the salve, and to beg for eggs with the other scholars, who were with the pfaff in the village. "when paulus was to begin his wanderings again, i was to go to him at stalden. simon, my mother's brother, dwelt at summermatten, on the road to stalden: he gave me a gold florin, which i carried in my little hand to stalden. i looked often on the way to see that i still had it, and gave it to paulus. then we departed into the country, and i had to beg for myself, and to give of what i got to my bacchant paulus: on account of my simplicity and countrified language, much was given to me. at night going over the grimsel mountain we came to an inn; i had never seen a _kachelofen_,[ ] and as the moon shone on the tiles, i imagined it was a great calf: i saw only two tiles shining, which were, i imagined, the eyes. in the morning i saw geese. i had never seen any before, and when they hissed at me i thought they were devils, and would eat me; so i cried out and ran away. at lucerne i saw the first tiled roofs. "afterwards we went to meissen: it was a long journey for me, as i was not accustomed to travel so far and to obtain food on the road. there were eight or nine of us travelling together; three small schützen, the others great bacchanten, as they are called; amongst all these i was the smallest and youngest. when i could not keep up well, my cousin paulus came behind me with a rod, or little stick, and switched me on my bare legs, for i had no stockings, and bad shoes. i do not remember all that happened to us on the road. once when we were talking together on the journey, the bacchanten said it was the custom in meissen and silesia for the scholars to steal geese and ducks, and other such food; and nothing was done to them on that account, if they could escape from those to whom the things belonged. one day, when not far from a village, we saw a large flock of geese, and the herdsman was not with them; then i inquired of my fellow-schützen when we should be in meissen; as then i thought i might venture to kill the geese; they answered, 'now we are there.' so i took a stone, threw it at one of the geese, and hit it on the leg; the others flew away, but the lamed one could not rise. i took another stone, and hit it on the head, so that it fell down. i ran up and caught the goose by the neck, carried it under my coat, and went along the road through the village. then came the gooseherd running after me, and called aloud in the village, 'the boy has stolen my goose!' i and my fellow-schützen fled away, and the feet of the goose hung out behind my coat. the peasants came out with spears to throw at us, and ran after us. when i saw that i could not escape with the goose, i let it fall, and sprang out of the road into the bushes; but two of my fellows ran along the street, and were overtaken by two peasants. then they fell down on their knees, and asked for mercy, as they had done them no harm; and when the peasants saw that it was not they who had killed the goose, they returned to the village, taking the goose with them. but when i saw how they hastened after my fellows, i was in great trouble, and said to myself: 'ah, my god! i think i have not blessed myself this day.' (for i had been taught to bless myself every morning.) when the peasants returned to the village, they found our bacchanten in the public-house, for these had gone forward; and the peasants desired that they would pay for the goose: it would have been about two batzen; but i know not whether or no they paid. when they joined us again, they laughed, and asked how it had happened. i excused myself, as i had imagined it was the custom of the country; to which they said it was not yet the right moment. "another time a murderer came to us in the wood, eleven miles on this side of nuremberg, who wished to play with our bacchanten, that he might delay us till his fellows joined him; but we had an honest fellow amongst us called anthony schallbether, who warned the murderer to leave us, which he did. now it was so late that we could hardly get to the village; there were very few houses, but there were two taverns. when we came to one of these the murderer was there before us, and others besides, without doubt his comrades; so we would not remain there, and went to the other public-house. as they themselves had already that night had their food, every one was so busy in the house, they would not give anything to us little lads; for we never sat at table to our meals; neither would they take us to a bedroom; but we were obliged to lie in the stable. but when they were taking the bigger ones to their bedroom, anthony said to the host: 'host, methinks you have strange guests, and are not much better yourself. i tell you what, place us in safety, or we will treat you in such a way that you will find your house too narrow for you.' when they had taken them to rest (i and the other little boys were lying in the stable without supper), some persons came in the night to their room, perhaps among them the host himself, and would have opened the door; but anthony had put a screw before the lock inside, placed his bed before the door and struck a light; for he had always wax tapers and a tinder-box by him, and he quickly woke up the other fellows. when the rogues heard that, they made off. in the morning we found neither host nor servants. when they told us boys about it, we were all glad that nothing had happened to us in the stable. after we had gone from thence about a mile, we met with people, who when they heard where we had passed the night, were surprised that we had not all been murdered; for almost all the villagers were suspected of being murderers. "our bacchanten treated us so badly that some of us told my cousin paulus we should escape from them; so we went to dresden; but here there was no good school, and the sleeping apartments for strange scholars were full of lice, so that we heard them at night crawl on the straw. we then left and went on to breslau: we suffered much from hunger on the road, having nothing for some days to eat but raw onions and salt, or roasted acorns and crabs. many nights we lay in the open air; for no one would receive us into their houses or at the inns, and often they set the dogs upon us. but when we arrived at breslau, everything was in abundance; indeed so cheap that we poor scholars overate ourselves, and frequently made ourselves ill. we went at first to the chapter school of the holy cross, but when we found that there were some swiss in the parsonage house at st. elizabeth, we went there. the city of breslau has seven parishes, and each its separate school: no scholar ventured to sing in another parish; if he did the cry of 'ad idem, ad idem,' was raised, and the schützen collected together and fought. it is said that there were at one time some thousands of bacchanten and schützen who all lived on alms; it is also said that some of them who were twenty or thirty years old, or even more, had their schützen who supported them. i have often of an evening carried home to the school where they lived, for my bacchanten, five or six meals. people gave to me willingly because i was little, and a swiss, for they loved the swiss. "there i remained for some time, as i was very ill that winter, and they were obliged to take me to the hospital; the scholars had their own especial hospital and doctors, and sixteen hellers a week are given at the town hall for the use of the sick, which provided for us well. we were well nursed and had good beds, but there were lice therein, beyond belief, as big as hempseed, so that i and others would much rather have lain on the floor than in the beds. it is hardly possible to believe how the scholars and bacchanten were covered with lice. i have ofttimes, especially in the summer, gone to wash my shirt in the water of the oder, and hung it on a bush to dry; and in the mean time cleared my coat of the lice, buried the heap, and placed a cross over the spot. in the winter the schützen used to lie on the hearth in the school; but the bacchanten lived in small rooms, of which there were some hundreds at st. elizabeth; but during the summer, when it was hot, we lay in the churchyard, like pigs in straw, on grass which we collected from before the houses of the principal streets, where it was spread on sundays; but when it rained we ran into the school, and if there was a storm we chanted almost all night the responsoria and other things with the succentor. we often went in summer after supper to the beerhouses to beg for beer: they gave us the strong polish peasant beer, which, before i was aware of it, made me so drunk that even when within a stone's throw from the school i could not find my way to it. in short, we got sufficient nourishment, but little study. "in the school of st. elizabeth, nine bachelors always read together at the same hour in one room, for there were no printed greek books in the country at that time; the preceptor alone had a printed terence: what was read, therefore, had first to be dictated, then parsed and construed, and lastly explained; so that the bacchanten when they went away carried with them large sheets of writing. "from thence our eight went off again to dresden, and fell into great want. we determined therefore one day to divide ourselves; some were to look out for geese, some for turnips and onions, and one for a kitchen pot; but we little ones went to the town of neumarkt, to get bread and salt, and we were to meet together in the evening outside the town, where we were to camp out, and then cook what we had. there was a well about a stone's throw from the town, near which we wished to pass the night; but when they saw our fire in the town, they began to shoot at us, yet did not hit us. then we retired behind a bank to a little stream and grove; the big fellows lopped off branches and made a kind of hut, some plucked the geese, of which we had two; others put the heads and feet and the giblets into the pot, in which they had shred the turnips, others made two wooden spits and roasted the meat; when it had become a little brown, we ate it with the turnips. in the night we heard a kind of flapping: we found there was a pond near us which had been drained in the day, and the fish were struggling in the mud; then we took as many of them as we could, in a shirt fastened on a stick, and went away to a village, where we gave some of them to a peasant, that he might cook the others for us in beer. "soon after we went again from thence to ulm, there paulus took with him another lad called hildebrand kalbermatter, son of a pfaff: he was quite young, and had some cloth given to him, such as is made in that country, for a little coat. when we came to ulm, paul desired me to go about with the cloth begging for money to pay for its making up; in this way i got much money, for i was well accustomed to begging in god's name, for the bacchanten had constantly employed me in this, so that i had hardly ever been taken to school, and not once taught to read. going thus seldom to the school, and having to give up to the bacchanten all i got by going round with the cloth, i suffered much from hunger. "but i must not omit to mention that there was at ulm a pious widow, who had two grown-up daughters; this widow had often, when i came in the winter, wrapped up my feet in a warm fur, which she had laid behind the stove on purpose to warm them, and gave me a dish of porridge and sent me home. i was sometimes so hungry that i drove the dogs in the streets away from their bones, and gnawed them; item, searched for the crumbs out of the bag, which i ate. after that we returned again to munich: there also i had to beg for money to make up the cloth, which nevertheless was not mine. the year following we went once more to ulm, and i brought the cloth with me, and again begged on account of it; and i remember well that some one said to me, 'botz marter! is not the coat made yet? i believe you are employed in knavish work.' we went from thence, and i know not what happened to the cloth, or whether or no the coat was ever made up. one sunday, when we came to munich, the bacchanten had got a lodging, but we three little schützen had none; we intended therefore to go at night to the corn market, in order to lie on the corn sacks; and certain women were sitting in the street by the salt magazine, who inquired where we were going. when they heard that we had no lodging, a butcher's wife who was near, when she saw that we were swiss, said to her maid, 'run and hang up the boiler with the remains of the soup and meat; they shall stay with me over the night; i like all swiss. i served once at an inn in innspruck, when the emperor maximilian held his court there: the swiss had much business to arrange with him; and they were so friendly that i shall always be kind to them as long as i live.' the woman gave us good lodging, and plenty to eat and drink. in the morning she said to us, 'if one of you would like to remain with me, i would give him food and lodging.' we were all willing to do so, and inquired which she wished to have: when she had inspected us, as i looked more bold than the others, she took me, and i had nothing to do but to get the beer, to fetch the meat from the shambles, and to go with her sometimes to the field; but still i had to provide for the bacchant. this the woman did not like, and said to me, 'botz marter! let the bacchant go, and remain with me; you shall not beg any more.' so for a whole week i did not return to my bacchant, nor the school; then he came to the house of the butcher's wife, and knocked at the door; and she said to me, 'your bacchant is there; say that you are ill.' she let him in, and said to him, 'you are truly a fine gentleman; you should have looked after thomas, for he has been ill, and is so still.' then he said to me, 'i am sorry for it, lad: when you can go out again, come to me.' some time after, one sunday, i went to vespers, and when they were over, my bacchant came up to me and said, 'you schütz, if you do not come to me, i will trample you under foot.' this i determined he should not do, and made up my mind to run away. that sunday i said to the butcher's wife, 'i will go to the school and wash my shirt.' i dared not tell her of my intention, for i feared she would speak of it. so i left munich with a sorrowful heart, partly because i was leaving my cousin, with whom i had gone so far (though he had been so hard and unmerciful to me), and also on account of the butcher's wife, who had treated me so kindly. i journeyed on over the river isar, for i feared if i went to switzerland, paulus would follow me, and beat me, as he had often threatened. on the other side of the isar there is a hill. i seated myself on the top, looked upon the town, and wept bitterly, because i had no longer any one to take an interest in me, and i thought of going to saltzburg, or vienna, in austria. whilst i was sitting there a peasant came with a waggon, which had carried salt to munich: he was already drunk, though the sun had only just risen. i begged him to let me sit in it, and i went with him till he unharnessed the horses in order to give them and himself food; meanwhile i begged through the village, and waiting for him not far from it, fell asleep. when i awoke i again wept bitterly, for i thought the peasant had gone on, and it appeared to me as if i had lost a father. soon, however, he came, and was still drunk, but called to me to sit in the cart, and asked me where i wished to go; i replied, 'to saltzburg.' when it was evening, he turned off from the road, and said, 'get down, there is the road to saltzburg.' we had gone eight miles that day. i came to a village, and when i got up in the morning everything was white with rime, as if it had snowed, and i had no shoes, only torn stockings, no cap, and a scanty jacket. thus i travelled to passau, and intended to get on the danube and go to vienna, but when i came to passau they would not admit me. then i thought of going to switzerland, and i asked the guard at the gate the nearest way to switzerland: he answered by munich. i said, 'i will not go by munich, i had rather travel ten miles, or even more, out of the way to avoid it.' then he pointed out the way by friesingen. there was a high school there, and i found some swiss, who inquired of me from whence i came? in the course of a few days paulus arrived: the schützen told me that the bacchant from munich was looking for me. i ran out of the gate as if he had been behind me, and travelled to ulm, where i went to the widow's house, who had so kindly warmed my feet, and she received me, and i was to guard the turnips in the field, and did not go to school. some weeks after, a companion of paul's came to me, and said, 'your cousin is here, and is seeking for you.' he had followed me for eighteen miles, as he had lost in me a good provider, i having supported him for some years. when i heard this, although it was night, i ran out of the gate towards constance. i again wept bitterly, for i was sorry to leave the kind widow. "i crossed the lake, and arrived at constance; and as i went over the bridge i saw some of the swiss peasant girls with their white petticoats. oh my god, how glad i was! i thought i was in heaven. when i came to zurich i saw there some people from the valais, big bacchanten, to whom i offered my services for getting food, if they in return would teach me; but i learned no more with them than with the others. after some months paulus sent his schütz hildebrand from munich, to desire me to return to him, and said he would forgive me; but i would not go back, and remained at zurich, where however i studied little. "one antonius venetz from visp in the valais persuaded me to go with him to strasburg. when we arrived there we found many poor scholars, but no good school; there was however a very good one at schlettstadt, so we went there. in the city we took a lodging with an old couple, one of whom was stone blind; then we went to my dear preceptor, the late johannes sapidus, and begged him to receive us. he asked from whence we came, and when we said out of switzerland, from the valais, he answered, 'the peasants there are bad, for they drive all their bishops out of the country; if, however, you study industriously, i will take little from you, if not, you must pay me, or i will take the coat off your back.' that was the first school in which it appeared to me that things went on well. at that time learning, especially that of languages, was gaining ground--it was the year of the diet at worms. sapidus had once nine hundred students, some of them fine scholars, who afterwards became doctors and men of renown. "when i came to this school i knew little, could not even read the donat. though i was eighteen years old, i was placed among the little children, and looked like a hen amidst her small chickens. one day when sapidus called over the list of the scholars, he said, 'i find many barbarous names, i must try to latinize them.' he then called over the new names: he had turned me into thomas platterus, and my fellow, anthony venetz into antonius venetus, and said, 'which are the two?' we stood up and he exclaimed, 'poof! what measly schützen to have such fine names!' this was partly true, especially of my companion, for i was more accustomed to the change of air and food. "when we had stayed there from autumn to the following whitsuntide, a great many fresh scholars arrived, so that there was not sufficient to support us all; and we went off to solothurn, where there was a tolerably good school, and more food; but we were obliged to be so constantly in church that we lost all our time; therefore we returned home. "the following spring i went off again with my two brothers. when we took leave of our mother, she wept and said, 'am i not to be pitied, to have three sons going to lead this miserable life?' it was the only time i ever saw my mother cry, for she was a brave, strong-minded woman, respected by every one as honourable, upright, and pious. "i came to zurich, and went to the school of the monastery of our lady. about this time it was reported that a thoroughly good and learned but severe schoolmaster was coming from einsiedeln. i seated myself in a corner not far from the schoolmaster's chair, and i thought to myself, in this corner will i study or die. when he (father myconius) entered, he said, 'this is a fine school (it had only just been built); but methinks you are a set of ignorant boys: but i will have patience with you, if you will only be industrious.' i knew that if it had cost me my life i could not have declined a word, even of the first declension; but i could repeat the donat by heart from beginning to end, for when i was in schlettstadt, sapidus had a bachelor who plagued the bacchanten so grievously with the donat, that i thought it must be such a good book, i had better learn it by heart. i got on well with father myconius: he read terence to us, and we had to conjugate and decline every word of a whole play; and it often happened that my shirt became quite wet, and my sight seemed to fail me with fear; and yet he had never given me a blow, except once with the back of his hand on my cheek. he read also the holy scriptures, and to these readings many of the laity came, for it was the time when the light of the holy gospel was beginning to dawn. if at any time he was severe with me, he would take me home and give me something to eat, and he liked to hear me relate how i had gone all through germany, and how it had fared with me. "myconius was obliged to go with his pupils to church at the monastery of our lady, to sing at vespers, matins, and mass, and conduct the chanting. he said to me once, 'custos (for i was his custos), i would rather hold four lectures than sing one mass. dear son, if you would sometimes chant the easy masses for me, requiems, and the like, i will requite it to you.' i was well content with this, for i had been accustomed to it, and everything was still regulated in the popish manner. as custos, i had often not enough wood to burn in the school, so i observed which of the laymen who came to it had piles of wood in front of their houses: there i went about midnight and secretly carried off wood to the school. one morning i had no wood; zwinglius was to preach at the monastery early that morning, and when they were ringing the bells, i said to myself, 'thou hast no wood, and there are so many images in the church that no one cares about them.' so i went to the nearest altar in the church, and carried off a st. john, and took him to the stove in the school, and said to him, '_jögli_, now thou must bend and go into the stove.' when he began to burn, the paint made a great hissing and crackling, and i told him to keep quiet, and said, 'if thou movest, which however thou wilt not do, i will close the door of the stove: thou shalt not get out unless the devil carry thee away.' in the mean time came myconius' wife; she was going to hear the sermon in the church, and in passing by the door, said, 'god be with you, my child, have you heated the stove?' i closed the door of the stove, and answered, 'yes, mother, i have already warmed it;' but i would not tell her how, for she might have tattled about it, and had it been known, it would have cost me my life. myconius said to me in the course of the lesson, 'custos, you have had good wood to-day.' when we were beginning to chant the mass, two pfaffs were disputing together in the church; the one to whom the st. john belonged said to the other, 'you rogue, you have stolen my st. john;' and this dispute they carried on for some time. "although it appeared to me that there was something not quite right about popery, i still intended to become a priest. i wished to be pious, to administer my office faithfully, and to ornament my altar. i prayed much, and fasted more than was good for me. i had also my saints and patrons, and prayed to each for something especial; to our lady, that she would be my intercessor with her child; to st. catherine, that she would help me to learning; to st. barbara, that i might not die without the sacrament; and to st. peter, that he would open the door of heaven to me; and i wrote down in a little book what prayers i had neglected. when i had leave of absence from the school on thursdays or saturdays, i went into a confessional chair in the monastery, and wrote the omitted prayers on a chair, and counted out every sin one after another; then rubbed them out, and thought i had done my duty. i went six times from zurich with processions to einsiedeln, and was diligent in confession. i often contended with my associates for the papacy, till one day m. ulrich zwinglius preached on this text from the gospel of st. john:--'i am the good shepherd.' he explained it so forcibly, that i felt as if my hair stood on end; and he showed how god will demand the souls of the lost sheep at the hands of those shepherds who caused their perdition. i thought, if that is the true meaning, then adieu to priestcraft, i will never be a pfaff. i continued my studies, began to dispute with my companions, listened assiduously to the sermons and to my preceptor myconius. there still continued to be mass and images at zurich." thus far thomas platter. his struggle in life lasted some time longer: he had to learn rope-making in order to support himself; he studied at night, and when andreas kratander, the printer at basle, had sent him a plautus, he fastened the separate sheets on the rope by means of a wooden prong, and read whilst he was working. later he became a corrector of the press, then citizen and printer, and lastly rector of the latin school at basle. the unsettled life of his childhood was not without its influence on the character of the man; for however great his capacities, he displayed neither energy nor perseverance in his undertakings. it was among the thousands who, like the boy thomas, thronged to the latin schools, that the new movement won its most zealous followers. these children of the people carried from house to house with unwearied activity their new ideas and information. many of them never arrived at the university; they endeavoured to support themselves by private tuition, or as correctors of the press. most of the city, and in later times the village schools were occupied by those who could read virgil, and understand the bitter humour of the klagebriefes, _de miseria plebenorum_. so great were their numbers that the reformers soon urged them to learn, however late, some trade, in order to maintain themselves honestly. many members of guilds in the german cities were qualified to furnish commentaries to the papal bulls, and translate them to their fellow-citizens; and subtle theological questions were eagerly discussed in the drinking-rooms. great was the influence exercised by these men on the small circles around them. some years afterwards they, together with the poor students of divinity who spread themselves as preachers over all germany, became a great society; and it was these democrats of the new teaching who represented the pope as antichrist in the popular plays, harangued the armed multitudes of insurgent peasants, and made war on the old church in printed discourses, popular songs, and coarse dialogues. in this way they made preparation for what was coming. but however clearly it had been shown by the humanitarians that the church had in many places falsified the holy scriptures, however humorously they had derided the tool of the inquisition--the baptized jew pfefferkorn, with his pretty little wife--and however zealously the small school teachers had carried among the people the colloquies of erasmus on fasting, &c., and his work on the education of children, yet it was not their new learning alone that gave birth to the reformation and the spiritual freedom of germany. deeper lay the sources of this mighty stream; it sprang from the foundation of the german mind, and was brought to light by the secret longings of the heart, that it might, by the work of destruction and renovation, transform the life of the nation. chapter iv. the mental struggles of a youth, and his entrance into a monastery. ( .) great was the wickedness of the world, heavy the oppression under which the poor suffered, coarse the greed after enjoyment, boundless the covetousness both of ecclesiastics and laymen. who was there to punish the young nobleman who maltreated the peasants? who to defend the poor citizen against the powerful family unions of the rich counsellors? hard was the labour of the german peasant from morning till evening, through summer and winter; pestilence was quickly followed by famine and hunger: the whole system of the world seemed in confusion, and earthly life devoid of love. the only hope of deliverance from misery, was in god; before him all earthly power, whether of emperor or pope, was weak and insignificant, and the wisdom of man was transitory as the flower of the field. by his mercy men might be delivered from the miseries of this life, and compensated by eternal happiness for what they had suffered here; but how were they to obtain this mercy? by what virtues could weak men hope to gain the endless treasure of god's favour? man had been doomed from the time of adam to will the good and do the evil. vain were his highest virtues; inherited sin was his curse; and if he obtained mercy from god, it was not by his own merits.[ ] these were the questions that then struggled within the agonized hearts of men. but from the holy records of scripture, which had only been a dark tradition to the people, went forth the words; christ is love. the ruling church knew little of this love; in it god was kept far from the hearts of men: the image of the crucified one was concealed behind countless saints, who were all made necessary as intercessors with a wrathful god. but the great craving of the german nature was to find itself in close connection with the almighty, and the longing for the love of god was unquenchable. but the pope maintained that he was the only administrator of the inexhaustible merits of christ; and the church also taught, that by the intercession of saints for the sins of men, an endless treasure of good works, prayers, fasts, and penances were made available for the blessing of others; and all these treasures were at the disposition of the pope, who could dispense them to whom he chose, as a deliverance from their sins. thus, when believers united together in a pious community, the pope was able to confer on such a brotherhood the privilege of passing over from one to the other, the merits of the saints, the surplus of prayers and masses, as well as of good works done for the church. in the year , luther complained that the number of these communities was countless.[ ] an example will show how rough and miserable their mechanism was, and the "brotherhood of the eleven thousand virgins," called "st. ursula's schifflein," is selected, because the elector, frederick the wise, was one of the founders and brothers. the collection of spiritual treasures given by statute to enable the brotherhood to obtain eternal happiness, amounted to , masses, , entire psalters, , rosaries, , _te deum laudamus_, , _gloria in excelsis deo_. besides this, , prayers for the patroness st. ursula, and times , paternosters and ave marias; also times , paternosters and ave marias for , knights, &c.; and the whole redeeming power of these treasures was for the benefit of the members of the brotherhood. many spiritual foundations and private persons had gained to themselves especial merit by their great contributions to the prayer treasures. at the revival of the society, the elector frederick had presented a beautiful silver ursula. a layman was entitled to become a member of the brotherhood if he once in his life had repeated , paternosters and ave marias: if he repeated daily thirty-two, he gained it in a year, if sixteen, in two, and if eight, in four years: if any one was hindered by marriage, sickness, or business, from completing this number of prayers, he was enabled to enter by having eleven masses read for him; and so on. yet this brotherhood was one of the best, for the members had not to pay money; it was to be a brotherhood of poor people who wished only to assist each other to heaven by mutual prayer; and we maintain that these brotherhoods were the most spiritual part of the declining church of the middle ages. the indulgences, on the other hand, were the foulest spot in its diseased body. the pope, as administrator of the inexhaustible treasure of the merits of christ, sold to believers, drafts on this store in exchange for money. it is true that the church itself had not entirely lost the idea that the pope could not himself forgive sins, but only remit the penances the church prescribed; those, however, who held these views, individuals of the university and worthy village priests, were obliged to be careful that their teaching should not come into open collision with the business of the seller of indulgences. for what did the right teaching of their own church signify to the papists of the sixteenth century? it was money that they craved for their women and children, their relatives, and princely houses. there was a fearful community of interests between the bishops and the fanatical members of the mendicant orders. nothing had made huss and his tenets so insupportable to them as the struggle against the sale of indulgences: the great wessel had been driven out of paris into misery for teaching repentance and grace; and it was the sellers of indulgences who caused the venerable johannes vesalia to die in the prison of a monastery at mayence, he who first spoke the noble words, "why should i believe what i know?" it is known how prevalent the traffic in indulgences became in germany in the beginning of the sixteenth century, and how impudently the reckless cheating was carried on. when tetzel, a well-fed haughty dominican, rode into a city with his box of indulgences, he was accompanied by a large body of monks and priests: the bells were rung; ecclesiastics and laymen met him, and reverentially conducted him to the church; his great crucifix, with the holes of the nails, and the crown of thorns, was erected in the nave, and sometimes the believers were allowed to see the blood of the crucified one trickling down the cross. church banners, on which were the arms of the pope with the triple crown, were placed by the cross; in front of it the cursed box, strongly clamped with iron, and near these on one side, a pulpit from which the monk set forth with rough eloquence the wonderful powers of his indulgences, and showed a large parchment of the pope's with many seals appended to it. on the other side was the pay table, with indulgence tickets, writing materials, and money baskets; there the ecclesiastical coadjutors sold to the thronging people everlasting salvation.[ ] countless were the crimes of the church, against which all the wounded moral feelings of the germans were roused. the opposition spread all over germany; but the man had not yet appeared, who, by a fearful inward struggle, discerning all the griefs and longings of the people, was preparing to become the leader of his nation, which would in his determined character, see with enthusiasm its own mind embodied. for two years he had been teacher of natural philosophy and dialects in the new university of wittenberg, and was still lying in the dust of the roman plains, looking with pious enthusiasm at the towers of the holy city appearing on the verge of the horizon. in the mean while we may learn from the experiences of a latin scholar, what was working in the souls of the people. frederick mecum (latinized into myconius[ ]) was the son of honest citizens of lichtenfelds, in upper franconia, and was born in . when thirteen years of age, he went to the latin school of the then flourishing city of annaberg, where he experienced what we propose giving in his own words. in he went into a monastery, and as a franciscan he was one of the first, most zealous, and faithful followers of the wittenberg professors. he left his order, became a preacher at the new church in thuringia, and finally pastor and superintendent at gotha, where he established the reformation, and died in . the connecting link between him and luther was of a very peculiar nature; he was not only his most intimate friend in many relations of private life, but there was a poetry in his connection with him which spread a halo round his whole life. seven years before luther began the reformation, myconius saw in a dream the vision of that great man, who calmed the doubts of his excited heart; enlightened by his dream, the faithful, pious german discovered in him the great friend of every future hour. but another circumstance gives us an interest in the narrator. however unlike, this gentle, delicately organized man may appear to his daring friend, there was a striking similarity in the youthful life of both, and much which is unknown to us of luther's youth may be explained in what myconius relates of his own. both were poor scholars from a latin school; both were driven by their inward struggles and youthful enthusiasm into a monastery, and found there only new doubts, greater struggles, and years of torment and anxious uncertainty instead of that peace for which they so passionately longed. to both was the shameless tetzel the rock of offence, which stirred up their minds, and determined the whole course of their future life: finally, both died in the same year,--myconius seven weeks after luther, having five years before, been restored to life from a mortal illness by luther's letter of invocation.[ ] few of frederick myconius' works have been printed: besides theological essays, he wrote a chronicle of his own time in german, in which he describes with the greatest detail his own labours and the state of gotha. "the dream" which he had the first night after he entered the monastery is well known, and has often been printed. in the dream the apostle paul presents himself to him as his leader, and, as myconius in after years fancied, had the form, face, and voice of luther. this long dream was written in latin, but we find a german translation of the introduction, in a manuscript of the same date, in the duke's library at gotha, from which we give the following extracts:-- "johannis tetzel of pyrna in meissen, a dominican monk, was a powerful preacher of the papal indulgences. he tarried two years in the then new city of annaberg for this object, and so deluded the people that they all believed there was no other way to obtain forgiveness of sins and eternal life, than by the sufficiency of our own works, which sufficiency he added was impossible. but there was one way remaining, namely, to obtain it by money from the pope: so we bought the papal indulgence, which he called forgiveness of sins and a certain entrance into eternal life. here i could relate wonder upon wonder, and many incredible things which i heard preached by tetzel for two years at annaberg, for he preached every day, and i listened to him assiduously. i even repeated his sermons by heart to others; imitating his delivery and gestures; not that i did it to ridicule him, but from my great earnestness, for i considered it all as _oracular_, and the word of god, which ought to be believed; and what ever came from the pope i considered as if it were from christ himself. "at last, about whitsuntide, , he threatened to take down the red cross, close the door of heaven, and extinguish the sun, adding, that we should never more have the opportunity of obtaining remissions of sins and eternal life for so little money, as it could not be hoped that this benevolent mission from the pope would return again as long as the world lasted. he admonished every one to take care of his soul, and those of his friends, both living and dead, for that now was the accepted time, now was the day of salvation. and he said, 'let no one neglect his own eternal happiness, for if ye have not the papal letter, ye cannot be absolved from many sins, nor, _casibus reservatis_, by any man.' printed letters were publicly affixed to the walls and doors of the church, in which it was promised that, as a token of thanks to the german people for their piety, from henceforth till the close of the sale, the indulgence letters and the full power of remission should be sold at a less price; at the end of the letter, underneath, was written, _pauperibus dentur gratis_,--to the poor who have nothing, the letters of indulgence shall be given without money, for god's sake. "then i began to deal with this commissary of indulgence wares; but in truth i was led and encouraged hereto by the holy spirit, although i myself knew not at the time what i did. "my dear father had taught me in my childhood the ten commandments, the lord's prayer, and the creed, and insisted upon my continually praying; for, said he, all that we have is from god alone, and he gives it us gratis, and he will lead and direct us if we pray to him diligently. of the papal indulgences, he said, they were only nets with which money was fished out of the pockets of the simple, and one could not assuredly obtain for money the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. but the priests became angry when such things were said. when, therefore, i daily heard in the sermons nothing but praise of the indulgences, i doubted whom i should most believe, my dear father, or the priests as teachers of the church. but though i had doubts, i believed more the instructions of the priests than those of my father. the only thing i could not, however, allow, was, that the forgiveness of sins could only be obtained by money, especially when it was question of the poor. therefore, the _clausula_ at the end of the papal letter, _pauperibus gratis dentur propter deum_, pleased me wonderfully. "as at the end of three days, the cross, together with the steps and ladder to heaven, were to be taken down with extraordinary solemnity, the spirit led me to go to the commissary, and beg of him letters of remission out of charity to the poor. i declared that i was a sinner, and poor, and needed forgiveness of my sins, which i ought to receive gratis. the second day, at the time of vespers, i entered the house of hans pflock, where tetzel with the confessors and crowd of priests were assembled together. i accosted them in the latin language, and entreated that they would, according to the command in the pope's letter, allow me, a poor lad, to obtain the absolution of all my sins gratis, and for god's sake, '_etiam nullo casu reservato_,'--without reserve, and thereupon they should give me the '_literas testimoniales_,'--written testimony, of the pope. the priests were much astonished at my latin speech, for it was at this time a rare thing, especially with young boys; and they went speedily out of the room into the next apartment, where was herr commissary tetzel. they laid before him my request, and begged of him to give me gratis the letter of indulgence. at last, after holding long counsel, they came again, and brought me this answer: 'dear son, we have carefully laid your petition before the herr commissary, and he bids us say he would gladly grant it, but he cannot; and if he were to do so, this concession would become powerless, and of no avail. for he has shown us that it is clear from the pope's letter, it is those only _qui porrigent manum adjutricem_,--those who help with the hand, that is, those who give money, that will certainly partake of the merciful indulgences and treasures of the church, and of the merits of christ.' and this they told me all in german, for there was not one among them who could speak three words of latin rightly. "but i again renewed my petition, and showed them, how in the papal letter the holy father had commanded that these indulgences should be freely given to the poor, for god's sake, more especially as it was therein written: _ad mandatum domini papæ proprium_, that is, by his highness the pope's own commands. "then they went again to the proud, haughty monk, and begged him to grant my petition, for i was a deep-thinking and eloquent youth, who deserved that more should be bestowed upon him than upon others. but they brought back the same answer. i remained firm, however, and said that they did great injustice to me, a poor boy whom neither god nor the pope would shut out from grace, and whom they wanted to discard for the sake of a few pence, which i had not. then followed a dispute. they said i must give something, however little, if it was only a few groschen, that the helping hand might not be wanting. i answered, 'i have it not, i am poor.' at last it came to this, i was to give six _pfennige_, to which i replied again, 'i have not a single _pfennig_.' they tried to persuade me, and conferred together. at last i heard them say that they were in anxiety on two points; first, they must on no account let me go without the indulgence, as this might be a concerted plan, and lead to mischief hereafter, for it was clearly written in the pope's letter that indulgences were to be given free to the poor; but on the other hand, it was necessary to take something from me, that others might not hear that they were given away gratis, in which case a whole crowd of poor scholars and beggars would come and demand them. they need not have had any anxiety on this account, for the poor beggars would rather seek for bread to drive away their hunger. "after they had taken counsel they came again to me, and offered me six _pfennige_, that i might give it to the commissary; by this contribution they said that i should become one of the builders of the church of st. peters at rome, a slayer of the turks, and partaker of the indulgence and grace of christ. but i spoke out freely, stirred by the holy spirit, and said that if i was to buy indulgence and remission of sins, i could sell one of my books, and obtain it with my own money; but i wished to have it given me freely for god's sake, or they would have to answer before god, for having trifled with the happiness of my soul for the sake of six _pfennige_, when both god and the pope desired that i should be partaker of the forgiveness of sins for charity sake. i said this, but truly did not know how it stood with the letters of indulgence. "after this speech the priests inquired of me from whence i had been sent, and who had instructed me to deal with them about this matter. then i told them the simple truth, how it was that i had not been told or sent by any one, or induced to come by other men's counsel, but had of myself made this request, in full trust and confidence in the free and charitable gift of forgiveness of sins; and i had never before in my life spoken to, or dealt with such great people, for i was by nature modest; and if i had not been constrained by my great thirst for the mercy of god, i should not have ventured on so high an undertaking. then they again offered me the indulgence, but in this way: i was to buy it with six _pfennige_, and these _pfennige_ were to be returned to me for myself. but i remained firm that he who had the power should give me the indulgence free; and if he would not, i would commend the affair to my dear god, and resign myself into his hands; and so they dismissed me. "the holy thieves were however sorrowful over this affair. i too was somewhat troubled that i had not got my indulgence; yet i also rejoiced that in spite of them there was one in heaven who would forgive the sins of the penitent sinner, without money and without price, according to the text which i had often repeated in church: 'as i live, saith the lord god, i would not the death of a sinner, but that he should be converted and live.' ah, dear lord god, thou knowest that i have not lied or invented. "i was so overcome by all this, that whilst i was going home to my lodging, i was dissolved in tears. when i arrived there, i went into my room and took the crucifix, that always lay on the table in my study, placed it on the bench, and fell down before it on the ground. i cannot here describe it, but i then felt the spirit of prayer and grace, which thou, my god and lord, pouredst out upon me. the purport of my prayer was this, i beg that thou, dear god, wouldst be my father, and wouldst forgive me my sins. i resign myself to thee altogether and entirely; thou mayest do with me what thou pleasest, and though the priests will not be merciful to me without money, be thou my merciful god and father. "then i found that my whole heart was changed: i felt vexed with all worldly things, and imagined that i was quite wearied with this life. only one thing i desired, which was, to live for god and to please him. but who was there that could teach me, and how was i to effect this? for the word, the light and life of men, was throughout the whole world buried in the darkness of human traditions and the mad idea of 'good works.' of christ nothing was said, nothing was known of him; or if he was mentioned, he was represented to us as an angry and terrible judge, whom his mother and all the saints in heaven could hardly appease, or persuade to be merciful even by tears of blood; and it was said that he, christ, would cast those men who repented, for seven years into purgatory for every mortal sin: there was no difference between the pains of purgatory and those of hell, except that they were not eternal. but now the holy spirit gave me the hope that god would be merciful unto me. "after this i began to consider how i was to enter upon a new course of life. i saw the sinfulness of the whole world, and of the whole human race. i saw my own manifold sins which were so very great. i had heard somewhat of the great holiness and of the pure and innocent life of monks; how they served god day and night, were separated from all the wickedness of the world, and lived a temperate, pious, and chaste life, performed masses, sang psalms, and were always fasting and praying. i had also seen something of this plausible life, but i did not know that it was the greatest idolatry and hypocrisy. "i consulted with my preceptor, the master andreas staffeltstein, who was rector of the school; he advised me to enter the newly built franciscan monastery, and for fear i should change my mind through any long delay, he went himself with me to the monks, praised my talents and intellect, and boasted that in me alone amongst all his scholars he had perfect confidence, that i should become a truly godly man. "i desired, however, beforehand to mention my undertaking to my parents, and to hear their opinion upon it, as i was their only son and heir; but the monks showed me out of st. jerome that i ought not to regard father or mother, but leave them, and take up the cross of christ. and they quoted the saying of christ: 'no man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of god;' and thus they pressed me to become a monk. i will not here speak of the many bonds and fetters with which they bound and shackled my conscience. they told me i could never henceforth be happy if i did not at once accept the offered grace of god; and as i would rather have died than have been deprived of the grace of god and eternal life, i at once consented, and promised that i would in three days return to the monastery, and commence my year of probation, as it is called; that is, i would become a pious, devout, and god-fearing monk. "on the th of july, in the year , about two o'clock in the afternoon, i entered the monastery, accompanied by my preceptor, some of my schoolfellows, and certain devout matrons, to whom i had partly explained why i entered the ecclesiastical order. i then gave my blessing to all who had thus accompanied me, who with many tears implored for me god's grace and blessing. and so it came to pass that i went into a monastery. dear god, thou knowest that this is all true. it was not a life of idleness nor good living that i sought, nor yet the odour of sanctity, but i wished to please thee, and to serve thee well. "thus for a time i groped on in great darkness." chapter v. out of the monastery into the conflict. (about .) the storm broke loose; it convulsed the whole nation as with electric fire: the words of the augustine of wittenburg rolled through the land like peals of thunder, and every clap betokened an advance and a victory. even now, after three centuries and a half, this prodigious movement has an irresistible fascination for the german people. never, from its first existence, had the nation revealed its innermost being so touchingly and grandly. all the fine qualities of the german mind and character burst forth at this time; enthusiasm, self-devotion, a deep moral indignation, an intense pleasure in systematic thought, and an inward seeking after the highest. every individual took his share in the strife. the travelling trader over the fire at night contended for or against the indulgences, the countryman in the most remote villages heard with astonishment of the new heretic whom his spiritual father cursed in every sermon, and the women of the villages no longer gave willingly to the mendicant monks. a sea of small literature overflowed the country, a hundred printing-presses were in activity, spreading abroad the numerous controversial writings, both learned and popular; parties raged in every cathedral and parish church; everywhere men of resolute character amongst the ecclesiastics declared themselves for the new doctrines, whilst the weaker ones struggled with timid doubts; the doors of the monasteries were opened, and the cells soon became empty. every month brought to the people something new and unheard of. it was no longer a quarrel between priests, as hutten had in the beginning contemptuously called the dispute between the wittenberger and tetzel; it had become a war of the nation against the romish supremacy and its supporters. ever more powerfully rose the image of luther before his cotemporaries. banished, cursed, persecuted by pope and emperor, by princes and high ecclesiastics, he became in four short years the idolized hero of the people. his journey to worms was described in the style of the holy scriptures, and the over-zealous placed him on a footing with the martyrs of the new testament.[ ] the learned also felt themselves irresistibly drawn into the struggle; even erasmus smiled approbation, and hutten's soul fired up in the cause of the new teacher, he no longer wrote in latin, but broke forth in german, more stormy and wild than the wittenberger, with a fire that consumed himself, the knight fought his last fight for the peasant's son. the man on whom for half a generation the highest feelings of his nation were concentrated, now enters upon the scene. yet before we endeavour to understand his mind, it is well to point out, shortly, how his peculiar character worked upon impartial cotemporaries. we first take the witness of a moderate and truthful mind, who never personally knew luther, and who later, in a middle position between the wittenberger and the swiss reformer, had reason to be dissatisfied with luther's stubbornness. ambrosius blaurer, born in constance, of noble family, was a brother of the old benedictine monastery of alpirsbach, in the wildest part of the black forest; he was afterwards a writer of sacred poetry, and at the time we are speaking of, thirty years old. he had left the cloister in , and fled to his family. at the instigation of his abbot, the stadtholder of the principality of würtemberg demanded that he should be sent back to the monastery by the burgomaster and council of constance. blaurer published a defence, from which the following is taken. he became shortly after a preacher in constance, and on the restoration of duke ulrich, one of the reformers of würtemberg, and died at a great age at winterthur. what he praises and blames in luther may be considered as the general view of his character taken at that time by earnest minds. "i call god and my own conscience to witness that no wilfulness or frivolous motive drove me out of the monastery, or excited me to abandon it. vulgar rumour reports, that monks and nuns have left their convents on account of their aversion to its tranquil life, and that they might live in carnal freedom, and give vent to their wilfulness and worldly desires. but i was actuated by honourable and weighty reasons, and great troubles and urgings of conscience, on account of the word of god. i hope that all the circumstances of my departure will show neither levity, wantonness, nor unseemly purpose? i laid aside neither cowl nor capouch except for a few days after my departure for my greater security, till i had reached my place of refuge. i neither left to fight, nor to carry away a pretty wife, but i went forthwith as quickly as i could to my much loved mother and relations, who are undoubted christians, and are held in such honour and esteem in the city of constance, that it is certain they would never counsel or help me in any unworthy undertaking. "therefore i trust that my previous conduct and course of life will relieve me from any suspicion of unseemly or wilful intentions; for although i may not boast myself before god, yet i may before men glory in the lord, that i, whether in the cloister or the school, here, and wherever i have been, have retained a good repute and esteem, with much love and favour, on account of my uprightness. you yourselves have heard the messengers from würtemberg acknowledge that there was no complaint or evil report of my conduct or manner of life at the monastery of alpirsbach, but that i have behaved myself well and piously; all they can say against me is, that i have concerned myself too much with what they call the seductive and cursed teaching of martin luther, whose writings i have read and adhered to, and preached them, contrary to the command of the abbot, publicly to the laity in the monastery; and when this was forbidden me, i yet continued secretly, and as it were in a corner, to infuse them into the souls of some of the young gentlemen there. with such praise from my fathers and brethren i am well content, and can justify myself for this one misdeed, as a christian, from the word of god, and i hope that my defence will serve to remove false and ungrounded suspicions, not only from me, but also from others. "when in the course of the last year, the works and opinions of martin luther were spread abroad and became known, they came into my hands before they had been condemned and forbidden by the ecclesiastical and lay authorities; and like other newly printed works, i saw and read them. in the beginning, these doctrines appeared to me somewhat strange and objectionable, and contrary to the long-established theology and clever teaching of the schools, in opposition also to the papal and ecclesiastical rights, and to the old, and, as i then considered them, praiseworthy customs and usages of our forefathers. but it was not less evident to me that this man interspersed everywhere in his teaching clear and distinct passages from the holy scriptures, according to which all human teaching ought to be guided and judged, accepted or rejected. i was much amazed, and stirred up to read these doctrines, not once or twice, but frequently, with much industry and earnest attention, and to weigh and compare them with the evangelical writings to which they constantly appealed. the longer i did this, the more i perceived with what great dignity the holy scriptures were treated by this learned and enlightened man,--how purely and delicately he handled them, how cleverly and well he everywhere brought them forward, how skilfully he compared and weighed them one with the other, and how he explained the dark and difficult texts, by bringing forward others that were clearer and more comprehensible. i saw also that there was great mastership in his treatment of the scriptures, and that it afforded the most substantial aid to a right understanding of them, so that every intelligent layman who industriously studied his books, could distinctly perceive that these doctrines were true and christian, and had the firmest foundation. on that account they impressed themselves on my mind, and deeply touched my heart: it was to me as if a veil had fallen from before my eyes; i felt they were in no wise to be distrusted, like those of so many other school teachers that i had formerly read, because their aim was neither dominion, fame, nor worldly enjoyment, but to place before us, only the poor, despised, and crucified christ, and to teach us to live a pure, moderate, and sober life, conformable in all things to the doctrine of christ; and they were therefore too hard and self-denying for the ambitious and many beneficed priests and doctors, puffed up with pride and vain glory, who sought in the scriptures their own honour and fame, more than the spirit of god. therefore would i rather give up all my worldly means and life itself, than be deprived of them, not for the sake of luther, who, except as he appears in his writings, is unknown to me, and being only a man, may, like other men, be in error; but for the sake of the word of god, which he holds so clearly and distinctly, and explains so victoriously and triumphantly from the fullness of his undaunted spirit. "the enemy endeavoured to embitter this honey to us by representing that luther was testy and irritable, aggressive and sarcastic; that he attacked his opponents the great princes and ecclesiastical and lay lords, with audacity; had recourse to abuse and slander, and forgot all brotherly love and christian moderation. he had, it is true, often displeased me by this, and i would not desire any one to do the like; but i could not on that account reject and cast aside his good christian teaching, nor even condemn him in these respects; and for this reason, that i could not read his mind, nor the secret counsels of god, as perhaps it might be the means of drawing people from his teaching. and as it was not his own cause, but the divine word that he defended, much allowance should be made for him, and all should be attributed to zealous indignation for god. even christ, the source and pattern of all meekness, severely rebuked before others the stubborn and stony-hearted pharisees, and called them false hypocrites, painted sepulchres, sons of harlots, blind leaders of the blind, and also the children of the devil, as may be seen in the gospels. (matt. xii. , ; john viii.) perhaps luther would gladly speak well of many if he could do so with truth; he may not think it fitting to call those who are in darkness, enlightened; nor rapacious wolves, good shepherds; nor the unmerciful, merciful; for without doubt, had god not been more merciful to him than they have been, he would not now be upon earth. but however this may be, i will not defend him in this place, but laying aside his expressions of contempt and abuse, accept with thankfulness the earnestness of his valiant christian writings for our amendment. "as i openly persevered in what i had undertaken advisedly, and would not desist at the bidding of any one, being bound as a christian not to do so, the displeasure of my superior at alpirsbach, and certain others of the monastery, greatly increased, and the sword of god's anger began to cause division and discord between the brothers. i was peremptorily ordered to abstain from my undertaking, and also not to speak of these matters with others; but as i could not do this, being bound to yield obedience to god's commands, rather than to those of man, i earnestly begged of my abbot and monastery, that they would graciously give me leave of absence. i wished for a year or two to support myself at some school or elsewhere, without being any expense to the monastery, and perhaps in the mean while, by a godly examination of the cause of our discord, it might be brought to a peaceable end. "this being however refused by them, i resolved, after having taken counsel with many wise, learned, and god-fearing men and friends, to leave the monastery." so far ambrosius blaurer. whilst brother ambrosius was yet looking anxiously from the windows of his cell, over the pines of the black forest into the free expanse, another was riding out of the gate of a princely castle near the woodclad mountains of thuringia. behind him lay the dark _drachenschlucht_; before him the long ridge of the magic hörselberges, wherein dwelt an enchantress, to whom the pope, that wicked forgiver of sins, had once driven back the repentant tannhäuser. but the dry stick which the pope had then thrust into the ground, brought forth green foliage during the night; god himself confuted the pope. the poor penitent man no longer required the bishop of rome to enable him to find mercy and grace from his heavenly father; but the wicked pope himself would descend into the jaws of the old dragon. the exterior of the man who was riding down from wartburg to wittenberg, shall be described by a young student who was travelling with a friend from switzerland to saxony. his narrative is well known, yet we must not omit it here. his name was john kessler; he was born at st. gallen, in ; his parents were poor citizens; he attended the school of the monastery there, studied theology at basle, and went early in the spring of with a companion to wittenberg, to continue his studies under the reformers. in the autumn of , he returned to his native town, and as the new doctrines had not yet taken root there, being very poor he determined to learn a trade, and became a saddler. he soon collected a small community round him, taught and preached, laboured in his workshop, wrote books, and became at last schoolmaster, librarian and member of a council of education. he had an unpretending, pure nature, with a heart full of love and gentle warmth, but he took no active part in the theological controversies of his time. his narrative begins as follows:-- "when we were travelling to wittenberg to study the holy scriptures, we arrived at jena in thuringia, in, god knows how wild a storm; and after many inquiries in the city for a lodging wherein we might pass the night, we could not find any; everywhere lodging was denied us, for it was shrovetide,[ ] when pilgrims and strangers were little cared for. so we determined to leave the town, and endeavour to reach a village where they would lodge us. in the mean while we met at the gate an honest man, who spoke kindly to us, and inquired where we were going so late, as there was neither house nor farm that we could reach before night; besides which, it was a road that was difficult to find; therefore he advised us to remain there. "we answered: 'dear father, we have tried all the inns to which we have been directed, and having everywhere been refused a lodging, we are obliged to proceed further.' then he asked us whether we had made inquiry at the black bear; and we replied: 'it has never been mentioned to us; tell us, dear father, where we shall find it.' he then showed us a little way out of the town, and when we came to the black bear, behold, the landlord, instead of refusing us, as all the others had done, came to meet us at the door, and not only received us, but kindly begged of us to lodge there, and took us into a room. "there we found a man sitting alone at a table, and before him lay a book; he greeted us kindly, and bid us approach and sit by him at the table; for we were seating ourselves quietly on a bench close to the door, as our shoes (if one may be allowed to write it) were so covered with mud and dirt, that we were ashamed to enter the room on account of our dirty footmarks. he invited us to drink, which we could not refuse, and as we found him so kind and cordial, we seated ourselves by him at his table as he had asked us, and called for a quart of wine, that we might return his civility by asking him to drink. we supposed him however to be a knight, as he was dressed in hosen and jerkin, with a red leather cap, and without armour, and sat, according to the custom of his country, with a sword at his side, with one hand resting on the pommel and the other clasping the hilt. his eyes were black and deep set, flashing and sparkling like stars, so that one could hardly bear to look at them. "shortly after, he asked where we were born, but answered himself: 'you are swiss; from what part of switzerland do you come?' we replied, 'from st. gallen.' he then said, 'if you are going, as i hear, to wittenberg, you will find there some good countrymen of yours, dr. jerome schurf and his brother dr. augustin.' "we said, 'we have letters to them;' and we proceeded to inquire: 'can you inform us, sir, whether martin luther is now at wittenberg; or if not, where he is?' "he answered, 'i know for certain that luther is not now at wittenberg, but will return soon. philip melancthon is however there, who teaches greek, and others who teach hebrew. in truth i would advise you to study both, as they are needful for the right understanding of the holy scriptures.' we replied, 'so help us god! as long as he grants us life, we will not desist till we have seen and heard this man; for on his account we have undertaken this journey, as we learn that he will overthrow the priesthood, together with the mass, that being a service founded on error. as we have been brought up by our parents, and destined from our youth to be priests, we are anxious to hear what his teaching is, and what authority he can bring forward for such propositions.' "after we had thus spoken, he inquired: 'where have you studied hitherto?'--answer: 'at basle.'--then he said: 'how are things going on at basle? is erasmus of rotterdam still there, and what is he doing?' "we replied: 'we only know, sir, that all is going on well, and that erasmus is there; but what he is about is unknown to and concealed from every one, as he keeps himself quite quiet and private.' "this manner of talk appeared to us very strange in the knight; how could he know everything relative to the two schurfs, of philip, and erasmus, and also be aware of the necessity of learning greek and hebrew? he introduced occasionally latin words, so that we bethought us he must be more than a common knight. "'dear sons,' he said, 'what do they think in switzerland about luther?' "we answered: 'sir, there, as everywhere, opinions vary. many cannot exalt him sufficiently, and thank god who has manifested his truth through him, and exposed error; but many condemn him as a cursed heretic, especially all the ecclesiastics.' "he answered: 'i can well imagine it of the priests.' "thus holding converse, we became quite at home with him, so that my companion took up the book that was lying before him and opened it. it was the hebrew psalter; he put it down again quickly and the knight drew it towards him. then my companion said: 'i would give one of my fingers to be able to understand this language.' he answered, 'you will have no difficulty in comprehending it, providing you devote yourself to it industriously; i also desire to know more of it, and study it daily.' "in the mean while evening drew on, and it became quite dark. the landlord came to the table, and when he learned our longing desire to know martin luther, he said, 'dear comrades, if you had been here two days ago, you would have succeeded, for he was here, and sat at this table, and,' pointing with his finger, 'in that very place.' we were much vexed and provoked that we had missed him, and laid the blame of it on the muddy bad road which had delayed us; but we said, 'we rejoice, however, that we are in the same house and sitting at the same table at which he sat.' "at this the landlord laughed and went away. after a little while the landlord called to me to come to him outside the door of the room. i was frightened, and thought that perhaps without intending it i had done something that was unbecoming. "then he said to me, 'as i know that you wish to hear and see luther; it is he who sits by you.' "i took this for a joke, and said, 'i see indeed, good sir, that you wish to banter me by imposing upon me a false luther.' he answered, 'it is he most assuredly; but do not show that you think so, or that you recognize him.' i assented, but did not believe him. i went again into the room, and placed myself at the table; and was anxious to tell my companion what the landlord had said. at last i turned to him and whispered secretly, 'the landlord has told me that this is luther.' he would not believe it any more than i, and said, 'he perhaps told you that it was hutten, and you did not rightly understand him.' as the dress and bearing reminded me more of hutten than a monk like luther, i was persuaded that he had said it was hutten, as the beginning of both names sounded so much alike: what i further said, was as if spoken to the knight, herr ulrich von hutten. "in the mean while there arrived two merchants, who intended to remain there all night: after they had taken off their travelling dresses and spurs, one of them laid down near him an unbound book. then martinus asked what kind of book it was; and he answered, 'it is dr. luther's exposition of some of the gospels and epistles, just printed and published; have you not yet seen it?' martinus said, 'i shall soon get it.' the host now desired us to arrange ourselves at table, as it was time to eat; we begged of him to have consideration for us and give us something separate, but he replied, 'dear comrades, place yourselves by these gentlemen at table, i will charge you moderately.' when martinus heard this, he said, 'come here, i will settle for you with the landlord.' "during the meal, martinus spoke many kind and godly words, so that the merchants as well as ourselves were mute before him; attending more to his words than to the viands before us. amongst other things, he lamented with a sigh that the princes and lords just then assembled at the imperial diet at nuremberg, on account of the troubles of the german nation, and for the sake of the pending proceedings concerning god's word, were only inclined to waste their time in costly tournaments, sledge drives, vanity, and dissipation, when fear of god and christian prayer would be of more avail. 'but such are our _christian_ princes.' he further said, 'there was hope that evangelical truth would bear more fruit among the children and descendants who were not poisoned by papal errors, and might yet be grounded in pure truth and the word of god, than among the parents in whom error was so deeply rooted that it could hardly be eradicated. "then the merchants gave their opinions freely, and one of them said, 'i am a simple layman, and understand little of these disputes, but i must speak of things as i find them; luther must either be an angel from heaven, or a devil out of hell. i would gladly, however, give ten gulden to confess to him, for i believe he could and would give me good instruction.' then the landlord came to us, and said secretly, 'martinus has paid for your supper:' that gave us much pleasure, not for the sake of the money and food, but for the hospitality shown us by this man. after supper the merchants rose and went to the stable to look after their horses; in the mean while martinus remained alone with us in the room; we thanked him for the honour he had done us, as well as for the gift, and as we did so we showed him that we took him for ulrich von hutten; but he said, 'i am not hutten.' "then the landlord coming in, martinus said, 'i have become a nobleman to-night, for these swiss have taken me for ulrich von hutten.' the landlord replied, 'you are not him, but martinus luther.' then martinus laughing as if it were a joke, said, 'these take me for hutten, you for luther, soon i shall become a markolfus.'[ ] after this talk he took a long glass of beer, and said, according to the custom of the country, 'drink with me a friendly glass with god's blessing;' and when i was going to take the glass from him, he changed it, and offered instead a glass with wine, saying, 'the beer is foreign to you, and you are unaccustomed to it, drink the wine.' meanwhile he rose and threw his tabard over his shoulders, and took leave. he held out his hand to us, and said, 'if you go to wittenberg, greet dr. jerome schurf for me.' we replied, 'we will do that with pleasure, but how must we designate you, that he may understand your greeting?' he answered, 'say nothing further than that he who is coming sends you greeting; he will immediately understand these words.' so he departed from us and went to rest. "afterwards the merchants returned into the room, and called to the landlord to bring them something to drink; in the mean while they had much talk about the guest, and wondered who he could be. the landlord declared it was luther, and the merchants were soon convinced of it, and regretted that they had spoken so unbecomingly before him, and said, 'they would rise at an early hour in the morning, that they might see him before he started; and would beg of him not to be angry with them, as they had not known who he was.' this they did, and found him in the morning in the stable; but martinus answered them, 'you said last night at supper that you would give ten gulden to confess yourself to luther; when you do so, you will see and learn if i am martinus luther.' he did not make himself further known, but mounted his horse and rode off to wittenberg. "on the following saturday, the day before the first sunday in lent, we presented ourselves at dr. jerome schurf's house to deliver our letters. when we entered the room, behold we found there the knight martinus just as we had seen him at jena, and with him were philippus melancthon, justus jodocus jonas, nicholas amsdorf, and dr. augustin schurf, who were telling him what had happened during his absence from wittenberg: he greeted us, and laughing, pointed with his finger, and said, 'this is the philip melancthon of whom i told you.'" there is nothing more remarkable in the truthlike narrative of kessler, than the cheerful tranquillity of the great man whilst riding through thuringia under ban and interdict, his heart filled with anxious care, on account of the great danger with which his doctrines were threatened by the fanaticism of his own partisans. chapter vi. dr. luther. ( - .) even the most enlightened roman catholics look with horror upon luther and zwinglius as originators of the schism in their old church. it is to be hoped that such views may disappear in germany. all sects have reason to thank luther for whatever depth and spirituality now remains in their faith: the heretic of wittenberg was as much the reformer of german roman catholics as of protestants; not only, because in the struggle with him the teachers of the roman catholic church were obliged to erect at trent a firmer building on the ruins of the church of the middle ages, but because he left the impress of his mind on the character of the people, in which we all equally partake. some things for which the obstinate and pugnacious luther contended, against both reformers and catholics, have been condemned by the free judgment of modern times. his doctrines, vehement and high strained, wrung from a soul full of reverence, were in some weighty points erroneous, and he was sometimes bitter, unjust, indeed harsh to his opponents; but such things should not lead germans astray, for all the deficiencies of his nature and education disappear in the fullness of blessing, which streamed from his great heart into the life of his nation. to few mortals has it been granted to exercise such an influence on his cotemporaries and on after times, as has fallen to the lot of luther: his life may be divided into three periods. in the first, the character of the man was formed; it was powerfully influenced by the surrounding world, but from the depths of human nature, under the pressure of individual character, thoughts and convictions were gradually strengthened into resolutions which broke forth into action, and the individual commenced a struggle with the world. then followed another period, one of more energetic action, of more rapid development and of greater triumph. ever greater became the influence of the individual on the world; powerfully did he draw the whole nation along with him; he became their hero and model; the inward life of millions seemed concentrated in one man. but a single individual, however powerful in character, however great his aims, could not long dominate over the spirit of a nation, the life, strength, and wants of which are manifold. the man is under the constraint of the logical consequences of his thoughts and actions; all the spirits of his own deeds force him into a fixed limited path; but the soul of a people requires for its life, incessant working with the most varied aims. much that an individual cannot bring himself to receive, is taken up by others in opposition to him. the reaction of the world begins: it is first weak, and from many quarters, with various tendencies and little authority; then it becomes stronger and more victorious. finally, the inward spirit of the individual life confines itself within its own system, and becomes only a single element in the formation of the people. the end of a great life is always full of secret resignation, mixed with bitterness and quiet suffering. and thus it was with luther. the first of these periods ended with the day on which he affixed his theses; the second continued till his return from the castle of wartburg; the third till the beginning of the smalkaldic war and his death. it is not our intention to give his life here, but only to describe shortly how he became what he was. there was much in him which, only viewed from a distance, appears strange and unpleasing, but the more closely we examine his character, the greater and more amiable we find it. luther rose from the peasant class; his father left möhra, a place amid the forests of the thuringian mountains, which was half peopled by his kindred, to engage in mining in the district of mansfeld; thus the boy was born in a cottage, where the terrors inspired by the spirits of the pine woods, and dark fissures which served as entrances to the mine in the mountains, were still strong and vivid. his mind was no doubt often occupied with the dark traditions of the heathen mythology; he was accustomed to perceive in the terrors of nature, as well as in the life of man, the work of the powers of darkness. when he became a monk, these recollections of his childhood blended themselves with the figure of the devil, and the busy tempter always wore the same aspect to his imagination as the mischievous hobgoblins that frequent the hearth and stable of the countryman. his father was a man of concentrated and energetic character, firm and decided, and gifted with a full measure of strong common sense: he struggled hard to attain wealth; he kept strict discipline in his house, and in later years luther remembered with grief the severe punishment he had received as a boy, and the sorrow it had inflicted on his childish heart. the influence of the old hans luther on the life of his son lasted till his death in . when martin went secretly into a monastery at the age of twenty-two, the old man was violently angry, as he had intended to provide for his son by a good marriage. at last friends succeeded in bringing about a reconciliation between them, and when the supplicating son approached his father, confessing that he had been driven by a fearful apparition to take the monastic vows, he replied to him in the following words: "god grant that it may not have been a delusion of the devil." he agitated still more the heart of the monk by the angry question: "you thought you were listening to the command of god when you went into the cloister; have you never heard that it is a duty to be obedient to parents?" this made a deep impression on the son, and when, many years afterwards, he was residing at wartburg, cast out of the church, and proscribed by the emperor, he wrote to his father these touching words: "do you still wish to withdraw me from the thraldom of the monastery? you are still my father, i your son; you have on your side the power and commands of god; on my side there is only human error. behold, that you may not boast yourself before god, he has anticipated you, and taken me out himself." from that time he was as it were restored to the old man. hans had once reckoned upon having a grandson for whom he would work, and to this idea he stubbornly returned, regardless as to what the rest of world thought; he soon therefore admonished him earnestly, to marry, and his persuasions had a great share in determining luther to do so. when the father, who at a great age had become councillor of mansfeld, was about to draw his last breath, and the priest bending over him asked him whether he died in the pure faith of christ and the holy gospel, old hans collected himself once more, and said shortly: "he is a rogue who does not believe in it." when, afterwards, luther was relating this, he added admiringly: "that was indeed a man of the olden time." the son received the account of his father's death, in the fortress of coburg; and when he read the letter, which his wife had conveyed to him with the portrait of his youngest daughter, magdalen, he spoke only these words to his companions: "god's will be done, my father is dead." he arose, took his psalter, went into his room, where he wept and prayed, and returned with a composed mind. the same day he wrote to melancthon with deep emotion, of the heartfelt love of his father, and of the entire confidence that existed between them. "never did i despise death so much as i do now: how often do we suffer death by anticipation before we really die! i am now the eldest of my race, and i have a right to follow him." such was the father from whom the son derived the groundwork of his character, veracity, a steadfast will, an honest understanding, and circumspection in the management of business and in his dealings with men. his childhood was full of hardships, and he had much that was disagreeable to endure at his latin school, and as a chorister; but he experienced also much good-will and love, and he retained, what is more easily kept in the smaller circles of life, a heart full of trust in the goodness of human nature, and respect for the great people of the world. his father was able to support him comfortably at the university of erfurt; he was then full of youthful vigour, and took great delight in joining his companions in vocal and instrumental music. of his mental life at that time we know but little, only that when in peril of death, in a storm, "a fearful apparition called to him from heaven." in his terror he vowed to go to a monastery, and quickly and secretly carried out his resolution. it is here that our accounts of the state of his mind begin. at variance with his father, full of terror at an incomprehensible eternity, frightened by the anger of god, he began, in a convulsive struggle, a life of self-denial, penance, and devotion. he found no peace. all the highest questions of life stormed with fearful power over his distracted soul, which had no anchor to rest on. strongly did he feel the need of being in harmony with god and the world, and all that he derived from his faith was unintelligible and repulsive. the mysteries of the moral government of the world were to his mind matters of the deepest import. that the good should be tormented and the wicked made happy, that god should condemn the whole human race with the monstrous curse of sin, because an inexperienced woman had eaten an apple, and that on the other hand the same god should bear with our sins, in love and patience; that christ should sometimes repel upright people with severity, and at others receive adulterers, publicans, and murderers,--about all this, the wisdom of man becomes foolishness. he complained in these words to his ghostly counsellor, staupitz: "dear doctor, our lord god does indeed deal terribly with us; who can serve him when he deals such blows on all?" to which the answer was: "how could he otherwise bow down the stiff-necked?" this ingenious argument was of no comfort to the youth. in his earnest strivings to find the incomprehensible god, he tormented himself in searching out all his thoughts and dreams. every ebullition of youthful blood, every earthly thought, appeared to him a shocking iniquity; he began to despair, and wrestled with himself in endless prayer, fasting, and mortification. on one occasion the brothers were obliged to break into his cell, where he had been lying the whole day in a state not far removed from insanity. staupitz observed with warm sympathy the agitation and torments of his soul, and endeavoured, though only by rough consolation, to give it rest. once when luther had written to him, "oh my sins! my sins! my sins!" his ghostly counsellor answered him: "you wish to be without sin, and yet have no real sins. christ is the forgiver of mortal sins, such as the murder of parents, &c., &c. if you would have the help of christ, you must have mortal sins to record, and not come to him with such trifles and peccadilloes, making a sin out of every little infirmity." the way in which luther raised himself out of this despair decided the whole tenour of his life. the god whom he served appeared then as a god of terror, whose anger was only to be appeased by the means of grace given by the old church, especially by continual confession, for which endless forms and directions were given, which were but cold and empty to the spirit. by the prescriptions of the church and the practice of so-called good works, young luther had not attained the feeling of true reconciliation and inward peace. at last a sentence from his spiritual adviser pierced him like an arrow: "there is no true repentance that does not begin by the love of god; the love of god, and the reception of it in the soul, does not follow, but precedes the means of grace enjoined by the church." this teaching which came from tauler's school became for him the foundation of a new, genial, and moral relation with god; it was a holy discovery to him. the change in his own spirit was the main point for which he must labour; repentance, penance, and expiation must proceed from the inward feelings of the heart. it was by his own efforts alone that man could raise himself to god. for the first time he experienced what direct prayer was. in the place of a distant god, whom hitherto he had sought in vain, by hundreds of forms and childish confessions, he beheld the image of an all-loving protector, with whom he could hold communion at every hour, whether in joy or sorrow, before whom he could lay every grief and doubt, who incessantly sympathized with, and cared for him, and, like a good father, either granted or denied the requests of his heart. thus he learned to pray, and how ardent his prayers became! now he was able to live in tranquillity, being daily and hourly in communion with his god, whom he had at last found; his intercourse with the highest became more confidential than with those dearest to him on earth. when he poured out his whole soul before him, he obtained rest, holy peace, and a feeling of inexpressible happiness; he felt himself a portion of god, and this sense of intimate communion with him he preserved during the whole remainder of his life. he needed no longer the distant paths of the old church; with his god in his heart he could defy the whole world. he already ventured to believe, that teaching must be false which laid such great weight on works of penance; that besides these there remained only cold satisfaction and ceremonious confession; and when later he learned from melancthon that the greek word for penance, "_metanoia_," denotes literally "a change of heart," it appeared to him as a wonderful revelation. on this foundation was built that confidence of faith, with which he brought forward the words of scripture in opposition to the prescriptions of the church. it was in this way that luther, whilst still in the monastery, attained to inward freedom. the whole of his later teaching, his struggle against the indulgences, his unshaken firmness, and his method of scriptural exposition, all rest on the inward process by which as a monk he had found his god; and one may truly say that the new period of german history began with luther's cloister prayers. life soon placed him under its hammer, to harden the pure metal of his soul. luther unwillingly took the professorship of dialectics in the new university of wittenberg, in ; he would rather have taught that new theology which he already began to consider the truth. it is known that in the year he went to rome on the business of his order; how devoutly and piously he lingered in the holy city, and with what dismay he was seized on observing the heathenish character of the people of rome, and the worldliness and corrupt morals of the ecclesiastics. but deeply as he was shaken by the depravity of the hierarchy, he felt that his whole life was still enclosed in it; out of it there was nothing: the exalted idea of the roman catholic church, and its triumphant reign of years, fettered even the most powerful minds; and when the german in the dress of a romish priest, and in danger of his life, contemplated the ruins of ancient rome, and stood in amazement before the gigantic pillars of the temples, which, according to tradition, had once been destroyed by the goths little did the valiant man from the mountains of the old hermunduren then think, that it would be his own fate to destroy the temples of the rome of the middle ages, more completely than the brethren of his ancestors had done in the olden time. luther returned from rome still a faithful son of the great mother, holding all heretical proceedings, as for example those of the bohemians, in detestation. he sympathized warmly in reuchlin's dispute with the cologne inquisitor, and about had sided with the humanitarians. but even then he began to find something in their teaching which separated him from them. when some years later he was at gotha, he did not visit the worthy mutianus rufus, though he wrote him a very civil letter of excuse. soon after, he was much wounded by the coldness and worldly tone of erasmus's dialogues, in which theological sinners are turned into ridicule. the profane worldliness of the humanitarians did not suit the earnest faith of luther; it aroused that pride which had already taken root in his soul, and caused him afterwards to wound the sensitive erasmus in a letter intended to be conciliatory. even the form of literary moderation adopted by luther at this time, gives us the impression of being wrung by the pressure of christian humility from a stubborn spirit. he felt himself already strong and secure in his faith: in he wrote to spalatinus, who was the connecting link between him and the elector, frederic the wise, that the elector was of all men most knowing in secular wisdom, but in things pertaining to god and the salvation of souls, he was struck with sevenfold blindness. luther had reason for the opinion here expressed, for the domestic disposition of this sober-minded prince showed itself in his anxiety to provide for his home the means of grace bestowed by the old church. amongst other things he had a particular fancy for relics, and staupitz, vicar-general of the augustine monks in germany, was at that time engaged in collecting these treasures for the elector. this absence of his superior was very important to luther, for he had to fill his place. he was already a man of high repute in his order; but though a professor at wittenberg, he continued to reside in his monastery, and generally wore his monk's dress. he visited the thirty monasteries of his congregation, deposed priors, delivered strong rebukes on account of lax discipline, severely admonished criminal monks, and had become in a man of fully developed character and commanding powers; yet he still preserved somewhat of the trusting simplicity of the monastic brother. thus, when he had affixed the theses against tetzel to the church door, he writes confidingly to the archbishop albrecht of maintz, the protector of the trader in indulgences. full of the popular faith in the good sense and the good will of the governing powers, luther thought--he often said so later--nothing was necessary but to represent straightforwardly to the princes of the church the injurious effects and immorality of these malpractices.[ ] but how childish did this zeal of the monk appear to the smooth and worldly prince of the church! that which had roused such deep indignation in the upright man, had from the archbishop's point of view long been a settled question. the sale of indulgences was a much lamented evil in the church, but unavoidable, as are to politicians many regulations not good in themselves, but necessary to preserve some great interests. the greatest interest of the archbishops and the guardians of the romish church was their dominion, which was to be won and maintained by such means of acquiring money. the greatest interest of luther and the people was truth; here, therefore, their paths separated. thus luther entered into the struggle, full of faith, still a true son of the church, and with all the german devotedness to authority; but yet his firm connection with his god worked in him strongly against this authority. he was then thirty-four years of age, in the full vigour of his strength, of middle size, thin, but strongly made, so that he appeared tall by the side of the small delicate boyish figure of melancthon. fiery eyes, whose intense brilliancy was almost overpowering, glowed in a face in which one could perceive the effects of night watches and inward struggles. though a man of great repute, not only in his order, but in the university, he was no great scholar; he first began to learn greek with melancthon, and soon afterwards hebrew; he possessed no great compass of book learning, and never had any ambition to shine as a latin poet. but he was astonishingly well read in the holy scriptures and some of the fathers, and whatever he took up he worked out profoundly. he was unwearied in his care for the souls of his congregation, a zealous preacher, and a warm friend; he had a certain frank gaiety, together with a self-possessed demeanour, and much courteous tact; the certainty of his convictions appeared in his social intercourse, and gave a cheerful radiance to his countenance. he was irritable, and easily moved to tears; the trifling events of the day excited and disturbed him; but when he was called upon for any great effort, and had subdued the first agitation of his nerves--which, for instance, had overcome him on his first entrance at the imperial diet at worms--he then attained a wonderful composure and confidence. he did not know what fear was; indeed, his lion nature took pleasure in the most dangerous situations. the malicious snares of his enemies, and the dangers to which his life was occasionally exposed, he seemed to consider hardly worth speaking about. the foundation of this more than human heroism--if one may venture to call it so--was the firm personal union between him and his god. for a long period, with smiles and inward gladness, he desired to serve truth and god by becoming a martyr. a fearful struggle still lay before him, but it was not caused by the opposition of men; he had to contend constantly for years against the devil himself; he overcame also the terror of hell, which threatened to obscure his reason. such a man might be destroyed, but could hardly be conquered. the period of struggle which now follows, from the beginning of the dispute about indulgences to his departure from wartburg, the time of his greatest triumph and greatest popularity, is that of which perhaps most is known, and yet it appears to us that his character even then is not rightly judged. nothing in this period is more remarkable than the way in which luther gradually became estranged from the romish church. he was sober-minded and without ambition, and clung with deep reverence to the high idea of the church, that community of believers fifteen hundred years old; yet in four short years he departed from the faith of his fathers, and shook himself free of the soil in which he had been so firmly rooted. during this whole time he had to maintain the struggle alone, or at least with very few faithful confederates: after melancthon was united with him. he overcame all the dangers of fierce encounters, not only against enemies, but against the anxious dissuasions of honest friends and patrons. three times did the romish party try to silence him by the authority of cajetan, the persuasive eloquence of miltitz, and the unseasonable assiduity of the pugnacious eckius; three times he addressed the pope in letters which are among the most valuable documents of that century. then came the separation: he was anathematized and excommunicated; he burnt--according to the old university custom--the enemy's challenge, and with it the possibility of return. with joyful confidence he went to worms, where the princes of his nation were to decide whether he should die, or henceforth live amongst them, without pope or church, by the precepts of the holy scriptures alone. when first he published in print the "theses against tetzel," he was astounded at the prodigious effect they produced in germany, at the venomous hatred of his enemies, and at the tokens of friendly approbation which he received from all sides. had he done anything so very unprecedented? the opinions he expressed were entertained by all the best men in the church. when the bishop of brandenburg sent the abbot of lehnin to him, with a request that he would withdraw from the press his german sermon upon indulgences and grace, however right its contents might be, the poor augustine friar was deeply moved that so great a man should hold such friendly and cordial intercourse with him, and he felt inclined to give up the publication rather than make himself a lion disturbing the church. he zealously endeavoured to refute the report that the elector had induced him to engage in the dispute with tetzel. "they wish to involve the innocent prince in the odium that belongs to me only." he desired as much as possible to preserve peace with miltitz before cajetan; only one thing he would not do: he would not retract what he had said against the unchristian sale of indulgences. but this retraction was the only thing that the hierarchy required of him. long did he continue to wish for peace, reconciliation, and a return to the peaceful occupations of his cell; but some false assertion of his opponents always reinflamed his blood, and every contradiction was followed by a new and sharper stroke of his weapons. the heroic confidence of luther is striking; even in his first letter to leo x., dated the th may, , he is still the faithful son of the church; he still concludes by laying himself at the feet of the pope; offers him his whole life and being, and promises to respect his voice as the voice of christ, whose representative he is as sovereign of the church. but in the midst of all this submission, which became him as a monastic brother, these impassioned words burst forth: "if i have deserved death, i do not refuse to die." and in the letter itself, how strong are the expressions with which he describes the insolence of the indulgence vendors! honest, too, are his expressions of surprise at the effect of his theses, which were difficult to understand, being, according to the old custom, composed of enigmatical and involved propositions. good humour pervades the manly words, "what shall i do? i cannot retract. i am only an unlearned man, of narrow capacity, not highly cultivated, in a century full of intellect and taste, which might even put cicero into a corner. but necessity has no law; the goose must cackle among the swans." the following year all who esteemed luther endeavoured to bring about a reconciliation. staupitz, spalatinus, and the elector scolded, entreated, and urged. even the pope's chamberlain, miltitz, praised his opinions, whispered to him that he was quite right, entreated, drank with, and kissed him; though luther indeed had reason to believe that the courtier had a secret commission to take him if possible a prisoner to rome. the mediators happily hit on a point in which the refractory man heartily agreed with them; it was, that respect for the church must be maintained and its unity not destroyed; luther therefore promised to keep quiet and to leave the disputed points to the decision of three eminent bishops. under these circumstances he was pressed to write a letter of apology to the pope; but this letter of the rd of march, , though undoubtedly approved by the mediators and wrung from the writer, shows the advance that luther had already made. of the humility which our theologians discover in it, there is little; it is, however, thoroughly cautious and diplomatic in its style. luther regrets that what he has done to defend the honour of the romish church has been attributed to him as a want of respect; he promises henceforth to be silent on the subject of indulgences,--provided his opponents would be the same, and to address a letter to the people admonishing them loyally to obey the church,[ ] and not estrange themselves from it, because his opponents had been insolent and he himself harsh. but all these submissive words could not conceal the chasm which already separated his spirit from that of the romish church. with what cold irony he writes: "what shall i do, most holy father? all counsel fails me; i cannot bear your anger, and yet know not how to avoid it. it is desired that i should retract; if by this what they aim at could be effected, i would do so without delay, but the opposition of my opponents has spread my writings further than i had ever hoped, and they have laid too deep hold on the souls of men. there is now much talent, education, and free judgment in our germany: were i to retract, i should, in the opinions of my germans, cover the church with still greater shame; but it is my opponents who have brought disgrace in germany upon the romish church." he concludes his letter politely. "do not doubt my readiness to do more, if it should be in my power. may christ preserve your holiness. m. luther." there is much concealed behind this measured reserve. even if the conceited eckius had not immediately after stirred up the indignation of the whole university of wittenberg, this letter could hardly have availed at rome as a sign of repentant submission. the thunderbolt of excommunication was launched; rome had spoken. luther, now restored to himself, wrote once more to the pope; it was the celebrated letter, which, at the request of the indefatigable miltitz, he antedated, the th of september, , in order to ignore the bull of excommunication. it is the noble expression of a determined spirit which contemplates its opponent from its elevated position, grand in its uprightness and noble in its sentiments! he speaks with sincere sympathy of the pope, and of his difficult position; but it is the sympathy of a stranger: he still mourns over the church, but it is evident that he has already passed out of it. it is a parting letter written with cutting sharpness and confidence, but in a tone of quiet sorrow, as of a man separating himself from one whom he had once loved, but found unworthy. luther had in the course of these years become quite another man; he had acquired caution and confidence in intercourse with the great, and had gained a dear-bought insight into the political and private character of the governing powers. to the peaceful nature of his own sovereign nothing could be more painful than this bitter theological strife, which, though sometimes advantageous to him politically, always disquieted his spirit. continual endeavours were made at court to restrain the wittenbergers, but luther was always beforehand with them. whenever the faithful spalatinus warned him against the publication of some new aggressive writing, he received for answer, that it could not be helped; that the sheets were already printed, already in many hands, and could not be withdrawn.[ ] in intercourse also with his opponents luther acquired the confidence of an experienced combatant. he was very indignant when in the spring of , jerome emser had inveigled him at dresden to a supper, at which he was obliged to contend with angry enemies; and still more when he heard that a begging dominican had listened at the door, and had the following day reported all over the town that luther had been put down by the number of his opponents, and that the listener had with difficulty restrained himself from springing into the room and spitting in his face. at the first interview with cajetan, he placed himself humbly at the feet of the prince of the church; but after the second, he permitted himself to say that the cardinal was as well suited to his business as an ass to play on the harp. he treated the polite miltitz with corresponding civility; the romanist had hoped to tame the german bear, but the courtier himself was soon put in his proper position, and was made use of by luther; in the disputation at leipsic with eckius, the favourable impression produced by luther's unembarrassed, honest, and self-composed demeanour, was the best counterbalance to the self-sufficient confidence of his dexterous opponent. but luther's inward life demands a higher sympathy. it was a fearful period for him; he experienced together with a sense of elevation and victory, mortal anguish, tormenting doubts, and terrible temptations. he, with a few others, stood against the whole of christendom, always opposed by the most powerful and implacable enemies; and these comprised all that he had from his youth considered most holy. what if he should be in error? he was answerable for every soul that he carried away with him. and whither was he taking them? what was there beyond the pale of the church?--destruction, temporal and eternal ruin. opponents and timid friends cut his heart with reproaches and warnings, but incomparably greater was one pain, that secret gnawing and uncertainty which he dared not confess to any one. in prayer, indeed, he found peace; when his glowing soul soared up to god, he received abundance of strength, rest, and cheerfulness; but in his hours of relaxation, when his irritable spirit writhed under any obnoxious impressions, he felt himself embarrassed, torn asunder, and under the interdict of another power which was inimical to his god. from his childhood he had known how busily evil spirits hover around men, and from the scriptures he had learned that the devil labours to injure even the purest. on his own path lurked busy devils seeking to weaken and entice him, and to make countless numbers miserable through him. he saw them working in the angry mien of the cardinal, the sneering countenance of eckius, and indeed in his own soul; and he knew how powerful they were in rome. in his youth he had been tormented by apparitions, and now they had returned to him. out of the dark shadows of his study rose the tempter as a spectre, clutching at his reason, and when praying, the devil approached him, even under the form of the saviour, radiant as king of heaven, with his five wounds as the old church represented him. but luther knew that christ only approaches weak man in his word, or in humble form, as he hung upon the cross; so by a violent effort he collected himself and cried out to the apparition: "away with thee, thou vile devil!" then the spectre vanished.[ ] thus again and again for years did the stout heart of the man struggle with wild excitement. it was a gloomy conflict between reason and delusion; he always came out as conqueror, the primitive strength of his healthy character gained the victory. in long hours of prayer the stormy waves of excitement were calmed; his solid understanding and his conscience led him always from doubt to security, and he felt this expansion of his soul as a gracious inspiration from his god. it was after such experiences, that he, who had been so anxious and timid, became firm as steel, indifferent to the judgment of men, intrepid and inexorable. he appeared quite another person in his conflicts with earthly enemies; in these he almost always showed the confidence of superiority, and especially in his literary disputes. the activity he displayed from this period as a writer was gigantic. up to the year , he had published little; but after that he became not only the most copious, but the most popular writer of germany. by the energy of his style, the power of his arguments, the fire and vehemence of his convictions, he carried all before him. no one had as yet spoken with such power to the people. his language adapted itself to every voice and every key; sometimes brief, terse, and sharp as steel; at others, with the rich fullness of a mighty stream his words flowed upon the people; and a figurative expression or a striking comparison made the most difficult things comprehensible. he had a wonderful creative power, and pre-eminent facility in the use of language; when he took his pen, his spirit seemed to emancipate itself: one perceives in his sentences the cheerful warmth that animated him, and they overflow with the magic creations of the heart. this power is very visible in his attacks upon individual opponents, and was closely allied to rudeness, which caused much perplexity to his admiring cotemporaries. he liked also to play with his opponents: his fancy clothed them in a grotesque mask, and he rallied, derided, and hit at this fantastic figure, in expressions by no means measured, and not always very becoming. but the good humour which shone out from the midst of these insults had generally a conciliatory effect, though not upon those whom they touched. scarcely ever do we perceive any small enmities, but frequently inexhaustible kindness of heart. sometimes forgetting the dignity of the reformer, he played antics like a german peasant child, or rather like a mischievous hobgoblin. how he buffeted his adversaries! now with the blows of an angry giant's club, now with the rod of a buffoon. he delighted in transforming their names into something ridiculous; thus they were known in the wittenberger's circle by the names of beasts and fools: eckius became dr. geek,[ ] murner[ ] was called katerkopf[ ] and krallen; emser, who had his crest (the head of a horned goat) engraved on every controversial writing, was insulted by being changed into bock;[ ] the latin name of the apostate humanitarian, cochläus, was translated back into german, and luther greeted him as schnecke (the snail) with impenetrable armour, and--it grieves one to say--sometimes as rotzlöffel.[ ] still more annoying, and even shocking in the eyes of his cotemporaries, was the vehement recklessness with which he broke forth against hostile princes; the duke george of saxony, cousin to his own sovereign, was the only one he was occasionally obliged to spare. the profligate despotism of henry viii. of england was abhorrent to the soul of the german reformer, who abused him terribly, and he dealt with henry of brunswick as a naughty school-boy. it cannot, we fear, be denied that it was this alloy to the moral dignity of his character that acted as the salt, which made his writings so irresistible to the earnest germans of the sixteenth century. in the autumn of , he had a controversy with the reprobate dominican; in the winter of , he burnt the papal bull; in the spring of , he still laid himself at the feet of the pope as the vicegerent of christ; but in the spring of , he declared before the emperor, princes, and papal nuncios at the imperial diet at worms, that he did not trust either in the pope or the councils alone, but only in the witness of the holy scripture and the convictions of his own reason. he had now become a free man, but the papal interdict and the ban of the empire hung over him; he was inwardly free, but he was free like the wild beast of the forest, with the bloodthirsty hounds giving tongue after him. he had now arrived at the acme of his life: the powers against which he had revolted, and even the thoughts which he had excited in the people, began now to work against his life and doctrines. it appears that already at worms, luther was warned that he must disappear for a time. the habits of the franconian knights, among whom he had many faithful adherents, gave rise to the idea of carrying him off by armed men. the elector frederic planned the abduction with his confidential advisers; yet it was quite in the style of this prince to arrange that he himself should not know the place of his confinement, that in case of necessity he might be able to affirm his ignorance. it was not easy to make this plan acceptable to luther, for his valiant heart had long overcome all earthly fear, and with ecstatic pleasure, in which there was much enthusiasm and some humour, he watched the attempts of the romanists who wished to take away his life; this, however, was under the disposal of another and higher power, which spoke through his mouth.[ ] he unwillingly submitted; but however cleverly the abduction was arranged, it was not easy to keep the secret. in the beginning, melancthon was the only one of the wittenbergers who knew the place of luther's concealment; but luther was not the man to accommodate himself, even to the most well-meaning intrigue, and soon messengers were actively passing to and fro between the wartburg and wittenberg, so that whatever circumspection was employed in the care of the letters, it was difficult to prevent the spreading of reports. luther in the castle, learned what was going on in the great world sooner than the wittenbergers; he received accounts of all the news of his university, and endeavoured to raise the courage of his friends and to guide their politics. it is touching to see how he tried to strengthen melancthon, whose unpractical nature caused him to feel bitterly the absence of his stronger friend. "things must go on without me," luther writes to him. "only take courage and you will no longer need me; if, when i come out, i cannot return to wittenberg, i must go out into the world. you are the men to maintain, without me, the cause of the lord against the devil." his letters are dated from the "aerial regions," from "patmos," from the "wilderness," "from among the birds who sing sweetly among the branches, and praise god day and night with all their powers." once he endeavoured to be cunning: writing to spalatinus, he enclosed a crafty letter, saying, that it was believed without foundation that he was at wartburg. that he was living among faithful brothers, and that it was remarkable no one thought of bohemia; it concluded with a not ill-natured thrust at duke george of saxony, his keenest enemy. this letter, spalatinus, with pretended negligence, was to lose, that it might come into the hands of his enemies; but in such diplomacy luther was by no means consistent, for no sooner was his lion nature roused by any intelligence, than he made a hasty decision to burst forth to erfurt or wittenberg. he bore with difficulty the tedium of his residence; he was treated with the greatest consideration by the commander of the castle, and this care showed itself chiefly, as was then the custom, in providing him with the best food and drink. the good living, the absence of excitement, the fresh air on horseback, which the theologian enjoyed, worked both on soul and body. he had brought with him from worms, a bodily ailment from which arose hours of dark despondency, which made him incapable of work. two days successively he went out hunting; but his heart was with the poor hares and partridges, which were hunted by a host of men and dogs into a net. "innocent little creatures! thus do the papists hunt." to preserve the life of a little hare he concealed it in the sleeve of his coat; then came the hounds and broke the limbs of the little animal within the protecting coat. "thus does satan gnash his teeth against the souls i seek to save." luther had enough to do to defend himself and his from satan; he had thrown off all the authorities of the church, and now stood shuddering alone, only one thing remained to him, the scriptures. the old church had been continually expounding christianity; traditions which were concurrent with the scriptures, councils and decrees of the pope, had kept the faith in constant agitation. luther placed in its stead the word of scripture, which while it brought deliverance from a wilderness of erroneous soulless conceptions, gave threatenings of other dangers. what was the bible? there were about two centuries between the oldest and the newest writings of the holy book. the new testament itself was not written by christ, nor even always by those who had received his holy teaching from himself; it had been compiled long after his death, portions of it might have been delivered incorrectly; all was written in a foreign language that germans could with difficulty understand. expounders of the greatest discernment were in danger of interpreting falsely if not enlightened by the grace of god as the apostles had been. the old church had brought to its assistance that sacrament which gave to the priest's office this enlightenment; indeed the holy father assumed so much of the omnipotence of god, that he considered himself in the right even where his will was contrary to the scripture. the reformer had nothing but his weak human understanding and his prayers. it was indeed imperative that luther should use his reason, for a certain degree of criticism upon the holy scriptures was necessary. he did not set an equal value upon all the books of the new testament: it is known that he had doubts about the revelations of st. john, and he did not much value the epistle of st. james; but objections to particular parts never disturbed his faith in the whole; his belief in the verbal inspiration of the holy scriptures (with the exception of a few books) could not be shaken; they were to him what was dearest on earth, the groundwork of his whole knowledge; he was so thoroughly imbued with their spirit, that he lived as it were under their shadow. the more deeply he felt his responsibility, the more intense was the ardour with which he clung to the scriptures.[ ] a powerful instinct for what was rational and judicious helped him over many dangers; his penetration had nothing of the hair-splitting sophistry of the old teachers; he despised unnecessary subtleties, and with admirable tact he left undecided what appeared to him not essential. but if he was not to become a frantic or godless man, nothing remained to him but to ground his new doctrines on the words which were spoken and written fifteen hundred years before him, and he fell in some case into what his opponent eckius called "black-letter style." under these restraints his method was formed. if he had a question to solve, he collected all the passages in scripture which appeared to him to contain an answer; he examined each passage to understand their mutual bearing, and thus arrived at his conclusions. by this mode of proceeding, he brought the scriptures within the compass of an ordinary understanding; for example, in the year , he undertook, out of the holy scriptures, to place marriage on a new moral foundation; he severely criticised the eighteen reasons given by ecclesiastical law, forbidding and dissolving marriages, and condemned the unworthy favouring of the rich in preference to the poor. it was this same system which made him so pertinacious in his transactions with the reformers in the year , when he wrote on the table before him: "this _is_ my body;" and looked gloomily on the tears and outstretched hands of zwinglius. never had that formidable man shown more powerful convictions, convictions won in vehement wrestling with his doubts and the devil. it may be considered by some as an imperfect system; but there was a genial strength in it, that made his own view more available to the cultivation and heart-cravings of his time, than even he himself anticipated. besides these great trials, the proscribed monk at the wartburg was exposed to smaller temptations: he had long, by almost superhuman spiritual activity, overcome, what great self-distrust led him to consider as merely sensual inclinations; still nature stirred powerfully in him, and he many times begged of his dear melancthon to pray for him concerning this. it happened providentially, that just at this time at wittenberg the restless spirit of karlstadt took up the subject of the marriage of priests, in a pamphlet in which he decided that vows of celibacy were not binding upon priests and monks. the wittenbergers were in general agreed on this question, especially melancthon, who was perfectly unbiassed, as he himself had never entered into holy orders, and had been married two years. thus a web of thoughts and moral problems was cast from the outer world upon luther's soul, the threads of which enclosed the whole of his later life. whatever joy of heart and earthly happiness was vouchsafed to him henceforth, rested on the answer to this question. it was the happiness of his home that made it possible for him to bear the trials of his later years; by that the full blossom of his rich heart was first unfolded. so graciously did providence send to him, just in the time of his loneliness, the message which was to bind him anew, and more firmly than ever to his people. again, the way in which luther treated this problem is quite characteristic; his pious spirit and the conservative tendency of his character strove against the hasty and superficial way in which karlstadt reasoned. it may be assumed, that his own feelings made him suspicious as to whether this critical question was not made use of by the devil, to tempt the children of god; and yet the constraint upon the poor monks in the monasteries grieved him much. he examined the scriptures, and easily made up his mind as to the marriage of priests; but there was nothing in the bible about monks: "where the scripture is silent, man is unsafe." it appeared to him, withal, a laughable idea that his friends could marry, and he wrote to the cautious spalatinus: "good god, our wittenbergers wish also to give wives to the monks! now they shall not so encumber me;" and he warns him ironically: "have a care that you also do not get married;" yet this problem occupied him incessantly. men live fast in great times. gradually, by melancthon's reasoning, and we may add by fervent prayer, he arrived at certainty. what, almost unknown to himself, brought about the decision, was the perception that it had become wise and necessary for the moral foundation of social life, that the monasteries should be opened. for nearly three months this question had been struggling in his mind; on the st november, , he wrote the afore-mentioned letter to his father. unbounded was the effect of his words on the people; they produced a general excitement: out of almost all the cloister doors monks and nuns slipped away; it was at first singly and by stealth, but soon whole monasteries and convents dissolved themselves. when luther in the following spring returned to wittenberg, his heart full of anxious cares, the fugitive monks and nuns caused him a great deal of trouble. secret letters were forwarded to him from all quarters, chiefly from excited nuns who had been placed as children in convents by harsh parents, and being now without money or protection, looked to the great reformer for help; it was not unnatural that they should throng to wittenberg. nine nuns came from the foundation for noble ladies at nimpschen, amongst them were a staupitz, two zeschau, and catherine von bora; besides these there were sixteen other nuns to take care of, and so forth. he was much grieved for these poor people, and hastened to place them under the protection of worthy families. sometimes, indeed, it became too much of a good thing, and the crowd of runaway monks especially annoyed him. he complains: "they desire immediately to marry, and are unfit for every kind of work." he gave great scandal by his bold solution of this difficult question; and there was much that was very painful to his feelings; for amongst those who now returned in tumult to social life, though there were some high-minded men, others were coarse and dissolute. yet all this did not for one moment make him turn aside; he became, according to his nature, more decided from opposition. when, in , he published the history of the sufferings of a nun, florentina von oberweimar, he repeated in the dedication what he had so often preached: "god often testifies in the scriptures that he desires no compulsory service, and no one can become his, who is not so in heart and soul. god help us! is there nothing in this that speaks to us? have we not ears and understanding? i say it again, god will not have compulsory service; i say it a third time, i say it a hundred thousand times, god will have no compulsory service."[ ] thus luther entered the last period of his life. his disappearance in the thuringian forest had made an immense sensation. his opponents, who were accused of his murder, trembled before the indignation which was roused against them, both in city and country. the interruption, however, of his public activity was pregnant with evil to him; as long as he was at wittenberg, the centre of the struggle, his word and his pen could dominate the great spiritual movement both in the north and south, but in his absence it worked arbitrarily in different directions, and in many heads. one of luther's oldest associates began the confusion, and wittenberg itself was the scene of action of a wild commotion. luther could no longer bear to remain at the wartburg; he had already been once secretly to wittenberg; he now returned there publicly, against the will of the elector. then began an heroic struggle against old friends, and against conclusions drawn from his own doctrines. his activity was superhuman; he thundered incessantly from the pulpit, and his pen flew over the pages, in his cell. but he was not able to bring back all the erring minds, neither could he prevent the excitement of the people from gathering into a political storm. what was more, he could not hinder the spiritual freedom which he had won for the germans, from producing, even in pious and learned men, an independent judgment upon faith and life, which was often opposed to his own convictions. then came the dark years of the iconoclastic and anabaptist struggle, the peasant war; and the sad dispute about the sacrament. how often at this time did the figure of luther arise gloomy and powerful above the disputants! how often did the perversity of men and his own secret doubts, fill him with anxious cares about the future of germany! in this wild time of fire and sword, the spiritual struggle was carried on more nobly and purely by him than by any one else. every interference of earthly power was hateful to him; he did not choose to be protected even by his own sovereign, and would not have any human support for his teaching. he fought with a sharp pen, alone against his enemies; the only pile that he lighted was for a paper: he hated the pope as he did the devil, but he had always preached toleration and christian forbearance towards papists; he suspected many of having a secret compact with the devil, but he never burnt a witch. in all the roman catholic countries the stake was lighted for the confessors of the new faith, and even hutten was strongly suspected of having cut off the ears of some monks; but so benevolent were luther's feelings, that he had heartfelt compassion for the humbled tetzel, and wrote him a consolatory letter. his highest political principle was obedience to the authorities ordained by god, and he never rose in opposition to them except when necessary for the service of god. on his departure from worms, although on the point of being declared free from interdict, he was forbidden to preach; he did not, however, desist from doing so, but suffered great anxiety lest it should be imputed to him as disobedience. his conception of the unity of the empire was quite primitive and popular; the reigning princes and electors, according to the laws of the empire, owed the same obedience to the emperor that their own subjects did to them. during the whole course of his life he took a heartfelt interest in charles v., not only in that early period when he greeted him as the "dear youth," but even later, when he knew well, the spanish burgundian only tolerated the german reformation for political reasons: he said of him, "he is good and quiet; he does not speak as much in one year as i do in a day; he is the favourite of fortune:" he had pleasure in extolling the emperor's moderation, discretion, and long sufferance; and after he had begun to condemn his policy, and to distrust his character, he still insisted upon his companions talking with reverence of the sovereign of germany; for he said, apologetically, "a politician cannot be as candid as we ecclesiastics." in he gave it as his opinion, that it would be wrong in the elector to arm in opposition to the emperor: it was not till that he unwillingly adopted a more enlarged view; but even then, the threatened prince was not to take up arms first. so strongly in this man of the people still dwelt the honourable tradition of a firm well-ordered state, at a time when the proud edifice of that old saxon and frank empire was crumbling into ruin; but there was no trace of servile feeling in this loyalty: when the elector on one occasion desired him to write a plausible letter, his truthful feeling revolted against the emperor's title of "most gracious sovereign," for the emperor was not graciously disposed towards him; and in his intercourse with people of rank he showed a careless frankness that shocked the courtiers. to his own sovereign he had with all submission spoken truths as only a great character can speak, and to which only a good heart will listen. he had in general a poor opinion of the german princes, though he esteemed individuals among them; frequent and just are his complaints of their incapacity, licentiousness, and other vices:[ ] the nobles too he treated with irony; the coarseness of most of them displeased him extremely.[ ] he felt a democratic aversion to the hard and selfish lawyers who conducted the affairs of the princes, courted favour, and tormented the poor; to the best of them he allowed only a doubtful prospect of the grace of god: his whole heart, on the other hand, was with the oppressed: he blamed the peasants sometimes for their obduracy and their usuriousness, but he commended their class, regarded their vices with heartfelt compassion, and remembered that he sprang from them. these were his views on worldly government, but he served the spiritual: he held firmly the popular idea, that there should be two ruling powers,--the church, and the princes, and he thought he was justified in proudly placing the domination of the former above that of worldly politics. he strove indignantly to prevent the governing powers from assuming the control in matters pertaining to the care of souls and to the autonomy of his communities. he estimated all politics with reference to the interests of his faith and according to the laws of his bible. when the scripture seemed to be endangered by worldly politics, he raised his voice, indifferent where it hit: it was not his fault that he was strong and the princes weak, and it ought to be no reproach to him, the monk, the professor, and the shepherd of souls, if the allied protestant princes withstood the cunning statesmancraft of the emperor, like a herd of deer; he himself was so conscious that politics were not his business, that when on one occasion the active landgrave of hesse would not follow ecclesiastical advice, he was the more esteemed for it by luther: "he has a good head of his own; he will be successful; he thoroughly understands the world." since luther's return to wittenberg a democratic agitation had been fermenting amongst the people. luther had opened the cloisters, and now people desired to be delivered from many other social evils, such as the destitution of the peasants, the ecclesiastical imposts, the malversation of the benefices, and the bad administration of justice. the honest heart of luther sympathized with this movement, and he exhorted and reproved the landed proprietors and princes; but when the wild waves of the peasant war poured over his own country, when deeds of bloody violence wounded his spirit, and he found that factious men and enthusiasts exercised a dominion over the multitudes which threatened his doctrines with destruction, he threw himself with the deepest indignation into the struggle against the rough masses. wild and warlike was his appeal to the princes; he was horrified at what had taken place: the gospel of love had been disgraced by the headstrong wilfulness of those who had called themselves its followers. his policy was right; there was in germany, unfortunately, no better power than that of the princes; on them, in spite of everything, rested the future of the father-land, for which neither the peasant serfs, nor the rapacious noblemen, nor the dispersed cities of the empire, which stood like islands in the midst of the surging sea, could give a guarantee: he was entirely in the right; but in the same headstrong unbending way, which had hitherto made his struggle against the hierarchy so popular, he now turned against the people. a cry of dismay and horror was raised among the masses. he was a traitor. he, who for eight years had been their hero and darling, suddenly became the most unpopular of men: again his life and liberty were threatened; even five years afterwards it was dangerous for him to visit his sick father at mansfeld, on account of the peasants. the anger of the multitude worked also against his teaching; the field preachers and new apostles treated him as a lost, corrupt man. he was excommunicated and outlawed by the higher powers, and cursed by the people; even many well-meaning men had been displeased with his attack on celibacy and monastic life. the nobility of the country threatened to waylay the outlaw on the high-roads, because he had destroyed the convents in which, as in foundling hospitals, the respectable daughters of poor nobles were thrown in early childhood. the romish party triumphed; the new heresy was deprived of that which had hitherto made it powerful; luther's life and doctrines seemed doomed to destruction. it was at this time that luther determined to marry. catherine von bora had lived at wittenberg for two years in the house of reichenbach, the town clerk, afterwards burgomaster. she was a fine young woman of stately manners, the deserted daughter of a noble family of meissen. twice had luther endeavoured to obtain a husband for her, as with fatherly care he had already done for many of her companions; at last catherine declared that she would not marry any man, unless it were luther himself, or his friend amsdorf. luther was astonished, but he came to a rapid decision. accompanied by lucas kranach, he went to woo her, and was married to her on the spot. he then invited his friends to his marriage feast, begged for venison from the court, which it was the habit of the prince to present to the professors on their wedding days, and received from the city of wittenberg, as a bridal present, wine for the feast. we would fain understand what passed through luther's soul at that time; his whole being was strained to the uttermost; his strong and wild primitive nature was excited on all sides; he was deeply shaken by the evils arising up everywhere around him, the burning villages and slaughtered men. if he had been a mere fanatic he would have ended in despair; but above the stormy disquiet, which is perceptible in him up to his marriage, a bright light shone; the conviction that he was the guardian of the divine law amongst the germans, and that in order to protect social order and morals, he was bound to guide and not to follow the opinions of men. however eagerly and warmly he might declaim in individual cases, he appears now decidedly conservative and more firmly self-contained than ever. he had, moreover, the impression that it was ordained that he should not live much longer, and many were the hours in which he looked forward with a longing to martyrdom. he concluded his marriage in full harmony with his convictions. he had entered fully into the necessity of marriage and its conformity with scripture, and he had for some years pressed all his acquaintances to marry, at last even his own opponent the archbishop of mentz. he himself gives two reasons for his decision. he had robbed his father for many years of his son; it would be to him a kind of expiation, in case he should die first, to leave old hans a grandson. besides this, it was also an act of defiance; his opponents triumphed that luther was humbled, all the world was offended with him, and by this he would give them still more offence. he was a man of strong passions, but there was no trace of coarse sensuality; and we may assume that the best reason, which he did not, however, avow to any of his friends, was yet the most decisive, and that was, that there had long been gossip amongst people, and he himself knew that catherine was favourably disposed towards him. "i am not passionately in love, but am very fond of her," he writes to one of his dearest friends. and this marriage, concluded contrary to the opinion of his cotemporaries, and amidst the derision of his opponents, was an act to which we germans owe as much, as we do to all the years in which, as an ecclesiastic of the old church, he had by deeds supported his theology. for from henceforth the father, husband, and citizen became also the reformer of the domestic life of his nation; and that which was the blessing of his earthly life, in which roman catholics and protestants to this day have an equal interest, arose from a marriage contracted between an outcast monk and a fugitive nun. he had still, for one-and-twenty laborious years, to carry out the moulding of his nation. his greatest work, the translation of the bible, which he had now brought to a conclusion, in union with his wittenberger friends, gave him an entire mastery over the language of the people, a language, the richness and power of which first became practically known by this book. we know in how noble a spirit he undertook the work: he wished to produce a book for the people, for that purpose he studied assiduously the forms of speech, proverbs, and technical expressions used by them. the humanitarians still continued to write clumsy and involved german, a bad resemblance to the latin style. the nation now obtained for its daily reading a work which in simple words and short sentences gave expression to the deepest wisdom and the highest spiritual treasures. the german bible, together with luther's other writings, became the groundwork of the new german language; and this language, in which our whole literature and spiritual life have found expression, is an indestructible possession, which, though marred and spoilt, has even in the worst times reminded the different branches of the german race that they belong to one family. individuals are now discarding their native dialects, and the language of education, poetry, and science which was created by luther is the bond by which the souls of all germans are united. not less was done by this same man for the social life of germany. private devotion, marriage, the education of children, corporate life, school life, manners, amusements, all feelings of the heart, all social pleasures were consecrated by his teachings and writings; everywhere he endeavoured to place new boundary stones and to dig deeper foundations. there was no sphere of human duty over which he did not constrain his countrymen to meditate. by his numerous sermons and essays he worked on the public; by countless letters in which he gave counsel and comfort to inquirers he worked on individuals. he urged incessantly upon all the necessity of self-examination, and the duty of being well assured what was owing from the father to the child, from the subject to the sovereign, and from the chief magistrate to his community; the progress he thus made was important in this respect, that he freed the consciences of people; and in the place of outward pressure, against which egotism had haughtily rebelled, he substituted everywhere a genial self-control. how beautifully he comprehended the necessity of cultivating the minds of children by school instruction, especially in the old languages! how he recommended his beloved music to be introduced into the schools! how great his views were when he advised the magistrates to establish city libraries; and, again, how conscientiously he endeavoured to secure freedom of choice in matrimony! he had overthrown the old sacrament of marriage; but higher, nobler, and freer, he established the inward relation of man and wife. he had attacked the unwieldy monastic schools; everywhere in village and city, as far as his influence reached, flourished better institutions for the education of youth; he had removed the mass and the latin chantings; he gave instead, to both disciples and opponents, regular preaching and the german chorale. his desire to find something divine in all that was lovely, good, and amiable, which the world presented to him, always kept increasing. with this feeling he was ever pious and wise, whether in the fields, or in decorous gaiety among his companions, in his playfulness with his wife, or when holding his children in his arms. he rejoiced when standing before a fruit tree at the splendour of the fruit: "if adam had not fallen, we might thus have admired all trees." he would take a large pear admiringly in his hands, and exclaim: "see, six months ago it was deeper under the earth than its own length and breadth, and has come from the extreme end of the roots; these smallest, and least thought of things are the most wonderful of god's works. he is in the smallest of his creations, even to the leaf of a tree or a blade of grass." two little birds had made a nest in his garden, and flew about in the evening, being frightened by the passersby: he thus addressed them: "ah, you dear little birds, do not fly away. i wish you well from my heart, if you could only trust me--though i own we do not thus trust our god." he had great pleasure in the companionship of true-hearted men; he enjoyed drinking wine with them, and conversation flowed pleasantly on both great and small matters; he sang, or played the lute, and arranged singing-classes. he delighted in the art of music, as it yielded innocent enjoyment. he was lenient in his judgment about dancing, and spoke with indulgence--fifty years before shakespeare--of plays: "for they teach," said he, "like a mirror how every one should behave himself."[ ] once when sitting with melancthon, the mild and learned master philip prudently moderated the too bold assertions of his vehement friend. rich people were the subject of conversation, and frau kate could not resist remarking, eagerly, "if my husband had held such opinions he would have become very rich." then melancthon replied decidedly: "that is impossible, for those who thus strive after the good of the community cannot attend to their own interest." there was one subject, however, on which both men liked to argue. melancthon was a great lover of astrology; luther looked on this science with sovereign contempt; on the other hand, by his method of biblical exegesis, and also by his secret political views, he had come to the conviction that the end of the world was near; and that appeared very doubtful to the sagacious melancthon. when therefore the latter began with his signs and aspects of the heavens, and explained that luther's success was owing to his having been born under the sign of the sun, luther exclaimed: "i have no faith in your sol. i am the son of a peasant; my father, grandfather, and ancestors have all been thorough peasants." "yes," answered melancthon, "but even in a village you would have become the leader, the magistrate, or the head labourer over all others." "but," exclaimed luther, triumphantly, "i became a baccalaureus, a master, and a monk; that was not written in the stars: after that, i quarrelled with the pope, and he with me. i have taken a nun for my wife, and have had children by her; who has seen that in the stars?" again melancthon--continuing his astrological exposition--began to explain about the emperor charles; how he was destined to die in the year . then luther broke out vehemently: "the world will not last so long, for when we have driven away the turks, the prophecy of daniel will be fulfilled, and the end of all things come, then assuredly the last day is at hand." how amiable he was as the father of a family! when his little children were standing at the table watching eagerly the peaches and other fruit, he said, "whoever wishes to see a picture of one who rejoices in hope, will see it truly portrayed here. oh, that we could look as joyfully for the last day. adam and eve must have had far better fruits: ours are in comparison only like crabs. the serpent was then, i have no doubt, the most beautiful of creatures, amiable and lovely; it still has its crest, but after the curse it lost its feet and beautiful body." looking at his little son, just three years old, who was playing and talking to himself, he said, "this child is like a drunken man; he does not know that he lives, and yet he enjoys life in security, jumping and skipping about." he drew the child towards him, and thus addressed him: "thou art our lord's little innocent, not under the law, but under the covenant of grace and forgiveness of sins; thou fearest nothing, but art secure and without cares, and what thou doest is pure." he then continued: "parents always love their youngest children best; my little martin is my dearest treasure: the little ones have most need of care and love, therefore the love of parents naturally descends. what must have been the feeling of abraham when he had to sacrifice his youngest and dearest son? he could not have told sarah about it; this journey must have been a bitter one to him." his beloved daughter magdalen lay dying; he laments thus: "i love her very much, but, dear lord, as it is thy will to take her to thee, i am content to know that she is with thee. magdalen, my little daughter, thou wouldst willingly remain with thy father here, yet gladly goest to thy father yonder." the child then said, "yes, dear father, as god wills it." as she was dying, he fell on his knees by the bed, weeping bitterly, and praying that god would redeem her. she then passed away in her father's arms. when the people came to bury her, he addressed them as was usual, saying, "i am joyful in spirit, but the flesh is weak; parting is beyond measure grievous. it is a wonderful thing, that, though feeling assured of all being well with her, and that she is at peace, one should yet feel so sorrowful." his _dominus_, or herr kate, as he used to call his wife in his letters to his friends, had soon become an apt and thrifty housewife. she had great troubles; many children, her husband frequently an invalid, a number of boarders (masters and poor students), always open house--as it seldom happened that they were without learned or distinguished guests, and in addition to all, a scanty income and a husband who preferred giving to taking; and who once during his wife's confinement got hold in his zeal of the baby's christening plate to give in alms.[ ] from the way in which luther treated her, we see how happy his family life was, and when he made allusions to the glib chattering of women, he had no right to do so, for he was by no means a man who was himself scanty in words. once, when his wife appeared much delighted at being able to serve up different kinds of fish from the pond in their little garden, the doctor was heartily pleased to see her joy, and did not fail to take the opportunity of making a pleasant remark upon the happiness of contentment. another time, when he had been reading to her too long in the psalter, and she said that she heard enough upon sacred subjects, that she read much daily, and could talk about them, "god only grant that she might live accordingly," the doctor sighed at this sensible answer, and said, "thus begins a weariness of the word of god; new trifling books will come in the place of the scriptures, which will again be thrown into a corner." but this close union between these two excellent persons was still for many years disturbed by a secret sorrow. we only learn what was gnawing at the soul of the wife, by finding, that when as late as the year , luther, being dangerously ill, took a last leave of her, he spoke these words:--"you are my true wedded wife, of that you may feel certain." luther's spiritual life was as much a reality to him as his earthly one. all the holy personages of the bible were to him as true friends; through his lively imagination he saw them in familiar forms, and with the simplicity of a child he liked to picture to himself the various circumstances of their life. when veit dietrich asked him what kind of person he thought the apostle paul was, luther answered quickly, "he was an insignificant, lean little man, like philip melancthon." he formed a pleasing image of the virgin mary: he used to say, admiringly, "she was a pretty, delicate maiden, and must have had a charming voice." he preferred thinking of the redeemer as a child with his parents; how he took his father's dinner to the timber-yard, and how when he had been absent too long, mary asked him, "where have you been so long, little one?" the saviour should be thought of, not as in his glory, nor as the fulfiller of the law, conceptions too high and terrible for man; but only as a poor sufferer, who lived among and died for sinners. his god was to him entirely as father and head of the family. he liked to meditate on the economy of nature: he was filled with astonishment at the quantity of wood which god must always be creating. "no one can reckon what god requires to nourish merely sparrows and useless birds: in one single year they cost him more than the income of the king of france; and then think of all that remains." "god understands all trades: as a tailor he can make a coat for the deer, which might last a hundred years; as a shoemaker he gives him shoes to his feet, and by means of the dear sun he is a cook. he could become rich indeed, if he chose, if he were to withhold the sun and air, and threatened the pope, emperor, bishops, and doctors with death, if they did not pay him a hundred thousand gulden on the spot. he does not do this, yet we are thankless miscreants." he seriously reflected whence came the means of nourishment for so many men. old hans luther had maintained that there were more men than sheaves of corn; the doctor indeed thought that there were more sheaves than men, but that there were more men than shocks. "a shock of corn, however, hardly yields a bushel, and that will not nourish one man a whole year." even a dung-heap was a subject of pleasant reflection to him. "god is obliged to clear away as well as to create; if he had not continually done so, the world would long ago have become too full." "when god chastises the godly more severely than the godless, he deals with him as a strict father of a family with his son, whom he more frequently punishes than the bad servant: but he secretly collects treasures as an inheritance for his son, whilst he finally casts the servant off." luther comes joyfully to this conclusion: "if god can forgive me for having during twenty years offended him by saying mass, he can also excuse my having sometimes had a good drink to his honour--let the world think what it will." it surprised him much that god should be so very wrath with the jews. "for fifteen hundred years they have prayed fervently with great zeal and earnestness, as their little prayer-books show; and he has not revealed himself to them during the whole time by the smallest word. i would give two hundred florins' worth of books if i could pray as they do. it must be a great and unspeakable anger. ah! dear lord, punish me with pestilence, rather than be thus silent!" luther prayed like a child morning and evening, and often during the day, even indeed, during his meals. he repeated again and again with fervent devotion those prayers which he knew by heart. his favourite was the lord's prayer, and then he repeated the short catechism; he always carried the psalter with him as a little prayer-book. when he was in extreme trouble his prayer became like a storm, a wrestling with god, the power, the greatness, and the holy simplicity of which can hardly be compared with any other human emotion. he was then the son who despairingly lies at the feet of his father, or the faithful servant who supplicates his prince. for nothing could shake his conviction that we may influence god's decisions by prayer and supplication. thus overflowing feelings alternated in his prayers with complaints and even remonstrances. it is often related how, in the year , he restored to life the dying melancthon at weimar. when luther arrived he found "_magister philippus_" at the point of death, unconscious and with closed eyes. luther, struck with terror, said, "god forbid! how has this organ of god been marred by the devil!" then he turned his back on those assembled, and went to the window as he was wont to do when he prayed. "now," said luther, "must the lord god stretch forth his hand to me, for i have brought the matter home to him, and dinned in his ears all his promises as to the efficacy of prayer, which i could repeat from the holy scripture, so that he must hearken to me if i am to trust his promises." then he took melancthon by the hand, saying, "be comforted, philip, you will not die:" and melancthon, under the spell of his powerful friend, began at once to breathe again, and recovered his consciousness. he was restored. as god was to luther the source of all good, so was the devil the producer of all evil and wickedness. he considered that the devil interfered destructively with the course of nature by illness or pestilence, deformity and famine. all that this deep-thinking man preached so firmly and joyfully had formerly pressed with fearful weight upon his conscience; especially when awaking in the night, the devil stood full of malice by his bed, whispering horrors in his ear; then his spirit wrestled for freedom, often for a length of time in vain. it is extraordinary what this son of the sixteenth century went through in these inward struggles. every fresh inquiry into the scriptures, every important sermon upon a new theme, threw him again into this strife of conscience: then he reached such a state of excitement that his soul became incapable of systematic thought, and for whole days he trembled with anguish. when he was occupied with the question of monks and nuns, a text of the bible startled him, which he thought, in his excitement, placed him in the wrong: his heart died within him, and he was nearly strangled by the devil. at this time bugenhagen visited luther, who showed him the threatening text.[ ] bugenhagen, probably infected by the eagerness of his friend, began also to doubt, unconscious of the greatness of the misery which it occasioned luther. now was luther indeed terrified, and again passed a fearful night. the next morning bugenhagen came back. "i am very angry," he said; "i have now, for the first time, understood the text rightly; it has quite another sense." "and it is true," said luther later, "it was a ridiculous argument; ridiculous indeed for one who is in his right mind, and not under temptation." he often lamented to his friends, over the terrors which these struggles with the devil occasioned him. "he has never been from the beginning so fierce and raging as now, at the end of the world. i feel him well. he sleeps much nearer to me than my kate; that is to say, he gives me more disquiet than she does pleasure." luther never ceased to abuse the pope as antichrist, or the papal system as devilish. but whoever observes more accurately, will perceive behind this hatred of the devil, the indestructible reverence by which the loyal spirit of the man was bound to the old church. what became to him temptations, were often only the pious recollections of his youth, which stood in striking contrast to the changes he had gone through as a man. indeed, no man is entirely transformed by the great thoughts and deeds of his manhood. we ourselves do not become new through new actions; our inward life consists of the sum of all the thoughts and feelings which we have ever had. he who has been chosen by fate to create the new by the destruction of the old, shatters in pieces at the same time a portion of his own life: he must violate lesser duties to fulfil greater ones. the more conscientious he is, the more deeply he feels the rent which he has made in the order of the world, and also in his own inward nature. this is the secret sorrow, and even the regret, of every great historical character. few mortals have felt this grief so deeply as luther; and that which was so great in him, was his never being prevented by this feeling from acting with the utmost boldness. this appears to us a tragical moment in his inward life; and equally so was the effect of his teaching upon the life of the nation. he had laid the foundation of a new church upon the pure gospel, and had given greater depth and substance to the minds and conscience of the people. around him burst forth a new life, greater general prosperity, many new arts, improvements in painting and music, comfortable enjoyment, and more refined cultivation in the middle classes. yet there was a something gloomy and ominous which pervaded the german atmosphere. fierce discord raged amongst princes and governors. foreign powers were arrayed against the people, the emperor from spain, the pope from rome, and the turks from the mediterranean; enthusiasts and factious spirits were powerful, the hierarchy had not yet fallen. had his gospel given greater unity and power to the nation? the discord had become only greater, and the future of his church seemed dependent on the worldly interests of individual german princes. and well he knew what even the best among them were. something terrible seemed approaching, the scripture would be fulfilled, the last day was at hand. but afterwards god would raise up a new world, more beautiful, more splendid, and more pure, full of peace and blessing; a world in which there would be no devil; where the soul of man would find more enjoyment in the flowers and fruit of the new heavenly trees, than the present race do in gold and silver; where music, the most beautiful of all arts, would give birth to tones more entrancing than the most splendid song of the best singers of this world; and where good men would find again all that they had loved and lost.[ ] ever more powerful became in him the longing of the creature after an ideal purity of existence. if he expected the end of the world, it was the dim traditions of the german people from the distant past which still veiled the heaven of the new reformer; and yet it was at the same time a prophetic presentiment of what was at hand. it was not the end of the world which was approaching, but the thirty years' war. so he died. as the hearse bearing his corpse passed through the country of thuringia, the bells tolled in every village and town, and the people pressed sobbing round his coffin. a large share of german popular strength was buried with this one man. philip melancthon, in the church of the castle at wittenberg, standing before the corpse of luther, said: "every one who has known him well must bear witness that he was a truly good man; gracious in speech, friendly and lovable; not in the least insolent, violent, obstinate, or quarrelsome; and yet there was an earnestness and boldness in his words and bearing befitting such a man. his heart was true, and without guile; the harshness which appeared in his writings against the enemies of his doctrine, did not arise from a quarrelsome or bad spirit, but from his great earnestness and zeal for the truth. he showed great courage and manliness, and did not allow himself to be easily frightened. he was not dispirited by threatenings and danger. he possessed such a lofty and clear understanding, that in confused, dark, and difficult circumstances, he could see sooner than others what was to be counselled and done. he was not, as some perhaps have thought, so heedless as not to have remarked how it fared everywhere with the governments. he knew right well in what government consists, and paid assiduous attention to the opinions and will of the people with whom he had to do. let us have a constant and undying remembrance of this our beloved father, and keep him ever in our hearts."[ ] such was luther, a superhuman nature; his mind was ponderous and sharply defined, his will powerful and temperate, his morals pure, and his heart full of love. as besides him no other powerful spirit arose strong enough to become the leader of the nation, the german people have lost for centuries the supremacy over the world; their supremacy in the realm of mind rests however upon luther. that he may in conclusion speak for himself, we will give a letter to the elector frederic the wise, written at the time when luther's whole powers were most strongly developed. the prudent prince had commanded him to remain at wartburg, because he could not protect him at wittenberg, as the anger of the duke george of saxony would lead him to insist immediately upon the carrying out of the ban of the empire against luther. luther then writes to his sovereign:-- "most serene highness, illustrious elector, and gracious sovereign! your electoral highness's letter and gracious remembrance of me, reached me on friday evening, when i was preparing to leave on sunday morning. i need truly neither proof nor witness that your electoral highness's intentions are for the best, for i am as fully convinced thereof as any human being can be. "yet in this matter, gracious sovereign, i must answer thus: your electoral highness knows, or if you do not know, permit me hereby to make you acquainted with it, that i have not received the gospel from man, but from heaven alone, through our lord jesus christ, so that i may, and indeed from henceforth will, boast and sign myself a servant and evangelist. if i have presented myself for trial and judgment, it was not because i doubted the truth, but from overflowing humility, and to persuade others. i have done enough for your electoral highness in leaving my place vacant for a whole year for the sake of your electoral highness. the devil knows well that i have not done it from fear. he saw what a heart i had when i came to worms; for if i had known that as many devils were lying in wait for me as there were tiles on the roofs, yet i would have rushed into the midst of them with joy. "now the duke george is very unlike even a single devil. and since our father, in his unfathomable mercy, has, by his gospel made us joyful lords over death and all devils, and has given us such a fullness of assurance that we may call him 'dearly beloved father,' your electoral highness can yourself judge that it would be the greatest offence to such a father if we did not so trust him as to be above the anger of duke george. for my part i know well, i would gladly ride into his own leipzig--i hope your electoral highness will forgive my foolish jesting--even though it should rain, proud duke georges during nine following days, and every one should be ninefold more furious than this one. he considers my lord christ only a man of straw; this my lord and i can well bear with for a time. but i will not conceal from your electoral highness that i have not once only, but often prayed and wept for duke george, that god would enlighten him. i will still once more pray and weep for him, but after that never more. and i beg of your electoral highness to help and pray also that we may turn from him the evil, which, god help him, weighs incessantly upon him. i would at once strangle duke george with a word if it could be thus removed. "i have written thus to your electoral highness, with the intention of making known to you that i come to wittenberg under a far higher protection than that of the elector. i also do not intend to request the protection of your electoral highness, for indeed, i think i could better protect your electoral highness than you could protect me. so much so, that if i knew your electoral highness could protect me, and would do so, i would not come. it is not the sword which can counsel or help in this business; it is god alone who can act, without any human assistance; therefore he who has most faith will have most power to protect. "as i therefore perceive that your electoral highness is as yet weak in faith, i can in no wise regard your electoral highness as the man to protect or deliver me. "as your electoral highness desires to know what you shall do in this business, especially as you think that you have done too little, i answer, with all due submission, that your electoral highness has done too much, and should do nothing. for god will not allow of our cares and doings; he will have every doing left to himself, to himself and no other. may your electoral highness act accordingly. "if your electoral highness believes this, you will have security and peace; if you do not, i do, and must leave your electoral highness in your unbelief, to torment yourself with the anxieties which all unbelievers deservedly suffer. as, therefore, i will not obey your electoral highness, you will be excused before god if i should be imprisoned or put to death. towards men your electoral highness ought thus to conduct yourself. you should as elector be obedient to the supreme authority, and should allow the imperial majesty to rule in your towns and provinces, over persons and property, in conformity with the laws of the empire, and should not attempt to prevent or oppose, or make any hindrance or resistance to this power if it should seize and kill me. for no one should resist authority, he excepted by whom it has been established, otherwise it is revolt, and against god. but i hope that your electoral highness will be reasonable, and perceive that you are in too high a position to become my gaoler. if your electoral highness keeps the door open, and grants a free escort in case my enemies themselves or their emissaries should come to seize me, you will have done enough for obedience-sake. they cannot indeed demand more of your electoral highness, than to learn the residence of luther in your electoral highness's dominions. and that, they shall do without any care, work, or danger on the part of your electoral highness; for christ has not yet taught men to be christians to the injury of others. "if, however, they should be so unreasonable as to command your electoral highness to lay hands on me yourself, i will then tell you what is to be done: i will secure your electoral highness from injury and danger to person, property, and soul, in what concerns me. your electoral highness may or may not believe this. "herewith i commend your electoral highness to god's grace; of anything further we will speak when it is needful. for i have written this in haste, that your electoral highness may not be troubled by the report of my arrival, for i must comfort and not injure any one if i would be a true christian. i have to deal with quite a different man to duke george: we know each other well. if your electoral highness would have faith, you would see the glory of god; but because you have not yet faith, you have not seen it. love and praise be to god in eternity. amen. given at borna by the messenger, ash wednesday, anno . "your electoral highness's most obedient servant, "martin luther." chapter vii. german princes at the imperial diet. ( .) luther was dead. over his grave raged the smalkaldic war. charles v. made a triumphal progress through humiliated germany. only once did these two men confront each other--these great opponents whose spirits are still struggling in the german nation,--the burgundian hapsburger and the german peasant's son--the emperor and the professor;--the one, who spoke german only to his horse; the other, who translated the bible and formed the new german language of literature;--the one, the predecessor of the jesuit protectors and the originator of the hapsburger family politics; the other, the forerunner of lessing the great german poet, historian, and philosopher. it was a moment in german history pregnant with fate, when the young emperor, lord of half the world, spoke at worms the disdainful words,--"that man shall not make me a heretic." for then began the struggle between his house and the spirit of the german nation. a struggle of three centuries; victory and defeat on both sides; its final issue not to be doubted. when the german princes and lords of the empire, with the envoys from the free cities, rode to the diet, they assembled to transact business with the two rulers of germany. these two rulers were the pope and the emperor. the pope ruled in the holy roman empire of the german nation, not only as chief bishop in his spiritual capacity, but equally as a political power. a third of germany was under the rule of ecclesiastical princes, who had at least to be confirmed by the pope. the greatest part of his income he drew from the empire; his legates sat at the imperial diet, among the ecclesiastical and temporal electors, and could even open it without the emperor. when the emperor would not confirm the count palatine frederic the victorious in the electoral dignity, this temporal prince accepted the confirmation of the pope. the pope endeavoured to bring every difficult political negotiation before his court; indeed, he granted rights of custom, he annulled the imperial ban, and ventured by his own power to exact tithes. the emperor was still considered the nominal centre of the empire, and the source of all power. all hastened, upon his accession, to obtain from him the confirmation of old freedoms and privileges, and he was the first judge and first general of the empire, but could not raise a single thaler of money or a single soldier without the consent of the diet. and what was of still greater importance, he could only obtain taxes and soldiers from among the vassals, by the consent of their feudal lords. hesitatingly and sparingly did the diet grant subsidies, and so defective was the payment that the grant became a mere farce. within the empire, electors, princes, nobles, and imperial cities ruled their territories, with many gradations of sovereign rights. the greater princes were real sovereigns, their power only restricted by their states. noble families, holding temporal principalities in heritable possession, strove incessantly to enlarge their power, to put down the smaller lords round them, and to limit the sovereign rights of the emperor. in the fifteenth century they had reduced the imperial power almost to a shadow. it was only by extending the power of his house that the emperor maximilian was able to maintain himself against them. we may easily perceive that there were two ways of remodelling this clumsy state edifice of the middle ages. in one case the power of the great princes might rise so high, that the temporal influence of the pope and the supremacy of the emperor would be overthrown; then germany would be divided into a number of individual states, whose conflicts, wars, and destinies might for centuries throw the whole of central europe into weakness and confusion, and which at last, in another state of development, might lead to new endeavours to restore unity to the empire. it has been the fate of germany up to the present time to follow this dangerous path. in the other case, the emperor might have succeeded in adding to the old groundwork of his power, such real strength, that the opposition of all the ruling princes would be broken, and germany gradually changed into a modern state, that would either enclose the individual governments in perfect unity, or at least concentrate all the highest powers of government in the hand of one ruler. to form such a state, the hapsburgers of the sixteenth century, and with more wilful obstinacy those of the seventeenth, have striven to the injury of the german nation and themselves; yet in the year , when maximilian died, the prospect opened to an able prince was grand, though the power of his house was moderate. the time had arrived when a german emperor might raise his power above the heads of all the princes, and with irresistible strength overthrow every opponent; for just at that time a new power arose in germany, imperative in its demands, and capable of the greatest results,--public opinion. the reform movement in the church combined also within it the germ of great political reforms. had an emperor arisen who would have sympathized with the needs of the german spirit, who would have united himself with the reformation, and known how to raise it for his own aims in an exalted spirit, he would have had it in his power to form out of the empire a new state and a united german church: it was the highest prize that ever was offered to an ambitious prince; and how favourable would have been his position! the nation was deeply roused against the hierarchy and romish influence, and the reformation began with a struggle against the highest of the ecclesiastical electors. three electorates, more than seventy imperial dignities, comprising the largest third of the whole country of germany, were in the hands of ecclesiastical lords, who would all have fallen had the reformation been undertaken by the emperor and people. the emperor would have found in the movement, powers which would have made his imperial army irresistible; the evangelical preachers could not in a moment have transformed awkward peasants into skilled soldiers; but they might have infused into the armies of the emperor, much of the enthusiasm and reckless daring which the best among them made proof of in their own lives; besides which, comprehensive ideas of political reform sprang up in the circle of the huttens and sickingens; and a german emperor might well have found in such ideas the means of reconciling the conflicting interests of peasants, citizens, and knights, at least sufficiently so to serve his own purposes. how could the german princes, disunited as they always were, have withstood an emperor with such allies, strengthened by a well-established income, and leader of an army which for the first time since the crusades would have been animated by a great idea? good grounds would such an emperor have had to have respected old families: it would not have been necessary for him to take the electoral crown from off their heads, but he might have reduced them to be dignitaries of one great united empire, in which the highest jurisdiction and the power of the army would have been vested in him alone: the want of such a man was for centuries the misfortune of germany. it is difficult to do justice to the german princes of the sixteenth century; their position was unfavourable for the formation of their character and for the development of elevated political action. they were too great to be loyal vassals, but not powerful enough, with only moderate abilities, to conduct the affairs of the nation in a liberal spirit. they were for the most part pretentious _junkers_; their selfishness appeared to foreigners rapacious, their manners rude, their greed insatiable. the private life of many of them was stained by the blackest crimes; a few of them were at heart pious; their religion was, we hope, a restraint in the hour of temptation, but it did not contribute to enlarge their political views. there was a patriarchal feeling among many of them. such were frederic the wise and his next successor; such also was the margrave ernest of baden, who used to have condemned criminals brought to him before their execution, that he might give them comfort from the gospel, and beg for their forgiveness (as he felt obliged to fulfil his duty), and who offered them his hand at parting. besides men of this kind there were others, overbearing, profligate, and wicked; such was duke ulrich of würtemberg, who stabbed hans hutten in the forest because he wished to obtain possession of his wife. but though at most of the courts consideration for wife and children compelled a certain degree of moderation, the ecclesiastical princes were not even under this restraint. they were in the worst repute, and the more athletic preferred the helmet and the hunting-spear to the vestments of the church, which some of them wore very awkwardly. there were bishops and archbishops who hardly knew the ritual of their church. once when a latin discourse was to be made, it appeared that the highest princes of the church could not speak that language, and the margrave of brandenburg was obliged to do it. it was through princes like these that charles, sovereign of lower burgundy and the netherlands, king of spain and naples, duke of milan, and lord of the new world on the other side of the ocean, became also emperor of germany. it is well known how long and actively the intrigues both for him and the king of france were pursued. there was no electoral house to which money or promises were not proffered by both parties, and none which did not negotiate for its own advantage. at last frederic the wise decided the election, and dear has his family paid for this decision. when the young king was crowned at aix-la-chapelle, where, to the great delight of the assembled multitude, he caused his horse to prance joyously before them, and when, after the coronation, the heralds proclaimed that the emperor would, by permission of his holiness the pope, take the title of "roman emperor elect," there were absent from the festive train the electors of saxony and brandenburg, the princes of the two houses which from henceforth were to lead the german opposition against the house of hapsburg. the fate of germany was decided by the election of charles v. he was not entirely a burgundian, not always a spaniard, not an italian, and least of all a german. his position was too high, for him to make it the interest of his life to meet the requirements of any one of the many nations under his sway. the unfortunate part of his exalted position was, that he could only carry out a personal policy, subordinating sometimes one, sometimes another country to the course of his plans, the ultimate aim of which was the advantage of his own family. had charles been less able and less moderate, what was insupportable in these incongruities would have been felt as a grievance by all his states; but seldom has a prince maintained so long, a position in itself untenable. at last, however, the catastrophe arrived. after thirty years of fame and success, he broke down, and the misery of germany became apparent. although he had so little in common with the germans, still he was not unpopular in the empire. the people of germany looked upon him as luther himself did. the confiding attachment with which the germans received the grandson of maximilian was almost touching; his noble, reserved, and composed bearing had an imposing effect upon all. in the beginning the best was hoped of him, and later also, even the protestants who had experienced his displeasure, rejoiced when he encountered the pope or conquered the french king. long did the german nation continue to feel itself exalted by the glory and splendour of his government. charles did his best; he spared the prejudices of the germans, indulged them more than any of his other people, and even when he sided with a party, he knew how to conciliate his opponents by his benevolent dignity. at last, however, the time came when his pride and pretensions rose so high that the intractable independence of the protestant party became insupportable to him, and then his long concealed opposition broke forth into hate. suddenly, a storm arose against him among the people. as in the first years of luther, a sea of small literature again overflowed the country: they fought against him in prose and verse, and they depended more on the support of heaven than was wise. the successor of duke george of saxony, that most zealous opponent of the reformation, the protestant maurice, united himself with the emperor against his own family, and the protestant party was defeated. now the emperor charles had attained the height of his power; the battle of mühlberg was won; the smalkaldic league had fallen to pieces ingloriously. the protestant princes and cities hastened to make their peace with that lord of half europe, to whom in an evil hour they had been so eager to offer the dominion over them. carrying away with him the captive elector of saxony and the landgrave of hesse, he marched from the saale in triumphant procession to augsburg, accompanied by his army of spaniards, and flemings, and german _landsknechte_. there all the most powerful of germany were gathered together at the diet to obtain pardon or reward, to pay court to the most mighty sovereign that for centuries had ruled over germany, to decide their own future and that of their fatherland, and to seek pleasure and adventures. amidst this crowd of sovereigns and dynasties, courtiers, swindlers, soldiers, and deputations of citizens, was one bartholomew sastrow, the son of a citizen of greifswald. he was actively employed as agent of the dukes of pomerania, who were strongly compromised by their protestant alliances, and preferred not to appear in person before the emperor. in his biography (edited ) sastrow has left some, lively descriptions of what he experienced after the battle of mühlberg, during the triumphal march of the emperor to augsburg and the diet. the historical value of his narrative is not insignificant. he made good observations in his subordinate position, and had connections enough to be enabled to form a true conception of the character of the great lords; and however insignificant some of his anecdotes may be, they help, on the whole, to show men and great events in a new light. the following is a faithful quotation from his words, but from the lengthiness of his narrative parts, only have been given. "the pomeranian councillors desired me to remain in the imperial camp, and to put myself under the protection of george von wedell. this pomeranian nobleman had stabbed his own cousin, and was in disgrace with duke barnim, but was now serving the emperor with nine-and-twenty horse. under my guidance he made himself so useful to the pomeranian dukes, that duke barnim, at my earnest petition, restored him to favour, and reinstated him in his own property. thus i remained with my steed at the imperial court at augsburg; how it fared with me on this march, and what i saw and heard, is here correctly recorded. "it is customary in war for comrades to steal each other's horses, and they remain unpunished; the process is as follows. if any one likes another's horse, he pays a cunning stable-boy six or seven thalers to procure it for him; then it is sent away for five or six weeks that it may be forgotten; the tail, mane, and other marks are changed, and it is brought back to the camp. this was done in the imperial camp at halle by a german nobleman, who commissioned a boy to steal a spanish steed for him, and having kept him for a few weeks at his home, thinking the rumour of it had died away, he had him brought back to the camp. now it happened that about eight or more squadrons of german horse, were stationed in a beautiful meadow delightfully situated on the saale; but the spaniards were encamped on the heights round the castle. the stolen steed towards evening was taken to the river to drink; a spanish boy recognizing it said, 'this belongs to my master, i will be off with it.' the german boy would not let him go; three or four german horsemen came to his assistance, ten or twelve to the spaniard, then twenty or thirty to the german; thus both sides continued increasing, and at last they began to fire. the spaniards being on the heights, had greatly the advantage over the germans who were encamped below them; and shooting through their tents, they killed some of the noblemen who were sitting at table: the germans on their side did not spare the spaniards. the emperor sent out a spanish lord who was riding a splendid charger, and was adorned with glittering golden chains, to pacify the german knights, and to quiet the uproar; upon which the germans screamed out, 'shoot down the spanish miscreant!' when therefore he came on to the bridge to cross the saale, his horse was killed under him, and he of the golden chains falling into the river, was drowned. then the emperor sent out to them king ferdinand's son, the archduke maximilian, afterwards roman emperor, thinking that they would undoubtedly listen to him and be appeased; but they screamed all the same, 'beat the spanish miscreant!' whereupon one struck him on the right arm, and i saw how for some weeks after he carried his arm in a black sling. at last, the emperor himself came out, and said, 'dear germans, i know you are not guilty; be satisfied; i will repair the damage you have suffered; and by my imperial honour, tomorrow at daybreak i will have the spaniards hung before your eyes.' thus the uproar was quieted. the following day the emperor caused an examination and valuation to be made of the damage done in both the german and spanish camps; and as it appeared that only eighteen german squires and servants, together with seventeen horses, had been killed, whilst the spaniards had lost seventy men, the emperor sent word to the german knights that his majesty would replace the value of their horses, and would not be disinclined to fulfil his promise of the day before, of hanging the spaniards; but the germans would themselves see now that the spaniards had suffered fourfold, and that thus they had been sufficiently revenged; the emperor therefore hoped, and had graciously decided, that the germans should be satisfied and contented. "on the evening of the th of june, the two electors, maurice of saxony, and brandenburg, took the landgrave philip of hesse between them to halle. on the following day, about six o'clock in the evening, he, together with his chancellor who was kneeling beside him, prostrated himself in the great hall before the emperor, in the presence of many lords, electors, princes, foreign potentates, ambassadors, counts, colonels, generals, and a large number of spectators, as many as the room could hold, and as many as could see through the window from without. but when the chancellor most humbly craved pardon, the landgrave, who was a satirical gentleman, knelt, but laughed deridingly. then the emperor pointed his finger at him and said with an angry look, 'truly i will teach you to laugh;' which indeed was afterwards done. "the emperor proceeded from halle to naumburg, and remained there three days. when the imperial army was assembled before naumburg, and his imperial majesty was waiting before the gate, he wore a black velvet hat and a black mantle bordered with velvet two inches wide, but a shower of rain coming on, he sent into the city for a gray felt hat and cloak; meanwhile he turned his cloak, and holding his hat under it, exposed his bare head to the rain. poor man! he who had tons of gold to spend, would rather expose his bare head to the wet than allow his cloak to be spoilt by the rain. the spaniards always took the landgrave a day's march before the emperor; they were very disorderly and ill conducted, for they left their dead lying on the road which the emperor had to pass, and behaved shamefully to men, women, and children. "on the st of july he arrived at bamberg. the emperor made his entrance with a great concourse of people about midday; he was mounted on a little horse. in the suburb there was a street turning off to the right, and in the corner house was lodged the imprisoned elector of saxony, so that on one side he could look out into the fields, and on the other into the city. he was standing above at the window, to watch the imperial procession; and when the emperor approached the corner, he bowed lowly before him: the emperor kept his eyes fixed on him as long as he could see him, and laughed deridingly. "on the rd of july the emperor fixed the st of september for the diet to be held at augsburg. the spaniards carried away from the bishopric of bamberg upwards of four hundred women, maidens, and maidservants to nuremberg. from thence they sent them home again; the parents, husbands, and brothers had followed them to nuremberg; fathers seeking their daughters, husbands their wives, and brothers their sisters, and there each one found his own again. was not that a wicked nation? thus to act when war was over, in a friend's country, and in the presence of the imperial majesty, who nevertheless keeps very strict rule. every evening where his tent was erected, he caused a gallows to be raised, and had them hung unsparingly; yet even that was of no avail. "when he left nuremberg, the duke of leignitz, who usually passed his nights in drunken revelry, for once rose early and rode to the emperor's lodging, where he arrived at six o'clock, but found that the emperor had already been gone two hours. the duke was too much ashamed to follow; but sent two of his councillors to augsburg, and returned to his own country, where he continued his disorderly life. once when he was very tipsy he commanded the councillors, at the peril of their lives, to put him into a tower and feed him with bread and water; and if they disobeyed him, he would have their heads off. they took him to a tower wherein there were already prisoners; he was let down into the hole where they were, and the keeper received orders not to let him out, and to feed him with nothing but bread and water. when he had outslept his drunkenness he roused himself, and began to talk with the prisoners, and called to the gaoler to set him free. the man told him it was strictly forbidden; but he made it known to the councillors, who temporized till the third day. the duke meanwhile did not desist from ordering the gaoler to beg the councillors to give in and release him. then they went to him in the prison, and heard him begging and entreating; but they told him what he had commanded them, on pain of having their heads cut off, and they knew that he would not trifle with them, and therefore dared not let him out. but as he promised by everything that was high and holy not to injure them, they released him. "he continued his mad wild life until he ruined his people and country and his own health. he died, leaving his wife, who was a duchess of mecklenburg, and their children in the greatest poverty. his widow complained to the city councils that she was in great need, and knew not what to do, nor how to bring up her sons according to their position; and begged that they would assist her. so the council of stralsund sent her some thalers by a special messenger. "at the end of july, his imperial majesty arrived with the whole army at augsburg; he had left the landgrave with a troop of spaniards at donauwörth, but had brought the captive elector along with him to augsburg, and had quartered him in the house of welser, in the wine market; it was separated from the emperor's palace by two houses and a little street, and was close to our inn. the emperor had a way made through the two houses, and a bridge made over the little street, so that he could pass from his rooms into those of the elector. the latter kept house himself, and had his chancellor minkwitz and his own attendants with him, so that no spaniards need enter either his sitting, or his sleeping rooms. the duke of alva and other great lords of the imperial court had free access to and held friendly intercourse with him, and enlivened him by their society. in the courtyard of the elector's dwelling, which was built and furnished in princely style, there was a circus, where they threw the spear; he was also allowed to ride to any of the places of amusement and ornamental gardens, of which there were many at augsburg; and because from his youth he had always taken delight in fencing, and had been an adept at it when younger and more active, fencing-schools were erected for his pleasure; but the spanish soldiers guarded him. besides this, he was allowed to read books and so forth up to the end of the diet, when he refused to accept the interim. but with the landgrave at donauwörth it did not fare so well; the spaniards were all day long in his rooms. when he was at his window looking into the square, one or two spaniards were always beside him, stretching out their necks as far as his. armed spaniards lay all night in his room, and when the watch was changed, and the new one came in with drums and fifes, those who had kept guard half the night uncovered the bed and said, 'see there, we deliver him to you; henceforth you must guard him.' "methinks that this was indeed keeping the promise made at halle: 'truly i will teach you to laugh.' his imperial majesty as soon as he arrived at augsburg, caused a gallows to be erected in the middle of the city close to the town hall, in order to create terror, and near it also a platform on which the bowstring was administered; and directly opposite another, about the height of a middle-sized man, whereon people were broken on the wheel, beheaded, strangled, quartered, and the like. "it was truly a warlike diet, for there were already in the garrison ten companies of _landsknechte_, besides the spanish and german troops which the emperor brought with him to augsburg, who were encamped in the country round the city. but it was also a notable and stately diet, for the emperor and king were there, all the electors in person, with large bodies of followers; the elector of brandenburg with his wife, the cardinal of trent, duke heinrich of brunswick with his two sons carl victor and philip, margrave albrecht of culmbach, duke wolfgang, palatine of the rhine, duke augustus of saxony, duke albrecht of bavaria, &c., frau maria, the emperor's sister, and the daughter of his sister, the widow of lorraine; the wives of the margrave and of the bavarian duke; item; ambassadors of foreign potentates; besides these many bishops and abbots, numberless counts, barons, citizens of the imperial cities, illustrious envoys, and excellent men. i must not forget michael the jew, who considered himself a great man, and rode through the streets on a well-caparisoned horse, splendidly attired, his neck covered with gold chains. he was always surrounded by ten or twelve of his servants, all jews, accoutred as troopers. he was a distinguished-looking man, and it is said that his true father was a count von rheinfelden. the hereditary marshal of pappenheim, an old gentleman who could not see very distinctly, not only took off his hat, but also bent his knee to him, as he would to one greater than himself. when he found afterwards that it was michael, he repented that he had shown such honour to a jew, and exclaimed, 'may god confound thee, thou old rogue of a jew.' "splendid banquets were held at the diet, and there were dances almost every evening, both foreign and german. king ferdinand especially was seldom without guests; they were always treated magnificently, with all kinds of pastimes and splendid dances. he had exceedingly fine music, not only instrumental, but also singing. besides other diversions, he had always behind him a witty fool, whose powers he knew how to bring out, and to meet his lively sallies with a retort, his tongue was never still. i saw one evening at his house a dance, in which a spanish gentleman, attired in a long closed robe, reaching to the ground, so that one could not see his feet, led out a young lady, and danced with her an _algarde_ or _passionesa_ (as they call it, i know nothing about it); he sprang about so wonderfully, and she likewise, and they went so well together, that it was a pleasure to see them. his brother, the emperor of rome, on the contrary, gave no banquets, and did not even entertain his own attendants; when they accompanied him from the church to the chamber in which he dined, giving each of them his hand, he dismissed them, and placed himself alone at table. neither did he talk; only once when he came out of the church into his chamber, he looked round, and not seeing carlowitz,[ ] he said to duke maurice, '_ubi est noster carlovitius?_' and when the latter answered, 'most gracious emperor, he is somewhat unwell,' he called out to his doctor in flemish, 'vesali, you must go to carlowitz; he is said to be somewhat unwell; see if you cannot restore him.' i have often seen the emperor dine during the diet, but he never invited his brother, king ferdinand, to dine with him. the dinner was brought up by the young princes and counts, and there were always four courses, each consisting of six dishes, which were placed on the table before him, and the covers removed one by one; he shook his head at those which he did not desire, nodded when he wished to partake of one, and drew the dish towards him. the fine pies, game, and well-dressed dainties were sent away, and he would keep a roast pig, and calf's head, and suchlike: he did not allow it to be cut for him, nor did he often himself use the knife, except to cut many small pieces of bread as large as he could put into his mouth with each bit of meat. he then loosened with his knife, the corner which he liked best of the dish he wished to eat; he broke it with his fingers, held the dish under his chin, and ate in this primitive manner so neatly and cleanly that it was a pleasure to see him. when he wished to drink--and he only drank thrice during his meal--he nodded to his physicians, who were standing before the table; they went forthwith to the treasury, where were kept two silver bottles and a crystal cup which held about a pint and a half, and filled the glass out of the two bottles; this he drank clean off, so that not a drop remained therein, and he had to take breath two or three times before he withdrew it from his mouth. he never spoke whilst at table, and though there were fools standing behind him, who cut all kinds of jokes, he did not heed them; at the utmost he twisted his mouth into a half-smile if they said something very amusing. he did not care that many should stand round to see an emperor eating. he had a splendid choir, as well as instrumental music, which performed in the churches but never in his own rooms. the dinner did not last an hour; then everything was removed, and seats and tables put away, so that nothing remained but the four walls, hung on all sides with costly tapestry. when grace had been said before him, they handed him a little quill for a toothpick; then he washed himself and placed himself in a corner of the chamber at the window, and any one might come, and either present a written petition or speak themselves, and he told them on the spot where they might obtain an answer. "there were fine doings also amongst the princes and lords, both spiritual and temporal. i was once looking on when the margrave albrecht was drinking and playing at the _peilketafel_,[ ] with other young princes and young bishops who were not born princes; they did not give each other their titles, but called mockingly, 'shoot away, priest; what does it matter? you will never hit the mark;' and the bishop replied after an equally vulgar fashion. young princes lay upon the ground with princesses and countesses, for they did not sit upon benches or seats, but costly carpets were spread about the rooms, whereon they could sit and stretch themselves comfortably. they squandered upon extravagant banqueting, not only what was in their exchequers and what they had brought to the diet, which amounted to many thousand thalers, but they were obliged, with great difficulty and vexation and irreparable loss, to borrow enough to enable them to leave augsburg with becoming style. the subjects of certain princes, particularly of the duke of bavaria, whose wife was daughter of the king of rome, collected some thousand gulden only for play, which they made a present of to their lords, who lost it all. "i often addressed petitions to the bishop of arras, doctor marquardt, and other councillors; but as i did not of my own accord find out what was usual to be done to gain favour in courts and great cities and with lords, doctor john marquardt cleverly gave me to understand that it would give him particular pleasure to possess a pretty little horse, whereon he might ride to the council, as was customary at the imperial court; i wrote therefore to pomerania, and they sent me a fine horse, with an order to have suitable riding gear made for it, and then to present it to the doctor, together with three large portuguese pieces of gold, which the doctor gladly accepted without any hesitation. a great treasure of silver, gold, money, and money's worth of costly and rare goods, was presented to herr von granvella, whereby the electors, princes, and cities thought to obtain his favour with his imperial majesty. he carried it on large waggons and strong mules along with him on his return home, and when he was asked what was on the waggons and mules, he answered, '_peccata germaniæ_.' "at the earnest entreaties and supplications of the electors of saxony and brandenburg, the emperor fixed a day in december to decide the matter concerning the landgrave of hesse. now the elector duke maurice was intriguing with the duchess of bavaria, and on the sunday morning before the monday on which the long-desired decision was to be given, he placed himself in a sledge, for it had frozen hard, and there was snow on the roads. carlowitz came running to him from the chancellery, and said, 'whither will your electoral grace drive?' the elector answered: 'i drive to munich.' i was standing outside the gate, so that i and others who were near could hear all that passed. carlowitz then said: 'has your electoral grace forgotten that to-morrow his imperial majesty's decision will be given in the business so important to your electoral grace and to the elector of brandenburg?' the elector replied: 'i will drive to munich.' then carlowitz answered: 'you owe it to me that you have become an elector of note, but you have conducted yourself so frivolously at this diet, that you have brought on yourself the contempt of the distinguished persons of all nations, and of their imperial and royal majesties.' as he was saying this, duke maurice touched his horses with the whip, and drove out of the gate. carlowitz called out to him loudly: 'go your way in the devil's name, and may god confound you in your driving and all else.' when the elector returned from munich, carlowitz was on the point of starting for leipzig, as he said the new year's fair was at hand, and he must needs be there, or he would lose some thousand thalers; so the elector, wishing to retain him, was obliged to present him with that amount. neither of the electors appeared on the appointed day before his imperial majesty, nor was a decision come to on the matter of the imprisoned landgrave. for as the drive to munich, and the conversation betwixt duke maurice and carlowitz, which had been held in open day in the streets, and heard by many, was not concealed from his imperial majesty, he considered the many entreaties of this prince more as mockery than earnest, and no further day was fixed upon to hear the cause. "the german landsknechte of the garrison at augsburg had not been paid for some months, and it was reported that the fine upon the landgrave and the cities, out of which they were to have been paid, had been collected, but that the duke of alva had lost it at play with the imprisoned landgrave, so they were kept long without their pay: then some of them fell upon the ensigns' quarters, seized flags, and marched thus with colours flying in battle order to the wine market. when the standard bearers were marching along in good order, an arrogant spaniard, desirous of gaining honour, of deserving the favour of his imperial majesty, and of immortalizing his name, sprang upon the ensign, and tore the flag out of his hands. the ensign was followed by three men-at-arms, one of them struck this wretch in two like a carrot, according to the saying: 'he who seeks danger perishes therein.' when the landsknechte reached the wine market there was a great running to and fro of the spanish soldiers, who beset all the streets leading to the wine market, and carried off the imprisoned elector to the emperor's palace, for they feared he might be taken away: all the inhabitants, especially merchants and tradesmen, who had collected costly goods, silk stuffs, silver and gold, pearls and precious stones on the occasion of the diet, were greatly afraid lest the city should be plundered, which might well have happened had the landsknechte sought to pay themselves. there arose therefore wild cries, uproar, and running about; every one armed himself in earnest, citizens and strangers kept to their houses and apartments arquebuse in hand and their guns ready to fire, and every one did what he could for the protection of his own, so that the diet might indeed have become an armed one. "but the emperor sent to the landsknechte to inquire what they wanted, and they, holding their guns in the left hand, and in the right, burning matches close to the touchhole, answered, 'either money or blood?' then the emperor sent them word that they were to rest satisfied, as they should certainly be paid the next day. but they would not withdraw without the assurance that they would not be punished for having assembled in front of the emperor's lodging. this the emperor promised, so they withdrew, were paid the next day, and dismissed. but what happened? some spies were sent out to mingle unperceived and travel for two or three days with the leaders of the landsknechte, to find out whether they spoke ill or mockingly of his imperial majesty; if so, they were to call assistance and bring the men back prisoners to augsburg. the second or third evening the landsknechte had a jovial bout at an inn, for they had money in their pockets, and thought themselves as safe as if they were in the land of prester john, and had no idea that there were traitors sitting with them: then they spoke of the emperor in this fashion: 'yes indeed! one ought to allow this charles of ghent to take soldiers and not to pay them! but we would have taught him better, and have paid him for it; may god confound him.' after these words they were seized, taken back to augsburg, and hanged at berlach on the gallows, and a tiny little flag stuck on the breast of each."--so far sastrow. by his account of the revolt of the german landsknechte it may be seen how insecure was then the highest earthly power. a few years later the new elector, maurice of saxony, was able in a moment by a sudden expedition to overpower the experienced master of foreign politics. neither the emperor nor any other prince maintained a large standing army; even the imperial power stood on a rotten foundation, and the emperor charles was in a difficult position with respect to the german soldiery. however easy was the conscience of the landsknechte, and however ready they were to sell themselves for money, they were yet not entirely without political tendencies. most of them were well disposed towards the protestants, and even those who had helped to overthrow their comrades of the saxon service at the battle of mühlberg, discovered with vexation after the combat, that they had given a deadly blow to the protestant cause. the memory of luther was dear to them; but far deeper lay their hatred for the spanish soldiers of charles, that faithful invincible infantry who had bled for their king on the battle-fields of half europe. the emperor had himself excited the civil war in germany; a few years later, the german soldiers marched defiantly against his anointed head. most of the german princes, even the enemies of the ernestine and hesse, felt like these soldiers. the great emperor had made an irreparable rent in the loose tissue of the german empire; for this had been no exercise of imperial power, as once against the mad würtemberger; but it was a civil war in its broadest acceptation; it was a personal struggle of the hapsburger against the german princes. henceforth the german sovereigns knew what they had to expect from their emperor: the last respect for order and duty to the empire vanished, and each had cause to look after his own interests. the only safety against the fearful power of the hapsburger was to be found in alliance with foreign sovereigns. more bold became the intercourse with france, and whoever opposed the emperor looked there for help. maurice of saxony and albrecht of brandenburg rose against the emperor in alliance with france. the german general, schärtlin, who was in the french pay, assisted in depriving germany of metz, toul, and verdun. the younger princes of germany went to the courts of the valois, the guises, and the bourbon, to acquire refinement and obtain money and rank in the army; and this was done not only by the protestant princes, but also by the roman catholics and even ecclesiastical electors. the overpowering influence of france on the fate of the fatherland dates not from the time of richelieu, but from the wars of charles v. the real disruption of the german empire dated from the battle of mühlberg and the diet of augsburg; and however objectionable the alliance of these german princes with a foreign power may appear to us, it must not be forgotten, that it was owing to the un-german policy of the imperial house. the destroyer of german self-dependence, the great emperor, met with his punishment almost immediately. a very different man from the scrupulous and irresolute john frederic, had received the electoral crown from charles; his own disciple in self-seeking policy, with an overbearing character, without consideration, and secret in his resolves, like the emperor himself. so charles reaped what he had sown: the landsknechte of maurice drove him even to the last gorges of the alps. the naked egotism of the wettiner triumphed over the reckless policy of the great hapsburger. what the lord of half europe had striven for all his life, slipped out of his hands. germany was not to be governed in his way; he had not been able to guide the great movement of the german mind, nor yet could he entirely destroy it. he had not succeeded in making the german princes serviceable to his house, nor had he been able to destroy their power. the far-seeing cautious player threw up his game, and quietly, as was his wont, laid down the cards. he himself, with a heavy heart, broke in two the power of his house. this did not render the political position of germany more hopeful. the life of maurice also passed away like a meteor, and his wild associate albrecht of brandenburg died an early and miserable death. then followed the feuds of grumbach and cologne, the disputes of jülich, and the disorders of bohemia; one quarrel more contemptible than the other, and the leaders of both parties equally incapable. the end was the thirty years' war. chapter viii. a burgher family. ( - .) our narrative descends from the highest sphere of german life to the lower circles, in the individual families of which the characteristic life of the time may be traced. a series of examples shall lead us from the hardships of the peasant to the life of the privileged classes. from all times the peasantry have been the great source, from which fresh family vigour has ascended into the guilds of the cities and the closets of the learned. therefore the basis of the prosperity of a people lies in the simple occupations of the peasant, in that human labour in which mind and body, work and rest, joy and sorrow, are regulated by nature herself; whenever such labour is repressed, limited, and fettered, the whole nation becomes diseased. the destruction of the free peasant has more than once undermined the political existence of states, as for example in poland; and indeed it caused the deadly weakness of the great roman empire and the decay of the ancient world. the more abundantly and freely fresh vigour ascends from the lower strata into the higher circles, the more powerful and energetic will be the political life of the nation. and again, the less declining families are prevented, by artificial supports, from falling into the great mass of the people, the more rapid and vigorous will be the ascent of those who are struggling upwards. it was by favouring in a remarkable degree the rise of families out of this great source of national vigour, that the reformation revived the youth of the nation. the abolition of enforced celibacy was one of the greatest steps towards social progress; it secures still the ascendency of the protestant over the roman catholic districts. up to the time of luther, the greatest portion of the german popular strength which arose from the cottage of the labourer, was destined to wither beneath the consecrating oil. it is true the marriage of priests had never entirely ceased during the middle ages. there was even a cardinal who was regularly married; his wife established herself with him, in spite of the pope and college of cardinals, and was able, when weeping by the side of the corpse, to relate to the sympathizing romans the astounding fact that her husband had been always true to her. and in germany, the housekeepers of the priests, the _papemeiers_ of reineke fuchs, formed a numerous and not unpretending class. but the country priests were obliged to buy tolerance for such unions from the bishop and _curie_. but however the higher ecclesiastical authorities may have favoured such a system, it was considered as immoral by conscientious pastors, and some even had scruples as to the propriety of their celebrating the mass. but the people looked with hatred and scorn on these profligate unions, and one of the greatest evils was, that the children remained as long as they lived under the curse of their birth; hardly any branch of trade was open to them; even the guilds of artisans would not receive them. they became either working men or vagrants. yet such lasting unions of the roman catholic priests were generally, in the time of luther, a benefit to their parishes, for we see in hundreds of pamphlets how recklessly the roving sensuality of the priests destroyed the family life of their parishes. with the protestants, on the contrary, the ecclesiastical order became the medium by which the countryman rose to a higher sphere of activity. by his village life and little farm, the pastor became closely united with the peasantry, and was at the same time the preserver of the highest education of those centuries. so important has been the influence of the protestant clergy on the intellectual development of germany, that the ancestors, even to the third and fourth generation, of most of the great poets, artists, and learned men, and the intellectual members of the german bureaucracy, lived in a protestant parsonage. what follows will portray the life of a family which at the end of the fifteenth century migrated from the village to the city, and in the third generation became the ruling family in a great commercial town. it may be seen from this narrative, that though family life was not then deficient in hearty and naive cheerfulness, yet the conception of life and duty was rough, and the amount of benevolence small, though family feeling was strong. united with violence and robbery, we find the commencement of a very modern system of police; the first prosecutions on account of offences of the press. we are to a certain extent aware that three hundred years ago, the life of individuals was of less value than now; but we shall yet learn with astonishment from the old narrative, how frequently deeds of violence and blood disturbed the peace of households. we find that in a quiet burgher family the grandfather was the victim of premeditated murder; the father killed another in self-defence, and the son was attacked on the public road by highwaymen, one of whom he killed, but was mortally wounded by the other. lastly, it will interest many to observe how the great theologian who then divided christendom into two camps, exercised an influence as family counsellor even on the shores of the baltic, and how by his word he brought the souls of strangers to obedience and reverence. the following communications are again taken from the comprehensive autobiography of bartholomäus sastrow, burgomaster of stralsund. his own life was unusually varied and rich in experiences. he was sent, when a young man, with his elder brother to the imperial court of justice at spire, to manage his father's lawsuit and to seek a livelihood for himself. he was first in the service of lawyers, then of one of the commanders of the order of st. john, and afterwards found his way to italy, in order to wrest from the hands of the romish ecclesiastics the heritage of his elder brother, who had been crowned with laurels and ennobled by the emperor as an improvisatore in latin poetry, and who afterwards, on account of an unfortunate love affair, had gone with a broken heart to italy and died in the service of a cardinal. the younger brother returned home from italy in the midst of the confusion of the smalkaldic war, entered into the service of the pomeranian dukes, who sent him as political agent to the imperial camp, and solicitor to the supreme court of judicature of the diet of augsburg. he then settled himself in greifswald, and gained, as an expert notary, practice and wealth in pomerania, removed to stralsund, became burgomaster there, and died at an advanced age in great repute as a skilful, cunning, hot-headed, and probably often hard and partial man. thus he begins his narrative:-- "about the year , my father, the son of hans sastrow, was born at ranzin at the sign of the kruge, which lies near the churchyard towards anklam, and belongs to the _junker_ osten zu quilow. now this hans sastrow by far surpassed the _junker_ horne, who also dwelt at ranzin, in wealth, comeliness, strength, and understanding, so that even before his marriage he could compete with them in the extent of their land. whereat the hornes were sore vexed, and endeavoured to the utmost to work him shame, injury, and damage, and even to endanger his health and life. when he found that the enmity of the hornes daily increased, he resolved to take himself and his family out of danger; and about the year , he, settling his affairs in a friendly manner with his junker, the old hans osten zu quilow obtained the right of citizen at greifswald, and there bought the corner house of fleischhauerstrasse, opposite to herr brand hartmann, and gradually conveyed his property from ranzin to this new house. so that a year before my father's birth, he gave up his vassalage to the ostens, and entered the burgher class. "see now what happened! mark well this atrocious murderous deed! in the year there was a christening feast at gribow, which lies not far from ranzin, to the right in going from greifswald, and there one of the hornes had a property. to this same christening feast my grandfather, hans sastrow, being invited as nearest relation, led by the hand his little son, my father, then about seven years old, along the road passing the church. "the hornes of ranzin did not wish to lose this opportunity of giving him a parting valediction; and of putting in action what they had planned in their hearts for many years. so they rode to gribow as if they wished to visit their cousin there; and in order to spy out the best opportunity, went to the christening feast, and placed themselves at the table where my grandfather sat, for they had fallen so low that they did not despise peasant fare and society. when the hornes, late in the afternoon, were very drunk, they all got up and staggered to the stables. they fancied themselves alone; but one of my grandfather's relations standing in the corner of the stable, heard all that they were proposing to do: they were to hasten to their horses so soon as they should perceive that my grandfather was about to depart, to waylay him and to beat him and his little son to death. "the man came to my grandfather and told him what he had heard in the stable, and counselled him to start and go home while it was yet day. this my grandfather agreed to; he got up, took his little son, my father, by the hand, and proceeded towards ranzin. but when he came to the coppice on the moor, which was overgrown with bushes and brambles, and about half way between ranzin and gribow, the murderous villains intercepted his path, trampled him down under their horses' hoofs, and wounded him so badly that they thought he was dead. they were however not satisfied therewith, but dragged him to a great stone, which even now lies on the moor, chopped off his right hand, and so left him for dead. but the boy, my father, had in the mean while crept along the moor and hidden himself in some bushes on a grass hill, so that they could not come near him with their horses, nor find him in the bushes, as it began to be dark. "the other peasants had ridden after the hornes, to see what they had done: they found the wounded man thus mangled, and fetched the boy from the moor: one of these ran to ranzin and brought quickly a cart and horses, on which they placed the wounded man, who showed no signs of life, except that on their arrival at ranzin he gave a last gasp and expired. "the friends of the orphan boy, my father, sold the new house and turned everything into money, so that they amassed altogether about two thousand gulden. few of the nobles at that period allowed their subjects to possess so much. these friends did their best by the boy, had him taught reading, writing, and arithmetic, and sent him to antwerp, and afterwards to amsterdam, that he might be fitted to become a merchant. when, having attained a right age, he returned home and took possession of his property, he bought at the corner of the high street and hundstrasse, directly opposite to the church of st. nicholas, two houses and two shops. one of the former he turned into a dwelling-house, the other into a brewhouse, and one of the shops into a gateway, whereon he expended much cost and labour. now as people were well pleased with his comely person, and he had good hopes of having a sufficient maintenance, my mother's guardian and nearest relations promised her to him in marriage. "my mother was the daughter of bartholomäus smiterlow, the brother of the herr bürgermeister nicholaus smiterlow; she was a truly pretty woman, small and delicately formed, amiable and lively, free from pride, neat and domestic, and to the end of her life devout and god-fearing. in the year my parents were married, and in the good god gave them a son, whom they called after my paternal grandfather johannes. in was born my sister anne, the relict of peter frubos, burgomaster of greifswald. in i came into the world, and was named after my maternal grandfather, bartholomäus. "one of my five younger sisters, catherine, was an excellent, amiable, lovely, faithful, and pious maiden. when my brother johannes came home from wittenberg, where he was a student, she bade him tell her how one could say in latin 'that is truly a beautiful maiden;' he said '_profecto formosa puella._' she asked further how could one say 'rather so:' he replied, '_sic satis_.' some time after, three students, sons of gentlemen, came from wittenberg to see the town; they had been recommended by christian smiterlow to the hospitality of his father, the burgomaster herr nicolaus smiterlow, who was desirous to entertain them well, and to have good society for them. as he had three grown-up daughters, my sister catherine was invited, besides other guests. the students exchanged all kinds of jokes with the maidens, and also said to one another in latin what it would not have been seemly to say before maidens in german, as young fellows are wont to do. at last one said to the other '_profecto formosa puella_;' whereupon my sister answered '_sic satis_;' then were they much afraid, fancying that she had also understood their former amatory talk. in the year she made a most unfortunate marriage with christoph meier, a coarse man, who wasted, idled away, and dissipated all that he had, even what he had received with my sister. "my mother accustomed her daughters from their youth up, to suitable household work. once when my sister gertrude, who was about five years old, was sitting spinning at her distaff--for spinning-wheels were not then in use--my brother johannes told her that his imperial majesty had summoned a diet, where the emperor, kings, electors, princes, counts, and great lords would be assembled: she inquired what they would do there, and he answered, 'that they would determine and decree what was to be done in the world.' then the little maiden at the distaff gave a deep sigh, and said dolefully: 'oh good god! if they would only decree that such little children should not spin.' this sister, together with my mother and two other sisters, magdalen and catherine, died in peace in the year ' , when the plague was raging: my mother went first, and as my sisters were weeping bitterly, she said to them when dying: 'why do you weep? pray rather that god would in his mercy shorten my pain.' some days after, my youngest sister gertrude died: although my eldest unmarried sister magdalen was herself nigh unto death, she rose from her bed, and laid out not only gertrude's shroud and winding-sheet, but her own also, and desired that when gertrude was buried, the grave should be left open, being only lightly covered with earth, that she might be laid next to her; she then returned to her bed, and lived till the next day after gertrude was buried: so she died, the tallest and strongest of all my sisters, an excellent, clever, and industrious housekeeper. this was written to me by my sister catherine two days before her own death, who added, that it was even so with herself, that she was about to follow her mother and sisters, and that she did yearn for it, and she did admonish me not to grieve thereat. "now my parents when they were first married were comfortably established; their buildings were finished, they were prosperous, and possessed plenty of feathers, wool, honey, butter, and corn; they had their stately mill and brewery; when suddenly all this happiness changed into sorrow and misfortune: for in the same year , george hartmann, the son-in-law of doctor stoientin,[ ] bought of my father a quarter of butter, and they came to angry words thereupon. hartmann, who was going to carry a sword to herr peter korchschwantz, went on his way to complain to his mother-in-law: she, who was haughty and very rich, had married a doctor, councillor to the prince, and looked down upon smaller people; she put an axe into his hand with these words: 'see, i give you a trifle, go to the market and buy yourself a heart.' he then met my father, who was without arms, and had not even his bread-knife with him, as he was going to have a pot of honey weighed at the weighing-place in the streets where the locksmiths lived. hartmann, armed with sword and axe, fell upon him; my father springing into the house of one of the smiths, seized a spit; the boys tore it away from him, and also prevented him from using the ladder which was standing near the gallery; but he tore from the wall a hunting-spear, and running out into the street with it, called out: 'where is he who wants to take my life?' thereupon hartmann sprang out of the adjoining smith's house, having added to his former weapons a hammer from the anvil, which he threw at my father, and though he parried the blow with the spear, yet the hammer glided along the spear and hit him on the breast, so that he spit blood for some days. immediately after, hartmann struck him with the axe on the shoulder; having now hit him with both hammer and axe, and fancying he had the best of it, he unsheathed his sword, and rushing at my father, ran on the spear, which went into his body up to the handle, so that he fell. this is the true account of this lamentable story; i know well that the adversaries maintain that my father stabbed hartmann when he was hiding himself behind the stove in the smith's room, but it is a mere fable. "my father hastened straight to the monastery of the black monks, with whom he was acquainted, and they took him into the church, up under the vaulted roof. doctor stoientin with many assistants and servants searched every corner of the monastery, and came also into the church. my father, thinking they saw him, was on the point of speaking out and entreating that they would spare him, as he was innocent and had only acted in self-defence; but the merciful god prevented him from speaking, and shut the eyes of his adversaries so that they could not see him. "in the night the monks let him down over the wall, so that he could walk along the dyke to the village of neukirchen. there my step-grandfather arranged that my father should go to stralsund, in a cart that he had ordered from leitz, concealed among some sacks of barley and fodder. stoientin met the peasant in the night, and asked him where he was going. 'to stralsund,' he said. he kicked at the sacks and inquired what load he was carrying. the other replied: 'barley and fodder.' he then asked whether the peasant had not seen some one riding or running; the latter answered: 'he had seen one riding hastily towards the village of horst, who had appeared to him like sastrow from greifswald; and he had been astonished at his riding so hastily in the night.' so doctor stoientin left the peasant and rode to horst; but my father arrived at stralsund and obtained a safe conduct from the councillor there. "but my father could not trust to this, as the deceased had himself been under the safe conduct of my gracious sovereign duke george; and dr. stoientin, the councillor of his princely grace, made good avail of it against my father; besides this, the adversaries were rich, proud, and powerful. so he was obliged to wander about in denmark, going also to lübeck, hamburg, and elsewhere, till he conciliated the reigning prince by a considerable sum, which he was obliged to pay in ready money. "and although later, after repeated endeavours, and at the cost of much labour and exertion on the part of my step-grandfather, my father became reconciled with the offended party, upon the payment of blood-money to the amount of one thousand marks, he could not remain unmolested at greifswald, on account of these adversaries residing there. but it may be seen how little this blood-money prospered with the son and heirs of the deceased, for evil and misfortune to person, land, and property pursued both wife and children. "thus my mother was left in her youth without a husband, to keep house with four uneducated children. one can well imagine how many sad and sorrowful thoughts weighed upon her. "whilst my mother was dwelling in greifswald, i went to school there, and learnt not only to read, but also to decline, parse, and conjugate in the donat. on palm-sunday i had to sing the '_quantus_,' having sung the foregoing years first the lesser and then the great '_hic est._'[ ] "this was a great honour to the boy, and no small pleasure to his parents, for the most courageous scholars were always selected for it, who were not alarmed at the great multitude of ecclesiastics as well as laymen, and could sing the _quantus_ with a loud and clear voice. "in the year , when my parents discovered that the hartmann party were not to be mollified, and would not let my father return to the town and to his business, they desired, as is becoming an honest couple, to bear the burden of housekeeping together, and thus my mother must needs follow my father. therefore my father became a citizen of stralsund, and bought a house there; my mother in the spring quitted greifswald, sold her house, and settled near the sound. about the same time my step-grandfather, who was then chamberlain at greifswald, took me to his house, that i might study there. i however studied very little, for i preferred riding and driving with my grandfather to the neighbouring villages, so that i made little progress in my studies. "in the year , my mother being pregnant, wished to have a scouring and washing before her confinement, as is customary with women. now my parents had at this time a servant-maid who was possessed with an evil spirit; it had hitherto not shown itself, but now, when she had to scour the numerous kitchen utensils, and took down the kettle and saucepan, she threw them on the ground in a dreadful way, and cried out, with a loud voice, 'i will away!' when therefore they found the reason of this, her mother, who dwelt in the patinenmacher strasse, took her home, and she was taken several times in a riga sledge to the church of st. nicholas. when the sermon was ended, the spirit was exorcised; and it appeared from its confession, that her mother having bought a fresh sour cheese, and placed it in the cupboard, the maiden had gone there in her absence and eaten of the cheese. now when the mother saw that some one had been to the cheese, she had wished that person possessed of the evil spirit, and ever since, he had dwelt in the maiden. when he was then asked how he could have remained in the maiden, as since then she had received the sacrament, he answered, 'a rogue may lie under a bridge whilst a good man is passing over;' he had meanwhile been under her tongue. he was not only exorcised and expelled, but each and every one present in the church knelt down and prayed diligently and devoutly. he however, loudly scoffed at the exorcism, for when the preacher conjured him to go away, he said he would depart, he must forsooth give up the field; but he demanded that he might be allowed to take away with him sundry things, and if this demand were refused, he would be free to remain. one of those present having his hat on whilst praying, the evil spirit begged of the preacher to allow him to take off this hat; he would then depart, and carry it away with him. i feared that, had it been permitted him by god, the hair and scalp would have gone with the hat. at last, when he perceived that his time for vexing the maiden was passed, and that our lord god listened mercifully to the prayers of the believers present, he demanded mockingly a square of glass from the window over the tower clock, and when a pane was granted to him, it loosed itself visibly with a great clang, and flew away. after that time nothing evil was observed in the maiden. she got a husband in the village, and had children. "i went to school, and learnt as much as my wildness would allow me: of intelligence there was sufficient in me, as may be observed, but steadiness there was none. in the summer i bathed with my companions on the sea-shore; this my uncle saw from his garden behind his barn, and told it to my father, who came in the morning with a good rod into the room, in front of my bed, whilst i was asleep; he worked himself up into a rage, and spoke loud in order to awake me. when i awoke, and saw him standing before me, and the rod lying on the next bed, i knew well what was in the wind, and began to pray and entreat--weeping bitterly. he asked what i had done? i swore i would never again, all my life long, bathe in the sea. 'yes, sir,' he said (when he called me 'sir,' i knew well that matters stood badly between us), 'if you have bathed, then i must use the mop.' thereupon he seized the rod, threw my clothes over my head, and gave me my deserts. my parents brought up their children well. my father was somewhat hasty, and when his temper got the upper hand, he knew no moderation. once when he was in a rage with me,--he was standing in the stable, and i in the doorway,--he caught hold of the pitchfork and threw it at me. i sprang aside, but it had been thrown with such violence, that the prongs stuck deep into one of the oaken tubs of the bathroom, and it required great strength to draw it out. thus the merciful god hindered the evil designs of the devil against me and my father. but my mother, who was exceedingly gentle and tender, sprang forward in such cases, saying, 'strike harder, the good-for-nothing boy has well deserved it!' but at the same time she would lay hold of the hand in which he held the rod, so that he might not strike too hard. "my father's house was still very unfinished, and an outhouse was built against it, with its entrance close to the well. a miller dwelt therein named lewark-lark,--who had many naughty children that cried day and night. at daybreak these young larks began to chirp, and continued the whole day, so that one could neither see nor hear until my father drove out the old larks with their young ones, pulled down the outhouse, and set to work in earnest to finish the whole house at great cost of labour and money. my parents received from greifswald a considerable amount of cash; for my mother had been obliged to turn everything into money, so that many called him the rich man of the vehr strasse. but in a few years this appeared very doubtful, for my parents had great anxiety and loss of money, and also hindrance to the hoped-for happiness of their children as well as other detriment. "for there were then in stralsund two women who might not unjustly be called swindlers; the one was named lubbe kesske, the other engeln; they both dwelt in the altbüsser strasse. they bought divers kinds of cloth from my father, which they again sold to others, but it was not known to whom. sometimes they paid part of the money for the cloth; but whenever they gave a hundred gulden, they straightway bought to the amount of two hundred or more. when, however, his claim upon them became very large, the women only being able to pay twenty gulden, he inquired what had become of his property; he found that his goods to the amount of seventeen hundred and twenty-five gulden had gone to the wife of the tailor hermann bruser, who had a considerable traffic in cloth, being able to sell it cheaper in retail than other cloth merchants; and that his eight hundred gulden had found their way to the mother of jacob leweling. when my father called to account the two women and the wife of bruser, the latter and her husband, hermann bruser, offered to pay: bruser assured my father under his hand and seal that at fixed terms he would make the payment. see what happened! the first term was due at the time of the uproar of burgomaster herr nicholaus smiterlow, and hermann bruser, who was one of the principal ringleaders, thought it was now all over with my father, as well as with the burgomaster; so he disclaimed his bond, refused payment, and began a lawsuit with my father which lasted more than four-and-thirty years; my father came to terms with the heirs of bruser, who had to pay for one and all a thousand gulden. the debt itself had amounted to seventeen hundred and twenty-five gulden, and my father's costs to upwards of a thousand more. thus my father was deprived of his money for forty years; great inconvenience accrued to both parents and children. i thereby lost my studies and my brother, magister johannes, even his life, so that one may in truth say, that hesiod's words, 'the half is more than the whole,' may well be applied to a lawsuit, particularly to one at the imperial court, so that it would be more profitable to be satisfied with the half in the beginning than to obtain the whole by the sentence of the imperial court. "during the lawsuit my brother johannes became magister at wittenberg, where he was the first among thirteen, and my parents summoned him home. before his departure from wittenberg, he begged of dr. martin luther to write to my father, as the latter, on account of his lawsuit with hermann bruser, had abstained for some years from the lord's table.[ ] the letter was thus worded:-- 'to the honourable and discreet nicholaus sastrow, burgher of stralsund; my kind and good friend, _gratia et pax_. 'your dear son magister johannes has made known to me with touching lament, my dear friend, how you have abstained from the sacrament for so many years, giving a scandalous example to others, and he has begged me to exhort you to give up such a dangerous practice, as we are not sure of life for a moment. so his filial, faithful care for you his father has moved me to write to you, and i give you my brotherly and christian exhortation (such as we owe to one another in christ) to desist from such a practice, and to consider that the son of god suffered far more and forgave his crucifiers. and finally, when your hour comes, you will have to forgive as does a thief on the gallows. if your cause before the court lingers on, let it proceed, and wait for your right. such things do not prevent us from going to the sacrament, else we and also our princes could not attend, as the cause betwixt us and the papists still lingers on. commit your cause to justice, and meanwhile make your conscience free, and say, "whoever shall be judged in the right, let him be considered so, in the mean time i will forgive those who have done the wrong, and go to the sacrament." thus you will go not unworthily, because you desire justice and are willing to suffer wrong, however the judge's sentence may fall. take kindly this exhortation which your son has so earnestly begged from me. herewith i commend you to god. amen. wednesday, after miser., a.d. . 'martinus luther.' "my children will find the original of this letter in its place with other important documents, and will no less carefully than myself preserve it as an autograph of that highly enlightened, holy, dear, and of the whole world praiseworthy man, and will love, and value, and keep it as a pleasant remembrance for their children and children's children. "this letter my brother brought home to my father, and in order that his parents might see that their money had not been spent in vain, he brought with him also some of his latin poems which had been printed. in the following years he applied himself with industry at home to his private studies. for besides other poems at rostock, he published at lubeck an elegy on the christian martyr dr. _robert barns_,[ ] which had a tragical result for both the printer and himself. for the poem came to the knowledge of the king of england, who sent an envoy to the city of lubeck with bitter complaints and threatenings, as the poem had been published by their printer johann balhorn. the dignitaries of lubeck made excuses for the author, although he did not dwell there nor belong to their jurisdiction, as he was only a young fellow who wished to give proof of his learning; but the publisher, johann balhorn, was sent out of the city, and had to leave it by break of day. they thereby appeased the king's anger, and after some months allowed balhorn to return to the city. "but my brother, magister johann, when he was travelling home from lubeck to rostock had as companions herr heinrich sonneberg and a female, and besides there rode near the carriage hans lagebusch and a smart young fellow, hermann lepper, who had exchanged _boguslawische schillinge_ and other money for some hundred gulden coined in gadebusch, and which lay in the carriage. this was discovered by certain highwaymen, as thievish miscreants are called. highway robbery was very common in mecklenburg, as it was never seriously punished, and many nobles even of the highest birth were engaged in it; so that one may truly say with the poet:-- /* 'nobilis et nebulo parvo discrimine distant: sic nebulo magnus nobilis esse potest.' */ nevertheless the genuine nobility, among whom are many honourable men, who are in all ways worthy of esteem, are not spoken of here. now, thank god, there is a careful superintendence exercised in the duchy of mecklenburg; but then the highwaymen could say, if we give up three hundred gulden we place ourselves out of all danger, and can always keep the remaining two hundred. when the travellers came to the ribbenitzer heath, those who were sitting in the carriage alighted from it, having their arms with them; and the two horsemen, who ought to have remained by it in that insecure place, rode forward. against these the highwaymen collected themselves, one of whom joined lagebusch, and talked familiarly with him. when riding so near to him that he could reach the stock of his pistol, which was cocked (it was not then the custom to carry double barrels in the saddle), he seized it out of the holster, and hastened therewith after hermann lepper, who was riding back to the carriage, and shot him, so that he fell from his nag. hans lagebusch took to flight, and rode to ribbenitz; herr heinrich sonneberg ran into the wood, and concealed himself among the bushes; my brother, who had a hunting-spear, placed himself against the hind wheel, that they might not attack him from behind; in front he defended himself, and kept off one after another, inflicting wounds on them, for he thrust his spear into the side of one of them near his leg, so that riding to the bushes he fell from his horse, which escaped, and he remained lying there. another then fiercely attacked my brother, and cut a piece from his head the size of a thaler, and even a little bit of his skull, at the same time wounded him in the neck with his sword, so that he fell and was considered dead. the miscreant plundered the carriage, took all that was therein, and also carried off the horse of their wounded comrade; as they saw he was so much wounded that there was little life remaining in him, and not being able to carry him away, they left him lying there. they left the driver his horses, and rode away with their booty. herr heinrich sonneberg returned to the carriage; they laid my brother in it, and the woman bound up his head with her handkerchief, and held it in her lap. the dead body they laid at his feet, and thus drove slowly to ribbenitz. there his wounds were dressed, and the surgeon put some plaster on his neck. a rumour of this came to rostock. the councillor sent his servants to the spot, who found the wounded highwayman, and took him to rostock; but, alas! he died as soon as they reached the prison, so that they could not learn who the others were. it did not, however, remain quite secret, but was hushed up by their connections, and the high magistrates did not in good earnest investigate the matter. the dead miscreant was however brought before the court, and from thence taken to the landwehr to have his head cut off, which was placed on a pole, where it was to be seen for many years. lagebusch brought the tidings to stralsund, and the councillor sent along with my father a close carriage with four of the city horses; we took our beds with us, and starting in the evening, travelled all night through, so that we reached ribbenitz early in the morning. we found my brother very weak, but we remained there on account of the horses; and had the deceased hermann lepper christianly and honourably buried, after an inquest had been held. towards evening we left ribbenitz, and drove at a foot's pace through the night, so that we reached stralsund towards noon on the following day. when master joachim geelhar, the celebrated surgeon, had properly dressed the wounds, the patient was soon thoroughly cured." chapter ix. the marriage and housekeeping of a young student. ( .) the chief charm of the life of the olden time consists in the graceful manifestation of those feelings which give brightness to our life; the passions of lovers, the deep affection of husband and wife, the tenderness of parents, and the piety of children. we are enabled in each period of the past to distinguish the universal attributes of human nature, nay, even the specific german characteristics of love and marriage, but these tender relations are precisely those which are often enveloped in much that is transitory and enigmatical. we have often to seek mild and humane feelings under repulsive forms. but two things have always been valued in germany. in the first place it was a pre-eminent peculiarity of the germans that they honoured the dignity of the female sex. their women were the prophetesses of the heathen time, and, according to the laws of the people, whosoever killed a maiden or widow had to atone for it by the severest punishment. in times of strife and war, women enjoyed protection of person and property. whilst totila, prince of the goths, destroyed the men in italy, the honour and life of the women were preserved, and the misbehaviour of a goth to a neapolitan woman was punished with death. it moreover appears from the sachsenspiegel, that the same laws prevailed in the north even during the time of the cruel hussite wars. of all the misdeeds of the spanish soldiers who accompanied charles v. into germany in the sixteenth century, their ill-treatment of women excited the greatest indignation. the infamous conduct of some passau soldiers of the archduke leopold towards the women of alsace, even in , was particularly repugnant to the people, and was commented on in their news-sheets. it was not till the thirty years' war that the coarseness became universal, and women were looked upon as the booty of licentious men. this respect for women and chaste family life was considered by the romans the highest quality of the germans. even christianity, which spread from the roman to the german countries, could not place women and marriage on a higher footing; on the contrary, its ascetic tendencies served to lower them. the full enjoyment of the pleasures of the world were no longer allowed to man; passionate devotion to a beloved husband was easily mistaken for a wrong to heaven and the holy redeemer. on the other hand men fixed their eyes on the heavenly virgin, whose especial favour they might win by despising the women of earth. at the time of the saxon emperors this tendency of the mind reached its highest point. in those days education was confined to the cloister; there the daughters of the nobility were educated; there men weary of sin retired; and there also, enthusiasm sought for the highest enjoyment of love, which seemed unattainable in marriage without danger to the salvation of the soul. secret sensuality mixed even with the worship of the highest objects of faith. but the heart of man could not long rest satisfied with ideal love in heaven. when, under the first hohenstaufen, education, manners, and good taste were only to be found among the feudal nobility, they hastened to transfer to the women of this world the devotion and veneration which had been exclusively confined to the virgin mary. the courtly worship of woman began, new conventional forms were introduced for the intercourse between man and woman, accompanied in germany with a strong intermixture of italian manners. the man had to give proof of his love by heroic deeds and adventures, and his lady-love was surrounded by an atmosphere of poetry, and veiled in ideal perfections, as we may perceive in the numerous minne-songs of that time. but neither the dignity of woman, nor the fundamental morality of marriage, was increased by this chivalrous devotion, and it became a cloak for reckless profligacy. sometimes even a married woman had a knight devoted to her service; he was invested kneeling before his liege lady, and she, laying her hands between his, confirmed his allegiance by a kiss. from that time he wore her colours; he was bound to be faithful to her, and she to him, and in some cases they lived together as man and wife; and there were even instances in which the church gave its sanction to these improper unions. this knightly service often led men into the greatest follies. for instance, pierre vidal of toulouse went about on all-fours in a wolfs skin, in honour of his lady, till he was beaten and bitten almost to death by the shepherds and sheep dogs; and ulrich von lichtenstein, who rode through the whole country in woman's clothes, challenging all the knights, and had his finger and upper lip cut off in honour of his lady, drank the water in which she had washed, and when he returned from his expeditions, was nursed by his wife. these are not the worst examples of the horrible eccentricities to which this knightly devotion led. the result was such as might be expected,--the glitter of romance soon disappeared, and coarse profligacy remained in its nakedness. the church did little to improve this state of things. there were individual popular preachers who courageously advocated marriage and chastity, but it was at this very time that the celibacy of the secular clergy was established, and that the mass of the people were reduced to bondage by the feudal lords. the purity of marriage and the happiness of families were not promoted either by the position of the village priest living in his parish without a legal wife, nor by that of the proprietor who had to give his sanction to marriages, received tribute on account of them, and even laid shameful claims on the person of the bride. on the other hand there arose in the cities a fresh and vigorous life, and from the fourteenth century, the citizens became the best representatives of german cultivation and manners, as once the ecclesiastics had been, and afterwards the nobles. owing to the close proximity of the dwellings in the city, and the smallness of their houses, the intercourse between man and woman became more strictly defined, and on the whole a practical sound conception of life took the place of chivalrous fancies; citizen habits followed courtly manners; ladies were won by cautious wooing instead of by daring heroic deeds; maidenly modesty attracted more than haughty assumption; instead of the wild knightly life of the nobles, which frequently separated man and wife, and violently severed the marriage tie, the woman now obtained a quiet sway in the well-regulated house, and the bold courtesy of the knight was replaced by a considerate, though strictly regulated and sometimes rather formal, expression of heartfelt esteem. the conception of propriety and purity was different, however, from what it is now. at the time of the council of constance, the refined poggio relates with great satisfaction how at baden near zurich, the most fashionable bath of the fifteenth century, he had seen german men and women bathing together, and how delightfully naïve their familiarity was. and even a century later hutten praises this german custom in contradistinction to the italian morals, which would have made this practice impossible. so tolerant still were the german humanitarians. marriage, however, was considered by our ancestors less as a union of two lovers, than as an institution replete with duties and rights, not only of married people towards one another, but also towards their relatives--as a bond uniting two corporate bodies. the relations of the wife became also the friends of the man, and they had claims on him as he had on them. therefore in the olden time, the choice of husband and wife was always an affair of importance to the relatives on both sides, so that a german wooing, from the oldest times up to the last century, had the appearance of a business transaction, which was carried out with great regard to suitability. this perhaps takes away from german courtship, somewhat of the charm which we expect to find where the heart of man beats strongly; but this circumspect method of weighing things is a characteristic sign of an earnest and great conception of life. if a man desired to ask a woman in marriage he had to go through several solemn family negotiations. first the wooing, for which he had to employ a mediator; not always the lather or any other head of his family, but often some man of consideration in the town or country. this ambassador was generally accompanied by the wooer himself with a troop of his companions: if it took place in the country, they rode in solemn procession. if the family of the maiden was favourably disposed, they considered this as the preliminary step, and fixed a time for the negotiations between the families to take place. formerly the man had to buy his wife from her family; but when this old custom fell into disuse, there still remained the arrangements concerning the dowry which the bride had to bring to her husband, and the jointure which he had to settle upon her. there were added to this, though not compulsory yet as a standing custom, presents of the man to the parents, brothers, and sisters of the bride, or from the bride to the family and best-men of the bridegroom. after this consultation, followed the betrothal, which had to take place in the presence of the rightful guardians: amidst the circle of witnesses, both parties had solemnly to declare that they would take each other in marriage; after which a ring was placed on the finger of the bride by the bridegroom; they embraced and kissed, thus showing the passing of the maiden into the family and guardianship of the man. after this betrothal, a certain space of time having elapsed, the termination of which was in many places legally fixed, the solemn fetching home of the bride to the house of the bridegroom took place. again there was a solemn procession to the house of the maiden, and even if the bridegroom was present he was obliged to have a spokesman, who once more wooed her before the assembled family, and gave her over to the bridegroom; then she was taken in procession to the house of the latter, where the bridal feast was held. it was a bad custom in the middle ages, that this repast was got up with an extravagance which far surpassed the means of the bridal couple; and there were numerous police regulations endeavouring to limit the luxury in music, dishes, and the number of tables[ ] and feast days. such was the marriage ceremonial of the germans. the old custom of the bridal wreath, which was worn by both bride and bridegroom, was introduced into germany from rome. the consecration of marriage by the church was only required from the time of the carlovingians, and was seldom neglected by the nobility, but did not become general among the people till a later period. the church had indeed raised marriage to the dignity of a sacrament; but a feeling remained among the people that christianity looked coldly and sternly on it. even in the fifteenth century the consecration of marriage by the church was not entirely established, nor does it take place to this day in many places before the fetching home of the bride. in this respect also, luther and the reformation had a great influence. from the sixteenth century the consecration of marriage by the church became in the protestant countries the essential part of the ceremony; from that time the old customs of betrothals and of fetching home the bride were secondary considerations. it was not till after luther and the council of trent, that marriage became intimately connected with the christian faith in the german mind; for then the different confessions endeavoured by educating and elevating the people, to make them comprehend the moral and domestic significance of marriage. and how was it with the heart of lovers? the following example will show how true love germinated amidst all the various family interests. felix platter, the son of thomas platter, burgher, printer, schoolmaster, and householder at basle, was born in . his father by unwearied activity had risen from the greatest poverty, and had up to an advanced age to struggle with anxieties for his maintenance, and with pecuniary embarrassments, in consequence of the constant extension of his business. this hard battle with life had exercised its usual influence on his mind; he had a restless spirit of enterprise, which sometimes hindered him from steadily pursuing a plan; he had no real self-confidence, was easily perplexed, irritable, and morose. his son felix, the only child by his first marriage, had on the contrary inherited the joyous disposition of his single-minded mother; he was a jolly warm-hearted lad, rather vain, passionately fond of music and dancing, at the same time clever, open and ingenuous. he was still almost a boy when his father sent him from basle to the celebrated medical college of the university of montpellier. felix having acquired there, not only everything that medical science then offered, but all kinds of french refinements, returned to the simple burgher life of his native town: at the age of one-and-twenty he took his degree as doctor, and married happily a maiden about whom he had been teased when a child. he gained a great reputation, became professor of the university, and a man of opulence and consideration, and died at an advanced age. he was of the greatest service to the city of basle, by his self-sacrificing activity at the time of the plague, and also to the medical faculty of his university by his learning; and he was often consulted as a physician of renown by persons of princely rank both in germany and france. he laid out a botanic garden at basle, and possessed a cabinet of physical science worthy of being shown for money. like his father, he wrote an account of part of his life: the following fragment is taken from a printed edition of the manuscript, entitled 'thomas and felix platter, two autobiographies, by dr. d. a. fechter, basle, .' the narrative begins with that day on which the young felix returns with all the self-confidence of a scholar to his native town. "i was welcomed home by all my neighbours, and there was great rejoicing; the servant-maid of the midwife, dorly becherer, as i learnt afterwards, gained the _botenbrot_[ ] from my intended, by running to her father's house and screaming out the news, which she did so loud as quite to frighten her. supper was prepared, and some of my companions who had heard of my arrival, and had forthwith come to visit me, stayed for it. after supper we escorted them to the crown inn, and going down the freienstrasse, my intended saw me passing by in my spanish cap, and she fled. the innkeeper, who had himself been wooing her, bantered me, so that i perceived the affair was pretty well known: after that i returned home. "the following morning, hummel came to me to take me about the town. we first passed the minster close, there herr ludwig von rischach spied me out, and was wondering who i was, because i wore a velvet barret cap and arms: i made myself known to him; then i saluted dr. sulzer, pastor of the minster; afterwards, dr. hans huber, who welcomed me kindly and offered me his services; i made him a present of clemens marot, which had been beautifully bound at paris. "after that we went down martin's alley, and when we arrived at the bottom of it, opposite the school, my intended, who was standing by the bench saw me, though i did not see her; she ran into the school and home again; and after that she no longer went to the shops of the butchers, because they began to tease her. after dinner my father took me to his property at gundeldingen; he talked to me on the road, and exhorted me not to speak too fast, as the french are apt to do, and gave me an account of his household. i began immediately to prepare my cypress lute, and to string the large harp which my father had formerly played; and i put my books and manuscripts in order; thus i spent the whole week. "meanwhile my father arranged matters that i might talk with my intended, and she with me; he therefore invited master franz and his daughter to come out to gundeldingen the following sunday afternoon; it was the sixteenth of may, a merry spring day. i went out there after dinner with thiebold schönauer; we had sent on our lutes, and when we entered the yard at gundeldingen we saw two maidens standing there; one was the cousin of the landlady, and engaged to daniel the son of master franz, the other was his daughter magdalen, my intended, whom i greeted cordially, as she did me, not without changing colour. thus we got into converse; her brother daniel joined us; we walked about the property, talking of divers things; my intended was modest, bashful, and quiet. at three o'clock we returned to the house, and went up stairs; i and thiebold played the lute, and i danced the gaillarde, as was my custom. meanwhile, master franz, her father, arrived and welcomed me; we sat down to table and had an evening drink as at supper, till it was late, and time for us to return to town. on the road homewards, her father and mine went in advance, and i and daniel followed with the ladies in friendly talk, when dorothy, who was somewhat bold of speech, burst forth, saying, 'when two are fond of each other they should make no delay, for one knows not how quick a misfortune may come between them.' near the ramparts we separated, master franz and his party went home through the stein gate, and my father and his through the eschemer gate. we all went to bed full of curious thoughts about myself. "my father-in-law and my father took counsel together, to make our engagement sure. i began to love her very much, and urged it on. i also was not disagreeable to her, which i had partly found out from herself, when the wife of the butcher, burlacher, my mother's cousin, had invited us to her meadow before the spalen gate to eat cherries, where we had been able to speak openly. it was determined that dr. hans huber should make the proposal for me. when my father asked it of him, he readily assented, appointed master franz in the forenoon to meet him at the minster, made the proposal, and gained his consent for a family marriage counsel. in the evening, when dr. hans came to me, he announced it to me with exultation, as was his wont, and congratulated me; but informed me that my father-in-law wished the affair to be kept quiet till my doctorate was over, when matters might proceed. i was well satisfied therewith, as my future father-in-law was at last inclined to consent. formerly, he had always held back because he feared that my father was greatly in debt, and because he had boarders; for, as he said, he did not wish his daughter to be thrown into debts and disquietudes. but when he heard from my father that his debts were small in comparison with his property in land and houses, and that he himself intended to do away with the boarders, he was satisfied; and so much the more as herr caspar krug, afterwards burgomaster, who had seen me, advised him, and because his son ludwig told him he ought to thank god, as he had good hopes that i should become a renowned doctor, for i had shown my skill in curing his wife (who was weak after giving birth to two children) by giving her marchpane, which i had ordered when it was not yet the custom to do so. so my father-in-law was at last well pleased, and did not object to my going to his house to speak with his daughter. yet i did this mostly in his absence, and secretly. i entered by the back door in the alley, and talked to her there in the lower part of the house, with due propriety and honour. her father did not object, but appeared not to notice it; he also deferred matters as long as he could, for he did not like to give away his daughter, who, as he boasted, kept house so well for him. "about this time, thomas guerin was engaged to jungfrau elizabeth of the falcon. he frequently came to me with pempelfort, and begged of me to arrange a musical serenade, to do homage to his love at the falcon. i promised him this, but under the condition that a serenade should also be given at any place that i chose. so we equipped ourselves, and went, late after supper, in front of the house of my intended. we had two lutes, i and thiebold schönaur played together, afterwards i took the harp, and pempelfort the viola. the goldsmith hogenbach whistled an accompaniment, and it was altogether quite fine music; no one took any notice of us, for my future father-in-law was at home. then we went to the falcon, and there, after we had paid our court, we were admitted, and had a splendid night-cup, with all kinds of sweetmeats; when we were returning home, the watchmen stopped us at the green king, but they let us go after we had given them satisfactory answers. i often took a walk to the house of my intended, but as far as possible, secretly, and talked much whimsical nonsense, as lovers do, which she answered discreetly. i dressed myself also, according to custom, for then we wore only coloured clothes, and not black, except for mourning. certain persons now began to watch me, and once when i left the house after supper, two men followed me, and would willingly have beaten me, but i escaped, so that nothing happened to me. "soon after i had become a doctor my father urged that the marriage should be concluded between me and the jungfrau magdalen; and therefore, towards the end of september, he spoke to her father, and as i had honourably and praiseworthily fulfilled everything, and the matter had not remained secret, he could not object to settling it--thereupon he gave a satisfactory answer, but kept always delaying the affair, for, as aforesaid, he was unwilling to part with his daughter. meanwhile i was allowed to go to the house openly; but it surprised me that it did not displease him, as it was not yet a settled marriage, and, indeed, might never have taken place; our intercourse, however, was carried on with all due propriety and honour, and we held converse on divers discreet subjects, and had much joking and bantering, and often i helped her to make electuaries, and thus we passed the time. we had once particularly good fun; when on the eve of st. simon and st. jude they rang the bells for the fair, i wished to get a fairing from her. as her father was absent, i went secretly to the back door of her house which was constantly open, and seeing no one, as all were in the chamber below, i slipped up the stairs to the garret, and looked out of the skylight in order to hear when the bells rang in the fair at twelve. i waited for three hours, both cold and weary; as soon as the bells began to sound, i slipped down and opened the door of the room crying out, 'give me a fairing,' thinking thereby to surprise her. there was no one there, and the maid said, as she had been told to do, that she was gone out; but she had hidden herself under the staircase, and was waiting; soon after she hastened into the room with the usual exclamation, and gained from me the fairing. this i gave her handsomely, and she gave me one also. i wished to present her with the little chain that i had brought with me from paris, but she begged me to keep it, as it might give occasion for gossip, and she might have it at some other time; but she took the little beautifully bound testament which i had also offered her; thus we had our pastime for a long period, as is usual with young people. "after the fair at basle, my father-in-law, as he could no longer delay, began to prepare for the betrothal, and it was fixed for the week after st. martin's day. we came about four o'clock to his house; there were assembled on his side herr caspar krug, afterwards burgomaster, martin fickler, and master gregorius schölin, and batt hug, his friends, and his son franz jeckelmann; there were on our side dr. hans huber, matthias bornhart, and henricus petri. they negotiated about the dowry, and my future father-in-law announced that his daughter would bring with her more than three hundred pounds' worth of property; of this there would be one hundred florins of ready money, and the rest in clothes and linen. when they asked my father what he would give, he replied he could not say; he had no child but me, and all would be mine. but when they told him that he must name something, as there might be changes (as did, indeed, afterwards happen),[ ] he answered that he had not reflected upon this, so he would name four hundred gulden; but that as he could not give it me we should board with him instead, for he had no money to give me, on the contrary he was much in debt. thereupon arose some disputing; my father-in-law exclaimed that he would not expose his daughter to the discomfort of the boarders, and would rather have us in his house, and censured my father for being in debt, so that my father was much grieved, and if the honourable company present had not interfered, the matter would have remained unsettled. this was the first contretemps that happened to me, and was a great grief both to me and to my intended, who had heard all in the kitchen, and was in great trouble. however, the affair was smoothed, as my father said he would gladly give up the boarders, though it could not be done immediately. from that time my father was somewhat out of sorts, which embittered the whole pleasure of my nuptials. we were betrothed, and i presented my bride with the gold chain i had brought from paris; and my father-in-law gave the banquet, with good entertainment and speeches, but there was no music, which i should have liked best. "great preparations were made for the marriage, which was to take place on the following monday, for my father considering that he had an only son, wished, for the satisfaction of my father-in-law, to invite the whole of his friends and other well-wishers; so invitations were sent out on the saturday to the relations and neighbours, and our good friends the master and councillor of the guild of the bear, to some of the high school, nobles, councillors, scholars, and also artisans with their wives and children. "on the following sunday, the st of october, our banns were published as is customary; the tables, and everything appertaining to the wedding were arranged in both my fathers' houses; many helped, and master batt oesy, the landlord of the angel, was cook. in the evening i went to my father-in-law's house, watched them making the nosegays, and remained with them till after supper. when i returned home i found herr schreiber rust, an old acquaintance of my father's, who had come out of friendship from burtolf to the wedding, and had brought with him a beautiful emmenthaler cheese. he was sitting at table with my father, who was greatly disquieted, as to how he could feed and treat so large a number of people as had been invited; he persuaded himself that it would be impossible, and that he would disgrace himself, and he was quite cross. especially, when i came home, he began to scold me very roughly for sitting always with my bride, and letting him have all the trouble, instead of helping him; and he was so angry with me that herr rust had enough to do to pacify and comfort him. this third cross and embittering of the happiness of my wedding was very disquieting to me, as i was not accustomed to be thus scolded, and had hitherto usually been praised and well treated; i saw clearly how it would henceforth be when there were two of us living at my father's cost, so that everything would be rendered unpleasant to me. i went to bed full of sorrow, and thought like a fool that i would like to withdraw from my present position, if the door were only open to me. "on the morning of the nd of october, st. cecilia's day, i was still dispirited, as i had slept little. i put on my bridegroom's shirt which had been sent to me, with a gold embroidered collar and many golden spangles on the short breast piece, as was the custom then, and over that a red brocaded satin waistcoat and flesh-coloured breeches. thus i came down and found my father no longer so unjust, for when he had begun to complain again, although there was a superfluity of everything, he got a good chiding from dorothea schenkin, who was also helping, and was a rough-spoken woman. when the marriage guests were assembled, we went in procession to my father-in-law's house, and with us dr. oswald berus, who, in spite of his great age, was dressed in an open satin waistcoat and a camlet coat, the same as mine, and a velvet barret cap, like that which was placed on my head, when in front of my bride's house, and this said cap was bordered with pearls and flowers. "we went about nine o'clock to the minster, and then the bride arrived in a flesh-coloured cloak, led by herr heinrich petri. after the sermon they married us; i gave her a twisted ring worth eight dollars; then we proceeded to the jagdhof, where they gave us to drink. i led my bride in, and they regaled her splendidly in the upper room. "there were fifteen tables spread, which were well filled by more than one hundred and fifty persons, not counting those who waited upon them, and a number of them remained to supper. the entertainment proceeded after this fashion: there were four courses in the following order, a hash of mutton, soup, meat, fowls, boiled pike, a roast, pigeons, capons, geese, rice porridge, salted liver, cheese, and fruit. there were divers kinds of wines, amongst others rangenwein, which was much to the taste of the guests. the music consisted of christelin the trumpeter, with his viola; the singers were the scholars, who sang among other things the song of the spoon; after the dinner, which did not last as long as is now customary, herr jacob meyer, the councillor of the bear, broke up the party. dr. myconius led the bride to the house of dr. oswald berus, where there was dancing in the hall; there were many persons, and some of them people of consequence. master laurens played the lute, christelin accompanied him on his viola, which was then less used than now. i wished to do the courteous by my bride, as i had been accustomed to do in france in dancing, but she being bashful gently admonished me, so i desisted. i danced however, at myconius' suggestion, a gaillard alone. "after that we returned to my father's house to supper. when it began to get late the guests took leave, and that there might not be too much noise and joking, i hid myself in my father's room, where my bride also had been secretly concealed, whose father wept so at parting with her, that i thought they would be quite ill from crying. i led her into my father's little room, and some of the women of her acquaintance came to comfort her, to whom i gave some claret to drink, which i had kept in a small cask behind the stove, and had made very good. when they departed, my mother who was always cheerful, came and said that the young students were seeking me, therefore we had better conceal ourselves and go to bed; so she led us secretly by the back stairs up to my room, where we sat for some time, and as it was very cold we were half frozen, so we commended ourselves to god and went to bed; and none of the students knew what had become of us. after a time we heard my mother come up stairs above our room; there she sat and sang with as sweet a voice as a young maiden, though she had reached a great age; whereat my bride laughed heartily. "on the tuesday morning her bridesmaid kathleen brought her the rest of her clothes; we admitted her, and as she was a pleasant maiden, we had much fun with her. after that the marriage guests collected again at dinner, which took place at eleven o'clock, for then we had not turned time topsy-turvy, as is the bad custom now. there were as many tables laid as on the first day, and the entertainment was as ample; and there was in addition the bridal porridge, which is now replaced by mulled wine. after dinner they danced till night, and at supper there were still many guests, especially the maidens, who all took leave and went home in good time. there were many rich presents given at the marriage; but of these i got only a small goblet and two ducats, the rest my father took to defray the costs as far as they would, and later, as soon as i earned something, i had to pay him for my clothes. my father took also the hundred gulden that my wife had brought with her, and paid it off likewise. my father-in-law made me no present, because, as he afterwards told me, he had paid five gulden for me at the doctor's capping feast, and therewith i ought to be content. the household gear that my wife brought with her was not very good; an old pan in which they had made her porridge, and a large wooden bowl in which her mother's dinner had been brought to her during her confinements, and other bad utensils, which were placed behind a screen in our room. after that, our household arrangements were to be fixed and regulated by my wife's advice, which required great consideration. my father still continued to have boarders and all kinds of disquiet in the house, so that we young married people were much harassed; we had rather have kept house by ourselves, but we could not manage it; we were obliged for nearly three years to board with my father, and i had to make shift with my room, and to see the sick in the lower hall, which was cold in winter. there was frequent offence taken because i could not help towards the kitchen expenditure, for i had enough to do to provide ourselves with clothes, and frequently had to pay what i had just earned to the shops where i was still in debt for them; which was thrown in my teeth, if i did not do it. thus there were at times quarrels, as often happens when old and young dwell together. therefore my wife would have been glad if we could have dwelt by ourselves, and she would willingly have managed with very little; if my father would have given the promised dowry and the hundred gulden which she had brought to me, we could have subsisted upon that; but my father could not do this, as he had no ready money; and i did not wish to anger, but rather conciliate him, and so i spoke him fair, saying, we would have patience till i got into better practice. all this grieved me because i loved her much, and would gladly have maintained her as was meet for a doctor's wife; therefore for a long time i treated her with less familiarity and more ceremony; my father perceived this with displeasure, and thought it ought not to be. i had not much to do before the new year. "there were many doctors at basle when i came there, both graduates and quacks, in the year . therefore i had to be very skilful to support myself, and god has abundantly blessed me therein. from day to day i got more practice both among the inhabitants of the town, and also among the strangers, some of whom came to me and dwelt a long time here, using my remedies, whilst others went away immediately, having obtained my advice and prescription. strangers also sent for me to their houses and castles, whither i hastened, not staying long, but returning home quickly, that i might attend to those at home as well as in distant parts." chapter x. of a patrician house. ( - .) though the narrative of sastrow gives us a view of the hard struggle of a rising family, and that of felix platter shows to what shifts even a vigorous life may be reduced, yet one must not forget that the intellectual life of germany was rich and varied in its aims and tendencies. worldly-minded education, opulence, and the pleasures of social enjoyment were concentrated in the patrician families of the great imperial cities, who, however, often manifested bad taste in their refinement; but at the same time arts and commerce called forth all their energies, and whatever sense of beauty then existed, was to be found especially in these circles. in the great cities of switzerland, the low countries, and the seaports of the german hanse towns, there was a peculiar development of the patrician order; but it was the patrician families of the great commercial cities of south germany, and amongst these more especially those of nuremberg, augsburg, ulm, frankfort on the maine, and cologne, that exercised the greatest influence on the luxury, industry, and learning of germany. members of the old families had once governed the cities with aristocratic rule; they were still the most influential citizens, accustomed to conduct great affairs, and to represent the highest interests; they were generally merchants or large landed proprietors. most of the church benefices were possessed by their families; they were the first who used to send their sons into italy, the land of their mercantile friends, to study law, thus making preparation in germany for the rising humanitarian learning. many of them were heads of mercantile firms, councillors and confidants of german princes; they were united together by family alliances, and not less by community of commercial interests and had extended themselves everywhere; they chiefly determined the german policy of the imperial cities, and they would have exercised a decisive influence on the newly formed german life, had they been less conservative in their tendencies, and had they not by their self-interest become sometimes un-german. they represented the moneyed power of germany; the emperor and princes obtained loans from them, and they were the medium of the greater; part of the money and exchange transactions, when these were not in the hands of the jews. the great firms of fugger and welser and their partners formed a great trading company, which carried on traffic not only with italy and the levant, but also beyond antwerp and the atlantic ocean. through them, german trade monopolized that of the east and west indies; they bought a whole year's harvest from the king of portugal, they united themselves with spanish houses in unlimited speculations, undertook journeys to calcutta, and settled on their own account the prices of the sugar and spices of the east, which were then of greater importance in the german cookery than now. this command over capital was regarded with great dislike by both princes and people. through these trading companies much ready money passed out of the country, and all objects of luxury rose in price; complaints were general, for the diminution in the worth of money, occasioned by the introduction of the american gold, was mistaken for the raising of prices by the merchants. not only hutten, who was deeply imbued with the prejudices of his own class, but even the imperial diet was jealous of the power of these great moneyed companies; among the people also, the antipathy to them was general, and the reformers shared the opinions of their cotemporaries as to the detriment of such domination over capital. yet even then, it may be observed that these great merchant princes had not all the same tendencies. the welsers of augsburg, for example, in , took an active interest at rome on behalf of reuchlin, and that great scholar owed his deliverance from the hands of the dominicans, more perhaps to their secret influence than to the refined rhetoric of his enthusiastic admirers in germany. on the other hand, the fuggers were considered by the people as reckless moneyed men and romanists; as enemies of luther and friends of eck, who was suspected of being in their pay; for they had charge of the money affairs of the elector albrecht of mayence, and of the romish curie, and one of the fugger's clerks accompanied the indulgence chest of tetzel, and controlled the incoming receipts, on which the banking-house of the archbishop of mayence had made advances. the emperor, charles v., received the most solid support from these powerful firms, as their interests were generally concurrent with his; with the people, however, "_fuggerei_" became the common term for usury. we learn the family tendency for outward splendour and intercourse with the great, from the description which hans von schweinichen gives of their opulence in the year . when the dissolute duke hemrich von liegnitz with his majordomo was at augsburg, the splendour of this house appeared to the silesian noblemen as quite fabulous. schweinichen, who was more accurate in specifying the sums of money and prices than was necessary considering the endless debts of his master, gives the following narrative.[ ] "herr max fugger once invited his princely highness to dinner. such a banquet have i never beheld, the roman emperor himself could not have been entertained better: there was superabundant splendour; the repast was spread in a hall where more gold than colour was to be seen; the floor was of marble, and as smooth as if one was walking on ice; there was a sideboard placed along the whole length of the hall, which was set out with drinking-vessels and notably beautiful venetian glasses; there must have been, as one says, the value of more than a ton of gold. i waited on his princely highness when the drinking began. now herr fugger gave to his princely highness for a drinking-cup, an artistically formed ship of the most beautiful venetian glass; when i took it from the sideboard and was going across the hall, having on my new shoes, i slipped up, and fell upon my back in the middle of the hall; the wine poured about my neck, the new red brocade dress which i had on was quite spoilt, and the beautiful ship was broken into a thousand pieces. though this created great laughter amongst all, yet i was told that herr fugger said privately he would rather have lost a hundred gulden than that ship; it happened, however, without any fault on my part, for i had neither eaten nor drunk; but when later i became intoxicated i stood firmer, and did not fall a single time even in the dance. meanwhile the lords and all others were very merry. herr fugger took his princely highness a walk through the house, a prodigious great house, so great that the roman emperor at the imperial diet found room in it for himself and his whole court. herr fugger showed his princely highness, in a turret, a treasure of chains, jewels, and precious stones, and of curious coins and pieces of gold the size of a head, and he himself said that they were worth more than a million of gold. afterwards he opened a chest that was full of nothing but ducats and crowns up to the brim; these he estimated at two hundred thousand gulden, which had been remitted to him in exchange by the king of spain. then he led his princely highness up to the turret, which was paved half way down from the top with good thalers; he said there were about seventeen thousand. he showed his princely highness great honour, but also his own power and possessions: it is said that herr fugger had enough to buy an empire. he gave me, on account of my fall, a beautiful new groschen which weighed about nine grains. his princely highness expected also a good present, but got nothing but a good drinking bout. at that time fugger bestowed the hand of his daughter on a count, and gave two hundred thousand thalers, besides jewels, as her dowry. "as his princely highness had very little ready money he sent me to herr fugger to borrow four thousand thalers; but he decidedly declined doing this, excusing himself quite politely; however the following day he sent his steward to me to be introduced to my lord, through whom he presented to his princely highness two hundred crowns, a beautiful goblet worth eighty dollars, and besides that a splendid horse with black velvet housings." together with this taste for display we find in other patrician families at the beginning of this century far higher aims in life. the firms of pentinger at augsburg, and perkheimer at nuremberg were the focus of the noblest interests of the nation; the heads of these houses were men of princely opulence, landed proprietors and merchant princes, statesmen and warriors, and at the same time men of learning and research. it was for families like these that albert dürer painted his best pictures; to them the travelling humanitarians resorted; every elegant verse, every manly sentiment or word of genius, were there first heartily appreciated. as councillors and patrons in worldly concerns, as liberal proprietors of valuable libraries and of first-rate cabinets of antiquities, as hospitable masters of rich households, they knew how to do honour to all who brought to their houses intellect, knowledge, and refinement.[ ] in these families, the women also frequently received an education which went further than the knowledge of cooking, spinning, and the prayer-book; the daughters of these households gained what was seldom to be found in the castles of the princes or in the mansions of the landed nobility,--a heartfelt interest in the sciences and arts with which the friends of the family were occupied. there is a peculiar charm for us in the contemplation of the first female characters who were ennobled by the dawn of a new civilization. constance peutinger, who twined the laurel wreaths for hutten; caritas perkheimer, the suffering abbess of clarenklosters at nuremberg, and later philippine welser, the wife of the emperor's son, all belonged to the class of german patricians; they were sensitive natures often oppressed and wounded in this rough and thorny period. it was especially when a woman took part in the literary struggle that she was destined to suffer, this however rarely happened; the best known instances are those of caritas pirkheimer and argula von grumbach, born at stauffen; both experienced how bitter it is for women to take part in the disputes of men. the roman catholic caritas wrote a letter full of reverence to emser, and had to go through the trial of seeing her letter printed by the lutheran party with contemptuous marginal notes. the lutheran argula, the friend of spalatin, sent an admonitory letter to the rector of the university at ingoldstadt, when it had compelled arsatius seehofer by imprisonment and a threat of the stake, to recant seventeen heresies, which he had propounded to the students from the writings of melancthon. argula bravely took the master's part, whom she called a child of eighteen years old, and offered to go to ingoldstadt herself to defend the good cause against the university. she was in consequence of this, maliciously assailed in verse, against which she valiantly defended herself in counter-rhymes. the last years of caritas and her mild brother were embittered by the rude attacks of the protestant rabble and their teachers. argula was banished from the bavarian court, and her husband was dismissed in disgrace from his court appointment. the glauburgs were one of the most distinguished patrician families of frankfort-on-the-maine; hutten had been very intimate with some members of this family, and had at one time indulged in the charming dream of establishing himself at frankfort and marrying one of them. even the ardent spirit of hutten was powerfully attracted by their splendid opulence and highly refined life. he eagerly disclaimed the suspicion that he intended to take away his bride to the rocky home of his family. he wooed the maiden with more consideration than was his wont, and arnold of glauburg was his confidant. but it was a short dream; his destiny soon tore him away. the following letters from two ladies will introduce us into this patrician family; they are printed in the frankfort archives of j. c. von fichard, - . the first is the letter of a mother to her son, in which she recommends to him a maiden for his wife, in order to withdraw him from the revolutionaries of wittenberg and the neighbourhood of luther; a letter which is characteristic of the position of women in a family, and written by one possessed of energy and a practical understanding, who was accustomed to rule, and not without a disposition to intrigue; her son was the nephew of that arnold of glauburg, the son of johann, to whom hutten sent with hearty greeting his dialogue _febris_. . _from margaret horng_[ ] _at frankfort, to her son john von glauburg at wittenberg_. "having given you first, dear johann, my friendly greeting, know that we are all well in health, praise and thanks be to god, and hope to hear the same of you. dear johann, after i had last written to you, the wife of johann knoblauch died, to whom god be merciful. she was my good friend, and her death has caused me as great grief as the decease of my two blessed husbands, which was however a great calamity to me; but what god wills we must bear with patience. she and i came here the same year, and lived so friendly together that neither ever angered the other with a word. on her death-bed she commended to me her two daughters as if i were her sister, and begged that i should take care of their dowry, if i should live till they married. one of them is now marriageable, an elegant, well-formed maiden; she is in height like your step-sister anna, which is also her name, and she is a clever housekeeper, so that he who has her for a portion will not be ruined by her; i foresee that her father will soon establish her, for there are three who woo her, two of them are noblemen, and the third is johann wolf rohrbach, the son of frau ursula at the green gate, who is now grown up and has been with his mother since easter. although he is only nineteen years old, yet it is the wish of his mother and his friends to establish him whilst she is still alive. for now no one knows what to do with their sons, that they may learn and study what is for their soul's salvation, and not be led astray: for when they have long studied, and spent much money, it is of little advantage to many of them, and perhaps it would have been more profitable to them, to have retained the innate honesty and simplicity which they have from god, than that they should study, and not rightly understand the scripture, and that then the devil should lead them astray through pride, and others with them because they are learned and know how to talk well. such men lead the people into great error. i would gladly write much to you thereupon, but having promised in my last letter that i would not write to you again thereof, i will not do so whilst you are at wittenberg; for you imagine that you are in safe keeping in wittenberg. god grant it may be true, and that you will find it so. further, dear johann, know wherefore i now write to you thus---- an honourable person has just told me that the wife of johann knoblauch had desired her husband, if you and your belongings should ask his daughter in marriage, and the daughter were willing, that he should give her to you rather than to any other. to this i answered, that i did not know your inclinations, but would write and inform you of this, and whatever answer i got from you i would communicate to this person. therefore, dear son, i make known to you that the maiden pleases me well in all her ways, better than any other with whom i am acquainted; and the mother has always been an honourable steadfast woman. therefore, i am well pleased that she is not of a fickle nature, for whoever has not an apt and steadfast wife, be she ever so polished and rich, will become a poor miserable man. therefore, dear johann, follow my advice, for i give you faithful counsel. it is true there are eleven children to provide for, some of whom are still little, but possibly may become fewer in number, and there is a good fortune, the greater part of it in landed property. therefore bethink you, dear son, i do not wish to constrain you to change your condition, but it would be the greatest pleasure to me were you to enter this family, for looking into the future, i can see no place that would altogether suit you so well as this one. dear johann, if this idea should please you, and you should wish to see her and that she should see you beforehand, come here in the first week of lent with any travelling companions that you like, to give you security on the road; but keep your purpose to yourself, saying nothing of it to your companions till a day or two before your departure, then tell justinian that you are going home. but do not tell him why you wish to go home, but make it appear as if it were on account of your property which you wish to regulate, as i had written to you so strongly in my last three letters about it, declining to administer it any longer, as is indeed my intention, if you will in nowise take my advice. there is good reason why you should prevent his saying a word, in order that it should remain secret. dear johann, i beg of you to bethink yourself of how the times are, and that it is not fitting for you to remain longer unsettled. ah! may my brother-in-law herr hammann find a wife also for justinian now; it would do him no harm, as he leads a life of pleasure; and let it not be with him as it was with his deceased cousin blasius, who had so accustomed himself to a profligate life that no one could persuade him to marry till he became old and had lost his health; he had no child, and now his wife is betrothed again to a nobleman, one schenk of schweinsburg. they say she will soon celebrate her nuptials: god grant her happiness." thus far the letter: the wish of the prudent mother was fulfilled; her son returned, as she had so cautiously charged him to do, to frankfort; he married the maiden of her choice, and they lived together forty years in happy matrimony. though we can obtain no other particulars of him and anna knoblauch, yet we find accounts of members of the same family, towards the end of the century, which characterize in a charming way the position of a bride with her betrothed. a grandson of the above mentioned, the rich patrician adolf von glauburg of frankfort, made acquaintance, when on a visit at nuremberg, with the beautiful ursula freher, daughter of the city syndic of nuremberg, and sister of the renowned scholar and statesman, marquard freher of heidelberg. the charms and agreeableness of the lady were celebrated throughout swabia. the following letters were written by her to him, from nuremberg to frankfort during the time of betrothal. . i. "to the noble and honourable johann adolf von glauburg, to the hands of my dearly beloved _junker_. "most noble, honourable, amiable, and dearly beloved _junker_, i have received with heartfelt joy your letter, together with the chain, and rejoice to hear you are in health, but learn with regret that your dear sister and son are not well; may god almighty restore them according to his holy will. amen. as regards us, we are, thank god, tolerably well, may he thus long preserve us all. dearly beloved _junker_, my father would gladly have written to you, but your letter arrived too late, and the messenger waiting at the gate is in haste, so that he cannot do it now, but will take the first opportunity. "dearly beloved _junker_, with respect to the chain i have no directions to give you; as your wish is, so is my content, what pleases you pleases me also. the chain which i have here i will carefully preserve, and when god brings you to us i will take the opportunity of returning it to you; it is much too splendid for me. as to the picture, it is ready all but the dress, at which the painter is still working, and thinks it will be quite finished in about ten days. i have great fear that when the picture comes to you, it will be said the _junker_ need not have gone so far, he might have found the like of her at frankfort. "as concerns the bracelets, i have not yet got them; there is yet plenty of time, but i will send after them. "dearly beloved _junker_, i have nothing more to write to you now, i beg of you kindly to excuse this miserable letter, which has been written in haste; another time i will give you something better. "no more now than kind greetings to you and your dear ones, from me and my honoured mother, and we commend you to the care and protection of god almighty. given the th september. "your loving and always faithful "ursula freherin." ii. "most noble, honourable, dearly beloved, and much trusted _junker_, may my truth and love, together with my greetings and good wishes, be to you beyond all other love and possessions. i received your letter with pleasure, and learned from it with heartfelt joy of your well-being. it is even so with us, for which we thank the gracious god; may he continue his grace to you and all of us. amen. "as concerning the marriage, my honoured father and mother have deliberated thereon, and have agreed that, please god, it shall take place on the th of november, as the _junker_ will find more amply detailed in my honoured father's letter. "dearly beloved _junker_, i understand thus much from your letter, that you would gladly come here once again before the marriage. if that were possible, it would certainly be a great joy to me, and would give hearty pleasure to all mine without exception. i will not therefore this time entreat of you, but will have all hope and confidence that it may come to pass, and that the _junker_ will not fail to pay a visit to me the poor forlorn one, to which i look with great longing. dearly beloved _junker_, know that the packet has not yet arrived. we have already sent after it several times, and the answer has been, it was expected every hour; as soon as it comes, your desire shall be attended to; i believe it will answer well. the wife of dr. reiner has already written to my honoured mother concerning it, and given it clearly to be understood that she is not to be forgotten in the bridal presents;[ ] however she need not have been in anxiety about it, as she had already been thought of. "dearly beloved _junker_, with respect to the shirts and collars, you must know that we are working zealously thereat, and as many as can be got ready shall be distributed. "i have received the bracelets; accept, my dearly beloved _junker_, my warmest thanks. they are much too pretty for my brown hands, but they please me well. "as regards dress, undoubtedly my honoured father would like to do for one daughter the same as for the other, but as that cannot be on this occasion, he has consented to do something more. i have three taffety dresses; the flesh colour, one gold colour, and one black. we have the tailor still in the house, who is making a violet-coloured damask, and another dress in which i am to go to church, which is to be either of red satin or of black damask. now i beg you will let me know which you would prefer. "dearly beloved _junker_, i cannot venture to make further demands on my father; for this reason, that none of my sisters have had so much done for them, or such splendid things. but as you have so strongly admonished me, i will be so unreasonable as to ask somewhat of the _junker_, first begging of you kindly not to take it amiss, as i do it at your own desire; and this is my petition, dearly beloved _junker_: i wish you to send me a dress of whatever kind you like, whether flesh coloured or silver, that i may have greater change of dress. "dearly beloved and well-trusted _junker_, i have another great request to make to you. you know that i have two sisters who love me, and whom i equally love well; i should like to give them some little thing as a present in your name, if it seems good to you. i have written this to you because you have desired me to speak out my wishes, therefore, i beg you, _junker_, not to take it amiss of me. i do not write it with the idea that it must be, but that it may be done or left undone by the _junker_ at his pleasure. "i send you, according to your desire, the measure of my beautiful stature; we have added nothing to it, but such as the maiden is, so is the measure. i hope that, god willing, they may soon see me tall and beautiful as i am. "we have partaken with pleasure of the grapes you sent us, and kindly thank you for the same. if we get anything rare we will impart it to you. "i am delighted that my picture pleases your youngest daughter so well, and that she has shown it so much honour; let her boldly kiss it; god grant that i may see her, and i will return it to her with interest.[ ] "the shoes which i must have for the pulling off,[ ] i will have made as soon as possible of the best kind, as good as they can be made here, although here they are not in fashion. dearly beloved _junker_, i have one more petition to make in conclusion, namely, that you will make the best of my plain, simple, bad letter, for i intend it in all sincerity, and write from my open heart; and kindly favour me with an answer, which, at the same time, i would rather have by word of mouth, than in writing. "no more from me but what is always pleasing and agreeable to you. herewith i send to the junker, together with his dearly beloved son and daughter, a hundred thousand greetings, and commend you and ourselves to god almighty. given the th october at nuremberg. "yours true in [illustration: a heart] as long as i live, "ursula freherin." iii. "most noble, honourable, amiable, and dearly loved junker, i send you my most kindly greeting, together with my love and truth. i received your letter with pleasure, and learned therefrom with heartfelt joy of the well-being of you and yours. as regards us, we have also to thank our dear and gracious god; may he continue his mercy to us all. amen. "i perceive from your letter that it is impossible for you to come to us before the marriage. this we are sorry to hear, and i am greatly disappointed. i quite thought you would come, and was heartily rejoiced thereat, and oft i ran to the window when i heard any sound of riding or driving. may our dear lord god give us all health, and bring us together with joy. "with respect to the wreath, i thank you kindly, dearly beloved junker, that you have informed me about it. i am quite persuaded that we shall give occasion for much rude gossip, from not knowing the customs amongst you, as they seem quite different to what they are here. i pray you to have the wreath made as it ought to be, and to send it to us as you propose in your letter. as to the other wreath, frau nützelin has instructed me how it ought to be, and i have ordered one with golden spangles, which shall be properly made. i am not satisfied about the bridal presents, as you have not written to me what i am to take for my sisters, and they will not say what they would like; i am fearful of taking too much, or too little, and yet wish to do exactly what is right; i hoped that you would let me know what, and how much they should have. as concerning mine, i hope i shall act so as to deserve them. "dearly beloved junker, i have yet a great request to make to you concerning the shoes, if i may venture to do it, and you will receive it without displeasure. it is, however, a shame that i should trouble you with it, but it cannot be helped. i have had shoes made, and shown them to frau nützelin, who says they are good for nothing, being much too large; that they ought to be quite little, or they would laugh at me outright; and she has advised me to write to the junker, and beg he will have them made down there, because being the fashion, they can make them better than here, where they are never worn; they could not at all understand me, even when i explained it to them fully, still they did not comprehend it; however i indeed have never seen one. i send you herewith, dearly beloved junker, two ducats, and pray you to let your maid-servant see after it, it is my desire that you should not be troubled with it. they need not be very costly, there should be only the arms, or perhaps the name upon them, and they should not be large or long. "my honoured mother begs that you will not take it amiss if she does not answer your letter now; she has so much to do, she has no leisure, but another time she will send you an answer. "dearly beloved junker, i have nothing further to write except that yesterday i was at the wedding, i felt much because you were not here, and also not coming, and nützel brought me home in your place. "i have nothing further to say, and no leisure, as i must go to the wedding party. there remains only to send you and yours a hundred thousand kindly greetings from my honoured mother, my brothers and sisters, and to commend you to the care and protection of god almighty. "in great haste. "your true and loving brunette, and as long as i live, "yours in [illustration: a heart] "ursula freherin." iv. "most noble, honourable, amiable, and dearly beloved junker, may my kindly greeting and good wishes attend you. "i have received your letter, and learned with heartfelt joy, of the well-being of you and yours; as regards us, we are, thanks and praise be to god, still well. may god almighty so keep us all for ever, according to his will and pleasure. amen. "concerning your letter, wherein you write that you wish to try my love and obedience, i did not long deliberate, because the time is now short, and i have taken a good deal out of the purse for myself and sisters, yet not with the intention that it should always go on so; and thus, dearly beloved junker, your commands and my obedience are fully carried out, and i and my sisters do greatly and kindly thank you, and we hope, god willing, to thank you soon by word of mouth. i have also seen, after what you wrote, that the horses should be ready. "i hope that i shall have executed your orders so that you may be brought safely through your dangerous journey, for it would assuredly be very painful to me, if on my account you were to be exposed to great danger. "dearly beloved junker, we have heard with pleasure that you will come to us at the last inn, for in truth it will be necessary to instruct us as to all the arrangements.[ ] may god almighty give you health and happiness, and bring us together in joy. the last inn for sleeping will be stockstadt; my honoured father will also write to you his instructions, and by them you will be guided. "no more at present, than that you, dearly beloved junker, your son and daughter, are heartily greeted by me and mine, and commended to the care and protection of god almighty. "in great haste. "your true and loving brunette, as long as i live "yours in [illustration: a heart] "ursula freherin." chapter xi. german nobility in the sixteenth century. in the beginning of the sixteenth century we find the names of the german nobles, fronsperg, hutten, and sickingen, conspicuous in the three different ways in which the nobles then employed themselves,--the army, the church, and state, and the representation and maintenance of the rights and interests of the landed proprietors. but it appears strange that even up to the middle of the seventeenth century, men like these should have had so few of their own class following in their footsteps. from the time of fronsperg to that of the bohemian junker albrecht of waldstein, and the wild cavalry leader pappenheim, the whole of germany produced no general of more than average skill from among the nobility. there were a few landsknechte leaders of citizen extraction like schärtlin, and some german princes, all however with more pretension than capacity, and it was principally to spaniards and italians that the family of the emperor charles v. and their opponents owed their most important victories. as to the intellectual life of germany, there was still less of that amongst the nobility after the time of hutten. how few noble names do we find in the long list of reformers, scholars, poets, architects, and artists! the first occur in the seventeenth century, when we find those of the members of the _palmenordens_, the author of the 'simplicissimus,' and of some noble rhymers belonging to the silesian school of poetry or to the saxon court. one may well ask how it happened that an order so numerous, holding such an advantageous position with respect to the people, should have accomplished so little in this great field of action, which up to the time of the hohenstaufen was especially in the possession of the nobility. and even with the most favourably disposed judgment, it would be difficult to ascribe to the landed nobility of the fifteenth, sixteenth, and the first half of the seventeenth centuries, any beneficial influences on any one of the great currents of life in germany. in fact the lower nobility--considered as an order--had been, since the time of the hohenstaufen, a misfortune to germany. it was after the beginning of the thirteenth century, when the difference betwixt the noblemen and freeholders had been established by the laws, by the interests and inclinations of the emperor, and by the limited ideal, which was formed by the aristocratic body, that the nobility gradually decayed. in the cities, undoubtedly, the old dominion of the privileged freeman was broken in the last period of the middle ages; there, in spite of all hindrances, a quicker circulation of popular strength had established itself. the labourer could become a citizen, the experienced citizen could rise to be the ruler of his city, or of a confederation of cities, and be the leader of great interests. but the landed nobleman after the beginning of the thirteenth century sank gradually into a state of isolation; labour was a disgrace to him, his acres were cultivated by dependent vassals, and he naturally endeavoured as much as possible to separate himself from them. ever heavier became the oppression by which he kept them down; ever higher rose the pretensions which he, as lord of the land and soil, raised against his own people. but the oppression of the agriculturist was not the worst consequence of the privileged position of the noble. if he found it to his advantage to treat his beast of burden, the peasant, with moderation, he was so much the more eager to make use of his landed rights in other directions. the highroads, the river that ran by his castle, afforded him the opportunity of laying hold of the goods of strangers; he levied imposts upon goods and travellers; he obtruded his protecting escort upon them, and robbed such as considered this escort unnecessary; he built a bridge where there was no river, in order to raise a toll; he designedly kept the roads in bad condition, because he chose to consider that the goods of travelling merchants, though under the emperor's protection, so long as they were in waggons or in vessels afloat; if the waggons were upset or vessels ran aground, belonged, according to manorial right, to the possessor of the land. finally he became himself a robber, and with his comrades seized whatever he could lay hands on; he took the goods to his house, plundered the travellers, and kept them prisoners till they could free themselves by ransom. nevertheless there were certain regulated observances accompanying these robberies, according to which the conscientious junker distinguished between honourable and dishonourable plunder. but this moral code had very little to justify it. in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries there were very few noblemen's houses which did not deserve the name of robber-holds, and still fewer out of which plundering attacks were not made. but this life was most of all detrimental to the nobles themselves; their love of plunder, and their pugnacity, made them turn as much against their fellow-nobles as against the cities, and through the whole of the middle ages led to innumerable feuds. when the feud was notified by letter, some days previous to the beginning of hostilities, it was considered honourable. any trifle was sufficient to occasion a feud: never-ending boundary disputes, encroachments on the chase, or the flogging of a servant, caused discord, even between old comrades and friendly neighbours. then both parties strengthened themselves by the assistance of relations and dependents; they enlisted troopers, and endeavoured to learn through the medium of spies how they could gain an advantage over the property, house, or person of their adversary. the opulence of the cities, and the rancour entertained by the nobles against the rising independence of the citizens, gave an agreeable excitement to their feuds with the latter. whoever was unable to establish a profitable feud of his own, united himself as an assistant to another, and thus old comrades were often by the chapter of accidents opposed, and then, in the full consciousness of doing their duty, would beat and even stab each other. this marauding life on the highways, in the woods and caverns, and with drunken companions, was neither favourable to their family life nor to their higher interests, nor was it even fitted to develop warlike capacity except among the subordinates. at the best, it only formed leaders of small bodies of mounted troopers for foraging expeditions and surprises. sickingen himself, the most skilful specimen of a junker of the sixteenth century, showed in his great and decisive feud, only very moderate talents as a general; and the capacities of götz, in a military point of view, do not stand higher than those of an experienced serjeant of hussars. thus wild, vicious, and detrimental to the community, was the conduct of even the quietest of the lower nobility. their being a privileged order whose members considered themselves superior to citizen of peasant, who kept themselves apart from others, in marriage, business, law, manners, and ceremonials, made them for centuries weak, and their existence a misfortune to the people; but at the same time it saved them from the ruin consequent upon their disorderly life. on retrospect of the act itself, there is little difference to be seen between the robber who now waylays the wanderer on the lonely heath, and the country nobleman who about the year dragged the nuremberger merchant from his horse and kept him in a dark prison upon bread and water, whilst the noble's wife made coats and mantles out of the stolen cloth. but three hundred and fifty years ago, the noble robber practised his evil deeds with the feeling, that though his actions were perhaps contrary to the decrees of an imperial diet, yet they were looked upon by the whole nobility of his province, indeed by the highest sovereigns of the country, as pleasant or at the worst as daring tricks. certainly if he was caught by the city whose citizens he had injured, he might possibly lose his life, as does now a murderer on the high-road, but the law of the city was not his law, and if he died, his death would probably be revenged by other active comrades. however unreasonable were the laws of honour according to which he lived, he felt that these same laws were honoured by thousands whom he esteemed as the best upon earth. thus it was possible, that amidst the greatest immorality and perversity, many manly virtues might be exhibited by individuals; fidelity to their word, devotion to their friends, and kind-hearted friendliness even to those whom they had robbed and imprisoned. it was at this period, under the new emperor maximilian, that the memorable attempt was begun, to give a new constitution to the shattered body of the empire, and with it the possibility of a new life. more than a century elapsed and three generations passed away before the lesser nobility could accustom themselves to the restraint of the new laws; but the princes and cities, however much they might quarrel together, had the greatest interest in enforcing obedience to these laws. it is however worthy of note, that while losing a portion of their wild straightforward resoluteness, they adopted the faults more especially belonging to the new epoch. how the change gradually took place, we will demonstrate here by a few examples. a happy accident has preserved to us three autobiographies of well-known german nobles of different periods of the th century, those of berlichingen, of schärtlin, and of schweinichen; one of them, so long as the german language lasts, will be intimately associated with the name of the greatest german poet. these three men, who flourished in the beginning, the middle, and the end of this celebrated century, were widely different in character and destiny, but all three were landed proprietors, and each of them has recorded the events of his life, so as to give an instructive insight into the social condition of his circle. the best known is götz von berlichingen; his memoirs were first published in . the halo, with which three hundred years after his death, goethe's charming poem has invested him, will make it difficult for the reader of his biography to separate the ideal delineation of the poet from the figure of the historical götz. and yet this is necessary. for however modestly and lovingly goethe has portrayed his character, he appears quite different in history. when as an old man, in a time to which he was a stranger, he wrote his life, he loved to dwell on the knightly exploits of his wild youth. it was not his line to enter into political questions; if he found himself in a crisis he acted according to the advice of his patrons,--the great sovereigns, who employed his strong arm and steadfast will for their own objects. when the peasant army broke into his territories, he and his kinsmen were utterly at a loss what to do, and wrote for advice. the answer was suppressed by his mother-in-law and wife, and he was left to his own judgment, and had not sufficient adroitness to withdraw himself from the thronging insurgents. had he been like many of his cotemporaries, such as max stumpf, he would have abandoned the peasants in spite of all his vows. but although not really faithful to them, true to the letter of his word, he adhered to them till the four weeks were passed, for which he had bound himself though he was not in fact their leader but their prisoner. after that he lived some years in close imprisonment, then for a long time in strict confinement at his castle. he was surrounded by a new generation, engaged in vehement strife, and he himself was grieving the while that he had acted in the peasant struggle as an honourable knight, and that still true to his word, he had even now to count the steps which he was allowed to take beyond the gates of his castle. after sixteen years of solitary seclusion he was in his old age twice called to take part in the warfare of a younger race, which neither brought him adventures nor any opportunity to acquire fame or booty. when at last he died in peace at his castle of hornburg, at the age of eighty-two, luther had been dead sixteen years, and the emperor charles v. had been interred in a cloister four years before; but the long period from the year occupies few pages in his autobiography, although it was written in the last year of his life. there will be given here fragments from his account of the nuremberg feud. götz von berlichingen. " . now i will not conceal from any one that i was desirous of coming to blows with the nurembergers; i revolved the thing in my mind, and thought that i must pick a quarrel with the priest, the bishop of bamberg, that i might bring the nurembergers into play. i waylaid ninety-five merchants who were under the safe conduct of the bishop; i was so kind that i did not seize any of their goods, except those belonging to the nurembergers; of these there were about thirty. i attacked them on the monday after our lord's ascension-day, about eight or nine in the morning, and rode along with them all tuesday, that night, and wednesday: i had my good friend hans von selbitz with me, and altogether our party amounted to thirty. but the other travellers were numerous; these i drove away in small bodies to whatever places they appeared to belong. my comrade, hans von selbitz, also an enemy of the bishop of bamberg, about a fortnight afterwards burnt his castle and a city, called, if i remember it rightly, vilseck, so that this affair bore double fruit. "in order that every one may know why and wherefore i quarrelled with and attacked the men of nuremberg, i will state the causes. fritz von littwach, a margrave's page, with whom i had been brought up as a boy, who had been my companion-in-arms, and who was very good to me, once disappeared mysteriously in the neighbourhood of onolzbach, being made prisoner and carried off, so that for a long time no one knew where he was or who had carried him away. long afterwards, the margrave caught a man, who gave him and the knights accompanying him many true tidings. then it became known where fritz von littwach had been taken to; so i begged and prayed of my patron and relation herr hans von seckendorf, who was the margrave's majordomo, that he would procure me the confession of the traitor. thereby it was discovered that those in the service of the nurembergers had done the deed, and it might be assumed that he had been taken to one of their houses or a public gaol. this was one of my grounds of complaint against the nurembergers. "further, i had hired a servant called georg von gaislingen, who had promised to enter my service, but who had been, when with his junker eustach von lichtenstein, stabbed and severely wounded by the men of nuremberg; his junker had been so likewise, but survived. although many others besides the nurembergers were hostile to fritz von littwach, yet i never perceived any one who had 'belled the cat,' as they say, or had taken up the matter, except poor truehearted götz von berlichingen: these are the grounds of offence that i have everywhere and in every way notified and proved against the nurembergers, every day in which i have negotiated with them before the commissaries of his imperial majesty, and also before the ecclesiastical and temporal princes.[ ] "i will now show further what happened to me and my relations in the nuremberg feud. the states of the empire ordered out four hundred horsemen against me, amongst whom were counts and lords, knights and vassals; their challenges are still in existence. i and my brother were put repeatedly under the ban of the empire, and in certain cities the priests and monks fulminated fire and flame at me from the pulpit, and gave me up to be eaten by the birds of the air, and everything that we had was taken from us, so that we could not possess a foot's breadth of anything. there was no time for festivities; we were obliged to conceal ourselves, and yet i was able to do my enemies some injury, both to their possessions and otherwise, so that his imperial majesty several times interposed and directed his commissaries to negotiate between us, to regulate all things and bring about a reconciliation; thereby his imperial majesty hindered many of my projects, and occasioned me more than two hundred thousand gulden' worth of loss, for i intended to have carried off both gold and money from the nurembergers. it was my project then, by god's help, to overthrow, beat, and imprison all the nuremberg soldiers, and even the burgomaster himself, who wore a large gold chain about his neck, and held a mace in his hand, and also all their horsemen and their standard bearer, when they were on their way to hohenkrähen; i was already prepared for it with horse and foot, so that it was quite certain i should have got them into my hands. but there were some good lords and friends of whom i took counsel, whether i should on the appointed day appear before his imperial majesty, or put my project in execution. their true and faithful counsel was, that i should honour his imperial majesty with a visit that day, which counsel i followed to my great and evident loss. "i knew when the frankfort fair was to take place, when the nurembergers were to go on foot from würzburg to frankfort by the spessart. i made a reconnaissance and fell upon five or six; amongst them there was a merchant whom i attacked for the third time, having in half a year, twice made him prisoner and once deprived him of property; the others were mere bale packers of nuremberg: i made semblance as if i would cut off their heads and hands, though i was not in earnest; but they were obliged to kneel down and lay their heads upon a block; i then gave one of them a kick behind, and a box on the ear to the others: this was the way i punished them, and then let them go their way. the merchant whom i had so frequently waylaid crossed himself and said: 'i should sooner have thought that the heavens would fall in than that you should have waylaid me to-day, for only some days ago, about a hundred of our merchants were standing in the market-place of nuremberg, the talk turned upon you, and i heard that you were then in the forests at hagenschiess waylaying and seizing property.' i myself wondered that in so short a time the rumour of my riding hither and thither should have reached nuremberg. soon after, his imperial majesty took the matter in hand, and arranged it at würzburg."--thus far götz. schärtlin von burtenbach. sebastian schärtlin does not exactly belong to the same class. he was not of noble origin, and had to thank his military talents for his knighthood. he was born in the year , and studied arms under fronsperg. from to he was actively employed in almost all the military affairs of germany, in the service of the emperor, and in that of the city of augsburg. for a time also he served in the french army, as on account of his participation in the smalkaldic war he had been obliged to leave germany. he had more than once commanded large armies, and was in great repute as a bold and experienced general; he is an interesting contrast to götz. the one the noble cavalier, the other the citizen landsknechte leader; götz the jovial companion-at-arms, schärtlin the practical man of business. the lives of both were full of adventures and not free from inexcusable deeds: both died at a great age; but götz dissipated his time and property in plundering expeditions and knightly deeds, while schärtlin helped to decide the fate of germany. götz understood so little his own times and his interest, that he, the aristocrat, allowed himself to be made use of by the democratic peasants as a man of straw; schärtlin understood his own time so well, that after the unfortunate smalkaldic war he withdrew into switzerland a rich man, and a few years afterwards was reinstated triumphantly in all his honours. götz had all his life a strong hankering after the merchant's gold, yet after all his daring plundering expeditions had but little in his coffers; schärtlin made money in all his campaigns, bought one property after another, and knew how to command the highest price for his services. both gave proof of character and of party fidelity; both were honourable soldiers, and the knightly consciences of both were according to our judgment too lax. götz, at whose want of prudence we sometimes smile, though fond of booty, was yet in his way painfully conscientious; schärtlin was the cautious but agreeable egotist. all the good qualities of decaying knighthood were united in the simple soul of the possessor of hornburg, whilst the herr von burtenbach was, on the contrary, thoroughly a son of the new time; soldier, negotiator, and diplomat. both were with the imperial army which invaded france in ; schärtlin, in the prime of life as a general, götz as an old gray-headed knight with a small troop of vassals: the same year schärtlin was created imperial lord high steward and captain general, and acquired seven thousand gulden. götz rode, ill and lonely, in the rear of the returning army back to his castle. both have written their lives in a firm soldier's hand; that of götz is less skilful and well arranged, but his biography will be read with greater sympathy than that of schärtlin: götz takes pleasure in relating his knightly adventures, as good comrades recall their recollections of old times over a glass of good wine; schärtlin gives a perspicuous statement in chronological order, and favours the reader with many dry but instructive details of great political transactions; but respecting himself, he prefers giving an account of his gains and his vexatious quarrels with his landed neighbours. these quarrels, nevertheless, however uniform their course, claim the greatest interest here; for it is precisely by them that we discover how much the proceedings of the landed nobility had changed since the beginning of the century. there is the same love of feuds, as in the youthful days of the berlichingen; deeds of violence still continue to abound, and numerous duodecimo wars are planned; but the old feeling of self-dependence is broken, the spirit of public tranquillity and of courts of justice hovers over the disputants, neighbours and kind friends interpose, and the lawless seldom defy the imperial mandate or the will of the reigning princes without punishment. sudden surprises and insidious devices take the place of open feuds; instead of the cross-bow and sword, adversaries make use of not less destructive weapons--calumny, bribery, and intrigues. satirical songs had for a century been paid for and listened to with pleasure, and the travelling singers made themselves feared, as they ridiculed a niggardly host in their songs at a hundred firesides. schärtlin relates as follows:-- "anno . in this year i, sebastian schärtlin, bought the territorial domain of hohenburg, together with bissingen[ ] and hohenstein, from a bohemian lord, woldemar von lobkowitz, and from hans stein, for fifty-two thousand gulden, and took possession thereof in the presence of my son and son-in-law, and many other nobles, on st. matthew's day, and received the homage of the vassals in the marketplace. the same summer i restored the castle of hohenstein, and so repaired it as to enable one to reside there. now about michaelmas day my son went with his wife and children, and took up his residence there; and prepared rough and hewn stones, lime, and wood, for repairing the castle of bissingen; and in the winter he caused the well to be put in order; for that purpose the neighbouring prelates gave me beautiful oak, and with their horses and those of the city of donauwörth, and by all the neighbouring peasants the carting was done. "the th september, , count ludwig von oettingen caused one of my husbandmen of reutmannshof to be carried prisoner to his office at harburg, where he was kept without bite or sup, because he and his sons in defending themselves had had a quarrel with certain peasants of oettingen, who had opened his gate and forcibly driven over his land; nevertheless no one had been hurt. on the monday following, the count, with five hundred peasants and fifty horses, fell with a strong hand upon my wood, where he had no territorial rights, caused my acorns to be shaken down, and without notice or warning carried off by violence women, children, and waggons belonging to me. when i arrived the same day at bissingen, and learned all this, i and my two sons, together with our cousin ludwig schärtlin and hans rumpolt von elrichshausen, and a force of two-and-thirty horses, entered his domain, and close to his castle of harburg seized a peasant and two of his vassals, and carried them prisoners to bissingen. as his horsemen and archers had at their pleasure passed close to bissingen under my very nose, with great parade and firing off of guns, so did i the like at harburg with the above-mentioned horsemen, in order to excite my adversary to a skirmish, but no one would come out against us. yet at last they shot at us with blunderbusses. on the thursday after, the count rode to stuttgard for a shooting match, and as he knew well that i would not give way to him, he spoke evil of me to their princely highnesses the elector and count palatine, and other counts and nobles, screening himself so as to get me into disgrace and disfavour. duke christoph of würtemberg especially, who had previously been favourably disposed towards me, recalled this year the pension of a hundred gulden which he had given me. the count had besides so excited his brother, count friedrich, against me, that he also attacked me with violence. afterwards both counts strengthened themselves with horse and foot, against whom we brought into the castle of bissingen a hundred good experienced archers, and the concourse of troops on both sides was great. the counts had brought me and mine into ridicule with the people, by songs and other poems, proverbs, and writings, and also with his imperial majesty, the electors and other princes, counts, and lords. they accused me of being an exciter of tumults, and a quarrelsome breaker of the public peace, and gave out everywhere that i was their tenant, vassal, and dependent, who was doubly bound to them, and had forgotten my feudal duty, and such-like lies, in the hope of injuring me and mine by their falsehoods. now whilst i was preparing for being attacked, the count palatine, duke wolfgang, and duke albrecht of bavaria, being the nearest princes, interposed; they wrote to both parties to keep the peace, and offered with duke christoph to bring about an amicable negotiation, so that the prisoners on both sides should be freed, and all the hired troops dismissed. this i was willing to do; but as count ludwig von oettingen--nicknamed igel--the hedgehog--had begun all the mischief, i demanded that he should do it first. but the count would not give freedom to the people, but placed ratzebauer, who was my vassal alone, and owed neither fealty nor allegiance to oettingen, before the criminal court. to all eternity it will not be shown that i and mine, by this purchase, became lawfully vassals, for we bought hohenburg and bissingen, together with all that appertains to them, as freehold properties, and as territorial domains which are independent and have criminal jurisdiction. yet the princes would not leave the settlement to us, but gave us manifold admonitions to be peaceable; so i dismissed my hired troops, and in this transaction i well perceived that duke wolfgang, who before was my gracious protector, had also fallen away, and had become inimical to me. but in spite of all the princely mediations, count ludwig one evening advanced with many horsemen and some hundred peasants against the castle of bissingen, and began a skirmish, with our horsemen of whom some were in the field and others issued forth, in which none received injury. as the enemy could do nothing, they returned again, a laughing-stock to all. "i brought all this business before the supreme court of judicature, and made complaint against count ludwig for his delinquencies against me, hoping, as also happened, that i might bring this matter to a just conclusion, though the princes showed such a party feeling.[ ] meanwhile, count igel meanly cast odium upon my name everywhere by printed writings and calumnious songs; and in the presence of the count von mansfeld, erased from the armorial shield of my son hans bastian, which was upon the inn, the prefix 'herr von bissingen,' which nevertheless had not been placed there by my son himself, but by the landlord; and count friedrich caused his bailiff publicly to proclaim, at the consecration of the church at buchenhofen, that if one of the schärtlingers should go thither, every one should beat him. "in the year , count lothair von oettingen came during lent to augsburg; he sent many friendly words to me, as that he and his other brothers were quite sorry that his brother count ludwig had treated me in so unseemly a manner. besides which, he complained to me of his brother, that he would not give him his marriage settlement or any residence; it therefore became necessary for him to behave hostilely towards him, and he begged of me to yield him knightly service. thereupon i thanked him for his sympathy, and regretted that with him also things did not go satisfactorily; but i let him know that there was a truce between me and his brother, and that i was engaged with him before the supreme court, that i did not willingly put my foot between the hammer and the anvil, but that if otherwise he wanted any knightly service, and would inform me of it, i would be his servant, and would not refuse to furnish horse and armour. "it was the custom annually at bissingen to go on holy ascension day to a fair and dance that was held behind the castle, and there was also shooting, whereat, this year, my son hans bastian gave his company. then counts ludwig and friedrich sent the bailiff of unter bissingen, together with other horsemen, to the fair, armed with five blunderbusses. they placed themselves there, and wished to hold their ground; my sons accosted them, asking why they placed themselves thus armed. to whom the bailiff answered that his lords had sent him to guard this place, and that the supremacy belonged to the counts of oettingen; which my son gainsaid, as the parents of the counts had sold it, and it belonged to me, and he bid them take themselves off. upon this the bailiff rode away with these words, that he would soon return after another fashion; and presently, from the footpath horsemen and infantry were to be seen coming; whereupon my son sent certain servants and vassals to the castle and the church tower, to await the enemy. suddenly the count's people, numbering about forty horsemen and three hundred foot, came riding and running at full speed, attacked my son, and cousin ludwig, and their sharpshooters and vassals with spears and firearms, pressed quite up to the barrier of the fair, and closed the gates by overpowering force. on the other hand my son and his followers placed themselves on the defensive, fought them at close quarters, and firing at them from the castle and towers, shot two of the count's horses and two of his men, one in the body and the other in the leg; thus they kept them at bay, and at last put them to flight, but, thank god! no misfortune happened to him or his. afterwards, however, when my son had entered the castle with his people, and was eating his supper and taking no further heed, count lothar, that honourable man, who had before said so many friendly things to me, returned about six o'clock, and fired thirty shots at the castle with four powerful guns upon wheels, and blew away full twelve bricks. about nine o'clock they returned to unter-bissingen: both counts strengthened themselves in the night, and came again in the morning with many people. as my son and my cousin ludwig had no expectation of another attack, they came over to me early in the morning; then the burgomaster and certain councillors went out to the enemy and inquired what their intentions were, as there was no one in the castle but women and children, they also said that the domain was under process and imperial neutrality. thereupon the bailiff from harburg made reply that they had come yesterday and again to-day with good and friendly intentions, to claim their lord's rights of supremacy, but they had been fired at, whereby great damage had been done to them. they desired to occupy the _platz_ to-day, but if they were fired at, it would be seen what they should do in return. upon this the people of bissingen answered that they were poor people, and whatever might be done would have to be answered for. afterwards the count's people again advanced to the _platz_, two hundred men strong with four guns and a drum, and after performing certain dances, and drinking, each one plucked a leaf from the linden trees; after this defiance, and firing, they withdrew, leaving behind them an ambuscade of two thousand men. all this i notified and complained of to his imperial majesty and the supreme court; thereupon a mandate was sent to both parties, that we should under pain of disgrace and outlawry not molest each other any further, and together with this a summons to appear before the court on the th of august, which were both delivered to the counts, who answered in a most unseemly way that it was all a falsehood. i besides this protested against the injuries done to me. "on the aforesaid grounds, and because there was no end to their hostile behaviour, and also as neither law nor right were of any avail, i was compelled for the sake of mine honour and for protection against the molestation of the two above-mentioned counts, to send a statement to his imperial majesty of the roman empire, to the electors and princes, counts and states of the empire, and also to the five divisions of nobility and the knighthood generally; i also made a like statement by word of mouth to the estates of the country communes, and fully apprised them and their governor, my worthy lord of bavaria, of whom i was appointed representative, and further the city of augsburg, whose vassal i am, of the whole transaction, and besought of them all, counsel, help, or support. these addressed a threatening document to the counts, admonishing them to leave to me and mine, our rights, in peace; adding that if they did not, they would not abandon me. at the same time they recommended me to employ nothing but law. now as so many calumnious songs and sayings had been circulated concerning me, one to whom i had perhaps done some good composed an admirable pasquinade and song upon the count _igel_ von harburg, and cut him up well. "on the third of october, _igel_, with fifteen hundred men, horse and foot, amongst them certain landsknechte, together with five pieces of heavy artillery, advanced against my cousin ludwig at oberringingen, having sent before him certain nobles to demand of him to give up his house. but ludwig schärtlin had by my commands, two days before, supplied himself with three landsknechte, certain blunderbusses and hand-guns of my son's at bissingen, and with powder and shot. so he awaited the storm, as he hoped for a father's reward from me for his knightly truth and faith. he himself went out to these nobles, and answered them with threatening words; if count _igel_ would come in a neighbourly and friendly manner, like his brothers, he should partake with him of his sour wine; but coming in such a fashion, he could not open his house; he had a house for himself, and not for the count of oettingen, and the count would find he had to deal with a soldier. each party withdrew behind his defences, but the count entrenched himself in the outer court, and by the fire of his artillery destroyed the battlements of the towers, all the windows, roofs, and chimneys, and two persons. on the other hand, ludwig schärtlin defended himself valiantly, shot the master-gunner of the count's artillery and another person, and wounded besides many of the soldiers, of whom some afterwards died. thus they fought from seven o'clock in the morning till six in the evening. in the night ludwig caused the count great alarm and disquiet; meanwhile he fortified himself, and again on the morrow defended himself valiantly. but when i, sebastian schärtlin, knight, learned these things, i hastily sent on to bissingen, according to the advice of count albrecht of bavaria, four hundred soldiers, amongst them good marksmen from augsburg, with powder and shot, iron cramps, and good material of war. then i scraped together six-and-twenty thousand gulden, and provided helmets, powder and shot, also certain waggons and guns from the city of memmingen; a great troop of landsknechte and horsemen all appointed to be at burtenbach on the fourth, and i myself came there in the evening, after i had put everything in motion. that same night, count wolf and count lothar came to me at burtenbach in a friendly way, and complained to me that their brother, count ludwig, had also deprived them of their parental inheritance, and they entreated me to unite myself with them. so we made a written and sealed compact, that both the counts and their brother friedrich, with his marksmen, and all their power of horse and foot, should unite themselves with us, and i was to provide five thousand vassals, or other horsemen, and bear the expense of the war. but if i should restore the young counts to their parental inheritance, they should pay two thirds, and i one, of the war expenses. we hoped count _igel_ would tarry before oberringingen, and in case he conquered it, would proceed to bissingen to besiege my son. but the count on the fourth of october raised the siege, and withdrew himself disgracefully, after he had laid waste and plundered my cousin's fore-court and whole village, and carried off all the women and children: yet my cousin was very near getting hold of one of his guns. when count _igel_ perceived that we had come to an accommodation with his own brothers--count friedrich excepted, who would not act either with or against him--he fled the country, and went first to the count palatine, duke wolfgang, and afterwards to duke christoph von würtemberg, to whom he lied, and told many monstrous stories; such as, that i, with the assistance of his imperial majesty, the kings of bavaria, and city of augsburg, and the league of landsberg, had endeavoured to drive him from his people and country. "meanwhile i strengthened myself, and at the end of two days i determined to make an expedition, and cross the danube with a force of seven thousand men, horse and foot. but as it had been perceived by the two princes, the palatine, and würtemberg, that the count would be driven away, and become a guest in their country, they both of them advanced, the duke of würtemberg in person, with his horsemen and some guns, with the intention of not allowing me to cross the danube, or to give me battle. the palatine had before urged me extremely not to have recourse to arms, as his princely grace could not consent to this expedition of mine. his imperial majesty, and the colonel of the suabian troops, had also enjoined me to keep the peace, whereto also the bavarian king and the city of augsburg had repeatedly admonished me, and had offered to accommodate these affairs by negotiation. so with the loss of four thousand gulden, and in spite of my having been plundered, and my cousin endangered, i consented to sheath my sword and keep the peace, to come to an amicable agreement, and to fix a meeting at donauwörth. negotiations were carried on there for a fortnight, and brought to a conclusion by the arbitrators of bavaria and the palatinate, to the effect that we should on both sides maintain peace, and as there was no other hope of peace between us, and no better way of settling matters, i should sell the property to the count. this i would not do, as i wished to have no transactions with the count. yet at last i gave in so far, to the purport of the settled agreement, that i would submit myself respectfully to both princes, and give up the supremacy of hohenburg and bissingen, on payment of sixty-two thousand gulden; but not withdraw from it till i was paid the last penny in peace and security." thus far schärtlin. in spite of his complaints of loss, it may be assumed that the sale, at least in a pecuniary point of view, was advantageous to him, but certain it is, that it did not put an end to his quarrels with the count. for years they both continued to make complaints before the supreme court of justice and the emperor; and to make violent and mutual attacks on each other. at last the adversaries were obliged to shake hands in presence of the emperor. hans von schweinichen. about the end of the sixteenth century the deeds of violence of the noble landed proprietors were less barefaced and less frequent. most of them became peaceful landjunkers, the ablest and poorest sought shelter at the numerous courts. when götz was young every landjunker was a soldier, for he was a knight, and the traditions of knighthood had influence even in great wars. but it was just then that the great change was preparing which made the infantry the nucleus of the new army; from that time an experienced landsknecht who had influence over his comrades, or a burgher master-gunner, who understood how to direct a carronade, was of more value to a general than a dozen undisciplined junkers with their retainers. the power of the princes had for the most part, through the new art of war, mastered that of the lower nobility, and had made the descendants of the free knights of the empire, chamberlains and attendants of the great dynasties. the new roads to fortune were flattery and cringing. the old martial spirit was lost, but the craving for excitement remained. the germans had always been hard drinkers; now drunkenness became the most prominent vice in those provinces where the vine was not cultivated. ruined property, prodigious debts, and insupportable lawsuits disturbed the few sober hours of the day. the sons of the country nobility attended latin schools and the university, but the number of those who pursued a regular course of study was small, for even throughout the whole of the next century the higher offices of the state which required knowledge and skill in business, as well as the most important posts as ambassadors, were generally filled by burghers, and whilst the nobility seemed only capable of holding the higher court appointments, it was generally found necessary to send the son of a shoemaker, or of a village pastor, to a foreign court as the representative of sovereign dignity, and to make the noble courtier his subordinate travelling chamberlain. thus the country nobility continued to vegetate--sometimes struggling against the new times, at others serving obsequiously, till, in the thirty years' war, those of superior character were drawn into the violent struggle, and the weaker sank still lower. hans von schweinichen lived during this period of transition, which was about the end of the sixteenth century; he was a silesian nobleman of old family, groom of the bedchamber, chamberlain, and factotum of the quixotic duke heinrich xi. of liegnitz. we see the characters of both, in juxta-position in two biographies written by schweinichen. one is the account of his own life, 'life and adventures of the silesian knight, hans von schweinichen, published by büsching, three parts, ;' the other an extract from it, with some alterations and additions: 'the life of duke heinrich xi., published in stenzel; script. rer. siles. iv.,' both, works of great value as a history of the manners of the sixteenth century. the old royal house of silesian piastens produced, with a few exceptions, a set of wild, wrong-headed rulers, with great pretensions and small powers. one of the most remarkable among them is heinrich xi. von liegnitz, the dissolute son of a worthless father. when the latter, duke friedrich iii. was deposed by the imperial commissioners in the year , and put under arrest as a disturber of the community, the government of the principality devolved upon his son, then twenty years of age. after ten years of misrule he quarrelled with his brother friedrich and his nobility, and in a fit of despotic humour caused the states of the duchy to be all imprisoned. whilst the indignant members were appealing against him to the emperor, he himself undertook an adventurous expedition through germany, making the round of numerous courts and towns as a beggar, during which, the lack of money plunged him into one embarrassment after another, and led him into every kind of unworthy action. meanwhile he was suspended, and his brother, who was not much better, was established as administrator. heinrich complained querulously, undertook a new begging expedition to the german courts, and at last made his solicitations to the emperor at prague; he was still under the severe pressure of pecuniary embarrassments, but finally succeeded in obtaining the restoration of his duchy. now followed fresh recklessness and open opposition to the imperial commissary, a new deposition and strict imprisonment at breslau. from this imprisonment he escaped and wandered about in foreign parts as a friendless adventurer; he offered his services to queen elizabeth of england in her war with philip of spain; and at last went to poland to fight against austria. he died suddenly at cracow in , probably of poison. if in his shatterbrained character there was anything out of the common way, it was his being entirely devoid of all one is accustomed to consider as honourable and conscientious. he had not the frivolity of his courtiers who cast off all reflection, but he entirely lacked all moral feeling. being a prince, this recklessness for a long time answered, for with a pleasing facility he slipped out of all difficulties, and with a smile or dignified surprise, made his way out of positions that would have brought burning blushes to the cheeks of most others. it was indifferent to him how he obtained money; when in distress he wrote begging letters to all the world, even to the romish legate, though himself a protestant; from every court and city which he visited, and where according to the custom of those times he was entertained, he endeavoured to borrow money. generally the host, taken by surprise, came to terms with schweinichen, and instead of the loan, a small travelling fee was given, with which the prince was content. he had a wife, an insignificant woman, whom he was sometimes compelled to take with him; she had also to make shift and contract debts like him, and after having forced herself on the hospitality of the rich bohemian nobles, she sought for loans through schweinichen, and received their courtly refusals with princely demeanour. all this would be simply contemptible if there was not something original in it, as duke heinrich, in spite of all, had a strong feeling of the princely dignity which he so often disgraced, and was as far as outward appearance was concerned a distinguished man. not only with his schweinichen, but also in the courts of foreign princes, indeed even in social intercourse with the emperor, he was according to the ideas of those times an agreeable companion, well skilled in knightly pursuits, always good humoured, amused with every joke made by others, quick at repartee, and in serious things he appeared really eloquent. in some matters also he showed in his actions traces of a manly understanding. however unseemly his tyrannical conduct, as duke, towards his states, however strange his open resistance to the imperial power, and however childish his hope of becoming elective king of poland, yet the foundation of all this was the abiding feeling that his noble origin gave him the right to aspire to the highest position. he was always engrossed with political interests and plans. nothing ever prospered to him, for he was unstable, reckless, and not to be trusted, but his aims were always great, either a king's throne or a field-marshal's staff. it was this, and not his drunken follies, that cast him down from his throne, and at last into the grave. on one other point he was steadfast,--he was a protestant; although he did not hesitate a moment to demand loans of his catholic opponents in the most shameless way; yet when the papal legate promised him a considerable revenue, and indeed his reinstatement in his principality if he would become a roman catholic, he rejected this proposal with contempt. if he engaged himself as a soldier, it was by preference against the hapsburgers. such a personage, with his freedom from all principle, his complete recklessness, his impracticable and at the same time elastic character, and his mind filled with the highest projects, appears to us as a representative of the dark side which is developed in the sclavonic nature. other princes of his race, above all his brother friedrich, are epitomes of the faults of the german character. mean, egotistic, narrow-minded, and suspicious, without decision or energy, duke friedrich was his perfect opposite. another contrast is to be found in his biographer and companion, the junker hans von schweinichen. this comical madcap was a thorough german silesian. when a boy, as page of the imprisoned duke friedrich, and as whipping-boy of the son, he had early made a thorough acquaintance with the wild proceedings of the liegnitzer court, and been initiated into all its intrigues. his father, a landed proprietor, had fallen into debt in consequence of having once become security for duke heinrich. schweinichen was co-heir to a deeply involved property, and up to an advanced age was engaged in endless quarrels with the creditors, and also with his relations, who had been surety for him, and for whom he had been surety. this was indeed, towards the end of the sixteenth century, the usual lot of landed proprietors. but besides this, he for many years joined in all the mad pranks of his princely master, which were for the most part rather of a lax nature, so he came in for no unimportant share of these frivolous proceedings. the moral cultivation of those times was undoubtedly on the whole much lower than that of ours, and he must only be judged by the standard of his own time. he was no man of the sword, and his valour was tempered by a strong degree of caution. always in good humour, and at the same time crafty, furnished with great powers of persuasion, he contrived to glide like an eel through the most difficult situations with the open bearing of an honest man, and the most good humoured countenance in the world. even when most dissolute he still clung to the hope of redeeming the future, and whilst living as a wild courtier, he considered himself as an honourable country nobleman, who had to preserve the good opinion of his fellows. he had always a small degree of conscientiousness in domestic matters; his was not however a burdensome or strict conscience, and demanded only occasional obedience. he valued himself not a little, and gradually began to take less pleasure in his master's vagaries. the endless changes, the quarrels with jews and christians, and the anxieties about the daily wine, made this life at last too irregular for him; he had always kept a diary of his own life, and seldom forgot to note down that on the previous evening he had been tipsy: at the end of each year's diary, which sometimes contained nothing but a succession of convivial parties and discreditable money transactions, he would commend his soul to god, and after that, note the price of corn in the last year. all that he had mortgaged for his lord we find marked down in his diary with a statement, as precise as superfluous, of the real worth in silver. after he had thus pretty nearly mortgaged everything, he experienced the heartfelt grief of seeing his duke in the imperial prison, there he parted with him, not without grief, as one parts from the friend of one's youth; but his german understanding told him that this parting was fortunate for himself. then followed years in which he drank with his neighbours, reconciled himself with duke friedrich, to whom he even became chamberlain, married, leased a small property, and half as landlord, half as courtier, lived respectably like others. afterwards, when another prince ruled the country, schweinichen became a royal councillor, and an active member of the government; he had the gout, lost his wife and married another. he still continued to move restlessly about the country, adjusted the differences of the noblemen and peasants, occasionally got tipsy with good comrades, discharged debts, acquired landed property, increased in respectability as in age, and died highly esteemed. his escutcheon, emblazoned with eight quarterings, shone conspicuously upon the black mourning horses at his funeral, as it had done when arranged by himself for his deceased father; his effigy was cut in stone upon his tomb in the village church, and his banner hung above it, whilst the coffin of his unhappy prince was still above ground unconsecrated, walled up in a ruined chapel by zealous monks, as that of a heretic. the following episode is taken from the biography of schweinichen. it occurred in , the time in which duke heinrich was suspended in his government by imperial mandate and lived in hainau on a fixed income under the sovereignty of his younger brother. schweinichen was then six-and-twenty; schärtlin had died two months before at the advanced age of eighty-two. "duke heinrich found that it was no longer possible to hold a court in hainau, and notified to his imperial majesty, that as duke friedrich would no longer give him an allowance, his princely grace would take it himself where he could. to this the emperor gave no answer, but allowed things to take their course, as neither party would conform to his imperial majesty's commands, 'as the one prince broke jugs and the other pitchers.' now his princely grace knew that the states had a great store of corn at gröditzberg, so the duke took counsel with me how he should capture gröditzberg, and there keep house till he learned the imperial determination. i could by no means approve of this affair nor give counsel thereto, for many serious reasons which i laid before his princely grace's consideration. for his imperial majesty would interpret it as a breach of the peace, and his princely grace would thereby make matters worse rather than better. because i thus discussed it with the duke, his princely grace was ill-content with me, and said i was good for nothing in such affairs; for he had in his own mind, determined to march out and try whether he could not take the fortress; so he commanded me to prepare twelve troopers, and to tell the junkers that they were to ride with him, yet not to inform them where his princely grace was going. "although i still continued to entreat of his princely grace not to do this, as he would bring the whole country upon him, and i therefore wished to dissuade him from it, yet i could not prevail with him, but he went forth, and commanded me meanwhile not to move from the house at hainau till he called me away. but if his princely grace should capture the fortress in the night, he would immediately send back a mounted messenger, and if i heard a shot i should at once admit him, and obey the commands that he brought. thus my lord marched from hainau the th of august, about two o'clock, to gröditzberg. when his princely grace came into the wood under the hill, he sent up two horsemen as if to examine the place; these were to bring information who were there, and if they found that my lord could advance, they were to fire a shot. as they found only two men there, they fired the shot. his princely grace speedily rode up, took the castle, and about three o'clock in the night, according to agreement, sent a mounted messenger to me. now when i heard the shot before the door at hainau, i was greatly terrified, and said to those who were with me in the room: 'this shot will rouse all the country against my lord.' they did not understand this, but suspected that my lord had carried off duke friedrich. i forthwith ordered the gates of the castle to be opened. his princely grace had sent me notice through ulrich rausch, that he had taken possession of gröditzberg and did not think of returning; but to send forthwith up to that place, his remaining horses, servants, and other things. "two days afterwards, two polish lords, johann and georg rasserschafsky, announced themselves as visitors to his princely grace at hainau, of which i speedily informed the duke, and inquired what i should do. thereupon his princely grace replied, that i should receive and entertain them a few days at hainau; and he sent me six dollars for the charges. as the polish lords had sixteen horsemen with them, the whole six dollars went for wine at the first sitting; so i had to consider how with care and by borrowing i might provide for those lords who were to abide there for a fortnight. thereupon my lord wrote to me to bring them to gröditzberg, and to accompany them myself. there the duke had already established a guard of twenty men, armed with long carabines, having become a warrior; and at the reception of the two lords, caused six trumpets and kettledrums to be sounded. as soon as i came up to the castle, his princely grace charged me with the care of the household. "his princely grace wished to have the house supplied with provisions, and commanded me to get in a store of four-and-twenty malters of flour, which i did; and i also bought at his desire, eight malters of salt. the enormous piles of preserved mushrooms and bilberries is not to be told; great vats full, whereby much money was wasted. twelve pigs also were fattened at the castle upon corn alone, and the duke himself was wont to feed them. everything was prepared for the siege of the castle. now there were carriers at modelsdorf who had to convey lead from breslau to leipzig; when therefore his princely grace learnt this, he commanded that two carriers should bring this lead up to the castle, the value of which amounted to more than two hundred and fifty thalers. it was conveyed into the house and remained lying there. the merchants hearing this, complained to the bishop, who called upon my lord to deliver up the lead forthwith; this, however, his princely grace would not do, but offered some day to pay for the lead from his allowance. in the end it remained unpaid; and the carriers got into great trouble on this account. then bishop martin[ ] sent commissaries to gröditzberg; and his princely grace kept them two days with him and gave them good entertainment, but allowed them to depart again with the affair unsettled. "meanwhile frau von herrnsdorf invited me to a wedding; without doubt to please her daughter, to whom i was not averse, and whom i was courting. i therefore asked his princely grace for leave of absence, and also to lend me three horses, which he did most willingly; and as his servants were just then being newly dressed in gray cloth, i requested that those who were to accompany me might be clothed first. i then had my sword and dagger sharpened, and adorned myself as i best could. thus i rode with three horsemen to herrnsdorf, where the young lady received me with great pleasure. i helped to fetch the bride to herrnsdorf, making my appearance with my trumpeter. we continued together after the wedding till the saturday, full of jollity; and although i was in the mean time recalled by the duke, i remained late, that it might not be perceived that i had the duke's horsemen. on saturday, however, i rode forth again, and when i arrived at gröditzberg, i desired the trumpeter to blow; but when i dismounted at the castle, a good friend of mine came and informed me that his princely grace was very angry with me, and had sworn that he would put me in arrest in one of the rooms in the courtyard: i did not, however, trouble myself about it, but entered the castle so that my lord might see me from the corridor. now his princely grace had some polish guests with him; but there was no provision either in kitchen or cellar; so for more than an hour after the trumpeter had summoned to table, there was nothing served up. his princely grace sent to me to desire that i would cause dinner to be served up, and would be in attendance. in answer, i let the duke know that i had learned his princely grace was angry with me; i had therefore hesitated to appear before him, but when his princely grace should hear the cause of my prolonged absence he would be well content. but the duke returned for answer, that i must be in attendance; that he already knew the cause of my prolonged absence, that i loved the maiden better than him. when therefore, at table, i presented the water to his princely grace, he looked very sour, but i pretended not to perceive it. his princely grace began a carouse, but when it was at its highest, the wine failed. thereupon his princely grace sent to inform me that there was no more wine, and that i had brought him to shame by not returning at the right time. i returned for answer to the duke that it was no fault of mine; and why had not his princely grace sent for wine in proper time? then his princely grace informed me he had no money, but that i was to send quickly for some wine. "i desired then to be informed what i was to do, adding that if he was angry with me, he should tell me so himself. i had meanwhile a little cask of wine, containing about six firkins, lying concealed in the cellar. when a glass of this wine was poured out for the duke, he cried out, 'my steward, i drink to you on your return!' called me to him, and said, 'i have been very angry with you, but it is now past; see to it that you get me provisions, and above all, wine.' i answered, 'your princely grace may now be merry; there will be no lack of wine; other things also shall not be wanting; but your princely grace had no cause to look so askance at me, for i had been with a fair lady whom you would gladly have seen.' whereupon the duke said, 'i like you, and am well pleased with you; i was sure that you would have something in store.' so we became again master and servant, and all ungraciousness was at an end; and thus after my gaieties i was obliged to return to my cares, and consider how i could provide for the kitchen and cellar, which, after my pleasuring, was very distasteful to me. i learnt from various sources that endeavours had been made to blacken my character with the duke, by representing me as a traitor, and as having dealings with duke friedrich, with whom i had made so long a stay; which was not the case, as i was too honourable to do the like. but it is usual to find many backbiters at princes' courts. i was desirous to learn from the duke who my detractor was; but his princely grace would not tell me, and answered that he had not believed it. "as the supply of corn and other things were nearly at an end, and there was nothing more in store, i was obliged to seek after provisions. now heinrich schweinichen von thomaswaldau had a number of old sheep which no one else would buy, and i could not buy any other cattle for want of money, as we had none; so his grace bade me to traffic with my cousin for the old sheep, and i made a bargain with him to pay twenty silver groschen apiece for the sheep, and there were three hundred and twenty-five of them. but when we had agreed upon the bargain, he would not deliver them to me without receiving either money or security, and he would not take me as surety; so i had to return to my lord to inform him of this, and he was sore displeased that no one would trust him. he wrote a letter, therefore, with his own hands to schweinichen, desiring that he would deliver the sheep according to the agreement. but it could not be arranged, and schweinichen excused himself. this irritated the duke still more; and as we had nothing but mushrooms and bilberries to eat, his princely grace desired me to think of some means of giving security. as i had before asked for a loan of three hundred thalers for his princely grace from the council at löwenberg, and had received fair promises, i went again to the councillors, and begged of them to settle the affair; but they refused. i persevered, and at last they consented to be security for the sheep, provided i were responsible for any damage or loss. this, however, i objected to, but begged that they would trust his princely grace, for they should not be the worse for it. so i persuaded the council to become security with their seal to the old higgler for half a year, and we obtained provision again from the old sheep. these were frequently dressed in eight different ways, also the mushrooms in three different ways, and the bilberries in two ways. with this his princely grace and we all were obliged to be content, and to drink bad goldberger beer. meanwhile autumn drew on, and we were able to obtain birds. but when i went to set gins in the wood, i had great difficulty with the retinue, who all wished to scour the wood and get birds for themselves. although his princely grace himself forbad it, no one would desist therefrom, so that i was obliged to put the junkers under arrest in the room in the courtyard, and the common people in the tower. i became thereby very unpopular, yet it could not be helped. his princely grace went every morning himself to catch birds, and that was also my pastime. otherwise the time passed very tediously; although i had not much rest, as i had to procure provisions, which was a source of great trouble to me. "now his princely grace perceiving that it was difficult for him to maintain himself at the gröditzberg, and that no allowance could be obtained from duke friedrich, hearing likewise that the arnsdorf pond had been fished at an earlier period than heretofore, and that when drawn, a certain quantity of carp had been caught and placed in reservoirs, he ordered me to provide some waggons, and rode himself with fifteen horsemen to arnsdorf. as it was almost evening, and there was no one near the reservoir but the pond watchman, his princely grace had a large number of the fish taken out, as many as the five waggons could carry, and returned therewith to gröditzberg. "whilst the duke was having the waggons loaded with fish, the alarm was given at liegnitz; thereupon the burgrave kessel and hans tschammer, the master of the horse, galloped off with five horsemen, to prevent any fish from being carried away; but they were too late, for the greater part of the waggons laden with fish were gone, besides which, they perceived that his princely grace was there in person, and stronger than themselves. his princely grace did not give them a kind greeting, but gave kessel a blow on the back, saying, that if he allowed a word to pass his lips that was not seemly, he should be his prisoner, and would find that the duke would treat him as a rebel. so these five were obliged to let the matter pass, and thank god that they had got so well out of it. "on the following day the pond was again to be drawn for fish, and duke friedrich expected that duke heinrich would return and seize more of them; so he proceeded thither himself, taking with him five-and-twenty horsemen, and likewise fifty arquebusiers, who were concealed among the bushes under the bank. his princely grace however remained at home, but sent me and a foreigner, hans fuchs, a captain of landsknechts, together with six horsemen to arnsdorf, with directions to greet duke friedrich kindly, and say that my lord had been compelled by necessity to carry off the fish on the preceding day, and he begged he would not take it amiss; that duke friedrich was to consider it as the provision due to him, and his princely grace entreated him in a friendly way to send him yet another supply of fish for provision. "but duke friedrich looked black, knit his brows, and answered thus: 'as for this greeting of his princely grace, if he sent it with a true brother's heart, he thanked him for it; but two days ago the fish had been carried off from the reservoir, which greatly annoyed him, and if he had come there in person no good would have arisen from it.' he was quite unfriendly, and said that no more fish should be sent, and if an attempt should be made to take them away by force, he would guard them. thus i departed from duke friedrich, and asked kessel for a dish of fish, as we wished to breakfast at perschdorf, whereupon duke friedrich ordered them to give me what i wanted. "now when i came with such an answer to my lord, he was sore displeased, and made all kinds of projects, and wished to take the fish by force. meanwhile there came intelligence that duke friedrich was again going to fish the next day, and would have a guard with him. then my lord said to me: 'hans, we'll have some sport; reckon how many horsemen we can muster; we will go and frighten duke friedrich a little at the arnsdorf pond.' but i would not consent to this, and objected to any such plan, as their hearts would have been much embittered thereby towards each other. duke friedrich had also many poles, servants of the nobility, with him, and they were powerful. his princely grace however would not give it up, but promised me he would not speak an angry word to any one, and i should see how he would drive away duke friedrich and his followers; thereupon i made a reckoning, and found that we could bring together a force of nineteen horsemen, three trumpeters, six arquebusiers, and two lackeys, wherewith duke heinrich was well content, and commanded me to take with us one waggon with fish barrels, as duke friedrich would not be so uncourteous as to refuse to present us with some fish. "early in the morning his princely grace left his castle for perschdorf. there he received information that duke friedrich had gone in a little boat on the pond. on hearing this, his princely grace said to me: 'hans, now is the time, advance.' now duke friedrich had placed a sentinel at the end of the dam, who as soon as he observed anything, was to fire a shot as a signal. as soon therefore as this shot was fired by the duke's sentinel, i caused one of the trumpeters to blow, and then another, and afterwards all three together. then, as i was afterwards told, a great tumult arose, and duke friedrich and his attendants called out for their armour, and duke friedrich was in so great terror on the pond, that they could hardly prevent his fainting. at last he sprang out of the boat and waded in the mud, so that he lost his breath. when the arquebusiers whom duke friedrich had with him, heard the trumpeters, they ran among the bushes on the meadow; so that there was no one to be seen when he called for his guard, and some shots that fell on the lappets of duke friedrich's coat, and on his steed, were the only answer, and he made off to liegnitz with all speed. as soon as the others saw that their lord was riding away, they followed his example, and only nine horsemen remained by the reservoirs; among them leuthold von der saale, balthasar rostitz, and muschelwitz. so when his princely grace approached them, they took off their hats, and my lord greeted them graciously, and inquired where their master was; to which they replied that they did not know. whereupon my lord replied, that he had not come as an enemy, but as a brother, and added: 'i have brought with me a fish-barrel, hoping that my brother would hold friendly intercourse with me, and not be uncourteous, but make me a present of a dish of fish. and as i am expecting foreign guests, i will take twenty large pike, sixty of round pike, and a score of large carp.' those who were to have fished withdrew, and von saale protested that his princely grace should not take away the fish. my lord, however, did not enter into parley about it, but compelled the peasants who had run away to descend to the reservoir and catch the fish. and his princely grace packed the fish himself in the barrel, and commanded the junkers to tell duke friedrich that he should not have fled from him and his troopers, as he had come with friendly intentions; but it was clear that a bad conscience could not conceal itself. also that duke friedrich might come the next morning and help him eat the fish; and he added: 'but if your lord will not come, do so yourselves if you are honest men, and be not afraid as you have been to-day.' after this his princely grace said to me: 'hans, did i not tell you beforehand that i would drive away my brother? are you content? i will in like manner drive him from liegnitz, you will see: it will not take long.' thus we returned to gröditzberg in good spirits." thus far schweinichen. the reader will have no difficulty in discovering that no one thought of attacking the duke in his castle. when winter drew on he himself became weary of this caprice, and determined to make another expedition through germany, which schweinichen very wisely opposed, but for which he afterwards exerted his wits to procure money. in the year , a century after duke heinrich and his faithful hans had undertaken their first wild expedition through germany, there appeared in silesia on the great heath of kolzenau, which since the war had lain waste and desolate, a strange and monstrous animal, such as in the grim time of yore had rent the silesian thickets with its horns, when the first piastens ranged through the woods with the hunting-spear and arrow. and above in the royal castle at liegnitz, the last piasten duke, the young georg friedrich celebrated his birthday with his nobles. as the rare venison was placed on his table, the joyful sounds of the trumpet rang through the city, and the cannons thundered as often as the health of the new duke was drunk. but thoughtful people in the country, trembled on account of the wild monster that had come into their woods and to their young lord, as an ill omen from the olden time; and they shook their heads and prophesied misfortune. the last elk that was slain in silesia was for the last joyous repast of the last of the piasten. a few days after he died; and when his coffin was borne in the evening through the streets of liegnitz, pitch wreaths were burnt at every corner, and hundreds of boys dressed in black, carried white wax tapers before their deceased lord. the german silesians grieved over the fall of the great sclavonic dynasty, which had once led their fathers into this land, and had first shown through them to the world, that the union of men in a free community is more beneficial to a country, than despotic government over slaves. but this truth had afforded no safeguard for the lives of the lords of this country. chapter xii. the german ideas of the devil in the sixteenth century. the phantasies of the human mind have also a history; they form and develop themselves with the character of a people whilst they influence it. in the century of the reformation, these phantasies had more weight than most earthly realities. it is the dark side of german development which we there see, and to it is due the last place in the characteristic features of the period of the reformation. in the most ancient of the jewish records there is no mention of the devil except in the book of job; but at the time of christ, satan was considered by the jews as the great tempter of mankind, and as having the power to enter into men and animals, out of which he could be driven by the invocations of pious men. the people estimated the power of their teachers by the authority that they exercised over the devil. when the christian faith spread over the western empire, the greek and roman gods were looked upon as allies of the devil, and the superstition of many who yet clung to the later worship of rome, made the devil the centre of their mythology. but the conceptions which the fathers of the church had of the person and power of the devil, were still more changed when the german tribes overthrew the government of the roman empire and adopted christianity. in doing so this family of people did not lose the fullness of their own life, the highest manifestation of which was their old mythology. it is true that the names of the old gods gradually died away; what was obviously contrary to the new faith was at last set aside by the zeal of the priests, by force, and by pious artifices; but innumerable familiar shapes and figures, customs and ideas, were kept alive, nay, they not only were kept alive, but they entwined themselves in a peculiar manner with christianity. as christian churches were erected on the very spots where the heathen worship had been held, and as the figure of the crucified saviour, or the name of an apostle was attached to sacred places like donar's oak; thus the christian saints and their traditions took the place of the old gods. the people transferred their recollections of their ancient heathen deities to the saints and apostles of the church, and even to christ himself, and as there was a realm in their mythology which was ruled by the mysterious powers of darkness, this was assigned to the devil. the name devil, derived from the greek (diabolos), was changed into fol, from the northern god voland, his ravens and the raging nightly host were transferred to him from wuotan, his hammer from donar; but his black colour, his wolves or goat's form, his grandmother, the chains wherewith he was bound, and many other traditions, he inherited from the evil powers of heathendom which had ever been inimical to the benevolent ruling gods. these powerful demons, amongst whom was the dark god of death, belonged according to the heathen mythology to the primeval race of giants, which as long as the world lasted were to wage a deadly struggle with the powers of light. they formed a dark realm of shapeless primordial powers, where the deepest science of magic was cultivated. to them belonged the sea-serpent, which coiled round the earth in mighty circles, lay at the bottom of the ocean, the giant wolves which lay fettered in the interior of the earth or pursued the sun and moon, by which, at the last day, they were to be destroyed; the ice demons which from the north sent over the land snow-storms and devastating floods; and worse than all, the fiendish helia, goddess of the dead. besides the worship of the _asengötter_, there was in heathen germany a gloomy service for these demons, and we learn from early christian witnesses that even before the introduction of christianity, the priestesses and sorcerers of these dark deities were feared and hated. they were able by their incantations to the goddess of death, to bring storms upon the corn-fields and to destroy the cattle, and it was probably they who were supposed to make the bodies and weapons of warriors invulnerable. they carried on this worship by night, and sacrificed mysterious animals to the goddess of death and to the race of giants. it was these priestesses more especially--so at least we may conclude--who, as _hazusen_ or _hegissen_, or _hexen_ (witches), were handed down by tradition to a late period in the middle ages. the remembrance of these heathen beings became mixed with a wild chaos of foreign superstitions, which had been brought from all the nations of antiquity into heathen rome, that great nursery of every superstition, and from that ancient world had penetrated into christianity. the _strigen_ and _lamien_, evil spirits of ancient rome, which like vampires consumed the inward life of men, sorceresses who flew through the air, and assembled nightly to celebrate disgraceful orgies, were also handed down to the germans, who mingled them with similar conceptions, having perhaps a like origin. it is not always possible to discover which of these notions were originally german or which were derived from other nations. the western church in the beginning of the middle ages kept itself pure from this chaos of gloomy conceptions; it condemned them as devilish, but punished them on the whole with mildness and humanity, when they did not lead to social crimes. but when the church itself was frozen into the rigidity of a hierarchical system, when strong hearts were driven into heresy by the worldly claims of the papacy, and the people became degraded under the nomination of begging monks, these superstitions gradually produced in the church a narrow-minded system. whatever was considered to be connected with the devil was put an end to by bloody persecution. after the thirteenth century, about the period when great masses of the people poured into the sclave countries from the interior of germany, fanatical monks disseminated the odious notion that the devil, as ruler of the witches, held intercourse with them at nightly meetings, and that there was a formal ritual for the worship of satan, by accursed men and women, who had abjured the christian faith; and for this a countless number of suspected persons, in france, in the first instance, were punished with torture and the stake, by delegated inquisitors. in germany itself, these persecutions of the devil's associates first became prevalent after the funeral pile of huss. the more vehement the opposition of reason to these persecutions, the more violent became the fury of the church. after the fatal bull of innocent viii., from the year , the burning of witches in masses began to a great extent in germany, and continued, with some interruptions, till late in the eighteenth century. whoever owned to being a witch was considered for ever doomed to hell, and the church hardly made an effort to convert them. according to popular belief, the connection of man with the devil was of three kinds. either they renounced the worship of god for that of the devil, swearing allegiance to him, and doing him homage, like the witches and their associates; or they were possessed by him, a belief derived by the germans from holy scripture; or men might conclude a compact with the devil binding both parties under mutual obligations. in the latter case men signed away their souls in a deed written with their own blood, and in return the devil was to grant to them the fulfilment of all their wishes upon earth, success, money, and invulnerability. although the oldest example known is that of the roman theophilus--a tradition of the sixth century--and although the written compact originated at a time when the roman forms of law had been introduced among the western nations, yet it appears that the source of this tradition concerning the devil was german. these transactions were based upon a deep feeling of mutual moral obligation, and on a foolhardy feeling, which liked to rest the decision of the whole of the future upon the deed of a moment. there is much similarity between the german who in gambling stakes his freedom on the throw of the dice, and he who vows his soul to the devil. these alliances were not looked upon by the old church with mortal hatred; these wicked and foolhardy beings, like theophilus himself, might be saved by the intercession of the saints, and the devil compelled to give up his rights. it is also peculiar to german traditions, that the devil endeavours to fulfil zealously and honestly his part of the compact, the deceiver is man. through these additions the popular mind invested the devil with new terrors, yet it strove at the same time to think of him in a more agreeable point of view. the race of giants of the ancient mythology had had two aspects for the people; they took pleasure in seeing something harmless, and indeed burlesque about them, besides the terrors of their demoniacal nature. on one hand, the deformity of their great bodies, their strength, and clumsy wit, and on the other, their supposed knowledge of magic and technical dexterity, had already been in heathen times an inexhaustible source of comic stories, by which the people poetically explained to themselves, among other things, all striking phenomena of nature. but besides the giants there was in the heathen times a numerous host, of smaller spirits in nature, who hovered around men. the hairy _schrate_ dwelt in the woods, the _nix_ sang on the banks of the brooks, a numerous race of dwarfs hammered in the mountains, elves and _idisien_, the german fairies, played on the dew in the meadows, and the fighting maidens of wuotan flew through the air in the form of swans or on magic horses. in house and courtyard, in barn, cow-house, and dairy, dwelt household spirits of various kinds, sprites sat under the hearth, hobgoblins glided in the form of tom-cats over the rafters, brown and gray mannikins, and sometimes white ladies surrounded the family, as guardian spirits of their domestic comfort and welfare. the repose of sleepers was disturbed by nightmares, the rye-mume sat in the ears of corn, and the little wood fairy on the felled timber, the will-o'-the-wisp in the marsh fluttered about restlessly, and endeavoured to entice men out of the right track. these lesser spirits maintained their place in christendom, but became timid and averse to men. it may be observed in the old traditions, with what sorrow the new convert regarded the disturbance of his relations with his old friends; in some, the little sprites lamented that they also could not become blessed; in others, they are disturbed by the sound of a clock, and depart secretly out of the country. many of their dark and malicious traits of character were also transferred to the devil, especially those of the giants. he became an architect like them, he was obliged to carry great masses of rock through the air, which he lost on his journey, or cast down in anger; he had to raise prodigious walls, and build bridges, castles, mills, and even churches. and in these works, he was almost always the person cheated, as were the giants in the olden traditions; being deprived of the reward for which he had worked. he had to guard treasures beneath the earth, in the form of a wolf or dog with fiery eyes, or to fly as a fiery dragon, and throw treasures down the chimney on to the hearth. he was obliged to appear in person at popular festivals, and act the part of the buffoon and much belaboured opponent of the heavenly powers, in a half ludicrous, half terrific dress. among the germans he had his disguises; the horns, the goats' or horses' foot, the halting gait, the tail, and the black colour. it is possible that the details of his costume may be taken from recollections of the ancient satyrs, but similar strange animal figures are to be found in the festive processions of german heathendom, and in the rising cities of the middle ages, the dress of the chimney sweeper was an inestimable help. such were the notions which prevailed about the devil in germany for about a thousand years. they were influenced by all the great excitements and changes of the popular mind. in times of great religious zeal, they bore a wild misanthropic aspect; but in days when the people were engrossed with worldly pleasures, they assumed a more comic and harmless form. then came luther and the reformation. together with every one else in germany, the devil also was brought into the great struggle of the century. the roman catholics looked upon him as the head of the whole body of heretics; while the protestants took the popular view of him as a figure standing with a bellows behind the pope and cardinals, inflating them with attacks on the reformed doctrines. he was mixed up in all theological and political transactions; he sat on tetzel's box of indulgences, visited luther at the wartburg, made intrigues between the emperor and pope, humbled the protestants by the smalkaldic war, and the roman catholic party by the apostacy of the elector maurice; and in all the concerns, small and great, of the people he appeared, and was busy everywhere. this enlargement in his powers of action would probably have taken place at any period of zealous faith; but in the person and teaching of the great character who gave to the whole of the sixteenth century its impress and colour, there was something peculiar by which even the reverse of all that was holy was remoulded. first of all, luther was the son of a german peasant. in the recollections of his childhood, as revived by him amid the circle of his companions at wittenberg, the devil wore a very old-fashioned, nay, heathenish, aspect; he brought devastating storms, while the angels brought the good winds, as once upon a time the gigantic eagles did from the furthest corners of the world by the stroke of their wings;[ ] he sat as a water-god under the bridges, drawing maidens down into the water, whom he made his wives; he served in the cloister as household spirit; blew the fire as a goblin; as a dwarf laid his changelings in the cradles; as a nightmare deluded the sleepers into ascending the roof of the house, and bustled about the rooms as a hobgoblin. by this last species of activity he sometimes disturbed luther. it is true that the ink-spot at the wartburg is not sufficiently verified, but luther could tell of a disagreeable noise which the devil had made there nightly with a sack of hazel nuts. in the monastery of wittenberg also, where luther was studying rempter one night, the devil made such a noise, for so long a time in the crypt of the church underneath him, that he at last snatched up his book and went to bed. afterwards he was provoked with himself for not having defied the jackpudding. thus deeply was luther imbued with the popular superstition. but to this kind of devilry he did not attach much importance; the bad spirits who employed themselves after this fashion, he very properly called poor devils. his opinion was that devils were countless. "they are not all," he says, "insignificant devils, but country devils and princes' devils, who for a long period, above five thousand years, have been busy, tempting men, and are thoroughly clever and cunning. we have great devils who are _doctores theologiæ_; then the turks and papists have bad insignificant devils who are not theological but juridical." from them he thought came everything bad upon earth, as for instance illnesses; he had a strong suspicion that the dizziness he had long suffered from was not natural; also conflagrations:--"wherever a fire breaks out a little devil sits behind blowing the flame;" likewise famine and war:--"if god did not send us the holy and dear angels as guards and arquebusiers, who encamp round us like a bulwark, it would soon be over with us." expert as luther was in describing his own characteristics, he was equally so with the devil; he declared that he was haughty, and could not bear to be treated contemptuously. therefore he advised that he should be driven away by scorn, and jeering questions. he thought, also, that satan was a melancholy spirit, and could not endure gay music.[ ] but it was not in vain that luther had spiritualized the church teaching; it was owing to him that the struggle for eternal salvation began in the souls of individuals, and that the destiny of man was made to depend on his own conscience and faith in god. through this, satan's sphere of activity was changed, and the strife of men with the evil spirit became more especially an inward one. it was not the outward appearance and clatter of the devil that was peculiarly terrible, but his whisperings to the souls of men. the preservatives against this danger were, constant inward repentance, frequent prayer, and an enduring and loving remembrance of god. luther's temptations have already been mentioned; he spoke openly and honestly to his cotemporaries concerning them, and the race of men who listened with faith to his discourse were infected by him; inward temptations were commonly recognized by the protestants, and on this point also he became the comforter and confidant of many. the difference between the old and new church was first shown in the conception of the free contract which man concluded with hell. in the old church it had been made comparatively easy to believers to escape from the devil. by certain pious outward observances the christian could in the worst case, even when deeply engaged with satan, free himself from him in the last hour. therefore, in the contracts made between men and the devil before the reformation, the latter was almost always the person defrauded; this business-like and immoral method of reaching the kingdom of heaven excited the deepest indignation of luther. he strongly proclaimed the doctrine of st. augustine; that man being corrupt through original sin is a prey to the devil, and can only be put in the way of salvation by continual inward repentance, and that therefore unrepentant sinners cannot be saved from hell. the result of this was, that after the sixteenth century, those men who had concluded a compact with hell were generally supposed to be carried off by the devil. the sorrowful end of the traditional dr. faust is well known; he was not satan's only prey. it was generally believed, and published in hundreds of tracts, that men of profligate character, reckless drunkards, gamblers, swearers, or enemies against whom a bitter hatred was entertained, were carried off into the nether regions. and the hand of the devil was thought to be distinctly perceptible in the twisted neck of the dying sinner. luther himself had once to interfere in such a case. a young student at wittenberg, an ill-disposed youth, had invoked the devil, and had offered himself up to him. luther took the affair in hand with great earnestness and dignity; he first crushed the culprit by severe admonitions, then he knelt down with him in the church, laid his hands on him, prayed with fervour, and caused the youth finally to repeat after him a penitent confession; thus was the business settled. even historical personages did not escape the melancholy fate of being possessed by the devil. the belief in this continued beyond the thirty years' war. in the last century the compact which the duke of luxemburg, the opponent of prince william of orange, had made with the devil, was imparted to the public with all kinds of details and comments; and it is characteristic of that fastidious period, that the duke imposed upon the devil, among other conditions, that he should only appear to him under an agreeable, not in a terrible form.[ ] following the examples given in the bible, the new church treated more kindly those that were possessed. luther and his followers assumed that these, through sins which might be forgiven, and sometimes through small errors, had fallen into the power of the devil, and that it was a duty and a merit in believers to drive out the evil spirit by prayers and adjurations. it was not all lunatics or epileptic persons who were considered to be possessed of the devil, but as he was supposed to be at work everywhere, they often had the satisfaction of finding him. the most wonderful indications of his activity were watched with credulous zeal. weak-minded women principally were impressed with the belief that they were tormented by the devil; and it was the natural result of this imagination that in their sickly condition they expressed the most violent repugnance against ecclesiastics, and the pious ceremonies with which they were favoured. but how far preconceived opinions can confuse the senses, not only of the sick, but also of the healthy, and falsify the witness of their own eyes and ears, we discover with astonishment in numerous accounts of eye-witnesses, who are fully worthy of credit, but who perceive and believe in the most impossible things in those possessed. to mention a very absurd instance supposed to have happened in the time of luther, at frankfort on the oder; a maiden who had always been weak in mind was possessed by satan in the following way: "when the suspected maid seized any one by the coat or beard, or otherwise, she always found money instead in her hand, which she instantly put into her mouth, crunched, and at last swallowed. this money one could only get out of her hand by force. in the same way she everywhere found needles. sometimes she handed over to the people who stood around her this devil's money, which she had caught from the walls, tables, benches, stones, and ground. it was good coin, groschen and pfennige, but there were some bad red ones among it." this extraordinary occurrence is related in a pamphlet by dr. andreas ebert, an ecclesiastic; and his account is confirmed by theodore dürrkragen, the president of the city council. luther, as with hundreds of other critical questions, was asked his opinion about this: he was distrustful, desired to know whether it was good money; and at last advised that the maiden should be sedulously taken to church and prayers made for her to god. there were some difficulties about this cure, for the devil in the maiden insulted the clergyman during his sermon, and gave him the lie. in vain also did a roman catholic priest endeavour to conjure the devil from her, who treated him with scorn and despised his holy exorcism. the power, however, of evangelical prayer compelled satan to depart; the maiden became vigorous and sound, after her recovery knew nothing of the past, but continued to be, as servant maid, a useful member of the community.[ ] such were the ideas of german catholics and protestants. nothing shows more strikingly the power which luther personally exercised, than the influence he gained over his bitterest opponents. the roman catholic dogmas, it is true, withstood his assaults, and between the new bulwarks of faith which he had thrown up, and the closed fortress of the old church, there raged for a century a furious war. but his mode of thought, his language, and above all the special character of his spiritual life, influenced the german catholic church of his day as well as the protestant, in a way which was both peculiar and one-sided. the rude formalism of her indulgence trade and pious brotherhoods, did not entirely disappear; but he gave a new tendency to her inward spirit. earnest study, acute thought, dialectic skill, and what was of more value, a greater moral depth, became the necessary requisites of the roman catholic champions. they learnt to preach and compose their controversial writings in luther's language and method, even appropriated the strong abusive expressions of the great heretic, and sought to imitate felicitously the popular humour to which luther owed not a little of his success. the words of the evangelical songs, the titles and contents of lutheran works were always parodied. perhaps the internal resemblance is nowhere more striking than among the most talented of the ingoldstadt university. andrea, scherer, and their friends might but for the difference of their dogmas, and above all personal, hate, as well be lutherans as roman catholics. thus there arose between the ecclesiastics of both confessions a sometimes laughable, but frequently a disgusting contention to drive the devil out of the possessed. if a possessed person became in question where the two churches were in collision, each endeavoured to show the power of their faith by healing the patient; the evangelical by the prayers of the clergy and parishioners, the roman catholics by exorcism; the soul which was saved brought glory on the fortunate church. among the numerous accounts which we find of suchlike exorcisms, the following, which proceeds from the roman catholic camp in the neighbourhood of ingoldstadt, is remarkable from its detailed narration and interesting psychological features. it was published shortly after the event, in a pamphlet, with the title, 'a terrible but quite true history, which took place between hans geisslbrecht, citizen at spalt, and his wife apollonia, in the bishopric of eystätter. by m. sixtus agricolas. ingolstadt, .' the narrative begins as follows:-- "hans geisslbrecht, citizen at spalt, after the death of his first wife, married apollonia, widow of the late hans francke of lautershausen, in the margravate of brandenburg; here he continued after his marriage, and lived with her more than a year; at last, however, the miserable marriage devil entered in, so that there was between them both, nothing from morning to night but scolding, quarrelling, strife, crying, chiding, and nagging; besides which, what was altogether most terrible, great blaspheming of god and wicked swearing. the said geisslbrecht came home quite drunk on friday the nineteenth october of the past year ' , and began according to his old custom to quarrel and swear at his wife; and they carried this on, as most of their neighbours heard, almost throughout the night. on saturday morning apollonia came to anna stadlerin, her neighbour, and said: 'dear stadlerin, have you not heard how rudely and shamefully my husband has behaved during the whole night?' 'yes,' answered the other, 'i and my stadler have, alas! but too well heard what caterwauling and blaspheming has been going on between you; the neighbourhood can have no peace whilst you live in so unchristian a way.' to this the said apollonia answered with grim anger: 'ah me! if our lord god will not deliver me from this violent man, i shall call upon the devil to come to my help.' now mark what followed! on the said saturday evening, when geisslbrecht's cows came home from the meadow, and she was about to milk them, as was her wont, there came two birds like swallows, of which at that time of year none are to be seen in the country; and they flew swiftly round about her head. before she could look up from under the cow there appeared near her a tall man (but, alas! it was the devil in human form), who said to her: 'ah, my dear appel, how much do i sympathize with you, that you are in such trouble; your life is so hard and wretched, and you have such a bad husband, who behaves so ill to you, and who intends to make away with everything, so that nothing may remain to you after his death. do one thing, promise that you will be mine, and behold i in return, will promise to convey you in this very hour to a beautiful enjoyable place, where you shall for ever and ever do nothing but eat, drink, sing, jump, and dance; in short, where you will spend such days of pleasure as you have never seen all your life long, for the kingdom of heaven is not such as your priests say; i will teach you better.' "these great promises of the embodied satan induced the wretched woman thoughtlessly to give him her hand, and say that she would become his; instantaneously the said apollonia became possessed by him, and forthwith he suggested to her that she should hasten with him to the loft; in the hope that she would there hang herself. now when the aforesaid wife of geisslbrecht sprang up from the cows and hastened to the house, the before-mentioned neighbours perceived her condition, and called out to her husband: 'oh, ulrich, come! the old shepherdess (her husband used to be called the shepherd) has lost her senses.' after that, they ran towards her, and before they could reach her she laid herself in the pond before the cottage door, with the intention of drowning herself therein. when she had been taken out, many other neighbours came to her, and brought the poor possessed woman into the house again; she desired directly to be carried up to the loft, and cried out: 'oh let me go! do you not see how luxuriously i live, that i do nothing but eat, drink, jump, and dance, and lead an enjoyable life?' when apollonia was brought into her room, it required first two and afterwards four men to hold her. meanwhile a messenger was sent at midnight on saturday to the venerable and learned dean and pastor, herr wolfgang agricola, to beg that his reverence would hasten to the old shepherdess, as she had that evening lost her wits. but the prudent dean thought the affair was by no means so urgent as they represented it, and did not wish to go out so late on this holy night, but he apprized them, that he had always feared that these continual godless quarrels and disputes would at last come to this conclusion; he bade them, in case the woman became so refractory that they could not hold or restrain her, to fasten her meanwhile with two chains, which was done. "in the evening after he had performed matins, the dean, like a man who had been accustomed to deal with the like cases, provided himself with a small reliquary, wherein was a piece of the holy cross, and of the pillar on which the lord christ was scourged; further, an agnus dei of the year of the jubilee; and lastly a piece of white wax, which had been consecrated by _summus pontifex_; all these he carried upon his own person. when he went to the house of geisslbrecht and was perceived by apollonia with her deceitful indweller, who so evil treated her, it would be impossible for any one who had not been there, to believe how she began to rage, rave, and gnash her teeth; for although she lay bound by two chains, yet four men had enough to do to hold her. the reverend dean began, and said: 'ah, appel! may god in heaven hear me; this great calamity grieves me to the heart; christ bless thee; what has happened to thee?' then the poor woman began with a strong manly voice, such as was not her wont before: 'hui, _pfaff_, begone with you, what do i want with you and your christ? i have enough for my whole life, do you not see how well i live? i need your heaven no more.' thereupon the dean answered: 'i see, alas! how well you live; i would not wish your pleasant life to a dog, let alone a man.' in order to prove whether she was possessed or naturally crazy, the dean took the above-mentioned relics, and as she turned her back to him, placed them with his hand upon her head without her knowledge: what a lamentation, complaining, and whining she set up from that hour! how she raged in her chains, foaming at the mouth like a champing horse, and snapped at the dean; concerning all this, those who held her, and the many people in the room will give a better report than his reverence. her constant cry was, 'oh, _pfaff_, _pfaff_![ ] take away that thing from my head, if not, behold i swear to you that i will tear you to pieces with my teeth; i will trample on you, tear you limb from limb, and so kill you: oh! take that thing off, and lay upon me instead six large sacks full of stones, they will not be so heavy.' 'tell me,' said the dean, 'what it is? i will then directly take it off.' the evil one answered: 'i know well what it is, but i would do anything--_cum venia_--rather than tell you.' 'what?' said the dean earnestly, 'you will not come out with the words? quickly bring me a white cap, with it i will fasten this small article upon your head.' 'yes,' answered the evil one,' you may well say a small article; if it were so small, it would not scorch so much.' 'i conjure thee, by the god of abraham, isaac, and of jacob, to tell me what it is.' but he gave no answer. meanwhile, the poor tormented woman thirsted much, and with all her imaginary costly good living, would gladly have had something to drink; at a sign from the dean the women presented her first with some consecrated water; but this was no drink for the evil one, he wished to have other water: the dean asked why he would not drink this, as it was only water. he answered, '_pfaff_, you lie, it is consecrated water.' thereupon the women gave her to drink from the great holy well, which was consecrated every year on the golden trinity sunday; but little as the former was to her taste, still less would she have to say to this; it was necessary to withdraw it quickly, for she knew well what it was. then the dean said that it was only water; but the evil one answered him furiously: 'you always say that i lie, but i see that you can lie also; it is your holy water.' when therefore they gave her the common water she said, or rather he in her, although there was not the slightest apparent difference in the vessel or the water, 'that is the right kind.' thereupon they mixed the three waters together, opened her mouth with a spoon, and had much to do to pour it in and to make her swallow it, thereupon she, or rather he through her, began thus: 'oh, _pfaff_! how you deal with me.' the dean answered: 'as you have tasted one you may taste the other also; i know well what a bad guest you are, i and you must have a better understanding before we separate.' 'what _pfaff_, do you wish to drive me away? i will sooner tear you to atoms.' the dean replied: 'you desperate villain! i think you hanker after me, the smallest of little popish priests, therefore you shall, before all the world, be permitted to enter into me as your pride impels you; i will open my mouth wide enough, and make no sign of the cross before it.' then the evil one answered: 'yes, enter, enter i would, if i could only catch and bite your tongue and your fingers.' 'that i fully believe,' said the dean, 'if it were in your power to destroy me and every christian man in his mother's womb, i hold it certain you would spare no pains to do so; and listen to me, satan, i hold this head fast till you tell me what is in this little reliquary.' 'then,' he answered, 'it is a holy thing.' 'what holy thing?' inquired the dean. 'that of jerusalem,' said the evil one. the dean replied: 'what of jerusalem? make short of it, and be not so ceremonious.' to which satan exclaimed: 'oh, leave me in peace; you know that i cannot name it.' 'then,' said the dean, 'these are rotten, lame excuses; you can very well name it if you will, therefore i conjure you, by the death of our lord jesus christ, that you publicly declare what it is.' 'oh,' said he, 'it is indeed a piece of the holy cross, and a bit of the pillar at which he was scourged.' the dean replied: 'do you then believe that christ died for us?' to which he said: 'why should i not believe it? i was not far off.' upon that the dean took down the reliquary, and laid the above-mentioned agnus dei upon her head without her perceiving it. she complained, wept, and cried out, even more than before. on perceiving this strange agitation, the dean wished again to hear what it was that so discomposed her. then the bad spirit called out: 'ho! ho! you shall make me tell you that again.' then there was much talk on both sides, till at last the evil spirit was constrained by the hand of god to say, 'it is truly an agnus dei.' the dean then asked: 'where was it consecrated?' to which the evil one said: 'if the whole world stood by, they should not compel me to name the city.' the dean said: 'indeed there is no place in all the world where you and yours do meet with so much damage and opposition, therefore make not so much ado, but say what is the name of the city?' as the dean pressed him so hard, and would not let him rest, he began: 'it is called r! r! r!' to which the dean said: 'hui! hui! young scholar, still better.' then the evil one, 'o! o! o!' to which the dean said: 'oh, what a hopeful scholar! you desperate miscreant, you mortal enemy of the holy true faith; add the m! m! m! thereto, and god will have imparted to you a threefold truth.' "now when the dean found that he had but too well ascertained the condition of the unhappy woman, and that all the means which had formerly been of use to others, were of no avail against an enemy so powerful and well entrenched, he deferred the matter, till by god's grace a better time and opportunity should occur. he commanded that they should watch assiduously day and night, that she should not get hold of anything wherewith she might cause bodily injury either to herself or others; he also begged the neighbours and her appointed watchmen to look after her, which they did day and night out of brotherly and sisterly compassion. "the following days the aforesaid dean made preparation with all diligence as far as possible for the great work, and had enough to do to provide what was necessary for such a thorny and dangerous business. "meanwhile, it came to pass that a young lutheran, a queer preaching fellow, johannas bäuerlein, son of a furrier of this place, came here fresh from his examination, and imagined he had already received full power for this work; like the poet in his wretched tragedy, who in the year in the parish sacristy at wittenberg, drove the devil in and out of a possessed person. this preacher had heard from his mother, who dwelt in a house opposite to geisslbrecht, of this lamentable affair, had seen us many times go in and out, and had even stood among the people in the room; but on account of his great beard wherein, like samson's strength, lay all his science, we did not recognize him. he went there several times in our absence, and saw how pitifully and miserably the poor woman was plagued and tormented by the evil spirit. he spoke to it; but ah, dear god! at his weak lifeless words, the old dog would not come out, but only carried on his monkey tricks with him. at last he called the husband of the unhappy woman to him, and accosted him thus: 'my dear hans geisslbrecht, that your wife should be delivered from this miserable satan, by whom she is so severely tortured, will never take place by the aid of your popish priests; it is beyond their power. but i,' said the sharp blade, 'will take with me another servant of the altar, and we will drive him out by the pure word of god.' this was revealed to us by the aforesaid geisslbrecht. it grieved all the ecclesiastics, and not unreasonably, coming from one who had been born, baptized, brought up, and confirmed, and had communicated here, and whose father, mother, and sisters had lived, and most of them already died, good catholics; he alone having apostatized. so that we all came to a determination that during the act of exorcism, which was fixed to take place with all secresy on the thursday, he should be in the church even were we to bind him like the poor woman, and drag him in. not that we wished any harm to him, but only that he might see what an anxious, great, and dangerous work this was, and not such a thing as when one enticeth the tom-cat from behind the stove. however he smelt fire, was warned, and went off. "on wednesday, after vespers, the suffering of the sick person became so great, that they hastened to fetch the dean, for if she did not obtain help, she would be torn to a thousand pieces by the evil one. when the said dean, and some of us arrived, we found such a wretched state of things as will be present to us all our lives; for although the more than miserable woman was extended on the ground, on a wretched little bed, fastened by two chains so that she could not move hand or foot, and had also two men holding her arms whilst her brother sat astride on her legs, and some women on her body, thinking thus effectually to hold her down, yet all was of no avail. the evil spirit reared himself up, and raised all that were over him in such a manner, that any one could have slipped under her back. but the most horrible of all was, that the evil spirit raised himself up between the skin and the flesh, in the form of a great adder or serpent, so that we could see and lay hold of him. swiftly as by nature they glide along the earth, so did he glide backwards and forwards in the body; at one moment into the head, afterwards into one arm, then into the other, or suddenly into the feet; and when in the body, it became hot, as if burning with pure fire; finally the evil one glided into the heart, which swelled up like a twopenny loaf, and crept and coiled himself round it, just as a viper does round a tree; he shook and squeezed her heart together, so that it began to crack, and we one and all thought that the fierce and infuriated spirit would have entirely suffocated and destroyed her, for in her whole body not the smallest vein could stir. the dean cried out and called continually upon god in heaven. meanwhile they opened her mouth with a spoon, but for a long time she showed no signs of life, till they poured something down her throat; then her heart began to beat again. that was a great comfort to us, and we all did our best to revive her, till she came a little to herself. then the dean commanded that they should cut her hair clean off her head, for it was all overrun with blood; he ordered also that the women should wash her clean with lye, and said he would return again forthwith. "thereupon the dean returned home, and desired me, his brother magister sixtus, herr georg wittmeier, his confessor, herr bernhardt eisen, who was then deacon, wilibald plettelius the student, who had lately come from the german college at rome, and leonhard agricola, the student, to come to him; and told us with great grief that it was certain that if the poor woman could not be relieved this evening, the evil one would destroy her even if she were of the worth of a thousand men. 'therefore come quickly with me,' said the dean; 'have a good heart, be undaunted and fear not, no harm shall happen to you; and if it should be requisite that in the exorcism you should reply to me _et cum spiritu tuo_, or amen, pay the closest attention, especially you priests.' then he gave to one of the students to place under his dress, what was necessary for this ceremony, and taking us first to the church, admonished us all there to pray with faith, opened the sacrarium, took from the viaticum a holy host, laid it in a small napkin on his body, put off the cope again, and went in form and appearance as before with us to the house. then he commanded him who bore his other vestments to wait in the barn till further orders. he went into the room, knelt down on the ground by the poor woman, laid his hand, as he was always wont to do, on her head, and spoke to her; but the former old insults were beginning again, when the dean without any one perceiving it, put his hand in his bosom and drew out the napkin with the ever-blessed host, and placed it under his hand on her head. as soon as she perceived it, she made in her bed three great bounds. then said the dean: 'appel, do i hurt you with my hand? how does it happen that at one time you can bear it and at another time not?' 'oh, yes,' said she, 'i can bear the hand well, but take away what you have under your hand, otherwise you will destroy me.' 'god forbid!' said the dean; 'but tell me what is on your head?' then answered the evil one: 'look you, wait a little!' (here followed an examination as before), and at last the evil spirit said what it was. thereupon the dean proceeded: 'but i wish to know yet one thing, whether you are alone, or have any companions with you?' 'i am alone,' said the evil one. 'what is your name?' 'i am called _spielfleck_,' said the evil one. 'oh, that is nothing, you have never in the beginning told me the truth; i must bring it out of you perforce, you shall acquaint me with your right name, for i must and shall know it.' then the exorcism began again, till the evil one was constrained to say, _schwamm_.[ ] thereupon the watchers and nurses exclaimed: 'oh that is truly his right name, it is what she has always called him.' then the dean answered: 'well-a-day! god grant we may soon lay hold of schwamm, and send him down to lucifer in hell, that he may wipe his shoes with him.' the evil one: 'oh no, no, spare me.' upon this my brother called on me, herr magister sixtus, to draw near and hold the napkin, containing the most holy and revered sacrament, on her head, and commanded at the same time that all her chains should be unloosed and done away with; whereupon many were much afeared. he himself had his cope, stole, and books brought to him, and having thus dressed and prepared himself, when the poor woman was loosened from all her shackles, he took an old red stole in his hand and said: 'behold, _schwamm_! i now come to thee in the name of the father, the son, and the holy ghost. this threefold, indissoluble, godly bond shall now bind thee down in the abyss of hell, so that you shall never more throughout all eternity do any detriment or injury, either to persons, or cattle, or any other creature.' he took both her hands, wound the stole three times round her, and commanded the evil one, by the great power and dignity of that which lay on the poor woman's head, to give up all further struggle. thereupon the dean turned himself towards the people, of whom there was such a multitude, that the room, windows, barn, and streets were all quite full, and spoke to them:-- "at the conclusion of the holy prayer, the dean gave directions to us students whom alone he had employed as assistants, to place ourselves round the miserable woman; gave to one the book, to another the candle, to each one what he would need for this ceremonial, and then began in the name of god a _modus conjurationis_ so lofty and so exceeding well grounded on the holy, godly scripture, and with such assiduity and earnestness, (as he had in this a pure, strong, and undaunted hon heart) that our hearts began to tremble and the hairs of our heads to stand erect. during this noble exorcism, which lasted some time, the evil spirit did not make any especial blustering, only, perceiving a boy showing his teeth in at the window, he desired to be allowed to break them; but this his desire could not be granted. during the ceremony the surrounding people, who could better observe, than one of us who had more to do, saw distinctly that the eyes of the woman, which were naturally dark, but in this misery had become gray and fiery like cats' eyes, gradually recovered their natural colour; that her limbs which were all distorted, returned to their right position, and that her colour, form, and whole nature, which had been totally altered, was restored delicate, fresh, and vigorous. some who were standing by, testified and confirmed by oath, that they had seen during the process a black bird in the form of a thrush fly out of the mouth of the woman. we do not publish this as a truth, because we none of us saw it, for we do not wish to report anything but what we could in case of necessity confirm with a good conscience, and by our priestly dignity and the highest oath. "this ceremony, god be praised, was throughout successfully performed, and the aforesaid apollonia clasped her hands together. then the dean bent down towards her, took the stole out of her hands and asked her: 'dear apollonia, how are you now? do you now know me and the other people?' then the restored one tried to spring up for joy in her little bed and throw her arms round the dean's neck. this moistened many eyes. but her limbs and whole body were so much torn that she had not sufficient strength, so she clasped her hands over her head, looked up to heaven and exclaimed three times: 'oh almighty and eternal god, to thee be praise, honour, and glory, for ever and ever! oh god, forgive and pardon me for i have sinned against thee so grievously! oh lord, now will i gladly die!'" here concludes our extract from the pamphlet. the end of it is edifying; the valiant dean reaped the reward of his dangerous work by winning the soul of apollonia to his church. she exhorted her husband, and vowed a pilgrimage; and it appears that after that, the quarrelsome couple lived together peaceably. what the religious zeal of the narrator has added to the spiritual examination of the devil, is more harmless than it is in many similar cases. the tender care of both churches for those possessed, and the pious interest with which they regarded these victims of the devil, made similar cases become a matter of speculation. thus in thuringia in , a herdsman, hans the father of mellingen, made a great sensation. he pretended that he had been compelled by a man of ill repute, to eat some food which had brought him into the power of the devil; that he had been severely handled and beaten by the devil, and showed his stripes. he was on this account commended in pamphlets to the prayers of christendom. but once when he made his appearance at nuremberg with a bleeding ear, his hands tied behind his back with a three-coloured cord, and there praying and begging, related his old story, that the devil himself had thus fastened his hands, the nurembergers, took the matter up in earnest, and the audacity of the man sank before the pressing cross-examination of the ecclesiastical and temporal authorities; he acknowledged that he was a deceiver; he was placed in the pillory, and then driven out of the town. the nurembergers did not fail to make known their discovery in a pamphlet. but fierce indeed was the hatred with which was regarded, in the last half of the century, that other connection with hell,--the old witchcraft. even luther believed in witches; he mentions incidentally that such a woman had injured his mother; and in another place was angry with the lawyers who did not punish similar sorceresses when they injured their fellow-creatures. but these expressions were not intended to be very severe; he on the whole troubled himself little with this phase of superstition. he, the copious writer, never considered it necessary to discourse to his people concerning it; in his sermons he only occasionally mentions witchcraft, and his whole nature was repugnant to the application of violence. but if happily for us, luther's pure spirit preserved him from bitterness against the devil's helpmates, his scholars and successors had little of his high-mindedness. young protestantism was on this point little better than the old belief. in protestant countries the ministers of god were by no means the only persecutors; the civil authorities were also willing to follow the example of the ecclesiastical courts of the roman catholics, and above all of the jesuits. the victims were countless; they amount without doubt to hundreds of thousands. it was first in the domains of the ecclesiastical princes, that the contagion burst forth, which devastated whole provinces as in eichstädt, würtsburg and cologne. in twenty villages in the vicinity of treves, three hundred and sixty-eight persons were executed in seven years, besides many who were burnt in the city itself; in brunswick the burnt stakes stood like a little forest on the place of execution. in every province hundreds and thousands might be counted. every kind of baseness was practised by the ecclesiastical and temporal judges; the most contemptible grounds of suspicion sufficed to depopulate whole villages. no position and no age was a security; children and the aged, learned men and even councillors, were bound to the stake, but the greater part were women;--we shudder when we look at the method of these condemnations. it is not impossible, although it cannot be spoken of with certainty, that a victim here and there did live in the mad delusion that they were in union with the devil through magic arts; it is not impossible, although this cannot be certified, that hurtful mediums, intoxicating beverages and superstitious medicaments were in some cases used for the detriment of others. but it is the strongest proof of the infamy of the whole proceeding, that amidst the monstrous mass of old records concerning witches, we find no ground of belief that in any case the judgment was justified by the real misdeeds of the accused, though they were made the excuse for it; for so great was the degree of fanaticism, narrow-mindedness, or malice, that the mere accusation was almost certain to be fatal. torture was applied on the most frivolous charges; the capability even of bearing pain was taken as evidence against those who held out under torture; and every kind of accidental symptom, disease of the body, outward appearance, or countless fortuitous circumstances, were also considered as evidence. the possessions of the condemned were confiscated; the greediness and covetousness of the judges were united with brutality and stupidity. this fearful disorder did not end with that century: through the whole of the sixteenth and up to the middle of the eighteenth century these horrible judicial murders continued. it was not till the time of the great frederick that they ceased. the literary activity of the few enlightened men who ventured to speak out in the interests of humanity against these trials for witchcraft, was pregnant with danger. they themselves had to fear imprisonment and the stake, and at least they incurred the hatred and the malice with which believing fanatics assailed their opponents. one name belongs to the sixteenth century which should ever be named with gratitude; that of the protestant physician _johann weier_, physician in ordinary to duke wilhelm of cleves, who in wrote his three volumes--'_de præstigiis dæmonum_.' even he believed in necromancers, who, by the help of the devil, wrought mischief, in which case they were to fall under the punishment of the laws; but the witches he considered as poor miserable beldames, who, in the worst cases, only imagined themselves to be doing the work of the devil, but were for the most part quite innocent. his warm heart for the oppressed, and his noble indignation against the brutality of the judges in the cases of witchcraft, made an immense sensation. within his limited sphere of action weier appears to us as a supplement to luther. against him also the raging orthodox crew upraised themselves. the good effect produced by weier's book was in a great manner counteracted by a flood of opposition writings. but again amidst the horrors of the thirty years' war, friedrich spee, the best of the german jesuits, wrote secretly his '_cautio criminalis_,' against the burning of heretics; he published this anonymously in a protestant printing-press. the various popular transformations of the devil did not end with the century in which luther taught, and weier endeavoured to banish the stake from the place of execution. the thirty years' war brought forward another set of gloomy fantasies concerning him. satan was considered by the wild troopers as a demon who made fortresses, and cast magic balls which could penetrate every kind of armour. when the peace came, the war-devil withdrew into the woods, where he taught his arts to the wild huntsmen; and when there remained nothing in the land but an impoverished population devoid of faith and hope, the devil was sought after in his ancient and quiet occupation--only disturbed by the covetousness of men--as the guardian of hidden treasures. much money and property had been buried during the long war, and was discovered by lucky accidents after the peace. the poverty-stricken people lusting after gold, and unused to quiet labour, were powerfully excited by these treasure-troves, and the hopes of still greater. there had always been, from ancient times, treasure seekers, and magicians who were to conjure away the evil one from the treasure; and it is probable that this superstition had been imported into germany from rome. gradually the popular conception of the form and working of the devil became less vivid. in a more enlightened age it was thought wrong to speak mockingly of him, and the greatest poet of germany gracefully idealized his image as it had been handed down from antiquity. some of the musical composers also introduced him into their operas. thus did the german people seek earnestly after their god at the commencement of this great sixteenth century, and thus powerful was the devil at the close of it. lofty exaltation was followed by enfeebling relaxation, and the striving after christ, by the fear of hell; and the opponent of the holy one pressed himself as a spectre into the whole life of man. other countries were infected with these superstitions; but in germany, for many years, the burning of witches was almost the only public action in which the deluded people showed a strong spiritual interest. the want of unity, public spirit and great political aims, was the destruction of the nation. by the disputes of priests, the selfishness of princes, and the unhappy political position of germany, the course of protestantism was checked and the roman catholic reaction with fresh vigour raised its head. throughout the country, in politics, in the pulpit, and in the closets of the ecclesiastics, there was more hatred than love. the minds of men languished under a spiritless dogmatism, and the hearts of believers were oppressed by gloomy forebodings. the wisest felt deep anxiety for the unhappy condition of the german fatherland, and the devout were kept by the ecclesiastics and countless calendar-makers in continued anxiety, and fear that the end of the world was at hand, and the frequent interference of the devil appeared to many as an additional sign of its approach. meanwhile the mass of the people of all ranks lived in a state of refined enjoyment in the then opulent country. luxury was great, and every kind of excess was general. those who did not fear the devil did not concern themselves much either about god or his saints. it was under such aspects that the fearful century of wars began. footnotes: [footnote : it was not till after the fifteenth century that glass became common in windows in towns; and about the same time they began to find out the comfort of separate rooms. and it is thought worthy of mention, that in , luther's bedroom at the palace of eisleben was protected by windows that closed.] [footnote : little hans of sweinichen was deprived of his post as gooseherd because he had tried to keep the geese quiet by gagging them with small pieces of wood.] [footnote : the thirty years' war.] [footnote : georg von podiebrad, king of bohemia, died .] [footnote : a town of silesia, near riesenberge.] [footnote : the word house, standing alone, denotes a fortified building in the cities of the mayoralty, in the territory of some nobleman; in such cases it was of stone, the walls very thick, but without foundations, and therefore easily undermined; the windows were provided with iron gratings, and a passage ran under the roof within the walls; sometimes there was a large empty hall between the upper floor and the roof, in the walls of which loop-holes of different kinds were made for arrows, or at a later period for fire-arms, and in the fifteenth century, for light guns. these houses, especially when situated in the country, were often surrounded by an outer wall, which also enclosed the farm buildings. they were often inhabited by many families of noble descent all crowded together, some were husbandmen, others freebooters, all however had a strong feeling of aristocratic privileges.] [footnote : a linen covering, such as would be spread over the wooden hoops of a waggon.] [footnote : könig's 'grätz in bohemia.'] [footnote : this journal, as also the whole account of marcus kintsch von zobten, is unfortunately in bad handwriting, and very much defaced; but no one could read the fragment without emotion. there cannot possibly be a more simple or striking description than the following:--"as we are unjustly denied the holy sacrament, we hereby testify before all, who hear, see, or read this writing, that we die in the holy christian faith, innocent of all that has been publicly laid to our charge by our sovereign lord. and in making us suffer, he wrongs us: this we testify before our god, and desire that duke hans, our merciless master, may answer for it before the righteous tribunal of god. for every one will observe, that had he any just ground of complaint or accusation against us, he would not have condemned us so cruelly in a dark corner; had he brought us in the light of day before the people, his violence would have been apparent. as god almighty, on account of our sins, has brought this upon us, we will accept it, and suffer patiently, and beg him of his mercy to give us a happy end. amen. written in great distress and affliction." "be it known, good people, that we died more from thirst than hunger." "i, hans keppel, have written this, amidst all my distress and suffering, and have my ink from the black of the burnt wick of the light that is burning above. what god will further do with me, depends on his grace and mercy. but if they give us no more food, we shall not last long. may god help and support us. amen. hactenus keppel." on the day that keppel wrote this, two of them died; and he and the others later. this diary is given most accurately in 'stenzel script. rer.' siles. iv.] [footnote : in .] [footnote : the famous royal castle of vissegrad on a bend of the danube four leagues north of buda--pesth.] [footnote : ban ladislaus von gara was cousin to queen elizabeth.] [footnote : he was cousin to the queen and ladislaus von gara.] [footnote : the name is destroyed in the old manuscript.] [footnote : maria zell in styria.] [footnote : the princess elizabeth.] [footnote : pfaff, a contemptuous name for a priest.] [footnote : a large stove used chiefly in germany and switzerland: it was built of brown-glazed tiles cemented together; the door of it was outside the room; it was heated by large logs of wood, and was sometimes large enough to have beds made on it.] [footnote : for this see the 'theologia teütsch,' the best work of the time previous to the reformation, by an unknown writer of tanler's school, which was in fact the main source from which luther drew his opinions; an admirable work even for us.] [footnote : exhortation to the ecclesiastics collected at the diet at augsburg.] [footnote : it is thus represented in the woodcut on the title-page of a work entitled, 'complaint of a layman, called hans schwall, of the vile abuse of christian life,' , .] [footnote : the similarity of his latinized name with that of oswald myconius, of geisshaüser, teacher of thomas platter, is not owing to any relationship.] [footnote : luther writes in :--"so i desire and beg of our dear god to allow me to be sick, and to lay aside this mortal coil in your stead; therefore i beg and admonish you in all earnestness to pray to god together with us, that he may preserve you in life for the service and improvement of his church, and to the confusion of the devil. "_may the lord never allow me to hear, as long as i live, that you are dead, but ordain that you shall outlive me. this i earnestly pray for, and being certified of it, will have it so, and my will shall come to pass. amen._"] [footnote : see 'dr. martin luther's passion,' written by marcellus; the author is probably the marshal of strasbourg.] [footnote : it was the evening of the th march, .] [footnote : a spirit supposed to haunt certain parts of germany in those days.] [footnote : compare with this the beautiful passage from the 'table talk:'--"if, when i first began to write, i had known what i do now, i should never have been so bold as to attack and anger the pope, and almost all men. i thought they sinned only from ignorance and human frailty; but god led me on like a horse with its eyes blinded. good works are seldom undertaken from wisdom or foresight; they are all brought about unconsciously." to this philip melancthon answered, that having carefully studied history, he had observed that no great or remarkable deeds had been done by old people, but at the age when alexander the great and st. augustine did them; later, men became too wise and circumspect. dr. martinus said: "young companions, if you had wisdom the devil could not deal with you; but because you have not, you need ours also, who are now old. ah, if the old were but strong, and the young wise! behold these factious spirits--vain young people, icaruses, phaëtons, who flutter in the air; chamois hunters, everywhere and nowhere, who wish to knock down twelve ninepins when there are only nine standing."] [footnote : ecclesiam romanam _pure_ colant. the double meaning appears intentional, and seems a cunning device of miltitz.] [footnote : that this happened designedly is betrayed in luther's letter to melancthon, th july, : "i conjure you to be beforehand with the court, and not to follow its counsels. i have done this hitherto; i should not have effected half that i have done had i made myself dependent on its wishes."] [footnote : 'table talk.'] [footnote : geek is the german for coxcomb.] [footnote : german for tom-cat.] [footnote : cat's head and claws.] [footnote : the buck.] [footnote : a little brat.] [footnote : with what satisfaction he thought of his death appears from many passages in his writings--we give one--at the time of his residence at wartburg, from the dedication of 'the gospel of ten lepers,' the th september, : "i, a poor brother, have again lighted up a new fire, and have bitten a great hole in the pope's pocket, because i have attacked confession. where can i now remain, and where will they find brimstone, pitch, fire, and wood enough to pulverize the poisonous heretic? they must assuredly break open the church windows, for some holy fathers and ecclesiastical princes say that they must have air to proclaim the gospels, that is, to revile luther, and to call out murder. what else can they preach to the poor people? every one must preach what he can. only death, death, death to the heretic! they scream out--as ho would overturn all things, and overthrow the whole ecclesiastical order, upon which rests the foundation of christendom. now i hope, if i be accounted worthy, that they may kill me, and so fill up the measure of their forefather's sins; but it is not yet time, my hour is not yet come; i must first anger the serpent brood still more, and justly deserve death from them, that they may have cause to perform in me a great service to god."] [footnote : "i thank god, that i feel assured my doctrines are the word of god and that i have been enabled to overcome grievous thoughts and temptations, when my heart tempted by satan has said, 'art thou the only one who holdest the word of god in truth and purity, and are others altogether without it?' 'then again, when the devil finds me idle, and i am not thinking of the word of god, he troubles my conscience by the thought that i have disturbed the governments, and have occasioned much scandal and uproar; but when i lay hold of the word of god i win the game.'" passages like this are to be found in many other places of the 'table talk.'] [footnote : 'an account of how god helped an honourable nun,' , p. .] [footnote : we find a mild judgment of the saxon court in his 'table talk,' : "i have again preached a sharp sermon at court against drinking, but it does no good. taubenheim and minkwitz say that it cannot be otherwise at court; for music and all knightly amusements have passed away, and nothing is thought of now but drinking. and truly our most gracious sovereign and elector, john frederic, is a gentleman of much strength, who can well stand a good drink; what he can bear would make another drunk. but when i return to him i will only beg of him to command his subjects and courtiers, on pain of severe punishment, to get very drunk; perhaps when it is commanded, they may do the contrary."] [footnote : the passage following the one just quoted is remarkable: "the nobles wish to govern, but have not the power, and understand nothing about it; but the pope not only understands how, but has the power to govern: the weakest pope has more power to govern than ten nobles of the court."] [footnote : luther's 'table talk.'] [footnote : for instance, in the year , luther could not lend eight gulden to his old prior and friend briesger. he writes to him sorrowfully: "three silver cups, marriage presents, have been mortgaged for fifty gulden, the fourth has been sold, and the year has produced a hundred gulden of debts. lucas cranach will no longer accept my security, that i may not be quite ruined." luther often refused presents, even such as were offered to him by his sovereign; but it appears that consideration for wife or children gave him in later times somewhat more of a household feeling. what he left at his death amounted to about eight or nine thousand gulden; it consisted partly of a small landed property, a large garden and two houses, which undoubtedly he must chiefly have owed to frau kate.] [footnote : it is in timothy v. , and has no reference to this question.] [footnote : thus he speaks in many parts of the 'table talk.' his last conversation at the supper-table of mansfelder, in eisleben, a few hours before his death, was on the subject of meeting again with father, mother, and friends in the next life.] [footnote : this discourse was spoken in latin, and immediately afterwards translated into german by gasper creutzinger.] [footnote : christopher von carlowitz, the confidant of the elector maurice of saxony, whose counsels he secretly guided, was at that time, with good reason, the favourite of the emperor, for it was he who directed the politics of his master.] [footnote : peilketafel, a long narrow board with a rim all round, and two little gutters on the sides; on it they played with little ironstones smoothed at the bottom.] [footnote : valentin stoientin, who had been the intimate of ulrich von hutten in their youth, was then ducal councillor, and an influential promoter of the reformation.] [footnote : on palm-sunday it was the custom of the catholics to draw to the churchyard a large wooden ass on wheels, with a figure of christ as large as life upon it. after the consecration of palms the people streamed thither. the choir of scholars sang the words of the evangelist, _cum audisset populus, quia jesus venit hierosolymam, acceperunt ramos palmarum_, &c. then eight of the scholars stepped forth, pointed to the ass, and sang aloud, _hic est, qui venturus est_ (the lesser _hic est_); to this the choir responded, _in salutem populi_. then eight other scholars pointed to the ass and sang, _hic est salus nostra et redemtio israel_ (the great _hic est_). then eight other scholars knelt before the ass, clasped their hands over their heads, and sang, _quantus est iste ad throni et dominationes occurrunt? noli timere, filia sion, ecce rex tuus._ this already was a very grand performance for the scholars; but afterwards there came six other scholars who knelt down, their faces to the earth, clasped their hands of one accord over their heads, and sang the _salve_; and when they had finished it they went forward three steps, knelt down again, and sang thrice, _salve rex, fabricator mundi_, &c. then they drew the ass forwards, and so on. faithfully given from a description of the solemnity, in the archives of st. gallen, printed in kessler's 'life of j. j. bernet.'] [footnote : the father sastrow did not go to the communion from a conscientious feeling, because he would not fulfil the condition of forgiving his enemies.] [footnote : _querela de ecclesia. epicedion martyrus christi, d. roberti barns, angli. authore joanne sastroviano._ lubecæ, , ; directed against henry viii. of england, who in tolerable distichs was compared to busiris and similar ancient characters.] [footnote : the guests were counted by tables, twelve persons being generally reckoned to each table.] [footnote : the reward to the first bearer of good news. it was the universal custom in germany, in the middle ages, to demand and give the "botenbrot."] [footnote : thomas platter, the father, married again later, and had six children by his second wife.] [footnote : 'biography of hans von schweinichen,' v., büsching, s. . the host is the same marcus fugger who wrote the best work on the training of horses in the sixteenth century. he himself had a large stud, first in hungary, and then at the foot of the allganer alps.] [footnote : compare with this the beautiful characteristic of wilibald pirkheimer in d strauss hutten, .] [footnote : margaret horng of ernstkirchen was twice married, first to dr. johann von glauburg at lichtenstein, then to weicker frosch, both of frankfort families.] [footnote : this refers to the presents of the bridegroom to the female relation of the bride.] [footnote : the bridegroom was a widower.] [footnote : after the marriage feast the shoes are taken from the feet of the bride and given to the best-man.] [footnote : of the ceremonial of fetching home the bride, and the festive entrance into the city of frankfort. this fetching home took place with a splendour which made an epoch in the patrician circles of frankfort. .] [footnote : götz's method of acting is characteristic: he enters into a quarrel with the rich nurembergers, seeks for causes of quarrel, and waylays their merchants. the supposition that the nurembergers hold a good comrade of his in durance is sufficient for him; of a like character is the ground of offence, that they had stabbed in another quarrel a servant whom he had wished to take into his service. there is nothing further said of fitz von littwach, than that götz was obliged to reconcile himself with the nurembergers. the grounds upon which götz broke bounds are in themselves remarkable, as will be perceived in the following narrative.] [footnote : hohenburg and bissingen lay in the territory of oettingen. the counts of oettingen claimed to be lords paramount over these properties.] [footnote : the princes stood by the members of their own order; and this family, as we know, belonged to the higher nobility. their struggle for seigniorial rights over property occasioned many battles in the sixteenth century; and the claims of schärtlin appeared to them particularly arrogant, as his nobility by birth was more than doubtful.] [footnote : bishop of breslau, the crown commissary of bohemia, under the supremacy of which silesia was then incorporated.] [footnote : winds are nothing but good and bad spirits.--'table talk.'] [footnote : at one time luther was inclined to think that he himself had one or two especial devils as opponents, who lurked about him and accompanied him to the dormitory in the cloister.--'table talk.'] [footnote : 'the compact alliance of the world-famed duke of luxemburg--general and court-marshal to the king of france--with satan, and the terrible catastrophe that followed.' frankfort and leipzig, .] [footnote : the title of the manuscript is, 'wonderful tidings of a money devil; a strange, incredible, yet true story. published at frankfort on the oder, where it took place, , .'] [footnote : pfaff was the nickname of the roman catholic priests in those days.] [footnote : this does not mean mushroom, still less bath sponge, as the dean understood it; it is the bavarian word _schwaim_, pronounced _schwam_, "the floating shadow."] end of vol. i. london: printed by william clowes and sons, stamford street and charing cross. transcriber's notes: . page scan source: http://www.archive.org/details/picturesgermanl freygoog . the diphthong oe is represented by [oe]. pictures of german life in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries. * * * * * vol. ii. pictures of german life in the xvth xvith and xviith centuries. by gustav freytag translated from the original by mrs. malcolm. _copyright edition.--in two volumes_. vol. ii. london: chapman and hall, piccadilly. . london: printed by william clowes and sons, stamford street. contents. seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. introduction--retrospect of the results of the sixteenth century--greater development of individuality--defects of protestantism--a more elevated tone in catholicism--contrast of the roman and german systems--political weakness of protestantism--the hapsburgers--discontent in the people chapter i. the thirty years' war ( to ). the army--strength of the army--cost--method of conducting the war--political events of it--organization of the army--the officers and the banners--pay--discipline--punishments--camp followers and their discipline--description of a soldier's life before the war, by adam junghans chapter ii. the thirty years' war. life and manners of the soldiers ( to )--intermixture of nations--the camp; gambling; luxury; scarcity--superstition--vices--camp language--the cartel--booty-- partisan service and spies--marauders--oppression chapter iii. the thirty years' war. the villagers and their pastors ( to )--state of the villages--position and manners of the peasantry--effects of the war; money perplexities; quartering of troops; tortures--fear; insolence; lawlessness--love of home--the pastors and their endurance--fate of the pastor bötzinger chapter iv. the thirty years' war. clippers of money and public opinion ( to )--the commencement of newspapers--struggle of the press at the beginning of the war--the _kipper_ time--money coining--depreciation of the coinage in , and its effect upon the people--discovery of the danger; excitement; storm in the press--specimen from the flying sheet _expurgato der kipper_--theological controversial writings--enthusiasm for gustavus adolphus--character of that king--dialogue between the king and the envoy of brandenburg--the fate of gustavus adolphus--opposition of the press to sweden--patriotism of the german press--the flying sheet, the german brutus--the benefit of sweden to germany chapter v. the thirty years' war. the cities ( to )--aspect of the cities in --effects of the war; luxury; contributions; sieges--religious persecution--the ladies of löwenberg chapter vii. the thirty years' war. the peace ( )--festivities of the ambassadors at nuremberg--festive fair in a thuringian village--condition of the country after the war--its devastation--attempted estimation of it--the consequences to the austrian provinces chapter vii. rogues and adventurers--their increase during the war--their history--the strollers of the middle ages--gipsies and their language--gibberish and beggars--travelling scholars--robbers and incendiaries--foreign jugglers--description of strolling players, by garzoni--comedians, and influence of adventurers on literature--swindlers of distinction--alchemists chapter viii. engagement and marriage at court ( )--fashion and gallantry, a foreign means of preserving decorum--courtly wooing and marriage at vienna--the royal families--the elector palatine carl ludwig--letter of the electress palatine charlotte to the emperor--judgment upon her and her husband chapter ix. of the homes of german citizens ( )--order and decorum in wooing--narrative of friedrich lucä--change in expression of feelings of the heart--life at home--prosperity of hamburg--letter of burgomaster schulte to his son in lisbon--strong sense of duty in men--berend jacob carpfanger--sorrowful tidings from cadiz chapter x. german life at the baths ( )--distinction of ranks--forms of society--bath life--poggio--baths in the fifteenth century, by poggio--in the sixteenth, by pantaleon--in the seventeenth, by de merveilleux--in the eighteenth, by hess chapter xi. jesuits and jews--decay of the church--protestants and catholics--the jesuits also weaker--position of the jews since the middle ages--their lucrative business--the jews at prague story of simon abeles--victory of humanity over religious intolerance chapter xii. the wasunger war ( )--weakness of the german empire--division of classes wider--anthony ulrick von meiningen and philippine cesar--quarrels at the court of meiningen--cause of the war--diary of the gotha lieutenant rauch conclusion. from frederick the great up to the present time--object of these pictures--the mind of the people pictures of german life. introduction to the second volume. the year dawned upon a people who had gone through a vast change in the last century. everywhere we perceive marks of progress. let us compare any learned book of the year with one of . the former is written in bad latin, poor in diction, ponderous in composition, and not easy of comprehension. of independent spirit and individual conviction we find little trace. there are undoubtedly exceptions, but they are very rare. even the latin of the earlier humanitarians reminds us of the subtle vapidness of monkish language, almost as much as of the artistic phrases of ancient rhetoricians. we are sometimes surprised to find in the theology, an undercurrent of deep-thinking speculations of elevated grandeur; but it is a kind of secret doctrine of souls depressed under the constraint of the cloister. it is certainly philosophy, but deprived of vitality. a century later we discover, even in mediocre authors, a certain independent individuality. the writers begin to reflect on human life and faith; they understand how to represent their own feelings and the emotions of the soul, and struggles for their own convictions. yet still they remain too much bound by general prescription, and there is still much that is monotonous, according to our views, in their judgment and learning, and the cultivation of their minds. but in their prose we find a peculiar and often original style, and almost always a stronger and more active common sense. three generations struggled for their faith, many individuals perished for their convictions, and thousands were plunged in misery. martyrdom was no longer a monstrous and unheard-of thing, and men maintained their own judgment on the highest questions. there were few souls strong enough to do this a century earlier; then, among the people, individuals passed their lives without any community of ideas or activity of mind, seeking in the narrow circle of their associates no advantage save that of support against insufferable oppression; that alone was the purport of their struggles. but now enthusiasm had been called forth in the nation, the individual felt himself in close connection with millions, he was carried along the stream by the unanimous impulse of all who were like-minded; he acted and suffered for an idea; this was especially the case with the protestants; and even roman catholics partook of this blessing: so much nobler had men become. but every higher development produces new defects; the child is free from many complaints which attack the youth. protestantism, which had done so much for the people, did not for a long time achieve its greatest results. it required the unceasing inward workings of the minds of individuals; it gave an impulse everywhere to self-decision, and yet it could not raise itself above the worst principles of the old church. it wished still to dominate over the faith of its disciples and to persecute as heresy every deviation from its convictions. luther's giant nature had been able to keep zealous spirits united, but he himself had predicted that after his death they would not remain so. he knew his faithful adherents accurately; their weaknesses, and their eagerness to carry out their own views. melancthon, who though firm in his theology and in the every-day troubles of life, was embarrassed and uncertain in matters of great import, could not command the fiery spirits of more determined characters. at that imperial diet which was held at augsburg in , the victorious emperor had endeavoured, in his way, to compose the disputes of the churches, and had pressed upon the vanquished protestants a preliminary formula of faith, called the interim. from the point of view of the roman catholics, it was considered as extreme toleration, which was only bearable because it gradually led back to the old church; from the point of view of zealous protestants, it was held to be insupportable tyranny, which ought to be withstood. the ecclesiastical leaders of the opposition rose everywhere against this tyranny; hundreds of preachers were driven from their benefices and went about with their staffs as miserable pilgrims, and many fell victims to the furious reaction. it was the heroic time of the protestant faith; simple preachers, fathers with wives and children, manfully suffered for their convictions, and were soon followed by thousands of laity. but this enthusiasm was fraught with danger. the interim was the beginning of vehement theological disputes, even among luther's followers. the struggle of individuals became also the struggle of the universities. the successors of frederick the wise lost the university of wittenberg as well as the electoral dignity; melancthon and the wittenbergers were under the influence of maurice and his brothers; while the most zealous lutherans were assembled at the new university of jena. this race of vehement men was followed by another generation of _epigonen_. at the end of the century german protestantism appeared in most of the provinces to be secure from outward dangers. then the ecclesiastics became too self-sufficient and fond of power--the failings of a privileged order. influential counsellors of weak princes, and rulers of public opinion, they themselves persecuted other believers with the weapons of the old church. they sometimes called down the civil power upon heretics; and the populace stormed the houses of the reformers in leipzig; at dresden a courtly ecclesiastic was executed on account of heresy, though perhaps there may also have been political reasons. thus this new life threw deep shadows over the souls of the people. in roman catholic territories also, a vigorous and extraordinary life was roused. the roman catholic church gave birth to a new discipline of the mind, a mode of human culture distinctly opposed to protestantism. even in the old church a greater depth of inward life was attained. a new system of rapturous excitement and self-denial, with high duties and an exalted ideal, was offered to satisfy the needs of the souls of the faithful. in spain and italy this new religious zeal was aroused, full of resignation and self-sacrifice, full of great talent, eagerness for combat, and glowing enthusiasm, and rich in manly vigour. but it was not a faith for germans. it demanded the annihilation of free individuality, a rending from all the ties of the world, fanatical devotion, and an unconditional subjection of the individual to a great community. each one had to make an offering of his life for a great aim, without criticism or scruple. whilst protestantism formed a higher standard, and imposed on each individual, the duty of seeking independently by an effort of his own mind, the key to divine and human knowledge, the new catholicism grasped his whole being with an iron hand. protestantism was, notwithstanding all the loyalty of the reformers, essentially democratic; the new catholicism concentrated all the powers of men, of which it demanded the most unhesitating submission, in a spiritual tyranny, under the dominion of the head of the church, and afterwards under that of the state. the great representatives of this new tendency in church and state were the jesuits. in the impassioned soul of a spanish nobleman smouldered the gloomy fire of the new catholic teaching; amidst ascetic penances, in the restricted intercourse of a small brotherhood, the system was formed. in the year the pope confirmed the brotherhood, and shortly after, the first members of the order hastened across the alps and the rhine into germany, and began already to rule in the council of trent. their unhesitating determination strengthened the weak, and frightened the wavering. with wonderful rapidity the order established itself in germany, where the old faith still subsisted along with the new; it acquired favour with the higher classes, and a crowd of adherents amongst the people. some princes gave up to it the spiritual dominion of their countries, above all the hapsburgers; and besides them, the german princes of the church, who could not uphold by their own intrinsic strength, the wavering faith of their subjects: and lastly the dukes of bavaria, who for more than a century had been in the habit of seeking advantage for their house in a close union with rome. when the brotherhood first entered germany the whole nation was on the point of becoming protestant; even at the beginning of the thirty years' war, after losses and successes on both sides, three fourths of germany were protestant; but in the year , the whole of the new imperial state, and the largest third of the rest of germany, had again become roman catholic. so well did these foreign priests serve their church. the way in which they worked was marvellous; cautiously, step by step, with endless schemes, and firm determination, never wavering, bending to the storm, and indefatigably returning again, never giving up what they had once begun, pursuing the smallest, as well as the greatest plans at any sacrifice, this society presented the only specimen of an unconditional submission of the will, and surrender of everything to one idea, which did not find expression in individuals, but only in the society. the order governed, but no single member of it was free, not even the general of the order. the society gained honour and favour; it understood well how to make itself beloved, or indispensable wherever it came; but it never found a home in germany. its fearful principle of mystery and secrecy was felt, not only by the protestants, who endeavoured to break its power by their paper weapons, the flying-sheets, and made it answerable for every political misdeed, whether far or near, but also in the roman catholic countries. even there it was only a guest, influential certainly, and much prized, but from time to time ecclesiastics and laity felt that it was a thing apart from them. all the other spiritual societies had become national,--the jesuits never. it is not unnatural that this feeling was strongest among the roman catholic ecclesiastics, for their worldly prospects were often injured by the jesuits. thus from the middle of the sixteenth century two opposite methods of mental cultivation, two different sources of morals and working power have struggled against one another. devotion and unconditional subjection, against feelings of duty and thoughtful self-assertion; rapid and unhesitating decision, against conscientious doubts; a spirit of energy, working laboriously with much deliberation and scheming after distant aims, against defective discipline; and an urging to unity, against a striving for separation. these opposing powers appeared everywhere, especially in politics and at the courts of princes. protestantism in its unfinished shape, though it had elevated the people, was no help to the formation of the character of the german princes; it had raised higher their external power, but it had lessened their inward stability; their youthful training became in general too theological to be practical. however immoral many of them were, they all suffered from conscientious doubts; and there was no ready answer for these doubts, such as the roman catholic confessor had always in store for them. the protestant princes stood isolated; there was no firm bond of union between the churches of the different states, but much trivial quarrelling and bitter hatred, not only between lutherans and reformers, but even amongst the followers of the augsburg confession; and this diminished the strength of the princes. whilst the priests of the roman catholic church did their best to unite their rulers, the protestant ecclesiastics helped to increase the disunion of theirs. so it is not surprising, that the protestants for a long time stood at a disadvantage in their political struggle with the old faith. the germans had not yet found, and did not for centuries attain to, the new constitution of state, which transfers the mainspring of government from the accidental will of the ruler, to the conscience of the nation, and which places in a regulated path, citizens of talent and integrity as advisers to the crown; public opinion was still weak, the daily press not yet in existence, and the relation between the political rights of the princes and the people very undefined. protestantism had everywhere produced political convulsions, from the peasant war even into the following century. the reformation had unloosed all tongues, it had given the germans a freer judgment upon their position as citizens, and had inspired individuals with the courage to fight for their own convictions. the peasant now loudly murmured against exorbitant burdens, the members of guilds against the selfish dominion of the corporations, and the noble members of the provincial estates against the extravagant demands of the sovereign for war expenses. the wild democratic disturbances of were with luther's entire approbation easily put down, but democratic tendencies did not therefore cease, and together with them, anabaptist and socialist views spread from city to city. their teaching, which scarcely forms a system, took a different colouring in different individuals, from the harmless theorist who imagined a community of good citizens without egotism, full of self-abnegation, as did the talented eberlin, to the reckless fanatic who tried to establish a new zion at münster, with an illusive community of goods and wives. these excitements lost their power towards the end of the century, but still continued to ferment among the people, especially in those provinces, where the protestant opposition of the estates excited the people against the old faith of the rulers of the country. thus it was in bohemia, moravia, and upper austria. the more zealously the hapsburgers endeavoured, by means of the jesuits, to restore the old faith, the more it was kept in check, even in their own country, by the demands of the opposition in the estates, and the commotions among the people. and well did they perceive the threatening connection of this opposition to their house. two ways only were therefore open to them, either they must themselves have become protestants, which they found impossible, or they must have resolutely destroyed the dangerous teaching and pretensions which upset the souls of men everywhere, especially in their own country. the hapsburger appeared who attempted this. meanwhile the spirit of the old church had been raised, by the great victories which it had gained in other countries. the protestant princes combined against the threatened offensive movement of the roman catholic party, as before at smalkald, and the roman catholic party answered by the formation of the league; but the object at heart, of the league was attack, while that of the protestants was only defence. this was the political state of germany before the thirty years' war; a most unsatisfactory state. discontent was general, a mournful tendency, a disposition to prophecy evil, were the significant signs of the times. every deed of violence which was announced to the people in the flying-sheets, was accompanied by remarks on the bad times. and yet we know for certain that immorality had not become strikingly greater in the country. there was wealth in the cities, and even in the country increase of prosperity; there was regular government everywhere, better order and greater security of existence, luxury and an inordinate love of enjoyment had undoubtedly increased, together with riches; even among the lower strata of the people greed was awakened, life became more varied and dearer, and much indifference began to be shown concerning the quarrels of ecclesiastics. the best began to be gloomy, and even cheerful natures, like the honest bartholomäus ringwald, became prophets of misfortune, and wished for death. and there was good reason for this gloom. there was something diseased in the life of germany, an incomprehensible burden weighed it down, which marred its development. luther's teaching, it is true, produced the greatest spiritual and intellectual progress which germany had ever made through one man, but the demands of life increased with every expansion of the soul. the new mental culture must be followed by a corresponding advance in earthly condition, a greater independence in faith, demanded imperiously a stronger power of political development but it was precisely this teaching, which appeared like the early dawn of a better life, that conveyed to the people the consciousness of their own political weakness, and by this weakness they became one-sided and narrow minded. germany being divided into countless territories under weak princes, its people everywhere involved in and occupied with trifling disputes, were deficient in that which is indispensable to a genial growth; they needed a general elevation, a great united will, and a sphere of moral duties, which alone makes men pre-eminently cheerful and manly. the fatherland of the germans extended probably from lorraine to the oder, but in no single portion of it did they live like the citizens of elizabeth or henry iv. thus already inwardly diseased, germany entered upon a war of thirty years. when the war ended, there was little remaining of the great nation. for yet a century to come, the successors of the survivors were deficient in that most manly of all feelings,--political enthusiasm. luther had raised his people out of the epic life of the middle ages. the thirty years' war had destroyed the popular strength, and forced the germans into individual life, the mental constitution of which one may truly call lyrical. that which will here be depicted from the accounts of cotemporaries, is a sad joyless time. chapter i. the thirty years' war.--the army. the opposition between the interests of the house of hapsburg and of the german nation, and between the old and new faith, led to a bloody catastrophe. if any one should inquire how such a war could rage through a whole generation, and so fearfully exhaust a powerful people, he will receive this striking answer, that the war was so long and terrible, because none of the contending parties were able to carry it out on a great and decisive scale. the largest armies in the thirty years' war did not exceed in strength one corps of a modern army. tilly considered forty thousand men the greatest number of troops that a general could wish to have. it was only occasionally that an army reached that strength; almost all the great battles were fought by smaller bodies of men. numerous were the detachments, and very great were the losses by skirmishes, illnesses, and desertion. as there was no regular system for maintaining the strength of the army, its effective amount fluctuated in a remarkable way. once, indeed, wallenstein united a larger force under his command--according to some accounts a hundred thousand men--but they did not form one army, nay, they were hardly in any military connection, for the undisciplined bands with which, in , he subdued the german territories of the emperor, were dispersed over half germany. such large masses of soldiers appeared to all parties as a terrible venture; they could not, in fact, be kept under control, and after that, no general commanded more than half that number.[ ] an army in order of battle was considered as a movable fortress, the central point of which was the general himself, who ruled all the details; he had to survey the ground and every position, and every attack was directed by him. adjutantcies and staff service were hardly established. it was part of the strategy to keep the army together in masses, to defend the ranks by earth works, and not to allow horse or man to be out of observation and control. in marching also, the army was kept close together in narrow quarters, generally within the space of a camp; from this arose commissariat difficulties, the high-roads were bad, often almost impassable, the conveyance of provisions compulsory, and always ill-regulated: and worst of all, the army was attended by an intense baggage-train, which, with the wild-robber system, quickly wasted the most fertile countries. great care was therefore taken that no such embarrassment should arise. neither the emperor nor the princes of the empire were in a condition to maintain forty thousand men out of their income even for three months. the regular revenue of the sovereign was much less than now, and the maintenance of an army far more costly. the greater part of the revenue was derived from tithes in kind, which in time of war was insecure and difficult to realize. the finances of the parties engaged in this war were even at the commencement of it in a most lamentable state. in the winter of and , half the bohemian army died of hunger and cold, from the want of pay and a commissariat; in september , more than four and a half million of gulden of pay was owing to the troops, and there were endless mutinies, and the king palatine frederick could not aid his protestant allies with subsidies. the emperor was then not in much better condition, but he soon afterwards obtained spanish subsidies. when the elector of saxony, whose finances were better regulated, first hired fifteen hundred men in december, , he could not pay them regularly. what was granted by the estates in war taxes, and the so-called voluntary contributions of the opulent, did not go far; loans even in the first year of the war were very difficult to realize; they were attempted with the banking-houses of southern germany, and also in hamburg, but seldom with success. city communities were considered safer debtors than the great princes. there were dealings about the smallest sums even with private individuals. saxony in , hoped to get from fifty to sixty thousand guldens from the fuggers, and endeavoured in vain to borrow thirty and seventy thousand gulden from capitalists. maximilian of bavaria, and the league, made a great loan for the war of one million two hundred thousand gulden at twelve per cent, from the merchants in genoa, for this the fuggers became responsible, and the salt trade of augsburg was given to them for their security. just one hundred years before, this said banking-house had taken an important share in the election of the emperor charles v., and now it helped to secure the victory of the roman catholic party; for the bohemian war was decided even more by the want of money than by the battle of the weissen-berge. thus the war began with the governments being in a general state of insolvency; and therefore the maintenance of great armies became impossible. it is evident that there was a fatal disproportion between the military strength of the parties and the ultimate object of every war. none of them could entirely subdue their opponents. the armies were too small, and had too little durability, to be able to control by regular strategic operations, the numerous and warlike people of wide-spread districts. whilst a victorious army was ruling near the rhine or the oder, a new enemy was collecting in the north on the shores of the baltic. the german theatre of war, also, was not so constituted as to be easily productive of lasting results. almost every city, and many country seats were fortified. the siege guns were still unwieldy and uncertain in their aim, and the defence of fortified places was proportionably stronger than the attack. thus war became principally a combat of sieges; every captured town weakened the victorious army, from the necessity of leaving garrisons. when a province had been conquered, the conqueror was often not in a position to withstand the conquered in open battle. by new exertion the conqueror was driven from the field; then followed fresh sieges and captures, and again fatal disruption of strength. it was a war full of bloody battles and glorious victories, and also of excessive alternations of fortune. numerous were the dark hero forms that loomed out of the chaos of blood and fire; the iron ernst von mansfeld, the fantastic brunswicker, bernhard of weimar; and on the other side, maximilian of bavaria, and the generals of the league, tilly, pappenheim, and the able mercy; the leaders of the imperial army, the daring wallenstein and altringer; the great french heroes, condé and turenne, and amongst the swedes, horn, bauer, torstenson, wrangel, and above all the mighty prince of war, gustavus adolphus. how much manly energy excited to the highest pitch, and yet how slow and poor were the political results obtained! how quickly was again lost, what appeared to have been obtained by the greatest amount of power! how often did the parties themselves change the objects after which they were striving, nay even the banner for which they desired victory! the political events of the war can only be briefly mentioned here; they may be divided into three periods. the first, from to , is the time of the imperial triumphs. the protestant estates of bohemia, contrary to law and their own word, refused the bohemian crown to the archduke ferdinand, and chose for their ruler the elector palatine, a reformer. but by means of the league and the lutheran electors of saxony, ferdinand became emperor. his opponent was beaten in the battle of the weissen-berge, and left the country as a fugitive. here and there, the protestant opposition continued to blaze up, but divided, without plan, and with weak resources. baden-durlach, the mansfelder, the brunswicker, and lastly the circle of lower saxony with the danish king, succumbed to the troops of the league and the emperor. ferdinand ii., who though emperor, was still a fugitive in the states belonging to his house, obtained through the assistance of an experienced mercenary commander, wallenstein, a large body of troops, whom he maintained in the territory of the principality by contribution and pillage. ever greater did the emperor's army continue to swell; ever higher rose his claims in germany and italy: the old idea of charles v. after the smalkaldic war became a living principle in the nephew; he would subdue germany, as his predecessor had done the peasants and the estates in the austrian provinces; he would crush all independence, the privileges of cities, the rights of the estates, the pride and family power of princes--he hoped to subjugate all germany to his faith and his house. but throughout the whole of germany sounded a cry of grief and indignation, at the horrible marauding war which was conducted by the merciless general of the hapsburger. all the allies of the imperial house rose threateningly against him. the princes of the league, and above all maximilian of bavaria, looked abroad for help; they subdued the high spirit of the emperor, and he was obliged to dismiss his faithful general and to control the barbarous army. nay, more, even the holy father began to fear the emperor. the pope himself united with france in order to bring swedish help to the protestants. the lion of the north disembarked on the german coast. now began the second period of the war. the swelling billows of the roman catholic power had overflowed germany even up to the northern sea. from to came the protestant counter-current, which flowed in a resistless course from north to south over the third part of germany. even after the death of their king, the swedish generals kept their ascendency in the field; wallenstein himself abandoned the emperor, and was secretly murdered. the roman catholic party had begun to lose courage, when, by a last effort of collected strength, it won the bloody battle of nördlingen. then followed the third period of fourteen years, from to , in which victory and reverses were nearly equal on both sides. the swedes, driven back to the northern sea, girding up their whole strength, again burst forth into the middle of germany. again the tide of fortune ebbed to and fro, becoming gradually less powerful. the french, greedy of booty, spread themselves as far as the rhine; the land was devastated, and famine and pestilence raged. the swedes, though losing one general after another, kept the field and maintained their claims with unceasing pertinacity. in opposition to them stood the equally inflexible maximilian, prince of the league. even in the last decade of the war, the bavarians fought for three years the most renowned campaigns which this dynasty has to boast of. the fanatical ferdinand was dead, his successor, able, moderate, and an experienced soldier, persevered from necessity; he also was firm and tenacious. no party could bring about a decisive result. for years negotiations for peace were carried on; whilst the generals fought, the cities and villages were depopulated and the fields were overgrown with rank weeds. peace came at last; it was not brought about by great battles, nor by irresistible political combinations, but chiefly by the weariness of the combatants, and germany celebrated it with festivities though she had lost three fourths of her population. all this gives to the thirty years' war the appearance of foredoomed annihilation, ushered in as it was by the most fearful visitations of nature. above the strife of parties a terrible fate spread its wings; it carried off the leaders and prostrated them in the dust, the greatest human strength became powerless under its hand; at last, satiated with devastation and death, it turned its face slowly from the country which had become a great charnel house. it is not the intention of this work to characterize the generals and battles belonging to this period of struggle, but to speak of the condition and circumstances of the german people, both of the destructive and suffering portions of the population, of the army, alike with the citizen and peasant. since the burgundian war and the italian battles of maximilian and charles v., the burgher infantry had thrown into the background the knightly cavalry of the middle ages. the strength of the german army consisted of landsknechte, freemen, either citizens or peasants, and among them occasionally a few nobles. they were for the most part mercenaries, who bound themselves voluntarily by contract to some banner for a time. they carried on war like a trade, sternly, actively, and enduringly. but the full vigour of their power was of short duration: their decadence may be dated from their revolt against the old fronsperg; from that hour when they broke the heart of their father, the gray-headed landsknecht hero. many things combined to corrupt this new infantry: they were mercenaries, serving only for a time, accustomed to change their banner, and not to fight for an idea, but only for booty or their own advantage. they were not called into existence in consequence of the application of gunpowder to the art of war; but they more especially appropriated this new invention to themselves. the introduction of fire-arms into the army, certainly first showed the weakness of their opponents, the old cavalry of knighthood, but at the same time soon caused the diminution of their own efficiency, for these weapons were too clumsy and slow to insure victory on the battle-field. the final result still depended on the rushing charge of the pikemen and the onslaught of their great masses on the enemy. to this was added other detrimental circumstances; there were as yet no standing armies: when there was threatening of a feud, troops were assembled by the territorial lords great and small, and by the cities, and at the conclusion of the war they were dismissed. these wars were generally short and local; even the hungarian wars were only summer campaigns of a few months. the german rulers, always in want of money, endeavoured to help themselves by the depreciation of the coinage, striking a lighter coin expressly for the payment of the soldiers, and also by faithlessly paying them less than had been agreed upon. this unworthy treatment demoralized the men, no less than the shortness of the service. thus the landsknechte became deceived deceivers, adventurers, plunderers and robbers. the infantry at the beginning of the war used either firearms or pikes, the former to open the enemy's ranks, the latter to decide the battle by hand-to-hand fighting. at this period we find that the pikemen were the heavy infantry; they wore breastplates, brassarts, swords, and a pike eighteen feet long with an iron point, the handles of the best were of ash; the lance-corporals and subaltern officers had halberds and partisans. the two species of fire-arms which prevailed in the army were the musketoon (which with the imperialists was a heavy weapon six feet long, with matchlocks and balls, of which there were ten in the pound) and the short handgun, a weapon of lighter and smaller calibre, which in the beginning of the war bore amongst the infantry the old name of arquebuss. the musketeer wore also at his side a hanger, a weapon with a small curved point, and over his shoulder a bandolier with eleven cylindrical cases in which the charges were placed, a match holder, and a musket rest, a staff with a metal point and two metal prongs, on the top of which the musketeer laid his weapon: his head was covered with a helmet or morion; this last piece of armour was soon discarded. the foot arquebussier did not carry a rest or a shoulder-belt; he loaded from his shot-pouch and powder-horn. there were pikemen and musketeers in the same company, and long even before the great war there were companies in which fire-arms alone were borne. out of the light infantry were formed, in the middle of the war, what were called rifle companies, but among whom only a few had rifles. the grenadiers, who threw hand-grenades, were then formed in small numbers; for instance, in , by the swedes at the siege of ratisbon. at the beginning of the war the pikemen, as heavy infantry, were considered of importance, and they were put down in the muster-rolls as receiving double pay; but in the course of it they were found to be too unwieldy for long marches, helpless in attack, in short, almost useless, since the last decision of the battle now devolved upon the cavalry; thus they gradually sank into contempt, and the clever judgment pronounced by the jovial springinsfeld, accurately expresses the view that was taken of their utility. "a musketeer is indeed a poor, much harassed creature; but he lives in splendid happiness compared to a miserable pikeman: it is vexatious to think what hardships the poor simpletons endure; no one who had not experienced it themselves could believe it, and i think whoever kills a pikeman whom he could save, murders an innocent man, and can never be excused such a barbarous deed: for although these poor draught oxen--they were so called in derision--are formed to defend their brigades in the open field from the onslaught of the cavalry, yet they themselves do no one any injury, and he who throws himself upon their long spears deserves what he gets. in short, i have during my life seen many sharp encounters, but seldom found that a pikeman ever caused the death of any one." nevertheless the pikemen kept their ground till towards the end of the seventeenth century. the musketeers who were, however, the great mass of the infantry, were rendered more agile by gustavus adolphus; he discarded from the swedish army the musket rests, lightened their weapons and the calibre of the balls, of which there were thirteen to the pound, and introduced instead of the rattling bandoliers, paper cartridges and pockets; but the musketeers, without bayonets, slow in firing, unaccustomed to fight in close ranks, were little fitted to decide an engagement. the influence of the cavalry on the other hand increased. at the beginning of the war there were two contending principles concerning them, the method and arming of old knightly traditions were mixed up with the landsknechte characteristics, many of whom were also horsemen. the heavy cavalry were still considered an aristocratic corps, the nobleman still placed himself with his charger, his knightly armour, his old knightly lance, and his troop of vassals, for whom he drew pay, under the standard of the cavalry regiments. but the war made an end gradually of this remnant of old customs. it was still, however, an object of ambition to join the army as a soldier of fortune, either with an esquire or alone, and whoever estimated himself highly or had made much booty, thronged to the cavalry standard. in the german army there were four kinds of regular cavalry, the lancers, in full armour even to the knightly spurs, without shield, with the knightly lance or the spear of the landsknechte, a sword, and two holster pistols; the cuirassiers, with similar armour, pistols and sword; the arquebussiers, called later carbineers, half armed, with morion, and pistol proof back and breast pieces, with two pistols and an arquebuss on a small bandolier; finally the dragoons, mounted pikemen, or musketeers, who fought either on foot or on horseback. besides these there were irregular cavalry croats, stradiots, and hussars, who almost a century before, in , had made a great sensation in germany when duke maurice of saxony borrowed them from king ferdinand of bohemia. their appearance was not displeasing; they wore turkish armour, a sabre, and a targe, but they were wild robbers, and in the worst repute. gustavus adolphus brought to germany only cuirassiers and dragoons. his cuirassiers were more lightly armed than the imperial, but far superior to them in energy of attack. during the whole war the endeavour of the cavalry was to lighten their heavy armour; the more the army separated into military companies the more pressing was the necessity for greater activity. in the sixteenth century the heavy guns were very varied in calibre and length of barrel, and had divers curious names. the sharp metz, the carronade, culverin and nightingale, the singer, the falcon and the falconet, the field serpent and serpentine, with balls from one hundred pounds down to one pound, besides the organ,[ ] mortars large and small, rifle-barrelled guns and rifles. but in the beginning of the thirty years' war the forms were already simplified; they cast forty-eight, and twenty-four pounders, twelve and six pounders, with forty-two, twenty-four, twelve and six pound balls;[ ] the first were fortress and siege guns, the last were field guns; besides these, disproportionately long culverins and falconets, also chamber pieces for throwing shells, or bomb mortars which were soon called howitzers, smaller mortars for throwing fire-balls, stinkpots, &c.; and in the beginning of the war bombarders, which fired pieces of iron, lead, small shot, and stones. lastly from forged pieces they fired half-ounce bullets, double, single, and half-hooks, or grappling irons. but the length of the barrels of the guns was too long for balls; the powder was bad, and the aim consequently uncertain. gustavus adolphus introduced shorter and lighter guns; his leather cannon, made of copper cylinders with thick hemp and leather coverings[ ] held together by iron hoops, soon ceased to be used, probably because they were not sufficiently durable, but his short four-pounders, two of which were given to every regiment, and which worked best with grape shot, lasted over the war. these field pieces fired not only from position but were moved with tolerable rapidity during action, but the bombardes and petards were unwieldy; the last were twisted round with ropes more like a sort of cannon than our bombs and grenades, but were of uncertain effect because the locks were badly prepared and they did not measure the time for the explosion. the old disposition of the germans to give life to the inanimate had already in earlier times bestowed especial names on favourite guns, and the custom remained, even after pieces of the same calibre were cast in greater numbers; then particular guns, for example, were called after the planets, months, and signs of the zodiac, like a high sounding alphabet,[ ] and in this case indicated by single letters. there was always a new name given according to the calibre, which in spite of all the simplification was still very varied. the progress of artillery and its influence on the conduct of war was impeded in the last half of the war by the want of experienced master gunners, the greater portion of them were infantry commanders; the loss of an artillery officer of capacity was difficult to replace. the relative numbers of particular branches of the service were changed during the war. in the beginning the proportion of the cavalry to the infantry was as one to five, but soon they became one to three, and in the latter period they were sometimes the strongest. this striking fact is a proof both of the deterioration of the troops and of the art of war. in the exhausted country, the army could only be maintained by a strong force of cavalry, who could forage further and change their ground with more rapidity. as all who hoped for independence or booty pressed into the cavalry it was in better condition proportionately than the infantry, who at last were reduced to support themselves by reaping the scanty remains left by the horsemen. undoubtedly the cavalry also became worse, the want of good horses was at last more sensibly felt than that of men, and the heavy cavalry could not be kept up, whilst in the last year the service of the scouts and foraging parties for the commissariat was brought to great perfection. nevertheless the cavalry were the most effective, for it was their task to decide the battle by their charge. the last army with skilled infantry and dutch discipline was that of bavaria under mercy, from to . the tactics of armies had slowly altered in the course of the century. the old landsknecht army advanced to battle in three great squares,--the advanced guard, the main body, and the rear guard--disregarding roads and corn-fields; before it went pioneers, who filled in ditches and cut down hedges to clear the way for the bulky mass. for battle, the deep square masses of infantry placed themselves side by side, each square mass consisted of many companies, sometimes of many regiments; the cavalry formed in a similar deep position at the wings. there was no regular reserve, only sometimes one of the three masses was kept back for the final decision; a select body of men, the forlorn hope, was formed for dangerous service, such as forcing the passage of a river, covering an important point, or turning the enemy's flank. since fire-arms had prevailed over pikes, these great battalions were surrounded by files of sharpshooters, and at last special bodies of sharpshooters were formed and attached to them. in the war in the netherlands, the unwieldiness of these heavy squares led to breaking the order of battle into smaller tactical bodies. but it was only slowly, that formation in line and a system of reserve were organized. much of the old method continued in the imperial army in the beginning of the war. still the companies of infantry were united in deep squares--in battalions. to take firm positions and assume defensive warfare had become too much the custom in inglorious campaigns against the wild storming turks. the weight and tenacity of deep masses might certainly be effective, but if the enemy succeeded in bringing his guns to bear upon them, they suffered fearfully, and were very unwieldy in all their movements. gustavus adolphus adopted the tactical innovations of the netherlanders in an enlightened way; when in battle he placed the infantry six, and the cavalry only three deep; he distributed the great masses into small divisions, which firmly connected together, formed the unity of the swedish brigade; he strengthened the cavalry, placing between them companies of sharpshooters, and introduced light artillery regiments besides those that were in reserve and position, and accustomed his soldiers to rapid offensive movements and daring advances. his infantry fired quicker than the imperial, and at the battle of breitenfeld the old walloon regiments of tilly were routed by their close platoon firing; he also laid down for his cavalry, those very rules by which a century later frederick the great made his, the first in the world; viz., not to stop in order to fire, but at the quickest pace to rush upon the enemy. during the battle the soldiers recognized one another by their war-cries and distinguishing marks, the officers by their scarfs. for example, at breitenfeld tilly's army wore white bands on their hats and helmets, and white lace round the arm, and the swedes had green branches. the imperial colour in the field was red, therefore gustavus adolphus prohibited his swedes from wearing that colour,[ ] the scarfs of the swedish officers at the battle of lützen were green, those of electoral saxony during the war were black and yellow, and later, after the acquisition of the polish crown, red and white. the soldiers were formed in troops or companies, and these were combined in regiments which had administrative unity. the german infantry regiments consisted of three thousand men, in ten companies of three hundred men; they seldom reached their normal strength, and lost their men in the war with frightful rapidity, so that there were frequently regiments of from a thousand to three hundred, and companies of seventy to thirty men. cavalry regiments were required to be from five hundred to a thousand men strong; the numbers of the troops were different, and their effective war strength was still more variable. the titles and duties of officers had already much similarity to the modern german organization. he who had raised a regiment for his sovereign, was called the colonel of the regiment, even if he had the rank of general; under him were the lieutenant-colonel and major. more important for the object of these pages were the officers of companies; the captain of infantry or cavalry, with his lieutenant, an ensign, and sergeant, or troop sergeant-major, non-commissioned officers and lance-corporals, and finally the provost-marshal. when an officer at the mustering of his company in a circle, was installed as chief captain and father, he begged his dear soldiers, in a friendly manner, to be true and obedient to him, recounted to them their duties, promised to stand by them in every emergency, and as an honest man, devote himself to them in life or death, and leave them whatever he had. unfortunately the captain's first duty was to be faithful in money concerns, both towards the colonel and his own soldiers, to procure clever good soldiers for the reviewing officer, not to charge for more mercenaries than was right, and to give the soldiers their full pay; but this seldom happened. the temptation to a system of fraudulent gain was great, and conscientiousness in the uncertain life of war was a virtue which quickly disappeared; even the most honourable fell upon dangerous rocks when the pay had been long in arrear, or not fully given. besides this, it was necessary for him to be an energetic experienced man, just and kind in disposition, but strict in maintaining rights. during the week, he was, according to the old proverb, to look severe, and not to smile upon the soldiers before sunday; when there was preaching in the camp, the soldiers sat on the ground, but stood up, taking their hats off, before the captain, but he who wore a morion kept it on. on the march, the captain rode, but before the enemy he went on foot, carrying either the pike or the musket of his company.[ ] the banner of the infantry, which was held sacred by the company, had a standard about the size of ours, but the silken flag, like an enormous sail, reached almost to the end of the standard; it was of heavy material, according to the taste of that time, with allegorical pictures painted on it, and short latin sentences beautifully illuminated. the "_cornete_" of the cavalry, sometimes vandyked, were smaller, and fixed to the standard like our banners. the regiments were sometimes called after the colours of the banners; for example, in electoral saxony, where the ground of the banners was always of two colours, they were called the black and yellow, blue and white, red and yellow, regiments; each of the ten banners of the regiment also had its especial emblem and motto, and different combinations of the regimental colours, grained, striped and in squares, yet the chief standard showed the regimental colours only on the border. the "_cornete_" of the cavalry had a ground of only one colour: the corps of cavalry were denoted according to the colours of their banners, and not by their uniforms, which they hardly ever wore; for example:--"two corps of orange-coloured cornet cuirassiers," "five corps of steel-green cornet arquebussiers." the swedes also distinguished their brigades, which were in germany frequently called regiments, by the colour of their banners; thus, besides the yellow (body guard) there were the green, blue, white, and red. the colours of regiments were often chosen from the armorial bearings of the colonel, especially if he had raised the regiment. gradually, however, it became the custom in all the armies to call the regiments after the names of the officers. the flag was attached to the standard and erected in the midst of the circle of enlisted soldiers; then the colonel delivered the banner to the ensign, and thus gave it into his charge:--"as your bride or your own daughter, from the right hand to the left; and if both your arms should be shot or cut off, you should take it with your mouth; and if you cannot preserve it thus, wrap yourself therein, commit yourself to god so to be slain, and die as an honourable man." as long as the colours were flying, and a piece of the standard left, the soldiers were to follow the ensign to the death, till all should lie in a heap on the battle-field, that no evildoer or blameworthy person should be sheltered by the flag; if any one should transgress against the banner oath, the ensign was to furl the banner, and forbid the transgressor to march under it or mount guard, and he was obliged to go among the bad women and children with the baggage till the affair was arranged: the ensign was not to leave the colours a single night without permission; when he slept he was to have them by him, and never to separate himself from them; if they should be torn from the standard by treachery or some roguish attendant, the ensign should be delivered over to the common soldiers to be judged for life or death, according to their will. it was necessary for him to be tall, powerful, manly, and valiant, and a cheerful companion, friendly to every one, a mediator and peace-maker; he was not to inflict punishment on any one, that he might incur no hatred. in the open field under the unfurled colours appointments were declared and the articles of war read. a trooper was not, without permission, to be out of sight of the colours when the army was marching or encamped; whoever fled from the colours in battle was to die for it, and whoever killed him was to be unpunished: if an ensign should abandon a fort or redoubt before he had held out against three assaults without relief, he transgressed the rules of war; a regiment lost its colours if from cowardice it yielded a fortress before the time. it was not long since pike-law was given up, the severe tribunal of the landsknechte, where, before the circle of common soldiers, the provost-marshal accused the evil-doer, and forty chosen men, officers and soldiers, pronounced judgment: at the beginning of the trial the ensigns furled their colours, and reversed them with the iron point in the ground, and demanded a sentence, because the colours could not fly over an evil-doer. if the transgressor was condemned to the spear, or to be shot by the arquebussiers, then the ensign thanked them for their judgment on the offender, unfurled the colours, and caused them to fly towards the east, comforted the poor sinner, and promised to meet him halfway, and thereby to deliver him by taking him under the protection of the colours. when the line of pikes was formed they went to the end of it with their backs towards the sun; but the transgressor had to bless the soldiers and pray for a speedy death, then the provost gave him three strokes with his staff on the right shoulder and pushed him into the lane. whoever had disgraced himself, if the colours were waved three times over him, was freed from his disgrace. the ensign received every three years, money for a new flag or dress (from eighty to a hundred gulden), and for that he was to make a present to the company of two casks of beer or wine. the office of cornet of cavalry was less responsible. it was his duty to rush vigorously upon the enemy, and after the attack to raise his standard on high, that his people might collect round him. in the hungarian war the cornet passed sometimes into the rank of lieutenant, and in some regiments (the wallenstein army for instance) this custom was kept up. the most important man of the company next to the captain was the sergeant; he was the drill-master and spokesman for the soldiers, and had to mark out with flags the position to be taken up by the troops of the imperial batons, or swedish brigades, to arrange the men, placing in the front and rear ranks and at the sides, the best armed and most efficient men, to mingle the halberds and short weapons, to lead and keep with the arquebussiers; he was the instructor of the company, and knew the proper and warlike use of his weapons. as the "mob" who came together from for and near under a banner were difficult to keep in order, the greater part of them not to be depended on, and unskilled in the exercise of their weapons, the number of non-commissioned officers was necessarily very great, frequently indeed they formed more than a third of the troop. any one who had military capacity or could be depended upon, was marked out by the subordinate commander for higher pay and posts of confidence. amongst the numerous functions and manifold designations of the subalterns, some are particularly characteristic. in the beginning of the war every company had, according to the old _landsknecht_ custom, their "leader," who, in the first instance at least, was chosen by the soldiers. he was the tribune of the company, their spokesman, who had to lay their grievances and wishes before the captain, and to represent the interests of the soldiery. it may easily be understood that such an arrangement did not strengthen the discipline of the army; it was done away with in time of war. even the thankless office of quartermaster was of greater importance than now; the complaints of the soldiers, who quarrelled about the bad quarters he had provided for them, he met with defiance, and inspired them with fear of his usurious practices. when a company came to a deserted village, the serjeants threw their knives into the hat of the quartermaster; he then went from house to house, sticking the blades as they came to his hand in the door-posts, and every band (of six or eight men) followed their leader's knife. when poor members of the nobility, candidates for commission, of whom the number was often great, presented themselves, their names were inscribed on the list of lance-corporals. old vagabonds full of pretension were designated in the military kitchen latin by the title of "_ambesaten_," and afterwards "_landspassaten_;" they were orderlies and messengers receiving higher pay, representatives and assistants of the corporals. there was a general endeavour to add a deputy to every office, as the lieutenant to the captain, an under ensign to the ensign, to the serjeant an under serjeant, and frequently with the infantry a vidette for the sentinels at out-posts; in the same way serjeants were deputies to the officers, and the "_landspassaten_" to the corporal, and the provost to the provost-general, &c., &c. the army consisted, with few exceptions, of enlisted soldiers. the sovereign empowered an experienced leader by patent to raise for him an army, a regiment, or a company; recruiting places were sought for and a muster place established where the recruits were collected. the recruits were paid their travelling expenses or bounty; at the beginning of the war this was insignificant, and sometimes deducted from their pay, but later the bounty increased, and was given to the soldiers. at the beginning of the war negotiations were carried on with every mercenary, about the pay, at the muster-place. the soldier in quarters received nothing but his pay, which in , for the common foot soldier, amounted to from fifteen to sixteen gulden a month.[ ] with this they had to procure for themselves weapons, clothing, and food. garrisons were provided with stores by the quarter-master, the cost being reimbursed to him. during the great war, however, the arrangements about pay were often deviated from, the distribution of it to the soldiers was very irregular. in the imperial army the pay, exclusive of food, was nine gulden to the pikeman and six to the musketeer. in the swedish army it was still lower, but was in the beginning more regularly paid, and there was more care about the provisions. the whole sustenance of the army was charged upon the province by a hard system of requisition, even on friendly territory. the maintenance of the upper officers was very high, and yet formed only a small share of their income. during the time of service the troops were entered on the muster-roll by a court of comptrol, the reviewing officer, or commissary of the prince; in order to prevent the officers and commanders drawing too much pay, when they were assembled round the flag, the names of the deserters were written apart, and beside each name a gallows was painted. at the time of muster if any one was unserviceable or had served a long time, he was taken off the muster-roll, and declared free, given his discharge, and provided with a pass or certificate. whoever wished for leave, obtained a pass from the ensign. the soldier had to clothe himself, uniforms were only found exceptionally; the halberdiers of the life-guards, and the heavily armed cavalry, so far as armour was concerned, were generally furnished by the sovereign; but before the war it was only occasionally done, and then pay was deducted for it, or the colonel took back the armour after the campaign. the military discipline of the germans was, in the beginning of the war, in the worst repute. the german soldiers were considered by other nations as idle, turbulent, refractory bullies;[ ] they had been not a little spoilt by service in half-barbarous countries, as hungary and poland then were, and against the barbarian turks. when individuals had to chaffer about their pay, discontent began; when the captain would not satisfy the claims of the enlisted mercenary, the malcontent threw his musket angrily at the feet of the former, and went off with the money for his travelling-expenses, there was no means of detaining him. though the ensign was bound by oath, the captain only too frequently found advantage in favouring plunder and the nightly desertion of the banner, for he had his share of the soldier's booty; the worst thieves were the best bees. the paymasters were always deeply hated, because they generally gave the regiments short pay and bad coin; they and other commissaries of the sovereign were exposed to much insult when they came to the camp. the worst things are related of the commanders-in-chief, above all, that they received more pay than they distributed to the soldiers; still worse were the generals. frequently open mutiny broke out, and then the mutineers placed a colonel or captain in the middle of them, and chose him for their leader. the same thing took place in hungary. indeed it happened, during the armistice preceding the westphalian peace, that in a bavarian dragoon regiment, a corporal of the garrison of hilperstein nominated himself colonel of the regiment, and by the help of his comrades drove away the officers; the regiment was surrounded by loyal soldiers, the new colonel with eighteen of the ringleaders were executed, the muskets were taken from the regiment, it was resworn and formed anew as a cavalry regiment. the arrears of pay were the usual cause of mutiny. in the year , the regiment of count mansfeld mutinied. he began to pay, but meanwhile leaving his tent, struck down two of the soldiers with his own hands, severely wounding them; he then mounted his horse, sprang into the midst of the mutineers, and shot many of them. he alone with three captains subdued the insolence of six hundred men, after having slain eleven, and severely wounded six-and-twenty. if it was difficult to secure obedience to military commands whilst the banner was waving, still greater was the burst of resentment when it was furled and the regiment was disbanded. then the provost, the prostitutes, and the soldiers' sons hid themselves; the captain, lieutenant, and other commanders were obliged to submit to abusive language and challenges, and to hear themselves thus accosted: "ha, you fellow, you have been my commander, now you are not a jot better than i; a pound of your hair is of no more importance to me than a pound of cotton; out with you, let's have a scuffle!" whenever punishment was administered, the commanders were in danger from the revenge of the culprit or his friends. the disbanded soldiers quarrelled amongst each other, as they did with their officers, and sometimes there were as many as a hundred parties in one place engaged in duelling. the most wanton death-blows were dealt, and murders perpetrated, such as have never been heard of since the beginning of christianity. when the banner was unfurled, it was customary for the combatants to join hands and vow to fight out their quarrel when their term of service was ended, and till then to live together in brotherly love. when this disbanding took place, the most disorderly of the soldiers combined together and began an "armour cleaning" of those comrades to whom, during service, the officers had shown favour; that is to say, they robbed them of all, deprived them of their clothes, beat and almost killed them. all these crimes were tolerated, and the powerless commander-in-chief looked passively on these proceedings as a mere custom of war. during the hungarian campaigns the soldiers adopted the habit of only remaining by their banners during the summer months; they found their reckoning in serving a short time, and mutinying if more was desired of them; for during the autumn and winter they went with two, three, or more boys as "_gartbrüder_"[ ] through the country, a fearful plague to the formers in eastern germany. in the frontier countries, silesia, austria, bohemia, and styria, it was even commanded by the sovereigns to pay a farthing to every soldier who was roving about as "_gartbrüder_." thus by their refractory conduct they daily obtained a gulden or more; their boys pilfered where they could, and were notorious poachers. wallhausen, whilst making other energetic complaints, reckons that the support of a standing army would cost less to the princes and states, and secure greater success against the enemy, than this old bad system. more than once during the long war, these wild armies were brought under the constraint of strict discipline by the powerful will of individuals, and each time great military successes were obtained; but this was not of any duration. the discipline of the wallenstein army was excellent in a military point of view; but what the commander permitted with regard to citizens and peasants was horrible. even gustavus adolphus could not preserve for more than a year, the strict discipline which on his landing in pomerania was so triumphantly lauded by the protestant ecclesiastics. it is true that the military law and articles of war contained a number of legal rules for all soldiers, concerning the forbearance to be observed even in an enemy's land towards the people and their property. the women, invalids, and aged were under all circumstances to be spared, and mills and ploughs were not to be injured. but it is not by the laws themselves, but by the administration of them, that we can judge of the peculiar characteristics of a period. the punishments were in themselves severe. with the swedes,--for the embezzlement of money intended for the hospitals or invalid soldiers, the wooden horse with its iron fittings was awarded, or running the gauntlet (for this hardy fellows were hired to take upon them the punishment), or loss of the hand, shooting, or hanging. for whole divisions,--the loss of their banners, cleaning the camp and lying outside it, and decimation. in the beginning of the war many of the old landsknecht customs were maintained, for instance, their criminal court of justice, in which the law was decided by the people through select jurymen. and before the war, together with this, court-martials had been introduced. during the war a military tribunal was organized according to the modern german method, under the presidency of the advocate-general, and the provost-marshal superintended the execution. but even in punishments there was a difference between the army and the citizens and peasants. the soldier was put in irons, but not in the stocks or in prison; no soldier was ever hanged on a common gallows, or in a common place of execution, but on a tree or on a special gallows, which was erected in the city for the soldiers in the market-place; the old form by which the delinquent was given over to the hangman was thus expressed: "he shall take him to a green tree and tie him up by the neck, so that the wind may blow under and over him, and the sun shine on him for three days; then shall he be cut down and buried according to the custom of war." but the perjured deserter was hanged to a withered tree. whoever was sentenced to death by the sword, was taken by the executioner to a public place, where he was cut in two, the body being the largest and the head the smallest portion. the provost and his assistant also were in nowise dishonoured by their office; even the avoided executioner's assistant, the "_klauditchen_" of the army, who was generally taken from among the convicts, and who was allowed to choose between punishment and this dishonourable office, could, if he fulfilled his office faithfully, become respectable when the banner was unfurled; he could then receive his certificate like any other gallant soldier, and no one could speak evil of him. there was one circumstance which distinguished the armies of the thirty years' war from those of modern days, and which made their entrance into a province like an eruption of a heterogeneous race of strangers: each soldier, in spite of his short term of service in the field, was accompanied by his household. not only the higher officers, but also the troopers and foot-soldiers, took their wives, and still more frequently their mistresses with them in a campaign. women from all countries, adorned to the utmost of their power, followed the army, and sought entrance into the camp, because they had a husband, friend, or cousin there. at the mustering or disbanding of a regiment, even respectable maidens were, through the most cruel artifices, carried off by disorderly bands, and when the money was all spent, left sometimes without clothes, or at some carousal sold from one to another. the women who accompanied the soldiers cooked and washed for them, nursed the sick, provided them with drink, bore their blows, and on the march carried the children and any of the plunder or household implements which could not be conveyed by the baggage waggons. it is known that the king of sweden on his first arrival in germany would not suffer any such women in the camp; but after his return from franconia, this strict discipline seems to have ceased. whoever peruses the old church records of the village parishes will find sometimes the names of maidens, who, having been carried off, returned at the end of a year to their village home, and submitted themselves to the severest church penances in order to die amongst the ruined population of their birthplace. the women of the camp were also under martial law. for great offences they were flogged, and driven out of the camp; the soldiers too were hard masters, and little of what had been promised them in the beginning was kept. the children accompanied the women. in the swedish army military schools were established by gustavus adolphus, in which the children were instructed even in the camp. in these migratory schools strict military discipline prevailed, and a story, which cannot be warranted, is told of a cannonball having passed through a school in the swedish camp, and having killed many of the children, but the survivors continued their sum in arithmetic. some soldiers maintained one or more lads, a crafty, stubborn set of good-for-nothings, who waited upon their masters, cleaned their horses, sometimes bore their armour, and fed their shaggy dogs; nimble spies who prowled about far and near on the traces of opulent people, and on the look-out for concealed money. the plundering by the baggage-train was almost worse in a friendly country. when the soldiers with the women and children came to a farmhouse, they pounced like hawks upon the poultry in the yard, then broke open the doors, seized upon the trunks and chests, and with abusive language, threatened, importuned and destroyed, what they could not consume or take away. on decamping they compelled the owner to horse his waggons and take them to their next quarters. then they filled the waggons with the clothes, beds, and household goods of the farmers, binding round their bodies what could not otherwise be carried away. "frequently," says the indignant narrator wallhausen, "the women did not choose to be drawn by oxen, and it was necessary to procure horses, sometimes from a distance of six miles, to the great cost of the country people, and when they came with the waggons to the nearest quarters, they would not allow the poor people to return home; but dragged them with them to another territory, and at last stole the horses and made off." in the beginning of the war, a german infantry regiment had to march for some days through the country of their own sovereign; there were as many women and children with the baggage-train, as soldiers, and they stole in eight days from the subjects of their sovereign almost sufficient horses for each soldier to ride. the colonel, a just and determined man, frequently dragged the soldiers himself from the horses, and at last enforced their restoration by extreme severity. but it was impossible to prevent the women from riding; there was not one who had not a stolen horse, and if they did not ride them they harnessed them three or four together to the peasants' carts. only a few of the otherwise copious writers of that time make mention of this despised portion of the army; yet there are sufficient accounts, from which we may conclude that great influence was produced by the baggage-train on the fate of the army and the country. especially by the enormous extent of it. at the end of the sixteenth century adam junghans reckons, that in a besieged fortress where the camp-followers were reduced to the smallest possible number, to three hundred infantry soldiers, there were fifty women and forty children, besides sutlers, horseboys, &c., &c., somewhat more than a third of the soldiers. but in the field the proportion was quite different even in the beginning of the war. wallhausen reckons as indispensable to a german regiment of infantry, four thousand women, children, and other followers. a regiment of three thousand men had at least three hundred waggons, and every waggon was full to repletion of women, children, and plundered goods; when a company broke up from its quarters, it was considered an act of self-denial if it did not carry away with it thirty or more waggons. at the beginning of the war a regiment of north german soldiers, three thousand strong, started from the muster-place where it had remained some time, followed by two thousand women and children. from that time the baggage-train continued increasing to the end of the war. it was only for a brief space of time that great commanders, like tilly, wallenstein, and gustavus adolphus were able to diminish this great plague of the army. in , at the end of the great war, the bavarian general, gronsfeld, reports that in the imperial and bavarian armies there were forty thousand soldiers who drew war rations, and a hundred and forty thousand who did not; on what were these to subsist if they did not obtain their food by plunder, especially as in the whole country where the army encamped, there was not a single place where a soldier could buy a bit of bread. in the year the camp-followers were more than three times the number of the fighting-men. these numbers tell more significantly than any deductions, what a dreadful amass of misery surrounded these armies. before we proceed to describe the influence which armies thus composed exercised upon the life of the german people, we must once more remind the reader, that this monstrous evil was not created by the thirty years' war, but for the most part already in existence. some observations will therefore be here introduced from the above-quoted and now rare little book, written by adam junghans von der olnitz, at that period when the worth and capacity of the old landsknecht army passed away into the wild dissolute life of mercenaries. it appears here as the prologue to the monstrous tragedy which began twenty years later. "each and every officer, captain of horse, or other captain, knows well that no doctors, magisters, or any other god-fearing people, follow in his train, but only a heap of ill-disposed lads, out of all kinds of nations; strange folks, who leave wives and children, abandon their duties, and follow the army; all that will not follow the pursuits of their fathers and mothers, must follow the calf-skin which is spread over the drum, till they come to a battle or assault, where thousands lie on the field of battle, shot or cut to pieces; for a landsknecht's life hangs by a hair, and his soul flutters on his cap or his sleeve. besides, three kinds of herbs always grow with war; these are, sharp rule, fifty forbidden articles, and severe judgment with speedy sentence, which fits many a neck with a hempen collar. "it is not enough that a soldier should be strong, straight, manly, tyrannical, bloody-minded, in his actions like a grim lion, and behave like a bully, as if he himself would catch and eat the devil alone, so that none of his comrades should partake of him; but these trigger-pullers wantonly bring themselves to destruction by their stupidity, and other good fellows with them. another is a snorer, and a kicker, and stamps like a wild horse on the straw, and when he goes into battle, and the balls whistle about his head, he is a martyr and poor sinner, who would for very fear soil his hosen, and allow his weapon to fall from his hand. but when they sit at the tap, or in the cantinières' stalls, or in public-houses, then they have seen much and can do nothing but fight, then a fly on the wall irritates them, there is no peace with them, then they are ready to fight the enemy with great curses. such 'bear-prickers' are generally found out; one seldom finds one who is not maimed in the hands or arms, or has a scar on the cheek, and they have never really all their lives long, faced the enemy. the captain may well keep clear of such fellows, for they are generally seditious mutineers. a wise soldier avoids quarrels and public-house brawls whenever he can, that he may have his skin whole and uninjured to bring in front of the enemy. to be wounded by the enemy is an honour, but he who injures himself wantonly must expect scorn and derision, and is of no use to any army. such a fellow must remain all his life a paltry beggar; he roves about the country, begs bread and sells it again, feeds like a wolf, and when the rats and mice are drowned in the countrywoman's milk, he maintains himself on the cheese made from it, and must submit to the rough words of the peasants, and herd with other poor beggars to the end of his life. besides these, there are many who wish to be soldiers, mothers' sons, beardless boys, like young calves, who know nothing of suffering, who have sat beside the stove and roasted apples, and lain in warm beds. when they are brought to a foreign country, and meet with all kind of strange arrangements, food, drink, and other things, they are like soft eggs that flow through the fingers, or like paper when it lies in the water. it is thus not only with foot landsknechte, but also with young nobles. when they are led to the field in devastated countries, where all is consumed and laid waste, and they can no longer carry their well-filled bread wallets and drinking-flasks on their necks, they first pine away, hunger and thirst, then eat and drink unusual things, from which result all kinds of maladies. these delicate vagabonds ought to remain at home, attend to the tillage, or sit in the shop by the pepper-bags, and shift for themselves, as their fathers and mothers have done, fill their stomachs at eventide, and go to bed; thus they would not be slain in war. it is truly said that soldiers must be hardy and enduring people, like unto steel and iron, and like the wild beasts that can eat all kinds of food. according to the jocose saying, the landsknechte must be able to digest the points of their wheel-nails; nothing must come amiss to them, even if necessity required that they should eat dogs' or cats' flesh, and the flesh of horses from the meadow must be like good venison to them, with herbs unseasoned by salt or butter. hunger teaches to eat, if one has not seen bread for three weeks. drink one may have gratis, for if one can get no water from the brook, one can drink with the geese out of the pond or the puddle. one must sleep under a tree, or in the field; there is plenty of earth to lie on, and of sky for a canopy; such must often be the landsknecht's sleeping-room, and from such a bed no feathers will stick to his hair. hence arises the old quarrel between the fowls and geese and the landsknechte, because the former can always sleep in feathers, whilst the latter must often lie in straw. there is another animal that clashes with the landsknechte, that is the cat; as the soldiers know well how to pilfer, they are enemies to the cats, and friendly to the dogs. according to the old doggerel, a landsknecht should always have with him a beautiful woman, a dog, and a young boy, a long spear, and a short sword; he is free to seek any master who will give him service. a landsknecht must make three campaigns before he can become an honourable man. after the first campaign, he must return home wearing torn clothes; after the second, he should return with a scar on one cheek, and be able to tell much of alarms, battles, skirmishes and storming parties, and to show by his scars that he has got the marks of a landsknecht; after the third, he should return well appointed, on a fine charger, bringing with him a purse full of gold, so that he may be able to distribute whole dollars as he would booty-pence. "it is truly said, that a soldier must have to eat and drink, whether it is paid for by the sacristan or the priest; for a landsknecht has neither house nor farm, cows nor calves, and no one to bring him food; therefore he must procure it himself wherever it is to be found, and buy without money whether the peasants look sweet or sour. sometimes they must suffer hunger and evil days, at others they have abundance, and indeed such superfluity, that they might clean their shoes with wine or beer. then their dogs eat roast; the women and children get good appointments, they become stewards and cellarers of other people's property. when the householder is driven away with his wife and children, the fowls, geese, fat cows, oxen, pigs, and sheep have a bad time of it. the money is portioned out in their caps, velvet and silk stuffs and cloth are measured out by long spears; a cow is slaughtered for the sake of the hide; chests and trunks are broken open, and when all has been plundered and nothing more remains, the house is set on fire. that is the true landsknecht's fire, when fifty villages and country towns are in flames. then they go to other quarters and do the like again; this makes soldiers jolly, and is a desirable life for those who do not pay for it. this entices to the field many a mother's child, who does not return home, and forgets his friends. for the proverb says: 'the landsknechte have crooked fingers and maimed hands for work, but for pilfering and plundering all the maimed hands become sound.' that has been so before our days, and will remain so truly after us. the longer the landsknechte learn this handiwork the better they do it, and become circumspect, like the three maidens who had four cradles made, the fourth as a provision in case one of them had two children. wherever the soldiers come, they bring with them the keys of all the rooms, their axes and hatchets, and if there are not enough stalls in a place for their horses, it does not signify, they stall them in the churches, monasteries, chapels, and best rooms. if there is no dry wood for fire, it matters not, they burn chairs, benches, ploughs, and everything that is in the house; if they want green wood, no one need go far, they cut down the fruit trees in the nearest orchard; for they say, whilst we live here we keep house, to-morrow we go off again into the country, therefore, mr. host, be comforted; you have a few guests you would gladly be free from, therefore give freely and write it on the slate. when the house is burnt the account is burnt also. this is the landsknechts' custom; to make a reckoning and ride off, and pay when we return. "the french, italians, and walloons are as adverse to the germans as to dogs, but the spaniards are friendly to them; they however have an unheard-of weakness for women, and are disposed to profligate and godless conduct. altogether, the germans are but little thought of by these nations, who call them nothing but drunkards, proud featherpates, mighty braggadocios, blasphemers of god, '_hans muffmaff_' with the beggar's wallet, who would willingly play the great man. and if one comes to look at it, it is not far from the truth. for there is a new custom amongst the north germans when they go to war, or collect together under a master, they spend all their goods and possessions on ostentatious splendour, as if they were going to a bride, or riding to a banquet. thus the germans who were formerly called the blackriders, come riding along with silver daggers, seven pound in weight, in velvet clothes, and shining boots, with short holster pistols inlaid with ivory, and large wide padded sleeves; they are ashamed of carrying cuirass or armour, or indeed a spear, or any other murderous weapons, as in the olden time. hence it arises, that they never hold together. then when hans spaniard comes with his tilting spear and proof armour, these chaw-bacons, with their short holster pistols, must run away or yield their money and blood. "further, it is a misfortune to the germans, that they take to imitating, like monkeys and fools. as soon as they come amongst other soldiers, they must have spanish or other outlandish clothes. if they could babble foreign languages a little, they would associate themselves with spaniards and italians. the germans would like to mingle with foreign nations, and take pleasure in outlandish dress and manners, 'but one should not place the vermin in the fur, it comes there without.' it is clear that foreign people have become our neighbours, and it is to be feared that they will in a few years come nearer. the frontier lords, who still rest in tranquillity, fight against the wind, speak quite wisely thereupon, comfort themselves, and have in talk, all their cities and villages full of soldiers to defend the country and withstand all enemies. but i fear that they prefer sitting by the stove in winter, and in the shade in summer, playing draughts, or striking the guitar, or dancing with _jungfrau_ greta, to providing their houses with good weapons or armour. "on this account, and because all foreign nations cry out all over germany, '_cruci, cruci, mordio, mordio!_' and grind their teeth like ravenous wolves, and desire and hope to bathe in german blood, one must earnestly pray god not to withdraw his hand, but to take under his protection this little vessel, tossed on the wild sea, cover it with his wings, and preserve it from all storms; for we see how the roman empire has declined from day to day, and still continues to do so. these sufferings come from nothing but the proceedings of the ecclesiastics, whereof the whole world complains. if one finds one right-minded preacher there are ten to the contrary; every tradesman praises his own wares, everyone will feed his own flock, and lead them the right way to heaven, yet no one knows, save the devil and our lord, where the false shepherds go to themselves. every one abuses, slanders, and condemns the other; when they stand in the pulpit, the devil is their preceptor, who helps them to manage so that one kingdom is at variance with another, one country rebellious against the other; neighbour can no longer agree with neighbour; nay one finds even at one table four or five different faiths, one will worship on this mountain and another on yonder. may the eternal almighty god strengthen the hearts of the dear north germans, give them an upright spirit, and raise them up again, that they may one day rise from the ashes, and renew their ancient repute, and their good name. god help the righteous." thus writes an honourable officer before the year . chapter ii. the thirty years' war.--life and manners of the soldiers. almost all the people of europe sent their least promising sons to the long war. not only did foreign mercenaries follow the recruiting drum like crows to the battle-field, but the whole of christian europe was drawn into the struggle; foreigners trampled on the german soil in companies and regiments: english and scotch, danes, fins and swedes, besides the netherlanders (whom the people considered as countrymen), fought on the side of the protestants. even the laplanders came with their reindeer to the german coast; in the winter months of they brought upon their sledges over the ice, furs for the swedish army. but still more chequered did the imperial army look. the roumaun walloons, irish adventurers, spaniards, italians, and almost every sclavonic race broke into the country; worst of all the light cavalry,--cossacks, polish auxiliaries (who were for the most part slaughtered by the country people in ), stradiots (among them undoubtedly some mahomedans), and, most hated of all, the croats. the position of the emperor in the beginning of the war was striking in this respect, that he had almost nothing but sclavonic and roumaun soldiers, and only roumaun money to oppose the germans. by them the national rising was crushed, and it is probable that half the troops of the league consisted of foreigners. each army was a sample of the different nationalities; in each there was an intermixture of many languages; and the hatred of nations seldom ceased even when fighting under the same colours. it was especially necessary in the camp to arrange the regiments according to the good understanding between them. germans and italians were always kept apart. the field-marshal or quartermaster-general chose the site of the camp; if possible by running water, and in a position which was favourable for defence. first of all was measured out the place for the general and his staff; large ornamented tents were raised on the ground thus set apart, which was divided from the rest of the camp by barriers and by planting spears, frequently even by fortifications. an open place was left close to it for the main-guard; if the army remained long encamped, a gallows was erected there as a warning. the position of each regiment and company was marked out with branches; the troops were marched in, the ranks were opened, the colours of each regiment were planted in the ground in rows side by side; behind in parallel lines lay the encampment of the company, always fifty men in a row; near the colours was the ensign, in the middle the lieutenant, at the rear the captain, and behind all the tents of the superior officers and officials; the surgeon next to the ensign, and the chaplain near the captain. the officers lived in tents, often in conical forms fastened with cords to the ground. the soldiers built themselves little huts of planks and straw. the pikemen planted their pikes in the ground near the huts; the pikes, short spears, halberds, partisans, and standards showed from afar the rank and weapons of the inhabitant of the tent. two or four soldiers were generally housed in a hut, with their wives, children, and dogs. thus they lay encamped, company by company, regiment by regiment, in great squares or circles, the whole camp surrounded by a large space which served as an alarm post. before the thirty years' war it was customary to set up a barricade round the camp; then the train or baggage-waggons were pushed together in double or more rows, and bound by chains or fastenings to the great square or circle, leaving free the necessary openings. then also the cavalry had their camp next the inner side of the waggons; the necessary partitions were erected for the horses near the huts and tents of the horsemen. this custom had become obsolete, and it was only occasionally that the waggons surrounded the camp, but it was protected by trenches, mounds, and field-pieces. at the openings sentinels were posted, outside the camp, troops of horse and a chain of outposts of musketeers or arquebussiers were stationed. each ensign planted the colours before his tent; near it was the drummer of the company, and a musketeer kept watch with a burning match in his hand and his musket supported horizontally on its rest. in such a camp it was that the wild soldiery dwelt in unbridled licence, insupportable to the neighbourhood even in a friendly country. the provinces, cities, and villages were obliged to supply wood, straw, fodder, and provisions, the waggons rolled along every road, and droves of fat cattle were collected. the neighbouring villages quickly disappeared; as all the wood-work and thatching was torn away by the soldiers and employed in building their huts, only the shattered clay walls remained. the soldiers and their boys roved about the neighbourhood, plundering and stealing, and the cantineers drove about with their carts. in the camp the soldiers congregated in front of their huts; meanwhile the women cooked, washed, mended the clothes and squabbled together; there was constant tumult and uproar and bloody crimes, fighting with bare weapons, and combats between the different services or nations. every morning the crier and the trumpet called to prayer, even among the imperialists; early on the sunday the regimental chaplain performed service in the camp, then the soldiers and their households seated themselves devoutly on the ground, and it was forbidden for any one during service to loiter and drink in the canteens. it is known how much gustavus adolphus inculcated pious habits and prayers; after his arrival in pomerania he caused prayers to be read twice a day in his camp, but even in his army, it was necessary in the articles of war to admonish the chaplains against drunkenness. in the open space in front of the main guard was the gambling ground, covered with cloaks and set with tables, round which all the gamesters crowded. there the card-playing of the old landsknechte gave place to the quicker games of the dice. the use of dice was frequently forbidden in the camp, and stopped by the captain of the guard and the provost; then the gamblers assembled privately behind the fence, and played away their ammunition, bread, horses, weapons, and clothes, so that it was found necessary to place them under the supervision of the main-guard. three square dice were rolled on each cloak or table, called in camp language "_schelmbeine_;" each set had its croupier; to him belonged the cloak, table, and dice; he had the office of judge in cases of dispute, and his share of the winnings, but also frequently of blows. there was much cheating and cogging; many dice had two fives or sixes, many, two aces or deuces, others were filled with quicksilver and lead, split hair, sponge, chaff, and charcoal; there were dice made of stags-horn, heavy below and light above, "_niederländer_,"[ ] which must be slid along, and "_oberländer_,"[ ] which must be thrown "from bavarian heights" for them to fall right; often the noiseless work was interrupted by curses, quarrels, and flashing rapiers. lurking tradespeople, frequently jews, slipped in, ready to value and buy up the rings, chains, and booty staked. behind the tents of the upper officers and the regimental provost, separated from them by a wide street, stood the shops of the cantineers in parallel cross rows. cantineers, butchers, and common victuallers formed an important community. the price of their goods was decided by the provost, who received a perquisite in money or in kind; for example, he received a tongue for every beast that was killed. on every cask which was to be tapped, he wrote the retail price with chalk. by these compacts, and the favour of the powerful, which was to be bought by time-serving, the purveyors of the army maintained a proportionably secure position, and insured themselves the payment, though irregular, of their long tallies, which were scored equally for the officers and soldiers. in good times traders came from afar to the camp with expensive stuffs, jewels, gold and silver workmanship, and delicacies. in the beginning of the war especially, the officers set a bad example to the army by their extreme luxury; every captain would have a french cook, and consumed the dearest wine in great quantities. the military signals of the camp were, for the infantry the beat of the drum, for the cavalry the trumpet: the drum was very large, the drummer often a half-grown boy, sometimes the fool of the company. in the beginning of the war, the german army had in many cases a uniform beat. every command from the general to the camp, had to be proclaimed by a herald riding through it with a trumpeter. on such occasions the herald wore over his dress a "tabard" of coloured silk, embroidered before and behind with the arms of the sovereign. this proclamation, which announced to the camp in the evening the work of the following day, was very destructive to secret and rapid operations; it was also very injurious to discipline, for it announced to the loiterers and robbers of the camp, the night when they might steal out for booty. when times were prosperous, a battle won, a rich city plundered, or an opulent district laid under contribution, everything was plentiful, food and drink cheap; and it once happened, in the last year of the war, that in the bavarian camp a cow was bought for a pipe of tobacco. the croats of the imperial army in pomerania, in the winter of and , had their girdles overlaid with gold, and whole plates of gold and silver on the breast. paul stockmann, a pastor at lützen, relates, that in the imperial army, before the battle of lützen, one horseman had his horse decorated with a quantity of golden stars, and another with three hundred silver moons; and the soldiers' women wore the most beautiful church dresses and mass vestments, and that some stradiots rode in plundered priests' dresses, to the great mirth of their comrades. in these times also carousers drank to one another in costly wine from the chalices, and caused long chains to be made of the plundered gold, from which, according to the old knightly custom, they severed links to pay for a carousal. but the longer the war lasted the more rare were these golden times. the devastation of the country revenged itself fearfully on the army itself; the pale spectre of hunger, the forerunner of pestilence, glided through the lines of the camp, and raised its bony hand against every straw hut. then supplies from the surrounding districts ceased, the price of provisions was raised so as to be almost unattainable; a loaf of bread, for example, in the swedish army in , at gotha, cost a ducat. hollow-eyed pale faces, sick and dying men, were to be seen in every row of huts; the vicinity of the camp was pestilential from the decaying bodies of dead animals. all around was a wilderness of uncultivated fields, blackened with the ruins of villages, and the camp itself a dismal city of death. a broad stream of superstition had flowed through the souls of the people from ancient times up to the present day, and the soldier's life of the thirty years; war revived an abundance of peculiar superstitions, of which a portion continues even now; it is worth while to dwell a little upon these characteristic phenomena. the belief that it is possible to make the body proof by magic against the weapons of the enemy, and on the other hand to make your own arms fatal to them, is older than the historical life of the german people. in the earliest times, however, something gloomy was attached to this art; it might easily become pregnant with fatality, even to its votaries. the invulnerability was not unconditional, and succumbed to the stronger counter-magic of the offensive weapon: achilles had a heel which was not invulnerable; no weapon could wound the norse god baldur, but the waving of a branch of misletoe by a blind man killed him; siegfried had a weak spot between the shoulders, the same which the soldiers of the thirty years' war considered also as vulnerable. among the numerous norse traditions are many accounts of charmed weapons: the sword, the noblest weapon of heroes, was considered as a living being, also as a slaying serpent or a destroying fire; when it was shattered, it was spoken of by the norse poets as dying. it was unnecessary to charm swords forged by dwarfs, as there was a destroying magic concealed in them; thus the sword of hagens, the father of hilda, was death to any man when it was drawn from the sheath, magic runic character being scratched on the hilt and blade of it. the introduction of fire-arms gave a new aspect and a wider scope to this superstition; the flash and report of the weapon, and the distant striking of the ball, imposed the more on the fancy, the less the imperfect weapon was certain of hitting: the course of the deadly shot was considered malicious and incalculable. undoubtedly the literature of the reformation seldom touched upon this kind of magic; it first made itself heard in the middle of the century, when it served to portray the condition of the people. but in armies, the belief in magic was general and widely spread, travelling scholars and gipsies were the most zealous vendors of its secrets, one generation of landsknechte imparted it to the next: in italy and in the armies of charles v., italian and german superstitions were mixed, and in the time of fronsperg and schärtlin almost every detail of the art of rendering invulnerable is to be found. luther, in , inveighs against the superstition of the soldiery: "one commits himself to st. george, another to st. christopher, some to one saint, some to another; some can charm iron and gun-flints, others can bless the horse and his rider, and some carry the gospel of st. john,[ ] or somewhat else with them, in which they confide." he himself had known a landsknecht, who, though made invulnerable by the devil, was killed, and announced beforehand the day and place of his death. bernhard von milo, seneschal at wittenberg, sent to luther for his opinion on a written charm for wounds; it was a long roll of paper written in wonderful characters. when the augsburg gunner, samuel zimmermann the elder, wrote the experiences of his life up to , in a folio volume, under the title of '_charms against all stabs, strokes, and shots, full of great secrets_,' he mentions only the defensive incantations, which he did not consider as the works of belial; but it is apparent from his manuscript that many devilish arts were known to him, which he intended to conceal. another well-known zimmermann, who was hardened, received a fearful blow from a dagger; there was no wound to be seen, but he died shortly after from the internal effect of the blow. in there was an invulnerable soldier in the regiment of count lichtenstein, who, after every skirmish, shook the enemy's balls off his dress and his bare body; he often showed them, and the holes burnt through his clothes; he was at last slain by some foreign peasants. when the italians and spaniards entered the netherlands in , they carried along with them, with little success, whole packets and books full of magic formulas of conjurations and charms. the french found talismans and magic cards fastened round the necks of the prisoners and the dead, of the brandenburg troops who had been led by burgrave fabian von dohna, in , as auxiliaries to the huguenots. when the jesuit george scheerer preached at the court chapel at vienna in , before the archduke matthias and his generals, he found it necessary to exhort them earnestly against the use of superstitious charms for cuts, stabs, shots, and burns. it is therefore unjust in later writers to state, that the art of rendering invulnerable was introduced at passau by a travelling scholar in the seventeenth century, as grimmelshausen informs us, or as others will have it, that it was brought into the german army by kaspar reithardt von hersbruck, the executioner; for when archduke leopold, the bishop of passau, raised the reckless and ill-disciplined bands which spread terror through alsace and bohemia by their barbarities, his soldiers only adopted the old traditions which were rooted in german heathenism, and had lingered on through the whole of the middle ages; nay, even the name, "_passau art_," which has been customary since then, may rest on a misunderstanding of the people, for in the sixteenth century all who bore charms about them to render them invulnerable were called by the learned soldier, "_pessulanten_," or "_charakteristiker_," and whoever understood the art of dissolving a charm was a "_solvent_." it is possible that the first of these popular designations was changed into "_passauer_." even in the first year of the thirty years' war, the art of rendering invulnerable was eagerly discussed. a good account of it can be found in 'the true narrative of the siege and capture by storm of the city of pilsen in bohemia, .' the passage according to our dialect is as follows: "an adventurer under mansfeld, called hans fabel, once took a tumbler of beer up to the city trenches and drank it to the besieged. they saluted him with powder and shot; but he drank up his tumbler of beer, thanked them, entered the trenches and took five balls from his bosom. this '_pilmiskind_,'[ ] although he was so invulnerable, was taken very sick, and died before the capture of the town. this magical art, 'passau art,' has become quite common; one would sooner have shot at a rock than at such a charmed fellow. i believe that the devil hides in their skin. one good fellow indeed often charms another, even when the person so charmed does not know it, and still less desires it. a small boy from fourteen to fifteen years of age was shot in the arm when he was beating the drum, but the ball rebounded from the arm to the left breast, and did not penetrate; this was seen by many. but those who use this magic come to a bad end; i have known many such lose their lives in a terrible way, for one delusion struggles against another. their devilish sorcery is expressly against the first and other commandments of god. assiduous prayer and faith in god gives other means of support. if any one in presence of the enemy perishes not, it is god's will. if he is struck, the angels take him to heaven, but those who are charmed are taken by black kaspar."[ ] numerous were the means employed by men to make themselves and others invulnerable. even this superstition was governed tyrannically by fashion. of very ancient date are the charmed shirts, and the victory and st. george's shirts; they were prepared in different ways for the landsknechte. on christmas night, according to ancient tradition, certain virgins used to spin linen thread in the name of the devil, weave and stitch it; on the breast two heads were embroidered, the one on the right side with a beard, and the left like that of king beelzebub, with a crown, dark reminiscences of the holy heads of donar and wuotan. according to later custom the charmed shirt must be spun by maidens under the age of seven; it was to be sewed with particular cross stitches, laid secretly on the altar till three masses had been read over it. on the day of battle such a charmed shirt was worn under the dress, and if the wearer received a wound, it was owing to other thread having been mixed with that which was charmed. superstition gladly availed itself of the miraculous power of the christian church, even when in opposition to law. the gospel of st. john was written elaborately on thin paper and placed secretly under the altar cover in a roman catholic church, and left there till the priest had thrice read the mass over it; then it was placed in a quill or the shell of a hazel nut, and the opening was cemented with spanish lac or wax, or this capsule was framed in gold or silver and hung round the neck. others received the host at the lord's supper, accompanying it with a silent invocation to the devil; taking the wafer out of their mouths again, they separated the skin from the flesh in some part of the body, placed the wafer there, and let the wound heal over it. the most reckless gave themselves up entirely to the devil; such people could not only make other men invulnerable, but even eatables, such as butter, cheese, and fruit, so that the sharpest knife could not penetrate them.[ ] there was a change of form and name in the written parchments also which contained charms. "_pope leo's blessing_" originated in the early landsknecht times; it contained good christian words and promises. besides this there was the "_blessing of the knight of flanders_," so called because a knight who had once worn it could not be beheaded; it was written in strange characters and types interspersed with signs of the cross. then there was "_the benediction_," or charm in time of need, which in a moment of danger arrested the sword or gun of the enemy.[ ] similar were the "_passau charms_" of the seventeenth century, written on post paper, virgin parchment, or the host, with a peculiar pen in bat's blood; the superstition was in strange characters, wizard feet, circles, crosses, and the letters of foreign languages; according to grimmelshausen[ ] the rhyme runs thus: devil help me, body and soul give i thee. when fastened under the left arm they expelled the shot and closed the guns of the enemy. sometimes even the charms were eaten. but opinions concerning their efficacy were fluctuating. some thought them safeguards only for four-and-twenty hours; but according to others their magic did not begin to work till after the first four-and-twenty hours, and whoever was shot before that time belonged to the devil. other charms were also used for protection, everything odious and dismal was collected together, and what had been fearful in the ancient mythology continued to retain its old power. a piece of the cord or chain by which a man had been hung, or the beard of a goat, the eyes of a wolf, the head of a bat and the like, worn round the body in a purse of black cat's skin, rendered a person invulnerable. hair balls (a mass of hair from the stomach of the chamois), and the caul in which children are born, gave invulnerability; he who had never eaten kidneys was secure from shot or pestilence, and it was believed at augsburg, that a famous knight and experienced general, sebastian schärtlin, had thus protected himself before the enemy. old magic herbs, as endive, verbena, st. john's wort, chickweed, vervain, mallow, and garlick were used as charms, and the most powerful of all, the deadly nightshade. it was necessary to dig them up with the best new sharpened steel, and never to touch them with the bare hand, least of all with the left, and they were carried like an _agnus dei_. they were circular, and only found on the battle-fields o£ great battles, and were, as zimmermann says, sacred for the sake of the dead. besides these there was a fire-coloured flower which cabalists called "efdamanila;" it not only protected the wearer from shot, stabs, and fire, but when it was hung over the wall in a besieged town near the enemy's cannon, they were spell-bound for a whole month. amulet medals also were early in use: in , at the battle of marienburg, between the princes of orange and nevers, a little child was struck on the neck by a shot, a silver medal was doubled up, and the child remained unhurt; this great effect was then ascribed to an amulet parchment which the child wore round his neck near the medal. but about the same time the "sideristen," who were experienced in astronomical science, poured out heavenly influence in invulnerable medals of silver and fine gold, which were worn round the neck. thurneisser spread also these kinds of amulets in northern germany. an accidental circumstance brought the mansfeld st. george's thaler into repute in the thirty years' war, especially those of and , bearing the inscription, "with god is counsel and action." not only the common soldiers, but many great commanders also had the repute of being invulnerable: not pappenheim, indeed, who was wounded in almost every action, but holk, who was supposed at last to have been carried away to hell by the devil in person; tilly, for whom, after the battle of breitenfeld, the affrighted surgeon found he had only bruises to dress; wallenstein and his kinsman terzka; even the sword of gustavus adolphus was considered to be enchanted. ahaz willenger also, leader after the death of fardinger, of the revolted austrian peasants, was rendered so hard that a cannon-ball at seven paces rebounded from his skin without penetrating it; he was at last killed by an officer of pappenheim. all the princes of the house of savoy were considered invulnerable, even, after the thirty years' war. field-marshal schauenburg tried it with prince thomas when he besieged him in an italian fortress; the bullets of the best marksmen missed their aim. no one knew whether the members of that noble house had especial grace, because they were of the race of the royal prophet david, or whether the art of rendering themselves invulnerable was hereditary. there were hardly any who did not believe in the mystic art. the renowned french general messire jacques de puysegur, in the french civil war in , was obliged to compass the death of an opponent, _qui avait un caractère_, by blows of a strong pole on his neck, because he had no weapon that could kill him; he recounts this circumstance to his king. at the blockade of magdeburg in , the complaint against these practices became so general, that the parties engaged in this war entered into negotiations concerning it. gustavus adolphus, in his first article of war, earnestly forbade idolatry, witchcraft, or the charming of weapons as sins against god. but the dark powers which the soldier invoked to his aid were treacherous. they did not protect against everything; it was, to say the least, very unsatisfactory that they did not preserve from the hand of the executioner: zimmermann relates many cases in which the far-reaching hopes of an invulnerable person and his adherents were disappointed at the place of execution. certain portions of the body, the neck, and the back between the shoulders, the armpits, and the under part of the knee, were considered not hard or invulnerable. the body also was only charmed against the common metals of lead or iron. the simplest weapons of peasants, a wooden club, bullets of more precious metals, and sometimes inherited silver could kill the invulnerable. thus an austrian governor of greifswald, on whom the swedes had fired more than twenty balls, could only be shot by the inherited silver button that a soldier carried in his pocket. thus too a witch in schleswig was changed into a were-wolf, and shot by inherited silver.[ ] the magic also could be broken by other mixtures, by cast balls, and by magically consecrated weapons. rye bread which had been leavened and baked on easter night, was rubbed crosswise over the edge of the steel, and signs were indelibly impressed on blades and barrels: it was known how to cast balls which killed without injuring the skin, others which must draw blood, and some which broke every invulnerability; these were prepared by mixtures of pulverized grains of corn, antimony, and thunder-stones, and cooled in poison. but these arts were considered supernatural and dangerous. besides these they tried "natural" devices which might be resorted to with advantage, even by an honourable soldier. they imagined they could prepare gunpowder with a mixture of pounded dogs' bones, which would make no report. powder was also prepared by which the person shot was only stunned for hours; other powder that did not explode, even when glowing steel was inserted. by a mixture of borax and quicksilver they produced a mining powder by which the enemy's pieces were blown up, in case there was not time to spike them. they sought after the secret of giving a man double strength without magic. there was a peculiar and also very old kind of magic, which spell-bound the enemy by mystic sentences, which were recited in moments of danger. the adept could fix whole troops of horsemen and infantry: in the same way, by other sentences, they could dissolve the spell. there was still another kind of sorcery; horsemen were made to appear on the field of battle, that is to say, when support was required in imminent danger, deceptive appearance was produced, as if soldiers were approaching in the distance. both these conjurations are relics of the heathen occult sciences, the echoes of which may still be discovered in manifold tales and traditions, even up to the present day. the gloomy provost was the man in the regiment who was held in the most awe; he was naturally considered as pre-eminently an adept. in , it was supposed that the executioner of pilsen could, with the help of an assistant, fire daily three fatal balls against the camp of mansfeld; after the capture of the city, he was hanged on a special gallows. the provost of the hatzfeld army of was still more versed in sorcery: he was killed by the swedes with an axe, because he was magically hardened. it was very much in the interest of these authorities to keep up amongst the revengeful soldiery the belief in their invulnerability. we may add to these delusions, the endeavours of individuals to read from the course of the stars the events and issue of the war, and their own fate. prognostics accumulated, the terrors of the approaching year were unweariedly prophesied from constellations, shooting-stars, comets, and other atmospheric phenomena; the casting of horoscopes was general. some individuals also possessed second sight, they foresaw to whom the approaching future would be fatal. when in the imperial saxon army was lying before magdeburg, there was an invalid mathematician in the camp who foretold to his friends that the th of june would be fatal to him. he was lying in a closed tent when a lieutenant rode up, and unloosening the tent cords, forced himself in and begged the sick man to draw his nativity. after refusing a long time, the invalid prophesied to him that he would be hanged that very hour. the lieutenant, very indignant that any one should dare to say such a thing to a cavalier, drew his sword and killed the sick man. there immediately arose a great tumult, the murderer then threw himself upon his horse and tried to escape; it happened however, accidentally, that the elector of saxony was riding through the camp with general hatzfeld and a great retinue. the elector exclaimed, that there would be bad discipline in the imperial camp if the life of a sick man in bed could not be secured from murderers. the lieutenant was hanged. whoever was considered the possessor of such secrets was feared by his comrades, but not esteemed. "for if they were not cowardly, dastardly ninnies, they would not use such charms." certain officers in the sixteenth century caused every prisoner to be hanged upon whom were found jagged or iron-coated balls, "which were consecrated for the sake of a soul." in the thirty years' war, a coward begged of his comrade a passau parchment, who wrote on a strip of paper three times: "defend yourself, scoundrel," folded it up and made the dastard sew it in his clothes. from that day every one imagined that he was invulnerable, and he went about on all occasions amongst the enemies' weapons, as hard as horn, like a _siegfried_, and always came out unwounded. but the soldier had not only to win the favour of the fates, but still more the approbation of his comrades. whoever carefully examines this period, without ceasing to view with horror the numerous and refined atrocities which were practised, will at the same time perceive that this scene of barbarity was occasionally brightened by milder virtues, and sometimes healthy integrity comes to light. a peculiar code of soldier's honour was soon formed, which preserved a kind of morality, though a lax one. we have but few records of the good humour which arose from consciousness of having the mastery over citizen and peasant. but the proverbial modes of speech often bear sufficiently the impress of the same disposition which is idealized in schiller's "reiterlied." "the sharp sabre is my field, and booty making is my plough." "the earth is my bed, heaven my canopy, my cloak is my house, and wine my eternal life."[ ] "as soon as a soldier is born, three peasants are selected for him; the first provides for him, the second finds him a beautiful wife, and the third goes to hell for him."[ ] we have reason to suppose that sensuality was in general unbridled and shameless; the old german vice, drunkenness, prevailed as much amongst the officers as soldiers. the smoking and chewing tobacco, or as it was then called, "tobacco drinking"--"eating and snuffing," spread rapidly through all the armies, and the guard-room was a disagreeable abode for those who did not smoke. this custom, which at the beginning of the war was introduced into the army by the dutch and english auxiliaries, was at the end of it so common, that a pipe was to be found in every peasant's house, and nine out of ten of the day labourers and apprentices smoked during their work. the german language also was jargonized in the army; it soon became the fashion among the soldiers to intermix italian and french words, and the language was enriched even by hungarian, croat, and czech: they have left us besides their "_karbatsche_" and similar words, and also sonorous curses. not only was their discourse garnished with these strong expressions, but gipsy cant became the common property of the army. it did not indeed begin in the great war, for long before, the landsknechte, as "gartbrüder" and members of the beggars' guild, had learned their arts and language. but now the camp language was not only a convenient help to secret intercourse with the bad rabble who followed the army, with guild robbers, jewish dealers and gipsies, but it also gave a certain degree of consideration round the camp fire to be able to bandy mysterious words. some expressions from the camp language passed among the people, others were carried by runaway students into the drinking-rooms of the universities.[ ] the daily quarrels gave rise amongst the common soldiers also to the cartel, or duels regulated by many points of honour. duels were strictly forbidden; gustavus adolphus punished them with death even among the higher officers; but no law could suppress them. the duellists fought alone, or with two or three seconds, or an umpire was selected: before the combat the seconds vowed to one another and gave their hands upon it, not to help the combatants, either before, in, or after the encounter, nor to revenge them; the duellists shook hands and exchanged forgiveness beforehand, in case of the death of either. they fought on horseback or on foot, with carbines, pistols, or swords; in the fight, a throw in wrestling or unhorsing was sufficient; stabbing was considered un-german, above all a thrust in the back was of doubtful propriety.[ ] as it was so usual to change parties, a corporation feeling was formed amongst the soldiers which also embraced the enemy. the armies had a tolerably accurate knowledge of each other, and not only the character of the upper officers, but of old soldiers was known; any day an old comrade might be seen in the enemy's ranks, or installed as a tent companion to a former adversary. indeed, quarter was often proffered: but any one who fought against the customs of war, or was suspected of using devilish acts, was to be killed even if he sued for pardon. cartels were concluded between the courteous conquerors and the vanquished, the conquerors promised to protect, and the prisoners not to escape; the weapons, scarfs, and plumes were taken away from the vanquished; all that he concealed in his clothes belonged to the conqueror, but he who got dutch quarter, kept what was enclosed in his girdle; a courteous prisoner himself presented what he had in his pockets. if a desperate man did not stand by his conditions of quarter, he was killed, if he did not rapidly escape. during the transport they were coupled by the arm, and the string taken from their hose, so that they were obliged to hold their small-clothes with the hand that was free. the prisoners could be ransomed, and this ransom was fixed by tariff in each army. towards the conclusion of the war, when soldiers became scarce, the common prisoners were summarily placed in the regiments without giving them a choice. such soldiers were naturally not to be depended on; they gladly took the first opportunity to desert to their former colours, where they had left their women, children, booty, and arrears of pay. distinguished prisoners were sometimes bought from the common soldiers by the colonels of their regiments; they were treated with great consideration in the enemy's quarters, and almost every one found there either an acquaintance or a relative. booty was the uncertain gain for which the soldier staked his life, and the hope of it kept him steadfast in the most desperate situations. the pay was moderate, the payment insecure; plunder promised them wine, play, a smart mistress, a gold-laced dress with a plume of feathers, one or two horses, and the prospect of greater importance in the company and of advancement. vanity, love of pleasure, and ambition, developed this longing to a dangerous extent in the army. the success of a battle was more than once defeated, by the soldiers too soon abandoning themselves to plundering. it often happened that individuals made great booty, but it was almost always dissipated in wild revelry; according to the soldier's adage: "what is won with the drum will be lost with the fifes." the fame of such lucky hits spread through all armies. sometimes these great gains brought evil results on the fortunate finders.[ ] a common soldier of tilly's army had won great booty at the capture of magdeburg, it was said to be thirty thousand ducats, and was immediately lost in gambling. tilly caused him to be hanged after thus accosting him: "with this money you might have lived all your life like a gentleman, but as you have not understood how to make use of it, i cannot see of what use you can be to my emperor." at the end of the war a man in königsmark's troop had obtained a similar sum in the suburbs of prague, and played it away at one sitting. königsmark wished in like manner to despatch him, but the soldier saved himself by this undaunted answer: "it would be unfair for your excellence to hang me on account of this loss, as i have hopes of acquiring still greater booty in the city itself." this answer was considered a good omen. in the bavarian army a soldier in the holtz infantry was famed for a similar lucky hit. he had been for a long time musketeer, but shortly before the peace had sunk to be a pikeman, and was ill-clad; his shirt hung behind and before out of his hose. this fellow had obtained at the taking of herbsthausen a barrel filled with french doubloons, so large that he could hardly carry it off. he thereupon absconded secretly from the regiment, dressed himself up like a prince, bought a coach and six beautiful horses, kept many coachmen, lackeys, pages, and _valets de chambre_ in fine liveries, and called himself with dull humour colonel lumpus.[ ] then he travelled to munich, and lived in an inn there splendidly. general holtz accidentally put up at the same inn, heard much from the landlord of the opulence and qualities of colonel lumpus, and could not remember ever having heard this name among the cavaliers of the roman empire, or among the soldiers of fortune. he therefore commissioned the landlord to invite the stranger to supper. colonel lumpus accepted the invitation, and caused to be served up at dessert, in a dish, five hundred new french pistoles and a chain worth a hundred ducats, and said at the same time to the general: "may your excellence be content with this entertainment and think thereby favourably of me." the general made some resistance, but the liberal colonel pressed it upon him with these words: "the time will soon come when your excellence will acknowledge that i am wise in making this gift. the donation is not ill applied, for i hope then to receive from your excellence a favour which will not cost a penny." on this, holtz, according to the custom of that time, accepted the chain and money with courteous promises to repay it under such circumstances. the general departed, and the fictitious colonel lived on there; when he passed by the guard, and the soldiers presented arms to do him honour, he threw to them a dozen thalers. six weeks after, his money came to an end. then he sold his coaches and horses, afterwards his clothes and linen, and spent all in drinking. his servants ran away from him, and at last nothing remained to him but a bad dress and a few pence. then the landlord, who had made much by him, presented him with fifty thalers for travelling, but the colonel tarried till he had spent it all; again the host gave him ten thalers for travelling expenses, but the persevering reveller answered that if it was money to be spent, he would rather spend it with him than another. when that also was dissipated, the landlord offered him another five thalers, but forbade his servants to let the spendthrift have anything. at last he quitted the inn and went to the next one, where he spent his five thalers in beer. after that he wandered away to his regiment at heilbronn. there he was immediately confined in irons, and threatened with the gallows, because he had been away so many weeks. he insisted on being taken before his general, presented himself to him, and reminded him of the evening at the inn. to the sharp rebuke of the general he answered that he had all his life wished for nothing so much as to know what were the feelings of a great lord, and for that he had used his booty. in the hungarian war it was made a law, that the booty should be equally distributed, but that soon ceased. still those who were fortunate enough to make great gains, found it advisable to give a share to the officers of their company. this common interest in the booty, as well as the necessity of maintaining themselves by requisition, in remote countries, developed in great perfection partisan service. there were not only whole divisions of troops, which performed in the armies the service of marauding corps, as for example those of holk and isolani in the imperial, but there were also individual leaders of companies, who selected the most expert people for this lucrative employment. a marauding party, departing on a secret expedition, must consist of an uneven number to bring good luck. these parties stole far into the country to plunder a rich man, to fall upon a small city, or intercept transports of goods or money, and to bring away with them cattle and provisions. there was often an agreement made with the enemy's garrisons in the neighbourhood, as to what was to be spared in the districts common to them. every kind of cunning was practised in such expeditions; they knew now to imitate the report of heavy artillery, by firing a hand-gun, doubly loaded, through an empty barrel; they used shoes with reversed soles, and caused the horses to be shod in the same manner, the feet of stolen cattle were covered with shoes, and a sponge was put in the pigs' food to which a packthread was fastened. the soldiers disguised themselves as peasants or women, and paid spies amongst the citizens and country people of the neighbourhood. their messengers ran hither and thither with despatches, and were called in camp language "_feldtauben_" (field doves); they carried these despatches in their ears rolled up as small balls, fastened them in the hair of shaggy dogs, enclosed them in a clod of earth, or sewed them with green silk between the leaves of a branch of oak, that they might be able to throw them away, without suspicion, in time of danger.[ ] these despatches were written in gipsy language or gibberish, in foreign characters, and if there were runaway students in the companies, they were written perhaps in french with greek letters; they employed, for these purpose, a simple kind of short-hand writing, displacing the letters of the words, or agreeing that only the middle letter of the words should have signification.[ ] the transition from such partisan service to becoming dishonourable marauders and freebooters was easy. in the beginning of the war, the newly raised regiment of count merode was so reduced by long marches and bad nourishment, that it could hardly set its guard; it dissolved almost entirely, on the march, into stragglers, who lay under the hedges and in the byways, or sneaking about the army with defective weapons, and without order. after that time, the stragglers, whom the soldier wits had before called "_sausänger_" and "_immemchneider_" (drones), were now denoted as "merode-ing brothers." after a lost battle their numbers increased enormously. horsemen who were slightly wounded, and had lost their horses, associated themselves with them, and it was impossible, from the then state of military discipline, to get rid of them. the most undisciplined, abandoned the route of the army, and lived as highwaymen, footpads, and poachers. vain were the endeavours of the sovereigns, at the end of the war, to annihilate the great robber bands; they lasted, to a certain extent, up to the beginning of the present century. such was the character of the war which raged in germany for thirty years. an age of blood, murder, and fire, of utter destruction to all property which was movable, and ruin to that which was not; and an age of spiritual and material decay in the nation. the generals imposed exorbitant contributions, and kept part in their own pockets. the colonels and captains levied charges on the cities and towns in which their troops were quartered, and merciless were the demands on all sides. the princes sent their plate and stud horses as presents to the generals, and the cities sent sums of money and casks of wine to the captains, and the villages, riding horses and gold lace to the cornets and sergeant-majors, as long as such bribery was possible. when an army was encamped in a district, any landed proprietors of importance, monasteries, and villages, endeavoured to obtain the protection of a "_salva guardia_." they had to pay dear for this guard, yet had to bear with much unseemly conduct from them. if a place lay between two armies, both parties had to be asked for _salva guardia_, and both guards lived by agreement in peaceful intercourse at the expense of their host. but it was seldom that either individuals or communities were so fortunate as to be able to preserve even this unsatisfactory protection; for it was necessary for the army to live. when a troop of soldiers entered a village or country town, the soldiers rushed like devils into the houses; wherever the dung-heaps[ ] were the largest, there the greatest wealth was to be expected. the object of the tortures to which the inhabitants were subjected, was generally to extort from them their hidden property; they were distinguished by especial names, as the "swedish fleece," and the "wheel." the plunderers took the flints from the pistols and forced the peasants' thumbs in their place; they rubbed the soles of their feet with salt, and caused goats to lick them; they tied their hands behind their backs; they passed a bodkin threaded with horse-hair through their tongues, and moved it gently up and down; they bound a knotted cord round the forehead and twisted it together behind with a stick; they bound two fingers together, and rubbed a ramrod up and down till the skin and flesh were burnt to the bone; they forced the victims into the oven, lit the straw behind them, and so they were obliged to creep through the flames. ragamuffins were everywhere to be found who bargained with the soldiers, to betray their own neighbours. and these were not the most horrible torments. what was done to the women and maidens, to the old women and children, must be passed over in silence. thus did the army misbehave amongst the people, dishonouring every bed, robbing every house, devastating every field, till they were themselves involved in the general ruin. and the destruction of these thirty years increased progressively. it was the years from to which annihilated the last powers of the nation; from that period to the peace, a death-like lassitude pervaded the country; it communicated itself to the armies, and one can easily understand that the bitter misery of the soldiers called for some consideration for the citizens and peasants. the remaining population were once more reduced to despair, as they had to pay the cost, maintenance, and peace subsidies for the standing army. and the army dispersed itself amongst the population. chapter iii. the thirty years' war.--the villages and their pastors. oft have the soldier's sword into my mouth once or more, and jeering croat horde, as 'twere a tub, they did pour with usage rude and fierce, a mess of liquid dung; threaten'd my heart to pierce. four churls, cords round me strung; yet i drew unhurt my breath, yet i drew unhurt my breath, no mishap could bring me death. no mishap could bring me death. in water, 'gainst my will, one of an exile band, plunged deep, i far'd but ill; there in thuringia's land, closed in a wat'ry grave, at notleben, i dwelt, god deign'd my life to save; till i god's blessing felt, wond'rous 'tis i was not drown'd; and to heubach's parsonage pass'd brought to land all safe and where kind. heaven sent peace sound. at last. god's servant, here have i the church kept orderly, have preach'd the word therein, the bad expell'd, of sin absolv'd the penitent heart, and labour'd truth to impart. _from 'four christian hymns of martin bötzinger_.' ( .) whoever could portray the desolation of the german people, would be able to explain to us the striking peculiarities of the modern german character; the remarkable mixture of fresh youth and hoary wisdom, aspiring enthusiasm, and vacillating caution; but above all, why we, among all the nations of europe, still strive in vain after much which our neighbours, not more noble by nature, not more strongly organized, not more highly gifted, have long secured to themselves. the following documents will only furnish an unimportant contribution to such an explanation. individual examples will render the ruin of the village and city communities comprehensible, and what counteracting power there was, together with the destroying power which supported the remaining vitality, and prevented the final annihilation of the nation. from these we shall see thoroughly the condition of one particular province, which suffered severely from the miseries of war, but not more than most other parts of germany, not indeed so much as the margravate of brandenburg and many territories of lower saxony and suabia. it is the thuringian and franconian side of the "waldgebirge," which formed, in the middle of germany, the boundary between the north and south; more especially the present dukedoms of gotha and meiningen. the following details are taken from the church documents and parish records, and many, from the voluminous church and school stories which were published by clerical collectors in the former century. germany was supposed to be a rich country in the year . even the peasants had acquired during the long peace a certain degree of opulence. the number of villages in franconia and thuringia was somewhat greater than now; they were not entirely without defences, and were often surrounded by broad ditches and palisades, or clay and stone walls; it was forbidden to form entrances in them, but at the end of the main streets were gates which were closed at night the churchyard was usually defended by particularly strong walls, and more than once it was used as the citadel and last refuge of the inhabitants. there were night and day patroles through the villages and fields. the houses were indeed ill formed and only of wood and clay, often crowded together in narrow village streets, but they were not deficient in comfort and household furniture. the villages were surrounded by orchards, and many fountains poured their clear waters into stone basins. small poultry fluttered about the dung-heaps in the enclosed courtyards, immense troops of geese fed in the stubble fields, teams of horses stood in the stables, far more numerous than now, probably of a larger and stronger stamp; they were rustic descendants of the old knightly chargers, the pride and joy of their owners; and besides these were the "kleppers," the small and ancient race of the country. the large parish herds of sheep and cattle grazed on the stony heights and on the rich grass marshes. the wool fetched a high price, and in many places much value was attached to a fine breed; the german cloths were famed, and these were the best articles of export. this national wool, the result of a thousand years of cultivation, was entirely lost to germany during the war. the district round the village (where the old franconian divisions of long strips were not maintained) was divided into three fields, which were much subdivided, and each division carefully stoned off. the fields were highly cultivated, and fine grained white wheat was sown in the winter fields. woad was still zealously cultivated with great advantage in the north of the rennstiegs. although even before the war the foreign indigo competed with the indigenous dye, the yearly gain from the woad in thuringia could be computed at three tons of gold; this was principally in the territory of erfurt and the dukedom of gotha; besides this, anise and saffron produced much money; the cultivation of the teazel also was formerly indigenous, and the wild turnips, and (by the rhine) the rape seed were sowed in the fellows. flax was carefully prepared by steeping it in water, and the coloured flowers of the poppies, and the waving panicle of the millet, raised themselves in the corn-fields. but on the declivities of warmer situations in thuringia and franconia there were everywhere vineyards, and this old cultivation, which has now almost disappeared in those countries, must in favourable years have produced a very drinkable wine, as now on the lower range of the waldgebirge; for the wine of particular years is noted in the chronicles as most excellent. hops also were assiduously cultivated and made good beer. everywhere they grew fodder, and spurry and horse-beans. the meadows, highly prized, and generally fenced in, were more carefully handled than two hundred years later; the mole-heaps were scattered, and the introduction and maintenance of drains and watercourses was general. erfurt was already the centre of the great seed traffic, of garden cultivation, also of flowers and fine orchards. on the whole, when we compare one time with the other, the agriculture of was not inferior to that of . it must be confessed in other respects also, our century has but restored what was lost in . the burdens which the peasants had to bear both in service and taxes, were not small, and greatest of all on the properties of the nobles; but there were many free villages in that country, and the government of the rulers was less strict than in southern franconia or in hesse. many ecclesiastical properties had been broken up; many domains, and not a few of the nobles' estates, were farmed by tenants; leases were a favourite method of raising the rent of the ground. all this was for the advantage of the peasant. the damage done by game indeed occasioned great suffering, and there still continued much of the old bond-service on the property of the impoverished nobles. but the greater part of the country people were pronounced by lawyers, newly educated in the roman law, to be possessors of their property; it was the greatest blessing bestowed by roman law on the germans in the sixteenth century. it is an error to suppose that the bureaucratic rule is a production of modern days; it already prevailed in those times, and the villages had often to pay the small travelling expenses of the ducal messenger who brought them their letters. it was already decided by superintending officials how many fire buckets every one was to procure, and how many doves were to be kept; they saw to the clearing of the fruit trees from caterpillars, the cleansing of the ditches, and the annual planting of young trees. the parish accounts had for nearly a hundred years been kept in an orderly manner, and inspected by the government of the country, as also the district certificates and registers of birth. there was also a good deal of commercial intercourse. a large commercial road passed through thuringia, in a line almost parallel with the mountains, from the elbe to the rhine and maine; and from the descent of the mountains near to the werra, lay the military road which united the north of germany with the south. the traffic on these unconstructed roads demanded numerous relays of horses, and brought to the villages gain, and news from the distant world, and many opportunities of spending money. after the reformation there were schools, at least in all the villages where there was a church; the teachers were often divines, and sometimes there were schoolmistresses for the girls. small sums were paid for the schooling, and a portion of the inhabitants of the village were initiated into the secrets of reading and writing. the difference between the countryman and the citizen was then still greater than now. the "stupid peasant" was the favourite object of ridicule in the rooms of the artisans, who attributed to him, as characteristic qualities, roughness, simplicity, disingenuous cunning, drunkenness, and love of fighting. but however retired his life then was, and poor in varied impressions, we should do him great injustice if we considered him essentially weaker or less worthy than he is now; on the contrary, his independence was not less, and was frequently better established. his ignorance of foreign states was undoubtedly greater, for there were as yet no regular gazettes or local papers for him, and he himself generally did not wander farther than to the nearest town, where he sold his products, or occasionally over the mountain when he had to drive cows; or if a thuringian, to go to the woad market at erfurt, if a franconian, perhaps to bamberg with his hops. also in dress, language, and songs, he was not fashionable like the citizens; he preferred using old strong words, which they considered coarse; he swore and cursed after the ancient style, and his ceremonial of greeting was different from theirs, though not less precise. but his life was not on that account deficient in spirit, morals, or even in poetry. the german popular songs were still vigorous, and the countryman was the most zealous preserver of them; the peasant's feasts, his domestic life, his lawsuits, his purchases and sales, were rich in old picturesque customs and proverbs. the genuine german pleasure also in beautiful specimens of handicraft, in clean and artistic heir-looms, was then shared alike by the countryman and citizen. his household gear was superior to what it is now. ornamental spinning-wheels, which still pass for a new invention, neatly carved tables, carved chairs and cupboards, have in some instances been preserved to our times, with the earthenware apostle jugs, and similar drinking-vessels, which may be bought by art collectors. great were the treasures of the countrywomen in beds, linen, clothes, chains, medals, and other ornaments, and not less worthy of note were the numerous sausages and hams in the chimneys. a great deal of ready money lay concealed in the corners of chests, or carefully buried in pots or other vessels, for the collection of bright coins was an old pleasure to the peasantry; there had been peace as long as they could remember, and woad and hops brought a high price. the peasant had abundance, and was without many wants; he bought lace in the city for his clothes, and silver ornaments for his wife and daughters, spices for his sour wine, and whatever metal utensils and implements were necessary for his farm and kitchen. all the woollen and linen clothes were wove and made up by the women of the house, or the neighbour in the village. thus did the peasant live in middle germany, even after the year . he heard in the ale-houses on sunday of the war alarms in bohemia, about which he cared little; he bought indeed a flying-sheet of a crafty dealer, or a satirical song on the outcast king of bohemia; he gave some of his bread and cheese to a fugitive from prague or budweis, who came begging to his door, and shook his head as he listened to his tale of horror. an official messenger brought into the village an order from the sovereign, from which he found it was expected of him to deliver into the city, money and provision for the newly raised soldiers; he was indignant, and hastened to bury his treasures still deeper. it soon, however, became clear that bad times were approaching him also, for the money which he received in the town was very red, and all goods were dear; thus he was involved in the wretched confusion which after was brought upon the country by the coinage of bad gold. he went no longer to the city, but kept his corn and meat at home: he had constant disputes however with the townsmen and his neighbours, because he wished to rid himself of the new gold in his own payments, whilst he would receive only the good old money: his heart was full of ominous forebodings. thus it went on till the year . he then saw evil coming in another quarter; theft and burglary increased, foreign vagabonds were often seen on the high-roads, trumpeters rushed into the towns with bad news, hired soldiers, insolent and bragging, drew up before his farm demanding entertainment, stole sausages, and carried off his poultry in their knapsacks. _defensioners_, the newly raised country militia, galloped into the village, quartered themselves upon him, demanded provisions, and molested him more than the rogues whom they were to drive away from the cattle-sheds. at last began--in thuringia not till after --the passage, of foreign troops through his country, and the great sufferings of the war fell upon him; foreign soldiers of strange appearance, reckless from blood and battle, marched into his village, occupied his house and bed, ill treated him and his, demanded provisions and other contributions besides gifts, and broke, destroyed, or plundered whatever came before their eyes. thus it went on after , worse and worse every year, troop followed upon troop, more than one army settled itself round him in winter quarters, the requisitions and vexations appeared endless. the yeoman saw with dismay that the foreign soldier had the power of tracing--which he ascribed to sorcery--the treasures which he had concealed deep in the earth; but if he had been too sly for them, his fate was still worse, for he himself was seized, and by torments which it would be painful to describe, compelled to make known the place where his treasure was concealed. on the fate of his wife and daughter we must remain silent; the most horrible was so common, that an exception, was extraordinary. other sufferings also followed; his daughters, maid-servant, and his little children were not only maltreated, but were in imminent danger of being carried off by persuasion or force, for every army was followed by the coarse, worthless baggage-train of women and children. but the yeoman's homestead was devastated in still other ways; his farming-man had perhaps borne for some years the blows of the foreign soldiers, at last he himself was exposed to them; the team was dragged from the plough, the cattle were fetched from the meadow, and the tillage of the fields thus often rendered impossible. yet pitiful and helpless as was his position in the beginning of the war, up to the death of gustavus adolphus, its horrors were comparatively bearable; for there was as yet a certain system even in plundering and destruction, some degree of discipline kept together the regular armies, and an occasional year passed without any great passage of troops. it is possible for us to discover at this time how many exactions were made on particular parishes, for there were already country authorities who sat in their offices, and after the passage of troops through a parish, demanded the usual liquidation of their loans, the amount of which was indeed seldom returned to them. whoever will glance over the liquidations in the parish archives, will find the names of ill-famed commanders, whom he may know from history or schiller's wallenstein, in very near connection with the history of a thuringian village. the effect produced by such a life of insecurity and torment on the souls of the country people, was very sad. fear, trembling, and dread pervaded and enervated all hearts: their minds had always been full of superstition, now everything was sought for, with impulsive credulity, which could be significant of the attacks of supernatural powers. the most horrible countenances were seen in the heavens, the signs of fearful wickedness were discovered in numerous abortions, ghosts appeared, mysterious sounds were heard on earth and in the heavens. in ummerstadt for example, in the dukedom of hildburghausen, white crosses illuminated the heavens when the enemy entered; when they forced their way into the court of chancery, a spirit clothed in white met them and motioned them back, and no one could advance; after their departure, a violent breathing and sighing was heard for eight days in the choir of the church which had been burnt. at gumpershausen a maid-servant made a great sensation through the whole country; she rejoiced in the visits of a little angel, who appeared, sometimes in a blue, sometimes in a red shirt sitting on the bed or by the table, cried out "woe," warned against cursing and blasphemy, and predicted horrible bloodshed if men would not give up their vices, their pride, and their stiff blue ruffs,--then a new fashion. when we look at the zealous protocols which were drawn up by the ecclesiastics concerning the half-witted maiden, we find that the only circumstance which was matter of surprise to them, was that the angel did not visit themselves instead of a simple maiden. not only terror, but a spirit of defiance and wild despair possessed all souls. a moral recklessness prevailed fearfully among the country people. wives abandoned their husbands, children their parents; the customs, vices, and maladies of the passing armies left lasting traces, even when the pillagers had quitted the desolated and half-ruined villages. the brandy drinking, which had been introduced among the people since the peasant war, became a general vice; respect for the property of others disappeared. in the beginning of the war the neighbouring villages were disposed to help one another; if the soldiers had driven away the cattle from one village, and disposed of them again at their next night-quarters, the buyers often returned their new purchase to the former proprietors at the purchase price. this was done in franconia, by both catholic and protestant communities, out of pure kindness. gradually, however, the country people began to rob and plunder like the soldiers; armed bands combined together, passed the frontiers into other villages, and carried off whatever they needed. they waylaid the stragglers of the regiments in dense woods or mountain passes, and often after a severe struggle took a bloody revenge on the vanquished; indeed, they far surpassed the skill of the soldiers in the contrivance of barbarities; and there were wooded hills, in whose shades the most horrible crimes were now committed by those who had formerly frequented them as peaceful wood-cutters and stone-breakers, singing their simple songs. there arose gradually a terrible hatred betwixt the soldiery and peasantry, which lasted till the end of the war, and caused more than anything else the ruin of the villages of germany. there were feuds also between the provinces and individual towns; that which is related here was only a harmless one of that gloomy time. a violent enmity subsisted for many years after the war between the citizens of eisfeld and the monastery of banz, on account of the two fine-toned bells of their parish church, the "_banzer_" and the "_messe_." a swedish officer had carried off both bells from banz and sold them to the town. twice, when the catholic army was stationed at eisfeld, the monks had come with waggons and ropes to fetch back their bells, but the first time they fell into a quarrel with a certain croat who was quartered there, because they wished to take away with them the steeple clock. the croat rushed upon the pious men with his sword, and he and his comrades ran up the tower and vehemently pulled the bell, so that the monks of banz could not fetch it down, and were only able to take away the clock with them. the second time they did not succeed better; at last, after the peace, another bell was offered to them as compensation. but when they discovered this sentence upon it: "preserve us, lord, by thy word," they returned to their house shaking their heads. at last the pious duke ernest arranged the affair; he took for himself as a thank-offering the small bell, and hung it on the friedenstein in gotha. the villages did all in their power to defend themselves from the rapacity of the soldiers. as long as they had money, they endeavoured to buy off the officers who were sent forward to seek for quarters, and many rogues took advantage of their fears, and appearing under the disguise of quartermasters, levied heavy contributions on the deluded villagers. watchmen were placed on the church towers and elevations of the plain, who gave signals if troops were visible in the distance. then the countryman brought whatever he could save, and the women and children their movable chattels, hasting to some distant place of concealment. these hiding-places were selected with great sagacity; by a little additional labour they were made still more inaccessible, and for weeks, indeed months, the fugitives passed their anxious existence there. on the dark moor, midst ditches, rushes and elders, in the deep shade of woody glens, in old clay-pits, and amid the ruins of decaying walls, did they seek their last refuge. the countryman in many places still shows with emotion such spots. there is a large vault with an iron door in an old tower at aspach, whither the aspachers fled whenever small bands of soldiers approached the village; for a more distant refuge they had a field of many acres, overgrown with thick hornbeam, and there they planted thorns which from the fertility of the soil grew into large trees and became like a thick wall. within this barricade, which could only be attained by creeping on the belly, the villagers often concealed themselves. after the war the thorns were rooted up, and the land changed into hop, and afterwards cabbage grounds. but a portion of this land is still called the "schutzdorn," "thorn-defence." when the soldiers had withdrawn, the fugitives returned and repaired with their scanty means what had been laid waste. often, indeed, they found only a smoking pile. all however who fled did not return. the more wealthy sought a refuge for themselves and their property in the cities, where martial discipline was a little more rigorous, and the danger less. many also fled into another country, and if they were threatened by enemies there, again into another; and most of them assuredly had not less misery to suffer there. those who remained in the country did not all return to their own fields. the wild life in hiding-places and woods, the rough pleasure in deeds of violence and pillage, turned the boldest of them into robbers; provided with rusty weapons, which they had perhaps taken from some dead marauder, they carried on a lawless life under the mountain pines, as companions of wolves and crows, as poachers and highwaymen. thus did the population of the plains decrease with frightful rapidity. even in the time of the king of sweden many villages were entirely abandoned, the beasts of the woods roamed about among the blackened rafters, and perhaps the tattered figure of some old beldame or cripple might be seen. from that time ruin increased to such an extent, that nothing like it can be found in modern history. to the destructive demons of the sword were added others, not less fearful and still more voracious. the land was little cultivated and the harvest was bad. an unheard-of rise in prices ensued, famine followed, and in the years and a pestilence attacked the enfeebled population, more terrible than had raged for more than a century in germany. it spread its pall slowly over the whole of germany, over the soldier as well as over the peasant, armies were dissipated under its parching breath, many places lost half their inhabitants, and in some villages in franconia and thuringia there remained only a few individuals. the little strength which had remained in one corner of the land was now broken. the war raged on still twelve long years after this time of horror, but it had become weaker, the armies were smaller, the operations without plan or stability, from the want of provisions and animals, but where the fury of war still blazed, it devoured mercilessly what remained of life. the people reached the lowest depths of misfortune; a dull apathetic brooding became general. of the country people of this last period there is little to be told; they vegetated, reckless and hopeless, but few accounts of them are to be found in village records, parish books, and small chronicles. they had forgotten in the villages the art of writing, nay even their crying grievances. where an army had carried devastation and famine raged, men and dogs ate of the same corpse, and children were caught and slaughtered. a time had now come when those who had held out during twenty years of suffering, laid violent hands on themselves; we read this in the accounts of ambassadors, who for years worked in vain for peace. it may be asked how, after such sufferings and utter ruin, the survivors could still form a german nation, who at the conclusion of peace could again cultivate the country, pay taxes, and after vegetating in poverty for a century, again engender energy, enthusiasm, and a new life in art and science. it is certainly probable that the country people would have entirely scattered themselves in roving bands, and that the cities would never have been in a condition to produce a new national life, if three powerful causes had not contributed to preserve the german countryman from being altogether lost,--his love of his paternal acres; the endeavours of the magistracy; and above all, the zeal of those who had the care of his soul, the village pastors. the love of the peasant for his own field, which works inimically against the most benevolent agrarian laws, is even now a strong feeling, but in the seventeenth century was still more powerful. for the peasant knew very little of the world beyond his own village, and it was difficult for him to pass the boundaries which separated him from other vocations, or from establishing himself on the property of other lords. he ever returned with tenacity from his hiding-place to his devastated farm, and endeavoured to collect together the trampled corn, or to sow the few seeds he had been able to preserve. when his last beast had been stolen, he harnessed himself to the plough. he took care not to give his house a habitable appearance; he accustomed himself to dwell amidst dirt and ruins, and concealed the flickering fire of his hearth from the gaze of marauders, who might perhaps be seeking in the night for some warm resting-place. he hid his scanty meal in a place which would disgust even a reckless enemy, in ditches and coffins, and under skulls. thus he lived under the powerful pressure of habit, however little hope there might be that his labour would prove advantageous to him. if a landed proprietor stood valiantly by his village, even in times of comparative tranquillity, he accompanied his beasts to the fields, armed to the teeth, ready to fight against any robbers who might pounce down on him. it was no less the interest of the landed proprietor and his officials, than of the peasant himself, to preserve the villages. the smaller the number of tax-payers became, the higher was the tax on the few who remained. the rulers, from the cities in which they resided occupied themselves during the whole war through their officials, bailiffs, and receivers, with the fate of the villages, nay even of individuals. the keeping of the parish records was only interrupted during the most troubled time, and was always recommenced. certificates, reports, memorials, and rescripts passed hither and thither amidst all the misery.[ ] petitions for remission of rents and liquidation of costs were incessantly demanded, and many a poor schoolmaster obediently gave his service as parish writer whilst the snow floated into his schoolroom through the shattered windows, the parish chests lay broken in the streets, and the parishioners, whose accounts he was writing, went armed into the woods with dark illegal projects, which were never reported to the government. useless as this system of writing in many cases was, it formed numerous links which bound individuals more closely to their states; and in the pauses of the war, and at the conclusion of it, was of the greatest importance, for it had preserved the mechanism of the administration. it was however to the country clergy and their holy office that the maintenance of the german people is chiefly owing. their influence was undoubtedly not less in the catholic than in the protestant provinces, though there remain few accounts of it; for the catholic village pastors were then as averse to writing as the evangelical were fond of it. but the protestant pastors had a far greater share in the mental cultivation of their time. the reformers had made the german learned education essentially theological, and the village clergy were, in the estimation of the noble proprietors and peasantry, the representatives of this intelligence. they were generally well skilled in the ancient languages, and expert in writing latin and elegiac verses. they were powerful disputants, and much experienced in dogmatic controversy, stubborn and positive, and full of zealous indignation against the followers of schwenkfeld, theophrast, rosenkreuz, and weigelia, and their teaching was more full of hatred to heretics than love towards their fellow-creatures. their influence on the consciences of the laity had made them arrogant and imperious, and the most gifted among them were more occupied with politics than was good for their characters. if an order may be considered responsible for the imperfection of the mental cultivation of the period, which it has not formed, but only represents, the lutheran ecclesiastics were deeply and fatally guilty of the devastation of mind, the unpractical weakness, and the dry wearisome formalism which frequently appeared in german life. the ecclesiastics, as an order, were neither accommodating nor especially estimable, and even their morality was narrow-minded and harsh. but all these errors they atoned for in times of poverty, calamity, and persecution, more especially the poor village pastors. they were exposed to the greatest dangers, hated in general by the imperial soldiers, and obliged by their office to bring themselves under the observation of the enemy; and the rough usage which they, their wives, and daughters had to suffer, fatally injured their consideration in their own parish. they were maintained by the contributions of their parishioners, and were not accustomed, and ill fitted to obtain their daily food by bodily labour; they were the greatest sufferers from any decrease in the wealth, morality, or population of their villages. one must bear witness that a very great number of them endured all these dangers as true servants of christ. most of them adhered to their parishes almost to the very last man. their churches were plundered and burnt, chalice and crucifix stolen, the altar desecrated with disgusting ordures, and the bells torn from the towers and carried away. then they held divine service in a barn, or an open field, or in the cover of a green wood. when the parishioners had almost perished, so that the voice of the singer was heard no more, and the penitential hymns were no longer intoned by the chanter, they still called the remains of their congregation together at the hour of prayer. they were vigorous and zealous both in giving comfort and in exercising discipline; for the greater the misery of their parishioners, the more reason they had to be dissatisfied with them. frequently they were the first to suffer from the demoralization of the villagers: theft and insolent wantonness were willingly practised against those whose indignant looks and solemn admonitions had heretofore overawed them. hence their fate is particularly characteristic of that iron time, and we happily possess numerous records concerning them, frequently in church documents, in which they bemoaned their sufferings, when no one would listen to them. from such records of thuringian and franconian village pastors, only a few examples will here be given. magister michael ludwig was pastor at sonnenfeld, about ; there he preached to his parishioners in the wood under the canopy of heaven; they were called together by the sound of the trumpet, instead of the bell, and it was necessary to place an armed watch whilst he preached; thus he continued for eight years, till his parishioners entirely disappeared. a swedish officer then appointed him preacher to his regiment; he was afterwards made president of the army consistory at torstenson, and superintendent at wismar. georg faber preached at gellershausen, read prayers daily to three or four hearers, always at the risk of his life: he rose every morning at three o'clock and learned his sermon entirely by heart; besides that, he wrote learned treatises upon the books of the bible. in the neighbouring towns of the interior, the clergy had as much to undergo. for example, the rector at eisfeld, about , was johann otto, a young man who had just married; he had in the worst times kept the whole school during eight years, with only one teacher, and provided the choir also gratis. the smallness of his income may be seen from the notes which the excellent man has written in his euclid: " days thrashing in autumn, day working in the wood in . days thrashing in january, . days thrashing in february, . marriage letters written. item, / day binding oats, and one day reaping," and so on. he persevered, and administered his office honourably for forty-two years. his successor, the great latin scholar, johann schmidt, teacher of the celebrated cellarius, had become a soldier, and when on guard at the royal castle was reading a greek poet; this was perceived by his officer with astonishment, and was mentioned by him to ernest the good, who made him a teacher. the superintendent at the same place, andreas pochmann, was, when an orphan, carried off with two little brothers by the croats. he escaped with his brothers in the night. later, when a latin scholar, he was again taken prisoner by the soldiers, was made an officer's servant, and then a musketeer. but he continued to study in the garrison, and found among his comrades students from paris and london, with whom he kept up his latin. once, when a soldier, he was lying sick by the watch fire, under his sleeve was the powder pouch, with a pound and a half of powder, the flames reached the sleeve and burnt half of it; the powder pouch was unconsumed. when he awoke he found himself alone, the camp was abandoned, and he had not a penny of money. then he found two thalers in the ashes. with this he struck across to gotha; on the way, he turned off to langensalza, to a lonely small house near the walls: an old woman received the wearied man, and laid him on a bed. it was the plague nurse, and the bed was a plague bed, for the malady was then raging in the city; he remained unhurt. his life, like that of most of his cotemporaries, was full of wonderful escapes, sudden changes, and unexpected succour, of deadly perils, penury, and frequent changes of place. these times must be accurately observed, in order to understand how, just at a period when millions were brought to ruin and destruction, there was fostered in the survivors a deep belief in that divine providence, which, in a wonderful way, encompassed the lives of men. from almost every village church one can obtain reminiscences of the sufferings, self-devotion, and perseverance of their pastors. it must be said, that only the strongest minds came out unscathed in such times. the endless insecurity, the want of support, the lawless proceedings of the soldiers and of their own parishioners, made many of them petty in their ideas, cringing and beggarly. we will give one example among many. johanne elfflein, pastor at simau after , was so poor that he was obliged to work as a day labourer, to cut wood in the forest, to dig and to sow; twice he received either alms from the poor-box at coburg, or what was placed there at the baptism of children. at last the consistory at coburg sold one of the chalices of the church to procure bread for him. he considered it an especial piece of good fortune, when he had once to perform the funeral of a distinguished noble, for then he got a good old rix-dollar, and a quarter of corn. when shortly afterwards he confidentially complained to a neighbour of his want of food, and the latter replied with desperate resolution, he knew well what he should do in such a case, then, firm in faith, magister elfflein said, "my god will provide means that i shall not die of hunger; he will cause a rich nobleman to die, that i may obtain money, and a quarter of corn." he considered it was ordained by providence, when soon after, this melancholy event actually occurred. his situation was so pitiable, that even the rapacious soldiers, when they sent their lads in the neighbourhood after booty, emphatically ordered them to leave the pastor at simau unmolested, as the poor simpleton had nothing for himself. at last he got another parish. at the source of the itz, where the mountains decline in high terraces towards the main, lies the old village of stelzen, a holy place even in heathen times. close to the church, from the corner of a spacious cavern, overshadowed by primeval beech and lime trees, springs up a miraculous well; near the well, before the reformation, stood a chapel to the holy virgin, and many a time did hundreds of counts and noblemen, with numberless other people, flock together there as pilgrims. the village was entirely burnt down at michaelmas, , only the church, the school, and shepherd's hut remained standing. the pastor, nicholas schubert, wrote to the authorities in the winter as follows: "i have saved nothing but my eight poor, little, naked, hungry children. i continue to dwell _ex mandato_ in the very old, and on account of the want of a chimney, a floor and so forth, dangerous school-house, where i can neither attend to my studies, nor do anything for my support. for i have neither food nor clothes, _longe enim plura deficiunt_. given at my castle of misery, stelzen, . your willing servant, and obedient poor burnt-out pastor, nicholas schubert." shortly he was removed. his successor likewise was pillaged, and stabbed in the left hip with a rapier; he too was removed; a second successor also was unable to maintain himself there. after that, the parsonage house was uninhabited for fifteen years, but the neighbouring pastor, götz of sachsendorf, came every third sunday, and performed service in the ruined village. for two years there came no pence to the church coffers. at last, in , the church was entirely burned to the bare walls. gregory ewald was pastor at königsberg; in , tilly burnt down the city, and ewald was taken prisoner in a vineyard by two croats, and robbed; when they could not withdraw a gold ring from his finger they prepared to cut off the finger, but at last had so much consideration that they took only the skin with the ring, and demanded a thousand dollars ransom. ewald released himself by this stratagem; he took the simple soldier, who was left with him to fetch the ransom, first to the door of a cellar in order to give him a drink of wine, and under the pretext of fetching the key he escaped. in his great necessity he took an appointment as swedish army chaplain, and after the battle of nördlingen, lived as an exile for a year in a foreign country, from thence he returned to his ruined parish, where for some years he and his family endured want and misery. among the most instructive of the biographical accounts of protestant pastors, is that of the franconian pastor, martin bötzinger. we see with horror, both the village life in the time of the war, and the demoralization of the inhabitants, distinctly portrayed in his narrative. bötzinger was not a man of great character, and the lamentable lot he had to bear did not strengthen it; indeed, we can hardly deny him the predicate of a right miserable devil. nevertheless he possessed two qualities which render him estimable to us, an indestructible energy with which there was not the slightest frivolity united; and that determined german contentment which takes the brightest view of the most desolate situations. he was a poet. his german verses are thoroughly pitiful, as may be seen by the specimen heading this chapter, but they served him as elegant begging letters by which, in the worst times, he endeavoured to procure sympathy. he celebrated all the officials and receivers of the parish of heldburg in an epic poem, as also the melancholy condition of coburg, where he tarried for a certain time as a fugitive. of the career which he noted down, the beginning and the last portion were already torn out when krauss, in , incorporated it in his history of the hildburghaus church, school, and province. the following is faithfully transcribed from this fragment; only the series of events which are intermingled in his autobiography are here arranged according to years. bötzinger was a collegian at coburg and a student at jena, during the _kipper_ time;[ ] and in , he became pastor at poppenhausen. in the spring of , the young pastor entertained the idea of marrying the only daughter of michael böhme, burgher and counsellor at heldburg, whose name was ursula. "in the year , on the tuesday after the jubilate, all necessary preparations being made, on this very day, a body of eight thousand men, people from saxe lauenburg, together with the prince himself, encamped before heldburg; pitched their camp on the cropped ground, and in eight days ruined the city and land belonging to the corporation, so that neither calf nor lamb, beer nor wine, could any more be procured. provisions were brought from all the neighbouring districts, and yet even the royal officers and officials could hardly be maintained. they were, on account of the cold, quartered some days in the city and villages. it was then, for the first time, i was plundered in the parsonage house at poppenhausen, for not only had i not secured anything, but rather had i made preparation as if i had to lodge an honourable guest or officer; i lost my linen, bedding, shirts, and so forth, for i did not yet know that the soldiers were robbers, and took everything away with them. the prince of the country, duke casimir, was himself obliged to journey to heldburg; he ordered for the lauenburger a princely banquet; he presented him with fine horses and eight thousand thalers if he would only take himself away. after this misfortune, the blessing of god made itself miraculously visible everywhere. owing to the thousands of huts, quarters and fires, which made the fields look like a wilderness, it was thought that the winter seed was lost in the ground. nevertheless, there grew from these burnt huts and ditches so thick a crop, that in the same year, there was a superfluity of winter food. a miracle! thus my wedding could take place on the tuesday after the _exaudi_, and was celebrated at the town hall. "for five years there was rest in the land till , except that several imperial corps, consisting of two, three, or more regiments, passed to and fro, who often took up their quarters in the township of heldburg, and exhausted it. i wanted for nothing at poppenhausen. i could wish that i was now as well off as i was before the war. as, however, the fury of war at last arrived, the neighbouring bishops began to reform vigorously; sent jesuits and monks with diplomas into the country, and examined the ecclesiastical benefices and monasteries. the princes had their militia here and there, who now and then pilfered in the neighbouring papal states, and stirred up the hornets there. every intelligent person could discover that things would become worse. the noblemen also fled with their pastors, bailiffs, and all belonging to them, to our little towns and villages, hoping for greater security there than in their own places. "in , at michaelmas, king gustavus came from sweden suddenly through the wood, just as if he had wings. he took königshofen and many other places, and went on very flourishingly. our nobles enlisted people for the king, who were as bad as the enemy in pilfering and robbing. they more especially took from the neighbouring catholics their cows, horses, pigs, and sheep; then was there a great sale; a ducat for one cow, and a thaler for a pig. the papists often came hither and saw how and who bought their cattle, and frequently redeemed them themselves. they were however so often taken, that they wearied of redeeming them, and it went ill with the poor neighbouring papists. we all at poppenhausen preserved for those in the neighbourhood, their bits of property in churches and houses, as far as we could. but when in the year , the tables were turned, and the three generals, the friedlander, tilly, and the bavarian prince, took possession of coburg and the country, the neighbouring papists helped to rob and burn, and we found no faith or safety with them. "when on the eve of michaelmas, all the guns were heard from coburg, as a signal that the enemy was approaching, and every one took care of himself, i went with all those whom i had lodged for some weeks, to heldburg, where i had previously sent my wife and child. the town was on its guard, but did not imagine what evil would betide it; the burgomaster and some of the councillors ran away, my father-in-law of blessed memory, having the charge of the powder, lead, and linstocks, which he served out to the guard as need required, was obliged to remain in the town. i had a great desire to leave the town with my wife and children, but he would not let me go, and still less his daughter, and bade us remain at home; he had a tolerable purse of thalers with which he intended to make off in case of disaster. but before midday on the feast of st. michael, fourteen horsemen presented themselves; they were supposed to be duke bernhard's people, but it was very far from the case. these they were obliged to admit without thanks for it. they were soon followed by some infantry, who from the beginning searched about everywhere, and knocked down and shot whoever resisted them. in the middle of the market, one of these fourteen struck my father-in-law with a pistol on the head, so that he fell down like an ox. the horseman dismounted, and searched his hosen, and our citizens who were at the town hall saw that the thief drew out from thence a large mass of money. when the stupefaction from the blow had passed away, my father-in-law stood up: he was made to go to the star inn, where they found somewhat to eat, but nothing to drink; then he said he would go home and bring some drink. now as they thought he might escape them, they took the platters and food with them, and accompanied him to his house. it was not long before one of them demanded money; and when he excused himself, the scoundrel stabbed him with his own bread-knife in the presence of his wife and mine, so that he sank to the ground. 'god help us!' screamed out my wife and child. i, who was hid in the bath-house, in the straw over the stable, sprang down and ventured amongst them. the wonder was that they did not catch me in the parson's cap. i took my father-in-law, who was reeling about like a drunken man, into the bath-room, that he might be bandaged. i was obliged to look on whilst they took off from your mother[ ] her shoes and clothes, and laid hold of you, my son michael, in their arms; hereupon they quitted the house and the street. i went from the little court of the bath-house to my father-in-law's room; i carried over there pillows and mattresses, whereon we laid him. i had to venture still further. i went into the cellar, wherein his brother, herr george böhm, pastor at lindenau, had placed in three large butts, two tons of good wine. i wished to fetch a refreshing drink for my father-in-law, but the vent peg was so carefully and firmly driven into the butt that although i pulled out the spigot nothing would flow. i was obliged to stay a long time, at great risk, before i could get a spoonful. i had hardly gone over there, before a scoundrel went into the bath-house, threw the invalid off the bed, and searched everywhere. i had crept under the sweating bench, where indeed i got a good sweating, for the day before had been the bath day. "as there was now a great butchery and shooting down in the town, so that no one was secure, divers citizens came at intervals to have themselves bandaged. then my father-in-law consented that i should seek for a hiding-place and leave the town, but would not let my wife and children accompany me. so i went to the castle garden, and ascended the height behind the castle, that i might look out towards holzhausen and gellershausen, to see if it was safe. then the citizens and their wives came to me for comfort and to journey with me. thus i crossed over the hundshanger lake into the wood, and wished to go up to strauchhahn. when we came to the common, eight horsemen, who were croats, rode up the heights. as soon as they saw us they hastily galloped up to us. two citizens, kührlein and brehme, escaped; i had most to endure. they took off my shoes, stockings, and hosen, and left me only my cap. with my hosen i had to give up my purse full of money, which i had hid there three hours before, and thus had preserved from the first pilferers. the danger was so urgent that i did not think of my purse till i saw it for the last time. they demanded first a thousand thalers, then five hundred, and lastly a hundred, for my life. i had to go with them to their quarters, and to run with them a whole hour barefoot. at last they perceived that i was a _pap_ or _pfaff_, which i also confessed; then they began to thrust at me with their sabres without discretion, and i held my hands and arms towards them, and through god's protection only got a few wounds on the wrist. "meanwhile they discovered a peasant who had hidden himself in some bushes. it was the rich kaspar of gellershausen, so they all rode off to him, and only one remained with me, who was by birth a swede, and had been made prisoner. this one said to me, 'priest, priest, run, run, otherwise you must die.' he was a good swede: i placed confidence in his counsel, and begged of him to feign to ride after me, as if he would fetch me back. thus it happened that i escaped the croats. but the rich kaspar met a miserable death at that place; for as he would not come forth from thence, they hewed off his legs, as i saw, at the knees. therefore he was obliged to lie in that place, where after their withdrawal he was found. but i ran through a great oak wood for almost an hour, and could see no thick bushes wherein to conceal myself, and fell at last into a pool of water out of which an oak root had grown, and i was so tired of running that i could go no further, and my heart beat so that i knew not whether it was the horses' hoofs that i heard, or my heart. "thus i sat till it was night; then i rose up and continued in search of a thick cover, till i came out and could see seidenstadt. i slipped into the village, and as i heard dogs bark, i hoped to find people at home, but there was no one; i therefore went into a shed, and was desirous of passing the night on the hay. but god granted that the neighbours, who had hid themselves in strauchhahn, had come together behind this shed, and took counsel where they should reassemble, and where they should go to. this i could distinctly hear. i therefore descended and went to the house. the peasant had just come in, had struck a light, and was standing in the cellar taking the cream off the milk, which he intended to drink. i was standing above the opening, spoke to him and greeted him; he looked up and saw the under part of my body, namely, my shirt and naked legs, and it was dark above. he was much frightened; but when i told him that i was the pastor at poppenhausen, who had been carried off by the soldiers, he brought the milk up, and i begged him to procure me some clothes of his neighbours, as i wished to accompany them wherever they were going. he went out, and meanwhile i regaled myself on his pot of milk, and entirely emptied it. in my whole life no milk had ever tasted so good. he came back with others, and one of them brought me a pair of old leather hosen, which smelt badly of cart-grease, another a pair of old latchet shoes, and another two woollen stockings, one green and one white. this livery was not suitable either for a traveller or for a pastor; yet i took it with thanks, but could not wear the shoes, for they were frozen too stiff. the soles of the stockings were torn, thus i went to hildburghausen more barefooted than shod. when we looked around us we saw that many places in itzgrund were in flames. at that time, ummerstadt, rodach, eisfeld, and heldburg were burnt to the ground. "i was, on my arrival, such a spectacle as to create terror and fear at hildburghausen; no one--though many thousand strangers had come there--felt secure, although the city had a strong guard. my only anxiety was to get a respectable dress, stockings, shoes, &c., before we departed from thence. i went, therefore, barefoot to the burgomaster, paul walz, and to the curate, and begged them to give me something to clothe me respectably. herr walz gave me an old hat which was almost an ell in height, which disfigured me more than anything else; nevertheless i put it on. herr schnetters eidam, now curate at römhild, gave me a pair of hosen, which came over my knees, these were still good, herr dressel a pair of black stockings, and the sexton a pair of shoes. thus i was rigged out, so that i could appear without being ashamed before so many thousand strangers, who had sought security in the town; and could show myself amongst the citizens. but the hat disfigured me very much, therefore i sought an opportunity to obtain another. now it came to pass that the whole ministry, the authorities of the high school and councillors, had agreed, without the knowledge of the citizens generally, that they would have the gates opened at nine o'clock at night, and go away with their wives and children: having learned this, i went to the lodging of the town-clerk, where the gentlemen were all assembled; but no one knew or noticed me. i placed myself alone by a table in the dark; there i discovered that a good respectable hat was hanging on a nail. i thought that if this should remain hanging on the breaking up of the assembly, it would suit me. what matter; all would be ruined after the flight. what i wished and thought came to pass: then there began a wailing and leave-taking on their departure, and i laid my head on the table as if i were asleep. now when almost every one was gone, i hung the long stork on the wall, made the exchange, and went with the other gentlemen into the street. "the arrangements for flight now became known to the people. countless numbers therefore sat with their packages in the streets; horses were put also to many waggons and carts, all prepared to go out of the gate with those who were departing. when we came into the open country we saw that the good people were all dispersed about the streets. there were thousands of lighted torches to be seen, some had lanterns, some burning wisps of straw, others links. in short some thousands came mournfully out. i and my flock came about midnight to themar, the townspeople there rose up and joined us, so that some hundreds more were added to us. the march proceeded to schwarzig and steinbach, and when towards morning we arrived at a village, the people were so terrified that they abandoned their houses and farms and accompanied us. when we had been about an hour at an inn, the news came that the croats had fallen upon themar this very morning, had cut up the escort and plundered the carrier's goods; had split the burgomaster's head, robbed the church, and carried the organ pipes off to the market; and it was high time for us to have evacuated it. hildburghausen had afterwards to ransom itself by a large sum of money and its chalices, otherwise the town would like all the others have been reduced to ashes. during this wandering i got also a present of a pair of gloves, a knife, and a sheath. "this lasted five or six days, then came the news announcing that the enemy had departed from coburg. now i could not remain any longer. i went speedily to römhild, where lived my honoured godfather cremer, the town clerk. i had to report to the worthy magistrate what had happened to me. this little town alone remained unplundered. the worthy magistrate had ordered the enemy to be fired upon, and by his foresight god preserved this little town. meanwhile römhild became full of refugees, who were partly known and partly unknown. but i did not then care for any society; so i set off for heldburg, and passing many hundred men, arrived there first, just when the slain were being brought on carts to the burial-ground. when i perceived this i went to the burial-ground, and found seventeen persons lying in one grave, among them were three councillors, one my father-in-law, the precentor, some citizens, a tutor, the country beadle, and town constable. they were all horribly disfigured. after this i went to my mother-in-law's house; i found her so ill and so disfigured from being broken on the wheel, and pinched with pistol screws, that she could hardly speak to me; she made up her mind that she should die. so she desired me to seek my wife and children whom the enemy had carried away with them. the children were you, michael, a year and a half, and your eldest sister, five years old. i would gladly have eaten something at heldburg, but there was nothing either to eat or drink. i speeded therefore hungry and terrified to poppenhausen, not only to refresh myself there, but to procure a messenger who would seek and recover my wife and children. but i learnt there that the poppenhausen children had also been carried away, and that there were marching columns on many roads, so that the life of a messenger would be in deadly peril. meanwhile my parishioners dressed a cow for me, which had escaped the soldiers; this i looked for with a hungry stomach. so we had meat enough to eat, but without salt and bread. after my repast i learned by post that my wife was come, and thus it had come to pass. she had been taken with her two children, by some musketeers, to altenhausen, where, from fear of dishonour, she and her children had sprung over the bridge into the water. from thence she was drawn out by the soldiers, and brought into the village, where she was made to help in the kitchen to prepare the supper. meanwhile there came another troop of soldiers who were higher in rank and more in number, and drove the others from their quarters. my wife took this opportunity to escape. she wended her way out, and left the two children with the soldiers. a poor beggar-woman led her through secret byways out of the village, and brought her to an old cave in a wood, where she passed that night and remained the next day till evening. on that day the people came forth from all quarters, and thus my wife set out and came safe and unharmed to me, so that we were all joyful and thankful to god. "how murder and fire meanwhile had gone on at heldburg, i will also relate. the town of heldburg had militia and trained bands, and it was ordered that if the enemy came there, the city should be defended. for it was always hoped that duke bernhard's people were not far distant, and that the country would be relieved. when therefore the town was fired, my honoured father-in-law, with many citizens and other folks, hastened out of the town, and arrived in the night with my wife and two children to poppenhausen, and my wife prepared him a good invalid bed. for my parsonage house had been filled with all kinds of furniture left by noblemen and magistrates in their flight; and although pilferers had been there, there was enough still left. the following day a whole troop of horsemen came to the parsonage, examined my belongings, but let them alone because there was one there who was wounded: they ordered supper and went out to plunder, and returned towards evening, bringing all kinds of booty; then it was necessary to boil and roast, and the neighbouring women helped thereto with good will. when the horsemen were about to depart, they advised my father-in-law not to be too confident, as this tumult would last yet eight days, and as the road led past there, he and his daughter might suffer violence, and as the neighbouring villages were popish, he had better remove to a protestant one. this my father-in-law did, and went at night in the fog for security to gleichmuthrusen; but the ungodly neighbours screamed out that the horsemen wished to burn and slay the lutherans, but they did it for their advantage, as the papists had gone with the troopers into our villages and houses and stolen as much as others. then my father-in-law did not like to remain there any longer, he went with his belongings to einöder wood and remained there day and night. he occasionally went forth to examine the road between heldburg and einöder. when therefore one day he saw no one especial on the road, either travelling or riding, and heard the little bell which was wont to be sounded when children were baptized, he thought, such being the case, he might creep nearer the town, and see whether there was any hindrance along the road. as soon as he came to the town his steps were watched. then a whole body of camp followers came and took him, my mother-in-law, and my wife to the house of herr göckel. ah! there was banqueting and revelling! being now urged to give money and making various excuses, they singed and smeared his eyes, beard, and mouth with tallow candles, and endeavoured shamelessly to maltreat my wife in the room before every one, but she screamed so that her mother sprang violently into the room and drew her out through the door, which indeed was fastened, but the under panel had been ingeniously covered with list, and was fractured. then the cook had compassion upon her, and brought her out of the house; and when my wife gave him some ducats, which she had for a whole week concealed in the cuff of her sleeve, he brought to her my father-in-law, who however was horribly disfigured. thus they left the town more dead than alive, and being too weak to go further, went into the hospital. not only the poor sick folk were there, but many respectable citizens and women in hopes of finding it a safe asylum. but it was far from being the case. although my father-in-law was lying on a bed nearly dying, and every one saw that he was bleeding and had been evil treated, yet he was dragged hither and thither, some wicked people having betrayed that he was a rich man. they broke him on the wheel; they brought my wife and children prisoners into the town, where they had to make shirts for the soldiers. as she was sitting in the churchyard, one of them brought her a piece of linen to cut out, he said to one of his comrades: 'go and make sure that the peasant, meaning my father-in-law, is dead.' he went, and returned again soon, having in his arms my father-in-law's hosen and waistcoat, and said to my wife, 'your father is done for.' what barbarity! when the pilferers had sufficiently pillaged the church of clothes and linen, they left the town, and would carry my wife with them whether she would or no. "not long after they received their reward at leipzig and lützen, as may be read in other places. after this every one returned home, and people found each other again; but the sheep and cattle were all gone. i did not preserve more than three calves out of eight, without counting my forty-eight sheep which, with the whole herd, had been lost. "duke johann casimer died in the year , and was buried, on the same day on which the funeral sermon was preached for gustavus king of sweden, in that country. at that time great robbing and plundering went on, amongst others by duke bernhard's soldiers, nine regiments of which were stationed at itzgrund, to enable the princely corpse to be buried in safety. "in things became much worse, and one could well perceive that in a short time everything would be topsy-turvy. i therefore removed what i could to the parsonage at steltzen, my beds, two cows, clothes, &c. but this being in the autumn, after lamboy had quartered himself with every one and everywhere, my winter quarters cost me more than five hundred gulden in thirty-five weeks, which i had to settle with captain krebs. i had eleven persons in my house, not counting camp-followers and maid-servants. it is not to be described what i and my wife had to suffer and endure for a length of time. at last i could no longer feel secure on account of them; i ran away sick and came to mitwitz and mupperg, where i had as little rest as at heldburg. my stepmother especially tormented me (she had been struck by lightning), she would not let me remain in my exile with my old father. i was obliged to go to neistadt to the rector, m. val. hoffmann, now superintendent. but i was not only very poor; but became daily more ailing, therefore i only thought how i could return to poppenhausen or heldburg and die there, for i was weary of my life. "it is miraculous how i passed along the roads and through the villages in the darkness of night, for it was still unsafe everywhere; at last i reached poppenhausen. there my poor parishioners and schoolmaster were as joyful at sight of me, as if our lord god had himself appeared among them. but we were all in such great weakness and want, that we looked more dead than alive. many died of hunger; and we were frequently, each day, obliged to take to our heels and conceal ourselves. and although we hid our lentils, corn, and poor food in the ditches and old coffins, nay, under the skulls of the dead, yet all was taken away from us. "then were the survivors obliged to leave house and home, or die of hunger. at poppenhausen most of the inhabitants were in their graves; there remained only eight or nine souls, who fled from it in the year . the same circumstances occurred at lindenau, the cure of which was committed to me vicariously in , by the royal consistory. i could obtain no income; apples, pears, cabbage, turnips, &c., were my only pay. thus i was pastor at lindenau from to . i had the parsonage arranged, but could not, on account of the insecurity and turmoil, dwell constantly there, and performed the duties from heldburg. i have still the testimony of the lindenauers, wherein they acknowledge that i did not in five years get ten gulden in money; but they have since honestly paid me the arrears in wood and apples. "in the year , between easter and whitsuntide, the imperial and swedish armies fought a battle at saalfeld; and franconia and thuringia were devastated far and wide. at four o'clock in the morning of the sunday before whitsunday, strong bodies of imperialists fell upon heldburg, when most of the citizens were still resting in their beds. my whole street, in every direction, was full of the turmoil of horses and riders; just as if some one had taken pains to show them my house. i and my wife were taken prisoners five times in one hour; when i was released from one, i was taken by another. then i took them into my room and cellar, that they might themselves seek what they required. at last they went off, leaving me alone in the house; yet my terror and anguish were so great that i never thought of my ready money, which i might have saved ten times over, if i had had sufficient confidence to take it with me. but all the houses and streets were full of horsemen; and if i had taken my mammon with me, it might so have happened that i should have been caught. but in my dismay i thought not of money. many men and women were convoyed out of the town by an escort of hasisch horsemen, who had been quartered there. i then returned to my wife and children; we betook ourselves to the nearest wood towards hellingen; there old and young, ecclesiastics and laymen, remained day and night. our chief sustenance was black juniper berries. now certain of the citizens ventured into the town, and brought back with them food and other things that they required. i thought, ah! if thou also couldst go to thy house and get hold of thy small cash in pence, and therewith support thyself and thy children! i ventured it, slipped in, and went through the spittel gate to the mühl gate, which was closed in with palisades. within, there were some who caught me by surprise, as a cat does a mouse; they bound me with new cords so that i could neither help myself with hands or feet, and must either give money, or betray rich people to them. the thieves obliged me to toss the fodder for their horses at the herrnhof, to lead them to drink, and other odd work. then imagining myself more at liberty, i ran from thence, being unaware that a whole troop of soldiers were standing at the gate of the courtyard, so i ran into their arms. they beat me well with their swords and bandoliers, kept me still more strictly with cords, led me from house to house, that i might tell them to whom this or the other house belonged. thus i was also led to my own house, there i saw the copper water-can lying on the floor, in which had been placed my ready money, three hundred thalers, and i thought, hadst thou known that the birds and the foxes were in the way, thou wouldst have remained outside. now because i would not betray any one, they put upon my head my own cap, which was lying on the ground in my house, and gave me a blow on the head with a cutlass, so that the blood ran down to my ears, but no hole was made in the cap, for it was of felt. still more; the same man wantonly drew the cutlass across my stomach, in order to try whether i was invulnerable; he pressed tolerably hard, yet god willed not that he should draw more blood from me. twice in one hour, namely, in schneiderinn, at the farm of the tailor's wife wittich, on the dung-heap, and in the forest ranger's stable, they gave me the swedish drink mixed with dung water, whereby my teeth became all loose. i defended myself as well as a prisoner could, when they forced a great stick into my mouth. at last they led me along with cords, and said they would hang me up: they brought me out to the mühl gate on the bridge; then one of them took the cord wherewith my feet were bound together, and another the cord on my left arm, and pitched me into the water, holding the cord so that they might draw me up and down. now whilst i was groping around me in search of a support, i caught hold of a hay-rake, which however gave way with me, and i could find no help thereon; but by god's providence an opening was made for me, so that i slipped under the bridge. whenever i tried to hold on, they battered me with these said hay-rakes, so that they snapped in two like a school cane. when they were not only weary of their labour, but thought they had done for me, as i should drown in the water, they let go both cords, when i dived under the bridge like a frog, and no one could touch me. then i searched the pocket of my hosen and found a little knife, such as could be closed, which they had not chosen to take, though they had often searched me; i therefore cut the cord which bound my two feet, and sprang down to the floor of the mill, where lay the wheels. the water covered half my body; then the rogues threw sticks, brickbats, and cudgels at me, in order to put an end to me completely. i was anxious to work my way to the miller's back door, but could not, either because my clothes being saturated with water held me back, or more likely, because god would not permit me to die there. for as a drunken man reels to and fro, thus did i, and came up on the other side at the back of the brewery. when they perceived that i was about to get into the narrow lane, they all ran into the town, collected more companions, and watched at the tan-house to see whether i would come thither. but as i perceived this, and was now left to myself, i remained lying in the water, and placed my head under a thick willow bush, and rested in the water four or five hours, till it was night and the town quiet; then i crept out half dead, and could hardly breathe, on account of the blows i had had. i went down to the tan-house and found that there was as yet no safety, as there was one there cutting grass, and another picking hides out of the tan-pits, and i almost stumbled upon them, so i was obliged to hide there till late in the night; i went then over the conduit, always following the course of the stream, and climbed over a willow stem by which i reached the other side, towards poppenhausen. "when i came to the poppenhausen or einöder road, it was strewed here and there with linen, which the soldiers had thrown away or lost, but i could not stoop to pick anything up. i came at last to poppenhausen, and found no one at home but claus hön, whose wife was lying-in; he was obliged to cut the clothes from off my body, for i was swollen, and he put aside the wet clothes to be dried. he also lent me a shirt, and then examined my head, which was of all colours from the blows i had received; afterwards my back and arms became quite black and blue. the following day my parishioner bade me go away, for he feared they might lie in wait for me, and that he should get into trouble on my account. so with his assistance i put on my wet clothes, and went quite slowly to lindenau, always through the densest thicket, and kept on the other side in the lindenau garden, from which i could see the village. at last i discovered some people going into a house; i went thither, but they would not admit me, for they were too much afraid, but finally, when they saw through the window that it was i, their pastor, who had come, they admitted me, and i remained with them some days; for there was quartered there one who was a lindenauer, which helped a little. but i met with a new misfortune. when those who were quartered here went to the castle of einöd with the lindenauers, to fetch away what could yet be found of their goods, the magistrate, the smith, and i were keeping guard the while on the tower; as we were all three performing this duty, certain horsemen came into the village, they saw us on the tower, went straight up to it, and found us there together. as they ascended the stairs we discovered from their blustering and talking that they were troopers, so, in bad plight as i was, i endeavoured, alas! to climb. i clambered up into the belfry and curled myself like a cat behind the clock; but one of the thieves climbed up at the same time and found me. my parishioners said i was their schoolmaster, and entreated for me, as i had already been badly beaten by the soldiers. it was however of no avail. they insisted on this schoolmaster descending. the magistrate went first, after him a trooper, the smith followed, then another trooper, and lastly i followed, lingering. now when they all came out through the door of the church, i remained within, bolted the little door, and ran out of the other, and crept into a turnip pit. god help me! how woeful it was for me to be obliged to stoop and lie on all-fours for a whole hour! thus i was saved, but my dear fellow-watchers were taken to a mill and obliged to fill the flour sacks. "on the friday before whitsuntide i came with many citizens to coburg. a thief had carried off my shoes, and left me a pair of old bad ones instead; i had nothing else to wear for almost a week, and both soles had fallen out, and when it became necessary to take to one's heels, the shoes turned round hindforemost, so that often i could not help laughing outright. thus i came to coburg. the news of my torments had reached coburg some days before, together with the report that i had been killed; when therefore i came myself, the citizens and my old acquaintance were much astonished. dr. kesler, general superintendent, _item_, consul körner, invited me several times during the whitsuntide festival, and for a whole month the coburgers showed great kindness to me, my wife, and children, which i lauded in print on st. john's day. "ah, how great was the grief and misery to be seen and heard in all the surrounding small towns at that time! the inhabitants of eisfeldt, heldburg, and neustadt, together with the villagers, had to make shift miserably in the town. asking and begging was no shame. yet i did not wish to burden too much my good host, herr hoffman the apothecary. i went out into the wide world with the pastor of walburg, eisentraut, for three weeks, _victum quærendi gratia_, to culmbach, bayreuth, hirschheid, altorf, and nuremberg, and again back to coburg. i then found that my wife had returned to poppenhausen, accompanied again by the hasische trooper, but there was nothing to eat or reap there. what god had provided me with on my journey, i was obliged to carry to the town hall and give to the soldiers, and the children were well-nigh dying of hunger. they had not been able to buy bran enough for bread. my superintendent, herr grams, died from the effects of the swedish drink, at the castle four or five weeks after this turbulent time. "now as exactions and extortions still continued, i could get no stipend, and yet had to assist in the superintendence of the parish of heldburg, as well as my own, i went _cum testimonio et consilio_ of dr. kesler, and also with letters of recommendation to duke albert, to eisenach, and represented my poverty in divers ways to the consistory. i got a presentment and other recommendations to their princely highnesses, the two brothers, that i might obtain advancement in their dominions. so i went from eisenach to gotha, just as our honoured prince and lord, duke ernest, fixed his residence at the kaufhaus: for i was present when they paid him homage at gotha. the royal consistory soon offered to me the parish of notleben; but as the notlebers were at strife with their old pastor, and there was to be a month's delay to carry on their contest, dr. glass persuaded me in the interim to go with my recommendation to weimar, and to collect somewhat for my poor family. my wanderings, however, lasted till the year . i returned on tuesday the th of january to gotha, and found the cure of that parish still vacant for me, which i undertook with the greatest humility and thankfulness, and preached my first sermon on the parable of the vineyard, from the th of matthew. but i not only lived in great insecurity at notleben, as one had daily to think of flight, but had also many disputes with the peasantry, who in church and school affairs had always a hankering after erfurt, and to whom all royal ordinances with respect to the catechism were odious. i, the pastor, had to bear this from the council and peasants, and as all the stipend was paid in kind, and i was neither a tutor, nor had any other means whereby i could get on well, i humbly sought for a change of cure. when, therefore, our honoured lord, after the division of property, obtained the parish of erock and the village of heubach, he offered to me to become pastor there, which i had expected more than a year before. thus in , i in all humility accepted this removal, and preached my trial sermon on judica sunday, in the presence of the parishioners and commissaries. i received the call on the following day, and thus under god's providence brought hither my wife and child. this was my fourth piece of church preferment, where for my own part i desire, god willing, to live and die; but my wife wishes herself away, in a better place in the plains, on account of the difficulty of getting servants. i leave it in the hands of god and my superiors." thus far extends what is preserved of bötzinger's biography. he finally found rest at heubach, and administered his office there for six-and-twenty years. he died in , at the age of seventy-four, after having led for forty-seven years a life which cannot be designated as peaceful. heubach was a new parish which had been formed at gotha by duke ernest the good, and bötzinger was the first pastor. he was obliged to dwell in the royal shooting lodge, which had been built by duke casimir in the forest, for grouse shooting. in the neighbouring forester's house lived an insolent forester; the country was in a wild state, little inhabited, and the people, corrupted by the war, led a lawless forest life. it appears that the new pastor was not particularly welcome to these denizens of the woods, the forester especially was his vehement opponent, and the pastor secretly complained, in latin distiches which he inscribed in the church records, to his successor, of the bitter sufferings which this servant of the woods occasioned him. he in a brotherly way warned his successor against the wickedness of the man and his bad wife. but in spite of this contention, it may be concluded that this long-tormented sufferer was not altogether unhappy, and a harmless self-contemplation is to be perceived in his latin verses. when at last he died, laudatory poems by some of his noted clerical brothers were written, as was then the custom; some of them are extant both in latin and german. even herr andreas bachmann, the court preacher at gotha, a distinguished man, yielded a tribute of respect to his "dear old, now deceased clerical brother;" it begins with the following verses, which will conclude this chapter:-- martin bötzinger, god's servant, faithful and true, upright as job--was long time pastor i ween; a much tormented man with crosses not a few, as will, in the record of his life, be seen. chapter iv. the thirty years' war.--the clippers of money, and public opinion. monotonously did the death wail sound in the chronicles and records of fellow-sufferers. where thousands were saved, millions were ruined and destroyed. the war was destructive of house, wealth, and life, alike in town and country. manifold was the work of the destroying forces, but a higher force was unceasingly at work to ward off final ruin. it is a marvellous circumstance, that in the same year in which the war in germany expired, the interest of the people in public affairs was so far developed as to originate the first newspapers. in matters of faith, moral feeling and the judgments of individuals had for a century worked, but in politics it was only rarely and feebly that serious diversity of opinion was ventured to be expressed by private individuals. it was just when the recruiting drums of the princes were beating at every muster-place that public opinion began its first political struggle in the press. on an important social question, the intellectual leaders of the people rose up against the immorality of their own sovereigns. we shall endeavour here briefly to exhibit the course of public opinion, and show what was stirred up and carried away by it during the war. it may more especially be discovered in the literature of the flying-sheets, which contended for and against the bohemian king, condemned the _kipper_ and _wipper_, and did homage to the great gustavus adolphus, but at last became itself, like the nation, meagre and powerless. it was after the beginning of the sixteenth century that the people began to receive news through the press, in a double form. one of these forms was a single sheet printed on one side, almost always ornamented with a woodcut, and after the sixteenth century, with a copper-plate engraving, under which the explanatory text was generally rendered in verse. in these flying leaves were communicated the appearances in the heavens, and comets; very soon also battles by land and sea, portraitures of the celebrities of the day, and the like. much of the good humour, and coarse jests of the reformation time are to be found in them. the art of the wood carver was in constant activity, and we find many characteristic peculiarities of the talents of the great painters impressed upon it. the other form was that of pamphlets, especially in quarto, frequently also ornamented with woodcuts. they gave information of every novelty; coronations, battles, and newly discovered countries; by them every striking event flitted through the country. after the reformation, they increased enormously in number. all printing-houses gave birth to them under the titles of newspapers, advices, reports, and couriers. besides these, there were the small controversial writings of the reformers, sermons, discourses, and songs. very soon also the princes began to make use of the invention of printing, to inform the public of their quarrels, and to gain partisans. private individuals whose rights were injured contended with their opponents, whether city magistrates or foreign rulers, in pamphlets. during the whole of the sixteenth century the aim of the small, not theological, literature, was first to impart news, and afterwards to serve the interests of individuals or princes, or to make known the views of those in power. the opinions of individuals upon political affairs were principally conveyed in a form which was then considered particularly ingenious, as pasquinades or dialogues. these small news sheets were innumerable, and their spread was rapid; after the reformation it became a separate branch of industry. the booksellers, or as they were then called, stationers, who offered these newspapers for sale in their shops and stalls, and introduced them to the markets of foreign cities, made a dangerous competition with the printers, bookbinders, and illuminators. important newspapers were everywhere pirated. along the great trade and post roads, more particularly of the rhine and southern germany, certain trading and printing establishments made special gains from the communication of the daily news; for example, wendelin borsch, at the tiler's hut in nuremberg, about , michael enzinger at cologne, at the end of the century, and others. these sheets at first were published very irregularly, but they already contained a correspondence from different cities, in which not only political, but mercantile intelligence was given.[ ] at last, in , appeared here and there separate newspaper sheets in numbers, and in a certain degree of continuity. meanwhile it had been long the custom of the merchants to make such communications to their mercantile friends with some regularity, so that there already existed news-writers who were in the habit of forwarding written newspapers. this method of spreading intelligence had come to germany from italy. in venice, from the year , there were _notizie scritte_, written news in successive series, which continued there till the french revolution. there also, appeared the first regular newspaper shortly before , which it is stated took the name of _gazzetta_ from a little coin which was the cost of the single numbers. soon after, the german newspapers began to appear regularly. in the first weekly newspaper was published at frankfort-on-the-maine, by egenolf emmel, bookseller and printer. in opposition to which, in , the imperial deputy postmaster johann van der brighden, published a competing paper called 'political notices.' from these two undertakings resulted the oldest german newspapers, the 'frankfort journal,' and the 'oberpostamts zeitung.' but these and other weekly papers were for a long time, only news sheets in which opinions on the facts communicated were carefully withheld. the great stream of public opinion still continued for two centuries to run in the old direction; the flying leaves and occasional brochures. at the beginning of the war even the distant readers were compelled to be violent partisans. everywhere appeared controversial writings, opinions, councils, and deliberations. the nation was rent into large parties by this intellectual strife, and it is instructive to see how the writings of the disputants stand in exact relation to the success which their party had achieved. till the battle of the weissen berge nine tenths of all the narratives and controversial writings are protestant; they reached full a thousand in number. hatred to the jesuits blazed fiercely; bitter was the rancour against the emperor, and incessant were the cautions against the league. after prague, strasburg was the centre of their warlike activity. whilst at prague the libel-writer von rörig, as _huss-redivius_, made his voice heard vehemently in many 'political discourses' against his adversary sturm: the _magisters_ of strasburg, after the fashion of boccalini, made accusations against the same opponent, before apollo and the high court of parnassus; but their apollo had to deliver human and explicit oracles. the answers in defence are cautious and uncertain, as during the whole war the catholic party were generally not a match for the protestants in the serious warfare of the pen. but the speedy flight of the new king of bohemia suddenly changed the physiognomy of the literary market. the secret writings obtained as booty from the bohemian party were published by their opponents; and about these bulky quartos there raged for years a battle of petty flying sheets. revengeful, and joyfully triumphant, the imperialists sounded their pæan. it is true that in their brochures there was still some moderation, for they were obliged to spare the lutheran saxons; but so much the more irritably did they attack the enemy, in countless pictorial sheets and satirical verses. endless and merciless were the satires on the fugitive winter king, he, the proud and witless one, with his wife and children, were depicted in every kind of pitiful situation, seeking their bread, departing in bad waggons, and digging a grave for themselves. this strife was interrupted by another, which will ever be of high interest. it was the storm of the german press against the "_kipper_ and _wipper_." of all the terrors at the beginning of the war, nothing gave such vague apprehension to the people, as the sudden depreciation of the coinage. to the fancy of the suffering generation, the evil became so much the greater, as in the gloomy frame of mind of that period it appeared to occur suddenly, and everywhere roused the most frightful passions, discord in families, and hatred and strife between debtors and creditors, leaving behind, hunger, poverty, beggary, and immorality. it made honourable citizens gamblers, drunkards, and profligates, it drove preachers and schoolmasters from their offices, brought opulent families to beggary, plunged every government into miserable confusion, and threatened the dwellers in cities, in a thickly populated country, with famine. it was the third year of the war; its flames had already carried destruction over bohemia and the palatinate, and the ruins were still glowing, on which the imperial troops erected the cross of the old faith. a sultry atmosphere loured over the country; throughout the empire, in every class, men armed themselves, and anxiety for the future pervaded all. but intercourse with the provinces in which the war was at first located, was then comparatively small. the countries exposed to its fury were, with the exception of the palatinate, provinces belonging to the emperor; and on the elbe and lower rhine, in thuringia, franconia, and the territories of lower saxony, it was still a question whether the danger was approaching home. in august, , the peasant had the prospect of a moderate harvest; in trade and commerce there was some degree of stagnation, but there was much of that excited eagerness which is the natural offspring of a great defensive movement, and manly youths were more allured than intimidated by the wild conduct of the soldiery. it had indeed been long remarked, that there was something unusual about the money which circulated in the country. the good heavy imperial coin became more and more scarce, in its place much new money was current, badly coined, and of a red colour. the increasing rise in the price of foreign goods appeared still more strange. everything became dearer. whoever wished to make a present to a godchild, or to pay foreign tradesmen, had to give an increasing _agio_ for his old pure joachim's thaler. but in the local trade, betwixt town and country, the extensive new coinage was taken without hesitation, indeed it was exchanged or bartered with an increased activity. the mass of the people did not observe that the different kinds of coin with which it was the custom to pay, became in their hands, worthless lead; but the sharper ones, who had an inkling of the state of things, became, for the most part, accomplices in the dishonest usury of the princes. it may be distinctly perceived how the people came to a knowledge of their situation, and we still feel dismayed at the sudden terror, anguish, and despair of the masses, and are struck by the anxieties and manly indignation of the thoughtful; and in reading the old narratives, we still feel somewhat of the indignation with which the guilty were regarded. when we consider the many wonderful errors of public opinion at that time, and the well-meaning zeal of individuals who gave good counsel, we may be permitted in this period of calamity and humiliation, to feel a proud satisfaction at the sagacity with which even then, some men of the people discovered the ground of the evil, and, in one of the most difficult national questions, found the right answer, and by it a remedy, at least for the worst misfortunes. before we attempt to give a picture of the "_kipper_ and _wipper_" years, we must make some remarks on the coining of that period. in the olden time, all technical dexterity was environed with dignity, secrecy, and an apparatus of forms. nothing is more characteristic of the peculiarity of the german nature, than its virtuosoship; even the most monotonous handicraft was ennobled by an abundance of lively additions. as soon as the spirit of the artisan was excited by the genial pleasure of creating, his imagination was occupied with images and symbols, and he turned his skill dexterously to high, nay even to holy things. what we have described as applicable to all the handicrafts of the middle ages, was so especially to the art of coining. a feeling of his self-importance was strong in the coiner; the work itself, the handling of the precious metals fresh from the fire, was considered ennobling. the obscure chemical processes, which were surrounded, through alchemy, with a wilderness of fantastic forms, had a far more imposing effect upon the workers, than can be understood by the rational fabricators of our century. to this was added the responsibility of the service. when the coiner took the assay weight out of its beautiful capsule, and placed the little acorn cup on the artistically worked assay balance, in order to weigh the remnant in it, he did this with a certain consciousness of superiority over his fellow-citizens.[ ] when he purified the silver assay from lead in the cupel, and the liquid silver first overflowed, shining with delicate prismatic colours, and then, the variegated stream being rent, the bright gleam of the silver passed like lightning through the molten mass, this silver gleam filled him with reverential astonishment, and he felt himself in the midst of the mysterious creations of the spirits of nature, which, whilst he feared, he was yet able to control by the art of his handicraft, as far as his knowledge reached. after that period, in the order of things, the coiners formed themselves into a close corporation, with masters, associates, and apprentices, and held jealously to their privileges. whoever was desirous of stamping the holy roman imperial coin was first obliged to give proof of his free and honourable lineage, to do lowly service for four years, during this period to wear, according to custom, a fool's cap, and to allow himself to be punished and beaten when inexpert or in the wrong; then at last he was admitted to the business of coining, and entered as an associate in the brotherhood of imperial coiners. but these strict regulations, which were again confirmed to the brotherhood by the emperor maximilian ii., in , had even then ceased to have the effect of making the corporation honourable and upright. equally inefficient were the attempts at control, by the decisions of the imperial diet and the sovereigns. at the inspection of every piece of coin the master of the mint had with him a warden, who proved the texture and weight of the coin. the ten circles of the empire held yearly approbation days, in order, mutually, to compare their coin and to reject the bad; every circle was to be represented by a warden-general; for every circle an appointed number of mints were established, in which the lesser rulers were to have their money specially coined: but all these regulations were only imperfectly carried out. there were undoubtedly some sovereigns and mint-masters then in the country who were faithful, but they were few in number; and generally a mint-master, who was considered capable by a german circle, and worked in a legal mint, was concerned in many strange practices. it was difficult to exercise control over these imperfect coining proceedings; the temptations were great, and morality in general much lower than now. from the sovereign down to the understrapper and jewish purveyor, every one concerned in coining deceived the other. the sovereign allowed the master of the mint for a series of years to work and become rich; he perhaps permitted in silence the coin of the country to be debased, in order at the right moment to proceed against the guilty, from whom then he squeezed out by pressure, like a sponge, all that they had sucked up for many years drop by drop. it did not avail them that they had long quitted the service, for after many years greedy justice would reach them: but the mint-master, who was not in the convenient position of the lion, to be able to secure his booty by a single stroke of the paw, was in the habit of industriously overreaching his masters, the purveyors, nay even his cashiers, the associates, and the apprentices, not to mention the public. the other assistants did no better; every man's hand was against the other, and the curse, which according to the proverb lies on the gold of the german dwarf, appears in the seventeenth century to have depraved all who transmuted the shining metal into money. the common method of transacting the business was as follows. the master of the mint purchased the metal, defrayed the costs of the stamping, and paid a tax to the sovereign for every cologne mark which he struck, which it appears amounted generally to about four good groschen: but he had to pay dear for fine silver, and the wages and other accessories were continually rising in price. if he paid the tax, from one to two thousand marks, weekly to the lord of the mint, he concealed from him the fifty marks which he had struck over and above, and retained the tax upon them for himself; furthermore, he was a sharp coiner, that is to say, he deducted from the money about half a grain in the amount of silver required by the law; he always struck a hundred marks in weight, two ounces too light, which was remarked by no one, and when he knew that the money was to be sent directly into foreign countries, especially to poland, he was bolder in deducting from the weight. his dealings with the purveyors who procured the metal for him, were not more upright. there was carried on then, throughout the whole of germany, a secret traffic, which was severely prohibited by the law, and traced with much sagacity by the gate-keepers of the cities, a traffic in false money. what was acquired by the soldier as booty, or stolen by the thief from the church, was smelted by the receivers of stolen goods into flat cakes or conical masses, which in the language of the trade were called "ingots" and "kings;" whatever was clipped from the money in diminishing the proper quantity of silver, or had otherwise to be carefully consigned under a false name, was poured out of the smelting crucible over moist birchen-twigs, and thus granulated: but besides this, by being incessantly bought up, the good coin was exchanged for bad, the small money-changers, most of them wandering jews, journeyed from village to village far across the frontiers of the german empire, and collected, as the ragmen do now, their wares from the soldiers, countrymen, and beggars. all the medals of distinguished persons, all coats-of-arms and inscriptions, horse and man, wolves, sheep and bears, thalers and hellers, the saints of cologne and treves, and the medallions of the heretic luther, were bought up for the mint, collected and exchanged. the concealed wares were then packed into a vessel with ginger, pepper, and tartar, and paid toll duty as white lead, wrapped up in bales of cloth and frankincense. there were travelling waggons with false bottoms, which were specially prepared for such transports. a still better safeguard was an ecclesiastic as a travelling companion; but the best of all was a trumpeter, who gave the trader the appearance of being a prince's courier. if it happened that a distinguished lord was travelling towards the same country, it was expedient to bribe him, for he and his suite, their waggons and horses, were never examined at the city gates. sometimes the agent disguised himself as a distinguished lord or soldier, and caused the burden to be conveyed by the trooper's horses or his servants. sometimes the mint-master was obliged to travel to the frontier to meet the agent, under the pretext of paying a visit to some friend. then the costly goods were carried far from the dwellings of men, across lonely heaths, or through the clearings of a wood, from one hand to another, on a merchant's parole. meanwhile the petty jewish dealer carried at night, along byways over the frontier, his wallet full of old groschen, in the twofold fear of robbers and of the guardians of the law. the wallet, the broad-brimmed hat, and the yellow cloth border to the coat, the mark of a jew of the empire, was frequently seen at the mint. there existed between the dealer and the mint-master a confidential business connection, certainly not without a mental reservation; for it occasionally happened to the jew that false thalers were found in one of the hundred marks which he delivered in thalers, or that the wallet together with the coin had become moist during the journey, which added some half-ounces to their weight, or that fine white sand became mingled with the granulated silver, and was weighed with it. for this the mint-master indemnified himself, by hanging the scales so that one side of the beam was shorter than the other, by causing the scales to spring up and descend slowly, notwithstanding the perpendicular position of the balance, in order to make the wares some half-ounces lighter, or by falsifying the weights altogether. what the masters did not do, the apprentices of the mint ventured upon. however cautious the purveyor might be during the smelting assay, they understood how to mix copper dust with the silver already weighed, in order to make the assay worse than it really was. such was the state of the traffic even at those mints where there was still some respect for the law. besides the licensed coiners, there were others in most of the ten circles, of easier conscience and bolder practice; not exactly false coiners in our sense of the term, although this was carried on with great recklessness; but nobles and corporations who had the right of coining, and prized it highly as a source of income; for, contrary to the imperial decrees, which imposed upon them the duty of having their money coined in one of the approved mints of the circle, they coined actively in their own territory. sometimes they let their right of coining for a year's rent, nay, they even disposed of their mints to other princes as a speculation. these irregular coining places were called hedge mints, and in them a systematic corruption of money took place. no inquiry was made as to the right of the coiners; whoever knew how to manage fire and metal, engaged in this kind of work. there was little regard for the prescribed fineness of texture, and weight of the money; it was coined with false stamps, and the head of the ruler, with the date of a better period, were stamped on light coin; nay, in regular false coining, the stamps of foreign mints were often counterfeited. the brightness of the new coin was removed by tartar or lead water; and all this took place under the protection of the sovereign. the disposal of the money thus coined required all the cunning and circumspection of the agents, and a line of industry was in this way formed, which we may presume occupied many intermediate hands. thundering decrees had been fulminated for seventy years at the imperial diets and assemblages of the circles, against the hedge mints, but without success. indeed, after the introduction of good imperial money, they became more numerous and active, for the work paid better. such was the state of things even before the year . the sovereigns, small and great, required more and more money. then some of the princes of the empire--the brunswickers, alas! were among the first--began to outdo the proceedings of the most notorious of the hedge mints; they caused the coin of the country, both heavy and light, to be struck of a bad mixture of silver and copper, instead of silver, and soon it was only copper silvered. at last, as for example at leipzig, a small angular coin was issued by the city, no longer of copper, which was of higher value, but of pure tin. this discovery of making money at little cost spread like a pestilence. from both of the circles of saxony it spread to those of the rhine and southern germany. hundreds of new mints were established. wherever a ruined tower appeared firm enough for a forge and bellows, wherever there was abundance of wood for burning, and a road to bring good money to the mint and carry away bad, there a band of coiners nestled. electors and nobles, ecclesiastical communities and cities outvied each other in making copper money; even the people were infected with it. for a century the art of making gold, and treasure digging had occupied the fancies of the people; now the happy time appeared to have arrived, when every fish-kettle could be turned into silver in the coiners' scales. a mania for money-making began. pure silver and old silver gilt became continually and strikingly dearer in mercantile traffic, so that at last it was necessary to pay four, five or more new gulden for one old silver gulden, and the price of goods and the necessaries of life slowly rose; but that signified little to the multitude, so long as the new money, the production of which seemed to increase without end, was willingly taken. the nation, already excited, became at last madly intoxicated. every one thought they had the opportunity of becoming rich without labour; all applied themselves to trafficking in money. the merchant had money dealings with the artisan, the artisan with the peasant. a general craving, chaffering, and overreaching prevailed. the modern swindling in funds and on 'change, gives only a weak notion of the proceedings of that time. whoever had debts hastened to pay them; whoever could get money from an accommodating coiner, in exchange for an old brewing vessel,[ ] could buy therewith house and fields; whoever had to pay wages, salaries, or fees, found it convenient to do so in plated copper. there was little work done in the cities, and only for very high pay. whoever had any old thalers, gold gulden, or other good imperial money lying in their chests as a store in case of need, as was then the case with almost every one, drew out his treasure and was delighted to exchange it for new money, as the old thalers, in a most remarkable way, appeared to be worth four, nay even six and ten times as much as formerly. that was a jolly time. if wine and beer were dearer than usual, they were not so in the same proportion as the old silver money. part of the gains were jovially spent in the public-house. every one was disposed to give, in those times. the saxon cities readily agreed, at the diet at torgau, to a great addition to the land tax, as money was to be obtained everywhere in superfluity. people also were very ready to contract debts, for money was offered everywhere, and business could be done with it on favourable conditions; great obligations therefore were undertaken on all sides. thus a powerful stream carried away the people to destruction. but a counter stream arose, first gentle, then continually stronger. those were first to complain who had to live on a fixed income, the parish priests most loudly, the schoolmasters and poor misanthropes most bitterly. those who had formerly lived respectably on two hundred gulden, good imperial coin, now only received two hundred light gulden, and if, as often undoubtedly happened, the salary of some were raised about a quarter in amount, they could not even with this addition defray half, nay even the fourth part, of the necessary expenses. upon this unprecedented occasion the ecclesiastics referred to the bible, and found there an indisputable objection to all hedge minting, and began to preach from their pulpits against light money. the schoolmasters starved in the villages as long as they could, then ran away and increased the train of vagabonds, beggars, and soldiers; the servants next became discontented. the wages, which averaged ten gulden a year, hardly sufficed to pay for their shoes. in every house there were quarrels between them and their masters and mistresses. men and maid servants ran away, the men enlisted and the maids endeavoured to set up for themselves. meanwhile the youths dispersed from the schools and universities, few parents among the citizens being sufficiently well off to be able to support their sons entirely during the period of education. there were however a multitude of scholarships founded by benevolent people for poor students. the value of these now suddenly vanished, the credit of the poor scholars in foreign towns was soon exhausted, many found it impossible to maintain themselves; they sank under poverty and the temptations of that bloody period. we may still read in the autobiographies of many respectable theologians, what distress they then suffered. one supported life in vienna, by cutting daily his master's tallies for a four-penny loaf; another was able to earn eighteen batz[ ] in the week, by giving lessons, the whole of which he was obliged to spend on dry bread. there was increasing discontent. first among the capitalists who lived on the interest of the money which they had lent, which was then in middle germany five, or occasionally six, per cent. for a time they were much envied as wealthy people, but now their receipts were often hardly sufficient to maintain life. they had lent thousands of good imperial thalers, and now a creditor would pay them on the nail a thousand thalers in new money. they demanded back their good old money; they squabbled and laid their complaints before the courts; but the money which they had received back bore the image of the sovereign and the old mark of value; it was legally stamped money, and the debtor could in justice allege that he had received similar money, both as interest and capital and for labour. thus there arose numberless lawsuits; and the lawyers were in great perplexity. at last the cities and even the sovereigns were embarrassed. they had willingly issued the new money, and many of them had coined it recklessly. but now for all their taxes and imposts they obtained only bad money, a hundred pounds of plated copper instead of a hundred pounds of silver, at the same time everything had become dear, even to them, and a portion of their expenses had to be paid in good silver. then the governments attempted to assist themselves by new frauds. first they endeavoured to retain the good money by compulsion; now they suddenly lowered the value of their own money, and again threatened punishment and compulsion to all who gave less value for it. but the false money still continued to sink under the regulated value. then some governments refused to take for the payment of taxes and imposts, the money of their own country which they themselves had coined. they declined taking back what they had stamped in the last year. now for the first time the people discovered the whole danger of their position. a general storm broke loose against the new money; it sank even in daily traffic to a tenth of its nominal value. the new hedge mints were cried down as nests of the devil; the mint-masters and their agents, the money-changers, and whoever else dealt in money concerns, were the general objects of detestation. then it was that they obtained in germany the popular names of _kipper_ and _wipper_. these are lower saxon words: _kippen_ comes equally from the fraudulent weighing, as from the clipping of the money; and _wippen_ from throwing the heavy money out of the scales.[ ] satirical songs were sung about them; it was supposed that their names were heard in the call of the quail, and the mob cried out after them "_kippe di wipp_," as they did "_hep_" after the jews. in many places the people combined together and stormed their dwellings. for many a year after the terrors of the long war, it was considered a disgrace to have acquired money in the _kipper-time_. everywhere disorders and tumults arose; the bakers would no longer bake, and their shops were destroyed; the butchers would no longer slaughter, on account of the prescribed tax; the miners, soldiers, and students raged about in a state of wild uproar; the city communities, deep in debt, became bankrupt, as for example the wealthy leipzig. the old joints of the burgher societies cracked and threatened to burst asunder. the small literature urged on and excited the temper of the public mind, and was itself still further excited by the increasing discontent. the street songs began it, and the pictorial flying-sheets followed. the _kippers_ were unweariedly portrayed with the flames of hell round their heads, their feet standing on an insecure ball, surrounded by numerous gloomy emblems, amongst which the cord and the lurking raven were not absent; or in their mints collecting and carrying off money, and in contrast to them the poor, begging; the different classes were depicted, soldiers, citizens, widows and orphans, paying to the money-changers their hard earnings; the jaws of hell appeared open, and the changers were assiduously shoved down by devils; all this was adorned, according to the taste of the times, with allegorical figures and latin devices, made comprehensible to every one by indignant couplets in german. as among the people, so also among the educated, a fierce storm began to rage. the parish priests were loud in their invectives and denunciations, not only from the pulpit but also in flying-sheets. a brochure literature began, which swelled up like a sea. one of the first that was written against the new money was by w. andreas lampe, pastor at halle. in a powerful treatise, 'on the last brood and fruit of the devil, leipzig, ,' he proved, by numerous citations from the old and new testament, that all trades and professions in the world, even that of an executioner, were by divine ordinance; but the _kipper_ was of the devil, whereupon he characterizes in some cutting passages the mischief which they had caused. he had to suffer severe trials, and though he loyally spared the authorities, yet he was threatened with proceedings, so that he found it necessary to obtain from the sheriffs' court at halle a justification. he was soon followed by many of his clerical brethren. the controversial writings of these ecclesiastics appear to us clumsy productions; but it is well to examine them with attention, for the protestant priesthood are always representatives of the cultivation and the rectitude of the people. the preachers exorcised the evil one, and the theological faculty soon followed with the heavy artillery of their latin arguments, and how bitter was the priestly anger, was shown for example by the consistory of wittemberg, when they refused the lord's supper and honourable burial to the kippers. lastly we have the lawyers with their questions, informations, detailed opinions on coining and recapitulations. the answers which they gave in thick brochures were almost always very diffuse, and their arguments frequently subtile; still they were necessary, for the disputes concerning _meum_ and _tuum_ between creditor and debtor appeared interminable, and numberless lawsuits threatened to prolong insupportably the sufferings of the people. the principal subjects of investigation were, whether those who had lent good money were to be repaid capital and interest in light money; and again, whether those who had lent light money had a claim for the repayment of the full capital in good money. it must be remarked here that, in many cases which the law and the acuteness of lawyers did not reach, the dispute was ended by that true feeling of equity which was inherent in the people. for when the governments were generally bad, and legal justice was very costly and difficult to be obtained, much had to be accomplished by the practical sense of individuals. a little flying leaf, in which is related how the sound common sense of the village magistrate administered justice, was certainly not less useful than a massive half-latin, half-german "_informatio_." in the flood of paper, which gives us information concerning the excitement of that period, there are certain sheets which more especially arrest our attention--the utterances of educated and experienced men, who know how to tell shortly and effectively in a popular form, from whence it all arose. some of these flying-sheets, written at different periods of the thirty years' war, have been preserved to us, in which we may even now behold with admiration, both energy of character, power of language, and genuine statesmanlike discernment. in vain do we inquire for the name of the author. we will only mention here one of these writings. its title is, 'expurgatio, or vindication of the poor _kipper_ and _wipper_, given by kniphardum wipperium, . fragfurt.' the author has chosen the valiant lampe as the object of his attack, as the cautious zeal of the saxon ecclesiastic whose distinguished colleagues were accused of being wippers--for example, the notorious court preacher hoe, the subservient tool of the elector--had excited the indignation of a powerful mind. a manly judgment, and a very just democratic tone appears in the strong expressions of this writing. we may judge of its peculiar tenour from the following passages:-- "i have never yet seen a single penny, and much less an inferior coin, on which was to be found the names, arms, or stamp of _kipper_ and _wipper_, still less any inscription from the new quail call, _kippediwipp_. but one may truly see thereupon a well-known stamp or image, and the _kipper_ or _wipper_ will not appear even in the smallest letter of the alphabet. "but if herr magister does not rightly understand the matter, let him ask who has bought the old saucepans at the highest price, in order to assist the coining; having done so, herr magister will truly learn who has coined the copper and tin money. for truly so many old pans in which so much good gruel or millet pap has been made, and so many coppers in which so much good beer has been brewed, are melted down and coined, and this not by the vulgar _kipper_, but by the _arch kipper_. for the others have no regale to coin, and if they, like the blood and deer hounds, have scented and hunted out such things, they have done so by the command of others, and thus are not to be so severely condemned as those (let them call themselves what they may) who have the regalie, and misuse it to the perceptible damage of the german states. "no one now-a-days will bell the cat, or, like john the baptist, tell the truth to herod. every one heaps abuse upon the poor rogues, the _kippers_ and _wippers_, who nevertheless do not carry on this business by their own authority, for all that they do takes place with the knowledge, consent, and approbation of the government. and alas, they have now-a-days many competitors. for as soon as any one gets a penny or a groschen that is a little better than another, he forthwith makes with it usurious profit. therefore, as experience teaches, it comes to pass as follows: the doctors abandon their invalids and think far more of usury than of hippocrates and galen; the lawyers forget their legal documents, lay aside their practice, and taking usury in hand, let who will peruse bartholus and balbus. the same is also done by other men of learning, who study arithmetic more than rhetoric and philosophy; the merchants, shop-keepers, and other traders acquire nowadays their greatest gains by their hardwares which are marked by the mint stamp. "from this we may perceive that the 'unhanged, thievish, oath-forgetting, dishonourable,' _kippers_ and _wippers_, though not indeed to be quite exculpated, are not so much to be condemned as if they were the _causa principalis_ of the ruin of the german states. i have, alas! assuredly great fears, that if once there is a delivery to the devil or hangman, the _kippers_ and _wippers_, changers and usurers, jews and jew associates, helpers and helpers' helpers, one thief with another, will all be hurled off to the devil, or be hung up at the same time together, like yonder host with his companions. yet with a difference. for their principals and patrons will justly have the prerogative and pre-eminence, and indeed some of them have been already sent there beforehand. the others will shortly follow to the above-mentioned place, and it will then avail nothing on this journey downward, whether one treats them with _carmina_ or _crimina_, whether one passes judgment on them as criminals, or gives them laudatory poems--_facilis descensus averni_--they will easily find the way, for they need no good fortune for that; the devil will couple them all with one cord, be the rogues ever so big. _fiat_." it is not improbable that a similar view of their social prospects in another world was impressed upon the rulers from many quarters. at all events, even they discovered that they could only be saved by the most speedy help; nothing would avail them but the reduction and hasty withdrawal of the new coinage, and a return to the good old imperial coin. thus the first fears of the princes and cities caused them to depreciate their new money, and to make use of these verdicts in order to express their abhorrence--not of very old date--of the bad coin, and they forthwith had the coin stamped honourably of due weight and alloy, as prescribed by the imperial law. in order to put a stop to the excessive increase of prices, they hastened to put forth a tariff of goods and wages, which decided the highest price to be permitted. it is clear that this latter remedy could not be of more lasting use than the famous edict of diocletian, thirteen hundred years before. the compulsion which, for example, it exercised over the city weekly markets, day labourers, and guilds, was only a temporary help for restoring the overflowing stream to its old bed. this state of intoxication, terror, and fury was followed by a dreary reaction. men gazed on one another as after a great pestilence. those who had rested secure in their opulence had sunk into ruin. many worthless adventurers now strutted, as persons of distinction, in velvet and silk. the whole nation had become poorer. there had not been any great war for a long time, and many millions in silver and gold, the savings of the inferior classes, had been inherited in city and village from father to son; the greater part of these savings had vanished in the bad times; it had been squandered on carousals, frittered away on trifles, and at last expended for daily food. but this was not the greatest evil; it was a still greater, that at this time the citizen, and countryman had been forcibly torn from the path of their honest daily labour. frivolity, an unsettled existence, and a reckless egotism, had taken possession of them. the destroying powers of war had sent forth their evil spirits to loosen the firm links of burgher society, and to accustom a peaceful, upright, and laborious people to the sufferings and mal-practices of an army which shortly overran all germany. the period from to was henceforth called the "_kipper and wipper_" time. the confusion, the excitement, the trafficking, and the flying-sheet literature lasted till the year . the lessons which the princes had learnt from the consequences of their flagitious actions did not avail them against later temptations. even at the end of the seventeenth century it seems to have been impossible for them entirely to avoid hedge mints, and the continual recurrence of a depreciation of money. whilst tilly was conquering lower saxony, and wallenstein made great havoc in northern germany, small literature flowed in an under-current. after every engagement, and every capture of a city, there appeared copper engravings, with a text which described the position of the troops and the appearance of the city; irregular newspapers, and songs of lament conveyed the information of the advance of the imperialists, and the destruction of the mansfelders. in the midst of all this the people were dismayed by terrible decrees of the emperor, who now from his secure position threw over the evangelicals, or compelled them by force to return to his church, in spite of the fruitless intercessions of the elector of saxony. the elector at last authorized the publication of a defence of the augsburg confession, against the attacks of the catholic theologians; this comprehensive work, called, 'the necessary defence of the apple of the eye,' written in , called forth immediately a theological war; both opponents and allies hastened in crowds to the field. 'spectacles for the evangelical apple of the eye;' 'a sharp round eye on the romish pope;' 'who has struck the calf in the eye? the catholic oculist or coucher;' 'venetian spectacles on lutheran nose,' &c. these are specimens of the defiant titles of the most readable of the controversial writings. but this literary strife was drowned in the burst of loud outcries against wallenstein, which pierced from pomerania through all the german states, on account of the battle near stralsund, and his shameful conduct towards the pomeranian duke and his country, and finally the horrible ill treatment of the men and women of pasewalk. again these lamentations changed into a shout of joy from all the protestants. again hope and confidence revived; this time it was a man, whom the nation, with the genuine german longing to love and honour, welcomed with shouts of jubilee. what had been wanting to the germans for a century, came to them from the north, an idol and a hero. but he was a foreigner. much of that halo of light still surrounds the figure of gustavus adolphus, which distinguished him in the eyes of his cotemporaries so immeasurably above all other generals and princes. it is not his victories, nor his knightly death, nor the circumstance that he appeared as the last help to a despairing people, which makes him the one prominent figure in the long struggle. it was the magic of his great nature, as he rode over the field of battle, firm, self-contained, and as confident as unerring; from head to foot he was dignity, decision, and nervous energy. if one examines more nearly, one is astonished at the strong contrasts which combined in this character to form an admirable unity. no general was more systematic, fertile in plans, or greater in the science of war. discipline in the army, order in the commissariat, a firm basis, and secure lines of retreat in every strategical operation, these were the requisites he brought with him to the conduct of the german war. but even he, the powerful prince of war, was driven by an irresistible necessity from his good system, but with the whole power of his being he incessantly stemmed the tide of the wild marauding war that raged around him. and yet this same systematic man bore within him a rash spirit of daring against the greatest hazards; his bearing in the battle was wonderfully elevated, like that of a noble battle steed. his eyes lighted up, his figure became more lofty, and a smile played on his countenance. again, how wonderful appears to men, the union in him of frank honesty and wary policy, of upright piety and worldly wisdom, of high-minded self-sacrifice and reckless ambition, of heartfelt humanity and stern severity! and all this was enlivened by an inward confidence and freedom of mind, which enabled him to look in a humorous point of view on the distracted condition of the decaying princes of the country. the irresistible power which he exercised over all who came under his influence, consisted principally in the freshness of his nature, his surpassing good humour, and where it was necessary, an ironical bonhomie. the way in which he managed the proud and wavering princes, and the hesitating cities of the protestant party, was not to be surpassed; he was never weary of exciting them to war, and alliance; he ever reverted to the same theme, whether to the envoy of the brandenburger, or when flattering the nurembergers, or chiding the frankforters. he was closely allied, both by race and faith, to the northern germans; but he was a foreigner. this was thoroughly and constantly felt by the princes. it was not alone distrust of his superior power which, till the bitterest necessity compelled them to union, kept aloof from him the irresolute, but it was the discovery in him of a new master; they revolted at the idea of this mighty non-german power, which so suddenly and threateningly arose in the empire. there was still to be found in a few of them somewhat of luther's national idea of the empire. they had no hesitation in negotiating with france, denmark, the netherlands, nay with the unreliable bethlem gabor; all these were outside the empire. within its boundaries there was the fanatical emperor and his insupportable general; they were new people to them, who might pass away as rapidly as they had become great; but the sovereignty of the german empire was old, and they were the pillars of it. this conception was no longer in accordance with the highest policy, for the german emperor had become the most mortal enemy of the german empire. but such a feeling is not deserving of contempt; and the nation as well as most of the princes, felt to the heart's core that their quarrel with the emperor was in fact a domestic one, in which foreigners should have no concern. but the people, blinded by their delight in the dazzling heroism of the protestant king, lost sight of these considerations. for two years public opinion paid homage to him, as it has never done since, except to the great frederic of prussia. every word, every little anecdote was carried from city to city, and loud acclamations greeted every success of his arms. it was not only the zealous protestants who thus felt; even in the catholic armies and in the states of the league, the scorn was quickly silenced which had been called forth by the landing of the "snow king," and the number of his admirers continually increased. many characteristic traits of him are preserved to us; almost every conversation that he had with germans, gives an opportunity of discovering something of his nature. we will give here a short conversation, after his landing in pomerania, recorded by a clever negotiator. the elector of brandenburg had sent his plenipotentiary, von wilmersdorff, to persuade the king to conclude an armistice with the emperor; he further wished to negotiate a peace between them, although wallenstein had already deprived him of his dominions, and the emperor had shown him every kind of disregard. the conversation of the king with the envoy gives a good picture of his method of negotiating. he is here concise, firm, and straightforward, in spite of some mental reservation; and so perfectly self-possessed that he can allow his lively temperament to break forth without danger. the envoy relates as follows:-- "after his kingly majesty had listened graciously to me, though when i came to the proposition of an armistice he rather smiled, he, no one being present, answered me circumstantially. "'i had expected a different kind of embassy from my loving cousin; that is to say, that he would rather have come to meet me and united himself with me for his own welfare; and not that my loving cousin should be so weak as to lose this opportunity so providentially sent by god. my loving cousin will not comprehend the clear and evident intentions of his enemies; he does not discern the difference between pretexts and truth, nor consider that when this pretence shall cease, that is to say, when they have no longer anything more to fear from me, another will soon be found to establish himself in my loving cousin's country. "'i had not expected that my loving cousin would have been so much terrified at the war as to remain inactive notwithstanding all the consequences to himself. or does not my cousin yet know, that the intention of the emperor and his allies is not to desist till the evangelical religion is entirely rooted out of the empire? my loving cousin must be prepared either to deny his religion or abandon his country. does he think that anything else can be obtained by prayers, entreaties, or the like means? for god's sake let him reflect a little, and for once take _mascula consilia_. you see how this excellent prince the duke of pomerania was in the most innocent way,--having really committed no offence but only peaceably drunk his beer,--brought into the most lamentable condition, and how wonderfully he was saved under god's providence, _fato quodam necessario_--for he was constrained to do so--by making terms with me. what he did from necessity my loving cousin may do willingly. "'i cannot withdraw, _jacta est alea, transivimus rubiconem_. i do not seek my own advantage in this business; i gain nought but the security of my kingdom; beyond this i have nothing but expenses, trouble, labour, and danger to body and soul. they have occasioned me enough; in the first place they have twice sent help to my enemies the poles, and endeavoured to drive me away; then they have endeavoured to possess themselves of the harbours of the baltic, whereby i could well perceive what their intentions towards me were. my loving cousin the elector is in a similar case, and it is now time that he should open his eyes and give up somewhat of his easy life, that he may no longer be a stadtholder of the emperor, nay even an imperial servant in his own country: "qui se fait brebis le loup le mange." "'this is now precisely the best opportunity, when your country is free from imperial soldiers, to garrison and defend your fortresses. if you will not do this, deliver over one to me, if it be only küstrim. i will defend it, and you may then remain in the inactivity which your prince so dearly loves. "'what other will you do? for i declare to you distinctly, i will not hear of neutrality, my loving cousin must be either friend or foe. when i come to your frontier you must show yourselves either cold or warm. this is a struggle between god and the devil; if my loving cousin will hold to god, let him unite with me; but if he would rather hold to the devil, he must henceforth fight against me, _tertium non dabitur_, of that he may be assured. "'take this commission upon you to inform my loving cousin secretly of it, for i have none with me whom i can spare to send to him. if my loving cousin will treat with me, i will see if i can go to him myself; but with his present arrangements i will have nothing to do. "'my loving cousin trusts neither in god nor to his good friends. it has gone ill with him therefore in prussia and this country. i am the devoted servant of my loving cousin, and love him from my heart: my sword shall be at his service, and it shall preserve him in his sovereignty and to his people, but he must do his part also. "'my loving cousin has great interest in this dukedom of pomerania; this will i also defend for his advantage, but on the same condition as in the book of ruth the next inheritor is commanded to take ruth for his wife, so must my loving cousin take to him this ruth; that is, unite himself with me in this righteous business if he wishes to inherit the country. if not, i here declare that he shall never obtain it. "'i am not disinclined to peace, and have conformed myself to it contentedly. i know well that the chances of war are doubtful; i have experienced that, in the many years in which i have carried on war with various fortune. but as i have now, by god's grace, come so far, no one can counsel me to withdraw, not even the emperor himself if he were to make use of his reason. "'i might perhaps allow of an armistice for a month. it may appear fitting to me that my loving cousin should mediate. but he must place himself in a position, arms in hand, otherwise all his mediation will avail nothing. some of the hanse towns are ready to unite with me. i only wait for some one in the empire to put himself prominently at the head. what might not the electors of saxony and brandenburg together with these cities, accomplish? would to god that there were a maurice!' "thereupon i replied that i had no commands from his electoral highness to confer with his majesty, touching an armed alliance. but in my poor opinion, i doubted much whether his electoral highness would be able to come to an understanding without detriment to his honour and truth, _salvo honore et fide sua_. "then his majesty interposed promptly: 'yes, they will honour you when they have deprived you of your land and people. the imperialists will keep faith with you as they have kept the capitulation.' "i: 'it is necessary to look to the future, and consider how all will fall to ruin if the undertaking does not prosper.' "the king: 'that will happen if you remain inactive, and would have done so already if i had not come. my loving cousin ought to do as i have done, and commend the result to god. i have not lain on a bed for fourteen days. i might have spared myself this trouble and sat at home with my wife if i had had no greater considerations.' "i: 'as your kingly majesty is content that his electoral highness should become mediator, you must at least allow his electoral highness to remain neutral.' "the king: 'yes, till i come to his country. such an idea is mere chaff, which the wind raises and blows away. _what kind of a thing is that neutrality? i do not understand it!_' "i: 'yet your kingly majesty understood it well in prussia, where you yourself suggested it to his electoral highness and to the city of dantzic.' "the king: 'not to the elector, but certainly to the city of dantzic, for it was to my advantage.' "after this he returned again to the subject of the duke of pomerania, saying that the good prince had been well content with him. he would have restored him stralsund, rügen, usedom, wollin, and all the rest. the duke had desired that his majesty should be his father. 'but i,' said his majesty, 'answered, i would rather be his son, as he has no children.' "thereupon i answered: 'yes, kingly majesty, that might very well be, if his electoral highness could only maintain the law of primogeniture in pomerania.' "the king: 'yes, that may be very easily maintained by my loving cousin; but he must defend it, and not, like esau, sell it for a mess of pottage.'" thus far goes the narrative. when the great king, the lord of half germany, sank into the dust in battle, the wail of lamentation broke forth in all the protestant territories. funeral services were performed in the towns and country, endless elegies poured forth; even the enemy concealed their joy under a manly sympathy, which at that time was seldom accorded to opponents. his death was considered as a national misfortune; the deliverer and the saviour of the people was lost: we also, whether catholic or protestant, should not only regard with heartfelt sympathy that pure hero life, which in the prime of its strength was so suddenly extinguished, but we should also contemplate with the deepest gratitude the influence of the king upon the german war; for he had, in a time of desperation, defended that which luther had attained for the whole nation,--freedom of soul, and capacity for the development of national strength against the most fearful enemy of the german national existence, against a crushing despotism in church and state. but we must also observe concerning him, that the fate which he met strikes us as more peculiarly tragical because he drew it upon himself. history makes us acquainted with some characters which, after mighty deeds, are suddenly struck down at the height of their fame by a rapid change of fate in the midst of powerful but unaccomplished conception. such heroes have a popular mixture of qualities of soul, which make them the privileged favourites both of posterity and art. such was the case with the almost fabulous hero, the great alexander; and thus it was, in a more limited sphere, with smaller means, with the swedish king gustavus adolphus: but however accidental the fever or the bullet which carried them off may appear to us, their destruction arose from their own greatness. the conqueror of asia had become an asiatic despot before he died; the deliverer of germany was shot by an imperial mercenary when he was rushing through the dust of the battle-field, not like a general of the seventeenth century, but like a "viking" of the olden time, who fought their battles in wild excitement under the protection of the battle-maidens of odin. often already had the incautious heroism of the king led him into rash daring and useless danger, and long had his faithful adherents feared that he would at some time meet his end thus. it was a wise policy which led him to establish himself on the german coast, in order to secure to his sweden the dominion of the baltic, also to draw the sea-ports to his interests, and to desire firm points of support on the oder, elbe, and weser. but what duty did he owe to the german empire, whose own emperor wished to suppress the national life and popular development by roman money, and calling thither hordes of soldiers from half europe? when gustavus adolphus conceived the idea of making himself lord paramount over the german princes, when he proceeded to form an hereditary power for himself in germany, he was no longer the great cotemporary of richelieu, but again the descendant of an old norman chieftain. it is possible that the power of the man, during a longer life and after many victories, might have brought under his sway, with or without an imperial throne, the greater part of germany; but that sweden, the foundation of his power, was not in a position to exercise a lasting supremacy over germany, a small distant country over a larger, must have been obvious even then to the weakest politician. the king might still for some years longer have sacrificed the peasant sons of sweden on the german battle-fields, and corrupted the swedish nobility by german plunder; but he could not build up an enduring dynasty for both people, whatever his genius might have accomplished for a time. men of ordinary powers would soon have restored things to their natural condition. we are therefore of opinion, that he died just when his lofty desires were beginning to contend against a fundamental law of the new state life, and we may assume that even a longer life of success would not have made much alteration in our position. when he died, his natural heir in germany was already twelve years of age: this heir was frederic william, the great elector of brandenburg. gustavus adolphus was the last but one of the northern princes to whom the old scandinavian expedition to the south proved fatal. charles xii., dying before friedrichshall, was the last. as the funeral lament died away in germany, there began a reaction in public opinion against the foreigners. the catholic faction had, during the whole war, the doubtful advantage that their quarrels and private dissensions were not brought to light by the press, but their protestant opponents were broken into parties. it was more especially after saxony, in , had endeavoured, at prague, to make an inglorious reconciliation with the emperor by a separate peace, that there arose both in the north and south an imperial and a swedish party, and much weak dissension besides. the french endeavoured, but without success, to gain by means of the press, adherents on the rhine. bernhard von weimar found warm admirers, who foresaw in him the successor of gustavus adolphus. he possessed great talents as a general, and some of the winning qualities of the great king; but he was only in one respect his successor, that he carried on in the most dangerous way the too great political daring of his instructor. he wished to make use of, and at the same time deceive, a foreign power which was greater and stronger than himself: it was an unequal struggle, and he, as the weaker party, was soon put aside by france, and these foreigners possessed themselves of his political legacy, his fortress and his army. while love and hate were thus divided in this gloomy period, there arose among the better portion of the nation a characteristic patriotism, which the german people, in the midst of their great need and sufferings, opposed to the egotistic interests of the rulers who helped to destroy each other. there no longer existed any party to which a wise man could from his heart wish success. differences of faith had diminished, and the soldiers complained, without scruple, of confession. then began for the first time a new political system, called a constitution founded on reason, in opposition to the reckless selfishness of the rulers. but even this constitutional principle, the basis of which was the advantage of the whole, as it was then understood, was still without greatness of conception or any deep moral purport; and there was no repugnance to the employment of the worst means in carrying it out. still it was an advance. even the peaceful citizen, after eighteen years of troubles, was obliged to take an interest in this political system. the character of the ruling powers and their interests became everywhere a subject of deliberation. every one was terrified out of his provincial narrowness of mind, and had urgent reasons for interesting themselves in the fate of foreign countries. thousands of fugitives, the most powerful members of the community, had scattered themselves over distant provinces, the same misfortunes had befallen them also. thus, amidst the horrors of war, was developed in germany a feeling of distrust of their rulers, a longing for a better national condition. it was a great but dearly bought advance of public opinion; it may be discerned more particularly in the political literature after the peace of prague. a specimen of this tendency is here introduced from a small flying-sheet, which appeared in under the title of 'the german brutus: that is, a letter thrown before the public.' "you swedes complain that germany is ungrateful, that it drives you away with violence, that the good deeds, done with god's power by joshua, are forgotten, the alliance no longer thought of, in short, that you are less valued, like an old worn-out horse, or decrepit hound, both of which, when no longer useful, get such thanks as the world gives. thus you are treated with great injustice before god and the world. "be of good comfort: there are many remaining who wish you well from their heart, who pray for you, and show their devotion to you in every possible way. a country where such people are to be found cannot be accused of ingratitude; and that there are yet many thousand such people, even your enemies know right well. but that selfishness, secret envy, hidden counsels, and clandestine negotiations are stirred up against you, must not be ascribed to the whole of this praiseworthy german nation, but only to the causes which have led to such results; for you have on your part shown a double amount of selfishness. "in the first place, in raising at your pleasure the toll on the baltic; for i have been told by honest trustworthy seafaring folk, that you have exacted from people, not only from fifteen to thirty, but up to forty, nay, even to fifty out of a hundred, and have troubled all hearts by this rapacity; and as no improvement has taken place, but commerce has been thereby miserably straitened, and many honest people have been lamentably brought to beggary, the minds of men being thereby much embittered, your best friends began at first to condemn you secretly, and at last through their falling fortunes were made your worst enemies. would you throw the blame on the toll gatherers? they are your servants. it is a well-known rule of law: what i do by my servant is as though done by myself. you appear to me exactly like him who carried off a pair of shoes secretly and offered them afterwards to the holy benno. "the states and cities of the empire, so long as they were in your hands, contributed fully and sufficiently to your maintenance; many, nay too many, to say the least of it, as a proof of their fidelity, have lost soul and body, wealth and life, nay all their privileges, and, in a great measure, religion itself. ratisbon testifies to this. augsburg laments over it. all grieve together over it. you have allowed the old regiments to dissolve, have completed no companies, nor paid either new or old, notwithstanding you have demanded, and in fact received large sums of money from many diets; i say nothing of what you have extorted from your enemies in their own countries. how has this money been spent? in superfluous pomp and luxury which is hateful to every one. we have observed this silently, and made a virtue of necessity. the children of israel, when they had intercourse with the daughters of their enemies, and afterwards boasted of their victory, and tormented their brethren of judah with the hardest yoke of bondage, were both times severely punished by god. and shall it fare better with you who have exercised more than turkish cruelty in many evangelical places? the corn from the monastery of magdeburg, the dukedom of brunswick and other places, has been thrashed out and carried off in heaps from the country, sold at a very high price, and the money spent for your own use, nothing given to the poor soldiers; the country people, harassed to death, are dying of hunger; and many fortresses, from avarice, either not supplied with provisions, or not amply provided with powder and shot, and, in short, general mismanagement. now we see ourselves everywhere abandoned by fortune, so that at last we discover there is no money in hand, and no people to be got, as those who were available have run away, and the remainder will no longer be restrained by martial law. dear friends, think you of the saying of boccalini: 'when the prince leads the life of lucifer, what wonder that the subjects become devils!' "our politicians know well that the electors hold kingly rank in the empire. but who has exalted himself above them with kingly magnificence, a great retinue and boundless expense, is it not your chief (oxenstiern)? do you think that this has not been complained of at every court? his kingly majesty of christian memory never did the like. from these and countless other reasons the princes, states, and cities have become first secretly, and then publicly offended with you; to this may be added a conduct towards the established inhabitants which they cannot well bear, when foreigners place themselves higher than their native princes. "you say that electoral saxony should have made peace by force of arms. let us leave that uncertain. it is known to every one that certain persons have helped to shove the cart into the mud, and afterwards left it there. if electoral saxony has been wrong, you with your procedures are not less guilty. in short, every one, be he who he may, has sought his own advantage; therefore magdeburg lies in ashes, wismar is in ruins, augsburg is bound with the fetters of servitude, nuremberg is in peril of death, ulm is in quotidian fever, strasburg has passed to the french, frankfort has the jaundice, and the whole empire is consumed. the enemy have beaten with rods, but you have chastised with scorpions. the wallensteiners inflicted wounds, and you physicians have applied drawing plasters as a remedy instead of oil, have corrupted the blood and fastened yourselves on like a crab; such a crab must either be cut out by force, or satisfied daily by inordinate sums of money. the last is out of our power, the first we do not wish to do to you, but cannot help it. if god thus harasses you it is your own fault. meanwhile, do you think that god has a flaxen beard, and will allow himself to be led by the nose? oh, no, he sees well that you shelter yourselves under the name of freedom, that you make use of the cloak of the gospel, and at the same time live as turks. "you cry out much about the spanish monarchy. i have no fears of it. give me one of the best chemists who is sufficiently scientific to know how to mingle earth and ores, so that they will hold together firm and infrangible, and then let us see whether we have to fear the spanish monarchy. but i am afraid that france will be to us germans, the broken reed of egypt, which will pierce the hand of whoever leans on it. all empires have their fixed time appointed by god, and a boundary across which they cannot pass. first they arise, then grow like boys; some improve as youths, remain for a time at a standstill in their manhood, then decline, become old, languish and at last die; nay, are so utterly annihilated, that one scarcely knows that they have existed. this course of things cannot be prevented by any human wisdom. the wise man sees this, and prepares himself beforehand; the fool does not believe it, and is ruined, like the surviving generals of alexander the great, who so long divided his conquests, till the romans became their masters. and truly the empire has great need to rid herself at last of foreign physicians. "i have been severe, but a steel axe is necessary to sever such a hard knot, one cannot cut with a fur coat. "it is asked what will be the issue? it rests with god. have you had too little bloodshed? let god be the judge, and fly ye from his wrath. although the church still suffers, it is not yet dead. you cannot complain that you have gained nothing for the money you have spent and the dangers you have undergone. you have brought copper out of your country, but carried silver and gold back to it. sweden, before this war, was of wood thatched with straw, now it is of stone, and splendidly adorned, and that you have obtained from the abducted vessels of egypt. this no one would grudge you if you would only thank god yourselves for it. the germans have indeed been excited to rise against their emperor, but they will take no one who is not of their race and language. if the house of austria has done evil, god will truly search it out. as concerns the french, i know well that god will, through them, punish germany; for we have daily imitated in manners, ceremonies, demeanour, and entertainments, in language and clothing, together with music, this nation of apish behaviour and dress, and frivolous manners. how can we expect better than to fall into their hands? but the frenchman will not therefore become our emperor. to him belongs the lily, the eagle to the germans, the east to the turks, and the west to the spaniards. none among them can reach higher. "i must hope that it will not be taken amiss of me, that i have so roundly described these transactions. but frankness suits a german well. would to god that any one had in good time thus placed the matter before you. now we can indeed complain, but help, none either will or can give. god alone will and can help us; to him we must pray that he may at last have compassion on us, and turn the hearts of the high potentates to love and long-wished-for peace." here ends the flying-sheet. the author, without putting sympathy with the imperialists in the foreground, evidently belongs less to the swedish party than we do now. undoubtedly the swedish soldiers and officers had become merciless devils, like the imperialists, and, like them, they ruined the country and people. but it was not their exorbitant demands which hindered the peace, but the injustice of the emperor, who still continued to raise the execrable pretension to subdue the life and freedom of the nation to his interest. had it been possible for the hapsburgers to assure freedom of faith, and the independence of the imperial tribunals, almost all the german princes would have succumbed to him to drive away the foreigners. but the struggle stood thus: either the nation must be crushed, and all the ideas suppressed, which had grown up in the german soil for one hundred and forty years, or the pretensions of the imperial house must be certainly and fundamentally overcome: the last was impossible to the germans without the help of sweden. thus on a retrospect of those years, every one will be well disposed to sweden, who does not consider it a mere accident that well-known men of later times, like lessing, goethe, schiller, kant, fichte, hegel, and humboldt did not blossom out of the country in which hundreds of thousands were driven from church and school, by the jesuits of ferdinand ii. but at that period the patriot undoubtedly felt the weakness of the empire more than all the fearful misery of the people. and great ground there was for anxiety about the future. from this point of view this brochure is to us the first expression of that feeling which still, in the present day, unites hundreds of thousands of germans. that love of fatherland took root in the oppressed souls of our ancestors during the thirty years' war, which has not yet attained to political life by a unity of constitutions. such a feeling indeed only existed then in the minds of the noblest. but we must honour those who, in a century poor in hope, left in their teaching and writings, as an inheritance to their descendants, the idea of a german empire. after banner's devastating expedition all was quiet in germany. almost all the news and state records which the war had left, flowed from the press. in the last years thousands of printed sheets were filled with the negotiations for peace. finally the peace was announced to the poor people in large placards. chapter v. the thirty years' war.--the cities. when the war broke out, the cities were the armed guardians of german trade, which was carried on with wealth and bustle, in narrow streets between high houses. almost every city, with the exception of the smallest market towns, was shut out from the open country by walls, gates, and moats. the approaches were narrow and easy to defend; there were often double walls, and in many cases the old towers still overtopped the battlements and gates. many of the more important of these middle-age fortifications had been strengthened in the course of the century, the bastions of stone and brick-work, as well as strong single towers, were mounted with heavy artillery; and frequently the old castle of some landed proprietor, or the house of some former magistrate or count appointed by the emperor, were fortified. they were not fortresses in our sense, but they could, if the walls were thick and the citizens stanch, resist even a great army, at least for a long time. thus nördlingen maintained itself in for eighteen days, against the united imperial armies of king ferdinand, gallas, and piccolomini--forming together more than , men: the citizens repulsed seven assaults, with only five hundred men, swedish auxiliaries. for a defence like this, earth sconces were thrown out as outworks, and rapidly united by trenches and palisades. many places, however, far more than at present, were real fortresses. their chief strength consisted in their outworks, which were planned by flemish science. it had long been known that the balls of carronades were more destructive to stone and breast-works than to earth-works. in the larger cities the cleanliness of the streets was much attended to; they were paved, even in the carriage ways; the pavement was raised in the centre for carrying away the water; the chief market-place, as for example in leipzig, was already paved with stone. great efforts had long been made to procure for the cities a certain and abundant supply of drinking-water; under the streets ran wooden conduits; stone cisterns and fountains often decorated with statues, stood in the market-places and principal streets. the streets were not as yet lighted; whoever went out by night required torches or lanterns; later, however, torches were forbidden; but at the corner houses were fixed metal fire-pans, in which, in case of uproar or fire at night, pitch rings and resinous wood were burnt. it was the custom on the breaking out of a fire to allow the water to run from the cisterns or the fountains to the streets which were endangered. for this purpose flood-gates were hung, and it was the duty of particular trades--in leipzig, the innkeepers--to dam up the water with these flood-gates at the burning-places; at the same time from dung that was heaped up, they formed a traverse. the street police and patroles had been improved in the course of the last sixty years. the elector augustus of saxony had organized this department of administration with no little skill. his numerous ordinances were used as models by the whole empire, according to which the princes and cities regulated their new social life. the chief market was on sunday the favourite resort of the men. there, after the sermon, stood the citizens and journeymen in their festival attire, chattering, interchanging news, and conferring together on business. in all commercial cities the merchants had a special room where they met, which was even then called the bourse. on the tower of the council house, over the clock, there was always a gallery, from which the warder kept a look out over the city, and where the city piper blew the trombone and cornet. the city communities kept beer and wine cellars for the citizens, in which the price of the retailed drink was carefully fixed; there were special drinking-rooms for persons of distinction to hold agreeable intercourse. in the old imperial cities, the patricians had generally, like the guilds, their especial club-houses or rooms, and the luxury of such a society was then greater in proportion than now. there were also numerous hotels, which, in leipzig, were already famed for their grandeur, and splendidly arranged. even the apothecaries were under regulations; they had special rules and prices; they sold many spices and delicacies, and whatever else was agreeable to the palate. bath rooms were considered greater necessaries than now. even in the country there was seldom a little farm-house without its bath-house, and there was a bath-room in every large house in the city. the poor citizens went to the barbers, who acted as surgeons, and kept bagnios. but besides these the cities maintained large public baths, in which, gratis, or for a very small payment, warm and cold bathing could be had with every convenience. this primitive german custom was almost abandoned during the war, and is not yet restored to its old extent. in more important cities the houses of the inner town, in , were for the most part built of stone, three and more stories high, and roofed with tiles; the rooms in the houses were often noted for their cleanliness, decoration, and elegance; the walls were generally adorned with worked and embroidered carpets, even of velvet, and with beautiful costly inlaid wainscoting and other decorations; and this not only in the large old commercial cities, but also in some that were in more youthful vigour. the household gear was elegant and carefully collected. there was as yet no such thing as porcelain in use. rich plate was only found at the courts of great princes, and in a few wealthy merchant families. in choice pieces of the noble metals, the artistic work of the goldsmith was of more value than its weight. among the opulent citizens, the place of silver and porcelain was supplied by pewter; it was displayed in great abundance, shining with a bright polish; it was the pride of the housewife, and together with it were placed fine glasses and pottery from foreign countries, often painted and ornamented with either pious or waggish inscriptions. on the other hand the dress and adornments of the men were far more brilliant and costly than now. the feeling of the middle ages was still prevalent, a tendency of the mind for outward display and stately representations directly opposed to ours, and nothing tended so much to preserve this inclination, as the endeavours of the authorities to meet it, by regulating even the outward appearance of individuals, and giving to each class of citizens their own peculiar position. the endless sumptuary laws about dress gave it a disproportionate importance; it fostered more than anything else vanity and an inordinate desire in each to raise himself above his position. it appears to us a ludicrous struggle, which the worthiest magistrates maintained for four centuries up to the french revolution, against all the caprices and excesses of the fashion, and always without success. surrounded by these forms and regulations, lived a rich, vigorous, laborious, and wealthy people; the citizens held jealously to the privileges and dignity of their cities, they liked to exhibit their riches, capacity, and enterprise among their fellow-citizens. handicraft and trade were still very prosperous. it is true, that in wholesale commerce with foreign countries germany had already lost much. the splendour of the hanse towns had faded. the great commercial houses of augsburg and nuremberg even then existed, only as heirs of the great riches of their fathers. italians, french, and above all, english and flemish, had become dangerous rivals, the swedish, danish, and dutch flags floated on the baltic more triumphantly than those of lubeck and other baltic ports, and the commerce with the two indies ran in new currents and into foreign marts. but the german herring fishery was still of great importance, and the vast sclave lands of the east were still an open market to the commerce of the country. but throughout the whole width of the empire industry flourished, and a less profitable but sounder export of the products of the country had produced a general and moderate degree of wealth. the manufactures of wool and leather, and linen, harness, and armour with the ornamental industry of nuremberg were eagerly desired by foreign countries. the chief cause of disturbance was the insecurity of the ratio of value. almost every town had then its special branch of industry, solidly developed under the restrictions and control of guilds. pottery, cloths, leather work, mining, and metal work, gave to individual places a peculiar character, and even to smaller ones a reputation which reached through the country and excited in the citizens a well-justified pride. but in all, scarcely excepting the greatest, agriculture was deemed of more importance than now, not only in the suburbs and farms of the city domains, but also within the towns; many citizens lived upon the produce of their fields. in the smaller towns most persons possessed portions of the town lands, but the richer had other property besides. therefore there were many more beasts of burden and of draught than now, and the housewife rejoiced having her own corn-fields, from which she made her own bread, and if she was skilful, prepared fine pastry according to the custom of the country. the cities had a great share also in the cultivation of the vine, which reached from the north down to lower saxony; the right of brewing beer was considered a valuable privilege by some houses; almost every place brewed beer of its own kind, numberless are the local names of these primitive beverages; much value was attached to its having a strong, sweet, and wine flavour, and oily substance; highly esteemed beer was sent to great distances. the people derived more pleasure from their sensations than they do now, were louder and more unconstrained in their mirth. the luxury of banquets, especially of family feasts, was legally regulated according to the rank of the citizens, and he was not allowed to diminish it. the banquets were arranged in courses as now in england, and in every course a number of similar dishes. already, oysters were sent out as far as they could bear the journey, and sometimes, after the introduction of french cookery, were formed into delicate sauces; caviare was well known, and at the harvest feasts leipzig larks were a favourite dish. in the popular kitchens, besides the indian spices, they had the favourite root of the middle ages, saffron, to colour with; beautifully ornamented show dishes were highly prized, sometimes even eatable dishes were gilt, and at tables of pretension the most distinguished confection was marchpane. the citizens eagerly sought every opportunity for social enjoyment. the carnival mummeries were general in northern germany, when masks swarmed through the streets; the favourite costumes were those of turks, moors, and indians. when during the war the council of leipzig prohibited masks, they made their appearance armed with spears and pistols, and there were tumults with the city watchers. sledge parties were not less popular, and sometimes they also were in costume. public dances were less frequent than now, even at the marriage and artisan feasts they were looked upon with mistrust, as it was difficult to restrain the recklessness of wild boys. they wished to dance without mantles; they lifted up, swung, and twirled about their partners, which was strictly forbidden, and the thronging of the gaping domestics into the saloon was displeasing to the authorities. at twilight all dancing amusements were to cease. the larger cities had lists where the sons of the patricians held their knightly exercise and ran at the ring, also shooting galleries, and trenches for crossbow and rifle practice. the shooting festivities were a great source of enjoyment throughout the country, and on these occasions booths, tents, and cook-shops were erected. the people also took a lively interest in the festivals of particular guilds, and almost every town had its own public feast; for example, erfurt had yearly prize races for the poorer classes; the men ran for stockings and the women for fur cloaks. tennis was a favourite game of the young citizens, which unfortunately in the troubles of the century almost disappeared. there were special tennis courts, and a tennis-court master, of the town. if any gentlemen of distinction came into the town, a place in the market was strewed with sand, and a playground marked off with pegs and cords. there these distinguished persons played, and the citizens watched with pleasure from the windows, to see how a young prince of hesse threw the ball, and how one of anhalt did his best. at the great yearly markets, for more than a century, fortune's urn was a favourite game. sometimes it was undertaken by the town itself, but generally it was granted to some speculator. how much the people were interested in this, we learn from the fact that the town chronicles frequently reported the particulars concerning it. thus, in , at michaelmas, at leipzig a fortune's urn of seventeen thousand gulden was prepared; each ticket cost eighteen pfennige; there were seventeen blanks to one prize; the highest prize was three hundred and fifty gulden, and there were three hundred thousand blanks. the students at last became angry at the number of blanks; they attacked and broke down the lottery booth. the pleasure of the people in spectacles was greater than now, at least more easily satisfied; processions and city solemnities were frequent; plays undoubtedly were still a rare enjoyment, in these the children of the citizens had always the pleasure of representing the characters themselves, as bands of travelling players were still new and rare. the clerical body was already unfavourably disposed to what were called profane pieces, therefore ecclesiastical subjects and allegories with moral tendencies were always interspersed with burlesque scenes, and great was the number of the actors. at the yearly markets the play booths were more abundant than now. at the easter fair at leipzig in , was to be seen, amongst other things, a father with six children who performed beautifully on the lute and violin, a woman who could sew, write, and convey her food to her mouth with her feet, a child of a year old quite covered with hair and with a beard; and of strange animals, there were two marmoset monkeys, a porpoise, and a spoonbill, and, as now, these monsters were recommended to the people by large pictures. besides these there were rope-dancers, fire-eaters, jugglers, acrobats, and numerous ballad singers and vendors. but what gave the greatest feeling of independence to the citizen in was his martial aptitude--almost every one had some practice in the use of weapons. every large city had an arsenal; even the heavy artillery on the fortifications were served by the citizens, who, as a body, were under ordinary circumstances superior to the young companies of besieging soldiers. magdeburg would have made a stronger resistance, if feeling of duty and discipline had not already become weaker among the citizens than in former sieges, in one of which the maiden of the city arms so valiantly defended her garland. besides the city train bands, there was in most of the circles of the empire a regular militia for the defence of the country. about every tenth man in the city or country was drawn, regularly armed, paid during service, and appointed for the internal defence of the frontiers of the country. the beginning of the landwehr dates from the sixteenth century. this regulation was recommended by military theorists as most efficient, and from time to time it was renewed. it was introduced by the states in saxony in , and renewed in ; there were to be altogether in the electorate nine thousand men. the privates were to receive a daily pay of four groschen, and the serjeants ten and a half, and the cost was distributed among the houses. but this militia was found very useless in the war. the discipline was much too lax; the industrious citizen endeavoured to withdraw himself when danger did not threaten his own city; the consequence was, that many unsettled people were scouring the country in arms. if they were required by the community to defend the ploughs in the field against roving marauders, they demanded a special gratification, or they evaded it, and very soon they became more a plague than a benefit to their own country. what ruin the war brought upon the towns may be learned from every town chronicle. first, the disorders of the _kipper_ time inflicted deep wounds on their morality and prosperity. then came the sufferings that even distant war brought upon the citizens, the scarcity and dearness of provisions. everything became so insecure that nothing was thought of but the enjoyment of the day. rough and wild was the love of pleasure; and foreign modes, which had been learned from the travelled courtiers and soldiers became prevalent. from dandyism began in germany after the french fashion; the _messieurs à la mode_ strutted about, molesting every one on the paved footpaths of the streets. they had short pointed beards, long hair in frizzled locks, or cut short on one side, and on the other hanging on the shoulder in a queue or lock, a large flapped hat, spurs on their heels, a sword on the left side, dresses slashed and jagged, a coxcombical bearing, and added to all this, a corrupt language full of french words. the women were not behindhand; they began to carry foreign masks before their faces, and feather fans in their hands; they wore whalebones in their dresses, and repudiated sables, gold and silver stuffs, and, above all--what appeared very remarkable--silver, and at last, indeed, white lace. this conduct raised the indignation of the authorities and pastors, as being fantastic and immoral. to us it appears as the characteristic evil of a time when the old independence of the german citizen was crushed. when an army approached a town, the traffic with the country almost entirely ceased, the gates were carefully watched, and the citizens maintained themselves on the provisions that had been collected. then began the levying of contributions, the passage and quartering of friendly armies, with all its terrors. still worse was the passage of the enemy. they uselessly endeavoured to purchase safety--it was a favour if the enemy did not set fire to the town woods or cut them down for sale, or carry off the town library on his baggage waggon; everything that was inviting to plunder, such as the organ or church pictures, had to be ransomed, even to the church bells, which, according to the custom of war, belonged to the artillery. the cities were not in a position to satisfy the demands of the generals, so the most considerable of the citizens were dragged off as hostages till the sum exacted was paid. if a town was considered strong enough to resist the enemy's army, it was always filled with fugitives at the approach of the enemy, the number of whom was so great that the citizens could not think of providing for them. there came to dresden, for example, in , after the capture of torgau in the course of three days, from the th to the th of may, twelve thousand waggons with fugitive country people. the enemy surrounded the over-filled place; round the walls the battle raged, and within, not less voracious, hunger, misery and sickness. all the fugitives who were capable of bearing arms were employed in severe siege service; the nobility also of the neighbourhood sometimes assisted. if the siege lingered long, the high prices were followed by shameless usury, the millers ground only for the rich, and the bakers made exorbitant demands. the pictures of famine, such as was then experienced in many towns, are too horrible to dwell upon. when at nördlingen a fortified tower was taken by the besiegers, the citizens themselves burnt it down, hungry women fell upon the half-roasted bodies of the enemy and carried pieces home for their children. but if a town was taken by storm it experienced the fate of magdeburg; the mowing down of masses, the dishonouring of women, horrible torments and mutilations; and, added to all this, pestilence. to what an extent pestilence then raged in the cities is scarcely credible; it frequently carried off more than half the inhabitants. in and the following years, it depopulated wide districts; from to it returned again, and still worse in . at all events it gave to each town for years plenty of space, and proportionate peace; and the places--not very numerous--which were only once destroyed in the course of the war, were able to recover themselves. but the most fearful cases of all, were those where the same calamities were two, three, and four times repeated. leipzig was besieged five times, and magdeburg six, and most of the smaller towns were more frequently filled with foreign soldiers; thus both large and small towns were equally ruined. but this was not all; over wide territories raged a plague of quite another kind,--religious persecution,--which was practised by the imperial party wherever it established itself. the army was followed everywhere by crowds of proselytizers, jesuits, and mendicant monks on foot. these performed their office by the help of the soldiers. wherever the roman catholics had a footing, the leaders of the protestant party, and above all the shepherds of souls, were swept away, more especially in the provinces which were the emperor's own domains. much had been done there before the war, but still in the beginning of the war in upper austria, moravia, bohemia, and silesia, the active intelligence of the country and the greater part of the community were evangelical. their general character was improved. whoever, after imprisonment and torture, would not give up his faith was obliged to abandon the country, and many, many thousands did so. the citizens and country people were driven in troops by the soldiers to confession. it was considered a favour when the fugitives were allowed a short insufficient delay for the sale of their movable goods. the fate of a small town in one of these provinces, the only one which was restored at a later period to the spiritual life of germany, is here given, not on account of the monotony of misery, but because other characteristic points of the old burgher life are displayed. where the riesengebirge descend into the silesian plain, in a fruitful valley on the shores of the bober, lies the old town of löwenberg, one of the first places in silesia which was brought under the regulations of the german law; it had already in the middle ages become a powerful community, and numbered in , in the city and suburbs, houses and at least inhabitants.[ ] it rose stately, with its strong walls, moats, and gate-towers, amidst woods and meadows; it had in its centre, like almost all the german cities in silesia, a large market-place, called the 'ring,' which included the council-house and fourteen privileged inns and licensed houses of traffic; the houses within the town were of stone, high gables projected over the streets, and they were from four to five stories high. originally the under story had been built with trellised porches; these covered passages, however, had been removed sixty years before; on the under floor the houses had a large hall, and a strong vault, behind these a spacious room, in which was the baking oven, and over this a wooden gallery which occupied the back portion of the room, a staircase led up to it; the forepart of the room was the sleeping-room of the family, and the gallery was the eating-room. on the floor above was a good apartment wainscoted with wood work, all the rest were chambers and lofts for wares, superabundant furniture, corn and wool. for löwenberg was a celebrated cloth-manufacturing town; in the year , three hundred cloth factories fabricated , pieces of cloth, and traders carried their strong work far into bohemia and the empire, but especially into poland. the city seal, a lion in the town gate, was of pure gold. in , the town had already suffered much from the war. the citizens, demoralized and tortured, had lost the greater portion of their old spirit. lichtenstein's dragoon regiment--imperialists--were quartered in the neighbouring city, and supported the proselytizing jesuits by sword and pistol. the burgesses of the town of löwenberg, dreading their arrival, were obliged to dismiss their old pastors; they separated from them with tears, the populace followed them weeping to their dwellings, bearing with them their last parting gifts as an expiation. the jesuits succeeded them; the night before they came, a horned owl took up its abode in the church tower, to the terror of the citizens, and alarmed the town all night long by its hootings. the jesuits preached after their fashion daily, promising freedom from all contributions, and from the infliction of billeting, and special favour and privileges from the emperor; but to the refractory temporal destruction. they went so far, that the intimidated burgesses were driven to the determination of accepting confirmation; most of the men of the community took the lord's supper according to the roman catholic custom, unblessed by the cup. the more steadfast of the citizens, however, were compelled to go away in misery. hardly had the jesuits left the town, when the people fell back again, the citizens rushed to the neighbouring villages, where there were still evangelical pastors, and were there married and baptized; their churches standing empty under a roman catholic priest. there were new threatenings, and new deeds of violence. the upright burgomaster schubert was carried off to severe imprisonment, but the council now declared boldly that they would die for the augsburg confession; the burgesses pressed round the governor of the province in wild tumult. the executioners of the emperor, "_the beatifiers_" rode through the gates; great part of the citizens flew with their wives and children out of the town; all the villages were full of exiles, who were brought back with violence by the soldiers and apostate citizens, and put into prison till they could produce certificates of confession; those who fled further, were driven into saxony. a new council was now established--as was the custom in those times--of unworthy and disreputable men. the houses abandoned by the citizens were plundered; many waggons heavily laden with furniture were bought of roman catholic neighbours, by the soldiers, and carried off. the new council lived in a shameless manner. the king's judge--an apostate löwenberger advocate--and the senators, ill treated the secret protestants, and endeavoured to enrich themselves from the town property. two hundred and fifty citizens lived in exile with their families; one side of the market-place was entirely uninhabited, long grass grew there, and cattle pastured upon it. in the winter, hunger and cold drove the women and children at last back to the ruined houses. the leading spirit of the new council was one julius, who had been a franciscan, a desperate fellow, not at all like a monk, who wore under his capoche golden bracelets. then a roman catholic priest, exelmann, son of an evangelical preacher, was established there. but however crushed and dispersed the citizens were, the offices of the priest and the new town council were not undisputed. all the authorities of the town were not yet under constraint. how the opposition resisted, will be learned from the narration of a cotemporary, which was printed by the industrious sutorius in his history of löwenburg, . "on the ninth of april, , early in the morning, the following gentlemen met at the council-house: first, the priest, secondly, the king's judge, who was elias seiler, an advocate; thirdly, george mümer, a woollen wiseacre and cloth factor; fourthly, schwob franze, also a cloth factor; fifthly, dr. melchior hübner, who had been a miller's man, and a broken down baker; sixthly, master daniel seiler, a joiner; seventhly, peter beyer, the town clerk; all these took possession of the councillors' chairs. the worshipful burgomaster was ill of the gout. then the priest who had the upper-hand in the council made a proposal in the following words: 'my beloved children in the church, hearing that you intend sending an embassage to the court of his kingly[ ] majesty at vienna, i and the worthy king's judge have, on mature consideration, come to the conclusion, that before you break up it would be well for you to compel all the women to adopt our religion. you would thereby obtain for yourselves great favour at court. also i will not fail to give you letters of recommendation, to my highly esteemed honourable cousin herr pater lemmermann, now confessor to his kingly majesty, who certainly has much influence in all secret deliberations, representing to him how indefatigable and zealous you have been, and have brought the women into the right way, so that all you who are now here together may receive a special gratulation. therefore proceed zealously; if they are not willing, you have towers and prisons enough to compel them.' "on this proposition votes were taken all round, and first the king's judge spoke: 'yea, gentlemen, as i am willing to undertake such a journey for the advantage of the town, it seems good to me that this project should be carried out with zeal and earnestness. if they are not willing, let the most distinguished of them be put in confinement. i wager that the others will soon give in. they will come and beg that they may be let out. many will be glad that their wives run away and they be quit of them. if we have been able to bring the men into the right path, why should we not be able to deal with these little brutes?' "herr mümer, 'the woollen wiseacre,' said: 'i have been a widower six weeks; i can well tell what cross a man must bear when his conscience is moved on account of his wife day and night. it would truly be good if man and wife had one faith and one paternoster; as concerns the ten commandments, it is not so pressing. it would also be good that the women should do like us, as they enjoy our income, and become councillors' wives. only i fear it will be difficult to manage. i would almost rather consult with the honourable captain-general of the province hereupon, how he would deal with his own wife. one should be able to act with better effect when one has a decided command thereunto. i could never have succeeded with my wife!' "now schwob franze said: 'gentlemen, my wife, as you know, died a few days ago, so that i am now free and a widower; i have also somewhat to say on this matter, as i have been plagued by my bad wife concerning the papacy. nevertheless i know not how to handle this business rightly. there are many beautiful women and widows among the lutheran heretics. would it be well, and could one make up one's mind to confine, or drive them all away at once? gentlemen, you may do it if it seems good to you. i am of the same opinion as my honourable colleague, mümer. if i marry to-day or to-morrow, my wife must have the like faith with me, or hold her tongue upon the same.' "hereupon dr. melchior began: 'gentlemen, god's sacrament, im-m-imprison them all together till they assent; le-le-let none out, though they should all rot alike in prison. i yesterday thrashed my domestic plague concerning this. the de-e-vil ta-a-ta-ake me, she must do it or i will drive her entirely away.' "master daniel seiler said: 'my high and most gracious gentlemen, you can proceed in such a good work with force alone. the captain-general of the province can give us no commands herein; let him see to himself how he can bring his heretical wife into the right way, who is no small vexation to him, and a mirror to our wives. therefore i beg of you proceed with speed against the women.' "the honourable town clerk peter beyer's vote, was as follows: 'gentlemen, i know not what to say in this matter. i have a notable shrew, who snaps about her like the devil. i cannot trust myself to be able to restrain her. if you can do it, try. but i advise, that we should begin to speak kindly with the women. let benches be placed in the council-room, desire them to sit them down, and see whether it be possible to convert them by good words, or afterwards by threats. perhaps they will take it into consideration.' "hereupon the priest and the king's judge came to a conclusion. they said: 'the time is short, much delay cannot be given; it is a saying here, eat or die.' "so the king's judge spoke to the town clerk saying: 'are the women without?' he answered: 'no, there are as yet none there.' then the judge said: 'go, and you will find them either at my house or with frau geneussin.' the town clerk found no one at the house of the king's judge, but at that of frau geneussin there were about fifteen. to these he said: 'his reverence the priest, together with his honour the king's judge, and the honourable council, send greeting to the ladies, and beg that they will come to the council-house, where the gentlemen are assembled.' "then the wife of the king's judge answered: 'yea, yea, greet them in return, and we will come soon.' so the women went two and two, the judge's and burgomaster's wives foremost, and ascended the stairs of the council-house, but the other women who had collected at the bread tables or elsewhere, or in houses, came after them in great numbers, by troops. now when the servant had announced to the council that the women were there, the king's judge said: 'let them in.' the servant replied: 'sir, there will not be room here for them all; i believe that there are five hundred of them together. the council-house is full of them, part of them are already sitting on the musicians' stools.' "then the priest began: 'indeed, we must pause awhile, this is not well. i only intended at first that the most distinguished wives, such as those of the council, the justices, and jurymen should be called. ay, ay, what have you done?' the servant answered: 'your reverence must be informed, that yesterday the king's judge commanded that all the women who had not been converted, or would not be so, should be summoned, and to begin with his wife; this i have done, and because it was rather late, i told most of those whom i met that they should notify this to the others, that they were to come on the morrow without fail on pain of punishment. i believe i have done no wrong.' "the priest spoke again: 'ay, ay, gentlemen, gentlemen, this is not well. i know not how we shall manage to be rid of a portion of these women.' "thereupon the king's judge said to the priest: 'let your reverence be content; we will arrange the business, and in the beginning we will only call in the women of distinction. when they see that they must really give in or be imprisoned, the others will soon withdraw themselves and run away.' "it was therefore determined, and made known to the servant, that the above-mentioned ladies only should enter. "now when the servant announced this, the wife of the king's judge began: 'we will by no means allow ourselves to be separated; where i remain, there shall my train remain also. say that we only beg they will allow us to enter.' the servant reported this again to the council. then the king's judge waxed wrath and said with great vehemence: 'go out again and tell these simple women that they must not show themselves disobedient and refractory, or they will learn how they will be treated.' then the servant went out again and delivered the command seriously, but the goodwives held to their former opinion, and said that they wished to know why they had been summoned, that none would separate from the others; as it fared with one so should it fare with all. on this there was great confusion and murmuring among the women, which was heard by the gentlemen in the council-room. "when the servant returned with this answer, they were sore afraid, and would rather have seen the women i know not where. they therefore determined unanimously to send out his honour the town-clerk, that he might persuade them with earnest yet friendly words, that the most distinguished of the women should enter, and the others return home, and none should suffer. but it was all in vain. the women remained firm not to separate from one another. and the judge's wife began, and said to the town-clerk: 'nay, nay, dear friend, do you think we are so simple, and do not perceive the trick by which you would compel and force us poor women, against our conscience, to change our faith? my husband and the priest have not been consorting together all these days for nothing; they have been joined together almost day and night; assuredly they have either boiled or cooked a devil, which they may eat up themselves; i shall not enter there. where i remain, there will my train and following remain also.' she turned herself round to the others and said: 'women, is this your will?' then once more there were loud exclamations from the women: 'yea, yea, let it be so; we will all hold together as one man.' "hereupon his honour the town-clerk was much affrighted; he went hastily back to the council, and reported woefully the state of affairs, adding, that the council was in no small danger, for he had observed that almost every woman had a large bunch of keys hanging at her side.[ ] upon this their courage utterly and entirely evaporated; they hung their heads and were at their wits' end; one wished himself here, another out there. dr. melchior took heart and said to the priest: '_potz-sacrament!_ most reverend sir, if i had now but two hundred musketeers, i would soon mow down the whole pa-pa-pack, even those who would fell down on their knees.' "at last his honour the town-clerk bethought himself of a device. 'gentlemen, i know a way by which we can descend and escape from the women. if the gentlemen will close both doors of the council-house, we will silently make off with ourselves by the under council-room, through the doors of the tower; thus they will not be aware what has become of us. but i do not know where the keys of the tower are to be found.' this good counsel pleased them all well, and the keys were sought for carefully, but meanwhile the town-clerk was called in, and commanded to signify to the women, that they should have a little patience. and the town-clerk was to see how one could slip round to the front, and the other to the back door, that they might suddenly run out and close the doors behind them. "this plan succeeded with the good-wives, of whom two hundred and sixty-three were thus imprisoned. the town-clerk speedily opened the tower gates, which had not been done for several years, and running back exclaimed: 'away, gentlemen, away, the coast is clear; but silence, for god's sake silence, that the women may not become aware of it, otherwise there will be the devil to pay.' "thereupon they ran away as fast as they could, part of them without hats or gloves; some ran home, others to a neighbour's, each, where in his hurry he thought he should be secure. all could confess to a state of frightful terror. the priest ran at full trot up the church lane, looking more behind than before him, to see whether the women were following and would shake their keys at him during mass; he closed the parsonage-house behind him, as the town-clerk had done the council-house. he was so exhausted that he could neither eat nor drink; both his ladies had enough to do to cool him. "now when the imprisoned women, most of whom sat by the window, heard the rumour which was noised about the town, that the honourable gentlemen had so cunningly gotten off, the wife of the king's judge ran to the council-door, unlatched it, and called out with great amazement: 'the devil has carried away the rogues; see, there lies a hat, a pocket-handkerchief and a glove, and all the doors are open. come, let us sit in council ourselves and send for our husbands; they shall come on pain of punishment, and hear our behests.' thereupon there was great screaming and laughter amongst the wives, so that they might be heard over the whole 'ring.' "at last the women divided into small parties by tens and twelves, they pitied their husbands, children, and babies, who would have nothing to eat. so they agreed, by means of certain women who were outside the door, and desirous of joining the prisoners, to beg the king's judge to free them, and to notify to them wherefore they had that day been summoned to the council-house. "in the meanwhile, however, the king's judge discovered, that he had returned from the council-house a wiser man than when he had entered it in the morning, and it struck him that all husbands might not be so evil disposed towards their wives as he was. he saw also a tolerable concourse of children and mob collecting round the council-house, who were disposed to carry food and drink to the women; nay, some good friends had already prepared a whole quarter cask of beer for the refreshment of the dear women. besides this also, a number of men had collected together, desiring to know what their wives had done, that they should be thus locked up. then the king's judge took heart again, and invited the gentlemen _cito citissime_ to his house for a necessary conference. the four gentlemen of the council and the town-clerk were found, but with great difficulty; but the priest had thoroughly concealed himself, and sent to excuse himself on account of his exhaustion and his need of rest. but it was determined to send another embassage to him, to call to his mind that he must appear without fail, as he had occasioned this transaction. "meanwhile the usher of the council came running to the council-house, at whose bidding no one knows, and called through the closed door to his wife, who was in conclave, and said to her: 'tell the other women that the gentlemen have reassembled at the house of the king's judge; they will soon send out and open the council-house, that every one may return home.' thereupon the judge's wife answered: 'yea, we will willingly have patience, as we are quite comfortable here; but tell them they ought to inform us why we were summoned and confined without trial.' "the priest at last allowed himself to be prevailed on, and came to the judge's house. they all began by complaining bitterly of their exhaustion on account of the great anguish and danger they had undergone, therefore a refreshing drink of wine was speedily passed round amongst them; but what plans they afterwards made i have not been able to gather distinctly, because all passed standing, and there was no protocol concerning it. but certain it is, that as is usual with such ragamuffins, the biters were bitten, and one threw dirt into the face of the other. at last, however, they became unanimous to send an embassage to the imprisoned ladies, to release them from the _cito_, and to bespeak them in all friendship, that they might be induced to quit the council-house. the persons empowered for this embassage were herr mümer, master daniel, and herr notarius. "when these arrived the doors were immediately opened, and the envoys entered into the midst of the circle of women. "then began the town-clerk thus: 'honourable, very honourable, excellent, and most especially gracious and dear ladies! his reverence the priest, together with his honour the king's judge and very wise council, send greeting to the ladies assembled; they greatly wonder that the women have so ill conceived and misunderstood their intentions; and as they have so earnestly desired to know wherefore this has happened, the aforesaid gentlemen have sent us to explain this in all truth. first, as now the holy week is approaching, in which there will be held by the church special preachings on the holy sacrament, it has been thought advisable to admonish the women christianly and faithfully, to present themselves zealously thereat. secondly, it is requested that at the approaching easter festival the women will likewise present themselves collectively and show their benevolence, as his reverence the priest's dues will be so poor in amount, owing to the small number of citizens present.' "after this harangue of the town-clerk, master daniel the joiner, wishing to improve the matter, said: 'my very gracious ladies! let it be understood by the women that this is a friendly conference, and that no constraint will be used; for it is not customary with my masters and the very wise council to hang a man before they have caught him.' "at this inconsiderate and incautious speech, which did not in the least serve the council, herr mümer and herr notarius pushed him away; but among the assembled wives there was great laughter and uproar. 'yea! yea! we understand well enough now; they compare us to people who are to be hanged. what fellows you are, one with the other! oh you faithless rogues! you usurious corn-dealers! you woollen thieves! thereupon the judge's wife called out: 'silence! silence, you women!' and said to master daniel: 'hear, dear brother-in-law, you do not understand the matter, and are also too few to compel us against our conscience. oh, how god will punish you, and my husband also, who so openly acts against his conscience! your dear deceased father, a dignified lutheran ecclesiastic, taught you both very differently. now you say you are good roman catholics. your new faith is necessary for your roguish tricks; when you are drunk you speak shamelessly enough of the mother of god herself, and when you go to your bad women you speak of yourselves as the brothers of the virgin mary. oh, if your gains were taken away from you, which you make from your offices and the common property of the town, and consume again in eating and drinking; if you were obliged to resume your joiners' trade again, and work vigorously to keep yourselves warm, how soon you would give up your popery. may god punish you! never shall you deprive us of our faith, you yourselves will yet be hanged on that account.' "the burgomaster's wife said: 'if you had nothing else to say to us, the priest might have done that from the pulpit, and it would not have been necessary to confine us on that account. it is not thus i could be compelled to go to church. under our former pastors and preachers it was a great pleasure to me to go to church, for i received there comfort from the word of god; now i am only scandalized and troubled when i go there. so that it cries out to god in heaven. as concerns the easter offerings, every one is free; he who has to give may do so.' hereupon the other women screamed out loudly: 'yea, we will give to the priest, the devil, as his due.' the honourable envoys were terrified at such discourse, and begged to be allowed to withdraw, and said not a word further, but departed. "now when the honourable envoys returned to the king's judge, the priest and the other gentlemen had already gone away; they made their report, and also went home. the women were now released from their arrest. but this affair worked seriously in the head of the king's judge; he took it to heart that he had been so ignominiously led astray by his ideas, and feared that the upshot would bring him to eternal ridicule. he paced up and down the room, murmuring to himself; at last he said: 'give me somewhat to eat.' when the table was spread, and dinner served up by his maid-servant and children,--a dish of crab, a piece of white bread and cheese and butter,--the worthy gentleman waxed wrath, took first the good bread, then the tin butter-mould with the butter, and threw them out of the window into the marketplace; he threw the crab also all about the room, and seized upon the sausage which was also on the table, which the children would gladly have had, being hungry, as they had eaten nothing the whole day. nay, he was so furious that he ran out of the room, dashing down the dishes and saucepans, and all that came to his hand, so that a great concourse of neighbours was brought together. after that, he ran up to his room and went on calling out and conducting himself as if it was full of people. the following morning he rose betimes and stole away, having delivered over his office to dr. melchior. "that day the other gentlemen rested till towards evening; then the priest sent for the beadle, and commanded him to summon in his name and that of dr. melchior, as the vice king's judge, the wife of the burgomaster and the frau geneussin to come to him at the parsonage early in the morning after mass. this the beadle did. the burgomaster's wife answered: 'yea, yea, i will come, but i will first tell my lord.' but when the beadle came to frau geneussin, and announced the same to her, her son-in-law was with her, herr krekler, who was afterwards burgomaster, who thus answered for her: 'are the priest and dr. melchior your masters? are they the masters of my honoured mother-in-law? reply that she will not come without the commands of the burgomaster.' this the beadle told to the burgomaster, who reflected thereupon, and at last said: 'for my part they may go, i am content, so the blame cannot be laid upon me.' "on friday morning, at the appointed hour, the wife of the burgomaster went to the priest and likewise the judge's wife, who however was not summoned, together with frau geneussin. then the priest began to speak with them in the most friendly way; he begged them very politely to conform and accept the only holy religion which could make them blessed, as their lords had done. they would see what comfort they would find in it, and how well it would fare with them. to this the women forthwith replied: 'no, we were otherwise instructed by our parents, and former preachers; according to that we find ourselves right comfortable. we cannot reconcile ourselves to your religion.' thereupon the priest said: 'you women may come to church or to me as oft as you please, when you have anxieties or scruples, and i will assuredly instruct you assiduously.' the women answered: 'your reverence need not give yourself any trouble on our account, as we will not do so.' 'ay,' said the priest, 'then set the other women a good example, and at least go to church and mass, and do not be a cause of offence to others who have already declared that they would go if the women went.' the women replied: 'we will not do it ourselves, but we will not prevent others from doing so; these are matters of conscience whereof none can judge but god.' now when the priest saw that all was in vain, he entreated them thus: 'ay, ay, yet at least tell the other women that you have begged for, and also obtained, fourteen days for consideration.' then answered the women almost with indignation: 'no, dear sir, we were not taught to lie by our parents, and we will not learn it from you; we beg you will excuse us.' so they departed therefrom. "but whilst the three women were with the priest, a great multitude of women collected together with marvellous rapidity, many more than on the first occasion. herr schwob franze perceiving this, came running panting with haste to the burgomaster and said: 'sir, i pray you for god's sake have a care, and prevent the priest from meddling with the women; they have assembled together again in a great multitude, the whole of the bread-market and all the houses in kirchgasse are full of them; god help us, they will slay us, together with the priest. i made the best of my way out from them.' "the good burgomaster was so ill in bed that he could neither move hand nor foot. he sent hastily to the priest and told him in plain german what a hazardous business he had begun, the like of which had never been heard of in any town. if he were to meet with any annoyance from the women the fault would be his own. "thereupon the priest said: 'ah no! herr burgomaster, let not your worship be thus angered. i see that i have been led astray by that inconsiderate man dr. melchior, who represented the matter quite otherwise. i beg that your worship will signify to the women, that they may return to their homes; assuredly what has happened shall not happen again, of that i hereby assure your worship.' when the women heard this, and that nothing further had happened to the ladies, as has been related above, the women were well content, went home and laid aside their bundles and bunches of keys, nevertheless, not out of reach, that they might have them at hand day or night in case of need." here ends the old narrative. the priest was obliged the following year to leave löwenberg ignominiously, as he would not desist from his scandalous proceedings. amongst other things he had a public chop and beer-house erected for the old silesian beer. the spiteful dr. melchior became afterwards in desperation a soldier, and was hanged at prague. and the valiant women,--we hope they took refuge with their husbands at breslau or in poland. after , the town decayed more and more every year, now under swedish or imperial, now under evangelical, or roman catholic ministers; in , the town contained only forty citizens, and had a debt of a ton and a half of gold; in , the citizens themselves unroofed their houses in order not to pay taxes, and dwelt in thatched huts. when the peace came, the town was almost entirely in ruins. eight years later, in , there were again one hundred and twenty-one citizens in löwenberg and about eight hundred and fifty inhabitants; eighty-seven per cent, of the population had perished. chapter vi. the thirty years' war.--the peace. the peace was signed; the ambassadors had solemnized the ratification by shaking hands, and trumpeters rode about the streets announcing the happy event. at nuremberg the imperialists and the swedes held a peace banquet in the great saloon of the council-house; the lofty vaulted hall was splendidly lighted; betwixt the chandeliers hung down thirty kinds of flowers and real fruits, bound together with gold tinsel; four choirs were stationed for festive music, and the six classes of invited guests were assembled in six different rooms. on the table stood two prodigious show dishes, a triumphal arch, and a hexagonal mound covered with mythological and allegorical figures with latin and german devices. the banquet was served up in four courses, in each course were a hundred and fifty dishes, then came the fruits in silver dishes, and on real dwarf trees by which the whole table was covered; amidst all this, fine frankincense was burnt, which produced a very agreeable odour. afterwards the upper leaves of the table were taken away by pieces, then the table was covered again with napkins, and plates strewed over wish flowers made of sugar, and now came the confectionery: among these there were gigantic marchpanes on two silver shells, each of which weighed ten pounds. and when the health of his imperial majesty of vienna and his kindly majesty of sweden was drank, together with the prosperity of the peace which had been concluded, fifteen large and small pieces were discharged from the citadel. when this peace banquet had lasted far on into the night, the field-marshals and generals present, wished on parting to play once more at being soldiers. they caused arms to be brought into the hall, chose the two ambassadors as captains; his illustrious and serene highness herr carl gustav, count palatine on the rhine, afterwards king of sweden, and his excellency general piccolomini; but for a corporal they chose field-marshal wrangel; and all the generals, colonels, and lieutenant-colonels were made musketeers. thus these gentlemen marched round the table, fired a salvo, went in good order to the citadel, and there fired off the pieces many times. on their return they were playfully discharged by colonel kraft and dismissed the service, as now there was to be peace for ever. two oxen were slaughtered for the poor, and there was a great distribution of bread, also for six hours red and white wine flowed from a lion's jaw. for thirty years had tears and blood flowed from a greater lion's jaw. like the honourable ambassadors, the people prepared a festive celebration in every town, nay in every half-destroyed village. how great was the effect of the intelligence of peace on the german nation may be learned from some affecting details. to the old country people the peace appeared as a return of their youth; they looked back to the rich harvests of their childhood, thickly populated villages, the merry sundays under the hewed-down village lindens, and the happy hours which they had passed with their ruined and deceased relations and companions. they saw themselves happier, more manly, and better than they had been during thirty years of misery and degradation. but the youth of the country--a hard war-engendered demoralized race--discovered in it the approach of a wonderful time which appeared to them like a legend from a distant country. the time when on every acre of field, the thick yellow ears of corn would wave in the wind; when in every stall the cows would low, and in every sty a fat pig would be lying; when they themselves should drive with two horses in the fields, merrily cracking their whips, and when there would be no enemy's soldiers to snatch rough caresses from their sisters or sweethearts; when they would no longer have to lie in wait in the bushes, with pitchforks and rusty muskets, for the stragglers, nor to sit as fugitives in the dismal gloom of the wood by the graves of the slain; when the village roofs would be without holes, and the farm-yards without ruined barns; when the howl of the wolf would not be heard every night at the yard gate; when their village churches would again have glass windows, and beautiful bells; when in the soiled choir of the church, there should arise a new altar with a silk cover, a silver crucifix and a gilt chalice; and when one day the young lads would again lead their brides to the altar, bearing the virgin wreaths in their hair. a passionate, almost painful joy palpitated through all hearts; even the wildest brood of the war, the soldiery, were seized with it. the stern rulers themselves, the princes and their ambassadors, felt that this great boon of peace would be the salvation of germany. the festival was celebrated with the greatest fervour and solemnity of which the people were capable. from the same circle of village recollections from which examples have already been taken, the following description of a festival is placed, in juxtaposition to that of the princes and field-marshals. döllstedt, a fine village in the dukedom of gotha, had suffered severely. in the hatzfeld corps had fallen upon the place, had committed great damage, plundered the church, burnt and broken off the woodwork, as had been prophesied by the pastor herr deckner shortly before. "this dear man," thus writes his successor, the pastor, herr trümper, "had rebuked his flock with righteous zeal on account of their sins; but they had laughed at his rebukes and warnings, had treated him with anger and ingratitude, and as he lamented in , with weeping eyes, had cut down his hops from the poles, and carried off the corn from his fields. thus he could only proclaim to them god's righteous judgment on such hardened hearts. not only publicly from the pulpit, but also a few hours before his blessed departure, he had thus lamented: 'ah! thou poor döllstedt! it will go ill with thee after my decease!' thereupon he turned, with the assistance of the attendants, towards the church, and raised his weary head, struggling ineffectually with death, as if he wished once more, from the corner of his room, to see the church, in the service of which his life had been passed, and said: 'ah! thou dear, dear church! how will it fare with thee after my death? they will sweep thee up with a besom.'" his prophecy was fulfilled. the village in had to liquidate war damages to the amount of gulden, and between and it amounted altogether to , gulden, so that the inhabitants by degrees disappeared and the place remained quite desolate; in there were only two married couples in the village. in the year , after banner and, again in the winter, the french had been quartered in it, half an acre of corn was sown, and there were four couples dwelling there. by the zealous care of duke ernest the good, of gotha, the deserted villages in his country were comparatively quickly occupied by men. in , therefore, the jubilee and peace festival could be solemnized in döllstedt. the description of it is given, as it is recorded in the church books, by the then pastor trümper. "on the th of august, at four o'clock in the morning, we, together with our coadjutors and some of the householders of gotha, mounted our tower, and celebrated with music our morning prayer. towards six o'clock, as happened the preceding day at one o'clock; they began to ring the bells for a quarter of an hour, and again, for the same length of time, at half after seven. meanwhile, the whole population, man and woman, young and old, except those who assisted at the ringing, assembled before the gate: st, the women-folk stood on one side; before them was a figure of peace, which the noble maidens had dressed up beautifully, in a lovely green silk dress and other decorations; on her head was placed a beautiful green wreath intermingled with gold spangles, and in her hand a green branch. nd. on the other side towards the village stood the men, and in front of them justice in a beautiful white garment, with a green wreath round her head, and bearing in her hands a naked sword and gold scales. rd. towards the fields on the same side, stood the young men with guns, and some with naked swords, and before them mars, dressed as a soldier, and bearing in his hands a crossbow. th. in the middle near me, stood the scholars, householders, and the coadjutors. then did the recollection come across me, of how often we had been obliged to quit our homes and flee from our gates, our eyes overflowing with tears, and when the storm was passed, had returned home again with joy, notwithstanding that we found all devastated, ruined, and turned topsy-turvy. now we thought it fitting thus to honour our dear god, going out in front of our gates, and as he had preserved us from the like devastation and necessity for flight and escape, by the gracious boon of the noble and long-desired peace, we desired now to go to his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise, and would for that raise our voices with one accord and sing: 'to god alone most high be honour, &c.' th. whilst these strophes were being chanted, peace and justice approached one another nearer and nearer. at the words: 'all feuds are now at an end,' those who held naked swords sheathed them, and those who had guns fired some salvos and turned themselves round. peace beckoned to some who had been hereto appointed; these took from mars, who appeared to defend himself his cross-bow, and broke it in twain; peace and justice met together and kissed each other. th. thereupon the chanting, which had been begun, was continued, and we prepared to go. before the scholars, went andreas ehrhardt, adorned to the utmost, with a staff in his hand wound round with green garlands. then followed the scholars with green wreaths on their heads and green branches in their hands, and they wore short white garments; then came the assistants and musicians; after these, i, the pastor, together with the herr pastor of vargula, who had come to me. after us came the maidens, the little ones in front, and the taller ones behind, all adorned to the utmost, and green wreaths on their heads. after these went peace, and behind her the boys, who carried a basket of rolls and a dish of apples, which were afterwards distributed among the children; item, all kinds of fruits of the field. "these were followed by the noble maidens, together with their relations, whom they had bidden; after them nobles from seebach, saxony, and others who had accompanied them. after these came justice, and behind her, magistrates and assessors, all bearing white staves in their hands, twined with green garlands. then followed the ensign christian heum, in his best attire, with a staff in his hand, on which he leant, but it was encircled with a green garland. afterwards came the men in pairs with green bouquets in their hands; the men were followed by mars bound, then the young lads with their guns reversed. there followed the sergeant-major herr dietrich grün in his finery, with a staff in his hand like the ensign; and after him the women-folk, all also in pairs in their order, and all passed singing through the village to the church. when the aforesaid song was finished we sang, 'now praise the lord, my soul.' "in the church there was preaching and singing conformable to the royal ordinance. after the service was completed, we went in the former order from the church to the platz in front of the inn; there the men on one side, and the women on the other, in half-circles, closed in, forming a fine wide circle, and during their progress they sang, 'now rejoice together, dear christians.' when the circle was formed i gave thanks to all collectively, that they had not only, according to the proclamation of the high and mighty princely government, obediently observed this solemnity, but also had gone out at my desire, all together, noble and humble alike, to the gates, and had followed me in such beautiful order to church, &c., and i admonished them to attend again zealously the afternoon service. and truly, as i said that it would be well for every one to come from their houses to church in the afternoon, they did all reassemble as before in front of the inn; peace and justice also were there again in their dress, but mars had disappeared. when i was informed of this, i went during the last peal of the bells with the scholars, the coadjutors, and the householders out by the back gate through the church lane to the church, when every one again, as before, followed me into the church. there we then sang, 'now let us sing unto the lord,' &c. from the church we returned in the same order, again singing, 'praise the lord, praise the lord,' &c., to the above-mentioned place, where i again gave thanks both to strangers and townspeople, with heartfelt wishes for peace. and here the six groschen, rolls, and ripe apples were distributed among the children." it is known that the great peace came very slowly, like the recovery from a mortal illness. the years from to , from the conclusion of the peace to the celebration of the festival, were among the most grievous of that iron time; exorbitant war taxes were imposed, the armies of the different countries lay encamped in the provinces till they could be paid off, the oppression which they exercised on the unhappy inhabitants was so fearful, that a despairing cry arose from the people, which mingled itself with the wrangling of the negotiating parties. to this was added a plague of another kind; the whole country swarmed with a rabble that had no masters; bands of discharged soldiers with the camp followers, troops of beggars, and great hordes of robbers, roved about from one territory to another; they quartered themselves by force on those villages which were still inhabited, and established themselves in the deserted huts. the villagers also, provided with bad weapons and disused to labour, thought it sometimes more satisfactory to rob, than to till the fields, and made secret roving expeditions into the neighbouring territories, the evangelical into the catholic countries, and _vice versâ_. the foreign children of a lawless race, the gipsies, had increased in number and audacity; fantastically dressed, with heavily laden carts, stolen horses, and naked children, they encamped in great numbers round the stone trough of the village green: whenever the ruler was powerful and the officials active, the wild rovers were encountered with energy. the villagers of the dukedom of gotha were still obliged, in , to keep watch from the church towers, to guard the bridges and fords, and to give an alarm whenever they perceived any of these marching bands. a well-regulated system of police was the first sign of that new feeling of responsibility which the governments had acquired: every one who wished to settle down was encouraged to do so. whoever was established, had to render an account of how much land he had cultivated, of the condition of his house and farm, and whether he had any cattle. new registers of the farms and inhabitants were prepared, new taxes on money and on natural products were imposed; and by the severe pressure of these, the villagers were compelled to labour. the villages were gradually reinhabited; many families who had fled to the towns during the war repaired their devastated farms; others returned from the mountains or foreign countries; disbanded soldiers and camp followers sometimes bought fields and empty houses with the remainder of their booty, or returned to their native villages. there was much marrying and baptizing. but the exhaustion of the people was still lamentably great. the arable land, much of which had lain fallow, was sown without the necessary manure; not a little remained overrun with wild underwood and weeds, and long continued as osier land. the ruined districts were sometimes bought by the neighbouring villages, and in some places two or three small communities united themselves together. for many years after the war, the appearance of the villages was most comfortless; one may perceive that this was the case in thuringia, from the transactions with the government. the householders of siebleben and some other communities round gotha, had held, from the middle ages, the right of having timber free from the wooded hills. in , the government demanded from them, for the exercise of this right, a small tax upon oats: some of the communities excused themselves, as they were too poor to be able to think of rebuilding their damaged houses. ten years after, the community of siebleben had forty boys who paid small school fees, and the yearly offering in the church amounted to more than fourteen gulden. a portion of this offering was spent in alms to strangers, and it is perceptible, from the carefully kept accounts, what a stream of beggars of all kinds passed through the country; disbanded soldiers, cripples, the sick and aged; amongst them were lepers with certificates from their infirmaries, also exiles from bohemia and hungary, who had left their homes on account of their religion, banished noblemen from england, ireland, and poland, persons collecting money for the ransom of their relatives from turkish imprisonment, travellers who had been plundered by highwaymen, and others, such as a blind pastor from denmark with five children; the strangers came prepared with testimonials. the governments, however, were unwearied in their efforts against harbouring such vagrants. much has been written concerning the devastation of the war; but the great work is still wanting, that would concentrate the statistical notices which have been preserved in all the different territories: however enormous the labour may be, it must be undertaken, for it is only from this irrefragable computation, that the full greatness of the calamity can be understood. the details hitherto known scarcely amount to a probable valuation of the loss which germany suffered in men, beasts of burden, and productive power. the following inferences only attempt to express the views of an individual, which a few examples will support. the condition of the provinces of thuringia and franconia is not ill adapted for a comparison of the past with the present; neither of them were more afflicted by the visitation of war than other countries; the state of cultivation of both provinces, up to the present time, answers pretty accurately to the general average of german industry and agriculture: neither of them are on the whole rich: both were hilly countries, without large rivers, or any considerable coal strata, with low lands, of which only certain tracts were distinguished by especial fertility, and were up to modern times devoted to agriculture, garden culture, and small mining industry. thus this portion of germany had known no powerful stream of human enterprise or capital, nor, on the other hand, was it the theatre of the destructive wars of louis xiv.'s time, and the rulers, especially the grandson of frederic the wise, were even in the worst times tolerably sparing of the national strength. there have been preserved to us from these districts, amongst other things, accurate statistical notices of twenty communities, which once were in the hennebergen domain; but now, with the exception of one that is bavarian, belong to saxe meiningen. it is nowhere mentioned, and from their condition need not be concluded, that the devastation in them had been greater than in other portions of the province. the government in ordered an accurate report to be given of the number of inhabited houses, barns, and head of cattle that existed when the worst sufferings of the war began in . according to the reports delivered by the magistrates of the places, there had perished in the twenty communities more than eighty-two per cent, of families, eighty-five per cent, of horses, more than eighty-three of goats, and eighty-two of cows, and more than sixty-three per cent. of houses. the remaining houses were described as in many places damaged and in ruins, the still surviving horses as lame and blind, and the fields and meadows as devastated and much overgrown with underwood; but the sheep were everywhere altogether destroyed.[ ] it is a bloody and terrible tale which these numbers tell us. more than four fifths of the population, far more than four fifths of their property were destroyed. and in what a condition was the remainder! precisely similar was the fate of the smaller provincial towns, as far as one can see from the preserved data. we will give only one example from the same province. the old church records of ummerstadt, an agricultural town near coburg, famed, from olden times, throughout the country for its good pottery, report as follows:--"although in the year the whole country, as also the said little town, was very populous, so that it alone contained more than one hundred and fifty citizens, and up to eight hundred souls, yet from the ever-continuing war troubles, and the constant quartering of troops, the people became in such-wise enervated, that from great and incessant fear, a pestilence sent upon us by the all-powerful and righteous god, carried off as many as five hundred men in the years and ; on account of this lamentable and miserable condition of the time, no children were born into the world in the course of two years. those whose lives were still prolonged by god almighty, have from hunger, the dearness of the times, and the scarcity of precious bread, eaten and lived upon bran, oil-cakes, and linseed husks, und many also have died of it; many also have been dispersed over all countries, most of whom have never again seen their dear fatherland. in the year , during the saalfeldt encampment, ummerstadt became a city of the dead or of shadows; for during eighteen weeks no man dared to appear therein, and all that remained was destroyed. therefore the population became quite thin, and there were not more than a hundred souls forthcoming." in the place had eight hundred and ninety-three inhabitants. still more striking is another observation, which may be made from the tables of the meiningen villages. it is only in our century that the number of men and cattle of all kinds has again reached the height which it had already attained in . nay, the number of houses was still in less than in , although, there the inmates of the smallest village houses, even the poorest, still anxiously endeavour to preserve their own dwellings. it is true that there is a trifling increase of the number of inhabitants in over that in ; but even this increase is dubious when we consider that the number of inhabitants in had probably already experienced a diminution from sixteen years of war. thus we are assuredly justified in concluding that two centuries were necessary, at least for this tract of germany, to restore the population and productive power of the country to its former standard. these assumptions are supported by other observations. the agriculture of the country, before the thirty years' war, nay even the relative proportion of the value of corn to that of silver, at a time when the export of corn was only exceptional, lead to the same conclusions. it is true that during the last two centuries, agriculture, owing to the mighty effects of foreign traffic, has developed itself in an entirely new direction. the countryman also now cultivates field vegetables, clover, and other herbage for fodder, which were unknown before the thirty years' war, and agricultural produce is more lucrative for an equal amount of population. perhaps our ancestors lived in a poorer style, and farmed less. we can compare the stock of cattle. the number of cattle kept now in the villages is precisely the same as before the war; they have still the short, thick, curly-woolled spanish herds, which used to be reared in the pens of the peasants; the old wool fell in long locks; but judging from the value of the cloth and stuffs woven from it, and the price of sheep at that time, it must have been good. on the other hand, the stock of horses has diminished by three fourths in comparison with . this striking circumstance can only be thus explained: that the traditions of the troopers of the middle ages exercised an influence even upon agriculture; that the rearing of horses was more profitable than now, on account of the bad roads which made a distant transport of corn impossible, whilst the lowing of cattle in the narrow farm-yards of the towns was so general that the sale of milk and butter paid little; and finally, that a larger portion of the country people were better able to maintain teams. the breaking up of the ground was then, as may be seen from the old farm books in thuringia, somewhat--but not considerably--less than now. in the present day the number of goats and of cattle belonging to small farmers has increased, as also the number of oxen, which probably in middle and southern germany are now finer and higher bred than formerly. this is a decided progress of the present day. but on the whole, reckoning the amount of fodder required, the number of beasts which are maintained with advantage is very inconsiderably larger at present than in . thus germany, in comparison with its happier neighbours in england and the low countries, was thrown back about two hundred years. still greater were the changes which the war made in the intellectual life of the nation. above all among the country people. many old customs passed away, life became aimless and full of suffering. in the place of the old household gear the rudest forms of modern furniture were introduced; the artistic chalices, and old fonts, and almost all the adornments of the churches, had disappeared, and were succeeded by a tasteless poverty in the village churches, which still continues. for more than a century after the war the peasant vegetated, penned in, almost as much as his herds, whilst his pastor watched him as a shepherd, and he was shorn by the landed proprietors and rulers of his country. there was a long period of gloomy suffering. the price of corn in the depopulated country was, for fifty years after the war, even lower than before. but the burdens upon landed property rose so high, that for a long time, land together with house and farm, bore little value, and sometimes were offered in vain as acquittance for service and imposts. severer than ever was the pressure of vassalage, worst of all in the former sclave countries, in which the peasantry were kept down by a numerous nobility. with respect to their marriages, they were placed under an unnatural and compulsory guardianship; strict care was taken that the son of the countryman should not evade by flight the servitude which was to weigh down his future. he could not travel without a written permission; even ship and raft masters were forbidden under severe penalties to take such fugitives into their service. much to be lamented is the injury to civilization which took place in the devastated cities, especially the return to luxury, love of pleasure, and coarse sensuality, the want of common sense and independence, the cringing towards superiors and heartlessness towards inferiors. they are the ancient sufferings of a decaying race. that the self-government of cities was more and more infringed upon by the princes, was frequently fortunate, for the administrators were too often deficient in judgment and feeling of duty. the new constitution of governments which had arisen during the war, laid its iron hands on town and country. the old territories of the german empire were changed into despotic bureaucratic states. the ruler governed through his officials, and kept a standing army against his enemies; to maintain his "state," that is, his courtiers, officials and soldiers, was the task of the people. but to make this possible, it was necessary to promote carefully the increase of the population, and the greater tax-paying capacity of the subject. some princes, especially the brandenburgers, did this in a liberal spirit, and thus in this dark period, by increasing the power of their new state, laid the foundation of the greatness of their houses. others indeed lavished the popular strength, in coarse imitation of french demoralization. it was a mortal crisis through which germany had passed, and dearly was the peace bought. but that which was most important had been preserved, the continuity of german development, the continuance of the great inward process, by which the german nation raised itself from the bondage of the middle ages to a higher civilization. the long struggle, politically considered, was a defensive war of the protestant party against the intolerance of the old faith and the attacks of the imperial power. this defensive struggle had begun by an ill-timed offensive movement in bohemia. the head of the house of hapsburg had law and right on his side, so long as he only put down this movement. his opponents put themselves in the position of revolutionists, which could only be vindicated by success. but from the day when the emperor made use of his victory to suppress by means of jesuits and soldiers the sovereignty of the german princes, and the old rights of the cities, he became in his turn the political offender whose bold venture was repulsed by the last efforts of the nation. but here we must take a higher point of view, from which the proceedings of ferdinand ii. appear still more insupportable. just a hundred years before his reign, all the good spirits of the german nation fought on the side of the emperor, when he, in opposition to existing rights and old usages, had founded a german church and german state. since that, the family of charles v. had for a century, a short time excepted, done much by laborious scheming, or listless indifference, to destroy the last source of this new life, independence of spirit, thought and faith: it was for a century, a short time excepted, the opponent of the national german life; it had its spanish and italian alliances, and had arrayed the romish jesuits against the indigenous civilization of the nation, aided, alas! by some of the german princes. it was by such means that it had endeavoured to become great in germany, and in the same spirit, an overzealous emperor called forth the bloody decision. on his head, not on the german people or princes, lies the guilt of this endless war. the protestant chiefs, with the exception of the lesser rulers, only sought to submit and make peace with their emperor. it was only for a few years they were led into open war, by the arrogance of wallenstein, the scorn of vienna, and the warlike pressure of gustavus adolphus; the alliance of the great electoral houses of saxony and brandenburg with sweden did not last four years; at the first opportunity they receded, and during the last period of the war, neutrality was their strongest policy. the princes obtained by the peace the object of their defensive opposition; the extravagant designs of the imperial court were crushed. germany was free. yes, free! devastated and powerless, with its western frontier for a century the fighting-ground and spoil of france, it had still to bear the out-pouring of an accumulated measure of humiliation and shame. but whoever would now clench their hands at this, let them beware of raising them against the westphalian peace. the consequences that followed, the laying in ashes of the palatinate, the seizure of strasburg, the loss of alsace and lorraine, were not owing to this peace. the cause of all this, was long before the thirty years' war; it had been foreseen by patriotic men long beforehand. since the smalkaldic war the sovereignty of the german princes, and the independence of portions of the empire, were the only guarantee for a national progressive civilization. one may deeply lament, but can easily understand this. now at last this independence had been legally established by streams of blood. whoever considers the year ,--the first kindling of the people since ,--as full of glory; whoever has at any time ennobled himself by a sense of duty and enlarged moral sentiments, acquired from the severe teaching of kant and his followers; whoever has at any time derived pleasure from the highest that man is capable of understanding, and from the nature and souls of his own and foreign people; whoever has at any time felt with transport the beauty of the new german poetry, the nathan, faust, and guillaume tell; whoever has taken a heartfelt participation in the free life of our science and arts, in the great discoveries of our natural philosophers, and in the powerful development of german industry and agriculture, must remember, that with the peace of munster and osnaburg began the period in which the political foundation of the development of a higher life was in a great measure secured. the war had nevertheless consequences which we must still deeply deplore; it has long severed the third of germany from intellectual communion of spirit with their kindred races. the german hereditary possessions of the imperial family have ever since been united in a special state. powerfully and incessantly has the foreign principle worked which there prevails. for a long time the depressed nation scarcely felt the loss. in germany the opposition between romanism and protestantism had been weakened, and in the following century it was in a great measure overcome. even those territories which were compelled by their rulers to maintain their old faith, had participated in the slow and laborious progress which had been made since the peace. it is not to be denied that the protestant countries long remained the leaders, but in spite of much opposition, those of the old faith followed the new stream, and the results of increasing civilization flowed in brotherly union from one soul to another; joy and suffering were in general mutual, and as the political requirements and wishes of the protestant and roman catholics were the same, the feeling of intellectual unity became gradually more active. it was otherwise in the distant countries which ferdinand ii. and his successors had bequeathed as conquered property. the losses which the german races had experienced were great, but the injury to the austrian nationalities was incomparably greater. to them had happened what must now appear, to any one who examines accurately, most terrible. almost the whole national civilization, which in spite of all hindrances had been developed for more than a century, was expelled with an iron rod. the mass of the people remained; their leaders--opulent landed proprietors of the old indigenous race, manly patriots, men of distinguished character and learning, and intelligent pastors, were driven into exile. the exiles have never been counted, who perished of hunger, and the horrors of war; those also who settled in foreign countries can scarcely be reckoned. undoubtedly their collective number amounted to hundreds of thousands. it is thanks to the bohemian exiles, that electoral saxony recovered its loss in men and capital quicker than other countries. yet it is not the numbers, however great, which give a true representation of the loss. for those who fell into calamity on account of their faith and political convictions were the noblest spirits, the leaders of the people, the representatives of the highest civilization of the time. but it was not the loss of them alone that made the emperor's dominions so weak and dormant; the millions also that remained behind were crushed. driven by every low motive, by rough violence or the prospect of earthly advantage, from one faith to another, they had lost all self-respect and the last ideal which even the most commonplace man preserves, the feeling that he has a place in his heart that cannot be bought. everywhere throughout germany in the worst times after the war, there were thousands who were fortified by the feeling that they also, like their fathers and neighbours, had resisted armed conversion to the death. in the converted austrian territories of the emperor, this feeling was rare. for almost a century and a half the bohemian and german races vegetated in a dreary dream life. the bohemian countryman hung the various saints of the restored church by the side of his pictures of huss and zisko, but he kept a holy lamp burning before the old heretic; the citizen of vienna and olmutz accustomed himself to speak of the empire and germany as of a foreign land; he accommodated himself to hungarians, italians, and croats, but at the same time he remained a stranger in the new state in which he was now domiciled. little did he care for the categorical imperative, imposed by the new worldly wisdom; later he learned that schiller was a german poet. only then did a new spring begin for the germans, in which freedom of mind and beauty of soul were sought for as the highest aim of earthly life; when the new study of antiquity inspired them with enthusiasm, when the genius of goethe irradiated the court of weimar, then sounded from dormant austria, the deepest and most mysterious of arts, a fullness of melody. there also the spirit of the people had found touching expression in haydn, mozart, and beethoven. chapter vii. rogues and adventurers. the war had fearfully loosened the joints of burgher society. the old orderly and disciplined character of germans appeared almost lost. countless was the number of unfortunates who having lost house and farm, maintenance and family, wandered homeless through inhospitable foreign countries; and not less numerous were the troops of reprobates who had habituated themselves to live by fraud, extortion, and robbery. excitement had become a necessity to the whole living race, for thirty years the vagrant rabble of all europe had chosen germany as their head-quarters. thus it happened that after the peace the doings of the fortune hunters, adventurers, and rogues increased to an extraordinary extent. a contrast of weakness and roughness is, in the following century, a special characteristic of the needy, careworn family life, into which the spirit of the german people had contracted itself. some particulars of this wild life will be here related, which will denote the gradual changes it underwent. for like the german devils, the children of the devil have also their history, and their race is more ancient than the christian faith. people are hardly aware of the intimate connection between german life and roman antiquity. not only did the traditions of the roman empire, christianity, roman law, and the latin language become parts of the german civilization, but still more extensively were the numerous little peculiarities of the roman world preserved in the middle ages. german agriculture acquired from the romans the greater part of its implements, also wheat, barley, and much of the remaining produce. the most ancient of our finer kinds of fruit are of roman origin, equally so our wine, many garden flowers, and almost all our vegetables; also the oldest woollen fabrics, cotton and silk stuffs, and all the oldest machines, as for example, watermills, and the first mining and foundry works; likewise innumerable other things, even to the oldest forms of our dress, house utensils, chairs, tables, cupboards, and even the panels of our folding doors. and if it were possible to measure how much in our life is gathered from antiquity, or from primitive german invention, we should still, after the lapse of fifteen centuries, find so much that is roman in our fields, gardens, and houses, on our bodies, nay, even in our souls, that one may well have a right to inquire whether our primeval ancestors were more under the protection of father jove or of the wild woden. thus amongst numberless others, the despised race of gladiators, histrions, and thymelei--or jesters, were preserved throughout the storm of migration, and spread from rome among the barbarian races. they introduced amongst the bloody hordes of vandals the dissolute roman pantomime; they stood before the huts of the frank chiefs, and piped and played foreign melodies, which had perhaps once come with the orgies of the asiatic gods to rome; they intermingled with the gothic congregation, which poured out of the newly built church into the churchyard, and there opened their chests in order to show a monkey in a red jacket as a foreign prodigy, or produced the grotesque figures of old latin puppets, the _maccus_, _bucco_, _papus_, and whatever else the ancient fathers called our jack-puddings, for the amusement of the young parishioners, who opened wide their large blue eyes at these foreign wonders. meanwhile other members of the band of jugglers offered on payment, to execute gymnastic games before the warriors of the community, which they performed with sharp weapons and all the artifices and cunning of the roman circus; then these foolhardy men formed a ring and carried on with passionate eagerness, for the sake of pay, the dangerous hazards of the combat, which the spectators admired the more, the bloodier it became, whilst they held the unfortunates, who thus struggled for money, in no greater consideration than a couple of wolves or hungry dogs. but for the distinguished spectators there were other more enticing artists. women also roved with the men amongst the german tribes, dexterous and bold, dancers, singers, and actresses, in brilliant cavalcades. when they shook the greek tambourine or the asiatic castanets, in the licentious mazes of the bacchanalian dance, they were generally irresistible to the german barons, but were extremely offensive to serious people. in the year a frank king interposed with his authority against the nuisance of these foreign _rovers_, and the worthy hinkmar, paternally warned his priests also against these women, whose foreign sounding designation was expressed by the true-hearted monk with a very well known but bitter word. to these foreign jugglers were speedily added numerous german recruits. the german races had had wandering singers from the primitive times, bearers of news, spreaders of epic songs and poems. these also moved from farm to farm, highly welcome in the large houses of persons of distinction, honoured guests, trusted messengers, who often received from their hosts a more affectionate reward than golden bracelets or new dresses. they had once upon a time sung to the harp by the fireside, of the adventurous expedition of the thunder god to the world of giants, and of the tragic fall of the nibelungen, then of attila's battle, and the wonders of southern lands. but to the new christian faith, this treasure of old native songs was obnoxious. the high-minded charlemagne made a collection of the heroic songs of the german race, but his popish son louis hated and despised them. these songs undoubtedly were so thoroughly heathen, that the church had reason to remonstrate against them in synodical resolutions and episcopal decrees. together with them, the race of singers who carried and spread them, fell into disfavour with the church. the songs did not however cease, but the singers sank to a lower scale, and finally a portion of them at least fell into the class of vagrants, and the people were accustomed to hear the fairest heritage of their past from the lips of despised players. another heritage also from german heathendom fell to these strollers. even before the time of tacitus there were simple dramatic processions in germany; on the great feast days of the german gods, there already appeared the humorous ideas of the pious german regarding his world of deities, associating with them comic processions of mummers, the figures of goblins and giants, gray winter and green spring, the bear of donar, and probably the magic white horse of woden, which in the oldest form of dramatic play opposed each other either in mimic combat, or for their rights. the wandering jugglers, with great facility, added these german masks to the grotesque roman figures which they had brought into the country; and in the churchyard of the new christian congregation, the bear of the bacchanalian asen bellowed beside the followers of the roman god of wine, and the satyr with his goats' feet and horns. thus this race of wanderers soon germanized themselves, and during the whole of the middle ages roved about amongst the people--in the eye of the law homeless and lawless. the church continued to rouse suspicion against these strollers by repeated decrees; the clergy would on no account see or listen to such rabble, nay, they were denied the right of taking a part in the christian sacraments. the old law books allowed hired pugilists to kill each other without penance, like stray dogs; or what was almost worse, they granted to the injured vagrant only the mockery of a sham penance. if a stroller was struck by a sword or knife, he could only return the thrust or blow upon the shadow of his injurers on the wall. this ignominious treatment contrasted strongly with the favour which these strollers generally enjoyed. singly, or in bands, they went through the country, and streamed together by hundreds at the great court and church fêtes. then, it was the general custom to distribute among them food, drink, clothes, and money. it was thought advisable to treat them well, as they were well known to be tale-bearers, and would publish in satirical songs throughout the whole country the scandalous conduct of the niggardly man, with a vindictiveness which was sharpened by the feeling that such revenge was the best means of making themselves feared. it was rarely that a prince like henry ii., or a pious bishop, ventured to send away these bands from their fêtes without a reward. almost everywhere, till quite into the fifteenth century, they were to be found wherever a large assemblage of men sought for amusement. they sang ballads, satirical songs and love songs, and related heroic tales and legends from foreign lands, on the stove-bench of the peasant, in tins ante-room of the burgher, or the hall of the castle. from the latter its lord is absent perhaps on a crusade, and his wife and servants listen anxiously to the fables and lies of the wandering player. to-day he is the narrator of foreign tales of marvel, and to-morrow the clandestine messenger betwixt two lovers; then he again enters for a time the service of knightly minne-singers, whose minne-songs he accompanies with his music, and undertakes to spread them through the country, as a journal does now; or he dresses himself up more strikingly than usual, takes his bauble in his hand, places a fool's cap on his head, and goes as travelling fool to some nobleman, or follower of some distinguished ecclesiastic. wherever his fellows collected together in numbers, at courtly residences and tournaments, or in churchyards at great saints' feasts, he quickly pitched his tent and booth by the side of those of traders and pedlers, and began his arts; rope-dancing, jongleur exercises, sham-fights, dramatic representations in masks, shows of curiosities, songs, masked artistic dances, and playing for dances and festive processions. in the churchyard itself, or within the boundaries of some castle, were heard the sounds of noisy pleasure; and the sun-burnt women of the band slipped secretly through side doors into the castle or the priests' house. only some of the practices of these vagrants deserve special mention. the influence which these musicians exercised on the progress of epic and lyrical popular poetry, has been already mentioned; it is even now discerned in heroic poetry, for the players often endeavoured to introduce fellows of their own class into the old poetry, and took care that they should play no contemptible rôle. thus in the nibelungen, the brilliant form of the hero volker the fiddler, is the representation of a musician; similar figures, grotesque in appearance, but rougher and coarser, hectored in the later poems and popular legends, as for example the monk ilsan in the rosengarten. but it was not only in the german epos, that the strollers smuggled in, beautiful copies of their own life; despised as they were, they contrived, with all the insolence of their craft, to introduce themselves into the nave and choir of the church, though almost excluded from its holy rites. for even in the first strict ecclesiastical beginnings of the german dramas, they crept into the holy plays of the easter festivals. already in the beginning of the middle ages the history of the crucifixion and resurrection had assumed a dramatic colouring; alternate songs between christ and his disciples, pilate and the jews, were sung by the clergy in the church choir; a great crucifix was reverently deposited in an artificial grave in the crypt, and afterwards there was a solemn announcement, on easter morning, of the resurrection, songs of praise by the whole congregation, and the consecration of psalms. they began early to bring forward more prominently, individual rôles in dramatic songs, to put speeches as well as songs into their mouths, and to distinguish the chief roles by suitable dress and particular attributes. on other church festivals the same was done with the legends of the saints, and already in the twelfth century whole pieces were dramatically performed in the german churches, first of all in latin, by the clergy in the choir. but in the thirteenth century the german language made its way into the dialogue; then the pieces became longer, the number of rôles increased, the laity began to join in it, the dialogues became familiar, sometimes facetious, and contrasted wonderfully with the occasional latin songs and responses, which were maintained in the midst of them, and which also gradually became german. the personages in the biblical plays still appear under the same comic figures, with the coarse jokes and street wit which the roving people had introduced into the churchyards. generally the fool entered as servant of a quack. from the oldest times these strollers had carried about with them through the country, secret remedies, especially such as were suspicious to the church, primitive roman superstitions, ancient german forms of exorcism, and others also which were more noxious and dangerous. at the great church festivals and markets, there were always doctors' booths, in which miraculous remedies and cures were offered for sale to the believing multitudes. these booths also of the wandering doctors are older than the augustine age; they are to be seen depicted on the greek vases, and came to germany through italy, with the grotesque masks of the doctors themselves and their attendant buffoons, and were the most profitable trade of the strollers. these doctors and their servants were introduced as interludes to the spiritual plays, with long spun out episodes of the holy traffic, in which ribaldry and drubbing are not wanting. but the strollers introduced another popular person into the holy plays, the devil, probably his first appearance in the church. long had this spirit of hell spit out fire under the tents of the churchyard, and wagged his tail, and probably he had often been beaten and cheated, to the delight of the spectators, by clever players, before he assisted in the thirteenth century as a much-suffering fellow-actor, in the holy easter dramas, to the edification of the pious parishioners. such was the active industry carried on by these strollers through the middle ages. serving every class and every tendency of the times, coarse in manners and morals, as privileged jesters both cherished and ill treated, they were probably united amongst themselves in firm fellowship, with secret tokens of recognition; they were distinguished by their outward attire, and chiefly by fantastic finery, and by the absence of long hair and beard, the honourable adornment of privileged people, which they were forbidden to wear. in the fifteenth century the severity of the laws against them were relaxed, for the whole life of all classes had become more frivolous, daring, and reckless; an inordinate longing after enjoyment, an excessive pleasure in burlesque jesting, in music and dancing, in singing and mimic representations, was general in the wealthy towns. thus many of the race of strollers contrived to make their peace with the burgher society. they became domestic fools in the courts of princes, the merry-andrews of the towns, associates of the town pipers, and players to the bands of landsknechte. but besides the players and their followers, there appeared along the roads of the armies, and in the hiding-places of the woods, other children of misfortune less harmless and far more awful to the people, first of all the gipsies. the gipsies, from their language and the scanty historical records that there are of them, appear to be a race of northern border indians, who lost their home, and their connection with their indian relatives, at a time when the transformation of the ancient sanscrit into the modern and popular languages had already begun. in their wanderings towards the west, which had gone on for centuries, they must have lived in continual intercourse with arabians, persians, and greeks, for the language of these people has had a marked influence on their own. they were possibly, about the year but more probably about , in persia. they appeared about the twelfth century as ishmaelites and braziers,[ ] in upper germany. they were settled in the fourteenth century in cypress, and in the year , as bondsmen is wallachia. the name of zingaro or zitano, is a corruption from their language; they still call themselves scindians, dwellers on the banks of the indus; their own statement also, that they came from little egypt, may be correct, as little egypt appears then to have denoted, not the valley of the nile, but the frontier lands of asia. in the year , they came in great hordes, with laughable pretensions and grotesque processions, from hungary, into germany, and shortly afterwards into switzerland, france, and italy. a band of three hundred grown-up persons, without counting the children, proceeded as far as the baltic, under the command of a duke and count, on horseback and on foot; the women and children sitting with the baggage on the carts. they were dressed like comedians, and had sporting dogs with them as a sign of noble birth; but when they really hunted, they did so without dogs, and without noise. they showed recommendations and safe-conducts from princes and nobles, and also from the emperor sigismund. they asserted that their bishops had commanded them to wander for seven years through the world. but they were great swindlers, and passed their nights in the open air, for better opportunities of stealing. in , they appeared in many parts of germany, and the same year went under the command of duke michael, from little egypt into switzerland. a rendezvous of many hordes seems to have taken place before zurich. they numbered according to the lowest computation a thousand heads. they had two dukes and two knights, and pretended to have been driven from egypt by the turks: they carried much money in their pockets, and maintained that they had received it from their own people at home: they ate and drank well, and also paid well, but they have never shown themselves again like this. from thence they appear to have turned to france and italy; in , a band of them came under a duke from egypt to bologna and forli. they stated that the king of hungary had compelled about of them to be baptized, and had slain the remainder; the baptized had been condemned to the penance of seven years' wandering. they wished to go to rome to visit the pope. in , the same band, probably, appeared before paris with two dukes. they asserted that they had letters and a blessing from the pope. the pope had held council concerning them, and had decided that they were to wander through the world seven years, without lying on a bed; then he would send them to a fine country. for five years they had journeyed about, and their king and queen had died during their wanderings, &c. these were followed by other bands. in , a new horde appeared wore ratisbon, with letters of safe conduct from the emperor sigismund, one of which was dated zips, , and was published by the chroniclers. in , another horde passed through bohemia, austria, and bavaria; this time they were under a petty king, zindelo; they also asserted that they came from egypt, and declared that they were commanded by god to wander for seven years, because their forefathers had refused hospitality to the mother of god and the child jesus, on their flight into egypt. in hordes like these they spread themselves, during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, over the whole of europe. in spite of their frivolous finery and cunning lies, there were very few places in which they succeeded in deceiving men. they proved, indeed, everywhere to be wicked heathens, magicians, fortune-tellers, and most shameless thieves. they split themselves into small bands during their distant travels; their leaders, whom they had honoured with all the feudal titles, in order to give themselves consideration, disappeared. they themselves were thoroughly decimated by their wandering lives, and the persecutions of the local inhabitants. their language gives the best explanation of their past. the original homogeneousness of the gipsy language is distinctly visible amidst the various changes which it has gone through in many countries. it appears to be the mode of speech of a single and special indian race. the gipsy is apparently not the descendant of a mixed indian people, or of a single low caste of indians, but of a distinct race of people. the men call themselves everywhere, _rom_; and in contradiction to the western nations, also _calo_, black: their wives, _romni_, and their language _romany-tschib_. the names which their race have had in different countries are numerous and various. their language is in its origin and internal structure a genuine daughter of the distinguished sanscrit, but it has become for many centuries like a beggar and thief; it has lost much of its beauty, its elegance, and its resemblance to its mother and sisters; instead of which it has appropriated something to itself from every country in which these people have tarried in their wanderings, and its dress appears covered with the tatters of all nations, so that it is only here and there that the genuine gold threads are still visible. the race have lost a great portion of their own words, more especially those, that express ideas which they could not preserve in their paltry miserable life in foreign countries. they have lost the indian expression for parrot, elephant, and lion, also for the tiger and buffalo snake, but sugar--_gûlo_, silk--_pahr_, and grapes--_drakh_, they call by their indian, and wine--_mohl_, by its persian name. nay, they have also lost the indian words for many current terms: they no longer call the sparrow by its indian name: no fish, and hardly any plants; but undoubtedly they retain those of many large and small animals, amongst others _dschu_, the louse. but in all countries, new representations, images, and ideas offered themselves, and too lazy and careless to form words of their own, they took those of every foreign language and adapted them to the necessities of their own tongue. the result was, that even the gipsies who were in bands, being without firm union, were split in pieces among the various people, so that what they still possessed did not remain common to all, and there arose in every country a peculiar gipsy idiom, in which old recollections were mixed up with the language of the country, in an original way. finally the _rom_ appropriated to himself almost everywhere, besides the common language of the country that of the rogues, the thieves' dialect, to which he imparted, in friendly exchange, words from his own language. in germany he understood gibberish, or _jenisch_; in bohemia, _hantyrka_; in french, _argôt_; in england, slang; and in spain, _germania_. it is instructive to observe how their hereditary language became corrupted; for the decadence of one language, through the overpowering influence of another, proceeds according to fixed laws. first, foreign words penetrate in a mass, because foreign cultivation has an imposing effect; next the formation of sentences is taken from the foreign language, because the mind of the people accustoms itself to think after the method of the foreigners; and thirdly, they forget their own inflections; then the language becomes a heap of ruins, a weather-beaten organism, like a corroded mass of rock which crumbles away into sand or gravel. the gipsy language has gone through the first and second stages of decadence, and the third also in spain. the life of this race in germany was far from comfortable. as their hands were against the property of every one, so did the popular hatred work against their lives. charles v. commanded them to be banished, and the new police ordinances of the princes allowed them no indulgence. yet they were able to gain money from the country people by soothsaying and secret arts, by doctoring man and beast, or as horse-dealers and pedlers. often, united with bands of robbers, they carried on a new service during the long war, as camp followers. wallenstein made use of them as spies, as did the swedes also later. the women made themselves agreeable to the officers and common soldiers. the cunning men of the band sold amulets and shod horses. after the war they went about through the country audaciously, the terror of the countryman. in a band of more than two hundred of them invaded thuringia, where they distributed themselves, and were considered as very malevolent, because it was reported of them that they reconnoitred the country probably for an enemy. they had in fact become a great plague throughout the country, and the law thundered against them with characteristic recklessness. orders were issued everywhere for their banishment; they were considered as spies of the turks, and as magicians, and were made outlaws; even after the year , in a small rhenish principality, a gipsy woman and her child were brought in amongst other wild game which had been slain. a band again broke into thuringia in the eighteenth century, and a law in declared all the men outlawed. in prussia, in , an edict was promulgated, commanding the alarm to be sounded, and the community to be summoned together against them, whenever they should make their appearance. on the frontiers, gallows were erected with this inscription: "the punishment for thieves and gipsy rabble, both men and women." as late as the year all the gipsies in the prussian states, over eighteen years of age, were to be hanged whether they had a passport or not. even in frederick the great renewed this strong edict. the conduct of the civilized nineteenth century forms a pleasing contrast to this. in at friedrichslohra in thuringia, a philanthropic endeavour was made, and warmly promoted by the government, to reform a band of about one hundred men, by the maintenance of the adults and education of the children. the attempt was continued for seven years, and completely failed. the name of stroller disappeared, and the occupation of these possessionless rovers became to a certain degree free from the old defect; but the great society of swindlers maintained a certain organization. their language also remained. the gibberish, of which many specimens remain to us from the latter end of the middle ages, shows already, before the demoralization of the people by the hussite war, a full development of old german rogues' idioms. it consists for the greater part of hebrew words as used by persons who were not themselves jews; together with these are mingled some of the honoured treasures of the german language, beautiful old words, and again significant inventions of figurative expressions, for the sake of concealing the true sense of the speech by a deceptive figure: thus, windgap for mantle, broadfoot for goose. few of their words lead us to expect an elevated disposition; the rough humour of desperadoes breaks out from many of them. the practice, like the language of these rogues, developed itself in greater refinement. the usual form in which the resident inhabitants were plundered was begging. the works of holiness of the old church--an irrational alms-giving--had spread throughout christendom an unwieldy mass of mendicancy. in the first century of german christendom it is the subject of complaint of pious ecclesiastics. in churchyards and in public places lay the beggars, exposing horrible wounds, which were often artistically inflicted; they sometimes went naked through the country with a club, afterwards clothed, and with many weapons, and begged at every homestead for their children, or for the honour of their saints, or as slaves escaped from the turkish galleys, for a vow, or for only a pound of wax, a silver cross, or a mass vestment. they begged also towards the erection of a church, producing letters and seals; they had much at heart to obtain special napkins for the priest, linen for the altar cloth, and broken plate for the chalice; they rolled about as epileptics, holding soap lather in their mouths. in like manner did the women wander about, some pretending to give birth to monsters (as for example a toad) which lived in solitude as miraculous creatures, and daily required a pound of meat. when a great festival was held they flocked together in troops. they formed a dangerous company, and even iron severity could scarcely keep them under restraint. basle appears to have been one of their secret meeting-places; they had there their own special place of justice, and the famed "_liber vagatorum_" also, seems to have originated in that neighbourhood. this book, written by an unknown hand about , contains, in rogues' language, a careful enumeration of the rogue classes and their tricks, and at the end a vocabulary of jargon. it was often printed; and pamphilus gengenbach of basle rendered it into rhyme. it pleased luther so well that he also reprinted the clever little book, after one of the oldest impressions. to the order of beggars belong also the travelling scholars, who, as treasure diggers and exorcists, made successful attacks on the savings of the peasants and on the provisions in their chimneys. "they desired to become priests," then they came from rome with shaven crowns and collected for a surplice; or they were necromancers, then they wore a yellow train to their coats and came from the frau venusberg; when they entered a house they exclaimed, "here comes a travelling scholar, a master of seven liberal sciences, an exorciser of the devil, and from hail storms, fire, and monsters;" and thereupon they made "experiments." together with them came disbanded landsknechte, often associated with the dark race of outlaws, who worked with armed hand against the life and property of the resident inhabitants. throughout the whole of the middle ages it was impossible to eradicate the robbers. after the time of luther they became incendiaries, more particularly from to . a foreign rabble appeared suddenly in middle germany, especially in the domains of the protestant chiefs, the elector of saxony and landgrave of hesse. they burned cassel, nordheim, göttingen, goslor, brunswick, and magdeburg. eimbech was burned to the ground with three hundred and fifty men, and a portion of nordhausen; villages and barns were everywhere set on fire; bold incendiary letters stirred up the people, and at last also the princes. the report became general that the roman catholic party had hired more than three hundred incendiaries, and the pope, paul iii., had counselled duke henry the younger, of brunswick, to send the rabble to saxony and hesse. undoubtedly much wickedness was laid to the credit of the unscrupulous duke; but it was then the interest of pope paul iii. to treat the protestants with forbearance, for earnest endeavours were being made on both sides for a great reconciliation, and preparation was made for it at rome, by sending the cardinal contarini to the great religious conference at ratisbon. the terror, however, and anger of the germans was great and enduring. everywhere the incendiaries were tracked, everywhere their traces were found, crowds of rabble were imprisoned, tried for their lives, and executed. luther publicly denounced duke henry as guilty of these reckless outrages; the elector and landgrave accused him of incendiarism at the diet before the emperor; and in vain did he, in his most vehement manner, defend himself and his adherents. it is true that his guilt was pronounced by the emperor as unproved; but then he was desirous, above all, of internal peace and help against the turks. in the public opinion, however, the stain on the prince's reputation remained. it is impossible to discover how far the strollers of that time were the guilty parties. the depositions of those arrested are inaccurately given, and it cannot be decided how much of it was dictated by torture. one thing is quite clear, they did not form into any fixed bands, and their secret intercourse was carried on through the medium of signs, which were scratched or cut on striking places, such as inns, walls, doors, &c. these signs were partly primitive german personal tokens, which, as house-marks, may still be found on the gables of old buildings, but partly also in rogues' marks. above all, there was the characteristic sign of the strollers, the arrow, once the signal announcing enmity; the direction of his arrow shows the way which the marker has taken; small perpendicular strokes on it, often with ciphers above, give probably the number of persons. these signs are to be found sometimes still on the trees and walls of the high-roads, and it betokens now, as it did then, to the members of the band, that the initiated has passed that way with his followers. in addition to the indigenous rovers came also foreign ones; as in the middle ages, a stream of italian adventurers again flowed through germany. together with the german player rose the cry of the italian orvietan (venice treacle) vendor, and side by side with the bohemian bear were the camels of pisa. the marvellous venetian remedies and the harlequin jacket, mask, and felt cap of the italian fool wandered over the alps, and were added as new fooleries to our old stock. the italian, garzoni, has given a lively picture of the proceedings of these strollers in his book, 'piazza universale,' a description of all the arts and handicrafts of his time. his work was translated in , into german by matthäus merian, under the title of 'general theatre of all arts, professions, and handicrafts.' the description of the italian portrays also in its chief features the condition of western germany after the war. the following extract is given according to merian's german translation:-- "the wandering comedians in their demeanour are uncivil asses and ruffians, who consider that they have performed beautifully when they have moved the mob to laughter by their coarse sayings. their _inventiones_ are such, that if the toads acted thus we might forgive them, and they all tally together without rhyme or reason; they do not care whether they are sufficiently polished and skilful so long as they can only obtain money. though they could easily curtail or cloak whatever is coarse, they imagine that they give no satisfaction in their business if it is not set forth in the coarsest manner; on this account comedy and the whole comic art has fallen into the greatest contempt with respectable people, and even the high comedians are banished from certain places, are treated with contumely in public laws and statutes, insulted and derided by the whole community. when these good people come into a town they must not remain together, but must divide themselves among divers inns; the lady comes from rome, the magnificus from venice,[ ] ruffiana from padua, the zany from bergamo, the gratianus from bologna, and they must lurk about for certain days, till they have begged and obtained permission if they wish to maintain themselves and carry on their profession; they can with difficulty obtain lodgings where they are known, every one being disgusted with their filth, as they leave for a length of time a bad smell behind them. "but when they come into a town and are permitted to perform their tricks, they cause it to be made known by handbills, the beating of drums, and other war sounds, that this or that great comedian has arrived; then the woman goes after the drum dressed in man's clothes, girt about with a sword, and thus the people are invited in every place: 'whoever would see a beautiful comedian, let him come to this or that place.' thither come running all the curious people, and are admitted for three or four kreutzers into a yard, where they find a platform erected, and regular scenes. first there begins splendid music, just as if a troop of asses were all braying together; then comes a prologus, making his appearance like a vagabond; afterwards come beautiful and ill-adorned persons, who make such a cackling that every one begins to find the time long, and if perchance any one laughs, it is more at the simplicity of the spectators than because he finds somewhat laughable. then comes magnificus, who is not worth three hellers; zany, who truly does his best, but waddles like a goose walking through deep mud; a shameless ruffiana, and also a lover, whom it would be disgusting to listen to long; a spaniard who knows not how to say more than _mi vida_, or _mi corazon_; a pedant who jumbles all sorts of languages together; and buratinus, who knows no other gesture than that of twirling his hat or his hood from one hand to the other. the best of them has so little capacity as to be unfit either to boil or roast, so that the bystanders all become weary, and laugh at themselves for having so long given heed to such insane tricks. and assuredly they must be idle folk or superlative fools to allow themselves to be caught there a second time; the incapacity of the players in the first comedy they perform, is so well known and cried down, that others of respectability are mistrusted on their account. "there are now-a-days many genuine dramatic performances in vogue at almost all the market-places and fairs, namely the plays of ceretani, of orvietan vendors, and other similar fellows. they are called ceretani in italy because it is presumed they have their origin and first commencement in a small spot called cereto, near spoleto in umbria, and afterwards gradually attained such credit and consideration, that when they were to be heard there was as great a concourse of people assembled as were ever collected by the cleverest doctor of the liberal arts, nay even by the best preacher who ever entered a pulpit. for the common people run together in crowds, gaping with open mouth, listen to them the whole day, forget all their cares, and god knows how difficult it is,--even the peasants find it so,--to keep one's purse in such a throng. "when one sees these cheats take a whole lump of arsenic, sublimate, or other poison, indiscriminately, that they may make proof by it of the excellence of their orvietan, it should be known that, in the summer-time before they came to the place, they have filled themselves with lettuce dressed with so much vinegar and oil that they might swim therein, and in winter they stuff themselves upon fat ox-brawn well boiled. and this they do that they may by means of the fat of the brawn and oiliness of the salad, with the coldness of their nature, obstruct the internal passage of the body, and thus weaken the sharpness or heat of the poison. they have besides this also a secure way of managing, namely, before they enter the place they go to the nearest apothecary, who generally in the towns is in or near the market; there they ask for a box of arsenic, from which they select some small bits, and wrap them in paper, begging the apothecary to deliver the same to them when they send for it. now when they have sufficiently extolled their wares, so that nothing more remains but to make proof of them, they send out one of the bystanders, in order that there may appear to be no fear of deceit, to the apothecary, that he may obtain some arsenic for the money which they give him. this said person runs forthwith, that there may be no hindrance in such useful work, and as he goes, considers that though he has been deceived a thousand times, he cannot be so this time, he will see well to that. meantime he comes to the apothecary, demands the arsenic for his money, receives it, and runs with joy to the orvietan vendor's table to see the marvel; this one holds meanwhile in his hand little boxes, amongst them one wherein he puts the aforesaid arsenic, he speaks and addresses the people for a time before he takes it, for in a case of so much danger there must be no haste; meantime he changes the aforesaid little box for another, wherein are small pieces of paste made of sugar, meat, and saffron that they may appear like the former. these he then eats with singular gestures as if he were much afraid, and the peasants stand by open mouthed to see whether he will not soon burst asunder; but he binds himself up firmly that this may not happen, although he knows that there is no occasion for it; he afterwards takes a piece as large as a chestnut of his orvietan or stuff, and all the swelling disappears as if there had been no poison in question. 'this, dear gentlemen, will be a precious orvietan to you.' whereupon the peasants undraw their purse strings, and thank god that they have such a dear good man, and can obtain in their village such costly wares for so little money. "but who would venture to describe all the cunning practices whereby these strollers contrive to make and collect money? for my own part i fear i should never get to the end of it. yet i cannot refrain from describing some of their tricks. "one rushes through the street, having with him a young girl dressed in boy's clothes, who bounds about, jumping through a hoop like a monkey. then he begins to tell, in good florentine, some remarkable jests or pranks, and meanwhile the little maiden sets to work in every kind of way, throws herself on all-fours, reaches the ring from out of the hoop, then bends herself backwards, and picks up a coin from under the right or left foot, with such graceful agility that the lads have pleasure in looking at her. but finally he also can do nothing farther than to bring out his wares, and offer the same for sale as well as he can. "but those who boast themselves of being of the race of st. paul, make their appearance with much consequence, namely, with a great flying banner, on one side of which stands st. paul with his sword, but on the other a heap of serpents, which are so painted that one fears to be bitten by them. then one of the party begins to relate their genealogy, how st. paul, in the island of malta, was bitten by a viper without injury, and how the same virtue was accorded to his descendants; then they make divers trials, but always keep the upper hand, having a bond and seal thereupon. finally they lay hold of the boxes which are standing on the table or bench, take out of one a salamander, two ells long and an arm in thickness, from another a great snake, from another a viper, and relate concerning each how they had caught it when the peasant was reaping his corn, who would have been in great danger therefrom, if they had not come to his relief. thereupon the peasants become so frightened that they dare not return home till they have had a draught of the costly snake-powder, and bought still more to take home to their wives and children, that they may be preserved from the bite of snakes and other poisonous reptiles; and the game does not end herewith, for they have still more boxes at hand, which they open, and take out of one a rough viper, out of another a dead basilisk, out of another a young crocodile brought from egypt, an indian lizard, a tarantula from the campagna, or somewhat of the like, whereby they frighten the peasants, that they may buy the favour of the holy paul, which is imparted to them by small written papers, for a consideration. "meanwhile, because the people are still assembled together, another comes, spreads his mantle on the ground, places upon it a little dog which can sing _ut_, _re_, _mi_, _fa_, _so_, _la_, _si_; it makes also frolicksome somersaults, somewhat less than a monkey, barks at the command of its master, who is very ill clad, howls when the turkish emperor's name is mentioned, and makes a leap into the air when this or that sweetheart is named; and finally, for it is done to obtain hellers, his master hangs a little hat to his paw, and sends him round on his hind feet to the bystanders, for travelling expenses, as he has a great journey in prospect. "the parmesan also does not neglect the like opportunity with his goat, which he brings to the _platz_; he makes there a palisade, within which it walks up and down, one foot behind the other, and sits up on a little platform of hardly a hand's breadth, and licks the salt under its feet. he makes it also go round upon its hind legs, with a long spear over its shoulder, making fools of all beholders, who present it with pence for food. "sometimes a bold rope-dancer is to be seen, who walks on the rope, till at last he breaks his leg, or falls headlong; or a daring turkish juggler who lies on the ground, and allows himself to be struck on the chest by a great hammer, as if he were an anvil; or by a jerk, tears up a big pile which has been driven by force into the ground, whereby he obtains a good sum for his journey to mecca. "sometimes a baptized jew makes his appearance, who bawls and cries out, till at length he collects a few people, when he begins to preach about his conversion; whereby one comes to this conclusion, that he has become a crafty vagrant instead of a pious christian. "in short there is no market-place, either in village or town, where some of these fellows are not to be found, who either perform divers facetious juggling tricks, or sell various drugs. "these are the tricks of charlatans, strollers, and jugglers, and other idle people, whereby they get on in the world." here ends the narrative of garzoni. numberless light-footed people also of the same class thronged into the german market towns. but besides the old traders and jugglers, a new class of strollers had come into germany, harmless people of far higher interest for these days, the wandering comedians. the first players that made a profession of their performances came to germany from england or the netherlands, towards the end of the sixteenth century. they were still accompanied with rope dancers, jumpers, fencers, and horsebreakers; they still continued to furnish the courts of princes and the market-places of great cities with clowns and the favourite figure of jack-puddings, and soon after, the french "jean posset," on bad boarded platforms still continued to excite the uproarious laughter of the easily amused multitude. shortly after, the popular masques of the italian theatre became familiar in the south of germany and on the rhine. at the same time that the regular circulation of newspapers commenced, the people received the rough beginnings of art; the representation of human character and the secret emotions of restless souls by the play of countenance, gestures, and the deceptive illusion of action. it is remarkable also, that almost precisely at the same period, the first entertaining novels were written for the people. and these spontaneously invented pictures of real life had reference to the strolling people; for the adventures of vagrants, disbanded soldiers, and in short all those who had travelled in foreign countries, and had seen there an abundance of marvels, and undergone the most terrible dangers with almost invulnerable bodies, were the heroes of these imperfect creations of art. shortly after the war, christoph von grimmelsausen wrote 'simplicissimus,' 'springinsfeld,' 'landstörzerin courage.' and the 'wonderful vogelnest,' the heroes of which are gathered from strollers; these were followed by a flood of novels describing the lives of rogues and of adventurers. the war had rendered the existence of the settled population joyless, their manners coarse, and their morals lax. and the craving for excitement was general. thus at first these modes of representation allured, by bestowing what was wanting to this ungenial life. they endeavoured with much detail to represent either an ideal life of distinguished and refined persons, under entirely foreign conditions, such as antique shepherds, and foreign princes without nationalities; this was done by the highly educated; or they tried at least to ennoble common life, by introducing into it abstractions not less coarse and soulless, virtues and vices, mythological and allegorical figures; or they caught endless materials from the lowest circles of life, to whom they felt themselves superior, but in whose strange mode of life there was something alluring: they depicted strollers or represented clowns and fools; and this last development of art was the soundest. thus these rough families of jugglers, buffoons, and rogues were of the utmost significance to the beginning of the drama, theatrical art, and novels. but besides the numerous companies, who wandered about either modestly on foot or in carts, vagrants of higher pretensions rode through the country, some of them still more objectionable. to be able to prognosticate the future, to gain dominion over the spirits of the elements, to make gold, and to renew the vigour of youth in old age, had for many centuries been the longing desire of the covetous and inquisitive. those who promised these things to the germans were generally italians or other foreigners; or natives of the country, who had, according to the old saying, been thrice to rome. when the new zeal for the restoration of the church brought good and bad alike before the tribunal of the inquisition in italy, the emigration of those whose lives were insecure must have been very numerous. it is probably from the life of one of these charlatans that the adventures of faust have been gathered and formed into the old popular tale. after luther's death, it is evident that they penetrated into the courts of the german princes. it was an adventurer of this kind, "jerome scotus," who, in , at coburg, estranged the unhappy duchess anna of saxe coburg from her husband, and brought her into his own power by villainous means. vain were the endeavours of the duke to obtain the extradition of scotus from hamburg, where he lived long in princely luxury. five-and-thirty years before, the father of the duke johann friedrich, the middle-sized, was long deluded by an impudent impostor, who gave herself out to be anne of cleves (the wife who had been selected for henry viii. of england), and promised him a great treasure of gold and jewels if he chose to protect her. another piece of credulity bore bitter fruits to the same prince, for the influence which wilhelm of grumbach, the haggard old wolf from the herd of the wild albrecht of brandenburg, gained over the duke, rested on his foolish prophecies concerning the electoral dignity and prodigious treasures. a poor weak-minded boy who was maintained by grumbach, had intercourse with angels who dwelt in the air-hole of a cellar, and declared themselves ready to produce gold, and bring to light a mine for the duke. it may be perceived from judicial records, that the little angels of the peasant child had a similarity, unfavourable to their credibility, to our little old dwarfs. there was at berlin, about the time of scotus, one leonhard turneysser, a charlatan, more citizen-like in his occupation, who worked as gold maker and prepared horoscopes; he escaped by flight the dismal fate, which almost always overtook his fellows of the same vocation who did not change their locality soon enough. the emperor rudolph also became a great adept, and amalgamated in the gold crucible both his political honour and his own imperial throne. the princes of the seventeenth century at least show the intense interest of dilettanti. during the war the art of making gold became very desirable. at that period, therefore, the adepts thronged to the armies; the more needy the times, the more numerous and brilliant became the stories of alchemy. it was proposed by an enthusiastic worshipper of gustavus adolphus, to make gold out of lead; and in the presence of the emperor ferdinand iii. many pounds of gold were to be made, by one grain of red powder, from quicksilver; a gigantic coin also was to be struck from the same metal. after the peace, the adepts resided at all the courts; there were few dwellings where the hearth and the retorts were not heated for secret operations. but every one had to beware how he trifled with the reigning powers, as the paws of the princely lions might be raised against him for his destruction. those who could not make gold were confined in prison, and those who were under suspicion, yet could fabricate something, were equally put in close confinement. the italian count cajetan was hanged in a gilded dress, on a gallows at küstrin the beams of which were adorned with cut gold; the german rector von klettenberg was beheaded at königstein, where fourteen years before, böttiger was kept in strict cloistral confinement, because he had produced innocent porcelain instead of gold. there is no doubt that it was the case with the adepts and astrologers, as it ever has been with the leaders of a prevailing superstition, that they were themselves convinced of the truth of their art; but they had strong doubts of their own knowledge, and they deceived others as to their success, either because they were seeking the means to attain to greater results, or because they wished to appear, to the world, to understand what they considered of importance. these however were not the worst of the lot. the most mischievous of all were, perhaps, the skilful impostors, who appeared in germany, france, and england, with foreign titles of distinction, shining with the glimmer of secret art, sometimes the propagators of the most disgraceful vices, shadowy figures, who by their worldly wisdom and the limited intercourse of nations were enabled to bring themselves into notoriety. their experience, their deceptions, their secret successes, for a long period overpoweringly excited the fancies of germans. even goethe considered it worth his while to repair to the spot and set on foot serious investigations as to the origin of cagliostro. the changes in the moral diseases of that society, of which we are the representatives, can be gradually traced. after the war astrology and horoscopes fell into disuse. the princes sought for red powder, or the unknown tincture, whilst the people dug for money pots. dilettante occupation with physical science introduced again to the people the ancient divining rod, by which springs, murders, thefts, and always concealed gold, were to be discovered. the superior classes again realized in their own minds the ancient belief in mysterious men, who by unknown proceedings, in unfathomable depths, had obtained the power of giving supernatural duration of life, and had confidential intercourse with the spirit world. besides the honourable order of freemasons, with their humanitarian tendencies, there arose more secret unions, wherein the weak minded of the time were enticed to a refined sensuality and sickly mysticism, and an extensive apparatus of absurd secret teaching. since the end of the last century a vigorous dash of the waves of german popular strength has washed away these diseased fantasies. the old race of strollers too have diminished in number and influence. it is only rarely that bajazzo, with his pointed felt cap, bewitches the village youth; the meagre neck of the camel no longer stretches itself to the flowering trees of our village gardens, the black dog seldom rolls his fiery eyes at buried chests of silver. even the impostors have learned to satisfy higher demands. chapter viii. engagement and marriage at court. ( .) it has ever been part of the german character to maintain propriety of conduct in intercourse with others, to keep up a good appearance, to do homage to superiors, and to require a respectful demeanour and address from inferiors. the forms of intercourse were accurately defined, and the number of significant turns of speech was not small, which introduced every social arrangement, and like a boundary stone, preserved the pathway of life. but the groundwork of all this old precision was a sound self-respect, which gave to individuals a feeling of certainty as to what was to be conceded or received, and therefore civility was generally real. if there was any discord in his soul, the german did not usually conceal it; and then he became so thoroughly coarse, that he gained evil repute with all the western nations. it is true, princes were accosted with much devotedness, words of submission were used as now; but the prince and the citizen, the nobleman and the artisan, met together as men, and a strong word or a warm feeling often broke through the most courtly forms. this, however, changed after the war. the old feeling of decorum was lost, the egotism of the unbridled was harsh and wounding; the proper, but often narrow-minded pride of citizen and nobleman was broken, and the simple patriarchal relation between prince and subject was lost during thirty years of calamity and distrust. men had become more prudent, but weaker, and for the most part worse. but the beginning of a new state of society was visible. with all this ruin providence had mercifully sent a remedy. by many a roundabout way, through french and italian fashions, and after long wanderings in every foreign nationality, the german mind was to be renewed. it was a wonderful trial of durability, but it was necessary. like prince tamino in the magic play, the poor german soul passed through french water and italian fire; and from that period a weak flute-like tone sounds only occasionally in our ears, telling us that the german character has not yet sunk entirely under foreign phantasies. it has been customary to consider the intellectual sway of italy and france, from opiz to lessing, as a great calamity. it is true, it has given neither beauty nor strength to the german; but we are no longer in the position of the great man who for a century struggled against french taste. it was with him a duty to hate whatever caused a hindrance to the wakening popular vigour. but we should at the same time remember that this same foreign element protected the german from the extreme of barbarism. our imitation was very clumsy, and there was little worth in the original; but it was to the countless bonds of international intercourse that the germans then clung, that they might not be utterly lost. the moral restraints upon the wilfulness of individuals had been broken, and the meagre externals gathered from abroad, of fashion, respect, gallantry, and a taste for foreign refinements were the first remedy. it was a new kind of discipline. whoever wore a large wig, and later, even powder in the hair, was obliged to hold his head elegantly still, wild movements and violent running were impossible; if men were not prevented by their own delicacy of feeling from boldly approaching too near to women, a hoop and corset were a rampart for them; if the courtesy of the heart was less, the duty of being gallant in conversation was a benefit. in a circle where a coarse soldiers' song had been preferred, a polished song from damon to daphne was a great improvement, and even the fade cavalier, who cut his finger-nails in society with a gilded knife, and threw himself down with a french flourish, was by far more estimable in society than an unbridled drunkard, who in his intoxication did the most unseemly things, and could not open his mouth without an oath. those who assumed to be the élite in germany soon fashioned their life after the foreign model. even during the war many foreign customs had become naturalized; not only in court ceremonials and in the intercourse with ambassadors, but also in the dress and manners of the citizens. however great was the influence of france, that of italy was not much less. the service of the _cicisbeato_, and the "state" ceremonials, had penetrated from italy into france; the roman court long remained the highest model, in all questions of etiquette, to the diplomats of europe. both countries took their share in holding sway over germany. in the south, italy ruled till the eighteenth century, indeed in vienna it continued still longer to influence the aspect of the higher society; but in the north, especially in the protestant courts, the french model prevailed, and this copy, like the other, was a clumsy one. but whilst at the great courts, for example vienna, the cavalier assumed at least something of the impulsive versatility of the italian; in the smaller towns social intercourse was slow and prolix, carried on in endless phrases, which appeared the more grotesque in proportion as the men were coarse who endeavoured to set themselves off by the use of them. thus was the sunny path, along which men approached the chosen of their hearts, charmingly strewn with the flowers of foreign manners. whatever of indigenous was retained, was adorned with laborious gallantry, and became still more tedious. before we attempt to give a specimen of honourable german love, it will be fitting to disclose to the sympathizing reader something of the style of courtly wooing and marriage. therefore the following gives the course of wooing of a cavalier, about the year :-- "when a person of condition at vienna wishes to marry some one, he begs of her parents to allow him to wait upon her, but he must already have made her acquaintance, and know that she is well inclined towards him. when this has been granted by her parents, the affair is already half agreed upon, and he gives his servant a new livery, and dresses himself in his best. every day he must write to her early, and inquire what she is doing, what she has dreamt of, when she will drive out, and where she intends to dine. besides this, he sends her a nosegay, for which sometimes a ducat must be paid. then she returns him an answer, and he makes his appearance at her door at the right time, helps her into the carriage, and rides next it with head uncovered, on the side where his lady sits. when they arrive, he dismounts, opens the carriage door, and again hands her out. in austria they generally offer themselves as guests to the houses of others. when he has learnt where his lady is to dine, he offers himself also as guest, and does this half an hour beforehand. when at table, he presents a finger-glass to his love alone, even though there may be more distinguished ladies there; he offers, it is true, the water to others, but none accept; his lady alone does not refuse. then he places her chair, waits upon and converses with her; when she desires to have something to drink, he hands it to her on a plate, which he holds under the glass whilst she is drinking; he places fresh plates before her and takes the old away, and he always pledges her health to his left hand neighbour. after dinner he again hands her the finger-glass, for which reason he sits next her; he then removes her chair, fetches her gloves, fan, and veil which she had left, and presents them with a profound reverence. after the repast is over, the hostess takes his lady with her to her room. there also he begs for admittance, which is not refused him, and waits upon her in like manner. from thence they go to vespers, and then in summer to the prater, or in winter in sledges with torches. this state of things continues for at least three months. "now when these three months are over, the betrothal is celebrated, and the marriage invitations are written. then the bridegroom makes three presents. first a silver casket, wherein are some pairs of silk stockings, some pieces of silk stuffs, some pairs of gloves, handkerchiefs, twelve fans, ribands, and laces. the second present consists of silver ornaments; the third of jewels, bracelets, earrings, and pendants of precious stones, or pearls for the neck. he also presents a dress to his mistress's maid. some send every day a new present. then he gives his servant again a new livery, engages more servants for himself, and at least one page and two lackeys for his future wife. court ladies of high distinction, who drive with six horses, do not bestow presents on their bridegroom, unless it be from overflowing liberality; but others present a night-dress to their beloved, their portrait in a small casket, and on the marriage day linen; six shirts, six collars, six pocket handkerchiefs, six pairs of ruffles, and to every servant a shirt. the bride pays the expenses of the eating and drinking at the marriage, and the bridegroom the cost of the music. "on the wedding-day the bridegroom drives, towards evening, in his own carriage, or that of an intimate friend, dressed entirely in silver brocade, just as the bride is dressed; he wears a wreath of diamonds which are put together from the jewels of friends, and afterwards returned. behind him drive all the male wedding guests. he waits in the church till the bride comes. her bridal train is three ells long, borne either by a boy of noble birth, or a young lady. the bridegroom goes to meet her, helps her out of the carriage and leads her in, and thus they are united together in matrimony. the wedding ring is generally of gold and silver mixed, and plaited in the form of a laurel wreath; it has a precious stone in it, in order to signify that their truth and love shall be endless. then they betake themselves to the marriage house, where the feast is to be celebrated. after the meal the men take forthwith their swords and mantles, and room is made for the dance, and then come the two bridesmen. each has a burning torch in his hand; they make a bow to the bridegroom and the bride, and ask them to dance. then they both dance alone. the nearest relations are next asked, and so on all the rest in succession. these dances of honour are performed to the sound of trumpets and kettledrums. the cavaliers then lay aside their swords and mantles, and all dance together. after the dance the relations accompany the bride and bridegroom to their bedroom, there the mother commends the bride to her husband with impressive words. then all go out." thus did the wealthy noble woo and wed at vienna, which after the war rapidly filled with landed proprietors who thoroughly enjoyed life. new families were in possession of the confiscated properties, the imperial generals and faithful councillors had abundantly taken care of themselves. a residence in the desolated country was wearisome, and many great proprietors had no old family interest in their property. besides the imperial nobles, sons of german princes and many of the old nobility of the empire thronged to the imperial city, to seek diversion, acquaintances, and fortune at court or in the army. but in proportion as the devotion of the noble servant to his mistress was great, the hope of a happy conjugal union was insecure. and the prospect was not more favourable in the families of the great princes of the empire. the rulers of germany attained to a comfortable condition, after the peace, sooner than others. whatever could be done by the people, seemed to be for their advantage. to the old taste for drinking, hunting, and not always very seemly intercourse with women, was now added the pleasure of having a body guard who were drawn up in uniform before their castles, and rode by their carriages along the roads. after the war every great prince maintained a standing army; the old feudal lords of the country had become generals. it was in this century that the great princely families of germany, the wettiners, the hohenzollerns, the brunswickers, and the wittelsbachers, gained their influential position in european politics. three of them obtained royal thrones, those of poland, prussia, and england, and the head of the wittelsbachers for many years wore the diadem of the roman empire. each of these houses represents a great european dynasty. but however different their fortunes may have been, they have also met with a retributive fate. at the time of the reformation, the imperial throne with supreme dominion over germany was offered to the house of wettiner; the family, divided into two lines, did not listen to the high call. at the battle of linien, in , it lost the leadership. a hundred years later, the possibility of founding a powerful house was offered to the wittelsbacher, by the union of the palatinate with the old bavarian province and bohemia, which even the hapsburgers have never attained to. but one son of the house killed the other at the weissen berge. only the hapsburgers and the hohenzollerns have understood how to keep together. the general misfortune of the german princes was, that they found little in their oppressed subjects to excite awe or regard. for the soul of man is most easily fortified against encroaching passions when his worldly position makes a strong resistance possible for those who surround him. a firm feeling of duty is only formed under the pressure of strong law. whoever overrides it will find it easier to do great things, but incomparably more difficult to do permanently what is right. at an earlier period the life at courts was rough, often wild, now it had become frivolous and dissolute. the combination of refined luxury with coarse manners, and of strict etiquette with arbitrary will, makes many of the characters of that time especially hateful. the sons of princes were now better educated. latin was still the language of diplomacy, to that was added italian and french; and besides all knightly arts--in so far as they still existed--military drills, and above all, _politesse_, the new art which rendered men and women more agreeable and obliging in society. some knowledge of state affairs was not rare, for there were still quarrels with neighbours to be brought before the supreme court of judicature and the imperial aulic council, and solicitations to his imperial majesty, and complaints to the diet, without end or measure. but the person who exercised most quiet power in the country was the lawyer, who was generally at the head of the administration; and occasionally a power-loving court preacher. the ladies also of the princely houses had the advantage of some degree of instruction; many of them understood latin, or at least were acquainted with virgil (from a bad translation into german alexandrines), and boccaccio in the original. quarrels about rank, ceremonials, dress, the love affairs of their husbands, and perhaps their own, formed the daily interest of their lives, together with trivial intrigues and gossiping: the stronger minded conversed with the clergy on cases of conscience, and sought for consolation in their hymn book, and occasionally also in their cookery book. but german literature was little adapted to ennoble the feelings of women, and such as those times did produce, seldom reached them in their elevated position; a tasteless court poem, an italian strophe, and sometimes a thick historical or theological quarto sent by a submissive author in hopes of receiving a present of money. the marriage of a princess was concluded upon reasons of state, and it frequently happened that she was burdened from the very first day with a dissolute husband. undoubtedly not a few of them were consigned to their royal vaults with most choice and solemn pomp, on whom the sunshine of a deep heartfelt affection had never shone during life: the care of their own household, and even that sweetest of all cares, the education of their children, was taken from them by the new court arrangements. undoubtedly in many marriages, a good heart made up for the deficiency of the education of that time; but scandalous occurrences were frequent in the highest families at that period. the domestic relations of these distinguished families belong also to history, and much is very generally known of them. a picture of one of these will here be made use of, in order to show that our generation have no occasion to lose heart in contemplating it. when the imperial party, after the year , persecuted the daughter of the king of england, elizabeth, wife of the palatine, with satirical pictures, they painted the proud princess, as going along the high road with three children hanging on by her apron, or, as on the bare ground eating pap from an earthenware platter. the second of these children obtained, through the westphalian peace, the eighth electorate of the german empire. after many vicissitudes of fortune, after drinking the bitter cup of banishment, and seeking in vain to recover his territory, the new elector, karl ludwig, looked down from the royal castle at heidelberg on the beautiful country, of which only a portion returned into the possession of his line. his was not a nature which bore in itself the guarantee of peace and happiness: it is true that in his family he was considered jovial and good-humoured, but he was also irritable, hasty, and passionate, covetous and full of pretension, easily influenced, and without energy, inclined to venture rashly on deeds of violence, and yet not firm enough to effect anything great. it appears that he had derived from the blood of the stuarts, besides a high feeling of his own rank, much of the obstinacy of his ill-fated uncle charles. in the year , he had married charlotte, princess of hesse, the daughter of that strong-minded woman, who, as regent of her country, had shown more energy than most men, and whose powerful matronly countenance we still contemplate with pleasure, in the portrait by engelhard schäffler. the mother described her own daughter to the elector as difficult to rule; the electress was indeed passionate and without moderation, and must often have disturbed domestic peace by her frowardness and jealousy. a young lady of her court, marie susanne loysa von degenfeld, daughter of one of the partisans of the thirty years' war, a person according to all accounts of great loveliness and much gentleness, mixed with firmness, excited a passion in the elector which made him regardless of all considerations. after many angry quarrels he divorced his wife and at once married his love, on whom the title of "raugräfin" was bestowed by the imperial court. the castoff electress turned in vain to the emperor leopold, to effect a reconciliation with her husband. this petition is here given according to lünig, from the rolls of the german empire, .[ ] "we, by the grace of god, charlotte, electress, countess palatine of the rhine, born landgravine of hesse, offer to the most august prince and sovereign of sovereigns, leopold, by the grace of god, father of the fatherland, our most dutiful, obedient, and submissive greeting and service. "although the manifold and weighty business of the empire with which your imperial majesty is troubled at this time, might well frighten us from disquieting you with our private affairs, yet we presume with profound humility to set before your imperial majesty our most pressing distress, and the mighty injuries inflicted upon us at this time without any fault on our part, because it is well known to us that your imperial majesty is at all times assiduous in helping most graciously the injured to their rights. "it is not, i hope, unknown to your imperial majesty that we have, for nearly eleven years, been united in matrimony with his most serene highness prince karl ludwig, count palatine of the rhine, elector of the holy empire. at that time his princely highness, in frequent discourse, both before and after marriage, promised us by the highest oaths, an ever-enduring faith and conjugal love; and we on our part did the like. being then animated by such reciprocal love, we have served his highness in all conjugal obedience to the best of our power, so far as our womanly weakness permitted. we have also, by the grace of god, reared two young princes and a daughter in all love, so that his princely highness ought in justice to have abstained from divorcing himself from us. "we submissively beg your imperial majesty to understand that, after three very severe confinements, we clearly traced by many tokens, no slight alienation in the feelings of our lord and husband, which would justly have given rise to suspicion in our minds, if our confiding spirit had not attributed what was good and laudable to his princely highness. for when we once, according to princely custom, presented his princely highness with a beautiful neapolitan dapple-gray colt with all its appurtenances, he said to us: 'my treasure, we henceforth desire no such presents, which diminish our treasury;' and the very same day he presented the horse to one of the lowest of his nobles. this insult did so grieve us that, with weeping eyes, we lamented it to our gentlewoman, maria susanna von degenfeld, of whose secret doings we had not at that time the slightest idea. she thereupon made answer, 'that if at any time she should meet with the like behaviour from her future consort, she would refuse all cohabitation with him.' by these words she intended nothing else than to incense us against our lord and master. not long after, a ring was purloined from us by the said von degenfeld out of our drawers. this must without doubt have been a concerted plan, for our lord and husband had required this ring of us, and when we could not find it, his princely highness was greatly irritated against us, and thus broke out: 'you make me think strange things of you as concerns this ring; i had thought you would have taken better care of it.' whereupon we answered, 'ah! my treasure, foster no evil suspicions against me; it has been purloined by some faithless person.' but his princely highness continued: 'who may this faithless person be? perhaps some young cavalier, on whose finger you may yourself have placed it.' this caused us so much pain, that we were led to speak somewhat severely to his princely highness, and said, 'no honest prince would thus calumniate me.' whereupon he replied, 'who gave you the right to upbraid me as a dishonest prince? if i hear aught further of this kind from you, you shall be rewarded with a box on the ear!' thereupon we did not answer a word, but wept bitterly. but this von degenfeld comforted us deceitfully, and spoke thus: 'make yourself happy, electoral highness, and be not so much afflicted, it will soon be found again.' by these words she then tranquillized us. but not long afterwards a very noteworthy latin epistle was put into our hand by a trusty servant, which he had found accidentally in the chamber of our lord and husband, the contents of which i cannot forbear enclosing. it is to this effect-- "'to the most serene highness the elector palatine karl ludwig, duke of bavaria, _dilecto meo_. "'i can no longer oppose your electoral highness, nor any longer deceive you as to my inclinations. _vicisti jamque tua sum_, i unhappy one, "'maria susanna, baronissa a degenfeld.' "when, by god's providence, we got this letter, we forthwith perused the same with great consternation; but as we are not much versed in the latin tongue, we despatched the aforesaid trusty servant to the most noble lord, johann jacob graf von eberstein, our dear lord and cousin, who was accidentally stopping at heidelberg, bidding him come to us, and beseeching him as a friend and cousin to lend us his aid in the interpretation of the said note. this he honestly rendered us. it cannot be told what great sorrow took possession of our hearts, when it became evident in how unjustifiable and unprincely a way we had been dealt with. so distracted, therefore, were we in mind, that we ventured so far as to break open the coffer of the afore-mentioned degenfeld, who was not then present, and after earnest search found three abominable letters of his electoral highness, likewise written in latin, in which he equally assures the degenfeld of his love. "then we could sufficiently see that our lord and husband was minded to renounce all truth and love towards us. this we wished at a fitting opportunity to forestal, and give his princely highness to understand it in a covert way. "it then came to pass accidentally, that a week after, his serene highness friedrich, lord margrave of baden, our dearly loved brother-in-law and brother, together with his loving lady and wife, our especially beloved cousin and sister, came from durlach to heidelberg to visit us. now once when we were sitting at table, his princely highness the lord margrave, thus spoke to us: 'wherefore, my lady sister, wherefore so sorrowful?' to which we answered thus: 'my dear lord and brother, perhaps there is truly reason for our sorrow.' whereupon our lord and husband turning quite red said, 'there is nothing new in my lady and wife being angry without any cause.' we could not then, for our honour's sake, leave such a speech unanswered, but replied, 'it is those that prefer waiting women to wives who make me angry,' &c. thereupon our lord and husband was quite taken aback, turned pale with anger, and gave us, in the presence of the said princely personages, such a severe box on the ear, that on account of the vexatious nose-bleeding, brought on by this, we were obliged to leave the table. but his princely highness the lord margrave was mightily indignant thereat, and said to our lord and master: '_signore electore, troppo è questo!_' whereto our lord and husband answered: '_mio fratello, signore marchese, ma cosi ha voluto._' but his princely highness the lord margrave spoke strongly to our lord and husband, and said that if he could have supposed his inconsiderate speech would have occasioned such discord, he would a thousand times rather have been silent; and if our lord and husband did not become reconciled to us before sunset, his princely highness was firmly determined to leave heidelberg at an early hour on the morrow, without bidding him farewell. this worked so with my lord and husband that he promised his princely highness to pay us a visit, in company with him and his wife. this took place after the lapse of two hours, when our husband thus addressed us in our chamber: 'is my treasure still angry with me?' we answered: 'i assure you, my treasure, that what happened at table gave me sufficient reason to be angry; but on account of the presence of my beloved lord and brother, and my lady and sister, to whom our discord is displeasing, i will forgive it with all my heart.' thereupon our lord and master gave us his hand, and said, with a loving kiss, 'this shall wipe out my past delinquency,' after which they departed from our chamber. that night, however, we did not appear at supper, but sent our bedchamber woman and lord steward to make our excuses, as by reason of the necessary preparation of certain writings we could not appear. but as our husband feared we might disclose to our lord and brother what had before passed betwixt us, he came at ten o'clock in the evening, accompanied by two pages, to my chamber, and did there knock at the door. now when we came to the door and found his princely highness, we were not a little amazed at this unhoped-for visit, and said: 'why does my treasure visit us so late?' thereupon his princely highness answered kindly, and sent back both the pages. but as at that moment those unseemly letters recurred to our memory, and as the consideration that we were of such high princely parentage, made it impossible to bear silently with such impropriety, we said: 'my lord and husband, i am quite resolved to abide alone till your princely highness resolves to deliver up a certain person into my hands, with full powers to punish the same for her past wickedness.' our lord and husband answered: 'i should be glad at last to know who this person is; but i imagine the offence is not so great as your princely highness interprets it.' but we answered further: 'the offence is so great that the person can only atone for it with their blood.' 'nay, my treasure,' said our husband, 'that verdict is too severe.' but we were minded to reveal fully to his princely highness the cause of our long affliction; we therefore took out of our pocket the letter which our servant had brought, and began to read it in an audible voice. hereupon our lord and husband laughed and said: 'all a mere jest; my treasure knows right well that the fräulein von degenfeld has from her youth been assiduous in studying the latin tongue, therefore i wished to try whether she was sufficiently versed in it, to answer in the aforesaid language a note prepared by me for the purpose. this she executed in the like jesting way; and we are determined to support her on account of her innocence.' we did not choose to wrangle with his princely highness, but said: 'we have long known how to distinguish between jest and earnest. if it please my treasure to furnish me with full proof that it was a jest i will gladly be content.' hereupon our lord and husband answered: 'why is so much proof required? your princely highness is a woman, and has better means of examining the innocence of degenfeld than i, in whom it would not be quite seemly. but i see well that innocent lady has lost all grace and favour with you. as, however, it is already very late, i wish my treasure to inform me whether it please her to be reconciled with me here?' we answered to this: 'i feel myself bound by virtue of my once given troth not to gainsay you in this.' but our lord and husband, with a hearty embrace, protested by all that was noble and holy, that, with the exception of this note, he had not trespassed against us, and promised yet once more, never henceforth to misbehave towards us, if we, on the other hand, would again render due obedience to his princely highness. all this we promised, hoping henceforth to live in peaceful wedlock, which perhaps might have come to pass if the devil had not sown his tares. "for, three days after, when his serene highness the lord margrave of baden had departed, a patent came to heidelberg from your imperial majesty's illustrious lord father, ferdinand of ever-blessed memory, whereby our lord and husband was summoned to the imperial diet at ratisbon, whereto we with our lord and husband betook ourselves at the appointed time. "we deem it unnecessary to relate what great contumely we there suffered from our lord and husband, as your imperial majesty beheld it for the most part with your own eyes. this caused us to tarry yet a long time at ratisbon after the departure of his princely highness. but when, after the lapse of a few weeks, we returned again to heidelberg, we signified in a friendly way through one of the nobles to our lord and husband, that we were minded to greet his princely highness. but our lord and husband said with great displeasure to the said nobleman: 'tell the bold landgravine,' thus it pleased his princely highness to call us, 'i will have nothing to do with any one so pernicious to the country.' "now when this was notified to us we did not venture to accost his princely highness, but straightway went through the adjoining saloon to our chamber. but scarcely had we entered therein, when forty of the swiss guard had already established themselves in our antechamber, who were commanded to keep guard over us, and not let us go out till they received farther orders from his princely highness. "then did we learn with great anguish of heart that we, a freeborn princess, had been made a prisoner. we knew not what to do, for we could not write to our lord brother the landgrave of hesse cassel, because we had no confidential person left to us whom we could despatch. we had thus no opportunity of effecting anything, for whenever our servants came to or went from us, they were always searched by the guard. on this account we resolved to write ourselves to our lord and husband, and to entreat his princely highness to release us from this most intolerable durance. we drew up therefore the following petition to his princely highness, and sent the same by a noble youth to his princely highness while at table. "'most serene highness, and dear lord. "'how great annoyance i have suffered during the time which it has pleased your princely highness to place a prodigious garrison before my chamber, is not to be described. it moves me to remind your princely highness, that if you so behave to me, a poor princess, you will have to answer for it before god and the whole world. it would be well moreover to bethink you, whether it is praiseworthy to keep guard over one single weak woman, with forty well-armed halberdiers, which might be sufficiently accomplished by two or three. i cannot imagine what offence i have committed to deserve such harsh procedure. i therefore entreat your princely highness, for god's sake to set me at liberty. for during this time i have not been able to sleep three hours by reason of the noisy blustering and clatter of these indiscreet swiss. "'your princely highness's faithful unto death, "'charlotta palatine of the rhine.' "after our husband had read this writing, he commanded that all the swiss saving four should be withdrawn, which was done forthwith, to our great content. but his princely highness sent us a letter, to the following tenour. "'to charlotta, born landgravine of hesse. "'it surprises me much that you should venture to ask why i have put you under surveillance. you cannot deny that on my return from ratisbon to heidelberg, i urgently commanded you to follow me without fail the next day. but you did not do so till some weeks later, and during this period you spent so much money, that our subjects, who were sufficiently ruined without this, will for a long time have much, to endure. you also know well how you disgraced me at ratisbon by your hunting parties, and how--because i in my just indignation, on account of your past frivolity of conduct and wanton indecorum of dress in the presence of the assembled diet, have put you only under slight restraint--you have for the past half-year refused to live with me as a wife. this culpable conduct has entirely released me from all bonds of wedlock; and i am fully resolved to separate myself completely from you by a public act. this, my purpose, has moved me to assure myself of your person, that you may not as a fugitive, by exasperating your brother and other friends, bring evil on my country. finally, if you will keep quiet and retired, and will consent to the divorce, i promise you on my electoral faith, that i will not only entirely free you from restraint, but will assign you an income which will enable you to maintain yourself right royally. thus saying, and expecting a decisive declaration from you, "'i remain your loving cousin, "'the elector.' "when this writing was put into our hands, we were in such great affliction we did not know how to decide. at last we sent a noble bedchamber woman to our lord and husband, commanding her to signify to his princely highness that we were disposed to consent willingly to all his desires, except as concerning the divorce. for this, being an affair of conscience, must be well considered. i begged him therefore for a little time for deliberation. undoubtedly if his princely highness should please to accomplish a divorce by his own power, we were much too weak to hinder him. but we thought we had never given his princely highness any sufficient reason for repudiating us. "the bedchamber woman delivered this in the best way she could. but our lord and husband thus answered: 'fair lady, tell your mistress we are now minded to give her henceforth more freedom, and to withdraw the four swiss entirely from her apartment. it shall also be permitted to her to walk below in the garden if agreeable to her; and she may rest assured that i will find means to content her, but she must not think of writing to her lord brother concerning our purposes. she must also agree to the divorce, for i am minded to marry another.' "the noble maiden had scarcely given us this answer, when the four swiss were with all speed withdrawn from our apartment, and we went the same evening to breathe the fresh air in the garden. the day following our lord and husband journeyed to the castle at ladenburg. in the evening, about five o'clock, the noble count von eberstein, our loving lord and cousin, came to us. he told us that the von degenfeld had been sojourning already three months at the castle of ladenburg, and that our lord and husband had betaken himself thither every week during our absence; nay he had caused a special road to be made that he might the sooner reach it. then we first discovered what had been the aim of our lord and husband, and we lamented our misfortune with many tears. "a week after, our lord and husband sent us a note, the contents of which ran literally thus:-- "'most serene highness, "'i wish to inform your highness in a few words, that in consequence of our afore-mentioned divorce, i have again engaged myself in marriage with the noble lady, marie susanna von degenfeld. i therefore hope that your highness will be therewith content, as it cannot now be altered. for i have already sent for our dear and trusty samuel heyland, preacher of the lutheran community of our city of heidelberg, to unite us in christian wedlock. but as i know well that your highness has begotten me three royal children, it becomes me to furnish your highness with a princely allowance for the rest of your life. therefore we grant unto your highness the power to make use at your good pleasure of the half of the castle of heidelberg, and you may receive from our lord treasurer sufficient money for your maintenance; only you must reconcile yourself to my present wife, and inflict no injury upon her, that i may not have occasion to withdraw my favour from your highness. "'i remain your highness's graciously until death, "'your highness's elector. "'ladenburg, april , .' "my answer was as follows:-- "'most august prince and high-born lord, "'from your princely highness's letter i have learnt with the greatest consternation that your princely highness is minded now to cast me off entirely, and never more to recognize me as your wife. i will commend my cause, woeful as it is, to god, the righteous judge. i will henceforth consider myself as a widow; whose husband still lives, led astray by a wanton worthless person, and drawn away from his lawful wife. "'for the ample maintenance which your princely highness has ordered for me, i render you hearty thanks. i will also be careful so to behave myself to your princely highness's concubine that she shall have no cause to complain. further, a nobleman from stuttgart is here, who reports that in ten days his serene highness prince eberhard von würtemberg, our dearly beloved lord cousin and brother, together with the lady his wife, are coming to visit us at heidelberg. so your princely highness will undoubtedly come here, and arrange that they shall have right princely accommodation. "'datum heidelberg, the th of april, . "'your princely highness's until death, but now deeply afflicted lawful electress of the rhine.' "after three days our lord and husband returned, bringing with him the von degenfeld, under the escort of a hundred newly enlisted dragoons. then indeed were we cut to the heart when we saw our former waiting-woman usurping our place and presented to every one as electress, yet could not venture to say the least word against her. we kept a separate table, and had our own servants, and a body-guard of twenty cuirassiers appointed for our own selves. "at last we bethought us we would once more endeavour to mollify our lord and husband. we sent for the two princes our sons, and the princess our daughter, dressed ourselves and the children in our best, and waited near the hall-door till our lord and husband rose from dinner and came out. then we, together with our beloved children, prostrated ourselves before his princely highness, hoping thereby to mollify him. for if his princely highness would not recognize us as his lawful wife, our dearly beloved children after his death might be considered as bastards. "our children wept aloud, as did also the whole surrounding court, for it would have melted a heart of stone. our lord and husband let us thus kneel, and stood in deep thought, not knowing at the moment what to say. his princely highness's eyes were filled with tears. meanwhile the mistress von degenfeld came from within, saw us thus kneeling, and spoke audaciously to our lord and husband. '_signore elettore, servate la parola di promessa._' at these words our lord and husband clasped his hands over his head, and went away sighing. we however could no longer look over such iniquity, but ran into our chamber and seized a loaded pistol, determined to send a ball through the heart of this wanton, godless disturber of conjugal rights, this von degenfeld. but when we came to her, and were on the point of discharging the pistol, it was taken away from us by the noble count and lord wolf julius von hohenlohe, and discharged out of a window. but when our lord and husband heard this shot, he ran hastily out of his apartment, and asked who had fired. we said: 'ah, dear treasure, i did it, with the intention of revenging your princely highness's honour on this monster.' but our lord and husband replied: 'charlotta, charlotta, cease these doings, if you would not be sent away forthwith from hence.' but we went off without making reply. "four days after a postilion came with a report that his serene highness of wurtemberg would arrive within two hours. thereupon our lord and husband sent to notify to us that his princely highness, with mistress von degenfeld, would go to meet the said lord duke. but we were to receive his princely highness at the castle. and thus it was. three days were spent in all kinds of pastimes, in honour of the said lord duke, but we lived neglected, and were not once asked to dinner, notwithstanding the urgent entreaties of our much-loved lord and brother duke eberhard and his wife. "at last we caused a repast to be prepared in our apartment, and invited thereto both these princely personages, as also our lord and husband, and our eldest son prince karolus. all these came except our lord and husband, who indeed at the intercession of the duke would have been willing to come. but his princely highness was prevented by mistress von degenfeld, who, as we afterwards learnt, urged his princely highness with hard words, saying, she would no longer allow his princely highness to live with her, if he went to us. "our lord and husband said also to our prince karolus: 'go thither and help your mother to entertain the guests, and tell her from me, that at this present i am prevented from visiting her by ill health, but by god's providence might be enabled to do so another time.' "we discoursed during the repast with both the princely personages on the best way of dealing with our affairs, but their princely highnesses advised us not to undertake anything against the life of this von degenfeld, since we might thereby make our evil fate worse. our lord brother, duke eberhard, took our hand, and promised that his princely highness would exert himself to the utmost to unite us again, but his princely highness would especially, immediately on his return home, write urgently to his vassal, gustavus von degenfeld, brother of the said archmistress, to require the return of his sister home. if he did not do this, he would take his feoff from him, and bestow it on another. meanwhile i was to supplicate your imperial majesty, most humbly, to move in this matter, and unite us again by your most gracious mediation. "we cannot refrain also from adding that our lord and husband has not in any other way injured us by word or deed these three years, and we hope his princely highness will favourably receive such imperial intercession, and again be gracious to us, a much oppressed and afflicted princess, and not prostrate us entirely under this heavy cross. "therefore we most humbly submit ourselves, praying fervently to god almighty that he may grant your imperial majesty continual health, long life, a happy reign, victory over your enemies, and all prosperity. "datum heidelberg, july , . your imperial majesty's most humble and obedient servant, charlotta countess palatine of the rhine, born landgravine of hesse." here the letter closes. we can scarcely feel any warm sympathy with either of the contending parties. the husband appears thoroughly unworthy: we find vulgar threats, violence, and ill-usage, a perfidious attempt to deceive his wife, abject baseness in the evening visit, and intimidation by the clash of arms, and worse than all, was the manner of his divorce and re-marriage. the church constitution of the protestants remained an unfinished edifice, the rulers were but too much inclined to give themselves dispensations and licences as superior bishops. and of the electress also! what can we say? how gladly would we sympathize with the deeply wounded wife and mother; but she appears at best not very lovable; she also was violent, insolent, strong in pouting, complaining, and weak at the moment when everything depended on her defence of her just rights. to say nothing of the remarkable scene at the diet, her disobedience in remaining behind, gave the elector, at all events according to the ideas of that time, a right to think of divorce. not all that is most repugnant in this miserable history should be laid to the charge of the individuals; much of what offends us was then usual. the respect for women was small, the familiar intercourse of the camp was a jealously guarded right of royal ladies, the evening visit of the husband, an honour which was not concealed from the court. but however much may be laid to the account of the manners of the times, there still remains so much individual imperfection as to leave a painful impression on the reader. the electress outlived both her husband and her rival. soon after this letter, by the mediation of the brandenburg court a contract of separation was concluded by the married couple, which assured to the electress a yearly income of eight thousand thalers, with the right of spending it where she pleased. she resided afterwards at cassel, and lived to see her rival give birth to fourteen children. later she took the most benevolent interest in these children; and her own daughter, the celebrated charlotte elizabeth duchess of orleans, mother of the regent of france, was bound by ties of the most intimate friendship with one of the young raugravines. we may thank this female friendship for the beautiful letters of the princess charlotte elizabeth, which are not only important for the history of that period, but also valuable, as showing how a prudent, intellectual and honourable german lady remained uncorrupted in the impure atmosphere of a parisian court. the mother of the profligate regent of france was all her life long a true german. she speaks with warm affection of her father, and with filial respect of her mother. chapter ix. of the homes of german citizens. ( - - .) while foreign guests, courtesy and ceremonial were doing their best to restrain the aftergrowth of a lawless time in the upper classes, the german citizen was aided by the innate character of his nation, its need of order and discipline, its industry and feeling of duty. the marriage tie and family life, his home and his employment were restored to him as of old. the wooing still proceeded after the old german fashion, the matrimonial agent still played his part, and the betrothal presents of the bride and bridegroom were still recorded with their accurate worth in money. nay, the wooing had become still more formal, even the mode of expression was prescribed. the lover had to think over his address to the maiden carefully; where his own inventive powers were deficient, he was assisted by the indispensable compliment book, the treasured morsel of the library. the same style was adopted by the modest young lady; even where the marriage had been settled for her, it was considered desirable that she should not at once consent; nay, the strictest decorum required that she should at first refuse, or at least ask time for consideration. then the lover made his addresses a little more ardent, in rather a higher strain, and then the interdict was withdrawn, and she was permitted to say, yes. but they were not pedants, they felt that long speeches in these cases were pedantic, and that both parties who were contemplating matrimony, should express themselves in few words; the lover had to introduce his proposal somewhat thus: "mademoiselle! forgive me kindly, i pray you, for taking a liberty of which i myself am ashamed; yet my confidence in your kindness emboldens me so much, that i cannot refrain from acquainting you with the resolution i have taken, of changing my present condition," &c. then the well-conducted young lady had to answer after this fashion: "monsieur! i can hardly believe that what it has pleased you to propose to me is spoken in earnest, for i well know how little charm i possess to please so agreeable a person," &c. it had all been previously arranged by the matrimonial agent, they both knew what would be the result, but decorum required of the citizen, as courtesy did of the noble, that he should openly express his wishes by a proceeding which should make his resolution irrevocable. of the agitation of the man, or the heart-beating of the maiden, we find nothing recorded; we hope that both were happy, when they had gone through the trying scene, he without faltering, she without an outburst of tears. in the year , friedrich lucä, son of a professor at the gymnasium, was born in the capital of the silesian principality of brieg. he studied as a calvinist, first in heidelberg, then in the netherlands and frankfort on the oder, returned after many travels and adventures to his native city, became the court preacher at brieg, and, after the death of the last piasten duke at liegnitz, and the occupation of the country by the austrians, was appointed pastor and court preacher at cassel. he died after an active life, rich in honours, in . as a copious historical writer, he was appreciated, but also severely criticised by his contemporaries. he corresponded with leibnitz, and some interesting letters to him from that great man are still preserved to us. he wrote also an autobiography, which has been piously preserved in his family for five generations, and was published by one of his descendants. ('the chronicle of friedrich lucä. a picture of the time, and its manners,' published by dr. friedrich lucä. frankfort a. m. brönner, .) we will here give friedrich luca's account of his wooing. this event, so replete with excitement, took place the year he was preacher at liegnitz. "meanwhile, when my mind was least intent on thoughts of matrimony, and the other proposals made to me had been unheeded, a foreign lady, elizabeth mercer, whom i had never seen or heard of all my life long, made known to me her intention of receiving the holy sacrament from me privately, as she could not wait till it was again publicly given, it having been so only a short time before. the said lady had come hither with the noble general schlepusch and his most dear wife, from bremen, and resided at their noble country mansion klein-polewitz, a mile and a half from liegnitz. "on sunday, the maiden presented herself at divine service, and after the performance of the same, came from the church to my house, and the holy communion being devoutly concluded, i took occasion to discourse with her concerning the condition of the church at bremen, as also to thank her for two capons which she had sent me for my kitchen, and then i dismissed her with the lord's blessing. in this my first interview however with the maiden, i had not only perceived in her a refined and seemly demeanour towards me, and discovered a beautiful conformity of mind with mine, but i found in the effervescence of my feelings, and emotions of my heart, an evident token that the spirit of love had been somehow remarkably busy with me, for during my whole life i had never experienced such an ardent affection for any maiden. "this my heartfelt but chaste love, i concealed firmly within my breast, and let no living soul know aught concerning it. the thought of this maiden accompanied me every evening to my rest, and rose up with me in the morning. sometimes i spoke of her to my housekeeper, who was a well-bred and discreet woman, and she, without adverting to the motive of my discourse, extolled the maiden highly to me, and the like did also my sexton. i tormented myself now with secret love thoughts for a length of time, but at last spoke out my mind, thinking to myself: 'why should thy soul afflict itself fruitlessly concerning a stranger maiden, who will again leave the country, and who will never fall to thy lot?' "half a year after, the good maiden mercer had entirely passed from my remembrance, but the already forgotten maiden sent me an amiable greeting through the page of the lord baron schlepusch, and signified to me that she was minded to communicate again. this message renewed the old wounds of my heart, and therefore i made inquiries of the page at some length concerning the maiden, with respect to one thing and another; but could learn little or nothing from him. i then sent an invitation to dinner on the sunday through my sexton, to the mistress mercer, but this she did not accept, excusing herself by saying that she was accustomed to fast the whole of the day on which she communicated. thus on sunday, the maiden, all unconscious of my loving thoughts, came after church to my house. i gave her then, as before, the communion, and discoursed with her to the same effect on all kinds of subjects, to give her thereby some diversion. i would gladly in such discourse have learnt some particulars as to whether she were noble, and would like to remain in silesia, but i could not ask such things this time. after a while the maiden rose to leave my house; and as she imagined i had a spouse, commended herself to her. i explained to her forthwith that i was a bachelor, having no wife. during this discourse, my sexton as well as my housekeeper were present, and to them, as to myself, the demeanour of the maiden had always given the greatest contentment, yet they did not fathom my intent. "now did my trouble begin again. after maturely reflecting upon the matter, i could think of no means whereby i might learn the lineage and circumstances of the maiden, whom i always looked upon as a noble person, for i did not deem it expedient to open myself to any one. meanwhile, i met one day, herr tobias pirner, the pastor at nickelstadt, a pious, honourable, and upright man, although of the lutheran confession. now as i knew that the wife of general schlepusch, whose husband had lately died and been buried with great pomp in the church at liegnitz, went every sunday, together with the maiden, to attend divine service in the lutheran church at nickelstadt, i begged of this herr pirner, in a way that made it in no wise remarkable on my part, to inquire concerning the lineage and other circumstances of the mistress mercer. he undertook this, and promised me the following week a report thereupon. herr pirner faithfully fulfilled his engagement, and at the end of the week reported to me in _optima forma_, what he had learnt from the _frau generalin_. mistress mercer was the daughter of mr. balthaser mercer, formerly parliamentary assessor at edinburgh, in scotland, who had many times been sent to england by king charles i. on weighty commissions, and once on a mission to hamburg, where he was decorated with a golden medal of honour. her mother, also called elizabeth, was of noble lineage, born a kennewy of scotland. when in perilous troubles broke forth in england, her honoured father and also her brother, the court preacher robert mercer, as they had been favourites of the decapitated king, fled the kingdom with the whole family, from fear of cromwell and his party; he went with all belonging to him to bremen, where he lived on his own means, which were pretty considerable, till his happy end in , leaving his widow, a pious, godly matron, with three sons and three daughters. the sons had gone forth into the world, one to india, another to the canary islands; of the daughters the eldest was married in london to a nephew of cromwell, of the noble family of cleipold, and the youngest to a merchant named uckermann at wanfried in hess, the second was my love. in the year her lady mother also died in bremen, and was laid beside her honoured father in the church of st. stephen, after which mistress elizabeth had lived for a while with the widow of herr doctor schnellen. meanwhile she became acquainted with the _frau_ schlepusch, who lived at her property schönbeck, near bremen, and when soon after, the general schlepusch and his wife departed for silesia, they took her with them as a playfellow for their young daughter, to klein-polewitz, where she was always held in good esteem. "this report and intelligence increased the ardour of my love for her, especially as i now knew that she was indeed of distinguished family, but not of noble extraction, and also because herr pirner had highly commended the maiden on account of her godly behaviour, piety, prudence, and many domestic qualities; and the _frau generalin_ had no hesitation in trusting her with the whole conduct of the household, during her many journeys to and fro. now my whole heart being filled to overflowing with a stream of chaste love, i poured it out for the first time to this honourable man, and revealed to his discretion what else i would not have disclosed to any man in the whole world, namely, that if it were possible, and provided it were the will of god, i desired to make mistress mercer my wife, and i begged of him to lend me his faithful aid in this important affair, and help to promote my good purpose. "the good man was willing to esteem it the greatest honour to perform this service for me; he devoted his heart to the work, and gave expression to my intentions, first to the _frau generalin_. meanwhile i exchanged letters with him, and soon entertained good hopes. _in summa_, the affair advanced in a short time in the most satisfactory manner, so that nothing remained but for me to visit her in person. one monday morning, having first sought aid of the lord, i proceeded on horseback to nickelstadt, called for the herr pirner there, and went with him to klein-polewitz, which lay about a quarter of a mile from thence. the son-in-law of the _frau generalin_, herr heinrich von poser, the royal receiver-general of taxes in the principality of jauer and schweidnitz, received us in the baronial mansion, conducted us with great politeness to the dining-room, where he entertained us with various discourse, like a highly-talented and well-educated cavalier. soon afterwards the _frau generalin_ sent for me to her room, and welcomed me with much civility, receiving my compliments in return most favourably. my proposals contented her right well, and she gave me good hope that my desires would meet with a happy issue. in the mean time the table was spread, and the _frau generalin_ with her maiden daughter, and herr von poser with his spouse, made their appearance, followed by good mistress mercer, who received me most courteously. during dinner every variety of lively discourse was carried on, and my love was the true centre to which all were attracted. when dinner was ended, the whole company absented themselves, and left me and my love alone in the dining-room. on this occasion i opened my heart to her, and begged for her sympathy, hoping she might in some degree reciprocate my chaste love, and allow herself to be persuaded, under god's providence, to be united with me in wedlock. now as generally in love affairs a maiden's no is as good as yes, so i considered my love's first uttered no as yes, and was not thereby alarmed, but pursued my intent. meanwhile, however, the _frau generalin_ and the herr von poser passed to and fro, and teased us poor lovers with polite jests. at last our love could no longer hide itself under compliments, but burst forth like the moon from behind dark clouds, and we exclaimed, 'yes, i am thine, and thou art mine!' and now we called together the _frau generalin_, the herr poser, and he who was my rightful wooer, who then, as assistants and witnesses, confirmed our verbal yes, by joining together our hands. as a pledge of my affection, i hereupon presented my love with a small bible handsomely embossed with silver, and a ring with ten diamonds, which had been made for me at breslau for fifty-three imperial thalers. but my treasure entered into a contest of love with me, presenting me with a ring with one diamond, which, on account of its size, was estimated at ninety imperial thalers. now when the affair had in such wise come to an arrangement, we sat down again to table in the evening, and supped together with gladness of heart, till at nightfall i and herr pirner were conducted to two comfortable bedchambers. the following morning i expressed to _frau generalin_ my thankfulness for all the honour she had shown me, took leave of my love and all present, and returned with herr pirner to nickelstadt, and from thence back to liegnitz. from there i corresponded weekly with my love, visited her every sunday after the performance of divine service, at polewitz; treated her each time with a special present, and finally fixed with her upon st. elizabeth's day, namely the th of november, , for the conclusion of our nuptials. "after this fashion did our courtship continue almost five weeks; then as the appointed nuptial day was approaching, and everything necessary had been procured, and the wedding guests invited, and more especially as my former colleague at brieg, herr dares, whom i had requested to unite us, had arrived at klein-polewitz, the _frau generalin_ sent two coaches, the one with six, the other with four horses, to liegnitz to fetch me and my guests; but as these coaches could not bring all, the captain general, herr von schweinichen lent me one, item the abbess of nonnenklosters, item the city councillor, nay one with four horses, together with certain calèches, whereupon, by god's will, i with my guests repaired to polewitz. after the marriage sermon, in which herr dares introduced the names friedrich and elizabeth very ingeniously and emblematically, the wedding took place by the light of burning torches, about six o'clock in the evening in the large dining-room, whereunto i was conducted by the royal councillors herr kurchen and herr caspar braun, and my love by herr von poser and herr von eicke, brother to the _frau generalin_. before the wedding, fräulein von schlepusch had presented me with the wreath, and i had given her in return a beautiful gold ring. as soon as the marriage was completed we sat down to supper, which had been provided by my love at our cost, and were all very blithe and merry. in such fashion did we entertain our guests for the space of three days with the greatest gaiety and contentment; and it all ended in confidential union and harmony. on the fourth day, accompanied by herr rath knichen and his wife, i brought home my love to liegnitz in the coach of the _frau generalin_, drawn by six horses." here we conclude the narrative of the happy husband; he had won by his wooing a most excellent housewife. in the midst of flowery expressions the reader will perhaps discern here the deep emotions of an honourable heart. but the mode of expressing the feelings of the heart was altered. when a century before, felix platter related the beginning of his love for his maiden, he expresses his feeling in these simple words: "i began to love her much;" lucä, on the other hand, already expresses himself thus: "that the stream of chaste love filled his heart to overflowing." the bride of the glauburger still decorously addressed her bridegroom in her letters as "dearly beloved junker;" but now in a tender epistle from a wife to her husband, she accosts him as "most beautiful angel." in other european nations also, we find the same false refinement; with them also the finest feelings were overloaded with ornament. through the foreign and classical poets this style had been brought into germany, partly a bad kind of renaissance, which had originated in an unskilful imitation of the ancients. but nevertheless it satisfied a real need of the heart; men wished to raise themselves and those they loved, out of the common realities of life into a purer atmosphere: as angels, they placed them in the golden halo of the christian heaven; as goddesses, in the ancient olympus; as chloe, in the sweet perfumed air of the idylls. in the same childish effort to make themselves honourable, dignified, and great, they wore peruques, introduced ridiculous titles, believed in the philosopher's stone, and entered into secret societies; and whoever would write a history of the german mind might well call this a period of ardent aspirations. these aspirations were not altogether estimable, by turns they became vague, childish, fanatical, stupid, sentimental, and at last dissolute; but beneath might always be discovered the feeling that there was something wanting in german life. was it a higher morality? was it gaiety? perhaps it was the grace of god? the beautiful or the frivolous? or perhaps that was wanting to the people, which the princes had long possessed, political life. with the broken window-panes of the thirty years' war, and the choice phrases of the young officers who banqueted in the tent of general hatzfeld, this period of aspiration began; it reached its highest point in the fine minds which gathered round goethe, and in the brothers who embraced in the east, and it ended perhaps with the war of freedom, or amidst the alarms of . the home life of the respectable citizen of the seventeenth century was as strictly regulated as was his wooing, prudent and circumspect, even in the most minute particulars. his energies were occupied in strenuous labour from morning to evening, which afforded him a secret satisfaction. thoughtful and meditative, the artisan sat over his work, and sought to derive pleasure from the labour of his hands. the workman was still full of anxiety, but the beautiful product of his hands was precious to him. most of the great inventions of modern times were thought out in the workshops of german citizens, though they may indeed sometimes have been first brought into practical use in foreign countries. scarcely was the war ended when the workshops were again in full activity, the hammer sounded, the weavers' shuttle flew, the joiner sought to collect beautiful veined woods, in order to inlay wardrobes and writing-tables with ornamental arabesques. even the poor little scribe began again to enjoy the use of his pen; he encircled his characters with beautiful flourishes, and looked with heartfelt pride on his far-famed saxon _ductus_. the scholar also was occupied incessantly with thick quartos; but the full bloom of german literature had not yet arrived. everywhere, indeed, interest was aroused in collecting materials and details, and the industry and knowledge of individuals appears prodigious. but they knew not how to work out these details, it was pre-eminently a period of collection. historical documents, the legal usages of nations, the old works of theologians, the lives of the saints, and stores of words of all languages were compiled in massive works, the inquiring mind lost itself in the insignificant, without comprehending how to give life to individual learning. it wrote upon antique ink-horns and shoes it reckoned accurately the length and breadth of noah's ark, and examined conscientiously the length of the spear of the old landsknecht goliah. thus we find that industry did not obtain the full benefit of its labour; yet it assisted much in training the genius of our great astronomer leibnitz; it also helped to give an ideal purpose to man, a spirit for which he might live. the war had inflicted much injury on the artisan, and it was first in domestic life that he began to recover from the effects of it. the weaker minds withdrew entirely into their homes, for there was little satisfaction in public life, and their means of defence were diminished. there was now peace, and the old gates of the battered city walls grated on their hinges, but trivial quarrels distracted the council-table, and envious tittle-tattle and malignant calumny embittered every hour of the year to those stronger minds that exerted themselves for the public good. a morbid terror of publicity prevailed. when in the beginning of the eighteenth century the first weekly advertisers sprang up, and the council of frankfort-on-main conceded to the undertakers of it, a weekly list of baptisms, marriages, and deaths, there was a general burst of displeasure; it was considered insupportable that such private concerns should be made public. so completely had the german become a private character. there were few cities then in germany on whose social life we can dwell with satisfaction. hamburg is perhaps the best specimen that can be given. even there war and its consequences had caused great devastation, but the fresh air that blew from the wide ocean through the streets of the honest citizens of a free town, soon invigorated their energies. their self-government, and position as a small state in union with foreign powers, preserved their community from extreme narrow-mindedness, and it appears that in the period of laxity and weakness that followed the thirty years' war, they became by their energetic conduct the principal gainers. land traffic with the interior of germany, as also nautical commerce across the north sea and atlantic ocean, recovered their elasticity soon after the termination of the war. hamburg envoys and agents negotiated with the states-general, and at the court of cromwell. the hamburgers possessed not only a merchant fleet, but also a small navy. their two frigates were, more than once, a terror to the pirates of the mediterranean and of the german ocean. they convoyed, now greenland and archangel navigators, now great fleets of from forty to fifty merchantmen, to oporto, lisbon, cadiz, malta, and leghorn, in short, wherever there were hamburg settlements. this commerce, inferior as it may be to that of the present day, was perhaps, in proportion to that of other german seaports of the seventeenth century, more important than now. the young hamburgers went then to the seaports of the german and atlantic ocean, and of the mediterranean, as they now do to america, and founded there commercial houses on their own account. thus was formed in hamburg a cosmopolitanism which is still characteristic of that great city. but it was undoubtedly more difficult for that generation to conform themselves to foreign customs, than for the present. it was not devotion to the german empire, but an attachment to the customs of their daily life and family ties, which made the hamburgers then, as now, rarely consider a foreign country as their fixed home. when they had passed a course of years abroad, in profitable activity, they hastened home, in order to form a household with a german wife. the warm patriotism and the prudent pliancy to foreign customs, which are peculiar to the citizens of small republics, were produced by this kind of life, and also the love of enterprise, and the enlarged views, which were seldom to be found then in the courts of princes in the interior. thus the family of a hamburg patrician of that period shows a number of interesting peculiarities which are well worth dwelling upon. such a family was that of the burgomaster johann schulte, whose race still survives on the female side. johann schulte (who lived - ), was of ancient family, he had studied at rostock, strasburg, and basle, had travelled, and married whilst secretary to the city council, and had then acted as envoy from hamburg to cromwell. he became burgomaster in , was a worthy gentleman of great moderation of character, experienced in all worldly affairs as well as in the government of his good city, a happy husband and father. some letters are preserved from him to his son, who in entered into partnership in a lisbon house. these letters contain many instructive details. but most interesting, is the pleasing insight we get into the family life at that period; the terms the father was on with his children, the heartiness of the feeling on both sides; in the father the quiet dignity, and wisdom of the much experienced man, with a strong feeling of his distinguished position, and in all the members of the family a firm bond of union, which, in spite of all the inevitable disputes within the circle, formed an impenetrable barrier to all without. a journey to lisbon, and a separation of many years from the paternal house, was then a great affair. when the son, after his departure amid the tears and pious blessings and good wishes of parents and sisters, was detained by contrary winds at cuxhaven, his father lost no time in sending him "a small prayer book; item, a book called 'the merry club,' and gottfried schulze's chronicle, also a box of cream of tartar, and a blue stone pitcher with tamarinds, and preserved lemon-peel for sea-sickness." the son during his voyage, called to mind that he owed his brother three marks and six shillings, and anxiously entreated his mother to withdraw that sum for him from the eight thalers he had left in her keeping. the father liberally responded, that the eight thalers should be kept for him undiminished, that his mother would make no difficulty about three marks. after the son was established at lisbon, regular supplies were sent of zerbster and hamburg beer, butter, and smoked meats, as also prescriptions for illnesses, and whatever else the care of the mother could procure for the absent son; he on the other hand sent oranges back, and casks of wine. the father accurately reported the changes which had occurred in the family, and among the citizens of the good city of hamburg, and zealously laboured to send his son, commissions from his hamburg friends. soon the son confessed to his parents from that foreign land, that he loved a maiden at hamburg; naturally one of the acquaintances of the family, and the father sympathized in this love affair, but always treated it as a matter of serious negotiation, which was to be cautiously and tenderly dealt with. it is clearly the object of the father to put off the wooing and proposal till his son had been some years abroad, and with diplomatic tact he meets his son's wishes just far enough to retain his confidence. what however is perhaps most characteristic of that period, is the advice given by the father to the son as to the necessity of adapting himself to the usages of foreign countries. the son is a pious zealous protestant, whose conscience was much disquieted at having to live among strict roman catholics, and to join the practices so repugnant to him of roman catholic countries. what the father writes to him on this subject, is here given from the first letters, with the slight alterations necessary to make them intelligible. "dear son, "it is a week to-day since the last meeting of the council, under my government, for this year, and i sent in the afternoon to the post-house to inquire whether the spanish letters had arrived, and received for answer, no. the following day, at noon on saturday, herr brindts sent his servant with your letter of the / of this month. as far as concerns your letter, we are in the first place all rejoiced that, thanks to god, you are in good health, which is a great mercy; and then that you are well pleased with your partners, and on this account likewise you should thank the lord, that you have met in a foreign country with such honourable and well-disposed men. god grant that you may henceforth pass your time with all contentment, in peace and harmony, and also in a sound and prosperous condition till it pleases god to restore you to your country. nevertheless, in reading your letter i have remarked that your place of residence, lisbon, and its inhabitants, both clerical and lay, are not altogether suited to you, and you do not find yourself quite right in your present position, owing to which i discover in you some traces of impatience. it cannot be otherwise than that the change from hamburg to lisbon, the difference between the inhabitants of one and the other, their customs and behaviour, and many other things, should strike you with amazement, nay, even with consternation and anger; but you must remember that there and in other places, you have had many predecessors in like case, with whom it has fared the same, and to whom the great change in everything, especially in religious matters, has appeared very surprising. "according to the latin adage, _post nubila ph[oe]bus_, that is, bad weather is followed by brighter and more agreeable sunshine, which may the most benign god in his mercy fulfil to you, and grant that, as you met with and endured great dangers and bodily weakness by sea, the time which you may spend in portugal may sweeten and brighten the former sour and bitter days, and that you may by degrees forget those bad days, and be comforted and rejoice in the good ones, which may the almighty in his mercy constantly grant and bestow upon you. amen. "brother-in-law gerdt buermeister (who loves you as his child) told me to-day, that many things would indeed appear surprising to you on your first arrival at lisbon, especially the seeing on all sides the forms of white, black, and gray monks and other persons; but it would be only three or four months, before you would become accustomed to this and other things. now it is certainly true that one gets habituated in time to everything. i was for four years constantly at strasburg, and got so accustomed to it that it became alike to me whether i lived at strasburg or hamburg, and was never disturbed about anything. "believe me and others, you will find equally that a short time and a little patience will alter and improve all. i trust in god, therefore, that i shall in the course of eight or ten weeks receive from you more satisfactory letters, especially as you gradually make progress in the language. brother-in-law gerdt buermeister says that he was twelve years old when he arrived at lisbon, and he could not sufficiently describe his dissatisfaction; and whenever he descried the monks he thought they were devils; he would also have poured water on them from above, but would have got into difficulties thereby: he says, that when he was obliged to go out he felt terrified, but he soon overcame his fears. as regards religion, you must be judicious, and as much as possible avoid all hypocrisy, and never enter into discourse with your partner, nor with any one, on religious topics, but continue yourself at fitting times to read thereon, and also pray to god with devotion morning and evening, and put your firm trust in him, that as he has so wonderfully called you to that place, he will also be, and ever remain your gracious father and protector under all apparent crosses. "you state that you have already once sinned from necessity, when the consecrated host was carried past--or as it is otherwise called the venerabile--and ask whether you have well done to pray for yourself, and whether the good god will hear and forgive you this sin. i cannot forbear relating to you on this occasion what befel me at maintz: when, in , i journeyed from hamburg to strasburg, and was obliged to remain quiet at frankfort for a fortnight during the fair, i went to maintz, which is four miles from thence. it so happened i was there a sunday, on which a special feast was kept by the roman catholics; so i ascertained in which church the elector was to attend mass, betook myself there, and found in the church many devout people on their knees. some had their _rosarium_ or rosaries in their hands, and said the ave maria and lord's prayer, others smote their breasts with their hands like the penitent publican, and repented of their sins. i thus in some sort inspected the people, and thought their devotion commendable, and wished also that such good devotion in outward demeanour in the church could be found among us lutherans. meanwhile the elector came, and entered into the choir. i, as an inquisitive young man, pressed in together with him, and as i was well dressed, having round me a scarlet mantle, the halberdiers allowed me to pass, supposing me to be a young nobleman. in the mean time the herr von andlaw chanted the mass in _pontificalibus_, that is he had a bishop's hat or cap on his head, and a bishop's staff in his hand. i had good thoughts as i looked on all these ceremonies, and all was as yet well. but when the herr von andlaw raised the consecrated cup, then all knelt down who were standing by me, i did the same, and said a paternoster. to this i was led by my curiosity, but you were led unavoidably, and i trust in god that he will forgive me and you this fault. besides this once, i have been in the roman catholic church frequently in france, and especially at orleans on a sunday afternoon, and have heard good music, but have never found my limbs tremble as you write that you have experienced. one should not be like a timid hare, but maintain always a constant steadfast heart. you mention that in lisbon there are many priests, and also many churches and monasteries. well! let it be so, that is nothing to you; however many priests there may be there they will not bite you, only take heed to yourself. no one can compel you to go to mass or into the church, and if at easter you can obtain a ticket from an ecclesiastic, as if you had confessed and communicated, you have no farther need to care about the priests. but if you see the priests at a distance coming towards you with the consecrated host, use all caution and turn into a byway, or go into a house. "you write to me also, that many are already envious of you, and that frick and amsing are amongst the number. my son! who is without envious rivals? the more a person prospers, the more there are who envy them. therefore the dutch say: _idt is beter, beniedt als beklaegt, als idt man onsen lieven heer behaegt._ what think you of the many who envy me, but whereof i know only a few, most of them i know not. on that account one has to pray in the litany: 'that it may please the lord to forgive our enemies, persecutors, and slanderers, and turn their hearts.' i should have been glad to see that when frick and amsing invited you twice you had gone to them. you write that they would have cross-questioned you. but you are not such a child that they could have cross-questioned you, particularly as you could undoubtedly tell them what you chose, and what they ought to know. you write also that frick did not take off his hat to you; now you are younger than frick, and thus it behoved you to greet him first. you tell me also that amsing gave good words with his mouth, while gall was in his heart; to that i answer, that one must set a thief to catch a thief; give always good words to all, be they ecclesiastics or laymen, and keep to yourself your own thoughts, that is the way of the world. "it is particularly satisfactory to us to find from your letter that you hope soon to make progress in the portuguese language, which will cause you great contentment, and although on account of your deficiency in that language, you cannot yet give any special help and assistance in buying and selling, yet you can keep the books, and be assiduous in setting down and registering everything. "admonish your young heinrich to fear god, and to that end to pray and read, and make him read to you in your room on the forenoon of sunday from the _molleri postilla_. "your mother has spoken to gunther andreas, and told him he must take heed, and when a vessel is noted up at the exchange to be laden for lisbon, send a ton of beer by it. you have in your mother's hands not eight marks, ten shillings, but eight good rix-dollars, which i have before written to you. and if the eight rix-dollars are already gone, a ton of beer will not signify. you have always as much or more in hand. we will also, god willing, send you a present of fresh smoked elbe salmon, for i have already had two salmon in the smoke three days, one of which we have destined for you. the salmon fishery promises fair, though as yet a pound costs one mark. "last monday we held our peter's, and yesterday our matthias's collation, when i had a convenient opportunity to recommend you and your brother-partner to herr brümmelman. the same reported to me that he had received letters from you, and the good honest man opened his mind to me thoroughly, and told me that he would answer you by this post, also that i need not doubt god would bless you and your brother-partner, and you would have no cause to complain. god grant you health, patience, and a constant cheerful spirit, also pleasure in and love for your business and work of superintendence. a common proverb says: _ora et labora_, and let god be your councillor. this do, and throw all your cares on the lord, and it will be well with you. wherewith i conclude for this time, as i brought to a close yesterday my seventh year of administration, and by god's grace and favour have concluded it; and together with the friendly greetings of all your dear belongings, i faithfully commend you to the secure protection of the great god, and remains always "your kindly affectionate father, "johann schulte, lt. "hamburg, feb. , . "p.s. i have mentioned, in my letter of the th of january, if i am not mistaken, that the pleasant fellow heinrich mein served up to us and the ship's company a rarity, a dish of fish which had been cooked in lisbon. now you might intend sending me a gift of the like in future, but do not do it, it would cost you trouble and money, and i care not much about it. vale. "p.s. your lady mother sends you most kindly greeting from herself, and is glad to find, _par curiosité_, that you here and there mention in your letters what kind of weather you have, and what vegetables and fruit you get in succession; you may also touch lightly upon what meat and fish or vegetables you eat. and you should look to it that you eat wholesome food, and above all not too much. here indeed the elbe is open, and there is tolerably mild weather; we have good elbe and sea fish, only we have deep muddy roads, and a foggy thick atmosphere, whilst with you doubtless all is now green and gay and everything in blossom. "p.s. as the price of letters to spain and portugal runs somewhat higher than to other places, i write, contrary to my usual habit and manner, somewhat small and _compresser_. write small and light letters, but tolerably long ones, and _menagire_ also herein. vale." thus far the cautious burgomaster johann schulte. he had the pleasure of seeing his son return safe from the land of monks, and united after many family negotiations to the maiden of his choice. labour undoubtedly makes men firm and enduring, and it more especially serves the egotistic interests of men of sound capacity; but to any one whose vocation it is to be employed for the benefit of others, the service will be consecrated by a feeling of duty. every employment which is capable of maintaining life gives man also a position. the journeyman is the official of his master, the housewife has the office of the keys, and every work develops even in the smallest circle a domain of moral duties. the german has never been deficient in a feeling of the duties of home and of his trade. there always have been citizens who were not only ready to die for their city, but who have sometimes passed a life of self-sacrifice for it. the reformation elevated the feeling of duty to a higher domain of earthly action and the self-denial and self-sacrifice of the pious shepherd of souls should always be highly esteemed; but on closer observation, we perceive that the foundation of this more elevated feeling of duty was more especially of a religious nature. it was the command of god which men sought to obey; where the scripture did not command with powerful voice, the feeling for the universal good was not so strongly developed, and the perception of the duties of their own position was uncertain. it is instructive to notice that it was the armies brought together by the war which first raised the citizen's idea of the duties of his calling. the soldier's feeling of honour not only developed itself in a noble esprit de corps, but became the source gradually of official honour in the citizen. first of all it gave him honour in the eyes of others when he fulfilled his duty, but also it afforded himself internal satisfaction and a just pride. thus after the fidelity of the middle ages and the piety of the reformation there arose a new domain of moral requirements. there was more of feeling than of the result of thought in it, but it was still an advance; though at first indeed only among the best. two years after the paternal admonitions of herr burgomaster schulte to his son, at a little distance south of lisbon, the life of a hamburger was put an end to by a fearful catastrophe. the account of it is given in an old narrative. berend jacob carpfanger was one of the captains at hamburg. he was born in that city in ; he got his schooling, as was the custom, in the merchant service; he early became a member of the admiralty, and at last as captain of convoys, commander of one of the vessels of war which had to defend the merchantmen against pirates. these marine officers of the city, besides having to exercise the highest official control in their fleet, had to perform diplomatic negotiations in the harbours, and sometimes were sent for the same purpose to foreign courts. it was necessary for them to have some practice in business, and to know how to associate with great lords, so as to maintain the honour and fame of their city. carpfanger was considered in his city an elegant, smart man, who knew better than most how to conduct himself. he had an earnest countenance, almost melancholy, a high forehead, large eyes, and a chin and mouth of great power. his health appeared rather less strong than was desirable in a seaman. he had given proof that he understood how to conduct a sea-fight, and had often been in bloody actions. for the barbary pirates still continued their depredations both on sea and land. not only in galleys, but in large frigates did these birds of prey bear down upon the swarm of commercial vessels. it was just at that period that the 'hund' was the terror of european seas. far over the channel, from gibraltar onwards, on the great ocean, nay, on the coasts of the northern sea, his swift vessels made their appearance; dreadful were the harbour tales of their temerity, violence, and bloodthirstiness. in the year , a squadron of eight hamburg merchantmen had become the booty of these "barbarians." in , the burgomaster of the admiralty girded the silver sword on captain carpfanger, and handed to him the admiral's staff. then the seaman swore before the senate, that he would manfully defend the fleet intrusted to him, and sacrifice everything, body and soul, rather than abandon his ship. during the ten years that passed after that, up to his death, he made an annual voyage, starting with his fleet in the spring and returning home in august. he had many severe struggles with storm and waves, and often complained how unfavourable the elements were to him. thus he went to cadiz and malaga, to the northern frozen ocean, and to lisbon. from an expedition to greenland, his fleet of fifty vessels brought home a booty of five hundred and fifty whales. once when returning home he was attacked at the north of the elbe by five french privateers; in the course of a twelve hours' fight he sent two to the bottom by his shot, and they sank before his eyes with every man and mouse on board, the remainder escaped to the open sea. he was also engaged with the brandenburg privateers. it happened that the admiral's red flag of hamburg floated on the gaff of the besan threateningly against the red eagle of brandenburg; for in the great elector was not favourably disposed towards the hamburgers, and his little vessels of war had already captured many of theirs. the opponents met, but carpfanger had strict instructions to keep on the defensive, therefore it came to a good issue. the large ship inspired the brandenburgers with respect; they sent the long-boat with two officers to salute him, and "in order to inspect the arrangements of the ship." the hamburger regaled them with wine in his cabin, and then they politely took leave. their vessel fired a salute, which carpfanger answered with equal courtesy, and then both sailed away. again the captain on one of his voyages met with a fleet of spanish galleons in fight with turkish pirates. the combat was taking an unfavourable turn for the spaniards; some heavy galleons had been cut out and overpowered by the pirates. carpfenger attacked the pirates, and by a broadside freed the spanish vessels. he was on this account invited to the court of charles ii., and presented by the king with a golden chain of honour. when in august he exchanged the winds and waves for the narrow streets of the old city, even there little rest was allowed him. first there were disputes with the senate about expenses, a writing of reports, the vindication of particular arrangements which did not appear clear to the gentlemen of the council table, or injured some private interest, and all the vexations of the counting office which are so hateful to the seaman. for there is no lack of petty trading spirit in old hamburg. in the winter of , his dear wife died in the prime of life. again and again he convoyed merchantmen to cadiz and malaga: in he commanded the frigate 'the arms of hamburg.' the passage had been lengthened by a storm, and a leaking vessel in the fleet, but it had already been made known at the hamburg exchange that the captain was about to return from spam _viâ_ the isle of wight. then there came instead of him, sorrowful tidings. these will be here given; it is an example of the old method by which news was rapidly spread. "sorrowful tidings from cadiz in spain. "from cadiz / october. "good and dear friend, "i could have wished that this my letter might have awakened joy rather than occasioned sorrow. but when we mortal men are in the highest tide of happiness, and think of nought but gladness, misfortune hovers over our heads. "such, alas! contrary to all expectation, has been the case with me and all who together with me came in the convoyship 'the arms of hamburg.' "on october / , i and our chief officers, as also the noble captain's son and his cousin, had the honour of taking supper with our noble captain. when it was about eight o'clock and we were on the point of rising from table, our cabin-watch brought the sad tidings that there was fire in the hold of our ship. thereupon our noble captain and we all sprang up terrified from the table and hastened to the spot, where we found all the cordage in the hold already in full blaze. by the order of the captain, buckets and water-casks were speedily brought; much water was poured on it, and some holes opened because this place was not easily reached; all this in hopes of extinguishing the fire. our people, especially the soldiers, who were valiantly urged on by their commander, worked assiduously, but all in vain, for no diminution could be perceived in the fire, but only increase. divers guns were fired as signals of distress, in order to procure help, but fruitlessly, as the other vessels afterwards pretended they did not know what such firing signified. "thus the captain was obliged to send our lieutenant in the small cutter to the surrounding vessels, to acquaint them with our unhappy condition, to entreat the aid of their cutters and boats, and procure some pump-hose. they came, it is true, but stopped at a distance; for the fire was very near the place where the powder, which used to lie in the fore-part of the ship, was kept, and it was impossible, on account of the great heat, to bring it away; so every one feared that the ship, and we all, one with another, should be blown up, if the flames were to reach it. on this account many of the seamen gave up the work, and retreated into the boats and the large cutter behind the ship, or made away in foreign boats, however much we implored of these not to carry off our people. "to those in our boat and great cutter, the captain called out from the cabin window, that they should remember the oath they had sworn to him and the magistracy, and not abandon him, but return on board, as at present there was no danger, and by god's help the fire might be extinguished. "these certainly obeyed the command, and began to work again earnestly, but it all was of no avail for the fire increased more and more. after working assiduously but fruitlessly for two hours, the lieutenant and shipmaster, as also the other officers, went to the captain, and informed him that, alas! there was no more help, that it was impossible to save the good ship, and it was now high time to save themselves, if they did not intend to be burned in the ship or blown up with it. for between the fire and the powder there was now only a plank of a finger-breadth remaining. but the captain, who still thought to preserve the ship, and prized his honour more than life and everything in the world, answered that he would not leave the ship, but would live and die therein. his son fell on his knees before him, and besought him for god's sake to think better of it, and seek to preserve his life. to whom he replied: 'away with you, i know better what is intrusted to me.' "thereupon he commanded the quarter-master to place this his son, together with his cousin, in another vessel, which was then done. he would not allow the least bit of his own property to be removed, that the men might not be disheartened thereby. "meanwhile it was suggested by some that it would be best to cut a hole in the ship and let her go to the bottom; to this however the captain would not consent, but said he had still hopes of saving her. others advised to cut the cable and strand the ship. this was at last agreed to, and the order given to cut the cable. but just as this was about to be done, when the mizen and foremast were on the point of falling, and the people were still sitting on the fore-yard, the powder in the fore-part of the ship caught fire. the force of it however being broken by the pouring in of a large body of water it only blew up with a whizz. the fire burnt through the deck almost to the foremast, and as a stiff east wind blew above, and the vessel lay to the wind, it ran up the mast into the shrouds and sails, and in a moment over the whole ship. "when the people who were still in the vessel saw this, they sought to fly with pitiful shrieks. some ran to the cabin, hoping to find safety there; others to the gun-room. at the door of this last, the lieutenant, by order of the captain, had placed himself, together with a soldier with a loaded gun, to prevent any one from running through the room into the large cutter, which lay fastened just behind it. the lieutenant was pressed through the door, and thus obliged to betake himself to the cutter, followed forthwith by a throng of people: many sprang into the boat. as this however, was already pushed off, because the fire from behind burnt quite over, and as it appeared likely that the fire would reach the powder at the back of the ship, and all who were around and near it would be blown up, the poor men who were still in the ship, and did not wish to be burnt, determined to abandon themselves to the waves, and sprang into the water. it would have melted a heart of stone to have heard the cries and shrieks of these miserable men, driven about in shoals in the water, so that nothing but heads could be seen. now whilst the fire was driven by the wind from the forepart to the stem with great power, its violence increasing with its duration, i stood in the cabin with divers persons round the captain; they moaned and wept before him, and at the same time exhorted him, saying there was no time now to remain any longer. "i went from them to the window, to see whether there was yet a boat at hand, and found that the large cutter was still fastened to the ship. i took my resolution, and commending my life to god, sprang through the cabin window into the boat; which succeeded so well that i was saved therein without suffering any damage. as i turned my back to the captain, he, with the persons remaining by him, among whom were the commander and some soldiers and seamen, went out of the door. i thought they were seeking to save themselves, as indeed they were willing to do; for i perceived that they went to the great blaze with the intention of forcing the captain into a boat. but finding none, as the flames were already over their heads they left the captain and sprang overboard. "as soon as i was in the large cutter, the lieutenant became visible; i asked him whether the captain was out of the ship, he answered that a dutch captain had saved him. now when we thought we were assured thereof, we loosened the cutter in all haste, for there were many people swimming about in the water, seeking to save themselves therein; and the cutter was almost dragged down by them, as many clung to its side. it was also to be feared that we should be blown up when the flames reached the powder. "when we had gone about a cable's length from the ship, many pieces of it fell asunder by reason of the heat of the fire; and the grenades sprang one after another. the fire, at last, towards one o'clock, reached the powder in the powder room, and with one hollow clap the stern of the vessel blew up; whereupon the remaining portion, with all that was still therein, went to the bottom, after the good ship had been burning about five hours. "meanwhile we came with our cutter to another ship lying in the bay, and put out the people who had been saved, with the exception of the necessary rowers; with whom the lieutenant, during the remaining portion of the night, sought sorrowfully after the noble captain among all the vessels in the bay. but in vain, as he was nowhere to be found. "on the following day, about ten in the forenoon, notice was given by the english cutter of captain thompson's ship, that the body of our captain, alas! had been driven on to their boat's cable, and had been rescued by them. "thereupon, the now deceased good man was forthwith brought from the vessel of the said captain thompson, and as was fitting, was clothed in clean linen, for which captain thompson was paid with gratitude. "of all the men who lost their lives by this great misfortune (of seamen two-and-forty, of soldiers two-and-twenty), the deceased noble captain was the first that was found. preparations were forthwith made for his funeral, and when everything needful was provided, on saturday the th of this month, he was consigned to the grave according to christian usages, here behind the puntales, in the place where it is the custom to bury those of foreign nations. our _domine_ first preached a fine funeral discourse; the body was convoyed by some twenty cutters, wherein were many distinguished captains and merchants; in each the flags were half mast high, as a sign of mourning; in like manner all the english, dutch, and hamburg ships lying here, testified their condolence by hoisting their flags and jacks half-mast high, amid the firing of guns, whereof above three hundred were heard. "who caused this fearful fire and misfortune, or by what negligence it originated, is unknown. the boatswain's son, who had been in the hold, and had to watch the lamp which usually burnt there, stated that he had gone from the hold upon deck, in order to speak to another youth, and on his return to the hold, found it in flames. god preserve other ships from a like misfortune, and comfort the widows and orphans of those who have been lost." here we conclude the news from cadiz. according to another account the captain walked alone about his ship up to the last; others declare that they saw him at an open port-hole, raising his clasped hands to heaven; and according to others, he last of all committed himself to the waves, either to be preserved or to sink as god willed it; and it is no wonder that the weakly old gentleman, after the mental and bodily exertions of the last hours, should have gone to the bottom. a great marvel had been observed by the sailors: three doves had for several hours hovered over the burning ship, to the time of its blowing up.[ ] king charles ii. of spain caused a monument to be erected on the grave of the hamburg seaman; which, according to consular records, was only destroyed in the spanish war, the beginning of this century. we rejoice that the deceased kept his oath. the honour of his calling demanded his death, and he died. for it is better that once in a while, a brave, honest, and able man, though he were still able to save himself, should go down with his good ship, than that mariners should in the hour of danger want a model of enduring energy. he died as became a sailor, silent and collected; he laconically dismissed his own son; his whole soul was in his employment. may the german citizen never come to such a pass as to consider the deed of this man, strange and unheard of. in the inland provinces also, many hundreds of peaceable citizens since his time have died in the performance of their duty to the utmost of their power, and beyond it; pastors in the midst of contagion, doctors in the lazar house, and helpful citizens in dangers from fire. and we hope that the reader will discern that this is the path of duty, and the general rule with us. and still our hearts heave with the thought that in the same year in which strasburg was so ignominiously lost, a fellow-countryman felt even as we should feel, namely, that there is not much cause for astonishment, and no occasion for crying and moaning, when any one dies in the performance of duty. and his memory should be honoured both by those who traverse the sea, and those who never hear its roar. the german had much degenerated after , but he yet deserved a better life; for he still understood how to die for an idea. chapter x. german life at the baths in the seventeenth century. civilization was undoubtedly, in spite of war and devastation, making continual progress, for it was not as in ancient times carried on by one people alone, but by large families of nations; and the blessing of this higher development in germany first elevated the life of individuals. the century of the reformation had increased the individual independence of men, and developed what was spontaneous and characteristic in various directions. after the war, the gap between the classes became greater; not only was there a difference in their dress, but in their social manners, their language and mode of life; each class endeavoured to close its ranks against that which was just beneath it. but this, however objectionable, was the first result of political progress. at one time the great classes of princes, nobles, citizens and peasants, lived in established relations to one another. the religious movement had created a social ferment, which was a bond of union between the cities and country aristocracy: now during the war all classes had been shaken together; a large portion of the nobility had been driven into the cities, and the impoverished landed proprietor sought a place in the service of the new state, or in the city community. undoubtedly there lay within this the beginning of a higher life, but the old pretensions did not on that account immediately disappear; the less was the inward ground for social separation, the more carefully were outward distinctions preserved. servility towards persons of distinction became general; it extended from outward marks of courtesy, such as addressing them by their titles, to the actual sentiment. it was considered an honour by the citizen's daughter to receive compliments from a cavalier, and he expressed his bold addresses more smoothly, than her neighbour the poor pedantic _magister_, or the awkward merchant's son. the social intercourse also of the citizens amongst each other, was deteriorated by foreign manners. in the past century, the style of expression when at their ease, was not particularly delicate; but at that time it was considered thoroughly harmless, and had therefore not endangered the morality of the women. now many honourable old words were proscribed, and in their place _double entendres_ were prevalent; to be bold and skilful in words, not to speak out what was unseemly, but to signify it cleverly, became the fashion; and the women and maidens soon learnt to give a smart answer. the choice pleasantries, the attacks and repartees that we find in the small compendiums of civilities, which were for the use of the unassuming citizen, are so pitiable that they will not be given here. but there was no want of hearty cheerfulness: the young people long continued to play the familiar games which are now confined to children; they journeyed to jerusalem, and played at blindman's-buff, which, under the appearance of accident, gave fine opportunities of venturing on liberties; games of forfeits with witty fines appear not to have been usual yet, but sarcastic verses and riddles were in vogue; if at table there was liver served with the roast or fish, rhymes were made upon it by turns, no trifling affair, for it was necessary to produce something neat, and a dunderhead or a simpleton exposed himself dreadfully. conversation was considered a serious matter, for which one should be well prepared; anecdotes and remarkable occurrences were with that view read beforehand, and he was highly esteemed who could introduce pertinently some pretty german verse. after the war, dancing was frequent in family circles in the evening; and waltzing was the favourite dance with the citizens: before the lady was led to the dance she was greeted with a small speech, and if she were married or a bride, the bridegroom was so likewise: then the dancer had to lead her, so that her finger lay lightly on his. in the dance he was not to spring about, nor to oblige her to make unnecessary springs, which might toss her dress up to her girdle, nor was he to tear her dress with his spurs. after the dance there was another short speech and answer. finally he was to take her home, and in doing so it was necessary to be on his guard that there was no rival lurking for him with a cudgel, as was often the case. when arrived at the dwelling, he had first to make his excuses to the parents for having, by escorting her, allowed his homage to be perceived, and then to the lady, whom he commended to the gracious protection of the most high, and tenderly signified that he would wish to kiss her pillow. it is not easy to form any true idea of the old society from the general literature, for the numerous writers of comedies and novels give us mostly caricatures; they find their account in bringing everything down to a low level. it is for this reason, therefore, that the unbiassed records of cotemporaries are so instructive. in the olden time there were as now, baths to which all those resorted who wished for social amusement; and the bath life shows at least the forms of easy intercourse away from home; therefore a number of small pictures will be given here from the baths of zurich, the most famous of all the german baths at the conclusion of the middle ages. the doings of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries will be better explained by comparing with them, the former period of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. switzerland was by the peace of westphalia entirely detached from the empire; but the political separation had not led the german burgher life into foreign channels. the unity of mind remained, more than once have the literary men, the poets and artists of switzerland, had an important share in the development of the german mind. even now is this inward unity undiminished, and germans and swiss alike have reason to congratulate themselves on it. after the great war, the swiss had honestly participated in the pleasures and sorrows of the german; they also had suffered by the war, and were in political troubles; a narrow-minded patrician government oppressed the country; there also, energy, public spirit and conscience, had been weakened. the following narrative paints the state of things at baden, and equally portrays the bath life of germans in the interior of the empire. bath life in the year . the florentine, francis poggio ( - ), one of the great italians who spread the humanitarian literature throughout their native country, then held the office of papal secretary; in this capacity he was actively employed at the council of constance, and visited baden from thence. he describes his impressions of travel in an elegant latin letter to his friend, the learned nicolo nicoli; he himself was then an ecclesiastic. in order to understand thoroughly how much the reformation of the church, which took place a century later, was brought about by the excited moral feeling of the people, we should pay attention to the cool, haughty freedom of tone of the following letter. poggio was a great scholar and a prudent statesman; he was one of the most refined among the highly cultivated italians; nay, more, he had a fierce, manly spirit, and was always exhorting his literary friends to seriousness. but with his classical literature he had also adopted the spirit of a distinguished roman of the time of tiberius, and it makes a disagreeable impression to find how mildly and good-humouredly the secretary of the pope, the priest, the scholar, the offshoot of the civilization of his time, viewed the profligacy of both ecclesiastics and laity. his letter, which follows here, is abbreviated in some places:-- "baden itself affords the mind little or no diversion; but has in all other respects such extraordinary charm, that i could often dream that venus had come from cypress, for whatever the world contains of beauty has assembled here, and so much do they uphold the customs of this goddess, so fully do you find again her manners and dissoluteness, that little as they may have read the speech of heliogabalus, they appear to be perfectly instructed by nature herself. "about a quarter of an hour's drive from the town, on the other side of the river, there is a beautiful village, established for the use of the baths; in the middle of the village is a large _platz_, surrounded by splendid inns, which contain a multitude of people. each house has its own bath, which can only be made use of by those who reside there. the number of public and private baths amounts altogether to full thirty. two special places, open on all sides, are appointed for the lowest classes of the people; and the common crowd, men, women, boys, and unmarried maidens, and the dregs of all that collect together here, make use of them. in these baths there is a partition wall, dividing the two sexes, but this is only put up for the sake of peace; and it is amusing to see how, at the same time, decrepit old beldames and young maidens descend into it naked, before all eyes, and expose their charms to the gaze of the men. more than once i have laughed at this splendid spectacle; it has brought to my mind the games of flora at rome, and i have much admired their simplicity who do not in the least see or think anything wrong in it. "the special baths at the inns are beautifully adorned, and common to both sexes. it is true they are divided by a wainscot, but divers open windows have been introduced therein, through which they can drink with, speak to, see, and touch each other, as frequently happens. besides this, there are galleries above, where the men meet and chatter together, for every one is free to enter the bath of another, and to tarry there, in order to look about, and joke and enliven his spirits, by seeing beautiful women nude when they go in and come out. no guard watches the avenues here; no door, and, above all, no thought of impropriety hinders them. in many baths both sexes have access to the bath by the same entrance, and it not unfrequently comes to pass, that a man meets a naked woman, and the reverse. nevertheless, the men bind a cloth round their loins, and the women have a linen dress on, but this is open either in the middle or on the side, so that neither neck, nor breast, nor shoulders are covered. the women eat frequently in the bath itself, of dishes contributed by all, which are placed on a table floating upon the water, whereto the men naturally resort. in the house where i bathed, i also was invited to such a feast; i gave my contribution, but went away, although they did urge me much to stay. and truly not from shyness, which we here consider as stupid and boorish, but because i did not understand the language, for it appeared to me absurd that an italian, ignorant of german, should pass a whole day amongst lovely, fair ladies, in a bath, dumb and speechless, merely eating and drinking. two of my friends however, who were present, ate, drank and toyed, spoke to the ladies through an interpreter, fanned them, and in short enjoyed themselves much. my friends were clothed in a linen dress, such as the men wear here when they are invited to a ladies' bath. i saw all from the gallery, their manners and customs, their good eating, and their free and easy intercourse. it is wonderful to see in what innocence they live, and with what frank confidence they regard the men; the liberties which foreigners presume to take with their ladies does not strike their attention; they interpret everything well. in plato's republic, according to whose rules everything was to be in common, they would have behaved themselves excellently, as they already, without knowing his teaching, are so inclined to belong to his sect. "many visit daily three or four of these baths, and pass there the greatest part of the day, in singing, drinking, nay in waltzing, and they play the lute if they are not seated deep in the water. but there can be nothing more charming than to see budding maidens, or those in full bloom, with pretty kindly faces, in figure and deportment like goddesses, strike the lute, then they throw their flowing dress a little back in the water, and each appears like a venus. it is the custom of the women to beg for alms jestingly from the men who view them from above; one throws to them, especially to the pretty ones, small coins, which they catch with their hands or with the outspread linen dress, whilst one pushes away the other, and in this game all their charms were frequently unveiled. in like manner one threw them down twined wreaths of divers flowers, with which they adorned their heads while they sat in the bath. "i bathed only twice a day, but attracted by the rich opportunity of such a spectacle and such fun, i spent the remaining time in visits to other baths, and threw coin and wreaths like the others. "then the playing of flutes, the tinkling on the guitar and singing resounded everywhere; there was no time either for reading or thinking; to have been here the only wise one would have been the greatest folly, especially for one who will be no self-tormentor, and to whom nothing human is strange. i was deprived of the highest enjoyment, the main point, the interchange of speech. so there remained nothing for me but to feast my eyes on the fair ones, to follow them, to conduct them to the games, and to escort them back again. there was also such opportunity for near intercourse, and so great freedom therein, that one needed not to trouble oneself about regulating it. "besides this varied enjoyment, there was yet another of not less charm. behind the courtyards, near the river, lies a large meadow shaded by many trees. here every one comes after dinner and diverts himself with singing dancing, and sundry games. the most part played at ball, but not after our fashion, but the men and women throw to one another, each to the one he likes best, a ball, wherein are many bells. all run to catch it; whoever gets it, wins, and throws it again to his love: all stretch out their hands again to catch it, and whoever succeeds make pretence as if they would throw it now to one person now to another. many other sports i pass over for brevity's sake. i have recounted this to you, in order to show how completely they are the disciples of epicurus. "but the most striking thing is the countless multitude of nobles and plebeians, who collect here from the most distant parts, not so much for health as for pleasure. all lovers and spendthrifts, all pleasure seekers, stream together here, for the satisfaction of their desires. many women feign bodily ailments, whilst it is really their heart that is affected; therefore one sees numberless pretty women, without husbands and relations, with two maid-servants and a man, or with some old beldame of the family who is more easily deceived than bribed. all the women come attired to their utmost with smart dresses, gold, silver, and precious stones, not as if for the baths, but as though it were for the grandest wedding. there are here also virgins of vesta, or rather of flora; besides, abbots, monks, lay-brothers, and ecclesiastics, and these live more dissolutely than the others, some of them also live with the women, adorn their hair with wreaths, and forget all religion. all have the same object, to fly from melancholy and seek cheerfulness, and to think of nothing but a merry life of enjoyment; they do not wish to take the property of others, but to impart their own freely. and it is remarkable that among the great number, almost thousands of men of different manners and such a drunken set, no discord arises, no tumults, no partisanship, no conspiracies, and no swearing. the men allow their wives to be toyed with, and see them pairing off with entire strangers, but it does not discompose or surprise them; they think it is all in an honest and housewifely way. "how different are these manners from ours! we put the worst construction upon everything: we find a pleasure in slander and calumny; the slightest suspicion is sufficient for us, and equivalent to a clear transgression. i often envy the composure of the people here, and curse our perversity, always restlessly seeking, and restlessly desiring. we compass heaven, earth, and ocean, to procure money, are contented with no gain, satisfied with no profit. we are continually in fear of future disaster, and are cast down by unceasing mischances and anxieties, and in order to preserve ourselves from being unhappy, we never cease to be so. but here they live for the day, contented with a little; every day is a festival, they desire no great riches, which would be of no use to them, but they enjoy what they have, and fear not the future. if they meet with misfortune they bear it with good courage. but enough, it is not my purpose to praise them and blame ourselves. i wish this letter to be lively in order that you, my distant friend, may find in it some portion of the amusement i have enjoyed at the baths." here we have the elegant representation of the italian statesman. the fifteenth century was truly a time of luxury and refined enjoyment, but what the foreigner relates is not so bad as the way in which he relates it. the reformation came. it exercised an influence even on the frivolous people who visited the baths. life became more earnest and thoughtful, and the superintendence exercised by the authorities and pastors more strict. the number of married persons became greater, for it was one of the favourite tenets of the protestant opposition, to promote marriage and domestic discipline. much fewer became the number of those prelates and their ladies, monks and roving women, who were not joined in lawful matrimony. thus after the time of luther and zwinglius, towards the end of the sixteenth century, we have a very different description of the baths of baden, written by an honest german, the doctor of medicine pantaleon, a basle man, rector of the high school and of the philosophical faculty. here follow some characteristic fragments. "bath life, .--the free bath, called also burgher bath, is under the open heaven. it is so long and broad, that above a hundred men can bathe therein at a time. it is bordered round about with stone pavement, and many seats are disposed therein. one corner, a fourth part of the bath, is closed in by a wooden lattice, arranged for the accommodation of the women. but as the women in general come there, some are wont to go to the larger bath. in this every one, stranger or native, may bathe gratis, and divert himself for as long or short a time as he likes. on saturday, especially, the people from the city and country come in crowds, and husbands and wives desire to have their pastime, and to beautify themselves. but herein one is much surprised, that they in such wise misuse cupping; for every one will be cupped, and they think for the most part that they have not bathed if they have not had as many lancets stock in them as the bristles of a hedgehog. and yet it would be far more useful to them to obtain a little additional blood. "poor people come oft to the baths of st. verena, especially in may, some hundreds together. but they must first look about for an inn, that they may have some sort of home and not be about in the streets, and there are three or four inns near the baths. the poor are daily maintained by the alms of pious people. they place their bowls in a circle on the wall round the bath, and remain sitting in the bath, and no one may point out his bowl. then money, bread, wine, soup, meat, or other things are put in the bowls, and no one knows to whom they belong. great hoards are sometimes collected; the warder who has his little house near the bath, distributes the gifts in due order, and exhorts the poor to pray and be thankful. after that, each takes what is in his bowl, and goes out. but as also there are oft mixed up among the honest, many bad rogues and idlers who will not work, but take the bread out of the mouths of others who are in need, it would be useful, were each poor person who is desirous to obtain alms, to bring a certificate from his magistrate that he is in need of it, and that the alms will be well applied. many bad rogues would then be ashamed. if the poor do aught that is contrary to order and discipline, they are punished by the warder, and placed in the lock-up that stands below, near the house called the lock and key. when their month's stay at the bath is ended, they receive a dismissal from the warder; nay he desires them, according to the nature of their illness, to go away, to make room for others. they must attend to him also, under pain of severe punishment. "the 'stadthof' is a large cheerful inn, adorned with many beautiful rooms, saloons, and chambers. there are two large kitchens, one of which belongs to the landlord, who provides the guests with all kinds of meals, or with single dishes, according to every one's need. in the other, there is a special cook, for all those who buy their own food, and wish to have it cooked to their own fancy, for this is allowed to every one. in this house there are eight good baths, of which five are in common, the remaining three are let out to certain persons by the week for a fixed sum of money, with the chambers belonging thereto. the first is the gentlemen's bath, in which men, both noble and others, ecclesiastics and laymen, young and old, catholic or evangelical, come together without any disputes or quarrels, friendly and peaceably. "this bath is almost the same height as the court, and whosoever sits therein, can look out through the doors into the court, and behold every one. whoever wishes to use these baths, pays on entrance two _doppelvierer_,[ ] or one _angster_,[ ] and three _kreuzers_. moreover the members of the bath community give breakfast at six o'clock every morning by turns, one much, another little, according as they wish to distinguish themselves. although much eating and drinking is not good with the baths, yet it oft happens that many who sit three or four hours in the bath, need a little soup, and cannot go on without somewhat to drink. yet it were well for some rule to be established, that each person should not have more than a quart of wine; this would give the baths a better repute, and they could not then openly write and put in print, that here is a tippling bath wherein drunken matins are sung. for the members of the bath community can unite to settle these matters according to their pleasure. they pray before and after breakfast, and return thanks to the host in a pleasant song, hoping that he may live long in all honour, till he gives another breakfast. after that they nominate him whose turn it is to be the next host, place a garland on him, and threaten him in a song that they will come to him the morrow with fifes and drums. but on sundays and great festivals they discontinue their breakfasts and songs. "at this bath a mayor is chosen by the majority of the bath community, likewise a governor, treasurer, chaplain, apparator, bailiff, and executioner, who after breakfast sit in judgment, in order to put an end to or punish any offences against order and discipline, which may have been committed in this or the other baths of the house. each member of the bath community must also put his left hand on the mayor's staff, and swear to obey him. the fines which fall in, they give to the poor, or for wine, or they spend it amongst one another. thus passes the morning in pastime. when any one has finished bathing, he takes a friendly leave, and gives an honourable farewell present. "the second bath is the women's bath, in which divers honourable women and maidens meet together. in this the women also choose, every day, in turn a hostess, have a cheerful breakfast, thank the hostess, and with a wreath and pleasant song select another, as in the gentlemen's baths. they have also a special treasurer who keeps their money and presents in the treasury, which they spend in a friendly way together. but if anything unseemly or worthy of punishment takes place, they bring it before the mayor and court of the gentlemen, that some decision may be pronounced thereupon, according to old custom. "in the third bath--the kettle--come all kinds of people, women and men, as many as fifty people together; they are modest and friendly with one another, and eat what they can, and what pleases them. these also are subject to the court of the gentlemen's bath. any one also, out of the gentlemen's or ladies' bath, may go into the kettle. on the other hand, those in the kettle bath, may not go into the others, unless they pay their share of the breakfasts. this bath has a very salutary effect, and the lame and paralytic are often brought here, who soon become vigorous and straight, and are able of themselves to go away, as in the year , happened to a maiden from waldshut, who did not over-eat herself, and bathed according to due order. "the margraves' bath was let out to special persons. the serene and right honourable jörg friedrich, margrave of brandenburg, who there bathed in person in , was painted sitting therein on a horse. when i think of this bath, i cannot help laughing at a wonderful pleasantry that took place therein, and which is worth relating. in the aforesaid year a burgomaster and honourable councillor of the praiseworthy and far-famed city of zurich, had sent a handsome bath present to the right honourable the prince of brandenburg, of wine and oats, and commanded herr heinrich lochmann, the banneret of zurich, to present and deliver this. now when he appeared with the present at baden, it happened that the prince was somewhat heated and weakened by the bath, so that for some days he could not appear at table, but kept quiet in his bedroom or in the bath. meanwhile he commanded duke johann of liegnitz and his councillors, to receive the foreign guests and provide them well. now what they had made good cheer, and the banneret was desirous to see the prince, it was signified to him that the prince received no one at present, but kept in his bedroom or the bath. then the banneret swore and vowed by his honour that he would be received by the prince, and would on the morrow before he departed, if it could not be done otherwise, enter the bath with boots and spurs, and offer the prince his hand, that he might tell his superiors he had seen the prince. now as i had sat at the table with him, and had been invited in the morning to bathe alone with the prince. i respectfully signified to him what conversation had been carried on at supper, and what the banneret threatened him with. i at the same time told the prince of the great age of the banneret, and his upright, valiant spirit, and begged of his princely grace, in case it should so happen, not to take it ungraciously. we sat thus together two hours, and spoke with one another of divers matters, when lo! there comes my good lochmann, who like an old simple associate, wished the prince good day, waded in his boots and spurs through the water, and offered the prince his hand. i remarked that the prince changed colour. thereupon the banneret stepped back and begged the prince to forgive him, as he had done it with good intent, that he might tell his superiors of the benignity and friendliness of the prince. then did the prince, like a wise and eloquent gentleman, thank first the banneret's superiors, and then also himself for the gift, and commended himself also to the favour of the men of zurich. thus he forgave him this boldness, which had proceeded from a good true-hearted spirit, and drank to his good friendship in a large goblet of wine. i received the goblet from the prince and handed it to the banneret, who pledged the prince and drank to me from the goblet. he thereupon parted from the prince quite humbly and joyfully." such is the narrative of the prudent pantaleon. he is not like poggio, a stranger who frankly, and in a spirit of curiosity, describes foreign manners, who perhaps had every wish to draw a friendly picture of the life at the baths, and who belonged to a nation which, as poggio himself says, is surprised at nothing. but in the same degree as his character and conceptions differ from those of the italian, so does the aspect of the baths appear altered in the century of the reformation. a greater earnestness, prayer, and an organized self-police are not to be mistaken. the last, especially at that time, a general german idea, deserves attention. the state authorities also had taken the bath life under their supervision. gifts were presented to the bath travellers in the sixteenth century, as they still continued to make presents on their departure to those who remained behind. as these gifts fostered vanity and luxury to an extravagant excess, the governments took serious steps to put a stop to them. in the century of the thirty years' war and of louis xiv. much of the self-control and political feeling of the men, and piety of the women which had been perceptible at the baths, as a consequence of the reformation, was lost. switzerland suffered like germany. the government was narrow-minded and tyrannical, and among the subjects there was a deficiency of self-respect, an aping of foreigners and of french manners. again did enjoyment at the baths become dissolute. but even this is different from the frivolous, wanton behaviour of the fifteenth century. the citizens thought it an honour to court the adventurous cavalier from foreign parts, and to be his parasite; the coquetry of the women also was more forward and common, and their almost unblushing connection with the foreign bath visitors showed an empty heart, and too often a great absence of modesty. there is a characteristic account of these famous baths at this period also, by a frivolous frenchman, de merveilleux, preserved by a branch of the german family wunderlish. 'amusements des bains de bade,' &c., london, . life at the baths at the end of the seventeenth century. "much had been told us of the splendid entrance of the french ambassador at baden during the swiss diet.[ ] we hoped to find a princely court, but the present ambassador in no respect resembles his predecessor. he has no pages; the count de luc had six, as they tell me, as many secretaries, and a like number of gentlemen of the bedchamber. the present man has a secretary, who they assure me has been a servant, and no gentleman of the bedchamber. his predecessor kept open table of fifty covers, with three courses, and thus dined and supped every morning and evening, in order to show honour to the swiss. the present one has his table laid with a kind of _déjeûner à la fourchette_, soup, roast, entremets, and dessert, but no variety; every day the same, and nothing good or hot. instead of one silver dish they would give one, six of pewter. the foreigners and the swiss do not seem content with this. "but what does this signify to us? we live with our bernerins; and have good living. they would gladly get rid of some of bacchus's favourites from their town; amongst them the son of a delegate, we will endeavour to get him away if we can. "we go little into the city; all people of distinction go to the promenade, where there is pleasant intercourse. as many towns have swiss fashions, which are not similar to the french, such as the dress of the women of basle, lucerne, zurich, and other distant cantons, it gives one the impression of a right gay masquerade, when all the visitors at the baths are assembled for a dance. the swiss men and women are much given to gallantry. the ladies of zurich have little opportunity of amusing themselves, except at the bath season at baden, and they understand how to use this opportunity to the utmost. but if the french ambassador is not at baden or does not keep open table, there is not very much amusement. every swiss of any importance, is accustomed to have good repasts at the ambassador's yearly at baden, so that they are much dissatisfied with the comparison of the present with the past. the mothers tell their daughters of the pleasures they had in former times at the baths, and the young maidens are thereby incited to endeavour to procure some likewise. they labour to this end to the best of their powers, and the foreign cavaliers who know how to take advantage of the simplicity of these young city maidens, find themselves well off. for they are the daughters of magisterial persons, who have plenty of means to spend in baden, and their marriages with the sons of their country are as good as settled, with such at least as speculate on places in the state, which are conferred principally by the fathers of these maidens; and thus it comes to pass that these little flirtations at the baths, cause no disturbance in the arrangement which has been made concerning their marriage. "we had the honour of an invitation from the minister, he invited us to a dinner with many ladies. among others were two mademoiselles s----, from schaffhausen, daughters of good families. one of them has wounded more than one cavalier. there was much good entertainment that day; nay, there was even some table plate won in a lottery. the ambassador found mademoiselle s---- charming, and held her on his knee almost the whole evening of the ball, though he was suffering with his foot. the dance had one effect on the demoiselles which astonished us much. when they had danced very vigorously, and were very warm, lice made their appearance on the locks of their beautiful hair. that was rather unpleasant; but the maidens had such beautiful skins that it became quite a pleasure to take off the vermin as soon as they became visible. the waters of baden have the effect of producing these with young people; therefore the germans apply powder after powder but without combing themselves properly. "these demoiselles were not the only beauties of this ball; there were many pretty women there with their husbands and adorers. the zurich ladies also would gladly have been there, but they were not allowed to visit the house of the french ambassador, as their canton was averse to the renewal of the alliance with the king; nay, it was a transgression for a zuricher even to enter the french hotel, therefore their wives and daughters only took a walk in the ambassador's garden, who did not fail to betake himself there in an arm-chair on account of his bad foot. every one on entering made him a reverence, and that procured him the pleasure of giving a kiss to each of these pretty city ladies, both mothers and daughters." here we conclude the narrative. these insipid and absurd proceedings ceased gradually towards the end of the last century. even before the fever of the french revolution had seized the nations of europe, the forms of social intercourse had changed, and still more so the feelings of men. the burgher life was still insipid, stiff, and _philliströs_; but the need of new ideas and deeper excitement had become general. even the adventurers and cavaliers could no longer impose upon the credulity of their cotemporaries, by their old frivolity; it was necessary for them to be to some extent performers of prodigies, in order to get hold of the purses of others. the germans meanwhile, had found other places of amusement. the pleasure-seeking youths wandered to spa and pyrmont; hardly any now but the citizens of switzerland assembled at the baths of zurich. in conclusion, the society at baden, as it was at the end of the last century, is thus shortly described. life at the baths at the end of the eighteenth century. "the magistracy stand in high esteem with the citizens, and endeavour to maintain this by the most formal behaviour. owing to this adherence to forms, a journey to baden was at that period a great state transaction. farewell visits were first made to relations and acquaintances. the distinguished people of zurich ordered, as early as possible, the quarters where they were to be accommodated in hinterhof, that they might not be mixed up with the common burgher class, who then put up at the stadthof. the wealthy artisans whom one met with there, were still greeted by the title of 'master,' and generally in the second person; and the patrician families kept exclusively together. immediately after an arrival visits of ceremony were paid, each one made deep obeisance to the other, and observed strictly the customary etiquette. there was more solemnity than frivolity, and the freer proceedings of the young people were considered as deviations from the rule. they always showed themselves also at the baths, dressed to the best of their power, according to their condition in life, and even the négligé was carefully chosen, and showed the quality of the person. the gentlemen appeared in the morning in dressing-gowns of woollen damask, out of the wide sleeves of which, ruffles of fine cambric fell over the hands, and the _badehren_ (bath mantles) of both sexes were trimmed with lace, and after the bath, in order to be dried, were spread out ostentatiously as a show, on the bars before the windows of the rooms. in zurich they restricted the advance of expenditure by moral laws, prudent considering the period, but frequently carried to exaggeration. the material was accurately prescribed in which both sexes were allowed to be dressed. the women especially were kept under strict observation, and they were forbidden to wear blond, fringes, thread or silk lace, except on their caps; all openwork embroidery, all dresses of gauze, and all trimmings, except of the same material as the dress. the ordinance on dress says further: 'married women may be allowed to curl their hair, but over the curls there must be nothing fastened but a simple silk ribbon; consequently the wearing of so called tocquets, and of all feathers and other ornaments for the hair, were altogether forbidden; farther, the wearing of all enamel work and of portraits painted in miniature or other representations.' the men were forbidden not only all upper garments of silk or velvet, but even a lining of the like material; farther, all gold or silver stuffs and lacing, and all gallooned or embroidered horse covers and housings, except at the quarter musterings; and to both sexes most especially all real or mock jewels on a penalty of fifty pounds. the tribunal, appointed by the government, which drew up these laws, and was charged to administer them, was called _reformation_. meanwhile the power of the _reformation_ did not extend beyond the frontier of the canton, although in one special article they endeavoured to stretch the mandate to those zurichers who lived in other parts of the confederation, and especially in baden. here alone nothing was prescribed, and they indemnified themselves for restraint elsewhere, by adorning themselves with just those things which were forbidden at home. many proud ladies and gentlemen, procured themselves objects of luxury for a visit to the baths of a few weeks, which were quite useless to them for the remainder of the year, and displayed themselves therein, in defiance of any reformers who chanced to be present. gallooned dresses, which had once been worn in foreign parts, were here brought to light again out of the chests wherein they had been preserved, unused for years. the few jewels inherited from great-grandmothers were taken out of their cases to ornament the ears, neck, and stomacher; and in delicately holding a cup of coffee, the little finger was stretched to the utmost, that the ring, brilliant with diamonds, rubies, or emeralds, might glitter before the eye. in great pomp, like the dressed-up altar figures, they passed along the dirty courts and alleys to admire and be admired; but in order that their attire might not be injured, they seldom went further in this beautiful country than to the meadows or to the play. it was a period of stiff buffoonery! that the young people of both sexes, often left alone together till late in the night, danced more perhaps than now-a-days; that the gentlemen sometimes sacrificed largely to bacchus; and that all, after their fashion, enjoyed themselves right well, may easily be understood. people of rank, some already smartly attired, others in choice morning dresses, assembled usually before dinner in the hinterhofe, round a small stone table called the _täfeli_, where they usually returned again after the repast. here they gossiped good-humouredly on everything far and wide; no news was left untouched, and many witty and delicate allegorical jests were ventured upon and listened to. the return from baden took place generally in a very slow formal manner. after manifold long, wordy and drawling compliments, and farewell formularies, packed at last in the lumbering coach, they go; step by step, slowly, still making salutations right and left from the coach door, up to the halde." now baden has become a respectable, modest, summer residence, little different from fifty other similar institutions. still however one may observe, not in baden itself, but at other baths in switzerland, the ancient arrangement that persons of the same sex may bathe together in a bath, amusing themselves without constraint; and not long ago at the leuker baths there were galleries round the baths, from which many strangers might watch the bathers. but everywhere the proceedings of men, even in these works of idleness, take another form; and the garlanded maidens of poggio, the costly suppers of the time of pantaleon, and the frivolous patrician daughters, who, in defiance of father and bridegroom, went about from bath to bath with foreign cavaliers, have vanished, and forgotten is the tedious ceremonial by which particular classes were closed to one another. chapter xi. jesuits and jews. (about .) the churches in germany, both roman catholic and protestant, suffered from the weakness of the nation. both had to pass through struggles and sufferings, which threatened destruction to every exclusive church system; they became too narrow to embrace the whole spiritual and intellectual life of men. since the war, men had gradually felt the need of toleration. with the protestants, luther's principle again revived, that only inward conviction could bring men into the church. it was later, that the old church yielded a grumbling toleration. science had discovered, amongst other things, that in spite of some passages of holy scripture, the sun does not turn round our earth, but our earth round the sun. unwillingly did the church receive this, after the discovery had occasioned her many a heart's pang. the protestant church had fewer difficulties to overcome, but the aristocratic structure of the roman catholic church, again so firmly united, and supported by great political interests, would naturally find it far more difficult to yield to necessity. whoever should wish to write a history of the religious conscience of germans, would have to examine how it was, that after the war there arose in both confessions, precisely at the same time, a reaction of the heart against the ruling parties, which in spite of the difference of dogmas, shows a great similarity in the representations of this tendency. the need of elevation of soul, in a period which was poor in feeling, made the protestant spener, and the catholic spee and scheffler into pietists, and mystics. it is true, the restraining power of the protestant church could no longer check the development of individuality. through it the scientific man could easily satisfy himself, when he came, from the study of history, from observation of the heavens, from the secret of numbers, and through the weighing and measuring of the powers of the elements, to a new representation of the world of creation, and thereby to new views of the being of the godhead. thus the genius of the great leibnitz was the growth of the protestant church. any one also whose fancy took a wild flight, or to whom deep thought and meditation disclosed some peculiar aspect of the deity, might easily release himself from church-communion with his fellow-citizens, and unite himself perhaps with congenial spirits in some special community. thus did böhme, and the eccentric kuhlmann, zinzendorf, and herrnhuter. this was incomparably more difficult in the roman catholic church. whoever attempted to go his own way, had to experience the anger of a strict mistress, and rarely did a powerful mind break loose from the restraint. but the ruling majority of ecclesiastics had even in the old church lost much of their energy. the warlike champion of the restored church, the order of jesuits, had itself suffered in its greatness; it had become powerful and rich, the connection between the provinces and rome had been loosened, the independence of individual houses was greater, and the curse had fallen on it which pursues the prosperous. it became pre-eminently the representative of modern courtly splendour in church and school. even in earlier times the order had not disdained brilliant displays, nor to enter into the feelings of the great world, but then it had been like the prophet daniel, who only wore the persian dress in order to serve his god among the heathen; now daniel had become a satrap. through the westphalian peace, the great mission work of the order was limited. still however, did it continue skilfully to draw within its circle the souls of individuals, whoever was rich or distinguished was firmly ensnared. its main object was not the salvation of souls, but the fame which would accrue to the order. the greatest amount of work was done in the emperor's territory. wherever heresy still flickered, the lay authorities assisted. but one race, more stubborn and stiff-necked than the sons of the hussites, or the moravian brothers, incessantly excited the spirit of conversion in the order, it was the jews. already in the time of the romans, the jews may have dwelt within the colonies on the rhine, near the temple of jupiter of golden maintz, and the baths of the proud agrippina; they afterwards established themselves within the german cities. in respect to german law they were as foreigners; they were placed under the protection of the emperor, who transferred his power over them to the archbishop of maintz, the chancellor of the empire. as the emperor's dear servitors, besides the other taxes, they had to pay him and the princes a penny offering, which was raised on christmas-day. this tax, one of the sources of the emperor's revenue, should have been security for his protection, but it became an opportunity for the worst oppression; and they were drawn upon for contributions on every occasion that money was wanted. their taxes reached to an exorbitant height. on sudden money emergencies, or as an act of favour, the emperor sold, or gave away his right of taxation to the princes and cities; and the year's rent of three, four, or even one hundred jews, was a secure and important income. thus it was a source of gain to the princes and sovereigns to possess many jews, from whom they raised money to the utmost. on the other hand it was an exclusive right of the jews to lend out money on interest for notes of hand or mortgages, which was strictly forbidden to the christians of the middle ages by the pope and emperor. thus naturally the whole of the money dealing came into the hands of the jews. and by the high interest which they received--especially on short loans--they must rapidly have acquired great wealth. but this boundless right was not secure against sudden attacks, both pope and emperor sometimes took the liberty of giving the creditor a dispensation from the payment of the interest, nay even of the capital. thus they became the financiers of the olden time in both great and little traffic, the richest persons in the country, in spite of monstrous imposts. but this opulence stimulated still more the hate and covetousness of the multitude. in the early part of the middle ages they appear to have been seldom persecuted by christian fanaticism. but after the crusades, the declining church and the populace of the towns vied with each other in seeking their lives and treasure. a tradition which continues up to the present day was brought forward against them. they were supposed to poison wells, to introduce the plague, to murder christian children, use their blood at their passover, and feed on their hearts; and to whip the consecrated host with rods, &c. persecutions, plundering of houses, and extensive murders were almost periodical. christianity was forced upon them by the sword, torments, and imprisonment, but usually in vain. no warlike people ever withstood brutal violence, with more heroic courage than this defenceless race. the most magnanimous examples of enduring heroism are mentioned by christian writers themselves. thus it went on during the whole of the middle ages, and still in the sixteenth century we find the sovereigns endeavouring to fill their empty coffers from the money bags of the jews, and the populace still storming their houses, as in the wild jewish outbreak at frankfort-on-main in . some great scholars, physicians, and natural philosophers among them, acquired a repute which spread through all the countries of europe, inspiring even christians with involuntary respect, but these were rare exceptions. amidst all these adverse circumstances, the indestructible vital energies of this people still continued, as we find them among the jews of the present day: privileged by the emperor, helpless before the law of the country, indispensable, yet deeply hated, desired, but cursed, in daily danger of fire, robbery, and murder, yet the quiet, masters of the property and welfare of hundreds, in an unnatural adventurous position, and yet always steadily occupied, amidst the densest mass of christians, yet separated from them by iron boundaries, they lived a twofold life; in presence of christians they were cold, stubborn, patient, timid, cringing, and servile, bowed down under the oppression of a thousand years: yet all the pride of noble blood, great wealth, and superior talent, the full glow of southern feeling, every kindly emotion and every dark passion were to be found in that race. after the thirty years' war, the jews obtained scarcely more protection from the fury of the multitude, and their spiritual trials became greater. if the protestants, who were then weak and embarrassed, vexed them more by repulsive arrogance than by their arts of proselytism, the old church was the more zealous. they were more prosperous in trade and usury since the westphalian peace, indeed a splendid prospect had opened for them. the diminution of international wholesale business, the ruin of old commercial houses at nuremburg and augsburg, the continued depreciation of the coinage, the unceasing need of money, with the territorial lords, small and great, was favourable to the multifarious activity of the jewish business, which found skilful instruments throughout all germany, and connections from constantinople to cadiz. the importance to german trade of the close cohesion of the jews amongst themselves, at a period when bad roads, heavy tolls, and ignorant legislation, placed the greatest limits upon commerce, is not yet sufficiently appreciated. with unwearied energy, like ants, they everywhere bored their secret way through the worm-eaten wood of the german empire: long before the letter post and system of goods carriers had spread a great network over the whole circuit of the country, they had quietly combined for these objects; poor chafferers and travelling beggars, passed as trusty agents between amsterdam and frankfort, prague and warsaw, with money and jewels under their rags, nay concealed within their bodies. in the most dangerous times, in spite of prohibitions, the defenceless jew stole secretly through armies, from one german territory into another; and he carried kremnitzer ducats of full weight to frankfort, while he circulated light ones among the people. here he bought laces and new church vestments for his opponents, the ecclesiastics; there he smuggled through an enemy's territory, to some prince, arms and implements of war; then he guided and accompanied a large transport of leather from the interior of russia to the fair of leipzig, he alone being capable by flattery, money, and brandy, of overmatching the covetousness of the sclave nobles. meanwhile, the most opulent sat in the well-grated rooms of their jewish town, concealing securely, under lock and key, the bills of exchange, and mortgages of the highest lords, they were great bankers, even according to our present standard. the jews of that period were probably richer in proportion to the christians than now, and at all events, from the peculiarities of their traffic, more indispensable. they had friendly protectors alike at the imperial court, in the harem of the sultan, and in the secret chamber of the pope; they had an aristocracy of blood, which was still highly respected by their fellow-believers, and at bridal feasts they wore with pride, the jewels which some ancestor, long perhaps before the days of marco polo, had brought from india, while exposing his life to manifold dangers; or another had got by bartering, from the great moorish king at granada. bat in the streets the jew still bore the degrading mark of the unhonoured stranger; in the empire, a yellow cockade on his coat, and in bohemia the stiff blue cravat; as in the middle ages he had worn the yellow hat, and in italy the red mantle. it is true he was the creditor and employer of numerous christians, but in most of the greater cities he still lived closely confined to certain streets or portions of the city. few german jewish communities were larger or more opulent than that in prague, and it was one of the oldest in germany. seldom does a traveller neglect to visit the narrow streets of the jewish quarter, where the small houses, clustered together like the cells of a beehive, enclosed at once the greatest riches and the greatest misery of the country, and where the angel of death so long caused tears of gall to trickle into the mouth of the believer, till every inch of earth in the dismal churchyard became the ashes of men. at the end of the seventeenth century, near six thousand industrious men dwelt there in a narrow space; the great money lenders, as well as the poorest frippery dealers and porters, all closely united in firm fellowship and common interests, indispensable to the impoverished country, yet in continual warfare against the customs, coarseness, and religious zeal of the newly converted kingdom. for the second generation were then living, of the new bohemia, which the hapsburgers by scaffolds, expulsion, and fearful dragooning, had won back after the battle of weissen berge. the old race of nobles was, for the most part, rooted out; a new imperial nobility drove in gilded carriages through the black hussite city; the old biblical learning had wandered into foreign lands, or died away in the misery of the long war; in the place of the chalice priests and the bohemian preachers, were the holy fathers and begging monks; where once huss defended the teaching of wickliff, and zisk rebuked the lukewarmness of the citizens of the old town, the gilded statue of the queen of heaven now rose triumphant. little remained to the people of their past, except the dark stones of königsstadt, a rough populace, and a harsh piety. there remains to us a little pamphlet of this time, for which we are indebted to two of the prague celebrities of the order of jesuits, the fathers eder and christel, the first of whom, wrote it in latin, and the second translated it into german; both writers are otherwise known, the second as a zealous but insipid german poet. from this writing the following narrative is taken. "thus in a few years a hundred and seventy persons of the jewish persuasion, were purified in the saving waters of baptism, by one single priest of our society, in the academical church of our saviour, of the college of the society of jesus. "i will by the way, here shortly mention, the wonderful bias of a jewish child for the christian faith. a jewess in the zinkower domain was in the habit of carrying her little daughter in her arms; one day she accidentally met a catholic priest, to whom she proposed to show her child, and taking the veil off its little face, boasted what a finely-shaped child she had brought into the world. the priest took advantage of this preposterous and unexpected confidence, to bless the unveiled child with the sign of the holy cross, admonishing the mother at the same time to bring up the said child in the love and fear of god, but leaving all else in the hands of divine providence. and behold this little jewess had hardly began to walk, when she forthwith considered herself a christian, knelt with them when they knelt, sang with the singers, went out with them into the meadows and woods, made hay, plucked strawberries, and picked up wood with them; besides this, she learnt of them the pater-noster and the angel's salutation, as also to say the belief; in short she made herself acquainted with christian doctrine, and desired earnestly to be baptized. the high born and right honorable countess of zinkow, in order to fulfil this maiden's desire, to her great delight took her in her carriage to prague, that she might there, out of sight of her parents, more securely obtain the privilege of baptism. but after the parents had discovered that their daughter, who had for so long a time carefully kept her designs secret, had become a christian, they bitterly lamented it, and were very indignant with the priest who had blessed her in her mother's arms with the sign of the cross, for they ascribed to him all their daughter's inclination for christianity. "but by what intrigues the perfidious jews endeavoured to frustrate every conversion, i have myself not long since had experience, when for the first time, a disciple in the faith of the jewish race, samuel metzel, was placed under me for instruction. the father, who had four children yet minors, was a true israelite, out of the egypt of the jewish town, and had endeavoured, much and zealously, to bring them all, together with himself, out of bondage. but, behold! rosina metzelin, his wife, who then had a great horror of the christian faith, would not obey him; and when she found that the four children were immediately withdrawn from her, this robbery of her children, was, like the loss of her young to a lioness, hard to bear. she summoned her husband before the episcopal consistory, where she sued for at least two of the four purloined children, which she had given birth to, with great labour, pain, and weariness, both before, at, and after the time. but the most wise tribunal of the archbishop, decided that all the children belonged to the husband, who was shortly to be baptized. then did the wife lament piteously, indeed more exceedingly than can be told or believed; and as she was afeard that her fifth offspring, which was yet unborn, would be stolen from her after its birth, she endeavoured earnestly to conceal from the christians the time of her delivery. therefore she determined first of all to change her place of abode, as her present one was known to her husband and children. but there is no striving against the lord! the father discovered it by means of his innocent little daughter, who for some months had been constantly kept in a christian lodging, and was unwarily admitted by her mother into her concealed dwelling. on receiving this information, i sought out the imperial judge of the _altstadt_ of prague, who, without delay, despatched his clerk to the house, to demand the new-born child from the woman, and (in case she refused) from the elder of the jewish people, as belonging to the now baptized father. but as these crafty jews would not consent to deliver up the child, a christian midwife was ordered for the jewish woman, that the same might, by some womanly, pious contrivance, carry off the child from the mother. this midwife was accompanied by certain prudent matrons. the conductress was to be ludmilla, well known for her greet godliness, wife of wenzeslaus wymbrsky, who had gone through the baptism of water and blood. her husband wenzeslaus was, with this his wife and five children, baptized in our church by his eminence the cardinal and archbishop of prague in . it was above all displeasing to the furious jews, to see thirteen men of other families, following the example of wenzeslaus, abjuring judaism the same year. at last it became insupportable to them that wenzeslaus, by whose shop many jews had daily to pass to their frippery market, should publicly set up in it the image of the crucified saviour, and every friday keep a burning lamp before it. therefore he was greatly hated by the jewish rabble, and often assailed with derision and scoffing. now, once when he went, according to his daily custom, to the teynkirche, an hour before day, three armed jews fell on him, by whom he was mortally wounded with two poisoned pistol-balls, so that on the fifth day thereafter, he devoutly departed this life, without having been persuaded to name the murderers. the ringleader was caught later, and condemned to the wheel, but acting as his own executioner hanged himself with a rope. now the widow of the deceased man, ludmilla, could not slip in, with the little troop of pious women, unperceived, because the hebrews with their sharp lynx-eyes watched narrowly. at that moment, many of them combined together and pushed their way into the room of the jewish woman about to be confined. but ludmilla did not take alarm at their presence, nor at the possible danger of death. she handed over the consecrated water she had brought with her, to the midwife, calling upon her in strong language, to deliver the woman and baptize the child. and so it took place, and the nurse took the child and baptized it. but the woman who had been confined sprang frantically from her bed, and with vehement cries, tore the child violently from the hands of the midwife. forthwith, the city judge made his appearance with armed men, in order to separate the now little christian son from the mother. but as she, like a frantic one, held the child so firmly clasped in her arms, that it was feared it would be stifled in extricating it from her, the judicious judge of the city contented himself with strictly forbidding the old jews there assembled, to make the child a jew. thereupon it was commanded, by his excellence, the lord count of the empire, von sternberg, chief burgrave of the kingdom of bohemia, that this fifth child should be delivered over to the father. not long after, the mother also, who had so stubbornly adhered to judaism, gave in, and was baptized. "the father of the jewish boy simon abeles, was lazarus, and his grandsire moses abeles who for many years had been chief rabbi of the jews. whilst already of tender years, there had been discovered in this boy a special leaning of the spirit towards christianity. whenever he could, he separated himself from the jewish youths, and associated with the christian boys, played with them, and gave them sweets which he had collected from his father's table, in order to gain their good will. the jewish cravat, stiffened with blue starch, which the jews wear round the neck, thereby distinguishing themselves here in bohemia from the christians, was quite repugnant to simon. as the light of his reason became brighter, he took every opportunity of learning the christian mysteries. it happened that he was many times sent by his father, who was a glove dealer, on business to the house of christopher hoffman, a christian glover. there he tarried in contemplation of the sacred, not the profane, pictures that hung on the walls, although the last were more precious and remarkable as specimens of artistic painting, and he inquired with curiosity of the christian inmates, what was signified in these pictures. when in reply they told him, that one was a representation of christ, another of the mother of christ, the miracle-working mother of god, by buntzel, and another, the holy antonius of padua, he exclaimed, from his heart, sighing: 'oh, that i could be a christian!' moreover, a jew called rebbe liebman bore witness, that the boy sometimes passed whole nights among christians, and did not appear at his father's house. "now many maintained that this leaning to christianity arose from a supernatural source, and was produced by the baptismal sign, which had been impressed upon him by a christian, whilst he was in the cradle. when later this report had been carefully investigated, it was certified that a preceptor, stephen hiller, was once sent to lazarus abeles to obtain payment of a debt, that he there found a child lying alone in the cradle, and had, from deep impulse of heart, baptized him with the elemental water which was at hand. on being examined by the consistory of the right reverend the archbishop, this preceptor, who is now invested with a chaplaincy, said that he did not know whether the child was the little son of lazarus; nay, his supposition had been far stronger, that it was the son of a jewish tailor. from such evidence this weighty point remained doubtful. "after some years, the steadfast leaning of simon's spirit to christianity, having so much increased that it began to be clearly perceived at home, the astute boy, foreseeing well that his parents and relations would spare no pains to put impediments in his way, was minded to prevent this, by flying from his father's house and jewish friends, before the path was closed against him. now while, on the th of july, , lazarus the father, kept the solemn day of rest in the jewish school, his son betook himself to a christian house near the jewish town, which was inhabited by the newly baptized jew, kawka, and that same evening summoned to him johannes santa, a jew who many years before had been converted with his whole family, of whom he had already heard a good repute, as a zealous man and assiduous guide. for this man had, at the risk of his life, brought away jews who had a desire for the christian faith, and their newly baptized children from the jewish town, had placed them under instruction in our college of st. clement, had provided them with food, clothes, and lodging, and had for hours together read spiritual books, especially the life of christ, with deep devotion to such as could not read, and whose greatest pleasure it was to see them cleansed in holy baptism. to him simon honestly opened his heart, and entreated that johannes would take him to the college of the society of jesus. "there was no necessity for entreating, the man borrowed clothes of a christian youth, covered simon's head, which was shorn after the jewish fashion, with a peruke, and conducted him across the altstadter platz to the college. in the middle of the said platz, stands the large richly-gilded image of the holy mother of god, carved out of one stone. johannes explained to his christian scholar, that this richly-gilded image represented the queen of heaven, the faithful mediator of believers with god. this simon listened to with great eagerness, took off his hat without delay, bowed his whole body low, and commended himself with pious sighs, to the blessed mother of god, as her foster child. hereupon he turned to his guide and thus addressed him: 'if my father saw this, he would straightway kill me.' thus they reached our college between seven and eight o'clock in the evening. i was called to the door, and simon imparted to me his desires with marvellous eloquence, and at the same time begged with such fervent zeal to be instructed in the christian faith, that i was much amazed. i presented him the same evening to the reverend father rector of the college. it almost seemed as if this twelve-year-old boy behaved himself, as afore time jesus among the doctors, seeing that he answered various questions with an eloquence, acuteness, and judgment which far surpassed his age. when it was objected to him, that his arrival excited a suspicion that he had committed some evil deed in the jewish town, and sought a refuge in the ecclesiastical house, simon answered with cheerful countenance: 'if there is a suspicion of any misdeed, let the truth be searched out by proclamation, as is usual in the jew town. if i were conscious of any evil deed, i should have more hope of remaining unpunished among the jews than among the christians, for i am a grandson of moses abeles, their chief rabbi.' then when it was suggested that he had come among the christians in order to wear a peruke, a little sword, and fashionable dress, the boy made a face and said: 'i must confess that for a long time, i have not worn the jewish collar. nevertheless, i do not desire to shine among christians in any fashionable clothes, and will be content with my old rags.' after he had given this earnest answer, he began to strip his hands of his gloves, to ungird his little sword, to tear the peruke from his head, and to unhook the clean, little upper coat, determined were it necessary to follow the destitute jesus, unclothed. "by such unexpected answers and heroic resolution, he drew tears from the eyes of all present. but when he was commanded to put his clothes on again, he soon dressed himself, and declared in strong words, which he oft repeated, that he withdrew from the jews on account of their wicked course of life, and associated himself with christians to secure his salvation, because he knew well it was impossible to be blessed without faith. but when he was asked who had taught him, that faith was necessary to gain eternal life, he answered seven or eight times: 'god, god, god alone,' therewith he oft sighed and smote his breast with both hands. then he went first to one priest, then to another, kissed their hands, fell on his knees to them, exclaiming: 'fathers, abandon me not; do not reject me, do not send me again among the jews; instruct me quickly, quickly and' (as if he had a foreboding, and saw the impending evil floating before his eyes), 'baptize me quickly.' now when simon received the assurance that he would be reckoned among the scholars in the christian faith, he clapped his hands, and jumped for joy. his whole discourse was as mature and discreet, as ready and free from hesitation, as if he had long beforehand reflected upon it in his mind, and learnt it by heart from his tablets, so that one of the four priests present turned with astonishment to another, and said in latin: 'this boy has a miraculous understanding, which if not supernatural, is yet truly beyond his age.' "meanwhile, the darkness of night had come on. but as there was not convenient sleeping room at present for this new little nicodemus, he was with much inward striving of my spirit, left again in that christian house from whence he had been brought hither, in order to spend the night in peace with the newly baptized jew, george kawka. this one was called to the door of the college, and the boy was entrusted to him, with an express order to bring him again to the college at the earliest hour on the following morning, that they might provide him with a secure dwelling. "in the interim, lazarus became aware of the absence of his son. not finding him either with his friends nor among other jews, and being a person of sound judgment, it occurred to him that his son must have gone over to the christians. early on sunday lazarus betook himself to the christian house of the glove-maker hoffmann, whom he did not find at home. he concealed the loss of his son and his sorrow, and begged the glove-maker's wife anna, instantly to call george kawka there, because he had some weighty business to transact with him who was his debtor. after a long hebrew conversation with lazarus, george kawka came in all haste to the college, but to my great sorrow, unaccompanied by the christian disciple. he appeared painfully disquieted, but did not tell me a word of his conference with the father, but only said that simon was not sufficiently secure in his dwelling, and that it was necessary to take good heed, or he would be entrapped by the crafty devices of the jews. after a sharp reproof for not bringing the boy with him when in such danger, according to my strict orders, i commanded him to go to the house forthwith and bring the boy hither. this he promised but did not perform. now when george kawka returned home, he pretended that he wished to go to church, and simon prayed of him, as though he foreboded some impending treachery, with many words and tears, not to leave him behind, as the jews would without fail lie in wait for him that day, and seize him in the house; but that he would take him with him to church and so bring him to the college. now when he with great sorrow of spirit perceived that george kawka only answered with subterfuges, he withdrew himself again, after the departure of the same, into his hiding-place under the roof. "hardly had george crossed the threshold, when katherina kanderowa, a lodger, came from the country into her lodging-room, which was close to simon's hiding-place, and saw the boy in his little jewish coat, which he had again been obliged to put on. as therefore the said katherina understood from the jews who were standing round the house-door that they were seeking for the son of a jew, who had fled from his father, and as she did not know that simon was a disciple of the christian faith, she drew him out of his corner, and dragged him down to the front part of the house. when the father saw his son, he presented to this woman thirty silver groschen, that she might thrust the boy, who was not strong enough to free himself from her hands, over the threshold. the boy called upon the christians to support him against such violence, but in vain, for two robust jews seized upon him each by an arm, and bore him along as if he floated through the air, to the jew town and his father's house. but the father went craftily step by step slowly behind, in order to chat with the christians, and make them believe that his son had only fled to the christians, in order to escape lawful and deserved punishment. he easily persuaded the populace of this. "but george kawka betook himself after the end of this tragedy to me, and related the lamentable kidnapping of simon with many light worthless excuses. but i spoke sharply to him, put clearly before his eyes, how evident it was that he had played with the jews under the rose, and sternly charged him if he would not be made answerable before the tribunal, for the treacherous betrayal of simon, to use all means without delay, and on the requisition of a christian judge to recover him from the hand, of the jews, and deliver him up to the college. and truly it appeared as if he obeyed the command faithfully and assiduously. ha searched the whole jew town many days, and examined almost all the houses, as was testified of him by the person who accompanied and was associated with him. he thereby turned almost all the suspicion of treachery from him; and as simon was nowhere to be found, he confirmed the report that he had secretly been removed to poland. at a later period, george kawka himself was driven, by a bad conscience to take refuge in poland, and has remained invisible to this day. "but simon was dragged with violence to his father's house, and after that day, was never seen outside the threshold. after their arrival at home, the father could no longer control his anger, and beat his son with a stick so savagely, that the jews present began already to fear that he would kill him. they therefore locked up simon in a room in which lived sarah bresin, afterwards a witness. but the father endeavoured to break open the door of the room by repeatedly running at it with violence, and at last angrily left the house. when his anger was a little allayed, the jews gave up to him the severely-beaten boy, advising to tame him by fasting. so simon was locked up in another room. there he passed seven painful months, in hunger and imprisonment, daily loaded with curses and oft threatened with death. but when the father saw that his son's spirit was inflexible, and that on the saturday before shrove sunday, simon again, before all the family, declared undauntedly, that he would be baptized; he determined to go to extremities. and that affection might not restrain his hand, he chose for assistant a jew, levi kurtzhandl, a man of savage spirit and in the vigour of youth, who had already before advised him to poison the boy. levi kurtzhandl invited the boy into the room of his step-mother, and held converse with him out of the talmud, in order to convert him. but when simon persevered in his intentions, he was knocked down by levi, and dragged by him and the father into the next room; there both fell upon him furiously, broke his neck, and drove his head violently against the corner of a wooden chest, whereby the glorious soldier of christ received a last blow on the left side of the temple. "whilst this barbarity was going on, lia, the stepmother of simon, together with the journeyman rebbe liebmann, were occupied in the next room making gloves. on hearing the moaning of the boy, and the noise of the murderers, she hastened into the room. there she saw the dead body on the floor, and both the murderers on their knees by him. thereupon the woman was so frightened, that she fainted, and had to be restored to her senses by kurtzhandl pouring vinegar over her. "after the deed, hennele, lazarus's cook, came back, who had been sent out of the house with the little children. these, when supper-time was approaching, inquired where simon was. they were obliged to take an oath to keep the affair secret; whereupon, their father himself told them that he, with levi kurtzhandl, had deprived the boy of life as an apostate from the law of moses, after the example of the patriarch phineas. "after that, lazarus took counsel with levi how to keep the crime secret, not only from the christians, but also from the jews, especially from the family of burianer, who were very hostile to all that belonged to the abeles. levi offered while it was yet night, to carry the body of simon to his own house, and bury it himself in the cellar. but lazarus feared lest some of the burian adherents should discover it. they therefore decided on having the corpse buried in the public burial-ground of the jews. and truly, the neck of the body was discoloured with blood, but otherwise there was no open wound to be seen, with the exception of a blow on the left temple of about the size of a ducat; so lazarus called his household together, instructed and made them swear, that they would say unanimously that simon had become insane, and in that state had fallen against the corner of the chest, whereby he had been mortally wounded on the left temple. "on the following morning early, this glorious soldier of christ was buried in great secrecy by two jews, jerochem and hirsches kesserlas, the coroners. "after the burial of simon, from his grave arose the first great summoner, the worm of conscience, which began to gnaw the heart of the godless lazarus. memory unceasingly persecuted his conscience, and the fear of worldly punishment ever hovered before his eyes. this fear was much increased by the journeyman glove-maker, rebbe liebmann. the same had after the deed, straight left abele's house and made off, and had only again returned to his work after the burial. when lazarus began to relate the particulars, rebbe interrupted him, protesting that he did not desire to hear a word about the evil deed, as he had already heard the whole of yesterday's tragedy, related by the jewish children in the public streets. this burst upon the astonished lazarus like a thunder clap; without delay he collected and packed up all his light goods, sold his house in the jew town, and resigned his hired shop in an aristocratic house, in order to settle himself in poland. he was already prepared, on the following day, to take flight; but it was providentially ordained that the noble landlord of the house, who had leased the shop to him, was just then hindered by palsy in his hand from signing the release himself. "meanwhile, on the rd of february, one johel, a jew, not evil-disposed towards the christians, went into the jew town through the sommer-thor, where he met some children playing, who were relating to one another, how simon abeles had three days before been fresh and healthy, and had early yesterday been buried without any funeral pomp. johel betook himself without delay to the burial-ground, and found a freshly-raised grave; reflected upon all the other circumstances and reports, and came to the sensible conclusion that lazarus was the murderer of his son. this he confided forthwith to a writer of the royal government in great secresy. after i had received intelligence thereof, and had earnestly admonished the jewish informer to give a faithful report; he wrote down the following day all the lamentable particulars, in order to deliver them to the most noble government. they commanded the body of simon to be disinterred, and to be closely examined by a doctor appointed for the purpose; and finally to take into custody those who were suspected of the deed, as also their accomplices. all this was set on foot cautiously and without delay. the body was disinterred under an armed guard; the jews who had collected, and the jewish doctor who was called in, declared that a bad blow on the head, and lastly a fit of insanity, had killed the boy. but the medical gentlemen gave their opinion, that many indications, the broken neck and a small round wound on the temple, showed that the boy had died from a violent blow. "thereupon lazarus abeles was brought to see the body of his son. he turned pale and trembled, and was so confused that he remained silent, and for a good while could not say anything intelligible, nor answer anything distinctly. at last as the herr commissary continued urging him to say whether he knew the body of the boy, he answered with bent head and weak voice that it was the body of his son simon; and when it was further put to him what was the cause of the wound on the left temple, he gave a confused and contradictory answer. he was therefore again taken to prison, but the body of the boy was put into a christian coffin, and placed meanwhile in the cellar of the council house. the _herren_ commissaries were unwearied in cross-questioning christians and jews. but in spite of all indications, lazarus, and the women who were in special custody, lia, his wife, and hennele, his cook, were almost unanimous in their evidence: simon had not taken flight from his father's house to become a christian, but for a long time had been affected with a disease of the head, and therefore kept in the house; at last he had felt an extreme repugnance for food, had become subject to violent fits of insanity, and thus had met with his death. all means of extracting the truth were unavailing; lazarus abeles and the two only witnesses then known of, remained obstinate. "one afternoon, the honourable franz maximilian baron von klarstein, the official commissary, was reflecting on this matter as he went home, and ascended the steps of his house; when it suddenly seemed to him that he received a violent blow on the side, he turned round crossly, when behold there appeared to him on the landing which divided the steps from one another, a boy standing, who bowed his head, and smiled sweetly with cheerful countenance, clothed in a jewish winding-sheet, wounded on the left temple, and in size and age like simon, as this gentleman had seen him with his own eyes, on inspection of the body, when a lively image of him had been impressed on his memory. the gentleman was amazed, and whilst he was sitting at table with his wife and some guests, pondered in his mind what this might signify. then he heard the tapping of a person's finger several times on the door of the dining-room. the servant was sent out, and informed him that an unknown maiden desired instantly to be admitted. having entered, and being kindly accosted, the little maiden of fourteen answered that her name was sarah bresin, that she now dwelt among the christians to be instructed in the christian faith, and had shortly before lived as servant to the tenant in the house of lazarus abeles; there she had seen with her own eyes how cruelly lazarus had attacked his son simon, because he had fled to the christians, in order to be baptized. upon this and other evidence sarah was confronted with lazarus; before whom she declared freely, with much feeling and in forcible language, all that she knew. but lazarus roundly denied it all; and with frantic curses called down all the devils upon her head. but when he returned to his prison, confusion and despair seized his soul; he perceived that his denials would no longer help him before the court, and determined by a last expedient to escape judicial proceedings. although both his legs and one hand were impeded by his fetters, yet he contrived to wind the girdle, called a _tephilim_, wherewith the jews bind their heads and arms during prayer, instead of a cord, round the iron window grating, and strangled himself thereby. thus on the following morning, he was found strangled. for the jews erroneously consider it allowable to throttle themselves, and oft-times do the like. judgment was passed on his dead body. "after his death his wife lia and the servant-maid hennele being confronted with sarah bresin, made a public confession; the fugitive journeyman glover, rebbe liebmann, was also produced and confessed. his princely grace the archbishop decided that simon should be buried in the teynkirche, in the chapel of st. john the baptist, by the baptismal font, within a vault of polished marble, in a fine oak coffin covered with red velvet, and guarded by a lock and three keys. further, that the coffin was to be borne to the burial-place by innocent and noble youths dressed in purple. the most noble frau silvia, born gräfin kinskey, wife of his excellency the lord count of the empire, schlick, had a double costly dress prepared for this day, an under dress of white satin and an upper one of red, interwoven with gold, trimmed with gold buttons and adorned with gold lace-work; she provided also stockings of the like material to cover the feet, and an exceedingly beautiful garland of gold and silver lilies and roses to crown the head of the innocent martyr. "hardly had his most precious body been attired and laid in the costly coffin, when the high nobility of both sexes arrived, and pressed with godly impetuosity into the chapel, where all were amazed, and praised the god of all marvels when they saw that the holy pledge (the body of simon) was unchanged five weeks after his death, that no exhalation of odour could be discovered or perceived, and that from his death wounds there dropped continually fresh rose-coloured blood. wherefore persons even of the highest consideration caught up this precious liquor with their pocket-handkerchiefs. but others who were not provided with clean handkerchiefs, or who could not get near enough for the great throng, made their way to the old grave and tore away the bloody clippings which lay therein. afterwards the revered body was exposed to view on this and the following day in the great hall of the council house. but even there it was exceeding difficult to approach it. at last on the st of march the funeral was performed. an armed force in three ranks surrounded the council house for two whole hours; throughout the whole city resounded the pealing bells of seventy churches. meanwhile the synagogue and the whole body of jews were ready to swoon away with anguish, because they feared the vengeance of the christian populace would fell upon them. it was indeed almost a miracle that no deed of violence was committed, for in the past year, the christians had more than once for the most trifling reasons, fallen upon and plundered the frippery market and jew town, and had also, as is well known, attacked the jews themselves, severely injuring and even murdering some. "when towards ten o'clock, the painters had finished a double representation of the martyr simon, the church ceremonies began. after the coffin had been closed, the commissaries prepared to seal up the keyhole, but as the paper which was to be sealed over the lock might be injured, they desired to have a suitable silk ribbon, and when this became known to the most noble persons present, they tore what they had of such material from their heads, stomachers and arms. his excellency the reichsgraf von martinez also unbound the ribbon that was hanging from his sword-hilt. but a ribbon of red satin was chosen for this purpose, which the most noble and right honourable the countess kolowrat had worn; this was cut in two and placed over the lock and sealed. after this the martyr's coffin was covered with a costly red velvet pall prepared for the occasion; in the middle of the funeral bier was a fine picture of our lady, and on both sides angels with palm branches. sixteen good youths of noble descent bore the funeral bier on their innocent shoulders; they wore red mantles with gold lace glittering on them, and wreaths of silvered roses wound with red silk. then the pealing of bells sounded through all the three towns; the clouds suddenly cleared from off the heavens; the multitude covered every roof, and occupied every window; they had flocked together, not only from the three neighbouring vine-clad mountains but from distant places and cities. "the city authorities led the host of the funeral train; after them followed the lately baptized young jews, adorned with red badges, before whom two church banners of like material were borne. next a countless multitude of schoolboys from all the schools of the three towns, ranged under eight purple flags; thirdly all the young students from the under latin schools. fourthly above four hundred heads of the latin brotherhood from the schools, before whom was carried cross and banner under a canopy with lighted wax tapers. they were followed by a fifth of the higher student brotherhood of our lady; among them many doctors, and assessors, and divers nobles of the empire; before them also were borne the cross and banner with the canopy, and in their hands they carried burning wax tapers, and flaming white torches. sixthly came the first set of choristers, then the clergy in their vestments, then the second set of choristers; after them the deacons, parish priests, and the very reverend the prebendaries with the officiating priests, and beside them went the city soldiers in long rows. seventhly came the sixteen finely attired youths bearing the glorious corpse of the martyr simon. on both sides of the coffin went twelve boys with burning red torches, dressed in exquisitely beautiful purple linen. eighthly following the coffin came the most noble the president and governor of königreichs, all holding red torches in their hands; they were followed by the most distinguished nobility of both sexes in great numbers, and lastly a countless multitude of god-fearing people. "the accomplice of the murderer, levi hüsel kurtzhandl, was the son of wealthy parents at prague; he was tall, and twenty years of age, with a daring countenance, was passionate, had a bold eloquence and ready wit, and was perfectly acquainted with the talmud, which he had studied eleven years. he had concealed himself with his jewish bride nine miles from prague. after diligent inquiries, armed men were despatched there who put him in irons, and brought him in a carriage to prague on the nd of march. although the commissaries, having formerly had similar cases, doubted whether the least atom of truth could be extracted from this flint, yet they confronted him with the witnesses. but notwithstanding the affidavits of three witnesses, he acknowledged nothing. he was threatened with the executioner and the rack, but that had no more effect upon him than threatening a crab with drowning. for he trusted he should be able to endure the rack, and so escape. nay, he was hardy enough to say, that this trial was carried on contrary to all law and justice. thus he was, according to law, condemned to the wheel on the evidence of three witnesses, though without his own confession. "he however hindered the execution of the sentence for seven months, having by means of a jewish relation brought the affair before his imperial majesty leopold. the proceedings were now delayed by jewish tricks, and so tardily carried on, that it might plainly be seen, that the culprit was only seeking a delay of some years in order to obtain a mitigation of punishment or to obviate it by a voluntary death. at last the tribunal obtained an order that the accused should deliver in his defence within fourteen days; his frivolous pleas were rejected, and the sentence of the tribunal confirmed by his imperial majesty. he however adhered to his declaration: 'i am innocent of the blood of the murdered boy.' this he oft repeated before father johannes brandstedter of the society of jesus, an unwearied apostolical labourer, who met a blessed death four days after kurtzhandl, from the virulent poison he had imbibed in the work of love by a sick bed. when he inquired of the condemned whether he could meet death with resignation, and exhorted him to the reception of the saving faith, levi answered with a cheerful aspect and without embarrassment: 'i care as little for death as for this straw'--he held one in his hand, which he thereupon threw away--'but as concerns the faith, we will now argue out of the holy scriptures which of us two holds the true faith. but the father must not think he has a common simple man before him, for i studied the talmud for eleven years.' "thus began a controversy concerning the faith; the priest attacked the talmud with powerful theological evidence, and levi apprehended everything by the strong capacity of his understanding. at last he threw his jewish bible away from him, impatiently saying: 'let it be as it may, i abide by the faith in which i was born.' as on the following day the obdurate youth began to harp upon the same string, the priest set about the matter again in another way; he no longer spoke to him, but turned to his fellow-prisoners, and read to them divers evidence from the holy scriptures, whereby he proved that the messiah had already come. "this, levi listened to quietly and thoughtfully, and although he gave no indications of being inclined to the holy faith, yet it might be seen by his countenance that he was not as averse to the presence of the priest as yesterday. on the third day levi, hardened as he might be in other respects, yet desired that the father should return in the afternoon, as his presence was a special comfort to him in his miserable position. when the priest promised him this as an encouragement, the stony heart appeared softened. in the afternoon, the father in his holy simplicity placed such reliance on the jew, that he removed all the others, and remaining alone with him, kindly and urgently begged of him to give both himself and him consolation, by relating at his pleasure, as the greatest secret, truly and faithfully, what he knew of the death of simon. at this unexpected address levi was quite amazed; he continued long silent; but at last struck with the rare confidence shown by a christian priest in a jew, he conceived a high esteem for his uprightness, and persuaded by the father's promise of secresy, confessed before him and one of his fellow-prisoners, with great signs of sorrow, with bent shoulders and head hanging down on the left side, that he had, at the instigation of the father lazarus abeles, laid violent hands on simon, and caused his death from zeal for the law of moses. "upon receiving this confession the priest was exceeding joyful, and strove with all his powers, by arguments and urgent entreaties, to persuade him to turn himself magnanimously to god. but to this levi would not return any satisfactory answer; and when, as evening twilight was creeping on, the priest prepared to go home, levi raised his eyes to heaven, and said with a deep sigh: 'father, where shall i be at this time to-morrow?' whereto the priest replied: 'my son, in heaven, if you embrace the christian faith; but if you die in judaism, in hell as a hardened jew.' thereupon he in the most friendly way wished him a good night and a blessed end, and went away. "on the following day the priest found the condemned man dressed in white linen for the impending tragedy, as if he had prepared himself to be baptized. after a friendly greeting the father asked him in which faith he had at last resolved to die? hereunto levi returned this answer: 'i will die in the same faith in which abraham, isaac, and jacob died. and as in the olden time abraham offered up his son, so will i to-day sacrifice myself for my sins.' when the priest made a further rejoinder, he said with a pleasant countenance and in a calm manner: 'i humbly beg of you, father, not to trouble me any more about baptism, for i will now pray from the psalms and prepare myself for a happy death.' thereupon he began to repeat the psalms, but without the girdle called a _tephilim_, although the jews usually consider prayer without binding the forehead and hands a sin. but he prayed with such contrition of heart and such vehement beating of the breast, and penitential tears, that his fellow-prisoners and all present were greatly astonished at his remorse. "after a prayer that had lasted more than two hours he gave himself up quickly into the hands of the executioner, and thus accosted him with a cheerful countenance: 'do to me what god and my judges have commanded you.' he then turned to his fellow-prisoners, took a friendly leave of them, and humbly begged of them to forgive his past failings. "after ten o'clock they took him, amidst the gaze of countless multitudes, from the prison, and bound him in a hide, whereat he showed no sign of impatience or displeasure. only he sometimes raised his bound hands in prayer to heaven. thus was he dragged by a horse to the field of action. when he perceived that the accompanying priest in the middle of the platz was in danger of being severely injured by a horse, he begged with sympathizing voice that he might go in front to avoid the danger." thus far the jesuit's narrative. on the scaffold levi made a manly confession of his deed before all the people, with a request that the witnesses who had only spoken the truth should no longer be kept in prison. the details of the execution were particularly horrible; the experienced executioner could not--so the writer states--break the strong body of the criminal on the wheel. at last levi called to the priest by his side and asked him in a clear voice what he would promise if he should consent to be baptized? when the father promised him, besides forgiveness of all his sins, also a speedy death, levi answered: 'i will be baptized.' the church triumphant hastened to impart private baptism, much disposed to attribute this unheard of bodily strength and calm of the malefactor to a special miracle of divine providence. levi repeated the prescribed formula with a strong voice, and received calmly the now effective stroke of death. this is the sorrowful history of simon abeles. whoever judges the jesuit narrative impartially will discover in it something which the narrator wishes to conceal; and whoever contemplates with horror the fanatical murder, will nevertheless not spend much sympathy on the fanatical priests. they tear the scarcely born child out of the arms of its mother; they consider it a pious contrivance to steal the suckling secretly from her, by means of spies and talebearers; by promises and threatenings, and excitement of the imagination, they win hosts of proselytes in baptism to their god, who is very unlike the god of the gospel; with the skill of experienced managers, they make use of a miserable murder, for the sake of bringing on the scene a real tragedy, and of the dead body of a jewish boy, in order by pomp and glitter and enormous processions, and if possible by miracles, to recommend their faith to both christians and jews. their fanaticism, in alliance with the burgher magistracy and the compliant law, stands in comparison with that of a despised, persecuted, and impulsive race; cunning, violence, malice and a corrupt morality, are to be discovered on both sides. during yet two generations, the zeal of the jesuits against the jews continued to work, the struggle of two foreign communities on german ground. the one consisted of the sons of the old dwellers in the wilderness, whose leader, the lord jehovah, brought them forth with their flocks and herds, going before them in the fiery pillar, and pouring his wrath on all who fell away from him. and opposed to these were the followers of a spanish nobleman, who had undertaken the monstrous task of forming the souls of men like the wheels of a machine, making all the highest intellectual powers serve the one single object, of a priesthood to the one appointed officer of the great head of the church militant, jesus. what were loyola and his school to the ancient abeles and to levi kurtzhandl? how ancient was loyola? their fathers had slaughtered the sacrificial victim three thousand years before the first jesuit had tortured a jewish heart; their descendants, they were sure, would offer sacrifice three thousand years later in the kingdom of messiah, after the last jesuit had been collected to his mother lilith. the fearful s. j. which shone in gold on the stones of the college, how long would it last? in the time of their grandfathers it had its origin, in the time of their grandchildren it would be erased. what was this new device to the seed of abraham? an extravagance, a short plague of egypt. proudly did the roman catholic church look back on seventeen hundred years of victory and conquest, but more proudly did the despised jew look upon his past, which stretches back to the dawn of the world, for his faith was seventeen hundred years old when christ was baptized. both the judgment of the pious fathers of the church and the pious jews was narrowed, and their comprehension of the highest disturbed by old traditions. when jehovah spoke to moses on the mountain, his law became the groundwork of a higher moral law, to the hordes in the desert; when jesus proclaimed to the apostles the gracious message of love, his teaching was a holy treasure for the human race. since then, the jews have continued unweariedly to solemnize their passover; still do they shun the meat of the swine, and swing the young cocks on atonement day; but the foundation of their faith has long vanished, also their pastoral state on the borders of the syrian wilderness. for many centuries also, the pious fathers of the roman catholic church have offered their holy sacrifice daily; but they also, have already ceased to be the most pre-eminent of those who live under the law of the new covenant. the bohemian peasant, who benevolently raised up the sick jew on the high road, without tormenting the soul of the stranger with efforts to convert him, was more christian than they; that man of science, who risked his life under the anger of the church, that he might understand how the lightning was made by god, and the earth caused to revolve, was more a proclaimer of the eternal, than they; and that citizen who died for his duty, in order to teach that the general weal is of more value than that of individuals, was nearer the most perfect pattern, than they. among them also, undoubtedly, were many good high-minded men; the jesuit, friedrich spee, met his death in a pesthouse, like that sailor in the flames. but those who thus lived, are precious to us because they showed themselves to be good men; whether they were considered good priests we know not. when this same spee protested so vehemently against the burning of witches, which his church so zealously carried on, he published his writings, without his name, in a protestant place. since moses, and since the first feast of pentecost, the lord had never left himself without witnesses; he had given the nations of the earth a new culture, had led them to a higher civilisation. he had given them a new code of morals, he had unlocked the other half of the earth, he had willed that the new spirit in men should be contained in the narrow space of one book, which might pass from hand to hand, from one soul to another, from one century to every succeeding one. restlessly and unceasingly did the divine spirit agitate and stir the hearts of men; ever more mighty and more holy did these manifestations of the eternal, appear to men of powerful intellect; it was a different manifestation to that of the old writings, it was also another word of god, another aspect of the eternal, which was discovered. thus men now sought the god of the human race, of the earth, of the universe, not only in the old faith but also in science. together with the jesuits and jews there was leibnitz. this new culture has elevated the jews; their fanaticism has vanished since the christian zeal which persecuted them has ceased, and the descendants of that wandering asiatic race have become our countrymen and fellow combatants. but the ecclesiastical community of the society of jesus, already once expelled, then revived again, remains to this day what it was at the beginning of its emigration into germany--alien to the german life. chapter xii. the wasunger war. ( .) the great century of enlightenment began with blood and the thunder of cannon. the spanish war of succession raged on the western frontier, within the distracted realm. bavaria and cologne fought under the ban of the empire, in alliance with louis xiv. against the house of hapsburg. the constitution of the empire had become weak. in the east the hohenzollens already held a powerful position by the side of the hapsburgers; from the beginning of the century they had become kings independent of the empire, and the electoral house of saxony, had shortly before obtained the insecure possession of the polish electoral throne. condemned witches were still burnt on the funeral pile; the ecclesiastics of three persuasions still carried on a wearisome strife; the intolerance of the church, the pressure of poverty, want of great political interests, and the pitifulness of the small sovereigns and their courts, still weighed upon the masses. ever wider became the separation of classes. etiquette only permitted the princes to have intercourse with the citizens in particular cases, and under prescribed forms. it therefore occurred sometimes that a good paternal ruler disguised himself as a private man, withdrew into a chamber apart, put on his old dressing-gown, and took a pipe in his mouth, in order to be enabled to have direct intercourse with his citizens, and thus learn their wishes from themselves. during such hours his princely dignity was, to a certain degree, suspended, but instantly he quitted the room he was again within courtly interdict. yet it was just at this period that numerous mesalliances took place. among many of the higher nobility, wild nature broke through the restraint of court usage, and more than once a city maiden had the doubtful advantage of becoming the persecuted wife of a prince of old family. seldom did the wife obtain from the emperor the rights of equal birth; the marriages were generally morganatic, and the children refused the succession. among the german princes, the course of whose life was changed by a union of this kind, was anthony ulrich, duke of saxe meiningen; born in , the youngest of three brothers, he became, according to the custom of his house, joint ruler of the country, that is to say, the elder brother exercised the rights of sovereignty, but the younger ones received a portion of the revenues of the country. in his youth, this prince had travelled; in the war of succession he had served through some campaigns as an imperial officer; and at the peace of rastatt, he quitted the army with the rank of major-general. a fiery youth, courteous and accomplished, affable as becomes young princes, not without an interest in intellectual pursuits, he had, following the prevailing fashion, zealously collected objects of art and natural curiosities; with a lively disposition and chivalrous demeanour, he was the favourite of the country which he only nominally ruled. whatever entered into his head, he carried on wilfully and recklessly, with an iron perseverance which might have led him to great things. then it became his lot to fall in love with philippine cesar, the daughter of a hessian captain, lady of the bed-chamber to his sister, the abbess of gandersheim; he took her to holland and married her. for many years he did not avow his marriage. his life became unsettled; he kept his wife concealed in amsterdam, and strictly commanded his servants to keep secret his place of residence; he received letters from home in roundabout ways, and was always moving to and fro in the land of his fathers. but when his wife became more precious to him, and sons were born, the stubbornness of his nature was brought forth, he revealed his marriage, and required of his family the recognition of it, and the right of succession for his children. the displeasure of his proud house now broke out. the recognition was denied. such a marriage was considered by the court altogether monstrous, but it was always doubtful whether the decisions of feudal law were competent to declare this marriage invalid. therefore the dukes of saxony met together in , and decided that all unequal unions in their house were to be considered as only morganatic, and the children were never to be allowed the rights of succession.[ ] anthony ulrich remained firm. he solicited the imperial court, and strove unweariedly against the council of the country, who took advantage of this quarrel to diminish the revenues of the duke. but his nature was not easily bent. when in , the last feudal tenant of altenstein, one hund von wenckheim lay dying, and the commissaries of the government were standing by the death-bed to take possession of the vacant fief, anthony ulrich rode suddenly into the court of the castle, and in spite of the protest of the councillors, who were also his servants, entered the chamber of the dying man, sang with him the evening song and the penitential hymn, and passed the night, armed with pistols and other weapons, in the castle. as soon as the vassal had closed his eyes, he entered the room, and according to the old usage took possession of the vacant fief, and seating himself in a red velvet arm-chair, said: "i hereby take possession of my third share, without prejudice to the two-thirds of my brothers." he then called in his attendants as witnesses, and according to the prescribed usage, struck his hand forcibly on the table, so that a jug upset, symbolical of the moveable property, and caused a chip to be cut out of the door of the chamber of death, and of the dining-room. after this he swore into his service all who had not fled; he then rode out, cut splinters from the oak wood, and bits of turf from the meadows, as further tokens of having taken possession, and went back to meiningen. but when he returned to the castle, he found the gates closed and guarded by grenadiers, and all his threats and protestations were of no avail. he afterwards wished to take his wife and children to one of his own possessions, and lead a peaceable life at home. but such was not his happy lot. his brothers obtained a decision from the imperial high court of judicature, according to which he was not to take his wife and children into the country of his fathers, and if he should venture to do so, he was never to usurp for them the title of princes. he now however went himself to vienna and so worked there, with the help of large sums of money, and through the medium of his military acquaintances--the spanish minister, the marquis of perlas was his supporter--that the emperor charles vi. raised his wife philippine to the dignity of princess of the holy roman empire, and her sons and daughters to be dukes and duchesses of saxony, with all the privileges and rights, _i.e_. those of the succession. against this, the whole house of saxony, and those of hohenzollen and hesse, who were interested by the settlement of succession, rose in opposition. at first, however, anthony ulrich was victor. his eldest brother died, and the second was a weak man. so he became in , the real ruler of the country. then he brought his wife and eldest son under the ducal roof at meiningen. for eleven years the stubborn prince rejoiced in having established his own will. but the struggle with his house had embittered him; and added to restlessness and violence, a litigious spirit had come over him. peevish and endless were the disputes about the government, and the discord with his brothers and his favourites; the little country was divided into two parties; ministers and officials threw themselves on the one or the other side, and sometimes the machine of government stood still. the duke lived generally with his wife and children out of the country, at vienna. the legal proceedings with the agnates about the equality of birth, which still continued, and vexatious quarrels with neighbours, gave him but a gloomy satisfaction. he had gained no trifling knowledge of the forms of public law, and conducted all his suits himself. they seem to have taken up the greater part of his time. but the victory was to be followed by a sad reverse. the new emperor of the house of wittelsbacher, charles vii., was with very evident reference to anthony ulrich's affair, bound on oath not to legitimatize any notorious mesalliances, and to declare the right of inheritance of such children null and void. therefore the rank given to the duchess of meiningen and her children was repealed. anthony ulrich had recourse to the diet. but in vain. this also declared that his application must be refused, and the emperor francis i. of lorraine confirmed this decision. it was a cruel stroke of destiny. the wife of the duke had the good fortune not to outlive the last imperial decision; she died a few weeks previous to it; whilst her husband was fruitlessly setting heaven and earth in motion at frankfort to ward off this fate. but the two parties quarrelled even over her coffin. the brother, and co-ruler with the duke, refused to allow the corpse to be buried in the royal hereditary vault, nay even denied her the usual tolling of the bells for royal personages. anthony ulrich rushed furiously from frankfort and commanded the tolling and the burial in the royal vault. orders and counter orders crossed each other during several weeks; now the tolling began and now it was stopped. as anthony ulrich, who had again hastened to frankfort, had commanded that the coffin should not be deposited anywhere but in the royal burial place, it was kept in a room in the castle covered over with sand; there it remained a year and a half, till in , anthony ulrich's last brother died. then the duke in order to give satisfaction to his wife even in death, caused his brother's corpse after lying in state, to be placed in the same room next his wife's coffin and like hers to be covered over with sand. there the two coffins remained for a year, when they were both quietly deposited at the same time in the royal burial place. now anthony ulrich, once the youngest of his family, remained sole ruler and the eldest of his race, but meiningen was a source of annoyance to him. he could not take his dear children home as dukes, therefore he went to them at frankfort. his agnates could scarcely conceal the impatience with which they awaited for his death in order to take possession of the inheritance of the last of the meiningens. he had passed the greater part of his life in struggle with them; now he would be revenged. out of spite to them he married at the age of sixty-three a princess of hesse-philippsthal. he had ten children by his first wife and eight by his second. he announced every fresh birth to the agnates on a sheet of the largest royal folio. he died at frankfort-on-the-main in . even in his last testament the stubborn determination breaks forth, of bringing the two sons of his first marriage into the country as co-heirs. all the children of the first marriage died unmarried. his was an unprofitable life, but it well deserves the sympathy of a later generation. a strong passion disturbed his days up to his last hours. mixed with a great love, a stream of gall penetrated into his heart, flowing unceasingly; his time, his money and all his talents were spent in the most sorrowful of all struggles--in family disputes. his brilliant youth gave great promise, yet how profitless to others, nay to himself, was his whole manhood. in his old age he dwelt in a foreign city, divided between his past and his new domestic life, to which he could never get thoroughly accustomed. his spirit, once so lively and active, and his unbending will, were so engrossed with his personal affairs, that when he became the real ruler of his country he no longer took an interest in doing his duty. it was not unnatural that anthony ulrich should, from his own experience, entertain a repugnance to the pretensions of the lower nobility at court, and it was quite in accordance with his character, to display his hatred when opportunities offered. this he did shortly after the death of his first wife, to the bereaved court at meiningen. in the royal palace at meiningen the _frau landjägermeisterin_, (wife of the grand master of the chase), christiane auguste von gleichen held the highest rank. among the other ladies who had a right to be there, was a fran von pfaffenrath, born countess solms, but yet only the wife of a councillor, who had only just been ennobled, and to whom she had been married in a not very regular way, for her husband had been tutor in her parents' house: she had eloped with him, and had after many troubles accomplished a reconciliation with her mother, and obtained a diploma of nobility for her husband. now duke anthony ulrich, who was residing at frankfort, protected her, because, as the court whispered, her sister had the advantage of being in the good graces of the old gentleman. naturally, she ought only to have ranked according to the patent of her husband, but alas! she raised pretensions because she was of high nobility. when therefore in october , the doors of the dining-room were to be opened, and the page was standing ready to repeat grace, the master-of-the-horse entered and said to the _frau landjägermeisterin_: "his most serene highness has commanded that the frau von pfaffenrath shall take rank before all other ladies." frau von gleichen answered that she would never consent to that, but the frau von pfaffenrath had placed herself favourably and took the precedence of the _frau landjägermeisterin_ before she could prevent it. yet this determined lady was far from submitting tamely. she hastened round the table to the duke's cabinet minister, and declared to him, as became a lady of character after such an insult: "if _frau von_ pfaffenrath again goes before me to table, i will pull her back even to the sacrifice of her hooped gown, and will say a few words which will be very disagreeable to her." the cabinet minister was in a great embarrassment, for he knew the resolute character of _frau von_ gleichen. at last he advised her to rise from the table before grace, then she would at all events go out first and so get the precedence. thus the _landjägermeisterin_ maintained her place, but she was much offended, and so was the whole court, which split into two parties. this quarrel of the ladies made a commotion in the whole of the holy roman empire, occasioned a campaign between gotha and meiningen, and was only ended by frederick the great, in a manner which reminds one of the fable of the lion which took the royal share for himself. _frau von_ gleichen appealed to the absent duke for reparation. she only received a strong and ungracious answer. irritated at this, she made inquiries into the former life of her enemy, and propagated an anonymous writing, in which the love affairs of the countess were described with more energy than delicacy. the _frau von_ pfaffenrath complained of this lampoon to the sovereign at frankfort, and afterwards began a course of proceedings against the _frau landjägermeisterin_ which even then was considered harsh and cruel. she was called upon to crave pardon of the _frau von_ pfaffenrath, on her knees entreating her most penitently for forgiveness; and when she refused with these words: "i would die first," she was taken in arrest to the council-house and there guarded by two musketeers; her husband also was put in an unhealthy prison. unshaken by such great sufferings the _frau landjägermeisterin_, in a beautiful letter full of self-reliance and noble sentiments, petitioned the duke for her husband's freedom, her own dismission from the service of the court, and permission to institute a legal defence against the pfaffenrath. all this was denied her. she was on the contrary carried by two musketeers into the room of the pfaffenrath in order to beg pardon, and when she again refused, she was taken into the marketplace of meiningen surrounded by a circle of soldiers, and the sheriff read aloud a decree, in which it was proclaimed to the people, that the lampoon was to be burnt before the eyes of the _landjägermeisterin_ by the hangman, and every one was forbidden, on pain of six weeks' imprisonment and a fine of a hundred thalers, ever to speak again on the subject. the letter was burnt by the hangman and _frau von_ gleichen again taken back to prison. but now the friends of the gleichen brought a complaint before the imperial chamber. but the repeated mandates of the chamber to duke anthony ulrich and his government, to give freedom to the gleichens and to proceed according to law, were not obeyed. after that duke friedrich iii. of gotha, received a commission from the same tribunal to defend _frau von_ gleichen and her husband from farther violence, and to deliver them from imprisonment in meiningen, yet keep them in honourable custody. duke friedrich demanded the delivery of the prisoners from meiningen, but his commissioners were not admitted into the city, nor his letter accepted; but it was signified to him, that if gotha should attempt to free them by force, there was plenty of powder and shot at meiningen. betwixt meiningen and gotha there were endless quarrels and great bitterness. thereupon duke friedrich of gotha prepared himself for armed intervention. he was a warlike prince, who maintained a subsidiary force of six thousand infantry and fifteen hundred horse in the dutch and imperial service. he had, besides a large number of guns, a strong corps of officers and several generals. on the other hand the military strength of meiningen was small; it consisted almost entirely of the old fortifications and unskilled militia. these were assembled, and meiningen was fortified as well as was possible in such haste. but it was not destined that meiningen itself should become the scene of action, for the fury of war raged only about the town of wasungen. it was indeed a remarkable coincidence that this place should become the theatre of war, for scandal says that it was considered the shield or place of refuge of meiningen; and in the country there is a lying story about its councillors and a large gourd. the councillors mistook the gourd for the egg of a foreign horse which was to be hatched for the good of the town by the united powers of the councillors. the struggle which then took place in the centre of germany, between the thuringian states of gotha and meiningen, is known by the name of the wasunger war. in a military point of view it is of no importance, but is characteristic of the period. all the misery in the german empire, the decaying state of the burgher life, the coarse immorality of the politics of that time, the meannesses, pedantry, and helplessness of the imperial army, are shown to such an extent, that they might be a source of amusement, if they did not give rise to a more serious and better feeling, bringing to light the helplessness of the german empire. the narrative is here given by lieutenant rauch of gotha, who took part in the war. he speaks in his diary as follows:-- "early on the th of february, precisely at one o'clock, our whole division broke up from tambach, and marched with burning torches through the wood beyond the so-called rosengarten, in order that we might enter at break of day the hessian village flohe; we knew not whither we were going. we continued our march through the city of smalkalden up to middle smalkalden. "when the cavalry came to the meiningen village niederschmalkalden, a lieutenant, with about four-and-twenty militia men, stood right across the road, and would not let us pass. here all three corps were obliged to halt. major von benkendorf, together with the lieutenant-colonel, rode up to the lieutenant who was commanding there; and the major asked him what he meant by not letting us pass, and whether this was not a public road? the lieutenant answered: 'yes! it was a high road, but he had orders not to let us pass. major benkendorf might say what he liked, the lieutenant would not listen to him.' the major then took a letter out of his pocket which he wished to show him; but neither would he take that. whereupon the major said to the lieutenant: if he would not let him pass with his people he would force his way. "the lieutenant answered shortly, that we might do so, as he had not sufficient force to prevent him. the major rode immediately to the guards, drew his sword, and approached the lieutenant to see whether he would consent to treat; but he would not stir from the spot. the major asked him once more, whether he would yield up the ground? but he remained firm. thereupon the major gave his orders to the guard: march! march! and broke through. "while they were passing, it happened that one of the horses pushed against the meiningen lieutenant and threw him down. but he soon recovered himself, seized his weapon, and shot the serjeant-major of the guards, starke, and then took to flight. a horseman however, whose name was stähm, pursued him forthwith, and would have cut his head in two, but the lieutenant held his weapon obliquely over his head, so that the horseman stähm cut in half the powder sack on the barrel. but my good old lieutenant thought he would run further, and sprang over a ditch, where the horseman might not be able to follow him, and thought he was now safe. but the grenadier hellbich fired and shot my old lieutenant zimmermann behind the right ear as he ran, so that he fell suddenly to the ground, and not a muscle quivered. the militia still standing there looked on at the game; but the grenadiers fired some grenades among them, and they then took to their heels and ran away. "meanwhile all the streets of the village had been barricaded with carts and wagons; but the mayor and the peasants seeing their old lieutenant lying dead, whom they had at all times considered as their bulwark, and observing that some grenades had fallen into their gardens, were in great terror, and began to ring the alarm bells that all the peasants might speedily assemble. "in a moment all the wagons and carts were moved out of the way so that we might march. the militia had fled to the village of schwallungen, through which also we had to pass, and where again there was an officer in command of thirty militia, to whom they reported what had taken place in the village of niederschmalkalden. so the officer, who was a shoemaker by profession, when he heard this report from the fugitives, took such of his men as would go with him and tore off to wasungen before he had even caught sight of us. "when we came to the afore-mentioned village, we formed ourselves in column, fixed our bayonets, and thought what will now take place? we marched on, and when we came to the gate the officer and all the troops had fled, and there to not a single man to make resistance. we marched straight through with fixed bayonets; then we saw the portion that had remained of the runaway shoemaker-ensign's troop in their uniform, with their cartridge boxes, peeping out of the windows. "my good shoemaker-ensign was off, and had posted himself and the men who thus went out with him at the gate of wasungen, where again a lieutenant, who was a good barber--as i knew by experience, having myself been shaved by him--had posted himself, and was awaiting us. the gate of wasungen was firmly closed with strong double doors, but a sentinel stood without; so major von benkendorf called to him that the gate must be opened. but the sentinel excused himself, saying he could not. the said major asked him, 'who is there besides?' he answered: 'the lieutenant.' the major said he must call his lieutenant; whereupon he ran hastily and fetched him out. then came up my good barber lieutenant; the man was already well nigh dead of fright, and his face was whiter than his shirt. the major accosted him sharply, asking how it was that the gates were fastened, and whether a public high road did not pass through there? he answered, yes! so major von benkendorf said he must that instant open the gates, or we would do it ourselves. when he heard this, being half dead with fright, he begged for pardon, saying it was not he that could open the gates, but the councillors who had closed them. the answer was, that he must forthwith produce the councillors. good gracious! was there ever any one more glad than the good barber, who ran as if his head was burning; but meanwhile there was nothing seen or heard of the shoemaker-ensign. "at last the councillors came. "when i saw these men creeping out of the little gate, i thought, 'what the devil! are these councillors? they are a fine lot!' the councillors looked a little respectable, but the burghermaster was up to the knees in cow-dung, and must have been fetched from clearing away the dung in the stable. hereupon, major von benkendorf asked whether they were the councillors? they answered: 'yes, and what did we desire?' the major asked whether this was not the highroad to nuremberg? they said, 'yes.' 'why then were the gates closed and barricaded, and we not allowed to pass through?' then the president of the council answered: 'they were commanded by their government not to let any troops pass through, therefore they must keep the gates closed; they must do what their master commanded them.' but major von benkendorf repeated his former words, and said to them: 'they must open to us, and that quickly, for that we must march further; and if they did not open, we would do it ourselves.' the president of the council answered this, and said: 'we might do as we liked, but he could not open the gates to us.' but the dung-bespattered burghermaster then began: 'nay! if you wish to march further, you can do so by the back road.' i thought to myself, 'if thou couldst but kill that cursed dirty fellow!' the major then forthwith called to me, and desired that all the carpenters of the whole division should be summoned; which was done in a moment. hereupon he asked once more whether they would amicably open the gate? if not, he would have them immediately hewn open. they might now see that we ourselves would open the gates if they did not prefer preserving them whole. "the major thought they would resolve to open them, but they said they would not, and we might do what we liked. hereupon the major called out: 'proceed carpenters! hew the gates down!' thereupon the carpenters set to work. when the knocking and cracking began, it was well worth seeing how the councillors, among whom was the burghermaster, and the frightened barber-lieutenant, began to ran, as if carried off by the devil. in a moment both gates were hewn down, and the whole detachment marched with trumpets, drums, and fifes, into the city. "as we marched in through the gates, the good barber-lieutenant, and the shoemaker-ensign, with their men, presented arms, and saluted both the officers of our detachment. "here we stopped, just as we were; everyone was hungry and thirsty. we officers made the citizens fetch us something to drink, and stood looking at and questioning one another. the snow was lying on the ground, and our men began to be impatient. i went to the inn where the lieutenant-colonel was in consultation with his officers; they were deliberating, and i could not speak with them. the citizens were already beginning to kindle their lights, and it did not appear how the affair was to end. "at last the lieutenant-colonel came and sent forthwith to the councillors, who were already assembled in their council-room, deliberating what report they should make to meiningen concerning the hewing down of their gates. but the president of the council had got scent of it, so he kept apart, and left the others to themselves, for all men could see that we could not go any further, as it was night. now as the president was away, no one would go to the lieutenant-colonel, and each kept calling upon the other to go. at last one consented, and said: 'some one must go, let what will happen.' when therefore he came to the lieutenant-colonel, it was represented to him that the town must provide ns with accommodation for the night, whether they liked or not. the lieutenant-colonel also added, that we should march very early on the morrow; that the citizens were not bound to give the smallest thing to the soldiers, who had to live on their pay; therefore he need not deliberate any more about it. the councillor begged to be excused, but said he could do nothing himself, he must lay the matter before his colleagues, and see what they were disposed to do. "hereupon i marched forth again with the good councillor to the schlundhouse, where the other councillors were sitting. when i entered the room with the plenipotentiary, he delivered the lieutenant-colonel's message to them, in his own words: 'that the commander desired to have night-quarters for his men, and that on the morrow at sunrise, they would again march; that he could not help the citizens; they must do so whether they chose or not; if they would not do it, they must tell lieutenant rauch; in which case, he would quarter the soldiers in houses according to the custom with troops; they would get what they wanted, for soldiers must live on their pay. no citizen was bound to give them anything but a warm room and a place of rest.' "now every one shall hear what passed amongst these councillors. the first who began, said: 'i do not assent to this. who asked them to wait so long here? they might long ere now have marched away, if they had chosen.' another said: 'you are right, cousin kurtz; i would rather tear myself in pieces than consent.' the third then said: 'so, ho! first they hew down our gates, and then, forsooth, they cannot go further, and expect us to give them quarters: most decidedly not!' the fourth now spoke: 'the honourable commander seems to be an honest man, but let him say what he will, there is no doubt that we must provide food for them, for truly they bring nothing with them.' the fifth then began: 'that is right, cousin hopf: do you not remember how it fared with us when the imperial cavalry came? they behaved in like manner; and afterwards we could not get rid of them, but were obliged to keep them with a good grace.' the sixth said: 'this will never do; we cannot provide them with quarters till we have received orders from our government, otherwise we shall be punished.' the seventh spoke thus: 'did i not tell you, gentlemen, what would happen, by keeping these people so long outside? truly the president, herr läufer, has made off, and slips his head out of the noose, leaving us to bear the brunt. take heed; they say they will be off to-morrow, but they have been marching yesterday and to-day, and to-morrow they will make a day of rest, as they will need repose. rest assured that i am right; what think you, gentlemen? suppose we were to send a messenger on horseback to meiningen?' "i had listened to all the discussions of the councillors, and now i began, and said: 'gentlemen, you come to no conclusion; i will inform my commander of it, let it fare with you as it may.' but he who had gone with me to the lieutenant-colonel, begged me to wait but a little, and they would just send to the treasurer and city clerk to confer with them. here the strife began again, none would go thither. at last one of them allowed himself to be persuaded, but soon returned again, saying they had both ridden off when we hewed down the gates. then i said, 'now, gentlemen, do what you like; i will not wait a moment longer.' "thereupon the eighth and last began to speak, he who had accompanied me to the lieutenant: 'gentlemen, what shall we do; here they are, and you have heard what the commander says: if we will allot them no quarters, he will let his soldiers go into whatsoever houses they please; if they fill your houses it is no fault of mine. i go home to close mine. as many as come to my share i will take; the others i will show to your houses. you have heard of to-day's misfortunes. at smalkalden, friend böhler's brother-in-law, lieutenant zimmermann, is dead; our gates have been hewn down; below are the soldiers thundering out curses. gentlemen, let us billet them. the soldiers in the market-place say they only wish they had shot the peasants who were with the lieutenant. what a calamity that would have been! they say also that more shall be shot; that one shall not be the last. thus you see that the same misfortune might come upon us also. ah! gentlemen, if we had but such a prince as he of gotha is! but ours troubles himself not about us; he lives comfortably at frankfort, and let what will come to us, he cares not. and who knows wherefore this has begun? these soldiers assuredly have not come for a pastime. one can learn nothing from them. and how soon one night will pass, or even two! they are our border neighbours too; why should we not give them a night's lodging?' "they all agreed to this and sought for their old rate of tax; whereupon i had to tell them the whole strength of our division. "after that, i received an order to enjoin upon the soldiers, when they received their billets, that they were not to undress themselves, but were each of them to place his weapon by his bedside, and soon as a call was heard, every soldier was instantly to join his commanding officer fully armed, and if any one was found in a state of drunkenness, he was to be punished by running the gauntlet of the whole division; therefore an order was to be given directly to the assistant executioner, to cut this very evening six hundred rods. "none of the officers undressed themselves; for the most part they remained in company together, in order to be alert on the morrow. when morning approached, the citizens as well as the officers were listening for the beating of the drum. they also had probably passed an unquiet night; wherefore? because they were badly provided with beds, and had given them up perhaps to the soldiers for a douceur. this one might conclude, as in all the houses lights were to be seen throughout the night. in the morning, instead of the call from the staff of the grenadier guards, the reveille was beaten. now, every soldier knows well, that beating the reveille signifies remaining quiet, or a day of rest; so we put our heads together to guess what this might mean. the citizens, also, when they saw that the soldiers did not break up, and prepare to march, laid their heads together likewise, and there was a great amount of whispering among them. my host, himself a councillor, came and asked me what was the meaning of our not marching further? i could give him no information. "now the misery began; there was only food for him who had brought bread. the citizens quarrelled with the soldiers, and asked why they had not marched away yesterday or early to-day, and whither we had intended to go? they told them the truth. it was such an uproar as is impossible to describe. the poor citizens who possessed no goods or houses, fled, and their dwellings were broken open by the soldiers, and one excess was committed after another. "meanwhile, all the councillors and burgermasters were called to meiningen, where they were charged by their government, on pain of punishment, to signify to the citizens that they were not to provide anything for the saxe gotha soldiers. the bakers were not to bake, nor the butchers to slaughter the beasts; the innkeepers were not to prepare any food, nor the brewers to brew. this the councillors actually proclaimed to the citizens. and truly i was not able to get even three-pennyworth of cheese. the citizens who were prudent people, begged of us not to take it amiss of them; as we must accept good words instead of what they would have given us. if i wanted bread i had to send to smalkalden for it, and give more pay to the messenger than for the bread. "thus we remained there, expecting the meiningens, who never came. meanwhile we found provisions; we got most of them from smalkalden; the beer was bought in the hessian village of tambach, and the jews brought us meat. at last the wasungers became disloyal, turned round on their magistrates and said: 'we have all the troubles, and the other states the enjoyment; this does not suit us; we have promised to obey our government, but then they should protect us. if they cannot rid us of these people, we will bake, brew, and cook.' and from that hour they began to do all. for many years the citizens had not brewed nor sold so much beer as after this; every week three and four brews; bakers began to bake, who had long shut up shop; the butchers did the like. then the wise councillors went off again to meiningen and reported everything; whereupon the citizens were again cited to the town house, on a penalty of twenty gulden. but they were refractory and would not go, but sent thither their barefooted children, and heeded no more commands. when these wise councillors found this, they themselves began to brew. "on the nd of may, on whit monday, , an order must probably have come from major s---- of which we officers learnt nothing. hereupon there was a running and scampering to the privy councillor flörcke at the 'bear,' which was quite astounding; now they ran in and now out. i thought: 'what the devil is the matter?' yet i thought, if something is passing, i shall hear of it. the citizens also began to inquire: 'wherefore is all this running to the commander at the "bear?"' but i could give no answer. "whilst all this running hither and thither was going on, i went with ensign köhler to inspect the sentinels, and when we arrived at the upper gate, majors von s---- and von b---- and captain von w---- met us. major von s---- came straight up to me and asked me secretly, whether i had heard any news? i answered, no; whereupon he inquired of me, whether i knew that the meiningens meant to attack us that night? i replied: 'well and good; if they come they must knock pretty loud, we will be ready for them.' he then said, would i wish to send my wife away? 'no,' said i, 'she only came on holy whitsun eve, and will not go away till the day following whit sunday.' 'indeed,' he continued; 'but if the meiningens come?' 'i shall gird a sword round her,' was my answer, 'and she may defend herself.' "then major s---- continued, saying, 'i was to make my dispositions here, and see that all the gates and posts were defended.' this is truly being deceived with one's eyes open; to make dispositions before the eyes of men and not to keep them! "when i came down i called out to the soldiers: 'attention! cease that chattering.' then i began to arrange the right wing, but had hardly placed four or five files, when captain w---- came running, and asked me, whether i had not heard that i was to come with him directly. here came out the first result of their council of war. i did not delay long, but ran directly to the major, and asked what commands he had to give me; whereunto he answered, that i was to take thirty dragoons and march them to the 'bear,' and there report myself to the privy councillor flörcke, in order to bring him in safety to schwallungen. i forthwith replied: 'i beg your pardon, major, but that is not befitting me, and i shall not do it; there are other officers there who may be ordered to do this, but not i.' now, in short, i heard that the privy councillor wished to have me. who would have dreamt of such a trick? as if i would have escorted the privy councillor from wasungen! i would sooner have taken him into the werra. but no remonstrances would serve; they said i must and should go. this was the first trick! hereupon i replied to the major: 'so i must consider it an honour, that the privy councillor places such confidence in me, when there are so many officers in the division;' hereupon i received an order, to tell the officer at the lower gate that he should give information as soon as i had passed through with the privy councillor; this was the second trick. who could have imagined such a trick? i will not write what i think of it. when i found it out i wished that all the horses of the carriages had died, that i might not be taken away from wasungen by such cunning. "now i went forth, taking with me a corporal named görnlein, and nine-and-twenty dragoons, and marched to the 'bear,' where i found a carriage at the door, but saw the servant sitting within in the doorway. i called to him to inform his master i was there; whereupon the privy councillor called out to me from the carriage, 'i am already here.' whereupon, i detached the corporal with fourteen men to go behind the carriage, while i went in advance with the others. "now when i came to the lower gate, i called to the serjeant, and bade him tell the major that i and the privy councillor had passed out. meanwhile the soldiers were in great confusion at the rendezvous; but when the corporal announced that i had passed out with the privy councillor, the major immediately gave orders that all the soldiers should pile their arms, and go to their quarters to fetch their baggage; when they had dispersed, he sent to the guard to desire them to go forthwith and assemble at his quarters, which was done. thus all the outposts were forgotten. at last the noise and bawling was so great, it reached the ears of the outposts, who went off without orders. now when the soldiers from the guards came to the market-place, they saw some of the soldiers coming back from their quarters with their baggage, so they piled their arms and went off for theirs. "but this was not enough. either the time appeared to him too long before the soldiers were again assembled, or the fear of death had already come upon him, or he was incited to it by his comrades; but in short, he determined at once to leave, and going down to the soldiers he called out, 'allons! march!' although the men had not nearly all assembled. then captain brandis, who had not consented to this at their council of war, asked what this meant? whereto the major von s---- answered, they were to march into the district of britungen. the good man who was standing in front of the meiningen gate, then ran quickly to his house, collected his things together, and threw them into his portmanteau. he had well nigh been left behind. "now when captain brandis, and the musketeer who had packed up his things, returned to the place of rendezvous, all were gone, and there were only a few weapons remaining there. so he sent on his servant, and waited for the remainder of the men. now every one should know, in the first place, that major von s----, had not waited till all the soldiers were collected together, still less had he thought of the artillery; he had thought of nothing but calling out 'march! march!' and the sick officers (captain rupert among them), and sick soldiers were forgotten; besides this, he never set the troops in order, but marched them out as a shepherd drives his cattle through the gate; and such a shameful sight was never seen, nor can it be described. "captain brandis now came marching through the town with the soldiers he had collected; whereupon the citizens began to call out after him: 'there they run like vagabonds; they entered in the daylight and run away at night, like thieves and rogues; the good major von s---- is up and away.' captain brandis swallowed all this patiently, and continued marching slowly with his troops. when he had come to a height in front of the town, some wasungers, who were lying in ambush, fired at him; and when he had marched a short distance further, he found our artillery lying in a defile, without a single man to guard it, and it lay now with the wheels, now with the wagons uppermost, and hardly a piece was standing; for as there was a deficiency of chains, the gunners had fastened the guns with tow to the powder wagons, and these were breaking every moment. captain brandis with his men, remained with the artillery. "now i had to make my arrangements carefully. when i arrived at schwallungen, i stopped my soldiers and the carriage, and went up to the privy councillor to inquire where i should convey him; whereto he, half dead with fear, answered, 'to the upper inn.' where the devil that was i did not know, till i found a dragoon, who having been there formerly, conducted us to the place; for i knew nothing about the village, nor where the inn lay; it was dark as pitch, and rained as if the water was poured from heaven in buckets. when i arrived at the inn he had designated, i caused the gates to be opened, and the carriage to drive into the court; the privy councillor alighted with his clerk who accompanied him, and retired into an upper room, for he knew the place better than i. i put a sentry on each side of the carriage, because the chancery papers lay therein. i desired the rest of the soldiers to place their arms in the house that they might be safe from the rain, and placed a sentry to guard both the arms and the privy councillor. i did not care any more about the said privy councillor, for i had, according to the orders of major von s----, brought him to a place of security; where he would probably be about as safe as a cake among rats, for it was a meiningen village; and according to all accounts there were no worse rogues in the whole country, than the inhabitants of schwallungen. "having therefore executed my orders, i sent my sergeant to lieutenant griesheim, who was stationed with forty or fifty dragoons in the said village, to inform him that i had brought the privy councillor hither, and that he should come and release me from my charge. a short time after, the lieutenant made his appearance, and was much amazed that i, being adjutant, should have come hither with a detachment, and could not help remarking on it. "i said, it appeared to me more serious. however, this was now nothing to the purpose. i begged of him to set to work, and send for his soldiers, that i might march back to wasungen with my detachment; whereupon he took the trouble of going himself for them. when he had collected about fifteen men, i told him he must take charge of the posts, as i wished at once to resume my march; the which he did, and so released me. now it was right to pay my respects to the privy councillor, and ask him whether he had any commands for wasungen? whereupon the man addressed me as if i were a thrasher, and asked me whether i had no orders to remain here? but i was prepared and answered him with the most perfect indifference, 'no, the devil has given me no orders to remain here; and it was no part of my duty to bring you here.' that he said i might settle with major von s----. whereunto i replied, 'i will most certainly do so.' after that he inquired of me more kindly what i wished to do at wasungen, as the whole division were on the march, and would speedily be here. then i said, 'is that the way the cards are shuffled? that is good, truly.' now whilst i was still standing in the room with the privy councillor, i heard the tramping of horses; i rushed down stairs and asked who it was. i received for answer, 'we are all here.' then i was so horrified that i almost lost my senses; there were the two majors, who forthwith dismounted, hastened up stairs into the councillor's room, and i after them. "now they were beginning to relate to each other how fortunately they had escaped from the besieged wasungen, but i would not let major von s---- say a word, but asked him: 'herr major, what manner of conduct is this, to send me so cunningly away from wasungen, without telling me that you were going to march out, and i have left there my wife and child, and all my property? is this the custom of war? i know not whether you have received money for acting thus, or what i am to think of it. are these your secret projects which are brought to light to-day? in the devil's name, i am not so young, nor have only become a soldier to-day; perhaps i know as well or better than you, what is the way to do things.' i was in such a rage, i would have staked my life against him. "now my dear reader, you must observe, that up to this moment i had neither seen nor heard a single man of the whole division, and did not know how matters stood. major von s---- tried to comfort me, saying i need not be unhappy about my things; he would be surety for them; but i answered him quickly: 'herr major, how can you answer for my things? why did you not tell me the truth instead of sending me out of wasungen by such deceit? that is not allowable.' then the privy councillor would have his say, and truly to this effect, that the major was right in sending me away; that was his opinion. but i replied: 'by ---- i require no clerks to give me orders; if i were a commander, i would tell those who were under me, what was going to take place, and what they were to do; but to act in such a way as this, is not honourable.' "thereupon i left the room, and when i came to the guard in the court, one pleissner, a citizen of gotha, a tinman, who had been at that time on a visit at wasungen, entered the court, and said to me of his own accord; 'god help us, herr lieutenant, what a sight that was at wasungen! it filled me with sorrow and vexation when our people marched out in that way, for i am a citizen of gotha. when our soldiers marched out through the lower gate, the militia of the country entered in through the upper gate, and visited every house; and sent off to meiningen, christian, ensign of captain brandis's company, who had been forgotten on guard, and was going to his quarters to fetch his baggage. the devil is in the militia; they visited every house, and said they would carry off all to meiningen.' "i will ask anyone to think what kind of temper i was in then; captain ruprecht and many soldiers had been left ill at wasungen; my wife and child and my small chattels were also there; and now i heard that the musketeer huthmann had already been carried off to meiningen, so everything wore a black aspect. i asked the citizen where our soldiers were? 'ah,' said he, 'they lie without, all in troops under the trees, and captain brandis is still at wasungen; the field-pieces lie all on the road upside down; they cannot get on, as they have no chains to couple them together, but they have made use of the tow for that purpose, which breaks every minute. i remained near them some time, but the wasungers began to fire at us from behind; it was the devil to pay, and as it also rained heavily, i thought i would get under cover. our people are lying so dispersed about the roads, that it would take two hours to collect them, and i saw no officer but captain brandis: the soldiers were swearing enough to bring down heaven upon them; i was frightened out of my wits and hastened away.' "after hearing this i stood there, not knowing what to do; there was not a man of the whole detachment to be heard or seen, and it rained terribly. at last the old grenadier corporal came into the village with about ten grenadiers, wading through the mud; i knew his voice from afar, and his soldiers were swearing astoundingly; so i called out to them, 'what is the use of swearing? it cannot be helped now.' 'aye, zounds,' said the corporal, 'i have gone through two campaigns, but never had such a business as this. is this to be allowed? there is our captain lying ill at wasungen, and our major, who ought to take charge of us, is gone with major s---- to the devil; we are poor forsaken soldiers, but, the devil take me, i will march to gotha with the few men i have here.' i asked him where the other grenadiers were; but he did not know whether they were in advance or behind. 'we have not an officer,' he said, 'and no one took charge of us,' so each one went where he chose. he did not know that the two majors were at the inn; but if the old corporal was foul-mouthed, his grenadiers were still worse. "i had enough to do to mollify the grenadiers, and thus things went on; every quarter or half-hour a small troop came in, and if the first had made a clamour, the others were still worse; finally, the artillery came, though it is usual, under whatever circumstances one may march, to place the artillery either in front or in the middle, and guard them as one would guard one's soul. it might plainly be seen that this commander had never seen a corps or army marching with artillery, which must, according to the usages of war, always be protected. "the soldiery became more and more disorderly, and i had to admonish them to be on their good behaviour before the peasants, who were looking at and listening to us from their windows, and making their jests upon us. "at last, thank god, the rain ceased; a dragoon had led us to a meadow which lay hard by the road, along which i stationed the right wing, and taking command, told the force off into divisions and half-divisions. whilst i was doing this i heard some horses in the distance coming at a great pace, so i thought, here comes the enemy; i forthwith called out to the right wing to send out some men and challenge the new-comers; at the same time i ran up to one of the grenadiers, and taking his musket from his hand, as during the process of dividing the men i had given up mine, i placed myself with some grenadiers in the middle of the road, and called out, 'who goes there?' i was answered by a well-known voice, which i immediately recognized as that of major von benkendorf, as he did mine likewise. when i challenged him, he called to me, 'do you not know me?' 'yes, thank god!' i knew him by his voice, but could not do so before he spoke, on account of the darkness. thus did god send to the children of israel in the wilderness; here was the word fulfilled: god forsakes none who trust in him always. "the first words of the major were: 'children, what are you doing here?' i answered, herr major, god only knows, not i; we have been brought away in such a fashion, that we hardly know how we have come here.' he asked further: 'did you all march?' 'yes, there is no longer any one there except the sick, and those they have taken prisoners.' '_oh, mon dieu!_' exclaimed he, 'we must return thither, even were we to sit down before the gates; where are your majors?' 'at the schwallungen inn.' then he called out, 'allons, children! march away;' and galloped in all haste to the inn, where he may have found them at a good bottle of wine, but what kind of greeting he gave them, or compliments, i have not heard." thus far we have the valiant rauch. in the farther part of his diary he relates how the gotha troops regained courage, returned to wasungen and there drove out the meiningens, who were equally eager to run away, as they had done, and again established themselves there. immediately after the first capture of wasungen, the government at meiningen, in great consternation, had sent frau von gleichen with her husband there in a carriage, attended by gotha troops. but it was no great pleasure to them to see that the cause of the quarrel was done away with; so the poor court dignitaries met with a cold reception; the health of both was broken by sorrow, vexation, and long imprisonment. in , herr von gleichen died, and his wife soon after. meanwhile, flying-sheets and memorials, mandates of the imperial chamber, and ministerial missives concerning this affair, flew all over germany; the gotha troops kept possession of wasungen. anthony ulrich obstinately refused to acknowledge the claims of gotha to indemnification, and the voices of numerous princes were loud in condemning the sentence of the imperial chamber, and the execution of it by gotha, as a violation of the sovereign rights of a german ruler. frederick the great did so likewise. just then, when the duke of saxe-gotha was in a desperate position, a new prospect and a new subject of quarrel presented themselves to him. the duke of weimar had died, and had settled that his cousin of gotha was to be guardian to his only son during his minority. the duke of gotha speedily entered upon the guardianship, and caused homage to be sworn to him: upon this, a violent altercation again sprang up between him, and the duke of coburg and anthony ulrich, who both contested the right of the gotha prince to the guardianship. then frederick ii. of prussia offered his services to the duke of gotha, who was reduced to great extremities, on condition that he should obligingly offer him the small gift of two hundred picked men from the guards of weimar. this was done; thus the duke of gotha purchased the administration of this country, and the settlement of the wasunger strife, with two hundred men of the weimar guards. two hundred children of the soil of weimar, to whom the quarrel mattered not in the least, were arbitrarily given away like a herd of sheep. contrary to all justice, they were chaffered away by a foreign prince. the two hundred followed king frederick in the seven years' war. conclusion. this work ends with the name of the great king. the social condition of the country in his time, although very different from the present, is well known to us; and even minute particulars, have become, through its history and literature, the common property of the people. frederick became the hero of the nation. the germans have exalted him even more than gustavus adolphus. he ruled the minds of men far beyond the boundaries of his limited dominions. in the distant alpine valleys, among men speaking another tongue, and holding another faith, he was reverenced as a saint both in pictures and writings. he was a powerful ruler, a genial commander, and what was more valued by the germans, a great man in the highest of earthly positions. it was his personal appearance and manners which made foreigners and even enemies admire him. he inspired the people again with enthusiasm for german greatness, zeal for the highest earthly interests, and sympathy in a german state. in the course of three centuries, he was the third man round whom the national love and veneration had entwined itself; the second to whom it was granted to elevate and improve the character of the nation. for the germans became better, richer, and happier, when they were carried beyond the narrow interests of their private life, and beyond their petty literary quarrels, by the appearance of a great character daringly aspiring to the highest objects, struggling, suffering, persevering, and firm. he was of their own blood, and in spite of his passion for what was french, he was a thorough child of germany, reared in a hard time, and belonging to them. under him, the grandsons of those citizens who had passed through the great war, began for the first time after a century to feel their own powers. we delight to see, how the poor poet sings the praises of him, who would so little appreciate the odes of the german sappho, or the outpouring of elevated poetry; still more do we rejoice in seeing the whole people, even in austria, contending on his behalf, his image penetrating into every family, and his name exciting everywhere party spirit, new interests, and political passions. this has been the greatest blessing of his whole life. he forced the private individual to take part in political life; he created a state for the german, which whether loved or hated, must become a continual object of care and watchfulness. but though enthusiasm for a hero perhaps gives a capacity for the development of powers, it does not give stability. the germans had yet to go through severe trials after the death of the great king. he had bequeathed to them the first beginning of a german state, but the ruins of the empire of the middle ages lay defenceless against the western enemy. the curse which since the time of charles v. had rested on the german empire had not yet changed into a blessing. once more was germany overrun by a great army, once more did a league of german princes unite with a foreign conqueror, even the state of the great frederick was shattered, the last hope seemed to have vanished, the german people were crushed. but in the rooms of the german peasants, the picture of the old king, in his three-cornered hat and small pigtail, did not turn his earnest look in vain on the life he had revived; nor in vain had the mothers of the present generation run to the churches to pray for a blessing on his arms. now it was that the full blessing of his energetic life truly manifested itself. the spirit of that great man lived again in the german people. fifty years after the return of the king from the seven years' war, three hundred years after luther strove earnestly to find his god, the german nation roused itself for the greatest struggle it had ever yet successfully carried on. the fathers now sent out their sons, and the wives their husbands to the war; the germans encountered death with a song on their lips, to seek a body for the german soul, a state for the fatherland. in the year , we find the conclusion of that great struggle which began in . from the time of the contest of the wittenburger augustine against indulgences, to the march of the german volunteers against napoleon, the german spirit carried on a great defensive war against a foreign influence, which issuing from rome well nigh overwhelmed those who had once been the conquerors of the roman empire. from this life-and-death struggle of three hundred years, germany passed from the bondage of the middle ages into freedom. but though the spirit of the people became free, the reality of a german state was lost to them. the nation was almost annihilated by this unnatural condition. after a deathlike exhaustion it recovered itself slowly; the resuscitated spirit was helpless, its form weak and sickly; it was seeking unity of government. by a powerful development of strength, the foundation of it was laid in the beginning of this century. henceforth german protestantism became a living, sound, and manly acquisition, a great national principle, the expression of the german popular mind, the peculiar german characteristic in every domain of ideal and practical life. we all still feel how deficient and unfinished is the development of this, the highest principle of life in the german nation. but it is this feeling which gives us courage and leads us to struggle onwards. what are here given from the old records are narratives of individuals of past generations. they are some of them unimportant passages from the lives of insignificant persons. but, as the outward appearance of any stranger we meet, his mode of greeting, and his first words, give us an impression of his individuality, an imperfect, an unfinished impression, but still a whole; so, if we are not mistaken, does each record, in which the impulses of individuals and their peculiar working are portrayed, give us with rapid distinctness a vivid picture of the life of the people; a very imperfect and unfinished picture, but yet, also a whole, round which a large portion of our knowledge and intuitive perceptions rapidly concentrate, like the radii round the centre of a crystal. if every such picture gives us an impression, that in the soul of each man a miniature picture may be found of the characteristics of his nation; something will be learnt from a succession of these narratives, arranged according to their periods, however much there may be in them that is incidental and arbitrary. we shall discover the stirring and gradual development of a higher intellectual unity, which likewise meets us here in the shape of a distinct individuality; and therefore, these little sketches will perhaps help us to a more lively comprehension, of what we call the life of a nation. everywhere man appears to us, by his customs and laws, by language and the whole genial tendencies of his nature, as a small portion of a greater whole. it is true also that this greater whole, appears to us as an intellectual unity, which like an individual, is earthly and perishable, a thing which accomplishes its earthly existence in a century, as a man does his in a certain number of years. like an individual, a people developes its intellectual capacities in the course of time, but more powerfully and on a grander scale. and further, a people consists of millions of individuals the tide of human life flows in millions of souls, but the conscious and unconscious working together of these millions, produces an intellectual whole, in which the share of individuals often vanishes from our eyes, so that the soul of a whole people seems to us, a self-creative living unity. who was the man who created languages? who devised the most ancient law of nations? who first thought of giving poetical expression to an elevated tone of mind? it was not individuals who invented these for practical purposes, but a universal intellectual life, which burst forth among thousands who lived together. all the great productions of national power, law, customs, and the constitution of states, are not the work of individual men, but organic creations of a higher life, which in every period shine forth in individuals, yet in all periods seem to unite the intellectual capacities of individuals, in one mighty whole. each man bears and cultivates within his soul, part of the intellect of the nation; each one possesses its language, a certain amount of knowledge, and a sense of justice and propriety; but in each, this general nationality is coloured, concentrated, and limited by his individuality. individuals do not represent the language or the moral feelings of the whole; they only are, as it were, the single notes, which joined together produce a harmonious chord as part of the collective nation. one may therefore fairly, and without mysticism, speak of a national soul. and if one examines more narrowly, one perceives with astonishment, that this law of development of a higher intellectual unity, differs remarkably from that which binds or makes an individual free. a man chooses freely for himself, between what will injure or be beneficial to him and his interests; judiciously does he shape his life, and prudently does he judge the conceptions which reach his soul from the great world. but less conscious, less full of purpose and judgment than the determination of man's will, is the working of the life of the nation. in history, man represents freedom and judgment, but national energy, works incessantly with the mysterious instinctive impulse of a primitive power, and its intellectual conceptions correspond sometimes in a remarkable way, with the process of formation of the silently productive powers of nature, which bring forth from the seed, the stalk, leaves, and flowers of the plant. from this point of view, the life of a nation passes in unceasing alternations from the whole body to the individual, and from the man to the whole body. the life of each man, even the most insignificant, gives a portion of its substance to the nation, and a portion of the collective powers of the nation lives in each man; he transmits soul and body from one generation to another; he adds to the language, and preserves the consciousness of right; all the results of his labours are beneficial to the nation as well as to himself. the course of life of millions runs smoothly and imperceptibly along with the stream. but important personalities develop themselves from the multitude in all directions, gaining a great influence on the whole body. sometimes a powerful character arises, which in some wide field of action, long rules the spiritual life of the people, and stamps the impress of its individual mind on the age. then the life of the whole nation, which also flows through our heads and hearts, becomes as familiar to us as is possible for the soul of any individual man; then the whole powers of the people seem for some years working for the one individual, and obeying him as a master. these are the great periods in the formation of a people. such was luther to the germans. but no nation develops its life independent of others. as the life of one individual works on that of another, so does it happen with nations. each nation communicates some of its intellectuality to another. even the practical forms of national existence, its state and its church, are either advanced, or checked and destroyed by foreign powers. close is the union of the minds of the nations of europe, though manifold the contradiction of their interests. how constantly does one nationality derive strength, or experience trouble and disturbance from another! sometimes the energetic development of some particular national characteristic, exercises for centuries a preponderating influence on another. thus once did the jews, the greeks, and the romans. the german nation has experienced this foreign influence, both for good and for evil. from the ancient world came the holy faith of the crucified one, to the wild sons of our forefather tuisco: at the same time this warlike race received countless traditions from the roman empire, transforming their whole life. through the whole of the middle ages, the nation was earnestly endeavouring to make these new acquisitions their own. again, at the end of this period, after a thousand years had passed, began a new influence of the ancient world. from it came the ideal of the humanitarians, the forerunners of luther, and the ideal of the german poets, the forerunners of the war of freedom. on the other hand, from the romish world, came upon germany, with the highest claims, the pressure of the despotism of gregory vii., and innocent iii., the devotion of the restored church, and the lust of conquest of france. then did germany become depopulated, and the national life was endangered; but the foreigners who had penetrated into it with such overpowering force, aided its recovery. all that italians, french, and english had attained to in science and arts, was introduced into germany, and to these foreign acquisitions did german culture cling, from the thirty years' war up to the time of lessing. it is the task of science to investigate the productive life of nations. to her the souls of nations are the highest fields of investigation that man is capable of knowing. searching out every individuality, tracing every received impression, observing even the broken splinters, uniting all discernible knowledge, more guessing at truths and pointing out the way, than apprehending them, she seeks, as her highest aim, to prove the intellectual unity of the whole human race upon earth. whilst pious faith with undoubting certainty places before man the idea of a personal god, the man of science reverently seeks to discover the divine, in the great conceptions, which however they may surpass the understanding of the individual, yet are all attached to the life of the world. but however little he may consider their importance, in comparison with that which is incomprehensible in time and eternity, yet in his limited circle lies all the greatness that we are capable of understanding, all the beautiful which we ever enjoy, and all the good which has ennobled our life. but in those spheres which we do not yet know, and are anxiously investigating, there remains a boundless work. and this work is to seek the development of the divine power in history. footnotes: [footnote : even the great imperial army that assembled before the battle of nördlingen, in , was a combination of several armies; that of wallenstein, an italian army, spanish auxiliaries, and troops of maximilian of bavaria, altogether perhaps sixty thousand men, they only remained together a short time.] [footnote : this machine consisted of a number of short barrels, which, bound in parallel rows, formed a nearly cubic mass, the front of which showed from six to ten rows of as many mouths arranged in a square. this system of barrels rested on a carriage, and was fired in rows. every single barrel was loaded with three or more balls, and could be fired separately or together. fronsperg boasts that after one loading there could be a thousand shots from the hundred barrels of the gun.] [footnote : wallhausen, 'archiley art of war,' . for the corresponding french system of this time, a good description is to be found in the 'etude sur le passé et l'avenir de l'artillerie par le prince napoléon louis bonaparte.' t. i.] [footnote : in the battle of breitenfeld the metal guns of sweden were overheated; there the leather cannon did their last great service against the croats.] [footnote : thus generated the ingenious comparison of guns with birds of prey; the thirty-six pounders were called eagles, the twenty-four pounders falcons, twelve pounders vultures, six pounders hawks, three pounders sparrowhawks, and the sixty-pound mortars owls.] [footnote : yet he himself had a brigade which was called red.] [footnote : the lieutenants carried partisans, the non-commissioned officers halberds.] [footnote : about one gulden of the coin of the empire was equal to forty silver groschen of our money; thus sixteen of these was equal to forty-two of our thalers.] [footnote : wallhausen 'on the art of war.'] [footnote : a name given to bands that went about pillaging the fields, orchards, and gardens.] [footnote : because they slide and skate.] [footnote : a mocking allusion to the mountainous country of bavaria.] [footnote : it was especially john the baptist, who, according to the third chapter of st. luke, was the merciful protector of soldiers; but at the beginning of the reformation the difference between the baptist and evangelist was little understood by landsknechte, nor indeed by all ecclesiastics.] [footnote : bilwiz-kind, same as child of the devil. bilwiz is an old name for magician or hobgoblin.] [footnote : one is tempted to change this passage to an old heathenish form: "whoever falls by honourable weapons on the field of battle, will be carried to walhalla by the virgins of battle; those who contend with the sorcery of the gods of death, helja takes to herself." we find the name of black kaspar for the devil even in the sixteenth century.] [footnote : königl. schwedischer victorischlüssel a. a. o.] [footnote : zimmermann, goth. msc. a. a. o.] [footnote : grimmelshausen speaks of the art of rendering invulnerable as credible, but as a thing long known. he was more interested in the superstition which was prevalent in --the art of becoming invisible and of witchcraft. at the end of the century magic rods were common, and familiar spirits powerful. wunderbares vogelnest. ii. th. satyrischer pilgram ii. th.] [footnote : müllenhof, sagen. s. .--femme, pommesache sagen. nr. .] [footnote : philander von sittewald, "gesicht von soldatenleben."] [footnote : grimmelshausen, "seltsamer springensfeld."] [footnote : _dionys klein. kriegsinstitution_, , . _s_. .] [footnote : simplicissimus i. , , and philander von sittenwald, 'soldatenleben.'] [footnote : grimmelshausen, 'springenfeld.'] [footnote : lump, german for ragamuffin.] [footnote : philander von sittewald, 'soldatenleben.'] [footnote : moscherosoh und grimmelshausen, a. v. o.] [footnote : at the beginning of the war it was customary for people to conceal their treasures in the dung-heaps.] [footnote : the parish receiver, johann martin at heldburg, writes, for example, on the th september, , on behalf of the helpless pastor, and proposes his removal, because in this village there remained only a widow and another woman, and he himself could not obtain a groschen from the annual fees of his district, which formerly amounted to some hundred thalers.] [footnote : this was the time in the thirty years' war when the german princes and dukes coined base money. when one prince had obtained possession of the coinage of another he melted it, and made it into new money by alloying it with copper and other metals.] [footnote : bötzinger gives this account to his children.] [footnote : in a sheet of this kind, entitled, 'a noteworthy hungarian and the netherlands new newspaper,' , has already the form and contents of a modern newspaper. it contains a short correspondence with different cities, in the form of eleven letters; amongst them reports of four vessels which had come to amsterdam with spices, and of a new toll which the court at brussels had levied on merchants' goods, of ten stivers on each pound of silk.] [footnote : the sources of the following description were taken from the flying-sheets and brochures, first of the year - , and also from the later writings of the sixteenth century upon coinage, a rich literature.] [footnote : the new money was almost pure copper boiled and blanched; this lasted a week, and then it became glowing red. the bottles, kettles, pipes, gutters, and whatever else was of copper, were taken away to the mint, and made into money. an honest man could not venture to lodge any one, as he could not but fear that his guest might wrench away his copper in the night, and carry it off. wherever there was an old copper font in a church, it was taken to the mint; its sanctity did not save it; those sold it who had been baptized in it. müller, 'chronika von sangerhausen.'] [footnote : a batz was four kreuzer.] [footnote : in the decrees of the diet the words do not occur before the thirty years' war; they appear to be new in .] [footnote : in the population was only ; but in it had increased again to .] [footnote : the emperor was sovereign of silesia, as king of bohemia.] [footnote : the bunch of keys in the middle ages was not only an important symbol of right, but also the popular weapon of women.] [footnote : we have to thank professor brückner of meiningen, for the communication of the following summary: it is printed in 'memorials of franconian and thuringian history and statistics,' . in nineteen villages of the former domain of henneberg there were in the years-- families houses in villages--cattle " horses " sheep -- " goats ] [footnote : brazier here means tinker and scythe-sharpener. the oldest accounts of them are in a free paraphrase of the st book of moses, in rude verses, which were at all events written before ; printed in 'hoffmann's fundgrubben,' . there they are represented as foreign jew traders. these remarkable verses are as follows:-- "from ishmael come the ishmaelitish people; they go peddling throughout the wide world; we call them braziers. oh! what a life and habits are theirs! on all they have for sale there is a blot, and it is unsound. if he, the brazier, buys anything, good or bad, one must give him somewhat over; and if he sells his wares he never replaces the damaged ones. they have neither house nor home-- every place is alike to them; they rove through the country, and cheat the people with their tricks: thus they deceive mankind. they rob, but not openly."] [footnote : here, and further on, he gives the fixed characters of the old italian comedy.] [footnote : some tedious passages are shortened, and it is necessary in one place to soften the angry expressions for the reader of this book.] [footnote : they did not fail to make an engraving of the mysterious doves, which appeared shortly after with an interpretation.] [footnote : a copper coin in the south of germany.] [footnote : a swiss farthing.] [footnote : the diet was then held at baden, because the foreign diplomatist could best be entertained there.] [footnote : it was particularly offensive to them, as an elder sister of anton ulrich's wife had just married the master of the ducal chapel, schurmann, at meiningen.] the end. london: printed by william clowes and sons, stamford street. transcriber's note: . page scan source: http://www.archive.org/details/picturesgermanl freygoog pictures of german life in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. second series. * * * * * vol. ii. pictures of german life in the xviiith and xixth centuries. second series. by gustav freytag. translated from the original by mrs. malcolm. _copyright edition.--in two volumes_. vol. ii. london: chapman and hall, piccadilly. . london: bradbury and evans, printers, whitefriars. contents. chapter vii. away from the garrison ( ).--the army, and the constitution of the state--the country militia and their history--the soldiery of the sovereign--change of organisation after the war--the beginning of compulsory levies about --gradual introduction of conscription--recruiting and its illegalities--desertions--trafficking with armies--the prussian army under frederic william i.--the regiment of guards at potsdam--prussian officers--ulrich bräcker--narrative of a prussian deserter chapter viii. the state of frederic the great ( ).--the kingdom of the hohenzollerns, its small size; character of the people and princes--childhood of frederic--opposition to his father--catastrophe--training and its influence on his character--his marriage and relations with women--residence in rheinsberg--his character when he became king--striking contrast between his poetic warmth and his inexorable severity--inward change in the course of the first silesian war--loss of the friends of his youth--the literary period till --his poetry, historical writings, and literary versatility--seven years of iron labour--his method of carrying on war, and heroic struggle--admiration of germans and foreigners--his sufferings and endurance--extracts from frederic's letters from - --principles of his government--improvement of silesia--difference betwixt the prussian and austrian government--feeling of duty in the prussian officials--acquisition of west prussia--miserable condition in --agriculture of frederic--his last years chapter ix. of the year of tuition of the german citizen ( ).--influence of frederic on german art, philosophy, and historical writing--poetry flourishes--the aspect of a city in --the coffee gardens and the theatres--travelling and love of the picturesque--different sources of morals and activity amongst the nobles, citizens, and peasants--characteristics of the life of the country nobles--the piety of the country people--education of the citizens--advantages of the latin schools and of the university education--the sentimentality and change in the literary classes from - --the childhood of ernst frederic haupt chapter x. the period of ruin ( ).--the condition of germany--courts and cities of the empire--people and armies of the empire--the emigrants--effect of the revolution on the germans--the prussian state--its rapid increase--von held--bureaucracy--the army--the generals--the downfall--narrative of the years - , by christoph wilhelm heinrich sethe--his life chapter xi. rise of the nation ( - ).--sorrowful condition of the people in the year --the first signs of rising strength--hatred of the french emperor--arming of prussia--character and importance of the movement of --napoleon's flight--expedition of the french to russia in , and return in --the cossacks--the people rise--general enthusiasm--the volunteer jägers and patriotic gifts--the landwehr and the landsturm--the first combat--impression of the war on the citizens--the enemy in the city--the course of the war--the celebration of victory chapter xii. illness and recovery ( - ).--the time of reaction--hopelessness of the german question--discontent and exhaustion of the prussians--weakness of the educated classes in the north of germany--the development of practical activity--the south germans and their village tales--description of a village school by karl mathy conclusion.--the hohenzollerns and the german citizens pictures of german life. second series. chapter vii. away from the garrison. ( .) a shot from the alarm-gun! timidly does the citizen examine the dark corners of his house to discover whether any strange man be hid there. the peasant in the field stops his horses to consider whether he would wish to meet with any fugitive, and earn capture-money, or whether he should save some desperate man, in spite of the severe punishment with which every one was threatened who enabled a deserter to escape. probably he will let the fugitive run away, though in his power, for in his secret soul he has a fellow feeling for him, nay, even admires his daring. there is scarcely any sphere of earthly interest which stamps so sharply the peculiarities of the culture of the time, as the army and the method of carrying on war. in every century the army corresponds exactly with the constitution and character of the state. the franconian landwehr of charles the great, who advanced on foot from their _maifeld_ to saxony, the army of the noble cuirassiers who rode under the emperor barbarossa into the plains of lombardy, the swiss and landsknechte of the time of the reformation, and the mercenary armies of the thirty years' war, were all highly characteristic of the culture of their time; they sprang from the social condition of the people, and changed with it. thus did the oldest infantry of the proprietors take root in the old provincial constitution, the mounted chivalry in the old feudalism, the troops of landsknechte in the rise of civic power, and the companies of roving mercenaries in the increase of royal territorial dominion; these were succeeded in despotic states, in the eighteenth century, by the standing army with uniform and pay. but none of the older forms of military service were entirely displaced by those of later times, at least some reminiscences of them are everywhere kept. the ancient landfolge (attendants on military expeditions) of the free landowner had ceased since the greater portion of the powerful peasantry had sunk into bondsmen, and the strong landwehr had become a general levy, of little warlike capacity; but they had not been entirely set aside, for still in the eighteenth century all freeholders were bound at the sound of the alarum to hasten together, and to furnish baggage, horses, and men to work at the fortifications. in the same way the knights of the hohenstaufen were dispersed by the army of free peasants and citizens, at sempach, grunson, murten, and the lowlands of ditmarsch, but the furnishing of cavalry horses remained as a burden upon the properties of the nobility; it was after the end of the sixteenth century--in prussia, first under frederic william i.--that it was changed into a low money-tax, and this tax was the only impost on the feudal property of nobles.[ ] the roving landsknecht also, who provided his own equipments and changed his banner every summer, was turned into a mounted mercenary with an unsettled term of service; but in the new time the customs of free enlistment, earnest money, and entering into foreign service, were still maintained, although these customs of the landsknecht time were in strange and irreconcilable contrast to the fearful severity with which the new rule of a despotic state grasped the whole life of the recruit. the defects of the standing army in the eighteenth century have been often criticised, and every one knows something of the rigorous discipline in the companies with which the dessauer stormed the defences of turin, and frederic ii. maintained possession of silesia. but another part of the old military constitution is not equally known, and has been entirely lost sight of even by military writers. it shall therefore be introduced here. the regiments which the sovereigns of the eighteenth century led to battle, or leased to foreign potentates, were not the only armed organisation of germany. besides the paid army there was in most of the states a militia force, certainly very deficient in constitution, but by no means insignificant or uninfluential. at no time had the old idea, that every one was bound to defend his own country, vanished from the german life. the right of the rulers to employ their subjects in the defence of their homes, was, according to the notions of the olden time, entirely distinct from their other right of keeping soldiers. they could not command their subjects to render military service for their political struggles, nor for wars beyond the frontiers. service in war was a free work, for that, they were obliged to invite volunteers, that is to say, to enlist, as they were unable to avail themselves of their vassals. one of the greatest changes in the history of the german nation was owing to the conviction being gradually impressed upon the people, by the despotic governments in the former century, that they were bound to furnish their rulers with at least a portion of their soldiers. and it is not less instructive to find, that in our century, after the old system was destroyed, the general idea of defensive duty was imbibed by the people. it is worth while to investigate the way in which this happened. already, towards the end of the sixteenth century, when the landsknechte had become too costly and demoralised, people began to think of forming a militia of the men capable of bearing arms in the cities and open country, which were to be employed for its protection within its frontiers. after , this militia was organised in electoral saxony and the neighbouring countries, and soon after in the other circles of the empire, and companies established, which were sometimes assembled and exercised in military drill. their collective number was fixed and distributed among the districts, the communities appointed and armed the men, and if they were in service they received pay from the ruler. the thirty years' war was for the most part carried on by enlisted soldiers, yet in case of need the militia were here and there turned into regulars; either whole regiments were appointed for field service, or the gaps in the enlisted troops were filled up by serviceable men. but on the whole the loose organisation of this militia did not answer. after the peace it was still less possible in the depopulated state of the country, to form from it a new military constitution. for the citizen and peasant, as taxpayers, as well as for the cultivation of the now waste ground, were indispensable. the old imperfect constitution of this civic army was, therefore, maintained. the only difference made in the militia at this period was that the men were chosen by the officers of the sovereign and that the term of service was limited for the young men; the community fell into the back-ground, and the sovereign became more powerful. in this manner were the militia brought together in companies and regiments, according to their circles, and exercised once or twice a year. before the war the districts had provided them with weapons and equipments; now this also was done by the sovereign; but in the cities the officers were appointed by the citizens; only the commanding officer was selected by the general the men were usually chosen by lot, and it is an interesting circumstance that, as early as , the inscription on the saxon ticket was "_for fatherland_." but the military education was imperfect, exemptions were frequent, and the mode of filling up the vacancies inadequate. and yet this militia more than once did good service; for instance, in prussia. the armed country people, as they were called in the description of the battle of fehrbelliner, were not a mere crowd that had flocked together, but the old organised country militia; they took an essential share in the first glorious deed of arms, in which the brandenburgers beat a superior enemy by their own unaided efforts. in , these militia were still much esteemed in prussia, and those who were enrolled in it were exempt from all other military service.[ ] it is true this was cancelled by frederic william i., but in the seven years' war again established, and this militia did then good service against sweden and russia. in the empire, also, and in saxony, they were maintained, though weak, unwarlike and despised, till an altered state of civilisation made a new organisation of the national militia possible. even now is this new constitution not fully completed. entirely distinct from these militia were the soldiery, which the sovereign maintained himself, and paid out of his revenue. it might be only a body of guards, for the protection and adornment of his court, or it might be many companies whom he levied in order to secure his own state, and by gaining influence and power among his equals, to obtain money. it was his own private affair, and if he did not overburden his people by it, no objection could be made. those who served him also, did it of their own free will; they might engage themselves to other sovereigns at home or abroad, who were obliged to keep the agreements they made with them. if the country were in danger from external enemies, the states granted the sovereign money or a special contribution for these soldiers, for it was well known that they had more military capacity than the militia. thus it was in prussia under the great elector, and so it remained in the greater part of germany till late in the eighteenth century. but this private army which the sovereign had levied for himself had also acquired a new constitution. till the end of the thirty years' war the enlistment, in most of the german armies, had taken place according to landsknecht custom, at the risk of the colonels. the colonel concluded a contract with the prince; he filled and sold the captains' commissions; the prince paid the colonel the money contributed by the district. thus the regiments were essentially dependent on the colonel, and this was a power which might be used against the prince. the discipline was loose; the officers' places occupied by creatures of the colonel, and at his death the regiment was dissolved. the rogueries of colonels and leaders of companies, which were already complained of in by the military writers, had attained a certain virtuosoship in their development. seldom were all the men whose names stood on the rolls, really under the banner. the officers drew the pay for numbers who were not there, who were called "_passevolants_," or "_blinde_," and they appointed their grooms and sutlers, from the baggage-waggons, to be non-commissioned officers. in the imperial army, also, complaints were endless of the most reckless selfishness from the highest to the lowest. in the midst of peace the officers plundered the hereditary states in which they were quartered; they fished and hunted in the environs, and claimed a portion of the city tolls; they caused beasts to be killed and sold; and set up wine and beer taverns. in like manner as the officers robbed, the soldiers stole. this continued still in ; and this plague of the country threatened to become lasting. the enlisting of recruits was still little organised in this early period; and the rogueries, which could not fail to accompany it, were at least unsanctioned by the highest authorities. in brandenburg the great elector, immediately after his entrance on the government, reformed the connection between the regiments and the sovereign; the enlistment was from thenceforth in his own name; he appointed the colonel and the officers, who could no longer buy their commissions. then first did the paid troops become a standing army, clothed, armed, and equipped alike, with better discipline, obedient instruments in the hands of the princes. this was the greatest advance in the military system since the invention of fire-arms; and prussia owes to the early and energetic introduction of this new system its military preponderance in germany. the commissariat, also, was reorganised; the men received, at least in war, their daily food in rations, and the provisions were supplied from great magazines. through the efforts of montecuculi, and later of prince eugene, austria also, shortly before , acquired a better disciplined standing army. the whole complement of these troops could, up to , be procured almost exclusively by free enlisting; for long after the great war the people continued in a state of restlessness, and had imbibed an adventurous spirit, to which military work was very enticing. this altered gradually. during the war-like period of louis xiv., and from the increase of the french army, the german princes were compelled to a greater increase of their paid armies, and the loss of men occasioned by the incessant war had carried off many of the useless and bold rabble that collected round the banners. even before the great war of succession the deficiency of men began to be felt; voluntary enlistment could nowhere any longer be obtained; complaints of the deeds of violence of the recruiting officers became at last troublesome. the military ruler, at last, began to scrutinize the men who seized under him, and sometimes had them exercised in companies. to use the militia for his warlike expeditions was impossible; they were too little trained, and, what was more important, they consisted more especially of respectable residents, whose labour and taxes could not be dispensed with by the state, as the nobility, and, in catholic countries, the ecclesiastics, contributed nothing to his income. besides this, it was an unheard-of thing for the people to be compelled by force into military service. however much he might feel himself the master, this was an innovation too much against the general feeling; the people bore their taxes and burdens expressly that he might carry on war for them. the peasant rendered service and soccage to his landlord, because in the olden time the latter had gone into the field for him. he then rendered taxes and service to the sovereign because he had gone with his paid soldiers into the field for him, when his landlord was no longer willing to bear the burden; but now the peasant was to render the same service to landlord and prince, and besides this to march himself to battle. this appeared impracticable; but again the pressure of bitter necessity was felt, and help must be found. only the most indigent were to be taken--vagrants and idlers; but all whose labour was useful to the state, all who raised themselves in any sort out of the mass, were not to be disturbed. cautiously and slowly began the enlistment of the people for the military service of their prince before . it was proclaimed for the first time, but without success, that the country must supply recruits. the innovation was first attempted, it appears, by the brandenburger in : the provinces were to enlist and present the number of men wanting, yet not villeins; and the leaders of companies were to pay two thalers earnest money to each man. soon they went further; and first, in , called upon particular classes of tax-payers, and then in upon the community, to supply the necessary men. the recruits were to serve from two to three years, and those that willingly enlisted for six years and more were preferred. exactly the same arrangement was made in saxony in by king augustus. there the communities had to provide for the sovereign, as well as for the militia, an appointed number of young sound men, and to decide what individuals could be dispensed with. the enlistment-place was the town-hall; the high-constables of the circles had the inspection. the man was delivered over without regimentals,--four thalers ready money were given,--the time of service two years,--and if the officer refused his discharge after two years, he who had served his time had the power to go away. thus, timidly, did they begin to bring forward a new claim; and, in spite of all this caution, the opposition of the people was so violent and bitter that the new regulation was given up, and they returned again to enlistment. in forcible recruiting was abolished, "because it was too great an exaction." the iron will of frederic william i. accustomed his people gradually to submit to this compulsion. after registers were made of children subject to military service, and in the "_canton_"[ ] system was introduced. the land was divided among the regiments; the citizens and peasants were, with many exceptions, declared subject to military service. every year were the deficiencies in the regiments filled up through levies, in which, it must be remarked by the way, the greatest despotism on the part of the captains remained unpunished. in saxony they first succeeded, towards the end of the century, in carrying on the conscription together with the enlisting. in other parts, especially in small territories, that prospered less. thus the military system of germany presents to our view this remarkable phenomenon, that at the same time in which increased intellectual development produced in the middle classes greater pretensions, together with higher culture and morals, the despotism of the rulers gradually effected another great political advance in the life of the people--the beginning of our common feeling of the duty of self-defence. and it is equally remarkable that this innovation did not begin in the form of a great and wise measure, but in conjunction with circumstances which would appear to be more especially adverse to it. the greatest severity and unscrupulousness of a despotic state showed itself precisely in that by which it prepared, though it did not carry out, the greatest step in political progress. too brutal and unscrupulous was the conduct of the officers who had to raise the levies, and too violent was the opposition and aversion of the people. the young men left the country in masses; no threatening of the gallows, of cutting off ears, or of confiscation of their property, could stop the fugitives. more than once the fanatical soldier-zealot frederic william i. of prussia was counteracted by the necessity of sparing his kingdom, which threatened to be depopulated. never could more than half the number required be filled up by this conscription; the other half of the deficiency had to be raised by enlistment. the enlisting, also, in the first half of the eighteenth century, was rougher work than it had been. the sovereigns themselves were more dangerous recruiting officers than the captains of the old landsknechte. and although the evils of this system were notorious, no one knew how to remedy it. the rulers, it is true, were not so much disquieted by the immorality attending it, as they were by the insecurity, costliness, and unceasing disputes which it involved, as well as by the reclamations of foreign governments. the recruiting officers were themselves often bad and untrustworthy men, whose proceedings and disbursements could with difficulty be controlled. not a few lived for years a life of dissipation, with their accomplices, in foreign countries at the cost of their monarchs; charged exorbitant bounties, only succeeded in ensnaring a few, and could scarcely get these into the country. it soon followed that not half of those so enlisted ever became available to the army; for the greater part were the worst rabble, into whom military qualities could not always be flogged, whose diseased bodies and vicious habits filled the hospitals and prisons, and who ran away on the first opportunity. the enlisting in the interior was carried on with every kind of violence; the officers and recruiting sergeants seized and carried off only sons who ought to have been exempt; students from the universities, and whole colonies of villeins whom they settled on their own properties. whoever wished to be exempt, was obliged to bribe, and was not even then safe. the officers were so protected in their violent extortions, that they openly despised all legal restraints. if there happened to be a great deficiency of men in time of war, all regard for law ceased. then a formal, razzia was arranged, the city gates were beset by guards, and every one who went in or out subjected to a fearful examination, and whoever was tall and strong was seized; houses were broken into, and recruits were sought for from cellar to garret, even in families that ought to have been exempt. in the seven years' war, the prussians even endeavoured to catch the scholars of the upper forms of the public schools in silesia, for military service. in many families still lives the remembrance of the terror and danger occasioned to the grandfathers by the recruiting system. it was then a great misfortune for the sons of the clergy or officials to grow tall, and the usual warning of anxious parents was, "do not grow, or you will be caught by the recruiting officer." almost worse were the illegalities practised by the recruiting sergeants seeking for recruits in foreign countries. the recruit was bound by the reception of the money; and the well-known man[oe]uvre was to make simple lads drunk in jovial society, to press the money on them when intoxicated, take them into strict custody, and when, on becoming sober, they resisted, keep them by chains and every means of compulsion. under escort and threatenings, the prisoners were dragged under the banners, and compelled to take the oath by barbarous punishments. every other means of seduction was used besides drinking; gambling, prostitutes, lying, and every kind of deceit. individuals considered desirable subjects were for days watched by spies. it was required of recruiting sergeants, who were paid for this purpose, to be especially expert in the art of outwitting. advancement and presents of money depended on their knowing how to catch many men. frequently they avoided, even where enlisting offices were allowed, showing themselves in uniform, and tried to seize their victims in every kind of disguise. horrible were the basenesses practised in this man-hunting, and connived at by the governments. it was, in fact, slave-hunting; for the enlisted soldier could only perform his service in the great machine of the army, when he closed with all the hopes and wishes of his former life. it is a melancholy task to represent to oneself the feelings which worked in these victims; destroyed hopes, faintheartedness under violence, and heart-rending grief over a ruined life. it was not always the worst men who were hunted to death by running the gauntlet for repeated desertions, or flogged on account of insolent disobedience, till they lay senseless on the ground. whoever could overcome his own inward struggle and accustom himself to the rough style of his new life, became a complete soldier, that is, a man who performed his service punctually, showed a firm spirit in attack, honoured or hated as enjoined, and perhaps felt some attachment to his flag; and probably much greater to the friend which made him for a time forget his situation--brandy. enlistment in foreign countries could only take place with the consent of the government of the country. urgently did warlike princes seek for permission from their neighbours for an enlistment office. the emperor, indeed, had the best of it, for each of his regiments had, according to custom, a fixed recruiting district throughout germany. the others, especially prussia, had to provide a favourable district for it. the larger imperial cities were frequently courteous enough to grant permission to the more powerful sovereigns; consequently, they were not always able to protect the sons of their own noble families. the frontiers of france, holland, and switzerland, were favourable districts for catching recruits; for there were always deserters to be found in the territory which was surrounded by foreign domains, especially when a foreign fortress, with burdensome garrison service, lay in the neighbourhood. anspach, baireuth, dessau, and brunswick, were always a good market for the prussians. the recruiting officers of the different governments were not in equal repute. the austrians had the best character; they were considered in the soldier world, coarse, but harmless; only took those that willingly yielded themselves, and kept to the agreement strictly. they had not much to offer, only three kreuzer and two pounds of bread daily; but they never were deficient in recruits. the prussian recruiting officers, on the contrary, it must be owned, were in the worst repute; they lived in the highest style, were very insolent and unscrupulous, and fool-hardy devils. in order to catch a fine lad, they contrived the most audacious tricks, and exposed themselves to the greatest dangers: one knows that they were sometimes soundly beaten, when they found themselves in a minority, that they were imprisoned by foreign governments, and more than one of them stabbed; but all this did not frighten them. this evil report lasted till frederic william ii. made his new rules of enlistment. one of the best recruiting places in the empire was frankfort-à-m., with its great fair; prussians, austrians, and danes, still, at the end of the century, dwelt together there; the danes had hung out their flag at the "fir-tree;" the austrians had, from olden times, stopped phlegmatically at the inn "the red ox;" but the restless prussian recruiting officers were always changing; they were at this time the most distinguished and most splendid. a kind of diplomatic intercourse was maintained between the different parties; they were, it is true, jealous of one another, and endeavoured mutually to intercept each other's news; but they continued to visit and took wine and tobacco together as comrades. but frankfort had already, after the seventeenth century, become the centre of a special branch of the business for entrapping men for the imperial army. the recruiting officers sought not only new men, but also for deserters; and the bad discipline and want of military pride of the small southern german countries, as well as the facility of desertion, made it alluring to every good-for-nothing fellow to obtain new earnest money. in the recruiting rooms, therefore, of the prussians and those of the "red ox," there hung a great variety of wardrobes from the different territories of the empire, which the deserters had left behind. besides the wish to gain more bounty, there was yet another reason which led even the better sort of soldiers to desert--the wish to marry. no government approved of their soldiers burdening themselves with wives when in garrison, but, reckless as the military rulers were, they had no power in this respect. for there was no better means of keeping hold of a recruit than by marriage. if permission was refused, it was certain in garrisons near the frontier, that the soldier would fly with his maiden to the nearest inn where there was a foreign recruiting officer; and it was equally certain that he would there be married on the spot; for at every such recruiting place, there was a clergyman at hand for these cases. the result of this was, that by far the greater number of soldiers were married, especially in the small states, where they could easily reach the frontier. thus the saxon army of about , men, reckoned in , , soldiers' children; in the regiment of thadden at halle, almost half the soldiers were provided with wives. the soldiers' wives and children no longer went into the field, as in the old landsknecht time, under the sergeants, but they were a heavy burden on the garrison towns. the women, supported themselves with difficulty by washing and other work; the children roamed about wildly without instruction. the city schools were almost everywhere closed to them; they were despised by the citizens like gipsies. even in wealthy lower saxony at the beginning of the french revolution, there was no school for soldiers' boys except at annaberg; this undoubtedly was well regulated, but did not suffice. for the girls there were none; there were neither preachers nor schools with the regiments. only in prussia was the education of the children and the training of the grown-up men--through preachers, schools, and orphan houses--seriously attended to. when a man received earnest-money from a recruiting officer, his whole life was decided. he was separated from the society of the citizens by a chasm which the most persevering could seldom pass. under the hard pressure of service, under rough officers and among still rougher comrades, ran the course of his life; the first years in ceaseless drilling, the following ones with occasional relaxation which allowed him to seek for some small service in the neighbourhood, as day-labourer, or some little handicraft. if he was considered secure, he would have leave for months, whether he wished it or not; then the captain kept his pay, and he had meanwhile to provide for himself. the citizens regarded him with distrust and aversion; the honesty and morals of the soldiers were in such bad repute, that civilians avoided all contact with them, if a soldier entered an inn, the citizen and artisan immediately left it, and the landlord considered it a misfortune to have visits from soldiers. thus he was in his hours of recreation confined to intercourse with comrades and profligate women. severe was the usage that he met with from his officers; he was cuffed and kicked, punished with flogging for the slightest cause, or placed on the sharp pointed wooden horse or donkey, which stood in the open place near the guard-house; for greater misdemeanors he was confined in chains, put on wooden palings, or if the crime was great, he had to run the gauntlet of rods cut by the provost, till he died. if in prussia the predilection of the king for uniforms, and under frederic the great the glory of the army reconciled the brandenburg conscript to the king's coat, this was far less the case in the rest of germany. to the citizen and peasant's son in prussia who had to serve, it was a misfortune, but in the rest of germany a disgrace. various were the attempts made to evade it by mutilation, but the chopping off a finger did not exempt, and was besides as severely punished as desertion. in , a rich peasant lad in lower saxony, who by the hatred of the bailiff had been forced into service, was ashamed to enter his native village in uniform. whenever he obtained leave, he stopped outside the village and had his peasant's dress brought to him, and a maid carried the uniform through the village in a covered basket. desertions, therefore, did not cease; they were the common evil of all armies, and were not to be prevented by running the gauntlet the first and second time, nor even the third with shot. in the garrisons the roll-call, which was incessant, and quiet espionnage of individuals, were insufficient means. but when the cannon gave the signal that a man had escaped, the alarm was given to the surrounding villages, mounted foresters and troopers trotted along all the roads, detachments of foot and horse scoured the country as far as the frontiers, and information was given to the villages. whoever brought in a deserter received in prussia ten thalers, but whoever did not stop him, had to pay double that sum as a punishment. every soldier who went along the high road, was obliged to have a pass; in prussia, by the orders of frederic william i., every subject, whether high or low, was bound to detain every soldier he met on the road to inquire after his papers. it was a terrible thing, for a little artisan lad to be brought to a standstill in a lonely street by a desperate six-foot grenadier, with musket and sword, who could not be passed. still worse was it when whole troops prepared for flight, like those twenty russians of the dessauer regiment at halle, who, in , obtained leave to attend the greek service at brandenburg, where the king kept a patriarch for his numerous russian grenadiers. but the twenty were determined to make a pilgrimage back to the golden cross of the holy moscow; they passed with great staves through the saxon villages, and were with difficulty caught by the prussian hussars, brought back by dresden to their garrison, and there mildly treated. but yet more grievous was it to the king, that even among his own potsdamers a conspiracy broke out, when his tall servian grenadiers had sworn to burn the town, and to desert with arms in their hands. there were people of importance at the bottom of it; the executions, cutting off of noses, and other modes of punishment, occasioned the king a loss of , thalers. in the field, also, a system of tactical regulations were necessary to restrain desertion; every night march, every camp on the outskirts of a wood, produced losses; the troops, both on the road and in camp, had to be surrounded by strong patrols of hussars and pickets; in every secret expedition it was necessary to isolate the army by means of troops of light cavalry, in order that deserters might not carry news to the enemy. this order was still given to the generals by frederic ii. in spite of all, however, in every campaign, after each lost battle, and even after those which were won, the number of deserters was fearfully great. after unfortunate campaigns, great armies were in danger of entire dissolution. many who ran away from one army, went in speculation to another, like the mercenaries in the thirty years' war; indeed this changing and deserting had rough jovial attraction for adventurers. an imprisoned deserter was, in the opinion of multitudes, anything but an evil-doer,--we have many popular songs which express the full sympathy of the village singer for the unfortunate, but the happy deserter passed even for a hero, and in some popular tales, the valiant fellow who has been compelled to help the fictitious king out of danger, and at last marries the princess, is a runaway soldier. this royal soldiery was considered, in accordance with the ideas of that period, even after the popular arming of the militia, as the private possession of the prince. the german sovereigns, after the thirty years' war, had, as once did the italian condottieri, trafficked with their military force; they had leased it to foreign powers, in order to make money and increase their influence. sometimes the smallest territorial princes furnished in this way many regiments for the service of the emperor, of the dutch, and of the king of france. after the troops became more numerous, and were for the most part supplied from the children of the soil, this abuse of the prince's power began gradually to strike the people with surprise. but it was not until after the wars of frederic ii. had inspired the people with patriotic warmth, that such appropriation became a subject of lively discussion. and when, after , brunswick, anspach, waldeck, zerbst, and more than all hesse-cassel and hanau, let out to england a number of regiments for service against the americans, the indignation of the people was loudly expressed. still it was only a lyrical complaint, but it sounded from the rhine to the vistula; the remembrance of it still lives; still does this misdeed hang like a curse upon one of the ruling families who then, to the most criminal extent, bartered away the lives of their subjects. among the german states prussia was the one in which the tyranny of this military system was most severe, but at the same time it was in some respects developed with a rigid grandeur and originality which made the prussian army for half a century the first military power in the world, and a model after which all the other armies of europe were formed. any one who had entered prussia shortly before , when under the government of frederic william i., would have been struck the very first hour by its peculiar characteristics. at field-labour, and in the streets of the cities, he would continually have seen slender men of warlike aspect, with a striking red necktie. they were "_canton_" men, who already as children had been entered on the register of soldiers, and sworn under a banner, and could be called upon if their king needed them. each regiment had to of these reserves; one may therefore assume, that by these, an army of , men, could, in three months, be increased about , , for everything was ready in the regimental rooms, both clothing and weapons. anyone too, who first saw a regiment of prussian infantry, would be still more astonished. the soldiers were of a height such as had never been seen in the world,--they appeared of a foreign race. when the regiment stood four ranks deep in line--the position in three ranks was just then introduced--the smallest men of the first rank were only a few inches under six foot, the fourth almost equally high, and the middle ones little less. one may assume that were the whole army placed in four ranks, the heads would make four straight lines; the weapons also were somewhat longer than elsewhere. not less striking was the neat appearance of the men, they stood there like gentlemen, with good clean linen, their heads nicely powdered, and a cue, all in blue coats, with gaiters of unbleached linen up to their bright breeches; the regiments were distinguished by the colour of their waistcoats, facings, and lace. if a regiment wore beards, as for example the old dessauers at halle, the beard was nicely greased. each man received yearly, before the review, a new uniform, even to the shirt and stockings, and in the field also he had two dresses. the officers looked still grander, with embroidered waistcoats, and scarfs round the waist, on the sword the "field badge;" all was gold and silver, and round the neck the gilded gorget, in the middle of which was to be seen on a white ground, the prussian eagle. the captain and lieutenant bore in their hands the partisan, which had already been a little diminished, and was called spontoon; the subordinate officers still carried the short pike. it was considered smart for the dress to fit tight and close, and in the same style the motions of the soldiers were precise and angular, the deportment stiff and erect, their heads high. still more remarkable were their movements; for they were the first soldiers that marched with equal step, the whole line raising and setting down their feet like one man. this innovation had been introduced by dessau; the pace was slow and dignified, and even under the worst fire was little hastened: that majestic equal step, in the hottest moment at mollwitz, carried confusion among the austrians. the music also struck them with terror. the great brass drums of the prussians (they have now, alas, come down to the insignificant size of a bandbox), raised a tremendous din. when in berlin, at the parade of the guards, some twenty drums were beaten, it made the windows shake. and among the hautboys there was a trumpet, equally a novel invention. the introduction of this instrument, created everywhere in germany astonishment and disapprobation, for the trumpeters and kettle drummers of the holy roman empire formed a guild, which was protected by imperial privileges, and would not tolerate a military trumpeter not belonging to it. but the king cared little for this. when the soldiers exercised, loaded, and fired, it was with a precision similar to witchcraft;[ ] for after , when dessau introduced the iron ramrod, the prussian shot four or five times in a minute,--afterwards he learnt to do it quicker; in , five or six times; in , six or seven times. the fire of the whole front of the battalion was a flash and a crack. when the salvos of the troops, exercising early in the morning under the windows of the king's castle, roared, the noise was so great that all the little princes and princesses were obliged to rise. but anyone who would have wished to form a right estimate of the soldiery should have gone to potsdam. it had been a poor place, situated betwixt the havel and a swamp; the king had made it into an architectural camp; no civilian could carry a sword there, not even the minister of state. there, round the king's castle, in small brick houses, which were built partly in the dutch style, were stationed the king's giants,--the world-renowned grenadier regiment. there were three battalions of men, besides to reserves. whoever among the grenadiers was burdened with a wife, had a house to himself; of the other colossuses, as many as four lodged with one landlord, who had to wait upon and provide food for them, for which he only received some stacks of wood. the men of this regiment never had leave, could carry on no public work, and drink no brandy; most of them lived like students at the high school, they occupied themselves with books, drawing and music, or worked in their houses.[ ] they received extra pay, the tallest from ten to twenty thalers a month: all these fine men wore high plated grenadier caps, which made them about four hand breadths taller; the fifers of the regiment were moors. whoever belonged to the colonel's own company of the regiment had his picture taken and hung up in the corridor of the castle of potsdam. many distinguished persons travelled to potsdam to see these sons of anak at parade or exercising. but it was remarked that such giants were scarcely useful for real war, and that it had never occurred to any one in the world to seek for extraordinary height as advantageous to soldiers; this wonder was reserved for prussia. but anyone who staid in the country did well not to express this too openly. for the grenadiers were a passion of the king, which in his latter years amounted almost to madness, and for which he forgot his family, justice, honour, conscience, and what had stood highest with him all his life, the advantage of his state. they were his dear blue children; he was perfectly acquainted with each individual; took a lively interest in their personal concerns, and tolerated long speeches and dry answers from them. it was difficult for a civilian to obtain justice against these favourites, and they were with good reason feared by the people. wherever in any part of europe a tall man was to be found, the king traced him out, and secured him either by bounty or force for his guard. there was the giant müller, who had shown himself in paris and london for money--two groschen a person--he was the fourth or fifth in the line; still taller was jonas, a smith's journeyman from norway; then the prussian hohmann, whose head king augustus of poland,--though a man of fine stature--could not reach with his outstretched hand; finally later there was james kirckland, an irishman, whom the prussian ambassador von borke had carried off by force from england, and on account of whom diplomatic intercourse was nearly broken off; he had cost the king about nine thousand thalers. they were collected together from every vocation of life, adventurers of the worst kind, students, roman catholic priests, monks, and even some noblemen stood in rank and file. the crown prince frederic, in his letters to his confidential friends, spoke often with aversion and scorn of this passion of the king, but he had inherited it to a certain extent, and the prussian army have not yet ceased to take pride in it. it extended to other princes also, especially to such as were attached to the hohenzollerns, the dessauers, and brunswickers. in , duke ferdinand of brunswick, who was mortally wounded at auerstadt, carried on a systematic dealing in men for his regiment at halberstadt; in his own company the first rank were six foot, and the smallest man was five foot nine; all the companies were taller than the first regiment of guards is now. but in other armies also there was somewhat of this predilection. at the end of the last century, an able saxon officer lamented that the first and tallest regiment in the saxon army could not measure with the smallest of the prussians.[ ] not less remarkable was the relation in which king frederic william stood to his officers. he heartily feared and hated the wily sagacity of the diplomats and higher officials, but he readily confided his secret thoughts to the simple, sturdy, straightforward character of his officers, which was sometimes a mask. it was a favourite fancy to consider himself as their comrade. many were the hours in which he treated as his equals many who wore the sash. he used to greet with a kiss all the superior officers down to the major, if he had not seen them for a long time. once he affronted the major von jürgass by using the opprobrious word by which officers then denoted a studious man; the drunken man replied, "that was the speech of a cowardly rascal," and then got up and left the party. the king declared that he could not allow that to pass, and was ready to take his revenge for the insult with sword or pistol. when those present protested against this, the king asked angrily how otherwise he could obtain satisfaction for his injured honour? they contrived a means of doing it by lieutenant-colonel von einsiedel taking the king's place in the battalion, and fighting the duel in his stead. the duel took place, einsiedel was wounded in the arm; for this the king filled his knapsack full of thalers, and commanded him to carry the heavy burden home. the king could not forget that as crown prince he had never risen in the service beyond a colonel, and that a field-marshal was higher than himself. he therefore lamented in the "_tabak's collegium_,"[ ] that he had not been able to remain with king william of england: "he would certainly have made a great man of me, he could even have made me statholder of holland." and when it was maintained in reply that he himself was a greater king, he answered: "you speak according to your judgment; he would have taught me how to command the armies of all europe. do you know of anything greater?" so much did this strange prince feel the not having become field-marshal. when he sat dying in his wooden chair, had cast behind him all earthly cares, and was observing with curiosity the process of dying in himself, he desired the funeral horse to be fetched from the stable, and in accordance with the old custom of sending it as a legacy from the colonel to the general in command, he ordered the horse to be taken on his behalf to leopold von dessau, and the grooms to be flogged because they had not put the right housings on him.[ ] such was the prince whose example was followed by the whole nobility of his country and in his army. already under the great elector had a sovereign contempt for all education displayed itself but too frequently in the army; already had such a repugnance to all learning been instilled into the early deceased electoral prince karl emil, by the officers around him, that he maintained that he who studied and learnt latin was a coward. in the "_tabak's collegium_" of king frederic william, still worse expressions were at first applied to this class of men. with the king himself there was undoubtedly an alteration in the last years of his life, but this tone of indifference to all knowledge which did not bear upon their own profession, remained with most of the prussian officers till this century, in spite of all the endeavours of frederic the great. in the people still used the term, a frederic william's officer, for a tall thin man, in a short blue coat, with a long sword and a tight cravat, who was spruce and earnest in all his actions as in service and had learnt little. about the same time lafontaine, chaplain to the regiment von thadden, at halle, complained of the little education of the officers. once after giving them an historical lecture, a valiant captain took him on one side and said, "you tell us things that have happened thousands of years ago, god knows where; will you not tell us one thing more? how do you know this?" and when the chaplain gave him an explanation, the officer answered, "curious! i thought it had always been as it is now in prussia." the same captain could not read writing hand, but was a brave, trustworthy man.[ ] but king frederic william i. did not wish that his officers should remain quite uninformed. he caused the sons of poor noblemen to be educated at his cost, in the great cadet institution at berlin, and practised in the service under the care of able officers; the most intelligent he employed as pages, and in small services as guards in the castle. as a rule, in prussia, no poor nobleman had to provide for the advancement of his son; the king did it for him. the nobility, it was said, were the nursery for the spontoon. as soon as the boy was fourteen years old he wore the same coat of blue cloth as the king and his princes; for as yet there were no epaulets or distinctions in the embroidery,--only the regiments were denoted by marks of distinction. every prince of the prussian family had to serve and become an officer, like the son of the poorest nobleman. it was remarked by contemporaries that in the battle of mollwitz ten princes of the king of prussia's family were in the army. it had not previously been the custom anywhere, or at any time, that the king should consider himself as an officer, and the officer as on an equality with the princes. by this comrade-training, the officers were placed in a position such as they had never had in any nation. it is true that all the faults of a privileged order were strikingly perceptible in them. besides their coarseness, love of drinking and gluttony, the rage for duelling, the old passion of the german army, was not eradicated, although the same hohenzollern, who had himself wished to fight with his major, was inexorable in punishing with death every officer who killed another in a duel. but if such a "brave fellow" saved himself by flight, the king rejoiced if other governments promoted him. the duel was not then carried on in prussia according to the usages of the thirty years' war: there were more seconds, and the number of passages was fixed; they fought on horseback with pistols and on foot with a sword. before the combat the opponents shook hands--nay, they embraced each other, and exchanged forgiveness in case of death; if they were pious they went beforehand to confession and the lord's supper; no blow could be given till the opponent was in a position to use his sword; in case he fell to the ground or was disarmed, generosity was a duty; if anyone wished for a fatal result, he spread out his mantle, or, if like the officers after he wore none, he traced with his sword on the ground a square grave. after the reconciliation followed a banquet. frequent and unpunished was the presumption of the officers toward the civilian officials, and brutal violence against the weak. even the sensitiveness of officers for their honour, which then developed itself in the prussian army, had no high moral authority; it was a very imperfect substitute for manly virtue, for it pardoned great vices and privileged meannesses. but it was an important step in advance for thousands of wild disorderly men. through it, was first brought forth in the prussian army a devotion on the part of the nobles, perhaps too exclusive, to the idea of a state. it was first in the army of the hohenzollerns that the idea penetrated into the minds of both officers and soldiers, that a man owed his life to his father-land. in no part of germany have brave soldiers been wanting to die for their banner; but the merit of the hohenzollerns, the rough, reckless leaders of a wild army, was, that while they themselves lived, worked and did good and evil for their state, with unbounded devotion, they also knew how to give to their army, besides respect for their flag, a patriotic feeling of duty. from the school of frederic william i. sprang forth the army with which frederic ii. won his battles, which made the prussian state of the last century the most terrible power in europe, and by its blood and its victories excited in the whole nation the enthusiastic feeling that within the german frontiers was a fatherland, of which every individual might be proud, and to struggle and to die for which would bring the highest honour and the highest fame to every child of the country. and this advance in german civilisation was contributed to, not only by the favoured men who, with gorgets and sashes, sat as comrades with the colonel frederic william on the stools of his "collegium," but also by the much tormented soldiers, who were constrained by blows to discharge their guns for their sovereign's state. but before speaking of the advantages of the government of a great king, we will give a narrative, by a prussian recruit and deserter, of the sufferings occasioned by the old military system, in which the life of an insignificant individual is delineated. the narrator is the swiss ulrich bräcker, the man of toggenburg, whose autobiography has been often printed,[ ] and it is one of the most instructive accounts that we possess of the life of the people. the biography contains, in the first part, an abundance of characteristic and pleasing features; the description of a poor family in a remote valley; the bitter struggle with poverty; the doings of the herdsmen; the first love of the young man; the cunning with which he was kidnapped by the prussian recruiting officer; and his compulsory military service up to the battle of lowositz; his flight home, and subsequent weary struggle for existence; the description of his household; and, finally, the resignation of a sensitive, enthusiastic nature which, partly by its own fault, was disturbed in the firm tenor of its own life, by a dreamy tendency and passionate ebullitions. the poor man of toggenburg displays, throughout his detailed statement, a poetical and touching child-like spirit, a passionate desire to read, reflect, and form himself--in short, a sensitive organisation which was ruled by humours and phantasies. ulrich bräcker was at his home in toggenburg, with his father, occupied in felling wood, when an acquaintance of the family, a wandering miller, approached the workers, and advised the honest, simple bräcker to go from the valley to the city, in order to make his fortune there. amid the blessings of parents and sisters, the honest youth wanders with the friend of the family to schaffhausen; there he was taken to an inn, where he made acquaintance with a foreign officer. when his companion accidentally absented himself for a short time, he agreed to remain with the officer as servant. the family friend returns, and is highly irate, not that ulrich had entered into service, but that he had done this without his interposition; and had thus diminished his commission fee. it turned out afterwards that he himself had carried off the son of his countryman, in order to sell him, and that he had intended to ask twenty _friedrichsdor_ for him. ulrich, dressed in a new livery, lived for a time very jovially as servant of his dissipated master--the italian markoni--without concerning himself particularly about the secret transactions of the latter. he felt comfortable in his new position, and wrote a succession of cheerful letters to his parents and his love. at last his master made use of a lie to send him further into the country, and finally to berlin; he there discovered, with horror, that his beautiful livery and his jovial life had been nothing but a deceit practised on him. his master was a recruiting officer, and he himself a recruit. from this point he shall relate his own fate:-- "it was on the th of april that we entered berlin, and i in vain inquired for my master, who, as i afterwards learnt, had arrived eight days before us. when labrot brought me into the krausenstrasse in friedrichstadt, showed me to a lodging, and then left me, saying shortly: 'there, messieur! stay till you get further orders!' hang it! thought i, what is all this? it is certainly not even an inn. as i thus wondered, a soldier came. christian zittermann, and took me with him to his room, where there were already two sons of mars. now there was much wondering and inquiring, who i was? why i had come? and the like. i could not well understand their language. i replied shortly: 'i come from switzerland, and am lacquey to his excellency herr lieutenant markoni; the sergeants have shown me here; but i should like to know whether my master is arrived at berlin, and where he lives.' here the fellows began to laugh, whereupon i could have cried, and none of them would hear of such an excellency. meanwhile they brought me a very stiff mess of pease porridge. i eat of it with little appetite. "we had hardly finished, when an old thin fellow entered the room, who i now saw must be more than a common soldier. he was a sergeant. he carried a soldier's uniform on his arm, which he spread upon the table, laid beside it a six groschen piece, and said: 'that is for you, my son! i will bring you directly some ammunition bread.' 'what? for me?' answered i, 'from whom? what for?' 'why your uniform and pay, lad! what's the use of asking questions? you are a recruit.' 'how? what? a recruit?' answered i; 'god forbid! i have never thought of such a thing. no, never in my life. i am markoni's servant. that was what i agreed for and nothing else. no man can tell me otherwise.' 'but i tell you, fellow, that you are a soldier, i can answer for that. there is no help for it.' i: 'ah, if my master markoni were but here!' he: 'you will not soon get a sight of him. would you not rather be a servant to our king, than to his lieutenant?' therewith he went away. 'for god's sake, herr zittermann,' i continued, 'what does this mean?' 'nothing, sir,' answered he, 'but that you, like i, and the other gentlemen there, are soldiers, and consequently all brothers, and that no opposition will avail, except to take you to the guard-house, where you will have bread and water, have your hands bound, and be flogged till your ribs crack, and you are satisfied.' i: 'by my troth that would be shameful, wicked!' he: 'believe me upon my word it will be so, and nothing else.' i: 'then i will complain to the king.' here they all laughed loud. he: 'you will never see him.' i: 'to whom else can i complain?' he: 'to our major, if you choose. but that will be all in vain.' i: 'i will try, however, whether it will avail!' the lads laughed again." (the major kicked him out with blows.) "in the afternoon the sergeant brought me my ammunition bread, together with my musket and side-arms and so forth, and asked whether i now thought better of it? 'why not?' answered zittermann for me; 'he is the best lad in the world.' then they led me into the uniform room, and fitted on me a pair of pantaloons, shoes and boots, gave me a hat, necktie, stockings, and so forth. then i had to go with some twenty other recruits to colonel latorf. they took us into a room as large as a church, brought in some tattered flags, and commanded each of us to take hold of a corner. an adjutant, or whoever he was, read us a whole heap of the articles of war, and repeated some words which most of them murmured after him; but i did not open my mouth, but thought of what pleased me, i believe it was of aennchen; he then waved the banner over our heads and dismissed us. hereupon i went to a cook-shop and got something to eat, together with a mug of beer. for this i had to pay two groschen. now i had only four out of the six remaining to me; with these i had to provide for myself for four days, and they would scarcely last two. upon this calculation i began to make great lamentations to my comrades. one of them, called eran, said to me with a smile, 'you will soon learn. now it does not signify to you; for have you not something to sell? for example your whole servant's livery; thus you are at present doubly armed; all that will turn into silver. and as to your _ménage_, only observe what others do. three, four or five, club together to buy corn, peas, and potatoes, and the like, and cook for themselves. in the morning they have a half-penny worth of bad brandy and a piece of ammunition bread; in the middle of the day they get a half-penny worth of soup, and take a piece of ammunition bread; in the evening they have two penny worth of small beer, and again the bread.' 'but that, by jove, is a cursed life,' i answered; he said, 'yes! thus one gets on, and not otherwise. a soldier must learn this; for many other things are necessary: pipeclay, powder, blacking, oil, emery, and soap, and a hundred other things.' i: 'and that is all to be paid for out of six groschen?' he: 'yes! and still more; as for example, the pay for washing, for cleaning the weapons and so forth, if you cannot do those things yourself.' thereupon we went to our quarters, and i got on as well as i could. "during the first week i still had a holiday; i went about the town to all the places of drill, and saw how the officers inspected and flogged the soldiers, so that beforehand for very fear, great drops of sweat broke out on my brow. i therefore begged of zittermann to show me at home how to handle my weapons. 'you will learn that by-and-by,' said he, 'but if you are dexterous you will get on like lightning.' meanwhile he was so good as really to show me everything, how to keep my weapon clean, how to squeeze myself into my uniform, and to dress my hair in a soldierly style, and so forth. after eran's counsel, i sold my boots, and bought with the money a wooden chest to hold my linen. in quarters i practised myself in exercising, read the halle hymn-book or prayed. then i walked by the spree and saw there hundreds of soldiers employed in lading and unlading merchants' wares; the timber yard also was full of soldiers at work. another time i went to the barracks and so forth; i found everywhere the like, a hundred sorts of business carried on, from works of art to the distaff. if i came to the guard-house, i there found those who played, drank, and jested; others who quietly smoked their pipes and conversed, some few who read an edifying book and explained it to the others. in the cook-shops and breweries, things went on after the same fashion. in berlin we had among the military--as i think indeed is the case in all great cities--people from all the four quarters of the world, of all nations and religions, of all characters and of every profession by which men can earn their bread. "the second week i had to attend every day on the parade-ground, where i unexpectedly found three of my country-people. shärer, bachmann, and gästli, who were all in the same regiment with me--itzenplitz--both were in the company called lüderitz. at first i had to learn to march under a crabbed corporal, with a crooked nose, by name mengke; this fellow i hated like death; when he hit me on the feet the blood went to my head. under his hands i should have learnt nothing all my days. this was observed by hevel, who man[oe]uvred with his people on the same ground, so he exchanged me for another, and took me into his platoon. this was a heartfelt pleasure to me. now i learned in an hour more than in ten days with the other. "shärer was as poor as i; but he got an augmentation of two groschen and a double portion of bread, for the major thought a good bit more of him than of me. meanwhile we loved each other as brothers; as long as one had anything the other would share it with him. bachmann, on the contrary, who also lodged with us, was a niggardly fellow, and did not agree with us; nevertheless the hours always appeared as long as day when we could not be together. as soon as our drills were over, we flew together to schottmann's cellar, drank our mug of ruppin or kotbuss beer, smoked a pipe, and trilled a swiss song. the brandenburgers and pomeranians always listened to us with pleasure. some gentlemen even sent for us express to a cook-shop, to sing the _ranz-des-vackes_. the musicians' pay principally consisted in nasty soup, but in such a situation one must be content with still less. "we often related to one another our manner of life at home; how well off we were and how free; and what a cursed life we led here, and the like. then we made plans for our escape. sometimes we entertained hopes that we might succeed; at other times we saw before us insurmountable difficulties, and we were principally deterred by thinking of the consequences of an unsuccessful attempt. we heard every week fearful stories of deserters brought back, who, even when they had been so cunning as to disguise themselves in the dresses of sailors and other artisans, or even as women, and had concealed themselves in tuns and casks, and the like, had yet been caught. then we had to look on while they ran the gauntlet eight times through two hundred men, till they sank down breathless--and then again the following day; their clothes were torn off from their hacked backs, and the punishment was repeated till the coagulated blood hung over their trousers. then shärer and i looked at each other trembling and deadly pale, and whispered to one another, 'cursed barbarians!' what took place also on the drill-ground gave occasion for similar observations. there was no end of the curses and scourgings by barbarous junkers, and again the lamentations of those who had been flogged. we ourselves were always the first on the ground, and played our part vigorously; but it did not the less give us pain to see others so unmercifully treated for every little trifle, and ourselves so ill-used year after year; to stand also for five whole hours laced up in our uniforms as if screwed to the spot, marching to and fro as straight as poles, and to perform uninterrupted manual exercise with lightning rapidity; and this all at the command of officers who stood before us with furious countenances and raised sticks, every moment threatening to beat us about the head as if we were cabbages. under such treatment, a fellow with the strongest nerves must become paralysed, and the most patient, raving. and when we returned, wearied to death, to our quarters, we had to go headlong to our washing, to rub out every spot; for with the exception of the blue coat, our whole uniform was white. weapons, cartouche-boxes, belt, every button on the uniform, all must be cleaned as bright as a mirror. if there was anything in the least wrong in any of these articles, or if a hair was not right on our heads when we appeared on parade, we were greeted with a heavy shower of blows. it is true that our officers had received the strictest orders to examine us from head to foot; but the devil a bit did we recruits know about it, and we thought it was the custom of war. "at last came the great epoch, when it was said '_allons_, to the field!' now came the route--tears flowed in abundance from citizens, soldiers' wives, and the like. even the soldiers themselves, namely, those of the country who had wives and children to leave behind, were quite cast down, full of sorrow, and grief: the strangers, on the contrary, secretly shouted for joy, and exclaimed, 'at last, god be praised; our release will come!' every one was loaded like mules, first buckled round with his sword belt; then with the cartouche-box over his shoulder, with a long five-inch strap; over the other shoulder the knapsack, with linen, &c.; also the haversack, filled with bread and other forage. besides this, every one must carry a portion of field utensils, a flask, kettle, a hatchet, or such like, all fastened by a thong; and then a flint, or something of that sort: thus had we five straps upon the breast, one across the other, so that in the beginning each one thought that he would be suffocated with such a burden. then there was the tight-fitting uniform, and such dog-day heat, that i many times thought that i was going upon red hot coals; and if i opened the breast of my coat to get a little air, steam came out as from a boiling kettle. often i had not a dry thread on my body, and almost fainted from thirst. "thus we marched the first day, the nd of august, out of the köpeniker gate, and marched for four hours to the little town of köpenik, where from thirty to fifty of us were quartered on the citizens, who were obliged to feed us for one groschen. _potz plunder!_ how things did go on here! ha! how we did eat! but only think how many great hungry fellows we were! we were all calling out, 'here, canaille, fetch us what you have in your most secret corner.' at night the rooms were filled with straw; there we lay all in rows against the walls. truly a curious household! in every house there was an officer, to keep good discipline, but they were often the worst. "'hitherto has the lord helped!' these words were the first text of our chaplain at pirna. oh, yes, thought i, that he has, and will, i truly hope, help me further to my fatherland. for what are your wars to me? "meanwhile every morning we received orders to load quickly; this gave rise among the old soldiers to the following talk: 'what shall we have to-day? to-day certainly something is afoot!' then we young ones perspired at all pores if we marched by a bush or a wood, and had to be on the alert. then every one silently pricked up his ears, expecting each moment a fiery hail and his death; and when we came again into the open, looked right and left, how he could most conveniently escape; for we had always the cuirassiers, dragoons, and other soldiers of the enemy on both sides. "at last on the nd september, the alarm was sounded, and we received orders to break up. in a moment all were in motion; in a few minutes a camp a mile in length--like the largest city--was broken up, and _allons_, march! now we proceeded into the valley, made a bridge at pirna, and formed above the town, in front of the saxon camp, in a line, as if for running the gauntlet; of which the end reached the pirna gate, and through which the whole saxon army in fours passed having first laid down their arms; and one may imagine what mocking, taunting words they must have heard during the whole long passage. some went sorrowfully with bent heads; others defiant and reckless; and others again with a smile, for which the prussian mocking-birds would gladly have paid them off. i know not, neither do many thousand others, what were the circumstances which occasioned the surrender of this great army. on the same day we marched a good bit further, and pitched our camp near lilienstein. "we were often attacked by the imperial pandours, or a hail of shot came upon us from the carabineers from behind the bushes, so that many were killed on the spot and still more wounded. but when our artillery directed a few guns towards the copse, the enemy fled head foremost. these miserable trifles did not frighten me much. i should have become soon accustomed to them, and i often thought, when the thing takes place, it is not so bad after all. "early on the morning of the st of october we had to fall into rank and march through a narrow valley towards the great valley. we could not see far for the thick fog. but when we had reached the plain and joined the great army, we advanced in three divisions, and perceived in the distance, through the fog as through a veil, the enemy's troops on the plain over against the bohemian city of lowositz. it was imperial cavalry, for we never got sight of the infantry, as it had intrenched itself near the said city. about o'clock the thunder of the artillery both from our front line and also from the imperial batteries was so great that the balls whizzed through our regiment, which was in the centre. hitherto i had always hoped to escape before a battle, but now i saw no means of doing so either before or behind me, neither to the right nor to the left. meanwhile we continued to advance. then all my courage oozed away; i could have crept into the bowels of the earth, and one could see the same terror and deadly pallor on all faces, even those who had hitherto affected so much valour. the empty brandy flasks (such as every soldier has) flew among the balls through the air; most drank up their little provision to the last drop, for they said, 'to-day we want courage, to-morrow we may need no drams!' now we advanced quite under the guns, where we changed places with the first division. _potz himmel!_ how the iron fragments whizzed about our heads,--falling now before and now behind us into the earth, so that stones and sods flew into the air,--and some into the middle of us, so that some of our people were picked off from the ranks as if they had been blades of straw. straight before us we saw nothing but the enemy's cavalry, which made movements in all directions; now extended themselves lengthways, now as a half moon, then drew together again in triangles and squares. now our cavalry advanced, we made an opening and let them through to gallop on the enemy. there was a hailstorm of missiles rattling, and sabres glittering as they cut them down; but it lasted only a quarter of an hour; our cavalry were beaten by the austrians and pursued almost under our guns. what a spectacle it was to see: horses with their riders hanging to the stirrup, others with their entrails trailing on the ground. meanwhile we continued to stand under the enemy's fire till towards o'clock, without our left wing closing with the skirmishers, although the fire was very hot on the right. many thought we were to storm the imperial intrenchments. i was no longer in such terror as at the beginning, although the gunners of the culverins were carried off close on both sides of me, and the field of battle was already covered with dead and wounded. about o'clock orders came for our regiment, together with two others (i believe bevern and kalkstein), to march back. now we thought we were going to the camp, and that all danger was over. we hastened therefore with cheerful steps up the steep vineyard, filled our hats with beautiful red grapes, eat them with heartfelt pleasure, and neither i nor any near me expected anything disagreeable, although from the heights we saw our brothers beneath, still under fire and smoke, and heard a fearful thundering noise; we could not tell which side was victorious. meanwhile our leaders took us still higher up the hill, on the summit of which was a narrow pass betwixt rocks, which led down to the other side. as soon, however, as our advanced-guard had reached this spot, there was a terrible storm of musketry; and now we first discovered what was in the wind. some thousand imperial pandours were marching up the other side of the hill in order to take our army in rear; this had been betrayed to our leaders, and we were to anticipate them; only five minutes later and they would have won the heights, and we should probably have been worsted. there was indescribable bloodshed before we could drive the pandours from that thicket. our advanced troops suffered severely, but those behind pushed forward headlong till the heights were gained. "then we had to stumble over heaps of dead and wounded, and the pandours went pell-mell down the vineyard, leaping over a wall one after another into the plain. our native prussians and brandenburgers attacked the pandours like furies. i myself was almost stupefied with haste and heat, and felt neither fear nor horror. i discharged almost all my cartridges as fast as i could, till my musket was nearly red-hot, and i was obliged to carry it by the strap; meanwhile i do not believe that i hit a living soul, it all went in the air. the pandours posted themselves again on the plain by the water before the city of lowositz, and blazed away valiantly up into the vineyard, so that many in front of and near me bit the ground. prussians and pandours lay everywhere intermingled, and if one of these last still stirred, he was knocked on the head with the butt end of the gun, or run through the body with the bayonet. and now the combat was renewed in the plain. but who can describe how it went on amidst the smoke and fog from lowositz, where it rattled and thundered as if heaven and earth would be rent in twain, and where all the senses were stunned by the ceaseless rumbling of many hundred drums, the shrill and heart-stirring tones of all kinds of martial music, the commands of so many officers, the bellowing of their adjutants, and the death yells and howling imprecations of so many thousands of miserable, maimed, dying victims of this day. at this time it might be about three o'clock, lowositz being on fire; many hundred pandours, on whom our advanced troops again broke like wild lions, sprang into the water, and the town was then attacked. at this time i was certainly not in the van, but in the vineyard above, in the rear rank, of whom many, as i have said, more nimble than myself, leaped down from one wall over another, in order to hasten to the help of their brother soldiers. as i was thus standing on a little elevation, and looking down upon the plain as into a dark storm of thunder and hail, this moment appeared to me to be the time--or rather my good angel warned me--to save myself by flight. i looked therefore all round me. before me all was fire and mist; behind me there were still many of our troops hastening after the enemy, and to the right two great armies in full order of battle. but at last i saw that to the left there were vineyards, bushes, and copseland, only here and there a few men prussians, pandours, and hussars, and of these more dead and wounded than living. there, there, on that side, thought i; otherwise it would be purely impossible. "i glided, therefore, at first with slow step, a little to the left, through the vines. some prussians hastened past me. 'come, come, brother!' said they; 'victoria!' i replied not a word, but feigned to be wounded, and went on slowly, but truly with fear and trembling. as soon as i had got so far, that no one could see me, i mended my pace, looked right and left like a hunter, viewed again from a distance--and for the last time in my life--the murderous death struggle; rushed at full speed past a thicket full of dead hussars, pandours, and horses; ran breathlessly along the course of the river, and found myself in a valley. on the other side some imperial soldiers came towards me, who had equally stolen away from the battle, and when they saw me thus making off levelled their guns at me for the third time, notwithstanding i had reversed my arms, and given them with my hat the usual sign. they did not fire; so i came to the resolution to run towards them. if i had taken another course they would, as i afterwards learnt, have certainly fired. when i came up to them, i gave myself up as a deserter, and they took my weapon away from me, with the promise that they would afterwards restore it. but he who had taken upon himself to promise it, stole away and took the gun with him. so let it be! they then took me to the nearest village, scheniseck (it might be a good hour from lowositz); here there was a ferry over the water, but only one boat for the passage. and there was a piteous shrieking and wailing from men, women, and children; each wished to go first over the water, for fear of the prussians; for all thought they were close at hand. i also was not one of the last to jump in with a troop of women. if the ferryman had not cast out some we should have been drowned. on the other side of the stream stood a pandour guard. my companions led me up to them, and these red-moustachioed fellows received me in the most polite way; gave me, though neither of us understood a word the other said, tobacco and brandy, and a safe conduct, i believe, to leutmeritz, where i passed the night among genuine bohemians, and truly did not know whether i could safely lay my head to rest; but fortunately my head was in such confusion from the tumult of the day, that this important point signified very little to me. the following day (oct. ) i went with a detachment to the imperial camp at buda. here i met two hundred other prussian deserters, each of whom had, so to speak, taken his own way and his own time. "we had permission to see everything in the camp. officers and soldiers stood in crowds around us to whom we were expected to tell more than we ourselves knew. some, however, knew how to brag, and flatter their present hosts, concocting a hundred lies derogatory to the prussians. there were also among the imperialists many arrant braggadocios, and the smallest dwarf boasted of having, in his own flight, killed, in their flight, i know not how many long-legged brandenburgers. after that they took us to fifty prisoners of the prussian cavalry, a pitiable sight! scarcely one who was not wounded; some cut about the face, others on the neck, others over the ears, shoulders, or legs, &c. there was amongst all a groaning and moaning. how fortunate did these poor fellows esteem us who had escaped a similar fate, and how thankful were we to god! we passed the night in the camp, and each received a ducat for the expenses of his journey. they sent us then with a cavalry escort--there were two hundred of us--to a bohemian village, from whence, after a short sleep, we went, the following day, to prague. there we divided ourselves, and obtained passports for six, ten, or even as many as twelve, who were going the same way. we were a wonderful medley of swiss, suabians, saxons, bavarians, tyrolese, italians, french, poles, and turks. six of us got one passport for ratisbon." here we end with ulrich bräcker. he arrived happily at home, but no one recognised the moustachioed soldier in his uniform. his sister concealed herself; his love had been faithless and married another; only the mother's heart discovered her son in that wild-looking figure. but his later life in the lonely valley was ruined by the adventures he had passed through. a strange, uneasy element now pervaded his character--irritable restlessness, covetousness, and a distaste to labour. but frederic ii. wrote, after the battle of lowositz, to schwerin: "never have any troops done such wonders of valour since i have had the honour of commanding them." he whose narrative we have had was one of them. chapter viii. the state of frederic the great. ( .) what was it that after the thirty years' war fixed the eyes of politicians upon the small state on the north-eastern frontier of germany, towards sweden and poland, that was struggling against the hapsburgers and bourbons? the heritage of the hohenzollerns was no favoured fertile country, in which the peasant dwelt comfortably on well-cultivated acres, or to which rich merchants brought in galleons, italian silks, and the spices and ingots of the new world. it was a poor devastated, sandy country; the cities were burnt, the huts of the country people demolished, the fields uncultivated, many square miles denuded of men and beasts of burden, and nature restored to its primitive state. when frederic william, in , assumed the electoral hat, he found nothing but contested claims to scattered territories, of about square miles,[ ] and in all the fortresses of his family domains, were established domineering conquerors. out of an insecure desert did this clever double-dealing prince establish his state, with a cunning and recklessness in regard to his neighbours which excited a sensation even in that unscrupulous period, but at the same time with an heroic vigour and enlarged views, by which he more than once attained to a higher conception of german honour, than the emperor or any other prince of the empire. nevertheless, when the astute politician died in , what he left behind was still only a small nation, not to be reckoned among the powers of europe. for though his sovereignty comprehended square miles, the population, at the utmost, only amounted to , , . when frederic ii., a century later, assumed the dominions of his ancestors, he only inherited a population of , , souls, far less than is now to be found in the one province of silesia. what was it then, that, immediately after the battles of the thirty years' war, excited the jealousy of all the governments, especially of the imperial house, and that made such bitter opponents of the hitherto warm friends of the brandenbergers? for two centuries, both germans and foreigners placed their hopes on this new state; equally long have germans and foreigners, first with scorn and then with hatred, called it an artificial superstructure, which could not maintain itself against violent storms, and which had unjustifiably intruded itself among the powers of europe. how came it at last that, after the death of frederic the great, unprejudiced judges declared that it would be better to cease prophesying the downfall of this much-hated state? after each prostration it rose so vigorously, its injuries and wounds from war were so quickly healed, as has not been the case with any other; wealth and intelligence assumed larger proportions there than in any portion of germany! undoubtedly it was a peculiar nature, a new phase of german character, which shewed itself in the hohenzollerns and their people in the conquered sclavonian territory. it appears that there were greater contrasts of character there; for the virtues and failings of its governors, the greatness and weakness of their policy, appeared there in glaring contrast: narrow-mindedness became more striking, shortcomings appeared more conspicuous, and that which was worthy of admiration, more wonderful. it appeared that this state produced everything that was most strange and uncommon, and only the quiet mediocrity, which may elsewhere be useful and bearable, could not exist there without injury. much of this arose from the position of the country: it had as contiguous neighbours swedes, sclavonians, french, and dutch. there was scarcely a question of european politics which did not produce welfare or injury to this state; scarce a complication which active princes did not take advantage of to put in claims. the failing power of sweden, the already beginning process of dissolution in poland, occasioned perplexity of views; the preponderating power of france, the suspicious friendship of holland, necessitated prompt and vigorous foresight. after the first year in which the elector frederic william took possession, by force and cunning, of his own fortresses, it became manifest that there, in a corner of the german soil, a powerful, circumspect military government would not be wanting for the preservation of germany. after the beginning of the french war, in , europe beheld with astonishment the wary policy that proceeded from this little spot, which undertook, with heroic daring, to defend the west frontier of germany against the all-powerful king of france. there was, also, perhaps something peculiar in the character of the brandenburg people, in which both princes and subjects had an equal share. the district of prussia, up to the time of frederic the great, had given to germany comparatively few men of learning, poets, or artists; even the passionate zeal of the period of the reformation appeared there to be damped. the people who dwelt in the frontier countries, mostly of lower saxon origin, with a small mixture of sclavonian blood, were a hard, rough race, not very pleasing in their modes of life, of uncommonly sharp understanding and sober judgment. in the capital they had been, from ancient times, sarcastic and voluble in speech; but in all the provinces they were capable of great exertion, laborious, tenacious, and of great power of endurance. but the character of the princes produced still more effect than even the situation or character of the people. their state was constituted differently from any other since the days of charles the great. many princely houses have furnished a succession of sovereigns who have been the fortunate aggrandisers of their states, as the bourbons, who have collected wide territories into one great kingdom; many families of princes have produced generations of valiant warriors, none more so than the vasas and the protestant wittelsbacher in sweden. but there have been no trainers of the people like the old hohenzollerns. as great landed proprietors on the desolated country they brought about an increase of population, guided the cultivation, for almost years laboured as strict economists, thought, tolerated, dared and did injustice, in order to create for their state a people like themselves--hard, parsimonious, discreet, daring, and ambitious. in this sense one has a right to admire the providential character of the prussian state. of the four princes who have governed it, since the german war up to the day when the grey-headed abbot closed his weary eyes in the monastery of sans souci, each one, with his virtues and failings, has acted as a necessary supplement to his predecessor. the elector frederic william, the greatest statesman from the school of the german war--the pompous frederic, the first king--the parsimonious despot frederic william i.--and, finally, he in whom were concentrated almost all the talents and great qualities of his ancestors, were the flowers of their race. life in the king's castle in berlin was very cheerless when frederic grew up; few of the citizens' homes at that rude time were so poor in love and sunshine. one may doubt whether it was the king his father, or the queen, who was most to blame for the disorder of the family life, both through failings of their nature, which, in the ceaseless rubs of home, ever became greater;--the king, a wonderful tyrant, with a soft heart but rough and violent, who wished to compel love and confidence, with a keen understanding, but so unwary that he was always in danger of being the victim of rogues, and from the gloomy knowledge of his weakness became suspicious, stubborn, and violent; the queen, on the other hand, an insignificant woman, with a cold heart, a strong feeling of her princely dignity, and much inclination to intrigue, neither cautious nor taciturn. both had the best intentions, and exerted themselves honourably to make their children good and capable men, but both injudiciously disturbed the sound development of the childish soul. the mother had so little tact as to make her children, even in their tender youth, the confidants of her chagrins and intrigues; for in her chambers there was no end of complaints, rancour, and derision, over the undue parsimony of the king, the blows which he so abundantly distributed in his apartments, and the monotony of the daily regulations which he enforced. the crown prince, frederic, grew up as the playfellow of his elder sister, a delicate child with brilliant eyes and wonderfully beautiful blond hair. punctiliously was he taught just as much as the king wished, and that was little enough; scarcely anything of the latin declensions--the great king never overcame the difficulties of the genitive and dative--french, some history, and the necessary accomplishments of a soldier. the ladies inspired the boy--who was giddy, and in presence of the king looked shy and defiant--with the first interest in french literature; he himself afterwards gave the praise to his sister, but his governess also was a clever frenchwoman. that this foreign acquisition was hateful to the king, gave it additional value to the son; for, in the apartments of the queen, that was most certain to be praised which was most displeasing to the strict master of the family. and when the king delivered to his family his blustering pious speeches, then the princess wilhelmine and the young frederic looked so significantly at one another that, at last, the faces made by one of the children excited a childish desire to laugh, and produced an outburst of fury in the king! owing to this the son became, in his early years, an object of irritation to his father. he called him an effeminate fellow, who did not keep himself clean, and took an unmanly pleasure in dress and games. but from the account of his sister, in whose unsparing judgment it appeared easier to blame than to praise, one may perceive how much the amiability of the highly gifted boy worked upon his _entourage_; whether he secretly read french stories with his sister, and applied the comical characters of the novel to the whole court, or, contrary to the most positive order, played upon the flute and lute, or visited his sister in disguise, when they recited the _rôles_ of the french comedy together. but even for these harmless pleasures frederic was obliged to have recourse to lies, deceit, and dissimulation. he was proud, high-minded, magnanimous, with an uncompromising love of truth. dissimulation was so repugnant to his nature that where it was required he would not condescend to it; and if he was compelled to an unskilful hypocrisy, his position with his father became more difficult, the distrust of the king greater, and the wounded self-respect of the son was always breaking out in defiance. thus he grew up surrounded by spies, who conveyed his every word to the king. with a richly gifted mind and refined intellectual yearnings, he needed that manly society which would have been suitable for him. no wonder that the youth went astray. the prussian passed for a very virtuous court in comparison with the other courts of germany; but the tone towards women, and the carelessness with which the most doubtful connexions were treated, were there also very great. after a visit to the profligate court of dresden, prince frederic began to behave like other princes of his time, and he found good comrades among his father's young officers. we know little of him at this time, but we may conclude that he was undoubtedly in some danger, not of being ruined, but of passing the best years of his life amidst debts and worthless connexions. it certainly was not the increasing displeasure of his father that unhinged his mind at this period, so much as an inward dissatisfaction that drove the immature youth more wildly into error. he determined to escape to england; how his flight miscarried, and how great was the anger of colonel frederic william against the deserter, are well known. with the days of his imprisonment in küstrin, and his residence at ruppin, his education began in earnest. the horrors he had experienced had called forth in him new powers. he had borne all the terrors of death, and the most bitter humiliation of princely pride. in the solitude of his prison he had reflected on the great riddle of life,--on death, and what was to follow after it. he had perceived that nothing remained to him but submission, patience, and quiet endurance. but bitter corroding misfortune is not a school which develops good alone: it gives birth also to many faults. he learnt to hide his decisions in his own breast, to look with suspicion on men and use them as his tools, to deceive and cajole them with a cold astuteness which was foreign to his nature. he flattered the cowardly, mean grumbkow, and was glad when he gradually won the bad man to his purposes; he had for years to struggle warily against the dislike and distrust of his hard father. his nature always resisted this humiliation, and he endeavoured by bitter scorn to atone to his injured self-respect; his heart, which glowed for everything noble, saved him from becoming a hard egotist, but it did not make him milder or more conciliatory, and when he had become a great man and a wise prince, he still retained some traces of narrow-minded cunning from this time of servitude. the lion had at times not been ashamed to scratch like a spiteful cat. yet he learnt during these years to respect some things that were useful--the strict economical care with which his narrow-minded but prudent father provided for the weal of his household and country. when, to please the king, he made estimates of a lease; when he gave himself the trouble to increase the profits of a demesne by some hundred thalers; when he thought that the king spent more than was fitting on his favourite fancy, and proposed to him to kidnap a tall shepherd from mecklenburg as a recruit,--this work was undoubtedly in the beginning only a burdensome means of propitiating the king; for grumbkow had to procure him a man who made out estimates instead of him, and the officials and exchequer officers gave him hints how, here and there, a profit was to be made, and he always jested about the giants, where he could venture to do so. but the new world in which he found himself, gradually led him on to the practical interests of the people and state. it is clear that the economy of his father was often tyrannical and extraordinary. the king was always convinced that his whole object was the good of the country, and therefore he took upon himself to interfere in the most arbitrary way with the possessions and affairs of private persons. when he commanded that no male goat should be driven with the sheep; that all coloured sheep, grey, black, and mixed, should be entirely got rid of within three years, and only white wool should be permitted; when he accurately prescribed how the sample measure of the berlin scheffel--which, at the cost of his subjects, he had sent throughout the country--should be locked up and preserved, that they might not be battered; when, in order to promote the linen and woollen trade, he commanded that his subjects should not wear the fashionable chintz and calico, threatening with a fine of thalers and three days in the pillory, all who, after eight months, should have in their house any cotton articles, either nightgowns, caps, or furniture,--such measures of government appeared certainly harsh and trivial; but the son learnt to honour the shrewd sense and benevolent care which were the groundwork of these decrees, and he himself gradually became familiar with a multitude of details, with which otherwise as a prince he would not have been conversant: the value of property, the price of the necessaries of life, the wants of the people, and the customs, rights, and duties of life in the lower classes. he had also a share of the self-satisfaction with which the king boasted of this knowledge of business. when he himself became the all-powerful administrator of his state, the incalculable advantage of his knowledge of the people and of trade became manifest. it was owing to this that the wise economy with which he managed his own house and the finances of the country became possible, and that he was enabled to advance the agriculture, trade, wealth, and education of his people by incessant care of details. equally with the daily accounts of his kitchen he knew how to test the calculations concerning the crown demesnes and forests, and the excise. his people had chiefly to thank the years in which he was compelled to sit as assessor at the green table at ruppin for his power of overlooking with a sharp eye the smallest as well as the greatest affairs. but sometimes what had been so vexatious in his father's time happened to himself: his knowledge of business details was not sufficient, so that here and there, just like his father, he commanded what violently interfered with the life of his prussians, and could not be carried out. the wounds inflicted upon frederic by the great catastrophe had scarcely been healed, when a new misfortune befell him as great almost in its consequences as the first. the king forced a wife upon him. heartrending is the woe with which he strove to escape the bride chosen for him. "i do not care how frivolous she may be, as long as she is not a simpleton, that, i cannot bear." it was all in vain. with bitterness and indignation did he regard this marriage shortly before it took place. never did he overcome the effect of this sorrow, by which his father ruined his inward life. his most susceptible feelings, and his loving heart, were sold in the roughest way. not only was he made unhappy by it, but also an excellent woman who was deserving of a better fate. the princess elizabeth of bevern had many noble qualities of heart; she was not a simpleton, she was not ugly, and might have passed well through the bitter criticisms of the princesses of the royal house. but we fear that, if she had been an angel, the pride of the son, who was subjected to the useless barbarity of compulsion, would still have protested against her. and yet this union was not always so cold as has been supposed. for six years did the goodness of heart and tact of the princess succeed in reconciling the crown prince to her. in the retirement of rheinsberg she was in fact the lady of his house and the amiable hostess of his guests, and it was reported by the austrian agents that her influence was on the ascendant. but her modest clinging nature was too deficient in the qualities calculated to fix the attachment of an intellectual man. it was necessary for the sprightly children of the house of brandenburg to give vent to their excitable natures by ready and pointed humour. the princess, when she was excited, was as quiet as if paralysed, and she was wanting in the easy grace of society. this did not suit. even the way in which she loved her husband, dutifully and submissively, as if repelled and overwhelmed by the greatness of his mind, was little interesting to the prince, who had adopted, together with french intellectual culture, not a little of the frivolity of french society. when frederic became king, the princess soon lost the very small share she had gained in her husband's affections. his long absence during the silesian war finally alienated him from her. more and more distant became their mutual intercourse; years passed without their seeing one another; an icy brevity and coldness are perceptible in his letters; but the high esteem in which the king held her character maintained her outward position. his relations with women after that had little influence on his inward feelings: even his sister of baireuth, sickly, nervous, and embittered by jealousy of an unfaithful husband, became, for years, as a stranger to her brother; it was not till she had resigned herself to her own life that this proud child of the house of brandenburg, aged and unhappy, again sought the heart of the brother whose little hand had once supported her when at the feet of the stern father. the mother also, to whom king frederic always showed the most marked and child-like reverence, could participate little in the feelings of the son. his other sisters were younger, and only inclined to make a quiet _fronde_ in the house against him; if the king ever condescended to show attention to a lady of the court, or a singer, these were to the person concerned full as annoying as flattering. where he found beauty, grace, and womanly dignity combined, as in frau von camas, the first lady of the bedchamber to his wife, the amiability of his nature appeared by his kindly attentions to her. but, on the whole, his life received little sunshine from his intercourse with women, for he had experienced little of the hearty warmth of family life; in this respect his soul was desolate. perhaps this was fortunate for his people, though undoubtedly fatal to his private life; the full warmth of his manly feelings was almost exclusively reserved to his small circle of confidants, with whom he laughed, wrote poetry, philosophised, made plans for the future, and latterly conferred with upon his warlike operations and dangers. his life at rheinsberg, after his marriage, was the best portion of his youth. there he collected around him a number of highly-educated and cheerful companions; the small society led a poetic life, of which an agreeable picture has been bequeathed to us by those who partook of it. earnestly did frederic labour to educate himself; easily did his excited feelings find expression in french verse; incessantly did he labour to acquire the delicacy of the foreign style; but his mind also exercised itself upon more serious things. he sought ardently from the encyclopædians, and of christian wolf, an answer to the highest questions of man; he sat bent over maps and plans of battles; and, amid the _rôles_ of his amateur theatricals and plans of buildings, other projects were prepared which, after a few years, were to agitate the world. then came the day on which the government passed from the hands of his dying father, who directed the officer who was to make the daily bulletin to take his orders from the new military ruler of prussia. what judgment was formed of him by his political contemporaries we discover from the character drawn of him shortly before by an austrian agent of the imperial court:--"he is agreeable, wears his own hair, has a slouching carriage, loves the fine arts and good eating, would wish to begin his government with some _éclat_, is a better friend of the military than his father, has the religion of a gentleman, believes in god and the forgiveness of sins, loves splendour and refinement, and will newly arrange all the court offices, and bring distinguished people to his court."[ ] this prophecy was not fully justified. we will endeavour to understand other phases of his character at this time. the new king was a man of fiery, enthusiastic temperament, quickly excited, and tears came readily to his eyes; with him, as with his contemporaries, it was a passionate need to admire what was great, and to give himself up to pathetic, soft moods of mind. with tender and melting tones he played his adagio on the flute; like other honourable contemporaries, it was not easy to him to give full expression in words and verses to his inward feelings, but pathetic passages would move him to tears. in spite of all his french maxims, the foundation of his character was in these respects very german. those have judged him most unjustly who have ascribed to him a cold heart. it is not the cold royal hearts which generally wound by their harshness. such as these are almost always enabled, by a smooth graciousness and its suitable expression, to please their entourage. the strongest expressions of antipathy are generally combined with the heart-winning tones of a sentimental tenderness. but in frederic, it appears to us, there was a striking and strange combination of two quite opposite tendencies of the spirit, which are usually found on earth in eternal irreconcilable contention. he had equally the need of idealising life, and the impulse mercilessly to destroy ideal frames of mind in himself and others. his first characteristic was perhaps the most beautiful, perhaps the most sorrowful, that ever man was endowed with for the struggle of life. he was undoubtedly a poetic nature; he possessed in a high degree that peculiar power which strives to transform common realities according to the ideal demands of its own nature, and to draw over everything about it the pure lustre of a new life. it was necessary to him to decorate with the graces of his fancy and the whole magic of emotional feeling the image of those he loved, and to adorn his relations with them. there was always something playful about it, and even where he felt most passionately he loved more the embellished picture of others, which he carried within him, than themselves. it was with such a disposition that he kissed voltaire's hand. if at any time he sensibly felt the difference betwixt his ideal and the real man, he dropped the real and cherished the image. whoever has received from nature this faculty of investing love and friendship with the coloured mirror of poetical dispositions, is sure, according to the judgment of others, to show arbitrariness in the choice of their objects of preference: a certain equable warmth which bethinks itself of everything suitable appears to be denied to such natures. to whoever the king became a friend, in his way, to him he always showed the greatest consideration and fidelity, however much at particular moments his disposition towards him might change. he could, therefore, be sentimental in his sorrow over the loss of such a cherished image as was only possible for a german of the werther period. he had lived for many years in some estrangement from his sister von baireuth; it was only in the last year before her death, amidst the terrors of war, that her image as that of a tender sister again revived in him. after her death he felt a gloomy satisfaction in recalling to himself and others, the heartfelt tenderness of this connection; he built her a small temple, and often made pilgrimages to it. whoever failed to reach his heart by means of poetical feelings, or did not stir up in him the love-web of poetry, or who disturbed anything in his sensitive nature, to him he was cold, contemptuous, and indifferent,--a king who only considered how far the other could be of use to him; and he threw him off perhaps when he no longer needed him. such an endowment undoubtedly may have surrounded the life of a young man with a bright halo; it invested the common with variegated brilliancy and pleasing colours; but it must be united with much good moral worth, feeling of duty, and sense of what is higher than itself, if it is not to isolate and make his old age gloomy. it will also, even in favourable circumstances, raise up the bitterest enemies, together with the most devoted admirers. somewhat of this faculty prepared for the noble soul of goethe bitter sorrows, transient connexions, many disappointments, and a solitary old age. it was doubly fatal for a king, whom others so seldom approach on a dignified and equal footing, to whom openhearted friends might always become admiring flatterers, unequal in their behaviour, now servile under the courtly spell of majesty, now discontented censurers from a feeling of their own rights. with king frederic, however, the yearning for ideal relations, this longing for men who could give his heart the opportunity of opening itself unreservedly, was crossed in the first place by his penetrating acuteness of perception, and also by an incorruptible love of truth, which was inimical to all deceptions, struggled against every illusion, despised all shams, and searched out the depths of all things. this scrutinising view of life and its duties was a good shield against the illusions which more often afflict a prince of imaginative tendencies, where he has given confidence, than a private man; but his acuteness showed itself also in a wild humour which was unsparing in its remorselessness, sarcasm, and ridicule. from whence did these tendencies arise in him? was it brandenburg blood? was it inherited from his great-grandmother, the electress sophia of hanover, or from his grandmother--that intellectual woman, the queen sophia charlotte, with whom leibnitz corresponded on the eternal harmony of the world? undoubtedly the rough training of his youth had contributed to it. sharp was his perception of the weaknesses of others; wherever he spied out a defect, wherever anything peculiar vexed or irritated him, his voluble tongue was set in motion. his words hit both friends and enemies unsparingly: even when silence and endurance were commanded by prudence, he could not control himself; his whole spirit seemed changed; with merciless exaggeration he distorted the image of others into a caricature. if one examines this more closely, one perceives that the main point in this was the intellectual pleasure; he freed himself from an unpleasant impression by violent outbursts against his victim; he had an inward satisfaction in painting him grotesquely, and was much surprised if, when deeply wounded, his friend turned his weapons against him. in this there was a striking similarity to luther. undoubtedly the club blows dealt by the great monk of the sixteenth century were far more formidable than the stabs which were distributed by the great prince in the age of enlightenment. that it was neither dignified nor suitable was a point for which the great king cared as little as the reformer: both were in a state of excitement as if in the chase, and both, in the pleasure of the struggle, forgot the consequences; both, also, seriously injured themselves and their great objects, and were honestly surprised when they discovered it. but when the king bantered and sneered, or maliciously teased, it was more difficult for him to draw back from his unamiable mood; for his was generally no equal struggle with his victim. thus did the great prince deal with all his political opponents, and excited deadly enmity against himself; he jeered at the pompadour, the empress elizabeth, and the empress maria theresa at the dinner table, and circulated biting verses and pamphlets. that bad man, voltaire, he sometimes caressed, sometimes scolded and snarled at. but he also treated in the same way, men whom he really esteemed, and who were in his greatest confidence, whom he had received into the circle of his friends. he had drawn the marquis d'argens to his court, made him his chamberlain, and member of the academy; he was one of his most intimate and dearest companions. the letters which he wrote to him from the camp during the seven years' war are among the most charming and touching reminiscences that remain to us of the king. when he returned from that war, his fondest hope was that the marquis would dwell with him at sans souci. a few years afterwards this delightful connection was dissolved. but how was this possible? the marquis was the best frenchman to whom the king had attached himself; a man of honour and of refined feeling and cultivation, truly devoted to the king. but he was neither a remarkable nor a very superior man. for years the king had admired him as a man of learning, which he was not; he had formed to himself a pleasant poetical idea of him, as a wise, clear-sighted, safe philosopher, with agreeable wit and lively humour. now, in the intercourse of daily life, the king found himself mistaken; a certain sentimental tendency in the frenchman, which dwelt upon its own morbid hypochondria, irritated him; he began to discover that the aged marquis was neither a great scholar nor a man of strong mind; the ideal he had formed of him was destroyed. the king began to quiz him on account of his sentimentality; the sensitive frenchman begged for leave of absence, that he might travel to france for some months for his health. the king was deeply wounded at this touch of temper, and continued, in the friendly letters which he afterwards wrote to him, to quiz this morbid disposition. he said, "that it was reported that there was a _loup garou_ in france; no doubt this was the marquis as a prussian, in his invalid guise. did he now eat little children? this bad conduct he would not formerly have been guilty of, but men change much in travelling." the marquis remained two winters instead of a few months: when he was about to return, he sent the certificate of his physician; probably the good man was really ill, but the king was deeply wounded at this unnecessary verification from an old friend, and when the marquis returned, the old connection was spoiled. yet the king would not give him up, but amused himself by punishing his unconfiding friend by pungent speeches and sharp jests. then the frenchman, most thoroughly embittered, demanded his dismissal; he obtained it, and one may discover the sorrow and anger of the king from his answer. when the marquis, in the last letter he wrote to the king before his death, once more represented, not without bitterness, how scornfully and ill he had treated an unselfish admirer, the king read his letter in silence. but he wrote sorrowfully to the widow, of his friendship for her husband, and caused a costly monument to be erected to his memory. such was the case with most of his favourites: magical as was his power of attracting, equally demoniacal was his capacity of repelling. but it may be answered, to any one who blames this as a fault in the man, that in history there is scarcely another king who has so nobly opened his most secret soul to his friends, like frederic. frederic ii. had not worn the crown many months, when the emperor charles vi. died. everything now impelled the young king to play a great game. that he should have made such a resolution was, in spite of the momentary weakness of austria, a sign of daring courage. the countries which he ruled counted not more than a seventh of the population of the wide realm of maria theresa. it is true that his army was superior in number to the imperial, and still more in warlike capacity; and, according to the representations of the time, the mass of the people was not so suitable as now to recruit the army. little, too, did he foresee the greatness of character of maria theresa. but in his preparations for the invasion the king already showed that he had long hoped to measure himself with austria; he began the struggle in a spirit of exaltation that was decisive of his future life and for his state. little did he care for the foundation of his right to the duchy of silesia, though he employed his pen to demonstrate it to europe. the politicians of the despotic states of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries troubled themselves little on such points. whoever could give a good appearance to his cause, did so; but the most improbable evidence, the shallowest pretences, were sufficient. thus had louis xiv. made war; thus had the emperor carried out his interests against the turks, italians, germans, french, and spaniards; thus had a portion of the advantages gained by the great elector been marred by others. just where the rights of the hohenzollerns were most distinct--as in pomerania--they had been most wronged: by none more than the emperor and house of hapsburg. now the hohenzollern sought for revenge. "be my cicero and prove the justice of my cause, and i will be the cæsar to carry it through," wrote frederic to his jordan after the entrance into silesia. gaily, with winged steps, as to a dance, did the king enter upon the field of his victories. still did he carry on the enjoyments of life, pleasant trifling in verses, intellectual talk with his intimates upon the amusements of the day, on god, nature, and immortality; this converse was the salt of his life. but the great work on which he had entered began soon to have its effect on his character, even before he had been under fire in the first battle; and it afterwards worked on his soul till his hair became grey, and his fiery enthusiastic heart became hard as iron. with the wonderful acuteness of perception that was peculiar to him, he observed the beginning of this change. he reviewed his own life as though he were a stranger. "you will find me more philosophic than you think," he writes to a friend; "i have always been so, now more, now less. my youth, the fire of passion, the desire for fame, nay--to conceal nothing--even curiosity and a secret instinct, have driven me from the sweet repose which i enjoyed, and the wish to see my name in the newspapers and history have led me away. come here to me; philosophy maintains her claims, and, i assure you, if it were not for this cursed love of fame, i should think only of quiet comfort." and when the faithful jordan came to him, and frederic saw this man, who loved peaceful enjoyment, timid and uneasy in the field, the king suddenly felt that he had become an altered and a stronger man than him whom he had so long honoured for his learning, who had improved his verses, given style to his letters, and was so far superior to him in knowledge of greek. and in spite of all his philosophic culture, he gave the king the impression of a man without courage; with bitter scorn the king shook him off. in one of his best improvisations, he places himself as a warrior, in contradistinction to the sentimental philosopher. unfair, however, as were the satirical verses with which he overwhelmed him, yet he soon returned to his old kindly feeling. but it was also the first gentle hint of fate to the king himself: the like was often to happen to him again; he was to lose valuable men, true friends, one after the other; not only by death, but still more by the coldness and estrangement which arose betwixt his nature and theirs. for the path on which he had now entered was to add strength to all the greatness, but also to all the one-sidedness, of his nature. and the higher he raised himself above others, the more insignificant did their nature appear to him; almost all who in later years he measured by his own standard were little fitted to bear the comparison. the disappointment and disenchantment he then felt became sharper, till at last from his lonely height he looked down with stony eyes on the proceedings of the men at his feet. but still, to the last hour of his life, the penetrating glance of his brooding countenance was intermingled with the bright beams of gentle human feeling. it is this which makes the great tragic figure so touching to us. but now, in the beginning of his first war, he still looks back with longing to the quiet repose of his "remusberg," and deeply feels the pressure of the vast destiny before him. "it is difficult to bear good fortune and misfortune with equanimity," he writes. "one may easily appear to be indifferent in success, and unmoved amid losses, for the features of the face can always be made to dissemble; but the man, his inward nature, the folds of his heart, will not the less be assailed." he concludes, full of hope: "all that i wish is, that the result of my success may not be to destroy the human feelings and virtues which i have always owned; may my friends always find me such as i have been." at the end of the war he writes: "see, your friend is a second time conqueror. who would, some years ago, have said that a scholar in the school of philosophy would play a military _rôle_ in the world--that providence should have chosen a poet to upset the political system of europe?"[ ] so fresh and young were the feelings of frederic when he returned in triumph to berlin from the first war. he goes forth a second time to maintain silesia. again he is conqueror; he has already the quiet self-confidence of an experienced general; lively is his satisfaction at the excellence of his troops. "all that is flattering to me in this victory," he writes to frau von camas.[ ] "is, that by rapid decision and bold man[oe]uvres, i have been able to contribute to the preservation of many brave men. but i would not have one of the most insignificant of my soldiers wounded for idle fame, which no longer dazzles me." but in the middle of the struggle the death of two of his dearest friends occurred, jordan and kayserlingk. touching are his lamentations. "in less than three months i have lost my two most faithful friends--people with whom i have daily lived, agreeable companions, estimable men, and true friends. it is difficult for a heart so sensitive as mine to restrain my deep sorrow. when i return to berlin i shall feel almost a stranger in my own fatherland, isolated in my home. it has been your fate also to lose at once many persons who were dear to you; but i admire your courage, which i cannot imitate. my only hope is time, which brings all things in nature to an end. it begins by weakening the impressions on our brains, and only ceases by destroying ourselves. i now dread every place which recals to me the sorrowful remembrance of friends i have for ever lost." and again, a month after, he writes to a friend, who endeavoured to comfort him: "do not think that the pressure of business and danger distracts one's mind in sorrow? i know from experience that it is unsuccessful. alas! a month has passed since my tears and my sorrow began, but since the first vehement outburst of the first days i feel as sorrowful and as little comforted as in the beginning." and when his worthy tutor, duhan, sent him some french books of jordan's, which the king had desired, in the latter part of the autumn of the same year, he wrote, "the tears came into my eyes when i opened the books of my poor departed jordan, i loved him so much, and it is very painful to me to think that he is no more." not long after, the king lost the friend also to whom this letter was addressed. the loss of his youthful friends in made a great wrench in the inward life of the king. with these unselfish, honourable men died almost all who made his intercourse with others happy. the relations upon which he now entered were altogether of another kind: the best of his men acquaintance only became the intimates of some hours, not the friends of his heart. the need of exciting intellectual intercourse remained, indeed it became even stronger. for there was this peculiar characteristic in him, that he could not exist without cheerful and confidential relations, nor without the easy, almost unreserved, talk which through all the phases of his moods, whether thoughtful or frivolous, touched lightly upon everything, from the greatest questions of the human race to the smallest events of the day. immediately after his accession to the throne, he had written to voltaire, and invited him to come to him. voltaire came, at the cost of much money, for a few days to berlin; he gave the king the impression of his being a fool, nevertheless frederic felt an immeasurable respect for the talent of the man. voltaire appeared to him the greatest poet of all times,--the lord high chamberlain of parnassus, where the king so much wished to play a _rôle_. ever stronger became frederic's wish to possess this man. he considered himself as his scholar; he wished his verses to be approved of by the master. among his brandenburg officers he languished for the wit and intellect of the elegant frenchman; there was also much of the vanity of the sovereign in this: he wished to be as much a prince of _bels esprits_ and philosophers as he had been a renowned general. since the second silesia war his intimates were generally foreigners; after he had the pleasure of seeing the great voltaire established as a member of his court. it was no misfortune that the bad man only remained a few years among the barbarians. it was in the ten years from to that frederic gained an importance and a self-confidence as an author, which up to the present day is not sufficiently appreciated in germany. of his french verses the germans can only judge imperfectly. he had great facility as a poet, and could express without trouble every mood in rhyme and verse. but in his lyrics he has never, in the eyes of frenchmen, entirely overcome the difficulties of a foreign language, however carefully they may have been revised by his intimates; indeed, he was wanting always, it appears to us, in that equal rhetorical harmony of style which in the time of voltaire was the first characteristic of a renowned poet, for we find commonplace and trivial expressions in splendid diction, together with beautiful and pompous periods. his taste, too, was not assured and independent enough; he was in his æsthetic judgment rapid in admiring and short in deciding, but in reality far more dependent on the opinions of his french acquaintance than his pride would have admitted. the best off-shoot of french poetry at that time was the return to nature, and the struggle of truth against the fetters of old _convenances_, this was incomprehensible to the king. rousseau long appeared to him an eccentric poor devil, and the conscientious and pure spirit of diderot he considered as shallow. and yet it appears to us that in his own poems, and especially in the light improvisations with which he favoured his friends, there is frequently a richness of poetic detail and a heart-winning tone of true feeling which they, especially his pattern voltaire, might envy him. like cæsar's "commentaries," frederic's history of his time forms one of the most important monuments of historical literature.[ ] it is true that, like the roman general and like every practical statesman, he wrote the facts as they were reflected from the mind of one who took part in them; all is not equally appreciated by him; he does not do justice to every party, but he knows incomparably more than those who were at a distance, and enters, not quite impartially, but at the same time with magnanimity to his opponents, into some of the innermost motives of great occurrences. he wrote sometimes without the great apparatus that a professional historian must collect around him; it therefore happens that his memory and judgment, however authentic they may be, sometimes leave him in the lurch; finally, he wrote an apology of his house, his policy, and his campaigns, and, like cæsar, he is sometimes silent, and interprets facts as he wishes them to be brought before posterity. but the open-heartedness and love of truth with which he deals with his own house and his own doings, are not less worthy of admiration than the supreme calm and freedom with which he views events, in spite of the small rhetorical flourishes which belonged to the taste of the time. equally astonishing as his fertility is his versatility. one of the greatest of military writers, an important historian, a facile poet, a popular philosopher, and practical statesman, also even an anonymous and very copious pamphlet writer, and sometimes journalist, he is always ready for everything: to portray with his pen in the field whatever fills, warms, and inspires him, and to attack in prose and verse every one who irritates or vexes him, not only pope and empress, jesuits and dutch newspaper writers, but also old friends if they appear to him lukewarm, which he could never bear, or threaten to fall away from him. never--since the time of luther--has there been so contentious, reckless, and unwearied a writer. as soon as he puts pen to paper he is, like proteus, everything, sage or intriguer, historian or poet, just as situation required, always an excitable, fiery, intellectual, and sometimes also an ill-behaved man; but of his kingly office he thinks little. all that is dear to him he celebrates by poems and eulogies: the exalted precepts of his philosophy, his friends, his army, his freedom of faith, independent inquiry, toleration and the education of the people. victoriously did the mind of frederic extend itself in all directions. nothing withheld him when ambition drove him on to conquer. then came years of trial, seven years of fearful, heart-rending cares; the period when the rich soaring spirit undertook the most difficult task that was ever allotted to man; when almost everything seemed to fall from him which he possessed for himself, of joy and happiness, hopes and egotistical comfort; when everything charming and agreeable to him as man was destined to die to him, that he might become the self-denying prince of his people, the great official of the state, the hero of a nation. it was not with the lust of conquest that he this time entered upon the combat; it had long been clear to him that he had now to struggle for his own and his kingdom's life. but so much the loftier grew his resolution. like the storm-wind, he wished to break the clouds which gathered on all sides round his head. by the energy of his irresistible attacks he thought to dissipate the storm before it burst upon him. he had hitherto been unconquered; his enemies were beaten whenever he had fallen upon them with the irresistible instrument in his hand--his army. this was his hope, his only one. if this well-tested power did not fail him now, he might save his state. but in his first encounter with the austrians, his old enemies, he saw that they also had learnt of him and had become different. to the uttermost did he exert his power, and at collin it failed him. the th of june, , was the most fatal day in frederic's life; he found there what twice in this war tore the victory from him: that he had too little estimated his enemies, and had expected what was beyond human powers of his valiant army. after being stunned for a short time, frederic roused himself with fresh energy. from an offensive he was driven to a desperate defensive war: on all sides the enemy broke into his little country; he was in deadly struggle with every great power of the continent, the master of only four millions of men, and a conquered army. now he proved his generalship by the way in which, after his losses, he retreated from the enemy, then pounced upon and beat them, when they least expected him, by throwing himself now against one, and now against another army, unsurpassed in his dispositions, inexhaustible in his expedients, and unequalled as leader of his troops. thus he maintained himself, one against five, against austria, russia, and france, each one of which exceeded him in strength; and at the same time against sweden and the german troops of the empire. five long years did he struggle against this enormous preponderance of power,--each spring in danger of being crushed by the masses alone, and each autumn again in safety. a loud cry of admiration and sympathy echoed through europe; and among the first unwilling eulogisers were his most violent enemies. it was just in these years of changing fortune, when the king himself was experiencing the bitter chances of the fortunes of war, that his generalship became the astonishment of all the armies of europe. the method in which he arrayed his lines against the enemy, always the quickest and most skilful; how he so often, by moving in echelon, pressed back the weakest wing of the enemy, outflanked and crushed it; how his newly created cavalry, which had become the first in the world, charged upon the enemy, broke their ranks and burst through their hosts,--all this was considered everywhere as a new step in the art of war, as an invention of the greatest genius. the tactics and strategy of the prussian army were, for almost half a century, the pattern and model for all the armies of europe. unanimous was the judgment that frederic was the greatest commander of his time, and that before him, throughout all history, there had been few generals to compare with him. that smaller numbers should so frequently conquer the larger, that when beaten they should not dissolve away, but, when the enemy had scarcely recovered their wounds, should be able to re-encounter him as before, so threatening and so disciplined, appeared incredible. but we not only extol the generalship of the king, but also the clever discretion of his infantry tactics. he knew well how much he was restrained by the consideration of magazines and commissariat, by the thousands of waggons full of stores and daily necessaries for the soldiers which must accompany him, but he also knew that this was his safest course. once only, when after the battle of rossbach, he made that wonderful march into silesia, forty-one german miles in fifteen days, being in the greatest danger, he advanced through the country, as other armies do now, supporting his men by the billeting system. but he immediately returned to his former wise custom.[ ] for if his enemies should learn to imitate this independent movement, he would certainly be lost. when the country militia of his old province rose up to withstand and drive away the swedes, and valiantly defended colberg and berlin, he was much pleased, but took care not to encourage popular warfare; and when his east friesland people rose of their own accord against the french, and were severely handled by them, he roughly told them it was their own fault, as war ought to be carried on by soldiers, and that tranquil labour, taxes, and recruiting were for peasants and citizens. he knew well that he was lost, if a popular war were excited against him in saxony and bohemia. this very narrow-mindedness of the cautious general with respect to military forms, which alone made the struggle possible, may perhaps be reckoned as one of his greatest qualities. ever louder became the expression of sorrow and admiration with which germans and foreigners watched the death struggle of the lion beset on all sides. as early as , the young king had been extolled by the protestants as the partisan of freedom of conscience and enlightenment, against jesuits and intolerance. when, a few months after the battle of collin, he so entirely beat the french at rossbach, he became the hero of germany, and there was a burst of exultation everywhere. for two centuries the french had inflicted the greatest injury on the much-divided country; now the german nature began to oppose itself to the influence of french culture, and now the king, who had so much admired parisian verses, had as wonderfully scared away the parisian general. it was such a brilliant victory, the old enemy was so disgracefully overthrown, that it rejoiced all hearts throughout the empire; even where the soldiers of the sovereigns were in the field against king frederic, the citizens and peasants rejoiced secretly at his german blows. the longer the war lasted, the firmer became the belief in the king's invincibility, so much the more did the self-respect of the germans rise. after long, long years, they had at last found a hero, of whose warlike fame they could be proud, who would accomplish what was almost more than human. numberless anecdotes about him circulated through the country; every little trait of his composure, of his good humour and friendliness with the soldiers, or of the fidelity of his army, flew hundreds of miles; how, when in peril of death, he played his flute in his tent; how his wounded soldiers sang chorales after the battle; how, he had taken off his hat to a regiment--he has since been often imitated in this,--all these stories were carried to the neckar and the rhine, printed and listened to with glad smiles and tears of emotion. it was natural that the poets should sing his praises; three of them had been in the prussian army, gleim and lessing as secretaries to the general in command, and ewald von kleist, the favourite of a young literary circle, as an officer, till at last he was struck by a ball at kunnersdorf. but still more touching to us is the faithful devotion of the prussian people; the old provinces, prussia, pomerania, the marches, and westphalia, had suffered indescribably from the war, but the proud pleasure of having a share in the hero of europe made even the most inconsiderable man forget his own sufferings. the armed citizens and peasants for years marched to the field as militia-men. when a number of recruits from cleves and the county of ravensberg, after a lost action, fled from their banners and returned home, they were denounced by their country-people and relations as perjured, expelled from the villages, and driven back to the army. there was no difference in the opinion abroad. in the protestant cantons of switzerland as warm an interest was taken in the fate of the king as if the descendants of the rütli men had never been separated from the german empire. there were people there who became ill with vexation when the king's affairs were in a bad state.[ ] it was the same in england. every victory of the king excited in london loud expressions of joy; houses were lighted up; pictures and laudatory poems were sold in the streets; and pitt announced, with admiration, in parliament every new act of the great ally. even in paris, at the theatre and in society, the feeling was more prussian than french. the french jeered at their own generals, and the clique of pompadour, which was for the war, could hardly, as we are informed by duclos, appear in public. at petersburg the grand duke peter and his adherents were so prussian that at every loss sustained by frederic they secretly mourned. the enthusiasm reached even to turkey and the great cham of tartary; and this respectful interest outlasted the war in a great portion of the world. the painter hackert, when travelling through a small city in the middle of sicily, received fruit and wine from the magistrates as a gift of honour, because they had heard that he was a prussian, a subject of the great king to whom they wished to show honour. muley ismail, emperor of morocco, caused the crew of a vessel belonging to a citizen of emden, which had been carried off by the moors to magador, to be released without ransom; he sent them newly clothed to lisbon, and assured them that their king was the greatest man in the world; that no prussian should ever suffer imprisonment in his country, and that his cruisers should never attack the prussian flag. poor oppressed spirit of the german people, how long it had been since the men betwixt the rhine and the oder had felt the pleasure of being esteemed above others among the nations of the earth! now everything was transformed by the magic of the character of one man. the countryman, as if awaking from a fearful dream, looked out upon the world and into his own heart. long had they lived lethargically without a past in which they could rejoice, or a noble future on which to place their hopes. now they found at once that they had a portion in the honours and greatness of the world; that a king and his people, all of their blood, had given an aureola of glory to the german nation--a new purport to the history of civilised man. now they had all experienced how a great man could struggle, venture, dare, and conquer. now labour in your study, peaceful thinker, imaginative dreamer; you have learnt during the night to look abroad with smiles, and to hope great things from your own endowments. try now what will gush from your heart. whilst the youthful strength of the people fluttered its wings with enthusiastic warmth, what, meanwhile, were the feelings of the great prince, who was incessantly contending with enemies? the enthusiastic acclamations of the nation bore only feeble tones to his ear; the king received it almost with indifference. in him everything was calm and cold; though, undoubtedly, he had hours of passionate sorrow and heart-rending care. but he concealed them from his army; the calm countenance became harder, the furrows deeper, the expression more rigid. there were but few to whom he occasionally opened his heart; then, for some moments, the sorrows of the man, which had reached the limits of human endurance, broke forth. ten days after the battle of collin, his mother died; a few weeks later, in anger, he drove his brother august wilhelm away from the army, because he had not carried on the war with sufficient vigour. this prince died in that same year, of grief, as the king was informed by the officer who reported it. shortly afterwards he received the account of the death of his sister of baireuth. one after another his generals fell by his side, or lost the king's confidence; because they were not able to come up to the superhuman requirements of this war. his old soldiers, his pride, the iron warriors who had gone through the test of three severe wars--they who, dying, still stretched out their hands to him and called upon his name--were expiring in heaps around him; and those who filled up the wide gaps which death incessantly made in his army were young recruits, some of good material, but many bad ones. the king used them, as he had done the others, with strictness and severity; but even in the worst subjects his look and word inspired both bravery and devotion. but he knew that all this would not avail; short and cutting was his censure, and sparing was his praise. thus he continued to live; five summers and winters came and went; the labour was gigantic; he was unwearied in planning and combining; his eagle eye scrutinisingly scanned what was most distant and most trivial, and yet there was no change and no hope. the king read and wrote in his hours of rest, just as before; he made his verses and kept up a correspondence with voltaire and algarotti; but he was resolved all this must soon come to an end, a short and quick one. he carried with him, day and night, what would free him from daun and laudon. the whole affair of life sometimes appeared to him contemptible. the disposition of the man, from whom the intellectual life of germany dates its new era, deserves well to be regarded with reverence by germans. it is only possible to give some idea of it by the way in which it breaks out in frederic's letters to the marquis d'argens and frau von camas. thus does the great king speak of his life:-- " , _june_.--the only remedy for my sorrow lies in the daily work i am obliged to do, and in the continual distractions which the number of my enemies occasion me. if i had died at collin, i should now be in a haven where i should fear no more storms. now i must navigate on a stormy sea till i have discovered in some small corner of earth, that good which i have never yet found in this world. for two years i have been standing like a wall in which misfortune has made its breaches. but do not think that i am becoming weak; one must protect oneself in these unfortunate times by bowels of iron and a heart of bronze, in order to lose all feeling. the next month will decide the fate of my poor country. my calculation is, that i shall save or fall with it. you can have no idea of the dangers in which we are, nor of the terrors which surround us." " , _december_--i am weary of this life; the wandering jew is less driven about hither and thither, than i; i have lost all that i have loved and honoured in this world; i see myself surrounded by unfortunates whose sufferings i cannot aid. my soul is still filled with the impression of the ruin of my best provinces, and of the horrors which a horde of barbarians, more like unreasoning beasts than men, have practised there. in my old age i have come down almost to be a theatrical king; you will acknowledge that such a situation is not sufficiently attractive to bind the soul of a philosopher to life." " , _march_.--i know not what my fate will be. i will do all that depends upon me to save myself; and if i am worsted the enemy shall pay dear for it. i have lived, during my winter quarters, as a recluse; i have my meals alone, pass my life in reading and writing, and do not sigh. when one is sorrowful it costs one too much in the long run to conceal one's chagrin incessantly, and it is better to bear one's trouble alone than to bring one's vexations into society. nothing comforts me but the violent strain, as long as it lasts, which work requires; it drives away sorrowful ideas. "but ah! when work is ended, then gloomy thoughts become vigorous as ever. maupertuis is right: the amount of evil is greater than of good. but it is all the same to me; i have nothing more to lose, and the few days that remain to me do not disquiet me so much that i should take a lively interest in them." " , _th august_.--i will throw myself in their way, and have my head cut off, or save the capital. i think that is determination enough. i will not answer for the success. if i had more than one life i would resign it for my fatherland; but if this stroke fails i hold myself at quits with my country, and i may be allowed to take care of myself. there is a limit to everything. i bear my misfortunes without losing my courage. but i am quite determined, if this undertaking fails, to make myself a way out, that i may not be the sport of every kind of accident. believe me, one requires more than firmness and endurance to maintain oneself in my position. but i tell you openly, if any misfortune happens to me you must not calculate upon my outliving the ruin and destruction of my fatherland. i have my own way of thinking. i will neither imitate sertorius nor cato; i do not think of my fame, but of the state." " , _oct_.--death would be sweet in comparison with such a life. if you have any sympathy with my situation, believe me i conceal much trouble with which i do not grieve or disquiet others. i regard death like a stoic. never will i live to see the moment which would oblige me to conclude a disadvantageous peace. either i will bury myself under the ruins of my fatherland, or, if this consolation appears too sweet to the fate which pursues me, i will make an end of my sufferings as soon as it is no longer possible to bear them. i have acted, and continue to act, according to this inward feeling of honour. i have sacrificed my youth to my father, and my manhood to my fatherland. i think, therefore, i have acquired the right to dispose of my old age. i say it, and i repeat it--never will my hand sign a humiliating peace. i have made some observations upon the military talents of charles xii.,[ ] but i have never considered whether he ought to have killed himself or not. i think that, after the taking of stralsund, he would have done wiser to annihilate himself; but, whatever he did or left undone, his example is no rule for me. there are people who learn from prosperity. i do not belong to that class. i have lived for others; i will die for myself i am very indifferent as to what others may say concerning it, and assure you i shall never hear it. henry iv. was a younger son of a good house who achieved his good fortune; it did not signify much to him. why should he have hung himself in misfortune? louis xiv. was a greater king, had greater resources; he got himself out of difficulties well or ill. as regards me i have not the resources of this man, but i value honour more than he did; and, as i have told you, i guide myself after no one. we calculate, if i am right, years since the creation of the world; i believe that this reckoning is far too low for the age of the universe. the country of brandenburg has existed this whole time, before i did, and will continue after my death. states are preserved by the propagation of races, and as long as this continues, the masses will be governed by ministers or sovereigns. it is much the same whether they be rather more simple or rather more clever; the difference is so little that the mass of the people scarcely discover it. do not, therefore, repeat to me the old answers of courtiers; self-love and vanity cannot entirely alter my feelings. it is not so much an act of weakness to end such unhappy days, as it is cautious policy. i have lost all my friends and dearest relations. i am to the last extent unfortunate. i have nothing to hope; my enemies treat me with contempt and derision, and in their pride are prepared to trample me under foot." " , _nov_.--my labours are terrible, the war has continued during five campaigns. we neglect nothing that can give us means of resistance, and i stretch the bow with my whole strength; but an army should be composed of arms and heads. arms do not fail us, but heads are no longer to be found; if you would only give yourself the trouble to order me some of the sculptor, adam, they would serve me as well as those i have. my duty and honour keep me steadfast; but, in spite of stoicism and endurance, there are moments when one feels some desire to give oneself up to the devil. adieu, my dear marquis, may it fare well with you, and pray for a poor devil who will betake himself to that meadow where the asphodels grow if the peace does not take effect." " , _june_.--do not count upon peace this year. if good fortune does not abandon me, i shall get out of the business as well as i can; but next year i shall still have to dance on the tight-rope and make dangerous bounds when it pleases their very apostolical, very christian, and very muscovite majesties to call out, 'jump, marquis!' ah, how hard-hearted men are! they tell me, 'you have friends.' yes, fine friends, who cross their arms and say, 'indeed, i wish you all happiness!' 'but i am drowning--hand me a rope!' 'no, you will not drown.' 'yet i must sink the very next moment.' 'oh, we hope the contrary; but, if it should happen, be assured we would place a beautiful inscription on your tomb.' such is the world. these are the fine compliments with which i am greeted on all sides." " , _jan_.--i have been so unfortunate throughout this whole war, with my pen as well as with my sword, that i do not believe in any fortunate occurrences. yes; experience is a fine thing. in my youth i was as ungovernable as a young colt, that gallops about the meadow without bridle; now i am as cautious as an old nestor: but i am also grey and wrinkled with care, and weighed down by bodily suffering; and, in a word, only good enough to be thrown to the dogs. you have always admonished me to take care of myself; show me the means, my dear friend, when one is hauled about as i am. the birds which one delivers to the wantonness of children, the tops which are whipped by those little monkeys, are not more tossed about and misused than i am now by three furious enemies." " , _may_.--i am passing through the school of patience; it is hard, tedious, terrible, indeed barbarous. i only help myself out of it by looking on the universe in general, as from a distant planet there everything appears to me infinitely small, and i pity my enemies for taking so much trouble about such trifles. is this old age, is it reflection, is it reason? i regard all the events of life with far more indifference than formerly. if there is anything to be done for the welfare of the state, i can yet apply some strength to it; but, between ourselves, it is no longer with the fiery vehemence of my youth, nor the enthusiasm that then animated me. it is time that the war should come to an end, for my preachings become tedious, and my hearers will soon complain of me." to frau von camas he writes:--"you speak of the death of poor f----. ah, dear mamma, for six years i have mourned more for the living than for the dead." thus did the king write and grieve, but he held out; and any one who is startled by the gloomy energy of his resolves, must guard himself from thinking that these were the highest expressions of the powers of this wonderful mind. it is true that the king had moments of depression, when he desired death under the fire of the enemy rather than seek it from his own hand out of the phial which he carried about him. it is true that he was firmly determined not to bring destruction on his state by allowing himself to live as a prisoner of the austrians. there was a fearful truth in all that he wrote; but he was of a poetic disposition; he was a child of the century, which had such a craving for great deeds, and took delight in the expression of exalted feelings; he was, to his heart's core, a german, with the same longings as the immeasurably weaker klopstock and his admirers. the contemplation and decided utterance of this last resolve gave him inward freedom and cheerfulness. he wrote concerning it also to his sister of baireuth, in the dismal second year of the war, and this letter is particularly characteristic;[ ] for she also had decided not to outlive the fall of her house; and he approved this decision, to which, however, he paid little attention, being immersed in the gloomy satisfaction of his own reflections. both these royal children had once secretly recited together the _rôles_ of french tragedies in the strict parental house; now their hearts beat again in unison, both thinking of freeing themselves, by an antique death, from a life full of illusions, errors, and sufferings. but when the excited and nervous sister fell dangerously ill, frederic forgot all his stoical philosophy, and, with a passionate tenderness that still clung to life, he fretted and grieved about her who was the dearest to him of his family; and when she died, his sorrow was, perhaps, more severe from feeling that he had enacted a tragic part in the tender life of the woman. thus, strangely, was mixed in the greatest german that arose in the eighteenth century, poetical feeling and the wish to appear charming and great with the earnest life of reality. the poor little professor semler, who, in the midst of the deepest emotion, still studied his attitudes and prepared his compliments, and the great king, who, in calm expectation of the hour of death, wrote in finely-formed periods concerning self-destruction, were both sons of that same time in which the pathos that found no worthy expression in art twined like a creeper round real life. but the king was greater than his philosophy; in fact, he never lost his courage, nor the stubborn strength of the german, nor the quiet hope which is needful to man for every great work. and he held out. the strength of his enemies became less, their generals were worn out, and their armies shattered, and at last russia withdrew from the coalition. this, and the king's last victory, decided the question. he had triumphed, he had preserved the conquered silesia to prussia; his people exulted, the faithful citizens of his capital prepared him a festive reception, but he avoided all rejoicings, and returned alone and quietly to sans souci. he wished, he said, to live the rest of his days in peace and for his people. the first three-and-twenty years of his reign he had struggled and fought, and established his power throughout the world; three-and-twenty years more was he to rule over his people as a wise and strict father. the ideas according to which he guided the state--with great self-denial, but also self-will, aiming at the highest, but also ruling in the most trifling matters--have been partly set aside by the higher culture of the present day; they express the knowledge which he had gained in his youth, and from the experiences of his early manhood. the mind was to be free, and each one to think as he chose, but to do his duty as a citizen. as he subordinated his pleasure and expenditure to the good of the state, restricting the whole royal household to about , thalers, and thought first of the advantage of the people, and not till then of his own; so were all his subjects to be ready to do the duties and bear the burdens he might impose upon them. each was to remain in the sphere in which his birth and education had placed him; the nobleman was to be landowner and officer; the sphere of the citizen was the city, commerce, industry, teaching, and invention; that of the peasant was field labour and service. but each in his position was to be prosperous and comfortable. there was to be equal, strict, rapid justice for all; no favour for the noble or rich, but rather, in doubtful cases, for the poor man. the number of working men was to be increased, each occupation made as remunerative and as prosperous as possible; the less that was imported from abroad the better; everything to be produced at home, and the surplus to be disposed of beyond the frontiers. such were the main principles of his political economy. incessantly did he endeavour to increase the number of morgens of arable land, and to procure new places for settlers. swamps were drained, lakes drawn off, and dykes thrown up; canals were dug, and advances made for the establishment of new manufactories; cities and villages rebuilt more solid and convenient than before, under the active encouragement of government; the provincial credit system, the fire-insurance society, and the royal bank were established; popular schools everywhere founded, well-informed people encouraged to come, and the education and discipline of the ruling official class promoted by examinations and strict control. it is the business of historians to enumerate and extol all this, and also to recount some vain attempts of the king which failed from his endeavour to guide everything himself. the king looked after all his dominions, and not least after that child of sorrow, the newly won silesia. when he conquered this large province it had little more than a million of inhabitants.[ ] greatly was the contrast felt between the easy-going austrian government and the strict, restless, stirring rule of prussia. at vienna the catalogue of forbidden books was greater than at rome; now ceaseless bales of books found their way into the province from germany: all were free to buy and read, even the attacks upon their own ruler. in austria it was the privilege of the nobility to wear foreign cloth; in prussia, when the father of frederic the great had forbidden the import of foreign cloth, he first dressed himself and his princesses in home-made manufacture. at vienna no office was considered distinguished for which anything more was required than representation: all the work was the affair of the subalterns; the lord of the bedchamber was more considered than a deserving general or minister. in prussia even the highest in rank was little esteemed if he was not useful to the state; and the king himself was the most precise official, for he looked after every thousand thalers that were saved or disbursed. he who in austria left the roman catholic faith was punished with confiscation and banishment; in prussia every one could change his religion as he chose, that was his affair. in the imperial dominions the government felt it burdensome to look after anything; the prussian officials thrust their noses into everything. in spite of the three silesian wars, the country was far more flourishing than in the imperial time; a century had not been sufficient to efface the traces of the thirty years' war; the people remembered well how in the cities heaps of ruins had remained from the swedish time, and everywhere near the newly-built houses, the dismal wastes caused by fire. many little cities had still blockhouses in the old sclavonian style, with straw and shingle roofs, which had long been scantily patched. under the prussians, not only the traces of the old devastation, but even of the seven years' war, soon disappeared. frederic had fifteen large cities built up with regular streets at the king's cost, and some hundred new villages constructed and occupied by freehold colonists; he had laid on the landed proprietors the heavy burden of rebuilding some thousands of homesteads, and occupying them with tenants with hereditary rights. in the imperial time the imposts had been far less, but they were unequally apportioned, and the heaviest burdens were on the poor; the nobles were exempt from the greater part; the method of raising them was ill arranged; much was embezzled or squandered, and little proportionately found its way into the emperor's coffers. the prussians, on the other hand, had divided the country into small circles, valued the collective acreage, and in a few years had withdrawn all exemptions from taxes; the country now paid its ground tax, the cities their excise. thus the province bore a double amount of burdens with greater ease, only the privileged murmured; and in this way it was able to maintain , soldiers, whilst formerly there had been only . before the nobles had acted the part of fine gentlemen; any one who was a roman catholic, and rich, lived at vienna; others, who could afford it, went to breslau. now the greater number of the landed proprietors dwelt on their properties. krippenreiters had ceased; the noblemen knew that the king considered it honourable in him to care for the culture of his ground, and that he showed cold contempt towards those who were not landlords, officials, or officers. formerly, law-suits were incessant and costly, and could scarcely be carried on without bribery and great sacrifice of money; now the number of lawyers became less, because decisions were so rapid. under the austrians the caravan traffic with the east of europe had undoubtedly been greater; the bukowins and hungarians, and also the poles, became estranged, and already looked to trieste; but new sources of industry arose, large manufactories of wool and cloth, and in the mountain valleys linen, were established. many were dissatisfied with the new time, some were in fact oppressed by its harshness, but few ventured to deny that on the whole there was improvement. but there was another characteristic of the prussian state that made an impression on the silesians, and soon obtained a mastery over their minds. this was the devoted spartan spirit of those who served the king, which frequently appeared in the lowest officials. the excise officers, even before the introduction of the french system, were little liked; they were invalid subaltern officers, old soldiers of the king, who had won his battles, and had grown grey in his service. they sat now at the gates, and smoked their wooden pipes; they received very little pay, and could indulge themselves in little, but were from early dawn till late in the evening at their post, did their duty skilfully, quickly, and punctually, like old soldiers, received and faithfully delivered up the money as a matter of course. they thought always of their service: it was their honour, their pride; and long did the old silesians continue to relate to their descendants how much they had been struck by the punctiliousness, strictness, and honesty of these and other prussian officials. there was in every district town a receiver of taxes; he lived in his small office room, which was perhaps at the same time his bedroom, and received in a large wooden dish the land tax which the village magistrate brought to his room once a month. many thousand thalers were noted down on the long list, and were delivered to the last penny into the state coffers. small was the salary of even such a man as this; he sat, received and packed away in bags, till his hair became white, and his trembling hands could no longer lay hold of the two-groschen pieces. and the pride of his life was, that the king knew him personally, and, if he ever came through the place during the change of horses, he fixed on him silently his large eyes, or, if he was very gracious, inclined his head a little towards him. the people regarded with a certain degree of respect and awe these subordinate servants of a new principle. and not the silesians only; it was something new in the world. it was not as a mere jest that frederic ii. had called himself the first servant of his state. as on the battlefield he had taught his wild nobles that the highest honour was to die for the fatherland, so did his unwearied care and high sense of duty imprint upon the soul of the meanest of his servants on the most distant frontiers his great idea, that his first duty was to live and labour for the good of his king and country. though the provinces of prussia, in the seven years' war, were compelled to do homage to the empress elizabeth, and remained for some time incorporated in the russian empire, yet the officials of the districts under the foreign army and government ventured secretly to raise money and provisions for their king, and great art was required for the passage of the transports. many were in the secret, but there was not one traitor; they stole in disguise through the russian camp in danger of their lives. they discovered afterwards that they earned little thanks by it, for the king did not like his east prussians; he spoke depreciatingly of them; seldom showed them the same favour as the other provinces; he looked like stone whenever he learnt that one of his young officers was born between the vistula and memel, and never entered his east prussian province after the war. but the east prussians were not shaken in their veneration for him: they clung with true love to their ungracious master, and his best and most intellectual panegyrist was emmanuel kant. the life in the king's service was undoubtedly a rough one: incessant were the work and deprivations; it was difficult for the best to do enough for so strict a master, and the greatest devotion received but curt thanks; if a man was worn out he was probably coldly thrown aside; the labour was without end everywhere,--new undertakings--scaffoldings of an unfinished building. to any one who came into the country this life did not appear cheerful, it was so austere, monotonous, and rough; there was little of beauty or pleasure in it; and as the bachelor household of the king, with his obedient servants and his submissive intimates taking the air under the trees of a quiet garden, gave the impression of a monastery to a foreign guest; so he found in the whole prussian regime, something of the self-denial and obedience of a large industrious monastic brotherhood. somewhat of this spirit had passed into the people themselves. but we honour in this an enduring service of frederic ii.: still is this spirit of self-denial the secret of the greatness of the prussian state, the last and best guarantee for its duration. the excellent machine which the king had erected with so much intelligence and energy could not eternally last; it was shattered twenty years after his death; but that the state did not at the same time sink,--that the intelligence and patriotism of the citizen were in a condition to create a new life on new foundations under his successors,--is the secret of frederic's greatness. nine years after the conclusion of the last war, which led to the retention of silesia, frederic increased his kingdom by a new acquisition, not much less in number of miles, but with a scanty population: it was the district of poland, which has since passed under the name of west prussia. if the claims of the king on silesia had been doubtful, it required all the acuteness of his officials to put a plausible appearance on the uncertain rights to a portion of the new acquisition. the king himself cared little about it; he had, with almost superhuman heroism, defended the possession of silesia in the face of the world; that province had been bound to prussia by streams of blood; but in this case, political shrewdness was almost all that had been required. long, in the opinion of men, was the conqueror deficient in that justification which it appeared was only given by the horrors of war and the accidental fortune of the battle-field. but this last acquisition of the king, which was made without the thunder of cannon or the flourish of victory, was, of all the great gifts for which the german people had to thank frederic ii., the greatest and most beneficial. during many hundred years the much-divided germans were confined and injured by ambitious neighbours; the great king was the first conqueror who extended the german frontier further to the east. a century after his great ancestor had in vain defended the rhine fortresses against louis xiv., he again gave the germans the emphatic admonition, that it was their task to carry laws, education, freedom, cultivation, and industry into the east of europe. his whole country, with the exception of some old saxon territory, had been won from the sclavonians by force and colonisation; never since the great migration of the middle ages had the struggle for the wide plains on the east of the oder ceased; never had his house forgotten that it was the guardian of the german frontier. whenever the struggle of arms ceased, politicians contended. the elector frederic william had freed the prussian territories of the teutonic order from the polish suzerainty. frederic i. had brought this isolated colony under the crown. but the possession of east prussia was insecure; the danger was not, however, from the degenerate republic of poland, but from the rising greatness of russia. frederic had learnt to consider the russians as enemies; he knew the high-flown plans of the empress catherine; the clever prince knew how to grasp at the fitting moment. the new domain--pommerellen, the woiwodschaft of kulm and marienburg, the bishopric of ermland, the city of elbing, a portion of kujavien, and a part of posen--united east prussia with pomerania and the marches of brandenburg. it had always been a frontier land; since ancient times people of different races had thronged to the coast of the northern sea: germans, sclavonians, lithuanians, and finns. since the thirteenth century, the germans had forced themselves into this debatable ground as founders of cities and agriculturists; orders of knights, merchants, pious monks, german noblemen, and peasants congregated there. on both sides of the vistula arose towers and boundary stones of the german colonists. above all rose the splendid dantzic,--the venice of the baltic, the great sea-mart of the sclavonian countries, with its rich marien-church and the palaces of its merchants; behind it, on the other arm of the vistula, its modest rival elbing; further upwards, the stately towers and broad arcades of marienburg, where is the great princely castle of the teutonic knights, the most beautiful edifice in the north of germany; and in the luxurious low-countries, in the valley of the vistula, were the old prosperous colonial properties, one of the most favoured districts of the world, and defended by powerful dikes against the devastations of the vistula. still further upwards, marienwerder, graudenz, kulm, and in the low countries, netzebromberg, the centre of a strip of polish frontier. smaller german cities and village communities were scattered through the whole territory, which had been energetically colonised by the rich cistercian monasteries of oliva and pelplin. but the tyrannical severity of this order drove the german cities and landed proprietors of west prussia, in the fifteenth century, to annex themselves to poland. the reformation of the sixteenth century subdued not only the souls of the german colonists, but also those of the poles. in the great polish republic, three-fourths of the nobility became protestants, and in the sclavonian districts of pommerellen, seventy out of one hundred parishes, did the same. but the introduction of the jesuits brought an unhealthy change. the polish nobles fell back to the roman catholic church, their sons were brought up in the jesuits' schools as converting fanatics. from that time the polish state began to decline; its condition became constantly more hopeless. there was a great difference in the conduct of the germans of west prussia with respect to proselytising jesuits and sclavonian tyranny. the immigrant german nobles became roman catholic and polish, but the citizens and peasants remained stubborn protestants. to the opposition of languages was added the opposition of confessions; to the hatred of race, the fury of contending faiths. in the century of enlightenment there was a fanatical persecution of the germans in these provinces; one protestant church after another was pulled down, the wooden ones were burnt; when a church was burnt, the villages lost the right of having bells; german preachers and schoolmasters were driven away and shamefully ill-used "_vexa lutheranum dabit thalerum_" was the usual saying of the poles against the germans. one of the great landed proprietors of the country, starost of gnesen, from the family of birnbaum, was condemned to death, by tearing out his tongue and chopping off his hands, because he had copied into a record from german books some biting remarks against the jesuits. there was no law and no protection. the national party of polish nobles, in alliance with fanatical priests, persecuted most violently those whom they hated as germans and protestants. all the predatory rabble joined themselves to the patriots or confederates; they hired hordes who went plundering about the country and fell upon small cities and german villages. ever more vehement became the rage against the germans, not only from zeal for the faith, but still more from covetousness. the polish nobleman roskowski put on a red and a black boot: the one signified fire, and the other death; thus he rode from one place to another, laying all under contribution; at last, in jastrow, he caused the hands, feet, and finally the head of the evangelical preacher wellick to be cut off, and the limbs to be thrown into a bog. this happened in . such was the state of the country shortly before the prussian occupation. dantzic, which was indispensable to the poles, kept itself, through this century of decay, from the rest of the country; it remained a free state under sclavonian protection, and was long adverse to the great king. but the country and most of the german cities energetically helped to preserve the king from destruction. the prussian officials who were sent into the country were astonished at the wretchedness which existed at a few days' journey from their capital. only some of the larger cities, in which german life was maintained by old trading intercourse within strong walls, and protected strips of land exclusively occupied by germans,--like the low countries near dantzig,--the villages under the mild government of the cistercians of oliva, and the wealthy german districts of catholic ermland, were in tolerable condition. other cities lay in ruins, as did most of the farms on the plains. the prussians found bromberg, a city of german colonists, in ruins; it is not possible now accurately to ascertain how the city came into this condition;[ ] indeed the fate of the whole netze district, in the last ten years before the prussian occupation, is quite unknown. no historians, no records, and no registers give any account of the destruction and slaughter with which that country was ravaged. apparently the polish factions must have fought amongst themselves; bad harvests and pestilence may have done the rest. kulm has from ancient times preserved its well-built walls and stately churches, but in the streets the covered passages to the cellars projected over the rotten wood and the fragments of brick from the dilapidated buildings; whole streets consisted of such cellars, in which the miserable inhabitants dwelt. twenty-eight of the forty houses of the great market-place had no doors, no roofs, no inhabitants, and no proprietors. in a similar condition were other cities. the greater number of the country people lived in circumstances which appeared to the king's officials lamentable; especially on the frontiers of pomerania, where the windish kassubes dwelt; the villages were a collection of old huts, with torn thatched roofs, on bare plains, without a tree and without a garden; there was only the indigenous wild cherry-tree. the houses were built of wooden rafters and clay; going through the house door, one entered a room with a large hearth, without a chimney; stoves were unknown; no candle was ever lighted, only fir chips brightened the darkness of the long winter evenings; the chief article in the miserable furniture was the crucifix, and under it a bowl of holy water. the dirty, forlorn people lived on rye porridge, or only on herbs, which they made into soup, or on herrings, and brandy, in which both women and men indulged. bread was almost unknown; many had never in their life tasted such a delicacy; there were few villages in which there was an oven. if they ever kept bees, they sold the honey to the citizens, as well as carved spoons and stolen bark; and with the produce, they bought at the fairs, coarse blue cloth dresses, with black fur caps, and bright red handkerchiefs for the women. there was rarely a weaving-loom, and the spinning-wheel was unknown. the prussians heard there no national songs; there were no dances, no music, nor indeed any of the pleasures which the most miserable poles partake of, but stupidly and silently the people drank bad drams, fought, and reeled about. the poor noble also differed little from the peasant; he drove his own rude plough, and clattered in wooden slippers about the unboarded floor of his hut. it was difficult, even for the prussian king, to make anything of these people. the use of potatoes spread rapidly, but the people long continued to destroy the fruit trees, the culture of which was commanded; and they opposed all other attempts at cultivation. equally needy and decaying were the frontier districts with polish population; but the polish peasant preserved, in his state of poverty and disorder, at least the vivacity of his race. even on the properties of the greater nobles, such as the starosties, and of the crown, all the farming buildings were ruined and useless. if any one wished to forward a letter, he had to send a special messenger, for there was no post in the country; indeed, in the villages no need of it was felt, for a great portion of the nobles could not read or write, more than the peasants. were any one ill, no assistance could be obtained but the mysterious remedies of some old village crone, for there was no apothecary in the whole country. any one who needed a coat, did well to be able to use a needle himself, for no tailor was to be found for many miles, unless one passed through the country on a venture.[ ] he who wished to build a house, had first to ascertain whether he could get labourers from the west. the country people still kept up a weak struggle with hordes of wolves, and there were few villages in which men and beasts were not decimated every winter.[ ] if the small-pox broke out, or any other infectious illness came into the country, the people saw the white figure of the pestilence flying through the air and settling down on their huts; they knew what such appearances betokened; it was the desolation of their homes, the destruction of whole communities; with gloomy resignation they awaited their fate. there was hardly any administration of justice in the country; only in the larger cities were powerless courts. the starosts inflicted punishment with arbitrary power; they beat and threw into horrible jails, not only the peasant, but even the citizens of the country towns who rented their houses or fell into their hands. in their quarrels amongst themselves they contended by bribery, in any of the few courts that had jurisdiction over them. in later years, even that had almost fallen into disuse, and they sought revenge with their own hands. it was indeed a forlorn country, without discipline, without law, and without a master; it was a wilderness, with only a population of , on square miles--not to the mile. and the prussian king treated his acquisition like an untenanted prairie; almost at his pleasure he fixed boundary stones, or removed them some miles further. and then he began, in his admirable way, the culture of the country; the very rottenness of its condition was attractive to him, and west prussia became, as silesia had hitherto been, his favourite child, that he washed and brushed, and dressed in new clothes, sent to school, controlled, and kept under his eyes, with incessant care like a true mother. the diplomatic contention about the acquisition still continued, but he sent a troop of his best officials into the wilderness; the districts were divided into small circles; the whole surface of the country valued in the shortest time, and equally taxed; and every circle provided with a provincial magistrate, a judicature, a post, and a sanitary police. new parishes were called into life as if by magic; a company of schoolmasters were introduced into the country; the worthy semler had sought out and drilled some of them. numbers of german artisans were hired, machine and brick makers; digging, hammering, and building began all over the country; the cities were reinhabited; street upon street arose out of the heaps of ruins; the starosties were changed into crown property; new villages were built and colonised, and new agriculture enjoined. in the course of the first year after taking possession of the country, the great canal was dug, three german miles in length, uniting the vistula by means of the netze with the oder and elbe; a year after, the king had given directions for this work, he saw loaded boats from the oder, feet long, passing from the east to the vistula. by means of the new water-wheels, wide districts of country were drained and occupied by german colonists. the king worked indefatigably; he praised and blamed; and, however great the zeal of his officials, they could seldom do enough for him. in consequence of this, the wild sclavonian tares, which had shot up, not only there but also in the german fields, were brought under, so that even the polish districts got accustomed to the new order of things; and west prussia, in the war after , proved itself almost as prussian as the old provinces. whilst the grey-headed king was creating and looking after everything, one year passed after another over his thoughtful head; all about him was more tranquil, but void and lonely, and small was the circle of men in whom he confided. he had laid his flute aside, and the new french literature appeared to him insipid and prosy; sometimes it seemed as if a new life sprouted up under him in germany, to which he was a stranger. unweariedly did he labour for the improvement of his army and the welfare of his people; ever less did he value his tools, and ever higher and more passionate was his feeling of the great duties of his position. but if his struggles in the seven years' war may be called superhuman, equally so did his labours now appear to contemporaries. there was something great, but also terrible, in the way in which he made the prosperity of the whole his highest and constant object, disregarding the comfort of individuals. when, in front of the ranks, he dismissed from the service with bitter words of blame the colonel of a regiment which had made a great blunder at a review; when, in the marsh lands of the netze, he calculated more the strokes of the ten thousand spades than the hardships of the labourers, who lay, stricken with marsh fever, in the hospital he had erected for them; when be overstepped in his demands what the most rapid action could accomplish,--terror as of one who moved in an unearthly element mingled with the deep reverence and devotion of his people. like fate, he appeared to the prussians, incalculable, inexorable, and omniscient; superintending the smallest as well as the greatest things. when they related to one another that he had endeavoured to control nature also, but that his orange-trees had been frozen by the last spring frosts, then they secretly rejoiced that there were limits even for their king, but still more that he had borne it with such good humour, and had made his bow to the cold days of may. with touching sympathy the people collected all the sayings of the king in which there was any human feeling that brought him more into communion with them. so lonely were his house and garden, that the imaginations of his prussians continually hovered about the consecrated spot. if any one was so fortunate as to come into the neighbourhood of the castle on a warm moonlight night, he would perhaps find open doors without a guard, and he could see the great king in his bedroom, sleeping on his camp-bed. the scent of the flowers, the night song of the birds, and the quiet moonlight were the only guards, almost the whole regal state, of the lonely man. for fourteen years after the acquisition of west prussia, did the oranges of sans souci bloom; then did nature reassert her empire over the great king. he died alone, only surrounded by his servants. in the bloom of life he was completely wrapped up in ambitious feelings; he had wrested from fate all the high and splendid garlands of life,--he, the prince of poets and philosophers, the historian and the general. no triumph that he had ever gained contented him; all earthly fame had become to him accidental, uncertain, and valueless; an iron feeling of duty, incessantly working, was all that remained to him. amid the dangerous alternation of warm enthusiasm and cool acuteness, his soul had reached its maturity. he had, in his own mind, surrounded with a poetical halo, certain individuals; and he despised the multitude about him. but in the struggles of life his egotism disappeared; he lost almost all that was personally dear to him, and he ended by caring little for individuals, whilst the need of living for the whole became ever stronger in him. with the most refined self-seeking, he had desired the highest for himself; and at last, regardless of himself, he gave himself up for the public weal and the lowest. he had entered life as an idealist, and his ideal had not been destroyed by the most fearful experiences, but rather ennobled, exalted, and purified; he had sacrificed many men to his state, but no man so much as himself. great and uncommon did this appear to his contemporaries; greater still to us, who can perceive, even in the present time, the traces of his activity in the character of our people, our political life, our arts, and literature. chapter ix. of the schooling of the german citizen. ( .) many races of poets had passed away; their hearts had never been stirred by vivid impressions of a heroes life; they celebrated the victories of alexander and the death of cato in countless forms, with chilling phrases and in artificial periods. now the smallest story told at the house-door by an invalid soldier caused transports, even that the great king of prussia had been seen by him at the cathedral and had spoken five words to him. the tale of the simple man brought at once, as if by enchantment, before the minds of his hearers the exalted image of the man, the camp, the watch-fire, and the watch. how weak was the impression produced by the artificial praise of long-spun verses against such anecdotes which could be told in a few lines! they excited sympathy and fellow-feeling, even to tears and wringing of hands. in what lay the magic of these slight traits of life? those few words of the king were so characteristic, one could perceive in them the whole nature of the hero, and the rough true-hearted tone of the narrator gave his account a peculiar colouring which increased the effect. a poetic feeling was undoubtedly produced in the hearer, but different as heaven from earth to the old art. and this poetry was felt by every one in germany after the silesian war; it had become as popular as the newspapers and the roll of the soldiers' drum. he who would produce an effect as a german poet, must know how to narrate, like that honest man of the people, in a simple and homely way, as from the heart, and it must be a subject which would make the heart beat quicker. goethe knew well why he referred the whole of the youthful intellectual life of his time to frederic ii., for even he had in his father's house been influenced by the noble poetry which shone from the life of that great man on his contemporaries. the great king had pronounced "götz von berlichingen" a horrible piece, yet he had himself materially contributed to it, by giving the poet courage to weave together the old anecdotes of the troopers into a drama. and when goethe, in his old age, concluded his last drama, he brought forward again the figure of the old king, and he makes his faust an indefatigable and exacting master, who carries his canal through the marsh lands of the vistula. and it was not different with lessing, to say nothing of the minor poets. in "minna von barnhelm," the king sends a decisive letter on the stage; and in "nathan"--the antagonism betwixt tolerance and fanaticism, betwixt judaism and priestcraft--is an ennobled reflex of the views of d'argen's jewish letters. it was not only the easily moved spirit of poets that was excited by the idea of the king: even the scientific life of the germans, their speculative and moral philosophy, were elevated and transformed by it. for the freedom of conscience which the king placed at the head of his maxims of government, dissolved like a spell the compulsion which the church had hitherto laid on the learned. the strong antipathy which the king had for priestly rule, and every kind of restraint of the mind, worked in many spheres. the most daring teaching, the most determined attacks on existing opinions, were now allowed; the struggle was carried on with equal weapons, and science obtained for the first time a feeling of supremacy over the soul. it was by no accident that kant rose to eminence in prussia; for the whole stringent power of his teaching, the high elevation of the feeling of duty, even the quiet resignation with which the individual had to submit himself to the "categorical imperative," is nothing more than the ideal counterpart of the devotion to duty which the king practised himself and demanded of his prussians. no one has more nobly expressed than the great philosopher himself, how much the state system of frederic ii. had been the basis of his teaching. historical science was not the least gainer by him. great political deeds were so intimately blended with the imaginations and the hearts of germans, that every individual participated in them; manly doings and sufferings appeared so worthy of reverence, that the feeling for what was significant and characteristic animated in a new way the german historical inquirer, and his precepts for the nation attained a higher meaning. it was not, indeed, immediately that the germans gained the sure judgment and political culture which are necessary to every historian who undertakes to represent life of his nation. it was remarkable that the historical mind of germany deviated so much from that of england and france, but it developed itself in a way that led the greatest intellectual acquisitions. and these new blossoms of intellectual life in germany, which were unfolded after the year , bore a thoroughly national character; indeed, their highest gain remains up to the present time almost entirely to the german. it began to be recognised that the life of a people develops itself, like that of an individual, according to certain natural laws; that, through the individual souls of the inventor and thinker, a something national and in common penetrates from generation to generation, each at the same time limiting and invigorating it. since winckelman undertook to discern and fix the periods of ancient sculptural art, a similar advance was ventured upon in other domains of knowledge. semler had already endeavoured to point out the historical development of christianity in the oldest church. the existence of old homer was denied, and the origin of the epical poem sought in the peculiarities of a popular life which existed years ago. the meaning of myths and traditions, striking peculiarities in the inventions and creations of the youthful period of a people, were clearly pointed out; soon romulus and the tarquins, and finally the records of the bible, were subjected to the same reckless inquiries. but it was peculiar that these deep-thinking investigations were united with so much freedom and power of invention. he who wrote the "laocoon" and the "dramaturgie" was himself a poet; and goethe and schiller, the same men whose springs of imagination flowed so full and copiously, looked intently into its depth, investigating, like quiet men of learning, the laws of life of their novels, dramas, and ballads. meanwhile all the best spirits of the nation were enchanted with their poems; the beautiful was suddenly poured out over the german soil as if by a divinity. with an enthusiasm which often approached to worship, the german gave himself up to the charms of his national poetry. the world of shining imagery acquired in his eyes an importance which sometimes made him unjust to the practical life which surrounded him. he, who so often appeared as the citizen of a nation without a state, found almost everything that was noble and exalted in the golden realm of poetry and art; the realities about him appeared to him common, low, and indifferent. how through this an aristocracy of men of refinement were trained,--how the great poets themselves were occupied in looking down with proud resignation from their serene heights on the twilight of the german earth,--has often been portrayed. here we will only relate how the time worked on the common run of men, remodelling their characters and ideas. it is the year , four years after the death of the great king; the second year in which the eyes of germany had been fixed with astonishment on the condition of france. a few individuals only interested themselves in the struggle going on in the capital of a foreign country betwixt the nation and the throne. the german citizen had freed himself from the influence of french culture; indeed frederic ii. had taught his country people to pay little attention to the political condition of the neighbouring country. it was known that great reforms were necessary in france, and the literary men were on the side of the french opposition. the germans were more especially occupied with themselves; a feeling of satisfaction is perceptible in the nation, of which they had been long deprived; they perceive that they are making good progress; a wonderful spirit of reform penetrates through their whole life: trade is flourishing, wealth increases, the new culture exalts and pleases, youths recite with feeling the verses of their favourite poet, and rejoice to see on the stage the representations of great virtues and vices, and listen to the entrancing sounds of german music. it was a new life, but it was the end of the good time. many years later the germans looked longingly back for the peaceful years after the seven years' war. if any one at this time entered the streets of a moderate-sized city, through which he had passed in the year , he would be struck by the greater energy of its inhabitants. the old walls and gates are indeed still standing; but it is proposed to free from brick and mortar the entrances which are too narrow for men and waggons, and to substitute light iron trellis-work, and in other places to open new gates in the walls. the rampart round the city moat has been planted with pollards, and in the thick shade of the limes and chestnuts the citizens take their constitutional walks, and the children of the lower orders breathe the fresh summer air. the small gardens on the city walls are embellished; new foreign blossoms shine amongst the old, and cluster round some fragment of a column or a small wooden angel that is painted white; here and there a summer-house rises, either in the form of an antique temple or as a hut of moss-covered bark, as a remembrance of the original state of innocence of the human race, in which the feelings were so incomparably purer and the restraints of dress and _convenances_ were so much less. but the traffic of the city has extended itself beyond the old walls, where a high road leads to the city, and suburban rows of houses stretch far into the plain. many new houses, with red-tiled roofs under loaded fruit-trees, delight the eyes. the number of houses in the city has also increased; leaning with broad fronts, gable to gable, there they stand, with large windows and open staircases enclosing wide spaces. the ornaments that adorn the front are still modestly made of plaster of paris; bright lime-washes of all shades are almost the only characteristics, and give the streets a variegated appearance. they are, for the most part, built by merchants and manufacturers, who are now almost everywhere the wealthy people of the city. the wounds inflicted by the seven years' war on the prosperity of the citizens are healed. not in vain have the police, for more than fifty years, admonished and commanded; the city arrangements are well regulated; provisions for the care of the poor are organised, funds for their maintenance, doctors, and medicine supplied gratuitously. in the larger cities much is done for the support of the infirm; in dresden, in , the yearly amount of funds for the poor was , thalers; in berlin also, where frederic william had done much for the poor, the government warmly participated in rendering assistance,--it was reported that more was done there than elsewhere. but the benevolence which the educated classes evinced towards the people was deficient in judgment--alms-giving was the only thing thought of; a few years later it was considered truly patriotic in the finance minister, von struensee, to remit to the berlin poor a considerable portion of his salary. at the same time there were loud complaints of the increasing immorality, and of the preponderance of poor. it was remarked, with alarm, that berlin, under frederic ii., had been the only capital in the world in which more men were born in the year than died, and that now it was beginning to be the reverse. at berlin, dresden, and leipzig, beggars were no longer to be seen; indeed there were few in any of the prussian cities, with exception of silesia and west prussia; but in the smaller places in lower saxony they still continued to be a plague to travellers. they congregated at the hotels and post-houses, and waylaid strangers on their arrival. but a greater and more satisfactory improvement was made by the exertions of the government in the increased care of the sick: the devastating pestilence and other diseases were--one has reason to believe--shut out from the frontiers of germany. from - the plague had raged fearfully in poland, and even in there had been deaths from it; whole villages had been depopulated by it, but our native land was little injured. there was one disease which still made its ravages among rich and poor alike--the small-pox. it was europe's great misery--the repulsive visitant of blooming youth, bringing death and disfigurement. it was the turning-point of life, how they passed through this malady. much heart-rending misery has now ceased; the beauty of our women has become more secure, and the number of diseased and helpless, has considerably diminished since jenner and his friends established in london, in , the first public vaccinating institution. everywhere, about this time, began complaints of the want of economy, and immoderate love of pleasure of the working classes: complaints which certainly were justified in many cases, but which must inevitably be heard where the greater wealth of individuals increases the necessities of the people in the lower classes. one must be cautious before one assumes from this a decrease in the popular strength; the awakening desires of the people is more frequently the first unhealthy sign of progress. on the whole it does not appear to have been so very bad. smoking was indeed general; it constantly increased, although frederic ii. had raised the price in prussia by his stamp on each packet. the coloured porcelain-headed pipe began to supplant the meerschaum. in northern germany the white beer became the new fashionable drink of the citizens; staid old-fashioned tradesmen shook their heads, and complained that their favourite old brew became worse, and that the consumption of wine among the citizens increased immoderately. in saxony they began to drink coffee to a great extent, however thin and adulterated it might be, and it was the only warm drink of the poor. the general complaint of travellers, who came from the south of germany, was that the cooking in prussia, saxony, and thuringia was poor and scanty. the public amusements, also, were neither numerous or expensive. foremost was the theatre; it was quite a passion with the citizens. the wandering companies became better and more numerous, the number of theatres greater; the best place was the parterre, in which officers, students, or young officials, who were frequently at variance, gave the tone. the sensation dramas, with dagger, poison, and rattling of chains, enchanted the unpretending; pathetic family dramas, with iniquitous ministers of state, and raving lovers excited feeling in the educated; and the bad taste of the pieces, and the good acting, astonished strangers. the entrance of one of these companies within walls was an event of great importance; and we see, from the accounts of many worthy men, how great was the influence of such representations upon their life. it is difficult for us to comprehend the enthusiasm with which young people of education followed these performances, the intensity of the feelings excited in them. iffland's pieces, "verbrechen aus ehrgeiz" and "der spieler," drew forth not only tears and sobs, but also oaths and impassioned vows. once at lauchstädt, when the curtain fell at the end of the "spielers" (gamblers), one of the wildest students of halle rushed up to another, also of halle, but whom he scarcely knew, and begged him, the tears streaming from his eyes, to record his oath that he would never again touch a card. according to the account the excited youth kept his word. similar scenes were not extraordinary. poor students saved money for weeks to enable them to go even once from halle to the theatre in lauchstädt, and they ran back the same night, so as not to miss their lectures the next morning. but, lively as was the interest of the germans in the drama, it was not easy for the society of even the larger cities to keep up a stationary theatre. at berlin the french theatre was changed to a german one, with the proud title of national theatre; but this, the only one in the capital, was, in , little visited, although fleck and both the unzelmanns played there. the italian opera was, indeed, better attended, but it was given at the king's expense; every magistrate had his own box; the king still sat, with his court, in the parterre behind the orchestra; and throughout the whole winter there were only six representations--one new and one old, each performed three times. then, undoubtedly, the public thronged there, to see the splendour of this court festival, and were astounded at the great procession of elephants and lions in "darius." it is mentioned that at dresden, also, the children's theatricals in families were far more in request than the great theatre; and in berlin, which was considered so particularly frivolous and pleasure-seeking, this same winter, at the great masquerade, of which there was so much talk in the country, there was only one person dressed in character; the others were all spiritless dominoes, and the whole was very dull to strangers.[ ] all this does not look much like lavish expenditure. the usual social enjoyment, also, was very moderate in character; it was a visit to a public coffee-garden. nobles, officers, officials, and merchants, all thronged there for the sake of some unpretending music and coloured lamps. this kind of entertainment had been first introduced at leipzig and vienna about ; the great delights of this coffee-drinking in the shade were celebrated in prose and verse, and the more frivolous boasted how convenient such assemblages were for carrying on tender liaisons. these coffee-gardens have continued characteristic of german social intercourse for nearly years. families sat at different tables, but could be seen and observed; the children were constrained to behave themselves properly, and careful housewives carried with them from home coffee and cakes in cornets. with the well-educated citizen, hospitality had become more liberal, and entertainments more sumptuous; but in their family life they retained much of the strict discipline of their ancestors. the power of the husband and father was predominant; both the master and mistress of the house required prompt obedience; the distinction between those who were to command and to obey was more clearly defined. only husband and wife had learnt to address each other with the loving "_thou_"; the children of the gentry, and often also of artisans, spoke to their parents in the third person plural: the servants were addressed by their masters with the "_thou_," but by strangers in the third person singular. in the same way the "_he_" was used by the master to his journeymen, by the landed proprietor to the "_schulze_," and by the gymnastic teacher to a scholar of the upper classes; but in many places the scholar addressed his _herr director_ with "your honour." more frequently than forty years before, did the german now leave his home to travel through some part of his fatherland. the means of intercourse were intolerable, considering the great extension of commerce and the increased love of travelling. made roads were few and short; the road from frankfort to mayence, with its avenues of trees, pavement, and footpaths, was reputed the best _chausseé_ in germany; the great old road from the rhine to the east was still only a mud road. still did persons of consequence continue to travel in hired coaches or extra post; for though on the main roads the vehicles of the ordinary post had roofs, they had no springs, and were considered more suitable for luggage than passengers; they had no side doors; it was necessary to enter under the roof, or creep in over the pole. at the back of the carriage the luggage was stowed up to the roof, and fastened with cords; the parcels also lay under the seats; kegs of herrings and smoked salmon incessantly rolled on to the benches of the passengers, who were constantly occupied in pushing them back; as it was impossible for people to stretch out their feet on account of the packages, they were obliged in despair to dangle their legs outside the carriage. insupportable were the long stoppages at the stations; the carriage was never ready to start under two hours; it took eleven weary days and nights of shaking and bruising to get from cleves to berlin. travelling on the great rivers was better; down the danube, it is true, there were as yet nothing but the old-fashioned barges, without mast or sails, drawn by horses; but on the rhine the lover of the picturesque rejoiced in a passage by the regular rhine boats; their excellent arrangements were extolled, they had mast and sails, and only used horses as an assistance; they also had a level deck, with rails, so that people could promenade on it, and cabins, with windows and some furniture. an ever-changing and agreeable society was to be found collected there, as many besides travellers on business used them; for germans, after , had made a most remarkable progress; the love of nature had attained a great development. the english landscape gardening took the place of the italian and french architectural gardens, and the old robinsonades were followed by descriptions of loving children, or savages in an enchanting and strange landscape. the german, later than the highly-cultivated englishman, was seized with the love of wandering in distant countries; but it had only lately become an active feeling. it was now the fashion to admire on the mountains the rising sun and the floating mist in the valleys; and the pastoral life with butter and honey, mountain prospects, the perfume of the woods, the flowers of the meadows, and ruins, were extolled, in opposition to the commonplace pleasures of play, operas, comedies, and balls. already did the language abound in rich expressions, describing the beauties of nature, the mountains, waterfalls, &c.; and already did laborious travellers explore not only the alps, but the apennines and etna; but the tyrol was hardly known. it was still easy to discover by his dialect, even in the centre of germany, to what province the most highly-educated man belonged; for the language of family life, giving expression to the deepest feelings of the heart, was full of provincial peculiarities, and those were called affected and new-fangled who accustomed themselves to pronounce words as they were written. indeed, in the north, as in the south, it was considered patriotic to preserve the native dialect pure; the young ladies of some of the best families formed an alliance to defend the dialect of their city from the bold inroads of the foreigners, who had come to settle there. it was said, to the credit of electoral saxony, that it was the only part where even in the lowest orders intelligible german was spoken. a praise that is undoubtedly justified by the prevalence for three centuries of the upper saxon dialect in the written language, which is worthy of our observation, as it gives us an idea how the others must have spoken. in , one might assume that a city community, which was reputed to have made any progress, was situated in a protestant district; for it was evident to every traveller that the culture and social condition in protestant and roman catholic countries was very different; but even in the same protestant district, within the walls of one city, the contrast of culture was very striking. the external difference of classes began to diminish, whilst the inward contrast became almost greater; the nobleman, the well-educated citizen, and the artisan with the peasant, form three distinct circles; each had different springs of action, so that they appear to us as if each belonged to a different century. the most confident and light-hearted were the nobles; there was also some earnestness of mind in them, not unfrequently accompanied by ample knowledge; but the majority lived a life of easy enjoyment: the women, on the whole, were more excited than the men, by the poetry and great scientific struggle of the time. already were the dangers which beset an exclusive position very visible, more especially in the proudest circles of the german landed aristocracy; both the higher and lower imperial nobility were hated and derided. they played the part of little sovereigns in the most grotesque modes; they loved to surround themselves with a court of gentlemen and ladies, even down to the warder, whose horn often announced across the narrow frontier that his lord was taking his dinner; nor was the court dwarf omitted, who, perhaps in fantastic attire, threw his misshapen head every evening into the _salon_ of the family, and announced it was time to go to bed. but the family possessions could not be kept together; one field after another fell into the hands of creditors; there was no end to their money embarrassments. many of the imperial nobles withdrew into the capitals of the ecclesiastical states. in the franconian bishoprics on the rhine, in munsterland, an aristocracy established themselves, who, according to the bitter judgment of contemporaries, did not display very valuable qualities. their families were in hereditary possession of rich cathedral foundations and bishoprics; they were slavish imitators of french taste at table, in their wardrobes, and equipages; but their bad french and stupid ignorance were frequently thrown in their teeth. the poorer among the landed nobility were in the hands of the jews, especially in east germany; still, in , the greater part of the money that circulated through, the country passed through the hands of the nobles. on their properties they ruled as sovereigns, but the land was generally managed by a steward. there was seldom a good understanding betwixt the lord and the administrator of his property, whose trustworthiness did not then stand in high repute; placed between the proprietor and the villein, the steward endeavoured to gain from both; he took money from the countrymen, and remitted their farm service, and, in the sale of the produce, took as much care of himself as of his master.[ ] the country nobleman was glad to spend the winter months in the capital of his district; in summer the fashionable amusement was to visit the baths. there the family displayed all the splendour in their power. much regard was paid to horses and fine carriages: the nobleman liked to use his privilege of driving four-in-hand, and there were always running footmen, who went in front of the horses, in theatrical-coloured clothes, with a large whip thrown over their shoulders, and they wore shoes and white stockings. at evening parties, or after the theatre, a long row of splendid carriages--many with outriders--were to be seen in the streets, and respectfully did the man of low degree look upon the splendour of the lords. they showed their rank also in their dress, by rich embroidery, and white plumes round their hats; at the masquerade they had a special preference for the rose-coloured domino, which frederic ii. had declared to be a privilege of the nobility. many of the richer ones kept chaplains, small concerts were frequent; and at their country seats, early on the sunday morning, there was a serenade under the windows, as a morning greeting to the lady of the house. play was a fatal amusement, especially at the baths; there the german landed proprietors met together, and played chiefly with poles, who were the greatest gamblers in europe. thus it often happened to the german gentlemen, that they lost their carriages and horses at play, and had to travel home, involved in debt, in hired carriages. such mischances were borne with great composure, and speedily forgotten. in point of faith the greater part of the country nobility were orthodox, as were most of the village pastors; but more liberal minds clung to the french philosophy. still did paris continue to issue its puppets and pictures of fashions, hats, ribbons, and dresses throughout germany; but even in the modes a great change was gradually beginning: hoops and hair cushions were no longer worn by ladies of _ton_, except at court; rouge was strongly objected to, and war was declared against powder; figures became smaller and thinner, and on the head, over small curly locks, the pastoral straw hat was worn; with men, also, embroidered coats, with breeches, silk stockings, buckled shoes, and the small dress-sword, were only worn as festival attire; the german cavalier began to take pleasure in english horses, and the round hat, boots, and spurs were introduced; and they ventured to appear in ladies' rooms with their riding-whips.[ ] an easy life of enjoyment was frequent in the families of the nobility--a cheerful self-indulgence without great refinement, much courtly complaisance and good humour; they had also the art of narrating well, which now appears to recede further eastward, and of interweaving naturally anecdotes with fine phrases in their conversation; and they had a neat way of introducing drolleries. the morals of these circles, so often bitterly reprobated, were, it appears, no worse than they usually are among mere pleasure-seekers. they were not inclined to subtle inquiries, nor were they generally much disquieted with severe qualms of conscience; their feelings of honour were flexible, but certain limits were to be observed. within these boundaries they were tolerant; in play, wine, and affairs of the heart, gentlemen, and even ladies, could do much without fear of very severe comments, or disturbances of the even tenor of their life. what could not be undone they quietly condoned, and, even when the bounds of morality had been overstepped, quickly recovered their composure. the art of making life agreeable was then more common than now; equally enduring was the power of preserving a vigorous, active, genial spirit, and a freshness of humour up to the latest age, and of carrying on a cheerful and respectable old age, a life rich in pleasure, though not free from conflicts between duty and inclination. there may still be found old pictures of this time, which give us a pleasant view of the naive freshness and easy cheerfulness of the most aged men and women. under the nobility were the country people and petty citizens, who, as well as the lower officials, took that conception of life which prevailed in germany during the beginning of the century. life was still colourless. we deceive ourselves if we imagine that at the end of this century the philosophic enlightenment had produced much improvement in the dwellings of the poor, especially in the country. in the villages, undoubtedly, there were schools, but the master was frequently only a former servant of the landed proprietor, a poor tailor or weaver, who gave up his work as little as possible, and perhaps left his wife to conduct the school. the police of the low countries was still ineffective, and the vagrants were a heavy burden. there were certainly strict regulations against roving vagabonds: village watchmen and mounted patrols were to stop every beggar, and pass him on to his birth-place; but the village watchman did not watch, the communities shunned the expenses of transport or feared the revenge of the offenders, and the patrols preferred looking after the carriers, who went out of the turnpike roads, because these could pay a fine. complaints were made of this even in electoral saxony. the countryman still continued true to his church; there was much praying and psalm-singing in the huts of the poor, frequently a good deal of pious enthusiasm; there were still revivalists and prophets among the country people. in the mountain countries, especially where an active industry had established itself, in the poorest huts, among the wood carvers, weavers, and lacemakers of the erzgebirger and of the silesian valleys, a pious, godly feeling was alive. a few years later, when the continental embargo annihilated the industry of the poor, amid hunger and deprivations which often brought them to the point of death, they showed that their faith gave them the power of suffering with resignation. betwixt the nobility and the mass of the people stood the higher class of citizens: literati, officials, ecclesiastics, great merchants, and tradespeople. they also were divided from the people by a privilege, the importance of which would not be understood in our time,--they were exempt from military service. the severest oppression which fell on the sons of the people, their children were free from. the sons of peasants or artisans who had the capacity for study could do so, but they had first to pass an examination, the so-called "genius test," to exempt them from service in the army. but to the son of a literary man or a merchant it was a disgrace, if, after a learned school education, he sank so low as to fall into the hands of recruiting officers. even the benevolent kant refused the request of a scholar for a recommendation, because he had had the meanness to bear his position as a soldier so long and so meekly.[ ] in the literary circle there was still an external difference from the citizen in dress and mode of life: it was the best portion of the nation, in possession of the highest culture of the time. it included poets and thinkers, inventive artists and men of learning, all who won any influence in the domain of intellectual life, as leaders and educators, teachers and critics. many of the nobility who had entered official life, or had higher intellectual tendencies, had joined them. they were sometimes fellow-workers, frequently companions and kindly promoters of ideal interests. in every city there were gentry in this literary set. they were scholars of the great philosopher of königsberg; their souls were filled with the poetic creations of the great poet, with the high results of the knowledge of antiquity. but in their life there was still much sternness and earnestness; the performance of duty was not easy or cheerful. their conception of existence wavered betwixt ideal requirements and a fastidious, often narrow pedantry, which strikingly distinguished them, not always advantageously, from the nobleman. it is a peculiarity of modern culture, that the impulse of intellectual power spreads itself in the middle of the nation between the masses and the privileged classes, moulding and invigorating both; the more any circle of earthly interests isolates itself from the educated class of citizens, the further it is removed from all that gives light, warmth, and a secure footing to its life. whoever in germany writes a history of literature, art, philosophy, and science, does in fact treat of the family history of the educated citizen class. if one seeks what especially unites the men of this class and separates them from others, it is not chiefly their practical activity in a fortunate middle position, but their culture in the latin schools. therein lies their pre-eminent advantage,--the great secret of their influence. no one should be more willing to acknowledge this than the merchant or manufacturer, who has worked his way up from beneath, and entered into their circle. he perceives with admiration the sharpness and precision in thought and speech which his sons have attained by occupying themselves with the latin and greek grammar, which are seldom acquired in any other occupation. the unartificial logic, which so strikingly appears in the artistic structure of the ancient languages, soon gives acuteness and promotes the understanding of all intellectual culture, and the mass of the foreign materials of language is an excellent strengthener of the memory. still more invigorating is the purport conveyed from that distant world that was now disclosed to the learner. still does a very great portion of our intellectual riches descend from antiquity. he who would rightly understand what works around and in him, and has perhaps long been the common property of all classes of the people, must rise up to the source; and an acquaintance with a great unfettered national life, and a comprehension of some of the laws of life, its beauties and its limitations, give a freedom to the judgment upon the condition of the present which nothing else can supply. he whose soul has been warmed by the dialogues of plato, must look down with contempt on the bigotry of the monks; and he who has read with advantage the "antigone" in the ancient language, will lay aside the "sonnenjungfrau" with justifiable indifference. but most important of all was the peculiar method of learning at the latin schools and universities. it is not by the unthinking reception of the material presented to them, but their minds are awakened by their own investigations and researches. in the higher classes of the gymnasiums, and at the universities, the students became the intimates of earnest scholars. it was just the disputed questions which most stirred them: the inquiries still unanswered, and which most powerfully exercised the mind, were those which they most loved to impart. thus the youth penetrated as free investigator into the very centre of life, and, however far his later vocation might remove him from these investigations, he had received the highest knowledge, and attained to the greatest results of the time; and for the rest of his life was capable of forming a judgment on the greatest questions of science and faith, by accepting or rejecting all the new materials and points of view which he had gained. that these schools of learning made little preparation for practical life, was no tenable complaint. the merchant who took his sons from the university to the counting-house, soon discovered that they had not learnt much with which younger apprentices were conversant, but that they generally repaired the deficiency with the greatest facility. about , this method of culture had attained so much value and importance, that these years might be called the industrious sixth-form period of the german people. eagerly did they learn, and everywhere did active spontaneous labour take the place of the old mechanism. philanthropically did the learned strive to create educational establishments for every class of the people, and to invent new methods of instruction by which the greatest results could be obtained from those who had least powers of learning. to instruct, to educate, and to raise people from a state of ignorance, was the general desire; not that this was useful to the nation in general, for the lower classes could not enter into the exalted feelings which gave to the literary such enjoyment and elevation of mind. it is true they themselves felt an inward dissatisfaction. the facts of life which surrounded them were often in cutting contrast to their ideal requirements. when the peasant worked like a beast of burden, and the soldier ran the gauntlet before their windows, nothing seemed to remain to them but to shut themselves up in their studies, and to occupy their eyes and mind with times in which they were not wounded by such barbarities. for it had not yet been tried, what the union of men of similar views in a great association would accomplish, in bringing about changes in the state and every sphere of practical interest. thus, with all their philanthropy, there arose a quiet despondency even among the best. they had more soundness and strength of mind than their fathers, the source of their morality was purer, and they were more conscientious. but they were still private men. interest in their state, in the highest affairs of their nation, had not yet been developed. they had learnt to perform their duties as men in a noble spirit, and they contrasted, sometimes hypercritically, the natural rights of men in a state with the condition under which they lived. they had become honourable and strictly moral men, and endeavoured to cast off everything mean with an anxiety which is really touching; but they were deficient in the power which is developed by the co-operation of men of like views, under the influence of great practical questions. the noblest of them were in danger, when they could not withdraw into themselves, of becoming victims rather than heroes, in the political and social struggle. this quality was very striking in the construction of their poetry. almost all the characters which the greatest poets produced in their highest works of art were deficient in energy, in resolute courage, and political sagacity; even in the heroes of the drama with whom such characteristics were least compatible, there was a melancholy tendency, as in galotti, götz, and egmont--even in wallenstein and faust. the same race of men who investigated with wonderful boldness and freedom the secret laws of their intellectual being, were as helpless and uncertain in the presence of realities, as a youth who first passes from the schoolroom among men. a sentimentality of character, and the craving for great emotions on insignificant occasions, had not disappeared. but this ruling tendency of the eighteenth century, which has not been entirely cast off even in the present day, was restrained in by the worthier aims of intellectual life. even sentimentality had had, since pietism crept into life, its little history. first, the poor german soul had been strongly affected; it easily became desponding, and found enjoyment in observing the tears it shed. afterwards the enjoyment of its feelings became more student-like and hearty. when, in , some jovial companions passed in the extra-post through a village, the inhabitants of which had planted the churchyard with roses, the contrast of these flowers of love and the graves so excited the imagination of these travellers, that they bought a bottle of wine, went to the churchyard, and, revelling in the comparison of roses and graves, drank up their wine.[ ] but the student flavour of roughness which was evinced in this enjoyment, passed away when manners became more refined and life more thoughtful. when, in , two brothers were travelling in the rhine country, through a sunny valley among blooming fruit-trees, one clasped the hand of the other, in order, by the soft pressure of his, to express the pleasure he derived from his company; both looked at each other with tender emotion, blessed tears of quiet feeling rose in the eyes of both, and they embraced each other, or, as would then have been said, they blessed the country with the holy kiss of friendship.[ ] when, about the same period, a society expected a dear friend--it must by the way be mentioned that it was a happy husband and father of a family--the feelings on this occasion also were far more manifold, and the self-contemplation with which they were enjoyed, was far greater than with us. the master of the house, with another guest, went to await the approaching carriage at the house door; the friend arrives and steps out of the carriage, deeply moved and somewhat confused. meanwhile the amiable lady of the house, of whom in former days the new guest had been an admirer, also comes down the stairs. the new-comer has already inquired after her with some agitation, and seems extremely impatient to see her; now he catches sight of her and shrinks back with emotion, then turns aside, and at the same time throws his hat with vehemence behind him to the ground, and staggers towards her. all this has been accompanied with such an extraordinary expression of countenance, that the nerves of the bystanders are shaken. the lady of the house goes towards her friend with outspread arms; but he, instead of accepting her, seizes her hand and bends over it so as to conceal his face; the lady leans over him with a heavenly countenance, and says in a tone such as no clairon or dübois could vie with, "oh, yes; it is you--you are still my dear friend!" the friend, roused by this touching voice, raises himself a little, looks into the weeping eyes of his friend, and then again lets his face sink down on her arm. none of the bystanders can refrain from tears; they flow down the cheeks of even the unconcerned narrator, he sobs, and is quite beside himself.[ ] after this gushing feeling has somewhat subsided, they all feel inexpressibly happy, often press each other's hands, and declare these hours of companionship to be the most charming of their life. and those who thus comported themselves were men of well-balanced minds, who looked with contempt on the affectation of the weak, who wept about nothing and made a vocation of their tears and feelings, as did the hair-brained leuchsenring. but shortly after this, sentimental nature received a rude shock. goethe had represented in werther, the sorrowful fate of a youth who had perished in consequence of these moods; but had himself a far nobler and more sound conception of sentiment than existed in his contemporaries. his narrative was indeed a book for the moulding of finer natures, through which their sentimentality was turned towards the noble and poetic. immense was the effect; tears flowed in streams; the werther dress became a favourite costume with sentimental gentlemen, and lotte the most renowned female character of that year. that same year, , a number of tender souls at wetzlar, men in high offices and ladies, agreed together to arrange a solemnity at the grave of the poor jerusalem. they assembled in the evening, read "werther," and sang the laments and songs on the dead. they wept profusely; at last, at midnight, the procession went to the churchyard. every one was dressed in black, with a dark veil over the face, and a torch in the hand. any one who met the procession considered it as a procession of devils. at the churchyard they formed a circle round the grave, and sang, as is reported, the song, "ausgelitten hast du, ausgerungen;" an orator made a eulogy on the dead, and said that suicide was permitted to love. finally the grave was strewed with flowers.[ ] the repetition of this was prevented by prosaic magistrates. but the tragical conclusion of goethe's narrative shocked men of sound understanding. it was no longer a question of jest with flowers and doves: it was convulsive earnest. when the respectable son of an official could arrive at such extravagance as suicide, there was an end of jest. thus this same work gave rise to a reaction in stronger natures, and violent literary polemics, from which the germans gradually learnt to regard with irony this phase of sentiment, yet without becoming entirely free from it. for it was undoubtedly only a variation of the same fundamental tendency, when souls that had become weary of sighs and tears threw themselves into the sublime. even the monstrous appeared admirable. to speak in hyperbolies--to express with the utmost strength the commonest things, to give the most insignificant action the air of being something extraordinary--became for a long time the fashionable folly of the literary circle. but even this exaggeration disappeared about , the past was looked back upon with smiles, and the spirits of men were contented with the homely, modest style in which lafontaine and iffland produced emotion. the growth of a child's mind at this period shall be here portrayed. it is a narrative of his early youth--not printed--left by a strong-minded man to his family. it contains nothing uncommon; it is only the unpretending account of the development of a boy by teaching and home, such as takes place in a thousand families. but it is just because what is imparted is so commonplace, that it is peculiarly adapted to excite the interest of the reader. it gives an instructive insight into the life of a rising family. in the first years of the reign of frederic the great, a poor teacher at leipzig was lying on his deathbed; the long vexations and persecutions he had endured from his predecessor, a vehement pastor, had brought him there. his spiritual opponent sought reconciliation with the dying man; he promised the teacher, haupt, to take care of his uneducated children, and he kept his word. he placed one son in the great commercial house, frege, which was then at the height of prosperity. the young haupt won the confidence of his principal; and when he wished to establish himself at zittau, the house of frege made the needy youth a loan of , thalers. the year after, the new merchant wrote to his creditor to say that his business was making rapid progress, but that he should get into great difficulties if he had not the same sum again. his former principal sent him the double. after eight years the zittau merchant repaid the whole loan, and the day on which he sent the last sum, he drank in his house the first bottle of wine. the son of this man, ernst friederich haupt (he who will give an account of his school hours in his father's house), studied law and became a syndicus, and afterwards burgomaster of his native town; he was a man of powerful character and depth of mind, and also a literary man of comprehensive knowledge; some latin poems printed by him are among the most refined and elegant specimens of this kind of poetry. his life was earnest, and he laboured in a very restricted sphere with a zeal which never seemed sufficient to satisfy himself. but the weight of his energetic character became, at the beginning of the political commotions in , burdensome to the young democrats among the citizens. it was in the city where he dwelt that the agitation was carried on by an unworthy man, who later, by his evil deeds, brought himself to a lamentable end. in the bewilderment of the first movement, the citizens destroyed the faithful attachment which for thirty years had subsisted between them and their superior. the proud and strict man was wounded to his innermost soul by heartlessness and ingratitude; he withdrew from all public occupation, and neither the entreaties nor the genuine repentance evinced by his fellow-citizens shortly after, could make him forget the bitter mortification of those years which had left their mark upon his life. when he walked through the streets, looking quietly before him, a noble melancholy old man with white hair, then--it is related by eye-witnesses--the people on all sides took off their caps with timid reverence; but he stepped on without looking to right or left, without thanks or greeting to the crowd. from that time he lived as a private man, given up to his scientific pursuits. but his son, moriz haupt, professor of the university of berlin, became one of our greatest philosophers, one of our best men. thus begins his account of his first years of school:-- "my earliest recollections begin with the autumn of the year , when i was two years and a half old. we travelled to the family property; i sat on my mother's lap, and the soft bloom on her face gave me great pleasure. i was amused with looking at the trees which appeared to pass the carriage so quickly. still do the same trees stand on the other side of the bridge; still, when i look at them, does this recollection of the pure world rise before me. "already have four-and-forty years passed over the resting-place of your holy dust, dear departed! so early torn away from us! gentle as thy friendly face, must thy soul have been! i knew thee not; only faint recollections remain to me. i have no picture of thee, not even a sweet token of remembrance. yet shortly before they sent me, not seventeen years of age, to leipzig, i stood on the holy spot that contains thy ashes, and sobbing vowed to thee that i would be good! "well do i remember the sunday morning on which my sister rieckhen was born. running hurriedly--i had got up sooner than my brother--and, unasked for, had run into my mother's room. i announced it to every one that i found. some days after, all around me wept 'mamma is going away!' called out our old nurse, wringing her hands. 'away! where, then?' i inquired with astonishment 'to heaven!' was the answer, which i did not understand. "my mother had collected us children once more round her, to kiss and bless us. my half-sister jettchen, then almost ten years old, and my brother ernst, who was four, had wept. i--as i have often been told, to my great sorrow--scarcely waited for the kiss, and hid myself playfully behind my sister, 'fritz! fritz!' said my mother, smiling, 'you are and will remain a giddy boy; well, run away!' "what i heard of heaven and the resurrection confused my thoughts; it seemed to me as if my mother would soon awake and be with us again. some time after, my brother, who was much more sensible than i, said, as we were kneeling on a stool, looking at the floating evening clouds, and talking of our mother: 'no, the resurrection is something quite different!' but soon after her burial--it was sunday--when i was playing in the evening in front of our back door, and a beggar spoke to me, i exclaimed, 'mamma is dead!' and ran away from the nurse through both courts, in order to seek my father, whom i found sitting sorrowfully in his room. he took me and my brother by the hand and wept. this appeared strange to me, and i thought, 'so, my father also can weep, who is so old.' for my father, who was then scarcely forty-seven years of age, appeared old to me,--far older, for example, than i now believe myself to look, at almost the same age. but children look upon things differently to others; besides which, my father had dark eyebrows, in which respect i have become partly like him. "six months after my mother's death, my father took his sister to live with him, which altered our manner of life in many ways. our life was no longer so quiet as before. still sweet to me is the remembrance of the tales with which our aunt--who was always called by us and all the world, _frau muhme_--entertained us in the evening. as soon as it was twilight we dragged her by force into her chair, and we children sat round her and listened. stories were hundreds of times repeated of our father's home, of leipzig, and of grandfathers and great-grandfathers; and i longed to see myself at leipzig, and to see the great fair, which i represented to myself, strangely enough, as an immense staircase hung with paper. "we enjoyed indescribable pleasure when we watched in the evening, by moonlight, the motion of the clouds. the view from one window was of the hill and woods. in the forms of those clouds we discovered the figures of men or animals. there was a solemnity about them which enhanced the charm, and when, in my sixteenth year, i for the first time read ossian, and his gloomy world of spirits and misty forms passed before me, then did i return in spirit to that window. equally so, when i read the poem, 'jetzt zieh'n die wolken, lotte, lotte!' "visitors also, as was formerly the case in almost every nursery, related stories of spirits and ghosts, which we were never tired of hearing. yet, although many who related them believed in them, at no time did my brother and i give a moment's credence to these tales. never did we believe in the supernatural; even as boys of fifteen, we struggled against superstition. we have to thank our half-sister jettchen for this: a maiden of rare gifts of mind. she pointed out to us in simple words the laughable side of these tales. but the awful had not the less great power over us, and we were often in fear when we were obliged to wander in the dark through the long passage to the front drawing-room. "at the age of three years and a half old, i received my first instruction. my brother could already almost read, and i soon advanced enough to keep pace with him. "i cannot say that we were fond of m. kretzschmar, our first teacher, for he was in some degree bizarre, and punched our heads abundantly. it is scarcely credible but i can affirm that at five years old i only read mechanically, thinking all the time of something else; for example, of the flowers in our garden, or our little dog, &c. my own words sounded strange in my ears. therefore i was often dreaming when i was asked a question; then followed the usual thump; but then i thought of that. why was it so? it was indisputably for this reason, that our teacher did not know how to attract young minds to the subject. my brother was a very rare exception of quiet earnestness; and yet who knows how often even he may have been equally distracted? "at five years old we began to learn latin. jettchen translated glibly cornelius and phædrus, and also the french new testament. we boys learnt assiduously from langen's and raussendorf's grammar, and i had long written what we called 'small exercises,' before i clearly knew what i was about. i remember distinctly that it was as if scales fell from my eyes when, at six years old, i discovered that we were learning the language of the ancient romans." (thus was instruction almost universally carried on at that time!) "nevertheless, in many points of view, i have reason to thank this teacher. he taught us to read well, and by the frequent recitation of good verses--he did not write bad poetry himself--we imbibed early a taste for melody and harmony. we learnt many, very many songs and fables by heart. learning by heart!--a now very antique expression; it was then very frequent in the plan of lessons, and it was by this that my memory became so strong. we were exercised in committing to memory whole pages in a quarter of an hour, and later i often learnt off at once eight, ten, or twelve strophes. in short, taken on the whole, according to the standard of that time, the pedagogue, with all his deficiencies, did not do ill by us. the soul, also, was not unattended to. feddersen's 'life of jesus' was our favourite reading. feder's 'compendium' was used for our religious instruction, a book which is still highly estimated. our feeling for the beautiful was also awakened and trained in another way. weiss's operettes, set to hiller's music, then made a great sensation. kretzschmar played the harpsichord well, and the violin still better. my sister jettchen played very tolerably at sight. thus by degrees all weiss's operas were played and sung, and we young ones joined in the lighter airs by ear. my father listened, and sometimes joined, with pleasure. "thus did many autumn and winter evenings pass. dear scenes of home, what have become of you in most families? you are superseded by trashy reading, casino, and play! "the poetry we learnt we recited in the evening, before our father and _muhme_,--nay, in case of need before the maid. passages which had been explained to us, we then explained again. all this suggested to me the first idea and wish to consecrate my studies to religion and become a preacher. "we had many playfellows. it was a common custom for children to visit one another on sundays. we were allowed to remain to dinner, and accustomed to be well-behaved with grown-up persons. i, as being the least, was usually placed by the side of the father and mother of the family. everywhere there was hearty friendliness. this custom, also,--at least in this form,--has almost passed away. we might not sometimes, perhaps, be quite agreeable to the elders, but this was rare. my father was much pleased when children, even as many as six or eight, came to us. the old people gladly gave a supper to the merry little folk, and they also played with them. then on monday we looked forward with pleasure to the following sunday. is it surprising that we still look back with pleasure to those happy days, the remembrance of which is wafted to me like the perfume of living flowers? "with all my youthful gaiety i was still very earnest-minded. our mother, who had been dead only three years, was often spoken of; we had learnt a quantity of funeral hymns, and at six years old i certainly thought more frequently of death and immortality than many youths, or even men. what was to become of animals after death, i had not thought of till i was five years old. then i happened to see a dead dog in the city moat, and asked our teacher about it. 'there is no immortality for dogs,' he answered, which made me indescribably sorrowful. it was a sunday evening. i told it to my nurse, and wept bitterly. "at easter, in , our new teacher came. he had considerable knowledge, and lived very quiet and retired, as he secretly reckoned himself one of the moravian brothers. we clung to him with deep love, for he devoted himself entirely to us. with no other man did we prefer walking; and all his conversation was instructive, for the most part religious. his endeavours to conceal from us his inclination for that sect which my father hated, gave an air of mystery to his words. we gained much in serious feeling through him. he accustomed us not to speak lightly of god or jesus; and on his departure, at the end of two years, we were so well grounded in this that months passed without our once falling into this error, and when it did happen we sorrowed secretly with deep repentance; we left our most amusing game and prayed right heartily; we were, indeed, ourselves at last inclined to pietism, for all worldly pleasures were condemned, or looked upon as injurious dissipations. so-called books of amusement, bordering upon novels, were considered good for nothing; even gellert's dramas were reckoned among his youthful sins; places of amusement--balls, worldly concerts--were workshops of the devil! only oratorios were bearable. comedies were undoubted sins against the holy ghost. on my brother, who was naturally inclined for melancholy, these opinions took far deeper hold; he wept often in secret over his sins, as he called them. i envied him for this, considering myself as a reprobate and him as a child of god; but with all my endeavours i could not succeed in being so correct! i continually rejoiced at the sorrowful emotions which often overcame my soft heart. "still, still do i consecrate to thee my thanks, thou good and righteous teacher! thou wast the most faithful shepherd of thy little flock! he lives still, near eighty years of age. for thirty years i have only once seen him, but last year, when my brother died, he wrote me a letter, full of faith and piety. in a dream--he attached much importance to dreams--he had visited our house on the day of the death of my brother, his ernst. it is touching to read his assurances that his convictions were the same as they had been forty years before. "there is one blessed hour i bear in memory. he went with us to walk in the city, and the evening star glanced kindly down upon us. 'what are the people above there doing?' said the teacher. this was a new idea to us! we were moved with joyful astonishment when he said to us: 'it is possible, even probable, that god's goodness has assigned other planets as a dwelling-place for living, thinking, and worshipping creatures.' delighted, elevated, and comforted, we turned back. it was the counterpoise to that sorrow which fell upon me when i heard that there was no future for animals! "on christmas eve, , our dear sister jettchen died, in her fourteenth year; nine days before we were playing merrily, when she was suddenly seized with a pain in her stomach. the doctor thought lightly of it, and probably mistook the real cause. after seven days she became visibly worse, was weak and pale as death; she left her couch for the last time in order to reach us our writing books. yet no one seemed to anticipate her death. alas! it followed that christmas eve, early; about four o'clock they awoke us to see her once more. weeping loudly we rushed up to her. she did not know us. 'good night! jettchen!' we exclaimed, and my father prayed, tearfully. our teacher stood by the death-bed and prayed: 'now take my heart, and take me as i am to thee, thou dear jesus!' (from the kottbus hymn-book.) "she departed amidst these prayers, and lay there in heavenly serenity. my little sister rieckchen, three years and a half old, came up and said to the sick-nurse: 'when i die, lay me out in just such a white cloth as my jettel.' and seventeen years afterwards the same woman did it! "before this, in the evening, we had to give our christmas greetings. my brother and jettchen exchanged greetings--very beautiful--in writing. 'she who was your chief is absent,' said my father, weeping. on the third day of the feast she was buried. she lay in a white dress with pale pink ribbons, a garland on her brown hair, and a small crucifix in her hand. 'sleep well!' exclaimed our old nurse, 'till thy saviour wakes thee!' we could not speak, we only sobbed. often did my dearly beloved jettchen appear to me in dreams, always lovely, quiet, and serious. once she offered me a wreath; this was considered as a sign that i was to die, as i was soon after seriously ill. but since my childhood i have not been so fortunate as to dream once of her. she loved me tenderly! i may say very particularly so! "our sorrow was a little alleviated by our thoughts being distracted by a new building of my father's, a new garden-house; he had long wished for an extension and entire transformation of the garden. in less than two years all was finished, and now we passed most of our summer evenings there. the garden had ever been our place for exercise, and now it was enlarged. what pleasure it was to us, on the finishing of the new building, for the first time to eat our supper in the open air! and then we were allowed to remain out till ten o'clock, and go about under the starry heaven; and my father discharged small fireworks for us! "in may, , our good teacher left us, having received the rectorship at seidenberg. our sorrow was great, very great! he blessed us: 'keep steadfastly to the instructions i have given you! fear god, and all will go well with you!' these were his parting words. i threw myself on my bed and wept upon my pillow. "my father was a strict, upright, honourable man. he had raised himself from bitter poverty to wealth, by his own exertions. with unremitting activity he only thought of maintaining and extending his business; of giving employment to many hundred manufacturers, and to securing an independence for us, his children. he worked daily ten and often eleven hours, only his garden drew him sometimes away; otherwise nothing else in the world. he was born to be a merchant, but in the highest sense; small accidental gains he despised, and i believe it would have been impossible for him to have been a retail dealer. he never made use of the frequent opportunities of becoming rich by bankruptcies; he walked steadily in the straight path, and was angry if his servants, in his absence at the fair, overcharged the purchasers. his external life was as simple as his inward principles. his furniture remained almost unchanged: the inherited plate kept its form; he only attached value to fine linen and good rhine wine. his table was frugal; with the exception of high festival days, he had usually only one dish; of an evening frequently only potatoes or radishes. wine only on sundays, except on a summer evening in the garden. about once a year he gave an entertainment, then father haupt would not do the thing shabbily. champagne he could not bear; this, therefore, came very seldom. but he delighted in old rhine and hungarian wine, and bishop made of burgundy. on sunday evenings he walked in the fields, and now and then his life was diversified by a drive. he was, moreover, hospitable; very often foreign commercial friends came, and he frequently took his favourite clerks from the writing-room to dine with him. he was fond of talking politics, and often took correct views of the future. though he was grave, he could be very cheerful, and often joked with us. he was open-handed to the highest degree; gave much to the poor, and gladly supported industrious people. sometimes a great disinclination to the literary class came over him; therefore he frequently declaimed against the albums of the scholars; yet he never gave less than one thaler eight n. gr., often double, nay, three and four fold. all boasting was foreign to him, and he hated all ostentation of riches. if he heard that any members of his guild showed such ostentation, he only laughed most satirically; but when the boaster made himself too ridiculous he would say, 'we have not seen the end of it;' or, 'what wonderful things that man has;' or, at all events, at the utmost he said, 'i am not a nobody, either.' he was strictly religious, yet without superstition, against which, as well as against popery, priestly pride, and hypocrisy, he would loudly declaim. he thought clearly on the most important subjects, as he himself knew, and was indeed almost alarmed, if he took, as he thought, too free views. it was touching to me; when once at leipzig, during my studies there, he expressed himself freely upon confession, and then, drawing back with great modesty, said, 'yet i am saying too much, fritz, for i know that i am no deep thinking man.' he had, as a youth, read part of wolf's philosophical works; but they were too dry for him. in his judgments of men he struck, as they say, the right nail on the head; yet he was, like all upright minds, often caustic, sharp, and bitter. if he had once said, 'the fellow is good for nothing!' he adhered to it. "from his over-extensive business, in which he had no intelligent men, but only mere machines to assist him, we saw but little of him. he was obliged to intrust us to the tutor and the woman-kind; the result was that we felt more reverence than confidential tenderness for him. yet we loved him from the bottom of our hearts, and his principles, his teaching, and his simple life worked upon us beneficially. "our aunt had, it is true, her good days, yet she never succeeded in entirely gaining our love. her quarrels with the maids were more repugnant to us from the contrast of the familiarity with which it alternated; she managed to make use of my father's moments of vexation to gain her objects. but all this did not turn our hearts from her, as she did us no injury, and often even took our part against the ill-treatment of our new tutor. it was only that she was not fitted to captivate childish hearts. from this she took a great aversion to our nurse, to whom we clung with our whole souls, as she had brought up us four motherless orphans without any assistance. belonging to a better class--her husband had rented a large property at wernigerode--she had become impoverished by war, plunder, and a succession of misfortunes, her husband had died, and her children had partly gone out into the world and partly been brought up by relations. she had an excellent woman's head, a clear understanding, endless good-humour, cheerfulness, and suitable wit. if it is true that i have sometimes humorous ideas, a certain share in the development of this quality belongs to her. i well remember that i have gone on for a whole half-hour with her making bon-mots and allegories. 'with you i can joke.' with this good opinion i was often rewarded. besides this she was skilful in a thousand things, and could always give advice. she was not disinclined to the '_stillen im lande_,' which from her great sufferings the cup of which she had drained to the dregs, could be easily understood. her heart was pure and pious, and she maintained in us the impression of our former tutor's admonitions, when his successor would almost have exterminated them by his teaching and course of life. many of her relations, and also her son-in-law had become surgeons, and she had, as a maiden, given medical assistance. therefore she possessed more than usual knowledge, and astonished a surgeon when she skilfully set my brother's foot, which he had dislocated. she understood osteology perfectly; perhaps indeed she sometimes had too much confidence in herself, but her remedies healed very quickly; and when the surgeon for four months vainly endeavoured to cure my brother's foot, and spoke of the bone being rotten, she shook her head; he was sent away, and in a month the foot was healed. "the public even believed that she dealt in the black art, but we knew better. 'i have sworn to my lady,' (our mother), 'to give my life for you, if it can be of use to you, and i will keep what i vowed on her deathbed!' peace be to her ashes! her wish to repose near 'her lady' has been fulfilled. 'children! when i die, i have only one request,--lay me near your mother; ah! if i am only under the ledge of her tomb, i shall be content.' "such was the state of things in our house when the new tutor came--he was in every respect the contrary of his predecessor. the one simple, straightforward, and just, avoiding even the appearance of evil; the other a frivolous, flighty dandy, who--it was then a matter of importance--played with a lorgnette, and wore stiff polished boots even when he preached; in knowledge below his predecessor; in faith not knowing himself what he wished. the former weighed his words, this one often swore, and his pupils soon followed his example. he danced, rode, played at cards, &c. in short, quite a common-place master. passionate, tyrannical, and severe upon our faults, or rather--for he did not concern himself much with our morals--harsh upon slight mistakes in the school-room. and yet we learned everything well, and knew more than all our playfellows; of that i am very certain. "he very nearly disgusted me with study, treating me with special harshness, from not understanding my ardent mind; meanwhile from this bitter my nature drew forth honey. i had often suffered injustice, from hence arose the feeling of justice in my soul. 'it is better to suffer wrong than to do it!' often said our nurse to me. and out of this sprang forth my zeal against oppression, violence, and injustice of all kinds. the very depths of my soul were stirred when, being innocent, i was ill-treated; suffering seemed more deeply-wounding when inflicted by unfeeling arrogance. my brother and i respected the guilty, if they repented. thus it was wholesome to bear undeserved severity! and yet,--so forgiving is the pure soul of childhood--that we only hated the man for the moment. a friendly word, or one of praise from him, and all was forgotten. "as the pietism of the other had not quite suited my father, the new tutor, in the beginning, was more thought of by him. but he soon learnt to know his man; and god knows how my father himself could for five long years have borne the misconduct of this man, for he wrote him insolent letters if he ever ventured to blame anything. we never dared complain, for our father did not stand in very confidential relations with us. so we suffered in silence, and often not a little. often have i, in the truest sense of the words, eaten my bread with bitter tears. "i must here mention, that my first resolution to become a preacher was extinguished by this man. 'law, law,' he often exclaimed to me. what that meant was very mysterious to me. at last, however, when i heard that there were law professors, i understood it. it was now settled; but what attracted me in the professorship was the opportunity of speaking in public. if there was a vocation that suited me it was this. "thus passed the years from to . in the beginning of , my brother, still not fourteen years old, was put into a counting-house at chemnitz. inexpressibly sorrowful was our parting. we loved each other as brothers, and if we had small quarrels, in which i was more to blame than he, we never let the sun set without being reconciled. but now follows an important chapter in my juvenile life. "the picture of a perfect tutor is indeed charming. more than father and mother can do, can be effected by a noble, pious teacher, of simple life, full of judgment and moral power; only that scarcely one out of a hundred can be found to realise this ideal.' "a heavy load was lifted from my breast when i felt myself free from this tutor's discipline! a feeling i had never experienced before stirred in me! i was already half-grown up! was it an impulse to unrestrained roving? or a longing for dissipation? or youthful presumption which fancied it needed no guide? in truth no thoughts of this kind entered my mind! it was the pure consciousness of having suffered injustice; it was the honest feeling that i was not so bad, as he in his frantic humour had often said i was; it was the glad prospect of being able to strive independently; it was the desire to show that i no longer needed leading-strings. still do i remember the evening of the th of april, ,--maunday thursday,--how beautiful the sunset was, and i spoke with open heart to my playfellows of the new life that was opening to me. "my father put me under the teaching of the conrector müller, and his old friend the subrector jary, and in this he did well. "to the conrector müller i owe most thanks. i passed from tyrannical oppression to his liberal intellectual sway. his kindliness and his noble open countenance, speaking of pure goodness of heart, attracted me to him when first we spoke together. he understood how to elevate my feeling for learning. he knew everything thoroughly. he was strong in latin, not unversed in greek; the history of the german empire, and political history--but above all, literary history,--together with geography, were his favourite studies. he had not one enemy. "jary was not born to be a teacher, but he was not without knowledge, which he had acquired by industry. his method was defective, but he meant to deal faithfully by his scholars, and looked after them. his religious opinions were strictly orthodox; and i wept when he expressed doubts as to the eternal happiness of cicero! yet i owe him also thanks; he treated me with earnest kindness, and when he dismissed me in , the old man said weeping: 'fare you well! i shall not see you again; fare you well, you are almost the only one who has not vexed me!' "in august, , i partook for the first time of the lord's supper. i looked up fervently and repeated to myself kretzschmar's ode: 'let us rejoicing fill the holy vaults of thy temple with hymns of praise. invisibly though perceptibly, does god's grace hover round us!' joyfully, with heaven in my heart, did i approach the altar! nevertheless, when in the afternoon i examined myself during a solitary walk, i was dissatisfied with myself. what i had been taught concerning the merits of christ, appeared to me unintelligible; my groping in the dark about this, weakened the impression of that day. i worried myself with the idea of the atonement by death, and no ray of light entered my soul. besides i loved the old heathens, cicero, pliny, socrates, &c., more than many christians, together with the apostles, more than all the jews of the old testament, as the people of god did not particularly please me. and yet it was doubtful whether god would receive socrates as a child of light. how in the world, i thought, could my poor socrates help not having been born later, not having lived in judea? "thus i troubled myself, and was more sorrowful than cheerful. "at michaelmas, , my father took me with him to leipzig, where my brother also was to come. oh, the pleasure of meeting again! no language can describe it! my brother's principal allowed him leave every afternoon and also many mornings; so we could have plenty of talk. i soon became aware that my brother had read many freethinking works upon religion, especially many of bahrdt's. his own inquiries led him still further. this occasioned me much sorrow, for jary's strict orthodoxy had laid hold of me. but i was the happiest. soon after, i attained to clear views in a scientific way, while my brother, left to himself, wavered to and fro, which was still perceptible, even in his old age. the insoluble question--why reason was reason?--gave unspeakable suffering to my poor brother. undoubtedly my lighter tone of mind, my fancy, which gave me a poetic feeling, and especially my disposition to give up groping over difficult passages, were a help to me. with my brother reason prevailed too much. "we passed three blessed weeks. to me the academy was to some extent a great pleasure; the zittauer students took pains to make my residence agreeable to me. the theatre we visited assiduously, we loved plays passionately, and when the actors were at zittau, we had learnt under the guidance of the last tutor, to criticise with judgment don carlos was given, agnes bernaner, and kaspar der thorringer; deep was the impression left upon me, and i confessed secretly to myself, that i should not find it disagreeable to be an actor. even in this the idea of public speaking exercised its charm upon me. a hundred times, perhaps, did we act plays in that year, frequently extempore. it was singular that the old _rôles_, as we called them, were particularly suitable to me. but comic parts i could not manage, which, strange as it may appear, my brother frequently chose, although he had qualifications for the more serious ones, and, according to my judgment, he often failed in the comic parts. a friend played the military _rôles_, to which i had a great aversion. "how great the advantage of public instruction! it may sometimes have its defects, and unfortunately schools are often laboratories of temptation. but how true are quintilian's words, that children often carry to school faults from home! great is the advantage that public institutions are open to inspection, and that freedom of mind prospers there more than in private education, and emulation awakens and nourishes the power of self-exertion. "these hours of enjoyment with my brother came to an end. on the monday after _oculi_ i was introduced, after a successful examination, by director sintenis. i became immediately 'sixth form boy' at the third table. this excited great envy and caused me many bitter hours. i, who without falsehood and malice, meant well by every one, did not understand what many of the seniors meant. finally, however, my good behaviour got the better of them, i remained just the same, and bore much with patience. it was long before i could conceive what envy was, for i had no touch of it in my disposition. my more acute brother, to whom i made my lamentations, wrote to me, 'read gustav lindau, or, the man who can bear no envy,' by meissner. he was right, and yet it was not till i was thirty-five, that i saw it in its true light. "when this period of envy had passed away, and müller said, 'you sit in the place that is due to you, but mind you maintain your place,' a succession of happier days opened to me. "easter drew near; i examined myself and found that i had been very industrious. with müller especially, i had in the last year done much. i was behindhand only in greek, as almost all were; yet i could get on. in the imperial and saxon history i was well up, and in the knowledge of literature very strong for one who was not seventeen. in the geography of countries beyond europe i was deficient. latin i knew best. the most ready amongst us could translate whole pages off hand, without a fault, in two or three minutes; it was here and there improved in elegance and then read aloud. i owe to these exercises my facility in speaking latin, which i was obliged to acquire at the university. "the time for my departure from the academy was come. "with all my liveliness, i had also many serious, even melancholy hours. the separation from my sisters, whom i dearly loved, disposed me often to be sorrowful; i especially loved the youngest, friederike, who clung to me. especially the last winter we were inseparable, it was as if she anticipated that we should soon be parted for ever. "my heart was pure, untouched by the allurements to which i well knew my fellow scholars yielded. i had already determined to continue in the same course; this i may affirm now at the end of thirty years. my chief fault was hasty anger, which even led me to the verge of giving blows; and violent passion is still the dark side of my character! besides this, i was bitter in my censure of the faults of others. faithful self-examination told me all this and more; but i was always forgiving, and any feeling of revenge would have been impossible to me. "my heart glowed with friendship; ingratitude appeared to me, as it still does, a black vice. finally, i must say one word of my feelings as a youth; to maiden charms i was very sensitive, but never did a faithless word pass my lips. the loves of the scholars were repugnant to me, but i will not deny having entertained secretly a hope that some female heart might be gracious to me; but pale and thin as i was, i often seriously doubted the possibility of it. "the expression of quiet melancholy in the eyes of l. v. d. attracted me early; i had the greatest pleasure in talking to her, and she was the only one of my sisters' playfellows with whom i walked, when we rambled about the garden. but she left zittau soon, and never did a word escape my lips--and how could it? in , i saw her again once; after that time never again. "my first school occupations drove away all such thoughts, although i was teased as well as others, when i had danced more with one maiden than another at the school balls. sometimes undoubtedly there were moments, when from braggadocio, i made it appear as if there was something in question, where certainly there was nothing. "but shortly before my departure--at a school ball--i met with lorchen l., who was destined by my stars, to be the companion of my life, and entered into conversation with her. even then i was much charmed with her! and danced oftener and with greater pleasure, than with any other maiden. it made me uneasy to feel that in some months i should be away. the impression upon me was not concealed from my class, and they bantered me; and i looked gloomy. even during more than six years' absence, her image ever rose before me. if there are inward voices, this was one for me! "the day dawned on which i was to take leave of zittau, and my sister was to accompany me to leipzig. with tears i parted from müller, and with emotion from all the teachers. in the evening i took a lonely walk in the open air, the evening sky shone bright, the reflection fell on my mother's grave. tears burst from me: 'yes, mother! i vowed that i would be good!' with hasty steps i went home. 'now we shall never more,' said my brother, 'never more,' wander together, he would have said, but tears choked his voice. "we slept little, talking almost the whole night, and early, about four o'clock, our travelling carriage rolled out of zittau." thus does a sensible man of the time of our fathers and grandfathers, relate the boy-life in a citizen's family, honourable and serious, of strict morality, and no common strength of intellect. still, with depth of feeling is united a sentimentality which will perhaps excite a smile, perhaps touch the heart. it is the secluded life of a wealthy family, but how earnest is the feeling of the child, how laboriously he spends his days! the greatest enjoyment of the young boy is in learning; he finds an inexhaustible source of elevation and enthusiasm in the knowledge that he imbibes. the narrator seeks his happiness in family life, in the duties of his office, and in science and art. he forms an elevated and profound conception of everything. politics only disturb him. it was not till the next generation that man's feelings were excited, their powers awakened, and new qualities developed by the idea of a fatherland. chapter x. the period of ruin. ( .) again did evil arise from france, and again did a new life spring from the struggle against the enemy. it was not the first time that that country had inflicted deep wounds on german national strength, and had unintentionally awakened a new power which victoriously arrested her progress. the policy of richelieu had been the most dangerous opponent of the german empire, but at the same time it had been obliged to support the protestant party there, in which lay the source of all later renovation. after him french literature ruled the german mind for a century, and for a long time it appeared as if the academy of paris and the classical drama were to govern our taste, as did the tailors and peruke makers of the seine. but indignation and shame produced, in opposition to french art, a poetry and science which, in spite of its cosmopolitan tendency, was genuinely national. now the heir of the french revolution brought violent destruction on the declining empire, and gave his commands on its ruins like a tyrannical ruler, till at last the germans resolved to drive him away, in order to take their affairs into their own hands. defenceless was the frontier against the invading stranger. only on the lower rhine there was the prussian realm, but along the other part of the stream were the domains of ecclesiastical princes, and small territories without any power of resistance. it was the four western circles of the empire, the upper rhine, suabia, franconia, and bavaria, which the north germans mockingly called the empire. even in the empire, the ecclesiastical territories and bavaria were very much behindhand, in comparison with baden and suabia. the example of frederic ii. in prussia, and the philosophic enlightenment of this period, had reformed most of the protestant courts, as also electoral saxony, since the seven years' war. greater economy, household order, and earnest solicitude for the good of the subject became visible. many governments were models of good administration, like weimar and gotha, and in the family of one of the great ladies of the eighteenth century, the duchess caroline of hesse, as well as in darmstadt and baden, there was economical mild rule. even indeed in the court of duke karl of wurtemburg there was improvement. he who had dug lakes on the hills, and employed his serfs to fill them with water, who had lighted the woods with bengal lights, and caused half-naked fauns and satyrs to dance there, had learnt a lesson since , and on his fiftieth birthday, had promised his people to become economical, and had since that been transformed into a careful landlord, under whom the country flourished. even the ecclesiastical courts had experienced somewhat of this philosophical tendency, though undoubtedly the activity of an enlightened ruler of würzburg or munster was much limited by the inevitable supremacy of an ecclesiastical aristocracy, and the increasing priestly rule. but the imperial cities of the south were, with the exception of frankfort, in a state of decadence; they were deeply in debt, and a rotten patrician rule prevented modern industry from flourishing. the councils still continued to issue high-sounding decrees, but the _senatus populusque, bopfingensis_, or _nordlingensis_ as they called themselves in heroic style, appeared only a caricature to their neighbours. the renowned ulm, the southern capital of suabia, once the mistress of italian agency business, had sunk so low that it was supposed that she must sell her domain to preserve herself from bankruptcy; augsburg also was only the shadow of its former greatness, its princely merchants had become weak commission agents and small money-changers: it was said that the city only contained six firms that could raise more than , gulden. the academy of arts of the city was nothing but a school for artisans. the famous engravers made bad pictures of saints for the village trade; the old hatred of confessions still raged among the inhabitants, for its famed senate was divided into two factions, and nowhere did the parties of frederic and maria theresa contend so bitterly. even nuremberg, once the flower and the pride of germany, had been severely injured in the old bad time; its , inhabitants were hardly the fifth of that community which, years earlier, had mustered in fearful battle array; but the city was still in the way to gain a modest position in the german markets, no longer by the artistic articles of old nuremberg, but by an extended trade in small wares of wood and metal, in which some of the old artistic feeling might still be perceived. it was no better along the rhine,--the great ecclesiastical street of the empire,--there lay, down the stream, the residences of three ecclesiastical electors in succession. in the electorate of mainz, which, from olden times, had frequently maintained a great independence within the church, two intellectual rulers had undoubtedly given an enlightened aspect to a part of their clergy, and to the new portions of their city; but in the old city and trades, little of the new time was to be perceived, and the prebendaries who read voltaire and rousseau were by no means an unqualified gain, at least for the morality of the citizen. but the great cologne was in the worst repute; the dung-heaps lay all day in the streets, which were not lighted, the pavement was miserable, and on dark evenings the necks and limbs of passengers were in great danger, the roads also were insecure, filled with idling ragamuffins. the beggars formed a great guild, counting heads; till noon they sat and lay at the church doors in rows, many on chairs, the possession of one of which was considered as a secure rent, and assigned as dowry to the beggar's children; when they left their places, they went to the houses to demand food for dinner; they were a coarse, wicked set.[ ] on the whole, it is known that the ecclesiastical rulers treated the citizens and peasants with comparative mildness, and the military compulsion was less burdensome, but they did little for the industry or cultivation of the people. after them, in this respect, bavaria was in worst repute, and no other people since that has made such great progress; but about it was said to be most behindhand in wealth and morals; the cities, with the exception of munich, looked decayed, and were poorly populated: idleness and beggary spread everywhere; except brewers, bakers, and innkeepers, there were no wealthy people. even in munich, countless beggars loitered about, mixed with numbers of modish, dandified officials; there was no national industry, only some manufactures of articles of luxury favoured by the government. not long ago it was maintained by a bavarian monthly journal, that manufacturing activity and the like were not very practicable for bavarians, because the great river of the country flowed to austria, and a competition with the imperial hereditary states was not possible. the most flourishing countries in germany, next to the small territories on the north sea, were then electoral saxony and the country of the lower rhine, up to the westphalian county of mark; and this is little altered. to those who dwelt in the empire the inhabitants of the north were a remote people, but they were in the habit of considering prussia and austria also as foreign powers. of the people in austria the citizens of the empire knew little. even the bavarian, before whose eyes his danube flowed to vienna, desired no intercourse with these neighbours; he preferred looking over the mountains to the tyrol, for the hatred which so readily divides frontier people was there in full force. the saxon had important trade with the germans in northern bohemia; it mattered little to him what lay beyond; it was a foreign race, in evil repute, from the old war. to other germans the "bohemian mountains" and an unknown land signified the same thing. the nations which dwelt along the danube, amongst them czechs, moravians, italians, slovenes, magyars, and slovaks, were a vigorous, powerful race, of ancient german blood; the thirty years' war had little injured their stately carriage and personal beauty, but their own rulers had estranged them from germany. by persecution, not only the heretics, but also the activity and culture of those who remained, had been frightened away; but a life of enjoyment and pleasure still pulsated in the great capital. any one who wished to enjoy himself went there--hungarians, bohemians, and nobles from the empire. germany lay outside the vienna world, and they thought little of it. undoubtedly the ruler of austria was also the emperor of germany. the double eagle hung against all the post-houses in the empire, and when the emperor died, according to old custom, the church bells tolled. any one who sought for armorial bearings, or quarrelled about privileges, went to the imperial court; otherwise the empire knew nothing of the emperor or his supremacy. when the soldiers of the princes of the empire came together with the austrians and prussians, they were derided as good-for-nothing people; the "_kostbeutel_"[ ] and the "schwabische kragen" hated each other intensely; when the austrian received a blow, no one was better pleased than the contingent from the empire. even among themselves the subjects of the small rulers did not live in peace; insulting language and blows were common; the mainzers attacked the inhabitants of the palatinate, and when the french occupied electoral mainz, the inhabitants of the palatinate and darmstadt rejoiced in the sufferings of their neighbours.[ ] the mass of the people in the empire lived quietly to themselves. the peasant performed his service, and the citizen worked; both had been worse off than now, but there was no difficulty in earning a livelihood. if they had a mild ruler, they served him willingly; the citizens clung to the city and province whose dialect they spoke; they frequently bore great attachment to their little state, which enclosed almost all that they knew, and whose helplessness they only imperfectly understood. when it became a cipher, they did not the more know what they were, and asked one another with anxious curiosity what they should now become. it was an old, quiet misery! the new ideas that came from france undoubtedly somewhat disquieted them; things were better there than with them; they listened complacently to foreign emissaries; they put their heads together, and determined, sometimes in the evening perhaps, to abolish what annoyed them; they also sent petitions to their worthy rulers. the peasants here and there became more difficult to manage; but as long as the french did not come, the movement was a mere curl of the waves; and when the french custine gained mainz, he called the guild together, and each one was to give in a project of a constitution. this took place. the peruke-makers produced one: "we wish to be diminished to five-and-thirty, and the crab (thus a master was called) shall be our president of the council." the hackney-coachmen declared, "we will pay no more bridge tolls; then, as far as we are concerned, any one may be our elector who wishes!" no guild thought of a republic and constitution. this was the condition of the small states of the empire in the century of enlightenment. the people of the imperial states knew well that the larger ones held them in contempt for their want of military capacity; and it was natural that in these small states no martial spirit should exist. unwillingly did they form regiments from five, ten, or more contemptible contingents; soldiers and officers in the same regiment often quarrelled; the uniforms were scarcely the same colour, nor the word of command. the citizens despised their soldiers; it was told jeeringly that the mainz soldiers at their post cut pegs for the shoemakers; that the guard at gmünd presented arms to every well-dressed foot-passenger, and then stretched out their hats and begged for a donation; that a man in uniform was despised and excluded from every society; that the wives and mistresses of the officers took the field with children and ninepins; that the weapons and discipline were miserable, and all the material of war imperfect. this was undoubtedly a great misfortune, and apparent to everybody. the worst troops in the world were to be found in the imperial regiments, but there were some better companies among them, and some officers of capacity. even out of this bad material a foreign conqueror was able afterwards to make good soldiers; for the germans have always fought bravely when they have been well led. besides the prussians, there were some other small _corps d'armée_, in well-deserved estimation--the saxon, brunswick, hanoverian, and hessian. on the whole, then, the military power of germany was not altogether unsatisfactory; it could well bear some occasional bad elements, and still, in point of number and valour, cope with any army in the world. the cause of decay in the army was not the composition of the army itself, but discord and bad leading. after , destruction burst upon the empire--wave upon wave broke over it from west to east. first came into the country the white petrels of the bourbons, precursors of the storm--the emigrants. there were many valiant men among them, but the larger number, who gave character and repute to the whole, were worthless, reckless rabble. like a pestilence, they corrupted the morals of the cities in which they located themselves, and the courts of small, simple sovereigns, who felt themselves honoured by receiving these distinguished adventurers. coblentz, the seat of government of electoral treves, was their head-quarters, and that city was the first where their immorality brought ruin into families, and disunion into the state, they were fugitives enjoying the hospitality of a foreign country, but with knavish impudence, wherever they were the strongest, they ill-treated the german citizens and peasants, as well as the foolish nobleman who honoured in them polite paris. when veit weber, the valiant author of "sagen der vorzeit," whilst travelling in a rhine boat, was humming a french song upon contentment, of which the refrain was, "_vive la liberté_," some emigrants, who were travelling with him, drew their swords upon him and his unarmed companion, misused them with the flat blade, bound them with cords round their necks, and so dragged them to coblentz, where they robbed them of their money and passports, and, thus wounded, they were imprisoned without examination till the prussians arrived and freed them.[ ] besides brutal violence, the emigrants also introduced into the circles which admitted them vices hitherto unknown to the people, loathsome diseases, and meannesses of every kind. in the whole of the rhine valley a feeling of hatred and disgust was excited by their presence; nothing worked so favourably for the french republican party; the feeling became general among the people, that a struggle which was to rid france of such evil deeds and abominations must be just. they were equally despised by the more powerful states--prussia and austria. the troops that they hired were composed of the worst rabble; even the poor people of the imperial states looked with repugnance on the bands of emigrants. after the corrupt nobles came the speeches of the national assembly, and the decrees of the convention; but few of the educated men were entirely uninfluenced by them. they were the same ideas and wishes that the germans had. more than one enthusiastic spirit was so attracted by them as to give up their fatherland and go to the west, to their own destruction. not the last of such men was george foster, whom germans should pity, and not extol. and yet these monstrous events, and excitable minds, produced only a slight intoxication. there was great sympathy, but it was only a kindly participation in a foreign concern; for, hopeless as was the political condition of germany--imperfect and oppressive as was the administration of the greater states--yet there was a widespread feeling that social reforms were progressing, which, in contrast to the french, would spread peaceably by teaching and good example. there were bitter complaints of the perverseness and incapacity of many of the princes, but, on the whole, it could not be doubted that there was much good-will in the governments. germany, also, had no such aristocracy as france. the lesser nobles, in spite of their prejudices and errors, lived, on the whole, in a homely way in the midst of the people; and just at this time they counted in their ranks many leaders of the enlightenment. what most oppressed the cultivated minds of germany was not so much the vices of the old feudal state as their own political insignificance, the clumsiness of the constitution of the empire, the feeling that the germans, by this much-divided rule, had become _philisters_. it was then, also, far from paris to germany; the characters which there contended against each other, the ultimate aim of parties, the evil and the good, were much less known than would be the case in our time. the larger newspapers only appeared three times a week; they gave dry notices, seldom a long correspondence, still less often an independent judgment. the flying sheets alone were active; even their judgment was moderate; they wished well to the movement, but were bolder in the discussion of home matters. therefore, though in paris there were massacres in the streets, and the guillotine was incessantly at work, in germany the french revolution had no effect in banding political parties against one another. and when the account came that the king had been imprisoned, ill-treated, and executed, forebodings, even among the least timid, became general. thus it was possible that german officers, even the _gardes du corps_ at potsdam, good-humouredly allowed the _ça ira_ to be played, whilst the street boys sang to it a rude translation of the text. the ladies of the german aristocracy wore tricolour ribbons, and head dresses _à la carmagnole_. curiosity collected the people in a circle round some patriot prisoners of war--dismal tattered figures--whilst they danced their wild dances, and accompanied them by pantomime, which expressed washing their hands in the blood of the aristocrats; and some innocently bought from them the playthings which they had made on the march, little wooden guillotines. but it was a morbid simplicity in the educated. there is another thing which appears still stranger to us. whilst the storm raged convulsively in france, and the flood rolled its waves more wildly every year over germany; the eyes and hearts of all men of intellect were fixed on a little principality in the middle of germany, where, amid the deepest tranquillity, the great poet of the nation, by the wonderful creations of his mind in prose and verse, dispelled all dark forebodings. king and queen were guillotined, and "reineke fuchs" made into a poem; there came, together with robespierre and the reign of terror, letters on the æsthetic training of men; with the battles of lodi and arcole, "wilhelm meister," "horen," and "xenien"; with the french acquisition of belgium, "hermann and dorothea"; with the french conquest of switzerland and the states of the pope, "wallenstein"; with the french seizure of the left bank of the rhine, the "bastard of orleans"; with the occupation of hanover by napoleon, the "bride of messina"; with napoleon emperor, "wilhelm tell." the ten years in which schiller and goethe lived in close friendship--the ten great years of german poetry, on which the german will look back in distant centuries with emotion and sentimental tenderness--are the same years in which a loud cry of woe was heard through the air; in which the demons of destruction drew together from all sides, with clothes dipped in blood, and scorpion scourges in their hands, in order to make an end of the unnatural life of a nation without a state. only sixty years have since passed, yet the period in which our fathers grew up is as strange to us in many respects as the period in which, according to tradition, archimedes calculated geometrical problems, whilst the romans were storming his city. the movement of this time worked differently on the prussian state. it was no longer the prussia of frederic ii. in the interior, indeed, his regulations had been faithfully preserved; his followers mitigated everywhere some severities of the old system, but the great reforms which the time urgently required were scarcely begun. but in the eighteenth century, up to the war of , the external boundary of the state increased on a gigantic scale. frederic had still left behind him a little kingdom; a few years after, prussia might be reckoned as one of the great realms of europe. in the rapidity of this growth, there was something unnatural. by the two last divisions of poland, about square miles of sclavonic country were added. shortly before, the principalities of the franconian hohenzollerns, anspach and baireuth, were gained, another square miles. besides this, after the peace of luneville, forty-seven square miles of the upper rhine district of cleves were exchanged for square miles of german territory; parts of thuringia, including erfurt, half munster, also hildesheim and paderborn; finally, anspach was again exchanged for hanover. after that, prussia for some months comprised a territory of square miles, almost double its extent in , and about a sixth more than it at present contains. in this year, prussia might almost have been called germany; its eagles hovered over the countries from old saxony up to the north sea; also over the main territory of old franconia and in the heart of thuringia; it ruled the mouths of the elbe; it surrounded bohemia on two sides, and could, after a short day's march, make its war horses drink in the danube. in the east it extended itself far into the valley of the vistula and to the bug; and its officials governed in the capital of departed poland. this rapid increase, even in peaceful times, might not have been without disadvantage, for the amount of constructive power which prussia could employ for the assimilation to itself of such various acquisitions was perhaps not great enough. and yet the excellent prussian officials, of the old school just then greatly distinguished themselves. organisation was carried on everywhere with great zeal and success; brilliant talents, and great powers were developed in this work. there were certainly many half measures and false steps, but on the whole, when we consider the work, the integrity, the intelligence, and the vigorous will which the prussians then showed in germany, it fills us with respect, especially when we compare it with the later french rule, which indeed carried on reforms thoroughly and dexterously, but at the same time brought a chaos of coarseness and rough tyranny into the country. the acquisition of poland was in itself a great gain for germany, for it afforded it a protection against the enormous increase of russia; the east frontier of prussia gained military security. if it was hard for the poles, it was necessary for the germans. the desolate condition of the half-wild provinces required a proportionate exertion, if they were to be made useful, that is to say, if they were to be transformed into a german empire. it was not a time for quiet colonisation; but even of this there was not a little. but another circumstance was ominous. all these extensions were not the result of the impulses of a strong national power: they were partly forced on prussia after inglorious campaigns by a too powerful enemy. and germany showed the remarkable phenomena of prussia being enlarged under continued humiliations and diplomatic defeats; and that its increase of territory went hand-in-hand with the decrease of its consideration in europe. thus this diffuse state had at last too much the appearance of a group of islands congregated together, which the next hurricane would bury under the waves. the surface of ground was so great, and the life and interests of its citizens had become so various, that the power of one individual could no longer arbitrarily guide the enormous machine in the old way. and yet there was no lack of the great aid--the ultimate regulator both of princes and officials--public opinion, which incessantly, honestly, and bravely accompanied the doings of rulers, examined their public acts, gave expression to the wishes of the people, and felt their needs. the daily press was anxiously controlled, accidental flying sheets wounded deeply, and were violently suppressed. the king was a man of strict uprightness and moderation, but he was no general, nor a great politician; so he remained all his life too much averse to decided and energetic resolves. he was then young and diffident of his own powers, and he felt vividly that he superintended too little the details of business; the intrigues of greedy courtiers put him out of humour, without his knowing how to stop them; his endeavours to preserve his own independence, and guard himself from preponderating influence, put him in danger of preferring insignificant and pliant characters to firm ones. the state had clearly then come into a position when the spontaneous action of the people and the beginning of constitutional life could no longer be dispensed with. but again it seemed so little possible, that the most discontented scarcely ventured to whisper it. all the material for it was wanting; the old states of prussia had been thoroughly set aside; the communities were governed by officials; even an interest in politics and the life of the state was almost confined to them. what the king had seen arise under the co-operation of the people in a foreign country, national assemblies and conventions, had given him so deep a repugnance to every such participation of his prussians in the work of the state, that, to the misfortune of his people and successors, he never, as long as he lived, could overcome this feeling. before , he thought of nothing of the kind. very strongly did he feel that it was impossible for him to continue to govern in the old method of frederic ii. this great king, in spite of all his immense power of work and knowledge of minute particulars, had only been able to keep the whole in vigorous movement by sacrificing to his arbitrary power, even the innocent, in case of need. as he was in the position to decide everything himself, and quickly, it frequently happened that his decision depended on his humour and accidental subordinate considerations. he did not, therefore, hesitate to break an officer for a mere oversight, or discharge councillors of the supreme court who had only done their duty. and if he discovered that he had done an injustice, though he was passionately desirous of doing justice, he never once acknowledged the fact; for it was necessary to preserve his faith in himself, as well as the obedience and pliancy of his officials, and the implicit trust of his people in his final decisions. it was not only one of his peculiar characteristics, but also his policy, to retract nothing, neither overhaste nor mistake; and not to make amends even for obvious injustice, except occasionally and secretly. that powerful and wise prince could venture upon this; his successor justly feared to rule in such a way. the grandson of that prince of prussia, whom frederic ii. angrily removed from the command in the middle of the war, felt deeply the severity of this hasty decision. he was therefore obliged to do like his predecessors, to seek to control his officials by themselves. thus began in prussia the reign of the bureaucracy. the number of offices became greater, useless intermediate authorities were introduced, and the transaction of all business became circuitous. it was the first consequence of the endeavour to proceed justly, thoroughly, and securely, and to remodel the strict despotism of the olden time. but to the people this appeared a loss. as long as there was no press, and no tribunal to help the oppressed to their rights, petitions had quite a different signification to what they have now; for now the most insignificant can gain the sympathy of a whole country by inserting a few lines in a newspaper, and set ministers and representatives of the people in commotion for days. frederic ii. had received every petition, and generally disposed of them himself, and thus, undoubtedly, his kingly despotism came to light frederic william could not bear to have petitions presented to himself; he sent them immediately to the courts. this was according to rule. but, as the magistrates were not yet obliged to take care that these complaints of individuals should be made public, they were only too frequently thrown on one side, and the poor people exclaimed that there was no longer any help against the encroachments of the landräthe,[ ] or against the corruption of excisemen. even the king suffered from it; not his good will, but his power was doubted to give help against the officials. to this evil was added another. the officials of the administration had become more numerous, but not more powerful. life was more luxurious, prices had increased enormously, and their salaries, always scanty even in the olden time, had not risen in proportion. in the cities, justice and administration were not yet separated; a kind of tutelage was exercised even in the merest trifles; the spontaneous activity of the citizen was failing; the "directors" of the city were royal officials, frequently discharged auditors and quartermasters of regiments. in this had been a great advance; in the education and professional knowledge of such men was insufficient. into the war and territorial departments, however, which are now called government departments, the young nobility already sought for admittance; among them not a few were men of note, who later were reckoned the greatest names in prussia; and most of them, without much exertion, quickly made their fortunes. it was complained that in some of the offices almost all the work was done by the secretaries. but that, in truth, was only the case in silesia, which had its own minister. after the great polish acquisition, count hoym, in silesia, had for some years the chief administration of the polish province. it was a bad measure to give a subject unlimited power over that vast territory; it was a misfortune for him and the state. he lived at breslau as king, and he kept spies at the court of his sovereign, who were to keep him _au fait_ of the state of things. the poor nobles of silesia thronged around him, and he gave his favourites office, landed properties, and wealth. the uprightness of the officials in the new province was injured by this unfit condition of things. government domains were sold at low prices, and generals and privy councillors were thus enabled to acquire large landed properties for little money. it is curious that the first open resistance to this arose among the officials themselves, and that the opposition was carried on, for the first time, in prussia, through the modern weapon of the press. the most violent complainant was the chief custom-house officer, von held; he accused count hoym, chancellor goldbeck, general rüchel, and many others, of fraud, and compared the present state of prussia with the just time of frederic ii. the case made an immense sensation. investigations were commenced against him and his friends; they were prosecuted as members of a secret society, and as demagogues. held's writings were confiscated; and he himself imprisoned and condemned, but at last set at liberty. in his imprisonment the irritated and embittered man attacked the king himself:[ ] he accused him of too great economy--which we consider the first virtue of a king of prussia; of hardness--which was unfounded; and of playing at soldiering--this, unfortunately, with good grounds. he complained: "when the prince will no longer hear truth, when he throws upright men and true patriots into prison, and appoints those who have been accused of fraud to be directors of the commission appointed to try them, then must the honest, calm, but not the less warm, friends of their fatherland sigh." meanwhile he did not satisfy himself with sighing, but became satirical. from this dispute, which only turns on an individuals circumstances, we learn how bold and reckless was the language of political critics in old prussia; and how low and helpless the position of its princes against such attacks. as the king took the whole government upon his own shoulders, he bore also the whole responsibility, as he alone guided the machine of the state; so every attack on the particular acts of the administration, and upon the officials of the state, was a personal attack upon him. wherever there was an error the king bore the blame, either because he had neglected something or because he had not punished the guilty. every peasant woman who had her eggs crushed by the excise officers at the city gates felt the harshness of the king; and if a new tax irritated the city people, the boys in the streets cried out and jeered behind the king's horse, and it was even possible that a handful of mud might be thrown at his noble head. again broke forth a quiet war betwixt the king of prussia and the foreign press. even frederic william i. had, in his "_tabakacollegium_," exercised his powers of imagination in composing a short article against the dutch newspaper writers who had annoyed him; his great son, also, was irritated by their pens, but he knew how to pay them in like coin. quite a volley of scorn and spite was fired in innumerable novels, satires, and pasquinades against his successor. of what avail against this was violence, the opening of letters and secret investigations? what use was confiscation? the forbidden writings were still read, and the coarse lies were believed. of what use was it if the king caused himself to be defended by loyal pens, if in a well considered reply the public were informed that frederic william iii. had shown no harshness to the countess of lichtenau; that he was a very good husband[ ] and father, an upright man who had the best intentions? the people might, or might not, believe it; at all events they had made themselves judges of the life of their prince in a manner which, as we view it, was highly derogatory to the majesty of the crown. yet the times were quiet, and the culture and mind of the nation was not occupied by politics. what would happen if the people were roused to political excitement? the monarchy, in this inferior position, would be entirely ruined, however good might be the intentions of the hohenzollerns. for they were no longer, as they had been in the eighteenth century, and were still in the time of frederic ii., great landed proprietors on unpopulated territory; they were, in fact, kings of an important nation; they were no longer in the position of obtaining the knowledge of every perversity of the great host of officials and of ruling over the great administration personally. now, the administration was carried on by officials; if it went right it was a matter of course, but every mistake fell upon the king's head. how this was to be remedied before no one, not even the best, knew. but discontent and a feeling of insecurity increased among the people. such a condition of things, in a transition time, from the old despotic state to a new one, gave a helpless aspect to the prussian commonwealth. it was however, in truth, no symptom of fatal weakness, as was shortly after shown by zealous prussians. for, besides the strength and capacity of self-sacrifice, which was still slumbering in the people, a fresh hopeful vigour was already visible in a distinguished circle. again it was to be found among the prussian officials. the supreme court of judicature had maintained itself in the high consideration it had gained since the organisation of the last king. it was a numerous body; it included the flower of prussian intelligence, the greatest strength of the citizens, and the highest culture of the nobles. the elder were trained under cocceji, and the younger under carmer--judicious, upright, firm men, of great capacity for work, of proud patriotism and independence of character, who were not led astray by any ministerial rescript. the court _coteries_ did not yet venture to assail these unpliable men; and it is a merit in the king that he held a protecting hand over their integrity. they belonged partly to citizens' families, which for many generations had sent their sons to the lecture-rooms of the professors of law; in the east to frankfort and königsberg, in the west to halle and göttingen. their families formed an almost hereditary aristocracy of officials. united with them as fellow-students and friends, and like-minded, were the best talents of the administration; also foreigners who had entered the prussian civil service. from this circle had been produced all the officials, who, after the prostration of prussia, were active in the renovation of the state, stein, schön, vinke, grolmann, sack, merkel, and many others, presidents of the administration, and heads of the courts of justice after . it is a pleasure in this time of insecurity to direct our attention to the quiet labours of these trustworthy men. many of them were strictly trained bureaucrats, with limited ideas and feelings; on the green table of the board lay the ambition and labour of their whole lives. but they, the chief judges, the administrators of the province, maintained faithfully and lastingly through difficult times their consciousness of being prussians; each of them imparted to those about him something of the tenacious perseverance and the confident judgment which distinguished them. even when they were severed from the body of their state, and were obliged to declare the law under foreign rule, they worked on in their sphere unchanged, in the old way; accustomed to calm self-control, they concealed in the depths of their souls the fiery longing after their hereditary ruler, and perhaps quiet plans for a better time. whoever will compare these men with some of the powerful talents of the official class which were developed at this time in the territories of south germany, will perceive an essential difference. there, even in the best, there are frequently traits that are displeasing to us; arbitrariness in their political points of view; indifference as to whom or for what they served; a secret irony with which they consider the petty relations of their country. they all suffer from the want of a state which merits the love of a man. this want gives their judgment, acute as it may be, something uncertain, unfinished, and peevish; one does not doubt their integrity, but one feels strongly that there is a moral instability in them which makes them like adventurers, though learned and highly cultivated men. undoubtedly, however, if a prussian once lost his love of fatherland, he became weaker than them. karl heinrich lang is deficient in what freidrich gentz once had, and lost by moral weakness. conscientious officials have admitted at this time the confusion of every country, especially the north; but the prussians may justly claim this pre-eminence, that in the circle of their middle order, not the most refined, but the soundest culture of that time was to be found, not occasionally, but as a rule. the prussian army suffered from the same deficiencies as the politics and administration of the state. here also there was improvement in many particulars, but much that was old was carefully preserved; what once had been progress was now mischievous. this bad condition is acknowledged; none have condemned it more strongly than the prussian military writers since the year . the treatment of the soldiers was still too severe; there was unworthy parsimony in their scanty uniforms and small rations, endless was the drilling, endless the parades, the ineradicable suffering of the prussian army; the man[oe]uvres had become useless "spectacle," in which every movement was arranged and studied beforehand; incapable officers were retained to the extreme of old age. hardly anything had been done to adapt the old prussian system to the changed method of carrying on war which had arisen in the revolution. the officers were still an exclusive caste, which was almost entirely filled by the nobility; only a few not noble were in the fusilier battalions of infantry and some among the hussars. under frederic ii., during the deficiency of men in the seven years' war, young volunteers of citizen origin were made officers. then they were, at least in their pay, and frequently in the regimental lists, represented as noble; but after the peace, however great their capacity, they were almost always kept out of the privileged battalions. this did not improve under the later kings. only in the artillery, in , were the greater number of officers commoners, but on that account they were not considered as equals. it was a bitter irony that a french artillery officer should be the person, as emperor of the french, to think of shattering the prussian army and its state into pieces, at the same time in which they were contending in prussia as to whether an officer of artillery should be received upon the general staff, and that the citizen lieutenant-colonel schamhorst should be envied this privilege.[ ] it was natural that all the failings of a privileged order should appear in full measure in the prussian corps of officers. pride towards the citizens, roughness to those under them, a deficiency in cultivation and good morals, and in the privileged regiments an unbridled insolence. it is a common complaint of contemporaries, that in the streets and societies of berlin people were not secure from the insults of the _gens d'armes_, who were the _élite_ of the young nobility. already did these arrogant men, at the beginning of the reign of frederic william iii., begin to be ashamed of wearing their old-fashioned uniform in society, and where they dared, lounged in with protruding white neck-ties, top-boots, and sword-sick. in spite of these deficiencies, there was still in the prussian army much of the capacity and strength of the olden time. the stout race of old subaltern officers had not died out, men who had shed bitter tears over the death of their great general in ; and still did the common soldiers, in spite of the diminished confidence in their leaders, feel pride in their well-tried war-like capacity. many characteristic traits have been preserved to us, which give us a pleasing picture of the disposition of the army. when, in the campaign of , a prussian and austrian, as good comrades and malcontents, were complaining to one another, and the prussian did not speak in praise of his king, he yet stopped the other, who was repeating his words, with a box on the ear, saying: "you shall not speak so of my king;" and on the angry austrian reproaching him with having said the same, the aggressor replied: "i may say that, but not you, for i am a prussian." such was the feeling in most of the regiments. the disgraceful prostration of prussia was not owing to the bad material of the army, nor especially to the obsolete tactics. nay, in the struggle it was shown how great was the capacity of both the men and officers who were so shamefully sacrificed. amidst the lawlessness, coarseness, and rapacity which inevitably come to light among a demoralised soldiery, we rejoice in finding the most worthy soldier-like feeling often amongst the meanest of them. one of the many unworthy proceedings of the stupid campaign of , was the surrender of hameln. how the betrayed garrison behaved has been related in the letter of an officer. the narrator was the son of an emigrant, a frenchman by birth, but he had become an inestimable german, of whom our people are proud; he had done his duty as a prussian officer, but at every free moment he devoted himself to german literature and science; he had no satisfaction in carrying on war against the land of his birth, and had sometimes wished himself away from the ill-conducted campaign; but when a bad commander betrayed his brave troops, the full anger of an old prussian was kindled in the breast of the adopted child of the german people, he assembled his comrades, and urged them to a general rising against their incapable commander; all the juniors were as indignant as himself; but in vain. they were deceived, and the fortress, in spite of their resistance, delivered over to the french. fearful was the despair of the soldiers; they fired their cartridges into the windows of the cowardly commander; they shot one another in rage and drunkenness; they dashed their weapons on the stones, that they might not be carried with more renown by strangers, and the old brandenburgers wept when they took leave of their officers. in the company of captain von britzke, regiment von haack, were two brothers, warnawa, sons of soldiers; they mutually placed their muskets to each other's breast, drew the triggers at the same time, and fell into each other's arms, that they might not survive the disgrace.[ ] but those who were the leaders, but not men, who were they? experienced generals from the school of the great king, men of high birth, loyal and true to their king, grown old in honours. but were they too old? they undoubtedly were grey-headed and weary. they had come into the army as boys, perhaps from the teaching of the cadet colleges, where they had been trained; they had marched and presented arms at the word of command; had kept line and distance in countless parades; afterwards they had kept a sharp look-out, that others might keep line and distance, that the buttons were cleaned, and that the pig-tail was the right length. in order to gain promotion, they had taken pains to learn at berlin whether rüchel or hohenlohe was in favour. this had been their life. they knew little more than the spiritless routine of the army, and that they were a wheel in the great machine. now their army was beaten, and the shattered remains in rapid retreat to the east. what remained now, what was left of any value to them? but it was not cowardice that made them such pitiful creatures. they had formerly been brave soldiers, and most of them were not old enough to be in their dotage. it was something else: they had lost all confidence in their state; it appeared to them useless, hopeless to defend themselves any longer--a fruitless slaughter of men. thus did these unfortunate ones feel. they had been all their life mediocre men--not better nor worse than others; this mediocrity now prevailed, as far as their narrow point of view reached, everywhere in the state. where was there anything great or strong? where any fresh life to give enthusiasm and warmth? they themselves had been the delight, the society of the hohenzollerns--the first in the state, the salt of the country; they were accustomed to look down upon citizens and officials. besides their prince and the army itself, what had they in prussia to honour? now the king was away--they knew not where--they were alone within the walls of their fortress; and they found little in themselves either to shun or to honour; they felt at best that they were weak. thus, in the hour of trial they became bad and mean, because they had all their lives been placed higher than their merits. a fearful lesson may be learnt from this; may prussians always think of it. the officers, as a privileged class, socially exclusive, with the feeling of a privileged position in the state, were in constant danger of fluctuating between arrogance and weakness. only the officer who, besides his honour as a soldier and his fidelity to his sovereign, had a full participation in all that ennobled and elevated a citizen of his time, could in a moment of difficulty find certain strength in his own breast. a period of intellectual poverty and mediocrity brought prussia to the verge of destruction; political passion raised it again. but here an account shall be given of the feelings of a german citizen on the fall of his state. he belonged to that circle of prussian jurists of whom we have just spoken. what he imparts is already known from other records, yet his honest description will find sympathy from its judicial clearness and simplicity:-- cristoph wilhelm heinrich sethe, born , deceased . "_wirklicher geheimer rath_," and chief president of the rhenish court of appeal, descended from a great legal family in the dukedom of cleves; his grandfather and father had been distinguished officials of the government; his mother was a grolmann. the boy grew up in the enjoyment of wealth in his father's town; at sixteen years of age his father sent him to the university of duisburg, and then to halle and göttingen; on his return he went through the prussian grades of service in the government of cleve-mark, an excellent school. these western provinces---not of very great extent--comprised a good portion of the strength of the prussian state. this firm, vigorous population clung with warm fidelity to the house of their princes; there was in the cities and among the peasants, who lived as freemen on their land, much wealth, and the high court of justice was one of the best in prussia sethe was "_geheimer rath_," happily married, with his whole heart in his home, when a gloom was thrown over his native city and his own life by the sound of war, the march and quartering of troops, exciting reports, and, finally, the occupation of the town by the french, who, as it is well known, allowed the sovereignty of prussia to continue for some years, till the peace of amiens took away the last vestige of prussian possession. then sethe severed himself from his home, and established himself in the prussian administration of the newly-acquired portion of münster. he shall now relate himself what he experienced.[ ] "you can easily imagine, my dear children, that the departure from cleve was very distressing to us. it was a bitter feeling to wander in this way from home, and leave one's native city under foreign laws and the dominion of a foreign people. "on rd october, , we left. we went from cleve to münster in three days; the journey from emmerick was extremely difficult and tedious; it was over corduroy roads, with loose stones thrown on them."[ ] "in the beginning of our life at münster we also encountered many annoyances. from the number of officials who had removed there, and the numerous military, our accommodation was very restricted. then we arrived there towards winter, and provisions were very deficient; in münster there was no regular market, and the women from cleve were in despair, because they could get nothing. this, however, came right, and afterwards they got on very well. "on a friendly reception and courtesy to us intruding strangers we had never reckoned, because we knew how much the people of münster clung to their constitution--with what steadfastness a great portion of them still relied on their elected bishop, victor anton, and how unwillingly they endured the new rule of prussia. i have never blamed them for this; it was a praiseworthy trait in their character that they should be unwilling to separate from a government under which they had felt happy; but others took this much amiss of them, and expected that they would receive the prussians with open arms, and immediately become prussians in heart and soul, which could only be expected from a fickle people who had groaned under the fetters of a harsh government. "therefore, there was already division and separation between the new comers of old prussia and the people of münster before our arrival. thus, much took place which was not likely to promote intimacy, or to awaken a friendly feeling in the inhabitants. "by the disbanding of the münster military, the greater number of the officers were dismissed with pensions, and thrown out of their course of life. this first consequence of the prussian occupation not only deeply wounded the feelings of those dismissed, but was generally considered as unjust; and the more so as among the münster officers there was much culture and scientific knowledge, and the general run of prussian officers could not stand comparison with them. "the introduction of conscription increased the discontent; but still more general indignation was excited by the ill-treatment which the enlisted sons of citizens and country people had to bear from the non-commissioned officers. i myself was eyewitness of the way in which a non-commissioned officer dealt abusive language, blows, and kicks to a recruit, and struck him on the shins with his cane, so that tears of sorrow coursed down the cheeks of the poor man. the spirit, also, which prevailed among the greater number of the prussian officers, and their consequent behaviour, was not calculated to excite a favourable feeling in a new country towards the new government. blücher, indeed, who was commandant of münster, won real esteem and liking by his popular manner, his open and upright character, and his justice; and general von wobeser, commander of a dragoon regiment, a very sensible, cultivated, moderate man, did so likewise; but the good effect of their conduct was spoilt by that of the others, namely, the general body of the subaltern officers. "once there arose a dispute betwixt some citizens and the guard at the mauritz-gate; the citizens were said to have gone amongst the arms and hustled the guard. blücher was at that time at pyrmont. there appeared then a proclamation, under the signature of a general von ernest, but from another pen, by which every sentry who was touched by a citizen should be authorised to strike him down. this irrational order, which gave every sentinel power over the lives of the citizens, who, by touching them even accidentally, were exposed to their bayonets, excited indignation. "in addition to this, there now happened a disagreeable affair between three officers and three prebendaries.[ ] there existed at münster a so-called noble ladies' club, which admitted both men and ladies. immediately after the first possession of the place, from political motives. generals blücher and wobeser, the president von stein, and other prussian officers were admitted, also blücher's son franz. in balloting for the admittance of another prussian officer, he was blackballed. indisputably this showed an objection, either to him as a prussian, or to the admittance of more officers, for against the individual nothing could be said. this could not fail to increase the bad feeling, and it wounded especially the sensitive vanity of the young officers. moreover, the ballot was at first declared to be favourable, and it was only upon a revision of the balls that the black ball was discovered; that is to say, the lady president of the club, the widowed frau von droste-vischering, a very worthy and good-humoured lady, either by mistake or from the well-meant intention of preventing the disagreeable consequences of blackballing, had counted a white ball too much. it was remarked by one of the prebendaries present, that the whole number of balls did not agree with the number of votes. on counting them again accurately, it was found that the candidate was not received. undoubtedly the younger prebendaries might have co-operated in the exclusion. "the impetuous lieutenant franz von blücher gave vent to his feelings concerning this to one of the young prebendaries, and some words ensued between them. the following day franz blücher challenged this prebendary by letter; and two other officers, one of whom was the rejected one, challenged two other young prebendaries in the same way. both these, who had not had the slightest hostile communication with the challengers, wrote to express their surprise. one of them received for answer, that he had laughed at the altercation between lieutenant von blücher and the other prebendary, and therefore he, the challenger, felt himself injured in the person of his friend blücher. the other challenger would not even give such an excuse, he only wrote that he felt himself aggrieved, and that was enough. "the prebendaries, who, on account of their spiritual order, could not accept the challenge, informed the king immediately of the occurrence. the result was, the appointment of a mixed commission of inquiry under the presidency of general von wobeser, and our president of administration, von sobbe, into which i also was introduced, together with the quartermaster of the regiment, ribbentrop. the prebendaries were acquitted by the court of justice before which the case was brought, and the officers were sentenced by a court-martial to three weeks' arrest, which they spent at the guard-house in the society of their companions, and promenading before it. "but the three prebendaries were also wounded in their most sensitive feelings by a malicious trick which was played them. before this commission of inquiry was appointed, they were invited, through a livery servant, to a great evening party at general blücher's without his knowledge. they were all startled, suspected some mistake, and were doubtful about going. but as they were all three invited through a servant of the general's, they decided there could be no mistake, and also their relations and friends, who thought this invitation was a step towards the accommodation of the affair, advised them to go. general blücher, who had never thought of inviting them, was naturally very irate at seeing the three prebendaries enter. being much prejudiced against them by his son franz, who had then much influence over his father, and perhaps irritated by invidious remarks from the originator of the intrigue, upon their boldness in appearing, he gave them to understand that they had not been invited, and might go. they indignantly left the party, and not only they, but also their families; the ladies hastened home on foot, so deeply did they feel the mortification. this concerted deliberate affront excited general ill-will, and contributed very much to increase the bad feeling. "but what more than all increased the bitterness was the exercise of 'cabinet justice'[ ] in the suit of the firm of herren von der beck, against the herren von landesberg and von böselager. by a 'cabinet order' of the th september, , obtained by von der reck, the suit between the two parties pending in the imperial aulic council was declared to be legally decided, and a commission of execution was appointed to eject the herren von landesberg and von böselager from their property, and to place the herren von der reck in possession of it. "this unfortunate business, in a country which had as yet no prussian feeling, revolted all minds. in public writings this violent inroad on the course of law was vehemently attacked, and an odious stain was inflicted on our prussian justice, of which we had talked so loudly. "it was a mistake not to introduce the whole prussian constitution at the outset, there would then have been only one source of discontent instead of constantly recurring irritation. some, of the new things that were introduced piecemeal were peculiarly disagreeable to the people of münster, who were quite unaccustomed to them, such as the stamp duty, conscription, and the salt monopoly. also the well-known excise was impending. already were the toll-houses built, and it was to have been introduced in , but was prevented by the events of the year . but the expectation gave a disagreeable foretaste, and through it new fuel was added to the hatred. at last, but much too late, as the unhappy war had begun, the chapter was dissolved. "under such circumstances, residence in münster was not agreeable to us old prussians. i indeed felt this less than others; after i had made myself, to a certain extent, at home, i got on well with the people there; we won many true friends, and experienced from them much love and friendship. as in my office, so in social intercourse, i took pains to judge justly. "but the year came, and one sorrow followed upon another. first the three rhine portions of the duchy of cleve, which remained to the prussians, surrendered to napoleon; he established himself on this side of the rhine, and came into possession of the fortress wesel, which was only too near to the present prussian frontier. his brother-in-law joachim murat became duke of the old hereditary possessions of the king's family. no one could conceal from himself that our state, which spread so wide from east to west, was in a very critical position. our grief was increased by the insolence with which the newly created duke carried on his encroachments even as far as münster. "new clouds rose darkly over us. letters from berlin breathed war against napoleon, blücher left us, and we expected the french occupation of münster. it is true that general lecoq had entered it with a small corps, but this gave us little comfort, for he appeared to wish to abandon the city, with its moats and ramparts, to the evil results of a useless defence. when he had felled down a beautiful plantation in front of the egidien gate, and after the appearance of our war manifesto, the city was terrified one night by sudden alarm signals, in order, as he said, to prove the watchfulness of his soldiers; in the middle of october he suddenly withdrew and left us to our fate. "nevertheless, we old prussians, confiding in the valour of our soldiers, gazed hopefully towards the east, and looked forward with impatient expectation to news of victory. and it came--when napoleon was already making his victorious march to berlin--and it bore such an impress of truth, that president von vinke[ ] ordered it to be published. never was there such exultation; every one hastened to the other to convey first the joyful news. but the deepest prostration followed; the cup we had now to drink was the more bitter after the intoxication of pleasure. a few days after we received from fugitives only too certain an account of the loss of the battle of jena. "yet we recovered from the first stupefaction, and did not give up all hope. one lost battle could not decide the fate of the whole war. "but when we received detailed accounts of the terrible consequences of this defeat, when the last remains of the army had to lay down their arms at lübeck, when the fortresses of hameln, magdeburg, stettin and castrin had, with unexampled cowardice, been surrendered without a blow to the enemy, and the whole prussian state came under their power, then our courage sank, we knew that we were lost. "meanwhile the sorrowful intelligence of the lost battle was followed by the enemy taking possession of the place. "early one morning, a division of cavalry of the army of the king of holland entered. our anger and sorrow were increased by the feeling of the people of münster, which was very different from ours. already on the arrival of the vanguard of the dutch army, their long-nourished, slumbering indignation against the prussians manifested itself in unconcealed joy. with open arms were the liberators from prussian domination received, and joyfully lodged. immediately afterwards the king of holland marched in at the head of his army. "we had hard work in quartering them, as ten thousand men had entered the city. but strict discipline was kept, for it was undoubtedly the object of the king of holland not to make the country inimical to him; but to treat it in the most conciliatory way. he flattered himself that the frontier prussian province would come to the share of the kingdom of holland. his proceedings and the language of those about him, showed that he already considered himself as possessor of the country. he established an upper administrative council, at whose head general daendels was placed, in co-ordinate authority with the presidents of the provincial administration and exchequer. immediately the münster nobles came before him with their complaints of the prussian rule, to which he listened. first stood the abolition of the chapter, and the ejection of herren von landesberg and von böselager. he exercised a real act of sovereignty, for he reinstated the chapter, and reversed the execution against those who had been expelled in the suit of the herren von der reck. "meanwhile his kingdom soon came to an end; he had to march away at the command of napoleon, who divided the conquered prussian provinces into military governments, and appointed generals and general-intendants to preside. the principalities of münster and lingen, and the counties of mark and tecklenburg, together with the domain of dortmund, formed the first of these governments. general loison came to münster. "thus for the second time i came under french rule. in vain had i endeavoured to escape; fruitless were the severe sacrifices i had made for this purpose. i had abandoned fatherland and home, parents and property, only to undergo once more in a foreign country the catastrophe which i had avoided, and which now came upon me in a far worse form. when cleve became french, i took leave of it; i felt in my heart pleasure in returning under the sceptre of my own king, and under the rule of home laws; this one anchor to which i had held, was now torn from me. the power of prussia was shattered, the whole state, with the exception of a small portion, was now in the power of a conqueror, whose ambitious plans displayed themselves more and more. it was only too certain that we should be trampled upon; but what our fate might be, over that a dark veil was drawn. the grief which gnawed in our bosoms and the deep mourning in which we were sunk, were increased by the annoyance of witnessing the joyful exultation of the people of münster over their liberation from prussian rule, and the favour with which they were treated by the conqueror and his satellites. it was more especially the münster nobles who thus distinguished themselves, and behaved in a most undignified way. i will relate some instances of it. "in order in the speediest way to remove the hated prussian colours, which were painted on the turnpikes, bridges, and public buildings, and to replace them by the old münster colours, a subscription was raised to defray the costs, and our colours were erased as soon as possible. one of the most opulent nobles took pleasure in showing his warm participation in this undertaking, by giving his signature to a considerable sum; in order to make known that he could not refrain from expressing his satisfaction, he added to his subscription, the phrase: 'with pleasure,' that no one might doubt his patriotic feeling. "the presidents, directors, councillors, assessors and referendaries of the government, and of the war and royal domain departments, continued to wear their official uniforms. these reminiscences of prussian supremacy were an abomination in the eyes of the nobles. they therefore endeavoured to work upon general loison to order the laying aside of the uniform; but they only half succeeded. the general expressly permitted the continuance of the uniform, and only ordered that the prussian button should be taken away, which we were obliged to change for a smooth one. thus the uniform was not laid aside, and the geheime rath von forkenbeck and i still wore it at the council in the year , when we were called to düsseldorf. "this otherwise proud münster nobility paid as much court to the french generals as to their former ruler, the prince bishop. "the oath prescribed by napoleon, which was imposed also in münster, was so little obnoxious to them, that they even endeavoured to make a solemnity of taking it, and to do it with the ceremony which is only customary at doing homage. a canopy was erected in the great hall of the castle, under which general loison received the oath. it was with great astonishment that we beheld these preparations, but our surprise was still greater when we saw general loison, accompanied by the hereditary and court officials of the former bishop of münster; who, with their old state ministered to the french general, in the same way as to their former sovereign, and stood at his side as supporters during the ceremony. "a considerable table allowance was appointed for the governor--if i do not mistake, , thalers monthly--which was raised by an extraordinary tax. a household was formed, and the pensioned münster officials were again employed. the court marshal von sch. acted in this capacity at the table of the french governor; he issued the invitations for dinners and evening assemblies, on which occasions he wore his old court marshal's uniform, with his marshal's staff in his hand, and under him was the court quartermaster with his sword, &c. when we saw this servile conduct the first time, the president of the administration, von sobbe, speaking to me, called the one an arrant fool, and the other the court fool. "besides this, there was a volunteer guard of honour established for general loison, who equipped themselves. they furnished the daily guard at the castle, and accompanied the general, when with a troop of soldiers he made a progress into the county of mark. at the head of this guard of honour there were members of the münster nobility. "in the noble ladies' club, from which every respectable german had been excluded who did not belong to their caste, they received the french general with his mistress, in order to exercise more influence upon him. "nevertheless, they were not so successful with general loison; he was too wary for them, made fun of them in secret, and only cared for the presents that were partly given to him and partly promised. they had offered him a costly sword as a present, which he accepted graciously. the sword was ordered and made at frankfort, but it only arrived after loison had left the government. now they were sorry for this too hasty offer, and they had no desire to send him the sword, as they had not found that complaisance in him which they expected. all this courtly _empressement_ became so repugnant to loison, that he himself prevailed on napoleon to recall him to the army. "with his weaker successor, canuel, it succeeded better. my worthy friend the president, von vinke, was the first to experience it. an incidental expression thrown out by him in a remonstrance, 'that otherwise he could no longer carry on his office,' was readily laid hold of as signifying a resignation, and he was dismissed from his post. "in order to overcome my grief at things that could not be altered, i endeavoured to find distraction in a great work. the yet incomplete state of the laws of mortgages in the county of münster, offered me the handiest and best material i devoted myself to this tedious work with the greatest zeal, and with the assistance of many referendaries, i accomplished the registry of all the title deeds which had to be recorded in the mortgage book of the government of münster. thus i succeeded in a certain measure in occupying myself, and i learnt by experience that hard work is in truth a soothing balsam, which precedes the slow healing powers of time. "but much as i believed myself to have acquired a kind of philosophic tranquillity by this withdrawal into my narrow sphere of business, yet i could not escape agitating feelings when the peace of tilsit really separated us from the prussian state, and removed its frontier as much as forty miles to the east of us. the moving words with which our unhappy king took leave of his subjects, in the ceded provinces, and discharged the officials from their oath of allegiance, made us feel our loss still deeper. 'dear children, it is an indescribably sorrowful feeling when the old ties of allegiance, of love, and confidence, which have bound us through long successive years to our ancestors, our state, and rulers, are at once violently rent, when a new and foreign ruler is forced upon a people, for whom no heart beats, who is received with despairing doubts, and who on his side feels nothing for his subjects.'" here we conclude the narrative of the good prussian. münster and the county of mark were attached to the new grand-dukedom of berg; sethe himself became procurator-general of the court of appeals at düsseldorf. but not for long, the firm uprightness of the german appeared suspicious to the foreign conqueror; he had not offered his aid in supporting the acts of tyranny of the french government; therefore he was called with threats to paris, and there arrested, because, in fact, they feared his influence on the patriotic disposition of the country. when, in , he was released, and the prussian rule was restored in his fatherland, he conducted the organisation of the legal authorities in the rhine country. from that time he led a long, useful life of activity in his office, one of the first prussian jurists who supported trial by jury, publicity, and verbal evidence, against the state government. a firm independence of character, truthful, devoted to duty, with deified earnestness and simplicity, he was a model of old prussian official honour. the blessing of his life rests on his children. it is not without an object that in this and the preceding chapter two portraitures from the circle of german citizens have been placed in juxtaposition. they represent the contrasts that were to be found in german life, through the whole of the eighteenth century up to the war of freedom. we see pietists and followers of wolf; klopstock and lessing; schiller and kant; germans and prussians; a rich contemplative mind, and a persevering energy, which subjects the external world to itself. chapter xi. rise of the nation. ( - .) the greatest blessing which reformers leave behind them to succeeding generations seldom lies in that which they themselves consider as the fruit of their earthly life, nor in the dogmas for which they have contended, suffered and conquered, and been blessed and cursed by their contemporaries. it is not their system which has the lasting effect, but the numerous sources of new life, which through their labour is brought to light from the depths of the popular mind. the new system which luther opposed to the old church, lost a portion of its constructive power a few years after he had laid his head to rest. but that which, during his great conflict with the hierarchy, he had done to rouse independence of mind in his people, to increase the feeling of duty, to raise the morals and to found discipline and culture, the impress of his soul in every domain of ideal life, remained in the severe struggles of the following century, an indestructible gain from which at last grew a fulness of new life. the system also of frederic the great, not many years after his death, was discarded by a foreign conqueror as an imperfect invention; but again the best result of his life remained an enduring acquisition for prussia and germany. he had called forth in thousands of his officials and soldiers zeal and faithfulness to duty, and in millions of his subjects devotion to his family; he had, as a wise political husbandman, sown everywhere the seed of intellectual and material prosperity. this was what remained to his state, the excellent cultivated soil from which the new life was to blossom. when his army was crushed, the country overrun by strangers, and the pangs of bitter need compelled men to seek the means of supporting life wherever they could find them, then in the midst of all this desolation arose a new power in the nation, their capacity for work. even the rapidity and completeness with which the old system broke down, melancholy as it was to behold, was, nevertheless, fortunate; for though it did not cast aside suddenly all the upholders of the old system, yet it averted the greater danger of their resistance. it now became evident how great was the material to be found in prussia, not only among officials and officers, but in the people itself. unexampled was the fall, and equally unexampled was the recovery. the nation was stunned; it looked listlessly on the shipwreck of its state; it had always received its impulse from the government. in the chaotic confusion that now followed, there seemed no hope of rescue; the weak cursed the bad government, the superficial viewed maliciously the prostration of the unintellectual and privileged orders, and the weakest followed the star of the conqueror. men of warm feeling secluded themselves like steffens, who wrote a sorrowful ode on the fall of the fatherland; but cooler heads investigated sullenly the defects of the old system, and with bitterness condemned alike the good and bad. the misery becomes greater, it is the intention of the emperor to open all the veins, and draw blood from that portion of prussia to which he has left a semblance of life. exorbitant are the contributions. the french army is distributed over the country--it occupies cantonments in silesia and the march; officers and soldiers are billeted upon the citizens--they are to be fed and entertained. at the cost of the district a table d'hôte is to be established, and balls given. the soldier is to be compensated for the hardships of war. we are the conquerors, exclaim the officers arrogantly. there is no law against their brutality, or the impudence with which they disturb the peace of families in which they now rule as masters. if they are polite to the ladies of the house, that does not make them more acceptable to the men. still worse is the conduct of the generals and marshals. prince jerome has his head-quarters at breslau, and there keeps a dissolute court; the people still relate how licentiously he lived, and daily bathed in a cask of wine. at berlin, general-intendant daru raises his demands higher every month. even the humiliating conditions of the peace are still too good for prussia; the tyrant scornfully alters the schedules. the fortresses are not restored, as was promised; with refined cruelty the war charges are increased enormously. they have drawn from the country, which still bears the name of prussia, more than millions of thalers in six years. on trade and commerce, also, the new system lays its destroying hand. by the continental system, imports and exports are almost abolished. manufactories are stationary, and the circulation of money stagnates; the number of bankrupts becomes alarmingly great: even the necessaries of daily life are exorbitantly high; the multitude of poor increases frightfully; even in the great cities the troops of hungry souls that traverse the streets can scarcely be controlled. the more wealthy also restrict their wants to the smallest possible compass; they begin a voluntary discipline in their own life, denying themselves small enjoyments to which they are accustomed. instead of coffee, they drink roasted acorns, and eat black and rye bread; large societies bind themselves to use no sugar, and the housewife no longer preserves fruit. as ludwig von vincke, who then resided as a landed proprietor in the new grand-dukedom of berg, pertinaciously smoked coltsfoot instead of tobacco, and made his wine of black currants, so did others renounce the necessaries on which the foreign tyrant had imposed a monopoly. but philosophy begins its great work, bringing blessing upon the state, by purifying and elevating the minds of men. while the french drum was beating in the streets of berlin, and the spies of the stranger were lurking about the houses, fichte delivered his discourses on the german nation: a new and powerful race was to be trained, the national character to be improved, and lost freedom to be regained. from the extreme east of the state, where now the greatest strength of the prussian bureaucracy is at the head of affairs, a new organisation of the people began. serfdom was abolished, landed property made free, and self-government established in the cities. the exclusiveness of classes was broken, privileges done away with, and a new constitution for the army was prepared by colonel scharnhorst. whatever power of life there was in the people was now to have free play. in the year , prussia was no longer fainthearted; it began to raise its head hopefully, and looked about for aid. the first political society formed itself; "_tugendbund_,"[ ] education unions, scientific societies, and officers' clubs, all had the same object--to free their fatherland, and to educate the people for an approaching struggle. there was much trifling and immoderate zeal displayed, but they included a large number of patriotic men. messengers ran actively with secret papers, but it was difficult for the unpractised associates to deceive the spies of the enemy. dark plans of revenge were proposed in many of these unions; and desperate men hoped, by a great crime, to save the fatherland. hopes rise higher the following year: the war has begun in spain; austria prepares itself for the most heroic struggle that it has ever undertaken. in prussia, also, the ground is hollow beneath the feet of the stranger; all is prepared for an outbreak; and the police president, justice grüner, is one of the most active leaders of the movement. but it is not possible to unite prussia with austria; the first great rising of the people wastes itself in single hopeless attempts. schill, dörnberg, the duke of brunswick, and the rising in silesia fail. the battle of wagram destroys the last hope of austria's help. the courage of many sinks, but not of the best. unweariedly do the friends of the fatherland exercise themselves in the use of fire-arms; the prussian army, also, which does not amount to more than , men, is secretly increased to more than double that number; and in all the military workshops the soldiers sit as artisans working at the equipments for a future war. a second time do the hopes of the people rise; napoleon prepares himself for war against russia. again is the time come when a struggle is possible; already does hardenberg venture to tell the french ambassador, st. marsan, that prussia will not allow itself to be crushed, and will encounter a foreign attack with , soldiers. but the king will not resolve upon a desperate resistance; he gives the half of his standing army as aid to the french emperor. then officers leave his service, and hasten to russia, there to fight against napoleon. and again hope diminishes in prussia, freedom seems removed to an immeasurable distance. violent has the hatred against the foreign emperor become in northern germany; above all, west of the elbe, where his ceaseless wars have sacrificed the youth of the country. the conscription is there considered as the death lot. the price of a substitute has risen to two thousand thalers. in all the streets, mourning attire is to be seen, worn by parents for their lost sons. but most violent of all is the hatred in prussia, in every vocation of life, in every house it calls to the struggle. everything that is pure and good in germany--language, poetry, philosophy, and morals--work silently against napoleon. everything that is bad, corrupt, and wicked, all duplicity and cruelty, calumny, knavishness and brutal violence, is considered as gallic and corsican. like the fantastic jahn, other eager spirits call the emperor no longer by his name: they speak of him as once they did of the devil, as "he," or with a contemptuous expression as bonaparte. thus had six years hardened the character in prussia. it was no longer a great state that in the spring of armed itself for a struggle of life and death. what remained of prussia only comprehended , , . this small nation in the first campaign brought into the field an army of , men, reckoning one out of nineteen of the whole population. the significance of this is clear, when one reckons that an equal effort on the part of prussia as it is, with its eighteen millions of inhabitants, would give the enormous amount of , soldiers for an army in the field.[ ] and this calculation conveys only the relative number of men, not the proportion of the then and present wealth of the country. it was a much impoverished nation that entered upon the war. merchants, manufacturers, and artisans, had for six years struggled fearlessly against the hard times. the agriculturist had his barns emptied, and his best horses taken from his stables; the debased coin that circulated in the country disturbed the interior commerce even with the nearest neighbours, the thalers which had been saved from a better time had long been spent. in the mountain valleys the people were famishing; on the line of march of the great armies even the commonest necessaries of life were failing; teams and seed had been wanting to the countryman as early as ; in there was the same distress. it is true that there was bitter sorrow among the people over the downfall of prussia, and deep hatred against the emperor of the french. but it would be doing great injustice to the prussians to consider their rising as more especially occasioned by the fiery passion of resentment. more than once, both in ancient and modern times, has a city or small nation carried on its desperate death-struggle to the last extremity; more than once we have been filled with astonishment at the wild heroic courage and self-devotion which have led men to voluntary death in the flames of their own houses, or under the fire of the enemy. but this lofty power of resistance is not perhaps free from a certain degree of fanaticism, which inflames the soul almost to madness. of this there is no trace in the prussians. on the contrary, there was a cheerful serenity throughout the whole nation which seems very touching to us. it arose from faith in their own strength, confidence in a good cause, and, above all, in an innocent youthful freshness of feeling. for the german, this period in the life of his nation has a special significance. it was the first time that for many centuries political enthusiasm had burst forth in bright flames among the people. for centuries there had been in germany nations of individuals, living under the government of princes, for which they had no love or honour, and in which they took no active share. now, in the hour of greatest danger, the people claimed its own inalienable right in the state. it threw its whole strength voluntarily and joyfully into a death-struggle to preserve its state from destruction. this struggle has a still higher significance for prussia and its royal house. in the course of a hundred and fifty years the hohenzollerns, by uniting unconnected provinces as one state, had formed their subjects into a nation. a great prince, and the costly victories, and brilliant success of the house, had excited a feeling of love in the new nation for their princes. now the government of a hohenzollern had been too weak to preserve the inheritance of his father. now did the people, whom his ancestors had created, rise and give to the last effort that its prince could make, a direction and a grandeur which forced the king from his state of prostration almost against his will. the prussian people paid with its blood to the race of its princes the debt of gratitude that it owed the hohenzollerns for the greatness and prosperity which they had procured for it. this faithful and dutiful devotion arose from feeling that the life and true interests of the royal house were one with the people. but in the glow of popular feeling in there was something peculiar, which already appears strange to us. when a great political idea fills a people, we can now accurately define the stages through which it must pass before it can be condensed into a firm resolve. the press begins to teach and to excite; those of like minds assemble together at public meetings, and the discourse of an enthusiastic speaker exercises its influence. gradually the number of those who are interested increases; from the strife of different views, which contend together in public, is developed a knowledge of what is necessary, an insight into the ways and means, the will to meet such requirements, and, lastly, self-sacrifice and devotion. of this gradual growth of the popular mind through public life there is scarcely a trace in . what worked upon the nation externally was of another kind. the feeling was excited by a single great moment; but, in general, a tranquillity rested on the nation which one may well call epic. the feeling of millions burst forth simultaneously; not abounding in words, without any imposing appearance, still quiet, but, like one of nature's forces, irresistible there is a pleasure in observing its course in certain great moments. it shall be here portrayed, not as it shines forth in prominent characters, but as it appears in the life of minor personages. it was after new year's day, . the parting year had left a severe winter as a heritage to the new one, but, in a moderate-sized city in prussia, the people stood in crowds before the post-office. happy was he who could first carry home a newspaper. short and cautious were the accounts of the events of the day, for in berlin there was a french military governor, who watched every expression of the intimidated press. nevertheless, the news of the fate of the great army had long penetrated into the most remote huts; first came vague reports of danger and suffering, the account of a tremendous fire in moscow and flames up to the skies, which had risen, as from the earth, around the emperor; then of a flight through snow and desert plains, of hunger and indescribable misery. cautiously did the people speak of it, for the french not only occupied the capital and fortresses of the country, but had also in the provinces their agents, spies, and hated informers, whom the citizens avoided. within a few days it was known that the emperor himself had fled from his army; in an open sledge, disguised as duke of vicenza, and, with only one follower, he had travelled day and night through prussia. on the th of december, about eight o'clock in the evening, he arrived at glogau, there he reposed for an hour, and started again about ten o'clock, in spite of the terrible cold. the following morning he entered the castle of hanau, where the posting-station then was. the resolute post-mistress, kramtsch, recognised him, and with violent gestures swore she would give him no tea, but rather another drink. at the earnest representations of those around her, she was softened so far as to pour some camomile tea into a pot with a vehement oath; he, however, drank of it, and went on to dresden. now he had come to paris, and it was told in the newspapers how happy paris was, how tenderly his wife and son had greeted him, how well he was, and that he had already, on the th of december, been to hear the beautiful opera of "jerusalem delivered." it was said further that the great army, in spite of the unfavourable time of year, would return in fearful masses through prussia, and that the emperor was making new preparations. but the trial of general mallet was also reported; and it was known how impudently the french newspapers lied. it was seen, also, what remained of the great army. in the first days of the year the snow fell in flakes; it lay like a shroud over the country. a train of men moved slowly and noiselessly along the high road to the first houses of the suburb. it was the returning french. only a year ago, they had set forth at sunrise, with the sound of trumpets, and the rattle of drums, in warlike splendour, and with revolting arrogance. endless had been the procession of troops; day after day, without ceasing, the masses had rolled through the streets of the city; never had the people seen so prodigious an army, of all nations of europe, with every kind of uniform, and hundreds of generals. the gigantic power of the emperor sank deep into all souls, the military spectacle still filled the fancy with its splendour and its terrors. but there was also an undefined expectation of a fearful fate. for a whole month did this endless passage of troops last; like locusts the strangers consumed everything in the country, from kolberg to breslau. there had been a failure of the harvest in , scarcely had the country-people been able to save the seed oats, and these were eaten in by the french war horses. they devoured the last blade of grass and the last bundle of straw; the villagers had to pay sixteen thalers for a shock of chopped straw, and two thalers for a hundredweight of hay. and greedily as the animals, did the men consume; from the marshal down to the common french soldier, they were insatiable. king jerome had demanded for his maintenance at glogau, a not very large town, four hundred thalers daily. the duke of abrantes had for a month seventy-five thalers daily; the officers obliged the wife of a poor village pastor to cook their ham with red wine; they drank the richest cream out of the pitchers, and poured essence of cinnamon over it; the common soldiers, also, even to the drummer, blustered if they did not have two courses at dinner. they ate like madmen. but even then the people prognosticated that they would not so return. and they said so themselves. when formerly they had marched to war with their emperor their horses had neighed whenever they were led from the stable, but now they hung their heads sorrowfully; formerly the crows and ravens flew the contrary way to the army of the emperor, now these birds of the battle-field accompanied the army to the east, expecting their prey.[ ] but those who now returned came in a more pitiable condition than anyone had dreamed of. it was a herd of poor wretches who had entered upon their last journey--they were wandering corpses. a disorderly multitude of all races and nations collected together; without a drum or word of command, and silent as a funeral procession, they approached the city. they were all without weapons or horses, none in perfect uniform, their clothes, ragged and dirty, mended with patches from the dress of peasants and their wives. they had hung over their heads and shoulders whatever they could lay hands on, as a covering against the deadly penetrating cold; old sacks, torn horse-clothes, carpets, shawls, and the fresh skins of cats and dogs; grenadiers were to be seen in large sheepskins. cuirassiers wearing women's dresses of coloured baize, like spanish mantles. few had helmets or shakos; they wore every kind of head-dress, coloured and white nightcaps like the peasants, drawn low over their faces, a handkerchief or a bit of fur as a protection to their ears, and handkerchiefs also over the lower part of their face; and yet the ears and noses of most were frost-bitten or fiery red, and their dark eyes were almost extinguished in their cavities. few had either shoe or boot; fortunate was he who could go through that miserable march with felt socks or large fur shoes, and the feet of many were enveloped in straw, rags, the covering of knapsacks, or the felt of an old hat. all tottered, supported by sticks, lame and limping. the guards even were little different from the rest; their mantles were scorched, only their bear-skin caps gave them still a military aspect. thus did officers and soldiers, one with another, crawl along with bent heads, in a state of gloomy stupefaction. all had become forms of horror from hunger, frost, and indescribable misery. day after day they came along the high road, generally as soon as twilight and the iron winter fog were spread over the houses. demoniacal was the effect of these noiseless apparitions of horrible figures, terrible the sufferings they brought with them; the people asserted that warmth could not be restored to their bodies, nor their craving hunger allayed. if they were taken into a warm room, they thrust themselves violently against the hot stove, as if they would get into it, and in vain did the compassionate women endeavour to keep them away from the dangerous heat. greedily they devoured the dry bread, and some would not leave off till they died. till after the battle of leipzig, the people were under the belief that they had been smitten by heaven with eternal hunger. even then it occurred that the prisoners, when close to their hospital, roasted for themselves pieces of dead horses, although they had already received the regular hospital food; still, therefore, did the citizens maintain that it was a hunger specially inflicted by god; once they had thrown beautiful wheat-sheaves into their camp fire, and had scattered good bread on the dirty floor, now they were condemned never to be satiated by any human food.[ ] everywhere in the cities, along the road of the army, hospitals were prepared for the homeward bound, and immediately all the sick wards were overflowing, and virulent fevers annihilated the last strength of the unfortunates. countless were the corpses carried out, and the citizens had to be careful that the infection did not penetrate into their houses. any of the foreigners that could, after the necessary rest, crept home weary and hopeless. but the boys in the streets sang, "knights without swords, knights without horses, fugitives without shoes, find nowhere rest and repose. god has struck man, horse, and carriage," and behind the fugitives they yelled the mocking call, "the cossacks are coming." then there was a movement of horror in the flying mass, and they quickly tottered on through the gates. these were the impressions of . meanwhile the newspapers announced that general york had concluded the convention of tauroggin with the russian wittgenstein, and the prussians read with dismay that the king had rejected the stipulations, and dismissed the general from his command. but immediately after it was said that he could not be in earnest, for the king had left berlin, where his precious head was no longer safe among the french, and gone to breslau. now there were some hopes. in the berlin paper of th march, among the foreign arrivals were still french generals; but the same day herr von tschernischef, commander of a corps of cavalry, entered the capital in peaceful array. it had been known for three months that the russian winter, and the army of the emperor alexander, had destroyed the great army. already had gropius, at christmas, introduced a diorama of the burning of moscow. for some weeks many of the new books had treated of russia, giving descriptions of the people; russian manuals and russian national music were in vogue. whatever came from the east was glorified by the excited minds of the people. nothing more so than the vanguard of the foreign army, the cossacks. next the frost and hunger, they were considered the conquerors of the french. wonderful stories of their deeds preceded them, they were said to be half wild men, of great simplicity of manners, of remarkable heartiness, indescribable dexterity, astuteness, and valour. it was reported how active their horses were, how irresistible their attacks, that they could swim through great rivers, climb the steepest hills, and bear the most horrible cold with good courage. on the th february, they appeared in the neighbourhood of berlin; after that, they were expected daily in the cities which lay further to the west; daily did the boys go out of the gates to spy out whether a troop of them could be descried coming. when, at last, their arrival was announced, young and old streamed through the streets. they were welcomed with joyful acclamations, eagerly did citizens carry to them whatever would rejoice the hearts of the strangers; it was thought that brandy, sauerkraut, and herrings would suit their national taste. everything about them was admired; their strong, thick beards, long dark hair, thick sheepskins, wide blue trowsers, and their weapons, pikes, long turkish pistols, often of costly work, which they wore in broad leather girdles round their bodies, and the crooked turkish sabre. with transport were they watched when they supported themselves on their lances and vaulted nimbly over thick cushion saddles, which served at the same time as sacks for their mantles; or couched their lances, urging on their lean horses with loud hurrahs; and, again, when they fastened their lances by a thong to the arm and trotted along, swinging that foreign instrument, the kantschu, to the astonishment of the youths--everyone stepped aside and looked at them with respect. all were enchanted also with their style of riding. they bent themselves down to the ground at full gallop, and lifted up the smallest objects. at the quickest pace they whirled their pikes round their heads, and hit with certainty any object at which they aimed. astonishment soon changed to a feeling of intimacy; they quickly won the heart of the people. they were particularly friendly to the young, raised the children on their horses, and rode with them round the market-place; they sang in families in what was supposed to be the cossack's style. every boy became either a cossack, or a cossack's horse. some of the customs, indeed, of these heroic friends were rather unpleasant, they were ill-mannered enough to pilfer, and at their night quarters it was plainly perceptible that they were not clean. nevertheless, there long remained a fantastic glitter about them among both friends and foes, even when in the struggles that were now carried on among civilised men, they showed themselves to be plunderers, not trustworthy, and little serviceable. when later they returned home from the war, it was remarked that they had much degenerated. the newspapers were only delivered three times in the week, and the roads from the spring thaw then were very bad; thus the news came slowly at intervals through the provinces, where it was not stopped by the march of troops and the confusion of the struggle between the advancing russians and retreating french. but every sheet, every report that conveyed new information, was received with eager sympathy. it was talked of in families, and in all the society of the cities, but the excitement was seldom expressed with any vehemence. there was a pathetic feeling in all hearts, but it no longer showed itself in words and gestures. for a century the germans had found pleasure in their tears, had given vent to much feeling about nothing; now that great objects engrossed their life they were calm, there was no speechifying, with bated breath they restrained the disquiet of their hearts. if important news came, the master of the house announced it to his family, and quietly wiped away the tears that were in his eyes. this tranquillity and self-control was the peculiarity of that time. small flying sheets were read with delight, especially what the faithful arndt addressed to his countrymen. new songs spread through the country, in small parts, according to the custom of the ballad-singers, "printed this year;" generally bad and coarse, full of hate and scorn, they were forerunners of the beautiful poetic effusions of youthful vigor which were sung some months later by the prussian battalions when they went to battle. the best of these songs were sung in families to the harpsichord, or the husband played the melody on the flute--which was then a favourite domestic instrument--and the mother sang the words with her children; for weeks this was the great evening amusement. these verses had more effect on the smaller circles of the people than on the more cultivated, they soon supplanted the old street songs. sometimes the citizens bought the frightful caricatures of napoleon and his army which then were sold through the country as flying-sheets, but often betrayed, by their parisian dialect, that they were composed by the french. the coarseness and malicious vulgarity which now offend us, were easily overlooked, because they served to express hatred; it was only in the larger cities that they occupied the people in the streets, in the country they exercised little influence. such was the disposition of the people when they received the proclamations of their king, which between the rd of february and the th of march, calling out first volunteer riflemen, and then the landwehr, put the whole defensive force of prussia under arms. like a spring storm that breaks the ice, they penetrated the souls of the people. the flood rose high, all hearts beat with emotion of pleasure and proud hope; and again at this moment of highest elevation, we find the same simplicity and quiet composure. there were not many words, but quick decision. the volunteers collected quietly in the towns of their provinces, and marched, singing energetically, to the chief cities, königsberg, breslau, and colberg, and then to berlin. the clergy announced in their churches the proclamation of the king, but it was hardly necessary. the people knew already what they were to do. when a young theologian, taking his father's place, admonished his parishioners from the pulpit to do their duty, and added that these were not empty words, for, as soon as the service was over, he himself would volunteer as a hussar, a number of young men stood up in the church and declared they would do the same. when a betrothed hesitated to separate himself from his intended, and at last made known his resolve to go, she told him she had secretly lamented that he had not been one of the first to depart. sons hastened to the army, and wrote to their parents to tell them of their hasty decision, and the parents approved; it was not surprising to them that their sons had done spontaneously what was only their duty. when a youth had made his way to one of the places of meeting, he found his brother already there, who had come from the other side of the country; they had not even written to one another. the academies for lectures were closed at königsberg, berlin, and breslau. the university of halle, also, still under westphahan rule, was closed; the students had gone, either singly or in small bands, to breslau. the prussian newspapers mentioned laconically in two lines, "almost all the students from halle, jena, and göttingen, are come to breslau, they wish to share in the fame of fighting for german freedom." at the gymnasium the taller and older ones were not considered always the best scholars, and the teachers of the greek grammar had looked upon them with contempt; now they were the pride and envy of the school, the teachers gave them a hearty shake of the hand, and the younger ones looked on them with admiration as they departed. but it was not only those in the first bloom of youth who were excited to enter into the struggle, but also the officials, those indispensable servants of the state, judges and councillors, men from every circle of the civil service, from the city courts and the departments of government. a royal decree on the nd march set limits to this zeal, and it was necessary, for the order and administration of the state were threatened. the civil service could not be neglected; any one who wished to be a soldier was to obtain the permission of his superiors, and he who could not bear the refusal of his request must appeal to the king. the stronger minded in all circles were at the head of the movement, but the weaker followed at last the overpowering impulse. there were few families who did not offer their sons to the fatherland; many great names stand on the regimental lists; above all, the nobles of east prussia. the same alexander count von dohna-schlobitten who had been minister of the interior in , was the first man who inscribed himself in the landwehr battalion of the mohrungen district. wilhelm ludwig count von der gröben, chamberlain of prince william, entered into prince william's dragoons as a subaltern officer, three of his family fell on the field of battle in this war. such examples influenced the country people. multitudes of them gave to the state all that they possessed--their sound limbs. whilst the prussians on the vistula in this emergency carried on their preparations independently with rapidly developed order and the greatest devotion, breslau, from the middle of february, had been the rendezvous for the interior districts. crowds of volunteers entered all the gates of the old city. among the first were thirteen miners, with three apprentices from waldenburg; these men had been fitted out by their fellow labourers, poor men, who had worked gratuitously underground until they had collected thalers for this purpose. immediately afterwards the upper silesian miners followed with similar zeal. the king could scarcely believe in such self-sacrificing devotion in the people; when he looked from the windows of the government buildings on the first long train of vehicles and men, who came past him from the march and filled the albrech-strasse, heard their acclamations, and perceived the general satisfaction, tears rolled over his cheeks, and scharnhorst asked him whether he at last believed in the zeal of his people. every day the throng increased. fathers presented their sons armed; among the first the geheime kriegsrath eichmann equipped two sons, and the former secretary of hangwitz, bürder, three. the provincial syndic elsner at ratisbon offered himself, and armed three volunteer riflemen; geheime commerzienrath krause at swinemund, sent a mounted rifleman, entirely armed, with forty ducats, and an offer to arm, and pay for a year, twenty foot riflemen, and to furnish ten pigs of lead. justizrath eckart, at berlin, gave up his salary of thalers, and entered the service as a trooper. one rothkirch offered himself and two men fully equipped as troopers, besides five horses, scheffels of corn, and all the cart-horses on his farm for the baggage-waggons. amongst the most zealous was heinrich von krosigk, the eldest of an old family of poplitz, near alsleben. his property lay in the kingdom of westphalia. in , he had a pillar erected in his park of red sandstone, with these words engraven on it, "_fuimus troes_," and treated the french and the government of westphalia with bitter contempt. when officers were quartered on him, he always gave the worst wine, drinking the best with his friends as soon as the strangers were gone, and if a frenchman complained, he was rude and ready to fight; he had always loaded pistols on his table. at last he compelled his peasants to arrest the gendarmes of his own king. now he had just broken out of the fortress of magdeburg, where the french had placed him, and had abandoned his property to the enemy. the heroic man fell at möckern. thus it went on, and all the cities and districts soon followed the example. scheivelbein, the smallest and poorest district in prussia, was the first to notify that it would furnish, equip, and pay, thirty horsemen for three months. stolpe was one of the first cities that announced that it would pay thalers down, and a hundred for each month for the equipment of volunteer riflemen. stargard had collected for the same object, on the th of march, thalers, ounces of silver; one landed proprietor, k., had given ounces. ever greater and more numerous became the offers, till the organisation of the landwehr gave the districts full opportunity to give effect to their devotion in their own circles. individuals did not lag behind. he who did not go to the field himself, or equip half his family, endeavoured to help his fatherland by gifts. it is a pleasant labour to examine the long lists of benefactions. officials resigned a portion of their salaries, people of moderate wealth gave up a portion of their means, the rich sent their plate, those who were poorer brought their silver spoons; he who had no money to give offered his effects or his labour. it became common for wives to send their gold wedding rings, often the only gold that was in the house; they received afterwards iron ones with the picture of queen louisa; country-people presented horses, landed proprietors corn, and children emptied out their saving boxes. there came pair of stockings, ells of shirt linen, pieces of cloth, many pairs of new boots, guns, hunting knives, sabres and pistols. a forester could not make up his mind to give away his dear rifle, as he had promised, among some boon companions, and preferred going himself to the field. young women sent their bridal attire, and, besides, the neck-ribbons they had received from their lovers. a poor maiden, whose beautiful hair had been praised, cut it off to be bought by the _friseur_, and patriotic speculation caused rings to be made of it, for which more than a hundred thalers were received. whatever the poor could raise was sent, and the greatest self-sacrifice was amongst the lowest.[ ] often has the german since then been animated by patriotic aims; but the gifts of that great year deserve a higher praise; for, excepting the great collection of the old pietists for their philanthropic institution, it is the first time that such a spirit of self-sacrifice has burst forth in the german people, and more especially the first time that the german has had the happiness of giving voluntarily for his state. the sums also which were produced were, as a whole, so far beyond what has since been collected from wider districts that they can scarcely be compared. the equipment of the volunteer riflemen alone, and what was collected in the old provinces for the volunteer corps, must have cost far more than a million, and it comprehends only a small fragment of the voluntary donations made by the people.[ ] and how impoverished were the lower orders! near together on the schmiedebrücke, at breslau, were the two recruiting places for the volunteer rifles and the lützow irregulars. professor steffens and a portion of the breslau students were the first to set on foot the rifles, ludwig jahn spoke, gesticulated, and wrote concerning the lützowers. both troops were equipped entirely by the patriotic gifts of individuals. the contributions for the volunteer rifles were collected by heun. betwixt the lützowers and riflemen there was a friendly and manly emulation; the contrast of their dispositions displayed itself; but whether more german or more prussian, it was the same ray of light, only differently refracted. the old contrast of character in the citizens, which had been perceptible for a century, showed itself, firm, cautious, and vigorous; and enthusiastic feeling with loftier aspirations. the first disposition was mostly the characteristic of the prussians, the last of the patriotic youths who hastened thither from foreign parts. very different was the fate of the two volunteer bodies. from the , rifles who were distributed in every prussian regiment, arose the vigour of the prussian army; they were the moral element in it, the aid, strength, and supply of the body of officers; and they not only contributed a stormy valour to the prussia army, but gave an elevation to the character of the nobles which was new in the history of the war. the irregulars under lützow, on the other hand, experienced the rude fate that overtakes the inspirations of the highest enthusiasm. the poetic feeling of the educated class attached itself chiefly to them; they included a great part of the german students, of vehement and excitable natures; but owing to this they became such a large and unwieldy mass that they were scarcely adapted to the work of regular warfare, and their leader, a brave soldier, had neither the qualities nor the fortune of a daring partisan. their warlike deeds did not come up to the high-raised expectations that accompanied their first taking arms. later, the best portion of them were absorbed in other corps of the army. but among their officers was the poet who was destined, beyond all others, to hand down in verse to the rising generation the magical excitement of those days. of the many touching, youthful characters that figured in that struggle, he was one of the purest and most genial in his poetry, life and death: it was theodore körner. but even in the great city where the volunteers were preparing their equipments there was no noisy din of excited masses. quickly and earnestly every one did his duty. those who had no money were supported by comrades who had been strangers to them, and met them accidentally. the only wish of the new comer was to find his equipments. if he had two coats, as a lützower he had one quickly arranged and coloured black; his greatest anxiety was as to whether his cartridge box would be ready. if he was deficient in everything, and the bureau would not supply him with what was necessary, he ventured, but this was rare, to beg through the newspapers. otherwise, money was of as little importance to him as to his comrades. he made shift as he best could, what did it signify now? as to high-sounding phrases and patriotic speeches he had no time nor ear for them. all hectoring and braggadocio was despised. such was the disposition of the young men. it was a great enthusiasm, a deep devotion without the inclination to a loud expression of it. the consequential ways and bombast of the zealous jahn disgusted many, and this bad habit soon gave him the reputation of a coward. in many there was a disposition to enthusiastic piety, but not in the greater part. all the better sort, however, had strongly the feeling that they were undertaking a duty which was superior to every other earthly object: from this arose their cheerfulness and a certain solemn composure. with this feeling they industriously, honourably, and conscientiously performed their duty, exercising themselves unweariedly in the movement and use of their weapons in their rooms. they sung among their comrades with energetic feeling some of the new war songs, but these only kindled them because they were earnest and solemn like themselves. they did not like to be called soldiers, that word was in ill-repute from the time when the stick had ruled. they were warriors. that they must obey, do their duty to their utmost, and perform all the difficult mechanism of the service, they were thoroughly convinced; and also that they must be a pattern and example for the less educated, who were by their side. they were determined to be not only strict themselves, but careful of the honour of their comrades. in this holy war there was to be none of the insolence and coarseness of the old soldiers, to disgrace the cause for which they fought. with their "brethren" they held a court of honour and punished the unworthy. but they would not remain in the army; when the fatherland was free, and the french put down, they would return to their lectures and legal documents in their studies. for this wax was not like another; now they stood as common soldiers in rank and file, but if they lived they would another year be again what they had been. beside one of such volunteers was perhaps an old officer from the time of the rule of the nobles and the stick. he had done his duty in unlucky wars, had perhaps been a prisoner, plundered of all he had and dragged through the streets of berlin, the people following him with jeering and curses, and shaking their fists at him; then after the peace a court-martial had been held upon him, he was liberated but discharged with a miserable pittance. since that he had starved, and secretly gnashed his teeth when the foreign conqueror looked down on him as insolently as he had once done on the civilian. if he had no wife or child to maintain, he had lived for years with his companions in sorrow in a poor dwelling, with disorderly housekeeping, and some of the failings of his old officer class still clung to him; this time of deprivation had not made him softer or milder, the ruling feeling of his soul was hate, deep furious hatred against the foreign conqueror. he had long nourished an uncertain hope, perhaps a vain plan of revenge, now the time was come for retaliation. even he had been altered by this time of servitude. he had discovered how unsatisfactory his knowledge was, and he had in moments of earnestness done something towards educating himself; he had learnt and read, he also had been inspired by the noble pathos of schiller. still he looked with mistrust and disfavour on the new-fashioned warrior who perhaps stood before him in the ranks. his old grudge against scribblers was still very active, and want of discipline, together with high pretensions, wounded him. the same antagonism showed itself in the higher as well as lower grades in the ranks. it is a remarkable circumstance in this war that he was so well restrained; the volunteers soon learnt military obedience, and to value the knowledge of service of those above them; and the officer lost somewhat of the rough and arbitrary way with which he used to treat his men. at last he listened complacently when a wounded rifleman contended with the surgeon whether the _flexor_ of the middle finger should be cut through, or when one of his men by the bivouac fire discussed with animation--in remembrance of his legal lectures--whether the ambiguous relation in which a cossack had placed himself with respect to a certain goose was to be considered _culpa lata_ or _dolus_. on the whole, this intermixture answered excellently. but far more important than the action of the volunteers, was the advantage to the government of prussia, of learning for the first time, what was its duty to such a people. the grand dimensions which the struggle assumed, the imposing military power of prussia, and the weight which this state, by the importance of its armies, acquired in the negotiations for peace, were mainly occasioned by the exalted feeling which took the world by surprise in the spring months of that year. through it the government gained courage, and was able to expand the power of the country to the immense extent it did. east prussia, besides its contingent to the standing army, by its own strength, and almost without asking the government, raised twenty battalions of landwehr and a mounted yeomanry regiment, and nothing but this enormous development of power could have made the establishment of the landwehr possible throughout the whole realm. at the command of its king the nation willingly and obediently and in a regular way produced this second army; in the old provinces one hundred and twenty battalions and ninety squadrons of landwehr were equipped and maintained, and this was only a portion of its exertions. how faithfully had it obeyed the commands of its king! the landwehr of the spring of had little of the military aspect which it obtained by service and later organisation.[ ] the men consisted of such as had not been drawn into the service of the standing army, and now would be taken by lot and choice up to forty years of age. as the youths of education, the first military spirits of the nation, had most of them either entered the volunteer rifles, or filled up the gaps of the standing army, the elements of the landwehr would probably have been of less military capacity if a certain number of proprietors had not voluntarily entered the ranks. the solid masses of the war consisted of common soldiers, mostly country people; the leaders, of country nobles, officials, old officers on half-pay, and whoever else was selected as trustworthy by his district, also of young volunteers: a very motley material for field service, many of the officers as well as soldiers without any experience in war. the equipments also were in the beginning very imperfect; they were mostly provided by the circles. the coatee, long trowsers of grey linen, a cloth cap with a white tin cross; the weapons in the first ranks were pikes, in the second and third muskets; for the horsemen, pistols, sabres, and pikes. the men were put into ranks, exercised, and equipped in what was necessary in the principal town of the circle. in the great haste it sometimes happened that battalions were ordered to the army which as yet had no weapons and no shoes; the people went barefooted and with poles to the elbe, resembling in appearance a band of robbers more than regular soldiery, but with cheerful alacrity, singing and giving vent to hurrahs which they had learned from the cossacks. for some weeks the troops of the line, especially the old officers, looked contemptuously on this newly-established force, none with more wrath than the strict york. when the worthy colonel putlitz, at berlin, begged for a landwehr command,--he who had already fought valiantly in the french campaign, and in the year had collected a corps of sharpshooters in the silesian mountains,--the staff officers asked him ironically, whether he thought of fighting with such hordes. after the war the valiant general declaimed, that the time during which he had commanded the landwehr was the happiest of his life. in no part of the new organisation of the army did the power of the great year, and the capacity of the people, shine so brilliantly as in this. these peasant lads and awkward ploughboys became in a few weeks trustworthy and valiant soldiers. it is true that they had a disproportionate loss of men, and in their first encounter with the enemy did not always keep a firm front, and showed the rapid alternations of cowardice and courage which are peculiar to young troops; but called together from the plough and the workshop, badly clothed, badly armed, and little drilled as they were, they had in the very beginning to go through all the severe fieldwork of veteran troops. that they were in general capable of doing it, that some battalions already fought so bravely that even their opponent (york) saluted them by taking off his hat, is as well known as it is rare in military history. soon they could not be distinguished from troops of the line; it was between them an emulation of valour. justly do the sons of that time boast of the men of the landwehr who readily answered to the call; but not less was the zeal with which the people at home laboured after the command was given for the war. people of every calling, every citizen, the smallest places, the moat distant districts, bore their part in the work, often undergoing the greatest labours and sufferings, especially those on the frontiers. a simple arrangement sufficed for the business in the circles; a military commission was formed of two landed proprietors, one citizen and one yeoman, the landrath of the circle, and the burgomaster of the capital of the circle, were almost always the almost zealous members of it. it was undoubtedly an occupation for simple men which was adapted to awaken extraordinary powers. they had to deal with the remains of the french army, with their hunger and typhus, with the thronging russians who for many months were in a doubtful position, with two languages, that of their new friends being more strange to them than that of their retreating enemies; and, added to this, the coarseness and wildness of their new allies, whose subaltern officers were for the most part no better than their soldiers, lusting after brandy, and at least as rapacious and more brutal than irregular troops. soon did the commissioners learn how to deal with the wild people; tobacco chests stood open, together with clay pipes, in the office room: it was an endless coming and going of russian officers, they filled their pipes and smoked, demanded brandy, and received harmless beer. if ever the coarseness of the strangers broke out, the prussian officials at last learnt to punish the ill-behaved with their own weapons, the kantschu, which perhaps a russian officer had left him, that he might more easily manage his people. the last typhus sufferers of the french still filled the hospitals of the city, the baschkirs bivouacked with their felt caps in the market-place; the inhabitants quarrelled with the foreigners quartered on them; every day the russians required the necessaries of life and transport, couriers; russian and prussian officers demanded relays of horses, the cultivators and peasants of the neighbouring villages complained that they had been deprived of theirs, that no ploughboys were to be found, and that the cultivation of the land was impossible. in the midst of all this hurly-burly came the orders of their own government, strong and dictatorial, as was required by the times, and not always practical, which was natural in such haste; the cloth-makers were to furnish cloth, the shoe-makers shoes, the harness-makers and saddlers cartouche-boxes and saddles; so many hundred pair of boots and shoes, so many hundred pieces of cloth, and so many saddles, all in one short week, without money or secure bills of exchange. the artisans were for the greater part poor people without credit; how was the raw material to be obtained, how was the workman to be paid, how were the means of life to be obtained in these weeks in which the usual chance profit was lost? this did not go on for one week, but for a whole year. truly the spirit of sacrifice which showed itself in gifts, and in the offer of their own lives, was among the highest and noblest things of this great time; but not less honourable was the self-sacrificing, unpretending, and unobserved fulfilment of duty of many thousands of the lower classes, who, each in his sphere in the city or in the village, worked for the same idea of his state to the uttermost of his own powers. the question is still unsolved of the military importance, in a civilised country, of a _levée en masse_. the law for the establishment of this popular force was carried to the very last possibility of demand. in the first edict, the st of april, there was an almost fanatical strictness, which, in the subsequent laws of the th of july, was much mitigated. the edict exercised a great moral effect; it was a sharp admonition to the dilatory, that it was a question for all, of life or death. it had an imposing effect even upon the enemy by its draconic paragraphs. but it was, immediately after its appearance, severely blamed by impartial judges, because it demanded what was impossible, and it had no great practical effect. the prussians had always been a warlike people, but in they had not the military capacity which they have now. besides the standing army, there were, before the introduction of the universal obligation of service, only the peaceful citizens without any practice in arms or movement of masses, or at the utmost, the old shooting guilds which handled the ancient shooting weapons. but now the nation had sent into the field all who were capable of fighting; the strength of the country was strained to the uttermost; every family had given up what they possessed of military spirit. the older men, who remained behind, who were also indispensable for the daily work of the field and workshop, were not especially capacitated to do valiant service in arms. thus it was no wonder that this fearful law brought to light the ludicrous side of the picture; endless goodwill together with boorishness and narrowmindedness. it was read with great edification, that the whole people were to take up arms to withstand the invading enemy; that the women and children also were to be employed in certain occupations, was quite to the reader's mind, especially those who were not grown up; but doubts were excited by the sentence in which it was stated, that cowardice was to be punished by the loss of weapons, the doubling of taxes, and corporeal chastisement, as he who showed the feeling of a slave was to be treated as a slave. then the poor little artisan, who could scarcely keep his children from hunger, had never touched a weapon, and had all his life anxiously avoided every kind of fighting, was placed in the position to put the difficult question wistfully to himself--what is cowardice? and when the law further forbade anyone in a city which was occupied by the enemy to visit any play, ball, or place of amusement, not to ring the bells, to solemnise no marriages, and to live as if in deepest mourning, it appeared to the unprejudiced minds of germans as tyrannical--more spanish and polish than german. yet the people, in the enthusiasm of this spring-time, overlooked these hardships, and prepared themselves for the struggle. even before the decree, patriotic feeling had, in east prussia, established here and there similar rules. now this zeal had spread through the cities more than in the open countries. the organisation began almost everywhere, and was carried through in many places. beacons were erected, alarm poles rose high from berlin to the elbe, and towards silesia resinous pines, on which empty tar-barrels were nailed, surrounded with tarred straw; near them a watch was posted, and they more than once did good service. all kinds of weapons were searched out, fowling-pieces and pistols, which had been cleverly foreseen in the ordinance when it directed that, "for ammunition, in case of a deficiency in balls, every kind of common shot may be used, and the possessors of fire-arms must have a constant provision of powder and lead." he who had no musket, furnished himself for the levy as the landwehr did at first, with pikes; they were exercised in companies--the butchers, brewers, and farmers formed squadrons. the first rank of infantry were pikemen; the second and third, if possible, musketeers. in this also, the intellectual leaders of the people showed a good example; they knew well that it was necessary, but it was no easy matter for them, especially if they were no longer young. at berlin, savigny and eichhorn were of the landwehr committee; in the levy none was more zealous than fichte; his pike, and that of his son, leant against the wall in the front hall, and it was a pleasure to see the zealous man brandishing his sword on the drill-ground, and placing himself in a posture of attack. they wished to make him an officer, but he declined with these words: "here i am, only fit to be a common man." he, buttmann, rühs, and schleiermacher drilled in the same company; but buttmann, the great greek scholar, could not quite distinguish between right and left; he declared that was most difficult. rühs was in the same condition, and it constantly happened that the two learned men, in their evolutions, either turned their backs, or looked each other in the face puzzled. once, when it was a question of an encounter with the enemy, and how a valiant man ought to conduct himself in that case, buttmann listened, leaning sadly on his spear, and said at last: "it is very well for you to talk, you are of a courageous nature."[ ] if this _landsturm_ was to be mobilised for the maintenance of the security of the circle, or for service in the rear of the enemy, or in the neighbourhood of fortresses still held by them, the alarm bell was rung, and the town became in a state of stormy excitement. anxiously did the women pack up food and drink, bandages and lint, in the knapsack, for according to the regulations no one was to forget the knapsack, bread-bag, and field-flask; it was his duty to carry with him provisions for three days; not unfrequently did the female inhabitants feel like the wife of a cutler in burg, who stated to the commanding officer that her husband must remain behind, for he was the only cutler in the place, or like the wife of a watchmaker, who had compelled her husband to conceal himself. he was, however, traced by other women whose husbands had gone, was taken by them to the churchyard, placed on a grave, and punished in a maternal way with the palm of the hand. any one who was a child at that time, will remember the enthusiasm with which the boys also armed. the elder ones assembled together in companies, and armed themselves with pikes; the smaller ones, too, had good cudgels. a poor boy who was working in a manufactory was asked why he carried no weapon, "i have all my pockets full of stones," was his answer; he carried them about with him against the french.[ ] and no regulation of the _landsturm_ ordinance was so zealously obeyed by the rising generation, as the provision that every _landsturmer_ should, if possible, carry a shrill-sounding pipe with him, in order to recognise others in the dark, and come to an understanding. by the greatest industry the boys learnt to produce shrill tones from every kind of signal pipe, and there is reason to believe that the present use of the pipe in street rows was first adopted by our youths from hatred to the french. seldom were the _landsturm_ employed in military service in ; they were more often employed in clearing the districts of marauding rabble, and as watchers, or in the messenger service; their only serious military service against the enemy was performed at that büren, which under frederic ii. had driven back its flying sons to the king's army. there, after the peace, all the men wore the military medal. up to the present day the people retain the memory of this feature of the great war; it has been more enduring than many others of more importance. still do old people boast that though not in the field, yet at home they had borne arms for the fatherland; it also is fitting that their sons should remember it. the time may come when in another form, and with stricter discipline, the general armament of the people will be an important part of german military power. but whilst here the dangerous game was not carried on in its terrible reality, yet all eyes and ears were incessantly directed to the distance. the war had begun in earnest. those who were left behind were in continual anxiety concerning the fate of those they loved, and of fatherland. no day passed without some report, no post came without the announcement of some important event; life seemed to fly amidst the longing and the expectation with which they looked forth beyond their city walls. every little success filled them with transport; it was announced at the door of the town hall, in the church, and in the theatre, wherever men were collected together. on the th april was the conflict, at zehdenick, the first undoubted victory of the prussians; far and wide through the provinces did people hasten to the church towers to endeavour to descry the first intelligence; and when the thunder of cannon had ceased, and the joyful news ran through the country, there was no bounds to the general exultation; everything that was praiseworthy was proudly extolled, above all the valiant artillery that with guns and powder waggons had chased the enemy through the burning market-place of leitzkau, amidst the flames that were gathering around them; also the black hussars, with their death's-heads, valiant lithuanians, who had ridden over the smart red hussars from paris at the first onset. and when the proprietor of the market-place afterwards made a collection through the newspapers for his poor people who had been burnt out, and excused himself for begging at such a time for aid to private misfortune, the country people were not forgotten who had first suffered from the war. louder became the din of war, more furious did the conflict of masses rage; the exultation of victory and fearful anxiety alternated in the hearts of those remaining at home. after the battle of grossgörschen, it was proclaimed that assistance was needed for the wounded. then there began everywhere among the people collections of linen and lint; unweariedly did not only children but grown-up people draw out the threads of old linen, the women cut bandages, and the teachers in schools cut the rags which the little girls and boys at their request brought with them from their homes, into shape, and whilst they taught the children, these with burning tears collected the pieces into great heaps. making lint was the evening work of families; it might be of some use to the soldiers. in the neighbourhood of the allied armies and in the chief cities, hospitals were erected, and everywhere the women assisted--court ladies, and authoresses like rachel levin. in one great hospital at berlin there was frau fichte and frau reimer, the superintendents of the female nurses. the hospital, owing to the retreating french, had become a pest-house, bad nervous fevers were prevalent, and the strange fancies of the invalids made it a terrible abode. the wife of fichte shuddered at these horrors, but he endeavoured to sustain her in his noble way. when she was overtaken with nervous fever, he nursed the invalid, caught the infection, and died. reil also, the great physician and scholar, died there in the midst of his philanthropic efforts. frau reimer was preserved; her house had been, before the war, the resort of the prussian patriots, now her husband had become one of the landwehr under putlitz; her anxieties about him and his business and her little children, neither damped her spirit nor engrossed her time; from morning to evening, spring and summer, she was actively occupied; never weary, she divided her time betwixt her family and her care of the sick, and her life appeared to herself indestructible.[ ] to her husband, friends and contemporaries, this zeal seemed natural, and a matter of course. in a similar way did german women do their duty everywhere with the greatest self-denial and devotedness, and with quiet enduring energy. the fearful battle of bautzen took place; the armistice followed. the prussians were full of uneasiness. streams of blood had flowed, their army was driven back, the emperor appeared invincible by earthly weapons. for some weeks the most intelligent looked gloomily at the future, but the people still maintained a right feeling of self-respect and elevated resolution. trust in their own energy, and the goodness of their cause, and above all trust in god, were the source of this frame of mind. every one saw that the strength of prussia in this campaign was incomparably greater than in the last unfortunate war. only a little more strength seemed to be necessary to overthrow the tyrant; if they could only make a little more exertion, he might be hurled back. the voluntary contributions continued, late in the autumn receipts were given for them. the equipment of the landwehr was ended, the artisan had everywhere worked for his king and fatherland. the war again raged, blow and counterblow, flux and reflux; the armies pressed on; now one saw from thurm the hosts of the enemy, now the approach of friends. the cities and provinces of the west learnt from berlin and breslau the fate of the war. ah, its terrible features are not strange to germans; up to the time of our fathers, the hearts of almost every generation of citizens have been shaken by them. there are hollow, short reverberations in the air; it is the thunder of distant cannon. listening crowds stand in the market-place, and at the gates; little is said, only half words in a subdued tone, as if the speaker feared to speak too loud. from the parapet of the towers, and the gables of the houses which look towards the field of battle, the eyes of the citizens strain anxiously to see into the distance. on the verge of the horizon there is a white cloud in the sunlight, occasionally a bright flash is perceptible and a dark shadow. but on the by-ways which lead from the nearest villages to the high road, dark crowds are moving. they are country people flying into the wood or to the mountains. each carries on his shoulders what he has been able to scrape together, but few have been able to carry off their property, for carts and horses have for some weeks past been taken from them by the soldiers; lads and men drive their herds nervously, the women loudly wailing, carry their little ones. again there is a rolling in the air, sharper and more distinct. a horseman races through the city gate at wild speed, then another. our troops are retreating, the crowds of citizens separate, the people run in terrified anguish into their houses, and then again into the street; even in the city they prepare for flight. loud are the cries and lamentations. he who still possessed a team of horses, dragged them to the pole, the clothmaker threw his bales, and the merchant his most valuable chests on the waggons, and over these their children and those of their neighbours. waggons and crowds of flying men thronged to the distant gate. if there is a swampy marsh almost impassable, or a thick wood in the neighbourhood, they fly thither. inaccessible hiding-places, still remembered from the time of the swedes, are again sought out. great troops collect there, closely packed; the citizens and countrymen conceal themselves with their cattle and horses for many days; sometimes still longer. after the battle of bautzen the parishioners of tillendorf near bunzlau abode more than a week in the nearest wood, their faithful pastor senftleben accompanied them, and kept order in that wild spot, he even baptised a child.[ ] but he who remains in the town with his property, or in the performance of his duty, is eager to conceal his family and goods. long has the case been taken into consideration, and hiding-places ingeniously devised. if the city has more especially roused the fury of the enemy, it is threatened with fire, plunder, and the expulsion of the citizens. in such a case the people carry their money firmly sewed in their clothes. one anxious hour passes in feverish hope. the first announcers of the retreat clatter through the streets, damaged guns escorted by cossacks. slowly they return, the number of their men incomplete, and blackened by powder, more than one tottering wounded. the infantry follow, and waggons overcrowded with wounded and dying men. the rear-guard take up their post at the gate and the corners of the streets, awaiting the enemy. young lads run from the houses and carry to the soldiers what they have called for, a drink or a bit of bread; they hold the knapsacks for the wounded, or help them quickly to bandages. there are clouds of dust on the high road. the first cavalry of the enemy approach the gate, cautiously looking out, the carabiniers on the right flank. a shot falls from the rear-guard, the chasseur also fires his carbine, turns his horse, and retires. immediately the enemy's vanguard press on in quick trot, and the prussian tirailleurs withdraw from one position to another firing. finally the last has abandoned the line of houses. once more they collect outside the gate, in order to detain the enemy's cavalry, who have again formed into rank. the streets are empty and shut. even the boys who have accompanied the prussian tirailleurs have disappeared; the curtains of the windows are let down, and the doors closed; but behind curtain and door are anxious faces looking at the approaching enemy. suddenly a cry bursts forth from a thousand rough voices--_vive l'empereur!_ and, like a flood, the french infantry rush into the town. immediately they knock against the doors with the butt ends of their muskets, and if they are not opened quick enough they are broken in. now follow desperate disputes between the defenceless citizen and the irritated enemy--exorbitant demands, threats, and frequently ill-usage and peril of death--everywhere clamour, lamentation, and violence. cupboards and desks are broken open, and everything, both valuable and valueless, plundered, spoiled, or destroyed, especially in those houses whose inmates have fled; for the property of an uninhabited house, according to the custom of war, falls to the share of the soldier. the city authorities are dragged to the townhall, and difficult negotiations begin concerning the quartering of the troops, the delivery of provisions and forage, and impossible contributions. if the enemy's general cannot be satisfied with gifts, or if the town is to be punished, the inhabitants of most consideration are collected, forcibly detained, threatened, and, perhaps at last, carried off as hostages. if a larger corps is encamped round the city, one battalion bivouacs in the market-place. the french are rapidly accommodated. they have fetched straw from the suburbs, they have robbed provisions on the road, and cut up the doors and furniture for fire-wood. disagreeably sounds the crash of the axe on the beams and woodwork of the houses. brightly blaze up the camp fires, and loud laughter, with french songs, sound about the flames. when the enemy withdraws in the morning, after having remained one night through which the citizens have held anxious watch, they gaze with astonishment on the rapid devastation of their city, and on the sudden change in the country outside the gates. the boundless ocean of corn, which yesterday waved round their city walls, is vanished, rooted up, crushed and trampled by man and horse. the wooden fences of the gardens are broken, summer arbours and houses are torn away, and fruit-trees cut down. the fire-wood lies in heaps round the smouldering watch-fires, and the citizen may find there the planks of his waggon and the doors of his barn. he can scarcely recognise the place where his own garden was, for the site of it is covered with camp straw, confused rubbish, and the blood and entrails of slaughtered beasts. in the distance, where the houses of the nearest village project above the foliage of the trees, he perceives no longer the outline of the roofs, only the walls are standing, like a heap of ruins. it was bitter to pass through such an hour, and many lost all heart. even for people of property it was now difficult to support their families. all the provisions of the city and neighbourhood were consumed or destroyed, and no countryman brought even the necessaries of life to the market, it was needful therefore to send far into the country for the means to appease hunger. but from a rapid succession of great events men had become colder, more sturdy and hardier in themselves. the strong participation which every individual had taken in the fate of the state made them indifferent to their own hardships. after every danger, it was felt to be a comfort that the last thing, life, was saved. and there was hope. before long the devastating billow surged back. again roared the thunder of guns, and the drums rattled. our troops are advancing; wild struggle rages round the city. the prussian battalions press forward through the streets into the market-place against the enemy, who still hold the western suburb. it is the young landwehr who this day receive their baptism of blood. the balls whistle through the streets; they strike the tiles and plaster of the houses; the citizens have again concealed their wives and children in cellars and out-of-the-way places. the battalions halt in the market-place. the ammunition waggons are opened. the first companies press forward to the same gate through which, a few days before, the enemy had rushed into the city. the struggle rages fiercely. in the assault the enemy are thrown back; but fresh masses establish themselves in the houses of the suburb, and contend for the entrances to the streets. mutilated and severely wounded men are carried back and laid down in the market-place, and more than once the combatants have to be relieved. when the inexperienced soldiers see their comrades borne back from the fight, their faces blackened with powder, and covered with sweat and blood, their courage sinks within them; but the officers, who are also for the first time in close combat, spring forward, and "forward, children! the fatherland calls!" sounds through the ranks. at one time the enemy succeeded in storming the upper gate, but scarcely have they forced their way into the first street leading to the market, when a company of landwehr throw themselves upon them with loud hurrahs, and drive them out of the gate.[ ] the thunder roars; the fiery hail pierces through doors and windows; the dead lie on the pavement and thresholds of the houses. then any citizen who has a manly heart can no longer bear the close air of his hiding place. he presses close behind his fighting countrymen near to the struggle. he raises the wounded from the pavement, and carries them on his back either to his house or the hospital. again the boys are not among the last; they fetch water, and call at the houses for some drink for the wounded whom they support; they climb up the ammunition waggons and hand down the cartridges, proud of their work they are unconcerned about the whistling bullets. even the women rush out of the houses, with bread in their aprons and full flasks in their hands; they may thus do something to help the fatherland. the fight is over; the enemy driven back. in the warm sunshine a sorrowful procession moves through the city--the imprisoned enemy escorted by cossacks. hardheartedly do the troopers drive the weary crowd; they are allowed only a short rest in the open place of the suburb; the prisoners lie exhausted, weary and half fainting, in the dust of the high road. it is the second day on which they have had neither food nor drink; not once have their guards allowed them a drink from brook or ditch; they have ill-treated the weary men with blows and thrusts of their lances. these now, with outstretched hands, pour forth entreaties in their own language to the citizens, who stand round with curiosity and sympathy. they are, for the most part, young frenchmen who are here lamenting, poor boys, with pale and haggard faces. the citizens hasten to them with food and drink; ample piles of bread are brought; but the russians are hungry themselves; they roughly push back the approaching people, and tear their gifts from them. then the women put baskets and flasks into the hands of their children. a courageous lad springs forward; the little troop of maidens and young boys trip amongst the prisoners, who are lying on the ground; even the youngest totter bravely from man to man, and distribute their gifts smilingly, unconcerned about their bearded guards,[ ] for the cossack does no injury to children. the german is not unkind to his enemy. when anyone carries a wounded countryman to his house, how faithfully and carefully he nurses him. the family treat him as they would their own son or brother who is far away in the king's army. the best room and a soft bed is prepared for him, and the mistress of the house attends him herself with bandages and all necessary care. the whole people feel like a great family. the difference of classes, the variety of avocations, no longer divide; joy and sorrow are felt in common, and goods and gains are willingly shared. the prince's daughter stands in union with the wife of the artisan, and both zealously co-operate together; and the land junker who, only a few months before, considered every citizen as an intruder in his places of resort, now rides daily from his property to the city in order to smoke his war pipe with his new friends, the alderman or manufacturer, and to chat with them over the news; or, what was still more interesting to them, over the regiment in which their sons were fighting together. men became more frank, firmer and better in this time; the morose pedantry of officials, the pride of the nobleman, and even the suspicious egotism of the peasant, were blown away from most, like dust from good metal; selfishness was despised by everyone; old injustice and long-nourished rancour were forgotten, and the hidden good in man came to light. according as every one bestirred himself for his fatherland, he was afterwards judged. with surprise did people, both in town and country, see new characters suddenly rise into consideration among them; many small citizens who had hitherto been little esteemed, became advisers, and the delight and pride of the whole city. but he who showed himself weak seldom succeeded in regaining the confidence of his fellow citizens; the stain clung to him during the life of that generation. and this free and grand conception of life, this hearty social tone, and the unconstrained intercourse of different classes lasted for years after the war. there are some still living who can speak of it. when after the armistice, the glorious time of victories came, grossbeeren, hagelsberg, dennewitz, and the katzbach; when particular prussian generals rose higher in the eyes of the people, and millions felt pleasure and pride in their army and its leaders; when at last the battle of nations was fought, and the great aim attained--the overthrow and flight of the hated emperor, and the delivery of the country from his armies--then was the highest rapture that could be felt in this world enjoyed with calm intensity. the people hastened to the churches and listened reverentially to the thanksgivings of the ecclesiastics, and in the evening they illuminated their streets. this kind of festivity was nothing new. wherever, in the last years, the enemy's troops entered in the evening into a city, they had called out for lights; wherever there was a french garrison, the citizens had to illuminate for every victory which was announced by the hated ally of their king. now this was done voluntarily; everyone had experience in it, and the simple preparation was in every house. four candles in a window were then thought something considerable; even the poorest spared a few kreutzers for two, and if he had no candlestick, employed, according to old custom, the useful potato; the more enterprising ventured upon a transparency, and a poor mother hung out, together with the candles, two letters which her son had written from the field. these festivities were then simple and unpretending; now we do the same kind of thing far more splendidly. the great rising began in the eastern provinces of the prussian state; how it showed itself among the people there we have endeavoured to portray. but the same strong current flowed in the country on the other side of the elbe, not only in the old prussian districts, but with equal vigour on the coasts of the north sea, in mecklenburg, hanover, brunswick, thuringia, and hesse, almost in every district up to the maine. it comprehended the districts which, in the eighteenth century, had attained a greater military capacity; in the provinces of the old empire it was only partial. the new states which arose there under french influence, discovered later, and in an indirect way, the necessity of a closer connection with the larger portion of the nation. for austria, this war was an act of political prudence. still two years followed of high strained exertion and bloody battles; again did the rising youth of the country, who in the first year had been wanting in age and strength, throng with enthusiasm into the ranks of the army. it was another war, and another victory had to be achieved, it was, however, no longer a struggle for the existence of prussia and germany, but for the ruin and life of the foreign emperor. the year had freed germany from the dominion of a foreign people. again did the prussian eagle float over the other side of the rhine, on the old gates of cleve. it had made a bloody end to an insupportable bondage. it had united most of the german races in brotherly ties by a new circle of moral interests. it had produced for the first time in german history an immense political result by a powerful development of popular strength. it had entirely altered the position of the nation to their princes; for, above the interests of dynasties, and the quarrels of rulers, it had given existence to a stronger power which they all feared, honoured, and must win, in order to maintain themselves. it had given a greater aim to the life of every individual, a participation in the whole, political feeling, the highest of earthly interests, a fatherland, a state for which he learnt to die and by degrees to live. the prussians did the greater part of the work of this year, which will never be forgotten by the rest of germany. it would not be becoming in us, the sons of the generation of , to disparage the glorious struggle of our fathers, because they have left us something to do. almost all who passed through that great time of struggle and self-sacrifice consider the memory of it the greatest possession of their later life, and it encircled the heads of many with a bright glory. and thousands felt what the warm-hearted arndt expressed, "we can now die at any moment, as we have seen in germany what is alone worth living for, that men, from a feeling of the eternal, and imperishable, have been able to offer, with the most joyful self-devotion, all their temporalities and their lives as if they were nothing." but in the churches of the country a simple tablet was put up as a memorial to later generations, on which was the iron cross of the great time, and the names of those who had fallen. as in these pages it has been attempted to portray, in the words of men who have passed away, a picture of the time in which they lived, so here we will give a record from the year . "our son george was struck by a ball, at the age of two-and-twenty, on the nd of april, at the ever-memorable engagement at lüneburg. as a volunteer rifleman in the light battalion of the first pommeranian regiment, he fought, according to the testimony of his brave leader, herr major von borcke, by his side, with courage and determination, and thus, died for his fatherland, german freedom, national honour, and our beloved king. to lose him so early is hard; but it is comforting to feel that we also have been able to give a son for this great and holy object. we feel deeply the necessity of such a sacrifice. "the regierungsrath and ober-commissarius häse and his wife."[ ] "berlin, th april, ." that portion of the people also who were not in the habit of expressing their feelings in writing felt the same. when the lützower gutike,[ ] in the summer of , was on his march from berlin to perleberg, he found at kletzke the landlady in mourning; she was waiting silently upon him, and at last said suddenly, pointing with her hand to the ground, "i have one there,--but peter's wife has two." she felt that her neighbour had superior claims to sympathy. chapter xii. the illness and recovery. ( - .) when the volunteers of went to the field, their hope was, at some time, to live as citizens, with their friends, in the liberated fatherland, enjoying the freedom, peace, and happiness, which they had won. but it is sometimes easier to die for freedom than to live for it. a few years after victory had been achieved, and napoleon was prisoner in his distant rocky island, schliermacher said in the pulpit to his parishioners: "it was an error when we hoped to rest in comfort after the peace. a time is now come, when guiltless and good men are persecuted, not only for what they do, but also for the views and projects which are attributed to them. but the brave christian should not be faint-hearted, but in spite of danger and persecution remain true to truth and virtue." and police spies copied these words, and did not forget to add to their report that such and such persons had been in the church, or that four bearded students had knelt down at the altar after the communion, and had prayed fervently. the intrepid arndt was watched and removed. jahn was put into prison, and many of the leaders of the patriotic movement of were persecuted as dangerous men; police officers disturbed the peace of their homes, and their papers were seized. a special commission outrageously violated the forms of law, acting with mean hate, arbitrarily, tyrannically, and perfidiously, like a spanish inquisition. it is a sorrowful page in german history. independent characters withdrew, deeply disgusted with the narrow-minded rule which now began in most of the states of germany; common mediocrity again took the helm. prussia's foreign policy was dictated from vienna and st. petersburgh, and before long its political influence on the history of europe was again less than it had been under the elector frederic william. when the people rose in war against a foreign enemy, they little thought what the result would be when the independence of germany was secured. they themselves brought to the struggle unbounded devotion, and supposed a similar feeling in all who had to shape the future, in their princes, and even in the allied powers. to no one scarcely was it clear how the new germany was to be arranged. any clear-sighted person could perceive, in the first year of the war, that a remodelling of germany, which would make a great development of the power of the nation possible, was not to be hoped for. for it was not the people, nor the patriotic army of blücher that were to decide, but the dynasties and cabinets of europe, according to the position of affairs,--austria, the new states of the rhineland, the english, hanover, france, sweden, and above all russia, each endeavouring to guard their own interests. the antagonism between prussia and austria had already broken out in the negotiations; the prussians had by an immense effort obtained an honourable position in europe, but neither in the opinion of nations nor of cabinets were they considered entitled to the leadership. there was hardly a person not prussian who ever thought of excluding austria from a new confederation; even prussia itself did not think of it. we know, therefore, that the "german question" was even then hopeless, and we do not regret that the old empire under its emperor was not restored. but easily as we can now understand how invincible were the difficulties, to contemporaries the feeling of disappointment was bitter, and an unprejudiced estimate of their position difficult. among the patriots of , a small minority were then full of enthusiastic sentimentality; they contrasted their poetical ideas of the old splendour of the german empire with the bad reality; these _deutschthumler_--teuto-maniacs--as they were called after , had been without influence in the great movement jahn's great beard was seldom admired, and the worthy karl müller found no favour when he began to banish all foreign words from military language. now after the peace these enthusiasts, for the most part not prussians, collected together in small communities at the german universities. they sorrowed and hoped, expressed violent indignation, and gave zealous advice; they were agreed together that something great must happen, and they were ready to stake life and property upon it; only, what was to be done was not clear. between varying moods and wavering projects they came to no conclusion. politically considered this movement was not dangerous, till the odious persecution of the governments goaded them into hatred and opposition, and throwing a gloom over the minds of some, led to fanatical resolves. it was not the fault of the prussian government that the hopes of the nation for a new german state were disappointed. but it had incurred another debt. the king had promised to give his people a constitution. if ever a nation had acquired a right to a participation in the government, it was the prussian; for it had raised the state from the deepest depression. if the greatest state in germany had, by legal forms, obtained the possibility of a political development of its power, every sensible prussian would have been contented. the press and a parliament would gradually have given the loyal nation a feeling of prosperity and safe progress, opposing parties would have contended publicly, and those who demanded more for germany than could at present be attained, would have been restrained by prussia. the character of the germans was now freed from the weakness which had pervaded it through a whole generation. the state also could no longer do without the participation of the people, if it was not to fall back into the old state of feebleness, which only a few years before had brought it to the verge of ruin. now, when life was impressed with new ideas, when in hundreds of thousands a passionate interest in the state had sprung up, the safest support for the throne itself was a constitution. for the prussians were no longer a nation without opinions or will, whose destiny an individual could dispose of by his will. but the king, however honest he might be, who wished to continue to govern in the old way through pliant officials, was in danger from this new condition of the world of becoming the tool of a noxious faction, or the victim of foreign influence. he required a strong counterpoise against the preponderating power of russia, and diplomatic entanglements with austria. this he could only find in the strength of an attached people, who in union with him would deliberate on the policy and support of his state. king frederic william iii. never felt the incongruous position in which he had placed himself, in respect to the necessities of the time, for his image was closely bound up with the grandest reminiscences of the people; and the private virtues of his life made him, during a long reign, an object of reverence to the rising generation. but his successor was to suffer fearfully from the circumstance that he himself, his officials, and his people had grown up under a crippled system of state. but that the prussians of should so quietly have borne their disappointed hopes, that--whilst already in the states of the rhenish confederation parties were in vehement struggle--the "great state" lay so lifeless, is to be attributed to other reasons besides loyalty to the hohenzollerns. the nation was exhausted to the uttermost by the war and what had preceded it, and wearied to death. scarcely had it strength to cultivate its land. years passed over before the live stock could be fully replaced. cities and village communities, landed proprietors and peasants were all deeply in debt. the price of landed properties sank lower than they had been before . it often happened that noble estates remained without masters for many years, when the last proprietor had wasted the live stock, and that auctions were often unattended by solvent bidders. commerce and industry had been destroyed by the continental blockade, for the old outlets for linen, cloth, and iron, the great branches of prussian trade, were lost--foreigners had appropriated them. and capital also was wanting. intercourse, also, with the sclavonian eastern districts, a vital question to the old provinces, was gradually almost annihilated by the new russian commercial system. but a still greater hindrance arose from the waste of men through the war. the whole youth of the country had been under arms, a large portion had fallen on the battle-fields, and the survivors had been torn away from their citizen life. many remained in the army: full a third part of the prussian officers who commanded the army in the following thirty years consisted of volunteer rifles of . he who returned to his former vocation found himself reduced in circumstances, and his relatives helpless and impoverished. he was at last glad to become an unpretending official, and thus to obtain a livelihood for himself and his family in the exhausted country. the bloody work of three campaigns, and the habits of soldierly obedience had not diminished his vigour, but the genial warmth, which enables youth to look victoriously upon life, had passed away. he began now a struggle for a respectable home, probably with patience and devotion to duty, but in the narrow sphere into which he now entered, he could not but look back to the mighty past which he had gone through. thus had the manly energy of the generation been spent. the youths also that grew up in their families had no longer the advantage of being influenced by great impressions, enthusiasm, and devotion. these misfortunes fell heaviest on the old provinces. the new acquisition demanded for many years great official power and much government care before it could be moulded into the prussian commonwealth. it is manifest that a free press and a constitution were the best means of healing these weaknesses more rapidly, and of bringing a feeling of convalescence and coherence among the people; for warmth and enthusiasm are as necessary to the life of a nation as the light of heaven is to plants and dew to the clouds. the further its development advances, the greater becomes its need of exalted ideas, and of having intellectual interests in common. when the reformation first roused the people to an intellectual struggle, it was as if a miracle had been worked upon them; their character became stronger, their morality purer, all the processes of the mind, all human energy had become stronger; and when the awakened need of a common aim was not satisfied in the state life of the german empire, the people became inert and worse. again, after a long and sorrowful time, a great prince had given to at least a part of the germans new enthusiasm and an ideal aim. the warm interest in the fate of their state, which ennobled frederic's time, and the liberation of the mind from the tutelage of the state and the church, had been a second great progress; and again had this progress required an answering extension of general interests and a strengthening of political action. but in the spiritless and powerless rule of the next generation the popular energies again decayed. the fall of prussia was the consequence. now, for the third time, a great portion of the germans had made a new progress, the nation had given its property and its blood for its state, and it had become a passionate necessity to care for the fatherland, and to take a share in its fate; and as this longing again met with no satisfaction, the people sank back for a time into weakness. the distractions of the year were the result. in almost every domain of ideal life the malady became apparent, even in philosophy. extensive was the domain embraced by german philosophy; new branches of knowledge had sprung up with surprising rapidity; there was scarce a bygone people in the most distant regions of the earth whose history, life, arts, and language were not investigated; above all, the past of germany. with hearty warmth was every expression of our popular mind, of which there remained a trace, laid hold of. a wonderful richness of life of the olden time was discovered and understood in all its specialities. round the german inquirer arose from the earth the spirits of nations which had once lived; he learnt to comprehend what was peculiar to each, what was common to all--the action of the human mind on the highest phenomena of the globe. equally did the knowledge of objective nature increase. the history of the creation of the earth, the organism of everything created, the countless objects invisible to the naked eye, and the countless things which arise from the combination of simple substances, became known; and again, beyond the boundaries of this earth, the life of the solar system, the cosmical unit, of which the solar world is an infinitesimal speck. but the endless abundance of new knowledge which was infused by science into the life of the highly educated was dangerous to the character in one respect. the german learnt to understand the almost endless varieties of character of foreign nations; the most dissimilar kinds of culture became clear to him. impartially, and with lively interest, did he enter into the policy of tiberius, and the enthusiasm of loyola, the gradual development of slavery in north america, and the pedantries and dreams of robespierre. he was, therefore, in danger, in his considerate judgment, of forgetting the moral basis of his own life. he who would identify himself with so many foreign minds, needs not only the capacity to grasp the minds of others, but still more the power to keep himself free from the influence exercised over him by foreign conditions of life. he who would without prejudice estimate the relative value of a foreign point of view, must first know how to maintain firmly the moral foundation of his own life. this can only be effected by making his own will subservient to the duty of co-operating with his contemporaries, by joining in free associations, by a free press, and by continuous participation in the greatest political conceptions of his time. it was because the prussians, whose capital at this time was the centre of german philosophy, were deprived of this regulator, that the cultivated minds of this period acquired a peculiar weakness of character, which will appear strange to the next generation. this weakness of will was indeed no new failing of the educated german. it was the two hundred years' malady of a people which had no participation in the state, and, from its natural disposition, was not carried away by the impulse of passion, but composedly deliberates on action, and is seldom prevented by vehement excitement from forming a moderate judgment. but in the first part of our century their old weakness became particularly striking amidst these rich treasures of knowledge. oftener than formerly did the originality of a foreign form of life produce an overpowerful influence on them. instead of withstanding some mighty influence, it might be that of metternich, byron, or eugene sue, popery, socialism, or polish patriotism, being foreign, they yielded to its prestige, their own judgment being vacillating and uncertain. though it was easy for the best amongst them to talk cleverly upon the most dissimilar subjects, it was difficult for them to act consistently. this malady seized almost all the intellectual portion of the people. the salons became _blasé_, authors sensational, statesmen without fixed purpose, and officials without energy: these were all different forms of the same disease. it was everywhere destructive, nowhere more than in prussia; it gave to this state a specially helpless, nay, even hoary aspect, that was in striking contrast to the respectable capacity which was not lost in the smaller circles of the people. but healing came, by degrees, and again in a circuitous way, sometimes bounding forwards, and then retrograding; but, on the whole, since , in continual progress. for, at the same time in which the july revolution again excited, throughout a wide circle of life, an interest in the state, a new development of german popular strength began in other spheres, especially through the industrious labours of countless individuals, in the workshop and the counter. the zollverein--the greatest creation of frederic william iii.--threw down a portion of the barriers which had divided separate german states; the railroads and the steam-boats became the metallic conductors of technical culture from one end of the country to the other. with the development of german manufacturing activity came new social dangers, and new remedies had to be supplied by the spontaneous activity of the people. bit by bit was the narrow system of government and of characterless officials destroyed; the nation acquired a feeling of active growth; everywhere there was a youthful interest in life; everywhere energetic activity in individuals. a free intelligence developed itself in independent men, as well as in the official order, together with other forms of culture and other needs of the people. the labour of the inferior classes became more valuable; to raise their views and increase their welfare was no longer a problem for quiet philanthropists, but a necessity for all, a condition of prosperity even for those highest in position. whilst it was complained that the chasm between employers and the employed became greater, and the domination of capital more oppressive, great efforts were in fact being made by the zeal of literary men, the philanthropy of the cultivated, and by the monied classes for their own advantage, to increase the knowledge of the people and improve their morals. a comprehensive popular literature began to work, commercial and agricultural schools were established, and men of different spheres of interests organised themselves into associations. by example and by teaching it was endeavoured to raise the independence of the weaker, and the great principle of association was proclaimed. in the place of the former isolation, men of similar views worked together in every domain of earthly activity. it was a grand labour to which the nation now devoted itself, and it was followed by the greatest and most rapid change which the germans have ever effected. both the sound egotism of this work and the practical benevolence of those who interested themselves in the welfare of the labouring classes, assisted, after the year , in curing the educated of their irresolution and feebleness of character. the south of germany now exercised a wholesome influence on the north. long had the countries of the old empire lived quietly to themselves, receiving more than giving; they had sent to the north some great poets and men of learning, but considered them as their special property; they had endeavoured to protect their native peculiarities against north german influence, and they were unwillingly, by napoleon and the vienna and paris treaties, apportioned among the greater princely houses of their country; and now they supplied what was wanting to the north. the constitutional struggles of their little states formed a school for a number of political leaders, warm patriots, and energetic, warm-hearted men, sometimes with narrow-minded views, but zealous, unwearied, fresh, and hopeful. the suabian poets were the first artist minds of germany which were strengthened by participation in the politics of their homes, and the philosophy of southern germany maintained a patriotic tendency in contradistinction to the cosmopolitanism of the north. the people were saved from becoming _blasé_, and from subtle formalism and sophistry, by warmth of heart, vigorous resolution, a solid understanding, which was little accessible to over-great refinements, and a pleasant good-humour. in the time from to the southern germans were in the foreground of german life. this hearty participation in the life of the people found expression in the art of the southern germans. the morbid spirit which prevailed in the society of the educated, drove the fine arts into the lower circles of the people. the popular painters endeavoured to represent the figures and occupations of lower life with humour and spirit; the poets endeavoured to embellish, with a genial interest, the character and condition of the countryman: their village tales, and the interest which they excited in the reading world are always considered as a symptom of how great was the longing in the educated for quiet comfort and a well-regulated activity. a village tale shall be here given, descriptive of the condition of the people at this period; for the life of the southern german, which is related, is in many respects characteristic of the fate and inward changes in the best spirits of the time which has just passed. the movement which, after the revolution of , vibrated all over europe, had excited in him also a lively interest in the national development of the fatherland. the debates of the chambers of his small country were his first auxiliaries. the struggles which took place there did not remain without fruit; they relieved agriculture and the peasant from the burdens which had hitherto oppressed them; they introduced municipal institutions and public and verbal proceedings, even a law against the censorship of the press. but the german diet interposed, the law of the press was put an end to, and the complaints of the landed proprietors against the exemption laws found favour with it; and the frankfort outrage of the rd of april, , produced a re-action. then the author left his official position in a fiscal chamber and devoted his energies to the press. when he was deprived of even this share in the political destiny of his country, by the malicious chicanery of a lawless police, he settled for a few years in switzerland. all his life it had been a pleasure for him to teach. as a student, as candidate for the service of the state, he had given instruction to young men; he was therefore not unprepared for the office of teacher; which he entered upon in that foreign country. he relates as follows:-- "on easter monday, , in the church at grenchen, in the canton of solothurn, the roman catholic community appointed a protestant and a german as teacher in the newly-erected district school. the community had chosen him, and the government had confirmed the choice; i was the teacher. "it was a raw spring morning. the monotonous grey of the clouds covered the sides and summit of the jura, large snow-flakes fell in thick drifts, and enveloped the procession that was moving towards the church. the words addressed by father zweili, superior of the franciscans, and president of the education council, to those assembled, would have been suitable to any clergyman. he expressed to me that i need have no hesitation in speaking to the scholars on religion; 'it is only necessary for you to abstain from touching on the few points on which we differ.' "the franciscans were learned, industrious men, they lived as instructors of philosophy, and were therefore in open feud with the jesuits. the government found in them, powerful supporters and co-operators in their exertions for the education of the people; in this respect everything had to be done, for the patrician rulers who had been overthrown in had done nothing. in the first place, they established preparatory schools, and training colleges for masters, and provided for the supervision and conduct of school life. the difficulties that had to be overcome were not trifling, but it was all accomplished in the course of four years. in the beginning of , each parish had its school, each school its master and dotation, and each child suitable instruction; the law punished parents for not insisting on the regular attendance of their children at school. as soon as the preparatory schools were arranged, district schools were added; here there was no compulsion; they were established by the community, and the attendance of scholars who had left the preparatory schools, and had the necessary preliminary knowledge, was voluntary; the state assisted the institution by grants, and maintained a superintendence. grenchen was one of the first communities which determined on providing means for a district school; the government gave an annual contribution of swiss franks, about thalers. the merit of this decision of the community is due above all to the physician, dr. girard, my dear friend. he could make only a small number of his fellow-citizens understand the utility of the undertaking, for they had not had the advantage of the instruction afforded to the present generation, but they trusted the man who had so often showed his unselfish desire to do good. but the desire of this people, who are by nature so energetic, to be in advance of other communities prevailed, and when it became a question whether grenchen or selzach should maintain the new school, the thing was decided; the institution was to be at that place, whatever it might be. i had great pleasure in teaching, and the situation secured me a residence which i cared more for than maintenance which might be obtained by other work. "the village in which i was now to teach was the largest community in the canton, with more than inhabitants, and citizens entitled to vote, and it was situated among the outlying hills of the jura. towards the south, rich meadows and well cultivated fields, slope down to the aar, which hastens with rapid course through the valley to the rhine. on the other side of the aar the ground rises gently up to hilly emmenthal, and behind it rises the chain of the alps. the urner and swiss mountains in the east, the rigi standing alone in foremost grandeur; in the centre the eiger, mönch, and jungfrau, up to the savoy alps, among which mont blanc rises its head majestically. towards the west the lakes of viel, neufchatel, and meurten spread their shining mirrors. it would be difficult to find anywhere a country so lovely, and at the same time grand, as here presents itself to the eyes. "the houses of the village are detached and scattered about in groups for some height up the mountain, almost every one is surrounded by a garden and meadow, and shaded by fruit-trees; a clear rivulet glides with many windings through the village. unwillingly do the thatched roofs give way to the prescribed tiles. the farming of the inhabitants comprises fields, meadows, and woods, the herding of cattle, and on the most valuable properties, mountain pastures, and the making of butter and cheese. the vine also is cultivated. the grencheners do not deny that in common years their wine is sour, they sneer at it in songs and jests, but yet they drink it, and find it wholesome. they are a powerful race, of allemanni origin, the men are mostly slender but strong, and some of them uncommonly tall. among the women and maidens there is frequently that madonna-like beauty which is often to be found in catholic districts. they are cheerful and gifted with humour, perseveringly industrious, and skilful in adapting themselves to every position and helping themselves. it is not the custom with them to close the doors; it is mentioned as an unprecedented circumstance, that three years ago a watch was stolen in the village. but the locality is not favourable for thieves; woe to him who allows himself to be caught, he would not come unscathed into the hands of justice. "the grencheners had the repute of untamed lawlessness, which manifested itself in litigation and a strong inclination to take the law into their own hands; the knife was frequently used, and blood was shed. if the result was not mortal all who were concerned in it were summoned, in order to keep the magistrates away. the injurer and the injured negotiated, through mediators, as to a suitable indemnification, and with the conclusion of the treaty the enmity terminated. money was not in my time the standard by which men were valued, but their labour. i value a citizen there, who, having by an unsuccessful enterprise lost his property, has worked as a street servant. his fellow-citizens esteem him as much as before, and praise him because he performs his service right well. for lads who did not like the labours of peace, foreign service offered them a beaten way, which was not objected to by the community, because it freed them from many disturbing elements; however, it brought back many wild fellows not amended. "in the year , when the french invaded switzerland, the cantons were very disunited; they carried on their struggle against the enemy singly; the bernese fought well at neuenegg and the vierwaldstättersee, but one after another were subdued by superior power. the grencheners were bold enough to defend their village against the french invaders; they went out, some of them armed with halberds and old weapons, against the enemy, and joined in hand-to-hand combat. the name of _jungfer schürer_ still lives, in the mouths of the inhabitants, and they still show the place where she lost her life in the struggle. the french officer, her opponent, was brought wounded to the hospital at solothurn, and is said to have there lamented penitently that he was obliged to kill a maiden; but he had only the choice of doing this or falling under her blows. "the bath lies in a small secluded valley, separated from the village, a building with a large front, betwixt ponds and pleasure-grounds with shady groups of trees. behind it is the spring, a clear iron water. in summer the bath is visited by guests from switzerland--alsacians and others--who accidentally discover the place and take a fancy to it. in this century the small valley of marsh and sedge was still the possession of the community. the father of girard obtained the land for a moderate price; built his huts upon it, drained the ground, enclosed the spring, and arranged the baths--at first in very modest style, extending the grounds as means increased. father and mother both exerted themselves, sons and daughters grew up to assist; one son studied at german universities, and became a physician. the institution has to thank him for its rapid prosperity. "this was the place where i was presented in the church as schoolmaster, not without the opposition of some pious parties. "all the powers of resistance were roused to the utmost by the ultramontane party; publicly by the press, privately by every possible means. a heretic to be the only teacher in a roman catholic school--that was unheard of! the government, the common council, and i myself, were overwhelmed with abuse; the ecclesiastics in grenchen were severely blamed for having allowed a wolf to break into the fold, and it was set before them as a duty (not only by the newspapers) to use their utmost efforts to stifle the devil's brood in the germ. "the pastor of the place was a stately, fine man,--a favourite of the ladies, which gave him influence. but he was not fond of controversy; he loved repose and playing on the violin, and would therefore rather not have taken a part. as far as his influence went he hindered the boys from going to school, and never set his foot in it, so that no religious instruction was given, and the hours appointed for it were filled up with instruction on other subjects. personally i was on a tolerably good footing with him. it would have given him pleasure if i would have allowed him to baptise my little daughter, who was born two months before at the grenchen baths, and he would have taken the opportunity of making a quiet effort to convert me, by giving me a book to read, pretending to be written by a protestant, for the glorification of the roman catholic church. still less than the pastor could his chaplain be used as a battering-ram against the school. he had become a theologian at würzburg, and knew that leipzig was a nest of books. he was a good husbandman and rearers of bees, and had about the same amount of education as the people; they, however, did not remain stationary. he did not always succeed in preserving his clerical dignity and avoiding blame from the authorities. he had never felt it necessary to extend his theological knowledge beyond what was absolutely necessary, and i was sometimes astonished at the chaos in his memory; as when, for example, he related how st. louis had defended rome against the huns. if the conversation fell upon books he never ceased to praise a narrative of a mission to otaheite, and i soon discovered that this volume was very nearly his whole library. in spite of all this he was a good man, and it will not injure him now if i relate why i loved him. we were speaking one day of eternal happiness and the reverse. i told him how impossible i considered it, that the good god could be so cruel as to burn me eternally in hell. it is the lord's fault, not mine, that i was baptised a calvinist, and had thus been instructed and confirmed. our teacher had told us that we were to love our fellow-creatures, and do good to them; and i endeavoured, according to the best of my ability, to follow this teaching, and yet i was to be eternally condemned! this gave the chaplain pain, and he found a theological answer: 'i hope god will deal with you as with one of the heathen, of whom it is written, that they will be judged according to their works.' he was not dangerous to the school. "if the clerical leaders had been more energetic, the supporters they could have called forth, from out of the population, to oppose the school were not to be despised. besides the women, who for the most part were attached to the pastor, there were men whom the new rule had deprived of official position in the community. respectability and family connections still gave them importance, and they were led by their old masters to persuade the more energetic youths that the new constitution would not give them freedom enough; but, on the contrary, more burdens, and that they had no reason to be contented with a condition of things which the new leaders would turn exclusively to their own advantage. these opponents were dangerous. from one of them i was in the habit of getting milk for my household; the children fell sick, and became feverish. then we learnt that the milk of a sick cow had been given us, and that the seller boasted of it. "as the party which had just been vanquished in the field of politics could not openly make head against the common council and the majority of the citizens; they endeavoured to influence the parents, and were pleased when, in the beginning, there were only a dozen scholars--a small number for a great parish, surrounded by other villages, to whose sons the district school was open. there was only one means of saving the school from dissolution, and that was, its success. but a circumstance occurred to help us, before it could be ascertained that useful knowledge might be acquired here. "grenchen lies on the frontier towards the canton of berne, about half an hour's distance from the berne village of lengnau. the calvanistic common council of lengnau inquired of their roman catholic solothurner neighbours whether, and under what conditions, boys from their place would be allowed to attend the district school. the answer was, that their sons would be welcome; the instruction would be given gratuitously, and that the people of lengnau would only have to take care that the scholars should be quiet and orderly. hence there was an increase of eight or ten boys from lengnau; in order to preserve quiet, one of them had been appointed by the mayor as monitor, and was made answerable for their discipline; they marched in military order two and two, and returned home in the same way, and there never was the slightest quarrel between them and the grencheners. this example worked upon the neighbouring places of the canton; scholars came from staad, bettlach, and selzach, and, later, even from the french jura. one of them merits special mention. he was a large strong man, two and thirty years of age (a year older than i), from the parish of ely, in friburg, a distance of two hours behind the weissenstein, situated in a wild lonely country of the bernese jura mountains, which he had quitted, in order to work on the new high road between solothurn and grenchen. when he heard of the district school, he altered his determination; he hired himself as a servant to a peasant for board and lodging, resigning salary for the privilege of being able to attend the school. his desire for knowledge and his iron industry helped him to surmount all difficulties; he afterwards attended the seminary of education at bünchenbuchsee (berne); then returned to his home, where he became mayor and teacher; in short, all-in-all. only one thing xaver rais did not become, that was, father of a family; for he always continued his studies, and, as he confided to me afterwards, preferred buying books to a wife. the grencheners reckon him, up to the present day, as one of them; and even now, when i go to the place, a message is sent to him; then he puts on his satchel, lays hold of his staff, and goes over the mountain with long strides. "the influx of scholars from the neighbourhood did not fail to have an effect on the opponents in the place; many boys succeeded in overcoming the resistance of their parents, and had the satisfaction of entering the institution, which soon numbered between thirty and forty scholars. in order to regulate the instruction according to the requirements, i was obliged to alter the prescribed plan. i did it on my own responsibility, and when at the close of the first year, i reported this to the government, what i had done was approved, and a wish expressed that the same course might be pursued in the other district schools. in the summer i kept school only from six to ten o'clock in the morning, in order that the boys might be employed in house and field labour. besides this, the great work of the hay and corn harvest was in the holidays. the objects of study i limited in number, but went more deeply into them; i honestly lamented that the pastor gave no religious instruction, for the boys came from the preparatory school very much neglected in this important branch; they had only been impressed with two points, the indispensableness of the ecclesiastical order, and the value of relics; of biblical history they were almost entirely ignorant. if the pastor did not teach religion, neither did i teach politics, but left the fatherland state system to the school of life. on the other hand, the german and french languages, together with practice in composition, history, and geography, arithmetic and geometry, were carried on with great zeal, and it gave me pleasure to observe how forward boys of natural capacity might be brought in a short time, when all bombast was abolished, things represented simply, and each individual suitably assisted in his intellectual work. "it was my good fortune to have a tolerable number of clever scholars, and for these i always endeavoured to do more than was prescribed. i gave them, therefore, at particular hours, instruction in latin; and i made use of this to enlarge their views, and to guide and excite their love of learning. they formed a nucleus which gave the school a firm position. to them i owe the absence of anxiety about the discipline of the school, for their earnest orderly characters had an effect on all. during the three years of my office as teacher, i never had recourse to punishment; if a boy was idle or untruthful, i used, after admonishing him to amend, to add the notification, that the other scholars would bear no bad lads amongst them. it certainly sometimes happened that at the end of the lesson, in which i had been obliged to give such a warning, certain sounds which did not mean approbation, would reach my ears; but i forbore inquiring as to the cause. on account of the number of scholars, the institution was removed to another place; the school-room was on the first story immediately over our sitting-room, and my wife often remarked with astonishment, that though thirty peasant boys were assembled above, she never heard the least noise; and that our little children were not disturbed in their morning sleep. "before a year had passed, it was discovered in the village that the school was useful; the boys, especially those of the 'guard,' as they called my _élite_, were in great request, to read and write german and french letters, which were necessary for the traffic in the products of the country; also to examine and draw up accounts, and the like. i willingly overlooked it when here or there one was an hour late, in consequence of having performed these neighbourly acts, for this was of advantage both to them and the school. the people saw us undertaking the measurement of fields, and trigonometrically determining heights and distances with instruments made by ourselves. but the strongest impression was produced, when a boy fifteen years of age begged for permission to speak before the assembled community for his father. the father, a worthy man, well deserving of the community, had, by misfortune, become bankrupt. ruin impended, if the largest creditor did not act with consideration, and this creditor was the community itself. the son appeared before the assembly, and begged for an abatement of the debt. he described the services, the misfortunes, and the state of mind of his father; his anxieties about his family, and forlorn future; and the advantage it would bring to the community itself, if it preserved to the family its supporter, and to itself a useful citizen. he spoke with an impressiveness, a warmth and depth of feeling, which caused tears to roll down the beards of the most austere men. i can certify that many will say this: and at last the remission of the debt was passed without a dissenting voice. the boy has now long been a professor of natural science and doctor of philosophy. his speech did even more for the place than the act of another scholar, who knocked out the brains of a mad dog with his wood axe. this they thought was no art, for that every one could do; but the young orator! 'this is the way they learn to speak in the school.' from that time the institution was firmly established. but i still wanted something more. "in vain had i begged the government to give an examination. they had answered that they were acquainted with the progress of the school, and accorded me their confidence. the second year i urgently repeated my request, and represented that it would be of use to the school if the state took notice of it. the examination was granted, and there appeared at it the magistrate of the district munzinger, many members of the council of government, the prior zweili, different teachers, and men of distinction from solothurn. all went off well; the boys felt themselves raised and encouraged by the signs of satisfaction of the highest state officials. after the business was over, the members of the common council and other gentry, with the officials and friends of the school, assembled at a repast. when the strangers had left, the inhabitants remained long assembled together; even former opponents had joined; very willingly would the chaplain have made his appearance if he had not been afraid of the pastor, and so would the pastor himself if he had been sure that his superiors would not hear of it. the glasses continued to pass round till late in the night, and i was not in a position to let them go by me, so much the less that in the eyes of these men, he who could not drink with them was considered as a weakling, and looked upon as incapable of showing any capacity. from the day of the examination, i could consider the school as having taken root in the community. the time had passed away when my friends and acquaintance at solothurn had declared to me that they would not be surprised to hear an account of my being killed by the wild grencheners. "i had indeed never been fearful of so unceremonious a proceeding from the adherents of the 'black party,' but it was not till now that i was cheered by a feeling of security. many small but significant traits showed me that the people no longer considered me and mine as strangers, and an approximation was here accomplished which was perhaps the first for some generations. before the opening of the institution, it had been a question of procuring benches and other requisites, and it was then remarked that these articles should not be supplied by foreign joiners. a long time afterwards one of these came to me--there were two brothers--to beg of me to lay a memorial before the government, stating that they wished to remain at grenchen, and obtain the rights of citizens. by a new decree, the mayors were ordered to examine the papers of settlers, and to send to their own homes all whose papers were not according to rule. these had no papers, and were therefore in danger of losing their domicile. on my inquiring how long they had lived in the place, the man answered, that he and his brother had been born there, also their father and mother; their grand-parents had wandered there as young people, and, indeed, not from a foreign country, or from another canton, but from a solothurn village, only four hours from grenchen, where, however, they would no longer know anything about them. the community had dealt well with them, giving them an equal share with the citizens in the communal property, but they denied them the rights of citizens. the government then signified to the community, that they had neglected to demand from their sires the papers, and that the grandchildren must not suffer from it. they became citizens, but still remained foreign joiners. "after a year was passed, fortune was favourable to me. the neighbours' children chose mine as playfellows, and the wives sought intercourse with mine, whilst many of the men persuaded me to join a union which was engaged in objects of general utility; it soon attained a great development, and introduced much improvement into the administration and economy of the property of the community. i learnt to esteem many excellent country people; many have passed away in the vigour of manhood. her vogt, justice of the peace, a genuine allemanni, with a long thin face and dark hair, adapted by his understanding and acuteness to be the champion of the rising enlightenment, was killed not long ago by the fall of a tree which he was felling with an axe. the common councillor, schmied girard, met with an accident in the flower of manhood, on the occasion of a bonfire, which was lighted on the warinfluh, high up on the edge of a rocky precipice, in order to show the bernese neighbours sympathy in the celebration of the festival in honour of their constitution. he pushed a great log with his foot into the fire, slipped, and fell backwards over the rock into the abyss. he was an uncompromising opponent of the rotten system in the state, and had not feared to make known his sympathy for david strauss, whose call to zurich in had brought about the noted zurich row, and to express his conviction that there could be no improvement till the community could choose their own pastor, and it should only be for five years. no wonder then that the ultramontane party spoke of his death in their papers as by the finger of god, for the edification of the good, and as a warning to the godless. the grencheners answered the fleeting curse of the pious press by an enduring inscription on stone. in the village, by the side of the high road, in a place that every traveller who goes along the road must remark, there is a simple memorial stone. the inscription says that it is dedicated to the memory of the common councillor girard, who was loved and esteemed by his fellow citizens, who laboured and met his death in the cause of liberty, justice, and enlightenment. he was a good neighbour to me, and a powerful support: my wife gazed at him with astonishment when he took her italian iron out of the fire with his bare hand, and placed it in the iron stand. "an _esprit de corps_ in a good sense soon arose among the scholars; they felt themselves a distinguished corporate body. i made expeditions with them; amongst others, to neuenberg, where the curiosities of the town, especially the rich collection of natural history, were shown to them with praiseworthy willingness. another time we accepted the friendly invitation of a teacher at solothurn to see a series of physical experiments. to the capital of the country the boys would not go on foot, but drove, as proud grencheners, in a carriage decked with foliage, drawn by stately horses. in the lecture-room their demeanour was quiet, and they showed attention and intelligence, and they could see there much that, from want of proper appliances, i could only describe to them. the school was the focus of their life, the place where they collected on all great occasions. when one night the alarm-bell sounded, announcing a fire in the neighbouring village of bettlach, they all came unsummoned to me; we put ourselves in order, and hastened with rapid steps to the spot where the fire was; we formed a rank to the nearest brook, and received our share in the praise and parting thanks of the pastor, for, when the fixe was extinguished, the clergyman delivered a speech of thanks to the neighbours who had come to help. i became the confidant of the cleverer ones in many features of their inward development. the boy who had come forward as advocate for his father was, on his first entrance into the school, so uncurbed in his overflowing strength, and so untamed by any culture, that, instead of taking his place in the usual way, he always vaulted over tables and benches; the wild creature scarcely kept within his clothes. but very soon all this was changed; sepp became quiet and serious, and his whole strength exerted itself in reflection and learning. i expressed to him my pleasure at the change, and he told me that one night he had not been able to sleep, and the thought had come into his head, 'thou hast hitherto not been a man, but an animal; now, through the means of the school, thou canst become a man, and must do so.' from that night he felt himself changed. another--now an able forest-manager and geometrician--had surprised me by an almost sudden transition from slow to quick comprehension and rapid progress. he gave me afterwards this explanation: 'all at once light broke upon me. you had set us an equation; i racked my brains with it, but could not find out a solution. i was in the stable milking the cows: i had taken the paper with me, laid it beside me on a log, and was looking at it every moment. then it passed like lightning through my brain: "thus must thou do it!" i left the cow and pail, took my paper, ran into the room, and solved the equation. since that all my learning has gone on better.' "the year had come to an end, and the winter term--the most tedious time of the school--had begun with an increased number of scholars. one sunday some old scholars came to me, and suggested that the grencheners had at one period occasionally performed a play. this old custom had long fallen into disuse; there had been nothing to see except at the carnival, 'the doctor of padua,' punchinello, and the old buffoon sports, which had been brought home by mercenaries from the italian wars, and established in the villages; but they wished to have again a great play, and begged me to help them. i desired to have time to think, and made inquiries of the old people, particularly of old hans fik, who, at least forty years before had co-operated as a youth, and, as he acknowledged to me with shame, had acted the part of the 'mother of god.' from him i learnt that the last dramatic performance had been the 'st. geneviève.' he doubted whether this younger generation could accomplish anything similar, for such a splendid paraphernalia, with many horses, such tremendous jumps clear over the horses, could no longer be seen in the present day. the _rôle_ of the count had been particularly fatiguing; one man had not sufficed for it; they had, therefore, had three counts, who, by turns, exercised their gymnastic art. upon my asking whether there had not been speaking also, and whether he could not remember some passage which he could recite before me, the old man began to declaim, one tone and a half above his natural voice, singing and scanning with a monotonous abrupt rhythm and cadence. undoubtedly this mode of delivery was a tradition from ancient times, and the speaking in these representations was an accessory only, while the jumping, wrestling, and gymnastics were the main point. from the productions of modern art which were at my command, i chose a native tragedy, 'hans waldmann bürgermeister von zürich,' by wurstemberger of berne. the hero, a leader in the burgundian war, exerted himself to destroy the rule of the nobles in his native city, and to introduce reforms in accordance with the spirit of the age. many of these innovations were displeasing to the citizens. the 'man of the people' became unpopular, a conspiracy of nobles upset him, and he was executed. the piece was not deficient in the necessary action; single combats, popular insurrection, fighting, and prison scenes gave spice to the dish; and longer dialogues were struck out. when my time for consideration had passed, the scholars made their appearance with military punctuality, and undertook with acclamation to perform the piece i had chosen. "the young men set actively to work, and showed that innate disposition to self-government which had been developed by education and practice. those who took part in it--the elder and fifth-class scholars--assembled at the national school, formed a union, and constituted it by the election of a president, a treasurer, and a secretary. they immediately proceeded to the distribution of parts. this took place as follows:--the president inquired of those assembled, 'who will act the part of hans waldmann?' three or four candidates rise, each brings forward his claims--height, a powerful voice, or school education; then they retire, and the discussion begins. each candidate has his adherents and opponents. the discussion is closed, and a nearly unanimous majority allots the principal _rôle_ to the teacher, tschui. thus it went on with all the parts in succession, and the remainder of the general body agreed together as to their distribution as soldiers, peasants, and peasant women from lake zurich. the final vote put an end to all contention; there was not the least murmuring against the decision of the majority. i had been present at the meeting without saying a word; for, willing as the boys always were to listen to my advice--nay, even to look to my countenance for the expression of a wish,--yet it would have been annoying to them if i had obtruded myself upon them on the occasion of this performance. the distribution of parts gave perfect satisfaction; if i had undertaken it, it could not have turned out better,--probably not so well. immediately after, a number of the elder lads, between twenty and thirty years of age, asked me to allow them to assist by acting the part of soldiers; they represented that there were some wild fellows among the actors, and there might be some ill-conducted lads among the spectators who would behave mischievously, and it would be well if they were at hand to keep order. their desire was willingly complied with, and the appearance of these stout youths may have contributed to make their service unnecessary. "after the parts had been written out and learnt by heart, the rehearsals began, and continued during the whole winter. most of the actors could only be brought to a certain point of proficiency, and there they remained; but some, especially the actor of the first part, richly repaid the trouble taken with him, and won, both at the performance and afterwards, the highest praise. but what delighted me most was to observe the moral effect of this dramatic industry of the young people on the life of the village. the common councillors related, with joyful surprise--what had been unheard of in the memory of man--that this winter there had been no fighting, nor the least ill-behaviour. the lads no longer sat in the taverns, drinking; they practised their parts at home, neighbours and acquaintances listening to them. although women were excluded from the stage, the young ladies and peasant women being represented by the boys; yet the women and maidens were called upon to co-operate in other ways. "for many things were to be procured for the theatre--decorations, costumes, and orchestra. the newly-built wing of the bath-house was chosen for the theatre; this wing contained the dining-room and the adjoining dancing-room; the first, a long room, the other somewhat smaller and a square; there was an opening in the wall from one room to the other, in the form of an arch. the dancing-room was to be the stage, and before the arch hung a curtain: the dining-room was for the spectators. a platform and benches gave more than a thousand seats, and a gallery attached to the wall opposite to the curtain served as boxes. the plan of the stage arrangements was devised by a genuine artist, the painter disteli, of solothurn, known by his pictures of swiss battles; the union took charge of the execution of it. it begged the common council to signify what trees might be cut to supply the necessary timber; crowds went out; the trees fell under the strokes of the axe; the lads harnessed themselves to them, putting on the tinkling-bells of the sledge-horses, and exultingly dragged the stems down the steep hill-path to the saw-mill. then came the carpenters of the village, assisted by a sufficient number of men; in a short time the theatre was ready. the decorations were much aided by the misfortune of a play-manager, who, with his company, had for a long time been giving representations in a neighbouring city, but then had been obliged, by the pressure, not of the public, but of creditors, to go away, leaving behind him the whole of his theatrical properties. the scenery, therefore, was in the custody of the city, and the theatrical union succeeded in hiring, for a moderate sum, what was necessary--a room, a street, a wood, and even a dark prison. the costumes were designed by the painter disteli; he coloured not only the particular dresses faithfully, according to the attire of the time and place, but contrived how it might be most cheaply carried out, by using the articles of dress that were at hand,--the aprons, bodices, shawls, and cloaks of the women. whilst the village tailor worked, with an additional journeyman, incessantly at the costumes which required a higher degree of dexterity, the maidens occupied themselves for weeks with the smart dresses of the noble ladies, and the simple, picturesque attire of the women of the people; and many heroes owed to the taste and skill of a sister or a future bride the plumed cap and mantle which made him an object of admiration. if the dress, even less than the wearers, left little to desire, so did the equipment of the soldiers give a peculiar excellence to this performance; for the union addressed a petition to the government of the canton, to allow them the use of the equipments and arms from the burgundian war that were in the armoury at solothurn, of helmets, armour, armlets, greaves, swords, spears, and halberds; and safe securities were offered for the careful return of them, with compensation for any damage. the government not only granted the request, but their most intelligent members helped both by word and deed, and delighted the troops with an old culverin and the coal-black equipments of the burgundian gunners of the end of the fifteenth century. "when february was so far advanced that the days of performance could be settled,--it was to be on at least three following sundays, in order to repay in some measure the great preparations,--i pointed out to the president of the union, after a general rehearsal, that it would be well to have some playbills printed. 'playbills!' said the president, 'there can be no harm in that, the people will then know who they have before them.' it so happened that the actors had thought of having a strip of paper attached to the head-dress of each, on which the public could read in large characters the name of the person. this mistake induced me to add upon the bills, to the usual contents, a short summary of the scenes in each act. the union sent their messengers, and i doubt whether there were any town or village within five leagues where the bills were not carried. what conduced to all this zeal in the preparations, was not only the pleasure of showing themselves before so many men, but also the calculation, that only a numerous attendance would bring up the entrance money to balance the expenditure, and give a chance of an overplus, which would be at the disposal of the union. "again the actors came and begged to have a procession, 'such as there used to be formerly, in which we ride, the soldiers march, and women and others drive in smart carriages.' those, therefore, who assisted in the village, were to assemble and move in regular procession to the baths, distant about a quarter of an hour. but the youths who had gone through numerous rehearsals, in order to attain the heights of the art, wished now to have a rehearsal of their procession, and to put on their equipments and beautiful dresses; i left it to them to do as they pleased. i learnt too late that to this innocent pleasure was added also a plan of revenge. it had come to the ears of the union, that the clergy of the place were not favourable to what the worldly authorities were so well disposed. the pastor had made a report at solothurn, against the godless intention of performing a worldly piece on a sunday, and the bishop and chapter pressed the government to prevent such misconduct. this made the young men very indignant. one sunday afternoon, when the church bells sounded for the catechisings, the dissonance of a drum mingled with their solemn sound. it was the parochial servant, who had become old as a drummer in foreign service; he was a master of his instrument, and on this occasion was not in the service of the council, but of the actors for the rehearsal of the procession. the great strength with which the veteran played in the closest vicinity to the church, and the pleased twinkle of his eye, betrayed that he had lost at rome and naples all respect for ecclesiastics, and had particular pleasure in vexing the priests. he had before this avowed to me that he did not believe all calvinists would burn in hell; he had told his pastor at confession that he had always been good friends with his bernese comrades, and that he felt assured the good god would not cast away such brave fellows into the jaws of the devil; when in consequence of this, the pastor had refused him absolution, he had gone away saying: 'good mr. pastor, henceforth i throw all my sins on your back.' so he marched round the house of god, overpowering the voice of the preacher, and causing the young people to run out of the church to see the procession. the clergy had good reason to complain, as people had been disturbed in their devotions. soon there appeared an order from the government for the affair to be investigated; there was some difficulty in bringing it to a satisfactory conclusion, but the union promised never again to disturb the worship of god, and the ecclesiastics dropped their opposition to the performance. "at last the great day for the first performance came. it was sunday, the th of march, . at mid-day the village was all astir; about two o'clock the procession was arranged, and began its march along the old high road which led from the village to the baths. the ground was still covered with snow, but the sun shone bright. first came a carriage with a brass band from fulder, which was travelling in western switzerland; this band played a solemn march. then the knights with mounted retainers, two and two, in brilliant burgundian armour, as many as forty horse; then again carriages adorned with fir-branches and ribbons, occupied by the wives and daughters of the nobles and people, and with insurgent peasants, the infantry with their gun brought up the rear. it was not a bad picture of the old time, the weapons shone in the sunshine, and the figures rose, sharply defined, from the dazzling snow. "the performance began about three o'clock, and lasted four hours. the success exceeded all expectation; the house was filled, and the applause loud. i experienced painful moments behind the scenes, as for instance when the fighting heroes, in spite of all admonitions, would strike at each other with their long sharp swords, so that the sparks flew, and i was obliged to be contented that only a few drops of blood flowed from a slight wound in the hand. the play was followed by a supper to all who had cooperated, and the gentry of the village, and lastly a dance. the knights danced in their armour till midnight, having put it on about mid-day. i concluded, therefore, that this race had not degenerated in bodily strength from their forefathers, who fought at murten and granson. "the two following representations went off as fortunately as the first. the population streamed in from far and near, also travellers from basle, zürich, and other cities. since that one-and-twenty years have passed; in the new school buildings there is a theatre, in which the scholars perform small pieces; but the worthy men still look back with pride to the great performances of their youth. "one consequence of this play was, that the master became a part of the joyous recollections of the swiss villages. the house which the community had hired for the institution, and the dwelling of the master, a provisional locality, stood with its front to the old high road; behind lay the little garden, at the back of which was a meadow belonging to the house which pastured two goats, and on which fruit-trees were planted. my abode was on the ground-floor; on the first storey, to which there was a narrow steep staircase, was the school-room and a reception-room. in summer acquaintances from the neighbourhood came frequently, and relations from home visited us, delighting in the country and in the well-disposed people. the holiday-time was gladly made use of for expeditions among the mountains. the close intercourse with the men of the village was also beneficial to the school, of which the wants were amply supplied. without any application, the common councillor let me know, that the allowed quantity of wood appeared to him too small; but i need not mind that, as i had only to state how much i wanted, and i should have enough given me. the scholars were eager to show attentions to my little ones, and to render voluntary services for our little household and farm. they took care of the garden, mowed the grass, and made the hay; i received from them the earliest strawberries and cherries, and when the rivulet was fished, the most beautiful trout. since the examination, their zeal for learning had increased. the german and french compositions of the clever ones were very creditable; they solved equations of the second degree with facility, could explain the workmanship of a watch, a mill, and a steam-engine, and also the laws of their working; besides this, they could read cornelius nepos and cæsar. instruction in the history of their fatherland was throughout switzerland carefully attended to, but only the brilliant parts of it. every child knew about the battles of morgarten, sempach, and murten; but the submissiveness of their rulers, the french pensions and decorations were generally passed over in silence. it appeared to me more judicious not to give the light without the shadows. "i did not consider my duty towards those scholars whose inclination to learn was just aroused as ending with the certificate of dismissal. i wished to carry them on farther, up to the canton school at solothurn, which, besides a literary, had a technical class. with this object, it was necessary to provide for their maintenance, for they were, generally speaking, the sons of poor parents; those who were conscious that they would one day possess fields, meadows, and cattle, seldom felt the impulse to acquire more than the necessary knowledge. before the close of the second year's course, two scholars showed themselves fit for the canton school. i went to solothurn, and spoke to the landammann munzinger and to the councillor of the board of education, dr. f. both were worthy men, who provided for the boys in a great measure out of their own income. soon i brought them a second, then a third couple. for these also, the necessary maintenance was found, especially as all who had entered had shown themselves worthy. but dr. f. remarked to me, that he did not see the possibility of providing maintenance for any more, and as the parish was wealthy, they could do it themselves. i replied that this, without doubt, would be the case, as soon as the use of the school and of the further education of clever youths was demonstrated to the citizens by examples. till then the government must provide that such witnesses should be forthcoming. a somewhat cold and dry answer sent the blood to my head: 'if you do not do all that is possible to promote the knowledge and education of the people, you may descend from your seats and let the patricians resume them, for they understand how to govern better than you!' 'then i must find maintenance for the next scholars that are to be advanced to the higher school;' i advised them to apply to the capuchins at solothurn, as these are bound by their rules to give lodging and board to poor students. they had no occasion to repent of it. "they were a jolly set in the monastery; the civil war in spain had divided them into two parties, carlists and christinos, who mutually wrote satirical verses against each other. the severest satirist, a young neuer, was the leader among the christino writers, against whose satirical verses the leader of the carlists could not make head; he was an old man of family, who long had guarded the holy chair, and only lately exchanged the papal uniform for the cowl. this domestic dispute was, however, kept strictly within the cloister walls, for outside of them the fathers were good brothers, and everywhere popular. they lived among the people, shared in their pleasures, and comforted the unhappy; they knew every family, and more especially frequented those houses where the women made the best coffee. the favourite saying of the carlist chief was, 'there is nothing beyond good coffee and making the soul happy.' every spring two fathers came to grenchen, and the young men collected behind them as behind the rat-catcher from hameln; the first cried out, 'ho, ho! go and pick up snails!' this call drew all the boys from the houses into the wood. the rich booty gave a delicious dish to the monastery. the young collectors were repaid with holy pictures. "the news that i had sent two boys to the capuchins, soon reached the landammann munzinger, and at my next visit he asked me, 'whether i did not know that they instilled principles into the boys, which were different from ours?'--'that i know well,' i answered, 'but i know still more; first, that scholars must live if they would learn; then that boys who have been two years with me, are so perverted, that no capuchin can do them any good,'--'then i am content,' said herr munzinger. "i cannot part from this excellent man without consecrating a few words to his memory. he was a tradesman, and had a public shop at solothurn. he had a philosophical education, was musical, and a man of genuine benevolence. unselfish, of agreeable appearance and manners, he was inexorable when it was a question of the public weal; he was an opponent of the rule of the old patricians who made use of their power at home and their diplomatic service for their own advantage, and had no feeling for the interests of the people. in the year , munzinger was at the head of the movement, and the line he took at the popular meeting at balsthal, on the th december, decided the fall of the patrician government in the canton of solothurn. in the construction of the new constitution and laws, in the organisation of the administration, and in his co-operation in their labours for the exemption of the land from burdens, for the establishment of schools, for the formation of roads, for the advancement of agriculture, and the administration of justice, he showed himself wonderfully gifted as a statesman. though the state only consisted of a few square miles, with some sixty thousand inhabitants, yet the difficulties of constituting it were not less than in a larger state. the old rulers and their adherents, supported by the clergy, made use of the free press, the right of assembly, and their rich ecclesiastical and worldly means, to irritate the people against the new order of things. there was no want of handles to lay hold of, as arrangements for good objects require means, and thus some burdens must be imposed. thus, for example, the community was bound by a law to erect schools, and further, to endow them with land; where there was no communal property, land had to be bought. many villages opposed this, but their resistance was forcibly overcome. later, the chief magistrates thanked the landammann for having put force upon them for their good. in a different way did the government maintain itself against refractory ecclesiastics. no compulsion was put on them, but care was taken that the peace of families should not be disturbed by their insubordination. the government chose as chapter-provost a liberal-thinking ecclesiastic; rome refused to confirm him; the situation remained unoccupied, and the income went to the school-fund. the clergy refused to solemnise mixed marriages, or to baptise the children; thus such couples had to seek for marriage and baptism elsewhere; but the officials of the district took care that they were entered in the registers. how well munzinger understood republican freedom may be learnt from an example. the parish of grenchen possessed extensive woodlands, the property of which was divided between them and the state. the parish had the right to supply themselves with wood, the remainder of the produce went to the state, a condition of things which was evidently not favourable to the cultivation of timber. the government proposed, therefore, that the wood should be divided in proportion to the rights of both sides, and to ascertain this more precisely, sent a commission to grenchen. the peasants, accustomed from ancient times to be over-reached by the government, were suspicious of being defrauded, and drove the commissioners out of the village. next morning the landjäger of solothurn took the most considerable of the country people into custody, and carried them to prison at solothurn. this had not passed without some heart-breaking scenes; women had been alarmed, the children cried, and the whole village was filled with lamentation and anger. "from the feeling excited by these circumstances, i went soon after to the landammann, and lamented the harshness of the proceeding. the men should have been summoned, none of them would have failed to appear, they were not such as would have evaded it. 'yes,' said munzinger, 'i, alas, was not here.'--'i thought so,' replied i, 'the affair in that case would have been managed differently.'--'undoubtedly,' exclaimed the landammann, colouring, 'i should have sent out the military and occupied the village, the seizure would still have taken place.' i could not conceal my astonishment at this outburst of anger. 'yes,' continued munzinger, 'you, with your monarchical notions, can be cautious and indulgent; there are always gendarmes and soldiers enough at hand to step in if necessary. we have not these means; the people have a great degree of freedom, but we cannot allow that in one single case even a hair's-breadth should be over-stepped.' a true and manly word. "the landammann had the welfare of the confederation as much at heart as that of the canton, and as the people at home submitted to his discipline because they recognised that it was for their good, so also his guidance was followed in the affairs of the confederation. in the sonderbund war, solothurn, although catholic, was on the side of the diet; its artillery distinguished itself in action, and left many valiant men on the field of battle. munzinger joined in forming the new constitution; he was elected to the diet, and by this into the executive council. switzerland honoured one of their best citizens in choosing him as president of the bund, and he dedicated to his fatherland, from which he was too early torn away, all his powers up to the last hours of his life. "the year introduced into switzerland and germany the alarm of french invasion; general aymar had marched from lyons, and the forces of the confederacy met him on their frontier. the solothurn battalion, disteli, which was marching through grenchen, was refreshed by the inhabitants with food and drink, and animated by the cry 'thrash them soundly,' 'fear nothing!' the storm was allayed, as louis napoleon withdrew of his own accord from switzerland to save them from war with france. the clouds of war over germany disappeared also, but they left behind a lasting uneasiness in the mind of the people, which was the beginning of a succession of years of political excitement. at this period i was recalled to germany by the persuasions of friends and feelings of duty, but it cost me a long inward struggle. "our departure was to take place at christmas; it was very painful for us to take leave. i shortened as much as possible my separation from the scholars. i gave to each of them a book, said farewell, and hastened from them. a young man who had not been at the school, but had acted as a soldier in 'hans waldmann,' inquired from what coachman at solothurn i should hire my carriage. i told him the man. the following day he returned to me, and informed me that he had engaged himself as servant to this liveryman, and had asked low wages that he might be allowed to drive us to germany, for he wished to take care that we were as well attended to as in grenchen. "it was a cold, dark winter morning when we drove from the inn in which we had passed the last night. great was our surprise, when, at that early hour and in the bitter cold, we saw the whole population, men, women, and children, thronging before the house and along the high road. they wished once more to press our hands, they said farewell, and many other things; 'it is wrong of you to leave us,' 'you must come back again,' 'you shall have the freedom of the city.' they raised their children up aloft, 'look at him yet again, look at him yet once more!' the whip cracked, and the carriage drove away." here we end the narrative of the former schoolmaster of grenchen. more than twenty years have passed since the german teacher departed from the swiss village. he had been a strong and moderate leader in the political struggles of germany, he had clearly seen where the greatest danger threatened, and his name was often mentioned with warm veneration, or with bitter hatred. when years of weak reaction came, he went to the north of germany, and again lived in the active performance of his duties as a citizen. then the faithful companion of his life fell sick, and the physicians advised a long residence in pure mountain air; they determined to go to the village around which hovered so many delightful reminiscences of past times. the village had changed its aspect; people no longer travelled by the high-roads but on the railway to grenchen, manufactures had been introduced, watch-making and inlaid work, and the manufacture of cement, and other branches are increasingly developed. but the travellers found the old feeling, not only among the old men, but also through tradition among the younger ones. on the sunday after their arrival, a long procession moved in the evening from the village to the baths. foremost were the military bands of two battalions, which were formed of grencheners under the direction of the new district-master, then the bearers of coloured lanterns, which were a large portion of the population. the multitude arranged themselves before the balcony of the house in which "hans waldmann" had been performed. great chafing-dishes threw a red light over the ponds, jutting fountains and the pleasure grounds of the baths, whilst rockets ascended and lighted up at intervals the dark background, the mountains of the jura. the guests had to place themselves on the balcony. the music ceased, and a former scholar, now a physician in grenchen, stepped from out of the ranks. he commenced his greeting by calling to mind, that on the day of their arrival, there had been a great eclipse of the sun; two-and-twenty years before, their guests had entered among them at a period of intellectual darkness, they had helped to make light victorious; he concluded with the assurance that grenchen would always consider the two strangers as belonging to them. when later the people of the village joyfully thronged round the friends, the parents pointed to a race of young giants that had meanwhile grown up amongst them, saying, "see these are the little ones who used to play with your children, and could not then go to your school." the german had by his side his eldest scholar, xaver reis, who had again come to him, over the mountain. the district school has now three masters and ample funds. the new school-house rises on a height in front of the church, and is a conspicuous object to the surrounding country. the school has trained its own advocates and supporters. the master who gives this narrative is karl mathy, the state councillor of baden, in the year a member of the imperial ministry, one of the best and strongest champions of the prussian party. these pictures began with a description of peasant life at an earlier period, it concludes with a true village story of the latest bygone times. it is a swiss village of german race, to which the reader has been introduced. many of its circumstances, the worth and energy of the inhabitants, and their self-government, recall to us a lively recollection of a german time which is removed from us by many centuries. betwixt the alps and the jura also did misrule long retard the culture of the country people, but its pressure was harmless in comparison with the fate of the german nation: its bondage, and the thirty years' war. it was one of the objects of these pages to represent the elevation of the german popular mind, from the devastation of that war, and from the tyrannical rule of the privileged classes. deliverance has come to the germans, but they have not recovered their old strength in every sphere of life. but we have a right to hope; for we live in the midst of manly efforts to remove the old wall of partition that still exists between the people and the educated, and to extend, not only to the peasant, but also to the prince, and to the man of family, the blessing of a liberal education. conclusion. amidst the noise and confusion of the year , the german people began a struggle for a new political constitution of the fatherland. we must look upon the frankfort parliament as a characteristic phase of our life, not as the result, but as the beginning of a noble struggle, as a grand dialectic process in which the needs of the nation, and the longing for a political idea, passed on to will and decision. what in had been only the unimportant fancy of individuals, had become a formalised demand of the people, around which the minds of men have been tossed in ascending and descending waves. since the year the longing for political life has obtained expression in prussia. there has arisen family discord between the hohenzollern and their people, apparently insignificant, but from it has sprung the constitutional life of prussia, the beginning of a new formation of the state, a progress for prince and people. again it becomes manifest that it is not always great times and great characters which produce the most important progress. but how does it happen that the favourites of their people, the royal race on which the hopes and future of germany depend--that the hohenzollerns regard so hesitatingly and distrustfully the new position which the constitution of their state and the union party of germany offers to them? no royal race has gained their state so completely by the sword as they have. their ancestors have grandly nurtured the people; their ancestors have created the state; their greatness, and their renown in war originated in the time of the fulness of royal power. thus they naturally feel as a loss what we consider as a gain and an elevation. the whole political contest of the present day, the struggle against privileges, the constitutional question, and the german question, are all in reality only prussian questions; and the great difficulty of their solution lies in the position which the royal house of prussia have taken up in regard to them. whenever the hohenzollerns shall enter warmly and willingly into the needs of the time, their state will attain to its long wanted strength and soundness. from this they will obtain almost without trouble, as if it came of itself, the conduct of german interests, the first lead in german life. this is known to friends and enemies. we faithfully remember how much we owe to them, and we know well that the final foundation of our connection with them is indestructible, even though they may be angry because we are too bold in our demands, or we may grumble because they are too dilatory in granting them. for there is an old and hearty friendship betwixt them and the spirit of the german nation, and it is a manly friendship which may well bear some rubs. but the german citizen feels with pride, that he values the honour and greatness of their position, and the honour and happiness of the fatherland, no less than themselves. the german citizen is in the fortunate position of regarding the old dynasties with warm sympathy. they have grown up with his fondest reminiscences, a large number of them have become good and trustworthy, fellow-workers in the state and in science, and promote the education of the people. he will be indulgent when he sees individuals among them still prejudiced in their judgment by feeble adherence to the old traditions of their order; he will smile when they turn a longing look on the times that are gone, when their privileges were numerous and undisputed; and he will perhaps investigate, with more acuteness and learning than themselves, wherever, in the past of their race, real capacity and common sense has appeared. but he will be the inexorable opponent of all those political and social privileges by which they lay claim to a separate position among the people, not because he envies these things, or wishes to put himself in their place, but because he sees with regret that their impartiality of judgment, and sometimes their firmness of character are diminished by it, and because, through some of these obsolete traditions, like their court privileges, our princes are in danger of falling into the narrowmindedness of german junkers. in the two centuries from to , the wonderful restoration of the german nation was accomplished. after an unexampled destruction, its character rose again in faith, science, and political enthusiasm. it is now engaged in energetic endeavours to form for itself the highest of earthly possessions,--a state. it is a great pleasure to live in such a time. a hearty warmth, and a feeling of youthful vigour fill hundreds of thousands. it has become a pleasure to be a german; and before long it may be considered by foreign nations also to be a high honour. footnotes: [footnote : at the time of frederic ii. it varied in amount; a large property had to supply a whole horse (there were half and quarter horse imposts), or pay to thalers; in the electorate it amounted to the high sum of thalers.] [footnote : the strength of the militia under frederic i. was, according to fassmann, i. p. , up to , .] [footnote : the system of allotting to each regiment its recruiting district.] [footnote : fassmann, "life of frederic william i.;" and von loen, "the soldier depicted."] [footnote : v. loen, "der soldat," p. .] [footnote : g. v. griesheim, "die taktik," p. ; v. liebenrothe, "fragmente," p. .] [footnote : small smoking society, consisting of the king and his intimates.--_tr_.] [footnote : it was not the bad combination of colours, the blue and yellow velvet housings, that incensed the dying king--those were the colours of his body-guard--but he wished to see those of the dessauer on him--blue, red, and white.] [footnote : lafontaine's "life of gruber," p. .] [footnote : "the poor man in tockenburg," published by fussli. zurich: and . afterwards by g. bülow, leipzig, .] [footnote : elector frederic william inherited square miles, with, perhaps, , inhabitants, most of it in ordensland,[a] prussia, which was less devastated by the war. square miles. inhabitants. in the year , the elector left , with about , , . " , king frederic i. , " , , . " , king frederic wm. i. , " , , . " , king frederic ii. , " , , . " , king frederic ii. , " , , . (before the exchange of hanover.) " , remain , " , , . " , were , " , , . " , were , , inhabitants; but in , , , . [a] ordensland, the country that once belonged to the teutonic knights.] [footnote : "journal de seckendorf," nd jan., .] [footnote : [oe]uvres, t. xvii., nr. , p. .] [footnote : _ib._, t. xviii., nr. .] [footnote : portions of his historical works appear under special titles with many introductions. "the memoirs of the house of brandenburg" (begun ), the greatest part of it unimportant and compiled; "history of my time" (written - ), his masterpiece; then the great history of "the seven years' war" (ended ); finally, "memoirs after the hubertsburger peace" (written - ). they form, in spite of inequalities, a connected whole.] [footnote : v. templehoff, "siebenjähriger krieg," i. p. .] [footnote : sulzer to gleim: "briefe der schweizer von körte," p. .] [footnote : he had in , a year before he wrote the foregoing words to the marquis d'argen, published through this friend, his treatise, "réflections sur les talons militaires et sur le caractère de charles xii. roi de suède," one of the most remarkable works of the king. his view of the faults of charles xii. was sharpened by the personal experience which he had himself made in the lost battles of the last year, and, whilst he judges respect fully the unfortunate conqueror, he at the same time claims for himself higher credit for his own moderate policy. the work is, therefore, not only a very characteristic record of his wise moderation, but also a memorial of quiet self-enfranchisement and of great inward progress.] [footnote : [oe]uvres, xxvii. , nr. , from sept.] [footnote : in the year , , , ; in , , , ; in , the number had sunk to , , ; in , there were , , ; it was supposed then that the country could maintain , , more. it numbers now , , .] [footnote : new prussia, "provinzial blätter," jahrg. vi., , nr. , p. .] [footnote : v. held, "gepriesenes preussen," p. ; roscius, westpreussen, p. .] [footnote : when, in , the present province of posen was returned to prussia, the wolves there also were the plague of the country. according to a statement in the posen "provinzial blätter," in the district of posen, from st sept. , to the end of february, , forty-one wolves were slain; and still in the year , in the district of wongrowitz, sixteen children and three grown-up persons were devoured by wolves.] [footnote : from manuscript records of the year .] [footnote : the complaints are very frequent. compare v. liebenrothe fragm. p. .] [footnote : much, that is interesting concerning the social condition of the north of germany after is to be found in "der schreibtisch," by caroline de la motte fouqué, pp. .] [footnote : kant's works, xi. , p. . the man in question was one of doubtful reputation.] [footnote : the drinkers were klopstock and his friends.] [footnote : the travellers were fritz jacopi and his brother.] [footnote : the new guest was wieland; the hosts, sophie laroche and her husband; and the narrator, fritz jacopi.] [footnote : leuckhardt relates this in his "lebensbeschreibung," and there is no ground to doubt what is imparted by this disorderly man.] [footnote : "reise von mainz nach cöln im jahre, ," p. ; "briefe eines reisenden franzosen, ," ii., p. . both books are only to be read with caution.] [footnote : slang terms of the period, ridiculing their keen appetites and grotesque uniforms.--_tr_.] [footnote : "schilderung der jetzigen reichsarmee," - . this interesting description is often quoted, but it is not quite trustworthy. the author is that lauckhart, a disorderly theologian, who made the rhine campaign as a musketeer in the regiment thadden. his autobiography is as instructive as it is repulsive.] [footnote : that this description is not too strong, we have sufficient warrant in the many accounts of that time. in "reise von mainz nach cöln im frühjahr," ; "lafonteine leben," p. . the description also which lauckhart gives of the emigrants in his autobiography may be examined. these french doings excited disgust and horror even in him.] [footnote : officials, analogous to the préfet.] [footnote : von held's writings were, "das schwarzebuch"--now very rare--"die preussischen jacobiner," and the "gepriesene preussen," the most notorious. they and their refutations give us the impression that the author, as is frequent in such cases, had written many things correctly, others inaccurately, but on the whole honestly; but he was not to be depended on as a judge of his opponents. varnhagen knew him, and wrote his life.] [footnote : "gründliche widerlegung des gepriesenen preussens," .] [footnote : "buchholz, gemälde des gesellschaftlichen zustandes in preussen," i.] [footnote : the narrator is adelbert von chamisso. his letter of nd nov., , is one of the most valuable relics of that true-hearted man. the concluding words deserve well to be remembered by germans. "oh, my friends, i must atone by a free confession for the secret injustice that i have done this brave, warlike people. officers and soldiers, in the harmony of a high enthusiasm, cherished only one thought: it was, under the pressure of external and internal enemies, to maintain their old fame, and not a recruit, not a drummer-boy would have fallen away. indeed, we were a firm, faithful, good, stout soldiery. oh, if we had but had men to lead us."] [footnote : the following is taken from an autobiography which he left in manuscript for his children. the editor has to thank the family of the deceased for it.] [footnote : in the old prussian rhine country stones were beginning to be used for the _chaussées_.] [footnote : the three officers were, lieutenants von blücher, von lepel, and von treskow; the three prebendaries, von korff, von bösclager, at eggermuhlen, and von merode.] [footnote : ministerial decrees setting aside the course of justice.] [footnote : vinke had succeeded stein as first president.] [footnote : alliance of students in germany.] [footnote : in the number of , soldiers the volunteers are not included, because they in general consisted of those who were not native prussians. beitzke's calculation, which we here take because it is lowest, undoubtedly includes the landwehr, and the squadrons which, in the course of the campaign, were formed on the other side of the elbe; there are, therefore, about , men to be abstracted from his amount. but as his reckoning only comprehends, the strength of the army in the field, which up to the battle of leipzig was almost entirely gathered from the old prussian territory, his figures may be considered rather too low than too high. in , the proportion of soldiers to population was still more striking. east prussia contributed then seven per cent, of its inhabitants, each seventh man was sent to the war; there remained scarcely any but children and old people in the country, very few from to . the amount of the population is reckoned according to the last official census of . prussia, after the peace of tilsit, had been obliged to cede new silesia to poland, and thus since had lost more than , men. no increase, therefore, of the population can be assumed up to the spring of . the chief fortresses, also, were in the hands of the french, and their inhabitants should be deducted from any calculation of the efforts of the people. according to the proportion of , berlin as at present, could bring into the field an army of from , to , men; leipzig, four battalions; and the dukedom of coburg-gotha seven battalions, amounting to men.] [footnote : schlosser, "erlebnisse inns sachsischen landpredigers," from to , p. . the foreign nations, portuguese and italians, were more moderate.] [footnote : schlosser, "erlebnisse," p. .] [footnote : it may be allowable to introduce here some extracts from the receipts which heun brought forward in the newspapers. what was placed at the head of them was accidental, especially as his lists only enumerate a very small number of the donations, none of those from east prussia are mentioned. we must begin with the first patriotic gift, which was announced publicly in . about new year's day, long before the volunteer rifles were equipped, the roman catholic community at marienburg, in west prussia, placed all the plate of their church that could be dispensed with at the disposal of the state (it was about marks), begging, as they could not give away church property, for the interest of the value of the silver in the future. but the first money contribution noted down by heun, was from a master tailor, hans hofmann, at breslau, thalers. the first who gave horses were the peasants johann hinz, in deutsch-borgh, bailiwick of saarmünd, and meyer, at elsholz, of the same bailiwick; the last had only two horses. the first who gave oats, scheffel, was one axleben. the first who sent their golden wedding-rings, expressing the hope that much gold might be collected if all would do the same, were the lottery-collector rollin and his wife, at stettin. the first officials who resigned a part of their salary were professor hermbstädt, at berlin, thalers; professor gravenhorst, at breslau, the half of his salary, and professor david schultz, thalers. the first who gave a portion of his fortune was an unnamed official; of thalers he gave . the first who sent his plate was count sandretzky, at manze, in silesia, value thalers, besides three beautiful horses; a servant of the chancery, four silver spoons; anonymous, thalers; an old soldier, his only gold piece, value forty thalers; anonymous, three gold snuff-boxes, with diamonds, value thalers; an old woman, from a little town, a pair of woollen stockings.] [footnote : , volunteer riflemen, and about the half of the irregulars, amounting to men, were equipped in the old provinces, together with horses. putting the cost of each foot-rifleman at thalers, and that of a horseman at thalers,--the price of horses was high,--the amount is , , thalers, which is certainly too low. and the pay and extras, given by private persons to individual riflemen, are not reckoned.] [footnote : the editor is indebted for much of this to a record of the worth oberregierungsrath hackel.] [footnote : from family reminiscences.] [footnote : record of the appellations-gerichtsrath tepler, who himself, as a boy, went to the field with the landsturm against the french at magdeburg.] [footnote : she lives in berlin, and is now mother of a large family.] [footnote : from the diary of the pastor, frieke, at bunzlau.] [footnote : scene from the fight at goldberg, on the rd august, from the account of an eye-witness.] [footnote : thus, on the nd of may, at bunzlau, during the retreat after the battle of bautzen, the prisoners, red hussars, lay in the suburb near the galgenteich.] [footnote : vossische zeitung, no. , from the th april.] [footnote : now a practising doctor at halle. the account is from the mouth of the worthy man.] the end. bradbury and evans, printers, whitefriars. a short history of germany by mary platt parmele new york charles scribner's sons copyright, , by mary platt parmele copyright, , by charles scribner's sons _by the same author_ a short history of the united states a short history of england a short history of france a short history of germany a short history of spain preface. it is more important to comprehend the forces which have created a great nation, and the progressive steps by which it has unfolded, than to know the multitudinous events and incidents which have attended such unfolding. in order to forestall criticism for the absence of some events in this history of germany the author desires to say, that there has been an effort to keep strictly to the main line of development and to resist the temptation of introducing details which do not bear directly upon such line. the bypaths of history are fascinating, but they are of secondary importance, and may better be explored after the main road has been traveled and is thoroughly known. such is the ideal which has been very imperfectly followed in this book. m. p. p. new york, _june_ , . contents. chapter i. indo-european migrations--divisions of the aryan family into european races--the teutonic race chapter ii. hermann--defeat of varus--characteristics of the ancient germans chapter iii. social conditions--form of government--the goth in rome--a gothic kingdom in spain--the teuton race covering the european surface--the angles and saxons in britain chapter iv. ulfilas--the hunnish invasion--the roman empire perishing--its conversion--an eastern empire--increasing power of the church--charlemagne--france and germany separated--feudal system chapter v. early conditions--hungarian invasions--creation of burgs--knighthood--pope and emperor become rivals--henry iv.--canossa--first hohenstaufen--welf and waiblingen--the crusaders--conrad--frederick barbarossa chapter vi. source of weakness in the empire--the great interregnum--the nibelungen lied--the hanseatic league--the guilds--meistersingers chapter vii. conditions--first hapsburg and first hohenzollern--swiss freedom--intellectual awakening--the golden bull--hussite war--a hohenzollern receives a mortgage on the territory of brandenburg--discovery of gunpowder--conditions existing under frederick iii.--invention of printing--the passing of the old and coming of the new chapter viii. general european conditions--centralizing tendencies at work--maximilian i.--a new world--the rise of spain--isabella--charles iv. chapter ix. triple game between francis i., henry viii., and charles iv.--leo x.--luther--the diet of worms--protestantism born--margrave of brandenburg usurps sovereignty over prussia--the peasants war--the augsburg confession--charles v. thwarted--protestantism a dominant power in his empire--schisms in the new faith--calvinism--reformers--lutherans--the schmalkaldian league--anabaptists--abdication of charles v.--philip ii.--death of charles--ferdinand i.--council of trent--society of jesus chapter x. a protestant germany--a divided protestantism--true meaning of the struggle--unfruitful waiting--the renaissance--music, art, letters, born anew--thought awakened--copernicus--galileo--kepler--impending calamity--protestant union and catholic league--thirty years' war commenced--wallenstein--gustavus adolphus--his triumph and death--richelieu--death of wallenstein--peace of westphalia--division of territory chapter xi. romano-germanic empire perishing--european conditions--louis xiv.--decay of national spirit--rise of brandenburg--combination against louis xiv.--spanish succession--under frederick i. brandenburg becomes prussia--alliance with england--marlborough and prince eugene--blenheim--peace of utrecht--territorial changes--charles xii. and peter the great--pragmatic sanction--frederick william i.--stirrings of thought in this time of chaos--birth of german speculative philosophy--spinoza--soul awakening chapter xii. frederick the great--his childhood--von katte's execution--frederick at potsdam--frederick ii., king of prussia--maria theresa, empress--war of austrian succession--silesia--personal traits of the two sovereigns--frederick joins france against austria--peace of dresden--frederick becomes "the great"--healing the wounds left by two wars--voltaire's influence--frederick a reformer and a despot--growth in thought and birth of a native literature--voltaire at frederick's court--change wrought by a nearer view of king and poet chapter xiii. war over american boundary between england and france--maria theresa joins france--her policy--a combination against frederick ii.--seven years' war--peace of hubertsburg--silesia forever abandoned by austria--prussia one of the "five great powers"--healing wounds again--conditions external and internal chapter xiv. marie antoinette married to the french dauphin louis--unsuspected conditions--joseph ii.--reforms by a progressive hapsburg are a failure--romanticism replaces sentimentalism in literature--_sturm und drang_ period--luther's influence upon letters--frederick succeeded by his nephew--effect of prussia's ascendancy in the german empire--its coming dissolution--why patriotism could not exist--the calm before the hurricane chapter xv. the beginnings of the storm--the united states of america and france--the thought-currents which moved toward a vortex--execution of king and queen--france a ruin but free--a republic--first coalition--poland and its partition--austria fighting alone for the empire--napoleon bonaparte in italy--his methods and their result--treaty of campo formio--three new republics--napoleon in egypt--his return--second coalition--dominions of ecclesiastical rulers given away--napoleon the instrument of fate chapter xvi. napoleon emperor of the french--third coalition--prussian neutrality--the rheinbund--dissolution of the empire and abdication of francis ii.--retribution for prussia--battle of jena--peace of tilsit--a continental blockade--marriage with marie louise chapter xvii. revolt of bavarian peasants--the "league of virtue"--invasion of russia--burning of moscow--retreat--general york leads a popular movement--prussia at war with napoleon--the battle of leipzig--the allies in paris--napoleon deposed--louis xviii. king--return of napoleon--waterloo and st. helena chapter xviii. reconstruction--the act of union--sentiment of the people--concessions--francis ii. died--a republic in france--blaze of revolutionary fires in europe--a national parliament granted--its failure--napoleon iii. in france--magenta and solferino--revolution in italy--victor emmanuel king--william i. king of prussia chapter xix. king william and bismarck--schleswig-holstein--proposed division--war against austria--königgrätz--the north german union chapter xx. napoleon iii. plans the overthrow of prussian dominion--vacant throne in spain--a hohenzollern candidate--benedetti and king william--war declared by france--metz--sedan--king william at versailles--crowned hereditary emperor of the german empire--death of emperor william i.--emperor frederick--his unfulfilled dreams and his death--william ii. emperor a short history of germany. chapter i. foundation building is neither picturesque nor especially interesting, but it is indispensable. however fair the structure is to be, one must first lay the rough-hewn stones upon which it is to rest. it would be much pleasanter in this sketch to display at once the minarets and towers and stained-glass windows; but that can only be done when one's castle is in spain. would we comprehend the germany of to-day, we must hold firmly in our minds an epitome of what it has been, and see vividly the devious path of its development through the ages. the german nation is of ancient lineage, and indeed belongs to the royal line of human descent, the aryan; its ancestral roots running back until lost in the heart of asia, in the mists of antiquity. the home of the aryan race is shrouded in mystery, as are the impelling causes which sent those successive tides of humanity into europe. but we know with certainty that when the last great wave spread over eastern europe, or russia, about one thousand years before christ, the submergence of that continent was complete. before the coming of the aryan, the rhine flowed as now; the alps pierced the sky with their glistening peaks as they do to-day; the danube, the rhône, hurried on, as now, toward the sea. was it all a beautiful, unpeopled solitude, waiting in silence for the richly endowed asiatic to come and possess it? far from it! it was teeming with humanity--if, indeed, we may call such the race which modern research and discovery have revealed to us. it is only within the last thirty years that anything whatever has been known of prehistoric man; but now we are able to reconstruct him with probable accuracy. a creature bestial in appearance and in life; dwelling in caves, which, however, a dawning sense of a higher humanity led him to decorate with carvings of birds and fishes; but certain it is, the brain which inhabited that skull was incapable of performing the mental processes necessary to the simplest form of civilization; and life must have been to him simply a thing of fierce appetites and brutal instincts. such was the being encountered by the aryan, when he penetrated the mysterious land beyond the confines of greece and italy. the extermination, and perhaps, to some extent, assimilation, of this terrible race must have required centuries of brutalizing conflict, and, it is easy to imagine, would have produced just such men as were the northern barbarians who, for five hundred years, terrorized europe; men insensible to fear, terrible, fierce, but with fine instincts for civilization--dormant aryan germs, which quickly developed when brought into contact with a superior race. the earliest indo-european migration is supposed to have been into greece and italy, where was laid the basis for the civilization of the world. the second was probably into western europe and the british isles; then, after many centuries, the central and last, and at a time comparatively recent, into the eastern portion of the continent. so, by the fourth century b.c., three great divisions of the aryan race occupied europe north of greece and italy: the keltic, the western; the teutonic, the central; the slavonic the eastern; and these, in turn, had ramified into new subdivisions or tribes. to state it as in the pedigree of the individual, the aryan was the founder, the father of the family; slav, teuton, and kelt the three sons. gaul and briton were sons of the kelt; saxon, angle, helvetian, etc., sons of the teuton; and all alike grandchildren of the aryan; whom--to carry the illustration farther--we may imagine to have had older children, who long ago had left the paternal home and settled about the caspian and mediterranean seas: mede, persian, greek, roman; apparently bearing few marks of kinship to these uncouth younger brothers whom we have found in europe in the fourth century b.c., but with nevertheless the same cradle and the same ancestral roots. it is the teutonic branch of the aryan family with which we have to do now, between whom and their keltic brothers there flowed the river rhine. greece and rome were unaware of the existence of the teuton until about the year b.c., when pythias, a greek navigator, came home from a voyage to the baltic with terrible tales of the goths whom he had met. nearly one century before christ the inhabitants of italy were enabled to judge for themselves of the accuracy of the description. driven from their homes by the inroads of the sea, the goths poured in a hungry torrent down into the tempting vineyards of northern italy. gigantic in stature, with long yellow hair, eyes blue but fierce--what wonder that the people thought they were scarcely human, and fled affrighted, leaving them to enjoy the vineyards at their leisure! accounts of this uncanny host reached rome, which soon knew of their breastplates of iron, their helmets crowned with heads of wild beasts, their white shields glistening in the sun, and, more terrible than all, of their priestesses, clad in white linen, who prophesied and offered human sacrifices to their gods. but the sacrifices did not avail against the legions which the great consul marius led against them. the ponderous goth was not yet a match for the finer skill of the roman, and the invaders were exterminated on the plain near aix, b.c. the women, in despair, slew first their children, then themselves, a few only surviving to be paraded in chains at the triumph accorded to marius on his return to rome. such was the first appearance of the teuton in the eternal city, and the last until five hundred years later, when the conditions were changed. chapter ii. at the time of this first invasion the german race was divided into tribes with no affinity for each other, who were indeed much of the time in fierce conflict among themselves. one of these tribes, called the cherusci, occupied the southern part of what is now hanover. their chief, hermann, had in his youth been taken to rome as a hostage, and there had been educated. hermann was the first to dream of german unity. while the infant christ was growing into boyhood in palestine, this hermann was studying latin and history at rome; and as he read he pondered. he found that the romans had achieved such tremendous power by _combination_. if his people would unite and stand as one nation before the world, why might not they too become great? these romans were pleasure-loving and vicious. his germans in their rude homes were just and true. they did not laugh at vice; they were rough, but simple and sincere; love bound the father and mother and children closely together. the idea of german unity took possession of hermann. he resolved to devote his life to its accomplishment, and to return to his country and try to inspire his race with a sense of common brotherhood, and a comprehensive patriotism. julius cæsar, the great roman general, was governor of gaul, and with one eye fixed on britain and another on germany was steadily bringing europe into subjection to rome. the task of subduing the stubborn teutons was given by augustus to varus, a trusted general. in the year a.d., varus had arrived with his great army in the heart of germany. little suspecting the plans and purposes surging in the young man's brain, he leaned upon hermann, whom he had known in rome, as his guide and counselor in a new and strange land. unsuspectingly he marched with his heavily armed legions, as if for a holiday excursion, into the fastnesses of the teutoberger forest, into which hermann led him. when fairly entangled in the dense wood, surrounded by morasses and wet marshes instead of roads, suddenly there was a thundering war-cry, and barbarians swarmed down upon him from all sides. hundreds who escaped the rain of arrows were lost in the morasses. it was not a question of victory, but of escape, for the entrapped and heavily armed legions. only a handful returned to tell the story, and varus, unable to bear his disgrace, threw himself upon his sword. the great emperor augustus clothed himself in mourning, let his beard and hair grow, and cried in the bitterness of his soul, "varus, varus, give me back my legions!" but hermann, like many another hero, was not comprehended by the people he wished to inspire. he had arrested the tide of roman conquest in germany. how was he rewarded? his people could not understand his dream of unity. should they be friends with the cimbri and suevi, who were their enemies? they suspected his motives. there were intrigues for his downfall. his adored wife, thusnelda, and his child were delivered to the romans and graced a triumph at rome, and when only thirty-seven years old, the first heroic character in the history of germany was assassinated by his own people. our saxon ancestors, four centuries later, made the british isles echo with the songs in which they chanted the praises of this "war man," this "man of hosts," who was the "deliverer of germany." hermann had not consolidated his people, but he had arrested their conquest and subjugation by the romans. many, many centuries were to roll away before his dream of unity was to be realized. what sort of people were these ancient germans, for whom hermann hoped so much almost nineteen hundred years ago? they were pagan barbarians, without one gleam of civilization to illumine the twilight of their existence. they had no art, no literature, nor even an alphabet. they were fierce and cruel; but they had simple, uncorrupted hearts. they were brave, truthful, hospitable, romantic, with instincts singularly just, and a passion for the mysterious realities of an unseen world. war and hunting were their pursuits, the family and domestic ties were strong and abiding, and over all else, religion was supreme. like their scandinavian kinsmen, they worshiped the gods of their ancient aryan ancestors in sacred groves; and offered sacrifices, sometimes human, to _wotan_, and _donar_, or _thor_, the thunderer, for whom they named thursday, thorsday, or _donners-tag_, and in honor of one of their goddesses, _freyja_, another was called frei-tag, or friday. the decrees of fate were read in the flights of birds, or heard in the neighing of wild horses, and then interpreted to the people by priestesses, who, clad in snow-white robes, presided also at the terrible sacrifices. chapter iii. during the three centuries after hermann had arrested the flood of roman conquest, a civilization of the simplest sort was slowly developing in germany, where society was divided into the _free_ and the _unfree_ classes. the tribes in the south differed greatly from those in the north. they had no settled homes, nor ownership in land. this was divided among them every year by lot; one-half of the people remaining yearly at home to till the soil, and the other half giving their entire time to the wars which were as perennial as the growing crops of grain. in the north, however, where lived the ancestors of the anglo-saxon race, conditions very different prevailed. there the lands were bestowed in perpetuity upon the most powerful members of the tribes, and by them handed down to their sons. the unfree class tilled the soil, and were thus the serfs of a ruling class, and only freemen could bear arms. there were no cities in ancient germany, only villages which were composed of rude huts. a collection of these villages formed a group which was called a _hundred_. every hundred had its chief, who was elected by the people; and the one chosen by the combined will of all these hundreds was the chief or king of the tribe. the chiefs of the hundreds formed a sort of advisory council to the king or tribal chief. but supreme over the will of these chiefs and their king was the will of the people. every village had its _meetings of the people_, which all freemen were entitled to attend. the real governing power lay in these meetings, to which both chiefs of the hundreds and the king were compelled to defer. was a new king to be elected, or were there grave questions concerning wars to be considered--they were discussed in advance by the chiefs and the king. but the ultimate decision lay with the people themselves; a general meeting of the whole tribe being required to elect a new king; the people clashing their arms in token of approval, or shouting their dissent. as all freemen bore arms, there was no distinct military organization. every man held himself ready at any moment to respond to a call, and the army was the people! about the middle of the third century, numerous small german tribes became united into large confederacies. conspicuous among these were the allemani, the franks, the saxons, and the goths. the allemani, in the south of germany, it is said were so called because of the fact that _all men_ held the land in common. if this be so, then the french name for germany is essentially communistic, and it is not strange that communism has always found a congenial soil in that land. the franks occupied the banks of the rhine and of the river saal. the saxons were spread over north germany, and the goths, on both sides of the river dnieper, were divided into the ostro-goths and the visi-goths (or the east and west goths). it was these visigoths under alaric who inflicted the deadliest blows upon the roman empire. the sacking of rome in , and the establishing of a gothic kingdom in spain, shook the very foundations of that power. then the legions could no longer be spared in distant britain, which was left to its fate. and that fate was of deepest import to us! the saxons and the angles overflowed and absorbed the land, and keltic britain was teutonized. so this untamed and untamable teuton was being spread, like some coarse but renovating element, over the surface of old europe. and with the occupation of gaul by the franks in , and the annexing of france to the frankish kingdom under clovis, the process was complete. i cannot resist the temptation of saying a few words about the anglo-saxon occupation of britain, which, as it virtually converted us from kelts into teutons, is not a digression. from the time of julius cæsar the island of britain had been occupied by the romans, and in consequence had become partly civilized and christianized. upon the fall of the empire, the roman legions were withdrawn, and the people, left defenseless, became the prey of their own northern barbarians, the picts and scots; the drama of southern europe and the goths being re-enacted on a diminished scale. in the fourth century the britons implored the angles and saxons to come and protect them from these savages. invited as allies, they came as invaders, and remained as conquerors, implanting their habits, speech, and paganism upon the prostrate island. it was the extermination of this exotic paganism which impelled to those deeds of valor recited in the round table romances, and which made king arthur and his knights the theme of poet and minstrel for centuries. but the saxon had come to stay, and teuton and kelt became merged, much as do the lion and lamb, after the former has dined! the teutonic saxon may be said to have dined on the keltic briton, and remained master of the island until the normans came, six centuries later, and in turn dominated, and made him bear the yoke of servitude. nor was this french-speaking norman french at all, except by adoption; being, in fact, the terrible northman of two centuries before, on account of whose ravages the noble had intrenched himself in his strong castle, and the wretched serf had in mortal terror sold himself and all that he possessed, for the protection of its solid walls and moat; and thus had been laid the foundations of feudalism. he it was who, with longhair reeking with rancid oil, battle-ax, spear, and iron hook--with which to capture human and other prey--had held france in a state of unspeakable terror for centuries, but who had finally settled down as a respectable french citizen in the sea-board province of normandy, and in two centuries had made such wonderful improvement in manners, apparel, and speech that the simple saxon baron stood abashed before the splendid refinements of his conquerors. the origin of this mysterious northman is unknown; but whatever it was, or whoever he was, he certainly possessed aryan germs of high potency. so the saxon had built the solid walls of the racial structure upon a foundation of britons; and, though with no thought for beauty, had built well, with strong, true structural lines. it was the norman who finished and decorated the structure, but he did not alter one of these lines; the speech, traits, institutions, and habits of england being at the core saxon to-day, while there is a decorative surface only of norman. so when the englishman calls himself, with swelling pride, a briton, he speaks wide of the mark. the keltic briton was buried fathoms deep under seven centuries of saxon rule, and then, to make the extinction more complete, was overlaid with this brilliant lacquer of norman surface. and if that mixed product, the english people, have any race paternity, it is teutonic, and herein may lie the impossibility of making the english and irish a homogeneous people--the english teuton and irish kelt being in the nature of things antagonistic, the particles refuse to combine chemically, and can only be brought together (to use the language of the chemist) in mechanical mixture. chapter iv. among the german tribes it was the goths who had first come under the civilizing influence of the christian religion. as some winged seed is wafted from a fair garden into a dark, distant forest, and there takes root and blossoms, so was the seed-germ of christianity caught by the wind of destiny, and carried from palestine to the heart of pagan germany, where, strange to say, it found congenial soil. the story is a romantic one. a christian boy in asia minor, while straying on the shores of the mediterranean, was captured by some goths, who took their fair-haired prize home to their own land, and named him ulfilas. the boy, with his heart all aflame for the religion in which he had been nurtured, told his captors the story of calvary--of christ and his gospel of peace and love; and lived to see the terrible sacrificial altars replaced by the cross. the goths had no alphabet, so ulfilas invented one, and then translated the bible into their rude speech. a part of this translation is now preserved in sweden and is the earliest extant specimen of the gothic language. this gothic version of the lord's prayer, written by ulfilas more than fifteen centuries ago, bears such close resemblance to the german and english versions that it can be easily read by us to-day; and makes us realize our own near kinship to those simple barbarians of the fourth century. in the year , thirty-five years before the sacking of rome, from the vast plains lying between russia and china there had poured into europe a terrible race of beings called huns. they seemed more like demons than men. insensible alike to fear, to hunger, thirst, or cold, they appeased their ferocious appetites upon wild roots and raw meat. these hideous men ate, drank, and slept on horseback, their no less hideous wives and children following them in wagons, as they ravaged through the continent of europe. the huns, under the leadership of attila, swept everything before them; leaving a track of blood and ashes through germany. the goths deserted their lands and homes on account of this brutish invasion and pressed down into italy and southern gaul; the ostro-goths (or east goths) becoming in time masters of italy under king theodoric, while the visigoths (or west goths), who were already in southern gaul, had overflowed the pyrenees and established a gothic empire in spain (or hispania, as it was then called). it was not alone the goths who were swept before attila and his hunnish hosts. the vandals, the burgundians, the longobards were carried by the same tide into southern europe; the vandals thence into northern africa; while the slavs from the northeast in turn pressed down after them, and, like the waters of the sea, occupied the lands which they had deserted. so this hunnish invasion was a tremendous upturning force--in itself bearing no relation to the future result more than the plow to the future grain; but it was a terrible instrument, used in bringing the german race into contact with higher civilizations, where, in the alchemy of time, they were destined to survive not as a nation, but rather as an element, and where, in the great creative processes, they were intended to re-enforce the decaying races of southern europe with their rude but uncorrupted vitality. of the huns themselves nothing remained in europe after the defeat of attila, excepting in dacia, over which they had permanently spread, and which was later called hungary. during this process of re-creating the old races of southern europe, the roman empire was perishing. its conversion to christianity in the fourth century, under constantine, was too late to save it. for three hundred years pagan rome had been drenching the soil of southern europe with the blood of christians. then this zealous new convert not only espoused the religion of christ, but determined by her church councils what that religion meant and what it did not mean, and made fierce war upon heretics like the gothic christians, who knew nothing about these strange doctrines of which ulfilas had not told them, nor concerning which did their simple gothic bible say one word! (a conflict between _trinitarianism_ and _arianism_.) the roman empire was the "_holy_ roman empire," now. when constantine removed his capital to byzantium, it required two emperors, an eastern and a western, to govern the crumbling mass. but as the temporal power declined, there was at rome a new and spiritual kingdom which was expanding and claiming an empire over all christendom. the bishops of rome had become popes. gaul or france was now governed by the german franks. and the frankish kings in france, and the visigoth kings in spain, and christians everywhere must bow to the will of the pope. but the roman emperors were becoming less and less able to protect their dominions. the teuton lombards had overrun italy, and at last the lowest point of degradation seemed to be reached, when the imperial crown at byzantium was grasped by irene, who deposed and blinded her own son in order to reach the throne once occupied by augustus. who could be more fit to fill this august position at the head of christendom than charlemagne, the great conqueror of men and defender of the holy faith? the coronation of charlemagne, king of france and germany, at rome, in the year , was a revolt of the west against the sluggard emperors at byzantium; just as his father pepin's had been, fifty years before, a revolt against the sluggard kings of france. not for years had there been such a commanding personality on the earth; not since cæsar hurled his legions into gaul and britain had there been such a display of military genius and valor, and perhaps never before such a breadth of intelligence in controlling a vast and heterogeneous empire. thenceforth, charlemagne and his successors (when crowned by the pope) were the successors of the cæsars and the temporal heads of the holy roman empire. excepting in name the once great empire had ceased to be roman. the rude barbarian race which, in the time of julius cæsar, was buried in the forests of central europe, was at the head of christendom; and under charlemagne, a map of the german empire was a map of europe. charlemagne acknowledged the pope who crowned him as his spiritual sovereign, while, on the other hand, the pope bowed before the emperor who appointed him as his temporal sovereign. it was a magnificent, all-embracing scheme of empire, of which the spiritual head was at rome, and the temporal at aix-la-chapelle. it seemed as if, by this dual supremacy, charlemagne had provided for all possible exigencies of human government. he rested content, no doubt thinking he had embodied a perfect ideal in creating a system which should thus co-ordinate and embrace both the spiritual and temporal needs of an empire. but as soon as his controlling hand was removed unexpected dangers assailed his work. in less than fifty years from his coronation his three grandsons had quarreled and torn the empire into as many parts. with this event france commenced a separate existence as a kingdom and the imperial title belonged alone to germany (treaty of verdun, ). it was the strong, rough arm of the goth which had hammered in pieces the roman empire and brought these tremendous results for the teuton race; but it was the frank which had survived as the governing power. these franks established a new system of land tenure, which combined the two opposing systems prevailing in north and south germany. they proclaimed that the land belonged to the crown. but the crown, upon certain conditions, bestowed it upon landholders who were called barons. these barons might hold their land from generation to generation, so long as these conditions were fulfilled. they, in like manner, parceled out their lands into farms, which were held by the class below them upon like conditions of submission and fealty to them. the people bound themselves to furnish military service and food, and to work for their barons a specified number of days in the year, and to receive in return a certain protection, and a refuge within the castle of their chief. the baron was responsible to the count who was his superior, and the count to the king. this was the feudal system, which was a net-work of reciprocal duties. no man, be he peasant or count, could call anything his own unless he discharged his obligations and responsibilities. the system met great opposition for a time in south germany; especially from welf, count of bavaria, from whom the historic guelphs are descended. but it survived, as we know, increasing in oppressive weight and rigidity, until for centuries it crushed the life out of europe. chapter v. one century after charlemagne, the kingship of germany ceased to be hereditary. the great nobles, or vassals as they were called, elected the king, who was crowned at aix. and then, after the pope had crowned him at rome (but not until then), he was also king of italy and emperor of the holy roman empire. the condition of germany was at this time very disordered. there were jealousies and conflicts between the various states composing it and incessant incursions from those troublesome neighbors, the magyars or hungarians, the turanian people on their southeast border. this latter led to an important phase in the development of germany. henry i., father of king otto the great, in offered these hungarians a large yearly tribute if they would cease to annoy his country. for nine years the tribute was paid. the germans in the meantime were busily engaged in building fortresses on their frontier, and walled cities throughout the land. these were called _burgs_, and were placed under the command of counts, who were called _burgraves_. so, in the tenth year, when the hungarians insolently demanded their tribute, henry threw a dead dog at their messengers' feet, and told them that was his tribute in the future. the hungarians in a fury poured into germany. but--lo! instead of collections of helpless villages lying at their mercy, there were walled towns which defied all their efforts to capture, and after some futile attempts the hungarians troubled germany no more. another important development of this period was an eventful one for europe. there was a large class of young men, younger sons of nobles, for whom there was no suitable classification. they were proud and by necessity were idle. this same saxon king henry invited these young men to serve the empire in a new and peculiar way. they must be men of honor and truth; they must be devoted and loyal to the holy roman empire; never have injured a weak woman nor run away in battle; they must be gentle and courteous and brave, and faithful to the church. the men who could take these oaths and make these pledges were called knights, or _knechts_, servants of the king. thus was created the order of knighthood, which quickly spread over europe. the great charlemagne, in accepting the crown of the holy roman empire in , unconsciously inflicted a deep injury upon the future germany. that glittering bauble, the crown of the cæsars, was very costly, and retarded the development of germany for centuries. that country needed all her resources and energies at home, to solidify and develop a great nation during its formative period. instead of that, for seven hundred years the ambitions of the kings of germany were diverted from what should have been their first care--the unity and prosperity of their own nation; and were chasing a phantom--the re-establishment of the great old empire, with rome as its heart and center. another mistake made by charlemagne was far-reaching in its consequences. he little suspected the nature and the latent power existing in that spiritual kingdom with which he formed so close an alliance. he feared not the church, but the ambitious and scheming nobles. so, in order to create a friendly bulwark about the throne, he made some of the archbishops and bishops secular princes, and bestowed upon them dominions over which they might reign as sovereigns. the church, which had not been growing any too spiritual since it was adopted by rome, was more and more secularized when it had primates ravenous for wealth and power. the pope and emperor, instead of close allies as charlemagne had intended, had finally become jealous and angry rivals. in the open warfare which in time developed two political parties came into being--the guelphs and the ghibellines, which represented the adherents of the pope and the emperor. it was a part of the settled policy of the popes to stir up strife in italy, and thus, by compelling the emperor to pour his revenues and his energies into that land, to weaken and undermine him at home. for the first five hundred years of its existence the church had been governed by the bishops of rome. in the next five hundred years these bishops had grown into popes, who were the spiritual heads of christendom. as the church was entering upon its third five-hundred-year lease in the year , the miter was worn by the fiery monk, hildebrand, who had become gregory vii. this man resolved to establish the supremacy of the church over the secular arm of the government. as a weak emperor wore the imperial crown, the time was favorable for claiming a religious empire existing by divine right, and superior to the will of kings and emperors. in the conflict which followed henry iv. deposed the pope--this creature of his own appointing, who would override the authority of the power which had created him! and as a counter-move the pope excommunicated the emperor. had henry stood his ground as he might, for he would have had ample support from his people, it would have been a gain of centuries for europe.. but the ban of excommunication, with its attendant horrors here, and still worse hereafter--it was more than he could bear. affrighted, trembling, penitent, he crossed the alps in dead of winter, crept to the castle of canossa, near parma, where hildebrand had taken refuge; and there this successor to charlemagne, this ruler of all christendom, standing barefoot and clad in sackcloth shirt, humbly begged admittance. the pope's triumph was complete. so he let him shiver for three days in cold and rain before he opened the gates and gave him forgiveness and the kiss of peace. the church had never scored so tremendous a victory. she was supreme over every earthly authority, and the hands on the face of time were set back for centuries. let guelph and ghibelline storm and struggle as they might, there was no question of supremacy now between temporal and spiritual heads. all the lines of power, all the threads of human destiny led to rome, and were found at last in the papal hand. in the three centuries of its existence the empire had been ruled first by frank, and then by saxon emperors. but the eventful visit to canossa led to a new dynasty, the swabian. when that humiliated monarch, henry iv., crossed the alps in midwinter, when europe's mightiest prince stood woolen-frocked and barefoot upon the snow for three days, humbly entreating forgiveness, there was one knight who attended him with marked fidelity. this was frederick of büren, and verily he had his reward! the emperor created him duke of swabia, and bestowed upon him his daughter agnes as his wife. the duke of swabia then built himself a castle on a high plateau of land called hohenstaufen. but this fortunate duke had also another great estate called waiblingen. so he was frederick of hohenstaufen, and of waiblingen as well. the last name had a very conspicuous destiny awaiting it. the dukes of bavaria had been a great power in germany, ever since that first stormy welf, who tried to put down the new-fangled system of land-tenure which we know as feudalism! these welfs were evidently not progressive; they seem in fact to have been the tories of ancient germany. and when conrad, grandson of frederick, the first hohenstaufen, was elected king of germany, there was a very stormy time. the people divided into two factions: the adherents of the new dynasty and the emperor in the one, and the malcontents who were led by welf, duke of bavaria, in the other. as hostility to the emperor meant friendship with the pope, this party of the welfs was also that of the papal faction. the tongue of the italian could not master the two words welf and waiblingen; which, as they became fastened upon the two political factions in italy, were changed to guelph and ghibelline. the waiblingen family long ago disappeared. but the ancient name of welf is represented to-day by the gracious queen of england. the party of the guelphs in germany was that of disaffected dukes and nobles, who from personal or other reasons desired to embarrass the emperor, even to the extent of an alliance with his enemy the pope. the ghibellines expressed the anti-papal sentiment of the people, among whom there was a growing dread and hatred of romish power, and the time was approaching when teutonic patriotism would mean resistance to italian priestcraft. while this antagonism was developing, the most stupendous event in all history was taking place in europe. the christian conscience--more sensitive than it is to-day--had been roused to a frenzy of indignation by mahomedan outrages in the holy land. that first "european concert" had been formed to drive the mahomedan out of the land, where a concert of europe is striving to keep him undisturbed to-day! this time of a great religious war was not favorable for an anti-papal policy in germany. conrad allowed himself to be swept into the current. he headed a great crusade in the year . not one tithe of his vast host ever reached the holy land. they melted like the dew before disease, starvation, and the sword of the moslems in asia minor. when the despondent conrad returned to germany he brought back one lasting memorial of his ill-fated crusade. he had seen at constantinople, on the imperial standard of the byzantine emperor, a double-headed eagle. this representation of a double empire he determined to adopt for the emblem of his own, and hence it is that it exists to-day on the austrian standard, and upon the coins of germany and austria. it was well for germany that, while she was thus torn and distracted by contending political factions, and while her life blood was being drained into italy, frederick i., or barbarossa ( ), came to hold the reins of government as they had not been held since charlemagne. this great hohenstaufen threw his lion-like weight into the controversy concerning papal and imperial supremacy. he spurned the pretensions of the pope and his encroachments upon secular authority. he claimed that his office was from god--not from the pope; and that it was not a whit less sacred than his rival's. to which the pope replied: "who was the frank before pope zacharias befriended pepin? and what is the teutonic king now, till consecrated by papal hands? what he gives, can he not withdraw?" but the imperial power never reached such height as under this imperious, commanding teuton; who exists now as a half-mythic hero, honored in picture, statue, song, and legend throughout germany. his reign was a splendid fight against the two antagonists which were finally to be fatal to the empire--italian nationality and the papacy. the knighthood established by his saxon predecessor, in , had during the crusades expanded into great orders of chivalry throughout europe. frederick barbarossa fostered and brought the chivalry of germany to great splendor. he also brought to an end the long and destructive feud between the welfs and the waiblingers, pacifying the former by bestowing upon them the territory of brunswick; to which fact england owes her present queen, who is a daughter of the house of brunswick. for many centuries the people believed the legend that their hero had not died in palestine; but they pointed to the mouth of a great cavern on the frowning heights of the kyfhäuser mountain, where he was said to be surrounded by his knights in an enchanted sleep; waiting the hour when he should awaken and descend with his crusaders, to bring back a golden age of peace and unity to germany! chapter vi. there are three conditions in national life of which all nations more or less partake. one is where the elements combine with a tendency toward organic development; another, where these elements fall apart with a tendency toward disintegration; and still another, where all processes, constructive and destructive, are arrested as in a crystal. the united states, the ottoman empire, and china illustrate these three conditions to-day. the teuton, who had been such a powerful element in renovating other european nations, had thus far seemed incapable of consolidating his own national life when left to himself. the tendency was steadily toward disintegration rather than growth. this was not alone because the strength of the teutonic kingdom was wasted in pursuit of that glittering toy bestowed by the pope; but on account of internal strifes and rivalries which employed the hostile schemes of the roman pontiff for their own ends and purposes. the rivalry with the pope, in itself a destructive element, was made still more destructive when it was thus used by disaffected dukes as a means of annoying and circumventing emperors whom they disliked. a frederick barbarossa might arrest these processes for a time. but one century later the ruin was complete. frederick ii., the last of the hohenstaufens, died, leaving an empty throne and a broken and shattered empire. it was destined to rise again and to wear the name and trappings of its former greatness, but, crippled and degraded, to be in reality a mere shadow and semblance of what it had once aspired to be--the head of the world. a period of twenty years then followed, known as the "great interregnum." a time when there was no king nor emperor; when robbery and brigandage became the employment of needy knights, and when great barons made war upon and waylaid each other on the highways. it was a time of strange chaos and darkness. and yet this period, apparently so unfavorable to growth, brought forth two of the most pregnant events in the history of germany. these were the creation of the hanseatic league and the birth of german literature. the one laid the foundation of a real national life in which the people should participate; while the other gave expression to the romantic ideals of a hitherto silent race. the great german epic, which is the iliad of the middle ages, was produced at this darkest hour in the history of germany. the nibelungen lied deals with the colossal crimes, loves, and sorrows of burgundian kings and princesses at the time of the hunnish invasion. and it has been the good fortune of germany, six hundred years later, to have a son (richard wagner) who has clothed that great epic in music which matches it in heroic dignity and splendor. the other event was of deeper import than this. the burgs, or cities, which were created as a defense against the hungarians, had become busy centers of manufacture and trade, and to some extent of learning. many of them had been made free cities. that is, they were under the direct control of the emperors instead of the hereditary nobles as at first. these cities enjoyed especial privileges and immunities which drew to them population and prosperity. the true policy for german emperors, harassed by italian intrigues and at war with their own archbishops and disaffected nobles, would have been to form close alliance with these free cities, and make friends of their burghers and guilds. when there was no king, no ruler in the land, when robbery ran riot so that traveling was impossible, two cities, hamburg and lubeck, agreed together to keep order in their neighborhood. then brunswick and bremen joined; and at last over a hundred towns had combined together in what was called the "hanseatic league." this confederacy became the mightiest power in the north of europe; and at one time even threatened the overthrow of feudalism, and to convert west germany into a federation of free municipalities. when trades increased in the cities, each trade managed its own affairs by an organization called a _guild_. the guilds in the course of time obtained a share in the government of the towns; and it was the regenerating power of these guilds which brought about this great movement. with their simple ideals of truth, sincerity, and justice, they were the storehouses of that power which is the real life of a nation. as well expect a tree to flourish when its sap is not permitted to rise, or a man to be well when the blood is obstructed in his veins, as to look for healthful growth and expansion in a nation from which the life of its common people is excluded! among these early guilds, that of the meistersingers, which was chartered in , was of vast importance in the development of the german people. it was composed of artisans and governed by the strict, pedantic rules then existing in the arts of musical and literary composition. the prizes did not confer as great an honor as those bestowed at olympia two thousand years before, but they were sought with an intense enthusiasm. the soul of the teuton was by nature set to music. for him that art was not a luxury reserved for the rich and cultured, but the daily food which nourished the life of the most untutored. within this musical and literary guild the two arts of music and poetry for centuries existed in their most elementary form, and were the soil out of which later came such marvelous blossom and fruit. chapter vii. germany, which had always been a loosely compacted mass, was at the close of the hohenstaufen dynasty composed of independent cities, priestly rulers, and reigning dukes, princes, counts, and barons, always rivals and usually at war with each other, in perpetually changing combinations for attack or defense. lying beneath this body of small and struggling sovereigns was a people in whom was the first dawning consciousness of human rights; which consciousness was gradually extending to that helpless mass underlying the whole--the peasantry. in the german princes succeeded in electing an emperor; and the great interregnum was over. it is a curious fact that the two names _hapsburg_ and _hohenzollern_ should have appeared simultaneously in german history. rudolf, count of hapsburg, through the influence of his brother-in-law frederick of hohenzollern, count of nuremburg, was chosen to fill the vacant throne. it was during the reign of albert, son of this first hapsburg, that the swiss first revolted against imperial authority. gessler, who had been sent by albert to subdue the refractory alpine shepherds, so exasperated them by his atrocities that he was shot by william tell. it was a long way from tell to swiss freedom and independence. but the people from that hour never wavered in their determination not to be serfs to the house of hapsburg. the hanseatic league in north germany, and the invincibly free spirit in switzerland, were the two things of deepest significance at this time of political chaos. side by side with this assertion of political rights, there had commenced a general intellectual awakening. the bishop of ratisbon, albertus magnus, was so learned in mathematics and in science that people believed he was a sorcerer.[ ] godfrey of strasburg had written an epic poem about king arthur and his knights of the round table. wolfram of eschenbach had told of the holy grail in his parsifal; and a learned history of denmark had been written, without which our own literature would have suffered immeasurable loss, for in it shakspeare found the story of hamlet! it was at this time ( ) that the famous "golden bull" was issued, a new electoral system, which reduced the number of electors to seven. the idea was that as the sun and the seven planets illumined our heavens, so that great luminary, the german emperor, should be the center of a political system composed of seven electors. these earthly luminaries, whose duty it was to elect a new emperor, were the archbishops of mainz, cologne, and trèves, and the temporal princes of bohemia, brandenburg, saxony, and the palatine of the rhine. the very first act of these seven wise men was to place upon the throne wenceslas, a brutal madman, who might better have been confined as a maniac. it was during the reign of his brother and successor sigismund that the burning of john huss lighted the conflagration in bohemia known as the hussite war. john huss, a professor of the university of prague, had dared to raise his voice against the temporal enrichment of a church whose founder had not where to lay his head, and who had put behind him the kingdoms of this earth, when offered to him by satan! huss, for this offense, came under the displeasure of the bishops. charges were brought against him that he had maintained the existence of four gods, and he was condemned and burnt ( ). the hussite war had none of the reforming purpose which led to the martyrdom they wished to avenge. it was a mad strife, beginning over some detail of the communion service, and ending in a war between bohemian and german, in which for nearly twenty years the country ran with blood. at this period an event occurred of trifling significance then, but of profound importance to future germany. in the emperor borrowed one hundred thousand florins of frederick of hohenzollern, the burgrave, or "count of the castle," of nuremburg, direct descendant from that first hohenzollern who helped to found the hapsburg dynasty. for this loan sigismund gave his creditor a mortgage on the territory of brandenburg. frederick at once took up his residence there, and subsequently made an offer of three hundred thousand gold florins more to purchase the territory. the emperor accepted the terms, so the then small state was thereafter the home of the hohenzollerns, and was on its way to become prussia. sigismund and his brother wenceslas belonged to another dynasty, that of luxemburg. but after the death of the former, in , the hapsburgs succeeded again to the crown, which they wore until it was taken off at the bidding of napoleon in . just before the issuance of the golden bull, there had occurred that most revolutionary event, the discovery of gunpowder. when a man in leathern jacket could do more than a knight in armor, when safety depended upon quickness and lightness, and ponderous iron and steel were fatal--then a momentous change in conditions was at hand! the destruction of feudalism was involved in this discovery of . under frederick iii., that hapsburg who came to the throne in , the empire seemed to have reached a climax of disorder. old things were passing away, and the new had not yet come to take their place. on the eastern shore of the baltic the march of german civilization had received an almost fatal check. the "german order," an organization of knights intended to keep back the slavonic tide, had failed to do so. holland was becoming estranged from the german empire. france had obtained possession of flanders. luxemburg, lorraine, and burgundy were becoming practically independent; while it began to seem as if switzerland were forever lost to germany. and now the hungarians were setting up their new king, the valiant hunyadi; and the bohemians theirs, george of podjebrod. not only were these kingdoms and principalities slipping away, but the peasants in the cantons of the alps, and elsewhere in revolt, were some of them led by great nobles. still another, and perhaps the gravest of all these dangers, was one which yet darkens our horizon in this closing nineteenth century! in the year the turks had commenced their existence in asia minor, with one little clan, led by one obscure chieftain. this clan had grown as if by miracle into a great empire in the east, rivaling in power that of the saracens, whose successors they were as the head of the mahomedan empire. the turks had been steadily encroaching upon germany; had made havoc in hungary; had devastated austria, and were now insolently pressing on toward their goal, the imperial palace at vienna. while the incompetent and drowsy emperor frederick iii. was helplessly viewing these stupendous overturnings, there occurred that other event, as important in the empire of thought as the invention of gunpowder had been in that of political institutions. the invention of printing ( ),--that art preservative of all arts,--was the greatest step yet taken in the emancipation of the human mind. the poor inventor was, after the manner of inventors, badly treated. john fust, on account of gutenberg's inability to pay back the money he had loaned him for his experiment, seized the printing press, and himself proceeded to finish printing the bible. the rapidity with which the copies were produced, and their precise resemblance to each other, created such astonishment that a report spread that fust had sold himself to the devil, with whom he was in league. this, together with the identity of names, led victor hugo, klinger, and other writers to confuse john fust, the practicer of the black art in mediæval times, with john fust the printer. and as the original fust had come to stand for the emancipation of the human intellect through free learning, and as printing was above all else the means for such emancipation, the coincidence, if such it be, was, to say the least, remarkable! when we approach the time of isabella of castile and of columbus, and when we are confronted with that familiar specter, the turk, in southeastern europe, we feel that we are in sight of the lights on familiar headlands, and are not far from port. we are not very near to that haven, but we are passing the line which divides the old from the new. [ ] see chart of civilization in six centuries, "who, when, and what." chapter viii. it was not alone in germany that the old was vanishing. the movement in that country was part of a general condition prevailing in england, france, and spain; all with the same tendency--the passing of the power from many small despotisms to one greater one. it was an advance, although a slow one, in the path of progress. feudalism--that newfangled system which had so tried the soul of duke welf in the ninth century--was dissolving. in england the war with france, and the war of the roses, by impoverishing the nobles had broken their remaining authority, and that system which had been gradually perishing since the conquest was virtually dead. in france louis xi. had cunningly conceived the idea of recovering the power of the throne by an apparent friendship with the people; and a combination was thus formed against which a decrepit feudalism could not long stand. in spain the smaller kingdoms had at last been merged into two larger ones, and by the union of castile and aragon under ferdinand and isabella, and the expulsion of the moors which quickly followed that event, that country was at last consolidated into one kingdom--in which feudalism no longer existed as a disturbing power. in northern italy also, among that brilliant group of small republics, there was this same centralizing tendency at work. florence had passed into the strong keeping of the medici ( ), while genoa and most of the lombard republics were gravitating toward the control of milan. it was at this period that there were for the first time formed those combinations and alliances between the nations of europe which led finally to a system existing for the preservation of the _balance of power_. in fact, after the various monarchies had assumed these firmer and more definite outlines, there began a process of weaving them together into a larger whole; and the threads used in this process are known as _european diplomacy_, which, as we have recently seen, is stronger than individual sovereigns! it was perfectly in keeping with the spirit of the fifteenth century that the imperial throne of germany should be occupied, at this time of centralizing tendencies, by a man determined not alone to reign but to rule. maximilian i., son of the sleepy frederick iii., was chosen by the electors in . he was full of energy, intelligence, and heart, and was, besides, the handsomest prince in europe, and his wife, mary of burgundy, was the fairest of princesses. the people, weary of disorder and insecurity, were glad to feel the touch of a strong hand. maximilian firmly planted the foundations of the house of hapsburg. from that time the choice of the electors was merely a formal recognition of the hereditary rights of that family. this prince, standing on the dividing line between the old and new, possessed the qualities of both. he was stately, brave, and chivalric, and at the same time educated according to the highest standards of his time, devoted to literature, art, and poetry, and with comprehensive and progressive plans for his kingdom. he had a sincere desire to reform abuses. he introduced into germany the post office, and the system for the conveyance of letters, throughout two thousand independent territories! the turks were advancing on the east, the french king was harassing him on the west, and the pope always trying to embroil him with other kingdoms and to drain his empire. his was not an easy task. he was not a charlemagne nor a frederick barbarossa, but he infused strength and a power of resistance into germany at a period of extreme weakness, and he reunited to the house of hapsburg the kingdoms of hungary and bohemia. there was evidence that the long thraldom to rome was passing away, in the fact that maximilian assumed imperial authority without receiving the crown from papal hands; his father frederick having been the last emperor who made pilgrimage to rome for that purpose (in ). when maximilian came to the throne in an event of transcendent importance had just occurred. europe had learned with amazement that when the sun disappeared in that mysterious western ocean, it passed on to shine upon other lands beyond--lands teeming with life and riches. the most fascinating field for adventure the world had ever known was suddenly opened to europe, and the magnet of boundless wealth was transferred from the east to the west. a stream of adventurous and rapacious men, from all the lands excepting germany, was moving toward the setting sun. spain, only recently obscure, poor and struggling to free her land from an alien race, suddenly found herself mistress of her own territory, consolidated, and with an empire and resources in the west, practically boundless. the good queen isabella, who had been the instrumentality in bringing about these changes for her country, had the satisfaction of seeing her kingdom at one bound take its place in the first rank among the nations of europe. her chief care now was to make alliances for her children suited to this new position. she and ferdinand aimed high. they secured the daughter of maximilian, emperor of germany, for their son, who was heir to the crown of spain; but the hopes from this union were quickly blighted, as the young prince suddenly died during the wedding festivities. then another marriage was arranged for their oldest daughter joanna with philip, maximilian's son, who was also heir to the imperial throne. but isabella's sorrows matched her triumphs and successes in magnitude. joanna became hopelessly insane. another daughter, who married the king of portugal, was buried in the same grave with the infant who was expected to unite the crowns of spain and portugal, while for her youngest child katharine was reserved the unhappy fate of becoming the wife of henry viii. of england. it is sad to remember that this admirable woman, in her intense desire to drive heretic jews out of her country, was prevailed upon, by her confessor torquemada, to establish the inquisition in spain. believing as she devoutly did that heresy meant eternal death, and little suspecting the engine for cruelty it was to become, this kindest and best of women may be forgiven for this fatal mistake. overwhelmed by private griefs and sorrows, isabella died in , leaving her crazed daughter joanna a widow, with two sons, the elder six years old. she would have been consoled could she have known that, in thirteen years from that time, this grandson would wear not alone the crown of spain, but the great imperial crown of germany, and would be lord of a greater empire, and wield more power, than any living sovereign. chapter ix. the period of maximilian's reign was a bridge which spanned two colossal events: the discovery of america and the reformation. when this emperor died in , a greater work was at hand than any he or his predecessors had ever accomplished, and the humble man who was to be its instrument was destined to become a power above all princes, and to shake the church of rome to its foundation after an undisturbed reign of a thousand years. the reformation had long been preparing in the hearts of the people. the persecutions of the albigenses in france, the waldenses in savoy, and the burning of huss and of jerome, had all come from the growing conviction that the bible was the only true source of christian truth and doctrine. the art of printing had made this well of pure truth accessible to all, and there was a deep though unspoken belief in the hearts and minds of the people that a church grasping at secular power and riches had wandered far from the simple teachings of its founder. these smoldering fires were very near to the surface when maximilian died. charles, his grandson, was then king of spain. the ambitious francis i. of france struggled hard for the crown laid down by the emperor, but, in , it was placed upon the head of his rival, and charles v. was the first of whom it could be said that the sun never set upon his dominions. at this most critical moment in the history of the world, the fate of europe was in the hands of three men: charles v., emperor of germany; francis i., king of france, and henry viii., king of england. charles, half fleming and half spaniard, had the grasping acquisitiveness of the one nation, and the proud, fanatical cruelty of the other. small of stature, plain in feature, sedate, quiet, crafty, he was playing a desperate game with francis i. for supremacy in europe. francis, handsome as an apollo, accomplished, fascinating, profligate, was fully his match in ambition. covering his worst qualities with a gorgeous mantle of generosity and chivalrous sense of honor, he was the insidious corrupter of morals in france, creating a sentiment which laughed at virtue and innocence as qualities belonging to a lower class of society. each of these men was striving to enlist henry viii. upon his side, by appealing to the cruel caprices of that vain, ostentatious, arrogant king, who in turn tried to use them for the furthering of his own desires and purposes. it was a sort of triangular game between the three monarchs--a game full of finesse and far-reaching designs. if charles attacked francis, henry attacked charles, while the astute charles, knowing well the desire of the english king to repudiate katharine and make anne boleyn his queen, whispered seductive promises of the papal chair to wolsey, who was in turn to establish his own influence over his royal master by bringing about the marriage with anne, upon which the king's heart was set, and then be rewarded by securing henry's promise of neutrality for charles, in his designs of overreaching francis--and, after that, the road to rome for the aspiring cardinal would be a straight one! it was an intricate diplomatic net-work, in which the thread of henry's desire for the fair anne was mingled with wolsey's desire for preferment, and both interlaced with the ambitious, far-reaching purposes of the other two monarchs. all these events were very absorbing, and while they were splendidly gilding the surface of europe in the first half of the sixteenth century, it seemed a small matter that an obscure monk was denouncing the pope and defying the power of the catholic church. little did charles suspect that, when his victories and edicts were forgotten, the words of the insolent heretic would still be echoing down the ages. a few years later, and the apollo-like beauty and false heart of francis i. were dissolving in the grave; henry viii. had gone to another world, to meet his reward--and his wives; and charles v. was sadly counting his beads in the monastery of st. jerome, at juste, reflecting upon the vanity of human ambitions. but the murmur of protest from the unknown monk had become a roar--the rivulet had swollen into a threatening torrent. as it is the invisible forces that are the most powerful in nature, so it is the obscure and least observed events that have accomplished the most tremendous revolutions in human affairs. but before all this had happened, in the year , when it had not yet occurred to henry's sensitive conscience that his marriage with katharine, his brother's widow, was illegal, and while charles v., that sedate young man, who "looked so modest and soared so high," was quietly revolving plans for the extension of his empire, pope leo x., the pious vicar of christ upon earth, and elegant patron of michael angelo and raphael, found his income all too small for his magnificent tastes. it does not seem to have occurred to him that his tastes were too costly for his income; he simply recognized that something must be done, and at once, to fill his empty purse. but what should it be? a simple and ingenious expedient solved the perplexing problem. he would issue a proclamation to his "loving, faithful children," that he would grant absolution for all sorts of crimes, the prices graduated to suit the enormity of the offense. we have not seen the proclamation, but doubt not it was in most caressing latin, for can anything exceed the velvety softness of the gloves worn on the hands which have signed papal decrees? simple lying and slander were cheap; perjury and sins against chastity more costly; while the use of the stiletto, of poison, and the hired assassin could be enjoyed only by the richest. it worked well. in the hopeful words of a pious dignitary, "as soon as the money chinks in the coffer, the soul springs out of purgatory." who could resist such promise? money flowed in swollen streams into the thirsty coffers, many even paying in advance for crimes they intended to commit! martin luther was the one man who dared to stand up and denounce this tax upon crime, this papal trade in vice. the people had at last found a voice and a leader. protestantism, which had long been maturing in silence and in darkness, sprang full-armed into existence, and was the first thing to confront charles when he assumed the imperial crown. he, no doubt, thought that he would soon be able to dispose of the new heresy, as had his royal father and mother in spain disposed of heretic jews a few years before. but this new specter of protestantism would not down! when charles called together an assembly of states (or diet) at worms, in , he supposed he was going to deal with one obscure monk, leading an obscure movement. but it assumed quite a different aspect when luther, the culprit, was sustained by two great electors and many princes of his realm; and when a long list of grievances against the papacy was formally presented by several states, which he was firmly told he would be required to redress! the princes were in earnest. they began to seize church property, to send monks and nuns adrift, and to make free with gold and silver vessels and treasure belonging to the church. this time of confusion was used by one ambitious ruler for his own ends. the german, or teutonic, order was a knightly organization created expressly to hold the frontier against the slavonic people. after the year this order held prussia, which they ruled like princes. the margrave of brandenburg, who was at the time of the reformation grand master of the teutonic knights, realized his opportunity in the existing disorder. he made himself sovereign over prussia, and annexed the possessions of the teutonic order to his family. but it was not alone the princes who saw their opportunity in this time of overturning. the wrongs of the peasants were very real and very grievous, and of long, long standing. the entire burden of taxation rested on them--the archbishops and the nobles and the _gentlemen_ all being exempt! when the reformation began the _bauer_, or peasantry, believed that their hope lay in the abolishing of catholicism and of the feudal system. it takes a very small spark to fire a train of gunpowder. when the countess of lüpfen ordered the peasants on her estate to spend their sundays in picking strawberries and gathering snail shells for pincushions, she dropped such a spark! they refused, and the revolt spread, gathering in fury as it moved like a cyclone through the german states. all throughout germany there are to be seen, to-day, ruined castles which tell the story of this "peasants' war" ( ). hideous atrocities were committed, and, as has so often happened, the cause of a people whose grievances were real and heartrending was so stained with crime that sympathy with and pity for their sufferings were obliterated. even luther--whose followers they claimed to be--said of them, "they should be treated as a man would treat a mad dog." the bold stand taken by luther against this rebellion strengthened him with the princes. not only saxony, hesse, and brunswick and many free cities, but the augustine order of monks, a part of the franciscans, and a number of priests had embraced the new doctrine contained in the "augsburg confession," the creed or summary of belief which was prepared by luther's friend, philip melancthon. the principles asserted in this were that men are justified by faith alone; that an assembly of believers constitutes a church; that monastic vows, invocation of saints, fasting, celibacy, etc., are useless. such were the chief points in the celebrated "confession," which was signed by the protestant cities and princes in . so while charles was engaged in his great game of finesse with francis i. and henry viii. for preponderance in europe--while the turks were pressing toward vienna on the east, and the french into flanders on the west, and while the pope, who should have been his ally, jealous of his power was circumventing and weakening him so far as he could, worse than all else, the foundations of the protestant church were being permanently laid in germany. the two great aims of the emperor were to restore papal supremacy over christendom and firmly to unite germany and spain. but how could he do the one, when at the hour of a great schism in the church, a jealous pope was trying to weaken his hands? or the other, when germany was always suspicious of him because he was a spaniard, and spain because he was a hapsburg? charles was profound in his methods, crafty and powerful; but circumstances were stronger than he. in order to succeed at one point, he had to weaken himself at another. he could do nothing in repelling the turks or the french, unless aided by the protestant states. and these states would only give assistance in exchange for concessions to their cause, while francis i., as crafty as he, found a sure way to circumvent his rival in giving aid to the protestants. the new faith was spreading not only in germany, but in denmark, sweden, and england. the movement in switzerland diverged somewhat in character under zwingli, another reformer, and the new protestantism began to have its own schismatics. calvin in geneva rejected luther's doctrine of _justification by faith_, and for it substituted that of _election_. the doctrine that men were predestined to heaven or hell was thereafter held by that branch of the church known as reformers, as distinguished from the lutherans, while from the _protest_ of saxony, brandenburg, brunswick, hesse, and fifteen imperial cities against the decree outlawing luther and his doctrines, the name protestants took its rise, which included lutherans and reformers alike. the famous schmalkaldian league was so called from the little hessian town where the protestant princes assembled in and made a solemn promise of mutual support against the emperor; when they also entered into a secret treaty with francis i., and received promises of support from the kings of england, sweden, and denmark. in the strength of the catholics had been re-enforced by the order of jesuits, which was founded by ignatius loyola. this order made the suppression of protestant doctrines its chief task. meyerbeer has, by his great opera, made so famous the strange tragedy enacted at münster in that it must have brief mention, although it was only a bit of driftwood in the great current of events. a religious sect called the anabaptists was led by a dutch tailor, john of leyden, who claimed to be inspired. the chief things he was inspired to do were to crown himself king, to introduce polygamy, and to cut off the heads of all who resisted his decrees! for more than a year the city was held by this madman and his associates; and then the tragedy was concluded by the torturing to death of the tailor-king and his chief abettors; their bodies being left suspended in iron cages over the cathedral door at münster. this grewsome story is the one used by meyerbeer in his opera of "le prophète." in charles saw his ambitious plans for the government of the world failing at every point. by the treaty of passau, religious freedom had been conceded to the protestants; and while his army was needed to fight the turks in hungary, henry ii. of france (who had succeeded francis i., ), in league with the protestant states, was invading lorraine. sick at heart and failing in health, the weary emperor ( ) resolved to lay down the heavy crown he had worn for thirty-six years. to his son philip ii. he gave the netherlands, naples, spain, and the american colonies, while the imperial title, and the german-austrian lands passed to his brother ferdinand i. the singular cause of his death, two years later, makes us wonder whether his unfortunate mother joanna could have transmitted to her son the insanity which darkened her own life. at the monastery at st. juste to which the imperial monk had retired after his abdication, he yielded to a morbid whim to rehearse his own funeral. the grave-clothes were damp. he was seized with a chill, and after a brief illness died ( ). charles had been thwarted in his two great aims of establishing the supremacy of his church, and the permanent union of germany and spain. but perhaps his bitterest disappointment was in not being permitted to leave the imperial crown to his son philip. his brother ferdinand, although firmly catholic, was a just and moderate prince, who had always favored conciliatory measures to the protestants while the course of philip ii., in the netherlands, soon showed how heavily his hand would have rested upon germany. he appointed the duke of alva spanish governor in that unfortunate territory. never had cruel king more cruel agent in carrying out his policy. torture, fire, and sword were the instruments intended to subjugate, but which in the end brought about the independence of holland. the prelates of the church in had come together in what was called the "council of trent," with the avowed object of reforming abuses which had crept into the church. the real purpose, however, was to examine the foundations of that venerable structure, to discover where it had been injured in the assaults made upon it since , and to strengthen it where it seemed to need new supports. in , after eighteen years' deliberation, the work of this council was finished. the cardinal doctrines of purgatory, absolution, celibacy, invocation of saints, censorship of press, etc., etc., were reaffirmed, and terrible anathemas pronounced against such as should reject them. thus was created a chasm which nothing could ever bridge, eternally dividing the old religion from the new. another tremendously re-enforcing agent was at work in loyola's society of jesus, which was to be to the church what the brain is to the human body. in loyola's ten disciples received the papal blessing. in there were ten million jesuits, and in twenty millions! chapter x. it was the invincible march of protestantism in the land of its birth which brought about this buttressing of the old belief and this adopting of fresh methods for its efficiency. when ferdinand died in the great majority of the german people had become protestants. the empire was honeycombed with the new faith. even in austria, that everlasting stronghold of papacy, the catholics were in a minority. true to the traditions of the past, bavaria, the home of the ancient welfs, was the one thoroughly zealous and obedient champion of the pope in all germany. it seemed as if the great conflict was almost over. but it had not even commenced! the history of this great movement would have been very different, had it been carried on steadily under one leader. but it had four! those devout souls who believed they had found in the simple gospel truths of protestantism a religion in which all might unite were soon convinced of their mistake. lulled by the apparent triumph of the new faith, reformers set about the task of defining the belief and correcting the errors of protestant doctrine. to the followers of calvin the belief of the lutherans became almost as abhorrent as papacy itself, while the lutherans were again subdivided into an extreme and a moderate party; the one following to the letter the doctrines of luther, and the other the more modified views of melancthon. not only men but states were divided and in bitter strife over these differences, so that the emperor ferdinand had said, "instead of being of one mind they are so disunited, have so many different beliefs, the god of truth surely cannot be with them!" it is apparent now that the issue underlying all this upheaval was deeper than anyone then knew. the real struggle was not for the supremacy of romanist or protestant; not to determine whether this dogma or that was true and should prevail, but to establish the right of every human soul to choose its own faith and form of worship. the great battle for human liberty had commenced, and the romish church had been shaken to its foundations not because its doctrine was false, but because it was a _despotism_! from the abdication of charles v. to was a period of political tranquillity in germany. the reign of two conciliatory sovereigns, ferdinand i., and his son maximilian ii., tended to produce a surface-calm, which, although ruffled, was not broken by the stern and despotic reign of rudolf ii., who succeeded in . it was a half century of unfruitful and sullen waiting--waiting for a future which no one could divine. protestantism was not blossoming; but the seed was germinating amid elements good and evil, strangely mingled together. while the reformation was the leading fact in europe at this period, another event had created a new and pervading atmosphere, in which all else existed. the impulse given to civilization by the taking of constantinople by the turks ( ), and the consequent disseminating of greek culture throughout europe, was a transforming event in the history of civilization. literature, art, music, took on new forms and thrilled with a new life. the activity of the human mind manifested itself in everything. it was an age of great men and great things. copernicus, followed by tycho brahe, galileo, and kepler, brought order into the heavens. the medici in italy, who were guiding these new and enriching streams which had set in from the east, helped to produce a wonderful art period, which swept in successive tides over europe. fainting and sculpture reached their climacteric. music, still in its infancy, developed into the new forms of opera and oratorio.[ ] and while these things were happening, a mysteriously inspired man--seeming to hold as in a crucible the wisdom distilled from all ages and all human experiences--was writing immortal plays in england! the teuton race does not take on the graces of life very quickly. the serious and sincere german mind must inspect the idea first, and then become thoroughly imbued with it, before the hand will act! but when the teuton roots do begin to draw upon the soil, they strike deep and hold firmly, and know just what they are going to do with the rising sap; concerning themselves much more about that than the foolish branches and leaves! so this new light did not at once flood germany, but its influence was felt there. thought was quickened, knowledge increased, art and science began to flourish, wealth accumulated, and the people became less simple and more luxurious in their ways of living. the king of spain was occupied in his hopeless attempt to subdue the netherlands, and hungary and austria were still struggling with the turkish invasion. such was the condition at the beginning of the seventeenth century. in spite of the material advance there was a feeling of impending misfortune. but the magnitude of the coming disaster none then could have imagined or dreamed. the fatal circumstance was that the protestants were divided into two angry and hostile camps, at the very time when the catholics, under the teachings of the jesuits, were uniting with solid front against them. the thirty years' war would never have been undertaken against a united adversary who held four-fifths of germany! during the despotic reign of rudolf ii. the protestants for their protection formed a union with the elector palatine frederick at its head. thereupon the catholic princes also united in a _catholic league_ under maximilian of bavaria. the forces were now gathering for the great explosion. matthias had succeeded his brother rudolf as emperor. when a great storm is impending, it takes only a trifling disturbance in equilibrium to precipitate it. such a disturbance occurred in prague ( ) over a church which the protestants were erecting. an angry mob armed itself, burst into the imperial castle at prague, and flung out of the window two catholic bohemian nobles. with this act of violence commenced the thirty years' war, which lasted through three reigns, those of matthias, ferdinand ii., and ferdinand iii., and caused unparalleled misery in germany. two years from that day the protestant faith was obliterated in the realm of austria, and the progress of a hundred years was wiped out. in three years more, not only austria, but germany, was in a worse condition than she had known for centuries--the wretched people, a prey to both parties, were slaughtered, robbed, driven hither and thither, and a country only recently rejoicing in its material prosperity was a waste and a ruin. the imperial troops were splendidly led by two great generals--tilly and wallenstein. the protestant nations--england, holland, denmark, and sweden--looked on in dismay as they saw a powerful and triumphant protestantism being wiped out of existence in the land of its birth. by ferdinand ii. considered his power re-established absolutely over all germany. he issued what was called the "edict of restitution," which ordered the restoration of all protestant territory to catholic hands. wallenstein, in addition to this, declared that reigning princes and a national diet should be abolished and all power centered in the emperor! indeed this wallenstein was minded to play the dictator as well as general. he traveled in regal state, with his one hundred carriages, one thousand horses, fifteen cooks, and fifteen young nobles for his pages! this taste for splendor was, like wolsey's, his undoing. people began to fear the ambitious leader, and ferdinand dismissed him. with rage and hate in his heart he retired to prague to await developments. twelve years of war in horrible form had wrought utter ruin and broken the spirit of the protestants. but help and hope suddenly came in . gustavus adolphus, king of sweden, with his heart all aflame with zeal to defend the falling cause of protestantism in germany, is the knightliest figure which adorns the pages of history. we in this present age have reached a point of development when, without the quivering of an eyelash, we can hear of the destruction of suffering peoples, even if it involves the principles and things most sacred to us. whether it be the effacing of christianity in crete, or of liberty in cuba, the motto of practical men and nations is--"hands off." gustavus adolphus had not learned that potent phrase. he was still in that undeveloped condition when the elemental impulses of the heart sway men's action. and without a regret, without an enfeebling doubt, he could turn his back upon a throne and an adoring people, in defense of an imperiled protestantism in another land. from the moment his foot touched the soil of germany on that th of july, , life and hope revived. the emperor ferdinand laughed and called him the "snow king," who would melt away after one winter. but when one city after another was stormed and taken, when he left behind him a path of religious liberty and rejoicing--when tilly was no longer able to cope with this snow king and wallenstein had to be recalled, and when it looked as if the work of twelve years might be undone, then ferdinand no longer laughed! wallenstein would only return upon conditions which actually made him the lord and ferdinand the subject. having thus become absolute master of the imperial cause, he confidently set about the task of defeating gustavus. the queen of sweden had joined her husband in germany. on the th of october, , he took leave of her. as he passed through the country, the people fell on their knees, kissing his garments, calling him deliverer. he exclaimed, "i pray that the wrath of the almighty may not be visited upon me, on account of this idolatry toward a weak and sinful mortal." before the great conflict began he made an address to his swedes, and then the whole army united in singing luther's grand hymn, "a tower of strength is our lord!" for hours the battle raged furiously, and while the issue was trembling in the balance, the sight of the riderless horse of the swedish king, covered with blood and wildly galloping to and fro, told the awful story. the terrified animal had carried him with a shattered arm right into the enemy's ranks, where he was instantly shot. while wallenstein was retreating to leipzig, the body of this most royal of kings was lying under a heap of dead, so mutilated by the hoofs of horses as to be almost unrecognizable. the protestant cause had lost its soul and inspiration. but, in falling, the heroic king had so broken the enemy that there was a long pause in hostilities. and the wily general retired again to prague, there to evolve new plans for his own aggrandizement. at this crisis a new champion arose. it was not to be expected that richelieu, who had been putting down protestantism with an iron hand in france, would feel sympathy for the protestant cause in germany! but that wary primate and minister was not going to stand on a little matter of religion, when he saw an advantage to be gained for france! he had long ago determined how this conflict should end. he did not intend to permit imperial germany under ferdinand to rise to ascendancy in europe. with the weight of france thrown into the scale when the imperial cause was already so shattered by gustavus, it was easy to see how it must end. wallenstein secretly opened negotiations from prague with the french ambassador, and steadily disregarded the emperor's orders to return to his command. the project was that he should go over to the protestant side in return for the crown of bohemia. a general whom the traitor trusted, in turn betrayed him to the emperor. six soldiers, under the pretense of bearing dispatches, entered his room. "are _you_ the traitor who is going to deliver your emperor's troops to the enemy?" shouted one of the men. wallenstein realized that his hour had come. he said not a word, but stretched out his arms and silently received his death-blow. with an invading french army in germany, under the famous marshals turenne and condé, looking about for choice bits of territory for france, a religious war had become a political one. it lasted until , when the "peace of westphalia" concluded the most desolating struggle in the history of wars. and what had been gained? the very principle for which it was undertaken was surrendered. entire religious freedom was granted to protestants (excepting in austria); four great states were lost to the empire; a population of seventeen millions was reduced to four millions, with imperial authority abridged and broken. france took alsace, and sweden pomerania. holland and switzerland were recognized as independent states. the supreme power was invested in the reichstag, and the several german princes were made almost independent. the empire, as a unity, had been reduced to a shadow. the devastation which had been wrought by those thirty terrible years cannot be described. its details are too awful to be dwelt upon. famine had converted men into wild beasts, who formed themselves into bands, and preyed on those they caught. such a band was attacked near worms and was found cooking in a great caldron human legs and arms! the spirit of the people was broken. germany had been set back two hundred years. and for what? not to accomplish any high purpose, not even from mistaken christian zeal, but simply to carry out the despotic resolve of the catholic church to rule the minds and consciences of all men through its popes and priesthood. it was the old battle commenced six centuries before. had henry not gone to canossa in , there had been no thirty years' war in ! [ ] for a comprehensive understanding of this period see chart of civilization in six centuries, "who, when, and what." chapter xi. for seven hundred years, from the treaty of verdun ( ), to charles v. ( ), germany had held the leading position in europe as the head of the "holy roman empire." the reality had been gradually departing from that alluring title; and now, with the peace of westphalia, it was gone. with a large body of its people accorded full rights, while they were engaged in open war upon the roman church, the last link binding germany to rome was broken. the holy roman empire was now the german empire. and, in very fact, it was no empire at all, but a loose confederacy of miniature kingdoms, administered without any regard to each other, and in great measure independent of imperial authority. great changes had taken place throughout europe. louis xiv. was king of france. in england charles i. had lost his throne and his head, and cromwell was laying the foundations of a power more enduring than that of tudor or stuart. spain was rapidly declining, and the new republic of holland ascending in the scale. sweden was supreme in the north, and russia just beginning to be recognized as a power in europe. venice and the italian republics were crumbling to pieces; while across the sea, on the coast of america, a few english, dutch, and swedish colonies were struggling into existence. richelieu was dead, but the fortunes of france were in the keeping of one quite as ambitious for her as was the great minister. there was a new aspirant for headship in europe. when ferdinand iii. died, louis xiv. tried hard to be elected his successor. he spent money freely among the electors, and was only defeated by the sturdy opposition of brandenburg and saxony. of the people of germany there is really nothing to tell in the years which followed the peace of westphalia. spiritless and disheartened in their ruined cities, they seemed to have lost all national spirit and even religious enthusiasm. they languidly saw the catholic hapsburgs becoming absolute in the land, while the court at vienna and the smaller german courts were absorbed in establishing servile imitations of the court at versailles. churches and schoolhouses were in ruins, but palaces were being built in which the fashions of the french court were closely imitated, and princes were trying to unlearn their native language and to install that of a cormorant french king, who was planning to devour their demoralized empire! the one exception among the german rulers of this time was frederick william of brandenburg, the "great elector." this incorruptible german lost no time in learning french. as soon as peace was declared he set about restoring his wasted territory. he organized a standing army and built a fleet, and he used them, too, to recover pomerania from sweden and to circumvent the french king, and so enlarged his boundaries and strengthened his authority that brandenburg, now next in size to austria, was treated with the respect of an independent power, and the name of hohenzollern began to shine bright even beside that of hapsburg. from the year until germany was the center of the grand monarch's ambitious designs. in , while prince eugene was leading a german army against the turks, and while german princes, excepting the great elector, were engaged in copying french fashions, two powerful french armies suddenly appeared upon the rhine, and the great war which was to involve all europe had commenced. it was not love for germany which brought holland, england, spain, and sweden into this war with france, but fear of the advancing power of a king who aspired to be supreme in europe. in the year , an event occurred which intensified the situation. charles ii., the last of the half castilian and half hapsburg kings of spain descended from charles v., died without children, and that country was looking for the next nearest heir in foreign lands from which to choose a new king. of the two it found, one was son of the emperor of germany and the other grandson of louis xiv. it was a choice of evils for europe; as in one case the german empire with spain annexed would be a preponderating power, as in the time of charles v.; and in the other, the grasping louis would be far on the road to the very end which europe had combined to defeat! inflammable oil, poured on fire, does not make a fiercer blaze than did this question of the _spanish succession_ at that time. the embarrassing thing for louis was that, when he had married the infanta, he had solemnly renounced the throne of spain for her heirs! but the pope, with whom the ultimate decision lay, had more need of the rising house of bourbon than of the waning hapsburg, so, after "prayerful deliberation," he concluded that the king might be absolved from that little promise, and that philip v. was rightful king of spain. there was rage in vienna. the emperor leopold i. and his disappointed son the archduke karl declared they would wrest the throne from philip and have vengeance upon louis, who with swelling pride was declaring that "the pyrenees had ceased to exist." when leopold called upon the german states to arm, the great elector of brandenburg was dead. but his son frederick took advantage of the opportunity. he would assist the emperor on one condition, that he be permitted to assume the title of king! an embarrassment arose in the fact that traditional custom permitted only one king among the electors (king of bohemia), and therefore the elector of brandenburg could not be also king of brandenburg. the difficulty was overcome by adopting for the new kingdom the name of his detached duchy of prussia, that province which had been snatched from russia by the teutonic knights long before, and had then been appropriated by that masterful hohenzollern who was then head of the order, as his own kingdom. it was this high-handed proceeding which thereafter inseparably linked the name of hohenzollern with that of prussia. so, in , the elector and his wife traveled in midwinter to königsberg, almost in the confines of russia, where he was crowned frederick i. of prussia, and then returned to berlin in brandenburg, which thereafter remained his capital. and so it was that prussia--the name of a small slavonic people on the frontier--became that of the entire kingdom of which berlin was the capital. england and holland were in alliance with leopold--not for the sake of setting up the hapsburg, but rather to put down the great bourbon who began to wear the prestige of invincibility. england entered the alliance languidly at first, but when the french king threw down the glove by recognizing the exiled stuart (son of james ii.) as the heir to her throne, she needed no urging and sent the best of her army into germany under the command of the man who was going to destroy that prestige of invincibility, and to hold in check the arrogant king. marlborough and prince eugene formed a combination too strong for louis. marlborough's great victory at blenheim in virtually decided the contest, although it continued for many years longer. he was created duke of marlborough and received the estate of blenheim as his reward. but the long war outlived the enthusiasm it had created. england grew tired of fighting for the hapsburgs; there were court intrigues for marlborough's downfall, and finally he was recalled, and cast aside like a rusty sword. louis, too, had grown old and weary, and so in the peace of utrecht terminated the long struggle. philip v. was left upon the throne of spain, with the condition that the crowns of spain and france should never be united. the disappointed archduke karl had now succeeded to the imperial throne as karl vi. if the life of a nation be in its people, there was really no germany at this time. there was nothing but a wearisome succession of wars and diplomatic intrigues, and new divisions and apportionments of territory. prussia was expanding and poland declining, while hungary and naples, and milan and mantua, were fast in the grasp of austria. indeed, to tell of the territorial changes occurring at this period is like painting a picture of dissolving elements, which form new combinations even as you look at them. at the north, too, there were these same changing combinations, where had arisen two new ambitious kings. charles xii. of sweden and peter the great of russia were at war; and denmark and poland were lending a hand to defeat the swedish king. peter the great was extending his baltic provinces and preparing to build his new capital of st. petersburg ( ); but charles xii. was defeated by prussia and hanover, in his attempt to make of sweden one of the great powers of europe. his death in ended that dream. not since the infamous irene's deposition at byzantium had there been a woman on the throne of the cæsars. when karl vi. issued the decree called the "pragmatic sanction," providing that the crown should descend to female heirs in the absence of male, he forged one of the most important links in the chain of events. this secured the succession to his little daughter maria theresa, who was born in . the link had need to be a strong one, for there were to be twenty years of effort to break it. but it held. at about this same time there was another important link forging in prussia, where frederick william i. had succeeded his father frederick i. as king. by these two events the long spell was to be broken. volumes have been written about this fierce, miserly king frederick william and his coarse brutalities. but his reign was the rough, strong bridge which led to a frederick the great, and the reign of the great frederick was that other bridge which led to a powerful and dominating kingdom of prussia,--from which was to spring a new german empire! if frederick william was a tyrant of the most savage sort, on the other hand he organized industry, finance, and an army. if he was a miser in his family, he brought wealth and prosperity to his people. if he beat and cudgeled his own son for playing the flute, he left that son a kingdom and an army which were the foundation of his greatness. his hatred for all that was french, for art, for the formalities and even the decencies of life, was an enraged protest against the prevailing affectations and artificiality of his time. we can imagine how the polished and refined court at vienna must have regarded this prussian king. austria, entirely catholic, in a state of moral and intellectual decline, sat looking backward and sighing for the return of the spirit of the middle ages. prussia, altogether protestant, had set her face toward a future which was to be greater than she dreamed. in maria theresa was married to francis of lorraine. in she succeeded her father karl vi., on the imperial throne; and that very same year frederick william of prussia died, and was succeeded by his son, who was to be known as frederick the great. through the barren period succeeding the thirty years' war some vital processes were going on; indeed that most vital of all processes, thought, was active. broken into fragments as by an earthquake, the people had been left without one healing touch from the hands of their infatuated rulers. it was a sorry spectacle to see those german princes gayly arraying themselves in french finery while their country was a ruin. did they not know that a wound might better not heal at all, than to begin by forming new tissue at the top! whatever capacity germany had for being, was in those neglected fragments. if she ever developed into greatness it must be along the line of their elemental tendencies, and by being german, not french. so a nation, helpless, broken, disorganized, out of harmony with itself and with others, could not act, but it could think. and in this time of chaos and confusion there commenced mighty stirrings in the thought of germany. slumbering in that chaos were the germs of wonderful music and a wondrous literature. the gloomy and despondent spinoza had found peace in discovering that the reality of things was not in political overturnings, nor in the disappointing facts and phenomena which we call life, but in the _eternal order_, of which we are all a part. he might have discovered the same sustaining truth in religion; but spinoza's mind led him to seek it instead in a philosophical system which should harmonize the discordant facts of existence. this was the foundation of german speculative philosophy, which took possession of the german mind and which by progressive steps was to lead to a union with a science, _founded_ upon the despised facts of life--and finally, whether they wished it or not--a harmonizing of both with religion. with deeply philosophical mind the great german, leibniz, was investigating the truths of the natural world; and handel also belongs to this time of soul-awakening during a period of national neglect and depression, while at this very time there was also borne in a stimulating wave from england, where newton had revealed the fundamental law and the "eternal _order_" of the _physical_ universe. it would seem like a dim twilight to us if we should go back to it now; but then these new lights were very dazzling, almost blinding people with their splendor. chapter xii. it was into such a world as this that frederick the great was ushered in . few children, be they princes or peasants, have ever had a more unhappy childhood. if he had not been born to be a king, frederick's tastes would have led him to be a musician or a poet. a son whose chief pleasures consisted in playing the flute, and reading french books, became an object almost of aversion to the austere frederick william. in the midst of severities past belief frederick obtained most of his education in secret, at the hands of french _émigrés_, who formed his taste after french models, the influence of which could be traced throughout his life. his passion for music was pursued also in the same secret way. the tyranny and the beatings to which he was subjected became at last so intolerable that, when he was eighteen years old, frederick determined to run away. his adored sister wilhelmine was his confidante. his bosom friend, lieutenant von katte, was his accomplice. a letter to von katte, written at this time, fell into other hands and was sent to the king. the barbarities which followed make one think this hohenzollern should have been in a madhouse instead of on a throne. it was a small matter that he beat his son until his face was covered with blood, for he had done that before; but he sent him as a prisoner of state to prussia. he then annulled the sentence of imprisonment passed by the court-martial upon von katte, and ordered his immediate execution. to inflict more suffering he ordered that the hanging take place before the window of the cell where his son was confined! when this was carried into effect the young prince fainted, and lay so long insensible that it was thought he was dead. the king then insisted that he be tried by court-martial; and when the court decided that it had no authority to condemn the crown prince, he overruled the decision and ordered his execution. the horror and indignation caused by this extended as far as vienna. the emperor charles vi. informed the king of prussia that the crown prince could only be condemned capitally at an imperial diet. the king answered, "very well; then, i will hold my own court on him at königsberg. prussia is my own and outside the confines of the empire, where i can do as i please." but the fury of this madman was abating. he did not resent it when a daring attendant reminded him that "god also ruled--even in prussia." finally he was satisfied with humiliating his son by making him work for one year in the lowest position in the departments of the government. at the wedding festivities of his sister wilhelmine, frederick secreted himself among the servants in humble attire. he was discovered, and the king, who must have been in a genial mood that night, pulled him forth from his hiding, and leading him to the trembling queen said, "here, madam, our fritz is back again!" and the reconciliation made three aching hearts glad. for the ten succeeding years frederick was permitted to reside in his own castle near potsdam, and the relations with his father became kinder and almost cordial. the son in his castle pursued his philosophical studies, corresponded with voltaire, and played the flute to his heart's content. but he did other things too, as the future demonstrated. the study of profound subjects, conversation, and intimate friendships with learned men, trained his active mind to wonderful acuteness, and when he applied this to the study of history, when he read of the dignity of kings, and of what stuff greatness was made in the past--he formed his own ideals for the future. when frederick william died in he was prepared to take the reins of government with a comprehensiveness of grasp of which his austere father was incapable, and with clearly defined plans to make prussia great. six months later maria theresa succeeded to her father's throne. she had no fear of this young flute-playing king of prussia, and was fully occupied in defending her own imperial rights, which were assailed by the elector of bavaria, who claimed to be emperor karl vii., by virtue of a descent superior to hers. but the war of the _austrian succession_, in which she was soon involved, was quickly overshadowed by a greater conflict, which was immediately commenced by the bold and ambitious young prussian king. he claimed, by virtue of some obscure transaction in the past, that silesia belonged to him. but he gallantly offered, if it was returned to him, to support maria theresa's cause in the fight with her kinsman of bavaria over the succession. the offer was rejected, and almost before the ink in the correspondence was dry, a prussian army, with frederick at its head, was in the heart of the disputed province. two characteristics marked frederick's movements--the perfect secrecy with which they were planned, and the swiftness with which they were carried out. he formed his own plans, and even his prime minister did not know of their existence until he was ordered to execute them. the cunning methods then prevailing in courts, by which foreign ambassadors defeated designs while they were maturing, were powerless against this young king, as none but himself knew what was going to happen. he gave his personal and unremitting care to every detail of government, and astonished his people by the prodigies of labor he performed, and the sacrifices of his time, rest, and comfort. of course this ancient wrong done his family in the matter of silesia was only a pretext. frederick had made up his mind at potsdam that prussia must be solidified by bringing together her detached provinces, and he had long ago drawn a new map in his mind, which should include silesia. nature had endowed him with a bold and aspiring genius. he had a consciousness of strength, combined with a belief that he was a chosen instrument appointed by fate to perform a definite work: the raising of prussia to the first rank in the german empire. when we see frederick's ideal of a despotic personal government, with a divinely appointed ruler leading his country to greatness, independent of ministers and advisers,--it is easy to recognize the model which is being studied by a certain young ruler in europe to-day! there was another strong personality on the throne at vienna. to have her crown threatened by a powerful combination, and at the same time a war of conquest waged against her in her own austria, was a heavy burden to be borne by a young girl of twenty-four years. but maria theresa maintained herself with astonishing bravery and firmness. she listened to the counsels of her ministers, and then decided for herself; even her husband francis being unable to sway her judgment. france, spain, and saxony sustained the claims of the bavarian archduke to her throne; and when a french army was on the danube and vienna threatened, she fled to hungary and made a personal appeal to the hungarian diet to stand by her. she promised the restoration of rights for which they had been contending, and by her personal charm and radiance captured the wavering nobles, who placed on her head the crown of st. stephen. they cheered wildly as she galloped up "the king's hill," and waved her sword toward the four quarters of the earth in true imperial fashion. then she appeared before the diet in their national costume with her infant son joseph in her arms, and in an eloquent speech depicted the dangers which beset her, and the enthusiastic nobles drew their sabers, shouting, "we will die for our _king_, maria theresa!" this saved vienna. the support of hungary arrested the advance toward the capital, and the invading army moved instead on to prague, where her rival was crowned king of bohemia, and later at frankfort was proclaimed emperor karl vii. while these distracting combinations were engrossing the young sovereign, frederick had invaded silesia, and when the second silesian war ended in , prussia held that province, and was enriched by large and small cities, and about villages. england, holland, and hanover now came to the support of maria theresa against karl vii. and his french ally. the wary frederick saw that, with such a coalition, austria's success was certain, and he also saw that, if victorious, her next step would be to try to recover silesia. so he offered to join france in support of karl vii., and threw himself into the war of the austrian succession. this lasted three years longer and was concluded by the peace of dresden ( ), which again confirmed prussia in the possession of silesia, left maria theresa's husband wearing the disputed imperial title as francis i., and to frederick left the more unique and renowned title of "the great," which was bestowed by acclamation on his return to berlin. frederick's first care was to heal the wounds inflicted by the two silesian wars. it is interesting to speculate upon what this man might have been, had his childhood been spent in an atmosphere of kindness and love, and had his heart and intelligence been symmetrically nurtured and trained. but he was trained as the tree is trained which is blasted in its youth by lightnings, then twisted and distorted by hands which defeat its natural tendency upward and sunward! an eager and impressionable boy with warm affections, acute intelligence, and a strong sense of justice had been subjected to inhuman barbarities in his own home. in his heart-hunger he turned to pursuits for which he had a passionate love, and was nourished in secret upon a poisonous diet. a nature which in the fire of his youth had been full of generous enthusiasms was embittered by suffering, and then became cold and cynical under the teachings of voltaire. so fascinated had he become with this man that he regarded him as the most exalted of beings, and his friendship a treasure above all others. faith, hope, love, and filial respect were, through this influence, destroyed in the germ before they had time to unfold; and in the place of everything sacred was a cynical cold-blooded search after what these philosophers of the eighteenth century were pleased to call--_truth_. and the way to discover this truth was to analyze, dissect, and then to demolish! so there had been created a strangely composite man, compounded of elements native to himself, to that undeveloped barbarian frederick william, and to voltaire! joined to a strong practical common sense in the management of affairs was a passion for insincere, unsound, and shallow french ideals. and combined with the most despotic and arbitrary of wills, was an inflexible regard for the right of the humblest. while he despised the beliefs of protestant and catholic alike, he declared "i mean that every man in my kingdom shall have the right to be saved in his own way." and he secured that right for his people, too! his rule was a despotism, but it was a despotism of intelligence and justice. he called himself the first official servant of the state, and no clerk in his kingdom gave such faithful service as he. he arose at four o'clock in the morning. he made himself personally acquainted with every village and landed estate in his kingdom, which he treated as if it were a great private enterprise and interest, for which he was responsible. he was a reformer without heart; a king intent upon the well-being of his people, without tenderness; a leader prepared, if need be, not to lead, but to drag prussia with a rough hand up the rugged path of virtue and prosperity; and determined to make his nation great, whether it wanted to be or not! there were many pleasanter companions and gentler fathers in his day. there were sovereigns who did not terrify wrong-doers and children on the street with uplifted canes. but this frederick, with character scarred and distorted, was the one man in europe who was converting a kingdom into a power, and the one man of his age whom history would call great! but such a being as this, one who has turned to adamant in heroic mold, cannot sympathetically comprehend the finer currents about him. there was going on, quite unnoticed by king frederick, an awakening in the german mind, and while he was building a structure of material greatness, there had commenced, unobserved by him, another structure, which was to be the chief glory of germany. the passion for speculative thought awakened by spinoza was stirring the german soul to its depths. kant had found that spinoza's _eternal order_ must be a _moral order_. that the moral instincts which guided mankind, and were the all in all, were the god in us, the in-dwelling of the divine. thus was embodied the essence of christianity in a new and speculative philosophy. klopstock and lessing were creating a national literature, which revealed for the first time the strength, resources, and unsuspected beauty of their own language, and which was for the first time being used to express a genius untouched by foreign influence. but all unconscious of this new, rushing stream of life, frederick was entertaining voltaire, spending his evenings in listening to the latest satirical verses of that vain and gifted frenchman, and laughing at the latest witty epigram from paris. it had been one of frederick's dreams, in his youth, to have his great friend some day reside in his court. in this was realized, and the king and the poet settled down to what was to be an everlasting banquet of sympathetic tastes and opinions, seasoned with mutual admiration and friendship! frederick felt that he was something of a poet himself, and that he was only prevented by cares of state from letting the world find it out. the wily frenchman had been the literary confidant of his royal friend, and many pages of verses had been submitted to him during their long correspondence, and had received flattering commendation from the great critic. so one of the pleasantest features in this closer companionship was expected to be this drop of honeyed praise to sweeten the evening after the day's work was done. but frederick's verses bored voltaire very much, and the royal host began to discover that his great guest was selfish, and cold, and jealous, and even malignant. the nimbus of fascination began to fade. he could be cutting and satirical as well as voltaire. the great poet was no less hungry for praise than he, and it was an easy matter to yawn and be bored by his verses, too. and so they became gradually estranged, and finally enemies. they parted in anger, and voltaire returned to france, to write bitter satires about the king, whose character and ideals he had been one of the chief agents in forming. there was then in germany a man whose glory was to outshine voltaire's or that of any contemporary in europe, even as the sun does the stars. but frederick's ear could not detect music in his own language, nor was his stunted soul attuned to the native and sublime harmonies of goethe's genius. chapter xiii. there had been a time when two nations in europe could fight each other to the death without disturbing their neighbors, but since there had developed in the sixteenth century that larger unity of european states, there was no such isolated security. so when, in , england and france came into collision over the boundaries of their american colonies, the shock was felt all over europe. just as the earthquake which swallowed up lisbon at that very time had made the shores of lake ontario tremble, so the peace of germany, which had lasted for eleven years, was broken by an event in far-off canada. the two contending parties, england and france, began after the fashion of the time to look about for allies. maria theresa, who had invitations from both countries to join them, was considering which could best serve her own private interests. england, since , had been ruled by hanoverian kings, which practically annexed her to hanover. it was by no means sure that she could get assistance from that nation in recovering silesia--which was to be the price of her alliance. she decided that her best policy was to secure the aid of louis xv., who would be glad to help her in her plans against frederick, in return for the assistance of austria in this war with england. as astute and profound as any statesman in europe, this wonderful empress adopted means and methods entirely feminine to carry out her immense design. she knew that elizabeth, empress of russia, was mortally offended with the king of prussia, on account of some disparaging remarks he had made about her, so she deftly used that to her own advantage. then--perfectly understanding how to reach the enslaved louis xv.--she wrote a flattering letter to mme. de pompadour, then in the full tide of her ascendency over the king. with the greatest secrecy these negotiations were carried on, and at last the compact between the three great powers was concluded and everything ready to commence a war upon prussia in the spring of ; even to the agreement as to the way in which they should cut up and divide among themselves the kingdom of prussia! frederick, through secret agents, was perfectly well informed of their plans. he saw that his ruin was determined upon, and could only be prevented by unhesitating courage. he determined to anticipate them. before the allied armies were ready, he made one of his catlike leaps into the neutral territory of saxony, and was in dresden, half way to prague, with seventy thousand men. this so disconcerted the plans of the allies that there was a pause, and conferences were held, in which it was concluded to ask sweden to join the coalition. finally, that almost forgotten body, the diet of the german empire, formally declared war against prussia, and the third silesian war, or the seven years' war, had commenced. as the avowed object of this great combination was not the recovery of silesia but the dismemberment of the kingdom, to deprive frederick of his royal title, and to reduce him to a simple margrave of brandenburg, it is easy to see the incentive he had to great deeds. england and a few small german states were his allies; but, as george ii. heartily disliked him, he received small assistance from him, and stood practically alone with half of europe allied against him. there were great victories and great defeats during the seven years which followed. there were times when the cause of prussia seemed lost, and other times when that of the allies appeared hopeless. but the tide of victory more often set toward frederick's standard than that of his adversaries. he defeated the austrians at prague; the imperial and french army at rossbach; a russian army at zorndorf; and these and a hundred other names stand in the annals of prussia for monumental courage, daring, and sacrifice. in the confused narrative of advancing and retreating armies, of battles and of slaughter, but one distinct impression remains. that is amazement--amazement that so many thousands were willing at the bidding of one ambitious man to die, to lay down their bodies in that heap of dead, for prussia's greatness to rise upon! that not one was ready to reproach him for having brought these calamities upon them for the sake of silesia; but instead, with twenty thousand still lying unburied upon one field, that they respond with infatuated enthusiasm to his appeal for more! but prussia owes her rise to just such infatuation as this. _acquisition_ and _conquest_ are written on her foundation stones, the chief of which were laid by her great frederick. it is pleasant to tell of peace once more. the allies, wearied of the long war, gradually withdrew from austria. being unable to carry it on alone, maria theresa was compelled to abandon her dream of ruining frederick. with bitterness of heart and humiliation she consented to give up silesia forever as the price of a peace she did not desire. in , the articles were signed (the peace of hubertsburg) and the seven years' war was over. frederick was now called "the great" throughout europe; and prussia took her place among the "five great powers." the next thing to be done was to repair the desolation left by seven years of war. nearly fifteen thousand houses were in ashes. so many men had been consumed in the army that there were not enough left to till the fields, nor horses to draw the harvest. the practical king, anticipating this, had been enforcing the cultivation of the much despised potato; and this useful tuber saved prussia and silesia from famine, and some of their neighbors as well. for as many as twenty thousand famishing people came from the trampled and burnt corn-fields of bohemia to feed upon the prussian potato and live. again the people set about the oft-repeated task of repairing the devastation of war. indeed for years they had always been either enduring the horrors of a great conflict, or healing its wounds and building up the waste places it had made. can we wonder that they were strong and serious? the weaklings were winnowed out by these great storms, and the chastened souls of those who survived knew little of pleasure. religion, which had once been their solace and refuge, had lost much of its power on account of the bitterness of sectarian strife. a few men groping for a solution of the problems of sin and suffering, and for the meaning of this troubled existence, thought they had found it in the new philosophy. france, under the teachings of voltaire and rousseau, had cast off the restraints of religious faith without providing any substitute, but germany, more provident, was building a spacious house for the soul's refuge when the old was demolished; untrammeled freedom of thought was inscribed upon its doors, and philosophy was enshrined within! all this tumultuous inner life was growth: the growth and unfolding of a great and earnest soul; and the awakening of new capacities for being and doing. there was a rapturous surprise in discovering these capacities, and speculative thought and literature became an absorbing passion. chapter xiv. at the close of the seven years' war, maria theresa had spent the twenty-three years of her reign in a fruitless struggle with frederick. instead of dismembering his kingdom and reducing him to a plain margrave of brandenburg, she had lost silesia and was compelled to listen to the praises of her enemy resounding through europe and to hear him called "the great." it was a bitter pill for her nine years later, when she had to confer with the prussian king as an equal, over the partition of poland, and to see him further enriched by a goodly slice of that unhappy country. but before that event, and just two years after the conclusion of the war, francis i. died ( ). he had worn the title, but she had wielded the power and guided the events ever since that day when, with her infant son in her arms, she had captured the hungarian diet at presburg. and now that son was joseph ii. but the scepter was still in reality to remain with her while she lived, and in fact her name was to be the last ray of splendor which should illumine the throne of austria. but these were sunset glories after a long and troubled day, while in prussia was the brightness of the dawn. that friendship with louis xv. so eagerly sought by maria theresa led to a very momentous alliance of a different sort. the empress and the french king together arranged a marriage between her fair young daughter marie antoinette and louis, the young dauphin of france. how should the empress of austria, born, nurtured, and fed in the very center of despotism--not hearing or heeding the current ideas about human rights and freedom--entirely misunderstanding the past, the present, and the future--how should she suspect the terrific forces which were accumulating beneath the throne of france, or that it would become a scaffold for her child? hapsburg and bourbon, to her mind, were realities as fixed and enduring as the alps. she saw no special significance in the fact that thirteen english colonies in america were in rebellion and setting up a novel form of government for themselves. that was england's affair, not hers, and would in time, like other rebellions against properly constituted authority, be put down. she did not live to see the end of this struggle, nor the events to which it led in france. her death occurred in . her son, joseph ii., strange to say, was imbued with the new ideas of human rights. great was the astonishment of frederick and of europe, when this young man set about the task of establishing a new and progressive order of things in austria; and it was a strange spectacle to behold a hapsburg trying to force upon his people reforms they did not desire, and rights which they did not know how to use. his plans were high and noble, but he failed to see that they were too sweeping and too suddenly developed to be permanent. his people were not ripe for emancipation from old shackles, which they had grown to like and venerate. in striving to free the church from the jesuits, and to emancipate the serfs in hungary, he had accomplished nothing, and had created chaos. depressed by the failure in his great design of reformation, joseph's health gave way. he died in and was succeeded by his brother leopold ii. it is not to be supposed that frederick felt much sympathy with the free young republic established in america. and if he sent a sword of honor to washington in , it was because he recognized the greatness of the man; and perhaps, too, because he felt a malicious pleasure in the humiliation of george iii.! the intellectual awakening which this king had failed to understand had wrought a mighty change in germany. lessing had been the first to break away from an enfeebling imitation of french _sentimentlalism_. the genius of goethe and schiller awakened a new spirit in literature, that of _romanticism_, and there commenced that intellectual convulsion known as _sturm und drang_, or storm and stress period. while goethe and schiller were supreme in the kingdom of letters, herder and the schlegels were great in history and criticism; humboldt and ritter in geographical science; fichte, hegel, schelling, and kant in philosophy; fouqué and tieck in imagination, and jean paul richter in the mysterious ether of transcendental thought. when karl august called goethe to his court in saxe-weimar, among that group of other illustrious authors, and gave to weimar the name of the "german athens," it was a golden age for germany. it is interesting to recall that it was luther who gave the first impulse to this movement, by revealing to the people the riches of their own tongue. in his translation of the bible, and in his hymns, so grandly simple, he created the modern german language. the influence of luther was felt in another art, too. the enthusiasm awakened by the singing of his hymns revolutionized the form of ecclesiastical music. in this golden age in germany music, too, had become a great art, with such immortal names as mozart, gluck, haydn, and beethoven; and the period of great orchestration also had commenced.[ ] although frederick's tastes led him so strongly to letters and to music, these two arts had attained this rich development in germany without any assistance from him. when he died in the monument he left was a kingdom of prussia; equal in rank with any of the great powers of europe, enlarged in territory, rich in population, with a great army and an overflowing treasury. as frederick the great had no son, this splendid inheritance passed to his nephew frederick william ii. with the new ascendency of prussia in the german empire, a process which had long been going on was accelerated. that empire had become a fiction, a form from which the substance had long ago departed; almost its only remaining relic being an imperial diet, where thirty solemn old men supposed they were holding the venerated structure together by weaving about it, and repairing, the thin, worn threads of tradition. the german empire had in its best time existed by grace of god and force of circumstances, more than by reason of a sound and perfect organism. it always struggled with fatal inherent defects. its life currents never flowed freely and had been growing more and more sluggish for centuries. and now, they had ceased to flow at all. there was no vital relation whatever between its various parts. of national feeling there was absolutely none. lessing, one of the greatest germans of that time, said, "of the love of country i have no conception!" and what was there to inspire patriotism in this great empty shell of despotism! the shattered lifeless old structure was wrong at its very foundation. it was built upon feudal injustice; that injustice which compelled the people to bear the whole burden of taxation, from which it exempted the nobility and the clergy. england had long ago redressed this grievous wrong. france was just preparing to free herself from it by a tremendous convulsion. germany had been offered emancipation at the hands of her enlightened and gracious emperor joseph, but so spiritless and benumbed had she become that she could not understand his message. he was attempting a vain task in trying to infuse new life into the empire. there were no living channels to convey the current. the only thing to be done with it was to sweep it away--and the man and the time for doing this were close at hand. the surface calm which existed while leopold ii. was repairing the disorder left by his reforming brother joseph, was the calm which precedes the hurricane. [ ] see chart of civilization in six centuries, "who, when, and what." chapter xv. the energies which were to transform the face of europe had been gradually centering in france. they commenced when voltaire and rousseau made it the fashion to scoff at the church. then, as religion and morality are closely allied, virtue became also a subject of ridicule. the spirit animating this was supposed to be a reforming spirit. it was an effort to free the people from the fetters of ecclesiasticism. naturally, this led to assaults upon other fetters, other prevailing abuses. the vices of the court were held up to view--its extravagance and luxury; all of which people were reminded that _they_ had to pay for. just at this time the colonies in north america threw off the english yoke because of this very matter of taxation unjustly imposed, and france enthusiastically helped them to establish a free republic and to humiliate her rival! frenchmen returned from the united states and contrasted the fresh vigor and purity of its institutions with the decrepit corruptions in france. the current began to flow very swiftly now. a richelieu or a louis xiv. would have been powerless to arrest the mad forces which quickly developed. what could the feeble, well-intentioned louis xvi. do! he was like a skiff caught in the rushing rapids of the niagara river. it was only a question of how long he could hold on to passing twigs and branches before he should go over the precipice. in europe read with shuddering horror of his execution, and nine months later maria theresa's daughter--the beautiful, the adored marie antoinette--sat in a cart with her arms pinioned behind her, as she was driven to the scaffold. the men who had guided this storm in its beginnings had themselves been engulfed in it, and a french republic was proclaimed which had been erected upon a tragedy unparalleled in europe. it was a horrible avenging of centuries of wrong and oppression. but its purpose was thoroughly accomplished. no vestige of the old tyrannies remained. if france was again enslaved, the fetters would have to be forged anew! the powers of europe were not only filled with horror and indignation at the means by which this was accomplished, but they saw with alarm a pestilential republic, in imitation of that one across the sea, at their very doors. they formed a combination, called the first coalition, for its overthrow. if the states of europe had really acted in concert, the life of the new republic would have been very brief. but austria was jealous of prussia, and prussia was jealous of the close friendship forming between austria and england, withdrew from the alliance, and made peace with the french republic. catherine, empress of russia, for reasons of her own also declined to join the coalition. while all europe was thus engaged she thought it a good time to settle some scores with the turks and to look after poland, where a revolution was in progress. so, while the german empire was engaged in suppressing republicanism in france, frederick william ii. of prussia offered his services to catherine to overthrow the independence of poland. kosciusko vainly defended that unhappy country. with the fall of warsaw, , it ceased to exist as one in the family of nations. so austria had been left practically alone to put down the new republic, which was developing wonderful strength while these languid and inefficient efforts were being made against it; for even austria was diverted by what was going on in poland, and fearful that she was not going to get her share of the spoils. marie antoinette's brother leopold had died the year before his sister's execution and his son francis ii. was emperor of germany. the government of this new republic which had caused such a stir in europe was a very simple affair. five men who were called directors were at its head, and an obscure young man of twenty-six, named napoleon bonaparte, had been given command of the army, with italy as its field of operations. no doubt francis thought it would be an easy matter to deal with france after the more important matter of the partition of poland was disposed of. little did he suspect that the time was approaching when he would, at the bidding of that young man, take off his imperial crown, and that napoleon bonaparte would rise to ascendency in europe upon the ruins of the german empire. in the young corsican led a ragged, unpaid army into italy. without supplies, and almost without ammunition, he had audaciously planned to make the invaded country pay the expenses of the war waged against it. he pointed to the italian cities, and said to his soldiers, "there is your reward. it is rich and ample; but you must conquer it." he knew the french character and how in words brief, concise, forcible to address them like another cæsar addressing his legions; to create incentives to glory, and to inspire enthusiasm as never man did before. he also knew the infirmities of his adversaries, and how to play upon them as cæsar did upon the rivalries and jealousies of the gauls, and so to make the characteristics of frenchmen, of german, and of italian all serve him. he knew how to confound the enemy with new and unexpected methods, which rendered unavailing all which military science and experience had before taught. in a brief time central italy lay open before him, and princes, trembling at his vengeance, were suing for peace and offering money and treasure to procure it. even then he was planning to make of paris another rome, and to adorn her with the jewels which had been worn by the proud italian cities. so he demanded rare collections of paintings as the price of safety. the duke of parma laid at his feet priceless treasures of art; and even the pope purchased neutrality by the payment of twenty-one million francs, one hundred costly pictures, and two hundred rare manuscripts. when the treaty of campo formio was signed in , napoleon had won fourteen battles, and had subjugated italy. the german empire had lost all of its italian possessions, which were now grouped together into a cisalpine republic, under the protectorship of france. another helvetic republic was set up in switzerland under the same protectorate. and then napoleon scornfully tossed venice as an apple of discord into the lap of the emperor, in exchange for the netherlands. and another republic under a french protectorate was created in holland. as the left bank of the rhine had already been ceded to france, that country, which had been only four years before in a state of political chaos, was at the head of europe. what would she not do at the bidding of the man who could accomplish such things? he dramatically conceived the idea of crippling england by threatening her asiatic possessions, and led an army into egypt. there every bulletin, every address to his army, added to the glamour of his name. even the pyramids were made to serve his consummate art and ambition! although his fleet was destroyed by nelson and his army left in perilous position, he was needed at home, and returned with all the arrogance of a conqueror. he was appointed generalissimo over the army by an enraptured france, and then swept aside the five directors and appointed himself and two others consuls. a second coalition was now formed against france, consisting of england, russia, and austria, and there followed another campaign in which napoleon made permanent the results of the previous ones in italy. by the treaty of peace in , the three republics created by him were formally recognized, and the princes of germany, in compensation for their losses, had apportioned among them the dominions of the priestly rulers. thus at one blow were abolished one hundred states governed by archbishops, bishops, and other clerical dignitaries, and one of the foundation stones of the empire, laid by charlemagne himself, was shattered. this extraordinary man, dreaming of universal empire, superstitiously believed that fate intended him to hold europe in his hand. but we can see now that he was designed by that remorseless fate for a very different purpose, and a very brief office. he was a terrible instrument, which she intended to use for one specific purpose, and then to cast him aside. this work was the destruction of the romano-germanic empire. that lifeless mass, whose oppressive weight had crushed the life and hope out of central europe for centuries, needed some tremendous force from without to break up its time-encrusted rivets. and that force was now in the hands of a workman who supposed he was engaged in rearing a great edifice for himself. instead of which he was overturning, and plowing, and harrowing germany, and preparing the ground for new forms of political life; and nothing more effectually pulverized the old tyrannies than this secularization of the priestly dominions. when, added to this, we see the extinction of a multitude of petty states and the abolition of the special privileges of nearly a thousand "imperial" noble families, we realize how he was relieving germany from the incubus which had paralyzed her for centuries. chapter xvi. the eighteenth century closed upon a strangely altered europe. france was the ruling power on the continent. prussia had hidden herself in a timid neutrality, and left austria to fight with foreign allies for the life of the empire. that battle had been a losing one, and now francis ii. sat upon a trembling throne and bore a title which had no longer any meaning. but napoleon was building his own edifice. in he had himself declared first consul for life, and in he assumed the title of napoleon, emperor of the french. his coronation took place at paris, where he compelled the pope to come and perform that ceremony. then, after changing the groups of italian republics into a kingdom of italy, he crowned himself, after the fashion of the emperors whose successor he meant to be, with the iron crown of lombardy. he had entered upon the most daring scheme ever attempted in europe: to convert the whole continent into one vast empire, with the kings and princes over the several nations all subject to him. then there was a third coalition from which prussia still held aloof, and which was composed of england, austria, russia, and sweden. alexander i. was now emperor of russia, and the timorous and unpatriotic policy of prussia was guided by frederick william iii., who had succeeded his father frederick william ii. the prussian king, influenced by antagonism to austria and by the hope of obtaining safety and reward for prussia, stubbornly maintained his attitude of neutrality, while the german empire was receiving its death-blow at austerlitz. that "battle of the three emperors," as it is called, was a paralyzing defeat to the allies. prussia ignominiously received hanover as her reward, and seventeen german states, including bavaria, baden, würtemberg, and hesse-darmstadt, formally separated themselves from the german empire and declared themselves subject to the french emperor. this was known as the rheinbund. the german empire was now reduced to three separate bodies: the rheinbund, a federation of states giving willing allegiance to napoleon; _prussia_, practically in alliance with her destroyer; and _austria_, helpless in that destroyer's grasp, while he, sitting in the imperial palace at vienna, dictated terms of peace. the empire was broken beyond repair. on the th of august its dissolution was formally announced. francis ii. abdicated the imperial crown and assumed the title of the "emperor of austria." it was not the people of prussia who bartered their allegiance to the fatherland for peace and for hanover. it was their king and princes who brought this stain upon them, and their beautiful queen louise, mother of the late emperor william, had pleaded in vain with the king to pursue a loyal and patriotic course. the punishment came swiftly. the insatiate conqueror had no thought of leaving a great state like prussia undisturbed. and soon it developed that his plan was also to create a northern bund under his protectorate, which would be composed of the prussian states on the northern coast. forced in her own defense to take up arms, prussia suffered a terrible defeat at jena, . the conqueror for whose friendship frederick william had sacrificed his country was in berlin. the beautiful prussian queen who, he knew, had used her influence against him, was treated with the grossest insolence, while for the cowed people recently in revolt, and now prostrating themselves, he did not restrain his contempt. the peace of tilsit ( ) determined the full measure of prussia's retribution. her polish acquisitions were made into a "grand duchy of warsaw," under a french protectorate. one half of the rest of her territory was converted into a kingdom of westphalia, over which napoleon's brother jerome was king. to the remainder of prussia was assigned the burden of an immense indemnity, and the maintenance of a french army in her territory. but the cup of humiliation was not drained until later when, standing with the continent under his feet, napoleon compelled the prussian king to join the rheinbund with what was left of his kingdom, to furnish france with troops, and thus to become tributary to his designs upon europe. napoleon in the meantime, in an hour's interview with alexander of russia, had by the magic of his influence secured that emperor's friendship. all this excellent man was fighting for was the peace of europe! and he disclosed to alexander his plan that they two should be the eternal custodians of that peace; which was to be secured by restraining the arrogance of england; and that was to be done by destroying her commercial prosperity. all of europe was to be forbidden to trade with that country. there was to be a continental blockade against a "nation of shopkeepers." alexander was completely won, and he promised not to molest his new friend in his benevolent task. the provinces dependent upon france were now divided up into kingdoms and principalities, and to make his own control over them more assured, napoleon placed members of his own family and personal friends upon the various thrones. his brother louis was created king of holland. his brother-in-law murat was made king of naples; eugene beauharnais, his step-son, viceroy of italy. jerome bonaparte, as we have seen, was king of westphalia, and his brother joseph he had already made king of spain, in the time he could spare from more important matters in germany. and what was the real sentiment in germany concerning this man at such a time? we hear that ninety german authors dedicated books to him and that servile newspapers were praising him; and we know that one of the immortal compositions of beethoven was inspired by him. but we must recollect that he was too colossal and too dazzling to be accurately measured, except from a distance. even yet we are almost too near to him for that, and the world is as divided in its estimate of napoleon as of the true meaning of shakspeare's "hamlet." it is an eternal controversy. he was a monstrous creation; colossal in his plans, colossal in his grasp of the forces about him, colossal in ambition, in selfishness, in cruelty, and in intelligence. napoleon realized the value of hereditary grandeur. he had been able to climb without it; but the sons who would succeed him as masters of christendom must have the dignity of ancestry to fortify them. no blood but the hapsburg was fit for this great office. he swept away josephine as remorselessly as he had the pope in rome, and compelled francis ii. to bestow his daughter marie louise upon the man who had stripped him of his crown and his empire, and who was steadily absorbing what remained of his dignity. the marriage took place in , and with his hapsburg empress, napoleon established a temporary court at dresden. then there commenced the process which was intended finally to engulf all the separate german kingdoms in one universal abyss. the kingdom of holland was first annexed to the french empire; then north germany was swallowed up in the same way; the same fate evidently being intended next for the rheinbund. the satellites had begun to fall into the sun! chapter xvii. to the man guiding these astounding changes it seemed a very small matter then that a handful of tyrolese peasants were in revolt against the french king in bavaria; nor that a small group of philosophers, poets, and men of letters, were consulting together in prussia over the shame of their betrayal by their rulers, and considering plans for guiding a popular movement for the emancipation of germany. but these were the first stirrings of a force napoleon had not before had to contend with. he had fought with kings and princes and proud aristocracies clinging to their ancient splendor and possessions, but his armies had never been face to face with _patriotism_. he had not met it, because it did not exist in the german empire until he himself made its existence possible by breaking up the old stifling tyrannies. now a few patriotic and courageous men all over germany were combining, and inciting the people to revolt; an association called "the league of virtue" was created. then the tyrolese peasants were subdued and their leader hofer was shot in cold blood by napoleon's orders. the king of prussia was ordered to suppress the "league of virtue," and french spies supposed they were uprooting patriotism by reporting it as treason to france. napoleon was at this moment at the climax of his greatness. he decreed that rome should be annexed to his empire, and that his infant son should receive the title "king of rome," which title should thereafter belong to the oldest son of the french emperor. what if this did bring curses upon his name? he was now beyond the reach of blessings or curses from men; and probably was rather pleased than otherwise when alexander i. threw off their sentimental friendship and defied him, by abandoning the plan of a continental blockade for the ruin of england. now he was free to develop his gigantic plan. does anyone suppose that the conquest of russia was all of that plan? far from it! there is every reason to believe that it was his intention, after russia was subdued, to press on into asia and to expel the english from their precious india! not since the days of attila had there been seen such an army as was led into russia--six hundred thousand men, of whom only one out of twenty was ever to return! and was it the lives of frenchmen that he was spending so lavishly? not at all. this great host was composed chiefly of germans, austrians, prussians, saxons, bavarians, swiss, who should have been fighting for their own liberation at home. lest prussia should revolt in his absence the wary napoleon garrisoned that kingdom with sixty thousand french troops, and took the sons of prussia with him for the great human sacrifice in russia. it was the th of september when the great army moved. on and on they marched for two months through a silent and deserted land, only to reach at last a mysteriously silent city. had a whole people fled at his approach? napoleon took up his quarters in the kremlin. suddenly fires broke out in a hundred places. the city became a roaring furnace. in vain did they try to stay the conflagration. in a few hours moscow, his rich prize, was a mass of ruin and ashes. napoleon waited for a message from alexander begging for peace; but none came. then the snowflakes began to fall and fierce winds began to sweep down from the north. at length his stubborn pride had to bend. he sent his messengers to alexander--still there was no answer. provisions were failing, and there were leagues and leagues of deep and white snow between him and food for his famishing soldiers. then the russians came. how could this starved, benumbed, frightened wreck of a great army stand before the cossacks? the story of that "retreat" could never be written. men, hollow-eyed and gaunt with misery, flung away their arms and fought with each other like wolves for a morsel of bread or a dead horse. on the th of december napoleon quietly slipped away, leaving the freezing, famishing victims of his ambition to make their own way back as they could; knowing that for all, save a fragment, of that mighty host the snow must be a winding sheet. when frederick william iii. accepted that last humiliation and sent a prussian army in the train of the conqueror to fight his battles, while frenchmen guarded prussians at home, the indignation was deep and wide-spread. three of his best generals, blücher and two others, resigned. the prussian contingent in the great invading army, which was under general york, had escaped many of the horrors of the retreat; and had returned with seventeen thousand out of the sixty thousand which had entered russia. this prussian commander, as soon as he crossed the line with his soldiers, on his own responsibility abandoned the french and arranged a treaty of neutrality with the russian general. frederick disavowed the act, but it was received by the people of prussia with wild enthusiasm. york called an assembly together at königsberg, and boldly ordered that all men capable of bearing arms should be mustered into the prussian army. the force of public sentiment revealed by this was too overwhelming for the king to oppose. it swiftly swelled into a popular uprising in which all classes took part. it was the first great patriotic movement in germany; and to prussia belongs the glory of having initiated it. it was the prussian people who converted their whole male population into an army and their country into an arsenal, and with one voice, and animated by one heart, refused longer to bear the degradation put upon them by their king. hitherto the people had been led by their rulers. now for a brief time they were going to be leaders, reluctantly followed by kings and princes. within five months two hundred and seventy thousand men were under arms and frederick had been obliged to declare war against the emperor of the french, in alliance with russia and sweden. austria remained neutral, but the rheinbund, with only two exceptions, still held to france. napoleon by the irresistible magic of his influence assembled an army nearly as large as the one he had just sacrificed in russia. the campaign opened in april ( ). by june his star seemed to be waning, and austria offered to mediate a peace. napoleon insulted metternich, who brought the proposals, and francis ii. joined the allies against his son-in-law. in october the end arrived. the battle of leipzig was to the people of germany what jena and austerlitz had been to napoleon. the news of this great victory was electrifying. from the baltic to the alps the air resounded with rejoicings. there are no persuasions needed to make people leave a sinking ship. jerome bonaparte fled from his kingdom of westphalia--the rheinbund dissolved--holland, switzerland, italy fell away. wurtemberg joined the allies and the great movement for emancipation became national, not prussian. the allied princes offered to napoleon that the rhine, the alps, the pyrenees, and the sea should be the frontiers of france. still believing in his invincibility, he scorned the proposition. his star had certainly deserted him, for while he was collecting his broken forces in germany, and while hope was reviving over small victories, the allied armies, unknown to him, were advancing on paris! he learned it too late. history holds no picture more powerfully impressive than that of this man waiting at fontainebleau, twelve leagues from paris, still believing in his power to retrieve, and unconscious that he is already deposed! and the magic of his influence, the power of the spell he cast over mankind, is illustrated by the fact that even now, knowing him to have been a tyrant and a scourge as we do, rejoicing in his defeat as we must, we still cannot look at that picture without a moistened eye and almost a regret at his downfall! alexander, and frederick william, and the allied armies were in paris, which had capitulated, and at their bidding had consented to the deposition of napoleon. on the th of april, , louis xviii., brother of the murdered louis, was proclaimed king of france, and to the man who had been master of europe was assigned--the island of elba on the coast of italy. but in march of the following year, while sovereigns were still wrangling over the disorder he had left, and while talleyrand was scheming for his new master as faithfully as he had for the old, the startling news came that napoleon had landed in france. louis xviii. vanished into thin air before the man whom the people were receiving with wild acclamations of delight. europe again united, and again napoleon was seen advancing, as of old, with a great army. blücher was in command of one division of the allied armies and wellington of the other. the battle of waterloo began on the morning of the th of june, . to england was to belong the glory of napoleon's final downfall. wellington accomplished his defeat, and then blücher came in time to make that defeat an annihilation. the mistake of the year before was not to be repeated. from that moment until his death at st. helena, in , napoleon was a prisoner and an exile. he had finished the work he had been appointed to do, and fate had flung him aside! chapter xviii. now came the difficult task of reconstruction and redistribution of territory. in what form should they arise out of this chaos? the dream of the people, like that of hermann eighteen hundred years before, was of a german unity; not a renewal of the empire, but a great and new national life, in some firmer and truer form than it had yet known. but these were only dreams, vague and without any practical ideas as to their realization. in the meantime men well versed in the arts and tricks of governing were deciding how all should be arranged. the plan proposed by metternich, that master of diplomacy, who was minister to the emperor of austria, was the one adopted. there was to be a confederation of thirty-nine german states. the _act of union_, by which this was effected, had a pleasant sound to the ear of the german people. but the union existed only in a mutual defense against foreign foes, and a mutual aid in keeping the people of germany well in check! the one outward and visible expression of this _unity_ was in a _general diet_, to be held at frankfort, under the presidency of austria! and this was what the _people_ who had liberated their country were to receive as their reward! they were in no way recognized; were to possess no political power; the right of suffrage was not bestowed, and the diet was prohibited from making any change in this form of confederation, except by a _unanimous_ (_!_) vote. the german people were practically effaced and lost sight of in an autocratic confederation of states, with the austrian empire at its head. that empire had received back its italian possessions. prussia had recovered westphalia and her territory on the rhine, and given up her polish territory to russia. belgium and holland had been merged into a kingdom of the netherlands. saxony, wurtemberg, and bavaria, which states had been made kingdoms by napoleon, were permitted to remain such. switzerland was a republic; and by the successful diplomacy of talleyrand, alsace and lorraine, those insecure possessions, passed to france. such were some of the territorial adjustments. that the rulers of these kingdoms were reactionary in their purposes soon became apparent. one of the first acts of the king of wurtemberg was to court-martial and cashier the general who had gone over to the german side at the battle of leipzig! if none had gone over to the german side, where would have been the kingdom of wurtemberg? in mecklenburg the people were openly declared serfs. the elector of hesse-cassel gave evidence that he was looking backward by putting his soldiers into the dress of the last century and powdered queues, and almost without exception the sovereigns were trying to construe the provisions of the _act of union_ in a way to give the least liberty to the german people. the currents of german thought and feeling move slowly, but they are deep and persistent. they had never been intemperate in their desires for freedom, but had simply asked for a government which should be more in conformity with the existing views of human rights. their disappointment had been profound and bitter. the fathers earnestly talked over their wrongs at home, while their more fiery sons at the universities made speeches, sang songs, and banded themselves together into societies, with mottoes and badges and insignia, all under the same inspiring ideas,--union and freedom. this began to look like revolution. the freedom of the press was abolished. the formation of societies among students and mechanics was prohibited, and the universities were placed under the immediate control of the government. a savage police system was established. hundreds of young men were thrown into prison, and hundreds more fled the country. but while this repression produced a calm surface, it did not change the conditions beneath. in the meantime a "holy alliance" had been formed between russia, austria, and prussia, for the purpose of repressing aspirations toward liberty in other lands, where this pestilential modern spirit was also rife. but in there was a popular uprising in france. charles x., another brother of the murdered louis, had been pursuing a reactionary policy precisely similar to the one employed by the sovereigns in germany. it was too late to do that in france. the people with small ceremony flung the bourbon aside, and set up a constitutional monarchy with louis philippe at its head. this stirred anew the latent feeling in germany. the people did not rise in a body, but so threatening did it appear that the diet quickly yielded certain reforms and concessions for fear of more extreme resistance. francis ii. died in , and was succeeded by an almost imbecile son, ferdinand i. in frederick william iii. of prussia also died, and frederick william iv., his son, became king. metternich was now guiding the affairs of austria, and william von humboldt was the adviser of the new prussian king, who inspired the people with a hope of better things. but while this king fostered science and art, he gave little care to the redressing of political wrongs, and things drifted toward a crisis. again a revolution in france reacted upon germany. in , louis philippe was cast aside as unceremoniously as had been his predecessor, and a republic was proclaimed, with louis napoleon, nephew of the great napoleon, at its head. this new bonaparte was a son of louis bonaparte, whom his imperial brother had made king of holland. he married hortense, the daughter of josephine. so fate intended that a child of the discarded josephine, and not of napoleon, should rule over france. the proclamation of a republic in france awoke the slumbering forces of revolution in europe. not in one place, nor in two, did the fires spring up, but simultaneously in every german state. hungary, led by kossuth, was in revolt, and fighting to the death to be freed from the hapsburgs. in italy victor emmanuel, the young king of sardinia, was trying to drive the austrian governor of milan out of the kingdom, and when checked, he shook his sword at the advancing austrians and said prophetically, "_there shall yet be an italy!_" and while these things were going on in italy and in hungary, men were fighting in the streets of vienna. the ozone of freedom had penetrated even to that last stronghold of despotic sentiment. the emperor ferdinand abdicated in this time of agitation, and his young nephew, francis joseph, ascended the austrian throne. the things the people were demanding in every state were: freedom of speech and of the press; the right of every man to bear arms; of all to assemble when and where they liked for political or other purposes; trial by jury; and the abolition of the hated diet, with a complete reorganization of the state governments. the princes were terrified. it seemed as if their expulsion, like that of louis philippe, was at hand. and so it was, and would have ensued, had the people known their power or how to use it. but gradually the opportunity was lost. concessions were made, new liberties were gained, but the _unity_ they hungered for was to come in another and unexpected way, and for ten years the confederation was to exist practically unchanged. still, although the fruits of their efforts seemed meager in comparison with what had been hoped, there had been one great concession made. the diet, under the pressure of the crisis, had consented to steps which led finally to the formation of a national parliament. when that parliament met at frankfort, german patriots believed the hour of liberation had struck. full of hope and confidence they thought the end was attained, when six hundred men of character and intelligence came together to formulate a new plan of union based upon _the sovereignty of the people_! but such a task requires something more than patriotism and enthusiasm, and theoretic views about human rights. it needs practical political experience, and clearly defined plans for action. after vainly trying to harmonize conflicting opinions a plan of union was finally adopted, and frederick william iv. was elected "hereditary emperor of germany." all save the smaller states refused to accede to the proposed plan, and frederick william himself declined the proffered title, saying, "they forget that there are princes still in germany, and that i am one of them." so the attempt at reorganization was a miserable failure, and the national parliament gradually dissolved. in the meantime the revolutionary fires in europe had burned out. hungary was again submissive in the grasp of the hapsburgs, and austria was also once more supreme in italy; while the french republic, which had lighted this conflagration, had become a monarchy. the national party had developed no great leader, had shown no ability to grasp its opportunity. the people, disheartened and in sullen disappointment, saw the old bund-diet restored at frankfort, in , and found themselves back in a slightly improved and amended confederation, still under the headship of austria. then louis napoleon's assumption of imperial power, in , gave renewed strength to the german rulers. it demonstrated the instability of popular governments, and the sure return to the good old methods of their fathers, as soon as the temporary madness of the people had subsided. so all things conspired to depress aspiration and to make the hopes awakened in a tantalizing delusion. it was not night, but it was a very dark and dreary day for patriotism in germany. the country was under a spell which no one knew how to break. in frederick william iv. was stricken with apoplexy, and his brother, prince william, was appointed prince regent. the new emperor of the french, with oppressive sense of the greatness of his name, was looking about for opportunities to be napoleonic. in he had formed an alliance with england against russia. the fact of the alliance of itself gave weight to the rather flimsy fabric of his greatness, while the results of the crimean war added much to its solidity. in the year italy was vainly struggling to free herself from the grasp of austria. mazzini, the exalted dreamer, and garibaldi, the soldier and patriot, with cavour, the no less patriotic statesman, though with different ends in view, were working together for the destruction of the austrian yoke, which must be preliminary to any form of italian nationality. the astute statesman saw in the ambition of napoleon iii. a means to that end. when napoleon promised an "italy free from the alps to the apennines," and when the splendid victory of magenta was quickly followed by that of solferino, and when the young francis joseph, with tears in his eyes, ordered the retreat of his defeated army over the mincio, the dream of centuries seemed about to be realized. then came the startling news that the two emperors were in consultation at villafranca over the terms of peace! venice was not to be liberated. there was to be a consolidation of the italian kingdoms "under the honorary presidency of the pope"--whatever that meant--and a "general amnesty" was declared. it was with sullen rage that the disappointed patriots saw nice and savoy handed over to france, and rome garrisoned with french troops, while a french emperor was posing as the liberator of an italy which was not liberated! but although the mills of the gods were moving slowly, they were going to grind exceeding fine. victor emmanuel and a regenerated italy were not far off, and for germany there was at hand a new era. frederick william iv. died, and in william i. was crowned king of prussia. chapter xix. king william's youth was far behind him. he had already spent a long life (sixty-four years) and had never expected to occupy a throne. he had not the brilliant qualities of his brother, he did not concern himself much about science or letters; but he was profoundly impressed with the responsibilities of his position; and it at once became apparent that prussia had a wise and sagacious king, who would make her well-being his sole care and ambition. his first act was a thorough reorganization of the army. then he looked about him for a man wise enough and strong enough for him to lean upon. baron otto von bismarck-schönhausen had just returned from st. petersburg, where he had been prussian ambassador. he was a conservative of the extreme type, hated and feared by the liberal and national party no less than metternich. but no man better than he comprehended the policy of austria, and all the complicated threads composing the web of german politics. the choice of this man for minister to the king augured ill for the liberals. the outlook had never been darker than at this hour before the dawn. but great political storms, like storms of another sort, are full of surprises. the ominous storm clouds we have feared roll away and vanish in calm, and the little ones, not larger than a man's hand, suddenly expand and darken our sky. a fateful storm was gathering for germany in the duchy of schleswig-holstein. of the nature of the schleswig-holstein entanglement someone (was it beaconsfield?) wittily said that there were only two men in europe who understood it, himself and another; and the other was dead. but that was a mistake. there was a man in prussia who understood it, and who lived to use it for his own far-reaching designs. the principal threads in the tangled web were as follows: the two adjacent dukedoms of schleswig and holstein, which constitute a sort of natural bridge about miles long and miles wide, between denmark and prussia, are, by the way, the land of nativity for the anglo-saxon race, the angles having inhabited schleswig, and the saxons holstein, at the time they so kindly protected the britons from the picts and scots. so it is probable that every member of the anglo-saxon family has some ancestral root running back to that fertile strip of pasture land. it had for many years been under the danish protectorate, the king of denmark being, by virtue of his position, also duke of schleswig-holstein, just as the german emperor is now king of prussia by virtue of his imperial office. but this little people was by no means merged with the danish by this arrangement; on the contrary, they preserved very jealously their own traits and ancestral traditions. among these was the exclusion of women from the royal succession--the salic law, framed by their frank ancestors centuries before on the banks of the river saale, being part of their constitution. hence, when king frederick vii. of denmark died in without male heir, and king christian ix. became king, the people of the two dukedoms hotly refused to recognize him as their lawful ruler, but claimed their right of reversion to duke frederick viii., who was in the direct male line of succession. had the salic law prevailed in denmark, this duke frederick (father of the present young empress of germany) would now be king of denmark instead of christian ix. but it did not exist, so christian, father of the dowager empress of russia--of the princess of wales--and of king george of greece--became, in , lawful king of denmark, with rights unimpaired by female descent. schleswig-holstein revolted against being held by a ruler who, according to her constitution, was not the terminal of the royal line, and insisted upon bestowing herself instead upon the german duke frederick viii. denmark naturally resisted. salic law or no salic law, the dukedoms were hers, and should stay. of course austria, as the head of the german confederation, had to be consulted, and she thought well of uniting with prussia to compel the cession of the twin dukedoms, which would have been quickly absorbed had not the european powers intervened and forbidden this encroachment upon the rights of denmark. it was just at this crisis that bismarck was appointed prime minister of prussia, and commenced his series of brilliant moves upon the european chessboard. king christian of denmark, pleased with his success in retaining the refractory states, determined to go still farther; that is, to adopt a new constitution separating these siamese twins, which should, in fact, detach schleswig from holstein, incorporating it permanently with denmark. this was in direct violation of the treaty with the great powers made in london, , and afforded the needed pretext for war. the moment and the man had arrived. bismarck, with the intuition of a good player, saw his opportunity, pushed up the pawn, schieswig-holstein, and said, "check to your king." the prussian and austrian troops poured into denmark, and in a few short weeks the blooming isthmus had ceased to be danish and had become german. austria generously said, "we will divide the prize. schleswig shall be prussian, and holstein austrian." could anything be more odious to the prussians? the long arm of austrian tyranny stretching way over their land, up to their northern seaboard! it might better have become danish. but all things come to him who waits, and--bismarck waited. neither austria nor the german people had the slightest comprehension of the minister's deep-laid plans. when he said that the german question could "only be settled by blood and steel," the people construed it as the brutal utterance of despotism. and when it looked as if they might be involved in a war with austria over this paltry holstein affair they were stunned, and believed that a desperate man was leading prussia to her ruin for his own ambitious purposes. what could they with their nineteen millions of people do against austria, with her fifty millions! but bismarck cared not and heeded not. he was too intent upon his game. he knew what no one else seemed to know, that there was no chance for germany until she was emancipated from austria. again he pushed up his useful little pawn and said "check," but this time to the emperor of austria. ah! here was a game worth watching. europe and america, too, were willing to let their morning coffee get cold in studying the moves. francis joseph did not see as far into the game as his astute adversary, whose keen eye was focused at long range upon a renewed germany, in which there should be no austria. the conflict was short (only seven weeks), but the preparation had been thorough. the d of july will long be remembered by germany. king william was there; the crown prince was there, now become "unser fritz," by his superb military achievements, the ideal prince and soldier of modern europe; and königgrätz, like waterloo, decided the game. francis joseph was checkmated. a galling servitude to austria existed no more. what wonder that the people were glad, or that unser fritz was their idol, and bismarck became their demigod! a great physician correctly diagnoses the disease before he treats it. bismarck knew why the attempts at a german union had been futile. he knew such a union never could exist until austria was eliminated from it. an overwhelming revulsion in sentiment followed. the man whom the despotic element had leaned upon became the adored leader of the liberal party. he had no sentimental theories about human rights. his personal tendencies were toward despotism rather than freedom. but he had the acuteness to recognize the advantages which would be derived from a liberal policy and the ardent support of the _people_. a new confederation of states was formed called the _north german union_, with a parliament elected by the people. it was composed of all the states except bavaria, wurtemberg, and baden. the several states were united under a general federal government, somewhat like that of the united states of america, of which the king of prussia was _president_, and bismarck was _chancellor_. this new union was protestant and prussian, and forever separated from all that was catholic and austrian. in five short years what a change! truly, "blood and iron" had proved a wonderful tonic for germany! in the year prussia won the province of silesia after a seven years' war with austria. just one century later, in , a war of seven weeks with that same power placed her at the head of a firmly consolidated german nation. a result so astonishing from a conflict so brief must ever be a phenomenon in history; and had it been necessary, seven years would not have been too long to struggle for such a reward. and what of poor little schleswig-holstein, that land of our race nativity? if she had indulged in any innocent expectation of benefit from such brilliant espousal of her cause she was disappointed. and she must have realized that she had been only the humble hinge upon which the door of opportunity had swung open for germany. chapter xx. there was a man in france to whom these overturnings were especially distasteful. napoleon iii., sitting in brand-new splendor upon his newly created throne, was industriously engaged in building up an empire and a reputation upon napoleonic lines. these lines of course were despotic. so the triumph of liberalism in germany, the creation of a new political power with austria and despotism cast out, was a severe blow to his policy and to his prestige. it weakened him in europe, where he aspired to headship, and at home, where he should be considered invincible, not alone in arms, but in statecraft. the crimea, magenta, and solferino had been splendid decorations to his reign; but they looked tame and insignificant since this transforming _seven weeks' war_. then, too, his magnificent scheme of an empire in mexico, with a hapsburg ruling under a french protectorate--that had miserably failed. and now there had suddenly arisen, as if out of the ground, a new political germany, which rivaled france in strength. frenchmen began to ask whether this man was, after all, such a great leader, and destined to wear the mantle of his uncle! obviously the thing to do was to recover his waning prestige by a splendid victory over this new power of which prussia was the head. if the emperor had any misgivings they were swept away by the beautiful empress eugénie, who, intensely catholic, saw in the ascendency of protestant prussia, and the humiliation of catholic austria, an impious blow at the catholic faith in europe. so the war was determined upon. only one obstacle existed. there was nothing to fight about! but that could be overcome, and in a pretext was found. queen isabella had been expelled from spain, and there existed that perennial source of disturbance in europe, a vacant spanish throne. from among the several candidates, prince leopold of hohenzollern, a relative of william i. of prussia, was chosen. the french ambassador benedetti received instant orders to demand of king william that he should prohibit prince leopold from accepting the offer. the king made answer that "not having advised it, he could not forbid it." however, to the disappointment of the emperor, the hohenzollern prince voluntarily declined, and the way to a war seemed closed again. but the empress eugénie was intent upon her object, and the war-fever had taken deep hold upon the people of france. so the fateful dispatch was sent to benedetti--"be rough to the king." the kindly old king william was peacefully sunning himself at ems, when the ambassador discourteously approached him and made an abrupt demand for a guarantee that no hohenzollern should _ever_ occupy the throne of spain. the words and the manner were offensive--as they were intended to be. the king, recognizing an intended impertinence, without replying turned away and left benedetti standing. here was the opportunity. the telegraph swiftly bore the news that the french ambassador had been publicly insulted by the king of prussia. france was in a blaze of indignation. these prussians should be taught that the great french empire was not to be insulted with impunity. not a shadow of doubt existed as to the result. the french army was invincible, and the southern german states would be glad at the deliverance. they would welcome an invading army, and perhaps hesse and hanover also would revolt and the new prussian confederation would fall to pieces in their hands. the birthday of napoleon i., the th of august, must be celebrated in berlin! such were the wild expectations when the french army moved, bearing away with it the boy prince imperial, that he might witness for himself his father's triumphs, and receive an object lesson, as it were, in avenging insult to the imperial dignity, which would one day be in his keeping! this was the way it looked in france. how was it in germany? there was no north and no south german. men and states sprang together as a unit, showing how vital was the bond which had existed only for four years. it was no longer a german race combining with a common purpose, but a german nation instinct with one life, and solemnly resolved to defend it or to perish. in only eleven days an army of four hundred and fifty thousand soldiers was under the command of moltke, with the crown prince frederick william leading one of the three great divisions. in less than three weeks, instead of waging an aggressive war in germany, the french were fighting for their existence on their own soil. in less than a month the french emperor was a prisoner, and in seven months his empire was swept out of existence; the germans were in paris--and king william, unser fritz, bismarck, and von moltke were quartered at versailles. france had given up alsace and lorraine, had agreed to pay an indemnity of _five thousand millions_ of francs, and was glad to have peace even at that price! the surrenders of metz (august ), and of sedan (september ), were monumental disasters, and history would be searched in vain for such a crushing defeat of a proud and strong nation as was consummated by the treaty of peace signed at paris on the th of may, . even the three southern states, bavaria, wurtemberg, and baden, had participated in this franco-prussian war. so the last barrier to a completed union was removed, and a dramatic climax occurred in the hall of mirrors at versailles on the th of january, . in that very hall where richelieu, and louis xiv., and louis xv. had schemed to entangle and cripple and rob germany, and where napoleon i. had plotted the destruction of the german empire, ludwig ii., king of bavaria, in the name of the rest of the german states, laid their united allegiance at the feet of king william of prussia, begging him to assume the crown and with it the title of "hereditary emperor of the german empire." it is a curious fact that bavaria, which had always been a thorn in the side of the empire, which from the time of the first duke welf had stood for all that was conservative and despotic and reactionary, should have taken the initiative in the final act which set a seal upon the triumph of liberalism in germany. it was recompense full and ample for the trouble she had given in the past! the return to germany was a march of triumph. the popular enthusiasm knew no bounds. it was less than ten years since those days of gloom and depression. what a change had been wrought! was it all done by blood and iron? they had been mighty factors certainly, but they had been used by a masterful intelligence, which had also recognized the power of _patriotism_. the empire which was immediately organized was simply a renewal of the _north german union_. the dream of hermann had at last been realized. there was a united germany. when in emperor william i. sank under the weight of years and the crown rested upon the head of his son frederick, that adored prince was no longer in the full tide of victorious youth, but being borne by a swiftly ebbing tide beyond the reach of earthly honors. he was a stricken and indeed a dying man when the opportunity came to carry out the policy he had intended for germany. what that policy was we shall never know, nor whether it would have been a safe and a wise one. we are sure it would have been beneficent, for no gentler, kindlier prince ever had power and opportunity. the distrust of him manifested by the conservative party, and notably by bismarck, and one still nearer to him, leads us to believe that he leaned too strongly toward the ideal of the patriots of . but we shall never know. we can only conjecture whether in frederick's death germany escaped a danger or missed an opportunity. the unseemly dissensions, the heartbreaking complications, which tormented this dying man make one of the saddest chapters in history; and his reign of five months can scarcely be matched in suffering. at last it was ended. the untarnished soul and tortured body parted company, and william ii. reigned in his stead. it is not the province of history to pass judgment upon the living. when the young emperor william ii. dismissed his great chancellor, he assumed the full responsibility of his empire. whether he has the intelligence and the wisdom required to control, unaided, the forces at home, or to guide his bark amid the whirl of european currents, later histories will tell. but one thing is very certain. time spent to-day in riveting antiquated chains upon germany is time thrown away; and the ruler who desires his work to be permanent must turn his back upon medievalism and must realize that the true source of abiding power in his country is that sentiment which emancipated her from napoleon in , and which in made of her a united germany. the end. ludwig the second king of bavaria by clara tschudi author of "marie antoinette," "eugÉnie, empress of the french," "maria sophia, queen of naples," etc. etc. translated from the norwegian by ethel harriet hearn "certains caractères échappent à l'analyse logique." george sand. with coloured portrait london swan sonnenschein & co. lim. new york: e. p. dutton & co. contents chapter page i. descent and education ii. fundamental traits of ludwig's character iii. "le roi est mort! vive le roi!" iv. a plan of marriage v. king ludwig and richard wagner vi. ludwig's first visit to switzerland--richard wagner leaves munich vii. the political situation--the schleswig-holstein question --the war of viii. the king makes the tour of his kingdom ix. ludwig's betrothal x. the king goes to paris--disharmonies between the engaged couple--ludwig meets the emperor napoleon and the empress eugénie in augsburg--the king breaks his promise of marriage xi. after the parting with sophie--episodes from the king's excursions in the highlands xii. the empress of russia visits bavaria--the duchess sophie's engagement and marriage--an unexpected meeting with the duchesse d'alençon--a last attempt to forge the links of hymen around ludwig xiii. ludwig and the artistes of the stage--josephine schefzky xiv. prince hohenlohe--political frictions xv. a meeting between bismarck and ludwig xvi. outbreak of the war with france xvii. during the war--the german empire is proclaimed xviii. the bavarian troops return to munich--king ludwig and the crown prince of germany xix. a visit from the emperor wilhelm--ludwig withdraws more and more from the world xx. prince otto's insanity--the king's morbid sensations xxi. the review of the troops in --crown prince friedrich of prussia xxii. king ludwig and the empress elizabeth xxiii. king ludwig and queen marie xxiv. state and church--ignaz von döllinger--ludwig's letters to his old tutor xxv. ludwig ii. in daily life xxvi. ludwig and richard wagner--the king's visit to bayreuth xxvii. king ludwig and the artists of the stage and canvas xxviii. private performances at the hof theater at munich xxix. king ludwig and his palaces xxx. king ludwig's friendships xxxi. the actor kainz xxxii. a journey to switzerland xxxiii. king ludwig and his servants xxxiv. the mad king xxxv. the last meeting between mother and son xxxvi. pecuniary distress xxxvii. plots xxxviii. preparations to imprison the king--the peasantry assemble to his rescue xxxix. a friend in need--ludwig's proclamation xl. the king's last hours at neuschwanstein xli. schloss berg--the king's death xlii. conclusion ludwig the second king of bavaria chapter i descent and education at the birth of ludwig ii., enigmatic as he was unfortunate, of whom i propose to give a sketch, his grandfather, the eccentric ludwig i., was still king of bavaria. his father, maximilian joseph, was the crown prince. the latter had wedded, in , the beautiful princess marie of prussia, who was only sixteen years of age at the time of her marriage, her husband being twenty years her senior. to all appearance the marriage was a very happy one. maximilian was an intelligent and right-thinking man, devoted to public duty, but he had indifferent health, and, like the greater number of his race, was the possessor of a sensitive nervous system. for some years it appeared as if the marriage would be childless. at the beginning of the year , however, the people of bavaria were informed that the crown princess was enceinte, and on the th of august, on the birthday of the reigning king, a hundred and one guns proclaimed the birth of a prince at the château of nymphenburg. as a matter of fact, the princely infant had seen the light two days earlier, but the event had been kept a secret in order to give ludwig i. a pleasant surprise, the king having expressed a wish that a possible hereditary prince might come into the world on that day. the child was named after him, and he held it himself at the font. the old king at that time was at the height of his popularity. soon, however, a turning-point set in: the dancer lola montez invaded the lovesick monarch's life, causing a violent insurrection in the bavarian capital. then came the democratic rising of , general all over europe, which threw fuel on the fire. ludwig was compelled to abdicate, and was succeeded by his son, maximilian joseph, who ascended the throne under the title of maximilian ii. shortly after these political disturbances took place the young queen was brought to bed of another son, who was named otto. [ ] the effect on her of the alarm and excitement caused by the aforesaid events, was such that he came into the world three months too early. the physicians declared that it was impossible for the child to live, but they proved to be mistaken in their opinion. both the crown prince and his brother were unusually good-looking, and it was a brilliant sight when the popular and beautiful queen walked about the streets of munich, with her handsome boys beside her. maternal joy and pride shone from her eyes, and the glance of the people was directed with genuine admiration on her and her children. otto was the one who most resembled his mother. being, moreover, lighthearted and accessible, he was also the one to whom the prize of beauty was awarded by popular opinion. ludwig's beauty was of a more uncommon and intellectual type, a noteworthy feature of his face being the large, brilliant, and dark-blue eye. the boys were always dressed each in his particular colour, which the queen herself had chosen. otto in red, and ludwig in blue--the national colours of bavaria. not only were ludwig's clothes blue in tint, but also, as far as was possible, his various other small possessions and necessities; such, for instance, as the binding of his books, his drawing portfolios, and his volumes of music. this hue always continued to be his favourite colour. possessed of good sense in many ways, ludwig's parents seem to have been deficient in their insight into the difficult matter of bringing up their eldest son. the father was too strict, and made demands on the crown prince with which his abilities and strength did not allow of his complying. in season and out of season he reminded him that some time or other he would be a king. he was thoughtlessly punished whether he deserved it or whether his delinquencies were of so insignificant a nature as to demand a certain indulgence. ludwig was not allowed to be a child. all his toys were early taken from him. he had, for instance, a tortoise of which he was particularly fond, but it was not long before this too was removed by the king's especial order. the queen made no attempt independently to combat this unnatural bringing up; nor does she or the king seem to have been alive to the fact that the peculiarities of the crown prince's character required handling with caution. he was simultaneously the object in other quarters of a directly opposite and still more pernicious treatment. his nurse "liesi" adored and spoiled him. when he became a little older he was given a french governess, who seems to have had a positively unfortunate influence upon him. her great admiration was the french roi soleil, louis xiv., and she made no secret of forming her pupil upon this model. well-known utterances of the grand monarque, such as "l'état c'est moi!" "tel est notre bon plaisir," and the like, were held up to the royal pupil as models of parlance which ought to be copied; while at the same time the governess gave expression in her looks and words to the subservience which she considered becoming for a subject to show to a future monarch. she never asked if he had been diligent and good. "the crown prince is always the first," she repeated invariably. a teacher of the french language, who succeeded this lady, acted and comported himself in a similar spirit, and contributed further to pervert the childish mind. as an example of his method of education may be mentioned the fact that le très gracieux prince royal, among other things, was allowed to roll his teacher on the floor like a barrel. in such circumstances ludwig's egotism could not but be developed. episodes from his childhood bear witness that a decided vein of caprice and sense of his own importance were early to be noticed in him. the following is a trait from the time when he was twelve years of age, during a sojourn at berchtesgaden. he was at play in the park, with his brother. without the slightest provocation he suddenly threw otto, three years younger than himself, on to the grass, planted his knee firmly on the latter's chest, stuffed his handkerchief into his mouth, and shouted commandingly: "you are my subject; you must obey me! some time i shall be your king!" happily a courtier was witness of this scene, and running forward, he dragged otto, who was almost suffocated, from his brother's violent grasp. the incident came to the ears of the king. he gave his first-born a sound thrashing in true burgher fashion. this corporal punishment had not, however, the desired effect on the exceedingly sensitive boy; and its result seems solely to have been embitterment against his father. so much, indeed, did he take the mortification of it to heart, that later he literally shunned berchtesgaden. one winter day in the two princes were together in the so-called "english garden," in munich. otto was rolling a large snowball, and called out to his brother, in glee: "see, ludwig, i have a snowball that is bigger than your head!" ludwig took it from him. otto began to cry. their tutor came up and asked what was the matter. "ludwig has taken my snowball," sobbed otto. "your royal highness," said the tutor, "if prince otto has made a snowball it belongs to him, and you have no right to take it." "have i no right to take the snowball? what am i crown prince for, then?" asked ludwig in dudgeon. a gentleman well known to maximilian, and who was frequently invited to his shooting parties, informs me that he very seldom saw the little princes when he visited the king. once when he was walking in the gardens of the castle of hohenschwangau, however, he came upon an open space where the king's sons happened to be playing. ludwig had swung himself up on to a paling, and was running backwards and forwards on it. the visitor reminded him that he might fall and hurt himself. the boy, however, took no notice of the well-meant warning, and its only result was that he increased his antics. the gentleman, who was really afraid that an accident might happen, now took him by force in his arms and lifted him down. the crown prince glanced proudly at him; then began to play with his brother, as if no third person was present. many years afterwards, long after ludwig had become king, the same gentleman reminded him of this occurrence. "i remember very well," answered his majesty coldly, "that you touched me at that time," and then turned the subject of conversation. a strict system of economy formed a part of maximilian's curriculum. the royal princes were only allowed the plainest food. sweetmeats the crown prince tasted only through the generosity of his nurse liesi, who was in the habit of buying sweets for her favourite out of her own pocket--a kindness which ludwig always remembered, and which he rewarded as soon as he became king. when the princes grew bigger they were allowed pocket-money, to the amount of about a shilling a week--hardly a princely appanage. otto one day hit upon a means, as he hoped, of improving his financial position. having heard that sound teeth fetched as much as ten guldens apiece, he betook himself to one of the munich dentists, and offered him one of his best molars at that price. the dentist knowing who he was, did not, of course, accept the offer. when the occurrence became known to the king, the prince was severely punished. the episode, however, seems to have brought the queen to reflection, and she caused the princes' pocket-money to be augmented from that day. on his eighteenth birthday ludwig for the first time received a sum of any consideration, his father presenting him with a purse containing a specimen of every coin at that time current in bavaria. the youth, who had never before had anything in his pocket but a few coppers, imagined that he had suddenly become a wealthy man, and hastened off to buy and present to his mother a locket, which she had admired in a jeweller's shop. he made no inquiries as to the price, but when the jeweller observed that he would send the ornament and the bill to the palace, said with importance, handing him his purse: "no, i have money of my own now. here, pay yourself for the ornament!" between the crown prince and his father there was never any great feeling of tenderness, but he was without doubt very much attached to his mother. the circumstances attending the birth of prince otto had, however, given her a preference for her younger son; and when ludwig in his childish years endeavoured to talk to her of his ideas and impressions, the very prosaic queen showed a remarkable want of comprehension of his poet's nature. apart from occasional friction, the relations between the brothers were peaceful and good. the younger one always took the second place, and the modesty with which he did this was no doubt the chief reason why the two were good friends. the entire character and turn of mind of the crown prince, his ideas, pleasures, and sympathies, were absolutely different from those of otto, and of any real confidence on his side there could consequently be no possibility. ludwig preferred solitude. otto was gay and sociable. ludwig was interested in art, and occupied himself with flowers; his brother loved military matters, and was a keen sportsman. two interests, however, they had in common: both were from childhood first-rate, almost foolhardy, riders, and both loved music and singing. they had only two playmates, namely prince ludwig of hesse, who spent part of his childhood at the court of his aunt queen marie, and count holstein, who now and then was allowed to visit them. the crown prince was considered to be highly gifted. from his earliest youth his memory was unusually good, and he often reduced his teachers to despair by the puzzling questions he would put to them. meanwhile he was only diligent in the subjects which interested him, and lazy and indifferent concerning those which did not please him. his teachers were able and upright men, but towards the greater number of them he was very reserved. with a few exceptions they were powerless and at their wit's end before this peculiar character, which perplexed them by its contradictions and alarmed them by its outbursts of violence. thus grew up the bavarian crown prince; in surroundings which left him partly neglected and misunderstood and partly perverted his understanding, and in circumstances which were fitted to develop his already naturally marked egotism and feeling of self-esteem. chapter ii fundamental traits of ludwig's character ludwig's tutor, the count de larosée, has expressed his conception of his pupil's character in the following words: "the crown prince is intelligent and highly gifted. he is already possessed of abilities which far exceed the ordinary. his imagination is so vivid, that i have seldom seen its equal in so young a man; but he is hasty and exceedingly quick-tempered. a more than strongly developed wilfulness points to a stubbornness of character which is perhaps inherited from his grandfather, and which it will be difficult for him to control." this "character" was written out by the count on the day upon which ludwig filled his eighteenth year, and on the tutor's retirement from his responsible position. the crown prince had not merely inherited his grandfather's obstinacy, but resembled in other ways his father's father and his own namesake. like him he was an idealist and schwärmer, with distinct leanings towards æstheticism. henrik ibsen, in his play of ghosts, allows the characteristics of the progenitor to show themselves already in the first generation. this is not commonly the case. far more frequently do the good and the bad "family ghosts" come out in the second generation; and it may almost be said that there are daily proofs that the son has more often the faults and good qualities of his grandsire than of his sire. such was the case with crown prince ludwig. to his careful, intelligent, and conscientious father he had indeed little resemblance; but his grandfather, the eccentric, stubborn, enthusiastic ludwig i., "walked" in the grandson--not indeed "over again," as the saying is, but in a new edition, changed in various ways though in other points easily recognisable. on his mother's side there was also an enthusiast in the family. friedrich wilhelm iv. of prussia was queen marie of bavaria's first cousin, the son of her sister. there was in ludwig's tastes and turn of mind much that resembled this prussian king, who in contrast to the greater number of the hohenzollerns took a greater interest in science and art than in the profession of arms. but, nevertheless, ludwig ii. was unique in his way. he was a peculiar, strange figure in the midst of his immediate surroundings--an enigma to his own race, as he was to his own people! he seems rather to have belonged to another race than to the teutonic one, and another age than the nineteenth century. there are traits in his character which lead our thoughts back to the times of greek and roman antiquity. in his instincts and his passions he was closely allied to the roman emperor hadrian. in one respect, however, he was very modern, namely in his love of a mountain life. he loved the alps; and it is characteristic of this shy king, who would hardly undertake a journey that was not to his pleasure palaces, that he repeatedly visited the alpine country par excellence, namely, switzerland. he inherited from both his parents his delight in the mountains. the royal family were in the habit of spending the summers at schloss hohenschwangau, in the bavarian highlands, not far from munich. this was in reality an old castle, built a thousand years back in time, but entirely reconstructed by maximilian when he was crown prince. [ ] many historical reminiscences and legends are connected with the castle, whose halls are filled with memorials of days gone by, and whose walls are decorated with pictures of lohengrin and the swan in every conceivable aspect. it is said that hohenschwangau provided tannhäuser with a night's shelter when he was returning from his pilgrimage to rome. martin luther, too, during the time of the reformation, when he was in need and danger, is supposed to have sought refuge in this castle, which is also known by the name of the wartburg of bavaria. king maximilian felt himself in better health after he had spent the summer there, and with his wife, who was a bold climber, was in the habit of going walking tours in the neighbouring country. hohenschwangau was the queen's favourite place of residence. she was unassuming, and exceedingly simple in her tastes, the charming marie finding her greatest pleasure in housewifely occupations. on tablecloths which she had woven herself, she served fish caught by her own hands. when in the country she was in the habit of going about in a large kitchen apron, she dusted her own china and ornaments, and took an innocent pleasure in washing up the used coffee-cups. moreover, she caused to be fitted up at hohenschwangau, a spinning-room in which she diligently turned her wheel for the benefit of the poor of the neighbourhood. to their son ludwig these visits were also a source of pleasure, albeit in a manner differing from that of the other members of the family. the great solitude had the effect on the boy's impressionable mind of a release from oppressive chains. here, with his romantic disposition, the child found food for his vivid imagination; here he could dream himself into the legendary lore of olden days, and give free rein to his longing for the marvellous. on the quiet paths he could immerse himself in the german classics, chiefly in the works of schiller, which spoke in living words to his heart and mind, and he would at times spend half a day in declaiming the resounding verses of his favourite poet. strictly as he was brought up by his parents, he was at times left too much to himself. he would withdraw in his free hours to solitude and give himself up to day-dreams. "how dull your royal highness must find the want of occupation," said his tutor, dean von döllinger, to him one day when he found him sitting alone in a dark room on account of a slight eye affection. "why do you not let some one read aloud to you?" "i am not dull," answered the prince, "i am thinking out different things, and i amuse myself very well in this manner." there are strange contrasts in ludwig's character; on the one side a yearning to escape from humanity, with its unnatural and stilted aspects, to unalloyed nature, to the stillness, the prayerful solemnity of solitude; on the other, even in his early years, an enthusiastic love of plastic art, combined with a delight in effective representations, for artificial brilliancy and pomp. so much, indeed, was this the case, that the thought cannot but arise in the mind that he was intended rather for the stage than for a throne. the life of the human community seemed to have no particular interest, and still less attraction, for him. he stood uncomprehending, and in a measure uncomprehended, before even the circle in which he lived. but the serious moment was approaching. he had filled his eighteenth year; duties and responsibilities awaited him. he was now about to step out into public life. chapter iii "le roi est mort! vive le roi!" a feeling of gloom and sadness rested over munich; maximilian ii. was dying. on the th of march, , he signed in his bed the last documents of his reign. the same evening the doctors relinquished all hope of being able to save his life. it had long been known that he was a sick man, but no one had had any idea that his last hour was approaching. the news, which was quickly spread, filled the capital with dismay and lamentations. immense crowds of people penetrated into the courtyard of the palace, and gazed up at their ruler's windows. snow and rain fell heavily. the wind howled, but no one seemed to notice it. no longer was it possible to expect news which might bring consolation. all were thinking the same thought: "our good king is dying!" the sorrow over the whole country was indescribable. at four in the morning on the th of march the physician-in-ordinary informed the sick man that he must prepare himself for death, telling him at the same time that his confessor was in the palace. "has it come to this?" asked maximilian, who felt exceedingly weak but suffered little pain. "well, well--god will do the best for me! i have always wished what was right." a believer, he made his confession and received extreme unction. his despairing wife had spent the night in the sick-room. the eighteen-year-old crown prince was now with his father. the king had a prolonged private conversation with him, warning him, counselling him, and endeavouring at the eleventh hour to gain the confidence of his son, who had always withdrawn shyly into himself and whose character was to him a riddle. he took an affecting and affectionate farewell of the queen and both his children, blessing them, and expressing a hope of reunion. "my son," he said to his successor, "i hope for you a death as quiet as your father's!" these were his last words. it would almost seem as if the veil over the events of the future was lifted at this time to the view of the dying king, and that he saw things which made him suspect or fear his son's tragic ending. the archbishop spoke words of consolation to the dying man as he at midday, without a struggle, was called to the eternal rest. ludwig swooned with the strength of his emotions. later in life he was heard to say how painfully it had impressed him that he had been greeted as the sovereign as he left his father's deathbed. "the lord has taken a good king away from us! let us pray that he will give us as good a king again!" said the archbishop to the assembled courtiers, who were waiting outside. all fell on their knees; tears and sobs filled the room. the capital and the kingdom were weighed down by the pain of their loss. the sorrow at the demise of a highly venerated prince was mingled with sympathy for his successor, who had been brought up so strictly and in such loneliness. a heavy burden had with the mantle of kingship been laid on his shoulders; the father's early death was no doubt a misfortune to the son. the seeds of mental morbidness which were slumbering within him would hardly have shot so soon into growth, nor perhaps would maximilian's principles of education have brought about such distressing consequences, had not ludwig become king when he was in the midst of his development. he was too young and unformed to be able to support without injury this forcible and sudden transition. all the doors which previously had been shut to him were now opened wide. all sought his favour. he was worshipped and applauded, while his most commonplace utterances were given the character of winged words. on the th of march he took the oath to the constitution, in the presence of the royal princes and the members of the council of state. the minister of foreign affairs made a speech, which the new king answered in the following words: "almighty god has called my dear, greatly-beloved father away from this world. i cannot give utterance to the feelings with which my heart is filled. the task awaiting me is great and arduous. i trust in god, who will send me light and strength to fill it. i will govern faithfully, in conformity with the oath which i have just taken, and in conformity with the constitution which has now existed for nearly half-a-century. the welfare of my beloved bavarians, and the greatness of germany, will be the object of my efforts. i ask of all your assistance in the fulfilment of my arduous duties." ludwig became popular without any effort whatever on his side; the bavarians are a loyal race, and strong ties knit the people and the royal house together. nor was the monarch's sympathetic appearance without its effect. all were struck by his beauty and attractive personality. an austrian writer who saw and talked with him soon after his accession, several years afterwards expressed himself in the following terms: "he was the handsomest youth i ever saw. his tall, slim figure was perfectly symmetrical. his abundant, lightly curling hair, and the slight indication of a beard lent to his head a likeness to those great antique works of art, through which we have found the representation of the hellenic conception of manly strength. even had he been a beggar he must have attracted my attention. no person, whether old or young, rich or poor, could remain unaffected by the charm of his whole person. his voice was agreeable. the questions he asked were concise and decided, his subjects were well-chosen and intellectual, and he expressed himself easily and naturally. the admiration he aroused in me has never diminished, but on the contrary has increased with years. the picture of the young monarch is still imprinted in unfading colours on my mind." another german writer, paul heyse, met the young king about the same time, and has likewise published his impressions of him. he is not quite so enthusiastic in his admiration, but seems also to have been impressed. "the large eyes," says heyse, "were dreamy, the glance winning. what he said was entirely without any trace of embarrassment. his judgment of those in his proximity was unusually certain, and his knowledge of human nature wonderful, in view of his lonely education, so far away from the world." chapter iv a plan of marriage shortly after his ascent of the throne ludwig was visited by the emperor and empress of austria. elizabeth was his cousin. at the time that she went to vienna as empress he was only nine years old. she had, later, often visited her parental home and the bavarian royal family; but on these occasions the shy and retiring crown prince had hardly been allowed to see and talk to the beautiful sovereign of the great neighbouring state. matters were now changed. now he was king, and there was soon knitted between these two a bond of friendship which lasted until ludwig's death. he received the emperor and empress with every mark of attention, endeavouring to make their sojourn in his capital as pleasant and gay as possible. from munich, franz josef and his consort went on to kissingen, where ludwig paid them a return visit. at this noted resort the young king of bavaria was received with enthusiasm. here also he met the russian royal family. the empress maria alexandrowna met him with motherly kindness, and seems at once to have formed the plan of making him her son-in-law. bavaria was not, indeed, a great power, but it was a respected kingdom of the second class. the bavarian dynasty was old and esteemed; and its present head was a brilliant personality, and, as it appeared, noble and amiable in character. to ludwig also, and the country he represented, a connection of the kind must have presented itself as suitable and desirable; albeit, the grand duchess maria--the only daughter of the emperor and empress--was at that time a mere child. from kissingen the russian royal family went on to schwalbach. after a short stay in munich the king of bavaria sought them there, accompanying--their untiring knight--the mother and daughter in their excursions. this scheme of marriage, entertained by the russian and the bavarian courts, extended over several years. it seems to be proved beyond all doubt that ludwig for a time thought of asking the grand duchess's hand. he even had the plans drawn of a græco-muscovite palace, which he intended should be his wedding gift to the bride, and where, as a newly-married couple, they should spend their honeymoon. the following summer the tsarina and her daughter came again to kissingen; there again the king met them. the mutual amiabilities and civilities recommenced, and the empress and the bavarian ministers still seemed eager to have the connection brought about. the announcement of the engagement was expected every day. but it was expected in vain. the king hesitated to say the decisive word; as a matter of fact, he never said it. people tried to guess the reason. some thought that the tsarina's too great eagerness for the match had cooled his own ardour for it. others thought that the beauty-loving youth had hesitated because he had discovered that the little russian princess had a higher heel on one foot than on the other. hardly any one suspected the real reason. it must be sought in ludwig's restless, undecided temperament, and in his inborn aversion to entering the married state. [ ] chapter v king ludwig and richard wagner richard wagner, in the preface to his niebelungenlied, asks the following question:--"is the prince to be found who will make possible the representation of my work?" ludwig of bavaria read these lines as crown prince, and exclaimed, with enthusiasm: "when i am a king i will show the world how highly i prize his genius!" hardly a month after his accession ludwig sent his private secretary, herr von pfistermeister, to invite wagner to munich. the secretary sought wagner first in vienna; but the poet-musician had been obliged to flee the austrian capital for some place where his pursuers could not reach him, having been threatened with arrest for debt. he was traced to some friends in stuttgart. there the king's emissary delivered to him a photograph of ludwig and a ring, set with a ruby, and informed him that, as the stone in the ring glowed, so his ruler burned with longing to behold him. on his sixteenth birthday the crown prince of bavaria had been present at a representation of lohengrin. this opera had made the deeper impression on him from the fact that the legend of the swan knights was connected with hohenschwangau, which, as we know, had been from his childhood his favourite place of residence. during the years preceding his ascent of the throne his interest in the "musician of the future" increased. when visiting his aunt, the duchess ludovica, at possenhofen, he had found wagner's compositions on her pianoforte, and from this time forth he studied his works with zeal. ludwig was not the possessor of any distinctly musical gifts. a musician who gave him lessons on the piano was even of opinion that he was wanting in ear; and wagner's works probably attracted him more from their fantastic poetry than on account of their musical qualities. it was with feelings of joyful expectation that the master accepted the young king's invitation. he arrived at munich at the beginning of may ( ), and was received with consideration. his personality made a strong impression on ludwig, who assured him of his favour and warm interest. "the unthinkable, and the only thing that i required, has become a reality. heaven has sent me a patron. through him i live and understand myself!" exclaimed the poet-musician to friends who were awaiting him on his return from the palace. after staying a few days in the bavarian capital he continued his journey to vienna, being now able, thanks to ludwig's generosity, to discharge his debts. he soon, however, returned to munich, and pfistermeister, in the name of his master, bade him welcome to a beautifully situated villa on the lake of starnberg, where he might live undisturbed for his art. ludwig was in residence at this time at the adjacent schloss berg, where wagner frequently visited him, and performed his works before him. the master's imagination, poetry, his attractive manner, all transformed the royal enthusiast's admiration into blind admiration. the elder man exerted a superhuman power over the youth, and his proximity had a positively electrifying effect on the king. their life together became a decisive event in the lives of both. full of pity for him, and happy in the consciousness of being able to assist him, ludwig wrote on the day following their first meeting: "feel assured that i will do all that lies in my power to make reparation to you for your earlier sufferings. i will for ever chase away the trifling sorrows of everyday life from your head. i will give you the repose you require, so that undisturbed in the pure sphere of your art you can unfold your genius in its entirety.... unknowingly you were the only source of my joys. from my earliest years you were to me a friend who as no other spoke to my heart, my best teacher and upbringer." in spite of their difference in age it is placed beyond a doubt, that wagner from the first moment warmly reciprocated the feelings of his protector. he thus writes to his friend frau von wille (may ): "he (the king) is unhappily so handsome and so intellectual, so full of soul and so glorious, that i fear his life must disappear like a fleeting dream of gods in this commonplace world. he loves me with the tenderness and warmth of first love. he knows me and all about me, and understands me as he does his own soul. he wishes me to live with him altogether, to work, rest, and have my works performed. he will give me everything i may require for this purpose. i am to complete the "ring"; and he will have them put on the stage in the manner i desire. i am to be my own master, not kapelmeister, nothing except myself and his friend!... all need is to be taken away from me, i am to have all that i require, only i am to remain with him!... you cannot imagine the charm of his glance. i only hope he may live; it is a real marvel!" of their personal intercourse he writes, on another occasion: "i always hasten to him as to a loved one. it is a glorious intercourse ... and, in addition, this kind care of me, this charming modesty of the heart when he assures me of his happiness in possessing me. we often sit for hours lost in the contemplation of one another." the same feeling of exuberant joy is apparent in a letter written on the th of may to his friend weissheimer: "only two words to assure you of the indescribable happiness which has become my lot. everything has happened in such a manner that it is impossible to imagine it more beautiful. thanks to the affection of the young king, i am for all time insured against every pecuniary care. i can work, i need not trouble myself about anything. no title, no functions, no duties! as soon as i wish anything staged the king places everything i require at my disposal.... my young king is a wonderful dispensation of fate to me. we love one another as only master and pupil can love one another. he is happy in having me and i am happy on account of him.... and then he is so beautiful, so profound, that daily intercourse with him carries me away, and gives me an entirely new life." already at this time, however, he adds: "you can imagine what a vast amount of envy i meet with!" the same year he addresses ludwig: [ ] "o, könig! holder schirmherr meines lebens! du, höchster güte wonnereicher hort! was du mir bist, kann staunend ich nur fassen, wenn mir sich zeigt, was ohne dich ich war. du bist der holde lenz, der neu mich schmückte, der mir verjüngt der zweig und aeste saft; es war dein ruf, der mich der nacht entrückte, die winterlich erstarrt hielt meine kraft. wie mich dein hehrer segengruss entzückte, der wonnenstürmisch mich dem leid entrafft, so wandl' ich stolzbeglückt nun neue pfade im sommerlichen königreich der gnade." at the beginning of october, wagner moved from the lake of starnberg to munich, ludwig having given him a furnished villa in brienner strasse. the royal gardeners transformed an adjoining garden into a pretty park, and he was granted a considerable monthly pension. the intercourse between the friends continued apparently undisturbed; they spent their days in each other's society, and often remained together half the night. the monarch showered gifts on the poet-musician, and fulfilled all his wishes. on the th of november the newspapers of the capital published an official announcement, which ran as follows:--"his majesty has decided that a school of operatic music shall be founded, under the direction of wagner, in which male and female singers who wish to prepare themselves for the stage may receive the necessary practical instruction. the royal residenz theater will be placed at the disposal of the pupils for purposes of rehearsal." der fliegende holländer was given at the hof theater on the th of december. the house was filled to overflowing, and the audience followed the opera with interest. wagner, who made his first public appearance that evening as conductor in munich, was recalled after the second act and the conclusion of the performance. in order further to seal the position he had won, it was decided that he should give a concert the following sunday in the hof theater, where several of his compositions would be performed. it was, however, badly attended; and the critics deemed wagner more a poet than a musician. a few weeks afterwards the king received in special audience the architect semper, who had come to munich at the suggestion of wagner, it being the latter's wish that a large new theatre after his own notions should be built in the bavarian capital. it was intended that this edifice should be situated on the highest part of the maximilian anlage, a bridge in renaissance style being thrown across the river. the cost of the theatre was estimated at a million guldens, and including the projected bridge and laying out of the adjacent ground, semper further calculated the sum necessary at five millions of guldens. his plans and drawings met with ludwig's fullest approval. the officials of the privy purse, however, used to the economy of former reigns, strongly opposed the scheme. the king, therefore, thought himself constrained to postpone indefinitely the execution of his plans; and later on entirely abandoned them. [ ] the capital of bavaria was the loser by this, for the theatre would not only have been an embellishment to the town, but would have attracted thither a countless number of visitors. the outlay in course of time would have been covered many times over. the real opposition against wagner began in munich on the day when his extensive theatre plans became known. the nobility saw in him the bad genius of the young king, one who would prevent the aristocracy and gentry from having access to the presence. the clergy were incensed against him because he was a freethinker. among musicians there was a considerable number who admired the composer of der fliegende holländer, lohengrin, and tännhauser, but who, nevertheless, frankly opposed the "music of the future" as an aberration. others of his fellows looked upon him as the greatest musical genius of that day; but they envied his ability to bask in the favour of royalty, and dragged his personal weaknesses forth before the public. wagner, on his side, was not without blame in these enmities. the exaggerated luxury displayed by him incensed the thrifty burghers. at every turn he boasted of the royal favour. it was generally said that he misused his protector's open purse. he was in the habit of buying articles on credit and referring the purveyors for payment to his "royal friend," and it was feared in extended circles that he was leading ludwig into profligacy. he, moreover, caused a considerable amount of ill-feeling by his irritability and impatience where the execution of his plans was concerned. a large part of the press began to show hostility towards him; the comic papers occupied themselves with him; and he suffered much under the forging of these links: on the th of march he wrote to august röckl: "all i want is to get away to a pretty corner of italy ... so as to be able to nurse my poor nerves. but how, on the other hand, can i leave this poor young king, in his abominable surroundings, and with his heart so wonderfully fastened on me?" at wagner's suggestion the king summoned hans von bülow and several of the musician's other adherents to munich. bülow was appointed court choirmaster and "leader" to his majesty. he treated the artists of the royal chapel like schoolboys. they were received in the best society of the capital, and their displeasure was implanted further. on the th of may the following announcement appeared in the neuesten nachrichten:--"men whose veracity we have no reason to doubt inform us that at a recent rehearsal of wagner's tristan und isolde herr von bülow demanded an extension of the orchestra. the stage manager, herr penckmayer, answered that in such a case thirty stalls would have to be done away with. bülow thereupon observed: 'what does it matter if there are thirty rascals more or less in the theatre!'" the overstrung musician frequently let his sharp tongue run away with him, and could not deny that he had made use of this expression. he found himself obliged to declare publicly that in saying so he had in his mind only that portion of the public who had taken up a hostile attitude towards wagner. the general dislike of hans von bülow, despite his admitted ability, was very detrimental to the poet-composer; moreover, others of his friends who had come to munich at this time wounded the inhabitants of the city by their frankly expressed contempt for its music, and by permitting themselves criticisms at its expense. but more than anything else public opinion was incensed against wagner from the fact that frau cosima von bülow, née liszt, had attained the part of lady of the house at the villa in brienner strasse. it became known that the mutual admiration between her and wagner had taken the form of a liaison, and the judges of morality on this ground sided vehemently against him. only at the court did his position appear to be unshaken. ludwig did not hear the reports which were current with regard to bülow's wife and his friend, nor had he more than a slight knowledge of the hostility of which the latter was the object. articles in the different newspapers which had come to his knowledge had, however, greatly embittered the sensitive youth. "forgive them, for they know not what they do," he wrote, with reference to this, to wagner. "they do not know that you are everything to me, and will continue to be so until death." in another letter he exclaims: "ah, my friend, how difficult they make things for us! but i will not complain. i have him, my friend, the only one." [ ] at the hof theater in munich the master's glorious composition tristan und isolde was being studied, no theatre up to this time having attempted to produce it. the well-known singers ludwig and malwina schnorr von carolsfeld came from dresden to take the title parts. bülow, whom the composer called "his other self," [ ] was to conduct the opera. the rehearsals began in wagner's house, but were later transferred to the royal residenz theater which was placed at his absolute disposal for this purpose. the master instructed each one of the artists himself. the little man with the great head was all fire, carrying everyone with him. when a difficult passage had been performed with especial success he would spring up and kiss and embrace the singer, male or female; and at times even stand on his head on the sofa from sheer delight. [ ] the performances of tristan und isolde had been fixed for the th, the th, and the nd of may, the latter day being wagner's birthday. his followers, and representatives of the press, had come from all parts of germany and from abroad, to be present at the representation, which was considered an event in the musical world. but frau schnorr von carolsfeld suddenly fell ill, and the performance had to be postponed. it was not until the th of june that the first performance could take place. early in the forenoon all the seats in the house were sold at considerably increased prices. the royal boxes, flanking the stage, were filled with spectators: among those present being prince luitpold with his elder sons, prince adalbert with his wife, king ludwig i., and duke max, who nearly all remained in the theatre until the conclusion of the opera. at ten minutes past six the king appeared in the so-called "imperial box." he was received with loud acclamations, and the orchestra added its quota of fanfares. ludwig was evidently pleased, and thanked his people by bowing cordially to all sides. the next moment hans von bülow stepped into the conductor's place, and the performance began. it was not at that time usual to applaud the actors and actresses when the sovereign was present, until the latter had given the signal. after the first act, however, a great number of those present were so delighted that they could not refrain from recalling herr and frau schnorr von carolsfeld. no sooner had they done this than hisses were to be heard, though deadened by applause. after the second act the two chief singers were recalled, this time amid unanimous recognition. at eleven o'clock the performance concluded. once again there was a difference of opinion, and applause and hisses sought for mastery. herr and frau schnorr von carolsfeld led wagner on to the stage. he was received with a storm of ovations, though here and there hisses were audible. the king, who had followed the performance with the most strained attention, and who in the third act had been affected to tears, trembled with emotion. he stood up in his box, and clapped enthusiastically. at last there was quiet; the curtain fell. wagner's genius had conquered. there was not in the whole of europe a newspaper of any consideration, still less one for the criticism of music, which did not mention this evening. opinions as to the work were divided, but there was only one opinion as to the excellence of the orchestra under hans von bülow's leadership and the singing of ludwig and malwina schnorr von carolsfeld. a frenchman who was present wrote [ ]: "i doubt that wagner's tristan will ever be popular, for it is not remarkable for clearness and simplicity. on the other hand, musicians will find treasures in it.--i have never been present at an opera which so quickly wearies the attention and which demands such an immense amount of mental strain. but neither do i know any with such lofty and enchanting beauties. "we must do the young king the justice to allow that without him the representation could never have been possible. he has worked for it with all his might, and wagner's triumph is in truth his. ludwig's behaviour during the five hours that the opera lasted was likewise a feature in the play. be sure that this young man will cause the world to talk about him! a monarch of twenty years more open-minded than his opposition, whom he drives forward--a king who does not draw back before the highest problems in art is a rare figure in history!" wagner received from his royal protector a letter in which was written: "uplifted, divine friend, "i can hardly wait for the morrow, i long so already for the second performance.... is it not so, my very dear friend, the courage to create new things will never leave you!... i ask you never to lose heart. i ask it of you in the name of those whom you fill with joy--a joy which otherwise only god grants! "you and god! "to death and after death. in the kingdom on the other side i remain, "your faithful, "ludwig." to hans von bülow likewise he expressed his thanks in a flattering letter, which was accompanied by a diamond ring; and he also caused diamond rings to be conveyed to herr and frau schnorr von carolsfeld, in which souvenirs of the festival were ingeniously set. chapter vi ludwig's first visit to switzerland--richard wagner leaves munich we know that schiller, from ludwig's childhood, had been his favourite poet. at munich, as in all other theatres, the master's works had hitherto only been given in an abridged form. but the "romanticist on the throne," commanded that in his own theatre they should be played as the poet himself had intended. on the th of october wilhelm tell was performed for the first time in its original shape. after this representation the king was taken with the desire to know the people and the country which schiller had glorified in his work. accompanied by his aide-de-camp, prince paul of thurn and taxis, he started on the th of october for switzerland. in lucerne, which he made his headquarters, he went to the hotel schweizer hof. his arrival being unannounced, and no one recognising him, he was given a room on the third floor. the consternation among the personnel of the establishment may be imagined when it became known the following day that it was the king of bavaria who had been lodged so high up. the landlord, in dismay, hastened upstairs to make his apologies, and offered ludwig the suite of rooms on the ground floor in which royal personages were usually accommodated. ludwig declined the offer with his kindest smile, declaring that he was satisfied with his little room on the third floor, with its pretty view over the lake and mountains, and that he would not leave it. from lucerne he made excursions to places in the woodland cantons rich in legendary lore: to "rütli" "tells-platte," "stauffachers kapel," to the küsnach gorge, and several other places. the hearts of the inhabitants went out to the handsome, enthusiastic youth. the schwyzer zeitung published after his departure some hearty words of appreciation and farewell. this he answered in an autograph letter which ran as follows:-- "herr redakteur! "it was with the greatest pleasure that i read to-day the warm farewell from "william tell's" land, and i answer it from my heart. "i send my greeting likewise to my dear friends in the forest cantons, for whom already as a child i had a particular affection. "the recollection of my visit to the glorious interior of switzerland and of the honest, free people, whom i pray god to protect, i shall always prize. "with the kindest feelings, i am, "your gracious, "ludwig. "hohenschwangau, november the second, ." on his return home ludwig invited richard wagner to visit him; and on the th of november the two friends were again together in the "swan castle." it was intended to open at the beginning of the year the new school of music and dramatic art, with hans von bülow as principal. wagner had much upon his mind which he desired to ask of his royal friend, and was so satisfied with his stay at hohenschwangau that after his return home he telegraphed to one of his adherents: "the year is ours!" meanwhile there were forces working from different quarters to destroy the friendship between him and ludwig. the secretary and the keeper of the privy purse, who had enjoyed the late king's confidence for years, considered it to be their duty to counteract the tendency to extravagance which was showing itself in the young sovereign. they received support from the numerous opponents of the poet-musician. the opposition grew into a perfect tumult; for the people, who could neither understand his relations with ludwig nor his artistic objects, believed in the alarming pictures of him which his enemies sowed broadcast in words and writings. "well-informed persons," wrote the volksbote, "affirm that wagner within less than a year has cost the privy purse no less than a million and nine hundred thousand guldens. we do not vouch for the accuracy of the amount stated; but we may mention it as certain that wagner some weeks ago once more demanded forty thousand guldens in order to satisfy his expensive habits. herr von pfistermeister has advised the sovereign not to grant this new and excessive demand. as a result of this richard wagner has written in his anger a letter very far from polite to herr von pfistermeister; and finally he has in spite of everything received the sum he desired." ministers, councillors of state, burgher representatives, all took part against him. among the general public opinions were, however, somewhat divided. the following episode occurred in a railway train. a catholic priest expressed disapproval of his majesty for making so much of "lutheran musicians." to this a peasant who was sitting in the same carriage, replied: "i would rather see the king with musicians than with priests." the secretary was looked upon by wagner as the instigator of all the opposition the latter met with, and on many occasions he expressed himself in disparaging terms of this greatly respected man. in the other camp, on the contrary, pfistermeister was greatly admired on account of the bold stand he was making against the inconsiderate demands of the master, the conservative papers siding strongly with him. on the th of december an address of confidence was laid out in the business houses of munich for signature, which it was intended should be presented to herr von pfistermeister by a deputation. it also contained a request that he would continue to stand fast by the king's side. ludwig received official information of these facts, and at the same time it was made known to him how unpopular wagner had made himself. on the th of december he moved from hohenschwangau back to the royal palace at munich. on the same day his mother, his great-uncle prince karl, archbishop scherr, and the premier, baron von der pfordten, went to the palace. in his capacity as minister of the royal household, the latter handed him a memorandum in which he threatened to retire if wagner did not leave bavaria. prince karl gave forcible expression to the belief of the court that this friendship would have disastrous consequences. the police would no longer answer for the poet-composer's safety. lacqueys who were questioned let fall hints that a revolution might break out under the present condition of affairs. the king had weak nerves, and was not a man of conspicuous bravery. wagner's violence and exactions had many times caused him difficulties. he felt himself, moreover, greatly hurt by the manner in which his name had been mixed up in the matter. the attacks of the press and the threats of his relations and councillors would hardly, however, have been sufficient to separate him from his friend, had not another reason been added to them: he had received incontrovertible proof that the poet-composer had a liaison with frau cosima von bülow. these proofs, for which he was quite unprepared, made a far more painful impression on him than the meddling of his friends and the malicious fulminations of the press. schwärmerei was a prominent trait in his character, and he had fixed all his affections on richard wagner. the predominant feeling of the latter was primarily gratitude to his royal patron; but there is no doubt, judging by the letters and poems from his hand, that he also cherished very great sympathy for the gifted youth. but ludwig was of a jealous nature. he wished to be loved for his own sake; and he wished to possess his friend alone. the connection with frau von bülow, therefore, became a source of bitter and continual disappointment to him. the same day that he ascertained the fact with certainty, he sent the premier a document in which he made known his desire that wagner should at once leave munich. "i will," he said on this occasion, "show my dear people that their confidence in, and love for, me stands higher than any other consideration." to von lutz, later his minister, was allotted the task of verbally informing wagner of the decision which had been taken with regard to him. the same evening he visited the hof theater with the queen-mother. instead of the warm welcome he was in the habit of receiving when he had been absent for some time, a murmur of displeasure was heard. he thought to see in this a confirmation of the current of public feeling. the following morning he sent wagner an autograph letter, which ran as follows:-- "my dear friend, "greatly as it pains me, i must ask you to comply with the wish i expressed yesterday through my secretary. believe me, i was obliged to act thus! my affection for you will last for ever. i ask you, also, always to keep your friendship for me. it is with a good conscience that i dare say that i am worthy of it.... who has the right to part us?... i know that you feel as i do, that you can perfectly measure my deep sorrow. i could not act otherwise, be convinced of this! never doubt the faithfulness of your greatest friend.... it is not for ever. "to death, "your faithful, "ludwig." even before the official organ of the government had announced this sensational banishment, the news had been disseminated with lightning rapidity. the th of december was a holiday. nevertheless, a meeting of magistrates was convened to discuss the propriety of sending a deputation to the king, to express the city's thanks. the debate was protracted and sharp; it was finally agreed that the deputation should not be sent. nor did a torchlight procession which had been thought of, take place. while the clerical and some of the liberal papers were overjoyed at ludwig's action, the progressive organ observed that "the august relatives, members of the nobility, and officials of church and state who had informed the king of the prevailing condition of public feeling had been incorrect in their statements. wagner's presence had done nothing to alarm the people, and had in no way diminished their love of the king. wagner's person had had nothing whatever to do with the internal affairs of the country, and with the efforts of the progressive party." on the th of december the master left munich. despite the cold of winter and the dark early morning hour, the railway station was filled with people anxious to see him and bid him good-bye. ludwig had sent him a last farewell letter, brimming over with sorrow: "my precious tenderly loved friend, "words cannot express the pain gnawing at my heart. whatever it is possible to do to refute the abominable newspaper accounts shall be done. that it should have come to this! our ideals shall be faithfully cultivated--i need hardly tell you this. let us write often and much to one another. i ask it of you! we know each other, and we will not give up the friendship which binds us. for the sake of your peace i had to act as i have done. "do not misjudge me, not for a moment; it would be the pangs of hell to me.... success to my most beloved friend! may his works flourish. a hearty greeting with my whole soul from "your faithful, "ludwig." wagner went to switzerland and took up his abode there. neither the king nor his advisers thought that the banishment would be for ever. the poet-musician did, indeed, return to munich, on visits of short duration, but he never stayed there again for any length of time. the good relations between him and ludwig were never broken, and the gallant monarch continued to hold his protecting hand over him. he worked zealously for the inauguration of the wagner theatre at bayreuth, and the royal pension was paid without reduction out of the privy purse until the death of wagner in . frau cosima, however, who had been one of the causes of the friends' separation, was unable to congratulate herself on any favour whatsoever; she might not have existed as far as the ruler of bavaria was concerned. as a widow she sought an audience of him, to thank him for the proofs of affection he had shown her husband. ludwig refused to receive her. "i do not know any frau cosima wagner," he said coldly. although he had voluntarily sent the master away, and although, as we have seen, other reasons than the voice of opinion had influenced his decision, ludwig never forgave the citizens of munich for the part they had taken in disturbing a friendship which had been the source to him of so much consolation and pleasure. the aversion which he showed the capital on many later occasions was first awakened by this circumstance. the severance not only left behind it a profound feeling of loneliness, but also, in his sensitive heart, a bitterness which boded ill for the future. "his too great love for me," wrote wagner, on the th of december , to frau wille, "made him blind to other connections, and therefore he was easily disappointed. he knows nobody, and it is only now that he is learning to know people. still i hope for him. as i am sure of his enduring affection, so i believe in the development of his splendid qualities. all he requires is to learn to know a few more people. he will then rapidly learn to do the right thing." on the st of july he wrote in a letter to malvida von meysenburg: "the only thing that kept me back in munich was affection for my friend, for whose sake i have suffered more than for any other person.... i have saved him, and still hope that i have kept in him one of my best works for the world." among wagner's contemporaries there were but few who were disposed to share his belief that he had saved the young king. on the contrary, public opinion affirmed that it was he who had given ludwig a taste for the nocturnal life which entirely undermined his nervous system, and that by his exaggerated poems of homage he had laid the foundation of the megalomania which later developed in him. at the time of ludwig's death it was even declared that this friend was concerned in the tragedy of the starnberger see. the latter is, of course, an unproved and improvable affirmation. with quite as much reason might it be said that ludwig ii.--morbid as he was--had need of some person who by the power of music could soothe him in his suffering condition. certain it is that from the day when the separation from richard wagner took place the king's spirit became less, and his life more joyless than it had been before. it has also been thought that wagner meddled in the guidance of political affairs. this, however, is incorrect. there were, indeed, many who credited him with an all-powerful influence over the king, and he himself mentions this in a letter to a friend: "i pass for a favourite who can bring everything about. the other day even a murderess's relations addressed themselves to me!" it is also said that, at the time when war seemed to be imminent between prussia and austria, an endeavour was made through wagner to induce ludwig to remain neutral. all, however, who are in a position to know, are agreed that in the fulfilment of his duties as a ruler the young monarch never allowed himself to be influenced by him. wagner has on countless occasions declared that he never talked politics with the king, because the latter had forbidden him to do so. when he touched upon a topic which might in any way have led the conversation into this channel, ludwig would gaze up at the ceiling and whistle, as a sign that he did not desire a continuation of the subject. finally, in summing up the relations between the two friends, it must not be forgotten that, after wagner's genius, it is to the affection of the bavarian king for him that the world owes to-day the possession of the meistersinger, der ring, and parsifal. his help at a time when it was most needed, gave back to the master his strength and courage. ludwig's magnificent generosity enabled him to create these new and glorious works. moreover, the royal protection did much further to attract attention to wagner and to the music of the future. his enthusiastic admiration for the composer of rienzi, der fliegende holländer, tannhäuser, lohengrin, tristan und isolde, and the above-mentioned operas, has caused the name of ludwig ii. to be honourably connected with the history of music. little more than twenty years have passed since his death, in the year . but the prophetic words which he uttered on the th of august , in a letter to richard wagner, have become reality. "when we two are no more, our work will serve as a shining model for posterity. it will delight centuries. and hearts will glow with enthusiasm for the art which is from god, and is everlasting." chapter vii the political situation--the schleswig-holstein question--the war of the sixties were in political respects a time fraught with fate for the german people. the future emperor wilhelm i.--"der siegeskaiser," as he was called--had in succeeded his romantic, and in the end, insane brother, friedrich wilhelm iv., as king of prussia. the year afterwards bismarck was constituted the leader of prussian politics. he had long borne within him the scheme for the federation of the german states under the prussian sceptre; and his political watch-word was, as we know, "iron and blood." in an opportunity occurred for the great statesman to take the first step on his projected way. the danish king, frederik vii., had died, and as a consequence of this the schleswig-holstein question had peremptorily come to the fore. bismarck invited the hereditary enemy, austria, to go hand in hand with prussia in her war against denmark. in the situation brought about by this war the position of the medium-sized and small states of germany became serious, and the neutrality which they had adopted became more and more untenable. bavaria had kept outside the struggle in the schleswig-holstein question. its then reigning monarch, maximilian ii., had made an attempt to negotiate between the conflicting parties, and shortly before his death endeavoured to mediate in favour of the duke of agustenborg's claims. matters had by this time entered on a new stage: the two great powers could not agree as to the prize gained by the conquest. dark storm-clouds gathered, threatening a more far-reaching and bloody issue than the schleswig-holstein one. ludwig ii. desired to take up the thankless part of peacemaker, and follow in his father's footsteps. this was of no avail, for bismarck wished for a decision of the question whether prussia or austria should play first violin, and a war was a necessary link in his scheme. bavaria in general, and the king in particular, seem long to have considered it possible that the storm might abate without the shedding of blood. nevertheless he issued orders on the th of may, , for the mobilisation of the bavarian army. on the nd of may, at schloss hohenschwangau, one of the ministers held a lecture before him on the position of affairs. ludwig went a turn in the park with his counsellor, and parted from him with manifestations of friendliness, after having offered him a cigar. the minister had hardly taken his departure before ludwig mounted a horse, and rode off, accompanied by a single groom. he galloped to the railway station of biessenhofen, reached lindau unrecognised, and passed thence unnoticed into switzerland. the journey concerned richard wagner, who was living at his villa "triebchen," close to lucerne, and whom he wished to congratulate on the occasion of his birthday. the landsturm was meanwhile about to be called out in bavaria, and the king's signature was required. not a syllable as to his intended excursion had crossed his lips while he had been talking to the minister. when the latter again returned to hohenschwangau, his majesty had disappeared. inquiries were made; but no one knew whither he had ridden, or how long he intended to be away. after a time tracks were found leading to the lake of lucerne, and it was discovered that two riders, late at night, had been admitted to richard wagner's villa. there was no longer any doubt as to where he was to be sought. the premier telegraphed to wagner that the king's presence in bavaria was necessary. ludwig at once went back to lindau, whither the royal train was sent to meet him. it is true that he had been absent only a few days, but not without reason this excursion was looked upon with great disfavour. his gratuitous disappearance at such a critical moment was commented on and criticised in foreign and bavarian newspapers. the only circumstance to explain and excuse his conduct was his youthful confidence that his kingdom would not be involved in the struggle. on the th of may he opened the chamber in person, expressing in the speech from the throne the hope, which he would not yet relinquish, that germany might be spared a sister war. this was, however, on the eve of breaking out. the sympathies of bavaria were on the side of austria, and on the th of june a military alliance was concluded with that country. the same day prussia declared in dresden, hanover, and cassel its ultimatum: alliance or war! the grand duke of hesse, who would not allow prussia "to put a pistol to his breast," was a prussian prisoner of state five days later. king george of hanover declared himself, "as a christian, a monarch, and a guelph," to be against prussia. but so rapid was the prussian advance that the hanoverian troops surrendered without conditions on the th of june, in spite of their victory at langensalza. on the th of june the war broke out in bavaria. austria had undertaken, in an agreement with this country, not to conclude peace on her own account. on the th of june ludwig went for a day to the headquarters of the army, at bamberg. he issued a proclamation to his troops, in which he said, "i do not bid you farewell; my thoughts will be with you," he left the command of the army to his father's uncle, field marshal prince karl, then seventy-one years of age, who, together with prince alexander of hesse, led the troops of bavaria, würtemberg, baden-baden, and hesse--the so-called reichs-armée, which consisted of nearly a hundred thousand men. in spite of his bravery and his military experience from the wars of napoleon the great, in which he had taken part, prince karl could do nothing against the dissensions of the allied troops, which hastened the enemy's victory. the prussians conquered the reichs-armée in a number of small battles. inactive, powerless, ludwig was witness from his capital of the defeat of his faithful soldiers. his people were a vanquished people, and himself a vanquished king. austria concluded peace with prussia in nikolsburg without paying any regard to the fate of her ally. bavaria now also concluded peace. she did not lose any province, had only to renounce a strip of country hardly worth mentioning; but she was compelled to pay thirty millions of guldens for the expenses of the war. the bavarian troops went each in their own direction. the war had lasted a month, but this month had been long enough to lay fields and woods bare, and to fill thousands of hearts with loss and sorrow. chapter viii the king makes the tour of his kingdom a couple of months after peace had been concluded ludwig made the tour of his kingdom--the first and the last of his reign. he appeared with great brilliance, his suite consisting of no less than a hundred and nineteen persons. although the war had brought bavaria neither honour nor advantage, and although the king had taken no active part in it, he was everywhere received with the greatest rejoicings. the enthusiasm he aroused was so great, that his journey literally resembled a triumphal progress, and this conquered and peaceful monarch might have taken to himself cæsar's celebrated words: veni, vidi, vici. the sympathy of the people during the war of had been markedly on the side upon which the government had placed itself, namely, that of austria. the young king's personality was, moreover, as if created to awaken interest and devotion. he was twenty-one years of age. he united to his youth a beauty which was widely celebrated. nearly every illustrated paper in germany, nay, the whole of europe, published a picture of him at that time, and to these was added a text redundant with admiration and praise. the romantic light which rested on him, the legends current as to his gifts and his intellect, his æsthetic and artistic tastes, even the many half-true half-fictitious stories of his caprices and peculiarities--all contributed to increase the interest taken in him. added to this was the fact that this official journey was for the purpose of making acquaintance with the wounds caused by the war, and in order, as far as possible, to bring healing and relief to them. it was a winter journey. the snow lay like a white coverlet over the afflicted provinces traversed by the railway. but from behind the wide plate-glass windows ludwig saw, whenever a group of houses came into sight, that a flag was hoisted on every roof and that from every window a hearty welcome was being waved to him. the noise of the train was put to naught by the jubilant clangour of the village trumpets and clarionets. in the towns the reception was on a grander scale, and not less hearty. all the streets were decorated with flags and banners, and all the bells were pealing. the sounds of cannon, music, and cries of hurrah mingled one with another. the monarch was the recipient of loyal speeches, verses, state dinners, and parades of troops. concerts and balls were given in his honour. young girls with awed admiration presented him with nosegays. the poor and the rich, the young and the old, gave proof-positive of their devotion by the zeal and impatience with which they sought to approach him. the joy of the people broke through police-guards and etiquette. everyone asked to welcome this conquered man who was making a triumphal progress though the conquered provinces. "never," a bavarian officer who was with him told me--"never was a king worshipped as was ludwig on his tour in his own country." the jubilations were equally deafening, the heartiness just as spontaneous, in bayreuth, in bamberg, hof, schweinfurt, kissingen, aschaffenburg, würzburg, and nuremberg. the snowstorms now and then reduced a plan to nothing; ludwig's health sometimes failed and prevented him from enjoying the festivities as much as he might have done; he was unable now and then to appear at some entertainment which had been given in his honour. but he was never-failing in his amiability, and he visited all the places where there had been battles with the enemy, laying flowers with his own hand on the soldiers' graves, and rewarding those who had helped to nurse the wounded. on the th of november he arrived in the most glorious winter weather at nuremberg, welcomed by crowds of people and shouts of "long live the king!" in the evening the citizens gave a brilliant ball; it was so numerously attended that it was only with difficulty space could be kept for the dancers. nevertheless, ludwig danced for four hours running. he conversed with ladies of all ages, and with men of the most varying grades of society. he was pushed into the very midst of the crowd, and he laughed and joked at the incident. it was not till long after midnight that he withdrew from the ball. he remained a whole week in nuremberg. the castle courtyard, and the neighbouring castle hill, were besieged by people from morning to night, who could not look often enough on their king. from the adjacent country places people came in troops to the town; and every day he gave audience in the hall of the kaiserburg. throughout the journey magnificent gifts of money poured out of the privy purse for the assuaging of poverty and need. criminals were pardoned, and the countless petitions which were sent in were nearly all granted. the police endeavoured to keep the obtrusive supplicants away. but the monarch had a sharp eye for that which it was desired to keep from him. he discovered for himself among the crowds of people the pale and careworn forms who hung together with petitions in their hands, and he would then send one of his equerries to find out the nature of their wishes. wearing a field-marshal's uniform he held a review of the troops on the ludwigsmark, and sewed with his own hand the war memorial on four standards. the general in command made a speech in his honour, after which the troops broke out into vociferous cheering. in response to a special invitation prince otto joined him at nuremberg; the interest of the inhabitants from this moment was divided between the two brothers. otto also was genial with all with whom he came in contact. he was handsome; and he was the possessor of a gay and lively temperament, in which his brother was wanting. at last the end came of the royal days in nuremberg. on the afternoon of the th of december the king, accompanied by his brother, left the town. he promised soon to repeat the visit--a promise which was never fulfilled! despite the demonstrations of love and devotion which were so often and so unstintingly lavished on him by the population, he never again during his reign of twenty-two years travelled in his kingdom. chapter ix ludwig's betrothal at a court ball which took place during one of the first years of ludwig's reign, he said to one of his gentlemen-in-waiting: "there are many pretty women at my court, are there not?" and added, as his glance full of tenderness sought the queen-mother, "but my mother is the prettiest of them, and the one whom i admire most." queen marie had many good qualities, but though her sons both loved her, she had no lasting influence on them. she hardly took the trouble to try to enter into ludwig's train of thought, or to hide his weaknesses and peculiarities from others, nor does she seem to have had the ability to understand his strange and composite nature. as we are aware, the young king took great interest in art and literature. at the beginning of his reign he endeavoured to influence the queen's taste; but when he talked to her about books, inquired her opinion of this or that work, she would usually answer: "i never read anything!--i cannot understand why people should always want to be reading." ludwig regarded her want of understanding as an indirect reproach to himself; and his disappointment in her had a depressing effect upon him. both mother and son were fond of a country life. both had a particular affection for hohenschwangau. the queen-mother had spent her happy married life at this place: the king's best childish memories were connected with the castle. but even this similarity of taste gave rise to disagreements. whereas ludwig infinitely preferred to be alone at hohenschwangau, the queen-mother preferred to collect people around her. while her thrifty mind was able to content itself with a bunch of alpine roses, picked by herself, the king required gardens and parks, created by art. life within the family circle, however, went on in very much the same manner as in the lifetime of her husband: queen marie retained her housewifely habits, and the king and prince otto shared her life at the royal summer residences in the vicinity of the capital. king maximilian had built a swiss châlet, "pleckenau," some little distance above the marienbrücke, and about five miles from hohenschwangau. during the first years of her widowhood queen marie regularly used this house as a resting-place on her trips in the neighbourhood, and as an object for small excursions. ludwig and otto, with their attendants, would come out and spend quiet evenings with her. the king's nineteenth birthday was celebrated at pleckenau. a meal was partaken of in the garden, and the utmost gaiety prevailed. "all the same," said the queen, "something is wanting to increase the pleasure of the day." she looked inquiringly round the circle to see if no one guessed her thoughts. as she nodded at the same time to ludwig, he said: "you mean music, mamma! we will have some later!" "i mean something else," answered his mother, "something that we want particularly to-day!" prince otto, then sixteen years old, suddenly called out: "i know, mamma!" "what is it, then?" "your spinning-wheel!" those present were vastly entertained at the prince's answer, for the queen-mother's weakness for practical occupations was the object of much amusement. this time, however, her thoughts had carried her in another direction. she confided to the circle that she had been thinking of a fiancée for the king. despite ludwig's youth, not only his mother, but also his people had begun to occupy themselves with the emotional side of his nature. his love of the mountains and their solitude had caused a rumour to become current that a postmaster's or ranger's daughter in schliersee had taken possession of his heart. this report was entirely without foundation. apart from his mother and her court ladies, his old nurse and his governess, he had before his accession hardly come in contact with women. as the young king he was amiable and courteous, but exceedingly retiring in his behaviour towards them. it was perhaps for the very reason of this retiring attitude that he set flame to a countless number of hearts. many ladies wore lockets containing some souvenir of him; such, for instance, as a flower his foot had trodden on, or some of the hairs of his riding-horse. [ ] some years passed by after the above-mentioned birthday party took place, and still the wish of the queen-mother and the people was ungratified. the empress of russia's matrimonial project had become known, had been much discussed, and had again been nearly forgotten. the king was now twenty-two years of age. the world was at this juncture surprised by the announcement that he was engaged to be married to his cousin, the duchess sophie charlotte. she was young, pretty, well-educated, very musical, and the possessor of a fine voice. in defiance of the feeling against him which prevailed at court, she had openly shown her admiration for richard wagner, and was usually present at the hof theater when his works were performed. ludwig looked forward to finding in her an ally in the struggle for his friend. although the cousins were on a friendly footing, their mutual relations had never given any ground to suppose that a matrimonial alliance between them would ever come about. the evening before the report was circulated there had been a ball in the "museum," at which ludwig had been present. the young ladies belonging to the court had been remarkable for their charming dresses. sophie, in particular, had displayed all the magic of her beauty. at six o'clock the next morning the king hastened to his mother, and requested her, in his name, to ask the duchess's hand. queen marie had since her marriage been on terms of warm friendship with the young duchess's parents and their family. she was pleased at her son's prompt decision. she drove in the early morning hours to the palace of duke max and the duchess ludovica. nothing had occurred to prepare the duke or his wife for what was about to happen, but they were proud at the unexpected offer of marriage. one of their daughters was an empress, [ ] they had seen another of their daughters a queen. [ ]; now the youngest of them, and the one nearest her mother's heart, would have her place on the throne of bavaria. the young duchess, too, gave her consent without hesitation. eye-witnesses have, however, declared that her face, otherwise so fresh, became exceedingly pale when she promised the queen-mother to marry her son. at nine o'clock ludwig himself arrived. an hour later the formal engagement was celebrated. the news, which was rapidly spread through the capital on this morning, became certainty in the evening. on the nd of january, , there was given at the hof theater a new play by benedix. the king was present at the performance. after the conclusion of the first act, the queen-mother came in. she and her son walked across to the ducal box, where sophie was sitting with her youngest brother, and together they fetched the young girl to the "imperial box," where she seated herself between the two. there are still alive in munich elderly persons who remember the memorable night when the princess walked in on ludwig's arm, and gracefully bowed to the public. the duchess was born on the nd of february, . she was often to be seen in the bavarian national costume, which was very becoming to her; and she was considered by many to be better-looking than the empress elizabeth, who was celebrated for her beauty. a light blue dress of silk clung this evening to her slender figure. her hair, which was almost too thick and abundant, was dressed in plaits. her face was radiant and pure. a pair of unfathomable blue eyes, with dark lashes, looked up at the king. on the th of january the engagement was officially announced to the chamber, which voted an address of congratulation. it concluded with the following words: "may all the blessings which a married life can give grow forth in abundance from the alliance which it is your majesty's intention to contract, to the happiness of your majesty, to the prosperity of the royal house, to the blessing of the country!" the deputation was not granted an audience; it had to content itself with congratulating ludwig and his betrothed on the th of february at a court ball. the country was surprised at the king's choice; no one could understand why he had so suddenly taken this decision. the news was received with sympathy, but at first without real enthusiasm. the three former kings of bavaria had had protestant wives, and the protestant part of the population would have preferred ludwig to make a similar choice. in the capital itself, however, people were very well satisfied. as he had in no way been influenced, and as there could be no political grounds for a marriage with a member of the royal house, it was assumed that inclination alone had dictated his proposal; and this assumption seemed in accord with his leaning towards the romantic. it was hoped, moreover, that the marriage would chase away his love of solitude, which had already begun to show itself, and also that the court would gain in brilliancy. ludwig understood how to throw glamour on his alliance; and, little by little, people began to show interest in his bride. double portraits of the young couple were to be seen everywhere; and men and women of the populace would stand for hours in pouring rain to catch a glimpse of the duchess. during the carnival the young monarch gave a series of balls; and on the th of february the engaged couple were present at an entertainment given in their honour by the minister of the royal house and of foreign affairs, prince hohenlohe. on the rd of march they took part in a masquerade at the casino. the king appointed the th of october as the day of his wedding; both his father and grandfather had been married on that day. on the occasion of maximilian ii.'s marriage, a respectable couple in poor circumstances, chosen from each of the provinces of the kingdom, had been given guldens from the royal exchequer. it was decided that a similar sum should be distributed on ludwig's marriage. in all circles of society and all parts of the kingdom wedding presents were in course of preparation. the city of munich built a coach decorated with cupids, which cost , guldens. the palatinate sent some fine horses from the noted stud of zweibrücken, and a cask of noble wine. in the royal palace the so-called garden suite was fitted up for the reception of the future queen. this had formerly been used by ludwig i. and maximilian ii.; but ludwig intended to retain his old apartments, which were situated above those destined for sophie. the painted ceiling in the vestibule, which dates from the seventeenth century, was tastefully restored; and the palace was soon brilliant with truly royal lustre. in the chief workshops of the city workmen were designing, hammering, carving, and forging household utensils and articles of ornament. commemorative medals were struck bearing the heads of the king and his bride, and the most skilful engravers of the country drew the young duchess, in order that her picture might be spread abroad on the marriage day in hundreds of thousands of copies. ludwig i. was still alive: the news of the betrothal reached him in italy. he was pleased at this marriage between his sister's youngest daughter and his grandson. shortly before he had seen at pompeii a fresco depicting venus and adonis, and having thought to find a likeness between ludwig and the beautiful youth, he now embodied his idea and good wishes in some verses which referred to the aforesaid picture. they conclude thus:-- "des lebens höchstes haben sie erworben. nie werde durch die welt dein glück verdorben, nie heisse es: die liebe ist gestorben!" the king had asked the hand of his cousin in a moment of infatuation; but it was not the fire of his senses which burned within him: his feelings were the joy of the artist at the sight of beauty. more than one trustworthy chronicler of the events of this time has hinted that the duchess had a serious inclination for another, and that it was the desire of her parents for the marriage with her cousin which influenced her decision in favour of it. although ludwig was hardly her first love it was impossible that she could have been insensible to his beauty, which fascinated all women, or to the charm of his manner and personality when in his best moods. all who knew sophie as a girl speak enthusiastically of her liveliness and buoyancy. her goodness of heart was also praised, though this did not exclude a light vein of mockery. she was gay; but she was, nevertheless, haughty and proud, and there is hardly any ground to doubt that she was tempted by the brilliance of a royal crown. early in the spring the ducal family went out to possenhofen, and ludwig at the same time took up his residence at the château of berg. his little yacht, the tristan, often bore him to the house of his betrothed, where he was in the habit of spending the evenings. he showered costly presents on sophie. every morning the royal lover rode round the starnberger see to offer her in person a bunch of roses. if he came too early he gave the bouquet to her waiting-maid; and on the way back from his ride, stopped to see the duchess. thus weeks and months passed by. the idyll had not apparently suffered any break. it was ludwig's hope that his future wife would be the friend of his loneliness. he talked often to her of richard wagner, whom he loved so dearly. he recited to her poems, ancient and modern, and scenes from schiller's dramatic works. she listened at first with pleasure to his declamations and outpourings; but at length grew tired of them. the king was of a suspicious nature; he suspected sophie and himself. he sent her notes and presents in the middle of the night, exacting long letters of thanks by the returning messenger. if she forgot to fulfil a single wish of his he was sulky for days. unwarrantable fits of violence alternated with profound melancholy. he suffered from headache; and his excited nerves required solitude. after the intoxication of the first few weeks was past, his betrothed saw in him a total stranger. his extraordinary caprices gave her anxiety; and his intellectual life was a closed book to her superficial nature. if she was wanting in the ability to follow his flights of fancy, he on his side was incapable of satisfying her need for love. there was in the whole of this connection something which was artificial, and which did not ring true. the duchess had a hasty temper. the restless state of mind induced in her by his changing moods made her capricious and unable to govern herself. misunderstandings which at first had gone unheeded, began to arise between the young couple; disagreements separated them still more from one another. long before sophie knew for certain that the engagement would be broken off, a presentiment must have warned her that it could not possibly endure. chapter x the king goes to paris--disharmonies between the engaged couple--ludwig meets the emperor napoleon and the empress eugénie in augsburg--the king breaks his promise of marriage in the midst of the preparations for the wedding the king made several journeys. at the beginning of june he went with prince otto to eisenach, in order to see wartburg. later in the summer he went to paris, where an international exhibition was going on. the paris paper la situation had long in advance announced that the king of bavaria would visit that city. his arrival was looked upon as an event which might be of political importance. although he at once paid a visit at the tuileries, he made no secret of the fact that he had come to france as a private gentleman, and wished to preserve the strictest incognito. the empress eugénie was in england; but napoleon received him as an honoured and welcome guest. he invited him to his magnificently restored palace in the bois de compiègne, where a review of troops was held in his honour. at the lunch which followed this there were present the king of portugal and prince anton of hohenzollern-siegmaringen and his son, the hereditary prince leopold, whose candidature for the spanish throne three years later caused napoleon to risk his crown. the king of bavaria appreciated but little the pleasures of the imperial court. he spent the greater number of his evenings at the "grand opera" and the "theâtre lyrique." the chief part of the day he spent in the exhibition, where the sections devoted to art and education particularly attracted his attention. it was his design to remain in the french capital until the empress eugénie's return. his visit was, however, cut short by the news that his father's brother otto, the former king of greece, had died at the castle of bamberg, where he had passed his latter years. ludwig hurried back to munich, and was present on the th of july at his uncle's interment. the business houses of the capital were meanwhile at work on wedding gifts for their king. letters and presents continued to be exchanged between the engaged couple; and nothing hinted to the outer world that storm-clouds had arisen. in the month of august napoleon and eugénie came from paris to salzburg, to meet the emperor and empress of austria. they stopped a day in augsburg. napoleon in his youth had been a pupil at the college of st anna in that town, and wished to revisit well-known spots. ludwig met the emperor and empress at augsburg and accompanied them to munich, where the queen-mother received the august travellers. the tie between the engaged couple seemed far as yet from being loosened; the king presented sophie to the empress, who heartily kissed both the young people. still ludwig continued his rides along the shores of the lake of starnberg. one morning he stopped earlier than usual outside possenhofen with his bunch of flowers. as usual he went up to the ground floor of the castle. at the top step he met a lady's-maid, who rushed past him, and at the same moment a washing-basin was flung after the fugitive. the water streamed out of it just as his majesty was setting his foot on the threshold. near-sighted as he was, ludwig nevertheless saw who was the cause of this scene: his betrothed, who rapidly disappeared behind the next door, looked at this moment more like a fury than a venus! he stood a moment aghast; then hurried down, swung himself into the saddle, and rode rapidly away. he was expected in vain that evening at possenhofen. judging by the later development of ludwig's character, it is probable that a marriage between him and sophie would never have come about. the scene above described meanwhile hastened on the break. autumn was at hand, and the day appointed for the marriage drawing near. the wedding coach was ready, eight splendid horses having been bought to draw it. the new queen's court had been appointed. the programme of the marriage ceremonies had been made out by the court officials and submitted to his majesty for approval. all the preparations respecting the court entertainments and popular rejoicings with which the alliance was to be celebrated had been made. then one day in september the minister of the royal house and foreign affairs, prince hohenlohe, received a letter in the royal handwriting. [ ] "here is some news for you," said he to his secretary, handing him the letter. ludwig briefly informed the minister that he had decided not to marry the duchess. he left it to the prince's well-known diplomacy to arrange the matter to mutual satisfaction. hohenlohe at once asked for an audience with the king; but he was informed that his majesty had left for the highlands a quarter of an hour earlier; his plans were unknown, and his return uncertain. "this," observed the prince, shrugging his shoulders, "is evidently a fixed determination. at any rate, it is better than setting me a year hence to bring about a separation." "but there is absolutely no reason for the king's step," remarked the secretary. "for that very reason matters must be arranged in such a manner that she may find a pretext for withdrawing. go at once to the mint and order them to stop striking the marriage medal," answered hohenlohe resolutely. it was first officially announced that the day of the wedding was postponed, but that the alliance was by no means broken off. duke max asked in the name of his daughter when the marriage was to take place; and on his request that a time should be appointed, was informed that "this was impossible on account of the king's state of health." the answer gave the ducal house a reasonable pretext for declaring that they would "in such circumstances prefer to consider the engagement at an end." the king received this declaration "with the deepest regret." the rupture was hardly so unexpected by the general public as the engagement had been; for, thanks to hohenlohe's care, the public mind had been prepared. nevertheless, the event was for long a standing subject of conversation. opportunity had been given for the most varied surmises, and stories and hints were not lacking. some sought the reason in a mutual want of sympathy. others knew better, affirmed that the duchess loved another, and that the king had discovered this fact. but all were loath to think that their beloved ludwig was in any way to blame in the matter. sophie's reputation was hardly treated. gossips and court sycophants threw suspicion on her. disparaging and marvellous accounts of her conduct were circulated, and were never lived down. it is little to the king's honour that he never took any step whatever to do justice to the woman he had wished to make his wife and the queen of his kingdom. chapter xi after the parting with sophie--episodes from the king's excursions in the highlands though ludwig's initiative had dictated the rupture with sophie, it is certain that at the end the parting was not easy to him, and that it was not without influence on his future life. a marked change in his manner took place from this time. immediately after this event he retired to his most secluded castle. he was free, but he was not happy. he became more suspicious and shy than before; and it was plain to all that he was harassed by inward disquiet. his good relations with the ducal house were, of course, destroyed. he had not a single real friend, not one person in his entourage with whom he could talk confidentially. the break cast a deep shadow even over his relations with his mother. she avoided him, in her disappointment and anger, instead of endeavouring to win his confidence and help him in his mental struggles, and his love of solitude increased with his bitterness at her coldness. duties, however, called him back to his capital; by new year he was again in munich. the people showed signs of pleasure at having him amongst them once more; the windows of the residenz were lighted up on the dark winter evenings, crowds of the curious besieged the entrances, admired the vestibules and staircases, which were filled with flowers, and listened to the music as they caught snatches of it from inside. the king was holding court; he gave concerts and balls. the festivities, however, were short-lived: ludwig i. died at nice. all entertainments were cancelled; and again the troubled man was able to retire from the world. those, and there were many, who desired an audience of him were compelled to put their patience to the proof, and in the end the greater number of these aspirants had to take their departure without having been granted one. even here, in retirement, he was unaccountable. he refused foreign potentates the sight of his magnificent palaces and winter gardens; but took round one of them a swiss student, and showed him all its beauties. he was caprice itself, unaccountable as the most changeable of women. one day he would be affable, the next inaccessible and silent. these qualities, however, were chiefly apparent in his relations with the heads of society. among the peasantry he was amiable and straightforward; and he retained his popularity among the working classes to the end of his reign. the country people round about those places where he chiefly resided to this day tell many charming stories of him. thus a gentleman who was touring in the mountains came one day to hohenschwangau. as he was wandering about in the vicinity of the castle he saw a young man coming towards him. the latter wore a short black coat, had a tyrolese hat on his head, and carried a large fish in his hand. the stranger took him for a gardener, and asked him if it was possible to see over the castle. "when the king is there no one dares to enter it," answered the young man; "but as he is not there just now, i can show you round if you wish." the offer was naturally accepted with gratitude. the fictitious gardener very obligingly showed the stranger through the apartments, where all the servants bowed respectfully. they stopped before the king's bed-chamber, the young man explaining that visitors were not allowed to enter it. after they had seen everything, he took a complaisant farewell of the stranger, who concluded by asking where his majesty was at the time. "the king was in the castle when we went over it," was the answer. "and we did not see him?" exclaimed the gentleman in surprise. "you did see him. i am the king!" one day when ludwig was walking alone in the mountains he met a goat-herd. "i am going to drive my goats home," said the boy, "but i don't know what time it is." "have you no watch?" asked the king. "how could i have a watch?" answered the child. ludwig told him, smiling, what the hour was, and the day afterwards sent him a watch as a present. when on his lonely drives he often passed through a village where he had noticed a cottage belonging to a shoemaker. the man was always to be found tending his flowers in the little patch of garden. one day ludwig stopped the carriage outside the village and walked to the shoemaker's, where he remained outside the fence watching the man, who was busy in his garden. "master," said he, "you are not quite successful with your lilies." "no," answered the shoemaker, who did not recognise the king; "i have not grudged work or expense these five years to get pure white lilies, but they always have a green tinge about them. if i could only get into the royal garden--i hear they have such beautiful white lilies there!" "it would not be any help to you, master," said ludwig, "for it is hardly your intention to steal plants there, i think. nor would you have the opportunity of doing so." "what do you think of me, good sir?" exclaimed the man indignantly. "do you think i would touch my king's property? all i want is to see this beautiful flower in its full perfection." "you might be able to do that. i know the head gardener, and i will put in a good word for you." "if you would do that i would willingly make you a pair of boots for nothing." "i want no return for such a trifling service," said ludwig, taking leave of him with a friendly nod. the next morning a servant brought the cobbler a large bunch of white lilies from the king. chapter xii the empress of russia visits bavaria--the duchess sophie's engagement and marriage--an unexpected meeting with the duchesse d'alençon--a last attempt to forge the links of hymen around ludwig in the latter half of september, , the empress of russia came to munich accompanied by a numerous suite. her unsuccessful matrimonial project did not seem to have diminished her interest in the sovereign of bavaria. ludwig received her with the same respect and warmth as before, and entertained her with a magnificence the like of which had not been seen before in his realm. he had caused the apartments in schloss berg which were placed at the empress's disposal to be done up in exact similarity, according to description, to her rooms in the russian palace. a state luncheon at the palace at munich and a state performance at the theatre, alternated with excursions to his castles in the vicinity of the capital. the tsarina spent an evening with the royal family on the "roseninsel," where her young friend had arranged an italian night with music and singing, and at which the singers of the opera took part. the whole of the lake of starnberg was illuminated with bengal lights. in the gardens and courtyard of the château were erected allegorical statues. every rose-bush hid a surprise. countless numbers of rockets were sent up into the air above the lake, and moved, many-hued, in the wind. music was played on a vessel, so clothed in leafage that it resembled an islet, and on which the inhabitants and summer visitors to starnberg had taken up their position, adding by their applause to the general festivity of the entertainment. it was like a tale from the "thousand and one nights." the russian empress expressed the opinion later that she had never experienced anything so romantic as this evening. the grand duchess maria did not accompany her mother on this occasion. the king's engagement to his cousin, and his breaking off of it, had convinced the empress that, amiable as he was as a friend, she would probably do wisely in cooling her ardour to possess him as a son-in-law. there is no doubt that the broken engagement had injured the duchess sophie's reputation; but it proved, nevertheless, that the incident had by no means diminished her chances of making another advantageous match. a reigning german prince--a near relative of the king--went in the summer of to munich with the intention of learning to know her, and of asking her hand. another suitor had meanwhile been before him. on the st of july, , the duc de nemours and his son had visited possenhofen; and on the th of july of the same year, during a visit to baden-baden, the engagement of sophie to prince ferdinand of orleans, duc d'alençon was publicly announced. [ ] shortly afterwards the prince and his father went to england to make arrangements for the new home. the wedding took place on the th of september, , at eleven in the forenoon, in the royal chapel at possenhofen. at the marriage, which was performed by the abbé haneberg, were present, besides the bride's parents and brothers, the count and countess di trani, the hereditary princess helene of thurn and taxis, and several of the bavarian princes and princesses, also the duc de nemours, with both his daughters, the comte de paris, the prince de joinville, with his wife and son, and other members of the house of orleans. the empress of austria and the ex-queen of naples, the latter with her husband, who had shortly before visited their paternal home, had left bavaria immediately before the wedding. the neuesten nachrichten of munich, from which i have gathered these details, is silent on the subject of an episode which has lately become known through freiherr von völderndorff's reminiscences of prince hohenlohe. in the midst of the ceremony ludwig ii. suddenly appeared, accompanied by the empress of russia, who was his guest at the time. his entrance had the most painful effect on all present. the king remained for over an hour in the home of the bride, apparently without in the least noticing the feeling of constraint which his presence occasioned. his determination to congratulate his former fiancée on her wedding-day was without doubt one of those momentary impulses which were continually fluctuating in the neurotic man's restless mind. the duc and duchesse d'alençon went to england, where they lived during the first years of their married life. but sophie often came back to possenhofen. ludwig avoided meeting her with the greatest care. many years later they accidentally encountered one another at seeshaupt on the lake of starnberg. an accident had happened to his horses, and he had alighted from his carriage and had got up beside a peasant who was driving past, in order to return to berg. at that juncture the duchess ludovica, with her youngest daughter by her side, drove past. the king ordered the peasant to make way for her equipage. he turned his head aside and took no notice whatever of the ladies. after the marriage of the duchess, a rumour was spread abroad that ludwig was again about to become engaged. he made a trip, in the strictest incognito, from hohenschwangau to friedrichshafen on bodensee, travelling under the name of "graf von schyren," and accompanied by a single servant. the king and queen of würtemberg had invited him to visit them. queen olga, a russian princess, who had relinquished with regret the hope of seeing the archduchess maria queen of bavaria, had at this juncture planned a new engagement. princess emma of waldeck-pyrmont [ ] was on a visit to the royal couple. the queen had made up her mind that this young lady, who was exceedingly musical and a great admirer of wagner's compositions, should make the acquaintance of the king of bavaria, with the view of a possible matrimonial alliance between them. ludwig appeared to be attracted by the princess, who in her turn was charmed with the gallant and intellectual monarch. the day spent at friedrichshafen passed quickly and pleasantly. evening came, and ludwig thought of returning to his home. while he and the princess were still sitting together at the piano he became restless. he remarked that it was getting late, and that the time for his departure was at hand. almost immediately he rose to depart. he took a warm farewell of the princess, and a no less hearty one of the king and queen of würtemberg, promising that he would soon come again and perhaps stay longer. from the steamer, which had been waiting for him, he waved several times to the king and queen, and the princess, who were standing on the quay looking after him. he never came back, however, and apparently forgot both the charming day in friedrichshafen and princess emma of waldeck-pyrmont. chapter xiii ludwig and the artistes of the stage--josephine schefzky his subjects began to give up the hope of seeing their king a husband. several political parties, however, hoped that they might be able to influence him through a mistress. their expectations were disappointed also in this. after the breaking-off of his engagement, the fair sex played but a small part in the king's life. he seems to have looked upon women with the same eyes as the poet holberg, who in one of his letters writes that he regards them as "pretty pictures"--to be looked at, but not to be touched! those who knew ludwig are entirely agreed that he never felt real love for any woman, not even for his betrothed wife, though at one time he appeared to do so. to richard wagner, he said at one of their first meetings: "you do not like women either, do you? they are such bores!" ludwig's indifference did not, however, prevent him from feeling friendship for several women. [ ] his artistic interests, moreover, brought him into contact with others of them; and in his youth he often summoned actresses and women-singers to his palaces in order that they might recite and sing to him. he astonished them by his remarkable memory, for if they left out but a single word he would immediately supply it. not infrequently he would himself take a part in a dialogue, and his gifts of elocution are said to have been charming. some of his experiences with the artistes whom he invited to his palaces can hardly have contributed to increase his respect for women. the fêted actress, frau von bulyowska, declaimed before him at hohenschwangau fragments of schiller's dramas. for some time he delighted in mary queen of scots; he had her engraved, he had her painted, he had her acted at the theatre. the aforesaid actress, who had taken the part of mary stuart, had to stand as model to the court painter, who made sketches of her for use in a painting of that unfortunate queen. frau von bulyowska thought this was the outcome of an interest on ludwig's side in her person; and she unreservedly avowed her intention of seducing the young monarch, and of playing the rôle of a madame de pompadour at his court. one day, when visiting him on the roseninsel, she appeared in a costume which was evidently calculated to show her outward charms in the most advantageous light. her efforts were wasted; the king's near-sighted eyes did not even appear to see what she was like. his master of the horse who accompanied her, however, understood her intentions. the next time she was received at the palace in munich, which had been recently restored. the king complied with his visitor's wish to see his private apartments. when they entered his bed-chamber the actress made a tender attack upon his person. ludwig freed himself from her embrace, rang the bell for a servant, and called out: "frau von bulyowska desires her carriage!" she was not invited by him again. another actress lost his favour because, on a first visit to one of his palaces, she was looking so attentively at his paintings that she did not hear him enter the room, and consequently neglected to curtsey with deference. mathilde mallinger, the singer, was, on account of her magnificent voice, for a short time the recipient of his favours; but her ignorance of the forms of the great world soon repelled him. when one day she asked for an audience, his majesty answered that he "only knew a court singer, mathilde mallinger, but no lady of that name; and therefore was unable to grant her an audience." no artiste was for so long a time or so high in his favour as josephine schefzky, one of the chief wagner singers of her day. she was the daughter of a court official, and it was to members of the house of wittelsbach that she owed the means for her artistic education. already before her appearance ludwig interested himself in this future star within the realms of song. her studies completed, she was engaged by the royal opera of munich; and after some years was appointed court singer. the king was usually present at the opera when she appeared, and she had often, moreover, the honour of singing privately before him, both in his capital and when he was living at one or other of his pleasure palaces. he had caused to be arranged in the throne room building of the residenz a winter garden, to which he had direct access from his private apartments. besides magnificent groups of exotics, the garden contained a grotto, with a little cascade, and a pool deep and broad enough for him to row on in a boat, the latter being formed like a swan. dressed as lohengrin he lived here in the world of fancy, for a few moments forgetting everything that oppressed his mind. his favourite singers sang fragments of wagner's operas to him from behind groups of palms. here josephine schefzky sang often. he permitted her to sail with him in his golden boat, and when one day she had sung the love-song from tristan und isolde, he suddenly struck up the air from rigoletto: "la donna è mobile." this artiste, too, was vain enough to believe that he was in love with her. many of the inhabitants of munich expressed in fairly explicit terms their belief that a liaison existed between them. in reality, however, he was only her protector, who enjoyed her magnificent singing. so high a place in his esteem as that she was credited with, it may fairly be asserted was never hers. to his daily entourage he was in the habit of announcing her visits in the following words: "to-day the goose schefzky shall come and sing again." one night she sang to him on the artificial lake in the winter garden. the boat was small. an incautious movement on her part caused it to careen. the king scrambled out of the pool with ease, though wet through. "pull her out of the water," he called to a lacquey, as he disappeared rapidly into his own apartments. despite this occurrence, josephine schefzky continued to be in his favour, and was singled out for this by his majesty more often than any other artiste. at his country residences she was received and entertained almost like a royal guest. ludwig directed that some especially delectable viand or wine, from his kitchens or cellar, should go back with her every time she returned to munich from hohenschwangau or berg. the servants, who saw that their master esteemed her, were at great trouble to curry favour with her in their own behalf. the royal carriage which took her away was invariably stuffed with hams, delicate sausages and patés, with champagne and rhine wine, so that people at the railway station might have supposed that the departing lady was about to journey to a place where there was a famine. on one occasion the royal carriage even broke down under the weight of the gifts. josephine schefzky was permitted to give the king presents on his birthday. he received them with evident pleasure, but only on the condition that the sum she had expended on them should be refunded to her out of the privy purse. on an occasion of the kind she had asked to be allowed the honour of giving him a tablecloth. the permission was granted. ludwig expressed in appreciative words his admiration of the singer's good taste, and sent her an amiable letter of thanks. there had been at this time a change in the personnel administering the privy purse. at the head of it there was now a near relative of the shopkeeper where fräulein schefzky had purchased her tablecloth; he had by chance heard how much she had paid for it. the lady made her appearance some days later, and demanded a larger sum than the gift had cost her. the official greatly wished his master to become aware of her avarice, and after some circumlocution informed ludwig how the artiste had enriched herself by means of his present. generous as he was the king would probably have forgiven the deception, but he was angered when he heard that fräulein schefzky was in the habit of asking for money from the privy purse in the following words: "i have spoken to him about it!" his vanity and self-esteem could not bear his person being spoken of without due respect. this him, with which in her broad south-german accent she denoted his majesty, sealed her fall. in an autograph letter her protector of many years informed her that she was dismissed from the court opera of munich, and that her salary for the unexpired time of her engagement would be paid to her at once. the title "royal bavarian court singer," was taken away from her. herewith the connection was severed. several years later, however, she was permitted to enter once more into correspondence with ludwig. chapter xiv prince hohenlohe--political frictions bavaria had escaped comparatively easily from the war of . bismarck had had good reasons for this end: that astute statesman foresaw the approaching war with france, and it was of the utmost importance for him to win bavaria to his side for the furtherance of his plans for the future. no sooner was peace concluded than he confided to the bavarian minister of foreign affairs, that napoleon iii., who in had wished to play the part of self-appointed arbitrator, had demanded payment for this in the shape of a portion of bavarian land. the minister told this on confidence to ludwig, with the result that the king made up his mind to enter into a treaty of defence with prussia. a few days afterwards he sent king wilhelm an autograph communication, in which, while referring to other topics, he observed that "a firm and lasting friendship was established between their houses and states." this alliance between two countries which had so recently carried arms against one another, was not at first made known to the public. soon, however, reports began to circulate that ludwig was about to make a change of front in his foreign policy. that these rumours influenced public opinion, he was destined to receive unmistakable evidence. in the autumn of he opened the bavarian chambers. from the palace to the landtag he drove in a sumptuous coach drawn by six thoroughbred horses, a stately cavalry guard in brilliant uniforms escorting him. the young ruler had hitherto been used to storms of ovations when he showed himself to the sight-loving and loyal inhabitants of munich. the police had orders not to prevent the shouting crowds from pressing forward. on this occasion the order was unnecessary. the attitude of the populace was different from its usual one; no shouts of hurrah were to be heard; no hand was raised to doff the cap. his majesty drove through the streets amid oppressive silence. the whole occurrence was a party demonstration, called forth by the violent agitation of the clerical party, which was endeavouring to play on the national strings. the behaviour of the populace deeply affronted the king. he was so much annoyed at the cool attitude of the capital, that he swore that after this day he would not show himself in the streets of munich oftener than was absolutely necessary. the demonstration defeated its own end; it did not succeed in inducing him to swerve from the course he had entered upon in his foreign policy. shortly afterwards his friendly relations with prussia became an acknowledged fact. on the last day of the year he formed a new ministry. the soul of this was the celebrated statesman, prince chlodwig von hohenlohe-schillingsfürst, who in his younger days had been in the prussian service, and who already in had raised his voice for a german confederation under the leadership of prussia. by family tradition, by education, and political sympathies he was an out-and-out adherent of the policy of that country; and he was an enthusiastic admirer of bismarck. with the exception of ludwig himself, nearly the whole of the royal house strongly opposed the premier and his views. at the head of the court opposition was the old ex-king, ludwig i. to this party were united, moreover, almost the whole of the nobility, and a preponderating majority of the catholic clergy. the nobility mistrusted hohenlohe not only for his bismarckian foreign policy, but also, and this perhaps chiefly and primarily, on account of his liberal views. the catholic clergy hated him because he showed the will and the ability to maintain the ascendancy of the state in ecclesiastical questions, and combated the arrogant claims of the catholic prelates. among a large majority of the population in general he was also unpopular. the working classes looked upon him as the "prussian" and hatred of prussia was during those years extended and intense within the bavarian people. [ ] in august, , hohenlohe announced formally in the landtag that an alliance of war had been concluded with prussia. the declaration aroused violent embitterment. one of the deputies, dr ruland, fulminated against the "links of slavery" with which the prince desired to forge bavaria fast to the aforesaid country. when another speaker mentioned the "brotherly hand" held out by prussia, ruland pulled out a shell, which he had picked up from the field of battle in , and had kept: "see here," he shouted, "here is the brotherly hand which prussia holds out to us!" great as was the irritation he had excited, hohenlohe went calmly on with his preparations to enable bavaria to take part in the bismarckian scheme for the future. in the foremost rank of these was the reorganisation of the bavarian army, which had shown itself during the war of to be on a very inefficient footing. one of his first and most important works of legislation was also a new modern system of conscription, after the prussian model. immediately after this he placed before the chamber a bill by which it was intended to make the schools independent of the church. as prime minister of the largest catholic state in germany he, moreover, regarded it as his duty to step forward when pius ix. announced his intention of declaring the infallibility of the pope. by this attitude he irritated the clerical-conservative party to the uttermost. in the year violent dissensions took place between the particularists and the ultramontanes, on the one side, and the national liberals on the other. the hatred towards prussia and the new school laws drove particularists, democrats, and ultramontanes to conclude a league which placed immense difficulties in the way of the ministry. the assault of the opposition did not, however, shake the king's confidence in his adviser, and in his relations with prussia, as well as in the ecclesiastical conflict, he placed himself unreservedly on the side of prince hohenlohe. at the elections of the ultramontanes succeeded in gaining a decided majority; and according to parliamentary procedure the ministry resigned. ludwig, however, would not accept the resignation, and a violent struggle took place between the government and the representatives of labour. the opposition majority resolved upon a vote of censure against hohenlohe, who was as much hated as he was feared. it was the earnest wish of the king that this might be thrown out in the chamber of "reichsräthe." through his minister of ceremonies he requested the princes of the royal house to refrain from voting against the ministry, and he himself worked upon his young brother with the same view. the princes were present in full force at the meeting. the king's cousin, duke carl theodor, entered the lists on behalf of hohenlohe. but the others--even otto--voted with the majority. ludwig was incensed. he was particularly embittered by his brother's vote. he knew that his uncles had influenced the prince; as the head of the family, and in virtue of his royal authority, he forbade him the entrée for some months to the court. a deputation requested an audience for the purpose of handing him the aforesaid address of censure, but admittance was not granted to the presence. the master of the ceremonies received the deputies, and informed them that they must be pleased to let the address reach his majesty through the hands of his ministers. the reason for this unparliamentary attitude on ludwig's side is said to have arisen from the discovery of a correspondence between two personages high in authority, which advocated no less than the dethronement of the monarch should he persevere in the agreement with prussia. [ ] for the time being hohenlohe remained at the helm of office. but the fermentation continued, and the embitterment against the government increased. the fateful year of was entered upon. on the th of january hohenlohe declared in the chamber that a state of the second rank, like bavaria, could only exist as allied to another kingdom, and that that kingdom could only be prussia, under whose leadership the people of bavaria must be prepared to fight in the event of war. his open declaration called forth a storm. the vaterland newspaper wrote: "down with hohenlohe, who is pushing himself between the king and the people!... an evil spirit is making its insidious way through bavaria." the same journal assured the french that the fall of the ministry would be synonymous with the neutrality of bavaria. it continued in a threatening tone: "is the country again to be subjected to the storms of an election on account of a single hohenlohe? the prussians are perhaps counted upon. it is hoped that riots will break out, which will offer the former a welcome opportunity of penetrating into the country as rescuers. traitors! the enemies of bavaria and its people! as soon as a prussian sets foot across the frontier of our country, six hundred thousand french and four hundred thousand austrians will put themselves in motion to eject him. bavaria shall belong to the bavarians!" in the austrian press, and in the newspapers which were under the influence of the bavarian jesuits, it was repeatedly said that the king was incapable of governing; he was covered with lèse-majesté. "ludwig ii. by his conduct has brought the country into a state of the utmost disquiet! if he will not turn and listen to wiser counsels he will hazard his crown," wrote the unica cattolica. at the beginning of february, , hohenlohe himself announced that it was his wish to retire. although the young monarch still desired to retain him, the minister found it impossible, after due consideration, to alter the decision he had taken. with great reluctance ludwig then accepted his resignation. he did it in a manner which showed the utmost appreciation of the prince; and the marks of distinction which he conferred upon the latter bore witness to his gratitude and confidence. chapter xv a meeting between bismarck and ludwig bismarck, after the peace of , had received a visible sign of the bavarian king's favour. ludwig ii. had conferred upon him the order of humbertus, a distinction which, according to the rules of the order, is only to be given to men of royal blood or to those who have in some particular manner served the bavarian state or throne. he wished greatly to meet the young monarch. bavaria was, if not a great state, still great enough to weigh very considerably in the scale in the adjustment between north germany and france which the prussian statesman foresaw in the near future. it was, however, not an ordinary official conference, with ceremonies and in the presence of witnesses, which he desired, but a confidential tête-a-tête. he wrote to his old friend prince hohenlohe. the latter, in his turn, addressed himself to count holnstein, who was in close relations with the king, and who had been the latter's playmate in childhood. he was now ludwig's trusted deputy, with the title of chief royal master of the horse. [ ] although not a man of prominent parts, count holnstein made himself almost invaluable as a court diplomat. it was arranged that a meeting between the king and bismarck should take place at the count's house. both parties desired that it should be private, and, as it were, accidental. the prussian minister came to munich. he was invited to drink tea at count holstein's; and he arrived punctually. immediately afterwards ludwig came to call upon his chief master of the horse, and proved to be greatly interested in the meeting with bismarck. it was not long before the host took an opportunity to disappear. ludwig and the "iron chancellor" were alone. verily, two contrasts! the one a man of will and action, who in the course of a few years had set middle europe in fire and flames--a warrior as well as a statesman, ruthless, cold-blooded, undaunted at the table of council as well as in the turmoil of battle, and at the time here mentioned in the full strength of his manhood. the other--king ludwig--still so young in years, vacillating and shy, a hater of war, a dreamer, who enjoyed life most in the solitude of nature and in the world of fancy. one might be tempted to say that realism and romance had here set themselves a trysting place! great as was the dissimilarity between these two men, a common tie bound them together: the thought of the future of germany and the desire for the greatness of germany filled the minds of both. the world cracked its brains in vain to discover what was talked of and agreed upon that evening at count holnstein's house. no person was present; and nothing has ever been known with certainty as to the details of the conversation. it may be assumed with confidence, however, that the relations with france and the foreign policy formed its chief topic. the great statesman and diplomat, who knew how to be eloquent when it suited his projects, no doubt unfolded his plans in vivid colours and fired the imagination of the romantic schwärmer. the meeting, which lasted long, seems to have satisfied both. on both, no doubt, it left lasting impressions, and it can hardly have been without significance in the development of the history of the world. chapter xvi outbreak of the war with france when ludwig on the th january, , opened the landtag, he said, in his speech from the throne: "the agreement i have concluded with prussia is known to the country! faithfully, in conformity with this alliance, for which i have pledged my royal word, i will, when my duty bids me do so, together with my powerful ally, answer for the honour of germany and therewith also for the honour of bavaria!" as mentioned in a previous chapter hohenlohe had retired at the beginning of . this did not, however, betoken any change of system, but was merely a personal change. count von bray, formerly the bavarian minister at vienna, who succeeded him as minister of foreign affairs, stood in all respects on the same political footing as his predecessor, and the attacks of the ultramontanes on the government were continued. apart from party dissensions the first half-year, however, passed quite quietly. there were probably but few in bavaria who suspected that a war was near at hand. ludwig himself seems after hohenlohe's resignation to have been comparatively unconcerned at the political fermentation in his kingdom. he read and rode, made excursions to his hunting-boxes, did the work his ministers expected of him, and lived his usual quiet life. accompanied by his master of the horse, hornig, he set off for the highlands on the th of july. it was his intention to be away five or six days; his private secretary had received orders only to send for him in case of the extremest necessity. suddenly came the news that france had declared war on prussia. as the monarch's return was delayed longer than had been expected, a messenger on horseback was sent after him with the most important documents. on the th of july he returned to berg, the same evening at eleven he sent for his secretary, eisenhart. he received him in his balcony room on the first floor, where he paced up and down the floor, as his habit was, sitting down occasionally for a moment. hours passed by, while they considered the position together. the king, then hardly five-and-twenty years of age, was still in full possession of his acute receptive powers, which in certain respects he retained to the end. but he was no lover of war. repeatedly he said: "is there then no means, no possibility of avoiding war?" he finally recognised that it was inevitable. the question became now: whether bavaria could remain neutral, or whether his kingdom--in conformity with the treaty of --should fight by the side of prussia. the secretary observed that neutrality would threaten the independence of bavaria. to take a position by the side of france against prussia would be undignified. he, moreover, regarded the agreement of as pledging bavaria to fight with prussia and for prussia. the monarch was also of this opinion. "before i make a decision i will wait for berchem's arrival. let me be awakened as soon as he comes!" it was half-past three in the morning before the cabinet secretary left the château. day was breaking. an hour and a half later, count von berchem arrived from the capital. the two men had a consultation together on the position of affairs, and the secretary again returned to the king, who received him in his bed-chamber. he was lying in his blue four-post bed. the secretary read out loud a letter from minister bray, which count berchem had brought with him. once more they touched upon the chief points in the great question. "prompt help is double help, your majesty," said eisenhart. there was a pause. then the king said: "bis dat, qui cito dat!"--"draft my command for the mobilisation of the army. invite the ministers bray and pranckh to come to me this afternoon at four o'clock, and inform the press." the secretary immediately prepared the required document. he handed it to the king, who provided it with his signature. the political attitude of bavaria was sealed. ludwig's action on this day had a significance which extended far beyond the military dispositions he had made. the result of the war would probably have been the same without bavaria's assistance. but the future of germany was decided by the stroke of the king of bavaria's pen on the morning of the th of july, for the alliance between prussia and the greatest of the south-german states had as its consequence the federation of germany and the german empire. "i have never seen the king so satisfied as to-day," declared his minister pranckh after the audience the same afternoon. and when the equerry in attendance, von sauer, congratulated his majesty, the latter said: "yes, i have the feeling that i have done something good." a warm telegram of thanks was sent to the monarch by king wilhelm in berlin, and from hundreds of others came enthusiastic telegrams. the following day, a sunday, ludwig travelled by special train to munich. there was immense movement in the streets; the enthusiasm grew from minute to minute. the crowds felt the need of thanking and congratulating their king. "heil unserm könig, heil!" was sung in chorus outside the palace. the enthusiasm rose indescribably when he showed himself at the window. everyone pressed forward to see him, and give expression to their rejoicings. "hoch, ludwig! hoch!" rose like a single cry from the bavarian hearts. the homage of the people made a deep impression on ludwig. "shall i go to the window once again?" he asked, after showing himself many times, as the shouts outside became louder and warmer. he was received with ovations in the evening, when he appeared at the performance of wagner's die walküre. the shouts of hurrah for the king continued to ring. day after day, till far into the night, the crowds surged backwards and forwards. one cannot know how the dice may fall," said the bavarian minister of war. "but this i can already say for certain: the army will come out of the battle with honour!" inner strife was smoothed away for a time under the feeling of fellowship which had seized upon all parties. those in chief command, however, did not dare give themselves up to too great illusions. it was not, indeed, on account of the military ability of the bavarians, but on account of the moral support coming from that land, that the prussian leaders, with bismarck at their head, so highly praised king ludwig's action. the commanders of the south-german army, whom the prussians derisively called les flaneurs batailles, had shown themselves to be incapable in the war of . only the mere semblance of a command was given them in , all real authority was being invested in the hands of the prussian generals. the crown prince of prussia received orders to take chief command of the south-german army. that friedrich was not without anxiety is apparent from the following expression in his diary: "it is a difficult task for me to fight the french with troops who do not like us prussians, and who are not educated in our school." on his way to the army he paid visits to the allied princes whose troops he was to lead, going first to munich and thence to stuttgart and karlsruhe. at all the stations where the train stopped preparations to welcome him had been made. ludwig ii. went part of the way to receive him, and the two princes met each other with cordiality. together with the king and prince otto, he drove in an open carriage through the streets of the capital of bavaria. waving handkerchiefs and shouts of hurrah followed in their train. in the evening the king and his guest were present at the hof theater, where schiller's wallensteins lager was given. shouts of delight filled the house when the crown prince showed himself by ludwig's side. the queen-mother, too, who but very rarely visited the theatre, was also present. the curtain was raised. the actor possart repeated a prologue: "denn was im drange der gefahr auf's neue ein edles fürstenpaar zum kampf vereint, das königswort, es heisset: treu und treue! mit diesem feldgeschrei verjagt den feind! heil! dreifach heil! dem hohen fürstenpaar, dem deutschlands alte treue heilig war!" at the words "treue um treue" and "heil! dreifach heil!" there was a movement which spread all through the theatre. all were deeply affected. the king of bavaria stepped forward with his guest. they shook hands with one another, and formally sealed their compact in the eye of the people. at this indescribable moment the warmth of popular feeling rose to a storm of rejoicing. seized by the solemnity of the moment, the two princes stood hand in hand. chapter xvii during the war--the german empire is proclaimed the blue and white bavarian and the black and white prussian banners were waving side by side in the streets when the crown prince proceeded on his journey that same evening. the king accompanied him to the railway station; prince otto and prince luitpold followed him to war. never before had ludwig felt himself more beloved by his people, never before had he been regarded with greater respect by the whole of germany. but the demands which were made at this time on his powers of work, the representative duties which he had not been able to avoid, had over-taxed his strength. his physical sufferings took possession of him to so great a degree that he found it not only impossible to proceed to the seat of war, but also to remain in his capital. the great victories which succeeded one another aroused a feeling of the utmost joy among his people. but he who was not on the field of battle, felt the good tidings as almost a reproach. he was not master of his moods; the public which satisfied him one day displeased and wearied him the next. on the st of september he came from berg to munich. the day afterwards he called upon a russian grand duchess who was passing through his capital. it was the day of sedan. the news that the french army had surrendered and that napoleon was a prisoner reached him the following morning. everywhere the victory was celebrated, for it was thought to be the precursor of a conclusion of peace. in the towns and villages of bavaria there were illuminations, flags and banners, music and showers of flowers. only the ruler of the country did not participate in the general rejoicings. despite the earnest representations of the minister of the royal house and of his equerry, he could not be persuaded to remain in munich on the rd of september. he said to his minister, "as there is neither a german empire nor a german republic, as hitherto there has not been any german confederation, it is my wish that only bavarian flags, or better still, no flags at all, shall be hoisted on the government buildings." [ ] he returned to his solitude. the procession which the same evening defiled past the royal palace greeted the queen-mother, who was standing at the window, with lively shouts of hurrah. but it pained all parties that the monarch disdained their homage on this day. no sooner had the crown prince of prussia left munich than he received a letter from ludwig in which the latter expressed the wish that "the independence of bavaria might be respected at the conclusion of peace." the handwriting was bad, and the lines uneven; but the contents bore witness to the warmth of his patriotism. friedrich ridiculed this "patriotic" letter. amiable as the king had been towards the crown prince of prussia during his short visit, the impression received by the guest had not been altogether favourable. in april he had visited him when on a journey to italy, and had enjoyed being in his company. now he was "alarmed at the alteration two years had made." he noted in his diary that ludwig gave the impression of being very nervous, that he was less handsome than formerly, and had lost one of his front teeth. the young king knew that comparisons had been made between him and the king of prussia, who led his army in person. he could not possibly be blind to the fact that this comparison was not to his advantage, hiding himself away as he did, and shunning the love of his people. good and bad feelings were fighting for the mastery in his soul. he was a faithful and honourable ally. after the victory at metz he congratulated the king of prussia as "william the conqueror," and he sent the crown prince the order of max joseph. but he gave his ministers contradictory orders where the negotiations with prussia were concerned. although his mother was a hohenzollern, his personal sympathies were by no means wedded to this house. the thought of a german empire had arisen. at the headquarters at versailles the project was discussed, and it was thought that king wilhelm should be the emperor. this was the object of both bismarck's and the crown prince's labours. with regard to details, however, their views were at complete variance. friedrich desired a german unified state; he thought of the emperor as surrounded by responsible ministers. the german princes would, of course, govern within the limits of their countries, but their power must be considerably curtailed; and those who would not voluntarily make sacrifices for the federated fatherland must be made to do so by force. the chancellor, on the other hand, was of opinion that the princes ought to be protected as far as was possible, and that they ought to retain their rights. he greatly desired that the empire might arise from a free agreement on their side. "if only the south germans would take the decisive step!" he often said. [ ] the king of prussia had up to the last moment little desire to accept the imperial crown. should it, however, prove to be necessary, he wished that it might take place on the invitation of the king of bavaria. ludwig was pressingly invited to come to versailles. shortly before this he had, through a fall from his horse, twisted his ankle, with the result that it caused him excessive pain to sit on horseback. still, for a short time, he considered the question of proceeding thither. bismarck's secretary, busch, tells us in his memoirs that it was thought to summon a congress of princes on the th of october, and that it was hoped that the king of bavaria would be present. the historical rooms of versailles were to be placed at his disposal, as it was considered that he would appreciate this mark of attention. "i never thought that i should come to play the part of a major-domo at trianon," said bismarck. "if only the king will come!" but the king did not come. on the th of october the ministers of würtemberg, hesse, and baden went to versailles. on the th the king of bavaria sent his ministers bray, pranckh, and lutz to the headquarters. it appeared at first as if the negotiations would be crowned with success; the desire that south germany should offer king wilhelm the imperial crown seemed to be nearing its fulfilment. the leaders of the national party developed a restless energy. large meetings of the people accepted resolutions which made for the same end. the press warmly advocated a german empire. the greatest enthusiasm in favour of the project was shown in prussia and in baden; but it spread from land to land. on the th of november negotiations took place between the ministers of würtemberg, hesse, and baden. the bavarian minister was not invited to take part in it, no agreement having been come to with bavaria. this annoyed ludwig. "why do they conclude agreements with würtemberg, baden, and hesse and not till later with my government?" he exclaimed in anger. he was tired of the throne, tired of european politics. his nerves were overstrung, and he demanded that prince otto should at once leave the seat of war; he awaited his arrival at hohenschwangau with impatience. "i look upon my brother as the king," he said to those about him. "matters hang on a single thin thread, and then it will be, 'le roi louis ii. est mort. vive le roi othon i.!'" on the th of november the prince arrived; not without danger had he travelled day and night to fulfil his brother's wish. the king talked much and excitedly to him of abdicating the throne. otto dissuaded him from such a step in the most affectionate manner. he asked permission to return to versailles; but it was not until peace was all but concluded that he obtained the monarch's consent to this step. ludwig soon changed his mind with regard to his abdication. "fancy," he said shortly afterwards to a gentleman of his entourage, "count b. really believes that i am seriously thinking of abdicating." he enforced the necessity on several influential personages, "of using every effort in order that these rumours should be definitely put a stop to." [ ] by the th of november an agreement had been come to with baden and hesse. accord with würtemberg seemed likewise near at hand. but suddenly steps were taken from munich which caused the government in stuttgart to assume a waiting position; the würtembergian delegates received a telegraphic message to the effect "that they were to go hand in hand with their bavarian colleagues." [ ] it became known that this later change of front was owing to the intrigues of the austrian chancellor, count von beust, who was at this time a visitor at munich, and who had always been the enemy of prussia. ludwig made strenuous attempts to preserve the independence of his country, demanding during the negotiations not only independent sovereignty with regard to home affairs, but also that bavaria should continue to have an independent army and her own foreign policy. as he would not give way an inch in the matter, the question of the german empire stood for some time on an exceedingly critical footing. the crown prince of prussia was filled with indignation over the protracted nature of the proceedings, and wished to break down the opposition of bavaria by force. the wise bismarck, however, advised a considerate course. "with the bavarian troops fighting with the prussians against france, prussia can hardly coerce their country." the grand duke of baden had come to the headquarters; he sent one of his confidential friends to munich to persuade ludwig to proceed to versailles. the bavarian ministers likewise exerted themselves to induce him to make the journey. "i know well that in many respects it would be advisable for me to make this journey," said the king. "it need hardly be said that it would also be of political advantage. but i feel myself too suffering. whether or not i take the journey depends, moreover, on the guarantees which i desire. without them i will not go! here the matter rests--it is my will!" "ludwig is not coming to versailles, firstly, because he cannot ride just now without discomfort, and, secondly, because he does not like playing second fiddle," wrote bismarck's secretary, busch, in his journal. no one could deny that he had done prussia invaluable service by the rapidity with which he had decided to mobilise his army. he now thought his action entitled him to ask a service in return from this country. one of his wishes was to extend the frontiers of his land. his ministers inquired whether the palatinate of baden, which in olden days had been the territory of the electors of bavaria, could be ceded to bavaria, baden receiving as indemnity a portion of alsace-lorraine. to this bismarck answered decisively that "baden was a 'noli me tangere,'" and that neither king wilhelm nor the archduke of baden would ever agree to it." on the evening of the rd of november he had another meeting with the bavarian ministers. an agreement was at last come to. after they had left him, at ten o'clock in the evening, he said in a satisfied tone: "german unity is a completed act, and the 'emperor' likewise. it is an event!... the agreement has its weak points; but as it is, it is more tenable. i consider it to be the most important thing we have accomplished this year. with regard to the 'emperor' i made him more acceptable during the negotiations, as i represented to the ministers that it must be easier and more convenient for their kings to allow the german emperor certain privileges than to allow them to the neighbouring king of prussia." ludwig made a last attempt to maintain his position. prince adalbert pressed him to put forward a claim that the kings of bavaria and of prussia should alternately wear the imperial crown; and prince luitpold was pushed forward to make this proposal. bismarck scouted the idea, remarking: "the king of bavaria lives in a world of dreams. he is hardly more than a boy who does not know his own mind!" the prussian statesman, it need hardly be said, was careful not to say this directly to ludwig. he wrote a long and exceedingly deferential letter to him, in which he emphasised how necessary it was that the imperial crown should be offered to the king of prussia, and that it was for the king of bavaria to take the first step. if the last-named would not make the proposal, the princes of the smaller states would do this, and ludwig in such a case could not avoid following in their footsteps. the descendant of the thousand-year-old house of wittelsbach, which had counted three emperors among its forefathers, bent before the force of circumstances. he telegraphed to his minister, count bray, that the latter was to inform bismarck that count holnstein would arrive at versailles within three days, to discuss with him the details of the matter. "not till then"--he expressed himself--"shall i be able to make a final decision." holnstein hurried off. without losing a moment's time he sought out bismarck, and made him acquainted with his errand, after which he immediately returned to hohenschwangau. ludwig was in bed with a toothache, and would not be disturbed, but the count knew how to arouse his curiosity in such a manner that he was received in audience all the same. he brought with him two sealed envelopes; the one contained a renewed demand to ludwig to offer wilhelm the imperial crown; the other was the draft, composed by bismarck, of a communication from the king of bavaria in which this was done. the application was favourably received. ludwig at once decided to follow the prussian statesman's instructions. with his own hand he wrote the letter which transformed germany into an empire. count holnstein now rode to munich, in conformity with the king's command that he should confer with secretary eisenhart, whom he found in the residenz theater. he presented the aforesaid letter from ludwig to the king of prussia, also one to eisenhart in which his master inquired whether he considered it desirable that another communication, couched in terms more suited to the circumstances, should be sent: in such a case the king gave eisenhart a free hand to retain his own letter. the secretary sent it on without alteration. holnstein swung himself up on his horse again and rode off to versailles. in accordance with ludwig's express command, his communication was handed to the king of prussia by prince luitpold. "the king of bavaria has copied bismarck's letter word for word," noted prince friedrich in his journal. the delight was great all over germany. it was known that it was the young king of bavaria, who had spoken the word at the right moment. only the initiated were cognisant that he had done it under pressure and after hesitation. hardly a dinner was given, and no political meeting was held, but the health of "ludwig the german" was drunk with enthusiasm. the greatest satisfaction prevailed at headquarters. he was no longer now "the boy who did not know his own mind." both bismarck and the king of prussia expressed themselves in terms of the warmest recognition of the bavarian sovereign. the proclamation of the empire was to take place at versailles on the th of january, . three days before this date the future emperor summoned the court chaplain to him. he spoke of ludwig ii.'s idealism, and added: "whatever his abilities may be, he must at any rate be very highly considered." bismarck at an entertainment rose to his feet, and made the following speech:--"i drink to the health of his majesty the king of bavaria, and to the prosperity of his dynasty, which has extended through a thousand years! i can only repeat that as long as i have a voice in matters, a step shall never be taken which might wound bavaria in its rightful position. his majesty the king will find in me, as long as i live, a servant as attached as if i were still his vassal." [ ] after the death of ludwig ii. the chancellor of the german empire declared: "in ludwig was our only influential friend in germany." chapter xviii the bavarian troops return to munich--king ludwig and the crown prince of germany the war was ended; the peace concluded. a great german empire had been re-established. germany had been given an emperor--and that emperor was the king of prussia. with the last-named fact the essence of the new empire is characterised: prussia was the paramount country. the other four and seventy states were not to be without a voice in the decision of the common affairs of the realm, and each one was to retain a certain independence, but prussia was, and intended to be, the state to lead the course of events--the centre of gravity which was to decide the balance. thanks to ludwig ii.'s obstinacy, his kingdom had formally received a special position. the new constitution granted bavaria in a special paragraph [ ] the right to all the attributes which are considered as belonging to national independence: she retained, for instance, her own minister of war, her own army, her own minister of foreign affairs, and the right to independent diplomatic and consular services. the appearance of sovereignty was retained. but ludwig's burning desire to extend the frontiers of his kingdom had not been fulfilled. this circumstance was the cause, on his side, of much displeasure towards the royal house of prussia. the returning troops were to make their entry into munich on the th july, . the city was filled to overflowing. a number of travellers passing through the capital were obliged to pass the night in the open air or in their carriages. day had hardly broken before people were seen hurrying forth to secure places for themselves. all were awaiting with excitement the moment which should bring back the relations and friends who had been so sorely missed during the now concluded war. gymnasts and members of fire brigades, who were to keep the streets open, marched up playing their bands. shortly afterwards the students arrived with their picturesque scarves across their shoulders, the artists with green branches in their hats, rifle associations and societies with their banners and flags, their duty being to line the streets for the returning troops, and add to the general rejoicing by their singing. the sun sent forth its rays over the capital, the streets became more and more animated. the bells were rung from all the churches, salutes boomed forth. according to the programme, the king was to hold a review at nine o'clock, but the stands for the spectators were more than filled long before that time. then a festive stillness fell over the assembled people. mothers and fathers held up their little children in their arms so that they might witness the scene. majestically handsome, ludwig ii. rode at a sharp trot from the "triumphal arch" to the statue of ludwig i., where the troops were to defile past him. a brilliant suite accompanied him. the hurrahs from thousands of throats filled the air. on the royal stand the female members of the royal house were seated. far away, down at the triumphal arch, the uhlans'--the so-called "light horse"--blue and white banners were visible. they came nearer and nearer. the inspector-general of the army, prince luitpold, rode between his aides-de-camp and officers, nodding pleasantly to the cheering crowds. the crown prince of the german empire, who now rode past, was received with audible expressions of welcome. the chief burgomaster of the city made a speech, which the former amiably answered, and three young girls offered the conqueror of wörth a wreath of laurels. a deep stillness reigned during the speeches, but as soon as they were ended the enthusiasm broke out afresh. the crown prince as he continued his ride was pelted with flowers from all the windows. at the odeon platz he rode up to the right side of king ludwig; and both sat their horses while the soldiers defiled past. the crown prince was the leader of the soldiery--he had shared danger and hardship with them; ludwig was their own beloved king; and they did homage to both with equal heartiness. but friedrich had gained laurels in the war, and had become the heir to an imperial crown. ludwig was a sick man who stood jealous and doubting before the homage which was being shown to his cousin. the entrance of the troops lasted for four hours, and was not ended until after one o'clock. later in the day a dinner was given at the palace, where the court displayed all its brilliancy. the king drank to the health of the army and of its leader, who was crowned with honour, after which the crown prince returned thanks to ludwig in a lengthy speech. at seven o'clock the dinner came to an end. the court, and the officers and civilians invited by the minister of war, then adjourned to a gala performance in the royal theatre, where der friede by paul heyse was the piece given. the returning warriors, and the citizens of the metropolis and their dames, made merry until far into the night and the following day. the cheers for the king, for the crown prince of prussia, for all who had fought and conquered, were ceaseless. the military bands which had so long been absent were once more heard in the great feldherren halle. patriotic songs were played on the stands in the odeon platz. the houses were illuminated. all were delighted at the success of the reception, and at the friendship between the king and the crown prince, which was looked upon as a good omen for the new alliance. the day afterwards the royal family, with their guest, made an excursion to the roseninsel, where the roses were in full bloom. ludwig, wishing to do honour to friedrich and give him pleasure, asked his permission, as they were walking together in the afternoon, to make him colonel of one of his regiments of light horse. the crown prince answered loftily that it depended on the emperor whether he could accept the offer or not, adding, with a smile: "i do not know if the slim uhlan uniform would suit my stout figure!" the king was greatly displeased with this remark, and later repeated it to several persons. after the return from the roseninsel he informed his secretary that he would under no circumstances be present at the military banquet in the glas palast the following day. this banquet, to which nine hundred invitations had been issued, and which was to mark the height of the festivities, was given in honour of friedrich, but was intended at the same time to be a recognition shown to the bavarian army. the secretary wrote a letter to his majesty, in which, with the deepest respect, he endeavoured to persuade him at least to show himself for some minutes, pointing out that his absence might have extended political consequences. he described in graphic words the pleasure the monarch would give the brave and faithful defenders of his country if he showed them the honour of being their comrade at table. the king answered that he needed quiet. this, however, did not preclude the hope that at the last moment he might appear. the dinner, nevertheless, took place without him. shortly before nine the crown prince friedrich arrived with his suite. the house of bavaria was represented by the greater number of its princes; but a painful impression was caused by the king's absence. [ ] at four o'clock the following morning the wife of the private secretary was awakened by the tramp of horses in the courtyard, which was otherwise so quiet. she ran to the window and saw the royal equipage standing with the horses harnessed to it. ludwig entered, and it set off at a quick trot in the early morning hour for the château of berg. four hours later a royal servant brought his majesty's orders that the secretary should proceed out to schloss berg, and hold a lecture for him there. the crown prince of prussia left the bavarian capital the same forenoon, after taking a hearty leave of the royal princes, who were all present at the railway station to bid him farewell. chapter xix a visit from the emperor wilhelm--ludwig withdraws more and more from the world ludwig ii. and the crown prince of germany had been mutually displeased with one another. nevertheless, friedrich had hardly left the bavarian capital before information was received that his father, the aged emperor, desired to meet the king. the last-named, doubtless, was, in his heart, not particularly delighted at the prospective visit; but he put a good face on the matter, and received his guest on bavarian soil with all the courtesy and amiability that could be desired. his people gave the emperor a hearty greeting. the two monarchs drove together amid hearty cheers into ratisbon, where a banquet was held at the hotel "goldenes kreuz." contrary to what had taken place during the crown prince's visit, the meeting between the young king and the "victorious old man" passed off in the most satisfactory manner, and not even the shade of any unpleasantness was to be traced. ludwig returned to berg the same evening. the emperor remained the night at the hotel, and the next morning continued his journey to gastein, where he was going to take the baths. on his return he again visited the royal family of bavaria. the visit was this time chiefly to his cousin, the queen-mother. she was residing at hohenschwangau, and received him there with both her sons. the weather was splendid. in the evening the picturesquely situated castle was brilliantly illuminated; and the intercourse between the royal kinsfolk was gay and hearty. wilhelm remained at the castle till the following day. ludwig and the emperor talked confidentially together for a long time, and parted with mutual assurances of friendship. the meeting between the princes was commented on by the whole of the european press. "now it is king ludwig's turn to pay a return visit to berlin," said a friend to secretary eisenhart. "the king is not very fond of official journeys," remarked eisenhart. "nor is it necessary," answered his friend; "for, according to what i heard in berlin, the emperor does not require any return visit. he judges the king of bavaria by quite a different standard from the other german princes in view of the sacrifices he has made for prussia. the crown prince is said to be of another opinion; when he ascends the throne he will certainly show this!" [ ] the emperor wilhelm was one of the few princes who saw and talked with ludwig ii. as a rule, the bavarian king avoided the visits of his compeers. a number of royal personages came to munich during his reign, and the greater number of them wished to pay him their respects; but, as a rule, he excused himself from receiving the august travellers on the plea of indisposition. the king and queen of saxony, the queen of würtemberg, the emperor and empress of brazil, and many other princes and princesses, never even saw a glimpse of him. the emperor of austria visited his relatives in bavaria almost every year, but in spite of the friendly relations between ludwig and the empress the king used not to show himself to her husband. it would certainly be wronging ludwig to assume that his indisposition was only an excuse to avoid the visitors. as a matter of fact, he was tortured and sick both in body and mind. he suffered from insomnia, and complained of constant and violent pains in the back of his head. he began also to avoid his capital. the noise of the streets, the curiosity of the people, the royal tombs, which he could see from the windows of the palace--all annoyed him! he hardly ever went on foot when in munich; and when he drove out in the english garden sat hidden from the glances of the multitude, leaning far back in a closed carriage. nevertheless, he continued to be popular. but even the people's homage sometimes displeased him. he used to speak of himself as "sacrificed to ovations." court balls and court festivities were a misery to him; when he took part in them it was only as a duty. in order to avoid seeing the guests at table whom he did not like, he ordered vases of flowers to be placed before them. sincerely as the people and the court desired that he would remain in the capital, he could not, of course, be prevented from ordering his life according to his own tastes, or from spending the greater part of his time in the highlands. but though he sought solitude, and more and more gave himself up to it, and though at times he certainly required it on account of the weakness of his nerves, he was, nevertheless, little fitted to live alone. despite his hermit tendencies he showed an ever-recurring need to talk with those around him on all the things which occupied his thoughts. his lacqueys and grooms were even required to tell him news of the neighbouring country-folk. more than is usually the case with the generality of people, he was dependent in his sympathies on an attractive manner, a pleasant voice, and a pleasing exterior. his relations with richard wagner show that he could be faithful in friendship, but, as a rule, he was unaccountable in his feelings. some persons he judged in cold blood; in the case of others, he permitted his temperament to carry him to extremes of great unfairness. from certain people he would bear much; the slightest contradiction on the part of others would be sufficient to incur his lasting disfavour. his love of solitude grew by degrees to be a disease, and at times he literally fled from people. in the middle of the seventies the queen-mother gave a family party at the swiss châlet "pleckenau," not far from hohenschwangau. the king, prince otto, their aides-de-camp, the mistress of the court, and two ladies-in-waiting, were with her. the little party were sitting at table in excellent spirits when a mounted messenger with a telegram arrived from the castle: the austrian archduke rainer, who was staying at bregenz, asked her majesty whether it would be convenient for her to receive him the following morning. she handed the telegram to the king, who grew pale as he read it. the displeasure visible on his features affected the whole party. he rose from the table and went out, the others remaining seated. without a word, he went back to hohenschwangau. arrived there, he ordered two carriages to be got ready and to await further orders. the preparations were to be made so quietly that no one would have any suspicion of what was taking place. a little while later the queen-mother, his brother, and the courtiers returned; and soon the building was quite quiet. the gentlemen of the court lived in a house beside the castle. the king's apartments were on the first floor, his mother and her ladies inhabiting the ground floor. only by stealing softly down the stairs could he reach the courtyard of the castle without being heard. ludwig and his servant accomplished this undetected, and hied them to the royal stables, which are situated at some distance away. with all the speed possible, and in the middle of the night, the king drove to a little village which he was occasionally in the habit of visiting. here the announcement of his arrival was like a bolt from the blue. the master of the posting station where he alighted had let all his rooms to a military commission; these gentlemen had to be got out of the way as quickly as possible. all had gone to bed, and had to be aroused. the general had only time to half-dress himself and rush out before he met his king on the staircase. at three in the morning ludwig at last went to bed; despite sedatives it was not possible for him to procure any rest. the next morning the king received a telegram informing him that the archduke rainer had left, "after half-an-hour's visit." ludwig gave orders for his horses to be put to at once. a breakfast which he had ordered, and paid for with eighty guldens, was left untouched. he returned to hohenschwangau with the same speed with which he had left it. his mother greeted him from her window. laughing, he called up to her; "i avoided that visit nicely, didn't i?" the queen-mother, although she was not satisfied with his flight, was obliged to laugh too. it will easily be understood that his increasing shyness was a subject of conversation in all circles. we have heard that rumours had already been current that he thought of abdicating the throne; these were fed by his strange caprices and his retired life. count holnstein wrote to bismarck as early as : "before every audience and every court ceremony the king drinks large quantities of strong wine, and he then says the most extraordinary things. he wishes to abdicate in favour of prince otto, who does not entertain the slightest wish for it.... the ultramontanes know this. they have chosen their candidate for the national assembly: prince luitpold; he is also their candidate for the throne. perhaps they will succeed in getting him elected in spite of prince otto's claims!" chapter xx prince otto's insanity--the king's morbid sensations the house of wittelsbach has been terribly ravaged by insanity. in the course of one hundred years more than twenty members of the family have been visited by this misfortune. the sons of maximilian ii. were burdened with exceedingly neurotic tendencies. their grandfather had been eccentric in a high degree; and a sister of king maximilian was for long retained in a madhouse. the parents of ludwig ii. and prince otto were, moreover, near relations. they were both connected by ties of blood with the royal house of hesse-darmstadt, where there had been insanity for many years. the grandmothers of the bavarian queen-mother, on both her father's and her mother's side, were hessian princesses. the mother of ludwig i., who died in her youth, likewise belonged to this house; and his wife was the granddaughter of a princess of darmstadt. at the beginning of the newspapers began to insert notices in their columns to the effect that prince otto of bavaria was suffering. in the fifties and sixties he had been the picture of health. where ludwig had withdrawn, he had gone forward towards people with outstretched hands. he had always been gay, amiable, and lively. the unnaturally strict upbringing, and the rapidity with which, from almost unendurable restraint, he had been thrown into unfettered freedom, had, however, been a concurrent cause of his losing his mental balance. hardly two and twenty years of age, he had followed the army ( ). we know that, despite his wish to remain with it, the king had recalled him to hohenschwangau. the summons was probably the dictate of the elder brother's personal feelings; but the prince's nervous system had also shown itself to be unfitted for the bloody scenes of a battlefield. crown prince friedrich wrote in his diary: "prince otto came to take leave before his return to munich. he was looking pale and wretched. he sat in front of me, apparently suffering from cold shivering fits, while i developed to him the necessity of our making common cause in military and diplomatic affairs. i could not make out whether he understood me, or only heard what i said." shortly after his return he began to show the first signs of insanity. the report of this aroused general sorrow. he had been given the affectionate nickname of "otto der fröhliche." in spite of predisposition, and in spite of the circumstances attending his birth, which might furnish some ground for the supposition that the germ of the malady was to be sought there, the public would not at first credit the news. he was seen daily in the streets, the theatre, and at the circus. suddenly his sickness took a violent turn. he had to be placed under restraint, and some occurrences which took place caused the physicians to advise his being sent away from munich. the prince, however, would not agree to this. for the time being, therefore, he remained where he was, though it was found impossible to allow him to be alone. at length he was declared to be incurably mad, and was completely separated from his relations. the king was very decided in his wish that he should not live in the vicinity of the castles he himself was in the habit of occupying. he was, therefore, taken to nymphenburg, and two years later to the lonely fürstenreid. his mother was inconsolable at the misfortune which had struck her favourite child; and ludwig also greatly felt the blow. when, on his accession, the ceremonies for his father's funeral had been decided upon, and he had been asked what place the prince should take, he had answered without hesitation: "at my side!" the younger brother's light-hearted temperament had formed a favourable contrast to his serious, heavy view of life. he had regarded him as his successor, and hoped that otto by making a brilliant match would repair the injury done to the country by his own celibacy. instead of this, he had from mental dulness sunk into the darkest night of insanity. he showed no feeling at the moment of departure, and cared only for some toys; but all the tenderness which had lain dormant in ludwig's nature burst forth at this moment. those who were witness to his parting with his mad brother were moved at the heart-broken sorrow he displayed. from this day the king became deeply solicitous about his own health; he suffered from fear lest otto's fate should become his. a doctor had been careless enough to inform him that his father had led a light life in his earliest youth. after he had learned this fact, he attributed the greater number of his physical sufferings to inherited tendency. the remembrance of his father became painful to him, and he could not suppress bitter expressions with reference to him. at the time of his ascent of the throne several persons had thought to remark that his nerves were wanting in the power of resistance. the celebrated french physician, dr morel, who had been called to munich in , had had an opportunity of seeing the young king. he had uttered the sadly prophetic words: "his eyes are sinisterly beautiful; future madness shines from them!" the political events of - , and their results, had increased his already painful feeling of the contrast between his imagination and reality. signs were not wanting that his dream-life might have fatal results for him. his nervous excitement became even more apparent when his brother's malady broke out. in his condition was considered so dangerous that it was talked of openly in his capital. the editor of a conservative newspaper publicly mentioned the report that the king was insane. he was condemned to six months' imprisonment for lèse majesté, although he called as witnesses several deputies of the landtag, who declared on oath that this topic had been discussed in the ale-halls of munich. megalomania, the traces of which at times were apparent, had not yet penetrated so deeply into ludwig's consciousness that they affected more than certain of his actions; the fire was still smouldering, though it threatened to burst out into flames. as yet his power of will was strong enough to curb his imagination. as yet a healthy mental current ran, and was to run for long, side by side with the diseased one; as yet he could at times by restless activity bring his unquiet mind to rest. he fought like a lion to avert the misfortune, which he so greatly dreaded; but he fought alone. his lofty conceptions had year by year deepened the cleft which a want of understanding had dug between him and his mother. circumstances had parted him from richard wagner, the friend whom he had most loved. he had no confidant, hardly, indeed, anyone in whom he placed confidence. there was no one who with a firm hand might have led him away from his erroneous conceptions, no one who could obliterate the impressions which made him superstitious and bitter. this king, who a few years before had awakened the enthusiasm of all, became transformed into a heavy, corpulent, pallid man, weary with the burden of his life. in the midst of the romantic splendour with which he surrounded himself, he was tormented by the thought of suicide. on stormy nights he would drive about the mountain roads at a furious pace in his gilded coach, alone with his morbid sensations and fancies. only the deep blue eyes, with their expression of schwärmerei and their melancholy glance, remained to remind the world of the handsome youth who had been the pride and hope of bavaria. chapter xxi the review of the troops in --crown prince friedrich of prussia the bavarian people had accustomed themselves to ludwig's peculiarities. foreign states and peoples still regarded his ways and actions as signs of genius. the king himself seemed to be indifferent as to the impression his conduct made upon others. military pageants had never interested him; he had had from his childhood a morbid dread of firearms and of war. on the return of the troops in he had not even glanced at the wounded--not because his heart was wanting in sympathy for them, but because his nerves could not endure the sight. great, therefore, was the general astonishment when it was announced in the summer of that it was the king's intention to hold a review. people found it difficult to think that he would make this exception from his hermit habits. the report, however, was not contradicted. the troops stationed at the different garrisons were already out at the autumn manoeuvres when , men were recalled to the capital. ludwig wished to show the world that he had the chief command of his army. his intention had hardly been made known before thousands of strangers flocked to munich to see him. on sunday, the th of august, , all the streets were filled to overflowing. the monarch's brilliant suite took up its position between the entrance to the royal gardens and the feldherren halle. when he rode up on his white horse that beautiful sunday morning, at the head of his staff, the crowds were thrilled with love and admiration for him. the king no longer possessed his fascinating beauty; but his features were still refined and noble, and his eyes full of soul, and brilliant as before. despite his youth, he had become very stout, but being tall, his figure was as imposing as ever. he had only to show himself to arouse enthusiasm. with the dignity which was his by birth, and with the fascinating amiability which he displayed in his best moments, he bowed in all directions. the troops were forbidden to greet him with cheers, but no such regulation restricted the citizens. the enthusiasm increased like an avalanche; it spread from street to street, giving unmistakable indication of how dearly he was still beloved. at the conclusion of the review he rode up to princess gisela, [ ] who had been present at it, sitting in the king's state carriage. at this moment he was surrounded from all sides. his servants endeavoured to hold the crowd back, but he hastened to prevent them. it was with the utmost trouble that a way was made for him when at a foot's pace he returned to the city. so overwhelming was the enthusiasm that he felt himself constrained to write the same day, in his own hand, a letter of thanks for all the proofs of loyalty and love which he had met with. this was the last time he gave the citizens of munich an opportunity of doing homage to him; the last time that his heart proudly beat time with those of his subjects. nevertheless, this bright day, so full of feeling, was by no means the outcome of noble thought: the german crown prince was in the habit of holding a review every autumn of the bavarian troops. jealousy of him had caused the lonely king to appear once more before the world. at the return of the troops in his displeasure with friedrich had been very apparent. it had not grown less with the course of years. ludwig ii. suffered more deeply under the supremacy of prussia than any of the other princes because his kingdom was larger than that of any other prince, and because he was morbid and his pride wounded. while his ministers in - were spinning out the negotiations respecting the federation of the german states, friedrich had uttered words of anger against bavaria of which its king had not remained in ignorance. he looked upon the crown prince's annual visit to his kingdom as an insult; and he was possessed by the morbid conviction that the latter, when emperor, would drive him out of his dominions. "it is not pleasant to be swallowed up," he often repeated. wilhelm i. had, in , sent him the order of the black eagle; but the envoy conveying it had been unable to gain an audience of the king, despite the earnest representations of the prussian minister at munich. at last, however, ludwig was persuaded to send a letter of thanks. he wrote that "it would give him pleasure to receive the emperor's order at a later date, when he was feeling less fatigued; for the time being he was over-tired and could not fix any day"! still, he by no means cherished unfriendly feelings towards the old emperor. during the last years of his life he mentioned the attempts to assassinate the latter as one of the reasons for his own distaste for mixing with the world. and when wilhelm, accompanied by the grand duchess of baden, visited bayreuth, in order to be present at a wagner festival, he sent his confidential secretary to arrange everything in as pleasant a manner as possible for him and his daughter. wilhelm, on his side, had only friendly feelings towards ludwig. he repeatedly expressed his regret that the king of bavaria withdrew so much from the world; and he never forgot the services he had done him and his country. but the king of prussia was three times the age of the king of bavaria; he was, moreover, a soldier from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet, and of any real understanding between them there could be little possibility, since ludwig by no means shared the enthusiasm which was generally felt at the reconstitution of the german empire, and was weary of the continued praise at his attitude in the years - . he was a bavarian before all else. often he expressed himself: "i am honoured only by the colours of my country." crown prince friedrich was friendly and straightforward in manner, and he made a favourable impression on the bavarians. it is, however, known beyond a doubt that he repaid the king's jealousy with contempt. to those with whom he was on terms of confidence he called ludwig "le roi fainéant." he was of a lively nature, and he did not always weigh his words. after a journey of inspection he said to some bavarian officers who had assembled in order to bid him farewell: "in ten years' time you will belong entirely to us." this utterance was repeated to the king, who was exceedingly annoyed at it. his minister at the prussian court received instructions to request an explanation from the crown prince. friedrich made answer that he had only referred to the military alliance; but ludwig was not satisfied with this reply. at the beginning of the seventies the german crown prince and his wife desired, for reasons of health, to spend the summer at berchtesgaden. the king hastened to put hindrances in the way of the contemplated visit, giving as an excuse for not receiving them, that his villa there was to be used as a residence for his insane brother otto. a lady of the german aristocracy who owned a house at berchtesgaden offered the crown prince hers. ludwig now suddenly changed his mind. the following characteristic letter shows that for the moment he regretted his want of friendliness:-- "my dear friend, "i see from your kind letter that you have already decided to make use of the house offered you by fräulein von waldenburg. i am really very sorry for this; the more so that otto, according to the doctors' orders, is to continue his cure at nymphenburg, and my villa at berchtesgaden would therefore, dear cousin, have been entirely at the disposal of yourself and your family. "i cherish the hope that the stay in the strong mountain air will give the crown princess and your children pleasure and strength. "i conclude with the wish that you may all like beautiful berchtesgaden. praying that you will kiss the hand of the crown princess for me, i remain in old friendship, "your faithful affectionate cousin, "ludwig." when friedrich came to munich in later years he always stayed there incognito. he visited the art and industrial museums, and received some of his old companions-in-arms; but he never visited the king, nor did the king ever seek him. the antipathy grew on both sides. unfortunately, ludwig was at no pains to conceal his feelings; he spoke often and unreservedly of his bitterness towards this member of the prussian imperial house. his entourage did not look upon it as a duty to preserve silence with regard to what they had heard. the king's words sometimes journeyed viâ vienna to berlin, and the effect made itself felt in due course. it was in , at the railway station at munich, that he greeted the emperor wilhelm for the last time. after this date the "victorious old man" also travelled incognito through bavaria when he visited gastein in the summers. chapter xxii king ludwig and the empress elisabeth ludwig's spite against a single member of the house of hohenzollern destroyed the good relations with his relatives in berlin. by way of off-set, the sympathy he felt for the empress elizabeth had the effect of causing his relations with the house of hapsburg to be very friendly. his betrothal to his cousin, sophie charlotte, had left behind it bitter memories. although it was he who had dissolved the connection, and although she would hardly have been capable of making him happy, it is a fact that he became the slave of melancholy after the engagement was broken off. the duchess had much to forgive him; and yet it appeared to the sick king, who condemned himself to loneliness, that it was he who was the injured party. in one of the rooms which he usually occupied hung the portrait of a woman, over which he had caused a thick silken veil to be hung. he would stand sunk in thought before this picture, walking slowly when he turned away, as if it cost him an effort to leave it. no outside personage was ever permitted to see it, and no one knew whom it represented. it was supposed that it might be a portrait of marie antoinette of france, for whom he cherished a great admiration; but many also thought that the painting represented the duchesse d'alençon, whom he had never forgotten. nearly the whole of the royal house had taken the side of his former fiancée, and were with reason annoyed at his fickleness. in spite of the wrong which had been done the ducal house, one of sophie's brothers and one of her sisters had been indulgent towards him. duke karl teodor, the oculist, had scrutinised his cousin with the eye of a doctor; he had found excuses for his action in his diseased mental condition. elizabeth of austria had understanding even of aspects of his character which could not possibly have been sympathetic to her, and she was attracted by qualities in him which had displeased and alarmed her sister. it is difficult to say whether it was sophie's likeness to elizabeth which had awakened his feelings for the duchess, or whether a half-unconscious longing for his former betrothed knit the tie firmer between the empress and himself. it is remarkable, in any case, that the king, who was otherwise so reserved towards women, should have formed a lasting friendship with her. the outward likeness between the two sisters was very great; the inward harmony, however, was not in the same proportion. despite her beauty and her carefully developed talents, sophie was an ordinary woman, whereas elizabeth's mind was rich, though her soul was crushed. hardly judged by many, understood by few, and yet admired by most, she was the woman, if anybody could have done so, to have fitted into the king of bavaria's life. both had the same restlessness in their blood, at the same time as they had both a need for solitude. the "horror of the crowd" which dominated him in so great a degree was also a characteristic of her. they were burdened with the same morbid tendencies. even in their exterior there was similarity between the two cousins, who were gifted with such unusual and spiritual beauty. neither of them had known the joys of youth; the sceptre had been placed in their hands while they were yet undeveloped children. the power which too early both had become possessed of had in both developed an unwillingness to sacrifice a tittle of their convenience. ludwig never opened the door to the deep and unusual qualities of his personality; elizabeth, too, kept her inmost thoughts in conscious shade. however eagerly the crowd might seek, among the hum of reports which were ever afloat, it never knew for certain what it was that inwardly moved them. but they found mutual healing in opening their hearts to one another on the unfulfilled wishes and hidden disappointments which the world did not see. their inherited nervous sufferings were the sorrow-laden undercurrent of their lives. insanity which was inherent in their race was to both of them a threatening spectre, which, sooner or later, would attack them too. but in the case of ludwig this fear had in a greater degree than in the case of elizabeth weakened the power of will. proud almost to the verge of megalomania, they were, nevertheless, friendly towards the country people they met with. by nature they were exceedingly generous; but the sufferings of their neighbour did not, either in him or her, drive away their thoughts from themselves. both ludwig and elizabeth were eccentric in their sympathies and antipathies. elizabeth was unhappy in her marriage; she sought a panacea for love in friendships with women. ludwig could suddenly, and apparently without reason, take up with men who were far inferior to him in character. both, as a rule, were disappointed in, and quickly tired of, these favourites for a day. both the king and the empress fled to the world of books, and when they met their literary interests bound them still faster together. a result of their mutual affection was that they exercised influence one upon the other. elizabeth was older and had more knowledge of the world; she did not exceed her cousin in intelligence, though she may have done so in energy. her power over him was, therefore, greater than his over her. the empress's influence was not altogether for good. she impressed upon ludwig that "one can do everything one likes," and the young wittelsbach was very receptive to this kind of teaching. where it might have been good and useful, he was, on the contrary, less willing to follow her advice: the empress went early to bed, rose every morning at five, and went out of doors. the king spent his nights in music and reading, and not till day began to break did he retire to rest. both had been passionately fond of riding, but had been obliged to give up this sport. she went instead walks of many miles, whereas he took his daily constitutional in a closed carriage. elizabeth spent part of her summers in feldafing, in the vicinity of ludwig's castles. they met one another by appointment on the roseninsel, in the lake of starnberg; or, as not seldom happened, she would suddenly appear in his study at schloss berg or neuschwanstein, and remain sitting many hours with him. she brought with her a stream of beauty and harmony into his quiet apartments. even in his last darkened hours, when otherwise he received nobody, he liked to have her visits. prince leopold of bavaria had married in her eldest daughter. ludwig had on this occasion emerged from his customary retirement. princess gisela was one of his few women relations who could boast of his amiability. flattering as this might be, it was at times exceedingly inconvenient; for the king, who turned night into day, sent her presents and bouquets of flowers in the night. he would not alter his habits either for her or her mother's sake. the empress's youngest daughter, marie valerie, expressed the wish to make her "uncle's" acquaintance, and elizabeth was at some pains to induce him to receive her favourite child. but he would not be disturbed in his quiet. "i don't know why the empress is always telling me about her valerie," he said to one of those near him. "valerie wants to see me, she says; but i don't at all want to see her valerie." chapter xxiii king ludwig and queen marie a picture very often to be seen in bavaria is one representing maximilian ii. and his family in the garden at hohenschwangau. the queen is sitting with prince otto on her lap, and the king, standing beside her, has laid his hand on the crown prince's head. he is in the full prime of his manhood; his wife is radiant with happiness and beauty. the lapse of a few years had transformed this family life in the bavarian royal castle. the bright and happy queen had become a widow, the proud mother a mater dolorosa. prince otto, the child of her heart, was hopelessly insane. the admiration which ludwig had excited, the great hopes of which at the beginning of his reign he had been the centre, could not outweigh her fearful anxiety for his future. until the middle of the seventies, she and her eldest son had been in the habit of residing at hohenschwangau at the same time, the queen-mother using the ground floor of the castle, and the young king the first floor. though they both loved the place equally well, and though hohenschwangau was queen marie's dower house, her son's secluded life caused an alteration in this arrangement also: in later years he went to linderhof when she came to hohenschwangau, and upon his return she retired to elbingen-alp. when they met he showed his mother great respect; and when, as sometimes happened, disharmonies occurred between them he restrained his annoyance. but the queen-mother's bourgeois view of life never found the key to his composite nature. repulsed time after time, she relinquished the hope of ever winning his confidence, though love still lived in the hearts of both. exactly opposite hohenschwangau stood an enormous pine-tree on a projecting rock; lighted up by the declining sun it reminded the queen-mother of a christmas-tree. one winter, when they were both living at their favourite castle, son and mother kept christmas eve together. the gifts distributed, ludwig led his mother to a balcony window. he drew aside the heavy velvet curtains. in the snow-covered landscape without, glittered a magnificent christmas-tree; it was the spruce fir on the rock, which he had caused to be decorated with lights in order to give her pleasure. marie of bavaria loved the country population; she often and willingly entered into personal relations with them. the customs of the peasantry, but above all their deep, childlike sense of religion, exercised an attraction on her pious mind. by birth a hohenzollern, she had been brought up in the lutheran teaching; her own mother had been a strict protestant. as long as bavaria had been a kingdom its queen had belonged to this church, which the protestant portion of the population regarded as a support and help. disappointment was great when it was made known that the queen-mother intended to enter the roman catholic church. her relatives in prussia were also painfully surprised; her sister, the princess of hesse-darmstadt, even journeyed to hohenschwangau at the last minute for the purpose of endeavouring to dissuade her from her resolution. the german emperor, whose heart she had ever been very near, made representations of a like nature. but life had brought too many trials for her to be led away by the pressure of others from what she felt to be a matter of conscience. sad, but not bitter, she retired from the world and from her people, whose respect and sympathy followed her in her loneliness. in the little chapel at wallenhofen, in all quietness, she changed her religion. there is no doubt that many hard struggles had gone before this step. it was thought that king ludwig did not approve of her action because the protestants of his country so greatly lamented it. but with his love of free-will, he would not place obstacles in the way of her desire. at a religious festival in munich, he himself informed the public of his mother's decision. chapter xxiv state and church--ignaz von döllinger--ludwig's letters to his old tutor one christmas night in the seventies, ludwig ii. was present with the queen-mother and the royal princes at the midnight mass in the court church at munich. in the midst of the service he laid his prayer-book aside. he threw himself on his knees, hid his face, and sobbed aloud. his mother regarded him anxiously, and called her brother-in-law, prince luitpold, who was sitting in the box next to them. the king rose to his feet and hid his head on her breast; and she and his uncle conducted him to his rooms. a few days previously an execution had taken place, which had made a deep impression on him. a neapolitan youth, twenty years of age, who had committed a murder in his country, had been condemned to death. the unhappy parents had sent a heartrending appeal to the young king, who had wished to reprieve him; but his ministers had opposed his intention. in his later years, ludwig seldom attended divine service in munich; but during his residences at berg, he went regularly to a little church which had been built in the park there. at the castle of neuschwanstein there was an altar and a prie-dieu in his sleeping apartment. he was in the habit of hearing mass in the neighbouring chapel; and no person was refused admittance because the king was praying in it. when he visited the small village churches in the highlands, he would often kneel unknown amid those at prayer. at ober-ammergau he was so affected by the passion plays, that he caused a magnificent marble group of the crucifixion to be erected in that town. once when driving he met a priest carrying the sacrament; he alighted, knelt upon the highroad and prayed. he was god-fearing, but very tolerant; and he hated confessional dissensions. in affairs of state he preserved a quiet and certain view, not the less so where ecclesiastical matters were concerned; but the relations between the papal power and his government were anything but peaceful. ludwig had a modern conception of the church's relation to the state; he desired that the schools should be freed from the yoke of the church. the reforms of the government in this domain became the source of violent skirmishes. the catholic church party, which adorned itself with the often misused name of "national," worked up a strong feeling against him and his ministers. in reality, this party was less national than the other; for the catholic church is international in its principle and in its entire organisation, the threads being collected in rome from the catholic communities in all parts of the world! nor was there unity among the catholic clergy themselves. one of the heads of the church in bavaria at that time was ignaz von döllinger. he had been ludwig's teacher, and one of the few whom ludwig in his youth had really cared about. the dean was among the most learned theologians of the last century. he had in published a book, "pabstfabeln des mittelalters," which had brought him into bad odour with the romish curia. in spite of threats from rome he quietly continued the way which his truth-loving spirit and his scientific researches pointed out to him. in pius ix. had issued the so-called "syllabus," in which he vindicated and defined the mediæval conception of the church's supremacy over the state. the pope meant by his action to prepare for the dogma of his infallibility. döllinger made this the object of scathing criticism. his writings did not indeed influence the unenlightened masses, who received the holy father's message with blind obedience, but within scientific circles in the catholic world the dean's utterances made a deep impression. munich became the centre of the opposition, and döllinger, as a matter of course, became its leader. the suppressed embitterment of which he had long been the object at rome was now transformed into open and violent persecution. during these struggles king ludwig held his protecting hand over his old teacher, [ ] and sent him the following letter:-- "my dear dean von döllinger, "i intended to have called upon you to-day, but, unfortunately i am hindered by indisposition from carrying out my purpose, and expressing my very heartiest wishes for your happiness and blessing on the occasion of your birthday. "i therefore send you my congratulations in this manner. "i hope that god may grant you still many years of unimpaired intellect and health, so that you may lead to a victorious end the struggle which you began for the honour of religion and science, for the welfare of the church and the state. "do not weary in this so serious and important combat! may you ever be upheld by the consciousness that millions look up to you with confidence as the champion and pillar of truth, and who abandon themselves to the certain hope that you and your undaunted fellow-fighters will put the jesuitical intrigues to shame and shed the light of victory over human malice and darkness. "may god grant it, and i pray it of him with my whole soul! "renewing my most sincere and affectionate wishes for your happiness and welfare, i send you, my dear dean von döllinger, my kindest regards, and remain, with good-will and unshakable confidence, always "your greatly attached king, "ludwig. "february th, ." on the th of july the same year pius ix. announced his dogma of infallibility. a few weeks afterwards the thunderbolt of excommunication struck ignaz von döllinger. it is greatly to king ludwig's honour that he still continued to support him. on the th of february, , he sent him a letter in which, among other things, he says: "my dear dean and councillor of state, dr von döllinger, "i cannot let your birthday to-day go by without sending you my best and most affectionate congratulations--giving you a sign of my particular vigilance. my country and myself are proud of being able to call you ours. and i am glad to dare believe that you, as the ornament of science, and in your tried attachment to the throne, may yet for long, as hitherto, continue your activity for the good of the state and church. "i need hardly emphasise how heartily glad i am at your firm attitude in the infallibility question. very painful is it to me, on the other hand, that abbé haneberg has submitted in spite of his convictions. i daresay he has done it out of 'humility,' in my opinion, it is a very perverted humility when a person officially gives way and bears outwardly a different opinion from that he has in his heart. "i rejoice that i have not been disappointed in you. i have always said that you are my bossuet; he, on the other hand, is my fénélon.... i am proud of you, true rock of the church! with assurances, my dear mr dean, of my continued good-will, i remain, with my kindest regards, "your greatly attached king, "ludwig." the king later was in the habit of asking döllinger for information regarding religious works, and several times sent messengers to him to require his explanation of certain passages. johannes von lutz, the son of a village schoolmaster, but early well known as a prominent lawyer, had become prince hohenlohe's successor as premier. he also was persecuted by the catholic church party. ludwig ennobled him, creating him a baron, and always protected him. when the majority of the parliament opposed the government in , he sent him the following characteristic autograph letter:-- "my dear minister von lutz, "i have with regret followed the obstructions which have been placed, during the last few months, in the way of my ministers, whose labours, as i know, are only dictated by their solicitude for the welfare of their country. i feel myself called upon to express to you that it is my firm expectation that you and your colleagues, who have been summoned by me to be the counsellors of the crown, will hold out firmly in the future, and with all your strength champion my rights. "with particular regard to the church's relation to the state, i have ever, and with the most affectionate conviction, yielded the church my protection, and i shall never cease to protect the religious necessities of my people, which i consider as the foundation of order. "but i am equally decided that my government now and in the future must resist all attempts to undermine the undoubted rights of the state, which will bring state and church into a fatal position. "while giving repeated expression herewith of this my will, i assure you and your colleagues of my warm recognition of your faithful resistance under difficult circumstances." chapter xxv ludwig ii. in daily life when bavaria in celebrated the seven hundredth anniversary of the house of wittelsbach, the king declined to have any festivities. he issued a proclamation from his highlands in which he declared that he felt himself one with his people, and at the same time expressed the wish that a charitable institution might be founded in honour of the day. his decision not to show himself aroused, and justly, very great disapproval. some years prior to this occurrence the palatinate kept the anniversary of its fifty years' union with bavaria. ludwig had promised to be present. at the last moment he sent an excuse, although this circle had proved its loyalty to him in the most brilliant manner during the war of . he absented himself under the pretext of illness, which, however, did not prevent him from starting for switzerland the same day to visit his friend richard wagner. the last period of his life excepted, he performed punctually his duties of governing; and he was particular that they should never be postponed. apart from representation, which he declined, even his opponents were obliged to confess that for a great number of years he faithfully fulfilled his kingly duties. at the beginning of his reign he had been in the habit of rising early; but it was not long before the division of his time became exceedingly strange. he now seldom showed himself before midday. when at his country residences the documents which it was necessary for him to sign were sent to him by express messenger, who left munich every morning and returned every evening. as a rule, his secretary accompanied him to these seats, and no inconvenience was remarked in the different departments on account of his absence. during the warm summer months the affairs of state were at times conducted in the open air. tables and chairs were arranged on a lawn covered with turkey carpets. large bouquets of flowers were placed before the king's chair. the secretary read the documents out loud. the king made his decisions, said good-morning, and disappeared as quickly as he had come. the secretary's position was not an easy one. when ludwig was under the influence of his ill-humours he would be annoyed at the most harmless looks and expressions, and often sent him letters late at night in which he demanded explanation for a single unguarded word. at the same time, he was eager to give him pleasure when he was satisfied with him, frequently surprising him and his family with photographs, books, and other articles of value. when residing at hohenschwangau during the autumn months, the king was in the habit of driving out every night in his handsome carriage, or his sledge which was decorated with allegorical figures. his equipage rushed like a hurricane through the villages and the dark woods, past snow-covered mountains and deep precipices. on these excursions his life was sometimes in danger. one stormy night the out-rider, who could not distinguish the road from the chasm beside it, was seized with panic, and throwing his torch away, rode blindly forward. ludwig's life was saved as by a miracle. when in munich he would drive every day to the "english garden," where he was in the habit of walking quite alone under the old trees, with his hat pulled down over his eyes. he was possessed by a morbid fear of assassination, and this explains the fact that he was always accompanied by mounted gendarmes when he drove through his capital. on the few occasions when he showed himself in public he walked exceedingly stiffly, with his head thrown back. those whose sentiments towards him were unfriendly looked upon this as a sign of megalomania; the greater number of others considered his carriage proud and kingly. the truth of the matter was that he had a bad carriage, and an uncertain and tottering gait, which he thus endeavoured to hide. when he talked with strangers he always allowed them to stand at some distance from him, because it displeased him that they should remark his bad teeth; he was jealous of his reputation as the handsomest monarch of europe. his meals he nearly always partook of alone at an inconvenient table in his study. when he gave audience in the afternoons, he would sometimes eat while the secretary held his lectures. as he was never punctual, his meals had to be kept hot for hours together. as many as twelve courses were served, but, as a rule, he ate only of one. it has been said of him that during his latter years he indulged to excess in strong drinks. this is not in accord with the truth. as a rule, he drank only rhine wine with water, or champagne, in which fresh scented violets had been placed. heady wines he never drank, as they induced in him a rush of blood to the head. his valet had orders to place a glass of cognac on a table by his bedside before the king retired for the night; but, as a rule, it stood untouched the following day. to give presents was a positive mania with ludwig. it was his delight at christmas to surprise everybody, from princes and princesses to every single servant of his household, with gifts. nor did he forget old teachers whom he had been fond of, or those whom he had met on his way and liked. long before christmas he would cause inquiries to be made for articles of the most varied description, and these were sent to hohenschwangau or neuschwanstein, where his rooms were transformed into a bazaar. masterpieces in industrial art ordered by king ludwig were executed at munich, in paris, and in switzerland. as the motifs of the gifts he distributed were often taken from the poetical tournament of the thirteenth century, and at other times were in the fashion of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, those who worked for ludwig became conversant with the most varied styles. he was so impatient to see the works of art that he demanded their immediate completion. many heads and hands were fully occupied in executing his orders, and he contributed much to the development of art industries. the sums with which he rewarded insignificant services were, like his other expenses, little in proportion to the bavarian king's income. in the case of accidents and charitable purposes he was seldom appealed to in vain; but far greater was his generosity performed in secret. out of his own purse he moreover paid as long as he lived all the pensions and assistance which his father had granted. chapter xxvi ludwig and richard wagner--the king's visit to bayreuth as long as richard wagner had lived in munich it had only been necessary for him to express a wish with regard to the performance of his works, for the king at once to fulfil it. after his departure he had at first in hans von bülow a substitute whom he could safely trust. but when he too left bavaria the matter grew more difficult. baron von perfall became the manager of the hof theater. although he made a positive culte of wagner's works, and during his tenure of the office, which lasted for twenty-five years, performed his operas times, the old order of things was changed during his leadership. on the th of june , the day after the dress rehearsal of die meistersinger von nürnberg, perfall received a letter from wagner in which he announced his intention of "retiring from all connection with the hof theater." almost simultaneously ludwig and wagner were seen side by side for the last time in munich. it was at the first performance of the meistersinger. the representation was brilliant, hans von bülow conducting with energy, and entirely in the master's spirit. the king sat in his great box. he caused wagner to be summoned to it. the composer was enthusiastically recalled after the first act, but did not appear on the stage because he had been unable to find his way thither from the royal box. the performance was proceeded with, and at its conclusion the applause broke forth with redoubled vigour. wagner, who was sitting by the king's side, rose and bowed to the public from the kaiserloge, an act which occasioned much annoyance. the unfavourable criticism which his friendship for the poet-musician was always calling forth had an unfortunate influence on ludwig's mental condition, as well as greatly wounding his pride. wagner, who had visited bayreuth in his youth, had preserved a pleasant impression of this town, situated so far from the noise of industry and the distracting influences of the outer world. returning thither in , a warm friendship sprang up between him and its inhabitants, who wished to keep him in their midst. the margrave's large theatre had for many years been unused. he agreed with the leading men of the town to take this house, although it was hardly suitable for his purpose. the inhabitants now offered him a building site which must in every way have been attractive to him. his scheme of raising a temple of art in the little town amid the bavarian mountains was received with delight by his adherents and friends, who did all in their power to support the undertaking. ludwig also stood by his side, a loyal helper, during the struggle which ensued before his theatre was finally complete. the foundation-stone was laid in . the king telegraphed: "from my inmost soul i express to you, my dearest friend, my warmest and sincerest congratulations on the occasion of this day, which is of import to the whole of germany. success and blessing accompany the great work! i am to-day more than ever with you in thought." richard wagner's letters to emil heckel give an insight into the immense difficulties which he and his admirers had to overcome. there was in a money crisis extending over the whole of germany and austria. banks which had promised credit were unable to meet their promises, and this delayed the realisation of his scheme. he had always calculated upon the king's assistance. on the th of january he wrote to heckel that he had requested "his ever-generous protector" to guarantee a loan, but that the latter, for some reason unknown to him, had refused his assistance.--a german poet had written an eulogistic ode in ludwig's honour and had requested wagner to set it to music, but the latter, unaware that the king knew the poem, had coldly refused to do this. ludwig had been offended. he could not, however, long be angry with his friend; already in february in the same year he gave the desired security. the first "niebelungen-cycle" was given in bayreuth from the th to the th of august . it was repeated three times before an enthusiastic audience, among whom were the emperor of germany, the grand dukes of weimar and baden, the emperor of brazil, the grand duke constantine of russia, and many other royal personages, as well as literary and artistic celebrities from all countries. the king of bavaria, who was seldom present at anything but separate performances, determined to visit bayreuth, despite the fact that this would necessitate his appearing in public. he drove direct from chiemsee to his hunting-box outside the town. only wagner was there to receive him. he met his old friend with warmth, and bade him seat himself beside him in the carriage. although he made a detour each evening in order to avoid the crowd, he was, both inside and outside the theatre, the object of enthusiastic ovations. he endeavoured to avoid them, but again and again had to come to the front of his box and bow his acknowledgments. he looked ill and depressed. wagner was the only person with whom he conversed, but he paid no visit to his private residence, and he left bayreuth unattended and as quietly as he had come. the german, french, and english press took up a cool attitude with regard to the festival. it could not be denied that it had been great and successful, but it was said that the "ring" was long. the performances showed a deficit of , marks. the poet-musician was in the greatest straits for money. his friends advised him again to address himself to the king. it was his opinion, however, that he had already taken greater advantage of his protector's generosity than he ought to have done. as he saw no other way of paying his debts, he sold the "ring," on which he had worked for nearly thirty years, and which the theatre at bayreuth had been built for, to a theatre agent. hard as the sale must have been to him, it helped him over his difficulties. the "ring" made a triumphal progress across the chief stages of germany. divergent art tendencies were agreed in admiration of his work, and his name shone with greater lustre than before. since that time enthusiastic hosts of listeners have made pilgrimages from all parts of europe and america to the little town, to do homage to the great poet-composer and his works. with the lapse of years ludwig's admiration for his person had somewhat cooled, and during the visits to bayreuth no trace had been visible of his earlier enthusiastic attachment. but if the friendship no longer had the warmth of youth it was by no means dead. in the year wagner wrote to emil heckel of a "kind letter which the king had sent him." the master's works had taken deep root in the king's mind. in he became the patron of the bayreuth festival. he ordered that the orchestra and chorus of the hof theater should be for two months in the year at the disposal of richard wagner. in , when parsifal was given for the first time, he expressed a wish for a private performance at which he could be present unnoticed. he changed his mind, however, at the last moment, perhaps because the german crown prince was to be among the audience. some time afterwards parsifal was played in munich, with the assistance of the same artists who had sung at bayreuth. after the first rehearsals of this opera had taken place wagner wrote a treatise in letter form on his person and works, which he sent to ludwig. it began with the following words:-- "i will not write another note. my work is complete! i have successfully and victoriously accomplished my mission, despite the hostile onrush of a world of opponents." this was one of the last letters from the composer-poet to this king, who had been to him more than a friend. the poet-musician used every year to visit munich, where his protector received him with unchanged kindness. in he came thither for the last time. he requested as usual an audience of the king, but ludwig begged to be excused from receiving him, as he was indisposed. on the th of february, , richard wagner died at venice. five thousand telegrams were sent to all parts of the world to announce the ill tidings. one of the first came to ludwig. he violently reproached himself for not having received him. one of his aides-de-camp went on his behalf to venice to lay a wreath of alpine roses on the composer's coffin. a special train brought the deceased, his widow, and a number of friends to bayreuth. at the frontier the king's secretary was waiting to accompany the coffin and show the last honour to the poet-musician. music, which before had been ludwig's greatest joy, was from this time forth not permitted at any of his castles, because it so painfully reminded him of the friend of his youth. all the pianos on which he had played were draped with crape. the dead man's works still had such an effect on him that after every performance of parsifal he caused a mass to be said in his castle. and after the king's death, busts, portraits, and other mementos of richard wagner were found everywhere in his favourite rooms. chapter xxvii king ludwig and the artists of the stage and canvas a french journalist who saw ludwig ii. in his youth, has said: "his beauty belongs to the romantic type. his dark eyes are dreamy and full of enthusiasm. his handsome face, elegant personality, and dignified bearing at once win admiration and sympathy. he is in possession of all the graces of youth, its illusions and enthusiasm; but at the same time he offers an example of that need for change which belongs to youth. his subjects look upon him as a fool. they are mistaken: he is only foolish on one point--namely, where music is in question." the king passionately loved wagner's operas. concerts, on the other hand, he seldom attended, but he often invited opera singers of both sexes to sing at his castles. shortly after his accession an actor by the name of emil rohde was engaged by the munich hof theater, and won in a high degree his majesty's approval as don carlos, ferdinand in schiller's kabale und liebe, max piccolomini, and mortimer. rohde was one of the first artists in whom ludwig showed particular interest. at the beginning of his sojourn in the bavarian capital he was often summoned to the palace. after the first unabridged performance of schiller's wilhelm tell the king sent him the following autograph letter:-- "dear rohde, "you have surpassed all my expectations. i shall always remember with the greatest delight the beautiful hours which we passed together this winter. yes, you must come again! "i remain always your very gracious king, "ludwig." the invitations, however, were not repeated. ludwig came to have other interests and other favourites. the tenor, franz ignaz nachbaur, was showered with proofs of favour. he had begun his career as a chorus singer, but a swiss art mæcena had caused him to be educated under lamperti at milan. in he received an invitation to appear as walther von stolzing in the meistersinger von nürnberg. he was not, as a matter of fact, a very intelligent singer; but he surpassed all his colleagues by his exceedingly handsome exterior, and by the pure tenor tones of his voice. ludwig appointed him chamber singer. after every new rôle he sent him handsome presents, among other things a lohengrin equipment of wrought silver, and a number of diamond pins and rings. nachbaur, who was in the habit of exhibiting them with childlike delight, was in consequence given the soubriquet of "brilliant nazzi." in addition to wagner's musical works, the king took pleasure in hearing lortzing's, kreutzer's, verdi's, and halévy's operas. the day after he had been present for the first time at halévy's opera, guido et guivera, he sent for nachbaur, and, to the astonishment of the artist, though he had never set eyes on the music, sang through the whole of the great aria. when he had finished, he said: "will you now be good enough to sing the air for me? i should like to know if i have sung it right." on one occasion, when nachbaur was ill, ludwig wrote to him: "take care of yourself. do it for your family's sake and to preserve your divine voice. do it, too, for my sake. i ask it of you, i, the king, who otherwise am not wont to ask." on another occasion he wrote to him: "we are both opposed to all that is meretricious and bad, and we glow with holy enthusiasm for everything that is lofty and pure. we will, therefore, all our lives be faithful and sincere friends." the singer vogel, likewise, often received commands to wait upon his majesty at a certain hour of the night. he had to sing an air to him, and was thereafter driven back to his home. the king had been a fine rider, and as a young man he had ridden straight and undaunted on his favourite horse. this horse he now presented to the opera singer frau vogel. every time she appeared as brunhilde in wagner's götterdämmerung she rode it when she made her daring leaps into the flames. during a performance when possart and frau ramlo exchanged rings, the king sent them two diamond rings, which they were instructed to wear on the stage and keep in remembrance of him. he spared indeed neither gifts nor distinctions in the case of actors and singers who won his favour. gold watches and chains, brilliants, bracelets, brooches were sent to them from the kaiserloge as signs of approval. during the latter years of his life, however, he showed more reserve in his intercourse with artists, and also, on the whole, spoke less often with persons with whom he was not already acquainted. towards the painters to whom he gave orders he was likewise, as a rule, very friendly. with regard to these also, as where scenic art was concerned, he inexorably demanded that everything must be reproduced with historical faithfulness. an error of etiquette in a picture he blamed as severely as if it had been committed in his presence. heinrich von pechmann had been commissioned to paint a picture representing the lever de marie de antoinette. although the general effect of the composition was very pleasing, the king returned it with the message that "ladies-in-waiting did not fan themselves, nor did they converse with the gentlemen of the court in the queen's presence." moreover, he wished to see among those depicted the composer gluck, who was at that time attached to the french court. the artist ille had been commanded by ludwig to paint five large pictures with subjects from the legend of "lohengrin," which it was intended should be hung at hohenschwangau. "the king would be glad to see the emperor's carriage altered," wrote ludwig's secretary to him on the subject; "but he will not, however, make it a command against your artistic convictions. unless rendered impossible by technical difficulties or the text of the poem, the king would also like to see the morning or evening sun shining upon the archangel michael. furthermore, i am to ask you to consider whether the swan's head is not too large, and if its breast, which is resting on the water, is not too weak? the king has, i may explain, from his earliest youth been familiar with the appearance of these birds." ille made the required alterations, and received a fine diamond ring as an expression of the king's satisfaction. ludwig spent many hours daily in the study of literature, and invariably took books with him on his mountain excursions. when he travelled, a trunk was filled with a careful selection of works from his favourite authors. as crown prince he had had no opportunity of receiving instruction at a college or of acquiring information and experience by sojourns in foreign lands; but by self-study he became at an early age a well-informed man. he thoroughly studied countless scientific works; and when he felt himself drawn towards an author he read everything that writer had produced. nor was the author's personality and private life indifferent to him. if the latter was still alive the king would give orders that information should be procured for him as to his pecuniary and other conditions; and were he poor, ludwig would very often afford him generous assistance in the most unostentatious manner. chapter xxviii private performances at the hof theater at munich the bavarians were in general inclined to forgive their king's peculiarities. a single weakness, however, they found it difficult to condone: they did not like his habit of commanding private performances at the theatre, of which he was the only witness. although ludwig covered all the expenses, his private performances at the hof theater became so unpopular that his ministers felt themselves constrained to make a protest against them. the blame for this taste was laid upon wagner, the charge being based on the fact that the poet-musician had arranged ( ) a concert in the hof theater at which the king had been the sole audience. more probable is it, however, that his pleasure in them was awakened little by little, as he was in the habit of driving in from his castles in the mountain districts to be present at the various dress rehearsals. from time to time he would cause translations or adaptations of french plays from louis xiv.'s time to be made and played for him alone. later he transferred his attention to louis xv.'s time. in his latter years he caused several historical pieces to be produced, of which the subjects were taken from the legends relating to hohenschwangau. the first private performance took place in , the last towards the end of . in the course of these fourteen seasons he was present at two hundred and ten performances, of which forty-five were operas. [ ] until and including there were never given more than twelve private performances in each season. in the number rose to twenty, and in to twenty-five performances. everything that was played for the king alone was artistically perfect. the actress charlotte wolther, who played in the last narcisz performance of , has written her impressions of that evening: "his majesty had ordered that the representation should begin at twelve o'clock at night, she tells us. all that was to be seen through the peephole was the brightly lighted proscenium. absolute silence reigned; even the workmen wore felt slippers. at the stroke of twelve a bell was rung; the king was leaving the palace. he passed along the corridor to his great box. a new ringing of the bell announced that he had entered it, and immediately the curtain rose! the singer became the victim of a nervous trembling, and required all her presence of mind to perform her part before a single witness, at such a strange time, and in such romantic stillness...." many stories of doubtful veracity were circulated with regard to these theatre evenings. french, russian, and american journalists depicted them in fantastic colours. the american humorist mark twain wrote amusingly of them; and his accounts won general credence on both sides of the atlantic! "the opera concluded, and the artists having washed the paint off their faces, they are frequently ordered to re-dress, and singers and orchestra have to go through the opera a second time for the king," he writes in one of his books. "there is in the great hof theater an apparatus which, in case of fire, can put the whole stage under water. a violent storm was represented at one of these private performances. the theatre tempest howled, the thunder rolled. in a loud voice ludwig shouted from his box: 'good, very good! but i want real rain. let the water flow!' the scene-shifter ventured to demur, representing that the decorations, no less than the silk and velvet curtains, would be destroyed. 'never mind,' said the king; 'do as i bid you!' the water poured out over the stage, over the artificial flowers and houses. the singers were drenched; they put a bold face on it, and sang away bravely. the king applauded, and shouted 'bravo! more thunder, more lighting!' he ordered. 'bad luck to him who dares to leave the stage!'" needless to say, mark twain's story was entirely the creation of his own brain; ludwig laughed heartily when the description was read aloud to him. and yet the citizens of munich were no less credulous on this point than the american public. they thought, among other things, that the king wrote his own plays; and they declared that his private performances raised the taxation of the country. chapter xxix king ludwig and his palaces ludwig i. sacrificed millions of guldens in order to beautify his capital with structures in the antique and renaissance styles. ludwig ii. inherited his grandfather's love of building. writing to his son, king otto of greece, at christmas , ludwig i. says: "when the christmas presents were distributed, ludwig was given some wooden bricks with which to construct a triumphal arch. i saw buildings by him which were excellent. i find a striking likeness between the future ludwig ii. and the politically defunct ludwig i.!" he was at that time only seven years of age. at eleven he drew the plan of a hunting-box, which was to be built at hintersee, in the vicinity of berchtesgaden. the lodge was not built; but both his grandfather and queen maria were astonished at his early-developed gift. this drawing was given a place in his mother's album. until he had completed his eighteenth year ludwig had never any money in his hands: a few months after his eighteenth birthday he became the possessor of a yearly income of many millions of guldens. his riches appeared inexhaustible to him, and he thought it an easy matter to realise all his dreams. the summer mansions of berg and herzogenstand which he had inherited from his father, even his favourite place of residence, hohenschwangau, no longer satisfied him. it was his intention to build a new castle in the neighbourhood of the latter, high up on a rocky site. the foundation-stone of neuschwanstein was laid in . of the various castles built by ludwig this is the one which is the most satisfactory in the impression it affords. from whatever side the spectator sees it, the effect is beautiful and imposing. there is no trace in it of the insane lavishness, and, on the whole, of the inartistic conception which is strikingly evident in the palaces of linderhof and chiemsee. neuschwanstein is in pure romanesque style. the interior is decorated with pictures from german hero legends and songs. they represent the tannhäuser and lohengrin legends, the niebelungenlied and parsifal, and are conceived and executed in an artistic spirit. after the conclusion of the franco-german war, building became the thought in ludwig's mind round which all others revolved. he occupied himself with the smallest details in the construction of his castles, and gave exact descriptions as to how the different apartments were to be decorated. he procured, with much trouble from foreign countries, copies of objects of art which were inaccessible to others. king maximilian had a hunting-box in the vicinity of ober-ammergau; here his son built the fantastic fairy château of linderhof, himself drawing the plans and carefully studying works on the various styles of architecture. during the building he continually had new ideas, and was seized with a desire to change parts of the building. despite his sure eye for general effects, he had no idea as to the manner in which the building should be executed. in order to ascertain how the mansion would look when complete, he caused walls to be built and resorted to other radical expedients, which necessitated a considerable increase of expenditure and eventually led to his financial ruin. the foundation-stone of linderhof was laid in . it was not till ten years later that it approached completion. the mansion is not large, nor does it give the impression of being in any particular style. it contains ten reception-rooms of different sizes and shapes, in which there are collected a multitude of objects, oil paintings and pastel drawings. the furniture is partly of rosewood. the richly-carved doors and walls are gilded. on gilded consoles stand japanese and chinese porcelain, majolica, and works in bronze, as well as some magnificent old dresden china. the silver-gilt domestic utensils are studded with precious stones. the material with which the furniture is upholstered, the curtains and portières, are all of heavy velvet and silk with gold embroideries. in the big drawing-rooms the chandeliers and candelabra are of massive gold. this magnificence is reflected by several hundred large mirrors. the building is surrounded by gardens and terraces. busts and statues of greek gods stand on high pillars among the trees in the shrubberies. in ludwig's lifetime a fountain threw its jets of water a hundred and fifty feet into the air. close by linderhof lies "the blue grotto," a copy of the grotto at capri, and the "hunding-hütte," which was built at richard wagner's desire. king maximilian's hunting-lodge was moved, but an old lime-tree which had stood close by was allowed to retain its place. a stair led up into the branches of the tree where a summer-house had been constructed from which there was a fine view of the surrounding country. when ludwig was at linderhof, he spent many hours of his day in this tree. as time went on he became absorbed in the art period of louis xiv. he built the enormous schloss herrenchiemsee, which is a copy of versailles and which swallowed many millions of guldens, although it was never brought to completion. at the time when he drew the plan of this palace his passion for building was no longer a fancy which he could tame, but the outcome of a diseased brain, where the power of will and judgment was impaired. he went, impelled by his building operations, several journeys to france. his stay was on each occasion of very short duration; the feverish disquiet which drove him thither drove him back again almost as quickly. hardly a year after the days when versailles had echoed to the cheers of the german princes for the newly elected emperor, he went, without giving his ministers the slightest hint of his intention, in strictest incognito to paris. he spent several days at versailles. the following year he returned there once more, this time visiting in addition the town of rheims, the seat of the coronation of the kings of france. chiemsee, called also "the bavarian sea," surrounds three islands: herrenchiemsee, frauenchiemsee, and the uninhabited krautinsel. herrenchiemsee, or "herrenwörth," was originally a monastery, which at the time of their suppression went over into private hands. in it was in the possession of some business men, who sold it to king ludwig. he chose the island as the site of his versailles. the king's advisers raised objections, but these only aroused his defiance. he sent off experts to study the subject, and threw himself heart and soul into the undertaking. eight years, however, passed before the plans were completed. herrenchiemsee consists of an intermediate building three hundred feet in length, and of two wings surrounding a quadrangle, the latter being entirely paved with black and white marble. everywhere in the palace there are pictures of the kings and queens of france, and the fleurs-de-lys of the bourbons. the sixteen living apartments are named after the rooms to which they answer at versailles. the finest of these is the mirror gallery, which is about feet long, feet broad, and feet high. piercing one of the walls are lofty arched windows, and on the other a similar number of large mirrors. two-and-fifty candelabra of gold and chandeliers provide space for wax candles. it was but for few nights that this sea of light burned in honour of ludwig ii. and his imaginary guests from the time of the french kings. from the year he arrived regularly at herrenchiemsee on the th of september and remained there till the th of october, inhabiting the first years of this period the so-called royal apartments in a neighbouring monastery, which could easily have been changed into an agreeable place of residence had the king had thoughts for anything but the new palace. he was in the habit of arriving at midnight. the railway station was near the banks of the lake. a beautiful gondola, which was used for no other purpose, was waiting to take him across to the island; it was rowed by two men in neapolitan costume. when the king came he examined everything; on one occasion, by way of example, he discovered that some groups of statuary in the park were of plaster instead of marble, as he had ordered, and he became so angry that he broke them in pieces. linderhof, neuschwanstein, and herrenchiemsee, on which he sacrificed so much time and thought, and which caused his financial ruin, have been later the means of paying his debts. the veil of mystery which surrounded his person rested likewise as long as he lived over his residences. but after his death these objects of his pride, so jealously guarded by him from profane eyes, became accessible to the public. they are considered, and rightly so, as sights of the first order. thousands of visitors yearly, from all countries, admire the edifices of the splendour-loving king. chapter xxx king ludwig's friendships at the time of ludwig's first visit to paris, cora pearl, noted alike for her beauty and her frivolity, sent the young king her portrait. none of his suite dared to present it to him, it being known that he was not attracted by women. at hohenschwangau, a year later, he received his secretary with the following words:--"i have seen your wife to-day!" the secretary bowed in silence, being uncertain what this utterance might mean. "i have seen your wife to-day!" repeated the king in his severest tone. the secretary now realised the significance of the words addressed to him, and respectfully assured his majesty that he would see that such a thing should not occur again. the king's dislike of the fair sex could not otherwise than cause it to be hinted that his emotional life was not normal, a rumour strengthened by the warm interest which he exhibited in several men. the hungarian writer, maurus jókai, has related in private circles how in his youth he received a letter from an unknown person offering him riches and marks of honour, everything which a powerful master is in a position to offer, if he would leave his country and his family and live entirely for an unhappy and lonely man. the novelist would not break the ties which bound him to his home and his native land; but he ever retained a deep feeling of sympathy for the writer of the letter. ludwig's need for solitude was, without doubt, the result of enigmatical depths in his nature. as a youth he had suspected, and as a man of riper years he felt, that it was impossible for him to be otherwise than a recluse and a stranger in life. despite his high position, despite his beauty and gifts of mind, he was in his inward self helpless and tired of existence. his friendship for richard wagner was the bright spot in his life. he had believed in the incense with which the master in the first hours of sincere gratitude had surrounded his protector. but wagner's proud affection was something very different from the flattery which met him from courtiers and his later favourites, who crawled in the dust to promote their own welfare. his favour and affection came as unexpectedly on the recipient as his distaste and contempt for them--his feelings, which found an outlet in autograph letters, exaggerated expressions, and gifts, not continuing for any length of time. at the outbreak of the franco-german war he was hardly five and twenty years of age. it was at this time that his abnormal mental condition began to be remarked; but prior to this there had been signs which pointed in the same direction. he had from childhood been particularly attracted by good-looking faces. on his accession he pensioned off his father's old servants, and surrounded himself exclusively with young and handsome men. one of his grooms, joseph völkl, was during the years and the holder of a much-envied position at court, accompanying the king on his journeys to switzerland and being allowed to sit in the same carriage with his majesty. by degrees, however, völkl grew arrogant, and spoke of his master without respect. ludwig came to know of this fact, and degraded him instantly. the former continued, however, to spread unseemly gossip about, and the matter coming to the ears of the ministry, he was dismissed, and died in great poverty. the master of the horse, hornig, was later the king's favourite. he was a handsome and well-informed man, with agreeable manners. during the long period of eighteen years he acted as ludwig's private secretary, and accompanied him on his travels. while hornig was preparing the details of the journey to bayreuth, the king was seized with a sudden unwillingness to undertake it, despite the fact that he was the official patron of the festival. he discussed the matter constantly with the master of the horse, without, however, being able to make up his mind. the latter was of opinion that it would create unpleasant remark if the king sent a sudden refusal to be present. in the heat of conversation he exclaimed: "your majesty! it would make us laughable if we did such a thing!" ludwig was so much annoyed at this "us" and "we," that hornig lost his favour from that day. after his dismissal the royal quartermaster-sergeant, hesselschwerdt, took his place. in spite of a poor education he performed his duties to the king's satisfaction, amusing him, and often disarming his violence by gross untruths, which ludwig forgave, although he was not deceived by them. he remained in the king's service until the end of his reign. with the exception of richard wagner all the king's so-called friends suffered from his caprices. the secluded life he led gave him the time in which to brood over every little utterance which had displeased him. his rancour was, as a rule, deep, and his grudges lasting. the two last cabinet secretaries, dr von ziegler and dr von müller, were both for a time his pronounced favourites. even in his last years he understood how to fascinate others, and was able to master and hide his mental sufferings. ziegler, who was possessed of a jovial and happy disposition, had a good influence on him; and he spoke with admiration and respect of ludwig's nobility of mind. the secretary's retirement in was greatly regretted. from this day forward ludwig associated almost exclusively with his domestics. even his equerries and the secretary were but occasionally received by their master. several years before his death one of his warmest admirers, the chamberlain von unger, said of him: "the man who ceases to associate with educated women becomes coarse; but when, in addition, he avoids association with educated men, he is wholly and entirely lost!" chapter xxxi the actor kainz joseph kainz, the actor, who was later so celebrated, had, at the beginning of the eighties, an engagement at munich; he was then twenty-three years of age. the king saw him for the first time in victor hugo's marion de lorme, in which he played the part of the homeless didier. his unusually sonorous voice, his lofty glance, and the passionate warmth of his acting captivated ludwig, who the same evening caused to be delivered to him a valuable sapphire ring. kainz thanked him in a letter full of fire. in an autograph letter, dated the st of may, , his majesty assured him of his friendly feelings, and of his sincere and hearty wishes for his welfare. he added: "continue as you have begun, in your arduous and difficult but beautiful and honourable calling. [ ]" marion de lorme was repeated as a separate performance on the th and the th of may, and on each occasion kainz received a new present from the king. wishing to know him personally ludwig summoned him to schloss linderhof, where he received him with charming affability. he kept him with him for two whole weeks, making excursions with him and treating him as a friend. during the first meeting the actor had been somewhat reserved and formal; but after they had been a few days together all shyness departed from his side, and ludwig even permitted him to address him as du. the actor declaimed alternately to and with his majesty, and their artistic entertainments lasted till late into the night. kainz was allowed to be present at the private performances. the king undertook to provide for his further education, and corresponded frequently with him. the friendship between the prince and the actor was much talked about and much criticised. "it depresses me greatly when i see that my innocent fancies are trumpeted out before the whole world, and are hatefully criticised," said ludwig to his new friend. "it has caused me many sad hours. i cannot imagine why i should be grudged my small pleasures, for they do not harm anybody." when on another occasion they were discussing the art of acting, he said: "i guard my ideals anxiously. i do not care to notice small weaknesses, for i do not like the general harmony to be disturbed." he continued reflectively: "it is the same with regard to actors; i see only the person in the interpreter! the actor who plays a noble part i imagine to be a noble person." kainz demurred to this, saying that although he did not consider himself a villain, it was his wish to play the part of franz moor. "no, no," exclaimed the king eagerly; "you must never represent such a hateful character." he went on to speak of the part of didier. "when marion de lorme was repeated," said he, reproachfully, you wore my sapphire ring in the first act. how could the poor, homeless didier possess such a costly ornament? it offends against the laws of truth." kainz excused himself on the plea that he had been informed that his majesty liked his gifts to be honoured, and that it was for this reason he had worn the ring. the presents which kainz received from the king were particularly valuable, and none of the parts he played went unrewarded. one evening as he was about to take his departure, having already one foot in the carriage, ludwig took his studs from his cuffs and handed them to him as a parting gift. he had his own room allotted to him at linderhof, and he was permitted to drive alone with his royal friend. the marks of favour which were so abundantly showered upon the young hero of the theatre proved to be too much for him, and he became very injudicious. at first ludwig looked upon his brutality as the outcome of his love for truth. "how good it is to hear the unvarnished truth!" he said to councillor bürckel. the latter, who knew the new favourite better, answered shortly: "your majesty! truth and impertinence are two different things!" the king desired to make a journey to spain in company with the actor, [ ] but was obliged to abandon the plan because bürckel, who had the arrangement of the trip, represented to him that the time of year was unfavourable. "it is a pity," said he; "i have a far greater desire to see spain than italy, which has no attractions for me. but now when i am about to satisfy my longing, bürckel comes with his objections; the propriety of which i cannot but acknowledge." "bürckel, however, is only an adviser," observed kainz; "your majesty is lord and master!" "yes," sighed ludwig, "but it is not always so easy to be king as it appears to be." "if it is difficult to your majesty you can give up the sceptre into other hands," remarked the actor. the answer displeased the king, who rose to his feet, thus giving the actor a hint that he must be more careful in the use of his expressions. the recollection of earlier visits to switzerland entered his mind; he was taken with the desire to see again that idyllic land, and the places associated according to tradition with william tell. on the th of june he wrote to kainz: "your dear letter, by which i see how much you are looking forward to our journey to switzerland, has given me great pleasure. it increases very considerably my own delight at the days i hope to enjoy with you in that beautiful country. the nearer the time approaches the more exercised does the good bürckel seem to become. he bombards me with the most extraordinary announcements and suggestions, proposing now that i should take a noble gentleman-in-waiting with me. if it is not possible for us to do without such a person, which, however, cannot possibly be the case, i would rather give up the whole journey. it is necessary to avoid the stream of tourists there, and their tactless obtrusiveness. "it is to be hoped that we can get a habitable private house on the shores of the classic lake. "... i have still much to arrange, and therefore hasten to conclude. "a thousand hearty greetings, beloved brother, precious didier, from your friendly, "ludwig "(saverny)." chapter xxxii a journey to switzerland in order to avoid remark, ludwig had decided that his special train should pick him up at ten o'clock in the evening, on the th of june, at the station of mühlthal, near starnberg. he intended to travel as the marquis de saverny; kainz was to go with him as his friend didier. according to the orders which he had received, and at the appointed hour, the actor duly made his appearance at the little railway station. the country lay in deep stillness as the royal train, without a signal or the ringing of a bell, glided up to the platform. immediately afterwards the king's spirited team dashed up. ludwig jumped out of his equipage and stepped into the railway carriage, which, besides a sleeping compartment, contained a saloon in which were easy-chairs, sofas, and a table laid for supper. the train moved off into the darkness of the night as silently as it had come. one of the king's stewards, a native of switzerland, had gone on in advance to engage a suite of rooms at the grand hotel at axenstein, near brunnen. unfortunately, the king's arrival in switzerland became known. people hurried from all directions to catch a glimpse of the "romanticist on the throne." when he approached brunnen on board the steamer italia, the banks were covered with spectators. ludwig was incapable of repressing his displeasure, which increased the more when he discovered that all the houses along the banks of the lake were decorated with flags in his honour. "it is swarming with people here. i wish to live unknown and alone for myself!" he exclaimed. at the landing-stage the hotel carriage was standing with four horses harnessed to it; and some members of the swiss police were also discovered to be drawn up for his reception. this was too much for the shy monarch. "i will certainly not go ashore here," he cried. "i will not make myself a sacrifice to ovations." he let the steamer go on to flüelen. on the return trip he made inquiries as to whether there were not some other locality than brunnen where he might be put ashore. the captain mentioned a little place in the neighbourhood, and shaped a course for it. hardly was this discovered at brunnen than the whole mass of people set off towards it. the landing-stage was thickly covered with a crowd which received him with marks of delight. handkerchiefs were waved, and shouts of hurrah filled the air as his majestic form strode through the ranks. he answered the greetings of the people with affability. "i must confess," he said, after he was seated in the carriage, "that after all, this warm welcome has given me pleasure, for it shows well the mind of these good people." he was deeply touched by the magnificent scenery, and his face beamed; but hardly had he noticed the numbers of strangers who continued to press round his carriage than he began to lose heart again. he walked up and down in his rooms at the hotel, saying again and again: "this is a hotel and not a castle; i will not remain here!" a few days later he took the villa "guttenberg," whence he made many excursions in the neighbourhood. the cantonal government placed a steamer at his disposal, and this he very often used. kainz recited to him in the beautiful moonlight nights, and from the banks of the lake of lucerne he heard the joyous swiss peasant songs. his friendly manner won much sympathy in the neighbourhood. one sunday seven pretty young swiss girls announced themselves at his villa; they had come to ask him for money in order to go to america. as he was not at home one of them requested some writing materials, after which, in a bright and original manner, she penned the wishes of herself and her friends. the letter was laid before the king, who was greatly amused at it. he answered, however, that he loved and honoured the swiss people far too well for him to be a party to the leaving of it of seven of its most charming daughters. it is said that the swiss people gave utterance to the following sentiment: "if we had to elect a king for ourselves, our choice could not fall on any other than ludwig ii. of bavaria." he had a great affection for and visited often the beautiful rütli, the spot where the ancient swiss took their oath of allegiance. kainz accompanied him thither, and they spent hours together at the view, where the young actor would recite the rütli song: "sei, rütli, mir freundlich gegrüsset, du stilles gelände am see, wo spielend die welle zerfliesset, genährt vom ewigen schnee! gepriessen sei, friedliche stätte, gepriessen sei, heiliges land, wo sprengten des sklaventums kette die väter mit kräftiger hand. da standen die väter zusammen für freiheit und heimisches gut und schwuren beim heiligsten namen, zu stürzen die zwingherrenbrut!" they went almost every evening to a neighbouring inn where they partook of a meal, the king being exceedingly modest in his demands, and not even requiring dinner-napkins or a tablecloth. he was in the habit of talking much to the landlord, whom he liked to give him information as to the mode of life of the swiss peasantry. the king's relations with kainz became somewhat cooler on the former's side towards the end of their stay in switzerland. one evening at rütli ludwig asked him to recite something from schiller's wilhelm tell. the actor was willing to do this, but put it off till later. at two in the morning ludwig repeated his request, when kainz replied that he was too tired to recite anything. ludwig looked at him a moment in astonishment and was silent. at last he said: "oh, you are tired, are you? rest, then!" and turning on his heel walked away. hesselschwerdt and the landlord went with him to the steamer. when they were on board the landlord said: "herr marquis, herr didier has not yet come!" "let him rest," answered ludwig; "we will go on." kainz had himself rowed across to brunnen, but the king had left when he arrived there. the actor followed him to lucerne, and prayed hesselschwerdt to announce him to the king. the former returned and said that his majesty would receive him in the garden, if he did not wish to make up for his lost night's rest. ludwig appeared shortly afterwards. kainz made several excuses, which the king interrupted, assuring him that he was glad to see him again, and that he regretted his own want of spirits. although ludwig treated him with familiarity, his extreme sense of self-esteem could not endure that a seemly line of demarcation should be passed by his young friend. after the return from switzerland he did not invite him again; nor did he ever again witness any performance of his on the stage, but for a short space of time he continued to carry on a correspondence with the actor. his last letter, in which he thanks kainz for good wishes which the latter had sent him, concludes with the following words:-- "probably didier sometimes thinks kindly of his saverny. my hearty greetings to you. all good spirits bless you. this is wished you with all his heart by your friendly, "ludwig. "the swiss châlet at hohenschwangau, the st july, , at night." shortly afterwards kainz was dismissed from the hof theater at munich. as long as the king lived he hoped to be recalled; but the hope was not destined to be fulfilled. when, later, ludwig heard him spoken of he would abruptly change the topic of conversation; and when he read his name in the newspaper would lay the latter aside, or throw it into the waste-paper basket. kainz's conduct proved that he had been unworthy of his friendship; nobody perhaps abused his confidence more than he did. the king had hardly drawn his last breath before the young actor sold all his letters to a berlin newspaper. ludwig had in these letters allowed him to glance into his inward life, and their publication immediately after the benefactor's death was not only unseemly but heartless. the general opinion of his conduct is expressed in the following verse:-- "hat ludwig dir in königlicher grösse gezeigt des herzens tiefen ohne scheu. du warst gewiss, da du sie bloss jetzt legest, dem todten, hohen freunde wenig treu." chapter xxxiii king ludwig and his servants the friend of ludwig's childhood, count holnstein, had made himself well-nigh indispensable at the bavarian court; and in order further to increase his power he had filled the situations of personal attendance on the king with soldiers of light horse belonging to his own regiment. this system was abetted by the master of the horse, hornig. the greater number of the grooms engaged by him knew nothing of the formalities demanded by a court, even though that court was a recluse's and the king an eccentric. before they entered on their duties they were accordingly instructed in deportment by the royal ballet-master, and taught propriety of speech and elocution by the court actors. these inexperienced soldiers were now set to wait upon a selfish and exacting monarch, to serve him at meals in proper fashion, and to assist him at his toilet, although they hardly knew the names of the articles in his daily use. their helplessness, which is easily to be understood, called forth violent outbreaks of temper on the king's side, and several times he allowed himself to be so carried away that he lay hands on them. upon occasion he struck them with his riding-whip, and it is said that he once emptied his teapot over the back of one of his lacqueys. he had an unreasoning dislike of plain faces. one of his father's confidential servants displeased him so much in his childhood by his unattractive appearance that he always turned away when the man entered the room, although he knew that his action caused maximilian great annoyance. nevertheless his personal footman, mayr, who managed to stay with him longer than any other servant, had an exterior which was extremely displeasing to him. his face alarmed him; and he ordered for long periods at a time that he should appear before him in a mask when waiting upon him at meals. ludwig could not endure this man, and often said that he had a premonition that mayr would bring him bad luck. nevertheless he could not do without him, the lacquey understanding well how to please his master. on the forehead of another footman, who was often guilty of one or other piece of clumsiness, the king placed a seal of wax, and he was forbidden to enter the presence without this sign of his stupidity. although ludwig's servants suffered from his irritable temper, he was at other times a far too lenient master, heaping his subordinates with presents and marks of favour when he felt he had done them an injustice; and when he found it necessary to send one away always providing for his future. one of his personal attendants became seriously ill. ludwig visited him and found his home without any of the conveniences of life. he asked him why he did not move to a better and more healthy place. the sick man answered that his means would not allow of it. the same day he sent him a present of a considerable sum of money, and later raised his wages. every year, on twelfth night, he was in the habit of giving a servant's ball at his hunting-box, pleckenau. it has been said that each of these festivities cost him , marks, although the gifts he had distributed did not consist of anything of greater value than eatables and beverages. all classes of his servants were his guests; the whole day was spent in festivity. the king amused himself by looking on at their enjoyment; and it is said sometimes took part in their amusements. this, as well as several other assertions regarding his private life, are an exaggeration and not in conformity with the truth. an incredible spirit of indifference reigned in the household; his subordinates abused his kindness and enriched themselves in a simply astounding manner. one of his servants, when in a state of intoxication, shot a workman; the care of the latter in the castle was paid for out of ludwig's purse, although the occurrence was hid from his majesty, it being known that otherwise he would certainly have dismissed and punished his servant. while the "most gracious" was living in his world of dreams, taking heed for nothing, his servants amused themselves the livelong night. the king refused all permission to see over his castles. this proscription, however, was not respected, and without his knowledge relations and friends were continually shown round. even those who had no connection with the household had only to express a wish, and the servants at once acted against their master's orders. if he heard the noise made by these strangers, those about him understood how to convince him that he was mistaken; and did he remark strange faces, received for answer that his nearsightedness had deceived him. he became at last so weary of his surroundings that he gave his orders through closed doors; a scratching at the wall denoted that these orders had been understood. the few of his subordinates who were permitted to enter his presence had to stand bowing low, and refrain from looking at the king. or again, he would give his orders in writing. he commanded that these papers should be immediately torn up; but his servants nevertheless preserved every line from his hand, and made use of them in due course as weapons against him. chapter xxxiv the mad king in the most beautiful of the castles built by ludwig ii. there stands near the entrance to the fine concert-room a curious piece of statuary, for the execution of which he himself provided the idea: a palm in the prime of its abundance and strength, laden with golden fruit. at the foot of it is represented a loathsome dragon, with wide-open mouth--a symbol of the inherited malady which was lying in wait for the heavily oppressed monarch. in the case of prince otto of bavaria madness had broken out suddenly: in the case of ludwig it came unnoticed and insidiously, not even the specialists being quite alive to the danger. there can be no doubt that he himself knew that he was periodically insane; but he was determined at any cost to prevent the outside world from seeing him in this condition. in february he caused a dentist to be summoned to him. the latter has written down his reminiscences from his visit. the king was exceedingly gracious. he spoke first of the suffering caused him by his teeth. although he could not bear his servants to look at him he endured this strange dentist for hours, without a look or a word betraying the dislike he must undoubtedly have felt of his presence. when the dentist contradicted him a couple of times he took it with calmness and good-humour. he adduced new reasons for his opinions, and showed admirable self-possession. with his whole strength he fought to free himself from the fatal web which was being spun closer and closer around him. he sought to keep himself in balance by restless activity, building castles in three different localities. many of the objects which filled his residences were constructed after his own designs, and he tested them carefully and selected the places where they were to stand. ludwig was particularly interested in french literature, and was seized with a violent admiration for the court of versailles. louis xiv. became his ideal. at first he contented himself with copying his buildings. later he endeavoured to imitate his gait, his carriage, and his daily habits. he surrounded himself with pictures of him and his court; he wore cuff-studs on which were fleurs-de-lys, and the same emblem was embroidered in gold on chairs, sofas, and cushions in his apartments. he longed to be an absolute autocrat; and the countless books and writings which he perused treating of louis xiv. provided his distorted imagination with continual food. during the latter years of his life he was completely under the sway of megalomania, thinking that he was receiving visits from and conversing with le roi soleil. at times he was even under the hallucination that he was that powerful autocrat. for marie antoinette also he cherished a morbid admiration, losing himself in dreams about that unhappy queen, and causing masses to be said on the day of her and louis xvi.'s execution. round the table in the great dining-hall chairs were placed for the ladies and gentlemen of the french court. at times he believed that they really sat there, and conversed animatedly with them in french. apt as he often could be in his remarks, he was heard to observe that this society was so agreeable to him because "they came when they were wanted and disappeared at the first hint." always solitary, he gave himself up almost entirely to his fantastic whims. when he did not drive out he would spend the night on the lake, or in the brightly-illuminated concert-room of his castle. for some years he cherished a mad scheme of employing a number of detectives to make the round of his kingdom and listen to all they could hear about his person. his was a curious double nature: to his great sympathy for the republic of switzerland and the hero of freedom, william tell, he united the wish for a bastille, where every person who dared to express a different opinion from his own might be incarcerated for life. the lattices and walls with which he surrounded his castles show better than all rumour how he avoided his fellow-men. to a learned scientist was allotted the task of finding a desert island or distant land which might be exchanged for bavaria, and where the absolutist state which he dreamt of might be established. although he had such a high opinion of his royal dignity, he forgot it on a thousand occasions; and so much was this the case that at his last court reception in munich his mother found herself constrained to bring the gathering to an end. his outbreaks of violence became more frequent; his struggles against the disease weaker. at times everything seemed indifferent to him. at others he heard steps behind him and turned round in fear; but no one was to be seen. he saw reptiles crawling on the floor, but discovered the next moment that the lacquey who obediently stooped to pick the animal up had nothing in his hand. he would endeavour to trick the servant by demanding that he should see things which he himself did not see, and would fall upon him in anger and contempt when he had allowed himself to be betrayed into these subterfuges. when ludwig drove out he was in the habit of bowing deeply to a particular tree in the wood; and clad in his coronation robes, with his sceptre in his hand, he would also bow respectfully to the statues of the french kings. several times he caused the snow to be covered with stones, so that in winter he might imagine it to be summer. but despite all he retained his power of acute observation. he never ceased to a certain degree to think logically and to pursue steadily any act or design. even during the last years of his life there were days and weeks when he was in full possession of his mental powers. chapter xxxv the last meeting between mother and son during one of the last winters of his life ludwig unexpectedly invited his mother to visit him at neuschwanstein. for the first two days he fell in with her habits, driving out with her and keeping her company in the evenings. but he soon returned to his usual mode of life. when he said good-night to her he would go for his long solitary drive; and he slept till late in the forenoon as his habit was. unluckily this also happened on the day when the queen-mother was to take her departure. ludwig had not returned from his drive until the morning hours, and he had not given orders that he should be awakened. his mother's carriage, with the horses harnessed to it, stood waiting for over an hour in the courtyard of the castle, while she herself paced up and down the great hall. her nervous impatience went over to a fit of anger when he eventually showed himself, and broke like a thunderstorm over the head of her son. an eye-witness has related that she scolded him as if he were still the little ludwig who used to hold fast to her skirts. what was still worse was that she scolded him in the hearing of all his footmen. the king kissed his excited mother repeatedly on the hand, begging her to excuse his tardiness. he conducted her respectfully to her carriage, took his seat beside her, and drove with her to the railway station. the mood he was in upon his return indicated the deep resentment he felt at her corrections. this was the last time she visited him; but upon one later occasion he paid her a visit. the queen-mother resided for the greater part of the year at elbingen-alp, a house more resembling that of a peasant than a royal residence. reports of her son's unaccountable conduct penetrated frequently to her; and what she suffered during these bitter years may well be imagined. on the th of october, , she was residing at hohenschwangau, the king being then at linderhof. it was her sixtieth birthday, and ludwig was seized with the idea of congratulating her on it in person. at about ten in the evening he arrived at hohenschwangau. the gates of the castle were locked; on the demand of the porter as to who was without, answer was made that the king desired to speak with his mother. the queen-mother was in course of preparing to retire; her son's unexpected appearance brought the whole personnel of the establishment into commotion. he remained the night at the castle, and dined with queen marie and her ladies at pleckenau the following day. he was now completely incapable, from want of habit, of carrying on a society conversation. during the whole course of the dinner he did not speak a word to anyone but his mother, and was far more silent than heretofore. his intercourse with the queen-mother was this time stamped by the greatest affection. after dinner he drove back to linderhof, his mother accompanying him half way; it was the last bright spot in her life. at the defile, where seven months later the peasantry assembled to liberate their captured king, the mother and son took leave of one another, never to meet again. half-a-year later the emperor of austria earnestly begged queen marie to visit ludwig, and endeavour to induce him to show himself before the world, as alarming rumours were in circulation as to his mental condition. the harassed mother addressed herself in writing to her son, who replied that he would receive her majesty in three days' time. the period for her departure was fixed, and her equipages and servants despatched to hohenschwangau; but the latter were informed on their arrival by ludwig's stablemen that they might go back again. "the queen will not be admitted to the king," they said; "he is unapproachable to everybody." shortly afterwards a telegram was despatched in which it was said that the king greatly regretted that he was prevented by toothache from receiving anybody, and therefore his dear mother likewise. chapter xxxvi pecuniary distress bavaria was distressed and saddened in the spring of . no personal lecture took place any longer before the king. all affairs of state were conducted in writing, and all ludwig's commands were transmitted through his functionary, hesselschwerdt. those who were in a position to know had long been aware that his financial situation must be improved if the prestige of the crown were not to suffer thereby. the newspapers announced that his health was in a less satisfactory state. he himself endeavoured to disarm these assertions by taking walks in the middle of the day, and speaking graciously with those whom he might meet on his way. he had never known the value of money, but regarded it as the ministers' duty to procure it, and as his own right to dissipate it. in his minister of finance, dr von riedel, had negotiated a loan of , , marks. hardly a year afterwards the same minister received an autograph letter in which he was desired to raise a new loan of , , marks. he now explained without circumlocution to the king in what a critical situation the privy purse found itself. the information aroused disquiet in ludwig; despite which, however, he showed himself deaf to the representations which were made to him. through a court functionary, in a subordinate position, he corrected the minister because he had ventured to address himself directly to his majesty. riedel made answer by tendering his resignation. the rest of the ministry declared that if it was accepted they would all resign. the other members of the council of state also received a reprimand at this time. simultaneously, however, ludwig despatched to his minister of finance a gracious letter, in which he requested him to remain in office. it is quite clear that his debts were not the consequence of unwise financial operations; nor were they the immediate consequence of his passing caprices. the deficit in the exchequer was owing in the main to his insatiable passion for building. the completion of his palaces was delayed on account of financial difficulties. nevertheless, he occupied himself continually with plans for the future; a new castle, to be called "falkenstein," was to be erected on an all but inaccessible mountain-top close to the borders of the tyrol. another, smaller, castle was to be built in chinese style in the neighbourhood of linderhof. the debts augmented from day to day. business people who required their money waited with impatience for their bills to be paid. several creditors sent in legal complaint to a collective amount of a million and a half. a catastrophe seemed inevitable; it was said out loud that it was time to put a stop to the king's building enterprises. although ludwig no longer received his secretary, the machinery of legislation still went its accustomed way. he signed the documents which were sent to him; but even important papers of state only reached him through the intervention of domestics, and if he happened to be in an ill-humour they lay scattered about on his table for days. his want of money was known far outside the limits of his kingdom. ludwig was angered at the contemptuous manner in which the financial newspapers of vienna and berlin made mention of it; and it was a painful surprise to him to find that the jews were those who attacked him the most mercilessly. "do they not know," he exclaimed, "that i am the only prince who from the beginning of the anti-semitic movement has taken strong measures to counteract it?" his pressing need for money rendered him apt to regard every unknown person as a dun. "yesterday when i was driving," he said to his barber, "i met a man who looked at me in such a curious manner that i positively thought he had come to seize my horses." on one of his last walks in the woods of neuschwanstein he met a poor boy who was gathering faggots. when he asked him who his parents were the lad answered that his father had been a stone-cutter, but was now out of work. "why does he not ask the king for help?" inquired ludwig. "he has no money himself, and nobody will lend him any," was the reply. the king laughed, and handed him a five-mark piece; but his laughter was no doubt bitter. his debts had reached a sum of , , marks. on the th of may, , his ministers represented to him that it was absolutely necessary that his pecuniary affairs should be brought into order, and his expenses reduced. months before this date he had been informed that every prospect of opening new resources was cut off. he now set to work himself, in every conceivable manner, to raise money. hesselschwerdt was sent to ratisbon in order if possible, to raise a loan of , , marks from the enormously wealthy prince of thurn and taxis. bismarck was consulted; and the king endeavoured to obtain money from america. an aide-de-camp was despatched to the emperor of brazil, another was sent to the king of sweden, and a third to the king of the belgians. the financial magnates rothschild, bleichröder, and erlanger were requested to give him their support; and he planned an application to the sultan of turkey and to the shah of persia. the means of assistance to which he resorted in his need are clear proofs that his mental and moral powers were rapidly declining; and in his alarm and confusion he even gave secret orders that persons should be procured who would be willing to break into the banks of some of the capitals of europe. two of his cousins were still unconvinced of his insanity; they were therefore willing to give him their support. they put him in relations with the house of orleans, who, during their short period of rule, had thought more of filling their own pockets than of the welfare of france. this family addressed themselves to rothschild in paris, who sent his secretary to munich with the power to conclude a large loan if the conditions which he required were acknowledged by the king. the house of orleans were to be the guarantors of the loan, which, as a matter of fact, they had already undertaken to be. preliminary consultations took place. the final issue came to nothing, according to report, because on the french side it was demanded that ludwig should bind himself to neutrality in the event of a war between prussia and france. rothschild's secretary went back to paris, and informed his master that he had suffered defeat. the king apparently was willing to give a promissory note; in political respects, on the other hand, he refused to bind himself. chapter xxxvii plots the influence of count von holnstein at the court of bavaria had lasted up to , when he fell into disfavour. the reason for this is not generally known. it has been said that he refused his assistance in the matter of a loan; others again have declared that ludwig gained cognisance of certain deprecatory expressions which the count had made use of with reference to his master. it will be clear to everybody who knows how difficult a matter it is to appoint legal guardians of an individual's person and fortune, that the step which it was now intended to take must have been doubly difficult where a reigning monarch was concerned. though his personal relations with ludwig had been strained, count holnstein had remained in his post of grand master of the horse. for a great number of years he had had exact knowledge of the king's mode of life, and he was in a position to procure a very large amount of weighty material by which, if used as proof against ludwig, it might be possible to attain the desired end. as the king no longer associated with others than his servants, there existed only three or four persons from whom any information could be procured regarding his immediate past. holnstein undertook to treat with these persons, and they proved to be willing to express themselves in the same spirit as himself. the attendants on ludwig's person were mayr, whose name has been previously mentioned in these pages, and a former soldier of light horse, alfons weber by name. the latter, however, was kept in absolute ignorance of the whole matter. mayr, on the other hand, was in unbroken intercourse with the leading circles in munich; and it was he and hesselschwerdt, in addition to count holnstein, who adduced the proofs that the time had come to place the king under restraint. from the first half of the month of may the greater number of those about him were prepared for an impending catastrophe. his creditors became more and more importunate, his need for money more and more pressing. as no prospects of assistance from any direction could be seen, ludwig determined to reassume negotiations with rothschild. he was now promised a loan of thirty or forty million francs, at four per cent. interest, to be paid within a certain period of time. in the event of bavaria remaining neutral during a possible war between france and prussia, repayment of the sum would be remitted, together with all further interest. in this manner the agreement was deprived of the sting which might wound the allies in germany; and no more was demanded of the king of bavaria than what, if necessary, he could subscribe to. hesselschwerdt, who had been the former intermediary between rothschild's secretary and his master, received orders from ludwig to proceed to paris with a royal note of hand, and to receive the money-prince's millions. at this juncture count holnstein suddenly stepped forth. as chief of the royal stables he was hesselschwerdt's superior. he was aware that rothschild's secretary had been in munich, and knew of the interviews the latter had had with members of the house of orleans. in expectation of what might arise, he had impressed upon hesselschwerdt that he must not undertake any task without his, the count's, knowledge, since king ludwig, in the painful position in which he found himself, might possibly allow himself to be led into taking a step which might have serious consequences to the state. when the negotiations were resumed in the month of may, holnstein had begun a course of baths at karlsbad. before his departure he had strictly charged hesselschwerdt immediately to inform him if his journey to paris could not be averted. the count had added threateningly: "obey me, hesselschwerdt, or you may pay dearly for it!" holnstein had hardly been a week at karlsbad before he received the expected telegram. he hastened to munich, and summoned hesselschwerdt to him. the court functionary brought with him the sealed writing which contained ludwig's note of hand. without a moment's hesitation the count carried him off to the premier, dr von lutz, and delivered into the latter's hands the letter to rothschild, which was sealed with the king's signet. this done he sought an audience of prince luitpold, who, on the outbreak of prince otto's malady, had become the person who stood nearest to the throne. while he was conversing with the king's uncle, it was announced that the ministry desired an audience. a council was held. ludwig's letter was opened, and hesselschwerdt was forbidden to undertake the journey to paris. four eminent physicians were summoned. they declared the king to be insane, and assumed his malady to be incurable. there was now a plausible excuse for placing him under restraint. a secret conference of the princes of the blood-royal met in munich. against two votes it was determined that the king's person should be placed under restraint and a regency proclaimed, with prince luitpold as regent. the ministry should remain in office. it was desired to constitute the grand master of the court, count von castell, ludwig's guardian; but he refused the melancholy task. count holnstein was then appointed to fill this post. it was prince luitpold's desire that the king should be informed of what had been decided upon before the proclamation took place, to the effect that he might give his consent to the new order of affairs. dr von lutz simultaneously informed prince bismarck of the contemplated loan in paris, and of the fact that members of the house of orleans had played a part in the matter. the prince gave the then french premier a hint of their attitude. a debate relating to the expulsion of the orleans princes was just at that time on the order of the day in the french senate. the terms of bismarck's telegram let it be supposed that the princes had desired to make use of ludwig's pecuniary difficulties in order to play a political part. this information is said to have been the chief reason for the expulsion of the orleans family from france. chapter xxxviii preparations to imprison the king--the peasantry assemble to his rescue hesselschwerdt, it need hardly be said, could no more show himself before the king. he informed his master that he had been taken ill, and therefore had been unable to proceed to paris. ludwig, however, came to know, through his barber, that his functionary was walking about the streets of the capital in robust health. though prior to this his suspicions had been now and again slightly aroused, he could never have supposed that the sealed letter which he had confided to him would have been given into other hands. a so-called court commission was meanwhile on its way to hohenschwangau to imprison the king, and place him under medical treatment. it consisted of the minister of the royal house, count crailsheim; counts holnstein and törring; herr von washington, who was to be the king's gentleman-in-waiting; and of the director of the public asylum for the insane at munich, dr von gudden. these gentlemen were furthermore accompanied by an assistant doctor and eight keepers. of ludwig's nearest entourage, only his valet, weber, and the stablemen had any idea of what was about to happen. on the night of the th of june a string of royal carriages drew up before the old castle of hohenschwangau. count holnstein, who sat in the foremost of them, proceeded at once to the royal stables to inform the personnel that it was to be dispersed. the coachman, osterholzer, was in the act of harnessing the horses to ludwig's carriage, for the king, according to his custom, wished to drive out in the course of the night. the count ordered that the horses should be taken out at once, as another carriage was in readiness, with another coachman to drive it. osterholzer pleaded his master's orders. "the king has nothing more to order," answered holnstein. "it is his royal highness, prince luitpold, who now reigns." [ ] the coachman understood that there was a plot against the king. he took the horses back to the stable. as quickly as his legs could carry him he thereupon ran by a steep woodland path up to neuschwanstein, where he informed the valet on duty, weber, what had occurred. ludwig was walking up and down in the brightly lighted concert hall, declaiming in a loud voice parts of an opera which had lately been dedicated to him. osterholzer rushed breathlessly in, throwing himself on his knees before him, and in his excitement able only to stammer forth some incoherent words. the king did not understand him; he beckoned weber to him, and asked what was the meaning of this scene. the valet explained that count holnstein and some other gentlemen had arrived at hohenschwangau, and that traitorous designs on his majesty were entertained. osterholzer implored him to flee at once; weber, too, offered his assistance. ludwig refused the offer. "why should i flee?" he asked. "if any real danger threatened me, karl would have written to me"! "karl" was the court functionary hesselschwerdt, in whom, even at this moment, he placed his trust. after some consideration he, nevertheless, gave orders that his servants should assemble. "run as quickly as possible," said he. "call all loyal peasants here to protect their king!" the stablemen and men-servants hurried away, and raised the alarm in the neighbouring villages. hardly an hour had passed before hohenschwangau was swarming with peasants armed with knives, and carrying axes and scythes across their shoulders. füssen, the town nearest to hohenschwangau, sent her fire-brigade, and the chief of the police stationed there appeared with all his men. as nobody had any knowledge of what had occurred in munich, there was every ground to suppose that an attack on the king's person was intended. all were ready to risk their life in order to rescue him. meanwhile in the light of dawn the court commission had reached the gates of neuschwanstein. it had been agreed that one of its members should read aloud prince luitpold's address to the king, after which the doctors were to convey him to linderhof. to their surprise, they found the doors of the castle guarded by gendarmes, who forbade them in the king's name to enter. they produced their written authorisation to do this. the gendarme on guard did not deign to glance at it, but answered all representations and commands with: "i require nothing in writing! i know only one command, and that comes from his majesty!" the gentlemen now attempted entrance by force; but the gendarme remained firm to his orders, and threatened to shoot down every person who should dare to penetrate into the castle. he raised his gun to his shoulder, as he referred for the last time to the reigning king's command. other gendarmes now pressed forward. a blow from a cudgel struck one of the keepers who was standing near. "unpleasant as this conduct was," says the assistant physician, dr müller, "it could not be denied that these men were behaving loyally when, regardless of the brilliant uniforms of the state officials, they unwaveringly held firm to: 'our king has commanded it, and we obey him!'" the court commission were compelled to retire to hohenschwangau with their mission unaccomplished. the rumour that the king was to be dragged away a prisoner had meanwhile spread over the whole countryside. as the commission drove down to the old castle they saw peasants, woodcutters, and firemen, women and children, in frantic haste speeding up towards neuschwanstein. the sheriff and chief official of füssen, herr sonntag, was charged by ludwig to arrest the members of the commission. he appeared at hohenschwangau to execute the command. minister crailsheim rated him, and told him that he had no right whatever to act in the manner he was doing. "your excellency," answered the venerable old man, "i am in a painful dilemma. not by a word have i been prepared for that which was to happen, nor have i been advised as to what my conduct should be with regard to my master. i have served him so many years, and even at this hour am his official; i cannot in a few minutes forget the love and loyalty of past years and determine to act as my king's enemy." he performed the arrests, and sent the prisoners under a strong escort to neuschwanstein. count holnstein expressed a desire to drive, but no heed was paid to his wish; the gentlemen had to walk on foot through the raving crowd which had assembled. the courtyard also was filled to overflowing. hundreds of men and women threatened them in loud voices. "look at these men," called a young woman to her seven-year-old daughter; "when you are big you can say you have seen traitors." considerable effort was necessary to prevent the crowd from turning their threats into reality. the least courage was shown by dr gudden. the crowd having heard that it was he who had declared the king to be mad rushed upon him, and threatened to throw him in the neighbouring falls of the pöllat. a terrible hatred had shone in ludwig's eyes when he was told that the friend of his childhood, count holnstein, was among the traitors. he had commanded that all the members of the commission should be thrown into a dungeon. this, however, was not done; they were imprisoned in a room above the arch of the gateway. the king's anger soon evaporated; after the lapse of three hours he decided that they should be set free. the sheriff succeeded in quieting the crowd without, and in inducing the people to return home. none of the gentlemen, however, dared to show themselves in the neighbouring village. they started on their retreat by different roads, and hurried without delay to munich. chapter xxxix a friend in need--ludwig's proclamation it was the earnest desire of all who wished the king well that he should proceed to his capital, a course which undoubtedly would have been the only means of saving him. he had during the forenoon telegraphed for his aide-de-camp, count alfred von dürckheim. "this man is attached to me," said he, as he sent off the telegram. just as the court commission was leaving neuschwanstein, after its short imprisonment, the count arrived at hohenschwangau, with horses which had been driven half to death in order to arrive in time. he hastened up to the castle. the gendarmes and the firemen were still standing at arms outside it. dürckheim expressed his recognition of their conduct, but sent them home at the king's desire. the shy ludwig, who had never been the friend of the fair sex, had at this time a lady staying at his castle. baroness truchsesz--spanish by birth, but married into the bavarian aristocracy--had in the early morning hours when she heard that his majesty was to be incarcerated, hastened to neuschwanstein. she had precipitated herself into his sleeping apartment, without allowing herself to be announced, and had again and again assured him of her devotion. he quietly permitted the stream of her eloquence to pass over him, and gave her his hand. "dear baroness," he said in his most amiable tone, "will not you allow me to send for your husband, so that you may return to your villa under his protection?" the baroness would not agree to this, but implored ludwig instantly to go to munich. "i will do so," he said, "though not at once." "i will go with your majesty!" she cried. he made a deprecatory gesture. "it would not do," he answered kindly. the baroness took up her position in the ante-room, firmly determined not to leave his threshold. "if matters were not so serious i should feel tempted to laugh at the good baroness," said ludwig to count dürckheim, who found her there. this last friend also declared his repairing to munich to be imperative. had the king at this time shown himself in his capital, it is more than probable that his people would have flocked round him to protect him. he declared meanwhile that he was quite tired out; still, he added, he would go there the following day. between bismarck and ludwig there had always existed very kindly relations. "i was particularly honoured with his esteem," the prince once said. [ ] "we corresponded on important political questions until the last years of his life. when he expressed his views he was as amiable towards my person as he was intellectual in his judgment of the different questions that were being discussed." at this desperate moment both the king and count dürckheim bethought themselves of the great chancellor of the german empire. the unsuccessful court commission, which had omitted to give the officials of the district any intimation as to what was about to take place, had been careful enough to inform the telegraph officials of hohenschwangau of the impending overthrow. ludwig's telegrams could therefore not be sent from bavaria, but had to be conveyed across the frontier to the neighbouring tyrol. dürckheim craved bismarck's help. the chancellor answered: "his majesty ought to drive at once to munich and take care of his interests before the assembled parliament." later, bismarck tells us: "i thought thus: either the king is well, when he will follow my advice, or he is really mad!" he added: "his majesty did not go to munich; he took no determination; he was no longer in possession of his mental powers, but let fate invade him." ludwig and dürckheim in conjunction drew up a lengthy telegram to the emperor of austria, imploring him to intervene. "put to!" shouted the count into the stables. "drive to the austrian frontier-town of reutte as quickly as you can, even if you break all your horses' wind!" at the same time the empress of austria also exerted herself to the utmost from possenhofen to induce her husband to step in. count dürckheim, in the king's name, commanded baron frankenstein to form a new ministry; and the battalion of jægers in kempten was ordered to come and protect his majesty. this last despatch went through the hands of mayr; the valet added to it some words which caused the commandant to ask the minister of war if he was to obey the order. an answer in the negative was received. it cannot with certainty be shown what other precautions count dürckheim took in order to save his master. he was mentioned as the author of a proclamation which was issued the following day in the king's name: [ ] "i, ludwig ii., king of bavaria, feel myself constrained to make the following manifesto to my beloved bavarians, and the collective german people. "prince luitpold desires against my will to make himself ruler of my land. my former ministry has duped my beloved people by erroneous representations as to the state of my health, and has been guilty of high treason. "i feel myself physically and mentally in as good health as any other monarch. the projected treason has come in a manner so surprising that i have not been given time to defeat the base intentions of the ministry. "should the projected deeds of violence be put into execution, and prince luitpold seize the reins of government against my will, i give my faithful friends the task of protecting with all their means and under all circumstances my rights. "i expect of all the officials of bavaria, above all from the gallant bavarian officers and the soldiers of bavaria, that they will, in remembrance of the solemn oath with which they swore loyalty to me, remain faithful to me and stand by me in this heavy hour. "every loyal citizen is called upon to brand prince luitpold and the former ministry as traitors. "i am one with my beloved people, and cherish the firm belief that they will protect me. "i turn at the same time to the rest of the german people and to the allied princes. "as much as it was in my power i contributed to build up the german empire. therefore i dare expect of germany that she will not allow a german prince to be wrongfully displaced. "if i am not granted time to address myself directly to the german emperor, i am confident that no objection will be raised to my delivering up the traitors to the law of my country. "my good bavarians will certainly not fail me! "in the event that i may be prevented by force from protecting my rights, i call upon every faithful bavarian to gather round my adherents, and to help them to defeat the projected treason against king and country. "given at hohenschwangau, the th of june , "ludwig the second. "(king of bavaria, count palatine, etc.)." meanwhile the events in the capital went their way. on the th of june the government published the proclamation which signified that the king's uncle had become regent, and that the chamber was to be summoned to declare ludwig ii. insane. in the course of the night count dürckheim was twice summoned by the minister of war to munich. the first telegram he laid quietly aside. the second he placed before the king, adding that unhappily he was obliged to obey it, as in the contrary case he would be charged with insubordination. ludwig was in great distress at losing him. "you know how greatly i wish you to remain with me," he said. "telegraph to my uncle and ask him if he will not consent to my keeping you." the count did this, but the answer to his request was short and decided: "the ministry of war adheres to its orders." deeply moved, the count took leave, never to see his king again. in the ante-room mayr was awaiting him. the valet, who wished the new government success and prosperity, was alarmed at the precautions dürckheim had taken. "do you think his majesty will decide to go to the capital?" he asked. it was with a heavy heart that the count answered: "no, mayr; i do not think so." [ ] chapter xl the king's last hours at neuschwanstein the gendarmes of the district were relieved during the course of the night by others from munich, who occupied the castle. ludwig, who the preceding day had overcome his enemies, thought at first that they had arrived to protect him. it was not until he was refused his usual midnight drive that he realised that he was a prisoner. early in the morning on the th of july the post brought the proclamation from the new regent: those who attempted to save the king risked punishment from this time forth as traitors to their country. exceedingly few at hohenschwangau seemed to think of this; and even on the other side of the frontier there were those who were ready to risk all for him. the newly-arrived gendarmes were unacquainted with the neighbouring country, whereas the local population knew every path and stone. by way of the kitzberg path, in less than an hour's time, the tyrol could be reached: a carriage waiting there could have driven ludwig farther. in austria it was fully expected that he would hasten thither; even the emperor himself is said to have awaited and feared it. a number of bold and faithful dwellers in the mountain districts were eager to hazard their lives in order to defend the fleeing monarch on this dangerous journey. the chief difficulty lay in getting him unnoticed out of the castle. those without could hardly put themselves into communication with him, as neuschwanstein was strictly guarded. a lady who was passing the summer at hohenschwangau offered to try and penetrate in to him, to inform him of the plan. she disguised herself as a peasant woman, and took with her the wife of a groom. all was deadly still. the fog was so thick that it was hardly possible to see ten steps ahead. the gendarmes had withdrawn to the interior of the castle. an officer was standing under the arch of the gateway; he asked the women who they were. one of them answered that she was married to the coachman, and wished to see the wife of the valet mayr. the officer looked at them suspiciously. some servants now appeared. "do you know these women?" he asked. "are they speaking the truth?" they replied in the affirmative, and the women were allowed to pass. this venturesome deed led to nothing. mayr, to whom they addressed themselves, refused under any circumstances to support a plan of flight. he did not even announce their arrival to the king. the latter, nevertheless, came to know of the matter. his first question was whether his flight could be carried into effect without the shedding of blood. when he received the answer that he must expect a struggle to ensue, he refused to follow those who desired to rescue him, "i do not wish any human life to be sacrificed for my sake," he said. he was cognisant as to the means which had been used to bring about his deposition from the throne. he was also quite aware what information had been collected for this purpose, and likewise who had betrayed him. "to think," he said to his valet mayr, "that these persons, to whom i have shown so much kindness, should have failed me so shamelessly; they have given up all my letters and papers to my adversaries." he had heard that new emissaries would come to neuschwanstein the next morning to take him away, with the help of doctors and keepers; and he knew that he would be a will-less prisoner in their hands. the excited condition in which he had passed the previous day had been succeeded by indifference to everything, to everyone. after count dürckheim's departure he seemed to be completely broken. he thought no more of resistance. another thought ceaselessly occupied his mind. when during the course of the friday he showed apparent calm, it was because the idea of suicide was paramount. unceasingly he walked up and down the throne-room, and talked aloud of shortening his life. every now and then he addressed a few words to weber. "do you believe in the immortality of the soul?" he asked. "yes," answered the servant. "i too believe in it," said ludwig. "i believe in the immortality of the soul, and in the justice of god." "from the heights of life to be dashed down into a nothing!" he continued. "a spoiled life! i cannot endure it. i could agree to their taking my crown from me, but i cannot survive their declaring me to be mad. i cannot possibly endure being treated like my brother otto, whom every keeper dares to order about, whom they threaten with a clenched fist when he will not obey!" the thought of death had taken possession of his mind. he asked his servants for cyanide of potassium; they replied that they could not give it to him. despite the rain which was falling that night, he went out several times on to the balcony of the castle, which overhangs the dizzy chasm of the pöllat. he ordered mayr to give him the key of the high tower of the castle, but the servant pretended that he could not find it. a spring from the tower and the king would be saved! "when my barber comes to-morrow," he said, "he may look for my head in the pöllat." and he added: "i hope that god will vouchsafe to pardon me this step!... i cannot spare my mother the pain i shall cause her," he continued. "they are driving me to death! but my blood will be on all those who have betrayed me!" he was particularly bitter against his uncle. "a well-beloved relation who usurps supreme authority, and imprisons me," he said. "he is no prince regent; he is a prince rebel!" baroness truchsesz still continued to remain in the ante-room; her presence began to be painful to him. he desired her removal, but gave express orders that it should be done gently and with consideration. the valet, weber, had twice been in his service. ludwig gave him a diamond clasp which he was in the habit of wearing in his hat. "i have no money with which to reward you," he said. "receive instead my clasp and this note of hand. if they compel you to give up the diamonds, my document will insure you a compensation of , marks." he gave him, in addition, his prayer-book, which was much used. "pray for me," he said. [ ] it was a terrible night. the fog had turned into rain, which was falling in torrents, and the wind was howling round neuschwanstein. ludwig was almost alone in his castle, which was completely cut off from communication with the outer world. again he went on to the balcony, and gazed out over the landscape, with his head resting on his hand. a terrible fear came over him. he ordered weber to summon osterholzer: perchance the plan of flight which had been proposed to him before could still be put into execution. but the coachman had been summoned to munich; it had been intimated to him that he would be arrested if he did not leave hohenschwangau at once. "will the people do nothing then to liberate their king?" his servant answered: "your majesty! the people have no weapons!" the court commission, having suffered such ignoble defeat the first time, had been replenished with new emissaries. but again this time came dr gudden, the assistant doctor, dr müller, and eight keepers. for personal safety's sake these gentlemen had, moreover, brought with them from munich the chief of the police; and they had demanded that the regent's proclamation should be published at hohenschwangau before they proceeded thither. the former commission had been treated as traitors and criminals; to the present one nobody dared show hostility. the king had returned to the dining-room. he had never been a drinker; but on this night he drank brandy and wine to dull his senses. the envoys had meanwhile arrived at neuschwanstein, where they effected unhindered entrance. they were awaiting the moment when mayr should give them the sign that they could take his majesty and drive him to another castle. ludwig had again demanded the key of the tower. the servant, fearing that he would throw himself over, had maintained that it was missing. for the last time he now repeated his order. in his terror mayr hastened to dr gudden and asked what he should do. a minute afterwards he went into the presence, and announced that the key had been found. the king rose and followed him at once. those without heard firm steps. a man of imposing height suddenly showed himself in the doorway; he spoke in short abrupt sentences to the servant, who stood bowing deeply. it had been arranged that the king should be at once surrounded and taken away by force. but when the monarch came out all shrank back; nobody dared to seize him. dr gudden was the first to regain self-possession. he stepped forward, and said: "your majesty! this is the saddest task i have ever undertaken in my life. four alienists have given a declaration as to the state of your majesty's health. in consequence of this prince luitpold has assumed the regency. i have received orders to accompany your majesty to schloss berg this very night." the king hesitated a moment. "what do you want with me?" he repeated several times. "what does this mean?" the keepers approached to seize him. he warned them off with a proud gesture, and drew himself up. "it is not necessary," he said; "i will go of my free will." chapter xli schloss berg--the king's death at four in the morning ludwig left neuschwanstein. in the first carriage sat dr müller and two keepers. in the second was the king, quite alone. by the side of the coachman sat the head keeper from the madhouse at munich, and close at the rear of the carriage rode a man who had orders sharply to watch his majesty, and give a sign at the slightest suspicious movement. dr gudden, a police officer, and several keepers followed afterwards. when ludwig had taken his seat in his equipage he said to the doctor; "you do not object, of course, to my taking leave of my servant?" mayr stepped up to him; but the conversation seemed too long to dr gudden. "make haste, so that we can get off," he repeated several times. mayr sobbed aloud as his master drove off. some persons were standing outside to see the sorrowful train; the king returned their greeting with amiability. at the first turn of the road he rubbed a clear space with his hand on the damp window, and looked back at neuschwanstein, which he had loved so dearly, and which has never since been inhabited. he looked ill; his complexion was ashy white, his glance irresolute. the horses were changed three times. at the last stage, seeshaupt, the landlady approached, and respectfully saluted his majesty. he asked her for a glass of water. as he handed her back the empty glass he thanked her cordially. weeping, she called after the carriage: "behüt gott, majestätt." the new commission had relinquished the plan of taking him to linderhof, as it was known that one of his jægers was collecting people in the tyrol to help him over the border. while the carriage, unhindered, was nearing berg, one hundred and twenty peasants were standing ready to rescue him in the vicinity of reutte. after waiting for two days they learned that the king had driven another way. it was dr gudden who had decided on schloss berg as his prison; this was the more wanting in consideration, since it was there that he had spent his happy youth. ludwig had learned to know this physician while he was treating his brother, prince otto, and cherished a peculiar antipathy to him. "gudden looks at me in such a curious way," he said several times to his mother's grand mistress of the court. "i only hope he won't discover something to say about me too." it was the forenoon of whitsun eve when he arrived at his destination. he spoke genially to the gendarme stationed there. "i am glad, sauer, that you are on duty again," he said as he went in. in one of the first apartments he entered his eyes fell on his own portrait: a large painting which represented his first landing at schloss berg after his accession. how different was that day from this! he was given only two rooms for his use. the windows had been hastily provided with iron bars, and holes had been bored in the doors that he might be under continual observation. he regarded these alterations without saying a word. the doctor ordered him to go early to bed and he obeyed. at two in the morning he awoke, and wished to get up. the keepers would not allow it. they had taken his clothes away from him; despite his earnest prayers they would not give them to him. at last one of them let himself be persuaded into letting him have his socks. clad only in his night-shirt and in his stockinged feet he walked restlessly hour after hour up and down the room. at six in the morning he asked the keeper to help him with a bath. he allowed the former to assist him to dress, but bade him afterwards fetch his valet and his barber. the keeper answered, what was strictly true, that they had not come with him to his new place of residence. whitsunday dawned. ludwig wished to attend divine service in the neighbouring church. gudden refused to allow this, fearing that the people would not believe the king to be mad if he showed himself. in the course of the morning he asked for an orange. it was brought to him, but without a fruit-knife. he sent it out again without having touched it. at eleven o'clock dr gudden accompanied him on a walk. two keepers who followed them received a sign to increase the distance from the king. ludwig and the doctor seated themselves on a bench ten or fifteen paces from the banks of the lake of starnberg. ludwig's quiet, collected demeanour lulled the physician into a feeling of security, which was destined to be fatal to himself. the king ate his dinner alone at four o'clock. before seating himself at table he inquired of the keeper who waited upon him whether gudden had touched his food; he feared that the latter intended to render him unconscious, and that he would show him to the people in this condition to prove that he was mad. he asked to be allowed to speak with his old acquaintance, staff-comptroller zanders, who was in the castle. gudden at first would not hear of this; at length he gave way to the king's supplication, and zanders was allowed to be with him for half-an-hour, but was required to promise on his word of honour not to arouse any hope in the king's mind that he might regain his freedom. ludwig advanced to meet him with the vigour and energy he displayed at his prime--quite a different man from what he had been two days previously. he showed him the bars before the windows, the peepholes in the door, and told him how he had been treated. "how many gendarmes are there in the park to guard me?" he asked. "six or eight, your majesty." "would they in case of emergency shoot at me?" "how can your majesty think such a thing!" was the answer. while this conversation was taking place the chief physician was telegraphing to munich: "everything is going wonderfully well here." a quarter of an hour afterwards the king started on his last walk with gudden. the sky was overclouded, and a drizzling rain was falling. two keepers accompanied them. the doctor observed that their presence was unnecessary, and soon afterwards they returned to the castle. the king and his physician struck into the path they had followed in the morning. ludwig had known the banks of the lake of starnberg from childhood, and it is more than probable that he had that forenoon chosen the spot where he would free himself from his life. the physician had said he would return with the king at eight o'clock. half-past eight and nine passed, but they did not appear; and anxiety was felt at the castle in case some accident might have happened to them in the darkness of the park. the assistant doctor had the immediate vicinity carefully searched. this led at first to no result, for no one thought of the lake of starnberg. not far from the seat on which ludwig and gudden had rested in the forenoon were found later the umbrellas of both men. a fisherman was summoned; and upon rowing a short distance from the shore in his boat the body of dr gudden, in a half-sitting posture, with the back bent below the surface of the water, was discovered. a few feet farther out was found the king's lifeless body, the head downwards, and the arms bent forward. the lake was not so deep at this spot but he could have saved himself had he been so minded. what had happened at this spot will for ever remain unknown. the sorrowful incident took place without witnesses; but the tracks along the shore, and in the bottom of the lake, which was examined, justify the following assumption. the king was walking on the right side, gudden on the left, until they reached the seat they had rested on before. the king must then have thrown down his umbrella and run towards the lake, for his footsteps could be seen on the damp moss-grown shore. gudden had immediately rushed after him, and seized him by the coat-collar. his grasp must have been very firm, for the nail of one of his fingers was splintered. ludwig, on the other hand, must have continued to press forward, for gudden had retained both the coats of the king in his hand. above the doctor's left eye there was a bruise, which undoubtedly resulted from a blow. a terrible struggle must have taken place. dr müller made the most strenuous efforts to call ludwig back to life, but all his exertions were in vain; death had freed the mad king from the torments of his existence. chapter xlii conclusion on the evening of whitmonday the body of ludwig ii. was conveyed to munich. the hearse, which was drawn by four horses and was accompanied by his servants and by priests, arrived at the capital at half-past three in the morning. great numbers of country people followed his coffin weeping. nobody believed he had been mad, but that an innocent man had been persecuted. in the hearts of all there lived the memory of the beloved king, who had promised so much, whose peculiarities they had condoned, and who, despite all, had continued to be the pride of the bavarians. the news of his tragic end shocked the whole of germany. his capital, where he had so seldom resided, mourned him deeply and sincerely; and in the country districts there was hardly a hut where his picture was not wreathed with crape. the dead king lay in state on a high catafalque, dressed in the knightly robes of the order of st hubert, with its golden band round his neck, and the sword of iron resting on his left arm. on his breast lay flowers, brought by the empress elizabeth. thousands of all grades of society pressed into the little chapel to bid him a last farewell. sorrow was written on all faces; sympathy found expression on all lips. the lonely eccentric had found peace at last. queen marie's strength had been broken by sorrow; she outlived her eldest son by only two years. "bavaria's unhappiest mother" expired on the th of may, , at hohenschwangau, where she had lived the full and happy years of her youth. with the words: "god save bavaria, god save prussia!" she drew her last sigh. the duchesse d'alençon was visiting her parents at possenhofen, when her former betrothed found his death in the neighbouring lake of starnberg. the news of it so greatly shocked her that she temporarily lost her reason. ludwig's deposition and violent death called forth stormy debates in the bavarian chamber. in order to convince the world that his treatment had been justified, the ministry revealed without mercy the development of his disease; and eminent alienists were unanimous in their declaration that for several years his mind had been clouded. but to this day there are many among his people who do not believe it. bavaria has not forgotten king ludwig, and the traits of geniality and kindness, by which he won all, are still spoken of with love. in those parts where he mostly resided the remembrance of the "romanticist on the throne" dwells fresh and warm in the hearts of the people. the sources made use of in the writing of this book are as follows:-- professor dr c. beyer: "ludwig ii., könig von bayern (ein characterbild)." brachvogel: "ludwig ii., könig von bayern." i. l. craemer: "könig ludwig und richard wagner." craemer: "die bayerrischen königsschlösser im wort und bild." das ministerium lutz und seine gegner. dr franz karl: "der character ludwig ii." dr karl von heigel: "könig ludwig ii. von bayern. ein beitrag zu seiner lebensgeschichte." louise von kobell: "könig ludwig ii. von bayern und die kunst." louise von kobell: "unter den vier ersten königen bayerns." friedrich lampart: "ludwig ii., könig von bayern." graser: "die letzen tage ludwig ii." dr f. c. müller: "die letzen tage könig ludwig ii." otto gerold: "die letzen tage könig ludwig ii." sailer: "die bau und kunstdenkmäler ludwig ii." dr hans reidelbach: "characterzüge und anekdoten aus dem leben der bayrischn könige." i. von türk: "die königen-mutter marie von bayern." zeiller: "enthüllungen über die sektion und die todesart könig ludwig ii." dr w. w. ireland: "the blot upon the brain," "studies in history and psychology," etc. etc. the book rests furthermore upon personal reminiscences from a visit of length to munich, and on verbal information from german friends who spent their summers in hohenschwangau in the 'seventies and 'eighties. the riverside press limited, edinburgh. notes [ ] otto was born on the th of april . he is the present bearer of the title of king of bavaria. [ ] according to tradition, a knight by the name of schwangau was the original builder of the castle. another account, which is probably quite as near the truth, connects the name of hohenschwangau with the legend of the knights of the swan. [ ] the archduchess maria married some years later the second son of queen victoria, prince alfred, later duke of saxe-coburg and gotha. [ ] in a dedication of the pianoforte score of die walküre (july ). [ ] semper some years afterwards made use of the same plan, though somewhat reduced in scale, when he built the richard wagner theatre in bayreuth. [ ] ludwig ii. and richard wagner continually exchanged letters. they are written in an exceedingly warm and exalted tone, but turn chiefly on musical subjects. only a very small number of them are accessible to the public. after the death of the king the bavarian government and wagner's heirs agreed that ludwig's letters should be given up to the bavarian government, which now preserves them under lock and key. wagner's letters, on the other hand, were sent back to his relations. the periodical, die wage, published in its second year several interesting letters from ludwig to his friend which are affirmed to be absolutely authentic, and which i have cited in part as above. [ ] in a letter, dated th may, to herr uhl, the editor of the wiener botschafter. [ ] frau herwegh in the gegenwart, . [ ] in the progrès de lyon. [ ] frau louise von kobell says, in her reminiscences, that infatuation went so far that several ladies lost their reason, although the king had not given them the slightest ground to suppose that their feelings were reciprocated. [ ] elizabeth, empress of austria and queen of hungary. [ ] maria, queen of naples. [ ] "otto, freiherr von völderndorff: vom reichskanzler, fürsten von hohenlohe" (munich ). [ ] the grandson of king louis philippe of france, and eldest son of the duc de nemours and victoria, née princess of saxe-coburg and gotha. [ ] the present queen-mother of holland. [ ] in the first rank of these was, as is well known, elizabeth of austria-hungary. [ ] the following may be mentioned as a characteristic example of this feeling:--the north german poet, emanuel geibel, was summoned by maximilian i. to the bavarian court. he had been appointed to the chair of literature, history, and poetry at the university of munich, and the king had granted him a yearly pension. at the time here mentioned he was staying in his native town of lubeck. king wilhelm of prussia came on a visit to the town, and geibel welcomed him with the following verse:-- "und sei's als letzter wunsch gesprochen, dass noch dereinst dein auge sieht, wie über's reich ununterbrochen vom fels zum meer dein adler zieht." this lyrical outburst gave great offence to the "national" party in bavaria, and was construed as expressing the poet's own opinion that prussia ought to subjugate the former country, which, of course, was not his meaning. so strong was the feeling on this matter, that ludwig felt himself constrained to withdraw the pension which his father had granted geibel. but this withdrawal aroused displeasure in north germany, and the king of prussia granted him a similar pension in compensation. in annoyance at the insult offered his colleague and friend, paul heyse voluntarily gave up the pension which he had hitherto received from the king of bavaria. [ ] professor dr c. beyer, who mentions this correspondence, adds that it came into the monarch's hands through indiscretion; also that he caused the letters to be copied, after which the originals were put back in their place ("ludwig ii., könig von bayern. ein characterbild"). [ ] count "holnstein aus bayern" used the bavarian arms with a bar sinister in his signet ring, which would intimate that he was the illegitimate descendant of a duke of bavaria. he was also connected with the ducal court of possenhofen; and he has been mentioned as the object of the duchess sophie's first love. he was married to a granddaughter of prince karl of bavaria and the latter's morganatic wife, countess bayersdorff. [ ] louise von kobell: "könig ludwig ii. und fürst bismarck im jahre ." [ ] bismarck's "gedanken und erinnerungen," v. ii., and "kaiser friedrich in versailles," (erinnerungen eines diplomaten). [ ] louise von kobell, "könig ludwig ii. und fürst bismarck im jahre ." [ ] professor dr. otto j. w. richter, "kaiser friedrich iii." [ ] the emperor "ludwig der bayrer" enfeoffed in his son mark brandenburg. brandenburg remained under the sway of the wittelsbachs until , when otto v. ceded it to the emperor karl iv. bismarck mentions in his "gedanken und erinnerungen" the particular favour shown to his ancestors by the bavarian dynasty. [ ] the so-called bavarian clause. [ ] frau louise von kobell, from whose memoirs i have taken these details. [ ] louise von kobell, "unter den vier ersten königen bayerns" (vol. ii. pp. , ). [ ] the eldest daughter of franz josef and the empress elizabeth. she is married to king ludwig's cousin. [ ] ludwig's trusted minister, prince hohenlohe, also regarded it as a duty to step in against the dogma of papal infallibility, inviting in a circular all the german governments to protest against it. they did not, however, agree to his proposal. [ ] among other pieces which were performed privately in were: comtesse du barry, le comte de saint germain, un ministre sous louis xv. from - not a single opera was performed privately; but in he heard verdi's aïda, with wagner's siegfrid-idyl as the introduction. in he caused der ring des niebelungen to be performed four times in succession. in he heard wagner's tannhäuser, lohengrin, and verdi's aïda. in gluck's iphegenie auf tauris, wagner's tristan und isolde, and weber's oberon. in gluck's armida, wagner's tannhäuser, die meistersinger von nürnberg, lohengrin, and meyerbeer's huguenots. in der ring des niebelungen, der fliegende holländer. in tristan und isolde, and six times parsifal. besides this were given at his command die stumme von portici, by auber, and again gluck's armida. in , in the month of april, he heard parsifal three times. of plays he saw this year schiller's wilhelm tell, sardou's theodora, brachvogel's narcisz, and several pieces by carl von heigel, a gifted bavarian writer who for a number of years wrote and adapted dramatic works for the king's private performances. [ ] kainz was born in hungary. he had appeared in leipzig and meiningen before he came to munich. [ ] ludwig made few journeys; he was three times in switzerland, three times in paris, also at versailles and rheims. on one occasion he visited wartburg. at a later date it was his intention to go by way of reichenhall and saltzburg to vienna, in order to visit the emperor and empress of austria; but he turned back at salzburg. the greater number of his journeys within the limits of bavaria were to berg, linderhof chiemsee, and neuschwanstein. [ ] osterholzer was later forced to declare publicly that holnstein had not said this; but nobody believed in the compulsory retraction. [ ] to the editor memminger. [ ] it was almost immediately suppressed, but was printed in the bamberger journal. [ ] on his arrival at munich, count dürckheim was arrested, and charged with high treason. as no proofs were forthcoming against him he was later set free. he was long in disfavour with the new powers, who among other things refused his earnest prayer to be allowed to see king ludwig after death. count alfred dürckheim is now a general. [ ] when, after the king's death, weber proved to be in possession of his diamond clasp, it was thought at first that he had come by it dishonestly. the writing, however, by which he had engaged himself not to give it up except on payment of , marks convinced the authorities that they had been mistaken. as the diamonds constituted a part of the crown jewels, weber had, nevertheless, to return them. as far as is known he received a small sum of money in return for them, as it was desired that the king's last gift should be respected. public domain material generously made available by the google books library project (http://books.google.com/) note: images of the original pages are available through the the google books library project. see http://books.google.com/books?vid=nokuaaaayaaj&id revolution and counter-revolution or germany in by karl marx edited by eleanor marx aveling chicago charles h. kerr & company note by the editor the following articles are now, after forty-five years, for the first time collected and printed in book form. they are an invaluable pendant to marx's work on the _coup d'état_ of napoleon iii. ("der achtzehnte brumaire des louis bonaparte.") both works belong to the same period, and both are what engels calls "excellent specimens of that marvellous gift ... of marx ... of apprehending clearly the character, the significance, and the necessary consequences of great historical events at a time when these events are actually in course of taking place, or are only just completed." these articles were written in - , when marx had been about eighteen months in england. he was living with his wife, three young children, and their life-long friend, helene demuth, in two rooms in dean street, soho, almost opposite the royalty theatre. for nearly ten years they had been driven from pillar to post. when, in , the prussian government suppressed the _rhenish gazette_ which marx had edited, he went with his newly-married wife, jenny von westphalen, to paris. not long after, his expulsion was demanded by the prussian government--it is said that alexander von humboldt acted as the agent of prussia on this occasion--and m. guizot was, of course, too polite to refuse the request. marx was expelled, and betook himself to brussels. again the prussian government requested his expulsion, and where the french government had complied it was not likely the belgian would refuse. marx received marching orders. but at this same time the french government that had expelled marx had gone the way of french governments, and the new provisional government through ferdinand flocon invited the "brave et loyal marx" to return to the country whence "tyranny had banished him, and where he, like all fighting in the sacred cause, the cause of the fraternity of all peoples," would be welcome. the invitation was accepted, and for some months he lived in paris. then he returned to germany in order to start the _new rhenish gazette_ in cologne. and the _rhenish gazette_ writers had very lively times. marx was twice prosecuted, but as the juries would not convict, the prussian government took the nearer way and suppressed the paper. again marx and his family returned to the country whose "doors" had only a few short months before been "thrown open" to him. the sky had changed--and the government. "we remained in paris," my mother says in some biographical notes i have found, "a month. here also there was to be no resting-place for us. one fine morning the familiar figure of the sergeant of police appeared with the announcement that karl 'et sa dame' must leave paris within twenty-four hours. we were graciously told we might be interned at vannes in the morbihan. of course we could not accept such an exile as that, and i again gathered together my small belongings to seek a safe haven in london. karl had hastened thither before us." the "us" were my mother, helene demuth, and the three little children, jenny (madame longuet), laura (madame lafargue), and edgar, who died at the age of eight. the haven was safe indeed. but it was storm-tossed. hundreds of refugees--all more or less destitute--were now in london. there followed years of horrible poverty, of bitter suffering--such suffering as can only be known to the penniless stranger in a strange land. the misery would have been unendurable but for the faith that was in these men and women, and but for their invincible "humor." i use the german word because i know no english one that quite expresses the same thing--such a combination of humor and good-humor, of light-hearted courage, and high spirits. that readers of these articles may have some idea of the conditions under which marx was working, under which he wrote them and the "achtzehnte brumaire," and was preparing his first great economical work, "zur kritik der politischen oeconomie" (published in ), i again quote from my mother's notes. soon after the arrival of the family a second son was born. he died when about two years old. then a fifth child, a little girl, was born. when about a year old, she too fell sick and died. "three days," writes my mother, "the poor child wrestled with death. she suffered so.... her little dead body lay in the small back room; we all of us" (i.e., my parents, helene demuth, and the three elder children) "went into the front room, and when night came we made us beds on the floor, the three living children lying by us. and we wept for the little angel resting near us, cold and dead. the death of the dear child came in the time of our bitterest poverty. our german friends could not help us; engels, after vainly trying to get literary work in london, had been obliged to go, under very disadvantageous conditions, into his father's firm, as a clerk, in manchester; ernest jones, who often came to see us at this time, and had promised help, could do nothing.... in the anguish of my heart i went to a french refugee who lived near, and who had sometimes visited us. i told him our sore need. at once with the friendliest kindness he gave me £ . with that we paid for the little coffin in which the poor child now sleeps peacefully. i had no cradle for her when she was born, and even the last small resting-place was long denied her." ... "it was a terrible time," liebknecht writes to me (the editor), "but it was grand nevertheless." in that "front room" in dean street, the children playing about him, marx worked. i have heard tell how the children would pile up chairs behind him to represent a coach, to which he was harnessed as horse, and would "whip him up" even as he sat at his desk writing. marx had been recommended to mr. c. a. dana,[ ] the managing director of the _new york tribune_, by ferdinand freiligrath, and the first contributions sent by him to america are the series of letters on germany here reprinted. they seem to have created such a sensation that before the series had been completed marx was engaged as regular london correspondent. on the th of march, , mr. dana wrote: "it may perhaps give you pleasure to know that they" (i.e., the "germany" letters) "are read with satisfaction by a considerable number of persons, and are widely reproduced." from this time on, with short intervals, marx not only sent letters regularly to the new york paper; he wrote a large number of leading articles for it. "mr. marx," says an editorial note in , "has indeed opinions of his own, with some of which we are far from agreeing; but those who do not read his letters neglect one of the most instructive sources of information on the great questions of european politics." not the least remarkable among these contributions were those dealing with lord palmerston and the russian government. "urquhart's writings on russia," says marx, "had interested but not convinced me. in order to arrive at a definite opinion, i made a minute analysis of hansard's parliamentary debates, and of the diplomatic blue books from to . the first fruits of these studies was a series of articles in the _new york tribune_, in which i proved palmerston's relations with the russian government.... shortly after, these studies were reprinted in the chartist organ edited by ernest jones, _the people's paper_.... meantime the glasgow _sentinel_ had reproduced one of these articles, and part of it was issued in pamphlet form by mr. tucker, london."[ ] and the sheffield foreign affairs committee thanked marx for the "great public service rendered by the admirable _exposé_" in his "kars papers," published both in the _new york tribune_ and the _people's paper_. a large number of articles on the subject were also printed in the _free press_ by marx's old friend, c. d. collett. i hope to republish these and other articles. as to the _new york tribune_, it was at this time an admirably edited paper, with an immense staff of distinguished contributors,[ ] both american and european. it was a passionate anti-slavery organ, and also recognized that there "was need for a true organization of society," and that "our evils" were "social, not political." the paper, and especially marx's articles, were frequently referred to in the house of commons, notably by john bright. it may also interest readers to know what marx was paid for his articles--many of them considerably longer even than those here collected. he received £ for each contribution--not exactly brilliant remuneration. it will be noted that the twentieth chapter, promised in the nineteenth, does not appear. it may have been written, but was certainly not printed. it was probably crowded out. "i do not know," wrote mr. dana, "how long you intend to make the series, and under ordinary circumstances i should desire to have it prolonged as much as possible. but we have a presidential election at hand, which will occupy our columns to a great extent.... let me suggest to you if possible to condense your survey ... into say half a dozen more articles" (eleven had then been received by mr. dana). "do not, however, close it without an exposition of the forces now remaining at work there (germany) and active in the preparation of the future." this "exposition" will be found in the article which i have added to the "germany" series, on the "cologne communist trial." that trial really gives a complete picture of the conditions of germany under the triumphant counter-revolution. marx himself nowhere says the series of letters is incomplete, although he occasionally refers to them. thus in the letter on the cologne trial he speaks of the articles, and in writes: "those of your readers who, having read my letters on the german revolution and counter-revolution written for the _tribune_ some two years ago, desire to have an immediate intuition of it, will do well to inspect the picture by mr. hasenclever now being exhibited in ... new york ... representing the presentation of a workingmen's petition to the magistrates of düsseldorf in . what the writer could only analyze, the eminent painter has reproduced in its dramatic vitality." finally, i would remind english readers that these articles were written when marx had only been some eighteen months in england, and that he never had any opportunity of reading the proofs. nevertheless, it has not seemed to me that anything needed correction. i have therefore only removed a few obvious printer's errors. the date at the head of each chapter refers to the issue of the _tribune_ in which the article appeared, that at the end to the time of writing. i am alone responsible for the headings of the letters as published in this volume. eleanor marx aveling. _sydenham, april, ._ footnotes: [ ] mr. c. a. dana was at this time still in sympathy with socialism. the effects of brook farm had not yet worn off. [ ] "herr vogt," pp. and . london, . [ ] including bruno bauer, bayard taylor, ripley, and many of the brook farmers. the editor was horace greeley. contents page note by the editor i. germany at the outbreak of the revolution ii. the prussian state iii. the other german states iv. austria v. the vienna insurrection vi. the berlin insurrection vii. the frankfort national assembly viii. poles, tschechs, and germans ix. panslavism; the schleswig war x. the paris rising; the frankfort assembly xi. the vienna insurrection xii. the storming of vienna: the betrayal of vienna xiii. the prussian assembly: the national assembly xiv. the restoration of order: diet and chamber xv. the triumph of prussia xvi. the assembly and the governments xvii. insurrection xviii. petty traders xix. the close of the insurrection xx. the late trial at cologne revolution and counter-revolution i. germany at the outbreak of the revolution. october , . the first act of the revolutionary drama on the continent of europe has closed. the "powers that were" before the hurricane of are again the "powers that be," and the more or less popular rulers of a day, provisional governors, triumvirs, dictators, with their tail of representatives, civil commissioners, military commissioners, prefects, judges, generals, officers, and soldiers, are thrown upon foreign shores, and "transported beyond the seas" to england or america, there to form new governments _in partibus infidelium_, european committees, central committees, national committees, and to announce their advent with proclamations quite as solemn as those of any less imaginary potentates. a more signal defeat than that undergone by the continental revolutionary party--or rather parties--upon all points of the line of battle, cannot be imagined. but what of that? has not the struggle of the british middle classes for their social and political supremacy embraced forty-eight, that of the french middle classes forty years of unexampled struggles? and was their triumph ever nearer than at the very moment when restored monarchy thought itself more firmly settled than ever? the times of that superstition which attributed revolutions to the ill-will of a few agitators have long passed away. everyone knows nowadays that wherever there is a revolutionary convulsion, there must be some social want in the background, which is prevented, by outworn institutions, from satisfying itself. the want may not yet be felt as strongly, as generally, as might ensure immediate success; but every attempt at forcible repression will only bring it forth stronger and stronger, until it bursts its fetters. if, then, we have been beaten, we have nothing else to do but to begin again from the beginning. and, fortunately, the probably very short interval of rest which is allowed us between the close of the first and the beginning of the second act of the movement, gives us time for a very necessary piece of work: the study of the causes that necessitated both the late outbreak and its defeat; causes that are not to be sought for in the accidental efforts, talents, faults, errors, or treacheries of some of the leaders, but in the general social state and conditions of existence of each of the convulsed nations. that the sudden movements of february and march, , were not the work of single individuals, but spontaneous, irresistible manifestations of national wants and necessities, more or less clearly understood, but very distinctly felt by numerous classes in every country, is a fact recognized everywhere; but when you inquire into the causes of the counter-revolutionary successes, there you are met on every hand with the ready reply that it was mr. this or citizen that who "betrayed" the people. which reply may be very true or not, according to circumstances, but under no circumstances does it explain anything--not even show how it came to pass that the "people" allowed themselves to be thus betrayed. and what a poor chance stands a political party whose entire stock-in-trade consists in a knowledge of the solitary fact that citizen so-and-so is not to be trusted. the inquiry into, and the exposition of, the causes, both of the revolutionary convulsion and its suppression, are, besides, of paramount importance from a historical point of view. all these petty, personal quarrels and recriminations--all these contradictory assertions that it was marrast, or ledru rollin, or louis blanc, or any other member of the provisional government, or the whole of them, that steered the revolution amidst the rocks upon which it foundered--of what interest can they be, what light can they afford, to the american or englishman who observed all these various movements from a distance too great to allow of his distinguishing any of the details of operations? no man in his senses will ever believe that eleven men,[ ] mostly of very indifferent capacity either for good or evil, were able in three months to ruin a nation of thirty-six millions, unless those thirty-six millions saw as little of their way before them as the eleven did. but how it came to pass that thirty-six millions were at once called upon to decide for themselves which way to go, although partly groping in dim twilight, and how then they got lost and their old leaders were for a moment allowed to return to their leadership, that is just the question. if, then, we try to lay before the readers of _the tribune_ the causes which, while they necessitated the german revolution of , led quite as inevitably to its momentary repression in and , we shall not be expected to give a complete history of events as they passed in that country. later events, and the judgment of coming generations, will decide what portion of that confused mass of seemingly accidental, incoherent, and incongruous facts is to form a part of the world's history. the time for such a task has not yet arrived; we must confine ourselves to the limits of the possible, and be satisfied, if we can find rational causes, based upon undeniable facts, to explain the chief events, the principal vicissitudes of that movement, and to give us a clue as to the direction which the next, and perhaps not very distant, outbreak will impart to the german people. and firstly, what was the state of germany at the outbreak of the revolution? the composition of the different classes of the people which form the groundwork of every political organization was, in germany, more complicated than in any other country. while in england and france feudalism was entirely destroyed, or, at least, reduced, as in the former country, to a few insignificant forms, by a powerful and wealthy middle class, concentrated in large towns, and particularly in the capital, the feudal nobility in germany had retained a great portion of their ancient privileges. the feudal system of tenure was prevalent almost everywhere. the lords of the land had even retained the jurisdiction over their tenants. deprived of their political privileges, of the right to control the princes, they had preserved almost all their mediæval supremacy over the peasantry of their demesnes, as well as their exemption from taxes. feudalism was more flourishing in some localities than in others, but nowhere except on the left bank of the rhine was it entirely destroyed. this feudal nobility, then extremely numerous and partly very wealthy, was considered, officially, the first "order" in the country. it furnished the higher government officials, it almost exclusively officered the army. the bourgeoisie of germany was by far not as wealthy and concentrated as that of france or england. the ancient manufactures of germany had been destroyed by the introduction of steam, and the rapidly extending supremacy of english manufactures; the more modern manufactures, started under the napoleonic continental system, established in other parts of the country, did not compensate for the loss of the old ones, nor suffice to create a manufacturing interest strong enough to force its wants upon the notice of governments jealous of every extension of non-noble wealth and power. if france carried her silk manufactures victorious through fifty years of revolutions and wars, germany, during the same time, all but lost her ancient linen trade. the manufacturing districts, besides, were few and far between; situated far inland, and using, mostly, foreign, dutch, or belgian ports for their imports and exports, they had little or no interest in common with the large seaport towns on the north sea and the baltic; they were, above all, unable to create large manufacturing and trading centres, such as paris and lyons, london and manchester. the causes of this backwardness of german manufactures were manifold, but two will suffice to account for it: the unfavorable geographical situation of the country, at a distance from the atlantic, which had become the great highway for the world's trade, and the continuous wars in which germany was involved, and which were fought on her soil, from the sixteenth century to the present day. it was this want of numbers, and particularly of anything like concentrated numbers, which prevented the german middle classes from attaining that political supremacy which the english bourgeoisie has enjoyed ever since , and which the french conquered in . and yet, ever since , the wealth, and with the wealth the political importance of the middle class in germany, was continually growing. governments were, although reluctantly, compelled to bow, at least to its more immediate material interests. it may even be truly said that from to , and from to , every particle of political influence, which, having been allowed to the middle class in the constitutions of the smaller states, was again wrested from them during the above two periods of political reaction, that every such particle was compensated for by some more practical advantage allowed to them. every political defeat of the middle class drew after it a victory on the field of commercial legislation. and certainly, the prussian protective tariff of , and the formation of the zollverein,[ ] were worth a good deal more to the traders and manufacturers of germany than the equivocal right of expressing in the chambers of some diminutive dukedom their want of confidence in ministers who laughed at their votes. thus, with growing wealth and extending trade, the bourgeoisie soon arrived at a stage where it found the development of its most important interests checked by the political constitution of the country; by its random division among thirty-six princes with conflicting tendencies and caprices; by the feudal fetters upon agriculture and the trade connected with it; by the prying superintendence to which an ignorant and presumptuous bureaucracy subjected all its transactions. at the same time the extension and consolidation of the zollverein, the general introduction of steam communication, the growing competition in the home trade, brought the commercial classes of the different states and provinces closer together, equalized their interests and centralized their strength. the natural consequence was the passing of the whole mass of them into the camp of the liberal opposition, and the gaining of the first serious struggle of the german middle class for political power. this change may be dated from , from the moment when the bourgeoisie of prussia assumed the lead of the middle class movement of germany. we shall hereafter revert to this liberal opposition movement of - . the great mass of the nation, which neither belonged to the nobility nor to the bourgeoisie, consisted in the towns of the small trading and shopkeeping class and the working people, and in the country of the peasantry. the small trading and shopkeeping class is exceedingly numerous in germany, in consequence of the stinted development which the large capitalists and manufacturers as a class have had in that country. in the larger towns it forms almost the majority of the inhabitants; in the smaller ones it entirely predominates, from the absence of wealthier competitors or influence. this class, a most important one in every modern body politic, and in all modern revolutions, is still more important in germany, where, during the recent struggles, it generally played the decisive part. its intermediate position between the class of larger capitalists, traders, and manufacturers, the bourgeoisie properly so-called, and the proletarian or industrial class, determines its character. aspiring to the position of the first, the least adverse turn of fortune hurls the individuals of this class down into the ranks of the second. in monarchical and feudal countries the custom of the court and aristocracy becomes necessary to its existence; the loss of this custom might ruin a great part of it. in the smaller towns a military garrison, a county government, a court of law with its followers, form very often the base of its prosperity; withdraw these, and down go the shopkeepers, the tailors, the shoemakers, the joiners. thus eternally tossed about between the hope of entering the ranks of the wealthier class, and the fear of being reduced to the state of proletarians or even paupers; between the hope of promoting their interests by conquering a share in the direction of public affairs, and the dread of rousing, by ill-timed opposition, the ire of a government which disposes of their very existence, because it has the power of removing their best customers; possessed of small means, the insecurity of the possession of which is in the inverse ratio of the amount,--this class is extremely vacillating in its views. humble and crouchingly submissive under a powerful feudal or monarchical government, it turns to the side of liberalism when the middle class is in the ascendant; it becomes seized with violent democratic fits as soon as the middle class has secured its own supremacy, but falls back into the abject despondency of fear as soon as the class below itself, the proletarians, attempts an independent movement. we shall by and by see this class, in germany, pass alternately from one of these stages to the other. the working class in germany is, in its social and political development, as far behind that of england and france as the german bourgeoisie is behind the bourgeoisie of those countries. like master, like man. the evolution of the conditions of existence for a numerous, strong, concentrated, and intelligent proletarian class goes hand in hand with the development of the conditions of existence for a numerous, wealthy, concentrated, and powerful middle class. the working class movement itself never is independent, never is of an exclusively proletarian character until all the different factions of the middle class, and particularly its most progressive faction, the large manufacturers, have conquered political power, and remodelled the state according to their wants. it is then that the inevitable conflict between the employer and the employed becomes imminent, and cannot be adjourned any longer; that the working class can no longer be put off with delusive hopes and promises never to be realized; that the great problem of the nineteenth century, the abolition of the proletariat, is at last brought forward fairly and in its proper light. now, in germany the mass of the working class were employed, not by those modern manufacturing lords of which great britain furnishes such splendid specimens, but by small tradesmen, whose entire manufacturing system is a mere relic of the middle ages. and as there is an enormous difference between the great cotton lord and the petty cobbler or master tailor, so there is a corresponding distance from the wide-awake factory operative of modern manufacturing babylons to the bashful journeyman tailor or cabinetmaker of a small country town, who lives in circumstances and works after a plan very little different from those of the like sort of men some five hundred years ago. this general absence of modern conditions of life, of modern modes of industrial production, of course was accompanied by a pretty equally general absence of modern ideas, and it is, therefore, not to be wondered at if, at the outbreak of the revolution, a large part of the working classes should cry out for the immediate re-establishment of guilds and mediæval privileged trades' corporations. yet from the manufacturing districts, where the modern system of production predominated, and in consequence of the facilities of inter-communication and mental development afforded by the migratory life of a large number of the working men, a strong nucleus formed itself, whose ideas about the emancipation of their class were far clearer and more in accordance with existing facts and historical necessities; but they were a mere minority. if the active movement of the middle class may be dated from , that of the working class commences its advent by the insurrections of the silesian and bohemian factory operatives in , and we shall soon have occasion to pass in review the different stages through which this movement passed. lastly, there was the great class of the small farmers, the peasantry, which with its appendix of farm laborers, constitutes a considerable majority of the entire nation. but this class again sub-divided itself into different fractions. there were, firstly, the more wealthy farmers, what is called in germany _gross_ and _mittel-bauern_, proprietors of more or less extensive farms, and each of them commanding the services of several agricultural laborers. this class, placed between the large untaxed feudal landowners, and the smaller peasantry and farm laborers, for obvious reasons found in an alliance with the anti-feudal middle class of the towns its most natural political course. then there were, secondly, the small freeholders, predominating in the rhine country, where feudalism had succumbed before the mighty strokes of the great french revolution. similar independent small freeholders also existed here and there in other provinces, where they had succeeded in buying off the feudal charges formerly due upon their lands. this class, however, was a class of freeholders by name only, their property being generally mortgaged to such an extent, and under such onerous conditions, that not the peasant, but the usurer who had advanced the money, was the real landowner. thirdly, the feudal tenants, who could not be easily turned out of their holdings, but who had to pay a perpetual rent, or to perform in perpetuity a certain amount of labor in favor of the lord of the manor. lastly, the agricultural laborers, whose condition, in many large farming concerns, was exactly that of the same class in england, and who in all cases lived and died poor, ill-fed, and the slaves of their employers. these three latter classes of the agricultural population, the small freeholders, the feudal tenants, and the agricultural laborers, never troubled their heads much about politics before the revolution, but it is evident that this event must have opened to them a new career, full of brilliant prospects. to every one of them the revolution offered advantages, and the movement once fairly engaged in, it was to be expected that each, in their turn, would join it. but at the same time it is quite as evident, and equally borne out by the history of all modern countries, that the agricultural population, in consequence of its dispersion over a great space, and of the difficulty of bringing about an agreement among any considerable portion of it, never can attempt a successful independent movement; they require the initiatory impulse of the more concentrated, more enlightened, more easily moved people of the towns. the preceding short sketch of the most important of the classes, which in their aggregate formed the german nation at the outbreak of the recent movements, will already be sufficient to explain a great part of the incoherence, incongruence, and apparent contradiction which prevailed in that movement. when interests so varied, so conflicting, so strangely crossing each other, are brought into violent collision; when these contending interests in every district, every province, are mixed in different proportions; when, above all, there is no great centre in the country, no london, no paris, the decisions of which, by their weight, may supersede the necessity of fighting out the same quarrel over and over again in every single locality; what else is to be expected but that the contest will dissolve itself into a mass of unconnected struggles, in which an enormous quantity of blood, energy, and capital is spent, but which for all that remain without any decisive results? the political dismemberment of germany into three dozen of more or less important principalities is equally explained by this confusion and multiplicity of the elements which compose the nation, and which again vary in every locality. where there are no common interests there can be no unity of purpose, much less of action. the german confederation, it is true, was declared everlastingly indissoluble; yet the confederation, and its organ, the diet, never represented german unity. the very highest pitch to which centralization was ever carried in germany was the establishment of the zollverein; by this the states on the north sea were also forced into a customs union of their own, austria remaining wrapped up in her separate prohibitive tariff. germany had the satisfaction to be, for all practical purposes divided between three independent powers only, instead of between thirty-six. of course the paramount supremacy of the russian czar, as established in , underwent no change on this account. having drawn these preliminary conclusions from our premises, we shall see, in our next, how the aforesaid various classes of the german people were set into movement one after the other, and what character the movement assumed on the outbreak of the french revolution of . london, september, . footnotes: [ ] the "eleven men" were: dupont de l'eure, lamartine, crémieux, aarago, ledru rollin, garnier-pages, marrast, clocon, louis blanc, and albert. [ ] the "zollverein" was the german customs union. it was originally founded in , and largely extended after the war of . since the unification of germany as an "empire" in , the states belonging to the zollverein have been included in the german empire. the object of the zollverein was to obtain a uniform rate of customs duties all over germany. ii. the prussian state. october th, . the political movement of the middle class or bourgeoisie, in germany, may be dated from . it had been preceded by symptoms showing that the moneyed and industrial class of that country was ripening into a state which would no longer allow it to continue apathetic and passive under the pressure of a half-feudal, half-bureaucratic monarchism. the smaller princes of germany, partly to insure to themselves a greater independence against the supremacy of austria and prussia, or against the influence of the nobility of their own states, partly in order to consolidate into a whole the disconnected provinces united under their rule by the congress of vienna, one after the other granted constitutions of a more or less liberal character. they could do so without any danger to themselves; for if the diet of the confederation, this mere puppet of austria and prussia, was to encroach upon their independence as sovereigns, they knew that in resisting its dictates they would be backed by public opinion and the chambers; and if, on the contrary, these chambers grew too strong, they could readily command the power of the diet to break down all opposition. the bavarian, würtemberg, baden or hanoverian constitutional institutions could not, under such circumstances, give rise to any serious struggle for political power, and, therefore, the great bulk of the german middle class kept very generally aloof from the petty squabbles raised in the legislatures of the small states, well knowing that without a fundamental change in the policy and constitution of the two great powers of germany, no secondary efforts and victories would be of any avail. but, at the same time, a race of liberal lawyers, professional oppositionists, sprung up in these small assemblies: the rottecks, the welckers, the roemers, the jordans, the stüves, the eisenmanns, those great "popular men" (_volksmänner_) who, after a more or less noisy, but always unsuccessful, opposition of twenty years, were carried to the summit of power by the revolutionary springtide of , and who, after having there shown their utter impotency and insignificance, were hurled down again in a moment. these first specimen upon german soil of the trader in politics and opposition, by their speeches and writings made familiar to the german ear the language of constitutionalism, and by their very existence foreboded the approach of a time when the middle class would seize upon and restore to their proper meaning political phrases which these talkative attorneys and professors were in the habit of using without knowing much about the sense originally attached to them. german literature, too, labored under the influence of the political excitement into which all europe had been thrown by the events of . a crude constitutionalism, or a still cruder republicanism, were preached by almost all writers of the time. it became more and more the habit, particularly of the inferior sorts of literati, to make up for the want of cleverness in their productions, by political allusions which were sure to attract attention. poetry, novels, reviews, the drama, every literary production teemed with what was called "tendency," that is with more or less timid exhibitions of an anti-governmental spirit. in order to complete the confusion of ideas reigning after in germany, with these elements of political opposition there were mixed up ill-digested university-recollections of german philosophy, and misunderstood gleanings from french socialism, particularly saint-simonism; and the clique of writers who expatiated upon this heterogeneous conglomerate of ideas, presumptuously called themselves "young germany," or "the modern school." they have since repented their youthful sins, but not improved their style of writing. lastly, german philosophy, that most complicated, but at the same time most sure thermometer of the development of the german mind, had declared for the middle class, when hegel in his "philosophy of law" pronounced constitutional monarchy to be the final and most perfect form of government. in other words, he proclaimed the approaching advent of the middle classes of the country to political power. his school, after his death, did not stop here. while the more advanced section of his followers, on one hand, subjected every religious belief to the ordeal of a rigorous criticism, and shook to its foundation the ancient fabric of christianity, they at the same time brought forward bolder political principles than hitherto it had been the fate of german ears to hear expounded, and attempted to restore to glory the memory of the heroes of the first french revolution. the abstruse philosophical language in which these ideas were clothed, if it obscured the mind of both the writer and the reader, equally blinded the eyes of the censor, and thus it was that the "young hegelian" writers enjoyed a liberty of the press unknown in every other branch of literature. thus it was evident that public opinion was undergoing a great change in germany. by degrees the vast majority of those classes whose education or position in life enabled them, under an absolute monarchy, to gain some political information, and to form anything like an independent political opinion, united into one mighty phalanx of opposition against the existing system. and in passing judgment upon the slowness of political development in germany no one ought to omit taking into account the difficulty of obtaining correct information upon any subject in a country where all sources of information were under the control of the government, where from the ragged school and the sunday school to the newspaper and university nothing was said, taught, printed, or published but what had previously obtained its approbation. look at vienna, for instance. the people of vienna, in industry and manufactures, second to none perhaps in germany; in spirit, courage, and revolutionary energy, proving themselves far superior to all, were yet more ignorant as to their real interests, and committed more blunders during the revolution than any others, and this was due in a very great measure to the almost absolute ignorance with regard to the very commonest political subjects in which metternich's government had succeeded in keeping them. it needs no further explanation why, under such a system, political information was an almost exclusive monopoly of such classes of society as could afford to pay for its being smuggled into the country, and more particularly of those whose interests were most seriously attacked by the existing state of things, namely, the manufacturing and commercial classes. they, therefore, were the first to unite in a mass against the continuance of a more or less disguised absolutism, and from their passing into the ranks of the opposition must be dated the beginning of the real revolutionary movement in germany. the oppositional pronunciamento of the german bourgeoisie may be dated from , from the death of the late king of prussia, the last surviving founder of the holy alliance of . the new king was known to be no supporter of the predominantly bureaucratic and military monarchy of his father. what the french middle class had expected from the advent of louis xvi., the german bourgeoisie hoped, in some measure, from frederick william iv. of prussia. it was agreed upon all hands that the old system was exploded, worn-out, and must be given up; and what had been borne in silence under the old king now was loudly proclaimed to be intolerable. but if louis xvi., "louis le désiré," had been a plain, unpretending simpleton, half conscious of his own nullity, without any fixed opinions, ruled principally by the habits contracted during his education, "frederick william le désiré" was something quite different. while he certainly surpassed his french original in weakness of character, he was neither without pretensions nor without opinions. he had made himself acquainted, in an amateur sort of way, with the rudiments of most sciences, and thought himself, therefore, learned enough to consider final his judgment upon every subject. he made sure he was a first-rate orator, and there was certainly no commercial traveller in berlin who could beat him either in prolixity of pretended wit, or in fluency of elocution. and, above all, he had his opinions. he hated and despised the bureaucratic element of the prussian monarchy, but only because all his sympathies were with the feudal element. himself one of the founders of, and chief contributors to, the _berlin political weekly paper_, the so-called historical school (a school living upon the ideas of bonald, de maistre, and other writers of the first generation of french legitimists), he aimed at a restoration, as complete as possible, of the predominant social position of the nobility. the king, first nobleman of his realm, surrounded in the first instance by a splendid court of mighty vassals, princes, dukes, and counts; in the second instance, by a numerous and wealthy lower nobility; ruling according to his discretion over his loyal burgesses and peasants, and thus being himself the chief of a complete hierarchy of social ranks or castes, each of which was to enjoy its particular privileges, and to be separated from the others by the almost insurmountable barrier of birth, or of a fixed, inalterable social position; the whole of these castes, or "estates of the realm" balancing each other at the same time so nicely in power and influence that a complete independence of action should remain to the king--such was the _beau idéal_ which frederick william iv. undertook to realize, and which he is again trying to realize at the present moment. it took some time before the prussian bourgeoisie, not very well versed in theoretical questions, found out the real purport of their king's tendency. but what they very soon found out was the fact that he was bent upon things quite the reverse of what they wanted. hardly did the new king find his "gift of the gab" unfettered by his father's death than he set about proclaiming his intentions in speeches without number; and every speech, every act of his, went far to estrange from him the sympathies of the middle class. he would not have cared much for that, if it had not been for some stern and startling realities which interrupted his poetic dreams. alas, that romanticism is not very quick at accounts, and that feudalism, ever since don quixote, reckons without its host! frederick william iv. partook too much of that contempt of ready cash which ever has been the noblest inheritance of the sons of the crusaders. he found at his accession a costly, although parsimoniously arranged system of government, and a moderately filled state treasury. in two years every trace of a surplus was spent in court festivals, royal progresses, largesses, subventions to needy, seedy, and greedy noblemen, etc., and the regular taxes were no longer sufficient for the exigencies of either court or government. and thus his majesty found himself very soon placed between a glaring deficit on one side, and a law of on the other, by which any new loan, or any increase of the then existing taxation was made illegal without the assent of "the future representation of the people." this representation did not exist; the new king was less inclined than even his father to create it; and if he had been, he knew that public opinion had wonderfully changed since his accession. indeed, the middle classes, who had partly expected that the new king would at once grant a constitution, proclaim the liberty of the press, trial by jury, etc., etc.--in short, himself take the lead of that peaceful revolution which they wanted in order to obtain political supremacy--the middle classes had found out their error, and had turned ferociously against the king. in the rhine provinces, and more or less generally all over prussia, they were so exasperated that they, being short themselves of men able to represent them in the press, went to the length of an alliance with the extreme philosophical party, of which we have spoken above. the fruit of this alliance was the _rhenish gazette_ of cologne,[ ] a paper which was suppressed after fifteen months' existence, but from which may be dated the existence of the newspaper press in germany. this was in . the poor king, whose commercial difficulties were the keenest satire upon his mediæval propensities, very soon found out that he could not continue to reign without making some slight concession to the popular outcry for that "representation of the people," which, as the last remnant of the long-forgotten promises of and , had been embodied in the law of . he found the least objectionable mode of satisfying this untoward law in calling together the standing committees of the provincial diets. the provincial diets had been instituted in . they consisted for every one of the eight provinces of the kingdom:--( ) of the higher nobility, the formerly sovereign families of the german empire, the heads of which were members of the diet by birthright. ( ) of the representatives of the knights, or lower nobility. ( ) of representatives of towns. ( ) of deputies of the peasantry, or small farming class. the whole was arranged in such a manner that in every province the two sections of the nobility always had a majority of the diet. every one of these eight provincial diets elected a committee, and these eight committees were now called to berlin in order to form a representative assembly for the purpose of voting the much-desired loan. it was stated that the treasury was full, and that the loan was required, not for current wants, but for the construction of a state railway. but the united committees gave the king a flat refusal, declaring themselves incompetent to act as the representatives of the people, and called upon his majesty to fulfil the promise of a representative constitution which his father had given, when he wanted the aid of the people against napoleon. the sitting of the united committees proved that the spirit of opposition was no longer confined to the bourgeoisie. a part of the peasantry had joined them, and many nobles, being themselves large farmers on their own properties, and dealers in corn, wool, spirits, and flax, requiring the same guarantees against absolutism, bureaucracy, and feudal restoration, had equally pronounced against the government, and for a representative constitution. the king's plan had signally failed; he had got no money, and had increased the power of the opposition. the subsequent sitting of the provincial diets themselves was still more unfortunate for the king. all of them asked for reforms, for the fulfilment of the promises of and , for a constitution and a free press; the resolutions to this effect of some of them were rather disrespectfully worded, and the ill-humored replies of the exasperated king made the evil still greater. in the meantime, the financial difficulties of the government went on increasing. for a time, abatements made upon the moneys appropriated for the different public services, fraudulent transactions with the "seehandlung," a commercial establishment speculating and trading for account and risk of the state, and long since acting as its money-broker, had sufficed to keep up appearances; increased issues of state paper-money had furnished some resources; and the secret, upon the whole, had been pretty well kept. but all these contrivances were soon exhausted. there was another plan tried: the establishment of a bank, the capital of which was to be furnished partly by the state and partly by private shareholders; the chief direction to belong to the state, in such a manner as to enable the government to draw upon the funds of this bank to a large amount, and thus to repeat the same fraudulent transactions that would no longer do with the "seehandlung." but, as a matter of course, there were no capitalists to be found who would hand over their money upon such conditions; the statutes of the bank had to be altered, and the property of the shareholders guaranteed from the encroachments of the treasury, before any shares were subscribed for. thus, this plan having failed, there remained nothing but to try a loan, if capitalists could be found who would lend their cash without requiring the permission and guarantee of that mysterious "future representation of the people." rothschild was applied to, and he declared that if the loan was to be guaranteed by this "representation of the people," he would undertake the thing at a moment's notice--if not, he could not have anything to do with the transaction. thus every hope of obtaining money had vanished, and there was no possibility of escaping the fatal "representation of the people." rothschild's refusal was known in autumn, , and in february of the next year the king called together all the eight provincial diets to berlin, forming them into one "united diet." this diet was to do the work required, in case of need, by the law of ; it was to vote loans and increased taxes, but beyond that it was to have no rights. its voice upon general legislation was to be merely consultative; it was to assemble, not at fixed periods, but whenever it pleased the king; it was to discuss nothing but what the government pleased to lay before it. of course, the members were very little satisfied with the part they were expected to perform. they repeated the wishes they had enounced when they met in the provincial assembles; the relations between them and the government soon became acrimonious, and when the loan, which was again stated to be required for railway constructions, was demanded from them, they again refused to grant it. this vote very soon brought their sitting to a close. the king, more and more exasperated, dismissed them with a reprimand, but still remained without money. and, indeed, he had every reason to be alarmed at his position, seeing that the liberal league, headed by the middle classes, comprising a large part of the lower nobility, and all the different sections of the lower orders--that this liberal league was determined to have what it wanted. in vain the king had declared, in the opening speech, that he would never, never grant a constitution in the modern sense of the word; the liberal league insisted upon such a modern, anti-feudal, representative constitution, with all its sequels, liberty of the press, trial by jury, etc.; and before they got it, not a farthing of money would they grant. there was one thing evident: that things could not go on long in this manner, and that either one of the parties must give way, or that a rupture--a bloody struggle--must ensue. and the middle classes knew that they were on the eve of a revolution, and they prepared themselves for it. they sought to obtain by every possible means the support of the working class of the towns, and of the peasantry in the agricultural districts, and it is well known that there was, in the latter end of , hardly a single prominent political character among the bourgeoisie who did not proclaim himself a "socialist," in order to insure to himself the sympathy of the proletarian class. we shall see these "socialists" at work by and by. this eagerness of the leading bourgeoisie to adopt, at least the outward show of socialism, was caused by a great change that had come over the working classes of germany. there had been ever since a fraction of german workmen, who, travelling in france and switzerland, had more or less imbibed the crude socialist or communist notions then current among the french workmen. the increasing attention paid to similar ideas in france ever since made socialism and communism fashionable in germany also, and as far back as , all newspapers teemed with discussions of social questions. a school of socialists very soon formed itself in germany, distinguished more for the obscurity than for the novelty of its ideas; its principal efforts consisted in the translation of french fourierist, saint-simonian, and other doctrines into the abstruse language of german philosophy. the german communist school, entirely different from this sect, was formed about the same time. in , there occurred the silesian weavers' riots, followed by the insurrection of the calico printers of prague. these riots, cruelly suppressed, riots of working men not against the government, but against their employers, created a deep sensation, and gave a new stimulus to socialist and communist propaganda amongst the working people. so did the bread riots during the year of famine, . in short, in the same manner as constitutional opposition rallied around its banner the great bulk of the propertied classes (with the exception of the large feudal land-holders), so the working classes of the larger towns looked for their emancipation to the socialist and communist doctrines, although, under the then existing press laws, they could be made to know only very little about them. they could not be expected to have any very definite ideas as to what they wanted; they only knew that the programme of the constitutional bourgeoisie did not contain all they wanted, and that their wants were no wise contained in the constitutional circle of ideas. there was then no separate republican party in germany. people were either constitutional monarchists, or more or less clearly defined socialists or communists. with such elements the slightest collision must have brought about a great revolution. while the higher nobility and the older civil and military officers were the only safe supports of the existing system; while the lower nobility, the trading middle classes, the universities, the school-masters of every degree, and even part of the lower ranks of the bureaucracy and military officers were all leagued against the government; while behind these there stood the dissatisfied masses of the peasantry, and of the proletarians of the large towns, supporting, for the time being, the liberal opposition, but already muttering strange words about taking things into their own hands; while the bourgeoisie was ready to hurl down the government, and the proletarians were preparing to hurl down the bourgeoisie in its turn; this government went on obstinately in a course which must bring about a collision. germany was, in the beginning of , on the eve of a revolution, and this revolution was sure to come, even had the french revolution of february not hastened it. what the effects of this parisian revolution were upon germany we shall see in our next. london, september, . footnotes: [ ] "the rhenish gazette." this paper was published at cologne, as the organ of the liberal leaders, hansemann and camphausen. marx contributed certain articles on the landtag, which created so great a sensation that he was offered in --although only years of age--the editorship of the paper. he accepted the offer, and then began his long fight with the prussian government. of course the paper was published under the supervision of a censor, but he, good, easy man, was hopelessly outwitted by the young firebrand. so the government sent a second "special" censor from berlin, but the double censorship proved unequal to the task, and in the paper was suppressed. iii. the other german states. november th, . in our last we confined ourselves almost exclusively to that state which, during the years to , was by far the most important in the german movement, namely, to prussia. it is, however, time to pass a rapid glance over the other states of germany during the same period. as to the petty states, they had, ever since the revolutionary movements of , completely passed under the dictatorship of the diet, that is of austria and prussia. the several constitutions, established as much as a means of defence against the dictates of the larger states, as to insure popularity to their princely authors, and unity to heterogeneous assemblies of provinces, formed by the congress of vienna, without any leading principle whatever--these constitutions, illusory as they were, had yet proved dangerous to the authority of the petty princes themselves during the exciting times of and . they were all but destroyed; whatever of them was allowed to remain was less than a shadow, and it required the loquacious self-complacency of a welcker, a rotteck, a dahlmann, to imagine that any results could possibly flow from the humble opposition, mingled with degrading flattery, which they were allowed to show off in the impotent chambers of these petty states. the more energetic portion of the middle class in these smaller states, very soon after , abandoned all the hopes they had formerly based upon the development of parliamentary government in these dependencies of austria and prussia. no sooner had the prussian bourgeoisie and the classes allied to it shown a serious resolution to struggle for parliamentary government in prussia, than they were allowed to take the lead of the constitutional movement over all non-austrian germany. it is a fact which now will not any longer be contested, that the nucleus of those constitutionalists of central germany, who afterwards seceded from the frankfort national assembly, and who, from the place of their separate meetings, were called the gotha party, long before contemplated a plan which, with little modification, they in proposed to the representatives of all germany. they intended a complete exclusion of austria from the german confederation, the establishment of a new confederation, with a new fundamental law, and with a federal parliament, of the more insignificant states into the larger ones. all this was to be carried out the moment prussia entered into the ranks of constitutional monarchy, established the liberty of the press, assumed a policy independent from that of russia and austria, and thus enabled the constitutionalists of the lesser states to obtain a real control over their respective governments. the inventor of this scheme was professor gervinus, of heidelberg (baden). thus the emancipation of the prussian bourgeoisie was to be the signal for that of the middle classes of germany generally, and for an alliance, offensive and defensive of both against russia and austria, for austria was, as we shall see presently, considered as an entirely barbarian country, of which very little was known, and that little not to the credit of its population; austria, therefore, was not considered as an essential part of germany. as to the other classes of society, in the smaller states they followed, more or less rapidly, in the wake of their equals in prussia. the shopkeeping class got more and more dissatisfied with their respective governments, with the increase of taxation, with the curtailments of those political sham-privileges of which they used to boast when comparing themselves to the "slaves of despotism" in austria and prussia; but as yet they had nothing definite in their opposition which might stamp them as an independent party, distinct from the constitutionalism of the higher bourgeoisie. the dissatisfaction among the peasantry was equally growing, but it is well known that this section of the people, in quiet and peaceful times, will never assert its interests and assume its position as an independent class, except in countries where universal suffrage is established. the working classes in the trades and manufactures of the towns commenced to be infected with the "poison" of socialism and communism, but there being few towns of any importance out of prussia, and still fewer manufacturing districts, the movement of this class, owing to the want of centres of action and propaganda, was extremely slow in the smaller states. both in prussia and in the smaller states the difficulty of giving vent to political opposition created a sort of religious opposition in the parallel movements of german catholicism and free congregationalism. history affords us numerous examples where, in countries which enjoy the blessings of a state church, and where political discussion is fettered, the profane and dangerous opposition against the worldly power is hid under the more sanctified and apparently more disinterested struggle against spiritual despotism. many a government that will not allow of any of its acts being discussed, will hesitate before it creates martyrs and excites the religious fanaticism of the masses. thus in germany, in , in every state, either the roman catholic or the protestant religion, or both, were considered part and parcel of the law of the land. in every state, too, the clergy of either of those denominations, or of both, formed an essential part of the bureaucratic establishment of the government. to attack protestant or catholic orthodoxy, to attack priestcraft, was then to make an underhand attack upon the government itself. as to the german catholics, their very existence was an attack upon the catholic governments of germany, particularly austria and bavaria; and as such it was taken by those governments. the free congregationalists, protestant dissenters, somewhat resembling the english and american unitarians, openly professed their opposition to the clerical and rigidly orthodox tendency of the king of prussia and his favourite minister for the educational and clerical department, mr. eickhorn. the two new sects, rapidly extending for a moment, the first in catholic, the second in protestant countries, had no other distinction but their different origin; as to their tenets, they perfectly agreed upon this most important point--that all definite dogmas were nugatory. this want of any definition was their very essence; they pretended to build that great temple under the roof of which all germans might unite; they thus represented, in a religious form, another political idea of the day--that of german unity, and yet they could never agree among themselves. the idea of german unity, which the above-mentioned sects sought to realize, at least, upon religious ground, by inventing a common religion for all germans, manufactured expressly for their use, habits, and taste--this idea was, indeed, very widely spread, particularly in the smaller states. ever since the dissolution of the german empire by napoleon, the cry for a union of all the _disjecta membra_ of the german body had been the most general expression of discontent with the established order of things, and most so in the smaller states, where costliness of a court, an administration, an army, in short, the dead weight of taxation, increased in a direct ratio with the smallness and impotency of the state. but what this german unity was to be when carried out was a question upon which parties disagreed. the bourgeoisie, which wanted no serious revolutionary convulsion, were satisfied with what we have seen they considered "practicable," namely a union of all germany, exclusive of austria, under the supremacy of a constitutional government of prussia; and surely, without conjuring dangerous storms, nothing more could, at that time, be done. the shopkeeping class and the peasantry, as far as these latter troubled themselves about such things, never arrived at any definition of that german unity they so loudly clamoured after; a few dreamers, mostly feudalist reactionists, hoped for the re-establishment of the german empire; some few ignorant, _soi-disant_ radicals, admiring swiss institutions, of which they had not yet made that practical experience which afterwards most ludicrously undeceived them, pronounced for a federated republic; and it was only the most extreme party which, at that time, dared pronounce for a german republic, one and indivisible. thus, german unity was in itself a question big with disunion, discord, and, in the case of certain eventualities, even civil war. to resume, then; this was the state of prussia, and the smaller states of germany, at the end of . the middle class, feeling their power, and resolved not to endure much longer the fetters with which a feudal and bureaucratic despotism enchained their commercial transactions, their industrial productivity, their common action as a class; a portion of the landed nobility so far changed into producers of mere marketable commodities, as to have the same interests and to make common cause with the middle class; the smaller trading class, dissatisfied, grumbling at the taxes, at the impediments thrown in the way of their business, but without any definite plan for such reforms as should secure their position in the social and political body; the peasantry, oppressed here by feudal exactions, there by money-lenders, usurers, and lawyers; the working people of the towns infected with the general discontent, equally hating the government and the large industrial capitalists, and catching the contagion of socialist and communist ideas; in short, a heterogeneous mass of opposition, springing from various interests, but more or less led on by the bourgeoisie, in the first ranks of which again marched the bourgeoisie of prussia, and particularly of the rhine province. on the other hand, governments disagreeing upon many points, distrustful of each other, and particularly of that of prussia, upon which yet they had to rely for protection; in prussia a government forsaken by public opinion, forsaken by even a portion of the nobility, leaning upon an army and a bureaucracy which every day got more infected by the ideas, and subjected to the influence, of the oppositional bourgeoisie--a government, besides all this, penniless in the most literal meaning of the word, and which could not procure a single cent to cover its increasing deficit, but by surrendering at discretion to the opposition of the bourgeoisie. was there ever a more splendid position for the middle class of any country, while it struggled for power against the established government? london, september, . iv. austria. november th, . we have now to consider austria; that country which, up to march, , was sealed up to the eyes of foreign nations almost as much as china before the late war with england. as a matter of course, we can here take into consideration nothing but german austria. the affairs of the polish, hungarian, or italian austrians do not belong to our subject, and as far as they, since , have influenced the fate of the german austrians, they will have to be taken into account hereafter. the government of prince metternich turned upon two hinges; firstly, to keep every one of the different nations subjected to the austrian rule, in check, by all other nations similarly conditioned; secondly, and this always has been the fundamental principle of absolute monarchies, to rely for support upon two classes, the feudal landlords and the large stock-jobbing capitalists; and to balance, at the same time, the influence and power of either of these classes by that of the other, so as to leave full independence of action to the government. the landed nobility, whose entire income consisted in feudal revenues of all sorts, could not but support a government which proved their only protection against that down-trodden class of serfs upon whose spoils they lived; and whenever the less wealthy portion of them, as in galicia, in , rose in opposition against the government, metternich in an instant let loose upon them these very serfs, who at any rate profited by the occasion to wreak a terrible vengeance upon their more immediate oppressors. on the other hand, the large capitalists of the exchange were chained to metternich's government by the vast share they had in the public funds of the country. austria, restored to her full power in restoring and maintaining in italy absolute monarchy ever since , freed from part of her liabilities by the bankruptcy of , had, after the peace, very soon re-established her credit in the great european money markets; and in proportion as her credit grew, she had drawn against it. thus all the large european money-dealers had engaged considerable portions of their capital in the austrian funds; they all of them were interested in upholding the credit of that country, and as austrian public credit, in order to be upheld, ever required new loans, they were obliged from time to time to advance new capital in order to keep up the credit of the securities for that which they already had advanced. the long peace after , and the apparent impossibility of a thousand years old empire, like austria, being upset, increased the credit of metternich's government in a wonderful ratio, and made it even independent of the good will of the vienna bankers and stock-jobbers; for as long as metternich could obtain plenty of money at frankfort and amsterdam, he had, of course, the satisfaction of seeing the austrian capitalists at his feet. they were, besides, in every other respect at his mercy; the large profits which bankers, stock-jobbers, and government contractors always contrive to draw out of an absolute monarchy, were compensated for by the almost unlimited power which the government possessed over their persons and fortunes; and not the smallest shadow of an opposition was, therefore, to be expected from this quarter. thus metternich was sure of the support of the two most powerful and influential classes of the empire, and he possessed besides an army and a bureaucracy, which for all purposes of absolutism could not be better constituted. the civil and military officers in the austrian service form a race of their own; their fathers have been in the service of the kaiser, and so will their sons be; they belong to none of the multifarious nationalities congregated under the wing of the double-headed eagle; they are, and ever have been, removed from one end of the empire to the other, from poland to italy, from germany to transylvania; hungarian, pole, german, roumanian, italian, croat, every individual not stamped with "imperial and royal authority," etc., bearing a separate national character, is equally despised by them; they have no nationality, or rather, they alone make up the really austrian nation. it is evident what a pliable, and at the same time powerful instrument, in the hands of an intelligent and energetic chief, such a civil and military hierarchy must be. as to the other classes of the population, metternich, in the true spirit of a statesman of the _ancien régime_, cared little for their support. he had, with regard to them, but one policy: to draw as much as possible out of them in the shape of taxation, and at the same time, to keep them quiet. the trading and manufacturing middle class was but of slow growth in austria. the trade of the danube was comparatively unimportant; the country possessed but one port, trieste, and the trade of the port was very limited. as to the manufacturers, they enjoyed considerable protection, amounting even in most cases to the complete exclusion of all foreign competition; but this advantage had been granted to them principally with a view to increase their tax-paying capabilities, and was in a high degree counterpoised by internal restrictions on manufactures, privileges on guilds, and other feudal corporations, which were scrupulously upheld as long as they did not impede the purposes and views of the government. the petty tradesmen were encased in the narrow bounds of these mediæval guilds, which kept the different trades in a perpetual war of privilege against each other, and at the same time, by all but excluding individuals of the working class from the possibility of raising themselves in the social scale, gave a sort of hereditary stability to the members of those involuntary associations. lastly, the peasant and the working man were treated as mere taxable matter, and the only care that was taken of them was to keep them as much as possible in the same conditions of life in which they then existed, and in which their fathers had existed before them. for this purpose every old, established, hereditary authority was upheld in the same manner as that of the state; the authority of the landlord over the petty tenant farmer, that of the manufacturer over the operative, of the small master over the journeyman and apprentice, of the father over the son, was everywhere rigidly maintained by the government, and every branch of disobedience punished the same as a transgression of the law, by that universal instrument of austrian justice--the stick. finally, to wind up into one comprehensive system all these attempts at creating an artificial stability, the intellectual food allowed to the nation was selected with the minutest caution, and dealt out as sparingly as possible. education was everywhere in the hands of the catholic priesthood, whose chiefs, in the same manner as the large feudal landowners, were deeply interested in the conservation of the existing system. the universities were organized in a manner which allowed them to produce nothing but special men, that might or might not obtain great proficiency in sundry particular branches of knowledge, but which, at all events, excluded that universal liberal education which other universities are expected to impart. there was absolutely no newspaper press, except in hungary, and the hungarian papers were prohibited in all other parts of the monarchy. as to general literature, its range had not widened for a century; it had narrowed again after the death of joseph ii. and all around the frontier, wherever the austrian states touched upon a civilized country, a cordon of literary censors was established in connection with the cordon of customhouse officials, preventing any foreign book or newspaper from passing into austria before its contents had been twice or three times thoroughly sifted, and found pure of even the slightest contamination of the malignant spirit of the age. for about thirty years after this system worked with wonderful success. austria remained almost unknown to europe, and europe was quite as little known in austria. the social state of every class of the population, and of the population as a whole, appeared not to have undergone the slightest change. whatever rancour there might exist from class to class--and the existence of this rancour was for metternich a principal condition of government, which he even fostered by making the higher classes the instruments of all government exactions, and thus throwing the odium upon them--whatever hatred the people might bear to the inferior officials of the state, there existed, upon the whole, little or no dissatisfaction with the central government. the emperor was adored, and old francis i. seemed to be borne out by facts when, doubting of the durability of this system, he complacently added: "and yet it will hold while i live, and metternich." but there was a slow underground movement going on which baffled all metternich's efforts. the wealth and influence of the manufacturing and trading middle class increased. the introduction of machinery and steam-power in manufactures upset in austria, as it had done everywhere else, the old relations and vital conditions of whole classes of society; it changed serfs into free men, small farmers into manufacturing operatives; it undermined the old feudal trades-corporations, and destroyed the means of existence of many of them. the new commercial and manufacturing population came everywhere into collision with the old feudal institutions. the middle classes, more and more induced by their business to travel abroad, introduced some mythical knowledge of the civilized countries situated beyond the imperial line of customs; the introduction of railways finally accelerated both the industrial and intellectual movement. there was, too, a dangerous part in the austrian state establishment, _viz._, the hungarian feudal constitution, with its parliamentary proceedings, and its struggles of the impoverished and oppositional mass of the nobility against the government and its allies, the magnates. presburg, the seat of the diet, was at the very gates of vienna. all the elements contributed to create among the middle classes of the towns a spirit, not exactly of opposition, for opposition was as yet impossible, but of discontent; a general wish for reforms, more of an administrative than of a constitutional nature. and in the same manner as in prussia, a portion of the bureaucracy joined the bourgeoisie. among this hereditary caste of officials the traditions of joseph ii. were not forgotten; the more educated functionaries of the government, who themselves sometimes meddled with imaginary possible reforms, by far preferred the progressive and intellectual despotism of that emperor to the "paternal" despotism of metternich. a portion of the poorer nobility equally sided with the middle class, and as to the lower classes of the population, who always had found plenty of grounds to complain of their superiors, if not of the government, they in most cases could not but adhere to the reformatory wishes of the bourgeoisie. it was about this time, say or , that a particular branch of literature, agreeable to this change, was established in germany. a few austrian writers, novelists, literary critics, bad poets, the whole of them of very indifferent ability, but gifted with that peculiar industrialism proper to the jewish race, established themselves in leipsic and other german towns out of austria, and there, out of the reach of metternich, published a number of books and pamphlets on austrian affairs. they and their publishers made "a roaring trade" of it. all germany was eager to become initiated into the secrets of the policy of european china; and the austrians themselves, who obtained these publications by the wholesale smuggling carried on upon the bohemian frontier, were still more curious. of course, the secrets let out in these publications were of no great importance, and the reform plans schemed out by their well-wishing authors bore the stamp of an innocuousness almost amounting to political virginity. a constitution and a free press for austria were things considered unattainable; administrative reforms, extension of the rights of the provincial diets, admission of foreign books and newspapers, and a less severe censorship--the loyal and humble desires of these good austrians did hardly go any farther. at all events the growing impossibility of preventing the literary intercourse of austria with the rest of germany, and through germany with the rest of the world, contributed much toward the formation of an anti-governmental public opinion, and brought at least some little political information within the reach of part of the austrian population. thus, by the end of , austria was seized, although in an inferior degree, by that political and politico-religious agitation which then prevailed in all germany; and if its progress in austria was more silent, it did, nevertheless, find revolutionary elements enough to work upon. there was the peasant, serf, or feudal tenant, ground down into the dust by lordly or government exactions; then the factory operative, forced by the stick of the policeman to work upon any terms the manufacturer chose to grant; then the journeyman, debarred by the corporative laws from any chance of gaining an independence in his trade; then the merchant, stumbling at every step in business over absurd regulations; then the manufacturer, in uninterrupted conflict with trade-guilds, jealous of their privileges, or with greedy and meddling officials; then the school-master, the _savant_, the better educated functionary, vainly struggling against an ignorant and presumptuous clergy, or a stupid and dictating superior. in short, there was not a single class satisfied, for the small concessions government was obliged now and then to make were not made at its own expense, for the treasury could not afford that, but at the expense of the high aristocracy and clergy; and as to the great bankers, and fundholders, the late events in italy, the increasing opposition of the hungarian diet, and the unwonted spirit of discontent and cry for reform, manifesting themselves all over the empire, were not of a nature to strengthen their faith in the solidity and solvency of the austrian empire. thus austria, too, was marching slowly but surely toward a mighty change, when, of a sudden, an event broke out in france, which at once brought down the impending storm, and gave the lie to old francis's assertion, that the building would hold out both during his and metternich's lifetime. london, september, . v. the vienna insurrection. november , . on the th of february, , louis philippe was driven out of paris, and the french republic was proclaimed. on the th of march following, the people of vienna broke the power of prince metternich, and made him flee shamefully out of the country. on the th of march the people of berlin rose in arms, and, after an obstinate struggle of eighteen hours, had the satisfaction of seeing the king surrender himself into their hands. simultaneous outbreaks of a more or less violent nature, but all with the same success, occurred in the capitals of the smaller states of germany. the german people, if they had not accomplished their first revolution, were at least fairly launched into the revolutionary career. as to the incidents of these various insurrections, we cannot enter here into the details of them: what we have to explain is their character, and the position which the different classes of the population took up with regard to them. the revolution of vienna may be said to have been made by an almost unanimous population. the bourgeoisie (with the exception of the bankers and stock-jobbers), the petty trading class, the working people, one and all arose at once against a government detested by all, a government so universally hated, that the small minority of nobles and money lords which had supported it made itself invisible on the very first attack. the middle classes had been kept in such a degree of political ignorance by metternich that to them the news from paris about the reign of anarchy, socialism, and terror, and about impending struggles between the class of capitalists and the class of laborers, proved quite unintelligible. they, in their political innocence, either could attach no meaning to these news, or they believed them to be fiendish inventions of metternich, to frighten them into obedience. they, besides, had never seen working men acting as a class, or stand up for their own distinct class interests. they had, from their past experience, no idea of the possibility of any differences springing up between classes that now were so heartily united in upsetting a government hated by all. they saw the working people agree with themselves upon all points: a constitution, trial by jury, liberty of the press, etc. thus they were, in march, , at least, heart and soul with the movement, and the movement, on the other hand, at once constituted them the (at least in theory) predominant class of the state. but it is the fate of all revolutions that this union of different classes, which in some degree is always the necessary condition of any revolution, cannot subsist long. no sooner is the victory gained against the common enemy than the victors become divided among themselves into different camps, and turn their weapons against each other. it is this rapid and passionate development of class antagonism which, in old and complicated social organisms, makes a revolution such a powerful agent of social and political progress; it is this incessantly quick upshooting of new parties succeeding each other in power, which, during those violent commotions, makes a nation pass in five years over more ground than it would have done in a century under ordinary circumstances. the revolution in vienna made the middle class the theoretically predominant class; that is to say, the concessions wrung from the government were such as, once carried out practically and adhered to for a time, would inevitably have secured the supremacy of the middle class. but practically the supremacy of that class was far from being established. it is true that by the establishment of a national guard, which gave arms to the bourgeoisie and petty tradesmen, that class obtained both force and importance; it is true that by the installation of a "committee of safety," a sort of revolutionary, irresponsible government in which the bourgeoisie predominated, it was placed at the head of power. but, at the same time, the working classes were partially armed too; they and the students had borne the brunt of the fight, as far as fight there had been; and the students, about , strong, well-armed, and far better disciplined than the national guard, formed the nucleus, the real strength of the revolutionary force, and were no ways willing to act as a mere instrument in the hands of the committee of safety. though they recognized it, and were even its most enthusiastic supporters, they yet formed a sort of independent and rather turbulent body, deliberating for themselves in the "aula," keeping an intermediate position between the bourgeoisie and the working-classes, preventing by constant agitation things from settling down to the old every-day tranquillity, and very often forcing their resolutions upon the committee of safety. the working men, on the other hand, almost entirely thrown out of employment, had to be employed in public works at the expense of the state, and the money for this purpose had, of course, to be taken out of the purse of the tax-payers or out of the chest of the city of vienna. all this could not but become very unpleasant to the tradesmen of vienna. the manufactures of the city, calculated for the consumption of the rich and aristocratic courts of a large country, were as a matter of course entirely stopped by the revolution, by the flight of the aristocracy and court; trade was at a standstill, and the continuous agitation and excitement kept up by the students and working people was certainly not the means to "restore confidence," as the phrase went. thus a certain coolness very soon sprung up between the middle classes on the one side and the turbulent students and working people on the other; and if for a long time this coolness was not ripened into open hostility, it was because the ministry, and particularly the court, in their impatience to restore the old order of things, constantly justified the suspicions and the turbulent activity of the more revolutionary parties, and constantly made arise, even before the eyes of the middle classes, the spectre of old metternichian despotism. thus on the th of may, and again on the th, there were fresh risings of all classes in vienna, on account of the government having tried to attack, or to undermine some of the newly-conquered liberties, and on each occasion the alliance between the national guard or armed middle class, the students, and the workingmen, was again cemented for a time. as to the other classes of the population, the aristocracy and the money lords had disappeared, and the peasantry were busily engaged everywhere in removing, down to the very last vestiges of feudalism. thanks to the war in italy, and the occupation which vienna and hungary gave to the court, they were left at full liberty, and succeeded in their work of liberation, in austria, better than in any other part of germany. the austrian diet had very shortly after only to confirm the steps already practically taken by the peasantry, and whatever else the government of prince schwartzenberg may be enabled to restore, it will never have the power of re-establishing the feudal servitude of the peasantry. and if austria at the present moment is again comparatively tranquil, and even strong, it is principally because the great majority of the people, the peasants, have been real gainers by the revolution, and because whatever else has been attacked by the restored government, those palpable, substantial advantages, conquered by the peasantry, are as yet untouched. london, october, . vi. the berlin insurrection. november , . the second center of revolutionary action was berlin, and from what has been stated in the foregoing papers, it may be guessed that there this action was far from having that unanimous support of almost all classes by which it was accompanied in vienna. in prussia, the bourgeoisie had been already involved in actual struggles with the government; a rupture had been file result of the "united diet"; a bourgeois revolution was impending, and that revolution might have been, in its first outbreak, quite as unanimous as that of vienna, had it not been for the paris revolution of february. that event precipitated everything, while at the same time it was carried out under a banner totally different from that under which the prussian bourgeoisie was preparing to defy its government. the revolution of february upset, in france, the very same sort of government which the prussian bourgeoisie were going to set up in their own country. the revolution of february announced itself as a revolution of the working classes against the middle classes; it proclaimed the downfall of middle-class government and the emancipation of the workingman. now the prussian bourgeoisie had, of late, had quite enough of working-class agitation in their own country. after the first terror of the silesian riots had passed away, they had even tried to give this agitation a turn in their own favor; but they always had retained a salutary horror of revolutionary socialism and communism; and, therefore, when they saw men at the head of the government in paris whom they considered as the most dangerous enemies of property, order, religion, family, and of the other _penates_ of the modern bourgeois, they at once experienced a considerable cooling down of their own revolutionary ardor. they knew that the moment must be seized, and that, without the aid of the working masses, they would be defeated; and yet their courage failed them. thus they sided with the government in the first partial and provincial outbreaks, tried to keep the people quiet in berlin, who, during five days, met in crowds before the royal palace to discuss the news and ask for changes in the government; and when at last, after the news of the downfall of metternich, the king made some slight concessions, the bourgeoisie considered the revolution as completed, and went to thank his majesty for having fulfilled all the wishes of his people. but then followed the attack of the military on the crowd, the barricades, the struggle, and the defeat of royalty. then everything was changed; the very working classes, which it had been the tendency of the bourgeoisie to keep in the background, had been pushed forward, had fought and conquered, and all at once were conscious of their strength. restrictions of suffrage, of the liberty of the press, of the right to sit on juries, of the right of meeting--restrictions that would have been very agreeable to the bourgeoisie because they would have touched upon such classes only as were beneath them--now were no longer possible. the danger of a repetition of the parisian scenes of "anarchy" was imminent. before this danger all former differences disappeared. against the victorious workingman, although he had not yet uttered any specific demands for himself, the friends and the foes of many years united, and the alliance between the bourgeoisie and the supporters of the over-turned system was concluded upon the very barricades of berlin. the necessary concessions, but no more than was unavoidable, were to be made, a ministry of the opposition leaders of the united diet was to be formed, and in return for its services in saving the crown, it was to have the support of all the props of the old government, the feudal aristocracy, the bureaucracy, the army. these were the conditions upon which messrs. camphausen and hansemann undertook the formation of a cabinet. such was the dread evinced by the new ministers of the aroused masses, that in their eyes every means was good if it only tended to strengthen the shaken foundations of authority. they, poor deluded wretches, thought every danger of a restoration of the old system had passed away; and thus they made use of the whole of the old state machinery for the purpose of restoring "order." not a single bureaucrat or military officer was dismissed; not the slightest change was made in the old bureaucratic system of administration. these precious constitutional and responsible ministers even restored to their posts those functionaries whom the people, in the first heat of revolutionary ardor, had driven away on account of their former acts of bureaucratic overbearing. there was nothing altered in prussia but the persons of the ministers; even the ministerial staffs in the different departments were not touched upon, and all the constitutional place-hunters, who had formed the chorus of the newly-elevated rulers, and who had expected their share of power and office, were told to wait until restored stability allowed changes to be operated in the bureaucratic personnel which now were not without danger. the king, chap-fallen in the highest degree after the insurrection of the th of march, very soon found out that he was quite as necessary to these "liberal" ministers as they were to him. the throne had been spared by the insurrection; the throne was the last existing obstacle to "anarchy"; the liberal middle class and its leaders, now in the ministry, had therefore every interest to keep on excellent terms with the crown. the king, and the reactionary camerilla that surrounded him, were not slow in discovering this, and profited by the circumstance in order to fetter the march of the ministry even in those petty reforms that were from time to time intended. the first care of the ministry was to give a sort of legal appearance to the recent violent changes. the united diet was convoked in spite of all popular opposition, in order to vote as the legal and constitutional organ of the people a new electoral law for the election of an assembly, which was to agree with the crown upon a new constitution. the elections were to be indirect, the mass of voters electing a number of electors, who then were to choose the representative. in spite of all opposition this system of double elections passed. the united diet was then asked for a loan of twenty-five millions of dollars, opposed by the popular party, but equally agreed to. these acts of the ministry gave a most rapid development to the popular, or as it now called itself, the democratic party. this party, headed by the petty trading and shopkeeping class, and uniting under its banner, in the beginning of the revolution, the large majority of the working people, demanded direct and universal suffrage, the same as established in france, a single legislative assembly, and full and open recognition of the revolution of the th of march, as the base of the new governmental system. the more moderate faction would be satisfied with a thus "democratized" monarchy, the more advanced demanded the ultimate establishment of the republic. both factions agreed in recognizing the german national assembly at frankfort as the supreme authority of the country, while the constitutionalists and reactionists affected a great horror of the sovereignty of this body, which they professed to consider as utterly revolutionary. the independent movement of the working classes had, by the revolution, been broken up for a time. the immediate wants and circumstances of the movement were such as not to allow any of the specific demands of the proletarian party to be put in the foreground. in fact, as long as the ground was not cleared for the independent action of the working men, as long as direct and universal suffrage was not yet established, as long as the thirty-six larger and smaller states continued to cut up germany into numberless morsels, what else could the proletarian party do but watch the--for them all-important--movement of paris, and struggle in common with the petty shopkeepers for the attainment of those rights, which would allow them to fight afterwards their own battle? there were only three points, then, by which the proletarian party in its political action essentially distinguished itself from the petty trading class, or properly so-called democratic party; firstly, in judging differently the french movement, with regard to which the democrats attacked, and the proletarian revolutionists defended, the extreme party in paris; secondly, in proclaiming the necessity of establishing a german republic, one and indivisible, while the very extremest ultras among the democrats only dared to sigh for a federative republic; and thirdly, in showing upon every occasion, that revolutionary boldness and readiness for action, in which any party headed by, and composed principally of petty tradesmen, will always be deficient. the proletarian, or really revolutionary party, succeeded only very gradually in withdrawing the mass of the working people from the influence of the democrats, whose tail they formed in the beginning of the revolution. but in due time the indecision, weakness, and cowardice of the democratic leaders did the rest, and it may now be said to be one of the principal results of the last years' convulsions, that wherever the working-class is concentrated in anything like considerable masses, they are entirely freed from that democratic influence which led them into an endless series of blunders and misfortunes during and . but we had better not anticipate; the events of these two years will give us plenty of opportunities to show the democratic gentlemen at work. the peasantry in prussia, the same as in austria, but with less energy, feudalism pressing, upon the whole, not quite so hardly upon them here, had profited by the revolution to free themselves at once from all feudal shackles. but here, from the reasons stated before, the middle classes at once turned against them, their oldest, their most indispensable allies; the democrats, equally frightened with the bourgeoisie, by what was called attacks upon private property, failed equally to support them; and thus, after three months' emancipation, after bloody struggles and military executions, particularly in silesia, feudalism was restored by the hands of the, until yesterday, anti-feudal bourgeoisie. there is not a more damning fact to be brought against them than this. similar treason against its best allies, against itself, never was committed by any party in history, and whatever humiliation and chastisement may be in store for this middle class party, it has deserved by this one act every morsel of it. october, . vii. the frankfort national assembly. february , . it will perhaps be in the recollection of our readers that in the six preceding papers we followed up the revolutionary movement of germany to the two great popular victories of march th in vienna, and march th in berlin. we saw, both in austria and prussia, the establishment of constitutional governments and the proclamation, as leading rules for all future policy, of liberal, or middle class principles; and the only difference observable between the two great centers of action was this, that in prussia the liberal bourgeoisie, in the persons of two wealthy merchants, messrs. camphausen and hansemann, directly seized upon the reins of power; while in austria, where the bourgeoisie was, politically, far less educated, the liberal bureaucracy walked into office, and professed to hold power in trust for them. we have further seen, how the parties and classes of society, that were heretofore all united in opposition to the old government, got divided among themselves after the victory, or even during the struggle; and how that same liberal bourgeoisie that alone profited from the victory turned round immediately upon its allies of yesterday, assumed a hostile attitude against every class or party of a more advanced character, and concluded an alliance with the conquered feudal and bureaucratic interests. it was in fact, evident, even from the beginning of the revolutionary drama, that the liberal bourgeoisie could not hold its ground against the vanquished, but not destroyed, feudal and bureaucratic parties except by relying upon the assistance of the popular and more advanced parties; and that it equally required, against the torrent of these more advanced masses, the assistance of the feudal nobility and of the bureaucracy. thus, it was clear enough that the bourgeoisie in austria and prussia did not possess sufficient strength to maintain their power, and to adapt the institutions of the country to their own wants and ideas. the liberal bourgeois ministry was only a halting-place from which, according to the turn circumstances might take, the country would either have to go on to the more advanced stage of unitarian republicanism, or to relapse into the old clerico-feudal and bureaucratic _régime_. at all events, the real, decisive struggle was yet to come; the events of march had only engaged the combat. austria and prussia being the two ruling states of germany, every decisive revolutionary victory in vienna or berlin would have been decisive for all germany. and as far as they went, the events of march, , in these two cities, decided the turn of german affairs. it would, then, be superfluous to recur to the movements that occurred in the minor states; and we might, indeed, confine ourselves to the consideration of austrian and prussian affairs exclusively, if the existence of these minor states had not given rise to a body which was, by its very existence, a most striking proof of the abnormal situation of germany and of the incompleteness of the late revolution; a body so abnormal, so ludicrous by its very position, and yet so full of its own importance, that history will, most likely, never afford a pendant to it. this body was the so-called _german national assembly_ at frankfort-on-main. after the popular victories of vienna and berlin, it was a matter of course that there should be a representative assembly for all germany. this body was consequently elected, and met at frankfort, by the side of the old federative diet. the german national assembly was expected, by the people, to settle every matter in dispute, and to act as the highest legislative authority for the whole of the german confederation. but, at the same time, the diet which had convoked it had in no way fixed its attributions. no one knew whether its decrees were to have force of law, or whether they were to be subject to the sanction of the diet, or of the individual governments. in this perplexity, if the assembly had been possessed of the least energy, it would have immediately dissolved and sent home the diet--than which no corporate body was more unpopular in germany--and replaced it by a federal government, chosen from among its own members. it would have declared itself the only legal expression of the sovereign will of the german people, and thus have attached legal validity to every one of its decrees. it would, above all, have secured to itself an organized and armed force in the country sufficient to put down any opposition on the parts of the governments. and all this was easy, very easy, at that early period of the revolution. but that would have been expecting a great deal too much from an assembly composed in its majority of liberal attorneys and _doctrinaire_ professors, an assembly which, while it pretended to embody the very essence of german intellect and science, was in reality nothing but a stage where old and worn-out political characters exhibited their involuntary ludicrousness and their impotence of thought, as well as action, before the eyes of all germany. this assembly of old women was, from the first day of its existence, more frightened of the least popular movement than of all the reactionary plots of all the german governments put together. it deliberated under the eyes of the diet, nay, it almost craved the diet's sanction to its decrees, for its first resolutions had to be promulgated by that odious body. instead of asserting its own sovereignty, it studiously avoided the discussion of any such dangerous question. instead of surrounding itself by a popular force, it passed to the order of the day over all the violent encroachments of the governments; mayence, under its very eyes, was placed in a state of siege, and the people there disarmed, and the national assembly did not stir. later on it elected archduke john of austria regent of germany, and declared that all its resolutions were to have the force of law; but then archduke john was only instituted in his new dignity after the consent of all the governments had been obtained, and he was instituted not by the assembly, but by the diet; and as to the legal force of the decrees of the assembly, that point was never recognized by the larger governments, nor enforced by the assembly itself; it therefore remained in suspense. thus we had the strange spectacle of an assembly pretending to be the only legal representative of a great and sovereign nation, and yet never possessing either the will or the force to make its claims recognized. the debates of this body, without any practical result, were not even of any theoretical value, reproducing, as they did, nothing but the most hackneyed commonplace themes of superannuated philosophical and juridical schools; every sentence that was said, or rather stammered forth, in that assembly having been printed a thousand times over, and a thousand times better, long before. thus the pretended new central authority of germany left everything as it had found it. so far from realizing the long-demanded unity of germany, it did not dispossess the most insignificant of the princes who ruled her; it did not draw closer the bonds of union between her separated provinces; it never moved a single step to break down the customhouse barriers that separated hanover from prussia, and prussia from austria; it did not even make the slightest attempt to remove the obnoxious dues that everywhere obstruct river navigation in prussia. but the less this assembly did the more it blustered. it created a german fleet--upon paper; it annexed poland and schleswig; it allowed german-austria to carry on war against italy, and yet prohibited the italians from following up the austrians into their safe retreat in germany; it gave three cheers and one cheer more for the french republic, and it received hungarian embassies, which certainly went home with far more confused ideas about germany than they had come with. this assembly had been, in the beginning of the revolution, the bugbear of all german governments. they had counted upon a very dictatorial and revolutionary action on its part--on account of the very want of definiteness in which it had been found necessary to leave its competency. these governments, therefore, got up a most comprehensive system of intrigues in order to weaken the influence of this dreaded body; but they proved to have more luck than wits, for this assembly did the work of the governments better than they themselves could have done. the chief feature among these intrigues was the convocation of local legislative assemblies, and in consequence, not only the lesser states convoked their legislatures, but prussia and austria also called constituent assemblies. in these, as in the frankfort house of representatives, the liberal middle class, or its allies, liberal lawyers, and bureaucrats had the majority, and the turn affairs took in each of them was nearly the same. the only difference is this, that the german national assembly was the parliament of an imaginary country, as it had declined the task of forming what nevertheless was its own first condition of existence, viz. a united germany; that it discussed the imaginary and never-to-be-carried-out measures of an imaginary government of its own creation, and that it passed imaginary resolutions for which nobody cared; while in austria and prussia the constituent bodies were at least real parliaments, upsetting and creating real ministries, and forcing, for a time at least, their resolutions upon the princes with whom they had to contend. they, too, were cowardly, and lacked enlarged views of revolutionary resolutions; they, too, betrayed the people, and restored power to the hands of feudal, bureaucratic, and military despotism. but then they were at least obliged to discuss practical questions of immediate interest, and to live upon earth with other people, while the frankfort humbugs were never happier than when they could roam in "the airy realms of dream," _im luftreich des traums_. thus the proceedings of the berlin and vienna constituents form an important part of german revolutionary history, while the lucubrations of the frankfort collective tomfoolery merely interest the collector of literary and antiquarian curiosities. the people of germany, deeply feeling the necessity of doing away with the obnoxious territorial division that scattered and annihilated the collective force of the nation, for some time expected to find, in the frankfort national assembly at least, the beginning of a new era. but the childish conduct of that set of wiseacres soon disenchanted the national enthusiasm. the disgraceful proceedings occasioned by the armistice of malmoe (september, ,) made the popular indignation burst out against a body which, it had been hoped, would give the nation a fair field for action, and which, instead, carried away by unequalled cowardice, only restored to their former solidity the foundations upon which the present counter-revolutionary system is built. london, january, . viii. poles, tschechs, and germans. march th, . from what has been stated in the foregoing articles, it is already evident that unless a fresh revolution was to follow that of march, , things would inevitably return, in germany, to what they were before this event. but such is the complicated nature of the historical theme upon which we are trying to throw some light, that subsequent events cannot be clearly understood without taking into account what may be called the foreign relations of the german revolution. and these foreign relations were of the same intricate nature as the home affairs. the whole of the eastern half of germany, as far as the elbe, saale, and bohemian forest, has, it is well known, been reconquered during the last thousand years, from invaders of slavonic origin. the greater part of these territories have been germanized, to the perfect extinction of all slavonic nationality and language, for several centuries past; and if we except a few totally isolated remnants, amounting in the aggregate to less than a hundred thousand souls (kassubians in pomerania, wends or sorbians in lusatia)[ ], their inhabitants are, to all intents and purposes, germans. but the case is different along the whole of the frontier of ancient poland, and in the countries of the tschechian tongue, in bohemia and moravia. here the two nationalities are mixed up in every district, the towns being generally more or less german, while the slavonic element prevails in the rural villages, where, however, it is also gradually disintegrated and forced back by the steady advance of german influence. the reason of this state of things is this: ever since the time of charlemagne, the germans have directed their most constant and persevering efforts to the conquest, colonization, or, at least, civilization of the east of europe. the conquest of the feudal nobility between the elbe and the oder, and the feudal colonies of the military orders of knights in prussia and livonia, only laid the ground for a far more extensive and effective system of germanization by the trading and manufacturing middle classes, which in germany, as in the rest of western europe, rose into social and political importance since the fifteenth century. the slavonians, and particularly the western slavonians (poles and tschechs), are essentially an agricultural race; trade and manufactures never were in great favor with them. the consequence was that, with the increase of population and the origin of cities in these regions, the production of all articles of manufacture fell into the hands of german immigrants, and the exchange of these commodities against agricultural produce became the exclusive monopoly of the jews, who, if they belong to any nationality, are in these countries certainly rather germans than slavonians. this has been, though in a less degree, the case in all the east of europe. the handicraftsman, the small shopkeeper, the petty manufacturer, is a german up to this day in petersburg, pesth, jassy, and even constantinople; while the money-lender, the publican, the hawker--a very important man in these thinly populated countries--is very generally a jew, whose native tongue is a horribly corrupted german. the importance of the german element in the slavonic frontier localities, thus rising with the growth of towns, trade and manufactures, was still increased when it was found necessary to import almost every element of mental culture from germany; after the german merchant and handicraftsman, the german clergyman, the german school-master, the german _savant_ came to establish himself upon slavonic soil. and lastly, the iron thread of conquering armies, or the cautious, well-premeditated grasp of diplomacy, not only followed, but many times went ahead of the slow but sure advance of denationalization by social development. thus, great parts of western prussia and posen have been germanized since the first partition of poland, by sales and grants of public domains to german colonists, by encouragements given to german capitalists for the establishment of manufactories, etc., in those neighborhoods, and very often, too, by excessively despotic measures against the polish inhabitants of the country. in this manner the last seventy years had entirely changed the line of demarcation between the german and polish nationalities. the revolution of calling forth at once the claim of all oppressed nations to an independent existence, and to the right of settling their own affairs for themselves, it was quite natural that the poles should at once demand the restoration of their country within the frontiers of the old polish republic before . it is true, this frontier, even at that time, had become obsolete, if taken as the delimitation of german and polish nationality; it had become more so every year since by the progress of germanization; but then, the germans had proclaimed such an enthusiasm for the restoration of poland, that they must expect to be asked, as a first proof of the reality of their sympathies to give up _their_ share of the plunder. on the other hand, should whole tracts of land, inhabited chiefly by germans, should large towns, entirely german, be given up to a people that as yet had never given any proofs of its capability of progressing beyond a state of feudalism based upon agricultural serfdom? the question was intricate enough. the only possible solution was in a war with russia. the question of delimitation between the different revolutionized nations would have been made a secondary one to that of first establishing a safe frontier against the common enemy. the poles, by receiving extended territories in the east, would have become more tractable and reasonable in the west; and riga and milan would have been deemed, after all, quite as important to them as danzig and elbing. thus the advanced party in germany, deeming a war with russia necessary to keep up the continental movement, and considering that the national re-establishment even of a part of poland would inevitably lead to such a war, supported the poles; while the reigning middle class partly clearly foresaw its downfall from any national war against russia, which would have called more active and energetic men to the helm, and, therefore, with a feigned enthusiasm for the extension of german nationality, they declared prussian poland, the chief seat of polish revolutionary agitation, to be part and parcel of the german empire that was to be. the promises given to the poles in the first days of excitement were shamefully broken. polish armaments got up with the sanction of the government were dispersed and massacred by prussian artillery; and as soon as the month of april, , within six weeks of the berlin revolution, the polish movement was crushed, and the old national hostility revived between poles and germans. this immense and incalculable service to the russian autocrat was performed by the liberal merchant-ministers, camphausen and hansemann. it must be added that this polish campaign was the first means of reorganizing and reassuring that same prussian army, which afterward turned out the liberal party, and crushed the movement which messrs. camphausen and hansemann had taken such pains to bring about. "whereby they sinned, thereby are they punished." such has been the fate of all the upstarts of and , from ledru rolin to changarnier, and from camphausen down to haynau. the question of nationality gave rise to another struggle in bohemia. this country, inhabited by two millions of germans, and three millions of slavonians of the tschechian tongue, had great historical recollections, almost all connected with the former supremacy of the tschechs. but then the force of this branch of the slavonic family had been broken ever since the wars of the hussites in the fifteenth century. the province speaking the tschechian tongue was divided, one part forming the kingdom of bohemia, another the principality of moravia, a third the carpathian hill-country of the slovaks, being part of hungary. the moravians and slovaks had long since lost every vestige of national feeling and vitality, although mostly preserving their language. bohemia was surrounded by thoroughly german countries on three sides out of four. the german element had made great progress on her own territory; even in the capital, in prague, the two nationalities were pretty equally matched; and everywhere capital, trade, industry, and mental culture were in the hands of the germans. the chief champion of the tschechian nationality, professor palacky, is himself nothing but a learned german run mad, who even now cannot speak the tschechian language correctly and without foreign accent. but as it often happens, dying tschechian nationality, dying according to every fact known in history for the last four hundred years, made in a last effort to regain its former vitality--an effort whose failure, independently of all revolutionary considerations, was to prove that bohemia could only exist, henceforth, as a portion of germany, although part of her inhabitants might yet, for some centuries, continue to speak a non-german language. london, february, . footnotes: [ ] lusiana, an ancient territory of germany, north of bohemia, to which the whole of it originally belonged. later it belonged to saxony, and still later, in , was divided between saxony (the northern part) and prussia (the southern). ix. panslavism--the schleswig-holstein war. march th, . bohemia and croatia (another disjected member of the slavonic family, acted upon by the hungarian, as bohemia by the german) were the homes of what is called on the european continent "panslavism." neither bohemia nor croatia was strong enough to exist as a nation by herself. their respective nationalities, gradually undermined by the action of historical causes that inevitably absorbs into a more energetic stock, could only hope to be restored to anything like independence by an alliance with other slavonic nations. there were twenty-two millions of poles, forty-five millions of russians, eight millions of serbians and bulgarians; why not form a mighty confederation of the whole eighty millions of slavonians, and drive back or exterminate the intruder upon the holy slavonic soil, the turk, the hungarian, and above all the hated, but indispensable _niemetz_, the german? thus in the studies of a few slavonian _dilettanti_ of historical science was this ludicrous, this anti-historical movement got up, a movement which intended nothing less than to subjugate the civilized west under the barbarian east, the town under the country, trade, manufactures, intelligence, under the primitive agriculture of slavonian serfs. but behind this ludicrous theory stood the terrible reality of the _russian empire_; that empire which by every movement proclaims the pretension of considering all europe as the domain of the slavonic race, and especially of the only energetic part of this race, of the russians; that empire which, with two capitals such as st. petersburg and moscow, has not yet found its centre of gravity, as long as the "city of the czar" (constantinople, called in russian tzarigrad, the czar's city), considered by every russian peasant as the true metropolis of his religion and his nation, is not actually the residence of its emperor; that empire which, for the last one hundred and fifty years, has never lost, but always gained territory by every war it has commenced. and well known in central europe are the intrigues by which russian policy supported the new-fangled system of panslavism, a system than which none better could be invented to suit its purposes. thus, the bohemian and croatian panslavists, some intentionally, some without knowing it, worked in the direct interest of russia; they betrayed the revolutionary cause for the shadow of a nationality which, in the best of cases, would have shared the fate of the polish nationality under russian sway. it must, however, be said for the honor of the poles, that they never got to be seriously entangled in these panslavist traps, and if a few of the aristocracy turned furious panslavists, they knew that by russian subjugation they had less to lose than by a revolt of their own peasant serfs. the bohemians and croatians called, then, a general slavonic congress at prague, for the preparation of the universal slavonian alliance. this congress would have proved a decided failure even without the interference of the austrian military. the several slavonic languages differ quite as much as the english, the german, and the swedish, and when the proceedings opened, there was no common slavonic tongue by which the speakers could make themselves understood. french was tried, but was equally unintelligible to the majority, and the poor slavonic enthusiasts, whose only common feeling was a common hatred against the germans, were at last obliged to express themselves in the hated german language, as the only one that was generally understood! but just then another slavonic congress was assembling in prague, in the shape of galician lancers, croatian and slovak grenadiers, and bohemian gunners and cuirassiers; and this real, armed slavonic congress, under the command of windischgrätz, in less than twenty-four hours drove the founders of an imaginary slavonian supremacy out of the town, and dispersed them to the winds. the bohemian, moravian, dalmatian, and part of the polish deputies (the aristocracy) to the austrian constituent diet, made in that assembly a systematic war upon the german element. the germans, and part of the poles (the impoverished nobility), were in this assembly the chief supporters of revolutionary progress; the mass of the slavonic deputies, in opposing them, were not satisfied with thus showing clearly the reactionary tendencies of their entire movement, but they were degraded enough to tamper and conspire with the very same austrian government which had dispersed their meeting at prague. they, too, were paid for this infamous conduct; after supporting the government during the insurrection of october, , an event which finally secured to them a majority in the diet, this now almost exclusively slavonic diet was dispersed by austrian soldiers, the same as the prague congress, and the panslavists threatened with imprisonment if they should stir again. and they have only obtained this, that slavonic nationality is now being everywhere undermined by austrian centralization, a result for which they may thank their own fanaticism and blindness. if the frontiers of hungary and germany had admitted of any doubt, there would certainly have been another quarrel there. but, fortunately, there was no pretext, and the interests of both nations being intimately related, they struggled against the same enemies, _viz._, the austrian government and the panslavistic fanaticism. the good understanding was not for a moment disturbed. but the italian revolution entangled at least a part of germany in an internecine war, and it must be stated here, as a proof how far the metternichian system had succeeded in keeping back the development of the public mind, that during the first six months of , the same men that had in vienna mounted the barricades, went, full of enthusiasm, to join the army that fought against the italian patriots. this deplorable confusion of ideas did not, however, last long. lastly, there was the war with denmark about schleswig and holstein. these countries, unquestionably german by nationality, language and predilection, are also from military, naval and commercial grounds necessary to germany. their inhabitants have, for the last three years, struggled hard against danish intrusion. the right of treaties, besides, was for them. the revolution of march brought them into open collision with the danes, and germany supported them. but while in poland, in italy, in bohemia, and later on, in hungary, military operations were pushed with the utmost vigor, in this the only popular, the only, at least partially, revolutionary war, a system of resultless marches and counter-marches was adopted, and an interference of foreign diplomacy was submitted to, which led, after many an heroic engagement, to a most miserable end. the german government betrayed, during the war, the schleswig-holstein revolutionary army on every occasion, and allowed it purposely to be cut up, when dispersed or divided, by the danes. the german corps of volunteers were treated the same. but while thus the german name earned nothing but hatred on every side, the german constitutional and liberal governments rubbed their hands for joy. they had succeeded in crushing the polish and the bohemian movements. they had everywhere revived the old national animosities, which heretofore had prevented any common understanding and action between the german, the pole, the italian. they had accustomed the people to scenes of civil war and repression by the military. the prussian army had regained its confidence in poland, the austrian army in prague; and while the superabundant patriotism ("_die patriotische ueberkraft_," as heine has it) of revolutionary but shortsighted youth was led in schleswig and lombardy, to be crushed by the grape-shot of the enemy, the regular army, the real instrument of action, both of prussia and austria, was placed in a position to regain public favor by victories over the foreigner. but we repeat: these armies, strengthened by the liberals as a means of action against the more advanced party, no sooner had recovered their self-confidence and their discipline in some degree, than they turned themselves against the liberals, and restored to power the men of the old system. when radetzky, in his camp beyond the adige, received the first orders from the "responsible ministers" at vienna, he exclaimed: "who are these ministers? they are not the government of austria! austria is now nowhere but in my camp; i and my army, we are austria; and when we shall have beaten the italians we shall reconquer the empire for the emperor!" and old radetzky was right--but the imbecile "responsible" ministers at vienna heeded him not. london, february, . x. the paris rising--the frankfort assembly. march th, . as early as the beginning of april, , the revolutionary torrent had found itself stemmed all over the continent of europe by the league which those classes of society that had profited by the first victory immediately formed with the vanquished. in france, the petty trading class and the republican faction of the bourgeoisie had combined with the monarchist bourgeoisie against the proletarians; in germany and italy, the victorious bourgeoisie had eagerly courted the support of the feudal nobility, the official bureaucracy, and the army, against the mass of the people and the petty traders. very soon the united conservative and counter-revolutionary parties again regained the ascendant. in england, an untimely and ill-prepared popular demonstration (april th) turned out a complete and decisive defeat of the popular party. in france, two similar movements ( th april and th may) were equally defeated. in italy, king bomba regained his authority by a single stroke on the th may. in germany, the different new bourgeois governments and their respective constituent assemblies consolidated themselves, and if the eventful th of may gave rise, in vienna, to a popular victory, this was an event of merely secondary importance, and may be considered the last successful flash of popular energy. in hungary the movement appeared to turn into the quiet channel of perfect legality, and the polish movement, as we have seen in our last, was stifled in the bud by prussian bayonets. but as yet nothing was decided as to the eventual turn which things would take, and every inch of ground lost by the revolutionary parties in the different countries only tended to close their ranks more and more for the decisive action. the decisive action drew near. it could be fought in france only; for france, as long as england took no part in the revolutionary strife, or as germany remained divided, was, by its national independence, civilization, and centralization, the only country to impart the impulse of a mighty convulsion to the surrounding countries. accordingly, when, on the rd of june, , the bloody struggle began in paris, when every succeeding telegraph or mail more clearly exposed the fact to the eyes of europe, that this struggle was carried on between the mass of the working people on the one hand, and all the other classes of the parisian population, supported by the army, on the other; when the fighting went on for several days with an exasperation unequalled in the history of modern civil warfare, but without any apparent advantage for either side--then it became evident to every one that this was the great decisive battle which would, if the insurrection were victorious, deluge the whole continent with renewed revolutions, or, if it was suppressed, bring about an at least momentary restoration of counter-revolutionary rule. the proletarians of paris were defeated, decimated, crushed with such an effect that even now they have not yet recovered from the blow. and immediately, all over europe, the new and old conservatives and counter-revolutionists raised their heads with an effrontery that showed how well they understood the importance of the event. the press was everywhere attacked, the rights of meeting and association were interfered with, every little event in every small provincial town was taken profit of to disarm the people to declare a state of siege, to drill the troops in the new manoeuvres and artifices that cavaignac had taught them. besides, for the first time since february, the invincibility of a popular insurrection in a large town had been proved to be a delusion; the honor of the armies had been restored; the troops hitherto always defeated in street battles of importance regained confidence in their efficiency even in this kind of struggle. from this defeat of the _ouvriers_ of paris may be dated the first positive steps and definite plans of the old feudal bureaucratic party in germany, to get rid even of their momentary allies, the middle classes, and to restore germany to the state she was in before the events of march. the army again was the decisive power in the state, and the army belonged not to the middle classes but to themselves. even in prussia, where before a considerable leaning of part of the lower grades of officers towards a constitutional government had been observed, the disorder introduced into the army by the revolution had brought back those reasoning young men to their allegiance; as soon as the private soldier took a few liberties with regard to the officers, the necessity of discipline and passive obedience became at once strikingly evident to them. the vanquished nobles and bureaucrats now began to see their way before them; the army, more united than ever, flushed with victory in minor insurrections and in foreign warfare, jealous of the great success the french soldiers had just attained--this army had only to be kept in constant petty conflicts with the people, and the decisive moment once at hand, it could with one great blow crush the revolutionists, and set aside the presumptions of the middle class parliamentarians. and the proper moment for such a decisive blow arrived soon enough. we pass over the sometimes curious, but mostly tedious, parliamentary proceedings and local struggles that occupied, in germany, the different parties during the summer. suffice it to say that the supporters of the middle class interest in spite of numerous parliamentary triumphs, not one of which led to any practical result, very generally felt that their position between the extreme parties became daily more untenable, and that, therefore, they were obliged now to seek the alliance of the reactionists, and the next day to court the favor of the more popular factions. this constant vacillation gave the finishing stroke to their character in public opinion, and according to the turn events were taking, the contempt into which they had sunk, profited for the movement principally to the bureaucrats and feudalists. by the beginning of autumn the relative position of the different parties had become exasperated and critical enough to make a decisive battle inevitable. the first engagements in this war between the democratic and revolutionary masses and the army took place at frankfort. though a mere secondary engagement, it was the first advantage of any note the troops acquired over the insurrection, and had a great moral effect. the fancy government established by the frankfort national assembly had been allowed by prussia, for very obvious reasons, to conclude an armistice with denmark, which not only surrendered to danish vengeance the germans of schleswig, but which also entirely disclaimed the more or less revolutionary principles which were generally supposed in the danish war. this armistice was, by a majority of two or three, rejected in the frankfort assembly. a sham ministerial crisis followed this vote, but three days later the assembly reconsidered their vote, and were actually induced to cancel it and acknowledge the armistice. this disgraceful proceeding roused the indignation of the people. barricades were erected, but already sufficient troops had been drawn to frankfort, and after six hours' fighting, the insurrection was suppressed. similar, but less important, movements connected with this event took place in other parts of germany (baden, cologne), but were equally defeated. this preliminary engagement gave to the counter-revolutionary party the one great advantage, that now the only government which had entirely--at least in semblance--originated with popular election, the imperial government of frankfort, as well as the national assembly, was ruined in the eyes of the people. this government and this assembly had been obliged to appeal to the bayonets of the troops against the manifestation of the popular will. they were compromised, and what little regard they might have been hitherto enabled to claim, this repudiation of their origin, the dependency upon the anti-popular governments and their troops, made both the lieutenant of the empire, his ministers and his deputies, henceforth to be complete nullities. we shall soon see how first austria, then prussia, and later on the smaller states too, treated with contempt every order, every request, every deputation they received from this body of impotent dreamers. we now come to the great counter-stroke in germany, of the french battle of june, to that event which was as decisive for germany as the proletarian struggle of paris had been for france; we mean the revolution and subsequent storming of vienna, october, . but the importance of this battle is such, and the explanation of the different circumstances that more immediately contributed to its issue will take up such a portion of _the tribune's_ columns, as to necessitate its being treated in a separate letter. london, february, . xi. the vienna insurrection. march th, . we now come to the decisive event which formed the counter-revolutionary part in germany to the parisian insurrection of june, and which, by a single blow, turned the scale in favor of the counter-revolutionary party,--the insurrection of october, , in vienna. we have seen what the position of the different classes was, in vienna, after the victory of th march. we have also seen how the movement of german-austria was entangled with and impeded by the events in the non-german provinces of austria. it only remains for us, then, briefly to survey the causes which led to this last and most formidable rising of german-austria. the high aristocracy and the stock-jobbing bourgeoisie, which had formed the principal non-official supports of the metternichian government, were enabled, even after the events of march, to maintain a predominating influence with the government, not only by the court, the army and the bureaucracy, but still more by the horror of "anarchy," which rapidly spread among the middle classes. they very soon ventured a few feelers in the shape of a press law, a nondescript aristocratic constitution, and an electoral law based upon the old division of "estates." the so-called constitutional ministry, consisting of half liberal, timid, incapable bureaucrats, on the th of may, even ventured a direct attack upon the revolutionary organizations of the masses by dissolving the central committee of delegates of the national guard and academic legion; a body formed for the express purpose of controlling the government, and calling out against it, in case of need, the popular forces. but this act only provoked the insurrection of the th may, by which the government was forced to acknowledge the committee, to repeal the constitution and the electoral law and to grant the power of framing a new fundamental law to a constitutional diet, elected by universal suffrage. all this was confirmed on the following day by an imperial proclamation. but the reactionary party, which also had its representatives in the ministry, soon got their "liberal" colleagues to undertake a new attack upon the popular conquests. the academic legion, the stronghold of the movement party, the centre of continuous agitation, had, on this very account, become obnoxious to the more moderate burghers of vienna; on the th a ministerial decree dissolved it. perhaps this blow might have succeeded, if it had been carried out by a part of the national guard only, but the government, not trusting them either, brought the military forward, and at once the national guard turned round, united with the academic legion, and thus frustrated the ministerial project. in the meantime, however, the emperor and his court had, on the th of may, left vienna, and fled to innspruck. here surrounded by the bigoted tyroleans, whose loyalty was roused again by the danger of an invasion of their country by the sardo-lombardian army, supported by the vicinity of radetzky's troops, within shell-range of whom innspruck lay, here the counter-revolutionary party found an asylum, from whence, uncontrolled, unobserved and safe, it might rally its scattered forces, repair and spread again all over the country the network of its plots. communications were reopened with radetzky, with jellachich, and with windischgrätz, as well as with the reliable men in the administrative hierarchy of the different provinces; intrigues were set on foot with the slavonic chiefs, and thus a real force at the disposal of the counter-revolutionary camarilla was formed, while the impotent ministers in vienna were allowed to wear their short and feeble popularity out in continual bickerings with the revolutionary masses, and in the debates of the forthcoming constituent assembly. thus the policy of leaving the movement of the capital to itself for a time; a policy which must have led to the omnipotence of the movement party in a centralized and homogeneous country like france, here in austria, in a heterogeneous political conglomerate, was one of the safest means of reorganizing the strength of the reactionists. in vienna the middle class, persuaded that after three successive defeats, and in the face of a constituent assembly based upon universal suffrage, the court was no longer an opponent to be dreaded, fell more and more into that weariness and apathy, and that eternal outcry for order and tranquillity, which has everywhere seized this class after violent commotions and consequent derangement of trade. the manufactures of the austrian capital are almost exclusively limited to articles of luxury, for which, since the revolution and the flight of the court, there had necessarily been little demand. the shout for a return to a regular system of government, and for a return of the court, both of which were expected to bring about a revival of commercial prosperity--this shout became now general among the middle classes. the meeting of the constituent assembly in july was hailed with delight as the end of the revolutionary era; so was the return of the court, which, after the victories of radetzky in italy, and after the advent of the reactionary ministry of doblhoff, considered itself strong enough to brave the popular torrent, and which, at the same time, was wanted in vienna in order to complete its intrigues with the slavonic majority of the diet. while the constituent diet discussed the laws on the emancipation of the peasantry from feudal bondage and forced labor for the nobility, the court completed a master stroke. on the th of august the emperor was made to review the national guard; the imperial family, the courtiers, the general officers, outbade each other in flatteries to the armed burghers, who were already intoxicated with pride at thus seeing themselves publicly acknowledged as one of the important bodies of the state; and immediately afterwards a decree, signed by herr schwarzer, the only popular minister in the cabinet, was published, withdrawing the government aid, given hitherto to the workmen out of employ. the trick succeeded; the working classes got up a demonstration; the middle class national guards declared for the decree of their minister; they were launched upon the "anarchists," fell like tigers on the unarmed and unresisting workpeople, and massacred a great number of them on the rd of august. thus the unity and strength of the revolutionary force was broken; the class-struggle between bourgeois and proletarian had come in vienna, too, to a bloody outbreak, and the counter-revolutionary camarilla saw the day approaching on which it might strike its grand blow. the hungarian affairs very soon offered an opportunity to proclaim openly the principles upon which it intended to act. on the th of october an imperial decree in the _vienna gazette_--a decree countersigned by none of the responsible ministers for hungary--declared the hungarian diet dissolved, and named the ban jellachich, of croatia, civil and military governor of that country--jellachich, the leader of south slavonian reaction, a man who was actually at war with the lawful authorities of hungary. at the same time orders were given to the troops in vienna to march out and form part of the army which was to enforce jellachich's authority. this, however, was showing the cloven foot too openly; every man in vienna felt that war upon hungary was war upon the principle of constitutional government, which principle was in the very decree trampled upon by the attempt of the emperor to make decrees with legal force, without the countersign of a responsible minister. the people, the academic legion, the national guard of vienna, on the th of october rose in mass, and resisted the departure of the troops; some grenadiers passed over to the people; a short struggle took place between the popular forces and the troops; the minister of war, latour, was massacred by the people, and in the evening the latter were victors. in the meantime, ban jellachich, beaten at stuhlweissenburg by perczel, had taken refuge near vienna on german-austrian territory; the viennese troops that were to march to his support now took up an ostensibly hostile and defensive position against him; and the emperor and court had again fled to olmütz, on semi-slavonic territory. but at olmütz the court found itself in very different circumstances from what it had been at innspruck. it was now in a position to open immediately the campaign against the revolution. it was surrounded by the slavonian deputies of the constituent, who flocked in masses to olmütz, and by the slavonian enthusiasts from all parts of the monarchy. the campaign, in their eyes, was to be a war of slavonian restoration and of extermination, against the two intruders, upon what was considered slavonian soil, against the german and the magyar. windischgrätz, the conqueror of prague, now commander of the army that was concentrated around vienna, became at once the hero of slavonian nationality. and his army concentrated rapidly from all sides. from bohemia, moravia, styria, upper austria, and italy, marched regiment after regiment on routes that converged at vienna, to join the troops of jellachich and the ex-garrison of the capital. above sixty thousand men were thus united towards the end of october, and soon they commenced hemming in the imperial city on all sides, until, on the th of october, they were far enough advanced to venture upon the decisive attack. in vienna, in the meantime, confusion and helplessness was prevalent. the middle class, as soon as the victory was gained, became again possessed of their old distrust against the "anarchic" working classes; the working men, mindful of the treatment they had received, six weeks before, at the hands of the armed tradesmen, and of the unsteady, wavering policy of the middle class at large, would not trust to them the defence of the city, and demanded arms and military organization for themselves. the academic legion, full of zeal for the struggle against imperial despotism, were entirely incapable of understanding the nature of the estrangement of the two classes, or of otherwise comprehending the necessities of the situation. there was confusion in the public mind, confusion in the ruling councils. the remnant of the german diet deputies, and a few slavonians, acting the part of spies for their friends at olmütz, besides a few of the more revolutionary polish deputies, sat in permanency; but instead of taking part resolutely, they lost all their time in idle debates upon the possibility of resisting the imperial army without overstepping the bounds of constitutional conventionalities. the committee of safety, composed of deputies from almost all the popular bodies of vienna, although resolved to resist, was yet dominated by a majority of burghers and petty tradesmen, who never allowed it to follow up any determined, energetic line of action. the council of the academic legion passed heroic resolutions, but was in no way able to take the lead. the working classes, distrusted, disarmed, disorganized, hardly emerging from the intellectual bondage of the old _régime_, hardly awaking, not to a knowledge, but to a mere instinct of their social position and proper political line of action, could only make themselves heard by loud demonstrations, and could not be expected to be up to the difficulties of the moment. but they were ready--as they ever were in germany during the revolution--to fight to the last, as soon as they obtained arms. that was the state of things in vienna. outside, the reorganized austrian army flushed with the victories of radetzky in italy; sixty or seventy thousand men well armed, well organized, and if not well commanded at least possessing commanders. inside, confusion, class division, disorganization; a national guard part of which was resolved not to fight at all, part irresolute, and only the smallest part ready to act; a proletarian mass, powerful by numbers but without leaders, without any political education, subject to panic as well as to fits of fury almost without cause, a prey to every false rumor spread about, quite ready to fight, but unarmed, at least in the beginning, and incompletely armed, and barely organized when at last they were led to battle; a helpless diet, discussing theoretical quibbles while the roof over their heads was almost burning; a leading committee without impulse or energy. everything was changed from the days of march and may, when, in the counter-revolutionary camp, all was confusion, and when the only organized force was that created by the revolution. there could hardly be a doubt about the issue of such a struggle, and whatever doubt there might be, was settled by the events of the th and st of october, and st november. london, march, . xii. the storming of vienna--the betrayal of vienna. april th, . when at last the concentrated army of windischgrätz commenced the attack upon vienna, the forces that could be brought forward in defence were exceedingly insufficient for the purpose. of the national guard only a portion was to be brought to the entrenchments. a proletarian guard, it is true, had at last been hastily formed, but owing to the lateness of the attempt to thus make available the most numerous, most daring, and most energetic part of the population, it was too little inured to the use of arms and to the very first rudiments of discipline to offer a successful resistance. thus the academic legion, three to four thousand strong, well exercised and disciplined to a certain degree, brave and enthusiastic, was, militarily speaking, the only force which was in a state to do its work successfully. but what were they, together with the few reliable national guards, and with the confused mass of the armed proletarians, in opposition to the far more numerous regulars of windischgrätz, not counting even the brigand hordes of jellachich, hordes that were, by the very nature of their habits, very useful in a war from house to house, from lane to lane? and what but a few old, outworn, ill-mounted, and ill-served pieces of ordnance had the insurgents to oppose to that numerous and well-appointed artillery, of which windischgrätz made such an unscrupulous use? the nearer the danger drew, the more grew the confusion in vienna. the diet, up to the last moment, could not collect sufficient energy to call in for aid the hungarian army of perczel, encamped a few leagues below the capital. the committee passed contradictory resolutions, they themselves being, like the popular armed masses, floated up and down with the alternately rising and receding tide of rumors and counter-rumors. there was only one thing upon which all agreed--to respect property; and this was done in a degree almost ludicrous for such times. as to the final arrangement of a plan of defence, very little was done. bem, the only man present who could have saved vienna, if any could then in vienna, an almost unknown foreigner, a slavonian by birth, gave up the task, overwhelmed as he was by universal distrust. had he persevered, he might have been lynched as a traitor. messenhauser, the commander of the insurgent forces, more of a novel-writer than even of a subaltern officer, was totally inadequate to the task; and yet, after eight months of revolutionary struggles, the popular party had not produced or acquired a military man of more ability than he. thus the contest began. the viennese considering their utterly inadequate means of defence, considering their utter absence of military skill and organization in the ranks, offered a most heroic resistance. in many places the order given by bem, when he was in command, "to defend that post to the last man," was carried out to the letter. but force prevailed. barricade after barricade was swept away by the imperial artillery in the long and wide avenues which form the main streets of the suburbs; and on the evening of the second day's fighting the croats occupied the range of houses facing the glacis of the old town. a feeble and disorderly attack of the hungarian army had been utterly defeated; and during an armistice, while some parties in the old town capitulated, while others hesitated and spread confusion, while the remnants of the academic legion prepared fresh intrenchments, an entrance was made by the imperialists, and in the midst of the general disorder the old town was carried. the immediate consequences of this victory, the brutalities and executions by martial law, the unheard-of cruelties and infamies committed by the slavonian hordes let loose upon vienna, are too well known to be detailed here. the ulterior consequences, the entirely new turn given to german affairs by the defeat of the revolution in vienna, we shall have reason to notice hereafter. there remain two points to be considered in connection with the storming of vienna. the people of that capital had two allies--the hungarians and the german people. where were they in the hour of trial? we have seen that the viennese, with all the generosity of a newly freed people, had risen for a cause which, though ultimately their own, was in the first instance, and above all, that of the hungarians. rather than suffer the austrian troops to march upon hungary, they would draw their first and most terrific onslaught upon themselves. and while they thus nobly came forward for the support of their allies, the hungarians, successful against jellachich, drove him upon vienna, and by their victory strengthened the force that was to attack that town. under these circumstances it was the clear duty of hungary to support, without delay, and with all disposable forces, not the diet of vienna, not the committee of safety or any other official body at vienna, but the _viennese_ revolution. and if hungary should even have forgotten that vienna had fought the first battle of hungary, she owed it to her own safety not to forget that vienna was the only outpost of hungarian independence, and that after the fall of vienna nothing could meet the advance of the imperial troops against herself. now, we know very well all the hungarians can say and have said in defence of their inactivity during the blockade and storming of vienna: the insufficient state of their own force, the refusal of the diet or any other official body in vienna to call them in, the necessity to keep on constitutional ground, and to avoid complications with the german central power. but the fact is, as to the insufficient state of the hungarian army, that in the first days after the viennese revolution and the arrival of jellachich, nothing was wanted in the shape of regular troops, as the austrian regulars were very far from being concentrated; and that a courageous, unrelenting following up of the first advantage over jellachich, even with nothing but the _land sturm_ that had fought at stuhlweissenburg, would have sufficed to effect a junction with the viennese, and to adjourn to that day six months every concentration of an austrian army. in war, and particularly in revolutionary warfare, rapidity of action until some decided advantage is gained is the first rule, and we have no hesitation in saying that upon _merely military grounds_. perczel ought not to have stopped until his junction with the viennese was affected. there was certainly some risk, but who ever won a battle without risking something? and did the people of vienna risk nothing when they drew upon themselves--they, a population of four hundred thousand--the forces that were to march to the conquest of twelve millions of hungarians? the military fault committed by waiting until the austrians had united, and by making the feeble demonstration at schwechat which ended, as it deserved to do, in an inglorious defeat--this military fault certainly incurred more risks than a resolute march upon vienna against the disbanded brigands of jellachich would have done. but, it is said, such an advance of the hungarians, unless authorized by some official body, would have been a violation of the german territory, would have brought on complications with the central power at frankfort, and would have been, above all, an abandonment of the legal and constitutional policy which formed the strength of the hungarian cause. why, the official bodies in vienna were nonentities! was it the diet, was it the popular committees, who had risen for hungary, or was it the people of vienna, and they alone, who had taken to the musket to stand the brunt of the first battle for hungary's independence? it was not this nor that official body in vienna which it was important to uphold; all these bodies might, and would have been, upset very soon in the progress of the revolutionary development; but it was the ascendancy of the revolutionary movement, the unbroken progress of popular action itself, which alone was in question, and which alone could save hungary from invasion. what forms this revolutionary movement afterwards might take, was the business of the viennese, not of the hungarians, so long as vienna and german austria at large continued their allies against the common enemy. but the question is, whether in this stickling of the hungarian government for some quasi-legal authorization, we are not to see the first clear symptom of that pretence to a rather doubtful legality of proceeding, which, if it did not save hungary, at least told very well, at a later period, before the english middle class audiences. as to the pretext of possible conflicts with the central power of germany at frankfort, it is quite futile. the frankfort authorities were _de facto_ upset by the victory of the counter-revolution at vienna; they would have been equally upset had the revolution there found the support necessary to defeat its enemies. and lastly, the great argument that hungary could not leave legal and constitutional ground, may do very well for british free-traders, but it will never be deemed sufficient in the eyes of history. suppose the people of vienna had stuck to "legal and constitutional means" on the th of march, and on the th of october, what then of the "legal and constitutional" movement, and of all the glorious battles which, for the first time, brought hungary to the notice of the civilized world? the very legal and constitutional ground upon which it is asserted the hungarians moved in and was conquered for them by the exceedingly illegal and unconstitutional rising of the people of vienna on the th march. it is not to our purpose here to discuss the revolutionary history of hungary, but it may be deemed proper if we observe that it is utterly useless to professedly use merely legal means of resistance against an enemy who scorns such scruples; and if we add, that had it not been for this eternal pretence of legality which görgey seized upon and turned against the government, the devotion of görgey's army to its general, and the disgraceful catastrophe of villagos, would have been impossible. and when, at last, to save their honor, the hungarians came across the leitha, in the latter end of october, , was not this quite as illegal as any immediate and resolute attack would have been? we are known to harbor no unfriendly feeling toward hungary. we stood by her during the struggles; we may be allowed to say that our paper, the _neue rheinische zeitung_,[ ] has done more than any other to render the hungarian cause popular in germany, by explaining the nature of the struggle between the magyar and slavonian races, and by following up the hungarian war in a series of articles which have had paid them the compliment of being plagiarized in almost every subsequent book upon the subject, the works of native hungarians and "eyewitnesses" not excepted. we even now, in any future continental convulsion, consider hungary as the necessary and natural ally of germany. but we have been severe enough upon our own countrymen, to have a right to speak out upon our neighbors; and then we have here to record facts with historical impartiality, and we must say that in this particular instance, the generous bravery of the people of vienna was not only far more noble, but also more far-sighted than the cautious circumspection of the hungarian government. and, as a german, we may further be allowed to say, that not for all the showy victories and glorious battles of the hungarian campaign, would we exchange that spontaneous, single-handed rising, and heroic resistance of the people of vienna, our countrymen, which gave hungary the time to organize the army that could do such great things. the second ally of vienna was the german people. but they were everywhere engaged in the same struggle as the viennese. frankfort, baden, cologne, had just been defeated and disarmed. in berlin and breslau the people were at daggers-drawn with the army, and daily expected to come to blows. thus it was in every local center of action. everywhere questions were pending that could only be settled by the force of arms; and now it was that for the first time were severely felt the disastrous consequences of the continuation of the old dismemberment and decentralization of germany. the different questions in every state, every province, every town, were fundamentally the same; but they were brought forward everywhere under different shapes and pretexts, and had everywhere attained different degrees of maturity. thus it happened that while in every locality the decisive gravity of the events at vienna was felt, yet nowhere could an important blow be struck with any hope of bringing the viennese succor, or making a diversion in their favor; and there remained nothing to aid them but the parliament and central power of frankfort; they were appealed to on all hands; but what did they do? the frankfort parliament and the bastard child it had brought to light by incestuous intercourse with the old german diet, the so-called central power, profited by the viennese movement to show forth their utter nullity. this contemptible assembly, as we have seen, had long since sacrificed its virginity, and young as it was, it was already turning grey-headed and experienced in all the artifices of painting and pseudo-diplomatic prostitution. of the dreams and illusions of power, of german regeneration and unity, that in the beginning had pervaded it, nothing remained but a set of teutonic clap-trap phraseology, that was repeated on every occasion, and a firm belief of each individual member in his own importance, as well as in the credulity of the public. the original naivety was discarded; the representatives of the german people had turned practical men, that is to say, they had made it out that the less they did, and the more they prated, the safer would be their position as the umpires of the fate of germany. not that they considered their proceedings superfluous; quite the contrary. but they had found out that all really great questions, being to them forbidden ground, had better be let alone, and there, like a set of byzantine doctors of the lower empire, they discussed with an importance and assiduity worthy of the fate that at last overtook them, theoretical dogmas long ago settled in every part of the civilized world, or microscopical practical questions which never led to any practical result. thus, the assembly being a sort of lancastrian school for the mutual instruction of members, and being, therefore, very important to themselves, they were persuaded it was doing even more than the german people had a right to expect, and looked upon everyone as a traitor to the country who had impudence to ask them to come to any result. when the viennese insurrection broke out, there was a host of interpellations, debates, motions, and amendments upon it, which, of course, led to nothing. the central power was to interfere. it sent two commissioners, welcker, the ex-liberal, and mosle, to vienna. the travels of don quixote and sancho panza form matter for an odyssey in comparison with the heroic feats and wonderful adventures of those two knight-errants of german unity. not daring to go to vienna, they were bullied by windischgrätz, wondered at by the idiot emperor, and impudently hoaxed by the minister stadion. their despatches and reports are perhaps the only portion of the frankfort transactions that will retain a place in german literature; they are a perfect satirical romance, ready cut and dried, and an eternal monument of disgrace for the frankfort assembly and its government. the left side of the assembly had also sent two commissioners to vienna, in order to uphold its authority there--froebel and robert blum. blum, when danger drew near, judged rightly that here the great battle of the german revolution was to be fought, and unhesitatingly resolved to stake his head on the issue. froebel, on the contrary, was of opinion that it was his duty to preserve himself for the important duties of his post at frankfort. blum was considered one of the most eloquent men of the frankfort assembly; he certainly was the most popular. his eloquence would not have stood the test of any experienced parliamentary assembly; he was too fond of the shallow declamations of a german dissenting preacher, and his arguments wanted both philosophical acumen and acquaintance with practical matters of fact. in politics he belonged to "moderate democracy," a rather indefinite sort of thing, cherished on account of this very want of definiteness in its principles. but with all this robert blum was by nature a thorough, though somewhat polished, plebeian, and in decisive moments his plebeian instinct and plebeian energy got the better of his indefiniteness, and, therefore, indecisive political persuasion and knowledge. in such moments he raised himself far above the usual standard of his capacities. thus, in vienna, he saw at a glance that here, not in the midst of the would-be elegant debates of frankfort, the fate of his country would have to be decided. he at once made up his mind, gave up all idea of retreat, took a command in the revolutionary force, and behaved with extraordinary coolness and decision. it was he who retarded for a considerable time the taking of the town, and covered one of its sides from attack by burning the tabor bridge over the danube. everybody knows how, after the storming, he was arrested, tried by court-martial, and shot. he died like a hero. and the frankfort assembly, horrorstruck as it was, yet took the bloody insult with a seeming good grace. a resolution was carried, which, by the softness and diplomatic decency of its language, was more an insult to the grave of the murdered martyr than a damning stain upon austria. but it was not to be expected that this contemptible assembly should resent the assassination of one of its members, particularly of the leader of the left. london, march, . footnotes: [ ] "die neue rheinische zeitung" (the new rhenish gazette). after the march revolution, , marx returned from paris to germany, and settling down--for the time being--at cologne, founded this paper. although the "neue rheinische zeitung" never went in for propounding "communist schemes," as mr. dawson, e.g., says it did, it became a very nightmare to the government. reactionaries and liberals alike denounced the "gazette," especially after marx's brilliant defence of the paris insurrection of june. the state of siege being declared in cologne, the "gazette" was suspended for six weeks--only to appear with a bigger reputation and bigger circulation than before. after the prussian "coup d'état" in november, the "gazette" published at the head of every issue an appeal to the people to refuse to pay taxes, and to meet force by force. for this and certain other articles the paper was twice prosecuted. on the first occasion the accused were marx, engels, and korff; on the second and more important trial, they were marx, schapper, and schneider. the accused were charged with "inciting the people to armed resistance against the government and its officials." marx mainly conducted the defence, and delivered a brilliant speech. "marx refrains" (in this speech) "from all oratorical flourish; he goes straight to the point, and without any peroration ends with a summary of the political situation. anyone would think that marx's own personality was to deliver a political lecture to the jury. and, in fact, at the end of the trial, one of the jurors went to marx to thank him, in the name of his colleagues, for the instructive lecture he had given them." (see bernstein's work, "ferdinand lassalle.") the accused were unanimously acquitted by the jury. among the better known of the contributors of the "new rhenish gazette," edited by marx, were engels, w. wolff, werth, lassalle; while freiligrath wrote for it his splendid revolutionary poems. perhaps one of the grandest of these is the celebrated "farewell of the 'rhenish gazette'," when on the th may, , the final number of the paper--suppressed by the government--appeared, printed in red type. "when the last of crowns like glass shall break, on the scene our sorrows have haunted, and the people the last dread 'guilty' shall speak, by your side ye shall find me undaunted. on rhine or on danube, in word and deed, you shall witness, true to his vow, on the wrecks of thrones, in the midst of the freed the rebel who greets you now." (translated by ernest jones.) xiii. the prussian assembly--the national assembly. april th, . on the st of november vienna fell, and on the th of the same month the dissolution of the constituent assembly in berlin showed how much this event had at once raised the spirit and the strength of the counter-revolutionary party all over germany. the events of the summer of in prussia are soon told. the constituent assembly, or rather "the assembly elected for the purpose of agreeing upon a constitution with the crown," and its majority of representatives of the middle class interest, had long since forfeited all public esteem by lending itself to all the intrigues of the court, from fear of the more energetic elements of the population. they had confirmed, or rather restored, the obnoxious privileges of feudalism, and thus betrayed the liberty and the interests of the peasantry. they had neither been able to draw up a constitution, nor to amend in any way the general legislation. they had occupied themselves almost exclusively with nice theoretical distinctions, mere formalities, and questions of constitutional etiquette. the assembly, in fact, was more a school of parliamentary _savoir vivre_ for its members, than a body in which the people could take any interest. the majorities were, besides, very nicely balanced, and almost always decided by the wavering centers whose oscillations from right to left, and _vice versa_, upset, first the ministry of camphausen, then that of auerswald and hansemann. but while thus the liberals, here as everywhere else, let the occasion slip out of their hands, the court reorganized its elements of strength among the nobility, and the most uncultivated portion of the rural population, as well as in the army and the bureaucracy. after hansemann's downfall, a ministry of bureaucrats and military officers, all staunch reactionists, was formed, which, however, seemingly gave way to the demands of the parliament; and the assembly acting upon the commodious principle of "measures, not men," were actually duped into applauding this ministry, while they, of course, had no eyes for the concentration and organization of counter-revolutionary forces, which that same ministry carried on pretty openly. at last, the signal being given by the fall of vienna, the king dismissed its ministers, and replaced them by "men of action," under the leadership of the present premier, manteuffel. then the dreaming assembly at once awoke to the danger; it passed a vote of no confidence in the cabinet, which was at once replied to by a decree removing the assembly from berlin, where it might, in case of a conflict, count upon the support of the masses, to brandenburg, a petty provincial town dependent entirely upon the government. the assembly, however, declared that it could not be adjourned, removed or dissolved, except with its own consent. in the meantime, general wrangle entered berlin at the head of some forty thousand troops. in a meeting of the municipal magistrates and the officers of the national guard, it was resolved not to offer any resistance. and now, after the assembly and its constituents, the liberal bourgeoisie, had allowed the combined reactionary party to occupy every important position, and to wrest from their hands almost every means of defence, began that grand comedy of "passive and legal resistance" which they intended to be a glorious imitation of the example of hampden, and of the first efforts of the americans in the war of independence. berlin was declared in a state of siege, and berlin remained tranquil; the national guard was dissolved by the government, and its arms were delivered up with the greatest punctuality. the assembly was hunted down during a fortnight, from one place of meeting to another, and everywhere dispersed by the military, and the members of the assembly begged of the citizens to remain tranquil. at last the government having declared the assembly dissolved, it passed a resolution to declare the levying of taxes illegal, and then its members dispersed themselves over the country to organize the refusal of taxes. but they found that they had been woefully mistaken in the choice of their means. after a few agitated weeks, followed by severe measures of the government against the opposition, everyone gave up the idea of refusing the taxes in order to please a defunct assembly that had not even had the courage to defend itself. whether it was in the beginning of november, , already too late to try armed resistance, or whether a part of the army, on finding serious opposition, would have turned over to the side of the assembly, and thus decided the matter in its favor, is a question which may never be solved. but in revolution as in war, it is always necessary to show a strong front, and he who attacks is in the advantage; and in revolution as in war, it is of the highest necessity to stake everything on the decisive moment, whatever the odds may be. there is not a single successful revolution in history that does not prove the truth of these axioms. now, for the prussian revolution, the decisive moment had come in november, ; the assembly, at the head, officially, of the whole revolutionary interest, did neither show a strong front, for it receded at every advance of the enemy; much less did it attack, for it chose even not to defend itself; and when the decisive moment came, when wrangle, at the head of forty thousand men, knocked at the gates of berlin, instead of finding, as he and all his officers fully expected, every street studded with barricades, every window turned into a loophole, he found the gates open, and the streets obstructed only by peaceful berliner burghers, enjoying the joke they had played upon him, by delivering themselves up, hands and feet tied, unto the astonished soldiers. it is true, the assembly and the people, if they had resisted, might have been beaten; berlin might have been bombarded, and many hundreds might have been killed, without preventing the ultimate victory of the royalist party. but that was no reason why they should surrender their arms at once. a well-contested defeat is a fact of as much revolutionary importance as an easily-won victory. the defeats of paris in june, , and of vienna in october, certainly did far more in revolutionizing the minds of the people of these two cities than the victories of february and march. the assembly and the people of berlin would, probably, have shared the fate of the two towns above-named; but they would have fallen gloriously, and would have left behind themselves, in the minds of the survivors, a wish of revenge which in revolutionary times is one of the highest incentives to energetic and passionate action. it is a matter of course that, in every struggle, he who takes up the gauntlet risks being beaten; but is that a reason why he should confess himself beaten, and submit to the yoke without drawing the sword? in a revolution he who commands a decisive position and surrenders it, instead of forcing the enemy to try his hands at an assault, invariably deserves to be treated as a traitor. the same decree of the king of prussia which dissolved the constituent assembly also proclaimed a new constitution, founded upon the draft which had been made by a committee of that assembly, but enlarging in some points the powers of the crown, and rendering doubtful in others those of the parliament. this constitution established two chambers, which were to meet soon for the purpose of confirming and revising it. we need hardly ask where the german national assembly was during the "legal and peaceful" struggle of the prussian constitutionalists. it was, as usual, at frankfort, occupied with passing very tame resolutions against the proceedings of the prussian government, and admiring the "imposing spectacle of the passive, legal, and unanimous resistance of a whole people against brutal force." the central government sent commissioners to berlin to intercede between the ministry and the assembly; but they met the same fate as their predecessors at olmütz, and were politely shown out. the left of the national assembly, _i.e._, the so-called radical party, sent also their commissioners; but after having duly convinced themselves of the utter helplessness of the berlin assembly, and confessed their own equal helplessness, they returned to frankfort to report progress, and to testify to the admirably peaceful conduct of the population of berlin. nay, more; when herr bassermann, one of the central government's commissioners, reported that the late stringent measures of the prussian ministers were not without foundation, inasmuch as there had of late been seen loitering about the streets of berlin sundry, savage-looking characters, such as always appear previous to anarchical movements (and which ever since have been named "bassermannic characters"), these worthy deputies of the left and energetic representatives of the revolutionary interest actually arose to make oath, and testify that such was not the case! thus within two months the total impotency of the frankfort assembly was signally proved. there could be no more glaring proofs that this body was totally inadequate to its task; nay, that it had not even the remotest idea of what its task really was. the fact that both in vienna and in berlin the fate of the revolution was settled, that in both these capitals the most important and vital questions were disposed of, without the existence of the frankfort assembly ever being taken the slightest notice of--this fact alone is sufficient to establish that the body in question was a mere debating-club, composed of a set of dupes, who allowed the governments to use them as parliamentary puppet, shown to amuse the shopkeepers and petty tradesmen of petty states and petty towns, as long as it was considered convenient to divert the attention of these parties. how long this was considered convenient we shall soon see. but it is a fact worthy of attention that among all the "eminent" men of this assembly there was not one who had the slightest apprehension of the part they were made to perform, and that even up to the present day ex-members of the frankfort club have invariably organs of historical perception quite peculiar to themselves. london, march, . xiv. the restoration of order--diet and chamber april th, . the first months of the year were employed by the austrian and prussian governments in following up the advantages obtained in october and november, . the austrian diet, ever since the taking of vienna, had carried on a merely nominal existence in a small moravian country-town, named kremsir. here the slavonian deputies, who, with their constituents, had been mainly instrumental in raising the austrian government from its prostration, were singularly punished for their treachery against the european revolution. as soon as the government had recovered its strength, it treated the diet and its slavonian majority with the utmost contempt, and when the first successes of the imperial arms foreboded a speedy termination of the hungarian war, the diet, on the th of march, was dissolved, and the deputies dispersed by military force. then at last the slavonians saw that they were duped, and then they shouted: "let us go to frankfort and carry on there the opposition which we cannot pursue here!" but it was then too late, and the very fact that they had no other alternative than either to remain quiet or to join the impotent frankfort assembly, this fact alone was sufficient to show their utter helplessness. thus ended for the present, and most likely for ever, the attempts of the slavonians of germany to recover an independent national existence. scattered remnants of numerous nations, whose nationality and political vitality had long been extinguished, and who in consequence had been obliged, for almost a thousand years, to follow in the wake of a mightier nation, their conqueror, the same as the welsh in england, the basques in spain, the bas-bretons in france, and at a more recent period the spanish and french creoles in those portions of north america occupied of late by the anglo-american race--these dying nationalities, the bohemians, carinthians, dalmatians, etc., had tried to profit by the universal confusion of , in order to restore their political _status quo_ of a.d. . the history of a thousand years ought to have shown them that such a retrogression was impossible; that if all the territory east of the elbe and saale had at one time been occupied by kindred slavonians, this fact merely proved the historical tendency, and at the same time physical and intellectual power of the german nation to subdue, absorb, and assimilate its ancient eastern neighbors; that this tendency of absorption on the part of the germans had always been, and still was, one of the mightiest means by which the civilization of western europe had been spread in the east of that continent; that it could only cease whenever the process of germanization had reached the frontier of large, compact, unbroken nations, capable of an independent national life, such as the hungarians, and in some degree the poles; and that, therefore, the natural and inevitable fate of these dying nations was to allow this process of dissolution and absorption by their stronger neighbors to complete itself. certainly this is no very flattering prospect for the national ambition of the panslavistic dreamers who succeeded in agitating a portion of the bohemian and south slavonian people; but can they expect that history would retrograde a thousand years in order to please a few phthisical bodies of men, who in every part of the territory they occupy are interspersed with and surrounded by germans, who from time almost immemorial have had for all purposes of civilization no other language but the german, and who lack the very first conditions of national existence, numbers and compactness of territory? thus, the panslavistic rising, which everywhere in the german and hungarian slavonic territories was the cloak for the restoration to independence of all these numberless petty nations, everywhere clashed with the european revolutionary movements, and the slavonians, although pretending to fight for liberty, were invariably (the democratic portion of the poles excepted) found on the side of despotism and reaction. thus it was in germany, thus in hungary, thus even here and there in turkey. traitors to the popular cause, supporters and chief props to the austrian government's cabal, they placed themselves in the position of outlaws in the eyes of all revolutionary nations. and although nowhere the mass of the people had a part in the petty squabbles about nationality raised by the panslavistic leaders, for the very reason that they were too ignorant, yet it will never be forgotten that in prague, in a half-german town, crowds of slavonian fanatics cheered and repeated the cry: "rather the russian knout than german liberty!" after their first evaporated effort in , and after the lesson the austrian government gave them, it is not likely that another attempt at a later opportunity will be made. but if they should try again under similar pretexts to ally themselves to the counter-revolutionary force, the duty of germany is clear. no country in a state of revolution and involved in external war can tolerate a vendée in its very heart. as to the constitution proclaimed by the emperor at the same time with the dissolution of the diet, there is no need to revert to it, as it never had a practical existence, and is now done away with altogether. absolutism has been restored in austria to all intents and purposes ever since the th march, . in prussia, the chambers met in february for the ratification and revision of the new charter proclaimed by the king. they sat for about six weeks, humble and meek enough in their behavior toward the government, yet not quite prepared to go the lengths the king and his ministers wished them to go. therefore, as soon as a suitable occasion presented itself, they were dissolved. thus both austria and prussia had for the moment got rid of the shackles of parliamentary control. the governments now concentrated all power in themselves, and could bring that power to bear wherever is was wanted: austria upon hungary and italy, prussia upon germany. for prussia, too, was preparing for a campaign by which "order" was to be restored in the smaller states. counter-revolution being now paramount in the two great centres of action in germany,--in vienna and berlin,--there remained only the lesser states in which the struggle was still undecided, although the balance there, too, was leaning more and more against the revolutionary interest. these smaller states, we have said, found a common centre in the national assembly at frankfort. now, this so-called national assembly, although its reactionist spirit had long been evident, so much so that the very people of frankfort had risen in arms against it, yet its origin was of more or less revolutionary nature; it occupied an abnormal, revolutionary position in january; its competence had never been defined, and it had at last come to the decision--which, however, was never recognized by the larges states--that its resolutions had the force of law. under these circumstances, and when the constitutionalist-monarchial party saw their positions turned by the recovering absolutists, it is not to be wondered that the liberal, monarchical bourgeoisie of almost the whole of germany should place their last hopes upon the majority of this assembly, just as the petty shopkeepers in the rest, the nucleus of the democratic party, gathered in their growing distress around the minority of that same body, which indeed formed the last compact parliamentary phalanx of democracy. on the other hand, the larger governments, and particularly the prussian ministry, saw more and more the incompatibility of such an irregular elective body with the restored monarchical system of germany, and if they did not at once force its dissolution, it was only because the time had not yet come, and because prussia hoped first to use it for the furthering of its own ambitious purposes. in the meantime, that poor assembly itself fell into a greater and greater confusion. its deputations and commissaries had been treated with the utmost contempt, both in vienna and berlin; one of its members, in spite of his parliamentary inviolability, had been executed in vienna as a common rebel. its decrees were nowhere heeded; if they were noticed at all by the larger powers, it was merely by protesting notes which disputed the authority of the assembly to pass laws and resolutions binding upon their governments. the representative of the assembly, the central executive power, was involved in diplomatic squabbles with almost all the cabinets of germany, and, in spite of all their efforts, neither assembly nor central government could bring austria and prussia to state their ultimate views, plans and demands. the assembly, at last, commenced to see clearly, at least so far, that it had allowed all power to slip out of its hands, that it was at the mercy of austria and prussia, and that if it intended making a federal constitution for germany at all, it must set about the thing at once and in good earnest. and many of the vacillating members also saw clearly that they had been egregiously duped by the governments. but what were they, in their impotent position, able to do now? the only thing that could have saved them would have been promptly and decidedly to pass over into the popular camp; but the success, even of that step, was more than doubtful; and then, where in this helpless crowd of undecided, shortsighted, self-conceited beings, who, when the eternal noise of contradictory rumors and diplomatic notes completely stunned them, sought their only consolation and support in the everlastingly repeated assurance that they were the best, the greatest, the wisest men of the country, and that they alone could save germany--where, we say, among these poor creatures, whom a single year of parliamentary life had turned into complete idiots, where were the men for a prompt and decisive resolution, much less for energetic and consistent action? at last the austrian government threw off the mask. in its constitution of the th of march, it proclaimed austria an indivisible monarchy, with common finances, system of customs-duties, of military establishments, thereby effacing every barrier and distinction between the german and non-german provinces. this declaration was made in the face of resolutions and articles of the intended federal constitution which had been already passed by the frankfort assembly. it was the gauntlet of war thrown down to it by austria, and the poor assembly had no other choice but to take it up. this it did with a deal of blustering, which austria, in the consciousness of her power, and of the utter nothingness of the assembly, could well afford to allow to pass. and this precious representation, as it styled itself, of the german people, in order to revenge itself for this insult on the part of austria, saw nothing better before it than to throw itself, hands and feet tied, at the feet of the prussian government. incredible as it would seem, it bent its knees before the very ministers whom it had condemned as unconstitutional and anti-popular, and whose dismissal it had in vain insisted upon. the details of this disgraceful transaction, and the tragicomical events that followed, will form the subject of our next. london, april, . xv. the triumph of prussia. july th, . we now come to the last chapter in the history of the german revolution; the conflict of the national assembly with the governments of the different states, especially of prussia; the insurrection of southern and western germany, and its final overthrow by prussia. we have already seen the frankfort national assembly at work. we have seen it kicked by austria, insulted by prussia, disobeyed by the lesser states, duped by its own impotent central "government," which again was the dupe of all and every prince in the country. but at last things began to look threatening for this weak, vacillating, insipid legislative body. it was forced to come to the conclusion that "the sublime idea of germany unity was threatened in its realization," which meant neither more nor less than that the frankfort assembly, and all it had done, and was about to do, were very likely to end in smoke. thus it set to work in good earnest in order to bring forth, as soon as possible, its grand production, the "imperial constitution." there was, however, one difficulty. what executive government was there to be? an executive council? no; that would have been, they thought in their wisdom, making germany a republic. a "president"? that would come to the same. thus they must revive the old imperial dignity. but--as, of course, a prince was to be emperor--who should it be? certainly none of the _dii minorum gentium_, from reuss-schleitz-greitz-lobenstein-ebersdorf up to bavaria; neither austria nor prussia would have borne that. it could only be austria or prussia. but which of the two? there is no doubt that, under otherwise favorable circumstances, this august assembly would be sitting up to the present day, discussing this important dilemma without being able to come to a conclusion, if the austrian government had not cut the gordian knot, and saved them the trouble. austria knew very well that from the moment in which she could again appear before europe with all her provinces subdued, as a strong and great european power, the very law of political gravitation would draw the remainder of germany into her orbit, without the help of any authority which an imperial crown, conferred by the frankfort assembly, could give her. austria had been far stronger, far freer in her movements, since she shook off the powerless _crown_ of the german empire--a crown which clogged her own independent policy, while it added not one iota to her strength, either within or without germany. and supposing the case that austria could not maintain her footing in italy and hungary, why, then she was dissolved, annihilated in germany too, and could never pretend to reseize a crown which had slipped from her hands while she was in the full possession of her strength. thus austria at once declared against all imperialist resurrections, and plainly demanded the restoration of the german diet, the only central government of germany known and recognized by the treaties of ; and on the th of march, , issued that constitution which had no other meaning than to declare austria an indivisible, centralized, and independent monarchy, distinct even from that germany which the frankfort assembly was to reorganize. this open declaration of war left, indeed, the frankfort wiseacres no other choice but to exclude austria from germany, and to create out of the remainder of that country a sort of lower empire, a "little germany," the rather shabby imperial mantle of which was to fall on the shoulders of his majesty of prussia. this, it will be recollected, was the renewal of an old project fostered already some six or eight years ago by a party of south and middle german liberal _doctrinaires_, who considered as a godsend the degrading circumstances by which their old crotchet was now again brought forward as the latest "new move" for the salvation of the country. they accordingly finished, in february and march, , the debate on the imperial constitution, together with the declaration of rights and the imperial electoral law; not, however, without being obliged to make, in a great many points, the most contradictory concessions--now to the conservative or rather reactionary party--now to the more advanced factions of the assembly. in fact, it was evident that the leadership of the assembly, which had formerly belonged to the right and right centre (the conservatives and reactionists), was gradually, although slowly, passing toward the left or democratic side of that body. the rather dubious position of the austrian deputies in an assembly which had excluded their country from germany, and in which they yet were called upon to sit and vote, favored the derangement of its equipoise; and thus, as early as the end of february, the left centre and left found themselves, by the help of the austrian votes, very generally in a majority, while on other days the conservative faction of the austrians, all of a sudden, and for the fun of the thing, voting with the right, threw the balance again on the other side. they intended, by these sudden _soubresauts_, to bring the assembly into contempt, which, however, was quite unnecessary, the mass of the people being long since convinced of the utter hollowness and futility of anything coming from frankfort. what a specimen of a constitution, in the meantime, was framed under such jumping and counter-jumping, may easily be imagined. the left of the assembly--this _élite_ and pride of revolutionary germany, as it believed itself to be--was entirely intoxicated with the few paltry successes it obtained by the good-will, or rather the ill-will, of a set of austrian politicians, acting under the instigation and for the interest of austrian despotism. whenever the slightest approximation to their own not very well-defined principles had, in a homoeopathically diluted shape, obtained a sort of sanction by the frankfort assembly, these democrats proclaimed that they had saved the country and the people. these poor, weak-minded men, during the course of their generally very obscure lives, had been so little accustomed to anything like success, that they actually believed their paltry amendments, passed with two or three votes majority, would change the face of europe. they had, from the beginning of their legislative career, been more imbued than any other faction of the assembly with that incurable malady _parliamentary crétinism_, a disorder which penetrates its unfortunate victims with the solemn conviction that the whole world, its history and future, are governed and determined by a majority of votes in that particular representative body which has the honor to count them among its members, and that all and everything going on outside the walls of their house--wars, revolutions, railway-constructing, colonizing of whole new continents, california gold discoveries, central american canals, russian armies, and whatever else may have some little claim to influence upon the destinies of mankind--is nothing compared with the incommensurable events hinging upon the important question, whatever it may be, just at that moment occupying the attention of their honorable house. thus it was the democratic party of the assembly, by effectually smuggling a few of their nostrums into the "imperial constitution," first became bound to support it, although in every essential point it flatly contradicted their own oft-proclaimed principles, and at last, when this mongrel work was abandoned, and bequeathed to them by its main authors, accepted the inheritance, and held out for this _monarchical_ constitution, even in opposition to everybody who _then_ proclaimed their own _republican_ principles. but it must be confessed that in this the contradiction was merely apparent. the indeterminate, self-contradictory, immature character of the imperial constitution was the very image of the immature, confused, conflicting political ideas of these democratic gentlemen. and if their own sayings and writings--as far as they could write--were not sufficient proof of this, their actions would furnish such proof; for among sensible people it is a matter of course to judge of a man, not by his professions, but his actions; not by what he pretends to be, but by what he does, and what he really is; and the deeds of these heroes of german democracy speak loud enough for themselves, as we shall learn by and by. however, the imperial constitution, with all its appendages and paraphernalia, was definitely passed, and on the th of march, the king of prussia was, by votes against who abstained, and who were absent, elected emperor of germany _minus austria_. the historical irony was complete; the imperial farce executed in the streets of astonished berlin, three days after the revolution of march th, , by frederick william iv., while in a state which elsewhere would come under the maine liquor law--this disgusting farce, just one year afterwards, had been sanctioned by the pretended representative assembly of all germany. that, then, was the result of the german revolution! london, july, . xvi. the assembly and the governments. august th, . the national assembly of frankfort, after having elected the king of prussia emperor of germany (_minus_ austria), sent a deputation to berlin to offer him the crown, and then adjourned. on the rd of april, frederick william received the deputies. he told them that, although he accepted the right of precedence over all the other princes of germany, which this vote of the people's representatives had given him, yet he could not accept the imperial crown as long as he was not sure that the remaining princes acknowledged his supremacy, and the imperial constitution conferring those rights upon him. it would be, he added, for the governments of germany to see whether this constitution was such as could be ratified by them. at all events, emperor or not, he always would be found ready, he concluded, to draw the sword against either the external or the internal foe. we shall see how he kept his promise in a manner rather startling for the national assembly. the frankfort wiseacres, after profound diplomatic inquiry, at last came to the conclusion that this answer amounted to a refusal of the crown. they then (april th) resolved: that the imperial constitution was the law of the land, and must be maintained; and not seeing their way at all before them, elected a committee of thirty, to make proposals as to the means how this constitution could be carried out. this resolution was the signal for the conflict between the frankfort assembly and the german governments which now broke out. the middle classes, and especially the smaller trading class, had all at once declared for the new frankfort constitution. they could not wait any longer the moment which was "to close the revolution." in austria and prussia the revolution had, for the moment, been closed by the interference of the armed power. the classes in question would have preferred a less forcible mode of performing that operation, but they had not had a chance; the thing was done, and they had to make the best of it, a resolution which they at once took and carried out most heroically. in the smaller states, where things had been going on comparatively smoothly, the middle classes had long since been thrown back into that showy, but resultless, because powerless, parliamentary agitation, which was most congenial to themselves. the different states of germany, as regarded each of them separately, appeared thus to have attained that new and definite form which was supposed to enable them to enter henceforth the path of peaceful constitutional development. there only remained one open question, that of the new political organization of the german confederacy. and this question, the only one which still appeared fraught with danger, it was considered a necessity to resolve at once. hence the pressure exerted upon the frankfort assembly by the middle classes, in order to induce it to get the constitution ready as soon as possible; hence the resolution among the higher and lower bourgeoisie to accept and support this constitution, whatever it might be, in order to create a settled state of things without delay. thus from the very beginning the agitation for the imperial constitution arose out of a reactionary feeling, and sprang up among these classes which were long since tired of the revolution. but there was another feature in it. the first and fundamental principles of the future german constitution had been voted during the first months of spring and summer, , a time when popular agitation was still rife. the resolutions then passed, though completely reactionary _then_, now, after the arbitrary acts of the austrian and prussian governments, appeared exceedingly liberal, and even democratic. the standard of comparison had changed. the frankfort assembly could not, without moral suicide, strike out these once-voted provisions, and model the imperial constitution upon those which the austrian and prussian governments had dictated, sword in hand. besides, as we have seen, the majority in that assembly had changed sides, and the liberal and democratic party were rising in influence. thus the imperial constitution not only was distinguished by its apparently exclusive popular origin, but at the same time, full of contradiction as it was, it yet was the most liberal constitution in all germany. its greatest fault was, that it was a mere sheet of paper, with no power to back its provisions. under these circumstances it was natural that the so-called democratic party, that is, the mass of the petty trading class, should cling to the imperial constitution. this class had always been more forward in its demands than the liberal-monarchico-constitutional bourgeoisie; it had shown a bolder front, it had very often threatened armed resistance, it was lavish in its promises to sacrifice its blood and its existence in the struggle for freedom; but it had already given plenty of proofs that on the day of danger it was nowhere, and that it never felt more comfortable than the day after a decisive defeat, when everything being lost, it had at least the consolation to know that somehow or other the matter _was_ settled. while, therefore, the adhesion of the large bankers, manufacturers, and merchants was of a more reserved character, more like a simple demonstration in favor of the frankfort constitution, the class just beneath them, our valiant democratic shopkeepers, came forward in grand style, and, as usual, proclaimed they would rather spill their last drop of blood than let the imperial constitution fall to the ground. supported by these two parties, the bourgeois adherents of the constitutional royalty, and the more or less democratic shopkeepers, the agitation for the immediate establishment of the imperial constitution gained ground rapidly, and found its most powerful expression in the parliaments of the several states. the chambers of prussia, of hanover, of saxony, of baden, of würtemberg, declared in its favor. the struggle between the governments and the frankfort assembly assumed a threatening aspect. the governments, however, acted rapidly. the prussian chambers were dissolved, anti-constitutionally, as they had to revise and confirm the constitution; riots broke out at berlin, provoked intentionally by the government, and the next day, the th of april, the prussian ministry issued a circular note, in which the imperial constitution was held up as a most anarchical and revolutionary document, which it was for the governments of germany to remodel and purify. thus prussia denied, point-blank, that sovereign constituent power which the wise men at frankfort had always boasted of, but never established. thus a congress of princes, a renewal of the old federal diet, was called upon to sit in judgment on that constitution which had already been promulgated as law. and at the same time prussia concentrated troops at kreuznach, three days' march from frankfort, and called upon the smaller states to follow its example, by also dissolving their chambers as soon as they should give their adhesion to the frankfort assembly. this example was speedily followed by hanover and saxony. it was evident that a decision of the struggle by force of arms could not be avoided. the hostility of the governments, the agitation among the people, were daily showing themselves in stronger colors. the military were everywhere worked upon by the democratic citizens, and in the south of germany with great success. large mass meetings were everywhere held, passing resolutions to support the imperial constitution and the national assembly, if need should be, with force of arms. at cologne, a meeting of deputies of all the municipal councils of rhenish prussia took place for the same purpose. in the palatinate, at bergen, fulda, nuremberg, in the odenwald, the peasantry met by myriads and worked themselves up into enthusiasm. at the same time the constituent assembly of france dissolved, and the new elections were prepared amid violent agitation, while on the eastern frontier of germany, the hungarians had within a month, by a succession of brilliant victories, rolled back the tide of austrian invasion from the theiss to the leitha, and were every day expected to take vienna by storm. thus, popular imagination being on all hands worked up to the highest pitch, and the aggressive policy of the governments defining itself more clearly every day, a violent collision could not be avoided, and cowardly imbecility only could persuade itself that the struggle was to come off peaceably. but this cowardly imbecility was most extensively represented in the frankfort assembly. london, july, . xvii. insurrection. september , . the inevitable conflict between the national assembly of frankfort and the states governments of germany at last broke out in open hostilities during the first days of may, . the austrian deputies, recalled by their government, had already left the assembly and returned home, with the exception of a few members of the left or democratic party. the great body of the conservative members, aware of the turn things were about to take, withdrew even before they were called upon to do so by their respective governments. thus, even independently of the causes which in the foregoing letters have been shown to strengthen the influence of the left, the mere desertion of their posts by the members of the right, sufficed to turn the old minority into a majority of the assembly. the new majority, which, at no former time, had dreamed of ever obtaining that good fortune, had profited by their places on the opposition benches to spout against the weakness, the indecision, the indolence of the old majority, and of its imperial lieutenancy. now all at once, _they_ were called on to replace that old majority. _they_ were now to show what they could perform. of course, _their_ career was to be one of energy, determination, activity. _they_, the _élite_ of germany, would soon be able to drive onwards the senile lieutenant of the empire, and his vacillating ministers, and in case that was impossible they would--there could be no doubt about it--by force of the sovereign right of the people, depose that impotent government, and replace it by an energetic, indefatigable executive, who would assure the salvation of germany. poor fellows! _their_ rule--if rule it can be named, where no one obeyed--was a still more ridiculous affair than even the rule of their predecessors. the new majority declared that, in spite of all obstacles, the imperial constitution must be carried out, and _at once_; that on the th of july ensuing, the people were to elect the deputies of the new house of representatives, and that this house was to meet at frankfort on the th of august following. now, this was an open declaration of war against those governments that had not recognized the imperial constitution, the foremost among which were prussia, austria, bavaria, comprising more than three-fourths of the german population; a declaration of war which was speedily accepted by them. prussia and bavaria, too, recalled the deputies sent from their territories to frankfort, and hastened their military preparations against the national assembly, while, on the other hand, the demonstrations of the democratic party (out of parliament) in favor of the imperial constitution and of the national assembly, acquired a more turbulent and violent character, and the mass of the working people, led by the men of the most extreme party, were ready to take up arms in a cause which, if it was not their own, at least gave them a chance of somewhat approaching their aims by clearing germany of its old monarchical encumbrances. thus everywhere the people and the governments were at daggers drawn upon this subject; the outbreak was inevitable; the mine was charged, and it only wanted a spark to make it explode. the dissolution of the chambers in saxony, the calling in of the landwehr (military reserve) in prussia, the open resistance of the government to the imperial constitution, were such sparks; they fell, and all at once the country was in a blaze. in dresden, on the th of may, the people victoriously took possession of the town, and drove out the king, while all the surrounding districts sent re-inforcements to the insurgents. in rhenish prussia and westphalia the landwehr refused to march, took possession of the arsenals, and armed itself in defence of the imperial constitution. in the palatinate the people seized the bavarian government officials, and the public moneys, and instituted a committee of defence, which placed the province under the protection of the national assembly. in würtemberg the people forced the king to acknowledge the imperial constitution, and in baden the army, united with the people, forced the grand duke to flight, and erected a provincial government. in other parts of germany the people only awaited a decisive signal from the national assembly to rise in arms and place themselves at its disposal. the position of the national assembly was far more favorable than could have been expected after its ignoble career. the western half of germany had taken up arms in its behalf; the military everywhere were vacillating; in the lesser states they were undoubtedly favorable to the movement. austria was prostrated by the victorious advance of the hungarians, and russia, that reserve force of the german governments, was straining all its powers in order to support austria against the magyar armies. there was only prussia to subdue, and with the revolutionary sympathies existing in that country, a chance certainly existed of attaining that end. everything then depended upon the conduct of the assembly. now, insurrection is an art quite as much as war or any other, and subject to certain rules of proceeding, which, when neglected, will produce the ruin of the party neglecting them. those rules, logical deductions from the nature of the parties and the circumstances one has to deal with in such a case, are so plain and simple that the short experience of had made the germans pretty well acquainted with them. firstly, never play with insurrection unless you are fully prepared to face the consequences of your play. insurrection is a calculus with very indefinite magnitudes, the value of which may change every day; the forces opposed to you have all the advantage of organization, discipline, and habitual authority: unless you bring strong odds against them you are defeated and ruined. secondly, the insurrectionary career once entered upon, act with the greatest determination, and on the offensive. the defensive is the death of every armed rising; it is lost before it measures itself with its enemies. surprise your antagonists while their forces are scattering, prepare new successes, however small, but daily; keep up the moral ascendancy which the first successful rising has given to you; rally those vacillating elements to your side which always follow the strongest impulse, and which always look out for the safer side; force your enemies to a retreat before they can collect their strength against you; in the words of danton, the greatest master of revolutionary policy yet known, _de l'audace, de l'audace, encore de l'audace!_ what, then, was the national assembly of frankfort to do if it would escape the certain ruin which it was threatened with? first of all, to see clearly through the situation, and to convince itself that there was now no other choice than either to submit to the governments unconditionally, or take up the cause of the armed insurrection without reserve or hesitation. secondly, to publicly recognize all the insurrections that had already broken out, and to call the people to take up arms everywhere in defence of the national representation, outlawing all princes, ministers and others who should dare to oppose the sovereign people represented by its mandatories. thirdly, to at once depose the german imperial lieutenant, to create a strong, active, unscrupulous executive, to call insurgent troops to frankfort for its immediate protection, thus offering at the same time a legal pretext for the spread of the insurrection, to organize into a compact body all the forces at its disposal, and, in short, to profit quickly and unhesitatingly by every available means for strengthening its position and impairing that of its opponents. of all this the virtuous democrats in the frankfort assembly did just the contrary. not content with letting things take the course they liked, these worthies went so far as to suppress by their opposition all insurrectionary movements which were preparing. thus, for instance, did herr karl vogt at nuremberg. they allowed the insurrections of saxony, of rhenish prussia, of westphalia to be suppressed without any other help than a posthumous, sentimental protest against the unfeeling violence of the prussian government. they kept up an underhand diplomatic intercourse with the south german insurrections but never gave them the support of their open acknowledgment. they knew that the lieutenant of the empire sided with the governments, and yet they called upon _him_, who never stirred, to oppose the intrigues of these governments. the ministers of the empire, old conservatives, ridiculed this impotent assembly in every sitting, and they suffered it. and when william wolff,[ ] a silesian deputy, and one of the editors of the _new rhenish gazette_, called upon them to outlaw the lieutenant of the empire--who was, he justly said, nothing but the first and greatest traitor to the empire, he was hooted down by the unanimous and virtuous indignation of those democratic revolutionists! in short, they went on talking, protesting, proclaiming, pronouncing, but never had the courage or the sense to act; while the hostile troops of the governments drew nearer and nearer, and their own executive, the lieutenant of the empire, was busily plotting with the german princes their speedy destruction. thus even the last vestige of consideration was lost to this contemptible assembly; the insurgents who had risen to defend it ceased to care any more for it, and when at last it came to a shameful end, as we shall see, it died without anybody taking any notice of its unhonored exit. london, august, . footnotes: [ ] the "wolff" here alluded to is wilhelm wolff, the beloved friend of marx and engels, who--to distinguish him from the many other "wolffs" in the movement at this period--was known to his intimates as "lupus." it is to this silesian peasant that marx dedicated the first volume of "capital." "dedicated to my never-to-be-forgotten friend the brave, true, noble fighter in the van-guard of the proletariat, wilhelm wolff. born at tornau, june st, . died in exile at manchester, th may, ." xviii. petty traders. october , . in our last we showed that the struggle between the german governments on the one side, and the frankfort parliament on the other, had ultimately acquired such a degree of violence that in the first days of may, a great portion of germany broke out in open insurrection; first dresden, then the bavarian palatinate, parts of rhenish prussia, and at last baden. in all cases, the _real fighting_ body of the insurgents, that body which first took up arms and gave battle to the troops consisted of the _working classes of the towns_. a portion of the poorer country population, laborers and petty farmers, generally joined them after the outbreak of the conflict. the greater number of the young men of all classes, below the capitalist class, were to be found, for a time at least, in the ranks of the insurgent armies, but this rather indiscriminate aggregate of young men very soon thinned as the aspect of affairs took a somewhat serious turn. the students particularly, those "representatives of intellect," as they liked to call themselves, were the first to quit their standards, unless they were retained by the bestowal of officer's rank, for which they, of course, had very seldom any qualifications. the working class entered upon this insurrection as they would have done upon any other which promised either to remove some obstacles in their progress towards political dominion and social revolution, or, at least, to tie the more influential but less courageous classes of society to a more decided and revolutionary course than they had followed hitherto. the working class took up arms with a full knowledge that this was, in the direct bearings of the case, no quarrel of its own; but it followed up its only true policy, to allow no class that has risen on its shoulders (as the bourgeoisie had done in ) to fortify its class-government, without opening, at least, a fair field to the working classes for the struggle for its own interests, and, in any case, to bring matters to a crisis, by which either the nation was fairly and irresistibly launched in the revolutionary career, or else the _status quo_ before the revolution restored as nearly as possible, and, thereby, a new revolution rendered unavoidable. in both cases the working classes represented the real and well-understood interest of the nation at large, in hastening as much as possible that revolutionary course which for the old societies of civilized europe has now become a historical necessity, before any of them can again aspire to a more quiet and regular development of their resources. as to country people that joined the insurrection, they were principally thrown into the arms of the revolutionary party, partly by the relatively enormous load of taxation, and partly of feudal burdens pressing upon them. without any initiative of their own, they formed the tail of the other classes engaged in the insurrection, wavering between the working men on the one side, and the petty trading class on the other. their own private social position, in almost every case, decided which way they turned; the agricultural laborer generally supported the city artisan; the small farmer was apt to go hand in hand with the small shopkeeper. this class of petty tradesmen, the great importance and influence of which we have already several times adverted to, may be considered as the leading class of the insurrection of may, . there being, this time, none of the large towns of germany among the center of the movement, the petty trading class, which in middling and lesser towns always predominates, found the means of getting the direction of the movement into its hands. we have, moreover, seen that, in this struggle for the imperial constitution, and for the rights of the german parliament, there were the interests of this peculiar class at stake. the provisional governments formed in all the insurgent districts represented in the majority of each of them this section of the people, and the length they went to may therefore be fairly taken as the measure of what the german petty bourgeoisie is capable of--capable, as we shall see, of nothing but ruining any movement that entrusts itself to its hands. the petty bourgeoisie, great in boasting, is very impotent for action, and very shy in risking anything. the _mesquin_ character of its commercial transactions and its credit operations is eminently apt to stamp its character with a want of energy and enterprise; it is, then, to be expected that similar qualities will mark its political career. accordingly the petty bourgeoisie encouraged insurrection by big words, and great boasting as to what it was going to do; it was eager to seize upon power as soon as the insurrection, much against its will, had broken out; it used this power to no other purpose but to destroy the effects of the insurrection. wherever an armed conflict had brought matters to a serious crisis, there the shopkeepers stood aghast at the dangerous situation created for them; aghast at the people who had taken their boasting appeals to arms in earnest; aghast at the power thus thrust into their own hands; aghast, above all, at the consequences for themselves, for their social positions, for their fortunes, of the policy in which they were forced to engage themselves. were they not expected to risk "life and property," as they used to say, for the cause of the insurrection? were they not forced to take official positions in the insurrection, whereby, in the case of defeat, they risked the loss of their capital? and in case of victory, were they not sure to be immediately turned out of office, and to see their entire policy subverted by the victorious proletarians who formed the main body of their fighting army? thus placed between opposing dangers which surrounded them on every side, the petty bourgeoisie knew not to turn its power to any other account than to let everything take its chance, whereby, of course, there was lost what little chance of success there might have been, and thus to ruin the insurrection altogether. its policy, or rather want of policy, everywhere was the same, and, therefore, the insurrections of may, , in all parts of germany, are all cut out to the same pattern. in dresden, the struggle was kept on for four days in the streets of the town. the shopkeepers of dresden, the "communal guard," not only did not fight, but in many instances favored the proceedings of the troops against the insurgents. these again consisted almost exclusively of working men from the surrounding manufacturing districts. they found an able and cool-headed commander in the russian refugee michael bakunin, who afterwards was taken prisoner, and now is confined in the dungeons of munkacs, hungary. the intervention of numerous prussian troops crushed this insurrection. in rhenish prussia the actual fighting was of little importance. all the large towns being fortresses commanded by citadels, there could be only skirmishing on the part of the insurgents. as soon as a sufficient number of troops had been drawn together, there was an end to armed opposition. in the palatinate and baden, on the contrary, a rich, fruitful province and an entire state fell into the hands of the insurrection. money, arms, soldiers, warlike stores, everything was ready for use. the soldiers of the regular army themselves joined the insurgents; nay, in baden, they were amongst the foremost of them. the insurrections in saxony and rhenish prussia sacrificed themselves in order to gain time for the organization of the south german movement. never was there such a favorable position for a provincial and partial insurrection as this. a revolution was expected in paris; the hungarians were at the gates of vienna; in all the central states of germany, not only the people, but even the troops, were strongly in favor of the insurrection, and only wanted an opportunity to join it openly. and yet the movement, having once got into the hands of the petty bourgeoisie, was ruined from its very beginning. the petty bourgeois rulers, particularly of baden--herr brentano at the head of them--never forgot that by usurping the place and prerogatives of the "lawful" sovereign, the grand duke, they were committing high treason. they sat down in their ministerial armchairs with the consciousness of criminality in their hearts. what can you expect of such cowards? they not only abandoned the insurrection to its own uncentralized, and therefore ineffective, spontaneity, they actually did everything in their power to take the sting out of the movement, to unman, to destroy it. and they succeeded, thanks to the zealous support of that deep class of politicians, the "democratic" heroes of the petty bourgeoisie, who actually thought they were "saving the country," while they allowed themselves to be led by their noses by a few men of a sharper cast, such as brentano. as to the fighting part of the business, never were military operations carried on in a more slovenly, more stolid way than under the baden general-in-chief sigel, an ex-lieutenant of the regular army. everything was got into confusion, every good opportunity was lost, every precious moment was loitered away with planning colossal, but impracticable projects, until, when at last the talented pole mieroslawski, took up the command, the army was disorganized, beaten, dispirited, badly provided for, opposed to an enemy four times more numerous, and withal, he could do nothing more than fight, at waghäusel, a glorious though unsuccessful battle, carry out a clever retreat, offer a last hopeless fight under the walls of rastatt, and resign. as in every insurrectionary war where armies are mixed of well-drilled soldiers and raw levies, there was plenty of heroism, and plenty of unsoldierlike, often unconceivable panic, in the revolutionary army; but, imperfect as it could not but be, it had at least the satisfaction that four times its number were not considered sufficient to put it to the rout, and that a hundred thousand regular troops, in a campaign against twenty thousand insurgents, treated them, militarily, with as much respect as if they had to fight the old guard of napoleon. in may the insurrection had broken out; by the middle of july, , it was entirely subdued and the first german revolution was closed. london. (undated.) xix. the close of the insurrection. october , . while the south and west of germany was in open insurrection, and while it took the governments from the first opening of hostilities at dresden to the capitulation of rastatt, rather more than ten weeks, to stifle this final blazing up of the first german revolution, the national assembly disappeared from the political theater without any notice being taken of its exit. we left this august body at frankfort, perplexed by the insolent attacks of the governments upon its dignity, by the impotency and treacherous listlessness of the central power it had itself created, by the risings of the petty trading class for its defence, and of the working class for a more revolutionary ultimate end. desolation and despair reigned supreme among its members; events had at once assumed such a definite and decisive shape that in a few days the illusions of these learned legislators as to their real power and influence were entirely broken down. the conservatives, at the signal given by the governments, had already retired from a body which, henceforth, could not exist any longer, except in defiance of the constituted authorities. the liberals gave the matter up in utter discomfiture; they, too, threw up their commissions as representatives. honorable gentlemen decamped by hundreds. from eight or nine hundred members the number had dwindled down so rapidly that now one hundred and fifty, and a few days after one hundred, were declared a quorum. and even these were difficult to muster, although the whole of the democratic party remained. the course to be followed by the remnants of a parliament was plain enough. they had only to take their stand openly and decidedly with the insurrection, to give it, thereby, whatever strength legality could confer upon it, while they themselves at once acquired an army for their own defence. they had to summon the central power to stop all hostilities at once; and if, as could be foreseen, this power neither could nor would do so, to depose it at once and put another more energetic government in its place. if insurgent troops could not be brought to frankfort (which, in the beginning, when the state governments were little prepared and still hesitating, might have been easily done), then the assembly could have adjourned at once to the very center of the insurgent district. all this done at once, and resolutely, not later than the middle or end of may, might have opened chances both for the insurrection and for the national assembly. but such a determined course was not to be expected from the representatives of german shopocracy. these aspiring statesmen were not at all freed from their illusions. those members who had lost their fatal belief in the strength and inviolability of the parliament had already taken to their heels; the democrats who remained, were not so easily induced to give up dreams of power and greatness which they had cherished for a twelvemonth. true to the course they had hitherto pursued, they shrank back from decisive action until every chance of success, nay, every chance to succumb, with at least the honors of war, had passed away. in order, then, to develop a fictitious, busy-body sort of activity, the sheer impotency of which, coupled with its high pretension, could not but excite pity and ridicule, they continued insinuating resolutions, addresses, and requests to an imperial lieutenant, who not even noticed them; to ministers who were in open league with the enemy. and when at last william wolff, member for striegan, one of the editors of the _new rhenish gazette_, the only really revolutionary man in the whole assembly, told them that if they meant what they said, they had better give over talking, and declare the imperial lieutenant, the chief traitor to the country, an outlaw at once; then the entire compressed virtuous indignation of these parliamentary gentlemen burst out with an energy which they never found when the government heaped insult after insult upon them. of course, for wolff's proposition was the first sensible word spoken within the walls of st. paul's church; of course, for it was the very thing that was to be done, and such plain language going so direct to the purpose, could not but insult a set of sentimentalists, who were resolute in nothing but irresolution, and who, too cowardly to act, had once for all made up their minds that in doing nothing, they were doing exactly what was to be done. every word which cleared up, like lightning, the infatuated, but intentional nebulosity of their minds, every hint that was adapted to lead them out of the labyrinth where they obstinated themselves to take up as lasting an abode as possible, every clear conception of matters as they actually stood, was, of course, a crime against the majesty of this sovereign assembly. shortly after the position of the honorable gentlemen in frankfort became untenable, in spite of resolutions, appeals, interpellations, and proclamations, they retreated, but not into the insurgent districts; that would have been too resolute a step. they went to stuttgart, where the würtemberg government kept up a sort of expectative neutrality. there, at last, they declared the lieutenant of the empire to have forfeited his power, and elected from their own body a regency of five. this regency at once proceeded to pass a militia law, which was actually in all due force sent to all the governments of germany. they, the very enemies of the assembly, were ordered to levy forces in its defence! then there was created--on paper, of course--an army for the defence of the national assembly. divisions, brigades, regiments, batteries, everything was regulated and ordained. nothing was wanted but reality, for that army, of course, was never called into existence. one last scheme offered itself to the general assembly. the democratic population from all parts of the country sent deputations to place itself at the disposal of the parliament, and to urge it on to a decisive action. the people, knowing what the intentions of the würtemberg government were, implored the national assembly to force that government into an open and active participation with their insurgent neighbors. but no. the national assembly, in going to stuttgart, had delivered itself up to the tender mercies of the würtemberg government. the members knew it, and repressed the agitation among the people. they thus lost the last remnant of influence which they might yet have retained. they earned the contempt they deserved, and the imperial lieutenant put a stop to the democratic farce by shutting up, on the th of june, , the room where the parliament met, and by ordering the members of the regency to leave the country. next they went to baden, into the camp of the insurrection; but there they were now useless. nobody noticed them. the regency, however, in the name of the sovereign german people, continued to save the country by its exertions. it made an attempt to get recognized by foreign powers, by delivering _passports_ to anybody who would accept of them. it issued proclamations, and sent commissioners to insurge those very districts of würtemberg whose active assistance it had refused when it was yet time; of course, without effect. we have now under our eye an original report, sent to the regency by one of these commissioners, herr roesler (member for oels), the contents of which are rather characteristic. it is dated, stuttgart, june , . after describing the adventures of half a dozen of these commissioners in a resultless search for cash, he gives a series of excuses for not having yet gone to his post, and then delivers himself of a most weighty argument respecting possible differences between prussia, austria, bavaria, and würtemberg, with their possible consequences. after having fully considered this, he comes, however, to the conclusion that there is no more chance. next, he proposes to establish relays of trustworthy men for the conveyance of intelligence, and a system of espionage as to the intentions of the würtemberg ministry and the movements of the troops. this letter never reached its address, for when it was written the "regency" had already passed entirely into the "foreign department," viz., switzerland; and while poor herr roesler troubled his head about the intentions of the formidable ministry of a sixth-rate kingdom, a hundred thousand prussian, bavarian, and hessian soldiers had already settled the whole affair in the last battle under the walls of rastatt. thus vanished the german parliament, and with it the first and last creation of the revolution. its convocation had been the first evidence that there actually _had been_ a revolution in january; and it existed as long as this, the first modern german revolution, was not yet brought to a close. chosen under the influence of the capitalist class by a dismembered, scattered, rural population, for the most part only awaking from the dumbness of feudalism, this parliament served to bring in one body upon the political arena all the great popular names of - , and then to utterly ruin them. all the celebrities of middle class liberalism were here collected. the bourgeoisie expected wonders; it earned shame for itself and its representatives. the industrial and commercial capitalist class were more severely defeated in germany than in any other country; they were first worsted, broken, expelled from office in every individual state of germany, and then put to rout, disgraced and hooted in the central german parliament. political liberalism, the rule of the bourgeoisie, be it under a monarchical or republican form of government, is forever impossible in germany. in the latter period of its existence, the german parliament served to disgrace forever that section which had ever since march, , headed the official opposition, the democrats representing the interests of the small trading, and partially of the farming class. that class was, in may and june, , given a chance to show its means of forming a stable government in germany. we have seen how it failed; not so much by adverse circumstances as by the actual and continued cowardice in all trying movements that had occurred since the outbreak of the revolution; by showing in politics the same shortsighted, pusillanimous, wavering spirit, which is characteristic of its commercial operations. in may, , it had, by this course, lost the confidence of the real fighting mass of all european insurrections, the working class. but yet, it had a fair chance. the german parliament belonged to it, exclusively, after the reactionists and liberals had withdrawn. the rural population was in its favor. two-thirds of the armies of the smaller states, one-third of the prussian army, the majority of the prussian landwehr (reserve or militia), were ready to join it, if it only acted resolutely, and with that courage which is the result of a clear insight into the state of things. but the politicians who led on this class were not more clear-sighted than the host of petty tradesmen which followed them. they proved even to be more infatuated, more ardently attached to delusions voluntarily kept up, more credulous, more incapable of resolutely dealing with facts than the liberals. their political importance, too, is reduced below the freezing-point. but not having actually carried their commonplace principles into execution, they were, under _very_ favorable circumstances, capable of a momentary resurrection, when this last hope was taken from them, just as it was taken from their colleagues of the "pure democracy" in france by the _coup d'état_ of louis bonaparte. the defeat of the south-west german insurrection, and the dispersion of the german parliament, bring the history of the first german insurrection to a close. we have now to cast a parting glance upon the victorious members of the counter-revolutionary alliance; we shall do this in our next letter.[ ] london, september , . footnotes: [ ] after repeated search i have been unable to find the "next letter" referred to in the above paragraph; and, if it was ever written, there seems no doubt it was never published.--e. m. a. xx. the late trial at cologne. december , . you will have ere this received by the european papers numerous reports of the communist monster trial at cologne, prussia, and of its result. but as none of the reports is anything like a faithful statement of the facts, and as these facts throw a glaring light upon the political means by which the continent of europe is kept in bondage, i consider it necessary to revert to this trial. the communist or proletarian party, as well as other parties, had lost, by suppression of the rights of association and meeting, the means of giving to itself a legal organization on the continent. its leaders, besides, had been exiled from their countries. but no political party can exist without an organization; and that organization which both the liberal bourgeois and the democratic shopkeeping class were enabled more or less to supply by the social station, advantages, and long-established, every-day intercourse of their members, the proletarian class, without such social station and pecuniary means, was necessarily compelled to seek in secret association. hence, both in france and germany, sprung up those numerous secret societies which have, ever since , one after another, been discovered by the police, and prosecuted as conspiracies; but if many of them were really conspiracies, formed with the actual intention of upsetting the government for the time being,--and he is a coward that under certain circumstances would not conspire, just as he is a fool who, under other circumstances, would do so;--there were some other societies which were formed with a wider and more elevated purpose, which knew that the upsetting of an existing government was but a passing stage in the great impending struggle, and which intended to keep together and to prepare the party, whose nucleus they formed, for the last decisive combat which must, one day or another, crush forever in europe the domination, not of mere "tyrants," "despots" and "usurpers," but of a power far superior, and far more formidable than theirs; that of capital over labor. the organization of the advanced communist party in germany was of this kind. in accordance with the principles of the "manifesto"[ ] (published in ), and with those explained in the series of articles on "revolution and counter-revolution in germany," published in the _new york daily tribune_, this party never imagined itself capable of producing, at any time and at its pleasure, that revolution which was to carry its ideas into practice. it studied the causes that had produced the revolutionary movement in , and the causes that made them fail. recognizing the social antagonism of classes at the bottom of all political struggles, it applied itself to the study of the conditions under which one class of society can and must be called on to represent the whole of the interests of a nation, and thus politically to rule over it. history showed to the communist party how, after the landed aristocracy of the middle ages, the monied power of the first capitalists arose and seized the reins of government; how the social influence and political rule of this financial section of capitalists was superseded by the rising strength since the introduction of steam, of the manufacturing capitalists, and how at the present moment two more classes claim their turn of domination, the petty trading class and the industrial working class. the practical revolutionary experience of - confirmed the reasonings of theory, which led to the conclusion that the democracy of the petty traders must first have its turn, before the communist working class could hope to permanently establish itself in power and destroy that system of wage-slavery which keeps it under the yoke of the bourgeoisie. thus the secret organization of the communists could not have the direct purpose of upsetting the present governments of germany. being formed to upset not these, but the insurrectionary government, which is sooner or later to follow them, its members might, and certainly would, individually, lend an active hand to a revolutionary movement against the present _status quo_ in its turn; but the preparation of such a movement, otherwise than by spreading of communist opinions by the masses, could not be an object of the association. so well was this foundation of the society understood by the majority of its members, that when the place-hunting ambition of some tried to turn it into a conspiracy for making an extempore revolution they were speedily turned out. now, according to no law upon the face of the earth, could such an association be called a plot, a conspiracy for purposes of high treason. if it was a conspiracy, it was one against, not the existing government, but its probable successor. and the prussian government was aware of it. that was the cause why the eleven defendants were kept in solitary confinement during eighteen months, spent, on the part of the authorities, in the strangest judicial feats. imagine, that after eight months' detention, the prisoners were remanded for some months more, "there being no evidence of any crime against them!" and when at last they were brought before a jury, there was not a single overt act of a treasonable nature proved against them. and yet they were convicted, and you will speedily see how. one of the emissaries of the society was arrested in may, , and from documents found upon him, other arrests followed. a prussian police officer, a certain stieber, was immediately ordered to trace the ramifications, in london, of the pretended plot. he succeeded in obtaining some papers connected with the above-mentioned seceders from the society, who had, after being turned out, formed an actual conspiracy in paris and london. these papers were obtained by a double crime. a man named reuter was bribed to break open the writing-desk of the secretary of the society, and steal the papers therefrom. but that was nothing yet. this theft led to the discovery and conviction of the so-called franco-german plot, in paris, but it gave no clue as to the great communist association. the paris plot, we may as well here observe, was under the direction of a few ambitious imbeciles and political _chevaliers d'industrie_ in london, and of a formerly convicted forger, then acting as a police spy in paris; their dupes made up, by rabid declamations and blood-thirsty rantings, for the utter insignificance of their political existence. the prussian police, then, had to look out for fresh discoveries. they established a regular office of secret police at the prussian embassy in london. a police agent, greif by name, held his odious vocation under the title of an attaché to the embassy--a step which should suffice to put all prussian embassies out of the pale of international law, and which even the austrians have not yet dared to take. under him worked a certain fleury, a merchant in the city of london, a man of some fortune and rather respectably connected, one of those low creatures who do the basest actions from an innate inclination to infamy. another agent was a commercial clerk named hirsch, who, however, had already been denounced as a spy on his arrival. he introduced himself into the society of some german communist refugees in london, and they, in order to obtain proofs of his real character, admitted him for a short time. the proofs of his connection with the police were very soon obtained, and herr hirsch, from that time, absented himself. although, however, he thus resigned all opportunities of gaining the information he was paid to procure, he was not inactive. from his retreat in kensington, where he never met one of the communists in question, he manufactured every week pretended reports of pretended sittings of a pretended central committee of that very conspiracy which the prussian police could not get hold of. the contents of these reports were of the most absurd nature; not a christian name was correct, not a name correctly spelt, not a single individual made to speak as he would be likely to speak. his master, fleury, assisted him in this forgery, and it is not yet proved that "attaché" greif can wash his hands of these infamous proceedings. the prussian government, incredible to say, took these silly fabrications for gospel truth, and you may imagine what a confusion such depositions created in the evidence brought before the jury. when the trial came on, herr stieber, the already mentioned police officer, got into the witness-box, swore to all these absurdities, and, with no little self-complacency, maintained that he had a secret agent in the very closest intimacy with those parties in london who were considered the prime movers in this awful conspiracy. this secret agent was very secret indeed, for he had hid his face for eight months in kensington, for fear he might actually see one of the parties whose most secret thoughts, words and doings, he pretended to report week after week. messrs. hirsch and fleury, however, had another invention in store. they worked up the whole of the reports they had made into an "original minute book" of the sittings of the secret supreme committee, whose existence was maintained by the prussian police; and herr stieber, finding that this book wondrously agreed with the reports already received from the same parties, at once laid it before the jury, declaring upon his oath that after serious examination, and according to his fullest conviction, that book was genuine. it was then that most of the absurdities reported by hirsch were made public. you may imagine the surprise of the pretended members of that secret committee when they found things stated of them which they never knew before. some who were baptized william were here christened louis or charles; others, at the time they were at the other end of england, were made to have pronounced speeches in london; others were reported to have read letters they never had received; they were made to have met regularly on a thursday, when they used to have a convivial reunion, once a week, on wednesdays; a working man, who could hardly write, figured as one of the takers of minutes, and signed as such; and they all of them were made to speak in a language which, if it may be that of prussian police stations, was certainly not that of a reunion in which literary men, favorably known in their country, formed the majority. and, to crown the whole, a receipt was forged for a sum of money, pretended to have been paid by the fabricators to the pretended secretary of the fictitious central committee for this book; but the existence of this pretended secretary rested merely upon a hoax that some malicious communist had played upon the unfortunate hirsch. this clumsy fabrication was too scandalous an affair not to produce the contrary of its intended effect. although the london friends of the defendants were deprived of all means to bring the facts of the case before the jury--although the letters they sent to the counsel for the defence were suppressed by the post--although the documents and affidavits they succeeded in getting into the hands of these legal gentlemen were not admitted in evidence, yet the general indignation was such that even the public accusers, nay, even herr stieber--whose oath had been given as a guarantee for the authenticity of that book--were compelled to recognize it as a forgery. this forgery, however, was not the only thing of the kind of which the police was guilty. two or three more cases of the sort came out during the trial. the documents stolen by reuter were interpolated by the police so as to disfigure their meaning. a paper, containing some rabid nonsense, was written in a handwriting imitating that of dr. marx, and for a time it was pretended that it had been written by him, until at last the prosecution was obliged to acknowledge the forgery. but for every police infamy that was proved as such, there were five or six fresh ones brought forward, which could not, at the moment, be unveiled, the defence being taken by surprise, the proofs having to be got from london, and every correspondence of the counsel for the defence with the london communist refugees being in open court treated as complicity in the alleged plot! that greif and fleury are what they are here represented to be has been stated by herr stieber himself, in his evidence; as to hirsch, he has before a london magistrate confessed that he forged the "minute book," by order and with the assistance of fleury, and then made his escape from this country in order to evade a criminal prosecution. the government could stand few such branding disclosures as came to light during the trial. it had a jury--six nobles, two government officials. these were not the men to look closely into the confused mass of evidence heaped before them during six weeks, when they heard it continually dinned into their ears that the defendants were the chiefs of a dreadful communist conspiracy, got up in order to subvert everything sacred--property, family, religion, order, government and law! and yet, had not the government, at the same time, brought it to the knowledge of the privileged classes, that an acquittal in this trial would be the signal for the suppression of the jury; and that it would be taken as a direct political demonstration--as a proof of the middle-class liberal opposition being ready to unite even with the most extreme revolutionists--the verdict would have been an acquittal. as it was, the retroactive application of the new prussian code enabled the government to have seven prisoners convicted, while four merely were acquitted, and those convicted were sentenced to imprisonment varying from three to six years, as you have, doubtless, already stated at the time the news reached you. london, december , . footnotes: [ ] "the manifesto." this is the celebrated "communist manifesto," which the communist congress, held in london, november, , delegated marx and engels to draw up. it was published in (in london). the fundamental proposition of the manifesto, engels writes in his introduction to the "communist manifesto," translated by s. moore, and published by w. reeves, "is that in every historical epoch, the prevailing mode of economic production and exchange, and the social organization necessarily following from it, form the basis upon which is built up, and from which alone can be explained, the political and intellectual history of that epoch; that consequently the whole history of mankind has been a history of class struggles, contests between exploiting and exploited, ruling and oppressed classes; that nowadays a stage has been reached where the exploited and oppressed class--the proletariat--cannot attain its emancipation ... without at the same time, and once and for all emancipating society at large from all exploitation, oppression, class distinctions, and class struggles." as to this fundamental proposition of the manifesto, it "belongs," says engels, "wholly and solely to marx." the "communist manifesto" has been translated into well-nigh every language, and is, again to quote engels, "the most international production of all socialist literature." (https://archive.org/details/americana) note: images of the original pages are available through internet archive. see https://archive.org/details/germansocietyatc baxeiala transcriber's note: text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). the social side of the reformation in germany german society at the close of the middle ages aberdeen university press. german society at the close of the middle ages by e. belfort bax author of "the story of the french revolution," "the religion of socialism," "the ethics of socialism," "handbook of the history of philosophy," etc., etc. [illustration: logo] london swan sonnenschein & co. contents. chapter page introduction, i. first signs of social and religious revolt, ii. the reformation movement, iii. literature of reformation period, iv. folklore of the reformation, v. the german town, vi. the revolt of the knighthood, vii. country and town at the end of the middle ages, viii. the new jurisprudence, appendix a, " b, " c, preface. the work, of which the present volume is the first instalment, aims at giving english readers a general view of the social condition and the popular movements of germany during the period known as that of the reformation. in accordance with this plan, i have only touched incidentally upon the theological disputes then apparently uppermost in the thoughts of men, or upon the purely political side of things. they are dealt with merely in so far as they immediately strike across the path of social and internal affairs. the present volume, which has a more general character than its successors, deals with a period limited, roughly speaking, by the closing years of the fifteenth century on the one side, and by , the year of the great peasant rising, on the other. it contains a narrative of the earlier popular revolutionary movements at the close of the middle ages, the precursors of the peasants' war; and it also deals with the underlying causes, economic, social and juridical, of the general disintegration of the time. the next volume will treat more in detail the events of the years to . the third will contain a history of the anabaptist movement in central europe from its rise at zwickau in to its decline after the capture of münster by the archiepiscopal and imperial troops in . the reign of the saints in münster naturally forms the leading feature of this portion of the work. as to the sources for the history of the germany of this period, i have endeavoured to incorporate everything available that seemed to me important for the proper understanding of the time. the three chief general histories of the reformation, ranke's _geschichte deutschlands während der reformations-zeit_, janssen's _geschichte des deutschen volkes_, and egelhaaf's _deutsche geschichte im sechszehnten jahrhundert_, have, it is scarcely necessary to say, been laid under contribution. the standpoint of ranke, whose history is detailed and in certain respects exhaustive, is that of general bourgeois philistinism. janssen represents the ultramontane catholic view; but, apart from its tendency, every one must admire the brilliant and in most cases accurate scholarship that characterises it. egelhaaf's work may be regarded as the counterblast to janssen's. its point of view is that of "liberal," middle-class german protestantism; but it also contains many hints and clues which may be followed up by the industrious historian. to rewrite history in the light of the researches of the later decades of the nineteenth century will be the great task of the next two or three generations. history has to be presented afresh on the basis of primitive communism with its tribal and village groups, with its sexual relations based on the _gens_, with its totemistic religious conceptions, and from the standpoint of a continuous development from these beginnings up to the individualism of the present day founded on the complete disruption of early society. the average student of any historical period invariably reads into his interpretation the intellectual, moral and social atmosphere that lies nearest to him. he cannot strip away the intervening time-content between himself and the period in question. it is the most difficult of all exercises of the imagination, and to most men, indeed, impossible, to realise that the same words, names, customs and institutions connote totally different actualities in different stages of historic evolution. people fail to conjure up the altered perspective, and the unfamiliar background on which men lived, thought and felt in another age. agamemnon, "king of men," is to them kaiser wilhelm differently made up. lykurgos is a cross between pitt and dr. johnson. cicero is a sir charles russell who happened to live in the first century b.c. the formal continuity of names, notions or things hides from them the "true inwardness" of the rupture between the old and the new which has gradually accomplished itself. change in human affairs is of course ceaseless; but it is only when it has reached a certain stage that it is borne in upon the consciousness of men in general, and, even then, it is only the sharp summits above the changing horizon that they recognise. the ground out of which these spring is not seen, and hence the true bearing of the summits themselves is not understood. social movements of the german reformation. introduction. the close of the fifteenth century had left the whole structure of mediæval europe to all appearance intact. statesmen and writers like philip de commines had apparently as little suspicion that the state of things they saw around them, in which they had grown up and of which they were representatives, was ever destined to pass away, as lord palmerston or any other statesman of the cobden-bright period had that the existing system of society, say in , was at any time likely to suffer other changes than those of detail. society was organised on the feudal hierarchy of status. in the first place, a noble class, spiritual and temporal, was opposed to a peasantry either wholly servile or but nominally free. in addition to this opposition of noble and peasant there was that of the township, which, in its corporate capacity, stood in the relation of lord to the surrounding peasantry. the township in germany was of two kinds--first of all, there was the township that was "free of the empire," that is, that held nominally from the emperor himself (_reichstadt_), and secondly, there was the township that was under the domination of an intermediate lord. the economic basis of the whole was still land; the status of a man or of a corporation was determined by the mode in which they held their land. "no land without a lord" was the principle of mediæval polity; just as "money has no master" is the basis of the bourgeois world with its self-made men. every distinction of rank in the feudal system was still denoted for the most part by a special costume. it was a world of knights in armour, of ecclesiastics in vestments and stoles, of lawyers in robes, of princes in silk and velvet and cloth of gold, and of peasants in laced shoe, brown cloak, and cloth hat. but although the whole feudal organisation was outwardly intact, the thinker who was watching the signs of the times would not have been long in arriving at the conclusion that feudalism was "played out," that the whole fabric of mediæval civilisation was becoming dry and withered, and had either already begun to disintegrate or was on the eve of doing so. causes of change had within the past half-century been working underneath the surface of social life, and were rapidly undermining the whole structure. the growing use of fire-arms in war; the rapid multiplication of printed books; the spread of the new learning after the taking of constantinople in , and the subsequent diffusion of greek teachers throughout europe; the surely and steadily increasing communication with the new world, and the consequent increase of the precious metals; and, last but not least, vasco de gama's discovery of the new trade route from the east by way of the cape--all these were indications of the fact that the death-knell of the old order of things had been struck. notwithstanding the apparent outward integrity of the system based on land tenures, land was ceasing to be the only form of productive wealth. hence it was losing the exclusive importance attaching to it in the earlier period of the middle ages. the first form of modern capitalism had already arisen. large aggregations of capital in the hands of trading companies were becoming common. the roman law was establishing itself in the place of the old customary tribal law which had hitherto prevailed in the manorial courts, serving in some sort as a bulwark against the caprice of the territorial lord; and this change facilitated the development of the bourgeois principle of private, as opposed to communal, property. in intellectual matters, though theology still maintained its supremacy as the chief subject of human interest, other interests were rapidly growing up alongside of it, the most prominent being the study of classical literature. besides these things, there was the dawning interest in nature, which took on, as a matter of course, a magical form in accordance with traditional and contemporary modes of thought. in fact, like the flicker of a dying candle in its socket, the middle ages seemed at the beginning of the sixteenth century to exhibit all their own salient characteristics in an exaggerated and distorted form. the old feudal relations had degenerated into a blood-sucking oppression; the old rough brutality, into excogitated and elaborated cruelty (aptly illustrated in the collection of ingenious instruments preserved in the torture-tower at nürnberg); the old crude superstition, into a systematised magical theory of natural causes and effects; the old love of pageantry, into a lavish luxury and magnificence of which we have in the "field of the cloth of gold" the stock historical example; the old chivalry, into the mercenary bravery of the soldier, whose trade it was to fight, and who recognised only one virtue--to wit, animal courage. again, all these exaggerated characteristics were mixed with new elements, which distorted them further, and which fore-shadowed a coming change, the ultimate issue of which would be their extinction and that of the life of which they were the signs. the growing tendency towards centralisation and the consequent suppression or curtailment of the local autonomies of the middle ages in the interests of some kind of national government, of which the political careers of louis xi. in france, of edward iv. in england, and of ferdinand and isabella in spain were such conspicuous instances, did not fail to affect in a lesser degree that loosely connected political system of german states known as the holy roman empire. maximilian's first reichstag in caused to be issued an imperial edict suppressing the right of private warfare claimed and exercised by the whole noble class from the princes of the empire down to the meanest knight. in the same year the imperial chamber (_reichskammer_) was established, and in the imperial aulic council. maximilian also organised a standing army of mercenary troops, called _landesknechte_. shortly afterwards germany was divided into imperial districts called circles (_kreise_), ultimately ten in number, all of which were under a _reichsregiment_, which had at its disposal a military force for the punishment of disturbers of the peace. but the public opinion of the age, conjoined with the particular circumstances, political and economic, of central europe, robbed the enactment in a great measure of its immediate effect. highway plundering and even private war was still going on, to a considerable extent, far into the sixteenth century. charles v. pursued the same line of policy; but it was not until after the suppression of the lower nobility in , and finally of the peasants in , that any material change took place; and then the centralisation, such as it was, was in favour of the princes, rather than of the imperial power, which, after charles v.'s time, grew weaker and weaker. the speciality about the history of germany is, that it has not known till our own day centralisation on a national or racial scale like england or france. at the opening of the sixteenth century public opinion not merely sanctioned open plunder by the wearer of spurs and by the possessor of a stronghold, but regarded it as his special prerogative, the exercise of which was honourable rather than disgraceful. the cities certainly resented their burghers being waylaid and robbed, and hanged the knights whenever they could; and something like a perpetual feud always existed between the wealthier cities and the knights who infested the trade routes leading to and from them. still, these belligerent relations were taken as a matter of course; and no disgrace, in the modern sense, attached to the occupation of highway robbery. in consequence of the impoverishment of the knights at this period, owing to causes with which we shall deal later, the trade or profession had recently received an accession of vigour, and at the same time was carried on more brutally and mercilessly than ever before. we will give some instances of the sort of occurrence which was by no means unusual. in the immediate neighbourhood of nürnberg, which was _bien entendu_ one of the chief seats of the imperial power, a robber-knight leader, named hans thomas von absberg, was a standing menace. it was the custom of this ruffian, who had a large following, to plunder even the poorest who came from the city, and, not content with this, to mutilate his victims. in june, , he fell upon a wretched craftsman, and with his own sword hacked off the poor fellow's right hand, notwithstanding that the man begged him upon his knees to take the left, and not destroy his means of earning his livelihood. the following august he, with his band, attacked a nürnberg tanner, whose hand was similarly treated, one of his associates remarking that he was glad to set to work again, as it was "a long time since they had done any business in hands". on the same occasion a cutler was dealt with after a similar fashion. the hands in these cases were collected and sent to the bürgermeister of nürnberg, with some such phrase as that the sender (hans thomas) would treat all so who came from the city. the princes themselves, when it suited their purpose, did not hesitate to offer an asylum to these knightly robbers. with absberg were associated georg von giech and hans georg von aufsess. among other notable robber-knights of the time may be mentioned the lord of brandenstein and the lord of rosenberg. as illustrating the strictly professional character of the pursuit, and the brutally callous nature of the society practising it, we may narrate that margaretha von brandenstein was accustomed, it is recorded, to give the advice to the choice guests round her board that when a merchant failed to keep his promise to them, they should never hesitate to cut off _both_ his hands. even franz von sickingen, known sometimes as the "last flower of german chivalry," boasted of having among the intimate associates of his enterprise for the rehabilitation of knighthood many gentlemen who had been accustomed to "let their horses on the high road bite off the purses of wayfarers". so strong was the public opinion of the noble class as to the inviolability of the privilege of highway plunder that a monk, preaching one day in a cathedral and happening to attack it as unjustifiable, narrowly escaped death at the hands of some knights present amongst his congregation, who asserted that he had insulted the prerogatives of their order. whenever this form of knight-errantry was criticised, there were never wanting scholarly pens to defend it as a legitimate means of aristocratic livelihood; since a knight must live in suitable style, and this was often his only resource for obtaining the means thereto. the free cities, which were subject only to imperial jurisdiction, were practically independent republics. their organisation was a microcosm of that of the entire empire. at the apex of the municipal society was the bürgermeister and the so-called "honorability" (_ehrbarkeit_), which consisted of the patrician _gentes_, (in most cases) those families which were supposed to be descended from the original chartered freemen of the town, the old mark-brethren. they comprised generally the richest families, and had monopolised the entire government of the city, together with the right to administer its various sources of income and to consume its revenue at their pleasure. by the time, however, of which we are writing the trading guilds had also attained to a separate power of their own, and were in some cases ousting the burgher-aristocracy, though they were very generally susceptible of being manipulated by the members of the patrician class, who, as a rule, could alone sit in the council (_rath_). the latter body stood, in fact, as regards the town, much in the relation of the feudal lord to his manor. strong in their wealth and in their aristocratic privileges, the patricians lorded it alike over the townspeople and over the neighbouring peasantry, who were subject to the municipality. they forestalled and regrated with impunity. they assumed the chief rights in the municipal lands, in many cases imposed duties at their own caprice, and turned guild privileges and rights of citizenship into a source of profit for themselves. their bailiffs in the country districts forming part of their territory were often more voracious in their treatment of the peasants than even the nobles themselves. the accounts of income and expenditure were kept in the loosest manner, and embezzlement clumsily concealed was the rule rather than the exception. the opposition of the non-privileged citizens, usually led by the wealthier guildsmen not belonging to the aristocratic class, operated through the guilds and through the open assembly of the citizens. it had already frequently succeeded in establishing a representation of the general body of the guildsmen in a so-called great council (_grosser rath_), and in addition, as already said, in ousting the "honorables" from some of the public functions. altogether the patrician party, though still powerful enough, was at the opening of the sixteenth century already on the decline, the wealthy and unprivileged opposition beginning in its turn to constitute itself into a quasi-aristocratic body as against the mass of the poorer citizens and those outside the pale of municipal rights. the latter class was now becoming an important and turbulent factor in the life of the larger cities. the craft-guilds, consisting of the body of non-patrician citizens, were naturally in general dominated by their most wealthy section. we may here observe that the development of the mediæval township from its earliest beginnings up to the period of its decay in the sixteenth century was almost uniformly as follows:[ ] at first the township, or rather what later became the township, was represented entirely by the group of _gentes_ or group-families originally settled within the mark or district on which the town subsequently stood. these constituted the original aristocracy from which the tradition of the _ehrbarkeit_ dated. in those towns founded by the romans, such as trier, aachen, and others, the case was of course a little different. there the origin of the _ehrbarkeit_ may possibly be sought for in the leading families of the roman provincials who were in occupation of the town at the coming of the barbarians in the fifth century. round this nucleus there gradually accreted from the earliest period of the middle ages the freed men of the surrounding districts, fugitive serfs, and others who sought that protection and means of livelihood in a community under the immediate domination of a powerful lord, which they could not otherwise obtain when their native village-community had perchance been raided by some marauding noble and his retainers. circumstances, amongst others the fact that the community to which they attached themselves had already adopted commerce and thus become a guild of merchants, led to the differentiation of industrial functions amongst the new-comers, and thus to the establishment of craft-guilds. another origin of the townsfolk, which must not be overlooked, is to be found in the attendants on the palace-fortress of some great over-lord. in the early middle ages all such magnates kept up an extensive establishment, the greater ecclesiastical lords no less than the secular often having several palaces. in germany this origin of the township was furthered by charles the great, who established schools and other civil institutions, with a magistrate at their head, round many of the palaces that he founded. "a new epoch," says von maurer, "begins with the villa-foundations of charles the great and his ordinances respecting them, for that his celebrated capitularies in this connection were intended for his newly established villas is self-evident. in that proceeding he obviously had the roman villa in his mind, and on the model of this he rather further developed the previously existing court and villa constitution than completely reorganised it. hence one finds even in his new creations the old foundation again, albeit on a far more extended plan, the economical side of such villa-colonies being especially more completely and effectively ordered."[ ] the expression "palatine," as applied to certain districts, bears testimony to the fact here referred to. as above said, the development of the township was everywhere on the same lines. the aim of the civic community was always to remove as far as possible the power which controlled them. their worst condition was when they were immediately overshadowed by a territorial magnate. when their immediate lord was a prince, the area of whose feudal jurisdiction was more extensive, his rule was less oppressively felt, and their condition was therefore considerably improved. it was only, however, when cities were "free of the empire" (_reichsfrei_) that they attained the ideal of mediæval civic freedom. it follows naturally from the conditions described that there was, in the first place, a conflict between the primitive inhabitants as embodied in their corporate society and the territorial lord, whoever he might be. no sooner had the township acquired a charter of freedom or certain immunities than a new antagonism showed itself between the ancient corporation of the city and the trade-guilds, these representing the later accretions. the territorial lord (if any) now sided, usually though not always, with the patrician party. but the guilds, nevertheless, succeeded in ultimately wresting many of the leading public offices from the exclusive possession of the patrician families. meanwhile the leading men of the guilds had become _hommes arrivés_. they had acquired wealth, and influence which was in many cases hereditary in their family, and by the beginning of the sixteenth century they were confronted with the more or less veiled and more or less open opposition of the smaller guildsmen and of the newest comers into the city, the shiftless proletariat of serfs and free peasants, whom economic pressure was fast driving within the walls, but who, owing to the civic organisation having become crystallised, could no longer be absorbed into it. to this mass may be added a certain number of impoverished burghers, who, although nominally within the town organisation, were oppressed by the wealth of the magnates, plebeian and patrician. the number of persons who, owing to the decay, or one might almost say the collapse, of the strength of the feudal system, were torn from the old moorings and left to drift about shiftless in a world utterly unprepared to deal with such an increase of what was practically vagabondage, was augmenting with every year. the vagrants in all western european countries had never been so numerous as in the earlier part of the sixteenth century. a portion of these disinherited persons entered the service of kings and princes as mercenary soldiers, and thus became the first germ of the modern standing army. another portion entered the begging profession, which now notably on the continent became organised in orthodox and traditional form into guilds, each of which had its master and other officers. yet another portion sought a more or less permanent domicile as journeymen craftsmen and unskilled labourers in the cities. this fact is noteworthy as the first indication of the proletariat in modern history. "it will be seen," says friedrich engels,[ ] "that the plebeian opposition of the then towns consisted of very mixed elements. it united the degenerate components of the old feudal and guild organisation with the as yet undeveloped and new-born proletarian element of modern bourgeois society in embryo. impoverished guildsmen there were, who through their privileges were still connected with the existing civic order on the one side, and serving-men out of place who had not as yet become proletarians on the other. between the two were the "companions" (_gesellen_) for the nonce outside the official society, and in their position resembling the proletariat as much as was possible in the then state of industry and under the existing guild-privilege. but, nevertheless, almost all of them were future guild-masters by virtue of this very guild-privilege."[ ] a noteworthy feature of municipal life at this time was the difficulty and expense attendant on entry into the city organisation even for the status of a simple citizen, still more for that of a guildsman. within a few decades this had enormously increased. * * * * * the guild was a characteristic of all mediæval life. on the model of the village-community, which was originally based on the notion of kinship, every interest, craft, and group of men formed itself into a "brotherhood" or "guild". the idea of individual autonomy, of individual action independent altogether of the community, is a modern idea which never entered the mediæval mind. as we have above remarked, even the mendicants and vagabonds could not conceive of adopting begging as a career except under the auspices of a beggars' guild. the guild was not like a modern commercial syndicate, an abstract body united only by the thread of one immediate personal interest, whose members did not even know each other. his guild-membership interpenetrated the whole life, religious, convivial, social and political, of the mediæval man. the guilds were more or less of the nature of masonic societies, whose concerns were by no means limited to the mere trade-function that appeared on the surface. "business" had not as yet begun to absorb the whole life of men. the craft or "mystery" was a function intimately interwoven with the whole concrete social existence. but it is interesting to observe among the symptoms of transition characterising the sixteenth century, as noted above, the formation of companies of merchants apart from and outside the old guild-organisation. these latter really seem a kind of foreshadowing of the rings, trusts, and joint-stock companies of our own day. many and bitter were the complaints of the manner in which prices were forced up by these earliest examples of the capitalistic syndicate, which powerfully contributed to the accumulation of wealth at one end of the scale and to the intensification of poverty at the other.[ ] the rich burgher loved nothing better than to display an ostentatious profusion of wealth in his house, in his dress, and in his entertainments. on the clothing and ornamentation of himself and his family he often squandered what might have been for his ancestor of the previous century the fortune of a lifetime. especially was this the case at the reichstags and other imperial assemblies held in the various free cities at which all the three feudal estates of the empire were represented. it was the aim of the wealthy councillor or guild-master on these occasions to outbid the princes of the empire in the magnificence of his person and establishment. the prince did not like to be outdone, and learnt to accustom himself to luxuries, and thereby to indefinitely increase his own expenditure. the same with all classes. the knighthood or smaller nobles, no longer content with homely fare, sought after costly clothing, expensive food and exotic wines, and to approach the affluent furnishing of the city magnate. his one or two horses, his armour, his sword and his lance, his homespuns made almost invariably on his estates, the wine grown in the neighbourhood, his rough oatmeal bread, the constituents of which had been ground at his own mill, the venison and wild fowl hunted by himself or by his few retainers, no longer sufficed for the knight's wants. in order to compass his new requirements he had to set to work in two ways. formerly he had little or no need of money. he received, as he gave, everything in kind. now that he had to deal with the beginnings of a world-market, money was a prime necessity. the first and most obvious way of getting it was to squeeze the peasant on his estate, who, bitten by the new mania, had also begun to accumulate and turn into cash the surplus products of labour on his holding. from what we have before said of the ways and manners of the knighthood, the reader may well imagine that he did not hesitate to "tower" the recalcitrant peasant, as it was called, that is, to throw him into his castle-dungeon if other means failed to make him disgorge his treasure as soon as it came to his lord's ears that he had any. but the more ordinary method of squeezing the peasant was by doubling and trebling the tithes and other dues, by imposing fresh burdens (many of them utterly unwarranted by custom) on any or no pretext. the princes, lay and ecclesiastic, applied the same methods on a more extended scale. these were often effected in an ingenious manner by the ecclesiastical lords through the forging of manorial rolls. the second of the methods spoken of for "raising the wind" was the mortgaging of castle and lands to the money-lending syndicates of the towns, or, in the case of the greater princes, to the towns themselves in their corporate capacity. the jews also came in for their share of land-mortgages. there were, in fact, few free or semi-free peasants whose lands were not more or less hypothecated. meanwhile prices rose to an incredible extent in a few years. such were the causes and results of the change in domestic life which the economic evolution of the close of the middle ages was now bringing about amongst all classes. the ecclesiastical lords, or lords spiritual, differed in no way in their character and conduct from the temporal princes of the empire. in one respect they outdid the princes, namely, in the forgery of documents, as already mentioned. luxury had, moreover, owing to the communication which they had with rome and thus indirectly with the byzantine civilisation, already begun with the prelates in the earlier middle ages. it now burst all bounds. the ecclesiastical courts were the seat of every kind of debauchery. as we shall see later on, they also became the places where the new learning first flourished. but in addition to the general luxury in which the higher ecclesiastics outdid the lay element of the empire, there was a special cause which rendered them obnoxious alike to the peasants, to the towns, and to their own feudatory nobles. this special cause was the enormous sum payable to rome for the pallium or investiture, a tax that had to be raised by the inhabitants of the diocese on every change of archbishop, bishop, or abbot. in addition thereto the entire income of the first year after the investiture accrued to the papal treasury under the name of annates. this constituted a continuous drain on the ecclesiastical dependencies and indirectly on the whole empire. there must also be added the cost of frequent journeys to rome, where each dignitary during his residence held court in a style of sumptuous magnificence. all these expenses tended to drain the resources of the territories held as spiritual fiefs in a more onerous degree than happened to other territories. moreover, the system of the sale of indulgences or remissions for all sins committed up to date was now being prosecuted to an extent never heard of before with a view to meet the increased expenditure of the papal see, and especially the cost of completing the cathedral of st. peter's at rome. thus by a sort of voluntary tax the wealth of germany was still further transferred to italy. hence can readily be seen the reason of the venomous hatred which among all classes of the empire had been gradually accumulating towards the papacy for more than a generation, and which ultimately found expression in luther's fulminations. the peasant of the period was of three kinds: the _leibeigener_ or serf, who was little better than a slave, who cultivated his lord's domain, upon whom unlimited burdens might be fixed, and who was in all respects amenable to the will of his lord; the _höriger_ or villein, whose services were limited alike in kind and amount; and the _freier_ or free peasant, who merely paid what was virtually a quit-rent in kind or in money for being allowed to retain his holding or status in the rural community under the protection of the manorial lord. the last was practically the counterpart of the mediæval english copyholder. the germans had undergone essentially the same transformations in social organisation as the other populations of europe. the barbarian nations at the time of their great migration in the fifth century were organised on a tribal and village basis. the head man was simply _primus inter pares_. in the course of their wanderings the successful military leader acquired powers and assumed a position that was unknown to the previous times, when war, such as it was, was merely inter-tribal and inter-clannish, and did not involve the movements of peoples and federations of tribes, and when, in consequence, the need for permanent military leaders or for the semblance of a military hierarchy had not arisen. the military leader now placed himself at the head of the older social organisation, and associated with his immediate followers on terms approaching equality. a well-known illustration of this is the incident of the vase taken from the cathedral of rheims, and of chlodowig's efforts to rescue it from his independent comrades-in-arms. the process of the development of the feudal polity of the middle ages is, of course, a very complicated one, owing to the various strands that go to compose it. in addition to the german tribes themselves, who moved _en masse_, carrying with them their tribal and village organisation, under the over-lordship of the various military leaders, were the indigenous inhabitants amongst whom they settled. the latter in the country districts, even in many of the territories within the roman empire, still largely retained the primitive communal organisation. the new-comers, therefore, found in the rural communities a social system already in existence into which they naturally fitted, but as an aristocratic body over against the conquered inhabitants. the latter, though not all reduced to a servile condition, nevertheless held their land from the conquering body under conditions which constituted them an order of freemen inferior to the new-comers. to put the matter briefly, the military leaders developed into barons and princes, and in some cases the nominal centralisation culminated as in france and england in the kingly office; while, in germany and italy, it took the form of the revived imperial office, the spiritual over-lord of the whole of christendom being the pope, who had his vassals in the prince-prelates and subordinate ecclesiastical holders. in addition to the princes sprung originally from the military leaders of the migratory nations, there were their free followers, who developed ultimately into the knighthood or inferior nobility; the inhabitants of the conquered districts forming a distinct class of inferior freemen or of serfs. but the essentially personal relation with which the whole process started soon degenerated into one based on property. the most primitive form of property--land--was at the outset what was termed _allodial_, at least among the conquering race, from every social group having the possession, under the trusteeship of its head man, of the land on which it settled. now, owing to the necessities of the time, owing to the need of protection, to violence and to religious motives, it passed into the hands of the over-lord, temporal or spiritual, as his possession; and the inhabitants, even in the case of populations which had not been actually conquered, became his vassals, villeins, or serfs, as the case might be. the process by means of which this was accomplished was more or less gradual; indeed, the entire extinction of communal rights, whereby the notion of private ownership is fully realised, was not universally effected even in the west of europe till within a measurable distance of our own time.[ ] from the foregoing it will be understood that the oppression of the peasant, under the feudalism of the middle ages, and especially of the later middle ages, was viewed by him as an infringement of his rights. during the period of time constituting mediæval history the peasant, though he often slumbered, yet often started up to a sudden consciousness of his position. the memory of primitive communism was never quite extinguished, and the continual peasant-revolts of the middle ages, though immediately occasioned, probably, by some fresh invasion, by which it was sought to tear from the "common man" yet another shred of his surviving rights, always had in the background the ideal, vague though it may have been, of his ancient freedom. such, undoubtedly, was the meaning of the jacquerie in france, with its wild and apparently senseless vengeance; of the wat tyler revolt in england, with its systematic attempt to embody the vague tradition of the primitive village community in the legends of the current ecclesiastical creed; of the numerous revolts in flanders and north germany; of the hussite movement in bohemia, under ziska; of the rebellion led by george doza in hungary; and, as we shall see in the body of the present work, of the social movements of reformation germany, in which, with the partial exception of ket's rebellion in england a few years later, we may consider them as coming to an end. for the movements in question were distinctly the last of their kind. the civil wars of religion in france, and the great rebellion in england against charles the first, which also assumed a religious colouring, open a new era in popular revolts. in the latter, particularly, we have clearly before us the attempt of the new middle class of town and country, the independent citizen, and the now independent yeoman, to assert its supremacy over the old feudal estates or orders. the new conditions had swept away the revolutionary tradition of the mediæval period, whose golden age lay in the past with its communal-holding and free men with equal rights on the basis of the village organisation--rights which with every century the peasant felt more and more slipping away from him. the place of this tradition was now taken by an ideal of individual freedom, apart from any social bond, and on a basis merely political, the way for which had been prepared by that very conception of individual proprietorship on the part of the landlord, against which the older revolutionary sentiment had protested. a most powerful instrument in accommodating men's minds to this change of view, in other words, to the establishment of the new individualistic principle, was the roman or civil law, which, at the period dealt with in the present book, had become the basis whereon disputed points were settled in the imperial courts. in this respect also, though to a lesser extent, may be mentioned the canon or ecclesiastical law,--consisting of papal decretals on various points which were founded partially on the roman or civil law,--a juridical system which also fully and indeed almost exclusively recognised the individual holding of property as the basis of civil society (albeit not without a recognition of social duties on the part of the owner). learning was now beginning to differentiate itself from the ecclesiastical profession, and to become a definite vocation in its various branches. crowds of students flocked to the seats of learning, and, as travelling scholars, earned a precarious living by begging or "professing" medicine, assisting the illiterate for a small fee, or working wonders, such as casting horoscopes, or performing thaumaturgic tricks. the professors of law were now the most influential members of the imperial council and of the various imperial courts. in central europe, as elsewhere, notably in france, the civil lawyers were always on the side of the centralising power, alike against the local jurisdictions and against the peasantry. the effects of the conquest of constantinople in , and the consequent dispersion of the accumulated greek learning of the byzantine empire, had, by the end of the fifteenth century, begun to show themselves in a notable modification of european culture. the circle of the seven sciences, the quadrivium, and the trivium, in other words, the mediæval system of learning, began to be antiquated. scholastic philosophy, that is to say, the controversy of the scotists and the thomists, was now growing out of date. plato was extolled at the expense of aristotle. greek, and even hebrew, was eagerly sought after. latin itself was assuming another aspect; the renaissance latin is classical latin, whilst mediæval latin is dog-latin. the physical universe now began to be inquired into with a perfectly fresh interest, but the inquiries were still conducted under the ægis of the old habits of thought. the universe was still a system of mysterious affinities and magical powers to the investigator of the renaissance period, as it had been before. there was this difference, however: it was now attempted to _systematise_ the magical theory of the universe. while the common man held a store of traditional magical beliefs respecting the natural world, the learned man deduced these beliefs from the neo-platonists, from the kabbala, from hermes trismegistos, and from a variety of other sources, and attempted to arrange this somewhat heterogeneous mass of erudite lore into a system of organised thought. the humanistic movement, so called, the movement, that is, of revived classical scholarship, had already begun in germany before what may be termed the _sturm und drang_ of the renaissance proper. foremost among the exponents of this older humanism, which dates from the middle of the fifteenth century, were nicholas of cusa and his disciples, rudolph agricola, alexander hegius and jacob wimpheling. but the new humanism and the new renaissance movement generally throughout northern europe centred chiefly in two personalities, johannes reuchlin and desiderius erasmus. reuchlin was the founder of the new hebrew learning, which up till then had been exclusively confined to the synagogue. it was he who unlocked the mysteries of the kabbala to the gentile world. but though it is for his introduction of hebrew study that reuchlin is best known to posterity, yet his services in the diffusion and popularisation of classical culture were enormous. the dispute of reuchlin with the ecclesiastical authorities at cologne excited literary germany from end to end. it was the first general skirmish of the new and the old spirit in central and northern europe. but the man who was destined to become the personification of the humanist movement, as the new learning was called, was erasmus. the illegitimate son of the daughter of a rotterdam burgher, he early became famous on account of his erudition, in spite of the adverse circumstances of his youth. like all the scholars of his time, he passed rapidly from one country to another, settling finally in basel, then at the height of its reputation as a literary and typographical centre. the whole intellectual movement of the time centres round erasmus, as is particularly noticeable in the career of ulrich von hutten, dealt with in the course of this history. as instances of the classicism of the period, we may note the uniform change of the patronymic into the classical equivalent, or some classicism supposed to be the equivalent. thus the name erasmus itself was a classicism of his father's name gerhard, the german name muth became mutianus, trittheim became trithemius, schwarzerd became melanchthon, and so on. we have spoken of the other side of the intellectual movement of the period. this other side showed itself in mystical attempts at reducing nature to law in the light of the traditional problems which had been set, to wit, those of alchemy and astrology: the discovery of the philosopher's stone, of the transmutation of metals, of the elixir of life, and of the correspondences between the planets and terrestrial bodies. among the most prominent exponents of these investigations may be mentioned philippe von hohenheim or paracelsus, and cornelius agrippa of nettesheim, in germany, nostradamus, in france, and cardanus, in italy. these men represented a tendency which was pursued by thousands in the learned world. it was a tendency which had the honour of being the last in history to embody itself in a distinct mythical cycle. "doctor faustus" may probably have had a historical germ; but in any case "doctor faustus," as known to legend and to literature, is merely a personification of the practical side of the new learning. the minds of men were waking up to interest in nature. there was one man, copernicus, who, at least partially, struck through the traditionary atmosphere in which nature was enveloped, and to his insight we owe the foundation of astronomical science; but otherwise the whole intellectual atmosphere was charged with occult views. in fact, the learned world of the sixteenth century would have found itself quite at home in the pretensions and fancies of our _fin de siècle_ theosophists, with their notions of making miracles non-miraculous, of reducing the marvellous to being merely the result of penetration on the part of certain seers and investigators of the secret powers of nature. every wonder-worker was received with open arms by learned and unlearned alike. the possibility of producing that which was out of the ordinary range of natural occurrences was not seriously doubted by any. spells and enchantments, conjurations, calculations of nativities, were matters earnestly investigated at universities and courts. there were, of course, persons who were eager to detect impostors: and amongst them some of the most zealous votaries of the occult arts--for example, trittheim and the learned humanist, conrad muth or mutianus, both of whom professed to have regarded faust as a fraud. but this did not imply any disbelief in the possibility of the alleged pretensions. in the faust-myth is embodied, moreover, the opposition between the new learning on its physical side and the old religious faith. the theory that the investigation of the mysteries of nature had in it something sinister and diabolical which had been latent throughout the middle ages was brought into especial prominence by the new religious movements. the popular feeling that the line between natural magic and the black art was somewhat doubtful, that the one had a tendency to shade off into the other, now received fresh stimulus. the notion of compacts with the devil was a familiar one, and that it should be resorted to for the purpose of acquiring an acquaintance with hidden lore and magical powers seemed quite natural. it will have already been seen from what we have said that the religious revolt was largely economical in its causes. the intense hatred, common alike to the smaller nobility, the burghers and the peasants, of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, was obviously due to its ever-increasing exactions. the sudden increase in the sale of indulgences, like the proverbial last straw, broke down the whole system; but any other incident might have served the purpose equally well. the prince-prelates were, in some instances, at the outset, not averse to the movement; they would not have been indisposed to have converted their territories into secular fiefs of the empire. it was only after this hope had been abandoned that they definitely took sides with the papal authority. the opening of the sixteenth century thus presents to us mediæval society, social, political and religious, "run to seed". the feudal organisation was outwardly intact; the peasant, free and bond, formed the foundation; above him came the knighthood or inferior nobility; parallel with them was the _ehrbarkeit_ of the less important towns, holding from mediate lordship; above these towns came the free cities, which held immediately from the empire, organised into three bodies, a governing council in which the _ehrbarkeit_ usually predominated, where they did not entirely compose it, a common council composed of the masters of the various guilds, and the general council of the free citizens. those journeymen, whose condition was fixed from their being outside the guild-organisations, usually had guilds of their own. above the free cities in the social pyramid stood the princes of the empire, lay and ecclesiastic, with the electoral college, or the seven electoral princes, forming their head. these constituted the feudal "estates" of the empire. then came the king of the romans; and, as the apex of the whole, the pope in one function and the emperor in another crowned the edifice. the supremacy, not merely of the pope, but of the complementary temporal head of the mediæval polity, the emperor, was acknowledged in a shadowy way, even in countries such as france and england, which had no direct connection with the empire. for, as the spiritual power was also temporal, so the temporal political power had, like everything else in the middle ages, a quasi-religious significance. the minds of men in speculative matters, in theology, in philosophy, and in jurisprudence, were outgrowing the old doctrines, at least in their old forms. in theology the notion of salvation by the faith of the individual, and not through the fact of belonging to a corporate organisation, which was the mediæval conception, was latent in the minds of multitudes of religious persons before expression was given to it by luther. the aversion to scholasticism, bred by the revived knowledge of the older greek philosophies in the original, produced a curious amalgam; but scholastic habits of thought were still dominant through it all. the new theories of nature amounted to little more than old superstitions, systematised and reduced to rule, though here and there the later physical science, based on observation and experiment, peeped through. in jurisprudence the epoch is marked by the final conquest of the roman civil law in its spirit, where not in its forms, over the old customs, pre-feudal and feudal. this motley world of decayed knights, lavish princes, oppressed and rebellious peasants, turbulent townsmen, licentious monks and friars, mendicant scholars and hireling soldiers, is the world some of whose least-known aspects we are about to consider in the following pages. footnotes: [ ] we are here, of course, dealing more especially with germany; but substantially the same course was followed in the development of municipalities in other parts of europe. [ ] _einleitung_, pp. , . [ ] _der bauernkrieg_, p. . [ ] the three grades in the craft-guilds were those of apprentice, companion, and master. every guildsman was supposed to pass through them. [ ] see appendix a. [ ] _cf._ von maurer's _einleitung zur geschichte der mark-verfassung_; gomme's _village communities_; stubbs' _constitutional history_. chapter i. first signs of social and religious revolt. the echoes of the hussite movement in bohemia spread far and wide through central europe at the beginning of the fifteenth century. it was not in vain that ziska bequeathed his skin for the purposes of a drum, since the echoes of its beating made themselves heard for many a year in bohemia and throughout central europe. the disciples of the movement settled in different countries, and became centres of propaganda, and the movement attached itself to the peasants' discontent. amid the various stirrings that took place, there are one or two that may arrest our attention owing to their importance and their typical character. it was in the year , when rudolph of scherenberg occupied the episcopal see of würzburg, that a cowherd, named hans boheim, of the neighbouring village of niklashausen, who was accustomed to pipe and to drum at local festivities, at places on the banks of the little stream called the tauber, was suddenly seized with an inspiration of preaching for the conversion of his neighbours from their sins. it appeared to him that his life had been hitherto sinful; he gave up all participation in village feasts, he became a dreamer, and announced that he had had visions of the virgin. in the middle of lent he proclaimed that he had been given a divine mission from the mother of god herself to burn his pipe and drum and to devote himself entirely to preaching the gospel to the common man. all were to abandon their former way of life, were to lay aside all personal ornament, and in humble attire to perform pilgrimages to niklashausen, and there worship the virgin as they esteemed their souls' salvation. in all this there was nothing very alarming to the authorities. peasantly inspirations were by no means unknown in the middle ages; but the matter assumed another aspect when the new seer, hans pfeifferlein, or "the little piper" as he was nicknamed, announced that the queen of heaven had revealed to him that there should henceforth be neither emperor, pope, prince, nor any lay or spiritual authority; but that all men should be brothers, earning their bread by the sweat of their brows, and sharing alike in all things. there were to be no more imposts or dues; land, woods, pastures, and water were to be free. the new gospel struck root immediately. the peasant folk streamed to niklashausen, from all sides,--men and women, young and old, journeymen, lads from the plough, girls from the fields, their sickles in their hands, without leave of lord or master, and without preparation of any sort whatever. food and the necessary clothing and shelter were given them by those on the way who had already embraced the new kingdom of god. the universal greeting among the pilgrims was "brother" and "sister". this went on for some months, the young prophet choosing chiefly sundays and holidays for his harangues. ignorant even of writing, he was backed by the priest of niklashausen, and by perhaps two or three other influential persons. many were the offerings brought to the niklashausen shrine. well nigh all who journeyed thither left some token behind, were it only a rough peasant's cap or a wax candle. those who could afford it gave costly clothes and jewellery. the proclamation of universal equality was indeed a gospel that appealed to the common man; the resumption of their old rights, the release from every form of oppression, as a proclamation from heaven itself, were tidings to him of great joy. the prophetic youth was hailed by all as the new messiah. after each week's sermon he invited the congregation to return next week with redoubled numbers; and his commands were invariably obeyed. men, women and children fell on their knees before him, crying: "oh, man of god, sent from heaven, have mercy on us and pity us". they tore the wool threads from his shaggy sheepskin cap, regarding them as sacred relics. the priests of the surrounding districts averred that he was a sorcerer and devil-possessed, and that a wizard had appeared to him, clad in white, in the form of the virgin, and had instilled into him the pernicious doctrines he was preaching. in all the surrounding country his miracles were talked about. the bishops of mainz and würzburg and the council of nürnberg forbade their villeins, under heavy penalties, from making the pilgrimage to niklashausen. but the effect of such measures only lasted for a short time. finally, on the sunday before the day of saint kilian, hans boheim, on the conclusion of his discourse, invited his hearers, as usual, to come on the next occasion. this time, however, he ordered men only to appear, but with arms and ammunition; women and children were to be left at home. no sooner did the tidings of this turn of affairs reach the ears of the bishop at würzburg than the latter resolved to forestall the movement. he sent thirty-four mounted men-at-arms after nightfall to niklashausen; they burst upon the sleeping youth, tore him from the house where he lay, and hurried him to würzburg, bound on horseback. but as it was near the end of the week, pilgrims had already arrived at niklashausen, and, on hearing the news of the attack, they hurried after the marauders, and caught them up close by the castle of würzburg. one of the knights was wounded, but his comrades succeeded in carrying him within the walls. the peasants failed to effect the intended rescue. by the sunday, , peasants had assembled at niklashausen; but the report of the capture of boheim had a depressing effect, and several thousands returned home. there were nevertheless some among the bands who, instigated probably by boheim's friend, the parish priest of niklashausen, endeavoured to rally the remaining multitude and incite them to a new attempt at rescue. one of them alleged that the holy trinity had appeared to him, and commanded that they should proceed with their pilgrim candles in their hands to the castle of würzburg, that the doors would open of themselves, and that their prophet would walk out to greet them. about , followed these leaders, marching many hours through the night, and arriving early next morning at the castle with flaming candles, and armed with the roughest weapons. kunz von thunfeld, a decayed knight, and michael, his son, constituted themselves the leaders of the motley band. the marshal of the castle received them, demanding their pleasure. "we require the holy youth," said the peasants. "surrender him to us, and all will be well; refuse, and we will use force." on the marshal's hesitating in his answer, he was greeted with a shower of stones, which drove him to seek safety within the walls. the bishop opened fire on the peasants, but after a short time sent one of his knights to announce that the cause of their preacher would be duly considered at a proper time and place, conjuring them at the same time to depart immediately in accordance with their vows. by cajolery and threats he succeeded in his object; the bands raised the siege of the castle, and dispersed homewards in straggling parties. the ruffianly scoundrel no sooner observed that the unsuspecting peasants were quietly wending their way home in small bodies, without a thought of hostilities, than he ordered his knights to pursue them, to attack them in the rear, and to murder or capture the ringleaders. the poor people, nevertheless, defended themselves with courage against this cowardly onslaught; twelve of them were left dead on the spot; many of the remainder sought shelter in the church of the neighbouring village. threatened there with fire and sword, they surrendered, and were brought back to würzburg and thrown into the dungeons of the castle. the majority were liberated before long; but the peasant who was alleged to have received the vision of the holy trinity, as well as he who had wounded the knight on the occasion of the attempt at rescue a few days before, were detained in prison, and on the following friday were beheaded outside the castle. hans boheim was at the same time burned to ashes. the leader of the revolt, kunz von thunfeld, a feudatory of the bishop, fled the territory, and was only allowed to return on his formally surrendering his lands in perpetuity to the bishopric. such was the history of a movement that may be reckoned as one of the more direct forerunners of the peasants' war. in the years and occurred the rising of the oppressed and plundered villeins of the abbot of kempten. the ecclesiastics on this domain had exhausted every possible means of injuring the unfortunate peasants, and numbers of free villeins had been converted into serfs by means of forged documents. the immediate cause of the revolt, however, was the seizure, by the abbot, of the stock of wine of a peasant who had just died, in addition to the horse which he was empowered to claim. an onslaught was made by the infuriated peasants on the monastery, and the abbot had to retire to his stronghold, the castle of liebenthann, hard by. the emperor ultimately intervened, and effected a compromise. but the first organised peasant movement took place in elsass[ ] in , and comprised burghers as well as peasants among its numbers. they were for the most part feudatories of the bishop of strassburg. by devious paths the members of this secret organisation were wont to betake themselves to the hill of hungerberg, north-west of the little town of schlettstadt. the ostensible objects of the association were complete freedom for the common man, reformation of the church in the sense that no priest should have more than one benefice, the introduction of a year of jubilee, in which all debts should be abolished, the extinction of all tithes, dues and other burdens, and the abolition of the spiritual courts and the territorial juridical court at rothweil. a _judenhetze_ also appears amongst the articles. the leader of this movement was one jacob wimpfeling. the programme and plan of action was to seize the town of schlettstadt, to plunder the monastery there, and then by forced marches to spread themselves over all elsass, surprising one town after another. it would seem that this was the first peasant movement that received the name of _bundschuh_, and the almost superstitious importance attached to the sign of this kind emblazoned on the flag is characteristic of the middle ages. the banner was the result of careful deliberations, and the final decision was that as the knight was distinguished by his spurs, so the peasant rising to obtain justice for his class should take as his emblem the common shoe he was accustomed to wear, laced from the ankle up to the knee with leathern thongs. they fondly hoped that the moment this banner was displayed, all capable of fighting would flock to the standard, from the villages and smaller towns. just as all was prepared for the projected stroke, the _bundschuh_ shared the common fate of similar movements, and was betrayed; and this in spite of the terrible threats that were held out to all joining, in the event of their turning traitors. it must be admitted that there was much folly in the manner in which many persons were enrolled, and this may have led to the speedy betrayal. everybody who was suspected of having an inkling of the movement was forced to swear allegiance to the secret league. immediately on the betrayal, bodies of knights scoured the country, mercilessly seizing all suspected of belonging to the conspiracy, and dragging them to the nearest tribunal, where they were tortured and finally quartered alive or hung. many of the fugitives succeeded in taking refuge in switzerland, where they seem to have been kindly welcomed. but the _bundschuh_ only slept, it was by no means extinguished. in the year , nine years later, the bishopric of _speyer_, the court of which was noted for its extravagance and tyranny, had to face another _bundschuh_. this second movement had able men at its head, and extended over well nigh all the regions of the upper and middle rhine. it similarly took the nature of a conspiracy, rather than of an open rebellion. within a few weeks, men and women had been sworn into the league, from a large number of villages, hamlets and small towns, for the larger towns were purposely left out, the movement being essentially a peasant one. the village and _mark_ of untergrünbach was its centre. its object and aim was nothing less than the complete overthrow of the existing ecclesiastical and feudal organisation of the empire. the articles of the association declared: "we have joined ourselves together in order that we may be free. we will free ourselves with arms in our hands, for we would be as the swiss. we will root out and abolish all authorities and lordships from the land, and march against them with the force of our host and with well-armed hand under our banner. and all who do not honour and acknowledge us shall be killed. the princes and nobles broken and done with, we will storm the clergy in their foundations and abbeys. we will overpower them, and hunt out and kill all priests and monks together." the property of the clergy and the nobles was to be seized and divided; as in the former case, all feudal dues were to be abolished, the primitive communism in the use of the land, and of what was on it, was to be resumed. the pass-word, by means of which the members of the organisation were known to one another, was the answer to the question: "how fares it?" the question and answer were in the form of a rhyme:-- "loset! was ist nun für ein wesen?" "wir mögen vor pfaffen und adel nit genesen." this may be paraphrased as follows:-- "well, now! and how doth it fare?" "of priests and of nobles we've enough and to spare." the idea was to rise at the opportune moment, as the swiss had done, to free themselves of all intermediate lordship, and to recognise no master below the king of the romans and the emperor. "nought but the justice of god" was the motto of their flag, and their colours were white and blue. before the figure of a crucifix a peasant knelt, and below was depicted a great _bundschuh_, the sign which had now become established as the symbol of the peasants' movements. with consummate tact, the leaders of the revolt forbade any members to go to confession, and it was the disregard of this order that led to the betrayal of the cause. a peasant in confession revealed the secret to a priest, who in his turn revealed it to the authorities. ecclesiastics, princes, and nobles at once took their measures. the most barbarous persecution and punishment of all suspected of having been engaged in the _bundschuh_ conspiracy followed. those concerned had their property confiscated, their wives and children were driven from the country, and they themselves were in many cases quartered alive; the more prominent men, by a refinement of cruelty, being dragged to the place of execution tied to a horse's tail. a tremendous panic seized all the privileged classes, from the emperor to the knight. they earnestly discussed the situation in no less than three separate assemblies of the estates. large numbers of those involved in this second _bundschuh_ managed to escape, owing to the pluck and loyalty of the peasants. a few bands were hastily got together, and, although quite insufficient to effect a successful revolt, they were able to keep the knightly warriors and _landesknechte_ at bay at certain critical points, so as to give the men who had really been the life and intelligence of the movement time to escape into switzerland or into other territories where they were unknown. in some cases the secret was so well kept that the local organisers remained unnoticed even in their own villages. for ten years after the collapse of the second _bundschuh_ in the rhenish district, the peasants remained quiet. it was not till that things began again to stir. one of the leaders, who had escaped notice on the suppression of the former conspiracy, was joss fritz. he was himself a native of untergrünbach, which had been its seat. he there acted as _bannwart_ or ranger of the district lands. for nearly ten years joss wandered about from country to country, but amid all his struggles for existence he never forgot the _bundschuh_. joss was a handsome man, of taking and even superior manners. he was very careful in his dress, sometimes apparelling himself in black jerkin with white hose, sometimes in red with yellow hose, sometimes in drab with green hose. he would seem to have been at one time a _landesknecht_, and had certainly taken part in various campaigns in a military capacity. whether it was from his martial bearing or the engaging nature of his personality, it is evident that joss fritz was in his way a born leader of men. about joss settled down in a village called lehen, a few miles from the town of freiburg, in breisgau. here he again obtained the position of _bannwart_, and here he began to seriously gather together the scattered threads of the old movement, and to collect recruits. he went to work cautiously; first of all confining himself to general complaints of the degeneracy of the times in the village tavern, or before the doors of the cottagers on summer evenings. he soon became the centre of an admiring group of swains, who looked up to him as the much-travelled man of the world, who eagerly sought his conversation, and who followed his counsel in their personal affairs. as joss saw that he was obtaining the confidence of his neighbours, his denunciations of the evils of the time grew more earnest and impassioned. at the same time he threw out hints as to the ultimate outcome of the existing state of things. but it was only after many months that he ventured to broach the real purpose of his life. one day when they were all assembled round him, he hinted that he might be able to tell them something to their advantage, would they but pledge themselves to secrecy. he then took each individually, and after calming the man's conscience with the assurance that the proposal for which he claimed strict secrecy was an honourable one, he expounded his plan of an organisation of all the oppressed, an undertaking which he claimed to be in full accord with holy writ. he never insisted upon an immediate adhesion, but preferred to leave his man to think the matter over. joss would sometimes visit his neighbours in their houses, explaining to them how all ancient custom, right and tradition was being broken through to gratify the rapacity of the ruling classes. he put forward as the objects of the undertaking the suppression of the payment of interest after it had amounted to an equivalent of the original sum lent; also that no one was to be required to give more than one day's service per year to his lord. "we will," he declared, "govern ourselves according to our old rights and traditions, of which we have been forcibly and wrongfully deprived by our masters. thou knowest well," he would continue, "how long we have been laying our claims before the austrian government at ensisheim."[ ] from speaking of small grievances, joss was gradually led to develop his scheme for the overthrow of feudalism, and for the establishment of what was tantamount to primitive conditions. at the same time he gave his hearers a rendezvous at a certain hour of eventide in a meadow, called the _hardmatte_, which lay outside the village, and skirted a wood. the stillness of the hour, broken only by the sounds of nature hushing herself to rest for the night, was, at the time appointed, invaded by the eager talk of groups of villagers. all his little company assembled, joss fritz here, for the first time, fully developed his schemes. in future, said he, we must see that we have no other lords than god, the pope, and the emperor; the court at rothweil, he said, must be abolished; each must be able to obtain justice in his native village, and no churchman must be allowed to hold more than one benefice; the superfluity of the monasteries must be distributed amongst the poor; the dues and imposts with which the peasants are burdened must be removed; a permanent peace must be established throughout christendom, as the perpetual feuds of the nobles meant destruction and misery for the peasants; finally, the primitive communism in woods, pasture, water, and the chase must be restored. joss fritz's proposals struck a sympathetic chord in the hearts of his hearers. it was only when he wound up by insisting upon the necessity of forming a new _bundschuh_ that some few of them hung back and went to obtain the advice of the village priest on the matter. father john (such was his name) was, however, in full accord in his ideas with joss, and answered that the proposals were indeed a godly thing, the success of which was foretold in the scriptures themselves. the meetings on the _hardmatte_ led to the formation of a kind of committee, composed of those who were most devoted to the cause. these were augustin enderlin, kilian mayer, hans freuder, hans and karius heitz, peter stublin, jacob hauser, hans hummel--hummel hailed from the neighbourhood of stuttgart--and hieronymus, who was also a stranger, a journeyman baker working at the mill of lehen, who had travelled far, and had acquired a considerable fund of oratory. all these men were untiring in their exertions to obtain recruits for the new movement. after having prepared the latter's minds, they handed over the new-comers to joss for deeper initiation, if he thought fit. it was not in crusades and pilgrimages he taught them, but in the _bundschuh_ that the "holy sepulchre" was to be obtained. the true "holy sepulchre" was to be found, namely, in the too long buried liberties of the people. the new _bundschuh_, he maintained, had ramifications extending as far as cologne, and embracing members from all orders. joss fritz had indeed before coming to lehen travelled through the black forest and the district of speyer, in the attempt, by no means altogether unsuccessful, to reunite the crushed and scattered branches of the old _bundschuh_. among the friends he had made in this way was a poor knight of the name of stoffel, of freiburg. the latter travelled incessantly in the cause; he was always carefully dressed, and usually rode on a white horse. the missionaries of the _bundschuh_, under the direction of joss fritz, assumed many different characters; now they were peasants, now townsmen, now decayed knights, according to the localities they visited. the organisation of the movement was carried out on lines which have been since reproduced in the fenian rising. it was arranged in "circles," the members of which knew one another, but not those outside the "circle". even the beggars' guild was pressed into the service, and very useful adjuncts the beggars were, owing to their nomadic habits. the heads of the "circles" communicated with each other at intervals as to the number of recruits and as to the morale of their members. they compared notes with the two leaders of the movement, joss and his friend stoffel, both of whom rode constantly from place to place to keep their workers up to the mark. the muster-roll would be held on these occasions, as at lehen itself, after dark, and in some woodland glade, near the village. the village taverns, generally the kitchens of some better-to-do peasant, were naturally among the best recruiting grounds, and the hosts themselves were often heads of "circles". strange and picturesque must have been these meetings after nightfall, when the members of the "circle" came together, the peasants in their plain blue or grey cloth and buff leather, the leaders in what to us seem the fantastic costumes of the period, red stockings, trunk-hose and doublet slashed with bright yellow, or the whole dress of yellow slashed with black, the slouch hat, with ostrich feather, surmounting the whole; the short sword for the leaders, and a hoe or other agricultural implement for the peasant, constituted the arms of the company. there was a visible sign by which the brethren recognised each other: it was a sign in the form of the letter h, of black stuff in a red field, sewn on to the breast-cloth. there appears also to have been another sign which certain of the members bore instead of the above; this consisted of three cross slits or slashes in the stuff of the right sleeve. this _bundschuh_, like the previous one in untergrünbach, had its countersign, which, to the credit of all concerned, be it said, was never revealed, and is not known to this day. the new _bundschuh_ was now thoroughly organised with all its officers, none of whom received money for their services. the articles of association drawn up were the result of many nightly meetings on the _hardmatte_, and embodied the main points insisted upon by joss in his exhortations to the peasants. they included the abolition of all feudal powers. god, the pope, and the emperor were alone to be recognised as having authority. the court at rothweil and all the ecclesiastical courts were to be abolished, and justice relegated to the village council as of old. the interest payable on the debts of the mortgaged holdings of the peasants was to be discontinued. fishing, hunting, woods and pasture were to be free to all. the clergy were to be limited to one benefice apiece. the monasteries and ecclesiastical foundations were to be curtailed, and their superfluous property confiscated. all feudal dues were to cease. the strange and almost totemistic superstition that the mediæval mind attached to symbolism is here evinced by the paramount importance acquired by the question of the banner. a banner was costly, and the _bundschuh_ was poor, but the banner was the first necessity of every movement. in this case, it was obligatory that the banner should have a _bundschuh_ inscribed upon it. artists of that time objected to painting _bundschuhs_ on banners; they were afraid to be compromised. hence it was, above all things, necessary to have plenty of money wherewith to bribe some painter. kilian mayer gave five vats of wine to a baker, also one of the brotherhood, in freiburg, to be sold in that town. the proceeds were brought to joss as a contribution to the banner fund. many another did similarly; some of those who met on the _hardmatte_, however, objected to this tax. but ultimately joss managed, by hook or by crook, to scrape together what was deemed needful. joss then called upon a "brother" from a distant part of the country, one known to no one in freiburg, to repair to the latter city and hunt up a painter. the "brother" was in a state of dire apprehension, and went to the house of the painter friedrich, but at first appeared not to know for what he had come. with much hesitation, he eventually gasped out that he wanted a _bundschuh_ painted. friedrich did not at all like the proposal, and kicked the unfortunate peasant into the street, telling him not to come in future with such questionable orders. the artist instantly informed the town council of freiburg of the occurrence; but as the latter did not know whence the mysterious personage had come, nor whither he had gone, they had to leave the matter in abeyance. they issued orders, however, for all true and faithful burghers to be on the look-out for further traces of the mischief. after this failure, joss bethought him that he had better take the matter in hand himself. now, there was another artist of freiburg, by name theodosius, who was just then painting frescoes in the church at lehen; to him joss went one evening with hans enderlin, a person of authority in the village, and kilian mayer. they invited him to the house of one of the party, and emptied many a measure of wine. when they had all drunk their fill, they went to walk in the garden, just as the stars were beginning to come out. joss now approached the painter with his project. he told him that there was a stranger in the village who wanted a small banner painted and had asked him (joss) to demand the cost. theodosius showed himself amenable as regards this point, but wanted to know what was to be the device on the banner. directly joss mentioned the word _bundschuh_, the worthy painter gave a start, and swore that not for the wealth of the holy roman empire itself would he undertake such a business. they all saw that it was no use pressing him any further, and so contented themselves with threatening him with dire consequences should he divulge the conversation that he had had with them. hans enderlin also reminded him that he had already taken an oath of secrecy in all matters relating to the village, on his engagement to do church work, a circumstance that curiously enough illustrates the conditions of mediæval life. the painter, fearful of not receiving his pay for the church work, if nothing worse, prudently kept silent. joss was at his wits' end. the silk of the flag was already bought, and even sewn; blue, with a white cross in the middle, were the colours; but to begin operations before the sign of the _bundschuh_ was painted, entered into the head of no one. in accordance with the current belief in magic, the symbol itself was supposed to possess a virtue, without the aid of which it was impossible to hope for success. there was nothing left for it but for joss to start on a journey to the free city of heilbronn in swabia, where he knew there lived a painter of some ability. arrived there, joss dissembled his real object, pretending that he was a swiss, who, when fighting in a great battle, had made a vow that if he came out safe and sound, he would undertake a pilgrimage to aachen (aix-la-chapelle), and there dedicate a banner to the mother of god. he begged the painter to make a suitable design for him, with a crucifix, the virgin and st. john the baptist, and underneath a _bundschuh_. the heilbronn artist was staggered at the latter suggestion, and asked what he meant. joss appeared quite innocent, and said that he was a shoemaker's son from stein-am-rhein, that his father had a _bundschuh_ as his trade-sign, and in order that it might be known that the gift was from him, he wished his family emblem to appear upon it. round the flag were to be the words: "lord, defend thy divine justice". these representations overcame the painter's scruples, and in a few days the banner was finished. hiding it under his doublet, joss hurried back to lehen. at last all was ready for the great coup. the _kirchweihe_ (or village festival, held every year on the name-day of the patron saint of a village church) was being held at a neighbouring village on the th of october. this was the date fixed for a final general meeting of the conspirators to determine the plan of attack and to decide whether freiburg should be its object, or some smaller town in the neighbourhood. the confederates in elsass were ordered, as soon as the standard of revolt was raised in breisgau (baden), to move across the rhine to burkheim, where the banner of the league would be flying. special instructions were given to the beggars to spy round the towns and in all inns and alehouses, and to bring reports to lehen. arrangements were also made for securing at least one or two adherents in each of the guilds in freiburg. all these orders were carried out in accordance with the directions made by joss before his departure. but whilst he was away the members lost their heads. when too late they bethought themselves to win over an old experienced warrior who lived in freiburg, a cousin of one of the chief conspirators at lehen. had they done so earlier it is likely enough that he would have been able to secure them possession of the city. as it happened, things were managed too hurriedly. before matters were ripe the chief men grew careless of all precautions, so confident were they of success. one of the conspirators within the city set fire to a stable with a view to creating a panic, in the course of which the keys of the city gates might be stolen and the leaguers admitted. the attempt, however, was discovered before the fire gained any hold, and merely put the authorities on the alert. again, three members of the league seized upon a peasant a short distance from the city, dragged him into a neighbouring wood, and made him swear allegiance. after he had done this under compulsion they exposed to him their intentions as to freiburg. the peasant proving recalcitrant, even to the extent of expressing horror at the proposal, the three drew their knives upon him, and would have murdered him when the sound of horses was heard on the high road close by, and, struck with panic, they let him go and hid themselves in the recesses of the wood. the peasant, of course, revealed all to his confessor the same evening, and wanted to know whether the oath he had taken under compulsion was binding on him. the priest put himself at once in communication with the imperial commissary of freiburg, who made the city corporation acquainted with the facts. two other traitors a few days after came to the assistance of the authorities, and revealed many important secrets. count philip of baden, their over-lord, to whom these disclosures were made, was not long in placing them at the disposal of the corporation of freiburg and of the austrian government at ensisheim. late the following night, october , messengers were sent in all directions to warn the authorities of the neighbouring villages and towns to prepare themselves for the outbreak of the conspiracy. double watches were placed at the gates of freiburg and on all the towers of the walls. the guilds were called together, and their members instructed to wake each other up immediately on the sound of the storm-bell, when they were all to meet in the cathedral close. the moment that these preparations were known at lehen, a meeting was called together on the _hardmatte_ at vespers; but in the absence of joss fritz, and, as ill-luck would have it, in that also of one or two of the best organisers who were away on business of the league, divided counsels prevailed. in the very midst of all this, two hundred citizens of freiburg armed to the teeth appeared in lehen, seized hans enderlin and his son, as also elsa, the woman with whom joss had been living, besides other leading men of the movement. panic now reigned amongst all concerned. well nigh every one took to flight, most of them succeeding in crossing the frontier to switzerland. the news of the collapse of the movement apparently reached joss before he arrived in lehen, as there is no evidence of his having returned there. many of the conspirators met together in basel, amongst them being joss fritz with his banner. they decided to seek an asylum in zürich. but they were fallen upon on the way, and two were made prisoners, the rest, among them joss, escaping. those of the conspirators who were taken prisoners behaved heroically; not the most severe tortures could induce them to reveal anything of importance. as a consequence, comparatively few of those compromised fell victims to the vengeance of their noble and clerical enemies. in elsass they were not so fortunate as in baden, many persons being executed on suspicion. the imperial councillor rudolph was even sent into switzerland to demand the surrender of the fugitives, and two were given up by schaffhausen. joss's mistress was liberated after three weeks, and she was suspected of having harboured him at different times afterwards. the last distinct traces of him are to be found in the black forest ten years later, during the great rising; but they are slight, and merely indicate his having taken a part in this movement. thus this interesting personality disappears from human ken. did the energetic and enthusiastic peasant leader fall a victim to noble vengeance in , or did he withdraw from public life to a tranquil old age in some obscure village of southern germany? these are questions which we shall now, it is probable, never be able to answer. at the same time that the foregoing events were taking place there was a considerable ferment in switzerland. increase of luxury was beginning to tell there also. the simple cloth or sheepskin of the old _eidgenosse_ was now frequently replaced, in the towns especially, by french and italian dresses, by doublets of scarlet silk, by ostrich feathers, and even by cloth of gold. in the cities domestic architecture began to take on the sumptuousness of the renaissance style. the coquettish alliance with louis xi. in the preceding century had already opened a way for the introduction of french customs. gambling for high stakes became the fashionable amusement in town and country alike. the story of hans waldmann, although belonging to a period some years earlier than that of this history, illustrates a decline from the primitive simplicity of the ancient switzer, a decline which had become infinitely more accentuated and general at the time of which we treat. all this led, of course, to harder conditions for the peasants, which, in the summer of , issued in several minor revolts. in some cases, notably in that of the peasants of canton bern, the issue was favourable to the insurgents. in the neighbouring country of würtemberg an insurrection also burst forth. it is supposed to have had some connection with the _bundschuh_ movement at lehen; but it took the name of "the poor conrad". it was immediately occasioned by the oppression of duke ulrich of würtemberg, who, to cover the expenses of his luxurious court, was burdening the peasants with ever-fresh exactions. he had already made debts to the extent of a million gulden. the towns, no less than the peasantry, were indignant at the rapacity and insolence of the minions of this potentate. first, an income-tax was imposed without the concurrence of the estates, which should have been consulted. next, an impost was laid on the daily consumption of meal and wine. the butchers and millers and vintners were then allowed to falsify their weights and measures, on the condition that the greater part of their increased profits went to the duke. "the poor conrad" demanded the removal of all these abuses; and, in addition, the freedom of the chase, of fishery and of wood-cutting, and the abolition of villein service. in the towns the poorer citizens, including both guildsmen and journeymen, were prepared to seize the opportunity of getting rid of their _ehrbarkeit_. this movement was also, like the _bundschuh_ at lehen, suppressed for the time being. we have gone at length into the history of the lehen _bundschuh_ as a type of the manner in which the peasant movements of the time were planned and organised. the methods pursued by "the poor conrad," the midnight meetings, the secret pass-words, the preparations for sudden risings, were in most respects similar. the skilled and well-equipped knighthood of duke ulrich, though inferior in numbers, readily dispersed the ill-armed and inexperienced bands of peasants whom they encountered. to this result the treacherous promises of duke ulrich, which induced large numbers of peasants to lay down their arms, contributed. the revolt proved a flash in the pan; and although those who had partaken in it were not punished with the merciless severity shown by the austrian government at ensisheim, it yet resulted in no amelioration of the conditions of the people. many of the leaders, and not a few of the rank and file, fled the country, and, as in the case of the lehen _bundschuh_, found a refuge in northern switzerland. in the autumn of baden was once more the scene of an attempted peasant rising, its objects being again much the same as were those of the previous enterprises. rent and interest were to be abolished, and no lord recognised except the emperor. the plan was to surprise and capture the towns of weissenburg and hagenau, and to make a clean sweep of the imperial councillors and judges, as well as of the knights and nobles. this conspiracy was, however, also discovered before the time for action was ripe. there were also, in various parts of central europe, other minor attempts at revolt and conspiracies which it is not necessary to particularise here. the great rebellion of the year , in hungary, however, although not strictly coming within the limits of our subject, deserves a few words of notice. at easter, in that year, the whole of hungary was stirred up by the preaching of a crusade against the turks, then hard pressing the eastern frontier. all who joined the crusade, down to the lowest serf, were promised not merely absolution, but freedom. the movement was immensely popular, thousands crowding to the standards. the nobles naturally viewed the movement with disfavour; many, in fact, sallied forth from their castles with their retinues to fetch back the fugitives. in many cases the seizures were accompanied with every circumstance of cruelty. as the news of these events reached the assembled bands in their camp, a change of disposition became manifest. the enthusiasm for vanquishing the turk abroad speedily gave way to an enthusiasm for vanquishing the turk at home. everywhere throughout the camp were heard threats of vengeance. finally, one george doza, who would seem to have been a genuine popular hero in the best sense of the word, placed himself at their head. george doza's aims were not confined to mere vengeance on the offending nobles. they extended to the conception of a complete reorganisation of the conditions of the oppressed classes throughout the country. in vain an order came from the court at ofen for the army to disperse. doza divided his forces into five bodies, each of which was to concentrate its efforts on a definite district, at the same time summoning the whole population to join. the destruction of castles, and the slaughter of their inmates, became general throughout the land. for a moment the nobles seemed paralysed; but they soon recovered themselves, and two of their number, johann zapolya and johann boremiszsza, aided by the inhabitants of the city of buda-pesth, got together an army to save the situation for their colleagues. they were not long in joining battle with the insurgents. the latter, deserted at the beginning by some of their leaders, who went over to the enemy, fought bravely, but had eventually to yield to superior arms and discipline. a large number of prisoners were taken, of whom the majority were barbarously executed, and the rest sent home, with ears and noses cut off. meanwhile, george doza, who had been besieging szegedin, withdrew his forces, and gave battle to bishop csaky and the count of temeswar, who were advancing with troops to relieve the town. after two days' hard fighting, victory rewarded the bravery of the peasants. doza's followers demanded vengeance for their murdered and mutilated comrades. the bishop was impaled, and the royal treasurer of the district hanged on a high gallows. but doza's was the only division of the popular army that met with any success. the rest, on coming to grips with the nobles, were dispersed and almost annihilated. the remnants joined the forces of their commander-in-chief, whose army was thus augmented from day to day. doza now issued a decree abolishing king and higher and lower nobility, deposing all bishops save one, and proclaiming the equality of all men before god. one of his lieutenants then succeeded in recruiting what amounted to a second army, containing a large force of cavalry. he moved on temeswar, but committed the imprudence of undertaking a long siege of this powerful fortress. after two months his army began to get demoralised. a few days before the place would have had to surrender, doza was surprised by the transylvanian army. in spite of this, however, he deployed his troops with incredible rapidity, and a terrific battle, long undecided, ensued. after several hours of hard fighting, one of the wings of doza's army took to flight. general confusion followed, in the midst of which doza might have been seen in the forefront of the battle like an ancient hero, hewing down nobles right and left, until his sword broke in his hand. he was then instantly seized, and made prisoner in company with his brother gregory. the latter was immediately beheaded. doza and about forty of his officers were thrown into a vile dungeon in temeswar and deprived of all nourishment. on the fourteenth day of their incarceration, nine alone remained alive. these nine, doza at their head, were led out into the open space before their prison. an iron throne was erected there and made red hot, and doza, loaded with chains, was forcibly placed upon it. a red-hot iron crown was laid upon his head, and a red-hot iron sceptre thrust into his hand. his companions were then offered their lives on condition that they forthwith tore off and devoured the flesh of their leader. three, who refused with indignation, were at once hewn in pieces. six did as they were bidden. "dogs!" cried doza. this was the only sound that escaped him. torn with red-hot iron pincers, he died. the defeated peasants were impaled and hanged by the hundred. it is estimated that over , of them perished in this war, and in the reprisals that followed it. the result of the insurrection was a more brutal oppression than had ever been known before. at the same time various insurrections of a local nature were taking place in germany and in the austrian territories. amid the styrian and carinthian alps there were movements of the peasants, who, in these remote mountain districts, seem to have retained more of their primitive independence. in the south-west of austria there were three duchies--kärnthen (carinthia), steiermarck (styria), and the krain. at kärnburg, a short distance from klagenfurt, was a round stone, on which were engraved the arms of the country. when a duke assumed the sovereignty, a peasant belonging to one of the ancient families of a neighbouring village in which this particular right was hereditary, attended to offer the new duke the homage of the peasantry. round the stone, on which sat the aged representative of the rural communities, the peasantry of the neighbourhood were gathered. the over-lord, attired in peasantly costume, advanced towards the stone. with him were two local dignitaries, one leading a lean black cow, the other an underfed horse. bringing up the rear followed the remaining nobility and knighthood, with the banner of the duchy. the peasant who was sitting on the fateful stone cried: "who is he who advances so proudly into our country?" the surrounding peasants answered: "it is our prince who comes." "is he a righteous judge?" asked the peasant on the stone. "will he promote the well-being of our land and its freedom? is he a protector of the christian faith and of widows and orphans?" the multitude shouted: "this he is, and will ever be so". that part of the ceremony concluded, the duke had to take an oath to the peasant on the stone that he would not disdain, for the welfare of the land, in any of the respects mentioned, to nourish himself with such a wretched beast as the cow accompanying him, or to ride on such a lean and ill-favoured steed. the peasant on the stone then gave the duke a light box on the ears, and conjured him in patriarchal fashion to remain ever a righteous judge and a father to his people. the old countryman then stood up, and the nobles surrendered to him the cow and horse, which he led home as his property. the above singular custom had been kept up in carinthia until the middle of the fifteenth century, when the emperor frederick iii. refused, in his capacity of local lord, to don the peasant garb, although he compromised the matter by giving the peasants a deed establishing them in their ancient freedom. the growing pressure of taxation and the new imposts, which the wars of maximilian entailed, led, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, to an agitation here also, and, finally, to a rising in which, it is said, as many as , peasants took part, but which did not immediately come to a head, owing to timely concessions on the part of the emperor. the league of the peasants, in this case, extended over styria as well as carinthia and the krain. it broke forth again in the spring of , owing to renewed oppressions on the part of the nobles. several castles, during the three months that the revolt lasted, were destroyed, and large stretches of country laid waste. not a few nobles were hurled from their own turrets. the emperor maximilian, who, throughout the whole affair, showed himself not unfavourable to the cause of the peasants, held his hand, as it would seem, so long as the latter confined themselves to punishing the notoriously rapacious among the territorial magnates; but afterwards, when the armed bodies of peasants gradually melted away, and those that remained lost all discipline, degenerating into mere plundering bands, he sent a party of a few hundred knights, who speedily routed the ill-armed and disorderly hordes. little quarter was given to the fugitives, and the usual bloody executions followed. there was, in addition, a heavy indemnity laid on the whole peasantry, which took the form of a perpetual tax. the revolt in the krain lasted longest, and was suppressed with the most bloodshed. those in styria and carinthia came to an end much sooner, and with less disastrous results to those who had been engaged in them. but it was not alone in germany, or, indeed, in central europe, that a general stirring was visible among the peasant populations at the beginning of the sixteenth century. it is true that the great revolts, the wat tyler insurrection in england, and the jacquerie in france, took place long before; but even when there was no great movement, sporadic excitement was everywhere noticeable. in spain, we read of a peasant revolt, which cornelius agrippa of nettesheim was engaged by the territorial lord to quell by his supposed magical powers. in england, the disturbances of henry viii.'s reign, connected with the suppression of the monasteries, are well known. the expropriation of the people from the soil to make room for sheep-farms also gave occasion to periodical disturbances of a local character, which culminated in in the famous revolt led by john ket in east anglia. the deep-reaching importance and effective spread of movements was infinitely greater in the middle ages than in modern times. the same phenomenon presents itself to-day in barbaric and semi-barbaric communities. at first sight one is inclined to think that there has been no period in the world's history when it was so easy to stir up a population as the present, with our newspapers, our telegraphs, our postal arrangements and our railways. but this is just one of those superficial notions that are not confirmed by history. we are similarly apt to think that there was no age in which travel was so widespread, and formed so great a part of the education of mankind as at present. there could be no greater mistake. the true age of travelling was the close of the middle ages, or what is known as the renaissance period. the man of learning, then just differentiated from the ecclesiastic, spent the greater part of his life in carrying his intellectual wares from court to court, and from university to university, just as the merchant personally carried his goods from city to city in an age in which commercial correspondence, bill-brokers, and the varied forms of modern business were but in embryo. it was then that travel really meant education, the acquirement of thorough and intimate knowledge of diverse manners and customs. travel was then not a pastime, but a serious element in life. in the same way the spread of a political or social movement was at least as rapid then as now, and far more penetrating. the methods were, of course, vastly different from the present; but the human material to be dealt with was far easier to mould, and kept its shape much more readily when moulded, than is the case now-a-days. the appearance of a religious or political teacher in a village or small town of the middle ages was an event which keenly excited the interest of the inhabitants. it struck across the path of their daily life, leaving behind it a track hardly conceivable to-day. for one of the salient symptoms of the change which has taken place since that time is the disappearance of local centres of activity, and the transference of the intensity of life to a few large towns. in the middle ages, every town, small no less than large, was a more or less self-sufficing organism, intellectually and industrially, and was not essentially dependent on the outside world for its social sustenance. this was especially the case in central europe, where communication was much more imperfect and dangerous than in italy, france, or england. in a society without newspapers, without easy communication with the rest of the world, when the vast majority could neither read nor write, when books were rare and costly, and accessible only to the privileged few, a new idea bursting upon one of these communities was eagerly welcomed, discussed in the council chamber of the town, in the hall of the castle, in the refectory of the monastery, at the social board of the burgess, in the workroom, and, did it but touch his interests, in the hut of the peasant. it was canvassed, too, at church festivals (_kirchweihe_), the only regular occasion on which the inhabitants of various localities came together. in the absence of all other distraction, men thought it out in all the bearings which their limited intellectual horizon permitted. if calculated in any way to appeal to them, it soon struck root, and became a part of their very nature, a matter for which, if occasion were, they were prepared to sacrifice goods, liberty, and even life itself. in the present day a new idea is comparatively slow in taking root. amid the myriad distractions of modern life, perpetually chasing one another, there is no time for any one thought, however wide-reaching in its bearings, to take a firm hold. in order that it should do this in the _modern mind_, it must be again and again borne in upon this, not always too receptive intellectual substance. people require to read of it day after day in their newspapers, or to hear it preached from countless platforms, before any serious effect is created. in the simple life of former ages it was not so. the mode of transmitting intelligence, especially such as was connected with the stirring up of political and religious movements, was in those days of a nature of which we have now little conception. the sort of thing in vogue then may be compared to the methods adopted in india to prepare the mutiny of , when the mysterious cake was passed from village to village, signifying that the moment had come for the outbreak. we have already seen how joss fritz used the guild of beggars as fetchers and carriers of news and as auxiliaries in his organisation generally. the fact is noteworthy, moreover, that his confidence in them does not seem to have been misplaced, for the collapse of the movement cannot certainly be laid to their account. the sense of _esprit de corps_ and of that kind of honour most intimately associated with it is, it must also be remembered, infinitely keener in ruder states of society than under a high civilisation. the growth of civilisation, as implying the disruption of the groups in which the individual is merged under more primitive conditions, and his isolation as an autonomous unit having vague and very elastic moral duties to his "country" or to the whole of mankind, but none towards any definite and proximate social whole, necessarily destroys that communal spirit which prevails in the former case. this is one of the striking truths which the history of these peasant risings illustrates in various ways and brings vividly home to us. footnotes: [ ] we adopt the german spelling of the name of the province usually known in this country as alsace, for the reason that at the time of which this history treats it had never been french; and the french language was probably little more known there than in other parts of germany. [ ] it will be seen from the historical map that breisgau and sundgau were feudal appanages of the house of austria. ensisheim was the seat of the _habsburg_ over-lordship in the district (not to be confounded with the _imperial_ power). chapter ii. the reformation movement. the "great man" theory of history, formerly everywhere prevalent, and even now common among non-historical persons, has long regarded the reformation as the purely personal work of the augustine monk who was its central figure. the fallacy of this conception is particularly striking in the case of the reformation. not only was it preceded by numerous sporadic outbursts of religious revivalism which sometimes took the shape of opposition to the dominant form of christianity, though it is true they generally shaded off into mere movements of independent catholicism within the church; but there were in addition at least two distinct religious movements which led up to it, while much which, under the reformers of the sixteenth century, appears as a distinct and separate theology, is traceable in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in the mystical movement connected with the names of meister eckhart and tauler. meister eckhart, whose free treatment of christian doctrines, in order to bring them into consonance with his mystical theology, had drawn him into conflict with the papacy, undoubtedly influenced luther through his disciple, tauler, and especially through the book which proceeded from the latter's school, the _deutsche theologie_. it is, however, in the much more important movement, which originated with wyclif and extended to central europe through huss, that we must look for the more obvious influences determining the course of religious development in germany. the wycliffite movement in england was less a doctrinal heterodoxy than a revolt against the papacy and the priestly hierarchy. mere theoretical speculations were seldom interfered with, but anything which touched their material interests at once aroused the vigilance of the clergy. it is noticeable that the diffusion of lollardism, that is of the ideas of wyclif, if not the cause of, was at least followed by the peasant rising under the leadership of john ball, a connection which is also visible in the tziska revolt following the hussite movement, and the peasants' war in germany which came on the heels of the lutheran reformation. how much huss was directly influenced by the teachings of wyclif is clear. the works of the latter were widely circulated throughout europe; for one of the advantages of the custom of writing in latin, which was universal during the middle ages, was that books of an important character were immediately current amongst all scholars without having, as now, to wait upon the caprice and ability of translators. huss read wyclif's works as the preparation for his theological degree, and subsequently made them his text-books when teaching at the university of prague. after his treacherous execution at constance, and the events which followed thereupon in bohemia, a number of hussite fugitives settled in southern germany, carrying with them the seeds of the new doctrines. an anonymous contemporary writer states that "to john huss and his followers are to be traced almost all those false principles concerning the power of the spiritual and temporal authorities and the possession of earthly goods and rights which before in bohemia, and now with us, have called forth revolt and rebellion, plunder, arson, and murder, and have shaken to its foundations the whole commonwealth. the poison of these false doctrines has been long flowing from bohemia into germany, and will produce the same desolating consequences wherever it spreads." the condition of the catholic church, against which the reformation movement generally was a protest, needs here to be made clear to the reader. the beginning of clerical disintegration is distinctly visible in the first half of the fourteenth century. the interdicts, as an institution, had ceased to be respected, and the priesthood itself began openly to sink itself in debauchery and to play fast and loose with the rites of the church. indulgences for a hundred years were readily granted for a consideration. the manufacture of relics became an organised branch of industry; and festivals of fools and festivals of asses were invented by the jovial priests themselves in travesty of sacred mysteries, as a welcome relaxation from the monotony of prescribed ecclesiastical ceremony. pilgrimages increased in number and frequency; new saints were created by the dozen; and the disbelief of the clergy in the doctrines they professed was manifest even to the most illiterate, whilst contempt for the ceremonies they practised was openly displayed in the performance of their clerical functions. an illustration of this is the joke of the priests related by luther, who were wont during the celebration of the mass, when the worshippers fondly imagined that the sacred formula of transubstantiation was being repeated, to replace the words _panis es et carnem fiebis_, "bread thou art and flesh thou shalt become," _by panis es et panem manebis_, "bread thou art and bread thou shalt remain". the scandals as regards clerical manners, growing, as they had been, for many generations, reached their climax in the early part of the sixteenth century. it was a common thing for priests to drive a roaring trade as moneylenders, landlords of alehouses and gambling dens, and even, in some cases, brothel-keepers. papal ukases had proved ineffective to stem the current of clerical abuses. the regular clergy evoked even more indignation than the secular. "stinking cowls" was a favourite epithet for the monks. begging, cheating, shameless ignorance, drunkenness and debauchery, are alleged as being their noted characteristics. one of the princes of the empire addresses a prior of a convent largely patronised by aristocratic ladies as "thou, our common brother-in-law!" in some of the convents of friesland, promiscuous intercourse between the sexes was, it is said, quite openly practised, the offspring being reared as monks and nuns. the different orders competed with each other for the fame and wealth to be obtained out of the public credulity. a fraud attempted by the dominicans at bern, in , _with the concurrence of the heads of the order throughout germany_, was one of the main causes of that city adopting the reformation.[ ] in addition to the increasing burdens of investitures, annates, and other papal dues, the brunt of which the german people had directly or indirectly to bear, special offence was given at the beginning of the sixteenth century by the excessive exploitation of the practice of indulgences by leo x. for the purpose of completing the cathedral of st. peter's at rome. it was this, coming on the top of the exactions already rendered necessary by the increasing luxury and debauchery of the papal court and those of the other ecclesiastical dignitaries, that directly led to the dramatic incidents with which the lutheran reformation opened. the remarkable personality with which the religious side of the reformation is pre-eminently associated was a child of his time, who had passed through a variety of mental struggles, and had already broken through the bonds of the old ecclesiasticism before that turning point in his career which is usually reckoned the opening of the reformation, to wit--the nailing of the theses on to the door of the schloss-kirche in wittenberg on the st of october, . martin luther, we must always bear in mind, however, was no protestant in the english puritan sense of the word. it was not merely that he retained much of what would be deemed by the old-fashioned english protestant "romish error" in his doctrine, but his practical view of life showed a reaction from the ascetic pretensions which he had seen bred nothing but hypocrisy and the worst forms of sensual excess. it is, indeed, doubtful if the man who sang the praises of "wine, women, and song" would have been deemed a fit representative in parliament or elsewhere by the british nonconformist conscience of our day; or would be acceptable in any capacity to the grocer-deacon of our provincial towns, who, not content with being allowed to sand his sugar and adulterate his tea unrebuked, would socially ostracise every one whose conduct did not square with his conventional shibboleths. martin luther was a child of his time also as a boon companion. the freedom of his living in the years following his rupture with rome was the subject of severe animadversions on the part of the noble, but in this respect narrow-minded thomas münzer, who in his open letter addressed to the "soft-living flesh of wittenberg," scathingly denounces what he deems his debauchery. it does not enter into our province here to discuss at length the religious aspects of the reformation; but it is interesting to note in passing the more than modern liberality of luther's views with respect to the marriage question and the celibacy of the clergy, contrasted with the strong mediæval flavour of his belief in witchcraft and sorcery. in his _de captivitate babylonica ecclesiæ_ ( ) he expresses the view that if, for any cause, husband or wife are prevented from having sexual intercourse they are justified, the woman equally with the man, in seeking it elsewhere. he was opposed to divorce, though he did not forbid it, and recommended that a man should rather have a plurality of wives than that he should put away any of them. luther held strenuously the view that marriage was a purely external contract for the purpose of sexual satisfaction, and in no way entered into the spiritual life of the man. on this ground he sees no objection in the so-called mixed marriages, which were, of course, frowned upon by the catholic church. in his sermon on "married life" he says: "know therefore that marriage is an outward thing, like any other worldly business. just as i may eat, drink, sleep, walk, ride, buy, speak and bargain with a heathen, a jew, a turk or a heretic; so may i also be and remain married to such an one, and i care not one jot for the fool's laws which forbid it.... a heathen is just as much man or woman, well and shapely made by god, as st. peter, st. paul, or st. lucia." nor did he shrink from applying his views to particular cases, as is instanced by his correspondence with philip von hesse, whose constitution appears to have required more than one wife. he here lays down explicitly the doctrine that polygamy and concubinage are not forbidden to christians, though, in his advice to philip, he adds the _caveat_ that he should keep the matter dark to the end that offence might not be given; "for," says he, "it matters not, provided one's conscience is right, what others say". in one of his sermons on the pentateuch[ ] we find the words: "it is not forbidden that a man have more than one wife. i would not forbid it to-day, albeit i would not advise it.... yet neither would i condemn it." other opinions on the nature of the sexual relations were equally broad; for in one of his writings on monastic celibacy his words plainly indicate his belief that chastity, no more than other fleshly mortifications, was to be considered a divine ordinance for all men or women. in an address to the clergy he says: "a woman not possessed of high and rare grace can no more abstain from a man than from eating, drinking, sleeping, or other natural function. likewise a man cannot abstain from a woman. the reason is that it is as deeply implanted in our nature to breed children as it is to eat and drink."[ ] the worthy janssen observes in a scandalised tone that luther, as regards certain matters relating to married life, "gave expression to principles before unheard of in christian europe;"[ ] and the british nonconformist of to-day, if he reads these "immoral" opinions of the hero of the reformation, will be disposed to echo the sentiments of the ultramontane historian. the relation of the reformation to the "new learning" was in germany not unlike that which existed in the other northern countries of europe, and notably in england. whilst the hostility of the latter to the mediæval church was very marked, and it was hence disposed to regard the religious reformation as an ally, this had not proceeded very far before the tendency of the renaissance spirit was to side with catholicism against the new theology and dogma, as merely destructive and hostile to culture. the men of the humanist movement were for the most part freethinkers, and it was with them that freethought first appeared in modern europe. they therefore had little sympathy with the narrow bigotry of religious reformers, and preferred to remain in touch with the church, whose then loose and tolerant catholicism gave freer play to intellectual speculations, provided they steered clear of overt theological heterodoxy, than the newer systems, which, taking theology _au grand sérieux_, tended to regard profane art and learning as more or less superfluous, and spent their whole time in theological wrangles. nevertheless, there were not wanting men who, influenced at first by the revival of learning, ended by throwing themselves entirely into the reformation movement, though in these cases they were usually actuated rather by their hatred of the catholic hierarchy than by any positive religious sentiment. of such men ulrich von hutten, the descendant of an ancient and influential knightly family, was a noteworthy example. after having already acquired fame as the author of a series of skits in the new latin, and other works of classical scholarship, being also well known as the ardent supporter of reuchlin in his dispute with the church, and as the friend and correspondent of the central humanist figure of the time, erasmus, he watched with absorbing interest the movement which luther had inaugurated. six months after the nailing of the theses at wittenberg, he writes enthusiastically to a friend respecting the growing ferment in ecclesiastical matters, evidently regarding the new movement as a kilkenny-cat fight. "the leaders," he says, "are bold and hot, full of courage and zeal. now they shout and cheer, now they lament and bewail, as loud as they can. they have lately set themselves to write; the printers are getting enough to do. propositions, corollaries, conclusions, and articles are being sold. for this alone i hope they will mutually destroy each other." "a few days ago a monk was telling me what was going on in saxony, to which i replied: 'devour each other in order that ye in turn may be devoured (_sic_)'. pray heaven that our enemies may fight each other to the bitter end, and by their obstinacy extinguish each other." from this it will be seen that hutten regarded the reformation in its earlier stages as merely a monkish squabble, and failed to see the tremendous upheaval of all the old landmarks of ecclesiastical domination which was immanent in it. so soon, however, as he perceived its real significance, he threw himself wholly into the movement. it must not be forgotten, moreover, that, although hutten's zeal for humanism made him welcome any attempt to overthrow the power of the clergy and the monks, he had also an eminently political motive for his action in what was, in some respects, the main object of his life, _viz._, to rescue the "knighthood," or smaller nobility, from having their independence crushed out by the growing powers of the princes of the empire. probably more than one-third of the manors were held by ecclesiastical dignitaries, so that anything which threatened their possessions and privileges seemed to strike a blow at the very foundations of the imperial system. hutten hoped that the new doctrines would set the princes by the ears all round; and that then, by allying themselves with the reforming party, the knighthood might succeed in retaining the privileges which still remained to them, but were rapidly slipping away, and might even regain some of those which had been already lost. it was not till later, however, that hutten saw matters in this light. he was at the time the above letter was written in the service of the archbishop albrecht of mainz, the leading favourer of the new learning amongst the prince-prelates, and it was mainly from the humanist standpoint that he regarded the beginnings of the reformation. after leaving the service of the archbishop he struck up a personal friendship with luther, instigated thereto by his political chief, franz von sickingen, the leader of the knighthood, from whom he probably received the first intimation of the importance of the new movement to their common cause. when, in , the young emperor, charles v., was crowned at aachen, luther's party, as well as the knighthood, expected that considerable changes would result in a sense favourable to their position from the presumed pliability of the new head of the empire. his youth, it was supposed, would make him more sympathetic to the newer spirit which was rapidly developing itself; and it is true that about the time of his election charles had shown a transient favour to the "recalcitrant monk". it would appear, however, that this was only for the purpose of frightening the pope into abandoning his declared intention of abolishing the inquisition in spain, then regarded as one of the mainstays of the royal power, and still more to exercise pressure upon him, in order that he should facilitate charles's designs on the milanese territory. once these objects were attained, he was just as ready to oblige the pope by suppressing the new anti-papal movement as he might possibly otherwise have been to have favoured it with a view to humbling the only serious rival to his dominion in the empire. immediately after his coronation, he proceeded to cologne and convoked by imperial edict a reichstag at worms for the following th of january, . the proceedings of this famous reichstag have been unfortunately so identified with the edict against luther that the other important matters which were there discussed have almost fallen into oblivion. at least two other questions were dealt with, however, which are significant of the changes that were then taking place. the first was the rehabilitation and strengthening of the imperial governing council (_reichs-regiment_), whose functions under maximilian had been little more than nominal. there was at first a feeling amongst the states in favour of transferring all authority to it, even during the residence of the emperor in the empire; and in the end, while having granted to it complete power during his absence, it practically retained very much of this power when he was present. in constitution it was very similar to the french "parliaments," and like them was principally composed of learned jurists, four being elected by the emperor and the remainder by the estates. the character and the great powers of this council, extending even to ecclesiastical matters during the ensuing years, undoubtedly did much to hasten on the substitution of the civil law for the older customary or common law, a matter which we shall consider more in detail later on. the financial condition of the empire was also considered; and it here first became evident that the dislocation of economic conditions, which had begun with the century, would render an enormously increased taxation necessary to maintain the imperial authority, amounting to five times as much as had previously been required. it was only after these secular affairs of the empire had been disposed of that the deliberations of the reichstag on ecclesiastical matters were opened by the indictment of luther in a long speech by aleander, one of the papal nuncios, in introducing the pope's letter. in spite of the efforts of his friends, luther was not permitted to be present at the beginning of the proceedings; but subsequently he was sent for by the emperor, in order that he might state his case. his journey to worms was one long triumph, especially at erfurt, where he was received with enthusiasm by the humanists as the enemy of the papacy. but his presence in the reichstag was unavailing, and the proceedings resulted in his being placed under the ban of the empire. the safe-conduct of the emperor was, however, in his case respected; and in spite of the fears of his friends that a like fate might befall him as had befallen huss after the council of constance, he was allowed to depart unmolested. on his way to wittenberg luther was seized by arrangement with his supporter, the kurfürst of saxony, and conveyed in safety to the castle of wartburg, in thüringen, a report in the meantime being industriously circulated by certain of his adherents, with a view of arousing popular feeling, that he had been arrested by order of the emperor and was being tortured. in this way he was secured from all danger for the time being, and it was during his subsequent stay that he laid the foundations of the literary language of germany. says a contemporary writer,[ ] an eye-witness of what went on at worms during the sitting of the reichstag: "all is disorder and confusion. seldom a night doth pass but that three or four persons be slain. the emperor hath installed a provost, who hath drowned, hanged, and murdered over a hundred men." he proceeds: "stabbing, whoring, flesh-eating (it was in lent) ... altogether there is an orgie worthy of the venusberg". he further states that many gentlemen and other visitors had drunk themselves to death on the strong rhenish wine. aleander was in danger of being murdered by the lutheran populace, instigated thereto by hutten's inflammatory letters from the neighbouring castle of ebernburg, in which franz von sickingen had given him a refuge. the fiery humanist wrote to aleander himself, saying that he would leave no stone unturned "till thou who camest hither full of wrath, madness, crime, and treachery shalt be carried hence a lifeless corpse". aleander naturally felt exceedingly uncomfortable, and other supporters of the papal party were not less disturbed at the threats which seemed in a fair way of being carried out. the emperor himself was without adequate means of withstanding a popular revolt should it occur. he had never been so low in cash or in men as at that moment. on the other hand, sickingen, to whom he owed money, and who was the only man who could have saved the situation under the circumstances, had matters come to blows, was almost overtly on the side of the lutherans; while the whole body of the impoverished knighthood were only awaiting a favourable opportunity to overthrow the power of the magnates, secular and ecclesiastic, with sickingen as a leader. such was the state of affairs at the beginning of the year . the ban placed upon luther by the reichstag marks the date of the complete rupture between the reforming party and the old church. henceforward, many humanist and humanistically-influenced persons who had supported him withdrew from the movement and swelled the ranks of the conservatives. foremost amongst these were pirckheimer, the wealthy merchant and scholar of nürnberg, and many others who dreaded lest the attack on ecclesiastical property and authority should, as indeed was the case, issue in a general attack on all property and authority. thomas murner, also, who was the type of the "moderate" of the situation, while professing to disapprove of the abuses of the church, declared that luther's manner of agitation could only lead to the destruction of all order, civil no less than ecclesiastical. the two parties were now clearly defined, and the points at issue were plainly irreconcilable with one another or involved irreconcilable details. the printing press now for the first time appeared as the vehicle for popular literature; the art of the bard gave place to the art of the typographer, and the art of the preacher saw confronting it a formidable rival in that of the pamphleteer. similarly in the french revolution modern journalism, till then unimportant and sporadic, received its first great development, and began seriously to displace alike the preacher, the pamphlet, and the broadside. the flood of theological disquisitions, satires, dialogues, sermons, which now poured from every press in germany, overflowed into all classes of society. these writings are so characteristic of the time that it is worth while devoting a few pages to their consideration, the more especially because it will afford us the opportunity for considering other changes in that spirit of the age, partly diseased growths of decaying mediævalism, and partly the beginnings of the modern critical spirit, which also find expression in the literature of the reformation period. footnotes: [ ] see appendix b for this and an instance of a successful imposture. [ ] _sämmt. werke_, xxxiii., - . [ ] quoted in janssen, _ein zweites wort an meine kritiker_, , p. . [ ] _geschichte des deutschen volkes_, vol. ii., p. . [ ] quoted in janssen, bk. ii., . chapter iii. popular literature of the reformation. in accordance with the conventional view we have assumed in the preceding chapter that the reichstag at worms was a landmark in the history of the reformation. this is, however, only true as regards the political side of the movement. the popular feeling was really quite continuous, at least from to . with the latter year and the collapse of the peasant revolt a change is noticeable. in , the reformation as a great upstirring of the popular mind of central europe, in contradistinction to its character as an academic and purely political movement, reached high-water mark, and may almost be said to have exhausted itself. until the latter year it was purely a revolutionary movement, attracting to itself all the disruptive elements of its time. later, the reactionary possibilities within it declared themselves. the emancipation from the thraldom of the catholic hierarchy and its papal head, it was soon found, meant not emancipation from the arbitrary tyranny of the new political and centralising authorities then springing up, but, on the contrary, rather their consecration. the ultimate outcome, in fact, of the whole business was, as we shall see later on, the inculcation of the non-resistance theory as regards the civil power, and the clearing of the way for its extremest expression in the doctrine of the divine right of kings, a theory utterly alien to the belief and practice of the mediæval church. the reichstag of worms, by cutting off all possibility of reconciliation, rather gave further edge to the popular revolutionary side of the movement than otherwise. the whole progress of the change in public feeling is plainly traceable in the mass of ephemeral literature that has come down to us from this period, broadsides, pamphlets, satires, folksongs, and the rest. the anonymous literature to which we more especially refer is distinguished by its coarse brutality and humour, even in the writings of the reformers, which were themselves in no case remarkable for the suavity of their polemic. hutten, in some of his later vernacular poems, approaches the character of the less cultured broadside literature. to the critical mind it is somewhat amusing to note the enthusiasm with which the modern dissenting and puritan class contemplates the period of which we are writing,--an enthusiasm that would probably be effectively damped if the laudators of the reformation knew the real character of the movement and of its principal actors. the first attacks made by the broadside literature were naturally directed against the simony and benefice-grabbing of the clergy, a characteristic of the priestly office that has always powerfully appealed to the popular mind. thus the "courtisan and benefice-eater" attacks the parasite of the roman court, who absorbs ecclesiastical revenues wholesale, putting in perfunctory _locum tenens_ on the cheap, and begins:-- i'm fairly called a simonist and eke a courtisan, and here to every peasant and every common man my knavery will very well appear. i called and cried to all who'd give me ear, to nobleman and knight and all above me: "behold me! and ye'll find i'll truly love ye." in another we read:-- the paternoster teaches well how one for another his prayers should tell, thro' brotherly love and not for gold, and good those same prayers god doth hold. so too saith holy paul right clearly, each shall his brother's load bear dearly. but now, it declares, all that is changed. now we are being taught just the opposite of god's teachings:-- such doctrine hath the priests increased, whom men as masters now must feast, 'fore all the crowd of simonists, whose waxing number no man wists, the towns and thorps seem full of them, and in all lands they're seen with shame. their violence and knavery leave not a church or living free. a prose pamphlet, apparently published about the summer of , shortly after luther's excommunication, was the so-called "wolf song" (_wolf-gesang_), which paints the enemies of luther as wolves. it begins with a screed on the creation and fall of adam, and a dissertation on the dogma of the redemption; and then proceeds: "as one might say, dear brother, instruct me, for there is now in our times so great commotion in faith come upon us. there is one in saxony who is called luther, of whom many pious and honest folk tell how that he doth write so consolingly the good evangelical (_evangelische_) truth. but again i hear that the pope and the cardinals at rome have put him under the ban as a heretic; and certain of our own preachers, too, scold him from their pulpits as a knave, a misleader, and a heretic. i am utterly confounded, and know not where to turn; albeit my reason and heart do speak to me even as luther writeth. but yet again it bethinks me that when the pope, the cardinal, the bishop, the doctor, the monk and the priest, for the greater part are against him, and so that all save the common men and a few gentlemen, doctors, councillors and knights, are his adversaries, what shall i do?" "for answer, dear friend, get thee back and search the scriptures, and thou shalt find that so it hath gone with all the holy prophets even as it now fareth with doctor martin luther, who is in truth a godly christian and manly heart and only true pope and apostle, when he the true office of the apostles publicly fulfilleth.... if the godly man luther were pleasing to the world, that were indeed a true sign that his doctrine were not from god; for the word of god is a fiery sword, a hammer that breaketh in pieces the rocks, and not a fox's tail or a reed that may be bent according to our pleasure." seventeen noxious qualities of the wolf are adduced, his ravenousness, his cunning, his falseness, his cowardice, his thirst for robbery, amongst others. the popes, the cardinals and the bishops are compared to the wolves in all their attributes: "the greater his pomp and splendour, the more shouldst thou beware of such an one; for he is a wolf that cometh in the shape of a good shepherd's dog. beware! it is against the custom of christ and his apostles." it is again but the song of the wolves when they claim to mix themselves with worldly affairs and maintain the temporal supremacy. the greediness of the wolf is discernible in the means adopted to get money for the building of st. peter's. the interlocutor is warned against giving to mendicant priests and monks. in this strain is the pamphlet continued, reference being made to luther's dispute with eck, who is sometimes called dr. geck, that is, dr. fop. we have given this as a specimen of the almost purely theological pamphlet; although, as will have been evident, even this is directly connected with the material abuses from which the people were suffering. another pamphlet of about the same date deals with usury, the burden of which had been greatly increased by the growth of the new commercial combinations already referred to in the introduction, which combinations dr. eck had been defending at bologna on theological grounds, in order to curry favour with the augsburg merchant-prince, fuggerschwatz.[ ] it is called "concerning dues. hither comes a poor peasant to a rich citizen. a priest comes also thereby, and then a monk. full pleasant to read." a peasant visits a burgher when he is counting money, and asks him where he gets it all from. "my dear peasant," says the townsman, "thou askest me who gave me this money. i will tell thee. there cometh hither a peasant, and beggeth me to lend him ten or twenty gulden. thereupon i ask him an he possesseth not a goodly meadow or corn-field. 'yea! good sir!' saith he, 'i have indeed a good meadow and a good corn-field. the twain are worth a hundred gulden.' then say i to him: 'good, my friend, wilt thou pledge me thy holding? and an thou givest me one gulden of thy money every year i will lend thee twenty gulden now'. then is the peasant right glad, and saith he: 'willingly will i pledge it thee'. 'i will warn thee,' say i, 'that an thou furnishest not the one gulden of money each year. i will take thy holding for my own having.' therewith is the peasant well content, and writeth him down accordingly. i lend him the money; he payeth me one year, or may be twain, the due; thereafter can he no longer furnish it, and thereupon i take the holding, and drive away the peasant therefrom. thus i get the holding and the money. the same things do i with handicraftsmen. hath he a good house? he pledgeth that house until i bring it behind me. therewith gain i much in goods and money, and thus do i pass my days." "i thought," rejoined the peasant, "that 'twere only the jew who did usury, but i hear that ye also ply that trade." the burgher answers that interest is not usury, to which the peasant replies that interest (_gült_) is only a "subtle name". the burgher then quotes scripture, as commanding men to help one another. the peasant readily answers that in doing this they have no right to get advantage from the assistance they proffer. "thou art a good fellow!" says the townsman. "if i take no money for the money that i lend, how shall i then increase my hoard?" the peasant then reproaches him that he sees well that his object in life is to wax fat on the substance of others; "but i tell thee, indeed," he says, "that it is a great and heavy sin". whereupon his opponent waxes wroth, and will have nothing more to do with him, threatening to kick him out in the name of a thousand devils; but the peasant returns to the charge, and expresses his opinion that rich men do not willingly hear the truth. a priest now enters, and to him the townsman explains the dispute. "dear peasant," says the priest, "wherefore camest thou hither, that thou shouldst make of a due[ ] usury? may not a man buy with his money what he will?" but the peasant stands by his previous assertion, demanding how anything can be considered as bought which is only a pledge. "we priests," replies the ecclesiastic, "must perforce lend money for dues, since thereby we get our living;" to which, after sundry ejaculations of surprise, the peasant retorts: "who gave to you the power? i well hear ye have another god than we poor people. we have our lord jesus christ, who hath forbidden such money-lending for gain." hence it comes, he goes on, that land is no longer free; to attempt to whitewash usury under the name of due or interest, he says, is just the same as if one were to call a child christened friedrich or hansel, fritz or hans, and then maintain it was no longer the same child. they require no more jews, he says, since the christians have taken their business in hand. the townsman is once more about to turn the peasant out of his house, when a monk enters. he then lays the matter before the new-comer, who promises to talk the peasant over with soft words; for, says he, there is nothing accomplished with vainglory. he thereupon takes him aside and explains it to him by the illustration of a merchant whose gain on the wares he sells is not called usury, and argues that therefore other forms of gain in business should not be described by this odious name. but the peasant will have none of this comparison; for the merchant, he says, needs to incur much risk in order to gain and traffic with his wares; while money-lending on security is, on the other hand, without risk or labour, and is a treacherous mode of cheating. finding that they can make nothing of the obstinate countryman, the others leave him; but he, as a parting shot, exclaims: "ah, well-a-day! i would to have talked with thee at first, but it is now ended. farewell, gracious sir, and my other kind sirs. i, poor little peasant, i go my way. farewell, farewell, due remains usury for evermore. yea, yea! due, indeed!" one more example will suffice to give the reader an idea of the character of these first specimens of pamphlet literature; and this time it shall be taken from the widely-read anonymous tract entitled "der karsthans". [the man who wields the hoe, that is, the peasant.] this production is specially directed against the monk, murner, who had at first, as already stated, endeavoured to sit on the fence, admitting certain abuses in the church, but who before long took sides against luther and the reformation, becoming, in fact, after the disputation with eck, the author of a series of polemical writings against the hero of the reformation. the most important of these appeared in the autumn of ; and the "karsthans" is the answer to them from the popular side of the movement. on the title-page murner is depicted as a monk with a cat's head; and in the dialogue there are five _dramatis personæ_, karsthans, murner, luther, a student, and mercury, the latter interjecting sarcastic remarks in latin. murner begins by mewing like a cat. karsthans, the peasant, and his son, the student, listen, and describe to each other the manners and characters of cats, especially their slyness and cunning. the son at the bidding of his father is about to pelt the cat with stones, but comes back, saying: "oh, father! what a loathsome beast! it is no true cat, though it looketh to be one. it waxeth even greater and greater. its hue is grey, and it hath a wondrous head." as the father, karsthans, is seeking his flail that he may annihilate the beast, his son discovers that it is human, at which the father exclaims: "it is a devil!" they advance towards it, and discover it to be a churchman. "i am a clerk and more than a clerk," cries murner in anger. "i am eke a man and a monk." karsthans asks pardon; but murner threatens him, and, as the monk grows more exasperated, the son exhorts the father to modesty in the presence of so exalted a spiritual personage. "oh, father!" cries the son, "it is indeed a great man. i have read his title. he is a poet, who hath been crowned with the laurel wreath, and is a doctor in both disciplines, and also in the holy scriptures. moreover, he is one of the free regular clergy, and is called thomas murner of strassburg." some chaff follows between the father and son as to all the monk's spirituality residing in his garb. this gives rise to a quarrel between karsthans and murner, in which the student again exhorts his father to moderation in his language, on the ground that murner is a good jurist. karsthans demands how it is compatible to be spiritual in the cloister and cunning in the world, to which murner replies: _incompatibilia auctoritate papæ unici possunt._ ("incompatibles can be made to agree by the authority of the pope.") karsthans, who calls this a lie, is roundly abused by murner: "thou boorish clown, _injustum est ut monachis operandibus servi eorum otio torpeunt_". ("it is unjust that while monks are working, their servants should slumber in idleness.") "yea, truly!" answers karsthans, "ye stink of secrets." during the dispute luther enters. "ah!" exclaims murner, "doth that fellow come? there are too many people here. let me go out by the back." karsthans wonders at murner's attitude, as in a general way the churches were glad to meet each other, and as luther was everywhere recognised as a good man and a pious christian. murner begs karsthans not to reveal him, as he is pledged to regard luther as a heretic, and he is determined to prove him one. karsthans wants to know why he does not dispute personally with luther like "dr. genzkuss," meaning eck, in leipzig. "but, father," interposes the son, "dr. eck, as some say, hath not won for himself much honour or victory over luther." karsthans is amazed, and replies: "but yet he hath so cried out and fought that scarce an one might speak before him." "he hath also," the student observes, "received ducats from the pope for his works; and," he adds, "if dr. eckius had overcome luther, as he hath been overcome by him, he (that is, the pope) would have made of him a camel with broad hoofs," the latter being a current phrase to indicate a cardinal; "and murner also hopes to pluck some feathers out of the crow, like eck." luther knocks again, and murner tries to get away, but karsthans holds him back. after sundry pleasantries between karsthans and murner, in the course of which the monk advises the peasant to go to the bookseller, grüninger, in strassburg, and buy his two books, the one on "baptism," and the other entitled "a christian and brotherly warning." murner takes his leave, and luther enters. on karsthans wanting to know what brings him to germany, he replies: "the simplicity of the german people--to wit, that they are of so small an understanding. what any man feigns and lies to them, that they at once believe, and think no further of the matter. therefore are they so much deceived, and a laughing stock for other peoples." the student reminds his father that murner had declared luther to be a heretic. karsthans thereupon again seeks his flail; but luther demands impartiality. since he had heard murner he should hear him also. karsthans agrees; but the son objects, as the dominicans and doctors in cologne, especially hochstraten,[ ] had said that it was dangerous to dispute with or give ear to such people, since even the _ketzermeister_ (refuters of heretics) often came off second best in the contest; as in the case of dr. reuchlin, who in spite of their condemnation had been exonerated by rome, and the papal sentence against him revoked. "and again what a miracle happened in the th year at mainz! there came a legate from rome, who was to see that luther's books were thoroughly burnt; and while all were awaiting the issue at the appointed place, the hangman asked whether judgment had been given that the books should be burnt; and since no one could tell him the truth, the careless fellow would not execute the sentence, and went his way. oh! what great shame and ignominy was shown to the legate! and since he was not willing to bear the shame, he must persuade the hangman with cunning and presents that he should the next day burn two or four little books. i had thought," concluded the student, "that he had not need to have asked further in the face of the pope's legate and strict command, and of the heretic-confuter's office." karsthans is indignant, and threatens every "rascal from rome" with his flail; to which the student rejoins: "oh, father! thou thinkest it is with the pope's power as with thy headship in the village which thou hast, where thou canst not of thy will act a straw's breadth except with the knowledge and consent of thy neighbours, who are all vile peasants, and who think there will be sore trouble if they judge other than as witness-bearing dictateth. but it is not so with the pope; ofttimes it is: _sic volumus, sic jubemus, oportet; sufficit, vicisse._ ("as we will, as we command, so let it be; it sufficeth to have prevailed.") karsthans requires that if the pope has divine power, he should also do divine works; whereas the student defends the absolute power of the pope and the bishops. he complains that his father is an enemy of the priests, like all the rest of the peasants. karsthans rejoins that there are four propositions on which the whole controversy turns: "thou art peter; on st. peter i will build my church. feed my sheep. what i bid you, that do ye. he who despiseth you, despiseth me also." he then demands of luther that he should write in the german tongue, and let them see whether they could not save him from the power of the pope and from the wearers of broad-brimmed hats. but luther declines such help, and thereupon departs. karsthans is offended that the pope is called by his son, the student, the highest authority of the christian faith. "for," says he, "christ alone is this authority. he is the only bridegroom, and the bride can know no other. else were she impure and wrinkled, and not a pure bride. moreover, the bride is not at variance with her bridegroom, but with the pope she is well-nigh always at variance. that which one will, the other will not. furthermore, the bride is spiritual, but this roman is bodily and worldly." the student answers: "the bridegroom hath given the bride a bodily head," a point which the peasant disputes, while admitting it may be good to have spiritual and carnal authority; "but," says he, "christ has called to this office not only one but all the apostles," and he enlarges on the difference between this and the scramble for office then apparent in the state. the student again remonstrates with his peasant father for his unceremonious treatment of the learned man; and, at the same time, he blames luther for attacking certain articles of the christian faith, which all men ought to hold sacred. karsthans wants to know if he refers to the dogma of the trinity. this the student denies, saying that it is no such thing as that, or any other question which the theologians seek to prick with the point of a needle. he finally admits that he is referring to the question of the supremacy of the pope, affirming that it "were a deadly sin to believe that the pope had stood one quarter of an hour in deadly sin. item, that the pope alone shall interpret the right sense and meaning of the scriptures, and shall alone have full power, not only on earth, but also in purgatory." the student then proceeds to quote the various credos, the athanasian, the nicene, and so forth; till at last karsthans bursts out: "look you now! if you make it so, the articles of faith will at last be a great bookful.... the pious doctor, martin luther, doth teach aright: 'rest thy faith on christ alone, and therewith hath the matter an end'." karsthans, in addition, proceeds to uphold the right of the common man to his own interpretation of the articles of faith, maintaining the appeal to holy writ against all ecclesiastical authority; "for by the scripture one knoweth unfailingly at all time whether such authority do rule righteously or not, since the scripture is the true article of covenant which christ hath left us". the dispute continues, with occasional interjections in latin by mercury, in his capacity as cynical chorus, till karsthans gets very rude indeed, accuses the absent murner of having lice in his cowl, calls him an evil cat that licks before and scratches behind, and demands why he dare not go to wittenberg to dispute with dr. martin luther, as eck had just done. then with an _aldi, ich far dahin_, equivalent to the modern english, "well, i'm off," from the peasant, a _dii secundent_ from mercury, and an _uterque valeat_ from the student, the party separates, and the dialogue comes to an end. we have given a somewhat lengthy account of this dialogue, on account of its importance, even at the risk of wearying the reader. its drastic assertion of the right of the common man to independence of his superiors in spiritual matters, with its side hints and suggestions justifying resistance to all authority that had become oppressive, was not without its effects on the social movements of the following years. for the reader who wishes to further study this literature we give the titles, which sufficiently indicate their contents, of a selection of other similar pamphlets and broadsheets: "a new epistle from the evil clergy sent to their righteous lord, with an answer from their lord. most merry to read" ( ). "a great prize which the prince of hell, hight lucifer, now offereth to the clergy, to the pope, bishops, cardinals, and their like" ( ). "a written call, made by the prince of hell to his dear devoted, of all and every condition in his kingdom" ( ). "dialogue or converse of the apostolicum, angelica, and other spices of the druggist, anent dr. martin luther and his disciples" ( ). "a very pleasant dialogue and remonstrance from the sheriff of gaissdorf and his pupil against the pastor of the same and his assistant" ( ). the popularity of "karsthans" amongst the people is illustrated by the publication and wide distribution of a new "karsthans" a few months later, in which it is sought to show that the knighthood should make common cause with the peasants, the _dramatis personæ_ being karsthans and franz von sickingen. referring to the same subject we find a "dialogue which franciscus von sickingen held fore heaven's gate with st. peter and the knights of st. george before he was let in". this was published in , almost immediately after the death of sickingen. "a talk between a nobleman, a monk, and a courtier" ( ). "a talk between a fox and a wolf" ( ). "a pleasant dialogue between dr. martin luther and the cunning messenger from hell" ( ). "a conversation of the pope with his cardinals of how it goeth with him, and how he may destroy the word of god. let every man very well note" ( ). "a christian and merry talk, that it is more pleasing to god and more wholesome for men to come out of the monasteries and to marry, than to tarry therein and to burn; which talk is not with human folly and the false teachings thereof, but is founded alone in the holy, divine, biblical and evangelical scripture" ( ). "a pleasant dialogue of a peasant with a monk that he should cast his cowl from him. merry and fair to read" ( ). the above is only a selection of specimens taken hap-hazard from the mass of fugitive literature which the early years of the reformation brought forth. in spite of a certain rough but not unattractive directness of diction, a prolonged reading of them is very tedious, as will have been sufficiently seen from the extracts we have given. their humour is of a particularly juvenile and obvious character, and consists almost entirely in the childish device of clothing the personages with ridiculous but non-essential attributes, or in placing them in grotesque but pointless situations. of the more subtle humour, which consists in the discovery of real but hidden incongruities, and the perception of what is innately absurd, there is no trace. the obvious abuses of the time are satirised in this way _ad nauseam_. the rapacity of the clergy in general, the idleness and lasciviousness of the monks, the pomp and luxury of the prince-prelates, the inconsistencies of church traditions and practices with scripture, with which they could now be compared, since it was everywhere circulated in the vulgar tongue, form their never-ending theme. they reveal to the reader a state of things that strikes one none the less in english literature of the period,--the intense interest of all classes in theological matters. it shows us how they looked at all things through a theological lens. although we have left this phase of popular thought so recently behind us, we can even now scarcely imagine ourselves back into it. the idea of ordinary men, or of the vast majority, holding their religion as anything else than a very pious opinion absolutely unconnected with their daily life, public or private, has already become almost inconceivable to us. in all the writings of the time, the theological interest is in the forefront. the economic and social ground-work only casually reveals itself. this it is that makes the reading of the sixteenth century polemics so insufferably jejune and dreary. they bring before us the ghosts of controversies in which most men have ceased to take any part, albeit they have not been dead and forgotten long enough to have acquired a revived antiquarian interest. it reminds one of the faint echoes of the doctrinal disputes of a generation ago, which, already dying on the continent of europe, still continued to agitate the english middle classes of all ranks, and are remembered now with but a smile at their immense puerility. the great bomb-shell which luther cast forth on the th of june, , in his address to the german nobility,[ ] indeed contains strong appeals to the economical and political necessities of germany, and therein we see the veil torn from the half-unconscious motives that lay behind the theological mask; but, as already said, in the popular literature, with a few exceptions, the theological controversy rules undisputed. the noticeable feature of all this irruption of the _cacoëthes scribendi_ was the direct appeal to the bible for the settlement not only of strictly theological controversies but of points of social and political ethics also. this practice, which even to the modern protestant seems insipid and played out after three centuries and a half of wear, had at that time the to us inconceivable charm of novelty; and the perusal of the literature and controversies of the time shows that men used it with all the delight of a child with a new toy, and seemed never tired of the game of searching out texts to justify their position. the diffusion of the whole bible in the vernacular, itself a consequence of the rebellion against priestly tradition and the authority of the fathers, intensified the revolt by making the pastime possible to all ranks of society. footnotes: [ ] see appendix c. [ ] we use the word "due" here for the german word _gült_. the corresponding english of the time does not make any distinction between _gült_ or interest, and _wucher_ or usury. [ ] hochstraten was one of the great adversaries of reuchlin. [ ] "an den christlichen adel deutscher nation." chapter iv. the folklore of the reformation. now in the hands of all men, the bible was not made the basis of doctrinal opinions alone. it lent its support to many of the popular superstitions of the time, and in addition it served as the starting point for new superstitions and for new developments of the older ones. the pan-dæmonism of the new testament, with its wonder-workings by devilish agencies, its exorcisms of evil spirits and the like, could not fail to have a deep effect on the popular mind. the authority that the book believed to be divinely inspired necessarily lent to such beliefs gave a vividness to the popular conception of the devil and his angels, which is apparent throughout the whole movement of the reformation, and not least in the utterances of the great luther himself. indeed, with the reformation there comes a complete change over the popular conception of the devil and diabolical influences. it is true that the judicial pursuit of witches and witchcraft, in the earlier middle ages only a sporadic incident, received a great impulse from the bull of pope innocent viii. ( ), to which has been given the title of "malleus maleficorum," or "the hammer of witchcraft," directed against the practice of sorcery; but it was especially amongst the men of the new spirit that the belief in the prevalence of compacts with the devil, and the necessity for suppressing them, took root, and led to the horrible persecutions that distinguished the "reformed" churches on the whole even more than the catholic. luther himself had a vivid belief, tinging all his views and actions, in the ubiquity of the devil and his myrmidons. "the devils," says he, "are near us, and do cunningly contrive every moment without ceasing against our life, our salvation, and our blessedness.... in woods, waters, and wastes, and in damp, marshy places, there are many devils that seek to harm men. in the black and thick clouds, too, there are some that make storms, hail, lightning, and thunder, that poison the air and the pastures. when such things happen, the philosophers and the physicians ascribe them to the stars, and show i know not what causes for such misfortunes and plagues." luther relates numerous instances of personal encounters that he himself had had with the devil. a nobleman invited him, with other learned men from the university of wittenberg, to take part in a hare hunt. a large, fine hare and a fox crossed the path. the nobleman, mounted on a strong, healthy steed, dashed after them, when, suddenly, his horse fell dead beneath him, and the fox and the hare flew up in the air and vanished. "for," says luther, "they were devilish spectres." again, on another occasion, he was at eisleben on the occasion of another hare-hunt, when the nobleman succeeded in killing eight hares, which were, on their return home, duly hung up for the next day's meal. on the following morning, horses' heads were found in their place. "in mines," says luther, "the devil oftentimes deceives men with a false appearance of gold." all disease and all misfortune were the direct work of the devil; god, who was all good, could not produce either. luther gives a long history of how he was called to a parish priest, who complained of the devil's having created a disturbance in his house by throwing the pots and pans about, and so forth, and of how he advised the priest to exorcise the fiend by invoking his own authority as a pastor of the church. at the wartburg, luther complained of having been very much troubled by the satanic arts. when he was at work upon his translation of the bible, or upon his sermons, or engaged in his devotions, the devil was always making disturbances on the stairs or in the room. one day, after a hard spell of study, he lay down to sleep in his bed, when the devil began pelting him with hazel nuts, a sack of which had been brought to him a few hours before by an attendant. he invoked, however, the name of christ, and lay down again in bed. there were other more curious and more doubtful recipes for driving away satan and his emissaries. luther is never tired of urging that contemptuous treatment and rude chaff are among the most efficacious methods. there was, he relates, a poor soothsayer, to whom the devil came in visible form, and offered great wealth provided that he would deny christ and never more do penance. the devil provided him with a crystal, by which he could foretell events, and thus become rich. this he did; but nemesis awaited him, for the devil deceived him one day, and caused him to denounce certain innocent persons as thieves. in consequence, he was thrown into prison, where he revealed the compact that he had made, and called for a confessor. the two chief forms in which the devil appeared were, according to luther, those of a snake and a sheep. he further goes into the question of the population of devils in different countries. on the top of the pilatus at luzern is a black pond, which is one of the devil's favourite abodes. in luther's own country there is also a high mountain, the poltersberg, with a similar pond. when a stone is thrown into this pond, a great tempest arises, which often devastates the whole neighbourhood. he also alleges prussia to be full of evil spirits. devilish changelings, luther said, were often placed by satan in the cradles of human children. "some maids he often plunges into the water, and keeps them with him until they have borne a child." these children are placed in the beds of mortals, and the true children are taken out and hurried away. "but," he adds, "such changelings are said not to live more than to the eighteenth or nineteenth year." as a practical application of this, it may be mentioned that luther advised the drowning of a certain child of twelve years old, on the ground of its being a devil's changeling. somnambulism is, with luther, the result of diabolical agency. "formerly," says he, "the papists, being superstitious people, alleged that persons thus afflicted had not been properly baptised, or had been baptised by a drunken priest." the irony of the reference to superstition, considering the "great reformer's" own position, will not be lost upon the reader. thus, not only is the devil the cause of pestilence, but he is also the immediate agent of nightmare and of nightsweats. at mölburg in thüringen, near erfurt, a piper, who was accustomed to pipe at weddings, complained to his priest that the devil had threatened to carry him away and destroy him, on the ground of a practical joke played upon some companions, to wit, for having mixed horse-dung with their wine at a drinking bout. the priest consoled him with many passages of scripture anent the devil and his ways, with the result that the piper expressed himself satisfied as regarded the welfare of his soul, but apprehensive as regarded that of his body, which was, he asserted, hopelessly the prey of the devil. in consequence of this, he insisted on partaking of the sacrament. the devil had indicated to him when he was going to be fetched, and watchers were accordingly placed in his room, who sat in their armour and with their weapons, and read the bible to him. finally, one saturday at midnight, a violent storm arose, that blew out the lights in the room, and hurled the luckless victim out of a narrow window into the street. the sound of fighting and of armed men was heard, but the piper had disappeared. the next morning he was found in a neighbouring ditch, with his arms stretched out in the form of a cross, dead and coal-black. luther vouches for the truth of this story, which he alleges to have been told him by a parish priest of gotha, who had himself heard it from the parish priest of mölburg, where the event was said to have taken place. amongst the numerous anecdotes of a supernatural character told by "dr. martin" is one of a "poltergeist," or "robin goodfellow," who was exorcised by two monks from the guest-chamber of an inn, and who offered his services to them in the monastery. they gave him a corner in the kitchen. the serving-boy used to torment him by throwing dirty water over him. after unavailing protests, the spirit hung the boy up to a beam, but let him down again before serious harm resulted. luther states that this "brownie" was well known by sight in the neighbouring town (the name of which he does not give). but by far the larger number of his stories, which, be it observed, are warranted as ordinary occurrences, as to the possibility of which there was no question, are coloured by that more sinister side of supernaturalism so much emphasised by the new theology. the mediæval devil was, for the most part, himself little more than a prankish rübezahl, or robin goodfellow; the new satan of the reformers was, in very deed, an arch-fiend, the enemy of the human race, with whom no truce or parley might be held. the old folklore belief in _incubi_ and _succubi_ as the parents of changelings is brought into connection with the theory of direct diabolic begettal. thus luther relates how friedrich, the elector of saxony, told him of a noble family that had sprung from a _succubus_: "just," says he, "as the melusina at luxembourg was also such a _succubus_, or devil". in the case referred to, the _succubus_ assumed the shape of the man's dead wife, and lived with him and bore him children, until, one day, he swore at her, when she vanished, leaving only her clothes behind. after giving it as his opinion that all such beings and their offspring are wiles of the devil, he proceeds: "it is truly a grievous thing that the devil can so plague men that he begetteth children in their likeness. it is even so with the nixies in the water, that lure a man therein, in the shape of wife or maid, with whom he doth dally and begetteth offspring of them." the change whereby the beings of the old naive folklore are transformed into the devil or his agents is significant of that darker side of the new theology, which was destined to issue in those horrors of the witchcraft-mania that reached their height at the beginning of the following century. one more story of a "changeling" before we leave the subject. luther gives us the following as having come to his knowledge near halberstadt, in saxony. a peasant had a baby, who sucked out its mother and five nurses, besides eating a great deal. concluding that it was a changeling, the peasant sought the advice of his neighbours, who suggested that he should take it on a pilgrimage to a neighbouring shrine of the mother of god. while he was crossing a brook on the way, an impish voice from under the water called out to the infant, whom he was carrying in a basket. the brat answered from within the basket, "ho, ho!" and the peasant was unspeakably shocked. when the voice from the water proceeded to ask the child what it was after, and received the answer from the hitherto inarticulate babe that it was going to be laid on the shrine of the mother of god, to the end that it might prosper, the peasant could stand it no longer, and flung basket and baby into the brook. the changeling and the little devil played for a few moments with each other, rolling over and over, and crying "ho, ho, ho!" and then they disappeared together. luther says that these devilish brats may be generally known by their eating and drinking too much, and especially by their exhausting their mother's milk, but they may not develop any certain signs of their true parentage until eighteen or nineteen years old. the princess of anhalt had a child which luther imagined to be a changeling, and he therefore advised its being drowned, alleging that such creatures were only lumps of flesh animated by the devil or his angels. some one spoke of a monster which infested the netherlands, and which went about smelling at people like a dog, and whoever it smelt died. but those that were smelt did not see it, albeit the bystanders did. the people had recourse to vigils and masses. luther improved the occasion to protest against the "superstition" of masses for the dead, and to insist upon his favourite dogma of faith as the true defence against assaults of the devil. among the numerous stories of satanic compacts, we are told of a monk who ate up a load of hay, of a debtor who bit off the leg of his hebrew creditor and ran off to avoid payment, and of a woman who bewitched her husband so that he vomited lizards. luther observes, with especial reference to this last case, that lawyers and judges were far too pedantic with their witnesses and with their evidence; that the devil hardens his clients against torture, and that the refusal to confess under torture ought to be of itself sufficient proof of dealings with the prince of darkness. "towards such," says he, "we should show no mercy; i would burn them myself." black magic or witchcraft he proceeds to characterise as the greatest sin a human being can be guilty of, as, in fact, high treason against god himself--_crimen læsæ majestatis divinæ_. the conversation closes with a story of how maximilian's father, the emperor friedrich, who seems to have obtained a reputation for magic arts, invited a well-known magician to a banquet, and on his arrival fixed claws on his hands and hoofs on his feet by his cunning. his guest, being ashamed, tried to hide the claws under the table as long as he could, but finally he had to show them, to his great discomfiture. but he determined to have his revenge, and asked his host whether he would permit him to give proofs of his own skill. the emperor assenting, there at once arose a great noise outside the window. friedrich sprang up from the table, and leaned out of the casement to see what was the matter. immediately an enormous pair of stag's horns appeared on his head, so that he could not draw it back. finding the state of the case, the emperor exclaimed: "rid me of them again! thou hast won!" luther's comment on this was that he was always glad to see one devil getting the best of another, as it showed that some were stronger than others. all this belongs, roughly speaking, to the side of the matter which regards popular theology; but there is another side which is connected more especially with the new learning. this other school, which sought to bring the somewhat elastic elements of the magical theory of the universe into the semblance of a systematic whole, is associated with such names as those of paracelsus, cornelius agrippa, and the abbot von trittenheim. the fame of the first named was so great throughout germany that when he visited any town the occasion was looked upon as an event of exceeding importance.[ ] paracelsus fully shared in the beliefs of his age, in spite of his brilliant insights on certain occasions. what his science was like may be imagined when we learn that he seriously speaks of animals who conceive through the mouth, of basilisks whose glance is deadly, of petrified storks changed into snakes, of the stillborn young of the lion which are afterwards brought to life by the roar of their sire, of frogs falling in a shower of rain, of ducks transformed into frogs, and of men born from beasts; the menstruation of women he regarded as a venom whence proceeded flies, spiders, earwigs, and all sorts of loathsome vermin; night was caused, not by the absence of the sun, but by the presence of the stars, which were the positive cause of the darkness. he relates having seen a magnet capable of attracting the eyeball from its socket as far as the tip of the nose; he knows of salves to close the mouth so effectually that it has to be broken open again by mechanical means, and he writes learnedly on the infallible signs of witchcraft. by mixing horse-dung with human semen he believed he was able to produce a medium from which, by chemical treatment in a retort, a diminutive human being, or _homunculus_, as he called it, could be produced. the spirits of the elements, the sylphs of the air, the gnomes of the earth, the salamanders of the fire, and the undines of the water, were to him real and undoubted existences in nature. strange as all these beliefs seem to us now, they were a very real factor in the intellectual conceptions of the renaissance period, no less than of the middle ages, and amidst them there is to be found at times a foreshadowing of more modern knowledge. many other persons were also more or less associated with the magical school, amongst them franz von sickingen. reuchlin himself, by his hebrew studies, and especially by his introduction of the kabbala to gentile readers, also contributed a not unimportant influence in determining the course of the movement. the line between the so-called black magic, or operations conducted through the direct agency of evil spirits, and white magic, which sought to subject nature to the human will by the discovery of her mystical and secret laws, or the character of the quasi-personified intelligent principles under whose form nature presented herself to their minds, had never throughout the middle ages been very clearly defined. the one always had a tendency to shade off into the other, so that even roger bacon's practices were, although not condemned, at least looked upon somewhat doubtfully by the church. at the time of which we treat, however, the interest in such matters had become universal amongst all intelligent persons. the scientific imagination at the close of the middle ages and during the renaissance period was mainly occupied with three questions: the discovery of the means of transmuting the baser metals into gold, or otherwise of producing that object of universal desire; to discover the elixir vitæ, by which was generally understood the invention of a drug which would have the effect of curing all diseases, restoring man to perennial youth, and, in short, prolonging human life indefinitely; and, finally, the search for the philosopher's stone, the happy possessor of which would not only be able to achieve the first two, but also, since it was supposed to contain the quintessence of all the metals, and therefore of all the planetary influences to which the metals corresponded, would have at his command all the forces which mould the destinies of men. in especial connection with the latter object of research may be noted the universal interest in astrology, whose practitioners were to be found at every court, from that of the emperor himself to that of the most insignificant prince or princelet, and whose advice was sought and carefully heeded on all important occasions. alchemy and astrology were thus the recognised physical sciences of the age, under the auspices of which a copernicus and a tycho brahe were born and educated. footnotes: [ ] _cf._ sebastian franck, _chronica_, for an account of a visit of paracelsus to nürnberg. chapter v. the german town. from what has been said the reader may form for himself an idea of the intellectual and social life of the german town of the period. the wealthy patrician class, whose mainstay politically was the _rath_, gave the social tone to the whole. in spite of the sharp and sometimes brutal fashion in which class distinctions asserted themselves then, as throughout the middle ages, there was none of that aloofness between class and class which characterises the bourgeois society of the present day. each town, were it great or small, was a little world in itself, so that every citizen knew every other citizen more or less. the schools attached to its ecclesiastical institutions were practically free of access to all the children whose parents could find the means to maintain them during their studies; and consequently the intellectual differences between the different classes were by no means necessarily proportionate to the difference in social position. so far as culture and material prosperity were concerned, the towns of bavaria and franconia, munich, augsburg, regensburg, and perhaps above all nürnberg, represented the high-water mark of mediæval civilisation as regards town-life. on entering the burg, should it have happened to be in time of peace and in daylight, the stranger would clear the drawbridge and the portcullis without much challenge, passing along streets lined with the houses and shops of the burghers, in whose open frontages the master and his apprentices and _gesellen_ plied their trades, discussing eagerly over their work the politics of the town, and at this period probably the theological questions which were uppermost in men's minds, our visitor would make his way to some hostelry, in whose courtyard he would dismount from his horse, and, entering the common room, or _stube_, with its rough but artistic furniture of carved oak, partake of his flagon of wine or beer, according to the district in which he was travelling, whilst the host cracked a rough and possibly coarse jest with the other guests, or narrated to them the latest gossip of the city. the stranger would probably find himself before long the object of interrogatories respecting his native place and the object of his journey (although his dress would doubtless have given general evidence of this), whether he were a merchant or a travelling scholar or a practiser of medicine; for into one of these categories it might be presumed the humble but not servile traveller would fall. were he on a diplomatic mission from some potentate he would be travelling at the least as a knight or a noble, with spurs and armour, and moreover would be little likely to lodge in a public house of entertainment. in the _stube_ he would probably see drinking heavily, representatives of the ubiquitous _landsknechte_, the mercenary troops enrolled for imperial purposes by the emperor maximilian towards the end of the previous century, who in the intervals of war were disbanded and wandered about spending their pay, and thus constituted an excessively disintegrative element in the life of the time. a contemporary writer[ ] describes them as the curse of germany, and stigmatises them as "unchristian, god-forsaken folk, whose hand is ever ready in striking, stabbing, robbing, burning, slaying, gaming, who delight in wine-bibbing, whoring, blaspheming, and in the making of widows and orphans". presently perhaps a noise without indicates the arrival of a new guest. all hurry forth into the courtyard, and their curiosity is more keenly whetted when they perceive by the yellow knitted scarf round the neck of the new-comer that he is an _itinerans scholasticus_, or travelling scholar, who brings with him not only the possibility of news from the outer world, so important in an age when journals were non-existent, and communications irregular and deficient, but also a chance of beholding wonder-workings, as well as of being cured of the ailments which local skill had treated in vain. already surrounded by a crowd of admirers waiting for the words of wisdom to fall from his lips, he would start on that exordium which bore no little resemblance to the patter of the modern quack, albeit interlarded with many a latin quotation and great display of mediæval learning. "good people and worthy citizens of this town," he might say, "behold in me the great master ... prince of necromancers, astrologer, second mage, chiromancer, agromancer, pyromancer, hydromancer. my learning is so profound that were all the works of plato and aristotle lost to the world, i could from memory restore them with more elegance than before. the miracles of christ were not so great as those which i can perform wherever and as often as i will. of all alchemists i am the first, and my powers are such that i can obtain all things that man desires. my shoebuckles contain more learning than the heads of galen and avicenna, and my beard has more experience than all your high schools. i am monarch of all learning. i can heal you of all diseases. by my secret arts i can procure you wealth. i am the philosopher of philosophers. i can provide you with spells to bind the most potent of the devils in hell. i can cast your nativities and foretell all that shall befall you, since i have that which can unlock the secrets of all things that have been, that are, and that are to come."[ ] bringing forth strange-looking phials, covered with cabalistic signs, a crystal globe and an astrolabe, followed by an imposing scroll of parchment inscribed with mysterious hebraic-looking characters, the travelling student would probably drive a roaring trade amongst the assembled townsmen in love-philtres, cures for the ague and the plague, and amulets against them, horoscopes, predictions of fate and the rest of his stock-in-trade. as evening approaches, our traveller strolls forth into the streets and narrow lanes of the town, lined with overhanging gables that almost meet overhead and shut out the light of the afternoon sun, so that twilight seems already to have fallen. observing that the burghers, with their wives and children, the work of the day being done, are all wending toward the western gate, he goes along with the stream till, passing underneath the heavy portcullis and through the outer rampart, he finds himself in the plain outside, across which a rugged bridle-path leads to a large quadrangular meadow, rough and more or less worn, where a considerable crowd has already assembled. this is the _allerwiese_, or public pleasure ground of the town. here there are not only high festivities on sundays and holidays, but every fine evening in summer numbers of citizens gather together to watch the apprentices exercising their strength in athletic feats, and competing with one another in various sports, such as running, wrestling, spear-throwing, sword-play, and the like, wherein the inferior rank sought to imitate and even emulate the knighthood, whilst the daughters of the city watched their progress with keen interest and applauding laughter. as the shadows deepen and darkness falls upon the plain, our visitor joins the groups which are now fast leaving the meadow, and repasses the great embrasure just as the rushlights begin to twinkle in the windows, and a swinging oil-lamp to cast a dim light here and there in the streets. but as his company passes out of a narrow lane debouching on to the chief market-place their progress is stopped by the sudden rush of a mingled crowd of unruly apprentices and journeymen returning from their sports, with hot heads well beliquored. then from another side street there is a sudden flare of torches borne aloft by guildsmen come out to quell the tumult and to send off the apprentices to their dwellings, whilst the watch also bears down and carries off some of the more turbulent of the journeymen to pass the night in one of the towers which guard the city wall. at last, however, the visitor reaches his inn by the aid of a friendly guildsman and his torch; and retiring to his chamber with its straw-covered floor, rough oaken bedstead, hard mattress, and coverings not much better than horsecloths, he falls asleep as the bell of the minster tolls out ten o'clock over the now dark and silent city. such approximately would have been the view of a german city in the sixteenth century as presented to a traveller in a time of peace. more stirring times, however, were as frequent,--times when the tocsin rang out from the steeple all night long, calling the citizens to arms. by such scenes, needless to say, the year of the peasant war was more than usually characterised. in the days when every man carried arms and knew how to use them, when the fighting instinct was imbibed with the mother's milk, when every week saw some street brawl, often attended by loss of life, and that by no means always among the most worthless and dissolute of the inhabitants, every dissatisfaction immediately turned itself into an armed revolt, whether it were of the apprentices or the journeymen against the guild-masters, the body of the townsmen against the patriciate, the town itself against its feudal superior, where it had one, or of the knighthood against the princes. the extremity to which disputes can at present be carried without resulting in a breach of the peace, as evinced in modern political and trade conflicts, exacerbated though some of them are, was a thing unknown in the middle ages, and indeed to any considerable extent until comparatively recent times. the sacred right of insurrection was then a recognised fact of life, and but very little straining of a dispute led to a resort to arms. in the subsequent chapters we have to deal with the more important of those outbursts to which the ferment due to the dissolution of the mediæval system of things, then beginning throughout central europe, gave rise, of which the religious side is represented by what is known as the reformation. footnotes: [ ] sebastian franck, _chronica_, ccxvii. [ ] _cf._ trittheim's letter to wirdung of hasfurt regarding faust. _j. tritthemii epistolarum familiarum_, , bk. ii., ep. ; also the works of paracelsus. chapter vi. the revolt of the knighthood. we have already pointed out in more than one place the position to which the smaller nobility, or the knighthood, had been reduced by the concatenation of causes which was bringing about the dissolution of the old mediæval order of things, and, as a consequence, ruining the knights both economically and politically:--economically by the rise of capitalism as represented by the commercial syndicates of the cities; by the unprecedented power and wealth of the city confederations, especially of the hanseatic league; by the rising importance of the newly-developed world-market; by the growing luxury and the enormous rise in the prices of commodities concurrently with the reduction in value of the feudal land-tenures; and by the limitation of the possibilities of acquiring wealth by highway robbery, owing to imperial constitutions on the one hand and increased powers of defence on the part of the trading community on the other:--politically, by the new modes of warfare in which artillery and infantry, composed of comparatively well-drilled mercenaries (_landsknechte_), were rapidly making inroads into the omnipotence of the ancient feudal chivalry, and reducing the importance of individual skill or prowess in the handling of weapons, and by the development of the power of the princes or higher nobility, partly due to the influence which the roman civil law now began to exercise over the older customary constitution of the empire, and partly to the budding centralism of authority--which in france and england became a national centralisation, but in germany, in spite of the temporary ascendancy of charles v., finally issued in a provincial centralisation in which the princes were _de facto_ independent monarchs. the imperial constitution of , forbidding private war, applied, it must be remembered, only to the lesser nobility and not to the higher, thereby placing the former in a decidedly ignominious position as regards their feudal superiors. and though this particular enactment had little immediate result, yet it was none the less resented as a blow struck at the old knightly privilege. the mental attitude of the knighthood in the face of this progressing change in their position was naturally an ambiguous one, composed partly of a desire to hark back to the haughty independence of feudalism, and partly of sympathy with the growing discontent among other classes and with the new spirit generally. in order that the knights might succeed in recovering their old or even in maintaining their actual position against the higher nobility, the princes, backed as these now largely were by the imperial power, the co-operation of the cities was absolutely essential to them, but the obstacles in the way of such a co-operation proved insurmountable. the towns hated the knights for their lawless practices, which rendered trade unsafe and not infrequently cost the lives of the citizens. the knights for the most part, with true feudal hauteur, scorned and despised the artisans and traders who had no territorial family name and were unexercised in the higher chivalric arts. the grievances of the two parties were, moreover, not identical, although they had their origin in the same causes. the cities were in the main solely concerned to maintain their old independent position, and especially to curb the growing disposition at this time of the other estates to use them as milch cows from which to draw the taxation necessary to the maintenance of the empire. for example, at the reichstag opened at nürnberg on the th november, --to discuss the questions of the establishment of perpetual peace within the empire, of organising an energetic resistance to the inroads of the turks, and of placing on a firm foundation the imperial privy council (_kammergericht_) and the supreme council (_reichsregiment_)--at which were represented twenty-six imperial towns, thirty-eight high prelates, eighteen princes, and twenty-nine counts and barons--the representatives of the cities complained grievously that their attendance was reduced to a farce, since they were always out-voted, and hence obliged to accept the decisions of the other estates. they stated that their position was no longer bearable, and for the first time drew up an act of protest, which further complained of the delay in the decisions of the imperial courts; of their sufferings from the right of private war which was still allowed to subsist in defiance of the constitution; of the increase of customs-stations on the part of the princes and prince-prelates; and, finally, of the debasement of the coinage due to the unscrupulous practices of these notables and of the jews. the only sympathy the other estates vouchsafed to the plaints of the cities was with regard to the right of private war, which the higher nobles were also anxious to suppress amongst the lower, though without prejudice of course to their own privileges in this line. all the other articles of the act of protest were coolly waived aside. from all this it will be seen that not much co-operation was to be expected between such heterogeneous bodies as the knighthood and the free towns, in spite of their common interest in checking the threateningly advancing power of the princes and the central imperial authority, which was for the most part manned and manipulated by the princes. amid the decaying knighthood there was, as we have already intimated, one figure which stood out head and shoulders above every other noble of the time, whether prince or knight; and that was franz von sickingen. he has been termed, not without truth, "the last flower of german chivalry," since in him the old knightly qualities flashed up in conjunction with the old knightly power and splendour with a brightness hardly known even in the palmiest days of mediæval life. it was, however, the last flicker of the light of german chivalry. with the death of sickingen and the collapse of his revolt the knighthood of central europe ceased any longer to play an independent part in history. sickingen, although technically only one of the lower nobility, was deemed about the time of luther's appearance to hold the immediate destinies of the empire in his hand. wealthy, inspiring confidence and enthusiasm as a leader, possessed of more than one powerful and strategically-situated stronghold, he held court at his favourite residence, the castle of the landstuhl, in the rhenish palatinate, in a style which many a prince of the empire might have envied. as honoured guests were to be found attending on him, humanists, poets, minstrels, partisans of the new theology, astrologers, alchemists, and men of letters generally; in short, the whole intelligence and culture of the period. foremost among these, and chief confidant of sickingen, was the knight, courtier, poet, essayist and pamphleteer, ulrich von hutten, whose pen was ever ready to champion with unstinted enthusiasm the cause of the progressive ideas of his age. he first took up the cudgels against the obscurantists on behalf of humanism as represented by erasmus and reuchlin, the latter of whom he bravely defended in his dispute with the inquisition and the monks of cologne, and in his contributions to the _epistolæ obscurorum virorum_ we see the youthful ardour of the renaissance in full blast in its onslaught on the forces of mediæval obstruction. unlike most of those with whom he was first associated, hutten passed from being the upholder of the new learning to the rôle of champion of the reformation; and it was largely through his influence that sickingen took up the cause of luther and his movement. sickingen had been induced by charles v. to assist him in an abortive attempt to invade france in , from which campaign he had returned without much benefit either material or moral, save that charles was left heavily in his debt. the accumulated hatred of generations for the priesthood had made sickingen a willing instrument in the hands of the reforming party and believing that charles now lay to some extent in his power, he considered the moment opportune for putting his long-cherished scheme into operation for reforming the constitution of the empire. this reformation consisted, as was to be expected, in placing his own order on a firm footing, and of effectually curbing the power of the other estates, especially that of the prelates. sickingen wished to make the emperor and the lower nobility the decisive factors in his new scheme of things political. the emperor, it so happened, was for the moment away in spain, and sickingen's colleagues of the knightly order were becoming clamorous at the unworthy position into which they found themselves rapidly being driven. the feudal exactions of their princely lieges had reached a point which passed all endurance, and since they were practically powerless in the reichstags no outlet was left for their discontent save by open revolt. impelled not less by his own inclinations than by the pressure of his companions, foremost among whom was hutten, sickingen decided at once to open the campaign. hutten, it would appear, attempted to enter into negotiations for the co-operation of the towns and of the peasants. so far as can be seen, strassburg and one or two other imperial cities returned favourable answers; but the precise measure of hutten's success cannot be ascertained, owing to the fact that all the documents relating to the matter perished in the destruction of sickingen's castle of ebernburg. it is certain, however, that operations were begun before any definite assurances of help had been obtained, although had the first attempts had any appearance of success there is little doubt that such help would have been forthcoming. the campaign was unfortunate from the beginning. nevertheless, but one of the associated knights saw that the moment was inopportune. the rest were confident of success, and a pretext was speedily found in the fact that sickingen's feudal superior, the archbishop of trier (treves), had refused to compel two councillors of that city to repay him rhenish guilders (_gulden_) which he had paid as ransom for them to a certain knight, gerhard börner, who had taken them prisoners. this was a sufficient _casus belli_ for those times; and sickingen thereupon issued a manifesto in which he declared himself the champion of the gospel, and announced his intention to free the subjects of the archbishop from the temporal yoke of their tyrant, who had acted against god and the imperial majesty, and from the spiritual yoke of godless priests, and to place them in possession of that liberty which the gospel (_i.e._, the new gospel of luther) alone could afford. it should be premised that on the th of august, previous to this declaration of war, a "brotherly convention" had been signed by a number of the knights, by which sickingen was appointed their captain, and they bound themselves to submit to no jurisdiction save their own, and pledged themselves to mutual aid in war in case of hostilities against any one of their number. through this "treaty of landau," sickingen had it in his power to assemble a considerable force at a moment's notice. consequently, a few days after the issue of the above manifesto, on the th august, , sickingen was able to start from the castle of ebernburg with an army of foot and knights, besides artillery, in the full confidence that he was about to destroy the position of the palatine prince-prelate and raise himself without delay to the chief power on the rhine. the grand chamberlain of the celebrated patron of letters and humanism, albrecht, archbishop of mainz, frowers von hutten, was in the conspiracy; and it is almost certain that albrecht himself was secretly in accord with sickingen's plan for the destruction of his electoral neighbour. this is shown by the fact that when the archbishop of trier appealed to him, as his colleague, for assistance, albrecht made a number of excuses which enabled him to delay the sending of reinforcements until they were too late to be of any use, whilst at the same time numbers of his retainers and subjects served under sickingen's banner. by an effective piece of audacity, that of sporting the imperial flag and the burgundian cross, franz spread abroad the idea that he was acting on behalf of the emperor, then absent in spain; and this largely contributed to the result that his army speedily rose to knights and , footmen. the imperial diet at nürnberg now intervened, and ordered sickingen to cease the operations he had already begun, threatening him with the ban of the empire and a fine of marks if he did not obey. to this summons franz sent a characteristically impudent reply,[ ] and light-heartedly continued the campaign, regardless of the warning which an astrologer had given him some time previously, that the year or would probably be fatal to him. it is evident that this campaign, begun so late in the year, was regarded by sickingen and the other leaders as merely a preliminary canter to a larger and more widespread movement the following spring, since on this occasion the swabian and franconian knighthood do not appear to have been even invited to take part in it. after an easy progress, during which several trifling places, the most important being st. wendel, were taken, franz with his army arrived on the th of september before the gates of trier. he had hoped to capture the town by surprise, and was indeed not without some expectation of co-operation and help from the citizens themselves. on his arrival he shot letters within the walls summoning the inhabitants to take his part against their tyrant; but either through the unwillingness of the burghers to act with the knights, or through the vigilance of the archbishop, they were without effect. the gates remained closed; and in answer to sickingen's summons to surrender, richard replied that he would find him in the city if he could get inside. in the meantime sickingen's friends had signally failed in their attempts to obtain supplies and reinforcements for him, in the main owing to the energetic action of some of the higher nobles. the archbishop of trier showed himself as much a soldier as a churchman; and after a week's siege, during which sickingen made five assaults on the city, his powder ran out, and he was forced to retire. he at once made his way back to ebernburg, where he intended to pass the winter, since he saw that it was useless to continue the campaign, with his own army diminishing and the hoped-for supplies not appearing, whilst the forces of his antagonists augmented daily. in his stronghold of ebernburg he could rely on being secure from all attack until he was able to again take the field on the offensive, as he anticipated doing in the spring. there is some doubt as to the events which occurred during this retreat to ebernburg. sickingen's adversaries asserted that not only did his army destroy churches and monasteries, but that the houses of the peasants in the surrounding country were plundered and burnt. his friends, on the other hand, maintain with equal vehemence that sickingen and his followers confined themselves to wiping out of existence as many as possible of the hated ecclesiastical foundations. in spite of the obvious failure of the autumnal campaign, the cause of the knighthood did not by any means look irretrievably desperate, since there was always the possibility of successful recruitments the following spring. ulrich von hutten was doing his utmost in würtemberg and switzerland to scrape together men and money, though up to this time without much success, while other emissaries of sickingen were working with the same object in breisgau and other parts of southern germany. relying on these expected reinforcements, franz was confident of victory when he should again take the field, and in the meantime he felt himself quite secure in one or other of his strong places, which had recently undergone extensive repairs and seemed to be impregnable. in this anticipation he was deceived, as will shortly be seen, for he had not reckoned with the new and more potent weapons of attack which were replacing the battering-ram and other mediæval besieging appliances. the princes, meanwhile, were not inactive. immediately after the abortive attack on richard of trier, sickingen was placed under the ban of the empire (oct. ), but although the latter had temporarily disbanded his army it was impossible for them to attack him at once. they therefore contented themselves for the moment by wreaking their vengeance on those of his supporters who were more easily to be reached. albrecht of mainz, whose public policy had been that of "sitting on the fence all round," was fined , gulden for his lukewarmness in supporting his colleague, the elector of trier. kronberg, near frankfort, which was held by sickingen's son-in-law, hardtmuth, was taken by a force of , men (?); frowen von hutten, the cousin of ulrich, was driven from his castle of saalmünster and dispossessed of his estates, whilst a number of the smaller fry equally felt the heavy hand of the princely power. the chastisement of more distant adherents to the cause of the knighthood, like the counts of fürstenberg and zollern and the knights of franconia, was left over until the leader of the movement had been dealt with. this latter task was set about energetically, as soon as the winter was past, by the three princes who had specially taken in hand the suppression of the revolt, archbishop richard of trier, prince ludwig of the pfalz, and count phillip of hesse. in february, sickingen's second son, hans, was taken prisoner, and shortly after the castle of wartenberg was captured. an armistice which sickingen had asked for in order that the reinforcements he expected might have time to arrive, was refused, since the princes saw that their only chance of immediately crushing his power was to attack him at once. towards the end of april a large army of cavalry, infantry, and siege artillery was called together at kreuznach, not far from sickingen's castle of ebernburg. franz, however, was no longer there. he appears to have left ebernburg for his strongest fortress at landstuhl some weeks previously, though how and when is uncertain. here he hoped to be able to hold out for at least three or four months, by which time his friends could deliver him; and when the army of the three princes appeared before the castle he sent back a mocking answer to their summons to surrender, to the effect that he had new walls and they had new guns, so they could now see which were the stronger. but sickingen had not realised the power of the new projectiles; and in a week after the opening of the bombardment, on the th of april, the newly-fortified castle on which he had staked all his hopes was little better than a defenceless heap of ruins. in the course of the bombardment franz himself, as he stood at an embrasure watching the progress of the siege, was flung against a splintered joist, owing to the gun-stand against which he was leaning being overturned by a cannon shot. with his side torn open he was carried down into a dark rocky vault of the castle, realising at last that all was lost. "where are now," he cried, "my knights and my friends, who promised me so much and who have performed so little? where is fürstenberg? where zollern? where are they of strassburg and of the brotherhood? wherefore, let none place their trust in great possessions nor in the encouragements of men." it must be alleged, however, in their excuse, that his friends doubtless shared franz's confidence in the impregnability of the landstuhl, and were not aware of the imminent straits he had been in since the beginning of the attack. the messenger he had sent to the distant fürstenberg had been captured by the army of the allied princes; zollern knew of the need of his leader only with the news of his death; hutten's efforts to obtain help in switzerland had been in vain. seeing that now all was over and he himself on the point of death, sickingen wrote to the princes, requesting them to come and see him. the firing at once ceased, and negotiations were entered upon for the surrender of the castle. on the th of may sickingen agreed to the articles of capitulation, which included the surrender of himself and the rest of the knights in the castle as prisoners of war, his other retainers giving up their arms and leaving the castle on the following day. the landstuhl with all its contents was to fall, of course, into the hands of the besiegers. as franz signed the articles, he remarked to the ambassadors: "well, i shall not be long your prisoner". on the th of may the princes entered the castle and were at once taken to the underground chamber where franz lay dying. he was so near his end that he could scarcely distinguish his three arch-enemies one from the other. "my dear lord," he said to the count palatine, his feudal superior, "i had not thought that i should end thus," taking off his cap and giving him his hand. "what has impelled thee, franz," asked the archbishop of trier, "that thou hast so laid waste and harmed me and my poor people?" "of that it were too long to speak," answered sickingen, "but i have done nought without cause. i go now to stand before a greater lord." here it is worthy of remark that the princes treated franz with all the knightliness and courtesy which were customary between social equals in the days of chivalry, addressing him at most rather as a rebellious child than as an insurgent subject. the prince of hesse was about to give utterance to a reproach, but he was interrupted by the count palatine, who told him that he must not quarrel with a dying man. the count's chamberlain said some sympathetic words to franz, who replied to him: "my dear chamberlain, it matters little about me. it is not i who am the cock round which they are dancing." when the princes had withdrawn, his chaplain asked him if he would confess; but franz replied: "i have confessed to god in my heart," whereupon the chaplain gave him absolution; and as he went to fetch the host "the last of the knights" passed quietly away, alone and abandoned. it is related by spalatin that after his death some peasants and domestics placed his body in an old armourchest, in which they had to double the head on to the knees. the chest was then let down by a rope from the rocky eminence on which stood the now ruined castle, and was buried beneath a small chapel in the village below. the scene we have just described in the castle vault meant not merely the tragedy of a hero's death, nor merely the destruction of a faction or party. it meant the end of an epoch. with sickingen's death one of the most salient and picturesque elements in the mediæval life of central europe received its death-blow. the knighthood as a distinct factor in the polity of europe henceforth existed no more. spalatin relates that on the death of sickingen the princely party anticipated as easy a victory over the religious revolt as they had achieved over the knighthood. "the mock emperor is dead," so the phrase went, "and the mock pope will soon be dead also." hutten, already an exile in switzerland, did not many months survive his patron and leader, sickingen. the rôle which erasmus played in this miserable tragedy was only what was to be expected from the moral cowardice which seemed ingrained in the character of the great humanist leader. erasmus had already begun to fight shy of the reformation movement, from which he was about to separate himself definitely. he seized the present opportunity to quarrel with hutten; and to hutten's somewhat bitter attacks on him in consequence he replied with ferocity in his _spongia erasmi adversus aspergines hutteni_. hutten had had to fly from basel to mülhausen and thence to zürich, in the last stages of syphilitic disease. he was kindly received by the reformer, zwingli of zürich, who advised him to try the waters of pfeffers, and gave him letters of recommendation to the abbot of that place. he returned, in no wise benefited, to zürich, when zwingli again befriended the sick knight, and sent him to a friend of his, the "reformed" pastor of the little island of "ufenau," at the other end of the lake, where after a few weeks' suffering he died in abject destitution, leaving, it is said, nothing behind him but his pen. the disease from which hutten suffered the greater part of his life, at that time a comparatively new importation and much more formidable even than now-a-days, may well have contributed to an irascibility of temper and to a certain recklessness which the typical free-lance of the reformation in its early period exhibited. hutten was never a theologian, and the reformation seems to have attracted him mainly from its political side as implying the assertion of the dawning feeling of german nationality as against the hated enemies of freedom of thought and the new light, the clerical satellites of the roman see. he was a true son of his time, in his vices no less than in his virtues; and no one will deny his partiality for "wine, women, and play". there is reason, indeed, to believe that the latter at times during his later career provided his sole means of subsistence. the hero of the reformation, luther, with whom melancthon may be associated in this matter, could be no less pusillanimous on occasion than the hero of the new learning, erasmus. luther undoubtedly saw in sickingen's revolt a means of weakening the catholic powers against which he had to fight, and at its inception he avowedly favoured the enterprise. in "karsthans," the brochure quoted from in the last chapter, luther is represented as the incarnation of christian resignation and mildness, and as talking of twelve legions of angels and deprecating any appeal to force as unbefitting the character of an evangelical apostle. that such, however, was not his habitual attitude is evident to all who are in the least degree acquainted with his real conduct and utterances. on one occasion he wrote: "if they (the priests) continue their mad ravings it seems to me that there would be no better method and medicine to stay them than that kings and princes did so with force, armed themselves and attacked these pernicious people who do poison all the world, and once for all did make an end of their doings with weapons not with words. for even as we punish thieves with the sword, murderers with the rope, and heretics with fire, wherefore do we not lay hands on these pernicious teachers of damnation, on popes, on cardinals, bishops, and the swarm of the roman sodom--yea, with every weapon which lieth within our reach, _and wherefore do we not wash our hands in their blood_?" it is, however, in a manifesto published in july, , just before sickingen's attack on the archbishop of trier, for which enterprise it was doubtless intended as a justification, that luther expresses himself in unmeasured terms against the "biggest wolves," the bishops, and calls upon "all dear children of god and all true christians" to drive them out by force from the "sheep-stalls". in this pamphlet, entitled "against the falsely called spiritual order of the pope and the bishops," he says: "it were better that every bishop were murdered, every foundation or cloister rooted out, than that one soul should be destroyed, let alone that all souls should be lost for the sake of their worthless trumpery and idolatry. of what use are they who thus live in lust, nourished by the sweat and labour of others, and are a stumbling block to the word of god? they fear bodily uproar and despise spiritual destruction. are they wise and honest people? if they accepted god's word and sought the life of the soul, god would be with them, for he is a god of peace, and they need fear no uprising; but if they will not hear god's word, but rage and rave with bannings, burnings, killings, and every evil, what do they better deserve than a strong uprising which shall sweep them from the earth? _and we would smile did it happen._ as the heavenly wisdom saith: 'ye have hated my chastisement and despised my doctrine; behold, i will also laugh at ye in your distress, and will mock ye when misfortune shall fall upon your heads'." in the same document he denounces the bishops as an accursed race, as "thieves, robbers, and usurers". swine, horses, stones, and wood were not so destitute of understanding as the german people under the sway of them and their pope. the religious houses are similarly described as "brothels, low taverns, and murder dens". he winds up this document, which he calls his bull, by proclaiming that "all who contribute body, goods, and honour that the rule of the bishops may be destroyed are god's dear children and true christians, obeying god's command and fighting against the devil's order;" and on the other hand, that "all who give the bishops a willing obedience are the devil's own servants, and fight against god's order and law".[ ] no sooner, however, did things begin to look bad with sickingen than luther promptly sought to disengage himself from all complicity or even sympathy with him and his losing cause. so early as the th of december, , he writes to his friend wenzel link: "franz von sickingen has begun war against the palatine. it will be a very bad business." (_franciscus sickingen palatino bellum indixit, res pessima futura est._) his colleague, melancthon, a few days later, hastened to deprecate the insinuation that luther had had any part or lot in initiating the revolt. "franz von sickingen," he wrote, "by his great ill-will injures the cause of luther; and notwithstanding that he be entirely dissevered from him, nevertheless whenever he undertaketh war he wisheth to seem to act for the public benefit, and not for his own. he is even now pursuing a most infamous course of plunder on the rhine." in another letter he says: "i know how this tumult grieveth him (luther),"[ ] and this respecting the man who had shortly before written of the princes, that their tyranny and haughtiness were no longer to be borne, alleging that god would not longer endure it, and that the common man even was becoming intelligent enough to deal with them by force if they did not mend their manners. a more telling example of the "don't-put-him-in-the-horse-pond" attitude could scarcely be desired. that it was characteristic of the "great reformer" will be seen later on when we find him pursuing a similar policy anent the revolt of the peasants. after the fall of the landstuhl all sickingen's castles and most of those of his immediate allies and friends were of course taken, and the greater part of them destroyed. the knighthood was now to all intents and purposes politically helpless and economically at the door of bankruptcy, owing to the suddenly changed conditions of which we have spoken in the introduction and elsewhere as supervening since the beginning of the century: the unparalleled rise in prices, concurrently with the growing extravagance, the decline of agriculture in many places, and the increasing burdens put upon the knights by their feudal superiors, and last, but not least, the increasing obstacles in the way of the successful pursuit of the profession of highway robbery. the majority of them, therefore, clung with relentless severity to the feudal dues of the peasants, which now constituted their main, and in many cases their only, source of revenue; and hence, abandoning the hope of independence, they threw in their lot with the authorities, the princes, lay and ecclesiastic, in the common object of both, that of reducing the insurgent peasants to complete subjection. some few of the more chivalrous knights, foremost among whom was florian geyer, retained their rebel instincts against the higher authorities, and took sides with the popular movement. they fought, however, in a forlorn hope. as we shall now see, provincial centralism, as in italy, and not national centralism as in france, england, and spain, was destined to be the political form dominant in germany far into the modern period. the disasters and discomfitures of the peasants' war, which we shall presently describe, removed the last obstacle to the complete ascendancy of the provincial potentates, the princes of the empire; for this event was the immediate cause of the final disintegration of mediæval life, and the undermining of the last survivals of the free institutions of the communal village which had lasted throughout the middle ages. footnotes: [ ] franz said to the bystanders when the messengers of the council appeared: "look at these old fiddles of the _regiment_; only the dancers lack. there is no dearth of commands, but only of those who heed them;" and turning to the nuncios themselves, he bade them tell the imperial stadthalter and the other gentlemen of the council that "they might make themselves easy, for he was as good a servant of the emperor as themselves. he would, if he had enough followers, so work it that the emperor would be able to get far more land and gold in germany than he could ever get abroad. he only meant to give richard of trier a slight drubbing, and to soak his crowns for him which he had gotten from france." [ ] _sämmtliche werke_, vol. xxviii., - . [ ] _corpus reformatorum_, i., - . chapter vii. country and town at the end of the middle ages. for the complete understanding of the events which follow it must be borne in mind that we are witnessing the end of a distinct historical period; and, as we have pointed out in the introduction, the expiring effort, half conscious and half unconscious, of the people to revert to the conditions of an earlier age. nor can the significance be properly gauged unless a clear conception is obtained of the differences between country and town life at the beginning of the sixteenth century. from the earliest periods of the middle ages of which we have any historical record, the _markgenossenschaft_, or primitive village community of the germanic race, was overlaid by a territorial domination, imposed upon it either directly by conquest or voluntarily accepted for the sake of the protection indispensable in that rude period. the conflict of these two elements, the mark organisation and the territorial lordship, constitutes the marrow of the social history of the middle ages. in the earliest times the pressure of the over-lord, whoever he might be, seems to have been comparatively slight, but its inevitable tendency was for the territorial power to extend itself at the expense of the rural community. it was thus that in the tenth and eleventh centuries the feudal oppression had become thoroughly settled, and had reached its greatest intensity all over europe. it continued thus with little intermission until the thirteenth century, when from various causes, economic and otherwise, matters began to improve in the interests of the common man, till in the fifteenth century the condition of the peasant was better than it has ever been, either before or since within historical times, in northern and western europe. but with all this, the oppressive power of the lord of the soil was by no means dead. it was merely dormant, and was destined to spring into renewed activity the moment the lord's necessities supplied a sufficient incentive. from this time forward the element of territorial power, supported in its claims by the roman law, with its basis of private property, continued to eat into it until it had finally devoured the old rights and possessions of the village community. the executive power always tended to be transferred from its legitimate holder, the village in its corporate capacity, to the lord; and this was alone sufficient to place the villager at his mercy. at the time of the reformation, owing to the new conditions which had arisen and had brought about in a few decades the hitherto unparalleled rise in prices, combined with the unprecedented ostentation and extravagance more than once referred to in these pages, the lord was supplied with the requisite incentive to the exercise of the power which his feudal system gave him. consequently, the position of the peasant rapidly changed for the worse; and although at the outbreak of the movement not absolutely _in extremis_, according to our notions, yet it was so bad comparatively to his previous condition and that less than half a century before, and tended so evidently to become more intolerable, that discontent became everywhere rife, and only awaited the torch of the new doctrines to set it ablaze. the whole course of the movement shows a peasantry not downtrodden and starved, but proud and robust, driven to take up arms not so much by misery and despair as by the deliberate will to maintain the advantages which were rapidly slipping away from them. serfdom was not by any means universal. many free peasant villages were to be found scattered amongst the manors of the territorial lords, though it was but too evidently the settled policy of the latter at this time to sweep everything into their net, and to compel such peasant communes to accept a feudal over-lordship. nor were they at all scrupulous in the means adopted for attaining their ends. the ecclesiastical foundations, as before said, were especially expert in forging documents for the purpose of proving that these free villages were lapsed feudatories of their own. old rights of pasture were being curtailed, and others, notably those of hunting and fishing, had in most manors been completely filched away. it is noticeable, however, that although the immediate causes of the peasant rising were the new burdens which had been laid upon the common people during the last few years, once the spirit of discontent was aroused it extended also in many cases to the traditional feudal dues to which until then the peasant had submitted with little murmuring, and an attempt was made by the country side to reconquer the ancient complete freedom of which a dim remembrance had been handed down to them. the condition of the peasant up to the beginning of the sixteenth century, that is to say, up to the time when it began to so rapidly change for the worse, may be gathered from what we are told by contemporary writers, such as wimpfeling, sebastian brandt, wittenweiler, the satires in the _nürnberger fastnachtspielen_, and numberless other sources, as also from the sumptuary laws of the end of the fifteenth century. all these indicate an ease and profuseness of living which little accord with our notions of the word peasant. wimpfeling writes: "the peasants in our district and in many parts of germany have become, through their riches, stiff-necked and ease-loving. i know peasants who at the weddings of their sons or daughters, or the baptism of their children, make so much display that a house and field might be bought therewith, and a small vineyard to boot. through their riches, they are oftentimes spendthrift in food and in vestments, and they drink wines of price." a chronicler relates of the austrian peasants, under the date of , that "they wore better garments and drank better wine than their lords"; and a sumptuary law passed at the reichstag, held at lindau in , provides that the common peasant man and the labourer in the towns or in the field "shall neither make nor wear cloth that costs more than half a gulden the ell, neither shall they wear gold, pearls, velvet, silk, nor embroidered clothes, nor shall they permit their wives or their children to wear such". respecting the food of the peasant, it is stated that he ate his full in flesh of every kind, in fish, in bread, in fruit, drinking wine often to excess. the swabian, heinrich müller, writes in the year , nearly two generations after the change had begun to take place: "in the memory of my father, who was a peasant man, the peasant did eat much better than now. meat and food in plenty was there every day, and at fairs and other junketings the tables did well-nigh break with what they bore. then drank they wine as it were water, then did a man fill his belly and carry away withal as much as he could; then was wealth and plenty. otherwise is it now. a costly and a bad time hath arisen since many a year, and the food and drink of the best peasant is much worse than of yore that of the day labourer and the serving man." we may well imagine the vivid recollections which a peasant in the year had of the golden days of a few years before. the day labourers and serving men were equally tantalised by the remembrance of high wages and cheap living at the beginning of the century. a day labourer could then earn, with his keep, nine, and without keep, sixteen groschen[ ] a week. what this would buy may be judged from the following prices current in saxony during the second half of the fifteenth century. a pair of good working shoes cost three groschen; a whole sheep, four groschen; a good fat hen, half a groschen; twenty-five cod fish, four groschen; a waggon-load of firewood, together with carriage, five groschen; an ell of the best home-spun cloth, five groschen; a scheffel (about a bushel) of rye, six or seven groschen. the duke of saxony wore grey hats which cost him four groschen. in northern rhineland about the same time a day labourer could, in addition to his keep, earn in a week a quarter of rye, ten pounds of pork, six large cans of milk, and two bundles of firewood, and in the course of five weeks be able to buy six ells of linen, a pair of shoes, and a bag for his tools. in augsburg the daily wages of an ordinary labourer represented the value of six pounds of the best meat, or one pound of meat, seven eggs, a peck of peas, about a quart of wine, in addition to such bread as he required, with enough over for lodging, clothing, and minor expenses. in bavaria he could earn daily eighteen pfennige, or one and a half groschen, whilst a pound of sausage cost one pfennig, and a pound of the best beef two pfennige, and similarly throughout the whole of the states of central europe. a document of the year , from ehrbach in the swabian odenwald, describes for us the treatment of servants by their masters. "all journeymen," it declares, "that are hired, and likewise bondsmen (serfs), also the serving men and maids, shall each day be given twice meat and what thereto longith, with half a small measure of wine, save on fast days, when they shall have fish or other food that nourisheth. whoso in the week hath toiled shall also on sundays and feast days make merry after mass and preaching. they shall have bread and meat enough, and half a great measure of wine. on feast days also roasted meat enough. moreover, they shall be given, to take home with them, a great loaf of bread and so much of flesh as two at one meal may eat." again, in a bill of fare of the household of count joachim von oettingen in bavaria, the journeymen and villeins are accorded in the morning, soup and vegetables; at mid-day, soup and meat, with vegetables, and a bowl of broth or a plate of salted or pickled meat; at night, soup and meat, carrots, and preserved meat. even the women who brought fowls or eggs from the neighbouring villages to the castle were given for their trouble--if from the immediate vicinity, a plate of soup with two pieces of bread; if from a greater distance, a complete meal and a cruise of wine. in saxony, similarly, the agricultural journeymen received two meals a day, of four courses each, besides frequently cheese and bread at other times should they require it. not to have eaten meat for a week was the sign of the direst famine in any district. warnings are not wanting against the evils accruing to the common man from his excessive indulgence in eating and drinking. such was the condition of the proletariat in its first inception, that is, when the mediæval system of villeinage had begun to loosen and to allow a proportion of free labourers to insinuate themselves into its working. how grievous, then, were the complaints when, while wages had risen either not at all or at most from half a groschen to a groschen, the price of rye rose from six or seven groschen a bushel to about five-and-twenty groschen, that of a sheep from four to eighteen groschen, and all other articles of necessary consumption in a like proportion![ ] in the middle ages, necessaries and such ordinary comforts as were to be had at all were dirt cheap; while non-necessaries and luxuries, that is, such articles as had to be imported from afar, were for the most part at prohibitive prices. with the opening up of the world-market during the first half of the sixteenth century, this state of things rapidly changed. most luxuries in a short time fell heavily in price, while necessaries rose in a still greater proportion. this latter change in the economic conditions of the world exercised its most powerful effect, however, on the character of the mediæval town, which had remained substantially unchanged since its first great expansion at the end of the thirteenth and the beginning of the fourteenth centuries. with the extension of commerce and the opening up of communications, there began that evolution of the town whose ultimate outcome was to entirely change the central idea on which the urban organisation was based. the first requisite for a town, according to modern notions, is facility of communication with the rest of the world by means of railways, telegraphs, postal system, and the like. so far has this gone now that in a new country, for instance america, the railway, telegraph lines, etc., are made first, and the towns are then strung upon them, like beads upon a cord. in the mediæval town, on the contrary, communication was quite a secondary matter, and more of a luxury than a necessity. each town was really a self-sufficing entity, both materially and intellectually. the modern idea of a town is that of a mere local aggregate of individuals, each pursuing a trade or calling with a view to the world-market at large. their own locality or town is no more to them economically than any other part of the world-market, and very little more in any other respect. the mediæval idea of a town, on the contrary, was that of an organisation of groups into one organic whole. just as the village community was a somewhat extended family organisation, so was, _mutatis mutandis_, the larger unit, the township or city. each member of the town organisation owed allegiance and distinct duties primarily to his guild, or immediate social group, and through this to the larger social group which constituted the civic society. consequently, every townsman felt a kind of _esprit de corps_ with his fellow-citizens, akin to that, say, which is alleged of the soldiers of the old french "foreign legion," who, being brothers-in-arms, were brothers also in all other relations. but if every citizen owed duty and allegiance to the town in its corporate capacity, the town no less owed protection and assistance, in every department of life, to its individual members. as in ancient rome in its earlier history, and as in all other early urban communities, agriculture necessarily played a considerable part in the life of most mediæval towns. like the villages they possessed each its own mark, with its common fields, pastures, and woods. these were demarcated by various landmarks, crosses, holy images, etc.; and "the bounds" were beaten every year. the wealthier citizens usually possessed gardens and orchards within the town walls, while each inhabitant had his share in the communal holding without. the use of this latter was regulated by the rath or council. in fact, the town life of the middle ages was not by any means so sharply differentiated from rural life as is implied in our modern idea of a town. even in the larger commercial towns, such as frankfurt, nürnberg or augsburg, it was common to keep cows, pigs, and sheep, and, as a matter of course, fowls and geese, in large numbers within the precincts of the town itself. in frankfurt in the pigsties in the town had become such a nuisance that the rath had to forbid them _in the front_ of the houses by a formal decree. in ulm there was a regulation of the bakers' guild to the effect that no single member should keep more than twenty-four pigs, and that cows should be confined to their stalls at night. in nürnberg in again, the rath had to interfere with the intolerable nuisance of pigs and other farmyard stock running about loose in the streets. even in a town like münchen we are informed that agriculture formed one of the staple occupations of the inhabitants, while in almost every city the gardeners' or the winegrowers' guild appears as one of the largest and most influential. it is evident that such conditions of life would be impossible with town-populations even approaching only distantly those of to-day; and, in fact, when we come to inquire into the size and populousness of mediæval cities, as into those of the classical world of antiquity, we are at first sight staggered by the smallness of their proportions. the largest and most populous free imperial cities in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, nürnberg and strassburg, numbered little more than , resident inhabitants within the walls, a population rather less than that of (say) gloucester at the present time. such an important place as frankfurt-am-main is stated at the middle of the fifteenth century to have had less than inhabitants. at the end of the fifteenth century dresden could only boast of about . rothenburg on the tauber is to-day a dead city to all intents and purposes, affording us a magnificent example of what a mediæval town was like, as the bulk of its architecture, including the circuit of its walls, which remain intact, dates approximately from the sixteenth century. at present a single line of railway branching off from the main line with about two trains a day is amply sufficient to convey the few antiquarians and artists who are now its sole visitors, and who have to content themselves with country-inn accommodation. yet this old free city has actually a larger population at the present day than it had at the time of which we are writing, when it was at the height of its prosperity as an important centre of activity. the figures of its population are now between and . at the beginning of the sixteenth century they were between and . a work written and circulated in manuscript during the first decade of the sixteenth century, "a christian exhortation" (_ein christliche mahnung_), after referring to the frightful pestilences recently raging as a punishment from god, observes, in the spirit of true malthusianism, and as a justification of the ways of providence, that "an there were not so many that died there were too much folk in the land, and it were not good that such should be lest there were not food enough for all". great population as constituting importance in a city is comparatively a modern notion. in other ages towns became famous on account of their superior civic organisation, their more advantageous situation, or the greater activity, intellectual, political, or commercial, of their citizens. what this civic organisation of mediæval towns was, demands a few words of explanation, since the conflict between the two main elements in their composition plays an important part in the events which follow. something has already been said on this head in the introduction. we have there pointed out that the rath or town council, that is the supreme governing body of the municipality, was in all cases mainly, and often entirely, composed of the heads of the town aristocracy, the patrician class or "honorability" (_ehrbarkeit_), as they were termed, who on the ground of their antiquity and wealth laid claim to every post of power and privilege. on the other hand were the body of the citizens enrolled in the various guilds, seeking, as their position and wealth improved, to wrest the control of the town's resources from the patricians. it must be remembered that the towns stood in the position of feudal over-lords to the peasants who held land on the city territory, which often extended for many square miles outside the walls. a small town like rothenburg, for instance, which we have described above, had on its lands as many as , peasants. the feudal dues and contributions of these tenants constituted the staple revenue of the town, and the management of them was one of the chief bones of contention. nowhere was the guild system brought to a greater perfection than in the free imperial towns of germany. indeed, it was carried further in them, in one respect, than in any other part of europe, for the guilds of journeymen (_gesellenverbände_), which in other places never attained any strength or importance, were in germany developed to the fullest extent, and of course supported the craft-guilds in their conflict with the patriciate. although there were naturally numerous frictions between the two classes of guilds respecting wages, working days, hours, and the like, it must not be supposed that there was that irreconcilable hostility between them which would exist at the present time between a trades union and a syndicate of employers. each recognised the right to existence of the other. in one case, that of the strike of bakers towards the close of the fifteenth century, at colmar in elsass, the craft-guilds supported the journeymen in their protest against a certain action of the patrician rath which they considered to be a derogation from their dignity. like the masters the journeymen had their own guild-house, and their own solemn functions and social gatherings. there were, indeed, two kinds of journeymen-guilds: one whose chief purpose was a religious one, and the other concerning itself in the first instance with the secular concerns of the body. however, both classes of journeymen-guilds worked into one another's hand. on coming into a strange town a travelling member of such a guild was certain of a friendly reception, of maintenance until he procured work, and of assistance in finding it as soon as possible. interesting details concerning the wages paid to journeymen and their contributions to the guilds are to be found in the original documents relating exclusively to the journeymen-guilds, collected by georg schanz.[ ] from these and other sources it is clear that the position of the artisan in the towns was in proportion much better than even that of the peasant at that time, and therefore immeasurably superior to anything he has enjoyed since. in south germany at this period the average price of beef was about two denarii[ ] a pound, while the daily wages of the masons and carpenters, in addition to their keep and lodging, amounted in the summer to about twenty, and in the winter to about sixteen of these denarii. in saxony the same journeymen-craftsmen earned on the average, besides their maintenance, two groschen four pfennige a day, or about one-third the value of a bushel of corn. in addition to this, in some cases the workman had weekly gratuities under the name of "bathing money"; and in this connection it may be noticed that a holiday for the purpose of bathing once a fortnight, once a week, or even oftener, as the case might be, was stipulated for by the guilds, and generally recognised as a legitimate demand. the common notion of the uniform uncleanliness of the mediæval man requires to be considerably modified when one closely investigates the condition of town life, and finds everywhere facilities for bathing in winter and summer alike. untidiness and uncleanliness, according to our notions, there may have been in the streets and in the dwellings in many cases, owing to inadequate provisions for the disposal of refuse and the like; but we must not therefore extend this idea to the person, and imagine that the mediæval craftsman or even peasant was as unwholesome as, say, the roumanian peasant of to-day. when these wages received by the journeymen artisans are compared with the prices of commodities previously given, it will be seen how relatively easy were their circumstances; and the extent of their well-being may be further judged from the wealth of their guilds, which, although varying in different places, at all times formed a considerable proportion of the wealth of the town. the guild system was based upon the notion that the individual master and workman was working as much in the interest of the guild as for his own advantage. each member of the guild was alike under the obligation to labour, and to labour in accordance with the rules laid down by his guild, and at the same time had the right of equal enjoyment with his fellow-guildsmen of all advantages pertaining to the particular branch of industry covered by the guild. every guildsman had to work himself _in propriâ personâ_; no contractor was tolerated who himself "in ease and sloth doth live on the sweat of others, and puffeth himself up in lustful pride". were a guild-master ill and unable to manage the affairs of his workshop, it was the council of the guild, and not himself or his relatives, who installed a representative for him and generally looked after his affairs. it was the guild again which procured the raw material, and distributed it in relatively equal proportions amongst its members; or where this was not the case, the time and place were indicated at which the guildsman might buy at a fixed maximum price. every master had equal right to the use of the common property and institutions of the guild, which in some industries included the essentials of production, as, for example, in the case of the woollen manufacturers, where wool kitchens, carding rooms, bleaching houses and the like were common to the whole guild. needless to say, the relations between master and apprentices and master and journeymen were rigidly fixed down to the minutest detail. the system was thoroughly patriarchal in its character. in the hey-day of the guilds, every apprentice and most of the journeymen regarded their actual condition as a period of preparation which would end in the glories of mastership. for this dear hope they were ready on occasion to undergo cheerfully the most arduous duties. the education in handicraft, and, we may add, the supervision of the morals of the blossoming members of the guild, was a department which greatly exercised its administration. on the other hand, the guild in its corporate capacity was bound to maintain sick or incapacitated apprentices and journeymen, though after the journeymen had developed into a distinct class, and the consequent rise of the journeymen-guilds, the latter function was probably in most cases taken over by them. the guild laws against adulteration, scamped work, and the like, were sometimes ferocious in their severity. for example, in some towns the baker who misconducted himself in the matter of the composition of his bread was condemned to be shut up in a basket which was fixed at the end of a long pole, and let down so many times to the bottom of a pool of dirty water. in the year two grocers, together with a female assistant, were burnt alive at nürnberg for adulterating saffron and spices, and a similar instance happened at augsburg in . from what we have said it will be seen that guild life, like the life of the town as a whole, was essentially a social life. it was a larger family, into which various blood families were merged. the interest of each was felt to be the interest of all, and the interest of all no less the interest of each. but in many towns, outside the town population properly speaking, outside the patrician families who generally governed the rath, outside the guilds, outside the town organisation altogether, there were other bodies dwelling within the walls and forming _imperia in imperiis_. these were the religious corporations, whose possessions were often extensive, and who, dwelling within their own walls, shut out from the rest of the town, were subject only to their own ordinances. the quasi-religious, quasi-military order of the teutonic knights (_deutscher orden_), founded at the time of the crusades, was the wealthiest and largest of these corporations. in addition to the extensive territories which it held in various parts of the empire, it had establishments in a large number of cities. besides this there were, of course, the orders of the augustinians and carthusians, and a number of less important foundations, who had their cloisters in various towns. at the beginning of the sixteenth century, the pomp, pride, and licentiousness of the teutonic order drew upon it the especial hatred of the townsfolk; and amid the general wreck of religious houses none were more ferociously despoiled than those belonging to this order. there were, moreover, in some towns, the establishments of princely families, which were regarded by the citizens with little less hostility than that accorded to the religious orders. such were the explosive elements of town life when changing conditions were tending to dislocate the whole structure of mediæval existence. the capture of constantinople by the turks in had struck a heavy blow at the commerce of the bavarian cities which had come by way of constantinople and venice. this latter city lost one by one its trading centres in the east, and all oriental traffic by way of the black sea was practically stopped. it was the dutch cities who inherited the wealth and influence of the german towns when vasco da gama's discovery of the cape route to the east began to have its influence on the trade of the world. this diversion of oriental traffic from the old overland route was the starting point of the modern merchant navy, and it must be placed amongst the most potent causes of the break-up of mediæval civilisation. the above change, although immediately felt by the german towns, was not realised by them in its full importance either as to its causes or its consequences for more than a century; but the decline of their prosperity was nevertheless sensible, even now, and contributed directly to the coming upheaval. footnotes: [ ] one silver groschen = - / d. [ ] the authorities for the above data are to be found in janssen, i., vol. i., bk. iii., especially pp. - . [ ] _zur geschichte der deutschen gesellenverbände._ leipz., . [ ] c. / d. the _denarius_ was the south german equivalent of the north german _pfennig_, of which twelve went to the _groschen_. chapter viii. the new jurisprudence. the impatience of the prince, the prelate, the noble, and the wealthy burgher at the restraints which the system of the middle ages placed upon his activity as an individual in the acquisition for his own behoof and the disposal at his own pleasure of wealth, regardless of the consequences to his neighbour, found expression, and a powerful lever, in the introduction from italy of the roman law in place of the old canon and customary law of europe. the latter never regarded the individual as an independent and autonomous entity, but invariably treated him with reference to a group or social body, of which he might be the head or merely a subordinate member; but in any case the filaments of custom and religious duty attached him to a certain humanity outside himself, whether it were a village community, a guild, a township, a province, or the empire. the idea of a right to individual autonomy in his dealings with men never entered into the mediæval man's conception. hence the mere possession of property was not recognised by mediæval law as conferring any absolute rights in its holder to its unregulated use, and the basis of the mediæval notions of property was the association of responsibility and duty with ownership. in other words, the notion of _trust_ was never completely divorced from that of _possession_. the roman law rested on a totally different basis. it represented the legal ethics of a society on most of its sides brutally and crassly individualistic. that that society had come to an end instead of evolving to its natural conclusion--a developed capitalistic individualism such as exists to-day--was due to the weakness of its economic basis, owing to the limitation at that time of man's power over nature, which deprived it of recuperative and defensive power, thereby leaving it a prey not only to internal influences of decay but also to violent destructive forces from without. nevertheless, it left a legacy of a ready-made legal system to serve as an implement for the first occasion when economic conditions should be once more ready for progress to resume the course of individualistic development, abruptly brought to an end by the fall of ancient civilisation as crystallised in the roman empire. the popular courts of the village, of the mark and of the town, which had existed up to the beginning of the sixteenth century with all their ancient functions, were extremely democratic in character. cases were decided on their merits, in accordance with local custom, by a body of jurymen chosen from among the freemen of the district, to whom the presiding functionaries, most of whom were also of popular selection, were little more than assessors. the technicalities of a cut-and-dried system were unknown. the catholic germanic theory of the middle ages proper, as regards the civil power in all its functions, from the highest downward, was that of the mere administrator of justice as such; whereas the roman law regarded the magistrate as the vicegerent of the _princeps_ or _imperator_, in whose person was absolutely vested as its supreme embodiment the whole power of the state. the divinity of the emperors was a recognition of this fact; and the influence of the roman law revived the theory as far as possible under the changed conditions, in the form of the doctrine of the divine right of kings--a doctrine which was totally alien to the catholic feudal conception of the middle ages. this doctrine, moreover, received added force from the oriental conception of the position of the ruler found in the old testament, from which protestantism drew so much of its inspiration. but apart from this aspect of the question, the new juridical conception involved that of a system of rules as the crystallised embodiment of the abstract "state," given through its representatives which could under no circumstances be departed from, and which could only be modified in their operation by legal quibbles that left to them their nominal integrity. the new law could therefore only be administered by a class of men trained specially for the purpose, of which the plastic customary law borne down the stream of history from primitive times, and insensibly adapting itself to new conditions but understood in its broader aspects by all those who might be called to administer it, had little need. the roman law, the study of which was started at bologna in the twelfth century, as might naturally be expected, early attracted the attention of the german emperors as a suitable instrument for use on emergencies. but it made little real headway in germany itself as against the early institutions until the fifteenth century, when the provincial power of the princes of the empire was beginning to overshadow the central authority of the titular chief of the holy roman empire. the former, while strenuously resisting the results of its application from above, found in it a powerful auxiliary in their courts in riveting their power over the estates subject to them. as opposed to the delicately adjusted hierarchical notions of feudalism, which did not recognise any absoluteness of dominion either over persons or things, in short for which neither the head of the state had any inviolate authority as such, nor private property any inviolable rights or sanctity as such, the new jurisprudence made corner-stones of both these conceptions. even the canon law, consisting in a mass of papal decretals dating from the early middle ages, and which, while undoubtedly containing considerable traces of the influence of roman law, was nevertheless largely customary in its character with an infusion of christian ethics, had to yield to the new jurisprudence, and that too in countries where the reformation had been unable to replace the old ecclesiastical dogma and organisation. the principles and practice of the roman law were sedulously inculcated by the tribe of civilian lawyers who by the beginning of the sixteenth century infested every court throughout europe. every potentate, great and small, little as he might like its application by his feudal over-lord to himself, was yet only too ready and willing to invoke its aid for the oppression of his own vassals or peasants. thus the civil law everywhere triumphed. it became the juridical expression of the political, economical, and religious change which marks the close of the middle ages and the beginnings of the modern commercial world. it must not be supposed, however, that no resistance was made to it. everywhere in contemporary literature, side by side with denunciations of the new mercenary troops, the _landsknechte_, we find uncomplimentary allusions to the race of advocates, notaries, and procurators who, as one writer has it, "are increasing like grasshoppers in town and in country year by year". wherever they appeared, we are told, countless litigious disputes sprang up. he who had but the money in hand might readily defraud his poorer neighbour in the name of law and right. "woe is me!" exclaims one author, "in my home there is but one procurator, and yet is the whole country round about brought into confusion by his wiles. what a misery will this horde bring upon us!" everywhere was complaint and in many places resistance. as early as we find the bavarian estates vigorously complaining that all the courts were in the hands of doctors. they demanded that the rights of the land and the ancient custom should not be cast aside; but that the courts as of old should be served by reasonable and honest judges, who should be men of the same feudal livery and of the same country as those whom they tried. again in , when the evil had become still more crying, we find the estates of würtemberg petitioning duke ulrich that the supreme court "shall be composed of honourable, worthy, and understanding men of the nobles and of the towns, who shall not be doctors, to the intent that the ancient usages and customs should abide, and that it should be judged according to them in such wise that the poor man might no longer be brought to confusion". in many covenants of the end of the fifteenth century, express stipulation is made that they should not be interpreted by a doctor or licentiate, and also in some cases that no such doctor or licentiate should be permitted to reside or to exercise his profession within certain districts. great as was the economical influence of the new jurists in the tribunals, their political influence in the various courts of the empire, from the _reichskammergericht_ downwards, was, if anything, greater. says wimpfeling, the first writer on the art of education in the modern world: "according to the loathsome doctrines of the new jurisconsults, the prince shall be everything in the land and the people naught. the people shall only obey, pay tax, and do service. moreover, they shall not alone obey the prince but also those he has placed in authority, who begin to puff themselves up as the proper lords of the land, and to order matters so that the princes themselves do as little as may be reign." from this passage it will be seen that the modern bureaucratic state, in which government is as nearly as possible reduced to mechanism and the personal relation abolished, was ushered in under the auspices of the civil law. how easy it was for the civilian to effect the abolition of feudal institutions may be readily imagined by those cognisant of the principles of roman law. for example, the roman law of course making no mention of the right of the mediæval "estates" to be consulted in the levying of taxes or in other questions, the jurist would explain this right to his too willing master, the prince, as an abuse which had no legal justification, and which, the sooner it were abolished in the interest of good government the better it would be. all feudal rights as against the power of an over-lord were explained away by the civil jurist, either as pernicious abuses, or, at best, as favours granted in the past by the predecessors of the reigning monarch, which it was within his right to truncate or to abrogate at his will. from the preceding survey will be clearly perceived the important rôle which the new jurisprudence played on the continent of europe in the gestation of the new phase which history was entering upon in the sixteenth century. even the short sketch given will be sufficient to show that it was not in one department only that it operated; but that, in addition to its own domain of law proper, its influence was felt in modifying economical, political, and indirectly even ethical and religious conditions. from this time forth feudalism slowly but surely gave place to the newer order, all that remained being certain of its features, which, crystallised into bureaucratic forms, were doubly veneered with a last trace of mediæval ideas and a denser coating of civilian conceptions. this transitional europe, and not mediæval europe, was the europe which lasted on until the eighteenth century, and which practically came to an end with the french revolution. appendices. appendix a. the following is a rescript issued by a commission of the reichstag held at nürnberg in - , anent the commercial syndicates which the sudden development of the world-market had recently called into existence:-- "what the small commission by order of the great commission hath determined concerning the monopolia or pernicious and prohibited commerce is hereafter related." (mss. of pages in the ernestine general archives at weimar, margin e. quoted by egelhaaf. appendix, vol. i.) "in the first place, concerning the origin of the word monopolia. monopolia is a greek word, from the word monos, that is, alone, and polonia, that is, a selling. as if one should say: i alone sell this or that, or my company or i alone sell. therefore, such separate dealing whereby several dealers or traders unite together in such wise that they alone obtain profit from their handicraft or merchandy is called monopolia. this is discoursed of in lege unica (?), cod. de monopoliis. "item, the aforesaid monopolia, uniting, combining, associatings and their sellings have not now for the first time been found not to be borne; but the same were regarded and known as very noxious to the commonweal, destructive and worthy to be punished, as aforetime by the roman emperors and jurisconsults, and more especially by the blessed emperor justinian, so that such trespassers should be made to lose all their goods, and moreover should be adjudged to eternal misery (exile) from their own homes, as standeth written lege unica, cod. de monop. honorius also and theodosius forbade those of noble birth and those of the richer sort from harmful commerce; so that the common folk might the more easily buy of the merchants; and in the reichstag at köln in the matter was much debated by the emperor maximilian, the electors, the princes and the estates, and the aforesaid increase in the price of wares was forbidden under great pains and penalties. the decree of the reichstag sayeth:-- "and since much great fellowship in trade hath arisen within the realm in the last years, and also there be several and sundry persons who venture to bring all kinds of wares and merchants' goods, such as spices, arras, woollen cloth, and such-like into their own hand with power to trade in them, to set or to make their own advantage out of them, as it them pleaseth, and do greatly harm thereby the holy empire and all estates thereof, contrary to the imperial written law and to all honesty: we have ordered and enacted for the furthering of the common profit and according to necessity, and we do desire that earnestly, and we will, that such noxious dealing be henceforth forbidden, and that they abstain [from it], and that henceforth they may [not] carry it on or exercise it. those who shall do this contrary to the aforesaid, their goods and chattels shall be confiscated and fall to the authority of the place. and the same companies and merchants [shall] henceforth not be conducted [on their journeys] by any authority in the empire, nor shall it be lawful for such to do so with whatsoever words, opinion or clauses the convoy hath been given. yet shall it not be forbidden to any man on this account to enter into company with any other save only if he undertake to bring the wares into one hand and to place upon the wares a worth according to his own mind and pleasure; or shall pledge the buyer or seller to sell, to give, or to keep such wares to or for no man but himself, or that he shall not give them save such wise as he hath agreed with him. but when they, to whom it is permitted to pursue such trade, shall seek to make an unbecoming dearness, the authority shall with zeal and earnestness forbid such dearness, and command an honest sale; but where an authority be careless, the fiscal shall exhort the same to perform his duty within the space of one month, failing such hath the fiscal power to enter process against him. "but the authority and the fiscal have neither done their duty, as is not right nor just, forasmuch as in the present times other small robbers and thieves are punished sorely, and these rich companies, even one of them, do in the year compass much more undoing to the commonweal than all other robbers and thieves in that they and their servants give public display of luxuriousness, pomp and prodigal wealth, of which there is no small proof in that bartholomew rhem did win, in so short a time and with so little stock of trade, such notable riches in the hochstetter company--as hath openly appeared in the justifying before the city court at augsburg and at the reichstag but lately held at worms. therefore hath the said rhem been made prisoner in worms, and is even still kept in durance. moreover shall he be sent here to nürnberg that he may bear witness, and that it may be known with what perils the aforesaid forbidden monopolies and trade be practised, also through what good ways and means such may be set aside and prevented. "there are three questions to be discoursed of: ( ) whether the monopolies be hurtful to the holy empire and therefore are to be destroyed; ( ) whether all companies without difference shall be done away, or whether a measure shall be set to them; ( ) by what means this shall be done, and how these things may be remedied. "i. firstly, that the great companies and the heaping up of their stocks are everywhere harmful is the one cause as may be seen from the spice, which is the most considerable merchandise thus dealt and traded with, in the german nation. it is said with credibility that the king of portugal hath not to pay more for one pound's weight of pepper sent from the indies to antwerp than three shillings in gold, twenty of which shillings go to a rhenish gulden. but also if a company in portugal doth send for spices it hath no trouble and excuse. how dear soever the king doth offer or give the wares, it payeth him sometimes yet more, but on condition that he shall not furnish such wares to them who will hereafter buy, save for a still greater price. to this example it may be added that he who hath offered an hundred-weight of pepper from portugal for eighteen ducats hath received for them twenty ducats or even more, with the condition that the royal majesty shall furnish to none other for the space of one or two years the same pepper or wares cheaper than twenty-four ducats, and thereby one hath so outbidden the other that the spice which at the first could be sold but for eighteen ducats is now sold in portugal for thirty-four ducats and up-wards. and it hath become at one time well-nigh as dear as it was ever before. the same hath also happened to other spices with which such merchants are nothing burdened, nor do they have any loss there-withal, but great over-abounding gain, the while they, for their part, will sell as dearly as they may, and none else in the holy empire may have or obtain the same. what loss and disadvantage resulteth to most men, even to the least, is not hard to be comprehended. we may prove this from the nürnberg spice convoys. the saffron of most price, so called from the catalonian place saffra, hath cost some years ago, as namely in the sixteenth year, two and a half gulden, six kreutzers; now in the twenty-second year it costeth five and a half gulden, fifteen kreutzers. the best saffron, which is called zymer by the merchants, hath cost from to two gulden the pound, and even in two gulden, twenty-four to twenty-six kreutzers; now it costeth four gulden; and even so are all saffrons more dear, arragonian, polish, avernian, etcetera. "the merchants, moreover, do not make dear everything at the same time, but now with saffron and cloves, the one year with pepper and ginger, then with nutmeg, etcetera, to the intent that their advantage may not at once be seen of men. it is therefore purposed to make an enquiry of how much spices are brought into germany each year, so that it may be known how much the tax upon these spices would bring in, in so far as the merchants make a small increase to each pound, as happeneth very commonly. it hath been ordered to the merchants to make estimation thereof, but their estimations were diverse; yet are the numbers told for the spices which each year go in from lisabon [lisbon] alone, so that there may be had better knowledge. , hundred-weight of pepper and not less but rather the more; hundred-weight of ginger, about balls of saffron do come from lisabon alone, without that which cometh from venice. for the other spices they do not make known the sum. at antwerp this may be known the more surely, through the due which is there levied. "the companies have paid especial note to such wares as can be the least spared; and if one be not rich enough, it goeth for help to another, and the twain together do bring the wares, whatsoever they be, wholly into their own hand. if a poor, small merchant buy of them these same wares, whose worth hath been cunningly enhanced, and if he desireth to trade with these wares, according to his needs, then these aforesaid great hucksters are from that hour upon his neck, they have the abundance of these same wares, and can give them cheaper and on longer borrowing; thereby is this poor man oppressed, cometh to harm and some to destruction. ofttimes do they buy back their wares through unknown persons, but not to the gain of them that sell; therefore it is that they have their storehouses in well-nigh all places in europe; and here lieth the cause of the magnificence of the heaping up of stock. "the great companies do lessen trading and consuming in the lands. they do all their business in far countries and by letters; where now there is a great company, there aforetime did twenty or more [persons], it may be, nourish themselves, who must all now wander afar, because they cannot hold a storehouse and servants in other places. by these means came it to pass that roads, tolls and convoy dues were multiplied, as innkeepers and all handiworkers of use and pleasure have knowledge; for many sellers bring good sale and cheapness into the wares. "furthermore, the good gold and silver monies are brought out of the land by the companies, who everywhere do buy them up and change them. within a short time rhenish gold will have been changed and melted from far-seeking lust of gain. therefore are there already in divers towns risings of the poor man, which, where it be not prevented, will, it is to be feared, extend further and more. "ii. _now it be asked, are all companies to be therefore destroyed?_ we have now already shown cause why the great companies mighty in money should be scattered and not be borne with. but, therefore, it is not said that all companies and common trading should be wholly cut away; this were indeed against the commonweal and very burdensome, harmful and foolish to the whole german nation; for therefrom would follow ( ) that one should give strength, help and fellowship to frenchmen and foreign nations, that they should undertake and carry out that which with so much pains we have gone forth to destroy. these foreign nations would then suck out the whole german land. ( ) furthermore, if each would trade singly and should lose thereby, that would then be to his undoing, and also to theirs who had entrusted to him their goods. that may not happen where divers persons join together with moderation. ( ) such a forbidding would solely serve the rich to their advantage, who in all cases everywhere do pluck the grain for themselves and do leave the chaff for others. of these rich, some are so placed that they are able even to do that which now great companies do and which is thought to be so sore an oppression. therewith would the matter not be bettered, but only a covering would be set upon it. ( ) trading and industry do bring this with them, that the wares should not be sought in one place alone. one man is not able, and more especially not at the time when there is need thereof. the issue would be that trade in the land would be forbidden and it would serve the gain of foreign nations, and especially at this time [hurt?] the germans; but to hire servants and to send such in his stead to another place needs money, and small stocks will hardly bear the holding of domestics; many there be, indeed, who are not able to provide for themselves, let alone for servants. "iii. what proposals are now to be put forth for the staying of the aforesaid forbidden practice? "( ) companies or single persons shall use no more than twenty thousand, forty thousand, or for the most fifty thousand gulden stock for trade, and shall have no more than three storehouses outside their family dwelling. "( ) they shall be held by their bodily sworn vows to declare to their authority that they have no more money in trade. "( ) their stock may not be enhanced by gain; but rather, at farthest, account must be made every two years and the gain divided, also a notifying to the authority must be made that the reckoning and the distributing hath been fulfilled. "( ) no money may be lent with usury for purpose of trade, for this is ungodly and usurious, also harmful and noxious to the commonweal, without weighing of gain and of loss to take or to give monies or usury. "( ) no sort of ware may be brought into one hand. "( ) dispersed companies may not join themselves together, on pain of losing all their goods. "( ) no merchant may buy at one buying more than hundred-weight of pepper, hundred-weight of ginger, and of no manner of spice which hath the name, more than hundred-weight; also after such buying he may not buy or trade any more of the same ware for the fourth part of a year. "( ) inasmuch as especial nimbleness is used by the great companies, the which have their knowledge in many lands, when the wares spoil or when they come into greater worth, so as they make foreign merchants buy up from others that have such wares and bring the same into their hands before the others do know of such loss. therefrom there followeth a great dearness of the ware. for the other part the punishment may be best set in such wise that should such a harmful sale be disclosed within four weeks from the making thereof, the buyer shall be bound thereunto that he surrender his ware again to the seller for the one half that was paid therefor; the other half part of the price falleth to the authority. "( ) on pain of loss of the goods, as hath been determined in köln, the seller may not make condition that the buyer shall not dare to give away the wares for a lesser price. "( ) in order that foreign nations may not be healed and bettered the while german land is oppressed and despoiled, it is commanded that this ordinance shall bind all foreigners born without who have their storehouse within the empire; so that a foreigner, whether a frenchman or whatsoever he may be, that tradeth in the holy empire and is encompassed by this ordinance, shall and must suffer all penalties even as other merchants born in this country, that do transgress. this shall also bind all principalities, lordships and cities, even though they be free, to the intent that it shall be held equally for all men, and that none shall therein be spared. "( ) through the voyaging of german merchants to portugal there ariseth great evil, in that in lisabon, because of the shipping from portugal to the indies with spices and other matters, there be great storehouses and very bold buying and selling, such as can in no wise else exist in one place, and therefore in that place ariseth the great due and enhancement of every manner of spice and ware which are borne away from thence, the same also with the pennyworths which they use up even in portugal, and may not succeed with till they be once more shipped from the indies to that city. to this end must every ware that cometh from portugal be ventured on the sea by germans and be bound upon the wheel of fortune; and the voyage to portugal is well-nigh more fearsome and dangerous than is that to the indies. in few years on this same sea hath the worth of fifteen hundreds of thousands of gulden been drowned and perished; and yet nevertheless are the merchant folk, who have inherited but little, become so unspeakably rich. therefore shall all shipping to portugal be forbidden; the portuguese shall themselves take in hand the venture and their wares, and those that they may not keep they shall bring to germany; for if one doth not thus pursue them, they must perforce sell at a lesser price. others do affirm, indeed, that if the portuguese do bring their wares to antorff (antwerp), then would the great companies find there also means to buy up the wares; and the king of portugal may be moved to get the ware to danzig or egen merten (aigues mortes) in france, so that the germans must fetch them thence. but others would show, forsooth, that because of his receiving of the metals he cannot spare germany, and without them he can do no trade to the indies; one must therefore but hinder his receiving of the metals, and thus shall one compel him not to trade to france. "( ) there shall be a fixing of the price of some wares, to the end that not merely is it ordered for the common hucksters and merchant folk, but also for them that buy these wares for their own use and pleasure. it is to fear that also the scattered companies do agree together secretly to sell over the price; moreover, hath the king of portugal the spices in his power alone, and since that time can he set the prices as he will, because for no manner of dearness will they rest unsold among the germans. moreover, it hath been related from refel and lubeck that the king of denmark and the fuggers stand in trade, the one with the other, that all merchants' goods that have hitherto come from muscey (moscow) into the german trading cities shall further come to denmark, and into the might of the king thereof and of the fuggers, to the end that they may enhance the same at their pleasure. thus far have men not punished such things with just pains, but have wittingly borne with them. such can alone be made riddance of by a forbidding, that they and the wares may not be sold in germany higher than for a price determined. _the regiment (imperial governing body) shall tax each ware by the hundred-weight to a fixed sum._ as measure shall the customary middle prices serve as they have been wont to be before the wares have come into the power of the king of portugal and of the great, hurtful, forbidden companies. but question may be made: what though the wares should miscarry? then shall the merchant folk recover themselves in them that do succeed. but what if there be lack of those wares? the foreigners can far less spare our money than we their wares; therefore is there in the empire no long enduring, hurtful lack to be feared; _unless it should be that one should esteem the not giving out in vain of money for a lack_. by such ordinance shall the danger of the overweening raising of prices be best hindered. in the matter of the dues the remoteness of the places can be made consideration of, also the diversness of the measures and the weights; thus will the pepper in the storehouse in frankfort be taxed at one kreutzer the pound and even so in nürnberg. the due shall begin one half-year after the determination thereof by the imperial estates. "further, it shall not be that the merchants shall lend money to the poor folk upon pledge of the seed that standeth in the field, or upon the grapes of the vine-stems and other fruits, whereby these poor, needy people have that taken from them that they do hardly earn. "thereupon shall follow penalties for all transgressors as for careless authorities; the leave that each may indite before the fiscal; the determination that all confiscated goods wherewith transgressions have been committed shall fall, the half to the imperial fiscus, the half to the [local] authority. the fiscal shall also proceed against the companies which have enriched themselves openly against right and justice; if this do befal, it shall not alone feed the fiscus but shall also warn others to guard themselves from such evil hurtfulness. the ordinance concerning the sale, etc., shall be put in work two months after it hath been proclaimed. "it be also considered that the safe conduct of the highways is beneficial to the merchants' calling, so that all traders may traffic and travel more safely on the highways of the holy empire than hath befallen for long time past. "it chanceth that certain merchants deceitfully in the seeming of trust and faith do take the goods of other men by making bankruptcy, which is like unto a theft, and he who doth of purpose strive after another man's money and goods shall be punished hardly. "in fine, there be imperial measures and weights needed; for the falsifying of cloths and wares it behoveth a grievous treatment, and the estates are warned to beware of cunning and greedy and suborned procurations, whereby this ordinance may be brought to nought by the companies." (n.b.--hereby is meant according to a notice from another hand: "by a bribing of the authorities so that by their _favor_ and _patrocinium_ the pains of this ordinance may be escaped".) * * * * * i have given the above document at length, as it is curious and instructive, for more than one reason. in the first place, it indicates the imperial german centralisation in several ways attempted during the reigns of maximilian and charles v., on the lines of the recent centralising administrations of england, france and spain. it also shows us germany commanding the bullion of europe to a great extent. this was, of course, in consequence of the wealth of the trading cities, especially of the hanse and bavarian towns. the importance of the spice trade is also strikingly illustrated; and on this point the document may well give rise to various reflections as to the character of late mediæval cookery. last, but not least, we see the hostility of the proud feudal prince or baron and his legal assessor to the _parvenu_ and _nouveau riche_ then for the first time appearing on the scene. _i._ (_im auszug_). . _was der kleine ausschuss auf befehl des grossen ausschusses, der monopolia oder schädlichen verbotenen verkauf halb geratschlagt hat, wird nachher erzählt._ (_handschrift von seiten im ernestinischen gesamt archiv zu weimar. registrande e._) _erstlich von dem ursprung des wortes monopolia. monopolia ist ein kriegerisch wort, welches seinen ursprung hat von dem worte monos, das ist allein, und polonie, das ist verkauf. gleich als spräche jemand: ich allein verkauf das oder jenes, oder; meine gesellschaft oder ich allein verkaufe. darum wird solche sonderliche hantierung, als ob sich etliche hantierer oder kaufleute dermassen vereinigen, dass sie allen den nutzen aus ihrem handwerk oder kaufmannschaft empfangen, monopolia genannt. davon ist gesagt in lege vinca (?) cod. de monopoliis._ _item obengemeldete monopolia, vereinigung, verbindung, gesellschaften und ihr verkauf wird nicht allein allererst jetzt dem gemeinen nutzen unleidlich und unerträglich erfunden, sondern sind dieselben wie vor durch den römischen kaiser und rechtsetzer und sonderlich durch den löblichen kaiser justinio, dem gemeinen nutzen als fast schädlich, verderblich und sträflich geacht und erkannt, dass dieselben Überführer_ [_Übertreter_] _alle ihre güter verloren und dazu ausserhalb ihrer wohnung in ewiges elend (verbannung) verurteilt sein sollen, als geschrieben steht lege vinca cod. de mono. auch honorius und theodosius haben denen vom adel und den reicheren die schädliche kaufmannschaft verboten, damit das gemeine volk leichter bei den kaufleuten kaufen könne, und auf dem reichstag zu köln ist die sache von kaiser maximilian, kurfürsten, fürsten und ständen hoch bewegt und gemeldete verteurung der waren bei grossen peenen und strafen verboten worden. der abschied dieses reichstags sagt:--_ _und nachdem etwa viel grosse gesellschaft in kaufmannschaft in kurzen jahren im reich aufgestanden, auch etliche sondere personen seien, die allerlei waren und kaufmannsgüter wie spezerei, artz, wollene tücher und dergleichen in ihre hand und gewalt zu bringen unterstehn, verkauf damit zu treiben, setzen und machen ihnen zu vorteil gewertet ihres gefallens, fügen damit dem heiligen reiche und allen ständen desselben merklichen schaden zu, wider gemein geschriebenes kaiserliche recht und aller ehrbarkeit: haben wir zu förderung gemeinen nutzens und der notdurft nach georduct und gesetzt, und tun das hiermit ernstlich, und wollen dass solche schädliche handierung hinfüro verboten und abstehn und die hinfüro treiben oder üben. welche herwider solches tun wurden [werden] der [deren] habe und güter soll confisciert und der oberkeit jiglichs orts verfallen sein. und dieselben gesellschaften und kaufleute hinfüro durch keine obrigkeit im reich geleitet werden, sie auch desselben nicht fähig sein, mit was worten, meinung oder clauseln solch geleit gegeben wurden. doch soll hiedurch niemand verboten sein sich mit jemand in gesellschaft zu tun, um waren die ihm gefallen zu kaufen und zu verhandieren, dann allein, dass er die ware nicht unterstehe in eine hand zu bringen und derselben ware einen wert nach seinem willen und gefallen zu setzen, oder dem käufer oder verkäufer andingen, solche ware niemandem denn ihm zu kaufen, zu geben oder zu behalten, oder dass er sie nicht mehr geben will, wie er mit ihm überein gekommen sei (wa wie er mit ihme überkomen hette). wenn aber die, welchen so kaufmannschaft zu treiben erlaubt ist, unziemliche teurung zu machen sich unterstehn, so soll die oberkeit mit fleiss und ernst, solche teuerung abschaffen und redlichen kauf verfügen. wo aber eine oberkeit lässig wäre, soll der fiscal sie mahnen in monatsfrist das ihre zu tun; andernfalls hat er macht gegen sie zu procedieren._ _allein die oberkeit und der fiscal haben das ihre nicht getan, das denn weder gut noch recht ist, dieweil doch je zu zeiten andere kleine räuber und diebe hart (als hertiglich) gestraft werden, und diese reichen gesellschaften eine des jahrs den gemeinen nutzen viel mehr weder [als] alle andere strachräuber und diebe beschädigen, wie dann das ihr und ihrer diener köstlichkeit, pracht und überschwenglicher reichtum öffentliche anzeigung gibt. derselben nicht kleine anzeigung hat man auch daraus, dass bartholome rhem gar in kurzer zeit mit so wenigem hauptgut in der hochsteter gesellschaft als einmerklich gut gewonnen hat, wie dann das in der rechtfertigung am stadtgericht zu augsburg und auf jüngst gehaltenem reichstag zu worms offenbar gemacht ist. man hat den rhem deshalb in worms gefänglich eingebracht, da er denn noch jetzt gefänglich enthalten wird. man soll ihn hieher nach nürnberg erfordern, damit er zeugnis ablegt und man erfährt, mit waserlei gefährlichkeit obengemeldete verbotene monopolien und verkauf geübt werden, auch durch welche guten mitteln wege solchem zuvorzukommen und abzuwenden ist._ _drei fragen sind hierüber zu stellen. ( ) ob die monopolien dem heiligen reiche schädlich und deshalb abzuthun sind. ( ) ob alle gesellschaften ohne unterschied abgethan werden sollen oder ob ihnen ein mass zu setzen sei. ( ) durch was für mittel dieses geschehen und wie diesen sachen geholfen werden kann._ _i. erstlich dass die grossen gesellschaften und haufung ihrer hauptgüter männiglich nachteilig sind, ist die eine ursache und will es an der spezerei, welches der vornehmste stücke eines ist, so in deutscher nation verführt und hantiert werden, ansehen. man sagt glaublich, dass der [dem?] könig von portugal pfund pfeffer aus indien bis nach antwerpen zu liefern, über drei schilling in gold, deren zwanzig ein rheinischer gulden tut, nicht zu stehen komme. so aber eine gesellschaft in portugal nach spezerei schickt, so habe sie keine beschwerde und einrede, wie teuer der könig solche waare beut oder gibt, bezahle ihm sogar zu zeiten noch mehr, nur mit dem geding, dass er solche ware andern, die hernach kaufen wollen, noch teurer gebe. des zu einem exempel mag gesetzt werden: so der von portugal einen centner pfeffer um dukaten etwa geboten hat, haben sie ihm oder noch mehr darum gegeben, doch mit dem geding, dass die königliche würde in einem oder zwei jahren keinem andern desselben pfeffer oder ware näher [billiger] denn um dukaten geben soll, und so einer den andern gesteigert, dass die spezerei, so erstlich um dukaten erlangt werden mochte, itzund [jetzt] in portugal über dukaten kauft wird. und ist also shier noch einsten [einmal] so teuer geworden als es vorher gewesen. dergleichen mit andern spezereien auch geschehen ist, davon solchen kaufleuten nichts gelegen, noch sie einigen verlust, sondern grossen überschwänglichen gewinn haben dieweil sie wiederum, so teuer sie wollen, geben mögen, und sonst niemand im heiligen reiche dieselbe haben oder bekommen mag. was schätzung und nachteil den meisten bis auf den mindesten daraus erfolgt, ist nicht schwer zu gedenken. man kann dies aus den nürnberger spezerei-reisen beweisen. der höchste saffra, so kathelonisch ort saffra genannt wird, hat vor etlichen jahren, als nämlich im , dritthalb gulden sechs kreuzer gegolten; jetzt kostet er, im jahr, fünfhalb gulden kreuzer. der beste saffran, so von den kaufleuten zymer genannt wird, hat pro pfund - gulden und noch gulden - kreuzer gegolten, jetzt gilt er gulden; ebenso sind alle saffrane, arragonischer, polnischer, avernischer aufgestiegen, u. s. w._ _die kaufleute schlagen auch nicht mit allem auf einmal auf, sondern jetzt mit saffran und nägelien, das eine jahr mit pfeffer und ingwer, dann noch mit muskatnuß u. s. w., damit ihr vorteil nicht verstanden werden soll. man will deshalb eine erhebung anstellen, wie viel spezerei jährlich nach deutschland gebracht wird, damit man weiss, so die kaufleute auf ein jedes pfund einen kleinen anschlag machen, was es in solch grosser menge tut, und damit abnehmen kann, was ein zoll auf diese spezerei ertrüge. man hat auch schon von kaufleuten sich angaben machen lassen, welche aber abweichend waren, doch werden die ziffern genannt für die spezereien, welche allein jährlich aus lissabon eingehen, damit man bessere erkundigung einziehen könne. , centner pfeffer und nicht darunter; che darüber; centner ingwer; auf ballen saffran kommen allein von lissabon, ohne das was von venedig kommt. der andern spezereien wissen sie keine summe anzuzeigen. genaueres kann man in antwerpen vermittelst des dort erhobenen zolls erfahren._ _die gesellschaften haben es besonders auf die waren abgesehen, deren man am wenigsten geraten [entbehren] mag; und wenn eine nicht reich genug ist, so nimmt sie eine andere zu hilfe und beide bringen dann die betreffende ware ganz in ihre hand. wenn ein armer kleiner kaufmann von ihnen dieselbe aufgezurgene ware kaufen und dann die ware andernfalls seiner nahrung nach vertreiben will, so sind ihm gedachte grosse hantierungen von stund an auf dem nacken, haben den Überschwall derselben ware, können sie wohlfeiler, auch auf langem burgk [borg] hingeben; damit wird dieser armer bedrängt, kommt zu schaden und etliche zu verderb. manchmal kaufen sie auch ihnen ihre waren durch urkundliche personen, doch nicht ihnen zu gut, wieder ab; das schafft, dass sie schier an allen orten im ganzen europa ihre gelager halten; ursach das ist der pracht des grossen haubtgutz._ _die grossen gesellschaften mindern die hantierung und zehrung in den landen. sie richten alles über land und in briefen aus; wo jetzt eine grosse gesellschaft ist, da nährten sich sonst wohl oder mehr, die alle webern und wandeln mussten, weil sie keine lager und diener an andern orten halten konnten. dadurch wurden die strassen gebaut, zoll und geleit gemehrt, desgleichen wie wirte und alle handwerk des nutzens und geniessen empfinden; denn viel verkäufer bringen gut kauf und wohlfeilheit der waren._ _weiter kommt die gute goldene und silberne münz durch die gesellschaften, welche sie überall aufkaufen und einwechseln, ausser landes. binnen kurzer zeit wird aus weit gesuchtem eigennutz rheinisch gold ausgewechselt, verführt und verschmelzt sein. deshalb sind auch schon in etlichen städten empörungen des gemainen mannes entstanden, was, wo es nicht abgewendet wird, noch weiter und mehr zu besorgen ist._ _man fragt sich ii., sollen deshalb alle gesellschaften abgetan werden? das die grossen geldmächtigen gesellschaften zu vertrennen und nicht zu dulden sind ist die ursach oben angezeigt. deshalb sollen aber nicht alle gesellschaften und versammelte hantierungen gänzlich abgeschnitten sein; wär wider gemeinen nutzen, auch ganzer deutscher nation sehr hoch beschwerlich, nachteilig und verfächtlich; dann daraus würde folgen ( ) dass man franzosen und äussern nationen stärke, hilf und handreichung gäbe, dasjenige für zu nehmen und zu treiben, das man jetzt so hoch beschwerlich abzutun fürhat. diese fremden nationen würden das ganze deutsche land dann aussaugen. ( ) wenn ferner alle allein handeln würden und einem schaden entstünde, so würde ihm das zum verderben gereichen, und auch denen, welche ihm das ihre anvertraut hätten. das kann nicht geschehen, wo mehrere personen mit mass sich vereinigen. ( ) würde ein solches verbot allein den reichen zum vorteil dienen, welche ohnehin allenthalben die körner für sich ziehen und die spreu den andern lassen. von diesen reichen sind einige so gestellt, dass sie eben dasjenige zu tun vermöchten, was jetzt grosse gesellschaften tun und was man für so herb beschwerlich achtet. damit würde der sache nicht geholfen, sondern ihr nur ein deckel aufgesetzt sein. ( ) hantierung und gewerb bringen es mit sich, dass man die ware nicht blos an einem orte suchen muss; dazu ist eine einzige person nicht im stande, und namentlich nicht zu der zeit, wo es etwa notdurft ist. die folge wäre, dass man dem handel das land verbieten, fremden nationen nutzen schaffen, die deutschen aber drucken und bösern würde. diener aber anzunehmen und solche an seiner statt an andere orte zu schicken erfordert geld, und kleine hauptgüter ertragen kaum das halten von knechten; viele können sich selbst nicht, zu geschweigen diener, hinbringen._ _iii. welche vorschläge sind nun zur ablehnung gemeldeter verbotener, böser verkäufe zu machen?_ ( ) _es sollen gesellschaften oder sondere personen nur bis zu , , , oder zum meisten , gulden hauptgut zum handel gebrauchen und nicht mehr als drei lager ausserhalb ihrer häuslichen wohnung haben._ ( ) _sie sollen gehalten sein, bei ihren leiblichen geschworenen eidespflichten ihrer obrigkeit anzusagen, dass sie nicht mehr geld im handel haben._ ( ) _dieses hauptgut darf nicht durch gewinn vermehrt werden; vielmehr muss längstens alle zwei jahre rechnung getan und der gewinn verteilt, auch der oberkeit davon anzeige gemacht werden, dass die rechnung und austeilung erfolgt ist._ ( ) _es darf zu handelszwecken kein geld um zinskauf entlehnt werden, da dies ungottlich und wucherlich, auch gemeinem nutzen nachteilig und schädlich ist, ohne wagnis gewinns und verlusts geld oder zins zu nehmen oder zu geben._ ( ) _keinerlei ware darf in eine hand gebracht werden._ ( ) _zertrennte gesellschaften dürfen sich nicht vereinigen, bei verlierung aller ihrer güter._ ( ) _kein kaufmann darf auf einen kauf mehr über centner pfeffer, centner ingwer und von keinerlei spezerei, wie die namen hat, über centner kaufen, auch nach solchem kauf in einem vierteljahr derselben ware keine mehr führen oder kaufen._ ( ) _nachdem von den grossen gesellschaften eine sondere behendigkeit gebraucht wird, dieweil sie in vielen landen ihr wissen haben, wann die waren verderben oder in aufschlag kommen, so machen sie fremde kaufleute, die andern, so solche waren haben, abkaufen, und bringen dieselben zu ihren händen, ehe die andern solchs schadens gewahr werden. daraus folgt dann ein grosser aufschlag der ware. dagegen setzt man am besten die strafe, dass, so sich ein solcher gefährlicher verkauf in vier wochen den nächsten darnach erfunden, dass dann der abkäufer soll verpflichtet sein, dem verkäufer seine ware um das halbe kaufgeld wieder zuzustellen, weil er es ihm abgekauft hat der andere halbe teil der kaufsumme soll dann der obrigkeit verfallen sein._ ( ) _bei strafe des verlusts der güter, wie in köln bestimmt worden ist, darf der verkäufer die bedingung nicht machen, dass der käufer die ware nicht näher [billiger] geben dürfe._ ( ) _damit nicht fremde nationen geheilt und gebessert, aber das deutsche land bezwungen und verderbt werden, ist bedacht, dass diese ordnung auch alle fremden, die lager im reiche haben, binden soll. so indem ein walch [welscher], franzos oder wer er sei, im heiligen reich hantierte und in dieser ordnung begriffen, soll und muss er alle strafen wandeln und kehren, wie andere inländische überfahrende kaufleute. dass soll alle fürstentümer, herrschaften und städte, ob die gleich indem dafür gefreiet wären, auch beflissen und binden, damit es gegen männiglich gleich gehalten und niemand hierin geschont werde._ ( ) _durch das fahren deutscher kaufleute nach portugal entsteht grosser schaden, weil in lissabon wegen der schiffung von portugal nach indien mit spezerei und anderem die grossen niederlagen und tapfersten käufe und gewerbe sind, die sonst mindert an einigen orten bestehen könnten, und deshalb dort die grossen zoll schatzung von allerlei spezereien und waren, die von dannen weggeführt werden, der gleichen auch von der pfennigwerten [verkaufsartikeln] die sie in portugal selbst verbrauchen und nicht geraten, mögen als die wieder hinein in india und an den ort geschifft werden, aufkommen. dazu muss alle ware, welche von portugal kommt, von deutschen auf der see gewagt und aufs glücksrad gebunden werden, und die fahrt nach portugal ist schier mehr sorglich und gefährlich als die nach indien; in wenig jahren sind auf derselben see über , , gulden wert ertrunken und verdorben, und trotzdem sind die kaufleute, welche wenig ererbt haben, so unaussprechlich reich geworden. deshalb soll alle schiffung nach portugal verboten werden; die portugiesen sollen selbst das wagnis übernehmen und ihre ware, die sie doch nicht behalten können, nach deutschland bringen; wenn man ihnen so nicht nachläuft, werden sie auch billiger verkaufen müssen. andere bemerken nun freilich, dass wenn die portugiesen auch die ware nach antorff [antwerpen] bringen, so würden die grossen gesellschaften auch dort wege finden, die waren aufzukaufen; auch könne der könig von portugal bewogen werden, die ware nach danzig oder egen merten [aigues mortes] in frankreich zu schaffen, so dass die deutschen sie dort holen müssten. allein andere zeigen an, dass er wegen des zugangs der metalle deutschland nicht entbehren und ohne dieselben gegen india nichts schaffen könnte; man dürfe ihm also nur den zugang der metalle versperren, so werde man ihn zwingen können, nicht nach frankreich zu handeln._ ( ) _soll eine satzung etlicher waren vorgenommen werden, damit nicht blos für die gemeinen hantierer und kaufleute gesorgt ist, sondern auch für die, so diese waren zu ihrer niessung und gebrauch kaufen. es ist zu besorgen, dass auch die getrennten gesellschaften sich heimlich über die preise verständigen; auch hat der könig von portugal die spezerei allein in seiner gewalt, und seither kann er preise setzen wie er will, weil sie bei den deutschen wegen keiner verteuerung ungekauft blieben. auch ist von refel [reval] und lübeck angezeigt worden, dass der könig von dänemark und die fucker miteinander in handlung stehen, dass alle kaufmannsgüter, so seither aus der muscey [moskau] in deutsche handelsstädte kommen, fürder nach dänemark und in des königs und der fucker gewalt kommen sollen, damit sie dieselben nach gefallen verteuern können. bisher hat man solche dinge nicht mit rechter peen gestraft, sondern wissiglich geduldet. dem kann nur ein verbot abhelfen, dass die und die waren in deutschland nicht höher als zu einem bestimmten satz verkauft werden dürften. das regiment soll eine jede ware den zentner auf eine hauptsumme taxieren. als massstab sollen die gewöhnlichen mittelpreise gelten, wie sie bestanden haben, ehe die waren in die gewalt des königs von portugal und der grossen schädlichen verbotenen gesellschaften kamen. man wendet freilich ein; wenn die waren missraten? dann werden die kaufleute sich bei den wohlgeratenen erholen. wenn mangel an solchen waren entsteht? die fremden können unser geld gar viel weniger entbehren, als wir ihre waren; deshalb ist im reich kein langwieriger schädlicher mangel zu besorgen; man wollt denn unnütz geld ausgeben für einen mangel achten. durch solche satzung wird die gefahr übermässiger steigerung der preise am besten verhütet werden. bei den taxen kann die entlegenheit der Örter in betracht gezogen werden auch die verschiedenheit der ellen und gewichte; so wird der pfeffer an der hand in frankfurt das pfund auf kreuzer taxiert, ebenso in nürnberg. die taxe soll ein halbes jahr nach beschliessung durch die reichsstände angehen._ _weiter soll nicht sein, dass die kaufleute dem armen volke auf den samen, so noch auf dem feld steht, auf die trauben an den stöcken und andere frucht geld leihen; dadurch diesen armen notdürftigen lenten das genommen wird, was sie härtiglich erarbeiten._ _darauf folgen strafen für alle Überfahrer, für die lässigen obrigkeiten; die erlaubnis, dass jeder fiskal klagen darf; die bestimmung, dass alle konfiszierten güter hälftig dem reichsfiskus, hälftig der obrigkeit zufallen sollen, darunter solche verbrechen geschehen. der fiskal soll auch gegen die gesellschaften, welche sich seither offenbar widerrechlich bereichert haben, vorgehen; geschicht dies, so wird das nicht allein den fiskus speisen, sondern auch andere warnen; sich vor dergleichen böser beschädigung zu hüten. die ordnung, betreffend den verkauf u. s. w. soll zwei monate nach ihrer verkündigung angehen._ _ist auch bewogen, dass befriedung der strassen dem kaufmannsgewerb fürträglich sei, damit alle hantierer auf des heiligen reichs strassen sicherer, dann etliche zeit her geschehen ist, webern und ziehen mögen._ _es kommt vor, dass etliche kaufleute betrüglich im schein trauens und glaubens den leuten das ihre nehmen durch bankrottieren, was einem diebstahl vergleichbar ist, und wer andere fürsätzlich an geld und gut ansetzt soll streng gestraft werden._ _endlich werden reichsmasse und-gewichte gefordert, für fälschung der tücher und waren eine strengliche handhabung verlangt und die stände gewarnt, gegen arglistige und erkaufte prokurei auf der hut zu sein, wodurch diese ordnung von den gesellschaften bekämpft werden kann. (n.b.--gemeint ist, nach einer notiz von andrer hand, bestechung der obrigkeiten, um durch ihren favor und patrocinium den folgen dieser ordnung zu entgehen.)_ appendix b. ten closely printed folio pages of sebastian franck's _chronica_ (published in ) are taken up with a seemingly exhaustive narrative of the incident referred to in the text; albeit franck himself tells us that it only represents a small portion--the "kernel," as he expresses it--of what he had prepared, and indeed actually written, on the subject, the bulk of which, however, the exigencies of space compelled him to suppress. "in the year ," says franck, "the two orders of the 'preachers' (dominicans) and 'barefooted friars' (franciscans) did wax hot against one another concerning the conception of mary. the 'barefooted' did hold that she was pure from all original sin and spotless; the 'preachers,' that she was conceived in original sin even as other children of men. now there was much debate thereon, and at heidelberg was there a disputation.... in the end came it to pass that the 'preachers' (dominicans) did devise to further their matter and opinion with false signs and wonders." a certain dominican preacher, wigandus by name, who had written a book against the immaculate conception, advised resort to trickery. the suggestion was adopted in a full chapter of the order held at wimpfen in . nürnberg and frankfort were thought of as suitable places, but on consideration were rejected on the ground that the townsfolk of these two commercial centres were too sharp-witted. eventually, bern was decided upon. accordingly, four dominicans, the prior, the sub-prior, the chief preacher and another monk, connected with a foundation possessed by the order at that place, were instructed to set about the business. they got hold of a young journeyman tailor, who applied to be received into the order, and whom they admitted with apparent reluctance on payment of fifty-three gulden, besides the gift of some damascene and silk. as soon as they had him well in hand, they began to test his credulity by playing practical jokes on him at night--by throwing things into his cell, making mysterious noises and the like, pretending that it was the work of a spirit. at last the prior came one night enveloped in a white linen sheet, and with horrible noises and gestures seized the trembling novice as he lay in his bed. the latter, of course, screamed and invoked the mother of god. upon this, the ghost adjured him, alleging that he and his colleagues could render him inestimable aid if they would but scourge themselves for eight days in succession, and read eight masses in the chapel of st. john. with this the spectre left him. the youth next day told everything in an agony of fear. the chief preacher of the order, dr. steffan, improved the occasion by an harangue against the franciscans, declaring that no distressed spirit ever held parley with such unmitigated scoundrels as they were, or sought the aid of such notorious evil-livers. finally, he succeeded in stirring up a strong feeling in the town against the rival order. the four conspiring monks having tested the silly youth, and finding him staunch in his belief, exhorted him to be of good courage the following night, the prior having purified his cell with holy water and guarded it with relics. but the spirit came again; and on being interrogated, in accordance with instructions given to the novice, the ghost declared itself the soul of a former prior of the monastery, who had been deposed for loose living, had left the cloister in lay attire, had become involved in a "bad business," and had been stabbed to death in a brawl unshrived. the spirit went on to extol the dominican order at the expense of the franciscans, who would shortly, it predicted, be the ruin of the town of bern. visions of a similar character occurred on the following nights. the preacher, dr. steffan, entrusted the novice with a letter containing leading questions favourable to the order which he was to endeavour to get delivered to the mother of god, and return with the answers affixed. the letter was subsequently found deposited miraculously in the pyx, and sprinkled with blood said to be of christ, and sealed with the same. the letter was the following day laid with great pomp on the high altar. the next night one of the four monks appeared to the novice, dressed as the virgin, with exuberant praises of the order, and with instructions to implore the holy man, pope julius ii., to institute a festival in honour of the "spotted conception" of the virgin, promising at the same time to convey to him a cross with three spots of the blood of her son upon it, as a testimony of the truth of her having been born in original sin. she gave him a cloth soaked in blood from the wound in the side, and other relics. she further pierced the guileless youth's hand with a pin, and made him call out, comforting him with the assurance that the wound would reopen afresh twice a year--on good friday and corpus christi day. thereupon the monk-virgin disappeared. all things had gone successfully up to this time, and the four monks now decided to officially announce the novice as an inspired person. to this end they succeeded--"by magical practices," says franck--in preparing a water which deprived the new brother of his senses, and another water which, while in this state, they rubbed into his hands and feet, producing wounds. with a third water they caused him to wake up--delighted to see the new miracles worked upon him. they then gave him a special room to himself, where the "faithful laity" might see him; but no one was allowed to speak to him, for fear of his compromising the order. meanwhile these things began to be noised abroad and were eagerly discussed, everybody wishing to get a sight of the new god. at length the long-suffering novice, on another visitation, recognised the voice of the prior in the sham virgin, and drawing a knife, stabbed him in the right hip, after which the prior, seizing a dish from the wall, flung it at the novice and decamped. no blandishments or warnings from the sub-prior or other monks would induce the now disillusionised novice to allow himself to be made a fool of any longer. finding this side of the business at an end, they next entreated him with promises not to ruin himself and them, but to throw in his lot with them and consent to hoodwink the people. he, at length, agreed with some reluctance. then they instructed him in the rôle he was to play. he was to represent an image of the virgin in the lady chapel, whilst dr. steffan was to be concealed behind a curtain, and, speaking through a tube, to personify her "divine son". the "son" asked the "mother" why she wept. the "mother" answered that she wept because her commands had not been carried out fully as yet. in the meantime some old women, who had been admitted into the chapel, rushed away spreading the report everywhere that the image of the virgin had wept and spoken. a large concourse assembled in the chapel, amongst them being the four monks, who affected great astonishment. presently the bürgermeister with three other high civic functionaries arrived, and demanded of the prior and monks what was the meaning of the great commotion. the prior replied that the virgin had wept for the approaching ruin of the whole town of bern, because it was receiving a pension from the french king, and because it tolerated in its midst the franciscans with their wicked heresy of the immaculate conception, whereby they imputed to her an honour that did not belong to her and which she repudiated. the elders of the city thought it a remarkable occurrence, and looked grave. the monks now thought to give the novice, the alleged intermediary of so many divine messages, a poisoned sacrament in the presence of the people, so that he might die suddenly, and that they might thus gain two points--be rid of a dangerous witness, and supply their order with a saint, whom christ had taken to himself during the reception of the holy elements. but our novice declined the wafer with the red spots, which was offered him, and which was alleged to be sprinkled with the blood of christ; and insisted on partaking of a less miraculous-looking one. nevertheless, the monks did not give up their project, for the novice overheard the next night a secret conclave of the four as to the best way of getting rid of him, whether they should starve him, drown him, strangle him, run him through the body, or choke him. he now began to feel seriously anxious, more especially as he found his rations diminishing daily. accordingly, one day he crept out of his cell and followed one of the four monks into the refectory, where he saw them eating capons and drinking wines with girls, who, to his intense disgust, he observed wore dresses made of the very damascene and silk he had contributed to the monastery on his initiation. his presence was detected, and dr. steffan tried to pass the girls off as sisters of his own. the monks thought, notwithstanding, that it was high time "to leave their damnable faces and begin". so they gave the novice cabbage stewed in a solution of crushed spiders, but this did him no harm. they then tried it on a cat, which died. the prior next brought him a poisoned soup, which he did not eat but threw away. five young wolves kept in the monastery thereupon ate it and died. then they tried the sacrament trick again, forcing it into his mouth, but he threw it up on to a footstool, which the worthy sebastian assures us immediately began to sweat blood. this alarmed the conspirators, and they changed their tactics, chaining the youth up, fettling him in various parts of the body with hot irons, until he swore a solemn oath not to divulge anything. at last, says sebastian, the matter "became too heavy for the brother," and he resolved to escape at once. he succeeded in doing so by cunning and stealth, and rushing into the town he informed everybody he met of all that had happened. the authorities, however, were unwilling to lay violent hands on a spiritual order. the monks, on their side, lost no time in sending their preacher and the sub-prior to rome, in order to get the pope's attestation of their story. they were supported by the whole influence of the dominican order throughout central europe. the rath of bern then also sent to rome to demand an impartial judge for the matter, and pope julius ii. nominated a commission consisting of three priests and a dominican provincial. the latter, being seen by one of the bishops admonishing dr. steffan how to act, was removed from the court, and died at constance from vexation. the four monks were then placed on the rack, and revealed everything. the poor novice was also given a few turns on the rack, in order to make sure that he had told all he knew. he rehearsed everything, including the story of the girls. it came out in the course of the trial that jews' blood, nineteen hairs from the black eyebrow of a jew child, and other ingredients, which our modest sebastian informs us "it were not seemly to tell of," went to constitute the magical decoction that the monks had used in order to make the novice subservient to them. it was found also that the sub-prior had stolen five hundred gulden from the monastic chest, and that the other monks had taken the precious stones from the image of the virgin and disposed of them, also that the prior had boasted that he could work his will with any woman on whom he laid his hand. the bishops wanted to transfer the matter to rome, but the lay authorities would not hear of this, and insisted on the court being reinforced by eight honourable councillors of the city. in the end the ecclesiastics consented to reconstitute the court in this form. the result was a sentence of degradation and burning alive on all four monks. the execution was carried out in the presence of a large concourse of people in the great market-place of the city of bern, on the st of may, . as intimated in the body of this work, the foregoing affair caused a profound impression over a wide area, affecting as it did the honour and integrity of so powerful an order as that of the "preachers" or dominicans, and it made the city and canton of bern an easy prey to the reforming tendencies which came in vogue a few years later. * * * * * the following is another illustration of the ready credulity of a mediæval populace and the excessive excitability of the public mind in the earlier years of the sixteenth century. i quote, this time literally, from another portion of sebastian franck's _chronica_: "anno , dr. balthasar hubmeyer [at this time hubmeyer was still a catholic] did preach with vehemence against the jews at regensburg, showing how great an evil doth arise to the whole german nation, not alone from their faith, but also from their usury, and how unspeakable a tribute their usury doth bear away withal. then was there a council held that they should pray the emperor to the end that jews might be driven forth. therefore did they [the people] break their synagogue in pieces, also many of their houses, and did build in the place thereof a temple in honour of mary, to which they gave the name of the fair mary. this did some visit privily, and told that from that hour was their prayer fulfilled. so soon, therefore, as the matter became noised abroad, even then was there a running from all parts thither, as though the people were bewitched, of wife, of child, of gentlemen, some spiritual, some worldly, they coming so long a way, it might be having eaten nothing. certain children who knew not the road did come from afar with a piece of bread, and the people came with so manifold an armoury, even such as it chanced that each had, the while he was at his work, the one with a milking-pail, the other with a hay-fork. some there were that had scarce aught on in the greatest cold, wherewithal to cover them in barest need. some there were that did run many miles without speaking, as they might be half-possessed or witless; some did come barefoot with rakes, axes and sickles; these had fled from the fields and forsaken their lords; some caméd in a shirt they had by chance laid hands on as they arose from their bed; some did come at midnight; some there were that ran day and night; and there was in all such a running from all lands that, in the space of but one day, many thousands of men had come in. "one there was that saw miracles from so much and so divers silver, gold, wax, pictures and jewels that were brought thither. there were daily so many masses read that one priest could scarce but meet the other, as he departed from the altar. when one did read the communion [commun], the other even then did kneel before the altar with his confiteor. these things came to pass daily till well-nigh beyond noon, and although many altars were set up both within and without the temple, yet nevertheless could not one priest but encounter the other. "the learned did sing many carmina in praise of fair mary, and many and divers offices were devised of signs, of pipes and of organs. much sick folk did they lead and bear thither, and also, as some do believe, dead men whom they brought home again restored and living. there befel also many great signs and wonders, the which it would not be fitting to tell of, and whereof an especial cheat was rumoured, in that what any brought thither, did he but vow himself with his offering, straightway was he healed, not alone from his sicknesses, but the living did receive also their dead again, the blind saw, the halt ran, did leave their crutches in the temple, and walkéd upright from thence. some ran thither from the war; yea, wives from their husbands, children from the obedience and will of their fathers would thither, saying that they might not remain away, and that they had no rest day nor night. "some as they entered into the temple and beheld the image straightway fell down as though the thunder had smote them. as the mad rabble beheld how such did fall, they bethought them that it were the power of god, and that each must needs fall in this place. thus there came to pass such a falling (such as was a foolishness and unrestrained and of the devil's likeness) that well-nigh each that came to these places did fall, and many from the rabble, who did not fall, believed themselves to be unholy and did enforce themselves straightway to fall, till the council [rath] was moved, as they say, to forbid such, and then did the signs and fallings cease. "it is wondrous to relate with what strange instruments the people caméd thither; as one was seized in the midst of his labour, he took not the time to lay aside that which he held in his hand but bore it with him, and each ran unshrived away, being driven by his own spirit. but whether the great holy spirit did move to such ill-considered tumult against obedience, did drive the mother from the child, the wife from the husband, the servant and the child contrary to the obedience to be rendered to the master and the father, i will leave to others to determine. many do even believe as i do, that it cannot be the work of god inasmuch as it is contrary to his word, work, manner, nature and the interpretation of the scriptures. "now this running toward hath held a goodly season, as it may be six or eight years, but hath now ceased, albeit not wholly." * * * * * i have reproduced as literally as possible from franck's own language, not (as will have been noticed) omitting or toning down the repetitions and incoherences of style. appendix c. the celebrated family of fugger of augsburg migrated to that city about the year from a village near schwabmünchen. what their precise status was in their original home is not very clear; but they would seem to have been above the rank of ordinary peasants, and it is just possible that they may have been _freier_ or freeholders of land without nobility. at all events, they are said to have cultivated flax and hemp somewhat extensively. the two brothers, ulrich and johannes fugger, on arriving in augsburg, devoted themselves to weaving of wool and linen, and became master-weavers, possessing several looms. through marriage they soon acquired the citizenship, and the family continued to rise and flourish during the fifteenth century. some time before , a fugger became grand master of the weavers' guild, and towards the close of that century ulrich fugger was one of the first to take advantage of the rising world-market and of the dislocated feudal conditions of the time. in , he had to settle the financial affairs of maximilian, who wished to lend money to charles the bold. for his services on this occasion he and his brothers were ennobled, and received a "lily" as their armorial device. ulrich was also a patron of albrecht dürer, and it was through him that dürer's pictures were sent into italy. ulrich fugger bought from pope alexander vi. the patronage of a canonry near st. moritz for a thousand ducats. in he and his brother inaugurated the trade syndicates spoken of in the preceding pages by a company for trading in spices. it is referred to in the reichstag rescript given in appendix a. ulrich died in , leaving seven daughters and three sons; his brother had already died in . they had bought up all the houses on the weinmarkt, and converted them into a palace, in which they lived conjointly. jacob fugger, a younger son of ulrich, raised the family to the zenith of its opulence and magnificence. originally brought up for the church, he became a canon; but later, on the wish of his father, he renounced the tonsure and devoted himself to commerce. he first went to reside in venice, in order to get mercantile training in the family warehouse which the fuggers had established in that city. venice was then, and for long afterwards, a kind of training school for the merchants of the south german cities. jacob also made further journeys to the principal commercial towns of europe, the result of his studies and travels being the expansion of his family business to a degree previously unheard of in the annals of mediæval trading. to such a point did he carry his success that soon his wool, silk and spinning business generally, became a mere subordinate matter with him, his chief occupations being mining and banking. jacob fugger was, in fact, the first great european capitalist, the rothschild and vanderbilt of his day. in spain, in the tyrol, in hungary and in carinthia, he bought up lands rich in ore from derelict and impecunious nobles, and succeeded in opening up valuable silver, copper and lead mines. paracelsus mentions having visited the fugger mines at schwatz in the tyrol in connection with his alchemistic studies. the new route to india afforded by the discovery of the cape passage gave fugger the opportunity of showing his ability to seize a timely advantage from changing conditions. in , he joined with the two other large commercial houses, those of welser and hochstetten, in an undertaking for shipping three cargoes of indian wares. this class of goods had hitherto come over land by way of the levant and venice; but now, for the first time, they were shipped direct from the east indies by the new cape route. the previous year, , jacob and his brothers had been ennobled by the emperor maximilian, jacob himself being made imperial councillor. leo x. further constituted him count palatine and _eques aureatus_. in , jacob advanced maximilian as much as , ducats as a subsidy towards the cost of the italian war. subsequently, on the election of charles v. to the imperial dignity, he contributed , ducats to the expenses involved. on one occasion, when he entertained charles v. as a guest in his palace on the weinmarkt in augsburg, he burnt the overdue "acceptances" of the emperor on a large fire of cinnamon, at that time one of the most costly spices. the fuggers acquired in the shape of fallen-in mortgages several feudal territories, comprising numerous villages. in fact, by their financial operations alone, apart from their enormous mercantile transactions, the family amassed an immense fortune. jacob enlarged the great fugger palace already referred to, and added a sumptuous choir to the augsburg church of st. anna. he also founded the "fuggerei," an entire quarter of augsburg still extant, to be used as almshouses for poor citizens. he died in , leaving as his heirs his two nephews raimond and anton. residing together in the fugger palace, they still further added to the renown of their family by their patronage of the new learning and the fine arts. they took a distinguished place as patricians in the rath of their native city, and they were raised by charles v. into the ranks of the higher nobility as hereditary counts of the empire, being also granted lands with hereditary jurisdiction. by their operations in finance, they still further increased the territorial acquisitions of their family. all contemporary writers descant on the pomp and magnificence of the fugger establishment. the family continued to flourish up to the thirty years' war, in which they played a considerable part on the imperial catholic side. the history of the fuggers, of their enrichment by gigantic mercantile operations on the basis of the world-market, of the new developments they gave to the time-old practice of money lending, and of the fresh energy and improved methods employed in their mining enterprises, affords a typical instance of the birth and rapid growth of the new constructive principle of capitalism--a birth and growth taking place _pari passu_ with the destructive processes of the disintegration of feudalism. * * * * * * transcriber's note: the original book contained one unpaired double quotation mark. it was not clear where the missing quotation mark belonged, so no attempt was made to add it. generously made available by the internet archive.) lola montez uniform library edition of the works of guy de maupassant, newly translated into english by marjorie laurie. volume . bel-ami. "bel-ami" is an extraordinarily fine full-length portrait of an unscrupulous rascal who exploits his success with women for the furtherance of his ambitions. the book simmers with humorous observations, and, as a satire on politics and journalism, is no less biting because it is not bitter. volume . a life. this story of a woman's life, harrowed first by the faithlessness of her husband and later by the worthlessness of her son, has been described as one of the saddest books that has ever been written; it is remorseless in its utter truthfulness. volume . "boule de suif" and other short stories. a story of the part played by a little french prostitute in an incident of the war of . it was published in a collection of tales by distinguished french writers of the day, and was so clearly the gem of the collection that it established the author at once as a master. volume . the house of tellier. [illustration: lola montez. countess of landsfeld] lola montez an adventuress of the 'forties by edmund b. d'auvergne illustrated london t. werner laurie, ltd. new bridge street, e.c. _first printed april second edition, december third impression, november fourth impression, february _ _printed in great britain by fox, jones & co., at the kemp hall press, oxford, england_ preface the story of a brave and beautiful woman, whose fame filled europe and america within the memory of our parents, seems to be worth telling. the human note in history is never more thrilling than when it is struck in the key of love. in what were perhaps more virile ages, the great ones of the earth frankly acknowledged the irresistible power of passion and the supreme desirability of beauty. their followers thought none the less of them for being sons of adam. lola montez was the last of that long and illustrious line of women, reaching back beyond cleopatra and aspasia, before whom kings bent in homage, and by whose personality they openly confess themselves to be swayed. since her time man has thrown off the spell of woman's beauty, and seems to dread still more the competition of her intellect. lola montez, some think, came a century too late; "in the eighteenth century," said claudin, "she would have played a great part." the part she played was, at all events, stirring and strange enough. the most spiritually and æsthetically minded sovereign in europe worshipped her as a goddess; geniuses of coarser fibre, such as dumas, sought her society. she associated with the most highly gifted men of her time. equipped only with the education of a pre-victorian schoolgirl, she overthrew the ablest plotters and intriguers in europe, foiled the policy of metternich, and hoisted the standard of freedom in the very stronghold of ultramontane and reactionary germany. driven forth by a revolution, she wandered over the whole world, astonishing society by her masculine courage, her adaptability to all circumstances and surroundings. she who had thwarted old europe's skilled diplomatists, knew how to horsewhip and to cow the bullies of young australia's mining camps. an indifferent actress, her beauty and sheer force of character drew thousands to gaze at her in every land she trod. so she flashed like a meteor from continent to continent, heard of now at st. petersburg, now at new york, now at san francisco, now at sydney. she crammed enough experience into a career of forty-two years to have surfeited a centenarian. she had her moments of supreme exaltation, of exquisite felicity. her vicissitudes were glorious and sordid. she was presented by a king to his whole court as his best friend; she was dragged to a london police-station on a charge of felony. but in prosperity she never lost her head, and in adversity she never lost her courage. a splendid animal, always doing what she wished to do; a natural pagan in her delight in life and love and danger--she cherished all her life an unaccountable fondness for the most conventional puritanical forms of christianity, dying at last in the bosom of the protestant church, with sentiments of self-abasement and contrition that would have done credit to a magdalen or pelagia. in my sympathy with this fascinating woman, it is possible that i have exaggerated the importance of her _rôle_; probable, also, that i have digressed too freely into reflections on her motives and on the forces with which she had to contend. those who prefer a bare recital of the facts of her career, i refer at once to the admirable epitome to be found in the "dictionary of national biography." here i have not hesitated to include all that seemed to me to throw light on the subject of my sketch, on the people around her, and on the influences that shaped her destiny. edmund b. d'auvergne. contents chap. page i. childhood ii. a runaway match iii. first steps in matrimony iv. india seventy years ago v. riven bonds vi. london in the 'forties vii. wanderjahre viii. franz liszt ix. at the banquet of the immortals x. mÉry xi. dujarier xii. the supper at the frÈres provenÇaux xiii. the challenge xiv. the duel xv. the reckoning xvi. in quest of a prince xvii. the king of bavaria xviii. reaction in bavaria xix. the enthralment of the king xx. the abel memorandum xxi. the indiscretions of a monarch xxii. the ministry of good hope xxiii. the uncrowned queen of bavaria xxiv. the downfall xxv. the rising of the peoples xxvi. lola in search of a home xxvii. a second experiment in matrimony xxviii. westward ho! xxix. in the trail of the argonauts xxx. in australia xxxi. lola as a lecturer xxxii. a last visit to england xxxiii. the magdalen xxxiv. last scene of all sources of information illustrations lola montez, countess of landsfeld _frontispiece_ nicholas i. _to face page_ franz liszt " alexandre dumas, senior " louis of bavaria, when electoral prince " louis i, king of bavaria " lola montez (after jules laure) " lola montez an adventuress of the 'forties i childhood the year was, on the whole, a good starting-point in life for people with a taste and capacity for adventure. this was not suspected by those already born. they looked forward, after the tempest that had so lately ravaged europe, to a golden age of slippered ease and general stagnation. the volcanoes, they hoped, were all spent. "we have slumbered seven years, let us forget this ugly dream," complacently observed a german prince on resuming possession of his dominions; and "the old, blind, mad, despised, and dying king's" worthy regent expressed the same confidence when he gave the motto, "a sign of better times," to an order founded in this particular year. yet the child that thus with royal encouragement began life in england at that time learned before he could toddle to tremble at the mysterious name of "boney," and later on would thrill with fear, delight, and horror at his nurse's recital of the atrocities and final glorious undoing of that terrific ogre. presently he would meet in his walks abroad, red-coated, bewhiskered veterans who had met the monster face to face (or said they had); who would recount stories of decapitated kings, dreadful uprisings, and threatened invasions; who had lost a leg or an arm or an eye at waterloo or salamanca; which victories (they assured him) were mainly due to their individual valour and generalship. as the child grew older he would begin to make a coherent story out of these strange happenings: he would realise through what a period of storm and stress the world had passed immediately before his advent. he would listen eagerly at his father's table to more trustworthy relations of the great battles by men whose share in them his country was proud to acknowledge. waterloo, trafalgar, the nile, would be fought over again in the school playground. for the best part of his life he might expect to have as contemporaries, men who had seen napoleon with their own eyes, and shaken nelson by his one hand--men who had seen thrones that seemed as stable as the everlasting hills come crashing down, to be pieced together with a cement of blood and gunpowder. how often the boy, or, as in this particular case, the girl, must have longed for a recurrence of those brave days, and deprecated the peaceful present. but for him (or her) far more amazing things were in store. his it was to see society emerge from its worn-out feudal chrysalis, and to take the path which may yet lead to civilisation. those born in could have the delightful distinction of being carried in the first railway train, of sending the first "wire," of boarding the first "penny 'bus." born in the age of the coach and the hoy, they would die in the era of the locomotive and mail steamer. theirs was an age of transition indeed, most curious to watch, most thrilling to traverse. and--most valuable privilege of all to those that loved to play a part in great affairs--they would be in good time to assist at the widest spread and most terrific upheaval europe had known since the downfall of the roman empire. to have been thirty years of age in that year of years, ! those who witnessed the great drama must have felt that to have come into the world more than three decades before would have been a mistake the most grievous. among the children fortunate enough, then, to be born when the nineteenth century was in its eighteenth year was the heroine of our history. limerick, the city of the broken treaty, was her birthplace, maria dolores eliza rosanna the names bestowed upon her in baptism. only a year before (on rd july ) her father, edward gilbert, had been gazetted an ensign in the old th regiment of the line, now the king's own scottish borderers. he may have been, as his daughter and only child afterwards claimed, the scion of a knightly house, but he could boast a far more honourable distinction--that he rose from the ranks and earned his commission by valour and good conduct in the long napoleonic wars.[ ] promotion it was, perhaps, that emboldened him to marry in the same year. his wife was a girl of surpassing beauty, a miss oliver, of castle oliver, wherever that may be, and a descendant of the count de montalvo, a spanish grandee, who had lost his immense estates in the wars. the ancestors of this unfortunate noble (we are told) were moors, and came into spain in the reign of ferdinand and isabella, which was certainly the worst possible moment they could have chosen for so doing. for this account of mrs. gilbert's ancestry we are indebted to her daughter, whose names certainly suggest a spanish origin. it was by her mournful second name, or rather by its lightsome diminutive, lola, that she was ever afterwards known. perhaps she was so called in remembrance of one of the proud montalvos. at all events, she never ceased to cherish the belief in her half-spanish blood. when she was a romantic young girl--for young girls _were_ romantic seventy years ago--spain obsessed the byronic caste of mind. it was regarded as the home of chivalry, romance, love, poetry, and adventure. to be ever so little spanish was accounted a most enviable distinction. so it would be ungenerous of us to impugn lola's claim to what she and her contemporaries considered an inestimable privilege. true or false, the idea was one she imbibed with her mother's milk--though i forgot to say that, according to her own statement, she was nourished at this early period by an irish nurse. i wish i could say in what religion the new daughter of the regiment was educated. somewhere she says that her mother eloped with her father from a convent. the strong dislike she manifested in after years for the roman catholic church may have been inspired by this circumstance, and suggests, at any rate, in one not keenly sensible of nice theological distinctions, some personal motive arising from a bitter experience. if the baby lola gave promise of the woman, edward gilbert must have been proud of his child--as proud of her as of his pretty wife and his hard-won commission. but those years in troubled ireland must have been anxious ones for him. there is no evidence that he possessed private means, and to support a wife and child on the pay of an ensign in a marching regiment would necessitate economies of the most painful description. in the east, now that europe was at peace, lay the only hope of immediately increased pay and rapid promotion. the establishment of the king's own scottish borderers was reduced, in august , from ten to eight companies, and gilbert was able to obtain, in consequence, a transfer to the th of the line, already under orders for india. his appointment to his new regiment--now the first battalion essex regiment--is dated th october . with his young wife and child he embarked, accordingly, for the land of promise. probably the four-year-old lola endured best of the three the unspeakable fatigue and tedium of that long, long journey round the cape--a voyage which in those days it was no uncommon thing to prolong by a call at rio de janeiro. it was not till four months had been passed at the mercy of wind and wave that our weary travellers set foot in calcutta. the regiment was stationed at fort william, and there the ensign's hopes of speedy advancement early received encouragement. at one time seventeen of his brother officers lay sick with the fever, and before six months had fled, the last post was sounded over the graves of major guthrie, captain o'reilly, and lieutenants twinberrow and sargent. the unspoken question on every one's lips was, whose turn next? in this indian pest-house there must have been moments when the young mother, fearful for her husband and child, longed fiercely for the rain-drenched streets of limerick. at last the regiment was ordered to dinapore. the journey was effected, as was usual in those days, by water, an element to which the gilberts were now well accustomed. but here, instead of the monotonous expanse of ocean, they had slowly unfolded before them the strange and brightly-coloured panorama of the east--gorgeous, teeming cities, the dreadful, burning ghâts, rank jungle, dense forests, rich rice-fields. as the flotilla travelled only or miles a day, the passengers had ample time to stretch their limbs ashore, and to visit the towns and villages passed _en route_. the voyage, too, did not lack incident. on one occasion nine boats were swamped, and eight british redcoats went to swell the horrible procession of corpses which floats ever seaward down the sacred river. another night the colonel's boat took fire, and the flames, spreading to other vessels, consumed the regimental band's music and instruments, which were so sorely needed to revive the drooping spirits of the fever-stricken troops. however, in the excitement of taking up their new quarters at dinapore, these evil omens were, no doubt, forgotten. pretty women were rare in india in those days, and mrs. gilbert received (from the men, at all events) a right royal welcome. she was acclaimed queen of the station, and, as her husband, the ensign, became, of course, a person of consequence. this was better than ireland, after all. dinapore was a fairly lively spot, and regimental society was not overshadowed, as at calcutta, by the magnates of government house. so lola's mother flirted and danced, while lola herself was petted by grey-haired generals and callow subs., and lola's father began to dream of a captaincy. one day, in the early part of , his place at the mess-table was vacant. the doctor looked in, and said "cholera," and a few faces blanched. craigie, the ensign's best friend, hurried to his bedside. the dying man was speechless, but conscious. beckoning to his friend, he placed his weeping wife's hand in his, and, having thus conveyed his last wish, died. lola was left fatherless before she was seven years old. she and her mother, she tells us, were promptly taken charge of by the wife of general brown. "the hearts of a hundred officers, young and old, beat all at once with such violence, that the whole atmosphere for ten miles round fairly throbbed with the emotion. but in this instance the general fever did not last long, for captain craigie led the young widow gilbert to the altar himself. he was a man of high intellectual accomplishments, and soon after this marriage his regiment was ordered back to calcutta, and he was advanced to the rank of major." we are thus able to identify lola's stepfather with john craigie of the bengal army, who was gazetted captain on th may , and major, th may . four years later he attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel.[ ] he seems to have been a generous, warm-hearted man, who never forgot the trust placed in him by his dying friend at dinapore. to him lola was indebted for such education as she received in india. that was not of a very thorough character. with a mother who, we learn, was passionately fond of society and amusement, little miss gilbert must have passed most of her time in the company of ayahs and orderlies, picking up the native tongue with the facility which distinguished her in after life, and domineering tremendously over idolatrous sepoys and dignified khansamahs. i can imagine her on the knees of veterans at her father's table, delighting them with her beauty, and still more with her boldness and childish ready wit. of course, his excellency (lord william bentinck) would take notice of the pretty, pert child of handsome mrs. craigie, and it is not to be wondered at that all her life she should hanker after the atmosphere of a court, remembering the vice-regal glories at calcutta. it seems to have dawned upon mrs. craigie, not very long after her second marriage, that her daughter was, to use a common expression, running wild. a little discipline, it was felt, would do her good. it was decided to send her home to her stepfather's relatives at montrose. with screams, sobs, and wild protests, the eight-year-old girl accordingly found herself torn from the redcoats and brown faces that she loved, once more to undertake that terrible four months' journey to a land which she had probably completely forgotten. the contrast between calcutta, the gorgeous city of palaces, and montrose, the dour, wintry burgh among the sandhills by the northern sea, must have chilled the heart of the passionate child. yet she does not seem in after life to have thought with any bitterness of the place, and speaks with respect, if not affection, of her new guardian, major craigie's father. she writes:-- "this venerable man had been provost of montrose for nearly a quarter of a century, and the dignity of his profession, as well as the great respectability of his family, made every event connected with his household a matter of some public note, and the arrival of the queer, wayward, little east indian girl was immediately known to all montrose. the peculiarity of her dress, and i dare say not a little eccentricity in her manners, served to make her an object of curiosity and remark; and very likely she perceived that she was somewhat of a public character, and may have begun, even at this early age, to assume airs and customs of her own." that is, indeed, very likely. further information concerning our heroine's stay at montrose we have little. she does not seem to have retained any very vivid impressions of her childhood. one of the few events in the meagre history of the little scots town she was privileged to witness--the erection of the suspension bridge from inchbrayock over the esk. here it was, too, that she formed that friendship with the girl, afterwards mrs. buchanan, which was destined to form her greatest consolation in the evening of her days. the craigies were strict calvinists, and some of her biographers have assumed, in consequence, that they must have treated the child with rigour and inspired her with a distaste for religion. she never said so, as far as i can ascertain. on the contrary, throughout her life she evinced a marked bias in favour of protestantism, which is quite as compatible with an erotic temperament as was the zeal for catholicism displayed by the favourite mistress of charles ii. her parents, says lola, being somehow impressed with the idea that she was being petted and spoiled (by the gloomy calvinists aforesaid), she was removed to the family of sir jasper nicolls, of london. it is to be observed that neither now nor after do we hear of her father's relatives, who one would suppose to have been her proper guardians. this circumstance certainly discountenances the theory of edward gilbert's exalted parentage. sir jasper nicolls, k.c.b., major-general, was succeeded by major-general watson in the command of the meerut division in , in which year it may be presumed he returned to england, and took his friend craigie's stepdaughter under his wing. like most indian officers, he preferred to spend his pension out of england, and gladly hurried his girls off to paris to complete their education. they missed the july revolution by a year; but all france was presently ringing with the exploits of the brave duchesse de berry, who became the idol of the _pensionnats_. to lola, no doubt, she seemed a heroine worthier of imitation than the young princess alexandrina victoria, who was just then touring her uncle's dominions. the romantic fever was at its height in paris. to her schoolfellows the beautiful anglo-indian girl, with her spanish name and ancestry, must have appeared a new edition of de musset's "andalouse." the influences about her at this time tended to stimulate all that was romantic and adventurous in her temperament, and determined, perhaps, her action in the first great crisis of her life. ii a runaway match it was now fifteen years since mrs. craigie had visited england, and rather more than ten since she had seen her daughter. she had been made aware that lola's beauty far exceeded the promise of her childish years, and this she took care to make known to all the eligible bachelors of bengal. the charms of the erstwhile pet of the th were eagerly discussed by men who had never seen her. lonely writers in up-country stations brooded on her perfections, as advertised by mrs. craigie, and came to the conclusion that she was precisely the woman wanted to convert their secluded establishments into homes. it was difficult to get a wife of the plainest description in the india of william iv.'s day, and the competition for the hand of the unknown beauty oversea was proportionately keen. if marriage by proxy were recognised by english law lola's fate would have been sealed long before she was aware of it. from a worldly point of view the most desirable of these ardent suitors was sir abraham lumley, whom our heroine unkindly describes as a rich and gouty old rascal of sixty years, and judge of the supreme court in india. we see that in that rude age it was not the custom to speak of sexagenarians as in the prime of life. to the venerable magistrate mrs. craigie promised her daughter in marriage. remembering the hard times she had gone through with her first husband, the penniless ensign, and forgetting, as we do when past thirty, how those hardships were lightened by love, she no doubt felt that she had acted extremely well by her daughter. women's ideas on the subject of marriage are usually absolutely conventional, and since unions between men of sixty and girls of eighteen are not condemned by the official exponents of religion, you would never have persuaded mrs. craigie that they were immoral. outside the decalogue (and the police regulations) all things are lawful. well pleased with herself, the still handsome anglo-indian lady sailed for home in the early part of the year , proposing to bring her daughter back with her to the bosom of abraham. she found lola at bath, whither she had been sent from paris with fanny nicolls "to undergo the operation of what is properly called finishing their education." i do not suppose the meeting between mother and daughter was especially cordial, considering the temperament of the former and the long period of separation, but mrs. craigie was delighted to find that report had nowise exaggerated the young girl's charms. this was also the private opinion of mr. thomas james, a lieutenant in the st regiment of native infantry (bengal), a young officer who had attached himself to mrs. craigie on the voyage and accompanied her to bath. the mother thought him quite safe, as he had told her that he was betrothed, and had consulted her about his prospects, or, rather, the want of them. the married ladies of india have always been full of maternal solicitude for poor young subalterns, who frequently repay their kindness with touching devotion. it was probably the wish to be useful to his benefactress that had drawn mr. james to bath. or it may have been that he wished to drink the waters, for i forgot to say that he had been ill during the voyage, and owed his recovery to mrs. craigie's careful nursing. lola was staggered by the kindness and liberality of her mother. visits to the milliner's and the dressmaker's succeeded each other with startling rapidity; jewellery, _lingerie_, all sorts of delightful things were showered upon her in bewildering profusion. lieutenant james was kept on his legs all day, escorting the ladies to the _modistes_ and running errands to madame jupon and mademoiselle euphrosine. at last the girl began to suspect that there must be some other motive for this excessive interest in her personal appearance than maternal fondness. she made bold one day (she tells us) to ask her mother what this was all about, and received for an answer that it did not concern her--that children should not be inquisitive, nor ask idle questions. (lola is the only girl on record who protested that too much money was being spent on her wardrobe.) her suspicions naturally increased tenfold. in her perplexity she sought information from the lieutenant, of whose interest in her she had probably become conscious. then she learnt the horrible truth. the wardrobe so fast accumulating was her _trousseau_, and she was the promised bride of a man in india old enough to be her grandfather. for a moment lola was stunned. for a full-blooded, passionate girl of eighteen the prospect was hideous. we may be sure, too, that her informant did not understate the personal disadvantages of sir abraham lumley. neither did he neglect this favourable opportunity to declare his own passion for the proposed victim, and to press his suit. an interview with mrs. craigie followed. "the little madcap cried and stormed alternately. the mother was determined--so was her child; the mother was inflexible--so was her child; and in the wildest language of defiance she told her that she never would be thus thrown alive into the jaws of death. "here, then, was one of those fatal family quarrels, where the child is forced to disobey parental authority, or to throw herself away into irredeemable wretchedness and ruin. it is certainly a fearful responsibility for a parent to assume of forcing a child to such alternatives. but the young dolores sought the advice and assistance of her mother's friend...." she was probably a little in love with that friend, who was a fine-looking fellow, about a dozen years older than herself, and who had certainly conceived a violent passion for her. the situation was conventionally romantic. the books of that time were full of distressed damsels being forced into hateful unions. lola, it is safe to say, relished her new _rôle_ of heroine not a little. so when her lover proposed a runaway match, she felt that she was bound to comply with the usual stage directions. after all, what could be more delightful?--an elopement in a post-chaise with a dashing young officer, an angry mamma in pursuit, and, happily, no angry papa, armed with pistols or horse-whip. away they went. lola has left us no particulars of the flight. the runaways reappear, in the first month of queen victoria's reign, in the girl's native land, where she was placed under the protection of her lover's family. "they had a great muss [_sic_] in trying to get married." lola was under age, and her mother's consent was indispensable. james sent his sister to bath to intercede with mrs. craigie. the lady was furious. not only had her daughter upset her most cherished project, but had run off with her most devoted friend and admirer. mrs. craigie was a prey to the most mortifying reflections. no doubt she asked miss james what had become of the young lady to whom her brother had declared he was affianced. she probably said some very unkind things about the lieutenant. at last, however, "good sense so far prevailed as to make her see that nothing but evil and sorrow could come of her refusal, and she consented, but would neither be present at the wedding, nor send her blessing." we are not told if she sent the voluminous _trousseau_, which had been the cause of all the mischief. she returned soon after, i gather, to india, to announce to the unfortunate sir abraham the collapse of his matrimonial scheme. miss james returned to ireland with the necessary authority, and thomas james, lieutenant, and maria dolores eliza rosanna gilbert, spinster, were made man and wife in county meath on the rd july . the bride's reflections on this event are worth quoting:-- "so, in flying from that marriage with ghastly and gouty old age, the child lost her mother, and gained what proved to be only the outside shell of a husband, who had neither a brain which she could respect, nor a heart which it was possible for her to love. runaway matches, like runaway horses, are almost sure to end in a smash up. my advice to all young girls who contemplate taking such a step is, that they had better hang or drown themselves just one hour before they start." this warning was obviously intended to counteract the dreadful example of the writer's subsequent life and adventures, and to dissuade ambitious young ladies from following in her footsteps. lola did not, of course, believe what she said. even "when wild youth's past" and the glamour of love has worn thin, no sensible woman could believe that she would have got much happiness out of life if it had been passed in wedlock with a man half a century her senior. perhaps, however, lola sadly reflected that if she had become sir abraham's wife, she would probably have become his widow a very few years after. iii first steps in matrimony thus lola found herself in ireland, the wife of a penniless subaltern--exactly the position of her mother twenty years before. "all for love and the world well lost," she might have exclaimed. there is no reason to suppose that disillusionment came to her any sooner than to other hot-headed and romantic young ladies similarly placed. she was accustomed to view her early married life in the bitter light of subsequent experience, and forgot all the sweets and raptures of first love. women of her temperament always find it hard to believe that they ever really loved men whom they have since learned to hate. even by her own account, those months in ireland were not altogether unrelieved by the glitter for which her soul craved. her husband took her to dublin, she informs us, and presented her to the lord-lieutenant. his excellency lord normanby was one of the few good rulers england has placed over ireland, and like most clever men, he was an admirer of pretty women. lola seems to have been made much of by him. he paid her many compliments, among others this, "women of your age are the queens of society"--a remark which may be addressed with equally good effect to ladies anywhere between seventeen and seventy. mr. james began to grow restive under the fire of admiration directed by great personages upon his young wife. it is not impossible to believe that she flirted. her husband decided to withdraw her from the seductions of the viceregal court, and retired with her to some spot in the interior, the name of which has not been transmitted to us. lola, in memoirs she contributed years after to a parisian newspaper, describes her life in this retreat as unutterably tedious. the day was passed in hunting and eating, these exercises succeeding each other with the utmost regularity. meanwhile, the system was sustained by innumerable cups of tea, taken at stated intervals, and with much deliberateness. ireland had changed since the emancipation of the catholics. it was not with tea that the heroes of charles lever's time beguiled the tedium of existence. "this dismal life," continues our heroine, "weighed on me to such an extent that i should assuredly have done something desperate if my husband had not just then been ordered to return to india." lola, it will have been seen, entertained little affection for her native land. she had no recollection of her childhood there, and she never afterwards thought of the country except in connection with the detested husband of her youth. in the second year of the queen's reign she left ireland, to return years after in very different circumstances. her fondest memories were of the east, towards which she now gladly turned her face for the second time. "on the old trail, on the out trail," she sailed aboard the east indiaman, _blunt_, her husband at her side. there is a curious parallelism between her mother's life and her own up till now, which she could not have failed to notice. her memories of the voyage strike me rather as having been specially spiced for the consumption of parisian readers, than as an authentic relation. james, we are told, neglected his young wife, and exhibited an amazing capacity for absorbing porter. finding the time heavy on her hands, lola resorted to the commonest of all distractions on passenger ships--flirting. while her consort lay sleeping "like a boa-constrictor" in his bunk, his wife's admirers used to slip notes under the door, these serving her as spills for mr. james's pipe. the gentlemen who fell under the spell of lola's fascinations at this stage of her career were three in number--a spaniard called enriquez, an englishman, simply described as john, and the skipper himself. this "colossal sailor" seems to have been somewhat of a philosopher. one of his profound reflections has been handed down to us, and is worth recording: "love is a pipe we fill at eighteen, and smoke till forty; and we rake the ashes till our exit." lola thus pictures as a man-enslaving circe the girl who was described by a contemporary as a good little thing, merry and unaffected. i doubt if the flirtations here magnified into intrigues were very serious affairs, after all. it is rather pathetic, the woman's shame for the simplicity of the girl, and her evident desire to paint her redder than she was. it is probable that the girl would have been quite as much ashamed if she could have seen herself at thirty. iv india seventy years ago the land to which little mrs. james was eager to return seems to us now to have been a poor exchange for the rollicking ireland of lever's day. india in , as for a score of years after, was under the rule of john company. collectors and writers of the jos. sedley type were still able to shake the pagoda tree, and englishmen in outlying provinces often became suddenly rich, how or why nobody asked, and only the natives cared. indigo planters beat their half-caste wives to death, and english magistrates looked the other way. our people died, like flies in autumn, of cholera, snakebites, and the thousand and one fevers to which india was subject. we were still shut in by powerful native states. ranjit singh ruled in the punjaub, the baluchis in scinde; there was yet a king in oude and a rajah at nagpûr. slavery was only abolished in the british dominions that very year, and hindoo widows had but lately lost the privilege of burning themselves on their husbands' funeral pyres. the chronic famine had assumed slightly more serious proportions. it was a land of loneliness, remote and isolated. a postal service had been introduced only the year before, and letters took at least three months to come from england. this was by the overland route, which was liable at any moment to interruption by the caprice of the pasha of egypt or the enterprise of bedouins. there were, of course, no railways and no telegraphs. you travelled wherever possible by river, in boats called budgerows, which had not increased in speed since ensign gilbert's day. going up the ganges you might have seen the danish flag waving over serampore. if you were in a hurry and could afford it, you travelled _dâk_--that is, in a palanquin, carried by four bearers, who were changed at each stage like posting-horses. this method of travel--about the most uncomfortable, i conceive, ever devised by man--greatly impressed and interested lola. she thought it repugnant to one's sense of humanity, but could not help observing the lightheartedness of the bearers. they jogged briskly along to the accompaniment of improvised songs, which were not always flattering to their human load. "i will give you a sample," says our traveller, "as well as it could be made out, of what i heard them sing while carrying an english clergyman who could not have weighed less than two hundred and twenty-five pounds. each line of the following jargon was sung in a different voice:-- "'oh, what a heavy bag! no, it is an elephant; he is an awful weight. let us throw his palki down, let us set him in the mud-- let us leave him to his fate. ay, but he will beat us then with a thick stick. then let's make haste and get along, jump along quickly!' "and off they started in a jog-trot, which must have shaken every bone in his reverence's body, keeping chorus all the time of 'jump along quickly,' until they were obliged to stop for laughing. "they invariably (continues lola) suit these extempore chants to the weight and character of their burden. i remember to have been exceedingly amused one day at the merry chant of my human horses as they started off on the run. "'she's not heavy, cabbada [take care]! little baba [missie], cabbada! carry her swiftly, cabbada! pretty baba, cabbada!' "and so they went on, singing and extemporising for the whole hour and a half's journey. it is quite a common custom to give them four annas (or english sixpence) apiece at the end of every stage, when fresh horses [_sic_] are put under the burden; but a gentleman of my acquaintance, who had been carried too slowly, as he thought, only gave them two annas apiece. the consequence was that during the next stage the men not only went faster, but they made him laugh with their characteristic song, the whole burden of which was: 'he has only given them two annas, because they went slowly; let us make haste, and get along quickly, and then we shall get eight annas, and have a good supper.'" the burden of the european's life in india at this period is voiced in "marois'" poem, _the long, long, indian day_. it was the empire of _ennui_. a strongly puritanical tone, too, was observable in certain influential circles, and the clergy frequently discountenanced and condemned the poor efforts at relaxation made by officers and their wives. dances and amateur theatricals were often the subject of censure from the pulpit. so the men fell back on brandy pawnee, loo, and tiger-shooting. the women were worse off. to the honourable emily eden we are indebted for some vivid pictures of anglo-indian society during the viceroyalty of her brother, lord auckland ( - ). they enable us to realise lola's emotions and manner of life during her second visit to india. miss eden's compassionate interest was excited by "a number of young ladies just come out by the last ships, looking so fresh and english, and longing to amuse themselves--and it must be such a bore at that age to be shut up for twenty-three hours out of the twenty-four; and the one hour that they are out is only an airing just where the roads are watered. they have no gardens, no villages, no poor people, no schools, no poultry to look after--none of the occupations of young people. very few of them are at ease with their parents; and, in short, it is a melancholy sight to see a new young arrival." another passage runs:-- "it is a melancholy country for wives at the best, and i strongly advise you never to let young girls marry an east indian. there was a pretty mrs. ---- dining here yesterday, quite a child in looks, who married just before the _repulse_ sailed, and landed here about ten days ago. she goes on next week to neemuch, a place at the farthest extremity of india, where there is not another european woman, and great part of the road to it is through jungle, which is only passable occasionally from its unwholesomeness. she detests what she has seen of india, and evidently begins to think 'papa and mamma' were right in withholding for a year their consent to her marriage. i think she wishes they had held out another month. there is another, mrs. ----, who is only _fifteen_, who married when we were at the cape, ... and went straight on to her husband's station, where for five months she had never seen a european. he was out surveying all day, and they lived in a tent. she has utterly lost her health and spirits, and though they have come down here for three weeks' furlough, she has never been able even to call here [at government house]. he came to make her excuse, and said, with a deep sigh: 'poor girl! she must go back to her solitude. she hoped she could have gone out a little in calcutta, to give her something to think of.' and then, if these poor women have children, they must send them away just as they become amusing. it is an abominable place." this was not realised at once by mrs. james, whose first season (she tells us) was passed "in the gay and fashionable city of calcutta." there she became an acknowledged beauty. not long after the outbreak of the first afghan war she was torn away from the comparative brilliance of the capital, and accompanied her husband most reluctantly, to karnál, a town between delhi and simla, on the jumna canal. the place is no longer a military station. at this juncture, happily for us, a flood of light is poured upon lola's character and history by the letters of miss eden, dated from simla and karnál in the latter part of the year . i include some extracts not directly relating to lola, as they describe scenes in which she must have taken part, and which formed the background against which she moved. "_sunday, th september_ [ ]. "simla is much moved just now by the arrival of a mrs. j[ames], who has been talked of as a great beauty of the year, and that drives every other woman, with any pretensions in that line, quite distracted, with the exception of mrs. n., who, i must say, makes no fuss about her own beauty, nor objects to it in other people. mrs. j[ames] is the daughter of a mrs. c[raigie], who is still very handsome herself, and whose husband is deputy-adjutant-general, or some military authority of that kind. she sent this only child to be educated at home, and went home herself two years ago to see her. on the same ship was mr. j., a poor ensign, going home on sick leave. mrs. c. nursed him and took care of him, and took him to see her daughter, who was a girl of fifteen [_sic_] at school. he told her he was engaged to be married, consulted her about his prospects, and in the meantime privately married this girl at school. it was enough to provoke any mother, but as it now cannot be helped, we have all been trying to persuade her for the last year to make it up, as she frets dreadfully about her only child. she has withstood it till now, but at last consented to ask them for a month, and they arrived three days ago. the _rush on the road_ was remarkable, and one or two of the ladies were looking absolutely nervous. but nothing could be more unsatisfactory than the result, for mrs. james looked lovely, and mrs. craigie had set up for her a very grand jonpaun [kind of sedan-chair], with bearers in fine orange and brown liveries, and the same for herself; and james is a sort of smart-looking man, with bright waistcoats and bright teeth, with a showy horse, and he rode along in an attitude of respectful attention to _ma belle mère_. altogether it was an imposing sight, and i cannot see any way out of it but magnanimous admiration. they all called yesterday when i was at the waterfalls, and f[anny] thought her very pretty." "_tuesday, th september._ "we had a dinner yesterday. mrs. james is undoubtedly very pretty, and such a merry, unaffected girl. she is only seventeen now [twenty-one, in fact], and does not look so old, and when one thinks that she is married to a junior lieutenant in the indian army fifteen years older than herself, and that they have rupees a month, and are to pass their whole lives in india, i do not wonder at mrs. craigie's resentment at her having run away from school. "there are seventeen more officers come up to simla on leave for a month, partly in the hope of a little gaiety at the end of the rains; and then the fancy fair has had a great reputation since last year, and as they will all spend money, they are particularly welcome.... "_wednesday, th september._ "we had a large party last night, the largest we have had in simla, and it would have been a pretty ball anywhere, there were so many pretty people. the retired wives, now that their husbands are on the march back from cabul, ventured out, and got through one evening without any prejudice to their characters." are regimental ladies in india nowadays expected to keep in seclusion while their husbands are on active service? i think not. "_monday, th september._ "we are going to a ball to-night, which the married gentlemen give us; and instead of being at the only public room, which is a broken, tumble-down place, it is to be at the c.'s [the craigies'?], who very good-naturedly give up their house for it." "_wednesday, th september._ "the ball went off with the greatest success: transparencies of the taking of ghaznee, 'auckland' in all directions, arches and verandahs made up of flowers; a whist table for his lordship, which is always a great relief at these balls; and every individual at simla was there. there was a supper room for us, made up of velvet and gold hangings belonging to the durbar, and a standing supper all night for the company in general, at which one very fat lady was detected in eating five suppers.... it was kept up till five, and altogether succeeded." "_friday, th september._ "we had our fancy fair on wednesday, which went off with great _éclat_, and was really a very amusing day, and, moreover, produced , rupees, which, for a very small society, is an immense sum. x. and l. and a captain c. were disguised as gipsies, and the most villainous-looking set possible; and they came on to the fair, and sang an excellent song about our poor old colonel and a little hill fort that he has been taking; but after the siege was over, he found no enemy in it, otherwise, it was a gallant action. "we had provided luncheon at a large booth with the sign of the 'marquess of granby.' l. e. was old weller, and so disguised i could not guess him; x. was sam weller; k., jingle; and captain c., mrs. weller; captain z., merely a waiter, with one or two other gentlemen; but they all acted very well up to their characters, and the luncheon was very good fun.... the afternoon ended with races--a regular racing-stand, and a very tolerable course for the hills; all the gentlemen in satin jackets and jockey caps, and a weighing stand--in short, everything got up regularly. everybody likes these out-of-door amusements at this time of year, and it is a marvel to me how well x. and k. and l. e. contrive to make all their plots and disguises go on. i suppose in a very small society it is easier than it would be in england, and they have all the assistance of servants to any amount, who do all they are told, and merely think the 'sahib log' are mad." "_tuesday, th october._ "the sikhs are here. our ball for them last night went off very well. the chiefs were in splendid gold dresses, and certainly very gentleman-like men. they sat bolt upright on their chairs, with their feet dangling, and i dare say suffered agonies from cramp. c. said we saw them amazingly divided between the necessity of listening to george [lord auckland], and their native feelings of not _seeming_ surprised, and their curiosity at men and women dancing together. i think that they learned at least two figures of the quadrilles by heart, for i saw gholâb singh, the commander of the goorcherras, who has been with europeans before, expounding the dancing to the others." lola's month at simla had now expired, but she probably postponed her departure to witness the reception of these chiefs. having been reconciled with her mother--partly, it seems, through the kindly intervention of the governor-general's sister, and partly, as she afterwards declared, through her stepfather--she returned with her husband to his cantonment. here she was fortunate again to attract the attention of the viceregal party. miss eden writes from karnál, under date th november :-- "we had the same display of troops on arriving, except that a bright yellow general n. has taken his liver complaint home, and a pale primrose general d., who has been renovating some years at bath, has come out to take his place. we were at home in the evening, and it was an immense party, but except that pretty mrs. james who was at simla, and who looked like a star among the others, the women were all plain. "i don't wonder if a tolerable-looking girl comes up the country that she is persecuted with proposals.... that mrs. ---- we always called the little corpse is still at karnál. she came and sat herself down by me, upon which mr. k., with great presence of mind, offered me his arm, and said to george that he was taking me away from that corpse. 'you are quite right,' said george. 'it would be very dangerous sitting on the same sofa; we don't know what she died of.'" "_sunday, th november._ "we left karnál yesterday morning. little mrs. james was so unhappy at our going that we asked her to come and pass the day here, and brought her with us. she went from tent to tent, and chattered all day, and visited her friend mrs. ----, who is with the camp. i gave her a pink silk gown, and it was altogether a very happy day for her evidently. it ended in her going back to karnál on my elephant, with e. n. by her side and mr. james sitting behind, and she had never been on an elephant before, and thought it delightful. she is very pretty, and a good little thing, apparently, but they are very poor, and she is very young and lively, and if she falls into bad hands she would soon laugh herself into foolish scrapes. at present the husband and wife are very fond of each other, but a girl who marries at fifteen hardly knows what she likes." v riven bonds miss eden's misgivings were warranted by the events. "husband and wife are very fond of each other"--that was, doubtless, true, but lola's lips would have curled had she read the passage in after years. abandoned by the departure of the viceregal party once more to the slender social resources of karnál, the young wife, i conjecture, fretted and moped. the glitter of the court made the boredom of the cantonment all the more oppressive. the year after the simla festivities karnál had another distinguished visitor, the famous dost mohammed khan, amir of kabul, but as during his six months' stay he was kept a close prisoner in the fort, his presence could not have sensibly relieved the monotony. lieutenant james's subsequent readiness to divorce his wife proves that he had no very strong attachment to her, and gives some colour to her allegations against him. of course, it is safe to conclude that both were in the wrong, or, more truthfully, had made a mistake. so long, however, as people regard marriage more as a contract than a relation, each party will be anxious to throw the responsibility for the rupture upon the other. as the husband had the opportunity of stating his case in the law courts, it is only fair that the wife should be allowed to plead hers here. her version of the circumstances which brought about the breach is as follows:-- "she was taken to visit a mrs. lomer--a pretty woman, who was about thirty-three years of age, and was a great admirer of captain [_sic_] james. [his bright waistcoats and bright teeth were not without their effect, we see.] her husband was a blind fool enough; and though captain james's little wife, lola, was not quite a fool, it is likely enough that she did not care enough about him to keep a look-out upon what was going on between himself and mrs. lomer. so she used to be peacefully sleeping every morning when the captain [read lieutenant] and mrs. lomer were off for a sociable ride on horseback. in this way things went on for a long time, when one morning captain james and mrs. lomer did not get back to breakfast, and so the little mrs. james and mr. lomer breakfasted alone, wondering what had become of the morning riders. "but all doubts were soon cleared up by the fact fully coming to light that they had really eloped to neilghery hills. poor lomer stormed, and raved, and tore himself to pieces, not having the courage to attack any one else. and little lola wondered, cried a little, and laughed a good deal, especially at lomer's rage." the injured husband, apparently, was never pieced together again, as we do not hear that he ever instituted any proceedings against the seducer of his wife. it is true that by lola's account they may be considered to have put themselves beyond his reach, for the neilghery hills lie, as the crow flies, about , miles from karnál, and a stern chase in a palanquin over that distance is an undertaking from which even menelaus would have shrank. nor did the peccant lieutenant james think it worth while to resign his commission. whatever may have been the immediate cause, it is clear that husband and wife were on bad terms when the cantonment at karnál was broken up in the year . lola took refuge under her mother's roof at calcutta. she admits that her reception was cold, and that mrs. craigie pressed her to return to europe. on this course she finally decided, probably without great reluctance. it was given out, and not perhaps altogether untruly, that she was leaving india for the benefit of her health. her husband came down to calcutta, and himself saw her aboard the good ship, _larkins_. her stepfather, to whose relations in scotland she was again to be confided, was much affected at her departure. "large tears rolled down his cheeks when he took her on board the vessel; and he testified his affection and his care by placing in the hands of the little grass-widow a cheque for a thousand pounds on a house in london." thus for the second and last time lola saw the swampy shores of bengal receding from her across the waves. she was never again to see india or those who bid her adieu. the merry, unaffected schoolgirl of simla had become in one short year a disappointed, disillusioned woman. while husband and wife exchanged cold farewells, probably neither expected nor wished to see the other again. both had made a mistake, and both knew it. now they were placing half a world between them. lola's heart must have lightened, as the good ship sped before the wind southwards across the indian ocean. accustomed to shipboard, the _désagréments_ of the voyage were nothing to her, and she immediately began to take an interest in her companions. she speaks of a mr. and mrs. sturges, boston people, who were nominally in charge of her; and of a mrs. stevens, another american lady, a very gay woman, who had some influence in supporting her determination not to go to the craigies' on reaching england. there was a mr. lennox on board, sometimes described as an aide-de-camp to some governor, who also may have had something to do with this resolution. it all came about as lord auckland's sister had feared. lola had fallen into evil hands, and laughed herself into a bad scrape. she had been accustomed to admiration; she was young, beautiful, and passionate. her heart was empty; she was angered against her husband. she was by no means unwilling to face the possibility of a final separation from him. lennox remains for us the shadowiest of personalities, but his disappearance, implying abandonment of the woman he had compromised, tells against him. in this instance i think we may safely conclude that the man was to blame. out of affection for him, then, or a determination to lead her own life, uncontrolled and unshackled, mrs. james, on arriving in london, flatly refused to accompany mr. david craigie, "a blue scotch calvinist," whom she found awaiting her. "at first he used arguments and persuasion, and finding that these failed, he tried force; and then, of course, there was an explosion, which soon settled the matter, and convinced mr. david craigie that he might go back to the little dull town of perth as soon as he pleased, without the little grass-widow. now she was left in london, sole mistress of her own fate. she had, besides the cheque given her by her stepfather, between five and six thousand dollars' worth of various kinds of jewellery, making her capital, all counted, about ten thousand dollars--a very considerable portion of which disappeared in less than one year by a sort of insensible perspiration, which is a disease very common to the purses of ladies who have never been taught the value of money." it was in the early spring of that lola set foot in london. considering the rapidity for those times with which her husband became informed of her next movements, these must have been amazingly open; and it is hard to resist the conclusion that she was deliberately trying to bring about a divorce. she knew that the english law grants no relief to those who come to it both with clean hands. she knew also that so long as her husband neither starved nor beat her, she could not set the law in motion against him. english law, supposed to vindicate the sanctity of marriage, sets a premium on adultery and cruelty: these are the only avenues of escape from unhappy unions into which high-minded men and women may have been betrayed by youthful folly, by over-persuasion, by sentiments they innocently over-estimated. if lola gilbert at the age of eighteen had signed a bill for ten pounds, the courts would have annulled the transaction, on the ground that her youth rendered her incapable of appreciating its gravity. as it was, she had signed away her life--a less important thing than property--and our rhadamanthine law sternly held her to her bargain. james was not slow to avail himself of the pretext she afforded him. he instituted through his proctors a suit against her for divorce in the consistory court of london, to which jurisdiction in all matrimonial causes at that time belonged. lola, as he probably expected she would do, ignored the proceedings from first to last. the case was heard before dr. lushington on th december . mrs. james was accused of misconduct with mr. lennox on board the ship _larkins_, and of subsequently cohabiting with him at the imperial hotel, covent garden, and in lodgings in st. james's. the court was satisfied with the proofs adduced, and pronounced a divorce _a mensâ et toro_. in modern legal language this was a judicial separation. these two people, though they were to live apart, were sentenced never to marry again during the lifetime of each other. it is by such dispositions that the law of england proposes to promote morality and the interests of society. both lover and husband disappear from the scene. james rose to the rank of captain, retired from the indian army in , and died in . he never crossed lola's path again, and she ever afterwards referred to him with contempt and bitterness. if it was in any vindictive spirit that he divorced her, he would have done well to remember how in former years he had taken advantage of her youth and inexperience. it was a squalid ending to the romantic runaway match. it would be interesting to know with what emotions captain james heard of his ex-wife's adventures in high places in the years that followed. it must have seemed odd that monarchs should risk their crowns for the charms that he so lightly prized. perhaps his wonder was not untinged with regret. more likely it might have been written of him as of lola:-- "who have loved and ceased to love, forget that ever they lived in their lives, they say-- only remember the fever and fret, and the pain of love that was all his pay." mrs. craigie put on mourning as though her child was dead, and sent out to her friends the customary notifications. the good old deputy-adjutant-general alone thought kindly of lola. vi london in the 'forties to a woman in lola's situation, london in the early 'forties offered every inducement to go to the devil. between a roaring maelstrom of the coarsest libertinism, on the one hand, and an impregnable barrier of heartless puritanism on the other, her destruction was well-nigh inevitable. the hotchpotch of unorganised humanity that we call society seldom presented an uglier appearance than it did in the first decade of victoria's reign. sir mulberry hawk and pecksniff are types of the two contending forces. blackguardism was matched against snivelling cant. luckily, the victory fell to neither. those were the days of crockfords, of vauxhall, of the spunging-house, of public executions turned into popular festivals; when gentlemen of fashion painted policemen pea-green, and beat them till they were senseless; when peers got drunk and the people starved. opposed to this debauchery was a religion of convention and propriety, narrow, stupid, and un-christlike--the cult of the correct and the respectable, the fetishes to which lady flora hastings and many another woman were coldly sacrificed. in spite of sir mulberry and mr. pecksniff, however, lola, ex-mrs. james, had no intention of going under. her exclusion from society, after her wearisome experiences in india, she probably regarded as no great hardship. her youth, her sprightliness, and her beauty made her many friends. some of these as quickly became enemies, when they discovered that a divorced woman is not necessarily for sale. more than one _roué_ vowed vengeance against the girl who, with bursts of laughter and dangerous gusts of anger, rejected the offer of his protection. it was, perhaps, in this way she offended the elegant lord ranelagh, who was then swaggering about in the spanish cloak he had worn in the carlist wars. lola was strong enough to swim in the maelstrom. independence and adversity brought out the latent force in the character of the "good little thing" of simla. instead of looking out for a refuge, she sought a career. she turned, of course, towards the stage, the one profession in early victorian times that offered any promise to an ambitious woman. she took more pains to acquire a knowledge of her art than are deemed necessary by most beautiful aspirants nowadays. she studied under miss fanny kelly, a gifted actress, who had distinguished herself by her efforts to improve the social status of her profession, and who had opened a dramatic school for women adjacent to what is now the royalty theatre. lola describes miss kelly as a lady as worthy in the acts of her private life as she was gifted in genius. this opinion was shared by all the contemporaries of the venerable actress. in after years mr. gladstone thought fit to recognise her services to the theatre by a royal grant of one hundred and fifty pounds, but the money arrived in time only to be expended on a memorial over her grave in the dismal cemetery at brompton. since lola was a friend of miss kelly, she must have been very far from being the depraved character she is represented by some. with all the goodwill in the world, the experienced mistress could not make an actress of her beautiful pupil, who accordingly determined to approach the stage through a back-door. if talent of the intellectual order was denied her, she could fall back on her physical advantages. she determined to become a dancer. she was instructed for four months by a spanish professor, and then (so she assures us) underwent a further training at madrid. it was now that she assumed the name of lola montez--so soon to be known throughout europe. she passed herself off as a spaniard, partly, no doubt, for professional reasons, and partly to conceal her identity with the wife of captain james. society can hardly expect its quarry to step out into the open to be shot at. her beauty and her dancing so impressed benjamin lumley, the experienced director of her majesty's theatre, that it was on his stage that she actually made her first appearance. the morning papers of saturday, rd june , announced accordingly that between the acts of the opera (_il barbiere di seviglia_), donna [_sic_] lola montez, of the teatro real, seville, would make her first appearance in this country, in the original spanish dance, "el olano." attracted by this advertisement, a critic, who afterwards wrote under the pseudonym of "q.," called at the theatre, and was presented to the _débutante_. in her he recognised a lady living opposite his lodgings in grafton street, mayfair, who had long been the object of his silent adoration. he dwells on her extreme vivacity, on her brilliancy of conversation, and on her foreign accent, which struck him as assumed. she was persuaded to give a rehearsal for his special benefit. "at that period," he goes on to say, "her figure was even more attractive than her face, lovely as the latter was. lithe and graceful as a young fawn, every movement that she made seemed instinct with melody as she prepared to commence the dance. her dark eyes were blazing and flashing with excitement, for she felt that i was willing to admire her. in her _pose_, grace seemed involuntarily to preside over her limbs and dispose their attitude. her foot and ankle were almost faultless. nadaud, the violinist, drew the bow across his instrument, and she began to dance. no one who has seen her will quarrel with me for saying that she was not, and is not, a finished _danseuse_, but all who have will as certainly agree with me that she possesses every element which could be required, with careful study in her youth, to make her eminent in her then vocation. as she swept round the stage, her slender waist swayed to the music, and her graceful neck and head bent with it, like a flower that bends with the impulse given to its stem by the changing and fitful temper of the wind."[ ] on that eventful june evening, then, manager, critics, not least of all lola herself, confidently looked forward to a striking success. the house was crowded, and many notabilities were present. there were the king of hanover, the queen-dowager, the duchess of kent, and the duke and duchess of cambridge. there was also lola's old enemy, my lord ranelagh, who with a party of friends occupied one of the two omnibus-boxes--an admirable point from which to examine the ankles and calves of the long-skirted ballet-girls. when the curtain rose in the _entr'acte_, a moorish chamber was revealed. on either side stood a damsel, gazing expectantly towards the draped entrance at the back of the stage. a moment later and there glided through this a figure enveloped in a mantilla. one of the handmaids snatched away this drapery, and the commanding form of donna lola montez was revealed in all its glory. "and a lovely picture it is to contemplate! there is before you the perfection of spanish beauty--the tall, handsome person, the full, lustrous eye, the joyous, animated face, and the intensely raven hair. she is dressed, too, in the brightest of colours: the petticoat is dappled with flaunting tints of red, yellow, and violet, and its showy diversities of hue are enforced by the black velvet bodice above, which confines the bust with an unscrupulous pinch. presently this andalusian _papagena_ lifts her arms, and the sharp, merry crack of the castanets is heard. she has commenced one of the merry dances of her nation, and many a piquant grace does she unfold."[ ] the audience are bewitched, enraptured. the stage is strewn with bouquets. suddenly from the right omnibus-box comes the surprised exclamation: "why, it's betty james!" lord ranelagh has recognised the woman who rebuffed him, and hurriedly whispers to his friends. above the applause from stalls and gallery, there is heard on the stage, at least, a prolonged and ominous hiss. my lord's friends in the opposite box act upon the hint, and the hissing grows louder and more insistent. the body of the audience, knowing nothing about the matter, conclude that the dancer cannot know her business, and presently begin to hiss, too. in ten minutes more the curtain comes down upon her, and lola's career as a dancer is terminated in england. lord ranelagh had had his revenge. this species of blackguardism was only too common in those days. the notorious duke of brunswick that same year had gone with his attorney, mr. vallance, and a party of friends, to covent garden theatre, for the express purpose of hooting down an actor, gregory, who took the part of faust. he succeeded in his design, and bragged about it afterwards. in early victorian times the theatre was completely under the thumb of certain aristocratic sets. the exasperated lumley was powerless to resist the fiat of these gilded snobs. lola montez, they insisted, must never appear on his stage again. he obeyed. the press was very far from imitating his subserviency. the _era_ and _morning herald_ praised the new _danseuse_ in what seem to us extravagant terms, and deliberately ignored the inglorious _dénouement_ of her performance. indeed, but for the pen of "q." we might be left to share the surprise expressed at her disappearance by the _illustrated london news_, which, ironically perhaps, suggested that the votaries of what might be called the classical dance had set their faces against the national. lola herself was under no misapprehension as to the cause and authors of her defeat. she wrote to the _era_ on th june, protesting passionately against a report that was being circulated to the effect that she had long been known in london as a disreputable character. she positively asserted that she was a native of seville, and had never before been in london. she complains of the cruel calumnies that had got abroad concerning her, and says that she has instructed her lawyer to prosecute their utterers. of course, the greater part of this statement was untrue, but she had her back against the wall, and with their reputation, social and professional, and means of livelihood at stake, few women would have acted otherwise. my own view is that after her affair with lennox, lola tried hard "to keep straight," and made powerful enemies in consequence. the alliance of pecksniff and sir mulberry proved too strong for her. vii wanderjahre london, then, was closed to lola. she was recognised, and for the divorced wife of lieutenant james there were no prospects of a career. her defeat determined her to aim higher, not lower, as most women would have done. in the english country towns she would have been quite unknown, and might have earned a modest competence. but her experience of montrose and meath did not predispose her towards the provincial atmosphere. devoting england and its serpent seed to the infernal gods, she took wing to brussels. so rapidly were her preparations made that when "q." called the very morning after the "frost" at her majesty's at her apartments in grafton street, he found her gone--none knew whither. we must feel sorry for our anonymous friend, for it is evident from his confessions that lola's blue eyes had bored a big hole in his heart. he consoled himself for her loss by writing (i suspect) some of the flattering notices on her performance to which reference has been made. it is impossible to trace his enchantress's movements in their proper sequence during the next nine or ten months (june to march ). we find her at brussels, berlin, dresden, warsaw, and st. petersburg. she reached the belgian capital practically with an empty purse. she afterwards said[ ] that she went there partly because she had not enough money wherewith to go to paris, partly because she hoped to make her way on to the hague. she proposed to lay siege to the heart of his dutch majesty william ii., then a man fifty-one years of age. she had, quite probably, met his son, the prince of orange, who was visiting lord auckland about the time she was at simla, and had heard tales in calcutta about the dutch court. the house of orange has not been fortunate in its domestic relations. it is said that during the last king's first experience of wedlock, the heads of chamberlains often intercepted the books aimed by the royal spouses at each other, while the whole palace re-echoed with the slamming of doors and the crash of crockery. william ii., though not possessed of the reputation of his son and grandson, the celebrated "_citron_," was known to be on bad terms with his russian wife, anna pavlovna. he seemed to lola a promising subject for the exercise of her powers of fascination. the design, if she ever really entertained it, was not one that moralists could applaud, but in extenuation it must be urged that lola's late defeat could not have encouraged her to persevere in the path of virtue. however, the dutch project came to nothing, and the display of our heroine's statecraft was reserved for another capital and another day. in brussels she found herself friendless and penniless. she was reduced to singing in the streets to save herself from starvation--she who only four years before had been borne from the stately indian court enthroned on the viceroy's elephant! her distress is rather to the credit of her reputation, for it would have been easy enough for so beautiful a woman to have found a wealthy protector in the belgian capital. she was noticed by a man, whom she believed to be a german, who took her with him to warsaw. "he spoke many languages," says lola, "but he was not very well off himself. however, he was very kind, and when we got to warsaw, managed to get me an engagement at the opera."[ ] i cannot help wishing that lola had given us some account of a journey that must have been performed in a carriage right across central europe from belgium to poland. warsaw in must have been as cheerless a spot as any in europe. the great insurrection of had been suppressed with ruthless severity by the soldiers of the tsar, and there was not a family of rank in the city that was not mourning for some one of its members who had passed beyond the ken of its living, into dread siberia. order reigned at warsaw, indeed, in its conqueror's famous phrase, but it was order obtained only with the knout and the bayonet. the polish language was barely tolerated, the catholic religion proscribed. women, half-naked, were publicly flogged for their attachment to their faith, school-boys and school-girls sent to perish beyond the urals. the secret service ramified through every grade of society. fathers distrusted their sons, husbands feared to discover in their own wives the tools of the muscovite government. to this day poles are seldom free from the nightmare of the russian spy. the present writer remembers how, some years ago, at bern, in the capital of a free republic, a polish medical man refused, with every symptom of apprehension, to discuss the condition of his country within the longest ear-shot of a third party. yet unhappy warsaw, under the heel of the terrible paskievich, could be coaxed into a smile by the flashing eyes of the new andalusian dancer. her beauty enraptured the poles, and drew from one of their dramatic critics the following elaborate panegyric:-- "lola possesses twenty-six of the twenty-seven points on which a spanish writer insists as essential to feminine beauty--and the real connoisseurs among my readers will agree with me when i confess that blue eyes and black hair appear to me more ravishing than black eyes and black hair. the points enumerated by the spanish writer are: three white--the skin, the teeth, the hands; three black--the eyes, eye-lashes, and eyebrows; three red--the lips, the cheeks, the nails; three long--the body, the hair, the hands; three short--the ears, the teeth, the legs; three broad--the bosom, the forehead, the space between the eyebrows; three full--the lips, the arms, the calves; three small--the waist, the hands, the feet; three thin--the fingers, the hair, the lips. all these perfections are lola's, except as regards the colour of her eyes, which i for one, would not wish to change. silky hair, rivalling the gloss of the raven's wing, falls in luxuriant folds down her back; on the slender, delicate neck, whose whiteness shames the swan's down, rests the beautiful head. how, too, shall i describe lola's bosom, if words fail me to describe the dazzling whiteness of her teeth? what the pencil could not portray, certainly the pen cannot. "'vedeansi accesi entro le gianci belle dolci fiamme di rose e di rubini, e nel ben sen per entro un mar di latte tremolando nutar due poma intatte.' "lola's little feet hold the just balance between the feet of the chinese and french ladies. her fine, shapely calves are the lowest rungs of a jacob's ladder leading to heaven. she reminds one of the venus of knidos, carved by praxiteles in the th olympiad. to see her eyes is to be satisfied that her soul is throned in them.... her eyes combine the varying shades of the sixteen varieties of forget-me-not...." and so forth, and so on. it is indisputable that in this, her twenty-sixth year, lola was extremely beautiful. her bitterest detractors have never denied her the possession of almost magical loveliness. this was informed by sparkling vivacity, and a force of personality, without which we should never have heard the name of lola montez. a human masterpiece of this sort is as much a source of trouble in a community as a priceless diamond. everyone's cupidity is excited, probity and honour melt away in the fierce heat of temptation. the upright think that here at last is a prize worth the sacrifice of all the standards that have hitherto guided them. st. anthony, after forty years of sainthood, succumbs--and is glad that he does. even miserable poland for a moment forgot her woes when she looked on lola; and her stern conqueror, the terrible paskievich, felt a new spring pervading his grim, sixty-year-old frame. he, the master of many legions, he at whose frown a nation paled--why should he not grasp this treasure? who should say him nay? i will let lola tell the story in her own words. "while lola montez was on a visit to madame steinkiller the wife of the principal banker of poland, the old viceroy sent to ask her presence at the palace one morning at eleven o'clock. she was assured by several ladies that it would be neither politic nor safe to refuse to go; and she did go in madame steinkiller's carriage, and heard from the viceroy a most extraordinary proposition. he offered her the gift of a splendid country estate, and would load her with diamonds besides. the poor old man was a comic sight to look upon--unusually short in stature, and every time he spoke, he threw back his head and opened his mouth so wide as to expose the artificial gold roof of his palate. a death's-head making love to a lady could not have been a more disgusting or horrible sight. these generous gifts were most respectfully and very decidedly declined. but her refusal to make a bigger fool of one who was already fool enough was not well received. [this, i take it, is the only instance of the word fool being applied to one of the ablest, if most ruthless, men russia has ever produced.] "in those countries where political tyranny is unrestrained, the social and domestic tyranny is scarcely less absolute. "the next day his majesty's tool, the colonel of the _gendarmes_ and director of the theatre, called at her hotel to urge the suit of his master. "he began by being persuasive and argumentative, and when that availed nothing, he insinuated threats, when a grand row broke out, and the madcap ordered him out of her room. "now when lola montez appeared that night at the theatre, she was hissed by two or three parties who had evidently been instructed to do so by the director himself. the same thing occurred the next night; and when it came again on the third night, lola montez, in a rage, rushed down to the footlights, and declared that those hisses had been set at her by the director, because she had refused certain gifts from the old prince, his master. then came a tremendous shower of applause from the audience; and the old princess, who was present, both nodded her head and clapped her hands to the enraged and fiery lola. "here, then, was a pretty muss. an immense crowd of poles, who hated both the prince and the director, escorted her to her lodgings. she found herself a heroine without expecting it, and indeed without intending it. in a moment of rage she had told the whole truth, without stopping to count the cost, and she had unintentionally set the whole of warsaw by the ears. "the hatred which the poles intensely felt towards the government and its agents found a convenient opportunity of demonstrating itself, and in less than twenty-four hours warsaw was bubbling and raging with the signs of an incipient revolution. when lola montez was apprised of the fact that her arrest was ordered, she barricaded her door; and when the police arrived she sat behind it with a pistol in her hand, declaring that she would certainly shoot the first man dead who should break in. the police were frightened, or at least they could not agree among themselves who should be the martyr, and they went off to inform their masters what a tigress they had to confront, and to consult as to what should be done. in the meantime, the french consul gallantly came forward and claimed lola montez as a french subject, which saved her from immediate arrest; but the order was peremptory that she must quit warsaw." i have no means of verifying this account. riots were of frequent occurrence in warsaw during the 'forties, but, thanks to a rigid censorship of the press, the particulars concerning them have failed to reach us. that the citizens would at once side with any one who for any reason whatsoever was "agin the government" is not to be doubted, and lola was quite clever enough to make a slight to her appear as an insult to the warsaw public. in defending herself with the pistol, she only gave proof of the manlike courage and resolution conspicuous throughout her whole career. as to the cause of the row, one of lola's recent biographers remarks that if prince paskievich had made the offer alleged, it is quite certain that she would have closed with it. it is far from being certain. the russian viceroy was definitely repugnant to her, and her subsequent experiences show that she never bestowed herself upon a man whom she could not, or did not, love. she was new, too, to her _rôle_ of adventuress. altogether, there is no good reason for doubting that lola's relation of her experiences in the polish capital is substantially true. on the other hand, vanity certainly betrayed her into several deviations from the truth in her reminiscences of st. petersburg. she went thither, she informs us, upon her expulsion from poland--an odd refuge! of her journey in a _calèche_ across the wastes of lithuania and through the dark forests of muscovy; of st. petersburg, still half an oriental city, where all men below the rank of nobles wore the long beard and caftan of the asiatic--our _raconteuse_ has nothing to say. she introduces us at once to the tsar and the innermost arcanum of his court. "nicholas was as amiable and accomplished in private life as he was great, stern, and inflexible as a monarch. he was the strongest pattern of a monarch of this age, and i see no promise of his equal, either in the incumbents or the heirs-apparent of the other thrones of europe." lola, we see, speaks as an authority on crowned heads. in her estimate of nicholas i. she seems to have forgotten the republican principles she generally professed. the tsar was, no doubt, the most commanding figure of his time, and russia's influence in the counsels of europe has never since had as much weight as in the earlier part of his reign. his fine proportions, as much as his strength of character, probably excited lola's admiration, and blinded her to defects, physical and temperamental, which did not escape the notice of more keen-eyed critics. she did not see that the autocrat's majestic demeanour was a pose, that his stern, hawk-like glance was deliberately cultivated, and that he had only three expressions of countenance, all put on at will. horace vernet, who knew nicholas well, was firmly convinced that he was not wholly sane. as to his amiability in private life, he is said to have been, like many tyrants, a good husband, and he often condescended to take tea with his nurse, "a decent scotch body." it was to this respectable exile that the members of the imperial family owed that fluent and colloquial english, which often as much astonished as gratified our countrymen. it is recorded that one of the grand dukes genially accosted the british chaplain at st. petersburg with the enquiry: "god damn your eyes, and how the devil are you?"--language, very properly remarks an early victorian writer, which no man on earth had the right to address to a person in holy orders. [illustration: nicholas i.] the tsar himself was better bred. his relations with mademoiselle montez were characterized by politeness and liberality. not only he, but his right-hand man, the astute livonian, benkendorf, held the lady's political acumen in high esteem. while she and the emperor and the minister of the interior were in a somewhat private chat about vexatious matters connected with caucasia, airily relates lola, a humorous episode occurred. "it was suddenly announced that the superior officers of the caucasian army were without, desiring audience. the very subject of the previous conversation rendered it desirable that lola montez should not be seen in conference with the emperor and the minister of the interior; so she was thrust into a closet, and the door locked. the conference between the officers and the emperor was short but stormy. nicholas got into a towering rage. it seemed to the imprisoned lola that there was a whirlwind outside; and womanly curiosity to hear what it was about [did she then understand russian?], joined with the great difficulty of keeping from coughing, made her position a strangely embarrassing one. but the worst of it was, in the midst of this grand quarrel the parties all went out of the room, and forgot lola montez, who was locked up in the closet. for a whole hour she was kept in this durance vile, reflecting upon the somewhat confined and cramping honours she was receiving from royalty, when the emperor, who seems to have come to himself before count benkendorf did, came running back out of breath, and unlocked the door, and not only begged pardon for his forgetfulness, in a manner which only a man of his accomplished address could do, but presented the victim with a thousand roubles, saying laughingly: 'i have made up my mind whenever i imprison any of my subjects unjustly, i will pay them for their time and suffering.' and lola montez answered him: 'ah, sire, i am afraid that rule will make a poor man of you.' he laughed heartily, and replied: 'well, i am happy in being able to settle with you, anyhow.'" lola makes here a rather heavy draft on the reader's credulity. however, from the nice things she has to say about his imperial majesty, it is clear that she had been admitted at one time or another to his presence. had not nicholas i. been a pattern of the domestic virtues, we might have attributed his embarrassment at lola's being discovered in his closet, and the donation of the thousand roubles, to reasons entirely unconnected with the caucasus. after all, lola may have argued, if she had been courted by a king, why should she not have been consulted by an emperor? before or after her visit to st. petersburg the dancer saw the tsar at berlin. mounted on a fiery cordovan barb, she was among the spectators at a review given by king frederick william in honour of his imperial guest. the horse was scared by the firing, and bolted, carrying its rider straight into the midst of the royal party. lola was not sorry to find herself in such company, but a _gendarme_ struck at her horse and endeavoured to drive it away. an insult of this sort lola was the last woman to tolerate. raising her whip, she slashed the policeman across the face. out of respect for the royal party, the incident was allowed to end there, for the moment; but the next day the dancer was waited upon with a summons. she instantly tore the document to pieces, and threw them into the face of the process-server. such contempt for the law might have been attended with very serious consequences, but lola went, as a matter of fact, scot-free. perhaps her friends in high places interceded for her; but it is hard to believe, as she afterwards declared, that the _gendarme_ came to her lodgings to sue for her pardon.[ ] in every capital of europe it soon became known that the beautiful spanish dancer was able and prepared to defend herself against the most determined antagonists of either sex. but a nobler quarry than tsar and viceroy was now to fall before the shafts from lola's eyes. viii franz liszt in the year franz liszt may be considered to have reached the zenith of his fame. in the two-and-twenty years that had elapsed since his first triumph, when a lad of eleven, at vienna, the young hungarian had taken pride of place before all the pianists of his day. the crown still rested securely on his brow, despite the formidable rivalry of thalberg. paris, london, berlin, st. petersburg, rome, and milan had in turn felt his spell, and rapturously acclaimed him the king of melody. honours and wealth poured in upon him. the magnates of his native land--the proudest of all aristocracies--presented him with a sword of honour. the monarchs of europe publicly recognised the lofty genius of one whom they knew to be no friend of theirs. for liszt, the devotee of later years, glowed then with generous enthusiasm for freedom, political and religious. frederick william sent him diamonds, and he pitched them into the wings; the tsar found him unabashed and contemptuous; the kings of bavaria and hanover he scorned to invite to his concerts; before isabel ii. he refused to play at all, because spanish court etiquette forbade his personal introduction to her. the catholic church, he wrote, knew only curse and ban. he was the friend of lamennais. the bourgeois--the philistine, as we should call him now--he held in greater abhorrence even than the tyrant. in louis philippe he saw bourgeoisie enthroned. yet the king of the french courted the man whose empire was more stable than his own. he reminded the pianist of a former meeting when the one was but a boy, and the other only duke of orleans. "much has changed since then," said the citizen-king. "yes, sire, but not for the better!" bluntly replied the artist. in europe was more liberal in some respects than america is to-day. honours and applause were not denied to liszt because he openly transgressed the sex conventions. since his life had been shared by the beautiful comtesse d'agoult, the would-be rival, under the name "daniel stern," of the more celebrated georges sand. of this union were born three children, one of whom became the wife of richard wagner. madame d'agoult was a romanticist, and a very typical figure of her time and circle. she was an interesting woman, and tried hard to be more interesting still. but it was no affectation of passion that led her to abandon home, husband, and position, to throw herself into the pianist's arms at basle. she was deeply in love with him; but she wished to be more than a wife, more than a lover: she aspired to be his muse. liszt, however, needed no inspiration from without. in an oft-quoted phrase, he said that the dantes created the beatrices; "the genuine die when they are eighteen years old." the man chafed more and more under the ties that bound him. he had no wish to abandon the mother of his children, but his genius demanded to be unfettered. he wandered over europe, sad and bitter at heart, but heaping up his laurels. the comtesse and the children stayed in paris, or at the villa liszt had rented on the beautiful islet of nonnenwerth, in the shadow of "the castled crag of drachenfels." there he joined them from time to time, while unable to resist the conclusion that he and she must part. the evolution of their temperaments and intellects was in rapidly diverging directions. he was no longer willing to throw himself out of the window at her bidding as he had publicly declared himself to be four years before. the cord that bound them was frayed and fretted to a thread. [illustration: franz liszt.] at dresden fate threw liszt and lola montez across each other's path. the intense, artistic nature of the man cried out with joy at the glorious beauty of the woman. her inextinguishable vivacity, her almost masculine boldness, her frank and splendid animalism enraptured the musician, now sick to death of soulful conversations and the sentimentalities of romanticism. it was the old struggle for the possession of the artist, waged by silvia and gioconda. lola was beautiful as a tigress. to liszt she could surrender herself proudly. she was one of those erotic women, whose passion is excited rather by a man's mental attributes than by his physical advantages. intellect she adored. her own strong nature could yield only to a stronger. we have heard how she spoke of nicholas i.; we shall find this almost sensuous craving for force of personality in her subsequent relations. to her, the pianist must have been a new revelation of manhood. her life so far had brought her in contact with indian officers and civilians, a few men about town, and (for a few hours) with one or more potentates. now she met a great man with a beautiful soul. she had heard the stories current of liszt's abnegation, his boundless generosity, his pride in his vocation. in her, too, he recognised a haughty intolerance of patronage, a contempt for those in high places, such as he had himself exhibited. both could laugh over the slights to which they had subjected the king of prussia, and their demeanour in presence of the mighty tsar. it is likely enough that their conversation may have begun in some such fashion; how their love ripened we are left to guess. on this episode in her history lola exhibits unwonted reserve. she mentions meeting liszt at dresden, and speaks of the furore he created. as to their love passages, she is silent. i like to think that this was a secret she held sacred, that her love for the great musician had in it something fresh and noble, which distinguished it from the emotions excited in her by all other men. women of many attachments are prone to idealise one among them. the world was bound by no such scruples. the rumour ran from capital to capital that liszt was enthralled by the andalusian. it reached the comtesse d'agoult in her retreat at nonnenwerth. she penned a fierce, reproachful letter. liszt, in calypso's grotto at dresden, answered proudly and coldly. the comtesse wrote, announcing the end of their relations. most men are frightened at the abrupt termination of a love affair of which they have long been heartily weary. liszt gave the comtesse time to think it over. she made no further overtures, expecting that he would come to kneel at her feet. he did not. the lady went to paris, and they never met again. the artist at least owed lola a service, since she had been the unwitting instrument of a rupture so long desired by him. but he valued his newly-recovered freedom too highly to jeopardise it by linking his life again with a woman's. his love affair with lola may have been simply an infatuation. lucio would soon have tired of gioconda had he lived with her. we hardly know how this brief love story began; we are quite in the dark as to how it ended. a report was current that the two travelled together from dresden to paris, where both appeared in the spring of ' . we do not hear that they were seen together in the french capital, so the adieux may already have been exchanged. liszt stayed there but a few weeks, and then started on a tour through the french departments. then he crossed the pyrenees, and pushed as far south as gibraltar. less than three years later he was in the toils of a third woman--the princess zu sayn-wittgenstein, with whom his relations endured twelve years. it is noteworthy that he and lola turned their thoughts from love to religion almost at the same time, though half a world lay between them. of the third actor in this little drama it is hardly within my province to speak. the comtesse d'agoult found consolation in the care of her children and in those wider interests of which she never tired. she ardently espoused the cause of the revolution in . more fortunate than her old lover, she never lost the sane and generous sympathies of her youth. you may read her _souvenirs_, published at paris the year after her death ( ). liszt long survived the women who had loved him--not a fate that either of them would have envied him. ix at the banquet of the immortals lola's first appearance in paris was, like her _début_ at her majesty's, a fiasco. thanks, no doubt, to her reputation for beauty and audacity, she secured an engagement at the opera, then under the management of léon pillet. the power behind the throne was the great madame stoltz, who some years later was to be hooted off the stage by a hostile clique just as lola had been nine months before. at that time, however, no one dreamed of a revolt against the all-powerful _cantatrice_ whose favour the _danseuse_ was fortunate to procure. the great stoltz looked best and was luckiest in men's parts, and therefore saw no rival in the now famous "andalouse." lola, accordingly, made her bow to the parisian public on saturday, th march , in _il lazzarone_, an opera in two acts by halévy. her audience was more fastidious than the playgoers of dresden and warsaw. her beauty ravished them, but in her dancing they saw little merit. seeing this, lola made a characteristic bid for their favour. her satin shoe had slipped off. seizing it, she threw it with one of her superb gestures into the boxes, where it was pounced upon and brandished as a precious relic by a gentleman of fashion. the manoeuvre seems to have succeeded in its object, for the _constitutionnel_ next morning found it necessary to warn young dancers against the danger of factitious applause, while "abstaining from criticising too severely a pretty woman who had not had time to study parisian tastes." théophile gautier was less gallant:-- "we are reluctant," he writes, "to speak of lola montes, who reminds us by her christian name of one of the prettiest women of granada, and by her surname of the man who excited in us the most powerful dramatic emotions we have ever experienced--montes, the most illustrious _espada_ of spain. the only thing andalusian about mlle. lola montes is a pair of magnificent black eyes. she gabbles spanish very indifferently, french hardly at all, and english passably [_sic_]. which is her country? that is the question. we may say that mlle. lola has a little foot and pretty legs. her use of these is another matter. the curiosity excited by her adventures with the northern police, and her conversations, _à coups de cravache_, with the prussian _gens d'armes_, has not been satisfied, it must be admitted. mlle. lola montes is certainly inferior to dolores serrai, who has, at least, the advantage of being a real spaniard, and redeems her imperfections as a dancer by a voluptuous _abandon_, and an admirable fire and precision of rhythm. we suspect, after the recital of her equestrian exploits, that mlle. lola is more at home in the saddle than on the boards." as at her majesty's, so at the opera. lola's first appearance was her last. for the rest of the year, as far as i can learn, she was out of an engagement. she had, no doubt, made some money during her german and russian tour, and liszt would not have forgotten her when he started on his southern tour at the end of april. if her association with him had begotten in lola montez a thirst for wit and genius, she had every chance of slaking it in paris. there were giants on the earth in those days, and they were all gathered together on the banks of the seine. it is not too much to say that since the medici ruled in florence, no capital has boasted so brilliant an assemblage of men of genius as did paris under the paternal government of july. in the year ' , victor hugo, attended by a score of minor poets, daily appeared on his balcony to acknowledge the homage of the public; lamartine was dividing his attention between politics and literature. alfred de musset was wrecking his constitution by spasms of debauchery. balzac was dodging his creditors, playing truant from the national guard, and finding time to write his "comédie humaine"; théophile gautier, a man of thirty-three, if he had not yet received the full meed of his genius, was already well known and widely appreciated. alexandre dumas had long since become a national institution, and his son was looking out for copy among the ladies of the _demi-monde_. delphine gay was writing her brilliant "lettres parisiennes" for her husband's newspaper. the salon was still rejecting the masterpieces of delacroix, but vernet was painting the ceiling of the palais bourbon. auber, though past the prime of life, had not yet scored his greatest success. paris was like athens in the age of pericles. life was really worth living then, when louis phillippe was king. he was an honest, kindly-natured man, this pear-headed potentate, who reigned, "comme la corniche règne autour d'un plafond." he was the king of the _bourgeois_, and he looked it every inch, with his white felt hat and respectable umbrella; but in the calm sunshine of his reign the arts flourished and the world was gay. those days before the revolution remind us of that strange picture in our national gallery, "the eve of the deluge." paris, as the old stagers regretfully assure us, was paris then, and not the caravanserai of all the nations of the world. the good americans who died then, had they gone to paris, would have thought they had reached the wrong destination. men of pontus and asia had not then made the french capital their own. the invasion of the barbarians, says gustave claudin, took place in . they came, not conducted by attila, but by the newly-constructed railways. as these strangers had plenty of money to spend, they naturally sought the most fashionable quarters. "the true parisians disappeared in the crowd, and knew not where to find themselves. in the evening, the restaurants where they used to dine, the stalls and boxes where they used to assist at the opera and the play, were taken by assault by cohorts of sightseers wishing to steep themselves up to the neck in _la vie parisienne_." the tide of the invasion has never diminished in volume, and the true parisian has become extinct. in the year the fine flower of parisian society was in undisputed possession of the boulevard--the quarter between the opera and the rue drouot. "by virtue of a selection which no one contested," says the author just quoted, "nobody was tolerated there who could not lay claim to some sort of distinction or originality. there seemed to exist a kind of invisible moral barrier, closing this area against the mediocre, the insipid, and the insignificant, who passed by, but did not linger, knowing that their place was not there." the headquarters of the noble company of the boulevard was the famous café de paris, at the corner of the rue taitbout. dumas, balzac, and alfred de musset were to be seen there twice or thrice a week; the eccentric lord seymour, founder of the french jockey club, had his own table there. lola, doubtless, often tasted the unsurpassed _cuisine_ of this celebrated restaurant, for she soon penetrated into the circle of the olympians, and was presented with the freedom of the boulevard. she met claudin (who indeed knew everybody). "lola montez," he says, "was an enchantress. there was about her something provoking and voluptuous which drew you. her skin was white, her wavy hair like the tendrils of the woodbine, her eyes tameless and wild, her mouth like a budding pomegranate. add to that a dashing figure, charming feet, and perfect grace. unluckily," the notice concludes, "as a dancer she had no talent." that multiple personality whom vandam embodies in "an englishman in paris" admits that lola was naturally graceful, that her gait and carriage were those of a duchess. when he goes on to say that her wit was that of a pot-house, i seem to detect one of his not infrequent lapses from the truth. only three years had elapsed since lola had shone in court circles in india, where the social atmosphere was not that of a bar-room; and since then she had been wandering about in countries where her ignorance of the language must have left her manner of speech and modes of thought almost unaffected. pot-house wit would not have fascinated liszt, nor the fastidious louis of bavaria. "men of far higher intellectual attainments than mine, and familiar with very good society," admits our nebulous chronicler,[ ] "raved and kept raving about her." dumas, he says in another place, was as much smitten with her as her other admirers. this, of course, is no guarantee of her refinement, for the genial creole had the reputation of not being over nice in his attachments and amours. he was then in the prime of life, and may be considered to have just reached the zenith of his fame by the publication of "les trois mousquetaires," "monte cristo," and "la reine margot" ( - ). two years before he had formally and legally married mademoiselle ida ferrier--this step, so inconsistent with his temperament and mode of life, having resulted from his own reckless disregard of the conventions. the lady had fascinated him while she was interpreting a _rôle_ of his creation at the porte-st.-martin. it did not strike him that it would be irregular to take her with him to a ball given by his patron, the duke of orleans, and he straightway did so. "of course, my dear dumas," said his highness affably, "it is only your _wife_ that you would think of presenting to me." poor alexandre, the lover of all women and none in particular, was hoisted with his own petard. a prince's hints, above all when he is your patron and publisher, are commands. dumas was led to the altar, like a sheep to the slaughter, by the charming ida. châteaubriand supported the bridegroom through the ordeal. however the chains of matrimony sat lightly on the irrepressible _romancier_. madame dumas soon after departed for florence, greatly to the relief of her spouse. he was living, at the time of lola's visit to paris, at the villa médicis at st. germain. there he could superintend the building of his palace of monte cristo, on the road to marly, a part of which, with imperturbable _sang-froid_, he actually raised on the land belonging to a neighbour, without so much as a "by your leave." this ambitious residence emptied dumas's pockets of the little money that the ladies he loved had left in them. [illustration: alexandre dumas, senior.] alexandre, of course, fell passionately in love with lola montez. we need no written assurance of that. we read that he told her that she had acted "like a gentleman" in her treatment of frederick william's policemen, and with what far-fetched compliments he followed up this commendation it is easy to imagine. there were certain resemblances in their temperaments, though the woman was far the stronger. posterity is never likely to agree on an estimate of dumas's character. théodore de banville thought him a truly great man. "dumas," he wrote, "had no more need to husband his strength and his vitality than a river has to economise with its waters, and it seemed, in fact, that he held in his strong hands inexhaustible urns, whence flowed a stream always clear and limpid. in what formidable metal had he been cast? once he took it into his head to take his son, alexandre, to the masked ball of grados, at the barrière montparnasse, and, attired as a postilion, the great man danced all night without resting for a moment, and held women with his outstretched arm, like a hercules. when he returned home in the morning, he found that his postilion's breeches had, through the swelling of the muscles, become impossible to remove; so alexandre was obliged to cut them into strips with a penknife. after that what did the historian of the mousquetaires do? do you think he chose his good clean sheets or a warm bath? he chose work! and having taken some _bouillon_, set himself down before his writing paper, which he continued to fill with adventures till the evening, with as much 'go' and spirit as if he had come from calm repose. "nature has given up making that kind of man; by way of a change, she turns out poets, who, having composed a single sonnet, pass the rest of their lives contemplating themselves and--their sonnets." prodigious! it is gratifying to think that this indefatigable worker had always two sincere admirers--himself and his son. the latter, it is true, would have his joke at the former's expense. "my father," remarked the son, "is so vain that he would be ready to hang on to the back of his own carriage, to make people believe he kept a black servant." notwithstanding, the two loved each other tenderly. innumerable anecdotes bear witness to the paternal fondness of the one, the filial devotion of the other. yet their relation was more that of two sworn friends, as is so touchingly expressed in these lines from the "père prodigue":-- "... i have sought your affection, more than your obedience and respect.... to have all in common, heart as well as purse, to give and to tell each other everything, such has been our device. we have lost, it seems, several hundred thousands of francs; but this we have gained--the power of counting always on one another, thou on me, i on thee, and of being ready always to die for each other. that is the most important thing between father and son." these are the words of frenchmen. an englishman would have put such language into the mouths of husband and wife. enjoying the friendship of dumas _père_, lola no doubt had the privilege of meeting alexandre junior. the young man was then in his twenty-first year, and had piled up debts to the respectable total of fifty thousand francs. it was just about this time, as has been said, that he turned his attention to literature. he found "copy" for his most celebrated work in the pale, flower-like courtesan, alphonsine plessis, who shared with lola the devotion of the erotic boulevard. the two were women of very different stamp. the irish woman confronted the world with head erect and flashing eyes; the lady of the camellias, with a blush and trembling lips. they were typical of two great classes of women: those who rule men, and those whom men rule. the loved of the god of love died young. after alphonsine's early death, the fair parisiennes flocked to her apartments, as to the shrine of some patron saint, and touched, as though they were precious relics, her jewellery and trinkets, her _lingerie_, and her slippers. x mÉry another most delightful friend had lola--he whom she refers to in her autobiography as "the celebrated poet, méry." to describe this charming and impossible personage as a poet, is to indicate only one department of his genius: as a dramatist he was not far inferior to his great contemporaries, as a novelist he revealed an amazing power of paradox, and a bewildering fertility of imagination. he wrote descriptions of countries he had never seen (though he had travelled far), which, by their accuracy and colour, deceived and delighted the very natives. he was not merely rich in rhymes, said dumas, he was a millionaire. he could write, too, in more serious vein, and was a profound and ardent classicist. in méry was approaching his half-century. thirty years before he had come to paris from marseilles in hot pursuit of a pamphleteer who had dared to attack him. he found time to cross swords with somebody else, and got the worst of the encounter. as a result he took a voyage to italy for the benefit of his health. his adventures remind us alternatively of those of brantôme and benvenuto cellini. at a later period he was associated with barthélemy in an intrigue for the restoration of the bonapartes; and went to pay his respects to queen hortense, while his colleague vainly endeavoured to talk with the eaglet through the gilded bars of his cage. méry could, in short, do everything, and everything very well. he possessed the faculty of turning base metal into gold. geese in his eyes became swans, and in every lump of literary coke he saw a diamond of the purest ray. it was, above all, in his dramatic criticism, remarks de banville, that this faculty produced the most surprising results. "one day, reading in méry's review the pretended recital of a comedy of which i was the author, i could not but admire its gaiety, grace, unexpected turns, and happy confusion, and i said to myself: 'ah, if only this comedy were really the one i wrote!'" on another occasion, says the poet, at the theatre, "he said to me: 'what a superb drama!'--and he was perfectly right. the play, as he described it to me, was, in fact, superb, only unfortunately it had been entirely reconstructed by méry on the absurd foundation imagined by mr. * * *. the _dénouement_ he invented--for though the third act was not finished, he spoke of the fifth as an old acquaintance--was of such tragic power and daring originality, that after hearing him expound it, i had no desire to witness mr. * * *'s." reviewers and dramatic critics of this kind are now, unhappily, rare. these few anecdotes sufficiently justify de banville's claim that méry was something altogether unheard of and fabulously original. he should have been (and probably was) the happiest of men, and his peculiar powers must have lightened his critical labours as much as they benefited those he criticised. he was as incapable of envy as dumas was of rancour. certainly no more lovable and agreeable creature ever haunted the slopes of parnassus. i doubt if such men would be appreciated in our society. ours is the reign of the glum boeotian. we know not how to converse, and wits are as dead as kings' jesters. there is no scholarship in our senate, and the standard of oratory there would not have satisfied an early victorian debating society. if we talk less, assuredly we do not think the more. every social, political, and religious idea that occupies our dull brains had entered into the consciousness of the men of the 'forties. they thought quickly and talked brilliantly. their young men were youths--full of fire, enthusiasm, love, and fun. they did not talk about the advantages of devotion to business in early life. they were not born tired. wonderful, too, as it may seem, people in those days used to like to meet each other in social converse, and were not ashamed to admit it. it was not then fashionable to affect a disinclination for society--the handiest excuse for an inability to talk and to think. lola montez learned in paris what was meant by the _joie de vivre_. in ' wit was at the prow and pleasure at the helm. xi dujarier as an _artiste_, lola was naturally anxious to conciliate the press, which had not spoken too kindly of her first performance on the paris stage. gautier's unflattering notice had appeared in one of the most influential newspapers--_la presse_. this journal was under the direction of the famous de girardin, the harmsworth of his generation. till st july the lowest annual subscription to any newspaper in paris was eighty francs; on that day de girardin issued the first number of _la presse_ at a subscription of forty francs a year. this startling reduction in the price of news excited, of course, no little animosity, but its successful results were immediately manifest. the daring journalist's next innovation was the creation of the _feuilleton_. the new paper prospered exceedingly, though it represented the views of the editor rather than those of any large section of the public. in de girardin acquired a half of the property, the other being held by monsieur dujarier, who assumed the functions of literary editor. in dujarier was a young man of twenty-nine, a writer of no mean ability, and a smart journalist. he was well known to all the olympians of the boulevard, and entered with zest into the gay life of paris. lola became acquainted with him soon after her arrival in the capital, probably in an effort to win the paper over to her side. he spent, she tells us, almost every hour he could spare from his editorial duties with her, and in his society she rapidly ripened in a knowledge of politics. but before her political education had proceeded far, the woman's beauty and the man's wit had produced the effect that might have been looked for. "they read no more that day"--lola and dujarier loved each other. "this," continues our heroine, "was in autumn [the autumn of ' ], and the following spring the marriage was to take place." i fancy the word "marriage" is introduced here out of respect for the susceptibilities of the american public. the old guard of the boulevard, in louis philippe's golden reign, _se fiança mais ne se maria pas_. besides, lola was still legally the wife of that remote and forgotten officer, captain james. "it was arranged that alexandre dumas and the celebrated poet, méry, should accompany them on their marriage tour through spain." dumas, méry, and lola, to say nothing of dujarier, travelling together through andalusia--here would have been a gallant company indeed, with which one would have gladly made a voyage even to tartarus and back! the narrative, too, of the journey would have permanently enriched literature. but the scheme has gone, these sixty years, to the cloudy nether-world of glorious dreams unrealized. the success of de girardin's newspaper had intensely embittered his competitors, who made it the object of venomous attack. the founder dipped his pen in gall and acid, and his sword in the blood of his enemies. he fought four duels, and having killed armand carrel, sheathed his rapier. but he did not lay aside his pen, which was even more dreaded. dujarier proved an apt pupil, and by his command of irony and sarcasm at last attracted to himself as much hatred and jealousy as his senior. the special rival of his paper was the _globe_, edited by monsieur granier de cassagnac, a journalist of the type we now denominate yellow. he had at one time been on the staff of _la presse_, to which he remained financially indebted. dujarier came across the debit notes signed by him, and obtained a judgment against him. the exasperation of the _globe_ knew no bounds. the editor may be conceived addressing to his satellites the reproaches used by henry ii.: "of those that eat my bread, is there none that will rid me of this pestilent journalist?" the appeal was responded to by his wife's brother, monsieur jean baptiste rosemond de beauvallon, a creole from guadeloupe, then in his twenty-fifth year. he was dramatic critic to the _globe_, and in this capacity his acquaintance was sought by lola. dujarier naturally objected to this, and his interference was not forgiven by his journalist rival. the two men seemed doomed to cross each other's path. there was a certain madame albert, with whom dujarier had been on terms of intimacy for some years. in december he ceased to visit her, probably for no other reason than that he had transferred his affections to lola. as it happened, however, de beauvallon made the lady's acquaintance at this moment, and she spitefully suggested that dujarier had discontinued relations with her in order not to meet him. the creole's score against the literary editor of _la presse_ was now a high one, and he embraced his brother-in-law's quarrel with enthusiasm. xii the supper at the frÈres provenÇaux at the beginning of march ( ), lola, despite her failure at the opera, obtained an engagement at the porte-st.-martin theatre for the musical comedy _la biche au bois_. while she was rehearsing, she and her lover received an invitation to supper at the frères provençaux, a fashionable restaurant in the palais royal. the party was to be composed of some of the liveliest men and women in paris, and none of those invited were over thirty-five years of age. lola was keen to accept, but dujarier would not hear of her being seen in such a company. in spite of her protests he decided, however, to go himself. it was the evening of th march. he found himself the only guest, for all the others paid their shares in the cost of the entertainment. the nominal hostess was mademoiselle liévenne: "a splendid person, with abundant black hair, black eyes like a moorish woman or arlésienne, dazzling skin, and opulent figure." there were also at the table mademoiselle atila beauchêne, mademoiselle alice ozy, mademoiselle virginie capon, and other charming ladies, all styling themselves actresses, and spending a thousand francs a week out of a salary of twenty-five. in attendance on this bevy of beauty were some of the jolliest fellows in paris. the oldest and most distinguished was roger de beauvoir, whose curly black hair, wonderful waistcoats, and pearl-grey pantaloons made him the delight of the fair sex, and the envy of his fellow-boulevardiers. de beauvallon was also present, but he and dujarier were not openly on bad terms, and nothing seemed likely to cloud the general gaiety. the fun waxed fast and furious. champagne corks popped in all directions, toasts were drunk to everybody and everything. dujarier proposed "monsieur de beauvoir's waistcoat," followed by "monsieur de beauvoir's raven locks." the jovial roger responded with the toast "friend dujarier's bald head," and evoked roars of laughter by drinking to the memoirs of count montholon, with which _la presse_ had promised to entertain its readers for the last five years. dujarier laughed as loudly as the others; the champagne had risen to his head. he began to fondle the girls, and became a little too bold even for their taste. "anaïs," he murmured in an audible whisper to mademoiselle liévenne, "je coucherai avec toi en six mois." the next moment he realised he had gone too far. recollecting himself, he apologised, was forgiven, and the incident seemed to be forgotten by all. the remains of the supper were removed, curtains drawn back, and one side of the room left free for dancing, while a card-table occupied the other. more people dropped in. de beauvoir, finding the literary editor in such a good humour, thought the moment opportune to remind him of one of his romances which _la presse_ had accepted but seemed in no hurry to publish. to worry an editor about such a matter at such a moment is to court a rebuff. dujarier replied sharply that dumas's novel would be running for some time, adding that it was likely to prove more profitable to the paper than de beauvoir's serial would be. roger, the best-humoured of men, was nettled at this reply, and said so. "good! do you seek an affair with me?" retorted the editor. "no, i don't look for affairs, but i sometimes find them," answered the author. it is clear that dujarier, like his mistress, seldom had his temper under perfect control. he took a hand at _lansquenet_, and complained of the low limit imposed by the banker, monsieur de st. aignan. he and de beauvallon offered to share the bank's risks and winnings. this being agreed to, dujarier threw down twenty-five louis, de beauvallon five and a half. the bank won twice, and dujarier was entitled to a hundred louis. but st. aignan had made the mistake of understating the amount in the bank before the cards were dealt, and now, therefore, found that the winnings were not sufficient to satisfy him and his partners. he was about to make good the deficit at his own expense, when de beauvallon generously suggested to dujarier that they should share the loss in proportion to their stakes. the literary editor preferred to stand upon his rights, and seems to have been backed up by the bystanders. de beauvallon said nothing more at the time, but as the candles were flickering low and the party was preparing to break up, he reminded his rival that he owed him (on some other score) eighty-four louis. dujarier replied tartly, but handed him the seventy-five louis he had won, borrowed the odd nine louis from collot, the restaurant-keeper, and thus discharged the debt. he had lost on the whole evening two thousand five hundred francs. in the grey march dawn his head became clearer. he vaguely realised he had given deep offence to two, at least, of his fellow revellers. he returned, anxious and haggard to his lodgings in the rue laffitte, where lola was eagerly awaiting him. she guessed at once that something was amiss, and endeavoured in vain to extract from him the cause of his evident agitation. returning evasive answers, the journalist hurried off to the office of _la presse_. xiii the challenge whether or not dujarier had used offensive expressions to de beauvallon on this particular occasion, the opportunity for bringing to a head the long-standing feud between the two newspapers was too good to be missed. that afternoon the literary editor was waited upon at his office by two gentlemen--the vicomte d'ecquevillez, a french officer in the spanish service, and the comte de flers. they informed him that they came upon behalf of monsieur de beauvallon, who considered himself insulted by the tone of his remarks the previous evening, and required an apology or satisfaction. dujarier affected contempt for his rival, making a point of mispronouncing his name. he had no apology to offer, and referred his visitors to monsieur arthur berrand, and monsieur de boigne. as the seconds withdrew d'ecquevillez mentioned that monsieur de beauvoir also considered himself entitled to satisfaction. the rest of that day lola could not but remark the intense pre-occupation of her lover--that concentration of mind that all men experience at the near menace of death. on the battle-field it may last for a minute or an hour; in other circumstances it may last for days together. dujarier felt himself already a dead man. he had hardly handled a pistol in his life. he envied his mistress, who had often given him an exhibition of her powers as a shot. de beauvallon, on the other hand, was known to be skilled in all the arts of attack and defence. nor could dujarier doubt that he wished to see him dead. in the evening bertrand and de boigne arrived. lola was with difficulty persuaded to leave them to attend her rehearsal. dujarier, pale and nervous, discussed the matter with his friends. "c'est une querelle de boutique!" he exclaimed bitterly, but expressed his determination to proceed with the affair if it cost him his life. bertrand, fully alive to the gravity of the situation, sought de beauvallon's seconds, and argued that nothing said by his principal could be considered ground for an encounter. his efforts at a reconciliation were useless. de boigne tried to give precedence to de beauvoir, who was accounted an indifferent shot; but that easily placable author had just lost his mother, and displayed no anxiety to defraud de beauvallon of his vengeance. seeing the encounter was inevitable, bertrand and de boigne exacted from the other side this written statement:-- "we, the undersigned, declare that in consequence of a disagreement, monsieur dujarier has been challenged by monsieur de beauvallon in terms which render it impossible for him to decline the encounter. we have done everything possible to conciliate these gentlemen, and it is only upon monsieur de beauvallon insisting that we have consented to assist them." this statement was signed by all four seconds. it left dujarier, as the injured party, the choice of arms. he chose the pistol, thinking, it is to be presumed, that as his adversary was equally experienced in the use of the rapier and firearms, chance might possibly favour him with the latter. lola, while these negotiations were proceeding, was a prey to the most painful apprehensions. pressed by her, dujarier admitted that he was about to engage in an affair of honour, but gave her to understand that his opponent would be roger de beauvoir. her alarm at once subsided. no one feared roger. "you know i am a woman of courage," she said; "if the duel is just, i will not prevent it." "oh, what after all is a duel!" said her lover lightly, but she noticed that his smile was forced. she drove to the porte-st.-martin; dujarier, at three in the afternoon, paid a visit to alexandre dumas. he picked up a sword that stood in a corner of the room, and made a few passes. "you don't know how to wield the sword, i can see," observed the novelist. "can you use any other weapon?" "well, i _must_ use the pistol," replied the journalist significantly. "you mean you are going to fight?" "yes, to-morrow, with de beauvallon." dumas looked grave. "your adversary is a very good swordsman," he said. "you had better choose swords. when de beauvallon sees how you handle the weapon, the duel will be at an end." he told dujarier that alexandre, junior, practised at the same fencing-class as de beauvallon, and he strongly urged him to reconsider the choice of weapons. but the journalist was obstinate. he had no confidence in his opponent's clemency, and he feared his skill with the rapier. with the pistol there was always a chance; with cold steel he was bound to be killed. in vain dumas argued that the sword could spare, while the pistol could slay, even if the trigger were pulled by the least experienced hand. dujarier dined with father and son. the friends parted at nine in the evening. the journalist, in company with bertrand, went to a shooting gallery, where he tried his hand at the pistol. he hit a figure as large as a man only twice in twenty shots! dumas strolled into the variétés. he was ill at ease. finally he took a cab and drove to the rue laffitte. he found dujarier seated at his bureau, writing his will, as it afterwards proved. dumas returned to the question of weapons. dujarier showed a disposition to avoid the whole subject. "you are only losing your time," he said, "and that is valuable. i don't want you to arrange this affair, mind. it is my first duel. it is astonishing that i have not had one before. it's a sort of baptism that i must undergo." his friend questioned him as to the cause of the proposed encounter. "lord knows!" was the reply, "i can recollect no particular reason. i don't know what i am fighting about. it's a duel between the _globe_ and _la presse_," he added, "not between monsieur dujarier and monsieur de beauvallon." seeing him determined both to fight and to choose fire-arms, dumas recommended him at least not to use the hair-trigger pistol. to the novelist's astonishment, dujarier admitted he did not know the difference between one kind of pistol and another. alexandre said he would show him, and drove off to his house for the purpose. as he descended the stairs, he passed lola, who noticed his agitation. dujarier was again writing when she entered his room. he was very pale. dissimulating his preoccupation, he invited his mistress to read a flattering notice on her performance from the pen of monsieur de boigne. but lola was not to be thus diverted from her purpose. she implored her lover to tell her more about the proposed encounter, to reveal the cause of his evident anxiety. he merely replied that he was extremely busy, that there was nothing to worry about. he insisted on her returning to her own apartments. "i'll come and see you to-morrow," he promised, "and, lola!--if--if i should leave paris for any reason, i don't want you to lose sight of my friends. promise that. they are good sorts." he almost forced lola out of the house, only to admit dumas a few minutes later. the novelist had brought a brand-new pair of pistols. "use these," he said; "i'll give you a written statement that they have not been used before. that ought to satisfy the seconds." dujarier shook his head. "look here," said dumas solemnly, "your luck has endured a long time. take care that it does not fail you now." his friend's well-meant pertinacity irritated the journalist. he replied brusquely: "what would you? do you want me to pass for a coward? if i don't accept this challenge, i shall have others. de beauvallon is determined to fasten a quarrel on me. one of his seconds told me so. he said my face displeased him. however, this affair over, i shall be left in peace." it was one o'clock in the morning. dumas, having exhausted all the resources of argument and persuasion, rose to depart. "at least," he counselled his friend, "don't fight till two in the afternoon. it is no use getting up early for so unpleasant an affair. besides, i know you. you are always at your worst--nervous and fidgety--between ten and eleven." "you know that," said dujarier eagerly, "you won't think it fear? and, dumas," ... he went to his desk, and wrote a cheque on laffitte's for a thousand crowns. "i owe you this. now this is drawn on my private account, and as the duel takes place at eleven, go there before eleven, for you don't know what may happen. go there _before eleven_, for after that my credit may be dead. i beg of you, go before eleven." the two friends wrung each other's hand, and dumas, heavy at heart, went downstairs. dujarier was left to his thoughts. the reflections of a man who is practically sure that he will be dead next day are quite peculiar. the sensation is not fear in the ordinary acceptation of the term. it is an effort to realise what no man ever can properly realise--that the world around you, which in one (and a very true) sense has no existence except as it is perceived by you, will, notwithstanding, be existing to-morrow evening, while you will not exist. intellectually you know this, but you cannot realise it. at such moments men turn with relief to the pen. with ink and paper you can project yourself beyond your own grave. dujarier signed his will, which began with these words:-- "on the eve of fighting for the most absurd reasons, on the most frivolous of pretexts, and without its being possible for my friends, arthur bertrand and charles de boigne, to avoid an encounter, which was provoked in terms that forced me on my honour to accept, i set forth hereafter my last wishes...." then he wrote to his mother. "my good mother,--if this letter reaches you, it will be because i am dead or dangerously wounded. i shall exchange shots to-morrow with pistols. it is a necessity of my position, and i accept it as a man of courage. if anything could have induced me to decline the challenge, it would have been the grief which the blow would cause you, were i struck. but the law of honour is imperative, and if you must weep, dear mother, i would rather it be for a son worthy of you than for a coward. let this thought assuage your grief: my last thought will have been of you. i shall go to the encounter to-morrow calm and sure of myself. right is on my side. i embrace you, dear mother, with all the warmth of my heart. "dujarier." there was nothing more to be done or to be said. only a few hours of the night remained. the experienced duellist would have steadied his nerves by as long a sleep as possible. but dujarier regarded himself as doomed. he mentally contrasted his miserable performances at the shooting gallery with the wonderful things de beauvallon was reported to have done with the pistol in cuba. the stories might be inventions. he tried to snatch a few hours' sleep.[ ] xiv the duel the morning of the th march dawned. the ground was white with snow. dujarier was taking his light french breakfast when lola's maid brought him a message. she wished to see him. he promised to come at once, and the servant took her leave. dujarier hastily scribbled these lines:-- "my dear lola,--i am going out to fight a duel with pistols. this will explain why i wished to pass the night alone, and why i have not gone to see you this morning. i need all the composure at my command and you would have excited in me too much emotion. i will be with you at two o'clock, unless----good-bye, my dear little lola, the dear little girl i love. d." it was seven o'clock. he told his servant to deliver the letter about nine. he then rose and walked to de boigne's house in the rue pinon. there he found the four seconds in consultation. he saluted them, and thanked de boigne for his notice of lola. the conditions of the encounter were then signed and read. the combatants were to be placed at thirty paces distance, and could make five forward before firing, but each was to step after the other had fired. one was to fire immediately after the other. a coin was spun to determine who should provide the pistols; but it was understood that the weapons were not to have been used before by the combatants. the coin decided in favour of de beauvallon. d'ecquevillez then produced a pair of pistols, which he gave the other seconds to understand were his personal property. he and de flers then went in search of their principal. dujarier and his friends returned to the rue laffitte, where they picked up the doctor, monsieur de guise, and drove off, all four, to the bois de boulogne. the rendezvous was a secluded spot near the restaurant de madrid. there is, and probably was then, a _tir aux pigeons_ close by. the morning was intensely cold, and no one was about. a few snowflakes were falling as the party arrived. there was no sign of de beauvallon and his seconds, though it was now ten o'clock. the four men impatiently paced up and down, bertrand and de boigne conversing in low tones as to the probable result of the encounter, while dujarier talked with the doctor on matters in general. de guise, however, could not refrain from questioning him as to the cause of the affair. the journalist related the episodes at the frères provençaux, from his own point of view, and said that d'ecquevillez had told him that de beauvallon intended to fight him "because he did not like him." "i naturally replied," continued dujarier, "that many people might not like me, and i could not be supposed on that account to fight them. d'ecquevillez retorted that his principal would force me to fight by a blow and an insult. this threat was in itself an insult. i accepted the challenge." the doctor observed the journalist closely. he was shivering with the cold, and the nervous excitement, which dumas had remarked in him always at this hour, was manifesting itself. the seconds drew near, and de guise gave it as his professional opinion that dujarier was not in a condition to fight. bertrand and de boigne joined their entreaties to his, and argued that having waited an hour for the other party, they could in all honour retire from the field. dujarier refused to do any such thing. before all things, like most nervous men, he dreaded the imputation of cowardice. the cold and the excitement made him tremble. his friends would suspect him of fear; therefore, at all hazards, he must give them proof of his courage. finding his persuasions futile, de guise resigned himself to listen to a long and minute account of the quarrel with de beauvoir. the recital was finished when the sound of carriage wheels was heard. dujarier's heart must have given a big leap! a shabby cab drove up and out of it jumped de beauvallon and his seconds. de boigne accosted the creole with some asperity. he remarked that it was confoundedly cold, and that he and his principal had been kept waiting for an hour and a half. d'ecquevillez, who seems to have done most of the talking throughout the whole affair, turned to bertrand, and explained that they had been delayed by the necessity of purchasing ammunition and by the slowness of the cab horse. de boigne now addressed himself to de beauvallon, and made a final effort to arrange the dispute. "i speak to you," he said, "as one who has had experience of these affairs. there is nothing to fight about. your friends have put it into your head that an insult was intended." "sir," replied de beauvallon coldly, "you say there is no motive for this duel. i think differently, since i am here with my seconds. you don't suggest any other course. the position is the same as yesterday, when it was settled that we should fight. besides, an affair of this sort is not to be arranged on the field." de boigne shrugged his shoulders. he had done his utmost for his friend. he and de flers selected the ground, and with the consent of the other, he measured forty-three paces, diminishing the distance originally agreed to. d'ecquevillez, meanwhile, had produced his pistols, recognisable by their blue barrels. bertrand was about to charge one, when he introduced his finger into the muzzle, and withdrew it, black to the depth of the finger-nail. he looked at the other. "these pistols have been tried," he said. "on my honour," declared d'ecquevillez, "we have only tried them with powder. monsieur de beauvallon has never handled them before." with this positive assurance bertrand had to be content. the pistols were again tried with caps. with grave misgivings, he and de boigne placed their man. de beauvallon also took up position. dujarier took his pistol from his second so clumsily that he moved the trigger and nearly blew de boigne's head off. the signal was given. dujarier fired instantly. his ball flew wide of the mark. he let drop his pistol, and faced his adversary. de beauvallon very deliberately raised his arms and covered his opponent. the spectators held their breath. "fire, damn you! fire!" cried de boigne, exasperated by his slowness. the creole pulled the trigger. for an instant dujarier stood erect. the next, he fell, huddled up on to the ground. the doctor rushed towards him. his practised eye told him that the wound was mortal. the bullet had entered near the bridge of the nose, and broken the occipital bone, so as to produce a concussion of the spine. de guise assured dujarier the wound was not serious and told him to spit. he tried in vain to do so. bertrand summoned the carriage to approach. de boigne leant over his friend, and asked him if he suffered much pain. dujarier, already inarticulate, nodded; his eyelids dropped, and he fell back in the physician's arms. he was dead. d'ecquevillez, seeing dujarier fall, offered bertrand his assistance. he was rebuffed, told to gather up his pistols, and to go. he hurried off with the other second and his principal, who murmured: "mon dieu! mon dieu!" as he passed his late adversary. "how have i conducted myself?" he asked his second. "i hope i shall always act in similar circumstances as you did," was the reassuring reply. meanwhile, dumas had gone, full of anxiety, to the rue laffitte, to find that his friend had left the house, with what object he guessed. he noticed as a sinister omen that there was blood on the banister. he went away, sad at heart, to await the result of the combat. lola, on the receipt of her lover's note, hurried at once to his house. she burst into his bedroom and saw two pistols--alexandre's, no doubt--lying upon the quilt. gabriel, dujarier's servant, who had followed her, shook his head sadly, and said, "my master knows very well he will not return." in an instant lola was again outside the house, driving to her good friend, dumas's. the novelist told her that it was with de beauvallon, not with de beauvoir, that their friend had gone to exchange shots. "my god!" she cried, "then he is a dead man!" she rushed back to the rue laffitte. she spent half an hour in agony of mind, when the sound of a carriage stopping fell upon her ears. she flew into the street, and opened the carriage door. a heavy body lurched against her bosom. it was her dead lover. xv the reckoning it was not in fair fight that dujarier had fallen. before even he had been carried to his grave, with balzac, méry, dumas, and de girardin as his pall-bearers, the suspicions of all his friends had been aroused. at dr. vérons, the morning of his death, bertrand showed dumas his finger-tip still blackened by the barrel of de beauvallon's pistol. would a pistol which had not been charged with ball leave such a stain? experts present said no. the suspicion that de beauvallon had made doubly sure of killing his adversary by trying his weapon beforehand ripened in the minds of many into conviction. how, too, had the creole spent the early part of the morning? why did he not come with his seconds to the rue pinon. what was he doing while dujarier was awaiting him in the bois? the affair began to wear a very sinister complexion. representations were made to the police. enquiries were set on foot, and de beauvallon and d'ecquevillez promptly retired across the spanish frontier. lola had sustained a staggering blow. she was sincerely attached to dujarier, who had been more to her than any other man had been. the memory of her husband was hateful. liszt had flashed suddenly across her path, to disappear a few weeks later. besides, he had given her up of his own accord. but this man had shared her life for months, had loved her to the last, had cared for her both as a lover and a husband. in his will he left her eighteen shares in the palais royal theatre, representing twenty thousand francs. she referred, years after, and no doubt sincerely, to his death as a loss that could never be made up to her. the luxury of grief is allowed in scant measure to those who minister to the public's amusement. they must dry their tears quickly. three weeks after the fatal duel, lola made her appearance at the porte-st.-martin theatre, in _la biche au bois_. the audience was no less critical than at the opera. she was hissed, and with her usual audacity, she exasperated the public still more by expressing her contempt for them upon the stage. so ended her career as a _danseuse_ in the french capital. she lingered on in paris, notwithstanding, frequenting the society of her dead lover's friends in accordance with his last wishes. the legacy had relieved her for the moment of the necessity of earning her living. she longed to see retribution overtake the man who had robbed her of all that life held dear. justice seemed for a time to pursue the slayer with leaden feet. in july the royal court of paris practically exonerated the seconds, and de beauvallon thought it safe to surrender voluntarily. the explanations he gave as to his movements on the th and th march did not, as he had hoped they would, satisfy the authorities. the court of cassation quashed the decision of the lower court, and sent the accused for trial, on the charge of murder, before the assize court of rouen. the case is one of the most celebrated in the annals of french justice. it all turned on the article in the code of honour that forbids a duellist to make use of arms which he has already tried, and with which he is proficient. all the witnesses--among whom were professed experts--agreed that this rule was absolute. the case, which raised many other nice points of law, was heard before the president of the tribunal, monsieur letendre de tourville. the prosecution was conducted by the king's procurator (general salveton), the advocate-general, and two very able counsel, maîtres léon duval and romiguière. but the defence had a tower of strength in the great advocate berryer, the defender of ney, lamennais, châteaubriand, and louis napoléon--the greatest pleader and, after mirabeau, the greatest orator his country has produced. a trial whereat alexandre dumas and lola montez, to say nothing of the lesser lights of the literary and theatrical world, appeared as witnesses, excited immense interest. dumas produced a sensation which must have rejoiced his heart on entering the witness-box. he was asked his name and profession. "alexandre dumas, marquis davy de la pailleterie," he replied with evident complacency; "and i should call myself a dramatist if i were not in the country of corneille." "there are degrees in everything," replied the learned president. claudin, who heard these oft-quoted words, gives it as his opinion that dumas expressed himself thus from a genuine sense of modesty, and that the judge did not succeed in being funny. the great alexandre was in very good form throughout the whole trial, which lasted from the th to the th march , inclusive. he expounded the laws and principles of the duel, with copious commentaries. he quoted an authoritative work on the subject, drawn up by a body of noblemen and gentlemen--a work which the judge dryly observed he did not intend to add to his library. at the conclusion of the first part of his evidence (the gist of which we know) he solicited leave to return to paris, to assist at the representation of one of his dramas in five acts. dumas never lost an opportunity of advertising himself. he managed also to drag his son into the box, though the latter had really nothing to say. the frail, fair ladies of the supper-party also had to run the gauntlet of examination and cross-examination. the virtuous ladies of rouen, anxious to hear the most scandalous details of the case, filled the space reserved for the public, and having feasted their eyes on the _demi-mondaines_, obstinately refused to let these find seats among them. mademoiselle liévenne appeared in a charming toilette of blue velvet, with a red cashmere shawl, and a pearl-grey satin hood. lola, as befitted the melancholy occasion, wore the garb of mourning, and never, perhaps, showed to more advantage than in her close-fitting black satin costume and flowing shawl. she was the cynosure of all eyes. though a year had passed since the event now being discussed, her utterance was choked with sobs, and the reading of dujarier's last note caused her to shed floods of tears. she declared that had she known it was de beauvallon with whom her lover intended to fight, she would have communicated with the police and prevented the duel. "i would have gone to the rendezvous myself," she cried with characteristic spirit. in her memoirs, she adds that she would have fought de beauvallon herself, and her life-story testifies that this was no empty gasconade. that dujarier's death had been premeditated by his antagonist was abundantly proved at the trial. the pistols which the dead man's seconds had been led to believe belonged to d'ecquevillez were now admitted to be the property of the accused's brother-in-law, monsieur granier de cassagnac. they had been in the possession of de beauvallon since the eve of the encounter. circumstantial evidence went to show that he was familiar with the weapons, and had practised with them on the fatal morning. but the testimony of the witnesses, the facts themselves, the skilful pleading of duval, prevailed not against the eloquence of berryer. his magical powers of oratory brought the jury round to his point of view, and de beauvallon was acquitted of the charge of murder, though cast in damages of twenty thousand francs towards the mother and the sister of his victim. the affair did not end there. the friends of dujarier refused to be diverted from the trail of vengeance. fresh and conclusive evidence came to light, and de beauvallon and d'ecquevillez were placed on their trial for perjury during the first hearing. as regarded d'ecquevillez, it was established that he was no viscount, but a _bourgeois_ of doubtful antecedents named vincent, that his rank in the spanish service was merely that of a militia captain, and that his evidence, in general, was worthless. it was proved that de beauvallon had tried the pistols the very morning of the duel in a garden at chaillot, taking aim with them not once, but a dozen times. dujarier had been the victim of a deliberate conspiracy. both the accused were found guilty and condemned ( th october ) to eight years' imprisonment. both escaped from prison during the revolution of the following year. the principal criminal returned to his native isle, where his liberation was judicially sanctioned. his subsequent appeal to obtain a reversal of his sentence was rejected by the court of cassation in . lola had left france long before the assassin of her lover was finally brought to justice. "in another six months," writes "the englishman in paris," "her name was almost forgotten by all of us, except by alexandre dumas, who now and then alluded to her. though far from superstitious, dumas, who had been as much smitten with her as most of her admirers, avowed that he was glad that she had disappeared. 'she has the evil eye,' he said, 'and is sure to bring bad luck to any one who closely links his destiny with hers, for however short a time. you see what has occurred to dujarier? if ever she is heard of again, it will be in connection with some terrible calamity that has befallen a lover of hers.' we all laughed at him, except dr. véron, who could have given odds to solomon eagle himself at prophesying. for once in a way, however, alexandre dumas proved correct. when we did hear again of lola montés, it was in connection with the disturbances at munich, and the abdication of her royal lover, louis i. of bavaria." xvi in quest of a prince "the moment i get a nice, round, lump sum of money, i am going to try to hook a prince." in these words lola is said to have announced her ambition to "the englishman in paris." that gossipy exile, whoever he was in this particular instance, was no friend of hers, and took care, no doubt, to render her expressions as brutally as possible. i do not doubt that he has interpreted her meaning truthfully enough. it is clear that lola was an inordinately ambitious woman, eager to play a leading part in great affairs. her association with dujarier and other active politicians, the glimpses she had so often obtained of courts and thrones, stimulated this longing for power. she felt within her the capacity to rule men, and the ability to surmount great obstacles. a personal courage was hers, such as would have earned its possessor, if a man, the cross of honour. she feared not the bright face of danger, dreading only that circumstance might put the things she coveted beyond her reach. valour alone, she knew, is seldom rewarded in a woman. it is considered by the women, and more particularly the men, who do not possess it, unwomanly. intellect, again, she had; but its development had been checked, its faculties neglected, under the early victorian system of women's education. besides, the most superficial observer could not have failed to see, that while learning in a man was accounted a qualification for responsibilities and honours, in a woman it was regarded as a not altogether enviable peculiarity--like an aquiline nose, or the gift of sword-swallowing. in the five years lola had passed in the various capitals of europe, it had become very plain to her that what men supremely prize in women is physical beauty. the governing sex attached no rewards (or, at any rate, the meagrest) to courage and wisdom. they asked woman only to be beautiful. some insisted that she should also be virtuous, by which they meant she should bestow herself upon one of them exclusively. in other words, they allowed women to influence them only through the senses; and by the means they had themselves selected, the ambitious woman had no choice but to attack them. over the grave of dujarier lola may well have exclaimed, "farewell, love!" every one of her attachments had ended unhappily--the first ingloriously, the last tragically. under such blows, her nature hardened. ambition revived as sentiment waned. there was something worth living for still. at rouen she heard the murderer of her lover acquitted. bitter and disillusioned, she turned her steps towards germany. thanks to dujarier, she had now "the round, lump sum of money" necessary to the execution of her project; and in germany, with its thirty-six sovereigns, she could hardly fail to encounter a prince. she travelled about from watering-place to watering-place, from wiesbaden to homburg, from homburg to baden-baden, "punting in a small way, not settling down anywhere, and almost deliberately avoiding both frenchmen and englishmen." at baden it was rumoured that the prince of orange (probably an old friend of her simla days) was among her admirers. there also she met that puissant prince, henry lxxii. of reuss, who straightway fell in love with her. he invited her to pay a visit to his exiguous dominions, and she went, probably feeling that she was playing the part of sparrow-hawk. at the court of reuss she suffered agonies of boredom. the etiquette was as strict as in the palace of the most catholic king, and the deference exacted by henry lxxii. as profound as though he had been czar of all the russias. true, in his territory, only half as large again as the county of middlesex, he wielded a power as absolute as that autocrat's. of this pettiness the beautiful stranger soon showed her impatience. her infirmity of temper betrayed itself. she infringed his highness's prerogative by chastising his subjects--still, this could be overlooked by an indulgent prince. but when henry one morning beheld lola walking straight across his flower-beds, he felt that it was time to vindicate the outraged majesty of the throne. with his own august hands he wrote and signed an order, expelling mademoiselle montez from the principality. to this decree effect was only given when his highness had satisfied to the last pfennig a tremendously long bill for expenses, presented to him by the audacious offender. as it is hardly possible to take a long walk without overstepping the limits of the principality, not many hours elapsed before lola was beyond the reach of henry's wrath. she had the choice of various retreats. the neighbouring duchy of saxe-altenburg she, no doubt, contemptuously dismissed. to the north lay prussia; but she could expect no welcome there. frederick william, after her memorable adventure at the review, had given her to understand that his police could be better employed than in teaching her manners. she avoided weimar, where her old lover, liszt, had established himself in company with the princess zu sayn-wittgenstein. she may have lingered awhile in these pretty, petty thuringian states, with their charming capitals set in the forest glades; and perhaps have made a pilgrimage to the venusberg, near eisenach, where her prototype ensnared tannhäuser. the spirit of that old _minnesänger_ was not altogether dead. something of it glowed in the heart of the grey-haired man who reigned over bavaria. deliberately or aimlessly, lola montez, the venus of her generation, journeyed south towards munich. xvii the king of bavaria at that time louis i., who wore the bavarian crown, was a man sixty-one years old. he, "the most german of the germans," as he had been styled, was by an odd freak of fortune born in france. his father, max joseph, though brother of the duke of pfalz-zweibrücken, commanded a regiment in the french service, and it was at strasbourg that the child was born in . his father's grenadiers shaved off their moustaches to stuff his pillow with. the name bestowed on him in baptism was that of his godfather, the ill-fated king of france. but the revolution soon drove him with his family across the rhine, to mannheim and to rohrbach. death quickly cleared the boy a path to the throne. his father presently succeeded his brother as duke, and a few years later upon the extinction of the elder line of the wittelsbachs, became elector of bavaria. even in the stormy first decade of the nineteenth century princes had to be educated, and in the year we find louis at göttingen, sitting at the feet of johannes müller, who infused him with a lively sense of nationality and a reverence for all things german. this was to stand the prince in good stead in the dark days that followed. those were years of profound humiliation for germany, of poignant suffering for her people. even in the 'forties few germans took pride in the name, some of them settled in london and paris, deeming it almost a reproach. in his country's blackest night the bavarian prince loudly proclaimed his faith in a glorious dawn. he exulted in the name of german. he was "teutsch" (as he always wrote the word) to the very core. he was german not least in his passion for the south. italy was his first, last, and best-beloved mistress. in her bosom he was inspired with that love for the arts which was stronger even than his patriotism. returning to germany, he saw with disgust his father embrace the alliance of napoleon and turn his arms against austria--german fighting german. at strasbourg, on hearing the news of the capitulation at ulm, he dared to say to the empress josephine: "the greatest victory for me will be when this, my native city, is united to germany." he accompanied max joseph to the emperor's headquarters at linz in , when bavaria was erected by the conqueror's decree into a kingdom. the new crown prince made no secret of his antipathies. anxious to win him over, napoleon carried him off to paris, and only succeeded in disgusting him by his irreverence during divine worship. louis was a devout and sincere catholic. from the tuileries he intrigued for the overthrow of his host and gaoler with czar alexander. his father got wind of these negotiations and recalled him to munich. thence he was sent to join the bavarian army in prussia. with unspeakable bitterness he heard that the victory of jena was celebrated at his father's capital with a _te deum_ and public rejoicings. in january , in the train of the conquering army, he reached berlin. there his first act was to unveil a bust of frederick the great! [illustration: louis of bavaria. when electoral prince.] at the beginning of the campaign against russia, at napoleon's request, which was practically a command, louis took the head of the bavarian army. years after, he refused to sanction the publication of a work on his military achievements at this time. with the war-weary veteran of de vigny's tale, he might have said: "j'ai appris à detester la guerre, en la faisant avec énergie." for he was no carpet knight. though compelled to draw the sword against men of his own race and their allies, he wielded it well. under a hot fire he led his troops across the narew, and at pultusk won the grand cross of the order of max joseph. such services could not blind napoleon to his lieutenant's real sympathies. in his indignation against what he considered the ingratitude and treachery of his ally's son, he is reported to have exclaimed: "quoi m'empêche de fusilier ce prince?" he dared not go to such desperate lengths. instead, he superseded louis in the command of the bavarian army, at the beginning of the campaign of , by one of his own marshals, lefebvre, duke of danzig. to the prince was assigned simply the command of a division. he fought well at abensberg, where the _mot d'ordre_ was _bravoure et bavière_. "it is to germans that the emperor owes this victory over germans," he boasted bitterly. in the revolt of the tyrolese against the bavarian yoke imposed on them by the french, his heart went out to the gallant insurgents. he pensioned a son of the patriot speckbacher, and condoled with hofer's wife on the execution of her husband. napoleon's indignation knew no bounds. "this prince," he declared, "shall never reign in bavaria!" he destined the crown for eugène beauharnais, or one of his children. but it was louis's policy that triumphed in . with delight he beheld his father desert the sinking ship of france, and from salzburg (then belonging to bavaria) he issued a proclamation, urging all the german people to rise against the common oppressor. wrede, with a bavarian army, threw himself across the path of the retreating french at hanau, to find that the wounded eagle's talons could still snatch a bloody victory. in the campaigns of and , louis took no active part. his father dreaded that he might fall into the hands of napoleon, who regarded him with intense hatred. the prince had to be content with the part of tyrtaeus, and in odes, not deficient in merit, stirred the patriotic feelings of his countrymen. after waterloo he sheathed the sword that he had wielded reluctantly, but not ingloriously. "i was never a general," he said, "but a soldier, yes--with all my heart." he was now free to devote himself to matters which more strongly, perhaps, appealed to him. at vienna and london he watched over the interests of the arts. he pleaded (and not unsuccessfully) for the restitution of the artistic treasures napoleon had carried off, and wrote on the subject of the elgin marbles with judgment and critical acumen. he sought the acquaintance of the brilliant and the learned, presiding over a _côterie_ of painters, sculptors, and _literati_. the winters of - and - he spent in the eternal city, residing at the bavarian embassy or at the villa malta on the pincio. he knew canova and thorwaldsen, and laid the foundations of his firm and life-long intimacy with the sculptor, wagner. on the neue pinakothek at munich is a picture by catel, representing one of those joyous and scholarly _réunions_ in which louis delighted. he is shown seated at a table in a humble _osteria_ on the ripa grande, in the company of thorwaldsen, wagner, the artists veit, von schnorr, and catel himself, the architect von klenze, professor ringseis, count seinsheim, and colonel von gumppenberg. it was in such company, and beneath the blue sky of italy, that "the most german of the germans" was happiest. his æsthetic faculties were altogether exotic. his style of literary composition is compared by an english writer to a dislocation of all the limbs of a human body. "nothing can be more un-german, more opposed to the genius of the language, than this extraordinary style, the like of which is not to be found in the whole range of german literature.[ ] it is an aberration of which we have an english example in 'carlylese.'" louis succeeded his father as king of bavaria in october . he was then in his fortieth year. a shrewd connoisseur, he had devoted nearly all his income as prince to the acquisition of objects of art. it was his ambition to make his capital a new florence, and to carry out this design the strictest economy was introduced into all departments of the state. the munich we know was mainly his creation. to him we owe the glyptothek, of which he had conceived the idea at least as far back as ; the beautiful au church, the royal chapel, the ludwigskirche, the church of st. boniface, the splendid throne-room, the bronze monument to the bavarian soldiers who fell in the russian campaigns. the quaint old german city was completely transformed. unfortunately, the royal mæcenas failed to recognise the worth of native models, such as were to be found in nuremberg. all his buildings were duplicates, or close imitations, of others on the south side of the alps. the triumphal arch in ludwigstrasse, with its bronze car drawn by lions, was obviously suggested by the well-known models of paris and rome. to louis's zeal we are indebted also for the pinakothek and the colossal statue of bavaria. finally, in , on the anniversary of the battle of leipzig, the king laid the foundation-stone of the walhalla, the temple of german greatness, thus accomplishing a design he had formed twenty-five years before. lofty as was the execution, the conception was loftier. it took place "just after the emperor francis ii. had uncrowned himself, declaring that the holy roman empire--the empire of a thousand years--was at an end. it was at such a time, when the fabric that had stood for ten centuries had crumbled into dust; when the tramp of the conqueror threatened to efface all ancient institutions; when every existing dynasty of the continent of europe was trembling for its existence; when principalities were being moulded into kingdoms, kingdoms dismembered or destroyed, god's very barriers trampled down and passed; when works of art, the heirlooms of a nation, were torn from the land that had produced them to deck the capital of the conqueror; when victory followed victory--marengo, hohenlinden, ulm, austerlitz, jena, friedland; when king's crowns and mitres, like withered leaves, lay strewn upon the ground, and when it might well be feared that in that ancient land soon nothing would be left of its former self to recognise its identity--at such a moment was it, when devastation threatened to put out the lights which had been shining for ages, that the prince royal of bavaria, then twenty-three years of age, resolved to build a monument to the glory of his country."[ ] there were the elements of greatness in louis of bavaria. in magnanimity of soul he was very far the superior of those sovereigns to whom historians have accorded the title of "the great." nor was he lacking, as we have seen, in the will and capacity to give to his loftiest conceptions practical shape. "throughout life," says the writer just quoted, "king louis ordered his expenses with the exactness of a debtor and creditor account in a banker's ledger. the necessary monies for certain undertakings were assigned beforehand for each coming year. every separate expenditure was provided for from specified sources, and each rubric had a corresponding one belonging to it, whence its expenses were to be defrayed." no bond street dealer could be a shrewder judge of the value of a work of art than the bavarian prince; he was no wasteful _dilettante_, but brought to bear on the embellishment of his capital the keenest business instincts. he watched with unflagging attention the fluctuations in the prices of the treasures he coveted. we find him comparing thorwaldsen's and canova's estimates of the value of the barberini faun, and refusing to pay an extra scudo for the carriage of a statue. yet he was not a niggard. those he honoured with his friendship he never left to want. a sick or indigent artist had only to bring his need to the king's notice, to receive liberal relief. he was a warm-hearted and constant friend. his last letter to wagner is as affectionate in tone as the first he addressed to him forty-eight years before. the permanency of his friendships was in a great degree due to his good sense in making them. his associates were men, not only of genius and learning, but of sterling worth and character. they were not the kind of men to flatter his vanity, or to humour his foibles. returning to rome after his accession, louis announced his intention of continuing the course of life he had pursued as prince, but thought he ought to assume some little outward state. wagner replied: "the king of spain certainly used to drive about in a coach and six, with footmen in grand liveries; but, notwithstanding, i never heard that any one had the least respect for him. simplicity is most consistent with dignity: and the course you formerly pursued, sire, will be the best to pursue in the future." to this artist-king germany owes its first railway. a short but very important line was constructed by his command from nuremberg to fürth in , and was followed up by lines connecting munich with augsburg and nuremberg with bamberg. in these projects may be traced the inception of the whole german railway system. thanks also to louis, the steamboat first ploughed german waters, a service being inaugurated under his auspices on the bodensee. the important canal connecting the danube with the main, and affording thereby direct water communication between the north sea and the black sea, bears the king's name, and was executed at his order. the idealist, the man whom some writers in their ignorance dismiss as half-_minnesänger_, half-_virtuoso_, was keenly alive to the material needs of his subjects. the commercial treaties concluded with würtemberg in and with prussia in laid the foundations of the zollverein, itself the basis of the political unity of all germany. the empire owes much to louis i. had he been the monarch of a more powerful state, the imperial crown might have been his. "were such a dignity offered to him," his brother-in-law, frederick william, is reported to have said, "the king of bavaria would accept it for the sake of the picturesque costume!" the sneer evinced a knowledge of the weaker side of a noble character, but it is still open to question whether a wittelsbach would not have more worthily filled the imperial throne than a hohenzollern. humanity and the arts would surely have been gainers. xviii reaction in bavaria all generous ideals took root and blossomed in the heart of the bavarian prince. he loved his country, he loved the arts, he venerated the catholic faith, and (oddest of all in a german prince) he loved liberty. the beginning of his reign was marked by the most liberal administration. extensive reforms were carried out in every department of state. many old feudal institutions and privileges which had survived the napoleonic deluge were swept away, including a multitude of archaic courts and jurisdictions. the powers of the censorship of the press were considerably curtailed and recognition extended to the protestants in the departments of public worship and instruction. retrenchment and economy were enforced upon louis by his great expenditure on public works. a million florins were saved in the army estimates, and official salaries were seriously cut down. an economy, not so commendable, was also effected by reducing the pensions to retired civil servants and their widows, whose complaints were distinctly heard above the chorus of approbation that greeted the administration of the liberal king. looking, perhaps, too, to the rapid development of the railway system, he suffered the roads of bavaria to fall into a deplorable state of neglect. louis was not a liberal of the manchester school. his sympathy with freedom and progress was genuine, and he loyally observed the provisions of a not very democratic constitution. but there can be no doubt that he believed rather in government for the people than by the people. in the particular instance he was abundantly justified, for in general enlightenment he was several centuries ahead of his subjects. five years after his succession to the throne, his good resolutions were rudely shattered by the revolution of july. why that event should have arrested him in the path of progress it is not easy to divine, for charles x. lost his crown through obstinately opposing, not by stimulating, liberal tendencies. in the revolution the reactionary or ultramontane party of bavaria saw their chance, however, and gained the king's ear. they dwelt on the natural alliance of throne and altar, and the identity of liberalism in religion with liberalism in politics. only in a religious people, they argued, could a king place his trust. secure of royal protection and encouragement, friars, nuns, and ecclesiastics of all kinds came flocking into bavaria. monasteries, convents, and church schools threatened to become as numerous as they are now in england. some made light of this black-robed invasion, and attributed it to the king's well-known fondness for the mediæval and the picturesque. but a real change had come over louis. germany was seething with discontent, and revolution was in the air. the king remembered the fate of his godfather, and decided to take the side of reaction. the censorship of the press was again enforced. those who were found guilty of _lèse-majesté_ were condemned to make a public apology to the king's portrait or statue--an almost gilbertian penalty. soldiers, protestants and catholic, were alike ordered to kneel when the host was carried past. repressive laws were enacted against the lutherans and calvinists, and germany seemed on the point of passing once more under the sway of rome. louis had lost his head. a few clod-hoppers brawling over their beer appeared to him an attempt at revolution. it justified him in closing the university and calling out the reserves. he established a star-chamber at landshut, where anonymous accusations were entertained and every accusation entailed conviction. the jesuits were supposed to have inspired this policy. the rumour was probably true in substance. the children of loyala are not allowed to do evil that good may come, or to indulge in verbal equivocations, as their enemies allege; but it is their aim to bring the whole world into real and sincere submission to the roman church, and to achieve that end they have certainly not hesitated to sacrifice political and social ideals dear to all the rest of mankind. the jesuit is a christian produced to his utmost logical extremity. naturally, the order is very unpopular with people who like to profess christianity without any intention of bringing their views and conduct into line with it. a true son of the church was carl abel, a politician of some repute, to whom louis handed the portfolio of the interior in april . he was, it is interesting to note, one of those bavarian ministers who had accompanied the king's son, otho, to greece in the 'twenties, and assisted in schooling the renascent nation in its new political status. he it was who enacted the "knee-bending" order to which allusion has been made; he again who substituted the word "subjects" for "citizens" in the royal decrees and proclamations. his policy was frankly ultramontane. the publication of strauss's "life of jesus," three years before, had given a powerful stimulus to rationalistic tendencies, and these the bavarian government determined at all costs to eradicate. it was in the world of thought and education that they saw the struggle must be waged, and they wisely strove to bring the schools entirely within their control. to prevent the spread of dangerous opinions it was decreed that all the books used in the universities and schools, even in those of the lowest grade, must be purchased from the official government depôt. a bad time followed for the booksellers and for every one suspected of liberal opinions. the editor of the bernstorff papers speaks of abel's administration as a scandal to all europe. it was not considered such by the majority of the bavarian people, who were probably more in sympathy with their ruler's present mood than with his earlier aspirations towards a grecian polity and culture. the jesuits reigned supreme, but it was not without certain faint misgivings that their chiefs heard the news of lola's arrival in munich. the dauntless adventuress was a factor that had to be reckoned with. xix the enthralment of the king the court theatre of munich, thanks to the king's critical faculty and liberal patronage, had a very high reputation throughout europe, and seemed to lola a very proper place for the display of her charms and accomplishments. she applied accordingly to the director, who upon an exhibition of her powers, announced that they did not come up to his standard. this was probably true; but had lola danced like taglioni, she would no doubt have been rejected all the same by an official of this strictly clerical government. full of wit and resource, she saw in her rebuff the very opportunity she sought of bringing herself to the notice of a sovereign. she had made a few friends among the _jeunesse dorée_ of the bavarian capital, and through one of these, count rechberg, a royal aide-de-camp, she craved an audience of his majesty. louis was indisposed to grant it, despite his usually gracious bearing towards foreign _artistes_. "am i expected to see every strolling dancer?" he asked pettishly. "your pardon, sire," said rechberg, "but this one is well worth seeing." the king hesitated. while he did so lola montez stood before him. tired of waiting in the antechamber, and anticipating a refusal, she had coolly followed an aide-de-camp into the royal presence. now she stood before the astonished king, dazzlingly beautiful, with downcast eyes, a suppliant mien, and a smile of triumph at the corners of her mouth. to a passionate admirer of beauty like louis her loveliness was an all-sufficient excuse for her amazing audacity. his aide-de-camp was right. the woman was well worth seeing. as he gazed upon her youth glowed anew in his sixty-year-old frame, the blood coursed as fiercely as in the time long gone by. those who saw lola knew a second spring. collecting his faculties, the king granted the dancer's prayer--she received his command to appear at the court theatre; but he was in no haste to dismiss the suppliant. lola, says one writer, came, saw, and conquered. the king yielded to her at the first shot. lola's detractors relate that, glancing at her magnificent bust, he asked in wonder if such charms could be of nature's making, whereupon the lady, there and then ripping up her corsage, dispelled his doubts. they can believe the story who like to; it sounds in the highest degree improbable. but from this first interview dated the enthralment of the king. not only grey-headed rulers but tiny school-girls felt the power of the enchantress. louise von kobell tells us how, when a child, she saw lola montez.[ ] "on the th october, , as i was going down briennerstrasse, near the bayersdorf palace, i saw coming my way a lady, gowned in black, with a veil thrown over her head, and a fan in her hand. suddenly something seemed to flash across my vision, and i stood stock still, gazing into the eyes that had dazzled me. they shone upon me from a pale countenance, which assumed a laughing expression before my bewildered stare. then she went, or rather swept on, past me. i forgot all my governess's injunctions against looking round, and stood staring after her, till she disappeared from view. like her, i told myself, must have been the fairies in the nursery tales. i returned home breathless, and told them of my adventure. 'that,' said my father, grimly, 'must have been the spanish dancer, lola montez.' "i went to the court theatre on saturday, the th october; i came much too early to my seat, and read full of eagerness the announcement: '_der verwunschene prinz_, a play in three acts, by j. von plötz. during the two _entr'actes_, mademoiselle lola montez of madrid will appear in her spanish national dances.' full of impatience i saw the curtain rise, sat through the first act, and saw the curtain fall again. now it rose once more, and i saw my fairy of yesterday--lola montez. "in the pit they clapped and hissed; the last, explained my neighbour, because of the rumours abroad that lola was an emissary of the english freemasons, an enemy of the jesuits--a coquette, too, who had had amorous adventures in all parts of the world, according to the newspapers. "lola montez took the centre of the stage, clothed not in the usual tights and short skirts of the ballet girl, but in a spanish costume of silk and lace, with here and there a glittering diamond. fire seemed to shoot from her wonderful blue eyes, and she bowed like one of the graces before the king, who occupied the royal box. then she danced after the fashion of her country, swaying on her hips, and changing from one posture to another, each excelling the former in beauty. "while she danced she riveted the attention of all the spectators, their gaze followed the sinuous swayings of her body, in their expression now of glowing passion, now of lightsome playfulness. not till she ceased her rhythmic movements was the spell broken.... "on th october, , lola montez appeared for the second and last time at the court theatre. she danced the 'cachucha' in the comedy, _der weiberfeind von benedix_, and danced the 'fandango' with herr opfermann in the _entr'acte_ of the play _müller und miller_. in order to drown any manifestations of displeasure, the pit was occupied by an organised _claque_ of policemen in plain clothes and theatre attendants. the precaution was unnecessary, as lola montez exercised a universal charm. the king had received her in audience, as he was accustomed to receive foreign _artistes_; her beauty and her stimulating conversation captivated louis i." "i know not how--i am bewitched," his majesty said frankly to one of his ministers two days after his first interview with lola. he had worshipped at the altar of venus all his life, and might reasonably have believed himself immune against passion, now he had entered his seventh decade. the vision of the radiant stranger haunted him. he sought for some excuse to have her about his person. he had long meditated and spoken of a journey to spain. he would learn spanish, and lola should be his teacher. he discussed the idea with some of his more intimate advisers, who said nothing to dissuade him. other hearts than his beat more rapidly at the dancer's approach. dr. curtius, the royal physician, was of opinion that señora montez would be an admirable person to teach the king the castilian tongue; the aide-de-camp, lieutenant nüssbaum, was eager to convey the royal summons to the lady. lola did not refuse the office of instructress, though the situation was not without its irony, seeing that her knowledge of spanish was but slight. the reading of calderon and cervantes was enlivened and interrupted by her humorous sallies, her unexpected _jeux d'esprit_, by the thousand and one delightful turns and mannerisms by which as much as by her beauty lola intoxicated men. she was full of the elusive quality that her pseudo-countrymen call _sal_. her intense vitality effervesced, fizzed, and sparkled like champagne, and every bubble that reached the surface caught a different tint. taking lessons from a charming woman is one of the shortest ways i know to falling in love with her. louis's was a very bad case. his emotional capacity by an unusual coincidence, had developed in proportion to his intellect. "his soul is always fresh and young," lola declared, no doubt quite sincerely. he had not retained a very large measure of the good looks that distinguished him when a young man, but his bearing was dignified, courtly, gracious--in a word, kingly--and his frank, grey-blue all-embracing eyes had in them something appealing. his personality, in short, is summed up by frau von kobell as "interesting." his manner was as animated as lola's, and corresponded to every movement of his mind. i do not see why such a man, even if he be sixty-one years old, should not win a woman's love. moreover, the staunchest republican must admit that if there is no divinity, there is a glamour or fascination about a king. he is, at least, uncommon--even in germany; he holds aloof, his inner life is to some extent veiled in mystery; his setting is spectacular, and he rarely appears at a disadvantage. he is never seen rolling in the mire in the football field, affording sport to counsel and reporters in the witness-box, or in any of those undignified situations in which we so often meet our fellows. above all, he represents power, a faculty more attractive even to women than to men. ambition prompted lola to hook a prince, but she found it quite easy to like one for his own sake. the exact nature of the relations between individual men and women is not in general a legitimate matter for curiosity or speculation. it is a question which concerns the parties only. in this instance, however, it may be in the interests of louis and lola to observe that their relations were in all probability what is called platonic. the king's nature was æsthetic, poetical, sentimental; he was eminently capable of that unsensual affection that seems to have animated dante and michelangelo. it must not be forgotten, too, that he was sixty years of age. "the sins of youth," he said "are the virtues of age." he affirmed publicly and solemnly that lola had been his friend, never his mistress; and the word of louis of bavaria is not to be lightly disregarded. lola repeatedly said the same thing. nothing to the contrary was ever alleged by the king's immediate _entourage_; and--most significant fact of all--the queen, therese of sachsen-hildburghausen, never manifested the slightest jealousy of her husband's friend, but, on the contrary, more than once expressed her sympathy with her policy and actions. it was not, of course, to be expected that the public would take this view of louis's relations with the famous adventuress. least of all would it find acceptance with the roman catholic clergy, whose tendency it has ever been to exaggerate the sensual instincts in man's nature and to ignore the subtler, finer phases of passion. puritan and prurient are generally synonymous terms. nor were the king's ministers and clerical advisers at all anxious to place a favourable construction on lola's presence at the court. the jesuits' agents in different capitals reported unfavourably on the dancer. they professed to believe, as we have seen--perhaps, they did believe--that she was an emissary of the freemasons, a body which in england is regarded as a gigantic goose club, but by the catholic world as the most dangerous of secret anti-clerical societies. now from what frau von kobell tells us, it is plain that the jesuits looked on lola as a foe from the moment she set foot in munich. we must seek for some antecedent cause. the lady's own explanation is improbable, but worth repeating. she alleges that while in paris she was approached by the agents of the society, and invited to assist in the conversion of count medem, a russian nobleman. this proposal, possibly because of her inherited dislike of the roman church, she declined; and communicated the matter to monsieur guizot, then prime minister, who had long been puzzled by the ever-increasing numbers in which the russian nobility in paris were going over to rome. their conversion is attributed by catholics to the apostolic zeal of madame swetchine, a russian lady of some literary attainments, whose _salon_ was the rendezvous of the clerical party in paris. vandam's informant (if he ever existed in the flesh) and one or two writers with an ultramontane bias suggest that the feud between lola and the jesuits arose simply because it was impossible for the latter to give any countenance to a king's mistress. but we know that they recognised her as their enemy before she became the royal favourite; moreover, german writers say that the clericals had never made any remonstrances or raised any difficulties respecting her predecessors in his majesty's affections. i see no reason to doubt that lola's anti-clerical or anti-catholic sentiments were genuine and frankly expressed; we find similar instances of the _odium theologicum_ in nell gwynne and louis de kèroual. intercourse with liszt and dujarier would have strengthened such a prejudice. in lola's haughty disregard, too, of the etiquette of courts and fearlessness in the presence of the great, we may detect the temperament, which would find its political expression in advanced liberalism. the rumour that she was an agent of "the english freemasons," if by that term we may understand the english liberals, is not to be dismissed as altogether preposterous. our government at that time was more or less actively hostile to the ultra-legitimist and clerical tendencies paramount in central europe: we backed the swiss confederation against the sonderbund; we sympathised with the italians in their struggles for freedom; english volunteers fought for the liberal christinos against the ultramontane carlists. lola's well-known sympathies, her knowledge of continental courts, above all, her personality, would have recommended her as a most valuable agent to our foreign office. we shall see presently that she became the honoured guest of an english ambassador, and how legal proceedings afterwards instituted against her in this country were mysteriously suffered to collapse, as if in obedience to orders from above. lola never describes herself, it is true, as a secret agent of our government, but she would naturally have preferred to appear as the independent, irresponsible dictatrix of a nation's policy. whatever the cause may have been, antagonism manifested itself between lola montez and the king's advisers, official and clerical, within a very few days of her arrival at his court. louis is said to have introduced her to his ministers as his best friend. the jesuits immediately circulated the report that she was his mistress, and endeavoured to inflame the bavarian people against her. in obedience to their principle of the church first and political consistency a long way after, they instigated a general attack upon king and favourite through the clerical press of germany. it was truly remarked in one of the independent organs of opinion that the most extreme radical could not have shown less regard for the person of the sovereign than these champions of legitimacy. caricature, that pitiable prostitution of a divine art, was assiduously employed. louis was represented as a crowned satyr, a pug-dog, an ass with a crown tied to his tail; lola was treated with even less regard for decency. the ape that lurks in every man gibbered in every clerical rag. the curious may inspect some choice examples of this simian humour in herr fuchs's interesting work.[ ] ridicule, so far from killing, as is so often said, can be proved by history to be the least potent instrument of attack and persecution wielded by man. skits break neither bones nor thrones. ridicule is generally on the side of authority and reaction, and as such, in the long run, on the losing side. puritanism survived the raillery of seventeenth-century wags; the north triumphed, despite the loathsome scurrilities of _punch_; "napoleon the little," succumbed to german strategy, not to victor hugo's satiric force; teetotalism, socialism, and the cause of woman wax stronger daily, in spite of the humorists of the music halls and the racing rags. the king of bavaria was not to be shamed or affrighted by all the gutter journalists of germany. but his smile became a little grim. archbishop diepenbrock remonstrated with him as to his assumed relations with the dancer. "stick to your _stola_, bishop," was the plantagenet-like answer, "and leave me my lola." he claimed for his domestic affairs the privacy enjoyed by the meanest of his subjects. his regard for lola and respect for her opinion grew stronger daily. dismay spread through the clerical camp. as vilification failed to produce any sensible effect, bribery was attempted. at the instance, no doubt, of metternich, louis's sister, the dowager empress karoline augusta, offered the favourite two thousand pounds if she would quit bavaria. the offer was rejected, in what terms our knowledge of lola's character enables us to imagine. she did not lack money, nor did she crave for it. she loved power for its own sake, and power she now possessed. under her influence louis recovered his sanity. the liberal instincts of his youth and prime revived. he became once more the grecian, and the mediæval fever left him. his impatience of clerical control grew more evident daily. "and lo, a blade for a knight's emprise filled the fine empty sheath of a man.-- the duke grew straightway brave and wise." xx the abel memorandum the king's change of policy first found official expression in the royal decree of th december , transferring the control of the departments of education and public worship from abel, the minister of the interior, to baron von schrenk. the effect of this measure was practically to remove the schools from the power of the jesuits. abel saw in it a blow aimed at him by the detested _andalusierin_. he addressed a letter to the king, reminding him of his zeal and devotion to the crown, of his attachment to his person, of the unpopularity he had willingly incurred in order to subject the people more thoroughly to royal control. louis was not greatly affected by this letter; we seldom earn the gratitude of others by reminding them that we have taken upon ourselves blame which ought rightly to be theirs. he was ungrateful enough to say that he had no sympathy with abel's policy, but that he found him a convenient man to work with. the minister hoped that the king, like henri quatre, would prefer his servant to his favourite, but he was disappointed. he next put his trust in louis's disinclination to take an active part in the government; but here again he was deceived. the king, stimulated by lola, began to exhibit the vigour and activity of youth, and showed a disposition to rule as well as to reign. baron von pechmann, the chief of the munich police, was less patient than abel, and ventured to protest against the consideration shown to "a mere adventuress." the king's blue eyes kindled. "begone!" he exclaimed angrily; "you will find the air of landshut purer!" it was a sentence of banishment which the minister had no choice but to obey. this opposition on the part of the clericals determined louis to regularise his new favourite and counsellor's position in his kingdom, and to establish her social rank. he proposed to raise her to the peerage, and as a preliminary measure he signed letters patent, conferring upon her the status and rights of a bavarian citizen. according to the constitution this decree had to be countersigned by a minister. the document was placed before abel for his signature. the crisis had come. the king must now finally decide between minister and favourite, in other words, between reaction and progress. abel summoned his colleagues to a council and the following remarkable memorandum to his majesty was the result of their deliberations.[ ] "sire,--there are circumstances in which men invested with the inappreciable confidence of their sovereign, and charged with the direction of affairs, are called upon either to renounce their most sacred duties or to expose themselves, at the bidding of their consciences, to the risk of incurring the displeasure of their beloved monarch. this is the sad necessity to which your ministers find themselves reduced by the royal determination to grant to señora lola montez letters of naturalisation. we are incapable of forgetting the oaths we took to your majesty, and our resolution has never been for a moment doubtful. the proposed naturalisation of señora montez was openly characterised by councillor von maurer as the greatest calamity with which bavaria could be afflicted. this was the conviction of the whole council, and the opinion of all your majesty's faithful subjects. since december last the eyes of the nation have been fixed on munich. the respect for the sovereign becomes weaker and weaker in all minds, because on all sides nothing is heard but the bitterest blame and disapprobation. national feeling is wounded: bavaria believes itself to be governed by a foreign woman, whose reputation is branded in public opinion. men like the bishop of augsburg [dr. richarz], whose devotion to your majesty cannot be disputed, daily shed bitter tears for what is passing before their eyes; the ministers of the interior and of finance have witnessed his profound affliction. the prince bishop of breslau [dr. diepenbrock], hearing of a rumour that he had countenanced the actual state of things, has written to persons in munich formally and most emphatically expressing his disapprobation. his letter is no longer a secret, and will soon be known to the whole country. foreign journals every day relate the most scandalous anecdotes, and make the most degrading attacks on your majesty. the copy of the _ulner chronik_, which we subjoin, is a proof of our assertions. in vain do the police attempt to stop the circulation of these journals, which are everywhere read with avidity. the impression which they leave on men's minds is by no means doubtful. it is the same from berchtesgaden and passau to aschaffenburg and zweibrücken. it is the same throughout europe, in the cabin of the poor and the palace of the rich. it is not alone the glory and well-being of your majesty's government that is compromised, but the very existence of royalty itself. it is this which explains the joy of the enemies of the throne, and the profound grief and despair of all who are faithfully attached to your majesty, and who are alive to the dangers greater than any to which it has been exposed. in this state of things, it is inevitable that what is passing will influence the army, and if this bulwark should give way, where would be our resource? the statement, which the undersigned, whose hearts are torn with anguish, venture to place before your majesty, is not the product of a terrified imagination, but of observations which each has made within the circle of his attributions, during several months. the effect of these circumstances in the ensuing parliamentary session may easily be foreseen. each of the undersigned is ready to sacrifice for your majesty his fortune and his life. your ministers believe that they have given you proofs of their fidelity and attachment, but it is for them a doubly sacred duty to point out to your majesty the ever-increasing danger of this situation. we beg you to listen to our humble prayer and not to suppose that it is dictated by any desire to thwart your royal will. it is directed only against a state of things which threatens to destroy the fair fame, power, and future happiness of a beloved king. your ministers are convinced, after earnest deliberation, that if your majesty should not deign to give ear to their supplications, they are bound to resign the positions to which the kindness and confidence of their sovereign has called them, and to pray your majesty to remove the portfolios with which they are entrusted, (signed) von abel. von seinsheim. von gumppenberg. von schrenk. munich, _ th february _." this extraordinary address exhibits the courage, if not the tact and sense of humour of the signatories; but none of them cared to present it. abel sent it by messenger to the king, who perused it with mingled amusement and indignation, and then locked it in his desk. he asked abel if this was the only copy existing, and was answered in the affirmative. but a day or two later the memorandum appeared in print in the columns of the _augsburger zeitung_. a preliminary draft had been sent by abel to a fifth minister, herr von giese, who had left it carelessly upon his bureau. here it was scanned with interest and curiosity by his elderly sister, and was carried off by her, to be proudly exhibited at a tea-party. handed round among the guests for examination, it was not long in finding its way into the press. it was reproduced in the french and english papers. the _times_ devoted an editorial to its contents, and compared the excessive sensibility of the bishop of augsburg with the hardened indifference of the english hierarchy to the transgressions of the fourth george and william. the lachrymose prelate contributed hugely to the gaiety of nations. bernstorff, the prussian ambassador, considered the address wanting in respect to the sovereign; by another statesman it was qualified as unbecoming, injudicious, and crude. more heads than one, it was remarked, had been lost over lola. no one could have been more amused than the lady herself by this astonishing memorandum. she had indeed good cause for mirth. the indiscretion of the cabinet brought about the complete triumph of her policy. the king allowed abel twenty-four hours to reconsider his attitude, and as the minister stood to his guns, he was formally dismissed from office on th february. his fall involved his colleagues. louis's return to his earlier ideas, consequent upon his relations with lola, was made evident in his choice of new ministers. the portfolio of the interior was entrusted to baron zu rhein, with the intimation that his majesty wished to be served by men sincerely attached to their religion, but determined to resist any encroachment by the church upon the rights of the state. councillor maurer became minister of justice, having presumably recanted the views attributed to him by his late colleagues in the memorandum. he was a man of learning and liberal tendencies, and was the first protestant to hold cabinet rank in bavaria. the portfolios of finance and war were given respectively to councillor zenetti and major-general von hohenhausen. the whole cabinet was frankly liberal. lola had coaxed the king back to sanity, and inflicted a signal defeat upon the clericals. all over germany she was acclaimed as the heroine of liberalism. metternich groaned over the deplorable state of things at munich, and wrote that this woman had become an instrument of the radical party. bernstorff received the news of the fall of abel's ministry with satisfaction, accompanied, as it was, by maurer's assurance that the reign of the jesuits in bavaria was at an end. it was at her evening reception at her house in theresienstrasse that louis came to announce to lola the dismissal of his old ministers, and his unalterable attachment to her and to her policy. "i will not give lola up," he declared; "i will never give up that noble princely being. my kingdom for lola!" maurer was obliged to consent to the naturalisation that he had described as a national calamity. lola was soon after raised to the peerage with the titles of countess of landsfeld[ ] and baroness rosenthal. she is described in the register of bavarian nobility as maria dolores porris y montez, the daughter of a carlist officer and cuban lady. (that the daughter of a follower of don carlos should be a deadly foe of all that was ultramontane must have struck her friends and opponents as odd.) her titles conveyed with them an estate of importance, and certain feudal rights--the middle and the low justice, perhaps--over two thousand souls. she was made a canoness of the aristocratic order of st. theresa, of which the queen was the head. to enable her to support this dignity the king endowed her with an annuity of twenty thousand florins. with this and the money bequeathed her by dujarier she was now rich. a palace befitting her position was ordered to be built for her in bärerstrasse after the design of the architect, metzger, who was one of her most impassioned admirers. her portrait was painted by royal command, and placed in the gallery of beauties, where louis, it is said, was accustomed to spend hours in rapturous contemplation. xxi the indiscretions of a monarch louis, being a lover of the old school, resorted to verse as an expression of his sentiments towards his new favourite. the editor of the _times_, years after, described his majesty as something of a poet, in a small way. how very small that way was the following effusions will show. they were translated by mr. francis, afterwards editor of the _morning post_ and other journals. unfortunately, or fortunately, they convey no idea of the odd contortions of language characteristic of the original. "to the absent lolita "the world hates and persecutes that heart which gave itself to me: but however much they may try to estrange us, my heart will cling the more fondly to thine. "the more they hate, the more thou art beloved; and more and more is given to thee. i shall never be torn from thee. "against others they have no hate; it is against thee alone they are enraged; in thee everything is a crime; thy words alone, as deeds, they would punish. "but the heart's goodness shows itself-- thou hast a highly elevated mind; yet the little who deem themselves great would cast thee off as a pariah. "for evermore i belong to thee; for evermore thou belongest to me: what delight! that like the wave renews itself out of its eternal spring. "by thee my life becomes ennobled, which without thee was solitary and empty; thy love is the nutriment of my heart, if it had it not, it would die. "and though thou mightest by all be forsaken, i will never abandon thee; for ever will i preserve for thee constancy and true german faith." the next verses relate to the countess of landsfeld, in her character as a liberal martyr. "from thee, beloved one, time and distance separate me, but however distant thou might'st be, i should ever call thee my own, thou eternally bright star of my life. "the wild steed, if you try to daunt him. prances, the bolder only, on and on: the ties of love will tie us so much closer, if the world attempt to tear thee from me. "and every persecution thou endurest becomes a new link in the chain which, because thou art struggling for truth, thou hast, for the rest of my life, cast around me. "whether near or far off, thou art mine, and the love which with its lustre glorifies is ever renewed and will last for ever. for evermore our faith will prove itself true." [illustration: louis i. king of bavaria.] the following lines are a sonnet in the original, addressed to:-- "lolita and louis "men strive with restless zeal to separate us; constantly and gloomily they plan thy destruction; in vain, however, are always their endeavours, because they know themselves alone, not us. our love will bloom but the brighter for it all-- what gives us bliss cannot be divorced from us-- those endless flames which burn with sparkling light, and pervade our existence with enrapturing fire. two rocks are we, against which constantly are breaking the adversaries' craft, the enemies' open rage; but, scorpion-like, themselves, they pierce with deadly sting-- the sanctuary is guarded by trust and faith; thy enemies' cruelty will be revenged on themselves-- love will compensate for all that we have suffered. "in the following sonnet," comments the translator, "the royal poet does not clearly intimate whether he has renounced the political or the personal rivals of the fair lolita:-- "'if, for my sake, thou hast renounced all ties, i, too, for thee have broken with them all; life of my life, i am thine--i am thy thrall-- i hold no compact with thine enemies. their blandishments are powerless on me, no arts will serve to seduce me from thee; the power of love raises me above them. with thee my earthly pilgrimage will end. as is the union between the body and the soul, so, until death, with thine my being is blended. in thee i have found what i ne'er yet found in any-- the sight of thee gave new life to my being. all feeling for any other has died away, for my eyes read in thine--love!'" the final example of the king's lyrical genius might be inscribed to "lolita in dejection." it is dated the evening of th july . "a glance of the sun of former days, a ray of light in gloomy night! have sounded long-forgotten strings, and life once more as erst was bright. "thus felt i on that night of gladness, when all was joy through thee alone; thy spirit chased from mine its sadness, no joy was greater than mine own. "then was i happy for feeling more deeply what i possessed and what i lost; it seemed that thy joy then went for ever, and that it could never more return. "thou hast lost thy cheerfulness, persecution has robbed thee of it; it has deprived thee of thy health, the happiness of thy life is already departed. "but the firmer only, and more firmly thou hast tied me to thee; thou canst never draw me from thee-- thou sufferest because thou lovest me." the king of bavaria was not a poet; but, as a critic said of emile auger, in some remote corner of his being, something was singing. xxii the ministry of good hope the ultramontanes had no intention of taking their defeat lying down. the jesuits were fighting for their very existence just over the frontier in switzerland; the sonderbund or catholic league was threatened with an attack at any moment by the forces of the confederation. austria and france could do nothing for the league through fear of palmerston, but it is very probable that help was expected from bavaria, on which england could not have brought any direct pressure to bear. munich was the asylum of ultramontane exiles from all parts of europe--of french legitimists, polish catholics, and swiss jesuits. in lola's action they detected the hand of the arch-enemy, palmerston. liberally supplied with gold from austria (as bernstorff did not hesitate to allege), these champions of legitimacy sedulously strove to inflame the people with hatred of the favourite. lola's unfortunate temper aided their exertions. the citizens of munich disliked being boxed on the ears even by the most beautiful of her sex, and baron pechmann, who had endeavoured to avenge them, had been banished. lola, like all people of a rich, generous nature, was fond of dogs. in london she had bought a bull-dog from a man who told mark lemon, with a very proper professional reservation, that the lady was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen--_on two legs_. the animal, being indisposed, was sent by his devoted mistress to the veterinary hospital at munich. the patient did not progress very rapidly towards recovery, and lola remonstrated with the medical man in attendance. his reply was too brusque for her taste. her ears having been offended, she promptly boxed his. she then carried off her darling, who was soon restored to health and vigour. so complete was his recovery that a week or two later, while accompanying his mistress in the streets of munich, he prepared himself to attack a carrier who was walking beside his cart. the man anticipated the onslaught by flicking the bull-dog with his whip. the enraged lola at once smote the man on the ear. the assault was witnessed by several passers-by, whose threatening attitude compelled her to take refuge in a neighbouring shop. from this dangerous situation she was delivered only by the police. lola and the king laughed good-humouredly over these incidents; the people of munich were disposed to look upon them as deadly outrages. the new favourite, then, was not likely to become popular with the masses; and her enemies could turn with some confidence to the educated classes, as far as they were represented at the university. students in france, russia, italy, and indeed most civilised countries, are admittedly hot-blooded, enthusiastic champions of freedom and progress; in some states they are the very backbone of the revolutionary party. in bavaria at this time, on the contrary, the students, like those of our english universities, displayed fervent devotion to the ideals of their grandmothers, and held tenaciously by the standards of the nurseries they had so lately quitted. munich rivalled oxford and cambridge in its zeal for conservatism and obsolete canons. professor lassaulx, therefore, was only voicing the sentiments of the university generally when he presented an address to councillor von abel, deploring that minister's retirement, and congratulating him upon his adherence to ultramontane principles. this was tantamount to a vote of censure on the sovereign. lassaulx was at once deprived of his chair, despite (it is said by dr. erdmann) lola's earnest entreaties with the king. the professor received a tremendous ovation from the students. on the st march they collected in the morning outside his house in theresienstrasse, cheering him vociferously. lola, unluckily, was then living in the same street, and having expressed their sympathy with the professor, it occurred to the students that they might as well express their disapprobation of the woman to whom they attributed his downfall. lola was at lunch when howls and hoots and cries of "pereat lola!" brought her to the window. she was received with yells from the throats of two hundred stout, beer-drinking, bavarian _burschen_. amused at the sight, and undismayed, as she ever was, she derisively toasted the mob in a glass of champagne and ate chocolates while she watched their gyrations. her coolness would have disarmed the enmity of an english crowd, and sent it away cheering. but the sportsman-like qualities are not specially inculcated by the disciples of loyola, nor were perhaps highly esteemed in the germany of that date. presently the king himself came along the street, and, unmolested and unnoticed, quietly elbowed his way through the mob. he stood at lola's door composedly contemplating his excited subjects. he turned to councillor hörmann, whom the noise of the disturbance had also brought to the spot. "if she were called loyola montez," remarked his majesty, "i suppose they would cheer her." then he quietly entered the house. the street was cleared by the mounted police. louis remained all the afternoon at his favourite's house, and when night fell, attempted to return to the palace on foot, and unattended, as he had come. he was compelled to abandon the attempt. he was received with howls and threats, and could only reach his residence by the aid of a military escort. the streets were filled with the most dangerous elements in the city. a crowd collected before the palace, and cheered the queen, who, poor lady! must have been embarrassed by this demonstration of sympathy with the emotions of wifely jealousy and injured dignity to which she was a stranger! before day broke order had been restored by the sabres of the cuirassiers. lola, knowing the temper of her countrymen, saw in this attack on a woman a sure means of enlisting their sympathies. she wrote a letter to the _times_ in which she gave her own version of affairs in bavaria in the following terms:-- "i had not been here a week before i discovered that there was a plot existing in the town to get me out of it, and that the party was the jesuit party. of course, you are aware that bavaria has long been their stronghold, and munich their headquarters. this, naturally, to a person brought up and instructed from her earliest youth to detest this party (i think you will say naturally) irritated me not a little. "when they saw that i was not likely to leave them, they commenced on another tack, and tried what bribery would do, and actually offered me , francs yearly if i would quit bavaria and promise never to return. this, as you may imagine, opened my eyes, and as i indignantly refused their offer, they have not since then left a stone unturned to get rid of me, and have never for an instant ceased persecuting me. i may mention, as one instance, that within the last week a jesuit professor of philosophy at the university here, by the name of lassaulx, was removed from his professorship, upon which the party paid and hired a mob to insult me and break the windows of my palace, and also to attack the palace; but, thanks to the better feeling of the other party, and the devotedness of the soldiers to his majesty and his authority, this plot likewise failed." it was, in fact, as disastrous to its instigators as the famous memorandum. the king perceived the university to be a hot-bed of clericalism, and promptly invited the majority of the professors to transfer their services to other seats of learning, or to abandon this particular sphere of usefulness altogether. their chairs were filled by men of moderate views. at the same time the university was freed from the oppressive surveillance of the ministry; the obnoxious decrees affecting the sale of books were withdrawn; and even the undergraduates felt constrained to testify their gratitude to the liberal king by means of a torchlight procession. louis and his new ministers were not wanting in firmness. several officers and civil servants were transferred to distant stations, and otherwise made to feel the weight of the royal displeasure for having taken part in an ultramontane gathering at adelholz, in the bavarian highlands, where a protest was raised against lola's elevation to the peerage. with the bulk of the people, notwithstanding, the king's popularity knew no diminution. he received an enthusiastic greeting at bruckenau, kissingen, and aschaffenburg, where he passed the summer. he wrote to his secretary in munich, on th june : "i am very satisfied with my reception throughout my whole progress;" and on st august: "i was surprised, agreeably surprised, by my evidently joyful reception in the palatinate." in franconia, inhabited largely by protestants, the king's change of policy was naturally welcome. lola's popularity likewise increased by leaps and bounds, though her uncontrollable temper continued to lead her into mischief. a furious quarrel with the commandant of the würzburg garrison interrupted her journey north to join the court at aschaffenburg. the queen, meanwhile, was the object of a demonstration of sympathy at bamberg, really directed against the favourite. certain sections of the aristocracy held aloof from the countess, with that steadfast devotion to virtue that has always characterised their order. lola complained of their attitude to his majesty. questioned by him they alluded to the lady's doubtful antecedents as sufficient justification for their refusal to present her to their wives. the king's answer was that of a chivalrous man of the world: "what other woman of so-called high standing would have conducted herself better, had she been abandoned to the world, young, beautiful, and helpless? bah! i know them all, and i tell you i don't rate too highly the much-belauded virtue of the inexperienced and untried." louis was a gentleman as well as a prince, and had the courage to protect the woman he loved. "mark well," he wrote to a person of rank, "if you are invited to the house the king frequents, and you do not come, the king will see in this an offence against his dignity, and his displeasure will follow." louis's rule for his courtiers was, in short: "love me, love lola." social distinction and wealth were not enough to satisfy the countess of landsfeld. she was not content to pull the wires; she wanted the appearance of power, as well as its substance. she longed to display openly her talents as a ruler. she was galled by the affected indifference of statesmen, who could not in reality put a single measure into execution without her sanction. while all germany acclaimed her as the liberal heroine, zu rhein was able afterwards to affirm publicly in the chamber that the favourite had at no time come between the cabinet and the sovereign, nor had in any way governed its policy. this statement may be accepted as far as it goes, but the ministers could have done nothing without the king's co-operation, and the king never denied that he was accustomed to consult the countess on all affairs of state. the credit of the zu rhein-maurer administration rightly, therefore, belongs in great measure to her. she was always by the king to keep him in the straight way of reform, to safeguard him against a relapse into ultramontanism. she not unnaturally chafed at what must have seemed the ingratitude of the ministers. she had not yet forgiven maurer for his reference to her proposed naturalisation as a calamity. now she regarded him as a puppet which had the impudence to ignore its maker. he got the credit of reforms, she told herself, that she had initiated. meantime, the clerical press bombarded her with low abuse. she demanded the enforcement of the censorship and the suppression of the offending journals. such steps as these, a professedly liberal government was loth to take. a collision took place between the favourite and "the ministry of good hope," as it was derisively called. lola found an instrument ready to her hand in councillor von berks, whose devotion to her was warmer than a merely political allegiance. in december, the king decided to reconstitute the ministry. he appointed berks to the department of the interior, and to prince wallerstein, lately bavarian representative at paris, he gave the portfolio of foreign affairs. the new cabinet was composed entirely of men wholly in sympathy with the views of both sovereign and favourite. by its opponents it was derisively dubbed the lola ministry. the _münchner zeitung_ welcomed its frank and whole-hearted liberalism as a guarantee of the solution of all the problems of bavaria's internal and foreign policy. wallerstein was even more anti-clerical than his predecessors. the sonderbund was crushed in november by the strategy of dufour, and the jesuits came flying from switzerland into bavaria. they were forbidden to remain in the country more than a few days. the press was not gagged, but conciliated. lola was acclaimed as the good genius of bavaria. the german liberals hailed her as a valued ally. to her influence was attributed the tardy addition of luther's bust to the collection of german worthies in the walhalla. _punch_, as a suggestion for a colossal statue of bavaria, represents lola upholding a banner inscribed "freedom and the cachuca." the "good little thing" of simla wielded the sceptre, and wielded it well. xxiii the uncrowned queen of bavaria george henry francis, an english journalist, a resident of munich at that time, and afterwards editor of the _morning post_, contributed the following account of lola's manner of life at this period to _fraser's magazine_ for january :-- "the house of lola montez at munich presents an elegant contrast to the large, cold, lumbering mansions, which are the greatest defect in the general architecture of the city. it is a _bijou_, built under her own eye, by her own architect,[ ] and it is quite unique in its simplicity and lightness. it is of two storeys, and, allowing for its plainness, is in the italian style. elegant bronze balconies from the upper windows, designed by herself, relieve the plainness of the exterior; and long, muslin curtains, slightly tinted, and drawn close, so as to cover the windows, add a transparent, shell-like lightness to the effect. any english gentleman (lola has a great respect for england and the english) can, on presenting his card, see the interior; but it is not a 'show place.' the interior surpasses everything, even in munich, where decorative painting and internal fitting has been carried almost to perfection. we are not going to write an upholsterer's catalogue, but as everything was done by the immediate choice and under the direction of the fair lola, the general characteristics of the place will serve to illustrate her character. such a tigress, one would think, would scarcely choose so beautiful a den. the smallness of the house precludes much splendour. its place is supplied by french elegance, munich art, and english comfort. the walls of the chief room are exquisitely painted by the first artists from the designs found in herculaneum and pompeii, but selected with great taste by lola montez. the furniture is not gaudily rich, but elegant enough to harmonise with the decorations. a small winter room, adjoining the larger one, is fitted up, quite in the english style, with papered walls, sofas, easy-chairs, all of elegant shape. a chimney, with a first-rate grate of english manufacture, and rich, thick carpets and rugs, complete the illusion; the walls are hung with pictures, among them a raphael. there are also some of the best works of modern german painters; a good portrait of the king; and a very bad one of the mistress of the mansion. the rest of the establishment bespeaks equally the exquisite taste of the fair owner. the drawing-rooms and her boudoir are perfect gems. books, not of a frivolous kind, borrowed from the royal library, lie about, and help to show what are the habits of this modern amazon. add to these a piano and a guitar, on both of which she accompanies herself with considerable taste and some skill, and an embroidery frame, at which she produces works that put to shame the best of those exhibited for sale in england; so that you see she is positively compelled at times to resort to some amusement becoming her sex, as a relief from those more masculine or unworthy occupations in which, according to her reverend enemies, she emulates alternately the example of peter the great and catharine ii. the rest of the appointments of the place are in keeping: the coach-house and stabling (her equipages are extremely modest and her household no more numerous or ostentatious than those of a gentlewoman of means), the culinary offices, and an exquisite bath-room, into which the light comes tinted with rose-colour. at the back of the house is a large flower-garden, in which, during the summer, most of the political consultations between the fair countess and her sovereign are held. "for her habits of life, they are simple. she eats little, and of plain food, cooked in the english fashion; drinks little, keeps good hours, rises early, and labours much. the morning, before and after breakfast, is devoted to what we must call semi-public business. the innumerable letters she receives and affairs she has to arrange, keep herself and her secretary constantly employed during some hours. at breakfast she holds a sort of _levée_ of persons of all sorts--ministers _in esse_ or _in posse_, professors, artists, english strangers, and foreigners from all parts of the world. as is usual with women of an active mind, she is a great talker; but although an egotist, and with her full share of the vanity of her sex, she understands the art of conversation sufficiently never to be wearisome. indeed, although capable of violent but evanescent passions--of deep but not revengeful animosities, and occasionally of trivialities and weaknesses very often found in persons suddenly raised to great power--she can be, and almost always is, a very charming person and a delightful companion. her manners are distinguished, she is a graceful and hospitable hostess, and she understands the art of dressing to perfection. "the fair despot is passionately fond of homage. she is merciless in her man-killing propensities, and those gentlemen attending her _levées_ or her _soirées_, who are perhaps too much absorbed in politics or art to be enamoured of her personal charms, willingly pay respect to her mental attractions and conversational powers. "on the other hand, lola montez has many of the faults recorded of others in like situations. she loves power for its own sake; she is too hasty and too steadfast in her dislikes; she has not sufficiently learned to curb the passion which seems natural to her spanish blood; she is capricious, and quite capable, when her temper is inflamed, of rudeness, which, however, she is the first to regret and to apologise for. one absorbing idea she has which poisons her peace. she has devoted her life to the extirpation of the jesuits, root and branch, from bavaria. she is too ready to believe in their active influence, and too early overlooks their passive influence. every one whom she does not like, her prejudice transforms into a jesuit. jesuits stare at her in the streets, and peep out from the corners of her rooms. all the world, adverse to herself, are puppets moved to mock and annoy her by these dark and invisible agents. at the same time she has, doubtless, had good cause for this animosity; but these restless suspicions are a weakness quite incompatible with the strength of mind, the force of character, and determination of purpose she exhibits in other respects. "as a political character, she holds an important position in bavaria, besides having agents and correspondents in various courts of europe. the king generally visits her in the morning from eleven till twelve, or one o'clock; sometimes she is summoned to the palace to consult with him, or with the ministers, on state affairs. it is probable that during her habits of intimacy with some of the principal political writers of paris, she acquired that knowledge of politics and insight into the manoeuvres of diplomatists and statesmen which she now turns to advantage in her new sphere of action. on foreign politics she seems to have very clear ideas; and her novel and powerful method of expressing them has a great charm for the king, who has himself a comprehensive mind. on the internal politics of bavaria she has the good sense not to rely upon her own judgment, but to consult these whose studies and occupations qualify them to afford information. for the rest, she is treated by the political men of the country as a substantive power; and, however much they may secretly rebel against her influence, they, at least, find it good policy to acknowledge it. whatever indiscretions she may, in other respects, commit, she always keeps state secrets, and can, therefore, be consulted with perfect safety, in cases where her original habits of thought render her of invaluable service. acting under advice, which entirely accords with the king's own general principles, his majesty has pledged himself to a course of steady but gradual improvement, which is calculated to increase the political freedom and material prosperity of his kingdom, without risking that unity of power, which, in the present state of european affairs, is essential to its protection and advancement. one thing in her praise is, that although she really wields so much power, she never uses it either for the promotion of unworthy persons or, as other favourites have done, for corrupt purposes. her creation as countess of landsfeld, which has alienated from her some of her most honest liberal supporters, who wished her still to continue in rank, as well as in purposes, one of the people, while it has exasperated against her the powerless, because impoverished, nobility, was the unsolicited act of the king, legally effected with the consent of the crown prince. without entrenching too far upon a delicate subject, it may be added, that she is not regarded with contempt or detestation by either the male or the female members of the royal family. she is regarded by them rather as a political personage than as the king's favourite. her income, including a recent addition from the king, is seventy thousand florins, or little more than five thousand pounds. while upon this subject of her position, it may be added, that it is reported, on good authority, that the queen of bavaria (to whom, by the way, the king has always paid the most scrupulous attentions due to her as his wife) very recently made a voluntary communication to her husband, apparently with the knowledge of the princes and other member of the royal family, that should the king desire, at any future time, that the countess should, as a matter of right, be presented at court, she (the queen) would offer no obstacle. "the relation subsisting between the king of bavaria and the countess of landsfeld is not of a coarse or vulgar character. the king has a highly poetical mind, and sees his favourite through his imagination. knowing perfectly well what her antecedents have been, he takes her as she is, and finding in her an agreeable and intellectual companion, and an honest, plainspoken councillor, he fuses the reality with the ideal in one deep sentiment of affectionate respect." xxiv the downfall this view of the king's sentiments towards his favourite was not acceptable to that lady's political enemies. it is to be observed, also, that the champions of orthodox morality are the hardest to persuade of the actual existence or possibility of virtue in the individual. it would seem at times that they doubt the efficacy of baptismal waters to wash out original sin. morality finds strange champions in all lands. the house of lords, the racing papers, the transpontine stage, and the irish moon-lighters have all been found at one time or another on the side of the angels. in bavaria in the university students, still for the greater part leavened by ultramontane doctrines, posed as the vindicators of christian morality, and spoke of lola as the scarlet woman. with singular inconsistency they continued to profess their devotion to the king, who must have obviously been in their eyes, a partner in the woman's guilt. the catholic church does not discriminate between the sexes as regards this particular offence; moreover, evil example in a prince is held by all moralists to be more serious than in a private person. lola, also, was believed to be single; louis was living with his wife. the man's offence, then, would seem from every point of view to have been graver; nor could it have been excused on the ground of weakness of will or understanding, for this in a king would itself have aggravated his guilt. the undergraduates of munich, however, being pupils of the jesuits and presumably skilled in casuistry, would no doubt have been able to explain an attitude which appears inconsistent to the non-academic mind. all the members of the university were not under the thumb of the clericals. two or three students of the corps palatia (pfalz)--probably protestants--did not hesitate to appear at the countess of landsfeld's _salon_, which was the resort of the most brilliant people in munich. lola's fancy was taken by the colours of the corps, and she playfully stuck one of the young fellows' caps on her pretty head. the students were, in consequence, expelled from their association. a large number of liberal students thereupon seceded from their respective corps and formed a new one, appropriately called alemannia. the new body was at once recognised by the king, and endowed with all the privileges of an ancient corps. lola insisted upon providing every member with an exceedingly smart uniform, at her own expense, and with delight saw them establish their head-quarters in a house backing upon her own. the alemannia became her devoted bodyguard. they watched her house, they escorted her in the street. she graced their festivals, dressed in the close-fitting uniform of the corps. berks entertained them to a banquet at the palace of nymphenburg, and in a stirring speech publicly commended their zeal for the cause of enlightenment, humanity and progress. conflicts between the alemannen and the other corps were frequent. the university was split into two bitterly, venomously hostile camps, and lola's partisans, being the fewer, seemed likely to have the worst of it. the rector, thiersch, intervened, and publicly took the new corps under his protection. for this act he was thanked by the king. but the mutual hatred of the factions knew no abatement. now the wires began to feel the touch of other operators than the jesuits. the revolutionary party was gathering strength in the winter of - . any rod was good enough to beat a king with, and no means or agents were to be despised which would weaken his authority, and the respect in which he was held by his subjects. as to the countess of landsfeld, she had played her part: she had struck a mortal blow at the jesuits, she had kept bavaria in leash while switzerland throttled the sonderbund. now, the liberals could do without her. her downfall would involve the king's. the situation was promising. the radicals determined to let the clericals pull the chestnuts out of the fire. the death of görres, a former revolutionary who had turned mystic and ultramontane in his latter years, was the signal for a formidable explosion. the police forbade any speech-making at his funeral, which took place on st january , but were unable to prevent a pilgrimage to his grave, organised by the ultramontane students, a week later. the corps franconia, bavaria, isar, and suabia, turned out in force. the procession soon resolved itself into a demonstration against the king's favourite. the fierce hostile murmur of the mob reached the ears of lola in her palace in barerstrasse. she could, without loss of honour or dignity, have ignored the demonstration: an angry mob is a foe which a brave man hesitates to meet single-handed. but lola montez knew not the meaning of fear. with incredible rashness and magnificent courage she deliberately went out into the street to meet her enemies face to face. she was received with groans and insult. "very well," she cried, "i will have the university closed!" this haughty threat maddened the crowd. a rush was made for her. a gallant band of alemannen closed round to defend her. their leader, count hirschberg, attempted to use a dagger in his own defence, but it was wrested from him, and he was severely injured. lola, forced at last to yield before superior numbers, retreated into the church of the theatines. the catholic rowdies, not daring to violate the right of sanctuary, laid siege to the building, and were dispersed with difficulty by the military. the ultramontanes reckoned it a glorious day; it was such, indeed, for the countess of landsfeld, who displayed a courage on this occasion of which no king or prince has ever given proof in any revolutionary crisis. the picture of this woman, attended only by two or three students, deliberately going out to meet a band of her infuriated enemies, is one which deserves a place in the gallery of heroic deeds. the king immediately gave effect to lola's threat. on th february he signed a decree closing the university, and ordered all students not natives of the city to leave it within twenty-four hours. the edict threw all munich into consternation. the departure of upwards of a thousand young men, many of them wealthy and well-connected, meant a serious blow to trade and a rending of innumerable social ties. the students marched, singing songs of adieu, to present a valedictory address to the rector. the citizens bestirred themselves, and to the number of two thousand signed a petition, imploring his majesty to reconsider the decision. louis inclined a favourable ear to their prayers, and announced on th february that the university would remain closed only for the summer term. this act of weakness cost louis i. his mistress and his crown. the revolutionary party perceived that this was the moment to strike. the king had yielded; the students were exultant and conscious of their strength; the townsfolk were weary of this ceaseless conflict between the countess and her foes. your good, old-fashioned burgher cares nothing for the rights and wrongs of a public dispute; he wishes to be left in peace to turn a penny into three half-pence, and to achieve that end is as ready to sacrifice the innocent as the guilty. jacob vennedey, a publicist and radical famous in his day, writing from frankfort, did his utmost to fan the flame of revolution. "the king of bavaria," so ran an article, "wastes the sweat of the poor country on mistresses and their followers. everybody knows that the jewellery which lola wore lately at the theatre cost , guldens; that her house in the barerstrasse is a fairy palace; that the cabinet, the council of state, and the whole civil service are at her beck and call; that the _gendarmerie_ and military are her particular escort; that the best catholic professors at the university have been dismissed at her caprice. for the people nothing is done." the last statement was untrue. if, too, the sixty thousand guldens had come out of the people's pockets, lola had well earned them by her services in emancipating the country from its clerical oppressors. louis's concession came too late--if it should have been made at all. on the morning of th february, munich was in insurrection. students and citizens flew to arms, and mustered in dense masses before the palace, and in the squares, loudly demanding the expulsion of the countess of landsfeld and the immediate reopening of the university. the situation, ministers thought, was critical. the king summoned a cabinet council, and was prevailed upon to accede to the demands of his insurgent subjects. he who had sworn before all the world that he would never give up lola, now signed a decree for her banishment from munich. to save his crown he broke all the solemn pledges he had given her. it was a base capitulation. but louis of bavaria was an old man, sixty-two years of age. his vows had been those of a young lover; but he wanted the youthful strength of will and hand that should have defended his mistress against an armed nation. peace--peace--is ever the craving, the last and strongest passion of age. the king's surrender to their demands was made known at midday to the angry crowds before the rathaus. the silly mob hailed with delight the downfall of the woman who had set them free to keep their own consciences, and speak their minds. the king's decision was communicated to lola by an aide-de-camp. she was commanded to withdraw at once from the capital. the intrepid woman could with difficulty be persuaded to credit the officer's words. such pusillanimity was incomprehensible to her. she could not believe that the king would abandon her without drawing the sword. lieutenant nüssbaum, at the outbreak of the disturbance, had been locked by a friend in an upper storey room to keep him out of danger, but at the risk of breaking his neck, the young officer had jumped from the window and hastened to offer his sword to the defenceless woman; but the king of bavaria had surrendered without striking a blow. his own signature at last satisfied lola of this. she looked up and down the street. no--there was not a single soldier or _gendarme_ to protect her. not for an instant did her nerve forsake her. with a smiling face she quitted the house where she had for nearly a year directed the fortunes of a kingdom. she took the augsburg train, as if _en route_ for lindau; but alighted at a wayside station and drove to blutenburg, a few miles from munich, three of her faithful alemannen--peisner, hertheim, and laibinger--escorting her. the rabble, who feared her manlike valour, did not attempt to molest her in her retreat, but having made sure that she was gone, they broke into her house, pillaging and wrecking. a curious, unaccountable impulse drew the king to the spot, where he must have passed many of the happiest hours of his life. with strange emotions he must have watched the human swine routing in this bower of venus. he stood there, a pathetic figure--an old man surveying the wreckage of his last and supreme passion. unheeded and seemingly unrecognised, he was suddenly dealt a violent blow on the head, probably by a revolutionary agent, and tottered back to his palace, bruised and dazed. the next night, disguised in man's clothes, lola the intrepid slipped back into munich, and took refuge in the house of her loyal partisan, berks. she sent a secret message to the king, confident that if she could see him, she could regain her power. those must have been anxious moments, while she was awaiting the reply. it came at last, in the form of a letter brought by two police commissaries, weber and dichtl. the king refused to see her, and wished that he had come to that decision before. she turned to the officials. they read an order for her expulsion from bavaria. lola tore the document to pieces and threw them in their faces. not till they presented their pistols at her bosom did she consent to accompany them. it was reported that she had been sent to lindau on the bodensee, thence to be conducted into switzerland. in reality, louis had selected for her the oddest and most fantastic place of seclusion. the mental crisis through which he had passed seems to have weakened his understanding, and he actually was persuaded by his new clerical friends that lola's power over him was due to witchcraft. these enlightened ultramontanes repeated some ridiculous yarn about a great black bird that visited her room by night. at a place called weinsberg lived a man named justinus kerner, who exercised the profession of an exorcist or expeller of devils. to this person's custody was lola confided on th february, as was first learnt from the charlatan's letters, published some ten or fifteen years ago.[ ] in one of these he says:-- "lola montez arrived here the day before yesterday, accompanied by three alemannen. it is vexatious that the king should have sent her to me, but they have told him that she is possessed. before treating her with magic and magnetism, i am trying the hunger cure. i allow her only thirteen drops of raspberry water, and the quarter of a wafer. tell no one about this--burn this letter." to another correspondent kerner writes:-- "lola has grown astonishingly thin. my son, theobald, has mesmerised her, and i let her drink asses' milk." that the fiery, man-compelling countess should have submitted to this disagreeable tomfoolery, certainly seems to suggest hypnotic influence. it is not unlikely that from the strain of the preceding few days a nervous breakdown had resulted. or, again, she may have lingered on at kerner's, in the hope that the king's love for her would revive. but before the month of february was over she had shaken off for ever the dust of bavaria, and was safe in free switzerland. peisner, hertheim, and laibinger followed her into exile. lieutenant nüssbaum, dismissed from the bavarian army because of his devotion to her, found a soldier's grave before the redoubts of düppel. xxv the rising of the peoples louis of bavaria had sacrificed his self-respect and the woman he loved to wear the crown a few years longer. the sacrifice proved futile. the expulsion of the strongest personality in bavaria was merely the first act in the programme of the revolutionary party. on th february the king of the french was hurled from his throne, and every sovereign in europe trembled. the spirit of the revolution spread from state to state with amazing rapidity. encouraged by the king's late compliance, the citizens of munich once more gathered in their strength and demanded that the chambers should be convoked forthwith. louis refused to summon a parliament before the end of may. nor would he consent to the dismissal of berks. on the nd march barricades were erected in the principal streets, and two days later the arsenal was attacked by the people, and carried after a short struggle. again louis yielded to his fears, and dismissed the unpopular minister; again the surrender came too late. the spark of insurrection in munich had now become absorbed in the mighty flame of a great european revolution. everywhere the people were feeling their strength. the middle ages, even in germany, had at last come to an end. six thousand men, armed with muskets, swords, hatchets, and pikes, surged round the royal palace. in the market-place, the troops were ordered to fire on the insurgents. they remained motionless, leaning on their muskets. some one called for cheers for the republic; the crowd responded heartily. then up rode prince charles of bavaria, the king's brother, and announced that his majesty had conceded all the demands of his people and pledged his royal word to summon the chambers on the th of the month. with this assurance the excited people feigned to be content, and returned to their homes. but the opening of the parliamentary session was attended by a renewal of the disturbances. a report circulated that the countess of landsfeld had returned to the city. the silly people again flew to arms, and demolished the ministry of police. to calm the tumult the king published a decree, withdrawing the rights of citizenship from his exiled favourite, and forbidding her to re-enter his dominions. with this disgraceful act of violence to his personal feelings, louis lost all taste for kingship. rumours of his impending abdication spread through the capital, and now the democratic party stood in fear of an ultramontane conspiracy to defeat their own policy. more rioting ensued. the landwehr were eager to rescue the king from the hands of his supposed enemies in the palace. but the old man was weary of the whole comedy, and craved only peace. on st march he took leave of his people in the following proclamation:-- "bavarians,--a new state of feeling has begun--a state which differs essentially from that embodied in the constitution according to which i have governed the country twenty-three years. i abdicate my crown in favour of my beloved son, the crown prince maximilian. my government has been in strict accordance with the constitution; my life has been dedicated to the welfare of my people. i have administered the public money and property as if i had been a republican officer, and i can boldly encounter the severest scrutiny. i offer my heartfelt thanks to all who have adhered to me faithfully, and though i descend from the throne, my heart still glows with affection for bavaria and for germany. louis." less than six weeks thus elapsed between the downfall of lola montez and the dethronement of the king who had not been man enough to uphold her. had the positions been reversed--had the woman been able to command one tithe of the forces of which louis could dispose--not the most powerful coalition of parties would have driven her from the throne without the bloodiest of struggles. in her, as was said of the duchesse de berry, there was mind and heart enough for a dozen kings. the country that so angrily threw off the unofficial yoke of its one strong-minded ruler, has since acknowledged the sway of two raving madmen. the bavarians prefer king log to king stork. louis soon recovered his popularity with his late subjects. the cares and ambitions of kingship put aside, the tempestuous emotions of manhood at last exhausted, the old man was now free to devote himself wholly to his first and last love, art. though now a private person, his interest in the embellishment of munich and the enrichment of the city's collections never waned. he maintained more than one residence in bavaria, and was indeed a familiar and well-liked figure in the streets of his old capital; but most of his remaining years he spent wandering in italy and the south of france. he lived to witness the expulsion of his son, otto, from the throne of greece; the death of his other son and successor, maximilian ii.; and the humiliation of his country by the arms of ever-broadening prussia. but he could always find consolation in the contemplation of the beautiful, and in the society of men of wit and genius. the last twenty years of his life were, perhaps, the happiest he had known. he died at nice on th february , in the eighty-third year of his age. you may see his equestrian statue at munich, but the whole city is virtually his monument. a great man he was not, but he was the greatest king bavaria has yet known. so he passed from the stage of history:-- "a courteous prince, and sociable, sympathetic gentleman; a poet, too, in a small way, taking off his diamond collar at weimar, and putting it round goethe's neck; he had a gracious, winning, kingly way of his own, and many as were his faults and his foibles, neither his son nor his grandson supplanted him in the affections of the bavarian people."[ ] xxvi lola in search of a home "her last hope for bavaria being broken," lola (to use her own words) "turned her attention towards switzerland, as the nearest shelter from the storm that was beating above her head. she had influenced the king of bavaria to withhold his consent from a proposition by austria, which had for its object the destruction of that little republic of switzerland. if republics are ungrateful, switzerland certainly was not so to lola montez; for it received her with open arms, made her its guest, and generously offered to bestow an establishment upon her for life." at bern, the quaint, beautiful old city of fountains and arcades, the deposed dictatrix of bavaria found a pleasant asylum. she was greeted with especial cordiality by the english chargé d'affaires, mr. robert peel (son of the more celebrated statesman of the same name), whose fine presence, gaiety of manner, and brilliant conversational powers rendered him a universal favourite. peel was a warm supporter of the anti-clerical policy of the government to which he was accredited, and on political grounds alone, must have felt the strongest sympathy for the countess of landsfeld. peisner, hertheim, and laibinger seem to have at last parted company with lola at bern, for a letter in her handwriting is preserved, dated from that city, nd march , alluding to their probable departure, and directing that a packet be forwarded to peisner. from the terraces of bern, lola looked forth over europe and beheld the utter discomfiture of her enemies. if she craved revenge, here was enough and a surfeit. metternich, the mighty minister, whose gold had contributed to her undoing, was dismissed and driven into exile after forty years of unquestioned sway. everywhere liberal principles were in the ascendant. louis of bavaria, who had not dared to save her, had now shown himself unable to defend his own throne. lola must have been more than human if she experienced no inward exultation at the downfall of those who had basely abandoned her. the reign of her clerical foes and conquerors had indeed been short-lived. too late did they realise that they had been merely the instruments of their natural antagonists, the extreme revolutionary party. but if the situation of europe in the spring of afforded satisfaction to lola's vindictive instincts, it offered little incentive to her ambition. the men who were shaping the nation's destinies were cast in the stern, republican mould, and disdained to use the charms and wiles of a woman in the furtherance of their ends. issues were being fought out on the battlefield, not in the boudoir. nor did any state, from the baltic to the mediterranean, present even such slight evidences of stability as a high-flying adventuress might found her plans upon. to re-enter the political arena at such a moment was to plunge headlong into a whirlpool. the old order had changed. the world, hardly tolerant of kings, would no longer brook the domination of their favourites, wise or unwise. the princes pulled long faces, and swore that the constitution and the catechism should be henceforward their only rule of life. they vowed to live like respectable citizens, indulging their amiable weaknesses only in privacy. pericles must no longer converse on affairs of state with aspasia in the market place. beauty must exert what power it could in the boudoir and on the back stairs. for half a century woman as a political factor almost ceased to be. only in our own day has her voice again been heard, demanding in stern, menacing tones her right to a larger, nobler part in the councils of the nations than the pompadours and maintenons ever dreamed of. weary, it may be conceived, of affairs of state, of strife and intrigue, conscious that she had played in her greatest _rôle_, the countess of landsfeld quitted switzerland, once more to try her fortunes in england. she had stepped down from the throne for ever. she embarked for london at rotterdam on th april . by the irony of fate, it was ordered that the bitterest, and once the most powerful, of her foes, the fallen minister, metternich, should be waiting at the same port seeking the same destination. the news of the chartist demonstration alone prevented him sailing by the same vessel. "i thank god," he piously remarks, "for having preserved me from contact with her." assuredly, the meeting would have been a painful and ignominious one for the fallen minister, at any rate. lola's arrival in the troubled state of england passed almost unnoticed. she determined to try her fortunes once more upon the stage, and found, of course, as a celebrity, that she was _persona grata_ to the managers and agents. the directors of covent garden conceived the ingenious idea of presenting her as herself in a dramatic representation of the recent events at munich. the play was written and entitled, "lola montez, ou la comtesse d'une heure," but the lord chamberlain declined to license a performance in which living royal personages were introduced.[ ] the scheme fell through, and lola, having a private income to fall back upon, retired into lodgings at halfmoon street, mayfair. there "she invited a few men, including myself," writes the hon. f. leveson gower, "to visit her in the evening. she had lost much of her good looks, but her animated conversation was entertaining."[ ] the journalist, george augustus sala, then a very young man, describes lola on the contrary, as a very handsome lady, "originally the wife of a solicitor," whom he met at a little cigar-shop, under the pillars, in norreys street, regent street. she proposed that he should write her life, "starting with the assumption that she was a daughter of the famous matador, montes."[ ] lola's imaginative powers, especially when directed to inventing romantic origins for herself, rivalled those of the heroine of "the dynamiter." lord brougham, that learned but relatively susceptible chancellor, she also claimed acquaintance with; he lived not far from her, in grafton street. it is probable that a woman of lola's beauty, wit, and remarkable attainments would have numbered the most brilliant and distinguished men in london among her associates, whatever attitude may have been assumed towards her by the little clique of prigs and prudes that arrogated to itself the title of society. xxvii a second experiment in matrimony the company of any number of agreeable men about town and the amenities of life in a mayfair lodging-house were not, however, likely to content a woman who had lately ruled a kingdom. experience, it is true, had taught lola to set limits to her ambition. she had succeeded in her design of hooking a prince, but the catch had been torn off the hook with considerable violence to the angler. it was of no use again to cast her line into royal waters. the fish were now too wary. after the ordeal through which she had passed, lola sighed for some enduring ties and an established position. she yearned as the most fiery and erratic do at one time or another, for a home. some think that they who have loved most, love best; but i imagine lola was a trifle weary of love just then, and longed for some felicity more stable and material. she inclined, in fact, towards the sweet yoke of domesticity, which was quite a fashionable institution in england at that time. among her visitors was a mr. george trafford heald, son of a rich chancery barrister, and a cornet in the second life guards. this gallant officer is described as a tall young man, of juvenile figure and aspect, with straight hair and small light brown downy mustachios and whiskers; his turned-up nose gave him an air of great simplicity. as, however, he had, on his coming of age in january , inherited a fortune of between six and seven thousand pounds per annum, he was considered, especially by unattached ladies, in and out of society, a very interesting person. he was very much in love with the countess of landsfeld who, no doubt, easily persuaded herself that she entertained a strong affection for so eligible a suitor. in this respect lola was, it is safe to say, no more mercenary than half the good and well-brought-up young ladies who were looking out for a good match that season. heald seems to have been what women call a nice boy; in many ways he probably contrasted favourably with lola's bolder, more experienced wooers. so when (with many blushes, and in shy stammering words, i doubt not) he offered the adventuress his hand and heart and fortune, she was able without any natural repugnance to consent to be his wife. that she ever doubted that she was free to wed again is not to be supposed. in all likelihood, she had been made acquainted with her divorce from captain james only through the medium of the newspapers, and these would lead any one to believe that the divorce had been made absolute. it was, therefore, without any apprehension that she married cornet heald at st. george's, hanover square, on th july . as she left the church on the arm of her youthful husband, she must have thought half-regretfully of the career of adventure that was ended, and yet looked forward with complacency to the life of respectability and affluence that seemed to stretch before her. vain hope! by the common domestic women of her time lola was regarded with bitter hatred. it is unnecessary to analyse this species of animosity. it is compounded, apparently, of jealousy, of some vague religious sentiment of inherited prejudice, and of the trade-unionist's dislike for the blackleg. this attitude, though instinctive, is not unreasonable on the part of the vast numbers of women who consider marriage a profession, but it is more difficult to understand in the case of an aged lady, long since resigned to celibacy. such a spinster was miss susanna heald, of headington grove, horncastle, the aunt of cornet george. this lady manifested great displeasure at her nephew's marriage; and, certain facts having been communicated to her by lola's numerous enemies, she forthwith set in motion that efficient engine of man's injustice, the english law. the honeymoon of the newly-wed pair, if they had one at all, was brief, for it was on th august, at nine o'clock in the morning, as the countess of landsfeld was stepping into her carriage, at halfmoon street, that police sergeant gray and inspector whall quietly requested a word or two with her. they explained that they held a warrant for her arrest on a charge of bigamy, she having intermarried with cornet heald while her lawful husband, captain james, was still alive. lola replied that she had been divorced from the captain by an act of parliament. she added with characteristic petulence: "i don't know whether captain james is alive or not, and i don't care. i was married in a wrong name, and it wasn't a legal marriage. lord brougham was present when the divorce was granted, and captain osborne can prove it. what will the king say?" she murmured, as an after-thought, and referring no doubt to her late royal protector. they drove to the police-station, and thence to marlborough street police court. the rumour of the arrest had spread abroad, and the approaches to the court were thronged with people, eager to get a glimpse of the famous countess of landsfeld. the "respectable married women" in the crowd no doubt exulted at the anticipated downfall of the woman who could bind men's hearts without the chains of law or church. "about half-past one o'clock," says the reporter, "the countess of landsfeld, leaning on the arm of mr. heald, her present husband, came into court, and was accommodated with a seat in front of the bar. mr. heald was also allowed to have a chair beside her. the lady appeared quite unembarrassed, and smiled several times as she made remarks to her husband. she was stated to be years of age on the police-sheet, but has the look of a woman of at least . [she was, in fact, .] she was dressed in black silk, with close fitting black velvet jacket, a plain white straw bonnet trimmed with blue, and blue veil. in figure she is rather plump, and of middle height, of pale dark complexion, the lower part of the features symmetrical, the upper part not so good, owing to rather prominent cheek bones, but set off by a pair of unusually large blue eyes with long black lashes. her reputed husband, mr. heald, during the whole of the proceedings, sat with the countess's hand clasped in both of his own, occasionally giving it a fervent squeeze, and at particular parts of the evidence whispering to her with the fondest air, and pressing her hand to his lips with juvenile warmth."[ ] the magistrate, mr. peregrine bingham, having taken his seat, mr. clarkson opened the case for the prosecution. "sir," he began, "however painful the circumstances under which the lady who sits at my left (miss heald) is placed, she has felt it to be a duty to her deceased brother, the father of the young gentleman now in court, to lay before you the evidence of this young gentleman's marriage with the lady at the bar, and also other evidence which has led her to impute the offence of bigamy to that lady." the learned counsel then went on to state that lola had been married to thomas james in ireland, in july , that a divorce only a _toro et mensâ_ (_i.e._, a judicial separation) had been pronounced by the consistory court in , and that captain james was alive in india thirty-six days before the celebration of the second marriage with heald. he deprecated any sort of allusion to the defendant's distinction or notoriety, concluding: "i am further bound to state that this proceeding is on the part of the aunt, miss heald, without the consent of mr. heald, her nephew, who would, no doubt, if he could, prevent these proceedings from being carried on. no one, i think, will venture to impugn the motives or the purity of the intentions of miss heald in taking this step. my application is for the lady at the bar to be remanded till we can get the proper witnesses from india to come forward." miss heald, who went into the witness-box, explained her relationship to the accused's second husband, said she had been his guardian, and stated she considered it was her duty to prosecute this enquiry. when old ladies do any one a bad turn or make themselves a nuisance, they always explain that they are prompted by a sense of duty. for my part, i take up the challenge thrown down sixty years ago by mr. clarkson, and i impugn the purity of his client's motives. if it had been her object to prevent any family complications in the future, such as might have arisen from the birth of children to lola and her nephew, she could have laid the facts before them in private; and if they had refused to separate, she should have remained for ever silent. i entertain no doubt whatever that miss susanna heald wished to ruin the countess of landsfeld, and that this was at any rate one of her motives in instituting police court proceedings. the rest of the evidence was purely formal, and included the testimony of captain ingram, in whose ship lola had come to england seven years before. mr. bodkin appeared on behalf of the lady, who had been dragged that morning to a station-house, to answer a charge which, in all his professional experience, was perfectly unparalleled. he never recollected a case of bigamy in which neither the first nor the second husband came forward in the character of a complaining party. the matter, would, however, undergo investigation, and if anything illegal had been done, those who had done the illegality would be held responsible for their conduct. as far as the proof had gone he was willing to admit enough had been laid before the court to justify further enquiry. at the proper time he should be prepared to show that the marriage with mr. heald was a lawful act. it would seem that the lady had been married when about fifteen or sixteen years old, and that a divorce had taken place. it was evident that the lady had a strong impression that a divorce bill had been obtained in the house of lords. this, however, might be a mistake, into which the lady would be likely to fall from her ignorance of our laws. enough had been stated to show that even had the imputed offence been committed, it had been committed in circumstances that appeared to justify the act. he asked the court to admit the lady to bail, to appear upon such a day as might be agreed upon. it was in the highest degree improbable that the parties most interested would attempt to evade an enquiry of this sort. he made no reflection on the motives of the prosecution, but it must be clear that a private and not a public object originated the proceedings. mr. bodkin had not detected the flaw in his adversary's case, and he had conceded too much to the prosecution. the magistrate's decision must have mortified his professional feelings as much as it chagrined the amiable miss heald. "mr. bingham, after a short consultation with mr. hardwick, said: 'it is observable in the present case that the person most immediately interested (a person of full age and holding a commission in her majesty's army) is not the person to institute or to countenance the prosecution. it is quite compatible with the evidence now produced that the accused may have received by the same mail from india a few hours later than the official return, a letter communicating the death of captain james from cholera or some other casualty. the law presumes she is innocent till the usual proof of guilt is brought forward. here that proof is wanting, and the magistrate is requested to act on a presumption of guilt. i feel great reluctance in doing so, even to the extent of a remand without an assurance on the part of the prosecutor that the evidence necessary to ensure a conviction will certainly be producible on a future occasion. no such assurance can be given in this case, because between the th june and the last marriage, a period of nearly six weeks, captain james may have been snatched from life by any of those numerous casualties by which life is beset in a military profession and a tropical climate. however, upon the express admission of the advocate that in his judgment sufficient ground has been laid for further enquiry, and upon his offer to find security, i shall venture to order a remand, and to liberate the prisoner, upon finding two sureties in £ each, and herself £ , , for her reappearance here on a future day.' "bail was immediately tendered and accepted. the countess of landsfeld and her husband were allowed to remain some time in court in order to elude the gaze of the crowd." her counsel's blunder had cost lola and her husband two thousand pounds. the prosecution succeeded in ruining the beautiful woman against whom it was directed. a spiteful old lady had taken advantage of a bad law. the whole proceedings were cruel and vindictive. a law framed by bigots and administered by idiots condemned a woman to lose her conjugal rights; and when she attempted to contract new ties and create for herself a home, it threatened her with the punishment of a felon. decrees like that of dr. lushington impose on women the alternatives of celibacy and prostitution. lola, who was too human for the one, and too highly organised for the other, was accordingly bludgeoned, defamed, and driven out of society. somewhere between this world and nirvana there should be a flaming hell for the makers of our ancient english law; though, perhaps, we should seek them in the limbo of unbaptized innocents and idiots. lola did not share the magistrate's belief in the probability of captain james having been carried off by accident or fever. on the contrary, she thought it likely that miss heald would succeed in producing him in court. to defeat the malice of her enemies, she and heald took their departure for the continent, _via_ folkestone and boulogne, the day after her appearance at marlborough street, as an announcement in the _morning herald_ testifies. for the next two years we have no reliable information as to the movements or the doings of the pair. certain particulars are supplied by eugène de mirecourt, a wholly untrustworthy writer, who speaks ill of everybody, especially of lola, and is again and again to be convicted of palpable and serious errors. according to his version,[ ] the newly married couple proceeded in the first instance to spain, where two children were born to them. here monsieur de mirecourt makes the first heavy draft on our credulity, for we can find elsewhere no trace of or allusion to the existence of any children of lola montez, who could have had no possible interest in abandoning or repudiating them, since they would have constituted a powerful claim on her wealthy young husband and his affluent relatives. despite these pledges of affection, we are told, the domestic life of the healds was troubled by violent quarrels. at barcelona, in an access of fury, lola stabbed her husband with a stiletto. the wounded man took to flight, but, unable to stifle his love for his wife, returned to her with assurances of renewed affection. however, he soon found reason to regret this step, and at madrid again deserted the conjugal roof. lola advertised for him as for a lost dog, and rewarded the person who found and restored him to her. here monsieur de mirecourt's effervescent gallic humour seems to have betrayed him into what is at least unplausible. "paris," he goes on to say, "had next the honour of sheltering this extraordinary couple. madame sate for her portrait to claudius jacquand, but was obliged to interrupt the sitting every day on word being brought that her husband was about to take to flight. on one occasion she was obliged to pursue him as far as boulogne. claudius jacquand painted them both together [this rather conflicts with the sense of the foregoing sentences], the husband presenting his wife with a rich _parure_ of diamonds. when a definite rupture of their relations was decided upon, heald wished the canvas to be cut in two, as he objected to appearing beside lola. she, however, obtained possession of the picture in its entirety, and kept it in her room, with its face turned to the wall. 'my husband,' she explained, 'ought not to see everything i do. it wouldn't be decent.' "the husband, upon his return to london, obtained a decree of nullity of marriage, and the year following was drowned at lisbon, the swell of a passing steamer swamping the skiff in which he was taking his pleasure." our delightfully unreliable informant adds that captain james died in , whereas he lived to witness the franco-german war. de mirecourt aimed rather at being funny than accurate, and succeeded in being neither one nor the other. in substance his carefully-seasoned story is true. lola herself refers to her marriage with heald as another unfortunate experience in matrimony. there was, no doubt, a fundamental difference in their temperaments, and the vagrant life in france and spain must have brought out only too well the wife's capacity for adventure, as much as it must have bored and irritated the well-connected young englishman. in london they might have pulled together very well. he would have had his club and his race-meetings; she would have had her well-appointed household, her _salon_, and her box at the opera. miss susanna heald's interference destroyed lola's dream of an established position, and wrecked two lives. xxviii westward ho! in the year , the countess of landsfeld might well have reflected, with byron-- "through life's dull road, so dim and dirty, i have dragged to three-and-thirty. what have these years left to me? nothing--except thirty-three." she had practically exhausted the possibilities of the old world. in paris she met with an american agent, named edward willis, who made her an offer (in theatrical parlance) for new york. such a proposal appealed at once to this restless woman, in whom no series of misfortunes could extinguish the thirst for novelty and adventure. other and more distinguished exiles who had been worsted in the fight with europe's archaic traditions were also turning their faces westward. the _humboldt_, in which lola sailed from southampton on th november , bore, as its most illustrious passenger, the patriot kossuth. of this great magyar our adventuress saw little, for he was confined to his cabin during the greater part of the voyage with seasickness; what she did see she seems to have liked little. she thought him (so she told the reporter of the _new york tribune_) sinister and distant. she, on an element with which she had been familiar since childhood, was brilliant and sprightly. the _humboldt_ arrived at new york on friday, th december , and was received with a salute of thirty-one guns--in honour, it need hardly be said, of kossuth, not of the countess of landsfeld. she was not altogether overlooked in the transports of enthusiasm and public rejoicings with which the american people hailed the exiled hero. she was promptly interviewed by the newspaper men, who were surprised to find that she was not a masculine woman, but rather slim in her stature. "she has," continues the report, "a face of great beauty, and a pair of black [_sic_] spanish eyes, which flash fire when she is speaking, and make her, with the sparkling wit of her conversation, a great favourite in company. she has black hair, which curls in ringlets by the sides of her face, and her nose is of a pure grecian cast, while her cheek bones are high, and give a moorish appearance to her face. "she states that many bad things have been said of her by the american press, yet she is not the woman she has been represented to be: if she were, her admirers, she believes, would be still more numerous. she expresses herself fearful that she will not be properly considered in new york, but hopes that a discriminating public will judge of her after having seen her, and not before."[ ] new york and its people in the middle of the last century have been portrayed unkindly, but i do not think unfairly, by charles dickens. that great novelist visited the country for the first time only seven years before lola landed, and his impressions are largely embodied in "martin chuzzlewit." with the type of american delineated therein, it is evident that the countess of landsfeld knew exactly how to deal. she succeeded at once in disarming an intensely puritanical people by enthusiastic appeals to their childlike national vanity, by delighted acquiescence in their laughable self-righteousness. colonel diver and general choke could with difficulty have bettered her allusion to their great country as "this stupendous asylum of the world's unfortunates, and last refuge of the victims of the tyranny and wrongs of the old world! god grant," devoutly prays the countess, "that it may ever stand as it is now, the noblest column of liberty that was ever reared beneath the arch of heaven!" at the conclusion of her autobiography the american people are told that the pilgrim from the effete forms of europe must look upon their great republic with as happy an eye as the storm-tossed and shipwrecked mariner looks upon the first star that shines beneath the receding tempest. these words, indeed, are mr. chauncy burr's, but the sentiments beyond doubt are those that lola constantly affected. her mastery over men, as is always the case, was due not so much to her physical charms as to her skill in detecting their weakest sides. it says much for her shrewdness that she who had hitherto found it safest to appeal to men through their passions, perceived that the cold yankee was most vulnerable through so artificial and dispassionate a sentiment as patriotism. every other woman of her experience would have assumed that the animal predominated in all men, of whatever race or country. [illustration: lola montez. (after jules laure).] no amount of judicious flattery could, however, blind the great and critical american public to the fair stranger's imperfections as an actress and a dancer. on th december she appeared in the title _rôle_ of _betly, the tyrolean_, a musical comedy written especially for her, at the broadway theatre. it was expected that she would prove a powerful attraction, and seats for the first performance were put up to public auction on the preceding saturday. but the piece was withdrawn on th january , public curiosity having by then been satisfied, and what taste there was in new york not much gratified. lola, however, secured an engagement at the walnut street theatre, at philadelphia, that dull, colourless city, which formed the most incongruous of all possible settings for her personality. in may, when a faint breath of romance seems to rustle the trees even in union square, she went back to new york. on the th she appeared again at the broadway theatre in a dramatised version of her career in munich, written by c. p. t. ware. she appeared as herself, in the characters of the danseuse, the politician, the countess, the revolutionist, and the fugitive. the part of king louis was sustained by mr. barry, and abel--the villain of the piece--by f. conway. the play ran five nights only. even during these brief runs, and though the prices at new york theatres did not exceed a dollar in those days, lola had amassed a considerable sum of money; but she was by nature prodigal, and easily outpaced the swiftest current of pactolus. she now hit on a somewhat original scheme, which quickly replenished her exchequer. she organised receptions, to which any one paying a dollar was admitted for the space of a quarter of an hour, to shake her by the hand, gaze upon her in all the splendour of her beauty, and converse with her in english, french, german, or spanish. the function was hardly consistent with the countess's dignity, but it revealed in a striking manner her knowledge of the american character. to shake hands with a well-known personage is esteemed by your average yankee a greater privilege than visiting the acropolis or wading in the jordan. from new york lola proceeded to new orleans, that queer old city of creoles and canals. "a canadian named jones," relates de mirecourt, "acted as her agent, and as there was reason to fear that in this deeply religious state, her scandalous history might dispose the public against her, the following plan was devised. "it was reported in the louisiana journals that the countess of landsfeld, who had recently arrived in america, was distributing alms in abundance to the poor, the sick, and the captive, to make amends for her misspent life. "this announcement having taken some effect, the newspapers went on to inform the public that the famous countess was shortly about to enter religion; the best informed went so far as to name the day on which she would take the veil. "but on the appointed day, behold a third and startling item of news! "señora lola montez, yielding to that instinct of inconstancy so strong in her sex, is announced to have chosen the opera instead of the cloister. "that evening the theatre was crowded to suffocation, and the following days the receipts were enormous." de mirecourt, who pronounced young heald's desire to marry lola in due and proper form, _idée d'anglais_, must be allowed his sneer. we who know in what spirit the adventuress ended her career, and to what strange impulses she was subject, may hesitate to dismiss her momentary attraction to the cloister as a mere advertising manoeuvre. the woman was disillusioned, sore at heart, and world-weary; her restlessness bespeaks a mind ill at ease; her beauty showed signs of fading, she had no home, no ties, no kindred. it is likely that for a moment her resolve to end her days in the supposed tranquillity of the convent was genuine enough. it passed; as yet the joy of living was too strong in her to be crushed down. xxix in the trail of the argonauts the creole city at that time swarmed with gold-seekers on their way to or returning from the newly-found ophir of the occident. though the first headlong rush to california was over, it still drew its thousands every month, and greeley's famous advice to the young man was followed without having been asked. lola became infected with the fever. there was much of the gambler in her nature, and her zest for adventure was keener than of old. at this time, too, a positive distaste for civilisation appears to have possessed her. it may have been the vision of a wild, unfettered life in a virgin land that dispelled the sickly hankerings for the cloister. she sailed across the gulf of mexico to san juan del norte, or greytown, as it is now called, the newly opened halfway-house to the gold-fields. thence the route lay across the beautiful savannahs of nicaragua to the pacific shore. she passed the white-walled towns of leon and rivas, which walker and his filibusters two years later harried with fire and sword. this was an alternative route to that across the isthmus of panama, which she was fabled to have followed in a book by russell, the war-correspondent, called the "adventures of mrs. seacole." lola refers to this mendacious romance in her little autobiography, and quotes the following passage in order to characterise it at the finish as a base fabrication from beginning to end:-- "occasionally some distinguished passengers passed on the upward and downward tides of ruffianism and rascality that swept periodically through cruces. came one day lola montez, in the full zenith of her evil fame, bound for california with a strange suite. a good-looking, bold woman, with fine, bad eyes and a determined bearing, dressed ostentatiously in perfect male attire, with shirt collar turned down over a velvet lapelled coat, richly worked shirt-front, black hat, french unmentionables, and natty polished boots with spurs. she carried in her hand a handsome riding-whip, which she could use as well in the streets of cruces as in the towns of europe; for an impertinent american, presuming, perhaps not unnaturally, upon her reputation, laid hold jestingly of the tails of her long coat, and, as a lesson, received a cut across his face that must have marked him for some days. i did not see the row which followed, and was glad when the wretched woman rode off on the following morning." the incident is a spicy little bit of fiction, such as is so easily invented by the fertile journalistic brain. the adjectives applied to lola also illustrate, in a mildly diverting manner, the strictly orthodox notions of morality entertained by the newspaper press, and the pontifical confidence with which journalists pronounce on questions of conduct.[ ] on the long journey to the golden gate, lola had as a fellow-passenger a young man named patrick purdy hull, a native of ohio, and editor of the _san francisco whig_. the acquaintance thus formed soon ripened into an attachment. though, upon her arrival in california, the countess immediately went on tour among the mining camps, her new victim did not lose sight of her. for the third time lola went through the ceremony of wedlock. on st july she married hull at the church of the mission dolores, "in presence," runs the report, "of a select party, among whom were beverly c. saunders, esq., judge wills, james e. wainwright, esq., a. bartol, esq., louis r. lull, s. a. brinsmade, and other prominent citizens"--all among the most remarkable men in that country, no doubt. "the bride and groom have since visited sacramento, and are now in domestic retirement at san francisco."[ ] from the reports of remarkable men and prominent citizens shooting each other in the public streets, of bandits raiding the suburbs, of fires and floods, that accompany this announcement, we should imagine that domestic retirement in san francisco was at that time subject to frequent and unpleasant interruption. on this account, perhaps, mr. and mrs. hull spent much of their time hunting in the valley of the sacramento. lola was in search of new sensations, and for the moment the bear seemed a more attractive quarry than the man. but before long a german medical man, named adler, himself a mighty hunter, came across her path. his prowess excited her admiration, and he at once fell a victim to the shafts from her quiver. hull was discarded and the german reigned in his stead. in these american _amours_ we seem to detect the last flickerings of the flame of passion--the woman's last strenuous efforts to find a real and lasting interest in life. but lola had played too much with love. that mighty force which she had so often exploited and exerted to the furtherance of her ambitions was no longer at her command. her capacity for love was exhausted; by passion she was no more to rule or to be ruled. she had hardly time to tire of her german lover, who accidentally shot himself while following the chase--no bad death for a hunter. it might have been expected that lola would now quit california and return to more congruous surroundings. but a distaste for men and cities, for the restraints of civilisation, had grown strong within her. just then she was sick of love and sick of the world. at her best, a splendid animal, with fierce elemental passions, she turned almost instinctively, to draw fresh supplies of vitality from "the green, sweet-hearted earth." she made herself a home in a cabin at grass valley, a lawless mining camp, among the foot-hills of the sierra nevada. all her life she had loved animals, and these she now made her special friends and companions, finding in their marvellous stores of affection and devotion ample compensation for the muddy evanescent emotion that men call love. she did not, of course, lead the life of a hermit. we catch glimpses of her in a despatch from nevada city, dated th january :-- "the merry ringing of sleigh bells has been heard for several days past in our city. several sleighs have been fitted up, and the young gentlemen have treated the ladies to some dashing turn-outs. on tuesday last, lola montez paid us a visit by this conveyance and a span of horses, decorated with impromptu cowbells. she flashed like a meteor through the snowflakes and wanton snowballs, and after a tour of the thoroughfares, disappeared in the direction of grass valley." there she continued to dwell during the rest of that year, her liking for the simple life unabated. a correspondent of the _san francisco herald_, who visited her on th december, describes her as-- "living a quiet, and apparently cosy life, surrounded by her pet birds, dogs, goats, sheep, hens, turkeys, pigs, and her pony. the latter seems to be a favourite with lola, and is her companion in all her mountain rambles. surely it is a strange metamorphosis to find the woman who has gained a world-renowned notoriety, and has played a part upon the stage of life with powerful potentates, and with whose name europe and the world is familiar, finally settled down at home in the mountain wilds of california." a strange change, indeed, but no unpleasant life it could have been. what memories, what scenes, must have supplied food for the lonely woman's musings, as she galloped over the hills, or, seated with her dogs, gazed into her great fire of resinous logs! in communion thus with our great mother, treading these virgin forests, and breathing an air hardly yet inhaled by man, she might have attained to a higher, truer plane of existence than that which she finally took to be firm ground. but luck was against her here, as always. a fire swept away the township of grass valley, and with it lola's little homestead--the only home that she had ever known. her animals were dispersed, she was without funds. but she had renewed her stock of vitality at nature's fountains. she went on her travels again, reinvigorated: a coarser woman, no doubt, thanks to her contact with miners and hunters, but, perhaps, a better one. she still loved the new auriferous lands. in the track of the sun she would continue to journey, and in june sailed from california across the ocean to australia. xxx in australia even to the antipodes--in the 'fifties unconnected by the telegraph with the rest of the world, and distant a three months' journey from england--the fame of the countess of landsfeld had extended. her name had travelled completely round the world, and was as familiar to the people of sydney as to those of london and paris. lola found that her prolonged rest cure had weakened in no way her hold on public curiosity. the moment for her arrival in new south wales was not, however, well chosen. commerce and agriculture were alike depressed, and the mind of the colonists was preoccupied with the business of constitution-making. the city lay, too, under the spell of a celebrated irish singer, miss catherine hayes, "the sweet swan of erin." it is, perhaps, worth noting that this vocalist was born at the same town as lola, was married at the same church (st. george's, hanover square), and was to die the same year; that she made her _début_ under the same manager (benjamin lumley), at the same theatre, and that the two women had for the last year or two trodden undeviatingly in each other's footsteps. miss hayes had been in possession of the prince of wales's theatre nearly a fortnight, when lola's arrival startled the eldest australian city. the newcomer was engaged by tonning of the victoria theatre, and was announced to appear, together with mr. lambert, mr. falland, and mr. c. jones, on rd august , in the four-act drama, _lola montez in bavaria_. the theatre was crowded to excess. "the countess looked charming, and acted very archly. she was cheered vociferously, and recalled before the curtain, when she delivered a short address. mr. lambert (well known in london) created quite a sensation in the king of bavaria (by which name he is now known), and at the end of the performance the countess presented him with a handsome bundle of cigarettes--a very great compliment, as she is an inveterate smoker, and seldom gives any cigars away. "the excitement about her immediately empties the prince of wales's theatre, and miss hayes is then taken suddenly ill. two nights after the countess of landsfeld is seriously indisposed, and miss hayes recovers. her recovery restores lola montez to perfect health."[ ] on th august she appeared in _yelva, or the orphan of russia_, "a new and exciting drama" she had herself translated from the french. on wednesday, th september, she took a benefit, playing in _the follies of a night_, and two farces. into one of these she introduced her "spider dance," which seems to have outraged colonial opinion. we need not condemn it on that account as immodest, for in our own day we have seen a performance interdicted as offensive to public morals in manchester, and pronounced (rightly) to be the quintessence of mobile grace and the truest poetry of motion in the not less considerable city of london. immodesty in the minds of many people definitely connotes that which pleases the eyes and the senses. business continued dull at sydney, and lola departed in the second week of september for melbourne. a dispute had arisen between her and another member of her company, mrs. fiddes, who issued a writ of attachment against her. brown, the sheriff, went aboard the steamer to apprehend lola, who retired to her cabin till the vessel was well under weigh. she then sent word that the officer could arrest her if he would, but she was obliged to tell him that she was quite naked. the bold expedient was, of course, successful. "poor brown," we are told, "blushed and retired, and was put on shore at the heads, about twenty miles from sydney, and was greeted on his return to the city with roars of laughter." the sheriff evidently did not object to repeating a good story, even at his own expense. at melbourne, lola must have been vividly reminded of california. the gold fever was at its height. the population of the port philip district had swollen in five years from , to , , of which number at least two-thirds were men. men, too, they were, of every nationality under the sun, and of every class, though the more criminal and dangerous elements were in the ascendant. in ' life and property were, notwithstanding, somewhat more secure here than in california, thanks to the firmer, less corrupt administration of british officials. prices were, it need not be said, extravagantly high, though the barest necessities of decent life were hardly obtainable outside melbourne and geelong. a goldfield would seem to be one of the most brutalising environments to which a human being can adapt himself. for our knowledge of lola's doings in the victorian capital, we are indebted to the _era's_ local correspondent. he writes:-- "lola montez made her _début_ on st september, in a short drama allusive to her own bavarian transactions, but the piece might well have borne curtailment. there was a very crowded audience. the _ci-devant_ countess of landsfeld seemed determined to preserve her notoriety intact by the selection, but entrenched so far upon decorum in the 'spider dance' on a subsequent evening, that she did not face the clamour raised in consequence till the objectionable portions were agreed to be omitted. she is certainly a very singular character, but there is an ever lively and brusque style in her action that seems to catch general approbation for the time being. "after a brief stay, lola departed for geelong; but there, i learn, her performances were freely condemned. indeed, their laxness was also much canvassed with us, and the more staid of the visitors openly enough expressed their censure. subsequently to the performance, dr. milman demanded of the mayor at the city court, in the name of an outraged community, that a warrant be issued against all repetition of the performances of mme. lola montez at the theatre royal. the mayor referred the matter to the private room of the magistrates, considering that should be the proper place for its discussion. the bench declared that the law would not sustain them in issuing a warrant unless the doctor had actually witnessed the performance, and had his information properly attested by witnesses. this he declared he would do." the methods of these self-constituted champions of outraged morality are the same in every age. they condemn first, and collect evidence afterwards--if at all. opinion in geelong does not seem to have been as hostile as the _era's_ correspondent supposed. in the _geelong advertiser_ of th october is to be found the following paragraph:-- illness of lola montez "owing to severe indisposition, this talented actress is unable to appear before a geelong audience. when competent to perform, her reappearance will be duly notified. madame is suffering from severe cold and bronchitis, and is now under the care of dr. thompson, of melbourne. to previous indisposition was superadded a severe attack induced by exposure to the thunderstorm on saturday." lola's illness was of a passing character. that it in no way impaired her vigour we shall presently see. from melbourne she proceeded to the goldfields, moving among the most desperate characters of the two hemispheres undismayed and unafraid, a woman capable of defending herself with whip and tongue. a singular character, in truth was hers, thus equally at home in kings' courts and miners' camps, able to parry and to counterplot against the schemes and intrigues of metternich, able to subdue and to tame the half-savage ex-convicts and desperadoes of the australian diggings. at ballaarat occurred the celebrated fracas with mr. seekamp. this man was the editor of the local newspaper (the _times_), and upon lola's arrival in the town, he published an article, putting the worst construction on the episodes of her past life, and reflecting in uncomplimentary terms on her character. he was, no doubt, another guardian of public morality, which in mining camps is, of course, a very delicate growth. a few evenings afterwards, he was so rash as to call at the united states hotel, where the woman he had traduced was staying. being informed that he was below, lola ran downstairs with a riding-whip, and laid it across his back with right good will. the journalist also held a whip, with which he defended himself lustily. before long the combatants had each other literally by the hair. the bystanders interposed, and the two were separated, but not before life-preservers and revolvers had been produced. it seems to us an unedifying performance, though a woman, if insulted, has undoubtedly the right to chastise her offender physically, if she is able. such was the view taken by the miners of ballaarat. at the theatre that evening she was the object of an ovation, which she acknowledged at the conclusion of the performance. "i thank you," she said, "most sincerely for your friendship. i regret to be obliged to refer again to mr. seekamp, but it is not my fault, as he again in this morning's paper repeated his attack upon me. you have heard of the scene that took place this afternoon. mr. seekamp threatens to continue his charges against my character. i offered, though a woman, to meet him with pistols; but the coward who could beat a woman, ran from a woman. he says he will drive me off the diggings; but i will change the tables, and make seekamp _de_camp (applause). my good friends, again i thank you."[ ] this conduct was "unladylike," no doubt, but courageous; ungracious, but absolutely necessary. seekamp, bruised and humiliated, thirsted for revenge. we find him publishing a story of his conqueror's defeat in the _ballaarat times_. the authority can hardly be regarded as unimpeachable, but with amusing simplicity it has been accepted as such by all who have written about lola. according, then, to the ungallant mr. seekamp, the countess of landsfeld was engaged by a manager, named crosby--of what theatre is not stated. at "treasury" the actress had a misunderstanding with this gentleman, and flew into a violent rage. at this opportune moment a relief force appeared in the person of mrs. crosby, armed with a whip. with this she chastised lola so severely that the weapon broke. the antagonists then threw themselves upon each other, and the rest (says the delicately-minded journalist) may be imagined rather than described. mr. seekamp's recent experience should indeed have enabled him to imagine such a scene without difficulty; in fact, he probably imagined this one. he concludes: "at last this terrible virago has found, not her master, but her mistress, and for many a long day will be incapable of performing at any theatre." these words were written, possibly, while lola was on her way to europe. she appears to have quitted australia in march or april . with her arrival in france in august that year, she completed her trip round the world. xxxi lola as a lecturer we have no knowledge of the business that took lola once more to france on this occasion. she probably went there to spend, in the most agreeable way possible, the considerable sums she had amassed in her australian tour. it may be supposed that she spent some time at paris, renewing the acquaintance of her old friends. dumas, méry, de beauvoir, were all living, and death had made few gaps in her circle of friends during the past ten years. in august, lola followed the fashionable crowd to the southern watering-places, and stayed at st. jean de luz, within easy reach of the imperial court at biarritz. hence she addressed this extraordinary letter to the _estafette_:-- "st. jean de luz, hÔtel du cygne, "_ nd september, _. "the belgian newspapers, and some french ones, have asserted that the suicide of the actor, mauclerc, who, it is reported, has thrown himself from the summits of the pic du midi, was caused by domestic troubles for which i was responsible. this is a calumny which m. mauclerc himself will be ready to refute. we separated amicably, it is true, after eight days of married life, but urged only by our common and imperious need of personal liberty. it is probable that the tragedy of the pic du midi exists only in the imagination of some journalist on the look-out for sensational news. trusting to your sense of fairness to insert this explanation in your excellent journal, i remain, yours, etc., lola montez." this letter was copied by _la presse_, which de girardin still edited, and was presently noticed by the person most interested. his reply was duly published:-- "bayonne, _ th september, _. "sir,--i read in your issue of the th. inst. a letter from lola montez, wherein there is talk of a suicide of which i have been the victim, and a marriage in which i have been principal actor. i am a complete stranger to such catastrophes. i have never had the least intention of throwing myself from the pic du midi, or from any other peak, and i do not recollect having had the advantage of marrying--even for eight days--the celebrated countess of landsfeld,--yours, etc., mauclerc."[ ] the simplest and most probable explanation of this affair is to set it down as a hoax. bayonne and st. jean de luz are neighbouring towns, and it is possible that the actor had (perhaps unwittingly) incurred the anger of the countess, who devised this rather elaborate means of revenge. soon after, lola returned to the united states, a country for which she had conceived a strong liking. she considered it her home, says the rev. f. l. hawks, and had a sincere admiration for its institutions. lola was by nature a republican, and intimacy with sovereigns had not much awakened her distaste for them. "to freedom ever true, true, true, all his long life was harlequin!" on nd february we find her fulfilling a week's engagement at the green street theatre at albany, acting in _the eton boy_, _the follies of a night_, and _lola in bavaria_. she was not unknown at the state capital, having appeared there, with a _troupe_ of twelve dancers, at the museum, in may . on the present occasion she gave another proof of her dare-devil courage, by crossing the hudson river in an open skiff among the floating ice. "she got over in safety, but part of her wardrobe was carried down stream. by going to troy she could have avoided all danger, but her love of notoriety led her to offer a hundred dollars to be carried across here."[ ] this recklessness may have proceeded from that want of interest in life, that utter sense of desolation, which assailed her whenever she was not distracted by travel and adventure. a lonely, disenchanted woman, without any ties or hold on life, she found herself now on the verge of forty. her days for adventure had passed. at times she must have sighed for her home among the californian foothills. surely it was wise and dignified, for one who had exhausted her strength and vitality in the struggles of an artificial society, to throw herself on the placid bosom of our common mother? there, in time, she would have awakened to fuller comprehension of man's place in the universe, and have learned at once the true value of all her past actions, and the futility of remorse. but in new york no one listened for the whisperings of nature; instead, they fancied they heard voices from some other world. women who have lost their hold on life readily give ear to visionaries: having exhausted the joys of this world, they wish to test those of another. lola became a believer in spiritualism. the imagined touch of some fatuous phantom would thrill her as no man's had power to do. one day she announced that the spirits had directed her to abandon the stage, and to become a lecturer. apparently, however, she had no confidence in their ability to inspire her on the platform, for she caused her lectures to be written by the rev. c. chauncy burr. at the _séances_ she seems to have been brought into touch (in two senses) with several of the clergy of various protestant denominations. her first lecture was delivered at a place of worship called the hope chapel, broadway, new york, on rd february . "lola montez at hope chapel is good," chuckles a reporter. "it is plain that the scent of the roses hangs round her still. we have heard some queer things in that conventicle in our time, and have now and then assisted at an entertainment there twice as funny, but not half so intellectual nor half so wholesome, as the lecture our desperado in dimity gave us last night." the new york pressman was more easily pleased than is the modern reader. lola's lectures were published that same year in book form, together with her autobiography, and they may be pronounced very poor stuff. they are respectively headed, "beautiful women," "gallantry," "heroines of history," "the comic aspect of love," "wits and women of paris," and "romanism." here and there their dullness is enlivened by a flash of lola's own native wit, or a shrewd observation that only her experience could have supplied. sometimes she begins by what is evidently an exposition of her own views, winding up with some trite moralisings calculated to appease her audience. speaking, for instance, of the heroines of history, she dwells with enthusiasm on the valour of margaret of anjou, the sagacity of isabel the catholic, the administrative ability of elizabeth, the diplomatic skill of catharine ii., and recollects herself in time to impress on her hearers that one "who is qualified to be a happy wife and a good mother, need never look with envy upon the woman of genius, whose mental powers, by fitting her for the stormy arena of politics, may have unfitted her for the quiet walks of domestic life." as might have been expected, lola spoke somewhat disdainfully of women who preferred to vote rather than to cajole the men who voted. the lecturer forgot, perhaps, that all her sisters were not as well equipped as she for the business of fascination, and that to some of them the personal exercise of the franchise might seem less unwomanly and objectionable than the arts of blandishment and intimidation. lola was bold enough to tell her american audience that the palm of beauty must be awarded to englishwomen, and that the yankees were too mercantile and practical to entertain the old spirit of gallantry. she mollified her hearers by adding that, after all, in america, "love dived the deepest and came out dryest"--a dark saying, from which she derived the conclusion that love in the united states was as brave, honest, and sincere a passion as elsewhere. the lecture on romanism will not be regarded as a very formidable instrument of attack upon the catholic church. it concludes: "america does not yet recognise how much she owes to the protestant principle. it has given the world the four greatest facts of modern times--steam-boats, railroads, telegraphs, and the american republic!" we can imagine with what enthusiasm this sentiment was received in hope chapel, where the lecture was delivered in october , in aid of a fund for a church which should be open free to the poor and unfortunate (as, by the way, all roman catholic churches are). by this time lola appears to have been weaned of her spiritualistic heresies, and had become interested in methodism. in her new zeal for her own soul's welfare she did not, however, forget the corporal needs of her fellows, and with native generosity, stimulated by religious considerations, she showered the money earned at her lectures upon the poor and afflicted. to replenish her store, and encouraged by the success of her new enterprize in new york, she resolved to try her luck once more on the other side of the atlantic. xxxii a last visit to england lola landed from the american steam-ship, _pacific_, at galway on rd november . she had not set foot in her native land since she left it, the bride of thomas james, more than twenty years before. in dublin she had last appeared as a _débutante_ at the viceregal court; now, on th december, she appeared there, on the boards of the round room, as a public curiosity, as a woman whose fame not one among her auditors would have envied. but they flocked to see her in hundreds, and the opening promised a highly profitable tour. in her regenerate frame of mind the lecturer was distressed by the publication in the _freeman_ of a long article referring to her connection with dujarier and the king of bavaria. being the daughter of an anglo-indian officer, lola had inherited a tendency to write to the papers on every possible occasion, and she at once sent a letter to the journal, defending her character. her relations with dujarier and louis were, she insisted, absolutely proper and regular: to the former she was engaged; of the latter she was merely the friend and the adviser. the aspersions of her fair fame she attributed to the intrigues of austria. she was in ireland, and it was as well not to refer to the jesuits. at the new year she crossed over to england, beginning her tour at manchester. we hear of her at sheffield, nottingham, leicester, birmingham, wolverhampton, leamington, worcester, bristol, and bath. she drew crowded houses, though everywhere she went she had to contend with a strong counter-attraction in the person of phineas t. barnum, the celebrated showman, who was also touring england. of course, she disappointed expectation. the public wanted to see the dashing, dazzling dare-devil of other days, not a rather sad woman, slightly tinged with yankee religiosity. she arrived at last in london, where she lectured at st. james's hall. two or three of the writer's friends faintly recollect having seen her on this occasion. for the impression she produced on her audience, i prefer, however, to rely on the notice in the _era_, under date th april . "following closely upon the heels of mr. barnum, madame lola montez, parenthetically putting forth her more aristocratic title of countess of landsfeld, commenced on thursday evening [ th april ] the first of a series of lectures at the st. james's hall. revisiting this country, she has first felt her footing as a lecturer in the provinces, and now venturing upon the ordeal of a london audience, she has boldly added her name to the list of those who have sought, single-handed, to engage their attention. if any amongst the full and fashionable auditory that attended her first appearance fancied, with a lively recollection of certain scandalous chronicles, that they were about to behold a formidable-looking woman of amazonian audacity, and palpably strong-wristed, as well as strong-minded, their disappointment must have been grievous; greater if they anticipated the legendary bull-dog at her side and the traditionary pistols in her girdle and the horsewhip in her hand. the lola montez who made a graceful and impressive obeisance to those who gave her on thursday night so cordial and encouraging a reception, appeared simply as a good-looking lady in the bloom of womanhood, attired in a plain black dress, with easy, unrestrained manners, and speaking earnestly and distinctly, with the slightest touch of a foreign accent that might belong to any language from irish to bavarian. the subject selected by the fair lecturer was the distinction between the english and the american character, which she proceeded to demonstrate by a discourse that must be pronounced decidedly didactic rather than diverting. with most of the characteristics mentioned as illustrative of each country, we presume the majority of her hearers had, in the course of their reading or experience, become already acquainted. that america looked to the future for her greatness, england to the past; that americans believed in the spittoon as a valuable institution, and speed as the great condition of success in all things--it hardly needed a lola montez to come from the west to inform us. the excitable temperament of our transatlantic brethren, their readiness to raise idols and to demolish them, the great liberty of opinion that there prevails, and the little toleration of its expression, were the leading points of a lecture lasting an hour and a quarter, blended with a compliment to the american ladies, a tributary acknowledgment of the virtues of our own, and a digression into american politics as connected with everything. there was no attempt to weave into the subject a few threads of personal interest, no mention of any incident that had happened to her, and no anecdote that might have enlivened the dissertation in any way. the lecture might have been a newspaper article, the first chapter of a book of travels, or the speech of a long-winded american ambassador at a mansion house dinner. all was exceedingly decorous and diplomatic, slightly gilded here and there with those commonplace laudations that stir a british public into the utterance of patriotic plaudits. a more inoffensive entertainment could hardly be imagined; and when the six sections into which the lady had divided her discourse were exhausted, and her final bow elicited a renewal of the applause that had accompanied her entrance, the impression on the departing visitors must have been that of having spent an hour in company with a well-informed lady who had gone to america, had seen much to admire there, and, coming back, had had over the tea-table the talk of the evening to herself. whatever the future disquisitions of the countess of landsfeld may be, there is little doubt that many will go to hear them for the sake of the peculiar celebrity of the lecturer." xxxiii the magdalen that celebrity was very far from corresponding to the present dispositions and aspirations of the ex-adventuress. while travelling from town to town the transmutation of her emotions into religious fervour had gone on unchecked. the love she had once borne to men found an object in the unseen god; the wondering disgust excited by the memory of her relations with men she had learned to dislike became translated into repentance for sin; latent ambition now leaped up at the thought of a crown to be won beyond the tomb. christianity offers us new worlds for old, promises new joys to those who have lost all zest for the old, proposes an objective which may be pursued to the brink of the grave, and assures every human being of the tremendous importance of his own destiny. for these reasons religion has always appealed with especial force to women in lola's situation, who, moreover, being usually deficient in the logical and critical faculties, are the less able to resist its appeal to their emotions. during her stay in england lola kept a spiritual diary, some fragments of which have been preserved to us. it is certainly illustrative of the depth and earnestness of her religious convictions, and it would be a cold-blooded act to analyse and to dissect the state of mind it portrays. the sentiments are often morbid in the extreme, as might be expected from one whose ideas of religion were derived from teachers of the extreme evangelical school. she writes:-- "oh, i dare not think of the past! what have i not been? i lived only for my own passions; and what is there of good even in the best natural human being? what would i not give to have my terrible and fearful experiences given as an awful warning to such natures as my own! and yet when people generally, even my mother, turned their backs upon me and knew me not, jesus knocked at my heart's door. what has the world ever given to me? (and i have known _all_ that the world has to give--_all_!) nothing but shadows, leaving a wound on the heart hard to heal--a dark discontent. "now i can more calmly look back on the stormy passages of my life--an eventful life indeed--and see onward and upward a haven of rest to the soul. i used once to think that heaven was a place somewhere beyond the clouds, and that those who got there were as if they had not been themselves on the earth. but life has been given to me to know that heaven begins in the human soul, through the grace of god and his holy word. those who cannot feel somewhat of heaven here will never find it hereafter." on another page we find:-- "to-morrow (the lord's day) is the day of peace and happiness. once it seemed to me anything but a happy day, but now all is wonderfully changed in my heart.... what i loved before now i hate. oh! that in this coming week, i may, through thee, overcome all sinful thoughts, and love every one. "thankful i am that i have been permitted to pray this day. three years ago i cried aloud in agony to be taken; and yet the great, all-wise creator has spared me, in his mercy, to repent. all that has passed in new york has not been mere illusion. i feel it is true. the lord heard my feeble cry to him, and i felt what no human tongue can describe. the world cast me out, and he, the pure, the loving, took me in. "to-morrow is sunday, and i shall go to the poor little humble chapel, and there will i mingle my prayers with the fervent pastor, and with the good and true. there is no pomp or ceremony among these. all is simple. no fine dresses, no worldly display, but the honest methodist breathes forth a sincere prayer, and i feel much unity of soul. what would i give to have daily fellowship with these good people! to teach in the school, to visit the old, the sick, the poor. but that will be in the lord's good time, when self is burned out of me completely." the following entry is dated saturday, in london:-- "since last week my existence is entirely changed. when last i wrote i was calm and peaceful--away from the world. now, i must again go forth. it was cruel, indeed, of mr. e. to have said what he did; but i am afraid i was too hasty also. ought i to have resented what was said? no, i ought to have said not a word. the world would applaud me; but, oh! my heart tells me that for his sake i ought to bear the vilest reproaches, even unmerited. "good-bye, all the calm hours of reflection and repose i enjoyed at derby! my calm days at the cottage are gone--gone. but i will not look back. onward! must be the cry of my heart. "lord, have mercy on the weary wanderer, and grant me all i beseech of thee! oh, give me a meek and lowly heart!" it seems from this final extract that some painful circumstance compelled the writer against her will to go on her travels again. the diary affords proof that she was in england as late as september ; and the following year, she was again at new york. xxxiv last scene of all lola the saint was no more provident than lola the sinner. she dissipated the large sums she had amassed in her english tour in the space of a few months, and with a mind tormented by remorse and religious scruples, could turn her thoughts to no system of livelihood. threatened with poverty, and in a state of deep dejection, she was one day met in the streets of new york by a lady and gentleman who stopped and considered her attentively. finally, evidently at the man's suggestion, his wife stepped up to lola, and recalled herself to her recollection as an old school-fellow and playmate of her montrose days. she was now the wife of mr. buchanan, a florist of some standing. lola was deeply affected by this meeting. this voice from her childhood supplied the human note in her present state of spiritual desolation and exaltation. the friendship begun thirty years before in far-off scotland was renewed. to the penitent lola mrs. buchanan's recognition of her seemed an act of amazing kindness and condescension. but the florist and his wife were not only religious but good people. they made provision for the ex-adventuress, perhaps by a judicious investment of the little money that remained to her; and mrs. buchanan sympathising warmly with her old friend's spiritual regeneration, was able to calm her doubts and scruples, and to divert her piety into practical channels. the wayward, troubled soul of lola montez at last tasted peace--thanks, perhaps, as much to the consolations of true friendship as to those of religion. she abandoned the methodist connection, and embraced the possibly less gloomy tenets of the episcopal church of america. she passed much of her time in deep retirement, reading and studying the bible. one who knew her at this time says that her bearing was calm, graceful, and modest; of her beauty there remained no trace except her deep, lustrous spanish eyes. a conviction that she was soon to die of consumption possessed her, and she spent the rest of the year in preparation for her end. "so far as outward actions could show," says her spiritual adviser, dr. f. l. hawks, "with her 'old things had passed away, and all things had become new.' with a heart full of sympathy for the poor outcasts of her own sex, she devoted the last few months of her life to visiting them at the magdalen asylum, near new york, warning them and instructing them with a spirit which yearned over them, that they, too, might be brought into the fold. she strove to impress upon them not only the awful guilt of breaking the divine law, but the inevitable earthly sorrow which those who persisted with thoughtless desperation in sinful courses were treasuring up for themselves. her effort was thus to redeem the time as far as she could; and the result of her labours can only be known on that day when she will meet her erring sisters at the impartial tribunal of the eternal judge." lola's premonition was verified. in december she was suddenly struck down--not by consumption, but by partial paralysis. she was conveyed to the asteria sanatorium, where mrs. buchanan took charge of her. she lingered in great pain, patiently borne, for several weeks, and it was seen that there was no hope of her recovery. dr. hawks visited her frequently. to him, her chosen confidant at this final stage of her chequered life, and the most fitted to sympathise with the ideas that then dominated her, may be left the description of her last hours. "in the course of a long experience as a christian minister, i do not think i ever saw deeper penitence and humility, more real contrition of soul and more of bitter self-reproach than in this poor woman. anxious to probe her heart to the bottom, i questioned her in various forms; spoke as plainly as i could of the qualities of a genuine repentance; set forth the necessity of the operations of the holy spirit really to convert from sin to holiness, and presented christ as all in all--the only saviour. for myself i am quite satisfied that god the holy ghost had renewed her sinful soul into holiness. "there was no confident boasting, however. i never saw a more humble penitent. when i prayed with her, nothing could exceed the fervour of her devotion; and never had i a more watchful and attentive hearer than when i read the scriptures. she read the blessed volume for herself, also, when i was not present. it was always within reach of her hand; and, on my first visit, when i took up her bible from the table, the fact struck me that it opened of its own accord to the touching story of christ's forgiveness of the magdalene in the house of simon. "if ever a repentant soul loathed past sin, i believe hers did. "she was a woman of genius, highly accomplished, of more than usual attainments, and of great natural eloquence. i listened to her sometimes with admiration, as with the tears streaming from her eyes, her right hand uplifted, and her regularly expressive features (her keen blue eyes especially) speaking almost as plainly as her tongue, she would dwell upon christ, and the almost incredible truth that he could show mercy to such a vile sinner as she felt herself to have been, until i would feel that she was the preacher and not i. "when she was near her end, and could not speak, i asked her to let me know by a sign whether her soul was at peace, and she still felt that christ would save her. she fixed her eyes on mine, and nodded her head affirmatively." thus, on th january , in the odour of sanctity, died lola montez, countess of landsfeld, baroness rosenthal, canoness of the order of st. theresa, sometime ruler of the kingdom of bavaria, in the forty-third year of her age. she, whose fame had filled three continents, was committed to the custody of mother earth in greenwood cemetery, two days later, with the rites and ceremonial of the episcopal church. her grave was marked by a tablet, bearing the inscription: "mrs. eliza gilbert, born , died ." the men who had risked crowns and fortune for her love would have hardly recognised her in her last part or under her last homely description. * * * * * at the bar of god lola montez pleaded guilty. i, as her advocate in the court of humanity, may enter another plea. for half a century the world has taken this woman at her own last valuation, and dismissed her as a criminal and a sinner. the orthodox christian reproaches her with unchastity, exaggerating, as is his wont, the gravity of this particular transgression of his code. he would have had her waste her glorious beauty, made to gladden the hearts of men, and refuse the _rôle_ of woman which nature had assigned her--because, forsooth! a petty english tribunal would not set her free from a tie it should never have allowed her to contract. the law was made for man; the claims and instincts of womanhood must override the decrees of any consistory court. lola montez was pre-eminently and essentially a woman--specially fitted and charged, therefore, to bring the great happiness of love to men. this which was her glory the sexless moralist makes her reproach. for him the perfect woman is the most unhuman; he admires the woolless sheep and the scentless flower. hers was a capacity for immense passion, happiness, and power. she longed not only to charm men but to rule them. by the happiness she procured them, she enslaved them. she exploited their passions, it will be said; and since when have we ceased to exploit the weakness of woman? in the pursuit of power we use the instruments easiest to our hands, we attack our opponents' most vulnerable points. this lola did; this did every strong man of whom history has any record. her qualities of mind, as evinced in the administration of bavaria, were of a high order, and in a man would have commanded success; but men were dazzled by her beauty, and cried out to be influenced by that alone. we esteem in our own sex the faculties by which we are helped, led, and ruled; in the other, we prate of chastity, and value only that which ministers to our vanity, comfort, and sensuality. women must be human in just so far as may conform to our individual needs. when we prize intellectual worth in women as highly as physical beauty, it will be time to protest against the methods of lola montez. she subdued men by their passions, but she ruled them well. she challenged history to adduce a case where a woman had wielded so much power so wisely and so disinterestedly. she was no pompadour or du barry to whom the scurrile de mirecourt compared her. guilty at moments, as we all are, of derelictions from her principles, she was throughout life a lover of liberty in thought, word, and deed. when europe lay under the feet of metternich and the ultramontanes, she, almost single-handed, struck a blow for freedom. the wiles of the cleverest intriguers in europe proved powerless against her bold policy. at scheming she was no adept, trusting, as the strong will ever trust, to her force and personality to defeat the manoeuvres of her foes. had louis of bavaria not bowed before the storm, she and his kingdom would have played a great part in european history. as it was, to her intervention switzerland partly owes the freedom of her institutions from clerical control. the terms in which she speaks of that country and of the united states, though purposely exaggerated, display her profound sympathy with the principles of democracy. setting aside the qualities of the woman, let us gratefully acknowledge that lola montez, on a small stage and for a brief period, proved herself an able and humane administratrix and a staunch friend to liberty. in her we have another of the many instances of capacity for government as the concomitant of an intensely feminine temperament. she was valiant as an antique worthy. she was never at an end of her resources, never unnerved by catastrophe. disaster after disaster left unexhausted her marvellous powers of recuperation. she could adapt herself to all men and all circumstances. she was at home in the courts of emperors and kings, in the _salons_ of the learned, in the backwoods of california, in the mining camps of australia, in the conventicles of new york. to the life of a recluse in a primeval wilderness she adapted herself as readily as to a london drawing-room. she was eloquent in many tongues, witty and light-hearted, adding to the world's gaiety. she was kindly and compassionate, cherishing dogs, and all four-footed things, visiting the sick and the afflicted, saying a kind word for the despised coolies of india. her money she showered with reckless generosity on all who stood in need. her excellences were her own; her faults lie at the door of society. sources of information _the files of the following newspapers_: times, morning herald, era, illustrated london news; le constitutionnel, le figaro, le journal des debats; new york tribune; sydney morning herald, melbourne argus. _"autobiography and lectures of lola montez" (by c. chauncy burr); "an englishman in paris" (vandam); "letters from up-country" (hon. emily eden); "you have heard of them?" (q). "history of the th regiment" (carter); "revelations of russia" (henningsen); "life and adventures" (george a. sala); "bygone years" (leveson gower); "fraser's magazine," ; "players of a century" (phelps); "new york stage" (ireland); "story of a penitent" (hawks); "dictionary of national biography."_ _"les contemporains" (de mirecourt); "mes souvenirs" (claudin); "souvenirs" (theodore de banville); "histoire de l'art dramatique en france" (théophile gautier); "dictionnaire larousse."_ _"ein vormarzliches tanzidyll" (fuchs); "ludwig augustus" (sepp); "ludwig i." (heigel); "unter den vier ersten königen bayerns" (kobell); "lola montez und die jesuiten" (erdmann); "bayern's erhebung"; "franz liszt als mensch ung künstler" (ramann); metternich's memoirs: bernstorff papers; etc., etc._ footnotes: [ ] historical record of the th, or east essex regiment ( ), by thomas carter, of the adjutant-general's office. [ ] dodwell and miles, indian army list, - . [ ] "you have heard of them," new york, . [ ] _morning herald_, th june . [ ] "an englishman in paris," . the author of this book was a. d. vandam, who could not have had this from lola personally, seeing that he was born in . [ ] vandam, "an englishman in paris." [ ] de mirecourt (_contemporains_) fixes the date of this episode in , and bases it in reports in the _constitutionnel_, which i have been unable to trace. [ ] all the statements made concerning lola in "an englishman in paris" must be received with caution, as they can only be taken at the best as hearsay evidence transcribed by vandam. [ ] the foregoing section may seem more in the style of a novel than a biography, but, the dialogue not excepted, it is an exact _résumé_ of the evidence given at the subsequent trial. [ ] it is imitated by heine in some ironical verse, condoling with frederick william of prussia on lola's preference for louis. [ ] _morning herald_, rd march . [ ] "unter den vier ersten königen bayerns," . [ ] "ein vormärzliches tanzidyll." berlin. [ ] i have used and slightly abridged the translation given in the _morning herald_. [ ] frau von kobell calls her countess of landsberg, a place to be found on the map, which landsfeld is not. [ ] this was the house built by metzger, now number barerstrasse. [ ] fuchs, "ein vormärzliches tanzidyll." [ ] times, th march . [ ] so says mr. boase in the "dictionary of national biography," but quotes no authority. [ ] "bygone years," . [ ] "life and adventures of g. a. sala," . [ ] _times_, th august . [ ] _les contemporains_, paris, . no sources of information are indicated. de mirecourt's real name was jacquot. [ ] _new york tribune_, th december . [ ] by way of digression i cannot refrain from instancing the absurd practice obtaining in some newspapers of printing the title mrs., when applied to a woman not legally married, in inverted commas, in spite of the dictum of english law which says that any one can call themselves by any description they please. [ ] _new york tribune_, th august . [ ] _era_, th january . [ ] _morning herald_, th may, . [ ] de mirecourt. [ ] phelps, "players of a century." visits and sketches at home and abroad. vol. ii. visits and sketches at home and abroad with tales and miscellanies now first collected. by mrs. jameson, author of "the characteristics of women," "lives of celebrated female sovereigns," &c. in three volumes. vol. ii. second edition. london saunders and otley, conduit street. . london: ibotson and palmer, printers, savoy street, strand. contents of vol. ii. sketches of art, literature, and character, part ii. (_continued._) page i. munich--the new palace--the beauty of its decorations--particular account of the modern paintings on the walls - the frescos of julius schnorr from the nibelungen-lied the frescos in the royal chapel the opera--madame schechner the kunstverein karl von holtëi fête of the obelisk the gallery--pictures and painters madame de freyberg--a visit to thalkirchen tomb of eugène beauharnais the sculpture in the glyptothek plan of the pinnakothek or national gallery the revival of fresco painting bavarian sculptors the valhalla stieler, the portrait painter gallery of the duc de leuchtenberg society at munich the liederkranz ii. nuremberg the old fortress albert durer hans sachs and peter vischer the cemetery travelling in germany iii. dresden the opera--madame schröder devrient in the "capaletti" ludwig tieck the dresden gallery and the italian school rosalba--violante siries--henrietta walters--maria von osterwyck--elizabeth sirani--the sofonisba thoughts on female artists--louisa and eliza sharpe--the countess julie von egloffstein moritz retzsch english and german art catalogue of german artists * * * * * a visit to hardwicke a visit to althorpe sketches of art, literature, and character. (_continued._) vol. ii. page , line , _for_ to _read_ too. , -- , _for_ neurather _read_ neureuther. , -- , _for_ scheckner _read_ schechner. , -- , ditto. ditto. , -- , _for_ interior _read_ exterior. , -- , note, _for_ frederic augustus _read_ anthony. , -- , _for_ steiler _read_ stieler. , -- , _for_ neurather _read_ neureuther. , -- , _for_ reitchel _read_ rietschel. [illustration] sketches of art, literature, and character. munich (continued). _tuesday._--m. de klenze called this morning and conducted me over the whole of the new palace. the design, when completed, will form a vast quadrangle. it was begun about seven years ago; and as only a certain sum is set apart every year for the works, it will probably be seven years more before the portion now in progress, which is the south side of the quadrangle, can be completed. the exterior of the building is plain, but has an air of grandeur even from its simplicity and uniformity. it reminds me of sir philip sydney's beautiful description--"a house built of fair and strong stone; not affecting so much any extraordinary kind of fineness, as an honourable representing of a firm stateliness; all more lasting than beautiful, but that the consideration of the exceeding lastingness made the eye believe it was exceeding beautiful." when a selfish despot designs a palace, it is for himself he builds. he thinks first of his own personal tastes and peculiar habits, and the arrangements are contrived to suit his exclusive propensities. thus, for nero's overwhelming pride, no space, no height, could suffice; so he built his "golden house" upon a scale which obliged its next possessor to pull it to pieces, as only fit to lodge a colossus. george the fourth had a predilection for low ceilings, so all the future inhabitants of the pimlico palace must endure suffocation; and as his majesty did not live on good terms with his wife, no accommodation was prepared for a future queen of england. the commands which the king of bavaria gave de klenze were in a different spirit. "build me a palace, in which nothing within or without shall be of transient fashion or interest; a palace for my posterity, and my people, as well as myself; of which the decorations shall be durable as well as splendid, and shall appear one or two centuries hence as pleasing to the eye and taste as they do now." "upon this principle," said de klenze, looking round, "i designed what you now see." on the first floor are the apartments of the king and queen, all facing the south: a parallel range of apartments behind contains accommodation for the attendants, ladies of honour, chamberlains, &c.; a grand staircase on the east leads to the apartments of the king, another on the west to those of the queen; the two suites of apartments uniting in the centre, where the private and sleeping rooms communicate with each other. all the chambers allotted to the king's use are painted with subjects from the greek poets, and those of the queen from the german poets. we began with the king's apartments. the approach to the staircase i did not quite understand, for it appears small and narrow; but this part of the building is evidently incomplete. the staircase is beautiful, but simple, consisting of a flight of wide broad steps of the native marble; there is no gilding; the ornaments on the ceiling represent the different arts and manufactures carried on in bavaria. over the door which opens into the apartments is the king's motto in gold letters, gerecht und beharrlich--just and firm. two caryatides support the entrance: on one side the statue of astrea, and on the other the greek victory without wings--the first expressing justice, the last firmness or constancy. these figures are colossal, and modelled by schwanthaler in a grand and severe style of art. i. the first antechamber is decorated with great simplicity. on the cornice round the top is represented the history of orpheus and the expedition of the argonauts, from linus, the earliest greek poet. the figures are in outline, shaded in brown, but without relief or colour, exactly like those on the etruscan vases. the walls are stuccoed in imitation of marble. ii. the second antechamber is less simple in its decoration. the frieze round the top is broader, (about three feet,) and represents the theogony, the wars of the titans, &c. from hesiod. the figures are in outline, and tinted, but without relief, in the manner of some of the ancient greek paintings on vases, tombs, &c. the effect is very classical, and very singular. schwanthaler, by whom these decorations were designed, has displayed all the learning of a profound and accomplished scholar, as well as the skill of an artist. in general feeling and style they reminded me of flaxman's outlines to Æschylus. the walls of this room are also stuccoed in imitation of marble, with compartments, in which are represented, in the same style, other subjects from the "weeks and days," and the "birth of pandora." the ornaments are in the oldest greek style. iii. a saloon, or reception room, for those who are to be presented to the king. on this room, which is in a manner public, the utmost luxury of decoration is to be expended; but it is yet unfinished. the subjects are from homer. in compartments on the ceiling are represented the gods of greece; the gorgeous ornaments with which they are intermixed being all in the greek style. round the frieze, at the top of the room, the subjects are taken from the four homeric hymns. the walls will be painted from the iliad and odyssey, in compartments, mingled with the richest arabesques. the effect of that part of the room which is finished is indescribably splendid; but i cannot pause to dwell upon minutiæ. iv. the throne-room. the decorations of this room combine, in an extraordinary degree, the utmost splendour and the utmost elegance. the whole is adorned with bas-reliefs in white stucco, raised upon a ground of dead gold. the compositions are from pindar. round the frieze are the games of greece, the chariot and foot-race, the horse-race, the wrestlers, the cestus, &c. immediately over the throne, pindar, singing to his lyre, before the judges of the olympic games. on each side a comic and a tragic poet receiving a prize. the exceeding lightness and grace, the various fancy, the purity of style, the vigour of life and movement displayed here, all prove that schwanthaler has drank deep of classical inspiration, and that he has not looked upon the frieze of the parthenon in vain. the subjects on the walls are various groups from the same poet; over the throne is the king's motto, and on each side, alcides and achilles; the history of jason and medea, castor and pollux, deucalion and pyrrha, &c. occupy compartments, differing in form and size. the decoration of this magnificent room appeared to me a _little_ too much broken up into parts--and yet, on the whole, it is most beautiful; the graces as well as the muses presided over the whole of these "fancies, chaste and noble;" and there is excellent taste in the choice of the poet, and the subjects selected, as harmonizing with the destination of the room: all are expressive of power, of triumph, of moral or physical greatness.[ ] the walls are of dead gold, from the floor to the ceiling, and the gilding of this room alone cost , florins. v. a saloon, or antechamber. the ceiling and walls admirably painted, from the tragedies of Æschylus. vi. the king's study, or cabinet de travail. the subjects from sophocles, equally classical in taste, and rich in colour and effect. in the arch at one end of this room are seven compartments, in which are inscribed in gold letters, the sayings of the seven greek sages. schwanthaler furnished the outlines of the compositions from Æschylus and sophocles, which are executed in colours by wilhelm röckel of schleissheim. vii. the king's dressing-room. the subjects from aristophanes, painted by hiltensberger of suabia, certainly one of the best painters here. there is exquisite fantastic grace and spirit in these designs. "it was fit," said de klenze, "that the first objects which his majesty looked upon on rising from his bed should be gay and mirth-inspiring." viii. the king's bedroom. the subjects from theocritus, by different painters, but principally professor heinrich hess and bruchmann. this room pleased me least. no description could give an adequate idea of the endless variety, and graceful and luxuriant ornament harmonizing with the various subjects, and the purpose of each room, and lavished on the walls and ceilings, even to infinitude. the general style is very properly borrowed from the greek decorations at herculaneum and pompeii; not servilely copied, but varied with an exhaustless prodigality of fancy and invention, and applied with exquisite taste. the combination of the gayest, brightest colours has been studied with care, their proportion and approximation calculated on scientific principles; so that the result, instead of being gaudy and perplexing to the eye, is an effect the most captivating, brilliant, and harmonious that can be conceived. the material used is the _encaustic_ painting, which has been revived by m. de klenze. he spent four months at naples analysing the colours used in the encaustic paintings at herculaneum and pompeii, and by innumerable experiments reducing the process to safe practice. professor zimmermann explained to me the other day, as i stood beside him while he worked, the general principle, and the advantages of this style. it is much more rapid than oil painting; it is also much less expensive, requiring both cheaper materials and in smaller quantity. it dries more quickly: the surface is not so glazy and unequal, requiring no particular light to be seen to advantage. the colours are wonderfully bright: it is capable of as high a finish, and it is quite as durable as oils. both mineral and vegetable colours can be used. now to return. the king's bedchamber opens into the queen's apartments, but to take these in order we must begin at the beginning. the staircase, which is still unfinished, will be in a much richer style of architecture than that on the king's side: it is sustained with beautiful columns of native marble. i. antechamber; painted from the history and poems of walther von der vogelweide, by gassen of coblentz, a young painter of distinguished merit. walther "of the bird-meadow," for that is the literal signification of his name, was one of the most celebrated of the early suabian minnesingers,[ ] and appears to have lived from to . he led a wandering life, and was at different times in the service of several princes of germany. he figured at the famous "strife of poets," at the castle of wartsburg, which took place in , in presence of hermann, landgrave of thuringia and the landgravine sophia: this is one of the most celebrated incidents in the history of german poetry. he also accompanied leopold vii. to the holy land. his songs are warlike, patriotic, moral, and religious. "of love he has always the highest conception, as of a principle of action, a virtue, a religious affection; and in his estimation of female excellence, he is below none of his contemporaries."[ ] in the centre of the ceiling is represented the poetical contest at wartsburg, and walther is reciting his verses in presence of his rivals and the assembled judges. at the upper end of the room walther is exhibited exactly as he describes himself in one of his principal poems, seated on a high rock in a melancholy attitude, leaning on his elbow, and contemplating the troubles of his desolate country; in the opposite arch, the old poet is represented as feeding the little birds which are fluttering round him--in allusion to his will, which directed that the birds should be fed yearly upon his tomb. another compartment represents walther showing to his geliebte (his mistress) the reflection of her own lovely face in his polished shield. there are other subjects which i cannot recall. the figures in all these groups are the size of life. ii. the next room is painted from the poems of wolfram of eschenbach, another, and one of the most fertile of the old minnesingers; he also was present at the contest at wartsburg, "and wandered from castle to castle like a true courteous knight, dividing his time between feats of arms and minstrelsy." he versified, in the german tongue, the romance of the "saint-greal," making it an original production, and the central point, if the expression may be allowed, of an innumerable variety of adventures, which he has combined, like ariosto, in artful perplexity, in the poems of percival and titurel.[ ] these adventures furnish the subjects of the paintings on the ceiling and walls, which are executed by hermann of dresden, one of the most distinguished of the pupils of cornelius. the ornaments in these two rooms, which are exceedingly rich and appropriate, are in the old gothic style, and reminded me of the illuminations in the ancient mss. iii. a saloon (salon de service) appropriated to the ladies in waiting: painted from the ballads of bürger, by foltz of bingen. the ceiling of this room is perfectly exquisite--it is formed entirely of small rosettes, (about a foot in diameter,) varying in form, and combining every hue of the rainbow--the delicacy and harmony of the entire effect is quite indescribable. the rest of the decorations are not finished, but the choice of the poet and the subjects, considering the destination of the room, delighted me. the fate of "lenora," and that of the "curate's daughter," will be edifying subjects of contemplation for the maids of honour. iv. the throne-room. magnificent in the general effect; elegant and appropriate in the design. on the ceiling, which is richly ornamented, are four medallions, exhibiting, under the effigies of four admirable women, the four _feminine_ cardinal virtues. constancy is represented by maria theresa; maternal love, by cornelia; charity, by st. elizabeth, (the margravine of thuringia;[ ]) and filial tenderness, by julia pia alpinula. and there--o sweet and sacred be the name! julia, the daughter, the devoted, gave her youth to heaven; her heart beneath a claim nearest to heaven's, broke o'er a father's grave. lord byron. "i always avoid emblematical and allegorical figures, wherever it is possible, for they are cold and arbitrary, and do not speak to the heart!" said m. de klenze, perceiving how much i was charmed with the idea of thus personifying the womanly virtues. the paintings round the room are from the poems of klopstock, and executed by wilhelm kaulbach, an excellent artist. only the frieze is finished. it consists of a series of twelve compartments: three on each side of the room, and divided from each other by two boys of colossal size, grouped as caryatides, and in very high relief. these compartments represent the various scenes of the herman-schlacht; the sacrifices of the druids; the adieus of the women; the departure of the warriors; the fight with varus; the victory; the return of herman to his wife thusnelda, &c. herman, or, as the roman historians call him, arminius, was a chieftain of the cheruscans, a tribe of northern germany. after serving in illyria, and there learning the roman arts of warfare, he came back to his native country, and fought successfully for its independence. he defeated, beside a defile near detmold, in westphalia, the roman legions under the command of varus, with a slaughter so mortifying, that the proconsul is said to have killed himself, and augustus to have received the news of the catastrophe with indecorous expressions of grief. it is this defeat of varus which forms the theme of one of klopstock's chorus-dramas, entitled, "the battle of herman." the dialogue is concise and picturesque; the characters various, consistent, and energetic; a lofty colossal frame of being belongs to them all, as in the paintings of caravaggio. to herman, the disinterested zealot of patriotism and independence, a preference of importance is wisely given; yet, perhaps, his wife thusnelda acts more strongly on the sympathy by the enthusiastic veneration and affection she displays for her hero-consort.[ ] v. saloon, or drawing-room. the paintings from wieland, by eugene neureuther, (already known in england by his beautiful arabesque illustrations of goethe's ballads.) the frieze only of this room, which is from the oberon, is in progress. vi. the queen's bedroom. the paintings from goethe, and chiefly by kaulbach. the ceiling is exquisite, representing in compartments various scenes from goethe's principal lyrics; the herman and dorothea; pausias and glycera, &c., intermixed with the most rich and elegant ornaments in relief. vii. the queen's study, or private sitting-room. a small but very beautiful room, with paintings from schiller, principally by lindenschmidt of mayence. on the ceiling are groups from the wallenstein; the maid of orleans; the bride of corinth; wilhelm tell; and on the walls, in compartments, mingled with the most elegant ornaments, scenes from the fridolin, the toggenburg, the dragon of rhodes, and other of his lyrics. viii. the queen's library. as the walls will be covered with book-cases, all the splendour of decoration is lavished on the ceiling, which is inexpressibly rich and elegant. the paintings are from the works of ludwig tieck--from the octavianus, the genoneva, fortunatus, the puss in boots, &c., and executed by von schwind. the dining-room is magnificently painted with subjects from anacreon, intermixed with ornaments and bacchanalian symbols, all in the richest colouring. in the compartments on the ceiling, the figures are the size of life--in those round the walls, half-life size. nothing can exceed the luxuriant fancy, the gaiety, the classical elegance, and amenity of some of these groups. they are all by professor zimmermann. one of these paintings, a group representing, i think, anacreon with the graces, (it is at the east end of the room,) is usually pointed out as an example of the perfection to which the encaustic painting has been carried: in fact, it would be difficult to exceed it in the mingled harmony, purity, and brilliance of the colouring. m. zimmermann told me, that when he submitted the cartoons for these paintings to the king's approbation, his majesty desired a slight alteration to be made in a group representing a nymph embraced by a bacchanal; not as being in itself faulty, but "à cause de ses enfans," his eldest daughters being accustomed to dine with himself and the queen. now it must be remembered that these seventeen rooms form the domestic apartments of the royal family; and magnificent as they are, a certain elegance, cheerfulness, and propriety have been more consulted than parade and grandeur: but on the ground-floor there is a suite of state apartments, prepared for the reception of strangers, &c., on great and festive occasions; and these excited my admiration more than all the rest together. the paintings are entirely executed in fresco, on a grand scale, by julius schnorr von carolsfeld, certainly one of the greatest living artists of europe: and these four rooms will form, when completed, the very triumph of the romantic school of painting. it is not alone the invention displayed in the composition, nor the largeness, boldness, and freedom of the drawing, nor the vigour and splendour of the colouring; it is the enthusiastic sympathy of the painter with his subject; the genuine spirit of the old heroic, or rather teutonic ages of germany, breathed through and over his singular creations, which so peculiarly distinguish them. they are the very antipodes of all our notions of the classical--they take us back to the days of gothic romance, and legendary lore--to the "fiery franks and furious huns"--to the heroes, in short, of the nibelungen lied, from which all the subjects are taken. to enable the merely english reader to feel, or at least understand, the interest attached to this grand series of paintings, without which it is impossible to do justice to the artist, it is necessary to give a slight sketch of the poem which he has thus magnificently illustrated.[ ] "this national epic, as it is justly termed by m. von der hagen, has lately attracted a most unprecedented degree of attention in germany. it now actually forms a part of the philological courses in many of their universities, and it has been hailed with almost as much veneration as the homeric songs. some allowance must be made for german enthusiasm, but it cannot be denied that the nibelungen lied, though a little too bloody and dolorous, possesses extraordinary merits." the hero and heroine of this poem are siegfried, (son of siegmund, king of netherland, and of sighelind his queen,) and chrimhilde, princess of burgundy. siegfried, or sifrit, the sigurd of the scandinavian sagas, is the favourite hero of the northern parts of germany. his spear, "a mighty pine beam," was preserved with veneration at worms; and there, in the church of st. cecilia, he is supposed to have been buried. the german romances do not represent him as being of gigantic proportions, but they all agree that he became invulnerable by bathing in the blood of a dragon, which guarded the treasures of the nibelungen, and which he overcame and killed; but it happened that as he bathed, a leaf fell and rested between his shoulders, and consequently, that one little spot, about a hand's breadth, still remained susceptible of injury. siegfried also possesses the wondrous tarn-cap, which had the power of rendering the wearer invisible. this formidable champion, after winning the love and the hand of the fair princess chrimhilde, and performing a thousand valiant deeds, is treacherously murdered by the three brothers of chrimhilde, gunther, king of burgundy, ghiseler, gernot, and their uncle hagen, instigated by queen brunhilde, the wife of gunther. chrimhilde meditates for years the project of a deep and deadly revenge on the murderers of her husband. this vengeance is in fact the subject of the nibelungen lied, as the wrath of achilles is the subject of the iliad. the poem opens thus beautifully with a kind of argument of the whole eventful story. "in ancient song and story marvels high are told of knights of bold emprize and adventures mani-fold; of joy and merry feasting, of lamenting, woe, and fear; of champions' bloody battles many marvels shall ye hear. a noble maid and fair, grew up in burgundy, in all the land about fairer none might be; she became a queen full high, chrimhild was she hight, but for her matchless beauty fell many a blade of might. for love and for delight was framed that lady gay, many a champion bold sighed for that gentle may; beauteous was her form! beauteous without compare! the virgin's virtues might adorn many a lady fair. three kings of might had the maiden in their care, king gunther and king gernot, champions bold they were, and ghiselar the young, a chosen peerless blade: the lady was their sister, and much they loved the maid." then follows an enumeration of the heroes in attendance on king gunther: haghen, the fierce; dankwart, the swift; volker, the minstrel knight; and others; "all champions bold and free;"--and then the poet proceeds to open the argument. "one night the queen chrimhild dreamt her as she lay, how she had trained and nourished a falcon, wild and gay; when suddenly two eagles fierce the gentle hawk have slain-- never, in this world felt she such cruel pain! to her mother, uta, she told her dream with fear. full mournfully she answered to what the maid did spier, 'the falcon, whom you cherished, a gentle knight is he: god take him to his ward! thou must lose him suddenly.' 'what speak you of the knight? dearest mother, say! without the love of champion, to my dying day, ever thus fair will i remain, nor take a wedded fere to gain such pain and sorrow--though the knight were without peer!' 'speak not thou too rashly!' her mother spake again. 'if ever in this world, thou heart-felt joy wilt gain, maiden must thou be no more; leman must thou have. god will grant thee for thy mate, some gentle knight and brave.' 'o leave thy words, lady mother; speak not of wedded mate, full many a gentle maiden hath found the truth too late: still has their fondest love ended with woe and pain; virgin will i ever be, nor the love of leman gain.' in virtues high and noble that gentle maiden dwelt, full many a night and day, nor love for leman felt. to never a knight or champion would she plight her virgin truth, till she was gained for wedded fere by a right noble youth. that youth, he was the falcon, she in her dream beheld, who by the two fierce eagles, dead to the ground was fell'd: but since right dreadful vengeance she took upon his foen; for the death of that bold hero, died full many a mother's son." after this exordium the story commences, the first half ending with the assassination of siegfried. some years after the murder of siegfried, chrimhilde gives her hand to etzel, (or attila,) king of the huns, in order that through his power and influence she may be enabled to execute her long-cherished schemes of vengeance. the assassins accordingly, and all their kindred and followers, are induced to visit king etzel at vienna, where, by the instigation of chrimhilde, a deadly feud arises; in the course of which almost the whole army on both sides are cruelly slaughtered. by the powerful, but reluctant aid of dietrich of bern,[ ] hagen, the murderer of siegfried, is at last vanquished, and brought bound to the feet of the queen, who at once raises the sword of her departed hero, and with her own hand strikes off the head of his enemy. hildebrand instantly avenges the atrocious and unhospitable act, by stabbing the queen, who falls exulting on the body of her hated victim. when gunther's arms, and those of his brothers and champions, are brought to worms, brunhilde repents too late of her treachery to siegfried, and the old queen uta dies of grief. as to king etzel, the poet professes himself ignorant, "whether he died in battle, or was taken up to heaven, or fell out of his skin, or was swallowed up by the devil;" leaving to his reader the choice of these singular catastrophes;--and thus the story ends.[ ] the rivalry between chrimhilde and her amazonian sister-in-law, brunhilde, forms the most interesting and amusing episode in the poem; and the characters of the two queens--the fierce haughty brunhilde, and the impassioned, devoted, confiding chrimhilde--(whom the very excess of conjugal love converts into a relentless fury,) are admirably discriminated. "the work is divided into thirty-eight books, or _adventures_; and besides a liberal allowance of sorcery and wonders, contains a great deal of clear and animated narrative, and innumerable curious and picturesque traits of the manners of the age. the characters of the different warriors, as well as those of the two queens, and their heroic consorts, are very naturally and powerfully drawn--especially that of hagen, the murderer of siegfried, in whom the virtues of an heroic and chivalrous leader are strangely united with the atrocity and impenitent hardihood of an assassin. "the author of the lay of the nibelungen has not been ascertained. in its present form it must have existed between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries;--this is proved by the language; but the manners, tone, thoughts, and actions, which are all in perfect keeping, bear testimony to an antiquity far beyond that of the present dress of the poem." here then was a boundless, an inexhaustible fund of inspiration for such a painter as julius schnorr; and his poetical fancy appears to have absolutely revelled in the grand, the gay, the tragic subjects afforded to his creative pencil. in the first room, immediately over the entrance, he has represented the poet, or presumed author of the nibelungen--an inspired figure, attended by two listening genii. on each side, but a little lower down, are two figures looking towards him; on one side a beautiful female, striking a harp, and attended by a genius crowned with roses--represents song or poesy. on the other side, a sybil listening to the voice of time, represents tradition. the figures are all colossal. below, on each side of this door, are two beautiful groups. that to the right of the spectator represents siegfried and chrimhilde. she is leaning on the shoulder of her warlike husband with an air of the most inimitable and graceful abandonment in her whole figure: a falcon sits upon her hand, on which her eyes are turned with the most profound expression of tenderness and melancholy; she is thinking upon her dream, in which was foreshadowed the early and terrible doom of her husband. it is said at munich, that the wife of schnorr, an exquisitely beautiful woman, whom he married under romantic circumstances, was the model of his chrimhilde, and that one of her spontaneous attitudes furnished the idea of this exquisite group, on which i never look without emotion. the depth and splendour of the colouring adds to the effect. the figures are rather above the size of life. on the opposite side of the door, as a _pendant_, we have gunther, and his queen, brunhilde. he holds one of her hands, with a deprecating expression. she turns from him with an averted countenance, exhibiting in her whole look and attitude, grief, rage, and shame. it is evident that she has just made the fatal discovery of her husband's obligations to siegfried, which urges her to the destruction of the latter. i have heard travellers ignorantly criticise the grand, and somewhat exaggerated forms of brunhilde, as being "really quite coarse and unfeminine." in the poem she is represented as possessing the strength of twelve men; and when hagen sees her throw a spear, which it required four warriors to lift, he exclaims to her alarmed suitor, king gunther, "aye! how is it, king gunther? here must you tine your life! the lady you would gain, well might be the devil's wife!" it is by the secret assistance of siegfried, and his tarn-cap, that gunther at length vanquishes and humbles this terrible heroine, and she avenges her humiliation by the murder of siegfried. around the room are sixteen full-length portraits of the other principal personages who figure in the nibelungen lied--_portraits_ they may well be called, for their extraordinary spirit, and truth of character. in one group we have the fierce hagen, the courteous dankwart, and between them, volker tuning his viol; of him it is said-- bolder and more knight-like fiddler, never shone the sun upon, and he plays a conspicuous part in the catastrophe of the poem. opposite to this group, we have queen uta, the mother of chrimhilde, between her sons, gernot and ghiselar: in another compartment, siegmund and sighelind, the father and mother of siegfried. over the window opposite to the entrance, hagen is consulting the mermaids of the danube, who foretell the destruction which awaits him at the court of etzel: and lower down on each side of the window, king etzel with his friend rudiger, and those faithful companions in arms, old hildebrand and dietrich of bern. the power of invention, the profound feeling of character, and extraordinary antiquarian knowledge displayed in these figures, should be seen to be understood. those which most struck me (next to chrimhilde and her husband) were the figures of the daring hagen and the venerable queen uta. on the ceiling, which is vaulted, and enriched with most gorgeous ornaments, intermixed with heraldic emblazonments, are four small compartments in fresco: in which are represented, the marriage of siegfried and chrimhilde, the murder of siegfried, the vengeance of chrimhilde, and the death of chrimhilde. these are painted in vivid colours on a black ground. on the whole, on looking round this most splendid and interesting room, i could find but one fault: i could have wished that the ornaments on the walls and ceiling (so rich and beautiful to the eye) had been more completely and consistently gothic in style; they would then have harmonized better with the subjects of the paintings. in the next room, the two sides are occupied by two grand frescos, each about five-and-twenty feet in length, and covering the whole wall. in the first, siegfried brings the kings of saxony and denmark prisoners to the court of king gunther. the second represents the reception of the victorious siegfried by the two queens, uta and chrimhilde. this is the first interview of the lovers, and furnishes one of the most admired passages in the poem. "and now the beauteous lady, like the rosy morn, dispersed the misty clouds; and he who long had borne in his heart the maiden, banish'd pain and care, as now before his eyes stood the glorious maiden fair. from her embroidered garment, glittered many a gem, and on her lovely cheek, the rosy red did gleam; whoever in his glowing soul had imaged lady bright, confessed that fairer maiden never stood before his sight. and as the moon at night, stands high the stars among, and moves the mirky clouds above, with lustre bright and strong; so stood before her maidens, that maid without compare: higher swelled the courage of many a champion there." between the two doors there is the marriage of siegfried and chrimhilde. the second of these frescos is nearly finished; of the others i only saw the cartoons, which are magnificent. the third room will contain, arranged in the same manner, three grand frescos, representing st. the scene in which the rash curiosity of chrimhilde prevails over the discretion of her husband, and he gives her the ring and the girdle which he had snatched as trophies from the vanquished brunhilde.[ ] ndly. the death of siegfried, assassinated by hagen, who stabs the hero in the back, as he stoops to drink from the forest-well. and rdly. the body of siegfried exposed in the cathedral at worms, and watched by chrimhilde, "who wept three days and three nights by the corse of her murdered lord, without food and without sleep." the fourth room will contain the second marriage of chrimhilde; her complete and sanguinary vengeance; and her death. none of these are yet in progress. but the three cartoons of the death of siegfried; the marriage of siegfried and chrimhilde; and the fatal curiosity of chrimhilde, i had the pleasure of seeing in professor schnorr's studio at the academy; i saw at the same time his picture of the death of the emperor frederic barbarossa, which has excited great admiration here, but i confess i do not like it; nor do i think that schnorr paints as well in oils as in fresco--the latter is certainly his forte. often have i walked up and down these superb rooms, looking up at schnorr and his assistants, and watching intently the preparation and the process of the fresco painting--and often i thought, "what would some of our english painters--etty, or hilton, or briggs, or martin--o what would they give to have two or three hundred feet of space before them, to cover at will with grand and glorious creations,--scenes from chaucer, or spenser, or shakspeare, or milton, proudly conscious that they were painting for their country and posterity, spurred on by the spirit of their art and national enthusiasm, and generously emulating each other!" alas! how different!--with us such men as hilton and etty illustrate annuals, and the genius of turner shrinks into a vignette! i should add, before i throw down my weary pen, that every part of the new palace, from the _ensemble_ down to the minutest details of the ornaments (the paintings excepted) has been designed by de klenze, who executed seven hundred drawings with his own hand for this palace alone, without reckoning his designs for the glyptothek and the pinakothek. this has been a busy and exciting day. then in the evening a _soirée_--music-- * * * * * o quite tired in spirits, in voice, in mind, in heart, in frame! _oct. th._--accompanied by my kind friend, madame de k----, and conducted by roekel, the painter, i visited the unfinished chapel adjoining the new palace. it is painted (or rather _painting_) in fresco, on a gold ground, with extraordinary richness and beauty, uniting the old greek, or rather byzantine manner, with the old italian style of decoration. it reminded me, in the general effect, of the interior of st. mark's at venice,--but, of course, the details are executed in a grander feeling, and in a much higher style of art. the pillars are of the native marble, and the walls will be covered with a kind of mosaic of various marbles, intermixed with ornaments in relief, in gilding, in colours--all combined, and harmonizing together. the ceiling is formed of two large domes or cupolas. in the first is represented the old testament: in the very centre, the creator; in a circle round him, the six days' creation. around this again, in a larger circle, the building of the ark; the deluge; the sacrifice of noah; and the first covenant. in the four corners, the colossal figures of the patriarchs, noah, abraham, isaac, and jacob. these are designed in a very grand and severe style. the second cupola is dedicated to the new testament. in the centre, the redeemer: around him four groups of cherubs, three in each group. we were on the scaffold erected for the painters--near enough to remark the extreme beauty and various expression in these heads, which must, i am afraid, be lost when viewed from below. around, in a circle, the twelve apostles; and in the four corners, the four evangelists, corresponding with the four patriarchs in the other dome. in the arch between the two domes, as connecting the old and new testaments, we have the nativity and other scenes from the life of the virgin. in the arch at the farthest end will be placed the crucifixion, as the consummation of all. the painter to whom the direction of the whole work has been entrusted, is professor heinrich häss, (or hess,) one of the most celebrated of the german historical painters. he was then employed in painting the nativity, stretched upon his back on a sort of inclined chair. notwithstanding the inconvenience and even peril of leaving his work while the plaster was wet, he came down from his giddy height to speak to us, and explained the general design of the whole. i expressed my honest admiration of the genius, and the grand feeling displayed in many of the figures; and, in particular, of the group he was then painting, of which the extreme simplicity charmed me; but as honestly, i expressed my surprise that nothing _new_ in the general style of the decoration had been attempted; a representation of the omnipotent being was merely excusable in more simple and unenlightened times, when the understandings of men could only be addressed through their senses--and merely tolerable, when michael angelo gave us that grand personification of almighty power moving "on the wings of the wind" to the creation of the first man. but now, in these thinking, reasoning times, it is not so well to venture into those paths, upon which daring genius, supported by blind faith, rushed without fear, because without a doubt. the theory of religion belongs to poetry, and its practice to painting. i was struck by the wonderful stateliness of the ornaments and borders used in decorating these sacred subjects: they are neither greek, nor gothic, nor arabesque--but composed merely of simple forms and straight lines, combined in every possible manner, and in every variety of pure colour. one might call them _byzantine_; at least, they reminded me of what i had seen in the old churches at venice and pisa. i was pleased by the amiable and open manners of professor hess. much of his life has been spent in italy, and he speaks italian well, but no french. in general, the german artists absolutely detest and avoid the language and literature of france, but almost all speak italian, and many can read, if they do not speak, english. he told me that he had spent two years on the designs and cartoons for this chapel; he had been painting here daily for the last two years, and expected to be able to finish the whole in about two years and a half more: thus giving six years and a half, or more probably seven years, to this grand task. he has four pupils, or assistants, besides those employed in the decorations only. _oct. th._--after dinner we drove through the beautiful english garden--a public promenade--which is larger and more diversified than kensington gardens; but the trees are not so fine, being of younger growth. a branch of the isar rolls through this garden, sometimes an absolute torrent, deep and rapid, foaming and leaping along, between its precipitous banks,--sometimes a strong but gentle stream, flowing "at its own sweet will" among smooth lawns. several pretty bridges cross it with "airy span;" there are seats for repose, and cafés and houses where refreshment may be had, and where, in the summer-time, the artisans and citizens of munich assemble to dance on the sunday evenings;--altogether it was a beautiful day, and a delightful drive. in the evening at the opera with the ambassadress and a large party. it was the queen's fête, and the whole court was present. the theatre was brilliantly illuminated--crowded in every part: in short, it was all very gay and very magnificent; as to hearing a single note of the opera, (the figaro,) that was impossible; so i resigned myself to the conversation around me. "are you fond of music?" said i, innocently, to a lady whose volubility had ceased not from the moment we entered the box. "moi! si je l'aime!--mais avec passion!" and then without pause or mercy continued the same incessant flow of _spirituel_ small-talk while scheckner-wagen and meric, now brought for the first time into competition, and emulous of each other,--one pouring forth her full _sostenuto_ warble, like a wood-lark,--the other trilling and running divisions, like a nightingale--were uniting their powers in the "sull' aria;" but though i could not hear i could see. i was struck to-night more than ever by the singular dignity of the demeanour of madame scheckner-wagen. she is not remarkable for beauty, nor is there any thing of the common made-up theatrical grace in her deportment--still less does she remind us of queen medea--queen pasta, i should say--the imperial syren who drowned her own identity and ours together in her "cup of enchanted sounds;"--no--but scheckner-wagen treads the stage with the air of a high-bred lady, to whom applause or censure are things indifferent--and yet with an exceeding modesty. in short, i never saw an actress who inspired such an immediate and irresistible feeling of respect and interest for the individual _woman_. i do not say that this is the _ne plus ultra_ of good acting--on the contrary; though it is a mistake to imagine that the moral character of an actress or a singer goes for nothing with an audience--but of this more at some future time. madame scheckner's style of singing has the same characteristic simplicity and dignity: her voice is of a fine full quality, well cultivated, well managed. i have known her a little indolent and careless at times, but never forced or affected; and i am told that in some of the grand classical german operas, gluck's iphigenia, for instance, her acting as well as her singing is admirable. i wish, if ever we have that charming devrient-schröeder, and her vocal suite, again in england, they would give us the iphigenia, or the armida, or the idomeneo. she is another who must be heard in her native music to be justly appreciated. madame milder _was_ a third, but her reign is past. this extraordinary creature absolutely could not, or would not, sing the modern italian music; no one, i believe, ever heard her sing a note of rossini in her life. madame vespermann is here, but she sings no more in public. she was formed by winter, and was a fine classical singer, though no original genius like the milder; and her voice, if i may judge by what remains of it, could never have been of first-rate quality. well--after the opera--while scandal, and tea, and refreshments were served up together--i had a long conversation with count ---- on the politics and statistics of bavaria, the tone of feeling in the court, the characters and revenues of some of the leading nobles--particularly count d'armansberg, the former minister, (now in greece taking care of the young king otho,) and prince wallerstein, the present minister of the interior. he described the king's extremely versatile character, and his _vivacités_, and lamented his present unpopularity with the liberal party in germany, the disputes between him and the chambers, and the opinions entertained of the recent conferences between the king and his brother-in-law, the emperor of austria, at lintz, &c. i learnt much that was new, much that was interesting to me, but do not understand these matters sufficiently to say any thing more about them. the two richest families in bavaria are the tour-and-taxis, and the arco family. the annual revenue of the prince of tour-and-taxis amounts to upwards of five millions of florins, and he lays out about a million and a half yearly in land. he seldom or never comes to munich, but resides chiefly on his enormous estates, or at ratisbon, which is _his_ metropolis,--in fact, this rich and powerful noble is little less than a sovereign prince. * * * * * _ th._--i went with madame von a---- and her daughters to the =kunstverein=, or "society of arts." a similar institution of amateurs and artists, maintained by subscription, exists, i believe, in all the principal cities of germany. the young artists exhibit their works here, whether pictures, models, or engravings. some of these are removed and replaced by others almost every day, so that there is a constant variety. as yet, however, i have seen no _very_ striking, though many pleasing pictures; but i have added several names to my list of german artists.[ ] to-day at the kunstverein, there was a series of small pictures framed together, the subjects from victor hugo's romance of notre dame. these attracted general attention, partly as the work of a stranger, partly from their own merit, and the popularity of victor hugo. the painter, m. couder, is a young frenchman, now on his return from italy to paris. i understand that he has obtained leave to paint one of the frescos in the pinakothek, as a trial of skill. of the designs from notre dame, the central and largest picture is the scene in the garret between phoebus and esmeralda, when the former is stabbed by the priest frollo: one can hardly imagine a more admirable subject for painting, if properly treated; but this is a failure in effect and in character. it fails in effect because the light is too generally diffused:--it is day-light, not lamp-light. the monk ought to have been thrown completely into shadow, only _just_ visible, terribly, mysteriously visible, to the spectator. it fails in character because the figure of esmeralda, instead of the elegant, fragile, almost etherial creature she is described, rather reminds us of a coarse italian contadina; and, for the expression--a truly poetical painter would have averted the face, and thrown the whole expression into the attitude. it will hardly be believed that of such a subject, the painter has made a _cold_ picture, merely by not feeling the bounds within which he ought to have kept. the small pictures are much better, particularly the sachet embracing her child, and the tumult in front of notre dame. there were some other striking pictures by the same artist, particularly chilperic and fredegonde strangling the young queen galsuinde, painted with shocking skill and truth. that taste for horrors, which is now the reigning fashion in french art and french literature, speaks ill for french _sensibilité_--a word they are so fond of--for that sensibility cannot be great which requires such extravagant _stimuli_. painters and authors, all alike! they remind me of the sentimental negresses of queen carathis, in the tale of vathek--"qui avaient un gout particulier pour les pestilences." couder, however, has undoubted talent. his portrait of de klenze, painted since he came here, is all but _alive_. in the evening at the theatre with m. and mad. s----. we had karl von holtëi's melo-drama of lenore, founded on bürger's well-known ballad;--but with the omission of the spectre, which was something like acting hamlet "with the part of hamlet left out, by particular desire." lenore is, however, one of the prettiest and most effective of the _petites pièces_ i have seen here--very tragical and dolorous of course. madlle. schöller acted lenore with more feeling and power than i thought was in her. there is a mad scene, in which she fancies her lover at her window, calling to her, as the spectre calls in the ballad-- "sleep'st thou, or wak'st thou, leonore?" and which was so fine as a picture, and so well acted, that it quite thrilled me--no easy matter. holtëi is one of the first dramatists in germany for comedies, melo-dramas, farces, and musical pieces. in this particular department he has no rival. he played to-night himself, being for his own benefit, and sung his popular mantel lied, or _cloak-song_, which, like his other songs, may be heard from one end of germany to the other. _ th._--a grand military fête. the consecration of the great bronze obelisk, which the king has erected in the karoline-platz, to the _glory_ and the memory of the thirty-seven thousand bavarian conscripts who followed, or rather were dragged by, napoleon to the fatal russian campaign in . of these, about six thousand returned alive: most of them mutilated, or with diseases which shortened their existence. of many thousands no account ever reached home. they perished, god knows how or where. there was, in particular, a detachment, or a battery of six thousand bavarians, so completely destroyed that it was as if the earth had swallowed them, or the snows had buried them, for not one remained to tell the tale of how or where they died. of those who did return, about one thousand one hundred survive, of whom four hundred continue in the army; the rest had returned to their civil pursuits, and had become peasants or tradesmen in different parts of the kingdom. now, it appears, that several hundreds of these men have arrived in munich within the last few days in order to be present at the ceremony: and some, from the mere sentiment of honour, have travelled from afar--even from upper bavaria and the flemish provinces, a distance of more than eighty leagues, (two hundred and fifty miles.) on this occasion, according to the arrangements previously made, the veteran soldiers who remained in the army, were alone to be admitted within the enclosure round the monument. the others, i believe about five hundred in number, who had quitted the service, but who had equally fought, suffered, bled, in the same disastrous expedition, demanded, very naturally, the same privilege. it was refused; because forsooth they had no uniforms, and the unseemly intrusion of drab coats and blue worsted stockings among epaulettes and feathers and embroidered facings, would certainly spoil the symmetry--the effect of the _coup d'oeil_! they complained, murmured aloud, resisted; and all night there was fighting in the streets and taverns between them and the police. this morning they went up in a body to marshal wrede, (who is said to have betrayed the army,) and were _renvoyés_. they then went up to the palace; and at last, at a late hour this morning, the king gave orders that they should be admitted within the circle; but it was too late--the affront had sunk deep. the permission, which in the first instance ought indeed to have been rather an invitation, now seemed forced, ungraceful, and ungracious. there was a palpable cloud of discontent over all; for the popular feeling was with them. for myself, a mere stranger, such was my indignation, the whole proceeding appeared to me so heartless, so unkingly, so unkind, and my sympathy with these brave men was so profound, that i could scarce persuade myself to go;--however, i went. i had been invited to view the ceremony from the balcony of the french ambassador's house, which is exactly opposite to the obelisk. i had indulged my ill-humour till it was late; already all the avenues leading to the karoline-platz were occupied by the military, and my carriage was stopped. as i was within fifty yards of the ambassador's house, it did not much signify, and i dismissed the carriage; but they would not allow the lacquais to pass. wondering at all these precautions i dismissed _him_ too. a little further on i was myself stopped, and civilly _commanded_ to turn back. i pleaded that i only wished to enter the house to which i pointed. "it was impossible." now, what i had not cared for a moment before became at once an object to be attained, and which i was resolved to attain. i was really curious and anxious to see how all this would end, for the indifferent or lowering looks of the crowd had struck me. i observed to a well-dressed man, who politely tried to make way for me, that it was strange to see so much severity of discipline at a public fête. "public fête!" he repeated with scornful bitterness; "je vous demande pardon, madame! c'est une fête pour quelques uns, mais ce n'est pas une fête pour nous, ce n'est pas pour le peuple!" at length i fortunately met an officer, with whom i was slightly acquainted, who immediately conducted me to the door. the spectacle, merely as a _spectacle_, was not striking; but to me it had a peculiar interest. there was a raised platform on one side for the queen and her children, who, attended by a numerous court, were spectators. an outer circle was formed by several regiments of guards, and within this circle the soldiers who had served in russia were drawn up near the obelisk, which was covered for the present with a tarpauling. but all my attention was fixed on the disbanded soldiers without uniforms, who stood together in a dark dense column, contrasting with the glittering and gorgeous array of those around them. the king rode into the circle, accompanied by his brother, prince charles, the arch-duke francis of austria, marshal wrede, and followed by a troop of generals, equerries, &c. there was a dead silence, and not a shout was raised to greet him. a few of the disbanded soldiers, who were nearest to him, took off their hats, others kept them on. the trumpets sounded a salute: the bands struck up our "god save the king," which is nationalized as _the_ loyal anthem all over germany. the canvass covering fell at once, and displayed the obelisk, which is entirely of bronze, raised upon four granite steps. it bears a simple inscription. i think it is "ludwig i., king, to the soldiers of bavaria who fell in the russian campaign;" or nearly to that purpose. marshal wrede then alighted from his horse and addressed the soldiers. this was a striking moment; for while the outer circle of military remained immovable as statues, the soldiers within, both those with, and those without uniforms, finding themselves out of ear-shot, advanced a few steps, and then breaking their ranks, pressed forward in a confused mass, surrounding the king and his officers, in the most eager but respectful manner. i could not distinguish one sentence of the harangue, which, as i afterwards heard, was any thing rather than satisfactory. i heard it remarked round me that the duke de leuchtenberg, (the son of eugène beauharnais,) was not present, neither as one of the royal cortège nor as a spectator. the whole lasted about twenty minutes. the day was cold; and, in truth, the ceremony was _cold_, in every sense of the word. the karoline-platz is so large that not a third part of the open space was occupied. had the people, who lingered sullen and discontented outside the military barrier, been admitted under proper restrictions, it had been a grand and imposing sight; but, perhaps the king is following the austrian tactics, and seeking to crush systematically every thing like feeling or enthusiasm in his people. i know not how he will manage it; for he is himself the very antipodes of austrian carelessness and sluggishness: a restless enthusiast--fond of intellectual excitement--fond of novelty--with no natural taste, one would think, for metternich's _vieilleries_. if he adopt austrian principles, his theory and his practice, his precept and example, will always be at variance. at the conclusion of the ceremony the king and his suite rode up to the platform and saluted the queen: and when she--who is so universally and truly beloved here that i believe the people would die for her at anytime--rose to depart, i heard a cheer, the first and last this day! the disbanded soldiers approached the platform, at first timidly by twos and threes, and then in great numbers, taking off their hats. she stood up, leaning on the princess matilda, and bowed. the royal cortège then disappeared. the military bands struck up, and one battalion after another filed off. i expected that the crowd would have rushed in, but the people seemed completely chilled and disgusted. only a few appeared. in about half an hour the obelisk was left alone in its solitude. i spent the rest of the day with madame de v----, and returned home quite tired and depressed. i understand this morning (saturday) that the king has ordered a gratuity and dinner to be given to the disbanded soldiers. i hope it is true, king louis! you ought at least to understand your _metier de roi_ better than to degrade the "pomp and circumstance of _glorious_ war" in the eyes of your people, and make them feel for what a poor recompence they may fight, bleed, die--be made at once victims and executioners in the contests of royal and ambitious gamblers! i saw to-day, at the house of the court banker, eichthal, a most charming picture by the baroness de freyberg, the sister of my good friend, m. stuntz. it is a madonna and child--loveliest of subjects for a woman and a mother!--she is sure to put her heart into it, at least; but, in this particular picture, the surpassing delicacy of touch, the softness and purity of the colouring, the masterly drawing in the hands of the virgin, and the limbs of the child, equalled the feeling and the expression--and, in truth, _surprised_ me. madame de freyberg gave this picture to her father, who is not rich, and, unhappily, blind. of him, the present possessor purchased it for fifteen hundred florins, (about _l._) and now values it at twice the sum. in the possession of her brother, i have seen others of her productions, and particularly a head of one of his children, of exceeding beauty, and very much in the old italian style. in the evening, a very lively and amusing _soirée_ at the house of dr. martius. we had some very good music. young vieux-temps, a pupil of de beriot, was well accompanied by an orchestra of amateurs. i met here also a young lady of whom i had heard much--josephine lang, looking so gentle, so unpretending, so imperturbable, that no one would have accused or suspected her of being one of the muses in disguise, until she sat down to the piano, and sang her own beautiful and original compositions in a style peculiar to herself. she is a musician by nature, by choice, and by profession, exercising her rare talent with as much modesty as good-nature. the painter zimmermann, who has a magnificent bass voice, sung for me mignon's song--"kennst du das land!" and, lastly, which was the most interesting amusement of the evening, karl von holtei read aloud the second act of goethe's tasso. he read most admirably, and with a voice which kept attention enchained, enchanted; still it was genuine reading. he kept equally clear of acting and of declamation. _oct. th. sunday._--i went with m. stuntz to hear a grand mass at the royal chapel. * * * * * _ st._--it rained this morning:--went to the gallery, and amused myself for two hours walking up and down the rooms, sometimes pausing upon my favourite pictures, sometimes abandoned to the reveries suggested by these glorious creations of the human intellect. 'twas like the bright procession of skiey visions in a solemn dream, from which men wake as from a paradise, and draw fresh strength to tread the thorns of life! while looking at the castor and pollux of rubens, i remembered what the biographers asserted of this most wonderful man--that he spoke fluently seven languages, besides being profoundly skilled in many sciences, and one of the most accomplished diplomatists of his time. before he took up his palette in the morning, he was accustomed to read, or hear read, some fine passages out of the ancient poets; and thus releasing his soul from the trammels of low-thoughted care, he let her loose into the airy regions of imagination. what goethe says of poets, must needs be applicable to painters. he says, "if we look only at the principal productions of a poet, and neglect to study himself, his character, and the circumstances with which he had to contend, we fall into a sort of atheism, which forgets the creator in his creation." i think most people admire pictures in this sort of atheistical fashion; yet next to loving pictures, and all the pleasure they give, and revelling in all the feelings they awaken, all the new ideas with which they enrich our mental hoard--next to this, or equal with it, is the inexhaustible interest of studying the painter in his works. it is a lesson in human nature. almost every picture (which is the production of mind) has an individual character, reflecting the predominant temperament--nay, sometimes, the occasional mood of the artist, its creator. even portrait painters, renowned for their exact adherence to nature, will be found to have stamped upon their portraits a general and distinguishing character. there is, besides the physiognomy of the individual represented, the physiognomy, if i may so express myself, of the picture; detected at once by the mere connoisseur as a distinction of manner, style, execution: but of which the reflecting and philosophical observer might discover the key in the mind or life of the individual painter. in the heads of titian, what subtlety of intellect mixed with sentiment and passion! in those of velasquez, what chivalrous grandeur, what high-hearted contemplation! when ribera painted a head--what power of sufferance! in those of giorgione, what profound feeling! in those of guido, what elysian grace! in those of rubens what energy of intellect--what vigorous life! in those of vandyke, what high-bred elegance! in those of rembrandt, what intense individuality! could sir joshua reynolds have painted a vixen without giving her a touch of sentiment? would not sir thomas lawrence have given refinement to a cook-maid? i do believe that opie would have made even a calf's head look sensible, as gainsborough made our queen charlotte look picturesque. if i should whisper that since i came to germany i have not seen one really fine modern portrait, the germans would never forgive me; they would fall upon me with a score of great names--wach, stieler, vogel, schadow--and beat me, like chrimhilde, "black and blue." but before they are angry, and absolutely condemn me, i wish they would place one of their own most admired portraits beside those of titian or vandyke, or come to england, and look upon our school of portraiture here! i think they would allow, that with all their merits, they are in the wrong road. admirable, finished drawing; wonderful dexterity of hand; exquisite and most conscientious truth of imitation, they have; but they abuse these powers. they do not seem to feel the application of the highest, grandest principles of art to portrait painting--they think too much of the accessories. are not these clever and accomplished men aware that imitation may be carried so far as to cease to be nature--to be error, not truth? for instance, by the common laws of vision i can behold perfectly only one thing at a time. if i look into the face of a person i love or venerate, do i see _first_ the embroidery of the canezou or the pattern on the waistcoat? if not--why should it be so in a picture? the vulgar eye alone is caught by such misplaced skill--the vulgar artist only ought to seek to captivate by such means. these would sound in england as the most trite and impertinent remarks--the most self-evident propositions: nevertheless they are truths which the generality of the german portrait painters and their admirers have not yet felt. * * * * * i drove with my kind-hearted friends, m. and madame stuntz, to thalkirchen, the country-house of the baron de freyberg. the road pursued the banks of the rapid, impetuous isar, and the range of the tyrolian alps bounded the prospect before us. an hour's drive brought us to thalkirchen, where we were obviously quite unexpected, but that was nothing:--i was at once received as a friend, and introduced without ceremony to madame de freyberg's painting-room. though now the fond mother of a large _little_ family, she still finds some moments to devote to her art. on her easel was the portrait of the countess m---- (the sister of de freyberg) with her child, beautifully painted--particularly the latter. in the same room was an unfinished portrait of m. de freyberg, evidently painted _con amore_, and full of spirit and character; a head of cupid, and a piping boy, quite in the italian manner and feeling; and a picture of the birth of st. john, exquisitely finished. i was most struck by the heads of two greeks--members, i believe, of the deputation to king otho--painted with her peculiar delicacy and transparency of colour, and, at the same time, with a breadth of style and a freedom in the handling, which i have not yet seen among the german portrait painters. a glance over a portfolio of loose sketches and unfinished designs added to my estimation of her talents. she excels in children--her own serving her as models. i do not hesitate to say of this gifted woman, that while she equals angelica kauffman in grace and delicacy, she far exceeds her in _power_, both of drawing and colouring. she reminded me more of the sofonisba,[ ] but it is a different, and, i think, a more delicate style of colour, than i have observed in the pictures of the latter. we had coffee, and then strolled through the grounds--the children playing around us. if i was struck by the genius and accomplishments of madame de freyberg, i was not less charmed by the frank and noble manners of her husband, and his honest love and admiration of his wife, whom he married in despite of all prejudices of birth and rank. in this truly german dwelling there was an extreme simplicity, a sort of negligent elegance, a picturesque and refined homeliness, the presiding influence of a most poetical mind and eye every where visible, and a total indifference to what we english denominate _comfort_; yet with the obvious presence of that crowning comfort of all comforts--cordial domestic love and union--which impressed me altogether with pleasant ideas, long after borne in my mind, and not yet, nor ever to be, effaced. how little is needed for happiness, when we have not been spoiled in the world, nor our tastes vitiated by artificial wants and habits! when the hour of departure came, and de freyberg was handing me to the carriage, he made me advance a few steps, and pause to look round; he pointed to the western sky, still flushed with a bright geranium tint, between the amber and the rose; while against it lay the dark purple outline of the tyrolian mountains. a branch of the isar, which just above the house overflowed and spread itself into a wide still pool, mirrored in its clear bosom not only the glowing sky and the huge dark mountains, and the banks and trees blended into black formless masses, but the very stars above our heads;--it was a heavenly scene!--"you will not forget this," said de freyberg, seeing i was touched to the heart; "you will think of it when you are in england, and in recalling it, you will perhaps remember us--who will not forget _you_! adieu, madame!" afterwards to the opera: it was herold's "zampa:" noisy, riotous music, which i hate. i thought madame schechner's powers misplaced in this opera--yet she sang magnificently. spent the morning with dr. martius, looking over the beautiful plates and illustrations of his travels and scientific works. it appears from what he told me, that the institution of the botanic garden is recent, and is owing to the late king max-joseph, who was a generous patron of scientific and benevolent institutions--as munificent as his son is magnificent. one of the most interesting monuments in munich, is the tomb of eugene beauharnais, in the church of st. michael. it is by thorwaldson, and one of his most celebrated works. it is finely placed, and all the parts are admirable: but i think it wants completeness and entireness of effect, and does not tell its story well. upon a lofty pedestal, there is first, in the centre, the colossal figure of the duke stepping forward; one hand is pressed upon his heart, and the other presents the civic crown--(but to whom?)--his military accoutrements lie at his feet. the drapery is admirably managed, and the attitude simple and full of dignity. on his left is the beautiful and well-known group of the two genii, love and life, looking disconsolate. on the right, the seated muse of history is inscribing the virtues and exploits of the hero; and as, of all the satellites of napoleon, eugene has left behind the fairest name, i looked at her, and her occupation, with complacency. the statue is, moreover, exceedingly beautiful and expressive--so are the genii; and the figure of eugene is magnificent; and yet the combination of the whole is not effective. another fault is, the colour of the marble, which has a grey tinge, and ought at least to have been relieved by constructing the pedestal and accompaniments of black marble; whereas they are of a reddish hue. the widow of eugene, the eldest sister of the king of bavaria, raised this monument to her husband, at an expense of eighty thousand florins. as the whole design is classical, and otherwise in the purest taste and grandest style of art, i exclaimed with horror at the sight of a vile heraldic crown, which is lying at the feet of the muse of history. i was sure that thorwaldson would never voluntarily have committed such a solecism. i was informed that the princess-widow insisted on the introduction of this piece of barbarity as emblematical of the vice-royalty of italy; any royalty being apparently better than none. i remember that when travelling in the netherlands, at a time when the people were celebrating the _fête-dieu_, i saw a village carpenter busily employed in erecting a _réposoir_ for the madonna, of painted boards and draperies and wreaths of flowers. in the mean time, as if to deprecate criticism, he had chalked in large letters over his work, "_la critique est aisée, mais l'art est difficile_." i could not help smiling at this application of one of those undeniable truisms which no one thinks it necessary to remember. when i recall the pleasure i derived from this noble work of thorwaldson, all the genius, all the skill, all the patience, all the time, expended on its production, i think the foregoing trifling criticisms appear very ungrateful and impertinent; and yet, as a friend of mine insisted, when i was once upon a time pleading for mercy on certain defects and deficiencies in some other walk of art, "toleration is the nurse of mediocrity." artists themselves, as i often observe,--even the vainest of them--prefer discriminating admiration to wholesale praise. in the frauen kirche, there is another most admirable monument, a _chef d'oeuvre_, in the gothic style. it is the tomb of the emperor louis of bavaria, who died excommunicated in ; a stupendous work, cast in bronze. at the four corners are four colossal knights kneeling, in complete armour, each bearing a lance and ensign, and guarding the recumbent effigy of the emperor, which lies beneath a magnificent gothic canopy. at the two sides are standing colossal figures, and i suppose about eight or ten other figures on a smaller scale, all of admirable design and workmanship.[ ] it should seem, that in the sixteenth century the art of casting in bronze was not only brought to the highest perfection in germany, but found employment on a very grand scale. in the evening there was a concert at the salle de l'odeon--the third i have attended since i came here. this concert room is larger than any public room in london, and admirably constructed for music. over the orchestra, in a semi-circle, are the busts of the twelve great german composers who have flourished during the last hundred years, beginning with handel and bach, and ending with weber and beethoven. on this occasion the hall was crowded. we had all the best performers of munich, led by the kapelmeister stuntz, and schechner and meric, who sang _à l'envie l'une de l'autre_. the concert began at seven, and ended a little after nine; and much as i love music, i felt i had had enough. they certainly manage these social pleasures much better here than in london, where a grand concert almost invariably proves a most awful bore, from which we return wearied, yawning, jarred, satiated. count ---- amused me this evening with his laconic summing up of the rise, progress, and catastrophe of a polish amour;--se passioner, se battre, se ruiner, enlever, épouser, et divorcer; and so ends this six-act tragico-comico-heroico pastoral. _ rd._--to-day went over the pinakothek (the new grand national picture gallery) with m. de klenze, the architect, and comtesse de v----. this is the second time; but i have not yet a clear and connected idea of the general design, the building being still in progress. as far as i can understand the arrangements, they will be admirable. the destination of the edifice seems to have been the first thing kept in view. the situation of particular pictures has been calculated, and accurate experiments have been made for the arrangement of the light, &c. professor zimmermann has kindly promised to take me over the whole once more. he has the direction of the fresco paintings here. * * * * * society is becoming so pleasant, and engagements of every kind so multifarious, that i have little time for scribbling memoranda. new characters unfold before me, new scenes of interest occupy my thoughts. i find myself surrounded with friends, where only a few weeks ago i had scarcely one acquaintance. time ought not to linger--and yet it does sometimes. our circumstances alter; our opinions change; our passions die; our hopes sicken, and perish utterly:--our spirits are broken; our health is broken, and even our hearts are broken; but will survives--the unconquerable strength of will, which is in later life what passion is when young. in this world, there is always something to be done or suffered, even when there is no longer any thing to be desired or attained. the glyptothek is, at certain hours, open to strangers _only_, and strangers do not at present abound: hence it has twice happened that i have found myself in the gallery alone--to-day for the second time. i felt that, under some circumstances, an hour of solitude in a gallery of sculpture may be an epoch in one's life. there was not a sound, no living thing near, to break the stillness; and lightly, and with a feeling of awe, i trod the marble pavements, looking upon the calm, pale, motionless forms around me, almost expecting they would open their marble lips and speak to me--or, at least, nod--like the statue in don giovanni: and still, as the evening shadows fell deeper and deeper, they waxed, methought, sadder, paler, and more life-like. a dim, unearthly glory effused those graceful limbs and perfect forms, of which the exact outline was lost, vanishing into shade, while the sentiment--the _ideal_--of their immortal loveliness, remained distinct, and became every moment more impressive: and thus they stood; and their melancholy beauty seemed to melt into the heart. as the graces round the throne of venus, so music, painting, sculpture, wait as handmaids round the throne of poetry. "they from her golden urn draw light," as planets drink the sunbeams; and in return they array the divinity which created and inspired them, in those sounds, and hues, and forms, through which she is revealed to our mortal senses. the pleasure, the illusion, produced by music, when it is the _voice_ of poetry, is, for the moment, by far the most complete and intoxicating, but also the most transient. painting, with its lovely colours blending into life, and all its "silent poesy of form," is a source of pleasure more lasting, more intellectual. beyond both, is sculpture, the noblest, the least illusive, the most enduring of the imitative arts, because it charms us not by what it seems to be, but by what it is; because if the pleasure it imparts be less exciting, the impression it leaves is more profound and permanent; because it is, or ought to be, the abstract idea of power, beauty, sentiment, made visible in the cold, pure, impassive, and almost eternal marble. it seems to me that the grand secret of that grace of repose which we see developed in the antique statues, may be defined as _the presence_ _of thought, and the absence of volition_. the moment we have, in sculpture, the expression of will, or effort, we have the idea of something fixed in its place by an external cause, and a consequent diminution of the effect of internal power. this is not well expressed, i fear. perhaps i might illustrate the thought thus: the venus de medici looks as if she were content to stand on her pedestal and be worshipped; canova's hebe looks as if she would fain step off the pedestal--if she could: the apollo belvedere, as if he could step from his pedestal--if he would. among the greeks, in the best ages of sculpture, and in all their very finest statues, this seems to be the presiding principle--viz. that in sculpture the repose of suspended motion, or of subsided motion, is graceful; but arrested motion, and all effort, to be avoided. when the ancients did express motion, they made it flowing or continuous, as in the frieze of the parthenon. alone. in the gallery of sculpture at munich. ye pale and glorious forms, to whom was given all that we mortals covet under heaven-- beauty, renown, and immortality, and worship!--in your passive grandeur, ye. there's nothing new in life, and nothing old; the tale that we might tell hath oft been told. many have look'd to the bright sun with sadness, many have look'd to the dark grave with gladness; many have griev'd to death--have lov'd to madness! what has been, is;--what is, will be;--i know, even while the heart drops blood, it must be so. i live and smile--for o the griefs that kill, kill slowly--and i bear within me still my conscious self, and my unconquer'd will! and knowing what i have been--what has made my misery, i will be no more betray'd by hollow mockeries of the world around, or hopes and impulses, which i have found like ill-aim'd shafts, that kill by their rebound. complaint is for the feeble, and despair for evil hearts. mine still can hope--still bear-- still hope for others what it never knew of truth and peace; and silently pursue a path beset with briers, "and wet with tears like dew!" * * * * * to-day i devoted to the pinakothek--for the last time! just before i left england our projected national gallery had excited much attention. those who were usually indifferent to such matters were roused to interest; and i heard the merits of different designs, so warmly, even so violently discussed in public and in private, that for a long time the subject kept possession of my mind. on my arrival here, the pinakothek (for that is the designation given to the new national gallery of munich) became to me a principal object of interest. i have been most anxious to comprehend both the general design and the nature of the arrangements in detail; but i might almost doubt my own competency to convey an exact idea of what i understand and admire, to the comprehension of another. i must try, however, while the impressions remain fresh and strong, and the memory not yet encumbered and distracted, as it must be, even a few hours hence, by the variety, and novelty, and interest, of all i see and hear around me. the pinakothek was founded in ; the king himself laying the first stone with much pomp and ceremony on the th of april, the birthday of rafaelle. it is a long, narrow edifice, facing the south, measuring about five hundred feet from east to west, and about eighty or eighty-five feet in depth. at the extremities are two wings, or rather projections. the body of the building is of brick, but not of common brickwork: for the bricks, which are of a particular kind of clay, have a singular tint, a kind of greenish yellow; while the friezes, balustrades, architraves of the windows, in short, all the ornamental parts, are of stone, the colour of which is a fine warm grey; and as the stone workmanship is extremely rich, and the brickwork of unrivalled elegance and neatness, and the colours harmonize well, the combination produces a very handsome effect, rendering the exterior as pleasing to the eye, as the scientific adaptation of the building to its peculiar purpose is to the understanding. along the roof runs a balustrade of stone, adorned with twenty-four colossal statues of celebrated painters. a public garden, which is already in preparation, will be planted around, beautifully laid out with shady walks, flower-beds, fountains, urns, and statues. i believe the enclosure of this garden will be about a thousand feet each way, and that it will ultimately be bounded (at least on three sides) with rows of houses forming a vast square, of which the pinakothek will occupy the centre. it consists of a ground-floor and an upper-story. the ground-floor will comprise, st, the collection of the etruscan vases; ndly, the mosaics, ancient and modern, of which there are here some rare and admirable specimens; rdly, the cabinet of drawings by the old masters; thly, the cabinet of engravings, which is said to be one of the richest in europe; thly, a library of all works pertaining to the fine arts; lastly, a noble entrance-hall: a private entrance; with accommodations for students, and other offices. the upper-story is appropriated to the pictures, and is calculated to contain not less than fifteen hundred specimens, selected from various galleries, and arranged according to the schools of art. we ascend from the entrance-hall by a wide and handsome staircase of stone, very elegantly carved, which leads first to a kind of vestibule, where the attendants and keepers of the gallery are in waiting. thence, to a splendid reception-room, about fifty feet in length: this will contain the full-length portraits of the founders of the gallery of munich--the palatine john william; the elector, maximilian emanuel of bavaria; the duke charles of deuxponts; the palatine charles theodore; maximilian joseph i., king of bavaria; and his son, (the present monarch,) louis i. the ceiling and the frieze of this room are splendidly decorated with groups of figures and ornaments in white relief, on a gold ground, and the walls will be hung with crimson damask. along the south front of the building from east to west runs a gallery or corridor about four hundred feet in length, and eighteen in width, lighted on one side by twenty-five lofty arched windows, having on the other side ten doors, opening into the suite of picture galleries, or rather halls. these occupy the centre of the building, and are lighted from above by vast lanthorns. they are eight in number, varying in length from fifty to eighty feet, but all forty feet in width and fifty feet in height from the floor to the summit of the lanthorn. the walls will be hung with silk damask, either of a dark crimson or a dark green--according to the style of art for which the room is destined. the ceilings are vaulted, and the decorations are inexpressibly rich, composed of magnificent arabesques, intermixed with the effigies of celebrated painters, and groups illustrative of the history of art, &c., all moulded in white relief upon a ground of dead gold. mayer, one of the best sculptors in munich, has the direction of these works. behind these vast galleries, or saloons, there is a range of cabinets, twenty-three in number, appropriated to the smaller pictures of the different schools: these are each about nineteen feet by fifteen in size, and lighted from the north, each having one high lateral window. the ceilings and upper part of the walls are painted in fresco, (or distemper, i am not sure which,) with very graceful arabesques of a quiet colour;--the hangings will also be of silk damask. of the principal saloons, the first is appropriated to the productions of modern and living artists, and has three cabinets attached to it. the second will contain the old german pictures, including the famous boisserée gallery, and has four cabinets attached to it. the third, fourth, and fifth saloons (of which the central one, the hall of rubens, is eighty feet in length) are devoted, with the nine adjoining cabinets, to the flemish and dutch schools. the sixth, with four cabinets, will contain the french and spanish pictures; and the seventh and eighth, with three cabinets, will contain the italian school of painting. all these apartments communicate with each other by ample doors; but from the corridor already mentioned, which opens into the whole suite, the visitor has access to any particular gallery, or school of painting, without passing through the others: an obvious advantage, which will be duly estimated by those who, in visiting a gallery of painting, have felt their eyes dazzled, their heads bewildered, their attention distracted, by too much variety of temptation and attraction, before they have reached the particular object or school of art to which their attention was especially directed. to this beautiful and most convenient corridor, or, as it is called here, _loggia_, we must now return. i have said that it is four hundred feet in length, and lighted by five-and-twenty arched windows,--which, by the way, command a splendid prospect, bounded by the far-off mountains of the tyrol. the wall opposite to these windows is divided into twenty-five corresponding compartments, arched, and each surmounted by a dome; these compartments are painted in fresco with arabesques, something in the style of rafaelle's loggie in the vatican; while every arch and cupola contains (also painted in fresco) scenes from the life of some great painter, arranged chronologically: thus, in fact, exhibiting a graphic history of the rise and progress of modern painting--from cimabue down to rubens. of this series of frescos, which are now in progress, a few only are finished, from which, however, a very satisfactory idea may be formed, of the whole design. the first cupola is painted from a poem of a. w. schlegel "der bund der kirche mit den künsten," which celebrates the alliance between religion (or rather the church) and the fine arts. the second cupola represents the crusades, because from these wild expeditions (for so providence ordained that good should spring from evil) arose the regeneration of art in europe. with the third cupola commences the series of painters. in the arch, or lunette, is represented the madonna of cimabue carried in triumphal procession through the streets of florence to the church of santa maria novella; and in the dome above, various scenes from the painter's life. in the next cupola is the history of giotto; then follows angelico da fesole, who, partly from humility and partly from love for his art, refused to be made archbishop of florence; then, fourthly, masaccio; fifthly, bellini: in one compartment he is represented painting the favourite sultana of mahomet ii. several of the succeeding cupolas still remain blank, so we pass them over and arrive at leonardo da vinci, painting the queen joanna of arragon; then michael angelo, meditating the design of st. peter's; then the history of rafaelle: in the dome are various scenes from his life. the lunette represents his death: he is extended on a couch, beside which sits his virago love, the fornarina "in disperato dolor;" pope leo x. and cardinal bembo are looking on overwhelmed with grief;--in the background is the transfiguration. i wonder, if rafaelle had survived this fatal illness, which of the two alternatives he would have chosen--the cardinal's hat or the niece of cardinal bibbiena? m. de klenze gave us, the other night, a most picturesque and animated description of the opening of rafaelle's tomb,--at which he had himself assisted--the discovery of his remains, and those of his betrothed bride, the niece of cardinal bibbiena, deposited near him. she survived him several years, but in her last moments requested to be buried in the same tomb with him. this was at least quite in the _genre romantique_. "charming!" exclaimed one of the ladies present. "_et genereux!_" exclaimed another. the series of the italian painters will end with the carracci. those of the german painters will begin with van eyck, and end with rubens. of many of the frescos which are not yet executed, i saw the cartoons in professor zimmermann's studio. though the general decoration of this gallery was planned by cornelius, the designs for particular parts, and the direction of the whole, have been confided to zimmermann, who is assisted in the execution by five other painters. one particular picture, which represents giotto exhibiting his madonna to the pope, was pointed out to my especial admiration as the most finished specimen of fresco painting which has yet been executed here; and in truth, for tenderness and freshness of colour, softness in the shadows, and delicacy in the handling, it might bear comparison with any painting in oils. we were standing near it on a high scaffold, and it endured the closest and most minute consideration; but when seen from below, it may possibly be less effective. it shows, however, the extreme finish of which the fresco painting is susceptible. this was executed by hiltensperger, of swabia, from the cartoon of zimmermann. at one end of this gallery there is to be a large fresco, representing his majesty king louis, introduced by the muse of poetry to the assembled poets and painters of germany. now, this species of allegorical adulation appears to me flat and out of date. i well remember that long ago the famous picture of voltaire, introduced into the elysian fields by henri quatre, and making his best bow to racine and molière, threw me into a convulsion of laughter: and the cartoon of this royal apotheosis provoked the same irrepressible feeling of the ridiculous. i wish somebody would hint to king louis that this is not in good taste, and that there are many, many ways in which the compliment (which he truly merits) might be better managed. on the whole, however, it may truly be said that the luxuriant and appropriate decorations of this gallery, the variety of colour and ornament lavished on it, agreeably prepare the eye and the imagination for that glorious feast of beauty within, to which we are immediately introduced: and thus the overture to the zauberflöte, (which we heard last night,) with its rich involved harmonies, its brilliant and exciting movements, attuned the ear and the fancy to enjoy the grand, thrilling, bewitching, love-breathing melodies of the opera which followed. i omitted to mention that there are also on the upper floor of the pinakothek two rooms, each about forty feet square; one called the _reserve-saal_, is intended for the reception of those pictures which are temporarily removed from their places, new acquisitions, &c. the other room is fitted up with every convenience for students and copyists. the whole of this immense edifice is warmed throughout by heated air; the stoves being detached from the body of the building, and so managed as to preclude the possibility of danger from fire. it does not appear to be yet decided whether the floors will be of the venetian stucco, or of parquet. such, then, is the general plan of the pinakothek, the national gallery of bavaria. i make no comment, except that i felt and recognised in every part the presence of a directing mind, and the absence of all narrow views, all truckling to the interests, or tastes, or prejudices, or convenience, of any particular class of persons. it is very possible that when finished it will be found by scientific critics not absolutely _perfect_, which, as we know, all human works are at least intended and expected to be; but it is equally clear that an honest anxiety for the glory of art, and the benefit of the public--not the caprices of the king, nor the individual vanity of the architect--has been the moving principle throughout. * * * * * fresco painting, or, as the italians call it, _buon fresco_, had been entirely discontinued since the time of raphael mengs. it was revived at rome in - , when the late m. bartholdy, the prussian consul-general, caused a saloon in his house to be painted in fresco by peter cornelius, overbeck, and philip veith, all german artists, then resident at rome. the subjects are taken from the scriptures, and one of the admirable cartoons of overbeck, (joseph sold by his brethren,) i saw at frankfort. these first essays are yet to be seen in bartholdy's house, in the via sistina at rome. they are rather hard, but in a grand style of composition. the success which attended this spirited undertaking, excited much attention and enthusiasm, and induced the marchese massimi to have his villa near the lateran adorned in the same style. accordingly, he had three grand halls or saloons, painted with subjects from dante, ariosto, and tasso. the first was given to philip veith, the second to julius schnorr, and the third to overbeck. veith did not finish his work, which was afterwards terminated by koch; the two other painters completed their task, much to the satisfaction of the marchese, and to the admiration of all rome. but these were mere experiments--mere attempts, compared to what has since been executed in the same style at munich. it is true that the art of fresco-painting had never been entirely lost. the theory of the process was well known, and also the colours formerly used; only practice, and the opportunity of practice, were wanting. this has been afforded; and there is now at munich a school of fresco painting, under the direction of cornelius, julius schnorr, and zimmermann, in which the mechanical process has been brought to such perfection, that the neatness of the execution may vie with oils, and they can even cut out a feature, and replace it if necessary. the palette has also been augmented by the recent improvements in chemistry, which have enabled the fresco painter to apply some most precious colours, unknown to the ancient masters: only earths and metallic colours are used. i believe it is universally known that the colours are applied while the plaster is wet, and that the preparation of this plaster is a matter of much care and nicety. a good deal of experience and manual dexterity is necessary to enable the painter to execute with rapidity, and calculate the exact degree of humidity in the plaster, requisite for the effect he wishes to produce. it has been said that fresco painting is unfitted for our climate, damp and sea-coal fires being equally injurious; but the new method of warming all large buildings, either by steam or heated air, obviates, at least, _this_ objection. _ th._--the morning was spent in the ateliers of two bavarian sculptors, mayer and bandel. to mayer, the king has confided the decoration of the exterior of the pinakothek, of which he showed me the drawings and designs. he has also executed the colossal statue of albert durer, in stone, for the interior of that building. it appears that the pediment of the glyptothek, now vacant, will be adorned by a group of fourteen or fifteen figures, representing all the different processes in the art of sculpture; the modeller in clay, the hewer of the marble, the caster in bronze, the carver in wood or ivory, &c. all in appropriate attitudes, all colossal, and grouped into a whole. the general design was modelled, i believe, by eberhardt, professor of sculpture in the academy here; and the execution of the different figures has been given to several young sculptors, among them mayer and bandel. this has produced a strong feeling of emulation. i observed that notwithstanding the height and the situation to which they are destined, nearly one-half of each figure being necessarily turned from the spectator below, each statue is wrought with exceeding care, and perfectly finished on every side. i admired the purity of the marble, which is from the tyrol. mayer informs me, that about three years ago enormous quarries of white marble were discovered in the tyrol, to the great satisfaction of the king, as it diminishes, by one-half, the expense of the material. this native marble is of a dazzling whiteness, and to be had in immense masses without flaw or speck; but the grain is rather coarse. more than twenty years ago, when the king of bavaria was prince royal, and could only anticipate at some distant period the execution of his design, he projected a building, of which, at least, the name and purpose must be known to all who have ever stepped on german ground. this is the valhalla, a temple raised to the national glory, and intended to contain the busts or statues of all the illustrious characters of germany, whether distinguished in literature, arts, or arms, from their ancient hero and patriot herman, or arminius, down to goethe, and those who will succeed him. the idea was assuredly noble, and worthy of a sovereign. the execution--never lost sight of--has been but lately commenced. the valhalla has been founded on a lofty cliff, which rises above the danube, not far from ratisbon.[ ] it will form a conspicuous object to all who pass up and down the danube, and the situation, nearly in the centre of germany, is at least well chosen. but i could hardly express (or repress) my surprise, when i was shown the design for this building. the first glance recalled the theseum at athens; and then follows the very natural question, why should a greek model have been chosen for an edifice, the object, and purpose, and name of which are so completely, essentially, exclusively gothic? what, in heaven's name, has the theseum to do on the banks of the danube? it is true that the purity of forms in the greek architecture, the effect of the continuous lines and the massy doric columns, must be grand and beautiful to the eye, place the object where you will; and in the situation designed for it, particularly imposing; but surely it is not appropriate;--the name, and the form, and the purpose, are all at variance--throwing our most cherished associations into strange confusion. nor could the explanations and eloquent reasoning with which my objections were met, succeed in convincing me of the propriety of the design, while i acknowledged its magnificence. the sculptor mayer showed me a group of figures for one of the pediments of this greek valhalla, admirably appropriate to the purpose of the building--but not to the building itself. it represents herman introduced by hermoda (or mercury) into the valhalla, and received by odin and freya. iduna advances to meet the hero, presenting the apples of immortality, and one of the vahlküre pours out the mead, to refresh the soul of the einheriar.[ ] to the right of this group are several figures representing the chief epochs in the history of germany. this design wants unity; and it is a manifest incongruity to allude to the introduction of christianity, where the mythological valhalla forms the chief point of interest; notwithstanding, it gave me exceeding pleasure, as furnishing an unanswerable proof of the possible application of sculpture on a grand scale, to the forms of romantic or gothic poetry: all the figures, the accompaniments, attributes, are strictly teutonic; the effect of the whole is grand and interesting; but what would it be on a greek temple? would it not appear misplaced and discordant? i am informed, that of the two pediments of the valhalla, one will be given to rauch of berlin, and the other to schwanthaler. the sculptor bandel, with his quick eye, his ample brow, his animated, benevolent face, and his rapid movements, looks like what he is--a genius. in his atelier i saw some things, just like what i see in all the ateliers of young sculptors--cold imitations, feeble versions of mythological subjects--but i saw some other things so fresh and beautiful in feeling, as to impress me with a high idea of his poetical and creative power. i longed to bring to england one or two casts of his charming cupid penseroso, of which the original marble is at hanover. there is also a very exquisite bas-relief of adam and eve sleeping: the good angel watching on one side, and the evil angel on the other. this lovely group is the commencement of a series of bas-reliefs, designed, i believe, for a frieze, and not yet completed, representing the four ages of the world: the age of innocence; the heroic age, or age of physical power; the age of poetry, and the age of philosophy. this new version of the old idea interested me, and it is developed and treated with much grace and originality. bandel told us that he is just going, with his beautiful wife and two or three little children, to settle at carrara for a few years. the marble quarries there are now colonised by young sculptors of every nation. * * * * * the king of bavaria has a gallery of beauties, (the portraits of some of the most beautiful women of germany and italy,) which he shuts up from the public eye, like any grand turk--and neither bribery nor interest can procure admission. a lovely woman, to whom i was speaking of it yesterday, and who has been admitted in effigy into this harem, seemed to consider the compliment rather equivocal. "depend upon it, my dear," said she, "that fifty years hence we shall be all confounded together, as the king's _very_ intimate friends; and, to tell you the truth, i am not ambitious of the honour, more particularly as there are some of my illustrious _companions in charms_ who are enough to throw discredit on the whole set!" i saw in stieler's atelier two portraits for this collection: one, a woman of rank--a dark beauty; the other, a servant girl here, with a head like one of raffaelle's angels, almost divine; she is painted in the little filagree silver cap, the embroidered boddice, and silk handkerchief crossed over the bosom, the costume of the women of munich, to which the king is extremely partial. i am assured that this young girl, who is not more than seventeen, is as remarkable for her piety, simplicity, and spotless reputation, as for her singular beauty. i have seen her, and the picture merely does her justice. several other women of the _bourgeoisie_ have been pointed out to me as included in the king's collection. one of these, the daughter, i believe, of an herb-woman, is certainly one of the most exquisite creatures i ever beheld. on the whole, i should say, that the lower orders of the people of munich are the handsomest race i have seen in germany. stieler is the court and fashionable portrait painter here--the sir thomas lawrence of munich--that is, in the estimation of the germans. he is an accomplished man, with amiable manners, and a talent for rising in the world; or, as i heard some one call it, the organ of _getting-oniveness_. for the elaborate finish of his portraits, for expertness and delicacy of hand, for resemblance and exquisite drawing, i suppose he has few equals; but he has also, in perfection, what i consider the faulty peculiarities of the german school. stieler's artificial roses are _too_ natural: his caps, and embroidered scarfs, and jewelled bracelets, are more real than the things themselves--or seem so; for certainly i never gave to the real objects the attention and the admiration they challenge in his pictures. the famous bunch of grapes, which tempted the birds to peck, could be nothing compared to the felt of prince charles's hat in stieler's portrait: it actually invites the hat-brush. strange perversion of power in the artist! stranger perversion of taste in those who admire it!--_ma pazienza!_ * * * * * the duc de leuchtenberg opens his small but beautiful gallery twice a week: mondays and thursdays. the doors are thrown open and every respectable person may walk in, without distinction or ceremony. it is a delightful morning lounge; there are not more than one hundred and fifty pictures--enough to excite and gratify, not satiate, admiration. the first room contains a collection of paintings by modern and living artists of france, germany, and italy. there is a lovely little picture by madame de freyberg of the maries at the sepulchre of christ; and by heinrich hess, a group of the three christian graces--faith, hope, and charity, seated under the german oak, and painted with great simplicity and sentiment; of his celebrated brother, peter hess, and wagenbauer, and jacob dorner, and quaglio, there are beautiful specimens. the french pictures did not please me: girodet's picture of ossian and the french heroes is a monstrous combination of all manner of affectations. i should not forget a fine portrait of napoleon, by appiani, crowned with laurel; and another picture, which represents him throned, with all the insignia of state and power, and supported on either side by victory and peace. for a moment we pause before that proud form, to think of all he was, all he might have been--to draw a moral from the fate of selfishness. he rose by blood, he built on man's distress, and th'inheritance of desolation left to great expecting hopes.[ ] among the pictures of the old masters there are many fine ones, and three or four of peculiar interest. there is the famous head by bronzino, generally entitled, petrarch's laura, but assuredly without the slightest pretensions to authenticity. the face is that of a prim, starched _précieuse_, to which the peculiar style of this old portrait painter, with his literal nature, his hardness, and leaden colouring, imparts additional coldness and rigidity. but the finest picture in the gallery--perhaps one of the finest in the world--is the madonna and child of murillo: one of those rare productions of mind which baffle the copyist, and defy the engraver,--which it is worth making a pilgrimage but to gaze on. how true it is that "a thing of beauty is a joy for ever!" when i look at murillo's roguish, ragged beggar-boys in the royal gallery, and then at the leuchtenberg gallery turn to contemplate his madonna and his ascending angel, both of such unearthly and inspired beauty, a feeling of the wondrous grasp and versatility of the man's mind almost makes me giddy. the lithographic press of munich is celebrated all over europe. aloys senefelder, the inventor of the art, has the direction of the works, with a well-merited pension, and the title of inspector of lithography.[ ] * * * * * the people of munich are not only a well-dressed and well-looking, but a social, kind-hearted race. the number of unions, or societies, instituted for benevolent or festive purposes, is, for the size of the place, almost incredible.[ ] i had a catalogue of more than forty given to me this morning; they are for all ranks and professions, and there is scarcely a person in the city who is not enlisted into one or more of these communities. some have reading-rooms, and well-furnished libraries, to which strangers are at once introduced, gratis; they give balls and concerts during the winter, which not only include their own members and their friends, but one society will sometimes invite and entertain another. the young artists of munich, who constitute a numerous body, formed themselves into an association, and gave very elegant balls and concerts, at first among themselves and their immediate friends and connexions; but the circle increased--these balls became more and more splendid--even the king and the royal family frequently honoured them with their presence. it became a point of honour to exceed in elegance and profusion all the entertainments given by the other societies of munich. every body danced, praised, and enjoyed themselves. at length it occurred to some of the most considerate and kind-hearted of the people, that these young men were going beyond their means to entertain their friends and fellow-citizens. it had evidently become a matter of great expense, and perhaps ostentation, and they resolved to put down this competition at once. an association was formed of persons of all classes, and they gave a fête to the painters of munich, which eclipsed in magnificence every thing of the kind before or since. it was a ball and supper, on the most ample and splendid scale, and took place at the odeon. each lady's ticket contained the name of the cavalier, to whose especial protection and gallantry she was consigned for the evening; and so much _tacte_ was shown in this arrangement, that i am told very few were discontented with their lot. nearly three thousand persons were present, and it was the month of february; yet every lady on entering the room was presented by her cavalier with a bouquet of hot-house flowers; and the salle de l'odeon was adorned with a profusion of plants and flowering shrubs, collected from all the conservatories, private and public, within twenty miles of the capital. the king, the queen, their family and suite, and many of the principal nobles were invited, with, of course, a large portion of the gentry and trades-people of munich; but, notwithstanding the miscellaneous nature of the assemblage, and the immense number of persons present, all was harmony, and good-breeding, and gaiety. this fête produced the desired result; the young painters took the hint, and though they still give balls, which are exceedingly pleasant, they are on a more modest scale than heretofore. the liederkranz (literally, the circle, or garland of song) is a society of musicians--amateurs and professors--who give concerts here, at which the compositions of the members are occasionally performed. one of these concerts (fest-production) took place this evening at the odeon; and having duly received, as a stranger, my ticket of invitation, i went early with a very pleasant party. the immense room was crowded in every part, and presented a most brilliant spectacle, from the number of military costumes, and the glittering head-dresses of the munich girls. our hosts formed the orchestra. the king and queen had been invited, and had signified their gracious intention of being present. the first row of seats was assigned to them; but no other distinction was made between the royal family and the rest of the company. the king is generally punctual on these occasions, but from some accident he was this evening delayed, and we had to wait his arrival about ten minutes; the company were all assembled--servants were already parading up and down the room with trays, heaped with ices and refreshments--the orchestra stood up, with fiddle-sticks suspended; the chorus, with mouths half open--and the conductor, stuntz, brandished his roll of music. at length a side door was thrown open: a voice announced "the king;" the trumpets sounded a salute; and all the people rose and remained standing until the royal guests were seated. the king entered first, the queen hanging on his arm. the duke bernard of saxe-weimar, and his duchess,[ ] followed; then the princess matilda, leading her younger brother and sister, prince luitpold and the princess adelgonde;--the former a fine boy of about twelve years old, the latter a pretty little girl of about seven or eight: a single lady of honour; the baron de freyberg, as principal equerry; the minister von schencke, and one or two other officers of the household were in attendance. the king bowed to the gentlemen in the orchestra, then to the company, and in a few moments all were seated. the music was entirely vocal, consisting of concerted pieces only, for three or more voices, and all were executed in perfection. i observed several little boys and young girls, of twelve or fourteen, singing in the chorusses, apparently much to their own satisfaction--certainly to ours. their voices were delicious, and perfectly well managed, and their merry laughing faces were equally pleasant to look upon. we had first a grand loyal anthem, composed for the occasion by lenz, in which the king and queen, and their children, were separately apostrophized. prince maximilian, now upon his travels, and young king otto, "far off upon the throne of hellas," were not forgotten; and as the princess matilda has lately been _verlobt_ (betrothed) to the hereditary prince of hesse-darmstadt, they put the _futur_ into a couplet, with great effect. it seems that this marriage has been for some time in negociation; its course did not "run quite smooth," and the heart of the young princess is supposed to be more deeply interested in the affair than is usual in royal alliances. she is also very generally beloved, so that when the chorus sang, "hoch lebe ludwig und mathilde! ein herz stets brautigam und braut!" all eyes were turned towards her with a smiling expression of sympathy and kindness, which really touched me. as i sat, i could only see her side-face, which was declined. there was also an allusion to the late king max-joseph, "das beste herz," who died about five years ago, and who appears to have been absolutely adored by his people. all this passed off very well, and was greatly applauded. at the conclusion the king rose from his seat, and said something courteous and good-natured to the orchestra, and then sat down. the other pieces were by old schack, (the intimate friend of mozart,) stuntz, chelard, and marschner; a drinking song by hayden, and one of the chorusses in the _cosi fan tutte_ were also introduced. the whole concluded with the "song of the heroes in the valhalla," composed by stuntz. between the acts there was an interval of at least half an hour, during which the queen and the princess matilda walked up and down in front of the orchestra, entered into conversation with the ladies who were seated near, and those whom the rules of etiquette allowed to approach unsummoned and pay their respects. the king, meanwhile, walked round the room unattended, speaking to different people, and addressing the young bourgeoises, whose looks or whose toilette pleased him, with a bow and a smile; while they simpered and blushed, and drew themselves up when he had passed. as i see the king frequently, his face is familiar to me, but to-night he looked particularly well, and had on a better coat than he usually condescends to wear,--quite plain, however, and without any order or decoration. he is now in his forty-seventh year, not handsome, with a small well-formed head, an intelligent brow, and a quick penetrating eye. his figure is slight and well-made, his movements quick, and his manner lively--at times even abrupt and impatient. his utterance is often so rapid as to be scarcely intelligible to those who are most accustomed to him. i often meet him walking arm-in-arm with m. de schenke, m. de klenze, and others of his friends--for apparently this eccentric, accomplished sovereign has _friends_, though i believe he is not so popular as his father was before him. the queen (theresa, princess of saxe-hilburghausen) has a sweet open countenance, and a pleasing, elegant figure. the princess matilda, who is now nineteen, is the express image of her mother, whom she resembles in her amiable disposition, as well as her person; her figure is very pretty, and her deportment graceful. she looked pensive this evening, which was attributed by the good people around me to the recent departure of the prince of hesse-darmstadt, who has been here for some time paying his court. about ten, the concert was over. the king and queen remained a few minutes in conversation with those around them, without displaying any ungracious hurry to depart; and the whole scene left a pleasant impression upon my fancy. to an english traveller in germany nothing is more striking than the easy familiar terms on which the sovereign and his family mingle with the people on these and the like occasions; it certainly would not answer in england: but as they say in this expressive language--_ländlich, sittlich_.[ ] _munich, oct. th, ._ ii. nuremberg. nuremberg--with its long, narrow, winding, involved streets, its precipitous ascents and descents, its completely gothic physiognomy--is by far the strangest old city i ever beheld; it has retained in every part the aspect of the middle ages. no two houses resemble each other; yet, differing in form, in colour, in height, in ornament, all have a family likeness; and with their peaked and carved gabels, and projecting central balconies, and painted fronts, stand up in a row, like so many tall, gaunt, stately old maids, with the toques and stomachers of the last century. in the upper part of the town, we find here and there a new house, built, or rebuilt, in a more modern fashion; and even a gay modern theatre, and an unfinished modern church; but these, instead of being embellishments, look ill-favoured and mean, like patches of new cloth on a rich old brocade. age is here, but it does not suggest the idea of dilapidation or decay, rather of something which has been put under a glass-case, and preserved with care from all extraneous influences. the buildings are so ancient, the fashions of society so antiquated, the people so penetrated with veneration for themselves and their city, that in the few days i spent there, i began to feel quite old too--my mind was _wrinkled up_, as it were, with a reverence for the past. i wondered that people condescended to talk of any event more recent than the thirty years' war, and the defence of gustavus adolphus;[ ] and all names of modern date, even of greatest mark, were forgotten in the fame of albert durer, hans sachs, and peter vischer: the trio of worthies, which, in the estimation or imagination of the nurembergers, still live with the freshness of a yesterday's remembrance, and leave no room for the heroes of to-day. my enthusiasm for albert durer was all ready prepared, and warm as even the nurembergers could desire; but i confess, that of that renowned cobbler and meister-singer, hans sachs, i knew little but what i had learnt from the pretty comedy bearing his name, which i had seen at manheim; and of the illustrious peter vischer i could only remember that i had seen, in the academy at munich, certain casts from his figures, which had particularly struck me. yet to visit nuremberg without some previous knowledge of these luminaries of the middle ages, is to lose much of that pleasure of association, without which the eye wearies of the singular, and the mind becomes satiated with change. nuremberg was the gothic athens: it was never the seat of government, but as a free imperial city it was independent and self-governed, and took the lead in arts and in literature. here it was that clocks and watches, maps and musical instruments, were manufactured for all germany; here, in that truly german spirit of pedantry and simplicity, were music, painting, and poetry, at once honoured as sciences, and cultivated as handicrafts, each having its guild, or corporation, duly chartered, like the other trades of this flourishing city, and requiring, by the institution of the magistracy, a regular apprenticeship. it was here that, on the first discovery of printing, a literary barber and meister-singer (hans foltz) set up a printing-press in his own house; and it was but the natural consequence of all this industry, mental activity, and social cultivation, that nuremberg should have been one of the first cities which declared for the reformation. but what is most curious and striking in this old city, is to see it stationary, while time and change are working such miracles and transformations every where else. the house where martin behaim, four centuries ago, invented the sphere, and drew the first geographical chart, is still the house of a map-seller. in the house where cards were first manufactured, cards are now sold. in the very shops where clocks and watches were first seen, you may still buy clocks and watches. the same families have inhabited the same mansions from one generation to another for four or five centuries. the great manufactories of those toys, commonly called dutch toys, are at nuremberg. i visited the wholesale depot of pestelmayer, and it is true that it would cut a poor figure compared to some of our great birmingham show-rooms; but the enormous scale on which this commerce is conducted, the hundreds of waggon-loads and ship-loads of these trifles and gimcracks, which find their way to every part of the known world, even to america and china, must interest a thinking mind. nothing gave me a more comprehensive idea of the value of the whole, than a complaint which i heard from a nuremberger, (and which, though seriously made, sounded not a little ludicrous,) of the falling off in the trade of _pill-boxes_! he said that since the fashionable people of london and paris had taken to paper pill-boxes, the millions of wooden or chip boxes which used to be annually sent from nuremberg to all parts of europe were no longer required; and he computed the consequent falling off of the profits at many thousand florins. nuremberg was rendered so agreeable to me by the kindness and hospitality i met with, that instead of merely passing through it, i spent some days wandering about its precincts; and as it is not very frequently visited by the english, i shall note a few of the objects which have dwelt on my memory, premising, that for the artist and the antiquary it affords inexhaustible materials. the whole city, which is very large, lies crowded and compact within its walls; but the fortifications, once the wonder of all germany, and their three hundred and sixty-five towers, once the glory and safeguard of the inhabitants, exist no longer. four huge circular towers stand at the principal gates,--four huge towers of almost dateless antiquity, and blackened with age, but of such admirable construction, that the masonry appears, from its entireness and smoothness, as if raised yesterday. the old castle or fortress, which stands on a height commanding the town and a glorious view, is a strange, dismantled, incongruous heap of buildings. it happened, that in the summer of , the king of bavaria, accompanied by the queen and the princess matilda, had paid his good city of nuremberg a visit, and had been most royally entertained by the inhabitants. the apartments in the old castle, long abandoned to the rats and spiders, had been prepared for the royal guests, and, when i saw it, three or four months afterwards, nothing could be more uncouth and fantastical than the effect of these irregular rooms, with all manner of angles, with their carved worm-eaten ceilings, their curious latticed and painted windows, and most preposterous stoves, now all tricked out with fresh paint here and there, and hung with gay glazed papers of the most modern fashion, and the most gaudy patterns. even the chapel, with its four old pillars, which, according to the legend, had been brought by old nick himself from rome, and the effigy of the monk who had cheated his infernal adversary, by saying the litanies faster than had ever been known before or since, had, in honour of the king's visit, received a new coat of paint. there are some very curious old pictures in the castle, (which luckily were not repainted for the same grand occasion,) among them an original portrait of albert durer. in the courtyard of the fortress stands an extraordinary relic--the old lime-tree planted by the empress cunegunde, wife of the emperor henry iii.; every thing is done to preserve it from decay, and it still bears its leafy honours, after beholding the revolution of seven centuries. from the fortress we look down upon the house of albert durer, which is preserved with religious care; it has been hired by a society of artists, who use it as a club-room: his effigy in stone is over the door. in every house there is a picture or print of him; or copies, or engravings from his works, and his head hangs in every print shop. the street in which he lived is called by his name; and the inhabitants have moreover built a fountain to his honour, and planted trees around it;--in short, albert durer is wherever we look--wherever we move. what can fuseli mean by saying that albert durer "was a man of extreme ingenuity without being a genius?" does the man of mere ingenuity step before his age as albert durer did, not as an artist only, but as a man of science? is not genius the creative power? and did not albert durer possess this power in an extraordinary degree? could fuseli have seen his four apostles, now in the gallery of munich, when he said that albert durer never had more than an occasional _glimpse_ of the sublime? fuseli, as an _artist_, is an example of what i have seen in other minds, otherwise directed. the stronger the faculties, the more of original power in the mind, the less diffused is the sympathy, and the more is the judgment swayed by the individual character. thus fuseli, in his remarks on painters--excellent and eloquent as they are--scarcely ever does justice to those who excel in colour. he perceives and admits the excellence, but he shows in his criticisms, as in his pictures, that the faculty was wanting to feel and appreciate it: his remarks on correggio and rubens are a proof of this. in listening to the criticisms of an author on literature--of a painter on pictures--and, generally, to the opinion which one individual expresses of the character and actions of another, it is wise to take into consideration the modification of mind in the person who speaks, and how far it may, or _must_, influence, even where it does not absolutely distort, the judgment; so many minds are what the germans call _one-sided_! the education, habits, mental existence of the individual, are the refracting medium through which the rays of truth pass to the mind, more or less bent or absorbed in their passage. we should make philosophical allowance for different degrees of density. hans sachs,[ ] the old poet of nuremberg, did as much for the reformation by his songs and satires, as luther and the doctors by their preaching; besides being one of the worshipful company of meister-singers, he found time to make shoes, and even enrich himself by his trade: he informs us himself that he had composed and written with his own hand "four thousand two hundred mastership songs; two hundred and eight comedies, tragedies, and farces; one thousand seven hundred fables, tales, and miscellaneous poems; and seventy-three devotional, military, and love songs." it is said he excelled in humour, but it was such as might have been expected from the times--it was vigorous and coarse. "hans," says the critic, "tells his tale like a convivial burgher, fond of his can, and still fonder of his drollery."[ ] if this be the case, his house has received a very appropriate designation: it is now an ale-house, from which, as i looked up, the mixed odours of beer and tobacco, and the sound of voices singing in chorus, streamed through the old latticed windows. "drollery" and "the can" were as rife in the dwelling of the immortal shoemaker as they would have been in his own days, and in his own jovial presence. in the church of st. sibbald, now the chief protestant church, i was surprised to find that most of the roman catholic symbols and relics remained undisturbed: the large crucifix, the old pictures of the saints and madonnas had been reverentially preserved. the perpetual light which had been vowed four centuries ago by one of the tucher family, was still burning over his tomb; no puritanic zeal had quenched that tiny flame in its chased silver lamp; and through successive generations, and all revolutions of politics and religion, maintained and fed by the pious honesty of the descendants, it still shone on, like the bright lamp that lay in kildare's holy fane, and burned through long ages of darkness and storm! in this protestant church, even the shrine of st. sibbald has kept its place, if not to the honour and glory of the saint, at least to the honour and glory of the city of nuremberg; it is considered as the _chef-d'oeuvre_ of peter vischer, a famous sculptor and caster in bronze, cotemporary with albert durer. it was begun in , and finished in , and is adorned with ninety-six figures, among which the twelve apostles, all varying in character and attitude, are really miracles of grace, power, and expression; the base of the shrine rests upon six gigantic snails, and the whole is cast in bronze, and finished with exquisite skill and fancy. at one end of this extraordinary composition the artificer has placed his own figure, not obtrusively, but retired, in a sort of niche; he is represented in his working dress, with his cap, leather apron, and tools in his hand. according to tradition, he was paid for his work by the pound weight, twenty gulden (or florins) for every hundred weight of metal; and the whole weighs one hundred and twenty centners, or hundred weight. the man who showed us this shrine was descended from peter vischer, lived in the same house which he and his sons had formerly inhabited, and carried on the same trade, that of a smith and brass-founder. the moritz-kapel, near the church, is an old gothic chapel once dedicated to st. maurice, now converted into a public gallery of pictures of the old german school. the collection is exceedingly curious; there are about one hundred and forty pictures, and besides specimens of mabuse, albert durer, van eyck, martin schoen, lucas kranach, and the two holbeins, i remember some portraits by a certain hans grimmer, which impressed me by their truth and fine painting. it appears from this collection that for some time after albert durer, the german painters continued to paint on a gold ground. kulmbach, whose heads are quite marvellous for finish and expression, generally did so. this gallery owes its existence to the present king, and has been well arranged by the architect heideldoff and professor von dillis of munich. in the market-place of nuremberg stands the schönebrunnen, that is, the beautiful fountain; it bears the date , and in style resembles the crosses which edward i. erected to queen eleanor, but is of more elaborate beauty; it is covered with gothic figures, carved by one of the most ancient of the german sculptors, schonholfer, who modestly styles himself a stone-cutter. here we see, placed amicably close, julius cæsar, godfrey of boulogne, judas maccabæus, alexander the great, hector of troy, charlemagne, and king david: all old acquaintances, certainly, but whom we might have supposed that nothing but the day of judgment could ever have assembled together in company. talking of the day of judgment reminds me of the extraordinary cemetery of nuremberg, certainly as unlike every other cemetery, as nuremberg is unlike every other city. imagine upon a rising ground, an open space of about four acres, completely covered with enormous slabs, or rather blocks of solid stone, about a foot and a half in thickness, seven feet in length, and four in breadth, laid horizontally, and just allowing space for a single person to move between them. the name, and the armorial bearings of the dead, cast in bronze, and sometimes rich sculpture, decorate these tombs: i remember one, to the memory of a beautiful girl, who was killed as she lay asleep in her father's garden by a lizard creeping into her mouth. the story is represented in bronze bas-relief, and the lizard is so constructed as to move when touched. from this i shrunk with disgust, and turned to the sepulchre of a famous worthy, who measured the distance from nuremberg to the holy sepulchre with his garter: the implement of his pious enterprise, twisted into a sort of true-love knot, is carved on his tomb. two days afterwards i entered the dominions of a reigning monarch, who is at this present moment performing a journey to jerusalem round the walls of his room.[ ] how long-lived are the follies of mankind! have, then, five centuries made so little difference? the tombs of albert durer, hans sachs, and sandraart, were pointed out to me, resembling the rest in size and form. i was assured that these huge sepulchral stones exceed three thousand in number, and the whole aspect of this singular burial-place is, in truth, beyond measure striking--i could almost add, appalling. i was not a little surprised and interested to find that the principal gazette of nuremberg, which has a wide circulation through all this part of germany, extending even to frankfort, munich, dresden, and leipsig, is entirely in female hands. madame de schaden is the proprietor, and the responsible editor of the paper; she has the printing apparatus and offices under her own roof, and though advanced in years, conducts the whole concern with a degree of activity, spirit, and talent, which delighted me. the circulation of this paper amounts to about four thousand: a trifling number compared to our papers, but a large number in this economical country, where the same paper is generally read by fifty or sixty persons at least. * * * * * all travellers agree that benevolence and integrity are the national characteristics of the germans. of their honesty i had daily proofs: i do not consider that i was ever imposed upon or overcharged during my journey, except once, and then it was by a frenchman. their benevolence is displayed in the treatment of animals, particularly of their horses. it was somewhere between nuremberg and hof, that, for the first and only time, i saw a postilion flog his horse unmercifully, or at least unreasonably. the germans very seldom beat their horses: they talk to them, remonstrate, encourage, or upbraid them. i have frequently known a voiturier, or a postilion, go a whole stage--which is seldom less than fifteen english miles--at a very fair pace, without once even raising the whip; and have often witnessed, not without amusement, long conversations between a driver and his steed--the man, with his arm thrown over the animal's neck, discoursing in a strange jargon, and the intelligent brute turning his eye on his master with such a responsive expression! in this part of germany there is a popular verse repeated by the postilions, which may be called the german _rule of the road_. it is the horse who speaks-- berg auf, ubertrieb mich nicht; berg ab, ubereil mich nicht; auf ebenen weg, vershöne mich nicht; im stahl, vergiss mich nicht. which is, literally, up hill, overdrive me not; down hill, hurry me not; on level ground, spare me not; in the stable, forget me not. the german postilions form a very numerous and distinct class; they wear a half-military costume--a laced or embroidered jacket, across which is invariably slung the bugle-horn, with its parti-coloured cord and tassels: huge jack-boots, and a smart glazed hat, not unfrequently surmounted with a feather (as in hesse cassel and saxe weimer) complete their appearance. they are in the direct service and pay of the government; they must have an excellent character for fidelity and good conduct before they are engaged, and the slightest failing in duty or punctuality, subjects them to severe punishment; thus they enjoy some degree of respectability as a body, and marschner thought it not unworthy of his talents to compose a fine piece of music, which he called the postilion's "morgen-lied," or morning song. i found them generally a good-humoured, honest set of men; obliging, but not servile or cringing; they are not allowed to smoke without the express leave of the traveller, nor to stop or delay on the road on any pretence whatever. in short, though the burley german postilions do not present the neat compact turn-out of an english post-boy, nor the horses any thing like the speed of "newman's greys," or the brighton age, and though the traveller must now and then submit to arbitrary laws and individual inconvenience; still the travelling regulations all over germany, more especially in prussia, are so precise, so admirable, and so strictly enforced, that no where could an unprotected female journey with more complete comfort and security. this i have proved by experience, after having tried every different mode of conveyance in prussia, bavaria, baden, saxony, and hesse. my road expenses, for myself and an attendant, seldom exceeded a napoleon a-day. iii. memoranda at dresden.[ ] beautiful, stately dresden! if not the queen, the fine lady of the german cities! surrounded with what is most enchanting in nature, and adorned with what is most enchanting in art, she sits by the elbe like a fair one in romance, wreathing her towery diadem--so often scathed by war--with the vine and the myrtle, and looking on her own beauty imaged in the river flood, which, after rolling an impetuous torrent through the mountain gorges, here seems to pause and spread itself into a lucid mirror to catch the reflection of her airy magnificence. no doubt misery and evil dwell in dresden, as in all the congregated societies of men, but no where are they less obtrusive. the city has all the advantages, and none of the disadvantages, of a capital; the treasures of art accumulated here, the mild government, the delightful climate, the beauty of the environs, and the cheerfulness and simplicity of social intercourse, have rendered it a favourite residence for artists and literary characters, and to foreigners one of the most captivating places in the world. how often have i stood in the open space in front of the gorgeous italian church, or on the summit of the flight of steps leading to the public walk, gazing upon the noble bridge which bestrides the majestic elbe, and connects the new and the old town; or, pursuing with enchanted eye the winding course of the river to the foot of those undulating purple hills, covered with villas and vineyards, till a feeling of quiet grateful enjoyment has stolen over me, like that which wordsworth describes:-- felt in the blood, and felt along the heart, and passing even into my purer mind with tranquil restoration. but it is not only the natural beauties of the scene which strike a stranger; the city itself has this peculiarity in common with florence, to which it has been so often compared, that instead of being an accident in the landscape--a dim, smoky, care-haunted spot upon the all-lovely face of nature--a discord in the soothing harmony of that quiet enchanting scene which steals like music over the fancy;--it is rather a charm the more--an ornament--a crowning splendour--a fulfilling and completing chord. its unrivalled elegance and neatness, a general air of cheerfulness combined with a certain dignity and tranquillity, the purity and elasticity of the atmosphere, the brilliant shops, the well-dressed women, and the lively looks and good-humoured alertness of the people, who, like the florentines, are more remarkable for their tact and acuteness than for their personal attractions;--all these advantages render dresden, though certainly one of the smallest, and by no means one of the richest capitals in europe, one of the most delightful residences on the continent. i am struck, too, by the silver-toned voices of the women, and the courtesy and vivacity of the men; for in bavaria the intonation is broad and harsh, and the people, though frank, and honest, and good-natured, are rather slow, and not particularly polished in their demeanour. it is the general aspect of dresden which charms us: it is not distinguished by any vast or striking architectural decorations, if we except the italian church, which, with all its thousand faults of style, pleases from its beautiful situation and its exceeding richness. this is the only roman catholic church in dresden: for it is curious enough, that while the national religion, or, if i may so use the word, the state religion, is protestant--the court religion is catholic; the royal family having been for several generations of that persuasion;[ ] but this has caused neither intolerance on the one hand, nor jealousy on the other. the saxons, the first who hailed and embraced the doctrines of luther, seem quite content to allow their anointed king to go to heaven his own way; and though the priests who surround him are, of course, mindful to keep up their own influence, there is no spirit of proselytism; and i believe the most perfect equality with regard to religious matters prevails here. the catholic church is almost always half full of protestants, attracted by the delicious music, for all the corps d'opera sing in the choir. high mass begins about the time that the sermon is over in the other churches, and you see the protestants hurrying from their own service, crowding in at the portals of the catholic church, and taking their places, the men on one side and the women on the other, with looks of infinite gravity and devotion: the king being always present, it would here be a breach of etiquette to behave as i have often seen the english behave in the catholic churches--precisely as if in a theatre. but if the good old monarch imagines that his heretic subjects are to be converted by cesi's[ ] divine voice, he is wonderfully mistaken. the people of dresden have always been distinguished by their love of music; i was therefore rather surprised to find here a little paltry theatre, ugly without, and mean within; a new edifice has been for some time in contemplation, therefore to decorate or repair the old one may seem superfluous. that it is not nearly large enough for the place is its worst fault. i have never been in it that it was not crowded to suffocation. at this time bellini's opera, _i capelletti_, is the rage at dresden, or rather madame devrient's impersonation of the romeo, has completely turned all heads and melted all hearts--that are fusible. the capelletti is only the last of the thousand-and-one versions of romeo and juliet, and though the last, not the best of bellini's operas; and devrient is not generally heard to the greatest advantage in the modern italian music; but her _conception_ of the part of romeo is new and belongs to herself; like a woman of feeling and genius she has put her stamp upon it: it is quite distinct from the same character as represented by pasta and malibran--_character_ perhaps i should not say, for in the lyrical drama there is properly no room for any such gradual development of individual sentiments and motives; a powerful and graceful sketch, of which the outline is filled up by music, is all that the artist is required to give; and within this boundary a more beautiful delineation of youthful fervid passion i never beheld: if devrient must yield to pasta in grandeur, and to malibran in versatility of power and liquid flexibility of voice, she yields to neither in pathos, to neither in delicious modulation, to neither in passion, power, and originality, though in her, in a still greater degree, the talent of the artist is modified by individual temperament. like other gifted women, who are blessed or cursed with a most excitable nervous system, devrient is a good deal under the influence of moods of feeling and temper, and in the performance of her favourite parts, (as this of romeo, the armida, emmeline in the sweitzer familie,) is subject to inequalities, which are not caprices, but arise from an exuberance of soul and power, and only render her performance more interesting. every night that i have seen her since my arrival here, even in parts which are unworthy of her, as in the "eagle's nest,"[ ] has increased my estimate of her talents; and last night, when i saw her for the third time in the romeo, she certainly surpassed herself. the duet with juliet, (madlle. schneider,) at the end of the first act, threw the whole audience into a tumult of admiration; they invariably encore this touching and impassioned scene, which is really a positive cruelty, besides being a piece of stupidity; for though it _may_ be as well sung the second time, it _must_ suffer in effect from the repetition. the music, though very pretty, is in itself nothing, without the situation and sentiment; and after the senses and imagination have been wound up to the most thrilling excitement by tones of melting affection and despair, and romeo and juliet have been finally torn asunder by a flinty-hearted stick of a father, with a black cloak and a bass voice--_selon les regles_--it is ridiculous to see them come back from opposite sides of the stage, bow to the audience, and then, throwing themselves into each other's arms, pour out the same passionate strains of love and sorrow. as to devrient's acting in the last scene, i think even pasta's romeo would have seemed colourless beside hers; and this arises perhaps from the character of the music, from the very different style in which zingarelli and bellini have treated their last scene. the former has made romeo tender and plaintive, and pasta accordingly subdued her conception to this tone; but bellini has thrown into the same scene more animation, and more various effect.[ ] devrient, thus enabled to colour more highly, has gone beyond the composer. there was a flush of poetry and passion, a heartbreaking struggle of love and life against an overwhelming destiny, which thrilled me. never did i hear any one sing so completely from her own soul as this astonishing creature. in certain tones and passages her voice issued from the depths of her bosom as if steeped in tears; and her countenance, when she hears juliet sigh from the tomb, was such a sudden and divine gleam of expression as i have never seen on any face but fanny kemble's. i was not surprised to learn that madame devrient is generally ill after her performance, and unable to sing in this part more than once or twice a week. * * * * * tieck is the literary colossus of dresden; perhaps i should say of germany. there are those who dispute his infallibility as a critic; there are those who will not walk under the banners of his philosophy; but since the death of goethe, i believe ludwig tieck holds undisputed the first rank as an original poet, and powerful writer, and has succeeded, by right divine, to the vacant throne of genius. his house in the altmarkt, (the tall red house at the south-east corner,) henceforth consecrated by that power which can "hallow in the core of human hearts even the ruin of a wall,"[ ] is the resort of all the enlightened strangers who flock to dresden: even those who know nothing of tieck but his name, deem an introduction to him as indispensable as a visit to the madonna del sisto. to the english, he is particularly interesting: his knowledge of our language and literature, and especially of our older writers, is profound. endued with an imagination which luxuriates in the world of marvels, which "dwells delightedly midst fays and talismans," and embraces in its range of power what is highest, deepest, most subtle, most practical--gifted with a creative spirit, for ever moving and working within the illimitable universe of fancy, tieck is yet one of the most poignant satirists and profound critics of the age. he has for the last twenty years devoted his time and talents, in conjunction with schlegel, to the study, translation, and illustration of shakspeare. the combination of these two minds has done perhaps what no single mind could have effected in developing, elucidating, and clothing in a new language the creations of that mighty and inspired being. it is to be hoped that some translator will rise up among us to do justice in return to tieck. no one tells a fairy tale like him: the earnest simplicity of style and manner is so exquisite that he always gives the idea of one whose hair was on end at his own wonders, who was entangled by the spell of his own enchantments. a few of these lighter productions (his volksmärchen, or popular tales) have been rendered into our language; but those of his works which have given him the highest estimation among his own countrymen still remain a sealed fountain to english readers.[ ] it was with some trepidation i found myself in the presence of this extraordinary man. notwithstanding his profound knowledge of our language, he rarely speaks english, and, like alfieri, he _will not_ speak french. i addressed him in english, and he spoke to me in german. the conversation in my first visit fell very naturally upon shakspeare, for i had been looking over his admirable new translation of macbeth, which he had just completed. macbeth led us to the english theatre and english acting--to mrs. siddons and the kembles, and the actual character and state of our stage. while he spoke i could not help looking at his head, which is wonderfully fine; the noble breadth and amplitude of his brow, and his quiet, but penetrating eye, with an expression of latent humour hovering round his lips, formed altogether a striking physiognomy. the numerous prints and portraits of tieck which are scattered over germany are very defective as resemblances. they have a heavy look; they give the weight and power of his head, but nothing of the _finesse_ which lurks in the lower part of his face. his manner is courteous, and his voice particularly sweet and winning. he is apparently fond of the society of women; or the women are fond of his society, for in the evening his room is generally crowded with fair worshippers. yet tieck, like goethe, is accused of entertaining some unworthy sentiments with regard to the sex; and is also said, like goethe, not to have upheld us in his writings, as the true philosopher, to say nothing of the true poet, ought to have done. it is a fact upon which i shall take an opportunity of enlarging, that almost all the greatest men who have lived in the world, whether poets, philosophers, artists, or statesmen, have derived their mental and physical organization, more from the mother's than the father's side; and the same is true, unhappily, of those who have been in an extraordinary degree perverted. and does not this lead us to some awful considerations on the importance of the moral and physical well-being of women, and their present condition in society, as a branch of legislation and politics, which must ere long be modified? let our lords and masters reflect, that if an extensive influence for good or for evil be not denied to us, an influence commencing not only with, but before the birth of their children, it is time that the manifold mischiefs and miseries lurking in the bosom of society, and of which woman is at once the wretched instrument and more wretched victim, be looked to. sometimes i am induced to think that tieck is misinterpreted or libelled by those who pretend to take the tone from his writings and opinions: it is evident that he delights in being surrounded by a crowd of admiring women, therefore he must in his heart honour and reverence us as being morally equal with man,--for who could suspect the great tieck of that paltry coxcombry which can be gratified by the adulation of inferior beings? tieck's extraordinary talent for reading aloud is much and deservedly celebrated: he gives dramatic readings two or three times a week when his health and his avocations allow this exertion; the company assemble at six, and it is advisable to be punctual to the moment; soon afterwards tea is served: he begins to read at seven precisely, when the doors are closed against all intrusion whatever, and he reads through a whole play without pause, rest, omission, or interruption. thus i heard him read julius cæsar and the midsummer night's dream, (in the german translation by himself and schlegel,) and except mrs. siddons, i never heard any thing comparable as dramatic reading. his voice is rich, and capable of great variety of modulation. i observed that the humorous and declamatory passages were rather better than the pathetic and tender passages: he was quite at home among the elves and clowns in the midsummer night's dream, of which he gave the fantastic and comic parts with indescribable humour and effect. as to the translation, i could only judge of its marvellous fidelity, which enabled me to follow him, word for word,--but the germans themselves are equally enchanted by its vigour, and elegance, and poetical colouring. * * * * * the far-famed gallery of dresden is, of course, the first and grand attraction to a stranger. the regulation of this gallery, and the difficulty of obtaining admission, struck me at first as rather inhospitable and ill-natured. in the summer months it is open to the public two days in the week; but during the winter months, from september to march, it is closed. in order to obtain admittance, during this _recess_, you must pay three dollars to one of the principal keepers on duty, and a gratuity to the porter,--in all about half-a-guinea. having once paid this sum, you are free to enter whenever the gallery has been opened for another party. the ceremony is, to send the laquais-de-place at nine in the morning to inquire whether the gallery will be open in the course of the day; if the answer be in the affirmative, it is advisable to make your appearance as early as possible, and i believe you may stay as long as you please; (at least _i_ did;) nothing more is afterwards demanded, though something may perhaps be expected--if you are a _very_ frequent visitor. all this is rather ungracious. it is true that the gallery is not a national, but a royal gallery,--that it was founded and enriched by princes for their private recreation; that augustus iii. purchased the modena gallery for his kingly pleasure; that from the original construction of the building it is impossible to heat it with stoves, without incurring some risk, and that to oblige the poor professors and attendants to linger benumbed and shivering in the gallery from morning to night is cruel. in fact, it would be difficult to give an idea of the deadly cold which prevails in the inner gallery, where the beams of the sun scarcely ever penetrate. and it may happen that only a chance visitor, or one or two strangers, may ask admittance in the course of the day. but poor as saxony now is,--drained, and exhausted, and maimed by successive wars, and trampled by successive conquerors, this glorious gallery, which frederic spared, and napoleon left inviolate, remains the chief attraction to strangers; and it may be doubted whether there is good policy in making admittance to its treasures a matter of difficulty, vexation, and expense. there would be little fear, if all strangers were as obstinate and enthusiastic as myself,--for, to confess the truth, i know not what obstacle, or difficulty, or inconvenience, could have kept me out; if all legal avenues had been hermetically sealed, i would have prayed, bribed, persevered, till i had attained my purpose, and after travelling three hundred miles to achieve an object, what are a few dollars? but still it _is_ ungracious, and methinks, in this courteous and liberal capital these regulations ought to be reformed or modified. on entering the gallery for the first time, i walked straight forward, without pausing, or turning to the right or the left, into the raffaelle-room, and looked round for the madonna del sisto,--literally with a kind of misgiving. familiar as the form might be to the eye and the fancy, from numerous copies and prints, still the unknown original held a sanctuary in my imagination, like the mystic isis behind her veil: and it seemed that whatever i beheld of lovely, or perfect, or soul-speaking in art, had an unrevealed rival in my imagination: something was beyond--there was a criterion of possible excellence as yet only conjectured--for i had not seen the madonna del sisto. now, when i was about to lift my eyes to it, i literally hesitated--i drew a long sigh, as if resigning myself to disappointment, and looked----yes! there she was indeed! that divinest image that ever shaped itself in palpable hues and forms to the living eye! what a revelation of ineffable grace, and purity, and truth, and goodness! there is no use attempting to say any thing about it; too much has already been said and written--and what are words? after gazing on it again and again, day after day, i feel that to attempt to describe the impression is like measuring the infinite, and sounding the unfathomable. when i looked up at it today it gave me the idea, or rather the feeling, of a vision descending and floating down upon me. the head of the virgin is quite superhuman: to say that it is beautiful, gives no idea of it. some of correggio's and guido's virgins--the virgin of murillo at the leuchtenberg palace--have more beauty, in the common meaning of the word; but every other female face, however lovely, however majestic, would, i am convinced, appear either trite or exaggerated, if brought into immediate comparison with this divine countenance. there is such a blessed calm in every feature! and the eyes, beaming with a kind of internal light, look straight out of the picture--not at you or me--not at any thing belonging to this world,--but through and through the universe. the unearthly child is a sublime vision of power and grandeur, and seems not so much supported as enthroned in her arms, and what fitter throne for the divinity than a woman's bosom full of innocence and love? the expression in the face of st. barbara, who looks down, has been differently interpreted: to me she seems to be giving a last look at the earth, above which the group is raised as on a hovering cloud. st. sixtus is evidently pleading in all the combined fervour of faith, hope, and charity, for the congregation of sinners, who are supposed to be kneeling before the picture--that is, for _us_--to whom he points. finally, the cherubs below, with their upward look of rapture and wonder, blending the most childish innocence with a sublime inspiration, complete the harmonious whole, uniting heaven with earth. while i stood in contemplation of this all-perfect work, i felt the impression of its loveliness in my deepest heart, not only without the power, but without the thought or wish to give it voice or words, till some lines of shelley's--lines which were not, but, methinks, ought to have been, inspired by the madonna--came, uncalled, floating through my memory-- seraph of heaven! too gentle to be human, veiling beneath that radiant form of woman all that is insupportable in thee, of light, and love, and immortality! sweet benediction in the eternal curse! veil'd glory of this lampless universe! thou harmony of nature's art! i measure the world of fancies, seeking one like thee, and find--alas! mine own infirmity![ ] on the first morning i spent in the gallery, a most benevolent-looking old gentleman came up to me, and half lifting his velvet cap from his grey hairs, courteously saluted me by name. i replied, without knowing at the moment to whom i spoke. it was böttigar, the most formidable--no, not _formidable_--but the most erudite scholar, critic, antiquarian, in germany. böttigar, i do believe, has read every book that ever was written; knows every thing that ever was known; and is acquainted with every body, who is _any body_, in the four quarters of the world. he is not the author of any large work, but his writings, in a variety of form, on art, ancient and modern,--on literature, on the classics, on the stage, are known over all germany; and in his best days few have exercised so wide an influence over opinion and literature. it is _said_, that in his latter years his criticism has been too vague, his praise too indiscriminate, to be trusted; but i know not why this should excite indignation, though it may produce mistrust; in böttigar's conformation, benevolence must always have been prominent, and in the decline of his life--for he is now seventy-eight--this natural courtesy combining with a good deal of vanity and imagination, would necessarily produce the result of extreme mildness,--a disposition to see, or try to see, all _en beau_. the happier for him, and the pleasanter for others. we were standing together in the room with the madonna, but i did not allude to it, nor attempt to express by a word the impression it had made on me; but he seemed to understand my silence; he afterwards told me that it is ascertained that raffaelle employed only three months in executing this picture: it was thrown upon his canvas in a glow of inspiration, and is painted very lightly and thinly. when palmeroli, the italian restorer, was brought here at an expense of more than three thousand ducats, he ventured to clean and retouch the background and accessories, but dared not touch the figures of the virgin and the child, which retain their sombre tint. this has perhaps destroyed the harmony of the general effect, but if the man mistrusted himself he was right: in such a case, however, he had better have let the background alone. in taking down the picture for the purpose of cleaning, it was discovered that a part of the original canvas, about a quarter of a yard, was turned back in order to make it fit the frame. every one must have observed, that in müller's engraving, and all the known copies of this madonna, the head is too near the top of the picture, so as to mar the just proportion. this is now amended: the veil, or curtain, which appears to have been just drawn aside to disclose the celestial vision, does not now reach the boundary of the picture, as heretofore; the original effect is restored, and it is infinitely better. as if to produce a surfeit of excellence, the five correggios hang together in the same room with the raffaelle.[ ] they are the madonna di san georgio; the madonna di san francisco; the madonna di santo sebastiano; the famous nativity, called la notte; and the small magdalene reading, of which there exist an incalculable number of copies and prints. i know not that any thing can be added to what has been said a hundred times over of these wondrous pieces of poetry. their excellence and value, as unequalled productions of art, may not perhaps be understood by all,--the poetical charm, the something more than meets the eye, is not perhaps equally felt by all,--but the sentiment is intelligible to every mind, and goes at once to every heart; the most uneducated eye, the merest tyro in art, gazes with delight on the notte; and the magdalene reading has given perhaps more pleasure than any known picture,--it is so quiet, so simple, so touching, in its heavenly beauty! those who may not perfectly understand what artists mean when they dwell with rapture on correggio's wonderful chiaro-scuro, should look close into this little picture, which hangs at a convenient height: they will perceive that they can look through the shadows into the substance,--as it might be, into the flesh and blood;--the shadows seem accidental--as if between the eye and the colours, and not incorporated with them; in this lies the inimitable excellence of this master. the magdalene was once surrounded by a rich frame of silver gilt, chased, and adorned with gems, turquoises, and pearls: but some years ago a thief found means to enter at the window, and carried off the picture for the sake of the frame. a reward of two hundred ducats and a pardon were offered for the picture only, and in a fortnight afterwards it was happily restored to the gallery uninjured; but i did not hear that the frame and jewels were ever recovered. of correggio's larger pictures, i think the madonna di san georgio pleased me most. the virgin is seated on a throne, holding the sacred infant, who extends his arms and smiles out upon the world he has come to save. on the right stands st. george, his foot on the dragon's head; behind him st. peter martyr; on the left, st. geminiano and st. john the baptist. in the front of the picture two heavenly boys are playing with the sword and helmet of st. george, which he has apparently cast down at the foot of the throne. all in this picture is grand and sublime, in the feeling, the forms, the colouring, the expression. but what, says a wiseacre of a critic, rubbing up his school chronology, what have st. francis, and st. george, and st. john the baptist, to do in the same picture with the virgin mary? did not st. george live nine hundred years after st. john? and st. francis five hundred years after st. george? and so on. yet this is properly no anachronism--no violation of the proprieties of action, place, or time. these and similar pictures, as the st. jerome at parma, and raffaelle's madonna, are not to be considered as historical paintings, but as grand pieces of lyrical and sacred poetry. in this particular picture, which was an altarpiece in the church of our lady at parma, we have in st. george the representation of religious magnanimity; in st. john, religious enthusiasm; in st. geminiani, religious munificence; in st. peter martyr, religious fortitude; and these are grouped round the most lovely impersonation of innocence, chastity, and heavenly love. such, as it appears to me, is the true intention and signification of this and similar pictures. but in the "notte" (the nativity) the case is different. it is properly an historical picture; and if correggio had placed st. george, or st. francis, or the magdalene, as spectators, we might then exclaim at the absurdity of the anachronism; but here correggio has converted the literal representation of a circumstance in sacred history into a divine piece of poetry, when he gave us that emanation of supernatural light, streaming from the form of the celestial child, and illuminating the extatic face of the virgin mother, who bends over her infant undazzled; while another female draws back, veiling her eyes with her hand, as if unable to endure the radiance. far off, through the gloom of night, we see the morning just breaking along the eastern horizon--emblem of the "day-spring from on high." this is precisely one of those pictures of which no copy or engraving could convey any adequate idea; the sentiment of maternity (in which correggio excelled) is so exquisitely tender, and the colouring so inconceivably transparent and delicate. i suppose it is a sort of treason to say that in the madonna di san francisco, the face of the virgin is tinctured with affectation; but such was and _is_ my impression. if i were to plan a new dresden gallery, the madonna del sisto and the "notte" should each have a sanctuary apart, and be lighted from above; at present they are ill-placed for effect. when i could move from the raffaelle room, i took advantage of the presence and attendance of professor matthaï, (who is himself a painter of eminence here,) and went through a regular course of the italian schools of painting, beginning with giotto. the collection is extremely rich in the early ferarese and venetian painters, and it was most interesting thus to trace the gradual improvement and development of the school of colourists through squarcione, mantegna, the bellini, giorgione, paris bordone, palma, and titian; until richness became exuberance, and power verged upon excess in paul veronese and tintoretto. certainly, i feel no inclination to turn my notebook into a catalogue; but i must mention titian's christo della moneta:--such a head!--so pure from any trace of passion!--so refined, so intellectual, so benevolent! the only head of christ i ever entirely approved. here they have giorgione's master-piece--the meeting of rachel and jacob; and the three daughters of palma, half-lengths, in the same picture. the centre one, violante, is a most lovely head. there is here an extraordinary picture by titian, representing lucrezia borgia, presented by her husband to the madonna. the portraits are the size of life, half-lengths. i looked in vain in the countenance of lucrezia for some trace, some testimony of the crimes imputed to her; but she is a fair, golden-haired, gentle-looking creature, with a feeble and vapid expression. the head of her husband, alphonso, is fine and full of power. there are, i suppose, not less than fourteen or fifteen pictures by titian. the concina family, by paul veronese, esteemed his finest production, is in the dresden gallery, with ten others of the same master. of guido, there are ten pictures, particularly that extraordinary one, _called_ ninus and semiramis, life size. of the carracci, at least eight or nine, particularly the genius of fame, which should be compared with that of guido. there are numerous pictures of albano and ribera; but very few specimens of salvator rosa and domenichino. on the whole, i suppose that no gallery, except that of florence, can compete with the dresden gallery in the treasures of italian art. in all, there are five hundred and thirty-four italian pictures. i pass over the flemish, dutch, and french pictures, which fill the outer gallery: these exceed the italian school in number, and many of them are of surpassing merit and value, but, having just come from munich, where the eye and fancy are both satiated with this class of pictures, i gave my attention principally to the italian masters. there is one room here entirely filled with the crayon paintings of rosalba, including a few by liotard. among them is a very interesting head of metastasio, painted when he was young. he has fair hair and blue eyes, with small features, and an expression of mingled sensibility and acuteness: no power. rosalba carriera, perhaps the finest crayon painter who ever existed, was a venetian, born at chiozza in . she was an admirable creature in every respect, possessing many accomplishments, besides the beautiful art in which she excelled. several anecdotes are preserved which prove the sweetness of her disposition, and the clear simplicity of her mind. spence, who knew her personally, calls her "the most modest of painters;" yet she used to say playfully, "i am charmed with every thing i do, for eight hours after it is done!" this was natural while the excitement of conception was fresh upon the mind. no one, however, could be more fastidious and difficult about their own works than rosalba. she was not only an observer of countenance by profession, but a most acute observer of character, as revealed in all its external indications. she said of sir godfrey kneller, after he had paid her a visit, "i concluded he could not be religious, for he has no modesty." the general philosophical truth comprised in these few words is not less admirable than the acuteness of the remark, as applied to kneller--a professed sceptic, and the most self-sufficient coxcomb of his time. rosalba was invited at different times to almost all the courts of europe, and painted most of the distinguished persons of her time at vienna, dresden, berlin, and paris; the lady-like refinements of her mind and manners, which also marked her style of painting, recommended her not less than her talents. she used, after her return to italy, to say her prayers in german, "because the language was so expressive."[ ] rosalba became blind before her death, which occurred in . her works in the dresden gallery amount to at least one hundred and fifty--principally portraits--but there are also some exquisite fancy heads. thinking of rosalba, reminds me that there are some pretty stories told of women, who have excelled as professed artists. in general the conscious power of maintaining themselves, habits of attention and manual industry, the application of our feminine superfluity of sensibility and imagination to a tangible result--have produced fine characters. the daughter of tintoretto, when invited to the courts of maximilian and philip ii. refused to leave her father. violante siries of florence gave a similar proof of filial affection; and when the grand duke commanded her to paint her own portrait for the florentine gallery, where it now hangs, she introduced the portrait of her father, because he had been her first instructor in art. when henrietta walters, the famous dutch miniature painter, was invited by peter the great and frederic, to their respective courts, with magnificent promises of favour and patronage, she steadily refused; and when peter, who had no idea of giving way to obstacles, particularly in the female form, pressed upon her in person the most splendid offers, and demanded the reason of her refusal, she replied, that she was contented with her lot, and could not bear the idea of living out of a free country. maria von osterwyck, one of the most admirable flower painters, had a lover, to whom she was a little partial, but his idleness and dissipation distressed her. at length she promised to give him her hand on condition that during one year he would work regularly ten hours a day, observing that it was only what she had done herself from a very early age. he agreed; and took a house opposite to her that she might witness his industry; but habit was too strong, his love or his resolution failed, and he broke the compact. she refused to be his wife; and no entreaties could afterwards alter her determination never to accept the man who had shown so little strength of character, and so little real love. she was a wise woman, and as the event showed, not a heartless one. she died unmarried, though surrounded by suitors. it was the fate of elizabeth sirani, one of the most beautiful women, as well as one of the most exquisite painters of her time, to live in the midst of those deadly feuds between the pupils of guido and those of domenichino, and she was poisoned at the age of twenty-six. she left behind her one hundred and fifty pictures, an astonishing number if we consider the age at which the world was deprived of this wonderful creature, for they are finished with the utmost care in every part. madonnas and magdalenes were her favourite subjects. she died in . her best pictures are at florence. sofonisba angusciola had two sisters, lucia and europa, almost as gifted, though not quite so celebrated as herself: these three "virtuous gentlewomen," as vasari calls them, lived together in the most delightful sisterly union. one of sofonisba's most beautiful pictures represents her two sisters playing at chess, attended by the old duenna, who accompanied them every where. when sofonisba was invited to the court of spain, in , she took her sisters with her--in short, they were inseparable. they were all accomplished women. "we hear," said the pope, in a complimentary letter to sofonisba, on one of her pictures, "that this your great talent is among the least you possess:" which letter is said by vasari to be a _sufficient_ proof of the genius of sofonisba--as if the holy father's infallibility extended to painting! luckily we have proofs more undeniable in her own most lovely works--glowing with life like those of titian; and in the testimony of vandyke, who said of her in her later years, that "he had learned more from one old blind woman in italy than from all the masters of his art." it is worth remarking, that almost all the women who have attained celebrity in painting, have excelled in portraiture. the characteristic of rosalba is an exceeding elegance; of angelica kauffman exceeding grace; but she wants nerve. lavinia fontana threw a look of sensibility into her most masculine heads--she died broken-hearted for the loss of an only son, whose portrait is her masterpiece.[ ] the sofonisba had most dignity, and in her own portrait[ ] a certain dignified simplicity in the air and attitude strikes us immediately. gentileschi has most power: she was a gifted, but a profligate woman. all those whom i have mentioned were women of undoubted genius; for they have each a style apart, peculiar, and tinted by their individual character: but all, except gentileschi, were _feminine_ painters. they succeeded best in feminine portraits, and when they painted history they were only admirable in that class of subjects which came within the province of their sex; beyond that boundary they became _fade_, insipid, or exaggerated: thus elizabeth sirani's annunciation is exquisite, and her crucifixion feeble; angelica kauffman's nymphs and madonnas are lovely; but her picture of the warrior herman, returning home after the defeat of the roman legions, is cold and ineffective. the result of these reflections is, that there is a walk of art in which women may attain perfection, and excel the other sex; as there is another department from which they are excluded. you must change the physical organization of the race of women before we produce a rubens or a michael angelo. then, on the other hand, i fancy, no _man_ could paint like louisa sharpe, any more than write like mrs. hemans. louisa sharpe, and her sister, are, in painting, just what mrs. hemans is in poetry; we see in their works the same characteristics--no feebleness, no littleness of design or manner, nothing vapid, trivial, or affected,--and nothing masculine; all is super-eminently, essentially feminine, in subject, style, and sentiment. i wish to combat in every way that oft-repeated, but most false compliment unthinkingly paid to women, that genius is of no sex; there may be equality of power, but in its quality and application there will and must be difference and distinction. if men would but remember this truth, they would cease to treat with ridicule and jealousy the attainments and aspirations of women, knowing that there never could be real competition or rivalry. if women would admit this truth, they would not presume out of their sphere:--but then we come to the necessity for some key to the knowledge of ourselves and others--some scale for the just estimation of our own qualities and powers, compared with those of others--the great secret of self-regulation and happiness--the beginning, middle, and end of all education. but to return from this tirade. i wish my vagrant pen were less discursive. in the works of art, the presence of a power, felt rather than perceived, and kept subordinate to the sentiment of grace, should mark the female mind and hand. this is what i love in rosalba, in our own mrs. carpenter, in madame de freyberg, and in eliza and louisa sharpe: in the latter there is a high tone of moral as well as poetical feeling. thus her picture of the young girl coming out of church after disturbing the equanimity of a whole congregation by her fine lady airs and her silk attire, is a charming and most graceful satire on the foibles of her sex. the idea, however, is taken from the spectator. but louisa sharpe can also create. of another lovely picture,--that of the young, forsaken, disconsolate, repentant mother, who sits drooping over her child, "with looks bowed down in penetrative shame," while one or two of the rigidly-righteous of her own sex turn from her with a scornful and upbraiding air--i believe the subject is original; but it is obviously one which never could have occurred, except to the most consciously pure as well as the gentlest and kindest heart in the world. never was a more beautiful and christian lesson conveyed by woman to woman; at once a warning to our weakness, and a rebuke to our pride.[ ] _apropos_ of female artists: i met here with a lady of noble birth and high rank, the countess julie von egloffstein,[ ] who in spite of the prejudices still prevailing in germany, has devoted herself to painting as a profession. her vocation for the art was early displayed; but combated and discouraged as derogatory to her rank and station; she was for many years _demoiselle d'honneur_ to the grand duchess luise of weimar. under all these circumstances, it required real strength of mind to take the step she has taken; but a less decided course could not well have emancipated her from trammels, the force of which can hardly be estimated out of germany. a recent journey to italy, undertaken on account of her health, fixed her determination, and her destiny for life. in looking over her drawings and pictures, i was particularly struck by one singularity, which yet, on reflection, appears perfectly comprehensible. this high-born and court-bred woman shows a decided predilection for the picturesque in humble life, and seems to have turned to simple nature in perfect simplicity of heart. being self-taught and self-formed, there is nothing mannered or conventional in her style; and i do hope she will assert the privilege of genius, and, looking only into nature out of her own heart and soul, form and keep a style to herself. i remember one little picture, painted either for the queen of england or the queen of bavaria, representing a young neapolitan peasant, seated at her cottage door, contemplating her child, cradled at her feet, while the fishing bark of her husband is sailing away in the distance. in this little bit of natural poetry there was no seeking after effect, no prettiness, no pretension; but a quiet genuine simplicity of feeling, which surprised while it pleased me. when i have looked at the countess julie in her painting-room, surrounded by her drawings, models, casts--all the powers of her exuberant enthusiastic mind flowing free in their natural direction, i have felt at once pleasure, and admiration, and respect. it should seem that the energy of spirit and real magnanimity of mind which could trample over social prejudices, not the less strong because manifestly absurd, united to genius and perseverance, may, if life be granted, safely draw upon futurity both for success and for fame. * * * * * i consider my introduction to moritz retzsch as one of the most memorable and agreeable incidents of my short sojourn at dresden. this extraordinary genius, who is almost as popular and interesting in england as in his own country, seems to have received from nature a double portion of the inventive faculty--that rarest of all her good gifts, even to those who are her especial favourites. as his published works by which he is principally known in england (the outlines to the faust, to shakspeare, to schiller's song of the bell, &c.) are illustrations of the ideas of others, few but those who may possess some of his original drawings are aware, that retzsch is himself a poet of the first order, using his glorious power of graphic delineation to throw into form the conceptions, thoughts, aspirations, of his own glowing imagination and fertile fancy. retzsch was born at dresden in , and has never, i believe, been far from his native place. from childhood he was a singular being, giving early indications of his imitative power by drawing or carving in wood, resemblances of the objects which struck his attention, without the slightest idea in himself or others of becoming eventually an artist; and i have even heard that, when he was quite a youth, his enthusiastic mind, labouring with a power which he felt rather than knew, his love of the wilder aspects of nature, and impatience of the restraints of artificial life, had nearly induced him to become a huntsman or forester (jäger) in the royal service. however, at the age of twenty, his love of art became a decided vocation. the little property he had inherited or accumulated was dissipated during that war, which swept like a whirlwind over all germany, overwhelming prince and peasant, artist, mechanic, in one wide-spreading desolation. since that time retzsch has depended on his talents alone--content to live poor in a poor country. he has, by the exertion of his talents, achieved for himself a small independence, and contributed to the support of a large family of relations, also ruined by the casualties of war. his usual residence is at his own pretty little farm or vineyard a few miles from dresden. when in the town, where his duties as professor of the academy frequently call him, he lodges in a small house in the neustadt, close upon the banks of the elbe, in a retired and beautiful situation. thither i was conducted by our mutual friend, n----, whose appreciation of retzsch's talents, and knowledge of his peculiarities, rendered him the best possible intermediator on this occasion. the professor received us in a room which appeared to answer many purposes, being obviously a sleeping as well as a sitting-room, but perfectly neat. i saw at once that there was every where a woman's superintending eye and thoughtful care; but did not know at the moment that he was married. he received us with open-hearted frankness, at the same time throwing on the stranger one of those quick glances which seemed to look through me: in return, i contemplated him with inexpressible interest. his figure is rather larger, and more portly than i had expected; but i admired his fine titanic head, so large, and so sublime in its expression; his light blue eye, wild and wide, which seemed to drink in meaning and flash out light; his hair profuse, grizzled, and flowing in masses round his head: and his expanded brow full of poetry and power. in his deportment he is a mere child of nature, simple, careless, saying just what he feels and thinks at the moment, without regard to forms; yet pleasing from the benevolent earnestness of his manner, and intuitively polite without being polished. after some conversation, he took us into his painting room. as a colourist, i believe his style is criticised, and open to criticism; it is at least singular; but i must confess that while i was looking over his things i was engrossed by the one conviction;--that while his peculiar merits, and the preference of one manner to another may be a matter of argument or taste, it is certain, and indisputable, that no one paints _like_ retzsch, and that, in the original power and fertility of _conception_, in the quantity of _mind_ which he brings to bear upon his subject, he is in his own style unequalled and inimitable. i was rather surprised to see in some of his designs and pencil drawings, the most elaborate delicacy of touch, and most finished execution of parts, combined with a fancy which seems to run wild over his paper or his canvas; but only _seems_--for it must be remarked, that with all this luxuriance of imagination, there is no exaggeration, either of form or feeling; he is peculiar, fantastic, even extravagant--but never false in sentiment or expression. the reason is, that in retzsch's character the moral sentiments are strongly developed; where _they_ are deficient, let the artist who aims at the highest poetical department of excellence, despair; for no possession of creative talent, nor professional skill, nor conventional taste, will supply that main deficiency. i saw in retzsch's atelier many things novel, beautiful, and interesting; but will note only a few, which have dwelt upon my memory, as being characteristic of the man as well as the artist. there was, on a small pannel, the head of an angel smiling. he said he was often pursued by dark fancies, haunted by melancholy forebodings, desponding over himself and his art, "and he resolved to create an angel for himself, which should smile upon him out of heaven." so he painted his most lovely head, in which the radiant spirit of joy seems to beam from every feature at once; and i thought while i looked upon it, that it were enough to exorcise a whole legion of blue devils. it is rarely that we can associate the mirthful with the beautiful and the sublime--even i could have deemed it next to impossible; but the effulgent cheerfulness of this divine face corrected that idea, which, after all, is not in bright lovely nature, but in the shadow which the mighty spirit of humanity casts from his wings, as he hangs brooding over her between heaven and earth. afterwards he placed upon his easel a wondrous face, which made me shrink back--not with terror, for it was perfectly beautiful--but with awe, for it was unspeakably fearful: the hair streamed back from the pale brow--the orbs of sight appeared at first two dark, hollow, unfathomable spaces, like those in a skull; but when i drew nearer, and looked attentively, two lovely living eyes looked at me again out of the depth of shadow, as of from the bottom of an abyss. the mouth was divinely sweet, but sad, and the softest repose rested on every feature. this, he told me, was the angel of death: it was the original conception of a head for the large picture now at vienna, representing the angel of death bearing aloft two children into the regions of the blessed: the heavens opening above, and the earth and stars sinking beneath his feet. the next thing which struck me was a small picture--two satyrs butting at each other, while a shepherd carries off the nymph for whom they are contending. this was most admirable for its grotesque power and spirit, and, moreover, extremely well coloured. another in the same style represented a satyr sitting on a wine-skin, out of which he drinks; two arch-looking nymphs are stealing on him from behind, and one of them pierces the wine-skin with her hunting-spear. there was a portrait of himself, but i would not laud it--in fact, he has not done himself justice. only a colossal bust, in the same style, and wrought with the same feeling as dannecker's bust of schiller, could convey to posterity an adequate idea of the head and countenance of retzsch. i complimented him on the effect which his hamlet had produced in england; he told me, that it had been his wish to illustrate the midsummer night's dream, or the tempest, rather than macbeth: the former he will still undertake, and, in truth, if any one succeeds in embodying a just idea of a miranda, a caliban, a titania, and the poetical burlesque of the athenian clowns, it will be retzsch, whose genius embraces at once the grotesque, the comic, the wild, the wonderful, the fanciful, the elegant! a few days afterwards we accepted retzsch's invitation to visit him at his _campagna_--for whether it were farm-house, villa, or vineyard, or all together, i could not well decide. the drive was delicious. the road wound along the banks of the magnificent elbe, the gently-swelling hills, all laid out in vineyards, rising on our right; and though it was in november, the air was soft as summer. retzsch, who had perceived our approach from his window, came out to meet us--took me under his arm as if we had been friends of twenty years standing, and leading me into his picturesque _domicile_, introduced me to his wife--as pretty a piece of domestic poetry as one shall see in a summer's day. she was the daughter of a vine-dresser, whom retzsch fell in love with while she was yet almost a child, and educated for his wife--at least so runs the tale. at the first glance i detected the original of that countenance which, more or less idealized, runs through all his representations of female youth and beauty: here was the model, both in feature and expression; she smiled upon us a most cordial welcome, regaled us with delicious coffee and cakes prepared by herself, then taking up her knitting sat down beside us; and while i turned over admiringly the beautiful designs with which her husband had decorated her album, the looks of veneration and love with which she regarded him, and the expression of kindly, delighted sympathy with which she smiled upon me, i shall not easily forget. as for the album itself, queens might have envied her such homage: and what would not a dilettante collector have given for such a possession! i remember two or three of these designs which must serve to give an idea of the rest:-- st. the good genius descending to bless his wife.-- nd. the birthday of his wife--a lovely female infant is asleep under a vine, which is wreathed round the tree of life; the spirits of the four elements are bringing votive gifts with which they endow her.-- rd. the enigma of human life.--the genius of humanity is reclining on the back of a gigantic sphinx, of which the features are averted, and partly veiled by a cloud; he holds a rose half-withered in his hand, and looks up with a divine expression towards two butterflies which have escaped from the chrysalis state, and are sporting above his head; at his feet are a dead bird and reptile--emblematical of sin and death.-- th. the genius of art, represented as a young apollo, turns, with a melancholy, abstracted air, the handle of a barrel-organ, while vulgarity, ignorance, and folly, listen with approbation; meantime his lyre and his palette lie neglected at his feet, together with an empty purse and wallet: the mixture of pathos, poetry, and satire, in this little drawing, can hardly be described in words.-- th. hope, represented by a lovely group of playful children, who are peeping under a hat for a butterfly, which they fancy they have caught, but which has escaped, and is hovering above their reach.-- th. temptation presented to youth and innocence by an evil spirit, while a good genius warns them to beware.--in this drawing, the figures of the boy and girl, but more particularly of the latter, appeared to me of the most consummate and touching beauty.-- th. his wife walking on a windy day: a number of little sylphs are agitating her drapery, lifting the tresses of her hair, playing with her sash; while another party have flown off with her hat, and are bearing it away in triumph. after spending three or four hours delightfully, we drove home in silence by the gleaming, murmuring river, and beneath the light of the silent stars. on a subsequent visit, retzsch showed me many more of these delicious _phantasie_, or fancies, as he termed them,--or more truly, little pieces of moral and lyrical poetry, thrown into palpable form, speaking in the universal language of the eye to the universal heart of man. i remember, in particular, one of striking and even of appalling interest. the genius of humanity and the spirit of evil are playing at chess for the souls of men: the genius of humanity has lost to his infernal adversary some of his principal pieces,--love, humility, innocence, and lastly, peace of mind;--but he still retains faith, truth, and fortitude; and is sitting in a contemplative attitude, considering his next move; his adversary, who opposes him with pride, avarice, irreligion, luxury, and a host of evil passions, looks at him with a _mephistophiles'_ expression, anticipating his devilish triumph. the pawns on the one side are prayers--on the other, doubts. a little behind stands the angel of conscience as arbitrator. in this most exquisite allegory, so beautifully, so clearly conveyed to the heart, there lurked a deeper moral than in many a sermon. there was another beautiful little allegory of love in the character of a picklock, opening, or trying to open, a variety of albums, lettered, the "human heart, no. ; human heart, no. ;" while philosophy lights him with her lanthorn. there were besides many other designs of equal poetry, beauty, and moral interest--i think, a whole portfolio full of them. i endeavoured to persuade retzsch that he could not do better than publish some of these exquisite _fancies_, and when i left him he entertained the idea of doing so at some future period. to adopt his own language, the genius of art could not present to the genius of humanity a more delightful and a more profitable gift.[ ] * * * * * the following list of german painters comprehends those _only_ whose works i had an opportunity of considering, and who appeared to me to possess decided merit. i might easily have extended this catalogue to thrice its length, had i included all those whose names were given to me as being distinguished and celebrated among their own countrymen. from munich alone i brought a list of two hundred artists, and from other parts of germany nearly as many more. but in confining myself to those whose productions i _saw_, i adhere to a principle which, after all, seems to be the best--viz. never to speak but of what we _know_; and then only of the individual impression: it is necessary to know so many things before we can give, with confidence, an opinion about any one thing! while the literary intercourse between england and germany increases every day, and a mutual esteem and understanding is the natural consequence of this approximation of mind, there is a singular and mutual ignorance in all matters appertaining to art, and consequently, a good deal of injustice and prejudice on both sides. the germans were amazed and incredulous, when i informed them that in england there are many admirers of art, to whom the very names of schnorr, overbeck, rauch, peter hess, wach, wagenbauer, and even their great cornelius, are unknown; and i met with very clever, well-informed germans, who had, by some chance, _heard_ of sir thomas lawrence, and knew _something_ of wilkie, turner, and martin, from the engravings after their works; who thought sir joshua reynolds and his engraver reynolds one and the same person; and of callcott, landseer, etty, and hilton, and others of our shining lights, they knew nothing at all. i must say, however, that they have generally a more just idea of english art than we have of german art, and their veneration for flaxman, like their veneration for shakspeare, is a sort of enthusiasm all over germany. those who have contemplated the actual state of art, and compared the prevalent tastes and feelings in both countries, will allow that much advantage would result from a better mutual understanding. we english accuse the german artists of mannerism, of a formal, hard, and elaborate execution,--a pedantic style of composition and sundry other sins. the germans accuse us, in return, of excessive coarseness and carelessness, a loose sketchy style of execution, and a general inattention to truth of character.[ ] "you english have no school of art," was often said to me; i could have replied--if it had not been a solecism in grammar--"you germans have _too much_ school." the "esprit de secte," which in germany has broken up their poetry, literature, and philosophy into schisms and schools, descends unhappily to art, and every professor, to use the highland expression, has _his tail_. at the same time, we cannot deny to the germans the merit of great earnestness of feeling, and that characteristic integrity of purpose which they throw into every thing they undertake or perform. art with them, is oftener held in honour, and pursued truly for its own sake, than among us: too many of our english artists consider their lofty and noble vocation, simply as the means to an end, be that end fame or gain. generally speaking, too, the german artists are men of superior cultivation, so that when the creative inspiration falls upon them, the material on which to work is already stored up: "nothing can come of nothing," and the sun-beams descend in vain on the richest soil, where the seed has not been sown. it is certain that we have not in england any historical painters who have given evidence of their genius on so grand a scale as some of the historical painters of germany have recently done. _we_ know that it is not the genius, but the opportunity which has been wanting, but we cannot ask foreigners to admit this,--they can only judge from results, and they must either suppose us to be without eminent men in the higher walks of art,--or they must wonder, with their magnificent ideas of the incalculable wealth of our nobles, the prodigal expenditure of our rulers, and the grandeur of our public institutions, that painting has not oftener been summoned in aid of her eldest sister architecture. on the other hand, their school of portraiture and landscape is decidedly inferior to ours. not only have they no landscape painters who can compare with callcott and turner, but they do not appear to have _imagined_ the kind of excellence achieved by these wonderful artists. i should say, generally, that their most beautiful landscapes want atmosphere. i used to feel while looking at them as if i were in the exhausted receiver of an air-pump. of their portraits i have already spoken; the eye which has rested in delight upon one of wilkie's or phillips's fine manly portraits, (not to mention reynolds, gainsborough, romney, and lawrence,) cannot easily be reconciled to the hard, frittered manner of some of the most admired of the german painters; it is a difference of taste, which i will not call natural but national;--the remains of the old gothic school which, as the study of italian art becomes more diffused, will be modified or pass away. * * * * * history. peter cornelius, born at dusseldorf in , was for a considerable time the director (president) of the academy there, and is now the director of the academy of art at munich: much of his time, however, is spent in italy. the germans esteem him their best historical painter. he has invention, expression, and power, but appears to me rather deficient in the feeling of beauty and tenderness. his grand works are the fresco painting in the glyptothek at munich, already described. friedrich overbeck, born at lubeck in : he excels in scriptural subjects, which he treats with infinite grandeur and simplicity of feeling. wilhelm wach, born at berlin in : first painter to the king of prussia and professor in the academy of berlin: esteemed one of the best painters and most accomplished men in germany. not having visited berlin, where his finest works exist, i have as yet seen but one picture by this painter--the head of an angel, at the palace of peterstein, sublimely conceived, and most admirably painted. in the style of colour, in the singular combination of grand feeling and delicate execution, this picture reminded me of leonardo da vinci. professor julius schnorr von carolsfeld, born at leipsig in . his frescos from the nibelungen lied in the new palace at munich have been already mentioned at length. professor heinrich hesse: the frescos in the royal chapel at munich, already described. wilhelm tischbein, born at heyna in . he is director of the academy at naples, and highly celebrated. he must not be confounded with his uncle, a mediocre artist, who was the court painter of hesse cassel, and whose pictures swarm in all the palaces there. philip veit, of frankfort--fresco painter. joseph schlotthauer, professor of historical and fresco painting at munich. (i believe this artist is dead. he held a high rank.) clement zimmermann, now employed in the pinakothek, and in the new palace at munich, where he takes a high rank as painter, and is not less distinguished by his general information, and his frank and amiable character. moritz retzsch of dresden. professor vogel, of dresden, principal painter to the king of saxony. he paints in fresco and history, but excels in portraits. stieler, of munich, court painter to the king of bavaria, esteemed one of the best portrait painters in germany. goetzenberger, fresco painter. he is employed in painting the university hall at bonn. eduard bendeman, of berlin. i saw at the exhibition of the kunstverein at dusseldorf, a fine picture by this painter--"the hebrews in exile." "by the waters of babylon we sat down and wept." the colouring i thought rather hard, but the conception and drawing were in a grand style. wilhelm schadow, director of the academy at dusseldorf. hetzsch of stuttgardt. the brothers riepenhausen, of göttingen, resident at rome. they are celebrated for their designs of the pictures of polygnotus, as described by pausanius. koehler. he exhibited at the kunstverein at dusseldorf a picture of "rebecca at the well," very well executed. ernst förster, of altenburg, employed in the palace at munich. this clever young painter married the daughter of jean paul richter. gassen, of goblentz; hiltensberger, of suabia; hermann, of dresden; foltz, of bingen; kaulbach, of munich; eugene neureuther, of munich; wilhelm röckel, of schleissheim; von schwind, of vienna; wilhelm lindenschmidt, of mayence. all these painters are at present in the service of the king of bavaria. julius hübner; hildebrand; lessing; sohn; history and portraits;--these four painters are the most distinguished scholars of the dusseldorf school. small subjects and conversation pieces. peter hess, of munich, one of the most eminent painters in germany. in his choice of subjects he reminded me sometimes of eastlake, and sometimes of wilkie, and his style is rather in wilkie's first manner. his pictures are full of spirit, truth, and character. dominique quaglio, of munich. interiors, &c. he also ranks very high: he reminds me of fraser. major-general von heydeck, of munich, an amateur painter of merited celebrity. in the collection of m. de klenze, and in the leuchtenberg gallery, there are some small battle pieces, scenes in greece and spain, and other subjects by von heydeck, very admirably painted. f. müller, of cassel. at the exhibition at dusseldorf i saw a picture by this artist, "a rustic bridal procession in the campagna," painted with a freedom and lightness of pencil not common among the german artists. plüddeman, of colberg. t. b. sonderland, of dusseldorf. fairs and merrymakings. h. rustige. the same subjects. both are good artists. h. kretzschmar, of pomerania. his picture of "little red ridinghood," (rothkäppchen,) at the kunstverein, at dusseldorf, had great merit. adolf scrötte. rustic scenes in the dutch manner. landscape. dahl, a norwegian settled at dresden, esteemed one of the best landscape painters in germany. there is a very fine sea-piece by this artist in the possession of the countess von seebach at dresden, with, however, all the characteristic _peculiarities_ of the german school. t. d. passavant, of frankfort. friedrich, of dresden, one of the most _poetical_ of the german landscape painters. he is rather a mannerist in colour, like turner, but in the opposite excess: his genius revels in gloom, as that of turner revels in light. professor von dillis, of munich. max wagenbauer, of munich. he is called most deservedly, the german paul potter. jacob dorner, of munich. a charming painter; perhaps a little too minute in his finishing. catel, of dusseldorf. scenes on the mediterranean. this painter resides chiefly in italy; but in the collection of m. de klenze i saw some admirable specimens of his works. biermann, of berlin, is a fine landscape painter. prëyer, certainly the most exquisite of modern flower painters. i believe he is from dusseldorf. rothman, of heidelberg. i saw some pictures and sketches by this young painter, full of genius and feeling. fries, of munich, a young painter of great promise. he put an end to his own life, while i was at munich, in a fit of delirium, caused by fever, and was very generally lamented. wilhelm schirmer, of juliers, an exceedingly fine landscape painter. audeas achenbach, of dusseldorf: he has also great merit. * * * * * there are several female artists in germany, of more or less celebrity. the baroness von freyberg (born electrina stuntz) holds the first rank in original talent. she resides near munich, but no longer paints professionally. the countess julie von egloffstein has also the rare gift of original and creative genius. luise seidler, of weimar; madlle. de winkel and madame de loqueyssie, of dresden, are distinguished in their art. the two latter are exquisite copyists. in architecture, leo von klenze and professor girtner, of munich; and heideloff of nuremberg, are deservedly celebrated in germany. the most distinguished sculptors in germany are christian rauch, and christian friedrich tieck, of berlin; johan heinrich von dannecker, of stuttgardt; schwanthaler, eberhardt, bandel, kirchmayer, mayer, all of munich; reitschel of dresden; and imhoff, of cologne. those of their works which i had an opportunity of seeing have been mentioned in the course of these sketches. [illustration] hardwicke. who that has exulted over the heroic reign of our gorgeous elizabeth, or wept over the fate of mary stuart, but will remember the name of the only woman whose high and haughty spirit out-faced the lion port of one queen, and whose audacity trampled over the sorrows of the other-- "brow-beating her fair form, and troubling her sweet pride!" but this is anticipation. if it be so laudable, according to the excellent, oft quoted advice of the giant moulineau, to _begin at the beginning_,[ ] what must it be to improve upon the precept? for so, in relating the fallen and fading glories of hardwicke, do i intend to exceed even "mon ami le belier," in historic accuracy, and take up our tale at a period ere hardwicke itself--the hardwicke that now stands--had a beginning. there lived, then, in the days of queen bess, a woman well worthy to be her majesty's namesake,--elizabeth hardwicke, more commonly called, in her own country, bess of hardwicke, and distinguished in the page of history as the _old_ countess of shrewsbury. she resembled queen elizabeth in all her best and worst qualities, and, putting royalty out of the scale, would certainly have been more than a match for that sharp-witted virago, in subtlety of intellect, and intrepidity of temper and manner. she was the only daughter of john hardwicke, of hardwicke,[ ] and being early left an orphan and an heiress, was married ere she was fourteen to a certain master robert barley, who was about her own age. death dissolved this premature union within a few months, but her husband's large estates had been settled on her and her heirs; and at the age of fifteen, dame elizabeth was a blooming widow, amply dowered with fair and fertile lands, and free to bestow her hand again where she listed. suitors abounded, of course: but elizabeth, it should seem, was hard to please. she was beautiful, if the annals of her family say true,--she had wit, and spirit, and, above all, an infinite love of independence. after taking the management of her property into her own hands, she for some time reigned and revelled (with all decorum be it understood) in what might be truly termed, a state of single blessedness; but at length, tired of being lord and lady too--"master o'er her vassals," if not exactly "queen o'er herself"--she thought fit, having reached the discreet age of four-and-twenty, to bestow her hand on sir william cavendish. he was a man of substance and power, already enriched by vast grants of abbey lands in the time of henry viii.,[ ] all which, by the marriage contract, were settled on the lady. after this marriage, they passed some years in retirement, having the wisdom to keep clear of the political storms and factions which intervened between the death of henry viii. and the accession of mary, and yet the sense to profit by them. while cavendish, taking advantage of those troublous times, went on adding manor after manor to his vast possessions, dame elizabeth was busy providing heirs to inherit them; she became the mother of six hopeful children, who were destined eventually to found two illustrious dukedoms, and mingle blood with the oldest nobility of england--nay, with royalty itself. "moreover," says the family chronicle, "the said dame elizabeth persuaded her husband, out of the great love he had for her, to sell his estates in the south and purchase lands in her native county of derby, wherewith to endow her and her children, and at her farther persuasion he began to build the noble seat of chatsworth, but left it to her to complete, he dying about the year ." apparently this second experiment in matrimony pleased the lady of hardwicke better than the first, for she was not long a widow. we are not in this case informed how long--her biographer having discreetly left it to our imagination; and the peerages, though not in general famed for discretion on such points, have in this case affected the same delicate uncertainty. however this may be, she gave her hand, after no long courtship, to sir william st. loo, captain of elizabeth's guard, and then chief butler of england--a man equally distinguished for his fine person and large possessions, but otherwise not superfluously gifted by nature. so well did the lady manage _him_, that with equal hardihood and rapacity, she contrived to have all his "fair lordships in gloucestershire and elsewhere" settled on herself and her children, to the manifest injury of st. loo's own brothers, and his daughters by a former union: and he dying not long after without any issue by her, she made good her title to his vast estates, added them to her own, and they became the inheritance of the cavendishes. but three husbands, six children, almost boundless opulence, did not yet satisfy this extraordinary woman--for extraordinary she certainly was, not more in the wit, subtlety, and unflinching steadiness of purpose with which she amassed wealth and achieved power, but in the manner in which she used both. she ruled her husband, her family, her vassals, despotically, needing little aid, suffering no interference, asking no counsel. she managed her immense estates, and the local power and political weight which her enormous possessions naturally threw into her hands, with singular capacity and decision. she farmed the lands; she collected her rents; she built; she planted; she bought and sold; she lent out money on usury; she traded in timber, coals, lead: in short, the object she had apparently proposed to herself, the aggrandisement of her children by all and any means, she pursued with a wonderful perseverance and good sense. power so consistently wielded, purposes so indefatigably followed up, and means so successfully adapted to an end, are, in a female, very striking. a slight sprinkling of the softer qualities of her sex, a little more elevation of principle, would have rendered her as respectable and admirable as she was extraordinary; but there was in this woman's mind the same "fond de vulgarité" which we see in the character of queen elizabeth, and which no height of rank, or power, or estate, could do away with. in this respect the lady of hardwicke was much inferior to that splendid creature, anne clifford, countess of dorset, pembroke, and cumberland, another masculine spirit in the female form, who had the same propensity for building castles and mansions, the same passion for power and independence, but with more true generosity and magnanimity, and a touch of poetry and genuine nobility about her which the other wanted: in short, it was all the difference between the amazon and the heroine. it is curious enough that the duke of devonshire should be the present representative of both these remarkable women. but to return: bess of hardwicke was now approaching her fortieth year; she had achieved all but nobility--the one thing yet wanting to crown her swelling fortunes. about the year (i cannot find the exact date) she was sought in marriage by george talbot, earl of shrewsbury. there is no reason to doubt what is asserted, that she had captivated the earl by her wit and her matronly beauty.[ ] he could hardly have married her from motives of interest: he was himself the richest and greatest subject in england; a fine chivalrous character, with a reputation as unstained as his rank was splendid, and his descent illustrious. he had a family by a former wife, (gertrude manners,) to inherit his titles, and _her_ estates were settled on her children by cavendish. it should seem, therefore, that mutual inclination alone could have made the match advantageous to either party; but bess of hardwicke was still bess of hardwicke. she took advantage of her power over her husband in the first days of their union. "she induced shrewsbury by entreaties or threats to sacrifice, in a measure, the fortune, interest, and happiness of himself and family to the aggrandisement of her and her family."[ ] she contrived in the first place to have a large jointure settled on herself; and she arranged a double union, by which the wealth and interests of the two great families should be amalgamated. she stipulated that her eldest daughter, mary cavendish, should marry the earl's son, lord talbot; and that his youngest daughter, grace talbot, should marry her eldest son, henry cavendish. the french have a proverb worthy of their gallantry--"_ce que femme veut, dieu veut_:" but even in the feminine gender we are sometimes reminded of another proverb equally significant--"_l'homme propose et dieu dispose_." now was bess of hardwicke queen of the peak; she had built her erie so high, it seemed to dally with the winds of heaven; her young eaglets were worthy of their dam, ready plumed to fly at fortune; she had placed the coronet of the oldest peerage in england on her own brow, she had secured the reversion of it to her daughter, and she had married a man whose character was indeed opposed to her own, but who, from his chivalrous and confiding nature was calculated to make her happy, by leaving her mistress of herself. in mary stuart, flying into england, was placed in the custody of the earl of shrewsbury, and remained under his care for sixteen years, a long period of restless misery to the unhappy earl not less than to his wretched captive. in this dangerous and odious charge was involved the sacrifice of his domestic happiness, his peace of mind, his health, and great part of his fortune, his castle was converted into a prison, his servants into guards, his porter into a turnkey, his wife into a spy, and himself into a jailor, to gratify the ever-waking jealousy of queen elizabeth.[ ] but the earl's greatest misfortune was the estrangement, and at length enmity, of his violent, high-spirited wife. she beheld the unhappy mary with a hatred for which there was little excuse, but many intelligible reasons: she saw her, not as a captive committed to her womanly mercy, but as an intruder on her rights. her haughty spirit was continually irritated by the presence of one in whom she was forced to acknowledge a superior, even in that very house and domain where she herself had been used to reign as absolute queen and mistress. the enormous expenses which this charge entailed on her household were distracting to her avarice; and, worse than all, jealousy of the youthful charms and winning manners of the queen of scots, and of the constant intercourse between her and her husband, seem at length to have driven her half frantic, and degraded her, with all her wit, and sense, and spirit, into the despicable treacherous tool of the more artful and despotic elizabeth, who knew how to turn the angry and jealous passions of the countess to her own purposes. it was not, however, all at once that matters rose to such a height: the fire smouldered for some time ere it burst forth. there is a letter preserved among the shrewsbury correspondence[ ] which the countess addressed to her husband from chatsworth, at a time when the earl was keeping guard over mary at sheffield castle. it is a most curious specimen of character. it treats chiefly of household matters, of the price and goodness of malt and hops, iron and timber, and reproaches him for not sending her money which was due to her, adding, "i see out of sight out of mind with you;" she sarcastically inquires "how his charge and _love_ doth;" she sends him "some _letyss_ (lettuces) for that he loves them," (this common sallad herb was then a rare delicacy;) and she concludes affectionately, "god send my juill helthe." the incipient jealousy betrayed in this letter soon after broke forth openly with a degree of violence towards her husband, and malignity towards his prisoner, which can hardly be believed. there is distinct evidence that shrewsbury was not only a trustworthy, but a rigorous jailor; that he detested the office forced upon him; that he often begged in the most abject terms to be released from it; and that harassed on every side by the tormenting jealousy of his wife, the unrelenting severity and mistrust of elizabeth, and the complaints of mary, he was seized with several fits of illness, and once by a mental attack, or "phrenesie," as cecil terms it, brought on by the agitation of his mind; yet the idea of resigning his office, except at the pleasure of queen elizabeth, never seems to have entered his imagination. on one occasion lady shrewsbury went so far as to accuse her husband openly of intriguing with his prisoner, in every sense of the word; and she at the same time abused mary in terms which john knox himself could not have exceeded. mary, deeply incensed, complained of this outrage: the earl also appealed to queen elizabeth, and the countess and her daughter, lady talbot, were obliged to declare upon oath, that this accusation was false, scandalous, and malicious, and that they were not the authors of it. this curious affidavit of the mother and daughter is preserved in the record office. in a letter to lord leicester, shrewsbury calls his wife "his wicked and malicious wife," and accuses her and "her imps," as he irreverently styles the whole brood of cavendishes, of conspiring to sow dissensions between him and his eldest son. these disputes being carried to elizabeth, she set herself with heartless policy to foment them in every possible way. she deemed that her safety consisted in employing one part of the earl's family as spies on the other. in some signal quarrel about the property round chatsworth, she commanded the earl to submit to his wife's pleasure: and though no "tame snake" towards his imperious lady, as st. loo and cavendish had been before him, he bowed at once to the mandate of his unfeeling sovereign--such was the despotism and such the loyalty of those days. his reply, however, speaks the bitterness of his heart. "sith that her majesty hath set down this hard sentence against me to my perpetual infamy and dishonour, that i should be ruled and overrunne by my wife, so bad and wicked a woman; yet her majesty shall see that i will obey her majesty's commandment, though no curse or plague on the earth could be more grievous to me." * * "it is too much," he adds, "to be made my wife's pensioner." poor lord shrewsbury! can one help pitying him? not the least curious part of this family history is the double dealing of the imperious countess. while employed as a spy on mary, whom she detested, she, from the natural fearlessness and frankness of her temper, not unfrequently betrayed elizabeth, whom she also detested. while in attendance on mary, she often gratified her own satirical humour, and amused her prisoner by giving her a coarse and bitter portraiture of elizabeth, her court, her favourites, her miserable temper, her vanity, and her personal defects. some report of these conversations soon reached the queen, (who is very significantly drawn in one of her portraits in a dress embroidered over with eyes and ears,) and she required from mary an account of whatever lady shrewsbury had said to her prejudice. mary, hating equally the rival who oppressed her and the domestic harpy who daily persecuted her, was nothing loath to indulge her feminine spite against the two, and sent elizabeth such a circumstantial list of the most gross and hateful imputations, (all the time politely assuring her good sister that she did not believe a word of them,) that the rage and mortification of the queen must have exceeded all bounds.[ ] she kept the letter secret; but lady shrewsbury never was suffered to appear at court after the death of mary had rendered her services superfluous. through all these scenes, the lady of hardwicke still pursued her settled purpose. her husband complained that he was "never quiet to satisfy her greedie appetite for money for purchases to set up her children." her ambition was equally insatiate, and generally successful: but in one memorable instance she overshot her mark. she contrived (unknown to her lord) to marry her favourite daughter, elizabeth cavendish, to lord lennox, the younger brother of the murdered darnley, and consequently standing in the same degree of relationship to the crown. queen elizabeth, in the extremity of her rage and consternation, ordered both the dowager lady lennox and lady shrewsbury to the tower, where the latter remained for some months; we may suppose, to the great relief of her husband. he used, however, all his interest to excuse her delinquency, and at length procured her liberation. but this was not all. elizabeth cavendish, the young lady lennox, while yet in all her bridal bloom, died in the arms of her mother, who appears to have suffered that searing, lasting grief which stern hearts sometimes feel. the only issue of this marriage was an infant daughter, that unhappy arabella stuart, who was one of the most memorable victims of jealous tyranny which our history has recorded. her very existence, from her near relationship to the throne, was a crime in the eyes of elizabeth and james i. there is no evidence that lady shrewsbury indulged in any ambitious schemes for this favourite granddaughter, "her dear jewel, arbell," as she terms her;[ ] but she did not hesitate to enforce her claims to royal blood by requiring _l._ a year from the treasury for her board and education as became the queen's kinswoman. elizabeth allowed her _l._ a year, and this pittance lady shrewsbury accepted. her rent-roll was at this time , _l._ a year, equal to at least , _l._ at the present day. the earl of shrewsbury died in , at enmity to the last moment with his wife and son; and the lady of hardwicke having survived four husbands, and seeing all her children settled and prosperous, still absolute mistress over her family, resided during the last seventeen years of her life in great state and plenty at hardwicke, her birth place. here she superintended the education of arabella stuart, who, as she grew up to womanhood, was kept by her grandmother in a state of seclusion, amounting almost to imprisonment, lest the jealousy of elizabeth should rob her of her treasure.[ ] next to the love of money and power, the chief passion of this magnificent old beldam, was building. it is a family tradition, that some prophet had foretold that she should never die as long as she was building, and she died at last, in , during a hard frost, when her labourers were obliged to suspend their work. she built chatsworth, oldcotes, and hardwicke; and fuller adds in his quaint style that she left "two sacred (besides civil) monuments of her memory; one that i hope will not be taken away, (her splendid tomb, erected by herself,[ ]) and one that i am sure cannot be taken away, being registered in the court of heaven, viz. her stately almshouses for twelve poor people at derby." of chatsworth, the hereditary palace of the dukes of devonshire, all its luxurious grandeur, all its treasures of art, it is not here "my hint to speak." it has been entirely rebuilt since the days of its founder. oldcotes was once a magnificent place. there is a tradition at hardwicke that old bess, being provoked by a splendid mansion which the suttons had lately erected within view of her windows, declared she would build a finer dwelling for the owlets, (hence owlcots or oldcotes.) she kept her word, more truly perhaps than she intended, for oldcotes has since become literally a dwelling for the owls; the chief part of it is in ruins, and the rest converted into a farmhouse. her younger daughter, frances cavendish, married sir henry pierrepoint, of holme-pierpoint, and one of the granddaughters married another pierrepoint--through one of these marriages, but i know not which, oldcotes has descended to the present earl manvers. the mansion of hardwicke was commenced about the year , and finished in . it stands about a stone's throw from the old house in which the old countess was born, and which she left standing, as if, says her biographer, she intended to construct her bed of state close by her cradle. this fine old ruin remains, grey, shattered, and open to all the winds of heaven, almost overgrown with ivy, and threatening to tumble about the ears of the bats and owls which are its sole inhabitants. one majestic room remains entire. it is called the "giant's chamber" from two colossal figures in roman armour which stand over the huge chimney-piece. this room has long been considered by architects as a perfect specimen of grand and beautiful proportion, and has been copied at chatsworth and at blenheim.[ ] it must have been in this old hall, and not in the present edifice, that mary stuart resided during her short stay at hardwicke. i am sorry to disturb the fanciful or sentimental tourists and sight-seers; but so it is, or rather, so it must have been. yet it is not surprising that the memory of mary stuart should now form the principal charm and interest of hardwicke, and that she should be in a manner the tutelary genius of the place. chatsworth has been burned and rebuilt. tutbury, sheffield castle, wingfield, fotheringay, and the old house of hardwicke, in short, every place which mary inhabited during her captivity, all lie in ruins, as if struck with a doleful curse. but hardwicke hall exists just as it stood in the reign of elizabeth. the present duke of devonshire, with excellent taste and feeling, keeps up the old costume within and without. the bed and furniture which had been used by mary, the cushions of her oratory, the tapestry wrought by her own hands, have been removed hither, and are carefully preserved. there can be no doubt of the authenticity of these relics, and there is enough surely to consecrate the whole to our imagination. moreover, we have but to go to the window and see the very spot, the very walls which once enclosed her, the very casements from which she probably gazed with a sigh over the far hills; and indulge, without one intrusive doubt, in all the romantic and fascinating, and mysterious, and sorrowful associations, which hang round the memory of mary stuart. with what different eyes may people view the same things! "we receive but what we give," says the poet; and all the light, and glory, and beauty, with which certain objects are in a manner _suffused_ to the eye of fancy, must issue from our own souls, and be reflected back to us, else 'tis all in vain. "we may not hope from outward forms to win, the passion and the life, whose fountains are within!" when gray, the poet, visited hardwicke, he fell at once into a very poet-like rapture, and did not stop to criticise pictures, and question authorities. he says in one of his letters to dr. wharton, "of all the places i have seen in my return from you, hardwicke pleased me most. one would think that mary queen of scotts was but just walked down into the park with her guard for half an hour: her gallery, her room of audience, her ante-chamber, with the very canopies, chair of state, footstool, _lit de repos_, oratory, carpets, hangings, just as she left them, a little tattered indeed, but the more venerable," &c. &c. now let us hear horace walpole, antiquarian, virtuoso, dilettante, filosofastro--but, in truth, no poet. he is, however, in general so good-natured, so amusing, and so tasteful, that i cannot conceive what put him into such a smelfungus humour when he visited hardwicke, with a cavendish too at his elbow as his cicerone! he says, "the duke sent lord john with me to hardwicke, where i was again disappointed; but i will not take relations from others; they either don't see for themselves, or can't see for me. how i had been promised that i should be charmed with hardwicke, and told that the devonshires ought to have established themselves there! never was i less charmed in my life. the house is not gothic, but of that _betweenity_ that intervened when gothic declined, and palladian was creeping in; rather, this is totally naked of either. it has vast chambers--aye, vast, such as the nobility of that time delighted in, and did not know how to furnish. the great apartment is exactly what it was when the queen of scots was kept there.[ ] her council-chamber (the council-chamber of a poor woman who had only two secretaries, a gentleman usher, an apothecary, a confessor, and three maids) is so outrageously spacious that you would take it for king david's, who thought, contrary to all modern experience, that in the multitude of counsellors there is wisdom. at the upper end is the state, with a long table, covered with a sumptuous cloth, embroidered and embossed with gold--at least what was gold; so are all the tables. round the top of the chamber runs a monstrous frieze, ten or twelve feet deep, representing a stag-hunt in miserable plastered relief.[ ] "the next is her dressing-room, hung with patchwork on black velvet; then her state bed-chamber. the bed has been rich beyond description, and now hangs in costly golden tatters; the hangings, part of which they say her majesty worked, are composed of figures as large as life, sewed and embroidered on black velvet, white satin, &c., and represent the virtues that were necessary to her, or that she was found to have--as patience, temperance,[ ] &c. the fire-screens are particular;--pieces of yellow velvet, fringed with gold, hung on a cross-bar of wood, which is fixed on the top of a single stick that rises from the foot.[ ] the only furniture which has any appearance of taste are the table and cabinets, which are of oak, richly carved." (i must observe _en passant_, that i wonder horace did not go mad about the chairs, which are exactly in the strawberry hill taste, only infinitely finer, crimson velvet, with backs six feet high, and sumptuously carved.) "there is a private chamber within, where she lay: her arms and style over the door. the arras hangs over all the doors. the gallery is sixty yards in length, covered with bad tapestry and wretched pictures of mary herself, elizabeth in a gown of sea-monsters, lord darnley, james the fifth and his queen, (curious,) and a whole history of kings of england not worth sixpence a-piece."[ ] "there is a fine bank of old oaks in the park over a lake: nothing else pleased me there." nothing else! monsieur traveller?--certes, this is one way of seeing things! yet, perhaps, if i had only visited hardwicke as a casual object of curiosity--had merely walked over the place--i had left it, like gray, with some vague impression of pleasure, or like walpole, with some flippant criticisms, according to the mood of the moment; or, at the most, i had quitted it as we generally leave show-places, with some confused recollections of state-rooms, and blue-rooms, and yellow-rooms, and storied tapestries, and nameless, or mis-named pictures, floating through the muddled brain; but it was far otherwise: i was ten days at hardwicke--ten delightful days--time enough to get it by heart; aye, and what is more, ten _nights_; and i am convinced that to feel all the interest of such a place one should sleep in it. there is much, too, in first impressions, and the circumstances under which we approached hardwicke were sufficiently striking. it was on a gusty, dark autumnal evening; and as our carriage wound slowly up the hill, we could but just discern an isolated building, standing above us on the edge of the eminence, a black mass against the darkening sky. no light was to be seen, and when we drove clattering under the old gateway, and up the paved court, the hollow echoes broke a silence which was almost awful. then we were ushered into a hall so spacious and lofty that i could not at the moment discern its bounds; but i had glimpses of huge escutcheons, and antlers of deer, and great carved human arms projecting from the walls, intended to sustain lamps or torches, but looking as if they were stretched out to clutch one. thence up a stone staircase, vast, and grand, and gloomy--leading we knew not where, and hung with pictures of we knew not what--and conducted into a chamber fitted up as a dining-room, in which the remnants of antique grandeur, the rich carved oak wainscoting, the tapestry above it, the embroidered chairs, the collossal armorial bearings above the chimney and the huge recessed windows, formed a curious contrast with the comfortable modern sofas and easy chairs, the blazing fire, and table hospitably spread in expectation of our arrival. then i was sent to repose in a room hung with rich faded tapestry. on one side of my bed i had king david dancing before the ark, and on the other, the judgment of solomon. the executioner in the latter piece, a grisly giant, seven or eight feet high, seemed to me, as the arras stirred with the wind, to wave his sword, and looked as if he were going to eat up the poor child, which he flourished by one leg; and for some time i lay awake, unable to take my eyes from the figure. at length fatigue overcame this unpleasant fascination, and i fell asleep. the next morning i began to ramble about, and so day after day, till every stately chamber, every haunted nook, every secret door, curtained with heavy arras, and every winding stair, became familiar to me. what a passion our ancestors must have had for space and light! and what an ignorance of comfort! here are no ottomans of eider down, no spring cushions, no "boudoirs etroits, où l'on ne boude point," no "demijour de rendezvous;" but what vast chambers! what interminable galleries! what huge windows pouring in floods of sunshine! what great carved oak-chests, such as iachimo hid himself in! now stuffed full of rich tattered hangings, tarnished gold fringes, and remnants of embroidered quilts! what acres--not yards--of tapestries, once of "sky-tinctured woof," now faded and moth-eaten! what massy chairs and immovable tables! what heaps of portraits, the men looking so grim and magnificent, and the women so formal and faded! before i left the place i had them all by heart; there was not one among them who would not have bowed or curtsied to me out of their frames. but there were three rooms in which i especially delighted, and passed most of my time. the first was the council-chamber described by walpole: it is sixty-five feet in length, by thirty-three in width, and twenty-six feet high. rich tapestry, representing the story of ulysses, runs round the room to the height of fifteen or sixteen feet, and above it the stag-hunt in ugly relief. on one side of this room there is a spacious recess, at least eighteen or twenty feet square; and across this, from side to side, to divide it from the body of the room, was suspended a magnificent piece of tapestry, (real gobelin's,) of the time of louis quatorze, still fresh and even vivid in tint, which from its weight hung in immense wavy folds; above it we could just discern the canopy of a lofty state-bed, with nodding ostrich plumes, which had been placed there out of the way. the effect of the whole, as i have seen it, when the red western light streamed through the enormous windows, was, in its shadowy beauty and depth of colour, that of a "realized rembrandt"--if, indeed, even rembrandt ever painted any thing at once so elegant, so fanciful, so gorgeous, and so gloomy. from this chamber, by a folding-door, beautifully inlaid with ebony, but opening with a common latch, we pass into the library, as it is called. here the duke of devonshire generally sits when he visits hardwicke, perhaps on account of the glorious prospect from the windows. it contains a grand piano, a sofa, and a range of book-shelves, on which i found some curious old books. here i used to sit and read the voluminous works of that dear, half-mad, absurd, but clever and good-natured duchess of newcastle,[ ] and yawn and laugh alternately; or pore over guillim on heraldry;--fit studies for the place! in this room are some good pictures, particularly the portrait of lady anne boyle, daughter of the first earl of burlington, the lady sandwich of charles the second's time. this is, without exception, the finest specimen of sir peter lely i ever saw--so unlike the usual style of his half-dressed, leering women--so full of pensive grace and simplicity--the hands and arms so exquisitely drawn, and the colouring so rich and so tender, that i was at once surprised and enchanted. there is also a remarkably fine picture of a youth with a monkey on his shoulder, said to be jeffrey hudson, (queen henrietta's celebrated dwarf,) and painted by vandyke. i doubt both. over the chimney of this room there is a piece of sculptured bas-relief, in derbyshire marble, representing mount parnassus, with apollo and the muses; in one corner the arms of queen elizabeth, and in the other her cypher, e. r., and the royal crown. i could neither learn the meaning of this nor the name of the artist. could it have been a gift from queen elizabeth? there is (i think in the next room) another piece of sculpture representing the marriage of tobias; and i remember a third, representing a group of charity. the workmanship of all these is surprisingly good for the time, and some of the figures very graceful. i am surprised that they escaped the notice of horace walpole, in his remarks on the decorations of hardwicke.[ ] richard stephens, a flemish sculptor and painter, and valerio vicentino, an italian carver in precious stones, were both employed by the munificent cavendishes of that time; and these pieces of sculpture were probably the work of one of these artists. when tired of turning over the old books, a door concealed behind the arras admitted me at once into the great gallery--my favourite haunt and daily promenade. it is near one hundred and eighty feet in length, lighted along one side by a range of stupendous windows, which project outwards from so many angular recesses. in the centre pier is a throne, or couch of state, on a raised platform, under a canopy of crimson and gold, surmounted by plumes of ostrich feathers. the walls are partly tapestried, and covered with some hundreds of family pictures; none indeed of any superlative merit--none that emulate within a thousand degrees the matchless vandykes and glorious titians of devonshire house; but among many that are positively bad, and more that are lamentably mediocre as works of art, there are several of great interest. at each end of this gallery is a door, and, according to the tradition of the place, every night, at the witching hour of twelve, queen elizabeth enters at one door, and mary of scotland at the other; they advance to the centre, curtsey profoundly, then sit down together under the canopy and converse amicably,--till the crowing of the cock breaks up the conference, and sends the two majesties back to their respective hiding-places. somebody who was asked if he had ever seen a ghost? replied, gravely, "no; but i was once _very near_ seeing one!" in the same manner i was once _very near_ being a witness to one of these ghostly confabs. late one evening, having left my sketch-book in the gallery, i went to seek it. i made my way up the great stone staircase with considerable intrepidity, passed through one end of the council-chamber without casting a glance through the palpable obscure, the feeble ray of my wax-light just spreading about a yard around me, and lifting aside the tapestry door, stepped into the gallery. just as the heavy arras fell behind me, with a dull echoing sound, a sudden gust of wind came rushing by, and extinguished my taper. angels and ministers of grace defend us!--not that i felt afraid--o no! but just a little what the scotch call "eerie." a thrill, not altogether unpleasant, came over me: the visionary turn of mind which once united me in fancy "with the world unseen," had long been sobered and reasoned away. i heard no "viewless paces of the dead," nor "airy skirts unseen that rustled by;" but what i did see and hear was enough. the wind whispering and moaning along the tapestried walls, and every now and then rattling twenty or thirty windows at once, with such a crash!--and the pictures around just sufficiently perceptible in the faint light to make me fancy them staring at me. then immediately behind me was the very recess, or rather abyss, where queen elizabeth was at that moment settling her farthingale, to sally out upon me; and before me, but lost in blackest gloom, the spectral door, where mary--not that i should have minded encountering poor mary, provided always that she had worn her own beautiful head where heaven placed it, and not carried it, as bertrand de born carried _his_ "a guisa di lanterna."[ ] as to what followed, it is a secret. suffice it that i found myself safe by the fireside in my bedroom, without any very distinct recollection of how i got there. of all the scenes in which to moralize and meditate, a picture gallery is to me the most impressive. with the most intense feeling of the beauty of painting, i cannot help thinking with dr. johnson, that as far as regards portraits, their chief excellence and value consist in the likeness and the authenticity,[ ] and not in the merit of the execution. when we can associate a story or a sentiment with every face and form, they almost live to us--they do in a manner speak to us. there is speculation in those fixed eyes--there is eloquence in those mute lips--and, o! what tales they tell! one of the first pictures which caught my attention as i entered the gallery was a small head of arabella stuart, when an infant. the painting is poor enough: it is a little round rosy face in a child's cap, and she holds an embroidered doll in her hand. who could look on this picture, and not glance forward through succeeding years, and see the pretty playful infant transformed into the impassioned woman, writing to her husband--"in sickness, and in despair, wheresoever thou art, or howsoever i be, it sufficeth me always that thou art mine!" arabella stewart was not clever; but not heloise, nor corinne, nor madlle. de l'espinasse ever penned such a dear little morsel of touching eloquence--so full of all a woman's tenderness! her stern grandmother, the lady and foundress of hardwicke, hangs near. there are three pictures of her: all the faces have an expression of sense and acuteness, but none of them the beauty which is attributed to her. there are also two of her husbands, cavendish and shrewsbury. the former a grave, intelligent head; the latter very striking from the lofty furrowed brow, the ample beard, and regular but care-worn features. a little farther on we find his son gilbert, seventh earl of shrewsbury, and mary cavendish, wife of the latter and daughter of bess of hardwicke. she resembled her mother in features as in character. the expression is determined, intelligent, and rather cunning. of her haughty and almost fierce temper, a curious instance is recorded. she had quarrelled with her neighbours, the stanhopes, and not being able to defy them with sword and buckler, she sent one of her gentlemen, properly attended, with a message to sir thomas stanhope, to be delivered in presence of witnesses, in these words--"my lady hath commanded me to say thus much to you: that though you be more wretched, vile, and miserable than any creature living, and for your wickedness become more ugly in shape than the vilest toad in the world; and one to whom none of any reputation would vouchsafe to send any message; yet she hath thought good to send thus much to you, that she be contented you should live, (and doth noways wish your death,) but to this end: that all the plagues and miseries that may befall any man, may light on such a caitiff as you are," &c.; (and then a few anathemas, yet more energetic, not fit to be transcribed by "pen polite," but ending with _hell-fire_.) "with many other opprobrious and hateful words which could not be remembered, because the bearer would deliver it but once, as he said he was commanded; but said, if he had failed in any thing, it was in speaking it more mildly, and not in terms of such disdain as he was commanded." we are not told whether the gallantry of stanhope suffered him to throw the herald out of the window, who brought him this gentle missive. as for the termagant countess, his adversary, she was afterwards imprisoned in the tower for upwards of two years, on account of lady arabella stuart's stolen match with lord seymour. she ought assuredly to have "brought forth men-children only;" but she left no son. her three daughters married the earls of pembroke, of arundel, and of kent. the portraits of james v. of scotland and his queen, mary of guise, are extremely curious. there is something ideal and elegant about the head of james v.--the look we might expect to find in a man who died from wounded feeling. his more unhappy daughter, poor mary, hangs near--a full length in a mourning habit, with a white cap, (of her own peculiar fashion,) and a veil of white gauze. this, i believe, is the celebrated picture so often copied and engraved. it is dated , the thirty-sixth of her age, and the tenth of her captivity. the figure is elegant, and the face pensive and sweet.[ ] beside her, in strong contrast, hangs elizabeth, in a most preposterous farthingale, and a superabundance of all her usual absurdities and enormities of dress. the petticoat is embroidered over with snakes, crocodiles, and all manner of creeping things. we feel almost inclined to ask whether the artist could possibly have intended them as emblems, like the eyes and ears in her picture at hatfield; but it may have been one of the three thousand gowns, in which spenser's gloriana, raleigh's venus, loved to array her old wrinkled, crooked carcase. katherine of arragon is here--a small head in a hood: the face not only harsh, as in all her pictures, but vulgar, a characteristic i never saw in any other. there is that peculiar expression round the mouth, which might be called either decision or obstinacy. and here too is the famous lucy harrington, countess of bedford, the friend and patroness of ben jonson, looking sentimental in a widow's dress, with a white pocket handkerchief. there is character enough in the countenance to make us turn with pleasure to ben jonson's exquisite eulogium on her. "i meant she should be courteous, facile, sweet, hating that solemn vice of greatness, _pride_: i meant each softest virtue there should meet, fit in that softer bosom to reside. only a learned and a manly soul i purposed her; that should with even powers the rock, the spindle, and the sheers controul of destiny, and spin her own free hours!" farther on is another more celebrated woman, christian bruce, the second countess of devonshire, so distinguished in the reigns of charles i. and charles ii. she had all the good qualities of bess of hardwicke: her sense, her firmness, her talents for business, her magnificent and independent spirit, and none of her faults. she was as feminine as she was generous and high-minded; fond of literature, and a patroness of poets and learned men:--altogether a noble creature. she was the mother of that lovely lady rich, "the wise, the fair, the virtuous, and the young,"[ ] whose picture by vandyke is at devonshire-house, and there are two pictures at hardwicke of her handsome, gallant, and accomplished son, charles cavendish, who was killed at the battle of gainsborough. many fair eyes almost wept themselves blind for his loss, and his mother never recovered the "sore heart-break of his death." there are several pictures of her grandson, the first duke of devonshire--the patriot, the statesman, the munificent patron of letters, the poet, the man of gallantry, and, to crown all, the handsomest man of his day. he was one of the leaders in the revolution of --for be it remembered that the cavendishes, from generation to generation, have ennobled their nobility by their love of liberty, as well as their love of literature and the arts. one picture of this duke on horseback, _en grand costume à la louis quatorze_, is so embroidered and bewigged, so plumed, and booted, and spurred, that he is scarcely to be discerned through his accoutrements. a cavalier of those days in full dress must have been a ponderous concern; but then the ladies were as formidably vast and aspiring. the petticoats at this time were so discursive, and the head-dresses so ambitious, that i think it must have been to save in canvass what they expended in satin or brocade, that so many of the pretty women of that day were painted _en bergère_. apropos to the first duke of devonshire: i cannot help remarking the resemblance of the present duke to his illustrious ancestor, as well as to several other portraits, and particularly to a very distant relative--the first countess of burlington, who was, i believe, the great-grandmother of his grace's grandmother;--in both these instances the likeness is so striking as to be recognized at once, and not without a smiling exclamation of surprise. another interesting picture is that of rachael russell, the second duchess of devonshire, daughter of that heroine and saint, lady russell: the face is very beautiful, and the air elegant and high-bred--with rather a pouting expression in the full red lips. here is also the third duchess, miss hoskins, a great city heiress. the painter, i suspect, has flattered her, for she had not in her day the reputation of beauty. when i looked at this picture, so full of delicate, and youthful, and smiling loveliness, i could not help recurring to a passage in horace walpole's letters, in which he alludes to this sylph-like being, as the "ancient grace," and congratulates himself on finding her in good-humour. but of all the female portraits, the one which struck me most was that of lady charlotte boyle, the young marchioness of hartington, in a masquerade habit of purple satin, embroidered with silver; a fanciful little cap and feathers, thrown on one side, and the dark hair escaping in luxuriant tresses; she holds a mask in her hand, which she has just taken off, and looks round upon us in all the consciousness of happy and high-born loveliness. she was the daughter and heiress of richard boyle, the last earl of burlington and cork, and baroness clifford in her own right. the merits of the cavendishes were their own, but their riches and power, in several instances, were brought into the family by a softer influence. through her, i believe, the vast estates of the boyles and cliffords in ireland and the north of england, including chiswick and bolton abbey, have descended to her grandson, the present duke.[ ] there are several pictures of her here--one playing on the harpsichord, and another, small and very elegant, in which she is mounted on a spirited horse. there are two heads of her in crayons, by her mother, lady burlington,[ ] ill-executed, but said to be like her. and another picture, representing her and her beautiful but ill-fated sister, lady dorothy, who was married very young to lord euston, and died six months afterwards, in consequence of the brutal treatment of her husband.[ ] all the pictures of lady hartington have the same marked character of pride, intellect, vivacity, and loveliness. but short was her gay and splendid career! she died of a decline in the sixth year of her marriage, at the age of four-and-twenty. here is also her father, lord burlington, celebrated by pope, (who has dedicated to him the second of his epistles "on the use of riches,") and styled by walpole, "the apollo of the arts," which he not only patronised, but studied and cultivated; his enthusiasm for architecture was such, that he not only designed and executed buildings for himself, (the villa at chiswick, for example,) but contributed great sums to public works; and at his own expense published an edition of the designs of palladio and of inigo jones. in one picture of lord burlington there is a head of his idol, inigo jones, in the background. there is also a good picture of robert boyle, the philosopher, a spare, acute, contemplative, interesting face, in which there is as much sensibility as thought. he is said to have died of grief for the loss of his favourite sister, lady ranelagh; and when we recollect who and what _she_ was--the sole friend of his solitary heart--the partner of his studies, and with qualities which rendered her the object of milton's enthusiastic admiration, and almost tender regard, we scarce think less of her brother's philosophy, that it afforded him no consolation for the loss of _such_ a sister. on the other side hangs another philosopher, thomas hobbes, of malmsbury, whose bold speculations in politics and metaphysics, and the odium they drew on him, rendered his whole life one continued warfare with established prejudices and opinions. he was tutor in the family of the first earl of devonshire, in --remained constantly attached to the house of cavendish--and never lost their countenance and patronage in the midst of all the calumnies heaped upon him. he died at hardwicke under the protection of the first duke of devonshire, in . this curious portrait represents him at the age of ninety-two. the picture is not good as a picture, but striking from the evident truth of the expression--uniting the last lingering gleam of thought with the withered, wrinkled, and almost ghastly decrepitude of extreme age. it has, i believe, been engraved by hollar. i looked round for henry cavendish, the great chemist and natural philosopher--another bright ornament of a family every way ennobled--but there is no portrait of him at hardwicke. i was also disappointed not to find the "limned effigy," as she would call it, of my dear margaret of newcastle. there are plenty of kings and queens, truly not worth "sixpence a-piece," as walpole observes; but there is one picture i must not forget--that of the brave and accomplished earl of derby, who was beheaded at bolton-le-moor, the husband of the heroic "lady of lathom," who figures in peveril of the peak. the head has a grand melancholy expression, and i should suppose it to be a copy from vandyke. besides these, were many others calculated to awaken in the thoughtful mind both sweet and bitter fancies. how often have i walked up and down this noble gallery lost in "commiserating reveries" on the vicissitudes of departed grandeur!--on the nothingness of all that life could give!--on the fate of youthful beauties who lived to be broken-hearted, grow old, and die!--on heroes that once walked the earth in the blaze of their fame, now gone down to dust, and an endless darkness!--on bright faces, "petries de lis et de roses," since time-wrinkled!--on noble forms since mangled in the battle-field!--on high-born heads that fell beneath the axe of the executioner!--o ye starred and ribboned! ye jewelled and embroidered! ye wise, rich, great, noble, brave, and beautiful, of all your loves and smiles, your graces and excellencies, your deeds and honours--does then a "painted board circumscribe all?" althorpe. a fragment. it was on such a day as i have seen in italy in the month of december, but which, in our chill climate, seemed so unseasonably, so ominously beautiful, that it was like the hectic loveliness brightening the eyes and flushing the cheek of consumption,--that i found myself in the domains of althorpe. autumn, dying in the lap of winter, looked out with one bright parting smile;--the soft air breathed of summer; the withered leaves, heaped on the path, told a different tale. the slant, pale sun shone out with all heaven to himself; not a cloud was there, not a breeze to stir the leafless woods--those venerable woods, which evelyn loved and commemorated:[ ] the fine majestic old oaks, scattered over the park, tossed their huge bare arms against the blue sky; a thin hoar frost, dissolving as the sun rose higher, left the lawns and hills sparkling and glancing in its ray; now and then a hare raced across the open glade-- "and with her feet she from the plashy earth raises a mist, which glittering in the sun, runs with her all the way, wherever she doth run." nothing disturbed the serene stillness except a pheasant whirring from a neighbouring thicket, or at intervals the belling of the deer--a sound so peculiar, and so fitted to the scene, that i sympathized in the taste of one of the noble progenitors of the spencers, who had built a hunting-lodge in a sequestered spot, that he might hear "the harte bell." this was a day, an hour, a scene, with all its associations, its quietness and beauty, "felt in the blood, and felt along the heart." all worldly cares and pains were laid asleep; while memory, fancy, and feeling waked. althorpe does not frown upon us in the gloom of remote antiquity; it has not the warlike glories of some of the baronial residences of our old nobility; it is not built like a watch-tower on a hill, to lord it over feudal vassals; it is not bristled with battlements and turrets. it stands in a valley, with the gradual hills undulating round it, clothed with rich woods. it has altogether a look of compactness and comfort, without pretension, which, with the pastoral beauty of the landscape, and low situation, recall the ancient vocation of the family, whose grandeur was first founded, like that of the patriarchs of old, on the multitude of their flocks and herds.[ ] it was in the reign of henry the eighth that althorpe became the principal seat of the spencers, and no place of the same date can boast so many delightful, romantic, and historical associations. there is spenser the poet, "high-priest of all the muses' mysteries," who modestly claimed, as an honour, his relationship to those spencers who now, with a just pride, boast of _him_, and deem his faery queen "the brightest jewel in their coronet;" and the beautiful alice spencer, countess of derby, who was celebrated in early youth by her poet-cousin, and for whom milton, in her old age, wrote his "arcades." at althorpe, in , the queen and son of james the first were, on their arrival in england, nobly entertained with a masque, written for the occasion by ben jonson, in which the young ladies and nobles of the country enacted nymphs and fairies, satyrs and hunters, and danced to the sound of "excellent soft music," their scenery the natural woods, their stage the green lawn, their canopy the summer sky. what poetical picturesque hospitality! in these days it would have been a dinner, with french cooks and confectioners express from london to dress it. here lived waller's famous sacharissa, the first lady sunderland--so beautiful and good, so interesting in herself, she needed not his wit nor his poetry to enshrine her. here she parted from her young husband,[ ] when he left her to join the king in the field; and here, a few months after, she received the news of his death in the battle of newbury, and saw her happiness wrecked at the age of three-and-twenty. here plotted her distinguished son, that proteus of politics, the second lord sunderland. charles the first was playing at bowls on the green at althorpe, when colonel joyce's detachment surprised him, and carried him off to imprisonment and to death. here the excellent and accomplished evelyn used to meditate in the "noble gallerie," and in the "ample gardens," of which he has left us an admiring and admirable description, which would be as suitable today as it was a hundred and fifty years ago, with the single exception of the great proprietor, deservedly far more honoured in this generation than was his apostate time-serving ancestor, the lord sunderland of evelyn's day.[ ] when the spencers were divided, the eldest branch of the family becoming dukes of marlborough and the youngest earls spencer--if the former inherited glory, blenheim, and poverty--to the latter have belonged more true and more substantial distinctions: for the last three generations the spencers have been remarked for talents, for benevolence, for constancy, for love of literature, and patronage of the fine arts. the house retains the form described by evelyn--that of a half h: a slight irregularity is caused by the new gothic room, built by the present earl, to contain part of his magnificent library, which, like the statue in the castle of otranto, had grown "too big for what contained it." we entered by a central door the large and lofty hall, or vestibule, hung round with pictures of fox-chases and those who figured in them, famous hunters, quadruped and biped, all as large as life, spread over as much canvass as would make a mainsail for a man-of-war. these huge perpetrations are of the time of jack spencer, a noted nimrod in his day; and are very fine, as we were told, but they did not interest me. i had caught a glimpse of the superb staircase, hung round with pictures above and below, and not the less interesting as having been erected by sacharissa herself during the few years she was mistress of althorpe. a face looked at us from over an opposite door, which there was no resisting. does the reader remember horace walpole's pleasant description of a party of _seers_ posting through the apartments of a show-place? "they come; ask what such a room is called?--write it down; admire a lobster or cabbage in a dutch market piece; dispute whether the last room was green or purple; and then hurry to the inn, for fear the fish should be over-dressed."[ ] we were not such a party; but with imaginations ready primed to take fire, and memories enriched with all the associations the place could suggest, to us every portrait was a history. the orthodox style of seeing the house is to turn to the left, and view the ground-floor apartments first; but the face i have mentioned seemed to beckon me straight-forward, and i could not choose but obey the invitation: it was that of lady bridgewater, the loveliest of the four lovely daughters of the duke of marlborough: she had the misfortune to be painted by jervas, and the good fortune to be celebrated by pope as the "tender sister, daughter, friend, and wife;" and again-- "thence beauty, waking, all her forms supplies-- an angel's sweetness--or bridgewater's eyes." jervas was supposed to have been presumptuously and desperately in love with this beautiful woman, who died at the age of five-and-twenty: hence pope has taken the liberty--by a poetical licence, no doubt--to call her, in his epistle to jervas, "_thy_ bridgewater." two of her fair sisters, the duchess of montagu and lady godolphin, hung near her; and above, her fairer sister, lady sunderland. ascending the magnificent staircase, a hundred faces look down upon us, in a hundred different varieties of expression, in a hundred different costumes. here are queen anne and sarah duchess of marlborough placed amicably side by side, as in the days of their romantic friendship, when they conversed and corresponded as mrs. morley and mrs. freeman: the beauty, the intellect, the spirit, are all on the side of the imperious duchess; the poor queen looks like what she was, a good-natured fool. on the left is the cunning abigail, who supplanted the duchess in the favour of queen anne--mrs. masham. proceeding along the gallery, we are met by the portrait of that angel-devil, lady shrewsbury,[ ] whose exquisite beauty fascinates at once and shocks the eye like the gorgeous colours of an adder. i believe the story of her holding the duke of buckingham's horse while he shot her husband in a duel, has been disputed; but her attempt to assassinate killegrew, while she sat by in her carriage,[ ] is too true. so far had her depravities unsexed her! ----"lorsque la vertu, avec peine abjurée, nous fait voir une femme à ses fureurs livrée, s'irritant par l'effort que ce pas a couté, son âme avec plus d'art a plus de cruauté." she was even less famous for the number of her lovers, than the catastrophes of which she was the cause. "had ever nymph such reason to be glad? two in a duel fell, and one ran mad." not two, but half a dozen fell in duels; and if her lovers "ran mad," it was in despite, not in despair. lady shrewsbury is past jesting or satire; and after a first involuntary pause of admiration before her matchless beauty, we turn away with horror. for the rest of the portraits on this vast staircase, it would take a volume to give a _catalogue raisonnée_ of them. we pass, then, into a corridor hung with two large and very mediocre landscapes, representing tivoli and terni. any attempt, even the best, to paint a cataract _must_ be abortive. how render to the fancy the two grandest of its features--sound and motion? the thunder and the tumult of the headlong waters? we will pass on to the gallery, and lose ourselves in its enchantments. where shall we begin?--any where. throw away the catalogue: all are old acquaintances. we are tempted to speak to them, and they look as if they could curtsey to us. the very walls breathe around us. what vandykes--what lelys--what sir joshuas! what a congregation of all that is beauteous and noble!--what spencers, sydneys, digbys, russells, cavendishes, and churchills!--o what a scene to moralize, to philosophize, to sentimentalize in!--what histories in those eyes, that look, yet see not!--what sermons on those lips, that all but speak; i would rather reflect in a picture-gallery, than elegize in a churchyard. the "poca polvere che nulla sente," can only tell us we must die; these, with a more useful and deep-felt morality, tell us how to live. yet i cannot say i felt thus pensive and serious the first time i looked round the gallery at althorpe. curiosity, excitement, interest, admiration--a crowd of quick successive images and recollections fleeting across the memory--left me no time to think. i remember being startled, the moment i entered, by a most extraordinary picture,--the second prince of orange, and his preceptor katts, by flinck. the eyes of the latter are really shockingly alive; they stare out of the canvass, and glitter and fascinate like those of a serpent. if i had been a roman catholic, i should have crossed myself, as i looked at them, to shield me from their evil and supernatural expression.[ ] the picture of the two sforzas, maximilian and his brother francis, by albert durer, is quite a curiosity; and so is another, by holbein, near it, containing the portraits of henry the eighth, his daughter mary, and his jester, will somers,--all full of individuality and truth. the expression in mary's face, at once saturnine, discontented and vulgar, is especially full of character. these last three pictures are curious and valuable as specimens of art; but they are not pleasing. we turn to the matchless vandykes, at once admirable as paintings, and yet more interesting as portraits. a full-length of his master and friend, rubens, dressed in black, is magnificent; the attitude particularly graceful. near the centre of the gallery is the charming full-length of queen henrietta maria, a well-known and celebrated picture. she is dressed in white satin, and stands near a table on which is a vase of white roses, and, more in the shade, her regal crown. nothing can be in finer taste than the contrast between the rich, various, but subdued colours of the carpet and background, and the delicate, and harmonious, and brilliant tints which throw out the figure. none of the pictures i had hitherto seen of henrietta, either in the king's private collection, or at windsor, do justice to the sparkling grace of her figure, or the vivacity and beauty of her eyes, so celebrated by all the contemporary poets. waller, for instance:-- "could nature then no private woman grace, whom we might dare to love, with such a face, such a complexion, and so radiant eyes, such lovely motion, and such sharp replies?" davenant styles her, very beautifully, "the rich-eyed darling of a monarch's breast." lord holland, in the description he sent from paris, dwells on the charm of her eyes, her smile, and her graceful figure, though he admits her to be rather _petite_; and if the poet and the courtier be distrusted, we have the authority of the puritanic sir symond d'ewes, who allows the influence of her "excellent and sparkling black eyes." henrietta could be very seductive, and had all the french grace of manner; but, as is well known, she could play the virago, "and cast such a scowl, as frightened all the lords and ladies in waiting." too much importance is attached to her character and her influence over her husband, in the histories of that time. she was a fascinating, but a superficial and volatile frenchwoman. with all her feminine love of sway, she had not sufficient energy to govern; and with all her disposition to intrigue, she never had discretion enough to keep her own or the king's secrets. when she rushed through a storm of bullets to save a favourite lap-dog; or when, amid the shrieks and entreaties of her terrified attendants, she commanded the captain of her vessel to "blow up the ship rather than strike to the parliamentarian,"--it was more the spirit and wilfulness of a woman, who, with all her faults, had the blood of henri quatre in her veins, than the mental energy and resolute fortitude of a heroine. near her hangs her daughter, who inherited her grace, her beauty, her petulance,--the unhappy henriette d'orleans,[ ] fair, radiant, and lively, with a profusion of beautiful hair; it is impossible to look from the mother to the daughter, without remembering the scene in retz's memoirs, when the queen said to him, in excuse for her daughter's absence, "my poor henrietta is obliged to lie in bed, for i have no wood to make a fire for her--et la pauvre enfant était transie de froid." another picture by vandyke hangs at the top of the room, one of the grandest and most spirited of his productions. it represents william, the first duke of bedford, the father of lord william russell, when young, and his brother-in-law, the famous (and infamous) digby, earl of bristol. how admirably vandyke has caught the characters of the two men!--the fine commanding form of the duke, as he steps forward, the frank, open countenance, expressive of all that is good and noble, speak him what he was--not less than that of digby, which, though eminently handsome, has not one elevated or amiable trait in the countenance; the drapery, background, and more especially the hands, are magnificently painted. on one side of this superb picture, hangs the present earl spencer when a youth; and on the other, his sister, georgiana duchess of devonshire, at the age of eighteen, looking all life and high-born loveliness, and reminding one of coleridge's beautiful lines to her:-- "light as a dream your days their circlets ran from all that teaches brotherhood to man, far, far removed! from want, from grief, from fear! obedient music lull'd your infant ear; obedient praises soothed your infant heart; emblazonments and old ancestral crests, with many a bright obtrusive form of art, detain'd your eye from nature. stately vests, that veiling strove to deck your charms divine, rich viands and the pleasurable wine, were yours unearn'd by toil."---- and he thus beautifully alludes to her maternal character; for this accomplished woman set the example to the highest ranks, of nursing her own children:-- "you were a mother! at your bosom fed the babes that loved you. you, with laughing eye, each twilight thought, each nascent feeling read, which you yourself created." alas, that such a beginning should have such an end! both these are whole-lengths, by sir joshua reynolds: the middle tints are a little flown, else they were perfect; they suffer by being hung near the glowing yet mellowed tints of vandyke. we have here a whole bevy of the heroines of de grammont, delightful to those who have what walpole used to call the "de grammont madness" upon them. here is that beautiful, audacious termagant, castlemaine, very like her picture at windsor, and with the same characteristic bit of storm gleaming in the background.--lady denham,[ ] the wife of the poet, sir john denham, and niece of that lord bristol who figures in vandyke's picture above mentioned--a lovely creature, and a sweet picture.--louise de querouaille, duchess of portsmouth, who so long ruled the heart and councils of charles the second, in lely's finest style; the face has a look of blooming innocence, soon exchanged for coarseness and arrogance.--the indolent, alluring middleton, looking from under her sleepy eyelids, "trop coquette pour rebuter personne."--"la belle hamilton," the lovely prize of the volatile de grammont; very like her portrait at windsor, with the same finely formed bust and compressed ruby lips, but with an expression more vivacious and saucy, and less elevated.--two portraits of nell gwyn, with the fair brown air and small bright eyes they ought to have; _au reste_, with such prim, sanctified mouths, and dressed with such elaborate decency, that instead of reminding us of the "parole sciolte d'ogni freno, risi, vezzi, giuochi"--they are more like beck marshall, the puritan's daughter, on her good behaviour.[ ] here is that extraordinary woman hortense mancini, duchess of mazarin, the fame of whose beauty and gallantries filled all europe, and once the intended wife of charles the second, though she afterwards intrigued in vain for the less (or more) eligible post of _maitresse en titre_. what an extraordinary, wild, perverted, good-for-nothing, yet interesting set of women, were those four mancini sisters! all victims, more or less, to the pride, policy, or avarice, of their cardinal uncle; all gifted by nature with the fervid italian blood and the plotting italian brain; all really _aventuriéres_, while they figured as duchesses and princesses. they wore their coronets and ermine as strolling players wear their robes of state--with a sort of picturesque awkwardness--and they proved rather too scanty to cover a multitude of sins. this head of hortense mancini, as cleopatra dissolving the pearl, is the most spirited, but the least beautiful portrait i have seen of her. an appropriate pendant on the opposite side is her lover, philosopher, and eulogist, the witty st. evremond--grammont's "caton de normandie;" but instead of looking like a good-natured epicurean, a man "who thought as he liked, and liked what he thought,"[ ] his nose is here wrinkled up into an expression of the most supercilious scorn, adding to his native ugliness.[ ] both these are by kneller. farther on, is another of charles's beauties, whose _sagesse_ has never been disputed--elizabeth wriothesley, countess of northumberland, the sister of that half saint, half heroine, and _all_ woman--lady russell. there is also a lovely picture of that magnificent brunette, miss bagot. "elle avait," says hamilton, "ce teint rembruni qui plait tant quand il plait." she married berkeley lord falmouth, a man who, though unprincipled, seems to have loved her; at least, was not long enough her husband to forget to be her lover: he was killed, shortly after his marriage, in the battle of southwold-bay. this is assuredly one of the most splendid pictures lely ever painted; and it is, besides, full of character and interest. she holds a cannon-ball in her lap, (only an airy emblematical cannon-ball, for she poises it like a feather,) and the countenance is touched with a sweet expression of melancholy: hence it is plain that she sat for it soon after the death of her first husband, and before her marriage with the witty earl of dorset.--near her hangs another fair piece of witchcraft, "la belle jennings," who in her day played with hearts as if they had been billiard balls; and no wonder, considering what _things_ she had to deal with:[ ] there was a great difference between her vivacity and that of her vivacious sister, the duchess of marlborough.--old sarah hangs near her. one would think that kneller, in spite, had watched the moment to take a characteristic likeness, and catch, not the cynthia, but the fury of the minute; as for instance, when she cut off her luxuriant tresses, so worshipped by her husband, and flung them in his face; for so she tosses back her disdainful head, and curls her lip like an insolent, pouting, spoiled, grown-up baby. the life of this woman is as fine a lesson on the emptiness of all worldly advantages, boundless wealth, power, fame, beauty, wit, as ever was set forth by moralist or divine. "by spirit robb'd of power--by warmth, of friends-- by wealth, of followers! without one distress, sick of herself through very selfishness."[ ] and yet i suspect that the duchess of marlborough has never met with justice. history knows her only as marlborough's wife, an intriguing dame d'honneur, and a cast-off favourite. vituperated by swift, satirized by pope, ridiculed by walpole--what angel could have stood such bedaubing, and from such pens? "o she has fallen into a pit of ink!" but glorious talents she had, strength of mind, generosity, the power to feel and inspire the strongest attachment,--and all these qualities were degraded, or rendered useless, by _temper_! her avarice was not the love of money for its own sake, but the love of power; and her bitter contempt for "knaves and fools" may be excused, if not justified. imagine such a woman as the duchess of marlborough out-faced, out-plotted by that crowned cypher, that sceptred commonplace, queen anne! it should seem that the constant habit of being forced to serve, outwardly, where she really ruled,--the consciousness of her own brilliant and powerful faculties brought into immediate hourly comparison with the confined trifling understanding of her mistress, a disdain of her own forced hypocrisy, and a perception of the heartless baseness of the courtiers around her, disgusting to a mind naturally high-toned, produced at length that extreme of bitterness and insolence which made her so often "an embodied storm." she was always a termagant--but of a very different description from the vulgar castlemaine. though the picture of colonel russell, by dobson, is really fine as a portrait, the recollection of the scene between him and miss hamilton[ ]--his love of dancing, to prove he was not old and asthmatical,--and his attachment to his "_chapeau pointu_," make it impossible to look at him without a smile--but a good-humoured smile, such as his lovely mistress gave him when she rejected him with so much politeness.--arabella churchill, the sister of the great duke of marlborough, and mistress of the duke of york, has been better treated by the painter than by hamilton; instead of "la grande créature, pale et decharnée," she appears here a very lovely woman. but enough of these equivocal ladies. no--before we leave them, there are yet two to be noticed, more equivocal, more interesting, and more extraordinary than all the rest put together--bianca di capello, who, from a washerwoman, became grand duchess of florence, with less beauty than i should have expected, but as much _countenance_; and the beautiful, but appalling picture of venitia digby, painted after she was dead, by vandyke: she was found one morning sitting up in her bed, leaning her head on her hand, and lifeless; and thus she is painted. notwithstanding the ease and grace of the attitude, and the delicacy of the features, there is no mistaking this for slumber: a heavier hand has pressed upon those eyelids, which will never more open to the light: there is a leaden lifelessness about them, too shockingly true and real-- "it thrills us with mortality, and curdles to the gazer's heart." her picture at windsor is the most perfectly beautiful and impressive female portrait i ever saw. how have i longed, when gazing at it, to conjure her out of her frame, and bid her reveal the secret of her mysterious life and death!--nearly opposite to the dead venitia, in strange contrast, hangs her husband, who loved her to madness, or was mad before he married her, in the very prime of life and youth. this picture, by cornelius jansen, is as fine as any thing of vandyke's: the character expresses more of intellectual power and physical strength, than of that elegance of face and form we should have looked for in such a fanciful being as sir kenelm digby: he looks more like one of the athletæ than a poet, a metaphysician, and a "squire of dames." there are three pictures of waller's famed sacharissa, the first lady sunderland: one in a hat, at the age of fifteen or sixteen, gay and blooming; the second, far more interesting, was painted about the time of her marriage with the young earl of sunderland, or shortly after--very sweet and lady-like. i should say that the high-breeding of the face and air was more conspicuous than the beauty; the neck and hands exquisite. both these are vandyke's. a third picture represents her about the time of her second marriage: the expression wholly changed--cold, sad, faded, but pretty still: one might fancy her contemplating, with a sick heart, the portrait of lord sunderland, the lover and husband of her early youth, who hangs on the opposite side of the gallery, in complete armour: he fell in the same battle with lord falkland, at the age of three-and-twenty. the brother of sacharissa, the famous algernon sidney, is suspended near her; a fine head, full of contemplation and power. among the most interesting pictures in the gallery is an undoubted original of lady jane grey. after seeing so many hideous, hard, prim-looking pictures and prints of this gentle-spirited heroine, it is consoling to trust in the genuineness of a face which has all the sweetness and dignity we look for, and ought to find. then, by way of contrast, we have that most curious picture of diana of poitiers, once in the crawfurd collection: it is a small half-length; the features fair and regular; the hair is elaborately dressed with a profusion of jewels; but there is no drapery whatever--"force pierreries et trés peu de linge," as madame de sevigné described the two mancini.[ ] round the head is the legend from the d psalm--"comme le cerf braie après le décours des eaues, ainsi brait mon ame après toi, o dieu," which is certainly an extraordinary application. in the days of diana of poitiers, the beautiful mistress of henry the second of france, it was the court fashion to sing the psalms of david to dance and song tunes;[ ] and the courtiers and beauties had each their favourite psalm, which served as a kind of _devise_: this may explain the very singular inscription on this very singular picture. here are also the portraits of otway and cowley, and of montaigne; the last from the crawfurd collection. i had nearly omitted to mention a magnificent whole-length of the duc de guise--who was stabbed in the closet of henry the third--whose life contains materials for ten romances and a dozen epics, and whose death has furnished subjects for as many tragedies. and not far from him that not less daring, and more successful chief, oliver cromwell: a page is tying on his sash. there is a vulgar power and boldness about this head, in fine contrast with the high-born, fearless, chivalrous-looking guise. in the library is the splendid picture of sofonisba angusciola, by herself: she is touching the harpsichord, for like many others of her craft, she excelled in music. angelica kauffman had nearly been an opera-singer. the instances of great painters being also excellent musicians are numerous; salvator rosa could have led an orchestra, and vernet could not exist without pergolesi's piano. but i cannot recollect an instance of a great musician by profession, who has also been a painter: the range of faculties is generally more confined. rembrandt's large picture of his mother, which is, i think, the most magnificent specimen of this master now in england, hangs over the chimney in the same room with the sofonisba. the last picture i can distinctly remember is a portrait by sir joshua reynolds, with all his perfections combined in their perfection. it is that of a beautiful frenchwoman, an intimate friend of the last lady spencer--with as much intellect, sentiment, and depth of feeling as would have furnished out twenty ordinary heads; all harmony in the colouring, all grace in the drawing. here then was food for the eye and for the memory--for sweet and bitter fancy--for the amateur, and for the connoisseur--for antiquary, historian, painter, and poet. well might horace walpole say that the gallery at althorpe was "endeared to the pensive spectator." he tells us in his letters, that when here, (about seventy years since,) he surprised the housekeeper by "his intimate acquaintance with all the faces in the gallery." i was amused at the thought that we caused a similar surprise in our day. i hope his female cicerone was as civil and intelligent as ours; as worthy to be the keeper of the pictorial treasures of althorpe. when we lingered and lingered, spell-bound, and apologized for making such unconscionable demands on her patience, she replied, "that she was flattered; that she felt affronted when any visitor hurried through the apartments." old horace would have been delighted with her; and not less with the biblical enthusiasm of a village glazier, whom we found dusting the books in the library, and who had such a sublime reverence for old editions, unique copies, illuminated mss., and rare bindings, that it was quite edifying. * * * * * [illustration] end of vol. ii. london: ibotson and palmer, printers, savoy street, strand. * * * * * footnotes: [footnote : in the throne-room at the buckingham palace the idea of grandeur is suggested by a vile heraldic crown, stuck on the capitals of the columns. conceive the flagrant, the vulgar barbarity of taste!! it cannot surely be attributed to the architect?] [footnote : there is a very pretty little edition of his lyrical poems, rendered into the modern german by karl simrock, and published at berlin in .] [footnote : see a very interesting account of walther von der vogelweide, with translations of some of his poems in "the lays of the minnesingers," published in .] [footnote : see a very learned and well-written article on the ancient german and northern poetry in the edinburgh review, vol. .] [footnote : the legend of this charming saint, one of the most popular in germany, is but little known among us. she was the wife of a margrave of thuringia, who was a fierce, avaricious man, while she herself was all made up of tenderness and melting pity. she lived with her husband in his castle on the wartsburg, and was accustomed to go out every morning to distribute alms among the poor of the valley: her husband, jealous and covetous, forbade her thus to exercise her bounty; but as she regarded her duty to god and the poor, even as paramount to conjugal obedience, she secretly continued her charitable offices. her husband encountered her one morning at sunrise, as she was leaving the castle with a covered basket containing meat, bread, and wine, for a starving family. he demanded, angrily, what she had in her basket! elizabeth, trembling, not for herself, but for her wretched protegés, replied, with a faltering voice, that she had been gathering roses in the garden. the fierce chieftain, not believing her, snatched off the napkin, and elizabeth fell on her knees.--but, behold, a miracle had been operated in her favour!--the basket was full of roses, fresh gathered, and wet with dew.] [footnote : see taylor's "historic survey of german poetry." herman was afterwards murdered by a band of conspirators, and thusnelda, on learning the fate of her husband, died brokenhearted.] [footnote : the notices which follow are abridged from the essay "on ancient german and northern poetry," before mentioned--from the preface to the edition of the nibelungen lied, by m. von der hagen--and the analysis of the poem in the illustrations of northern antiquities. my own first acquaintance with the nibelungen lied, i owed to an accomplished friend, who gave me a detailed and lively analysis of the story and characters; and certainly no child ever hung upon a tale of ogres and fairies with more intense interest than i did upon her recital of the adventures of the nibelungen.] [footnote : dietrich of bern (i. e. theodoric of verona,) is the great hero of south germany--the king arthur of teutonic romance, who figures in all the warlike lays and legends of the middle ages.] [footnote : see the illustrations of northern antiquities, p. .] [footnote : in the altercation between the two queens, chrimhilde boasts of possessing these trophies, and displays them in triumph to her mortified rival; for which indiscretion, as she afterwards complains, "her husband was in high anger, and _beat her black and blue_." this treatment, however, which seems to have been quite a matter of course, does not diminish the fond idolatry of the wife,--rather increases it.] [footnote : this list will be subjoined at the end of these sketches.] [footnote : sofonisba augusciola, one of the most charming of portrait painters. she died in , at the age of ninety-three.] [footnote : i regret that i omitted to note the _name_ of the artist of this magnificent work. there is a still more admirable monument of the same period in the church at inspruck, the tomb of the archduke, ferdinand of tyrol, consisting, i believe, of twelve colossal statues in bronze.] [footnote : the first stone of the valhalla was laid by the king of bavaria, on the th of october .] [footnote : the einheriar are the souls of heroes admitted into the valhalla.] [footnote : daniel.] [footnote : lithography was invented at munich between and , for so long were repeated experiments tried before the art became useful or general. senefelder, the inventor, was an actor, and the son of an actor. the first occasion of the invention was his wish to print a little drama of his own, in some manner less expensive than the usual method of type. the first successful experiment was the printing of some music, published ( ) by gleissner, one of the king of bavaria's band: the first drawing attempted was a vignette to a sheet of music. in the course of his attempts to pursue and perfect his discovery, senefelder was reduced to such poverty, that he offered himself to enlist for a common soldier, and, luckily, was refused. he again took heart, and, supported through every difficulty and discouragement by his own strong and enthusiastic mind, he at length overcame all obstacles, and has lived to see his invention established and spread over the whole civilized world. hitherto, i believe, the stone used by lithographers is found only in bavaria, whence it is sent to every part of europe and america, and forms a most profitable article of commerce. the principal quarries are at solenholfen, on the danube, about fifty miles from munich. senefelder has published a little memoir of the origin and progress of the invention, in which he relates with great simplicity the hardship, and misery, and contumely, he encountered before he could bring it into use. he concludes with an earnest prayer, "that it may contribute to the benefit and improvement of mankind, and that it may never be abused to any dishonourable or immoral purpose." if i remember rightly, a detailed history of the art was given in one of the early numbers of the foreign review.] [footnote : the population of munich is estimated at about , . it does not enter into my plan, at present, to give any detailed account of the public institutions, whether academies, schools, hospitals, or prisons; yet i cannot but mention the prison at munich, which more than pays its own expenses, instead of being a burthen to the state; the admirable hospital for the poor, in which all who cannot find work elsewhere, are provided with occupation; two large hospitals for the sick poor, in which rooms and attendance are also provided for those who do not choose to be a burthen to their friends, nor yet dependent on charity; the orphan school; the female school, endowed by the king; the foundling and lying-in hospitals, establishments unhappily most _necessary_ in munich, and certainly most admirably conducted. these, and innumerable private societies for the assistance, the education, and the improvement of the lower classes, ought to receive the attention of every intelligent traveller. there are no poor laws in operation at munich, no mendicity societies, no tract, and soup and blanket charities; yet pauperism, mendicity, and starvation, are nearly unknown. for the system of regulations by which these evils have been repressed or altogether remedied, i believe bavaria is indebted to the celebrated american, count rumford, who was in the service of the late king, max-joseph, from to . several new manufactories have lately been established, particularly of glass and porcelain, and the latter is carried to a high degree of perfection.] [footnote : ida of saxe-meiningen, sister of the queen of england.] [footnote : it is difficult to translate this laconic proverb, because we have not the corresponding words in english: the meaning may be rendered--"_according to the country, so are the manners_."] [footnote : when the city was besieged by wallenstein in .] [footnote : born at nuremberg in .] [footnote : see the admirable "essay on the early german and northern poetry," already alluded to.] [footnote : anthony, the present king of saxony. he is, however, in his dotage, being now in his eighty-fifth year.] [footnote : the description of dresden and its environs, in russel's tour in germany, is one of the best written passages in that amusing book--so admirably graphic and faithful, that nothing can be added to it _as a description_, therefore i have effaced those notes which it has rendered superfluous. it must, however, be remembered by those who refer to mr. russel's work, that a revolution has taken place, by which the king, now fallen into absolute dotage, has been removed from the direct administration of the government, and a much more popular and liberal tone prevails in the estates: the two princes, nephews of the king, whom mr. russel mentions as "persons of whom scarcely any body thinks of speaking at all," have since made themselves extremely conspicuous;--prince frederic has been declared regent, and is apparently much respected and beloved; and prince john has distinguished himself as a speaker in the assembly of the states, and takes the liberal side on most occasions. a spirit of amelioration is at work in dresden, as elsewhere, and the ten or twelve years which have elapsed since mr. russel's visit have not passed away without some salutary changes, while more are evidently at hand. mr. russel speaks of the secrecy with which the sittings of the chambers were then conducted: they are now public, and the debates are printed in the gazette at considerable length.] [footnote : augustus ii. abjured the protestant religion in , in order to obtain the crown of poland.] [footnote : the first tenor at dresden in .] [footnote : an opera by franz glazer of berlin. the subject, which is the well-known story of the mother who delivers her infant when carried away by the eagle, or rather vulture of the alps, might make a good melodrama, but is not fit for an opera--and the music is _trainante_ and monotonous.] [footnote : zingarelli composed his _romeo e giulietta_ in : bellini produced the capelletti at venice in , for our silver-voiced caradori and the contr'alto giudita grisi, sister of that accomplished singer, giulietta grisi. thirty-five years are an age in the history of music. of the two operas, bellini's is the most effective, from the number of the conceited pieces, without containing a single air which can be placed in comparison with five or six in zingarelli's opera.] [footnote : lord byron.] [footnote : "tieck," says carlyle, "is a poet _born_ as well as made.--he is no mere observist and compiler, rendering back to us, with additions or subtractions, the beauty which existing things have of themselves presented to him; but a true maker, to whom the actual and external is but the _excitement_ for ideal creations, representing and ennobling its effects. his feeling or knowledge, his love or scorn, his gay humour or solemn earnestness; all the riches of his inward world are pervaded and mastered by the living energy of the soul which possesses them, and their finer essence is wafted to us in his poetry, like arabian odours, on the wings of the wind. but this may be said of all true poets; and each is distinguished from all, by his individual characteristics. among tieck's, one of the most remarkable is his combination of so many gifts, in such full and simple harmony. his ridicule does not obstruct his adoration; his gay southern fancy lives in union with a northern heart; with the moods of a longing and impassioned spirit, he seems deeply conversant; and a still imagination, in the highest sense of that word, reigns over all his poetic world."] [footnote : vide shelley's epipsychidion.] [footnote : mr. russel is quite right in his observation that the correggios are hung too near together: the fact is, that in the dresden gallery, the pictures are not well hung, nor well arranged; there is too little light in the inner gallery, and too much in the outer gallery. lastly, the numbers are so confused that i found the catalogue of little use. a new arrangement and a new catalogue, by professor matthaï, are in contemplation.] [footnote : spence.] [footnote : lanzi says, that many of the works of lavinia fontana might easily pass for those of guido;--her best works are at bologna. she died in .] [footnote : at althorpe.] [footnote : the miss sharpes were at dresden while i was there, and their names and some of their works were fresh in my mind and eye when i wrote the above; but i think it fair to add, that i had not the opportunity i could have wished of cultivating their acquaintance. these three sisters, all so talented, and so inseparable,--all artists, and bound together in affectionate communion of hearts and interests, reminded me of the sofonisba and her sisters.] [footnote : she is the "julie" celebrated in some of goethe's minor poems.] [footnote : since this was written, in november , retzsch has sent over to england a series of these _fancies_ for publication.] [footnote : we have among us a young german painter, (theodor von holst,) who, uniting the exuberant enthusiasm and rich imagination of his country, with a just appreciation of the style of english art, is likely to achieve great things.] [footnote : "belier! mon ami! commence par le commencement!"--_contes de hamilton._] [footnote : a manor situated on the borders of derbyshire, between chesterfield and mansfield.] [footnote : the cavendishes were originally of suffolk. whether this william cavendish was the same who was gentleman usher and secretary to cardinal wolsey, is, i believe, a disputed point.] [footnote : bishop kennel's memoirs of the family of cavendish.] [footnote : lodge's illustrations of british history.] [footnote : scott's memoir of sir ralph sadler.] [footnote : lodge's "illustrations."] [footnote : this celebrated letter is yet preserved, and well known to historians and antiquarians. it is sufficient to say that scarce any part of it would bear transcribing.] [footnote : see two of her letters in sir henry ellis's collection.] [footnote : see some letters in ellis's collection, vol. ii. series , which show with what constant jealousy lady shrewsbury and her charge were watched by the court.] [footnote : in all hallows, in derby. after leaving hardwicke, i went, of course, to pay my respects to it. it is a vast and gorgeous shrine of many coloured marbles, covered with painting, gilding, emblazonments, and inscriptions, within which the lady lies at full length in a golden ruff, and a most sumptuous farthingale.] [footnote : as the measurements are interesting from this fact, i took care to note them exactly; as follows:--length ft. inches; breadth ft. inches; height ft. inches.] [footnote : horace walpole, as an antiquarian, should have known that mary was never kept _there_.] [footnote : it had formerly been richly painted, and must then have had an effect superior to tapestry; the colours are still visible here and there.] [footnote : mary's own account of her occupations displays the natural elegance of her mind. "i asked her grace, since the weather did cut off all exercises abroad, how she passed her time within? she sayd that all day she wrought with her needle, and that the diversitie of the colours made the work appear less tedious, and that she continued at it till pain made her to give o'er: and with that laid her hand on her left side, and complayned of an old grief newly increased there. upon this occasion she, the scottish queen, with the agreeable and lively wit natural to her, entered into a pretty disputable comparison between carving, painting, and working with the needle, affirming painting, in her opinion, for the most commendable quality."--_letter of nicholas white to cecil._] [footnote : i was as much delighted by these singular fire-screens as horace himself could have been; they are about seven feet high. the yellow velvet suspended from the bar is embossed with black velvet, and intermingled with embroidery of various colours and gold--something like a persian carpet--but most dazzling and gorgeous in the effect. i believe there is nothing like them any where.] [footnote : now replaced by the family portraits brought from chatsworth.] [footnote : margaret cavendish, wife of the first duke of newcastle.] [footnote : anecdotes of painting. reigns of elizabeth and james i.] [footnote : dante. inferno, canto .] [footnote : life of johnson, vol. ii. p. . boswell asked, "are you of that opinion as to the portraits of ancestors one has never seen?" johnson. "it then becomes of still _more_ consequence that they should be like."] [footnote : this picture and the next are said to be by richard stevens, of whom there is some account in walpole, (anecdotes of painting.) mary also sat to hilliard and to zucchero. the lovely picture by zucchero is at chiswick. there is another small head of her at hardwicke, said to have been painted in france, in a cap and feather. the turn of the head is airy and graceful. as to the features, they have been so marred by some _soi-disant_ restorer, it is difficult to say what they may have been originally.] [footnote : waller's lines on lady rich.] [footnote : william, sixth duke of devonshire.] [footnote : "lady dorothy savile, daughter of the marquis of halifax: she had no less attachment to the arts than her husband; she drew in crayons, and succeeded admirably in likenesses, but working with too much rapidity, did not do justice to her genius; she had an uncommon talent too for caricature."--_anecdotes of painting._] [footnote : he was a monster; and no wife of the coarsest plebeian profligate could have suffered more than did this lovely, amiable being, of the highest blood and greatest fortune in england. "she was," says the affecting inscription on her picture at chiswick, "the comfort and joy of her parents, the delight of all who knew her angelic temper, and the admiration of all who saw her beauty. she was married october th, , and delivered by death from misery, may nd, . but how did it happen that from a condition like this, there was no release but by _death_?--see horace walpole's correspondence to sir horace mann, vol. i. p. .] [footnote : i was much struck with the inscription on a stone tablet, in a fine old wood near the house: "this wood was planted by sir william spencer, knighte of the bathe, in the year of our lord :"--on the other side, "up and bee doing, and god will prosper." it is mentioned in evelyn's "sylva."] [footnote : see the accounts of sir john spencer, in collins's peerage, and prefixed to dibdin's "Ædes althorpianæ."] [footnote : henry, first earl of sunderland.] [footnote : this lord sunderland not only changed his party and his opinions, but his religion, with every breath that blew from the court.] [footnote : horace walpole's correspondence, vol. ii. p. .] [footnote : anne brudenel.] [footnote : see pepys's diary.] [footnote : i was told that a female servant of the family was so terrified by this picture that she could never be prevailed on to pass through the door near which it hangs, but made a circuit of several rooms to avoid it.] [footnote : she is supposed to have been poisoned by her husband, at the instigation of the chevalier de lorraine.] [footnote : elizabeth brooke, poisoned at the age of twenty.] [footnote : see the scene between beck marshall and nell gwyn, in "pepys."] [footnote : walpole.] [footnote : the gay, gallant st. evremond, besides being naturally ugly, had a wen between his eye-brows. there is a fine picture of him and hortense as vertumnus and pomona, in the stafford gallery.] [footnote : the pictures of miss jennings are very rare. this one at althorpe was copied for h. walpole, and i have heard of another in ireland. miss jennings was afterwards duchess of tyrconnel.] [footnote : pope. one hates him for taking a thousand pounds to suppress this character of atossa, and publishing it after all; yet who for a thousand pounds would have lost it?] [footnote : see his declaration of love--"je suis frère du comte de bedford; je commande le regiment des gardes," &c.] [footnote : the princess colonna and the duchesse de mazarin.] [footnote : clement marot had composed a version of the psalms, then very popular. see _bayle_, and the curiosities of literature.] * * * * * [transcriber's note: errata as given in the original have been applied to the text. other than the most exceedingly obvious typographical errors, all inconsistent spelling, hyphenation, diacriticals, archaic usage, etc. have been preserved as printed in the original. the equals signs used to bracket the name "kunstverein" in the entry for the th in the first section indicate characters in a fraktur typeface.] visits and sketches at home and abroad. vol. i. [illustration: sigfried krimhilde _engraved by c. e. wagstaff._ _group from the fresco in the king of bavaria's palace at munich. painted by julius schnorr von carolsfeld._ _published by saunders & otley ._] visits and sketches at home and abroad with tales and miscellanies now first collected. by mrs. jameson, author of the "characteristics of women," "lives of celebrated female sovereigns," &c. in three volumes. vol. i. second edition. london saunders and otley, conduit street. . london: ibotson and palmer, printers, savoy street, strand. contents of vol. i. page preface vii sketches of art, literature, and character, part i. in three dialogues. i. a scene in a steam boat a singular character gallery at ghent the prince of orange's pictures a female gambler cologne--the medusa professor walraf schlegel and madame de staël story of archbishop gerard heidelberg--elizabeth stuart an english fanner's idea of the picturesque ii. frankfort the theatre, madame haitzinger the versorgung haus the städel museum dannecker, memoir of his life and works german sculpture--rauch, tieck, schwanthaler iii. goethe and his daughter-in-law the german women german authoresses german domestic life and manners german coquetterie and german romance the story of a devoted sister sketches of art, literature, and character, part ii. _memoranda at munich, nuremberg, and dresden._ i. munich the theatre--representation of "egmont" leo von klenze the glyptothek--its general arrangement--egina marbles--account of the frescos of cornelius--canova's paris and thorwaldson's adonis - the opera at munich, the kapel meister stuntz the poems of the king of bavaria a public day at the new palace thoughts on female singers--their condition and destiny the munich gallery--thoughts on pictures--their moral influence rubens and the flemish masters the gallery of schleissheim the boisserée gallery--the old german school of painting--its effects on the modern german school of art representation of the braut von messina the hofgarten at munich the king's passion for building the author to the reader. it seems a foolish thing to send into the world a book requiring a preface of apologies; and yet more absurd, to presume that any deprecation on the part of the author could possibly win indulgence for what should be in itself worthless. for this reason, and with a very deep feeling of the kindness i have already experienced from the public, i should now abandon these little volumes to their destiny without one word of preface or remark, but that a certain portion of their contents seems to require a little explanation. it was the wish and request of my friends, many months ago, that i should collect various literary trifles which were scattered about in print or in manuscript, and allow them to be published together. my departure for the continent set aside this intention for the time. i had other and particular objects in view, which still keep full possession of my mind, and which have been suspended not without reluctance, in order to prepare these volumes for the press;--neither had i, while travelling in germany, the slightest idea of writing any thing of that country: so far from it, that except during the last few weeks at munich, i kept no regular notes: but finding on my return to england, that many particulars which had strongly excited my interest, with regard to the relative state of art and social existence in the two countries, appeared new to those with whom i conversed,--after some hesitation, i was induced to throw into form the few memoranda i had made on the spot. they are now given to the public in the first and second volumes of this little collection, with a very sincere feeling of their many imperfections, and much anxiety with regard to the reception they are likely to meet with; yet in the earnest hope that what has been written in perfect simplicity of heart, may be perused both by my english and german friends, particularly the artists, with indulgence; that those who read and doubt may be awakened to inquiry, and those who read and believe may be led to reflection; and that those who differ from, and those who agree with the writer, may both find some interest and amusement in the literal truth of the facts and impressions she has ventured to record. it was difficult to give sketches of art, literature, and character, without making now and then some _personal_ allusions; but though i have often sketched from the life, i have adhered throughout to this principle--never to give publicity to any name not already before the public, and in a manner public property. two of the tales of the third volume, "the false one," and "the indian mother," were written at different times, to prove that i could write in a style which should not be recognised as mine even by my most intimate friends, and the _ruse_ so far succeeded, that both, as i am informed, have been attributed to other writers. a. j. may . sketches of art, literature, and character. part i. in three dialogues. [illustration] i. medon--alda. medon. and so we are to have no "_sentimental travels in germany_" on hot-pressed paper, illustrated with views taken on the spot? alda. no. medon. you have unloaded time of his wallet only to deal out his "scraps of things past," his shreds of remembrance, in beggarly, indolent fashion, over your own fire-side? you are afraid of being termed an egotist; you, who within these ten minutes have assured me that not any opinion of any human being should prevent you from doing, saying, writing--any thing-- alda. finish the sentence--any thing, _for truth's sake_. but how is the cause of truth to be advanced by the insolent publication of a mass of crude thoughts and hasty observations picked up here and there, "as pigeons pick up peas," and which now lie safe within the clasps of those little green books? you need not look at them; they do not contain another diary of an ennuyée, thank heaven! nor do i feel much inclined to play the _ennuyeuse_ in public. medon. "take any form but _that_, and my firm nerves shall never tremble;" but with eyes to see, a heart to feel, a mind to observe, and a pen to record those observations, i do not perceive why you should not contribute one drop to that great ocean of thought which is weltering round the world! alda. if i could. medon. there are people, who when they travel open their eyes and their ears, (aye, and their mouths to some purpose,) and shut up their hearts and souls. i have heard such persons make it their boast, that they have returned to old england with all their old prejudices thick upon them; they have come back, to use their own phrase, "with no foreign ideas--just the same as they went:" they are much to be congratulated! i hope you are not one of these? alda. i hope not; it is this cold impervious pride which is the perdition of us english, and of england. i remember that in one of my several excursions on the rhine, we had, on board the steamboat, an english family of high rank. there was the lordly papa, plain and shy, who never spoke to any one except his own family, and then only in the lowest whisper. there was the lady mamma, so truly lady-like, with fine-cut patrician features, and in her countenance a kind of passive _hauteur_, softened by an appearance of suffering, and ill-health. there were two daughters, proud, pale, fine-looking girls, dressed _à ravir_, with that indescribable air of high pretension, so elegantly impassive--so self-possessed--which some people call _l'air distingué_, but which, as extremes meet, i would rather call the refinement of vulgarity--the polish we see bestowed on debased material--the plating over the steel--the stucco over the brick-work! medon. good; you _can_ be severe then! alda. i spoke generally: bear witness to the general truth of the picture, for it will fit others as well as the personages i have brought before you, who are, indeed, but specimens of a species. this group, then, had designedly or instinctively entrenched themselves in a corner to the right of the steersman, within a fortification of tables and benches, so arranged as to forbid all approach within two or three yards; the young ladies had each their sketch-book, and wielded pencil and indian rubber, i know not with what effect,--but i know that i never saw either countenance once relax or brighten, in the midst of the divine scenery through which we glided. two female attendants, seated on the outer fortifications, formed a kind of piquet guard; and two footmen at the other end kept watch over the well-appointed carriages, and came and went as their attendance was required. no one else ventured to approach this aristocratic olympus; the celestials within its precincts, though not exactly seated "on golden stools at golden tables," like the divinities in the song of the parcæ,[ ] showed as supreme, as godlike an indifference to the throng of mortals in the nether sphere: no word was exchanged during the whole day with any of the fifty or sixty human beings who were round them; nay, when the rain drove us down to the pavilion, even there, amid twelve or fourteen others, they contrived to keep themselves aloof from contact and conversation. in this fashion they probably pursued their tour, exchanging the interior of their travelling carriage for the interior of an hotel; and every where associating only with those of their own caste. what do they see of all that is to be seen? what can they know of what is to be known? what do they endure of what is to be endured? i can speak from experience--i have travelled in that same style. as they went, so they return; happily, or rather pitifully, unconscious of the narrow circle in which move their factitious enjoyments, their confined experience, their half-awakened sympathies! and i should tell you, that in the same steam-boat were two german girls, under the care of an elderly relative, i think an aunt, and a brother, who was a celebrated _jurisconsulte_ and judge: their rank was equal to that of my countrywomen; their blood, perhaps, more purely noble, that is, older by some centuries; and their family more illustrious, by god knows how many quarterings; moreover, their father was a minister of state. both these girls were beautiful;--fair, and fair-haired, with complexions on which "the rose stood ready with a blush;" and one, the youngest sister, was exquisitely lovely--in truth, she might have sat for one of guido's angels. they walked up and down the deck, neither seeking nor avoiding the proximity of others. they accepted the telescopes which the gentlemen, particularly some young englishmen, pressed on them when any distant or remarkable object came in view, and repaid the courtesy with a bright kindly smile; they were natural and easy, and did not deem it necessary to mount guard over their own dignity. do you think i did not observe and feel the contrast? medon. if nations begin at last to understand each other's true interests--morally and politically, it will be through the agency of gifted men; but if ever they learn to love and sympathize with each other, it will be through the medium of you women. you smile, and shake your head; but in spite of a late example, which might seem to controvert this idea, i still think so;--our prejudices are stronger and bitterer than yours, because they are those which perverted reason builds up on a foundation of pride; but yours, which are generally those of fancy and association, soon melt away before your own kindly affections. more mobile, more impressible, more easily yielding to external circumstances, more easily lending yourselves to different manners and habits, more quick to perceive, more gentle to judge;--yes, it is to you we must look, to break down the outworks of prejudice--you, the advanced guard of humanity and civilization! "the gentle race and dear, by whom alone the world is glorified!" every feeling, well educated, generous, and truly refined woman, who travels, is as a dove sent out on a mission of peace; and should bring back at least an olive-leaf in her hand, if she bring nothing else. it is her part to soften the intercourse between rougher and stronger natures; to aid in the interfusion of the gentler sympathies; to speed the interchange of art and literature from pole to pole: not to pervert wit, and talent, and eloquence, and abuse the privileges of her sex, to sow the seeds of hatred where she might plant those of love--to embitter national discord and aversion, and disseminate individual prejudice and error. alda. thank you! i need not say how entirely i agree with you. medon. then tell me, what have _you_ brought home? if but an olive-leaf, let us have it; come, unpack your budget. have you collected store of anecdotes, private, literary, scandalous, abundantly interspersed with proper names of grand-dukes and little dukes, counts, barons, ministers, poets, authors, actors, and opera dancers? alda. me? medon. cry you mercy!--i did but jest, so do not look so indignant! but have you then traced the cause and consequences of that undercurrent of opinion which is slowly but surely sapping the foundations of empires? have you heard the low booming of that mighty ocean which approaches, wave after wave, to break up the dikes and boundaries of ancient power? alda. i? no; how should i--skimming over the surface of society with perpetual sunshine and favouring airs--how should i sound the gulfs and shoals which lie below? medon. have you, then, analysed that odd combination of poetry, metaphysics, and politics, which, like the three primeval colours, tinge in various tints and shades, simple and complex, all literature, morals, art, and even conversation, through germany? alda. no, indeed! medon. have you decided between the different systems of jacobi and schelling? alda. you know i am a poor philosopher; but when schelling was introduced to me at munich, i remember i looked up at him with inexpressible admiration, as one whose giant arm had cut through an isthmus, and whose giant mind had new modelled the opinions of minds as gigantic as his own. medon. then you are of this new school, which reveals the union of faith and philosophy? alda. if i am, it is by instinct. medon. well, to descend to your own peculiar sphere, have you satisfied yourself as to the moral and social position of the women in germany? alda. no, indeed!--at least, not yet. medon. have you examined and noted down the routine of the _domestic_ education of their children? (we know something of the public and national systems.) can you give some accurate notion of the ideas which generally prevail on this subject? alda. o no! you have mentioned things which would require a life to study. merely to have thought upon them, to have glanced at them, gives me no right to discuss them, unless i could bring my observations to some tangible form, and derive from them some useful result. medon. yet in this last journey you had an object--a purpose? alda. i had--a purpose which has long been revolving in my mind--an object never lost sight of;--but give me time!--time! medon. i see;--but are you prepared for consequences? can you task your sensitive mind to stand reproach and ridicule? remember your own story of runckten the traveller, who, when about to commence his expedition into the desarts of africa, prepared himself, by learning beforehand to digest poisons; to swallow without disgust reptiles, spiders, vermin---- alda. "thou hast the most unsavoury similes!" medon. take a proverb then--"bisogna coprirsi bene il viso innanzi di struzzicare il vespaio." alda. i will _not_ hide my face; nor can i answer you in this jesting vein, for to me it is a serious thought. there is in the kindly feeling, the spontaneous sympathy of the public towards me, something which fills me with gratitude and respect, and tells me to respect myself; which i would not exchange for the greater _éclat_ which hangs round greater names;--which i will not forfeit by writing one line from an unworthy motive; nor flatter, nor invite, by withholding one thought, opinion, or sentiment, which i believe to be true, and to which i can put the seal of my heart's conviction. medon. good! i love a little enthusiasm now and then; so like britomart in the enchanter's palace, the motto is, "be bold, be bold, and every where be bold!" alda. i should rather say, be gentle, be gentle, every where be gentle; and then we cannot _be too bold_.[ ] medon. well, then, i return once more to the charge. have you been rambling about the world for these six months--yet learned nothing? alda. on the contrary. medon. then what, in heaven's name, _have_ you learned? alda. not much; but i have learned to sweep my mind of some ill-conditioned cobwebs. i have learned to consider my own acquired knowledge but as a torch flung into an abyss, making the darkness visible, and showing me the extent of my own ignorance. medon. then give us--give _me_, at least--the benefit of your ignorance; only let it be all your own. i honour a profession of ignorance--if only for its rarity--in these all-knowing times. let me tell you, the ignorance of a candid and not uncultivated mind is better than the second-hand wisdom of those who take all things for granted; who are the echoes of others' opinions, the utterers of others' words; who _think_ they know, and who _think_ they think: i am sick of them all. come, refresh me with a little ignorance--and be serious. alda. you make me smile; after all, 'tis only going over old ground, and i know not what pleasure, what interest it can impart, beyond half an hour's amusement. medon. sceptic! is that nothing? in this harsh, cold, working-day world, is half an hour's amusement nothing? old ground!--as if you did not know the pleasure of going over old ground with a new companion to refresh half-faded recollections--to compare impressions--to correct old ideas and acquire new ones? o i can suck knowledge out of ignorance, as a weazel sucks eggs!--begin. alda. where shall i begin? medon. where, but at the beginning? and then diverge as you will. your first journey was one of mere amusement? alda. merely, and it answered its purpose; we travelled _à la milor anglais_--a _partie carrée_--a barouche hung on the most approved principle--double-cushioned--luxurious--rising and sinking on its springs like a swan on the wave--the pockets stuffed with new publications--maps and guides _ad infinitum_; english servants for comfort, foreign servants for use; a chess-board, backgammon tables--in short, surrounded with all that could render us entirely independent of the amusements we had come to seek, and of the people among whom we had come to visit. medon. admirable--and english! alda. yes, and pleasant. i thought, not without gratitude, of the contrast between present feelings and those of a former journey. to abandon oneself to the quickening influence of new objects without care or thought of to-morrow, with a mind awake in all its strength; with restored health and cheerfulness; with sensibility tamed, not dead; possessing one's soul in quiet; not seeking, nor yet shrinking from excitement; not self-engrossed, nor yet pining for sympathy; was not this much? not so interesting, perhaps, as playing the _ennuyée_; but, oh! you know not how sad it is to look upon the lovely through tearful eyes, and walk among the loving and the kind, wrapped as in a death-shroud; to carry into the midst of the most glorious scenes of nature, and the divinest creations of art, perceptions dimmed and troubled with sickness and anguish: to move in the morning with aching and reluctance--to faint in the evening with weariness and pain; to feel all change, all motion, a torment to the dying heart; all rest, all delay, a burthen to the impatient spirit; to shiver in the presence of joy, like a ghost in the sunshine, yet have no sympathy to spare for suffering. how could i remember that all this _had been_, and not bless the miracle-worker--time? and _apropos_ to the miracles of time--i had on this first journey, one source of amusement, which i am sorry i cannot share with you at full length; it was the near contemplation of a very singular character, of which i can only afford you a sketch. our chef _de voyage_, for so we chose to entitle him who was the planner and director of our excursion, was one of the most accomplished and most eccentric of human beings: even courtesy might have termed him old, at seventy; but old age and he were many miles asunder, and it seemed as though he had made some compact with time, like that of faust with the devil, and was not to surrender to his inevitable adversary till the very last moment. years could not quench his vivacity, nor "stale his infinite variety." he had been one of the prince's wild companions in the days of sheridan and fox, and could play alternately blackguard and gentleman, and both in perfection; but the high-born gentleman ever prevailed. he had been heir to an enormous income, most of which had slipped through his fingers _unknownst_, as the irish say, and had stood in the way of a coronet, which, somehow or other, had slipped over his head to light on that of his eldest son. he had lived a life which would have ruined twenty iron constitutions, and had suffered what might well have broken twenty hearts of common stuff; but his self-complacency was invulnerable, his animal spirits inexhaustible, his activity indefatigable. the eccentricities of this singular man have been matter of celebrity; but against each of these stories it would be easy to place some act of benevolence, some trait of lofty gentlemanly feeling, which would at least neutralize their effect. he often told me that he had early in life selected three models, after which to form his own conduct and character; namely, de grammont, hotspur, and lord herbert of cherbury; and he certainly _did_ unite, in a greater degree than he knew himself, the characteristics of all three. such was our chef, and thus led, thus appointed, away we posted on, from land to land, from city to city-- medon. stay--stay. this is galloping on at the rate of lenora, and her phantom lover-- "tramp, tramp across the land we go, splash, splash across the sea!" take me with you, and a little more leisurely. alda. i think bruges was the first place which interested me, perhaps from its historical associations. bruges, where monarchs kissed the hand to merchants, now emptied of its former splendour, reminded me of the improvident steward in scripture, that could not dig, and to beg was ashamed. it had an air of grave idleness and threadbare dignity; and its listless, thinly-scattered inhabitants looked as if they had gone astray among the wide streets and huge tenantless edifices. there is one thing here which you must see--the tomb of charles the bold, and his daughter, mary of burgundy. the tomb is of the most exquisite workmanship, composed of polished brass and enamelled escutcheons; and there the fiery father and the gentle daughter lie, side by side, in sculptured bronze, equally still, cold, and silent. i remember that i stood long gazing on the inscription, which made me smile, and made me think. there was no mention of defeat and massacre, disgraceful flight, or obscure death. "but," says the epitaph, after enumerating his titles, his exploits, and his virtues, "fortune, who had hitherto been his good lady, ungently turned her back upon him on such a day of such a year, and _oppressed_ him"--an amusing instance of mingled courtesy and _naïveté_. ghent was our next resting place. the aspect of ghent, so familiarized to us of late by our travelled artists, made a strong impression upon me, and i used to walk about for hours together, looking at the strange picturesque old buildings coëval with the spanish dominion, with their ornamented fronts and peaked roofs. there is much trade here, many flourishing manufactories, and the canals and quays often exhibited a lively scene of bustle, of which the form, at least, was new to us. the first exposition, or exhibition, of the newly-founded royal academy of the netherlands was at this season open. you will allow it was a fair opportunity of judging of the present state of painting, in the self-same land, where she had once found, if not a temple, at least a home. medon. and learned to be homely--but the result? alda. i can scarce express the surprise i felt at the time, though it has since diminished on reflection. all the attempts at historical painting were bad, without exception. there was the usual assortment of virgins, st. cecilias, cupids and psyches, zephyrs and floras;--but such incomparable atrocities! there were some cabinet pictures in the same style in which their flemish ancestors excelled--such as small interior conversation pieces, battle pieces, and flowers and fruit; some of these were really excellent, but the proportion of bad to good was certainly fifty to one. medon. something like our own royal academy. alda. no; because with much which was quite as bad, quite as insipid, as coarse in taste, as stupidly presumptuous in attempt, and ridiculous in failure, as ever shocked me on the walls of somerset house, there was nothing to be compared to the best pictures i have seen there. as i looked and listened to the remarks of the crowd around me, i perceived that the taste for art is even as low in the netherlands as it is here and elsewhere. medon. and, surely, not from the want of models, nor from the want of facility in the means of studying them. you visited, of course, schamp's collection? alda. surely; there were miracles of art crowded together like goods in a counting-house, with wondrous economy of space, and more lamentable economy of light. some were nailed against doors, inside and out, or suspended from screens and window-shutters. here i saw rubens' picture of father rutseli, the confessor of albert and isabella: one of those heads more suited to the crown than to the cowl--grand, sagacious, intellectual, with such a world of meaning in the eye, that one almost shrunk away from the expression. here, too, i found that remarkable picture of charles the first, painted by lely during the king's imprisonment at windsor--the only one for which he sat between his dethronement and his death: he is still melancholy and gentlemanlike, but not quite so dignified as on the canvass of vandyke. this is the very picture that horace walpole mentions as lost or abstracted from the collection at windsor. how it came into schamp's collection, i could not learn. a very small head of an italian girl by correggio, or in his manner, hung close beside a dutch girl by mieris: equally exquisite as paintings, they gave me an opportunity of contrasting two styles, both founded in nature--but the nature, how different! the one all life, the other life and soul. schamp's collection is liberally open to the public, as well as many others; if artists fail, it is not for want of models. medon. perhaps for want of patronage? yet i hear that the late king of the netherlands sent several young artists to italy at his own expense, and that the prince of orange was liberal and even munificent in his purchases--particularly of the old masters. alda. when i went to see the collection of the prince of orange at brussels, i stepped from the room in which hung the glorious vandykes, perhaps unequalled in the world, into the adjoining apartment, in which were two unfinished portraits disposed upon easels. they represented members of the prince's family; and were painted by a native artist of fashionable fame, and royally patronised. these were pointed out to my admiration as universally approved. what shall i say of them? believe me, that they were contemptible beyond all terms of contempt! can you tell me why the prince of orange should have sufficient taste to select and appropriate the finest specimens of art, and yet purchase and patronize the vilest daubs ever perpetrated by imbecility and presumption? medon. i know not, unless it be that in the former case he made use of others' eyes and judgment, and in the latter, of his own. alda. i might have anticipated the answer; but be that as it may, of all the galleries i saw in the netherlands, the small but invaluable collection he had formed in his palace pleased me most. i remember a portrait of sir thomas more, by holbein. a female head, by leonardo da vinci, said to be one of the mistresses of francis i., but this is doubtful; that most magnificent group, christ delivering the keys to st. peter, by rubens, once in england; about eight or ten vandykes, masterpieces--for instance, philip iv. and his minister olivarez, and a chevalier le roy and his wife: all that you can imagine of chivalrous dignity, and lady-like grace. but there was one picture, a family group, by gonsalez, which struck me more than all the rest put together. i had never seen any production of this painter, whose works are scarcely known out of spain; and i looked upon this with equal astonishment and admiration. there was also a small, but most curious collection of pictures, of the ancient flemish and german schools, which it is now the fashion to admire, and, what is worse, to imitate. the word _fashion_ does not express the national enthusiasm on this subject which prevails in germany. i can understand that these pictures are often most interesting as historic documents, and often admirable for their literal transcripts of nature and expression, but they can only possess comparative excellence and relative value; and where the feeling of ideal beauty and classic grace has been highly cultivated, the eye shrinks involuntarily from these hard, grotesque, and glaring productions of an age when genius was blindly groping amid the darkness of ignorance. to confess the truth, i was sometimes annoyed, and sometimes amused, by the cant i heard in germany about those schools of painting which preceded albert durer. perhaps i should not say _cant_--it is a vile expression; and in german affectation there is something so very peculiar--so poetical, so--so _natural_, if i might say so, that i would give it another name if i could find one. in this worship of their old painters, i really could sympathize sometimes, even when it most provoked me. retzsch, whom i had the delight of knowing at dresden, showed me a sketch, in which he had ridiculed this mania with the most exquisite humour: it represented the torso of an antique apollo (emblematical of ideal grace), mutilated and half buried in the earth, and subject to every species of profanation; it serves as a stool for a german student, who, with his shirt-collar turned down, and his hair dishevelled, and his cap stuck on one side, _à la_ rafaelle, is intently copying a stiff, hard, sour-looking old madonna, while ignorance looks on, gaping with admiration. no one knows better than retzsch the value of these ancient masters--no one has a more genuine feeling for all that is admirable in them; but no one feels more sensibly the gross perversion and exaggeration of the worship paid to them. i wish he would publish this good-humoured little bit of satire, which is too just and too graceful to be called a caricature. i must tell you, however, that there were two most curious old pictures in the orange gallery, which arrested my attention, and of which i have retained a very distinct and vivid recollection; and that is more than i can say of many better pictures. they tell, in a striking manner, a very interesting story: the circumstances are said to have occurred about the year , but i cannot say that they rest on any very credible authority. of these two pictures, each exhibits two scenes. a certain nobleman, a favourite of the emperor otho, is condemned to death by his master on the false testimony of the empress (a sort of potiphar's wife), who has accused him of having tempted her to break her marriage vow. in the back-ground we see the unfortunate man led to judgment; he is in his shirt, bare-footed and bare-headed. his wife walks at his side, to whom he appears to be speaking earnestly, and endeavouring to persuade her of his innocence. a friar precedes them, and a crowd of people follow after. on the walls of the city stand the emperor and his wicked empress, looking down on the melancholy procession. in the foreground, we have the dead body of the victim, stretched upon the earth, and the executioner is in the act of delivering the head to his wife, who looks grim with despair. the severed head and flowing blood are painted with such a horrid and literal fidelity to nature, that it has been found advisable to cover this portion of the picture. in the foreground of the second picture, the emperor otho is represented on his throne surrounded by his counsellors and courtiers. before him kneels the widow of the count: she has the ghastly head of her husband in her lap, and in her left-hand she holds firmly and unhurt the red-hot iron, the fiery ordeal by which she proves to the satisfaction of all present the innocence of her murdered lord. the emperor looks thunderstruck; the empress stands convicted, and is condemned to death; and in the back-ground, we have the catastrophe. she is bound to a stake, the fire is kindled, and she suffers the terrible penalty of her crime. these pictures, in subject and execution, might be termed tragico-comico-historical; but in spite of the harshness of the drawing, and the thousand defects of style and taste, they fix the attention by the vigour of the colouring and the expression of the heads, many of which are evidently from the life. the story is told in a very complete though very inartificial manner. the painter, derick steuerbout, was one of the very earliest of the flemish masters, and lived about , many years before albert durer and holbein. i have heard that they were painted for the city of lorraine, and until the invasion of the french, they remained undisturbed, and almost unnoticed, in the hotel-de-ville. medon. does this collection of the prince of orange still exist at brussels? alda. i am told that it does--that the whole palace, the furniture, the pictures, remain precisely as the prince and his family left them: that even down to the princess's work-box, and the portraits of her children which hang in her boudoir, nothing has been touched. this does not speak well for king leopold's gallantry; and, in his place, i think i would have sent the private property of my rival after him. medon. so would not i, for this is not the age of chivalry, but of common sense. as to the pictures, the belgians might plead that they were purchased with the public money, therefore justly public property. no, no; he should not have a picture of them--"if a vandyke would save his soul, he should not; i'd keep them, by this hand!" that is, as long as i had a plausible excuse for keeping them; but the princess should have had her work-box and her children by the first courier. what more at brussels? alda. i can recollect no more. the weather was sultry: we dressed, and dined, and ate ices, and drove up and down the allée verte, and saw i believe all that is to be seen--churches, palaces, hospitals, and so forth. we went from thence to aix-la-chapelle and spa. as it was the height of the season, and both places were crowded with gay invalids, perhaps i ought to have been very much amused, but i confess i was _ennuyée_ to death. medon. this i can hardly conceive; for though there might have been little to amuse one of your turn of mind, there should have been much to observe. alda. there might have been matter for observation, or ridicule, or reflexion, at the moment, but nothing that i remember with pleasure. spa i disliked particularly. i believe i am not in my nature cold or stern; but there was something in the shallow, tawdry, vicious gaiety of this place, which disgusted me. in all watering-places extremes meet; sickness and suffering, youth and dissipation, beggary and riches, collect together; but spa being a very small town, a mere village, the approximation is brought immediately under the eye at every hour, every moment; and the beauty of the scenery around only rendered it more disagreeable: to me, even the hill of annette and lubin was polluted. our chef de voyage, who had visited spa fifty years before, when on his _grand tour_, walked about with great complacency, recalling his youthful pleasures, and the days when he used to gallant his beautiful cousin, the duchess of rutland, of divine memory. while the rest of the party were amused, i fell into my old, habit of thinking and observing, and my contemplations were not agreeable. but instead of dealing in these general remarks, i will sketch you one or two pictures which have dwelt upon my memory. we had a well-dressed laquais-de-place, whose honesty and good-humour rendered him an especial favourite. his wife being ill, i went to see her; to my great surprise he conducted me to a little mud hovel, worse than the worst irish cabin i ever heard described, where his wife lay stretched upon some straw, covered with a rug, and a little neglected ragged child was crawling about the floor, and about her bed. it seems then, that, this poor man, who every day waited at our luxurious table, dressed in smiles, and must habitually have witnessed the wasteful expenditure of the rich, returned every night to his miserable home, if home it could be called, to feel the stings of want with double bitterness. he told me that he and his wife lived the greater part of the year upon water-gruel, and that the row of wretched cabins, of which his own formed one, was inhabited by those who, like himself, were dependent upon the rich, extravagant, and dissipated strangers for the little pittance which was to support them for a twelvemonth. was not this a fearful contrast? i should tell you that the benevolence of our chef rendered this poor couple independent of change or chance for the next year. my other picture is in a different style. you know that at spa the theatre immediately joins the ball-room. as soon as the performances are over, the parterre is laid down with boards, and in a few minutes metamorphosed into a gambling saloon. one night curiosity led me to be a spectator at one of the _rouge et noir_ tables. while i was there, a flemish lady of rank, the baroness b----, came in, hanging on the arm of a gentleman; she was not young, but still handsome. i had often met her in our walks, and had been struck by her fine eyes, and the amiable expression of her countenance. after one or two turns up and down the room, laughing and talking, she carelessly, and as if from a sudden thought, seated herself at the table. by degrees she became interested in the game, her stakes became deeper, her countenance became agitated, and her brow clouded. i left her playing. the next evening when i entered, i found her already seated at the table, as indeed i had anticipated. i watched her for some time with a painful interest. it was evident that she was not an habitual gambler, like several others at the same table, whose hard impassive features never varied with the variations of the game. there was one little old withered skeleton of a woman, like a death's head in artificial flowers, who stretched out her harpy claws upon the rouleaus of gold and silver, without moving a muscle or a wrinkle of her face,--with hardly an additional twinkle in her dull grey eye. not so my poor baroness, who became every moment more agitated and more eager: her eyes sparkled with an unnatural keenness, her teeth became set, and her lips drawn away from them, wore, instead of the sweet smile which had at first attracted my attention, a grin of desperation. gradually, as i looked at her, her countenance assumed so hideous, and, i may add, so vile an expression, that i could no longer endure the spectacle. i hastened from the room--more moved, more shocked than i can express; and often, since that time, her face has risen upon my day and night dreams like a horrid supernatural mask. her husband, for this wretched woman was a wife and a mother, came to meet her a few days afterwards, and accompany her home; but i heard that in the interval she had attempted self-destruction, and failed. medon. the case is but too common; and even you, who are always seeking reasons and excuses for the delinquencies of your sex, would hardly find them here. alda. and unless i could know what were the previous habits and education of the victim, through what influences, blest or unblest, her mind had been trained, her moral existence built up--should i condemn? who had taught this woman self-knowledge?--who had instructed her in the elements of her own being, and guarded her against her own excitable temperament?--what friendly voice had warned her ignorance?--what secret burden of misery--what joyless emptiness of heart--what fever of the nerves--what weariness of spirit--what "thankless husband or faithless lover" had driven her to the edge of the precipice? in this particular case i know that the husband bore the character of being both negligent and dissipated; and where was _he_,--what were his haunts and his amusements, while his wife staked with her gold, her honour, her reason, and her life? tell me all this before we dare to pass judgment. o it is easy to compute what is done! and yet, who but the being above us all, can know what is resisted? medon. you would plead then for a _female_ gambler? alda. why do you lay such an emphasis upon _female_ gambler? in what respect is a female gambler worse than one of your sex? the case is more pitiable;--more rare--therefore, perhaps, more shocking; but why more hateful? medon. you pose me. alda. then i will leave you to think;--or shall i go on? for at this rate we shall never arrive at the end of our journey. i was at aix-la-chapelle, was i not? well, i spare you the relics of charlemagne, and if you have any dear or splendid associations with that great name, spare your imagination the shock it may receive in the cathedral at aix, and leave "yarrow unvisited."[ ] luckily the theatre at aix is beautiful, and there was a fine opera, and a very perfect orchestra; the singers tolerable. it was here i first heard the don juan and the freyschutz performed in the german fashion, and with german words. the freyschutz gave me unmixed pleasure. in the don juan i missed the recitative, and the soft italian flow of syllables, from which the music had been divorced; so that the ear, long habituated to that marriage of sweet sounds, was disappointed; but to listen without pleasure and excitement was impossible. i remember that on looking round, after donna anna's song, i was surprised to see our chef de voyage bathed in tears; but, no whit disconcerted, he merely wiped them away, saying, with a smile, "it is the very prettiest, softest thing to cry to one's self!" afterwards, when we were in the carriage, he expressed his surprise that any man should be ashamed of tears. "for my own part," he added, "when i wish to enjoy the very high sublime of luxury, i dine alone, order a mutton cutlet, _cuite à point_, with a bottle of burgundy on one side, and ovid's epistle of penelope to ulysses on the other; and so i read, and eat, and cry to myself. and then he repeated with enthusiasm-- "hanc tua penelope lento tibi mittit ulysse: nil mihi rescribas attamen ipse veni;" his eyes glistening as he recited the lines; he made me feel their beauty without understanding a word of their sense. "strangest, and happiest of men!" i thought as i looked at him, "that after living seventy years in this world, can still have tears to spare for the sorrows of penelope!" well, our next resting place was cologne. medon. you pause?--you have nothing to say of cologne? no english traveller, except your professed tourists and guide-book makers, ever has; of the crowds who pass through the place, on their way up or down the rhine, how few spend more than a night or a day there! their walk is between the rheinberg and the cathedral; they look, perhaps, with a sneering curiosity at the shrine of the three kings; cut the usual jests on the leda and the cupid and psyche;[ ] glance at the st. peter of rubens; lounge on the bridge of boats; stock themselves with eau-de-cologne, and then away! and yet this strange old city, which a bigoted priesthood, a jealous magistracy, and a variety of historical causes, have so long kept isolated in the midst of europe, with its roman origin, its classical associations, the wild gothic superstitions of which it has been the theatre; its legion of martyrs, its three kings and eleven thousand virgins, and the peculiar manners and physiognomy of the people, strangely take the fancy. what has become of its three hundred and fifty churches, and its thirty thousand beggars?--thirty thousand beggars! was there ever such a splendid establishment of licensed laziness, and consecrated rags and wallets! what a magnificent idea does it give one of the inexhaustible charity, and the incalculable riches of the inhabitants! but the french came with their besom of purification and destruction; and lo! the churches were turned into arsenals, the convents into barracks; and from its old-accustomed haunts, "the genius of beggary was with sighing sent." i really believe, that were i again to visit cologne, i would not be content with a mere superficial glance, as heretofore. alda. and you would do well. to confess the truth, our first impressions of the place were exceedingly disagreeable; it appeared a huge, rambling, gloomy old city, whose endless narrow dirty streets, and dull dingy-looking edifices, were any thing but inviting. nor on a second and a third visit were we tempted to prolong our stay. yet cologne has since become most interesting to me from a friendship i formed with a colonese, a descendant of one of the oldest families of the place. how she loved her old city!--how she worshipped every relic with the most poetical, if not the most pious veneration!--how she looked down upon berlin with scorn, as an upstart city, "_une ville ma chére, qui n'a ni histoire, ni antiquité_." the cathedral she used to call "_mon berceau_," and the three kings "_mes trois pères_." her profound knowledge of general history, her minute acquaintance with the local antiquities, the peculiar customs, the wild legends, the solemn superstitions of her birth-place, added to the most lively imagination and admirable descriptive powers, were to me an inexhaustible source of delight and information. it appears that the people of cologne have a distinct character, but little modified by intercourse with the surrounding country, and preserved by continual intermarriages among themselves. they have a dialect, and songs, and ballads, and music, peculiar to their city; and are remarkable for an original vein of racy humour, a revengeful spirit, an exceeding superstition, a blind attachment to their native customs, a very decided contempt for other people, and a surpassing hatred of all innovations. they never admitted the jurisdiction of the electors of cologne, and, although the most bigoted people in the world, were generally at war with their archbishops. even napoleon could not make them comformable. the city is now attached to prussia, but still retains most of its ancient privileges, and all its ancient spirit of insubordination and independence. when, in , the king of prussia wished to force upon them an unpopular magistrate, the whole city rose, and obliged the obnoxious president to resign; the government, armed with all its legal and military terrors, could do nothing against the determined spirit of this half-civilized, fearless, reckless, yet merry, good-humoured populace. a history of this grotesque revolution, which had the same duration as the celebrated _trois jours de paris_, and exhibited in its progress and issue some of the most striking, most characteristic, most farcical scenes you can imagine, were worthy of a colonese walter scott. how i wish i could give you some of my friend's rich graphic sketches and humorous pictures of popular manner! but i feel that their peculiar spirit would evaporate in my hands. the event is celebrated in their local history as "_la revolution du carnaval_:" and this reminds me of another peculiarity of cologne. the carnival is still celebrated there with a degree of splendour and fantastic humour, exceeding even the festivities of rome and naples in the present day; but as the season of the carnival is not the season for flight with our english birds of passage, few have ever witnessed these extraordinary saturnalia. such is the general ignorance or indifference relative to cologne, that i met the other day with a very accomplished man, and a lover of art, who had frequently visited the place, and yet he had never seen the medusa. medon. nor i, by this good light!--i never even heard of it! alda. and how shall i attempt to describe it? unless i had the "large utterance of the early gods," or could pour forth a string of greek or german compounds, i know not in what words i could do justice to the effect it produced upon me. this wondrous mask measures about two feet and a half in height;[ ] the colossal features, and i may add, the colossal expression, grand without exaggeration--so awfully vast, and yet so gloriously beautiful; the full rich lips curled with disdain--the mighty wings overshadowing the knit and tortured brow--the madness in the large dilated eyes--the wreathing and recoiling snakes, came upon me like something supernatural, and impressed me at once with astonishment, horror, and admiration. i was quite unprepared for what i beheld. as i stood before it my mind seemed to elevate and enlarge itself to admit this new vision of grandeur. nothing but the two fates in the elgin marbles, and the torso of the vatican, ever affected me with the same inexpressible sense of the sublime: and this is not a fragment of some grand mystery, of which the remainder has been "to night and chaos hurled;" it is entire, in admirable preservation, and the workmanship as perfect as the conception is magnificent. i know not if it would have affected another in the same manner. for me, the ghastly allegory of the medusa has a peculiar fascination. i confess that i have never wholly understood it, nor have any of the usual explanations satisfied me; it appears to me, that the greeks, in thus blending the extremes of loveliness and terror, had a meaning, a purpose, more than is dreamt of by our philosophy. medon. but, how came this wonderful relic to cologne, of all places in the world? alda. it stopped there on its road to england. medon. by what perverse destiny?--was it avarice on our part, or force or fraud on that of others? alda. it was, as desdemona says, "our wretched fortune:" but the story, with all its circumstances, does so much honour to human nature, that it has half reconciled me to our loss. you must have heard of professor wallraf of cologne, one of the canons of the cathedral, who, with his professorship and his canonship together, may have possessed from five to seven hundred francs a year. he was one of those wonderful and universal scholars, of whom we read in former times--men who concentrated all their powers and passions, and intellectual faculties, in the acquirement and advancement of knowledge, without any selfish aim or object, and from the mere abstract love of science. early in life this man formed the resolution to remove from his native city the reproach of self-satisfied ignorance and monastic prejudices, which had hitherto characterized it; and in the course of a long existence of labour and privation, as professor and teacher, he contrived to collect together books, manuscripts, pictures, gems, works of art, and objects of natural history, to an immense amount. in the year , on recovering from a dangerous illness, he presented his whole collection to his native city; and the magistracy, in return, bestowed on him a pension of three thousand francs for the remainder of his life. he was then more than seventy. about the same time a dealer in antiquities arrived from rome, bringing with him this divine medusa, with various other busts and fragments: he was on his way to england, where he hoped to dispose of them. he asked for his whole collection twelve thousand francs, and refused to sell any part of it separately. the city refused to make the purchase, thinking it too dear, and wallraf, in despair at the idea of this glorious relic being consigned to other lands, mortgaged his yearly pension in order to raise the money, purchased the medusa, presented it to the city, and then cheerfully resumed his accustomed life of self-denial and frugality. his only dread was lest he should die before the period was expired. he lived, however, to pay off his debt, and in three months afterwards he died.[ ] was not this admirable? the first time i saw the medusa i did not know this anecdote; the second time, as i looked at it, i thought of wallraf, and felt how much a moral interest can add to the charm of what is in itself most perfect. medon. i will certainly make a pilgrimage to this medusa. she must be worth all the eleven thousand virgins together. what next? alda. instead of embarking in the steam-boat, we posted along the left bank of the rhine, spending a few days at bonn, at godesberg, and at ehrenbreitstein; but i should tell you, as you allow me to diverge, that on my second journey, i owed much to a residence of some weeks at bonn. there i became acquainted with the celebrated schlegel, or i should rather say, m. le chevalier de schlegel, for i believe his titles and his "starry honours" are not indifferent to him; and in truth he wears them very gracefully. i was rather surprised to find in this sublime and eloquent critic, this awful scholar, whose comprehensive mind has grasped the whole universe of art, a most agreeable, lively, social being. of the judgments passed on him in his own country, i know little, and understand less; i am not deep in german literary polemics. to me he was the author of the lectures on "dramatic literature," and the translator of shakspeare, and, moreover, all that was amiable and polite: and was not this enough? medon. enough for you, certainly; but, i believe that at this time schlegel would rather found his fame on being one of the greatest oriental critics of the age, than on being the interpreter of the beauties of calderon and shakspeare. alda. i believe so; but for my own part, i would rather hear him talk of romeo and juliet, and of madame de staël, than of the ramayana, the bhagvat-gita, or even the "eastern con-fut-zee." this, of course, is only a proof of my own ignorance. conversation may be compared to a lyre with seven chords--philosophy, art, poetry, politics, love, scandal, and the weather. there are some professors, who, like paganini, "can discourse most eloquent music" upon one string only; and some who can grasp the whole instrument, and with a master's hand sound it from the top to the bottom of its compass. now, schlegel is one of the latter: he can thunder in the bass or caper in the treble; he can be a whole concert in himself. no man can trifle like him, nor, like him, blend in a few hours' converse, the critic, philologist, poet, philosopher, and man of the world--no man narrates more gracefully, nor more happily illustrates a casual thought. he told me many interesting things. "do you know," said he one morning, as i was looking at a beautiful edition of corinne, bound in red morocco, the gift of madame de staël; "do you know that i figure in that book?" i asked eagerly in what character? he bid me guess. i guessed playfully, the comte d'erfeuil. "no! no!" said he, laughing, "i am immortalized in the prince castel-forte, the faithful, humble, unaspiring, friend of corinne." medon. to any man but schlegel, such an immortality were worth a life. nay, there is no man, though his fame extended to the ends of the earth, whom the pen of madame de staël could not honour. alda. he seemed to think so, and i liked him for the self-complacency with which he twined her little myrtle leaf with his own palmy honours. nor did he once refer to what i believe every body knows, her obligations to him in her de l'allemagne. medon. apropos--do tell me what is the general opinion of that book among the germans themselves. alda. i think they do not judge it fairly. some speak of it as eloquent, but superficial:[ ] others denounce it altogether as a work full of mistakes and flippant, presumptuous criticism: others again affect to speak of it, and even of madame de staël herself, as things of another era, quite gone by and forgotten; this appeared to me too ridiculous. they forget, or do not know, what _we_ know, that her de l'allemagne was the first book which awakened in france and england a lively and general interest in german art and literature. it is now five-and-twenty years since it was published. the march of opinion, and criticism, and knowledge of every kind, has been so rapid, that much has become old which then was new; but this does not detract from its merit. once or twice i tried to convince my german friends that they were exceedingly ungrateful in abusing madame de staël, but it was all in vain; so i sat swelling with indignation to hear my idol traduced, and called--o profanation!-- "_cette staël_." medon. but do you think the germans could at all appreciate or understand such a phenomenon as madame de staël must have appeared in those days? she whisked through their skies like a meteor, before they could bring the telescope of their wits to a right focus for observation. how she must have made them open their eyes!--and you see in the correspondence between goethe and schiller what _they_ thought of her. alda. yes, i know that with her lively egotism and parisian volubility, she stunned schiller and teased goethe: but while our estimate of _manner_ may be allowed to be relative and comparative, our estimate of _character_ should be positive and abstract. madame de staël was in manner the frenchwoman, accustomed to be the cynosure of a salon, but she was not ridiculous or egoiste in character. she was, to use schlegel's expression, "femme grande et magnanime jusque dans les replis de son âme." the best proof is the very spirit in which she viewed germany, in spite of all her natural and national prejudices. to apply your own expression, she went forth, in the spirit of peace, and brought back, not only an olive leaf, but a whole tree, and it has flourished. she had a universal mind. i believe she never thought, and still less _made_, any one ridiculous in her life.[ ] at bonn much of my time was spent in intimate and almost hourly intercourse with two friends, one of whom i have already mentioned to you--a rare creature!--the other, who was herself the daughter of a distinguished authoress,[ ] was one of the most generally accomplished women i ever met with. opposed to each other in the constitution of their minds--in all their views of literature and art, and all their experience of life--in their tastes, and habits, and feelings--yet mutually appreciating each other: both were distinguished by talents of the highest order and by great originality of character, and both were german, and very essentially _german_: english society and english education would never have produced two such women. their conversation prepared me to form correct ideas of what i was to see and hear, and guarded me against the mistakes and hasty conclusions of vivacious travellers. at bonn i also saw, for the first time, a specimen of the fresco painting, lately revived in germany with such brilliant success. by command of the prussian board of education the hall of the university of bonn is to be painted in fresco, and the work has been entrusted to c. hermann, götzenberger, and förster--all, i believe, pupils of cornelius. the three sides of the hall are to represent the three faculties--theology, jurisprudence, and philosophy; the first of these is finished, and here is an engraving of it. you see theology is throned in the centre. the four evangelists, with st. peter and st. paul, stand on the steps of the throne; around her are the fathers and doctors of the church, and (which is the chief novelty of the composition) grouped together with a very liberal disregard to all religious differences; for there you see pope gregory, and ignatius loyola, and st. bernard, and abelard, and dante; and here we have luther, and melanchthon, and calvin, and wickliff, and huss. on the opposite side of the hall, philosophy, under which head are comprised all science, poetry, and art, is represented surrounded by the great poets, philosophers, and artists, from homer, aristotle, and phideas, down to shakspeare, raffaelle, goethe, and kant. jurisprudence, which is not begun, is to occupy the third side. the cartoons pleased me better than the paintings, for the drawing and grouping are really fine; but the execution struck me as somewhat hard and mannered. i shall have much to say hereafter of the fresco painting in germany; for the present, proceed we on our journey. tell me, had you a full moon while you were on the rhine? medon. truly, i forget. alda. then you had _not_; for it would so have blended with your recollections, that as a circumstance it could not have been forgotten; and take my advice, when next you are off on your annual flight, consult the calendar, and propitiate the fairest of all the fair existences of heaven to give you the light of her countenance. if you never took a solitary ramble, or, what is better, a _tête-à-tête_ drive through the villages and vineyards between bonn and plittersdorf, when the moon hung over the drachenfels, when the undulating outlines of the seven mountains seemed to dissolve into the skies, and the rhine was spread out at their feet like a lake--so ample, and so still;--if you have never seen the stars shine through the ruined arch of the rolandseck, and the height of godesberg, with its single giant tower, stand out of the plain,--black, and frowning against the silvery distance, then you have not beheld one of the loveliest landscapes ever presented to a thoughtful worshipper of nature. there is a story, too, connected with the ruins of godesberg:--one of those fine tragedies of real life, which distance all fiction. it is not so popular as the celebrated legend of the brave roland, and his cloistered love; but it is at least as authentic. you know that, according to tradition, the castle of godesberg was founded by julian the apostate; another, and a more interesting apostate, was the cause of its destruction. gerard[ ] de truchses, count waldbourg, who was archbishop and elector of cologne in , scandalized his see, and all the roman catholic powers, by turning protestant. according to himself, his conversion was owing to "the goodness of god, who had revealed to him the darkness and the errors of popery;" but according to his enemies, it was owing to his love for the beautiful agnes de mansfeld, canoness of gersheim; she was a daughter of one of the greatest protestant houses in germany; and her two brothers, bigoted calvinists, and jealous of the honour of their family, conceived themselves insulted by the public homage which a catholic priest, bound by his vows, dared to pay to their sister. they were yet more incensed on discovering that the love was mutual, and loudly threatened vengeance to both. gerard renounced the catholic faith, and the lovers were united. he was excommunicated and degraded, of course; but he insisted on his right to retain his secular dominions and privileges, and refused to resign the electorate, which the emperor, meantime, had awarded to ernest of bavaria, bishop of liege. the contest became desperate. the whole of that beautiful and fertile plain, from the walls of cologne to the godesberg, grew "familiar with bloodshed as the morn with dew;" and gerard displayed qualities which showed him more fitted to win and wear a bride, than to do honour to any priestly vows of sanctity and temperance. attacked on all sides,--by his subjects, who had learned to detest him as an apostate, by the infuriated clergy, and by the duke of bavaria, who had brought an army to enforce his brother's claims,--he carried on the struggle for five years, and at last, reduced to extremity, threw himself, with a few faithful friends, into the castle of godesberg. after a brave defence, the castle was stormed and taken by the bavarians, who left it nearly in the state we now see it--a heap of ruins. gerard escaped with his wife, and fled to holland, where maurice, prince of orange, granted him an asylum. thence he sent his beautiful and devoted wife to the court of queen elizabeth, to claim a former promise of protection, and supplicate her aid, as the great support of the protestant cause, for the recovery of his rights. he could not have chosen a more luckless ambassadress; for agnes, though her beauty was somewhat impaired by the persecutions and anxieties which had followed her ill-fated union, was yet most lovely and stately, in all the pride of womanhood; and her misfortunes and her charms, as well as the peculiar circumstances of her marriage, excited the enthusiasm of all the english chivalry. unhappily the earl of essex was among the first to espouse her cause with all the generous warmth of his character, and his visits to her were so frequent, and his admiration so indiscreet, that elizabeth's jealousy was excited even to fury. agnes was first driven from the court, and then ordered to quit the kingdom. she took refuge in the netherlands, where she died soon afterwards; and gerard, who never recovered his dominions, retired to strasbourg, where he died. so ends this sad eventful history, which, methinks, would make a very pretty romance. the tower of godesberg, lasting as their love and ruined as their fortunes, still remains one of the most striking monuments in that land, where almost every hill is crowned with its castle, and every castle has its tale of terror, or of love.[ ] another beautiful picture, which, merely as a picture, has dwelt on my remembrance, was the city of coblentz and the fort of ehrenbreitstein, as viewed from the bridge of boats under a cloudless moon. the city, with its fantastic steeples and masses of building, relieved against the clear deep blue of the summer sky--the lights which sparkled in the windows reflected in the broad river, and the various forms and tall masts of the craft anchored above and opposite--the huge hill, with its tiara of fortifications, which, in the sunshine and in the broad day, had disappointed me by its formality, now seen under the soft moonlight, as its long lines of architecture and abrupt angles were projected in brightness or receded in shadow, had altogether a most sublime effect. but _apropos_ to moonlights and pictures--of all the enchanted and enchanting scenes ever lighted by the full round moon, give me heidelberg! not the colosseum of rome--neither in itself, nor yet in lord byron's description, and i have both by heart--can be more grand; and in moral interest, in poetical associations, in varying and wondrous beauty, the castle of heidelberg has the advantage. in the course of many visits, heidelberg became to me familiar as the face of a friend, and its remembrance still "haunts me as a passion." i have known it under every changeful aspect which the seasons, and the hours, and the changeful moods of my own mind, could lend it. i have seen it when the sun, rising over the geisberg, first kindled the vapours as they floated away from the old towers, and when the ivy and the wreathed verdure on the walls sparkled with dewy light: and i have seen it when its huge black masses stood against the flaming sunset; and its enormous shadow, flung down the chasm beneath, made it night there, while daylight lingered around and above. i have seen it when mantled in all the bloom and foliage of summer, and when the dead leaves were heaped on the paths, and choked the entrance to many a favourite nook. i have seen it when crowds of gay visitors flitted along its ruined terraces,[ ] and music sounded near; and with friends, whose presence endeared every pleasure; and i have walked alone round its desolate precincts, with no companions but my own sad and troubled thoughts. i have seen it when clothed in calm and glorious moonlight. i have seen it when the winds rushed shrieking through its sculptured halls, and when grey clouds came rolling down the mountains, folding it in their ample skirts from the view of the city below. and what have i seen to liken to it by night or by day, in storm or in calm, in summer or in winter! then its historical and poetical associations-- medon. there now!--will you not leave the picture, perfect as it is, and not for ever seek in every object something more than is there? alda. i do not seek it--i find it. you will say--i have _heard_ you say--that heidelberg wants no beauty unborrowed of the eye; but if history had not clothed it in recollections, fancy must have invested it in its own dreams. it is true, that it is a mere modern edifice compared with all the classic, and most of the gothic ruins; yet over heidelberg there hangs a terror and a mystery peculiar to itself: for the mind which acquiesces in decay, recoils from destruction. here ruin and desolation make mocks with luxurious art and gay magnificence. here it is not the equal, gradual power of time, adorning and endearing what yet it spares not, which has wrought this devastation, but savage war and elemental rage. twice blasted by the thunderbolt, three times consumed by fire, ten times ravaged, plundered, desecrated by foes, and at last dismantled and abandoned by its own princes, it is still strong to endure and mighty to resist all that time, and war, and the elements may do against it--and, mutilated rather than decayed, may still defy centuries. the very anomalies of architecture and fantastic incongruities of this fortress-palace, are to me a fascination. here are startling and terrific contrasts. that huge round tower--the tower of frederic the victorious--now "deep trenched with thunder fires," looks as if built by the titans or the huns; and those delicate sculptures in the palace of otho-henry, as if the genius of raffaelle or correggio had breathed on the stone. what flowing grace of outline! what luxuriant life! what endless variety and invention in those half-defaced fragments! these are the work of italian artists, whose very names have perished;--all traces of their existence and of their destinies so utterly lost, that one might almost believe, with the peasantry, that these exquisite remains are not the work of mortal hands, but of fairies and spirits of air, evoked to do the will of an enchanter. the old palatines, the lords of heidelberg, were a magnificent and magnanimous race. louis iii., frederic the victorious, frederic ii., otho-henry, were all men who had stepped in advance of their age. they could think as well as fight, in days when fighting, not thinking, was the established fashion among potentates and people. a liberal and enlightened spirit, and a love of all the arts that humanise mankind, seem to have been hereditary in this princely family. frederic i. lay under the suspicion of heresy and sorcery, in consequence of his tolerant opinions, and his love of mathematics and astronomy. his personal prowess, and the circumstance of his never having been vanquished in battle, gave rise to the report, that he was assisted by evil demons; and for years, both before and after his accession, he was under the ban of the secret tribunal. heidelberg was the scene of some of the mysterious attacks on his life, but they were constantly frustrated by the fidelity of his friends, and the watchful love of his wife. it was at heidelberg this prince celebrated a festival, renowned in german history, and, for the age in which it occurred, most extraordinary. he invited to a banquet all the factious barons whom he had vanquished at seckingen, and who had previously ravaged and laid waste great part of the palatinate. among them were the bishop of metz and the margrave of baden. the repast was plentiful and luxurious, but there was no bread. the warrior guests looked round with surprise and inquiry. "do you ask for bread?" said frederic, sternly; "you, who have wasted the fruits of the earth, and destroyed those whose industry cultivates it? there is no bread. eat and be satisfied; and learn henceforth mercy to those who put the bread into your mouths." a singular lesson from the lips of an iron-clad warrior of the middle ages. it was frederic ii. and his nephew otho-henry, who enriched the library, then the first in europe next to the vatican, with treasures of learning, and who invited painters and sculptors from italy to adorn their noble palace with the treasures of art. in less than one hundred years those beautiful creations were defaced or utterly destroyed, and all the memorials and records of their authors are supposed to have perished at the time when the ruthless tilly stormed the castle, and the archives and part of the library of precious mss. were taken to litter his dragoons' horses, during a transient scarcity of straw.[ ]--you groan! medon. the anecdote is not new to me; but i was thinking, at the moment, of a pretty phrase in the letters of the prince de ligne, "la guerre--c'est un malheur--mais c'est le plus beau des malheurs." alda. o if there be any thing more terrific, more disgusting, than war and its consequences, it is that perversion of all human intellect--that depravation of all human feeling--that contempt or misconception of every christian precept, which has permitted the great, and the good, and the tenderhearted, to admire war as a splendid game--a part of the poetry of life--and to defend it as a glorious evil, which the very nature and passions of man have ever rendered, and will ever render, necessary and inevitable. perhaps the idea of human suffering--though when we think of it in detail it makes the blood curdle--is not so bad as the general loss to humanity, the interruption to the progress of thought in the destruction of the works of wisdom or genius. listen to this magnificent sentence out of the volume now lying open before me--"who kills a man, kills a reasonable creature--god's image; but he who destroys a good book, kills reason itself. many a man lives a burthen to the earth, but a good book is the precious life-blood of a master-spirit embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life. it is true, no age can restore a life, whereof perhaps there is no great loss: and revolutions of ages do not oft recover the loss of rejected truth, for the want of which whole nations fare the worse; therefore we should be wary how we spill the seasoned life of man preserved and stored up in books." medon. "methinks we do know the fine roman hand." milton, is it not? alda. yes; and after this, think of milton's areopagitica, or his paradise lost, under the hoofs of tilly's dragoon horses, or feeding the fishes in the baltic! it might have happened had he written in germany instead of england. medon. do you forget that the cause of the thirty years war was a woman? alda. a woman and religion; the two best or worst things in the world, according as they are understood and felt, used and abused. you allude to elizabeth of bohemia, who was to heidelberg what helen was to troy? one of the most interesting monuments of heidelberg, at least to an english traveller, is the elegant triumphal arch raised by the palatine frederic v. in honour of his bride--this very elizabeth stuart. i well remember with what self-complacency and enthusiasm our chef walked about in a heavy rain, examining, dwelling upon every trace of this celebrated and unhappy woman. she had been educated at his country-seat, and one of the avenues of his magnificent park yet bears her name. on her fell a double portion of the miseries of her fated family. she had the beauty and the wit, the gay spirits, the elegant tastes, the kindly disposition, of her grandmother, mary of scotland. her very virtues as a wife and a woman, not less than her pride and feminine prejudices, ruined herself, her husband, and her people. when frederick hesitated to accept the crown of bohemia, his high-hearted wife exclaimed--"let me rather eat dry bread at a king's table than feast at the board of an elector;" and it seemed as if some avenging demon hovered in the air, to take her literally at her word, for she and her family lived to eat dry bread--aye, and to beg it before they ate it; but she _would_ be a queen. blest as she was in love, in all good gifts of nature and fortune, in all means of happiness, a kingly crown was wanting to complete her felicity, and it was cemented to her brow with the blood of two millions of men. and who was to blame? was not her mode of thinking the fashion of her time, the effect of her education? who had "put in her tender heart the aspiring flame of golden sovereignty?" for how many ages will you men exclaim against the mischiefs and miseries, caused by the influence of women; thus allowing the influence, yet taking no thought how to make that influence a means of good, instead of an instrument of evil! elizabeth had brought with her from england some luxurious tastes, as yet unknown in the palatinate; she had been familiarized with the dramas of shakspeare and fletcher, and she had figured in the masques of ben jonson. to gratify her, frederic added to the castle of heidelberg the theatre and banqueting-room, and all that beautiful group of buildings at the western angle, the ruins of which are still called the _english palace_. she had inherited from her grandmother, or had early imbibed from education, a love of nature and of amusements in the open air, and a passion for gardening; and it was to please her, and under her auspices, that frederic planned those magnificent gardens, which were intended to unite within their bounds, all that nature could contribute or art devise; had they been completed, they would have rendered heidelberg a pleasure-palace, fit for fairy-land. nor were those designs unworthy of a prosperous and pacific sovereign, whose treasury was full, whose sway was just and mild, whose people had long enjoyed in tranquillity the fruits of their own industry. when i had the pleasure of spending a few days with the schlossers, at their beautiful seat on the necker, (stift neuburg,) i went over the ground with madame de schlosser, who had seen and studied the original plans. her description of the magnitude and the sumptuous taste of these unfinished designs, while we stood together amid a wilderness of ruins, was a commentary on the vicissitudes of this world, worth fifty moral treatises, and as many sermons. "for in the wreck of is and was, things incomplete and purposes betray'd, make sadder transits o'er truth's mystic glass, than noblest objects utterly decay'd." close to the ruins of poor elizabeth's palace, there where the effigies of her handsome husband, and his bearded ancestor louis v. look down from the ivy-mantled wall, you remember the beautiful terrace towards the west? it is still,--after four centuries of changes, of disasters, of desolation,--the garden of clara. when frederic the victorious assumed the sovereignty, in a moment of danger and faction, he took, at the same time, a solemn vow never to marry, that the rights of his infant nephew, the son of the late palatine, should not be prejudiced, nor the peace of the country endangered by a disputed succession. he kept his oath religiously, but at that very time he loved clara dettin de wertheim, a young girl of plebeian origin, and a native of augsburg, whose musical talents and melody of voice had raised her to a high situation in the court of the late princess palatine. frederick, with the consent of his nephew, was united to clara by a left-hand marriage, an expedient still in use in germany, and, i believe, peculiar to its constitution; such a marriage is valid before god and man, yet the wife has no acknowledged rights, and the offspring no supposed existence. clara is celebrated by the poets and chroniclers of her time, and appears to have been a very extraordinary being in her way. in that age of ignorance, she had devoted herself to study--she could sympathize in her husband's pursuits, and share the toils of government--she collected round her the wisest and most learned men of the time--she continued to cultivate the beautiful voice which had won the heart of frederic, and her song and her lute were always ready to soothe his cares. tradition points out the spot where it is said she loved to meditate, and, looking down upon the little hamlet, on the declivity of the hill, to recall her own humble origin; that little hamlet, embowered in foliage, and the remembrance of clara, have survived the glories of heidelberg. her descendants became princes of the empire, and still exist in the family of lowenstein. then, for those who love the marvellous, there is the wild legend of the witch jetta, who still flits among the ruins, and bathes her golden tresses in the wolfsbrunnen; but why should i tell you of these tales--you, whose head is a sort of black-letter library? medon. true; but it is pleasant to have one's old recollections taken down from their shelves and dusted, and placed in a new light; only do not require, even if i again visit heidelberg, that i should see it as you have beheld it, with your quick spirit of association, and clothed in the hues of your own individual mind. while you speak, it is not so much the places and objects you describe, as their reflection in your own fancy, which i see before me; and every different mind will reflect them under a different aspect. then, where is truth? you say. if we want information as to mere facts--the situation of a town, the measurement of a church, the date of a ruin, the catalogue of a gallery--we can go to our dictionaries and our _guides des voyageurs_. but if, besides form and outline, we must have colouring too, we should remember that every individual mind will paint the scene with its own proper hues; and if we judge of the mind and the objects it represents relatively to each other, we may come at the truth, not otherwise. i would ask nothing of a traveller, but accuracy and sincerity in the expression of his opinions and feelings. i have then a page out of the great book of human nature--the portrait of a particular mind; when that is fairly before me i have a standard by which to judge: i can draw my own inferences. will you not allow that it is possible to visit heidelberg, and to derive the most intense pleasure from its picturesque beauty, without dreaming over witches and warriors, palatines and princes? can we not admire and appreciate the sculpture in the palace of otho-henry, without losing ourselves in vague, wondering reveries over the destinies of the sculptors? alda. yes; but it is amusing, and not less instructive, to observe the manner in which the individual character and pursuits shall modify the impressions of external things; only we should be prepared for this, as the pilot makes allowance for the variation of the needle, and directs his course accordingly. it is a mistake to suppose that those who cannot see the imaginative aspect of things, see, therefore, the only true aspect; they only see one aspect of the truth. _vous étes orfêvre, monsieur josse_, is as applicable to travellers as to every other species of egotist. once, in an excursion to the north, i fell into conversation with a sussex farmer, one of that race of sturdy, rich, and independent english yeomen, of which i am afraid few specimens remain: he was quite a character in his way. i must sketch him for you; but only miss mitford could do him justice. his coat was of the finest broad-cloth; his shirt-frill, in which was stuck a huge agate pin, and his neckcloth, were both white as the snow; his good beaver shone in all its pristine gloss, and an enormous bunch of gold seals adorned his watch-chain; his voice was loud and dictatorial, and his language surprisingly good and flowing, though tinctured with a little coarseness and a few provincialisms. he had made up his mind about the reform bill--the catholic question--the corn laws--and about things in general, and things in particular; he had doubts about nothing: it was evident that he was accustomed to lay down the law in his own village--that he was the tyrant of his own fire-side--that his wife was "his horse, his ox, his ass, his any thing," while his sons went to college, and his daughters played on the piano. london was to him merely a vast congregation of pestilential vapours--a receptacle of thieves, cut-throats and profligates--a place in which no sensible man, who had a care for his life, his health, or his pockets, would willingly set his foot; he thanked god that he never spent but two nights in the metropolis, and at intervals of twenty-seven years: the first night he had passed in the streets, in dread of fire and vermin; and on the last occasion, he had not ventured beyond smithfield. what he did not know, was to him not worth knowing; and the word _french_, which comprised all that was foreign, he used as a term, expressing the most unbounded abhorrence, pity, and contempt. i should add, that though rustic, and arrogant, and prejudiced, he was not vulgar. we were at an inn, on the borders of leicestershire, through which we had both recently travelled; my farmer was enthusiastic in his admiration of the country. "a fine country, madam--a beautiful country--a splendid country!" "do you call it a fine country?" said i, absently, my head full of the alps and appenines, the pyrenean, and the river po. "to be sure i do; and where would you see a finer?" "i did not see any thing very picturesque," said i. "_picturesque!_" he repeated with some contempt; "i don't know what _you_ call picturesque; but _i_ say, give me a soil, that when you turn it up you have something for your pains; the fine soil makes the fine country, madam!" sketches of art, literature and character. ii. medon. i observed the other evening, that in making a sort of imaginative bound from coblentz to heidelberg, you either skipped over frankfort, or left it on one side. alda. did i?--if i had done _either_, in my heart or my memory, i had been most ungrateful; but i thought you knew frankfort well. medon. i was there for two days, on my way to switzerland, and it rained the whole time from morning till night. i have a vision in my mind of dirty streets, chilly houses, dull shops, dingy-looking jews, dripping umbrellas, luxurious hotels, and exorbitant charges,--and this is all i can recollect of frankfort. alda. indeed!--i pity you. to me it was associated only with pleasant feelings, and, in truth, it is a pleasant place. life, there, appears in a very attractive costume: not in a half-holiday, half-beggarly garb, as at rome and naples; nor in a thin undress of superficial decency as at berlin; nor in a court domino, hiding, we know not what--as at vienna and munich; nor half motley, half military, as at paris; nor in rags and embroidery, as in london; but at frankfort all the outside at least is fair, substantial, and consistent. the shops vie in splendour with those of london and paris; the principal streets are clean, the houses spacious and airy, and there is a general appearance of cheerfulness and tranquillity, mingled with the luxury of wealth and the bustle of business, which, after the misery, and murmuring, and bitterness of faction, we had left in london, was really a relief to the spirits. it is true, that during my last two visits, this apparent tranquillity concealed a good deal of political ferment. the prisons were filled with those unfortunate wretches who had endeavoured to excite a popular tumult against the prussian and austrian governments. the trials were going forward every day, but not a syllable of the result transpired beyond the walls of the römer saal. although the most reasonable and liberal of the citizens agreed in condemning the rashness and folly of these young men, the tide of feeling was evidently in their favour: for instance, it was not the _fashion_ to invite the prussian officers, and i well remember that when goethe's egmont was announced at the theatre, it was forbidden by the magistracy, from a fear that certain scenes and passages in that play might call forth some open and decided expression of the public feeling; in fact, only a few evenings before, some passages in the massaniello had been applied and applauded by the audience, in a manner so _ill-bred_, that the wife of one of the ministers of the holy alliance, rose and left her box, followed by some other old women,--male and female. the theatre is rather commodious than splendid; the established company, both for the opera and the regular drama, excellent, and often varied by temporary visits of great actors and singers from the other theatres of germany. on my first visit to frankfort, which was during the fair of , paganini, then in the zenith of his glory, was giving a series of concerts; but do not ask me any thing about him, for it is a worn-out subject, and you know i am not one of the enthusiastic, or even the orthodox, with regard to his merits. medon. you do not mean--you will not tell me--that with all your love of music, you were insensible to the miraculous powers of that man? alda. i suppose they were miraculous, as i heard every one say so round me; but i listened to him as to any other musician, for the sake of the pleasure to be derived from music, not for the sake of wondering at difficulties overcome, and impossibilities made possible--they might have remained impossibilities for me. but insensible i was _not_ to the wondrous charm of his tone and expression. i was thrilled, melted, excited, at the moment, but it left no relish on the palate, if i may use the expression. to throw me into such _convulsions_ of enthusiasm, as i saw this man excite here and on the continent, i must have the orchestra with all its various mingling world of sound, or the _divine_ human voice breathing music and passion together; but this is a matter of feeling, habit, education, like all other tastes in art. i think it was during our third visit to frankfort that madame haitzinger-neumann was playing the _gast-rolles_, for so they courteously denominate the parts filled by occasional visitors, to whom, as guests, the precedence is always given. madame haitzinger is the wife of haitzinger, the tenor singer, who was in london, and sung in the fidelio, with madame devrient-schroeder. she is one of the most celebrated actresses in germany for light comedy, if any comedy in germany can be called light, in comparison with the same style of acting in france or england. her figure is rather large-- medon. like most of the german actresses--for i never yet saw one who had attained to celebrity, who was not much too _embonpoint_ for our ideas of a youthful or sentimental heroine-- alda. not devrient-schroeder? medon. devrient is all impassioned grace; but i think that in time even _she_ will be in danger of becoming a little--how shall i express it with sufficient delicacy?--a _little_ too substantial. alda. no, not if a soul of music and fire, informing a feverish, excitable temperament, which is to the mantling spirit within, what the high-pitched instrument is to the breeze which sweeps over its chords,--not if these can avert the catastrophe; but what if you had seen mademoiselle lindner, with a figure like mrs. liston's--all but spherical--enacting fenella and clärchen? medon. i should have said, that only a german imagination could stand it! it is one of madame de staël's clever aphorisms, that on the stage, "il faut menager les caprices des yeux avec le plus grand scrupule, car ils peuvent detruire, sans appel tout effet sérieux;" but the germans do not appear to be subject to these _caprices des yeux_; and have not these fastidious scruples about corporeal grace; for them sentiment, however clumsy, is still sentiment. perhaps they are in the right. alda. and mademoiselle lindner _has_ sentiment; she must have been a fine actress, and is evidently a favourite with the audience. but to return to madame haitzinger;--she is handsome, with a fair complexion, and no very striking expression; but there is a heart and soul, and mellowness in her acting, which is delicious. i could not give you an idea of her manner by a comparison with any of our english actresses, for she is essentially german; she never aimed at making points; she was never broadly arch or comic, but the general effect was as rich as it was true to nature. i saw her in some of her favourite parts: in the comedy of "stille wasser sind tief;" (our rule a wife and have a wife, admirably adapted to the german stage by schroeder;) in the "mirandolina," (the famous locandiera of goldoni,) and in the pretty lively vaudeville composed for her by holtei, "die wiener in berlin," in which the popular waltzes and airs, sung in the genuine national spirit, and enjoyed by the audience with a true national zest, delighted us _foreigners_. herr becker is an excellent actor in tragedy and high comedy. of their singers i could not say so much--there were none i should account first-rate, except dobler, whom you may remember in england. one of the most delightful peculiarities of frankfort, one that most struck my fancy, is the public garden, planted on the site of the ramparts; a girdle of verdure and shade--of trees and flowers circling the whole city; accessible to all and on every side,--the promenade of the rich, the solace of the poor. fifty men are employed to keep it in order, and it is forbidden to steal the flowers, or to kill the singing birds which haunt the shrubberies. medon. and does this prohibition avail much in a population of sixty thousand persons? alda. it does generally. a short time before we arrived some mischievous wretch had shot a nightingale, and was caught in the fact. his punishment was characteristic; his hands were tied behind him, and a label setting forth his crime was fixed on his breast: in this guise, with a police officer on each side, he was marched all round the gardens, and made the circuit of the city, pursued by the hisses of the populace and the abhorrent looks of the upper classes; he was not otherwise punished, but he never again made his appearance within the walls of the city. this was the only instance which i could learn of the infraction of a law which might seem at least nugatory. of the spacious, magnificent, well-arranged cemetery, its admirable apparatus for restoring suspended animation, and all its beautiful accompaniments and memorials of the dead, there was a long account published in london, at the time that a cemetery was planned for this great overgrown city; and in truth i know not where we could find a better model than the one at frankfort; it appeared to me perfection. the institutions at frankfort, both for charity and education, are numerous as becomes a rich and free city; and those i had an opportunity of examining appeared to me admirably managed. besides the orphan schools, and the burger schule, and the school for female education, established and maintained by the wives of the citizens, there are several infant schools, where children of a year old and upwards are nursed, and fed, and kept out of mischief and harm, while their parents are at work. these are also maintained by subscription among the ladies, who take upon them in turns the task of daily superintendence; and i shall not easily forget the gentle-looking, elegant, well-dressed girl, who, defended from the encroachments of dirty little paws by a large apron, sat in the midst of a swarm of thirty or forty babies, (the eldest not four years old,) the very personification of feminine charity! but the hospital for the infirm poor--das versorgung haus--pleased me particularly; 'tis true, that the cost was not a third--what do i say? not a sixth of the expense of some of our institutions for the same purpose. there was no luxury of architecture, nor huge gates shutting in wretchedness, and shutting out hope; nor grated windows; nor were the arrangements on so large a scale as in that splendid edifice, the hopital des vieillards, at brussels;--a house for the poor need not be either a prison or a palace. but here, i recollect, the door opened with a latch; we entered unannounced, as unexpected. here there was perfect neatness, abundance of space, of air, of light, of water, and also of occupation. i found that, besides the inmates of the place, many poor old creatures, who could not have the facilities or materials for work in their own dwellings, or whose relatives were busied in the daytime, might find here employment of any kind suited to their strength or capacity,--for which, observe, they were paid; thus leaving them to the last possible moment the feeling of independence and usefulness. i observed that many of those who seemed in the last stage of decrepitude had hung round their beds sundry little prints and pictures, and slips of paper, on which were written legibly, texts from scripture, moral sentences, and scraps of poetry. the ward of the superannuated and the sick was at a distance from the working and eating rooms; and all breathed around that peace and quiet which should accompany old age, instead of that "life-consuming din" i _have_ heard in such places. on the pillow of one bed, there was laid by some chance a bouquet of flowers. in this ward there was an old man nearly blind and lethargic; another old man was reading to him. i remarked a poor bed-ridden woman, utterly helpless, but not old, and with good and even refined features; and another poor woman, seated by her, was employed in keeping the flies from settling on her face. to one old woman, whose countenance struck me, i said a few words in english--i could speak no german, unluckily. she took my hand, kissed it, and turning away, burst into tears. no one asked for any thing even by a look, nor apparently wanted any thing; and i felt that from the unaffected good-nature of the lady who accompanied us, we had not so much the appearance of coming to look at the poor inmates as of paying them a kind visit;--and this was as it should be. the mild, open countenances of the two persons who managed the establishment, pleased me particularly; and the manner of the matron superintendent, as she led us over the rooms, was so simple and kind, that i was quite at ease: i experienced none of that awkward shyness and reluctance i have felt when ostentatiously led over such places in england--feeling ashamed to stare upon the misery i could not cure. in such cases i have probably attributed to the sufferers a delicacy or a sensibility, long blunted, if ever possessed; but i was in pain for them and for myself. one thing more: there was a neat chapel; and we were shown with some pride the only piece of splendour in the establishment. the communion plate of massy silver was the gift of two brothers, who had married on the same day two sisters; and these two sisters had died nearly at the same time--i believe it was actually on the same day. the widowed husbands presented this plate in memory of their loss and the virtues of their wives; and i am sorry i did not copy the simple and affecting inscription in which this is attested. there was also a silver vase, which had been presented as an offering by a poor miller whom an unexpected legacy had raised to independence. i might give you similar sketches of other institutions, here and elsewhere, but i did not bestow sufficient attention on the practical details, and the comparative merits of the different methods adopted, to render my observations useful. though deeply interested, as any feeling, thinking being must be on such subjects, i have not studied them sufficiently. there are others, however, who are doing this better than i could:--blessings be on them, and eternal praise!--my general impression was, pleasure from the benevolence and simplicity of heart with which these institutions were conducted and superintended, and wonder, not to be expressed, at their extreme cheapness. the day preceding my visit to the versorgung haus, i had been in a fever of indignation at the fate of poor r----, one of the conspirators, who had become insane from the severity of his confinement. i had descanted with great complacency on our open tribunals and our trials by jury, and yet i could not help thinking to myself, "well, if _we_ have not their state-prisons, neither have _they_ our poor-houses!" medon. it is plain that the rich, charitable, worldly prosperous, self-seeking, frankfort, would be your chosen residence after all! alda. no--as a fixed residence i should not prefer frankfort. there is a little too much of the pride of purse--too much of the aristocracy of wealth--too much dressing and dinnering--and society is too much broken up into sets and circles to please me: besides, it must be confessed, that the arts do not flourish in this free imperial city. the städel museum was opened just before our last visit to frankfort. a rich banker of that name bequeathed, in , his collection of prints and pictures, and nearly a million and a half of florins, for the commencement and maintenance of this institution, and they have certainly begun on a splendid scale. the edifice in which the collection is arranged is spacious, fitted up with great cost, and generally with great taste, except the ceilings, which, being the glory and admiration of the good people of frankfort, i must endeavour to describe to you particularly. the elaborate beauty of the arabesque ornaments, their endless variety, and the vivid colouring and gilding, reminded me of some of the illuminated manuscripts; but i was rather amused than pleased, and rather surprised to see art and ornament so misplaced--invention, labour, money, time, lavished to so little purpose. no effect was aimed at--none produced. the strained and wearied eye wandered amid a profusion of unmeaning forms, and of gorgeous colours, which never harmonized into a whole: and after i had half broken my neck by looking up at them through an opera glass, in order to perceive the elegant interlacing of the minute patterns and exquisite finish of the workmanship, i turned away laughing and provoked, and wondering at such a strange perversion, or rather sacrifice, of taste. medon. but the collection itself?-- alda. it is not very interesting. it contains some curious old german pictures; städel having been, like others, smitten with the mania of buying van eyks and hemlings and schoréels. here, however, these old masters, as part of a school, or history of art, are well placed. there are a few fine flemish paintings--and, in particular, a wondrous portrait by flinck, which you must see. it is a lady in black, on the left side of the door--of--i forget which room--but you cannot miss it: those soft eyes will look out at you, till you will feel inclined to ask her name, and wonder the lips do not unclose to answer you. of first-rate pictures there are none--i mean none of the historical and italian schools: the collection of casts from the antique is splendid and well-selected. medon. but bethmann, the banker, had already set an example of munificent patronage of art: when he shamed kings, for instance, by purchasing dannecker's ariadne--one of the chief lions of frankfort, if fame says true. alda. how! have you not seen it? medon. no--unhappily. the weather, as i have told you, was dreadful. i was discouraged--i procrastinated. that flippant observation i had read in some english traveller, that "dannecker's ariadne looked as if it had been cut out of old stilton cheese," was floating in my mind. in short, i was careless, as we often are, when the means of gratifying curiosity appear secure, and within our reach. i repent me now. i wish i had settled to my own satisfaction, and with mine own eyes, the disputed merits of this famous statue; but i will trust to you. it ought to be something admirable. i do not know much of dannecker, or his works, but by all accounts he has not to complain of the want of patronage. to him cannot be applied the pathetic common-place, so familiar in the mouths of our young artists, about "chill penury," the struggle to live, the cares that "freeze the genial current of the soul," the efforts of unassisted genius, and so forth. want never came to him since he devoted himself to art. he appears to have had leisure and freedom to give full scope to his powers, and to work out his own creations. alda. had he? had he indeed? his own story would be different, i fancy. dannecker, like every patronized artist i ever met with, would execrate patronage if he dared. good old man! the thought of what he might have done, and could have done, breaks out sometimes in the midst of all his self-complacent _naïve_ exultation over what he _has_ done. i will endeavour to give you a correct idea of the ariadne, and then i will tell you something of dannecker himself. his history is a good commentary upon royal patronage. i had heard so much of this statue, that my curiosity was strongly excited. a part of its fame may be owing to its situation, and the number of travellers who go to visit bethmann's museum, as a matter of course. i used to observe that all travellers, who were on the road to italy, praised it, and all who were on their way home criticised it. as i ascended the steps of the pavilion in which it is placed, the enthusiasm of expectation faded away from my mind: i said to myself, "i shall be disappointed!"--yet i was not disappointed. the ariadne occupied the centre of a cabinet, hung with a dark grey colour, and illuminated by a high lateral window, so that the light and shade, and the relief of the figure, were perfectly well managed and effective. dannecker has not represented ariadne in her more poetical and picturesque character, as, when betrayed and forsaken by theseus, she stood alone on the wild shore of naxos, "her hair blown by the winds, and all about her expressing desolation." it is ariadne, immortal and triumphant, as the bride of bacchus. the figure is larger than life. she is seated, or rather reclined, on the back of a panther. the right arm is carelessly extended: the left arm rests on the head of the animal, and the hand supports the drapery, which appears to have just dropped from her limbs. the head is turned a little upwards, as if she already anticipated her starry home; and her tresses are braided with the vine leaves. the grace and ease of the attitude, so firm, and yet so light; the flowing beauty of the form, and the position of the head, enchanted me. perhaps the features are not sufficiently _greek_: for, though i am not one of those who think all beauty comprised in the antique models, and that nothing can be orthodox but the straight nose and short upper lip, still to ariadne the pure _classical_ ideal of beauty, both in form and face, are properly in character. a cast from that divine head, the greek ariadne, is placed in the same cabinet, and i confess to you, that the contrast being immediately brought before the eye, dannecker's ariadne seemed to want refinement, in comparison. it is true, that the moment chosen by the german sculptor required an expression altogether different. in the greek bust, though already circled by the viny crown, and though all heaven seems to repose on the noble arch of that expanded brow, yet the head is declined, and a tender melancholy lingers round the all-perfect mouth, as if the remembrance of a mortal love--a mortal sorrow--yet shaded her celestial bridal hours, and made pale her immortality. but, dannecker's ariadne is the flushed queen of the bacchante, and, in the clash of the cymbals and the mantling cup, she has already forgotten theseus. there is a look of life, an individual truth in the beauty of the form, which distinguishes it from the long-limbed vapid pieces of elegance called nymphs and venuses, which "stretch their white arms, and bend their marble necks," in the galleries of our modern sculptors. one objection struck me, but not till after a second or third view of the statue. the panther seemed to me rather too bulky and ferocious. it is true, it is not a natural, but a mythological panther, such as we see in the antique basso-relievos, and the arabesques of herculaneum: yet, methinks if he appeared a little more conscious of his lovely burthen, more tamed by the influence of beauty, it would have been better. however, the sculptor may have had a design, a feeling, in this very point, which has escaped me: i regret now that i did not ask him. one thing is certain, that the extreme massiveness of the panther's limbs serves to give a firmness to the support of the figure, and sets off to advantage its lightness and delicacy. it is equally certain that if the head of the animal had been ever so slightly turned, the pose of the right arm, and with it the whole attitude, must have been altered. the window of the cabinet is so contrived, that by drawing up a blind of stained glass, a soft crimson tint is shed over the figure, as if the marble blushed. this did not please me: partly from a dislike to all trickery in art; partly because, to my taste, the pale colourless purity of the marble is one of the beauties of a fine statue. it is true that dannecker has been unfortunate in his material. the block from which he cut his figure is imperfect and streaky; but how it could possibly have suggested the idea of _stilton cheese_ i am at a loss to conceive. it is not worse than canova's venus, in the pitti palace, who has a terrible black streak across her bosom. m. passavant,[ ] who was standing by when i paid my last visit to the ariadne, assured me, that when the statue was placed on its pedestal, about sixteen years ago, these black specks were scarcely visible, and that they seemed to multiply and grow darker with time. this is a lamentable, and, to me, an unaccountable fact. medon. and, i am afraid, past cure: but now tell me something of the sculptor himself. after looking on a grand work of art, we naturally turn to look into the mind which conceived and created it. alda. dannecker, like all the great modern sculptors, sprung from the people. thorwaldson, flaxman, chantrey, canova, schadow, ranch--i believe we may go farther back, to cellini, bandinelli, bernini, pigalle--all i can at this moment recollect, were of plebeian origin. when i was at dresden, i was told of a young count, of noble family, who had adopted sculpture as a profession. this, i think, is a solitary instance of any person of noble birth devoting himself to this noblest of the arts. medon. do you forget mrs. darner and lady dacre? alda. no; but i do not think that either the exquisite modelling of lady dacre, or the meritorious _attempts_ of mrs. damer, come under the head of sculpture in its grand sense. by-the-bye, when horace walpole said that mrs. damer was the first female sculptor who had attained any celebrity, he forgot the greek girl, lala,[ ] and the properzia rossi of modern times. dannecker was born at stuttgardt in . on him descended no hereditary mantle of genius; it was the immediate gift of heaven, and apparently heaven-directed. his father was a groom in the duke's stable, and appears to have been merely an ill-tempered, thick-headed boor. how young dannecker picked up the rudiments of reading and writing, he does not himself remember; nor by what circumstances the bent of his fancy and genius was directed to the fine arts. like other great men, who have been led to trace the progress of their own minds, he attributed to his mother the first promptings to the fair and good, the first softening and elevating influences which his mind acknowledged. he had neither paper nor pencils; but next door to his father there lived a stone-cutter, whose blocks of marble and free-stone were every day scrawled over with rude imitations of natural objects in chalk or charcoal--the first essays of the infant dannecker. when he was beaten by his father for this proof of idleness, his mother interfered to protect or to encourage him. as soon as he was old enough, he assisted his father in the stable; and while running about the precincts of the palace, ragged and bare-foot, he appears to have attracted, by his vivacity and alertness, the occasional notice of the duke himself. duke charles, the grandfather of the present king of wurtemburg, had founded a military school, called the karl schüle, (charles' school,) annexed to the hunting palace of the solitude. at this academy, music and drawing were taught as well as military tactics. one day, when dannecker was about thirteen, his father returned home in a very ill-humour, and informed his family that the duke intended to admit the children of his domestics into his new military school. the boy, with joyful eagerness, declared his intention of going immediately to present himself as a candidate. the father, with a stare of astonishment, desired him to remain at home, and mind his business; on his persisting, he resorted to blows, and ended by locking him up. the boy escaped by jumping out of the window; and, collecting several of his comrades, he made them a long harangue in praise of the duke's beneficence, then placing himself at their head, marched them up to the palace, where the whole court was assembled for the easter festivities. on being asked their business, dannecker replied as spokesman--"tell his highness the duke we want to go to the karl-schüle." one of the attendants, amused, perhaps, with this juvenile ardour, went and informed the duke, who had just risen from table. he came out himself and mustered the little troop before him. he first darted a rapid scrutinizing glance along the line, then selecting one from the number, placed him on his right-hand; then another, and another, till only young dannecker and two others remained on his left. dannecker has since acknowledged that he suffered for a few moments such exquisite pain and shame at the idea of being rejected, that his first impulse was to run away and hide himself; and that his surprise and joy, when he found that he and his two companions were the accepted candidates, had nearly overpowered him. the duke ordered them to go the next morning to the solitude, and then dismissed them. when dannecker returned home, his father, enraged at losing the services of his son, turned him out of the house, and forbade him ever more to enter it; but his mother (mother like) packed up his little bundle of necessaries, accompanied him for some distance on his road, and parted from him with blessings, and tears, and words of encouragement and love. at the karl-schüle dannecker made but little progress in his studies. nothing could be worse managed than this royal establishment. the inferior teachers were accustomed to employ the poorer boys in the most servile offices, and in this, so called, academy, he was actually obliged to learn by stealth: but here he formed a friendship with schiller, who, like himself, was an ardent genius pining and writhing under a chilling system; and the two boys, thrown upon one another for consolation, became friends for life. dannecker must have been about fifteen when the karl-schüle was removed from the solitude to stuttgard. he was then placed under the tuition of grubel, a professor of sculpture, and in the following year he produced his first original composition. it was a milo of crotona modelled in clay, and was judged worthy of the first prize. dannecker was at this time so unfriended and little known, that the duke, who appears to have forgotten him, learnt with astonishment that this nameless boy, the son of his groom, had carried off the highest honours of the school from all his competitors. for a few years he was employed in the duke's service in carving cornices, cupids, and caryatides, to ornament the new palaces at stuttgard and hohenheim: this task-work, over which he often sighed, may possibly have assisted in giving him that certainty and mechanical dexterity in the use of his tools for which he is remarkable. about ten years were thus passed; he then obtained permission to travel for his improvement with an allowance of three hundred florins a-year from the duke. with these slender means dannecker set off for paris on foot. there, for the first time, he had opportunities of studying the living model. his enthusiasm for his art enabled him to endure extraordinary privations of every kind; for out of his little pension of £ a-year he had not only to feed and clothe himself, but to purchase all the materials for his art, and the means of instruction; and this in an expensive capital, surrounded with temptations which an artist and an enthusiastic young man finds it difficult to withstand. he told me himself that day after day he has studied in the louvre dinnerless, and dressed in a garb which scarce retained even the appearance of decency. he left paris, after a two years' residence, as simple in mind and heart as when he entered it, and considerably improved in his knowledge of anatomy and in the technical part of his profession. the treasures of the louvre, though far inferior to what they now are, had let in a flood of ideas upon his mind, among which (as he described his own feelings) he groped as one bewildered and intoxicated, amazed rather than enlightened. medon. but dannecker must have been poor in spirit as in pocket--simple, indeed, if he did not profit by the opportunities which paris afforded of studying human nature, noting the passions and their physiognomy, and gaining other experiences most useful to an artist. alda. there i differ from you. would you send a young artist--more particularly a young sculptor--to study the human nature of london or paris?--to seek the ideal among shop-girls and opera-dancers? or the sublime and beautiful among the frivolous and degraded of one sex, the money-making or the brutalized of the other? is it from the man who has steeped his youthful prime in vulgar dissipation, by way of "seeing life," as it is called, who has courted patronage at the convivial board, that you shall require that union of lofty enthusiasm and patient industry, which are necessary, first to conceive the grand and the poetical, then consume long years in shaping out his creation in the everlasting marble? medon. but how is the sculptor himself to live during those long years? it must needs be a hard struggle. i have heard young artists say, that they have been forced on a dissipated life merely as a means of "getting on in the world," as the phrase is. alda. so have i. it is so base a plea, that when i hear it, i generally regard it as the excuse for dispositions already perverted. the men who talk thus are doomed: they will either creep through life in mediocrity and dependence to their grave; or, at the best, if they have parts, as well as cunning and assurance, they may make themselves the fashion, and make their fortune; they may be clever portrait-painters and bust-makers, but when they attempt to soar into the historical and ideal department of their art, they move the laughter of gods and men; to them the higher, holier fountains of inspiration are thenceforth sealed. medon. but think of the temptations of society! alda. i think of those who have overcome them. "great men have been among us," though they be rare. have we not had a flaxman? but the artist must choose where he will worship. he cannot serve god and mammon. that man of genius who thinks he can tamper with his glorious gifts, and for a season indulge in social excesses, stoop from his high calling to the dregs of earth, abandon himself to the stream of common life, and trust to his native powers to bring him up again;--o believe it, he plays a desperate game!--one that in nearly ninety-nine cases out of a hundred is fatal. medon. i begin to see your drift; but you would find it difficult to prove that the men who executed those works, on which we now look with wonder and despair, lived like anchorites, or were unexceptionable moral characters. alda. will you not allow that they worked in a different spirit? or do you suppose that it was by the possession of some sleight-of-hand that these things were performed?--that it was by some knack of chiselling, some secret of colouring now lost, that a phidias or a correggio still remain unapproached, and, as people will tell you, unapproachable? medon. they had a different nature to work from. alda. a different modification of nature, but not a different nature. nature and truth are one, and immutable, and inseparable as beauty and love. i do maintain that, in these latter times, we have artists, who in genius, in the power of looking at nature, and in manual skill, are not beneath the great ancients, but their works are found wanting in comparison; they have fallen short of the models their early ambition set before them; and why?--because, having genius, they want the moral grandeur that should accompany it, and have neglected the training of their own minds from necessity, or from dissipation or from pride, so that having imagination and skill, they have yet wanted the materials out of which to work. recollect that the great artists of old were not mere painters or mere sculptors, who were nothing except with the pencil or the chisel in their hand. they were philosophers, scholars, poets, musicians, noble beings, whose eyes were not ever on themselves, but who looked above, before, and after. our modern artists turn coxcombs, and then fancy themselves like rafaelle; or they are greedy of present praise, or greedy of gain; or they will not pay the price for immortality; or they have sold their glorious birthright of fame for a mess of pottage. poor dannecker found his mess of pottage bitter now and then, as you shall hear. he set off for italy, in , with his pension raised to four hundred florins a year, that is, about thirty pounds: he reached rome, on foot, and he told me that, for some months after his arrival, he suffered from a terrible depression of spirits, and a painful sense of loneliness: like thorwaldson, when he too visited that city some years afterwards, a friendless youth, he was often home-sick and heart-sick. at this time he used to wander about among the ruins and relics of almighty rome, lost in the sense of their grandeur, depressed by his own vague aspirations--ignorant, and without courage to apply himself. luckily for him, herder and goethe were then residing at rome; he became known to them, and their conversation directed him to higher sources of inspiration in his art than he had yet contemplated--to the very well-heads and mother-streams of poetry. they showed him the distinction between the _spirit_ and the _form_ of ancient art. dannecker felt, and afterwards applied some of the grand revelations of these men, who were at once profound critics and inspired poets. he might have grasped at more, but that his early nurture was here against him, and his subsequent destinies as a court sculptor seldom left him sufficient freedom of thought or action to follow out his own conceptions. while at rome he also became acquainted with canova, who, although only one year older than himself, had already achieved great things. he was now at work on the monument of the pope ganganelli. the courteous, kind-hearted italian would sometimes visit the poor german in his studio, and cheer him by his remarks and encouragement. dannecker remained five years at rome; he was then ordered to return to stuttgard. as he had already greatly distinguished himself, the duke of wurtemburg received him with much kindness, and promised him his protection. now, the protection and the patronage which a sovereign accords to an artist generally amounts to this: he begins by carving or painting the portrait of his patron, and of some of the various members of his patron's family. if these are approved of, he is allowed to stick a ribbon in his button-hole, and is appointed professor of fine arts, with a certain stipend, and thenceforth his time, his labour, and his genius belong as entirely to his master as those of a hired servant; his path is marked out for him. it was thus with dannecker; he received a pension of eight hundred florins a year and his professorship, and upon the strength of this he married henrietta rapp. from this period his life has passed in a course of tranquil and uninterrupted occupation, yet, though constantly employed, his works are not numerous; almost every moment being taken up with the duties of his professorship, in trying to teach what no man of genius can teach, and in making drawings and designs after the fancies of the grand duke. he was required to compose a basso-relievo for the duke's private cabinet. the subject which he chose was as appropriate as it was beautifully treated--alexander pressing his seal upon the lips of parmenio. he modelled this in bas-relief, and the best judges pronounced it exquisite; but it did not please the duke, and instead of receiving an order to finish it in marble, he was obliged to throw it aside, and to execute some design dictated by his master. the original model remained for many years in his studio; but a short time before my last visit to him he had presented it as a birth-day gift to a friend. the first great work which gave him celebrity as a sculptor, was the mausoleum of count zeppelin, the duke's favourite, in which the figure of friendship has much simplicity and grace: this is now at louisberg. while he was modelling this beautiful figure, the first idea of the ariadne was suggested to his fancy, but some years elapsed before it came into form. at this time he was much employed in executing busts, for which his fine eye for living nature and manly simplicity of taste peculiarly fitted him. in this particular department of his art he has neither equal nor rival, except our chantrey. the best i have seen are those of schiller, gluck, and lavater. never are the fine arts, never are great artists, better employed than when they serve to illustrate and to immortalize each other! about the year , dannecker was considered, beyond dispute, the first sculptor in germany; for as yet rauch, tieck, and schwanthaler had not worked their way up to their present high celebrity. he received, in , an intimation, that if he would enter the service of the king of bavaria, he should be placed at the head of the school of sculpture at munich, with a salary three times the amount of that which he at present enjoyed.-- medon. which dannecker declined? alda. he did. medon. i could have sworn to it--_extempore_! what is more touching in the history of men of genius than that deep and constant attachment they have shown to their early patrons! not to go back to the days of horace and mecænas, nor even to those of ariosto and tasso and the family of este, or cellini and the duke of florence, or lucas kranach, and the elector john frederic--[ ] do you remember mozart's exclamation, when he was offered the most magnificent remuneration if he would quit the service of joseph ii. for that of the elector of saxony--"shall i leave my good emperor?" in the same manner metastasio rejected every inducement to quit the service of maria theresa,---- alda. add goethe and the duke of weimar, and a hundred other instances. the difficulty would be to find _one_, in which the patronage of the great has not been repaid ten thousand fold in gratitude and fame. dannecker's love for his native city, and his native princes, prevailed over his self-interest; his decision was honourable to his heart; but it is not less certain that at munich he would have found more enlightened patronage, and a wider scope for his talents. frederic, the late king of wurtemburg, who had married our princess royal, was a man of a coarse mind and profligate habits. napoleon had gratified his vulgar ambition by making him a king, and thereupon he stuck a huge, tawdry gilt crown on the top of his palace, the impudent sign of his subservient _majesty_. i never looked at it without thinking of an overgrown child and its new toy; he also, to commemorate the acquisition of his kingly titles, instituted the order of the wurtemburg crown, and dannecker was gratified by this new order of merit, and a bit of ribbon in his button-hole. but in the mean time the model of the ariadne remained in his studio, and it was not till the year that he could afford to purchase a block of marble, and begin the statue on speculation. it occupied him for seven years, but in the interval he completed other beautiful works. the king ordered him to execute a cupid in marble, for which he gave him the design. it was a design which displeased the pure mind and high taste of dannecker; he would not so desecrate his divine art: "c'etait travailler pour le diable!" said he to me, in telling the story. he therefore only half fulfilled his commission; and changing the purpose and sentiment of the figure, he represented the greek cupid at the moment that he is waked by the drop of burning oil from psyche's lamp. an english general, i believe sir john murray, saw this charming statue, in , and immediately commanded a work from the sculptor's hands: he wished, but did not absolutely require, a duplicate of the statue he so admired. dannecker, instead of repeating himself, produced his psyche, whom he has represented--not as the greek allegorical psyche, the bride of cupid, "with lucent fans, fluttering"--but as the abstract personification of the human soul; or, to use dannecker's own words, "ein rein, sittlich, sinniges wesen,"--a pure, moral, intellectual being. as he had an idea that love had become moral and sentimental after he had been waked by the drop of burning oil, so i could not help asking him whether this was psyche, grown reasonable after she had beheld the wings of love? he has not in this beautiful statue quite accomplished his own idea. it has much girlish grace and simplicity, but it wants elevation; it is not sufficiently ideal, and will not stand a comparison either with the psyche of westmacott, or that of canova. the ariadne was finished in , but the sculptor was disappointed in his hope that this, his masterpiece, would adorn his native city. the king showed no desire to possess it, and it was purchased by m. bethmann, of frankfort, for a sum equal to about one thousand pounds. soon after the ariadne was finished, dannecker conceived, in a moment of pious enthusiasm, his famous statue of the redeemer, which has caused a great deal of discussion in germany. this was standing in his work-room when we paid our first visit to him. he told me what i had often heard, that the figure had visited him in a dream three several times; and the good old man firmly believed that he had been divinely inspired, and predestined to the work. while the visionary image was fresh in his imagination, he first executed a small clay model, and placed it before a child of five or six years old;--there were none of the usual emblematical accompaniments--no cross--no crown of thorns to assist the fancy--nothing but the simple figure roughly modelled; yet the child immediately exclaimed, "the redeemer!" and dannecker was confirmed in his design. gradually the completion of this statue became the one engrossing idea of his enthusiastic mind: for eight years it was his dream by night, his thought by day; all things else, all the affairs and duties of life, merged into this. he told me that he frequently felt as if pursued, excited by some strong, irresistible power, which would even visit him in sleep, and impel him to rise from his bed and work. he explained to me some of the difficulties he encountered, and which he was persuaded that he had perfectly overcome only through divine aid, and the constant study of the scriptures. they were not few nor trifling. physical power, majesty, and beauty, formed no part of the character of the saviour of the world: the glory that was around him was not of this earth, nor visible to the eye; "there was nothing in him that he should be desired;" therefore to throw into the impersonation of exceeding humility and benignity a superhuman grace, and from material elements work out a manifestation of abstract moral grandeur--this was surely not only a new and difficult, but a bold and sublime enterprize. you remember michael angelo's statue of christ in the church of santa maria sopra minerva at rome? medon. perfectly; and i never looked at it without thinking of neptune and his trident. alda. the same thought occurred to me, and must inevitably have occurred to others. dannecker is not certainly so great a man as michael angelo, but here he has surpassed him. instead of emulating the antique models, he has worked in the antique spirit--the spirit of faith and enthusiasm. he has taken a new form in which to clothe a grand poetical conception. whether the being he has represented be a fit subject for the plastic art, has been disputed; but it appears to me that dannecker has more nearly approached the christian ideal than any of his predecessors; there is nothing to be compared to it, except titian's christo della moneta, and that is a head merely. the sentiment chosen by the sculptor is expressed in the inscription on the pedestal: "through me, to the father." the proportions of the figure are exceedingly slender and delicate; the attitude a little drooping; one hand is pressed on the bosom, the other extended; the lips are unclosed as in the act to speak. in the head and facial line, by carefully throwing out every indication of the animal propensities, and giving added importance and development to all that indicates the moral and intellectual faculties, he has succeeded in embodying a species of ideal, of which there is no other example in art. i have heard, (not from dannecker himself,) that when the head of the jupiter tonans was placed beside the christ, the merely physical grandeur of the former, compared with the purely intellectual expression of the latter, reminded every one present of a lion's head erect and humanized. medon. but what were your own impressions? after all this eulogium, which i believe to be just, tell me frankly, were you satisfied yourself? alda. no--not quite. the expression of the mouth in the last finished statue (he has repeated the subject three times) is not so fine as in the model, and the simplicity of the whole bordered on meagreness. this, i think, is a general fault in all dannecker's works. he has of course avoided nudity, but the flowing robe, which completely envelopes the figure, is so managed as to disclose the exact form of the limbs. one little circumstance will give you an idea of the attention and accuracy with which he seized and embodied every touch of individual character conveyed in holy writ. in the original model he had made the beard rather full and thick, and a little curled, expressing the prime of manhood; but recollecting that in the gospel the saviour is represented as sinking under the weight of the cross, which the first man they met accidentally was able to carry, he immediately altered his first conception, and gave to the beard that soft, flowing, downy texture which is supposed to indicate a feeble and delicate temperament. i shall not easily forget the countenance of the good and gifted old man, as, leaning on the pedestal, with his cap in his hand, and his long grey hair waving round his face, he looked up at his work with a mixture of reverence and exultation, saying, in his imperfect and scarce intelligible french, "oui, quand on a fait comme cela, on reste sur la terre!" meaning, i suppose, that this statue had ensured his immortality on earth. he added, "they ask me often where are the models after which i worked? and i answer, _here_, and _here_;" laying his hand first on his head, then on his heart. i remember that when we first entered his room he was at work on one of the figures for the tomb of the late queen catherine of wurtemburg. you perhaps recollect her in england when only duchess of oldenburg? medon. yes; i remember, as a youngster, joining the mob who shouted before the windows of the pulteney-hotel, and hailed her and her brother alexander as if they had been a newly descended jupiter and juno! o verily, times are changed! alda. but in that woman there were the elements of a fine nature. she had the talents, the strength of mind, and far-reaching ambition of her grandmother, catherine of russia, but was not so perverted. during her short reign as queen of wurtemburg, the influence of her active mind was felt through the whole government. she founded, among other institutions, a school for the daughters of the nobility connected with the court,--in plain english, a charity-school for the nobility of wurtemburg, who are among the most indigent and most ignorant of germany. there are a few, very few, brilliant exceptions. one lady of rank said to me, "as to an english governess, _that_ is an advantage i can never hope to have for my daughters. the princesses have an english governess, but _we_ cannot dream of such a thing." the late queen really deserved the regrets of her people. the king, whose sluggish mind she ruled or stimulated, is now devoted to his stables and hunting. he has married another wife, but he has erected to the honour of catherine a splendid mausoleum, on the peak of a high hill, which can be seen from almost every part of the city; and on the summer evenings when the red sun-set falls upon its white columns it is a beautiful object. the figure on which dannecker was occupied, represented prayer, or what he called, "la triomphe de la prière;" it recalled to my mind flaxman's lovely statue of the same subject,--the "our father which art in heaven," but suffered by the involuntary comparison. on the rough base of the statue he had tried to spell the name of chantrey, but not very successfully. i took up a bit of chalk and wrote underneath, in distinct characters, francis chantrey. "i grow old," said he, looking from his work to the bust of the late queen which stood opposite. "i have carved the effigies of three generations of poets, and as many of princes. twenty years ago i was at work on the tomb of the duke of oldenburg, and now i am at work upon _her's_ who gave me that order. all die away: soon i shall be left alone. of my early friends none remain but goethe. i shall die before him, and perhaps he will write my epitaph." he spoke with a smile, not foreseeing that he would be the survivor. three years afterwards[ ] i again paid dannecker a visit, but a change had come over him: his feeble, trembling hand could no longer grasp the mallet, or guide the chisel; his eyes were dim; his fine benevolent countenance wore a childish, vacant smile, now and then crossed by a gleam of awakened memory or thought--and yet he seemed so perfectly happy! he walked backwards and forwards, from his christ to his bust of schiller, with an unwearied self-complacency, in which there was something mournful, and yet delightful. while i sat looking at the magnificent head of schiller, the original of the multifarious casts and copies which are dispersed through all germany, he sat down beside me, and taking my hands between his own, which trembled with age and nervous emotion, he began to speak of his friend. "nous etions amis dès l'enfance; aussi j'y ai travaillé avec amour, avec douleur--on ne peut pas plus faire." he then went on--"when schiller came to louisberg, he sent to tell me that he was very ill--that he should not live very long, and that he wished me to execute his bust. it was the first wish of my own heart. i went immediately. when i entered the house, i found a lady sitting on the _canapé_--it was schiller's wife, and i did not know her; but she knew me. she said, 'ah! you are dannecker!--schiller expects you;'--then she ran into the next room, where schiller was lying down on a couch, and in a moment after he came in, exclaiming as he entered, 'where is he? where is dannecker?' that was the moment--the expression i caught--you see it here--the head raised, the countenance full of inspiration, and affection, and bright hope! i told him that to keep up this expression he must have some of his best friends to converse with him while i took the model, for i could not talk and work too. o if i could but remember what glorious things then fell from those lips! sometimes i stopped in my work--i could not go on--i could only listen." and here the old man wept; then suddenly changing his mood, he said--"but i must cut off that long hair; he never wore it so; it is not in the fashion, you know!" i begged him for heaven's sake not to touch it; he then, with a sad smile, turned up the sleeve of his coat and showed me his wrist, swelled with the continual use of his implements--"you see i _cannot_!" and i could not help wishing at the moment, that while his mind was thus enfeebled, no transient return of physical strength might enable him to put his wild threat in execution. what a noble bequest to posterity is the effigy of a great man, when executed in such a spirit as this of schiller! i assure you i could not look at it, without feeling my heart "overflow in silent worship" of moral and intellectual power, till the deification of great men in the old times appeared to me rather religion than idolatry. i have been affected in the same manner by the busts of goethe, scott, homer, milton, howard, newton;--never by the painted portraits of the same men, however perfect in resemblance and admirable in execution. medon. painting gives us the material, sculpture the abstract, ethical aspect of the man. in the bust, whatever is common-place, familiar, and actual, is thrown out or kept down: in a picture it is not only retained, but, in most cases, it is necessarily obtrusive. goethe, in a blue coat and metal buttons, and a white neckcloth, would not recall the author of the "iphigenia;" still less does that wrinkled, decrepit-looking face, in the gallery at hardwicke, portray boyle, the philosopher. alda. dannecker told me that he first modelled the head of schiller the exact size of life, and conscientiously rendered each, even the slightest, individual trait; yet this head appeared to every one smaller than nature, and to himself almost _mesquin_.[ ] he was in despair. he repeated the bust in a colossal size; and the development of the intellectual organization, on a larger scale, immediately gave what was wanting:--it appeared to the eye or to the mind's eye as only the size of life. he showed me a beautiful basso-relievo of the muse of tragedy, listening with an inspired look to the revelations of the muse of history. this admirable little group struck me the more, because long ago i had clothed nearly the same idea in imperfect words. i took leave of dannecker with emotion: i shall never see him again! but he is one of those who cannot die; to use his own expression--"quand on a fait _comme cela_, on reste sur la terre." when canova, then a melancholy invalid, paid him a visit, he was so struck by the child-like simplicity, the pure unworldly nature, the genuine goodness, and lively happy temperament of the german sculptor, that he gave him the surname of _il beato_; and if the epithet _blessed_ can, with propriety, be bestowed on any mortal, it is on him whose long life has been one of labour and of love; who has left behind him lasting memorials of his genius; who has never profaned the talents which god has given him to any unworthy purpose:--but in the midst of all the beautiful and exciting influences of poetry and art, has kept from youth to age a soul serene, a conscience and a life pure in the sight of god and man. such was our own flaxman--such is dannecker! medon. who are now the principal sculptors in germany? alda. rauch, of berlin; christian frederic tieck, the brother of the celebrated poet and critic, ludwig tieck; and schwanthaler, of munich. rauch is the court sculptor of berlin. he has, like dannecker,[ ] his professorship, his order of merit,[ ] and, i believe, one or two places under the government, besides constant employment in his art. he works _by the piece_, as the labourers say. but though he too has yoked his genius to the car of power and patronage, he has done great things. the statue of the late queen of prussia is reckoned his _chef-d'oeuvre_, and is not, perhaps, exceeded in modern sculpture. it was conceived and worked out in all the inspiration of love and grief; as dannecker would say, "mit lieb und schmerzen." he had been attached to the queen's personal service, and shared, in an intense degree, the enthusiastic, devoted affection with which all her subjects regarded that beautiful and amiable woman. this statue he executed at carrara; and a living eagle, which had been taken captive among the appenines, was the original of that magnificent eagle he has placed at her feet:--nothing, you see, like going at once to nature! in the course of twenty-five years rauch has executed sixty-nine busts, of which twenty are colossal. among his numerous other works, designed or executed within the same time, there is the colossal statue of blucher, now at breslau; this is in bronze, upon a granite pedestal. there is another statue of blucher at berlin, of which the pedestal, rich with bas-reliefs, is also in bronze. rauch has been employed for the last twenty years in modelling field-marshals and generals, and has devoted his best powers to vanquish the difficulties presented by monotonous faces, drilled figures, military uniforms, and regimental boots and buttons; and all that man _can_ do, i am told he has done. i have seen some of his busts, which are quite admirable. at peterstein, near munich, i saw his statue of a little girl, about ten years old, which, in its simplicity, truth, and elegance, reminded me of chantrey's lady louisa russell, though in conception and _manner_ as distinct as possible. the full length of goethe, in his dressing-gown, of which there is such an infinitude of casts and copies throughout germany, is also by rauch. christian tieck is the old and intimate friend of rauch. they live, or did live, under the same roof, and it is not known that a moment of jealousy or rivalship ever disturbed the union between these two celebrated and gifted men, who, starting nearly at the same time,[ ] have run their brilliant career together in the self-same path, and, whatever judgment the world or posterity may form of their comparative merits, seem determined to enter the temple of immortality hand in hand. tieck's works are dispersed from one end of germany to the other. his statue of neckar; his busts of madame de staël, of her second husband rocca, of the duke and duchess de broglie, and of a. w. schlegel, i have seen; and all, particularly the busts of rocca and schlegel are exceedingly fine. at munich, at dresden, and at weimar, i saw many of his works; and at manheim the bust of madame de heygendorf,[ ] full of beauty, and life, and expression. at berlin, tieck has been employed for many years in designing and executing the sculptured ornaments of the new theatre. there is a colossal apollo; a pegasus, striking the fountain of helicon from the rock, colossal muses, and a variety of other heathen perpetrations--all (as i am assured) exceedingly fine in their way. i believe his seated statue of iffland (the garrick of germany) is considered one of his _chef-d'oeuvres_. he also, like rauch, has been much employed in modelling generals and trophies, in memory of the late war. schwanthaler, the son of a statuary of munich, is still a young man; his works first began to create a sensation in germany in the year . in spirit and fire, and creative talent, in a fine classic feeling for his art, he appeared to me to be treading in the steps of flaxman, and like _him_, he is a profound and accomplished scholar, who has sought inspiration at the very fountain of greek poetry. his basso-relievo of the battle of the ships in the iliad, his games of greece, his designs from the theogony of hesiod, and a variety of other works which i have seen, appeared to me full of imagination, and in a pure and vigorous style of art. of him, and some other sculptors, you will find more particulars in the note-book i kept at munich; we will look over it together one of these days. medon. thank you; but i must needs ask you a question. in the works you have enumerated, nothing has struck me as new, or in a new spirit, except perhaps the christ of dannecker, and the statue of the queen of prussia. now, why should not sculpture have its gothic (or romantic) school, as well as its antique, or classical school? alda. and has it not? medon. if you allude to the sculpture of the middle ages, _that_ has not become a school of art, like their architecture and their painting: yet can it be true that there is something in our modern institutions, our northern descent, our christian faith, inimical to the spirit of sculpture?--and, while poetry in every other form is regenerate around us, that in sculpture alone we are doomed to imitate, never to create?--doomed to the servile reproduction of the same ideas? that this alone, of all the fine arts, is to belong to some peculiar mode of existence, some peculiar mode of thinking, feeling, and believing? "qui me delivrera des grecs et des remains?"--who will deliver me from gods and goddesses, and from all these "repetitions, wearisome of sense, where soul is dead, and feeling hath no place?" alda. you are little better than a heretic in these matters. but i will admit thus much--that the classical and mythological sculpture of our modern artists, is to the ancient marbles, what racine's tragedies are to those of sophocles; that we are so far condemned to the "repetition wearisome of _forms_," from which the ancient spirit has evaporated; but that is not the fault of the subjects, but of the manner of treating them, for never can the beautiful mythology of ancient greece, which has woven itself into our earliest dreams of poetry, become a "creed out-worn." its forms, and its symbols, and its imagery, have mingled with every branch of art, and become a universal language. it is the deification of the material world; and therefore, that art, which in its perfection may be called the apotheosis of form, finds there its proper region and element. medon. you do not suppose that, with all my gothic tastes, i am such a goth as not to feel the truth of what you say? but i am an enemy to the exclusive in every thing; and--pardon me--your worship of the elgin marbles and the niobe, is, i think, a little too exclusive. all i ask is, that modern sculpture should be allowed, like painting and poetry, to have its romantic, as well as its classical school. alda. it has been otherwise decided. medon. but it has not been otherwise proved. there has been much theoretical eloquence and criticism expended on the subject, but i deny that the experiment has been fairly and practically brought before us. i know very well you are ready with a thousand instances of attempt and failure, but may we not seek the cause in the mistaken application of certain classical, or, i should say, pedantic ideas on the subject? if i ask for milton's satan, standing like a tower in his spiritual might, his thunder-scarred brow wreathed with the diadem of hell, why am i to be presented with an athlete, or an achilles? why would canova give us for the head of dante's beatrice that of a muse, or an aspasia? and for petrarch's laura, a mere _tête de nymphe_? i contend that to apply the forms suggested by the modern poetry demands a different spirit from that of classic art. how to apply or modify the example bequeathed to us by the great masters of old, flaxman has shown us in his dante. and why should we not have in sculpture a lear as well as a laocoon? a constance as well as a niobe? a gismunda as well as a cleopatra?---- alda. or a tam o'shanter as well as a laughing faun? medon. when i am serious and poetical, which is not often, i will not allow you to be perverse and ironical! alda. see, here is a passage which i have just found among mrs. austin's beautiful specimens of translation: "the critic of art ought to keep in view, not only the capabilities, but the proper objects of art. not all that art can accomplish ought she to attempt. it is from this cause alone, and because we have lost sight of these principles, that art among us has become more extensive and difficult, and less effective and perfect."[ ] medon. very well,--and very true:--but who shall bring a rule and compass to measure the capabilities of art, and define its proper objects? may there not exist in the depths or heights of philosophy and art, truths yet to be revealed, as there are stars in heaven, whose light has not yet reached the naked eye? and why should not criticism have its telescope for truth, as well as its microscope for error? art may be finite; but who shall fix its limits, and say, "thus far shalt thou go?" there are those who regard the distant as the unattainable, the unknown as the unexisting, the actual as the necessary;--are you one of such, o you of little faith! for my own part, i look forward to a new era in sculpture. i believe that the purely natural and the purely ideal are _one_, and susceptible of forms and modifications as yet untried. for nature, the infinite, sits within her tabernacle, not made by human hands, and genius and love are the cherubim, to whom it is permitted to look into her unveiled eyes, and reflect their light; art is the priestess of her divine mysteries, and criticism, the door-keeper of her temple, should be janus-headed, looking forward as well as backward. reason estimates what has been done; imagination alone divines what _may_ be done. but i am losing myself in these reveries. to attempt something new,--perfectly new in style and conception--and spend, like dannecker, eight years in working out that conception--and then perhaps eight years more waiting for a purchaser, and this in a country where one must eat and pay taxes--truly, it is not easy. sketches of art, literature, and character. iii. medon. you have been frowning and musing in your chair for the last half-hour, with your fore-finger between the leaves of your book--where were your thoughts? alda. they were far--very far! i am afraid that i appear very stupid? medon. o not at all! you know there are stars which appear dim and fixed to the eye, while they are taking flights and making revolutions, which imagination cannot follow nor science compute. alda. upon my word, you are very sublimely ironical--my thoughts were not quite so far. medon. may one beg, or borrow them?--what is your book? alda. mrs. austin's "characteristics of goethe." i came upon a passage which sent back my thoughts to weimar. i was again in his house; the faces, the voices of his grandchildren were around me; the room in which he studied, the bed in which he slept, the old chair in which he died,--and, above all, _her_ in whose arms he died--from whose lips i heard the detail of his last moments-- * * * * * medon. what! all this emotion for goethe? alda. for goethe!--i should as soon think of weeping because the sun set yesterday, which now is pouring its light around me! our tears are for those who suffer, for those who die, for those who are absent, for those who are cold or lost--not for those who cannot die, who cannot suffer,--who must be, to the end of time, a presence and an existence among us! no. but i was reading here, among the characteristics of goethe, who certainly "knew all qualities, with a learned spirit in human dealings," that he was not only the quick discerner and most cordial hater of all affectation;--but even the unconscious affectation--the _nature de convention_,--the taught, the artificial, the acquired in manner or character, though it were meritorious in itself, he always detected, and it appeared to impress him disagreeably. stay, i will read you the passage--here it is. "even virtue, laboriously and painfully acquired, was distasteful to him. i might almost affirm, that a faulty but vigorous character, if it had any real native qualities as its basis, was regarded by him with more indulgence and respect than one which, at no moment of its existence, is genuine; which is incessantly under the most unamiable constraint, and consequently imposes a painful constraint on others. 'oh,' said he, sighing, on such occasions, 'if they had but the heart to commit some absurdity, that would be something, and they would at least be restored to their own natural soil, free from all hypocrisy and acting: wherever that is the case, one may entertain the cheering hope that something will spring from the germ of good which nature implants in every individual. but on the ground they are now upon, nothing can grow.' 'pretty dolls,' was his common expression when speaking of them. another phrase was, 'that's a piece of nature,' (literally, _das ist eine natur_, that is a nature,) which from goethe's lips was considerable praise."[ ] this last phrase threw me back upon my remembrances. i thought of the daughter-in-law of the poet,--the trusted friend, the constant companion, the devoted and careful nurse of his last years. it accounted for the unrivalled influence which apparently she possessed--i will not say _over_ his mind--but _in_ his mind, in his affections; for in her he found truly _eine natur_--a piece of nature, which could bear even _his_ microscopic examination. all other beings who approached goethe either were, or had been, or might be, more or less modified by the action of that universal and master spirit. consciously, or unconsciously, in love or in fear, they bowed down before him, and gave up their individuality, or forgot it, in his presence; they took the bent he chose to impress, or the colour he chose to throw upon them. their minds, in presence of his, were as opake bodies in the sun, absorbing in different degrees, reflecting in various hues, his vital beams; but her's was, in comparison, like a transparent medium, through which the rays of that luminary passed,--pervading and enlightening, but leaving no other trace. conceive a woman, a young, accomplished, enthusiastic woman, who had qualities to attach, talents to amuse, and capacity to appreciate, goethe; who, for fourteen or fifteen years, could exist in daily, hourly communication with that gigantic spirit, yet retain, from first to last, the most perfect simplicity of character, and this less from the strength than from the purity and delicacy of the original texture. those oft-abused words, _naïve_, _naïveté_, were more applicable to her in their fullest sense than to any other woman i ever met with. her conversation was the most untiring i ever enjoyed, because the stores which fed that flowing eloquence were all native and unborrowed: you were not borne along by it as by a torrent--_bongré_, _malgré_,--nor dazzled as by an artificial _jet d'eau_ set to play for your amusement. there was the obvious wish to please--a little natural _coquetterie_-- vivacity without effort, sentiment without affectation, exceeding mobility, which yet never looked like caprice; and the most consummate refinement of thought, and feeling, and expression. from that really elegant and highly-toned mind, nothing flippant nor harsh could ever proceed; slander died away in her presence; what was evil she would not hear of; what was malicious she would not understand; what was ridiculous she would not see. sometimes there was a wild, artless fervour in her impulses and feelings, which might have become a feather-cinctured indian on her savannah; then, the next moment, her bearing reminded you of the court-bred lady of the bed-chamber. quick in perception, yet femininely confiding, uniting a sort of restless vivacity with an indolent gracefulness, she appeared to me by far the most poetical and genuine being of my own sex i ever knew in highly-cultivated life: one to whom no wrong could teach mistrust; no injury, bitterness; one to whom the common-place realities, the vulgar necessary cares of existence, were but too indifferent;--who was, in reality, all that other women try to appear, and betrayed, with a careless independence, what they most wish to conceal. i draw from the life,--now, what would you say to such a woman if you met with her in the world? medon. i should say--she had no business there. alda. how? medon. i repeat that the woman you have just portrayed is hardly fit for the world. alda. say rather, the world is not fitted for her. as the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath, so the world was made for man, not man for the world--still less woman. medon. do you know what you mean? alda. i think i do, though i am afraid i can but ill-explain myself. by the world, i mean that system of social life in all its complicate bearings by which we are surrounded; which was, i suppose, devised at first with a reference to the wants, the happiness, and the benefit of men, but for which no _man_ was specifically created; his being has a high and individual purpose beyond the world. now, it seems to me one reason of the low average of what we call _character_, that we judge a human soul, not as it is abstractedly, but simply in relation to others, and to the circumstances around it. if it be in harmony with the world, and worldly, we praise it--it is a very respectable soul; if so constituted, that it is in discord with a world, (which, observe, all our philosophers, our pastors, and our masters, unite to assure us, is a sad wicked place, and must be reformed or renounced forthwith,) then--i pray your attention to this point--_then_ the fault, the bitter penalty, lies not upon this said wicked world,--o no!--but on that unlucky "piece of nature," which in its power, its goodness, its purity, its truth, its faith, and its tenderness, stands aloof from it. is it not so? medon. do you apply this personally? alda. no, generally; but i return to her who suggested the thought, and whom i ought not, perhaps, to have made the subject of such a conversation as this: it is against all my principles, contrary to my custom; and, in truth, i speak of one in whom there is so much to love, that we cannot praise without being accused of partiality; and so much to admire, that we could not censure without being suspected of envy. i might as well be silent therefore. yet shall such a woman bear such a name, and hold such a position as the mother of goethe's posterity;[ ]--shall she be rendered by both a mark for observation, from one end of europe to the other;--shall she be "condemned to celebrity," and shall it be allowed to ignorance, or ill-nature, or vanity, to prate of her;--and shall it be forbidden to friendship even to speak?--that were hardly just. of those effusions of her creative and poetical talents, which charm her friends, i say nothing, because in all probability neither you nor the public will ever benefit by them. i met with several other women in germany who possessed striking poetical genius, and whose compositions were equally destined to remain unknown, except to the circle of their immediate friends and relatives. medon. mr. hayward, in his notes to his translation of faust, remarks on the strong prejudice against female authorship, which still exists in germany; but he has hopes that it will not endure, and that something may be done "to unlock the stores of fancy and feeling which the ottilies and the adèles have hived up." tell me--did you find this prejudice entertained by the women themselves, or existing chiefly on the part of the men? alda. it was expressed most strongly by the women, but it must have originated with the men. all your prejudices you instil into us; and then we are not satisfied with adopting them, we exaggerate them--we mix them up with our fancies and affections, and transmit them to your children. you are "the mirrors in which we dress ourselves." medon. for which you dress yourselves! alda. psha!--i mean that your minds and opinions are the mirrors in which we form our own. you legislate for us, mould us, form us as you will. if you prefer slaves and playthings to companions and helpmates, is that our fault? in germany i met with some men who, perhaps out of compliment, descanted with enthusiasm on female talent, and in behalf of female authorship; but the women almost uniformly spoke of the latter with dread, as something formidable, or with contempt, as of something beneath them: what is an unworthy prejudice in your sex, becomes, when transplanted into ours, a _feeling_;--a mistaken, but a genuine, and even a generous feeling. many women, who have sufficient sense and simplicity of mind to rise above the mere _prejudice_, would not contend with the _feeling_: they would not scruple to encounter the public judgment in a cause approved by their own hearts, but they have not courage to brave or to oppose the opinions of friends and kindred-- medon. or risk the loss of a lover. you remember the axiom of that clever frenchman,[ ] who certainly spoke the existing opinions of his country only a few years ago, when he said--"imprimer, pour une femme de moins de cinquante ans c'est mettre son bonheur à la plus terrible des lotteries; si elle a un amant elle commencera par le perdre." alda. i really believe that in germany the latter catastrophe would be in most cases inevitable; and where is the woman who knowingly would risk it? medon. all, however, have not lovers to lose, or husbands to displease, or friends to affront; and if the women, in compliance with our self-revolving egotism, affect to prostrate themselves, and undervalue one another--do the men allow it to this extent? do not the germans most justly boast, that in their land arose the first feeling of veneration for women, the result of the christian dispensation, grafted on the old german manners? do they not point to their literature and their institutions, as more favourable to your sex than any other? does not even madame de staël exalt the fine earnestness of the german feeling towards you, infinitely above the system of french gallantry?--that flimsy veil of conventional good-breeding, under which we seek to disguise the demoralization of one sex, and the virtual slavery of the other? have i not heard you say, that it is the present fashion among the poets, artists, and writers of germany, to defer in all things to the middle ages? are not the maxims and sentiments of chivalry ready on their lips, the forms and symbols of the old chivalrous times to be traced in every department of literature and art among them? alda. all this is true; and i will believe that all this is something more than mere theory, when i see the germans less slovenly in their interior, and less egotistical in their domestic relations. the theme is unwelcome, unpleasant, ungraceful,--in fact, i can scarcely persuade myself to say one word against those high-minded, benevolent, admirable, and "most-thinking people;" so i will not dwell upon it: but i must confess that the personal negligence of the men, and the forbearance of the women on this point, astonished me. i longed to remind these worshippers of the age of chivalry of that advice of st. louis to his son--"il faut être toujours propre et bien proprement habillé, afin d'être _mieux aimé de sa femme_;" the really good-natured and well-bred germans will, i am sure, forgive this passing remark, and allow its truth: they _did_ at once agree with me, that the tavern-life of the men, more particularly the clever professional men in the south of germany, (another remnant, i presume, either of the age of chivalry, or the bürschen-sitten--i know not which,) was calculated to retard the social improvement and refinement of both sexes. and, apropos to chivalry, the fact is, that the institutions of a generous but barbarous period, invented to shield our helplessness, when women were exposed to every hardship, every outrage, have been much abused, and must be considerably modified to suit a very different state of society. that affectation of poetical homage, which your strength paid to our weakness, when the laws were not sufficient to defend us, we would now gladly exchange for more real honour, more real protection, more equal rights. i speak thus, knowing that, however open to perversion these expressions may be, _you_ will not misapprehend me; you know that i am no vulgar, vehement arguer about the "rights of women;" and, from my habitual tone of feeling and thought, the last to covet any of your masculine privileges. medon. i do perfectly understand you; but, pray what are our strictly masculine privileges, that you should covet them? fighting! getting drunk! and keeping a mistress!--i beg your pardon if i shock your delicacy; but certainly, upon the score of masculine privileges, the less that is said the better: there are nations in which it is a masculine privilege to sit and smoke, while women draw the plough. it was some time ago,--and now, in some countries, it is still a masculine privilege to cultivate the mind at all; and in germany, apparently, it is still a masculine privilege to publish a book without losing _caste_ in society; whereas here, in england, we have fallen into the opposite extreme; female authorship is in danger of becoming a fashion,--which heaven avert! i should be sorry to see you women taking the pen you have hitherto so honoured, in the same spirit in which you used to make filigree, cobble shoes, and paint velvet. alda. it is too true that mere vanity and fashion have lately made some women authoresses;--more write for money, and by this employment of their talents earn their own independence, add to the comforts of a parent, or supply the extravagance of a husband. some, who are unhappy in their domestic relations, yet endowed with all that feminine craving after sympathy, which was intended to be the charm of our sex, the blessing of yours, and somehow or other has been turned to the bane of both, look abroad for what they find not at home; fling into the wide world the irrepressible activity of an overflowing mind and heart, which can find no other unforbidden issue,--and to such "fame is love disguised." some write from the mere energy of intellect and will; some few from the pure wish to do good, and to add to the stock of happiness and the progress of thought; and many from all these motives combined in different degrees. medon. and have none of these motives produced authoresses in germany? alda. yes; but fashion and vanity, and the love of excitement, have not as yet tempted the german women to print their effusions; their most distinguished authoresses have become so, either from real enthusiasm or from necessity; and in the lighter departments of literature they boast at present some brilliant names. i will run over a few. there is helmina von chezy--but before i speak of _her_, i should tell you of her famous grandmother, anna louisa karshin, though _she_ belonged to the last century. the karshin was the daughter of a poor innkeeper and brewer, in a little village of silesia. she spent her early years in herding cows. she learned to read by stealth, by stealth she became a poetess; was first married to a boorish sulky weaver, secondly to a drunken tailor, and suffered for years every extremity of poverty and misery; at one time she travelled about the neighbouring country, the first example of an itinerant poetess, declaiming her own verses, and always ready with an ode or a sonnet to celebrate a wedding, or hail a birthday. in this strange profession she excited much astonishment--went through some singular, but not disreputable adventures--and earned considerable sums of money, which her husband spent in drink and profligacy. gifted with as much energy as genius, she struggled through all, and gradually became known to several of the critics and poets of the last century, particularly count stolberg and gleim, and obtained the title of the german sappho. she found means to reach berlin, where she worked her way up to distinction, and supported herself, two children, and an orphan brother, by her talents. she was recommended to frederick the great as worthy of a pension, and--would you believe it?--that _munificent_ patron of his country's genius, sent her a gratuity of two dollars, in a piece of paper. this extraordinary and spirited woman, who had probably subsisted for half her life on charity, instantly returned them to the niggardly despot, after writing in the envelope four lines impromptu, which are yet repeated in germany. i am not quite sure that i remember them accurately, and it is no matter, for they have not much either of poetry or point. "zwey thaler sind zu wenig; zwey thaler macht kein glück; zwey thaler gebt kein könig; fritz, hier send ich sie zurück." she died in , and a selection of her poems was published in the following year. the granddaughter of the karshin, the more celebrated helmina von chezy, is likewise a poetess; her principal work is a tale of chivalry, in verse, _die drei weissen rosen_, (the three white roses) which was published in --, and she wrote the opera of euryanthe, for weber to set to music. her songs and lighter poems are, i am told, exceedingly beautiful. caroline pichler, of vienna, i need only mention. i believe her historical romances have been translated into half-a-dozen languages. the siege of vienna is reckoned her best. madame schoppenhauer, the daughter of a senator of dantzic, is celebrated for her novels, travels, and works on art. she resided for many years at weimar, where she drew round her a brilliant literary circle, which the talents of her daughter farther adorned. since goethe's death she has fixed her residence at bonn, where it is probable the remainder of her life will be spent. one of the best of her novels, "die tante," has been translated by madame de montolieu, under the title of "la tante et la nièce." another very pretty little book of hers, "ausflucht an dem rhein," i should like to see translated. beside being an excellent writer on art, madame schoppenhauer is herself no mean artist. moreover, she is a kind-hearted, excellent old lady, with a few old lady-like prejudices about england and the english, which i forgave her,--the more easily as i had to thank her in my own person for many and kind attentions. madame von helvig, of weimar, (born amalia von imhoff,) was the friend of schiller, under whose auspices her first poems were published. her rare knowledge of languages, her learning and critical taste in works of arts, have distinguished her almost as much as her genius for poetry. the second wife of the baron de la motte-fouquet, was a very accomplished woman, and the author of several poems and romances. frederica brun, (born münter,) the daughter of a learned ecclesiastic of gotha, is celebrated for her prose writings, and particularly her travels in italy, where she resided at different periods. madame brun was a friend of madame de staël, who mentions her in her de l'allemagne, and describes the extraordinary talents for classical pantomime possessed by her daughter ida brun. louisa brachmann is, i believe, more renowned for her melancholy death than her poetical talents; both together have procured her the name of the "german sappho." the wretched woman threw herself into the river at halle, and perished, as it was said, for the sake of some faithless phaon. this was in , when she must have been between forty and fifty; and pray observe, i do not notice this fact of her age in ridicule. a woman's heart may overflow _inwardly_ for long, long years, till at last the accumulated sorrow bursts the bounds of reason, and then all at once we see the result of causes to which none gave heed, and of secret agonies to which none gave comfort--in folly, madness, destruction. whatever might have been the cause,--thus she died. her works in prose and verse may be found in every bookseller's shop in germany. there is also a life of this unhappy and gifted woman by professor schutz. fanny tarnow is one of the most remarkable and most fertile of all the modern german authoresses. her genius was developed by misfortune and suffering: while yet an infant, she fell from a window two stories high, and was taken up, to the amazement of the assistants, without any apparent injury, except a few bruises; but all the vital functions suffered, and during ten or twelve years she was extended on a couch, neither joining in any of the amusements of childhood, nor subjected to the usual routine of female education. she educated herself. she read incessantly, and, as it was her only pleasure, books of every description, good and bad, were furnished her without restraint. she was about eleven years old when she made her first _known_ poetical attempt, inspired by her own feelings and situation. it was a dialogue between herself and the angel of death. in her seventeenth year she was sufficiently recovered to take charge of her father's family, after he had lost, by some sudden misfortune, his whole property. he held subsequently, a small office under government, the duties of which were principally performed by his admirable daughter. her first writings were anonymous, and for a long time her name was unknown. her most celebrated novel, the "thekla," was published in ; and from this time she has enjoyed a high and public reputation. fanny tarnow resides, or did reside, in dresden. i have yet another name here, and not the least interesting, that of johanna von weissenthurn, one of the most popular dramatic writers in germany. she was educated for the stage, even from infancy, her parents and relations being, i believe, strolling players. she lived, for many years, a various life of toil, and adventure, and excitement; such, perhaps, as goethe describes in the wilhelm meister; a life which does sometimes blunt the nicer feelings, but is sure to develop talent where it exists. johanna at length rose through all the grades of her profession, and became the first actress at the principal theatre at vienna. she played in the "phoedra," before napoleon, when he occupied the austrian capital in , and the conqueror sent to her, after the performance, a complimentary message, and a gratuity of three thousand francs; but her lasting reputation is founded on her dramatic works, which are played in every theatre in germany. the plots, which, i am told, are remarkable for fancy and invention, have been borrowed, without acknowledgment, both by french and english playwrights. i was quite charmed with one of her pieces which i saw at munich, (die erben--the heirs,) and with another which was represented at frankfort. johanna von weissenthurn has also written poems and tales. i have come to the end of my memoranda on this subject, and regret it much. i might easily give you more names, and quote second-hand the opinions i heard of the merits and characteristics of these authoresses; but i speak of nothing but what i _know_, and not being able to form any judgment myself, i will give none. only it appears to me that the germans themselves assign to no female writer the same rank which here we proudly give to joanna baillie and mrs. hemans. i could hear of none who had ever exercised any thing like the moral influence possessed by maria edgeworth and harriet martineau, in their respective departments; nor could learn that any german woman had yet given _public_ proof that the most feminine qualities were reconcilable with the highest scientific attainments--like mrs. marcet and mrs. somerville. medon. you said the other night, that you had not formed any opinion as to the moral and social position of the women in germany; but you must have brought away some general impressions of manner and character;--frankly, were they favourable or unfavourable? alda. frankly, they were most favourable. remember that i am not prepared with any general sweeping conclusions: i cannot assure you from my own knowledge, that among my own sex the proportion of virtue and happiness is greater in germany than in england. on the contrary-- ----in every land i saw, wherever light illumineth, beauty and anguish walking hand in hand, the downward slope to death. in every land i thought that, more or less, the stronger, sterner nature overbore the softer, uncontroll'd by gentleness, and selfish evermore![ ] --why do you smile? medon. you amuse me with the perseverance with which you ring the changes on your favourite text, in prose and in verse; and yet, to adopt voltaire's witty metaphor, _we_ are the hammers and _you_ the anvils all the world over. but is that all? you need not have gone to germany to verify that! alda. no, sir; it is not _all_. in the first place, you know i have a sufficient contempt for our english intolerance, with regard to manners-- medon. why, yes; with reason. the influence of mere _manner_ among our fashionable people, and the stress laid upon it as a distinction, have become so vulgarized and abused, that i should be relieved even by a reaction which should throw us out of the insipidity of conventional manner into primeval rudeness. alda. no, no, no!--no extremes: but though so sensible to the ridicule of referring the social habits, opinions, customs, of other nations, to the arbitrary standard of our own, still i could not help falling into comparisons; certain distinctions between the german and the english women struck me involuntarily. in the highest circles a stranger finds society much alike every where. a court-ball--the _soirée_ of an ambassadress--a minister's dinner--present nearly the same physiognomy. it is in the second class of society, which is also every where, and in every sense, the best, that we behold the stamp of national character. i was not condemned to see my german friends always _en grande toilette_; i had better opportunities of judging and appreciating their domestic habits and manners, than most travellers enjoy. i thought the german women, of a certain rank, more _natural_ than we are. the moral education of an english girl is, for the most part, _negative_; the whole system of duty is thus presented to the mind. it is not "this you must do;" but always "you must not do this--you must not say that--you must not think so;" and if by some hardy, expanding nature, the question be ventured, "why?"--the mamma or the governess are ready with the answer--"it is not the custom--it is not lady-like--it is ridiculous!" but is it wrong?--why is it wrong?--and then comes answer, pat--"my dear, you must not argue--young ladies never argue." "but, mamma, i was thinking----" "my dear, you must not think--go write your italian exercise," and so on! the idea that certain passions, powers, tempers, feelings, interwoven with our being by our almighty and all-wise creator, are to be put down by the fiat of a governess, or the edict of fashion, is monstrous. those who educate us imagine that they have done every thing, if they have silenced controversy, if they have suppressed all external demonstration of an excess of temper or feeling; not knowing, or not reflecting, that unless our nature be self-governed and self-directed by an appeal to those higher faculties, which link us immediately with what is divine, their labour is lost. now, in germany the women are less educated to suit some particular fashion; the cultivation of the intellect, and the forming of the manners, do not so generally supersede the training of the moral sentiments--the affections--the impulses; the latter are not so habitually crushed or disguised; consequently the women appeared to me more natural, and to have more individual character. medon. but the english women pique themselves on being natural, at least they have the word continually in their mouths. do you know that i once overheard a well-meaning mother instructing her daughter how to be natural? you laugh, but i assure you it is a simple fact. now, i really do not object to natural insipidity, but i do object to conventional insipidity: i object to a rule of elegance which makes the negative the test of the natural. it seems hard that those who have hearts and souls must needs put them into a strait-waistcoat, in order to oblige those who choose to have none; and be guilty of the grossest affectation, to escape the imputation of being affected! alda. i think there is less of this among the germans; more of the individual character is brought into the daily intercourse of society--more of the poetry of existence is brought to bear on the common realities of life. i saw a freshness of feeling--a genuine (not a taught) simplicity, which charmed me. sometimes i have seen affectation, but it amused me; it consisted in the exaggeration of what is in itself good, not in the mean renunciation of our individuality--the immolation of our soul's truth to a mere fashion of behaviour. as rochefoucauld called hypocrisy, (that last extreme of wickedness,) "_the homage which vice pays to virtue_;" so the _nature de convention_, that last and worst excess of affectation, is the homage which the artificial pays to the natural. the german women are much more engrossed by the cares of housekeeping than women of a similar rank of life in england. they carry this too far in many instances, as we do the opposite extreme. in england, with our false, conventional refinement, we attach an idea of vulgarity to certain cares and duties, in which there is nothing vulgar. to see the young and beautiful daughter of a lady of rank running about, busied in household matters, with the keys of the wine-cellar and the store-room suspended to her sash, would certainly surprise a young englishwoman, who, meantime, is netting a purse, painting a rose, or warbling some "dolce mio bene," or "soavi palpiti," with the air of a nun at penance. the description of werther's charlotte, cutting bread and butter, has been an eternal subject of laughter among the english, among whom fine sentiment must be garnished out with something finer than itself; and no princess can be suffered to go mad, or even be in love, except in white satin. to any one who has lived in germany, the union of sentiment and bread and butter, or of poetry with household cares, excites no laughter. the wife of a state minister once excused herself from going with me to a picture gallery, because on that day she was obliged to reckon up the household linen; she was one of the most charming, truly elegant, and accomplished women i ever met with. at another time, i remember that a very accomplished woman, who had herself figured in a court, could not do something or other--i forget what--because it was the "grösse wäsche," (the great wash,) an event by the way which i often found very mal-a-propos, and which never failed to turn a german household upside down. you must remember that i am not speaking of tradesmen and mechanics, but of people of my own, or even a superior rank of life. it is true that i met with cases in which the women had, without necessity, sunk into mere domestic drudges--women whose souls were in their kitchen and their household stuff--whose talk was of dishes and of condiments; but then the same species of women in england would have been, instead of busy with the idea of being useful, frivolous and silly, without any idea at all. medon. and whether a woman put her soul into an apple tart, or a new bonnet, signifies little, if there be no capacity there for any thing better. i hate mere fine ladies; but equally avoid those who seem born to "suckle fools and chronicle small beer." the accomplishments which embellish social life--the cultivation which raises you to a companionship with men--i cannot spare these to make mere nurses and housewifes, as i conceive the generality of the german women aim to be, and which i have been told the opinions of the men approve. alda. as to what we term accomplishments, there was certainly much less exhibition and parade of them in society; they formed less an established and necessary part of education than with us; but, of really accomplished, well-informed women, believe me i found no deficiency--far otherwise: if the inclination or the talent existed, means and opportunity were not wanting for mental culture of a very high species. i met with fewer women who drew badly, sang tolerably, or rather intolerably, scratched the harp, and quoted metastasio; but i met with quite as many women who, without pretension, were finished musicians, painted like artists, possessed an extensive acquaintance with their own literature, and an uncommon knowledge of languages; and were, besides, very good housewives after the german fashion. more or less acquaintance with the french language was a matter of course, but english was preferred: every where i met with women who had cultivated with success, not our language merely, but our literature. shakspeare, whether studied in english, or in some of their excellent translations, i found a species of household god, whose very name was breathed with reverence, as if it were that of a supernatural being. lord byron, and sir walter scott, and campbell, are familiar names. wordsworth and shelley are beginning to be known, but they are pronounced more difficult of comprehension than shakspeare himself; yet i met with a german lady who could repeat coleridge's "ancient mariner" by heart. of our great modern poets, crabbe appeared the least understood and appreciated in germany, for the obvious reason, that his subjects and portraits are almost exclusively national. there are, however, several german editions of his works. the men read him as a study. the only german lady i met with who had read his works through, pronounced them "not poetry." bulwer is exceedingly popular among the women; so is moore. some of those who most admired the latter, gave as one reason that "his english style was so easy." medon. of all our poets, moore should seem the least allied to a german taste. shall i confess to you? he reminds me perpetually of prince potemkin's larder, in which you could always have _petits-patés_ and champagne, _ad libitum_, but never a morsel of bread or a drop of water! alda. the simile is e'en too wickedly just; but i except his irish ballads: by the way, i was pleased to find some of our beautiful irish melodies almost naturalized in germany, and sung either with moore's words, or german versions of them. i remember that at stift-neuberg i heard the air of ally croker sung to an excellent translation of moore's words,[ ] and with as much of the national spirit and feeling as if we had been on the banks of the shannon instead of the banks of the neckar. the singer, an amateur, and a most extraordinary musical genius, who had joined our circle from heidelberg, did not understand, or at least did not speak, english; yet there was no irish, or scotch, or english air which he had not at the ends of his fingers; and when he struck up, "of noble race was shenkin," it was as if all the souls of all the welsh harpers since high-born hoel had inspired him. this gifted person was, however, of your sex, and our discourse, at present, is of mine. i heard an english lady, who had resided for some time in germany, remark, that the "german mothers _spoiled_ their children terribly;" in other words, the children lived more habitually with the mothers, were under little restraint, and behaved in the drawing-room much as if they were in the nursery, and were treated, as they grew up, on more equal terms. that high exterior polish, those brilliant conversational talents, which i have seen in many english and french women, must be rare among the germans: they are too simple, and too much in earnest. the trifling of a polished french woman is often most graceful; the trifling of an englishwoman gracious and graceful; but the trifling of a german woman is, in comparison, heavy work; to use a common expression, it is not _in them_. i met with _one_ satirical woman. you know i once ventured to assert that no woman is _naturally_ satirical, and to touch upon the causes which foster this artificial vice--and here was a case in point. it was that of a mind which had originally been a piece of nature's noblest handiwork, first bruised, then gradually festered by the action of all evil influences. medon. and, "lilies that fester are far worse than weeds," so singeth the poet; but do you make the cause also the excuse? how many minds have endured the most withering influences of misery and mischief, if not untouched, at least uninjured--unembittered! alda. i grant you: but before we assume the power of judging, of computing the degree of virtue in the latter case, of vice in the former, we should look to the original conformation of the human being--the material exposed to these influences. fire hardens the clay and dissolves the metal. this plate of tempered steel, on which i am going to etch, shall corrode, effervesce, be absolutely decomposed by the action of a few drops of nitrous acid, which has no effect whatever on this lump of wax. now, carry this analogy into the consideration of the human character--it will spare us a long argument. as to the chapter of coquettes-- medon. ah! _glissez, mortel, n'appuyez pas!_ alda. and why not?--don't you know that i meditate, with the assistance of certain _professorins_, a complete natural history of coquettes, (in quarto,) which shall rival the famous dutch treatise on butterflies, in heaven knows how many folio volumes? in the first part of this stupendous work we intend to treat systematically of every known species, from the _coquetterie instinctive_, which may be termed the wild genus, indigenous in all females, up to the _coquetterie calculée et philosophique_, the most refined specimen reared in the hot-bed of artificial life. in the second part, we shall treat the whole history of _coquetterie_, from that first pretty experiment of dear mamma eve, when she turned away from adam, "----as conscious of her worth, that would be woo'd and not unsought be won," down to--to--how shall i avoid being personal?--down to the lady adeline amundevilles of our own day. with some women _coquetterie_ is an instinct; with others, an amusement; with others, a pursuit; with others, a science. with the german women it is a passion: they play the coquette as they do every thing else, with sentiment, with good faith, with enthusiasm. medon. why then it is no longer _coquetterie_--it is love! alda. i beg your pardon; it is something very different. true, perhaps, "that thin partitions do the bounds divide;" but, to a nice observer, the division is not the less complete. in short, you can imagine nothing more distinct than an english coquette and a german coquette; in the first case, one is reminded of dryden's fanciful simile-- "so cold herself, while she such warmth express'd, 'twas cupid bathing in diana's stream!" but, in the latter case, it is diana bending the bow, and brandishing the darts of cupid; and with an unsuspicious _gaucherie_, which now and then turns the point against her own bosom. i observed, and i verified my own observations, by the information of some intelligent medical men, that there is less ill-health among the superior rank of women, in germany, than with us; all that class of diseases, which we call nervous, which in england have increased, and are increasing in such a fearful ratio, are far less prevalent; doubtless, because the habits of social life are more natural. the use of noxious stimulants among the better class of women is almost unknown, and rare among the very lowest classes--would to heaven we could say the same! no where, not even at munich, one of the most profligate of the german capitals, was i ever shocked by the exhibition of female suffering and depravity in another form, as in the theatres and the streets of london. i have been asked twenty times since my return to england, whether the german women are not very _exaltée_--very romantic? i could only answer, that they appeared to me less calculating, less the slaves of artificial manners and modes of thinking; more imaginative, more governed by natural feeling, more enthusiastic in love and religion, than with us. if this is what my english friends term _exaltée_, i certainly cannot think the german women would have reason to be offended by the application of the word to them, however satirically meant. perhaps it may be from necessity, that they are generally more simple in their tastes, and more frugal in their expenses; they had certainly a most formidable idea of the extravagance of fashionable english women, and of our luxurious habits. i believe that they are sometimes difficult of access, and apparently inhospitable, because they suspect us of scoffing at their simplicity, at the homeliness of their accommodations, and their housewively occupations. for my own part i slipped so quietly and naturally into all their social and domestic habits, and cared so little about the differences and distinctions, which some of the english thought it fine to be always remarking and lamenting, that my german friends used to express their surprise, by saying--"savez vous, ma chère, que vous ne me faites pas de tout l'effet d'une anglaise!"--an odd species of compliment, but certainly meant as such. it is true that i was sometimes a little tired of the everlasting knitting and cross-stitch; and it is true i may at times have felt the want of certain external luxuries, with which we are habitually pampered in this prodigal land, till they become necessaries; but i would be well content to exchange them all a thousand times over, for the cheap mental and social pleasures--the easy intercourse of german life. medon. apropos to german romance. i met with a striking instance of it even in my short and rapid journey across part of the country. a lady of birth and rank, who had been _dame d'honneur_ in the court of a sovereign princess, (a princess by the way of very equivocal reputation,) on the death of a lover, to whom she had been betrothed, devoted herself thenceforth to the service of the sick in the hospitals; she could not enter a religious order, being a protestant, but she fulfilled all the offices of a vowed sister of charity. when she applied to the physician for leave to attend the hospital at ----, he used every endeavour to dissuade her from her undertaking--all in vain! then he tried to disgust her by imposing, in the first instance, duties the most fearful and revolting to a delicate woman; she stood this test, and persisted. it is now five years since i saw her; perhaps she may by this time be tired of her charitable, or rather her romantic, self-devotion. alda. no, _that_ she is not. i know to whom you allude. she follows steadily and quietly the same pious vocation in which she has persevered for fifteen years, and in which she seems resolved to die. now, in return for your story, though i knew it all before, i will tell you another; but lest you should suspect me of absolute invention and romancing, i must tell you how i came by it. i was travelling from weimar to frankfort, and had stopped at a little town, one or two stages beyond fulda; i was standing at the window of the inn, which was opposite to the post-house, and looking at a crowd of travellers who had just been disgorged from a huge eil-wagen or post-coach, which was standing there. among them was one female, who, before i was aware, fixed my attention. although closely enveloped in a winter dress from head to foot, her height, and the easy decision with which she moved, showed that her figure was fine and well-proportioned; and as the wind blew aside her black veil, i had a glimpse of features which still farther excited my curiosity. i had time to consider her, as she alighted and walked over to the inn alone. she entered at once the room--it was a sort of public saloon--in which i was; summoned the waiter, whom she addressed in a good-humoured, but rather familiar style, and ordered breakfast; not a cup of chocolate or _caffee au lait_, as became a heroine, for you see i was resolved that she should be one, but a very substantial german breakfast--soup, a cutlet, and a pint (eine halbe flasche) of good wine: it was then about ten o'clock. while this was preparing, she threw off her travelling accoutrements; first a dark cloak, richly lined with fur; one or two shawls; a sort of pelisse, or rather surtout, reaching to the knees, with long loose sleeves, such as you may see in the prints of tartar or muscovite costumes; this was made of beautiful indian shawl, lined with blue silk, and trimmed with sables: under these splendid and multifarious coverings she wore a dress of deep mourning. her figure, when displayed, excited my admiration: it was one of the most perfect i ever beheld. her feet, hands, and head, were small in proportion to her figure; her face was not so striking--it was pretty, rather than handsome; her small mouth closed firmly, so as to give a marked and singular expression of resolution and decision, to a physiognomy otherwise frank and good-humoured. her eyes, also small, were of a dark hazel, bright, and with long blonde eyelashes. her abundant fair hair was plaited in several bands, and fastened on the top of her head, in the fashion of the german peasant girls. her voice would have been deemed rather high-pitched, for "ears polite," but it was not deficient in melody; and though her expression was grave, and even sad, upon our first encounter, i soon found that mirth, and not sadness, was the natural character of her mind, as of her countenance. when any thing ridiculous occurred, she burst at once into a laugh--such a merry, musical peal, that it was impossible not to sympathize in it. her whole appearance and manner gave me the idea of a farmer's buxom daughter: nothing could be more distinct from our notions of the lady-like, yet nothing could be more free from impropriety, more expressive of native innocence and modesty; but the splendour of her dress did not exactly suit with her deportment--it puzzled me. i observed, when she drew off her glove, that she wore a number of silver rings of a peculiar fashion, and among them a fine diamond. she walked up and down while her breakfast was preparing, seemingly lost in painful meditations; but when it appeared, she sat down and did justice to it, as one who had been many hours without food. while she was thus engaged, the conducteur of the eil-wagen and one of the passengers came in, and spoke to her with interest and respect. soon afterwards came the mistress of the inn, (who had never deigned to notice me, for it is not the fashion in germany;) she came with an offer of particular services, and from the conversation i gathered, to my astonishment, that this young creature--she seemed not more than two or three and twenty--was on her way home, alone and unprotected, from--can you imagine?--even from the wilds of siberia! but then what had brought her there? i listened, in hopes of discovering, but they all spoke so fast that i could make out nothing more. afterwards, i had occasion to go over to a little shop to make some purchase. on my return, i found her crying bitterly, and my maid, also in tears, was comforting her with great volubility. now, though my _having_ in german, like orlando's beard, was not considerable, and my heroine spoke still less french, i could not help assisting in the task of consolation--never, certainly, were my curiosity and interest more strongly excited! subsequently we met at frankfort, where she was lodged in the same hotel, and i was enabled to offer her a seat in my vehicle to mayence. thus, i had opportunities of hearing her whole history related at different times, and in parts and parcels; and i will now endeavour to give it to you in a connected form. i may possibly make some mistake with regard to the order of events, but i promise you faithfully, that where my recollection of names, or dates, or circumstances, may fail me, i will not, like mademoiselle de montpensier, make use of my imagination to supply the defects of my memory. you shall have, if not the whole truth, at least as much of it as i can remember, and with no fictitious interpolations and improvements. of the animation of voice and manner, the vivid eloquence, the graphic spirit, the quick transitions of feeling, and the grace and vivacity of gesture and action with which the relation was made to me by this fine untutored child of nature, i can give you no idea--it was altogether a study of character, i shall never forget. my heroine--truly and in every sense does she deserve the name--was the daughter of a rich brewer and wine merchant of deuxponts.[ ] she was one of five children, two much older and two much younger than herself. her eldest brother was called henri: he had early displayed such uncommon talents, and such a decided inclination for study, that his father was determined to give him all the advantages of a learned education, and sent him to the university of erlangen, in bavaria, whence he returned to his family, with the highest testimonies of his talents and good conduct. his father now destined him for the clerical profession, with which his own wishes accorded. his sister fondly dwelt upon his praises, and described him, perhaps with all a sister's partiality, as being not only the pride of his family, but of all his fellow-citizens, "tall, and handsome, and good," of a most benevolent enthusiastic temper, and devoted to his studies. when he had been at home for some time, he attracted the notice of one of the princes in the north of germany, with whom he travelled, i believe, in the capacity of secretary. the name of the prince, and the particulars of this part of his life, have escaped me; but it appeared that, through the recommendation of this powerful patron, he became professor of theology in a university of courland, i think at riga, or somewhere near it, for the name of this city was continually recurring in her narrative. henri was at this time about eight-and-twenty. while here, it was his fate to fall passionately in love with the daughter of a rich jew merchant. his religious zeal mingled with his love; he was as anxious to convert his mistress as to possess her--and, in fact, the first was a necessary preliminary to the second; the consequences were all in the usual style of such matters. the relations discovered the correspondence, and the young jewess was forbidden to see or to speak to her lover. they met in secret. what arguments he might use to convert this modern jessica, i know not, but they prevailed. she declared herself convinced, and consented to fly with him beyond the frontiers, into silesia, to be baptized, and to become his wife. apparently their plans were not well-arranged, or were betrayed; for they were pursued by her relations and the police, and overtaken before they reached the frontiers. the young man was accused of carrying off his jewish love by force, and this, i believe, at riga, where the jews are protected, is a capital crime. the affair was brought before the tribunal, and the accused defended himself by declaring that the girl had fled with him by her own free will; that she was a christian, and his betrothed bride, as they had exchanged rings, or had gone through some similar ceremony. the father jew denied this on the part of his daughter, and henri desired to be confronted with the lady who was thus said to have turned his accuser. her family made many difficulties, but by the order of the judge she was obliged to appear. she was brought into the court of justice pale, trembling, and supported by her father and others of her kindred. the judge demanded whether it was by her own will that she had fled with henri ambos? she answered in a faint voice, "_no_." had then violence been used to carry her off? "_yes._" was she a christian? "_no._" did she regard henri as her affianced husband? "_no._" on hearing these replies, so different from the truth,--from all he could have anticipated, the unfortunate young man appeared for a few minutes stupified; then, as if seized with a sudden frenzy, he made a desperate effort to rush upon the young jewess. on being prevented, he drew a knife from his pocket, which he attempted to plunge into his own bosom, but it was wrested from him; in the scuffle he was wounded in the hands and face, and the young lady swooned away. the sight of his mistress insensible, and his own blood flowing, restored the lover to his senses. he became sullenly calm, offered not another word in his own defence, refused to answer any questions, and was immediately conveyed to prison. these particulars came to the knowledge of his family after the lapse of many months, but of his subsequent fate they could learn nothing. neither his sentence nor his punishment could be ascertained; and although one of his relations went to riga, for the purpose of obtaining some information--some redress--he returned without having effected either of the purposes of his journey. whether henri had died of his wounds, or languished in a perpetual dungeon, remained a mystery. six years thus passed away. his father died: his mother, who persisted in hoping, while all others despaired, lingered on in heart-wearing suspense. at length, in the beginning of last year, ( ,) a travelling merchant passed through the city of deuxponts, and inquired for the family of ambos. he informed them that in the preceding year he had seen and spoken to a man in rags, with a long beard, who was working in fetters with other criminals, near the fortress of barinska, in siberia; who described himself as henri ambos, a pastor of the lutheran church, unjustly condemned, and besought him with tears, and the most urgent supplications, to convey some tidings of him to his unhappy parents, and beseech them to use every means to obtain his liberation. you must imagine--for i cannot describe as she described--the feelings which this intelligence excited. a family counsel was held, and it was determined at once that application should be made to the police authorities at st. petersburgh, to ascertain beyond a doubt the fate of poor henri--that a petition in his favour must be presented to the emperor of russia; but who was to present it? the second brother offered himself, but he had a wife and two children; the wife protested that she should die if her husband left her, and would not hear of his going; besides, he was the only remaining hope of his mother's family. the sister then said that she would undertake the journey, and argued that as a woman she had more chance of success in such an affair than her brother. the mother acquiesced. there was, in truth, no alternative; and being amply furnished with the means, this generous, affectionate, and strong-minded girl, set off alone, on her long and perilous journey. "when my mother gave me her blessing," said she, "i made a vow to god and my own heart, that i would not return alive without the pardon of my brother. i feared nothing; i had nothing to live for. i had health and strength, and i had not a doubt of my own success, because i was _resolved_ to succeed; but ah! _liebe madame!_ what a fate was mine! and how am i returning to my mother!--my poor old mother!" here she burst into tears, and threw herself back in the carriage; after a few minutes she resumed her narrative. she reached the city of riga without mischance. there she collected the necessary documents relative to her brother's character and conduct, with all the circumstances of his trial, and had them properly attested. furnished with these papers, she proceeded to st. petersburgh, where she arrived safely in the beginning of june, . she had been furnished with several letters of recommendation, and particularly with one to a german ecclesiastic, of whom she spoke with the most grateful enthusiasm, by the title of m. le pasteur. she met with the utmost difficulty in obtaining from the police the official return of her brother's condemnation, place of exile, punishment, &c.; but at length, by almost incredible boldness, perseverance, and address, she was in possession of these, and with the assistance of her good friend the pastor, she drew up a petition to the emperor. with this she waited on the minister of the interior, to whom, with great difficulty, and after many applications, she obtained access. he treated her with great harshness, and absolutely refused to deliver the petition. she threw herself on her knees, and added tears to entreaties; but he was inexorable, and added brutally--"your brother was a _mauvais sujet_; he _ought_ not to be pardoned, and if i were the emperor i would not pardon him." she rose from her knees, and stretching her arms towards heaven, exclaimed with fervour--"i call god to witness that my brother was innocent! and i thank god that you are not the emperor, for i can still hope!" the minister, in a rage, said--"do you dare to speak thus to me! do you know who i am?" "yes," she replied; "you are his excellency the minister c----; but what of that? you are a cruel man! but i put my trust in god and the emperor; and then," said she, "i left him, without even a curtsey, though he followed me to the door, speaking very loud and very angrily." her suit being rejected by all the ministers, (for even those who were most gentle, and who allowed the hardship of the case, still refused to interfere, or deliver her petition,) she resolved to do, what she had been dissuaded from attempting in the first instance--to appeal to the emperor in person: but it was in vain she lavished hundreds of dollars in bribes to the inferior officers; in vain she beset the imperial suite, at reviews, at the theatre, on the way to the church: invariably beaten back by the guards, or the attendants, she could not penetrate to the emperor's presence. after spending six weeks in daily ineffectual attempts of this kind, hoping every morning, and almost despairing every evening--threatened by the police, and spurned by the officials--providence raised her up a friend in one of her own sex. among some ladies of rank, who became interested in her story, and invited her to their houses, was a countess elise, something or other, whose name i am sorry i did not write down. one day, on seeing her young _protegée_ overwhelmed with grief, and almost in despair, she said, with emotion, "i cannot dare to present your petition myself, i might be sent off to siberia, or at least banished the court; but all i can do i will. i will lend you my equipage and servants. i will dress you in one of my robes; you shall drive to the palace the next levee day, and obtain an audience under my name; when once in the presence of the emperor you must manage for yourself. if i risk thus much, will you venture the rest?" "and what," said i, "was your answer?" "oh!" she replied, "i could not answer; but i threw myself at her feet, and kissed the hem of her gown!" i asked her whether she had not feared to risk the safety of her generous friend? she replied, "that thought did strike me--but what would you have?--i cast it from me. i was _resolved_ to have my brother's pardon--i would have sacrificed my own life to obtain it--and, god forgive me, i thought little of what it might cost another." this plan was soon arranged, and at the time appointed my resolute heroine drove up to the palace in a splendid equipage, preceded by a running footman, with three laced laquais in full dress, mounted behind. she was announced as the countess elise ----, who supplicated a particular audience of his majesty. the doors flew open, and in a few minutes she was in the presence of the emperor, who advanced one or two steps to meet her, with an air of gallantry, but suddenly started back---- here i could not help asking her, whether in that moment she did not feel her heart sink? "no," said she firmly; "on the contrary, i felt my heart beat quicker and higher!--i sprang forward and knelt at his feet, exclaiming, with clasped hands--'pardon, imperial majesty!--pardon!'" "who are you?" said the emperor, astonished; "and what can i do for you?" he spoke gently, more gently than any of his ministers, and overcome, even by my own hopes, i burst into a flood of tears, and said--"may it please your imperial majesty, i am not countess elise ----, i am only the sister of the unfortunate henri ambos, who has been condemned on false accusation. o pardon!--pardon! here are the papers--the proofs. o imperial majesty!--pardon my poor brother!" i held out the petition and the papers, and at the same time, prostrate on my knees, i seized the skirt of his embroidered coat, and pressed it to my lips. the emperor said, "rise--rise!" but i would not rise; i still held out my papers, resolved not to rise till he had taken them. at last the emperor, who seemed much moved, extended one hand towards me, and took the papers with the other, saying--"rise, mademoiselle--i command you to rise." i ventured to kiss his hand, and said, with tears, "i pray of your majesty to read that paper." he said, "i will read it." i then rose from the ground, and stood watching him while he unfolded the petition and read it. his countenance changed, and he exclaimed once or twice, "is it possible?--this is dreadful!" when he had finished, he folded the paper, and without any observation, said at once--"mademoiselle ambos, your brother is pardoned." the words rung in my ears, and i again flung myself at his feet, saying--and yet i scarce know what i said--"your imperial majesty is a god upon earth; do you indeed pardon my brother? your ministers would never suffer me to approach you; and even yet i fear----!" he said, "fear nothing: you have my promise." he then raised me from the ground, and conducted me himself to the door. i tried to thank and bless him, but could not; he held out his hand for me to kiss, and then bowed his head as i left the room. "ach ja! the emperor is a good man,--ein schöner, feiner, mann! but he does not know how cruel his ministers are, and all the evil they do, and all the justice they refuse, in his name!" i have given you this scene as nearly as possible in her own words. she not only related it, but almost acted it over again; she imitated alternately, her own and the emperor's voice and manner; and such was the vivacity of her description that i seemed to hear and behold both, and was more profoundly moved than by any scenic representation i can remember. on her return she received the congratulations of her benefactress, the countess elise, and of her good friend the pastor, but both advised her to keep her audience and the emperor's promise a profound secret. she was the more inclined to this; because, after the first burst of joyous emotion, her spirits sank. recollecting the pains that had been taken to shut her from the emperor's presence, she feared some unforeseen obstacle, or even some knavery on the part of the officers of government. she described her sufferings during the next few days, as fearful; her agitation, her previous fatigues, and the terrible suspense, apparently threw her into a fever, or acted on her excited nerves so as to produce a species of delirium, though, of course, she would not admit this. after assuring me very gravely that she did not believe in ghosts, she told me that one night, after her interview with the emperor, she was reading in bed, being unable to sleep; and on raising her eyes from her book she saw the figure of her brother, standing at the other end of the room; she exclaimed, "my god, henri! is that you!" but without making any reply, the form approached nearer and nearer to the bed, keeping its melancholy eyes fixed on her's, till it came quite close to the bed side, and laid a cold heavy hand upon her. medon. the night-mare, evidently. alda. without doubt; but her own impression was as of a reality. the figure, after looking at her sadly for some minutes, during which she had no power either to move or speak, turned away; she then made a desperate effort to call out to the daughter of her hostess, who slept in the next room--"luise! luise!" luise ran in to her. "do you not see my brother standing there?" she exclaimed with horror, and pointing to the other end of the room, whither the image, conjured up by her excited fancy and fevered nerves, appeared to have receded. the frightened, staring luise, answered, "yes." "you see," said she, appealing to me--"that though i might be cheated by my own senses, i could not doubt those of another. i thought to myself, _then_, my poor henri is dead, and god has permitted him to visit me. this idea pursued me all that night, and the next day; but on the following day, which was monday, just five days after i had seen the emperor, a _laquais_, in the imperial livery, came to my lodging, and put into my hands a packet, with the "emperor's _compliments_ to mademoiselle ambos." it was the pardon for my brother, with the emperor's seal and signature: then i forgot every thing but joy!" those mean, official animals, who had before spurned her, now pressed upon her with offers of service, and even the minister c---- offered to expedite the pardon himself to siberia, _in order to save her trouble_; but she would not suffer the precious paper out of her hands: she determined to carry it herself--to be herself the bearer of glad tidings:--she had resolved that none but herself should take off those fetters, the very description of which had entered her soul; so, having made her arrangements as quickly as possible, she set off for moscow, where she arrived in three days. according to her description, the town in siberia, to the governor of which she carried an official recommendation, was nine thousand versts beyond moscow; and the fortress to which the wretched malefactors were exiled was at a great distance beyond that. i could not well make out the situation of either, and, unluckily, i had no map with me but a road map of germany, and it was evident that my heroine was no geographer. she told me that, after leaving moscow, she travelled post seven days and seven nights, only sleeping in the carriage. she then reposed for two days, and then posted on for another seven days and nights. medon. alone? alda. alone! and wholly unprotected, except by her own innocence and energy, and a few lines of recommendation, which had been given to her at st. petersburgh. the roads were every where excellent, the post-houses at regular distances, the travelling rapid; but often, for hundreds of miles, there were no accommodations of any kind--scarce a human habitation. she even suffered from hunger, not being prepared to travel for so many hours together without meeting with any food she could touch without disgust. she described, with great truth and eloquence, her own sensations as she was whirled rapidly over those wide, silent, solitary, and apparently endless plains. "sometimes," said she, "my head seemed to turn--i could not believe that it was a waking reality--i could not believe that it was myself. alone, in a strange land,--so many hundred leagues from my own home, and driven along as if through the air, with a rapidity so different from any thing i had been used to, that it almost took away my breath." "did you ever feel fear?" i asked. "ach ja! when i waked sometimes in the carriage, in the middle of the night, wondering at myself, and unable immediately to collect my thoughts. never at any other time." i asked her if she had ever met with insult? she said she had twice met with "wicked men;" but she had felt no alarm--she knew how to protect herself; and as she said this, her countenance assumed an expression which showed that it was not a mere boast. altogether, she described her journey as being _grausam_, (horrible,) in the highest degree, and, indeed, even the recollection of it made her shudder; but at the time there was the anticipation of an unspeakable happiness, which made all fatigues light, and all dangers indifferent. at length, in the beginning of august, she arrived at the end of her journey, and was courteously received by the commandant of the fortress. she presented the pardon with a hand which trembled with impatience and joy, too great to be restrained, almost to be borne. the officer looked very grave, and took, she thought, a long time to read the paper, which consisted only of six or eight lines. at last he stammered out, "i am sorry--but the henri ambos mentioned in this paper--_is dead_!" poor girl! she fell to the earth. when she reached this part of her story she burst into a fresh flood of tears, wrung her hands, and for some time could utter nothing but passionate exclamations of grief. "ach! lieber gott! was für ein schreckliches schicksal war das meine!" "what a horrible fate was mine! i had come thus far to find--not my brother--_nur ein grab_!" (only a grave!) she repeated several times, with an accent of despair. the unfortunate man had died a year before. the fetters in which he worked had caused an ulcer in his leg, which he neglected, and, after some weeks of horrid suffering, death released him. the task-work, for nearly five years, of this accomplished, and even learned man, in the prime of his life and mental powers, had been to break stones upon the road, chained hand and foot, and confounded with the lowest malefactors. in giving you thus conscientiously, the mere outline of this story, i have spared you all comments. i see, by those indignant strides majestical, that you are making comments to yourself; but sit down and be quiet, if you can: i have not much more to tell! she found, on inquiry, that some papers and letters, which her unhappy brother had drawn up by stealth, in the hope of being able at some time to convey them to his friends, were in the possession of one of the officers, who readily gave them up to her; and with these she returned, half broken-hearted, to st. petersburgh. if her former journey, when hope cheered her on the way, had been so fearful, what must have been her return? i was not surprised to hear that, on her arrival, she was seized with a dangerous illness, and was for many weeks confined to her bed. her story excited much commiseration; and a very general interest and curiosity was excited about herself. she told me that a great many persons of rank invited her to their houses, and made her rich presents, among which were the splendid shawls and the ring, which had caught my attention, and excited my surprise, in the first instance. the emperor expressed a wish to see her, and very graciously spoke a few words of condolence. "but they could not bring my brother back to life!" said she, expressively. he even presented her to the empress. "and what," i asked, "did the empress say to you?" "_nothing_; but she looked _so_,"--drawing herself up. on receiving her brother's pardon from the emperor, she had written home to her family; but she confessed that since that time she had not written--she had not courage to inflict a blow which might possibly affect her mother's life; and yet the idea of being obliged to _tell_ what she dared not write, seemed to strike her with terror. but the strangest event of this strange story remains to be told; and i will try to give it in her own simple words. she left petersburgh in october, and proceeded to riga, where those who had known her brother received her with interest and kindness, and sympathized in her affliction. "but," said she, "there was one thing i had resolved to do, which yet remained undone. i was resolved to see the woman who had been the original cause of all my poor brother's misfortunes. i thought if once i could say to her, 'your falsehood has done this!' i should be satisfied; but my brother's friends dissuaded me from this idea. they said it was better not; that it could do my poor henri no good; that it was wrong; that it was unchristian; and i submitted. i left riga with a voiturier. i had reached pojer, on the prussian frontiers, and there i stopped at the douane, to have my packages searched. the chief officer looked at the address on my trunk, and exclaimed, with surprise, 'mademoiselle ambos! are you any relation of the professor henri ambos?'--'i am his sister.' 'good god! i was the intimate friend of your brother! what has become of him?' i then told him all i have now told you, liebe madame!--and when i came to an end, this good man burst into tears, and for some time we wept together. the kutscher, (driver,) who was standing by, heard all this conversation, and when i turned round, he was crying too. my brother's friend pressed on me offers of service and hospitality, but i could not delay; for, besides that my impatience to reach home increased every hour, i had not much money in my purse. of three thousand dollars, which i had taken with me to st. petersburgh, very little remained, so i bade him farewell, and i proceeded. at the next town, where my kutscher stopped to feed his horses, he came to the door of my calèche, and said, 'you have just missed seeing the jew lady, whom your brother was in love with; that calèche which passed us by just now, and changed horses here, contained mademoiselle s----, her sister, and her sister's husband!' good god! imagine my surprise! i could not believe my fortune: it seemed that providence had delivered her into my hands, and i was resolved that she should not escape me. i knew they would be delayed at the custom-house. i ordered the man to turn, and drive back as fast as possible, promising him a reward of a dollar if he overtook them. on reaching the custom-house, i saw a calèche standing at a little distance. i felt myself tremble, and my heart beat so--but not with fear. i went up to the calèche--two ladies were sitting in it. i addressed the one who was the most beautiful, and said, 'are you mademoiselle emilie s----?' i suppose i must have looked very strange, and wild, and resolute, for she replied, with a frightened manner--'i am; who are you, and what do you want with me?' i said, 'i am the sister of henri ambos, whom you murdered!' she shrieked out; the men came running from the house; but i held fast the carriage-door, and said, 'i am not come to hurt you, but you are the murderess of my brother, henri ambos. he loved you, and your falsehood has killed him. may god punish you for it! may his ghost pursue you to the end of your life!' i remember no more. i was like one mad. i have just a recollection of her ghastly, terrified look, and her eyes wide open, staring at me. i fell into fits; and they carried me into the house of my brother's friend, and laid me on a bed. when i recovered my senses, the calèche and all were gone. when i reached berlin, all this appeared to me so miraculous--so like a dream--i could not trust to my own recollection, and i wrote to the officer of customs, to beg he would attest that it was really true, and what i had said when i was out of my senses, and what _she_ had said; and at leipsic i received his letter, which i will show you." and at mayence she showed me this letter, and a number of other documents; her brother's pardon, with the emperor's signature; a letter of the countess elise ----; a most touching letter from her unfortunate brother; (over this she wept much;) and a variety of other papers, all proving the truth of her story, even to the minutest particulars. the next morning we were to part. i was going down the rhine, and she was to proceed to deuxponts, which she expected to reach in two days. as she had travelled from berlin almost without rest, except the night we had spent at frankfort, she appeared to me ready to sink with fatigue; but she would not bid me farewell that night, although i told her i should be obliged to set off at six the next morning; but kissing my hand, with many expressions of gratitude, she said she would be awake and visit me in my room to bid me a last adieu. as there was only a very narrow passage between the two rooms, she left her door a little open that she might hear me rise. however, on the following morning she did not appear. when dressed, i went on tiptoe into her room, and found her lying in a deep calm sleep, her arm over her head. i looked at her for some minutes, and thought i had never seen a finer creature. i then turned, with a whispered blessing and adieu, and went on my way. this is all i can tell you. if at the time i had not been travelling _against_ time, and with a mind most fully and painfully occupied, i believe i should have been tempted to accompany my heroine to deuxponts--at least i should have retained her narrative more accurately. not having made any memoranda till many days afterwards, all the names have escaped my recollection; but if you have any doubts of the general truth of this story, i will at least give you the means of verifying it. here is her name, in her own handwriting, on one of the leaves of my pocket-book--you can read the german character; =bety ambos von zweibruken.= sketches of art, literature, and character. part ii. memoranda at munich, nuremburg, and dresden. i. memoranda at munich. sept. th.--a week at munich! and nothing done! nothing seen! my first _excursions_ i made to-day--from my bed to the sofa--from the sofa to the window. every one told me to be prepared against the caprices of the climate, but i did not imagine that it would take a week or a fortnight to be _acclimatée_. what could induce the princes of bavaria to plant their capital in the midst of these wide, marshy, bleak, barren plains, and upon this rough unmanageable torrent,--"the isar rolling rapidly,"--when they might have seated themselves by the majestic danube? the tyrolean alps stretching south and west, either form a barrier against the most genial airs of heaven, or if a stray zephyr find his way from italy, his poor little wings are frozen to his back among the mountain snows, and he drops shivering among us, wrapt in a misty cloud. i never saw such fogs: they are as dense and as white as a fleece, and look, and feel too, like rarefied snow;--but as no one else complains, i think it must be indisposition which makes me so peevish and so chilly. sitting at the window being my best amusement, i do not like to find the only objects which are to give me a foretaste of the splendour of munich, quite veiled from sight, and shrouded in mist, even for a few morning hours. i am lodged in the max-joseph's-platz, opposite to the theatre: a situation at once airy, quiet, and cheerful. the theatre is in itself a beautiful object; the portico, of the corinthian order, is supported by eight pillars; the ascent is by a noble flight of steps, with four gigantic bronze candelabras at the corners; and nothing, at least to my unlearned eyes, could be more elegant--more purely classical and greek, than the whole, were it not for the hideous roof _upon the roof_,--one pediment, as it were, riding on the back of the other. some internal arrangement of the theatre may render this deformity necessary, but it _is_ a deformity, and one that annoys me whenever i look at it. on the right, i have the new palace, which forms one side of the square: a long range of plain, almost rustic, architecture; altogether a striking, but rather a pleasing contrast, to the luxuriant grace of the theatre. just now, when i looked out, what a beautiful scene! the full moon, rising over the theatre, lights up half the white columns, and half are lost in shade. the performances are just over; (half-past nine!) crowds of people emerging from the portico into the brilliant moonshine, (many of them military, in glittering accoutrements,) descend the steps, and spread themselves through the square, single, or in various groups; carriages are drawing up and drawing off,--and all this gay confusion is without the least noise or tumult. except the occasional low roll of the carriage-wheels over the well-gravelled road, i hear no sound, though within a few yards of the spot. it looks like some lovely optical or scenic illusion; a moving picture, magnified. _oct. th._--to my great consternation--summoned in form before the police, and condemned to pay a fine of ten florins for having omitted to fill up specifically a certain paper which had been placed in my hands on my arrival. in the first place, i did not understand it; secondly, i never thought about it; and thirdly, i had been too ill to attend to it. i made a show of resistance, but it was all in vain, of course;--my permission to reside here is limited to six weeks, but may be renewed. last night i was induced, but only upon great persuasion, to venture over to the theatre. i had been tantalised _so_ long by looking at the exterior! then it was a pleasant evening--broad daylight; and the whole theatre being heated by stoves to an even regulated warmth according to the season, i was assured that once within the doors there would be no danger of fresh indisposition from draughts or cold. entering the box, my first glance was of course at the stage. the drop-scene, or curtain, a well painted copy of guido's aurora, pleased me infinitely more than the beautiful drop-curtain at manheim: _that_ was very elegant, but this is more than elegant. it harmonized with the place, and in my own mind it touched certain chords of association, which had long been silent. it was as if the orchestre had suddenly welcomed me with some delicious, often-heard, and well-remembered piece of music: the effect upon the senses was similar--nor can i describe it;--but, surprised and charmed, i kept my eyes fixed for some minutes upon the picture: the light being thrown full upon it, while the rest of the theatre was comparatively in deep shade, like all the foreign theatres, rendered it more effective. the rest of the decorations corresponded in splendour; the two colossal muses, as caryatides supporting the king's state box, the noble columns of white and gold, and the caryatides on each side of the proscenium, were all in fine taste. the size and proportions of the interior seemed most happily calculated for seeing and hearing. on the whole, i never beheld a theatre which so entirely _satisfied_ me--no one more easily pleased, and no one less easily satisfied! when i looked down on the _parterre_, i beheld a motley assemblage in various costumes: there were a great number of the military; there were the well-dressed daughters of people of some condition, in the french fashion of two or three years back; there were girls in the tyrolean costume, with their scarlet boddices and silver chains; and the women of munich, with their odd little two-horned caps of rich gold or silver brocade,--forming altogether a singular spectacle. as for the scenery, it was very well, but would bear no comparison to stanfield's glorious illusions. the inducement held out to me to-night was to see ferdinand eslair play the duke of alva in "egmont." eslair, formerly one of the first actors at manheim, when manheim boasted the first theatre in germany, is esteemed the finest tragedian here, and the duke of alva is one of his best characters. it appeared to me a superb piece of acting; so quietly stern, so fearfully hard and composed: it was a fine conception cast in bronze:--in this consisted its beauty and truth as a whole. some of his _silent_ passages, and his by-play, were admirable. he gave us, in the scene with egmont, an exact living transcript of titian's famous picture of the duke of alva; the dress, the attitude, the position of the helmet and the glove on the table beside him, every thing was so well calculated, at once so unobtrusive and so unexpected, that it was like a recognition. egmont was well played by racke, but did not strike me so much. mademoiselle schöller, who plays the young heroines here, is a pupil of madame schröder, (the german siddons,) and promises well; but she wants development; she wants the power, the passion, the tenderness, the energy of clärchen. clärchen is a plebeian girl, but an impassioned and devoted woman--she is a sort of flemish juliet. there is the same truth of nature and passion, the same impress of intense and luxuriant life--but then it is a different life--it is a rubens compared to a titian--and such clärchen ought to be. now to give all the internal power and poetry, yet preserve all the external simplicity and homeliness of the character,--to give all the _abandon_, yet preserve all the delicacy,--to give the delicacy, yet keep clear of all super-refinement, and in the concentrated despair of her last scene (where she poisons herself) to be calm without being cold, and profoundly tragic without the usual tragedy airs, must be difficult--exceedingly difficult; in short, to play clärchen, as i conceive the character ought to be played, would require a young actress, uniting sufficient genius to conceive it aright, with sufficient delicacy and judgment not to colour it too highly: there was no danger of the latter mistake with mademoiselle schöller, in whose hands clärchen became a mere pretty affectionate girl. in that lovely scene with egmont in the third act, which might be contrasted with juliet's balcony scene, as a test of the powers of a young actress, mademoiselle schöller was timid even to feebleness; the change of manner, when clärchen substitutes the tender familiarity of the second person singular (du) for the tone of respect in which she before addressed her lover, should have been felt and marked, so as to have been _felt_ and _remarked_: but this was not the case. in short, i was disappointed by this scene. the flemish costumes were correct and beautiful. the prince of orange, in particular, looked as if he had just walked out of one of vandyke's pictures. after seeing this fine tragedy--surely enough for one evening's amusement--i was at home and in bed by half-past ten. they manage these things better here than in england. _friday._--dinner at the french ambassador's _five_ o'clock. i mark this, because extraordinarily late at munich. the plebeian dinner hour is twelve, or earlier; the general hour, one; the genteel hour, two; the fashionable hour, _three_; but five is super-elegant--in the very extreme of finery--like a nine o'clock dinner in london. there were present some french and austrians of high rank, who had all visited england; and the conversation turning on our english aristocratic society--the only society they knew any thing about--i had another proof of the ridicule with which foreigners treat our assumption of superior morality and domestic happiness. but the person who fixed my attention was leo von klenze, the celebrated architect, and deservedly a favourite of the king, who has, i believe, bestowed on him the superfluous honours of nobility. with the others, i had no sympathies--with him a thousand, though he knew it not. i looked at him with curiosity--with interest. i liked his plain, but marked and clever countenance, and his easy manners. i felt an unconscious desire to be agreeable, and longed to make him talk; but i knew that this was not the place or the moment for us to see each other to the greatest advantage. we had, however, some little conversation--a kind of beginning. he told me at dinner that the glypthothek, (the gallery of sculpture here,) was planned and built by the present king, when only prince royal, and the expenses liquidated from his private purse, out of his yearly savings. he spoke with modesty of himself--with gratitude and admiration of the king, of whose talent, vivacity, impatience, and enthusiasm for art and artists i had already heard some characteristic anecdotes. after coffee, part of the company dispersed to the opera, or elsewhere; others remained to lounge and converse. after the opera, we re-assembled with additions, and then tea, and cards, and talk, till past eleven. madame de vaudreuil receives almost every evening, and this seems to be the general routine. _oct. ._--they are now celebrating here the _volksfest_, (literally the "_people's feast_,") or annual fair of munich, and this has been a grand day of festivity. there have been races, a military review, &c.; but, except the race-horses in their embroidered trappings, which were led past my window, and a long cavalcade of royal carriages and crowds of people, in gay and grotesque costumes, hurrying by, i have seen nothing, being obliged to keep my room; so i listened to the firing of the cannon, and the shouts of the populace, and thought. * * * * * _oct. ._--first visit to the glypthothek--just returned--my imagination, still filled with "the blaze, the splendour, and the symmetry,"--excited as i never thought it could be again excited after seeing the vatican; but this is the vatican in miniature. can it be possible that this glorious edifice was planned by a young prince, and erected out of his yearly savings? i am wonder-struck! i was not prepared for any thing so spacious, so magnificent, so perfect in taste and arrangement. i do not yet know the exact measurement of the building; but it contains twelve galleries, the smallest about fifty, and the largest about one hundred and thirty feet in length. it consists of a square, built round an open central court, and the approach is by a noble portico of eight ionic columns, raised on a flight of steps. as it stands in an open space, a little out of the town, with trees planted on either side, the effect is very imposing and beautiful. there are no exterior windows, they all open into the central court. from the portico we enter a hall, paved with marble. over the principal door is the name of the king, and the date of the erection. two side doors lead to the galleries. over the door on the left there is an inscription to the honour of leo von klenze, the architect of the building. over the door on the right, is the name of peter cornelius, the painter, by whom the frescos were designed and chiefly executed. thus the king, with a noble magnanimity, uniting truth and justice, has associated in his glory those to whom he chiefly owes it--and this charmed me. it is in much finer feeling, much higher taste, than those eternal (no, not _eternal_!) great n's of that imperial egotist, napoleon, whose vulgar appetite for vulgar fame would allow no participation. i walked slowly through the galleries so excited by the feeling of admiration, that i could make no minute or particular observations. the floors are all paved with marbles of various colours--the walls, to a certain height, are stuccoed in imitation of grey or dark green marble, so as to throw out the sculpture, and give it the full effect. the utmost luxury of ornament has been lavished on the walls and ceilings, some in painting, some in relief; but in each, the subjects and ornaments are appropriate to the situation, and as each gallery has been originally adapted to its destination, every where the effect to be produced has been judiciously studied. the light is not too great, nor too generally diffused--it is poured in from high semicircular windows on one side only, so as to throw the sculpture into beautiful relief. two lofty and spacious halls are richly painted in fresco, with subjects from the greek mythology, and the whole building would contain, i suppose, six times, or ten times, the number of works of art now there; at the same time all are so arranged that there appears no obvious deficiency. the collection was begun only in , and since that time the king has contrived to make some invaluable acquisitions. i found here many of the most far-famed relics of ancient art, many that i had already seen in italy; for instance, the egina marbles, the barberini faun, the barberini muse, or apollo, the leucothoë, the medusa rondanini above all, the ilioneus; but i cannot now dwell on these. i must go again and again before i can methodise my impressions and recollections. _oct. ._--yesterday and to-day, at the glypthothek, where the cushioned seats, though rather more classical than comfortable, enabled me to lounge away the time, unwearied in body as in mind. the arrangement of the galleries is such as to form not only a splendid exhibition and school of art, but a regular progressive history of the rise and decline of sculpture. thus we step from the vestibule into the egyptian gallery, of which the principal treasure is the colossal antinous of rossoantico, with the attributes of osiris. i admired in this room the exquisite beauty and propriety of the basso-relievo over the door, designed and modelled by schwanthaler. it is of course intended to be symbolical of the birth of art among the egyptians. isis discovers the body of her lost husband osiris, concealed in a sarcophagus: she strikes it with the mystic wand, and he stands revealed, and restored to her. the imitation of the egyptian style is perfect. from the egyptian, we step into the etruscan gallery, of which the ceiling is painted in the most vivid and beautiful colours. the third room contains the famous egina marbles, which i had seen at rome when thorwaldson was engaged in restoring them. to appreciate the classical beauty and propriety of the arrangement of these singular relics, we must call to mind their history, their subject, and their original destination. thus Æacus, the first king of the island of Ægina, was the son of jupiter, or rather zeus, (for the greek designations are infinitely more elegant and expressive than the roman.) the temple was dedicated to zeus, and the groups which adorned the pediments represented the history of the two branches of the Æacidæ, descended from telamon and peleus, sons of Æacus. on two long tables or stands of marble, supported by griffins, imitated from those which originally ornamented the temple, are ranged the two groups of figures: neither group is quite entire. of that which represents the fight of telamon and hercules with laomedon, king of troy, there are only five figures remaining; and of the other group, the conflict for the body of patroclus, there are ten figures. along the walls, on tables of marble, are ranged a variety of fragments from the same temple, which must have been splendidly rich in sculpture, within and without. on the ceiling of this room, the four Æacidæ, Æacus, peleus, achilles, and neoptolemus, are represented in relief, by schwanthaler. there is also a small model of the western front of the temple restored, and painted as it is proved to have been originally; (for instance, the field of the tympanum was of a sky blue.) this model is fixed in the wall opposite to the window. it is extremely curious and interesting, but i thought not well placed as an ornament.[ ] i remember asking w----, who has been in every part of the world, what was the most beautiful scene he had ever beheld, taking natural beauty and poetical associations together? he replied, after a little thought, "a sunset from the temple of Ægina;"--and i can conceive this. lord byron introduces it into his grecian sunset--but as an object-- "on old Ægina's steep and idra's isle, the god of gladness sheds his parting smile." from the Ægina gallery we enter the hall of apollo. the ceiling of this room, splendidly decorated in white and gold, represents the emblems of the four principal cities of greece, viz. the athenian owl, the winged-horse of corinth, the chimera of sicyon, and the wolf of argos. the chief glory of this apartment is that celebrated colossal statue, once known as the barberini muse, now considered by antiquarians as an apollo, and supposed to be the work of ageladas, the master of phidias. it is certainly older than the sculptures of the parthenon. in its severe massy grandeur, there is something of the heaviness and formality of the most ancient greek school, and in point of style it forms a link between the Ægina marbles and the elgin marbles. it should seem that the eyes of this statue were once represented by gems--the orifices remain, surrounded by a ring of bronze. in the same room are those two sublime busts which almost take away one's breath--the colossal head of pallas, resembling that of the minerva of velletri, now in the vatican; and the achilles. the next room is the hall of bacchus. the ceiling is richly ornamented with all the festive emblems of the god, in white and gold relief. in the centre we have that wondrous statue, the gigantic sleeping satyr, called by some the barberini faun. antiquaries and connoisseurs refer this work either to scopas or praxiteles, and, from the situation in which it was discovered, suppose it to have once ornamented the tomb of adrian. i cannot tell how this may be, but here we behold with astonishment the grotesque, the elegant, and the sublime mingled together, and each in perfection: _how_, i know not; but i feel it is so. i once saw a drawing of this statue, which gave me the idea of something coarse and heavy; whereas, in the original, the delicate beauty of the workmanship, and the inimitable sleepy abandonment of the attitude, soften the effect of the colossal forms. i would place this statue immediately after the elgin marbles; it is, with all its excellence, a degree lower in style. in this gallery i found the famous head of the laughing faun, called from the greenish stain on the cheek, the fauno colla macchia, and also a sarcophagus, representing in the most exquisite sculpture, the marriage of bacchus and ariadne. the blending of the idea of death with the fullness of life, and even with the most luxuriant and festive associations of life, is common among the greeks, and, from one or two known instances, appears to have been carried to an extreme which makes one shrink; still, any thing rather than our detestable death's head and cross bones! in nature, and in poetry, death is beautiful. it is the diseases and vices of artificial life which have rendered it lamentable, terrible, disgusting. fixed in the wall, opposite to the window, there is a bas relief of amazing beauty--the marriage of neptune and amphitrite. it is a piece of lyric poetry. the hall of niobe contains few objects; but among them some of the most perfect specimens of grecian art; and first, the ilioneus. it was because the grecian sculptors were themselves poets and creators, that "marble grew divine" beneath their hands, and became so instinct with the indestructible spirit of life, that their half-defaced ruins retain their immortality: else how should we stand shivering with awe before those tremendous fragments--the sister fates in the elgin marbles! or, how should i, who am incapable of estimating the technical perfection of art, stand entranced--as to-day i stood--before the ilioneus? it was not merely admiration; it was the overpowering sentiment of harmonious and pathetic beauty running along every nerve--such a feeling as music has sometimes awakened. i suppose the ilioneus stands alone, like the torso of the vatican--the _ne plus ultra_ of grace, as the latter is of grandeur. the first time i ever saw a cast of this divine statue was in the vestibule of goethe's house, at weimar. it immediately fixed my attention. afterwards i saw another in dannecker's studio, and from him i learned its history. it was discovered about ten years ago at prague, in the possession of a stone-mason, and is supposed to have formed part of the collection of ancient works of art which the emperor rodolph collected in italy about .[ ] a certain dr. barth purchased it for a trifle, and brought it to vienna, where dannecker happened to be at that time, and was called upon with others to pronounce on its merits and value. it was at once attributed to the hand, either of praxiteles or scopas, and on farther and minute examination, the style, the proportions, and the evident purport of the figure, have decided that it belongs to the group of niobe and her children. it has attained the appellation of ilioneus, which ovid gives to the youngest of her sons. it represents a youth kneeling. the head and arms are wanting; but the supplicatory expression of the attitude, the turn of the body, so deprecating, so imploring; the bloom of adolescence, which seems absolutely shed over the cold marble, the unequalled delicacy and elegance of the whole, touched me unspeakably. the king of bavaria is said to have paid for this exquisite relic , florins--a large sum for a little potentate; but for the object itself, its value is not to be computed by money. its weight in gold were poor in comparison. in the same room is the medusa rondanini, the common model of almost all the medusa heads, but certainly not equal to the sublime colossal mask at cologne. there is also an antique duplicate of the mercury of the belvidere; another of the venus of cnidos; another (most beautiful) of one of the sons of niobe, recumbent, lifeless; and some other master-pieces. these six rooms occupy one side of the building, and contain altogether one hundred and forty-seven specimens of ancient art. i do not quite understand flaxman's division of ancient art into three periods--the heroic age, the philosophic age, and the age of perfection. perhaps if he had lived to correct his essays, he would have made this more clear. according to his distinction, would not the group of the niobe belong to the age of perfection?--and the parthenon to the philosophic age? which, allowing his definition of the two styles, i cannot grant. i suppose these six galleries include a period of about seven hundred years; (putting the dateless antiquity of some of the egyptian relics out of the question.) we begin with the heavy motionless forms, "looking tranquillity," which yet have often a certain dignity; then the stiff hard elaborate figures of the earliest greek school, with their curled heads and perpendicular draperies, in some of which dawns the first feeling of vigour and grace, as in the Ægina marbles; the next is the union of grandeur and elegance; and the next is the utmost poetical refinement. i recollect that somewhere in boswell's life of johnson, a conversation is recorded as taking place at the table of sir joshua reynolds; in the course of which sir joshua remarked, that it was impossible to conceive what the ancient writers meant, when they represented sculpture as having passed its zenith when the apollo and the laocoon were produced. none of the great scholars or artists then present could explain the mystery--now no longer a mystery. when sir joshua made this remark, the elgin marbles were unknown in england. between this range of galleries, and a corresponding range on the opposite side, are two immense halls, called the fest-saale, or banqueting halls, and as yet containing no sculpture. here the painter cornelius has found "ample space and verge enough" for his grand conceptions, and the subjects are appropriate to the general destination of the whole building. the frescos in the first hall, (götter-saal, or hall of the gods,) present a magnificent view of the whole greek mythology. whatever may be thought of the conception and execution of certain parts, on minute examination the grand, yet simple arrangement of the whole design addresses itself to the understanding, while the splendour of colour, and variety of the grouping, seize on the imagination: certainly, when we look round, the first feeling is not critical. but this beautiful, progressive, and pictorial development of the old mythology, as it must have been the result of profound learning and study, ought to be considered methodically to understand all its merit; for instance, in the centre of the roof we have the primeval god, eros, in four compartments; first, with the dolphin, representing water; secondly, with the eagle, representing light or fire; thirdly, with the peacock, representing air; and lastly, with cerberus, representing earth. disposed around these primeval elements, we have the seasons of the year, and the day. the spring, as psyche, is followed by the history of aurora, (the morning,) in four compartments. the summer, as ceres, is followed by the noon, i. e. the history of helios or apollo, in four compartments. the autumn, as bacchus; and then evening, expressed in the history of diana. winter, as saturn, and the history of night, and the divinities which preside over it. these twenty-four compartments, of various forms and sizes, compose the ceiling, intermingled with ornaments of rich and rare device, and appropriate arabesques, combining, with much fancy and invention, all the classical emblems and allegories, such as satyrs, fauns, syrens, dryads, graces, furies, &c. &c. but the grand summary is reserved for the walls. on one side is represented the kingdom of olympus, with jove in his state, the assemblage of the gods, and the apotheosis of psyche. the opposite side represents the domain of pluto, with the infernal gods, and the story of orpheus. the third side, over against the window, is the triumph of neptune and amphitrite, surrounded by the sea-gods. the figures in these three frescos are colossal, about eight feet in height. the colouring of the flesh is a little too red and dingy, and in some of the attitudes i thought that the energy was strained into contortion; but through the whole there is a grand poetic feeling. all the designs are by peter cornelius, executed by himself, with the aid of professor zimmerman, schlotthauer, heinrich hess, and a number of pupils and assistants. there are also along the frieze some beautiful bas-reliefs; and over the two doors are two alto-relievos by schwanthaler, the one representing cupid and psyche in each others arms, the symbol of immortal love: the other, the re-union of ceres and proserpine, emblematical of eternal life after death. this is all i can remember, except that the painting of this hall occupied six years, and was finished in . _oct. ._--a small vestibule divides the two great halls. this is painted with the history of prometheus and pandora; but, owing to the unavoidable disposition of the light, much of the beauty is lost. from this vestibule we enter the second great banqueting hall, or the hall of the trojans, painted like the former in fresco, and on the same enormous scale, but with a different distribution of the parts. it represents chiefly the history of those demigods and heroes who contended in the trojan war. thus, in the centre of the ceiling we have first the original cause of the war, the marriage of peleus and thetis, and the appearance of the goddess of discord, with her fatal apple. around this are the twelve gods who were present at the feast, modelled in relief by schwanthaler. then follow twelve compartments, containing the most striking scenes of the iliad, divided and adorned by the most rich and fanciful arabesques, combining the exploits or histories of the grecian heroes, which are not included in the iliad. the figures in these compartments are the size of life. on the walls we have the three principal incidents of the trojan war; first, the wrath of achilles; secondly, opposite to the window, the fight for the body of patrocles, and achilles shouting to the warriors. there is wonderful energy and movement in this picture. the third is the destruction of troy. the figure of hecuba sitting in motionless horror and despair, with her dishevelled grey hair, her daughters clinging to her;--the beautiful attitudes of polyxena and cassandra; the silent remorse of helen; the wild fury of the conquerors, and the vigour and splendour of the whole painting, render this composition exceedingly striking:--i did not quite like the figure of priam. all these designs are by cornelius, and executed partly by him, and partly under his direction by zimmermann, schlotthauer, and their pupils. the arabesques are by eugene neureuther: and there are two admirable and spirited bas-reliefs by schwanthaler--one representing the battle of the ships, and the other the combat of achilles with the river gods. the paintings in this hall were finished in . we then enter the range of galleries, devoted to the later greek, and the roman sculpture. the first, corresponding in size and situation with the hall of niobe, contains nothing peculiarly interesting, except the famous figure of the young warrior anointing himself after the bath, and called the alexander. the next gallery is the roman hall, about one hundred and thirty feet in length, and forms a glorious _coup d'oeil_. the utmost luxury of architectural decoration has been lavished on the ceilings; and the effect of the marble pavement, with the disposition of the busts, candelabræ, altars, as seen in perspective, is truly and tastefully magnificent. i particularly admired the ceiling, which is divided into three domes, adorned with bas-reliefs, taken from the roman history and manners: these were designed by schwanthaler. i cannot remember any thing remarkable in this gallery; or rather, there were too many things deserving of notice, for me to note all. the standing agrippina has, however, dwelt on my mind; and an exceeding fine bust of octavius cæsar, crowned with the oak leaves. a small room contains the sculpture in coloured marble, porphyry, and bronze; and the last is the hall of modern sculpture. in the centre of the ceiling is a phoenix, rising from its ashes, and around it the heads of four distinguished sculptors--nicolo da pisa, the restorer of the art in the fourteenth century; michael angelo, canova, and thorwaldson. two of the most celebrated productions of modern sculpture are here:--the paris of canova, and the adonis of thorwaldson. as they are placed near to each other, and the aim is alike in both to exhibit the utmost perfection of youthful and effeminate beauty, the merits of the two artists were fairly brought into comparison. thorwaldson's statue reminded me of the antinous; canova's recalled the young apollo. i hardly know which to prefer as a conception; but the material and workmanship of the paris pleased me most. the marble of thorwaldson's statue, though faultless in purity of tint, has a coarse _gritty_ grain, and glitters disagreeably in certain lights, as if it were spar or lump-sugar; whereas the smooth close compact grain of canova's marble, which is something of a creamy white, seemed to me infinitely preferable to the eye. this, however, is hyper-criticism: in both, the feeling is classically and beautifully true. the soft melancholy of the countenance and attitude of adonis, as if anticipative of his early death, and the languid self-sufficiency of paris, appeared to me equally admirable. there is also in this room a duplicate by canova of his venus, in the pitti palace; a girl tying her sandal, by rodolph schadow--a pendant, i presume, to his charming filatrice, now at chatsworth; and some fine busts. i looked round in vain for a single specimen of english art. i thought it just possible that some work of flaxman, or chantrey, or gibson, might have found its way hither--but no!-- _oct. ._--last night to the opera with a pleasant party; but, tired and over-excited with my morning at the glyptothek, i wanted soothing, and was not in a humour for the noisy florid music of wilhelm tell. it is an opera which, as it becomes familiar, tires, and does not attach--just like some clever people i have met with. pellegrini (not the pelligrini we had in england, but a fixture here, and their best male singer--a fine _basso cantante_) acted tell. i say _acted_, because he did not merely sing his part--he acted it, and well; so well, that once i felt my eyes moisten. madame spitzeder sang in matilda von hapsburg tolerably. their first tenor, bayer, i do not like; his intonation is defective. the decorations and dresses are beautiful. as for the dancing, it is not fair to say any thing about it. unfortunately the first bars of the tyrolienne brought taglioni before my mind's eye, and who or what could stand the comparison? how she leapt like a stag! bounded like a young faun! floated like the swan-down on the air! yet even taglioni, though she makes the nearest approach to it, does not complete my idea of a poetical dancer; but as she improved upon herbelet, we may find another to improve upon _her_. one more such _artist_--i use the word in the general and german sense, not in the french meaning--one more such artist, who should bring modesty, and sense, and feeling, into this lovely and most desecrated art, might do something to retrieve it--might introduce the necessity for dancers having heads as well as heels, and in time revolutionize the whole _corps de ballet_. _wednesday._--this morning, m. herman stuntz, the king's chapel-master, called on me. i had heard of him as a fine composer, and also much of his opera, produced for the scala at milan, the costantino il grande. i was pleased to find him not a musician only, like most musicians, but intelligent and enthusiastic on other subjects, and with that childlike simplicity of mind and manner, so often combined with talent. we touched upon every thing from the high sublime to the deep absurd--ran round the whole circle of art in a sort of touch-and-go style, and his _naïveté_ and originality pleased me more and more. he said some true and delightful things about music; but would insist that of all languages the english is the most difficult to ally to musical sounds--infinitely worse than german. he complained of the shut mouth, the _claquement des dents_, and the predominance of aspirates in our pronunciation. i objected to the guttural sounds, and the open mouths, and the _yaw yaw_ of the germans. then followed an animated discussion on vocal sounds and musical expression, and we parted, i believe, mutually pleased. the father of stuntz is a swiss--a man of letters, an enthusiast, a philosopher, an artist; in short, a most extraordinary and eccentric character. he entirely educated his two children, of whom the son, herman stuntz, takes a high rank as a composer; and the daughter is a distinguished female artist, but, being nobly married, she now only paints pictures to give them away, and those who possess them are, with reason, extremely proud of the possession. in the evening, madame meric, _prima-donna aus london_, as the play-bills set forth, made her first appearance in the gazza ladra. she is engaged here for a limited time, and takes the _gast-rolles_--that is, she plays the first parts as a matter of course--in short, she is a star. the regular prima-donna is madame scheckner-wagen. meric has talent, voice, style, and unwearied industry; but she has not _genius_, neither is her organ first-rate. comparisons in some cases are unjust as well as odious. yet was it my fault that i remembered in the same part the syren sontag, and the enchantress malibran? meric, besides being a fine singer, is an amiable woman;--married to an extravagant, dissipated husband, and working to provide for her child--a common fate among the women of her profession. * * * * * ----sat up late reading, for the third or fourth time, a chance volume of madame roland's works. what a complete french woman! but then, what a mind! how large in capacity! how stored with knowledge! how strong in conscious truth! how finely toned! how soft, and yet how firm! what wonderful industry united to the quickest talent! some things written at eighteen and twenty have most surprised me; some passages in the "vie privée," and the "appel," have most charmed me. she is not very eloquent, and i should think had not a playful or poetic fancy. there is an almost total want of imagery in her style; but great power, unaffected elegance, with a sort of negligence at times, which adds to its beauty. then, to remember that all i have just read was written in a prison, in daily, hourly expectation of death! but _that_ excites more interest than surprise, for a situation of strong excitement of mind and passion, with external repose and solitude, must be favourable to this development of the faculties, where there is character as well as talent. some of her disclosures are a little too _naïve_. i am amused by the quantity of feminine vanity which is mixed up with all this loftiness of spirit, this real independence of soul. madame de staël had not _more_ vanity, whatever they may say; but it was less balanced by self-esteem--it required more sympathy. then we have those two admirable women * * and * *. what exquisite feminine vanity is there! yet, happily, in both instances how far removed from all ill-nature and presumption, and how unconsciously betrayed! i should think joanna baillie, among our great women, must be most exempt from this failing, perhaps, because, of all the five, she has the most profound sense of religion. lavater said, that "the characteristic of _every_ woman's physiognomy was vanity." a phrenologist would say that it was the characteristic of every woman's head. how far, then, may a woman be vain with a good grace and betray it without ridicule? by vanity, i mean _now_, a great wish to please, mingled with a consciousness of the powers of pleasing, and not what madame roland describes,--"cette ambition constante, ce soin perpetuel d'occuper de soi, et de paraitre autre ou meilleur que l'on n'est en effet," for this is diseased vanity. * * * * * dr. martius[ ] lent me two pretty little volumes of "poems, by louis i. king of bavaria," the present king--the first royal author we have had, i believe, since frederic of prussia--the best since james i. of scotland. these poems are chiefly lyrical, consisting of odes, sonnets, epigrams. some are addressed to the queen, others to his children, others to different ladies of the court, whom he is said to have particularly admired, and a great number were composed during his tour in italy in . of the merit of these poems i cannot judge; and when i appealed to two different critics, both accomplished men, one assured me they were admirable; the other shrugged up his shoulders--"que voulez vous? c'est un roi!" the earnest feeling and taste in some of these little poems pleased me exceedingly--of that alone i could judge: for instance, there is an address to the german artists, which contains the following beautiful lines: he is speaking of art-- "in der stille muss es sich gestalten, wenn es kräftig wirkend soll ersteh'n; aus dem herzen nur kann sich entfalten, das was wahrhaft wird zum herzen geh'n. ja! ihr nehmet es aus reinen tiefen, fromm und einfach, wie die vorweit war, weckend die gefühle, welche schliefen, ehrend zeugt's von euch und immerdar. sklavisch an das alte euch zu halten, eures strebens zweck ist dieses nicht seyd gefasst von himmlischen gewalten, dringet rastlos zu dem hehren licht!" which may be thus literally rendered-- "to rise into vigorous, active influence, it (art) must spring up and develop itself in secrecy and in silence; out of the heart alone can that unfold itself which shall truly go to the heart again. "yes! pious and simple as the old world was, ye draw it (art) from the same pure depths, awakening the feelings which slumber! and it shall bear honourable witness of ye--and for ever! "slavishly to cling to antiquity, this is not the end of your labours! be ye, therefore, upheld by heavenly power; press on, and rest not, to the high and holy light!" methinks this magnificent prince deserves, even more than his ancestor, maximilian i., to be styled the lorenzo de' medici of bavaria. the power to patronize, the sentiment to feel, the genius to celebrate art, are rarely united, even in individuals. he must be a noble being--a genius _born in the purple_, on whose laurels there rests not a bloodstain, perhaps not even a tear! this is a holiday. i was sitting at my window, translating some of these poems, when i saw a crowd round the doors of the new palace; for it is a day of public admission. curiosity tempted me to join this crowd;--no sooner thought than done. i had m. de klenze's general order for admittance in my pocket-book, but wished to see how this was managed, and mingled with the crowd, which was waiting to be admitted _en masse_. i was at once recognized as a stranger, and every one with simple civility made way for me. groups of about twenty or thirty people were admitted at a time, at intervals of a quarter of an hour, and each group placed under the guidance of one of the workmen as cicerone. he led them through the unfinished apartments, explaining to his open-mouthed auditors the destination of each room, the subjects of the pictures on the walls and ceilings, &c. &c. there were peasants from the south, in their singular dresses, mechanics and girls of munich, soldiers, travelling students. i was much amused. while the cicerone held forth, some merely wondered with foolish faces, some admired, some looked intelligent, and asked various questions, which were readily answered--all seemed pleased. every thing was done in order: two groups were never in the same apartment; but as one went out, another entered. thus many hundreds of these poor people were gratified in the course of the day. it seemed to me a wise as well as benevolent policy in the king thus to appeal to the sympathy, and gratify the pride, of his subjects of all classes, by allowing them--inviting them, to take an interest in his magnificent undertakings, to consider them _national_ as well as royal. i am informed that these works are carried on without any demands on the staatskasse, (the public treasury,) and without any additional taxes: so far from it, that the bavarian house of representatives curtailed the supplies by , florins only last year, and refused the king an addition to the civil list, which he had requested for the travelling expenses of two of his sons. the king is said to be economical in the _extreme_ in his domestic expenses, and not very generous in money to those around him--unlike his open-hearted, open-handed father, max-joseph; in short, there are grumblers here as elsewhere, but strangers and posterity will not sympathize with them. this is the fourth time i have seen this splendid and truly royal palace, but will make no memoranda till i have gone over the whole with leo von klenze. he has promised to be my cicerone himself, and i feel the full value of the compliment. count v---- told me last night, that he (de klenze) has made for this building alone upwards of seven hundred drawings and designs with his own hand. _oct. ._--called on my english friends, the c * * s, and found them pleasantly settled in a beautiful furnished lodging near the hofgarten, for which they pay twenty-four florins (or about two pounds) a month. we had some conversation about music, (they are all musicians,) and the opera, and malibran, whom they have lately seen in italy; and pasta, whom they had visited at como; and they confirmed what mr. j. m. stuntz and m. k. had all told me of her benevolence and excellent character. i could not find that any new genius had arisen in italy to share the glory of our three queens of the lyrical drama,--pasta, malibran, and schröder devrient. other singers have more or less talent and feeling, more or less compass of voice, facility, or agility; but these three women possess _genius_, and stamp on every thing they do their own individual character. of the three, pasta is the grandest and most finished artist; malibran the most versatile in power and passion; while schröder devrient has that energy of heart and soul--that capacity for exciting, and being excited, which gives her such unbounded command over the feelings and senses of her audience.[ ] so far we were agreed; but as the conversation went on, i was doomed to listen to a torrent of commonplace and sarcastic criticism on the private habits of these and other women of the same profession: one was accused of vulgarity, another of bad temper, and another of violence and caprice: one was suspected of a _penchant_ for porter, another had been heard to swear, or--something very like it. even pretty lady-like sontag was reproached with some trifling breach of mere conventional manner,--she had used her fingers where she should have taken a spoon, or some such nonsense. my god! to think of the situation of these women! and then to look upon _those_ women, who, fenced in from infancy by all the restraints, the refinements, the comforts, the precepts of good society,--the one arranging a new cap, the other embroidering a purse, the third reading a novel, all satisfied with petty occupations and amusements, "far, far removed from want and grief and fear,"--now sitting in judgment, and passing sentence of excommunication on others of their sex, who have been steeped in excitement from childhood, their nerves for ever in a state of tension between severest application and maddening flattery; cast on the world without chart or compass--with energies misdirected, passions uncontrolled, and all the inflammable and imaginative part of their being cultivated into excess as a part of their profession--of their material! o when will there be charity in the world? when will human beings, women especially, show mercy and justice to each other, and not judge of results, without a reference to causes? and when will reflection upon these causes lead to their removal? they are evils which press upon few, but are reflected on many, inasmuch as they degrade art and the pursuit of art;--but all can sneer, and few can think. * * * * * i begin at length to feel my way among the pictures here. hitherto i have been bewildered. i have lounged away morning after morning at the gallery of the hofgarten, at schleissheim, and at the duc de leuchtenberg's; and returned home with dazzled eyes and a mind overflowing, like one "oppressed with wealth, and with abundance sad," unable to recall or to methodize my own impressions. professor zimmermann tells me that the king of bavaria possesses upwards of three thousand pictures: of these about seventeen hundred are at schleissheim; nine hundred in the munich gallery; and the rest distributed through various palaces. the national gallery, or pinakothek, which is now building under the direction of leo von klenze, is destined to contain a selection from these multifarious treasures, of which the present arrangement is only temporary. the king of bavaria unites in his own person the three branches of the house of wittelsbach: the palatines of the rhine, the dukes of deuxponts, and the electors of bavaria, all sovereign houses, and descended from otto von wittelsbach, who received the investiture of the dukedom of bavaria in . thus it is that the celebrated gallery once at dusseldorf, formed under the auspices of the elector john william; the various collections at manheim, deuxponts, and heidelberg, are now concentrated at munich, where, from the days of duke albert v. ( ) up to the present time, works of art have been gradually accumulated by successive princes. somebody calls the gallery at munich, the court of rubens; and sir joshua reynolds says that no one should judge of rubens who had not studied him at antwerp and dusseldorf. i begin to feel the truth of this. my devoted worship of the italian school of art rendered me long--i will not say _blind_ to the merits of the flemish painters--for that were to be "sans eyes, sans taste, sans every thing!" but, in truth, without that full feeling of their power which i have since acquired. certainly we have in these days mean ideas about painting--mean and false ideas! it has become a mere object of luxury and connoisseurship, or _virtù_: unless it be addressed to our personal vanity, or to the puerile taste for ornament, show, furniture,--it is nothing. the noble art which was once recognized as the priestess of nature, as a great moral power capable of acting on the senses and the imagination of assembled human beings--as such applied by the lawgivers of greece, and by the clergy of the roman catholic church,--how is it now vulgarized in its objects! how narrowed in its application! and if it be said, that in the present state of society, in these calculating, money-making, political, intellectual times, we are acted upon by far different influences, rendering us infinitely less sensible to the power of painting, then i think it is _not true_, and that the cultivated susceptibility to other moral or poetical excitements--as politics or literature--does not render us less sensible to the moral influence of painting; on the contrary: but she has fallen from her high estate, and there are none to raise her. the public--the national spirit, is wanting; individual patronage is confined, is misdirected, is arbitrary, demanding of the artist any thing rather than the highest and purest intellectual application of his art, and affording nor space nor opportunity for him to address himself to the grand universal passions, principles, and interests of human nature! suppose a michael angelo to be born to us in england: we should not, perhaps, set him to make a statue of snow, but where or how would his gigantic genius, which revelled in the great deeps of passion and imagination, find scope for action? he would struggle and gasp like a stranded leviathan! but this is digressing: the question is, may not the moral effect of painting be still counted on, if the painter be himself imbued with the right spirit?[ ] there is, in the academy at antwerp, a picture by rubens, which represents st. theresa kneeling before christ, and interceding for the souls in purgatory. the treatment of the subject is exceedingly simple; the upper part of the picture is occupied by the redeemer, with his usual attributes, and the saint, habited as a nun. in the lower part of the picture, instead of a confused mob of tormented souls, and flames, and devils with pitchforks, the painter has represented a few heads as if rising from below. i remember those of adam, eve, and mary magdalene. i remember--and never shall forget--the expression of each! the extremity of misery in the countenance of adam; the averted, disconsolate, repentant wretchedness of eve, who hides her face in her hair; the mixture of agony, supplication, hope, in the face of the magdalene, while a cherub of pity extends his hand to her, as if to aid her to rise, and at the same time turns an imploring look towards the saviour. as i gazed upon this picture, a feeling sank deep into my heart, which did not pass away with the tears it made to flow, but has ever since remained there, and has become an abiding principle of action. this is only one instance out of many, of the _moral_ effect which has been produced by painting. to me it is amusing, and it cannot but be interesting and instructive to the philosopher and artist, to observe how various people, uninitiated into any of the technicalities of art, unable to appreciate the amount of difficulties overcome, are affected by pictures and sculpture. but in forming our judgment, our taste in art, it is unsafe to listen to opinions springing from this vague kind of enthusiasm; for in painting, as in music--"just as the soul is pitched, the _eye_ is pleased." i amuse myself in the gallery here with watching the countenances of those who look at the pictures. i see that the uneducated eye is caught by subjects in which the individual mind sympathizes, and the educated taste seeks abstract excellence. which has the most enjoyment? the last, i think. sensibility, imagination, and quick perception of form and colour, are not alone necessary to feel a work of art; there must be the power of association; the mind trained to habitual sympathy with the beautiful and the good; the knowledge of the meaning, and the comprehension of the object of the artist. in the gallery here there are eighty-eight pictures of rubens--some among the very finest he ever painted; for instance, that splendid picture, castor and pollux carrying off the daughters of leucippus, so full of rich life and movement; the destruction of sennacherib's host; rubens and his wife, full lengths, seated in a garden; that wonderful picture of the defeat of the amazons; the meeting of jacob and laban; the picture of the earl of arundel and his wife, with other figures, full lengths;[ ] and a series of the designs for the large paintings of the history of marie de' medici, now in the louvre. his group of boys with fruits and flowers, exhibits the richest, loveliest combination of colours ever presented to the eye; and on that wonderful picture of the fallen (or rather _falling_) angels, he has lavished such endless variety of form, attitude, and expression, that it would take a day to study it. it is not a large picture: the eye, or rather the imagination, easily takes in the general effect of tumult, horror, destruction, but the understanding dwells on the detail with still increasing astonishment and admiration. these are a few that struck me, but it is quite in vain to attempt to particularize. one may begin by disliking rubens in general, (i think i did,) but one must end by standing before him in ecstacy and wonder. it is true, that always luxuriant, he is often gross and sensual--he can sometimes be brutally so. his bacchanalian scenes are not like those of poussin, classical, godlike debauchery, but the abandoned drunken revelry of animals--the very sublime of brute licentiousness; and painted with a breadth of style, a magnificent luxuriance of colour, which renders them more revolting. the _physique_ predominates in all his pictures, and not only to grossness, even to ferocity. his picture here of the slaughter of the innocents, makes me sick--it has absolutely polluted my imagination. surely this is not the vocation of high art.--and as for his martyrdoms--they are worse than spagnoletto's. for all this, he is the titan of painting: his creations are "of the earth and earthy," but he has called down fire and light from heaven, wherewith to animate and to illumine them. rubens is just such a painter as dryden is a poet, and _vice versâ_: his women are just like dryden's women, gross, exaggerated, unrefined animals: his men, like dryden's men, grand, thinking, acting animals. like dryden, he could clothe his genius in thunder, dip his pencil in the lightning and the sunbeams of heaven, and rush fearlessly upon a subject which others had trembled to approach. in both we see a singular and extraordinary combination of the plainest, coarsest realities of life, with the loftiest imagery, the most luxurious tints of poetry. both had the same passion for allegory, and managed it with equal success. "the thoughts that breathe and words that burn" of dryden, may be compared to the living, moving forms, the glowing, melting, dazzling hues of rubens, under whose pencil "desires and adorations, winged persuasions and wild destinies, splendours, and glooms, and glimmering incarnations of hopes, and fears, and twilight fantasies,--" took form and being--became palpable existences: and yet with all this inventive power, this love of allegorical fiction, it is _life_, the spirit of animal life, diffused through and over their works; it is the blending of the plain reasoning with splendid creative powers;--of wonderful fertility of conception with more wonderful facility of execution; it is the combination of truth, and grandeur, and masculine vigour, with a general coarseness of taste, which may be said to characterise both these great men. neither are, or can be, favourites of the women, for the same reasons. there must have been something analogous in the genius of rubens and titian. the distinction was of climate and country. they appear to have looked at nature under the same aspect, but it was a different nature,--the difference between flanders and venice. they were both painters of flesh and blood: by nature, poets; by conformation, colourists; by temperament and education, magnificent spirits, scholars, and gentlemen, lovers of pleasure and of fame. the superior sentiment and grace, the refinement and elevation of titian he owed to the poetical and chivalrous spirit of his age and country. the delicacy of taste which reigned in the italian literature of that period influenced the arts of design. as to the colouring--we see in the pictures of rubens the broad daylight effects of a northern climate, and in those of titian, the burning fervid sun of a southern clime, necessarily modified by shade, before the objects could be seen: hence the difference between the _glow_ of rubens, and the _glow_ of titian: the first "i' the colours of the rainbow lived," and the other bathed himself in the evening sky; the one dazzles, the other warms. i can bring before my fancy at this moment, the helen forman of rubens, and titian's "la manto;" the "man with a hawk" of rubens, and titian's "falconer;" can any thing in heaven or earth be more opposed? yet in all alike, is it not the intense feeling of life and individual nature which charms, which fixes us? i know not which i admire most; but i adore titian--his men are all made for power, and his women for love. and rembrandt--king of shadows! ----earth-born and sky-engendered--son of mysteries! was not he a poet? he reminds me often of the prince sorcerer, nurtured "in the cave of domdaniel, under the roots of the sea."[ ] such an enchanted "den of darkness" was his mill and its skylight to him; and there, magician-like, he brooded over half-seen forms, and his imagination framed strange spells out of elemental light and shade. thence he brought his unearthly shadows; his dreamy splendours; his supernatural gleams; his gems flashing and sparkling with internal light; his lustrous glooms; his wreaths of flaming and embossed gold; his wicked wizard-like heads--turbaned, wrinkled, seared, dusky; pale with forbidden studies--solemn with thoughtful pain--keen with the hunger of avarice--and furrowed with an eternity of years! i have seen pictures of his in which the shadowy background is absolutely peopled with life. at first all seems palpable darkness, apparent vacancy; but figure after figure emerges--another and another; they glide into view, they take shape and colour, as if they grew out of the canvass even while we gaze; we rub our eyes, and wonder whether it be the painter's work or our own fancy! of all the great painters rembrandt is perhaps least understood; the admiration bestowed on him, the enormous prices given for his pictures, is in general a fashion--a mere matter of convention--like the price of a diamond. to feel rembrandt truly, it is not enough to be an artist or an amateur picture-fancier--one should be something of a poet too. there are nineteen of his pictures here; of these "jesus teaching the doctors in the temple," though a small picture, impressed me with awe,--the portraits of the painter flinck and his wife, with wonder. all are ill-hung, with their backs against the light--for them the worst possible situation. van dyck is here in all his glory: there are thirty-nine of his pictures. the celebrated full-length, "the burgomaster's wife in black," so often engraved, does not equal, in its inexpressible, unobtrusive elegance, the "lady wharton," at devonshire house.[ ] then we have wallenstein with his ample kingly brow; fierce tilly; the head of snyders; the lovely head of the painter's wife, maria ruthven,--sweet-looking, delicate, golden-haired, and holding the theorbo, (she excelled in music, i believe,) and virgins, holy families, and other scriptural subjects. his famous picture of susanna does not strike me much. the four apostles of albert durer--wonderful! in expression, in calm religious majesty, in suavity of pencilling, and the grand, pure style of the heads and drapery, quite like raffaelle. i compared, yesterday, the three portraits--that of raffaelle, by himself; (the famous head once in the altaviti palace, and engraved by morghen;) albert durer, by himself; and giorgione, by himself. raffaelle is the least handsome, and rather disappointed me; the eyes, in particular, rather project, and have an expression which is not pleasing; the mouth and the brow are full of power and passion. albert durer is beautiful, like the old heads of our saviour; and the predominant expression is calm, dignified, intellectual, with a tinge of melancholy. this picture was painted at the age of twenty-eight: he was then suffering from that bitter domestic curse, a shrewish, avaricious wife, who finally broke his heart. giorgione is not handsome, but it is a sublime head, with such a large intellectual development, such a profound expression of sentiment! giorgione died of a faithless mistress, as albert durer died of a scolding wife.[ ] by paris bordone, of trevigi, there is a head of a venetian lady, in a dress of crimson velvet, with dark splendid eyes which tell a whole history. by murillo, there are eight pictures--not one in his most elevated style, but all perfect miracles of painting and of nature. there are thirty-three pictures of vander werff, a number sufficient to make one's blood run cold. one, a magdalene, is of the size of life; the only large picture by this elegant, elaborate, soulless painter i ever saw: he is to me detestable. by joseph vernet there are two delicious landscapes, a morning and an evening. i cannot farther particularize; but there are specimens of almost every known painter; those, however, of titian, correggio, julio romano, and nicolo poussin, are very few and not of a very high class, while those of the early german painters, and the dutch, and the flemish schools, are first-rate. there is one english picture--wilkie's "opening of the will:" it is very much admired here, and looked upon as a sort of curiosity. i wish the artists of the two countries were better known to each other: both would benefit by such an intercourse. at the palace of schleissheim[ ] there are nearly two thousand pictures: of these some hundreds are positively _bad_; some hundreds are curious and valuable, as illustrating the history and progress of art; some few are really and intrinsically admirable. but the grand attraction here is the far-famed boisserée gallery, which is arranged at schleissheim, until the pinakothek is ready for its reception. this is the collection about which so many volumes have been written, and which has excited such a general enthusiasm throughout germany. this enthusiasm, as a fashion, a mania, is beginning to subside, but the impress it has left upon art, and the tone it has given to the pursuit, the feeling of art, will not so soon pass away. the gallery derives its name from two brothers, sulpitz and melchior boisserée,[ ] who, with a friend (bertram) were employed for many years in collecting from various convents, and old churches, and obscure collections of family relics, the productions of the early painters of germany, from william of cologne, called by the germans "meister wilhelm," down to albert durer and holbein. the productions of the greek or byzantine painters found their way into germany, as into italy, in the thirteenth century, and wilhelm of cologne appeared to have been the cimabue of the north--the founder of that school of painting called the _byzantine-niederrheinische_, or flemish school, and the precursor of rubens, as cimabue was the precursor of michael angelo. out of this stiff, and rude, and barbarous style of art, arose and spread the alt-deutsche, or gothic school of painting, which produced successively, van eyck, ( ,) hemling, wohlgemuth,[ ] martin schoen, mabuse, johan schoreel, lucas kranach, kulmbach, albert altorffer, hans asper, johan von mechlem, behem, albert durer, and the two holbeins. i mention here only those artists whose pictures fixed my attention; there are many others, and many pictures by unknown authors. albert durer was born exactly one hundred years after van eyck. the boisserée gallery contains about three hundred and fifty pictures; but i did not count them; and no official catalogue has yet been published. the subjects are generally sacred; the figures are heads of saints, and scenes from scripture. a few are portraits; and there are a few, but very few, subjects from profane history. the painters whose works i at once distinguished from all others, were van eyck, johan schoreel, hemling, and lucas kranach. i can truly say that the two pictures of van eyck, representing st. luke painting the portrait of the virgin, and the offering of the three kings; and that of johan schoreel, representing the death of the virgin mary, perfectly amazed me. i remember also several wondrous heads by lucas kranach; one by behem, called, i know not why, "helena:" and a picture of christ and the little children, differing from all the rest in style, with something of the italian grace of drawing, and suavity of colour. the artist, sedlar, had studied in lombardy, probably under correggio; (one of the children certainly might call correggio father.) the date on this extraordinary production is . of the painter i know nothing. the general and striking faults, or rather deficiencies of the old german school of art, are easily enumerated. the most flagrant violations of taste and costume,[ ] bad drawing of the figure and extremities, faulty perspective; stiff, hard meagre composition, negligence or ignorance of all effect of chiaro-scuro. but what, then, is the secret of the interest which these old painters inspire, of the enthusiasm they excite, even in these cultivated days? it arises from a perception of the _mind_ they brought to bear upon their subjects, the simplicity and integrity of feeling with which they worked, and the elaborate marvellous beauty of the execution of parts. i could give no idea in words of the intense nature and expression in some of the heads, of the grand feeling united to the most finished delicacy in the conception and painting of _countenance_, of the dazzling splendour of colouring in the draperies, and the richness of fancy in the ornaments and accessories. but i _do_ fear that the just admiration excited by this kind of excellence, and a great deal of national enthusiasm, has misled the modern german artists to a false, at least an exaggerated estimate, and an injudicious imitation, of their favourite models. it has produced or encouraged that general hardness of manner, that tendency to violent colour, and high glazy finish, which interfere too often with the beauty, and feeling, and effect of their compositions, at least in the eyes of those who are accustomed to the free broad style of english art.[ ] _thursday evening._--at the theatre. schiller's "braut von messina." this was the first time i had ever seen the tragic choruses brought on the stage, in the genuine style of the greek drama; and the deep sonorous voice and measured recitation (i could almost say _recitative_) of eslair, who was at the head of the chorus of don manuel--the emphatic lines being repeated or echoed by his followers--as well as the peculiar style of the whole representation, impressed me with a kind of solemn terror. it was wholly different from any thing i had ever witnessed, and was rather like a poem declaimed on the stage, than what we are accustomed to call a play. i was fortunate in seeing madame schröder in donna isabella, for she does not often perform, and it is one of the finest parts of this grand actress. don manuel and don cæsar were played by forst and schunke--both were young, very well looking, and good actors. beatrice was played by madll. shöller. the costumes were beautiful, and all the arrangements of the stage contrived with the most poetical effect. one scene in the first act, where donna isabella stands between her two sons, a hand on the shoulder of each, beseeching them to be reconciled; while they remain silent, turning from each other with folded arms, and dark averted faces;--the chorusses drawn up on each side, all dressed alike, all precisely in the same attitude, leaning on their shields, with lowering looks fixed on the group in the centre, was admirably managed; and, from the effect that it produced, made me feel that uniformity may be one element of the sublime. afterwards, a very lively soirée. * * * * * _friday._--the hofgarten at munich is a square, planted with trees, and gravelled, and serving as a public promenade. on one side is the royal palace; opposite to it, the picture gallery; on the east, the king's riding house, and on the west, a long arcade, open towards the garden which connects the palace and the picture gallery; under this arcade are shops, cafés, restaurateurs, &c. as in the _palais royal_ at paris. but what distinguishes this arcade from all others, is the peculiar style of decoration. it is painted in fresco by the young artists who studied under cornelius. there is, first, a series of sixteen compartments, about eleven feet in length, containing subjects from the history of bavaria. they are all by various artists, and of course of different degrees of merit, generally better in the composition than the painting, but some have great vigour and animation in both respects. for instance, otho von wittelsbach receiving from the emperor, frederic barbarossa, the investiture of the dukedom of bavaria in , painted by zimmermann. the marriage of otho the illustrious, to agnes, countess palatine of the rhine, in , painted by my friend, wilhelm röckel, of schleissheim, to whom i am indebted for many polite attentions. the engagement between louis the severe, of bavaria, and the fierce fiery ottocar, king of bohemia, upon the bridge at mühldorf, in , painted by stürmer of berlin. this is very animated and terrific. i think the artist had rubens' defeat of the amazons full in his mind. the victory of the emperor, louis of bavaria, over frederic of austria, his competitor for the empire in , painted by hermann of dresden. the storming of godesberg, when the unfortunate archbishop gerard, and agnes of mansfield had taken refuge there in ,[ ] painted by gassen of coblentz. maximilian i. in , invested with the forfeit electorate of the palatine frederic v.[ ] painted by eberle of dusseldorf. maximilian joseph i. father of the present king, bestowing on his people a new constitution and representative government in , painted by monten of dusseldorf. these have dwelt on my memory. over all the pictures, the name of the subject and the date are inscribed in large gold letters, so that those who walk may read. the costumes and manners of each epoch have been attended to with the most scrupulous accuracy; and i see every day groups of soldiers, and of the common people, with their children, standing before these paintings, spelling the titles, and discussing the various subjects represented. the further end of the arcade is painted with a series of italian scenes, selected by the king after his return from italy, and executed by rottmann of heidelberg, a young landscape-painter of great merit, as de klenze assures me, and he is a judge of _genius_. under each picture is a distich, composed by the king himself. these are in distemper, i believe: freely, but rather hastily executed, and cold and ineffective in colour, perhaps the fault of the vehicle. the ceilings and pillars are also gaily painted with arabesques, and other ornaments; and at the upper end there is a grand seated figure, looking magnificent and contemplative, and calling herself bavaria. this is well painted by kaulbach. i walk through these arcades once or twice every day, as i have several friends lodged over them; and can seldom arrive at the end without pausing two or three times. i learn that the king's passion for building, and the forced encouragement given to the enlargement and decoration of his capital, has been carried to an excess, and, like all extremes, has proved mischievous, at least for the time. he has rendered it too much a fashion among his subjects, who are suffering from rash speculations of this kind. many beautiful edifices in the ludwig's strasse, and the neighbourhood of the maximilian's platz, and the karoline's platz, remain untenanted. a suite of beautiful unfurnished apartments, and even a pretty house in the finest part of munich may be had for a trifle. some of these new houses are enormous. madame m. told me that she has her whole establishment on one floor, but then she has twenty-three rooms. though the country round munich is flat and ugly, a few hours' journey brings us into the very midst of the tyrolian alps. in june or july all the people fly to the mountains, and baths, and lakes in south bavaria, and rusticate among the most glorious scenery in the world. "come to us," said my friend, luise k----; "come to us in the summer months, _and we will play at arcadia_." and truly, when i listened to her description of her mountain life, and all its tranquil, primitive pleasures, and all the beauty and grandeur which lie beyond that giant-barrier which lifts itself against the evening sky, and when i looked into those clear affectionate eyes--"dieser blick voll treu und gute," and beheld the expression of a settled happiness, the light of a heart at peace with itself and all the world, reflected on the countenances of her children--a recollection of the unquiet destiny which drives me in an opposite direction came over me-- thou art a soul in bliss; but i am bound upon a wheel of fire, which mine own tears do scald like molten lead. [illustration] end of vol. i. london: ibotson & palmer, printers, savoy street, strand. addenda _to page , vol._ i. therese huber, who died in , was a woman every way remarkable, in her domestic history, in her position, her writings, and her character. she was employed by cotta to edit his famous "morgenblatt," in her time the most esteemed and the most influential of the literary periodicals of germany, and which she conducted for many years with extraordinary energy and success; she wrote also several romances, published under her husband's name, and long attributed to him even by her most intimate friends. therese huber is distinguished by a profound knowledge of her own sex, and by her just and admirable views of our destination and situation in society. some of her private letters have been published, since her death, with those of caroline woltmann, in the "deutsche briefe," and they place in yet stronger light the fine original powers of this gifted woman. vol. i. page , line , _for_ great, _read_ green. -- , _for_ altamen, _read_ attamen. -- , omit _patrician_. -- , _for_ 'vengeful, _read_ revengeful. -- , _for_ haitsinger, _read_ haitzinger. -- , _for_ tiefe, _read_ tief. -- , _for_ becher, _read_ becker. -- , in the note, _for_ hienrich, _read_ heinrich. -- , in the note, _for_ wladimer, _read_ wladimir. -- , _for_ first, _read_ second. -- , _for_ erden, _read_ erben. -- , _for_ wsäche, _read_ wäsche. -- , _after_ since, _insert_ "high-born hoel." -- , _for_ elangau, _read_ erlangen. -- , _for_ liebe, _read_ lieber. -- , _for_ schrecklich schichsal, _read_ schreckliches schicksal. -- , _for_ grab, _read_ grab. -- , _for_ twelve, _read_ eight. -- , _for_ neurather, _read_ neureuther. -- , in the note, _for_ par, _read_ pas; and _for_ pas _read_ par. * * * * * footnotes: [footnote : in goethe's iphigenia.] [footnote : over another iron door was writt, _be not too bold._ fairy queen, book iii. canto xi.] [footnote : see wordsworth's poems.] [footnote : two celebrated antique gems which adorn the relics of the three kings.] [footnote : it is nearly twice the size of the famous and well known medusa rondinelli, now in the glyptothek at munich.] [footnote : professor wallraff died on the th of march, .] [footnote : amongst others, jean paul, in the "heidelberger jahrbücher der literatur," .] [footnote : since the above passage was written, mrs. austin has favoured me with the following note: "goëthe admired, but did not like, still less esteem, madame de staël. he begins a sentence about her thus--'as she had no idea what duty meant,' &c. "however, after relating a scene which took place at weimar, he adds, 'whatever we may say or think of her, her visit was certainly followed by very important results. her work upon germany, which owed its rise to social conversations, is to be regarded as a mighty engine which at once made a wide breach in that chinese wall of antiquated prejudices, which divided us from france; so that the people across the rhine, and afterwards those across the channel, at length came to a nearer knowledge of us; whence we may look to obtain a living influence over the distant west. let us, therefore, bless that conflict of national peculiarities which annoyed us at the time, and seemed by no means profitable.'"--_tag- und jahres hefte_, vol. , last edit. to that woman who had sufficient strength of mind to break through a "chinese wall of antiquated prejudices," surely something may be forgiven.] [footnote : johanna schopenhauer, well known in germany for her romances and her works on art. her little book, "johan van eyk und seine nachfolger," has become the manual of those who study the old german schools of painting.] [footnote : or gebhard, for so the name is spelt in the german histories.] [footnote : for the story of archbishop gebhard and agnes de mansfeld, see schiller's history of the thirty years' war, and coxe's history of the house of austria.] [footnote : the gardens and plantations round the castle are a favourite promenade of the citizens of heidelberg, and there are in summer bands of music, &c.] [footnote : when gustavus adolphus took mayence, during the same war, he presented the whole of the valuable library to his chancellor, oxenstiern; the chancellor sent it to sweden, intending to bestow it on one of the colleges; but the vessel in which it was embarked foundered in the baltic sea, and the whole went to the bottom.] [footnote : m. passavant is a landscape-painter of frankfort, an intelligent, accomplished man, and one of the few german artists who had a tolerably correct idea of the state of art in england. he is the author of "kunstreise durch england und belgium."] [footnote : she was cotemporary with cleopatra, (b. c. ,) and was particularly celebrated for her busts in ivory. the romans raised a statue to her honour, which was in the guistiniani collection.--v. pliny.] [footnote : lucas kranach ( ) was one of the most celebrated of the old german painters; from a principle of gratitude and attachment, he shared the imprisonment of the elector john frederic, during five years.] [footnote : in september, .] [footnote : his own expression.] [footnote : dannecker has been ennobled; his proper titles run thus--johan heinrich von dannecker, hofrath, (court counsellor,) knight of the orders of the wurtemburg crown, and of wladimir, and professor of sculpture at stuttgardt.] [footnote : rauch is knight of the red eagle, and member of the senate.] [footnote : christian rauch was born in , and christian frederic tieck in .] [footnote : formerly madame jageman, the principal actress of the theatre at weimar. her talents were developed under the auspices of goethe and schiller. she was the original thekla of the wallenstein, and the original princess leonora of the tasso. in these two characters she has never yet been equalled. the quietness, amounting to passiveness, in the _external_ delineation of the princess in tasso, affords so little _material_ for the stage, that madame wolff, then the first actress, preferred the character of leonora sanvitale, and madame jageman was supposed to derogate in accepting that of the princess. such is the consummate, but evanescent delicacy of the conception, that goethe never expected to see it developed on the stage; and at the rehearsal he threw himself back in his chair, and shut his eyes, that the image which lived in his imagination might not be profaned by any tasteless exaggeration of action or expression. he soon opened them, however, and before the rehearsal was finished, started off the chair, and nearly embraced the actress. she looked and felt the part as only a woman of exceeding taste and delicacy would have done; the very tone of her mind, and the character of her beauty, fitted her to represent the fair, gentle, fragile, but dignified leonora.] [footnote : lessing.] [footnote : characteristics of goethe, vol. i. p. .] [footnote : i believe it was in allusion to this distinction, and her own noble birth, that her father-in-law used to call her playfully, "_die kleine ahnfrau_," (the little ancestress.)] [footnote : m. besle, otherwise the comte de stendhal, and, i believe, he has half a dozen other _aliases_.] [footnote : alfred tennyson.] [footnote : "thro' erin's isle, to sport awhile," &c.] [footnote : in the german maps, zweibrücken; the capital of those provinces of the kingdom of bavaria, which lie on the left bank of the rhine.] [footnote : the entire grouping of these figures is from the design of mr. robert cockerell, one of the original discoverers, who in ascertaining their relative position has been guided in some measure by the situation in which their fragments were found strewed in front of the temple, and overwhelmed with masses of the frieze and pediment; but has been much more indebted to his own artist-like feeling, and architectural skill. he is of opinion that the western pediment contained several other figures besides the ten which have been restored.] [footnote : the character of the emperor rodolph would be one of the most interesting speculations in philosophical history. he was evidently a fine artist, degraded into a bad sovereign--a man whose constructive and imaginative genius was misplaced upon a throne. the melancholy, and incipient madness which hovered over him, was possibly the result of the natural faculties suppressed or perverted.] [footnote : the celebrated traveller, natural philosopher, and botanist. he has the direction of most of the scientific institutions at munich.] [footnote : i remember madame devrient, in describing the effect which music had upon herself, pressing her hand upon her bosom, and saying, with simple but profound feeling, "_ah! cela use la vie!_"] [footnote : "a l'exposition de paris ( ) on a vu un millier de tableaux représentant des sujets de l'ecritoire sainte, peints par des peintres qui n'y croient pas du tout: admirés et jugés par des gens qui n'y croient pas beaucoup, et enfin payés par des gens qui, apparemment, n'y croient pas, non plus. "l'on cherche après cela le pourquoi de la décadence de l'art!"] [footnote : of this celebrated picture, sir joshua reynolds says, that it is miscalled, and certainly does _not_ contain the portraits of the earl and countess of arundel. perhaps he is mistaken. it appears that the earl of arundel, of james the first's time, (the collector of the arundelian marbles,) with his countess, sat to rubens in , and that "robin the dwarf" was introduced into this picture, which was not painted in england, but at brussels. rubens was at this time at the height of his reputation, and when requested to paint the portrait of the countess of arundel, he replied, "although i have refused to execute the portraits of many princes and noblemen, especially of his lordship's rank yet from the earl i am bound to receive the honour he does me in commanding my services, regarding him as i do, in the light of an evangelist to the world of art, and the great supporter of our profession."--(see tierney's history and antiquities of the castle and town of arundel.)] [footnote : in southey's thalaba.] [footnote : now removed with the other vandykes to chatsworth.] [footnote : see a curious letter of pirkheimer on the death of albert durer, quoted in the foreign quarterly review, no. . "in albert i have truly lost one of the best friends i had in the whole world, and nothing grieves me deeper than that he should have died so painful a death, which, under god's providence, i can ascribe to nobody but his huswife, who gnawed into his very heart, and so tormented him that he departed hence the sooner; for he was dried up to a faggot, and might nowhere seek him a jovial humour or go to his friends." (after much more, reflecting on this intolerable woman, he concludes with edifying _naïveté_;) "she and her sister are not queans; they are, i doubt not, in the number of honest, devout, and altogether god-fearing women, but a man might better have a quean who was otherwise kindly, than such a gnawing, suspicious, quarrelsome, _good_ woman, with whom he can have no peace or quiet neither by day nor by night."] [footnote : schleissheim is a country palace of the king of bavaria, about six miles from munich; it has originally been a beautiful building, but is not now inhabited, and looks forlorn and dilapidated. the pictures are distributed, without any attempt at arrangement, through forty-five rooms.] [footnote : natives, i believe, of cologne.] [footnote : albert durer was the scholar of wohlgemuth.] [footnote : i particularly recollect a picture, containing many hundred figures, all painted with the elaborate finish of a miniature, and representing the victory of alexander over darius. all the persians are dressed like turks, while alexander and his host are armed to the teeth, in the full costume of chivalry, with heraldic banners, displaying the different devices of the old germanic nobles, the cross, the black eagle, &c. &c.] [footnote : the observations of mr. phillips, (lectures on the history and principles of painting,) on giotto, and the earliest italian school, apply in a great measure to the early german painters, and i cannot refuse myself the pleasure of quoting them.--"as it appears to me, that painting at the present time, is swerving among us from the true point of interest, tending to ornament, to the loss of truth and sentiment, i think i cannot do better than endeavour to restrain the encroachment of so insidious a foe, to prevent, if possible, our advance in so erroneous and fatal a course, by showing how strong is the influence of art where truth and simplicity prevail; and that, where no ornament is to be found--nay, where imperfections are numerous; where drawing is frequently defective, perspective violated, colouring employed without science, and chiaro-scuro rarely, if ever thought of. the natural question then is, what can excite so much interest in pictures, where so much is wanting to render them perfect? i answer, that which leads to the forgetfulness of the want of those interesting and desirable qualities in the pictures of giotto, is the excitation caused by their fulness of feeling--well-directed, ardent, concentrated feeling! by which his mind was engaged in comprehending the points most worthy of display in the subject he undertook to represent, and led to the clearness and intelligence with which he has selected them; add to this the simplicity and ability with which he has displayed that feeling." * * * "this is the first true step in the natural system of the art, or of the application of it, and this was giotto's more especially. the rest is useful, as it assists the influence of this, the _indispensable_. this, to continue the figure, taken from the stage, (in a previous part of the lecture,) is as garrick acting macbeth or lear in a tie-wig and a general's uniform of his day; the passion and the character reaching men's hearts, notwithstanding the absurd costume. if the art be found thus strong to attract the mind, to excite feeling and thought, and to engage the heart, by the mere force of unadorned truth in the important points, and without the aid of the valuable auxiliaries i have above alluded to, is it not manifest that in its basis it is correct? and that the utmost force of historical painting is to be sought by continual emendation of this system, maintaining the spirit of its simplicity, supplying its wants, calling in the aid of those auxiliaries within reasonable bounds, not permitting them to usurp the throne of taste and attraction, but rather requiring them to assist in humbler guise to maintain and strengthen the legitimate authority of feeling. after reading these beautiful passages, written by a man who unites the acute discriminative judgment of a practical artist with the finest feeling of the ultimate object and aim of high poetical art, i felt almost tempted to expunge my own superficial and imperfect notes, (above written,) and should have done so, but for the hope that my deficiencies will induce some one more competent in taste and knowledge to take up the subject of the early german painters. it is certain that the modern historical painters of germany are working on the principle here laid down by mr. phillips, particularly overbeck and wach, which they have derived from a study of their national school of art; but other enthusiasts should remember that the redeeming excellence of this school was feeling, and that feeling can never be a matter of mere imitation. i cannot understand why the omissions of ignorance should be confounded with the achievements of native genius, by those for whom "knowledge has unlocked her ample stores," and to whom the recovery of those "rich spoils of time," the antique marbles, must have revealed the wide difference between "the simplicity of elegance" and "the simplicity of indigence."] [footnote : see p. .] [footnote : see p. .] * * * * * [transcriber's note: errata as given in the original have been applied to the text. other than the most exceedingly obvious typographical errors, all inconsistent spelling, hyphenation, diacriticals, archaic usage, etc. have been preserved as printed in the original. the equals signs used to bracket the signature at the end of part i indicate characters in a fraktur typeface.] visits and sketches at home and abroad. vol. iii. visits and sketches at home and abroad with tales and miscellanies now first collected. by mrs. jameson, author of "the characteristics of women," "lives of celebrated female sovereigns," &c. in three volumes. vol. iii. second edition. london saunders and otley, conduit street. . london: ibotson and palmer, printers, savoy street, strand. contents of vol. iii. page sketch of mrs. siddons sketch of fanny kemble the false one halloran the pedlar the indian mother much coin, much care vol. iii. page , line , _for_ the full stop _read_ a comma, and _for_ she had _read_ having. ,-- , _for_ cannot _read_ could not. mrs. siddons. [the following little sketch was written a few days after the death of mrs. siddons, and was called forth by certain paragraphs which appeared in the daily papers. a misapprehension of the real character of this remarkable woman, which i know to exist in the minds of many who admired and venerated her talents, has induced me to enlarge the first very slight sketch, into a more finished but still inadequate portrait. i have spared no pains to verify the truth of my own conception by testimony of every kind that was attainable. i have penned every word as if i had been in that great final court where the thoughts of all hearts are manifested; and those who best knew the individual i have attempted to delineate bear witness to the fidelity of the portrait, as far as it goes. i must be permitted to add, that in this and the succeeding sketch i have not only been inspired by the wish to do justice to individual virtue and talent,--i wished to impress and illustrate that important truth, that a gifted woman may pursue a public vocation, yet preserve the purity and maintain the dignity of her sex--that there is no prejudice which will not shrink away before moral energy, and no profession which may not be made compatible with the respect due to us as women, the cultivation of every feminine virtue, and the practice of every private duty. i might here multiply examples and exceptions, and discuss causes and results; but it is a consideration i reserve for another opportunity.] mrs. siddons "_implora pace!_"--she, who upon earth ruled the souls and senses of men, as the moon rules the surge of waters; the acknowledged and liege empress of all the realms of illusion; the crowned queen; the throned muse; the sceptred shadow of departed genius, majesty, and beauty,--supplicates--_peace!_ what unhallowed work has been going forward in some of the daily papers since this illustrious creature has been laid in her quiet unostentatious grave! ay, even before her poor remains were cold! what pains have been taken to cater trifling scandal for the blind, heartless, gossip-loving vulgar! and to throw round the memory of a woman, whose private life was as irreproachable as her public career was glorious, some ridiculous or unamiable association which should tend to unsphere her from her throne in our imagination, and degrade from her towering pride of place, the heroine of shakspeare, and the muse of tragedy! that stupid malignity which revels in the martyrdom of fame--which rejoices when, by some approximation of the mean and ludicrous with the beautiful and sublime, it can for a moment bring down the rainbow-like glory in which the fancy invests genius, to the drab-coloured level of mediocrity--is always hateful and contemptible; but in the present case it is something worse; it has a peculiar degree of _cowardly_ injustice. if some elegant biographer inform us that the same hand which painted the infant hercules, or ugolino, or mrs. sheridan, half seraph and half saint--could clutch a guinea with satisfaction, or drive a bargain with a footman; if some discreet friend, from the mere love of truth, no doubt, reveal to us the puerile, lamentable frailties of that bright spirit which poured itself forth in torrents of song and passion: what then? 'tis pitiful, certainly, wondrous pitiful; but there is no great harm done,--no irremediable injury inflicted; for there stand their works: the poet's immortal page, the painter's breathing canvass witness for them. "death hath had no power yet upon _their_ beauty"--over them scandal cannot draw her cold slimy finger;--on _them_ calumny cannot breathe her mildew; nor envy wither _them_ with a blast from hell. there they stand for ever to confute injustice, to rectify error, to defy malice; to silence, and long outlive the sneer, the lie, the jest, the reproach. but _she_--who was of painters the model, the wonder, the despair;--she, who realised in her own presence and person the poet's divinest dreams and noblest creations;--she, who has enriched our language with a new epithet, and made the word _siddonian_ synonymous with all we can imagine of feminine grace and grandeur: she has left nothing behind her, but the memory of a great name: she has bequeathed it to our reverence, our gratitude, our charity, and our sympathy; and if it is not to be sacred, i know not what is--or ever will be. mrs. siddons, as an _artist_, presented a singular example of the union of all the faculties, mental and physical, which constitute excellence in her art, directed to the end for which they seemed created. in any other situation or profession, some one or other of her splendid gifts would have been misplaced or dormant. it was her especial good fortune, and not less that of the time in which she lived, that this wonderful combination of mental powers and external graces, was fully and completely developed by the circumstances in which she was placed.[ ] "with the most commanding beauty of face and form, and varied grace of action; with the most noble combination of features, and extensive capability of expression in each of them; with an unequalled genius for her art, the utmost patience in study, and the strongest ardour of feeling; there was not a passion which she could not delineate; not the nicest shade, not the most delicate modification of passion, which she could not seize with philosophical accuracy, and render with such immediate force of nature and truth, as well as precision, that what was the result of profound study and unwearied practice, appeared like sudden inspiration. there was not a height of grandeur to which she could not soar, nor a darkness of misery to which she could not descend; not a chord of feeling, from the sternest to the most delicate, which she could not cause to vibrate at her will. she had reached that point of perfection in art, where it ceases to be art, and becomes a second nature. she had studied most profoundly the powers and capabilities of language; so that the most critical sagacity could not have suggested a delicacy of emphasis, by which the meaning of the author might be more distinctly conveyed, or a shade of intonation by which the sentiment could be more fully, or more faithfully expressed. while other performers of the past or present time, have made approaches to excellence, or attained it now and then, mrs. siddons alone was pronounced faultless; and, in _her_, the last generation witnessed what we shall not see in ours;--no, nor our children after us;--that amazing union of splendid intellectual powers, with unequalled charms of person, which, in the tragic department of her art, realized the idea of perfection." such was the magnificent portrait drawn of mrs. siddons twenty years ago; and it will be admitted by those who remember her, and must be believed by those who do not, that in this case, eulogy could not wander into exaggeration, nor enthusiasm be exalted beyond the bounds of truth. i have heard people most unreasonably surprised or displeased, because this exceeding dignity of demeanour was not confined to the stage, but was carried into private life. had it been merely conventional,--a thing put on and put off,--it might have been so; but the grandeur of her mind, and the light of her glorious beauty, were not as a diadem and robe for state occasions only; her's was not only dignity of manner and person, it was moral and innate, and, i may add, hereditary. mrs. siddons, with all her graces of form and feature, her magnificence of deportment, her deep-toned, measured voice, and impressive enunciation, was in reality a softened reflection of her more stern, stately, majestic mother, whose genuine loftiness of spirit and of bearing, whose rare beauty, and imperious despotism of character, have often been described to me as absolutely awful,--even her children trembled in her presence. "all the kembles," said sir thomas lawrence, "have historical faces;" and for several generations their minds seem to have been cast in a poetical mould. it has, however, been disputed, whether mrs. siddons possessed genius. whether genius be exclusively defined as the creative and inventive faculty of the soul, or taken, in its usual acceptation, as "a mind of large general faculties, accidentally determined to some particular direction," i think she did possess it in both senses. the grand characteristic of her mind was power, but it was power of a very peculiar kind: it was slowly roused--slowly developed--not easily moved; her perceptions were not rapid, nor her sensations quick; she required time for every thing,--time to think, time to comprehend, time to speak. there was nothing superficial about her; no vivacity of manner; to petty gossip she would not descend, and evil-speaking she abhorred; she cared not to shine in general conversation. like some majestic "argosie," bearing freight of precious metal, she was a-ground and cumbrous and motionless among the shallows of common life; but set her upon the deep waters of poetry and passion--there was her element--there was her reign. ask her an opinion, she could not give it you till she had looked on the subject, and considered it on every side,--then you might trust to it without appeal. her powers, though not easily put in motion, were directed by an incredible energy; her mind, when called to action, seemed to rear itself up like a great wave of the sea, and roll forwards with an irresistible force. this prodigious intellectual power was one of her chief characteristics. another was _truth_, which in the human mind is generally allied with power. it is, i think, a mistaken idea, that habits of impersonation on the stage tend to impair the sincerity or the individuality of a character. if any injury is done in this way, it is by the continual and strong excitement of the vanity, the dependence on applause, which in time _may_ certainly corrode away the integrity of the manner, if not of the mind. it is difficult for an admired actress not to be vain, and difficult for a very vain person to be quite unaffected, on or off the stage; it is, however, certain that some of the truest, most natural persons i ever met with in my life, were actresses. in the character of mrs. siddons, truth, and a reverence for truth, were commensurate with her vast power: heaven is not farther removed from earth than she was from falsehood. allied to this conscientious turn was her love of order. she was extremely punctual in all her arrangements; methodical and exact in every thing she did; circumstantial and accurate in all she said. in little and in great things, in the very texture and constitution of her mind, she was integrity itself: "it was," (said one of her most intimate friends,) "a mind far above the average standard, not only in ability, but in moral and religious qualities; that these should have exhausted themselves in the world of fiction, may be regretted in reference to her individual happiness, but she certainly exercised, during her _reign_, a most powerful moral influence:--she excited the nobler feelings and higher faculties of every mind which came in contact with her own. i speak with the deepest sense of personal obligation: it was at a very early age that she repeated to me, in a manner and tone which left an indelible impression, 'sincerity, thou first of virtues! let no mortal leave thy onward path,' &c. and i never knew her to omit an opportunity of making her fine genius minister to piety and virtue." now what are the bravos of a whole theatre, "when all the thunder of the pit ascends," compared to such praise as this? "her mind" (again i am enabled to give the very words of one who knew her well) "was a perfect mirror of the sublime and beautiful; like a lake that reflected only the heavens above, or the summits of the mountains around, nothing below a certain level could appear in it. the ideal was her vital air. she breathed with difficulty in the atmosphere of this 'working-day world,' and withdrew from it as much as possible. hence her moral principles were seldom brought to bear upon the actual and ordinary concerns of life. she was rather the associate of 'the mighty dead,' than the fellow-creature of the living. to the latter she was known chiefly through others, and often through those who were incapable of reflecting her qualities faithfully, though impressed with the utmost veneration for her genius. in their very anxiety for what they considered her interests, (and of her worldly interests she took _no charge_,) they would in her name authorize prudential arrangements, which gave rise to the suspicion of covetousness, whilst she was sitting rapt in heavenly contemplation. had she given her mind to the consideration and investigation of relative claims, she might on some occasions have acted differently--or, rather, _she_ would have acted where in fact _others only_ acted: for never, as i have reason to believe, was a case of distress _presented to her_ without her being ready to give even till her 'hand lacked means.' many of the poor in her neighbourhood were pensioned by her. "she was credulous--simple--to an extraordinary degree. profession had, therefore, too much weight with her. she was accustomed to _manifestations_ of the sentiments she excited, and in seeking the demonstration sometimes overlooked the silent reality;--this was a consequence of her profession. "she was not only exact in the performance of her religious duties; her religion was a pervading sentiment, influencing her to the strictest observance of truth and charity--i mean charity in judging others: the very active and excursive benevolence which '_seeks_ the duty, nay, _prevents_ the need,' would have been incompatible with her toilsome engrossing avocations and with the visionary tendencies of her character. but the visionary has his own sphere of action, and can often touch the master-springs of other minds, so as to give the first impulse to the good deeds flowing from _them_. there are some who can trace back to the sympathies which mrs. siddons awakened, their devotedness to the cause of the suffering and oppressed. faithfully did she perform the part in life which she believed allotted to her; and who may presume to judge that she did not choose the better part?" the idea that she was a cold woman is eminently false. her affections, like her intellectual powers, were slow, but tenacious; they enveloped in folds, strong as flesh and blood, those whom she had found worthy and taken to her heart; and her happiness was more entwined with them than those who knew her only in her professional character could have supposed; she would return home from the theatre, every nerve thrilling with the excitement of sympathy, and applause, and admiration, and a cold look or word from her husband has sent her to bed in tears. she had that sure indication of a good heart and a fine mind, an exceeding love for children, and a power to attract and amuse them. it was remarked that her voice always softened in addressing a child. i remember a letter of her's relative to a young mother and her infant, in which, among other tender and playful things, she says, "i wonder whether lady n---- is as good a talker of baby-nonsense as i flatter myself _i_ am!" a lady who was intimate with her, happening to enter her bedroom early one morning, found her with two of her little grand-children romping on her bed, and playing with the tresses of her long dark hair, which she had let down for their amusement. her own children adored her; her surviving friends refer to her with tenderness, with gratitude, even with tears. i speak here of what i _know_. i have seldom been more touched to the heart than by the perusal of some of her _most_ private letters and notes, which for tenderness of sentiment, genuine feeling, and simple yet forcible expression, could not be surpassed.[ ] actress though she was, she had no idea of doing any thing for the sake of appearances, or of courting popularity by any means but excellence in her art. she loved the elegances and refinements of life--enjoyed, and freely shared what she had toiled to obtain--and in the earlier part of her career was the frequent victim of her own kind and careless nature. she has been known to give generously, nobly,--to sympathize warmly; but did she deny to greedy selfishness or spendthrift vanity the twentieth demand on her purse or her benevolence? was she, while absorbed in her poetical, ideal existence, the dupe of exterior shows in judging of character? or did she, from total ignorance of, or indifference to, the common-place prejudices, or customary forms of society, unconsciously wound the _amour-propre_ of some shallow flatterer or critic,--or by bringing the gravity and glory of her histrionic impersonations into the frivolities and hard realities of this our world, render herself obnoxious to vulgar ridicule?--then was she made to feel what it is to live in the public eye: then flew round the malignant slander, the vengeful lie, the base sneer, the impertinent misinterpretation of what few could understand and fewer feel! reach _her_ these libels could not--but sometimes they reached those whose affectionate reverence fenced her round from the rude contact of real life. in some things mrs. siddons was like a child. i have heard anecdotes of her extreme simplicity, which by the force of contrast made me smile--at _them_, not at _her_: who could have laughed at mrs. siddons? i should as soon have thought of laughing at the delphic sybil. as an artist, her genius appears to have been slowly developed. she did not, as it has been said of her niece, "spring at once into the chair of the tragic muse;" but toiled her way up to glory and excellence in her profession, through length of time, difficulties, and obstacles innumerable. she was exclusively professional; and all her attainments, and all her powers, seem to have been directed to one end and aim. yet i suppose no one would have said of mrs. siddons, that she was a "_mere actress_," as it was usually said of garrick, that he was a "_mere player_;"--the most admirable and versatile actor that ever existed; but still the mere player;--nothing more--nothing better. he does not appear to have had a tincture of that high gentlemanly feeling, that native elevation of character, and general literary taste which strike us in john kemble and his brother charles; nor any thing of the splendid imagination, the enthusiasm of art, the personal grace and grandeur, which threw such a glory around mrs. siddons. of john kemble it might be said,[ ] as dryden said of harte in his time, that "kings and princes might have come to him, and taken lessons how to comport themselves with dignity." and with the noble presence of mrs. siddons, we associated in public and in private, something absolutely awful. we were accustomed to bring her before our fancy as one habitually elevated above the sphere of familiar life,-- "attired in all the majesty of art-- crown'd with the rich traditions of a soul that hates to have her dignity profan'd by any relish of an earthly thought."[ ] who was it?--(i think northcote the painter,) who said he had seen a group of young ladies of rank, lady fannys and lady marys, peeping through the half-open door of a room where mrs. siddons was sitting, with the same timidity and curiosity as if it had been some preternatural being,--much more than if it had been the queen: which i can easily believe. i remember that the first time i found myself in the same room with mrs. siddons, (i was then about twenty,) i gazed on her as i should have gazed at one of the egyptian pyramids--nay, with a deeper awe, for what is material and physical immensity, compared with moral and poetical grandeur? i was struck with a sensation which made my heart pause, and rendered me dumb for some minutes; and when i was led into conversation with her, my first words came faltering and thick,--which never certainly would have been the case in presence of the autocratrix of all the russias. the greatest, the noblest in the land approached her with a deference not unmingled with a shade of embarrassment, while she stood in regal guise majestic, with the air of one who bestowed and never received honour.[ ] nor was this feeling of her power, which was derived, partly from her own peculiar dignity of deportment, partly from her association with all that was grand, poetical, terrible, confined to those who could appreciate the full measure of her endowments. every member of that public, whose idol she was, from the greatest down to the meanest, felt it more or less. i knew a poor woman who once went to the house of mrs. siddons to be paid by her daughter for some embroidery. mrs. siddons happened to be in the room, and the woman perceiving who it was, was so overpowered, that she could not count her money, and scarcely dared to draw her breath. "and when i went away, ma'am," added she, in describing her own sensations, "i walked all the way down the street, feeling myself a great deal taller." this was the same unconscious feeling of the sublime, which made bouchardon say that, after reading the iliad, he fancied himself seven feet high. she modelled very beautifully, and in this talent, which was in a manner intuitive, she displayed a creative as well as an imitative power. might we not say that in the peculiar character of her genius--in the combination of the _very_ real with the _very_ ideal, of the demonstrative and the visionary, of vastness and symmetry, of the massive material and the grand unearthly forms into which it shaped itself--there was something analogous to sculpture? at all events, it is the opinion of many who knew her, that if she had not been a great actress she would have devoted herself to sculpture. she was never so happy as when occupied with her modelling tools; she would stand at her work eight hours together, scarcely turning her head. music she passionately loved: in her younger days her voice in singing was exquisitely sweet and flexible. she would sometimes compose verses, and sing them to an extemporaneous air; but i believe she did not perform on any instrument. to complete this sketch i shall add an outline of her professional life. mrs. siddons was born in . she might be said, almost without metaphor, to have been "born on the stage." all the family, i believe, for two or three generations, had been players. in her early life she endured many vicissitudes, and was acquainted with misery and hardship in many repulsive forms. on this subject she had none of the pride of a little mind; but alluded to her former situation with perfect simplicity. the description in mrs. inchbald's memoirs of "mrs. siddons singing and mending her children's clothes," is from the life, and charming as well as touching, when we consider her peculiar character and her subsequent destinies. she was in her twenty-first year when she made her first attempt in london, (for it was but an attempt,) in the character of portia. she also appeared as lady anne in richard iii. and in comedy as mrs. strickland to garrick's ranger. she was not successful: garrick is said to have been jealous of her rising powers: the public did not discover in her the future tragic muse, and for herself--"she felt that she was greater than she knew." she returned to her provincial career; she spent seven years in patient study, in reflection, in contemplation, and in mastering the practical part of her profession; and then she returned at the age of twenty-eight, and burst upon the world in the prime of her beauty and transcendent powers, with all the attributes of confirmed and acknowledged excellence. it appears that, in her first season, she did not play one of shakspeare's characters: she performed isabella, euphrasia, jane shore, calista, and zara. in a visit she paid to dr. johnson, at the conclusion of the season, she informed him that it was her intention, the following year, to bring out some of shakspeare's heroines, particularly katherine of arragon, to which she _then_ gave the preference as a character. dr. johnson agreed with her, and added that, when she played katherine, he would hobble to the theatre himself to see her; but he did not live to pay her this tribute of admiration. he, however, paid her another not less valuable: describing his visitor after her departure, he said, "she left nothing behind her to be censured or despised; neither praise nor money, those two powerful corrupters of mankind, seem to have depraved her."[ ] in this interview she seems to have pleased the old critic and moralist, who was also a severe and acute judge of human nature, and not inclined to judge favourably of actresses, by the union of modesty with native dignity which at all times distinguished her;--a rare union! and most delightful in those who are the objects of the public gaze, and when the popular enthusiasm is still in all its first intoxicating effervescence. the first of shakspeare's characters which mrs. siddons performed was isabella, in measure for measure, ( ,) and the next constance. in the same year sir joshua painted her as the tragic muse.[ ] with what a deep interest shall we now visit this her true apotheosis,--now that it has received its last consecration! the rest of shakspeare's characters followed in this order: lady macbeth in , and, soon afterwards, as if by way of contrast, desdemona, ophelia, rosalind. in she played imogen; in katherine of arragon; and, in , volumnia; and in the same season she played juliet, being then in her thirty-fifth year,--too old for juliet; nor did this ever become one of her popular parts; she left it to her niece to identify herself for ever with the poetry and sensibility, the youthful grace and fervid passion of shakspeare's juliet; and we have as little chance of ever seeing such another juliet as fanny kemble, as of ever seeing such another lady macbeth as her magnificent aunt. a good critic, who was also a great admirer of mrs. siddons, asserts that there must be something in acting which levels all poetical distinctions, since people talked in the same breath of her lady macbeth and mrs. beverley as being equally "fine pieces of acting." i think he is mistaken. no one--no one at least but the most vulgar part of her audience--ever equalized these two characters, even as pieces of acting; or imagined for a moment that the same degree of talent which sufficed to represent mrs. beverley could have grasped the towering grandeur of such a character as lady macbeth;--dived into its profound and gloomy depths--seized and reflected its wonderful gradations--displayed its magnificence--developed its beauties, and revealed its terrors: no such thing. she might have drawn more tears in isabella than in constance--thrown more young ladies into hysterics in belvidera than in katherine of arragon; but all with whom i have conversed on the subject of mrs. siddons, are agreed in this;--that her finest characters, as pieces of art, were those which afforded the fullest scope for her powers, and contained in themselves the largest materials in poetry, grandeur, and passion: consequently, that her constance, katherine of arragon, volumnia, hermione, and lady macbeth stood pre-eminent. in playing jane de montfort, in joanna baillie's tragedy, her audience almost lost the sense of impersonation in the feeling of identity. she _was_ jane de montfort--the actress, the woman, the character, blended into each other. it is a mistaken idea that she herself preferred the part of aspasia (in rowe's bajazet) to any of these grand impersonations. she spoke of it as one in which she had produced the most extraordinary effect on the _nerves_ of her audience; and this is true. "i recollect," said a gentleman to me, "being present at one of the last representations of bajazet: and at the moment when the order is given to strangle moneses, while aspasia stands immoveable in front of the stage, i turned my head, unable to endure more, and to my amazement i beheld the whole pit staring ghastly, with upward faces, dilated eyes, and mouths wide open--gasping--fascinated. nor shall i ever forget the strange effect produced by that sea of human faces, all fixed in one simultaneous expression of stony horror. it realized for a moment the fabled power of the medusa--it was terrible!" of all her great characters, lord byron, i believe, preferred constance, to which she gave the preference herself, and esteemed it the most difficult and the most finished of all her impersonations; but the general opinion stamps her lady macbeth as the grandest effort of her art; and therefore, as she was the first in her art, as the _ne plus ultra_ of acting. this at least was the opinion of one who admired her with all the fervour of a kindred genius, and could lavish on her praise of such "rich words composed as made the gift more sweet." of her lady macbeth, he says, "nothing could have been imagined grander,--it was something above nature; it seemed almost as if a being of a superior order had dropped from a higher sphere to awe the world with the majesty of her appearance. power was seated on her brow, passion emanated from her breast as from a shrine. in coming on in the sleeping scene, her eyes were open, but their sense was shut; she was like a person bewildered: her lips moved involuntarily; all her gestures seemed mechanical--she glided on and off the stage like an apparition. to have seen her in that character was an event in every one's life never to be forgotten." by profound and incessant study she had brought her conception and representation of this character to such a pitch of perfection that the imagination could conceive of nothing more magnificent or more finished; and yet she has been heard to say, after playing it for thirty years, that she never read over the part without discovering in it something new; nor ever went on the stage to perform it, without spending the whole morning in studying and meditating it, line by line, as intently as if she were about to act it for the first time. in this character she bid farewell to her profession and the public, (june th, .) the audience, on this occasion, paid her a singular and touching tribute of respect. on her going off in the sleeping scene, they commanded the curtain to fall, and would not suffer the play to proceed.[ ] the idea that mrs. siddons was quite unmoved by the emotions she portrayed--the sorrows and the passions she embodied with such inimitable skill and truth, is altogether false. fine acting may accidentally be mere impulse; it never can be wholly mechanical. to a late period of her life she continued to be strongly, sometimes painfully, excited by her own acting; the part of constance always affected her powerfully--she invariably left the stage, her face streaming with tears; and after playing lady macbeth, she could not sleep: even after reading the play of macbeth a feverish, wakeful night was generally the consequence. i am not old enough to remember mrs. siddons in her best days; but, judging from my own recollections, i should say that, to hear her _read_ one of shakspeare's plays, was a higher, a more complete gratification, and a more astonishing display of her powers than her performance of any single character. on the stage she was the perfect actress; when she was reading shakspeare, her profound enthusiastic admiration of the poet, and deep insight into his most hidden beauties, made her almost a poetess, or at least, like a priestess, full of the god of her idolatry. her whole soul looked out from her regal brow and effulgent eyes; and then her countenance!--the inconceivable flexibility and musical intonations of her voice! there was no got-up illusion here: no scenes--no trickery of the stage; there needed no sceptred pall--no sweeping train, nor any of the gorgeous accompaniments of tragedy:--she was tragedy! when in reading macbeth she said, "give me the daggers!" they gleamed before our eyes. the witch scenes in the same play she rendered awfully terrific by the magic of looks and tones; she invested the weird sisters with all their own infernal fascinations; they were the serious, poetical, tragical personages which the poet intended them to be, and the wild grotesque horror of their enchantments made the blood curdle. when, in king john, she came to the passage beginning-- "if the midnight bell, did with his iron tongue and brazen note," &c. i remember i felt every drop of blood pause, and then run backwards through my veins with an overpowering awe and horror. no scenic representation i ever witnessed produced the hundredth part of the effect of her reading hamlet. this tragedy was the triumph of her art. hamlet and his mother, polonius, ophelia, were all there before us. those who ever heard her give ophelia's reply to hamlet, _hamlet._ i loved you not. _ophelia._ i was the more deceived! and the lines-- and i, of ladies most deject and wretched, that suck'd the honey of his music vows, &c. will never forget their exquisite pathos. what a revelation of love and woe was there!--the very heart seemed to break upon the utterance. lear was another of her grandest efforts; but her rare talent was not confined to tragedy; none could exceed her in the power to conceive and render witty and humorous character. i thought i had never understood or felt the comic force of such parts as polonius, lucio, gratiano, and shakspeare's clowns, till i heard the dialogue from her lips: and to hear her read the merchant of venice and as you like it, was hardly a less perfect treat than to hear her read macbeth. the following short extract from a letter of mrs. joanna baillie, dated about a year before the death of mrs. siddons will, i am persuaded, be read with a double interest, for _her_ sake who penned it, not less than hers who is the subject of it. "the most agreeable thing i have to begin with, is a visit we paid last week to mrs. siddons. we had met her at dinner at mr. rogers's a few days before, and she kindly asked us, our host and his sister, the thursday following; an invitation which we gladly accepted, though we expected to see much decay in her powers of expression, and consequently to have our pleasure mingled with pain. judge then of our delight when we heard her read the best scenes of hamlet, with expression of countenance, voice, and action, that would have done honour to her best days! she was before us as an unconquerable creature, over whose astonishing gifts of nature time had no power.[ ] she complained of her voice, which she said was not obedient to her will; but it appeared to my ear to be peculiarly true to nature, and the more so, because it had lost that deep solemnity of tone which she, perhaps, had considered as an excellence. i thought i could trace in the pity and tenderness, mixed with her awe of the ghost, the natural feelings of one who had lost dear friends, and expected to go to them soon; and her reading of that scene, (the noblest which dramatic art ever achieved,) went to my heart as it had never done before. at the end, mr. rogers very justly said, 'oh, that we could have assembled a company of young people to witness this, that they might have conveyed the memory of it down to another generation!' in short, we left her full of admiration, as well as of gratitude, that she had made such an exertion to gratify so small an audience; for, exclusive of her own family, we were but five." she continued to exercise her power of reading and reciting long after the date of this letter, even till within a few days of her death, although her health had long been in a declining state.[ ] she died at length on the th of june, , after a few hours of acute suffering, having lived nearly seventy-six years, of which forty-six were spent in the constant presence and service of the public. she was an honour to her profession, which was more honoured and honourable in her person and family than it ever was before, or will be hereafter, till the stage becomes something very different from what it now is. and, since it has pleased some writers, (who apparently knew as little of her real situation as of her real character,) to lament over the misfortune of this celebrated woman, in having survived all her children, &c. &c. it may be interesting to add that, a short time before her death, she was seated in a room in her own house, when about thirty of her young relatives, children, grand-children, nephews and nieces, were assembled, and looked on while they were dancing, with great and evident pleasure: and that her surviving daughter, cecilia siddons,[ ] who had been, for many years, the inseparable friend and companion of her mother, attended upon her with truly filial devotion and reverence to the last moment of existence. her admirers may, therefore, console themselves with the idea that in "love, obedience, troops of friends," as well as affluence and fame, she had "all that should accompany old age." she died full of years and honours; having enjoyed, in her long life, as much glory and prosperity as any mortal could expect: having imparted more intense and general pleasure than ever mortal did; and having paid the tribute of mortality in such suffering and sorrow as wait on the widowed wife and the bereaved mother. if with such rare natural gifts were blended some human infirmities;--if the cultivation of the imaginative far above the perceptive faculties, hazarded her individual happiness;--if in the course of a professional career of unexampled continuance and splendour, the love of praise ever degenerated into the appetite for applause;--if the worshipped actress languished out of her atmosphere of incense,--is this to be made matter of wonder or of ill-natured comment? did ever any human being escape more _intacte_ in person and mind from the fiery furnace of popular admiration? let us remember the severity of the ordeal to which she was exposed; the hard lot of those who pass their lives in the full-noon glare of public observation, where every speck is noted! what a difference too, between the aspiration after immortality and the pursuit of celebrity!--the noise of distant and future fame is like the sound of the far-off sea, and the mingled roll of its multitudinous waves, which, as it swells on the ear, elevates the soul with a sublime emotion; but present and loud applause, flung continually in one's face, is like the noisy dash of the surf upon the rock,--and it requires the firmness of the rock to bear it. sketches of fanny kemble in juliet. introduction and notes to mr. john hayter's sketches of fanny kemble, in the character of juliet.[ ] "non piace a lei che innumerabil turba viva in atto di fuor, morta di dentro, le applauda a caso, e mano a man percuota; ne si rallegra se le rozzi voci volgano a lei quelle induiti lodi-- --ma la possanza del divino iugegno vita di dentro." _gasparo gozzi--sermone xiv._ it would be doing an injustice to the author of these sketches, and something worse than injustice to her who is the subject of them, should more be expected than the pencil could possibly convey, and more required than the artist ever intended to execute. their merit consists in their fidelity, as far as they go; their interest in conveying a lively and distinct idea of some immediate and transient effects of grace and expression. they do not assume to be portraits of miss kemble; they are merely a series of rapid outlines, caught from her action, and exhibiting, at the first glance, just so much of the individual and peculiar character she has thrown into her impersonation of juliet, as at once to be recognised by those who have seen her. to them alone these isolated passages--linked together in the imagination by all the intervening graces of attitude and sentiment, by the recollection of a countenance where the kindled soul looks out through every feature, and of a voice whose tones tremble into one's very heart--will give some faint reflection of the effect produced by the whole of this beautiful piece of acting,--or rather of nature, for here "each seems either." it will be allowed, even by the most enthusiastic lover of painting, that the merely imitative arts can do but feeble justice to the powers of a fine actress; for what graphic skill can fix the evanescent shades of feeling as they melt one into another?-- "what fine chisel could ever yet cut breath?" --and yet even those who have not witnessed and may never witness miss kemble's performance, to whom her name alone can be borne through long intervals of space and time, will not regard these little sketches without curiosity and interest. if any one had thought of transferring to paper a connected series of some of the awe-commanding gestures of mrs. siddons in one of her great parts; or caught (flying) some of the inimitable graces of movement and attitude, and sparkling effects of manner, with which mrs. charles kemble once enchanted the world, with what avidity would they now be sought!--they would have served as studies for their successors in art to the end of time. all the fine arts, poetry excepted, possess a limited range of power. painting and sculpture can convey none of the graces that belong to movement and sound: music can suggest vague sentiments and feelings, but it cannot express incident, or situation, or form, or colour. poetry alone grasps an unlimited sceptre, rules over the whole visible and intellectual universe, and knows no bounds but those of human genius. and it is here that tragic acting, considered in its perfection, and in its relation to the fine arts, is allied to poetry, or rather is itself living, breathing poetry; made sensible in a degree to the hardest and dullest minds, seizing on the dormant sympathies of our nature, and dismissing us again to the cares of this "working-day world," if not very much wiser, or better, or happier, at least enabled to digest with less bitterness the mixture of our good and evil days. but in the midst of the just enthusiasm which a great actor or actress excites, so long as they exist to minister to our delight;--in the midst of that atmosphere of light and life they shed around them, it is a common subject of repining that such glory should be so transient; that an art requiring in its perfection such a rare combination of mental and external qualities, can leave behind no permanent monument of its own excellence, but must depend on the other fine arts for all it can claim of immortality: that garrick, for instance, has become a name--no more--his fame the echo of an echo! that mrs. siddons herself has bequeathed to posterity only a pictured semblance;--that when the voice of pasta is heard no longer upon earth, the utmost pomp of words can only attest her powers! the painter and the poet, struggling through obscurity to the heights of fame, and consuming a life in the pursuit of (perhaps) posthumous celebrity, may say to the sublime actress,--"thou in thy generation hast had thy meed; we have waited patiently for ours: thou art vanished like a lost star from the firmament, into the 'uncomfortable night of nothing'; we have left the light of our souls behind us, and survive to 'blessings and eternal praise!'" and why should it _not_ be so? were it otherwise, the even-handed distribution of the best gifts of heaven among favoured mortals might with reason be impugned. shall the young spirit "dampt by the necessity of oblivion" disdain what is attainable because it cannot grasp all? conceive for a moment the situation of a woman, in the prime and bloom of existence, with all her youthful enthusiasm, her unworn feelings fresh about her, privileged to step forth for a short space out of the bounds of common life, without o'erstepping the modesty of her feminine nature, permitted to cast off for a while, unreproved and unrestrained, the conventional trammels of form and manner; and called upon to realise in her own presence and person the divinest dreams of poetry and romance; to send forth in a word--a glance,--the electric flash which is felt through a thousand bosoms at once, till every heart beats the same measure with her own! is there nothing in all this to countervail the dangers, the evils, and the vicissitudes attendant on this splendid and public exercise of talent? it may possibly become, in time, a thing of habitude; it _may_ be degraded into a mere _besoin de l'amour propre_--a necessary, yet palling excitement: but in its outset it is surely a triumph far beyond the mere intoxication of personal vanity; and to the very last, it must be deemed a magnificent and an enviable power. it was difficult to select for graphic delineation any particular points from miss kemble's representation of juliet. these drawings may not, perhaps, justify the enthusiasm she excited: but it ought to add to their value rather than detract from it, that the causes of their imperfection comprehend the very foundation on which the present and future celebrity of this young actress may be said to rest. in the first place, the power by which she seized at once on public admiration and sympathy, was not derived from any thing external. it was not founded in the splendour of her hereditary pretensions, though in them there was much to fascinate: nor in the departed or fading glories of her race: nor in the remembrance of her mother--once the young euphrosyne of our stage: nor in the name and high talent of her father, with whom, it was _once_ feared the poetical and classical school of acting was destined to perish from the scene: nor in any mere personal advantages, for in these she has been excelled,-- "though on her eyelids many graces sit under the shadow of those even brows:" nor in her extreme youth, and delicacy of figure, which tell so beautifully in the character of juliet: nor in the acclaim of public favour-- "to have all eyes dazzled with admiration, and all tongues shouting loud praises; to rob every heart of love-- this glory round about her hath thrown beams." but _such_ glory has circled other brows ere now, and left them again "shorn of their beams." no! her success was founded on a power superior to all these--in the power of genius superadded to that moral interest which claimed irresistibly the best sympathies of her audience. the peculiar circumstances and feelings which brought miss kemble before the public, contrary (as it is understood) to all the previous wishes and intentions of her parents, were such as would have justified less decided talent,--honourable to herself and to her family. the feeling entertained towards her on this score was really delightful; it was a species of homage, which, like the quality of mercy, was "twice blessed;" blessing those who gave and her who received. it produced a feeling between herself and the public, which mere admiration on the one hand, and gratified vanity on the other, could not have excited. she strongly felt this, and no change, no reverse, diminished her feeling of the kindness with which she had once been received; but her own fervid genius and sensibility did as much for her. she was herself a poetess; her mind claimed a natural affinity with all that is feeling, passionate, and imaginative; not her voice only, but her soul and ear were attuned to the harmony of verse; and hence she gave forth the poetry of such parts as juliet and portia with an intense and familiar power, as though every line and sentiment in shakspeare had been early transplanted into her heart,--had long been brooded over in silence,--watered with her tears,--to burst forth at last, like the spontaneous and native growth of her own soul. an excellent critic of our own day has said, that "poetical enthusiasm is the rarest faculty among players:" if so, it cannot be too highly valued. fanny kemble possessed this rare faculty; and in it, a power that could not be taught, or analysed, or feigned, or put on and off with her tragic drapery;--it pervaded all she was called upon to do. it was _this_ which in the grecian daughter made her look and step so like a young muse; which enabled her, by a single glance--a tone--a gesture--to elevate the character far above the language--and exalt the most common-place declamation into power and passion. the indisputable fact, that she appeared on the stage without any previous study or tuition, ought in justice to her to be generally known; it is most certain that she was not nineteen when she made her first appearance, and that six weeks before her debût there was no more thought of her becoming an actress, than of her becoming an empress. the assertion must appear superfluous to those who have seen her; for what teaching, or what artificial aids, could endue her with the advantages just described?--"unless _philosophy_ could make a juliet!" or what power of pencil, though it were dipped in the rainbow and tempered in the sunbeams, could convey this bright intelligence, or justify the enthusiasm with which it is hailed by her audience? there is a second difficulty which the artist has had to contend with, not less honourable to the actress: the charm of her impersonation of juliet consisted not so much in any particular points, as in the general conception of the whole part, and in the sustained preservation and gradual development of the individual character, from the first scene to the last. where the merit lies in the beautiful gradations of feeling, succeeding each other like waves of the sea, till the flood of passion swells and towers and sweeps away all perceptible distinctions, the pencil must necessarily be at fault; for as madame de staël says truly, "_l'inexprimable est précisement ce qu'un grand acteur nous fait connaître_." the first drawing is taken from the scene in which juliet first appears. the actress has little to do, but to look the character;--that is, to convey the impression of a gentle, graceful girl, whose passions and energies lie folded up within her, like gathered lightning in the summer cloud; all her affections "soft as dews on roses," which must ere long turn to the fire-shower, and blast her to the earth. the moment chosen is immediately after juliet's expostulation to her garrulous old nurse--"i pr'ythee, peace!" the second, third, and fourth sketches are all from the masquerade scene. the manner in which juliet receives the parting salutations of the guests has been justly admired;--nothing is denied to genius and taste, aided by natural grace, else it might have been thought impossible to throw so much meaning and sentiment into so common an action. the first curtsey is to benvolio. the second, to mercutio, is distinctly marked, as though in him she recognised the chosen friend of romeo. in the third, to romeo himself, the bashful sinking of the whole figure, the conscious drooping of the eyelids, and the hurried, yet graceful recovery of herself as she exclaims-- "who's he that follows there that would not dance? go ask his name!" which is the subject of the third sketch; and lastly, the tone in which she gave the succeeding lines-- "if he be married, my grave is like to be my wedding-bed!" which seems, in its deep quiet pathos, to anticipate "some consequence yet hanging in the stars,"--form one unbroken series of the most beautiful and heart-felt touches of nature. the fourth sketch is from the conclusion of the same scene, where juliet, with reluctant steps and many a lingering look back on the portal through which her lover has departed, follows her nurse out of the banquet-room. the two next drawings are from the balcony scene, which has usually been considered the criterion of the talent of an actress in this part. the first represents the action which accompanied the line-- "by whose direction found'st thou out this place?" the second is the first "good night!" "sweet, good night! this bud of love, by summer's ripening breath, may prove a beauteous flower, when next we meet." fanny kemble's conception of character and sentiment in this scene was peculiarly and entirely her own. juliet, as she properly felt, is a young impassioned italian girl, who has flung her heart, and soul, and existence upon one cast. "she was not made thro' years or moons the inner weight to bear, which colder hearts endure till they are laid by age in earth." in this view, the pretty coyness, the playful _coquetterie_, which has sometimes been thrown into the balcony scene, by way of making an effect, is out of place, and false to the poetry and feeling of the part: but in fanny kemble's delineation, the earnest, yet bashful tenderness; the timid, yet growing confidence; the gradual swelling of emotion from the depths of the heart, up to that fine burst of enthusiastic passion-- "swear by thy gracious self, that art the god of my idolatry, and i'll believe thee!" were all as true to the situation and sentiment, as they were beautifully and delicately conveyed. the whole of the speech, "thou know'st the mask of night is on my face," was in truth "like softest music to attending ears," from the exquisite and various modulation of voice with which it was uttered. perhaps one of the most beautiful and entirely original points in the whole scene, was the accent and gesture with which she gave the lines-- "romeo, doff thy name; and for that name, which is no part of thee, take--all myself!" the grace and _abandon_ in the manner, and the softness of accent, which imparted a new and charming effect to this passage, cannot be expressed in words; and it was so delicately touched, and so transitory,--so dependent, like a beautiful chord in music, on that which prepared and followed it, that it was found impossible to seize and fix it in a drawing. from the first scene with the nurse, two drawings have been made. the idea of juliet discovered as the curtain rises, gazing from the window, and watching for the return of her confidante, is perfectly new. the attitude (or more properly, one of her attitudes, for they are various as they are graceful and appropriate) is given in the seventh sketch, and the artist has conveyed it with peculiar grace and truth. the action chosen for the eighth drawing occurs immediately after juliet's little moment of petulance, (so justly provoked,) and before she utters in a caressing tone, "come, what says romeo?" the first speech in this scene, "o, she is lame! love's heralds should be thoughts, which ten times faster glide than the sun's beams, driving back shadows over low'ring hills: therefore do nimble-pinion'd doves draw love, and therefore hath the wind-swift cupid--wings." --and the soliloquy in the second scene of the third act, "gallop apace, ye fiery-footed steeds!" in which there is no particular point of dramatic effect to be made, are instances of that innate sense of poetical harmony, which enabled her to impart the most exquisite pleasure, merely by her feeling, graceful, animated delivery of these beautiful lines. the most musical intonation of voice, the happiest emphasis, and the utmost refinement, as well as the most expressive grace of action, were here combined to carry passion and poetry at once and vividly to the heart: but this perfect triumph of illusion is more than painting could convey. the ninth and tenth sketches are from the second scene with the nurse, called in theatrical phrase "the banishment scene." one of the grandest and most impressive passages in the whole performance was juliet's reply to her nurse. "_nurse._ shame come to romeo! _juliet._ blister'd be thy tongue, for such a wish! he was not born to shame: upon his brow shame is asham'd to sit; for 'tis a throne where honour may be crown'd sole monarch of the universal earth." the loftiness of look and gesture with which she pronounced the last line, cannot be forgotten: but the effect consisted so much in the action of the arm, as she stepped across the stage, and in the kindling eye and brow, rather than in the attitude only, that it could not well be conveyed in a drawing. the first point selected is from the passage, "o break, my heart!--poor bankrupt, break at once!" in which the gesture is full of expressive and pathetic grace. the tenth drawing represents the action which accompanied her exclamation, "tybalt is dead--and romeo--banished!" the tone of piercing anguish in which she pronounced the last word, _banished_, and then threw herself into the arms of her nurse, in all the helplessness of utter desolation, formed one of the finest passages in her performance. the scene in which the lovers part, called the garden scene, follows; and the passage selected is-- "art thou gone so? my love, my lord, my friend? i must hear from thee every day i' the hour!" the subdued and tremulous intonation with which all the speeches in this scene were given, as though the voice were broken and exhausted with excessive weeping; and the manner in which she still, though half insensible in her nurse's arms, signed a last farewell to her husband, were among the most delicate and original beauties of the character. the two next drawings are from the fifth scene of the third act. the latter part of this scene contained many new and beautiful touches of feeling which originated with miss kemble herself. it is here that the real character of juliet is first developed;--it is here that, abandoned by the whole world, and left to struggle alone with her fearful destiny, the high-souled and devoted woman takes place of the tender, trembling girl. the confiding, helpless anguish with which she at first throws herself upon her nurse--("some comfort, nurse!")--the gradual relaxing of her embrace, as the old woman counsels her to forget romeo and marry paris--the tone in which she utters the question-- "speakest thou from thy heart? _nurse._ from my soul too, or else beshrew them both!" and then the gathering up of herself with all the majesty of offended virtue, as she pronounces that grand "amen!"--the effect of which was felt in every bosom----these were _revelations_ of beauty and feeling which we owed to fanny kemble alone. they were points which had never before been felt or conveyed in the same manner. the shrinking up wholly into herself, and the concentrated scorn with which she uttered the lines-- "go, counsellor! thou and my bosom henceforth shall be twain!" are very spiritedly given in the fourteenth drawing. from the scene with the friar, in the fourth act, the action selected is where she grasps her poniard with the resolution of despair-- "give me some present counsel; or, behold, 'twixt my extremes and me this bloody knife shall play the umpire!" one of the most original effects of feeling and genius in the whole play occurred in the course of this scene; but, unfortunately, it was not found susceptible of graphic delineation. it was the peculiar manner with which she uttered the words-- "are you at leisure, holy father, now? or shall i come to you at evening mass?" the question in itself is nothing; but what a volume of misery and dread suspense was in that look with which she turned from paris to the friar, and the tone with which she uttered those simple words! this was beyond the pencil's art to convey, and could but be felt and remembered. the next drawing is therefore from the scene in which she drinks the sleeping potion. the idea of speaking the first part of the soliloquy seated, and with the calmness of one settled and bent up "to act a dismal scene alone," until her fixed meditation on the fearful issue, and the horrible images crowding on her mind, work her up to gradual frenzy, was new, and originated with miss kemble. the attitude expressed in the drawing--"o look, methinks i see my cousin's ghost,"--was always hailed with an excess of enthusiasm of which i thought many parts of her performance far more deserving. the eighteenth sketch is from the sleeping scene; and the last two drawings are from the tomb scene. the merits of this last scene were chiefly those of attitude, look, and manner; and the whole were at once so graceful and beautiful, as well as terribly impressive, that they afforded some relief from the horrors of the situation, and the ravings of romeo. the alteration of shakspeare, in the last act, is certainly founded on the historical tale of the giulietta: but though the circumstances are borrowed, yet the spirit in which they are related by the ancient novelist, has not been taken into consideration by those who manufactured this additional scene of superfluous horror.[ ] in juliet's death, miss kemble seized an original idea, and worked it up with the most powerful and beautiful effect; but this effect consisted not so much in one attitude or look, as in a progressive series of action and expression, so true--so painfully true, that as one of the chief beauties was the rapidity with which the whole passed from the fascinated yet aching sight--the artist has relinquished any attempt to fix it on paper. * * * * * fanny kemble made her first appearance in the character of juliet, october th, , and bid a last farewell to her london audience in may, : during these three years she played through a very diversified range of parts, both in tragedy and high comedy.[ ] sustained by her native genius and good taste, and by the kindly feeling of her audience, she could not be said to have failed in any, not even in those which her inexperience and extreme youth rendered _premature_, to say the least. she never--except in one or two instances[ ]--had a voice in the selection of her parts, which, i think, was in some cases exceedingly injudicious, as far as her individual powers were concerned. i know that she played in several contrary to her own opinion, taste, and judgment, and from a principle of duty. not _duty_ only, but a feeling of delicacy, natural to a generous mind, which disdained the appearance of presuming on her real power, rendered her docile, in some instances, to a degree which i regretted while i loved her for it. she had a perception of some of the traditional absurdities of dress, and ridiculous technical anomalies of theatrical arrangements, which she had not power to alter, and which i have seen her endure with wondrous good temper. had she remained on the stage, her fine taste and original and powerful mind would have carried the public with her in some things which she contemplated: for instance, she had an idea of restoring king lear, as originally written by shakspeare, and playing the _real_ cordelia to her father's lear. when left to her own judgment, she ever thought more of what was worthy and beautiful in itself, than she calculated on the amount of vulgar applause it might attract, or the sums it might bring to the treasury. thus, for her first benefit she played portia, a character which no vain, self-confident actress would have selected for such an occasion, because, as the play is now performed, the part is comparatively short, is always considered of secondary importance, and affords but few effective points: this was represented to her; but she persisted in her choice: and how she played it out of her own heart and soul! how she revelled in the poetry of the part, with a conscious sense and enjoyment of its beauty, which was communicated to her audience! self, after the first tremor, was forgotten, and vanity lost in her glowing perception of the charm of the character. she lamented over every beautiful line and passage which had been "_cut out_" by profane hands.[ ] to those which remained, the rich and mellow tones of her voice gave added power, blending with the music of the verse. it was by her own earnest wish that she played camiola, in massinger's maid of honour, and this was certainly one of her most exquisite and most finished parts; but the quiet elegance, the perfect delicacy of the delineation were never appreciated. she was aware of this: she said, "the first rows of the pit, and the first few boxes will understand me; for the rest of that great theatre, i ought to play as they paint the scenes--in great splashes of black and white." bianca, in millman's fazio, was another of her finest parts, and as it contained more stage effect, it told more with the public. in this character she certainly took even her greatest admirers by surprise. the expression of slumbering passion, and its gradual developement, were so fervently portrayed, and yet so nicely shaded; the frenzy of jealousy, and the alienation of intellect, so admirably discriminated, and so powerfully given, that when the first emotions had subsided, not admiration only, but wonder seized upon her audience: nor shall i easily forget the pale composure with which she bore this--one of her most intoxicating triumphs. in constance, in queen katherine, in lady macbeth, the want of amplitude and maturity of person, of physical weight and power, and a deficiency both of experience and self-confidence, were against her; but her conception of character was so _true_, and her personal resemblance to her aunt so striking, in spite of her comparatively diminutive features and figure, that one of the best and severest of our dramatic critics said, "it was like looking at mrs. siddons through the wrong end of an opera-glass."[ ] she had conceived the idea of giving quite a new reading, which undoubtedly would have been the _true_ reading, of the character of katherine of arragon, and instead of playing it with the splendid poetical colouring in which mrs. siddons had arrayed it, bring it down to the prosaic delineation which shakspeare really gave, and history and holbein have transmitted to us; but the experiment was deemed too hazardous; and it was so. the public at large would never have understood it. the character of the queen mother, in her own tragedy of francis i., was another part of which the weight seemed to overwhelm her youthful powers, and after the first few nights she ceased to play it. while on the english stage, she never became so far the finished artist as to be independent of her own emotions, her own individual sentiments. it was not only necessary that she should understand a character, it was necessary that she should _feel_ it. she invariably excelled in those characters in which her sympathies were awakened. in juliet, in portia, in camiola, in julia,[ ] (perhaps the most _popular_ of all her parts,) and i believe i may add, in bianca, she will not soon or easily be surpassed. for the same reason, if she could be said to have failed in any part, it was in that of calista, which she abhorred, and never, i believe, could comprehend. isabella[ ] was another part which i think she never really felt; she never could throw her powers into it. the bald style and the prosaic monotonous misery of the first acts, in which her aunt called forth such torrents of tears, wearied her; though the tragic of the situations in the last act roused her, and was given most effectively. she had not, at the time she took leave of us, conquered the mechanical part of her profession--the last, but not the least necessary department of her art, which it had taken her aunt siddons seven years, and pasta almost as long, to achieve; she was too much under the influence of her own nerves and moods of feeling; the warm blushes, the hot tears, the sob, the tremor, were at times too real. after playing in mrs. beverly, bianca, and julia, the physical suffering and excitement were sometimes most painful; and the performance of constance actually deprived her of her hearing for several hours, and rendered her own voice inaudible to her; this, it will be allowed, was paying somewhat dear for her laurels, even though she had valued them more than in truth she ever did. fanny kemble, as one of a gifted race, "the latest born of all olympus' faded hierarchy," had really a just pride in the professional distinction of her family. she was proud of being a kemble, and not insensible to the idea of treading in the steps of her aunt. but she had seen the stage desecrated, and never for a moment indulged the thought that she was destined to regenerate it. she felt truly her own position. her ambition was not professional. she had always the consciousness of a power--of which she has already given evidence--to ensure to herself a higher, a more real immortality than that which the stage can bestow. she had a very high idea, abstractedly, of the capabilities of her art; but the native elegance of her mind, her poetical temperament, her profound sense of the _serious ideal_, rendered her extremely, and at times painfully sensitive, to the prosaic drawbacks which attended its exercise in public, and her strong understanding showed her its possible evils. she feared for the effect that incessant praise, incessant excitement, might at length produce on her temper. "i am in dismay," said she, (i give her _own_ words,) "when i think that all this may become necessary to me. could i be sure of retaining my love for higher and better occupations, and my desire for a nobler, though more distant fame, i should not have these apprehensions; but i am cut off by constant labour from those pursuits which i love and honour, and neither they, nor any of our capabilities, can outlive long neglect and disuse." thus she felt, and thus she expressed herself at the age of twenty, and even while enjoying her success with a true girlish buoyancy of spirit, the more delightful, the more interesting, inasmuch as it seemed to tremble at itself. i have actually heard her reproached for not being _sufficiently_ elated and excited by the public homage; but, the truth is, she was grateful for praise, rather than intoxicated by it--more pleased with her success than proud of it.[ ] "i dare not," said she, "feel all i _could_ feel: i must watch myself." and by a more exact attention to her religious duties, and by giving as much time as possible to the cultivation of many resources and accomplishments, she endeavoured to preserve the command over her own faculties, and the even balance of her mind. i am persuaded that this lofty tone of feeling, this mixture of self-subjection and self-respect, gave to her general deportment on the stage that indescribable charm, quite apart from any grace of person or action, which all who have seen her must have felt, and none can have forgotten. and now, what shall i say more? if i dared to violate the sacredness of private intercourse, i could indeed say much--_much_ more. that she came forward and devoted herself for her family in times of trial and trouble--that twice she saved them from ruin--that she has achieved two fortunes, besides a brilliant fame, and by her talents won independence for herself and those she loved,--and that she has done all this before the age of five-and-twenty, is known to many; but few are aware how much more admirable, more respectable, than any of her mental gifts and her well-earned distinction, were the moral strength with which she sustained the severest ordeal to which a youthful character could be exposed; the simplicity with which she endured--half recoiling--the incessant adulation which beset her from morn to night;[ ] her self-command in success; her gentle dignity in reverse; her straightforward integrity, which knew no turning nor shadow of turning; her noble spirit, which disdained all petty rivalry; her earnest sense of religion, "to which alone she trusted to keep her right."[ ] suddenly she became the idol of the public; suddenly she was transplanted into a sphere of society, where, as long as she could administer excitement to fashionable inanity, she was worshipped. she carried into those circles all the freshness of her vigorous and poetical mind--all the unworn feelings of her young heart. so much genuine simplicity, such perfect innocence and modesty, allied to such rare powers, and to an habitual familiarity with the language of poetry and the delineation of passion, was not _there_ understood, or rather, was _mis_-understood--and no wonder! to the _blasé_ men, the vapid girls, and artificial women, who then surrounded her, her generous feelings, "when the bright soul broke forth on every side," appeared mere acting; they were indeed constrained to believe it such; for if for a moment they had deemed it all real, it must have forced on them comparisons by no means favourable to themselves. if, under these circumstances, her quick sensibility to pleasurable emotion of all kinds, and her ready sympathy with all the _external_ refinement, splendour, and luxury of aristocratic life, conspired for a moment to dazzle her imagination, she recovered herself immediately, and from first to last, her warm and strong affections, the moral texture of her character; the refinement, which was as native to her mind, "as fragrance to the rose," remained unimpaired. these--a rich dower--she is about to carry into the shades of domestic life. another land will be her future home. by another name shall fame speak of her, who was endeared to us as fanny kemble: and _she_, who with no steady hand pens this slight tribute to the virtues she loved, bids to that name--farewell! the false one.[ ] and give you, mix'd with western sentimentalism, some samples of the finest orientalism. lord byron. akbar, the most enlightened and renowned among the sovereigns of the east, reigned over all those vast territories, which extend from the indus to the ganges, and from the snowy mountains of the north to the kingdoms of guzerat and candeish on the south. after having subdued the factious omrahs, and the hereditary enemies of his family, and made tributary to his power most of the neighbouring kingdoms, there occurred a short period of profound peace. assisted by able ministers, akbar employed this interval in alleviating the miseries, which half a century of war and ravage had called down upon this beautiful but ever wretched country. commerce was relieved from the heavy imposts, which had hitherto clogged its progress; the revenues of the empire were improved and regulated; by a particular decree, the cultivators of the earth were exempted from serving in the imperial armies; and justice was every where impartially administered; tempered, however, with that extreme clemency, which in the early part of his reign, akbar carried to an excess almost injurious to his interests. india, so long exposed to the desolating inroads of invaders, and torn by internal factions, began, at length, to "wear her plumed and jewelled turban with a smile of peace;" and all the various nations united under his sway--the warlike afghans, the proud moguls, the gentle-spirited hindoos, with one voice blessed the wise and humane government of the son of baber, and unanimously bestowed upon him the titles of akbar, or the great, and juggut grow, or guardian of mankind. meantime the happiness, which he had diffused among millions, seemed to have fled from the bosom of the sovereign. cares far different from those of war, deeper than those of love, (for the love of eastern monarchs is seldom shadowed by anxiety,) possessed his thoughtful soul. he had been brought up in the strictest forms of the mohammedan religion, and he meditated upon the text, which enjoins the extermination of all who rejected his prophet, till his conscience became like a troubled lake. he reflected that in his vast dominions there were at least fifteen different religions, which were subdivided into about three hundred and fifty sects: to extirpate thousands and tens of thousands of his unoffending subjects, and pile up pyramids of human heads in honour of god and his prophet, as his predecessors had done before him, was, to his mild nature, not only abhorrent, but impossible. yet as his power had never met with any obstacle, which force or address had not subdued before him, the idea of bringing this vast multitude to agree in one system of belief and worship appeared to him not utterly hopeless. he consulted, after long reflection, his favourite and secretary, abul fazil, the celebrated historian, of whom it was proverbially said, that "the monarchs of the east feared more the pen of abul fazil than the sword of akbar." the acute mind of that great man saw instantly the wild impracticability of such a scheme; but willing to prove it to his master without absolutely contradicting his favourite scheme, he proposed, as a preparatory step, that the names of the various sects of religion known to exist in the sultan's dominions should be registered, and the tenets of their belief contained in their books of law, or promulgated by their priests, should be reviewed and compared; thence it would appear how far it was possible to reconcile them one with another. this suggestion pleased the great king: and there went forth a decree from the imperial throne, commanding that all the religions and sects of religion to be found within the boundaries of the empire should send deputies, on a certain day, to the sultan, to deliver up their books of law, to declare openly the doctrines of their faith, and be registered by name in a volume kept for this purpose--whether they were followers of jesus, of moses, or of mohammed; whether they worshipped god in the sun, in the fire, in the image, or in the stream; by written law or traditional practice: true believer or pagan infidel, none were excepted. the imperial mandate was couched in such absolute, as well as alluring terms, that it became as impossible as impolitic to evade it; it was therefore the interest of every particular sect, to represent in the most favourable light the mode of faith professed by each. some thought to gain favour by the magnificence of their gifts; others, by the splendour of their processions. some rested their hopes on the wisdom and venerable appearance of the deputies they selected to represent them; and others, (they were but few,) strong in their faith and spiritual pride, deemed all such aids unnecessary, and trusted in the truth of the doctrines they professed, which they only waited an opportunity to assert, secure that they needed only to be heard, to convert all who had ears to hear. on the appointed day, an immense multitude had assembled from all the quarters of the empire, and pressed through the gates and streets of agra, then the capital and residence of the monarch. the principal durbar, or largest audience-court of the palace, was thrown open on this occasion. at the upper end was placed the throne of akbar. it was a raised platform, from which sprung twelve twisted pillars of massy gold, all radiant with innumerable gems, supporting the golden canopy, over which waved the white umbrella, the insignia of power; the cushions upon which the emperor reclined, were of cloth of gold, incrusted with rubies and emeralds; six pages, of exquisite beauty, bearing fans of peacocks' feathers, were alone permitted to approach within the silver balustrade, which surrounded the seat of power. on one side stood the vizir chan azim, bold and erect of look, as became a warrior, and abul fazil, with his tablets in his hand, and his eyes modestly cast down: next to him stood dominico cuença, the portuguese missionary, and two friars of his order, who had come from goa by the express command of the sultan; on the other side, the muftis and doctors of the law. around were the great omrahs, the generals, governors, tributary princes, and ambassadors. the ground was spread with persian carpets of a thousand tints, sprinkled with rose-water, and softer beneath the feet than the velvety durva grass; and clouds of incense, ambergris, and myrrh, filled the air. the gorgeous trappings of eastern splendour, the waving of standards, the glittering of warlike weapons, the sparkling of jewelled robes, formed a scene, almost sublime in its prodigal and lavish magnificence, such as only an oriental court could show. seven days did the royal akbar receive and entertain the religious deputies: every day a hundred thousand strangers feasted at his expense; and every night the gifts he had received during the day, or the value of them, were distributed in alms to the vast multitude, without any regard to difference of belief. seven days did the royal akbar sit on his musnud, and listen graciously to all who appeared before him. many were the words spoken, and marvellous was the wisdom uttered; sublime were the doctrines professed, and pure the morality they enjoined: but the more the royal akbar heard, the more was his great mind perplexed; the last who spoke seemed ever in the right, till the next who appeared turned all to doubt again. he was amazed, and said within himself, like the judge of old, "_what is truth?_" it was observed, that the many dissenting or heterodox sects of the mohammedan religion excited infinitely more indignation among the orthodox muftis, than the worst among the pagan idolaters. their hearts burned within them through impatience and wrath, and they would almost have died on the spot for the privilege of confuting those blasphemers, who rejected abu becker; who maintained, with abu zail, that blue was holier than green; or with mozar, that a sinner was worse than an infidel; or believed with the morgians, that in paradise god is beheld only with the eyes of our understanding; or with the kharejites, that a prince who abuses his power may be deposed without sin. but the sultan had forbidden all argument in his presence, and they were constrained to keep silence, though it was pain and grief to them. the seiks from lahore, then a new sect, and since a powerful nation, with their light olive complexions, their rich robes and turbans all of blue, their noble features and free undaunted deportment, struck the whole assembly with respect, and were received with peculiar favour by the sultan. so also were the ala-ilahiyahs, whose doctrines are a strange compound of the christian, the mohammedan, and the pagan creeds; but the sactas, or epicureans of india, met with a far different reception. this sect, which in secret professed the most profane and detestable opinions, endeavoured to obtain favour by the splendid offerings they laid at the foot of the throne, and the graceful and seducing eloquence of their principal speaker. it was, however, in vain, that he threw over the tenets of his religion, as publicly acknowledged, the flimsy disguise of rhetoric and poetry; that he endeavoured to prove, that all happiness consisted in enjoying the world's goods, and all virtue in mere abstaining from evil; that death is an eternal sleep; and therefore to reject the pleasures of this life, in any shape, the extreme of folly; while at every pause of his oration, voices of the sweetest melody chorussed the famous burden: "may the hand never shake which gather'd the grapes! may the foot never slip which press'd them!" akbar commanded the sactas from his presence, amid the murmurs and execrations of all parties: and though they were protected for the present by the royal passport, they were subsequently banished beyond the frontiers of cashmere. the fire-worshippers, from guzerat, presented the books of their famous teacher, zoroaster; to them succeeded the jainas, the buddhists, and many more, innumerable as the leaves upon the banyan tree--countless as the stars at midnight. last of all came the deputies of the brahmans. on their approach there was a hushed silence, and then arose a suppressed murmur of amazement, curiosity, and admiration. it is well known with what impenetrable secrecy the brahmans guard the peculiar mysteries of their religion. in the reigns of akbar's predecessors, and during the first invasions of the moguls, many had suffered martyrdom in the most horrid forms, rather than suffer their sanctuaries to be violated, or disclose the contents of their vedas or sacred books. loss of caste, excommunication in this world, and eternal perdition in the next, were the punishments awarded to those, who should break this fundamental law of the brahminical faith. the mystery was at length to be unveiled; the doubts and conjectures, to which this pertinacious concealment gave rise, were now to be ended for ever. the learned doctors and muftis bent forward with an attentive and eager look--abul fazil raised his small, bright, piercing eyes, while a smile of dubious import passed over his countenance--the portuguese monk threw back his cowl, and the calm and scornful expression of his fine features changed to one of awakened curiosity and interest: even akbar raised himself from his jewelled couch as the deputies of the brahmans approached. a single delegate had been chosen from the twelve principal temples and seats of learning, and they were attended by forty aged men, selected from the three inferior castes, to represent the mass of the indian population--warriors, merchants, and husbandmen. at the head of this majestic procession was the brahman sarma, the high priest, and principal _gooroo_ or teacher of theology at benares. this singular and venerable man had passed several years of his life in the court of the sultan baber; and the dignity and austerity, that became his age and high functions, were blended with a certain grace and ease in his deportment, which distinguished him above the rest. when the sage sarma had pronounced the usual benediction, "may the king be victorious!" akbar inclined his head with reverence. "wise and virtuous brahmans!" he said, "our court derives honour from your illustrious presence. next to the true faith taught by our holy prophet, the doctrines of brahma must exceed all others in wisdom and purity, even as the priests of brahma excel in virtue and knowledge the wisest of the earth: disclose, therefore, your sacred sastras, that we may inhale from them, as from the roses of paradise, the precious fragrance of truth and of knowledge!" the brahman replied, in the soft and musical tones of his people, "o king of the world! we are not come before the throne of power to betray the faith of our fathers, but to die for it, if such be the will of the sultan!" saying these words, he and his companions prostrated themselves upon the earth, and, taking off their turbans, flung them down before them: then, while the rest continued with their foreheads bowed to the ground, sarma arose, and stood upright before the throne. no words can describe the amazement of akbar. he shrunk back and struck his hands together; then he frowned, and twisted his small and beautifully curled mustachios:--"the sons of brahma mock us!" said he at length; "is it thus our imperial decrees are obeyed?" "the laws of our faith are immutable," replied the old man, calmly, "and the contents of the vedas were pre-ordained from the beginning of time to be revealed to the twice-born alone. it is sufficient, that therein are to be found the essence of all wisdom, the principles of all virtue, and the means of acquiring immortality." "doubtless, the sons of brahma are pre-eminently wise," said akbar, sarcastically; "but are the followers of the prophet accounted as fools in their eyes? the sons of brahma are excellently virtuous, but are all the rest of mankind vicious? has the most high god confined the knowledge of his attributes to the brahmans alone, and hidden his face from the rest of his creatures? where, then, is his justice? where his all-embracing mercy?" the brahman, folding his arms, replied: "it is written, heaven is a palace with many doors, and every man shall enter by his own way. it is not given to mortals to examine or arraign the decrees of the deity, but to hear and to obey. let the will of the sultan be accomplished in all things else. in this let the god of all the earth judge between the king and his servants." "now, by the head of our prophet! shall we be braved on our throne by these insolent and contumacious priests? tortures shall force the seal from those lips!" "not so!" said the old brahman, drawing himself up with a look of inexpressible dignity. "it is in the power of the great king to deal with his slaves as seemeth good to him; but fortitude is the courage of the weak; and the twice-born sons of brahma can suffer more in the cause of truth, than even the wrath of akbar can inflict." at these words, which expressed at once submission and defiance, a general murmur arose in the assembly. the dense crowd became agitated as the waves of the ganges just before the rising of the hurricane. some opened their eyes wide with amazement at such audacity, some frowned with indignation, some looked on with contempt, others with pity. all awaited in fearful expectation, till the fury of the sultan should burst forth and consume these presumptuous offenders. but akbar remained silent, and for some time played with the hilt of his poniard, half unsheathing it, and then forcing it back with an angry gesture. at length he motioned to his secretary to approach; and abul fazil, kneeling upon the silver steps of the throne, received the sultan's commands. after a conference of some length, inaudible to the attendants around, abul fazil came forward, and announced the will of the sultan, that the durbar should be presently broken up. the deputies were severally dismissed with rich presents; all, except the brahmans, who were commanded to remain in the quarter assigned to them during the royal pleasure; and a strong guard was placed over them. meantime akbar withdrew to the private apartments of his palace, where he remained for three days inaccessible to all, except his secretary abul fazil, and the christian monk. on the fourth day he sent for the high priest of benares, and successively for the rest of the brahmans, his companions; but it was in vain he tried threats and temptations, and all his arts of argument and persuasion. they remained calmly and passively immoveable. the sultan at length pardoned and dismissed them with many expressions of courtesy and admiration. the brahman sarma was distinguished among the rest by gifts of peculiar value and magnificence, and to him akbar made a voluntary promise, that, during his reign, the cruel tax, called the kerea, which had hitherto been levied upon the poor indians whenever they met to celebrate any of their religious festivals, should be abolished. but all these professions were hollow and insidious. akbar was not a character to be thus baffled; and assisted by the wily wit of abul fazil, and the bold intriguing monk, he had devised a secret and subtle expedient, which should at once gratify his curiosity, and avenge his insulted power. abul fazil had an only brother, many years younger than himself, whom he had adopted as his son, and loved with extreme tenderness. he had intended him to tread, like himself, the intricate path of state policy; and with this view he had been carefully educated in all the learning of the east, and had made the most astonishing progress in every branch of science. though scarcely past his boyhood, he had already been initiated into the intrigues of the court; above all, he had been brought up in sentiments of the most profound veneration and submission for the monarch he was destined to serve. in some respects faizi resembled his brother: he possessed the same versatility of talents, the same acuteness of mind, the same predilection for literary and sedentary pursuits, the same insinuating melody of voice and fluent grace of speech; but his ambition was of a nobler cast, and though his moral perceptions had been somewhat blunted by a too early acquaintance with court diplomacy, and an effeminate, though learned education, his mind and talents were decidedly of a higher order. he also excelled abul fazil in the graces of his person, having inherited from his mother (a hindoo slave of surpassing loveliness) a figure of exquisite grace and symmetry, and features of most faultless and noble beauty. thus fitted by nature and prepared by art for the part he was to perform, this youth was secretly sent to allahabad, where the deputies of the brahmans rested for some days on their return to the sacred city. here abul fazil, with great appearance of mystery and circumspection, introduced himself to the chief priest, sarma, and presented to him his youthful brother as the orphan son of the brahman mitra, a celebrated teacher of astronomy in the court of the late sultan. abul fazil had artfully prepared such documents, as left no doubt of the truth of his story. his pupil in treachery played his part to admiration, and the deception was complete and successful. "it was the will of the great king," said the wily abul fazil, "that this fair youth should be brought up in his palace, and converted to the moslem faith; but, bound by my vows to a dying friend, i have for fourteen years eluded the command of the sultan, and in placing him under thy protection, o most venerable sarma! i have at length discharged my conscience, and fulfilled the last wishes of the brahman mitra. peace be with him! if it seem good in thy sight, let this remain for ever a secret between me and thee. i have successfully thrown dust in the eyes of the sultan, and caused it to be reported, that the youth is dead of a sudden and grievous disease. should he discover, that he has been deceived by his slave; should the truth reach his mighty ears, the head of abul fazil would assuredly pay the forfeit of his disobedience." the old brahman replied with many expressions of gratitude and inviolable discretion; and, wholly unsuspicious of the cruel artifice, received the youth with joy. he carried him to benares, where some months afterwards he publicly adopted him as his son, and gave him the name of govinda, "the beloved," one of the titles under which the indian women adore their beautiful and favourite idol, the god crishna. govinda, so we must now call him, was set to study the sacred language, and the theology of the brahmans as it is revealed in their vedas and sastras. in both he made quick and extraordinary progress; and his singular talents did not more endear him to his preceptor, than his docility, and the pensive, and even melancholy sweetness of his temper and manner. his new duties were not unpleasing or unsuited to one of his indolent and contemplative temper. he possibly felt, at first, a holy horror at the pagan sacrifices, in which he was obliged to assist, and some reluctance to feeding consecrated cows, gathering flowers, cooking rice, and drawing water for offerings and libations: but by degrees he reconciled his conscience to these occupations, and became attached to his gooroo, and interested in his philosophical studies. he would have been happy, in short, but for certain uneasy sensations of fear and self-reproach, which he vainly endeavoured to forget or to reason down. abul fazil, who dreaded not his indiscretion or his treachery, but his natural sense of rectitude, which had yielded reluctantly, even to the command of akbar, maintained a constant intercourse with him by means of an intelligent mute, who, hovering in the vicinity of benares, sometimes in the disguise of a fisherman, sometimes as a coolie, was a continual spy upon all his movements; and once in every month, when the moon was in her dark quarter, govinda met him secretly, and exchanged communications with his brother. the brahman sarma was rich; he was proud of his high caste, his spiritual office, and his learning; he was of the tribe of narayna, which for a thousand years had filled the offices of priesthood, without descending to any meaner occupation, or mingling blood with any inferior caste. he maintained habitually a cold, austere, and dignified calmness of demeanour; and flattered himself, that he had attained that state of perfect indifference to all worldly things, which, according to the brahminical philosophy, is the highest point of human virtue; but, though simple, grave, and austere in his personal habits, he lived with a splendour becoming his reputation, his high rank, and vast possessions. he exercised an almost princely hospitality; a hundred mendicants were fed morning and evening at his gates. he founded and supported colleges of learning for the poorer brahmans, and had numerous pupils, who had come from all parts of india to study under his direction. these were lodged in separate buildings. only govinda, as the adopted son of sarma, dwelt under the same roof with his gooroo, a privilege which had unconsciously become most precious to his heart: it removed him from the constrained companionship of those he secretly despised, and it placed him in delicious and familiar intercourse with one, who had become too dearly and fatally beloved. the brahman had an only child, the daughter of his old age. she had been named, at her birth, priyamvada; (or _softly speaking_;) but her companions called her amrà, the name of a graceful tree bearing blossoms of peculiar beauty and fragrance, with which the camdeo (indian cupid) is said to tip his arrows. amrà was but a child when govinda first entered the dwelling of his preceptor; but as time passed on, she expanded beneath his eye into beauty and maturity, like the lovely and odoriferous flower, the name of which she bore. the hindoo women of superior rank and unmixed caste are in general of diminutive size; and accordingly the lovely and high-born amrà was formed upon the least possible scale of female beauty: but her figure, though so exquisitely delicate, had all the flowing outline and rounded proportions of complete womanhood. her features were perfectly regular, and of almost infantine minuteness, except her eyes: those soft oriental eyes, not sparkling, or often animated, but large, dark, and lustrous; as if in their calm depth of expression slept unawakened passions, like the bright deity heri reposing upon the coiled serpent. her eyebrows were finely arched, and most delicately pencilled; her complexion, of a pale and transparent olive, was on the slightest emotion suffused with a tint, which resembled that of the crimson water-lily as seen through the tremulous wave; her lips were like the buds of the camàlata, and unclosed to display a row of teeth like seed-pearl of manar. but one of her principal charms, because peculiar and unequalled, was the beauty and redundance of her hair, which in colour and texture resembled black floss silk, and, when released from confinement, flowed downwards over her whole person like a veil, and swept the ground. such was amrà: nor let it be supposed, that so perfect a form was allied to a merely passive and childish mind. it is on record, that, until the invasion of hindostan by the barbarous moguls, the indian women enjoyed comparative freedom: it is only since the occupation of the country by the europeans, that they have been kept in entire seclusion. a plurality of wives was discouraged by their laws; and, among some of the tribes of brahmans, it was even forbidden. at the period of our story, that is, in the reign of akbar, the indian women, and more particularly the brahminees, enjoyed much liberty. they were well educated, and some of them, extraordinary as it may seem, distinguished themselves in war and government. the indian queen durgetti, whose history forms a conspicuous and interesting episode in the life of akbar, defended her kingdom for ten years against one of his most valiant generals. mounted upon an elephant of war, she led her armies in person; fought several pitched battles; and being at length defeated in a decisive engagement, she stabbed herself on the field, rather than submit to her barbarous conqueror. nor was this a solitary instance of female heroism and mental energy: and the effect of this freedom, and the respect with which they were treated, appeared in the morals and manners of the women. the gentle daughter of sarma was not indeed fitted by nature either to lead or to govern, and certainly had never dreamed of doing either. her figure, gestures, and movements, had that softness at once alluring and retiring, that indolent grace, that languid repose, common to the women of tropical regions. "all her affections like the dews on roses, fair as the flowers themselves; as soft, as gentle." her spirit, in its "mildness, sweetness, blessedness," seemed as flexible and unresisting as the tender vasanta creeper. she had indeed been educated in all the exclusive pride of her caste, and taught to regard all who were not of the privileged race of brahma as _frangi_ (or impure;) but this principle, though so early instilled into her mind as to have become a part of her nature, was rather passive than active; it had never been called forth. she had never been brought into contact with those, whose very look she would have considered as pollution; for she had no intercourse but with those of her own nation, and watchful and sustaining love were all around her. her learned accomplishments extended no farther than to read and write the hindostanee tongue. to tend and water her flowers, to feed her birds, which inhabited a gaily gilded aviary in her garden, to string pearls, to embroider muslin, were her employments; to pay visits and receive them, to lie upon cushions, and be fanned asleep by her maids, or listen to the endless tales of her old nurse, gautami, whose memory was a vast treasure of traditional wonders--these were her amusements. that there were graver occupations, and dearer pleasures, proper to her sex, she knew; but thought not of them, till the young govinda came to disturb the peace of her innocent bosom. she had been told to regard him as a brother; and, as she had never known a brother, she believed, that, in lavishing upon him all the glowing tenderness of her young heart, she was but obeying her father's commands. if her bosom fluttered when she heard his footsteps; if she trembled upon the tones of his voice; if, while he was occupied in the services of the temple, she sat in her veranda awaiting his return, and, the moment he appeared through the embowering acacias, a secret and unaccountable feeling made her breathe quick, and rise in haste and retire to her inner apartments, till he approached to pay the salutations due to the daughter of his preceptor; what was it, what _could_ it be, but the tender solicitude of a sister for a new-found brother? but govinda himself was not so entirely deceived. his boyhood had been passed in a luxurious court, and among the women and slaves of his brother's harem; and though so young, he was not wholly inexperienced in a passion, which is the too early growth of an eastern heart. he knew why he languished in the presence of his beautiful sister; he could tell why the dark splendour of amrà's eyes pierced his soul like the winged flames shot into a besieged city. he could guess, too, why those eyes kindled with a softer fire beneath his glance: but the love he felt was so chastened by the awe which her serene purity, and the dignity of her sweet and feminine bearing shed around her; so hallowed by the nominal relationship in which they stood; so different, in short, from any thing he had ever felt, or seen, or heard of, that, abandoned to all the sweet and dream-like enchantment of a boyish passion, govinda was scarcely conscious of the wishes of his own heart, until accident in the same moment disclosed his secret aspirations to himself, and bade him for ever despair of their accomplishment. on the last day of the dark half of the moon, it was the custom of the wise and venerable sarma to bathe at sunset in the ganges, and afterwards retire to private meditation upon the thousand names of god, by the repetition of which, as it is written, a man insures to himself everlasting felicity. but while sarma was thus absorbed in holy abstraction, where were govinda and amrà? in a spot fairer than the poet's creative pencil ever wrought into a picture for fancy to dwell on--where, at the extremity of the brahman's garden, the broad and beautiful stream that bounded it ran swiftly to mingle its waves with those of the thrice-holy ganges; where mangoes raised their huge twisted roots in a thousand fantastic forms, while from their boughs hung suspended the nests of the little baya birds, which waved to and fro in the evening breeze--there had amrà and govinda met together, it might be, without design. the sun had set, the cistus flowers began to fall, and the rich blossoms of the night-loving nilica diffused their rich odour. the peyoo awoke to warble forth his song, and the fire-flies were just visible, as they flitted under the shade of the champac trees. upon a bank, covered with that soft and beautiful grass, which, whenever it is pressed or trodden on, yields a delicious perfume, were amrà and govinda seated side by side. two of her attendants, at some little distance, were occupied in twining wreaths of flowers. amrà had a basket at her feet, in which were two small vessels of porcelain. one contained cakes of rice, honey, and clarified butter, kneaded by her own hand; in the other were mangoes, rose-apples, and musk-melons; and garlands of the holy palàsa blossoms, sacred to the dead, were flung around the whole. this was the votive offering, which amrà had prepared for the tomb of her mother, who was buried in the garden. and now, with her elbow resting on her knee, and her soft cheek leaning on her hand, she sat gazing up at the sky, where the stars came flashing forth one by one; and she watched the auspicious moment for offering her pious oblation. but govinda looked neither on the earth, nor on the sky. what to him were the stars, or the flowers, or the moon rising in dewy splendour? his eyes were fixed upon one, who was brighter to him than the stars, lovelier than the moon when she drives her antelopes through the heavens, sweeter than the night-flower which opens in her beam. "o amrà!" he said, at length, and while he spoke his voice trembled even at its own tenderness, "amrà! beautiful and beloved sister! thine eyes are filled with the glory of that sparkling firmament! the breath of the evening, which agitates the silky filaments of the seris, is as pleasant to thee as to me: but the beauty, which i see, thou canst not see; the power of deep joy, which thrills over my heart like the breeze over those floating lotuses--oh! _this_ thou canst not feel!--let me take away those pearls and gems scattered among thy radiant tresses, and replace them with these fragrant and golden clusters of champac flowers! if ever there were beauty, which could disdain the aid of ornament, is it not that of amrà? if ever there were purity, truth, and goodness, which could defy the powers of evil, are they not thine? o, then, let others braid their hair with pearls, and bind round their arms the demon-scaring amulet, my sister needs no spells to guard her innocence, and cannot wear a gem that does not hide a charm!" the blush, which the beginning of this passionate speech had called up to her cheek, was changed to a smile, as she looked down upon the mystic circle of gold, which bound her arm. "it is not a talisman," said she, softly; "it is the tali, the nuptial bracelet, which was bound upon my arm when i was married." "_married!_" the word rent away from the heart of govinda that veil, with which he had hitherto shrouded his secret hopes, fears, wishes, and affections. his mute agitation sent a trouble into her heart, she knew not why. she blushed quick-kindling blushes, and drooped her head. "married!" he said, after a breathless pause; "when? to whom? who is the possessor of a gem of such exceeding price, and yet forbears to claim it?" she replied, "to adhar, priest of indore, and the friend of sarma. i was married to him while yet an infant, after the manner of our tribe." then perceiving his increasing disturbance, she continued, hurriedly, and with downcast eyes:--"i have never seen him; he has long dwelt in the countries of the south, whither he was called on an important mission; but he will soon return to reside here in the sacred city of his fathers, and will leave it no more. why then should govinda be sad?" she laid her hand timidly upon his arm, and looked up in his face. govinda would fain have taken that beautiful little hand, and covered it with kisses and with tears; but he was restrained by a feeling of respect, which he could not himself comprehend. he feared to alarm her; he contented himself with fixing his eyes on the hand which rested on his arm; and he said, in a soft melancholy voice, "when adhar returns, govinda will be forgotten." "o never! never!" she exclaimed with sudden emotion, and lifting towards him eyes, that floated in tears. govinda bent down his head, and pressed his lips upon her hand. she withdrew it hastily, and rose from the ground. at that moment her nurse, gautami, approached them. "my child," said she, in a tone of reproof, "dost thou yet linger here, and the auspicious moment almost past? if thou delayest longer, evil demons will disturb and consume the pious oblation, and the dead will frown upon the abandoned altar. hasten, my daughter; take up the basket of offerings, and walk before us." amrà, trembling, leaned upon her maids, and prepared to obey; but when she had made a few steps, she turned back, as if to salute her brother, and repeated in a low emphatic tone the word "_never!_"--then turned away. govinda stood looking after the group, till the last wave of their white veils disappeared; and listened till the tinkling of their silver anklets could no longer be distinguished. then he started as from a dream: he tossed his arms above his head; he flung himself upon the earth in an agony of jealous fury; he gave way to all the pent-up passions, which had been for years accumulating in his heart. all at once he rose: he walked to and fro; he stopped. a hope had darted into his mind, even through the gloom of despair. "for what," thought he, "have i sold myself? for riches! for honour! for power! ah! what are they in such a moment? dust of the earth, toys, empty breath! for what is the word of the great king pledged to me? has he not sworn to refuse me nothing? all that is most precious between earth and heaven, from the mountain to the sea, lies at my choice! one word, and she is mine! and i hesitate? fool! she _shall_ be mine!" he looked up towards heaven, and marked the places of the stars. "it is the appointed hour," he muttered, and cautiously his eye glanced around, and he listened; but all was solitary and silent. he then stole along the path, which led through a thick grove of cadam trees, intermingled with the tall points of the cusa grass, that shielded him from all observation. he came at last to a little promontory, where the river we have mentioned threw itself into the ganges. he had not been there above a minute, when a low whistle, like the note of the chacora, was heard. a small boat rowed to the shore, and sahib stood before him. quick of eye and apprehension, the mute perceived instantly that something unusual had occurred. he pointed to the skiff; but govinda shook his head, and made signs for a light and the writing implements. they were quickly brought; and while sahib held the lamp, so that its light was invisible to the opposite shore, govinda wrote, in the peculiar cipher they had framed for that purpose, a few words to his brother, sufficiently intelligible in their import, though dictated by the impassioned and tumultuous feelings of the moment. when he had finished, he gave the letter to sahib, who concealed it carefully in the folds of his turban, and then, holding up the fingers of both hands thrice over, to intimate, that in thirty days he would bring the answer, he sprung into the boat, and was soon lost under the mighty shadow of the trees, which stretched their huge boughs over the stream. govinda slowly returned; but he saw amrà no more that night. they met the next day, and the next; but amrà was no longer the same: she was silent, pensive; and when pressed or rebuked, she became tearful and even sullen. she was always seen with her faithful gautami, upon whose arm she leaned droopingly, and hung her head like her own neglected flowers. govinda was almost distracted: in vain he watched for a moment to speak to amrà alone; the vigilant gautami seemed resolved, that they should never meet out of her sight. sometimes he would raise his eyes to her as she passed, with such a look of tender and sorrowful reproach, that amrà would turn away her face and weep: but still she spoke not: and never returned his respectful salutation farther than by inclining her head. the old brahman perceived this change in his beloved daughter; but not for some time: and it is probable, that, being absorbed in his spiritual office and sublime speculations, he would have had neither leisure nor penetration to discover the cause, if the suspicions of the careful gautami had not awakened his attention. she ventured to suggest the propriety of hastening the return of his daughter's betrothed husband; and the brahman, having taken her advice in this particular, rested satisfied; persuading himself, that the arrival of adhar would be a certain and all-sufficient remedy for the dreaded evil, which in his simplicity he had never contemplated, and could scarcely be made to comprehend. a month had thus passed away, and again that appointed day came round, on which govinda was wont to meet his brother's emissary: even on ordinary occasions he could never anticipate it without a thrill of anxiety,--now every feeling was wrought up to agony; yet it was necessary to control the slightest sign of impatience, and wear the same external guise of calm, subdued self-possession, though every vein was burning with the fever of suspense. it was the hour when sarma, having risen from his mid-day sleep, was accustomed to listen to govinda while he read some appointed text. accordingly govinda opened his book, and standing before his preceptor in an attitude of profound humility, he read thus: "garuna asked of the crow bushanda, 'what is the most excellent of natural forms? the highest good? the chief pain? the dearest pleasure? the greatest wickedness? the severest punishment? "and the crow bushanda answered him: 'in the three worlds, empyreal, terrestrial, and infernal, no form excels the human form. "'supreme felicity, on earth, is found in the conversation of a virtuous friend. "'the keenest pain is inflicted by extreme poverty. "'the worst of sins is uncharitableness; and to the uncharitable is awarded the severest punishment: for while the despisers of their spiritual guides shall live for a thousand centuries as frogs, and those who contemn the brahmans as ravens, and those who scorn other men as blinking bats, the uncharitable alone shall be condemned to the profoundest hell, and their punishment shall last for ever.'"[ ] govinda closed his book; and the old brahman was proceeding to make an elaborate comment on this venerable text, when, looking up in the face of his pupil, he perceived that he was pale, abstracted, and apparently unconscious that he was speaking. he stopped: he was about to rebuke him, but he restrained himself; and after reflecting for a few moments, he commanded the youth to prepare for the evening sacrifice: but first he desired him to summon amrà to her father's presence. at this unusual command govinda almost started. he deposited the sacred leaves in his bosom, and, with a beating heart and trembling steps, prepared to obey. when he reached the door of the zenana, he gently lifted the silken curtain which divided the apartments, and stood for a few moments contemplating, with silent and sad delight, the group that met his view. amrà was reclining upon cushions, and looking wan as a star that fades away before the dawn. her head drooped upon her bosom, her hair hung neglected upon her shoulders: yet was she lovely still; and govinda, while he gazed, remembered the words of the poet calidas: "the water-lily, though dark moss may settle on its head, is nevertheless beautiful; and the moon, with dewy beams, is rendered yet brighter by its dark spots." she was clasping round her delicate wrist a bracelet of gems; and when she observed, that ever as she placed it on her attenuated arm it fell again upon her hand, she shook her head and smiled mournfully. two of her maids sat at her feet, occupied in their embroidery; and old gautami, at her side, was relating, in a slow, monotonous recitative, one of her thousand tales of wonder, to divert the melancholy of her young mistress. she told how the demi-god rama was forced to flee from the demons who had usurped his throne, and how his beautiful and faithful seita wandered over the whole earth in search of her consort; and, being at length overcome with grief and fatigue, she sat down in the pathless wilderness and wept; and how there arose from the spot, where her tears sank warm into the earth, a fountain of boiling water of exquisite clearness and wondrous virtues; and how maidens, who make a pilgrimage to this sacred well and dip their veils into its wave with pure devotion, ensure themselves the utmost felicity in marriage: thus the story ran. amrà, who appeared at first abstracted and inattentive, began to be affected by the misfortunes and the love of the beautiful seita; and at the mention of the fountain and its virtues, she lifted her eyes with an expression of eager interest, and met those of govinda fixed upon her. she uttered a faint cry, and threw herself into the arms of gautami. he hastened to deliver the commands of his preceptor, and then amrà, recovering her self-possession, threw her veil round her, arose, and followed him to her father's presence. as they drew near together, the old man looked from one to the other. perhaps his heart, though dead to all human passions, felt at that moment a touch of pity for the youthful, lovely, and loving pair who stood before him; but his look was calm, cold, and serene, as usual. "draw near, my son," he said; "and thou, my beloved daughter, approach, and listen to the will of your father. the time is come, when we must make ready all things for the arrival of the wise and honoured adhar. my daughter, let those pious ceremonies, with which virtuous women prepare themselves ere they enter the dwelling of their husband, be duly performed: and do thou, govinda, son of my choice, set my household in order, that all may be in readiness to receive with honour the bridegroom, who comes to claim his betrothed. to-morrow we will sacrifice to ganesa, who is the guardian of travellers: this night must be given to penance and holy meditation. amrà, retire: and thou, govinda, take up that fagot of tulsi-wood, with the rice and the flowers for the evening oblation, and follow me to the temple." so saying, the old man turned away hastily; and without looking back, pursued his path through the sacred grove. alas for those he had left behind! govinda remained silent and motionless. amrà would have obeyed her father, but her limbs refused their office. she trembled--she was sinking: she timidly looked up to govinda as if for support; his arms were extended to receive her: she fell upon his neck, and wept unrestrained tears. he held her to his bosom as though he would have folded her into his inmost heart, and hidden her there for ever. he murmured passionate words of transport and fondness in her ear. he drew aside her veil from her pale brow, and ventured to print a kiss upon her closed eyelids. "to-night," he whispered, "in the grove of mangoes by the river's bank!" she answered only by a mute caress; and then supporting her steps to her own apartments, he resigned her to the arms of her attendants, and hastened after his preceptor. he forgot, however, the materials for the evening sacrifice, and in consequence not only had to suffer a severe rebuke from the old priest, but the infliction of a penance extraordinary, which detained him in the presence of his preceptor till the night was far advanced. at length, however, sarma retired to holy meditation and mental abstraction, and govinda was dismissed. he had hitherto maintained, with habitual and determined self-command, that calm, subdued exterior, which becomes a pupil in the presence of his religious teacher; but no sooner had he crossed the threshold, and found himself alone breathing the free night-air of heaven, than the smothered passions burst forth. he paused for one instant, to anathematise in his soul the sastras and their contents, the gods and their temples, the priests and the sacrifices; the futile ceremonies and profitless suffering to which his life was abandoned, and the cruel policy to which he had been made an unwilling victim. then he thought of amrà, and all things connected with her changed their aspect. in another moment he was beneath the shadow of the mangoes on the river's brink. he looked round, amrà was not there: he listened, there was no sound. the grass bore marks of having been recently pressed, and still its perfume floated on the air. a few flowers were scattered round, fresh gathered, and glittering with dew. govinda wrung his hands in despair, and flung himself upon the bank, where a month before they had sat together. on the very spot where amrà had reclined, he perceived a lotos-leaf and a palàsa flower laid together. upon the lotos-leaf he could perceive written, with a thorn or some sharp point, the word amrÃ�; and the crimson palasa-buds were sacred to the dead. it was sufficient: he thrust the leaf and the flowers into his bosom; and, "swift as the sparkle of a glancing star," he flew along the path which led to the garden sepulchre. the mother of amrà had died in giving birth to her only child. she was young, beautiful, and virtuous; and had lived happily with her husband notwithstanding the disparity of age. the pride and stoicism of his caste would not allow him to betray any violence of grief, or show his affection for the dead, otherwise than by raising to her memory a beautiful tomb. it consisted of four light pillars, richly and grotesquely carved, supporting a pointed cupola, beneath which was an altar for oblations: the whole was overlaid with brilliant white stucco, and glittered through the gloom. a flight of steps led up to this edifice: upon the highest step, and at the foot of the altar, amrà was seated alone and weeping. love--o love! what have i to do with thee? how sinks the heart, how trembles the hand as it approaches the forbidden theme! of all the gifts the gods have sent upon the earth thou most precious--yet ever most fatal! as serpents dwell among the odorous boughs of the sandal-tree, and alligators in the thrice sacred waters of the ganges, so all that is sweetest, holiest, dearest upon earth, is mixed up with sin, and pain, and misery, and evil! thus hath it been ordained from the beginning; and the love that hath never mourned, is not love. how sweet, yet how terrible, were the moments that succeeded! while govinda, with fervid eloquence, poured out his whole soul at her feet, amrà alternately melted with tenderness, or shrunk with sensitive alarm. when he darkly intimated the irresistible power he possessed to overcome all obstacles to their union--when he spoke with certainty of the time when she should be his, spite of the world and men--when he described the glorious height to which his love would elevate her--the delights and the treasures he would lavish around her, she, indeed, understood not his words; yet, with all a woman's trusting faith in him she loves, she hung upon his accents--listened and believed. the high and passionate energy, with which his spirit, so long pent up and crushed within him, now revealed itself; the consciousness of his own power, the knowledge that he was beloved, lent such a new and strange expression to his whole aspect, and touched his fine form and features with such a proud and sparkling beauty, that amrà looked up at him with a mixture of astonishment, admiration, and deep love, not wholly unmingled with fear; almost believing, that she gazed upon some more than mortal lover, upon one of those bright genii, who inhabit the lower heaven, and have been known in the old time to leave their celestial haunts for love of the earth-born daughters of beauty. amrà did not speak, but govinda felt his power. he saw his advantage, and, with the instinctive subtlety of his sex, he pursued it. he sighed, he wept, he implored, he upbraided. amrà, overpowered by his emotion and her own, had turned away her head, and embraced one of the pillars of her mother's tomb, as if for protection. in accents of the most plaintive tenderness she entreated him to leave her--to spare her--and even while she spoke her arm relaxed its hold, and she was yielding to the gentle force with which he endeavoured to draw her away; when at this moment, so dangerous to both, a startling sound was heard--a rustling among the bushes, and then a soft, low whistle. govinda started up at that well-known signal, and saw the head of the mute appearing just above the altar. his turban being green, was undistinguishable against the leafy back-ground; and his small black eyes glanced and glittered like those of a snake. govinda would willingly have annihilated him at that moment. he made a gesture of angry impatience, and motioned him to retire; but sahib stood still, shook his hand with a threatening expression, and made signs, that he must instantly follow him. amrà, meantime, who had neither seen nor heard any thing, began to suspect, that govinda was communing with some invisible spirit; she clung to him in terror, and endeavoured to recall his attention to herself by the most tender and soothing words and caresses. after some time he succeeded in calming her fears; and with a thousand promises of quick return, he at length tore himself away, and followed through the thicket the form of sahib, who glided like a shadow before him. when they reached the accustomed spot, the mute leapt into the canoe, which he had made fast to the root of a mango-tree, and motioning govinda to follow him, he pushed from the shore, and rowed rapidly till they reached a tall, bare rock near the centre of the stream, beneath the dark shadow of which sahib moored his little boat, out of the possible reach of human eye or ear. all had passed so quickly, that govinda felt like one in a dream; but now, awakening to a sense of his situation, he held out his hand for the expected letter from his brother, trembling to learn its import, upon which he felt that more than his life depended. sahib, meanwhile, did not appear in haste to obey. at length, after a pause of breathless suspense, govinda heard a low and well-remembered voice repeat an almost-forgotten name: "faizi!" it said. "o prophet of god! my brother!" and he was clasped in the arms of abul fazil. after the first transports of recognition had subsided, faizi (it is time to use his real name) sank from his brother's arms to his feet: he clasped his knees. "my brother!" he exclaimed, "what is now to be my fate? you have not lightly assumed this disguise, and braved the danger of discovery! you know all, and have come to save me--to bless me? is it not so?" abul fazil could not see his brother's uplifted countenance, flushed with the hectic of feverish impatience, or his imploring eyes, that floated in tears; but his tones were sufficiently expressive. "poor boy!" he said, compassionately, "i should have foreseen this. but calm these transports, my brother! nothing is denied to the sultan's power, and nothing will he deny thee." "he knows all, then?" "all--and by his command am i come. i had feared, that my brother had sold his vowed obedience for the smile of a dark-eyed girl--what shall i say?--i feared for his safety!" "o my brother! there is no cause!" "i know it--enough!--i have seen and heard!" faizi covered his face with his hands. "if the sultan----" "have no doubts," said abul fazil: "nothing is denied to the sultan's power, nothing will be denied to thee." "and the brahman adhar?" "it has been looked to--he will not trouble thee." "_dead?_ o merciful allah! crime upon crime!" "his life is cared for," said abul fazil, calmly: "ask no more." "it is sufficient. o my brother! o amrà!"-- "she is thine!--now hear the will of akbar." faizi bowed his head with submission. "speak!" he said; "the slave of akbar listens." "in three months from this time," continued abul fazil, "and on this appointed night, it will be dark, and the pagodas deserted. then, and not till then, will sahib be found at the accustomed spot. he will bring in the skiff a dress, which is the sultan's gift, and will be a sufficient disguise. on the left bank of the stream there shall be stationed an ample guard, with a close litter and a swift arabian. thou shalt mount the one, and in the other shall be placed this fair girl. then fly: having first flung her veil upon the river to beguile pursuit; the rest i leave to thine own quick wit. but let all be done with secrecy and subtlety; for the sultan, though he can refuse thee nothing, would not willingly commit an open wrong against a people he has lately conciliated; and the violation of a brahminee woman were enough to raise a province." "it shall not need," exclaimed the youth, clasping his hands: "she loves me! she shall live for me--only for me--while others weep her dead!" "it is well: now return we in silence, the night wears fast away." he took one of the oars, faizi seized the other, and with some difficulty they rowed up the stream, keeping close under the overshadowing banks. having reached the little promontory, they parted with a strict and mute embrace. faizi looked for a moment after his brother, then sprung forward to the spot where he had left amrà; but she was no longer there: apparently she had been recalled by her nurse to her own apartments, and did not again make her appearance. three months more completed the five years which had been allotted for govinda's brahminical studies; they passed but too rapidly away. during this time the brahman adhar did not arrive, nor was his name again uttered: and amrà, restored to health, was more than ever tender and beautiful, and more than ever beloved. the old brahman, who had hitherto maintained towards his pupil and adopted son a cold and distant demeanour, now relaxed from his accustomed austerity, and when he addressed him it was in a tone of mildness, and even tenderness. alas for govinda! every proof of this newly-awakened affection pierced his heart with unavailing remorse. he had lived long enough among the brahmans, to anticipate with terror the effects of his treachery, when once discovered; but he repelled such obtrusive images, and resolutely shut his eyes against a future, which he could neither control nor avert. he tried to persuade himself, that it was now too late; that the stoical indifference to all earthly evil, passion, and suffering, which the pundit sarma taught and practised, would sufficiently arm him against the double blow preparing for him. yet, as the hour approached, the fever of suspense consumed his heart. contrary passions distracted and bewildered him: his ideas of right and wrong became fearfully perplexed. he would have given the treasures of istakar to arrest the swift progress of time. he felt like one entangled in the wheels of some vast machine, and giddily and irresistibly whirled along he knew not how nor whither. at length the day arrived: the morning broke forth in all that splendour with which she descends upon "the indian steep." govinda prepared for the early sacrifice, the last he was to perform. in spite of the heaviness and confusion which reigned in his own mind, he could perceive that something unusual occupied the thoughts of his preceptor: some emotion of a pleasurable kind had smoothed the old man's brow. his voice was softened; and though his lips were compressed, almost a smile lighted up his eyes, when he turned them on govinda. the sacrifice was one of unusual pomp and solemnity, in honour of the goddess parvati, and lasted till the sun's decline. when they returned to the dwelling of sarma he dismissed his pupils from their learned exercises, desiring them to make that day a day of rest and recreation, as if it were the festival of sri, the goddess of learning, when books, pens, and paper, being honoured as her emblems, remain untouched, and her votaries enjoy a sabbath. when they were departed, the old brahman commanded govinda to seat himself on the ground opposite to him. this being the first time he had ever sat in the presence of his preceptor, the young man hesitated; but sarma motioned him to obey, and accordingly he sat down at a respectful distance, keeping his eyes reverently cast upon the ground. the old man then spoke these words: "it is now five years since the son of mitra entered my dwelling. he was then but a child, helpless, orphaned, ignorant of all true knowledge; expelled from the faith of his fathers and the privileges of his high caste. i took him to my heart with joy, i fed him, i clothed him, i opened his mind to truth, i poured into his soul the light of knowledge: he became to me a son. if in any thing i have omitted the duty of a father towards him, if ever i refused to him the wish of his heart or the desire of his eyes, let him now speak!" "o my father!"-- "no more," said the brahman, gently, "i am answered in that one word; but all that i have yet done seems as nothing in mine eyes: for the love i bear my son is wide as the wide earth, and my bounty shall be as the boundless firmament. know that i have read thy soul! start not! i have received letters from the south country. amrà is no longer the wife of adhar; for adhar has vowed himself to a life of penance and celibacy in the temple of indore, by order of an offended prince;--may he find peace! the writings of divorce are drawn up, and my daughter being already past the age when a prudent father hastens to marry his child, in order that the souls of the dead may be duly honoured by their posterity, i have sought for her a husband, such as a parent might desire; learned in the sciences, graced with every virtue; of unblemished life, of unmixed caste, and rich in the goods of this world." the brahman stopped short. faizi, breathing with difficulty, felt his blood pause at his heart. "my son!" continued the old man, "i have not coveted possessions or riches, but the gods have blessed me with prosperity; be they praised for their gifts! look around upon this fair dwelling, upon those fertile lands, which spread far and wide, a goodly prospect; and the herds that feed on them, and the bondsmen who cultivate them; with silver and gold, and garments, and rich stores heaped up, more than i can count--all these do i give thee freely: possess them! and with them i give thee a greater gift, and one that i well believe is richer and dearer in thine eyes--my daughter, my last and best treasure! thus do i resign all worldly cares, devoting myself henceforth solely to pious duties and religious meditation: for the few days he has to live, let the old man repose upon thy love! a little water, a little rice, a roof to shelter him, these thou shalt bestow--he asks no more." the brahman's voice faltered. he rose, and govinda stood up, trembling in every nerve. the old priest then laid his hand solemnly upon his bowed head and blessed him. "my son! to me far better than many sons, be thou blest as thou hast blessed me! the just gods requite thee with full measure all thou hast done! may the wife i bestow on thee bring to thy bosom all the felicity thou broughtest to me and mine, and thy last hours be calm and bright, as those thy love has prepared for me!" "ah, curse me not!" exclaimed govinda, with a cry of horror; for in the anguish of that moment he felt as if the bitter malediction, thus unconsciously pronounced, was already fulfilling. he flung himself upon the earth in an agony of self-humiliation; he crawled to the feet of his preceptor, he kissed them, he clasped his knees. in broken words he revealed himself, and confessed the treacherous artifice of which he was at once the instrument and the victim. the brahman stood motionless, scarcely comprehending the words spoken. at length he seemed to awaken to the sense of what he heard, and trembled from head to foot with an exceeding horror; but he uttered no word of reproach: and after a pause, he suddenly drew the sacrificial poniard from his girdle, and would have plunged it into his own bosom, if faizi had not arrested his arm, and without difficulty snatched the weapon from his shaking and powerless grasp. "if yet there be mercy for me," he exclaimed, "add not to my crimes this worst of all--make me not a sacrilegious murderer! here," he added, kneeling, and opening his bosom, "strike! satisfy at once a just vengeance, and end all fears in the blood of an abhorred betrayer! strike, ere it be too late!" the old man twice raised his hand, but it was without strength. he dropped the knife, and folding his arms, and sinking his head upon his bosom, he remained silent. "o yet!" exclaimed faizi, lifting with reverence the hem of his robe and pressing it to his lips, "if there remain a hope for me, tell me by what penance--terrible, prolonged, and unheard-of--i may expiate this sin; and hear me swear, that, henceforth, neither temptation, nor torture, nor death itself, shall force me to reveal the secrets of the brahmin faith, nor divulge the holy characters in which they are written: and if i break this vow, may i perish from off the earth like a dog!" the brahman clasped his hands, and turned his eyes for a moment on the imploring countenance of the youth, but averted them instantly with a shudder. "what have i to do with thee," he said, at length, "thou serpent! well is it written--'though the upas-tree were watered with nectar from heaven instead of dew, yet would it bear poison.' yet swear--" "i do--i will--" "never to behold my face again, nor utter with those guileful and polluted lips the name of my daughter." "my father!" "father!" repeated the old man, with a flash of indignation, but it was instantly subdued. "swear!" he repeated, "if vows can bind a thing so vile!" "my father, i embrace thy knees! not heaven itself can annul the past, and amrà is mine beyond the power of fate or vengeance to disunite us--but by death!" "hah!" said the brahman, stepping back, "it is then as i feared! and this is well too!"--he muttered; "heaven required a victim!" he moved slowly to the door, and called his daughter with a loud voice: amrà heard and trembled in the recesses of her apartments. the voice was her father's, but the tones of that voice made her soul sicken with fear; and, drawing her drapery round to conceal that alteration in her lovely form which was but too apparent, she came forth with faltering steps. "approach!" said the brahman, fixing his eyes upon her, while those of faizi, after the first eager glance, remained rivetted to the earth. she drew near with affright, and gazed wildly from one to the other. "ay! look well upon him! whom dost thou behold?" "my father!--ah! spare me!" "is he your husband?" "govinda! alas!--speak for us!"-- "fool!"--he grasped her supplicating hands,--"say but the word--are you a wife?" "i am! i am! _his_, before the face of heaven!" "no!"--he dropped her hands, and spoke in a rapid and broken voice: "no! heaven disclaims the monstrous mixture! hell itself rejects it! had he been the meanest among the sons of brahma, i had borne it: but an infidel, a base-born moslem, has contaminated the stream of my life! accursed was the hour when he came beneath my roof, like a treacherous fox and a ravening wolf, to betray and to destroy! accursed was the hour, which mingled the blood of narayna with that of the son of a slave-girl! shall i live to look upon a race of outcasts, abhorred on earth and excommunicate from heaven, and say, 'these are the offspring of sarma?' miserable girl! thou wert preordained a sacrifice! die! and thine infamy perish with thee!" even while he spoke he snatched up the poniard which lay at his feet, but this he needed not--the blow was already struck home, and to her very heart. before the vengeful steel could reach her, she fell, without a cry--a groan--senseless, and, as it seemed, lifeless, upon the earth. faizi, almost with a shriek, sprang forward; but the old man interposed: and, with the strong grasp of supernatural strength--the strength of despair--held him back. meantime the women, alarmed by his cries, rushed wildly in, and bore away in their arms the insensible form of amrà. faizi strove to follow; but, at a sign from the brahman, the door was quickly closed and fastened within, so that it resisted all his efforts to force it. he turned almost fiercely--"she will yet live!" he passionately exclaimed; and the brahman replied, calmly and disdainfully, "if she be the daughter of sarma, she will die!" then rending his garments, and tearing off his turban, he sat down upon the sacrificial hearth; and taking up dust and ashes, scattered them on his bare head and flowing beard: he then remained motionless, with his chin upon his bosom, and his arms crossed upon his knees. in vain did faizi kneel before him, and weep, and supplicate for one word, one look: he was apparently lost to all consciousness, rigid, torpid; and, but that he breathed, and that there was at times a convulsive movement in his eyelids, it might have been thought, that life itself was suspended, or had altogether ceased. thus did this long and most miserable day wear away, and night came on. faizi--who had spent the hours in walking to and fro like a troubled demon, now listening at the door of the zenana, from which no sound proceeded, now endeavouring in vain to win, by the most earnest entreaties, some sign of life or recognition from the old man--could no longer endure the horror of his own sensations. he stepped into the open air, and leaned his head against the porch. the breeze, which blew freshly against his parched lips and throbbing temples, revived his faculties. after a few moments he thought he could distinguish voices, and the trampling of men and horses, borne on the night air. he raised his hands in ecstacy. again he bent his ear to listen: he heard the splash of an oar. "they come!" he exclaimed, almost aloud, "one more plunge, and it is done! this hapless and distracted old man i will save from his own and other's fury, and still be to him a son, in his own despite. and, amrà! my own! my beautiful! my beloved! oh, how richly shall the future atone for these hours of anguish! in these arms the cruel pride and prejudices of thy race shall be forgotten. at thy feet i will pour the treasures of the world, and lift thee to joys beyond the brightest visions of youthful fancy! but--o merciful allah!"-- at the same moment a long, loud, and piercing shriek was heard from the women's apartments, followed by lamentable wailings. he made but one bound to the door. it resisted, but his despair was strong. he rushed against it with a force, that burst it from its hinges, and precipitated him into the midst of the chamber. it was empty and dark; so was the next, and the next. at last he reached the inner and most sacred apartment. he beheld the lifeless form of amrà extended on the ground. over her face was thrown an embroidered veil: her head rested on the lap of her nurse, whose features appeared rigid with horror. the rest of the women, who were weeping and wailing, covered their heads, and fled at his approach. faizi called upon the name of her he loved: he snatched the veil from that once lovely face--that face which had never been revealed to him but in tender and soul-beaming beauty. he looked, and fell senseless on the floor. the unhappy amrà, in recovering from her long swoon, had fallen into a stupor, which her attendants mistook for slumber, and left her for a short interval. she awoke, wretched girl! alone, she awoke to the sudden and maddening sense of her lost state, to all the pangs of outraged love, violated faith, shame, anguish, and despair. in a paroxysm of delirium, when none were near to soothe or to save, she had made her own luxuriant and beautiful tresses the instrument of her destruction, and choked herself by swallowing her hair. when the emissaries of the sultan entered this house of desolation, they found faizi still insensible at the side of her he had so loved. he was borne away before recollection returned, placed in the litter which had been prepared for amrà, and earned to ferrukabad, where the sultan was then hunting with his whole court. what became of the old brahman is not known. he passed away like a shadow from the earth, "and his place knew him not." whether he sought a voluntary death, or wore away his remaining years in secret penance, can only be conjectured, for all search was vain. eastern records tell, that faizi kept his promise sacred, and never revealed the mysteries intrusted to him. yet he retained the favour of akbar, by whose command he translated from the sanscrit tongue several poetical and historical works into the choicest persian. he became himself an illustrious poet; and, like other poets of greater fame, created "an immortality of his tears." he acquired the title of _sheich_, or "the learned," and rose to the highest civil offices of the empire. all outward renown, prosperity, and fame, were his; but there was, at least, retributive justice in his early and tragical death. towards the conclusion of akbar's reign, abul fazil was sent upon a secret mission into the deccan, and faizi accompanied him. the favour which these celebrated brothers enjoyed at court, their influence over the mind of the sultan, and their entire union, had long excited the jealousy of prince selim,[ ] the eldest son of akbar, and he had vowed their destruction. on their return from the south, with a small escort, they were attacked by a numerous band of assassins, disguised as robbers, and both perished. faizi was found lying upon the body of abul fazil, whom he had bravely defended to the last. the death of these illustrious brothers was lamented, not only within the bounds of the empire, but through all the kingdoms of the east, whither their fame had extended; and by the sultan's command they were interred together, and with extraordinary pomp. one incident only remains to be added. when the bodies were stripped for burial, there was found within the inner vest of the sheich faizi, and close to his heart, a withered lotus leaf inscribed with certain characters. so great was the fame of the dead for wisdom, learning, and devotion, that it was supposed to be a talisman endued with extraordinary virtues, and immediately transmitted to the sultan. akbar considered the relic with surprise. it was nothing but a simple lotus leaf, faded, shrivelled, and stained with blood; but on examining it more closely, he could trace, in ill-formed and scarcely legible indian letters, the word amrÃ�. and when akbar looked upon this tender memorial of a hapless love, and undying sorrow, his great heart melted within him, and he wept. halloran the pedlar.[ ] "it grieves me," said an eminent poet once to me, "it grieves and humbles me to reflect how much our moral nature is in the power of circumstances. our best faculties would remain unknown even to ourselves did not the influences of external excitement call them forth like animalculæ, which lie torpid till awakened into life by the transient sunbeam." this is generally true. how many walk through the beaten paths of every-day life, who but for the novelist's page would never weep or wonder; and who would know nothing of the passions but as they are represented in some tragedy or stage piece? not that they are incapable of high resolve and energy; but because the finer qualities have never been called forth by imperious circumstances; for while the wheels of existence roll smoothly along, the soul will continue to slumber in her vehicle like a lazy traveller. but for the french revolution, how many hundreds--_thousands_--whose courage, fortitude, and devotedness have sanctified their names, would have frittered away a frivolous, useless, or vicious life in the saloons of paris! we have heard of death in its most revolting forms braved by delicate females, who would have screamed at the sight of the most insignificant reptile or insect; and men cheerfully toiling at mechanic trades for bread, who had lounged away the best years of their lives at the toilettes of their mistresses. we know not of what we are capable till the trial comes;--till it comes, perhaps, in a form which makes the strong man quail, and turns the gentler woman into a heroine. the power of outward circumstances suddenly to awaken dormant faculties--the extraordinary influence which the mere instinct of self-preservation can exert over the mind, and the triumph of mind thus excited over physical weakness, were never more truly exemplified than in the story of halloran the pedlar. the real circumstances of this singular case, differing essentially from the garbled and incorrect account which appeared in the newspapers some years ago, came to my knowledge in the following simple manner. my cousin george c * * *, an irish barrister of some standing, lately succeeded to his family estates by the death of a near relative; and no sooner did he find himself in possession of independence than, abjuring the bar, where, after twenty years of hard struggling, he was just beginning to make a figure, he set off on a tour through italy and greece, to forget the wrangling of courts, the contumely of attornies, and the impatience of clients. he left in my hands a mass of papers, to burn or not, as i might feel inclined: and truly the contents of his desk were no bad illustration of the character and pursuits of its owner. here i found abstracts of cases, and on their backs copies of verses, sketches of scenery, and numerous caricatures of judges, jurymen, witnesses, and his brethren of the bar--a bundle of old briefs, and the beginnings of two tragedies; with a long list of lord n----'s best jokes to serve his purposes as occasion might best offer. among these heterogeneous and confused articles were a number of scraps carefully pinned together, containing notes on a certain trial, the first in which he had been retained as counsel for the crown. the intense interest with which i perused these documents, suggested the plan of throwing the whole into a connected form, and here it is for the reader's benefit. in a little village to the south of clonmell lived a poor peasant named michael, or as it was there pronounced mickle reilly. he was a labourer renting a cabin and a plot of potatoe-ground; and, on the strength of these possessions, a robust frame which feared no fatigue, and a sanguine mind which dreaded no reverse, reilly paid his addresses to cathleen bray, a young girl of his own parish, and they were married. reilly was able, skilful, and industrious; cathleen was the best spinner in the county, and had constant sale for her work at clonmell: they wanted nothing; and for the first year, as cathleen said, "there wasn't upon the blessed earth two happier souls than themselves, for mick was the best boy in the world, and hadn't a fault to _spake_ of--barring he took a drop now and then; an' why wouldn't he?" but as it happened, poor reilly's love of "_the drop_" was the beginning of all their misfortunes. in an evil hour he went to the fair of clonmell to sell a dozen hanks of yarn of his wife's spinning, and a fat pig, the produce of which was to pay half a year's rent, and add to their little comforts. here he met with a jovial companion, who took him into a booth, and treated him to sundry potations of whiskey; and while in his company his pocket was picked of the money he had just received, and something more; in short, of all he possessed in the world. at that luckless moment, while maddened by his loss and heated with liquor, he fell into the company of a recruiting serjeant. the many-coloured and gaily fluttering cockade in the soldier's cap shone like a rainbow of hope and promise before the drunken eyes of mickle reilly, and ere morning he was enlisted into a regiment under orders for embarkation, and instantly sent off to cork. distracted by the ruin he had brought upon himself, and his wife, (whom he loved a thousand times better than himself,) poor reilly sent a friend to inform cathleen of his mischance, and to assure her that on a certain day, in a week from that time, a letter would await her at the clonmell post-office: the same friend was commissioned to deliver her his silver watch, and a guinea out of his bounty-money. poor cathleen turned from the gold with horror, as the price of her husband's blood, and vowed that nothing on earth should induce her to touch it. she was not a good calculator of time and distance, and therefore rather surprised that so long a time must elapse before his letter arrived. on the appointed day she was too impatient to wait the arrival of the carrier, but set off to clonmell herself, a distance of ten miles: there, at the post-office, she duly found the promised letter; but it was not till she had it in her possession that she remembered she could not read: she had therefore to hasten back to consult her friend nancy, the schoolmaster's daughter, and the best scholar in the village. reilly's letter, on being deciphered with some difficulty even by the learned nancy, was found to contain much of sorrow, much of repentance, and yet more of affection: he assured her that he was far better off than he had expected or deserved; that the embarkation of the regiment to which he belonged was delayed for three weeks, and entreated her, if she could forgive him, to follow him to cork without delay, that they might "part in love and kindness, and then come what might, he would demane himself like a man, and die asy," which he assured her he could not do without embracing her once more. cathleen listened to her husband's letter with clasped hands and drawn breath, but quiet in her nature, she gave no other signs of emotion than a few large tears which trickled slowly down her cheeks. "and will i see him again?" she exclaimed; "poor fellow! poor boy! i knew the heart of him was sore for me! and who knows, nancy dear, but they'll let me go out with him to the foreign parts? oh! sure they wouldn't be so hard-hearted as to part man and wife that way!" after a hurried consultation with her neighbours, who sympathised with her as only the poor sympathise with the poor, a letter was indited by nancy and sent by the carrier that night, to inform her husband that she purposed setting off for cork the next blessed morning, being tuesday, and as the distance was about forty-eight miles english, she reckoned on reaching that city by wednesday afternoon; for as she had walked to clonmell and back (about twenty miles) that same day, without feeling fatigued at all, "_to signify_," cathleen thought there would be no doubt that she could walk to cork in less than two days. in this sanguine calculation she was, however, overruled by her more experienced neighbours, and by their advice appointed thursday as the day on which her husband was to expect her, "god willing." cathleen spent the rest of the day in making preparations for her journey: she set her cabin in order, and made a small bundle of a few articles of clothing belonging to herself and her husband. the watch and the guinea she wrapped up together, and crammed into the toe of an old shoe, which she deposited in the said bundle, and the next morning, at "sparrow chirp," she arose, locked her cabin door, carefully hid the key in the thatch, and with a light expecting heart commenced her long journey. it is worthy of remark, that this poor woman, who was called upon to play the heroine in such a strange tragedy, and under such appalling circumstances, had nothing heroic in her exterior: nothing that in the slightest degree indicated strength of nerve or superiority of intellect. cathleen was twenty-three years of age, of a low stature, and in her form rather delicate than robust: she was of ordinary appearance; her eyes were mild and dove-like, and her whole countenance, though not absolutely deficient in intelligence, was more particularly expressive of simplicity, good temper, and kindness of heart. it was summer, about the end of june: the days were long, the weather fine, and some gentle showers rendered travelling easy and pleasant. cathleen walked on stoutly towards cork, and by the evening she had accomplished, with occasional pauses of rest, nearly twenty-one miles. she lodged at a little inn by the road side, and the following day set forward again, but soon felt stiff with the travel of two previous days: the sun became hotter, the ways dustier; and she could not with all her endeavours get farther than rathcormuck, eighteen miles from cork. the next day, unfortunately for poor cathleen, proved hotter and more fatiguing than the preceding. the cross road lay over a wild country, consisting of low bogs and bare hills. about noon she turned aside to a rivulet bordered by a few trees, and sitting down in the shade, she bathed her swollen feet in the stream: then overcome by heat, weakness, and excessive weariness, she put her little bundle under her head for a pillow, and sank into a deep sleep. on waking she perceived with dismay that the sun was declining: and on looking about, her fears were increased by the discovery that her bundle was gone. her first thought was that the good people, (i. e. _the fairies_) had been there and stolen it away; but on examining farther she plainly perceived large foot-prints in the soft bank, and was convinced it was the work of no unearthly marauder. bitterly reproaching herself for her carelessness, she again set forward; and still hoping to reach cork that night, she toiled on and on with increasing difficulty and distress, till as the evening closed her spirits failed, she became faint, foot-sore and hungry, not having tasted any thing since the morning but a cold potatoe and a draught of buttermilk. she then looked round her in hopes of discovering some habitation, but there was none in sight except a lofty castle on a distant hill, which raising its proud turrets from amidst the plantations which surrounded it, glimmered faintly through the gathering gloom, and held out no temptation for the poor wanderer to turn in there and rest. in her despair she sat her down on a bank by the road side, and wept as she thought of her husband. several horsemen rode by, and one carriage and four attended by servants, who took no farther notice of her than by a passing look; while they went on their way like the priest and the levite in the parable, poor cathleen dropped her head despairingly on her bosom. a faintness and torpor seemed to be stealing like a dark cloud over her senses, when the fast approaching sound of footsteps roused her attention, and turning, she saw at her side a man whose figure, too singular to be easily forgotten, she recognized immediately: it was halloran the pedlar. halloran had been known for thirty years past in all the towns and villages between waterford and kerry. he was very old, he himself did not know his own age; he only remembered that he was a "tall slip of a boy" when he was one of the ---- regiment of foot, and fought in america in . his dress was strange, it consisted of a woollen cap, beneath which strayed a few white hairs, this was surmounted by an old military cocked hat, adorned with a few fragments of tarnished gold lace; a frieze great coat with the sleeves dangling behind, was fastened at his throat, and served to protect his box of wares which was slung at his back; and he always carried a thick oak stick or _kippeen_ in his hand. there was nothing of the infirmity of age in his appearance: his cheek, though wrinkled and weather-beaten, was still ruddy: his step still firm, his eyes still bright: his jovial disposition made him a welcome guest in every cottage, and his jokes, though not equal to my lord norbury's, were repeated and applauded through the whole country. halloran was returning from the fair of kilkenny, where apparently his commercial speculations had been attended with success, as his pack was considerably diminished in size. though he did not appear to recollect cathleen, he addressed her in irish, and asked her what she did there: she related in a few words her miserable situation. "in troth, then, my heart is sorry for ye, poor woman," he replied, compassionately; "and what will ye do?" "an' what _can_ i do?" replied cathleen, disconsolately; "and how will i even find the ford and get across to cork, when i don't know where i am this blessed moment?" "musha, then, it's little ye'll get there this night," said the pedlar, shaking his head. "then i'll lie down here and die," said cathleen, bursting into fresh tears. "die! ye wouldn't!" he exclaimed, approaching nearer; "is it to me, peter halloran, ye spake that word; and am i the man that would lave a faymale at this dark hour by the way-side, let alone one that has the face of a friend, though i cannot remember me of your name either, for the soul of me. but what matter for that?" "sure, i'm katty reilly, of castle conn." "katty reilly, sure enough! and so no more talk of dying; cheer up, and see, a mile farther on, isn't there biddy hogan's? _was_, i mane, if the house and all isn't gone: and it's there we'll get a bite and a sup, and a bed, too, please god. so lean upon my arm, ma vourneen, it's strong enough yet." so saying, the old man, with an air of gallantry, half rustic, half military, assisted her in rising; and supporting her on one arm, with the other he flourished his kippeen over his head, and they trudged on together, he singing cruiskeen-lawn at the top of his voice, "just," as he said, "to put the heart into her." after about half an hour's walking, they came to two crossways, diverging from the high road: down one of these the pedlar turned, and in a few minutes they came in sight of a lonely house, situated at a little distance from the way-side. above the door was a long stick projecting from the wall, at the end of which dangled a truss of straw, signifying that within there was entertainment (good or bad) for man and beast. by this time it was nearly dark, and the pedlar going up to the door, lifted the latch, expecting it to yield to his hand; but it was fastened within: he then knocked and called, but there was no answer. the building, which was many times larger than an ordinary cabin, had once been a manufactory, and afterwards a farm-house. one end of it was deserted, and nearly in ruins; the other end bore signs of having been at least recently inhabited. but such a dull hollow echo rung through the edifice at every knock, that it seemed the whole place was now deserted. cathleen began to be alarmed, and crossed herself, ejaculating, "o god preserve us!" but the pedlar, who appeared well acquainted with the premises, led her round to the back part of the house, where there were some ruined out-buildings, and another low entrance. here, raising his stout stick, he let fall such a heavy thump on the door that it cracked again; and a shrill voice from the other side demanded who was there? after a satisfactory answer, the door was slowly and cautiously opened, and the figure of a wrinkled, half-famished, and half-naked beldam appeared, shading a rush candle with one hand. halloran, who was of a fiery and hasty temper, began angrily: "why, then, in the name of the great devil himself, didn't you open to us?" but he stopped suddenly, as if struck with surprise at the miserable object before him. "is it biddy hogan herself, i see!" he exclaimed, snatching the candle from her hand, and throwing the light full on her face. a moment's scrutiny seemed enough, and too much; for, giving it back hastily, he supported cathleen into the kitchen, the old woman leading the way, and placed her on an old settle, the first seat which presented itself. when she was sufficiently recovered to look about her, cathleen could not help feeling some alarm at finding herself in so gloomy and dreary a place. it had once been a large kitchen, or hall: at one end was an ample chimney, such as are yet to be seen in some old country houses. the rafters were black with smoke or rottenness: the walls had been wainscoted with oak, but the greatest part had been torn down for firing. a table with three legs, a large stool, a bench in the chimney propped up with turf sods, and the seat cathleen occupied, formed the only furniture. every thing spoke utter misery, filth, and famine--the very "abomination of desolation." "and what have ye in the house, biddy, honey?" was the pedlar's first question, as the old woman set down the light. "little enough, i'm thinking." "little! it's nothing, then--no, not so much as a midge would eat have i in the house this blessed night, and nobody to send down to balgowna." "no need of that, as our good luck would have it," said halloran, and pulling a wallet from under his loose coat, he drew from it a bone of cold meat, a piece of bacon, a lump of bread, and some cold potatoes. the old woman, roused by the sight of so much good cheer, began to blow up the dying embers on the hearth; put down among them the few potatoes to warm, and busied herself in making some little preparations to entertain her guests. meantime the old pedlar, casting from time to time an anxious glance towards cathleen, and now and then an encouraging word, sat down on the low stool, resting his arms on his knees. "times are sadly changed with ye, biddy hogan," said he at length, after a long silence. "troth, ye may say so," she replied, with a sort of groan. "bitter bad luck have we had in this world, any how." "and where's the man of the house? and where's the lad, barny?" "where are they, is it? where should they be? may be gone down to ahnamoe." "but what's come of barny? the boy was a stout workman, and a good son, though a devil-may-care fellow, too. i remember teaching him the soldier's exercise with this very blessed stick now in my hand; and by the same token, him doubling his fist at me when he wasn't bigger than the turf-kish yonder; aye, and as long as barny hogan could turn a sod of turf on my lord's land, i thought his father and mother would never have wanted the bit and sup while the life was in him." at the mention of her son, the old woman looked up a moment, but immediately hung her head again. "barny doesn't work for my lord now," said she. "and what for, then?" the old woman seemed reluctant to answer--she hesitated. "ye didn't hear, then, how he got into trouble with my lord; and how--myself doesn't know the rights of it--but barny had always a bit of wild blood about him; and since that day he's taken to bad ways, and the ould man's ruled by him quite entirely; and the one's glum and fierce like--and t'other's bothered; and, oh! bitter's the time i have 'twixt 'em both!" while the old woman was uttering these broken complaints, she placed the eatables on the table; and cathleen, who was yet more faint from hunger than subdued by fatigue, was first helped by the good-natured pedlar to the best of what was there: but, just as she was about to taste the food set before her, she chanced to see the eyes of the old woman fixed upon the morsel in her hand with such an envious and famished look, that from a sudden impulse of benevolent feeling, she instantly held it out to her. the woman started, drew back her extended hand, and gazed at her wildly. "what is it then ails ye?" said cathleen, looking at her with wonder; then to herself, "hunger's turned the wits of her, poor soul! take it--take it, mother," added she aloud: "eat, good mother; sure there's plenty for us all, and to spare," and she pressed it upon her with all the kindness of her nature. the old woman eagerly seized it. "god reward ye," said she, grasping cathleen's hand, convulsively, and retiring to a corner, she devoured the food with almost wolfish voracity. while they were eating, the two hogans, father and son, came in. they had been setting snares for rabbits and game on the neighbouring hills; and evidently were both startled and displeased to find the house occupied; which, since barny hogan's disgrace with "my lord," had been entirely shunned by the people round about. the old man gave the pedlar a sulky welcome. the son, with a muttered curse, went and took his seat in the chimney, where, turning his back, he set himself to chop a billet of wood. the father was a lean stooping figure, "bony, and gaunt, and grim:" he was either deaf, or affected deafness. the son was a short, brawny, thickset man, with features not naturally ugly, but rendered worse than ugly by an expression of louring ferocity disgustingly blended with a sort of stupid drunken leer, the effect of habitual intoxication. halloran stared at them awhile with visible astonishment and indignation, but pity and sorrow for a change so lamentable, smothered the old man's wrath; and as the eatables were by this time demolished, he took from his side pocket a tin flask of whiskey, calling to the old woman to boil some water "screeching hot," that he might make what he termed "a jug of stiff punch--enough to make a cat _spake_." he offered to share it with his hosts, who did not decline drinking; and the noggin went round to all but cathleen, who, feverish with travelling, and, besides, disliking spirits, would not taste it. the old pedlar, reconciled to his old acquaintances by this show of good fellowship, began to grow merry under the influence of his whiskey-punch: he boasted of his late success in trade, showed with exultation his almost empty pack, and taking out the only two handkerchiefs left in it, threw one to cathleen, and the other to the old woman of the house; then slapping his pocket, in which a quantity of loose money was heard to jingle, he swore he would treat cathleen to a good breakfast next morning; and threw a shilling on the table, desiring the old woman would provide "stirabout for a dozen," and have it ready by the first light. cathleen listened to this rhodomontade in some alarm; she fancied she detected certain suspicious glances between the father and son, and began to feel an indescribable dread of her company. she arose from the table, urging the pedlar good-humouredly to retire to rest, as they intended to be up and away so early next morning: then concealing her apprehensions under an affectation of extreme fatigue and drowsiness, she desired to be shown where she was to sleep. the old woman lighted a lanthorn, and led the way up some broken steps into a sort of loft, where she showed her two beds standing close together; one of these she intimated was for the pedlar, and the other for herself. now cathleen had been born and bred in an irish cabin, where the inmates are usually lodged after a very promiscuous fashion; our readers, therefore, will not wonder at the arrangement. cathleen, however, required that, if possible, some kind of skreen should be placed between the beds. the old hag at first replied to this request with the most disgusting impudence; but cathleen insisting, the beds were moved asunder, leaving a space of about two feet between them; and after a long search a piece of old frieze was dragged out from among some rubbish, and hung up to the low rafters, so as to form a curtain or partition half-way across the room. having completed this arrangement, and wished her "a sweet sleep and a sound, and lucky dreams," the old woman put the lanthorn on the floor, for there was neither chair nor table, and left her guest to repose. cathleen said her prayers, only partly undressed herself, and lifting up the worn-out coverlet, lay down upon the bed. in a quarter of an hour afterwards the pedlar staggered into the room, and as he passed the foot of her bed, bid god bless her, in a low voice. he then threw himself down on his bed, and in a few minutes, as she judged by his hard and equal breathing, the old man was in a deep sleep. all was now still in the house, but cathleen could not sleep. she was feverish and restless; her limbs ached, her head throbbed and burned, undefinable fears beset her fancy; and whenever she tried to compose herself to slumber, the faces of the two men she had left below flitted and glared before her eyes. a sense of heat and suffocation, accompanied by a parching thirst, came over her, caused, perhaps, by the unusual closeness of the room. this feeling of oppression increased till the very walls and rafters seemed to approach nearer and close upon her all around. unable any longer to endure this intolerable smothering sensation, she was just about to rise and open the door or window, when she heard the whispering of voices. she lay still and listened. the latch was raised cautiously,--the door opened, and the two hogans entered: they trod so softly that, though she saw them move before her, she heard no foot-fall. they approached the bed of halloran, and presently she heard a dull heavy blow, and then sounds--appalling sickening sounds--as of subdued struggles and smothered agony, which convinced her that they were murdering the unfortunate pedlar. cathleen listened, almost congealed with horror, but she did not swoon: her turn, she thought, must come next, though in the same instant she felt instinctively that her only chance of preservation was to counterfeit profound sleep. the murderers, having done their work on the poor pedlar, approached her bed, and threw the gleam of their lanthorn full on her face; she lay quite still, breathing calmly and regularly. they brought the light to her eye-lids, but they did not wink or move;--there was a pause, a terrible pause, and then a whispering;--and presently cathleen thought she could distinguish a third voice, as of expostulation, but all in so very low a tone that though the voices were close to her she could not hear a word that was uttered. after some moments, which appeared an age of agonising suspense, the wretches withdrew, and cathleen was left alone, and in darkness. then, indeed, she felt as one ready to die: to use her own affecting language, "the heart within me," said she, "melted away like water, but i was resolute not to swoon, and i _did not_. i knew that if i would preserve my life, i must keep the sense in me, and _i did_." now and then she fancied she heard the murdered man move, and creep about in his bed, and this horrible conceit almost maddened her with terror: but she set herself to listen fixedly, and convinced her reason that all was still--that all was over. she then turned her thoughts to the possibility of escape. the window first suggested itself: the faint moon-light was just struggling through its dirty and cobwebbed panes: it was very small, and cathleen reflected, that besides the difficulty, and, perhaps, impossibility of getting through, it must be some height from the ground: neither could she tell on which side of the house it was situated, nor in what direction to turn, supposing she reached the ground: and, above all, she was aware that the slightest noise must cause her instant destruction. she thus resolved upon remaining quiet. it was most fortunate that cathleen came to this determination, for without the slightest previous sound the door again opened, and in the faint light, to which her eyes were now accustomed, she saw the head of the old woman bent forward in a listening attitude: in a few minutes the door closed, and then followed a whispering outside. she could not at first distinguish a word until the woman's sharper tones broke out, though in suppressed vehemence, with "if ye touch her life, barny, a mother's curse go with ye! enough's done." "she'll live, then, to hang us all," said the miscreant son. "sooner than that, i'd draw this knife across her throat with my own hands; and i'd do it again and again, sooner than they should touch your life, barny, jewel: but no fear, the creature's asleep or dead already, with the fright of it." the son then said something which cathleen could not hear; the old woman replied, "hisht! i tell ye, no,--no; the ship's now in the cove of cork that's to carry her over the salt seas far enough out of the way: and haven't we all she has in the world? and more, didn't she take the bit out of her own mouth to put into mine?" the son again spoke inaudibly; and then the voices ceased, leaving cathleen uncertain as to her fate. shortly after the door opened, and the father and son again entered, and carried out the body of the wretched pedlar. they seemed to have the art of treading without noise, for though cathleen saw them move, she could not hear a sound of a footstep. the old woman was all this time standing by her bed, and every now and then casting the light full upon her eyes; but as she remained quite still, and apparently in a deep calm sleep, they left her undisturbed, and she neither saw nor heard any more of them that night. it ended at length--that long, long night of horror. cathleen lay quiet till she thought the morning sufficiently advanced. she then rose, and went down into the kitchen: the old woman was lifting a pot off the fire, and nearly let it fall as cathleen suddenly addressed her, and with an appearance of surprise and concern, asked for her friend the pedlar, saying she had just looked into his bed, supposing he was still asleep, and to her great amazement had found it empty. the old woman replied, that he had set out at early daylight for mallow, having only just remembered that his business called him that way before he went to cork. cathleen affected great wonder and perplexity, and reminded the woman that he had promised to pay for her breakfast. "an' so he did, sure enough," she replied, "and paid for it too; and by the same token didn't i go down to balgowna myself for the milk and the _male_ before the sun was over the tree tops; and here it is for ye, ma colleen:" so saying, she placed a bowl of stirabout and some milk before cathleen, and then sat down on the stool opposite to her, watching her intently. poor cathleen! she had but little inclination to eat, and felt as if every bit would choke her: yet she continued to force down her breakfast, and apparently with the utmost ease and appetite, even to the last morsel set before her. while eating, she inquired about the husband and son, and the old woman replied, that they had started at the first burst of light to cut turf in a bog, about five miles distant. when cathleen had finished her breakfast, she returned the old woman many thanks for her kind treatment, and then desired to know the nearest way to cork. the woman hogan informed her that the distance was about seven miles, and though the usual road was by the high-way from which they had turned the preceding evening, there was a much shorter way across some fields which she pointed out. cathleen listened attentively to her directions, and then bidding farewell with many demonstrations of gratitude, she proceeded on her fearful journey. the cool morning air, the cheerful song of the early birds, the dewy freshness of the turf, were all unnoticed and unfelt: the sense of danger was paramount, while her faculties were all alive and awake to meet it, for a feverish and unnatural strength seemed to animate her limbs. she stepped on, shortly debating with herself whether to follow the directions given by the old woman. the high-road appeared the safest; on the other hand, she was aware that the slightest betrayal of mistrust would perhaps be followed by her destruction; and thus rendered brave even by the excess of her fears, she determined to take the cross path. just as she had come to this resolution, she reached the gate which she had been directed to pass through; and without the slightest apparent hesitation, she turned in, and pursued the lonely way through the fields. often did she fancy she heard footsteps stealthily following her, and never approached a hedge without expecting to see the murderers start up from behind it; yet she never once turned her head, nor quickened nor slackened her pace; like one that on a lonesome road doth walk in fear and dread, because he knows a frightful fiend doth close behind him tread. she had proceeded in this manner about three-quarters of a mile, and approached a thick and dark grove of underwood, when she beheld seated upon the opposite stile an old woman in a red cloak. the sight of a human being made her heart throb more quickly for a moment; but on approaching nearer, with all her faculties sharpened by the sense of danger, she perceived that it was no old woman, but the younger hogan, the murderer of halloran, who was thus disguised. his face was partly concealed by a blue handkerchief tied round his head and under his chin, but she knew him by the peculiar and hideous expression of his eyes: yet with amazing and almost incredible self-possession, she continued to advance without manifesting the least alarm, or sign of recognition; and walking up to the pretended old woman, said in a clear voice, "the blessing of the morning on ye, good mother! a fine day for travellers like you and me!" "a fine day," he replied, coughing and mumbling in a feigned voice, "but ye see, hugh, ugh! ye see i've walked this morning from the cove of cork, jewel, and troth i'm almost spent, and i've a bad cowld, and a cough on me, as ye may hear," and he coughed vehemently. cathleen made a motion to pass the stile, but the disguised old woman stretching out a great bony hand, seized her gown. still cathleen did not quail. "musha, then, have ye nothing to give a poor ould woman?" said the monster, in a whining, snuffling tone. "nothing have i in this wide world," said cathleen, quietly disengaging her gown, but without moving. "sure it's only yesterday i was robbed of all i had but the little clothes on my back, and if i hadn't met with charity from others, i had starved by the way-side by this time." "och! and is there no place hereby where they would give a potatoe and a cup of cowld water to a poor old woman ready to drop on her road?" cathleen instantly pointed forward to the house she had just left, and recommended her to apply there. "sure they're good, honest people, though poor enough, god help them," she continued, "and i wish ye, mother, no worse luck than myself had, and that's a good friend to treat you to a supper--aye, and a breakfast too; there it is, ye may just see the light smoke rising like a thread over the hill, just fornent ye; and so god speed ye!" cathleen turned to descend the stile as she spoke, expecting to be again seized with a strong and murderous grasp; but her enemy, secure in his disguise, and never doubting her perfect unconsciousness, suffered her to pass unmolested. another half-mile brought her to the top of a rising ground, within sight of the high-road; she could see crowds of people on horseback and on foot, with cars and carriages passing along in one direction; for it was, though cathleen did not then know it, the first day of the cork assizes. as she gazed, she wished for the wings of a bird that she might in a moment flee over the space which intervened between her and safety; for though she could clearly see the high-road from the hill on which she stood, a valley of broken ground at its foot, and two wide fields still separated her from it; but with the same unfailing spirit, and at the same steady pace, she proceeded onwards: and now she had reached the middle of the last field, and a thrill of new-born hope was beginning to flutter at her heart, when suddenly two men burst through the fence at the farther side of the field, and advanced towards her. one of these she thought at the first glance resembled her husband, but that it _was_ her husband himself was an idea which never entered her mind. her imagination was possessed with the one supreme idea of danger and death by murderous hands; she doubted not that these were the two hogans in some new disguise, and silently recommending herself to god, she steeled her heart to meet this fresh trial of her fortitude; aware, that however it might end, it _must_ be the last. at this moment one of the men throwing up his arms, ran forward, shouting her name, in a voice--a dear and well-known voice, in which she _could_ not be deceived:--it was her husband! the poor woman, who had hitherto supported her spirits and her self-possession, stood as if rooted to the ground, weak, motionless, and gasping for breath. a cold dew burst from every pore; her ears tingled, her heart fluttered as though it would burst from her bosom. when she attempted to call out, and raise her hand in token of recognition, the sounds died away, rattling in her throat; her arm dropped powerless at her side; and when her husband came up, and she made a last effort to spring towards him, she sank down at his feet in strong convulsions. reilly, much shocked at what he supposed the effect of sudden surprise, knelt down and chafed his wife's temples; his comrade ran to a neighbouring spring for water, which they sprinkled plentifully over her: when, however, she returned to life, her intellects appeared to have fled for ever, and she uttered such wild shrieks and exclamations, and talked so incoherently, that the men became exceedingly terrified, and poor reilly himself almost as distracted as his wife. after vainly attempting to soothe and recover her, they at length forcibly carried her down to the inn at balgowna, a hamlet about a mile farther on, where she remained for several hours in a state of delirium, one fit succeeding another with little intermission. towards evening she became more composed, and was able to give some account of the horrible events of the preceding night. it happened, opportunely, that a gentleman of fortune in the neighbourhood, and a magistrate, was riding by late that evening on his return from the assizes at cork, and stopped at the inn to refresh his horse. hearing that something unusual and frightful had occurred, he alighted, and examined the woman himself, in the presence of one or two persons. her tale appeared to him so strange and wild from the manner in which she told it, and her account of her own courage and sufferings so exceedingly incredible, that he was at first inclined to disbelieve the whole, and suspected the poor woman either of imposture or insanity. he did not, however, think proper totally to neglect her testimony, but immediately sent off information of the murder to cork. constables with a warrant were despatched the same night to the house of the hogans, which they found empty, and the inmates already fled: but after a long search, the body of the wretched halloran, and part of his property, were found concealed in a stack of old chimneys among the ruins; and this proof of guilt was decisive. the country was instantly _up_; the most active search after the murderers was made by the police, assisted by all the neighbouring peasantry; and before twelve o'clock the following night, the three hogans, father, mother, and son, had been apprehended in different places of concealment, and placed in safe custody. meantime the coroner's inquest having sat on the body, brought in a verdict of wilful murder. as the judges were then at cork, the trial came on immediately; and from its extraordinary circumstances, excited the most intense and general interest. among the property of poor halloran discovered in the house, were a pair of shoes and a cap which cathleen at once identified as belonging to herself, and reilly's silver watch was found on the younger hogan. when questioned how they came into his possession, he sullenly refused to answer. his mother eagerly, and as if to shield her son, confessed that she was the person who had robbed cathleen in the former part of the day, that she had gone out on the carrick road to beg, having been left by her husband and son for two days without the means of support; and finding cathleen asleep, she had taken away the bundle, supposing it to contain food; and did not recognize her as the same person she had robbed, till cathleen offered her part of her supper. the surgeon, who had been called to examine the body of halloran, deposed to the cause of his death;--that the old man had been first stunned by a heavy blow on the temple, and then strangled. other witnesses deposed to the finding of the body: the previous character of the hogans, and the circumstances attending their apprehension; but the principal witness was cathleen. she appeared, leaning on her husband, her face was ashy pale, and her limbs too weak for support; yet she, however, was perfectly collected, and gave her testimony with that precision, simplicity, and modesty, peculiar to her character. when she had occasion to allude to her own feelings, it was with such natural and heart-felt eloquence that the whole court was affected; and when she described her rencontre at the stile, there was a general pressure and a breathless suspense: and then a loud murmur of astonishment and admiration fully participated by even the bench of magistrates. the evidence was clear and conclusive; and the jury, without retiring, gave their verdict, guilty--death. when the miserable wretches were asked, in the usual forms, if they had any thing to say why the awful sentence should not be passed upon them, the old man replied by a look of idiotic vacancy, and was mute--the younger hogan answered sullenly, "nothing:" the old woman, staring wildly on her son, tried to speak; her lips moved, but without a sound--and she fell forward on the bar in strong fits. at this moment cathleen rushed from the arms of her husband, and throwing herself on her knees, with clasped hands, and cheeks streaming with tears, begged for mercy for the old woman. "mercy, my lord judge!" she exclaimed. "gentlemen, your honours, have mercy on her. she had mercy on me! she only did _their_ bidding. as for the bundle, and all in it, i give it to her with all my soul, so it's no robbery. the grip of hunger's hard to bear; and if she hadn't taken it then, where would i have been now? sure they would have killed me for the sake of the watch, and i would have been a corpse before your honours this moment. o mercy! mercy for her! or never will i sleep asy on this side of the grave!" the judge, though much affected, was obliged to have her forcibly carried from the court, and justice took its awful course. sentence of death was pronounced on all the prisoners; but the woman was reprieved, and afterwards transported. the two men were executed within forty-eight hours after their conviction, on the gallows green. they made no public confession of their guilt, and met their fate with sullen indifference. the awful ceremony was for a moment interrupted by an incident which afterwards furnished ample matter for wonder and speculation among the superstitious populace. it was well known that the younger hogan had been long employed on the estate of a nobleman in the neighbourhood; but having been concerned in the abduction of a young female, under circumstances of peculiar atrocity, which for want of legal evidence could not be brought home to him, he was dismissed; and, finding himself an object of general execration, he had since been skulking about the country, associating with housebreakers and other lawless and abandoned characters. at the moment the hangman was adjusting the rope round his neck, a shrill voice screamed from the midst of the crowd, "barny hogan! do ye mind grace power, and the last words ever she spoke to ye?" there was a general movement and confusion; no one could or would tell whence the voice proceeded. the wretched man was seen to change countenance for the first time, and raising himself on tiptoe, gazed wildly round upon the multitude: but he said nothing; and in a few minutes he was no more. the reader may wish to know what has become of cathleen, our _heroine_, in the true sense of the word. her story, her sufferings, her extraordinary fortitude, and pure simplicity of character, made her an object of general curiosity and interest: a subscription was raised for her, which soon amounted to a liberal sum; they were enabled to procure reilly's discharge from the army, and with a part of the money, cathleen, who, among her other perfections, was exceedingly pious after the fashion of her creed and country, founded yearly masses for the soul of the poor pedlar; and vowed herself to make a pilgrimage of thanksgiving to st. gobnate's well. mr. l., the magistrate who had first examined her in the little inn at balgowna, made her a munificent present; and anxious, perhaps, to offer yet farther amends for his former doubts of her veracity, he invited reilly, on very advantageous terms, to settle on his estate, where he rented a neat cabin, and a _handsome_ plot of potatoe ground. there reilly and his cathleen were living ten years ago, with an increasing family, and in the enjoyment of much humble happiness; and there, for aught i know to the contrary, they may be living at this day. the indian mother.[ ] there is a comfort in the strength of love, making that pang endurable, which else would overset the brain--or break the heart. _wordsworth._ the monuments which human art has raised to human pride or power may decay with that power, or survive to mock that pride; but sooner or later they perish--their place knows them not. in the aspect of a ruin, however imposing in itself, and however magnificent or dear the associations connected with it, there is always something sad and humiliating, reminding us how poor and how frail are the works of man, how unstable his hopes, and how limited his capacity compared to his aspirations! but when man has made to himself monuments of the works of god; when the memory of human affections, human intellect, human power, is blended with the immutable features of nature, they consecrate each other, and both endure together to the end. in a state of high civilization, man trusts to the record of brick and marble--the pyramid, the column, the temple, the tomb: "then the bust and altar rise--then sink again to dust." in the earlier stages of society, the isolated rock--the mountain, cloud-encircled--the river, rolling to its ocean-home--the very stars themselves--were endued with sympathies, and constituted the first, as they will be the last, witnesses and records of our human destinies and feelings. the glories of the parthenon shall fade into oblivion; but while the heights of thermopylæ stand, and while a wave murmurs in the gulph of salamis, a voice shall cry aloud to the universe--"freedom and glory to those who can dare to die!--woe and everlasting infamy to him who would enthral the unconquerable spirit!" the coliseum with its sanguinary trophies is crumbling to decay; but the islet of nisida, where brutus parted with his portia--the steep of leucadia, still remain fixed as the foundations of the earth; and lasting as the round world itself shall be the memories that hover over them! as long as the waters of the hellespont flow between sestos and abydos, the fame of the love that perished there shall never pass away. a traveller, pursuing his weary way through the midst of an african desert--a barren, desolate, and almost boundless solitude--found a gigantic sculptured head, shattered and half-buried in the sand; and near it the fragment of a pedestal, on which these words might be with pain deciphered: "_i am ozymandias, king of kings; look upon my works, ye mighty ones, and despair!_" who was ozymandias?--where are now his works?--what bond of thought or feeling, links his past with our present? the arab, with his beasts of burthen, tramples unheeding over these forlorn vestiges of human art and human grandeur. in the wildest part of the new continent, hidden amid the depths of interminable forests, there stands a huge rock, hallowed by a tradition so recent that the man is not yet grey-headed who was born its contemporary; but that rock, and the tale which consecrates it, shall carry down to future ages a deep lesson--a moral interest lasting as itself--however the aspect of things and the conditions of people change around it. henceforth no man shall gaze on it with careless eye; but each shall whisper to his own bosom--"what is stronger than love in a mother's heart?--what more fearful than power wielded by ignorance?--or what more lamentable than the abuse of a beneficent name to purposes of selfish cruelty?" those vast regions which occupy the central part of south america, stretching from guinea to the foot of the andes, overspread with gigantic and primeval forests, and watered by mighty rivers--those solitary wilds where man appears unessential in the scale of creation, and the traces of his power are few and far between--have lately occupied much of the attention of europeans; partly from the extraordinary events and unexpected revolutions which have convulsed the nations round them; and partly from the researches of enterprising travellers who have penetrated into their remotest districts. but till within the last twenty years these wild regions have been unknown, except through the means of the spanish and portuguese priests, settled as missionaries along the banks of the orinoco and the paraguay. the men thus devoted to utter banishment from all intercourse with civilized life, are generally franciscan or capuchin friars, born in the spanish colonies. their pious duties are sometimes voluntary, and sometimes imposed by the superiors of their order; in either case their destiny appears at first view deplorable, and their self-sacrifice sublime; yet, when we recollect that these poor monks generally exchanged the monotonous solitude of the cloister for the magnificent loneliness of the boundless woods and far-spreading savannahs, the sacrifice appears less terrible; even where accompanied by suffering, privation, and occasionally by danger. when these men combine with their religious zeal some degree of understanding and enlightened benevolence, they have been enabled to enlarge the sphere of knowledge and civilization, by exploring the productions and geography of these unknown regions; and by collecting into villages and humanizing the manners of the native tribes, who seem strangely to unite the fiercest and most abhorred traits of savage life, with some of the gentlest instincts of our common nature. but when it has happened that these priests have been men of narrow minds and tyrannical tempers, they have on some occasions fearfully abused the authority entrusted to them; and being removed many thousand miles from the european settlements and the restraint of the laws, the power they have exercised has been as far beyond control as the calamities they have caused have been beyond all remedy and all relief. unfortunately for those who were trusted to his charge, father gomez was a missionary of this character. he was a franciscan friar of the order of observance, and he dwelt in the village of san fernando, near the source of the orinoco, whence his authority extended as president over several missions in the neighbourhood of which san fernando was the capital. the temper of this man was naturally cruel and despotic; he was wholly uneducated, and had no idea, no feeling, of the true spirit of christian benevolence: in this respect, the savages whom he had been sent to instruct and civilize were in reality less savage and less ignorant than himself. among the passions and vices which father gomez had brought from his cell in the convent of angostara, to spread contamination and oppression through his new domain, were pride and avarice; and both were interested in increasing the number of his converts, or rather, of his slaves. in spite of the wise and humane law of charles the third, prohibiting the conversion of the indian natives by force, gomez, like others of his brethren in the more distant missions, often accomplished his purpose by direct violence. he was accustomed to go, with a party of his people, and lie in wait near the hordes of unreclaimed indians: when the men were absent he would forcibly seize on the women and children, bind them, and bring them off in triumph to his village. there, being baptized and taught to make the sign of the cross, they were _called_ christians, but in reality were slaves. in general, the women thus detained pined away and died; but the children became accustomed to their new mode of life, forgot their woods, and paid to their christian master a willing and blind obedience; thus in time they became the oppressors of their own people. father gomez called these incursions, _la conquista espiritual_--the conquest of souls. one day he set off on an expedition of this nature, attended by twelve armed indians; and after rowing some leagues up the river guaviare, which flows into the orinoco, they perceived, through an opening in the trees, and at a little distance from the shore, an indian hut. it is the custom of these people to live isolated in families; and so strong is their passion for solitude, that when collected into villages they frequently build themselves a little cabin at a distance from their usual residence, and retire to it, at certain seasons, for days together. the cabin of which i speak was one of these solitary _villas_--if i may so apply the word. it was constructed with peculiar neatness, thatched with palm leaves, and overshadowed with cocoa trees and laurels; it stood alone in the wilderness, embowered in luxuriant vegetation, and looked like the chosen abode of simple and quiet happiness. within this hut a young indian woman (whom i shall call guahiba, from the name of her tribe) was busied in making cakes of the cassava root, and preparing the family meal, against the return of her husband, who was fishing at some distance up the river; her eldest child, about five or six years old, assisted her; and from time to time, while thus employed, the mother turned her eyes, beaming with fond affection, upon the playful gambols of two little infants, who, being just able to crawl alone, were rolling together on the ground, laughing and crowing with all their might. their food being nearly prepared, the indian woman looked towards the river, impatient for the return of her husband. but her bright dark eyes, swimming with eagerness and affectionate solicitude, became fixed and glazed with terror when, instead of him she so fondly expected, she beheld the attendants of father gomez, creeping stealthily along the side of the thicket towards her cabin. instantly aware of her danger (for the nature and object of these incursions were the dread of all the country round) she uttered a piercing shriek, snatched up her infants in her arms, and, calling on the other to follow, rushed from the hut towards the forest. as she had considerably the start of her pursuers, she would probably have escaped, and have hidden herself effectually in its tangled depths, if her precious burthen had not impeded her flight; but thus encumbered she was easily overtaken. her eldest child, fleet of foot and wily as the young jaguar, escaped to carry to the wretched father the news of his bereavement, and neither father nor child were ever more beheld in their former haunts. meantime, the indians seized upon guahiba--bound her, tied her two children together, and dragged her down to the river, where father gomez was sitting in his canoe, waiting the issue of the expedition. at the sight of the captives his eyes sparkled with a cruel triumph; he thanked his patron saint that three more souls were added to his community; and then, heedless of the tears of the mother, and the cries of her children, he commanded his followers to row back with all speed to san fernando. there guahiba and her infants were placed in a hut under the guard of two indians; some food was given to her, which she at first refused, but afterwards, as if on reflection, accepted. a young indian girl was then sent to her--a captive convert of her own tribe, who had not yet quite forgotten her native language. she tried to make guahiba comprehend that in this village she and her children must remain during the rest of their lives, in order that they might go to heaven after they were dead. guahiba listened, but understood nothing of what was addressed to her; nor could she be made to conceive for what purpose she was torn from her husband and her home, nor why she was to dwell for the remainder of her life among a strange people, and against her will. during that night she remained tranquil, watching over her infants as they slumbered by her side; but the moment the dawn appeared she took them in her arms and ran off to the woods. she was immediately brought back; but no sooner were the eyes of her keepers turned from her than she snatched up her children, and again fled;--again--and again! at every new attempt she was punished with more and more severity; she was kept from food, and at length repeatedly and cruelly beaten. in vain!--apparently she did not even understand why she was thus treated; and one instinctive idea alone, the desire of escape, seemed to possess her mind and govern all her movements. if her oppressors only turned from her, or looked another way, for an instant, she invariably caught up her children and ran off towards the forest. father gomez was at length wearied by what he termed her "blind obstinacy;" and, as the only means of securing all three, he took measures to separate the mother from her children, and resolved to convey guahiba to a distant mission, whence she should never find her way back either to them or to her home. in pursuance of this plan, poor guahiba, with her hands tied behind her, was placed in the bow of a canoe. father gomez seated himself at the helm, and they rowed away. the few travellers who have visited these regions agree in describing a phenomenon, the cause of which is still a mystery to geologists, and which imparts to the lonely depths of these unappropriated and unviolated shades an effect intensely and indescribably mournful. the granite rocks which border the river, and extend far into the contiguous woods, assume strange, fantastic shapes; and are covered with a black incrustation, or deposit, which contrasted with the snow-white foam of the waves breaking on them below, and the pale lichens which spring from their crevices and creep along their surface above, give these shores an aspect perfectly funereal. between these melancholy rocks--so high and so steep that a landing-place seldom occurred for leagues together--the canoe of father gomez slowly glided, though urged against the stream by eight robust indians. the unhappy guahiba sat at first perfectly unmoved, and apparently amazed and stunned by her situation; she did not comprehend what they were going to do with her; but after a while she looked up towards the sun, then down upon the stream; and perceiving, by the direction of the one and the course of the other, that every stroke of the oar carried her farther and farther from her beloved and helpless children, her husband, and her native home, her countenance was seen to change and assume a fearful expression. as the possibility of escape, in her present situation, had never once occurred to her captors, she had been very slightly and carelessly bound. she watched her opportunity, burst the withes on her arms, with a sudden effort flung herself overboard, and dived under the waves; but in another moment she rose again at a considerable distance, and swam to the shore. the current, being rapid and strong, carried her down to the base of a dark granite rock which projected into the stream; she climbed it with fearless agility, stood for an instant on its summit, looking down upon her tyrants, then plunged into the forest, and was lost to sight. father gomez, beholding his victim thus unexpectedly escape him, sat mute and thunderstruck for some moments, unable to give utterance to the extremity of his rage and astonishment. when, at length, he found voice, he commanded his indians to pull with all their might to the shore; then to pursue the poor fugitive, and bring her back to him, dead or alive. guahiba, meantime, while strength remained to break her way through the tangled wilderness, continued her flight; but soon exhausted and breathless, with the violence of her exertions, she was obliged to relax in her efforts, and at length sunk down at the foot of a huge laurel tree, where she concealed herself, as well as she might, among the long, interwoven grass. there, crouching and trembling in her lair, she heard the voices of her persecutors hallooing to each other through the thicket. she would probably have escaped but for a large mastiff which the indians had with them, and which scented her out in her hiding-place. the moment she heard the dreaded animal snuffing in the air, and tearing his way through the grass, she knew she was lost. the indians came up. she attempted no vain resistance; but, with a sullen passiveness, suffered herself to be seized and dragged to the shore. when the merciless priest beheld her, he determined to inflict on her such discipline as he thought would banish her children from her memory, and cure her for ever of her passion for escaping. he ordered her to be stretched upon that granite rock where she had landed from the canoe, on the summit of which she had stood, as if exulting in her flight,--the rock of the mother, as it has ever since been denominated--and there flogged till she could scarcely move or speak. she was then bound more securely, placed in the canoe, and carried to javita, the seat of a mission far up the river. it was near sunset when they arrived at this village, and the inhabitants were preparing to go to rest. guahiba was deposited for the night in a large barn-like building, which served as a place of worship, a public magazine, and, occasionally, as a barrack. father gomez ordered two or three indians of javita to keep guard over her alternately, relieving each other through the night; and then went to repose himself after the fatigues of his voyage. as the wretched captive neither resisted nor complained, father gomez flattered himself that she was now reduced to submission. little could he fathom the bosom of this fond mother! he mistook for stupor, or resignation, the calmness of a fixed resolve. in absence, in bonds, and in torture, her heart throbbed with but one feeling; one thought alone possessed her whole soul:--her children--her children--and still her children! among the indians appointed to watch her was a youth, about eighteen or nineteen years of age, who, perceiving that her arms were miserably bruised by the stripes she had received, and that she suffered the most acute agony from the savage tightness with which the cords were drawn, let fall an exclamation of pity in the language of her tribe. quick she seized the moment of feeling, and addressed him as one of her people. "guahibo," she said, in a whispered tone, "thou speakest my language, and doubtless thou art my brother! wilt thou see me perish without pity, o son of my people? ah, cut these bonds which enter into my flesh! i faint with pain! i die!" the young man heard, and, as if terrified, removed a few paces from her and kept silence. afterwards, when his companions were out of sight, and he was left alone to watch, he approached, and said, "guahiba!--our fathers were the same, and i may not see thee die; but if i cut these bonds, white man will flog me:--wilt thou be content if i loosen them, and give thee ease?" and as he spoke, he stooped and loosened the thongs on her wrists and arms; she smiled upon him languidly, and appeared satisfied. night was now coming on. guahiba dropped her head on her bosom, and closed her eyes, as if exhausted by weariness. the young indian, believing that she slept, after some hesitation laid himself down on his mat. his companions were already slumbering in the porch of the building, and all was still. then guahiba raised her head. it was night--dark night--without moon or star. there was no sound, except the breathing of the sleepers around her, and the humming of the mosquitoes. she listened for some time with her whole soul; but all was silence. she then gnawed the loosened thongs asunder with her teeth. her hands once free, she released her feet; and when the morning came she had disappeared. search was made for her in every direction, but in vain; and father gomez, baffled and wrathful, returned to his village. the distance between javita and san fernando, where guahiba had left her infants, is twenty-five leagues in a straight line. a fearful wilderness of gigantic forest trees, and intermingling underwood, separated these two missions;--a savage and awful solitude, which, probably, since the beginning of the world, had never been trodden by human foot. all communication was carried on by the river; and there lived not a man, whether indian or european, bold enough to have attempted the route along the shore. it was the commencement of the rainy season. the sky, obscured by clouds, seldom revealed the sun by day; and neither moon nor gleam of twinkling star by night. the rivers had overflowed, and the lowlands were inundated. there was no visible object to direct the traveller; no shelter, no defence, no aid, no guide. was it providence--was it the strong instinct of maternal love, which led this courageous woman through the depths of the pathless woods--where rivulets, swollen to torrents by the rains, intercepted her at every step; where the thorny lianas, twining from tree to tree, opposed an almost impenetrable barrier; where the mosquitoes hung in clouds upon her path; where the jaguar and the alligator lurked to devour her; where the rattle-snake and the water-serpent lay coiled up in the damp grass, ready to spring at her; where she had no food to support her exhausted frame, but a few berries, and the large black ants which build their nests on the trees? how directed--how sustained--cannot be told: the poor woman herself could not tell. all that can be known with any certainty is, that the fourth rising sun beheld her at san fernando; a wild, and wasted, and fearful object; her feet swelled and bleeding--her hands torn--her body covered with wounds, and emaciated with famine and fatigue;--but once more near her children! for several hours she hovered round the hut in which she had left them, gazing on it from a distance with longing eyes and a sick heart, without daring to advance: at length she perceived that all the inhabitants had quitted their cottages to attend vespers; then she stole from the thicket, and approached, with faint and timid steps, the spot which contained her hearths treasures. she entered, and found her infants left alone, and playing together on a mat: they screamed at her appearance, so changed was she by suffering; but when she called them by name, they knew her tender voice, and stretched out their little arms towards her. in that moment, the mother forgot all she had endured--all her anguish, all her fears, every thing on earth but the objects which blessed her eyes. she sat down between her children--she took them on her knees--she clasped them in an agony of fondness to her bosom--she covered them with kisses--she shed torrents of tears on their little heads, as she hugged them to her. suddenly she remembered where she was, and why she was there: new terrors seized her; she rose up hastily, and, with her babies in her arms, she staggered out of the cabin--fainting, stumbling, and almost blind with loss of blood and inanition. she tried to reach the woods, but too feeble to sustain her burthen, which yet she would not relinquish, her limbs trembled, and sank beneath her. at this moment an indian, who was watching the public oven, perceived her. he gave the alarm by ringing a bell, and the people rushed forth, gathering round guahiba with fright and astonishment. they gazed upon her as if upon an apparition, till her sobs, and imploring looks, and trembling and wounded limbs, convinced them that she yet lived, though apparently nigh to death. they looked upon her in silence, and then at each other; their savage bosoms were touched with commiseration for her sad plight, and with admiration, and even awe, at this unexampled heroism of maternal love. while they hesitated, and none seemed willing to seize her, or to take her children from her, father gomez, who had just landed on his return from javita, approached in haste, and commanded them to be separated. guahiba clasped her children closer to her breast, and the indians shrunk back. "what!" thundered the monk: "will ye suffer this woman to steal two precious souls from heaven?--two members from our community? see ye not, that while she is suffered to approach them, there is no salvation for either mother or children?--part them, and instantly!" the indians, accustomed to his ascendancy, and terrified at his voice, tore the children of guahiba once more from her feeble arms: she uttered nor word nor cry, but sunk in a swoon upon the earth. while in this state, father gomez, with a cruel mercy, ordered her wounds to be carefully dressed: her arms and legs were swathed with cotton bandages; she was then placed in a canoe, and conveyed to a mission, far, far off, on the river esmeralda, beyond the upper orinoco. she continued in a state of exhaustion and torpor during the voyage; but after being taken out of the boat and carried inland, restoratives brought her back to life, and to a sense of her situation. when she perceived, as reason and consciousness returned, that she was in a strange place, unknowing how she was brought there--among a tribe who spoke a language different from any she had ever heard before, and from whom, therefore, according to indian prejudices, she could hope nor aid nor pity;--when she recollected that she was far from her beloved children;--when she saw no means of discovering the bearing or the distance of their abode--no clue to guide her back to it:--_then_, and only then, did the mother's heart yield to utter despair; and thenceforward refusing to speak or to move, and obstinately rejecting all nourishment, thus she died. the boatman, on the river atabapo, suspends his oar with a sigh as he passes the rock of the mother. he points it out to the traveller, and weeps as he relates the tale of her sufferings and her fate. ages hence, when these solitary regions have become the seats of civilization, of power, and intelligence; when the pathless wilds, which poor guahiba traversed in her anguish, are replaced by populous cities, and smiling gardens, and pastures, and waving harvests,--still that dark rock shall stand, frowning o'er the stream; tradition and history shall preserve its name and fame; and when even the pyramids, those vast, vain monuments to human pride, have passed away, it shall endure, to carry down to the end of the world the memory of the indian mother. much coin, much care. a dramatic proverb. written for hyacinthe, emily, caroline, and edward. characters. dick, the cobbler, a very honest man, and very merry withal, much given to singing. margery, his wife, simple and affectionate, and one of the best women in the world. lady amaranthe, a fine lady, full of airs and affectation, but not without good feeling. mademoiselle justine, her french maid, very like other french maids. the scene lies partly in the garret of the cobbler, and partly in lady amaranthe's drawing-room. much coin, much care. scene i. _a garret meanly furnished; several pairs of old shoes, a coat, hat, bonnet, and shawl hanging against the wall. dick is seated on a low stool in front. he works, and sings._ as she lay on that day in the bay of biscay o! now that's what _i_ call a good song; but my wife, she can't abear them blusteration songs, she says; she likes something tender and genteel, full of fine words. (_sings in a mincing voice._) vake, dearest, vake, and again united ve'll vander by the sea-he-he-e. hang me, if i can understand a word of it! but when my wife sings it out with her pretty little mouth, it does one's heart good to hear her; and i could listen to her for ever: but, for my own part, what i like is a song that comes thundering out with a meaning in it! (_sings, and flourishes his hammer with enthusiasm, beating time upon the shoe._) march! march! eskdale and tiviotdale, all the blue bonnets are over the border! margery--(_from within._) dick! dick! what a noise you do keep! dick. a noise, eh? why, meg, you didn't use to think it a noise: you used to like to hear me sing! margery--(_entering._) and so i did, and so i do. i loves music with all my heart; but the whole parish will hear you if you go for to bawl out so monstrous loud. dick. and let them! who cares? [_he sings, she laughs._ margery. nay, sing away if you like it! dick--(_stopping suddenly._) i won't sing another bit if you don't like it, meg. margery. oh, i do like! lord bless us! not like it! it sounds so merry! why, dick, love, every body said yesterday that you sung as well as mr. thingumee at sadler's wells, and says they, "who is that young man as sings like any nightingale?" and i says (_drawing herself up_), "that's my husband!" dick. ay! flummery!--but, meg, i say, how did you like the wedding yesterday? margery. oh, hugeously! such heaps of smart people, as fine as fivepence, i warrant; and such gay gowns and caps! and plenty to eat and drink!--but what i liked best was the walking in the gardens at bagnigge wells, and the tea, and the crumpets! dick. and the punch! margery. yes--ha! ha! i could see you thought _that_ good! and then the dancing! dick. ay, ay; and there wasn't one amongst them that footed it away like my margery. and folks says to me, "pray, who is that pretty modest young woman as hops over the ground as light as a feather?" says they; and says i, "why, that there pretty young woman is my wife, to be sure!" margery. ah, you're at your jokes, dick! dick. i'll be hanged then! margery--(_leaning on his shoulder._) well, to be sure, we were happy yesterday. it's good to make holiday just now and then, but some how i was very glad to come home to our own little room again. o dick!--did you mind that mrs. pinchtoe, that gave herself such grand airs?--she in the fine lavender silk gown--that turned up her nose at me so, and all because she's a master shoemaker's wife! and you are only--only--a cobbler!--(_sighs_) i wish _you_ were a master shoemaker, dick. dick. that you might be a master shoemaker's wife, hay! and turn up your nose like mrs. pinchtoe? margery--(_laughing._) no, no; i have more manners. dick. would you love me better, meg, if i were a master shoemaker? margery. no, i couldn't love you better if you were a king; and that you know, dick; and, after all, we're happy now, and who knows what might be if he were to change? dick. ay, indeed! who knows? you might grow into a fine lady like she over the way, who comes home o'nights just as we're getting up in the morning, with the flams flaring, and blazing like any thing; and that puts me in mind---- margery. of what, dick? tell me! dick. why, cousin tom's wedding put it all out of my head last night; but yesterday there comes over to me one of those fine bedizened fellows we see lounging about the door there, with a cocked hat, and things like stay laces dangling at his shoulder. margery. what could he want, i wonder! dick. o! he comes over to me as i was just standing at the door below, a thinking of nothing at all, and singing paddy o'raffety to myself, and says he to me, "you cobbler fellor," says he, "don't you go for to keep such a bawling every morning, awakening people out of their first sleep," says he, "for if you do, my lord will have you put into the stocks," says he. margery. the stocks! o goodness gracious me! and what for, pray? dick--(_with a grin._) why, for singing, honey! so says i, "hark 'ee, mr. scrape-trencher, there go words to that bargain: what right have you to go for to speak in that there way to me?" says i; and says he, "we'll have you 'dited for a nuisance, fellor," says he. margery--(_clasping her hands._) a nuisance! my dick a nuisance! o lord a' mercy! dick. never fear, girl; i'm a free-born englishman, and i knows the laws well enough: and says i, "no more a fellor than yourself; i'm an honest man, following an honest calling, and i don't care _that_ for you nor your lord neither; and i'll sing _when_ i please, and i'll sing _what_ i please, and i'll sing as loud as i please; i will, by jingo!" and so he lifts me up his cane, and i says quite cool, "this house is my castle; and if you don't take yourself out of that in a jiffey, why, i'll give your laced jacket such a dusting as it never had before in its life--i will." margery. o, dick! you've a spirit of your own, i warrant. well, and then? dick. oh, i promise you he was off in the twinkling of a bed-post, and i've heard no more of him; but i was determined to wake you this morning with a thundering song; just to show 'em i didn't care for 'em--ha! ha! ha! margery. oh, ho! that was the reason, then, that you bawled so in my ear, and frightened me out of my sleep--was it? oh, well, i forgive you; but bless me! i stand chattering here, and it's twelve o'clock, as i live! i must go to market--(_putting on her shawl and bonnet._) what would you like to have for dinner, dick, love? a nice rasher of bacon, by way of a relish? dick--(_smacking his lips._) just the very thing, honey. margery. well, give me the shilling, then. dick--(_scratching his head._) what shilling? margery. why, the shilling you had yesterday. dick--(_feeling in his pockets._) a shilling! margery. yes, a shilling. (_gaily._) to have meat, one must have money; and folks must eat as well as sing, dick, love. come, out with it! dick. but suppose i haven't got it? margery. how! what! you don't mean for to say that the last shilling that you put in your pocket, just to make a show, is gone? dick--(_with a sigh._) but i do, though--it's gone. margery. what shall we do? dick. i don't know. (_a pause. they look at each other._) stay, that's lucky. here's a pair of dancing pumps as belongs to old mrs. crusty, the baker's wife at the corner-- margery--(_gaily._) we can't eat _them_ for dinner, i guess. dick. no, no; but i'm just at the last stitch. margery. yes-- dick--(_speaking and working in a hurry._) and so you'll take them home-- margery. yes-- dick. and tell her i must have seven-pence halfpenny for them. (_gives them._) margery--(_examining the shoes._) but, dick, isn't that some'at extortionate, as a body may say? seven-pence halfpenny! dick. why, here's heel-pieces, and a patch upon each toe; one must live, meg! margery. yes, dick, love; but so must other folks. now i think seven-pence would be enough in all conscience--what do you say? dick. well, settle it as you like; only get a bit of dinner for us, for i'm as hungry as a hunter, i know. margery. i'm going. good bye, dick! dick. take care of theeself--and don't spend the change in caps and ribbons, meg. margery. caps and ribbons out of seven-pence! lord help the man! ha, ha, ha! (_she goes out._) dick--(_calling after her._) and come back soon, d'ye hear? there she goes--hop, skip, and jump, down the stairs. somehow, i can't abear to have her out of my sight a minute. well, if ever there was a man could say he had a good wife, why, that's me myself--tho'f i say it--the cheerfullest, sweetest temperedst, cleanliest, lovingest woman in the whole parish, that never gives one an ill word from year's end to year's end, and deserves at least that a man should work hard for her--it's all i can do--and we must think for to-morrow as well as to-day. (_he works with great energy, and sings at the same time with equal enthusiasm._) cannot ye do as i do? cannot ye do as i do ? spend your money, and work for more; _that's_ the way that i do! tol de rol lol. _re-enter margery in haste._ marg.--(_out of breath._) oh, dick, husband! dick, i say! dick. hay! what's the matter now? margery. here be one of those fine powdered laced fellows from over the way comed after you again. dick--(_rising._) an impudent jackanapes! i'll give him as good as he brings. margery. oh, no, no! he's monstrous civil now; for he chucked me under the chin, and says he, "my pretty girl!" dick. ho! monstrous civil indeed, with a vengeance! margery. and says he, "do you belong to this here house?" "yes, sir," says i, making a curtsy, for i couldn't do no less when he spoke so civil; and says he, "is there an honest cobbler as lives here?" "yes, sir," says i, "my husband that is." "then, my dear," says he, "just tell him to step over the way, for my lady amaranthe wishes to speak to him immediately." dick. a lady? o lord! margery. yes, so you must go directly. here, take off your apron, and let me comb your hair a bit. dick. what the mischief can a lady want with me? i've nothing to do with ladies, as i knows of. margery. why, she won't eat you up, i reckon. dick. and yet i--i--i be afeard, meg! margery. afeard of a lady! that's a good one! dick. ay, just--if it were a man, i shouldn't care a fig. margery. but we've never done no harm to nobody in our whole lives, so what is there to be afraid of? dick. nay, that's true. margery. now let me help you on with your best coat. pooh! what is the man about?--why, you're putting the back to the front, and the front to the back, like paddy from cork, with his coat buttoned behind! dick. my head do turn round, just for all the world like a peg-top.--a lady! what _can_ a lady have to say to me, i wonder? margery. may be, she's a customer. dick. no, no, great gentlefolks like she never wears patched toes nor heel-pieces, i reckon. margery. here's your hat. now let me see how you can make a bow. (_he bows awkwardly._) hold up your head--turn out your toes. that will do capital! (_she walks round him with admiration._) how nice you look! there's ne'er a gentleman of them all can come up to my dick. dick--(_hesitating._) but--a--a--meg, you'll come with me, won't you, and just see me safe in at the door, eh? margery. yes, to be sure; walk on before, and let me look at you. hold up your head--there, that's it! dick--(_marching._) come along. hang it, who's afraid? [_they go out._ _scene changes to a drawing-room in the house of lady amaranthe._ _enter _lady amaranthe_, leaning upon her maid, mademoiselle justine._ lady amaranthe. avancez un fauteuil, ma chère! arrangez les coussins. (_justine settles the chair, and places a footstool. lady amaranthe, sinking into the arm-chair with a languid air._) justine, i shall die, i shall certainly die! i never can survive this! justine. mon dieu! madame, ne parlez pas comme çà! c'est m'enfoncer un poignard dans le coeur! lady amaranthe--(_despairingly._) no rest--no possibility of sleeping-- justine. et le medecin de madame, qui a ordonné la plus grande tranquillité--qui a mème voulu que je me taisais--moi, par exemple! lady amaranthe. after fatiguing myself to death with playing the agreeable to disagreeable people, and talking common-place to common-place acquaintance, i return home, to lay my aching head upon my pillow, and just as my eyes are closing, i start--i wake,--a voice that would rouse the dead out of their graves echoes in my ears! in vain i bury my head in the pillow--in vain draw the curtains close--multiply defences against my window--change from room to room--it haunts me! ah! i think i hear it still! (_covering her ears_) it will certainly drive me distracted! [_during this speech, justine has made sundry exclamations and gestures expressive of horror, sympathy, and commiseration._] justine. vraiment, c'est affreux. lady amaranthe. in any more civilized country it never could have been endured--i should have had him removed at once; but here the vulgar people talk of laws! justine. ah, oui, madame, mais il faut avouer que c'est ici un pays bien barbare, où tout le monde parle loi et métaphysique, et où l'on ne fait point de différence entre les riches et les pauvres. lady amaranthe. but what provokes me more than all the rest is this unheard-of insolence! (_rises and walks about the room_,)--a cobbler too--a cobbler who presumes to sing, and to sing when all the rest of the world is asleep! this is the march of intellect with a vengeance! justine. c'est vrai, il ne chante que des marches et de gros chansons à boire--s'il chantait bien doucement quelque joli roman par exemple--(_she sings_)--_dormez, dormez, mes chers amours_! lady amaranthe. justine, did you send the butler over to request civilly that he would not disturb me in the morning? justine. oui, miladi, dat is, i have send john; de butler he was went out. lady amaranthe. and his answer was, that he would sing in spite of me, and louder than ever? justine. oui, miladi, le monstre! il dit comme çà, dat he will sing more louder den ever. lady amaranthe--(_sinking again into her chair._) ah! the horrid man! justine. ah! dere is no politesse, no more den dere is police in dis country. lady amaranthe. if lord amaranthe were not two hundred miles off--but, as it is, i must find some remedy--let me think--bribery, i suppose. have they sent for him? i dread to see the wretch. what noise is that? allez voir, ma chère! justine--(_goes and returns._) madame, c'est justement notre homme, voulez-vous qu'il entre? lady amaranthe. oui, faites entrer. [_she leans back in her chair._ justine--(_at the door._) entrez, entrez toujours, dat is, come in, good mister. _enter dick. he bows; and, squeezing his hat in his hands, looks round him with considerable embarrassment._ justine--(_to lady amaranthe._) bah! comme il sent le cuir, n'est-ce pas, madame? lady amaranthe. faugh! mes sels--ma vinaigrette, justine--non, l'eau de cologne, qui est là sur la table. (_justine brings her some eau de cologne; she pours some upon her handkerchief, and applies it to her temples and to her nose, as if overcome; then, raising her eye-glass, she examines dick from head to foot._) good man--a--pray, what is your name? dick--(_with a profound bow._) dick, please your ladyship. lady amaranthe. hum--a--a--pray, mr. dick-- dick. folks just call me plain dick, my lady. i'm a poor honest cobbler, and no mister. lady amaranthe--(_pettishly._) well, sir, it is of no consequence. you live in the small house over the way, i think? dick. yes, ma'am, my lady, i does; i rents the attics. lady amaranthe. you appear a good civil sort of man enough. (_he bows._) i sent my servant over to request that you would not disturb me in the night--or the morning, as you call it. i have very weak health--am quite an invalid--your loud singing in the morning just opposite to my windows---- dick--(_eagerly._) ma'am, i--i'm very sorry; i ax your ladyship's pardon; i'll never sing no more above my breath, if you please. justine. comment! c'est honnête, par exemple. lady amaranthe--(_surprised._) then you did not tell my servant that you would sing louder than ever, in spite of me? dick. me, my lady? i never said no such thing. lady amaranthe. this is strange; or is there some mistake? perhaps you are not the same mr. dick? dick. why, yes, my lady, for that matter, i be the same dick. (_approaching a few steps, and speaking confidentially._) i'll just tell your ladyship the whole truth, and not a bit of a lie. there comes an impudent fellow to me, and he tells me, just out of his own head, i'll be bound, that if i sung o' mornings, he would have me put in the stocks. lady amaranthe. good heavens! justine--(_in the same tone._) grands dieux! dick--(_with a grin._) now the stocks is for a rogue, as the saying is. as for my singing, that's neither here nor there; but no jackanapes shall threaten _me_. i _will_ sing if i please, (_sturdily_,) and i won't sing if i don't please; and (_lowering his tone_) i don't please, if it disturbs your ladyship. (_retreating_) i wish your ladyship a good day, and better health. lady amaranthe. stay; you are not then the rude uncivil person i was told of? dick. i hopes i knows better than to do an uncivil thing by a lady. [_bows and retreats towards the door._ lady amaranthe. stay, sir--a--a--one word. dick. oh, as many as you please, ma'am; i'm in no hurry. lady amaranthe--(_graciously._) are you married? dick--(_rubbing his hands with glee._) yes, ma'am, i be; and to as tight a bit of a wife as any in the parish. justine. ah! il parait que ce monsieur dick aime sa femme! est-il amusant! lady amaranthe. you love her then? dick. oh, then i do! i love her with all my heart! who could help it? lady amaranthe. indeed! and how do you live? dick. why, bless you, ma'am, sometimes well, sometimes ill, according as i have luck and work. when we can get a bit of dinner, we eat it, and when we can't, why, we go without: or, may be, a kind neighbour helps us. lady amaranthe. poor creatures! dick. oh, not so poor neither, my lady; many folks is worser off. i'm always merry, night and day; and my meg is the good temperedst, best wife in the world. we've never had nothing from the parish, and never will, please god, while i have health and hands. lady amaranthe. and you are happy? dick. as happy as the day is long. lady amaranthe--(_aside._) this is a lesson to me. eh bien, justine! voilà donc notre sauvage! justine. il est gentil ce monsieur dick, et à present que je le regarde--vraiment il a une assez jolie tournure. lady amaranthe--(_with increasing interest._) have you any children? dick--(_with a sigh._) no, ma'am; and that's the only thing as frets us. lady amaranthe. good heavens! you do not mean to say you wish for them, and have scarce enough for yourselves? how would you feed them? dick. oh, i should leave meg to feed them; i should have nothing to do but to work for them. providence would take care of us while they were little; and, when they were big, they would help us. lady amaranthe--(_aside._) i could not have conceived this. (_she whispers justine, who goes out._) (_to dick._) can i do any thing to serve you? dick. only, if your ladyship could recommend me any custom; i mend shoes as cheap as e'er a cobbler in london, though i say it. lady amaranthe. i shall certainly desire that all my people employ you whenever there is occasion. _re-enter justine, holding a purse in her hand._ dick--(_bowing._) much obliged, my lady; i hopes to give satisfaction, but (_looking with admiration at lady amaranthe's foot as it rests on the footstool_) such a pretty, little, delicate, beautiful foot as yon, i never fitted in all my born days. it can't cost your ladyship much in shoe leather, i guess? lady amaranthe--(_smiling complacently._) rather more than you would imagine, i fancy, my good friend. justine. comment donc--ce monsieur dick, fait aussi des complimens à madame? il ne manque pas de goût,--(_aside_) et il sait ce qu'il fait, apparemment. lady amaranthe--(_glancing at her foot._) c'est à dire--il a du bon sens, et ne parle pas mal. (_she takes the purse._) as you so civilly obliged me, you must allow me to make you some return. dick--(_putting his hand behind him._) me, ma'am! i'm sure i don't want to be paid for being civil. lady amaranthe. but as i have deprived you of a pleasure, my good friend, some amends surely-- dick. oh, ma'am, pray don't mention it; my wife's a little tired and sleepy sometimes of a morning, and if i didn't sing her out of bed, i do think she would, by chance, snooze away till six o'clock, like any duchess; but a pinch or a shake or a kiss will do as well, may be: and (_earnestly_) she's, for all that, the best woman in the world. lady amaranthe--(_smiling._) i can believe it, though she _does_ sleep till six o'clock like a duchess. well, my good friend, there are five guineas in this purse; the purse is my own work; and i request you will present it to your wife from me, with many thanks for your civility. dick--(_confused._) much obliged, much obliged, but i can't, i can't indeed, my lady. five guineas! o lord! i should never know what to do with such a power of money. lady amaranthe. your wife will not say the same, depend upon it; she will find some use for it. dick. my meg, poor woman! she never had so much money in all her life. lady amaranthe. i must insist upon it; you will offend me. justine--(_taking the purse out of her lady's hand, and forcing it upon dick._) dieux! est-il bête!--you no understand?--it is de gold and de silver money (_laughing._) comme il a l'air ébahi! dick--(_putting up the money._) many thanks, and i pray god bless your ladyship! lady amaranthe--(_gaily._) good morning, mr. dick. remember me to your wife. dick. i will, my lady. i wish your ladyship, and you, miss, a good morning. (_to himself._) five guineas!--what will meg say?--now i'll be a master shoemaker. (_going out in an ecstasy, he knocks his head against the wall._) lady amaranthe. take care, friend. montrez-lui la porte, justine! justine. mais venez donc, monsieur dick--par ici--et n'allez pas donner le nez contre la porte! [_dick follows justine out of the door, after making several bows._ lady amaranthe. poor man!--well, he's silenced--he does not look as if he would sing, morning or night, for the next twelve months. _re-enter justine._ justine. voici madame mincetaille, qui vient pour essayer la robe-de-bal de madame. lady amaranthe. ah! allons donc. [_they go out._ _the scene changes to the cobbler's garret._ _enter margery, in haste; a basket in her hand. she looks about her._ margery. not come back yet! what can keep him, i wonder! (_takes off her bonnet and shawl._) well, i must get the dinner ready. (_pauses, and looks anxious._) but, somehow, i feel not easy in my mind. what could they want with him?--hark! (_goes to the door_) no--what a time he is! but suppose they should 'dite him for a nuisance--o me! or send him to the watchhouse--o my poor dear dick! i must go and see after him! i must go this very instant moment! (_snatches up her bonnet._) oh, i hear him now; but how slowly he comes up! [_runs to the door, and leads him in._ _enter dick._ margery. oh, my dear, dear dick, i am so glad you are come at last! but how pale you look! all i don't know how! what's the matter? why don't you speak to me, dick, love? dick--(_fanning himself with his hat._) let me breathe, wife. margery. but what's the matter? where have you been? who did you see? what did they say to you? come, tell me quick. dick. why, meg, how your tongue does gallop! as if a man could answer twenty questions in a breath. margery. did you see the lady herself? tell me that. dick--(_looking round the room auspiciously._) shut the door first. margery. there. [_shuts it._ dick. shut the other. margery. the other?--there. [_shuts it._ dick. lock it fast, i say. margery. there's no lock; and that you know. dick--(_frightened._) no lock;--then we shall all be robbed! margery. robbed of what? sure, there's nothing here for any one to rob! you never took such a thing into your head before. [_dick goes to the door, and tries to fasten it._ margery--(_aside._) for sartain, he's bewitched--or have they given him something to drink?--or, perhaps, he's ill. (_very affectionately, and laying her hand on his shoulder._) are you not well, dick, love? will you go to bed, sweetheart? dick--(_gruffly._) no. go to bed in the broad day!--the woman's cracked. margery--(_whimpering._) oh, dick, what in the world has come to you? dick. nothing--nothing but good, you fool. there--there--don't cry, i tell you. margery--(_wiping her eyes._) and did you see the lady? dick. ay, i seed her; and a most beautiful lady she is, and she sends her sarvice to you? margery. indeed! lauk-a-daisy! i'm sure i'm much obliged--but what did she say to you? dick. oh, she said this, and that, and t'other--a great deal. margery. but what, dick? dick. why, she said--she said as how i sung so fine, she couldn't sleep o' mornings. margery. sleep o' mornings! that's a good joke! let people sleep o' nights, i say. dick--(_solemnly._) but she can't, poor soul, she's very ill; she has pains here, and pains there, and everywhere. margery. indeed! poor lady! then you mustn't disturb her no more, dick, that's a sure thing. dick. ay, so i said; and so she gave me this. [_takes out the purse, and holds it up._ margery--(_clapping her hands._) o goodness! what a fine purse!--is there any thing in it? dick--(_chinks the money._) do ye hear that? guess now. margery--(_timidly._) five shillings, perhaps, eh? dick. five shillings!--five guineas, girl. margery--(_with a scream._) five guineas! five guineas! (_skips about_) tal, lal, la! five guineas! (_runs and embraces her husband._) oh, dick! we'll be so rich and so happy. i want a power of things. i'll have a new gown--lavender, shall it be?--yes, it shall be lavender; and a dimity petticoat; and a lace cap, like mrs. pinchtoe's, with pink ribbons--how she will stare! and i'll have two silver spoons, and a nutmeg-grater, and---- dick. ho, ho, ho! what a jabber! din, din, din! you'll have this, and you'll have that! first, i'll have a good stock of neat's leather. margery. well, well, give me the purse; i'll take care of it. [_snatches at it._ dick. no, thankee, _i'll_ take care of it. margery--(_coaxing._) you know i always keep the money, dick! dick. ay, meg, but i'll keep this, do ye mind? margery. what! keep it all to yourself?--no, you won't; an't i your wife, and haven't i a right? i ax you that. dick. pooh! don't be bothering me. margery. come, give it me at once, there's a dear dick! dick. what, to waste it all in woman's nonsense and frippery? don't be a fool! we're rich, and we'll keep it safe. margery. why, where's the use of money but to spend? come, come, i _will_ have it. dick. hey-day! you will?--you shan't; who's the master here, i say? margery--(_passionately._) why, if you come to that, who's the mistress here, i say? dick. now, meg, don't you go for to provoke me. margery. pooh! i defy you. dick--(_doubling his fist._) don't you put me in a passion, meg! margery. get along; i don't care that for you! (_snaps her fingers._) you used to be my own dear dick, and now you're a cross, miserly curmudgeon-- dick--(_quite furious._) you will have it then! why, then, take it, with a mischief; take that, and that, and that! [_he beats her; she screams._ margery. oh! oh! oh!--pray don't--pray--(_breaks from him, and throws herself into a chair._) o dick! to go for to strike me! o that i should ever see the day!--you cruel, unkind----oh! oh! [_covers her face with her apron, sobs, and cries; and he stands looking at her sheepishly. a long pause._ dick--(_in great agitation._) eh, why! women be made of eggshells, i do think. why, meg, i didn't hurt you, did i? why don't you speak? now, don't you be sulky, come; it wasn't much. a man is but flesh and blood, after all; come, i say--i'll never get into a passion with you again to my dying day--i won't--come, don't cry; (_tries to remove the apron_,) come, kiss, and be friends. won't you forgive your own dear dick, won't you? (_ready to cry_) she won't!--here, here's the money, and the purse and all--take it, do what you like with it. (_she shakes her head._) what, you won't then? why, then, there--(_throws it on the ground._) deuce fetch me if ever i touch it again! and i wish my fingers had been burnt before ever i took it,--so i do! (_with feeling._) we were so happy this morning, when we hadn't a penny to bless ourselves with, nor even a bit to eat; and now, since all this money has come to us of a suddent, why, it's all as one as if old nick himself were in the purse. i'll tell you what, meg, eh! shall i? shall i take it back to the lady, and give our duty to her, and tell her we don't want her guineas, shall i, meg? shall i, dear heart? [_during the last few words margery lets the apron fall from her face, looks up at him, and smiles._ dick. oh, that's right, and we'll be happy again, and never quarrel more. margery. no, never! (_they embrace._) take it away, for i can't bear the sight of it. dick. take it _you_ then, for you know, meg, i said i would never touch it again; and what i says, i says--and what i says, i sticks to. [_pushes it towards her with his foot._ margery. and so do i: and i vowed to myself that i wouldn't touch it, and i won't. [_kicks it back to him._ dick. how shall we manage then? oh, i have it. fetch me the tongs here. (_takes up the purse in the tongs, and holds it at arm's length._) now i'm going. so, meg, if you repent, now's the time. speak--or for ever hold your tongue. margery. me repent? no, my dear dick! i feel, somehow, quite light, as if a great weight were gone away from here. (_laying her hands on her bosom._) money may be a good thing when it comes little by little, and we gain it honestly by our own hard work; but when it comes this way, in a lump--one doesn't know how or why--it's quite too surprising, as one may say;--it gets into one's head, like--the punch, dick! dick. aye, and worser--turns it all the wrong way; but i've done with both:--i'll have no more to say to drinking, and fine ladies, and purses o' money;--we'll go and live in the stall round the corner, and i'll take to my work and my singing again--eh, meg? margery. bless you, my dear, dear dick! (_kisses him._) dick. ay, that's as it should be:--so now come along. we never should have believed this, if we hadn't tried; but it's just what my old mother used to say--much coin, much care.[ ] * * * * * the end. london: ibotson and palmer, printers, savoy street, strand. * * * * * footnotes: [footnote : some of the sentences which follow (marked by inverted commas,) are taken from a portrait of mrs. siddons, dated , and attributed to sir walter scott.] [footnote : i am permitted to give the following little extract as farther illustrating that tenderness of nature which i have only touched upon. "i owe ---- ---- a letter, but i don't know how it is, now that i am arrived at that time of life when i supposed i should be able to sit down and indulge my natural indolence, i find the business of it thickens and increases around me; and i am now as much occupied about the affairs of others as i have been about my own. i am just now expecting my son george's two babies from india. the ship which took them from their parents, i thank heaven, is safely arrived: _oh! that they could know it!_ for the present i shall have them near me. there is a school between my little hut and the church, where they will have delicious air, and i shall be able to see the poor dears every day."] [footnote : i believe it _has_ been said; but, like madlle. de montpensier my imagination and my memory are sometimes confounded.] [footnote : ben jonson.] [footnote : george the fourth, after conversing with her, said with emphasis, "she is the only _real_ queen!"] [footnote : in a letter to mrs. thrale.] [footnote : in the grosvenor gallery. there is a duplicate of this picture in the dulwich gallery.] [footnote : she afterwards played lady randolph for mr. charles kemble's benefit, and performed lady macbeth at the request of the princess charlotte in . this was her final appearance. she was then sixty-one, and her powers unabated. i recollect a characteristic passage in one of her letters relating to this circumstance: she says, "the princess honoured me with several gracious (not _graceful_) nods; but the newspapers gave me credit for much more _sensibility_ than i either felt or displayed on the occasion. i was by no means so much _overwhelmed_ by her royal highness's kindness, as they were pleased to represent me."] [footnote : "for time hath laid his hand so gently on her as he too had been awed." de montfort.] [footnote : the last play she read aloud was henry v. only ten days before she died.] [footnote : now mrs. george combe.] [footnote : these sketches, once intended for publication, are now in the possession of lord francis egerton. the introduction and notes were written in march, --the conclusion in march, .] [footnote : the alteration and interpolations are by garrick, of whom it was said and believed, that "he never read through a whole play of shakspeare's except with some nefarious design of cutting and mangling it."] [footnote : she played in london the following parts successively:-- juliet, belvidera, the grecian daughter, mrs. beverley, portia, isabella, lady townly, calista, bianca, beatrice, constance, camiola, lady teazle, donna sol, (in lord francis egerton's translation of hemani, when played before the queen at bridgewater house,) queen katherine, catherine of cleves, louisa of savoy, in francis i., lady macbeth, julia in the hunchback.] [footnote : the only parts which, to my knowledge, she chose for herself, were portia, camiola, and julia in the hunchback. she was accused of having declined playing inez de castro in miss mitford's tragedy, and i heard her repel that accusation very indignantly. she added--"setting aside my respect for miss mitford, i never, on principle, have refused a part. it is my business to do whatever is deemed advantageous to the whole concern, to do as much good as i can; not to think of myself. if they bid me act scrubb, i would act it!"] [footnote : at dresden and at frankfort i saw the merchant of venice played as it stands in shakspeare, with all the stately scenes between portia and her suitors--the whole of the character of jessica--the lovely moon-light dialogue between jessica and lorenzo, and the beautiful speeches given to portia, all which, by sufferance of an english audience, are omitted on our stage. when i confessed to some of the great german critics, that the merchant of venice, romeo and juliet, king lear, &c. were performed in england not only with important omissions of the text, but with absolute alterations, affecting equally the truth of character, and the construction of the story, they looked at me, at first, as if half incredulous, and their perception of the barbarism, as well as the absurdity, was so forcibly expressed on their countenances, and their contempt so justifiable, that i confess i felt ashamed for my countrymen.] [footnote : the resemblance was in the brow and eye. when she was sitting to sir thomas lawrence, he said, "these are the eyes of mrs. siddons." she said, "you mean _like_ those of mrs. siddons." "no," he replied, "they are the _same_ eyes, the construction is the same, and to draw them is the same thing." i have ever been at a loss for a word which should express the peculiar property of an eye like that of mrs. siddons, which could not be called piercing or penetrating, or any thing that gives the idea of searching or acute; but it was an eye which, in its softest look, and, to a late period of her life, went straight into the depths of the soul as a ray of light finds the bottom of the ocean. once, when i was conversing with the celebrated german critic, böttigar, of dresden, and he was describing the person of madame schirmer, after floundering in a sea of english epithets, none of which conveyed his meaning, he at last exclaimed with enthusiasm--"madam! her eye was _perforating_!"] [footnote : in the hunchback.] [footnote : in the fatal marriage.] [footnote : i recollect being present when some one was repeating to her a very high-flown and enthusiastic eulogy, of which she was the subject. she listened very quietly, and then said with indescribable _naiveté_--"perhaps i ought to blush to have all these things thus repeated to my face; but the truth is, i _cannot_. i cannot, by any effort of my own imagination, see myself as people speak of me. it gives no reflection back to my mind. i cannot fancy myself like this. all i can clearly understand is, that you and every body are very much pleased, and i am very glad of it!"] [footnote : it must be remembered that it was not _only_ fashionable incense and public applause; it was the open enthusiastic admiration of such men as sir walter scott, sir thomas lawrence, moore, rogers, campbell, barry cornwall, and others of great name, who brought rich flattery in prose and in verse, and laid it at her feet. just before she came on the stage she had spent about a year in scotland with her excellent relative and friend, mrs. henry siddons, and always referred to this period as her "sabbatical year, granted to her to prepare her mind and principles for _this great trial_."] [footnote : her own words.] [footnote : first published in . the anecdote on which this tale is founded, i met with in the first volume of dow's translation of ferishta's history of judea.] [footnote : _vide_ the heetopadessa.] [footnote : afterwards the emperor jehangire.] [footnote : this little tale was written in march, , and in the hands of the publishers long before the appearance of bainim's novel of "the nowlans" which contains a similar incident, probably founded on the same fact.] [footnote : this little tale (written in ) is founded on a striking incident related in humboldt's narrative. the facts remain unaltered.] [footnote : it need hardly be observed that this little trifle was written exclusively for very young actors, to whom the style was adapted; and though below all criticism, it has been included here to gratify those for whom it was originally written, and as a memorial of past times. the subject is imitated from one of théodore leclerq's _proverbes dramatiques_.] * * * * * [transcriber's note: errata as given in the original have been applied to the text. other than the most exceedingly obvious typographical errors, all inconsistent spelling, hyphenation, diacriticals, archaic usage, etc. have been preserved as printed in the original.] transcriber's note: inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have been preserved. obvious typographical errors have been corrected. italic text is denoted by _underscores_. listed errata were corrected. mis-spellings of non-english words were retained as printed. readers noted the following: grenzbäuden should be grenbauden kellnerinn should be kellnerin. on page , the phrase starting "and perhaps for such a" seems to be missing words. a july holiday in saxony, bohemia, and silesia. [illustration: castle] a july holiday in saxony, bohemia, and silesia. by walter white, author of "a londoner's walk to the land's end;" "on foot through tyrol." "ne wolde he call upon the nine; 'i wote,' he sayde, 'they be but jyltes:' ne covet when he wander'd forth icarus' wings--ne traytor stiltes." _old author._ london: chapman and hall, , piccadilly. mdccclvii. [_the right of translation is reserved._] contents. chapter i. page what the bookseller said -- a walk in frankfort -- what the portress said -- glimpses of landscapes -- forest and river -- würzburg -- stein wine -- view from the citadel-hill -- a change of bedrooms -- coming to an understanding with the reader -- good night! chapter ii. würzburg -- the university -- red, green, and orange caps -- the marienkapelle -- the market -- the cathedral -- the palace -- spacious cellars -- a professor's hospitality -- to bamberg -- frost -- hof -- a shabby peace -- the arch-poisoner -- dear bread -- a prime minister hanged -- altenburg -- the park -- the castle -- reminiscences and antiquities -- the chapel -- the princes' vault -- wends -- costumes in the market-place -- female cuirassiers -- more about the wends -- grossen teich -- the plateau -- the cemetery -- werdau chapter iii. origin of altenburg -- prosperous burghers -- a princely crime -- hussite plunderers -- luther's visits -- french bonfire -- electress margaret's dream -- kunz von kauffungen -- "don't burn the fish" -- a conspiracy -- midnight robbers -- two young princes stolen -- the flight -- the alarm -- the köhler -- the rescue -- kunz beheaded -- the _triller's_ reward, and what a famous author said concerning it chapter iv. zwickau -- beer bridge -- beer mount -- the triller estate -- triller bierbrauerei -- the braumeister -- the beer -- four hundredth anniversary of the prinzenraub -- a friendly clerk -- "you will have a tsigger?" -- historical portraits -- a good name for a brewery -- a case of disinterestedness -- up the church tower -- the prospect -- princess schwanhildis -- the fire-god zwicz -- luther's table -- the church -- geysers -- petrified beds -- historical houses -- walk to oberhaselau -- the card-players -- the wagoners chapter v. across the mulde -- scenery -- feet _versus_ wheels -- villages -- english characteristics -- timbered houses -- schneeberg -- stones for lamps -- the way sunday was kept -- the church -- a wagon-load of music -- a surly host -- where the pepper grows -- eybenstock -- neustädl -- fir forests -- wildenthal -- four sorts of beer -- potato dumplings -- up the auersberg -- advertisements -- the school -- the instrument of order -- "look at the englishman" -- the erzgebirge -- the guard-house -- into bohemia -- romish symbols -- hirschenstand -- another guard-house -- differences of race -- czechs and germans -- shabby carpentry -- change of scenery -- neudeck -- arrive at carlsbad -- a glass boot -- gossip chapter vi. dr. fowler's prescription -- carlsbad -- "a matlocky sort of a place" -- springs and swallows -- tasting the water -- the cliffs and terraces -- comical signs -- the wiese and its frequenters -- disease and health -- the sprudel: its discharge; its deposit -- the stoppage -- volcanic phenomena -- dr. granville's observations -- care's rest -- dreikreuzberg -- view from the summit -- könig otto's höhe -- "are you here for the cure?" -- lenten diet -- hirschsprung -- the trumpeters -- two florins for a bed chapter vii. departure from carlsbad -- dreifaltigkeits-kirche -- engelhaus -- the castle -- a melancholy village -- up to the ruins -- an imperial visit -- bohemian scenery -- on to buchau -- the inn -- a crowd of guests -- roast goose -- inspiriting music -- prompt waiters -- the mysterious passport -- the military adviser -- how he solved the mystery -- a baron in spite of himself -- the baron's footbath -- lighting the baron to bed chapter viii. dawn -- the noisy gooseherd -- geese, for home consumption and export -- still the baron -- the ruins of hartenstein -- glimpses of scenery and rural life -- liebkowitz -- lubenz -- schloss petersburg -- big rooms -- tipplers and drunkards -- wagoners and peasants -- a thrifty landlord -- inquisitorial book -- awful gendarme -- paternal government -- fidgets -- how it is in hungary -- wet blankets for philosophers -- an unhappy peasant chapter ix. the village -- the peasant again -- the road-mender -- among the czechs -- czechish speech and characteristics -- crosses -- horosedl -- the old cook -- more praise of england -- the dinner -- a journey-companion -- famous files -- a mechaniker's earnings -- kruschowitz -- rentsch -- more czechish characteristics -- neu straschitz -- a word in season from old fuller -- the mechaniker departs chapter x. a talk with the landlord -- a jew's offer -- a ride in a wagen -- talk with the jew -- the stars -- a mysterious gun-barrel -- an alarm -- stony ammunition -- the man with the gun -- the jew's opinion of him -- sunrise -- a walk -- the white hill -- a fatal field -- waking up in the suburbs -- early breakfasts -- imperial and royal tobacco -- milk-folk -- the gate of prague -- a snappish sentry -- the soldiers -- into the city -- picturesque features and crowding associations -- the kleinseite -- the bridge -- palaces -- the altstadt -- remarkable streets -- the teinkirche -- the neustadt -- the three hotels chapter xi. the hausknecht -- a place to lose yourself -- street-phenomena -- book-shops -- glass-wares -- cavernous beer-houses -- signs -- czechish names -- ugly women -- swarms of soldiers -- a scene on the bridge -- a drateñik -- the ugly passport clerk -- the suspension-bridge -- the islands -- the slopes of the laurenzberg -- view over prague -- schools, palaces, and poverty -- the rookery -- the hradschin -- the courts -- the cathedral -- the great tomb -- the silver shrine -- relics -- a kissed portrait -- st. wenzel's chapel -- big sigmund -- the loretto platz -- the old towers -- the hill-top and hill-foot chapter xii. the tandelmarkt -- old men and boys at rag fair -- jews in prague -- the judenstadt -- schools and synagogues -- remote antiquity -- ducal victims -- jewish bravery -- removal of boundary wires chapter xiii. the jewish sabbath -- the old synagogue -- traditions concerning it -- the gloomy interior -- the priests -- the worshippers and the worship -- the talkers -- the book of the law -- the rabbi -- the startling gun -- a birth at vienna -- departed glory chapter xiv. the alte friedhof -- a stride into the past -- the old tombs -- vegetation and death -- haunted graves -- ancient epitaph -- rabbi löw -- his scholars -- symbols of the tribes -- the infant's coffin -- the playground -- from death to life chapter xv. the kolowratstrasse -- picolomini's palace -- the museum -- geological affluence -- early czechish bibles -- rare old manuscripts -- letters of huss and ziska -- tabor hill -- portraits -- hussite weapons -- antiques -- doubtful hussites in the market-place -- the glückliche entbindung -- a te deum -- two evening visits -- bohemian hospitality -- the gaslit beer-house chapter xvi. sunday morning in prague -- gay dresses -- pleasure-seeking citizens -- service in the hradschin cathedral -- prayers and pranks -- fun in the organ-loft -- glorious music -- a spell broken -- priests and their robes -- osculations -- a flaunting procession -- an old topographer's raptures -- the schwarzes ross -- flight from prague -- lobositz -- lost in a swamp -- a storm -- up the milleschauer -- after dark -- the summit -- mossy quarters -- the host's story chapter xvii. morning on the milleschauer -- the brightening landscape -- the mossy quarters by daylight -- delightful down-hill walk -- lobositz again -- the steam-boat -- queer passengers -- sprightly music -- romantic scenery -- hills and cliffs -- schreckenstein -- how the musicians paid their fare -- aussig -- the spürlingstein -- fairer landscapes -- elbe _versus_ rhine -- tetschen -- german faces -- women-waders -- the schoolmaster -- passport again -- pretty country -- signs of industry -- peasants' diet -- markersdorf -- rustic cottages -- gersdorf -- meistersdorf -- school -- trying the scholars -- good results -- a byeway -- ulrichsthal chapter xviii. a hospitable reception -- a rustic household -- the mother's talk -- pressing invitations -- a docile visitor -- the family room -- trophies of industry -- overheating -- a walk in ulrichsthal -- a glass polisher and his family -- his notions -- a glass engraver -- his skill and ingenuity -- his earnings -- a bohemian's opinion on english singing -- military service -- beetle pictures -- glass-making in bohemia -- an englishman's forget-me-not -- the dinner -- dessert on the hill -- an hour with the haymakers -- magical kreutzers -- an evening at the wirthshaus -- singing and poetry -- a moonlight walk -- the lovers' test chapter xix. more hospitality -- farewells -- cross country walk -- steinschönau -- the playbill -- hayda -- all glass-workers -- away for the mountains -- zwickau -- gabel -- weisskirchen -- a peasant's prayer -- reichenberg -- passport again -- jeschkenpeak -- reinowitz -- schlag -- neudorf -- a talk at grünheid -- bad sample of lancashire -- tannwald -- curious rocks -- spinneries -- populousness -- przichowitz -- an altercation -- heavy odds -- the englishman wins -- a word to the company chapter xx. stephanshöh -- a presumptuous landlord -- czechs again -- stewed weavers -- prompt civilities -- the iser -- a quiet vale -- barrande's opinion of the czechs -- rochlitz -- an offshoot from tyre -- a happy landlord -- a rustic guide -- hill paths -- the grünstein -- rübezahl's rose garden -- dreary fells -- source of the elbe -- solitude and visitors -- the elbfall -- stony slopes -- strange rocks -- rübezahl's glove -- knieholz -- schneegruben -- view into silesia -- tremendous cliffs -- basalt in granite -- the landlord's bazaar -- the wandering stone -- a tragsessel -- a desolate scene -- rougher walking -- musical surprises -- spindlerbaude -- the mädelstein -- great pond and little pond -- the mittagstein -- the riesengrund -- the last zigzags -- an inn in the clouds chapter xxi. comforts on the koppe -- samples of germany -- provincial peculiarities -- hilarity -- a couplet worth remembering -- four-bedded rooms -- view from the summit -- contrast of scenery -- the summit itself -- guides in costume -- moderate charges -- unlucky farmer -- the descent -- schwarzkoppe -- grenzbäuden -- hungarian wine -- the way to adersbach -- forty years' experience chapter xxii. the frontier guard-house -- a volunteer guide -- a knave -- schatzlar -- bernsdorf -- a barefoot philosopher -- a weaver's happiness -- altendorf -- queer beer -- a short cut -- blunt manners -- adersbach -- singular rocks -- gasthaus zur felsenstadt -- the rock city -- the grand entrance -- the sugarloaf -- the pulpit -- the giant's glove -- the gallows -- the burgomaster -- lord brougham's profile -- the breslau wool-market -- the shameless maiden -- the silver spring -- the waterfall -- a waterspout -- the lightning stroke chapter xxiii. the echo -- wonderful orchestra -- magical music -- a _feu de joie_ -- the oration -- the voices -- echo and the humourist -- satisfying the guide -- exploring the labyrinth -- curious discoveries -- speculations of geologists -- bohemia an inland sea -- marble labyrinth in spain -- a twilight view -- after a' chapter xxiv. baked chickens -- a discussion -- weckelsdorf -- more rocks -- the stone of tears -- death's alley -- diana's bath -- the minster -- gang of coiners -- the bohdanetskis -- going to church -- another silesian view -- good-bye to bohemia -- schömberg -- silesian faces and costume -- picturesque market-place -- ueberschar hills -- ullersdorf -- an amazed weaver -- liebau -- cheap cherries -- the prussian simplon -- ornamented houses -- buchwald -- the bober -- dittersbach -- schmiedeberg -- rübezahl's trick upon travellers -- tourists' rendezvous -- the duellists' successors -- erdmannsdorf -- tyrolese colony chapter xxv. schnaps and sausage -- dresdener upon berliners -- the prince's castle at fischbach -- a home for the princess royal -- is the marriage popular? -- view from the tower -- tradition of the golden donkey -- royal palace at erdmannsdorf -- a miniature chatsworth -- the zillerthal -- käse and brod -- stohnsdorf -- famous beer -- rischmann's cave -- prophecies -- warmbrunn chapter xxvi. the three berliners -- strong beer -- origin of warmbrunn -- st. john the baptist's day -- count schaffgotsch -- a benefactor -- a library -- something about warmbrunn -- the baths -- healing waters -- the allée -- visitors -- russian popes -- the museum -- trophies -- view of the mountains -- the kynast -- cunigunda and her lovers -- served her right -- the two breslauers -- oblatt -- the baths in the mountains chapter xxvii. hirschberg -- the officers' tomb -- a night journey -- spiller -- greifenberg -- changing horses -- a royal reply -- a griffin's nest -- lauban -- the potato jubilee -- görlitz -- peter and paul church -- view from the tower -- the landskrone -- jacob böhme -- the hidden gold -- a theosophist's writings -- the tombs -- the underground chapel -- a church copied from jerusalem -- the public library -- loebau -- herrnhut chapter xxviii. head-quarters of the moravians -- good buildings -- quiet, cleanliness, and order -- a gottesdienst -- the church -- simplicity -- the ribbons -- a requiem -- the service -- god's-field -- the tombs -- suggestive inscriptions -- tombs of the zinzendorfs -- the pavilion -- the panorama -- the herrnhuters' work -- an informing guide -- no merry voices -- the heinrichsberg -- pretty grounds -- the first tree -- an old wife's gossip -- evening service -- a contrast -- the sisters' house -- a stroll at sunset -- the night watch chapter xxix. about herrnhut -- persecutions in moravia -- a wandering carpenter -- good tidings -- fugitives -- squatters on the hutberg -- count zinzendorf's steward -- the first tree -- the first house -- scoffers -- origin of the name -- more fugitives -- foundation of the union -- struggles and encouragements -- buildings -- social regulations -- growth of trade -- war and visitors -- dürninger's enterprise -- population -- schools -- settlements -- missions -- life at herrnhut -- recreations -- festivals -- incidents of war -- march of troops -- praise and thank-feasts chapter xxx. a word with the reader -- from herrnhut to dresden -- a gloomy city -- the summer theatre -- trip to the saxon switzerland -- wehlen -- uttewalde grund -- the bastei -- hochstein -- the devil's kettle -- the wolfschlucht -- the polenzthal -- schandau -- the kuhstall -- great winterberg -- the prebischthor -- herniskretschen -- return to dresden -- to berlin -- english and german railways -- the royal marriage question -- speaking english -- a dreary city -- sunday in berlin -- kroll's garden -- magdeburg -- wittenberg -- hamburg -- a-top of st. michael's -- a walk to altona -- a ride to horn -- a north sea voyage -- narrow escape -- harness and holidays index errata. page , last line, for visitors, read villagers. " , lines from bottom, for h_raba's_, read _hraba's_. " , lines from bottom, for p_strossischer_, read _pstrossischer_. " , last line of text, for heilen, read heiles. a july holiday in saxony, bohemia, and silesia. chapter i. what the bookseller said -- a walk in frankfort -- what the portress said -- glimpses of landscapes -- forest and river -- würzburg -- stein wine -- view from the citadel-hill -- a change of bedrooms -- coming to an understanding with the reader -- good night! "how happens it," i said to a bookseller in the _zeil_, "that a map of bohemia is not to be had in all frankfort?" "how it happens?" he answered, with a knowing smile: "because no one ever goes to bohemia." he searched and searched, as did a dozen of his fraternity whom i had previously visited, and found maps in number of switzerland, tyrol, thuringia, franconia, turkey even, and montenegro; but not the one i wanted. "such a thing is never asked for," he said, deprecatingly. "suppose you go to franconia instead." all at once he bethought himself of an inner closet, and there he discovered a map of bohemia; but not a travelling map: an overcrowded sheet that confused the eye, and promised but little assistance for the byeways. however, under the circumstances, i took it as better than none. "you will not get the map you want till you arrive at prague," was the sort of encouragement i got some twenty-four hours afterwards from a bohemian professor in the medical school at würzburg. i saw frankfort under all the charm of a first visit. i perambulated the narrow streets, and the _judengasse_, where dwell not a few of the nine thousand jewish residents; and stood long enough on the bridge that bestrides the muddy main to note the ancient towers, and the bits of antiquity peeping up here and there in the city and the sachsenshausen suburb--contrasted by the modern look of the spacious quays. and of course i saw the house in which goethe was born, and dannecker's ariadne, and the römer, that relic of the olden time, crowded with reminiscences of the empire. you may see the whole line of emperors in panels round the wainscot of the stately hall on the first floor; some grim warriors in plate and mail; some in scholar's gown; some in slashed sleeves and tight hosen, and some in velvet robes. here, after the crown had been placed on their heads in the adjacent cathedral, they went through certain formal ceremonies with cumbrous pomp and held their festival, as may be read in the vivid descriptions of goethe's _autobiography_. having glanced at the imperial effigies from conrad down to francis, and at the scene from the balcony outside, i dropped half a franc into the hand of the lady portress, and had crossed the landing, when she came tripping after me, and, with an air of lofty pity, returned the coin, requesting me to "give it to a beggar." the gentleman in charge of the ariadne had made me a polite bow for a similar fee; so i complied with the lady's request, and gave the piece of silver among five beggars, each of whom favoured me with a blessing in return. at noon, on the rd of july, i left frankfort for würzburg. the landscape at first is tame, and you will have to watch closely, in more senses than one, as the train speeds across, for the scenes and objects that relieve it. there are glimpses of the taunus mountains; of wilhelmsbad, embowered in a pleasant wood; of hanau, a dark-red town, where the dark-red sandstone station is enlivened by virginian creeper running gracefully up the columns; and of memorable battlefields. and of a dark-red mill, in a green grassy hollow, with its dripping wheel; and in the middle of the garden a globe of fire that dazzles your eye, and is nothing other than a carboy inverted on a stake, after the dutch manner, to serve as a mirror, in which may be seen a panorama of the neighbourhood. and everywhere women cutting down the rye, wearing bright red kerchiefs on their heads that rival the poppies in splendour. beyond aschaffenburg the country improves. wooded hills alternate with lengthy slopes of vines, deep shady coombs, and leafy valleys, where brooks frolic along in frequent windings, and villages nestle, and gray church spires shoot above the tree-tops. then parties of woodcutters, well armed with axes and wedges, enter the train, and each man lights his pipe, and they talk of their craft among themselves in a rustic dialect. and the train dashes into the forest of spessart, and under the hills, winding hither and thither between miles of trees, the remains, as is said, of that great hercynian forest which schoolboys read about in their latin studies. the nursery of them that overthrew rome; and one of the haunts of freedom before she took refuge in the mountains, and in a certain island of the sea. at lohr, a town prettily situate on the main, the railway road and river come near together, and the frequent windings of the stream brighten the landscape. we saw the steamer labouring upwards on her two days' trip from frankfort to würzburg. then a village where the saal falls in, and more and more vines, and old walls gay with yellow stonecrop, and on the right the ruin of karlstadt, and by-and-by würzburg comes in sight, and our five hours' journey is over. bavarian art attracts and gratifies your eye as you alight. the station is an elegant structure in the pompeiian style, ingeniously contrived for the purposes of the railway and post-office, and yet to preserve the architectural character. an impatient traveller might well beguile the time by admiring the proportions, the colouring, and the tasteful decorations along the colonnades. the building forms one side of a square in the newest quarter of the town. a curious sign, the _kleebaum_, caught my eye in the first street, and i trusted myself beneath it. the _kellner_ took my knapsack; asked if "that was all," and led me high up to a small homely-furnished room on the third floor, in which, however, the quality of cleanliness was not wanting, and that is what an englishman cares most about. at dinner i treated myself to a pint of the stein wine, for which the neighbourhood is famous, and am prepared to add my testimony as to its merits. the bottles have a jolly bacchanalian look about them, being globes somewhat flattened at the sides, and contain, when honest, a quart. the cost is from two to three florins a bottle; but a temperate guest is allowed to drink and pay for the half only, at his pleasure. with vineyards producing such wine around them, it is little wonder that the prince-bishops were always ready to fight for their good city of würzburg. the _strangers' book_ followed the dinner as a matter of course, and when the landlord saw that i signed my name as "from london," and heard me inquire for the residence of one of the professors, he put off his natural manner and became obsequious: a change that gave me no pleasure. there is more of life, more to interest the attention in würzburg, than in some places which are much more frequented and talked of. the streets generally are narrow, and built in picturesque disregard of straight lines; now widening suddenly for a brief space, now diminishing and bending away in a new direction. and you saunter onwards, wondering at the panelled house-fronts with their profuse ornament: grotesque carvings of animals' heads, of clustering fruits in bold relief at the intersections; windows with quaint canopies and curiously-wrought gratings; fanciful door-heads and gables; in short, a variety of architectural conceits on which your eye will fondly linger. now, at a corner, you come upon an ancient turret with conical roof, now a sculptured fountain, now images of the virgin or some of the saints over the doors; and anon huge statues of the bishops remind you of the men who built and prayed for würzburg. so numerous are the churches erected to perpetuate their memory or adorn their inheritance, that you need not go many yards whenever you feel inclined to meditate in a "dim religious light." you meet numbers of soldiers, for there is a citadel beyond the river, and water-bearers with their tall tubs slung on their backs going to or from the fountains, and now and then a peasant woman with conical hat and skirts the very opposite of the fashion; and except that nearly all the women you see are bareheaded, there is nothing else remarkable in costume. stroll to the river-side; what prodigious piles of firewood at one side of the quay, and what a busy fleet of barges moored on the other. the main here is about as wide as the thames at richmond, and is spanned by a bridge quite in keeping with the city. at either end stands an arched gateway, with statues niched in the massive masonry, and saints above the rounded piers. cross the bridge, and mount the citadel-hill on the left bank, and you will have a surprise. the hill terminates in a craggy precipice, crowned by the stronghold and its defences, and you look down on shelfy gardens planted here and there among the rocks; and over the whole city. the river flows by in a bold curve, cutting off a small suburb from the main portion of the city, which spreads, crescent-formed, on the opposite shore. an imposing scene. thirty-one towers, spires, domes, and steeples spring from the great masses and ridges of dark-red lofty roofs, and these are everywhere dotted with rows of little windows which resemble a half-opened eye. indeed, the curved line of the tiles makes the resemblance so complete, that you can easily fancy the eyes are taking a sly peep at what is going on below, or winking at the sunbeams, as a prelude to falling asleep for the night. the sun was dropping behind me in the west, and before me lay the city, looking glorious in the golden light. row after row of the sleepy eyes caught the ray with a momentary twinkle; the gilded weathercocks flashed and glistened, and the reflection falling on the river made pathways of quivering light across the ripples. presently eight struck from the cathedral, and the clocks of all the churches followed, each with its own peculiar note. one or two solemn and sonorous, in imitation of the big bell; others shrill and saucy, as if they alone had the right to record the march of the silent footsteps; a few sedate, and one irresolute. now here, now there, now yonder, as if the striking never would cease, and suggesting strange analogies between clocks and the race who wind them up. trees rise here and there among the houses, and form a green belt round the city, thickest in the gardens of the royal palace, a stately edifice comprising among its two hundred and eighty-four rooms the suite in which the emperors used to lodge when on their way to be crowned at frankfort. and beyond the trees begin the vines, acre after acre to the tops of the whole encircling rim of hills. broad slopes teeming with wine and gladness of heart, but looking bald in the distance from want of trees. one of these hills--the _köppele_, so named from a chapel on the summit--is a favourite resort of the inhabitants, who perhaps find in the view therefrom a sufficient reward for a long ascent, unrefreshed by shade or rustling leaves. seen from the hill, würzburg is said to resemble prague; not without reason, as i afterwards found. it would be, in my opinion, the more pleasing picture of the two, were its frame set off and beautified by patches of forest. i kept my seat on the outward angle of a thick wall till the golden light, sliding slowly up the hills, at last vanished from their brow, and left the whole valley in shadow. then i went down and sauntered about the streets, while the gloom within the porticos and gateways, behind buttresses and up the narrow alleys, deepened and deepened; and ended by discovering a stranger willing to talk in a well-lighted coffee-house. on my return to the _kleebaum_ the _kellner_ lit two candles, and conducted me, not to the little room "up three pair," but to the best bedroom on the first floor. what magic in that little item--"from london!" now, gracious reader, suppose we come to an understanding before i get into bed. you are already aware that i am going to bohemia, not to scale snow-crowned mountains, or plunge into awful gorges, for there are none. the highest summit we shall have to climb together is under five thousand feet; and there is none of that tremendous and magnificent scenery which is to be seen in switzerland and tyrol. if, however, you are willing to accompany me to a peculiar country--one which, like ireland, is most picturesque around its borders--rich in memorials of the past and in historical associations, fertile and industrious, we will journey lovingly together. now on foot, though perhaps not so much as usual; now a flight by rail, or a steam-boat trip, or by diligence or wagon, according as the circumstances befall. we shall find on the way occasion for discourse, somewhat to observe, for the people are remarkable, and subjects to read about; improving the hours as best we may. our next halt shall be at the old saxon town of altenburg, where there is something to be seen and heard of worth remembering; then over the _erzgebirge_ to carlsbad, the bathing-place of kings, and through the rustic villages to prague. then to the _mittelgebirge_; down the elbe, to a scene of rural life and industry; away to the _riesengebirge_--the mountains haunted by rübezahl--and the wonderful rocks of adersbach. then over the frontier into silesia, to herrnhut, the head-quarters of the moravians, to dresden and the saxon switzerland, berlin, magdeburg, and hamburg, from whence a voyage across the north sea will bring us home again. it may be that this scheme is not to your liking. if so, we can part company here, and you will perhaps never read the completion of that "story of the king of bohemia and his seven castles," which corporal trim began for uncle toby and never finished. and so, good night! chapter ii. würzburg -- the university -- red, green, and orange caps -- the marienkapelle -- the market -- the cathedral -- the palace -- spacious cellars -- a professor's hospitality -- to bamberg -- frost -- hof -- a shabby peace -- the arch-poisoner -- dear bread -- a prime minister hanged -- altenburg -- the park -- the castle -- reminiscences and antiquities -- the chapel -- the princes' vault -- wends -- costumes in the market-place -- female cuirassiers -- more about the wends -- grossen teich -- the plateau -- the cemetery -- werdau. würzburg is now the chief town of the circle of the lower main; it was once the capital of a principality governed by a line of eighty bishops, and figures prominently in german history. the university, founded in , is deservedly famous, having numbered among its professors many of first-rate abilities: a distinction it still retains. what with schools, with resources in art and science, cultivated society, and ample means of recreation, the old city is an agreeable residence. under the guidance of professor kölliker, i visited the botanic garden, the anatomical museum, and the medical school, which is one of the best in europe. the julius hospital, a noble institution, founded by one of the prince-bishops, whose statue is erected not far from the building, affords opportunities for study seldom found in provincial towns. the students, after the manner of their kind, form themselves into societies distinguished by the colour of their caps, as you will soon discover by meeting continually in the streets little groups of red, green, or orange caps, marking the three divisions. then, while the professor lectured to his class, i strolled away to the market-place, and saw how the women, leaving their shoulder-baskets at the door of the _marienkapelle_--mary chapel--went in and recited a few prayers, kneeling on the floor. a commendable preparation, i thought, for the work of buying and selling. the mounds of vegetables in frequent rows, and numerous baskets of cherries and strawberries, with heaps of fresh dewy flowers between, the many red kerchiefs and moving throng, and the wares displayed at the wooden booths, made up an animated spectacle. live geese roosting contentedly in shallow baskets awaiting their sale without an effort to escape, were remarkable among the enticements of the poultry-market. a few yards farther were little stalls with rolls of butter, resembling in shape a ship's topsail-yard, alternating with piles of lumps or rather dabs of butter, each wrapped in a piece of old newspaper. these were bought by poor folk. the _marienkapelle_ is a fine specimen of pointed gothic, with a graceful spire, which having become dilapidated and unsafe, was undergoing repair at the time of my visit. the inside is spoiled by overmuch whitewash, and the outside by an irregular row of petty shops--an uncouth plinthe--around the base; and this is not the only church in the city which has its character and fair proportions marred by such clustering barnacles. on the spot where the cathedral now stands rearing its four towers aloft, st. killian, an irish missionary, was martyred more than a thousand years ago. the lofty arched nave is supported by square columns, of which the lower portions are hidden by pictures. marble statues of the bishops, with sword and crosier in hand, betokening their twofold character of priest and warrior, are ranged along the walls; and the whole interior has a bright and cheerful aspect. of the other churches, i need not say more than that the new minster enjoys the honour of possessing st. killian's bones; that st. peter's at rome is reproduced in the church of st. john; and that st. burkhardt's, at the foot of the citadel-hill, is built in the round style. the spacious grounds and gardens of the palace are well laid out. there are umbrageous avenues, terraces, fountains, paths winding among flower-beds and away under the trees and through the shrubberies to nooks of complete solitude. in some parts the plantations are left untrimmed, and give an air of wildness to the scene. in the rear, steps lead to the top of the wall, from whence you may look over greater part of the grounds, and fancy yourself in a region of forest. the townsfolk have free access; and you meet now and then a solitary student poring over his book, or groups of strollers, or nursemaids with troops of children. the palace, which dates from the year , shows the consequences of neglect. hohenschwangau has greater attractions for the royal family than würzburg; and now, after a view of the staircase and chapel, there is nothing in the rusty and faded apartments that once exhibited the magnificence of the bishops to detain you. the cellars are large enough to contain tuns of wine. what rollicking nights the retainers must have had! the professor proved himself not less hospitable than learned. we dined together, and he introduced me to one of his colleagues, the bohemian mentioned in the second page, who gave me a letter to his father at prague. and then, after a sojourn of twenty-four hours, i departed. to see nuremberg, and journey from thence into bohemia, across the _böhmerwaldgebirge_, had been in my thoughts; but finding on inquiry that more time would be required for that route than i could spare, i decided for saxony. so, away to bamberg, sixty miles distant, the starting-place of the leipzig and nuremberg trains. there was an hour to wait, and then in deep twilight on we went for altenburg. although the night was in july, i shivered with cold. the temperature, indeed, was remarkable. three days previously i had seen white frost between aix-la-chapelle and cologne, and for the first ten nights of the month frosts occurred all over germany. at two o'clock we came to hof, where there was a change of train, and time to drink a cup of coffee, doubly acceptable under the circumstances. the country around is bleak, a region of bare low hills, of unfavourable repute owing to its cold. a farmer who came into the train told us there was thin ice on the ponds. here and there the hollows were filled with a dense mist, and resembled vast lakes, and the outlook was so cheerless that i was glad to sleep, till sunrise, with its splendours, woke up our drowsy party to welcome light and warmth. what a change since the former year! then the war was all the topic among those who were thrown together while travelling. now, sebastopol and the crimea seemed clean forgotten, and no one had a word to say even about the sick man at constantinople. no, all was changed, and talkers busied their tongues concerning the "shabby peace," as they called it, the dearness of food, and--william palmer. the simple-minded bavarians could not understand why england should have been so magnanimous towards her muscovitish antagonist, until it was suggested to them that france, having come to the bottom of her purse notwithstanding all the flourishes to the contrary, the war had to be ended. "and could england have kept on?" "yes, for forty years, if necessary." "what a country!" they exclaimed--"what gigantic wealth!" and then they wondered that peace had not brought lower prices, and talked with grave faces and timorous forebodings about the dearness of bread. scarcely a place did i visit where bread was not dearer than in london. but the arch-poisoner was the prevailing theme; and eager discussions on the incidents of his trial and execution showed how widespread was the excitement he had occasioned. even in little towns i saw _prozess gegen william palmer_ for sale in the booksellers' windows. the germans, however, thought theirs the best law, as it inflicts perpetual imprisonment only, and not death, in cases where the poison is not discovered in the body of the victim; and they would by no means agree that to hang a villain out of the way whether or no, was the preferable alternative. while the talk was going on, some one was sure to tell of what took place when the news of the execution was flashed from england. _palmer is hanged_, was the brief yet fearful despatch. the clerk who received it, by some strange fatality, read _palmer_ as an abbreviation of _palmerston_; and within an hour all germany was startled by the news, and bewildered with speculations as to the causes which had induced the exemplary english nation to get rid of their prime minister by so summary a process. "_palmerston gehänget!_" ejaculated one after another, with a chuckle. at seven o'clock we arrived at altenburg. a night in a railway train is not the best preparation for a day of sight-seeing. however, after the restorative of a wash and breakfast at the _bayerische hof_, the first hotel that presented itself, i crossed the road to the grounds belonging to the castle. by a bold undulating slope, laid out as an english park, you mount to a plateau, where a well-kept garden contrasts agreeably with the tall avenues and grouped masses of foliage. small pleasure-houses stand here and there among the trees, and you see a pavilion built in the style of a greek temple. a little farther, and there are the ducal opera-house, the orangery, and the stables--a handsome range of buildings. and beyond is the little forest--_wäldchen_--enclosed by a wall, where, among the stately trees, you may see two, the princes' oaks--_prinzeneichen_--so named from an interesting event in saxon history, of which we shall perhaps have some particulars by-and-by. the plateau, moreover, commands views of a fertile and well-wooded country all broken up by low hills, the lowest slopes of the ore mountains--_erzgebirge_--which show their dark swelling outlines far away in the south. you descend suddenly into a gap, which isolates an eminence--the hill of stirling in miniature--terminating in a porphyry cliff, crowned by the castle. a convenient ascent brings you into an irregular court-yard, shut in on opposite sides by the oldest and newest parts of the building. architecture of the thirteenth century mated curiously with that of the eighteenth; and both occupying the site of what was already a fortress in the tenth. the castle owes its present form to the dukes friedrich the second and third, who, in , completed their thirty-eight years of alterations. the place is a strange medley. gray, weatherbeaten walls, with square towers and jutting turrets, intruded on by modern masonry--neptune in his cockle-shell car in the midst of a fountain, and sentries pacing up and down, and soldiers lounging about their shabby-looking quarters--grim passages, and uncomfortable chambers. the austrian arms, which you may yet see cut in the stone over a doorway, mark the granary built by the electress margaret for stores of corn, in order that, when grain became dear, she might save the townsfolk from hunger. a little farther and you come to the _mantelthurm_, a round tower, with walls seven yards thick, commonly called the _bottle_, from the form of its slated roof. it has two ugly chambers, which were used as dungeons up to , after which it did duty as a magazine; and now the lower part is a cinder-hole. adjoining is the _jünkerei_--once the pages' quarters--in which are certain official apartments and the armoury. the imperialists plundered the castle, during the thirty years' war, of most of its treasures and curiosities; and later, many specimens of mediæval armour were carried off to coburg, leaving little besides objects which have an intimate relation with saxon history. weapons old and new, banners, garments, paraphernalia used in ducal funerals, and many things which belonged to persons connected with the robbery of the princes (_prinzenraub_). in recent times a museum of antiquities has been added: articles of furniture, books, and other rarities which perpetuate the memory of eminent individuals--urns and other funereal remains dug up in the neighbourhood--ethnographical specimens chiefly from australia and the sunda islands--and a collection of china, presented by the minister baron von lindenau. the palace, or modern portion of the castle, dates from . the castellan will conduct you through the throne-room, the great hall, where hang life-size pictures of the dukes on horseback by whom the place was built, and paintings of historical scenes, and other apartments bright with gilding and hung with elegant draperies. the church, built in the old german style, on the spot once occupied by the castle chapel, contains banners, and paintings, and numerous monuments and tablets to the memory of the princely personages buried beneath, and some admirable specimens of oak carving. to read their names as you pass along is a lesson in saxon genealogy. among them is that of the electress margaret, whose remains, after a rest of more than three centuries, were removed to the princes' vault, the door to which, studded with iron stars, you may see in the nave. but, in , duke joseph caused the old tomb to be cleared out and repaired, and honouring the memory of her whose name is yet revered in saxony, had her coffin restored to its former place with solemn ceremony. from the balconies or the tower you have a good view of the town lying beneath on a steep hill-slope, with its large ponds, and many ups and downs. and all around lie fields, and gardens, and rich pastures, bearing fruitful testimony to the good husbandry of the wends. the main approach to the castle is by a road winding with an easy slope up the steep side of the hill. its upper extremity is crowned by a gateway in the romanesque style, and where its lower end sinks to the level of the road stand two obelisks--pyramids as they are called--bearing on their pedestals a statue of hercules and minerva. the streets were full of life and bustle, for it was market day, and the wends coming into the town from all quarters increased the novelty of the sight by their singular costume. the men wear a flat cloth cap, a short tight jacket drawn into plaits behind, and decorated in front with as many buttons as may be seen on the breast of a paddingtonian page, loose baggy breeches, and tight boots up to the knee. you will, perhaps, think it a misfortune that the breeches are not longer, for all below is spindle-shanky, in somewhat ludicrous contrast with the amplitude above, and the broad, big foot. how such a foot finds its way through so narrow a boot-leg is not easy to guess. the men are generally tall, with oval faces of a quiet, honest expression. but the women!--they are something to wonder at. most of them are bareheaded: some wear a close plain cap, which throws out their round chubby faces in full relief; some display a curiously padded blue horseshoe, kept in place by a belt that hides the ears, from which two red streamers hang down their back; and others content themselves with a ribbon, tying their hair behind in a flat wide bow. their gown is long in the sleeves and short in the skirt--short as a highlander's kilt, which it very much resembles, and is in most instances of a carpet-like texture. plum-colour, blue, pink, and green, dotted with bright flowers or crossed by stripes, are the prevailing patterns; their gay tints relieving the sombre blue and black of the men. the skirt is made to fit pretty closely, much more so, indeed, than the men's breeches, and as it descends no lower than the knee, you can see that if nature is niggard to the men she is generous to the women. such an exhibition of well-developed legs in blue worsted stockings i never before witnessed. some of the younger ones had put on their summer stockings of white cotton, and, with bodice and skirt of different patterns, went strutting about apparently well pleased with themselves. but they have another peculiarity besides the kilt: they all, young and old, wear a species of cuirass, secured at the waist and rising to their chin. i judged it to be made of light wood, covered with black stuff. it gives them a grotesque appearance when looked at from the front or sideways; suggesting an idea of human turtles, or descendants of a race of amazons. some sat at their stalls with their chin resting on it, or face half hidden behind; and many times did i notice the breastplate pushed down to make room for the mouth to open when the wearer wished to speak--the pushings down being not less frequent than the shrugs of ladies in other places to keep their silly bonnets on. even little girls wear the cuirass, and very remarkable objects they are. the spacious area of the market-place, enclosed by antique houses, was thronged. wendish women sitting in long rows behind their baskets of cherries and heaps of vegetables; others arriving with fresh supplies on low wheelbarrows, their white legs twinkling everywhere in the sunshine. and many more who had come to buy roving busily from one wooden booth to another among all sorts of wares--books, ironmongery, jewelry, cakes and confectionery, coarse gray crockery, tubs and buckets, deep trays and kneading troughs chopped from one block; but the drapers and haberdashers, with their stores of gaudy kerchiefs and gay tartans and piles of stockings, attracted the most numerous customers. there was a brisk sale of sausages and bread--large, flat, round loaves (weighing lb. english) of black rye bread, at one groschen the pound, which was considered dear. the men wandered about among the scythes, rakes, and wooden shovels, or the stalls of pipes and cutlery, or gathered round the ricketty wagons laden with small sacks of grain and meal which were continually arriving, led by one of the tribe in dusty boots. and all the while the townsfolk came crowding in to make their weekly purchases till there was scarcely room to move. such a scene is to me far more interesting than a picture-gallery. i went to and fro in the throng hearkening with pleasure to the various voices, watching the buying and selling, and noting the honest, cheerful faces of many of the women. then escaping, i could survey the whole market-place from the rising ground at its upper end, and contemplate at leisure the living picture, framed by houses and shops in the olden style, among which, on one side, rises the ancient _rathhaus_. it was built in with the stones of a church given to the corporation by duke johann, whose portrait you may see hanging in the hall inside among electors and dukes, and their wives; and, ever since, it has been used for weddings, dances, and religious meetings, as well as for the grave business of the council and police. opposite the entrance, the date , inserted with black pebbles into the paving, marks the spot where the last beheading took place under authority of the council. the wends are the descendants of a sclavonic tribe, which, according to ethnologists, migrated from the shores of the adriatic more than a thousand years ago, carrying in their name (_wend_ or _wand_) a proof of having once lived by the sea. they are remarkable for the tenacity of their adherence to ancient habits and customs, which may, perhaps, account for their still being a distinct people among the germans by whom they are surrounded. and they are not less remarkable for honesty, health, and an amount of agricultural skill, which distinguishes them from their neighbours. they are clever and successful in rearing cattle; they get on, and save money; and the women have the reputation of being most excellent nurses. the bohemian peasant on the farther side of the mountains used, if he does not now, when his children were born, to stretch them out, sometimes at the end of a pole, towards the country of the wends, that the infant might grow up as able and lucky as they. one of their immemorial practices, still kept up, is to talk to their bees, and tell them of all household incidents, and especially of a death in the family. their number is two hundred thousand, all within the limits of lusatia. a much-frequented promenade is the dam of the great pond--_grossen teich_--on the southern side of the town, which, planted with chestnuts and limes, forms a series of green and shady alleys, with a pleasant prospect across gardens and meadows to the village of altendorf. swans glide about on the surface of the water, which covers sixteen acres, and a gondola plies to a small wooded island in the centre, resorted to by lovers and picnic parties. a short distance northwards lies the little pond, bordered by rows of poplars, and three other ponds in different parts of the town are also made to contribute to its attractions. another pleasure-ground is the "plateau," on an eminence between the railway station and the road to leipzig, from which you may wander through shady alleys to the old ruin of alexisburg. the cemetery, on a hill to the west of the town, is worth a visit for a sight of some of the tombs, among which appears the entrance to the new princes' vault, constructed in , in the form of a small chapel, lighted by richly-stained glass windows, through the floor of which the coffins are lowered to the vault beneath. on st. john's day the cemetery is thronged by the townsfolk, decorating the graves of their departed friends with flowers. after a visit to all these places, and a peep into the two churches in which luther once preached--the bartholomäikirche and the brüderkirche--i travelled on to zwickau, and as there is little to be seen on the way besides fields, low hills, and the tall-chimneyed, smoking, stocking-weaving town of werdau, we will glance at an interesting event in saxon history incidentally alluded to in the foregoing pages. chapter iii. origin of altenburg -- prosperous burghers -- a princely crime -- hussite plunderers -- luther's visits -- french bonfire -- electress margaret's dream -- kunz von kauffungen -- "don't burn the fish" -- a conspiracy -- midnight robbers -- two young princes stolen -- the flight -- the alarm -- the köhler -- the rescue -- kunz beheaded -- the _triller's_ reward, and what a famous author said concerning it. wends had long peopled the pleissengau when king henry i.--the fowler, as his contemporaries named him--conquered it during one of his many inroads among his neighbours, and made it part of the _osterland_ early in the tenth century. the newly-won territory was soon settled by german colonists, who, finding an ancient fortification on the summit of a bluff, rocky hill, called it _alte burg_, whence the present name of the town and principality of altenburg. henry, or his successor, otho, built a castle on the hill, no portion of which, or of the one which replaced it, now remains. the town is first mentioned in a document of the year . its story is the old one: family feud, rapine and revenge, chivalry and heroism, intermingled with quaint and quiet glimpses of social life, characteristic of the "dark ages." earliest among its possessors were the hohenstaufens; latest are the hildburghausens. at one time it was imperial; at another independent; now pledged or given away by an emperor; now held by a duke. in its prosperity was such that the burghers went carried in sedan-chairs to the council-house, and their wives walked to church festivals on carpets spread before them in the street. six years later friedrich the bitted quarrelled with adolf von nassau for having pledged altenburg to king wenzel of bohemia; whereupon adolf invited friedrich to a christmas feast, and while he sat at table employed a ruffian to murder him, as the speediest way of settling the dispute. the blow, however, fell on the wrist of a burgher of freiberg who rushed between, and lost his hand in preventing the crime. friedrich escaped, changed his dress, and, under cover of night, fled the city; but, having gained a battle in the interval, he returned as ruler in . the scene of this malignant assault is supposed to have been a house in the market-place. then came a succession of friedrichs: the earnest, the strong, the warlike, the quarrelsome, the mild, and such like. it was in , during the lifetime of the last mentioned, that those fierce reformers, the hussites, came across the mountains and made an inroad into the principality. they chose three-kings' day for their attack on the town, which was abandoned to them by the inhabitants, who fled to neighbouring villages, or took refuge in the castle; and, having burnt and plundered to the satisfaction of their cupidity or their conscience during four days, they left the place to recover as best it might. the same elector, friedrich the mild, married the austrian princess margaret--fit wife for such a prince, if we may judge from her endeavours to prevent bread becoming too dear for the townsfolk. luther was in altenburg from the rd to the th of january, , to hold a conference with karl von miltitz, the papal legate. the two met in the house of george spalatin, who became a firm friend of the great reformer. luther visited the town also when on his famous journey to worms, and on several occasions afterwards. the council-house was the scene of a religious conference from october, , to march of the following year. the parties in presence were--the theologians of electoral saxony on the one hand, of ducal saxony on the other; and among the subjects mooted they discussed the questions, "whether good works were needful for salvation?" and, "whether man can co-operate in the attainment of his own salvation?" and with the usual result; for the disputants separated without coming to a decision. the old town suffered from the disasters and commotions of the peasants' war. the imperialists quartered themselves upon it after the fatal battle of lützen. the troubles of the seven years' war fell upon it, and of the campaigns that ended in the downfall of napoleon. in , the french commissioners seized a quantity of english manufactures in possession of resident merchants, and made a great bonfire therewith in the market-place. in , the emperors of austria and russia and the king of prussia visited the town, and in the same year it afforded quarters to generals, , officers, and , ordinary troops. now we must go back for awhile to the year , the times of friedrich the mild. on the night of the th of july in that year the electress margaret, his wife, dreamt that two young oaks, growing in a forest near the castle, were torn up by a wild boar. herein her maternal heart foreboded danger to the two princes ernest and albert, both still in their boyhood. the times were indeed disquieting, what with hussite wars, territorial quarrels, and the ominous foretokens of the coming reformation. mild as friedrich was, he, too, had had some fighting with his brother, duke wilhelm, about their lands. among his officers was a certain conrad, or, as he was commonly called, kunz von kauffungen, formerly captain of the castle, who, through disappointment, had come to entertain two causes of quarrel against his master. one was that, having been sent to surprise and capture gera, he was taken himself, and only recovered his liberty by payment of four thousand florins ransom. of this sum kunz claimed reimbursement from the elector, and met with denial. the second was, a demand for the restoration of estates of which he had been granted temporary possession, but which, defying legal authorities, he refused to give up until the coveted four thousand florins should be once more in his pocket. chafing under his twofold grievance, he broke out into threats of reprisal, to which friedrich answered jocularly, "don't burn the fish in the ponds." baffled and exasperated, kunz devised a scheme for bringing the question to a speedy issue: persuaded hans schwalbe, one of the scullions at the castle, into his interest; concerted measures with his brother dietrich von kauffungen, wilhelm von mosen, and others, thirty-seven altogether, and watched his opportunity. treacherous schwalbe failed not in the service required of him, and gave information of the elector's absence: called away by affairs to leipzig. whereupon kunz and his confederates, mounting to horse, rode to altenburg, and halted under cover of a wood--where now the pleasure-ground is laid out at the foot of the castle--between eleven and twelve in the night of the th of july. finding all quiet, he sent his body-servant, hans schweinitz, forward to fix a rope ladder, with schwalbe's help, at a window above the steepest side of the rock, and, following with mosen, the two climbed up and got into the castle. once in, they hastened to the chamber of the young princes, and each seizing one, made their way to the gate. but, instead of albert, the little count barby had been picked up. kunz was no sooner aware of the mistake, than, giving ernest, whom he carried, into mosen's arms, he hurried back with the terrified count, and brought out albert. quicker, however, than the robbery was the spread of an alarm. the electress, apprehensive, perhaps, because of her dream on the previous night, appeared at a window, imploring kunz to restore her children, and promising to intercede with the elector in favour of his demands. her entreaties and lamentations fell on deaf ears; mosen had already made good his retreat, and kunz speedily followed him through the gate, which was easily opened, there being but a single invalid on guard. the time was singularly favourable for the success of the plot, as nearly all the residents and functionaries were enjoying themselves at a feast given by the chancellor in the town. the alarm-bell began to ring. mosen and the others galloped off with their prize, and kunz, mounting his horse with young albert before him, and attended by schweinitz, lost no time in making for the frontier. if isenburg could be reached before the pursuers came up, the game would be in his own hands. on they went in the dim night through the rabensteiner forest, along rugged and darksome ways, where they wandered from the track, their horses stumbled or floundered in miry holes, forced to choose the wildest and least-frequented routes, for dogs were barking and alarm-bells ringing in all the villages, warning honest folk that knaves were abroad. the dewy morning dawned, birds twittered among the branches, the sun arose, daylight streamed into the forests, and still the fugitives urged their panting horses onwards. a few hours later the young prince, worn out by want of rest and the increasing heat, complained of thirst; whereupon kunz, though still a half-score miles from the bohemian frontier, halted not far from the village of elterlein, and crept about in the wood to pluck berries for the boy's refreshment. while the captain was thus occupied, a certain charcoal-burner--george schmidt by name--at work near the spot, attracted by the glint of armour between the trees, approached the halting-place, made suspicious, perhaps, by the alarm-bells. to his surprise, he saw horses showing marks of hasty travel, and a fair-haired boy well attired, who said at once, "i am the young prince. they have stolen me." no sooner spoken than the _köhler_, running up to kunz, who was still stooping over the berries, felled him with a blow of the stout pole which he used in tending his fires. a shout brought up a gang of his comrades, sturdy fellows with long hair and grimy faces, who promptly laid hold of kunz and schweinitz, bound their hands, and carried them off for safe keeping to the neighbouring monastery of grünhain. thither also was the young albert borne in friendly arms, and from thence, on the following day, an escort, among whom went the _köhler_, conducted him back to his weeping mother--a real triumphal procession by the time they arrived at altenburg. mosen and his troop, meanwhile, had betaken themselves to a hiding-place not far from the castle of stein, on the right bank of the mulde, about half way towards the frontier. while some made good their retreat to secret quarters, the principals concealed themselves with prince ernest in a rocky cave screened by trees, waiting for a favourable opportunity to renew their flight. but hearing, while on their look-out, sundry passers-by talk of the capture of unlucky kunz, they sent a messenger to friedrich von schonburg at hartenstein, offering to deliver up the prince on condition that they should be left free to depart unmolested. the condition was granted: they gave up their captive, and were seen no more in all the province; and schonburg conveyed ernest to chemnitz, where he was received by his father the elector. unlucky kunz having been carefully escorted to freiberg, was there beheaded on the th of july--an example to knightly kidnappers. on the next day the _köhler's_ homely gaberdine and the garments of the princes were hung up in the church at ebersdorf, not far from the scene of the rescue. as for the _köhler_ himself, he had but to speak his wishes, for the electress, in the joy of her heart at the restoration of her sons, could not sufficiently reward the man who had saved the younger. "i worried them right well"--(_wohl getrillt_)--he said, when recounting how he had laid about him with his pole at the time of the rescue; and ever afterwards was he known as the _triller_. his wishes were modest enough;--a little bit of land, and liberty to hunt and cut wood in the forest--and amply were they gratified. such is in brief the story of the _prinzenraub_, as it happened four hundred years ago--a memorable event in saxon history. a walled-up window in the castle at altenburg, on the side towards the pauritzer pond, is said to indicate the place where in the former building the robbers entered. the princes' oaks still flourish; and the cave in which ernest was hidden is still known as the _prinzenhöhle_. and our own history is involved in the event, for from that same ernest descends the consort of our queen. to most english readers the _prinzenraub_ was an unknown story until a few years ago, when thomas carlyle published it from his vigorous pen in the _westminster review_, where all the circumstances are brought before us in the very vividness of life. "were i touring in those parts, i would go and see," says the author, referring to the rumour that the estate bestowed on the _triller_ remained still in possession of his posterity. by inquiry at altenburg, i learned that this estate lay in the neighbourhood of zwickau, so, as i also was bound for the bohemian frontier, i did go and see on the way. chapter iv. zwickau -- beer bridge -- beer mount -- the triller estate -- triller bierbrauerei -- the braumeister -- the beer -- four hundredth anniversary of the prinzenraub -- a friendly clerk -- "you will have a tsigger?" -- historical portraits -- a good name for a brewery -- a case of disinterestedness -- up the church tower -- the prospect -- princess schwanhildis -- the fire-god zwicz -- luther's table -- the church -- geysers -- petrified beds -- historical houses -- walk to oberhaselau -- the card-players -- the wagoners. the dark roofs of a few dull streets, a lofty old church tower, the tall chimneys, and clouds of steam and smoke of a busy suburb, rising amid orchards, gardens, and hop-grounds in the pleasant and thickly-wooded valley of the mulde, are the features presented by zwickau as you approach it from the terminus. there needs no long research to discover that the _prinzenraub_ is a household word among the people: hanging on the wall in the hotel you may see engravings of the _prinzenhöhle_, the castle of stein, the monastery at grünhain, and other places incidental to the robbery; and the waiters are ready to tell you that the triller estate lies near eckersbach, about half an hour's walk to the east of the town. on my way thither i crossed the mulde, a lively stream, flowing between steep slopes of trees, broken here and there by a red fern-fringed cliff. a saxon liking--one which the anglo-saxon has not forgotten--is betrayed in the name of the bridge--beer bridge; it leads to beer mount, which conceals within its cool and dark interior countless barrels of the national beverage. while walking up the hollow road that winds round the hill, you see on one side the entrances to the deeply excavated cellars, on the other a tavern, overshadowed by linden-trees, offering refreshing temptations to the thirsty visitor. the road presently rising across open fields brings you in sight of a pile of huge bright-red brick buildings, erected on the farther side of a deep, narrow dell, contrasting well with the green of a cherry orchard and woods in the rear. there lies the _triller_ estate. times are changed; and where the sinewy _köhler_ tilled his field and reared his family, now stands a brewery--_triller bierbrauerei_. the wakeful genius of trade has taken possession, and finds in the patriotic sentiment inspired by the history of the place a handsome source of profit. i addressed myself to the _braumeister_--_brewmaster_--who on hearing that one of england's foremost authors had published the story of the _prinzenraub_, manifested a praiseworthy readiness to satisfy my curiosity. the estate had long been out of the hands of the _triller_ family, so long that he could not remember the time--perhaps fifty years. but the _trillers_ were not extinct: one was living at freiberg, and two others elsewhere in saxony. the place now belongs to a company, under whose management _triller_ beer has become famous in all the country round; and not undeservedly, as i from experience am prepared to affirm. there is a large garden, with paths winding among the trees, and open places bestrewn with tables and chairs enough for the innumerable guests who quench their thirst at the brewery. as we strolled about the premises, the _braumeister_ called my attention to a writing over the main entrance-- _dulcius ex ipso fonte bibuntur aquæ_, remarking that he had never known a visitor disposed to quarrel with it. then, abandoning his laconic phrases, he told me how the four hundredth anniversary of the _prinzenraub_ had been celebrated on the th of july, . it was a day to be remembered in all the places made historic by the event. from schedewitz, on the farther side of zwickau, a long procession had walked to the brewery, under triumphal arches erected on the way. first came a troop of coalers, in forest garb, then friends of the company on foot and in wagons, and bands of music; altogether eight hundred persons, and among them the three _trillers_. airs were played and songs sung that made all the fire of patriotism glow again; and so earnestly did the multitude enter into the spirit of the celebration, that--a merry twinkle gleamed in the _braumeister's_ eye as he told it--"they drank a hundred eimers of beer. there they are: look at them," he added, pointing to an engraving of the whole procession--the _trillerzug_, as he called it. a similar festival was held at altenburg, hartenstein, and grünhain on the same day, to the entire satisfaction of all concerned, and the reinvigoration of saxon loyalty. i was seated at one of the tables with a tankard of beer before me, when a young man came up, looked at me inquisitively, and said, "e shmall eng-lish speak"--meaning, "i speak a little english." i felicitated him on his acquirements, when he proceeded to tell me that he was one of the clerks employed in the counting-house, and having heard of my arrival from the _braumeister_, could not resist the desire of speaking with an englishman. moreover, he would like to show me certain things which i had not yet seen, and he said, "if you pleasure in _prinzenraub_ find, so is glad to me." we were friends in a moment. he led me first to the counting-house, and showed me the bust of herr ebert, who, as chief proprietor, had headed the procession in the former year, but was since deceased, saying, "we very, very sorry; every man love him. ah! he was so good." then running up-stairs to a large whitewashed apartment--one of the drinking-rooms used when guests are driven in-doors by bad weather--where a few portraits hung on the walls, he cried, "here is something to see. but wait--you will have a tsigger?" "with pleasure," i answered, "if it's good to drink." "no, not drink," he replied. "what you call him?--to shmoke." the room echoed with my laugh, and he prolonged it, as i rejoined, "oh! you mean a cigar! no, thank you. tobacco is one of the things i abhor." "what you call him?" he exclaimed, in amazement--"cigar! then what for a teacher is mine. but he is a german." our friendly relations were in no way deranged by my dislike of a "tsigger;" and we turned to the portraits, which comprised some of the personages involved in the _prinzenraub_. the brave old _triller_ is represented in the costume of the period--a stalwart fellow, with ample black beard, bare legs, broad-brimmed hat, and loose frock tied by a belt round the waist. in one hand he grasps his pole, with the other supports the prince, who wearing red hosen and peaked red boots, looks up to him with tearful eye. kunz appears lying down in the background, looking half-stunned and miserable. there are two miniatures--of the _triller_ and his wife--apparently very old, believed to be likenesses. in the excitement occasioned by the four hundredth anniversary, a poor shoemaker, hearing it talked of, came to the brewery with the paintings in his hand, and sold the two for a shilling. besides these there are seven or eight other portraits, among which the features of kunz impress you favourably. he has dark curly hair, a high forehead, a clear bright eye, moustache and pointed beard; the whole appearance and expression reminding you of sir philip sidney. what with fluent german and broken english the young clerk worked himself into enthusiasm, and showed me everything that had the remotest connexion with the subject, ending with a book containing the latest history of the _prinzenraub_, and engravings of its incidents. nor could he think of letting me depart till i had seen the whole premises, and the enormous cellars. "the _triller_ is a good name for the brewery," he said, as we paced between the furlongs of barrels. on my return to the town i found out the ancient dame who keeps the key of the church tower, and as she unlocked the door offered her a small silver coin. "no! no! no!" she exclaimed, "that is too much. a _dreier_ (halfpenny) is enough for me." a rare instance of disinterestedness. once admitted, you find your way alone up to the topmost chamber, where dwells a woman with two or three children. she was winding up from the street below her daily supply of water when i entered out of breath with the ascent of so many steps, and paused in her task to conduct me to the platform, a height of about two hundred feet, from which the steeple springs one hundred and fifty feet higher. wide and remarkable is the prospect: the rows of poplars which border the roads leading on all sides from the town divide the landscape into segments with stiff lines that produce a singular effect as they diminish gradually in thickness and vanish in the distance. plenty of wood all around, merging towards the south into the vast fir forest which there darkens the long swells and rounded summits of the _erzgebirge_: a region of contrasts, with its abounding fertility and unpicturesque foundries and mining-works. the town appears to better advantage from above than below, for the many green spots in the rear of the houses come into the view, and you see gleaming curves of the mulde, and a great pond as at altenburg, and the remains of the old walls, and the ditches, now in part changed into a garden promenade. the mind becomes interested as well as the eye. you may grow dreamy over the fabulous adventures of the fair princess schwanhildis, in whose adventures, as implied in hoary tradition, the place originated; and if you desire proof, is it not found in the three swans, still borne in the town arms? or you may revert to the sixth century only, when the wends had a colony here, and worshipped zwicz, one of their sclavish fire-gods in the _aue_, or meadow--whence the present name, zwickau. or you may remember that luther often mounted the tower to gaze on the widespread view; and imagine him contemplating the scenes on which your eye now rests--a brief pause in his mighty work of rescuing europe from the toils of priestcraft. a clumsy table yet remaining on the platform, though tottering and fallen on one side with age and weakness, is called "luther's table;" the great reformer having, as is said, once sat by it to eat. but the sentiment which such a relic should inspire is weakened by the inference that as the zwickauers take no pains to preserve it from the weather, they at least are sceptical concerning its merits. and the church itself. it is the largest, the finest specimen of gothic, and has the biggest bell, in all saxony, and excepting two towers in dresden, is the highest. it dates from the eleventh century, and has been more than once restored. the interior well repays a visit. the slender, eight-sided pillars of the nave, the rare carvings of the bench-ends, and others about the choir and confessional, and in the sacristy, the high altar, by wohlgemuth, of nuremberg, the only one remaining of twenty-five which formerly stood around the walls, raise your admiration of art. if curious in such matters, you may see a splinter of the true cross--a relic from popish times--still preserved. there are some good paintings, of which one by lucas cranach the younger represents jesus as "children's friend." it was painted at the cost of a burgomaster in honour of his wife's memory. for one with time at discretion, zwickau and the neighbourhood would yield a few days of enjoyable exploration. a remarkable instance of volcanic action is to be seen between planitz and niederkainsdorf, which has existed from time immemorial. steam is continually bursting up from the coal strata beneath, of so high a temperature that the ground is always green even in the hardest winters. an attempt was made, a few years ago, to utilize the heat by establishing a forcing-garden on the spot; and in the adjacent forests there are land-slips, produced by disturbances of the strata, which are described as romantic in their effects. the valley of the mulde offers much pleasing scenery; the castle of stein and the _prinzenhöhle_ are within half a day's walk; and somewhat farther are the singular rocks at greifenstein, a pile as of huge beds petrified. the legend runs that a princess, having married while her betrothed, whom she had promised never to forget, was absent, the fairies, exercising their right of punishment, turned her and all her household gear into stone, and the beds remain to commemorate the perfidy. there are, besides, baths and mineral springs at the village of oberkainsdorf, and at hohensteiner bad; and curious old carvings in the castle of schönfels; and, if you incline to geology, the coal measures abound in fossil plants and shells, while of minerals there is no stint. the town has attractions of another sort: early-printed books, rare manuscripts, original letters by luther and other reformers, in the library; the _rathhaus_, on the front of which, over the door, you may see the three swans; and, among the archives, more letters by luther and melancthon. there are portraits of the two, by cranach, in the neighbouring castle of planitz. the house, no. , in the market-place, is that in which luther lodged in ; melancthon sojourned in no. , in the _burggasse_; and no. , in the _schergasse_, is where napoleon had his quarters in . it was evening when i slung on my knapsack and began my walk in earnest. a short stage at the outset is no bad preparation for the work to follow. the road runs between the noisy factories, past vitriol works, smelting furnaces, and, thick with dust, is, for the first three or four miles, far from pleasant. at length the busy district is left behind, the trees bordering the highway look greener, and the river, separated but by a narrow strip of meadow, is near enough for its rippling to be heard. excepting a miner now and then, wearing his short leathern hinder-apron, and a general shabbiness of dress, the people i met might have been mistaken for english, so marked is the similarity of form and feature. transported suddenly to any of the roads leading out of birmingham, no one would have imagined them to be foreigners. about three hours, at an easy pace, brought me to a wayside public-house near oberhaselau, where i halted for the night. there were sundry rustic folk among the guests, one of whom told me, while i ate my supper, that he had taken part in the _prinzenraub_ celebration, along with hundreds of foresters and villagers, at a _wirthshaus_ built on the spot where the _triller's_ cabin stood--a day to be remembered as long as he lived. he had, moreover, seen the _triller's_ gaberdine hanging in the monastery at ebersdorf. later in the evening came in three men of dignified appearance, who sat down at a card-table in one corner, to a game of what might be described as three-handed whist. gustel, the maid, showed them much deference, and placed before each a quart-glass of beer. they were, she whispered to me, the _actuarius_ of the village, and the inspector and doctor. from time to time, during the game, they broke out into a rattling peal of laughter, as one of them threw a set of dice on the table and handed round a few extra cards. i requested permission to look at the cause of merriment, and, to my amazement, discovered that both cards and dice were disgustingly obscene, out of all character with the respectable appearance of their possessors. before the game was over, some six or eight wagoners, who had arrived with their teams, spread bundles of straw on the floor, pulled off their boots with a ponderous boot-jack chained to the door-post, and, stretching themselves on their lair, soon united in a discord of snores. chapter v. across the mulde -- scenery -- feet _versus_ wheels -- villages -- english characteristics -- timbered houses -- schneeberg -- stones for lamps -- the way sunday was kept -- the church -- a wagon-load of music -- a surly host -- where the pepper grows -- eybenstock -- neustädl -- fir forests -- wildenthal -- four sorts of beer -- potato dumplings -- up the auersberg -- advertisements -- the school -- the instrument of order -- "look at the englishman" -- the erzgebirge -- the guard-house -- into bohemia -- romish symbols -- hirschenstand -- another guard-house -- differences of race -- czechs and germans -- shabby carpentry -- change of scenery -- neudeck -- arrive at carlsbad -- a glass boot -- gossip. the road crosses the mulde near oberhaselau, and, winding onwards between broad, undulating fields, and through patches of forest, rises gradually, though with frequent ups and downs, into a region more and more hilly. a bareness of aspect increases on the landscape as you advance, in contrast with which the stripes and squares of cultivation on the slopes appear of shining greenness. the views grow wider. they are peculiar and striking, though deficient in beauty, for the range of the _erzgebirge_, as the name indicates, hides its wealth underground, and makes up by store of mineral treasure for poverty of surface. yet, is there not a charm in the tamest of mountain scenery? it animated me as i walked along on that bright sunshiny morning. though the river was far out of sight, were there not a few ponds gleaming in the hollows? while little brooks ran tinkling down their unseen channels, and fountains began to appear at the wayside with a ceaseless sound of bubbling and splashing that fell gratefully on the ear; and the breeze made a gladsome rustling among the birches that flung their graceful shadows across the dusty road. nature is kind to him who goes on foot, and makes him aware of beauties and delights never discovered to the traveller on wheels. there are signs of a numerous population: church spires and villages in the distance--among them reichenbach and its ruined castle--and in little valleys which branch off here and there, teeming with foliage, snug cottages thickly nestled; and as your eye wanders along the broken line of tree-tops, it sees many wavy columns of smoke betraying the site of rural homes scattered beneath. and you begin to notice something unfamiliar in the dress of the people who inhabit them: blue and red petticoats are frequent, and scarcely a man but wears the straight tight-legged boots up to the knee, all black and brightly polished; for the groups i met were on their way to church. the honest english style of countenance still prevails; and another english characteristic may be seen, if you look for it, in the decayed and illegible condition of the finger-posts. if the landscape be not picturesque, many of the houses are, with their timbers, forming zigzags, angles, squares, diamonds, and other fanciful conceits. some old and gray, assimilating in colour to the weather-stained masonry; some painted black in strong relief upon a pale-red wall. while pausing to examine the details, you will not fail to admire the taste and skill of the builders of three centuries ago, who knew how to impart beauty even to the humblest habitations. now and then you come upon a house of which the upper storey, faced with slates, appears as if supported by arches and pilasters fashioned in the wall beneath; and specimens of these several kinds of architecture gratify the eye in all the hill-country of saxony. schneeberg, lying in a valley backed by a dark slope of firs, has a singularly gloomy aspect, which disappears as you descend the hill. it was eleven on sunday morning when i entered the town. because summer had come, the street lamps were all taken down; but that the chains and ropes might not hang idle, the lamplighter had tied a big stone or large brick, by no means ornamental, to the end of every one. a military band was playing in the market-place; a few shops were open; and a man hurrying from corner to corner was posting up bills of plays to be acted in the evening--a little comedy, followed by a piece in five acts. the prices were, for the first places, d., the second, d., the third, d., which would hardly exclude even the poorest. so, in saxony, as elsewhere on the continent, not only papists but protestants are willing to recreate themselves with music and the theatre on a sunday. a half-dozen postilions, who were strutting about in the full blaze of bright-yellow coats, yellow-banded hats, jack-boots, and with a bugle slung from the shoulder, seemed as proud of their dress as the peacocky drum-major did of his. i ordered a steak at the _fürstenhaus_. "will you have it through-broiled or english-broiled?" asked the waiter, and looked a little surprised at my preference of the former. when the band stopped playing, numbers of the listeners came into the dining-room for a _halbe_ of beer, and sat down to play at cards. the church, a spacious edifice, crowns the height above the market-place. after walking twice round it, i discovered a small door in an angle, which being unfastened gave me admittance. the interior, with its worn and uneven brick floor, has somewhat of a neglected look, not unusual in protestant churches; but there are a few good paintings, and the altar-piece, representing the crucifixion, shows the hand of a master. i was quite alone, and could explore as i pleased. the altar rises to a great height, adorned with statues, and crowned by figures of angels. near it two or three tall crucifixes lean against the wall; the font, and a lectern upborne by an angel stand in the centre of the nave, and everywhere are signs of the lutheran form of worship. here and there, constructed with an apparent disregard of order, are glazed galleries, pews, and closets, and others that resemble large cages--ugly excrescences, which mar the fair proportions of the lofty nave. the gallery is fronted by a thick breastwork of masonry, bearing a heavy coping, and the brick floor is in many places worn completely through, and the loose lumps are strewn about. the view from the tower, commanding miles of the mountain range, more than repays the trouble of the ascent. there are three services on the sunday. from six to seven, and from eight to half-past nine in the morning, and from one to two in the afternoon. the rest of the day is free; but not for work, as in other countries. haymaking, as i was informed, is the only sunday work permitted by the law of saxony. the sunday school is well attended, and is not confined to religious subjects, for writing, arithmetic, and drawing are taught. while trudging up the hill beyond the town, i passed one of the springless country wagons, crammed with a military band, the fiddles and big bass viol hanging behind, on the way to amuse the folk at stein with music. they undertake a similar expedition every sunday in fine weather to one or other of the surrounding villages. i met with two novel experiences during the afternoon. one was, that to sit down in the church at neustädl is a penance, for the pews are so narrow that you have to lift up the hinged seat before you can enter. the other, a few miles farther on the way, was of a surly _wirth_, dwelling under the sign of the _weisses lamm_ (white lamb), whom i begged to draw me a glass of beer cool from the cellar. instead of complying, he filled the measure from a can which had been standing two or three hours on the dresser in all the suffocating heat of the stove, and placed it before me with a grunt. i ventured to remind him, with good-humoured words, that lukewarm beer was not acceptable to a thirsty wayfarer on a hot day; whereupon he retorted, snarling more like a wolf than a lamb, "either drink that, or go and get other where the pepper grows"--_wo der pfeffer wächst_. the old sinner availed himself of a form of speech much used among the germans to denote a place of intensely high temperature, and sulphureous withal, in which pepper, being so very pungent a product, may be supposed to grow. "suppose you go first," i answered, "and see if there be any left." and turning away, i shut the door upon the snarl which he snarled after me, and went on to eybenstock, where cool beer in plenty was forthcoming as soon as asked for. i told the hostess of my adventure with old surly. "just like him," she replied, laughing merrily; "nobody ever goes to the _white lamb_ that can help it. you didn't see any one besides him in the room, i'll engage." true enough, i did not. a long, steep acclivity rises between schneeberg and eybenstock, from which you look down into deep, dark gulfs of fir forest, and away to hills swelling higher and higher in the distance--all alike sombre. so that when you come to a green vale, with its little hay-fields watered by a noisy brook, streaked in places with foam, it appears lovely by contrast. the road makes long curves and zigzags to avoid the heights, but the old track through the trees still remains, and shortens the distance at the expense of a little exertion in climbing. the wildness increases beyond eybenstock. the forest descends upon the road, and you walk for an hour at a stretch under the shade of firs, with beech and birch sparsely intermingled, and here and there a stately pine springing from a mighty base to a height far above the rest, the topmost branches edged with gold by the declining sunbeams. emerging from the grateful shade, we come to wildenthal, a little green hollow at the foot of the auersberg, enclosing a saw-mill, a school, a few cottages, fields and gardens, and an inn, _gasthaus zum ross_. great slopes of firs rising on every side shut it out, as it were, from the rest of the world. the aged hostess at the _gasthaus_ bustled about with surprising alacrity to answer the calls of her rustic guests for beer. "_einfach_," cried one; another, "_weisses_;" "_lager_," broke in a voice from among the party of card-players, accompanied by a rapping of the pewter tankard-lid; "_bayerisches_," shouted others from the ninepin-alley outside; and she, with her ready "_gleich_"--directly--appeasing their impatience. of these four kinds of beer, the first--literally simple--is equivalent to our small-beer, and is much in request by a certain class of topers from its low price, and because they can drink it the whole day without fear of becoming stupid before the evening. the second--white--is very foamy, and has somewhat the lively flavour of ginger-beer: after standing some time in the glass a shake round revives its briskness. the third--store-beer--is of sufficient strength to bear a year's keeping; and the fourth--bavarian--is of a similar quality. the last two were the most to my liking. there was greater choice of beer than of viands; and the half-bent old dame thought fit to apologise because she could give me nothing for supper but omelettes and _klese_; the latter a sort of dumpling made of potatoes and a sprinkling of wheaten flour. "if she had only known," and so forth. however, i found them palatable, and ate heartily, and therein she took comfort. many times did i eat of such dumplings afterwards, for the relish for them is not confined to saxony. under the name of _knädeln_, or _kipfeln_, they are a standing dish among the bohemians. to hundreds of families in the _erzgebirge_ they are the only variety--but without the wheaten flour--in a perpetual potato diet: rarely can they get even the sour black bread of the country, and in the years of the potato disease famine and misery desolated many a hearth. the guests went away early, and then, as twilight fell, nothing disturbed the stillness of the vale save the murmur of running water and the whisper of the breeze among the slopes of firs, inviting to a contemplative stroll. i rose on the morrow soon after the sun, and scrambled up the auersberg. it was really a scramble, for i pushed at a venture into the forest, aiming direct for the summit. how the grass and the diminutive black-eared rye glistened with dewdrops! early as it was, the saw-mill had begun its busy clatter, and here and there on the hills the woodcutters' strokes sounded in the calm morning air. once under the trees all signs of a track disappeared; and there were slopes slippery with decayed vegetation; little swamps richly carpeted with exquisite mosses; dense patches of bilberry, teeming with berries as purple ripe as when kunz plucked in another part of the forest but a few miles distant. and after all, owing to the tower on the top having fallen down, and the trees having grown up, the view is limited to a narrow opening on either side, where an avenue, now rarely used, affords an easy though tedious ascent. a square block of stone stands near the remains of the tower, dedicated to an upper forest-master, who had fulfilled fifty years of service, by his friends and subordinates. however, there is such a charm in the wild, lonely forest, that one need not regret half an hour's exertion in scrambling up a steep hill under its shadow. i amused myself during breakfast with the _erzgebirgischer anzeiger_, a small quarto newspaper, published at schneeberg thrice a week; the price twelve _neugroschen_ (about fifteen pence) per quarter. beer and amusements occupied a large space among the advertisements; for every village and every _wirthshaus_ in the forest, of any notoriety, promised music or dancing on sundays, sometimes both; and fortunate was the one that could announce the military band. double _lager_ beer, a penny the pot, was offered in abundance sufficient to satisfy the thirstiest. "stewed meat and fresh sausages next friday," is the inducement held out by one ambitious little alehouse: and an enterprising refectioner declares, "in my garden it gives fine weather." and, as the _dresdner anzeiger_ shows, they do similar things in the metropolis. a coffee-house keeper, "up four steps," says: "my most honoured sir, i permit myself the freedom to invite you to a cup of coffee next sunday afternoon at three o'clock." certain young men publish their sentiments concerning their hostess, beginning with "angels until now have led thee," and so on. a fortunate husband and father thanks madame krändel for the "happy _entbindung_" of his wife, and publishes his wife's maiden name. parents announce the death of a child, and invite their friends to "quiet sympathy." a stray berlin paper makes it clear that a like practice prevails in the capital of prussia. but most amusing of all was the advertisement, in french and english, of the landlord of the _golden star_, at bonn. here it is: "de cet hôtel la renommée promet sans exagération que vous y trouverez le comble de la perfection. le luxe de la salle à manger surpassera même votre idée." "by all visitors of the rhine known as one of the most fine and best conducted models of all continental hotels. the dining-room allowed to be a grand pattern of luxury." which does not say much for the bard of bonn. besides these there was the _illustrated village barber_, a paper published at leipzig, full of humorous cuts, over which the rustics chuckled not a little.[a] wildenthal has no church; the people, therefore, are dependent on eybenstock, three miles distant, for sermons, baptisms, marriages, and burials; but, in common with other villages, it has a good schoolhouse. hearing the sound of voices as i passed, i went in, and had a talk with the master, who was a model of politeness. he had about a hundred scholars, of both sexes, in a room well-lighted and ventilated, with a spelling-frame, and black music board, ruled for four parts, and other appliances of education placed along the walls. threepence a week--two and a half _neugroschen_--is the highest rate paid at country schools; but there are two lower rates to suit folk of scanty means, and the very poorest pay nothing. the children attend school from the age of six up to fourteen, with no vacations except a fortnight at each of the three rural ingatherings--haymaking, harvest, and potato-digging. the hours of attendance are from seven to ten in the forenoon, one to four in the afternoon. "yes, they are pretty good children," said the master, in reply to my inquiry; "i have not much trouble to keep them in order; but, in case of need, here is a little instrument (_kleines instrument_) which comes to my aid;" and he produced a small birch from a secret place behind his desk. a general nudging went through the school, and quick, sly looks from one to the other, at sight of the interwoven twigs. "ha! ha!" cried the master, "you see they recognise it. however, 'tis very seldom called for." then, mounting his rostrum, he said: "now, children, tell me--which is the most famous country in the world?" "_eng-land!_" from all the hundred voices. "is it a most highly renowned country?" "_ja--ja--ja!_" "and how is the chief city named?" "_lundun_"--the _u_ sounded as in full. "and when saxony wants factories, and steam-engines, and spinning-machinery, and railways, who is it sends them hither, or comes over and makes them?" "_eng-land!_" again, and with enthusiasm. "good. now, children, look at the _herr_ standing here by my side--look at him, i say, for he comes from that famous country--_eng-land!_" it was a trial to my courage to become thus unexpectedly the object for all eyes, and feeling bound to say something in return for the master's compliment, i replied that, "if england did do so much for saxony, it was only paying back in another form the prowess and vigour which the saxons long time ago had carried into england. moreover, in saxony all children could read; but in england there were many boys and girls who could not read." "is it possible!" exclaimed the master, holding up his hands. "how can that be?" "it is part of our liberty. any one in england is perfectly free to be ignorant if he likes it best." "remarkable!" answered the dominie; and he inquired concerning the amount of salary paid to schoolmasters in england. his own appeared very small in comparison; but were it not that bread was unusually dear, and firewood five dollars the _klafter_--notwithstanding the vast forests--he was quite content, and could live in comfort. beyond wildenthal, the ascent is almost continuous: now the road traverses a clearing where the new undergrowth hides the many scattered stumps; now a grassy slope thickly bestrewn with wild flowers; now a great breadth of forest, where boulders peer out between the stems, and brooks flow noisily, and long bunches of hairy moss hang from the branches, and the new shoots of the firs, tipped with amber and gold, glisten and glow in the light of the morning sun. ever deeper into the hills; the solitude interrupted now and then by a gang of charcoal-burners with their wagons, or an aristocratic carriage, or an humble chaise, speeding on its way from carlsbad. or the sound of the axe echoes through the wood, followed by the crash of a falling tree. and always the wind murmurs among the trees, swelling at times to a fitful roar. i saw a stone-breaker at work, afflicted with a huge goitre. he earns a dollar and a half per week, and complains sadly of the dearness of bread, and the hardness of the blue granite. gradually the tall forest gives place to scrubby-looking firs, stony patches, rough with hardy heath, offering a wild and dreary prospect. presently a square stone, standing by the road, exhibits on one side _k. sachsen_ (kingdom of saxony), on the other _k. boehmen_, and passing this you are in bohemia. near it is the guard-house, where two soldiers are always on the watch. one of them asked me if my knapsack contained anything for duty, accepted my negative without demur, and invited me to sit down and have a chat on the turfy seat by the side of the door. it was a pleasure to see a new face, for their life was very monotonous, looking out, from noon of one day to noon of the next, for honest folk and smugglers, suffering none to pass unquestioned. they were not much troubled with contrabandists, for these free-traders shun the highway, and cross the frontier by secret paths in lonely parts of the mountains. the summit here forms a table-land some three thousand feet above the sea-level, with a prospect by no means cheering; limited by the stunted firs, except towards the south-west, where a few black, dreary-looking undulations terminate the view. the road, however, soon begins to descend to a less inhospitable region, and presently makes a sudden dip, for the slope of the _erzgebirge_, long and gradual towards saxony, is abrupt on the bohemian side. the other mountain ranges present a similar formation. then we come to tall trees, and grassy glades, stony clearings, and acres of bilberries. a little farther, and the sight of a crucifix, bearing a gilt christ, by the wayside, and of miserable wooden cottages, roofed with shingles, convinces you that the frontier is really crossed. a valley opens where haymakers are busy; the men wearing the straight tight boots, the women barefoot, and with a kerchief pinned hood-fashion under the chin. "_gelobt sei jesus christus_"--praised be jesus christ--salute the children as you pass, and some of them stand still with an expectant look. then posts, and a toll-bar, painted in the diagonal stripes of black and yellow, which symbolise imperial austria. the bar is kept down, but sufficiently high above the ground for a man to walk under it without ducking. having passed this you are in hirschenstand--the first bohemian village. "perhaps you come out of saxony?" said a man, stepping from a house that had a double eagle above the door, and holding out his hand for my passport. he was very civil, and also very positive in his assurance that he could not grant me a _visa_ for prague; only for carlsbad, and he wished me a pleasant journey. a few yards farther i turned into the inn to dine, and at once met with characteristic specimens of the two races who inhabit bohemia. there was the german, with a round, flat, hairy face, stolid in expression, and somewhat sluggish in movement, and by his side the czech, or stock-bohemian, whose oval countenance, high intellectual forehead, arched eyebrows, clear olive complexion, unrelieved by moustache or whisker, presented a marked contrast; the sclavonian, bright-eyed and animated; the teuton, dull and heavy. yet the latter is gaining upon his lively neighbour. the german population is every year increasing, and the czechish language is spoken within a narrower circle. the contrast between the two races will be something for observation during our walk, and with another noticeable difference when we approach the frontier of silesia. there was something peculiar in the room as well as in the guests; at one side a tall clock, and very tall candlesticks; in the middle a chopping-block, bearing a heap of sausage-meat; a washing-tub and copper-pans in one corner, and on the opposite side a species of bagatelle-board, on which the ball is expected to find its way into the holes between long palisades of little wires: an exciting game; for even the slow german was quickened as he watched the constant repulsions of the little globe hovering round the highest number only to fail of entering. here, too, were the tall wooden chairs which are seldom seen beyond the austrian frontier. it made me smile to renew acquaintance with the lanky, spider-legged things. not the most comfortable contrivance for dispelling weariness, as you would perhaps think, reader, were you to see one. they are, however, very cheap; not more than thirty-five kreutzers apiece, made of pine, and a florin when of hard wood. both curiosities in their way. hirschenstand will hardly prepossess you in favour of bohemian villages, for its houses are shabby boarded structures, put up with a wonderful disregard of order and neatness--windows all awry, the chimney anyhow, and the fit of the door a scandal to carpentry. and the cottages scattered about the valley, and for some distance along the road, preserve the family likeness strongly marked. they would have a touch of the picturesque with far projecting eaves, but the roofs are not made to overhang. you might easily fancy that the land had not yet recovered from the effects of the exterminating hussite wars, out of which arose the proverb, "scarce as bohemian villages." but carlsbad is nearly seven hours distant, and we must hasten onwards. the road still descends: the prospect opens over forests far broader than on the saxon side: valleys branch off, and the scenery improves. rocks choke the brooks, and burst out from the slopes; rows of ash, lime, and cherry-trees, bordering the road, succeed to the firs, and large whitewashed houses with tall roofs to the shabby cottages. then iron works; and little needle factories driven by a mere spoutful of water rattling and buzzing merrily as grasshoppers. then neudeck, where a high rock overtops the houses, and projects into the street, having the appearance, when first seen, of an ancient tower. we shall see similar strange-looking rocks, from time to time, on the hill-side, as if to prepare us for rocky scenes of wonderful character in a subsequent part of our travel. a high steep hill close to the town is cut up with zigzags, by which the devout may ascend from station to station to the calvary on the top, from whence the view, at all events, will repay the trouble. the road was made, and the stations and chapel were built, at the cost of an ancient maiden lady, who a few years ago expended , dollars in the purchase of the hill for the good of her soul. now the road descends through a vale between broad fields of wheat and potatoes, to the smoky porcelain manufacturing town of alt, where your eye will, perhaps, be attracted by a few pretty faces among the women, set off by a pink, blue, or green jacket, and petticoat of a different colour. but for the most part the women have a dowdy appearance, of which the czechs, as we shall by-and-by see, exhibit the dowdiest examples. still the road descends towards the black group of hills which encircle carlsbad. it was nearly dark when i crossed the bridge and entered the celebrated watering-place. at first i thought every house an inn, for every front carries a sign--somewhat puzzling to a belated stranger. at length the _gasthof zum morgenstern_ opened its door to receive me; much to my comfort, for i was very tired, having walked altogether thirty miles. great was my enjoyment of rest. at supper the landlord brought the beer in a large boot-shaped glass, and placed it before me with the chuckling remark that he liked his guests to be able to say they had one time in their lives drunk out of a boot. his wife, who appeared to be as good-humoured as she was good-looking, amused me with her gossip. her especial delight was to laugh at the peculiarities of her guests, and their mistakes in speaking german. one, a bilious greek, had come down one morning with his hand to his head complaining of _fuss-schmerz_--foot-ache. the saxons, she said, could not cook, or make good butter, and were ready to drink a quart of any kind of brown fluid, and believe it to be coffee. footnote: [a] in saxony there are published newspapers; in austria, ; in bavaria, . chapter vi. dr. fowler's prescription -- carlsbad -- "a matlocky sort of a place" -- springs and swallows -- tasting the water -- the cliffs and terraces -- comical signs -- the wiese and its frequenters -- disease and health -- the sprudel: its discharge; its deposit -- the stoppage -- volcanic phenomena -- dr. granville's observations -- care's rest -- dreikreuzberg -- view from the summit -- könig otto's höhe -- "are you here for the cure?" -- lenten diet -- hirschsprung -- the trumpeters -- two florins for a bed. "to lie abed till you are done enough," says dr. fowler, of salisbury, "is the way to promote health and long life;" and he justifies his assertion by living to the age of ninety, with promise of adding yet somewhat to the number. remembering this, i let duty and inclination have their way the next morning, and the market-women in front of the inn had nearly sold off their baskets of flowers and vegetables before i set out to explore the wonders of carlsbad. "it's a matlocky sort of a place!" cried a young lady, as i passed an elegant party, who were sauntering about the pleasant grounds behind the _theresienbrunn_--"it's a matlocky sort of a place!" and a merry laugh followed the iteration of her ingenious adjective. that it is not altogether inappropriate is apparent as soon as you arrive on the upper terrace and overlook a small town, lying deep between hills on either side of the teple, a shallow and sharply-curved stream. all the springs but two are on the left bank, a few yards from the water's edge. there is a little architectural display in the buildings by which they are covered: a domed roof, supported on columns, or a square, temple-like structure, flanked by colonnades. the water flows into a cavity, more or less deeply sunk below the surface, surrounded by stone steps, on which sit the nimble lasses, priestesses of health, who every morning from six to ten are busily employed in dispensing the exhaustless medicine. a few vase-like cups stand ready for use; but numbers of the visitors bring their own glass, carried as a bouquet in the hand, of tasteful bohemian manufacture, striped with purple or ruby, and some of the purest white. all are made of the same size--to contain six ounces--and a few have a species of dial attached, by which to keep count of the number of doses swallowed. the visitors, having their glasses filled at the fountain, walk up or down the colonnade, or along the paths of the pleasure-ground, listening to music, or form little groups for a morning gossip, and sip and chat alternately till the glasses are emptied. the rule is to wait a quarter-hour between each refilling, so that a patient condemned to a dozen glasses dissipates three hours in the watery task. the number imbibed depends on the complaint and constitution: in some instances four glasses are taken; in others, from twenty to forty. i tasted each spring as i came to it, and felt no inclination to repeat the experiment. the temperature of the _theresienbrunn_ is deg., of the _mühlbrunn_ deg., of the _neubrunn_ deg., in itself a cause of dislike, especially in hot weather, and much more so when combined with a disagreeable bitter, and a flavour which i can only compare to a faint impression of the odour of a dissecting-room. no wonder some of the drinkers shudder as they swallow their volcanic physic! but more about the waters after we have seen the _sprudel_. in some places the cliff comes so near to the stream that there is no more than room for a colonnade, or narrow road, and here and there the path, stopped by a projecting rock, is carried round the rear of the obstacle by little intricate zigzags. and every minute you come to some ramifications of the narrow lanes, which here, so limited and valuable is the space, serve the purpose of streets, and afford ready access to the heights above. the houses rise tier over tier, in short rows, or perched singly on curious platforms excavated from the rock, in situations where back windows would be useless. the topmost dwellers have thus an opportunity to amuse their idleness by a bird's-eye view of what their neighbours are doing below. from may to september the influx of visitors is so great that every house is full of inmates. as every house has its sign or designation, ingenuity has been not a little taxed to avoid repetitions. one ambitious proprietor writes up _at the king of england_; another, contenting himself with his native tongue, has _könig von england_; a third, _english house_. a little farther, and you see _captain cook_; _the comet_; _the aurora_; and many varieties of rings, spoons, and musical instruments. _israelitisch restauration_ notifies the tribes of a dining-room; here _the admiral_, there _the corporal_, yonder _the pasha_ claims attention; and in a steep street leading towards prague i saw _the a b c_. and here and there a doll in a glass-case fixed to the wall, representing st. anne--a favourite saint of the bohemians--looks down on the sauntering visitors. continuing up the left bank you enter the market-place, where the indications of life and business multiply, and a throng are sipping around the _marktbrunn_. this spring burst up from under the paving-stones in ; a temple was built over it, and ever since it has served as a temple of ease to some of the more crowded springs. a little farther, and you come to the _wiese_, or meadow, which retains no more of grass than hatton-garden does of gravelled paths and flower-beds: a row of houses and shops on one side, on the other a line of wooden booths concealing the river, and all between planted with trees which shelter an irregular regiment of chairs and tables. here is the place where visitors most do congregate, pacing leisurely to and fro, or lounging on the chairs in front of the cafés, gossiping over the newspapers, or trifling around the stalls and shop windows. a remarkable throng, truly! some with an air highly dignified and aristocratic; but the greater part somewhat grotesque in appearance. graceful ladies with those ungraceful sprawling bonnets not uncommon in germany; men, lanky and angular, and short and round, and square and awkward, wearing astonishing wide-awakes. such a variety of loose, baggy trousers, magnificent waistcoats, and gauzy gowns, that look impalpable almost as a cloud! here comes a polish jew with manifest signs of having remained unclean beyond more than one evening; here a czechish count, who has not forgotten his military paces; here a spectacled professor, with boots turned up peak-wise, and toes turned broadly out; here a group of hebrews glittering with jewelry; and here a miscellaneous crowd from all the countries of europe, but germans the most numerous. of english very few. there is nothing stiff or formal about them; to make things pleasant seems to be a tacit understanding, for disease has brought them all to one common level. all are animated by the hope of cure, and find therein an inspiration towards gaiety. but who shall be gay in an hospital, among sallow, haggard faces, sunken eyes, and ghastly features? some you see who, preyed upon by disease for years, have well-nigh lost all faith in the smiler who lingers so long at the bottom of the box; some afflicted by hypochondriasis appear to wonder that the sun should shine, that others can be happy while they themselves are so miserable. the lively fiddles, and twanging harps, and jingling tambourines--the tyrolese minstrels--the glib conjuror, all fail to bring a flash of joy back to their deadened eye; to win for mirth one responsive thrill. i have never been more thankfully sensible of the blessing of robust health, than while strolling on the _wiese_ at carlsbad. what with its many stalls and shops, the _wiese_ resembles a bazaar. all sorts of trifles and knick-knacks tempt the visitor, and entice money from the purse. among queer-looking toys you see windsor soap labelled in good, honest english; pipes, ribands, and pocket-books, fans, satchels, and jewelry, among specimens of _sprudelstein_, and crystals and minerals, from the surrounding hills. money-changers abound; and polyglot placards--english, french, german, czechish, hungarian--everywhere meet the eye. and not only here, but all over the town, brisk signs of business and prosperity are apparent. but to quote the gossip of my hostess, "many in carlsbad have to endure hunger during the winter." the place is then deserted, for the season lasts only from may to september. turn into a short _gasse_ from the market-place, cross the foot-bridge, and you will see a geyser without the fatigue of a voyage to iceland. it is the far-famed _sprudel_, or bubbler. at one end of a colonnade open to the river on the right bank, a living column of water springs perpetually from the ground. through an orifice in the centre of a basin about three feet deep, the water leaps and plays with a noise of gurgling, splashing, and bubbling, to a height of six or eight feet, and throwing off clouds of steam. now it forms a column with palm-leafed capital--now a number of jets tumbling over in graceful curves--now broken, fan-like masses, all throbbing and dancing in obedience to the vigorous pulsations under ground. there is something fascinating in the sight. allowing for the artificial elevation of the floor, the whole height of the jet is about twelve feet; and so has it leaped for ages, and with but one interruption since its fabulous discovery in the fourteenth century. the _sprudel_ is the hottest of the springs, scalding hot, in fact, marking a temperature of deg. fahrenheit: hence the attendant naiads--here a couple of strong-armed women--make use of a cup fixed to one end of a staff for filling the glasses. when a visitor approaches, the staff is held out to receive the glass; and after a plunge into the steaming jet, is handed back to the expectant drinker, who, taking his glass from the cup, swallows the contents at pleasure--if he can. the drinkers were but few when i came up, for ten o'clock was nigh; stragglers, who having arrived late, were sipping their last glasses--some not without a shudder. while the dose cooled, they examined the heads of walking-sticks, snuff-boxes, seals, and other specimens of _sprudelstein_, on sale at a stall; or the time-tables and advertisement photographs hanging about the colonnade. the naiads, in the interval, emptied ladles full of the water into stone-bottles, which a man rapidly corked in a noisy machine. the waste water flows away along a wooden shoot to the river, where it sends small light wreaths of steam floating about on the surface. but i saw nothing at all like what has been often described as a cloud of steam perpetually hovering above the _sprudel_, visible from afar. regarded near at hand, or from a distance, there is no cloud visible in july, whatever may be the case in the cool months. the quantity of water poured out every day by the _sprudel_ alone is estimated at two million gallons. multiplied by , it becomes truly amazing. in this quantity, as shown by gilbert, a german chemist, ten thousand tons of glauber salt, and fifteen thousand tons of carbonate of soda are thrown up in a year. and this has been going on from immemorial ages, the waters depositing calcareous matter in their outflow, which has slowly formed a crust over the vast boiling reservoir beneath. and on this crust carlsbad is built. the constituents of all the springs, as proved by analyses, are identical with those of the _sprudel_--soda in the form of carbonate, glauber salt, and common salt; carbonic acid gas, and traces of iron and iodine. bitumen is also found in a notable quantity, and a peculiar soapy substance, a species of animal matter, the cause, perhaps, of the cadaverous flavour already mentioned. the water, which when first caught is bright and clear, becomes turbid if left to cool, and throws down a pale-brown sediment. ehrenberg, the celebrated microscopist of berlin, who has examined specimens of this sediment under his microscope, declares it to be composed of fossil animalcules inconceivably minute; these animalcules being a portion of the material out of which nature builds up the solid strata of the globe. some patients have feared to drink the water because of the concreting property; but the medical authorities assure that in this respect it produces no injurious effect on the animal economy. shopkeepers turn it to profit, and offer you fruits, flowers, plants, and other objects, petrified by the _sprudel_ water. the roof of the colonnade above the spring is discoloured by the ascending steam; and standing on the bridge you can see how the wall is incrusted with calcareous matter, as, also, the big hump swelling up from the bed of the stream--a smooth ochreous coat, brightened in places by amber, in others darkened into a rich brown, or dyed with shades of green. this concretion is the _sprudelstein_, or sprudel-stone, noticed above; firm and hard in texture, and susceptible of a beautiful polish. a portion of the waste water is led into an adjoining building, where it undergoes evaporation to obtain the constituent salts in a dry state for exportation. from the other shoot, as it falls into the river, supplies are constantly dipped by the townsfolk, who use it to cook their eggs, to scald pork and poultry, and other purposes. all day long you may see women filling and carrying away on their shoulders big bucketfuls of the steaming water. notwithstanding this constant inflow of hot water, the teple appears to agree with fish, for i saw numbers swimming about in good condition but a short distance lower down. as a stream, it adds little to the salubrity of carlsbad, for it is shallow, sluggish in places, and tainted by noisome drainage. another cause of offence to the nostrils exists in what is so often complained of on the continent, the obtrusive situation of the _latrinæ_ at the principal springs. only in england are such matters properly cared for. in , and for ten years thereafter, the _sprudel_ ceased to flow, and the water broke through at a spot some fifty feet distant, to which the name _hygieas quelle_ was given. here it continued to play till , when it reappeared at the former source, and from that date there has been no interruption in the copious discharge of the _sprudel_. the underground action is at times so powerful as to rend the crust and form new openings, and these, if large, have to be stopped, to prevent the loss of the springs. the yellow hump mentioned as swelling up from the river's bed, is nothing but a thick mass of masonry, braced together by iron bars, covering a great rent through which the waters once boiled up from below. similar outbreaks occurred in , and again fourteen years later, when attempts were made to ascertain the depth of the great subterranean reservoir by splicing poles together to a length of one hundred and eighty feet, but neither bottom nor wall could be touched in any direction. the hills around are of granite, containing mica and pyrites, and one of them, the _hirschsprung_, is said to be the source of all the carlsbad springs. their bases come near together, and it is easy to imagine a huge cavern formed between them descending deep down into the bowels of the earth. as regards the efficacy of the carlsbad waters, let us hear dr. granville, an authority on the subject: "they exert their principal sanative action," he says, " st, on all chronic affections which depend on debility of the digestive organs, accompanied by the accumulation of improper secretions; ndly, on all obstructions, particularly of the abdomen, which, as becher, the oracle of carlsbad, observes, they resolve and disperse; rdly, on the acrimony of the blood, which they correct, alter, evacuate, or drive towards the extremities and the surface of the body; thly, on calculous and gravelly deposits; thly, on many occult and serious disorders, the nature of which is not readily ascertained until after the partial use of the waters, such as tic doloreux, spasms, rheumatisms, and gout." as if here were not virtues sufficient, the doctor proceeds: "my own experience warrants me in commending the carlsbad waters in all obstinate cases of induration, tumefaction, tenderness, and sluggish action of the liver; in imperfect or suppressed gout; in paralysis, dependent on the stomach, and not fulness of blood in the head; in cases of tic and nervous disorders; finally, in obstructions of the glands of the mesentery, and distended state of the splenetic vessels." the effect on stones in the bladder is almost magical, so promptly are they polished, reduced, rendered friable, and expelled, leaving the patient a happy example of perfect cure. "it is the despondent," to quote once more from the doctor, "the dejected, misanthropic, fidgetty, pusillanimous, irritable, outrageous, morose, sulky, weak-minded, whimsical, and often despairing hypochondriac--for he is all these, and each in turn--made so by continued indigestion, by obstinate and unremitting gout, by affections of the nerves of sympathy and of the gastric region, and by other equally active causes, that carlsbad seems pre-eminently to favour." after reading this, the wonder is, not that the visitors number from five to six thousand in the course of the season, but that they are not ten times as many. the doctor finds nothing nauseous in the taste of the water. "once arrived in the stomach," he says, "it produces an exhilarating sensation, which spreads itself to the intestinal canal generally." to him i leave the responsibility of this statement; for, preferring to let well alone, i sipped by spoonfuls only, and can therefore bring no testimony from my own experience. the practice of drinking the waters has almost set aside the once exclusive practice of bathing; but baths are always to be had, as well of mud and vapour as of the water of the springs. now, after this stroll through the town, let us take a wider survey. as we follow the street down the right bank, we see parties setting off in carriages for excursions to the neighbourhood, and rows of vehicles in the open places ticketed, _return to marienbad_, _to eger_, _to töplitz_, _to zwickau_, and the like, and drivers on the alert for what your london cab-driver calls "a job." a short distance beyond the _morgenstern_ a path zigzags gradually up the hill and brings you soon under the shade of trees, and to many little nooks and sheltered seats contrived for delightful repose. one remote bower, apparently but little frequented, is inscribed, _care's rest: make thyself happy_. a little farther, and crossing a carriage-road, we come to a temple where you may have another rest, and enjoy at the same time the opening panorama. from hence the paths zigzag onwards to the top of the _dreikreuzberg_--three-cross hill--by easy shady slopes, which even a short-winded patient may ascend, while those with strong legs may shorten the distance by the steep cut-offs. an agreeable surprise awaits you at the top: a large, well-kept garden, gay and fragrant with flowers, surrounded by arbours of clipped fir, and a graceful screen of trees, while at one side stands a spacious _restauration_--all clean and cheerful of aspect. from an elevated platform, or from the arched recesses on the terrace in front of the garden, you see all carlsbad and the hilly region around. now you see how singularly crooked is the narrow valley in which the town is built; how the white houses gleam from the steep green sides of the farther hills, and straggle away to the wooded hollow at the head of the valley, from whence the river issues in a shining curve. in and out flows the stream past the church, past the springs and public buildings, cutting the town in two, on its way to fall into the eger. your eye takes in the life of the streets, the goings to and fro, but on a reduced scale--such tiny men and women, and little carriages! 'tis as if one were looking into lilliput. opposite rises the precipitous rocky hill, the hirschsprung, to the craggy summit of which we shall climb by-and-by; and beyond it, ridgy summits, away to the gloomy expanse of the _schlaggenwald_. many are the paths that penetrate the rearward valleys, and white roads curving along the hill-sides high above carlsbad, and far up the distant slopes. altogether the view is striking, and somewhat romantic; yet in the eyes of the germans fresh from their flat, uninteresting country, it is "_wunderschön_"--an epithet which they never tire of heaping on the landscape. from the garden a path leads along the ridge to a higher elevation, where the three tall crosses, seen for miles around, spring from a rocky knoll at the rear of a small semicircular opening, enclosed by firs, prettily intermingled with beech and birch. heath and yellow broom grow from crevices in the rocks, and the wild thyme, crushed by your foot, fills the air with aromatic sweetness, for the spot is left to the nurture of the winds and the rain. it commands the same view as from the garden; but with a wider scope, and the town lying at a greater depth. the path still curving along the ridge brings you presently to _könig otto's höhe_--king otto's height--the highest point of the hill. this is also an untrimmed spot, with two or three seats, and a fluted granite column, surmounted by a globe and star, rising in the midst. you now look over some of the nearer hills, and get fresh peeps into the valleys, discovering topographical secrets. raised high into the region of cooling breezes, yet easily accessible, it is a pleasant place for quiet recreation. i took the shortest way down from otto's height, crossing the rough declivity and the fields that stretch far up the lower slope of the hill, and made a circuit to findlater's monument at the upper extremity of carlsbad. from the eminence on which it is erected you get a new prospect of the town, and up the valley of umbrageous retreats much resorted to by visitors on sultry afternoons. on my way back to the _morgenstern_ i had another look at the _sprudel_. the place was now deserted; the naiads had departed; the stall-keeper had locked her glazed doors and withdrawn; and there was nothing near to subdue the vivid rushing sound of the water. so to remain till evening, when a few anxious patients would appear to quaff new draughts of health. the inn was in all the bustle of dinner, after the manner of a _table d'hôte_, but without its formality--twenty little tables instead of a single large one. by this arrangement the guests formed small parties, and ate and chatted at pleasure. many came in who were not lodgers in the house--among them a countess, from moravia, to whom no more attention was paid, nor did she appear to expect it, than to the others. the absence of stiffness was, indeed, an agreeable characteristic of the company, who were mostly germans. "are you here for the cure?" said an old gentleman who sat opposite me, and looked at my tankard of beer and salad with an air of surprise. "are you not afraid?" my answer reassured him. visitors who come to drink the waters are required by medical authority to conform to a simple regimen. to eat no salad, fruit, or vegetables--to drink no beer or wine--to eat no bread. the exceptional cases are rare; hence the provision consists but of sundry preparations of meat, decanters of water, pudding resembling boiled pound-cake, and baskets of small rolls. the latter, made of wheaten flour, are not recognised as bread, but come under the common term, _semmel_--the simmel of which we read in descriptions of lordly banquets in our plantagenet days. the term bread is confined to the large brown and black loaves made of rye meal, the staple of household diet in bohemia; and to carlsbad patients this is forbidden. so nature always goes on vindicating her simple laws, convincing mankind, in spite of themselves, of the wholesome effects of fresh air, daily exercise, plain food, and spring water; and mankind, returned to crowded cities and artificial pleasures, go on forgetting a lesson which is as old as the hills. in the afternoon i mounted to the top of the _hirschsprung_, and passed two or three hours on the jutting crags which overlook the town and a wide expanse of rolling fields and meadows towards saxony. stairs and fenced platforms on the outermost points enable you to survey in full security. the conformation of the crags is not unlike that which prevails in the saxon switzerland. here and there tablets in the rock record the visits of royal personages, and on the topmost, surmounted by a cross, is an inscription in russian, and the name of czar peter, who included among his exploits that of riding up the _hirschsprung_ on horseback in . you cannot be long in carlsbad without hearing a flourish of trumpets from the top of the watch-tower, announcing the arrival of visitors. no sooner do the trumpeters spy a carriage approaching from their lofty station, than they begin to sound, and, in proportion to the appearance of the vehicle, so do they measure out their blast--most wind for the proudest. while i was looking down, a sudden note, unusually prolonged, woke up the drowsy echoes, for rattling down the zigzagged highway from prague came his unenviable majesty, otho of greece, to undergo a course of the _sprudel_--at least, so said the newspapers. not till he had alighted at the hotel did the trumpeters cease their salute, for kings can pay well; but let a dusty-footed wayfarer, with knapsack on shoulder, come into the town, and not a breath will they spare to give him welcome. at six in the evening--having surveyed carlsbad from within and without, and from the highest points on either side--i started to walk to buchau, a village about ten miles off--an easy distance before nightfall. the _morgenstern_ charged me two florins for my bed, and less than two florins for all my diet--supper, breakfast, and dinner; which, in one of the dearest watering-places in europe, was letting me off on reasonable terms. chapter vii. departure from carlsbad -- dreifaltigkeits-kirche -- engelhaus -- the castle -- a melancholy village -- up to the ruins -- an imperial visit -- bohemian scenery -- on to buchau -- the inn -- a crowd of guests -- roast goose -- inspiriting music -- prompt waiters -- the mysterious passport -- the military adviser -- how he solved the mystery -- a baron in spite of himself -- the baron's footbath -- lighting the baron to bed. some years ago carlsbad was scarcely accessible by vehicles coming from the interior, so abrupt was the declivity of its western hill. now the difficulty is overcome by the zigzags of an excellent road, such as austrian engineers know well how to construct. the shortest way out of the town for one on foot is up a street painfully steep, which brings you at once to an elevation, whence there is a view of the hills and hollows at the head of the valley. the zigzags are long, and there are no cut-offs, whereby you lose sight but slowly of the valley of springs. once past the brow and a view opens over a hilly landscape in the opposite direction, repeating the characteristics of bohemian scenery--large unfenced fields, with clumps of firs and patches of forest on the highest swells, and the road, in long undulations, running between rows of birch and mountain-ash. there is a monotony about it, varied only by the difference of crops, the rise and fall of the ground, or rags of mist which, after a shower, hang about the dark sides of distant hills. by-and-by the ruined castle of engelhaus, crowning a conical hill, peers up on the left, higher and higher as you advance, till at length it stands out a huge mass, looking grimly down on a village beneath. but now a low building on the right attracts your attention. it is a small, low, triangular church--_dreifaltigkeits-kirche_--in a narrow graveyard, where the few mounds and the low wooden crosses that mark them are scarcely to be seen for tall grass and weeds. the interior, so far as i could see through a chink in the rusty, unpainted door, contains nothing remarkable except a rude altar, and a small gallery in each angle. a chapel and arcades are built against two sides of the enclosing wall, and four life-size figures of apostolic aspect sit, recline, and kneel in front of a half-length figure, bearing a crucifix, placed in a recess. they seemed fit guardians of a place which wears an appearance of neglect. a little farther and there is a byeway, leading across the fields to engelhaus, about a quarter-mile distant, and a very irish-looking village it is; squalid and filthy, built in what, to a stranger, appears a total disregard of the fitness of things. here and there the noise of a loom--a noise which denotes a poverty-stricken existence--sounded from some of the cottages, and the aspect of the villagers is quite in keeping with their environment. and yet a wandering musician, who carried a trestle to rest his organ on, was trying to coax a few _kreutzers_ out of their pockets by airs most unmelodious; as if the worst kind of music were good enough for folk so deficient in a sense of propriety. the inside of the houses is no better than the outside. seeing a pale, damp-browed weaver at a window, i stopped to put a question. he opened the casement, and out rushed a stream of air so hot, stifling, and malodorous as fully accounted for his abject looks, and made me content with the briefest answer. a steep path, completed in one place by a wooden stair, leads you up and along the precipitous side of the hill to the principal entrance of the castle, an old weatherbeaten arch bestriding the whole of the narrow way. here a few tall trees form the commencement of an avenue, which the young trees planted farther on will one day complete, and increase the charm of the ancient remains. the path skirting the bold crags passes an old tower, and enters a court which, since the visit of the emperor and empress in , is called the _kaiserplatz_. three young trees, supported by stakes painted black and yellow, and blue and white, are growing up into memorials of the incident, and dwarf-firs, set in the turfy slope, form the initials f i e--_francis joseph, elizabeth_. a small pool in one corner reflects the dilapidated walls; the mountain-ash, trailing grasses, and harebells grow from the crevices, trembling in the breeze; and the place, cool, green, and sequestered, is one where you would like to sit musing on a summer afternoon. the steep and uneven ground adds much to the picturesque effect of the ruin. you make your way from court to court by sudden abrupt ascents and descents, protected in places by a fence--now under a broken arch, now creeping into a vault, now traversing a roofless hall, climbing the fragment of a stair, or pacing round the base of the mighty keep. loose stones lie about, bits of walls peer through the soil, or, concealed beneath, form grassy hummocks, showing how great have been the ravages of time and other foes. here and there stands a portion of wall on the very brink of the precipice, and a railing stretched from one to the other enables you to contemplate the prospect in safety. the appearance of the country is such that the hill appears to be in the centre of a great, slightly-hollowed basin, which has a dark and distant rim. the basin is everywhere heaving with undulations, patched and striped with firs and the lines of trees along the highways, while a few ponds gleam in some of the deepest hollows. a few widely scattered cottages, or the white walls of a farmstead, dot the green surface of the fields; and such is the general character of the scenery all the way from the _erzgebirge_ to prague--indeed, all the central region of bohemia. one league, with small differences, is but a repetition of the other. i prowled so long about the ruins, enjoying the lusty breeze that shook the branches merrily and roared through the crevices, that long shadows crept over the landscape, raising the highest points into bold relief, and veiling the remoter scenes before i descended. the sun, fallen below the saxon mountains, lit up an immense crescent of angry clouds with a lurid glare, from which the twilight caught a touch of awfulness. the ponds shone with unearthly lustre for a few moments, and then lay cold and gray, and there seemed something spectral in the thin lines of firs as they rose against the glare. i returned to the road, and found the last two or three miles solitary enough, for not a soul did i meet, and the way lay through a forest where the only light was a faint streak overhead. it was near ten o'clock when i came to buchau--a village of low houses built round a great square--in which stood some twenty or thirty laden wagons. the appearance of things at _the sun_ was not encouraging: a dozen wagoners in blue gaberdines lay stretched on straw in the sitting-room, leaving but a small corner of the floor vacant, where sat the host, who made many apologies for having to turn me away. i walked across the square, and tried _der herrnhaus_, and on opening the door met with a rare surprise. the large room was crowded with some threescore guests, including a few soldiers, seated at narrow tables along the sides and across the middle, every man with his tankard of beer before him. in one corner a party of gipsies played wild and lively music, making the room echo again with the sounds of flageolet, violin, and bass, and electrifying the company with their wizard harmonies. some, unable to contain themselves, chanted a few bars of the inspiriting measure; others beat time with hands or feet, and joined in a whoop at the emphatic passages; and all the while a gruff outpouring of talk struggled with the bass for the mastery. there was a clatter of knives and forks, a rattling of pewter-lids by impatient tipplers, and hasty cries for pieces of bread. and over all hung a cloud of smoke, rolling broader and deeper as the puffs and swirls went up from fifty pipes. this scene bursting upon me all at once made me stand for a minute in doubtful astonishment, half dazzled by the sudden light, and half choked by the reeking atmosphere, while i looked round to discover the trencher-capped _wirth_. if _the sun_ had no room, what was to be hoped for here? however, the landlord, after a consultation with his wife, assured me of a chamber to myself; and placing a chair at the only vacant end of one of the tables, professed himself ready to supply "anything" for supper. he rung the changes on beef, veal, and sausage, with interpolation of roast goose. the meats were good, but the goose was prime; he could recommend that "_vom herzen_," and he laid his hand on his heart as he said it. so i accepted roast goose; and presently a smoking dish of the savoury bird was set before me, with cucumber salad and rye bread. the landlord had not overpraised his bohemian cookery, for he gave me a most relishing supper. as my eyes became accustomed to the smoky atmosphere, the forms and features of the company came out more distinct than at first. among the wagoners and rustics who made up the greater number, i saw two or three heads of a superior cast--unmistakable czechish heads--in marked contrast to the rest. a gentleman with his wife and brother, travelling to their estates, preferred quarters in the _herrnhaus_ to a midnight stage, and sat eating their supper, apparently not less pleased with their entertainment than i was. by their side sat half a dozen tramping shoemakers, each busy with a plate of roast goose; and next to them, in the narrow space between the stove and the wall, lay a woman and her two children, sleeping on straw. the musicians came round for a largesse, and, reanimated by success, played a few tunes by way of finish, which made sitting still almost impossible. every one seemed inclined to spring up and dance; and the host and his servants ran to and fro quicker than ever, under the new excitement. no sooner was a tankard emptied, than, following the custom of the country, it was caught up by one of the nimble attendants and refilled, without any asking leave or any demur, except on the part of one of the guests. trencher-cap would by no means believe that i could be satisfied with a single measure, and i had to compromise for a glass of wine, which, when brought, he assured me proudly was genuine ' _adelsberger_. whether or no, it was very good. presently he asked for a sight of my passport, that his son might enter my name with those of the other travellers. i spread the document before him on the table; he bent down and examined it curiously, as an antiquary over a wormeaten manuscript, but with a look of utter bewilderment, for he had never before seen an english passport. he turned it upside down, sideways, aslant, back to front, every way, in short, in his endeavour to discover a meaning in it; but in vain. he caught eagerly at the british minister's eagle, and the german _visas_, yet found nothing to enlighten him therein. his son then took a turn in the examination; still with no better result; and the two looked at one another in blank hopelessness. presently the father, recollecting himself, beckoned secretly to one of the soldiers, who came to help solve the mystery. taking the passport, he held it at arm's length, turned it every way as the _wirth_ had done before, brought it close to his eyes; but could make nothing of it. then, as if to assist his wit, he hooked one finger on the end of his nose, spread the mysterious document on the table, and pointing to the first paragraph, which, as tourists know, stands printed in good round hand, he began to read at all hazards: "_vill--vill--vill--yam. ja, ja. villyam._ ah! that's english!" then he attacked the second word--"_fre--fre--fre--fredrich. ja, ja._ that is english!" the next word, _earl_, looked awkward, so, skipping that, he went on with many flourishes of his forefinger, "_cla--ren--don. ja, ja. clarendon._ that's english!" encouraged by success, he made a dash at the following word, "_baron_," and stopped suddenly short, hooked his finger once more on his nose, stood for a minute as if in deep study, then repeating slowly, "_villyam fredrich clarendon, baron_," he gave the passport back into the landlord's hands, and said in a whisper, pointing slily to me, "he's a baron." hereupon the son, with nimble pen, entered me in the book as "_villyam fredrich clarendon, baron_." "you have made a pretty mistake," i interposed. "see, that's my name, written lower down, quite away from the titles of our foreign minister." but it was in vain that i spoke, and argued, and protested, the opposite party would not be convinced, and trencher-cap, folding up the passport, looked at me with that expression which very knowing folk are apt to assume, and said, as he replaced it in my hand, "_ja, ja._ we are used to that sort of thing. you wish not to travel in your real name. yes, yes, we know. _herr baron_, i give you back your passport." i reiterated my protest, and vehemently; but all in vain. "_herr baron_" i had to remain for all the rest of the evening. trencher-cap made a bow every time he addressed me, and went among his guests, telling them he had caged an english baron. one and another came and sat near me for awhile, and talked with so much of deference, that at last i felt quite ashamed of myself--as if i were an accomplice in a hoax. the talk, however, was very barren; the only items of real information it brought forth were, that a good many needles were made in the neighbourhood, and that buchau could muster ninety-nine master shoemakers. so it went on till eleven o'clock, when mine host, approaching with another bow, said, "_herr baron_, are you quite sure that it is a cold foot-bath you want?" "quite." "i told the maid so," he replied; "but she says she cannot believe that a _herr baron_ will have cold water, and thinks it should be lukewarm." satisfied on this point, he summoned the incredulous maid to light me to bed. she stooped low with what was meant for a curtsey, and would on no account turn her face from me, but went backwards up the stairs, holding the candle low, and begging me at every step not to stumble. "verily," thought i, "the whole household joins in the conspiracy." she carried the candlestick delicately, as if it were of silver and not mere iron, placed it on a little deal table in the bedroom with a ceremonious air, made another low curtsey, and retreated to the door. then, with one hand on the latch, she said, after a momentary pause, "_herr baron_, i wish you a good night;" and withdrew, leaving me alone to sleep as best i might under the burden of an unexpected title. chapter viii. dawn -- the noisy gooseherd -- geese, for home consumption and export -- still the baron -- the ruins of hartenstein -- glimpses of scenery and rural life -- liebkowitz -- lubenz -- schloss petersburg -- big rooms -- tipplers and drunkards -- wagoners and peasants -- a thrifty landlord -- inquisitorial book -- awful gendarme -- paternal government -- fidgets -- how it is in hungary -- wet blankets for philosophers -- an unhappy peasant. neither nightmare nor anything else disturbed me till the wagoners, hooking on their teams amid noisy shouts, filed off in two directions from the square, at the earliest peep of dawn. the quiet that returned on their departure was ere long broken by a succession of wild and discordant cries, which, being puzzled to account for by ear, i got out of bed and used my eyes. the gooseherd stood in the middle of the square, calling his flock together from all quarters, with a voice, as it seemed to me, more expressive of alarm and anger than of invitation. however, the geese understood it, and they came waddling and quacking forth from every gateway and lane, and the narrow openings between the houses, till some hundreds were gathered round the herd, who, waving his long rod, kept up his cries till the last straggler had come up, and then drove them out to the dewy pasture beyond the village. a singular effect was produced by the multitude of long necks, and the awkward movements of the snow-white mass, accompanied as they were by a ceaseless rise and fall of the quacking chorus. such a sight is common in bohemia; for your bohemian has a lively relish for roast goose, regarding it as a national dish; and mindful of his neighbours, he breeds numbers of the savoury fowl for their enjoyment. walk over the _erzgebirge_ in september, and you will meet thousands of geese in a flock, waddling slowly on their way to leipzig, and the fulfilment of their destiny in german stomachs, at the rate of about three leagues a day. i doubted not that when the landlord had a fair look at me by daylight, he would recall the title conferred amid the smoke and excitement of the evening before. but, no! he met me at the foot of the stair with the same profound bow; hoped _herr baron_ had slept well; and would _herr baron_ take breakfast; all my remonstrances to the contrary notwithstanding. i drank my coffee with a suspicion that the sounding honour would have to be paid for; but i did the worthy man injustice, for when summoned to receive payment, he brought his slate and piece of chalk, and writing down the several items, made the sum total not quite a florin. not often is a baron created on such very reasonable terms. even after i left his door, the host continued his attentions: he would go with me to the edge of the village, and point out the way to the castle, and the shortest way back to the main road. he must tell me, too, that the church was dedicated to st. michael the archangel; and of a spring not far off, known among the villagers as the "iron spring." then, as we shook hands and parted, he made another low bow, and hoped i would recommend all my friends to seek for entertainment under his sign. it would be ungracious not to comply with his wish; so should any of my friends have the patience or courage to read these pages, and an inclination to visit buchau, i hereby counsel them to tarry at the _herrnhaus_. the castle, or rather the ruin, rises on the summit of a rounded hill about a mile from the village. there is but little in them to charm either the eye or the fancy, for their name and place recall nothing that lingers in the memory. a few words suffice to tell that here once stood the castle of hartenstein, otherwise hungerberg, sheltering knights as lawless as any reiving johnstone, till king george podiebrad, intolerant of their wild ways, rooted them out in , and knocked their stronghold to pieces. he showed them the less mercy, from having had, the year before, to lay siege for twelve weeks to a castle near raudnitz, held by conspirators who set him at defiance. engelhaus, as is believed, felt the first touch of ruin some fifty years later. nevertheless, the half-hour spent in the excursion is not time lost, for the spiral path that winds round the hill is well-nigh hidden by wild flowers--a right royal carpet, and perfumed withal, swept by all the breezes. and then there is always the view while you scramble about among the broken walls and bits of towers, getting peeps at parts of the landscape framed by a shattered window. it is something to note how unvarying is the scenery: hills shaped like barn roofs; the same undulations; vast fields; a few ponds; dark masses of firs, lacking somewhat of cheerfulness notwithstanding the sunshine; and the village in the midst of all, an irregular patch of gray and white. far as eye can reach it is the same, and so shall we find it all the way to prague. the wind increased mightily while i was on the hill, and as it swept coldly over the broad slopes of grain and clover, the whole landscape seemed to become a great, green, rippling sea. my recollections of this day include--a flock of geese grazing on a bit of common about every league; men leading oxen by a strip of hide to pasture on the roadside grass; women cutting fodder in nooks and corners; shepherds, whose booted legs gave them anything but a pastoral appearance; rows of cherry-trees, and the guards in straw huts keeping watch over the fruit; and miles of road irksomely straight between plum-trees. here and there you come to a homestead or _gasthaus_, surrounded by a high and thick whitewashed wall, with one or more arched gateways, as if the inmates could not give up the mediæval habit of living within a fortress. on approaching liebkowitz, the pale colour of the land changes to a warm red, and fields of peas which seem endless, and small plantations of hops, diversify the surface, and contrast with the village, where the clean white pillars of the gateways, the red roofs, topped here and there with a purple ball, engage your eye. at lubenz, where the main road, with its bordering of tall poles and telegraphic wire turns aside to the saatzer circle, i struck into the direct route for prague, and keeping on at an easy pace, getting a passing view of schloss petersburg on the right--a factory-like building--i came at eventide to the _gasthof zum rose_ at willenz. there is many a chapel in england smaller than the common room at the _rose_, and the same may be said of nearly every roadside inn at which i stayed. large as the rooms are, it is sometimes difficult to find a seat among the numerous guests; and on sundays especially they are overcrowded. here in one corner stood the stove enclosed by a dresser, on which all the preparations for cooking were carried on; and, in the opposite corner, the bar behind a wooden fence, running up to the ceiling. bread, smoked sausage, _schnaps_, and liqueurs, are served from the bar; beer is fetched directly from the cellar. the host was thrifty, and kept his four daughters busy in waiting on customers. the eldest presided at the stove, and the other three went continually to and fro, refilling the tankards of beer-drinkers, or dealing out delicacies from the bar. comely damsels they were, dressed in purple bodices, and pink skirts that trailed on the floor in all the amplitude prescribed by the milliners at paris. i could not fail to be struck by the frequency of their visits to the cellar to supply the demands of about twenty men, who, seated at one of the tables, appeared to have been making a day of it. tankard after tankard was swallowed with marvellous rapidity, and still the cry was "more." for the first time, in my few trips to the continent, i saw drunkards, and these were not the only sots that came before me during the present journey: all, however, within bohemia. casual customers would now and then drop in, call for beer, drink a small quantity, and leave the tankard standing on the table and go away for half an hour, then return, take another gulp, and so on. one of the tables was covered by these drink-and-come-again tankards, and though all alike in appearance, i noticed that every man knew his own again. among these bibbers by instalments the landlord was conspicuous, for he took a gulp from his tankard every five minutes, and never left it a moment empty. now and then slouched in a troop of dusty-booted wagoners, who drank a cup of coffee, and went slouching forth to their wearisome journey. at times a half-dozen peasants strode noisily in, and refreshed themselves with a draught of beer for their walk home; and sausage and little broils were in constant request. the host rubbed his hands, and well he might, for trade was brisk; and when he brought me a baked chicken--which, by the way, is another favourite dish in bohemia--for my supper, and heard my praise of his beer, he told me that he brewed his own beer and grew his own hops. "you will see two big pockets of hops on the landing when you go to bed," he added, with the look of an innkeeper thoroughly self-satisfied. and then he sat down and gave his two sons a writing-lesson. after supper, one of the pink-robed damsels placed a wooden candlestick, nearly a yard in height, on the table, and brought the inevitable book--that miscellaneous collection of travellers' autographs, kept for the edification of the imperial police. more inquisitorial than any i had yet seen, this book contained three columns, in one of which i had to note whether i was married or single; "catholic or other beliefed;" acquainted with any one in any of the places i intended to visit, or not! having entered the required particulars, the damsel leaning over the page the while, i asked her what use would be made of them? "the gendarme comes to look at the book," she answered, "and if he found the columns empty, so would he blame my father sorely, and wake you up with loud noise to ask the reason. ah! sometimes he comes before bedtime; sometimes not till midnight, when all folk are asleep. then must doors be opened and questions answered; and if he discovers some one in bed whose name is not yet in the book, then he makes great outcry, and my father must pay a fine, and the stranger must to the guard-house if he have not good passport. truly, the law is strong over the book." happy land! paternal government is so careful of the governed, so anxious to encourage sedentary virtues, that no one is allowed to go more than four hours, about twelve miles, from home without a passport or ticket of residence (_heimathschein_); and should any one not quite so tame as his fellows wish to overpass the prescribed limit, paternal government not unfrequently keeps him waiting three days for the precious permit, or refuses it altogether. in a town which we shall come to by-and-by, i saw a poor woman, who begged leave to visit one of her children some fifteen miles distant, turned away with an uncompromising denial. think of this, my countrymen!--islanders free to jaunt or journey whithersoever ye will: be ye mighty or mean--even ticket-of-leave holders. whatever the cause, the regulations concerning passports are in bohemia very rigorous. it may be that the people have not forgotten they once had a king of their own, or that a remarkable intellectual movement is taking place among the czechs, or that a simmering up of protestantism has become chronic within the ring of mountains; whatever the cause, the pressure of authority's heaviest hand is manifest. for my own part--to mention a little thing among great things--i was more fidgetted about my passport in bohemia than ever anywhere else. it is worse in hungary. in that province the burden of oppression is felt to a degree inconceivable by an englishman. passports for france or england were peremptorily refused to hungarians of whatever degree during the year ; and in , when the rigour was somewhat relaxed, leave was granted for three months only. and should any one be known to have paid a visit to kossuth while in london, even though he might believe the exile to be a better orator than ruler, he would find the discipline of imprisonment awaiting him on his return _home_. think of albert smith, or any other enterprising tourist, having to ask lord clarendon's permission to steam up the rhine, ascend mont blanc, or travel anywhither! 'tis well the magyars are not a hopeless race. the members of the hungarian academy at pesth are not allowed to hold their weekly meetings unless an imperial commissioner be present to watch the proceedings, and stop the discussion of forbidden subjects. not a word must be spoken concerning politics, or liberty in any form. history is tolerated only when she discourses of antiquities--urns, buildings, dress and manners, philology, or art. science even must wear fetters, and preserve herself demure and orthodox. a speculative philosopher might as well attempt to utter high treason, as to read a paper demonstrating by geological proofs the countless ages of the earth's existence, or to quote a chapter from the _vestiges of creation_. this work is included among the prohibited books, of which a list is sent to the academy once a week. one copy of the _times_--a solitary feather from liberty's wing--finds its way into pesth: a rare indulgence for the englishman who reads it. imagine sir richard mayne sitting at meetings of the royal society, with power to stop sir roderick murchison in his silurian evidences; or the rev. baden powell in his speculations and inferences concerning the _unity of worlds_; or the utterance of professor faraday's opinions concerning gravitation; and telling them they shall not read hugh miller's _testimony of the rocks_! but to return. among those who dropped in was a tall, grizzly peasant, who presently began a talk with me about what he called his sad condition. his lot was a hard one, because the country was kept down; and hoping for better times would be vain while france and england maintained their alliance. all who felt themselves aggrieved--and their number was great--saw no prospect of redress but in a new outbreak of strife between those two nations; let that only come, and from the rhine to the vistula all would be in revolution, wrong would be punished, and the right prevail. he knew many a peasant who was of the same way of thinking. not being able to flatter him with hopes of a rupture between the lion and the cock, i suggested his taking the matter into his own hands, and making the best of present circumstances. thrift and diligence would do him more good than a revolution. whereupon he told me how he lived; how hard he worked to cultivate his plot of ground; how rarely he ate anything besides bread and potatoes; and as for beer, it was never seen under his roof. "do you think it fair, then," i rejoined, "to sit here drinking? why not carry home a measure of beer, and let your wife share it?" he made no answer; but rose from his seat, shook me by the hand, and walked heavily away. chapter ix. the village -- the peasant again -- the road-mender -- among the czechs -- czechish speech and characteristics -- crosses -- horosedl -- the old cook -- more praise of england -- the dinner -- a journey-companion -- famous files -- a mechaniker's earnings -- kruschowitz -- rentsch -- more czechish characteristics -- neu straschitz -- a word in season from old fuller -- the mechaniker departs. a hilly site, gardens, orchards, and green slopes, houses scattered at random among chestnuts and elders, and a general suspicion of czechish carelessness, give to willenz a touch of the picturesque: at least, when seen as i saw it, with the morning dew yet glistening on thatch, and flowers, and branches. cherry-trees form a continuous avenue up the hill beyond, and here and there huts of fir branches were built against a stem, to shelter the guard set to watch the ripened fruit, and gatherers were busy aloft. you may pluck a cherry now and then with impunity; but not from the trees marked by a wisp of straw twisted round a conspicuous branch, for of those the fruit is sold, and the watchman eyes them jealously. coming to the brow of the hill, i saw what seemed a giant standing on a high bank above the road. it was the grizzly peasant magnified through a thin haze. as soon as he saw me he came plunging down the bank, gave me a cheerful "_gut' morgen_," seized my hand, and said, "i have been waiting long to see you. i talk gladly with such as you, and could not let you go without asking whether you will come back this way. if so, then pray come to my house for a night. it is not far from schloss petersburg. we will make you comfortable." to return by the same road was no part of my plan, and when i told him so, the old man's countenance fell; he pressed my hand tighter, and cried, with a tone of disappointment, "is it true? ah! my wife will be so sorry. i told her what you said, and she wanted to see you as much as i." as there was no help for it, we had another talk, he all the while holding my hand as if fearful i should escape. the burden of his discourse was "a good time coming," mingled, however, with a dread that when it came it would not be half so desirable as the good old times, and between the past and future his life was a torment. "whether you shall be miserable or not," i answered, "depends more on yourself than on the rulers of bohemia. why should a man grumble who has a house, and food, and land to cultivate? only carry your enjoyments home instead of consuming them by the way, and cheerfulness will be there to gladden your wife as well as you." "yes; but in the old times----" i bade him good-bye, and pursued my walk. turning round just over the brow of the hill, i saw him still in the same spot, gazing after me. "farewell, good friend!" he shouted, and strode away. half an hour later i came to a road-mender, who told me he earned twenty kreutzers a day, and was quite content therewith. he had a wife and child; never ate meat or drank beer; lived mostly on potatoes, and was, nevertheless, strong and healthy, and by no means inclined to quarrel with his lot. the road was a constant source of employment; and if at times bad weather kept him at home for a day or two, his pay went on all the same. i mentioned my interview with the old peasant. "ah!" he answered, laughing, "it is always so. no grumbler like a _bauer_. all the world knows that peasants think everybody better off than themselves"--and down came his hammer with crashing force on a lump of granite. wayside philosophy clearly had the best of it, and heartily approved the fable of the _mountain of miseries_ which i narrated. every mile brings us more and more among the czechs. oval faces and arched eyebrows become more numerous, and women's talk sounds shrill and shrewish, as if angry or quarrelsome, as is remarked of the women in caernarvonshire; and yet it is nothing more than friendly conversation. to a stranger the language sounds as unmusical as it is difficult; and to learn it--you may as well hope to master chinese. czechish names and handbills appear on the walls; the names of villages, with the usual topographical particulars, are written up in german and czechish, of which behold a specimen: [illustration: ort und gemeinde. _misto á obec._ horzowitz. bezirk jechnitz. _okres jesenice._ kreis saaz. _krái zatéc._ königr. böhm. _kral: ceské._] in some of the villages no one but the landlord of the best inn can speak german, and you have only your eyes by which to study the natives and their ways. for my own part, my czechish vocabulary being foolishly short, i could not ask the villagers why they preferred sluttishness to tidiness, though i longed to do so. it comprised three words only: _piwo_, _chleb_, _máslo_--beer, bread, butter. crosses are frequent, erected at the corners where bye-roads branch off. not the huge wooden things you see in tyrol; but light iron crucifixes, graceful in form and brightly gilt, and mounted on a stone pedestal. nearly all have been set up by private individuals to commemorate some family event: _by the married pair_, you may read on one; _dedicated to the honour of god, by two sisters_, on another; _in memory of my daughter, by peter schmidt, bauer_, on a third--all apparently from some pious motive. while eating a crust under the pretentious sign, _stadt carlsbad_, at horosedl, i saw how the dowager hostess practised her domestic economy. she was preparing dinner for the family, after her manner, drawing her hand repeatedly across her nose, for the stove was hot and the day sultry. she sliced cucumbers with an instrument resembling a plane, sprinkled the slices with salt, then squeezed them well between her hands, and exposed them to the sun in a shallow basket, one of five or six which, woven almost as close and water-tight as calabashes, served her as dishes. then she grated a lump of hard brown dough, and used the coarse grains to thicken the soup--a substitute for vermicelli common among the peasantry. the hostess, meanwhile, chatted with me and set the table. she professed to admire the english, and thought it an honour that an englishman had once slept a night in her house, "although he had to look into a book for all he wanted to say." she coincided entirely in the saxon schoolmaster's opinion, that all best things came from england. as the clock struck eleven in came half a dozen serving men and maidens, and sat down to dinner with the master and mistress. the dowager supplied them with soup, beef, a mountain of potato-dumplings, and cucumber salad, and ate her portion apart with undoubting appetite. an old beggar crept in and stood hat in hand imploring charity for god's sake! she scolded him for his intrusion, and then gave him a smoking hot dumpling and a word of sympathy, which he received and acknowledged with humble thanks and the sign of the cross. it is a relief along this part of the road to see frequent hop plantations, and here and there rocks as richly red as the crimson cliffs of sidmouth, while at rarer intervals a pale mass of sandstone on a distant hill-slope puts on the appearance of an enormous antediluvian fossil. i was pacing briskly along, enjoying a fresh breeze that had sprung up, when i heard a voice behind me: "_ach!_ at last. i saw you from far, and said to myself, perhaps that is a journey-companion--let me overtake him." immediately a man, who walked as if he enjoyed the exercise, and wore what looked like his sunday suit, came up to my side, and proposed to join company, so as to shorten the way with talk. we soon got through the preliminaries, and started topics enough to last all the rest of the day. the stranger notified himself as a _mechaniker_ from neudeck, going to prague on business for his master. he, too, had much to say in praise of england. he had once worked with an englishman, a certain james, or _ya-mes_, as he pronounced it, and had ever since held him in the highest esteem and admiration. "that was a man!" he exclaimed; "if all englishmen are the same, no wonder their nation is so great." english files also were not less praiseworthy--a fact of which sheffield ought to be proud, seeing that her handicraft has often been reproached of late. "to dance," said the _mechaniker_, "is not more pleasure than to file with an english file. how it bites, and lasts so long! even an old one that has been thrown away for months is better than a german file. one is honest steel--the other is too much like lead." some folk will, perhaps, feel surprised by this scrap of experimental testimony in favour of hallamshire. we talked about wages. the _mechaniker's_ earnings were six hundred florins a year; a small sum, as it seems, to english notions for a skilled workman in machinery--one held in high consideration by his master. ordinary workmen get one-third less; he was, therefore, well content, and told me he could spare something for the savings bank, but not so much as formerly, owing to the increased price of provisions. so with sundry discourse we came to kruschowitz, where we dined, looking out on thick belts of fruit-trees, that embower the village, and relieve the pale green of little plantations of acacias that show here and there among the bright-red roofs. most of the houses exhibit the czechish style, which shuns height and dispenses with an upper story. then we went on at an after-dinner pace to rentsch, where, striking into the old road to prague, now but little frequented, we shortened the distance by four or five miles. all czechish now, both to eye and ear. a difference is perceptible in the fields, the implements, sheds, and vehicles; they are not so neat or workmanlike in appearance as in the german districts, and yet the broad crops of wheat, already turning yellow, betoken glad abundance. now we found pleasant footpaths through the beech-woods that border the road, and enjoyed the cool shade and the sound of rustling leaves. the men we met had a slouching gait, and the women, wearing coarse, baggy cotton stockings, and flimsy cotton gowns, and shabby kerchiefs on their heads, were unmistakable dowdies--an appearance which has come to be considered essentially celtic. however, they failed not to salute us with their "_dobrýtro_" (good day) as we passed. the aspect of neu straschitz, the next village on our way, shows how we are getting into the heart of the country--the land of the czechs. wide streets, which make the low whitewashed houses look still lower than they are; a great, uneven square, patched here and there with ragged grass, bestrewn with rough logs of timber, ornamented at one side by a row of saplings, unhappy looking, as if pining for the rank of trees; on the other by a statue of st. john nepomuk. very lifeless! no merry noise of children in summer evening gambols; no fathers and mothers chatting in the cool lengthening shadows. the only living creatures are a man, a woman, and a dog, all three as far apart as possible. there is nothing stirring even around the _bezirksamt_ or the church. glazed windows are few: an opening in the wall, with a hinged shutter, suffices for most of the houses. and for door they have a big archway closed by heavy wooden gates, looking very inhospitable. here and there one of these gates stands a little open, and you may get a peep at the interior, a square court, enclosed by stable, barn, and dwelling, heaped with manure and ugly rubbish. no notion here, you will say, of the fitness of things. look at the wagon--a basket on wheels--the wheelbarrow, the rakes, huddled away anyhow, as if they were just as well in one place as another. perhaps they are. quaint old fuller says of the devonshire cotters of his day, "vain it is for any to search their houses, being a work beneath the pains of a sheriff, and above the power of any constable." you will, perhaps, say the same here. look in-doors! the same slovenliness prevails. the room would be just as comfortable, or rather uncomfortable, if chairs and table changed places; if the higgledy-piggledy at one end were shifted to the other. the condition of the utensils is by no means unimpeachable; and repelled by the pervading odour, you will not be less thankful than proud that your lot is not cast among the czechs. the inn is an exception, and has the appearance of being too good for the village. the _kellnerinn_ told us we could have as many bedrooms as we chose, for they were all empty. i was content with my day's walk, about twenty-five miles; but the _mechaniker_, impatient to arrive at prague, resolved to travel two hours farther; so, after he had finished his tankard of beer, we shook hands, and he went on alone, the _kellnerinn_ assuring him as he departed that he would find good sleeping quarters almost every half-hour. chapter x. a talk with the landlord -- a jew's offer -- a ride in a wagen -- talk with the jew -- the stars -- a mysterious gun-barrel -- an alarm -- stony ammunition -- the man with the gun -- the jew's opinion of him -- sunrise -- a walk -- the white hill -- a fatal field -- waking up in the suburbs -- early breakfasts -- imperial and royal tobacco -- milk-folk -- the gate of prague -- a snappish sentry -- the soldiers -- into the city -- picturesque features and crowding associations -- the kleinseite -- the bridge -- palaces -- the altstadt -- remarkable streets -- the teinkirche -- the neustadt -- the three hotels. the landlord came in a few minutes afterwards, and, to encourage me to tell him all he wished to know about myself, declared himself a german. that he should ever have been so stupid as to tempt fortune at neu straschitz was a mistake haunting and vexing him continually. a living was not to be got in such a miserable village, and among such miserable people, and he meant to migrate as soon as he could find some one more stupid than himself to take the inn off his hands. i had seen two or three german names in the street, and asked him if they were of long standing. "not very." and he went on to say that the stock-bohemians, as the czechs are called, are perpetually encroached on, pressed within narrower limits by the german element. though a good deal was said about czechish vigour and intellectuality, some folk thought that the language would at no distant day cease to be spoken. as for the character of the czechs, there was scarcely a german who did not believe them to be sly, false, double-faced. and what says the proverb?--dirt is the offspring of lying and idleness. for his part, he knew the czechs were dirty, but he didn't quite know whether, in other respects, they were worse than their neighbours. any way, he rather liked the thought of removing from among them. after all this, mine host thought he had a fair claim on me for a sight of an english gold coin, and answers to all his questions concerning england. i was doing my best to satisfy him, when the _kellnerinn_ called my attention to a _herr_ who was going to start with his _wagen_ in the course of the evening for prague; and she suggested, very disinterestedly as it seemed to me, that the opportunity was too good to be lost. _wagen_ is as comprehensive a word as our "conveyance:" the _herr_ looked like a man who might be going to prague in a carriage, so, as he promised plenty of room, and asked no more than a florin for the twenty miles, i accepted his offer. having yet business to settle, he went out, and promised to call for me at nine o'clock. he had no sooner left the room, than the landlord said, "he is a jew; but you need not be afraid of him. he is a very honest fellow, and comes here often." i saw no reason to be afraid, and when the jew came back at the appointed hour was ready to accompany him. he led the way to a back street, where we waited in front of one of the low, undemonstrative houses. presently the big gate swung back, and out came the _wagen_--one of the four-wheeled basket wagons, drawn by a single horse pulling awkwardly at one side of the heavy pole. i had imagined something a little better than that; however, as the wagon was half full of new hay, with a comfortable back-cushion of clover, i scrambled in on one side while the jew did the same on the other, and the driver, a czech, perched himself uncomfortably on a bar in front. the wagon was just wide enough for two; and, what with the elastic sides and soft hay, there was no painful jolting. the west shone gloriously with the golden arch of sunset as we drove out of the village and entered on a bad road winding across the open fields; and twilight came on so softly that you might have fancied day was lingering to lend her his palest rays. the jew was disposed to talk, and betrayed no little curiosity on the subject of travelling. was it not very irksome to be away from home? was it not very expensive? and how much money did one need to carry? was there no danger? and so forth. but what interested him most was the question as to the money: he returned to it again and again. next, he had much to ask concerning london--the sort of business transacted in the great city--the rate of profit--in short, he put me through a whole social and commercial catechism, from which he drew a conclusion that london would not be an undesirable place of residence. so it went on, interrupted only by his saying a few words now and then to the driver in czechish, until my turn came, and i opened my questioning about prague. the jew, however, was readier in asking questions than in answering; indeed, he was stingy in reply, as if words were worth a florin the dozen. as the stars brightened the night became cold, and set me shivering. the jew brought two cloaks out of a bag, and, wrapped in one of these, i lay on my back looking up at the sky, thinking of home-scenes and home-friends as my eye wandered from one bright spot to another; and solemn was the impression made on me by the sight of the glorious handiwork. "for the bright firmament shoots forth no flame so silent, but is eloquent in speaking the creator's name." i could not fail to note that astronomers have reason for telling us that meteoric phenomena are more common on any night than would be believed by those not accustomed to observe the heavens, for i saw twelve shooting-stars within two hours. as we went on, the lights in the public-houses became fewer, and ere long disappeared, and the silence was only disturbed by the fitful barking of dogs in the distance, and the slow noise of the wheels. our horse dropped into a walk, and the driver off to sleep, and i was still gazing at the stars when i heard footsteps near the side of the wagon. turning my eyes, without rising, i saw the top of a gun-barrel about two yards off, apparently resting on some one's shoulder. the sound of the footsteps woke the driver, who immediately began to quicken the horse's pace, but very cautiously, as if to avoid suspicion. the jew seemed uneasy, and muttered a word or two in a low tone; the whip was used, the horse broke into a trot, but the gun-barrel was not left behind; i could still see it in the same place, keeping pace with the wagon. what did it mean? one time i fancied that perhaps the hay on which i lay so innocently was but a disguise for something contraband, whereof a cunning gendarme had gotten scent. then i remembered the landlord's desire to see a gold coin, and the jew's curiosity as to the amount and quality of a traveller's money, and a faint suspicion of having fallen into a trap did occur to me. meanwhile the horse trotted in earnest; the gun-barrel was left in the rear; then the whip was plied vigorously; the jew spoke energetically; the driver jumped from his perch, picked up two big stones, threw them into the wagon, and drove quickly on again. "there is one for you, and one for me," said the jew to me, in a loud whisper. "what do you mean?" i asked. "the stones," he replied; "one for you, and one for me, if we are attacked." "attacked or not, we are three to one, and one of the three is an englishman." the jew did not answer, for the footsteps were again heard approaching at a run, and soon the gun-barrel appeared once more abreast of the wagon. the driver kept the horse up to his speed, the jew fumbled about with his feet for the big stones, and the chase--if such it could be called--continued for about ten minutes. all at once the gun-barrel darted from the road-side towards the wagon. i immediately sat up, and found myself face to face, and but a few inches apart, with the bearer of the weapon--a wild-looking fellow, wearing a slouched cap and hunting-jacket. a faint exclamation of surprise escaped him, and, whether it was that he saw two persons in the wagon, besides the driver, or that we did not look worth his trouble, i know not, but he gradually dropped behind, and we lost sight of the gun-barrel. a minute passed. "now," said the jew, "we are rid of him." but scarcely had he spoken, than a shrill whistle sounded afar through the silence of the night, followed after a short interval by a whistle at a distance from the road. "quick! quick!" was now the word to the driver. "he is calling his comrades: they will be down upon us. quick! quick!" the czech seemed well inclined to obey; the pace was quickened into a gallop, and, in about a quarter-hour, we came to a village, where, stopping in front of the inn, he filled the rack with clover from the wagon, and gave the horse to feed. the place with its littery appendages looked unked, lying half in deep shadow; the door was fast, and not a light shone from the windows, cheating my hope of a cup of coffee. the jew now sat up, talked for awhile vehemently with the driver, then said, turning to me, "we have had an escape. that fellow meant nothing good--nothing good--nothing good. a real bad fellow!" "was he a robber?" "perhaps worse. he meant nothing good. we are well out of it. i hope we shall not see him again." we did not; and by-and-by, as we went on again, and i lay looking up at the stars, they seemed to grow dim, then twinkle strangely, and at last they disappeared. it may be that i slept, for when next i looked at the sky it was flecked by streams of rosy tints, the fields were covered with dew as a veil, and, by the timid chirping of birds, and other signs, the eye might note the preparations for lifting the veil at the approach of the sun. my sheltering cloak, my hair and eyebrows, were thickly covered with dew, cold as the brightening dawn. the jew, similarly bepearled, lay sleeping soundly, the czech nodded on his perch, and the horse, taking advantage of the slumber, was moving only at a sober walk. it was not yet five when i alighted about three miles from prague, to get warm by walking the remaining distance. the jew took his florin with much demonstration of thanks, horse and driver roused up, and the wagon was soon out of sight. a few minutes brought me to the _weissenberg_--white hill--a battle-field not less fatal than famous. the road is bordered by ample rows of trees; woods thick with foliage clothe the neighbouring hollows and acclivities, and on the left, sloping gently upwards, with here and there a break, rises the hill. here, then, was the scene of which i had often read, where frederick of the palatinate, who had married a princess of england, daughter of james i., lost the crown of bohemia. not long had he worn it--indeed, some of his contemporaries called him the winter king--when he was forced to flee, with his wife and children, among them the infant rupert, who afterwards won renown as chief of the cavaliers in england. treachery, as late researches show, aided the combined forces of ferdinand of austria and maximilian of bavaria, and from that day bohemia ceased to be an independent monarchy, and became a province of the austrian empire, a loss yet mourned by many, who join in the poet's lament: "ach gott! die weissenberger schlacht erreicht wohl ostrolenka's trauer, und die darauf erfolgt die racht, hat trübere als sibiriens schauer." terrible, indeed, was the _night_ that followed! and when one reads of ferdinand's faithlessness and cruelty, his murderous vengeance on the chiefest of the conquered people, the wonder is not that bohemia should have revolted, but that she did not reconquer her birthright. thoughts of the past came crowding through my mind as i paced across the ground, and presently pursued my walk. i was approaching a city remarkable in itself, and in its historical associations, but for the moment my attention was drawn to immediate objects. as i went on down the now continuous descent, the tops of towers and spires came into view in the distance below, and on either hand appeared indications that a metropolis was not far off. early folk were opening the booths, shops, and public-houses, which, scattered among the trees, presented ere long an unbroken line on both sides of the road. cooling drinks were set out on tables, and many a shutter invited the passer-by to _beer_ and _brandy_, in various phrase. now stalls covered with cherries and currants alternate with piles of bread, hard-boiled eggs, cheese, and smoked sausages; and working people stop to eat their earliest breakfast. every few yards sits a woman with a basket of fresh, tempting _semmel_--fancy bread, as we should call it--most of the little loaves thickly sprinkled with poppy-seeds, dear to the native palate. and here and there stands what looks like a roomy sentry-box, painted yellow, and adorned with the austrian blazon--an _imperial and royal booth for the sale of tobacco_. already the road is alive with vehicles, for from every lane and byepath speed dog-carts, or little wagons on two wheels, or large wagons on four wheels, all laden with tin cans of milk for the city. how the dogs pant, and the horses snort! for the driver, and his or her two or three companions, keep the animals at full speed, sparing neither lash nor voice. long before they come into sight you can hear their shrill chatter, mingled with merry laughter, and, as they burst into view, a shout from all the others adds excitement to the race, and away they go, each trying to be first. half a mile farther, and i overtake many of them at the turn of the road, where the women are sitting on the bank, putting on stockings and shoes. some remount the wagons; others walk quietly onwards, showing a neat ankle and clean white leg to the morning sun. now the city wall frowns towards you, and, once round the turn, there is the gate--_reichsthor_--a few soldiers hanging about, and many persons passing to and fro, while the curious towers of the strahow monastery, where rupert was born, peer above trees and vine-slopes on the right. i passed through the gloomy arch unchallenged by any of the guards, and had got some distance down the steep street, when a man made me aware that shouts in the rear were intended for me. i turned: a soldier, who had come a few yards from the cavern-like gate, was making very peremptory use of his voice, and, as soon as i saw him, he beckoned with angry gestures. i retraced my steps, but at too slow a pace to satisfy the imperial functionary, for he turned again and again, each time with the same impatient gesture. no sooner did i come within earshot, than he cried, snappishly, "why did you not give me your passport?" "for two reasons," i answered, with a laugh; "this is my first visit to prague, and i have not yet learnt your regulations; and secondly, why did you let me go by without asking me for it?" the lounging group of soldiers laughed as this was spoken, and my questioner having led the way to his darksome den, built at the elbow of the arch so as to command both approaches, took my passport and gave me the official receipt without further parley. as i emerged again into the sunshine, one of the soldiers said, "do you know what? when any one goes away into the city without stopping at the guard-house, he must always come back to the gate where he entered, and give up his passport." i thanked him for his information, and took my way once more down the street. it was just six o'clock: all the shops were open; working people thronged the footways; heavy teams toiled slowly up the hill towards the gate; the milk-folk hurried down with noisy clatter, while men wearing glazed hats and a canvas uniform swept the streets. signs of early rising everywhere. the peculiar features of the city multiply as you advance. high on the left, its cathedral tower springing above the rest, appears the hradschin--an imposing mass of building in the factory style of architecture, stretching, as one might guess, for half a mile along the bold eminence, commanding the country for miles around. you can count four hundred windows. there, as every one knows, the thirty years' war began, by certain angry bohemian nobles pitching two imperial commissioners and their secretary out of one of the windows. little did the haughty ejectors think of the consequences of their exploit--that before thirty years were over, , villages and more than a million men would be destroyed by war! being very hungry, i was fain to drink a draught of milk and eat one of the poppy-seeded loaves at the door of one of the little shops, looking round all the while on curious gables, panelled fronts, ancient gateways, more numerous as we descend. lower down, we are in the oldest part of the city, among the palaces of the great nobles whose names figure in history--kollowrat, lobkowitz, wallenstein, and others. massive edifices, whereby your eye and steps are alike arrested. and on every side are narrow lanes and courts, some nothing but a steep stair, and these, winding in and out, increase the charm of the ornamented architecture, and produce wonderful bits of perspective. such effects of light and shade, and glorious touches of colour! then a church crowded with carvings; old women sitting on the steps, young women and matrons going in to the early mass, of which, as the doors swing to and fro, you hear the loud notes of the organ. then a square, and tall obelisk, and arcaded houses; and turning a corner there rises the bridge tower, strikingly picturesque. as my eye caught sight of its graceful roof and slender finials, i could not repress an exclamation of surprise and pleasure. then through the narrow arch, and we are on the ancient bridge, looking down on the broad stream of the moldau, flowing with noisy rush through the sixteen arches built years ago; at houses, palaces, and churches rising one above another in the _kleinseite_ through which we have just passed, and in the _altstadt_ on the opposite side; at the mosaic pavement; at the gigantic statues which terminate every pier, noteworthy saints from the bohemian calendar, chiefest among them st. john nepomuk, who with his crescentic belt of five large ruby stars might be taken for another orion. in no city that i have yet seen have i felt so much pleasure, or such varied emotions, as during my walk into prague. then we pass under the equally picturesque bridge tower of the _altstadt_, and enter narrow streets lined with good shops, and full of bustle; and after many puzzling ins and outs, we emerge into the spacious area of the ring--a lively scene, people crossing in all directions, or sauntering under the arcades; here and there sentries pacing up and down, and small parties of soldiers, in gay uniforms, marching away to beat of drum. and above the farther houses there shoot up the two towers of the _teinkirche_--one of the most famous churches in prague--which were built by george podiebrad. the church itself is screened by the houses; but, whenever you see those graceful towers, you recognise the site of the edifice which was one of the strongholds of hussite preachers, and where tycho brahe lies buried. more narrow streets; across the end of a market-place, and passing under the arch of the ancient powder tower, we enter the broad streets of the _neustadt_. the bohemian professor at würzburg had recommended me to lodge at the _blaue stern_, so to the _blue star_ i went, and asked for a room. "quite full," said the _kellner_, at the same time surveying me inquisitively from head to foot. two doors off was another hotel, where the answer, accompanied by a similar inquisition, was, "nothing empty." a third replied, "perhaps, to-morrow." i began to fancy that my not having been in bed all night--boots still dusty, and a few stalks of hay clinging to my coat--might have something to do with these denials. however, hotels are thickly grouped in this quarter of the city, and not many yards farther the _schwarzes ross_, in the _kolowrat-strasse_, gave me quarters as comfortable as could be wished. chapter xi. the hausknecht -- a place to lose yourself -- street-phenomena -- book-shops -- glass-wares -- cavernous beer-houses -- signs -- czechish names -- ugly women -- swarms of soldiers -- a scene on the bridge -- a drateñik -- the ugly passport clerk -- the suspension-bridge -- the islands -- the slopes of the laurenzberg -- view over prague -- schools, palaces, and poverty -- the rookery -- the hradschin -- the courts -- the cathedral -- the great tomb -- the silver shrine -- relics -- a kissed portrait -- st. wenzel's chapel -- big sigmund -- the loretto platz -- the old towers -- the hill-top and hill-foot. i had not been many minutes in my room when the _hausknecht_--the german boots--brought me a printed form, in which, besides the inevitable particulars, i had to state the probable duration of my stay in prague. for three days' residence the police authorities charge nothing, but if you enter on a fourth day you must pay two florins for a permit to reside. i escaped the tax by not having more than three days to spare. the day was all before me, and i made haste to "go lose myself, and wander up and down and view the city." losing one's-self is not difficult in prague--easier, indeed, than in any city i have yet visited; for the _altstadt_ so abounds in queer nooks and corners, narrow streets and lanes all crooked and angular, running hither and thither in such unexpected directions, or coming to a sudden stop, as completely to puzzle a stranger. even my organ of locality well-nigh failed me in the intricate maze. among all these zigzags you discover the leading thoroughfares only by the busy appearance, the continuous stream of citizens going and coming, straggling all across the narrow roadway, now darting aside to escape a passing carriage, or slowly giving place to a long lumbering dray that rolls past with deafening rumble, the horses clattering on shoes with tall calkins that put you in mind of pattens. here, too, are the best shops, displaying attractive wares behind coarse and uneven panes. the booksellers' windows exhibit a good variety of standard books, of maps and engravings, denoting the existence of a wholesome love of literature; very different from what is to be seen in the southern states of the empire. some shops display none but czechish books, and if you glance over the title-pages, you will discover that topography of their own country, and descriptions of the beautiful city _praha_--as they call prague--are favourite subjects with the czechs. there is no uniformity. next door to a cabinet-maker's, whose large-paned window exhibits a variety of tasteful furniture, you will see a cavern-like grocery without any window, and the wares all in seeming confusion. next, beyond, is a shop resplendent with bohemian glass, elegant forms in ruby, gold, and azure, each one a triumph of art and industry. england is a generous customer for these fragile articles, as may be seen any day in some of the best shops in london. then comes a sullen-looking front, with grim grated window, showing no wares, and looking as if it had not cared about customers since the days of king george podiebrad. then a smirking coffee-house, with muslin curtains and touches of gilding. a little farther, and there is a great open arch, running far to the rear--a beer-house--the space between the street and the bar filled with tables bearing brown loaves cut in quarters, _semmel_, and corpulent sausages. turn which way you will, you find an endless diversity. "_glück auf!_" writes up a little trader. "_here are best coals. radnitzer coal._" people who live on the upper floors hang a small wooden cruciform sign from their windows by a long string, low enough to catch the eye and strike the heads of those walking beneath; and on these dangling crosses, when they are not spinning round in the wind, you may read that a dentist, shoemaker, or teacher aloft in his garret would be happy to supply your wants on reasonable terms. judging from the number of queer-looking names over the doors, prague must be the head-quarters of the czechs, and yet one meets comparatively few examples of the fine intellectual brow and handsome features of which i had seen noble specimens in the villages. most of the faces struck me as of a very common cast; and as for the gentle sex, never have i seen so many ugly women as in prague. those of the working classes are very dowdies, not to say slatterns, in many cases; and the rows of market-women squatting by their baskets resemble so many feather-beds tied round the middle, in a flimsy cotton dress, and crowned by a red or yellow kerchief pinned under the chin. even among the graceful and gaily-dressed ladies i saw but very few pretty faces. perhaps i expected too much, or it might be, as i was told, that all the pretty women had gone away to the watering-places! surprising to a stranger is the number of soldiers, sauntering among the other pedestrians, in uniforms blue, green, gray, or white; or marching in short files at a brisk pace behind a corporal. not once did i take a walk in prague without seeing three or four of these little troops stepping out towards one or other quarter of the compass. what is there to be kept down that can need such an imposing force? at all events, it heightens the picturesque effect of the streets. stand for half an hour on the bridge and you will see, while noting that scarcely any besides boys and priests take off their hats to st. john of the five stars, how great is the proportion which the army and the church bear to the rest of the inhabitants. at times the black and the coloured uniforms appear to have the best of it. all besides may be divided into two classes--the well-dressed and the shabby--for nothing appears between the two. there are, however, but few of those very miserable objects such as haunt the streets of large towns in england. now a man hurries past carrying a tall circular basket filled with piled-up dinners in round dishes; now another wheeling bundles of coloured glass rods; now another with a barrow-load of bread, and many a slice will you see sold for a noonday repast. then comes a troop of lawless-looking street-musicians; then beggars grinding out squeaky music from tinkered organs; then a girl carrying a coffin, painted black and yellow, under her arm, which bears a cross on its gabled lid. and now and then, among all these, your eye is arrested by a singular, wild-looking figure, whom you will think the strangest of all. he has lank black hair hanging to his shoulders from under a fluffy, round-crowned, broad-brimmed hat--of the fashion still worn by a few old quakers in out-of-the-way places. he disdains a shirt, and wears a tight jacket and hosen of whitey-brown serge. he goes barefoot, walking with long, stealthy strides, looking, so you guess, furtively around. on his shoulder he carries a coil of fine iron wire, and in his hand a broken red pan or stone pitcher. wild, however, and out of place as he looks, he is only a wallachian plying his honest calling. he is a _drateñik_--or _drahtbinder_ (wirebinder), as the germans call it--going about to mend broken pans and pitchers by binding the fractures together with wire; a task which he performs with neatness and dexterity. i went to the _polizeidirection_ to reclaim my passport. about a dozen persons were waiting. to some who looked poor and timid the clerk spoke roughly, assuming beforehand a something "not regular." one might fancy that his ungracious occupation had told upon his looks, for he was the ugliest man i ever saw, and, unlike the women, who gave themselves airs in the streets, he seemed to be aware of nature's unkindness towards him. when my turn came, he asked, "where are you going?" "to the _riesengebirge_." "_so!_ but we can't sign a passport for the mountains. you must tell us the name of some town." "make it landeshut, if you will; or any frontier town in silesia." "can't do that. we must have some town on this side the mountains." "i don't yet know which of three routes i shall take. say some town nearest to the mountains. does it make any difference?" "_schön!_ you can come back here when your mind is made up." and with this rejoinder, ugly turned away to consider a timid lady's request for permission to go a journey of fifteen miles. there was time enough, so i strolled away to the suspension-bridge--_kaiser franzens brücke_--which, more than feet long, crosses the moldau and the _schützen insel_, a short distance above the stone bridge. the view midway will make you linger. on the right bank, _franzens-quai_, stretching from one bridge to the other, forms a spacious esplanade, in the centre of which, surrounded by gardens, rises the monument erected by the estates of bohemia to the honour of francis i. beyond and on either side the towers and palaces are seen in a new aspect, differently grouped from our early morning view. those of the _kleinseite_, backed by the leafy slopes of the _laurenzberg_, while immediately beneath your eye rests on the green sward and shady groves of three or four islands. the river rushing past to the dam makes a lively ripple, imparting a sense of coolness enjoyed by the visitors who throng the islands during the summer season. the _sophien insel_, named after the archduchess sophie, the emperor's mother, with its pleasure-grounds, dancing-floors, orchestras, refreshment-rooms, and baths, is the chief resort, especially on sundays. the large ball-room was the scene of noisy public meetings in ' ; the sclave congress was held there, followed by a sclavonic costume ball. these islands are a pleasing feature in the view, and, with their shady bowers and the noise of the water mingling with strains of music, contrast agreeably with the matter-of-fact of the city. the _schützen insel_ is resorted to by rifle companies, and you may hear a brisk succession of shots from the practice that appears to be always going on. during the outbreak of june, , the floor of the bridge was taken up, and the passage across completely interrupted for some weeks by the military. and it was to prince windischgratz's demonstrations during the same month that the inhabitants were indebted for an extension of their handsome quay. an old water-tower, and sundry ricketty wooden mills that stood at the end of the stone bridge, were set on fire by a shell from the prince's artillery, and the space cleared by the flames was taken into the newly-formed area. passing from the bridge through the _aujezder thor_, you come to the pleasant slopes and gardens of the _laurenzberg_, a hill that overlooks the city and country around. winding paths agreeably shaded lead upwards, until you are stopped on the summit by massive fortifications; the great "bread-wall," or "hunger-wall"--for it is known by both names--which karl iv. built all round the city five hundred years ago to give work to the citizens in a season of distress. from a buttress which projects clear of the trees, that cover all the hill-side with a broad mass of foliage, you have a wide prospect. greater part of the city from the jews' quarter to the wissehrad lies beneath the eye as a panorama. the moldau--breaking from between low hills, with here and there a _kahn_ floating, or a long, narrow raft drifting to the gap in the dam--flows past in a grand curve between towers and palaces, wretched hovels and stately churches, and onwards round the hills below to join the elbe. the islands are open as a map, and you see the puffs of smoke from the rifles on the _schützen insel_. it is a striking but disappointing view, for notwithstanding the ancient gables and various towers that shoot aloft, the city has somewhat the aspect of a collection of factories, so monotonous are the long lines of white, many-windowed wall, bearing their long slopes of bright red roof. street after street stretching away, all of the same character, and scattering on the outskirts into a tame country, cruelly disappoint your expectations of the picturesque. here and there are large patches of green among houses, and rows of poplars shooting up. yet, after all, there is something in the view which makes you linger. in some of its architectural forms and features it partly realizes your mental pictures of the east, and your imagination flies back to the remote days when the czechs left their far-away home towards the sunrise, and wandered on till their leader, looking down from the hills on the valley of the moldau, determined that here should be the seat of his empire. i sat for an hour on the rough coping of the buttress looking down on the scene, while the leaves rustled cheerfully in a cooling breeze, and the sunbeams glistened and flashed from a thousand windows, and gilded weathercocks, and the lively ripples of the muddy stream. if inclined for a quiet stroll, you may wander among the trees and rocks on the crown of the hill, or visit the church of st. lawrence, from whom the hill takes its name. from the highest summit, in very favourable weather, it is possible to see _st. georgsberg_, near raudnitz, and peaks of the _mittelgebirge_ and _riesengebirge_--mountains on the saxon and silesian frontier. on coming down from the hill, i prowled for awhile about the _kleinseite_, where, besides the antiquities and rare old palaces, you are struck by the number of schools and institutions for education. strange groupings indeed in this quarter of the city! palaces as rich in treasures of art and literature as in historical associations, side by side with miserable hovels and narrow, crooked streets, where poverty lurks in rags and squalor. little bits of architecture, that are a delight to look on, catch your eye in unexpected places, peering out in some instances from among things that delight not the eye. but the schools are close by, and innovation creeps slowly on though few perceive it. you may mount to the hradschin by some of these byeways, where you will see how many windows have inner gratings, and how here and there the prison-like aspect is relieved by plants and flowers that screen the iron bars; and by these signs may you know where honest poverty dwells. in the _hohler weg_ and _neue welt_ you have specimens of the rookery of prague. at length, after many ins and outs and bits of steep stair, you find yourself on the terrace in front of the hradschin, and you will be tempted to pause on the steps and survey the view across the house-tops. the mass of buildings here is large enough, and shelters inhabitants enough to form a town. it includes a royal fortress--the archbishop's residence--a nunnery and monastery, a penal reformatory, besides lodgings of the official functionaries. a considerable portion of the huge pile is now used as barracks for infantry and cavalry, and things military abound within its courts. there are sentries on duty, and soldiers off duty lounging about the guard-house, while their muskets lean against a rail painted black and yellow. but you pass unchallenged, and while crossing the quadrangle may see the word salve in large characters in the pavement. in the third court you come to the cathedral, an unfinished edifice dedicated to st. vitus, still showing marks of hussite mischief, and of the great frederick's cannon-balls. it covers the site of a church built in in honour of the same saint by wenzel the holy--he who planted the first vineyard in bohemia, on the eastern slope of the hradschin hill. the foundation-stone of the present structure was laid by charles iv., during the lifetime of his father john; and although the building went on for forty-two years, it was never completed. in leopold i. made an attempt to finish it according to the original plan; but he did nothing more than build a few columns in different styles, which stood in the fore-court until , when they were pulled down, as the beginning of a new effort for completing the structure. stimulated by the zeal of canon pesina, a prague cathedral building union was founded, with count francis thun for chief; and preparations were made for the work, and for raising a million florins to pay for it, when the troubles of --fatal to so many hopes and noble purposes--put a stop to the proceedings. if the outside disappoint you by sundry additions and contradictory ornaments, which spoil the pure effect of the original gothic, you will find cause enough for astonishment inside. at the western end of the nave stands the richly-carved mausoleum, erected in by kollin of nuremberg, at the cost of rudolf ii. it is of carrara marble, and in magnitude and beauty of sculpture may well vie with maximilian's tomb in the court church at innsbruck. royal dust is plentiful in the vault beneath, for therein lie, besides rudolf himself, charles iv. and his four wives, wenzel iv., ladislaus posthumus, george von podiebrad, ferdinand i. and his wife anna, maximilian ii., and the archduchess maria amelia, who was buried in . from admiring the manifold carvings, which show the touch of the true artist, you will perhaps look next at the tomb of st. john nepomuk, on the right near the altar. surely no other saint, or living bishop, even in this age of testimonials, ever had such a service of plate presented to him as that! it is a small mountain of silver. on high, silver angels hold a canopy over a silver shrine, which, borne aloft by angels, life size, contains the martyr's body in a crystal coffin, set off by shining statues, glittering ornaments, bas-reliefs, and tall candlesticks, all alike made of silver. if current testimony may be relied on, there are nearly two tons of the precious metal therein dedicated to the holy johannes. no wonder that you see the saint's statue on so many bridges in bohemia, and even for a few miles beyond the frontiers. the curiosities of the church are more than can be examined in a brief visit. there are twelve chapels ranged about the nave--the last fitted up as an oratory for the imperial family. in one of them you may see the foot of a candlestick, which, according to tradition, was one of those made for solomon's temple, from whence it was conveyed to rome, and afterwards to milan, where wladislaus i. seized the precious relic, and he brought it to prague. at all events, the workmanship shows signs of great antiquity. and near the western end there hangs a "true image"--a head of christ, the holy placid features showing a trace of sadness, the eyes looking at you with an earnest, though pitying expression. it is a remarkable specimen of early art; much venerated by the devout, who would soon obliterate it by kisses were it not protected by glass. a moustachioed man came up, and, taking off his hat, pressed his lips upon the sacred mouth while i was still looking at the painting. frescoes bordered by gems adorn the walls of st. wenzel's chapel; and here are preserved the saint's helmet and coat of mail, a brass ring to which he clung when he fell murdered by his brother's hand, and other relics. here also the bohemian regalia are kept in rigorous security under seven locks: st. wenzel's sword is among them, and with this, after his coronation, the monarch creates knights of st. wenzel's order. the verger gives you his cut-and-dry description; but, as he may omit to tell you a little bit of history, it would be well to remember that in this chapel the archduke ferdinand was chosen king of bohemia in , whereby the kingdom has ever since belonged to the house of hapsburg. further concerning statues, lamps, tombs, and paintings, and the organ, with its pipes, the treasure-chamber, where, among other things, are sixteen leaves of st. mark's gospel in the hand of the evangelist--the rest said to be at venice--the trinary chapel, and the seven bells in the tower, among which "big sigmund" weighs thirteen tons, and the octagon chapel, and the pulpit in the fore-court, may be read in guide-books. go next to the _loretto platz_, and look at the palace which once belonged to count czernin, and at the loretto chapel--an exact copy of the far-famed holy house in popedom. or perhaps you will take more interest in remembering that in a house near this chapel tycho brahe made the observations from which he and kepler produced the _tabulæ rudolphinæ_--a work well known to astronomers; perpetuating in its title the name of their munificent patron. as old engravings testify, the hradschin once looked picturesque when its twenty-two high-roofed towers were all standing. of these only four remain; and in the black tower you may see fearsome specimens of mediæval dungeons. if those grim walls could speak, the fate would be known of some of bohemia's worthiest, who, within a year after the battle of the white hill, suddenly disappeared from among their families and friends, and were never more heard of. you may end your exploration by crossing to the opposite side of the hill, and taking a view of the great range of buildings from the _staubbrücke_, which crosses the _hirschgraben_, and commands a prospect over the north-western environs of the city, and of the contrasts between the palace on the hill-top and the frowsy haunts at the foot. chapter xii. the tandelmarkt -- old men and boys at rag fair -- jews in prague -- the judenstadt -- schools and synagogues -- remote antiquity -- ducal victims -- jewish bravery -- removal of boundary wires. from the hradschin, with its imperial associations, living and dead, to an old clothes market, is a change over which you may laugh or lament, according to your mood. if you have seen rag fair in london, you can form a weak notion of what i saw in the _tandelmarkt_ at prague on my return to the _altstadt_ from the palatial hill. for, besides the difference of architecture, which heightens the general effect, foreign jews, whether in consequence of shabbier clothes or dirtier habits, have always a more picturesque appearance than their brethren in england. what a gabble! accompanied by gesticulations so violent that you would think the traders were coming to blows. old men bent by age, of venerable aspect and beard patriarchal, stand chaffering as eagerly for cast-off garments as if they had methuselah's years before them in which to enjoy the proceeds. "it is naught," argues the buyer; and the graybeards whine over their frippery, and turn it about, and display it to the best advantage, and reply in a tone that extorts at last the reluctant coins from the customer's pocket. look at the boys! how they ply nimbly hither and thither, picking up stray bargains: adepts already in the craft of their grandsires. look at their fathers! no whining in their traffic: but hard altercation, in which patient subterfuge proves more than a match for vehemence. here and there, however, a cunning czech, by sharp practice with his tongue, and a timely exhibition of his money, succeeds in carrying off a blouse or hosen on his own terms; and the hebrew, while pouching the coins, sends after him low mutterings, which forebode ill to the next customer. as you wander among the stalls, and push between the busy groups, noting how much of the merchandise appears utterly worthless, you will find cause enough for laughter and for lamentation. according to the census of , the number of jews in prague is about nine thousand, of whom nearly eight thousand are natives. besides these, there are many resident in some of the neighbouring villages; but the number is less now than formerly. daily perambulations of the city with the old, familiar, dingy bag on shoulder, in quest of "clo," and the trade of the _tandelmarkt_, are the resources to which most betake themselves. the place assigned for their residence, known as the _judenstadt_ (altered of late years to _josefstadt_), is a few acres of the _altstadt_, lying between the _grosser ring_ and the river: by far the most densely populated part of prague. it is crowded with houses: traversed by narrow streets not remarkable for cleanliness, and has altogether an uninviting aspect. your sanitary reformer would here find a strong case of overcrowding: two or three families in one room, and a dozen, and, in some instances, more than twenty owners for a single house. the number of faces of men, women, and children at the windows, and the many comers and goers along the devious ways and in and out of the darksome passages, leave you no reason to doubt the fact. and in these miserable tenements dwell some of the chiefest men of the community--men appointed to places of trust and honour, who sit in the old jewish council-house, and officiate in the synagogue. but even here the ancient complexion and character are changing. new and commodious houses built in a few places are a standing reproach to the rest of the neighbourhood, and to the partisans of dirt. and while prying about you will hear the voices of children in sundry schools, where the teachers talk and work as if they were in earnest. nor is spiritual culture neglected, for you will see some four or five synagogues, and a _temple of the reformed israelitish god's-worship_. in prague, the manners and customs of the jews are said to retain more of their primeval characteristics than in any other place out of asia; the chief cause being the bitter persecutions to which the race, as everywhere else, were subjected. some accounts assign their first settlement here to the fabulous ages of history, and make it seventy-two years earlier than that of the czechs, or in the year of the present era. and the tradition runs, that on the ground now occupied by the _judenstadt_, and on part of the _kleinseite_, the first buildings were erected. in the early days the jews lived in whatever quarter of the city suited them best; but, in consequence of many corrupt practices, duke spitignew ii. banished them all from bohemia in . eight years later, duke wratislaw ii., moved to pity, granted leave for their return, though not on compassionate conditions. besides doubling their former amount of yearly tax, they were to pay an annual fine of two hundred silver marks, to purchase twelve houses near the river in the _kleinseite_ for their residence, and to wear a yellow cloak as a distinguishing garment. their number was never to exceed one thousand; but in a few years it had grown to five thousand, whereupon the surplus were banished; and, to check smuggling among the remainder, they were removed from the _kleinseite_ to their present quarters. the yellow cloak having fallen into disuse, ferdinand ii. revived the regulation with sharp severity in . from the second ferdinand (in ) the jews obtained important privileges, in consideration of a yearly gift of forty thousand gulden: liberty to choose their own magistrates and judges, to establish schools, and multiply in numbers without limit. in they took a valiant part in the defence of prague against the swedes, and the banner won by their bravery is still preserved in the old synagogue. in they were once more banished, but had permission to return the following year. joseph ii. placed them on an equality with other citizens, and allowed them to buy land, and dress as they pleased. in the good old times, whenever any turbulence occurred in prague, it was always made the excuse for plundering or persecution of the jews; and in this particular their history accords with that of their brethren in all other cities of europe. they did but barely escape in the memorable ' . their town once had nine gates, which were shut at nightfall; and subsequently, wires stretched across the streets, marked the boundary between hebrew and christian: these were removed in the year last mentioned, and have not since been replaced. chapter xiii. the jewish sabbath -- the old synagogue -- traditions concerning it -- the gloomy interior -- the priests -- the worshippers and the worship -- the talkers -- the book of the law -- the rabbi -- the startling gun -- a birth at vienna -- departed glory. my second day in prague being a saturday, i went to see the jews at worship in their synagogue. the _josefstadt_ was comparatively quiet; but few persons in the streets, and those dressed in their best; the boys carrying prayer-books, and the men with what looked like an apron rolled up under their arm. on entering the synagogue, i found that the apron was a white scarf (_talis_), with blue striped ends, which each man put on across his shoulders before taking his seat. but first, a few words about the building itself. on approaching it along the narrow _beleles-gasse_, you are struck at once by its appearance of great antiquity--visibly the most ancient among buildings decrepit with age. it is sunk low in the ground, down a flight of some ten or twelve steps, as if the first builders, worshipping in fear, had sought concealment. of architectural display there is none. walls blackened by the dust and storms of centuries, with two or three narrow-pointed windows, looking so much more like a bride-well than a temple of the living god, that not till i had seen the steady procession of men and boys to the door could i believe it to be really the synagogue. no wonder that its foundation is referred back to days ere europe had a history. one tradition says, that no sooner was the temple at jerusalem destroyed, than angels immediately set about building this synagogue on the bank of the moldau. according to another, certain people digging in a hill which once covered the spot, came upon a portion of a wall, and, continuing their excavation, cleared away the hill, and found a synagogue built already to their hands. and, as before mentioned, there is the tradition which dates it seventy-two years earlier than the arrival of the czechs. it was a remarkable sight that met my eyes as i descended into the building. if the outside conveys an impression of extreme age, much more does the inside. the deep-sunk floor, the dim light, the walls and ceiling as black as age and smoke can make them, are the features of a dungeon rather than of a place of thanksgiving. the height, owing to the low level of the floor, appears to be greater than the length, and, looking up, you can easily believe that cleansing has never been attempted since the first prayer was offered. old-fashioned brass chandeliers hang from the ceiling, and here and there a brazen shield on the wall. the _almemmar_, or rostrum, occupies the centre of the floor, and in the narrow space on either side and at one end are the seats and stools for the congregation, with numerous reading-stands crowded between. these stands have a shabby, makeshift look, no two being alike in height or pattern, as if each man had constructed his own. hence a general look of disorder as well as of dinginess. the doorkeeper requested me to keep my cap on; and i saw that all present sat covered. even the officiating priests wore their hats, and in dress and appearance were in no way different from the hearers. every man had his _talis_ on, and was continually fidgetting and shrugging to keep it on his shoulders, and his hebrew prayer-book from slipping off the stand. the priests walked restlessly up and down the _almemmar_, but whether they were praying or exhorting i could not tell, for all sounded alike to me--a glib and noisy gabble. and all the while the men on the darksome seats under the gallery kept up a murmur of talk in twos and threes, in a way that sounded very much like a discussion of questions left unfinished on the _tandelmarkt_. now and then a "hush! hush!" was impatiently ejaculated by one of the devout who sat near with eyes fixed on his book; but the back seats took no heed, and, though in the temple, ceased not to talk of merchandise. very few were they who maintained a fixed attention; a ceaseless rocking of the body to and fro, as, with half-closed eyes, they went through their recitations, distinguished them from the rest. now and then the priests paused in their uneasy walk, drew together, and had a little bit of quiet talk among themselves, seasoned by a pinch of snuff all round. then they separated, and one, pacing from side to side, gave repeated utterance to a short phrase, in a wailing, sing-song tone, while the others went behind the veil, and presently came forth again, one bearing what at first sight looked like a thick double roll surmounted by two silver candlesticks. it was the book of the law; and no sooner did the bearers appear than a cry of joy was set up by the whole assembly. a shabby wrapper and the silver ornaments were taken off, and then the sacred parchment was seen wound on two cylinders, so that as a portion was read from one it might be rolled up on the other. the scroll was laid on the table with some formal ceremony, and the priests, unrolling a part, began to read, but in such a snuffling tone and careless manner as indicated but little reverence. after each one had snuffled in turn, the old rabbi, wearing a long gown and fur cap, was assisted on to the _almemmar_, and, bending low over the scroll, he read a few passages solemnly and impressively, though in a voice weak and tremulous with age: audible to all, for the talkers under the gallery held their peace. his task finished, he was led back to his seat: the roll was wound up, and, with the wrapper and ornaments replaced, was returned to its place behind the veil. the monotonous murmur was renewed: one of the priests commenced a recitation, but he had scarcely opened his lips than the report of a cannon boomed loudly from the hradschin, startling all within hearing, and making the streets echo again. "ah!" cried the talkers, "that's for the empress. is it prince or princess this time?" the priest halted in his recitation as the thunderous shocks succeeded--one, two, three, and so on, up to twenty-five--when, after another pause of listening expectation, "ah!" cried the talkers again, "'tis only a princess;" and they took up once more the thread of their murmur. then followed more gabbling and snuffling from the rostrum; and, as i listened and looked round from face to face, noting the expression, something like sadness came over me; for were not those slovenly utterances a hopeless lamentation over the glory that had departed? was it clean gone for ever? did no trace remain of that solemn and gorgeous ceremonial, instituted when the glory came down and filled the house in the presence of the king, and of the levites and singers "arrayed in white linen, having cymbals, and psalteries, and harps;" and of the people? when the king prayed, "now therefore arise, o lord god, into thy resting-place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, o lord god, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness." an hour passed, and still the recitations and murmur went on. i had seen enough, and thought, as i stepped forth into the daylight, that the cry, "his blood be on us, and on our children!" had been fearfully avenged. chapter xiv. the alte friedhof -- a stride into the past -- the old tombs -- vegetation and death -- haunted graves -- ancient epitaph -- rabbi löw -- his scholars -- symbols of the tribes -- the infant's coffin -- the playground -- from death to life. the old synagogue and old jewish burial-ground (_alte friedhof_) are but a few yards apart. on my way from one to the other i passed sundry groups, chiefly women, talking with animation about the interesting event signalized from the hradschin. and more than one expressed a wish that a prince and not a princess had been born to the house of hapsburg. the angle of a wall, overtopped within by foliage, marks the site of the burial-ground. the doorkeeper unlocked the gate, and, passing in, i felt as if, instead of merely stepping across a threshold, a long stride had been taken back into the past. the living world is all shut out, and you are alone with the dead--the dead of long ago. _beth chaim_, or the house of life, is the name in hebrew; but there is no life save that of gnarly elder-trees, gooseberry-bushes, and creeping weeds that struggle up into a wild maze from among the overcrowded tombs and gravestones. the stones, thick and massive, are so incredibly numerous, that they are wedged and jammed together in most extraordinary confusion. some lean on one side; some forwards, some backwards, and many would fall outright were they not propped up by others standing near. hence all sorts of curious holes and corners, in which grow choking weeds and coarse grass, hiding the inscriptions, and producing a strange impression of neglect and decay. with this impression comes a sense of the mysterious, heightened by the nature of the ground, which, irregular in outline and very uneven, confines your view to but a small portion at once. though the enclosure takes up about one-twelfth of the _judenstadt_, your idea becomes one of a succession of patches of tangled foliage drooping over mouldering tombs. now the path mounts a broken slope; now dips into a narrow way between the walls of encroaching streets and houses; now enters a widening area, where the fragrant blossoms and branches of the elders droop gracefully over the ancient memorials--or comes to an end in some out-of-the-way nook. thus you are led on pace by pace, always wondering what will appear at the next turn. and there is something mysterious in the associations of the place. tales are told of ghosts that haunt the tombs; unhappy spirits bringing terror and doom to the living, or goblins playing gruesome tricks. and again in its antiquity: anticipating by a hundred years the building of prague, as proved by a date on a tombstone. no wonder that the ground is heaped high, and full of ups and downs! thousands of jews have turned to dust beneath the surface. something, however, must be deducted from its antiquity. if, as careful investigation gives reason to believe, the old synagogue was built in the thirteenth century, we may suppose the opening of the burial-ground to have taken place within the same period. the notion arose from misreading the stone, whereby one thousand was subtracted from the date. the inscriptions are in the hebrew character, and, for the most part, deeply cut. the stone in question is inscribed: _in elul (august) the nd day: lamentation ... was the ornament of our head snatched away. sara, whose memory stands in high praise, wife of joseph katz, died. she was modest; and reached out her hand to the poor. her speech was mild and agreeable, without shame or vice. her desire was after the house of the creator. she gave herself up to whatsoever is holy, and continued steadfast. she trained up her children according to the law of god._ one of the most remarkable tombs is that of rabbi löw (or lyon)--a handsome temple-formed sarcophagus, distinguished by a sculptured lion, and the beauty of its workmanship. the rabbi himself was a remarkable man in his day; eminent for nobleness of mind and great learning; and it is recorded of him that he was honoured by a visit from the emperor rudolf ii. in his own house. he lies here in good company; for on both sides of his tomb extends a row of gravestones, thirty-three in number, marking the resting-place of thirty-three of his favourite scholars; and not far off a taller stone shows the grave of his son-in-law. on many of the slabs you will see curious devices deeply cut, and figures resembling a coat-of-arms. these indicate the tribe, or family or name of the deceased. there lies one of the house of aaron, as shown by the two hands; a pitcher denotes the tribe of levi; and israel is signified by a bunch of grapes. the name _fischeles_ or _karpeles_ is symbolised by a fish; lyon by the royal quadruped; and _hahn_ by a domestic fowl; and so forth. all these and many other noteworthy objects will you see while wandering about this mortal wilderness; and the doorkeeper, if in the mood, will tell you many a legend, and point out the tombs of simeon the just, and anna schmiedes, concerning whom something might be said should the humour serve. no burials have been permitted since the reign of joseph ii.; and from that date, except that the path is clean, the whole place appears to have been abandoned to the influence of the seasons. many of the stones are broken; here and there the slabs of the tombs are crumbled away, leaving large holes through which you may look and see green stains and patches of dark mould. in a dry spot at the foot of a wall i saw a bundle nailed up within rough staves of fir; it was a still-born infant in its coffin; and perhaps for such a little hole may still be dug in the ancient ground. notwithstanding that the backs of a few old houses look down on the graves, they fit in with the scene, and your impression of deep loneliness remains undisturbed, except in one corner, where the surface is clear and level. it is used at times as a playground for the children, whose voices you hear from the open windows of the schoolroom that encloses one side. painter and poet might alike make a picture of childhood, full of mirth and happiness, playing in the sunshine; and in the background, all too near, the haunted tombs of their forefathers. a few years ago the jews, finding their quarter much too small for commodious or decent habitation, petitioned the authorities for leave to widen their boundaries, and in answer were recommended to destroy their venerable _friedhof_, and build houses upon the ground. no willingness has yet been manifested to adopt the recommendation. as on entering, so on departing, are you aware of a strange impression; from the field of death, from silence and solitude, you pass at once to the noisy life of the streets, and the spell wrought upon you by the brief saunter where sits "the shadow cloak'd from head to foot who keeps the keys of all the creeds," is broken with a shock. and by-and-by, when in the noisier thoroughfares, vague fancies will come to you of having had a sepulchral dream. chapter xv. the kolowratstrasse -- picolomini's palace -- the museum -- geological affluence -- early czechish bibles -- rare old manuscripts -- letters of huss and ziska -- tabor hill -- portraits -- hussite weapons -- antiques -- doubtful hussites in the market-place -- the glückliche entbindung -- a te deum -- two evening visits -- bohemian hospitality -- the gaslit beer-house. the _kolowratstrasse_ is one of the finest streets in prague. it is broad, straight, and well paved; contains the best hotels, the most elegant coffee-houses, the handsomest shops, and a palace or two. it was always known as the _graben_; for here once flowed the ditch separating the _alt_ and _neustadt_, and _graben_ it still remains, the folkname prevailing over that of the imperial minister after whom it was named some twenty years ago. one of the palaces formerly belonged to wallenstein's opponent, count octavio picolomini; the other now contains the bohemian museum, which, an honour to the city, is a praiseworthy example of the intellectual movement among the natives. the museum company, formed in , to collect works of art, natural productions of the country, curiosities, and antiquities, appointed a committee in to promote a scientific cultivation of the czechish language and literature, and to create a section of archæology and natural history. under the designation _matice ceská_ (bohemian mother), a fund was established and vigorously maintained, out of which the desired objects were accomplished; particularly as regards the literature. to call palacky into activity--a historian of whom bohemia is justly proud--was no trifling achievement. up to the collections were kept in the sternberg palace at the hradschin; but in that year they were removed to their present more convenient and accessible quarters. later in the day i went to the museum: i wished to see with what sort of carnal weapons the hussites had gained so many victories over their fellow-countrymen. first you enter the department of geology and mineralogy, the richest and most important of the whole collection. the specimens are well arranged, and among them you may see minerals and fossils which give a special interest to the geology of bohemia. concerning these fossils, the late dean of westminster says, in his _bridgewater treatise_: "the finest example of vegetable remains i have ever witnessed, is that of the coal mines of bohemia. the most elaborate imitations of living foliage upon the painted ceilings of italian palaces bear no comparison with the beauteous profusion of extinct vegetable forms with which the galleries of these instructive coal-mines are overhung. the roof is covered as with a canopy of gorgeous tapestry, enriched with festoons of most graceful foliage, flung in wild, irregular profusion over every portion of its surface. the effect is heightened by the contrast of the coal-black colour of these vegetables with the light groundwork of the rock to which they are attached. the spectator feels himself transported, as if by enchantment, into the forests of another world; he beholds trees of forms and characters now unknown upon the surface of the earth, presented to his senses almost in the beauty and vigour of their primeval life; their scaly stems and bending branches, with their delicate apparatus of foliage, are all spread before him, little impaired by the lapse of countless ages, and bearing faithful records of extinct systems of vegetation, which began and terminated in times of which these relics are the infallible historians." if you care but little for botany and zoology, with plants, fossils, and creatures from before the flood, the attendant will lead you at once to the archæological department, and uncover the glass-cases containing rare old manuscripts. among them are a poem of the ninth century about libussa, a somewhat mythical queen of bohemia, from whom palacky has cleared away the fable; the _niebelungenlied_ in czechish; a latin lexicon with bohemian gloss, date ; seven editions of the bible in czechish, all translated before luther's, show how the bohemians profited by the reading of wycliffe's books which were sent to them from england; and a remarkable hymn-book, written at the cost of different guilds, each of whom ornamented their portion with exquisite paintings in miniature; specimens of the earliest representations of musical notes; and the first book printed in bohemia, _historia trojanska_, . you will look with interest at the letters by huss, and the challenge which he hung up on the gate of the university, declaring his religious opinions, and his readiness to maintain them by argument against all comers: latin documents, in a stiff, formal hand. equally stiff is a letter written by ziska, dated from the hussite camp at tabor; but there is a world of suggestion in those hard characters. that rusty leaf sets your memory recalling the events of five hundred years ago: the journey of huss to face the wicked council, and martyrdom at constance, under a safe-conduct granted by the emperor sigismund, requiring all men to let the valiant preacher go and come, and tarry freely and unharmed;--the furious outbreak of the protestants at the accursed condemnation of their teacher to the flames;--their sanguinary battles, and fiery zeal, and avowed determination to root out their enemies, whereby for eighteen years the land was laid waste with fire and sword, and the name of hussite became a very terror:--and their redoubtable leader, ziska the one-eyed, standing out from among them in bold relief, a captain most resolute and skilful, the instrument of righteous vengeance upon the execrable sigismund; who, though he lost that single flashing eye of his, yet never lost a battle, nor the confidence of his followers. we see him amidst his rough and ready fighting men in the camp, on the heights to which, in the pride of their hearts, they gave a name from scripture; and where they quenched their thirst in the water of jordan, exulting, "what hill is like to tabor hill in beauty and in fame?" from the letter you turn to look at a portrait of the warrior. it is a miserable painting, very much in the signboard style, yet you can mark the breadth of shoulder beneath the gleaming corslet, the oval face, aquiline nose, large bright eye, and lofty forehead, shaded by thick, black, curling hair, and picture to yourself a proper hero. there is another and a better portrait in the strahow monastery, and by noting the best points of each you will improve your idea, though perhaps not to full satisfaction. the attendant, moreover, will call your attention to a portrait of huss, whose features express but little of the intellectual qualities and the steadfastness by which he was characterized. a few paces farther, and there are the weapons with which the hussites fought and won battles in the name of the lord. flails, shields, and firelocks of a very primitive construction. and such flails! the short swinging arm is hung by strong iron staples to the end of a stout staff, about six feet in length, and is braced up in iron bands, which bristle with projecting points, the better to make an impression on an enemy's skull. truly a formidable weapon! try the weight. the arm must be strong that would wield it with effect; and mighty must have been the motive that sent whole ranks armed therewith rushing to the onslaught as to a threshing-floor. looking at these things, you realize somewhat of the shock and storm of the events in which they were employed. besides the stacks of weapons, the room contains in glass-cases round the walls numerous ivory carvings of singular merit and rarity, and other curiosities with which you may divert your thoughts. and in a neighbouring apartment there hangs an engraved view of prague as it stood a few years before the fatal day of the white hill, well worth inspection. the hradschin and wyssehrad, at opposite ends of the city, look really picturesque crowned with numerous towers. walking afterwards through the markets, and seeing the dowdies sitting by their stalls under large red umbrellas, and the number of shabby men loitering about, i wondered if they were indeed the descendants of those who, under ziska's command, had wielded the flails. however, in , the men proved that the fighting-blood still circulated in their veins. the authorities had lost no time, and on every corner placards were posted, announcing in loyal terms the "_glückliche entbindung_" of the empress; but though crowds stopped to read, i saw no manifestations of joy. great was the concourse, too, in the _grosser ring_, where a _te deum_ was offered with pomp and ceremony in presence of the city militia: close ranks of green uniforms interposed between priests and people. the letter of the würzburg professor opened for me the hospitable doors of a pleasant house on a hill-slope beyond the city. father, mother, and the two daughters joined in showing kindness to one who came to them with credentials from son and brother. the young ladies spoke english fluently, and while we sauntered between odorous flower-beds and under drooping cherry-trees, they took pleasure in exercising their acquirement. then we had tea in a pretty garden-house, all open to the breeze and quivering sunbeams and rustling vespers of the leaves. a bohemian tea--cutlets, potatoes, salad, cheese, and butter, bottled beer, _toleranz_, and the fragrant beverage itself poured from a real teapot. _toleranz_ was something new to me: it is a pungent, relishing preparation, in which horseradish is a principal ingredient, and at your first taste you will think it appropriately named. it was while chatting over this delightful repast that i was told all the pretty women had left prague for the watering-places. two at least were left behind. the conversation of the czechish servants who waited on us, heard at a short distance, sounded like a screechy quarrel; and on my remarking that i had noticed similar discords during a ramble in wales, one of the young ladies replied, in explanation, "our friends often think we are scolding our servants, when all the while we are speaking to them in a quiet, natural tone. your ear is deceived. there is nothing but good-humour among them." it was late each evening when i walked back across the fields to the city; just the hour, as it seemed, when the great arched beer-vaults in the _rossmarkt_ were in their prime. there was something striking in the long gas-lit vista viewed from the entrance, every table crowded with tipplers, dimly seen through tobacco-smoke; waiters flitting to and fro with tankards; the damsel at the sausage-stall trying to serve a dozen customers at once; while high above the rumbling, rattling din, sounded the liveliest strains of music. i sat for awhile on an upturned barrel watching the scene. here workmen and labourers, and those of lower degree, the proletaires of prague, were enjoying their evening--making merry after the toils of the day. these were the folk who would fight whether or no in ; whose bullet-marks are yet to be seen on many of the houses. either the beer was strong, or they drank too deeply, for many staggered into the street, and went reeling homewards; conquered more hopelessly by their own hand than by prince windischgratz's bombardment. chapter xvi. sunday morning in prague -- gay dresses -- pleasure-seeking citizens -- service in the hradschin cathedral -- prayers and pranks -- fun in the organ-loft -- glorious music -- a spell broken -- priests and their robes -- osculations -- a flaunting procession -- an old topographer's raptures -- the schwarzes ross -- flight from prague -- lobositz -- lost in a swamp -- a storm -- up the milleschauer -- after dark -- the summit -- mossy quarters -- the host's story. the streets were alive before the lazy hours approached on sunday morning. here and there the walls covered with handbills, red, blue, green, and yellow, presented a gay appearance. the summer theatre, in which you sit under the open sky and see plays acted by daylight, was open--_jubelfest!_ ran the announcements: _health and prosperity to the house of hapsburg_. music and a ball on the sophia island--music on the shooting island--music at _hraba's_ railway garden--music at the _pstrossischer_ garden--music at podol--music at wrssowitz--music at the _fliedermühle_--a military band at bubencz--in short, music everywhere. and everywhere "_pilsen beer, in ice_." and so the streets were alive at an early hour with citizens going to an early mass that longer time might remain for pleasure, or starting for some of the neighbouring villages, or for the white hill, where a saint's festival was to be celebrated--all dressed in their sunday clothes, and looking as if they had made up their minds for a holiday. the morning is bright and the breeze playful, and the sober colours having all chosen to stay at home, there are none but the gayest tints abroad in the sunshine. pink appears to be the favourite. pink skirts, pink scarfs, pink ribands, pink bonnets; but no lack of all besides, and more than make up the rainbow. not a work-a-day dowdy to be seen. here come father, mother, and half a dozen children, the sire carrying a basket, and one or two of the youngsters a havresack, all eager with anticipated pleasure. here half a dozen sweethearts going to make a day of it. here a troop of lads nimble of foot, noisy in talk, and proud of their orange and purple decorations in waistcoat and necktie, while now and then a _fiaker_ trots past laden with a party who prefer a holiday on wheels; and always there come the eternal soldiers, rank and file, or tramping at liberty. the spectacle is animated in the spacious area of the _grosser ring_, where the gay throngs mingle and traverse from all directions; entering or leaving the _teinkirche_, where service is performed in the czechish tongue. striking is the contrast between them and a group of sunburnt haymakers squatted in the centre, men and women in rustic garments, gazing wonderingly around from amid many-coloured bundles, piles of scythes, and scattered sickles. they look half amazed at finding themselves in a great city, and as if fearful of ever finding their way out again. all this and much more did i see while on my way to hear the service in the metropolitan church on the hradschin. the steep stair-flights which, avoiding the narrow, crooked streets, lead directly up to the palace, were all a-blaze with shining silks and satins, the wearers of which were mounting slowly upwards on dainty feet in the full glare of the hot sun. already nearly every seat in the church was filled, and as the service went on the aisles were thronged, the women on one side, the men on the other, though with exceptions. the opportunity was favourable for seeing something of the better class of citizens, for of such the congregation appeared chiefly to be. again i looked for pretty faces along the variegated aisle, and though there was no dearth of grace and animation, i was forced to believe that the beauties had not yet returned from the watering-places. meanwhile the service went on; three robed priests officiated at the altar, the little bell tinkled, the host was lifted up, every head was bowed, and incense floated around the cross, while the boys set to feed the censers pulled one another's hair on the sly, and played pranks in their corner. i crept quietly up to the organ-loft when the time for music was near, and saw seedy men take their post at the bellows, and in the front seat of the gallery a row of young men and boys tuning up their fiddles. the great height prevents the twang and scrape from being heard below, and affords, moreover, opportunity for fun, for as they screw and twang they reach across and tweak ears, or prod a cheek with the end of a bow, or bend down and tell some joke which well-nigh chokes them with suppressed laughter. at last the signal is given, and as if by one impulse they strike into a symphony, in which the organ joins at times with a sonorous note. i crept down to the aisle to listen. the harmonies, at first timid, grew gradually in volume and power, till at length they swelled into glorious music that filled the whole place, and held every ear entranced. then the organ broke out with an exulting response, and all the echoes of the lofty roof and soaring arches repeated the sound, until there came a sudden pause, in which you presently heard the faintest of tones, like a plaintive wail, from the stringed instruments. then strength came once more to the trembling notes, and again the strains which angels might have stayed to hearken to floated through the air. where could such music come from? i felt constrained to go up again to the organ-loft. there sat the same boys carrying on their sports during the rests and pauses--the same seedy men at the bellows--earthly hands producing heavenly music which held the listeners spell-bound. for me the illusion was over, and i felt curious to see what sort of men they were who in stately robes had gone through the ceremonial at the altar. surely they would exhibit signs of spiritual life. i placed myself close to the door by which they would have to pass to the sacristy, and observed them as they withdrew. they were men of sluggish feature, lit by no gleam of spirituality, and walked as if released from a wearisome duty. and the robes which seemed rich and costly in the distance, showed faded and shabby near at hand--unworthy attire for priests of a church that boasts a silver shrine. here, thought i, we must not look for the beauty of holiness. many a kiss did i see imprinted on the sacred picture of christ as the congregation departed; and then, as they streamed forth and dispersed in groups in many directions, i hastened forwards to catch the view of the many-coloured procession as it descended the great stair, flaunting in the sun between the gray old houses. while crossing the ancient bridge for the last time, my impression was strengthened that from thence you get the best view of prague--a view which conceals the damaging features seen from the hills. "oh! it is a ravishing prospect!" exclaims an old topographer; "your eye knows not whether it shall repose on the mighty colossus of stone which appears to bid defiance to the broad moldau stream, or whether it shall pasture on that romantic slope, from the summit of which the huge imperial fortress, and the highly-famed cathedral church, together with many palaces and churches, shine down upon you. surprise, wonder, and bewilderment overcome him who for the first time turns hither and thither to look at the sight." if your raptures rise not to this lofty pitch, you will hardly fail, even at your last view, to sympathise with the antiquated narrator's enthusiasm. the _schwarzes ross_ has a worthy reputation, and deserves it, for the entertainment is good, the plenishing clean, and the beer excellent. dinner is served, after the carlsbad manner, at twenty or more small tables--an arrangement which favours conversation; and after the soup has disappeared, the host enters with his best coat on--a plump man, whose appearance does honour to his own viands--and he makes a solemn bow to every table. i had the happiness of catching his eye on three successive days. it was not by enchantment--though it seemed like it--but by steam, that, four hours later, having lost the way, i was trudging about in swampy meadows at the foot of the _milleschauer_. my mind was confused with pictures of prague, with glimpses of the journey, and, unawares, i had wandered from the track. at two miles from the city our train was entered by two soldiers, one of whom stood guard at the carriage door, while the other went from passenger to passenger demanding passports, that he might inspect the visas. this done, the _podiebrad_--so the locomotive was named--hurried us past fruitful slopes, orchards, and poppy-fields; past bends of the river; between hills that come together in one place and form a glen, where tunnels pierce the projecting crags; across a broad plain, till at raudnitz we saw the elbe, and peaks and ridges in the distance, indicating our approach to the mountains. at theresienstadt we stopped twenty minutes for the passing of the train from dresden, there being but a single line of rails, beguiling the time by looking at the rafts on the river, and the broken line of hills. then to lobositz, where the folk appeared less wise than at prague, for the flour-mill and chicory-factory were rattling and roaring in full work. i left my knapsack at the _gasthof zum fürst schwarzenberg_, and started for the _milleschauer_. half an hour along the töplitz road, bordered all the way by fruit-trees, and you come in sight of the mountain--a huge cone, two thousand seven hundred feet in height, one of the highest points of the _mittelgebirge_. at the village of wellemin you leave the road for an obscure track across uneven slopes; and here it was that, keeping too faithfully to the left, according to direction, i lost the way. i was trying back, when a fierce squall swept up from the west. the sky grew dark, the rain fell in torrents, the mountain disappeared shrouded in gloom, and from the woods that clothe its sides from base to cope, tormented by the cold wind, there came a roar as of the sea in a storm. i took shelter behind a thick-stemmed willow, and waited; but twilight crept on before the growl ceased. there were paths enough to choose from, too many, in fact, as there commonly are round the base of minor hills; however, by dint of making way upwards, through dripping copse and plashy glades, i came at last to a single track, completely hidden by the woods. it was part of a great spiral winding round the cone--now rising, now falling, but reaching always a higher elevation. the clouds still hung overhead; the sun had set, and under the trees i could see but a few yards ahead. i stopped at times to listen for some companionable sound, but heard only the heavy drip-drip from the leaves, and melancholy sighs among the branches. a little higher, and there, in the beds of moss around the roots, gleamed the tiny lanterns of swarms of glowworms--more than ever i had seen before--and the way felt less lonely with the pale green rays in view. moreover, holding my watch near one of the tiny lanterns, it was possible to see the hour--half-past nine. farther on i came to a little wagon standing in a gap, and then the path became exceedingly steep and hard to climb, and scarcely discernible in the increasing darkness. steeper and steeper grew the path, and with it the prospect of a bivouac, when the trees thinned away, and a dark barrier stopped further advance. it was a rough stone wall, along which i felt my way, and coming presently to a door, kicked upon it vigorously. a dog barked. footsteps approached, and a man's voice asked: "who's there?" "an englishman." "good," replied the voice; and forthwith the bolt was shot, and the door opened. a man, whom i could scarcely see in the darkness, took my arm and led me down a short steep path, and round a corner into a small gloomy room, dimly lighted by a single lamp. presently he brought another lamp, and then i saw that the seeming gloom was an effect of colour only, for the low apartment was lined with dark brown moss; a settee, thickly covered with the same production, ran from end to end along each side; and overhead you saw, resting on unhewn rafters, the rough underside of a mossy roof. to find such a sylvan retreat, comfortably warmed, too, by a stove, was an agreeable surprise. i stretched myself on the soft and springy couch, while the man went away to get my supper. he soon returned with a savoury cutlet and a pitcher of good beer; and while i enjoyed the cheer with an appetite sharpened by exercise, he sat down to talk. the place, he said, belonged to him. it comprised a group of huts, all built of poles and moss, in which he had often lodged sixty guests at once. there were a few sitting-rooms and many bedrooms, a garden, a dancing-floor, an oratory, a poultry-yard, pigeon-house, and other benevolent contrivances, as i should be able to see in the morning. the wagon which i had seen at the foot of the steep belonged to him. it was hard work for a horse to drag it up heavily laden; but harder still to carry the stores from thence on one's shoulder to the summit. he came up in may with his first load, and set to work to repair roofs, walls, and fences, to renew the moss and dry the beds, and then stayed till october busy with guests, who arrived by tens or twenties every day, chiefly from töplitz, about ten miles distant. the voices we heard from time to time in an adjoining hut were those of a party of four, who had come from the fashionable spa to see the sun set, and had been disappointed by the storm. perhaps sunrise would repay them. they and i were, as it happened, the only guests this night, so the host had time to talk without interruption. supper over, he went before me with a lantern through the cold night wind to a hut some yards distant, where, with a friendly "_gute nacht_," he left me. what a snug little mossy chamber! at one end two beds--thick piles of moss with plenty of blankets, and sheets as clean as pure water and mountain breezes can make them. at the other, two washstands, a looking-glass, and little window. i had it all to myself, and was soon sound asleep. chapter xvii. morning on the milleschauer -- the brightening landscape -- the mossy quarters by daylight -- delightful down-hill walk -- lobositz again -- the steam-boat -- queer passengers -- sprightly music -- romantic scenery -- hills and cliffs -- schreckenstein -- how the musicians paid their fare -- aussig -- the spürlingstein -- fairer landscapes -- elbe versus rhine -- tetschen -- german faces -- women-waders -- the schoolmaster -- passport again -- pretty country -- signs of industry -- peasants' diet -- markersdorf -- rustic cottages -- gersdorf -- meistersdorf -- school -- trying the scholars -- good results -- a byeway -- ulrichsthal. sunrise! a bell rings loudly to waken the sleepers; and the host cries "_frisch auf!_" at the door of the hut. i was up as the first rays from the great luminary streamed across the landscape. not a cloud dimmed the sky, and it was a grand sight to see the ruddy light kindle on all the lower hill-tops, tremble on the tall clumps of forest, and creep down the slopes, till field after field caught the beams, and ponds glistened and windows twinkled. and anon the thin veil of mist was lifted from the valleys, and farms and villages rejoiced in the new-born day. every moment the great panorama revealed more and more of its features, and bits of cliff, and glenlike hollows, ruined towers, and miles of road emerged from the obscure. and while the light strengthened, there stretched towards the west the mighty shadow of the mountain itself, eclipsing acres of the landscape, which lay dim between the streaming radiance rushing to an apex on either side. but the sun mounts apace, and the shadow grows shorter continually. the number of cone-like hills is remarkable, and here and there you see one of those circular, flat-topped elevations bristling with dark woods, which characterize much of bohemian scenery along the saxon frontier. while gazing on the singular forms, you may imagine them to be the crumbling remains of stupendous columns erected by giant hands in the old primeval ages. in the distance you see the elbe, a long, pale stripe, resembling a narrow lake, and you wish there were more of it, for the want of water is a sensible defect in the view. the region is fruitful and well peopled: had it a few large lakes besides, your eye would roam over it with the greater pleasure. the expanse is wide. in very clear weather, so mine host assured me, you can see prague, and _schneekoppe_ in the _riesengebirge_, each fifty miles distant. to enable you to get the view all round clear of the trees a circular wooden tower is built, from the platform of which you may gaze on far and near. immediately beneath you look down into the walled enclosure, upon the huts, the flower-beds, the potato plot, the sheltering hazel copse, and all the ins and outs of the place. you see mossy arbours open to the south, and little nooks where you may recline at ease and contemplate different points of the view. i was glad after awhile to take refuge in one of these nooks, for the wind blew so strong and keen that my teeth chattered as i walked round the platform. however, there is steaming coffee ready to fortify you against the influences which mar the poetry of sunrise. the garden, sheltered by its wall and screen of hazel, teems with flowers, a pleasing sight as you go and come in your explorations. i surveyed the whole premises from the dairy to the dancing-floor; noted the inscriptions here and there with which the owner seeks to conciliate your good opinion; looked at his bazaar, where you may buy _recollections of the milleschauer_, and so round to the little altar under the bell. here the inscription runs: frisch auf! zur arbeit dran, gott segne meine plan: denn an gottes segen ist alles gelegen. two hours passed. i took a farewell view under the broad sunlight, and then, having to meet a steamer at lobositz, strode merrily down the hill. what a pleasant walk that was! once below the summit, among the trees, and the temperature was that of a summer morning; and the woods looked glorious, fringed with light reflected from millions of raindrops--memorials of the former evening's storm, now become things of beauty. beech, birch, and hazel, intermingled with larch and fir, robe the hill from base to cope, through which the path descends with continued windings; an ever-shifting aisle, as it seems, overarched by green leaves, among which you hear the gladsome chirp and warbling of birds. all the breaks and hollows which appeared so grim and gloomy the night before, the mouths of yawning caverns, now open as narrow glades or twinkling bowers, in which a thousand lights dart and quiver as the cheerful breeze sweeps through, caressing the leaves. such a walk favours cheerful meditation, and prepares your heart for cloudy weather and dreary prospects; and in after days many a thought born within the wood flits back on the memory. it was like having been robbed of something to step out of the woods upon the rough grassy slopes at the foot of the hill, and presently to tramp along a hard, beaten road. however, there was the sight of the lofty cone rising in its forest vesture high into the sunlight for repayment; and the lively breeze ceased not to blow. the ill-favoured clerk at prague had refused to accredit me beyond lobositz, so here at nine o'clock i had to go to the _bezirksamt_ for another visa. again did i request that the name of some place at the foot of the mountains, or beyond the frontier, might be inserted; but no! i was going a trip down the elbe, with intention to disembark at tetschen, so for tetschen the visa was made out, and the clerk, who was very polite, wished me a pleasant journey. i found a number of passengers waiting at the river side, reclining on the grass or strolling among the trees. presently came a large flat boat and conveyed us all to an island, where, by the time we had assembled on the rude landing stage, the steamer _germania_ arrived and took us on board; not without difficulty, for the deck was literally choked with queer-looking people and rubbishy baggage. what could such a company be travelling for? wedged in among them sat a party of wandering musicians, men and women, with harps, guitars, fiddles, and flute: the space all too narrow for their movements. however, as soon as the vessel resumed her course down the rapid stream they began to play, and kept up a succession of airs that seemed to convert the exhilarating motion, the breeze and the sunshine into frolicsome music. i got a seat on the top of a heap of bundles, with clear outlook above the heads of the crowd. it was a delightful voyage, between scenes growing more and more romantic at every bend of the river. now we shoot past scarped hills, split by narrow gullies dark with foliage, from whence little brooks leap forth to the light; now past sheltered coombs where rural homesteads nestle, and vines hang on the sunny slopes; now past variegated cliffs, all ochre and gray, that come near together, and compel the stream to swerve with boiling eddies and long trains of impatient ripples; now past fields and meadows where the retiring hills leave room for fruitful husbandry, and from far your eye catches the speck of colour--the red or blue petticoats of the women around the hay-wagons. and along the road which skirts the shore there go men and women, horses and vehicles, and there is always something strange to note in costume and appearance. and close by runs the railway, its course marked by the painted wicker balloons hanging aloft on the signal posts, and the bright colour of the jutting rocks through which the way is hewn, or by a train dashing past with echoing snort and tail of cloud. the hills crowd closer and higher at every bend. here and there rises a cliff forming an imposing palisade of rock; then comes a wild mass of crags backed by woods that screen a little red-roofed chapel perched high aloft; then the tower of _schreckenstein_ comes into view, crowning a tall, gray buttress, which gives a finishing touch to the picturesque. my attention was diverted from the scenery by a leaf of music held out by one of the musicians. who could refuse a fee for such strains as theirs? kreutzer after kreutzer, a few small silver coins, and two or three twopenny bank-notes were dropped into the receptacle, which was presently emptied into the ready hands of the fluteplayer. he counted, shook his head, and saying, "not enough yet!" gave the signal for a fresh burst. now came forth music singularly wild and inspiriting--the reserve, perhaps, for an emergency--and none within hearing could resist its influence. had there been room, every one would surely have danced; as it was, eyes sparkled, heads wagged, and fingers snapped, keeping time with the measure. there seemed something magical about the leader, and i could not help fancying that her fiddle began to speak before the bow had touched the strings. they speak wisely who bid us go to bohemia for music. the leaf went round once more, and not in vain; but the fluteplayer still shook his head, whereupon a song and a duet were sung; and then the flute, brought to a conclusion with his cares, went to the little crib by the paddle-box and bought tickets for the whole party. then aussig came into sight, and i soon ceased to wonder whither the queer-looking crowd were going. it was to aussig fair. bundle after bundle was pulled so rapidly from the heap on which i reclined that i was quickly brought down to the level of the deck, and a scramble and hubbub arose easier to be imagined than described. the musicians made haste to put the leathern covers on their instruments, and along with her fiddle i saw that the leader buckled up a spare stay-bone and a few miscellaneous articles of her toilet. the women carried the harps, and the men huge knapsacks, stuffed with their wives' gear as well as their own, and with a thick-soled boot staring out from either end. once at the landing, a few minutes sufficed to clear the deck, and no sooner had the vagabonds departed than a boy came with a broom, and all was presently made clean, as behoved in a vessel bound to dresden. half an hour's stay gives you time to look at aussig, to admire its pleasing environment, its busy boat-builders, and gondola-like pleasure-boats floating on the stream, and to commend the good quality of its beer. among the passengers who came on board were a party of students, certain of them wearing gowns not larger than a jacket--which, as some say, betoken learning in proportion. away we went again, and always with fairer landscapes to greet our eyes. past great high-prowed barges, towed slowly against the current by horses; past small barges, towed still more slowly by a dozen or twenty men. past the _spürlingstein_, and bastion-like cliffs, and hollows, beyond which you catch sight of far-away peaks. then a village of timbered houses, the fronts showing broad lines of chequer-work and quaint gables, and every house standing apart in its own garden, among hills hung with woods to the water's edge; and rocks peering out here and there from the shadow of the trees, shutting you in all round as in a lake. the sight of the varied features which open on you, increasing in beauty at every bend, will suggest frequent comparison. here among the hills nature hems the elbe in with loveliness, as if to prepare the great river for its long, dreary course from dresden to the sea. you see not so many castles, but more variety than on the rhine; more of untamed scenery, and less of monotonous vine-slopes; and perhaps you will incline to agree with those who hold that from leitmeritz to pirna the elbe excels the far-famed stream that flows past cologne. beautiful is the view of tetschen, backed by grand wooded hills; the river, spanned by a chain-bridge, making a sudden bend; the castle looking down on the stream from a forward cliff. though topped by a spire, the castle will inevitably remind you of a factory; and you will be constrained to look away from it to the tunnelled cliff through which the railway passes, and the noisy stream that tumbles in on the opposite side. it had just struck one when i landed. the passport office was shut for two hours, that the functionaries might have time to dine--a praiseworthy arrangement, though trying at times to a traveller's patience. i dined at the _golden crown_, at one side of the great square, and regaled myself with a flask of _melniker_--a right generous wine. the inn is the starting place for some twenty coaches and vans, and, looking round on the numerous guests as they went and came, it was easy to see you had left the czechish for the german part of the population--oval faces for round ones. in the centre of the square stands a building, which, in appearance a pedestal for a big statue, is a little chapel in which mass is said twice a day. i spent a few minutes in looking at it, then strolled to the castle garden and the bridge, from whence i saw carts backed axle deep into the river to receive cotton bales from a barge, and women loading a boat wading out above their knees with heavy sacks on their shoulders. then to the school--a sight that gave me real pleasure, so spacious is the building, so numerous are the scholars, so earnest the master in his work. his discourse was that of one who has found his true vocation: he was seldom cast down, and felt persuaded that it was a master's own fault if he had no joy in his scholars. after our few brief words i thought the inscription at the door yet more appropriate: der schule saat reift für zeit und ewigkeit.[b] at three o'clock i sought out the passport clerk, and found him not a whit more willing to give a visa for the mountains, or a place over the border, than his fellows elsewhere. he admitted the argument that one of the pleasures of travel was an unrestricted choice or change of route, but "could not" do more; so i looked at my map, and chose reichenberg as my next point of departure, and the official stamp and signature were forthwith applied. but the gentleman discovered an irregularity, and did not let me depart till it was rectified--that the leaves containing the visas and the passport were separate sheets. he fastened them together with a broad seal and a loop of black and yellow thread, and then wished me a pleasant journey. the wish was realized, for the route lies through a pretty country, the most populous and industrious part of bohemia. it is heavy uphill work soon after leaving tetschen, but the view from the top over the valley of the elbe repays the labour, and rivals that from the _milleschauer_. a little farther, and the prospect opens in the opposite direction, across a great wave, as it seems, of cones, ridges, scars, and rounded heights, sprinkled with spires and hamlets--a cheerful scene that invites you onwards. at every mile you see and hear more and more of the signs of industry. men pass you wheeling barrows laden with coloured glass rods--material for beads and fragile toys, to be manufactured at home in their own little cottages, keeping up the olden practice. now you hear the hiss and whiz of the polishing wheel; now the rattle of looms, and the croak of stocking-weavers. and at times comes a man pushing before him a great barrowful of bread--large, flat, brown loaves--on his way to supply the off hamlets which have no bakery. and now and then old women creep by, bending under a burden of firewood. two whom i overtook told me they walked three miles twice a week to fetch a bundle of sticks from the forest; and when i asked if they ate meat or cheese, answered with a "_gott bewahr!_ never. nothing but bread and potatoes." at markersdorf i left the highway for a cross-road, leading through a succession of hamlets, so close together that you can hardly tell where one begins and the other ends. now the signs of labour multiply, and there is a ceaseless noise of the shuttle and polishing wheel. the little houses have a very rustic appearance, built of squared logs black with age, set off by stripes of white clay along all the joints, and a stripe of green paint around the windows. there is variety in their architecture: some imitate the swiss style, with tall roofs and outside galleries; some exhibit dumpy gables and arched timbers along the lower story; and pretty they look in the midst of their poppy-strewn gardens and embowering orchards, watered by little brooks, which here and there set little mills a-clacking. not a hamlet without its school; and you will see with pleasure how the importance of the school is recognised. over the door of one at gersdorf i read: den kleinen will die schule frommen o laß sie alle, alle kommen.[c] at meistersdorf, a furlong or two farther, on a little hill that overlooks miles of country, the school-house is one of the best buildings in the place. and here again a rhyming couplet, embodying a benevolent sentiment, crosses the lintel: kommt hier zu mir ihr kleinen, o kommt mit frommen sinn ich führ den weg des heiles euch zu dem vater hin.[d] and the children really are taught. scarcely a day passed that i did not stop boys and girls on the highway, and get them to talk about their school and what they learned. not one did i meet above the age of eight who could not read and write, and do a little arithmetic, or recite the multiplication table, as i fully ascertained by sitting down on the bank and playing the schoolmaster--not a frowning one--myself. they answered readily, and wrote words on a scrap of paper, and seemed pleased to show off what they knew, and still more pleased at finding a kreutzer in their hand when the questions ended. in many of the schools the pupils may learn mathematics if they will, and drawing is taught in all. to this early acquaintance with the rules of art the bohemian glass engravers are indebted for a resource that enables them to make the most of their skill and ingenuity. the school fees are from one penny to twopence a week. a short distance beyond the school i left the village road for a rough byeway across fields, and after a walk of five hours from tetschen came to a row of wooden cottages, or farmsteads, as they might be called, each standing apart in its own ground, flanked by sheds, and fortified by a dungheap close to the door. were it not for overhanging trees and garden plots they would wear a shabby look. ulrichsthal was my destination; but here was no valley, only a slope. however, on inquiring at the last but one in the row of cottages, i found that i was really in ulrichsthal, and at the very door i wanted. footnotes: [b] the school's seed ripens for time and eternity. [c] the school will profit the little ones, o! let them all, all come. [d] come here to me ye little ones, oh, come with pious mind! i lead you on the way of salvation to the father. chapter xviii. a hospitable reception -- a rustic household -- the mother's talk -- pressing invitations -- a docile visitor -- the family room -- trophies of industry -- overheating -- a walk in ulrichsthal -- a glass polisher and his family -- his notions -- a glass engraver -- his skill and ingenuity -- his earnings -- a bohemian's opinion on english singing -- military service -- beetle pictures -- glass-making in bohemia -- an englishman's forget-me-not -- the dinner -- dessert on the hill -- an hour with the haymakers -- magical kreutzers -- an evening at the wirthshaus -- singing and poetry -- a moonlight walk -- the lovers' test. i once promised a bohemian glass engraver, who showed me specimens of his skill under the murky sky of ugly birmingham, that when the favourable time came i would find out his native place, and have a talk with his kinsfolk. the favourable time had come in all ways, for no sooner did i make myself known to the old man who was summoned to the door, than he took my hand and said, "be welcome to my house." suiting action to word, he led me into a large, low room, hot as an oven, where his wife and daughters and a sweetheart sat chatting away the dusk. at first they were somewhat shy; but when i brought out a little letter from the son in england, and the eldest daughter, having lit a candle, read it aloud, the mother, overjoyed at hearing news from "our wilhelm," sprang up, gave me a kiss, and cried, "only think, an englishman is come to see us!" here was an end to the shyness; and having shaken hands with all the lasses and the sweetheart, i became as one of the family. of course i would stay all night; they could not think of letting me go to seek quarters at the public-house, unless, indeed, their own rustic entertainment would make me uncomfortable; and the entreaties were accompanied by preparations for supper. who could resist such hearty hospitality? not i; and forthwith an understanding prevailed that whatever pleased them best would please me best; excepting, that i should have leave to open one of the casements and sit close to it, for to me the temperature of the room was unbearable. besides the heat from the stove, there was an odour of kine from the cowstall, which forms one half of the house, separated from the living room only by a passage. we had merry talk while i ate my supper of eggs, coffee, and bread and butter. "our wilhelm" was, however, the mother's favourite topic, and she returned to it again and again. she must tell me, too, of her other sons, one in america, another at pesth; and how that one night they were all awoke by a loud knocking at the door, and a voice begging for a night's lodging. how that the stranger would not go away, but continued to knock and beseech, until all at once the mother recognised a tone, and cried, "father, father, open the door! that's our david's voice. our david, come home to see us, all the way from hungary!" and then the joyful meeting that followed! her eyes glistened with tears as she told me this. there were two beds in a little slip of a chamber opening from the principal room, of which the one nearest the window was given up to me, as i again had to stipulate for an open casement; and the more so, as notwithstanding the heat, i was expected to bury myself between two feather-beds, as the custom of the country is; the other was occupied by the old man. as for mother and daughters, they retreated to some place overhead, which must have been very like a loft. had i slept well? was the question next morning; and this being answered in the affirmative, the family resolved by acclamation that i should stay with them a fortnight at least, nor would they at first believe that i could only spare them a single day. could not an englishman do anything? what mattered it if i returned to london a week sooner or later? the theatre at steinschönau would be opened on sunday, and it would be such a nice walk to go and see the play. why should i be in a hurry to reach the mountains? would it not be the same if i went to the top of all the hills around ulrichsthal? so said the daughters, with much more of the like purport, and to resist persuasions backed by bright eyes, good looks, and blithesome voices, was a hard trial for my philosophy. however, i kept my resolution even when the mother rounded up with, "only a day! that's not long enough to taste all my cookery." the good soul had risen early to make fresh _semmel_ for breakfast. to pacify them, i promised to eat as much as ever i could, and to let them do whatever they liked with me during the day. thereupon two of the damsels put on their broad-brimmed straw hats, shouldered their rakes, and betook themselves to the hay-field; the youngest, a lassie of fifteen, apprenticed to a glass engraver, said, "_leb' wohl_," and went away to her work; the old man, privileged to be idle through age and infirmity, crept forth to find a sunshiny bit of grass on which to have a snooze; the mother began to bustle with pot and pan about the stove; and the eldest daughter, having put on her hat and a pink scarf, claimed the right to show me all that was worth seeing in ulrichsthal. we began with the room itself. its furniture was simple enough: wooden walls and ceiling; an uncomfortable wooden seat fixed to the wall along two sides; a table and a few wooden chairs; and the old man's polishing-bench, a fixture in one corner. the treadle and crank were still in place, but motionless; half a dozen wheels and sundry tools hung on the wall, memorials of the veteran's forty years of industry, and the bench did duty as dresser and bookshelf. among the books were _schiller's werken_, in sixteen volumes, belonging to "our wilhelm." with that simple machinery, hoarsely whirring day after day all through the prime of his manhood, had he gained wherewith to buy his two plots of land, and the comfort of repose in declining age. here, in this overheated room, at once workshop, kitchen, and parlour, had been reared those four comely daughters, and the tall son whom i had met in england; all strong and hearty, in spite of high temperature and certain noxious influences arising out of a want of proper decency in the household economy. "we are used to it," was the answer, when i expressed my surprise that they could bear to live familiar with things offensive, and yet fearful of a passing breath from spring and summer. but this want of perception is not confined to ulrichsthal; you cannot help noticing it in many, if not in most, bohemian villages, and on the silesian side of the mountains. but the damsel is impatient. we set off towards a row of houses on a higher part of the slope. each has its long and narrow piece of land, an orchard immediately behind the house; then patches of wheat, barley, poppies, beetroot, grass, and potatoes, cultivated, with few exceptions, by the several families. but labourers can be hired when wanted, who are willing to work for one or two florins a week. we went into one of the houses. there sat a family grinding and polishing glass, alternating field-work by a day at the treadles. the operations were not new to me, but there was novelty to see them carried on in such a homely way; to see elegant vases, dishes, goblets, and jugs, fit ornaments for a palace, in the hands of rustics, or lying about on a rough pine shelf. the father, a tall, pale-faced man, with a somewhat careworn expression, stopped the noise of the wheels as soon as he heard of a visitor from london, and talked about that which he understood best--his business. full thirty years had he sat at the bench, training up his children to the work one after another, but had not realized all the benefits he once hoped for. the brittle ware came to him in boxes from prague, forty-five miles, and, when polished, was sent back in the same way; he having to bear the loss of whatever was broken while in his hands. "look here," he said, showing me a large handsome jug; "my daughter spent a whole month over that jug, and then, as you see, broke the handle off. so i must keep it, and lose fifteen florins." to him it was useless: he could only place it apart with other crippled specimens--memorials of misfortune. "ah! if glass would not break, then he would not be poor. however," he added, "we always get bread. god be thanked! and our bit of land helps." cutters and polishers earn about four florins a week. he thought it good that young men got away to england, for they not only earned great wages, but escaped the remorseless military service. "a young man is not safe here: perhaps he works for twelve, eighteen months, and thinks he will be left quiet for the rest of his term, when all at once comes a sharp order, and he must away to italy for a year or two." then he set his treadle going, to show me that in bohemia the polisher holds his glass against the bottom of the wheel, and, consequently, has the work always under his eye; while, in england, he holds it against the top of the wheel, and must be always turning it over to look at the surface. higher up the slope we came to another house, where, instead of the harsh sound of grinding, we heard but a faint, busy hum. a change came over röschen's manner as she entered, and saw a young man sitting at a lathe; and their greeting, when he looked round, was after the manner of lovers before a witness. on being told that i had come to see glass engraving, the young man plied his wheel briskly, and, taking up a ruby tazza, in a few minutes there stood a deer with branching antlers on a rough hillock in its centre--a pure white intaglio set in the red. i had never before seen the process, and was surprised by its simplicity. all those landscapes, hunting-scenes, pastoral groups, and whatever else which appear as exquisite carvings in the glass, are produced by a few tiny copper wheels, or disks. the engraver sits at a small lathe against a window, with a little rack before him, containing about a score of the copper disks, varying in size from the diameter of a halfpenny down to its thickness, all mounted on spindles, and sharpened on the edge. he paints a rough outline of the design on the surface of the glass, and, selecting the disk that suits best, he touches the edge with a drop of oil, inserts it in the mandril, sets it spinning, and, holding the glass against it from below, the little wheel eats its way in with astonishing rapidity. the glass, held lightly in the hands, is shifted about continually, till all the greater parts of the figure are worked out; then, for the lesser parts, a smaller disk is used, and at last the finest touches, such as blades of grass, the tips of antlers, eyebrows, and so forth, are put in with the smallest. every minute he holds the glass up between his eye and the light, watching the development of the design; now making a broad excavation, now changing the disk every ten seconds, and giving touches so slight and rapid that the unpractised eye can scarcely follow them; and in this way he produces effects of foreshortening, of roundness, and light and shade, which, to an eye-witness, appear little less than wonderful. the work in hand happened to be _tazzi_, and in less than half an hour i saw deer in various positions roughed out on six of them, and three completely finished. then the engraver fetched other specimens of his skill from up-stairs--a dish with a historical piece in the centre, and vignettes round the rim--a bowl engirdled by sylvan scenes, where fauns and satyrs, jolly old pan and bacchanals, laughed out upon you from forest bowers and mazy vineyards--all, even to the twinkling eyes, the untrimmed beards, and delicate tendrils, wrought out by the copper wheels. the merchants at prague took care that he should never lack work, and, according to the quality, he could earn from four to eight florins a week, and save money. beef cost him kreutzers the pound, veal , and salt kreutzers. his bread was home-made. the lathe was his own: it cost forty florins; and the house, and the long strip of ground that sloped away behind, half hidden by the orchard. he did no field-work, but left that to his mother, who lived with him, and hired labourers. "it goes better in the house where a woman is," he said, with a glance at röschen. the cleanliness and order of his own room--workshop though it was--justified his words. and though old habit would not yet permit him to sit with open door and window, he did not aggravate summer-heat by stove-heat, but had a cooking-place in an outer shed. his house had four rooms, of which two up-stairs, and a loft--all built of wood. the floor of the room above formed the ceiling, all the joints covered by a straight sapling split down the middle, resting on joists big and strong enough to carry a town-hall. between these massive timbers hung pictures of saints, a drawing of trees, and a guitar. the engraver could play and sing, and recreated himself with music in the evenings, and on sundays. he had heard that the english were fond of music, and thought there must be plenty of good singing among the working-people; and it surprised him not a little to be told that the islanders' love for sweet sounds went far--far beyond their power of producing them. "ah!" interrupted röschen, "my brother writes that there is no music in his english workmates' singing." the engraver thought it a great privation, and could not well comprehend how the evenings could pass agreeably without a little music at home. "and when you are away from home," he went on, "it seems still better. like all the young men here, i have been a soldier, have marched to bucharest, to pesth, to trent, and innsbruck, and what should we do on those long marches, and in dull quarters, if we could not sing?" concerning the military service, he thought it a hardship to be obliged to serve, whether or no, but compensated by advantages. it added to a young man's knowledge and experience to march to distant lands, to see strange scenes, and strange people. you could always tell the difference between one who had travelled, even as a soldier, and a stay-at-home; the one had something to talk about, the other had nothing. then, the pleasure of coming home again--a pleasure so sweet, that the thought of marching forth once more could hardly embitter it. for his part, he had been at home eighteen months, glad to resume his craft, and for the present saw no prospect of a call to arms. but there remained yet one year of his term unexpired, and he was liable at any moment to get an order requiring him to leave everything, and march. "who can tell," he said, "how hard it is to go away so suddenly, to leave the little home, and all friends? right glad shall i be when the year is over." röschen looked as if she would be glad too, and, to make me aware of all the young man's cleverness, she took down the frame of trees from the wall and put it in my hands. i then saw that what looked like a coloured drawing was a picture made of insects. the engraver had a taste for natural history, and with a collection of beetles of all sizes, black, brown, green, gold, and sapphire, had constructed the group of trees which, when looked at from the middle of the room, showed as a highly-finished drawing. you saw here and there a withered branch shooting from the foliage--it was nothing but the horns and legs ingeniously placed, and those deep hollows in the trunks, places where owls may haunt, are produced by an artful arrangement of wings. then röschen would have him fetch down his trays of moths and portfolio of drawings. the moths had all been collected in walks about the neighbourhood, and were carefully preserved and labelled. the drawings showed the hand of an artist. the engraver had begun to learn to draw in school at the age of eleven, and had practised ever since, for without good drawing one could not engrave glass. he spoke of röschen's youngest sister as a real genius, who would one day outstrip all the engravers in ulrichsthal. bohemia was the first to rival, and soon to excel, venice in the art of glass-making. in her vast forests she found exhaustless stores of fuel and potash, and quartz and lime in her rocks, and produced a white glass which won universal admiration until about the beginning of last century, when english manufacturers discovered the process for making flint-glass with oxyde of lead as an ingredient. there was nothing superior to this glass, so it has been said, but the diamond, and the bohemians, finding their craft in danger, introduced coloured glass, frosted glass, and pleasing styles of ornament. this practice they have since kept up. their works are mostly situate in the great forests on the bavarian frontier, where fuel and labour are alike cheap: the managers are well taught, and have a good knowledge of chemistry, and by striving always after something new, reproducing at times long-forgotten venice patterns, they have achieved a reputation due more to the taste and elegance displayed in the forms of their manufactures than to their quality. from the rude forest villages the articles are sent all across the kingdom to the northern districts, where, as we have seen, the finishing touches that are to fit them for stately halls and drawing-rooms, are applied by the hands of humble cottagers. we were about to leave, when the engraver asked if i would not like to try my hand at the lathe, and, without waiting for an answer, he brought out a small, plain beaker of thick glass, and begged me to cut a forget-me-not upon it as a memorial of my visit. the process looked so easy, that i thought there would be no great risk in an attempt, so i sat down, spread out my elbows to rest upon the cushions, put my foot to the treadle, and the glass to the wheel. whiz--skirr-r-r-r, and there was a fine white blur which, by a stretch of fancy, might have been taken for a cloud. karl--as röschen called him--took the beaker, and, leaning across me as i sat, speedily converted the blur into a rose, and bade me try again. i presented the opposite side, and this time with better effect, for the result was a very passable forget-me-not. i have seen many a worse on _a trifle from margate_. röschen then said something about meeting in the evening, and we made haste home, for it was dinner-time. immediately on arrival she proceeded to roll out a small piece of dry brown dough into a thin sheet, which she cut into strips, and these strips, laid three or four together, and shredded down very thin, produced an imitation of vermicelli, which was thrown into the soup. now all was ready, and a proud woman was the mother as the soup was followed by two kinds of meat, stewed and roast--salad, potatoes, and a cool, slightly acid preserve, made from forest berries. and for drink there was pale beer from the _wirthshaus_. she did not fail to remind me of my promise to "eat a plenty." nor, after we had sipped our coffee, did röschen fail to remind me of my morning's surrender, and pointing to the high hill-top, about two miles off, she said, "i mean to take you up there." so, as my docility remained unimpaired, we braved the hot sun, and had a very pretty walk over broken ground, and down into a bosky valley, watered by a noisy brook, before we reached the hill-foot. then flowery meads, and presently the shadow of a forest, where we regaled ourselves with a second dessert of juicy bilberries and wild strawberries, both growing in profusion. from a little clearing, not far from the top, we saw heaving darkly against the blue, the hills of the saxon switzerland. the last bit was steep and pathless; but at length we came out upon a little hollow platform, the summit of a precipice, from which, the trees diverging and sinking on either hand, there was a grand view over the vale we had left, and far away, over field and hamlet, meadow and coppice, to a wavy line of hills, gray, purple, green, and brown, blended on the horizon. we sat for an hour; and after scanning the principal features röschen pointed out the details, naming every house and field within a great sweep. each man's little property lay distinctly mapped out, and we could see the neighbours and her sisters working in the sunshine. our way back led us across the hay-field, where the lasses were bustling to finish in time for some evening's diversion, the nature of which was a secret. i proposed to help them, threw off my coat, seized a fork, and flung the hay up to the lass in the wagon quicker than she could trim it. röschen took a rake, and had enough to do in gathering up the heaps which, pitching too vigorously, i sent clean over the wagon. all at once, as i was stooping, down came a mountain on my back, and the three lasses, taking advantage of my fall, came piling heap on heap above me--pelion upon ossa--till i was well-nigh smothered, and they went almost wild with laughter. they sat down to recover themselves; but when they saw me, after laborious thrust and heave, come creeping ingloriously out, their jocund mirth broke out again, and provoked me into a spirit of retaliation. "as bees flee hame wi' lades o' treasure, the minutes wing'd their way wi' pleasure." then we fell to work once more, and when the wagon was laden i showed to the ragged urchin who was hired to drive, three of the lumbering old copper coins, bigger than penny-pieces, which pass for kreutzers in the neighbourhood, and at sight thereof he made the old horse drag the load home and come back for another in less time than horse had ever accomplished the task in ulrichsthal. the second load was the last: by the time it was all pitched up our shadows grew long, and we followed it up to the house, where the mother had coffee and _semmel_ ready for us. now röschen, reminding me once more of my promise to be tractable, revealed the secret. karl was coming down, and gottfried--the sweetheart i had seen the night before--and perhaps another, and then we were all to go to the _wirthshaus_, about half an hour's walk. presently the young men came in, and the lasses having changed their rustic garb for holiday gowns and dangling gold ear-drops, we walked in procession across fields to the rendezvous. a shout of welcome greeted our arrival from the young fellows already assembled--the londoner was duly introduced, and treated by the host with especial favour, and we all sat down to a table, every man with his tankard of beer. the cup circulated literally, the custom being that everybody should drink from everybody's tankard. the lasses took their turn, though modestly and with discretion, as became them. the talk crackled merrily for awhile, and when it flagged a small tray bearing a set of little ninepins which were to be knocked down by a teetotum was placed on the table. the pins were so contrived that they could be all erected at once by pulling a string at one end of the tray, and the game went round not less briskly than the tankards, shouts of laughter repaying him who set the teetotum a-spinning without molestation to the pins. then i proposed a song, and karl charmed all ears with a musical ditty: another followed with a harmonious ballad, which had a chorus for burden, and as the tuneful harmony filled the room i could not help contrasting it with what would have been heard in a similar rustic alehouse in england. the ballad led to a talk about poetry, and one and another recited stanzas of favourite poems, and all seemed familiar with the best authors, drawing illustrations from bürger's _lenore_, schiller's _song of the bell_, goethe's _erl king_, and one or two ventured upon the _niebelungenlied_. the moon was high in heaven when we broke up, and gently the night wind swept across the fields laden with the freshness of dew. as we walked along the narrow paths gottfried had to undergo a test: his maiden plucked a large ox-eye daisy, pulled the petals off one by one, keeping time with a few spoken surmises[e]: "_du liebst mich vom herzen, mit schmerzen, ein wenig, oder gar nicht._" the last petal came off with _vom herzen_, but yet the inquirer was not quite content. it was all very well to be loved _from the heart_; but _with pain_ or _grief_ would have been much better. then nothing would do but röschen must try the experiment on me, and reciting and plucking she went round the frail circlet, and ended with _gar nicht_. she looked curiously at karl, and karl looked as if he were not by any means dissatisfied that she had got _not at all_ for a conclusion. it was past twelve when we came to our door, and then "farewell" had to be said, and "adieu till to-morrow;" and so ended for me a day of rural life that i shall long remember. if, reader, you should ever pay a visit of inquiry to the ulrichsthalers, i feel assured they will tell you that next to themselves the best fellow in the world is an englishman. footnote: [e] thou lovest me from the heart: with pain: a little; or not at all. chapter xix. more hospitality -- farewells -- cross country walk -- steinschönau -- the playbill -- hayda -- all glass-workers -- away for the mountains -- zwickau -- gabel -- weisskirchen -- a peasant's prayer -- reichenberg -- passport again -- jeschkenpeak -- reinowitz -- schlag -- neudorf -- a talk at grünheid -- bad sample of lancashire -- tannwald -- curious rocks -- spinneries -- populousness -- przichowitz -- an altercation -- heavy odds -- the englishman wins -- a word to the company. fresh _semmel_ for breakfast again the next morning, and renewed entreaties for my stay. i could only reply by putting on my knapsack. the old man grieved that infirmity prevented his showing me the shortest way to hayda, some ten miles distant, where i should strike the main road. "but," he said, "röschen knows the way, and she will be glad to go. i can trust her with you, for you are an englishman." i felt bound to thank him for his compliment to my nationality, and not less for the unexpected pleasure of his daughter's company. röschen went to put on her round hat, and then the mother said she would like to go too, "just a little half-hour," and tied on her kerchief. then i had to give a kiss to the rest of the family--barring the old man--and with cordial hand-grip and many a good-bye i stepped from beneath the hospitable roof. the day was as bright and breezy as heart could wish, and it was delightful walking in and out, choosing the short cuts across the fields. the "little half-hour" brought us to a great cross by the wayside, where the mother, who lamented all the way that i would not let her carry my knapsack, gave me a hearty kiss, hoped i would soon come again and stay a month, bade röschen take care of me, and turned away homewards with tears in her eyes. i thought to myself, if my gracious masters--long may they live!--did but grant me an uncircumscribed holiday, i would stay a month now. and would i not, oh, worthy hearts! strive to repay your hospitality by lessons to that young daughter of yours, who craves to learn english as a hungry man for bread. i had no claim on you: you had never heard of me, and yet you entertained me as if i had been your son. may the love that befalls the cheerful giver dwell ever with you! röschen knew all the byepaths and little lanes running through belts of copse, by which, with many a rise and fall among the hills, we took our way, she all the time wondering at my pleasurable emotions at sight of the picturesque cottages and pretty scenery. to her they were nothing remarkable. by-and-by we saw steinschönau on the left, where the surrounding hamlets buy groceries, hardware, and napery, and resort at times for a holiday. while skirting it we saw here and there on a cottage wall bills of the next sunday's play. it would be, so states _herr direktor feichtinger_, _in celebration of the highest delighting occurrence of the birth of an imperial sproutling, with festive illumination. first, the heart-elevating austrian folks-hymn: then hanns sachs, shoemaker and poet, a_ _drama in four acts._ and he ends with a notification: _price of places as always. but to generosity no limit will be set._ röschen promised herself much pleasure from a sight of the play. hayda, though a small town, is a place of much importance in the glass trade. you hear the noise of wheels in every house. "none but glass-workers here," said the landlord of the inn where we dined. the repast over, i said good-bye to röschen, vexed with myself for having occasioned her so long a walk, and taking the road which i had left at markersdorf, stepped out for the _riesengebirge_--distant a three days' tramp. the country between teems with manufactures and population--a cheerful country, hill and dale, grain, flax, and fruit-trees, and the people for the most part good-looking. their faces are round, but not flat, and seemed to me to combine some of the best points of the german and czech. you see dye-works and hear looms at zwickau--not the saxon town we explored a fortnight ago, but a dull place, with a great dull square; the wooden houses dingy, the brick houses rough and ragged. beyond, we pass strange-looking rocks and short ranges of cliffs, the castle and grounds owned by count clam gallas, and so to gabel, a town which bears a _fork_ in its coat-of-arms; and is burdened with recollections of disasters from fire and sword. it has of course a great square, in the centre of which stands a tall column, surmounted by a figure of christ looking towards the domed church. its aspect is cheerful, notwithstanding that the old wooden houses with projecting gables are blackened by age. then the road becomes more hilly, and the distance appears mountainous. we pass a singular mass of boulders--huge compressed bladders turned to stone; and from time to time other strangely formed rocks, betokening extraordinary geological phenomena, as if to prepare us for what we shall see a few days hence at adersbach. by-and-by a deep glen, dark with firs above, green with birches below, into which you descend by long zigzags. here among the trees sat a cuckoo, piping his name loud enough for all that passed to hear. it was the second time i had heard the gladsome note in bohemia: the first was on the white hill, while walking into prague. broad views, bounded always by hills, open as you emerge from the last slope, and there in a hollow lies the little village of weisskirchen, where i tarried for the night. the innkeeper calls his house the _railway inn_, although there is no railway within half a day's walk, and in matter of diet all he could offer was smoked sausage--which is my abomination--and bread and butter. on the way to reichenberg next morning i saw a small, tasteful iron crucifix, with a lamp, set up on a stone pedestal by the wayside, at the cost, so runs the inscription, of _gottfried hermann, bauer in rosenthal_; and underneath the devout peasant adds a prayer for the solace of wayfarers: an dem abend wie am morgen, unter arbeit, unter sorgen, in der freude, in dem schmerz, in der einsamkeit und stille, lenk' o christ, mit dankesfülle zu dem kreuz, das fromme herz![f] at ten o'clock i came to reichenberg: a town pleasantly situate on hilly ground, and animated by many signs of industry. it is the capital of the manufacturing region, and in importance ranks next to prague. in the german bohemians, not relishing the dictatorial tone of the czechs in the metropolis and southern parts of the kingdom, made it the seat of their reform committee, and held meetings, in which speech, intoxicated by sudden, and, as it proved, short-lifed freedom, mistook words for things, and, before the mistake was discovered, lay once more fettered--faster than ever. i found out the _bezirksamt_ at the farther end of the town, and was there told to go back to the middle, and get my passport signed at the _magistratur_. i had to wait while four others passed the desk. the first, a portly gentleman, evidently of some consideration, was dismissed in half a minute, and treated to a pinch of snuff by the clerk. the second, a petty trader, was kept five minutes, and had to tell why he wished to journey, and what he meant to do. the third, a peasant, was only released after a cross-examination, as if he had been a conspirator; and a rigorous scrutiny of his passport, which occupied a quarter-hour. the fourth, a poor woman, as i have before mentioned, was denied, and went away with tears in her eyes. then came my turn. "where are you going?" i had always the same answer: "to the _riesengebirge_." but as no visa could be given for mere mountains, i named landeshut, a few miles beyond the frontier, telling the functionary at the same time that i had no intention of visiting the town, and should in all probability not go thither. apparently it mattered not, for the visa was made out and stamped. this done, the clerk took my passport, and withdrew to an inner room. his brother clerks in all the offices i had yet entered had done the same. what did it mean? is there a secret chamber where some highest functionary sits with a black list before him, in which he must search for suspected names? no one would tell me. after five minutes the clerk returned, gave me back my passport, but, less courteous than his fellows, did not wish me a pleasant journey. i dined at the _rothen adler_; strolled through the market-place and the arcades of the old houses on either side, noting the ways of the crowd who were buying and selling meal, fruit, and vegetables. groups of countrywomen were passing in and out of the church at the upper end; and countrymen arrived with trains of bullock-wagons--the vehicles so disproportionately small when contrasted with the animals, that you could not look at them without laughing. however, they carry away cotton bales and dyestuffs, of which you see good store in the warehouses. you see piles of woollen cloth, too, and troops of factory-girls going to dinner. you will tarry awhile to admire the view from the hill beyond the town, and will, perhaps, think the tall chimneys rising here and there without the crowding roofs rather picturesque than otherwise. all around is hill and dale; the graceful peak of the _jeschken_, feet high, is in sight; and away to the north-east, inviting you on, rise heaps of blue mountains. and as you proceed you descend every two or three miles into a charming little valley, where you see little factories, and stripes of linen stretched out to bleach on the grassy slopes. so at reinowitz; so at schlag; so at neudorf; so at morchenstern. at grünheid, where i stayed for a half-hour's rest, there was a noticeable appearance of cleanliness. the inn, inviting of aspect, would have satisfied even a dutchwoman. while drinking my glass of beer i had a talk with the hostesses--two happy-looking sisters, who presently told me they had a brother in england, at oldham, learning how to spin cotton and manage a factory. did i know oldham?--had i ever been there?--could i tell them anything about it?--and so forth. having visited more than once that hard-working town, i was enabled to gratify their curiosity. then they told me of an englishman who was employed in a factory about a mile distant. he had been there three years, yet his manners were so coarse and disagreeable that no one liked him, although at first many would have been his friends. he had learned but very little german, and that of the worst kind, and was over fond of drinking too much beer. "he has been trying for some time," they said, "to get a wife; but no woman will have him. while good bohemian husbands are to be had, who would marry a bad englishman? and so now he is going to fetch a wife from his own country." and then they asked, "are all englishmen such as he?" need i record my answer? it enlightened them as to the real value of the sample they had described, and made them fully aware that i for one did not regard lancashire as england's model county. more curious rocks as we drop down towards tannwald--a place, as its name indicates, of fir forests. it lies deep among hills, watered by a stream brawling along a stony bed, and here and there you see the weatherbeaten heads of huge boulders peering from among the trees. the road makes short and frequent windings by the side of the stream; now skirted by groves of mountain ash, and slopes red with clustering loosestrife; now by feathery larches, green and graceful, contrasting beautifully with the melancholy firs. then you pass an enormous spinnery, its thousand spindles driven by the dashing torrent; and peeping between the plants and flowers with which nearly every window is adorned, you see an army of girls within, busy at the machinery. another and another spinnery succeeds; the houses of the masters appear aloft on pleasant sites, and signs of prosperous trade crowded into the bend of a narrow valley. in one place you see a broad alley through the firs to the top of the highest hill, cut at the masters' cost for the recreation of the workpeople. thickly-strewn cottages betoken a numerous population. "i wish there were more factories," said the landlord of the _goldene krone_, "for we have people enough--more than enough." every year things got dearer, greatly to the folks' surprise. not many months ago a traveller has passed through, who told them that things would never be cheap again; but no one would believe him. some of the best spinners could earn from five to six florins a week: thriftiness, however, was a rare virtue, and to earn the money easier than to save it. perhaps mine host was the man of all others in tannwald best able to speak with knowledge on this economical question. if so minded, you can travel from reichenberg to tannwald by _stellwagen_; beyond, the road becomes more and more hilly, and worsens off to a stony track broken with deep ruts. by taking a short cut directly up the hill you may save a mile or more on the way to the next village--przichowitz; a name that looks unpronounceable. it is a steep climb for about half an hour, provoking many a halt, during which you enjoy the ever-widening view. from the expanse of hill and dale to the numberless cottages all around you, each fronted by a fenced flower-garden, and haunted by the noise of looms, you will find ample occupation for the eye. and if you wish to observe domestic labour competing with the factory-units with an organized multitude--the opportunity is favourable. przichowitz stands on what appears to be the very top of the hill till you see the wooded eminence, _stephanshöh_, beyond. there are two inns: the _grünen baum_, with a fourth share of a bedroom; the _gasthaus zur stephanshöh_, somewhat czechish in its appointments. i quartered myself at the latter; and discovered two redeeming points--good wine and excellent coffee. at bedtime the landlord demanded my passport, with an intimation that he should keep it in his possession all night. i demurred. he might bring his book and enter my name if he would: as for giving up to him a document so essential to locomotion anywhere within sight of the black and yellow stripes, i saw no reason why i should, and therefore shouldn't. "but you must." "but i won't." "the gendarme will come." "let him come. he will find at least one honest man under your roof." the hostess came forward and put in her word: the company present, who were topping-off their three hours' potation of _einfach_ with a glass of _schnaps_, ceased their conversation, and put in theirs: "wi' tippenny we fear nae evil, "wi' usquebaugh we'll face the devil." the _kellnerinn_ waiting all the while with my bed-candle in her hand. every one, except the serving-maid, who held her peace, sided with the landlord. i urged the same reply over and over again, that not having been asked at any other _wirthshaus_ to yield possession of my passport for a night, i could not believe that any regulation to the contrary prevailed for przichowitz. at length the company, as it appeared, having exhausted their suggestions, the landlord fetched his book, and had dipped a pen into the inkstand, when two soldiers, who were eating a supper of sausage, brown bread and onions, at a table apart, beckoned him, and whispered something in his ear. the whisper revived his suspicions, and would have renewed the altercation; but i took up my knapsack, asked what was to pay, and declared for a moonlight walk to rochlitz. the demonstration made him pause: he opened the book, dipped the pen once more into the inkstand, and looked wonderingly at my passport, which i held open before him. he tried to spell it out; but in vain. the pen went into the inkstand again; but to no purpose. he was completely bothered; and at last, putting the pen in my hand, he said, not now in a peremptory tone--"will you enter your own name, if i let you do it?" it would have served him right had i refused, and left the task entirely to him. however, not to be too hard upon him, i promised not to inscribe brown, jones, or robinson, and wrote what was required. then, looking round on the company, i said: "a pretty set of cowards you are! here are nine of ye, two of them soldiers, and you all take the part of a suspicious landlord against one--and that one a foreigner. no wonder you are all afraid of a gendarme; and submit to ask leave when you want to go a day's journey. try, in future, and remember that honesty does not become rogue by travelling on foot. good night!" "so, now it's settled," said the _kellnerinn_, who still waited with the candle in her hand; and she led the way up-stairs. before sleeping i repented of my speech; for what could be expected from people who never attended a vestry meeting--never saw a general election--never exercised the privilege of booting a candidate on the hustings? and never had a _times_ to publish their grievances. footnote: [f] in the evening as at morning, under work, under cares, in joy, in sorrow, in solitude and silence, lead, o christ, with thankfulness to the cross, the pious heart. chapter xx. stephanshöh -- a presumptuous landlord -- czechs again -- stewed weavers -- prompt civilities -- the iser -- a quiet vale -- barrande's opinion of the czechs -- rochlitz -- an offshoot from tyre -- a happy landlord -- a rustic guide -- hill paths -- the grünstein -- rübezahl's rose garden -- dreary fells -- source of the elbe -- solitude and visitors -- the elbfall -- stony slopes -- strange rocks -- rübezahl's glove -- knieholz -- schneegruben -- view into silesia -- tremendous cliffs -- basalt in granite -- the landlord's bazaar -- the wandering stone -- a tragsessel -- a desolate scene -- rougher walking -- musical surprises -- spindlerbaude -- the mädelstein -- great pond and little pond -- the mittagstein -- the riesengrund -- the last zigzags -- an inn in the clouds. soon after six the next morning i was on the top of _stephanshöh_--about twenty minutes' walk from the inn--prepared to enjoy the view: and did enjoy all that was not concealed by mist. every minute, too, as the heaving vapour melted away, so did the landscape widen and rejoice in the sunbeams. we are here on the roots of the _riesengebirge_, and all around is a rolling country, rising higher and higher towards the north. because of the view the height is famous throughout the neighbourhood; visitors come to it even from reichenberg. while i was drinking my early cup of coffee, the landlord came forward, made a bow, and expressed his hope to see me again some day. "hope not," i replied, "for besides plaguing folk about their passport, you lodge them between dirty sheets over an unswept floor. good morning!" beware, reader, of przichowitz! the road winding along a hill-side leads you onwards high above the valleys that open at every bend. after about an hour it narrows into a footpath, which presently branches off into many paths down the steep slope of a secluded vale. a woman of whom i asked the way shook her head, and answered, "_böhmisch_," and to my surprise i found myself once more among the czechs. a sclavonic wedge, so to speak, here cuts between the german-speaking population who inhabit the northern border. with its base in the heart of the kingdom, it stretches away to the silesian frontier, traceable for the most part by the names of numerous villages ending in _witz_. i chose a path for myself which led down between patches of clover and rye, beetroot and potatoes, through little orchards, under rows of limes, to a house which, at a distance, had an imposing, spacious appearance; deceitful till you come near. the ground stage is nothing but a rough mass of masonry supporting that which is really the house--a low wooden edifice, swarming with weavers, reared aloft, probably, to keep it out of the way of floods. as i mounted the rude steps in quest of information, a weaver opened a casement and put out his head, letting out, at the same time, a rush of the depraved air in which he and his mates were working. i asked the way. he shook his head, and answered, "_böhmisch_." he did more. he started up from his loom, came actually forth into the wholesome air, and ran to a cottage some distance off, making signs to me to wait his return. he came presently back wearing a triumphant look, accompanied by another weaver, who could speak german enough to assure me that i was on the right track for rochlitz, and that the mountain stream flowing so merrily past was the iser. poor men! they both had a pale, sodden look, which moved me to recommend fresh air and open windows. but no: they shivered, and could not weave when the windows were open. a bright stream is the iser, and plenteous of trout: a water such as the angler loves, now brawling over shallows, now sleeping in hazel-fringed pools. you will pause more than once while climbing the hill beyond to scan the vale. all the greater slopes are broken up with lesser undulations--wherein much is half seen, and thickly-patched with wood; little cottages nestle everywhere among the trees, the little chapel near the summit; and here and there on the outskirts a dark ridge of firs reminds you of the melancholy miles of forest beyond. here, far from great roads, all breathes of calm and content, all sights and sounds are rural; you hear the water babbling to the whispering leaves, and might fancy yourself in the very home of happiness. but "the statutes of the golden age, that lingered faint and long in sylvan rites of olden time, so dear to ancient song, the world hath trampled in its haste at mammon's shrine to bow; and many a tyre our steps may find, but no arcadia now." with the iser the czechs are left behind. while taking leave of the oval-faced people, the opportunity seems fitting to bring forward a few words of testimony concerning them, which may be weighed against that mentioned in a former page. barrande, the distinguished geologist, says, in his _silurian system of bohemia_, that, in , he and his friends commenced a regular exploration of strata, employing native labourers in different parts of the country, either singly making new excavations, or in groups opening quarries. "these labourers," he continues, "provided with the necessary tools, and practically instructed by working with us for some time, soon acquired the knowledge indispensable for distinguishing every organic trace--the objects of our studies--at the first glance. in this respect we have often had occasion to admire the intelligence of the bohemians (czechs), even of those belonging to the humblest class. some among them employed in our researches during ten or twelve years acquired a remarkable skill as seekers of fossils. they gather up and put together the smallest fragments which belong to any specimen broken in splitting the rock; they use a lens to discover the fugitive traces of the minutest embryo, and they know very well how to distinguish all rare or new forms in the district to which they are attached. a sort of nomenclature, improvised by themselves out of the bohemian language, has served us to designate both the species and formations in which they are found." thus, with his rustic czechs, mr. barrande could carry on investigations at a distance, while in his study at prague he prepared his truly great work for publication. one of the diggers brought in the specimens once a week; and in this way were discovered fifteen hundred species of what geologists call silurian and cambrian fossils, the existence of which in bohemia was before unknown. it is not far to rochlitz--perhaps a mile--but the vale is hidden ere you arrive by the shoulder of the hill. almost the first house is _gast und einkehr haus zur linde_, and it has a living sign--a beautiful linden-tree. here cleanliness prevails, and the speech is german; but the room is so hot from the scorching stove, that i prefer to eat my second breakfast on the grass in the shadow of the lime, and listen to the busy hum of countless bees among the branches. the room, however, was a study--a sort of museum: racks overhead, three glass closets, twenty-four pictures, a sofa, a score of daddy-longlegs chairs, a guitar and fiddle, two beds in view besides one shut off by a screen, and all the sundries common to a public-house. but for good housewifery it would be hideous. the landlord, a man of friendly speech, came out for a talk. from his orchard we could look down into a charming dell: a sylvan retreat, marred, alas! by an offshoot from tyre. from among the trees there rose the tall chimney and staring walls of a factory; and while we talked, a dozen men went past, each wheeling a barrow-load of lime, from a distance of two miles, for the building. mine host felt glad at the prospect of work for the people. "we have nine thousand inhabitants in rochlitz," he said; "'tis a great place. to walk through it you must take three hours." and he pointed out a cliff overlooking a valley where mining works had just been bought by a russian for two hundred thousand florins. "yes, there would be work enough for the people." plenty of work at little wages. a weaver earns one florin twenty-four kreutzers a week, and the happy few who achieve two florins are regarded as rich by their neighbours: perhaps with envy and admiration. then he pointed out his own ground, and his forest run reaching to the very hill-top, all of which had cost him fifteen thousand florins; and he turned to all quarters of the compass with the air of a man well pleased with himself. "those," he said, stretching his finger towards a row of short, round, wooden columns with conical roofs--"those are my beehives; come and look at them." these hives are about four feet high, fixed clear of the ground by stakes driven through the turf, and are constructed in compartments one fitting above the other. the bees begin to work in the lowest, and, when that is filled, ascend into the upper stories. one among them seemed deserted. "let us see what's the matter," said the landlord; and he lifted off the top story. immediately there swarmed out thousands of earwigs. "huhu! that's not the sort of bees we want. coobiddy, coobiddy!" and judging from the lusty crow that followed it, chanticleer and his seraglio must have had a satisfactory repast. but _schneekoppe_ was yet far off, and there was no time to be lost if i wished to reach that mont blanc of german tourists before night. i inclined to leave the rough-beaten track through the valleys for short cuts across the hills, and asked the landlord about a guide. his woodcutter, who was splitting logs close by, knew great part of the way, and was ready to start there and then and carry my knapsack for a florin. he put a piece of coarse brown bread into a bag, which he lashed to one of the straps, and away we went. "good-bye!" said the landlord: "a month later and you would have had company enough; for then students come in herds to see the mountains." we struck at once up a grassy hill on the left, and could soon look down on rochlitz--houses scattered along either side of a narrow road in a deep valley; and, far in the rear, on hochstadt, a wee town of great trade. then we came to a _jägerhaus_, and plunged into a pine forest, walking for two or three miles along winding paths, paved with roots, under a solemn shade where, here and there, sunny gleams sought out the richest brown of the tall, straight stems, and the brightest emerald among the patches of damp moss. at times we came to graceful birches scattered among the firs, and their drooping branches and silvery boles looked all the more beautiful amid companions so unbending. we emerged on a bare, turfy slope, and came presently to a stony ridge on the right--the _grünstein_--so named from a large bright green circle of lichen on the broken rocks which first catch your eye. a little farther along the same ridge, and the guide points to a great ring of stones on the slope as _rübezahl's_ rose-garden, and the name makes you aware that here is the classic ground of gnomery. you remember the german storybooks read long ago with delight, wonder, or fear: the impish pranks, the tricks played upon knaves, the lumps of gold that rewarded virtue; the marvellous world deep underground, and all the weird romance. you will perhaps think that imps had a right to be mischievous in such a region. on the left opens a wild, dreary expanse of fells--the coarse brown turf strewn with hassocks of coarser grass, and pale lumps of quartz intermingled, and rushy patches of darker hue showing where the ground is soft and swampy. it has a lifeless aspect, increased by a few scattered bushes of _knieholz_ that look like firs which have stunted themselves in efforts to grow. now and then an alpine lark twitters and flits past, as if impatient to escape from the cheerless scene. we crossed these fells, guided by an irregular line of posts planted far apart. in places the ground quakes under your foot, and attempts to cut off curves are baffled by treacherous sloughs. on you go for nearly an hour, the view growing wilder, until, in the middle of a spongy meadow, known as the _naworer wiese_, you see a spring bubbling up in a circular basin. it is the source of the elbe. here, feet above the sea-level, the solitude is complete. here you may lie on your back looking up at the idle clouds, and enjoy the luxury of silence, for the prattle of the water disturbs it not. you will think it no loss that nothing now remains of monuments which the archdukes joseph and rainer once erected here to commemorate their visit: the lonely scene is better without them. there are monuments not far off more to your mind. towards the south rises the _krkonosch berg_[g]--sometimes called the _halsträger_--and _kesselkoppe_ towards the west; great purple-shaded slopes of darkest green. not often during the summer will you find real solitude, as we did; for the germans come in throngs and sit around the little pool to quaff the sparkling water, or pour libations of richer liquor. is not this the birthplace of the elbe, the river that carries fatness to many a broad league of their fatherland, and merchandise to its marts? many a merry picnic has _krkonosch_ witnessed, and many a burst of sentiment. hither used to come in the holidays--perhaps he comes still--a certain rector of a silesian school with his scholars; and after their frolics he would teach them that the life of a river was but the symbol of their own life; and then, after each one had jumped across the sprightly rivulet, he bade them remember when in after years they should be students at wittenberg, how they had once sprung from bank to bank of the mighty stream. the elbe has, however, two sources: this the most visited. the other is ten miles distant on the southern slope of _schneekoppe_. they unite their waters in the _elbgrund_. a stream is formed at once by the copious spring. we followed it down the slope-- "infant of the weeping hills, nursling of the springs and rills"-- to a rocky gulf, where it leaps a hundred feet into the precipitous chasm, and chafes onwards in a succession of cascades far below, gathering strength for its rush through the mountain barrier--the saxon highlands--and its long, lazy course through the plains of northern germany. here a little shanty is erected, the tenants of which dam the water, and let it loose for its plunge when tourists arrive who are willing to pay a fee to see nature improved on. but you may scramble about the rocks and down to the noisy influx of the _pantsche fall_ as long as you please, and peep over into the deep gulf, without any payment. then up a steep stony acclivity to a higher elevation, another of the great steps or terraces which compose the bohemian side of the mountains. from the top we should have seen _schneekoppe_ himself, had he not been hidden by clouds; however, we saw a mass of gray cumulus behind which old snowhead lurked, and that was something. rougher and rougher grows the way: more and more of the big boulders lying as if showered down; and here and there singular piles of rock appear. some resemble woolsacks heaped one above another, and flattened; some a pilastered wall, all splintered and cracked, sunken at one end; some heathen tombs and imitations of stonehenge; and some animal forms hewn by rude people in the ancient days with but indifferent success. on one, an experienced guide--which mine was not--will show you the impression of a large hand, and tell you it is _rübezahl's_ glove. the path makes many a jerk and twist among the rocks; at times through a dense scrub of _knieholz_--a dwarfish kind of fir, crooked as rams'-horns, peculiar to these mountains, and, as travellers tell us, to the carpathians. to its abundant growth some of the hills owe their dark green garment. half an hour of such walking brought us in sight of _rübezahl's_ chancel--walls of rocks split into horizontal layers--and strangely piled, as if by the hands of crazy cyclopean builders. a fearsome place in olden time; now a shelter to the _schneegrubenhaus_, where you will choose to rest and dine before further exploration. the house stands on the verge of a mighty precipice, from which you have a wide view over the most beautiful and picturesque part of silesia. it was a glorious sight, miles of hill and dale, forest and meadow stretching far away--yellow and green, and blue and purple--touched here and there by flashing lights where the sun fell on ponds and lakes; villages, seemingly numberless, basking in the warmth of a july sun. the _hirschbergerthal_, into which we shall travel ere many days be over, lies outspread beneath as in a map; warmbrunn, with its baths in the midst, five hours distant, and yet apparently so near that you fancy a musket-shot would break one of the gleaming windows. although, as some say, there is a want of water, you will still think it a view worth climbing the _riesengebirge_ to see. "there is only one silesia!" cried the great frederick, when he looked down upon it from the _landeshuter kamm_. having feasted your eye with the remote, you will turn to look at the two _schneegruben_--greater and lesser snow-gulfs. to the right and left the precipice is split by a frightful chasm a thousand feet deep, between jagged perpendicular cliffs. looking cautiously over the edge, you scan the gloomy abyss where the sun never shines except for a brief space in the early morn. you see a chaos of fallen blocks and splinters, where the winter's snow, often unmelted by the summer rains, forms miniature glaciers, from one of which the kochel springs to charm wondering eyes with its fall in the lowlands by petersdorf. you see how the jutting crags threaten to tumble; how the heaps far below are overgrown by treacherous _knieholz_, and form ridges which dam the sullen waters of two or three small lakes. a patch of green, a small meadow, smiles up at you from the lesser gulf; and it surprises you somewhat to be told that a painstaking peasant makes hay there, by stacking the grass on high poles, and carries it in winter when snow enables him to use a sledge. if sure of foot, you may scramble down the ridge and look at the cliffs from below, and on the way at a remarkable geological phenomenon. in the western declivity the ruddy granite is cut in two by a stratum of basalt, which broadens as you descend, its surface cut up by pale gray veins resembling a network. it is said to be the only instance in europe of basalt found at such a height, and in such intimate neighbourhood with granite. it is laborious walking at the base, and dangerous where vegetation screens the numerous crevices. however, if you take pleasure in botany, there are rare plants to repay the exploit; and if you care only for the romantic, to have been frowned down upon by the tremendous cliffs will suffice you. when you climb back to the summit the host will ask you to look at his museum, and collection of knick-knacks for sale--memorials of the _schneegruben_. there are crystals, and specimens from the neighbouring rocks, and carvings cut out of the _knieholz_, an excellent wood for the purpose. among these latter are heads of _rübezahl_, with roguish look and bearded chin, to be used as whistles, or terminations for mountain-staves. or, if you desire it, he will fire a small mortar to startle the echoes. you may, however, rouse echoes for yourself by rolling big stones into the gulf; but beware lest you meet the fate of anton, the guide, who, in , while starting a lump of rock, lost his balance, fell over, and was dashed to pieces against the crags. such cliffs are said to be characteristic of the _riesengebirge_. another example of a _schneegrube_ occurs near agnetendorf, which is six hundred feet deep. and close by it is the wandering stone, a huge granite block of thirty tons' weight, which has moved three times within memory, to the wonder of the neighbourhood. in it travelled three hundred feet, in two hundred, and in , between the th and th of june, about twenty-five paces. another characteristic of these mountains, as i discovered, is that when you have climbed up one of their great steps or terraces, you have to make a deep descent on the farther side before coming to the next, whereby the labour of the ascent is increased. on leaving the _schneegruben_, you traverse a level so thickly strewn with boulders and rocky fragments that you fancy more would not lie, till, coming presently to the descent, you find nothing but stone. in and out, rise and fall; now a long stride that shakes you rudely; now a cheating short step--such is the manner of your going down. nothing but stone! the track in many places scarcely visible though trodden for years. you will think it a terrible stair before you have finished. near the foot we met a party going up, one a lady seated in a _tragsessel_--a sedan-chair without its case--carried by two men. talk of palanquin-bearers in hindoostan! their work must be play compared with that of these silesian chair-carriers. i pitied them as they toiled up the stony steep, hard to climb with free limbs, much more so with such a burden; and yet they looked contented enough, though very damp. we met three more chairs, each with its lady, in the course of the next two hours. nothing has ever realized my idea of utter desolation so entirely as the sight of that stony steep when i looked back on it from below. a great rounded hill of stone, blocks on blocks up-piled to the summit, sullen as despair, notwithstanding the greenish tinge of clinging lichen. i wondered whether the accursed hills by the dead sea could look more desolate. rough walking now, through straggling _knieholz_; across stony ridges, and past more of the uncouth piles of rock that look weird-like in the slanting sunbeams. all at once you hear the noise of a hurdy-gurdy: a surprise in so deserted a region, and you may fancy _rübezahl_ at his pranks again; but presently you see a beggar squatted in the bush, whose practised ear having caught the sound of footsteps before you came in sight, the squeak is set a-going to inspire charity. and now these musical surprises will beset you every half-mile--flageolet, tambourine, clarionet, or fiddle. where do the musicians live? no signs of a house are visible near their lurking-places. we came to a _baude_, a lonely farmstead, with a few fields around: the dwelling roughly built of wood, without upper story. many similar buildings are scattered among the mountains--cause of thankfulness to weary travellers, for the inmates are always ready with rustic fare and lodging. here the guide had to ask the way, having already come farther than he knew. the path led us across swampy ground, where you walk for a mile or two on stepping-stones through open fir woods, always meeting some group of rocks. another half-hour, and we emerged into a little green vale, shut in by high steep hills and forest, the _spindlerbaude_ standing at the upper end. my guide being afraid to venture farther, i released him, and engaged another; one in full professional costume--tall boots, peaked hat, and embroidered jacket--who undertook to go the remaining distance with me for twenty kreutzers. while i drank a glass of beer, a man and woman made the room ring again with harp and clarionet. it was past six when we started, and betook ourselves at once to the steep ridge behind the _baude_. once up, we saw _schneekoppe_ rising as a dark cone in the distance, and away to the right the _mädelstein_, so named from a shepherdess having been frozen to death while sheltering under the rock from a snow-storm. on the bohemian side, towards the south, the view is confined; but northwards, over silesia, it spreads far as eye can reach, the nearer region in deep shade, for the sun is dropping low. by-and-by we leave the broken stony ground for the grassy ridge of the _lahnberg_, where the path skirts a cliff, which, curving round to the right and left, encloses the _grosser teich_, a black lake, on which you look down from a height of six hundred feet. the inky waters fill an oval basin about twenty-four acres in extent and seventy-five feet deep, and remain quite barren of fish, although attempts have been made to stock it with trout. the superflux forms a stream named the great lomnitz. from hence more rock-masses are in sight: the _mittagstein_, so named because the sun stands directly over it at mid-day, a sign to the haymakers and turf-diggers; the _dreisteine_, fifty feet high, resembling the ruin of a castle, split into three by a lightning stroke a hundred years ago; the _katzenschloss_ (cat's castle) and others, which the guide will tell you owe their names to _rübezahl_. we cross the _teichfelder_ and look down on the little pond: a lively sheet of water, for the surface is rippled by a waterfall that leaps down the precipice, and beneath trout are numerous as angler can desire. you will notice something crater-like in the form of the cliffs of both ponds: no traces of lava are, however, to be discovered. we passed the devil's gulf, through which flows the silver water, and came to more rough ground, and scrub, and lurking bagpipers. the veil of twilight was drawn over silesia, and the peaks and ridges on the right loomed large and hazy against the darkening sky. we came to the _riesenbaude_ on the edge of the _riesengrund_ (giant's gulf), from which uprears a steeper slope than any we had yet encountered. it is incredibly steep, the path making short zigzags, as on the gemmi, fenced by a low wall. on either side you see nothing but loose slabs of stone, which must have made the ascent well-nigh impossible to unpractised feet, before count schaffgotsch constructed the new path at his own cost. a hard pull to finish with. however, in about twenty minutes we come to a level, where the wind blows strong and cold, and something that looks like a house and a circular tower looms through the dusk. the guide steps forward and opens a door, which admits us to a dim passage. he opens another door, and i am dazzled by the lights of a large room, where some forty or fifty guests are sitting at rows of tables eating, drinking, and smoking, while three women with harps sing and play in a corner. to step from the chill gloom outside into such a scene was a surprise; and after my long day's walk to find a comfortable sofa five thousand feet above the sea, was a solace which i knew how to appreciate. footnote: [g] _krkonoski hory_ is the czechish name for the whole range of the _riesengebirge_. chapter xxi. comforts on the koppe -- samples of germany -- provincial peculiarities -- hilarity -- a couplet worth remembering -- four-bedded rooms -- view from the summit -- contrast of scenery -- the summit itself -- guides in costume -- moderate charges -- unlucky farmer -- the descent -- schwarzkoppe -- grenzbäuden -- hungarian wine -- the way to adersbach -- forty years' experience. here, on the top of _schneekoppe_, you find the appliances of luxury and elegance as well as of comfort. many kinds of provisions, good wine, and beer of the best. a bazaar of crystals, carvings, _rübezahl's_ heads, and mountain-staves. beds for fifty guests, and _strohlager_ (straw-lairs) for fifty more, besides music and other amusements, make up a total which satisfies most visitors. do not, however, expect a room to yourself, for each chamber contains four beds, in one of which you will have to sleep or accept the alternative of straw. i heard no demur to these arrangements: in fact, most of the guests seemed to like throwing off conventionalities of the nether world while up among the clouds. for water--that is, to drink--you pay the price of beer, and with a disadvantage; seeing that, from being kept in beer-casks, its flavour is beery. the company, though german, is very mixed: specimens of the men and women-kind from many parts of germany. here are breslauers, who will say _cha_ for _ja_: berliners, who--cockneys of another sort, give to all their _g_'s the sound of _y_--converting _green_ into _yreen_, _goose_ into _yoose_: _gobble_ into _yobble_: bremeners, whose low dutch has a twang of the northumbrian burr; besides saxons, hanoverians, mecklenburgers, and a happy couple, who told me they came from gera--a principality about the size of rutlandshire. flat faces and round faces are the most numerous. the silesians betray themselves by an angular visage and prominent chin. "every province in prussia," says schulze to müller, "has its peculiarity, or property, as they call it. thus, for example, pomerania is renowned for stubbornness; east prussia for wit; the rhineland for uprightness; posen for mixed humour; the saxon for softness; the westphalian for hams and _pumpernickel_; and silesia--for good-nature." and here, on the highest ground in all north germany, you may any day between midsummer and michaelmas bring the humourous philosopher's observations to the test. hilarity prevailed: the songstresses sang their best and twanged their strings with nimble fingers, and--came round with a sheet of music. then a few of the guests migrated into the little chambers which on two sides open from the principal room; then a few more; and i noticed that some stopped to read a label affixed to the wall. i did the same. it bore a couplet: _wisse nur des narren hand malt und schreibt auf tisch und wand._[h] three hairy faces lay fast asleep on their pillows in the room to which i was shown. the bodies to which they belonged were covered with coats and wrappers, as well as blanket, for the night was very cold, and the wind blew around the house with an intermittent snarl. i did not rise with the next morning's sun, but two hours later. by that time the mists had cleared off, or become so thin as not to conceal the landscape, and, on going out among the shivering groups, i saw an open view all round the horizon. the silesian portion is by far the most attractive. to the south-west the _jeschken_ catches your eye, and, far beyond, the swelling outline of the _erzgebirge_; to the south you see towns and villages in the valley of the elbe, and in a favourable atmosphere the white hill of prague: in like circumstances breslau can be seen, though forty-five miles distant to the north-east, and görlitz with its hill--_landskrone_--almost as far to the north-west, and on rare occasions, it is said, you can see the foremost of the carpathians. not one of the remotest points was visible. i took pleasure in tracing my yesterday's route, in which the _schneegruben_ is all but hidden by an intervening ridge, and in surveying that which i had now to follow. there, in the direction towards breslau, lay schatzlar, and the lonely peak of the _zobten_--the navel of silesia, as old writers call it; and miles away easterly the _heuscheuer_, a big hill on the moravian frontier, which looks down on adersbach, where we shall sleep to-night, if all go well. you can see a long stretch of the _isergebirge_--mountains of the iser which form part of the range--and deep gulfs, and grim rocky slopes, and pleasant valleys. but it is not the mountain scenery of switzerland or tyrol: you miss the awful precipices, the gloomy gorges thundering ever with the roar of waterfalls, the leagues on leagues of crowding hills, cliffs and forests, rushing higher and higher, till they front the storm zone with great white slopes and towering peaks that dazzle your eye when the sun looks at them. here no snow remains save one "lazy streak" in a hollow of the crags on the heights above the _riesengrund_. imagine dartmoor heaved up to twice its present elevation, and your idea of the view from _schneekoppe_ will come but little short of the reality. the summit itself is a stony level, half covered by the inn, with its appurtenances and the chapel, leaving free space all round for visitors. its height is prussian feet above the sea. the boundary line between bohemia and silesia, which follows an irregular course along the range, crosses it. a chapel, dedicated to st. lawrence, was first erected here by count leopold von schaffgotsch, in - ; but only since have koppe-climbers found a house on the top to yield them shelter and entertainment. while walking about to get the view from every side you will not fail to be struck by the numerous guides in peaked hats, with broad band and feather, velveteen jackets heavy with buttons and braid; and not less by their coarse rustic dialect than by their costume. extremes meet, and you will notice much in common, in sound at least, between this very high dutch and the low dutch from bremen and hamburg. the afternoon is the best time for the view. the shadows then fall to the east, as when i saw it yesterday from the _schneegruben_; the sun is behind you, looking aslant into the silesian vales, searching out whatever they possess of beautiful, and bringing out the lights on towns and villages for leagues around. i had been told more than once while on the way that the charges on _schneekoppe_ were "monstrous;" but my supper, bed, and early cup of coffee with rusks, cost not more than one florin fifty kreutzers, service included; a sum by no means unreasonable, especially when you remember that all the provant has to be carried up on men's shoulders. i have always been favoured with fine weather when among mountains, and here was no exception. the _riesengebirge_, are, however, as much visited by fog, rain, and mist, as the mountains of wales. tourists come at times even from the shores of the baltic, and go back disappointed, through prevalence of clouds and stormy weather. i heard of a farmer living not farther off than schmiedeberg, who had climbed the _koppe_ thirteen times to look down on his native land, and every time he saw nothing but rain. there came one summer a few weeks of drought; the ground was parched, and fears were entertained for the crops. thereupon the neighbouring farmers assembled, waited on the persevering mountain-climber, and besought him to go once more up _schneekoppe_. "up _schneekoppe_! for what?" "if you do but go, look ye, it will be sure to rain, and we shall be so thankful." soon after six i started for the descent into silesia, in company with two young wool-merchants from breslau. on this side the slope is easy; but, as on the other side, after falling for awhile, the path makes a rise to pass over _schwarzkoppe_ (black head), a hill rough with heather. to this succeeded pleasant fir-woods, then birch and beech, and before eight we came to _grenzbäuden_ (frontier-buildings), a place renowned for its hospitality wherever lives a german who has seen the mountains. three houses offer entertainment; but hübner's is the most resorted to. there you find spacious rooms, a billiard-table, a piano, maps on the walls, and a colonnade for those who prefer the open air; and sundry appliances by which weather-bound guests may kill time. but, by common consent, hübner's chief claim to consideration is, that hungarian wine never fails in his cellar. "did you taste the hungarian wine?" is the question asked of all who wander to the giant mountains. the two breslauers were not less ready for breakfast than myself. we each had a half-bottle of the famous wine, and truly its reputation is not unmerited. if you can imagine liquid amber suffused with sunshine, you will know what its colour is. it looks syrupy, and has the flavour of a sweet madeira, not, as it appeared to me, provocative of a desire for more. neither of the breslauers inclined to try a second half-bottle, notwithstanding their exuberant praises; but one of them, sitting down to the piano, broke out with a "vivat vinum hungaricum" that made the room echo again. its price is about twenty pence a bottle; but once across the boundary line, and you must pay three shillings. in winter, when snow lies deep, sledge-parties glide hither from schmideberg to drink hungarian, have a frolic, and then skim homewards down-hill swift as the wind. i had a talk with _meinherr_ hübner about the shortest way to schatzlar. to think of going to adersbach through schatzlar was, he assured me, a grand mistake. the road was very hilly, hard to find, and, under the most favourable circumstances, i need not look to walk the distance in less than eighteen hours. my frankfort map, with all its imperfections, had not yet misled me: it showed the route by schatzlar to be the shortest, and on that i insisted. "take my advice," rejoined hübner; "it has forty years' experience to back it. go down to hermsdorf, and from thence through liebau and schömberg. that is the only way possible for you. the other will take you eighteen hours." the route suggested was that i hoped to follow on leaving adersbach, and to travel twice over the same ground did not suit my inclination, and it was the longest. moreover, i wished to keep within the _schmiedeberger kamm_; and forty years' experience to the contrary notwithstanding, i refused to be advised. i may as well mention at once that by five in the afternoon of the same day i was in adersbach. footnote: [h] which, changing one word, may rhyme in english-- know ye, only hand of fool paints and writes on wall and stool. chapter xxii. the frontier guard-house -- a volunteer guide -- a knave -- schatzlar -- bernsdorf -- a barefoot philosopher -- a weaver's happiness -- altendorf -- queer beer -- a short cut -- blunt manners -- adersbach -- singular rocks -- gasthaus zur felsenstadt -- the rock city -- the grand entrance -- the sugarloaf -- the pulpit -- the giant's glove -- the gallows -- the burgomaster -- lord brougham's profile -- the breslau wool-market -- the shameless maiden -- the silver spring -- the waterfall -- a waterspout -- the lightning stroke. about a musket-shot below the _bäuden_ stands the frontier guard-house. the two wool-merchants who had left warmbrunn for the ordinary three days' excursion in the mountains, having no passports to show, were detained, while i, accredited by seven visas, had free passage and wishes for a pleasant journey. i took a road running immediately to the right, and had not gone far when one of hübner's men came running after, and offered to show me the way to schatzlar for twenty kreutzers. "if you mean the road," i answered, "i don't want you. but if you mean the shortest way, across fields, through bush, anywhere to save distance, come along." he hesitated a moment, and came. we scrambled anywhere; up and down toilsome slopes of ploughed fields, through scrub and brake. we saw the hamlet of klein aupa and the golden valley on the right. when, after awhile, _schneekoppe_ came in sight, it appeared from this side to be the crest of a long, gradually-rising earth-wave. after about an hour and a half of brisk walking, we came to a brow, from which the ground fell steeply to a homely, straggling village, embosomed in trees, beneath. "there, that's schatzlar," said hübner's man, and, pointing to a lane that twisted down the slope, "that's the way to it." hübner's man plays knavish tricks. on descending into the village i found it to be kunzendorf: however, it was on the right way, and another two miles brought me to schatzlar, a village of one street, the houses irregular; high, dark, wooden gables, resting on a low, whitewashed ground story, lit by shabby little windows. here i took a road on the left, leading to bernsdorf, from which, as it rises, you can presently look back upon the striped hill behind schatzlar, the castle, now tenanted by the _bezirksrichter_, and the beechen woods where the bober takes its rise: a stream that flows northwards and falls into the oder. beech woods adorn this part of the country, and relieve the dark slopes of firs which here and there border the landscape; and everywhere you see signs of careful cultivation. after passing bernsdorf--a village on the high road to trautenau--i fell in with a weaver, and we walked together to altendorf. a right talkative fellow did he prove himself; a barefoot philosopher, clad in a loose garment of coarse baize. he lived at kunzendorf, where he kept his loom going while work was to be had, and, when it wasn't, did the best he could without. thought a dollar a week tidy wages; a dollar and a half, jolly; and two dollars, wonderfully happy. never ate meat; never expected it, and so didn't fret about it. bread, soup, and a glass of beer at the _wirthshaus_ in the evening, was all he could get, and a weaver who got that had not much to complain of. all this was said in a free, hearty tone, that left me no reason to doubt its sincerity. the country was no longer what it had been. twelve years ago the land to the right and left, all the way from schatzlar, was covered with forest; now it was all fields, and every year the fields spread wider, and up the hills; and though firewood was dearer, potatoes, beetroot, and rye were more plentiful; and that seemed only fair, because every year more mouths opened and wanted food. for every cottage we passed my philosopher had a joke; something about the bees' humming-tops, or frogs' hams, that sent the inmates into roars of laughter. i invited him to eat bread and cheese with me at altendorf: he stared, gave a whoop of surprise, and accepted. of all the large rooms i had yet seen in a public-house the one in the _wirthshaus_ here was the largest; spacious enough for a town-hall. the groined and vaulted ceiling rests on tall, massive pillars; four chandeliers hang by long strings; in one corner stands a two-wheeled truck; an enormous bread-trough; platter-shaped baskets filled with flour, and a mountain of washing utensils. trencher-cap brought us two glasses of beer--tall glasses, to match the room, vase-like in form, and fifteen inches high at least. the beer was of the colour of porter, and, as i thought, of a very disagreeable flavour; but the weaver took a hearty pull, smacked his lips, and pronounced it better than bavarian, or _stohnsdorfer_, or any other kind. that was the sort they always drank at kunzendorf, and wholesome stuff it was; meat and drink too. he emptied my glass after his own--for one taste was enough for me--and then, as he bade me good-bye, and went his way, he expressed a hope that he might meet with an englishman every time he took the same walk. from altendorf a short cut by intricate paths over a wooded hill saves nearly two miles in the distance to adersbach. it is a pretty walk, up and down slopes gay with loosestrife--_steinrosen_, as the country folk call it--and among rocks, of which one of the largest is known as the _gott und vater stein_. you emerge in a shallow valley, at upper adersbach, and follow the road downwards, past low-shingled cottages, the fronts coloured yellow with white stripes, the shutters blue, and all the rearward portion showing white stripes along the joints of the old dark wood, and crossing on the ends of the beams. the eaves are not more than six feet from the ground, so that where the house stands back in a garden, it is half buried by apple-trees and scarlet-runners, and the cabbages and flowers look in at the windows. the people are as rustic as their dwellings. ask a question, and a blunt "_was?_" is the first word in answer; no "_wie meinen sie?_" as in other places. good papists, nevertheless, for they stop and recite a prayer before one of the gaudy crucifixes, which, surrounded by angels bearing inscribed tablets, or ornamented by pictures of the virgin and st. anne, stand within a wooden fence at the roadside here and there along the village. the valley narrows, and presently you see strange masses of stone peering from the fir-wood on the right, more and more numerous, till at length the rock prevails, and the trees grow only in gaps and clefts. the masses present astonishing varieties of the columnar form, some tall and upright, others broken and leaning; and looking across the intervening breadth of meadow, you can imagine doorways, porticos, colonnades, and grotesque sculptures. here and there, fronting the rest, stands a semicircular mass, as it were a huge grindstone, one half buried in the earth, or a pile that looks like a weatherbeaten, buttressed wall; and, raised by the slope of the ground, you see the tops of other masses, continuing away to the rear. the spectacle grows yet more striking, for the height and dimensions of the rocks increase as you advance. about a mile onwards and a short range of similar rocks appears isolated in a wood on the left. here a whitewashed gateway bestrides the road--the entrance to the _gasthaus zur felsenstadt_ (rock-city inn), resorted to every year by hundreds of visitors. old hübner was clearly mistaken. in seven hours of easy walking i had accomplished the distance from grenzbäuden, and was ready, after half an hour's rest, to explore the wonders of adersbach. the custom of the place is, that you shall take a guide whether or no, pay him a fee for his trouble, and another for admission besides; and to carry it out, a staff of guides are always at the service of visitors. their costume is the same as that of the mountain guides--boots, buttons, hat and feather, and velveteen. you may wait and join a party if you like: i preferred going alone. the meadow behind the house is planted with trees forming shady walks. here the guide calls your attention to two outlying masses, one of which he names _rubezahl_, the other the sleeping woman. he talks naturally when he talks, but when he describes or names anything he does it in the showman's style--"look to the left and there you see admiral lyons a-bombardin' of sebastopol," &c.; and so frequent and sudden were these changes of voice and manner, that at last i could not help laughing at them, even in places where laughter was by no means appropriate. we crossed the brook--_adersbach_--to an opening about forty feet broad, which forms an approach to the rock city that makes a deep impression on you, and excites your expectations. it is an avenue bordered on either side by the remains of such buildings and monuments as we saw specimens of in the mountains on our way hither, only here the cyclopean architects worked on a greater scale, and crowded their edifices together. here, indeed, was their metropolis; and this the grand entrance, where now vegetation clothes the ruin with beauty. the road is soft and sandy: everywhere nothing but sand underfoot. the objects increase in magnitude as we proceed. great masses of cliff look down on us, their sides and summit clothed with young trees--beech, birch, fir, growing from every crevice. the sand accumulated round their base forms a broad, sloping plinth, overgrown with long grass, creeping weeds, and bushes, through which run little paths leading to caverns, vaults, and passages in the rock. some of the caverns are formed by great fragments fallen one against the other; some in the solid rock have the smooth and worn appearance produced by the action of the water, as in cliffs on the sea-shore; the galleries and passages are similarly formed; but here and there you see that the mighty rock has been split from head to foot by some shock which separated the halves but a few inches, leaving evidence of their former union in the corresponding inequalities of the broken surfaces. presently we step forth into a meadow from which a stripe of open country undulates away between the bordering forest. here, where the path turns to the left, you see the sugarloaf, a huge detached rock some eighty feet high, rising out of a pond. either it is an inverted sugarloaf, or you may believe that the base is being gradually dissolved by the water. here, contrasted with the smooth green surface, you can note the abrupt outline of the rocks and its similarity to that of a line of sea-cliffs. here are capes, headlands, spits, bays, coves, basins, and outlying rocks, reefs, and islets; but with the difference that here every crevice is full of trees and foliage, and branches overtop the crests of the loftiest. as yet we have seen but a suburb; now, having crossed the meadow, we enter the main city of the rocky labyrinth, and the guide, ever with theatrical tone and attitude, sets to work in earnest. he points out the pulpit, the twins, the giant's glove, the chimney, the gallows, the burgomaster's head; and bids you note that the latter wears a periwig, and has a snub nose. some of these are close to the path, others distant, and only to be seen through the openings, or over the top of the nearer masses. the resemblance to a human head is remarkably frequent, always at the top of a column. i discovered lord brougham's profile, and advised the guide to remember it for the benefit of future visitors. now the rocks are higher; they crowd close on the path, and presently we come to a narrow passage through a tremendous cliff, where further progress is barred by a door. and here you discover the use of the guide. before unlocking, he holds out his hand for the twenty-kreutzer fee, which every one must pay for admittance; his own fee will be an after consideration. he then shows you the figure of a whale in the face of the cliff on the left, then you cross the wooden bridge, and are locked in, as before you were locked out. there is, however, a free way through the water. the little brook that flows so prettily by the side of the path out to the entrance, comes through a vault in the cliff, about thirty yards, and by stooping you can see the glimmer of light from the far end. three women came that way with bundles of firewood on their backs, and they wade it every time they go in quest of fuel. the water is less than a foot in depth. the passage is narrow and gloomy between the cliffs. as we emerge, the guide, pointing to a tall rock two hundred and fifty feet in height, names it the elizabeth tower of breslau. then comes the breslau wool-market, from a fancied resemblance in the surrounding rocks to woolsacks. not far off are the tables of moses, the shameless maiden, st. john the baptist, the tiger's snout, the backbone, a long broken column, which forms a disjointed vertebræ. a long list of names might be given were it desirable. for the most part the resemblances are not at all fanciful; in some instances so complete, that you can scarcely believe the handiwork to be nature's own. she was, however, sole artificer. we come to a small grassy oasis, where a damsel offers you a goblet of water from the silver spring, and invites you to buy crystals or cakes at her stall. the guide shows you the little waterfall, a feeder of the brook struggling in a crevice, and conducts you by a steep, rocky path to a cavern into which the great waterfall tumbles from a height of about sixty feet. the rocky sides converge as they rise, and leave an opening of a few feet at the apex through which the water falls into a shallow pool beneath. the margin of this pool, a narrow ledge, is the standing-place. the quantity of water is not great, but it makes a pretty cascade down the rugged side of the darksome cavern. after you have looked at it for a minute or two, the guide blows a shrill whistle, and before you have time to ask what it means, the gloom is suddenly deepened. you look up in surprise. the mouth of the cavern is entirely filled by a torrent which in another second will be down upon your head. you cannot start back if you would; the rock prevents, and in an instant you see that the water makes its plunge with scarcely a splash on the brim of the pool. artificial improvement of waterfalls affords me but little pleasure. here, however, the effect was so surprising that, as the water gleamed and danced in the dusky cavern, and the rushing roar and rapid gurgle at the outlet filled the place with loud reverberations, and the light spray imparted a sense of coolness, i was made to feel there might be an exception. in our further wanderings we met sundry parties of visitors all led by guides who had the same theatrical trick as mine. you return by the same way to the locked door; but explorations are being made to discover a new route among objects sufficiently striking. outside the door all is free, and you may roam and make discoveries at pleasure. there are steep gullies which lead into very wild places, where for want of bridges, galleries, and beaten paths, the labour and fatigue of exploration are sensibly multiplied. in june, , as inscribed on one of the stones, a waterspout burst over adersbach, and flooded all the tortuous ways among the rocks to a depth of nine feet. another inscription records the escape of two englishmen in . they were sheltering from a thunderstorm, when the rock under which they stood was struck by lightning, and the summit shattered without their receiving harm from the falling lumps. inscriptions of another sort abound--the initials, or entire name and address, of hundreds of visitors, who with chisel or black paint have thought it worth while to let posterity know of their visit to adersbach. some ambitious beyond the ordinary, have climbed up thirty or forty feet to carve the capital letters. chapter xxiii. the echo -- wonderful orchestra -- magical music -- a _feu de joie_ -- the oration -- the voices -- echo and the humourist -- satisfying the guide -- exploring the labyrinth -- curious discoveries -- speculations of geologists -- bohemia an inland sea -- marble labyrinth in spain -- a twilight view -- after a'. "will it please you to walk to the echo?" asks the guide, when we come back to the meadow. and if you assent--as every one does--he turns to the left and leads you up the open ground above-mentioned to a small temple--the echo house. you see a man standing near the house playing a clarionet, pausing now and then to recite; but no answering note or word do you hear. but take your seat on the bench against that perpendicular rock on his right, and immediately you hear a whole orchestra of wind instruments among the rocks. such delicious music! soft, wild, warbling, rising and falling, melting one into the other in a way that you fancy could only be accomplished by a band of kobolds with _rübezahl_ for a leader. and when the player blows short phrases with pauses between, what mocking sprite is that who imitates the sound, flitting from crevice to crevice repeating the tones over and over again, fainter and fainter, till they seem not to die away, but to float out of hearing? then his companion comes forward and fires a gun, a signal, so you might believe, for a great discharge of musketry among the rocks, platoon after platoon firing a _feu de joie_. one--two--three--four! the two men hold up their hands to signify--listen yet! then comes the rattle of the fifth round from the short range of rocks which we saw on the left while coming down the valley; and the firing commenced by the troops in camp is ended by the outposts. then one of the men makes a short oration about the wonders here grouped by which nature attracts man from afar and fills him with joy and astonishment; voices repeat the oration among the rocks, and then--he comes to you for his fee. for the gunshot the tax is eight kreutzers; and if you give eight more for the music and oration, the two echo-keepers will not look unhappy. and now, if still incredulous, you may talk to the echo yourself. my test was perfectly convincing, for it woke up a dozen cuckoos among the rocks. when schulze, the humourist already mentioned, was here, he questioned the mysterious voice concerning political matters, and got unhesitating answers. for example: _philosopher._ "wie steht's um hellas? _echo._ helas! helas! helas! wat hältst du von russels worte? worte! worte! worte! wat fehlt in hessen? essen! essen! essen! was möchten gern die wallachen? lachen! lachen! lachen! fließt dort (in russia) nicht milch und honig? jo nich! jo nich! jo nich! wann kommt deutschland zur harmonie? o nie! o nie! o nie! es fehlt ja man eene kleinigkeit? einigkeit! einigkeit! einigkeit!" unluckily, the points would all become blunt if translated; i am constrained, therefore, to leave them in the original. my guide waited to be "satisfied." i asked him what amount of fee he usually received? "sometimes," he answered, "i get a dollar." "but commonly not more than ten kreutzers?" "_m--m--ja_, that is true." "then what would you say to fifteen kreutzers?" "sir, i would say that i wish such as you would come every day to adersbach." he left me fully "satisfied." and so, reader, you see that the picturesque is burdened with a tariff in bohemia as it is in certain parts of england, scotland, and wales. i went back to the rocks. the locked door does not shut in all the wonders, and there are miles which you may explore freely. but unless you stick a branch here and there into the sand, or "blaze" the trees, you will never find your way out again. the great height of the rocks surprises you not less than their amazing number. they are intersected by blind alleys, open alleys, and lanes innumerable, intertwisting and crossing in all directions. many a cavern, den, and grotto will you see, and many a delightful sylvan retreat, where the solitude is perfect; many a bower which is presently lost. now you are overcome by wonder, now by awe, for thoughts will come to you of great rock cities and temples smitten by judgments; of the giant race that warred with the gods and were slain by thunder-bolts; of those who worshipped stones and burnt sacrifice on the loftiest rocks. a few paces farther, and seeing how tall trees grow everywhere among the stony masses, how smaller trees and shrubs shoot from the crevices, and moss enwraps pillar and buttress, and fringes the cliffs, you will think of nature's silent revolutions; of the ages that rolled away while the labyrinth of adersbach was formed. here, so say the geologists, currents of water running for innumerable years, have worn out channels in the softer parts of a wide stratum of sandstone, and produced the effects we now witness. the stratum must have been great, for the rocks extend, more or less crowded, away to the _heuscheuer_, a distance of three or four leagues. the mountain itself presents similar phenomena even on its summit. a supposition prevails, based on much observation, that the whole of bohemia was once covered by a vast lake, or inland sea. the conformation of the country, its ring-fence of mountains--whence the term _kessel land_ (kettle land) among the germans--broken only where the elbe flows out, while almost every stream within the territory finds its way into that river, besides the fossil deposits so abundantly met with, are facts urged by the learned in favour of their views. it may have been during the existence of this great sea that the rocks were formed. it might be interesting to inquire whether the rocky labyrinth at torcal, not far from antequera, in spain, presents phenomena similar to those of adersbach. the rocks, as i have read, are of marble, covering a great extent of ground in groupings singularly picturesque. it was dusk when i had finished my prowl, for such it was, accompanied by much scrambling. then i climbed to the top of one of the outlying crags for a view across the maze, and when i saw the numerous gray heads peering out from the feathery fir-tops, here and there a bastion, a broken pillar, and weather-stained tower, the fancy once more possessed me that here was a city of the giants--its walls thrown down, its buildings destroyed, and its rebellious inhabitants turned to stone. gradually the hoary rocks looked spectral-like, for the dusk increased, the clouds gathered heavily, and rain began to fall. i walked back to the inn, feeling deeply the force of the ettrick shepherd's words, "after a', what is any description by us puir creturs o' the works o' the great god?" chapter xxiv. baked chickens -- a discussion -- weckelsdorf -- more rocks -- the stone of tears -- death's alley -- diana's bath -- the minster -- gang of coiners -- the bohdanetskis -- going to church -- another silesian view -- good-bye to bohemia -- schömberg -- silesian faces and costume -- picturesque market-place -- ueberschar hills -- ullersdorf -- an amazed weaver -- liebau -- cheap cherries -- the prussian simplon -- ornamented houses -- buchwald -- the bober -- dittersbach -- schmiedeberg -- rübezahl's trick upon travellers -- tourists' rendezvous -- the duellists' successors -- erdmannsdorf -- tyrolese colony. as _grenzbäuden_ is renowned for hungarian wine, so is adersbach for baked chickens, and every guest, unless he be a greenhorn, eats two for supper. they are very relishing, and quite small enough to prevent any breach of your moderate habit. visitors were numerous: some reading their guide-books, some beginning supper, some finishing, some rounding up the evening with another bottle--for hungarian is to be had in adersbach. a party near me sat discussing with much animation the demerits of the taxes which impoverish, and of the beggars who importune, travellers around the city of the rocks, and they drew an inference that the landlord's charges would not be parsimonious. then they wandered off into the question of temperature--the temperature of _schneekoppe_. not one of them had yet trodden old snowhead, so they went on guessing at the question, till i mentioned that it had been very cold up there in the morning. "in the morning! this morning? _heut_, mean you?" "yes, this very morning; for i was up there." "_heut! heut! heut! heut!_" ejaculated one after another, the last apparently more surprised than the first. "yes, this very day." they would not believe it. i took up a sprig of heather from the side of my plate, which i had gathered on _schwarzkoppe_, and showed them that as a token; and explained that the distance was, after all, not so very great, and might have been shortened had i descended directly from the _koppe_ into the _riesengrund_, and laid my course through the village of dorngrund. they believed then; but having travelled the road prescribed to me by father hübner, could not imagine the distance from the mountain to be but about twenty miles. by rising early the next morning, when all was bright and fresh and the dust laid by the night's rain, i got time for another stroll among the rocks, and to walk two miles farther down the valley to weckelsdorf, where another part of the rocky labyrinth is explorable. the rocks here are on a greater scale than at adersbach, and rising on the slope of a hill, their romantic effect is increased, as also the difficulty of wandering among them. the proprietor, count von nummerskirch, has, however, taken pains to render them accessible by bridges, galleries, and stairs. a sitting figure, whose head-dress resembles that of the maidens of braunau, is named the bride of braunau; near her is the stone of tears; the _todtengasse_ (death's alley) is never illumined by a ray of sunshine; there is the cathedral, and near it diana's bath; and at last the minster, a natural temple, the roof a lofty pointed arch, where, while you walk up and down in the dim light, an organ fills the place with a burst of sound. it is sometimes called the mint, or money church, because of a gang of coiners having once made it their head-quarters. the rocks have been a hiding-place for others as well as rogues. during the hussite wars, many families found a refuge within their intricate recesses, little liable to a surprise, at a time when entrance was hardly possible owing to the numerous obstructions. as at adersbach, there is a fee to pay for unlocking a door; there is an echo which answers the guide's voice, his pistol and horn, and has to be paid for. nevertheless, you will neither regret the outlay of time and kreutzers in your visit to weckelsdorf. if able to prolong your stay, you may take an excursion of a few hours to the _heuscheuer_, and see a smaller adersbach on its very summit--the highest of these extraordinary rock-formations. or there is the ruin of bischoffstein, within an easy walk, once the stronghold of the bohdanetski family, who held half a score of castles around the neighbourhood, and made themselves obnoxious by their protestantism and robberies, and envied for their wealth. they suffered at times by siege and onslaught from their neighbours, and at length their castles were demolished, and forty-seven bohdanetskis and adherents were hanged by the emperor's command. the rest of the family, it is said, took flight, and settled in england. is baddenskey, who sits wearily at his loom down there in joyless spitalfields, a descendant? i returned to the _felsenstadt_ for my knapsack. for supper, bed, and breakfast the charge was equal to three and threepence, in which was included an extra fifteen kreutzers for the bedroom, which i had insisted on having all to myself. when guests are very numerous they have to sleep four in a room. take your change in prussian money, for "_kaiserliches geld_," as the folk here call it--that is, imperial money--will not be current where you stop to dine. i retraced my steps for about a mile along the road by which i came yesterday, and at the church took a road branching off to the right. it leads through ober adersbach. the villagers were going to church: the men wearing tall polished boots and jackets, the women with their heads ungracefully muffled in red, blue, green, or yellow kerchiefs, and displaying broad, showy skirts and aprons, and clean white stockings. now and then came an exception: a man in a light-blue jacket, and loose, baggy breeches; a woman with a stiff-starched head-dress, not unlike those worn in normandy. the road continually rises, and by-and-by you cannot tell the main track from the byeways among the cottages. still ascending, however, you come out a short distance farther on the brow of a precipitous hill, where you are agreeably surprised by another silesian view--broad, rolling fields of good red land, bearing vetches, clover, flax, and barley, the little town of schömberg in their midst, and always hills on the horizon. from the brow, a deep lane and a path through the fir-wood on the cliffy hill-side, lead you down to the road where finger-posts, painted black and white, indicate that we have exchanged the austrian eagle for the prussian. i must have crossed the frontier two or three times yesterday and to-day, but i saw no custom-house anywhere, and no guards, except at _grenzbäuden_. other signs showed me on nearing schömberg that i had left bohemia. the men are tall, of sallow complexion, and angular face. they wear long dark-blue coats and boots up to their knees, and stiff blue caps with a broad crown, and they carry pink or blue umbrellas. the women wear the same colour, and do not look attractive; and there is an _evangelische kirche_, in which the preaching is of protestant faith and doctrine. the town has two thousand inhabitants, some of whom dwell in houses that are a pleasure to look upon, around the market-place. the gables--no two alike--are painted pale green, white, gray, or yellow, and what with the ornaments, the broken outlines, and arcades of wood and brick, the great square makes up a better picture than is to be seen in many a famous city. although sunday, the mill turned by the kratzbach clacks briskly; there are stalls of fruit, bread, and toys under the arcades, and by the side of two or three wagons in the centre a group of blue-coated men. they look sedate, and talk very quietly, as if they felt the day were not for work. from hence the road, planted with beeches, limes, and mountain-ash, leads across well-cultivated fields, and between wooded slopes of the ueberschar hills to ullersdorf, where _schneekoppe_ is seen peeping over a dark ridge on the left. i asked one of the weavers who inhabit here if he earned two dollars a week. "_gott bewahr!_" he exclaimed, opening his eyes and holding up his hands apparently in utter amazement, "that would be too gladsome (_frolich_). no; i can be thankful for one dollar." content with one dollar a week, which means a perpetual diet of rye bread and potatoes. liebau and schömberg, about five miles apart, are in many respects twin towns. if liebau has not a strikingly picturesque market-place, nor a reputation for _knackwürsten_ (smoked sausage), it has a new protestant church, some good paintings in the romish church, and a _kreuzberg_, once the resort of thousands of pilgrims. the neighbouring _tartarnberg_ was, according to tradition, the site of a tartar camp in . rusty, half-decayed horseshoes and arrow-heads are still found at times upon it. after dining at the _sonne_, i bought a dessert at a stall under the arcade: the woman gave me nearly a gallon of cherries for three-halfpence, with which i started for schmiedeberg, ten miles farther. numbers of villagers were walking on the road, all the women bedecked with pink aprons, and looking healthy and happy. perhaps out of twenty or more chubby-faced children, who manifested a lively appetite for fruit, two or three will remember that they met a strange man who gave them a handful of cherries, and how that their mothers became all of a sudden eloquent with thanks, and bade them kiss their hands, and do something pretty. unluckily, by the time i had gone two miles there was an end of the cherries. the road runs between the _schmiedeberger kamm_ and the _landeshuter kamm_. the main road, which crosses the latter from schmiedeberg to landeshut, is called the prussian or silesian simplon, for it is the highest macadamized road in prussia, its summit being at an elevation of more than feet. extra horses are required to pass it; and the saying goes that millions of dollars have been paid on a stone at the top, known as the _vorspannsteine_. among rural objects you see huge barns; a tiled roof resting on tall, square pillars of brick, the intervals between which are boarded. and here and there a farm, with all the homestead enclosed by a high whitewashed wall, which has two arched entrances. the cottages are low, their roofs a combination of thatch and shingle, their shutters an exhibition of rustic art, bright red, with an ornamental wreath in the centre of the panels; and the wooden column, on which a saint stands by the wayside, displays a flowery spiral on a ground of lively green. to a man who was leaning over his gate, i said that it was very stupid to mar the effect of such artistic decorations by a slushy midden at the front door. "we don't think so: we are used to it," was his answer. now and then you meet a little low wagon, the tilt-hoops painted blue, and the harness glittering with numerous rings and small round plates of brass. in the village of buchwald the mill was at work, and the men were busy at the grindstone grinding their scythe-blades in readiness for the morrow. here we come upon the bober, grown to a lively stream, running along the edge of the far-spreading meadows on the left. about half a mile farther a wagon-track slants off to the right, making a short cut over the _kamm_ to schmiedeberg. it leads you by pleasant ways along hill-sides, across fields and meadows, into lonely vales and solitary lanes, that end on shaggy heather slopes. to me the walk was delightful, for uninterrupted sunshine, a merry breeze, and rural peace, favourable to the luxury of idle thought, lent a charm to pretty scenery. from dittersbach the road ascends the _passberg_, which, on the farther side, sends down a steep descent to schmiedeberg. the town lies in a deep valley, and is so long from one extremity of its scattered outskirts to the other that you will be nearly an hour in walking through it, while, for the most part, it is little more than one street in width. it has an ancient look, and, owing to the many gardens and bleaching-grounds among the houses, combines country with town. the _rathhaus_ is a fine specimen of tasteful architecture. from working in iron, the schmiedebergers have turned to the making of shawls and plush, and the entertainment of holiday travellers. the iron trade began in an adventure on the _riesengebirge_. two men were crossing the mountains, when one, whose shoes were thickly nailed, found himself suddenly held fast on the stony path, unable to advance or return. he shook with terror. what else could it be than a spell thrown over him by _rübezahl_? at length, by the other's assistance, he broke the spell; and the two having brought away with them the stone of detention, it was recognised as magnetic iron stone; and already, in the twelfth century, iron works were established, around which schmiedeberg grew into a town. it now numbers four thousand inhabitants. hither come tourists from far to see the mountains; and during your half hour's rest at the _schwarzes ross_, you will be amused by witnessing the eager manifestations of the newly-arrived, their exuberant gestures while bargaining with a guide, and the liberal way--the bargain once made--in which they load him with rugs, cloaks, coats, caps, bonnets, bags, bundles, umbrellas, parasols, and other travelling gear, until he carries a mountain on his own shoulders. besides the trip to _schneekoppe_, some mount to the great beech-tree and the _friesenstein_, on the _landeshuter kamm_; or visit the laboratories at krummhübel, where liqueurs, oils, and essences, are distilled and prepared from native plants: chemical operations first set on foot in by a few students of medicine who fled from prague to escape the consequences of a duel. and some go beyond krummhübel to look at wolfshau, a place in the entrance of the _melzergrund_, so shut in by wooded hills that it never sees the sun during december. and some to the village of steinseifen, where, among iron-workers and herbalists, dwell skilful wood-carvers; one of whom for a small fee exhibits a large model of the _riesengebirge_--a specimen of his own handiwork. on the left, as you leave schmiedeberg, is the ruheberg, a small castle standing in a bosky park belonging to a polish prince, where the townsfolk find pleasant walks. two miles farther, and the leafy slopes of buchwald appear on the right, embowering another castle, and a park laid out in the english style, and with such advantages of position, among which are fifty-four ponds, that it has become an elysium for the neighbourhood. once clear of the town, and the mountain-range opens on the left--rounded heights, ridges, scars, and peaks stretching away for miles on either side of the _koppe_. another hour, and turning from the main road which runs on to hirschberg, you see houses scattered about the plain, built in the alpine style, with outside stair and galleries, and broad eaves. we are in the village of erdmannsdorf--the asylum granted by the king of prussia to about a hundred tyrolese families, who, in , had to quit their native country for conscience' sake. they were protestants hated by their bigoted neighbours, and disliked by the priests; and so became exiles. nowhere else in prussia could they have seen mountains at all approaching in grandeur those which look down on their native valley, and yet they must at first have deeply mourned the difference. remembering my former year's experiences, i wished to find myself once more among the tyrolese. true enough, there they were in their picturesque costume, in striking contrast with the silesians; but there was a degenerate look about the _wirthshaus_, as if they had forgotten their original cleanliness, which repelled me, and i went on to the _schweizerhaus_, a large inn near the royal _schloss_. as usual, it was overfull, so great is the throng of visitors, and i had to try in another direction, which brought me to the _gasthof und gerichtskretscham_, where the landlord promised me a bed if i would not mind sleeping in the billiard-room. chapter xxv. schnaps and sausage -- dresdener upon berliners -- the prince's castle at fischbach -- a home for the princess royal -- is the marriage popular? -- view from the tower -- tradition of the golden donkey -- royal palace at erdmannsdorf -- a miniature chatsworth -- the zillerthal -- käse and brod -- stohnsdorf -- famous beer -- rischmann's cave -- prophecies -- warmbrunn. at fischbach, in a pleasant valley, about an hour's walk from erdmannsdorf, stands a castle belonging to prince wilhelm of prussia, which is shown to curious tourists. a dresdener, who thought it worth the trouble of the walk, asked me to accompany him next morning, and we started after an early breakfast. early as it was a party of silesian peasants were breaking their fast with _schnaps_, sausage, and rye bread. think of _schnaps_ and sausage at seven in the morning! the dresdener beguiled the way by laughing at the peculiarities of three berliners, whom we had left behind at the _gasthof_. a prussian cockney, he said, was sure to betray himself as soon as he began to talk, for nothing would satisfy him but the most exalted superlatives. "when you hear," he continued, "a man talk of a thing as gigantic-- incomprehensibly beautiful--ravishingly excellent--insignificantly scarcely visible--set him down at once as a berliner. you heard those three last night, how they went on; as we say in our country, hanging their hats on the topmost pegs. yracious yoodness! what yiyantic yabble!" and the saxon cockney laughed as heartily at his own wit as if it had been good enough for _punch_. the castle is an old possession of the knights templars, repaired and beautified. it has towers and turrets, and windows of quaint device; a small inner court, and a surrounding moat spanned by a bridge at the entrance. outside the moat are shady walks and avenues of limes, and the gardens, which did not come up to my notion of what is royal either in fruits or flowers. with plantations on the hills around, and in the park, the whole place has a pleasant bowery aspect. as we crossed the bridge, there seemed something inhospitable in the sight of two large cannon guarding the entrance; but the portress told us they were trophies from afghanistan, captured at the battle in which prince waldemar was wounded--a present from the british government. the fittings of the room are mostly of varnished pine, to which the furniture and hangings do no violence. there are a few good paintings, among them a portrait of the queen of bavaria, which you will remember for beauty above all the rest; nor will you easily forget the marble head copied from the statue of queen louisa in the mausoleum at charlottenburg. from looking at the rarities, the portress called us to hear the singing of an artificial bird, and seemed somewhat disappointed that we did not regard it as the greatest curiosity of all. "a snug little place," said the dresdener, as we walked from room to room. "not quite what your princess royal has been used to, perhaps; but she will be able to pass summer holidays here agreeably enough." and quickly the question followed: "but what do you think of the marriage in england. is it very popular?" "not very," i answered; "your prussian prince would have stood no chance had the king of sardinia only been a protestant. nothing but her wholesome ingredient of protestantism saves prussia from becoming an offence to english nostrils." "_so-o-o-o-o!_" ejaculated the dresdener, while he made pointed arches of his eyebrows. "that sounds pretty in the prince's own castle." we went to the top of the tower, and looked out on the domain, the mountain chain, and the encircling hills--among which the rocky falkenstein--the climbing test of adventurous tourists--rises conspicuous. according to tradition, great things are in store for the quiet little village of fischbach; it is destined to grow into a city. in the _kittnerberg_, a neighbouring hill, a golden donkey is some day to be found, and when found the city is forthwith to start up, and the finder to be chosen first burgomaster. erdmannsdorf, once the estate of brave old gneisenau, was bought by the former king frederick william iii., who built in a style combining moorish and gothic the _schloss_, or palace, which, with its charming grounds and bronze statues of men-at-arms at the entrance keeping perpetual guard with battle-axes, rivals the tyrolese and their houses in attracting visitors. no barriers separate the grounds from the public road, and you may walk where you please along the broad sandy paths, under tall groves, through luxuriant shrubberies, round rippling lakes, and by streams which here and there tumble over rocky dams. the place is a miniature chatsworth, with its model village. within the limits of the smooth green turf and well-kept walks stands the church, an edifice with a tall square tower in the byzantine style. the palace, too, has a tall tower, from the top of which, on our return to erdmannsdorf--that is the dresdener and i--we got a view of the royal domain, and the scattered houses of the tyrolese, and always in the background the _riesengebirge_. remembering their native valley, the tyrolese named their settlement zillerthal, and many a one comes here expecting to see a romantic valley. but all immediately beneath your eye is a great plain watered by the lomnitz--the stream which flows out of the big pond up in the mountains--cut up by fields and meadows, crowded with trees around the palace, and in the deer-park adjoining. only in ober-zillerthal, which lies nearer to the mountains, do the colonists have the pleasure of ascending or descending in their walks. the tyrolese themselves built their first house entirely of wood, after the old manner; and this served as model for all the rest, which, with stone walls for the lower story, have been erected at the king's expense. the colonists find occupation in cattle-breeding and field-work, or in the great linen factory, the tall chimney of which is seen from far across the plain; and are well cared for in means of education and religious worship. in their _friedhof_ you may see the first tyrolese grave, the resting-place of jacob egger, a blind old man of eighty-three, who died soon after the immigration. not far from the palace is a singular group of rocks named _käse und brod_ (_cheese and bread_), on the way to which you pass a stone quarry, where you can pick up fine crystals of quartz, and see men digging feldspar for the china-manufacturers at berlin. here i parted from the dresdener and took the road to warmbrunn--about six miles distant. half way, at the foot of the rocky _prudelberg_, lies the village of stohnsdorf, famed for its beer; and not without reason. but while you drink a glass, the landlord will tell you that clever folk in distant places--berlin or dresden--damage the fame by selling bottled _stohnsdorfer_ brewed from the waters of the spree or elbe. if inclined for a scramble up the _prudelberg_, take a peep into rischmann's cave among the rocks, for from thence, in , the prophet rischmann delivered his predictions with loud voice and wild gestures. he was a poor weaver, who fancied himself inspired, and, although struck dumb in , could always find speech when he had anything to foretel. woe to hirschberg was the burden of his prophecy: war, pestilence, and famine! the tower of the council-house should fall, and the stream of the zacken stand still. honour and reverence awaited the weaver, for everything came to pass as he had foretold. the thirty years' war brought pestilence and famine; the tower did fall down; and the zacken being one of those rivers with an intermittent flow, its stream was subject to periodical repose. after frequent ups and downs, you come to the brow of a hill which overlooks a broad sweep of the hirschbergerthal, and the little town of warmbrunn, chief among silesian spas--lying cheerfully where the valley spreads itself out widest towards the mountains. you will feel tempted to sit down for awhile and gaze on the view--for it has many pleasing features--touches of the romantic with the pastoral, and the town itself wearing an unsophisticated look. seume said of the hirschberg valley--"seldom finds one a more delightful corner of the earth; seldom better people." chapter xxvi. the three berliners -- strong beer -- origin of warmbrunn -- st. john the baptist's day -- count schaffgotsch -- a benefactor -- a library -- something about warmbrunn -- the baths -- healing waters -- the allée -- visitors -- russian popes -- the museum -- trophies -- view of the mountains -- the kynast -- cunigunda and her lovers -- served her right -- the two breslauers -- oblatt -- the baths in the mountains. i had gone a little way along the street when i heard voices crying, "_eng-lischmann! eng-lischmann! eng-lischmann!_" and, looking about, i saw the three berliners at the window of an hotel. "you must come up!" "you must come up!" "you must come up!" cried one after the other; so up i went. we had half an hour of yood-natured yossip about our morning's adventures, not forgetting the merits of stohnsdorf; and one of them said something about the famous beer that justified the dresdener's criticism. "isn't it yood? isn't it strong? why it is so strong that if you pour some into your hand, and hold it shut for ten minutes, you can never open it ayain!" the old story. some time in the twelfth century, duke boleslaw iv., while out hunting, struck the trail of a deer, and following it, was led to a _warmbrunn_ (warm spring), in which, as by signs appeared, the animals used to bathe. the duke bathed too, and perhaps with benefit; for near by he built a chapel, and dedicated it to the patron saint of silesia--john the baptist. the news spread, even in those days; and with it a belief that on st. john's day the healing properties of the spring were miraculously multiplied. hence, on the th of june, sick folk came from far and near to bathe in the blessed water, and some, thanks to the energy of their belief, went away cured. and this practice was continued down to the year . such was the origin of the present _marktfleck_ (market village) warmbrunn. in king wenzel sold it to gotsche schoff--stemfather, as the germans say, of count von schaffgotsch, who now rules with generous sway over the spa and estates that stretch for miles around. it was he who built the _schneegrubenhaus_; who made the path up the bohemian side of _schneekoppe_; who opens his gardens and walks to visitors, and a library of forty thousand volumes with a museum for their amusement and edification; who established a bathing-house with twenty-four beds for poor folk who cannot pay, and who spares no outlay of money or influence to improve the place and attract strangers. warmbrunn now numbers about inhabitants, who live upon the guests during the season, and the rest of the year by weaving, bleaching, stone-polishing, and wood-carving. of hotels and houses of entertainment there is no lack; the _schwarzer adler_ and _hôtel de prusse_ among the best. but as at carlsbad, nearly every house has its sign, and lets lodgings, dearest close to the baths, and cheaper as the distance increases, till in the outskirts, and they are not far off, you can get a room with attendance for two dollars a week, or less. of refectioners there is no lack in the place itself, or about the neighbourhood. there are six baths. the count's and provost's--or great and little baths--are near the middle of the village, separated by the street. these are the oldest. the water bursts up clear and sparkling from openings in coarse-grained, flesh-red granite, at a temperature of degrees fahrenheit in the great basin, and degrees in the little basin. it is soft on the palate, with a taste and odour of sulphur, and in saline and alkaline constituents resembles the waters of aix-la-chapelle and töplitz. it is efficacious in cases of gout, contractions, skin diseases, and functional complaints; in some instances with extraordinary results. i heard of patients who come to warmbrunn so crooked and crippled that they can neither sit nor stand, nor lie in a natural posture, who have to be lifted in and out of the bath, and yet, after two months' bathing, have been able to walk alone. although patients bathe a number together, the throng is so great in the hot months that many have to study a lesson in patience till their turn comes. some, to whom drinking the water is prescribed, resort to the _trinkquelle_; and in the other bathing-houses there are all the appliances for douche, showers, vapour, and friction. one room is fitted up with electrical and galvanic apparatus, to be used in particular cases. with so many visitors warmbrunn has an appearance of life and gaiety; the somewhat rustic shops put on an upstart look, or a timid show of gentility. the _allée_, a broad tree-planted avenue opening from the main street, by the side of the count's _schloss_, is the favourite promenade. here, among troops of germans, you meet poles and muscovites, some betraying their nationality by outward signs. i saw three men of very dingy complexion and sluggish movement, clad in shabby black coats, with skirts reaching to their heels, who seemed out of place among well-dressed promenaders. they were russian popes. great personages have come here at times in search of health, and on such occasions the little spa has grown vain-glorious. in the queen of john sobieski iii. came with one thousand attendants. in came prince jacob, their son, and stayed a year; and since then dignitaries without number, among the latest of whom was field-marshal count von ziethen, who took up his abode here in . there are a few paintings worth looking at in the romish church: one of them represents the rescue of a count schaffgotsch from drowning; and in the evangelical church hang two portraits, one of the present king, the other of blucher. but the museum established in the same building with the library, by the liberality of the count, is the great attraction. among the weapons you may see the scimitar which sobieski snatched with his own hand from the grand vizier's tent when he raised the siege of vienna; and near it a horsetail standard, a trophy of the same event, brought home by johann leopold von schaffgotsch, one of the count's ancestry. in other rooms are a collection of coins, of maps and charts--among them a few old globes, interesting to geographers--the lord's prayer in one hundred different languages, a model of the _riesengebirge_, and other curiosities, which, with the library, afford abundant means for instruction and amusement. then there is music twice a day in the _schloss_ garden, and the theatre is open in the evening, besides the numerous excursions to the hills and mountains around. the _allée_, about six hundred paces long, commands a striking view of the mountain chain from its farther end, where the ground falls away with gentle slope. i could see the prominent points which i had walked over a few days before; and nearer--about half an hour's walk--the kynast, that much-talked-of ruin, crowning a dark-wooded hill. it attracts visitors as much by its story as by its lofty and picturesque situation. there once lived the beautiful but stony-hearted cunigunda, who doomed many a wooer to destruction; for none could win her hand who had not first ridden his horse round the castle on the top of the wall. one after another perished; but she had vowed a vow, and would not relent. at last came one whose handsome face and noble form captivated at once the lady's heart. she would have spared him the adventure, but her vow could not be broken, and she watched with trembling heart while the stranger knight rode along the giddy height. he accomplished the task in safety; she would have thrown herself into his arms; but with a slap on her face, and a reproach for her cruelty, the landgrave albert of thuringia--for he it was, who had a wife at home--turned his horse and galloped away. while sauntering, i met the two breslauers--my companions on the descent to the _grenzbäuden_--and under their guidance explored yet more of the neighbourhood. the guard at the frontier had treated them mercifully, and after half an hour's detention in a little room up-stairs, let them go. since then they had been making the usual round of excursions: to the fall of the zacken, to the norwegian church at wang, to the annakapelle, to hirschberg, and other places--all within two or three hours' walk. two days more and they would have to return to the counting-house at breslau. near the refreshment-houses in the fields young girls followed us offering packets of _oblatt_ for sale. this is a crisp cake, of agreeable flavour, thinner and lighter than the unleavened bread of the jews, friendly to the enjoyment of a glass of beer on a hot afternoon; as we proved by eating a few packets while emptying our tankards in full view of the mountains, under an airy colonnade. on our return to the village we met the _wirth_ from _schneekoppe_, who had come down from his cloudy dwelling to bury a relative. i took the opportunity to send my compliments to father hübner, with a hint that his topographical information had not appeared to me of much more value than his man's morality. mineral springs are frequent in the mountains. flinsberg, a quiet village on the queiss, about four hours from warmbrunn, in the _isergebirge_, is resorted to by women, to whom the saline water impregnated with iron is peculiarly beneficial. one of the springs is so highly charged with carbonic acid gas that the villagers call it the _bierbrunnen_ (beer spring). and a short distance beyond flinsberg, on the bohemian side of the mountains, is liebwerda, a romantic village, where springs of health bubble up, and wallenstein's castle is within a walk. quietest of all is johannisbad, on the southern slope below _schneekoppe_, not far from marschendorf. there the fountains are lukewarm, and their influence is promoted by complete seclusion and repose. chapter xxvii. hirschberg -- the officers' tomb -- a night journey -- spiller -- greifenberg -- changing horses -- a royal reply -- a griffin's nest -- lauban -- the potato jubilee -- görlitz -- peter and paul church -- view from the tower -- the landskrone -- jacob böhme -- the hidden gold -- a theosophist's writings -- the tombs -- the underground chapel -- a church copied from jerusalem -- the public library -- loebau -- herrnhut. it was so dark when the omnibus from warmbrunn arrived at hirschberg--about five miles--that i lost the sight of its pretty environment, watered by the bober and zacken, and of its old picturesque houses, the gables of which were dimly visible against the sky. the town has more than seven thousand inhabitants, and for trade ranks next to breslau. its history is that of most towns along this side of silesia: so much suffering by war, that you wonder how they ever survived. a memorial of the latest scourge is to be seen in the hospital churchyard--a cast-iron monument in memory of three prussians, who, wounded at lützen in , died here on the same day. under their names runs the inscription: _they died in an iron time for a golden_. not being able to see anything, i booked a place by _stellwagen_ for görlitz, and supped in preparation for a night of travel. we started at eleven, a company numerous enough to fill three vehicles, those lowest on the list taking their seats in the hindmost. as these hindmost carriages are changed at every stopping-place with the horses, i and other unfortunates had to turn out at unseasonable hours, and to find, in two instances, that we had not changed for the better--soft seats and cleanliness for hard seats and fustiness. so at spiller: so at greifenberg. it adds somewhat to one's experiences to be roused from uneasy slumber at midnight with notice to alight. you feel for umbrella and knapsack, and step down into the chill gloom of a summer night; and while the leisurely work of changing goes on, stroll a little way up or down the roughly-paved street, looking at the strange old houses, all so still and lifeless, as if they were fast asleep as well as their inmates. why should you be awake and shivering when honest folk are a-bed? and you feel an inclination to envy the sleepers. if you turn a corner and get out of sight of the posthouse, the houses look still more lonely and unprotected: not a glimmer to be seen, and it seems unfair that every one should be comfortable but you. or from the outside of a house you picture to yourself those who inhabit it; or, perhaps, you get a peep into the churchyard, or venture through a dark arch to what looks like an ancient cloister, and your drowsy thought gives way to strange imaginings. but the night is chilly. let us go into the posthouse. there is comfort by the stove in the inner room, and the woman who has sat up to await our arrival brings an acceptable refreshment of coffee and cakes. steaming coffee, with the true flavour; and not sixpence a cup, but six kreutzers. then the driver blows his horn, and each one takes his allotted seat, to slumber if he can through another jolting stage. greifenberg, a town of three thousand inhabitants, on the queiss, is proud of four things: manufacture of fine linen and damask, a griffin in its coat-of-arms, and a right royal word of the great frederick. certain deputies having appeared before the monarch to thank him for his prompt and generous aid in restoring the town after a great fire in --"for that am i here!" was his kingly reply. about two miles distant is the greifenstein, a basaltic hill, so named from a nest of young griffins found on the top of it at a date which no one can remember. it is now crowned by the ruins of a castle which was given by the emperor charles iv., in the fourteenth century, as a reward for service to the brave silesian knight schaffgotsch. were it daylight we might see in the romish church a vault which has been the burial-place of the schaffgotsch family since . it was early morning when we came to lauban, and changed carriages by the side of the grass-grown moat at a break in the old round-towered wall. the view from the adjacent _steinberg_ is described as equal in beauty to any other scene in prussia. unfortunately i had not time to judge for myself; but hope to go and see some future day. perhaps, while waiting here, you will be reminded that lauban was one of the silesian towns which, on the th of august, , held a jubilee to celebrate the three hundredth anniversary of the introduction of the potato into europe by the famous circumnavigator drake--as the promoters said. of course potatoes cooked in many ways appeared plentifully at every table over half the province. we reached görlitz at eight, and for some reason, perhaps known to the driver, went through the streets in and out, up and down, across the neisse to the _postamt_ in the new quarter, at a slow walking pace. i had three hours to wait for a train, and to improve the time, after comforting myself at the _goldenen strauss_, mounted to the top of the peter and paul church tower. erected on a rocky eminence, rising steeply from the river, it commands a wide prospect. the town itself, a busy place of more than , inhabitants, closely packed, as in the olden time, around the church; spreading out beyond into broad, straight streets and squares, well-planted avenues, and pretty pleasure-grounds; and in this roomy border you see bleaching-greens, the barracks, the gymnasium, and observatory. from thence your eye wanders over the hills of lusatia to the distant mountains--a fair region, showing a thousand slopes to the sun. about two miles distant the _landskrone_ rises from the valley of the neisse--a conspicuous rocky hill bristling with trees. we got a glimpse of it from _schneekoppe_; and now you will perhaps fancy it a watch-tower, midway between the giant mountains and the romantic highlands of saxony. the sight of that hill recalls the name of the "teutonic philosopher"--jacob böhme. he was born at alt-seidenberg, about a mile from görlitz, in ; and he relates that one day when employing himself as herdboy, to relieve the monotony of shoemaking, he discovered a cool bosky crevice on the _landskrone_, and crept in for shelter from the heat of the sun. inside, to his great surprise, he saw a wooden bowl, or vase, full of money, which he feared to touch, and went presently and told certain of his playmates of the discovery. with them he returned to the hill; but though they searched and searched again, they could never find the cleft, nor the wonderful hoard. a few years later, however, there came a cunning diviner, who, exploring with his rod, discovered the money and carried it off; and soon after perished miserably, for a curse had been declared on whomsoever should touch the gold. fate had other things in store for jacob, and allured him from his last to write voluminous works on theosophy, wherein he discusses the most mysterious questions about the soul, its relations to god and the universe, and such like; and great became the poor shoemaker's repute among the learned. some travelled from far to confer with him; some translated his books into french and english; some studied german that they might read them in the original; and even isaac newton used at times to divert his mind from laborious search after the laws of gravitation by perusal of böhme's speculations. that jacob was not a dreamer on all points is clear from what he used to pen for those who begged a scrap of his writing: "_wem zeit ist wie ewigkeit, und ewigkeit wie die zeit, der ist befreit von allem streit._"[i] there is something to be seen in the church itself as well as from the top of the tower. it is a singularly beautiful specimen of gothic architecture of the fifteenth century. the great height of the nave, with the light and graceful form of the columns and arches, produce an admirable effect, to which the high altar, the carved stone pulpit, and the large organ do no violence. it is one of those buildings you could linger in for hours, contemplating now its fair proportions, now the old tombs and monuments, and quaint devices of the sculptor's art. below the floor at the eastern end is an underground chapel, a century older than the church itself, hewn out of the solid rock. preaching is held in it once a year. the attendant will make you aware in the dim light of a spring that simmers gently up and fills a basin scooped in the solid stone of the floor. the church of the holy cross in the nicolai suburb is remarkable as having been built, and with a sepulchre, after the original at jerusalem by a burgomaster of görlitz, who travelled twice to jerusalem, in and in , to procure the necessary plans and measurements for the work. there is a singularity about the sepulchre: it is always either too long or too short for any corpse that may be brought to it, and yet appears large enough for a hercules. the town possesses two good libraries, each containing about twenty thousand volumes. in the _rathsbibliothek_ you may see rare manuscripts, among them the _sachsenspiegel_; and a book which purports to have been printed before the invention of printing, bearing date ! the other library belongs to the society for the promotion of science, who have besides a good collection of maps, fossils, minerals, and philosophical instruments. perhaps here in england writers and scholars in provincial towns will some day be able to resort to libraries and museums as easily as in the small towns of germany. many an english student would be thankful to find in his native town even one such library as those at görlitz. the train from breslau kept good time. it dropped me at loebau, where there is a church in which service is performed in the wendish tongue. from hence a branch line runs to zittau. i stopped half way at herrnhut, the head-quarters of the moravians: a place i had long wished to see. footnote: [i] to whom time is as eternity, and eternity as time, he is freed from all strife. chapter xxviii. head-quarters of the moravians -- good buildings -- quiet, cleanliness, and order -- a gottesdienst -- the church -- simplicity -- the ribbons -- a requiem -- the service -- god's-field -- the tombs -- suggestive inscriptions -- tombs of the zinzendorfs -- the pavilion -- the panorama -- the herrnhuters' work -- an informing guide -- no merry voices -- the heinrichsberg -- pretty grounds -- the first tree -- an old wife's gossip -- evening service -- a contrast -- the sisters' house -- a stroll at sunset -- the night watch. i had seen the moravian colony at zeist near utrecht, and was prepared for a similar order of things at herrnhut. a short distance from the station along the high road to zittau, and you come to a well-built, quiet street, rising up a gentle ascent, where, strange sight in saxony, the footways are paved with broad stone slabs. farther on you come to a broad opening, where two other main streets run off, and here the inn, _gemeinlogis_, and the principal buildings are situate, all substantially built of brick. everywhere the same quietness, neatness, and cleanliness, the same good paving, set off in places by rows and groups of trees, and hornbeam hedges. the innkeeper--or steward as he may be called, for he is a paid servant of the brotherhood--told me there would be a _gottesdienst_ (god's service) at three o'clock, and suggested my occupying the interval with the newspapers that lay on the table. there was the _görlitzer anzeiger_, published three times a week, sunday, tuesday, and thursday, four good quarto pages, for fifteen pence a quarter; and equally cheap the _zittauische wochentliche nachrichten_. but i preferred a stroll through the village and into the spacious gardens, which, teeming with fruit, flowers, and vegetables, stretch away to the south, and unite with the pleasure-walks in the bordering wood. at three i went to the church. outside no pains have been taken to give it an ecclesiastical look; inside it contains a spacious hall, large enough to contain the whole community, with a gallery at each end, and on the floor two divisions of open seats made of unpainted fir placed opposite a dais along the wall. whatever is painted is white--white walls, white panelling, white curtains to the windows, and a white organ. something quaker-like in appearance and arrangement. but when a number of women came in together wearing coloured cap-ribbons, passing broad and full under the chin, a lively contrast was opposed to the prevailing sobriety of aspect. the colours denote age and condition. the unmarried sisters put on cherry-red at sixteen, and change it after eighteen for pink. the married wear dark blue, and the widows white. many a pretty, beaming face was there among them, yet sedate withal. the choir assembled on each side of a piano placed in the opening between the benches, for the organ was undergoing a course of repair. no practical jokes among them, as in the cathedral on the hradschin; but all sedate too. presently came in from the door on the left five dignified-looking sisters, and took their seats on one half of the dais; then seven brethren, among whom a bishop or two, from the door on the right, to the other half; and their leader, a tall man of handsome, intelligent countenance, to the central seat at the desk. the service was in commemoration of a sister whom in the morning the congregation had followed to her resting-place in the _gottesacker_ (god's acre). the choir stood up, all besides remaining seated, and sang a requiem, and sang it well; for the moravians, wiser than the quakers, do not cheat their hearts and souls of music. a hymn followed, in which the whole assembly joined, the several voices according to their part, till one great solemn harmony filled the building. then the preacher at the desk, still sitting, began an exhortation, in which a testimony concerning the deceased was interwoven with simple gospel truth. his word and manner were alike impressive; no passion, no whining. rarely have i heard such ready, graceful eloquence, combined with a clear and ringing voice. he ended suddenly: a hymn was sung, at the last two lines of which every one stood up, and with a few words of prayer the service was closed. it had lasted an hour. the congregation, which numbered about three hundred, dispersed quietly, the children walking as sedately as their parents. all the roads leading out of herrnhut are pleasant avenues of trees--limes, oaks, beech, and birch. a short distance along the one leading to berthelsdorf you come to a wooden arch bearing the inscription, "christ is risen from the dead." it is the entrance to _god's field_; and if you turn on entering, you will see written on the inside of the arch, "and become the firstling of them that slept." the ground slopes gently upwards to the brow of the _hutberg_, divided into square compartments by broad paths and clipped limes. within these compartments are the graves; no mounds; nothing but rows of thick stone slabs, each about two feet in length, by one and a half in width, lying on the grass. all alike; no one honoured above the rest, except in some instances by a brief phrase in addition to the name, age, and birthplace. the first at the corner has been renewed, that a record of an interesting incident in the history of the place may not be lost. the inscription reads: _christian david, the lord's servant, born the st december, , at senftleben in moravia. went home the rd february, _. _a carpenter: he felled the first tree for the building of herrnhut, the th june, ._ _went home_ and _fell asleep_ are favourite expressions occurring on many of the stones. _a member of the conference of elders_ is a frequent memorial on the oldest slabs, numbers of which are blackened, and spotted with moss by age. there are two counts and not a few bishops among the departed, but the same plain slab suffices for all. the separation of the sexes is preserved even after death, some of the compartments being reserved exclusively for women. as you read the names of birthplaces, in lands remote, from all parts of europe and oversea, the west indies and labrador, you will perhaps think that weary pilgrims have journeyed from far to find rest for their souls in peaceful herrnhut. there is, however, one marked exception to the rule of uniformity as regards the slabs. it is in favour of count zinzendorf and his wife and immediate relatives--a family deservedly held in high respect by the brethren. eight monumental tombs, placed side by side across the central path, perpetuate the names of the noble benefactors. of the count himself it is recorded: _he was appointed to bear fruit, and a fruit that yet remains_. on the summit of the hill, beyond the hedge of the burial-ground, a wooden pavilion is built with a circular gallery, from whence you get a fine panoramic view of the surrounding country. the innkeeper had given me the key, and i loitered away an hour looking out on the prospect. now you see the _gottesacker_, with its fifteen formal clipped squares, some yet untenanted, and room for enlargement; the red roofs and white walls of the village; and beyond, the fir-topped _heinrichsberg_, and planted slopes which beautify the farther end of the place. berthelsdorf, the seat of the _unität_, stands pleasantly embowered at the foot of the eastern slope. you see miles of road, two or three windmills, and umbrageous green lines thinning off in the distance, the trees all planted by the herrnhuters; and the fields, orchards, and plantations that fill all the space between, testify to the diligent husbandry of the brethren. every place and prominent object within sight is indicated by a red line notched into the top rail of the balustrade, so that, while sauntering slowly round, you can read the name of any spire or distant peak that catches your eye. the summits are numerous, for hills rise on every side; among them you discover the landskrone by görlitz, and the crown of the _tafelfichte_ in the _isergebirge_, the only one of the mountains within sight. it is a view that will give you a cheerful impression of saxony. the doorkeeper of the church had noticed a stranger, and came up for a talk. i asked him how much of what lay beneath our eyes belonged to the brethren. "about two hundred acres," he answered, pointing all round, and to an isolated estate away in the direction of zittau; "enough for comfort and prosperity." once started, he proved himself no niggard of information. to give the substance of his words: "i like the place very well," he said, "and don't know of any discontent; though we have at times to lament that a brother falls away from us back into the worldly ways. each fulfils his duty. we are none of us idle. we have weavers, shoemakers, harness-makers, coppersmiths, goldsmiths, workers in iron, lithographers, and artists; indeed, all useful trades; and our workmanship and manufactures are held in good repute. i am a cabinet-maker, and keep eight journeymen always at work. each one from the age of eighteen to sixty takes his turn in the night-watch; and, night and day, the place is always as quiet as you see it now. you don't hear the voices of children at play, because children are never left to themselves. whether playing or walking, they are always under the eye of an adult, as when in school. we do not think it right to leave them unwatched. we have service three times every sunday, and at seven o'clock every evening; besides certain festivals, and a memorial service like that of this afternoon. the preacher you heard is considered a good one: his salary is four hundred dollars a year." he interrupted his talk by an invitation to go and see the grounds of the _heinrichsberg_. as we walked along the street, i could not fail again to remark the absence of sounds which generally inspire pleasure. no merry laughter, accompanied by hearty shouts and quick foot-tramp of boys at play. no running hither and thither at hide-and-seek; no trundling of hoops; no laughing girls with battledore and shuttlecock. i saw but two children, apparently brother and sister, and they were walking as soberly as bishops. i should like to know whether such a repressive system does really answer the purpose intended; for i could not help questioning, in goldsmith's words, whether the virtue that requires so constant a guard be worth the expense of the sentinel. the _heinrichsberg_ is behind the _bruderhaus_ and the street leading to zittau. here the fir forest, which once covered the whole hill, has been cut down, and replaced by plantations of beech, birch, hazel, and other leafy trees, and paths are led in many directions along the precipitous slopes, by which you approach a pavilion erected on the commanding point, as at the _gottesacker_. the situation is romantic, overhanging the brown cliffs of a stone quarry, with a view into a deep wooded valley, spanned by the lofty railway viaduct. here the brethren have shown themselves wise in their generation, and, working with skilful hand, and eye of taste, have made the most of natural resources, and fashioned a resort especially delightful in the sultry days of summer. when my communicative guide left me to attend to his duties, i strolled up the zittau road to the place where, in a small opening by the wayside, stands a square stone monument, on which an inscription records an interesting historical incident: _on the th june, , was on this place for the building of herrnhut the first tree felled._ ps. lxxxiv. . it was cool there in the shade; and sitting down on a seat overhung by the trees, i fell into a reverie about things that had befallen since christian david's axe wrought here to such good purpose. at that time all was dreary forest; no house nearer than berthelsdorf, and little could the poverty-stricken refugees have foreseen such a result of their struggle as herrnhut in its present condition. all at once i was interrupted by an elderly woman, who, returning to her village, sought a rest on the plinth of the monument, and proved herself singularly talkative. perhaps she owed the brethren a grudge, for she wound up with: "nice people, them, sir, in herrnhut; but they know how to get the money, sir." about two hundred persons, mostly youthful, were present at the evening service. the dais was occupied as before, but by a lesser number. the preacher, the same eloquent man, gave an exposition of a portion of the _epistle to the romans_, elucidating the apostle's meaning in obscure passages, which lasted half an hour. he then pronounced a brief benediction, and delivered the first line of a hymn, which was sung by all present, and, as in the afternoon, only at the last two lines did any one stand up. i was deeply impressed by the contrast between the two services here in the unadorned edifice, and what i witnessed at prague. here no ancient prejudice, or ancient dirt, or slovenly ritual, as in the synagogue; but the outpouring of hope and faith from devout and cheerful hearts. here no showy ceremonial; no swinging of censers, or kissing of pictures, or endless bowings and kneelings, or any of those mechanical observances in which the worshipper too often forgets that it has been given to him to be his own priest, and with full and solemn responsibility for neglect of duty. the service over, i went and asked permission to look over the sisters' house: i had seen the brothers' house at zeist. it was past the hour for the admission of strangers; but the stewardess, as a special favour, conducted me from floor to floor, where long passages give access on either side to small sitting-rooms, workrooms, and one great bedroom; all scrupulously clean and comfortably furnished. the walls are white; but any sister is at liberty to have her own room papered at her own cost. i saw the chapel in which the inmates assemble for morning and evening thanksgiving;--the refectory where they all eat together;--the kitchen, pervaded by a savoury smell of supper;--and the ware-room in which are kept the gloves, caps, cuffs, and all sorts of devices in needlework produced by the diligent fingers of the sisters. there were some neither too bulky nor too heavy for my knapsack, and of these i bought a few for sedate friends in england. the unmarried sisters, as the unmarried brothers, dwell in a house apart; and as they eat together, and purchase all articles of consumption in gross, the cost to each is but small. two persons are placed in authority over each house; one to care for the spiritual, the other for the economical welfare of the inmates. there are, besides, separate houses for widowers and widows. as the sun went down i strolled once more to the _gottesacker_ and dreamt away a twilight hour on the gallery of the pavilion. as the golden radiance vanished from off the face of the landscape, and the stillness became yet more profound, i thought that many a heart weary of battling with the world might find in the _work and worship_ of herrnhut a relief from despair, and a new ground for hopefulness. when i went back to the inn i found half a dozen grave-looking brethren smoking a quiet pipe over a tankard of beer. we had some genial talk together while i ate my supper; but as ten o'clock approached they all withdrew. the doors were then fastened; and not a sound disturbed the stillness of the night. the watchers began their nightly duty; but they utter no cry as they go their rounds, leading a fierce dog by a thong, while three or four other dogs run at liberty. should their aid be required in any house from sickness or other causes, a signal is given by candles placed in the window. chapter xxix. about herrnhut -- persecutions in moravia -- a wandering carpenter -- good tidings -- fugitives -- squatters on the hutberg -- count zinzendorf's steward -- the first tree -- the first house -- scoffers -- origin of the name -- more fugitives -- foundation of the union -- struggles and encouragements -- buildings -- social regulations -- growth of trade -- war and visitors -- dürninger's enterprise -- population -- schools -- settlements -- missions -- life at herrnhut -- recreations -- festivals -- incidents of war -- march of troops -- praise and thank-feasts. while i sat by the monument of the first tree, and lingered in the glow of sunset at the pavilion, a desire came upon me to know something more of the history of herrnhut. i partly gratify it in the present chapter. when the sanguinary hussite wars ended in the triumph of the jesuits, there remained in bohemia and moravia numbers of godly-minded protestants, who, as the oppressor grew in strength, were forbidden the free exercise of their religion. they worshipped by stealth, hiding in caves and thickets, and suffered frightful persecution; but remained steadfast, and formed a union among themselves for mutual succour, and became the united brethren. their chief settlements were at fulnek, in moravia, and lititz, in bohemia. though professing the principles of the earliest christian church, many of them embraced the doctrines of luther and calvin, whereby they subjected themselves to aggravated persecutions; and cruelly were they smitten by the calamities of the thirty years' war. about a roman catholic carpenter set out from the little moravian village, senftleben, to fulfil his three "wander-years," and gain experience in his trade. while working at berlin, he frequented the evangelical lutheran church; and afterwards at görlitz the impression made on his mind by a lutheran preacher was such that he went back to his home a protestant. he was a bringer of good tidings to some of his relatives who were among the persecuted. he could tell them of a kingdom beyond the frontier where they might worship unmolested; of a youthful count zinzendorf, who had large estates in the hill-country of saxony, and was already known as a benefactor to such as suffered for conscience' sake. it was on whit-monday, , that christian david--so the carpenter was named--brought the news. three days later, two families, numbering ten persons, abandoned their homes, and under david's guidance came safely to görlitz, after a nine days' journey. on the th of june the four men travelled to hennersdorf, the residence of zinzendorf's grandmother, who placed them under charge of the land-steward, with instructions that houses should be built for them. but as the steward wrote to his master, "the good people seek for the present a place only under which they may creep with wife and children, until houses be set up." after much consideration, it was resolved to build on the _hutberg_, a hill traversed by the road from loebau to zittau--then a miserable track, in which vehicles sank to their axles. "god will help," replied the steward to one of his friends, who doubted the finding of water on the spot; and on the two following mornings he rose before the sun and went upon the hill to observe the mists. what he saw led him to believe in the existence of a spring; whereupon he took courage, and, as he tells the count, "i laid the miseries and desires of these people before the lord with hot tears, and besought him that his hand might be with me, and prevent wherein my intentions were unpleasing to him. further i said, on this place will i build the first house for them in thy name." a temporary residence was found for the fugitives; the benevolent grandmother gave a cow that the children might have milk; and on june th, as already mentioned, the first tree was felled by christian david. on the th of august the house was erected; the preacher at berthelsdorf took occasion to refer to it as "a light set on the hill to enlighten the whole land;" and in october it was taken possession of with prayer and thanksgiving, the exiles singing from their hearts-- "jerusalem! god's city thou." the steward, writing about this time to inform the count of his proceedings, says: "may god bless the work according to his goodness, and procure that your excellency may build on the hill called the _hutberg_ a city which not only may stand under the _herrn hut_ (lord's protection), but all dwellers upon the _lord's watch_, so that day and night there be no silence among them." here we have the origin of the name of the place. meanwhile, the neighbourhood laughed and joked about the building of a house in so lonely a spot, where it must soon perish; and still more when the digging for the spring was commenced. the land-steward had much ado to keep the labourers to their work. fourteen days did they dig in vain; but in the third week they came to moist gravel, and soon water streamed forth in superabundance. on december st the count arrived with his newly-married wife, and was surprised at sight of a house in a place which he had left a forest. he went in; spoke words of comfort to the inmates, and falling on his knees, prayed earnestly for protection. in the next year, christian david journeyed twice into moravia. the priests, angered at the departure of the first party, had worried their relatives, and forbade them to emigrate under penalty of imprisonment. would not let them live in peace at home, nor let them go. aided, however, by the messenger, twenty-six persons forsook their little possessions, their all, and stole away by night. "goods left behind," says the historian, "but faith in their father in the heart." they reached the asylum, where, by the spring of , five new houses were ready to receive them. in this year came other fugitives, experienced in the church discipline of the old moravian brethren; and as the number yet increased, they besought the count to institute the same constitution and discipline in herrnhut. but differences of opinion arose, and for three years the harmony and permanence of the colony were seriously endangered. the count, however, was not a man to shrink from a good work; he was remarkable for his power of influencing minds; and on the th of may, , after a three hours' discourse, he succeeded in reconciling all differences, and the reformed evangelical united brotherhood of the augsburg confession was established. this day, as well as the th of august of the same year, when the whole community renewed and confirmed their union in the church at berthelsdorf, are days never to be forgotten by the brethren. the success of herrnhut was now secure. the number of residents had increased to three hundred, of whom one half were fugitives from moravia. but they had still to endure privation; for they had abandoned all their worldly substance, and trade and tillage advanced but slowly: in the first six months, all that the two cutlers took from the passers-by was but two groschen: a lean twopence. friedrich von watteville, however, a much-beloved friend of the count's, took a room in one of the houses that he might live among the struggling people, and help them in their endeavours. of the thirty-four small wooden houses which then stood on both sides of the zittau road not one now remains. in their place large and handsome houses of brick have risen, which, though the place be but a village, give it the appearance of a city. besides those which have been mentioned, there are the _herrschaftshaus_, the _vogtshof_--a somewhat palatial edifice--the _gemeinhaus_, the _apotheke_, the _pilgerhaus_, and others. an ample supply of water is brought in by wooden pipes, and two engines and eight cisterns in different quarters are always ready against fire. there are covered stalls for the sale of meat and vegetables; a common wash-house and wood-yard, and a dead-house, all under the charge and inspection of a _platzaufseher_--an overseer who most undoubtedly does his duty. if ædiles in other places would only take a lesson from him, their constituents would have reason to be proud and grateful. an almoner is appointed to succour indigent strangers. in he relieved tramping journeymen. year by year the herrnhuters improved in circumstances, though often at hard strife with penury. however, they preferred hunger, with freedom of conscience, to the tender mercies of the jesuits at olmutz. the weavers of bernstadt sent them wool to spin. in an order for shoes for the army was regarded as a special favour of providence. the seven years' war, that brought misery to so many places, worked favourably for herrnhut. in one day a hundred officers visited the place. prince henry of prussia came and made large purchases, for the work of the shoemakers and tailors, not being made merely to sell, was much prized; and it sometimes happened that from to dollars were taken in one day. austrians and prussians--fierce foes--rode in alternately to buy; and while herrnhut flourished, many erroneous notions which had prevailed concerning it were removed by what the visitors saw of the simple life and manners of the brethren. to abraham dürninger, who established a manufacture of linen cloths, and whose skill and enterprise as a merchant were only matched by his ceaseless activity, the colony owed the mainstay of its commercial prosperity. brother dürninger's linen and woven goods were largely exported, particularly to spain, south america, and the west indies, and esteemed above all others in the market for the excellence of their quality. the trade has since fallen off, but not the reputation, as gold and silver medals awarded to the herrnhuters by the governments of prussia and saxony for honest workmanship amply testify. in , notwithstanding that many colonies and missions had been sent out, the population numbered . this was the highest. the number remained stationary until the end of the century; since then it has slowly decreased, owing, as is said, to the decline of trade. in it was . no new buildings have been erected since , so that herrnhut has the appearance of a place completely finished. the streets were paved, and flagged footways laid down, eighty years ago; and since all the roads leading from the village have been planted and kept in good condition. well-managed elementary schools supply all that is needful for ordinary education. pupils who exhibit capabilities for higher training are sent to the _pedagogium_ at nisky, a village built by bohemian refugees near görlitz. theological students are trained at the seminary in gnadenfeld, in the principality of oppeln; and those for the missions at klein welke, a village near budissin, established as a dwelling-place for converts from among the wends. fifty-seven moravian settlements and societies in different parts of the continent of europe--russia, sweden, holland, germany, some founded by emigrants from herrnhut, and all taking it for their pattern, mark the growth of the principles advocated by the brethren. in england they have eleven settlements, among which fulneck, in yorkshire, renews the name of the old moravian village; and ockbrook, in derbyshire, is the seat of the conference which directs the affairs of the british settlements, but always with responsibility to the conference of elders at berthelsdorf. scotland has one community--at ayr; and ireland seven. at the last reckoning, in , the number of real members, exclusive of the societies, was , . besides these, there are seventy foreign mission-stations, the duties of which are fulfilled by brethren. the number of persons belonging to the several missions is , . that in north america was commenced in ; greenland, ; labrador, . the others are in the west indies, musquito territory, surinam, south africa, and australia. at the instance of dr. gutzlaff, who visited herrnhut in , two missionaries have been sent to mongolia.[j] although life at herrnhut may appear tame and joyless to an ordinary observer, it is not so to the herrnhuters. a lasting source of pleasure to them are the cheerful situation of the place itself, and the delightful walks fashioned and planted by their own hands. lectures, the study of foreign languages, and of natural history, and music, are among their permanent recreations. they excel in harmony, and find, as their celebrations partake more or less of a religious character, in the singing of oratorios, choruses, and hymns, an animating and elevating resource. they observe the anniversary of the foundation of herrnhut, and of all other important incidents of its history, and thus have numerous festival days. in some instances, instrumental music, decorations of fir-branches, and an illumination, heighten the effect. betrothals are times of gladness; baptism and marriage of solemn joy. weddings always take place in the evening; and in the evening also are held, once in four weeks, the celebrations of the lord's supper. on these occasions the whole community are present. three or four brothers who have received ordination, wearing white gowns, break the thin cakes of unleavened bread and distribute to the assembly, and when the last is served all eat together. the cup is then blessed and passed in order from seat to seat. on certain festive occasions love-feasts are held, after the manner of the _agapæ_ of the earliest christian churches. at these gatherings, which are intended to show the family ties which unite the members of the community with the spiritual head of the church, suitable discourse is held, hymns are sung; and cakes and tea--with at times wine and coffee--are partaken of. the easter-morning celebration is especially remarkable. on that morning the whole brotherhood assemble before sunrise in the church, should the weather prove unfavourable; if fine, in the open air. then they walk two by two, the trumpets sounding before them, to the hill of the _gottesacker_, to watch from thence the rising of the sun. arrived on the height, they form into a great square: the prayers and praises of the easter-morning liturgy are then prayed and sung; meanwhile the sun appears above the dim and distant horizon; a spectacle in which the beholders see a foretoken of that glorious resurrection where, in the words of a brother, "the grave is not, nor death." then the names of those who died during the past year are read, and with affectionate remembrances of them the celebration closes. the service on new year's eve is so numerously attended from all the neighbourhood round, that the church will hardly contain the throng. at half-past eleven a discourse is begun, in which the events of the year about to close are passed in review, with other subjects appropriate to the time, until, as the clock strikes twelve, the trumpet choir sound hail! to the new year. then the verse "now all give thanks to god" is sung, and with a prayer the service ends. burials are characterized by a simplicity worthy of all imitation; in striking contrast to the vain and oft-times ludicrous proceedings, by which folk in some other places think they do honour to the dead. the brethren assemble--wearing no kind of mourning except in their hearts--in the church, where a short discourse is delivered, and a narrative of the deceased's life is read. the procession is then formed, preceded by the trumpet-band, who blow sacred melodies; and the corpse is carried on a bright-coloured bier, covered with a striped pall, by four brothers, dressed in their usual clothes. the nearest relatives follow, and behind them the community, according to kin. they form a circle round the grave and sing a hymn, accompanied by the trumpets, during which the coffin is lowered. the burial service is then read, and the simple rite concludes with a benediction. not least interesting among the annals of herrnhut are incidents arising out of the wars which have afflicted germany since the place was founded. all day the brethren heard the roar of cannon when frederick won his great victory at lowositz; and a few days later, forty-eight of them had to keep watch against an apprehended foray of trenck's wild pandours. in , general zastrow quartered suddenly four thousand men upon them spitefully, and in defiance of a royal order to the contrary, keeping the peaceful folk in alarm all night; but the troops were withdrawn in the morning, and an indemnity was paid for the mischief they had committed. at times, long trains of men, horses, and artillery would pass through without intermission for a whole day--now prussians, now austrians, now heathen croats. in the same year three thousand officers visited the place, among whom, during three weeks of the summer, were thirty-four princes, seventy-eight counts, and one hundred and forty-six nobles of other degree. numbers of them attended the religious services of the brethren. the abbé victor was one of the visitors, and on his return to russia he said so much in praise of the herrnhuters, that the emperor gave him permission to establish the colony of sarepta in southern russia, which still exists. in came the emperor joseph ii., and by his pleasing manners and friendly inquiries made a "lasting impression" on the minds of the brethren. in october, , francis i.--the franzl of the tyrolese--with his wife. in , gustaf adolf iv. of sweden, who expressed a wish to become a member. in the emperor alexander came as a visitor, and examined all things carefully; and it is recorded of him that while the children sang he stood among them bareheaded. he was followed by three of the famous marshals--kellermann, victor, and macdonald. this was a terrible year. with the retreat from moscow came train on train of wounded saxons on the way to dresden. requisition on requisition was made for linen and provisions; and one day, when no more wagons were left, the brethren had to supply two hundred wheelbarrow-loads of rations. night after night they saw the lurid glow of fires, for seventy-one places were burnt in the circles of bautzen and görlitz. then came cossacks, calmucks, and squadrons of savage bashkirs, armed with bows and arrows. then poniatowsky with his poles, and saxon uhlans; and a review was held in a meadow behind the _schwesternhaus_, and the sisters made hundreds of little pennons for the polish lances. in august, napoleon was at zittau. daily skirmishes took place among prussians, poles, and russians, for possession of the _hutberg_--the best look-out for miles around. in september, blucher came with gneisenau and prince wilhelm, and had the prussian head-quarters here for five days. on the whole, herrnhut suffered but little in comparison with other places; yet the brethren were not slow to rejoice for the evacuation of germany by the enemy, and the restoration of peace. "praise and thank-feasts" were held, with illuminations and fireworks; some of the fires being green and white, to represent the national colours of saxony. footnote: [j] according to the report for , the latest i have been able to get, the contributions received for missions in that year amounted to , dollars; the expenditure to , dollars. chapter xxx. a word with the reader -- from herrnhut to dresden -- a gloomy city -- the summer theatre -- trip to the saxon switzerland -- wehlen -- uttewalde grund -- the bastei -- hochstein -- the devil's kettle -- the wolfschlucht -- the polenzthal -- schandau -- the kuhstall -- great winterberg -- the prebischthor -- herniskretschen -- return to dresden -- to berlin -- english and german railways -- the royal marriage question -- speaking english -- a dreary city -- sunday in berlin -- kroll's garden -- magdeburg -- wittenberg -- hamburg -- a-top of st. michael's -- a walk to altona -- a ride to horn -- a north sea voyage -- narrow escape -- harness and holidays. i fear, good-natured reader, that you will find this chapter too much like a catalogue. i am, however, admonished by the number of my pages that a swift conclusion is desirable. moreover, my publisher--an amiable man in most respects--is apt to be dogmatic on questions of paper and print, fancying that he knows best, so i have no alternative but to humour him; and, after all, you will perhaps say that it is well to get over the ground as fast as possible when one comes again upon much-beaten tracks. from herrnhut i travelled by rail to dresden--pianopolis as some residents call it. taken as a whole, it is a singularly heavy-looking and gloomy city: some of the principal streets reminded me of back-streets in oxford. i saw the picture-gallery and the great library; and desirous to see what our forefathers used to see at the globe--a play acted by daylight in a roofless play-house--i went to the summer theatre in the _grossen garten_. it is an agreeable pastime in fine weather, for you can see green tree-tops all round above the walls, and feel the breeze, and enjoy your tankard of _waldschloess_-- that excellent dresden beer--while looking at the performance. a clever actress from berlin made her first appearance; she played in the two pieces, and by her vivacity made amends for the miserable music, which was unworthy of pianopolis, and of the leader's intense laboriousness in beating time. i should like to take you with me in my walk through the saxon switzerland; but can only glance thereat for reasons already shown. if you have read sir john forbes's picturesque description of that romantic country published last year in his _sight-seeing in germany_, you will not want another. i may, however, tell you, that you may visit all the most remarkable places in two days. leave dresden by steamer at six in the morning; disembark at wehlen, walk from thence through the _uttewalde grund_ to the _bastei_, where, from the summit of a bastion rock springing from the elbe, you have a magnificent view, with enough of water in it. you will see numerous specimens of those flat-topped hills, resembling the bases of mighty columns, such as we saw from the _milleschauer_, and crag on crag, ridge on ridge, the gray stone shaded by forest for miles around. you will perceive adersbach on a great scale; the same sort of sandstone split up in all directions, but the precipitous masses wide apart, isolated, and with glens and vales between all, glad with foliage and running water, instead of crevices and alleys. from the _bastei_ you plunge down the zigzags among the crags to the _amselgrund_, past the waterfall, and by wild ways to the _teufelsbruch_ and the _hochstein_, an isolated crag, from which you look down into the devil's kettle, feet deep. then down through the _wolfschlucht_, a crevice in the cliff, which, where you descend by ladders, looks very much like a wolf's-gully. it brings you into the _polenzthal_, where on the grassy margin of a trout stream, beneath the shade of birches, precipitous cliffs towering high aloft, something grand and beautiful at every bend, you will believe it the loveliest scene of all. then up the _brand_--another out-look, and from thence down to schandau, where you pass the night. on the second day, walk up the _kirnitschthal_ to the _kuhstall_, a broad arch in a honeycombed rock on the top of a hill; from thence to the little winterberg and great winterberg, the latter more than feet high--the highest point of the district, commanding a grand prospect over hill and hollow, crag and forest. while gazing around in admiration, you will perhaps wish that the old name--meissner highlands--had not been changed, for there is but little of the real switzerland in the view. then on to the _prebischthor_, crossing the frontier on the way into bohemia at a lonely spot, uninfested as yet by guards or barrier. the _prebischthor_ is a huge arch, more than a hundred feet high, also on a hill-top, feet above the sea. two mighty columns support a massive block, a hundred feet in length, forming a marvellous specimen of natural architecture. you can walk under and around its base, and look at the landscape through the opening, or mount to the summit and look down sheer eight hundred feet into the _prebischgrund_. here, as everywhere else, you find an inn, good beer, and musicians, a throng of tourists, and an album filled with names, and rhyming attempts at wit and sentiment. from the _prebischthor_ you descend by the valley of the kamnitz to herniskretschen, a village built on a narrow level between tall frowning cliffs and the elbe. i arrived here in time for the steamer at two o'clock, by which i returned to dresden. i had seen the saxon switzerland from all the best points of view, and saw all the romantic course of the river, except the eight miles from tetschen to herniskretschen. a pleasanter two days' trip could not well be imagined. once at wehlen, the places to be visited are but from three to four miles apart; the way from one to the other is easy to find, and there is constant diversity of scenery, to say nothing of the talkative groups of germans with whom you may join fellowship. but, in truth, it is a region to loiter in, and you will wish that weeks were yours instead of scanty days. soon after noon of the next day i was in berlin. travel the same route, and you will no longer wonder at the rapturous excitement of the germans in the _riesengebirge_. the country is one great plain--little fields, marshes, sluggish streams, ponds covered with water-lilies, windmills and sandy wastes sprinkled with a few trees that look miserable at having to grow in such a dreary land. here and there a winding road--a mere deep-rutted track--winds across the landscape, making it look, if possible, still more melancholy. look out when you will, you see the same monotonous features. in our own happy country you would have the additional sorrow of an uncomfortable carriage. to know what outrageous inflictions can be perpetrated by railway monopoly, and endured by your long-suffering countrymen, just ride for once from london to lowestofft in an eastern counties third-class carriage--you will have more than enough of north german scenery and of english discomfort, but without the compensations of german beer and german coffee. or vary your experiences by a journey to winchester in a second-class on the south-western line, and try to enjoy the landscape through the wooden shutter which the company give you for a window. go to euston-square--anywhere in fact--and you find that the passenger with most money in his pocket is the one most cared for. even the great western and south-eastern companies, who have outgrown the short-sighted habit of building dungeons and calling them carriages--even these mighty monopolists condemn their second-class passengers to a wooden seat. but on the line from dresden to berlin the third-class carriages are far more commodious than any second-class i have ever seen in england--except two or three at the great exhibition, which, perhaps, were meant only for show. the seats are broad, hollowed, and not flat, and with space enough between for the comfortable placing of your legs. the roof is lofty. you can stand upright with your hat on. at either end a broad shelf is fixed for small packages and light luggage; and more than all, the same civility and attention are extended by all the functionaries to third-class passengers as to the first. we brag of our liberty, and not without reason; but let us remember that the foreigner, though afflicted with passports, travels at less cost and with more comfort than we do. here, too, my fellow-passengers made merry over the "_palmerston gehänget_" story; and many questions had i to answer concerning the coming marriage of the prussian prince and english princess. i gave the same reply as to the dresdener in the palace at fischbach. one of the company, who told us he was a professor of literature at berlin, inclined to be saucy. it was all a mistake to suppose that there was one jot more liberty in england than in prussia. he could speak english, and knew all about it. unluckily, by way of proving how well he could speak english, he said we should arrive at "twelve past half;" whereupon i set the others laughing to take the conceit out of him. he relapsed into german, and looked so unhappy, that, by way of consolation, i told him of a countryman of his in england who went to keep an appointment at "clock five." berlin is a dreary, malodorous city, or rather an enormous village beginning to try to be a city; and fortunate in being the residence of men of taste and real artists who know what architecture and sculpture ought to be, as demonstrated by the improvements and embellishments around the palace and in the approach to that fine street _unter den linden_. you can hire a droschky to take you anywhere within the walls for fivepence; but be patient, for whether droschky or omnibus, the pace is as slow as if the drivers had to work for nothing. _pour le roi de prusse_, as the french say. many a portrait of the english princess royal, along with that of her future consort, did i see in the print-sellers' windows; and on the morrow i saw how the berliners pass their sunday: not with shops open all the day as in paris, but with much beer, music, and tobacco in the environs. i was simple enough to walk out to the zoological garden--a few pens very widely scattered in a neglected forest plantation, containing specimens of swine, poultry, goats, and kine, all made as much of as if they were in little pedlington. from thence i walked out to charlottenburg, notwithstanding the offensive drains which border the road the whole distance, and saw the tasteful mausoleum in the palace grounds, and the lazy carp in the big pond. the opera house was open in the evening with _satanella_, a "fantastic ballet," in three acts; and crowds made their way out to kroll's garden--the cremorne of berlin--where a play was acted in the theatre, and two orchestras outside kept up a constant succession of lively music: one striking up as the other ended. the number of tall people among the throng was remarkable, and not less so the rapidity with which beer and coffee, cakes and cutlets, were consumed. the numerous troop of waiters had not an idle moment. i wished to see the place where the most terrible tragedy of the thirty years' war had been acted--where tilly and pappenheim-- bloodthirsty and ferocious--sacked a flourishing city just as the foremost of the swedish horse, commanded by gustavus the avenger, came within sight of its walls. so i journeyed to magdeburg: always the same great plain on either side; but hereabouts fertile, and among the best of the corn-land of europe. the early train travels quickly: it accomplished the distance in a little more than three hours. i went directly to the cathedral, and, after a view of its noble interior, mounted to the gallery, which runs all round the top without a break. i stayed up there two hours pacing slowly round, surveying the busy town, the bustle of boats and barges on the elbe, the citadel, the long line of fortification, and thinking over the history of the terrible siege. besides the cathedral, the town contains but little to repay an exploration, and the people generally have a shabby look, as i proved by experiment, so i walked up the river bank to one of the suburban pleasure-gardens till the hour of departure approached. at five in the afternoon--away by train for hamburg. always the same great plain, heaved here and there into gentle swells. we slept at wittenberg, and were off again the next morning long before the dew was dry. the plain abates somewhat of its monotony in mecklenburg, and breaks into low hills with green valleys and pleasant woods between; and here, instead of groschen and dollars, we found schillings and marks--schillings worth a penny apiece. shortly before eleven our long journey ended. i went to the steam-boat office; took a place for london; asked one of the clerks which was the tallest church in hamburg; left my knapsack under his desk, and made my way through the maze of picturesque old streets to st. michael's. the tower is feet in height, and you have to mount hundreds of stairs, the last flight, quite open to the sky, running in a spiral round the pillars of the belfry. some weak heads turn back here; but if you continue, the view from the little chamber at the top will reward you. a vast panorama meets the eye. miles away into hanover and holstein, all the territory of hamburg, across mecklenburg, and down the broad river well-nigh to the sea, sixty miles distant. the city itself is an interesting sight: the contrast between the old and new so great; the bustle on the elbe and in the streets; the numerous canals, basins, dams, and havens; the planted walks, all enclosed by green and undulating environs, make up a picture that you will be reluctant to leave. some of the windows of the little chamber are fitted with glass of different colours, so that at pleasure you may look out on a fairy scene below. the charge for the ascent is one mark. afterwards, when perambulating the streets, you will discover that hamburg is a city not less interesting when viewed from the ground. the narrow streets, the old architecture, the variety of costumes, the curious ways of the traders, will arrest your attention at every step. and you will find much to commend in the building of the new quarter, and in the well-kept grounds and walks by the exchange and around the alster. seeing all this, i regretted that my stay would be but for a few hours: however, i improved those hours as diligently as possible. i walked out to altona, and lived for an hour under the sovereignty of denmark while looking at the old council-house and some other quaint specimens of architecture. then turning in the opposite direction i rode out to horn by omnibus; walked from thence across the heath and through the groves to wansbeck, and rode back by a different road--a little trip in which i saw much to admire in the pretty wayside residences of the hamburgers, situate so pleasantly among gardens and trees, and the inmates taking their evening meal on the grass-plot in front.[k] i kept up my explorations till the approach of midnight warned me that it was time to embark. the watch at the city-gate let me out on payment of the accustomed toll--twopence at ten o'clock, a shilling at eleven--and i groped my way along the quay to the steamer _countess of lonsdale_. when i woke the next morning the pilot was being landed at glückstadt; and we steamed across the north sea with no other incident than that of nearly running down a flemish fishing-boat in broad daylight; and yet we had a man on the look-out. but for the quick eye of the captain--who was telling amusing stories about the german fleet to a party of us lounging around him on the quarter-deck--and his sudden "hard a-port!" the little vessel would have been cut in two. as it was, she escaped but by a few inches. during the lazy leisure of a day at sea, i reckoned the sum of my journeyings and outlay. i had walked three hundred and fifty miles, and expended--up to hamburg--fourteen pounds. the passage to london, with etceteras, including an unconscionable steward's-fee, amounted to nearly three pounds more. a voyage of forty-eight hours brought us to london; and at four in the morning of the st of august we stepped on shore at st. katherine's wharf. it was a lovely morning: even london looked picturesque in the clear rosy light. the opportunity was favourable, and i took it for an hour's study of the busiest phenomena of billingsgate. then i walked awhile, and sat on a certain doorstep reading goldsmith's _traveller_ till the maid came down, very early, at a quarter-past seven. then i exchanged thick boots and a comfortable coat for the garb of cockneydom. and then--sensations of liberty tingling yet in every limb, and swarming with happy recollections through my brain--i went and crept once more into the old official harness. harness in which i earn glorious holidays. footnote: [k] there is something suggestive concerning the resources of different populations in the following table of depositors in savings banks: in bohemia there is depositor for every of the population; in berlin, in ; in frankfort, in ; in hamburg, in ; in leipsic, in ; in altona, in . index. a. adersbach, agnetendorf, alt, altenburg, , altendorf, , altona, amselgrund, the, aschaffenburg, auersberg, the, aussig, b. bamberg, bastei, the, beer, berlin, bernsdorf, berthelsdorf, bober, the, bohemia, geology of, , bohemian frontier, böhme, jacob, bread and semmel, breslau, buchau, buchwald, , c. carlsbad, carpathians, the, costumes, , , czechs, the, , , , , d. dittersbach, dreikreuzberg, dresden, e. ebersdorf, eckersbach, elbe, the, elbe, source of, ; fall of, elterlein, engelhaus, erdmannsdorf, erzgebirge, , , , eybenstock, f. fischbach, flinsberg, frankfort, g. gabel, geese, gersdorf, glass-workers, , glückstadt, görlitz, greifenberg, grenzbäuden, grünheid, h. hamburg, hanau, hartenstein, ruin, hayda, herniskretschen, herrnhut, heuscheuer, the, hildburghausens, hirschberg, hirschenstand, hirschsprung, the, hohenstaufens, hohensteiner bad, holstein, horn, horosedl, hradschin, the, , i. iser, the, isergebirge, the, , j. jeschken, the, jews, , johannisbad, judenstadt, k. kirnitschthal, the, knieholz, krkonosch berg, kruschowitz, kunzendorf, kunz von kauffungen, , kynast, the, l. landskrone, the, lauban, liebau, liebkowitz, liebwerda, lobositz, loebau, lohr, lubenz, luther, , , m. mädelstein, magdeburg, markersdorf, mecklenburg, meistersdorf, milleschauer, the, mineral springs, , , , , mittagstein, mittelgebirge, the, morchenstern, mulde, the, music, , , , , n. neudeck, neudorf, neustädl, neu straschitz, newspapers, niederkainsdorf, o. oberhaselau, oberkainsdorf, p. planitz, polenzthal, the, prague, prebischthor, the, princes' oaks, prinzenhöhle, prinzenraub, , , przichowitz, r. railways, raudnitz, reichenberg, reinowitz, rentsch, riesengebirge, rochlitz, rock-labyrinth, rübezahl, s. saal, the, saxon switzerland, schandau, schatzlar, schlag, schmiedeberg, schneeberg, schneegruben, schneekoppe, schömberg, schools, , , schreckenstein, the, schwanhildis, princess, schwarzkoppe, simplon, the, of prussia, spessart, forest of, spiller, spindlerbaude, sprudel, the, spürlingstein, the, steinschönau, stein wine, stephanshöh, st. killian, stohnsdorf, synagogue, the, t. tandelmarkt, the, tannwald, taunus mountains, tetschen, theresienstadt, triller, the, , , u. ueberschar hills, ullersdorf, ulrichsthal, uttewalde grund, w. wansbeck, warmbrunn, weckelsdorf, wehlen, weisskirchen, wends, the, , , white hill, the, wildenthal, wilhelmsbad, willenz, winterberg, great and little, wittenberg, würzburg, z. zillerthal, zwickau, the end. c. whiting, beaufort house, strand. [illustration: _from a photograph by brown and dawson_ william ii german emperor from a photograph taken since the beginning of the war of ] the german emperor as shown in his public utterances by christian gauss professor of modern languages, princeton university new york charles scribner's sons copyright, , by charles scribner's sons published february, preface unlike his grandfather, who shielded himself behind his chancellor, the present emperor has always insisted upon making himself the storm-centre of the debates in his reichstag and among his people. he has played with many, if not all, of his cards upon the table. in accordance with this policy he has gone through his country from end to end and into foreign lands, everywhere announcing his policies and his views on every possible subject of interest or controversy. up to he had made upward of five hundred and seventy speeches, and since that time has made almost as many more. it was manifestly impossible to give all of these speeches, and it was also thought unfair to give merely extracts which might fail to represent the spirit of the entire pronouncement. they are all printed, therefore, in the completest form available. particular speeches have often been reported to the press in widely differing versions. in all cases only those speeches are here presented which have received official or semiofficial sanction. the text followed for pronouncements made before , with the one exception of the _daily telegraph_ interview, october , , has always been that of the recognized and standard edition in four volumes, edited by j. penzler and published in the reclam _universal-bibliothek_. now and then only portions of certain addresses appear to have been reported, and on a few occasions parts of speeches are given directly and other parts are merely summarized. in all such cases the speech is translated from the form sanctioned in the official version. in no case has any change been made. where significant differences exist in the versions of addresses as given officially and unofficially, the official version is in every instance printed first. it has been the aim to present faithfully the language and spirit of the speaker, and his phraseology and emphasis have been reproduced as closely as was at all consistent with fair english usage. the speeches have been chosen to represent in due proportion his many interests, and range therefore from agriculture and art to biblical criticism, national and international politics. the emperor has, of course, not given titles to his speeches, and the headings have been assigned by the compiler. it has been his aim to explain the circumstances under which each address was delivered and to make plain the references to events embodied therein. questions which have had a continuous interest, or which have had some lasting effect on germany's policy, such as the attitude toward alsace-lorraine, the social democratic party, the retirement of bismarck, the development of the navy, the morocco question, have been treated at greater length on the first fitting occasion. for the introductions, therefore, the compiler assumes responsibility. in preparing them he has had recourse to many incidental sources of information, and in many cases the true inwardness of certain situations is still as much a matter of controversy as the causes of the present war. for his facts generally, he has followed where possible, besides such incidental and contemporary sources, bruno gebhardt's "handbuch der deutschen geschichte" ( ), the "cambridge modern history--the latest age," volume xii ( ), and the volumes of the "statesman's yearbook." in addition, for information concerning the internal development of germany he has consulted and drawn upon the literature of this subject which has appeared in the last decade, but is more particularly indebted to doctor paul liman's "der kaiser," dawson's "the evolution of modern germany," barker's "modern germany," price collier's "germany and the germans," forbes's "william of germany," gibbons's "the new map of europe," and the "_reichsgesetzblatt_." as the emperor has spoken upon almost every phase of german political life, with the editorial introductions which aim to set forth briefly the occasion and causes of each address, it is hoped that altogether the volume will offer a fairly accurate picture of the trend of german affairs for the last twenty-five years. for help in the preparation of this volume, the writer is much indebted to his wife, whose assistance has amounted to collaboration. princeton, n. j. _december , _. contents page preface v i the hohenzollern tradition ii preliminaries june , --october , . the first official act of the emperor schloss friedrichskron, june , . to my people potsdam, june , . first declaration of policy berlin, june , . opening of the reichstag november , . the emperor and the striking miners may , . visit of the king of italy berlin, may , . the english fleet and the german army sandown bay, august , . the english army aldershot, august , . the czar at berlin berlin, october , . on board an english flag-ship the piræus, october , . iii after bismarck may , --june , . opening of the reichstag berlin, may , . review of the ninth army corps flensburg, september , . accidents with agricultural machinery berlin, november , . alsace-lorraine berlin, march , . swearing in the recruits potsdam, november , . the emperor's first army bill berlin, july , . arrival in metz metz, september , . dedication of flags berlin, october , . navy recruits kiel, december , . christening of a cruiser kiel, march , . visit to bismarck friedrichsruh, march , . opening of the emperor william canal kiel, june , . iv the beginning of world politics june , --march , . the beginning of world politics berlin, june , . to the recruits for the navy wilhelmshaven, february , . a toast to the russian emperor and empress st. petersburg, august , . the army tradition coblentz, august , . toast to the italian king and queen homburg, september , . address at a dedication of flags berlin, october , . on administering the oath to the recruits berlin, november , . the chinese situation and the mailed fist december , . address to the regiments of the body-guard potsdam, june , . on the death of prince bismarck friedrichsruh, august , . "our future lies upon the water" stettin, september , . the journey to the holy land bethlehem, october , . dedication of the church of our redeemer jerusalem, october , . by divine right brandenburg, february , . the hague conference wiesbaden, may , . the housing of laborers early june, . french heroism at st. privat the battle-field of st. privat, august , . v the greater navy "bitterly we need a powerful german fleet" hamburg, october , . on the threshold of the new century berlin, january , . new boundary posts berlin, february , . seaports and cannon lübeck, june , . the ocean knocks at our door kiel, july , . open the way for culture bremen, july , . civis romanus sum imperial limes museum, saalburg, october , . cabinet order to the prussian army january, . dedication of the barracks of the alexander regiment march , . to the students at bonn april , . a place in the sun hamburg, june , . the great elector kiel, june , . entrance of prince eitel friedrich into the army july , . true art berlin, december , . monument to general von rosenberg april , . the old order changeth aix, june , . alfred krupp and the socialists november , . the working man once more breslau, december , . scholarship and religion berlin, february , . frederick the great and his army döberitz, may , . the future of germany hamburg, june , . the reasons for japan's victory march , . the salt of the earth bremen, march , . vi on the eve of morocco march , --november , . the morocco question tangier, march , . the great ally september , . optimism and literature münich, november , . twenty-five years of labor legislation november , . vii the crisis of february , --october , . imperialism versus social democracy berlin, february , . the necessity of faith münster, august , . english journalists london, november , . alsace-lorraine strasburg, august , . the _daily telegraph_ interview october , . the emperor and count zeppelin manzell, november , . regatta at hamburg hamburg, june , . review of the fourteenth army corps karlsruhe, september , . emperor by divine right königsberg, august , . the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the university of berlin berlin, october , . the emperor in brussels october , . alcohol and the schools cassel, august , . international competition hamburg, august , . imperial glories aix, october , . viii last months of peace february , --june , . opening of the reichstag berlin, february , . brandenburg once again may , . hauling down the flag hamburg, june , . accident to a zeppelin bonn, october , . we germans fear god, nothing else hamburg, june , . ix at the outbreak of the war forcing the sword into his hand berlin, july , . an end of parties berlin, august , . opening of the reichstag berlin, august , . to the army and navy berlin, august , . proclamation to the german people berlin, august , . illustrations william ii, german emperor _frontispiece_ facing page the emperor in the year of his coronation, (age ) "our future lies upon the water." the emperor on shipboard in the autumn of the emperor in i the hohenzollern tradition ernest renan, the author of that once heretical "life of jesus," was by temperament unenthusiastic and had further schooled himself to look upon all human events with high unconcern. the great sceptic had been born in ; he was therefore sixty-five at the time of the accession of william ii, and his declining health, in horatian phrase, refused to allow him to enter upon any long hope. in looking forward to his inevitable end one thing, he said, afflicted him. he regretted only that he was not to see, in its later and more decisive phases, the unfolding of the multiform personality of the new german emperor. to him it was an intellectual puzzle, more intricate and more interesting than any he had encountered in the many cycles of the history of the hebrews or in the complicated schisms of the church. in the early years of his reign the youthful emperor was regarded with much interest and some concern by his contemporaries generally. he was the chameleon among the royal figures of europe. one day he receives the czar at berlin and proclaims peace to the world. a few weeks later he visits the sultan at constantinople, and shortly thereafter he announces to his loyal brandenburgers that he will lead them on to greater things. what did he mean? now he is a soldier, jesting with his officers; and, with the rising of another sun, in workman's garb, with the axe upon his shoulder, he goes forth as woodman or laborer on his own estates. at home he was regarded as benjamin constant regarded madame de staël. he was the "_bel orage_," the beautiful storm which had come upon europe in the dull and piping times of peace of the last decades of the nineteenth century. he cleared the air of continental politics in the years of late victorianism. he was a dilettante of dangerous activities, as renan had been of antiquated heresies and harmless, outworn systems, and to him fate seemed to have given the future as a toy. such, at least, was the view of the famous portuguese poet eça de queiroz, who cast his horoscope in . a quarter century of peace had removed much apprehension. after the dismissal of bismarck he had shaped his own policy and gone his own way. to his great advisers he had seemed to say: "_Ôte-toi que je m'y mette._" yet his career had ceased to disquiet, and the youthful exuberance had given way to mature and conscientious labor. with unshakable confidence in himself and with a determined application he was making germany the greatest state in europe. to those who, unlike renan, did not have the misfortune to have been born too soon to be his later contemporaries, the riddle _seemed_ to be solving itself to the greater good of humanity. the emperor's army, so he tells us himself, is invincible. never has germany been defeated so long as she was united, and god, who has taken such infinite pains with us, will never leave us "in the lurch." by means of this powerful, unconquerable army, at whose side he had now set one of the greatest fleets on the seas, he had, so he told us, laid firm and sure the foundations of peace. then suddenly "the abyss is opened, ... the sword is thrust into his hand," and reluctantly and with a heavy heart he goes forth to do battle. like a shuttle he flits from frontier to frontier, now planning an invasion of england, now supervising the readministration of belgian industries, and now directing a battle in poland. surely such a destiny, so immense a power, has been granted to no man. it may be he is the great predestined victim; it may be that time is preparing for him a final and well-earned european triumph. what shall be the end, and where lies the responsibility? no ethical or political problem of our time forces itself upon us with greater insistence. his utterances may help to make the question if not the answer clear. looking forward dispassionately twenty-three years ago that portuguese student prophesied that this could not last, that there would be war; and in the light of later events that prophecy about "the allied armies" has been recently recalled. it was in these words that he closed his brilliant study of the youthful emperor and king: "william ii runs the awful danger of being cast down gemoniæ. he boldly takes upon himself responsibilities which in all nations are divided among various bodies of the state--he alone judges, he alone executes, because to him alone it is (not to his ministers, to his council, or to his parliament) that god, the god of the hohenzollerns, imparts his transcendental inspiration. he must therefore be infallible and invincible. at the first disaster--whether it be inflicted by his burghers or by his people in the streets of berlin, or by allied armies on the plains of europe--germany will at once conclude that his much-vaunted alliance with god was the trick of a wily despot. "then will there not be stones enough from lorraine to pomerania to stone this counterfeit moses. william ii is in very truth casting against fate those terrible 'iron dice' to which the now-forgotten bismarck once alluded. if he win he may have within and without the frontiers altars such as were raised to augustus; should he lose, exile, the traditional exile, in england awaits him--a degraded exile, the exile with which he so sternly threatens those who deny his infallibility. "m. renan is therefore quite right: there is nothing more attractive at this period of the century than to witness the final development of william ii. in the course of years (may god make them slow and lengthy!) this youth, ardent, pleasing, fertile in imagination, of sincere, perhaps heroic, soul, may be sitting in calm majesty in his berlin schloss presiding over the destinies of europe--or he may be in the hôtel métropole in london sadly unpacking from his exile's handbag the battered double crown of prussia and germany." * * * * * this drama of a life is twenty-three years nearer its climax than it was when renan bade the world good night. with a certain finality of pathos a greek poet whom renan loved, thinking doubtless of his unhappy countrymen who had fallen in the long wars between athens and sparta, had said: "they that have died are not sick, nor do they possess any evil things." if this be true, quite possibly, then, the world was kinder to this aged frenchman than he shall ever know. for the disasters which were to follow the rising star of the emperor, which he regarded so curiously, were to be far greater than he had ever dreamed. it may be, therefore, that it is he and not some of his younger countrymen who are to be congratulated on the bournes which marked the time of his coming and his passing. the question of the responsibility of the emperor and the limits of his power is one which perhaps only time can decide. undeniably germany has a written constitution. but that constitution is of comparatively recent date (april , ). it is not looked upon, as is the american constitution, as the source of germany's political life. it is the empire and not the constitution that is holy. struggles for personal liberty find little place in the history of prussia. they have no cromwell, no washington, no robespierre, and, significantly too, they have had in times past no ravaillac and no guiteau. there, still, a certain majesty doth hedge about a king. the old idea of fealty, of _deutsche treue_, which led the retainers of teutonic chiefs or rulers to submit uncomplainingly to every abuse and all oppression and to follow their lords into misfortune and into exile, though it has doubtless waned, nevertheless retains some vestiges of its traditional force even to-day. when, therefore, in , by a curious coincidence, two attempts were made upon the life of emperor william i (one by hödel, an irresponsible person of diseased mind and body, who had been dismissed from the social democratic party; and another by nobiling, who was not a social democrat), bismarck immediately and easily seized this occasion to crush social democracy and increase the imperial power. he dissolved the reichstag, and in one month the law-courts inflicted no less than five hundred years of imprisonment for _lèse-majesté_. within eight months the authorities dissolved two hundred and twenty-two workingmen's unions, suppressed one hundred and twenty-seven periodical and two hundred and seventy-eight other publications, and innumerable _bona-fide_ co-operative societies were compelled by the police to close their doors without trial and with no possibility of appeal. with equal despatch numerous social democrats were expelled from germany on a few days' notice. this traditional attitude toward the social democrat, who from our standpoint is the german radical and liberal, appears again in the present emperor when he declares (may , ) that every social democrat is synonymous with enemy of the country. how social democracy has grown in spite of the emperor's attempt to check it will be evident from a consideration of the following figures, in which the forty political parties are grouped into their four larger divisions: +----------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+ | | | | | | | +----------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+ | right, or | | | | | | | conservative | , | , , | , , | , , | , , | | liberal | , , | , , | , , | , , | , , | | clerical | , | , , | , , | , , | , , | | social | | | | | | | democrats | , | , | , , | , , | , , | +----------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+ in spite of this representation in the reichstag, the power of the german political parties is slight. the power lies far more with the emperor and the bundesrat. according to article ii of the constitution, the emperor represents the empire internationally and can declare war if defensive (in german eyes the present is a defensive war), can make peace as well as enter into treaties with other nations, and appoint and receive ambassadors. when treaties are related to matters regulated by imperial legislation, and when war is not merely defensive, the emperor must have the consent of the bundesrat, in which, together with the reichstag, are vested the legislative functions of the empire. but _de facto_, and through her power of veto, prussia controls the bundesrat, and as king of prussia the emperor controls prussia. that, even so, the constitution is not the real and final source of political power, but a convenient political instrument, which in the mind of so great an authority as bismarck might still easily be changed without consulting the people, we may gather from the fact that the great chancellor frequently debated the question of limiting the suffrage. "the blind hödhur[ ] [the german elector] does not know how to manipulate in his coarse hands the nuremberg toy [the reichstag] which i gave him, and through his voting he is ruining the fatherland." according to hohenlohe, bismarck considered setting aside the reichstag and returning to the old bundestag. [ ] in norse mythology hödhur was the powerful blind god who slew balder. the late price collier, an enthusiastic admirer of germany, is therefore quite justified in saying: "this reichstag is really only nominally a portion of the governing body. it has the right to refuse a bill presented by the government, but if it does so it may be summarily dismissed, as has happened several times, and another election usually provides a more amenable body." and if the following judgment seems somewhat downright, it is none the less substantially true: "the fact that the members of the reichstag are not in the saddle but are used unwillingly and often contemptuously as a necessary and often stubborn and unruly pack-animal by the kaiser-appointed ministers, the fact that they are pricked forward or induced to move by a tempting feed held just beyond the nose has something to do, no doubt, with the lack of unanimity which exists. the diverse elements debate with one another and waste their energy in rebukes and recriminations which lead nowhere and result in nothing. i have listened to many debates in the reichstag where the one aim of the speeches seemed to be merely to unburden the soul of the speaker. he had no plan, no proposal, no solution, merely a confession to make. after forty-odd years the germans, in many ways the most cultivated nation in the world, are still without real representative government." history, to be sure, may be read in many ways, but from one standpoint it is perfectly possible to regard the framing of the present constitution and the building up of the present german empire not as the last stage in the attempt to give freedom and self-government to the german people, but to guarantee and maintain the supremacy of prussia. whether or not this is a possible view, it is, in any case, one occasionally to be found implied in the speeches of the emperor, and it came to open expression in the statement of william i that the empire was merely a "greater prussia." so, too, when a few years ago alsace-lorraine proved itself recalcitrant to the wishes of its imperial master, he threatened that he would make of it a "prussian province."[ ] [ ] on this occasion a socialist orator declared in the reichstag: "we salute the imperial words as the confession, full of weight and coming from a competent source, that annexation to prussia is the heaviest punishment that one can threaten to impose upon a people for its resistance against germany. it is a punishment like hard labor in the penitentiary, with loss of civil rights." it need, therefore, not appear as startling as would otherwise be the case if on occasions which to us would seem peculiarly appropriate (as, for instance, the famous königsberg speech, august , ) the emperor makes no mention whatever of the constitution. the sources of his power and the sanction for his authority he finds not in this instrument but in the history of his ancestors. to understand the personality and the speeches of the emperor it is, therefore, necessary to recall that he is also king of prussia and that the foundation of his ancestors' rule was laid in the province of brandenburg, of which they became some centuries ago the margraves and electors. in prussia was a wilderness inhabited by savages who were ruthlessly massacred by the teutonic knights. it was looked upon as lying outside the german empire. through the knights the country was converted to christianity, and the reduced native population was largely augmented by immigration from other german states. although the emperor is not slow to accept traditions with regard to his house, he never mentions the old shoot in the genealogical tree of an elector which carries us back to one of the fugitives who fled from troy with Æneas. for our purposes, it was not until that a count of hohenzollern first came into prominence, when, after a fortunate marriage, he became burgrave of nuremberg and prince of the holy roman empire. with the exception of frederick william ii, they have been a thrifty race. a little more than a century later there appears in history that one of the emperor's ancestors to whom he frequently refers as the founder of his house and that one who began to acquire for it divine right. frederick vi of hohenzollern had already come into prominence through the fact that he had cast in his lot with king sigismund of hungary. the services which he rendered the king, however valuable, were not altogether disinterested, and it is said that he largely increased his fortune thereby. he seems not to have been content with mere promises, and it is a matter of record that sigismund pledged to him certain districts in hungary as security for , gulden. as frederick was to lay the foundation for the greatness of the house of hohenzollern and as emperor william is fond of repeating that he came to brandenburg in obedience to a summons from on high, this chapter in the history of the emperor's house is particularly significant and interesting. for some time previously brandenburg had been unfortunate in its rulers and had frequently changed hands. in it had been sold for , gulden to emperor charles iv, who turned it over to his son wenceslaus. in it passed to wenceslaus' half brother, the sigismund mentioned above. sigismund was in financial difficulty. a few years later, therefore, he pledged the mark of brandenburg to his cousins jobst and procop of moravia as security for a loan of , gulden. sigismund defaulted payment in , so that the margraviate passed to them. in sigismund eagerly desired to be elected emperor of germany. he entrusted the management of what might quite properly be called his "campaign" to frederick of hohenzollern. jobst of moravia, who, as we have seen, now had claims to brandenburg was a rival candidate. sigismund, without deigning to make repayment, coolly declared that the transaction with jobst concerning brandenburg was null and void and instructed frederick to cast the vote for the mark. to this vote frederick clearly (if anything in these complicated proceedings is clear) had no right. he none the less managed the campaign and in a "snap" election cast the vote of brandenburg with assurance. this at least was the view of other electors, and this high-handed performance did not meet with their approval. they called a rival council and elected jobst to the imperial dignity. for both sigismund and frederick it was "fortunate" (we take the word from the prussian historian eberty) that jobst died shortly after. it is perhaps unfortunate that it should have been suspected ever since that he died of poison. sigismund himself seems to have been somewhat doubtful about the validity of that election which frederick had compassed and after the death of jobst had himself re-elected and was finally acknowledged as emperor. if the times were bad, sigismund and jobst were no better than their times. it was this same sigismund who, after having granted a safe conduct to the great reformer john huss, allowed him to be judicially murdered, a proceeding which made even charles v blush for the empire. for the purpose of electing sigismund, frederick had incurred considerable expense, amounting to some hundred thousand gulden. it is perhaps again fortunate for all concerned and for the honor of the venal empire that no bill of particulars specifying the uses of this fund is now available, if any was ever rendered. that frederick, however, had not served sigismund "_pour l'amour de dieu_" is plain from the fact that he again took security for his advances. this time he was given the unhappy mark of brandenburg which, as we have seen, had belonged to jobst by virtue of a mortgage which sigismund had never taken the trouble to discharge. if, then, the law of god is at all similar to the law recognized by men, sigismund had no right to give and the ancestor of william ii no legal right to accept that province. the right by which frederick came into possession of this first state of the later german empire was, consequently, a right quite different from rights generally recognized. this, therefore, must be that "divine right" which william ii is so fond of proclaiming. at its best, the document of june , , which gave the hohenzollerns their first claim to their first province was in reality a mortgage to a piece of property of doubtful title, and if the rather florid style of that document seems to bring in the business transaction as something quite incidental, it is altogether similar to the forms in which other mortgages were couched in those days. that this was so is further evidenced by the fact that the brandenburg cities looked upon frederick as the holder of a mortgage and did homage to him "_zu seinem gelde_"--"for his money"; that is, they recognized that they were bound to him only until he should be paid. the nobles did not do homage to him at all. after "the rain of margraves" of the previous decades, it is not strange that they should have been slow to recognize their latest overlord. emperor william ii is, therefore, quite right when he describes the mark of may, , as devastated, unruly, and altogether unpromising. it could hardly have been otherwise. before frederick was invested with brandenburg (and he was formally invested only after a further payment of , gulden), in , his princely possessions included merely partial claims to smaller districts like ansbach and bayreuth, which he shared with his brother john. in spite of frederick of hohenzollern's devotion to the cause of religion, the shakespearean motto, "thrift, thrift, horatio," may be taken to explain satisfactorily his conduct in this regard. that the nobles would be unruly he must have expected. his own activities and his acceptance of the mark had helped to make them so. frederick's later service consisted in dispelling a confusion which he had helped to create. in these larger transactions the first great hohenzollern does not seem to have been given to listening to the still small voice. incidentally, he was later to turn against sigismund. the assumption, therefore, that he left his southern home for the mark out of heed for a divine call, as emperor william in his speech of february , , tells us that he did, is historically, like laplace's god, a useless hypothesis. self-interest, for which he seems to have had a fairly keen sense, would have impelled him to do no less. yet it is upon the _faits et gestes_ of frederick of hohenzollern that emperor william ii bases his claims to rule germany by divine right. as we have seen, the mortgage was not discharged, and frederick had been formally invested with the margraviate and electorship in . he lifted the mark out of the deplorable condition in which he found it, compelled obedience, and during the period of his rule--he died in --its lot was much improved and the power of the house of hohenzollern much strengthened. history must give him credit for his ability and his difficult achievement if not for his motives. in the process of establishing himself, his rule, like that of his successors was the rule of the sword and his policy the _machtpolitik_, or policy of force. in spite of her comparative poverty, therefore, prussia in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries maintained an army larger than that of austria or france. the connection between the ruler and the army in a state which was founded and maintained by force of arms was, therefore, and remains in modern prussia so close that the emperor is from the standpoint of tradition justified in repeating that "the only pillar on which the empire rests is the army." it was literally _ein volk in waffen_, a people in arms. the first really outstanding ruler of the province was the great elector ( - ), who has always been cited by william ii as his model and of whom he speaks with a respect that amounts to veneration. he was born in berlin and, after passing part of his youth in the netherlands, became ruler of brandenburg and prussia in , before the close of the thirty years' war. he restored the prestige of the army and centralized the government and, we are informed by recognized authorities, by a clever but unscrupulous use of his intermediate position between sweden and poland, procured his recognition as an independent duke of prussia by both powers and eventually succeeded in crushing the stubborn and protracted opposition which was offered to his authority by the estates of the duchy. his success in organizing the army was proved by his great victory over the swedes at fehrbellin, . from childhood the emperor has worshipped the great elector as his favorite hero. in their policies there is a striking similarity, for the elector was the first to recognize the importance of sea power and is praised by william ii for having founded the prussian navy and for having encouraged commerce. he built the first great german canal, from the oder to the spree (another lead which the present emperor was to follow), and he inaugurated the colonial policy by founding a settlement on the west african coast. this, likewise, was to be revived by the present emperor, for it was allowed to lapse even under frederick the great, who considered a "village on the frontier" a much greater asset than a state oversea. the aim of the great elector was to make himself an absolute ruler, as he regarded this best for the internal and external welfare of the state. but he raised brandenburg and prussia to a high place and laid the basis of their later power. under these lords and their followers the progress of prussia was amazingly rapid. in , when london and paris were cities of a little more or less than half a million inhabitants and amsterdam counted , , berlin was a village of , . the population of prussia itself, which, to be sure, had been more than doubled in size, increased from , , in to , , in . it was in the time of frederick the great, however, that her power as a state was first firmly established. his military genius (he is usually said to have originated "the oblique order" of battle) and his policy of dissimulation here stood him in good stead. he sowed discord among his neighbors and awaited the favorable opportunity to attack even on very slight pretexts and in the case of silesia without the formality of a declaration of war. like william ii, he was a patron of the arts and sciences and invited noted littérateurs and scientists, especially frenchmen, to his court. the scientist maupertuis and voltaire were his protégés, and the exiled rousseau for a time found refuge in his domains. he himself wrote in french. it is probably because of his french sympathies and the fact that he was, in this regard, not a _kerndeutscher mann_ that william ii rarely speaks of him personally and mentions usually only his services to his country. frederick died in . he had raised prussia to the position of a first-rate power and, in disraeli's phrase, left it "regarded if not respected." his successor, frederick william ii, is remembered mostly because of the scandalous character of his life, and he showed none of the characteristics of the energetic hohenzollerns. a contemporary says of him: "he bears the greatest resemblance to an asiatic prince, who, living within his harem with his slaves of both sexes, leaves the business of the state to his viziers. the wall, twelve feet in height, by which the new garden at potsdam is enclosed, reminds one of the enclosure of a seraglio." he was succeeded by his son, frederick william iii, in . this conscientious but ill-starred ruler was to be rendered famous through his misfortunes in the time of napoleon and has been overshadowed somewhat in history by his beautiful, devoted, and heroic wife louise. they stand closer to modern history than is generally realized. the present emperor often mentions them for their heroism and the brave part they played in the war of liberation and in freeing their country from the incubus of the napoleonic empire. they were the parents of emperor william i, the illustrious grandfather of the present sovereign. if, then, emperor william ii frequently takes occasion to recall the memory of it should be remembered that in his own family these events were very near to him, since his grandfather had spent his childhood in those years of humiliation and had served in the allied armies in the time of napoleon. the man who was to become emperor william i had been born as the second son of frederick william iii in . he was to be preceded on the throne by his elder brother, frederick william iv, who, like the present emperor and like frederick the great, was an accomplished lover of the arts, but who lacked the strength to guide his country with a sure hand through the troubled years of the forties. he became afflicted in his last years with hopeless mental disease, and his brother, after having served as regent, became king of prussia as william i in . the idea of uniting germany into a single empire had already been seriously agitated in the time of frederick william iv, but it was under his brother, largely through the tireless activity and wonderfully successful diplomacy of bismarck, that this great aim was to be achieved in the lifetime of the present emperor. it was in the chapel at königsberg that william i arranged for and held his coronation. he cannot be said to have been crowned; for although his brother had granted prussia a constitution william himself raised the crown from the altar, set it on his own head, and announced in a loud voice: "i receive this crown from god's hand and from none other." it was such a legacy that the present emperor inherited when, after the few months' reign of his father, he succeeded to the imperial office; and it is this legacy and this tradition which, in fairness to the emperor, we must remember in reading such seemingly strange pronouncements as his own address at königsberg in . the later events in german history and the subsequent policies of the empire are touched upon in such detail that further preamble is hardly necessary. that the emperor has everywhere energetically taken the lead is undoubted. that he should be held responsible in general for german diplomacy is implied in his position. that he has urged and directed the movement in nearly every field of endeavor is plain from the varied character of his addresses. no one can doubt after reading him that he desired peace, in the sense that he preferred peace to war. the question that will undoubtedly interest the reader most is the problem of the consistency of his various policies; whether, for instance, the exaggerated worship of the army, the devout desire for peace, and the insistent imperialism of his later years can be brought into harmony; whether they can be reduced to any common denominator. however that may be, that he has been one of the most devoted and conscientious servants of the german cause as he sees it cannot possibly be denied. ii preliminaries june , --october , the first official act of the emperor schloss friedrichskron, june , the aged emperor william i, grandfather of william ii, departed this life march , . he was succeeded by his son, frederick iii, who, after a reign of only a few months, died on june of the same year. the present emperor, who was born on january , , was, therefore, twenty-nine at the time of his accession to the throne. it is characteristic that his first official act should have been an order to the army. the close connection between the army and the prussian kings is a tradition which william ii sedulously maintained. in later speeches he will frequently give evidence of this desire on his part and will quote characteristic sayings of his ancestors to the effect that the army is the "_rocher de bronze_," that it is "the only pillar on which the empire rests." he will repeat to the army officers that phrase of his grandfather: "these are the gentlemen upon whom i can rely." if the extraordinary versatility of william ii is one of his most striking qualities, a reading of his speeches will convince us that it is none the less true that he is first and foremost a soldier. by far the great majority of his speeches are on military occasions, and it is the martial triumphs of his ancestors that he is most fond of commemorating. he seems to be most at home with his officers, and although at one time or another differences have arisen between him and every party or caste in the empire, even including the prussian nobility, this close relationship with the army has never been clouded by even a momentary estrangement. more than any other one subject, army reviews have provided the occasion for his speeches. if but a few of these are given here it is because his sentiments in this regard have suffered no change and these addresses are largely repetitions of his sense of satisfaction and the expression of his good-will. that he intended to be the virtual leader of his own host is perhaps best indicated by the fact that von moltke (who was, to be sure, an old man) resigned six weeks after his accession to the throne. the present war has proved his capacity in this regard, and the army has certainly lost nothing in efficiency and has probably gained somewhat in confidence since he took over the direction from his ancestors and their advisers. the present order was issued on the very day of his father's death. on that same date a somewhat similar proclamation was addressed to the navy. [illustration: the emperor in the year of his coronation, [age ]] even ere you, my troops, had put aside the external signs of mourning for your emperor and king, william i, who lives ever in your hearts, you are called upon to suffer another heavy blow through the death this morning, at five minutes past eleven, of my dear and deeply beloved father, his majesty, the emperor and king, frederick iii. it is in these serious days of mourning that god's will places me at the head of the army, and it is from a heart stirred deeply, indeed, that i address my first words to my troops. i enter with implicit confidence, however, upon this duty to which god has called me; for i know what a sense for honor and duty has been implanted in the army by my glorious ancestors, and i know to what degree this sense has ever and at all times displayed itself. the absolutely inviolable dependence upon the war lord [_kriegsherr_] is, in the army, the inheritance which descends from father to son, from generation to generation. i would direct your gaze to my grandfather, who stands before the eyes of all of you, the glorious war lord, worthy of all honor--a spectacle more beautiful than any other and one which speaks most tellingly to our hearts; i would direct your gaze to my dear father, who even as crown prince won for himself a distinguished place in the annals of the army, and to a long succession of famous ancestors whose names are resplendent in history and whose hearts beat warmly for the army. so are we bound together--i and the army--so are we born for one another, and so shall we hold together indissolubly, whether, as god wills, we are to have peace or storm. you are now about to swear to me the oath of fidelity and obedience, and i vow that i shall ever be mindful of the fact that the eyes of my forefathers look down upon me from that other world and that i one day shall have to render up to them an account of the fame and the honor of the army. william. castle friedrichskron, june , . to my people potsdam, june , three days after his pronouncements to the army and navy emperor william ii issued the following proclamation to his people. in temperament the son was quite unlike his father. the wife of frederick i and the mother of the present emperor was an english princess, victoria (daughter of queen victoria), and through her frederick is generally said to have been influenced by the more liberal english tradition. critics of william ii have occasionally annoyed him by repeating, justly or unjustly, that his father regarded certain elements in his character with disapproval. however that may be, it is true that the people regarded frederick in a different light from that in which they have come to regard his son. in reading the speeches of william ii one is conscious of the fact that he is speaking from a certain eminence, that the emperor never forgets that he enjoys the advantage of position. he has, therefore, put between himself and his people a certain distance which did not exist in the case of his father. the father treated his subjects as if he were one of them, and it is this fact that led them fondly to call him "_unser fritz_." however great the respect which they feel for the son, none of his subjects would think of bestowing any such title on william ii, and, even if they did, it is doubtful whether he would feel in any way complimented thereby. he is in this respect more like his ancestor frederick the great than like his father or grandfather, and it is a striking fact that in all his speeches he never once mentions this somewhat familiar title, of which his father was proud. god has again hung about us the pall of deepest mourning. hardly had the grave closed upon my ever-memorable grandfather, than his majesty, my dearly beloved father, was called from this earthly sojourn to everlasting peace. the heroic energy, born of christian humility, with which, unmindful of his sufferings, he accomplished his royal duties seemed to leave room for the hope that he would be spared still longer to the fatherland. god has willed it otherwise. to the royal sufferer whose heart was moved by all that was great and beautiful, only a few months were allotted in which he might display upon the throne the noble qualities of heart and soul which have won for him the love of his people. the virtues which adorned him and the victories which he gained on fields of battle will be gratefully remembered as long as german hearts beat, and undying fame will illumine his knightly figure in the history of the fatherland. called to the throne of my fathers, i have taken over the government, looking to the king of all kings, and have vowed to god, following the example of my father, to be a righteous and gentle prince, to foster piety and the fear of god, to maintain peace, to further the welfare of the country, to be a help to the poor and oppressed, and to be to the righteous man a true protector. if i pray god for strength to fulfil these royal duties which he has laid upon me, i am buoyed up by that faith in the prussian people which a consideration of our past history confirms in me. in good and in evil days prussia's people have ever stood faithfully to their kings. i, too, count upon this fidelity, which has ever been preserved inviolable toward my fathers in all times of trial and danger; for i am conscious that i reciprocate it whole-heartedly, as a faithful prince of a faithful people, and that we are both equally strong in our devotion to a common fatherland. from this consciousness of the mutual love which binds me to my people, i derive the confidence that god will give me wisdom and strength to exercise my kingly office for the welfare of the fatherland. william. potsdam, june , . first declaration of policy berlin, june , after the death of frederick iii the reichstag was summoned to meet in extraordinary session. most of the affiliated sovereigns of the german states assembled to pay homage to the youthful emperor. on this occasion he made from the throne a declaration of policy which is interesting as showing his ideas before he was subjected to the pressure of events. before he had succeeded to the throne it had been generally reported, possibly because of his known fondness for the army, that he was by nature bellicose. this report seriously distressed the new sovereign, and he began his reign with declarations, which have often been renewed since, that he would work for peace. he likewise outlines his foreign policy and expresses the hope that he may further develop friendly relations with russia. in this he was to achieve but little success, and a few years later the agreement which bound russia to observe neutrality in case germany were involved in war was allowed to lapse, much to the disgust of bismarck, who at that time had been superseded by caprivi. frederick the great had warned his successors that in the future, in case prussia wished to wage any war, she would first have to assure herself of the neutrality of russia. bismarck had followed this policy and had established it on the basis of an agreement. as the relationship to russia was to be of particular consequence, it will be interesting to have before us an article which appeared october , , in the _hamburger nachrichten_, recognized as expressing the views of the great chancellor. it announces that already in bismarck's time the wire between berlin and st. petersburg was cut and takes up certain events of the year . "up to this time," we are told, "both empires were fully agreed that in case one of them should be attacked the other would preserve a benevolent neutrality. after the departure of bismarck this agreement was not renewed, and if we are correctly informed about events in berlin, it was not russia, piqued at the change in chancellors, but count caprivi who declined to continue this mutual assurance, while russia was prepared to do so." emperor william's announcement with regard to his personal friendship and the interests of the realm may be taken as heralding a new era in german foreign policy. he inaugurated what has been called "personal diplomacy," and felt that it was possible to arrange the relationships between states by personally visiting and conferring with other sovereigns. shortly after his accession, therefore, he set out on a tour of the european capitals. bismarck, who planned his foreign relations on the basis of race psychology and possible future clashes of interests, opposed this strenuously. the visit to st. petersburg ( th to th of july, ) gave rise to certain unpleasant scenes and was only returned by the czar in a very perfunctory manner fifteen months later (october , ). the effect of the friendly attentions shown the czar on this occasion was doubtless weakened by the fact that, less than three weeks later, emperor william felt called upon to visit the sultan, by whom he was most enthusiastically received in constantinople. even though the emperor was most sincere in his desire to preserve friendship with russia, events were to prove that his method of cultivating diplomatic relations was far less successful than bismarck's way of working in silence and waiting for events. with regard to the internal administration of the realm, the problem that seemed most pressing to william ii was the rapid growth of the social democratic party. this problem had already engaged the attention of william i and of bismarck, who recognized its gravity. but here, too, the emperor and chancellor were to disagree. the former felt that he could easily master the situation, as may be seen from his remark to bismarck: "leave the social democrats to me." he was doubtless sincerely concerned for the welfare of the laborer and recognized in it one of the sources of the prosperity of the state. his policy was to be patriarchal and, bluntly put in shakespearian phrase, amounted to giving them medicine to make them love him. but if, to change the metaphor, he offered them his hand in a velvet glove, they were, as may be seen from his speech, soon to discover that it was a hand of iron. honored gentlemen: i greet you with deep sorrow in my heart, and i know that you grieve with me. the recent memory of my late father's sufferings, the astounding fact that three months after the death of his majesty, emperor william i, i am called upon to mount the throne, arouses the same feeling in the hearts of all germans, and our grief has found a sympathetic response in all countries of the world. under the weight of this sorrow, i pray god to give me strength to fulfil the high office to which his will has called me. as i follow this command i have before my eyes the example which emperor william bequeathed to his successors when, after serious wars, he ruled with a love of peace. this same example the reign of my late father strove to maintain in so far as he was not thwarted in his aims by his illness and death. i have called you together, honored gentlemen, in order in your presence to announce to the german people that i am determined, as emperor and as king, to follow in that same path by which my late grandfather won for himself the trust of his allies, the love of the german people, and the kindly recognition of foreign countries. it lies with god whether i shall be successful in this or not; but earnestly shall i strive to that end. the most important tasks of the german emperor lie in the province of establishing military and political safety for the realm from without and in supervising the execution of the laws of the empire within. the constitution of the empire forms the highest of these laws. to guard and defend it and all those rights which it secures to both of the legislative bodies[ ] of the nation and to every german citizen, as well as those which it secures to the emperor and to each of the states of the union, and to the reigning princes, is the most important right and duty of the emperor. [ ] bundesrat and reichstag. with regard to legislation in the realm, according to the constitution i am called upon to act more in my capacity as king of prussia than in that as the german emperor; but in both it will be my aim to carry out the work of imperial legislation in the same spirit in which my late grandfather began it. especially do i take to heart in its fullest application the message published by him on november , ,[ ] and shall proceed in that spirit to bring it about that the legislation for the working population shall make more secure the protection which, in accordance with the principles of christian ethics, it can afford the weak and oppressed in the struggle for existence. i hope it may be possible in this way more nearly to eliminate unhealthy social distinctions, and i cherish the hope that in fostering our internal welfare i shall receive the harmonious support of all true subjects of the realm, without division of party. [ ] as this message of emperor william i was practically the beginning of labor legislation in germany and is several times referred to, its significant portion is given below. emperor william i had already failed in his policy of crushing socialism through drastic measures of repression. he was now to initiate a policy of attempting to kill it with kindness. in spite of certain admirable provisions, this too was to fail. the social democrats had learned from bitter experience that they did not enjoy the good-will of either the grandfather or the grandson, and for this reason the projects of social legislation were looked upon with suspicion and accepted without enthusiasm. the awkward and compromising nature of the emperor's position is evident in the preamble. "already in february of this year we expressed the conviction that the healing of social grievances was not to be sought exclusively in the repression of social democratic excesses, but also in the direct advancement of the welfare of the laborer. we hold it to be our royal duty to impress this matter upon the reichstag, and we would look back with greater satisfaction upon all the achievements with which god has blessed our reign if we could carry away with us the conviction that we had left to the fatherland new and lasting pledges of internal peace and to those in need of help greater security and provisions for support, upon which they may make rightful claim. in our attempts to this end we are sure of the support of all the affiliated governments and count upon the support of the reichstag without distinction of parties. to this end a draft of a bill for the protection of laborers against accidents, which was presented by the affiliated governments in the previous session, will be reformulated in view of the discussions held in the reichstag and will be offered for further consideration. as a supplement to it, a project will be brought forward which proposes a similar organization of the funds for laboring men's sick insurance. but those, too, who on account of age or infirmity are no longer able to work have just claim upon the community for a higher degree of governmental protection than it has previously been possible to accord them. to find the proper ways and means for making such provision is one of the most difficult but one of the highest tasks of any society which is based upon the foundations of a christian national life. by calling upon the sources of this strong national life and organizing it into incorporated associations under state protection we hope to bring about the solution of problems which the state alone could not solve with the same success. but even in this way the goal cannot be reached without the employment of important means." i hold it, however, likewise my duty to see to it that our political and social development proceeds according to law and to meet with firmness any attempt which aims at undermining the order of the state. in foreign politics i am determined to keep peace with every one in so far as in me lies. my love for the german army and my position in it will never lead me into the temptation of robbing the country of the benefits of peace, unless some attack upon the empire, or her allies, forces war upon us. the army is to make our peace secure; yet if that should, nevertheless, be threatened, the army will be able to re-establish it with honor. and it will be able to do so by reason of the strength which it has received from the last army bill, which you voted unanimously. to make use of that force to wage a war of aggression lies far from my thoughts. germany needs no new martial glory nor any conquest of whatever sort after she has, once for all, established her right to exist as a single and independent nation. our alliance with austria-hungary is publicly known; i hold fast to this in german faith not only because it is concluded but because i perceive in this defensive alliance a basis for european balance of power as well as a legacy from german history. the public opinion of the entire german people supports this alliance, and it is founded upon the european law of nations, as it prevailed undisputed until . similar historical relations, and the fact that we have similar national needs to-day, ally us with italy. both nations wish to hold fast to the blessings of peace in order to devote themselves undisturbed to the strengthening of their newly acquired unity, to the development of their national institutions, and to the furtherance of their prosperity. to my great satisfaction, our existing agreements with austria-hungary and italy permit me to foster carefully my personal friendship for the russian emperor and the friendly relations which have existed for a hundred years with the neighboring russian empire, a course which accords with my own feelings as well as with the interests of germany. i stand as ready to serve the fatherland in the conscientious promotion of peace as in the care for our army and rejoice in the traditional relations with foreign powers through which my efforts in the former direction are being furthered. trusting in god and in the ability of our people to defend themselves, i entertain the hope that for an appreciable time we may be allowed to preserve and strengthen through peaceful labor what my two predecessors on the throne had acquired through their efforts on the field of battle. opening of the reichstag berlin, november , the first months of the emperor's reign were devoted largely to visiting the heads of the confederated german states and in cultivating the acquaintance of foreign rulers. his main purpose, as he tells us on a later occasion, was to combat the idea that it was his intention to enter upon a career of war. the workingman's insurance act, which has been referred to, was one of the most important legislative provisions ever made in the interests of labor. the cost of this insurance was distributed between the employer, the employed, and the state. in spite of its undoubted benefits, it had failed to disarm the social democrats, and the party had continued to increase. they complained that the proportion of the cost borne by them was too great, and, as they had been previously and were soon again to be treated as enemies, they were inclined to look upon it as a bribe. by his "social-political" legislation the emperor meant to forestall the socialist programme. when this well-intentioned movement failed to dissolve the party, which continued to increase, he was not slow to show his resentment. honored gentlemen: when i greeted you for the first time, at the beginning of my reign, you stood with me under the weight of the severe visitations which my house and the empire have experienced in the course of the present year. the sorrow over this loss will never be wholly extinguished during the lifetime of the present generation, but it cannot hinder me from following in the footsteps of my late ancestors and completely fulfilling the demands of duty with manly vigor and fidelity. buoyed up by this sense of duty and assuming that this exists in you to the same degree, i give you my greeting and bid you welcome as we again take up our common labors. my travels have carried me into different parts of the empire, and everywhere i have found evidences, both on the part of my exalted colleagues and of the people, that the princes and the population of germany are, with absolute trust, devoted to the empire and its institutions and find the pledge of safety in their union. from such testimony you have doubtless come to the conclusion, no less satisfying to you than to me, that the organic union which now binds the empire together has taken deep and firm rooting in the people at large. i therefore feel the need of gratefully expressing on this occasion the pleasure which it gives me. it fills me with great satisfaction that, after difficult and laborious negotiations, the inclusion of the free hanseatic cities, hamburg and bremen, into the customs union of the empire has now been realized. i see in this the blessed fruit of our combined efforts. may the expectations which we count upon from this extension of the empire's customs districts be realized in fullest measure, both for the empire and for these two most important seacoast towns! the government of the swiss federation has suggested a revision of the commercial treaty between germany and switzerland. filled with the desire of confirming the existing friendly relations between the two countries and of extending them also into the realm of their commercial policies, i stand ready to meet their proposal. the negotiations have been conducted through the offices of representatives from the states bordering upon switzerland, and their result consists in a further agreement through which the treaty regulations for reciprocal trade will be extended and the exchange of industrial products will be made easier. after its successful acceptance by the bundesrat the agreement will be presented to you with the proposal, in order that you may bestow upon it your constitutional sanction. the budget for the next fiscal year will be laid before you without delay. the draft gives proof of the satisfactory condition of the imperial finances. as a result of the reforms instituted in the last few years, with your co-operation, in the way of tariffs and internal revenues, surplus receipts may be expected, and upon this basis we shall not only be provided with a new means of fulfilling the inevitable obligations of the empire but it may be possible for our constituent states to expect an increase of means for their own purposes. i greet with joy the signs of a revival of economic activity in various fields. even though the pressure which bears upon the farmer is not yet relieved, nevertheless, as i look forward to the possibility which has lately appeared of a greater utilization of certain agricultural products, i hope that an amelioration also of this most powerful branch of our industrial work will be brought about. the bill which has already been announced on the regulation of the industrial and agricultural societies will be laid before you for your decision. it is to be hoped that the enfranchising of associations with limited liability which the bill proposes will prove itself beneficial in increasing agricultural credit. certain shortcomings which have appeared in connection with the insurance against sickness call for legal remedy. the necessary preliminary investigations for this have so far progressed as to make it possible, in all probability, to lay before you in the course of this session an adequate presentation of the case. as a precious legacy from my grandfather, i have taken over the problem of carrying out the social-political legislation begun by him. i do not allow myself to be carried away by the hope that through legal measures the exigencies of our time and human misery can be abolished from the world. i judge it to be a duty, however, of the executive power to strive with all its faculties toward the mitigation of existing industrial grievances and through organized measures to emphasize the fact that love of our neighbor, which has its foundations in christianity itself, should be a recognized duty of the entire state. the difficulties which stand in the way of the state's assisting in the universal insurance of all workers against the dangers of age and sickness are great; but, with god's help, they are not insurmountable. as the result of extensive investigations a bill will be presented to you which reveals a possible means of attaining this end. our settlements in africa have imposed upon the german empire the duty of converting that part of the world to a christian civilization. the friendly government of england and her parliament has known for a hundred years that the fulfilment of this obligation must begin with combating the hunting of slaves and the trade in negroes. i have, therefore, sought and concluded an understanding with england, whose meaning and aim you shall learn. on it depend further negotiations with other friendly and interested governments and further proposals for the reichstag. our relations with all foreign governments are peaceful, and my efforts are continually directed toward cementing this peace. our treaties with austria and italy have no other aim. it is incompatible with my christian faith and with the duties which as emperor i have assumed toward the people needlessly to bring upon germany the sorrows of a war, even of a victorious one. in this conviction i have looked upon it as my duty soon after i ascended the throne to greet not only my affiliated rulers within the realm but also the friendly neighboring sovereigns. i have sought to find an understanding with them concerning the fulfilment of this trust which god has placed upon us, of preserving, so far as in us lies, the peace and welfare of our people. the confidence with which i and my policies have been received at all the courts which i have visited leads me to hope that, with god's help, i and my allies and my friends will succeed in preserving the peace of europe. the emperor and the striking miners berlin, may , the emperor's change of attitude toward the socialists is evident from his conduct in the conflict which had arisen in the rhenish and westphalian coal districts between the miners and their employers. he personally received delegations from both sides. the miners' delegation consisted of schröder (spokesman), siegel, and bunte. in answer to schröder's speech, the emperor announced: it goes without saying that every subject, when he presents a wish or a petition, has the ear of his emperor. of this i have given evidence in that i have invited the deputation to come here and to set forth their wishes in person. you have, however, placed yourselves in the wrong, because your agitation is unlawful for no other reason than the fact that the fourteen days of warning have not yet expired, after which the workers would have been legally justified in ceasing work. in consequence of this you are guilty of breaking a contract. it is self-evident that this breach of contract has angered and injured the employers. further, there are workers who do not wish to strike and who, either through force or by means of threats, are hindered from continuing their work. also, certain of the workers have seized upon organs of the authorities and upon property which did not belong to them and have even, in individual cases, offered resistance to the military force called to protect them. finally, you wish that work should be generally resumed again only when your combined demands shall have been fulfilled at all the mines. as for the demands themselves, i shall, through my government, carefully examine them and have the results of the investigation delivered to you through the appointed authorities. should, however, there occur transgressions against the public order and peace, or should the agitation ally itself with the social democrats, then i should not be in a position to reconcile your wishes with my good-will as ruler. for, to me, every social democrat is synonymous with an enemy of the realm and of the fatherland. should i, therefore, discover that social-democratic tendencies become involved in the agitation and instigate unlawful opposition, i will step in sternly and ruthlessly and bring to bear all the power that i possess--and it is great. now go to your homes, think over what i have said, and seek to influence your comrades to reflection. above all, however, you must not, under any circumstances, hinder your comrades who wish to return to their work. visit of the king of italy berlin, may , at the time of the great spring review of this year, king humbert came to berlin to return the emperor's visit. a state banquet was held, at which the emperor proposed the following toast to the king of italy: may it please your majesty to accept from me and my people our heartiest thanks for the proof of the friendship which your majesty has given me by this visit! my troops, likewise, are filled with grateful pride that they have been able to conduct themselves with honor in the eyes of your majesty, an experienced soldier. full of the happy remembrance of the army manoeuvres at rome, i raise my glass and drink to the health of your majesty and of her majesty, the queen; to the health of your brave troops as well as to the unchanging friendship with the house of savoy, whose motto, "_sempre avanti, savoja_," has led to the unification of the kingdom of italy. long live his majesty, king humbert! the english fleet and the german army sandown bay, august , on this date the emperor was created admiral of the english fleet by queen victoria. on the same day he was present at a regatta on sandown bay, where he replied as follows to a toast offered by the prince of wales: i prize most highly the honor which has been shown me by the queen in appointing me admiral of the english fleet. i sincerely rejoice to have seen the manoeuvres of the fleet, which i consider the finest in the world. germany possesses an army which answers to her needs, and if the british nation possesses a fleet sufficient for the needs of england, this in itself will be considered by europe in general as a weighty factor in the maintenance of peace. the english army aldershot, august , on his mother's side, who was a princess royal of england, the emperor was a grandson of queen victoria, to whom he paid frequent visits and whom he held in high regard. william ii began his reign with cordial feelings toward his island neighbors. if the friendship between the two nations was never particularly close, the estrangement of modern times may be said to have begun in colonial and commercial rivalries in the last decades of the nineteenth century and to have been sharpened by events in china and especially by the boer war. the situation became more acute after the morocco incident, in - , and when on that occasion england sided with france she was by a large portion of the german people definitely aligned with their enemies. the present toast, which was reported in this form in the _kreuzzeitung_ of august , , was received with no protest or denial. the emperor had been present at the manoeuvres of , english troops at aldershot, under general sir evelyn wood. the toast was offered in the camp tent of the duke of cambridge, in response to one by that officer. it gives me particular satisfaction to have appointed the duke of cambridge, the commander-in-chief of the english army, as a member of the th regiment, since this same regiment had as chief at one time our comrade at waterloo, the duke of wellington. the friendship with the english, which had been sealed in blood, my honored grandfather maintained to the end of his life. the british army fills me with the greatest admiration. if ever the possibility of counting upon volunteers is doubted, i shall be in a position to give testimony to their capacity. at malplaquet and at waterloo the prussian and british blood was shed in a common cause. the czar at berlin berlin, october , on the occasion of alexander iii's visit to berlin the emperor offered the following toast at the banquet in the white room of the royal palace. it may be "considering too curiously to consider so," but to many there will seem to be something matter-of-fact in the czar's reply, which is printed below. this friendship between the rulers of the two neighboring countries was, however, outwardly preserved up to the time of the present war, as is evident to those who will consult the telegrams exchanged between william and nicolas on the eve of the outbreak. i drink to the health of my honored friend, his majesty, the emperor of russia, and to the continuation of the friendship which has existed for more than one hundred years between our houses and which, as a legacy received from my ancestors, i am determined to foster. the czar replied in french, as follows: _je remercie votre majesté de vos bonnes paroles et je partage entièrement les sentiments que vous venez d'exprimer. a la santé de sa majesté, l'empereur et roi--hourra!_ on board an english flag-ship the pirÆus, october , on visits to his english relatives the emperor had, as a lad, made occasional sojourns in great britain, and that romantic temperament of which he was to give indications even in much later years was much impressed by the sight of english ships. he recalls the memory on many occasions. as will be plain later, he early conceived the idea and realized the necessity of a powerful fleet. as this is his first reference to the navy in the present volume it is interesting to note the attitude of humble discipleship which in the mid-years of the next decade is to give way to quite another conception. i am proud of the rank which queen victoria has bestowed upon me. it might be supposed that my interest in the british navy dated from my appointment as admiral; that, however, is not so. from my earliest youth, when as a boy i ran about on the wharves at portsmouth, i was much interested in british ships. my inspection of the ships to-day has afforded me great satisfaction, and i congratulate you on their appearance. nelson's famous watchword is no longer necessary. they all do their duty, and we as a young sea power follow england in order to learn from the english navy. iii after bismarck may , --june , opening of the reichstag berlin, may , this address to the reichstag is of particular importance. the emperor had now visited most of the sovereigns of europe and felt that he had established himself. he was here definitely outlining a policy which he himself had framed. in that period when the emperor was still prince william, bismarck had said: "in him there is something of frederick the great, and he is also able to become as despotic as frederick the great. what a blessing that we have a parliamentary government!" he had likewise prophesied that the emperor would be his own chancellor, and he had discovered in his own case that the prophecy was a true one. in the spring of this year, after numerous misunderstandings, bismarck had himself been forced into retirement, and henceforth his name will be mentioned but rarely. one of the points on which they had disagreed was precisely this project for labor legislation, which was, unfortunately, not destined to fulfil the hopes entertained by william ii. a number of the projects here laid down were carried out only partially and others not at all. so, for instance, in this same year the emperor had issued the following decree: "for the fostering of peace between employers and laborers legal regulations are contemplated regarding the forms in which the laborers shall, through representatives who possess their confidence, participate in the regulation of matters of common concern and the protection of their interests in negotiations with employers and with the organs of my government. by such institutions the laborers are to be enabled to give free and peaceful expression to their wishes and complaints, and the state authorities are to be given the opportunity of continually acquainting themselves with the conditions of the workers and of cultivating contact with the latter." as late as it had not been carried into execution, though chambers of labor have since been established which partially carry out this end. the industrial courts of which the emperor speaks have been far from successful in arbitration disputes. they are established in all cities of over , inhabitants and consist of equal numbers of employers and employees. dawson holds that unwillingness to mediate lies with the employers. during the year , courts acted as boards of conciliation on occasions, all told, and in only cases were they successful. part of the failure lies in the fact that no wage agreements existed. of "aggressive" strikes in berlin in , organized by the "free" trades federations, were for the introduction of wage agreements. the emperor's disappointment at the failure of his policy to check the growing disaffection of the laboring classes will later be evident. it is significant that in this address, though measures for the army are strongly urged, there is as yet no mention of the navy. honored gentlemen: since you have been chosen in the recent elections to work in common with the allied governments, i bid you welcome at this the opening of the eighth legislative session of the reichstag. i earnestly hope that you may succeed in finding a satisfactory solution for the important problems of legislation which here confront you. a number of these problems are of so pressing a nature that it did not seem possible to defer longer the summoning of the reichstag. i consider as most important among them the further enlargement of the bill concerning the protection of the laborer. the strikes which have occurred in different parts of the country during the past year have given me occasion to bring about an investigation of the question as to whether our present legislation has, to the fullest extent, taken cognizance of those wishes of the working people which are really just and reasonable and within the state's power of regulation. the question of first importance concerns the guarantee of sunday as a day of rest for the laboring man, as well as the limitation of woman and child labor in accordance with consideration for humanity and with regard to the natural laws of development. the governments of the affiliated states are convinced that the proposals in this connection made by the last reichstag can, according to their present content, be given legal effectiveness without harm to other interests. in this connection, however, numerous other provisions have shown themselves unsatisfactory and capable of improvement. to this category belong especially the legal provisions for the protection of the laborer against danger to his life, health, and morals, as well as the laws concerning the announcement of regulations of labor. the prescriptions concerning the working men's books need amplification with the aim of insuring the respect due the older men against the increasing impertinence of the younger laborers. the consequent changes demanded and the further expansion of the trade regulations find their expression in a bill which you will shortly receive. a further proposal endeavors to secure the better regulation of the industrial arbitration courts and, likewise, an organization of these which shall make it possible to use them as mediators in cases of dispute between employers and employees over the terms on which labor shall be continued or resumed. i trust that your willing co-operation will secure an agreement of the law-making bodies concerning the reform laid before you and thereby take a step forward toward the solution of our relations to the laboring class. the more the laboring population recognizes the serious earnestness with which the government is striving to render their status satisfactory, so much the more will they be conscious of the dangers which must arise from their insistence upon extravagant and impossible demands. in the proper provision for the laborer lies the most effective means of increasing the strength which i and my associated rulers are called upon and willing to use in opposing with unyielding determination any attempt to shake the provisions of the law. nevertheless, in the case of this reform there can be question only of such measures as are feasible without endangering the fatherland's industrial activity and with it the most important vital interests of the laborer himself. our industry forms only one department in the economic work of all the peoples who take part in the competition in the market of the world. with this in mind, i have sought to bring about an interchange of opinions on the matter, among the states of europe where similar economic conditions prevail, as to how far a general recognition of the legislative problems relative to the safety of the working man can be established and brought to pass. i am compelled to gratefully acknowledge that these suggestions have found favor in all states concerned and especially in those where the same idea was already being agitated and was approaching execution. the course of the international conference which met here fills me with especial satisfaction. its conclusions are the expression of a general attitude with regard to this most important province of our contemporary civilization. the principles there laid down will, i have no doubt, prove a rich field which, with god's help, shall blossom to the blessing of the workers of all countries and which will also bear fruit in drawing all nations together. the continued preservation of peace is ever the goal of my efforts. i dare express the conviction that i have succeeded in securing the confidence of all foreign governments in the good faith of this policy of mine. like myself and my esteemed affiliated rulers, the german people recognize that it is the problem of the empire to preserve peace by cultivating the alliances already concluded for our defense, and the friendly relations now existing with all foreign powers, in order to further prosperity and civilization. for the accomplishment of this task, however, we need an armed force compatible with our position in the heart of europe. every postponement of matters pertaining to the army endangers the political balance of power and with it the success of our policy directed toward maintaining peace. since the basis of our army organization was decided upon for a definite period the military organization of our neighbors has been broadened and perfected to an unforeseen degree. indeed, we, too, have neglected nothing in our attempt to strengthen our forces, in so far as this was possible within the limits prescribed by the law. nevertheless, what we could do within these limits was so little that we cannot postpone a consideration of the whole question without danger to ourselves. an increase of the present peace strength and an increase of the bodies of troops--especially for the field-artillery--must not be longer deferred. a bill will be laid before you according to which the necessary measures for strengthening the army will go into effect on the st of october of this year. the plan which has been instituted in west africa toward the suppression of the slave-trade and for the protection of the german interests has, during the last months, made progress, thanks to the self-sacrificing activity of our officers and officials who are stationed there. the complete restoration of peace in those districts may be expected very shortly. the expense thus incurred will be covered by an additional grant. the budget for the current fiscal year already needs a corresponding enlargement on account of the plans referred to. furthermore, the increase of salary for a part of the officials of the realm, which has long been projected and which has become ever more pressing, can no longer be delayed. the supplementary budget which is to be submitted to you will give you an opportunity to prove your friendly interest in satisfying this need. if the labors hereby imposed upon you come to a successful issue, new and sound guarantees for the inner welfare of the fatherland will then have been won. may it be granted to us through common effort to achieve this end! review of the ninth army corps flensburg, september , the review of the ninth army corps took place in the presence of the empress, princes henry and albert, of archduke karl stephen of austria, and count moltke at flensburg. it will be remembered that in bismarck succeeded in enlisting austria to aid prussia in a war upon denmark, which was at that time deprived of schleswig-holstein, the harbor of kiel, and more than , , inhabitants. one of the battles of the war to which the emperor refers was fought in this district. the address was made at the banquet following the review. my opinion of to-day's performance of the ninth army corps under the command of your excellency [general von leszczynski] i have already expressed to you and your officers. whoever, like myself, has for any length of time stood at the front or partly at the front and partly as spectator has been present at many imperial manoeuvres knows what such a parade means to an army corps. i know very well what arduous preliminary labor is involved, the agitation, the attention, the exertion of the troops. i know very well how each individual officer, high or low, every soldier, rejoices in and yet with a certain solicitude looks forward to the moment when he shall parade before his war lord.[ ] [ ] kriegsherr. i know from my own experience when i was still a captain what satisfaction i felt when my adjutant could call to me that the emperor had nodded as the company passed by him. this is true to-day, likewise, in the case of every officer. i repeat to you my hearty thanks and express to you my congratulation for the magnificent parade. this army corps which you have marshalled before me has a bearing and discipline which i must demand unconditionally from every army corps. i do not doubt for a moment that the work done in preparing for a review will prove useful in the preparation for battle. we stand here upon historic ground, on which our armies, united with those of austria, jointly won a bloody victory. i raise my glass and drink to the ninth army corps in the expectation that here and hereafter, in war as in peace, it will maintain its famous traditions. long live the ninth army corps! accidents with agricultural machinery berlin, november , the following address shows the emperor in one of the little-known phases of his amazingly versatile career. it exhibits, likewise, his command of detailed knowledge in a field where we should least expect it and his solicitude for the welfare of faithful subjects. besides his interest in the sea, he has also for many years been much interested in agriculture; and his estate in east prussia has been in a sense an experiment station. he prides himself on being a pioneer and in personally supervising his domain and is occasionally pleased to call himself a farmer. he attended the meetings of the prussian agricultural commission and at one of the sessions took part in the discussion on the means of safeguarding the life of the laborers. two points have occurred to me which i would like to ask you to consider. it is worthy of note that during my reign there have been brought to my attention many striking cases in which laboring women have been killed through accidents with machinery. i receive regularly from the minister of justice tabulated lists of requests[ ] for pardon, and it seems to me that there is among them a striking number of cases of women farmhands who have met with accidents in tending machines. as has already been said, i am not granting these pardons as freely as formerly. it is to be noted, furthermore, that a great difference prevails in the adjudication of the cases in which penalties may be inflicted and in the penalties themselves. i next inquired why these women workers--it was especially girls working with the thrashing-machines--were killed, and it usually appeared that the girls were caught by their dresses in the transmission pulleys and so became entangled in them. then i asked if there were no means of protection there. yes, indeed, they said, according to the police regulations the pulleys must have a cover or a box must be put over them, but in each of these cases this had not been attended to. there also appeared here, on the one side, a certain indifference either on the part of the owner or of the person who was conducting the work concerning the life of the women in his employ and, on the other side, an indifference on the part of the women themselves, who had become accustomed to working near the moving parts of the machines and to stepping over the pulleys, and finally the accident happened. therefore, may i ask you that in using the word "machines" these provisions regarding power transmission be not forgotten. many of the machines stand in one place and the apparatus for transmission is in another place or in the yard, and that is a chief cause of the accidents. for every one passes through the yard, and especially if there are children playing there, all too easily some misfortune may occur. [ ] from employers, of course. let me, therefore, remark, concerning what one of the preceding speakers has said, that i myself have come to the same conclusion as professor schmoller. i believe that it is not sufficient that the state should lay upon the worker the obligation to be careful and that it should give him directions how to conduct himself with regard to the machines. this cannot be carried out. i am much more of the opinion that, if such is your desire and if it is plain that harm has resulted from the fact that the workers move about too carelessly, it is much better that the obligation should be put upon the owner or upon the person commissioned to conduct the machines and that he be required to watch over the employees more carefully. if the owner cannot burden himself with it then he should have such officials as would have sufficient influence with the worker to make him be careful. we must not forget what, for the most part, such a worker is like and what he knows of machinery. frequently he knows only that it cuts or that it is otherwise dangerous. a certain grip is shown him--he must do it like this--but the rest he does not understand and regards with indifference. consequently regulations which concern only or more particularly the laborer would not help, for the people would not understand their aim and when the regulation caused them annoyance or trouble would fail to consider it and thus render themselves liable to accident. i believe, therefore, that it is most important in the question of the conduct of agricultural machinery that we should work toward proper supervision over the laborer by the employer. when this happens accidents will begin to diminish. it has interested me very much to learn here that it is not the machines but altogether different circumstances which cause most of the accidents in agricultural operations and that particularly in all provinces where horses are employed accidents are frequent. i am therefore pleased that this phase of the question of protecting against accident has also come up here and that the gentlemen are now engaged upon it. for the rest it has been a great pleasure to me to take part in these deliberations. alsace-lorraine berlin, march , on this occasion a deputation from alsace-lorraine presented a protest against the continuance of the _passzwang_, a rule which made it impossible to leave alsace-lorraine except under very special circumstances and on receiving a pass from the imperial agent. the rule was particularly obnoxious, and the strictness with which it had been enforced was much resented, even by subjects favorably disposed to the empire. it was, however, merely one of many grievances. since the time of the franco-prussian war, alsace-lorraine had been governed like a conquered province--by a governor appointed by, and responsible to, the emperor alone. up to this time the policy had been one of repression, save for a very brief period. it is possible that the emperor might have been inclined to give them some relief had it not been for the unfortunate result of the visit of his mother to paris. after a visit in london, the empress frederick, in february, (it is supposed on the advice of her son), visited paris and, while there, was to ask certain of the french artists to exhibit at the berlin exhibition. it had evidently been assumed that the time had come for a _rapprochement_. the empress descended at the german embassy very quietly and had received promises from several artists, when her presence in paris became known to the league of french patriots and to the germanophobe déroulède, who immediately started a violent agitation and demonstrations against germany. the artists withdrew their promises under the pressure of outraged patriotic opinion, and the situation became so tense that the empress was forced to depart very hastily in a manner that suggested flight. the incident tended to make bad feeling on both sides and reacted unfavorably upon the attitude of the empire toward the former french provinces. the difficulties of circulation were increased, and the regulations about passes were made particularly trying. these difficulties were removed in , but the provinces continued to protest, as they were not given equal rights with the other german states and have not enjoyed them up to the present. in may, , a new so-called constitution was given to alsace-lorraine. the executive power is exercised by the emperor in the name of the empire; the province has three votes in the bundesrat, which are so restricted that they give very little satisfaction to alsace-lorraine and are so far under the control of prussia that they give considerable dissatisfaction to other german states. the emperor appoints officials, including the _statthalter_, or governor, and the delegates are instructed by the _statthalter_ and must vote according to instructions. the votes do not count in any vote concerning the imperial constitution. there was much protest because the new constitution did not grant the provinces sufficient independence. the previous provincial assembly (_landesausschuss_) had been summarily closed on the th of may, . affairs were but little improved under the new arrangement, and the emperor came to strasburg in great anger, may , , and made the following threatening address: "if this keeps up i shall knock your constitution to bits. up to the present you have known me from my good side, but you can perhaps learn to know me from the other side also. if things do not change, we will make of alsace-lorraine a prussian province." this speech of the emperor's is not printed officially, but it was made the subject of an interpellation in the reichstag on may , , and the burgomaster of strasburg admitted that the sense of the imperial utterance was properly given. with regard to alsace-lorraine, the emperor has tried both kindness and severity. the zabern incident proved that in neither of these policies had he succeeded in winning either the love or the subjection of the inhabitants. the following is the estimate of dr. h. a. gibbons on the situation in alsace-lorraine immediately before the outbreak of the european war: "one could easily fill many pages with illustrations of senseless persecutions, most of them of the pettiest character, but some more serious in nature, which alsace and lorraine have had to endure since the granting of the constitution. newspapers, illustrated journals, clubs, and organizations of all kinds have been annoyed constantly by police interference. their editors, artists, and managers have been brought frequently into court. zislin and hansi, celebrated caricaturists, have found themselves provoked to bolder and bolder defiances by successive condemnations and have endured imprisonment as well as fines. hansi was sentenced to a year's imprisonment by the high court of leipsic only a month before the present war broke out and chose exile rather than a prussian fortress. "the greatest effort during the past few years has been made in the schools to influence the minds of the growing generation against the '_souvenir de france_,' and to impress upon the alsacians what good fortune had come to them to be born german citizens. "among the boys, the influence of this teaching has been such that over twenty-two thousand fled from home during the period of - to enlist in the foreign legion of the french army. the campaign of the german newspapers in alsace-lorraine and, in fact, throughout germany was redoubled in . parents were warned of the horrible treatment accorded to the poor boys who were misguided enough to throw away their citizenship and go to be killed in africa under the french flag. the result of this campaign was that the foreign legion received a larger number of alsacians in than had enlisted during a single year since ! "among the girls, the german educational system flattered itself that it could completely change the sentiments of a child, especially in the boarding-schools. last year the empress of germany visited a girls' school near metz which is one of the best german schools in the _reichsland_. as she was leaving she told the children that she wanted to give them something. what did they want? the answer was not sweets or cake but that they might be taught a _little_ french! "the former french provinces have been flooded with garrisons and have been treated just as they were forty years ago. the insufferable spirit of militarism and the arrogance of the prussian officers in alsacian towns have served to turn against the empire many thousands whom another policy might have won; for it must be remembered that by no means _all_ the inhabitants of the _reichsland_ have been by birth and by home training french sympathizers. instead of crushing out the '_souvenir de france_,' the prussian civil and military officials have caused it to be born in many a soul which was by nature german. "the prussian has never understood how to win the confidence of others. there has been no rome in his political vision. as for conceptions of toleration, of kindness, and of love, they are non-existent in prussian officialdom." it gives me great satisfaction that the committee of the provinces has turned to me in an important question concerning the interests of alsace-lorraine. i see in this fact a valuable proof of the increasing understanding which my good-will and my interest in the development of your home country has begotten in the minds of its representatives. i am also pleased to accept this assurance that the people of alsace-lorraine, satisfied for the time being with the existing political relations, spurn every interference by foreign elements and look to the empire alone for the protection of their interests. while i offer you my thanks for this expression of loyal sentiment, i regret that for the present i cannot fulfil your wishes. i must confine myself in this matter to expressing the hope that in a not too distant future our relations may make possible the alleviation of conditions on the western boundary. this hope will be the sooner realized the more the people of alsace-lorraine are convinced of the inviolability of the union which binds them to germany and the more decidedly they exhibit their resolution to remain forever faithful and immovable in their loyalty to me and to the empire. swearing in the recruits potsdam, november , every year the emperor is present at the swearing in of the recruits to the guard and to the navy. he has made innumerable speeches on such occasions. the present somewhat striking pronouncement was delivered at a time when his feeling toward the socialists, who had been guilty of no particular outrage, still ran very high. tolstoi saw in it the worst excesses of militarism and issued shortly after the following criticism of the emperor's attitude: "this man expresses what all wise men know but carefully conceal. he says frankly that men who serve in the army serve him and his advantage and must be prepared for his advantage to kill their brothers and fathers. "he expresses frankly, and with the coarsest of words, all the horror of the crime for which the men who enter into military service are prepared, all that abyss of degradation which they reach when they promise obedience. like a bold hypnotizer, he tests the degree of the hypnotized man's sleep: he puts the glowing iron to his body, the body sizzles and smokes, but the hypnotized man does not awake. "this miserable, ill man, who has lost his mind from the exercise of power, with these words offends everything which can be holy for a man of our time, and men--christians, liberals, cultured men of our time, all of them are not only not provoked by this insult but do not even notice it." it is possible that such criticism and the resentment aroused in the minds of the law-abiding socialists led him later to tone down his utterances, though on one subsequent occasion, again with the socialists in mind, he made a somewhat similar address (march , ). recruits to the regiment of my guard: you are brought together here from all parts of the empire to fulfil your military duty, and in this holy place have just sworn fealty to your emperor to your last breath. you are still too young to understand all this. you will, however, little by little, be made familiar with its significance. do not imagine it too difficult, and trust in god; occasionally also say the lord's prayer--that has frequently given many a warrior fresh courage. children of my guard, to-day you have become incorporated into my army; you now stand under my command and have the privilege of wearing my uniform. wear it honorably. think of the famous history of your fatherland; remember that the german army must be armed against the internal as well as the external foe. more and more unbelief and discontent raise their heads in the fatherland, and it may come to pass that you will have to shoot down or stab your own relatives and brothers. then seal your loyalty with your heart's blood! and now go to your homes and fulfil your duties. --(according to the _breslauer lokalanzeiger_ of december .) according to the _neisser zeitung_, the second paragraph ran as follows: recruits! you have now before the consecrated servant of the lord and before his altar, sworn fealty to me. you are still too young to understand the true meaning of what has just been said; but be diligent now and follow the directions and instructions given you. you have sworn loyalty to me; that means, children of my guard, that you are now my soldiers, you have given yourselves up to me, body and soul; there is for you but one enemy, and that is my enemy. in view of the present socialistic agitations it may come to pass that i shall command you to shoot your own relatives, brothers, yes, parents--which god forbid--but even then you must follow my command without a murmur. entirely similar, but shorter, is a clipping from the berlin paper _das volk_, according to the account of one who heard the speech. you have sworn to me the oath of loyalty; that means, from now on you know only one command, and that is my most high command; you have only one enemy, and that is my enemy! and so i may sometime--which god forbid--have to bid you to shoot upon your own relatives, yes, brothers and parents--then remember your oath! the emperor's first army bill berlin, july , the opposition between the reichstag and the government reached a climax when the session which opened in was dissolved in january, , because it refused to vote for the bill fixing the army status for the ensuing seven years. the next reichstag, elected in february, voted the bill. in spite of the fact that the new arrangement was to have been effective until march, , as early as the session of changes were introduced which fixed the peace footing at , men, exclusive of the one-year volunteers. in november, , a new army bill was presented, to run for six years, fixing the peace footing at , . all infantrymen were to serve two years. in the debates of it was announced that russia was an ally of germany. the failure to renew the neutrality agreement with that power and the growing _rapprochement_ between france and russia seems to have been most in the emperor's mind in calling for an increase. the increased appropriation of was covered by a tax on spirits, sugar, and grain. the new increase was to be met by indirect taxes, mostly on beer and brandy. when the reichstag refused to vote the bill as it stood, it was dissolved and a new one called. the new reichstag, which is here addressed, accepted the bill on july . as much of the opposition had been due to the fear of the less-favored classes that the increased cost would fall heavily on them through indirect taxes, the chancellor assured the representatives (as the emperor here indicates) that there would be no tax on beer or brandy nor any other necessities of life. since you have been called to work in common with the confederated governments, it is my desire at the beginning of your deliberations to greet you and bid you welcome. the draft of the bill concerning the peace footing of the german army, through which a strengthening of our available force would have been achieved, was presented to the last reichstag. to my great regret the project did not meet with the approval of the representatives of the people. the conviction, unanimously shared by my corulers, that in the face of the development of the military arrangements of the other powers this government could no longer put off such a shaping of its military status as should guarantee its safety and its future led to the decision to dissolve the reichstag and, by the calling of new representatives to attain the end recognized as necessary. since the proposal of this law the political situation of europe has undergone no change. to my great satisfaction, the relations of the empire to the foreign states are altogether and everywhere friendly and free from any cloud. the organized military force of germany, however, compares still more unfavorably with that of our neighbors than it did last year. since her geographical position and her historical development impose upon germany the duty of taking thought for a proportionately large standing army, the further development of our defensive strength, therefore, with regard to the progress of other countries becomes a pressing necessity. in order to satisfy the duties constitutionally laid upon me, it seemed to me incontrovertible that i should exercise every existing means at my command toward the restoration of a sufficient and effective defense of the honor of the fatherland. there will, therefore, be laid before you without delay a new bill concerning the peace footing of the army. in it the wishes which were strongly expressed during the discussion of the former bill are taken account of, and, in accordance with this, demands made upon the personal capacity and upon the people's ability to pay taxes have, in so far as this could be done without endangering the end sought, been lessened. the interest of the realm demands, especially in looking forward to the impending expiration of the seven-year arrangement next spring, that the bill should be decided upon with all possible despatch, in order that this year's recruiting can be undertaken on the new basis. a delay in carrying out this proposal would be felt for more than twenty years, to the detriment of our defensive strength. to make it possible for you to give your undivided attention to the discussion of the bill, the confederated governments will refrain from burdening the session with other important matters. i and my honored corulers are still of the opinion that the means necessary for the reorganization of our military equipment can be raised properly, and without overburdening the people, in the manner brought forward last autumn in the draft of the proposed taxation bill. nevertheless, the question of making good the deficit is still the object of continued discussions. i expect that a proposal will be set before you by the beginning of the next winter session in which is expressed, even more strongly than in the former bill, the principle that the providing of the necessary means must be carried out with the utmost regard for the individual's ability to pay and with as little draft as possible upon our power of levying taxes. until the expiration of the present official year the contributions from the various states may be drawn upon to cover the excess. honored sirs, we have succeeded in the difficult task of welding the german race into a strong union. the nation honors those who have given their possessions and their blood for this work and who have brought the fatherland to political and industrial prosperity--a prosperity which is the pride and the pleasure of their contemporaries and which, if they build in the same spirit as their fathers, will guarantee to the generations to come the greatness and the happiness of the empire. to protect the glorious acquisitions with which god has blessed us in our struggle for independence is our most sacred duty. we can, however, only fulfil such a duty toward the fatherland by making ourselves sufficiently strong in military power to defend ourselves, so that we may remain a reliable guarantor of the peace of europe. i trust that your patriotic, self-sacrificing assistance in the pursuance of this aim will not fail me and my honored corulers. the emperor followed the formal address from the throne with the following: and now, gentlemen, go forth. may our ancient god look down upon you and bestow upon you his blessing to the end that you may bring to successful issue an honorable work for the welfare of our fatherland! amen. arrival in metz metz, september , on the d of september the emperor, accompanied by the crown prince of italy, paid a visit to metz. to burgomaster halm's speech of welcome the emperor replied as follows: it is with a heart deeply stirred that i enter the city of metz, and if i could not come last year, as i wished,[ ] i see, nevertheless, that the reason for my remaining away has been rightly understood. [ ] the emperor came to metz ordinarily to review the eighth and sixteenth army corps. because of the cholera scare, the imperial manoeuvres had not taken place in the previous year, . the emperor, who was anxious to conciliate his subjects, had taken up a domain in urville. i rejoice to see the monument to my late grandfather at length finished and to be able to allow my troops to pass before it. metz and my army corps are a corner-stone in the military might of germany, destined to protect the peace of germany--yes, of all europe--and it is my firm purpose to maintain this peace. i thank the city of metz for its festive welcome, and i pray you that my thanks be made known to the citizens through an official announcement. if i have removed my headquarters to urville it is because as a landholder in lorraine i could not do otherwise, since my subjects in this province wish to have me there. in token of my imperial favor i extend to the burgomaster a golden chain of office which the burgomasters of metz shall be entitled to wear from this time forth. it gives me especial pleasure, however, to be able to bestow this chain upon the present burgomaster. dedication of flags berlin, october , through a reorganization of the army which was to be made effective in the next legislative session, a large number of partial bodies of troops were created which were later to be increased to bring up the peace footing of the army from whole and half battalions to whole battalions. every two of these constitute a regiment and every two regiments a brigade. on the anniversary of the battle of leipzig the emperor, in the presence of a large number of princes, including the young king of servia, turned over flags to these troops. his statement that the only pillar upon which the empire rested was the army was strongly resented by many of his loyal subjects of the empire who happened to be merely peaceful merchants or farmers or laborers. the emperor was doubtless provoked into making the statement from the fact that some of his legislative policies had met with determined opposition on the part of representatives of the people. this he has always regarded as disloyalty and as boding disaster to the empire. since the army's tradition for loyalty to the imperial war lord renders opposition here impossible, he saw in it the only salvation of the state. in order that they may serve as a shining symbol of glory for the troops, we have had the blessing of heaven called down upon the ensigns which i have bestowed upon every fourth battalion of my regiments, and i now turn them over to the regimental commanders and to the regiments themselves. this inspiring day is one whose memories move the world and which marks an epoch in our german history. i first salute the mausoleum of him[ ] whose birthday was once wont to fill the entire german fatherland with jubilation, the mausoleum of him to whom it was granted to win glorious victories under the eyes of the great, heroic emperor, his father, and to cover the flags which were consecrated in with glory. they were nailed to their staffs in the rooms in which the history of brandenburg and prussia is immortalized in paintings. the monuments of the rulers and of the generals who created the glory of prussia have looked down upon them. these flags have now been brought before the monument of the prussian king who focussed the eyes of the world upon them in years of fierce conflict and whose last breath was a wish of blessing for his army. in the year , when my grandfather undertook the reorganization of his arms, he was misunderstood by many and attacked by even more; nevertheless, the future gave him his splendid justification. just as at that time, so now, too, distrust and discord are rife among the people. the only pillar on which the empire rested was the army. so is it to-day! the flags which are assembled here are destined for entire bodies of troops, and i hope that the half battalions to which they are to-day delivered will soon stand as entire battalions in the army of the fatherland. [ ] emperor frederick iii. but you, gentlemen, now take over these ensigns and with them the obligation of maintaining the tradition of devotion, of discipline unto death, of unconditional obedience toward the war lord against all inward and outward enemies. even as heretofore, may the blessing of the most high rest upon our army, and may the watchful eyes of our ancestors look down upon and protect prussia's army and her flags! with god for king and fatherland! navy recruits kiel, december , it is part of the emperor's duty to administer the oath every year to the recruits for the navy as well as to the recruits for the guard. he is inclined to talk to them usually in very simple language, as here, for instance. indeed, though they are usually twenty years of age, he often addresses them as the "children of my guard." the oath is holy, and holy is the place in which you swear it. the altar and the crucifix bear witness to this; it means that we germans are christians, that we at all times first give the glory to god in every affair that we undertake, especially in the highest--that of strengthening the defense of the fatherland. you wear the uniform of the emperor; you are thereby preferred over other men, and take your rank equally with your comrades of the army and navy; you receive a special place and assume obligations. by many you will be envied because of the uniform which you wear; hold it in honor, and do not besmirch it; this you will accomplish best when you think of your oath--you especially, you people of the sea, who so often have the opportunity in your various journeyings upon the water to learn to know the almighty power of god! wherein lies the secret of the fact that we have often overcome our adversary with lesser numbers? in discipline. what is discipline? single-hearted co-operation, single-hearted obedience. that our ancient forebears already clung to this ideal a single example will show: on one occasion they were marching to war against the romans. they had climbed over the mountain and found themselves suddenly face to face with the huge masses of the army. then they realized what a difficult moment was before them. they first prayed, giving god the glory, and then, bound together with chains, side by side, they fell upon the enemies and conquered them. to-day we no longer need the actual chains; we have a powerful religion and our oath. remain true to it, and think of it, whether you are within the country or without. hold your colors high, the black, white, and red which here stand before you, and think of your oath, think of your emperor. christening of a cruiser kiel, march , the emperor, as will be plain, took much satisfaction in the development of his navy and was to make innumerable addresses on these occasions. the present is a fair type of a number of the shorter speeches. very soon they were to become occasions in which he was to broach the idea of the greater navy. the present address will serve to illustrate the spirit he was hoping to instil into this branch of the service. as a testimony to the industry of the fatherland, after the diligent labors of the imperial dockyards, this vessel now stands before us ready to be given over to its element. thou shalt now be enrolled in the german navy. thou shalt serve in the protection of the fatherland to bring defiance and annihilation to the enemy. the names of the ships which belong to the same class are taken from the old germanic sagas. therefore thou also shalt hark back to the ancient time of our ancestors, to the powerful divinity who was worshipped and feared by all our german seafaring forefathers and whose mighty realm stretched from the north even unto the south pole, in whose province the northern battles were fought, and whence death and destruction were brought into the land of the enemy. thou shalt bear the name of this great and mighty god. mayst thou prove thyself worthy of it! so do i christen thee with the name of _Ægir_. visit to bismarck friedrichsruh, march , historians of modern germany have discussed and explained in various ways the causes of the retirement of bismarck, the "iron chancellor." from the moment he became "minister president and minister of foreign affairs," in , his hand was the hand that guided german policy, and his was the genius that presided over and shaped the unification of germany and the building of the empire. it has been truly said that the biography of bismarck is the history of german union. he had been born in brandenburg and spent his life in the service of the prussian kings. it was he who in the dark days preceding the victories of the sixties had given william i heart and had prevented him from giving up his task. it was, therefore, a great shock to the german world to learn that, two years after the accession of william ii, the great founder of german unity had been forced into retirement. there had been rumors of previous disagreements. the german chancellor is responsible not to the reichstag but solely to the emperor; he takes the responsibility of shaping the imperial policy. it was said that bismarck resented certain interference with his authority in his own cabinet. it is certain that he looked with disfavor on the emperor's policy with regard to labor legislation. with regard to the attitude toward russia there was likewise disagreement, and bismarck opposed the emperor's visit to constantinople. but aside from these questions of policy, there were deep psychological incompatibilities. crabbed age and romantic youth could not live together. furthermore, the emperor wished to take the credit for initiating and carrying through his own policies. he was not content to be a shadow king. bismarck, after nearly forty years of service, was not willing to be a puppet chancellor. he insisted on the form of cabinet government decreed in . the emperor's disposition of mind may be gathered from the following extracts from a speech delivered shortly before bismarck's retirement, and it should be remembered that at this time bismarck was far from being an enthusiastic supporter of certain measures then taking shape in the mind of william ii. on the th of march, , the emperor announced to the brandenburgers: "all those who wish to help me in this work i bid heartily welcome, whoever they may be; but all those (whoever they may be) who oppose me in this work i shall smash to pieces" (_zerschmettern_). bismarck was forced to offer his resignation two weeks later. besides his ducal title, he was given the honorary title of general of cavalry, with the rank of field-marshal. because of his opposition, he was treated in the following years with extreme coolness and occasionally as an enemy. the german ambassador at vienna was instructed from berlin, on the occasion of the marriage of bismarck's son, not to accept an invitation to the wedding. foreign ambassadors were informed that for the emperor there were two bismarcks: the former responsible servant and the present irresponsible subject. the honors given him were not generally honors due a great ex-chancellor, but honors due a military officer. "living," said bismarck, "they give me the honors of the dead." on this, his eightieth birthday, the reichstag voted down the proposal that they send him their congratulations. the emperor, with an exclusively military suite, however, paid him this visit and presented him with a sword engraved with his arms and with the arms of the conquered provinces, alsace-lorraine. in all probability, bismarck felt the lack of mention of his services as chancellor; his entirely diplomatic reply printed below would seem to indicate this. your highness: our whole fatherland decks itself out to celebrate your birthday. this day belongs to the army. its first duty is to do honor to its comrades, to its old officers, whose efficiency made it possible for it to carry through the mighty deeds which found their reward in the crowning of a regenerated fatherland. the military host which stands gathered here is a symbol of the whole army, especially this regiment which has the honor of calling your highness its commander, and especially that standard which reminds us of the fame of brandenburg and prussia, which dates from the time of the great elector and is consecrated by the blood shed at mars-la-tour. your highness will see in spirit, behind this gathering of troops, the collected army of the entire german race in battle array to celebrate this day with us. in sight of this host, i come now to present to your highness my gift. i could find no better token than a sword, this noblest weapon of the germans; a symbol of that instrument which your highness with my late grandfather helped to shape, to sharpen, and also to wield; the symbol of that great, powerful period of building whose mortar was blood and iron; that weapon which is never dismayed and which, when necessary, in the hands of kings and princes will defend against internal foes that unity of the fatherland which it had once conquered from the foes without. may your highness be good enough to notice the linking of your arms with those of alsace-lorraine here engraved and feel again all that history which found its conclusion in the events of twenty-five years ago! but we comrades call out: his highness, prince bismarck, duke of lauenburg--hurrah! hurrah! hurrah! bismarck replied with more pith: your majesty will allow me to lay my humblest thanks at your feet. my military position with regard to your majesty does not permit me to further express my feelings to your majesty. i thank your majesty. opening of the emperor william canal kiel, june , in furthering germany's economic and industrial development, the building of canals has served an important function in reducing the cost of transportation and in making possible competition with other nations. although the emperor william canal was an idea of bismarck's, his name is not here mentioned. emperor william ii has taken a very lively interest in this development of inland waterways and has rendered a great service to the industrial development of his country in this regard. in memory of emperor william the great, i baptize the canal "emperor william canal." the emperor then accompanied his three hammer strokes with the following words: "in the name of the triune god, to the honor of emperor william, to the blessing of germany, and to the welfare of the people!" he proposed this toast at the banquet: i behold with pleasure and with pride this brilliant and festive gathering, and in the name of my honored colleagues i bid you all, the guests of the empire, most heartily welcome. we wish to express our inmost thanks for the interest you have taken in the completion of a work which, begun in peace and accomplished in peace, is to-day given over to general trade. it is not only in our own day that the idea first existed of joining the north and baltic seas by a great canal; far back in the middle ages we find drafts and plans for the working out of this undertaking. in the past century the eider canal was built, which, while it affords a wonderful example of the ability of that day, still, as it was intended only for the passage of the smaller craft, could not satisfy the increased demands of the present day. it remained for the newly founded german empire to find a satisfactory solution for this great problem. it was my immortal grandfather, his majesty, emperor william the great, who, thoroughly appreciating the significance of the canal for increasing the national welfare and strengthening our defense, devoted his unflagging interest to the plan for the building of an effective waterway between the north and the baltic seas and for overcoming the many obstacles which stood in the way of its accomplishment. joyfully and confidently the affiliated rulers of the empire, as well as the reichstag, followed the imperial initiative, and for eight years the work was industriously carried on which, as it approached completion, aroused in ever-increasing measure the public interest. what technic on the basis of its great development has been able to accomplish, what was possible through pride and joy in the work, what finally could be done in promoting the welfare of the numberless workers engaged in the task, in accordance with the principles of the humane social politics of the empire, has been accomplished in this undertaking. therefore the fatherland dare rejoice with me and my noble colleagues in the success of this enterprise. however, we have worked not only for our own interests. in accordance with the great cultural mission of the german people, we open the locks of the canal to the peaceful trading of the nations with each other, and it will give us great satisfaction if its increasing use shall prove not only that the intentions by which we were led are understood but that they are becoming fruitful in increasing the welfare of the people. the interest in our celebration on the part of the powers whose representatives we see among us, and whose magnificent ships we have to-day admired, i greet with greater joy the more i have the right to see in it the complete justification of our efforts directed toward the righteous maintenance of peace. germany will also place the work inaugurated to-day in the service of peace and will consider herself fortunate if the emperor william canal strengthens and promotes in this service for all time our friendly relations with the other powers. i empty my glass to the friendly sovereigns and powers. hurrah! hurrah! hurrah! iv the beginning of world politics june , --march , the beginning of world politics berlin, june , it is difficult to fix any definite date at which any new movement in politics may be said to have begun. toward the close of the year there appear unmistakable signs of a new dispensation. in this year caprivi, bismarck's successor as chancellor, retired in favor of prince hohenlohe. the latter appears in his new office for the first time in the session of the reichstag which opened december , . in that session the insufficient protection of germans residing in foreign lands was repeatedly insisted upon, and the colonizing spirit and the agitation for a very considerable increase in the navy began to make themselves felt. the building of three new cruisers was authorized, but the plan to erect a dry dock at kiel was rejected. the year was to be crowded with festivals celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversaries of the victories of the franco-prussian war, and there resulted a consequent impetus to what might be called nascent imperialism. this was further stimulated by outward events. in france, germany, and russia intervened between japan and china, then at war. in germany seized and then leased kiaochow from china for ninety-nine years and intervened in the war between greece and turkey on behalf of the turks. she began, therefore, to take a more prominent part in world politics and definitely entered upon her policy of expansion. the german people felt that this was rendered necessary by the fact that germany had become a great industrial and exporting nation, whose interests demanded insistence on the "open-door" policy. her rapidly increasing population (the annual increase was between , and , ) also, we are told, made necessary the creation of new colonies to take care of surplus population and to provide sustenance for those at home who were being drawn off into industrial pursuits. it should be remembered in this connection, however, that emigration from germany is very far from being on the increase. it has diminished astonishingly since . in the decade from to the annual emigration averaged about , , and in it reached its highest point, , . in the decade from to it never in any one year ran over , and averaged about , --in other words, it had declined, in spite of the increase in population and in the number of colonies, to one fifth of its former proportions. the figures have only a relative significance. the annual emigration from belgium, for instance, which has little more than one tenth the population of germany, was considerably higher, averaging , annually for the years from to . the annual emigration from the united kingdom to places outside of europe in the same period was approximately , annually. as, therefore, german emigration has in the last quarter century steadily declined, it may be safely inferred that the problem of finding colonies for her surplus population is not now, at least, a more pressing one for germany than it was twenty-five years ago. a conscientious american student of contemporary politics has said quite justly that "the most vital and burning problem in the world to-day" is the problem of germany's _weltpolitik_. it is not the purpose of this volume to enter into questions of controversy. he who wishes, however, to understand germany's position and the emperor's position toward the world to-day must consider carefully not only the problem itself but some of its practical implications. in one of his bursts of enthusiasm the emperor will tell us later[ ] that this policy implies that no question in the world--no question of international politics, in other words--is to be decided without germany. this would mean, strictly interpreted, that no transfer or change of status in colonial possessions--cuba or the philippines, for instance--no international canal, like panama, could be made without her sanction. and there are those in germany, like doctor liman, who believe that this doctrine should have been more rigidly maintained than had hitherto been the case. _a priori_, germany is, of course, as much entitled to the right to pursue such a policy as any other power. ethically, however--if ethics have any place in the discussion--it must be the result which justifies such a policy: not the results merely to the nation pursuing the policy but the results also to the nation or tribe at whose expense the policy is pursued. in the utilitarian phrase, it must redound to the greater good of the greater number. [ ] "germany's greatness makes it impossible for her to do without the ocean--but the ocean also proves that even in the distance, and on its farther side, without germany and the german emperor no great decision dare henceforth be taken." (july , .) a dispassionate consideration of prussia's treatment of her dependencies must convince any except the most partisan that her efforts here have been far less successful than those of most other nations, if they are not to be qualified as utter and absolute failures. chancellor caprivi had said quite justly that the worst blow an enemy could give him would be to force more territories in africa upon him. nevertheless, germany has since caprivi's time and at imminent risk of war acquired further african possessions. the attempt to colonize africa, begun, as we have seen, by the great elector, was germany's first venture in this field. yet at no time did the germans seem to get on well with the blacks. in the emperor's speeches to the reichstag he has spoken of his desire to introduce christian customs and christian morality among the negroes. yet his attempts here were hardly successful. the herreros in southwest africa revolted and massacred german colonists, sparing the boers and english who had come before the german occupation. doctor gibbons tells us that the suppression of this rebellion took more than a year and cost germany an appalling sum of money and many lives. but it cost the natives more. two thirds of the nation of the herreros were massacred, and, while only six or seven thousand were in arms, the german official report states that forty thousand were killed. the germans confiscated all the lands of the natives. in , after twenty-one years of german rule, there were in southwest africa sixteen thousand prisoners of war out of a total native population of thirty-one thousand. all the natives lived in concentration camps and were forced to work for the government. it may be conceded that germany's problem here was a difficult one; it must also be recognized that her policy had been neither of advantage to the natives nor to germany herself. in other cases, where the problem would seem to have been simpler, the results have likewise been disastrous. it is not our purpose to give the reasons but to state the facts. after one hundred and twenty-five years of incorporation into prussia the poles of east prussia have in large part not been amalgamated and are still the victims of discriminatory legislation. in judging such a policy it is not merely a question as to whether alsace-lorraine, for instance, did or did not once belong to germany. morally it is difficult to concede to any nation the right to govern any population which it makes permanently unhappy. after forty-four years the problem of alsace-lorraine seemed to be very little nearer a solution than it was at its inception. it is a mistake to believe that the discontent was due principally to the fact that the inhabitants must transfer their allegiance from france to germany. the discontent was due to the empire's refusal to give the population rights and status compatible with their self-respect as enlightened subjects of a twentieth-century government. men of german as well as of french descent, and even german emigrants who were induced to settle in the province since , took part in the opposition. in a recent haphazard list of the "real leaders" of alsace-lorraine, we find the following six names: wetterlé, preiss, blumenthal, weber, bucher, and theodor. of these the last five, at least, are wholly or in part of german descent. yet the most serious demonstration in metz since its annexation took place in june, . on july of that same year, for the first time since the university of strasburg had been re-established by the germans, a professor was hissed out of his lecture-room; and, as we have seen, in spite of an energetic propaganda by german newspapers, in more alsacians enlisted in the french foreign legion than in any single year since . the situation in that province has been already discussed in connection with the emperor's speech of march , . quite evidently, the problem there was hardly on the way to successful solution in august, . of course, germany's success in colonizing is not the only question to be considered with regard to her _weltpolitik_. it is, however, an essential factor. as will be evident from subsequent addresses, it was the emperor who everywhere gave the initial impulse. whether or not he involved himself in contradictions here, the student must decide. to certain of his subjects he appeared to be doing so, and it was for this reason that one of his hostile critics, doctor liman, tells us in bitterness that german politics of the last twenty years is "a fantastic mixture of tearful longing for peace and an inflated desire for prestige." ("der kaiser," p. .) the present empire had been proclaimed on the th of january, , and the anniversary marked the crowning celebration of the year. in his speech the emperor announces that "the german empire has become a world-empire." this may be said to provide the key to his subsequent policy and to mark the dawning of a new era. the address was delivered at a dinner held in the royal palace. the present day, like the entire year in all its festivities, is a day of grateful retrospect. it is a continued high festival of gratitude for and in commemoration of the great departed emperor. a blessing rests upon the present day, and over it hovers the spirit of him who lies in charlottenburg,[ ] and of him who sleeps in the friedenskirche.[ ] what our fathers had hoped and what german youth in her dreams had sung and desired it was granted to them, the two emperors, to achieve; working with the princes, it was granted to them to reconquer and re-establish the german empire. we are privileged gratefully to enjoy its advantages; we have a right to rejoice on the present day. nevertheless, it is our earnest duty to maintain what the great lords have won for us. the german empire has become a world-empire. everywhere in distant quarters of the earth thousands of our countrymen are living. german guardians, german science, german industry are going across the sea. the value of what germany has upon the seas amounts to thousands of millions. it is your earnest duty, gentlemen, to help to bind this greater german empire firmly to our ancestral home. the vow which i made you to-day can become truth only if you are animated by a united patriotic spirit and grant me your fullest support. it is my wish that, standing in closest union, you help me to do my duty not only to my countrymen in a narrower sense but also to the many thousands of countrymen in foreign lands. this means that i may be able to protect them if i must. it is with this wish, and deeply conscious of the injunction which is issued to us all--"what you have inherited from your fathers, conquer it in order that you may possess it"--that i raise my glass to our beloved german fatherland and call out: long live the german empire!--once again, may it live!--and a third time, long live the empire! [ ] emperor william i. [ ] emperor frederick iii. to the recruits for the navy wilhelmshaven, february , on the occasion of administering the oath to the naval recruits at wilhelmshaven the emperor delivered the following address: in the sight of god and of his servants you have sworn to me the oath of allegiance, and i expect from you that you will become good and sturdy sailors. keep to what you have sworn, for "one man, one word." the soldiers of the army frequently have the occasion to show what they have learned and what they are capable of under the eyes of their superiors. this is not true in the navy, for many of you will be for years in foreign waters. but you must not think that on that account my eyes have been turned away from you. in relation to other navies our own navy is still small, is in the budding stage; but through our discipline we must become strong and by it compensate for all that we lack in material strength. what is discipline? nothing but the unconditional subjection of our own will to a higher will. even if every one intends to do good, he must none the less subordinate his intention to the good of the whole. only by holding together can we create a firm body that will be able to accomplish something complete and great. a toast to the russian emperor and empress st. petersburg, august , the visit which the czar had paid emperor william at breslau the year before (september , ) had led to unfortunate consequences. the czar, in his answer to the wishes of the emperor that the two empires might draw more closely together, had announced, according to the official report, that he was animated by the same traditional sentiments as his majesty, emperor william ii. certain important papers printed a reading which made it appear that the czar had said that he shared the same feelings which had moved his father (who was notoriously anti-german). the state secretary, von marschall, was drawn into an ugly suit as a result. it was stated that the foreign office was involved. although this was not true, it left a decidedly bad impression, and several officials resigned. on the occasion of the visit of the german emperor and empress to st. petersburg they were greeted by a most friendly address of welcome from the czar, and emperor william ii was made an admiral of the russian fleet. on this occasion he offered the following toast to the russian emperor and empress: in the name of her majesty, the empress, and in my own, i thank your majesty warmly for the hearty and magnificent reception which you have given us and for the gracious words with which your majesty has so lovingly bid us welcome. at the same time, with deep feeling i would like to lay at the feet of your majesty my grateful acknowledgment for the renewed and unexpected distinction which your majesty has conferred upon me in giving me a place in your glorious fleet. this is a particular honor, which i appreciate at its full significance and which is also a distinction conferred very particularly upon my navy. in my appointment as a russian admiral i see not only an honor conferred upon my person but also a new evidence for the perpetuation of the close relationship, traditional and unshakable, which exists between our two empires. the unalterable decision of your majesty to preserve now and hereafter peace for your people finds in me also a joyful echo, and wandering together in the same way we two shall strive in concert, under the blessing of this peace, to guide the cultural development of our peoples. my whole people is behind me, i know, as i confidently lay this renewed pledge in the hands of your majesty--i shall bestow upon your majesty my most powerful support and stand at your side with all my heart in this great work of preserving the peace for the nations and in directing my strength against any one who might attempt to disturb or break this peace. i drink to the health of their majesties, the emperor and the empress! [these last words the emperor spoke in russian.] the army tradition coblentz, august , on this date the emperor reviewed the great parade of the eighth army corps, under the leadership of the commanding general, the grand duke of baden. at the dinner after the review the emperor offered the following toast. the address illustrates what doctor liman calls the romanticism of the emperor. he is easily impressed by his surroundings and speaks with particular animation and fervor on the occasions (and they are frequent) in which the memories of his ancestors are brought back to him: a review in the rhine country, what an entrancing and what a beautiful picture! but a review on the shores of the river rhine itself, and in sight of the old historic city of coblentz--how this appeals to our hearts! the sight of the soldierly sons of the rhine country, under the command of your royal highness, has moved me to deep joy. but it moves me with deep sadness, likewise, for the place on which we stand and the city in which we tarry is a witness to a great time and reminds us of great names and figures. we, therefore, do not wish to forget that the time[ ] which emperor william the great spent in coblentz was of deepest significance, especially for us in the army. here the work which he was called upon to carry through came to maturity; here it was granted him in quiet retirement to work out the organization of his army, which was often attacked with animosity and often misunderstood but which has so magnificently justified itself. his nation under arms has proved in three victorious wars that he was right. [ ] - . and now let us turn from our glance into the past to the present day. the splendid corps which i took from the hands of a general [vogel von falckenstein] whose name spelled bravery, whose conduct, chivalry, and whose life, fidelity on the battle-field and in peace, i have now given over to you, the grandson of the great emperor, the son[ ] of the lofty princess who would not be deprived of the pleasure of appearing here to-day and, in the spirit of her great departed mother, of celebrating and tarrying for a while with us in memories. [ ] the hereditary grand duke of baden at this time was frederick william, born july , , son of the grand duke frederick i and the grand duchess louise-marie, princess of prussia. the grand duchess louise-marie was the daughter of emperor william i. the hereditary grand duke, who since the death of his father, in , has been reigning grand duke of baden, is therefore a grandson of william i and first cousin of the present emperor, which will explain the somewhat unusual familiarity of the emperor's address. the corps has been honored by the fact that his royal highness, the duke of cambridge, who was for a long time the highest in command of the brave british army, has decided to appear here and to lead before me his gallant historic regiment. i express my hearty thanks to your royal highness. the corps, is indeed, highly fortunate in this. we are privileged to greet in the noble person of your royal highness an associate, a contemporary of our departed great emperor, about whom i know particularly that he always spoke with deepest respect and greatest friendship of your royal highness, and that he always praised your royal highness's military achievements. my dear fritz [turning to his royal highness, the hereditary grand duke], to-day's parade does you and the corps great honor in every respect, and we can say with a clear conscience that the sons of the rhineland who have marched by to-day will do their duty as completely, and that they are as well trained and as brave as they were in the time of the great emperor. _it is our duty to maintain, in all its parts, the army, the work of the great emperor, against every influence and to defend it against every opposition from without_, and i hope that every general will be as faithful and as upright as you are, and that he will strive to achieve this aim in his field with as good results as you have done. with this hope i raise my glass and drink to the health of the eighth army corps and its commanding general. the eighth army corps! hurrah! hurrah! hurrah! toast to the italian king and queen homburg, september , on this day the emperor reviewed the eleventh army corps, which was under the command of general von wittich, in the presence of the empress and of the king and queen of italy. at the banquet which followed in the castle of homburg, the emperor offered this toast: my dear wittich: i am happy to be able to express to you before our royal and princely guests and to the whole army corps my heartiest congratulations on this day. i am pleased to be able to say that the present day in its achievements does not suffer in the least by comparison with the day when, many years ago,[ ] the corps defiled before my late grandfather, my dear father, and the late grand duke. i thank his royal highness, the grand duke, for the splendid division which he has led, and i am pleased to see him at the head of the magnificent troops which have done such great things under his father. [ ] september , . a great honor has been conferred upon the corps through the fact that riding at the head of one of his regiments [ th hessian hussar regiment] his majesty, king humbert of italy, has led it before us. your majesty! my army thanks your majesty whole-heartedly for the great honor which has been conferred upon it. not only my army but also the whole german fatherland greets in the person of your majesty the lofty prince, the close friend of my departed father, the faithful ally, whose coming here shows again to us and to the world that the bond of the triple alliance stands firm and inviolate, the triple alliance which was founded in the interest of peace and which, as time goes on, strikes deeper and firmer root in the consciousness of the peoples, in order finally to bring forth greater fruit. in deepest gratitude i bid the great queen welcome in the name of my people. we rejoice that she has not disdained to come here, leaving behind her her repose and her activities dedicated to art and literature, and that she should have graced with her fair presence this camp of our soldiers. her majesty is particularly dear and precious to us germans, because she is like the image of the great constellation to which her people and fatherland look up with confidence; because the artist, the wise man, the musician, and the student always have free access to her, and because under the protection of her majesty so many a german can fulfil his life devoted to learning and so many an invalid can go in search of his health to the beautiful sunny south. with a whole heart i bid you both welcome, and call out with my eleventh corps: their majesties, the king and queen of italy!--hurrah! hurrah! hurrah! address at a dedication of flags berlin, october , on this occasion sixty-three new flags were dedicated to the newly formed regiments of the guard, of the first to the eleventh and of the fifteenth to the seventeenth army corps. the emperor and people celebrate this anniversary of the battle of leipzig, , with particularly patriotic demonstrations, and he almost invariably makes it the occasion for a military address. after the religious ceremony the emperor addressed the following words to his troops: the flags which have just now been consecrated before the altar of god and which have received his blessing i now turn over to the new regiments which spring from their old and proved predecessors in accordance with the custom of our army, which forever renews itself and its youth out of the ranks of its older and proved regiments. i do this in a hallowed place, before the statue of the great king and before the windows of the great emperor. if the site is holy, so too is the day. it is the anniversary of the great victory after which the german people for the first time dared look forward in prospect to the dawn of coming union and the future greatness which was conditioned thereby. the day on which, for everlasting memory, the october fires leap from germany's hills is the birthday of the heroic first german crown prince and of the second german emperor.[ ] [ ] frederick iii. out of the old and proved regiments which he led to battle and victory the shoots have been taken for these new ones to which i now turn over their field insignia. may almighty god, who has ever been so faithful and well intentioned to our prussia and to the whole german fatherland, help always to maintain the vows of the thousands of german youths who shall stream from the circles of the people to these new flags and who before them shall swear their oath of allegiance! i hope that in these regiments the qualities of the great emperor will live on--the absolutely unselfish devotion to the whole, the unreserved sacrifice of one's own capacity, bodily as well as spiritual, for the honor of the army and for the safety of the beloved fatherland. then, i am convinced, will the foundations remain firm and intact in these new regiments, the foundations upon which the discipline of our army rests--bravery, sense of honor, and absolute and unconditional obedience. this is my wish for the new regiments. on administering the oath to the recruits berlin, november , after the administering of the oath to the recruits of the garrisons of berlin, charlottenburg, and spandau by the representatives of the evangelical and the catholic churches, the emperor took the occasion to deliver the following admonition: to-day i greet you as soldiers of my army, as grenadiers of my guard. with the oath to the flag you have sworn allegiance as german men, and even before the altar of god, under the open skies, and upon his crucifix, as good christians must. he who is not a good christian is not a brave man and no prussian soldier; and he cannot fulfil under any circumstances what is demanded of a soldier in the prussian army. your duty is not easy; it demands of you self-control and self-abnegation, the two highest qualities of a christian, and in addition unconditional obedience and subordination to the will of those who are appointed above you. but you have examples before you out of the history of the german army. thousands before your time have sworn their oath and kept it. and because they did keep it our fatherland has become great and our army victorious and unconquerable. because they kept their oath, their flags stand before you, garlanded with honor and covered with the tokens of glory, and wherever they are shown, heads are uncovered and regiments present arms. in the time of your service temptation will surely draw near to many of you. if it does approach, either with regard to your personal conduct or with regard to your relationship as a soldier, turn it from you with the thought of the past of your regiments; turn it from you with the thought of your uniform, which is the uniform of your king. whoever offends against the uniform of the king lays himself open to the most grievous punishments. wear your uniform in such wise that you will compel respect from the world and from those who oppose you. my glorious ancestors look down upon you from the vaulted heavens. the monuments of the kings look down upon you and, above all, the statue of the great emperor. when you are discharging your service remember the grievous times through which our fatherland had to pass; remember them when your labor seems heavy and bitter. stand firm in your inviolable faith and trust in god who never forsakes us. then will my army and especially my guard be equal to its task in all times, whether in peace or war. it is now your task to stand faithfully by me and to defend our highest possessions, whether against enemies from without or from within, and to obey when i command and never to forsake me. the chinese situation and the mailed fist december , in accordance with her general colonial policy, germany had for some time been attempting to obtain a footing in china. already in the german consul-general had arranged an agreement with the chinese authorities which was to allow the establishing of a base at hangchow. german explorers had examined the coast and had noticed the favorable situation of the harbor of kiaochow. in november, , two german catholic missionaries were murdered. admiral diedrichs, who is remembered in america for his interference with admiral dewey at manila bay, resolved upon immediate action, steamed into the harbor of kiaochow and took possession of the island of tsingtao. he announced the occupation of the bay and of all the islands and dependencies on november . an indemnity of , _taels_ was demanded, as well as the repayment of the expenses of the occupation, a ninety-nine year lease of the captive territory, and the cession of all mining rights and railway privileges. all this was granted, and germany made good use of her privileges. at the outbreak of the european war the country had been developed and reclaimed to such a degree that tsingtao with its buildings and forts looked like a bit of prussia set into the chinese coast. through her occupation of this rich province and through the fact that germany thus established a naval base opposite japan's coast, she incurred the ill will of japan. this ill will was later to be increased through germany's conduct with regard to commerce regulations. at the time of the occupation germany declared that tsingtao was to be a port open to all the world. subsequent regulations which she had made amounted to very serious discrimination against the commerce of other nations, especially that of the japanese, which had already attained considerable importance. a plan was evolved in according to which chinese customs duties were allowed to be collected in the colony in return for an annual consideration, which amounted to twenty per cent of the entire customs duties of the tsingtao district. in this way, what she allowed china to collect from german merchants she forced china to pay back to her. other merchants were, of course, likewise forced to pay the duties, and germany received a considerable percentage of the toll. the discrimination, if not obvious, was very real, and the feeling of the japanese distinctly hostile. prince henry was sent out to take command of the increased east asiatic squadron on december , , and took command in the following march. on the eve of his departure a great farewell dinner was given him in the royal palace at kiel. the emperor spoke as follows: my dear henry: as i rode into kiel to-day i thought of the many times on which i had visited this city joyfully at your side and on my ships, either to be present at the sports or at some one of our military undertakings. on my arrival in the city to-day an earnest and deep feeling moved me, for i am perfectly conscious of the task which i have set before you and of the responsibility which i bear. but i am likewise conscious of the fact that it is my duty to build up and carry farther what my predecessors have bequeathed to me. the journey which you are to undertake and the task which you are to accomplish indicate nothing new in themselves; it is merely the logical consequence of what my departed grandfather and his great chancellor inaugurated politically and what our glorious father won with his sword on the field of battle. it is nothing more than the first expression of the newly united and newly arisen german empire in its tasks beyond the seas. the empire has developed so astonishingly through the extension of its commercial interests that it is my duty to follow up the new german hansa and to give it the protection which it has a right to expect from the empire and the emperor. our german brothers of the church who have gone out to their quiet work and have not spared risking their lives in order to spread and make a home for our religion on foreign soil have placed themselves under my protection, and it is now a question of providing support and safety for these brothers who have been so often insulted and oppressed. for that reason the undertaking which i intrust to you and which you must fulfil in company with your comrades and the ships which are already out there is really one of protection and not one of defiance. under the protecting banner of our german flag of war we expect that the rights which we are justified in demanding will be guaranteed to our commerce, to the german merchant, and to german ships--the same right which is vouchsafed by strangers to all other nations. our commerce is not new; in old times the hanseatic league was one of the most powerful enterprises which the world has ever seen, and the german cities were able to build a fleet such as the sea's broad back had never carried in earlier days, but finally it came to naught because the one condition was lacking, namely that of an emperor's protection. now things have changed; the first condition, the german empire, has been created; the second condition, german commerce, flourishes and develops, and it can only develop properly and securely if it feels itself safe under the power of the empire. imperial power means sea power, and sea power and imperial power are so interdependent that the one cannot exist without the other. as a token of this imperial sea power the squadron which has been strengthened by your division must now take its place, with all the comrades of the foreign fleet out there in close relationship and on good terms of friendship, but for the purpose of protecting our particular interests against every one who might be tempted to intrude upon the right of the germans. that is your task and your mission. make it clear to every european there, to the german merchant, and, above all things, to the foreigner in whose country we are or with whom we have to deal, that the german _michel_[ ] has set his shield, decorated with the imperial eagle, firmly upon the ground. whoever asks him for protection will always receive it. and may our countrymen out there cherish the firm conviction, whether they are priests or merchants or whatever profession they follow, that the protection of the german empire as exemplified in the emperor's ships will continuously be granted them! but if any one should undertake to insult us in our rights or to wish to harm us, then drive in with the mailed fist and, as god wills, bind about your young brow the laurels which no one in the entire german empire will begrudge you! [ ] the german _michel_ is the proverbial representative of the german character, as uncle sam is of the american or john bull of the english. he is usually pictured as a simple, good-natured fellow. in the firm conviction that you, following good examples--and, god be praised, examples are not wanting in our house--will carry out my thoughts and wishes, i raise my glass and drink it to your health, with the wish for a good voyage, for a happy issue to your task, and for a joyous return. long live his royal highness, prince henry! hurrah! hurrah! hurrah! address to the regiments of the body-guard potsdam, june , on the day of the tenth anniversary of his coming to the throne the emperor assembled the regiments of the guard in the gardens of potsdam and made them the following address: the most important heritage which my noble grandfather and father left me is the army, and i received it with pride and joy. to it i addressed my first decree when i mounted the throne. as i enter into the next decade of my reign i again address it in these words: you who are now assembled here constitute the st infantry regiment of the guard, in which i grew up; the regiment of the gardes du corps, the most distinguished regiment of the cavalry body-guard of the prussian kings; the hussar regiment of the body-guard, which i have always commanded; and the cadet corps of the infantry battalion, which represents the entire army and which in potsdam enjoys the honor of providing the guard for the king and his house. perhaps never did an army suffer such severe loss as in the year . never has an army lost in the course of a single year two such powerful leaders crowned with laurel and honor, who were at the same time its war lords.[ ] i look back gratefully upon the years which have passed since that time. [ ] it is interesting to note that the emperor here himself explicitly makes the distinction between commander of an army, _heerführer_, and war lord, _kriegsherr_, a title which can only be bestowed upon the emperor. seldom has so difficult a task fallen to the lot of a successor who in a brief period had been forced to see both his grandfather and his father carried away by death. the crown was weighed down with heavy cares. every one lacked confidence in me; everywhere i was falsely judged. one alone believed in me, one alone had faith--that was the army. and leaning upon her, trusting upon our old guard, i took up my heavy charge, knowing well that the army was the main support of my country, the main support of the prussian throne, to which the decision of god had called me. i therefore turn to you first to-day and express to you my congratulations and my gratitude, and in these expressions i include likewise with you all your brothers in the army. i am of the firm conviction that, through the self-sacrificing devotion of the officers and men in their faithful work of peace, the army during the last ten years has been maintained in the same condition in which i received it from my departed predecessors. in the next ten years, faithfully bound together, let us seek further the unconditional fulfilment of our duty in old and unremitting labor, and may the main supports of our army remain forever intact! they are courage, sense of honor, and unconditional, iron, blind obedience. that is my wish which i to-day address to you and with you to the entire army. on the death of prince bismarck friedrichsruh, august , after the founding of the german empire prince bismarck, who initiated and carried through many of the policies which brought great prosperity to the german people, was looked upon with much favor and enjoyed great popularity. emperor william ii, as has been noted, dismissed him from his post as imperial chancellor in the second year of his reign. his attitude toward bismarck has already been discussed (march , ). in most of his speeches which recount the progress of the empire the emperor is strangely silent about this great figure in german history. when bismarck died, however (july , ), the emperor immediately interrupted his journey into the north and returned on the second of august to pay his respects at the bier of the first imperial chancellor in friedrichsruh. on the same day he issued the following statement which appeared that evening in the special edition of the _reichsanzeiger_. it is noticeable that on this occasion the emperor speaks of his grandfather as "william the great." his tendency to set his ancestors upon lofty pedestals and to praise them somewhat extravagantly finds expression in many of the speeches. he was very desirous of having his grandfather called by this title, and here as everywhere took the initiative. his lead, however, was not generally followed. when the city of hamburg erected a monument to william i the pedestal was left without an inscription. this has been explained by the fact that they were unwilling to say, "william the great," and afraid to say merely, "william i." with my lofty peers and with the whole german people i stand in mourning at the bier of the first chancellor of the german empire, prince otto von bismarck, duke of lauenburg. we who were witnesses of his masterly work, who looked upon him as the master of statecraft, as the fearless champion in war as in peace, as the most devoted son of his fatherland and most faithful servant of his emperor, are deeply shaken by the demise of the man in whom the lord god created the implement with which to carry into effect the deathless idea of germany's union and greatness. at this moment it is not fitting to recount all the deeds which the great departed accomplished, all the cares which he bore for the emperor and the empire, all the successes which he won. they are too powerful and manifold, and only history can and will engrave them upon her brass tablets. but i feel constrained to make some expression before the world of the whole-hearted grief and grateful reverence which to-day fill the entire nation and, in the name of the nation, to make a vow that what he, the great chancellor, built up under emperor william the great i shall maintain and develop and, if need be, defend with our possessions and our blood. in this may the lord god help us! i commission you to bring to public attention this, my decree. william, i. r. to the imperial chancellor. [illustration: "our future lies upon the water" the emperor on shipboard in the autumn of ] "our future lies upon the water" stettin, september , a previous address shows that in the mind of the emperor the idea of world-empire carried with it the idea of naval supremacy. in this period he was increasingly interested in the industrial and especially the naval and maritime expansion of germany. a number of his speeches take up this subject; so, for instance, he was present at the opening of the new harbor at stettin and delivered this address: with full heart i congratulate you on your completed work. you began with a fresh spirit of daring. you were able to begin it, thanks to the interest of my departed grandfather, the great emperor, who built the iron girdle around the city. after the moment when this iron mantle fell you could take a larger and wider point of view. you did not delay but carried it out with real pomeranian recklessness and obstinacy. you have succeeded, and i am pleased that the old pomeranian spirit has again come to life in you and has driven you from the land upon the water. our future lies upon the water, and i am deeply convinced that this work which you, herr burgomaster, have carried out with foresight and care and energy will always be linked with your name, even after centuries, by the grateful citizens of the city of stettin and that your work will always be recognized. but i, as lord of the land and king, express my thanks to you that you have brought the city of stettin to such a flourishing position. i hope and expect, yes, i might say, i demand, that she shall go on developing at this same rate, not divided by party strife and with her glance fixed upon the great whole, in order that she may come to a state of development such as has never yet been achieved. that is my wish! the journey to the holy land bethlehem, october , on the th of october, , the emperor and empress set out on their journey to the holy land, accompanied by many representatives of the church. in venice they visited the italian king and queen and passed on by way of messina and constantinople. they reached jerusalem on october . during his stay at constantinople the emperor obtained the rights to a piece of land, the _dormitio sanctæ virginis_, and turned it over to the german catholics in jerusalem. on november they began their return journey via damascus. though the dedication of the church of our redeemer constituted the ostensible object of the visit, the emperor had also other purposes in mind. he took the occasion to announce that he would protect the interests of all germans of whatever faith. this is the more significant when we remember that up to this time the french had always been allowed to assume the duty of protecting the catholics there. the emperor likewise had in mind increasing his prestige in the east. one of the outward indications of the growing friendliness between turkey and germany which was then strengthened may be found in the fact that the building of the anatolian railway was intrusted to a german company, to which was also granted a concession for a harbor and permission to extend the line through bagdad to bassora. it will be noted that the approach to jerusalem aroused a very unfavorable impression in the emperor. nevertheless, he had somewhat unusual preparations made for his entrance. the old walls of the sacred city were breached in order to allow him to make his entry in imperial state. in pursuance of his policy as a world-emperor he attempted during his visit, as we have seen, both by his acts and by his speeches, to conciliate all sects and creeds; the catholics through the grant of land, which likewise pleased the centre or catholic party at home; the evangelicals through the dedication of a church; and the moslems incidentally and through his speech nine days later at damascus, in the course of which he said: "may the sultan and may the three hundred million mohammedans who are scattered over the face of the earth and who recognize him as their caliph be assured of the fact that at all times the german emperor will be their friend!" this friendship of the emperor for the sultan was not to be clouded by the armenian massacres, nor did the assassinations in asia minor evoke any protest. indeed, we are told by a well-known foreign correspondent that "five days after the great massacre of august, , in constantinople, when turkish soldiers shot down their fellow citizens under the eyes of the sultan and of the foreign ambassadors, william ii sent to abdul-hamid for his birthday a family photograph of himself with the empress and his children." at damascus, he likewise laid a wreath upon the tomb of saladin. after the service in the evangelical church at bethlehem the emperor gathered about him the evangelical ministers and made them this address, which was reported by e. bosse, who at that time was the prussian _kultusminister_. if i am to give you the impressions of these last days, then i must tell you that, above all, i am very much disappointed. i did not wish to say that here, but after i had heard that the same thing had happened to others also, and among them to my court chaplain, for instance, i no longer wish to hide this from you. it may, indeed, be that the very unfavorable approach to the city of jerusalem has contributed to this impression, but when one sees such conditions in the holy places and sees how things happen there it cuts one to the quick. that the emanation of the love of the creator took place here where we are now standing is a fact of extraordinary import, and yet how little does it correspond to what we have seen! i am, therefore, doubly pleased to have received my first elevating impression in the holy land at this service among you. the particular example of jerusalem warns us insistently that we must suppress as far as possible the slight deviations in our sects, and that the evangelical church and the evangelical creed must put forward a firmly united front here in the east. otherwise we can accomplish nothing. we can only work through example, through the practice and proof that the gospel is a gospel of love in all quarters of the heavens and that it bears other fruits. only the life of christians can make any impression upon the mohammedans. no one can criticise them if they have little respect for the christian name. our churches divide against each other. indeed, they must be restrained from quarrelling through the external power of arms. in the political world, under all possible pretexts we take away from them [the mohammedans] one piece of territory after another, for which we have no justification, so that our influence has been much weakened and we have fallen to a very low level. and now it is our turn! the german empire and the german name have now won a consideration in the entire ottoman empire such as has never existed before. it is, therefore, for us to show what the christian religion really is, that the practice of christian love even toward the mohammedan, not through dogmas and attempts at conversion but merely through example, is our plain duty. the mohammedan is a very zealous believer, so that preaching alone will not suffice. but our culture, our institutions, the life which we live before them, the manner of our conduct toward them, and the proof that we are united among ourselves, these alone will have effect. it is a kind of examination which we must pass for our protestant faith and our creed. through this we must give them proof of what christianity is. in this way we may inspire in them an interest for our religion and for the christian creed. see to it that this remains so! dedication of the church of our redeemer jerusalem, october , the church of our redeemer at jerusalem was dedicated in the presence of the emperor by the general superintendent and head court chaplain, doctor dryander, of berlin. the church had been planned by king frederick william iv. after the dedication there was a special church service, and after the prayer by the general superintendent the emperor offered the following address: god has been gracious enough to allow us to dedicate in this city, which is holy to all christians, and in this place, which is consecrated by labors of true love, a house of worship which we have built to honor the saviour of the world. through the building and dedication of the church of our redeemer there has now come to successful issue a plan which my blessed predecessors cherished for more than half a century and sought to carry out as the protectors of the work of love which was founded here in evangelical interests. through the saving power of the love which serves, all hearts should now here be brought to the consideration of those things in which alone the troubled human spirit may find salvation, rest, and peace here and hereafter. all evangelical christians, even far beyond germany's borders, are following our service here with closest interest and sympathy. the delegates of the evangelical congregation and many who share the evangelical faith from all parts of the world have come with us to this place in order to be personal witnesses to the completion of this work of faith and love through which the name of our great lord and saviour is to be glorified and the kingdom of god upon earth to be advanced. jerusalem, the lofty city on which our feet are standing, calls to mind memories of the great act of redemption of our lord and saviour. she shows us the common labor which unites all christians, regardless of confessions and nations, in the apostolic faith. the power which renewed the world through the gospel which originated here drives us to follow him; it warns us to look up in faith to him who died for us upon the cross. it warns us to be patient christians and to carry out the doctrine of unselfish love of our neighbor in regard to all men. it promises us also that if we hold firm to the true teaching of the gospel even the gates of hell shall not prevail against our dear evangelical church. it was in jerusalem that was born the light of the world, in whose splendor our german people has grown great and powerful. what the germanic peoples have become they have become under the protection of the cross upon golgotha and through the practice of self-sacrificing love of their neighbors. just as two thousand years ago, so to-day that call, "peace upon earth," which voices the earnest hopes of us all, should go forth to all the world. not splendor, not might, not glory, not honor, not earthly goods it is that we seek here. we pant, beseech, and strive only for the one highest good, the salvation of our souls, and as i now on this solemn day here repeat the vow of my ancestors who are resting in god, "i and my house, we will serve the lord," so i ask you all to make the same vow. let every one seek according to his position and his calling to bring it about that all those who bear the name of the crucified lord will live their lives under the sign of his holy name to a victory over all the dark powers which are begotten in sin and selfishness. may god grant that rich streams of blessing may flow back from here into united christendom, and that on the throne as in the hut, that at home as abroad, trust in god, love of our fellows, patience in affliction, and thorough labor may remain the brightest jewels of the german people, and that the spirit of peace may permeate and hallow the evangelical church more and more. he, the god of grace, will hear our prayers; that is our expectation. he alone is the strong and safe retreat upon which we build. "did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing; were not the right man on our side, the man of god's own choosing. dost ask who that may be? christ jesus, it is he; lord sabaoth his name, from age to age the same, and he must win the battle."[ ] [ ] luther's "ein' feste burg," translated by f. h. hedge. by divine right brandenburg, february , there is a particular whole-heartedness noticeable in all of the emperor's speeches to his hereditary subjects, the brandenburgers. he seemed to take them most fully into his confidence and expect from them a higher degree of loyalty and understanding. for them he felt a particular kinship. his personal pretensions are, therefore, set forth in these speeches and in those to the prussians, as for instance in his königsberg speech (august , ) with less reserve than usual, if we may speak of reserve in one who shows but little and who is unusually frank and personal in his statements. it is for this reason that these speeches have occasionally been severely criticised by his south german subjects, as for instance by doctor liman in his "der kaiser." this address was delivered by the emperor at a banquet which was given by doctor von achenbach, _oberpräsident_ of brandenburg province and minister of state, to the members of the provincial assembly. the wording is taken from the "_reichsanzeiger_." the historical facts here referred to will be found in chapter i. my honored president and dear men of brandenburg: the speech which we have just heard has laid before us in small compass and in patriotic spirit, embellished with poetic flights, the deeds of my house and the history of our people. i think that i speak from the heart of all of you when i say that there were two circumstances which made it possible for my ancestors and my house to discharge their tasks in this way. the first and prime circumstance was the fact that, above all other princes, and even in a time when perhaps such thoughts and feelings were not yet current, they felt and discharged the personal responsibility of the ruler toward heaven. the second circumstance is the fact that they had behind them the people of the mark. let us look back to the time when frederick i had been named elector and when he exchanged his magnificent frankish home country for the mark, which at that time was in a condition which we can hardly picture to ourselves even from the description of historians. we can only understand this exchange on the assumption that the ruler felt within himself the call to journey to this land, which had been intrusted to him by the imperial protection in order here to bring about a better-ordered condition, not only for the emperor's sake or for his own sake, but he was convinced that the task had been given him from above. the same conviction we shall find in all of my ancestors. their great battles without and the development and the making of laws within the country have always been dictated by the thought that they were responsible for the people given over to them and for the country which had been intrusted to them. your president has been kind enough to mention our journey to palestine and the acts which i accomplished there. i dare say that many different impressions of a lofty nature forced themselves upon me, and they were partly religious, partly historical, and partly drawn from modern life, but aside from the celebration in our church (october , ), the loftiest and the deepest was the consciousness that i was standing on the mount of olives, that i was treading upon the very place where the greatest battle which was ever fought out upon the earth, the battle for the salvation of mankind, had been fought out by our saviour. this fact moved me, as it were, on that same day to renew my oath to the flag above that i would leave nothing untried in order to unite my people and to push aside whatever might be able to divide it. but as i was tarrying in the far country, and in different places where we germans feel so keenly the lack of dear woods and beautiful waters, i remembered the lakes of the mark with their dark, clear waves, and the woods of oak and of fir, and i thought to myself that, although in europe they sometimes looked down upon us, we are none the less much better off in brandenburg than in foreign countries. and when i think of the tree and of the use we make of it and our love for the woods i am reminded of an incident that is very interesting for us as we begin to develop the empire. it was after the great and noble achievements of the year - . the troops had returned home; the tumult and the enthusiasm had subsided, and the old work of founding and developing our newly conquered fatherland was now to begin. there, for the first time, the three paladins of the great old emperor, the great general,[ ] the powerful chancellor,[ ] and the faithful minister of war,[ ] were sitting together at their common meal. after they had emptied the first glass to the lord of the land and to the fatherland, the chancellor spoke and turning to his two colleagues said: "we have now achieved everything for which we have striven, suffered, and fought. we have reached the highest point of which we had ever dreamed. what can there now be, after what we have lived through, which shall interest or elevate or inspire us?" there was a pause and then the old master of battles said suddenly, "we can watch the tree grow," and a deep silence fell upon the room. [ ] moltke. [ ] bismarck. [ ] roon. yes, gentlemen! the tree which we watch growing and for which we must care is the german imperial oak. a healthy growth is in store for it because it stands under the protection of the people of the mark in whose land it is rooted. it has lived through many a storm and has often been threatened, but the stalk and the shoot which are sunk in the sands of the mark will, god willing, endure to all eternity! i can merely vow once again to-day to do everything for it that is in my power! and even the journey to hallowed shrines and places will help me in this, and i shall be better able, therefore, to protect this tree and to watch and foster it, cutting back like a good gardener the branches which are superfluous, and keeping watch upon and exterminating the animals which would gnaw at its roots. i hope that i may then see this picture. the tree will have developed gloriously and before it the german _michel_ will be standing, his hand upon his sword, and looking out into the distance in order to protect it. that peace stands firm which stands under the shield and under the sword of the german _michel_. it is a magnificent thing to begin with the idea of bringing peace to all the nations; but an error is likely to slip into our calculations. so long as there is unregenerate sin in humanity, so long there will be war and hatred, envy and discord, and one man will try to take advantage of another. but the rules which govern men govern nations also. therefore we must see to it that we germans, at least, stand together like a firm block. far beyond the seas[ ] and here in europe, may every wave that threatens peace break upon this "_rocher de bronze_" of the german people! but it is the mark and its inhabitants first of all which are called upon to help me in this, and as i assume that it is not hard for you to follow the black and white banner and your red one,[ ] so i hope that i shall be understood by you when i say that i intend to look for aid to the mark now and hereafter, and that i count upon its loyal support! [ ] the spanish-american war was ended by treaty december , . [ ] the flag of brandenburg is a red griffin on a white field. therefore i raise my glass and call out: long live brandenburg and the inhabitants of the mark. hurrah! hurrah! hurrah! the hague conference wiesbaden, may , on the czar's birthday the emperor was present at the banquet given in wiesbaden, to which the russian ambassador, count osten-sacken, had been invited. the emperor proposed the following toast. on the same day the peace conference at the hague had been opened and the russian delegate de staal had been elected its president. at the end of august, , the russian minister for foreign affairs had issued the following communication to all the representatives of the powers in st. petersburg. "the maintenance of universal peace and a possible reduction of the armaments which burden all nations in the present state of civilization is an ideal for all the world toward which all governments must be directed." the czar believed that a conference might achieve this object, and he suggested that they might regulate the reduction of armaments all around and eliminate many of the horrors of war through the establishment of certain humane principles. the programme was presented by russia on january , , and the conference was called on her invitation for may of that year. every year i offer my toast to the health of his majesty, the emperor of russia, with deep feeling. to-day i add to it my heartiest good wishes for the success of the conference which owes its inception to his majesty's initiative. my honored baron, my wish includes the hope that the two tried and experienced statesmen, his excellency baron de staal and count münster, may succeed in their efforts and that they may conduct the conference on the old, established tradition which unites my house to that of his majesty and the german people to the russian; and by doing so, in accordance with the exactly similar orders which the emperor and i have issued, that the conference may result to the entire satisfaction of his majesty. his majesty, the emperor nicholas! hurrah! hurrah! hurrah! the housing of laborers early june, kadinen is one of the emperor's many farming estates and is situated in the neighborhood of elbing, in east prussia. it was here that he expressed the following sentiment: many things must be changed at kadinen; especially the housing of the laborers must be changed. here in the east this seems still to be a particular evil. the fine cattle stable in kadinen is a veritable palace compared to the homes of the laborers. we must see to it that the pigsties are not better than the laborers' houses. french heroism at st. privat the battle-field of st. privat, august , the following noble address of the emperor's was delivered at the dedication of the monument to the soldiers of the st regiment of the guard, who fell in the battle of st. privat (august , ). in it he speaks of the splendid heroism of the french troops who were fighting for their emperor. it should be remembered that the monument was erected in the provinces which had been conquered from france by germany. at this time the emperor had adopted a conciliatory attitude toward the inhabitants of these provinces. (see speech of march , .) if, therefore, it may seem ungracious, it is nevertheless merely just to call attention to the fact that when he later (march , ) presented a painting of the battle of st. privat to the alexander regiment of the guard in berlin he did not mention french heroism and speaks a different language. serious and solemn memories surround this day and make our hearts beat high. my st infantry regiment of the guard is represented here by my company of the body-guard, by its glorious flags, and by many old comrades who once fought and bled in this place. they are to-day to unveil this monument to their fallen comrades. this ceremony will take place in the presence of my youngest regiment,[ ] and the troops of the fourteenth army corps, which represent the entire german army. [ ] infantry regiment no. , garrisoned at metz. it has been almost the only regiment which up to the present has not been represented by a monument in this place, where so much blood was shed, and yet it had full claim to be thus commemorated. through its history it is closely associated with my house, and it is called upon to train its princes and kings, and may therefore be properly regarded as a family and a house regiment. nevertheless, my imperial grandfather did not hesitate a moment to hazard these troops, which were so dear to him, for the good of the fatherland. history teaches us how the regiment fought and bled and respected its oath to the flag and how its conduct, its sufferings, and its losses won the praise and the tears of the great emperor. with me as its oldest comrade the regiment now erects this shaft to the memory of the heroes that rest beneath the green sod. the form of the monument differs from that which is usually found on battle-fields. the archangel in armor, peacefully at rest, is leaning upon his sword, which is decorated with the proud motto of the regiment, "_semper talis_."[ ] i therefore wish that a general significance should be attached to this figure. it stands upon this bloody field as the guardian of all the brave soldiers, both the french and our own, who fell here. for bravely and heroically the french soldiers sank to their honored graves, fighting for their emperor and their fatherland. and if our flags touch each other as they are lowered before the bronze monument and sadly rustle over the graves of our dear comrades, may they also wave over the graves of our opponents and whisper to them that in reverent sorrow we remember the brave dead! [ ] by an unfortunate error penzler prints the motto as "_semper talio_"--"retaliation forever." the reading has been changed, as the motto of the regiment is in reality "_semper talis_"--"ever the same." let us look up to the lord of hosts and thank him for the guidance graciously given to our great emperor. let us picture to ourselves to-day that the souls of all those who once opposed each other in fierce conflict upon this field are now gathered about the throne of the supreme judge and that, united in the everlasting peace of god, they now look down upon us. v the greater navy many of the speeches which follow will be found to bear upon the question of increasing the navy, and from this time forth, for various reasons, that idea will be uppermost in the emperor's mind. his statement that he had, from the first, strongly urged an increase in the navy must be accepted with certain reserves. such increases as were suggested were slight as compared to the programmes now to be urged, and his speeches of that time give little evidence of any particular insistence or disappointment at his failure in this regard. he really begins to preach the need of the greater navy insistently in the last years of the century, and his present statement, "bitterly do we need a powerful german fleet," is his sharpest pronouncement up to this time. it takes on an added significance if we remember that it was made nine days after the boer ultimatum which began the boer war had been despatched. in this connection it is well to read the telegram sent to president krüger, printed with the _daily telegraph_ interview (october , ). william ii had in divided the admiralty and appointed a naval officer to act as head of the organization and development of the fleet. it was only in the late nineties, however, after the appointment of admiral tirpitz, that this work began to go forward with leaps and bounds. that german sentiment was quick to follow the lead of the emperor is shown by the immense enthusiasm which has made the german navy league (organized in ) so great a success. in it already counted a million paying members, and its journal, _die flotte_, had a circulation of over , copies, which is about as large as that of nearly all other important german monthlies combined.[ ] shortly after the disaster of spion kop admiral tirpitz spoke thus: "we do not know what adversary we may have to face. we must therefore arm ourselves with a view to meeting the most dangerous naval conflict possible." the preamble to the german navy bill of reads: "germany must have a fleet of such strength that a war against the mightiest power would involve risks threatening the supremacy of that power." emperor william protests, and there is no reason for doubting his sincerity, that this policy of increasing the navy was not primarily directed at england. it was necessary to protect germany's commerce and increase her prestige. on this point his famous interview given to the _daily telegraph_ is interesting. undoubtedly, however, this rapid increase in the navy, which began with the navy bill of and which happened to coincide with the events of the boer war, did much to heighten the ill feeling which had already begun to spring up between england and germany. the idea of increasing the navy met with more general support among the people than any other policy of the emperor's, though it called for very decided increases in taxation. how keen was the emperor's personal interest in the matter we may judge from the fact that in he sent to all the members of the reichstag and innumerable other officials a memorandum comparing the naval strength of germany, france, russia, america, and japan. the appropriation bill of that year calling for , , marks was voted with a slight reduction. the sense that the struggle for naval supremacy with england was impending made necessary immensely larger appropriations in the bill of . [ ] these are the figures given by j. ellis barker in "modern germany." "bitterly we need a powerful german fleet" hamburg, october , the _kaiser karl der grosse_ was launched in hamburg on the th of october, . it will be noticed that the emperor is always careful to observe the anniversaries that commemorate the military prowess, the birthdays, and the achievements of the members of his house. the present date is again an anniversary of the battle of leipzig, . in the evening the emperor spoke as follows at the banquet in the rathaus: it is with particular pleasure that i find myself among you again on this historic anniversary. it always gives me new strength and vigor when i feel around me the dashing spray and bubbling life of one of the cities of the hanseatic league. it was a solemn act that we have just witnessed when we gave over to its element a new portion of the floating defense of the fatherland. every one who was present must have been impressed with the thought that the proud ship would soon be able to take up its calling. we feel its lack, and bitterly do we need a powerful german fleet. its name reminds us of the first glorious days of the old empire and of its mighty protector. the first beginnings of hamburg date from that time, even though it was merely the point of departure for the missions in the service of the powerful emperor. now our fatherland has been newly united through emperor william the great and is in a position to take up its glorious outward development. and right here in this great emporium of trade we feel the sense of power and energy which the german people are capable of putting into their enterprises through the fact that they are bound together and united. but here, too, we can most readily understand how necessary it is that we should have powerful support and that we can no longer continue without increasing our fighting strength upon the seas. but this feeling penetrates all too slowly into the german fatherland, which unfortunately wastes its strength in fruitless party strife. i have had to watch with deep concern how slow is the progress of interest in, and political comprehension of, the great world problems among the german people. if we look about us we can see how in the last few years the face of all the world has been changed. old world empires are disappearing and new ones are arising. nations have appeared among the peoples and are taking their place in the competition--nations which previously the layman had scarcely noticed. events which change the whole field of international relationships and the whole field of our national economy, and which formerly were accomplished only in the course of centuries, now take place in a few months. through this fact the tasks of the german empire and the german people have grown greatly in extent and demand from me and my government extraordinary and serious efforts. they can be crowned with success only if the germans stand behind us firmly united and give up their party divisions. but our people must make up their minds to make sacrifices. above all things, it must give up the attempt to find the highest by dividing itself more and more sharply into parties. it must cease to put the party above the good of the nation. it must put a check upon its old hereditary failing to make everything the occasion of unrestrained criticism, and it must realize the boundaries which its own vital interests draw for it. for it is precisely these old political sins which are now being visited upon our interests on the sea and upon our fleet. i insistently requested and warned that it must be strengthened in the first eight years of my reign, and if these requests had not been continually refused, and refused in ways which heaped scorn and ridicule upon me, we would have been able to advance our growing trade and our oversea interests far differently. but my hopes that the german will choose the manlier way have not yet disappeared, for in him love of the fatherland is great and powerful. the october fires which to-day he lights upon the hills and by which he celebrates the noble figure of the emperor[ ] who was born on this day bear eloquent witness to this fact. [ ] frederick iii. and, in fact, emperor frederick with his great father and his great paladins did help to build a wonderful edifice and left it to us as the german empire. it stands before us in glory, as it had been yearned for by our fathers and celebrated by our poets! let us no longer, therefore, as heretofore, dispute uselessly as to how the particular rooms, halls, and apartments of this building are to look or how they are to be furnished; but may the people, burning like these october fires with an ideal enthusiasm, strive to follow its ideal second emperor, and above all things let it rejoice in the beautiful edifice and help to protect it. let it be proud of its greatness. let it be conscious of its inner worth. let it watch every foreign state in its development. let it make the sacrifices which our position as a world-power demands. let it give up the spirit of party and stand united and firm behind its princes and its emperor--then only will the german people help the hanseatic cities in carrying out their great work for the benefit of the fatherland. that is my wish to-day, and to it and the health of hamburg i raise my glass. on the threshold of the new century berlin, january , the military new year's celebration took place near the armory, and the standards of the entire berlin garrison were for this purpose brought from the royal palace. the empress and her younger children watched the celebration from the windows of the armory. the first day of the new century sees our army, that is our people under arms, gathered about its standards and kneeling before the lord of hosts. and, indeed, if any one has particular cause for bowing down to-day before god it is our army. a glance at our flags will explain the reason, for they embody our history. at the beginning of the last century what was the position of our army? the glorious army of frederick the great had become ossified and was interested only in petty and insignificant details; it was led by generals feeble with age and no longer capable of conducting active campaigns; its corps of officers had lost the habit of invigorating labor; through a life of luxury and comfort and foolish exaltation of self it had fallen asleep upon its laurels. in one word, the army was not only no longer capable of carrying out its task, but had forgotten it. the punishment of heaven was grievous, for it was suddenly visited upon our entire people. cast down into the dust, frederick's glory vanished, and the army's standards were broken. in the seven long years of grievous slavery god taught our people to take thought, and under the pressure of the foot of an insolent conqueror developed the idea of universal military service, the idea that the greatest honor lies in dedicating our services in arms and in sacrificing our blood and our possessions for the fatherland. my great-grandfather gave the idea form and life, and new laurels crowned the newly established army and her recent flags. but the idea of universal military service reached its full significance only under our great departed emperor. in spite of opposition and lack of comprehension he quietly went to work at the reorganization, and at the re-establishment of our army. victorious campaigns, nevertheless, gave his work an altogether unexpected sanction. his spirit filled the ranks of his army, even as his trust in god carried them on to unheard-of victories. with this, his own creation, he brought the germanic peoples together again and gave us the german unity for which we had prayed. we owe it to him that, thanks to this honor, the german empire commands respect again and takes up its appointed place in the council of the nations. it is for you, gentlemen, to cherish and exemplify in the new century the old qualities through which our forefathers gave greatness to the army. this means that you must make few demands in daily life,[ ] that you must practise simplicity and give yourselves up unconditionally to the royal service, that you must in ceaseless labor offer all the powers of body and soul to the building up and development of our troops, and, just as my grandfather labored for his land forces, so, undeterred, i shall carry through to its completion the work of reorganizing my navy in order that it may stand justified at the side of my army and that through it the german empire may also be in a position to win outwardly the place which she has not yet attained. [ ] "to the americans the pay of the german troops, officers and men, is ludicrously small. it is evident that men do not undertake to fit themselves to be officers, and do not struggle through frequent and severe examinations to remain officers, for the pay they receive. a lieutenant receives for the first three years $ a year, from the fourth to the sixth year $ , from the seventh to the ninth year $ , and after the twelfth year $ a year. a captain receives from the first to the fourth year $ , from the fifth to the eighth year $ , , and the ninth year and after $ , a year. of one hundred officers who join, only an average of eight ever attain to the command of a regiment. in bavaria and würtemberg promotion is quicker by from one to three years than in prussia. in prussia promotion to _oberleutnant_ averages years, to captain or _rittmeister_ years, to major years, to colonel years, and to general years. it would not be altogether inhuman if these gentlemen occasionally drank a toast to war and pestilence."--price collier, "germany and the germans." when both are united i hope to be in a position, firmly trusting in the leadership of god, to carry into effect the saying of frederick william i: "if one wishes to decide anything in the world, it cannot be done with the pen unless the pen is supported by the force of the sword." new boundary posts berlin, february , on the occasion of the return of prince henry from the orient, whither he had been sent at the time of the troubles in kiaochow, the emperor greeted him at a dinner held in the royal palace in berlin. the question of the imperial foreign policy, as during all this period, is evidently here uppermost in the emperor's mind. your royal highness, my dear brother: i bid you a hearty welcome to our fatherland and our capital! two years ago i sent you forth to carry out your task in the far east, and could only hope that god would give you his protection and bring the work to a successful issue. the joyous and enthusiastic reception which all classes in my home city, berlin, give you is a testimony to the loving interest which our entire people have in the completion of the task which you had set yourself. but this reception has a still deeper significance. it is an unambiguous indication which proves how deeply the people have come to understand the need of strengthening our sea power. the german people is of one mind with its princes and its emperor in the feeling that in its powerful development it must set up a new boundary post and create a great fleet which will correspond to its needs. just as emperor william the great created the weapon by whose help we became again black, white, and red, so the german people is now lending its efforts to forging the weapon through which, god willing and in all eternity, both here and in foreign countries, it will remain black, white, and red. on your return you find a little lad[ ] in the arms of your faithful wife. as sponsor for the growth of our young fleet may you see him grow up to full maturity under the protection of god! hurrah! [ ] prince henry, born january , . seaports and cannon lÜbeck, june , the opening of the elbe-trave canal took place at lübeck in the presence of the emperor. he again took up the question of the development of the german empire. on this day i congratulate the city of lübeck most heartily. first of all i offer my heartiest thanks for the wonderful reception which you prepared for me. i have seen in the attitude and the faces of the citizens how joyously their hearts are moved to-day; for they know that i, too, take a lively interest in all that now moves them. may the canal which they have carried through with their irresistible hanseatic activity not fall short in any way of their expectations, and i am convinced that it will not do so. you see, as you look upon the completed work, how significant it is that a united german empire now exists. its past glories lübeck owed to the german emperors, and its present glory it owes to the german empire, so i hope that everywhere in the empire and among the people the conviction may grow that through the re-establishment and strengthening of the german empire we are now called upon to carry through those old tasks which could not be accomplished formerly and which were rendered impossible through the unfortunate lack of union of our ancestors. i hope that in the future, under my protection, lübeck may continue to develop. i could not express this hope with the same satisfaction if i did not now stand before you joyously buoyed up by the hope that we to-day have the prospect of at last possessing a german fleet. an emperor can only undertake to protect a seaport when he is in a position with his cannon to protect her flag, even in the farthermost corners of the world, whether it be that of lübeck, or of hamburg, or of bremen, or of prussia. may it be granted us to maintain peace outwardly through our fleet, and may we succeed through the building of the necessary canals within to simplify the problem of transportation! a blessing will certainly always rest upon our waterways. the ocean knocks at our door kiel, july , the ship of the line "wittelsbach" was launched on this day. as the house of wittelsbach is the reigning house of bavaria, prince rupprecht of bavaria was present at the christening and gave the boat its name. a banquet took place in the evening at the officers' casino. the emperor replied to prince rupprecht as follows: i thank your royal highness for the friendly words which you have been good enough to address to me. at the christening of this new ship your royal highness has mentioned the support which the house of wittelsbach has given to the german emperors. i would like to call attention in this connection to an episode in the early history of our houses. on the fields before rome it was granted to one of the ancestors of your royal highness in company with one of mine to be made the recipient of a very unusual distinction. mounted upon their horses and clad in armor, in sight of the hostile squadron of knights, they received the accolade from emperor henry vii. the incident is immortalized in a picture upon my yacht _hohenzollern_. the descendants of those princes gave each other assistance at mühldorf,[ ] where the hohenzoller won the battle for emperor ludwig of bavaria. just as at that time the houses of wittelsbach and of hohenzollern fought side by side for the good of the empire, so now, too, and in the future they will work together. [ ] battle fought in between two competitors for the empire, louis v and frederick the fair. your royal highness has had the opportunity to be present during these days when we came to weighty conclusions and to be the witness of historical moments which mark a new point in the history of our people. your royal highness has been able to convince himself how powerfully the wave beat of the ocean knocks at the door of our people and forces it to demand its place in the world as a great nation; drives it on, in short, to world politics. germany's greatness makes it impossible for her to do without the ocean--but the ocean also proves that even in the distance, and on its farther side, without germany and the german emperor no great decision dare henceforth be taken.[ ] [ ] see the introduction to chapter iv, "the beginning of world politics." i do not believe that thirty years ago our german people, under the leadership of their princes, bled and conquered in order that they might be shoved aside when great decisions are to be made in foreign politics. if that could happen the idea that the german people are to be considered as a world-power would be dead and done for, and it is not my will that this should happen. to this end it is only my duty and my finest privilege to use the proper and, if need be, the most drastic means without fear of consequences. i am convinced that in this course i have the german princes and the german people firmly behind me. it is of great significance that precisely at this time, when bavarians and würtembergers, saxons and prussians are going into the far east in order to re-establish the honor of the german flag, your royal highness should have accepted the honor of the _à la suite_ position to the naval battalion. just as the house of wittelsbach took up arms in to fight for germany's honor, for her union, and her imperial dignity, so i hope that the empire may always be assured of the support of this noble race. as a representative of this noble house i greet your royal highness with the wish that the close connection which the _à la suite_ position to my navy now gives you will always maintain your royal highness's interest for our fleet. i drink to the health of his royal highness, prince rupprecht of bavaria. hurrah! hurrah! hurrah! open the way for culture bremen, july , events in china touched upon in the speech delivered on december , , had finally brought about the pekin crisis. baron von ketteler, the german minister, had been shot down in the streets on june . the following is one of five speeches which the emperor delivered on the occasion of the departure of the german troops for china. this particular one was delivered to the troops at bremen in the presence of the empress, princes eitel friedrich and adelbert, chancellor hohenlohe, secretary of state von bülow, minister of war von gossler, and lieutenant-general von bessel. various versions of this speech exist and in many of them the harshness of the emperor's expression has been toned down. we give first the version which was printed in the _reichsanzeiger_, the official journal, and which seems to have been somewhat edited. in order that the reader may realize more fully the impression conveyed by the emperor's farewell address to his troops, we print under it the account which a volunteer of the st east asiatic regiment of infantry sent home to his family. great tasks oversea have fallen to the lot of the newly arisen german empire, tasks far greater than many of my countrymen have expected. the character of the german empire makes it a duty for it to protect its citizens no matter how far they may have penetrated into foreign lands. the new german empire is in a position to discharge the task which the old roman empire of the german nation could not discharge. the instrument which makes this possible for us is our army. in thirty years of faithful and peaceful labor it has been developed according to the principles of my late grandfather. you too have received your training according to these principles, and are now called upon to give proof before the enemy whether or not you have observed them well. your comrades of the navy have undergone this trial; they have shown you that the principles of our training are good, and i am proud of the praise which has come from the mouths of foreign leaders, in recognition of the service which your comrades out there have given. it is now for you to do likewise. a great task is waiting for you. you are to right the grievous wrong which has been done. the chinese have overthrown the law of nations; in a way which has never been heard of in the history of the world, they have scorned the duties of hospitality and the sanctity of the ambassador. this is the more revolutionary, as this crime was committed by a nation which is proud of its very ancient culture. preserve the old prussian thoroughness; show yourselves as christians in joyfully bearing your trials; may honor and glory follow your flags and weapons! give the world an example of manliness and discipline. you know very well that you are to fight against a cunning, brave, well-armed, and terrible enemy. if you come to grips with him, be assured quarter will not be given, no prisoners will be taken. use your weapons in such a way that for a thousand years no chinese shall dare to look upon a german askance. show your manliness. the blessing of god be with you! the prayers of an entire people and my wishes accompany you, every one. open the way for culture once for all! and now take up your journey! adieu, comrades! we here subjoin the account of this speech as given in the letter of a volunteer in the st east asiatic regiment of infantry: after the emperor had gone down the front and had greeted separately every battalion, every division or squadron, he pictured the present situation in eloquent words and called attention to the fact that no crime which so cried to heaven had been recorded in the history of the world, but he also set in their proper light the difficulties of the task which we had set for ourselves and emphasized the fact that we had before us an opponent equal in equipment and fame but ten times superior in numbers. but, and his words ran about as follows, "you will and must defeat him with the help of god and, indeed, in such a way that the chinese in thousands of years will not presume to raise his hand against a german"; and his voice became deeply moved and powerful as he spoke the following words: "on the strength of the oath to the flag which you have sworn to me i demand that you give no pardon, that no prisoners be taken, for you shall be the avengers of the abomination which has been committed in this present time." then followed certain words of farewell, and the speech of the emperor which for me and for many others will be unforgettably closed with the phrase, "adieu, comrades." [illustration: the emperor in ] civis romanus sum imperial limes museum, saalburg, october , _limes_ was the latin name for the boundary wall extending for about miles from the rhine to the danube and separating the roman empire from the free germanic peoples. at saalburg, in the taunus mountains, there stood on the _limes_ an old roman citadel which was excavated and restored. the romanized ceremony at the laying of the corner-stone of the imperial limes museum struck certain german critics as somewhat theatrical. the guards had been drilled to clash their swords on their shields after the manner of the pretorian guards, the rector of the school offered his homage in latin verses, and boys whose hair had been dressed in roman fashion swung their censers. the emperor's historical references here about the relation of germany to rome are somewhat one-sided. it may be recalled, in connection with the emperor's remarks about augustus and his salutary influence on germany, that in the forest of teutoburg there is a great monument to commemorate the fact that the united german tribes, struggling victoriously against this "roman culture which fell so fruitfully upon germany especially," there annihilated the forces of the general of augustus, quintilius varus. my first thought to-day goes back in solemn gratitude to my father of everlasting memory, emperor frederick iii. it is to his creative will and to his activity that saalburg owes its restoration. just as in the far east of the monarchy at his bidding the powerful stronghold, which once had implanted german culture into the east, rearose and is now nearing completion, so, too, here in the beautiful taunus mountains the old roman citadel has arisen again like a phoenix from its ashes. it is a testimony to the roman power, a link in the great chain which the legions of rome built about the powerful empire which, at the bidding of the roman emperor cæsar augustus alone, forced its way upon the world and opened the whole world to that roman culture which fell so fruitfully upon germany especially. with the first blow of my hammer i therefore dedicate this stone to the memory of emperor frederick iii; with the second i dedicate it to german youth, to the generations now growing up who may learn here in this restored museum what a world-empire means; with the third i dedicate it to our german fatherland, to which i hope it will be granted, through the harmonious co-operation of princes and peoples, of its armies and its citizens, to become in the future as closely united, as powerful, and as authoritative as once the roman world-empire was, and that, just as in old times they said, "_civis romanus sum_," hereafter, at some time in the future, they will say: "i am a german citizen." cabinet order to the prussian army january, the relationship of the army to the prussian kings here referred to is treated in chapter i. to my army: to-day, at the celebration which commemorates the two-hundredth anniversary of our taking over of the royal power of prussia, my thoughts are directed first of all to my army. in prussia the king and the army belong indissolubly together. this close personal relationship between me and every single one of my officers and soldiers rests upon a tradition that dates back years. the spirit which from the time of frederick the great has been fostered in the army by all the kings, the spirit of honor, of fidelity to duty, of obedience, of courage, of chivalry has made the army what it is and what it ought to be, the sharp, reliable weapon in the hand of her kings for the protection and the blessing of the fatherland's greatness. to serve the fatherland at the head of the army, that is my will and that also was the foremost wish of all my predecessors. it is to their care that the army owes its power and the consideration which it enjoys. for years she has proven true the sentence of the great king: "the world does not rest upon the shoulders of atlas any more securely than the prussian state upon the shoulders of the army!" it has sealed with its blood its love and gratitude for its kings! for all this i thank the army deeply. i thank it for the devotion which it has unselfishly shown me and my house year in and year out, in its unceasing service for the fatherland. so long as this spirit binds the army to its kings, so long we need fear no storms; and prussia's eagle will proudly pursue its lofty and undeflected flight for the good of prussia, for the good of germany! may god grant us this! william, i. r. berlin royal palace. dedication of the barracks of the alexander regiment march , on the th of march the emperor had been struck in the face by a piece of iron hurled at him by an irresponsible youth, weiland, in the streets of bremen. it was doubtless this incident coupled with the increasing strength of the social democrats that made him think of the possibility of an uprising and deliver the following address to the population of berlin. the social democrats and many others resented his suggesting the possibility of turning the troops upon the citizens. we give first penzler's more or less official account of the speech as it appeared in the _kreuzzeitung_. if the extract which we quote from doctor liman's work "der kaiser" may be considered at all authentic, the speech seems to have been somewhat edited before publication. members of the emperor alexander regiment: to-day a new period in your history begins. may the spirit of the memories which you leave behind you in the old barracks live on in your new home. they are memories of beautiful days of peace and of fierce days of conflict. like a firm bulwark, your new barracks stand in the neighborhood of the palace, which it is primarily your duty to be ever ready to defend. the emperor alexander regiment is called upon in a sense to stand ready as body-guard by night and by day and, if necessary, to risk its life and its blood for the king and his house; and if ever again (the emperor here called to mind the faithful bearing of the alexander regiment at the time of the revolts against the king in ) a time like this should reappear in this city, a time of uprising against the king, then i am convinced the alexander regiment will be able energetically to force back into bounds any impertinence and rebelliousness against its royal master.[ ] [ ] this last sentence reads as follows in doctor liman's work: "but if the city should ever again presume to rise up against its master then will the regiment repress with the bayonet the impertinence of the people toward their king." doctor liman states that it was currently reported that this sentiment had been expressed in phrases which were even more objectionable to the citizens who were standing outside the circle of soldiers. i hope that a brilliant and beautiful existence may be in store for the regiment in its new home, and that such an existence will be reserved for it in the future. may it cherish above all things its memories of its earlier leaders and its enduring relationships to them. these memories can only be fostered through courage, fidelity, and unconditional obedience. and if this old spirit lives on in the regiment then must its acts always win for it the satisfaction of its royal master. (after the banquet in the officers' mess the emperor turned over to them a large painting of the alexander regiment on the evening of the battle of st. privat. the official report gives the emperor's speech partly in his own words and partly in summary.) he was convinced that the officers had brought the old spirit into their new quarters, and that they would continue to foster it. he, too, on his side, wished to contribute something to the decoration of their new home, and to this end had chosen an episode out of the victorious history of the regiment, and in doing so he wished to carry out a wish of the officers. "in most of the pictures based upon the martial history of prussia the prussian troops are represented in victorious advance when, under their powerful shock, they are overthrowing the enemy. i thought it fitting for once to have the prussian toughness and endurance on the defensive represented in the battle of a smaller body against an overwhelmingly superior force. the picture represents how a small number from the alexander regiment defended themselves with heroic spirit against an entire brigade and finally victoriously repulsed it. my grandfather expressed to the body-guard as a whole his gratitude for its brave conduct in the face of the enemy and for all its heroic deeds. i am firmly convinced that the officers of the alexander regiment will always be mindful of its task, seeing that it educates soldiers for the one moment when it is a question of sealing with their life-blood their fidelity toward king and fatherland. this consciousness gives me the certainty that we shall conquer everywhere, even though we be surrounded by enemies on all sides; for there lives a powerful ally, the old, good god[ ] in heaven, who, ever since the time of the great elector and of the great king, has always been on our side." [ ] _der alte, gute gott._ to the students at bonn april , emperor william had himself been a student at bonn. on this day the crown prince was matriculated at that university and in the evening the students held a _festkommers_, a kind of banquet of the student societies, at which the emperor appeared with the crown prince and his brother-inlay, prince adolph von schaumburg-lippe. after singing two student songs, the student leader of the _kommers_, "studiosus" von alvensleben, greeted the emperor with a speech of welcome. in this friendly gathering the emperor took occasion to discuss the history of the empire and especially the reasons for the failure of the older empire because of its cosmopolitan character. the new empire must be based upon a recognition of the characteristic german traits and will be possible only through the whole-hearted support of the constituent states of the realm. i do not need to emphasize or even to mention to you, my dear young comrades, what emotions thrill my heart at finding myself again among students in beautiful bonn. there unrolls before my mind's eye the glimmering picture of sunshine and happy contentment with which the period of my own sojourn here was filled. it was the joy of living, joy in people old and young, and, above all things, joy in the development of the young german empire! it is therefore my wish at this moment, when i place my dear son among you, that he, too, may have as happy a time as a student as was once vouchsafed to me. and, indeed, how could it be otherwise? for bonn, the lovely city, is so accustomed to the presence of young men full of life and seems by nature to have been designed to no other end. here the crown prince will find memories of his glorious grandfather who could not forget bonn--his kindly eyes brightened whenever the name of the city which had become so dear to him was mentioned--memories of his great-grandfather, the noble prince consort, the companion of that now sanctified royal lady,[ ] who always strove to maintain a peaceful and friendly relationship between her people and ours, which are both of german stock--memories of many another noble german prince who here prepared himself for his later career. [ ] queen victoria. but even more than that--bonn is situated on the rhine; it is here that our grapes are gathered; our legends cluster about it, and every castle, every city, speaks to us of our past. the magic of father rhine will certainly exercise its power upon the crown prince likewise. and when you joyfully pass the cup and sing a new song, then i hope that your spirits may rise and enjoy the beautiful moments as becomes happy german youths! but may the source from which you draw your joys be as clear and pure as the golden juice of the grape, may it be deep and constant as father rhine! if we look about us in the joyous rhineland, our history rises up before us in very palpable form. you may well rejoice that you are young germans, as you travel through the stretch from aix to mainz, that is, from charlemagne to the time of germany's splendor under barbarossa. but why did all this glory come to naught? why did the german empire dwindle away? because the old empire was not founded upon a strictly national basis. the universality idea of the old roman empire of the german nation did not admit of any development in the spirit of german nationality. the life of a nation depends upon its frontiers, upon the personality of its people, and upon its racial traits. and so the glory of barbarossa had to fail, and the old imperial structure had to fall, because through its idea of universality it hindered the process of crystallization which might have made it a rounded and completed nation; for the smaller units crystallized into the form of powerful principalities and laid the foundation for new states. but through this process their rulers unfortunately came into conflict with the empire and the emperor, who dreamed of universal dominion, and internal peace was lost to the ever weakening empire. unfortunately, at the head of this chapter in the development of our german people we must write the telling words of tacitus, that great student of germany: "_propter invidiam_." the princes were envious of the power of the emperors, just as once they were envious of the power of arminius in spite of his victory. the nobility was envious of the cities which had become wealthy, and the peasant was envious of the noble. what unhappy consequences and what grievous woes our dear and beautiful germany had to suffer "_propter invidiam_"! the shores of father rhine can tell you long stories about this. but finally god allowed one to accomplish what before had been impossible. aix and mainz are for us historic memories; the longing to be brought together into a single nation remained in the german breast, and emperor william the great, in union with his faithful servants, achieved it. so cast your eyes from coblentz to the german eck and from rüdesheim to the niederwald! the pictures teach and prove to you that you are now germans in a german land, citizens of a definitely bounded german nation. you are here to prepare yourselves to contribute to her future welfare and development. in its proud flower the empire stands before you. may you be filled with joy and grateful happiness, and may you be thrilled with the firm and manly resolve, as germans, to give your service to germany, to support, strengthen, and elevate her! the future waits for you and will need your strength; it does not expect that you will waste it in idle cosmopolitan dreams or enlist it in the service of selfish party tendencies, but that you will devote it to strengthening the national idea and our own ideals. powerful, indeed, are the intellectual heroes which the germanic stock, through the grace of god, has produced, from the time of boniface and walter von der vogelweide to goethe and schiller; and they have become a light and blessing to all humanity. their influence was exerted universally, and yet they were strictly germans, set apart by themselves; that is, personalities, men. we need them to-day more than ever. may you strive to become such as they were! but how is this to be possible, and who is to help you? only one, our lord and saviour, whose name we all bear and who has borne our sins and redeemed us, has provided us with an example, and labored as we are to labor. he has implanted moral earnestness in you so that the springs of your activity may remain pure and that your aims may be lofty! the love of father and mother, of the ancestral home and fatherland, is rooted in the love for him. then will you be provided with a charm against temptations of every sort, above all against pride and envy, and you can sing and say: "we germans fear god, nothing else in this world." then will we stand firm and spread culture through the world, and i shall close my eyes in peace if i see such generations growing up and gathered about my son. then "_deutschland, deutschland über alles!_" with this prospect in mind i call out: long live the university of bonn! a place in the sun hamburg, june , from his childhood the emperor has been fond of the sea. most of his vacations have been taken aboard his famous yacht _hohenzollern_, and almost every year he has been an enthusiastic spectator, and occasionally participant, in the regattas on the elbe. on this occasion the steam-yacht _prinzessin victoria luise_ was placed at his disposition by the directors of the hamburg-american line. he is using his famous phrase, "a place in the sun" with reference to the happy outcome of events in china, for on may of this year china had finally accepted the terms of the powers. of the , men sent by the powers, germany had furnished , , and the general direction of the expedition had been intrusted to the german general von waldersee. ballin, of the hamburg-american line, had acquired , feet of water-front and had leased for twenty-five years most of the landings of a chinese navigation company. the emperor's speech was delivered in reply to one by burgomaster mönckeberg of hamburg. i offer my heartiest thanks for the eloquent address of your magnificence. i express to you and all comrades on the water the pleasure which i feel that i should once more be allowed to appear among you and take part in the races of the north german regatta association. his magnificence, in his short and pregnant speech, gave us as good and beautiful a picture as possible of the development of our fatherland during recent years in the field of water sports and of our relations to foreign countries. it will be my sole task for the future to see to it that the seeds which have been sown may develop in peace and security. in spite of the fact that we have no such fleet as we should have, we have conquered for ourselves a place in the sun. it will now be my task to see to it that this place in the sun shall remain our undisputed possession, in order that the sun's rays may fall fruitfully upon our activity and trade in foreign parts, that our industry and agriculture may develop within the state and our sailing sports upon the water, for our future lies upon the water. the more germans go out upon the waters, whether it be in the races of regattas, whether it be in journeys across the ocean, or in the service of the battle-flag, so much the better will it be for us. for when the german has once learned to direct his glance upon what is distant and great, the pettiness which surrounds him in daily life on all sides will disappear. whoever wishes to have this larger and freer outlook can find no better place than one of the hanseatic cities. what we have learned out of the previous history of our development amounts really to what i already pointed out when i sent my brother to the east asiatic station (dec. , ). we have merely drawn the logical conclusions from the work which was left us by emperor william the great, my memorable grandfather, and the great man whose monument we have recently unveiled.[ ] these consequences lie in the fact that we are now making our efforts to do what, in the old time, the hanseatic cities could not accomplish, because they lacked the vivifying and protecting power of the empire. may it be the function of my hansa during many years of peace to protect and advance commerce and trade! [ ] bismarck. in the events which have taken place in china i see the indication that european peace is assured for many years to come; for the achievements of the particular contingents have brought about a mutual respect and feeling of comradeship that can only serve the furtherance of peace. but in this period of peace i hope that our hanseatic cities will flourish. our new hansa will open new paths and create and conquer new markets for them. as head of the empire i therefore rejoice over every citizen, whether from hamburg, bremen, or lübeck, who goes forth with this large outlook and seeks new points where we can drive in the nail on which to hang our armor. therefore, i believe that i express the feeling of all your hearts when i recognize gratefully that the director of this company who has placed at our disposal the wonderful ship which bears my daughter's name has gone forth as a courageous servant of the hansa, in order to make for us friendly conquests whose fruits will be gathered by our descendants. in the joyful hope that this enterprising hanseatic spirit may be spread even further, i raise my glass and ask all of those who are my comrades upon the water to join with me in a cheer for sailing and the hanseatic spirit! the great elector kiel, june , because of his activity in founding the brandenburg fleet, a monument was erected to the great elector at kiel. his history has been touched upon in chapter i. in connection with the services of the dutch admirals it is interesting to note that one of the emperor's heroes was the god-fearing dutch admiral de ruyter, who always offered prayers before battle. the emperor once laid a wreath upon his grave, and to-day on board the battle-ships the dutch prayer before going into action is often read by the chaplains of the navy. what extraordinary progress has been made in naval matters under the emperor we may judge when we remember that before the franco-prussian war there were in germany no construction bureaus and no wharves in which cruisers could be built. the first armored cruisers, _könig wilhelm_, _kronprinz_, _friedrich karl_, were bought from england and france. in thirty years germany has here achieved not only complete independence but something approaching very nearly to supremacy. his service in this field has been generally recognized. a german critic not usually favorable to the emperor speaks thus: "perhaps nowhere in the development of our political life does the personal activity of the emperor stand out so strongly as in the building up of the german fleet. from the beginning he has displayed so much energy and perseverance, in this respect, and has so emphatically carried his will into effect that history will certainly credit him with a great and unique service." at the unveiling of the monument to the great elector, the founder of the german navy, the emperor spoke as follows: downtrodden fields, desolate plains, razed villages, disease, poverty, and misery; these were the conditions in the sandy mark when the young elector in his earliest youth was called to the throne by the sudden death of his father. truly, no enviable heritage; a task that called for a man who was mature, experienced, and conversant with all branches, and one which, even so, might have proved too difficult. undismayed, the young man entered upon his mission, and with wonderful ability he succeeded in discharging it. with an iron energy, keeping the goal which he had once set for himself ever before his eyes, allowing nothing to turn him aside, the elector raised up and strengthened his country, put his people in a position to defend themselves, freed his borders of enemies, and soon acquired for himself such a position that the contemporary world, and even his enemies, gave him while still living that title, "the great," which in other cases a grateful people only bestows after an arduous life of service upon a departed ruler. and this youth who grew up to powerful manhood, who had directed his country in this work, was the first prince who called our attention to the sea; he was the founder of the brandenburg fleet. if the german fleet, then, sets up a monument to him, and if her officers and crews educate themselves and learn steadfastness of purpose by looking at his statue, they are merely discharging their honorable duty. god had so disposed that the elector should pass his youth in the netherlands and learn to foster and appreciate labor, industry, foreign relationships, and the advantages of trade. he carried over into his own country what he had acquired among that industrious and simple folk of seafarers who come from german stock. at that time it was, indeed, a most important decision, and one which at first his subjects and contemporaries could hardly understand. under his powerful will and protection, and in the hands of tried netherlanders, the admiral raule and his brother, the brandenburg fleet flourished. only after the death of the elector did his creation fall to decay. they were not destined to harvest the fruits of their labor. his successors in power had first to establish through battles their rights, in order to have a voice in the world and to be allowed to rule, undisturbed and in peace, the people within their borders. as a result, our eyes were turned from the sea again in order that after centuries of fierce conflict the mark and prussia might finally be welded together. thus, through the guidance of god and through the labors of the successors of the great elector, the power of his house was founded on that firm foundation and with the corner-stone which he had laid. it was this princely power that made it possible for the house of hohenzollern to take up the german imperial dignity. they founded that dynastic power which the german emperor must have in order to be in a position to care for and protect powerfully the welfare of the empire everywhere and to force its opponents to respect its flag. his monument now stands before the academy. that younger generation to whom the future belongs, which is to cultivate the seeds that we have sown and to reap the harvest of our labors, may now direct its gaze toward this prince and be edified by his example. he was god-fearing and stern, inflexibly stern toward himself and toward others; he trusted firmly in god and allowed god to direct him, undismayed by any reverse or by any disappointment; as a christian, he looked upon these merely as trials sent him from on high. in this way the great elector lived his life, and this is the example which we are to follow. the motto which made it possible for him never to lose his hope and courage, in spite of all vexations, in spite of all reverses and all grievous experiences and trials, was the red thread which ran through his life and which is expressed in his phrase: "_domine, fac me scire viam, quam ambulem._" may this be true also of the officers and crews of my navy! so long as we work on this basis we can overcome, undismayed, every grievous phase in the development of the navy and of our fatherland which god's providence may have in store for us. let that be the way that you shall go! let that be the foundation on which my navy is built up! this will enable you to conquer in battle and to endure all vexations until the sun again breaks forth from the clouds. i therefore turn over this new monument to the navy. may she protect, cherish, and honor it, so that in the future she may develop characters which are like his who now stands before her! let the monument be unveiled! entrance of prince eitel friedrich into the army july , the second son of the emperor took up his service in the st infantry regiment of the guard on the completion of his eighteenth year. on this occasion, in the presence of many princes, officers of the army, and military attachés, the emperor turned over his son to the regiment with the following words: my second son, prince eitel friedrich of prussia, having applied himself eagerly to his studies, has now, according to the verdict of his superiors, passed his examination with a "good." his childish years lie behind him, and to-day he takes up the tasks of life for which he has prepared himself--his foremost task the defense of the fatherland--his noblest weapon the sword, his noblest uniform the prussian soldier's uniform, the uniform of my st infantry regiment of the guard. the qualities which the prince has shown in the course of his youthful development, as well as his oath, are a pledge to me that he will be a thoroughgoing officer and a faithful servant of his fatherland. particularly gifted for the military life, with a quick eye for detail, the prince, as soon as he has passed his examination as an officer, will in the ranks of the regiment devote himself actively to the service for which he longs. although still very youthful, he should, nevertheless, be an example of earnestness, an example in observing all military rules, an example above all as an officer and man. i can think of nothing more beautiful than this, that he may be an earnest officer who turns an experienced eye upon life, unbending as iron in everything which constitutes the chivalry of the officer's position, stern with himself and maintaining in strictest self-control the traditions of his house and of this great regiment. may he go his way untroubled by voices from without, with his eye firmly fixed upon his goal, and responsible only to his god and to his father! but the regiment in which i have now enrolled my second son gives me the assurance that the young prince will grow up in an environment, where from all sides the glorious traditions of prussian history in good and evil days will be brought before him. the grenadiers of this regiment will be fully conscious of the honor which is bestowed upon them through the fact that once more a young hohenzollern takes his place under her flag. my son, i wish you happiness of this day. up to the present you have given me joy, and from this time forth i hope that you will experience joy in the life and the work which lies before you. step into the ranks and draw your sword! true art berlin, december , the family of the hohenzollerns has possessed undoubted genius in many lines. frederick the great and the emperor's great-uncle frederick william iv were particularly gifted on the artistic side. the present emperor, whose versatility is amazing, has taken a particular interest in things literary and artistic, and has himself occasionally assumed the rôle of creative artist. the symbolic picture, representing the coming of the "yellow peril," which he is said to have painted for the czar, caused much comment, mostly unfavorable.[ ] he has, however, assumed a prominent if not a decisive rôle in directing sculpture, painting, and drama in his capital. just as he has directed modifications in battle-ships, so also he has directed modifications in public buildings. as he is in a position to distribute rewards, his advice is frequently accepted without question. the following anecdote, told by a prominent german architect and recounted by a recent writer, may serve as an illustration: drawings for a new church in berlin were submitted to the emperor for assent or correction. his majesty, intending to make a marginal remark, with regard to the cross on the top of the steeple, put a letter for reference above the cross and drew a straight line from the letter down to the cross. having changed his mind, he drew an x vigorously through the letter. when the architect received his plans again he studied carefully all the emperor's corrections, but mistook the cancelled letter for a star. knowing better than to ask questions, he built the church and put a big star on a huge iron pole above the top of the cross. this strange excrescence was in existence a few years ago and is probably still visible. [ ] "emperor william, one of the most comical persons of our time, orator, poet, musician, dramatic writer, and artist, and, above all, patriot, has lately painted a picture representing all the nations of europe with swords, standing at the seashore and, at the indication of archangel michael, looking at the sitting figures of buddha and confucius in the distance. according to william's intention, this should mean that the nations of europe ought to unite in order to defend themselves against the peril which is proceeding from there. he is quite right from his coarse, pagan, patriotic point of view, which is eighteen hundred years behind the times. the european nations, forgetting christ, have in the name of their patriotism more and more irritated these peaceful nations and have taught them patriotism and war, and have now irritated them so much that, indeed, if japan and china will as fully forget the teachings of buddha and of confucius as we have forgotten the teachings of christ, they will soon learn the art of killing people (they learn these things quickly, as japan has proved), and, being fearless, agile, strong, and populous, they will inevitably very soon make of the countries of europe, if europe does not invent something stronger than guns and edison's inventions, what the countries of europe are making of africa. 'the disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master' (luke : )."--tolstoi. it is a curious fact that for all the emperor's insistence upon what might be called nationalism, in artistic matters at least, in poetry, sculpture, and the drama, he has very little sympathy with the modern german tendencies. klinger and stuck, ludwig von hofmann and thoma have found no favor, and no attention was paid to böcklin. his literary preferences will become more evident after a reading of his talk with ganghofer (november , ). in the matter of sculpture, the achievement in which the emperor takes most pride is undoubtedly the famous siegesallee in berlin. it consists of a number of monumental, heroic figures taken from the history of his house. the avenue, the general scheme, and the arrangement of many of the figures were planned by him, and the figures were chosen in consultation with his historiographer. the style is supposedly classic; there are many incidental animal figures, and a sphinx and the sibyl help to represent bismarck. the attempt to make heroic and classic certain of the fairly mediocre representatives of his line, like albrecht, otto and john, joachim, frederick, and george william, seems to have been too difficult a task even for that berlin school of sculpture, which the emperor feels would bear comparison with that of the renaissance. notwithstanding his own efforts to awaken art "from the cold sleep of unculture," it is perhaps significant that powerful, independent personalities, michelangelos in sculpture and bismarcks in politics, do not seem to thrive under the emperor's protection. this eighteenth day of december has a certain significance in the history of our art here in berlin, from the fact that that revered protector of the muses, my late father, and my mother, who was so gifted in the arts, dedicated on that day, fifteen years ago, the anthropological museum. this was in a way the last great closing act which my father accomplished in this direction, and i look upon it as a special piece of good fortune that it is on precisely this day of the year that the works for the siegesallee could be completed. i seize with joy the opportunity to express to you all, first, my congratulations and, secondly, my thanks for the way and manner in which you have helped me to carry out my original plan. the accomplishment of the programme for the siegesallee has required a number of years, and it was the able historiographer of my house, professor doctor koser, who put me in a position to assign to the gentlemen the tasks which it was possible for them to carry out. once we had found the historical basis, it was possible to go ahead; and after the choice of the princes was decided upon, then the most competent men in the way of historical research were found to help the gentlemen in their work. in this way the groups were conceived, and, conditioned to a certain degree by history, they gradually took form. after this part of the work was done, then, naturally, came the hardest question of all: would it be possible, as i hoped, to find enough artists in berlin who would be in a position to give themselves entirely to the execution of this programme? i had in mind when i approached the solution of this problem, if i were successful, to show to the world what i considered to be the most advantageous method of solving an artistic question of this character. the best way to go about it, i believe, consists not in the appointment of commissions, not in the establishment of all possible kinds of prize contests and competitions, but in following the old established method which they used in classical times and also later in the middle ages. in this way, the direct intercourse between the employer and the artist offers a security for the favorable shaping of the work and for the successful accomplishment of the task. i am especially indebted in this particular to professor rheinhold begas in that, when i went to him with these thoughts, he made it clear to me without further ceremony that there was absolutely no doubt but that there were enough artists of all kinds in berlin to carry out such an idea without difficulty. with his help and on the basis of friendships formed in the circle of sculptors here through visits to exhibitions and studios i did, indeed, succeed in getting together a staff with which to proceed in carrying out this task--a staff the greater part of which i see gathered about me here to-day. i believe that you will not deny that i have made the execution of the programme developed by me as easy as possible for you. i have placed the task before you and limited it in a general way, but for the rest i have given you absolute freedom, not only freedom in the combination and composition but precisely that freedom to put into it a certain amount of yourselves--a thing that every artist must do in order to put his own stamp upon his work; for every work of art contains within it a kernel of the artist's own character. i believe that this experiment, if i may call it so, through which the siegesallee was completed, dare be looked upon as a success. although interviews have been necessary between me and the artists who were carrying out the work in order to settle every doubt and to answer every question, no difficulties of a more serious nature have shown themselves. i believe, therefore, that from this point of view we can look back upon the siegesallee with general satisfaction. you have individually solved your problems as you saw fit, and i, on my side, have the feeling that i have allowed you the fullest measure of freedom and time--a thing i hold to be necessary for the artist. i have never gone into details and have contented myself with giving merely the direction, the impulse. but it fills me with pride and joy to-day when i think that berlin stands before the whole world with a body of artists who are capable of carrying out such a magnificent work. it proves that the berlin school of sculpture stands at a height such as could hardly have been surpassed even in the time of the renaissance. and i think every one of you will agree, without jealousy, that the effective example of rheinhold begas and his conception, based upon his knowledge of the antique, has been a guide to many of you in the working out of this great task. here, also, we could draw a parallel between the great achievements in the art of the middle ages and of the italians; since in that time, also, the sovereign and art-loving prince who offered the commissions to the artists at the same time found the masters, about whom a crowd of young disciples gathered, so that a certain school was in this way developed which was able to accomplish remarkable things. now, gentlemen, the pergamon museum has also been opened on this same day, in berlin. i regard that, too, as a very important portion of our art history and as a good omen and a happy coincidence. a more magnificent collection cannot be imagined than the abundance of beauty which is displayed in these rooms before the eyes of the astonished observer. but how does art stand in the world to-day? it takes its examples and creates out of the great sources of mother nature; and nature, in spite of her great, apparently boundless, limitless freedom, acts according to everlasting laws which the creator has set for himself and which can never be infringed upon or overstepped without endangering the development of the world. it is the same in art. and in looking upon the magnificent remains from the old classic period we experience the same feeling. here, too, an eternal, unchanging law rules; the law of beauty and harmony--of æsthetics. this law was expressed by the ancients in so surprising and powerful a manner and in so complete a form that we, for all our modern perceptions and our power of accomplishment, are proud if it can be said of some very especially good piece of work: "that is almost as good as if it had been done years ago." "almost!" under this impression i shall ask you to take this injunction to heart. sculpture has for the most part remained free from the so-called modern tendencies and influences; it still stands high and sublime. keep it so; do not let yourselves be led astray by the judgment of men and by all sorts of windy doctrines to give up these great principles upon which it is based. an art which oversteps the laws and boundaries which i have indicated is no longer art; it is factory work, it is trade; and that no art dare become. through the much-misused word "freedom" and under her flag one often falls into indefiniteness, boundlessness, conceit. however, he who cuts loose from the law of beauty and from the feeling for æsthetics and harmony which, whether he can express it or not, every man feels in his heart; he who thinks the chief thing is to turn his thoughts in a certain direction toward a definite solution of more technical problems, sins against the very sources of his art. furthermore, art must help to educate the people; it must also give the lower classes, after their cramping exertions, the opportunity to right themselves again through ideals. to us, the german people, great ideals are a lasting possession, while with other peoples they have been more or less lost. it is now the german people whose special province it is to protect these great ideas, to foster them, to set them forth; and to these ideas belongs the duty of giving to those classes who tire themselves out through labor the opportunity to raise themselves through beautiful things and to work themselves out of and above their ordinary circles of thought. if, however, art, as often happens nowadays, does nothing more than to make misery even more hideous than it already is, then it sins against the german people. the fostering of the ideal is the greatest work of culture; and if we wish to be and to remain a pattern in this for other peoples, then we must all work together; and if culture is to accomplish its full task, then it must penetrate through to the very lowest strata of the people. that it can only do if art lends a hand, if it raises up instead of drawing down into the gutter. as ruler, i often feel very bitter that art, through her masters, should not be energetic enough to make a stand against such tendencies. i do not doubt for a moment but that many an earnest but misguided character, perhaps filled with the best intentions, is to be found among the devotees of this tendency. the real artist needs no advertising, no press, no connections. i do not believe that your great examples in the realm of science, either in ancient greece or in italy or in the time of the renaissance, used any such methods as are now often practised through the press to bring their ideas especially into the foreground. they worked as god directed them; for the rest they allowed the world to criticise. and that is the way an honorable, sincere artist must act. art which stoops to advertising is no longer art, were it praised to the skies. every one, be he never so simple, has a feeling for that which is beautiful or ugly, and it is to foster this feeling further among the people that i have need of all of you; and that you should have accomplished such a piece of work in the siegesallee, i, therefore, thank you particularly. i may now confide something to you. the impression which the siegesallee makes upon foreigners is quite overwhelming; everywhere an immense respect for german sculpture is noticeable. may you remain standing upon these heights; may also my children and my grandchildren, if they shall one day be granted to me, keep the same masters by their side! then, i am convinced, our people will be in a position to love the beautiful and to hold high the ideal. i raise my glass and drink to the health of all of you; and, once more, my heartiest thanks. monument to general von rosenberg april , a monument was erected to the famous cavalry general von rosenberg, in hanover. after the unveiling of the monument the emperor responded to count von waldersee's toast as follows: to-day i greet all the cavalry of the german army. even from his grave the general's personality has issued so magic and so powerful an appeal that it has called the horsemen together from all quarters of the german empire and from the contingents of my affiliated rulers, so that to-day for the first time our german cavalry is gathered together in a single great cohort. we wish to draw a lesson from this day. as the general recognized only his service and the call of duty, may we do likewise! the highest reward that can come to an officer through his service in life is to fill his position to his own complete satisfaction. looking back over the life of general von rosenberg, we can compose a proverb which should apply to us also, now and for all time: "know your aim, and then exert every effort." let that be the standard for our cavalry! so may we also create for ourselves from this simple monument a symbol and an example. a block of granite from the mark bears the features of the general inlaid in bronze; so may we hedge and protect that piece of granite of our army which we call the cavalry and allow it to harden, so that he who bites upon it may lose his teeth![ ] [ ] a phrase of frederick the great which count bülow had used in the reichstag january , , in speaking of the english colonial secretary chamberlain's attack on the german army. with this wish i raise my glass and drink to the memory of the general, to the german cavalry, and to its most conspicuous representative, the general field-marshal, count von waldersee. hurrah! the old order changeth aix, june , the emperor, accepting an invitation from the city, came to aix with the empress and the crown prince. it was here that charlemagne was probably born and here that he died. the present rathaus was built upon the ruins of his palace, and it was in the so-called coronation room that the emperor delivered his address. in the name of her majesty, the empress, and in my name i thank you particularly for the indescribably patriotic and enthusiastic reception which has been prepared for us by all classes of the city of aix. i earnestly desired to visit the city of aix, and i thank you for the opportunity which you have given me through your invitation. who would not be deeply moved on such historic ground as that of aix by the breath and murmur of the past and of the present? who would not think of the providential guidance of heaven as he looks back over the history of the centuries which our fatherland has lived through in its connection with aix? aix is the cradle of german imperialism, for it was here that charlemagne erected his throne, and the city of aix shone in his reflected glory. so important, so imposing was the figure of this great german prince that from rome the dignity of the roman cæsars was bestowed upon him, and he was chosen to enter into the inheritance of the _imperium romanum_--certainly a splendid recognition of the capability of our german stock as it appeared for the first time in history. for the roman sceptre had fallen from the hands of the cæsars and their successors. crumbling and decayed, the roman edifice was tottering to its fall, and only the appearance of the victorious germans with their virtuous dispositions made it possible to point a new and as yet untrodden road for the history of the world. it goes without saying that the mighty charles, the great king of the franks, drew upon himself the gaze of rome which looked to him as to its bulwark and protector. but the task of combining the office of roman emperor with the dignity and burden of the german king was too severe. what he was able to accomplish through his powerful personality fate denied to his followers; and through their desire for a world-empire, the emperors of the later generations lost sight of the german people and country. they turned toward the south in order to maintain the world-empire, and in so doing forgot the germans. so gradually our german country and people perished. just as the blossoming aloe gathers up all the strength of the plant for this task and, striving upward, develops flower on flower and fascinates the eye of the astonished beholder, while the plant itself withers and its roots shrivel away, so it was with the roman empire of the german nation. another empire has now arisen. the german people are now blessed with another emperor, whom they had themselves gone out to seek. sword in hand, on the field of battle, the crown was won, and the flag of the empire flutters high in the breeze once more. with the same enthusiasm and love with which the german people held to the imperial idea has the new empire entered into being; but the tasks are now different. limited from without by the boundaries of our country, it became our duty to steel ourselves from within in preparation for the duties which were then laid upon our people and which could not be discharged in the middle ages. and so we see the empire, although still young, growing strong within itself from year to year, while confidence in it is becoming more and more secure on every side. the powerful german army, however, affords a support to the peace of europe. in keeping with the character of the germans, we limit ourselves from without in order to remain free within. far away over the sea our speech is spreading, and far away flows the stream of our knowledge and research. there is no work in the realm of later research which is not written in our language, and no thought is born of science which is not first utilized by us in order later to be taken over by other nations. and this is that world-empire which the german spirit strives for. if we, then, wish to discharge adequately our further great responsibilities, we dare not forget that the foundation on which the empire was built is based upon simplicity and the fear of god as well as the lofty moral conceptions of our ancestors. heavily, indeed, was the hand of our god laid upon us at the beginning of the previous century, and mighty was the arm of providence which shaped the steel and welded it in the furnace of misery until the weapon was finished. and so i expect of you all that, whether churchmen or laymen, you will help me to maintain religion among the people. we must work together in order to preserve the moral foundations and the healthy strength of the german stock. but that can only be done if we preserve its religion, and this is true equally of catholics and protestants. i am, therefore, the more pleased to-day, to bring to the leaders of the church who are here represented a bit of news of which i am proud to be the bearer. beside me stands general von loë, a faithful servant of his kings. he was sent to rome to the jubilee of the holy father, and when he delivered to him my gift and my congratulations and in private conversation had explained how things stood in our german country the holy father answered him that he was happy to be able to say that he had always thought highly of the piety of the germans and of the german army; he said he could even go further and commissioned general von loë to report the following to his emperor: the german empire is the only[ ] country in europe in which training, order, and discipline rule, in which respect for authority and reverence for the church exist, and in which every catholic can live freely and undisturbed in his faith, and for this he thanked the german emperor. [ ] the word "only" has not received official sanction, but is printed by penzler. this, gentlemen, justifies me in saying that both our churches, standing side by side, must forever have before their eyes the idea of strengthening and preserving the fear of god and respect for religion. the fact that we are modern men and that we work in this or that field makes no difference. whoever does not base his life upon religion is lost. and as it is fitting on this day and in this place not merely to speak but also to make a pledge, i hereby express my vow that i set myself and my house, the entire empire, the entire people, and my army, symbolically represented by this baton, under the cross and under the protection of him of whom the great apostle said, "neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved," and who has said of himself: "heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." i drink to the health of the city of aix in the firm conviction that the words which i have spoken will here fall upon good ground, just as i am assured from what i have seen among both the older and younger citizens of this city that our house and our throne will in the future likewise find firm support within their walls. long live the city of aix! alfred krupp and the socialists november , the present speech and the one which follows it, to the working men in breslau, may conveniently be taken together, as they both concern the emperor's attitude toward the socialists. of all his policies, his attempt to destroy this political party has been least successful. it had increased from , in to , , in , when it numbered more than twice as many voters as its nearest competitor, the centre party, , , . the emperor had tried to introduce repeatedly subversion acts which would have made for the persecution of this the largest political party in his empire. when, on october , , a manufacturer was murdered in mülhausen by a workman who had been repeatedly convicted of theft, william ii telegraphed to his widow: "another sacrifice to the revolutionary movement engendered by the socialists." this hostile attitude was unavailing and aroused the criticism of the greatest german historian, mommsen: "it is unfortunately true that at the present time the social democracy is the only great party which has any claim to political respect. it is not necessary to refer to talent. everybody in germany knows that with brains like those of bebel it would be possible to furnish forth a dozen noblemen from east of the elbe in a fashion that would make them shine among their peers. "the devotion, the self-sacrificing spirit of the social democratic masses, impresses even those who are far from sharing their aims. our liberals might well take a lesson from the discipline of the party." and again, only about a week after this speech of the emperor's mommsen wrote: "there must be an end of the superstition, as false as it is perfidious, that the nation is divided into parties of law and order on the one hand and a party of revolution on the other, and that it is the prime political duty of citizens belonging to the former category to shun the labor party as if it were in quarantine for the plague and to combat it as the enemy of the state." the emperor has had many friends among the leaders in the industrial world. alfred krupp had stood in close relation to his sovereign and had been one of the founders and prime movers in the german navy league, which, more than anything else, had made possible the realization of the imperial naval policy. the emperor is altogether mistaken in ascribing the stories circulated about krupp to the malignity of social democratic editors. very ugly rumors, whether true or false, had long before this time circulated about this industrial leader; they could have been heard in other countries of europe, especially in italy, and most particularly in tiberius's island of capri, where he is said to have had a villa. the address was delivered in the waiting-room of the station at essen on the day of krupp's funeral. i feel the need of expressing to you how deeply my heart is moved by the death of this man. her majesty, the empress and queen, wishes me to express to you her grief also, and she has already expressed it in writing to frau krupp. i have often, with my wife, been a guest in the krupp house and have felt the charm of his lovable personality. our relations have become so well established in the course of the years that i dare call myself a friend of the deceased and of his house. on this account i have not wished to deny myself the privilege of appearing here to-day at his funeral, and i hold it to be my duty to stand at the side of the widow and daughters of my friend. the peculiar circumstances which accompanied the sad event also make it incumbent upon me to be here as the head of the german empire, to hold the shield of the german emperor over the house and the memory of this man. whoever knew the deceased intimately knows with what a sensitive and delicate nature he was endowed and that this was the one vulnerable point through which to deal him a death-blow. he was the victim of his unimpeachable integrity. an event has occurred within the german countries so degrading and low that it has aroused all hearts and must bring the blush of shame to the cheeks of every german patriot, because of the disgrace brought upon our entire people. the honor of a man, german to the core, who lived only for others, who had in his mind only the welfare of the fatherland, but above all that of his employees, has been assailed. this deed, with its consequences, is nothing less than murder; for there is no difference between him who mixes a poisonous drink and offers it to another and him who from the safe ambush of his editor's office destroys the honorable name of a fellow man with the poisoned arrows of his slanders and kills him through the torment of soul caused by them. who was it that began this shameful attack upon our friend? men who up to the present have been counted as germans, but who are now unworthy of this name, who sprang from the classes of the german working people, who have such a tremendous amount to thank krupp for and of whom thousands in the streets with tearful faces waved a last farewell to the bier of their benefactor. you, krupp's workmen, have ever held faithfully to your employer and have clung to him; gratitude is not wiped out of your hearts. with pride i have seen everywhere abroad the name of the fatherland honored through the work of your hands. men who wish to be the leaders of the german workmen have robbed you of your dear master. it remains for you to shield and protect him and to preserve his memory from disgrace. i trust, therefore, that you will find the proper means of making it clear to the body of german working men that it is important hereafter to make it impossible for good and honorable working men to have any community of interest or close relationship with the perpetrators of this shameful deed; for it is the honor of the working man that has been besmirched. whoever will sit at the same table with these people deliberately lays himself open to a charge of moral participation in the crime. i have sufficient confidence in the german laborers to believe that they are conscious of the extreme seriousness of the present moment and that, as german men, they will find a solution for this difficult question. the working man once more breslau, december , that the working men of breslau have decided to come to me, their king and father, fills me with the greatest satisfaction, for two reasons. in the first place, you have not disappointed the expectations which i expressed in essen; in the second, you have helped thereby to maintain free from reproach the memory of my late friend krupp. from my heart i thank the spokesman for his cordial, patriotic words. you show thereby that an honorable attitude and a dependence upon the king and the fatherland are taking firm root among you. your condition has indeed become the object of my deepest interest and consideration, for i observed with pride in foreign lands how the german working man was considered above all others, and with justice. your hearts may exult and you may well rejoice in your work and your condition. led by the remarkable message[ ] of the great emperor william i, i have improved the social legislation so that a good and secure condition of existence has been created for the working men through old age, and this has been accomplished often at great sacrifice to the employer. and our germany is the only country in which legislation relating to the welfare of the working classes has developed to any great degree. [ ] see footnote to "first declaration of polity," june , . on the ground of the great concern which your king has for your condition i am justified in giving you also a word of warning. for years you and your brothers have allowed yourselves to be deluded by the agitators of the socialists into thinking that if you do not belong to this party and acknowledge it no one pays any attention to you and that you will not be in a position to obtain a hearing for your just interests in the amelioration of your condition. this is a gross lie and a serious error. instead of representing you directly, the agitators seek to stir you up against your employers, against the other classes, against the throne, and against the church, and have in this way taken advantage of you, terrorized you, and flattered you in order to strengthen their own power. and to what end is this power used? not for furthering your welfare, but for sowing hatred between the classes and for disseminating cowardly slanders that respect nothing as sacred; and finally they have outraged the almighty himself. as honor-loving men you cannot and dare not have anything more to do with such people, and you must no longer be led by them. no! send us as representatives your friends and comrades from your own ranks, the simple, plain man from the shop who has your confidence. such a man stands for your interests and your wishes, and we will gladly welcome him as the representative of the german working classes, not as a social democrat. with such representatives of the working classes, no matter how many there may be, we will gladly work together for the good of the people and of the country. in this way your future will be well cared for, especially since it naturally and closely depends upon loyalty to the king, upon respect for law and for the state, for the honor of one's fellow men and brothers, true to the proverb: "fear god, love your brothers, and honor the king." scholarship and religion berlin, february , as a result of a lecture before the oriental society of berlin, a very serious controversy arose in religious circles in germany. the emperor gave his opinion in the following open letter, which was printed in the _grenzboten_. it is said that this very significant letter shows the influence of the court chaplain, doctor dryander. certain of the ideas are, however, thoroughly characteristic of the emperor. my dear hollmann: my telegram to you must have removed the doubts which you still entertained regarding the conclusion of the lecture. it was perfectly clearly understood by the audience and therefore had to stand as it does; but i am very pleased that through your inquiry the matter of this second lecture was again taken up, and i am glad to take this occasion, after reading through the section again, to present my position in a clear light. during an evening meeting among ourselves professor delitzsch had the opportunity, with her majesty, the empress, and general superintendent dryander, to confer and discuss thoroughly for several hours, during which i remained a passive listener. he, unfortunately, departed from the standpoint of the thoroughgoing historian and assyriologist and penetrated into the region of theological and religious conclusions and hypotheses, which were hazy and bold. when, however, he came to the new testament it soon became evident that i could not agree with him in the ideas which he developed concerning the person of the redeemer, and i was compelled to state my own standpoint, which was diametrically opposed to his. he does not recognize the divinity of christ and therefore concludes in regard to the old testament that it does not refer to him as the messiah. here the assyriologist and investigating historian ceases and the theologian with all his lights and shades steps in. in this province i can only advise him to go very carefully, step by step, and in any case to ventilate his theories only in theological publications and in the circles of his colleagues and to spare us laymen and especially the oriental society, before whose forum all this is out of place. we excavate and read whatever we find and publish it for the advancement of knowledge and history, but not in order to help justify or combat the religious hypotheses of any one of many learned men. in delitzsch's case the theologian has run away with the historian, and the latter serves merely as a point of departure for the former. i think it unfortunate that delitzsch should not have stuck to his original programme, which he developed in former years, namely, on the basis of the discoveries of our society, to ascertain through scientifically approved translations of the scriptures how far these offer an illustration of the chronicle of the people of israel; that is, enlightenment as to historical events, customs, and uses, traditions, politics, legislation, etc.; in other words, how far the undeniably highly developed babylonian culture came into contact with the israelites, could work upon them, yes, even impress its stamp upon them, and thereby accomplish, from a purely human point of view, a sort of rehabilitation for the babylonians, who were, according to the old testament at least, a very crude, shameful, and one-sided people. that was his original intention, at least as i understood it, and a province very fruitful and interesting to us all, the investigation, explanation, and exposition of which must have interested us laymen to the highest degree and would have demanded our deepest gratitude. but he should have stuck to this. unfortunately, however, in his zeal he has overshot the mark. as was to be expected, the excavations brought to light communications which bear in a religious way upon the old testament. he should have collated this material and pointed out and explained coincidences, when such occurred, but he should have left it to the listener to draw for himself all purely religious conclusions. in this way his discourse would have commanded the interest and good-will of the lay public. that, unfortunately, he has not done. pretending that he could explain it all on historical and purely human grounds, he has attacked the question of revelation in a very polemical manner and more or less denied it. that was a serious mistake, because he touched many of his hearers in what was deepest and most sacred to them. and whether he was right or wrong--that for the moment is all one, since we are concerned not with a purely scientific gathering of theologians but with laymen of all kinds and conditions--he has overturned and rudely shaken many favorite conceptions and images with which these people connect sacred and cherished ideas and has ruthlessly shaken the foundation of their belief, if he has not swept it away altogether, a thing which only a mighty genius dare be bold enough to undertake and which the study of assyriology alone does not justify. goethe also once treated this subject and pointed out especially that one must be careful before a great, general public to break down only "_terminologiepagoden_" [the pagodas of terminology]. the excellent professor, in his zeal, has overlooked the principle that it is very necessary to distinguish between what is and what is not fitting to the place, the public, etc. as a theological specialist he can, through the avenue of special publications, express for his circle of colleagues his theses, hypotheses, and theories as well as his convictions, which it would not do to express in a popular lecture or book. i would like now to come back once more to my own personal standpoint in regard to the doctrine or view of revelation, as i have often explained it to you, my dear hollmann, and to other gentlemen. i distinguish between two different kinds of revelation: one a continuous and in a manner historical revelation; the other a purely religious one, preparing for the later appearance of the messiah. in the first place, let me say, there is not the slightest doubt in my mind but that god reveals himself, always and permanently, through the human race which he created. he has "blown the breath of his nostrils" into man; that is, he has given him a piece of himself--a soul. with fatherly love and interest he follows the development of mankind; in order to lead and advance it further, he "reveals" himself in this or that great sage or priest or king, be he heathen, jew, or christian. hammurabi was one, so were moses, abraham, homer, charlemagne, luther, shakespeare, goethe, kant, emperor william the great. these he has sought out and made worthy, through his grace, to accomplish according to his will splendid and imperishable deeds for their people in the spiritual as well as in the physical world. how often has my grandfather expressly said that he was only an instrument in the hand of the lord. the works of great spirits are given to the people by god in order that they may imitate them and feel their way further through the intricacies of the unexplored regions of this life. certainly god has "revealed" himself in different ways at different times, according to the condition and culture of the people, and still does so to-day. for, as we are overcome by the greatness and power of the magnificent nature of creation and are astounded to see in it the revealed greatness of god, so, just as surely, do we thankfully recognize in every really great and splendid thing which a man or a god does the splendor of the revelation of god. he works directly upon and among us! the second kind of revelation, the more religious, is that which relates to the coming of our lord. from the time of abraham on it is introduced slowly but prophetically--the coming of the all-wise, the all-knowing; for mankind would otherwise have been lost. and now begins the most wonderful phenomenon of all, the revelation of god. the seed of abraham and the people who developed from it regard as the most sacred thing in the world a rigorous belief in a single god. they must cherish it--. separated during the egyptian exile, the scattered portions, welded together a second time by moses, strove ever to hold fast to their belief in a single god. it was the direct working of god upon these people which allowed them to rise again. and so it continues further down the centuries until the messiah, who was announced and foretold by the prophets and psalmists, finally appears. the greatest revelation of god in the world! for he appeared in the person of his son; christ is god; god in human form. he redeemed us, he inspires us, he draws us on to follow him, we feel his fire burning within us, his pity strengthens us, his dissatisfaction destroys us, but his intercession saves us. sure of victory, building only upon his word, we go through work, scorn, sorrow, misery, and death, for we have in him the revealed word of god and he never deceives. that is the way i look at these questions. the word of god has, through luther, become everything, especially for us evangelicals; and as a good theologian delitzsch should not have forgotten that our great luther taught us to sing and to believe: "ye shall let the word stand!" for me it goes without saying that the old testament contains a great number of extracts which are of purely human origin and not "the revealed word of god." there are purely historical descriptions of events of all kinds which took place in the life of the people of israel in the realm of political, religious, moral, and spiritual matters. so, for instance, the giving of the law on mount sinai may be looked upon as inspired by god in only a symbolical sense; for moses was compelled to have recourse to some means of giving new force to old and well-known portions of the law (which were probably derived from the codex of hammurabi). otherwise he might not have been able to unite and weld together a people whose organization had become lax and incapable of resistance. here the historian can perhaps construe from the sense and the run of the words some relation to the laws of hammurabi, the friend of abraham, which would perhaps be perfectly logical; that would, however, in no way detract from the fact that god inspired moses to do it and in so far revealed himself to the people of israel. as i see it, therefore, our good professor ought hereafter to avoid handling and bringing forward religion, as such, in his addresses to our society. on the other hand, he may continue unmolested to bring forward whatever connections there may be between the religion, customs, etc., of the babylonians, etc., and the old testament. from which i derive the following conclusions: (a) i believe in one god, and one only. (b) in order to teach this we need a form, especially for our children. (c) this form has been up to the present time the old testament in its present state. through investigation, inscriptions, and excavations, this form will certainly change materially; that does not matter, and even the fact that much will be lost from the nimbus of the chosen people does not matter. the kernel and the content remain ever the same: god and his work! religion was never the result of science but the outpouring of the heart and being of man in his intercourse with god. with heartiest thanks and many greetings, your true friend, (signed) william, i. r. p. s. you may make the fullest use of these lines; whoever wants to may read them. frederick the great and his army dÖberitz, may , after conducting the manoeuvres of the guard the emperor dedicated the obelisk to frederick the great. the character and achievements of frederick have been summarized in chapter i. one hundred and fifty years ago, on these same fields, his majesty, frederick ii, who even in his lifetime was called "the great," gathered together a considerable part of his army in order to train and steel it for the mighty struggles which he foresaw in spirit through his prophetic vision. so important was this preparation for him that he did not hesitate to trust his columns to the direction of his experienced field-marshals. here the great soldier king, working restlessly, not overlooking details in his interest for the greater concerns of history, trained his regiments for the difficult tasks of the seven years' war, which was soon to set in, and created that inner bond between himself and his soldiers which inspired them to the greatest deeds of daring, while he infused his spirit into his generals and so laid the foundation for the unmatched results which found their crowning achievement in the victorious overthrow of a world in arms united against him. let these achievements be unforgotten; unforgotten the names of the heroes of that great time. frederick's enemies derisively called his little army the "_potsdamer wachtparade_" [the "potsdam guard's parade"]! well, he showed them what he could do at the head of it! and in later times likewise the "potsdam guard's parade" fittingly showed the way to every one who tried to cultivate too close an acquaintance with it. this obelisk of northern granite is erected in memory of that time. a memorial to "fredericus rex, the king and hero," to be emulated by us all in working with unabated strength to the end that we may be ready to strike in any emergency. when in a moment the curtain shall fall, when the flags and standards dip in greeting, swords are lowered, and presented bayonets glisten--all this is done in honor not only of this block of stone but of him, the great king, his generals and field-marshals; of his great successor, william the great, and his paladins, who now, assembled around the great ally above, look down upon us; and in honor of prussia's glorious martial history and tradition. attention, present arms! the future of germany hamburg, june , the equestrian statue of emperor william i was dedicated in hamburg, june , . the emperor's interest in glorifying and occasionally even in sanctifying his ancestors is frequently noticeable. he has tried to assure to his grandfather the title of william the great, and the emperor's friend ballin, of the hamburg-american line, has given this title as well as that of imperator to the well-known transatlantic steamers. it is perhaps significant that bismarck is not mentioned. the pedestal of this monument was left blank. as has been noted, rumor has it that the citizens of hamburg were unwilling to bestow this title and feared to offend with the simpler "william i." it has often been my task to express my thanks to great cities and their enthusiastic citizens; never have i found it so difficult to find the correct, pertinent, and adequate expression for what i feel and what i have seen and experienced. if, first of all, i may speak as grandson of the great emperor, whose bronze likeness the city of hamburg has just unveiled, i would like to give utterance to the gratitude which so stirs my heart, that the citizens of hamburg have been able in such a brilliant, handsome, and noble manner to show their feeling for germany and their gratitude to the old hero. as his grandson, this has pleased me greatly and has stirred me deeply. for the rest, i cannot forbear to emphasize the truly overwhelming reception which was accorded me here by great and small, young and old, high and low. the many thousand faces which lighted toward me to-day gave evidence that the greeting came from the heart and from feelings which were deeply moved, and i beg the senate and the citizens to accept my heartiest, sincerest, and warmest thanks and to communicate them to the city. indeed, for the younger generation which stood with us about the bronze portrait to-day the great emperor is already a historical personage, and the events which weave themselves about his person and the time in which he worked are already described in history. i believe that i am not presuming if i prophesy that some time in future centuries the awe-inspiring figure of my grandfather will stand forth before the german people, surrounded by at least as many legends and as powerful and as conspicuous for all time as once the figure of the emperor barbarossa was. truly, the younger generation is accustomed to look upon what we call the empire, together with what it has brought us, without thinking what it has cost to arrive at this point. and i believe we recognize the hand of providence when we look upon that awe-inspiring figure which stands yonder in its peaceful attitude before the rathaus, with its earnestness and its silent tranquillity of old age. it was precisely, this man whom providence sought out to accomplish this hardest of all tasks--the uniting of the german races. for no one could resist the charm of the personality, the simple modesty, the winning lovableness of the lofty ruler; and so it was permitted to him, surrounded by his powerful paladins who were devoted to him and who worked with him, to smooth the way and reconcile the differences; while he kept ever before his eyes the goal, the union of the fatherland. during a long time of peace, in quiet work his thoughts ripened and the plans of the already gray-haired man were ready when the mighty task came to him of once more reviving the empire. i hope that the youth of hamburg, when they pass this monument, will never forget the time of preparation through which this noble ruler lived. with justice you speak of the time of emperor william as great and powerful--powerful in its impulses, mighty in its flaming enthusiasm. gentlemen, i think that our time is also great. the tasks which were assigned to the great emperor have been accomplished; yet when things for a while seem dark and the tasks which are assigned us seem too hard we must not forget what that noble ruler endured. let us not forget that he lived through and remembered jena and tilsit, and that, nevertheless, he never despaired of the future of the fatherland. from tilsit we travelled to versailles! and even so is it destined to be in the future; there remain tasks for our time also. the great emperor with his great aides has laid the basis, the corner-stone of the building; it is for us to build upon it! therefore it is my opinion and firm conviction that a great future awaits us also, if we are but determined to make it so. tasks are assigned to us, and, whether they are light or heavy, we must face them as well as we are able and enlist all our strength. then we shall be able to accomplish them and i am convinced that now as then the german empire and the german people will never lack the right sort of men. for this reason i turn to-day to that place where formerly from the depths of my heart i issued an earnest appeal to the german people; and i repeat again to-day: "may it remain true to its ideals and to itself!" then, as the block of granite yonder bears the great emperor, so will the german people, true to their traditions, bear upon their hearts and discharge with their strength the new tasks and undertakings which come to them. may they enter with decision upon the work which heaven assigns them without asking whether it be easy or difficult, without worrying as to how they shall accomplish it, provided only they are going forward! raise your eyes! lift up your heads! look to the heights, bend your knee before the great ally, who has never forsaken the germans, and who, if he has at times allowed them to be sorely tried and discouraged, has again raised them from the dust. put your hand on your heart, direct your gaze into the distance, and from time to time give a backward glance for memory to the old emperor and his time, and i am convinced that, as hamburg is progressing in the world, so will our fatherland progress along the road of enlightenment, the road of improvement, the road of practical christianity: a blessing for mankind, a bulwark of peace, the wonder of all countries! i give this as my firm hope and conviction, and to this wish i empty my glass: long life to the city of hamburg!--hurrah! hurrah! hurrah! the reasons for japan's victory march , it will have been noted that the emperor usually addresses his recruits in very simple language. on the occasion of administering the oath to the naval recruits at wilhelmshaven, he was concerned about explaining to them the reasons for the japanese victory, for he had repeatedly told them that only a good christian can be a good soldier. the speech was reported through a letter of one of the recruits. the emperor spoke, among other things, of the heroic deeds of the japanese and explained that they had sprung from the japanese love of country and children, which had begotten a splendid manliness in the army and navy. he said that we must not conclude, however, from the japanese victories--the victories of a heathen over a christian people--that buddha was superior to our lord christ. if russia was beaten, it was due for the most part, according to his opinion, to the fact that christianity in russia was in a pretty bad way; and then, too, there were many christian virtues among the japanese. a good christian is synonymous with a good soldier! but christianity is poorly off among the germans also, and he--the emperor--doubted whether we germans in case of a war would have any special right to pray god for victory, to wrest it from him in prayer as jacob did in his struggle with the angel. the japanese were the scourge of god just as once attila and napoleon were. and so we must take care lest god should have to chastise us with such a scourge, etc. the emperor spoke very earnestly but very impressively and simply, so that he could be understood by every one. the salt of the earth bremen, march , the following address was delivered at the rathaus in bremen on the occasion of the dedication of the monument to emperor frederick iii. the emperor here presents his views on the mission of germany in much the same spirit in which it is expounded in a number of his addresses of this time. he has become increasingly conscious of her "manifest destiny" in the decade which had passed after the celebrations of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the franco-prussian war. germany had entered upon a period of great prosperity and had begun to possess the sense of latent power. the emperor gives us here the purely historical reasons which have led him to refrain from pretensions to world-dominion. it is significant that his next address will be delivered at morocco. the question naturally arises, what hopes or aspirations were in the minds of the audience before whom the emperor made this _gran rifiuto_. it was in a time of insistent agitation by the navy league and the colonial party. my honored burgomaster: will you allow me first, with a heart deeply moved, to perform the duty of a son and thank you sincerely for having transmitted to me the wish of your countrymen that i should participate in this festive day and be present at the unveiling of the unique and splendid statue which the free hanseatic city of bremen has erected to my father? i can assure you that it stirred me deeply to-day as my eye wandered over the masses of people to think that the former prussian crown prince, subsequently the first crown prince of the german empire, and, finally, second hohenzollern emperor, should be fêted in a free german city just as though this were his home. it is a proof that his figure, as well as that of his great and illustrious father, has become a common possession of the entire german people. i sincerely thank the city of bremen that it has honored my father and his memory in such a magnificent manner. you have created a work of art, the like of which is not often seen in german lands. and i am convinced that in later generations his powerful personality, which will have become surrounded by the glamour of legend, will through this statue be brought nearer to the hearts of the people. and i am sure that the generations of bremen which are to follow, from father to son, will never forget the second emperor, whose noble siegfried figure led the german army to victory and whom we have to thank for our unity. and so, now, beautiful statues of both my father and my grandfather stand in this loyal german city and furnish mile-stones for the history of our fatherland as well as for the city of bremen. truly, the historical retrospect which you have been good enough to present us shows magnificently the leadership of god and the grace which providence has bestowed upon our people and our country. the portion of time which is represented by both of these two noble leaders who stand here in bronze has, like a foundation-stone, been firmly laid in history. it remains for later times and their generations to build upon the foundation which these great rulers have set down. you have had the goodness to express the thoughts which stirred you upon a former occasion in this same place. they correspond entirely to what i myself thought at that time. when, as a lad, i stood before the model of the brommy[ ] ship, i bitterly felt the disgrace which our fleet and our flag had been forced to suffer. and perhaps, since on my mother's side a bit of sea blood flowed into my veins, this was the thing which was to give me my cue for the manner in which i would envisage the tasks which henceforth were to confront the empire. [ ] bromme (called also brommy) was a german seaman who served in the greek navy and who was later placed in charge of the naval commission by the german national assembly in . he organized the first modern german fleet and as admiral drove off the three danish ships blockading the weser. this navy was considered merely a passing necessity, and in bromme was retired, after the little fleet had been sold at auction. i swore to the colors when i came to the throne, after the mighty time of my grandfather, that, so far as in me lay, the bayonet and cannon would have to rest, but that bayonet and cannon, however, would have to be kept sharp and effective in order that jealousy and envy from without should not disturb us in the development of our garden and our beautiful house. i have made a vow, as a result of what i have learned from history, never to strive for an empty world-dominion. for what has become of the so-called world-empires? alexander the great, napoleon i--all the great warriors--have swum in blood and have left subjugated peoples behind them who at the first opportunity have risen up again and brought the empire to ruin. the world-empire of which i have dreamed shall consist in this, that the newly created german empire shall first of all enjoy on all sides the most absolute confidence as a quiet, honorable, and peaceful neighbor; and that, if in the future they shall read in history of a german world-empire or of a hohenzollern world-ruler, it shall not be founded upon acquisitions won with the sword but upon the mutual trust of the nations who are striving for the same goals. to express it briefly, as a great poet has said: "limited outwardly, but with no limits upon inward development." you have mentioned the ships which here hang memorially from the ceiling of this beautiful old hall. the time in which i grew up was, in spite of the great war, not a great and glorious one for the seafaring part of our nation. i, too, have here drawn the logical conclusions from what my ancestors have done. in a military way much had been done within, as was necessary; now the equipment of the navy had to be brought forward. i thank god that i do not have to make a desperate appeal here in this town hall as i once did in hamburg.[ ] the fleet is built and is on the seas; we have material for crews. the eagerness and the spirit are the same as those which filled the officers of the prussian army at hohenfriedberg, at königgrätz, and at sedan; and every german war-ship which leaves the slips is one more guarantee for peace on land. we are correspondingly more powerful as allies, and our opponents will be correspondingly less willing to offer us any aggression. [ ] the appeal referred to is the speech delivered at hamburg on october , , with its famous "bitterly do we need a powerful fleet." to-day, as i scanned the citizens of bremen, i saw the old and the young standing next each other--the old with their medals and their crosses, comrades in battle and in deeds under both the great leaders whose statues stand in this city, and before them stand the youth who shall grow up to the new empire and its tasks. what will these tasks be? to develop steadily; to shun strife, hate, division, and jealousy; to rejoice in the german fatherland as it is and not to strive after the impossible; to hold fast to the conviction that our god would never have taken such great pains with our german fatherland and its people if he had not been preparing us for something still greater. we are the salt of the earth, but we must also be worthy to be so. therefore must our youth learn to give up and deny themselves what is not good for them, to put far from them the things which have slipped in from foreign peoples, and to preserve their morals, good conduct, reverence, and religion. then some day may we write over the german people the motto on the helmet of the st regiment of my guard: "_semper talis_"--"ever the same." then we shall be looked upon from all sides with respect and in a measure with love as a safe and trustworthy people and can stand with our hand on our sword-hilt and with our shield grounded before us and say: "_tamen_, come what will." i am sure that my words will fall upon good ground here in bremen. earnestly i hope that the golden peace which up to the present with god's help we have maintained we may preserve still further and that under this peace bremen may grow green, may bloom, and prosper. that is my innermost wish. long life to bremen--hurrah! hurrah! hurrah! vi on the eve of morocco march , --november , the morocco question tangier, march , on the th of april, , an _entente_ which had settled all outstanding questions between france and great britain and gave to great britain a free hand in egypt and to france a free hand in morocco was formally signed in london. the german government officially declared that the settlement between france and great britain concerned only these two countries; but the pan-german society, the colonial society, and the navy league began so insistent an agitation that the government changed its attitude and the emperor here declares in no uncertain terms that what germany undertakes in morocco will be done exclusively with the "_sovereign_ sultan." germany was evidently picking a quarrel with france over morocco, with or without warrant, as the case may be, and was trying to ascertain, it is generally believed, the closeness of the relationship between france and great britain. the large commercial interests of which the emperor speaks were fairly negligible; though he doubtless had the right to protect it, germany's yearly trade there did not amount to as much as that of an ordinary department store or of a fairly successful merchant. for the previous eight years it averaged less than half a million dollars annually. her course here has usually been regarded as unnecessarily belligerent. true to his policy of personal diplomacy, the emperor suddenly appeared at tangier and while there made his speech to the german colony. the whole question was taken up at the conference of algeciras in . although the policy of "the open door," which protected germany's commercial interests was guaranteed, the very general storm of protest in germany, especially on the part of the war party and navy league, showed that she had entered the contest with more serious intentions. world policy by aggressive interference had already been initiated when, in the spanish-american war, the german admiral diedrichs started to hamper the operations of the american fleet at manila. morocco was looked upon by some, doctor liman, for instance, as a second defeat. in the algeciras conference italy sided with france and england. italy had been continuing as a member of the triple alliance partly through fear that the french would annex tripoli, which italy desired. england and france had now privately agreed to give italy a free hand. she sided with them and it was evident that her vital interests in the triple alliance had been considerably lessened. as england and russia were also settling all their eastern points of difference, germany began to be conscious of her isolation, which had been largely a result of her attitude and unfortunate diplomacy. i am pleased to make the acquaintance of the pioneers of germany in morocco and to be able to tell them that they have done their duty. germany has great commercial interests here. i shall advance and protect our commerce, which shows a satisfying increase, and for that reason shall insist upon equal rights with all powers, which is only possible through the sovereignty of the sultan and the independence of the country. for germany both of these must be unquestioned, and i am, therefore, ready to intervene for them at all times. i hope that my visit in tangier declares this plainly and emphatically and that it will call forth the conviction that what germany undertakes in morocco will be negotiated exclusively with the sovereign sultan. the great ally september , on this date the emperor and his four sons dedicated a monument to frederick the great on the site of his famous bivouac at bunzelwitz. in the evening he addressed a banquet in breslau, in which he took up especially the services of the silesians to the crown. he particularly recalls the support they gave frederick william iii in , at the lowest ebb of that king's fortunes. divisions of patriotic volunteers, "free corps," were organized in the province, who, not being prussians, could not serve in the prussian line. the best known of these was that of lützow, to which the poet theodor körner belonged. it is from one of his most famous war-songs that the quotation in the emperor's speech is taken. the manner in which he speaks of the coronation of his grandfather "by the will of heaven" and with no mention of the constitution, is to be found in several of his speeches, notably the address at königsberg (august , ). most of these speeches were made in his hereditary provinces, prussia, silesia, and brandenburg, and aroused considerable protest in other parts of germany. my dear president: with a heart deeply moved, i take the opportunity to-day to speak as sovereign duke of silesia to my silesians, for the impressions which have been showered upon me during the short time that i have been among you are of so powerful and compelling a nature that words fail me to express them or to find the proper form for the thanks which i would like to communicate to my people of silesia. i do not refer only to yesterday's demonstrations, which surpassed, if that were possible, the jubilations on the day of my entrance. and i do not mean only those on the part of the old soldiers in black uniforms with their military decorations on their breasts, who can say, "we have been present at the time when history was made," and who dare pride themselves on having been fellows in arms of the great emperor and his noble son, my father, whose heart, as is known to all of you, beat high for silesia, but i mean to-day, on my journey through the green silesian country to bunzelwitz, schweidnitz, and rogau and back--everywhere i have found the same warmth, the same glowing, burning enthusiasm. it is the old silesian loyalty which breaks forth and which proves the appreciation on the part of the people for what the house of hohenzollern has done for them. this loyalty is rooted in ground specially consecrated by history. for who will deny that the province of silesia, almost more than any other, stands in closest union with the history of our fatherland and of our house? and, especially, how could any one speak of the development of silesia without first thinking of the one powerful figure of whom the grenadiers sang from the rhine to the oder: "fredericus rex, our king and leader"? wherever we look over the plains of silesia rise the memories of him, of the incomparable battles through which he made prussia a world-power, and also of the splendid work of peace in which he sought to raise and strengthen the sorely oppressed country. and again in later times it was precisely to silesia that it was reserved to send a new ray of hope to that sorely tried hohenzollern king, frederick william iii, when he encountered the ardent enthusiasm of the first volunteers in breslau, when the first raising of troops took place here, and when the "wild, dashing lützow hunters" started in their career against the enemy at the zobten. and so it has been ever since. the sons of silesia have fought whenever it was a question of coming forward and sacrificing their blood for the fatherland. and so it may be very well said that the history of our house is indissolubly bound up with that of silesia, one of her most beautiful provinces. and when we glance back over this great history we can characterize it with the phrase which my great departed grandfather used when, after fierce conflicts, through the will of heaven the imperial crown was set upon his brow: "god was with us, and his be the honor!" and when i stop to think how the flags of the veterans passed me with proud bearing i believe that we can apply this to the present and thank god that he has disposed everything for the good and profit of this province and of our house; above all, for the fact that it has been granted us to carry out our work in peace. but if god was with us we ought earnestly to ask the question whether we were worthy of his help. has every one among us also done his part by offering up his thought, his health, and strength to carry on and develop the legacy which was bequeathed to us by the past? if every one with his hand upon his heart asks himself this question sincerely, many a man will find it difficult to answer. and then, gentlemen, let us draw a lesson from the personality of the great king and decide where it was that we have failed in the work, where we have allowed our spirits to flag, and where dark thoughts and fears have bewildered our minds. away with them! and just as the great king was never left in the lurch by the old ally, so our fatherland and this beautiful province will always be near his heart. and so out of the beautiful circle of memories and of golden loyalty which i have here encountered, let us coin a new vow: from this time on, through offering up our strength of soul and body, we will devote ourselves to the task of urging our country forward, of working for our people; and every one, according to his position, whether high or low, will do this; and the various creeds will unite to check unbelief; and above all things, for the future, we shall keep our vision clear and never despair of ourselves or of our people. the world belongs to the living, and the living are right. i cannot endure pessimists, and whoever does not take part in the work let him depart and, if he likes, seek out a better country. but i expect from my silesians that they to-day will unite in the decision to be ever mindful of their great aims and examples, that they will follow their duke, especially in his work of peace for his people. in this hope, i empty my glass to the health of the province of silesia and of all faithful silesians. optimism and literature mÜnich, november , one of the men of letters whom the emperor has been particularly delighted to honor and in whom he sees one of the glories of german literature is doctor ludwig ganghofer, who is certainly not more than an able writer of the second rank. after a performance in the _hoftheater_ in münich the emperor expressed the desire to see him, and the following conversation took place which was reported in a confusing combination of direct and indirect quotation. the emperor said that he had recently read the "hohen schein" and spoke at some length about it, going over the content and thought of the book. from the way in which he spoke about it one could see how intensely he was occupied with one thing in particular. what pleased him especially in the book was the optimistic tone which pervaded it, the preaching which stimulated belief in life, and the manner of accepting the misfortunes of existence, as well as the trust in the future and trust in humanity. "this," said the emperor, "makes such an impression upon me because i am an optimist through and through and will allow nothing to prevent me from remaining one to the end of my days." he spoke of himself as a man full of his work and one who believed in his tasks. he said further: "i will go forward. i would greatly rejoice if men would understand me and would support me in my desires." in this connection he spoke of the difficulty every one encountered in his work on account of distrust. he again recalled a passage from ganghofer's "schweigen im walde" which had also especially appealed to him because it had expressed his own point of view concerning life. the passage runs: "he who distrusts, commits a wrong against another and harms himself. it is our duty to believe that every man is good so long as he does not give proof to the contrary." "on this basis," said the emperor, "i have always accepted every man with whom i had anything to do. one may sometimes meet with unpleasant experiences, but on that account he dare not give up. one must always go on again with new trust in humanity and in life." the emperor then directed the conversation to a tablet which he had had made and which contained, besides the above-mentioned quotation, certain aphorisms of a like tenor from ganghofer's novels. these quotations appealed to him so strongly because they expressed entirely his attitude toward life. with a good bit of optimism and a bright and trustful outlook a man will go much further, not only in his own personal life but in his vocation also, than he will if he looks upon all things with a pessimistic eye; and even in politics the case is the same. the german people certainly have a future, and there is one word, "_reichsverdrossenheit_" [sullenness toward imperial destiny], which always offends him as often as he hears it. "what have we to do with sullenness? rather work and look forward. i work--yes, not unwillingly--and i believe that i progress." in connection with this word, the emperor described the way in which he worked every day and told how the difficulty of the many duties and tasks which stormed in upon him often made him very weary. it was at such times that the need overcame him to get out of harness and see another part of the world, to become acquainted with other men who stimulated him again. thus, his journeys to the north always invigorated him both mentally and physically. the emperor described earnestly and vividly how such a journey gradually rested and refreshed him. in the first days there was of course an abundance of work. telegrams and letters came even to the boat, and he and those about him could not leave work for long. then it became gradually more restful and solitary until eventually he found complete rest and could give himself up to the glories of nature. he then gave lively descriptions of his journeys, of the special beauties of the fjords, and of his impression of the midnight sun. he spoke especially of his pleasure at the simplicity and the cordiality of the people, who responded to him so naturally. everything that oppressed him was cast aside for a few weeks--and yet the pleasures which he received were begrudged him by many people. he knew that he had always been called the "travelling emperor," but he had always taken it lightly and had not allowed his pleasure to be spoiled by it. we discover friends in travelling, even in our own home. he believed that the feeling of interdependence was strengthened in that way and added that there were many germans who did not know how beautiful their own land was and how much there was to be seen in it. he always rejoiced when he had learned to know a new portion of germany. the south especially seemed to him beautiful, and he was very much drawn to it by the manner of life there. he always remembered, he said, with particular pleasure a journey which he had made many years before to berchtesgaden and the beautiful days which he had been allowed to spend in the hills behind it with his uncle, the duke of coburg. if only travelling were not accompanied by so many inconveniences! it was always necessary to take along so many paraphernalia. often he longed to seat himself in an automobile and go whizzing off for a few days, to return satisfied and ready to work again. and such refreshment was necessary in a serious calling like his own--doubly necessary because he had to fight so much misunderstanding; it was a thankless situation, because no one ever gave him credit for being independent. if he succeeded in anything, then all the world asked: "who advised him?" if he was unsuccessful, then they said: "he did not understand it." "what in the cases of other princes is accepted as self-evident becomes in mine a matter of debate. and, nevertheless, the one answer is: 'because i wish the good of the german empire and of the german people.' "many times also i meet with pleasant experiences--and most often on these very journeys which are made such a reproach to me." so the days in münich would remain an untroubled joy to him which he would never forget. the warmth and heartiness in the behavior of the population as well as the beautiful picture, gay with color, of the city in its artistic decorations had completely charmed him. the conversation then turned upon several questions of literature and politics. the emperor also related some anecdotes concerning his own family, and here the intimacy with which he spoke was particularly agreeable. he said merely, "my wife" and "my _buben_" [boys]. in a particularly sincere manner the emperor spoke of our regents, whose energy and self-sacrifice in such trying days he lauded, and expressed the wish that the great prince might preserve us all for a long time to come. twenty-five years of labor legislation november , the policy of introducing legislation in the interest of the laboring classes may be said to have been inaugurated by emperor william i in . if one of its aims was to alleviate the condition of this class and to promote the welfare of germany generally, another and perhaps its most important aim in bismarck's eyes was to stem the growth of the social democratic party and bring about a greater sense of solidarity within the empire. in this latter aim of "taking the wind out of the sails" of the social democratic party it had not proved successful at the time of the accession of william ii. he began his reign with the idea of making still further concessions and on this point broke with bismarck. when these again failed to conciliate the social democrats, he took measures to legislate against them. he declared, as we have seen, on one occasion: "for me, every social democrat is synonymous with enemy of the nation and of the fatherland." (may , .) the fact that the party has continued to increase has always been a thorn in his side, and his attitude has been more or less contradictory with regard to the working classes; so that occasionally, as here, he seems to attempt to threaten and conciliate at the same time. twenty-five years ago to-day the late emperor and king, william the great, made his memorable announcement, and i welcome the opportunity of calling to mind with reverent gratitude this work of peace through which my noble ancestor inaugurated new lines of legislation for the protection of the economically weak. in obedience to his lofty will, with the hearty approval of the allied governments and the intelligent co-operation of the reichstag, we succeeded in so advancing the difficult and multifarious development of the state's labor legislation, in the domain of sick, accident, and disability insurance, that those deserving help in their day of need now possess a regularly constituted legal claim. thanks to the comprehensive acts of the realm and of the employers as well as to their own contributions, the laborers have hereby attained a much higher degree of security with regard to their means of livelihood and the support of their families. but the great and fruitful ideas in the imperial message have not only inaugurated this condition in our own fatherland but have served as an epoch-making example far beyond her borders. unfortunately, through lasting opposition in the very quarter which believes that it has a right to represent the interests of labor the fulfilment of the highest aims of the imperial message is being checked and delayed. nevertheless, i believe that a recognition of what has been done and a growing realization of the limits of the economically possible will in all circles of the german people bring about its final triumph. then the hope of emperor william that the laboring man's insurance would be a lasting pledge of internal peace for the fatherland will have been fulfilled. with this in mind, it is my firm will that legislation in the domain of social and political provisions should not cease, but that it should be carried out toward the fulfilling of the highest christian duty with regard to the protection and the welfare of the weak and needy. but the task proposed by the spirit of the imperial message and its lofty framer cannot be carried out through merely legal acts and provisions. i gladly recognize to-day that in the german people there has never been a lack of men and women who willingly and joyfully gave up their strength in loving service for the good of their neighbor; and to all of those who devote themselves in unselfish sacrifice to the great social work of our time i express my imperial thanks. i commission you to bring this decree to general notice. issued to the imperial chancellor, donaueschingen, november , . william, i. r. vii the crisis of february , --october , imperialism versus social democracy berlin, february , a number of scandals in army and colonial administration had been exposed in . it will be remembered that for years back the emperor had been insisting on union between the various religious creeds. this was perhaps due in part to a spirit of toleration, but to a larger extent it was due to the fact that the centre party (catholic) had for a number of years been in control. the reichstag of was dissolved, ostensibly over the government's quarrel with the centre party over the comparatively paltry sum of $ , , demanded for the southwest african colony. in reality the causes probably lay deeper. the late reichstag had voted an insufficient sum for the navy and was beginning to object to the increasing taxes on the necessities of life. the navy league was demanding a doubling of the german fleet. the government seemed to wish to undertake a more rapid policy of expansion. mr. barker is authority for the statement that leaders of the imperialistic agitation had gone so far as to recommend that if the reichstag did not vote the credits necessary for doubling the fleet, a _coup d'état_ should be effected by the government and that it should levy the taxes and govern in case of necessity against the will of the reichstag or without the reichstag. the expansionist policy was strongly advocated by the colonial party and the navy league and was championed by the chancellor. as the social democrats opposed increases in taxation, they were likewise now specially under the ban of official disapproval. there are usually about forty parties in the reichstag. the issue was, therefore, clearly drawn between a policy of imperialism and a stronger insistence on world-policy, on the one hand, and social democracy and the opposition on the other. the emperor and the chancellor, particularly the latter, threw themselves vigorously into the campaign, and in spite of the support of the centre party the social democrats lost thirty-six representatives and their representation was reduced to forty-three. although the social democrats have to a certain point supported the policy of commercial expansion, their defeat here may be looked upon as the unconditioned triumph of imperialism. on the night of february , when it was announced that the social democrats had been defeated, a crowd gathered about the palace, and when the emperor returned at about midnight from the meeting of the electrical society, where he had delivered an address, he stepped out on his balcony and made the following speech to the crowd: gentlemen: with my whole heart i thank you for the beautiful demonstration of homage which you have shown me. it arises from the feeling that you are proud to have done your duty toward the fatherland; in the phrase of our chancellor, you are able to ride, and you will ride down everything that opposes us if all conditions and creeds stand together in firm union. do not allow this hour of celebration to end like a passing wave of patriotic enthusiasm, but stand firmly to the path on which you have started. i close with the words of the great poet kleist in his "prince von homburg" when old kottwitz speaks to the great elector somewhat as follows: "what do we care for the rules according to which the enemy fights if he is beaten in the fighting? we have now learned the art of conquering him and are filled with the desire to practise it further."[ ] [ ] the exact passage runs as follows, though the lines are separated in the play and do not occur in this order: "what, i pray you, do you care for the rule according to which the enemy fights, if only he goes down before you with all his flags? the rule that conquers him is the highest rule." act v, scene . the necessity of faith mÜnster, august , the following address of a general character, which represents the emperor's faith in god and in germany, was delivered at a banquet in the westphalian provincial museum. it is somewhat similar in its general attitude to the one delivered about a month later at the unveiling of the national monument at memel. i wish to express to the representatives of the province whom i have gathered about me to-day my warmest thanks for the way in which i have everywhere been received in this beautiful country of westphalia. i would also like to repeat to you in the name of her majesty, the empress and queen, how disconsolate she is that it was unfortunately not possible for her to celebrate the westphalian days with you and to come into personal contact with the westphalian people. the province of westphalia offers an attractive picture of a state in which it has been proved possible to reconcile historical, religious, and industrial differences through love and loyalty for a common fatherland. the province is made up of several districts, of which many have for a long time belonged to the crown of prussia, while many others have been but recently acquired. they, however, vie with one another in their loyalty to our house. as i make no difference between old and new districts, so i also make no difference between the adherents to the catholic and the protestant creeds. let them both stand upon the foundation of christianity and they are both bound to be true citizens and obedient subjects. all the children of my country stand equally near to my heart, which is devoted to the fatherland. in its industrial relations the province also offers a highly edifying example. it shows that the great branches of industry do not need to harm each other and that the welfare of the one works for the good of the others also. the farmer diligently cultivates his red westphalian soil, holding fast to the traditions which have come down to him from ages past; a sturdy character, with unyielding energy and lofty purpose, of loyal nature, a firm foundation for our state. therefore, the protection of agriculture lies especially near my thoughts. your citizen brings his cities ever nearer to perfection; there are works for the benefit of the public--museums and collections, hospitals and churches. and deep in your mountains lie hidden the treasures which, mined by the diligent hands of the brave mountain people, give to industry the opportunity to develop itself--that industry, the pride of the nation, wonderful in its progress, the envy of all the world. may it be permitted to gather together further treasures for our national wealth and to increase abroad the good reputation of the thoroughness and excellence of german work. in this connection i am mindful also of those laborers who, in these vast industrial undertakings, tend the great blast-furnaces and of those who, far from the daylight, accomplish their work with steady hands in the leads of the mines. consideration for them, for their prosperity and their welfare i have taken over as a precious heritage from my late grandfather, and it is my wish and my will, in the province of such social regulations, to hold fast to the principles laid down in the memorable message of emperor william the great. the lovely picture of unity which the province of westphalia presents to the observer i would gladly see made general over our entire fatherland. i believe that for such a unity of all our citizens, of all our conditions, only one means is possible, and that is religion. not, indeed, understood in the sense of strict theological doctrine, but in the broader sense, practical for daily life. i must here go back to my own experience. in the long period of my reign--it is now the twentieth year since i came to the throne--i have had to do with many men and i have had to endure much from them; many times unconsciously, and unfortunately many times consciously, they have hurt me grievously. and if at such moments i have been in danger of losing my temper and thoughts of revenge have arisen, i have asked myself what were the means best fitted to temper anger and increase moderation. the only one which i have found is to say to myself: "all men are like you, and, although they do you harm, they bear a soul born in the realms of light above, to which we all wish to return, and through their souls they have a part of the creator within them." whoever thinks in this way will judge his fellow men mildly. if this idea of mutual forbearance could only be spread among the german people, then the first condition for a complete unity would be established. this can only be accomplished if we tend toward one central ideal--the person of our redeemer, the man who called us brothers, who lived as an example for all of us--the most personal of all personalities. he still wanders among the people, and we are all conscious of him in our hearts. in looking up to him our people must find their union, and they must build firmly upon his words, concerning which he himself has said: "heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." if they do that, then they will succeed. to such co-operation i should like to-day to invite especially the men of westphalia. for, as i have before explained, in their province they have understood how to present that charming spectacle of differences reconciled. they will also understand me first and best. in this spirit let old and new districts, citizens, farmers, and laborers hold together and unitedly work together through loyalty and love for the fatherland. then the german people will be the rock of granite upon which our lord god can build and complete his work of culture in the world. then will the words of the poet be fulfilled when he says: "in contact with german life, the world will grow well again." to whosoever is ready to offer me his hand on this i shall be most grateful and i will accept it joyfully, no matter who or of what condition he may be. i believed that i would be most quickly understood by the westphalians, and therefore i have turned to them. i now raise my glass with the wish that god's blessing may rest upon the red westphalian earth and upon all its people, that i may be permitted still longer to maintain peace in order that they may follow their calling undisturbed. god bless westphalia! the province of westphalia--hurrah! hurrah! hurrah! english journalists london, november , in november and december, , the emperor paid a visit to england. on this occasion the degree of doctor of civil law was conferred upon him by oxford university. ever since the morocco incident, in , the feeling between the two countries had been somewhat strained and newspapers on both sides of the channel had helped to foment discontent. to a group of english journalists who had visited germany during the summer the emperor gave an audience and addressed them as follows: gentlemen: i greatly appreciate your greeting. it gives me pleasure to think that your visit to germany during the past summer has been so fruitful and that you are satisfied with the welcome accorded you by my countrymen. the power which you possess is great and extremely beneficial when it is used as a means for strengthening the feeling of friendship among the peoples. your address shows that this task lies near to your hearts. i thank you, therefore, for your appearance here to-day. i rejoice to have seen you and hope that you will exert your influence to foster between our two nations the friendly feelings which are so necessary to the peace of europe. we belong to the same race and have the same religion. these are bonds which should be strong enough to preserve harmony and friendship between us. alsace-lorraine strasburg, august , the emperor delivered the following address at a banquet after the imperial manoeuvres in alsace-lorraine. the general situation in alsace-lorraine has been discussed in connection with the address to the delegates of the _landesausschuss_ on march , . i bid you, gentlemen, heartily welcome and express to you the warmest thanks of the empress and myself for the beautiful reception through which, here as in metz, the people of alsace-lorraine have given so telling an expression of their love and loyalty. my heart also bids me thank you once more for the restoration of the old castle of hohkönigsburg, especially the people of lorraine for their patriotic attitude and the donation of the charming lorraine room in the castle. for more than thirty-seven years you have now been able to follow your different callings in peace, and beautiful alsace-lorraine, keeping pace with the unexpected development of the german empire, has in this time blossomed forth most joyously. as inhabitants of this border-land, you naturally have the greatest interest in the further maintenance of peace, and i rejoice to be able to express to you my innermost conviction that the peace of europe is in no danger. it rests upon too firm a foundation to be easily disturbed through instigations and slanders aroused in certain quarters by jealousy and envy. a solid security of the first rank is afforded by the consciences of the princes and statesmen of europe who know themselves responsible to god and feel for the life and prosperity of the people intrusted to their charge. on the other hand, it is the wish and will of the people themselves to make themselves useful in the further development of the magnificent acquisitions of their progressive civilization and to measure their strength in peaceful competition. and, finally, peace will be secured and protected also through our forces on water and on land--through the german people in arms! proud of the unequalled discipline and love of honor of her armies, germany is determined, without threatening others, to carry these to still greater heights and so to expand as to further her own interests without either favoring or doing harm to any one. with god's help and under the protection of the german eagle, you can therefore follow still further your peaceful callings and garner the fruits of your industry. may the blessing of god rest upon your work at all times! long life to the german province alsace-lorraine! the "daily telegraph" interview october , perhaps the most startling incident in the emperor's reign and the most extraordinary evidence of what may be called his "personal diplomacy" policy was brought out by the publication of an interview in the _daily telegraph_ of london. german sympathies before and during the boer war had been strongly pro-boer. on the third of january, , the emperor had telegraphed to president krüger: "i beg to express to you my sincere congratulations that, without help from foreign powers, you have succeeded with your own people and by your own strength in driving out the armed bands which attempted to disturb the peace of your country and in re-establishing order and in defending the independence of your people from attacks from outside." the german people had, therefore, assumed that the emperor shared their friendliness toward the boers and that the government was observing a policy of neutrality at least. when they learned that his general staff had been called upon, and that he had prepared a plan of campaign against the boers, a universal shout of protest was raised. the publication of this interview, which was designed to conciliate england, had a contrary effect upon holland, and the feeling that their ruler was held down by no sense of responsibility was borne in forcibly upon the people. the matter was made the subject of innumerable controversies, debates in the reichstag, and investigations. it was originally announced that the interview had been given to an english diplomat who had retired to private life. it was discovered that such was not the case. it had been granted to an english journalist who had written certain flattering articles about the emperor. as for the text, it was admitted that it was substantially authentic; it had been shown to and had practically received the _visé_ of the german foreign office. the emperor's chancellor, however, had not seen the interview and under the storm of criticism offered his resignation. this the emperor did not accept, and the chancellor attempted to defend the minister of foreign affairs. the emperor withdrew and for a time, like achilles, pondered in his tent. even the chancellor had to admit the emperor's indiscretion and to inform his sovereign that it would be impossible to carry out any consistent foreign policy if the emperor did not observe a proper reserve in his public and private utterances. any number of projects were presented in the november debates of the reichstag for changing the constitution, to bring about co-operation between the reichstag and the emperor in the appointment and dismissal of chancellors and declarations of war, and for introducing a law to bring about ministerial responsibility. nothing came of these, however, and we shall see from the königsberg speech (august , ) that the chastening which the emperor had received on this occasion had no particularly lasting effect. although both the interview and the telegram are undoubtedly authentic (the interview was published in official government organs in germany, like the _norddeutsche allgemeine zeitung_, and by the wolff bureau), they are not included in any official collection of the emperor's utterances, and penzler, of course, does not print them with the speeches. the interview as here given is taken from the account of the london _times_, of october , . the emperor, who is stated to have spoken with "impulsive and unusual frankness," began by declaring that "englishmen, in giving the rein to suspicions unworthy of a great nation," were "mad as march hares." "what more can i do," he asked, "than i have done? i declared with all the emphasis at my command, in my speech at guildhall, that my heart is set upon peace and that it is one of my dearest wishes to live on the best of terms with england. "my task is not of the easiest. the prevailing sentiment among large sections of the middle and lower classes of my own people is not friendly to england. i am, therefore, so to speak, in a minority in my own land, but it is a minority of the best elements, just as it is in england with respect to germany. that is another reason why i resent your refusal to accept my pledged word that i am the friend of england." the writer reminded his majesty that "not england alone, but the whole of europe, had viewed with disapproval the recent action of germany in allowing the german consul to return from tangier to fez." his majesty replied, "with a gesture of impatience," that german subjects in fez were "crying for help and protection." "and why not send him? are those who charge germany with having stolen a march on the other powers aware that the french consular representative had already been in fez for several months when doctor vassel set out?" the emperor then reverted to "the subject uppermost in his mind--his proved friendship for england." it was commonly believed in england, he said, that during the south african war germany had been consistently hostile to her. german opinion, he admitted, was hostile--"bitterly hostile"; but not so official germany. in fact, while other european peoples had received and fêted the boer delegates who came to solicit european intervention, he alone had refused to receive them at berlin, "where the german people would have crowned them with flowers." his majesty continued: "again, when the struggle was at its height, the german government was invited by the governments of france and russia to join with them in calling upon england to put an end to the war. the moment had come, they said, not only to save the boer republics, but also to humiliate england to the dust. what was my reply? i said that so far from germany joining in any concerted european action to put pressure upon england and bring about her downfall, germany would always keep aloof from politics that could bring her into complications with a sea power like england. posterity will one day read the exact terms of the telegram--now in the archives of windsor castle--in which i informed the sovereign of england of the answer i had returned to the powers which then sought to compass her fall. englishmen who now insult me by doubting my word should know what were my actions in the hour of their adversity." these were not the only proofs which his majesty had given of sympathy with the british cause: "just at the time of your black week, in the december of , when disasters followed one another in rapid succession, i received a letter from queen victoria, my revered grandmother, written in sorrow and affliction, and bearing manifest traces of the anxieties which were preying upon her mind and health. i at once returned a sympathetic reply. nay, i did more. i bade one of my officers procure for me as exact an account as he could obtain of the number of combatants in south africa on both sides, and of the actual position of the opposing forces. with the figures before me, i worked out what i considered to be the best plan of campaign under the circumstances, and submitted it to my general staff for their criticism. then i despatched it to england, and that document, likewise, is among the state papers at windsor castle, awaiting the serenely impartial verdict of history. and, as a matter of curious coincidence, let me add that the plan which i formulated ran very much on the same lines as that which was actually adopted by lord roberts and carried by him into successful operation." in conclusion, his majesty dwelt upon the importance to germany of a powerful fleet. germany must be able to protect her growing commerce and manifold interests "in even the most distant seas." "germany," he went on, "looks ahead. she must be prepared for any eventualities in the far east. who can foresee what may take place in the pacific in the days to come?" looking to the accomplished rise of japan and the possible national awakening of china, he urged that "only those powers which have great navies will be listened to with respect when the future of the pacific comes to be solved," and that even england herself may welcome the existence of a german fleet "when they speak together on the same side in the great debates of the future." the emperor and count zeppelin manzell, november , with prince fürstenberg the emperor journeyed from donaueschingen to manzell in order to be present at a flight of the dirigible z- . count zeppelin received the emperor and conducted him in a motor-boat to the dirigible hangar. prince fürstenberg, admiral von müller, and general von plessen ascended with the count. the emperor did not make the flight. after the landing of the airship he bestowed upon count zeppelin the order of the black eagle with the following words: in my name and in the name of our entire german people i heartily congratulate your excellency on this magnificent work which you have so wonderfully displayed before me to-day. our fatherland can be proud to possess such a son--the greatest german of the twentieth century--who through his invention has brought us to a new point in the development of the human race. it is not too much to say that we have to-day lived through one of the greatest moments in the evolution of human culture. i thank god, with all germans, that he has considered our people worthy to name you one of us. might it be permitted to us all, as it has been to you, to be able to say with pride in the evening of our life, that we had been successful in serving our dear fatherland so fruitfully! as a token of my admiring recognition, which certainly all your guests gathered here share with the entire german people, i bestow upon you herewith my high order of the black eagle. [then followed the investing by his majesty and the head marshal, prince fürstenberg.] now allow me, my dear count, to bestow unofficially upon you the accolade! [embraces him three times.] his excellency, count zeppelin, the conqueror of the air--hurrah! regatta at hamburg hamburg, june , the emperor, as an enthusiastic yachtsman, has made it a point to be present, as we have seen, at nearly all of the hamburg regattas. as he was this year to visit the czar in the furtherance of his "personal diplomacy," he had already been forced to decline their invitation; but finding it possible to attend at the last moment, he made all possible speed to arrive at hamburg, where his recently constructed yacht _meteor_ was to make her first start. the banquet, at which the emperor spoke, took place on board the hamburg-american liner _deutschland_. your magnificence: i pray you accept my most cordial and heartfelt thanks for this friendly greeting in the midst of men so well known and sympathetic to me. it was, indeed, a severe struggle of conscience for me, placed between my duty and my pleasure, to have to give up eventually the pleasure of being the guest of hamburg. but it goes without saying that, as compared with the welfare of the realm, personal wishes must be silent, and with a heavy heart i decided, therefore, to send word that it would not be possible for me to be your guest and take part in the series of sports. happily, however, things arranged themselves favorably. that ship which you all know, delivered to me by vulcan, my yacht _hohenzollern_, has again competed with her ancient and renowned reputation. we hurried and flew through the baltic, and what the yacht could not accomplish the railroad took care of; and so it was possible for me to arrive in time for the splendid arrangements for the hamburg racing day and, while responding to the wishes of m. s.,[ ] at the same time to enter again that circle of men and women whom i prize so highly. it is my duty on the present day to express my deepest gratitude to the city of hamburg for her warm and hearty reception, which seems to increase from year to year, if that be possible. i must also express my appreciation of the hospitality extended to me in the house of your magnificence, and also for the beautiful boat which i have received from the hands of a hamburg master of his craft. we have, therefore, at last before us the proof for which i have been striving for years--that, just as in the building of war-ships and of liners, so too, in yacht construction, we now stand upon our own feet. it is a worthy vessel, built with german hands, out of german materials, and manned from stem to stern by german men. i hope that before the year is out she will clip the waves and show herself to advantage in foreign ports. we follow sport here, and not politics; but your magnificence has been good enough to touch upon points which now deeply move all german hearts. i still hope that the sense of collective responsibility will, in the hearts of the representatives of our people, be stronger than party feeling, for i assume that no one among you wishes to take upon his shoulders the responsibility of thwarting a reform which is absolutely necessary to the fatherland's internal and external welfare. [bravo!] you have followed with interest my journey to the finnish coast, where i was so warmly and hospitably received by his majesty, the emperor of all the russias, and by his people. i am pleased to be in a position to give you, as representatives of the commercial and business world, the following interpretation of the significance of that visit, since you are particularly interested in the peaceful shaping of the future. his majesty, the emperor, and myself have agreed that our meeting is to be looked upon as an important pledge of peace. as monarchs we consider ourselves responsible to god for the weal and woe of our people, whom we wish to advance as far as possible along peaceful paths and bring to fullest fruition. all peoples need peace in order that under its protection they may devote their undisturbed attention to the great cultural problems of their economic and commercial development. for this reason we shall strive as far as lies in our power to work, with the help of god, for the furtherance and maintenance of peace. naturally, in such a time, sport also can be developed to the fullest degree. i therefore empty my glass to the hospitable city of hamburg and to my colleagues who are here assembled. three hurrahs for the city of hamburg and the hamburg-american line! hurrah! hurrah! hurrah! [ ] max schinckel, president of the racing club, who had invited the emperor. review of the fourteenth army corps karlsruhe, september , the following address was delivered at karlsruhe by the emperor after his return from austria in . i extend to you my heartiest thanks for the friendly words of welcome which in the name of the citizens of karlsruhe you have offered me. i have so often stopped here at karlsruhe that i am no longer a stranger among you. with you i have lived through joyful and sorrowful days. on the present day, as you have said, i am here to inspect this portion of our army. we germans are a people who rejoice in weapons and who lightly and joyfully wear our uniforms, because we know that it preserves the peace for us in which alone our work can prosper. the review from which i have just returned showed me the soldierly sons of baden, who, commanded by their distinguished sovereign, have given me the deepest satisfaction. as long as there are wars our army constitutes the "_rocher de bronze_" upon which peace is based. our army serves to protect it and to maintain the position in the world which is rightfully ours. for this purpose also such strenuous days of effort are devoted to its development. i am convinced that, if need arises, with the help of god and under his protection, it will give a fitting account of itself. i ask you, herr burgomaster, to be the interpreter of my thanks and of those of her majesty, the empress, for the splendid and hearty reception which the citizens of karlsruhe have offered us. emperor by divine right kÖnigsberg, august , it was at königsberg that the coronation of the emperor's grandfather took place, or rather, it was here that william i crowned himself king of prussia. this express disclaimer of any responsibility to the people may be found in several speeches, but nowhere was the _ex me mea nata corona_ attitude more forcibly expressed than on this occasion. ordinarily there had been no coronations in prussia, as they were considered a useless expense. as the predecessor of emperor william i had granted the people a constitution, william i was evidently going to insist upon his prerogative and did so by taking the crown unto himself and making his famous statement. his conduct and that of his predecessors has been discussed in chapter i. my heart bids me express to the men of this province the pleasure which her majesty and i feel on finding ourselves again within the borders of this beautiful country and on having been received with such enthusiasm by the citizens of our loyal city and of the province. the sentiment that finds expression now in königsberg proves that it is an entirely unique bond which joins the city and the province to our house. and, in fact, if one looks back upon the history of the country and of the house it becomes evident that great and important portions are common to both. here it was that the great elector, by his own right, created himself the sovereign duke in prussia; here his son set the king's crown upon his head; and the sovereign house of brandenburg thus became one of the european powers. frederick william i established here his authority as "_rocher de bronze_"; under frederick the great, the province shared in the joys and sorrows of his reign. then came the difficult time of trial. the great soldier emperor of the french resided here, and after the power of prussia had been shattered he let both the city and the country feel his merciless hand. here, however, the thoughts of raising up and freeing the fatherland were first put into action. after tauroggen,[ ] when the old, unyielding york stirred up the people with his flaming speeches, came the courageous decision of the prussian diet to begin the work of liberation. and here my grandfather, again, by his own right, set the prussian crown upon his head, once more distinctly emphasizing the fact that it was accorded him by the will of god alone and not by parliament or by any assemblage of the people or by popular vote, and that he thus looked upon himself as the chosen instrument of heaven and as such performed his duties as regent and sovereign. and adorned with this crown, forty years ago, he rode forth to battle to win the emperor's crown also. truly it was a long way to the time of the famous telegram of the emperor to my late grandmother: "what a change through the providence of god!" this picture would, however, be incomplete if i did not mention one figure which especially in that year had occupied and gripped anew the prussians and, i may truly say, the whole german people. it is not possible to think of the time of our collapse and our revival, without remembering the figure of queen louise. the people of the city of königsberg and the province of east prussia likewise saw this angel in human form wandering among them and they were influenced by her and helped her to bear her grievous ills. the noble queen has been described by many as going about among her subjects, and our people hold her in grateful remembrance. but i think that one thing cannot be sufficiently emphasized, and that is that in the general shattering of our fatherland, when even the statesmen and leaders of the army gave up everything as lost, the queen was the only one who never for one moment doubted for the future of the fatherland. through her example, through her letters, through her conversation, and through the bringing up of her children she showed the people the way in which to find themselves again. she showed them the way back to religion and with it to a recognition of and a confidence in themselves. she encouraged our people in the thought of rallying about the king again and of winning back our freedom. and after she--a noble martyr--had faded away and enthusiasm flamed forth in the land again and old and young seized their weapons to drive the intruder from the country, then, in spirit, she marched before the colors and inspired the warriors with courage that the great work could be accomplished. what does the noble figure of queen louise teach us? it teaches us that, as she once imbued her sons with the one thought of restoring the country's honor and of defending the fatherland, so we men should cultivate all warlike virtues. as in the time of the liberation young and old rallied to the standard and gave everything they had--when even women and girls did not spare their hair--so we must ever be prepared and keep our equipment intact, in view of the fact that the neighboring powers have made such astounding progress. for only upon our preparedness does our peace rest. and what shall our wives learn from the queen? they will learn that the chief duty of german women lies not in the province of meetings and club life, not in reaching out after imaginary rights so that they may do as men do, but in the quiet work in the house and in the family. they are to educate the younger generation, especially in obedience and in respect toward their elders. they are to make clear to their children and to their children's children that it is not a question to-day of living their own life at the expense of others or of achieving their own aims at the expense of the fatherland, but that they must singly and solely keep the fatherland before their eyes and singly and solely devote all their powers and their thoughts to the good of the fatherland. that is the lesson which has been bequeathed to us by this noble figure whom the fatherland and the citizens of this city have so beautifully described on her simple monument as "the good genius of the prussian people." i cherish the hope that all of the people of east prussia who have gathered here will understand me and that, as they return again to their work and their occupation, they will think of these things. we must co-operate for the good of the fatherland, no matter who and where we are. and for me, too, the conduct of this vanished queen will be an example, as it was for my grandfather. looking upon myself as the instrument of the lord, without regard for daily opinions and intentions, i go my way, which is devoted solely and alone to the welfare and peaceful development of the fatherland. but in this work i need the co-operation of every one in the country and to this co-operation i would like to invite you also. i empty my glass in the hope that this attitude may ever prevail in the province of east prussia and that it may lend me its assistance in my labors. long live the province of east prussia!--long may she prosper! [ ] in prussia was ostensibly an ally of france. it was due to general york, the commander of the prussian auxiliaries, rather than to the emperor's somewhat pusillanimous ancestor, king frederick william, that prussia was liberated from the rule of napoleon. york commanded the prussian troops who were to serve as auxiliaries to napoleon. on december , , he, on his own authority, concluded the convention of tauroggen with the russians by which he broke with the french and declared his corps neutral. the vacillating prussian king, in spite of his country's humiliation, was too solicitous about maintaining his throne to dare venture upon any really decisive action. it was popular pressure far more than the king's (or even the queen's) initiative which brought about the national uprising against foreign domination. the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the university of berlin berlin, october , the active interest which the emperor has always taken in higher education in germany is evident in the following address. if he has given it a powerful organization he has taken from it by unconscious processes a large measure of its earlier freedom. the professorial caste has always been highly influential. during the emperor's reign it has been pressed into his service. its present system of organization and its connection with the government puts the emperor, or at least the minister appointed by him, in a position to distribute rewards. it is said that there are practically no social democrats teaching in higher institutions of learning. in the early years of its foundation the university of berlin rendered immense services to the patriotic cause, especially through the work of fichte and schleiermacher. to my loyal frederick-william university, i offer greeting and congratulations on this its hundredth anniversary! from the day of its founding its fortunes have been intimately bound up with those of the prussian-german fatherland. when my ancestor king frederick william iii called it into existence a hundred years ago, he did so in order to compensate the state with spiritual powers for what she had lost in physical power. thus the university of berlin was born out of the same creative genius from which sprung the regeneration of prussia. and this spirit, which raised up prussian germany and which lived in fichte, schleiermacher, savigny, and their friends, made the university even in a few years the centre of the spiritual and intellectual life of the fatherland. truly, the university of berlin was still far from being a _universitas litterarum_ in the sense of william von humboldt, but it has come ever nearer and nearer to this ideal. a stronghold of wisdom, she has won, far beyond the boundaries of prussia and germany, an international significance. through the exchange of teachers and students these relations are visible externally. through the activity which it shares in common with the rest of the universities of the country it now forms the "general institute of learning" which was intended at its founding. in the meantime humboldt's plan, which comprised besides the university the totality of intellectual institutions, has not yet come to complete realization, and these hours of consecration seem to me especially fitted for preparing the way for the completion of what appeared to him as the goal. his great educational plan demanded, besides the academies of learning and the university, independent institutes for research as an integral part of the general educational organization. the founding of such institutions has not kept pace in prussia with the development of the universities, and this defect, especially in our natural-science equipment, is becoming more and more noticeable as a result of the powerful forging ahead of the sciences. we need institutions which reach out beyond the limits of the universities, institutions untrammelled by aims of instruction, yet in close touch with the academy and the university, which shall serve entirely for research. to call such research institutes into being as soon as possible seems to me a sacred duty of the present, and i hold it as my task, as father of my country, to bespeak the general interest for this undertaking. this high aim requires great expense and can be accomplished only if all circles interested in the progress of the sciences and in the welfare of the fatherland are ready to co-operate in this significant task and to make sacrifices for it. i should like, therefore, to-day to lay upon the conscience and place before the eyes of every one the new aim with the impressive warning: "_tua res agitur._" i hope and firmly trust that this work will succeed; indeed, although the plans have been disclosed only to a limited circle, from various parts of the country i have already received enthusiastic expressions of support and very considerable means; between nine and ten million [marks] have been placed at my disposal. i feel the need of expressing here in this place my warmest thanks to these unselfish donors. but to secure lasting support for this undertaking, it is my wish, under my protection and my name, to found a society which shall set for itself the task of erecting and maintaining institutions for research. to this society i will gladly turn over the money given me for that purpose. to see to it that the institutions so founded shall not lack help from the state will be the care of my reign.[ ] [ ] on the emperor's initiative, the emperor william society for the furthering of the sciences was founded. it has already called into being two scientific institutes, the emperor william institute for chemistry and the emperor william institute for physical chemistry and electrical chemistry. they were dedicated by the emperor, october , . so may to-day be not only an occasion of jubilation for the university of berlin, but may it also signify a further step in the development of german spiritual life! and still one wish more i give to the university on its way into a new century. may she, in loyal remembrance of the time of her founding, preserve her prussian-german character! learning is, indeed, the common property of the whole cultural world, and her acquisitions to-day halt at no boundaries. and yet--as every nation must preserve its own manner of life if it would emphasize its independent existence and its value for the whole--may the _alma mater berolinensis_ remain forever conscious that she is a german university. as formerly, so may she be for all time the seat of german manners and of german art! and may every one who has the honor to investigate, to teach, and to study within her walls devote himself to his task, filled with the sense for truth and for thoroughness with the earnestness and the love for all work which goethe prized as the ornament of our people. may the university further exercise her splendid privilege of fostering true knowledge, which, as humboldt has so well said, comes from man's inner being to be planted again in his inner being, which creates and reshapes character. let her do this with that noble freedom which sets laws unto itself and with that sense of exaltation which comes from being the administrator of a treasure which belongs to the whole of humanity. "_communis hominum thesaurus situs est in magnis veritatibus._"[ ] but all truth is god's, and his spirit rests upon every work which is grounded in and strives toward the truth. may this spirit of truth live also in you students; may it be found in all the workings of my dear institution of learning! then will her age be like her youth; she shall remain a city upon the hill, to which the peoples make pilgrimage, and an ornament and treasure of the fatherland. [ ] this phrase is taken from leibnitz's dedication of the _miscellanea berolinensia_ to king frederick i. the emperor in brussels october , the emperor and empress, accompanied by the princess victoria luise, came to brussels in order to repay the visit which the king and queen of belgium had made to potsdam in may, . at the time of the visit of king albert to berlin the emperor did not take part in the festivities, as he was suffering from a wound in the hand. the honors were done by the crown prince. the emperor's speech at the banquet at the royal palace in brussels calls for no comment. the sincere words of friendship which your majesty, in the name of her majesty, the queen, has just addressed to us, the empress, my daughter, and me, as they sprang from warm hearts are welcomed by warm hearts. we remember with greatest pleasure the visit which your majesties made to us last spring at potsdam, and it was a welcome duty of gratitude to return it as soon as possible. the brilliant reception prepared for us by your majesties and the belgian people in this splendid capital has stirred us to the depths and inspires us to heartier thanks in that we see in it an expression of the close bond which unites not only our families but our peoples. it is with friendliest sympathy that i and all germany follow the astounding results which have accrued to the untiring energy of the belgian people in all departments of trade and industry, the crowning display of which we have seen in the brilliantly successful world exposition of this year. belgian commerce embraces the whole circle of the earth, and it is in the peaceful work of culture that germans and belgians everywhere meet. their cultivation of the more spiritual arts fills us with similar wonder when we behold to what a conspicuous place the poets and artists of belgium have attained. may the trustful and friendly feelings, to which in recent times the relations of our governments bore such pleasing evidence, be ever more closely preserved! from your majesty's reign may happiness and blessing stream forth upon your house and upon your people! it is with this wish, which comes from the very depths of my heart, that i propose long life to your majesties, the king and queen of the belgians! alcohol and the schools cassel, august , the emperor had been a student at the friedrichs gymnasium in cassel, and in his parents had presented a flag to the school, which had now to be replaced. in turning over the new flag to the first man in the upper class, the emperor took occasion to give the students certain advice, particularly with regard to the use of alcoholic beverages. his attitude here marks a decided innovation in germany, and if his address is compared with the one delivered at bonn (april , ), it will be seen how keenly aware he is of the changing tendencies of the times. i have decided to have a new flag woven for the upper class instead of the one which my parents bestowed when i was a student and which has fallen a victim to time. the high school has asked to have the old one back again; i will have it mended so that it may be hung. i wish you to remember, through it, that from your walls and your studies a german emperor has gone forth. you have been busy with the studies of antiquity. do not lay too much stress upon the incidents of their political life; for these relations have so changed that they cannot be applied to the present. you may well rejoice in many of the great figures and characters of antiquity, but greek culture has one special trait which no other nation has shown. the harmony which our own time so sadly lacks, the greek people showed in art, in life, in their motions, in their dress, yes, even in their systems of philosophy, and in the handling of their problems. i especially advise you to read what chamberlain so trenchantly says on this point in the introduction to his "foundations of the nineteenth century." and then, above all, strive to know the history of your fatherland. learn to know the misery of our people in the later years of the middle ages, in the struggles between church and state and between the princes, in the strife of creeds during the thirty years' war, when our people were trodden down and brought into the service of foreign peoples and dynasties with whom its interests had nothing in common, until the final great downfall in the time of napoleon. the year first brought us a united german state again. and if you enter upon a political career, keep your eye upon the field as a whole, and do not be disturbed by parties. for these shove their interests before those of the fatherland and often draw a curtain between you and it. and if your political efforts threaten to bewilder you, i advise you to withdraw from them for a time--travel or go on a walking tour--and let nature have her way. then when you return you will have a clearer vision of the real relations. if at any time the waves overwhelm you, if the many phenomena of modern art and literature bewilder and depress you, you can always turn to these ideals of antiquity as a means of recovering your balance. you are now ready to enter the university. therefore i would like to give you one more counsel, which you must not take lightly, for it is to me a very serious matter. alcohol is a great danger to our people, which, believe me, gives me great anxiety. i have led the government now during twenty-three years, and through the reports which pass through my hands i know how many crimes have been committed through alcohol. direct your gaze for a moment to a neighboring land. the americans are far ahead of us in this. at their universities there they do great things, as you may convince yourselves, since so many students come to us from there. there, at the reunions and at the great academic gatherings--for instance, at the inauguration of a president--no wine is seen on the whole table; and they get along very well without it. if you enter the university, steel your body through sport and through fencing--a thing i would blame in no one--or through rowing; but do not seek to make a record for yourself by seeing who can gulp down the greatest number of intoxicating drinks. those are customs which come to us from another time. if you will take this attitude in the corps and societies, i shall be grateful to you. we have other tasks now than they had in former years and must strengthen our knowledge of national economy and finances. for it is worth germany's while to protect her position in the world, especially in the world market. therefore we must all hold fast together. i herewith turn the flag over to you. the _primus omnium_, so i understand, will carry it and will consider it an honor that he is the first one to do so. international competition hamburg, august , after a religious service for the army, the emperor and empress visited the race-course at grossborstel. the relations between germany and england were becoming strained. at the time of the uprising in morocco on the twenty-first of may, , the french general moinier took measures, so he said, to protect europeans in morocco and later besieged certain native cities. germany, pursuing her world-policy, immediately sent the gunboat _panther_ and later the cruiser _berlin_ to the harbor of agadir, and assumed a threatening attitude, as she had done at tangier and as admiral diedrichs had done at manila. when the english made it plain that they would support france, in accordance with the _entente_ reached in , with regard to morocco and egypt, feeling between the two nations became tense and has remained so. the emperor here, while insisting upon the place in the sun, is at the same time insisting on friendly competition. (see the discussion of the speech of march , .) your magnificence: as often as her majesty and i have the happy opportunity of coming to hamburg, it becomes our duty to express our gratitude for the joyful reception and warm, heartfelt greeting which is accorded us by all classes of the hamburg citizens. we have felt this again to-day and are constrained to express anew our thanks for the welcome on the part of the city. it is an index of how close the relations have become between the citizens of hamburg and our house. as the highest commander of my army, i would at the same time like to express the joy i take in the fact that the hanseatic cities are now about to express again their lively interest and their love and fondness for the regiments which bear their names. to me it is a proof that the relationship between the garrisons and their cities is a deep and a close one, and that they are proud to give some outward recognition for the service which their sons have rendered in the past and for the zeal which they showed in their work of peace. when, yesterday, the city of hamburg enthusiastically greeted a portion of that army which has so long maintained peace, she did a very proper thing, for she understands that under the protection of peace she can devote herself to her labors. she is a world city and is situated on one of the greatest rivers of our fatherland, and the breath of the sea and the wave beat of the tides come to her wharves. just as for the human body, it is necessary for a nation to breathe in order to live. the breath of the body politic gives it life and strength. this breath is commerce. long ago the far-sighted great elector coined the phrase: "trade and navigation are the two main pillars of my state." in the twenty-three years since i mounted the throne it has been a pleasure to me to follow the progress which the hanseatic cities and especially hamburg have achieved in their restless advance. if i do everything that i can on my side to help the hanseatic cities, it is a duty that i gladly discharge. but we need not wonder that the great increase of trade in our newly united fatherland has disquieted many people in the world. i, nevertheless, believe that in the domain of commerce competition is healthful; it is necessary in order to spur on states and nations to new achievement. indeed, it is the same thing with sports, as we have seen to-day at the magnificent race-course, where before the eyes of thousands of hamburg's men and so many of her beautiful women the officers of my army rode in competition. there we see one rider who in thought has already won first prize, and on the right and on the left the next two work up to him and it becomes an earnest contest between the three. then he who up to this point was at the head reaches for his whip, not in order to strike his two rival riders but his own horse, and he gives him the spur. in the same way competition between nations can be fought out in peace. the powerfully developing german fleet of war, which is distinguished by its cult of manliness and discipline, has in the last decades been created by the german people as a protection to trade and navigation. it represents the will of the german people to count for something upon the seas. this growing young fleet is particularly proud of the interest of hamburg's citizens. if, then, i have correctly interpreted this expression of your enthusiasm, i believe that i dare assume that it is your purpose to further strengthen our fleet in order that we may be certain that no one will dare challenge the "place in the sun" which should be rightfully ours. i, therefore, raise my glass to the health of the hanseatic cities, and especially to hamburg, the greatest of them all! the gentlemen know what i think about hamburg and how i feel myself bound to her. and at the risk of repeating myself i say it again: the citizens of hamburg and i understand each other! the city of hamburg--hurrah! hurrah! hurrah! imperial glories aix, october , the special fondness of the emperor for aix is indicated in the address of june , . with his assistance the cathedral had been restored in this year, and a marble tablet had been set up in his honor. if the emperor's father was concerned about restoring the splendor of the crown, it is also true that he was by nature one of the most liberal of the hohenzollerns. the book which frederick i gave his son to read was in all probability the magnificent volume, "die reichskleinodien" by doctor fr. bock, published in vienna in . my dear burgomaster: you have strengthened with your friendly words of greeting the deep impression which i received to-day as i found myself within your walls. i thank you, the city magistrates and the citizens, most heartily for this memorable day. i do not see how the eightieth birthday of my father, who was all too soon taken from us, could have been celebrated more beautifully than through the solemn unveiling of the magnificent equestrian statue dedicated to his memory, which we owe to the unselfish reverence of the citizens of aix for the favorite of the german people. i congratulate the city on this new monument, which will serve as a bond and a joy for generations yet unborn. it will indicate that, in spite of all the frictions and political, social, and religious differences of our time, a firm bond of love and trust, nevertheless, surrounds and binds together the prince and the people. if ever a prince deserved a monument here in aix it was my late father. from my childhood i had occasion to observe with what interest he devoted himself to the study of the german emperors and of their traditions and how deeply he was impressed by the power of their position and the splendor of the old german imperial crown. when as a lad i played in his room and had earned some reward through my good behavior, he allowed me to turn the leaves of a magnificent volume in which were represented the jewels, insignia, robes, and weapons of the emperors, and finally, in brilliant colors, the crown itself. how his eyes glistened when he told stories of the coronations at aix with their ceremonies and banquets, of charlemagne, of barbarossa, and their greatness! he always closed by saying: "that must all come again, the power of the empire must rise, and the glitter of the emperor's crown must shine forth once more. barbarossa must be freed from the tower again!" and it was granted him by providence to play a large part in the accomplishment of this great work. on the bloody field of battle he helped his honored father to win the emperor's crown and the unity of the german people. educated by my father for the high position which was one day to be mine, i grew up in wonder and in reverence for the emperor's crown, which, with its burden and its responsibility, i have taken over from him. it is a sacred jewel from which, under god's protection, many blessings have gone forth upon the fatherland and which has proved itself a shield for the national honor. all germans can look up to it with trust, and it will show itself the stronger the more it is surrounded and supported by loyal affection and earnest co-operation. as my forefathers bestowed their special favor upon aix, so with me it has always been a pleasure to be able to show her my interest and good wishes, within whose walls here, in the extreme western part of the empire, german culture and german manners have found a place fortified by a famous past and traditions many hundred years old. may the city in the future also, with her salutary springs and beautiful wooded hills, with her manifold industries and her far-reaching commerce, grow, flourish, and prosper! may the citizens, through loyalty to god, king, and fatherland, pursue their work and enjoy the fruits of their industry in peace! the old imperial city and her loyal citizens--hurrah! hurrah! hurrah! viii last months of peace february , --june , opening of the reichstag berlin, february , as a result of the morocco crisis and the increasing imminence of international difficulties, the war footing of the german army had been increased to , , men. the navy had been steadily extended, and projects for further increases in both army and navy were to be introduced at this session of the reichstag and to be granted. the question of taxation was becoming more and more serious. in view of the project for increased armament and higher taxation, chancellor von bethmann-hollweg had earnestly urged all parties to unite against the social democrats. his efforts were not nearly so successful as had been those of bülow in . one hundred and ten social democrats were returned. it is perhaps significant that at this session the reichstag voted a bill creating a german oil company, which was to conduct its operations under the supervision of the government and thus render germany more independent of foreign countries in this regard. honored sirs: in the name of the affiliated governments, i bid the newly elected reichstag welcome! to maintain the solid framework of the empire and the order of the state undisturbed, to increase the welfare of the people in all classes and conditions, to protect and raise the strength and credit of the nation is the aim of all my efforts. in this i find myself in accord with my honored colleagues, and i cherish the conviction that you, as the chosen representatives of the nation, will exert your best powers in this common work. for a generation past questions of social regulation have occupied a prominent place in the legislation of the realm. even at the last session of the previous reichstag the benefits of insurance were extended to a large portion of the population. the same social spirit with which the work has previously gone forward must prevail even further. for development does not stand still. the finances of the realm have attained a firm position. on the basis of definitely calculated contributions from the states, we have succeeded in establishing a balance in the imperial economy, and by the help of the surplus which resulted we have relieved the excess of the budget. by holding fast to the rigorous policies in vogue up to the present, the empire will within a short time arrive at a complete restoration of its finances. it fills me with satisfaction when i think to what a point the free spirit of enterprise has attained in industry and crafts, in trade, and in commerce, and how, through the increasing perfection of its technic, agriculture has gradually blossomed forth again. in view of this gratifying progress, the affiliated governments will henceforth not neglect to strengthen the foundation of our customs policy by means of alterations and the addition of new trading regulations. a project which will be shortly put before you is to serve for the strengthening of the german interests in foreign countries. it regulates dependence upon the empire and the state in such a way that it will be easier for natives of germany in foreign parts to remain citizens of the empire, or, in case they have lost their imperial rights, to recover them again.[ ] [ ] this project resulted in a law promulgated by the emperor july , . it has been made the subject of considerable hostile comment in foreign countries, as it would seem under certain conditions, not definitely fixed, to permit a german subject to divide his allegiance. article of this law asserts that (german) citizenship is lost through the acquiring of citizenship in a foreign country. it, however, refers to article , which makes the following conditions: art. , sec. . citizenship [german] shall not be lost by him who, before acquiring citizenship in a foreign country, shall, on his request, have received the written permission to retain [german] citizenship from the proper authority in his home state. the german consul is to be consulted before granting this permission. art. , sec. . the imperial chancellor, on a vote of the bundesrat, can decree that the permission specified in section , shall not be granted to persons who wish to acquire citizenship in a specified foreign state. on the face of it, this decree would seem to be open to the interpretation that it lies within the power of the german bundesrat to allow a man who has ostensibly acquired citizenship in a foreign country to be counted as a german citizen. the success of our work of peace at home and overseas depends upon the empire's remaining powerful enough to stand for and protect its national honor, its possessions, and its rightful interests in the world at all times. on this account it is my continual duty and care to maintain and strengthen by land and by sea the armies of the german people, which does not lack young men capable of bearing arms. bills to this end are in preparation and will be laid before you together with proposals which will provide for the increased expenditure. if, honored sirs, you help to carry out this great project you will be doing the fatherland a great service. we have given a new proof of our willingness to settle international points of dispute amicably wherever this can be done in accordance with the dignity and the interests of germany, through the conclusion of our agreements with france. in addition to strengthening our alliances with the austro-hungarian monarchy and the kingdom of italy, my policy is directed toward the maintenance of friendly relationships with all powers on the basis of mutual respect and good-will. i trust the healthy power of the german people, and, counting upon the support of a gracious god, i look out hopefully over the struggles of the day toward the future of the empire. therefore, at the beginning of a new legislative session, i offer you, honored sirs, my greeting in the hope that your activities will be exerted for the benefit of the people and the country. brandenburg once again may , the indications of particular good-will which the emperor had always exhibited for the brandenburgers and the marks of special favor which he had seemed to accord to them have occasionally aroused a certain suspicion, not to say ill will, in the minds of some of his south german subjects. in his hereditary provinces, brandenburg and prussia, it will be noticed that the emperor had always expressed himself most freely with regard to his personal pretensions that he ruled by divine right alone. the two speeches which have been most criticised in this respect are the ones delivered at breslau (february , ) and königsberg (august , ). they served, unfortunately, to accentuate the differences which existed between the subjects in various parts of the empire and to remind them that they had a prussian emperor. if certain portions of his audiences here acquiesced in these pretensions of their hereditary ruler and were somewhat proud of the particular confidence he vouchsafed to them, critics, and even conservative critics, referred to these ideas of "_gottesgnadentum_," grace-of-godism, with touches of what was at least irony. after the unfortunate crisis following the _daily telegraph_ interview chancellor von bülow had felt constrained to request the emperor "henceforward to observe, even in private interviews, that reserve which is indispensable both to the interests of a consistent policy and to the authority of the crown." as we have seen, in spite of the emperor's seeming acceptance of this necessity, it had not modified to any particular extent the tenor of his speech at königsberg in . it may be that by this time ( ) he had taken the admonition to heart, for it will be noticed that, though we have the customary reference to frederick of hohenzollern and the glorification of his ancestors, and also the marks of special favor and trust in the brandenburgers, we miss any mention of the theory of divine right. la fontaine has said that it is difficult to please every one and his father. the emperor must have felt this when he learned that certain of his subjects, nevertheless, resented that closing part of his speech which would seem to imply that the franco-prussian war was a sort of family affair through which the grateful brandenburgers decided to present the imperial crown to their beloved overlord. through such an interpretation the position and interests of bavaria, for instance, became for bavarians somewhat too incidental. if, then, foreign critics have drawn a distinction between prussia and germany, the distinction has, therefore, a certain warrant, since it seems to be made by the emperor himself. the heir to the bavarian crown took occasion to object in one of his speeches to the conception that the affiliated sovereigns are "vassals of the emperor." that he should have gone so far would indicate that, in his mind at least, there was a disposition to make them so. he was even more emphatic in a speech delivered in may, , before the association for the furtherance of inland navigation in bavaria. "i do not see," he said, "why we, if we belong to the german empire should not enjoy precisely the same rights and privileges as north germany, for the german empire was welded together just as much through bavarian blood as through the blood of any other german stock; and for that reason we do not wish to be regarded as minor brothers, but as brothers with full rights and privileges." so, too, it is said that the king of würtemberg left the emperor's side in anger and withdrew from the army manoeuvres in . it will be plain to any one who reads the emperor's speeches that very few of them are made in south germany. münich, leipzig, and stuttgart have been visited by him less frequently than certain foreign capitals. this is due in part, no doubt, to the fact that the reigning sovereigns of these capitals do not wish to see a greater at their side. but it is likewise true that in most of these districts the emperor's reception at the hands of the populace would be far less warm than that accorded to him at breslau and berlin; for, if the emperor is warranted in expecting a particular loyalty from his prussians and brandenburgers, so, too, are the hereditary rulers of bavaria, saxony, and würtemberg warranted in expecting a particular recognition at home, which must necessarily be deducted from the possible tribute which can be paid the emperor, who is likewise a rival king and king of a province which has not always enjoyed the favorable consideration of south germans. it was on this day, may , five hundred years before that the burgrave frederick vi of hohenzollern, the later elector frederick i, entered the fortified place of brandenburg, on the havel. in commemoration of this fact, a fountain and an equestrian statue of the elector by professor manzel were dedicated. the church of st. catherine had likewise been restored and was rededicated on this day. after the unveiling, the emperor proceeded to the old town hall, where he inscribed his name in the city's golden book, and after he had accepted the drink of honor offered him by the burgomaster, he delivered the following address: i am deeply grateful to the city of brandenburg for having thought of inviting me to its celebration. it has been a celebration whose importance extends far beyond the walls of brandenburg, and i rejoice that the brandenburgers should have wished to have their elector and margrave with them, just as it goes without saying that the elector is pleased when he can tarry among his brandenburgers. the changes of history which have swept over the german fatherland have called forth and laid tasks upon many a dynasty, and finally it was the dynasty of my ancestors who first succeeded after many difficulties in laying the corner-stone for the great work and at last in building up the work itself--the establishment of german unity on a brandenburger basis and under the leadership of prussia. we must not forget that it must have been a difficult decision for the ruler of the land in those days and the later elector to undertake the task of coming into this country and of bringing it back again to a flourishing condition. for he came from the sunny south, which had progressed in culture and whose knighthood at that time was also in its fullest flower of cultural development. we have already learned from reliable lips what a frightful situation existed at that time in the unhappy mark. and if he was successful in re-establishing order little by little and in sowing the seeds for new flowers, nevertheless the mark had to pass through many grievous storms and became the arena of foreign powers and foreign lords. but at last the great elector and the great king drove away the foreigners once for all and won for the people of the mark and of prussia the right to live for themselves without having to see the products of their industry and labor fall a prey to the caprices of strangers. and when at last, through the help of god, the prussian edifice was completed and my grandfather, in the long period of peace, had sharpened the sword which he must needs have in order to achieve german union, then for a second time, on a grander scale, the same work was accomplished which had previously been accomplished for the mark. and he succeeded in finally forbidding the strangers to trample upon our fields and to destroy our labor for the mere sake of following their own interests. the german empire and the german crown rest upon a brandenburg basis and a prussian foundation. on that account we wish on this day to remember the people of the mark and of brandenburg and not least the brandenburgers who in risked their lives and all that was near and dear to them in order to win the imperial crown for the old master. as long as a hohenzollern lives and as long as there are brandenburgers both of them will remember constantine alvensleben, vionville, and the third corps.[ ] this was the old brandenburger loyalty which had been preserved through all the centuries, and i hope that this loyalty may be the possession of the coming generations of the city of brandenburg. and i drink this cup in the hope that this loyalty may never be extinguished. [ ] constantine alvensleben, commander of the third (brandenburg) army corps, played an important part in the battle of vionville, on the th of august, . he checked the french army operating from metz and held it until the arrival of reinforcements. hauling down the flag hamburg, june , as usual, the emperor was present at the meeting of the north german regatta association. since he had been absent but once. certain references in his address here doubtless refer back to the outcome of events at agadir. it is difficult to tell whether or not he is on the defensive. whatever his qualities or defects, it cannot properly be said that he has often or indeed ever publicly weakened in a position which he had once taken. he has, however, occasionally shifted his ground. criticism, instead of giving him pause, has usually had the effect of angering him and of immediately drawing his fire upon his critics. so, in regard to the criticism of his agrarian policy on the part of the prussian land-owning nobility, he replied that "opposition on the part of the prussian nobility is monstrous" [_ein unding_]. as the opposition had been directed solely against certain policies and not against him personally, his statement implies that he expected the prussian nobility to support him in all of his positions. he expected personal loyalty. as some of his opponents were members of the prussian landtag, it is difficult to see what would become of the idea of representative government in case the representatives of the people waived their opinions and those of their constituents in his favor. some of the sharpest criticism which the emperor incurred was that which followed the incidents at tangier in and at agadir in . in both cases what may be called the war party showed great resentment, and certain of the criticisms made by them seem to indicate that war, to them, was a consummation devoutly to be wished, and the failure to make war at these opportunities was looked upon as a defeat. the emperor seems here to be insisting upon the fact that the flag has not been dishonored. your magnificence will certainly allow me to thank you for the address, which glowed with flaming patriotism and which was delivered with such a sweep of oratory that, i am convinced, it carried away all those here assembled. we saw from the sketch which your magnificence has given us how in all centuries the history of our empire and of our people, although in general attached to the continent, nevertheless always stood in close relationship with the water and the sea and that it has always been more or less influenced by it. but as you have shown, we formerly failed in gathering together our strength. the flourishing of the hansa, interesting and beautiful, and for a time powerful as it was, had to pass away, because it lacked the support of the imperial power. through the founding of the empire under my grandfather all things were changed, and now the german merchant can go his way peacefully, not under a foreign but under his own flag; he can exercise all his capacities and be sure that, when it is necessary, the protection of the empire will stand behind him. that is only possible when all our powers are united under our german flag. but, as you all know, gentlemen, the flag must wave in honor; and it dare not lightly spread its folds to the wind nor be lightly set up where we are not sure of being able to defend it. you will understand why i have acted with this reserve in extending the reach of the german flag where many perhaps would have desired and longed to see it. i have allowed myself to be guided by an old hanseatic proverb which stands in significant letters over the town hall at lübeck: "the little flag is easily tied to the staff, but it is difficult to haul it down with honor." now, gentlemen, i believe that i can say without fear of contradiction that up to the present no one has ever dared offer an indignity to our flag so long as i have been reigning. i will promise and hold to it that wherever you go ahead there my flag shall follow you. that is true in great as in little things. every man binds his flag to the staff in the morning and hopes to conquer. not every one is successful. in spite of that, we rejoice that on this day of the elbe regatta not only german but also many boats of related and friendly peoples are present and make the scene a picturesque one. therefore we rejoice, and again i whole-heartedly express the hope that sailing and water sport on the elbe and on the baltic, on the inland lakes as on the sea, may grow and prosper. we, however, who have gathered here under the flag of hamburg, on the beautiful ship of the hamburg-american line, raise our glasses and drink to the health of the city of hamburg and all seamen here assembled. the city of hamburg--hurrah! hurrah! hurrah! accident to a zeppelin bonn, october , nineteen hundred and thirteen was a jubilee year in the history both of germany and in the emperor's reign. in the first place, it was the one-hundredth anniversary of the famous battle of the nations at leipzig, which marked the turning of the tide in the fortunes of napoleon. on innumerable occasions the emperor, in the speeches already printed, has referred to this crisis in the affairs of germany; he was, curiously enough, not to make the address on this famous occasion, for the celebration was to take place at leipzig and the addresses were made by doctor clemens and by the king of saxony. the journals noted that during the address of doctor clemens the emperor, who was present, showed no enthusiasm and looked bored. the joyous occasion had been clouded by the unfortunate accident to the naval zeppelin l- on the previous day. as the emperor had succeeded to the throne on the fifteenth of june, , the year marked also the completion of twenty-five years of his reign, and the week of june had been one of continual celebration and many speeches. he issued innumerable pardons and conferred many titles and decorations, among them the title of general on his chancellor, von bethmann-hollweg. his many speeches were, however, for the most part, merely acceptances of congratulations and, aside from the renewed expression of his hope to maintain peace, are not particularly significant to the student. the sense of increased tension is evident everywhere and seems to have reacted upon him, as he does not express himself with his former enthusiasm. he repeats his old themes, the necessity of disregarding party divisions and in particular the need of holding fast to religious ideals and of moral regeneration. on the seventeenth of october, , on the eve of the great national celebration, the naval zeppelin l- , shortly after starting on a flight from johannisthal to hamburg, met with a most distressing accident. an explosion occurred, the balloon caught fire and burst, and the gondola fell with its crew. the twenty-seven officers and men were killed. from bonn the emperor issued the following statement. the text, as well as that of the speech of june , , is taken from the _berliner tageblatt_. again fate has laid a heavy hand upon my navy. the dirigible l- was destroyed by an explosion, and nearly thirty brave men, among them many of the ablest in developing this new species of warcraft, lost their lives. their death in the service of the fatherland will be honorably remembered by me and the entire german people. our very deepest sympathy goes out to their relatives. but grief over what has happened will only spur us on to renewed efforts to develop this so important aerial weapon into a reliable engine of war. william, i. r. we germans fear god, nothing else hamburg, june , the following speech is, we believe, the last one delivered by the emperor before the murder of the archduke franz ferdinand (june ), which precipitated the war. true to his custom, the emperor is again at hamburg at the regatta which usually marks the beginning of his summer holiday. this year his yacht _meteor_ was to win the hamburg prize. the banquet at which he ordinarily delivered his address was to be held on board the _victoria luise_, and the president of the association, doctor schröder, who made the address preceding the emperor's, alluded to the disaster to the z- and the destruction of that boat off heligoland. he followed it with a discussion of germany's progress in naval and aerial development. the emperor answers with his usual compliments to hamburg. his naval policy and his policy of expansion had profited the seaport towns particularly, and he was always a welcome guest. in the year of his jubilee, , the hamburg-american line had done him the honor to name one of their boats the _imperator_, and this year they had launched the great thirty-thousand-ton _bismarck_. if his speech on this occasion shows nothing particularly new, one thing at least is interesting from the change which he introduces in bismarck's famous statement. the emperor himself has quoted it previously (april , ): "we germans fear god, nothing else in the world." here it seems to have in it a little more of defiance and possibly of challenge: "we germans fear god and absolutely nobody and nothing else in the world." may your magnificence allow me to express my thanks for your friendly words and for the picture of the past progress of important phases of our national development! i would like to include in my expression of thanks a heartfelt appreciation of the delightful reception which this year, as in other years, was accorded me by the population of the city of hamburg. it was noticeable in the oldest citizen and in the youngest child. i have been able to see how the hearty and close relationship between hamburg citizens and myself has gradually become traditional, for it passes on from generation to generation. your magnificence, has spoken of the sources which provide us with the material for the fatherland's activity on the seas and has cited some brilliant examples in this line. although i, too, have noted with pleasure how sport has developed greatly, i would, nevertheless, like to call attention to the fact that in one respect i believe our nation is following the right path. we are right in attempting to bring the mass to a higher level of development rather than to scoop out isolated great performances from a generally lowered average. the water sports which we foster and which have again brought us together here, have also seen a new yacht appear under my flag, and it has been successful in winning the hamburg state prize, for which honor i am joyously grateful. the yacht is the creation of a german hanseatic shipbuilder and was built by experienced hands at the well-known wharves of mr. krupp, on the water-front. this, too, is an indication of the development of our technical skill, which was possible only in the long period of peace which was granted us after the stirring years of military prowess. it is a symbol of peace which the merchant, the banker, the ship-owner needs in order to develop, and which they have used each in his own calling to such magnificent effect. i am sure i represent the feelings of all those assembled here on this beautiful and well-known ship of the hamburg-american line when i thank that line particularly for the great day they recently prepared for us. as another symbol of the long period of peace, a few days ago the _bismarck_ left its stocks. it is the greatest vessel now afloat. we all of us know very well that this was no ordinary launching, both because of the size of the ship and because of the impression and attitude of the spectators. the hamburg-american line, through the building of this vessel, gave us the occasion for a great national festival at the moment when the thirty thousand tons glided down into the water. it was as if all the dross had been taken out of the lives of those of us who were present, and even from the lives of all other germans, as we may judge from the expressions which come to us from all parts of the country. envy, pettiness, daily conflicts disappeared. all hearts beat higher and remembered the great time and the great men who wrought in it and thought of the great emperor and of his iron chancellor. it is for us to administer further the legacy that has come down to us. just as in our individual efforts and in our sports we summon up and exert all our powers to reach our goal, so too we must do the same for our fatherland. we must be in a position to take to heart and to exemplify practically one of the finest utterances coined by the iron chancellor. we must so live and act that we shall at all times say with him: "we germans fear god and absolutely nobody and nothing else in the world." with this feeling i raise my glass and ask you to drink with me to the city of hamburg, the regatta association, and the hamburg-american line--hurrah! hurrah! hurrah! ix at the outbreak of the war as there is no official edition of the emperor's recent addresses, the following five speeches and decrees are taken from the _frankfurter zeitung_. forcing the sword into his hand berlin, july , on the st of july the emperor made the following address from the balcony of the royal palace in berlin: a grievous situation has come upon germany. envious nations on all sides are forcing us to justified defense. they are forcing the sword into my hand. if my attempts are not successful in bringing our opponents to their senses and in keeping peace at the eleventh hour, i hope that with god's help we may so use the sword that we may be able to sheathe it again with honor. enormous sacrifices in life and property would be demanded from the german people by a war; but we would show the enemy what it means to attack germany. and now i bid you go to the church, bow down before god and ask his help for our brave army. an end of parties berlin, august , after the order of mobilization, the emperor made the following brief speech from the window of the royal palace: if we must have war, all parties cease. we are only german brothers. in times of peace this or that party has attacked me; i forgive them now with all my heart. if our neighbors are not satisfied to leave us in peace, then we hope and pray that our good german sword will come out of the struggle victorious. opening of the reichstag berlin, august , the emperor opened the special session of the reichstag with the following address: honored gentlemen: at a time big with consequences i have assembled the elected representatives of the german people about me. for nearly half a century we have been allowed to follow the ways of peace. the attempts to attribute to germany warlike intentions and to hedge in her position in the world have often sorely tried the patience of my people. undeterred, my government has pursued the development of our moral, spiritual, and economic strength as its highest aim, with all frankness, even under provocative circumstances! the world has been witness that during the last years, under all pressure and confusion, we have stood in the first rank in saving the nations of europe from a war between the great powers. the most serious dangers to which the events in the balkans had given rise seemed to have been overcome--then suddenly an abyss was opened through the murder of my friend the archduke franz ferdinand. my lofty ally, the emperor and king franz joseph, was forced to take up arms to defend the security of his empire against dangerous machinations from a neighboring state. the russian empire stepped in the way of the allied monarchy following out her just interests. not only our duty as ally calls us to the side of austria-hungary, but it is our great task to protect our own position and the old community of culture between the two empires against the attack of hostile forces. with a heavy heart i have had to mobilize the army against a neighbor with whom it had fought side by side on many a battle-field. with unfeigned sorrow i saw broken a friendship which had been faithfully preserved by germany. the imperial russian government, yielding to the pressure of an insatiable nationalism, has taken sides for a state which through its sanctioning of criminal attacks has brought about the evils of this war. that france, too, should have taken sides with our enemy could not surprise us; too often have our attempts to come to friendlier relationships with the french republic failed because of her old hopes and old resentments. honored gentlemen, what human insight and power could do to equip a people for these uttermost decisions has been done with your patriotic assistance. the hostility which has been making itself felt in the east and in the west for a long time past has now broken out in bright flame. the present situation is not the result of passing conflicts of interests or of diplomatic conjunctions; it is the result of an ill will which has been active for many years against the power and the prosperity of the german empire. no lust of conquest drives us on; we are inspired by the unalterable will to protect the place in which god has set us for ourselves and all coming generations. from the documents which have been submitted to you, you will see how my government and especially my chancellor have endeavored even to the last moment to stave off the inevitable. in a defensive war that has been forced upon us, with a clear conscience and a clean hand we take up the sword. i issue my call to the peoples and stocks of the german empire, that with their united strength they may stand like brothers with our allies in order to defend what we have created through the works of peace. following the example of our fathers, staunch and true, earnest and knightly, humble before god, but with the joy of battle in the face of the enemy, we trust in the almighty to strengthen our defense and guide us to good issue. honored gentlemen, the german people gathered about their princes and leaders are to-day looking to you. come to your decisions quickly and unanimously. such is my most earnest wish. to the army and navy berlin, august , on this date the following statement was issued to the army and navy: after forty-three years of peace, i call all the available forces to arms. we must defend our most sacred possessions, the fatherland, and our own hearths, against ruthless attack. enemies round about us! that is the characteristic of the situation. we must expect a great conflict and to make great sacrifices. i have confidence that the old warlike spirit still lives in the german people, that powerful warlike spirit which attacks the enemy wherever found and at whatever cost and which has always been the fear and terror of our enemies. i have confidence in you, you german soldiers. in every one of you there lives the eager, unconquerable will to triumph. every one of you knows how to die like a hero if need be. think of our great and glorious past. remember that you are germans. god help us. (signed) william, i. r. berlin, august , . proclamation to the german people berlin, august , the following proclamation was issued on the evening of this date: to the german people: since the founding of the empire, for forty-three years it has been the earnest aim of my ancestors and myself to maintain peace with the world and to further our powerful advance in peace. but our opponents envy us the fruit of our labors. in the consciousness of our responsibility and our strength, we must endure overt and covert hostility from east and west and from across the sea. but now they wish to humble us. they demand that with folded arms we should watch our enemies prepare themselves for an underhand attack. they do not wish to allow us in loyal determination to stand by our ally, who is fighting for his position as a great power and with whose humiliation our own power and honor will also be lost. so the sword must decide! the enemy surprises us while we are entirely at peace. therefore, to arms! any wavering, any hesitation would be treachery to the fatherland. we must fight for the existence or non-existence of our empire, which our fathers lately founded for themselves; for the existence or non-existence of german power and german life. we shall fight to the last breath of man and horse, and we shall continue this conflict against a world of enemies. germany has never yet been conquered as long as she was united. go forward with god, who will be with us as he was with our fathers. (signed) william, i. r. berlin, august , . transcriber's note obvious printer errors have been fixed. variations in spelling have been retained except in clear cases of typographical error (see list below). page xiv - tangiers changed to tangier page - unforgetable changed to unforgettably images of public domain material from the google print project.) bubbles by an old man. [illustration] bubbles from the brunnens of nassau, by an old man. bubble, (bobbel, _dutch_,) anything which wants solidity and firmness. johnson's _dictionary_. the third edition. [illustration] paris, baudry's european library, rue du coq, near the louvre. sold also by amyot, rue de la paix; truchy, boulevard des italiens; theophile barrois, jun., rue richelieu; librairie des etrangers, rue neuve-saint-augustin; and french and english library, rue vivienne. . printed by j. smith, , rue montmorency. preface. the writer of this trifling volume was suddenly sentenced, in the cold evening of his life, to drink the mineral waters of one of the bubbling springs, or brunnens, of nassau. in his own opinion, his constitution was not worth so troublesome a repair; but, being outvoted, he bowed and departed. on reaching the point of his destination, he found not only water-bibbing--bathing--and ambulation to be the orders of the day, but it was moreover insisted upon, that the mind was to be relaxed inversely as the body was to be strengthened. during this severe regimen, he was driven to amuse himself in his old age by blowing, as he toddled about, a few literary bubbles. his hasty sketches of whatever chanced for the moment to please either his eyes, or his mind, were only made--_because he had nothing else in the whole world to do_; and he now offers them to that vast and highly respectable class of people who read from exactly the self-same motive. the critic must, of course, declare this production to be vain--empty--light--hollow--superficial ...... but it is the nature of bubbles to be so. "the earth hath bubbles, as the water has, and these are of them." macbeth, _act i., scene _. bubbles. the voyage. by the time i reached the custom-house stairs, the paddles of the rotterdam steam-boat were actually in motion, and i had scarcely hurried across a plank, when i heard it fall splash into the muddy water which separated me farther and farther from the wharf. still later than myself, passengers were now seen chasing the vessel in boats, and there was a confusion on deck, which i gladly availed myself of, by securing, close to the helmsman, a corner, where, muffled in the ample folds of an old boat-cloak, i felt i might quietly enjoy an incognito; for, as the sole object of my expedition was to do myself as much good and as little harm as possible, i considered it would be a pity to wear out my constitution by any travelling exclamations in the thames. the hatches being now opened, the huge pile of trunks, black portmanteaus, and gaudy carpet-bags which had threatened at first to obstruct my prospect was rapidly stowed away; and, as the vessel, hissing and smoking, glided, or rather scuffled, by deptford, greenwich, woolwich, &c., a very motley group of fellow-passengers were all occupied in making remarks of more or less importance. some justly prided themselves on being able to read aloud inscriptions on shore, which others had declared, from their immense distance, to be illegible;--some, bending forward, modestly asked for information; some, standing particularly upright, pompously, imparted it; at times, wondering eyes, both male and female, were seen radiating in all directions; then all were concentrated on an approaching sister steam-boat, which, steering an opposite course, soon rapidly passed us; the gilt figure at her head, the splashing of the paddles, and the name written over her stern, occasioning observations which burst into existence nearly as simultaneously as the thunder and lightning of heaven;--handkerchiefs were waved, and bipeds of both sexes seemed to be delighted, save and except one mild, gloomy, inquisitive little man, who went bleating like a lamb from one fellow-passenger to another, without getting even from me any answer to his harmless question, "whether we had or had not passed yet the men hanging in chains?" as soon as we got below gravesend, the small volume of life which, with feelings of good-fellowship to all men, i had thus been calmly reviewing, began to assume a graver tone; and, as page after page presented itself to my notice, i observed that notes of interrogation and marks of admiration were types not so often to be met with, as the comma, the colon--and, above all--the full stop. the wind, as it freshened with the sun, seemed to check all exuberance of fancy; and, as the puny river-wave rose, conversation around me lulled and lulled into a dead calm. a few people, particularly some ladies, suddenly at last broke silence, giving utterance to a mass of heavy matter-of-fact ejaculations, directed rather to fishes than to men. certain colours in the picture now began rapidly to alter--the red rose gradually looked like the lily--brown skin changed itself into dirty yellow, and i observed two heavy cheeks of warm, comfortable, fat flesh gradually assume the appearance of cold wrinkled tallow. off margate, a sort of hole-and-corner system very soon began to prevail, and one human being after another slowly descending heels foremost, vanished from deck into a sub-stratum, or infernal region, where there was moaning, and groaning, and gnashing of teeth; and, as head after head thus solemnly sunk from my view, i gradually threw aside the folds of my ægis, until finding myself alone, i hailed and inhaled with pleasure the cool fresh breeze which had thus caused me to be left, as i wished to be, by myself. the gale now delightfully increased--(ages ago i had been too often exposed to it to suffer from its effect);--and, as wave after wave became tipt with white, there flitted before my mind a hundred recollections chasing one another, which i never thought to have re-enjoyed; occasionally they were interrupted by the salt spray, and as it dashed into my face, i felt my grizzled eyebrows curl themselves up, as if they wished me once again to view the world in the prismatic colours of "auld lang syne." already was my cure half effected; and the soot of london being thus washed from my brow, i felt a reanimation of mind and a vigour of frame which made me long for the moment when, like the sun bursting from behind a cloud, i might cast aside my shadowy mantle: however, i never moved from my nook, until the darkness of night at last encouraging me, without fear of observation, to walk the deck, "i paced along upon the giddy footing of the hatches," till tired of these vibrations, i stood for a few moments at the gangway. there was no moon--a star only here and there was to be seen; yet, as the fire-propelled vessel cut her way, the paddles, by shivering in succession each wave to atoms, produced a phosphoric sparkling, resembling immense lanthorns at her side; and while these beacons distinctly proclaimed where the vessel actually was, a pale shining stream of light issued from her keel, which, for a ship's length or two, told fainter and fainter where she _had been_. the ideas which rush into the mind, on contemplating by night, out of sight of land, the sea, are as dark, as mysterious, as unfathomable, and as indescribable as the vast ocean itself. one sees but little,--yet that little, caught here and there, so much resembles some of the attributes of the great power which created us, that the mind, trembling under the immensity of the conceptions it engenders, is lost in feelings which human beings cannot impart to each other. in the hurricane which one meets with in southern latitudes, most of us have probably looked in vain for the waves which have been described to be "mountain high;" but, though the outline has been exaggerated, is there not a terror in the filling in of the picture which no human artist can delineate? and in the raging of the tempest--in the darkness which the lightning makes visible--who is there among us that has not fancied he has caught a shadow of the wrath, and a momentary glimmering of the mercy, of the almighty? impressed with these hackneyed feelings, i slowly returned to my nook, and all being obscure, except just the red, rough countenance of the helmsman, feebly illuminated by the light in the binnacle, i laid myself down, and sometimes nodding a little and sometimes dozing, i enjoyed for many hours a sort of half sleep, of which i stood in no little need. as soon as we had crossed the briell, the vessel being at once in smooth water, the passengers successively emerged from their graves below, until, in a couple of hours, their ghastly countenances all were on deck. a bell, as if in hysterics, now rang most violently, as a signal to the town of rotterdam. the word of command, "stop her!" was loudly vociferated by a bluff, short, dirk hatteraick-looking pilot, who had come on board off the briell. "stop her!" was just heard faintly echoed from below, by the invisible exhausted sallow being who had had, during the voyage, charge of the engine. the paddles, in obedience to the mandate, ceased--then gave two turns--ceased,--turned once again--paused,--gave one last struggle, when, our voyage being over, the vessel's side slightly bumped against the pier. with a noise like one of congreve's rockets, the now useless steam was immediately exploded by the pale being below, and, in a few seconds, half the passengers were seen on shore, hurrying in different directions about a town full of canals and spirit shops. "compared with greece and italy--holland is but a platter-faced, cold-gin-and-water country, after all!" said i to myself, as i entered the great gate of the _hôtel des pays-bas_; "and a heavy, barge-built, web-footed race are its inhabitants," i added, as i passed a huge amphibious wench on the stairs, who, with her stern towards me, was sluicing the windows with water: "however, there is fresh air, and that, with solitude, is all i here desire!" this frail sentimental sentence was hardly concluded, when a dutch waiter (whose figure i will not misrepresent by calling him "garcon") popped a long carte, or bill of fare, into my hands, which severely reproved me for having many other wants besides those so simply expressed in my soliloquy. as i did not feel equal to appearing in public, i had dinner apart in my own room; and, as soon as i came to that part of the ceremony called dessert, i gradually raised my eyes from the field of battle, until leaning backwards in my chair to ruminate, i could not help first admiring, for a few moments, the height and immense size of an apartment, in which there seemed to be elbow-room for a giant. close before the window was the great river upon whose glassy surface i had often and often been a traveller; and, flowing beneath me, it occurred to me, as i sipped my wine, that in its transit, or course of existence, it had attained at rotterdam, as nearly as possible, the same period in its life as my own. its birth, its froward infancy, and its wayward youth, were remote distances to which even fancy could now scarcely re-transport us. in its full vigour, the rhine had been doomed turbulently to struggle with difficulties and obstructions which had seemed almost capable of arresting it in its course; and if there was now nothing left in its existence worth admiring--if its best scenery had vanished--if its boundaries had become flat, and its banks insipid, still there was an expansion in its broader surface, and a deep-settled stillness in its course, which seemed to offer tranquillity instead of ecstasy, and perfect contentment instead of imperfect joy. i felt that in the whole course of the river there was no part of it i desired to exchange for the water flowing slowly before me; and though it must very shortly, i knew, be lost in the ocean, that great emblem of eternity, yet in every yard of its existence that fate had been foretold to it. not feeling disposed again so immediately to endure the confinement of a vessel, i walked out, and succeeded in hiring a carriage, which, in two days, took me to cologne, and the following morning i accordingly embarked, _at six o'clock_, in a steam-boat, which was to reach coblentz in eleven hours. as everybody, now-a-days, has been up the rhine, i will only say, that i started in a fog, and, for a couple of hours, was very coolly enveloped in it. my _compagnons de voyage_ were tricolored--dutch, german and french; and, excepting always myself, there was nothing english--nothing, at least, but a board, which sufficiently explained the hungry, insatiable inquisitiveness of our travellers. the black thing hung near the tiller, and upon it there was painted, in white letters, the following sentence, which i copied literatim:-- "enfering any conversation with the steersner and pilotes is desired to be forborn." on account of the fog, we could see nothing, yet, once or twice, we steered towards the tinkling invitation of a bell; stopped for a moment--took in passengers, and proceeded. the manner in which these rhine steam-vessels receive and deliver passengers, carriages, and horses, is most admirable: at each little village, the birth of a new traveller, or the death or departure of an old one, does not detain the vessel ten seconds: but the little ceremony being over, on it instantly proceeds, worming and winding its way towards its destination. formerly, and until lately, a few barges, towed by horses, were occasionally seen toiling against the torrent of the rhine, while immense rafts of timber, curiously connected together, floated indolently downward to their market: in history, therefore, this uncommercial river was known principally for its violence, its difficulties, and its dangers. excepting to the painter, its points most distinguished were those where armies had succeeded in crossing, or where soldiers had perished in vainly attempting to do so; but the power of steam, bringing its real character into existence, has lately developed peaceful properties which it was not known to have possessed. the stream which once relentlessly destroyed mankind, now gives to thousands their bread;--that which once separated nations, now brings them together;--national prejudices, which, it was once impiously argued, this river was wisely intended to maintain, are, by its waters, now softened and decomposed: in short, the rhine affords another proof that there is nothing really barren in creation but man's conceptions, nothing defective but his own judgment, and that what he looked upon as a barrier in europe, was created to become one of the great pavés in the world. as the vessel proceeded towards coblentz, it continually paused in its fairy course, apparently to barter and traffic in the prisoners it contained--sometimes stopping off one little village, it exchanged an infirm old man for two country girls; and then, as if laughing at its bargain, gaily proceeding, it paused before another picturesque hamlet, to give three prussian soldiers of the th regiment for a husband, a mother, and a child; once it delivered an old woman, and got nothing;--then, luckily, it received two carriages for a horse, and next it stopped a second to take up a tall, thin, itinerant poet, who, as soon as he had collected from every passenger a small contribution, for having recited two or three little pieces, was dropped at the next village, ready to board the steam-vessel coming down from mainz. in one of these cartels, or exchanges of prisoners, we received on board sir ---- and lady ----, a young fashionable english couple, who having had occasion, a fortnight before, to go together to st-george's church, had (like dogs suffering from hydrophobia or tin canisters) been running straight forwards ever since. as hard as they could drive, they had posted to dover--hurried across to calais--thence to brussels--snapped a glance at the ripe corn waving on the field of waterloo,--stared at the relics of that great _saint_, old charlemagne, on the high altar of aix-la-chapelle, and at last sought for rest and connubial refuge at coln; but the celebrated water of that town, having in its manufacture evidently abstracted all perfume from the atmosphere, they could not endure the dirt and smell of the place, and, therefore, had proceeded by land towards coblentz; but, as they were changing horses at a small village, seeing our steam-boat in view, they ordered a party of peasants to draw their carriage to the banks of the river, and as soon as our vessel, which came smoking alongside, began to hiss, they, their rosy, fresh-coloured french maid, their dark, chocolate-coloured chariot, and their brown, ill-looking italian courier, came on board. as soon as this young london couple lightly stepped on deck, i saw, at one glance, that without at all priding themselves on their abilities, they fancied, and indeed justly fancied, that they belonged to that class of society which, in england, so modestly calls itself--_good_. that it was not healthy society--that its victims were exposed to late hours, crowded rooms, and impure air, was evident enough from the contrast which existed between their complexions, and that of their healthy country attendant; however, they seemed not only to be perfectly satisfied with themselves, and the clique which they had left behind them, but to have a distaste for everything else they saw. towards some german ladies, who had slightly bowed to them as they passed, they looked with a vacant haughty stare, as if they conceived there must be some mistake, and as if, at all events, it would be necessary to keep such people off. yet, after all, there was no great harm in these two young people: that, in the countries which they were about to visit, they would be fitted only for each other, was sadly evident; however, on the other hand, it was also evidently their wish not to extend their acquaintance. their heads were lanthorns, illuminated with no more brains than barely sufficient to light them on their way; and so, like the babes in the wood, they sat together, hand-in-hand, regardless of everything in creation but themselves. for running their carriage down to the shore, the brown confidential courier, whose maxim was, of course, to pay little and charge much, offered the gang of peasants some kreutzers, which amounted, in english currency, to about sixpence. this they refused, and the captain of the party, while arguing with the flint-skinning courier, was actually carried off by our steam-boat, which, like time and tide, waited for no man. the poor fellow, finding that the italian was immoveable, came aft to the elegant english couple, who were still leaning towards each other like the siamese boys. he pleaded his case, stated his services, declared his poverty, and, in a manly voice, prayed for redress. the dandy listened--looked at his boots, which were evidently pinching him,--listened--passed four white fingers through the curls of his jet-black hair--showed the point of a pink tongue gently playing with a front tooth, and when the vulgar story was at an end, without moving a muscle in his countenance, in a sickly tone of voice, he pronounced his verdict as follows ........ "_alley!_" the creditor tried again, but the debtor sat as silent and as inanimate as a corpse. however, all this time the steam-boat dragging the poor peasant out of his way, he protested in a few angry exclamations against the injustice with which he had been treated (a sentiment i was very sorry to hear more than once mildly whispered by many a quiet-looking german), and descending the vessel's side into a small boat, which had just brought us a new captive, he landed at a village from which he had about eight miles to walk to join his comrades. it is with no satirical feeling that i have related this little occurrence. to hurt the feelings of "gay beings born to flutter but a day"--to break such a pair of young, flimsy butterflies upon the wheel, affords me neither amusement nor delight; but the every-day occurrence of english travellers committing our well-earned national character for justice and liberality to the base, slave-driving hand of a courier, is a practice which, as well as the bad taste of acting the part of a london dandy on the great theatre of europe, ought to be checked. as we proceeded up the rhine, there issued from one of the old romantic castles we were passing a party of young english lads, whose appearance (as soon as they came on board) did ample justice to their country; and, comparing them while they walked the deck, with the rest of their fellow-prisoners, i could not help more than once fancying that i saw a determination in their step, a latent character in their attitudes, and a vigour in their young frames, which being interpreted, said-- "we dare do all that doth become a man, he who dares more--is none!" besides these young collegians, an english gentleman came on board, who appeared quite delighted to join their party. he was a stout man, of about fifty, tall, well-dressed, evidently wealthy, and as ruddy as our mild wholesome air could make him. not only had he a high colour, but there was a network of red veins in his cheeks, which seemed as if not even death could drive it away: his face shone from excessive cleanliness, and though his nose certainly was not long, there was a sort of round bull-dog honesty in his face, which it was quite delightful to gaze upon. i overheard this good man inform his countrymen, who had surrounded him in a group, that he had never before been out of england--and that, to tell the truth, he never wished to quit it again! "it's surely beautiful scenery!" observed one of his auditors, pointing to the outline of a ruin which, with the rock upon which it stood, seemed flying away behind us. "yes, yes!" replied the florid traveller. "but, sir! it's the dirtiness of the people i complain of. their cookery is dirty--they are dirty in their persons--dirty in their habits--that shocking trick of smoking (pointing to a fat german who was enjoying this pleasure close by his side, and who i rather suspect perfectly understood english) is dirty--depend upon it, they are what we should call, sir, a very dirty race!" "do you speak the language?" said one of the young listeners with a smile which was very awkwardly repressed. "oh, no!" replied the well-fed gentleman, laughing good-naturedly: "i know nothing of their language. i pay for all i eat, and i find, by paying, i can get anything i want. "_mangez! changez!_" is quite foreign language enough, sir, for _me_;" and having to the first word suited his action, by pointing with his fore-finger to his mouth, and to explain the second, having rubbed his thumb against the self-same finger, as if it were counting out money, he joined the roar of laughter which his two french words had caused, and then very good-naturedly paced the deck by himself. the jagged spires of coblentz now came in sight, and every englishman walked to the head of the vessel to see them, while several of the inhabitants of the city, with less curiosity, occupied themselves in leisurely getting together their luggage. for a moment, as we glided by the moselle, on our right, we looked up the course of that lovely river, which here delivers up its waters to the rhine; in a few minutes the bell on board rang, and continued to ring, until we found ourselves firmly moored to the pier of coblentz. most of the passengers went into the town. i, however, crossing the bridge of boats, took up my quarters at the cheval blanc, a large hotel, standing immediately beneath that towering rock so magnificently crowned by the celebrated fortress of ehrenbreitstein. the journey. the next day, starting from coblentz while the morning air was still pure and fresh, i bade adieu to the picturesque river behind me, and travelling on a capital macadamized road which cuts across the duchy of nassau from coblentz to mainz, i immediately began to ascend the mountains, which on all sides were beautifully covered with wood. in about two hours, descending into a narrow valley, i passed through bad-ems, a small village, which, composed of hovels for its inhabitants, and, comparatively speaking, palaces for its guests, is pleasantly enough situated on the bank of a stream of water (the lahn), imprisoned on every side by mountains which i should think very few of its visiters would be disposed to scale; and, from the little i saw of this place, i must own i felt but little disposition to remain in it. its outline, though much admired, gives a cramped, contracted picture of the resources and amusements of the place, and as i drove through it (my postilion, with huge orange-coloured worsted tassels at his back, proudly playing a discordant voluntary on his horn), i particularly remarked some stiff, formal little walks, up and down which many well-dressed strangers were slowly promenading; but the truth is, that ems is a regular, fashionable watering-place. many people, i fully admit, go there to drink the waters only because they are salutary, but a very great many more visit it from far different motives; and it is sad, as well as odd enough, that young ladies who are in a consumption, and old ladies who have a number of gaudy bonnets to display, find it equally desirable to come to bad-ems. this mixture of sickness and finery--this confusion between the hectic flush and red and white ribands--in short, this dance of death, is not the particular sort of folly i am fond of; and, though i wish to deprive no human being of his hobby-horse, yet i must repeat i was glad enough to leave dukes and duchesses, princes and ambassadors (whose carriages i saw standing in one single narrow street), to be cooped up together in the hot, expensive little valley of ems,--an existence, to my humble taste, not altogether unlike that which the foul witch, sycorax, inflicted upon ariel, when, "in her most unmitigable rage," she left him hitched in a cloven pine. on leaving ems, the road passing through the old mouldering town of nassau, and under the beautiful ruins of the ducal stamm-schlosz in its neighbourhood, by a very steep acclivity, continues to ascend until it mounts at last into a sort of upper country, from various points of which are to be seen extensive views of the exalted duchy of nassau, the features of which are on a very large scale. no one, i think, can breathe this dry, fresh air for a single moment, or gaze for an instant on the peculiar colour of the sky, without both smelling and seeing that he is in a country very considerably above the level of the sea; yet this upper story, when it be once attained is by no means what can be termed a mountainous country. on the contrary, the province is composed either of flat table-land abruptly intersected by valleys, or rather of an undulation of hills and dales on an immense scale. in the great tract thus displayed to view, scarcely a habitation is to be seen, and for a considerable time i could not help wondering what had become of the people who had sown the crops (as far i could see they were in solitude waving around me), and who of course were somewhere or other lurking in ambush for the harvest: however, their humble abodes are almost all concealed in steep ravines, or water-courses, which in every direction intersect the whole of the region i have described. a bird's-eye view would of course detect these little villages, but from any one point, as the eye roams over the surface, they are not to be seen. the duchy, which is completely unenclosed, for there is not even a fence to the orchards, appears like a royal park on a gigantic scale, about one-half being in corn-fields or uncultivated land, and the remainder in patches of woods and forests, which in shape and position resemble artificial plantations. the province, as far as one can see, thus seems to declare that it has but one lord and master, and the various views it presents are really very grand and imposing. a considerable portion of the wood grows among crags and rocks; and among the open land there is a great deal of what is evidently a mining country, with much indicating the existence of both iron and silver. the crops of wheat, oats, and barley, are rather light, yet they are very much better than one would expect from the ground from which they grow; but this is the effect of the extraordinary heavy dews which, during the whole summer, may be said, once in twenty-four hours, to irrigate the land. the small steep ravines i have mentioned are the most romantic little spots that can well be conceived. the rugged sides of the hills which contain them are generally clothed with oak, or beech trees, feathering to the very bottom, where a strip of green, rich, grassy land full of springs, scarcely broader than, and very much resembling, the moat of an old castle, is all that divides the one wooded eminence from the other; and it is into these secluded gardens, these smiling happy valleys, that the inhabitants of nassau have humbly crept for shelter. these valleys are often scarcely broad enough to contain the single street which forms the village, and from such little abodes, looking upwards, one would fancy that one were living in a mountainous country; but, climb the hill--break the little petty barrier that imprisons you, and from the height, gently undulating before you, is the vast, magnificent country i have described. in short, in the two prospects, one reads the old story--one sees the common picture of human life. beneath lies the little contracted nook in which we were born, studded with trifling objects, each of which we once fancied to be highly important; every little rock has its name, and every inch of ground belongs to one man, and therefore does not belong to another; but, lying prostrate before us, is a great picture of the world, and until he has seen it, no one born and bred below could fancy how vast are its dimensions, or how truly insignificant are the billows of that puddle in a storm from which he has somehow or other managed to escape. but, without metaphor, nothing can be more striking than the contrast which exists between the little valleys of this duchy, and the great country which soars above them! with respect to the climate of nassau, without presuming to dictate upon that subject, i will, while my postilion is jolting me along, request the reader to decipher for himself hieroglyphics which i think sufficiently explain it. in short, i beg leave to offer him the milk of information--warm as i suck it from the cow. at this moment, everything, see! is smiling; the trees are in full leaf; the crops in full bearing. in no part of devonshire or herefordshire have i ever seen such rich crops of apples, the trees being here surrounded with a scaffolding of poles, which after all seem scarcely sufficient to save the boughs from breaking under their load; but i ask--how comes the vine to be absent from this gay scene? the low country and even the lower part of nassau, we all know, teems with vineyards, and for some way have they crawled up the sides of the mountain; the reason, therefore, for their not appearing in the high ground is surely one very legible character of the climate. again, at all the bendings of the valleys, why do the trees appear so stunted in their growth, and why are so many of them stag-headed? they must surely have some sad reason for wearing this appearance, and any one may guess what it is that in the winter rushes by them with such violence, that, instinctively, they seem more anxious to grow beneath the soil than above it. again, under that hot, oppressive sun which is now hurrying every crop to maturity, why do not the inhabitants look like neapolitans and other indolent lazzaroni-living people?--how comes it that their features are so hard?--can the _sun_ have beaten them into that shape? why are the houses they live in huddled together in the valleys, instead of enjoying the magnificent prospect before me? why do the wealthiest habitations look to the south, and why are the roofs of the houses built or pitched so perpendicularly that it seems as if nothing could rest upon their surface? why are the windows so small and the walls so thick? i might torment my reader with many other questions, such as why, in this large country, is there scarcely a bird to be seen? but i dare say he has already determined for himself, whether the lofty province of nassau, during the winter, be hot or cold; in short, what must be its climate at the moment when the rhine and the expanse of low country, lying about feet beneath it, is frozen and covered with snow? yet whatever may be the climate of the upper country of nassau, the duchy, taken altogether, may fairly be said to contribute more than an average share towards the luxuries and comforts of mankind. besides fine timber-trees of oak, beech, birch, and fir, there are crops of corn of every sort, as well as potatoes which would not be despised in england; several of the wines (for instance, those on the estates of hochheim, eberbach, rudesheim, and johannisburg) are the finest on the rhine, while there are fruits, such as apples, pears, cherries, apricots, strawberries, raspberries (the two latter growing wild), &c., &c. in the greatest abundance. not only are there mines of the precious metals and of iron, but there is also coal, which we all know will, when the gigantic powers of steam are developed, become the nucleus of every nation's wealth. in addition to all this, the duchy is celebrated over the whole of germany for its mineral waters; and certainly if they be at all equal to the reputation they have acquired, nassau may be said to contribute to mankind what is infinitely better than all wealth, namely--health. from its hills burst mineral streams of various descriptions, and besides the selters or seltzer water, which is drunk as a luxury in every quarter of the globe, there are bright, sparkling remedies prescribed for almost every disorder under the sun;--for instance, should the reader be consumptive, or, what is much more probable, be dyspeptic, let him hurry to ems; if he wishes to instil iron into his jaded system, and brace up his muscles, let him go to langen-schwalbach; if his brain should require calming, his nerves soothing, and his skin softening, let him glide onwards to schlangenbad--the serpent's bath; but if he should be rheumatic in his limbs, or if mercury should be running riot in his system, let him hasten, "body and bones," to wiesbaden, where, they say, by being parboiled in the kochbrunnen (boiling spring), all his troubles will evaporate. to these different waters of nassau flock annually thousands and thousands of people from all parts of germany; and so celebrated are they for the cures which they have effected, that not only do people also come from russia, poland, denmark, &c., but a vast quantity of the waters, in stone bottles, is annually sent to these remote countries. yet it is odd enough, that the number of english, who have visited the mineral springs of nassau, bears no proportion to that of any other nation of europe, although spa, and some other continental watering-places, have been much deserted by foreigners, on account of the quantity of the british who have thronged there; but, somehow or other, our country people are like locusts, for they not only fly in myriads to distant countries, but, as they travel, they congregate in clouds, and, therefore, either are they found absolutely eating up a foreign country, or not one of them is to be seen there. how many thousands and hundreds of thousands of english, with their mouths, eyes, and purses wide open, have followed each other, in mournful succession, up and down the rhine; and yet, though nassau has stood absolutely in their path, i believe i may assert that not twenty families have taken up their abode at langen-schwalbach or schlangenbad in the course of the last twenty years; and yet there is no country on earth that could turn out annually more consumptive, rheumatic, and dyspeptic patients than old england! in process of time, the little duchy will, no doubt, be as well known as cheltenham, malvern, &c.; however, until fashion, that painted direction-post, points her finger towards it, it will continue (so far as we are concerned) to exist, as it really does, _in nubibus_. there are , human habitations in the duchy of nassau, and , human beings to live in them. of these, , are protestants, , are catholics; there are mennonitens or dissenters; and scattered among these bleak hills, just as their race is mysteriously scattered over the face of the globe, there are jews. the duke of nassau is the cacique, king, emperor, or commander-in-chief of the province; and people here are everlastingly talking of the duke, as in england they talk of _the_ sun, _the_ moon, or any other luminary of which there exists only one in our system. he is certainly the sovereign lord of this lofty country; and travelling along, i have just observed a certain little bough sticking out of every tenth sheaf of corn, the meaning of which is, no doubt, perfectly well understood both by him and the peasant: in short, in all the principal villages, there are barns built on purpose for receiving this tribute, with a man, paid by the duke, for collecting it. in approaching langen-schwalbach, being of course anxious, as early as possible, to get a glimpse of a town which i had already determined to inhabit for a few days, i did all in my power to explain this feeling to the dull, gaudy fellow who drove me; but whenever i inquired for langen-schwalbach, so often did the mute creature point with a long german whip to the open country, as if it existed directly before him; but, no, not a human habitation could i discover! however, as i proceeded onwards, the whip, in reply to my repeated interrogatories to its dumb owner, began to show a short of magnetical dip, until, at last, it pointed almost perpendicularly downwards into a ravine, which was now immediately beneath me; yet though i could see, as i thought, almost to the bottom of it, still not a vestige of a town was to be seen. however, the whip was quite right, for, in a very few seconds, peeping up from the very bottom of the valley, i perceived, like poplar trees, a couple of church steeples; then suddenly came in sight a long narrow village of slated roofs, and, in a very few seconds more, i found my carriage rattling and trumpetting along a street, until it stopped at the goldene kette, or, as we should call it, the golden chain. the master of this hotel appeared to be a most civil, obliging person; and though his house was nearly full, yet he suddenly felt so much respect either for me or for the contents of my wallet, which, in descending from the carriage, i had placed, for a moment, in his hands, that he used many arguments to persuade us both to become noble appendages to his fine golden chain: yet there were certain noises, uncertain smells, and a degree of bustle in his house which did not at all suit me; and, therefore, at once mercifully annihilating his hopes by a grave bow which could not be misinterpreted, i slowly walked into the street to select for myself a private lodging, and, for a considerable time, experienced very great difficulty. with hands clasped behind me, in vain did i slowly stroll about, looking out for any thing at all like a paper or a board in a window; and i was beginning to fear that there were no lodging-houses in the town, when i at last found out that there were very few which were not. i therefore selected a clean, quiet-looking dwelling; and, finding the inside equal to the out, i at once engaged apartments. the next morning (having been refreshed by a good night's rest) i put a small note-book into my pocket, and having learnt that in the whole valley there was no english blood, except the little that was within my own black silk waistcoat, i felt that i might go where i liked, do what i liked, and sketch the outline of whatever either pleased my eye, or amused my fancy. my first duty, however, evidently was to understand the geography of the town, or rather village, of langen-schwalbach, which i found to be in the shape of the letter y, or (throwing, as i wish to do, literature aside) of a long-handled two-pronged fork. the village is paces in length, that is to say, the prongs are each about yards, and the lower street, or handle of the fork, is about yards. on the first glimpse of the buildings from the heights, my eyes had been particularly attracted by high, irregular, slated roofs, many of which were fantastically ornamented with little spires, about two feet high, but it now appeared that the buildings themselves were constructed even more irregularly than their roofs. the village is composed of houses of all sizes, shapes, and colours: some, having been lately plastered, and painted yellow, white, or pale green, have a modern appearance, while others wear a dress about as old as the hills which surround them. of these latter, some are standing with their sides towards the streets, others look at you with their gables; some overhang the passenger as if they intended to crush him; some shrink backwards, as if, like misanthropes, they loathed him, or like maidens, they feared him; some lean sideways, as if they were suffering from a painful disorder in their hips; many, apparently from curiosity, have advanced, while a few, in disgust, have retired a step or two. all the best dwellings in the towns are "hofs," or lodging-houses, having jalousies, or venetian blinds, to the windows; and i must own i did not expect to find in so remote a situation houses of such large dimensions. for instance, the allee saal has nineteen windows in front; the great "indien hof" is three stories high, with sixteen windows in each; the pariser hof has twelve, and several others have eight and ten. of late years a number of the largest houses have been plastered on the outside, but the appearance of the rest is highly picturesque. they are built of wood and unburnt bricks, but the immense quantity of timber which has been consumed would clearly indicate the vicinity of a large forest, even if one could not see its dark foliage towering on every side above the town. wood having been of so little value, it has been crammed into the houses, as if the builder's object had been to hide away as much of it as possible. the whole fabric is a network of timber of all lengths, shapes, and sizes; and these limbs, sometimes rudely sculptured, often bent into every possible contortion, form a confused picture of rustic architecture, which amid such wild mountain scenery one cannot refuse to admire. the interstices between all this woodwork are filled up with brown, unburnt bricks, so soft and porous, that in our moist climate they would in one winter be decomposed, while a very few seasons would also rot the timbers which they connect: however, such is evidently the dryness of mountain air, that buildings can exist here in this rude state, and, indeed, have existed, for several hundred years, with the woodwork unpainted. in rambling about the three streets, one is surprised, at first, at observing that apparently there is scarcely a shop in the town! before three or four windows carcasses of sheep, or of young calves but a few days old, are seen hanging by their heels; and loaves of bread are placed for sale before a very few doors: but, generally speaking, the dwellings are either "hofs" for lodgers, or they appear to be a set of nondescript private-houses; nevertheless, by patiently probing, the little shop is at last discovered. in one of these secluded dens one can buy coffee, sugar, butter, nails, cottons, chocolate, ribands, brandy, &c. still, however, there is no external display of any such articles, for the crowd of rich people who, like the swallows, visit during the summer weeks the sparkling water of langen-schwalbach, live at "hofs," whose proprietors well enough know where to search for what they want. during so short a residence there, fashionable visiters require no new clothes, nails, brimstone, or coarse linen. it is, therefore, useless for the little shopkeeper to attempt to gain their custom; and as, during the rest of the year, the village exists in simplicity, quietness, and obscurity, the inhabitants, knowing each other, require neither signs nor inscriptions. peasants come to langen-schwalbach from other villages, inquire for the sort of shop which will suit them; or if they want (as they generally do) tobacco, oil, or some rancid commodity, their noses are quite intelligent enough to lead them to the doors they ought to enter; indeed, i myself very soon found that it was quite possible thus to hunt for my own game. i have already stated that langen-schwalbach is like a kitchen fork, the handle of which is the lower or old part of the town: the prongs representing two streets built in ravines, down each of which a small stream of water descends. the stahl brunnen (steel spring) is at the head of the town, at the upper extremity of the right prong. close to the point of the other prong is the wein brunnen (wine spring), and about yards up the same valley is situated the fashionable brunnen of pauline. between these three points, brunnens, or wells, the visiters at langen-schwalbach, with proper intervals for rest and food, are everlastingly vibrating. backwards and forwards, "down the middle and up again," the strangers are seen walking, or rather crawling, with a constancy that is really quite astonishing. among the number there may be here and there a coelebs in search of a wife, and a very few _sets_ of much smaller feet may, _impari passu_, be occasionally seen pursuing nothing but their mammas; however, generally speaking, the whole troop is chasing one and the same game; they are all searching for the same treasure--in short, they are seeking for health: but it is now necessary that the reader should be informed by what means they hope to attain it. in the time of the romans, schwalbach, which means literally the swallow's stream, was a forest containing an immense sulphureous fountain famed for its medicinal effects. in proportion as it rose into notice, hovels, huts, and houses were erected; until a small street or village was thus gradually established on the north and south of the well. there was little to offer to the stranger but its waters; yet, health being a commodity which people have always been willing enough to purchase, the medicine was abundantly drunk, and in the same proportion the little hamlet continued to grow, until it justly attained and claimed for itself the appellation of langen (long) schwalbach. about sixty years ago the stahl and wein brunnens were discovered. these springs were found to be quite different from the old one, inasmuch as, instead of being only sulphureous, they were but strongly impregnated with iron and carbonic acid gas. instead, therefore, of merely purifying the blood, they boldly undertook to strengthen the human frame; and, in proportion as they attracted notice, so the old original brunnen became neglected. about three years ago a new spring was discovered in the valley above the wein brunnen; this did not contain quite so much iron as the stahl or wein brunnen; but possessing other ingredients (among them that of novelty) which were declared to be more salutary, it was patronised by dr. fenner, as being preferable to the brimstone as well as other brunnens in the country. it was accordingly called pauline, after the present duchess of nassau, and is now the fashionable brunnen or well of langen-schwalbach. the village doctors, however, disagree on the subject; and dr. stritter, a very mild, sensible man, recommends his patients to the strong stahl brunnen, almost as positively as dr. fenner sentences his victims to the pauline. which is right, and which is wrong, is one of the mysteries of this world; but as the cunning jews all go to the stahl brunnen, i strongly suspect that they have some good reason for this departure from the fashion. as i observed people of all shapes, ages, and constitutions, swallowing the waters of langen-schwalbach, i felt that, being absolutely on the brink of the brunnen, i might, at least as an experiment, join this awkward squad--that it would be quite time enough to desert if i should find reason to do so--in short, that by trying the waters i should have a surer proof whether they agreed with me or not, than by listening to the conflicting opinions of all the doctors in the universe. however, not knowing exactly in what quantities to take them,--having learnt that dr. fenner himself had the greatest number of patients, and that moreover being a one-eyed man he was much the easiest to be found, i walked towards the shady walk near the allee saal, resolving eventually to consult him; however, in turning a sharp corner, happening almost to run against a gentleman in black, "cui lumen ademptum," i gravely accosted him, and finding, as i did in one moment, that i was right, in the middle of the street i began to explain that he saw before him a wheel which wanted a new tire--a shoe which required a new sole--a worn-out vessel seeking the hand of the tinker; in short, that feeling very old, i merely wanted to become young again. dr. fenner is what would be called in england "a regular character," and being a shrewd, clever fellow, he evidently finds it answer, and endeavours to maintain a singularity of manner, which with his one eye (the other being extinguished in a college duel) serves to bring him into general notice. as soon as my gloomy tale was concluded, the doctor, who had been walking at my side, stopped dead short, and when i turned round to look for him, there i saw him, with his right arm extended, its fore-finger and thumb clenched, as if holding snuff, and its other three digits horizontally extended like the hand of a direction-post. with his heels close together, he stood as lean and as erect as a ramrod, the black patch which like a hatchment hung over the window of his departed eye being supported by a riband wound diagonally round his head. "monsieur!" said he (for he speaks a little french), "monsieur!" he repeated, "à six heures du matin vous prendrez à la pauline trois verres! trois verres à la pauline!" he repeated."a dix heures vous prendrez un bain--en sortant du bain vous prendrez .. (he paused, and after several seconds of deep thought, he added) .. encore deux verres, et à cinq heures du soir, monsieur, vous prendrez .. (another long pause) .. encore trois verres! monsieur! ces eaux vous feront beaucoup de bien!!" the arm of this sybil now fell to his side, like the limb of a telegraph which had just concluded its intelligence. the doctor made me a low bow, spun round upon his heel, "and so he vanished." i had not exactly bargained for bathing in, as well as drinking, the waters; however, feeling in great good-humour with the little world i was inhabiting, i was willing to go with (i. e. _into_) its stream; and as i found that almost every visiter was daily soaked for an hour or two, i could not but admit that what was prescribed for such geese, might also be good sauce for the gander; and that at all events a bath would at least have the advantage of drowning for me one hour per day, in case i should find four-and-twenty of such visiters more than i wanted. in a very few days i got quite accustomed to what a sailor would call the "fresh-water life" which had been prescribed for me; and as no clock in the universe could be more regular than my behaviour, an account of one day's performances, multiplied by the number i remained, will give the reader, very nearly, the history or picture of an existence at langen-schwalbach. the reveille. at a quarter past five i arose, and as soon after as possible left the "hof." every house was open, the streets already swept, the inhabitants all up, the living world appeared broad awake, and there was nothing to denote the earliness of the hour, but the delicious freshness of the cool mountain air; which as yet, unenfeebled by the sun, just beaming above the hill, was in that pure state, in which it had all night long been slumbering in the valley. the face of nature seemed beaming with health, and though there were no larks at schwalbach gently "to carol at the morn," yet immense red german slugs were everywhere in my path, looking wetter, colder, fatter, and happier than they or i have words to express. they had evidently been gorging themselves during the night, and were now crawling into shelter to sleep away the day. as soon as, getting from beneath the shaded walk of the allee saal, i reached the green valley leading to the pauline brunnen, it was quite delightful to look at the grass, as it sparkled in the sun, every green blade being laden with dew in such heavy particles, that there seemed to be quite as much water as grass; indeed the crop was actually bending under the weight of nourishment which, during the deep silence of night, nature had liberally imparted to it; and it was evident that the sun would have to rise high in the heavens before it could attain strength enough to rob the turf of this fertilizing and delicious treasure. at this early hour, i found but few people on the walks, and on reaching the brunnen, the first agreeable thing i received there was a smile from a very honest, homely, healthy old woman, who having seen me approaching, had selected from her table my glass, the handle of which she had marked by a piece of tape. "guten morgen!" she muttered; and then, without at all deranging the hospitality of her smile, stooping down, she dashed the vessel into the brunnen beneath her feet, and in a sort of civil hurry (lest any of its spirit should escape), she presented me with a glass of her _eau médicinale_. clear as crystal, sparkling with carbonic acid gas, and effervescing quite as much as champagne, it was nevertheless miserably cold; and the first morning, what with the gas, and what with the low temperature of this cold iron water, it was about as much as i could do to swallow it; and, for a few seconds, feeling as if it had sluiced my stomach completely by surprise, i stood hardly knowing what was about to happen, when, instead of my teeth chattering, as i expected, i felt the water suddenly grow warm within my waistcoat, and a slight intoxication, or rather exhilaration, succeeded. as i have always had an unconquerable aversion to walking backwards and forwards on a formal parade, as soon as i had drank my first glass i at once commenced ascending the hill which rises immediately from the brunnen. paths in zigzags are cut in various directions in the wood, but so steep, that very few of the water-drinkers like to encounter them. i found the trees to be oak and beech, the ground beneath being covered with grass and heather, among which were, growing wild, quantities of ripe strawberries and raspberries. the large red snails were in great abundance, and immense black-beetles were also in the paths, heaving at, and pushing upwards, loads of dung, &c., very much bigger than themselves; the grass and heather were soaked with dew, and even the strawberries looked much too wet to be eaten. however, i may observe, that while drinking mineral waters, all fruit, wet or dry, is forbidden. smothered up in the wood, there was, of course, nothing to be seen; but as soon as i gained the summit of the hill, a very pretty hexagonal rustic hut, built of trees with the bark on, and thatched with heather, presented itself. the sides were open, excepting two, which were built up with sticks and moss. a rough circular table was in the middle, upon which two or three young people had cut their names; and round the inner circumference of the hut there was a bench, on which i was glad enough to rest, while i enjoyed the extensive prospect. the features of this picture, so different from any thing to be seen in england, were exceedingly large, and the round rolling clouds seemed bigger even than the distant mountains upon which they rested. not a fence was to be seen, but dark patches of wood, of various shapes and sizes, were apparently dropped down upon the cultivated surface of the country, which, as far as the eye could reach, looked like the fairy park of some huge giant. in the foreground, however, small fields, and little narrow strips of land, denoted the existence of a great number of poor proprietors; and even if langen-schwalbach had not been seen crouching at the bottom of its deep valley, it would have been quite evident that, in the immediate neighbourhood, there must be, somewhere or other, a town; for, in many places, the divisions of land were so small, that one could plainly distinguish provender growing for the poor man's cow,--the little patch of rye which was to become bread for his children--and the half-acre of potatoes which was to help them through the winter. close to the town, these divisions and subdivisions were exceedingly small; but when every little family had been provided for, the fields grew larger; and at a short distance from where i sat, there were crops, ripe and waving, which were evidently intended for a larger and more distant market. as soon as i had sufficiently enjoyed the freshness and the freedom of this interesting landscape, it was curious to look down from the hut upon the walk which leads from the allee saal to the brunnen or well of pauline; for, by this time, all ranks of people had arisen from their beds, and the sun being now warm, the _beau monde_ of langen-schwalbach was seen slowly loitering up and down the promenade. at the rate of about a mile and a half an hour, i observed several hundred quiet people crawling through and fretting away that portion of their existence which lay between one glass of cold iron water and another. if an individual were to be sentenced to such a life, which, in fact, has all the fatigue without the pleasing sociability of the treadmill, he would call it melancholy beyond endurance; yet there is no pill which fashion cannot gild, or which habit cannot sweeten. i remarked that the men were dressed, generally, in loose, ill-made, snuff-coloured great coats, with awkward travelling caps, of various shapes, instead of hats. the picture, therefore, taking it altogether, was a homely one; but, although there were no particularly elegant or fashionable-looking people, although their gait was by no means attractive, yet even, from the lofty distant hut, i felt it was impossible to help admiring the good sense and good feeling with which all the elements of this german community appeared to be harmonizing one with the other. there was no jostling, or crowding; no apparent competition; no turning round to stare at strangers. there was no "martial look nor lordly stride," but real genuine good breeding seemed natural to all: it is true there was nothing which bore a very high aristocratic polish; yet it was equally evident that the substance of their society was intrinsically good enough not to require it. the behaviour of such a motley assemblage of people, who belonged, of course, to all ranks and conditions of life, in my humble opinion, did them and their country very great credit. it was quite evident that every man on the promenade, whatever might have been his birth, was desirous to behave like a gentleman; and that there was no one, however exalted was his station, who wished to do any more. that young lady, rather more quietly dressed than the rest of her sex, is the princess leuenstein; her countenance (could it but be seen from the hut) is as unassuming as her dress, and her manner as quiet as her bonnet. her husband, who is one of the group of gentlemen behind her, is mild, gentlemanlike, and (if in these days such a title may, without offence, be given to a young man), i would add--he is modest. there are one or two other princes on the promenade, with a very fair sprinkling of dukes, counts, barons, &c. "there they go, altogether in a row!" but though they congregate,--though like birds of a feather they flock together, is there, i ask, anything arrogant in their behaviour? and that respect which they meet with from every one, does it not seem to be honestly their due? that uncommonly awkward, short, little couple, who walk holding each other by the hand, and who, apropos to nothing, occasionally break playfully into a trot, are a jew and jewess lately married; and, as it is whispered that they have some mysterious reason for drinking the waters, the uxorious anxiety with which the little man presents the glass of cold comfort to his herring-made partner, does not pass completely unobserved. that slow gentleman, with such an immense body, who seems to be acquainted with the most select people on the walk, is an ambassador, who goes nowhere--no, not even to mineral waters, without his french cook, a circumstance quite enough to make everybody speak well of him--a very honest, good-natured man he seems to be; but as he walks, can anything be more evident than that his own cook is killing him, and what possible benefit can a few glasses of cold water do to a corporation which falstaff's belt would be too short to encircle? often and often have i pitied diogenes for having lived in a tub; but this poor ambassador is infinitely worse off, for the tub, it is too evident, lives in _him_, and carry it about with him he must wherever he goes; but, without smiling at any more of my water companions, it is time i should descend to drink my second and third glass. one would think that this deluge of cold water would leave little room for tea and sugar; but miraculous as it may sound, by the time i got to my "hof," there was as much stowage in the vessel as when she sailed; besides this, the steel created an appetite which it was very difficult to govern. as soon as breakfast was over, i generally enjoyed the luxury of idling about the town; and, in passing the shop of a blacksmith, who lived opposite to the goldene kette, the manner in which he tackled and shod a vicious horse always amused me. on the outside wall of the house, two rings were firmly fixed; to one of which the head of the patient was lashed close to the ground; the hind foot, to be shod, stretched out to the utmost extent of the leg, was then secured to the other ring about five feet high, by a cord which passed through a cloven hitch, fixed to the root of the poor creature's tail. the hind foot was consequently very much higher than the head; indeed, it was so exalted, and pulled so heavily at the tail, that the animal seemed to be quite anxious to keep his other feet on _terra firma_. with one hoof in the heavens, it did not suit him to kick; with his nose pointing to the infernal regions, he could not conveniently rear; and as the devil himself was apparently pulling at his tail, the horse at last gave up the point, and quietly submitted to be shod. nearly opposite to this blacksmith, sitting under the projecting eaves of the goldene kette, there were to be seen, every day, a row of women with immense baskets of fruit, which they had brought over the hills, on their heads. the cherries were of the largest and finest description, while the quantity of their stones lying on the paved street, was quite sufficient to show at what a cheap rate they were sold. plums, apricots, greengages, apples, and pears, were also in the greatest profusion; however, in passing these baskets, strangers were strictly ordered to avert their eyes. in short, whenever raw fruit and mineral water unexpectedly meet each other in the human stomach, a sort of bubble-and-squeak contest invariably takes place--the one always endeavouring to turn the other out of the house. the crowd of idle boys, who like wasps were always hovering round these fruit-selling women, i often observed very amusingly dispersed by the arrival of some german grandee in his huge travelling carriage. for at least a couple of minutes before the thing appeared, the postilion, as he descended the mountain, was heard, attempting to notify to the town the vast importance of his cargo, by playing on his trumpet a tune which, in tone and flourish, exactly resembled that which, in london, announces the approach of punch. there is something always particularly harsh and discordant in the notes of a trumpet badly blown; but when placed to the lips of a great lumbering german postilion, who, half smothered in his big boots and tawdry finery, has, besides this crooked instrument, to hold the reins of two wheel horses, as well as of two leaders, his attempt, in such deep affliction, to be musical, is comic in the extreme; and, when the fellow at last arrived at the goldene kette, playing a tune which i expected every moment would make the head of judy pop out of the carriage, one could not help feeling that, if the money which that trumpet cost had been spent in a pair of better spurs, it would have been of much more advantage and comfort to the traveller; but german posting always reminds me of the remark which the black prince was one day heard to utter, as he was struggling with all his might to shave a pig. however, though i most willingly join my fellow-countrymen in ridiculing the tawdry heavy equipment of the german postilion, one's nose always feeling disposed to turn itself upwards at the sight of a horseman awkwardly encumbered with great, unmeaning, yellow worsted tassels, and other broad ornaments, which seem better adapted to our fourpost bedsteads than to a rider, yet i reluctantly acknowledge that i do verily believe their horses are much more scientifically harnessed, for slow heavy draught, than ours are in england. many years have now elapsed since i first observed that, somehow or other, the horses on the continent manage to pull a heavy carriage up a steep hill, or along a dead level, with greater ease to themselves than our english horses. let any unprejudiced person attentively observe with what little apparent fatigue three small ill-conditioned animals will draw not only his own carriage, but very often that huge overgrown vehicle, the french diligence, or the german eil-wagen, and i think he must admit that, somewhere or other, there exists a mystery. but the whole equipment is so unsightly--the rope harness is so rude--the horses without blinkers look so wild--there is so much bluster and noise in the postilion, that, far from paying any compliment to the turn-out, one is very much disposed at once to condemn the whole thing, and not caring a straw whether such horses be fatigued or not, to make no other remark than that, in england, they would have travelled at nearly twice the rate, with one-tenth of the noise. but neither the rate nor the noise is the question which i wish to consider; for our superiority in the former, and our inferiority in the latter, cannot be doubted. the thing i want, if possible, to account for, is, how such small weak horses _do_ manage to draw one's carriage up hill, with so much unaccountable ease to themselves. now, in english, french, and german harness, there exist, as it were, three degrees of comparison in the manner in which the head of the horse is treated; for, in england, it is elevated, or borne up, by what we call the bearing-rein; in france, it is left as nature placed it (there being to common french harness no bearing-rein); while, in germany, the head is tied down to the lower extremity of the collar, or else the collar is so made that the animal is by it deprived of the power of raising his head. now, it is undeniable that the english extreme and the german extreme cannot both be right; and passing over for a moment the french method, which is, in fact, the state of nature, let us for a moment consider which is best, to bear a horse's head _up_, as in england, or to pull it _downwards_, as in germany. in my humble opinion, both are wrong: still there is some science in the german error; whereas in our treatment of the poor animal, we go directly against all mechanical calculation. in a state of nature, the wild horse (as every-body knows) has two distinct gaits or attitudes. if man, or any still wilder beast, come suddenly upon him, up goes his head; and as he first stalks and then trots gently away, with ears erect, snorting with his nose and proudly snuffing up the air, as if exulting in his freedom; as one fore-leg darts before the other, one sees before one a picture of doubt, astonishment, and hesitation,--all of which feelings seem to rein him, like a troop-horse, on his haunches; but attempt to pursue him, and the moment he defies you--the moment, determining to escape, he shakes his head, and lays himself to his work, how completely does he alter his attitude!--for then down goes his head, and from his ears to the tip of his tail, there is in his vertebræ an undulating action which seems to propel him, which works him along, and which, it is evident, you could not deprive him of, without materially diminishing his speed. now, in harness, the horse has naturally the same two gaits or attitudes; and it is quite true that he can start away with a carriage, either in the one or the other; but the means by which he succeeds in this effort, the physical powers which, in each case, he calls into action, are essentially different; for in the one attitude he works by his muscles, and in the other by his own dead, or rather living, weight. in order to grind corn, if any man were to erect a steam-engine over a fine, strong, running stream, we should all say to him, "why do you not allow your wheel to be turned by cold water instead of by hot? why do you not avail yourself of the _weight_ of the water, instead of expending your capital in converting it into the power of steam? in short, why do you not use the simple resource which nature has presented ready made to your hand?" in the same way, the germans might say to us, "we acknowledge a horse _can_ drag a carriage by the power of his muscles, but why do you not allow him to drag it by his _weight_?" in france, and particularly in germany, horses do draw by the weight; and it is to encourage them to raise up their backs, and lean downwards with their heads, that the german collars are made in the way i have described; that with a certain degree of rude science, the horse's nose is tied to the bottom of his collar, and that the postilion at starting, speaking gently to him, allows him to get himself into a proper attitude for his draught. the horse, thus treated, leans against the resistance which he meets with, and his weight being infinitely greater than his draught (i mean the balance being in his favour), the carriage follows him without much more strain or effort on his part, than if he were idly leaning his chest against his manger. it is true the flesh of his shoulder may become sore from severe pressure, but his sinews and muscles are comparatively at rest. now, as a contrast to this picture of the german horse, let any one observe a pair of english post-horses dragging a heavy weight up a hill, and he will at once see that the poor creatures are working by their muscles, and that it is by sinews and main strength the resistance is overcome; but how can it be otherwise? for their heads are considerably higher than nature intended them to be even in _walking_, in a state of liberty, carrying nothing but themselves. the balance of their bodies is, therefore, absolutely turned _against_, instead of leaning in favour of, their draught, and thus cruelly deprived of the mechanical advantage of weight which everywhere else in the universe is duly appreciated, the noble spirit of our high-fed horses induces them to strain and drag the carriage forwards by their muscles; and, if the reader will but pass his hands down the back sinews of any of our stage-coach or post-chaise horses, he will soon feel (though not so keenly as they do) what is the fatal consequence. it is true that, in ascending a very steep hill, an english postilion will occasionally unhook the bearing-reins of his horses; but the poor jaded creatures, trained for years to work in a false attitude, cannot, in one moment, get themselves into the scientific position which the german horses are habitually encouraged to adopt; besides this, we are so sharp with our horses--we keep them so constantly on the _qui vive_, or, as we term it, in hand--that we are always driving them from the use of their weight to the application of their sinews. that the figure and attitude of a horse, working by his sinews, are infinitely prouder than when he is working by his weight (there may exist, however, false pride among horses as well as among men), i most readily admit, and, therefore, for carriages of luxury, where the weight bears little proportion to the powers of the two noble animals, i acknowledge that the sinews are more than sufficient for the slight labour required; but to bear up the head of a poor horse at plough, or at any slow, heavy work, is, i humbly conceive, a barbarous error, which ought not to be persisted in. i may be quite wrong in the way in which i have just endeavoured to account for the fact that horses on the continent draw heavy weights with apparently greater ease to themselves than our horses, and i almost hope that i am wrong; for laughing, as we all do, at the german and french harness, sneering, as we do, at their ropes, and wondering out loud, as we always do, why they do not copy us, it would not be a little provoking were we, in spite of our fine harness, to find out, that for slow, heavy draught, it is better to tie a horse's nose _downwards_, like the german, than _upwards_, like the english, and that the french way of leaving them at liberty is better than both. the bath. the eager step with which i always walked towards the strong steel bath, is almost indescribable. health is such an inestimable blessing; it colours so highly the little picture of life; it sweetens so exquisitely the small cup of our existence; it is so like sunshine, in the absence of which the world, with all its beauties, would be, as it once was, without form and void, that i can conceive nothing which a man ought more eagerly to do than get between the stones of that mill which is to grind him young again, particularly when, as in my case, the operation was to be attended with no pain. when, therefore, i had once left my hof to walk to the bath, i felt as if no power on earth could arrest my progress. the oblong slated building, which contains the famous waters of langen-schwalbach, is plain and unassuming in its elevation, and very sensibly adapted to its purpose. the outside walls are plastered, and coloured a very light red. there are five-and-twenty windows in front, with an arcade or covered walk beneath them, supported by an equal number of pilasters, connected together by saxon arches. on entering the main door, which is in the centre, the great staircase is immediately in front, and close to it, on the left, there sits a man, from whom the person about to bathe purchases his ticket, for which he pays forty-eight kreuzers, about sixteen pence. the pauline spring is conducted to the baths on the upper story; the wein brunnen supplies those below on the left of the staircase; the strong stahl, or steel brunnen, those on the right; all these baths opening into passages, which, in both stories, extend the whole length of the building. at the commencement of each hour, there was always a great bustle between the people about to be washed, and those who had just undergone the operation. a man and woman attend above and below, and, quite regardless of their sex, every person was trying to prevail upon either of these attendants to let the old water out of the bath, and to turn the hot and cold cocks which were to replenish it. restlessness and anxiety were depicted in every countenance; however, in a few minutes, a calm having ensued, the water was heard rushing into fifteen or sixteen baths on each floor. soon again the poor pair were badgered and tormented by various voices, from trebles down to contra-bassos, all calling to them to stop the cocks. with a thermometer in one hand, a great wooden shovel in the other, and a face as wet as if it had just emerged from the bath, each servant hurried from one bath to another, adjusting them all to about ° of reaumur. door after door was then heard to shut, and in a few minutes the passage became once again silent. a sort of wicker basket, containing a pan of burning embers, was afterwards given to any person who, for the sake of having warm towels, was willing to breathe carbonic acid gas. as soon as the patient was ready to enter his bath, the first feeling which crossed his mind, as he stood shivering on the brink, was a disinclination to dip even the foot into a mixture which looked about as thick as a horse-pond, and about the colour of mullagitawny soup. however, having come as far as langen-schwalbach, there was nothing to say, but "_en avant_," and so, descending the steps, i got into stuff so deeply coloured with the red oxide of iron, that the body, when a couple of inches below the surface, was invisible. the temperature of the water felt neither hot nor cold; but i was no sooner immersed in it, than i felt it was evidently of a strengthening, bracing nature, and i could almost have fancied myself lying with a set of hides in a tan-pit. the half-hour, which every day i was sentenced to spend in this red decoction, was by far the longest in the twenty-four hours; and i was always very glad when my chronometer, which i always hung on a nail before my eyes, pointed permission to me to extricate myself from the mess. while the body was floating, hardly knowing whether to sink or swim, i found it was very difficult for the mind to enjoy any sort of recreation, or to reflect for two minutes on any one subject; and as half shivering i lay watching the minute hand of the dial, it appeared the slowest traveller in existence. these baths are said to be very apt to produce head-ache, sleepiness, and other slightly apoplectic symptoms; but surely such effects must proceed from the silly habit of not immersing the head? the frame of man has beneficently been made capable of existing under the line, or near either of the poles of the earth. we know it can even live in an oven in which meat is baking; but, surely, if it were possible to send one half of the body to iceland while the other was reclining on the banks of fernando po, the trial would be exceedingly severe; in as much as nature, never having contemplated such a vagary, has not thought it necessary to provide against it. in a less degree, the same argument applies to bathing, particularly in mineral waters; for even the common pressure of water on the portion of the body which is immersed in it, tends mechanically to push or force the blood towards that part (the head) enjoying a rarer medium; but when it is taken into calculation that the mineral mixture of schwalbach acts on the body not only mechanically, by pressure, but medicinally, being a very strong astringent, there needs no wizard to account for the unpleasant sensations so often complained of. for the above reason, i resolved that my head should fare alike with the rest of my system; in short, that it deserved to be strengthened as much as my limbs. it was equally old--had accompanied them in all their little troubles; and, moreover, often and often, when they had sunk down to rest, had it been forced to contemplate and provide for the dangers and vicissitudes of the next day. i, therefore, applied no half remedy--submitted to no partial operation--but resolved that, if the waters of langen-schwalbach were to make me invulnerable, the box which held my brains should humbly, but equally, partake of the blessing. the way in which i bathed, with the reasons which induced me to do so, were mentioned to dr. fenner. he made no objection, but in silence shrugged up his shoulders. however, the fact is, in this instance, as well as in many others, he is obliged to prescribe no more than human nature is willing to comply with. and as germans are not much in the habit of washing their heads,--and even if they were, as they would certainly refuse to dip their sculls into a mixture which stains the hair a deep-red-colour, upon which common soap has not the slightest detergent effect,--the doctor probably feels that he would only lose his influence were he publicly to undergo the defeat of being driven from a system which all men would agree to abominate; indeed, one has only to look at the ladies' flannel dresses which hang in the yard to dry, to read the truth of the above assertion. these garments having been several times immersed in the bath, are stained as deep a red as if they had been rubbed with ochre or brickdust; yet the upper part of the flannel is quite as white, and, indeed, by comparison, appears infinitely whiter than ever: in short, without asking to see the owners, it is quite evident that, at schwalbach, young ladies, and even old ones, cannot make up their minds to stain any part of their fabric which towers above their evening gowns; and, though the rest of their lovely persons are as red as the limbs of the american indian, yet their faces and cheeks bloom like the roses of york and lancaster; but the effect of these waters on the skin is so singular, that one has only to witness it to understand that it would be useless for the poor doctor to prescribe to ladies more than a pie-bald application of the remedy. although, of course, in coming out of the bath, the patient rubs himself dry, and apparently perfectly clean, yet the rust, by exercise, comes out so profusely, that not only is the linen of those people who bathe stained, but even their sheets are similarly discoloured; the dandy's neckcloth becomes red; and when the head has been immersed, the pillow in the morning looks as if a rusty thirteen-inch shell had been reposing on it. to the servant who has cleaned the bath, filled it, and supplied it with towels, it is customary to give each day six kreuzers, amounting to twopence; and, as another example of the cheapness of german luxuries, i may observe, that, if a person chooses, instead of walking, to be carried in a sedan-chair, and brought back to his hof, the price fixed for the two journeys is--threepence. having now taken my bath, the next part of my daily sentence was, "to return to the place from whence i came, and there" to drink two more glasses of water from the pauline. the weather having been unusually hot, in walking to the bath i was generally very much overpowered by the heat of the sun; but on leaving the mixture to walk to the pauline, i always felt as if his rays were not as strong as myself; i really fancied that they glanced from my frame as from a polished cuirass; and, far from suffering, i enjoyed the walk, always remarking that the cold evaporation proceeding from wet hair formed an additional reason for preventing the blood from rushing upwards. the glass of cold sparkling water which, under the mid-day sun, i received after quitting the bath, from the healthy-looking old goddess of the pauline, was delicious beyond the powers of description. it was infinitely more refreshing than iced soda water, and the idea that it was doing good instead of harm--that it was medicine, not luxury--added to it a flavour which the mind, as well as the body, seemed to enjoy. what with the iron in my skin, the rust in my hair, and the warmth which this strengthening mixture imparted to my waistcoat, i always felt an unconquerable inclination to face the hill; and selecting a different path from the one i had taken in the morning, i seldom stopped until i had reached the tip-top of one of the many eminences which overhang the promenade and its _beau monde_. the climate of this high table-land was always invigorating; and although the sun was the same planet which was scorching the saunterers in the valley beneath, yet its rays did not take the same hold upon the rare, subtile mountain air. at this hour the peasants had descended into the town to dine. the fields were, consequently, deserted; yet it was pleasing to see where they had been toiling, and how much of the corn they had cut since yesterday. i derived pleasure from looking at the large heap of potatoes they had been extracting, and from observing that they had already begun to plough the stubble which only two days ago had been standing corn. though neither man, woman, nor child were to be seen, it was, nevertheless, quite evident that they could only just have vanished; and though i had no fellow-creature to converse with, yet i enjoyed an old-fashioned pleasure in tracing on the ground marks where, at least, human beings had been. quite by myself i was loitering on these heights, when i heard the troop of langen-schwalbach cows coming through the great wood on my left; and wanting, at the moment, something to do, diving into the forest i soon succeeded in joining the gang. they were driven by a man and a woman, who received for every cow under their care forty-two kreuzers, or fourteen pence, for the six summer months: for this humble remuneration, they drove the cows of schwalbach every morning into the great woods, to enjoy air and a very little food; three times a-day they conducted them home to be milked, and as often re-ascended to the forest. at the hours of assembling, the man blew a long, crooked, tin horn, which the cows and their proprietors equally well understood. everybody must be aware, that it is not a very easy job to keep a set of cows together in a forest, as the young ones, especially, are always endeavouring to go astray; however, the two guides had each a curious sort of instrument by which they managed to keep them in excellent subjection. it consisted of a heavy stick about two feet long, with six iron rings, so placed that they could be shaken up and down; and, certainly, if it were to be exhibited at smithfield, no being there, human or inhuman, would ever guess that it was invented for driving cows; and were he even to be told so, he would not conceive how it could possibly be used for that purpose. yet, in nassau, it is the regular engine for propelling cattle of all descriptions. in driving the cows through the wood, i observed that the man and woman each kept on one flank, the herd leisurely proceeding before them; but if any of the cows attempted to stray--if any of them presumed to lie down--or if any one of them appeared to be in too earnest conversation with a great lumbering creature of her own species, distinguished by a ring through his nose, and a bright iron chain round his neck, the man, and especially the woman, gave two or three shakes with the ring, and if that lecture was not sufficient the stick, rings and all, flew through the air, inflicting a blow which really appeared sufficient to break a rib, and certainly much more than sufficient to dislodge an eye. it was easy to calculate the force of this uncouth weapon, by the fear the poor animals entertained of it; and i observed, that no sooner did the woman shake it at an erring, disobedient cow, than the creature at once gave up the point, and hurried forwards. in the stillness of the forest, nothing could sound wilder than the sudden rattling of these rings, and almost could one fancy that beings in chains were running between the trees. a less severe discipline would, probably, not be sufficient. however, i must record that the severity was exercised with a considerable proportion of discretion; for i particularly remarked that, when cows were in a certain interesting situation, their rude drivers, with unerring aim, always pelted them on the hocks. leaving the cows, and descending the mountain's side, i strolled through the little mountain hamlet of wambach. in the middle of this simple retreat, there stood, overtopping most of the other dwellings, a tall slender hut, on the thatched roof of which was a wooden pent-house, containing a bell, which, three times a-day, tolled for reveille, noon-tide meal, and curfew. as the human tongue speaks by the impulse of the mind, so did this humble clapper move in obedience to the dictates of _a village watch_, which, when out of order, the parish was bound to repair. from the upper windows of the principal house, i saw suspended festoons, or strings of apples cut in slices, and exposed to the sun to dry. a lad, smoking his pipe, was driving his mother's cow to fetch grass from the valley. women, with pails in their hands, were proceeding towards the spring for water; others were returning to their homes heavily laden with fagots, while several of their idle children were loitering about before their doors. but, as i had still another dose of water to drink from the pauline, i hastened to the brunnen, and having emptied my glass (which, like the outside of a bottle of iced water, was instantaneously covered by condensation with dew), i found that it was time to prepare myself (as i beg leave to prepare my reader) for that very lengthy ceremony--a german dinner. the dinner. during the fashionable season at langen-schwalbach, the dinner hour at all the saals is one o'clock. from about noon scarcely a stranger is to be seen; but a few minutes before the bell strikes one, the town exhibits a picture curious enough, when it is contrasted with the simple costume of the villagers, and the wild-looking country which surrounds them. from all the hofs and lodging-houses, a set of demure, quiet-looking, well-dressed people are suddenly disgorged, who, at a sort of funeral pace, slowly advance towards the allee saal, the goldene kette, the kaiser saal, and one or two other houses, _où l'on dîne_. the ladies are not dressed in bonnets, but in caps, most of which are quiet; the rest being of those indescribable shapes which are to be seen in london or paris. whether the stiff-stand-up frippery of bright-red ribands was meant to represent a house on fire, or purgatory itself--whether those immense white ornaments were intended for reefs of coral or not--it is out of my department to guess--ladies' caps being riddles only to be explained by themselves. with no one to affront them--with no fine-powdered footman to attend them--with nothing but their appetites to direct them--and with their own quiet conduct to protect them--old ladies, young ladies, elderly gentlemen, and young ones, were seen slowly and silently picking their way over the rough pavement. there was no greediness in their looks; nor, as they proceeded, did they lick their lips, or show any other signs of possessing any appetite at all; they looked much more as if they were coming from a meal, than going to one: in short, they seemed to be thinking of anything in the dictionary but the word _dinner_. and when one contrasted or weighed the quietness of their demeanour, against the enormous quantity of provisions they were placidly about to consume, one could not help admitting that these germans had certainly more self-possession, and could better muzzle their feelings, than many of the best-behaved people in the universe. seated at the table of the allee saal, i counted a hundred and eighty people at dinner in one room. to say, in a single word, whether the fare was good or bad, would be quite impossible, it being so completely different to anything ever met with in england. to my simple taste, the cooking is most horrid; still there were now and then some dishes, particularly sweet ones, which i thought excellent. with respect to the made-dishes, of which there was a great variety, i beg to offer to the reader a formula i invented, which will teach him (should he ever come to germany) what to expect. the simple rule is this:--let him taste the dish, and if it be not sour, he may be quite certain that it is greasy;--again, if it be not greasy, let him not eat thereof, for then it is sure to be sour. with regard to the order of the dishes, that, too, is unlike any thing which mrs. glasse ever thought of. after soup, which all over the world is the alpha of the gourmand's alphabet, the barren meat from which the said soup has been extracted is produced. of course it is dry, tasteless, withered-looking stuff, which a grosvenor-square cat would not touch with its whisker; but this dish is always attended by a couple of satellites--the one a quantity of cucumbers dressed in vinegar, the other a black, greasy sauce; and if you dare to accept a piece of this flaccid beef, you are instantly thrown between scylla and charybdis; for so sure as you decline the indigestible cucumber, souse comes into your plate a deluge of the greasy sauce! after the company have eaten heavily of messes which it would be impossible to describe, in comes some nice salmon--then fowls--then puddings--then meat again--then stewed fruit; and after the english stranger has fallen back in his chair quite beaten, a leg of mutton majestically makes its appearance! i dined just two days at the saals, and then bade adieu to them for ever. nothing which this world affords could induce me to feed in this gross manner. the pig, who lives in his sty, would have some excuse; but it is really quite shocking to see any other animal overpowering himself at mid-day with such a mixture and superabundance of food. yet only think what a compliment all this is to the mineral waters of langen-schwalbach; for if people who come here and live in this way morning, noon, and night can, as i really believe they do, return to their homes in better health than they departed, how much more benefit ought any one to derive, who, maintaining a life of simplicity and temperance, would resolve to give them a fair trial! in short, if the cold iron waters of the pauline can be of real service to a stomach full of vinegar and grease, how much more effectually ought they to tinker up and repair the inside of him who has sense enough to sue them _in formâ pauperis_. dr. fenner was told that i had given up dining in public, as i preferred a single dish at home; and he was then asked, with a scrutinizing look, whether eating so much was not surely very bad for those who were drinking the waters? the poor doctor quietly shrugged up his shoulders,--silently looking at his shoes,--and what else could he have done? himself an inhabitant of langen-schwalbach, of course he was obliged to feel the pulse of his own fellow-citizens, as well as that of the stranger; and into what a fever would he have thrown all the innkeepers--what a convulsion would he have occasioned in the village itself--were he to have presumed to prescribe temperance to those wealthy visiters by whose intemperance the community hoped to prosper! he might as well have gone into the fields to burn the crops, as thus wickedly to blight the golden harvest which langen-schwalbach had calculated on reaping during the short visit of its consumptive guests. our dinner is now over; but i must not rise from the table of the allee saal until i have made an '_amende honorable_' to those against whose vile cooking i have been railing, for it is only common justice to german society to offer an humble testimony that nothing can be more creditable to any nation; one can scarcely imagine a more pleasing picture of civilized life, than the mode in which society is conducted at these watering-places. the company which comes to the brunnens for health, and which daily assembles at dinner, is of a most heterogeneous description, being composed of princes, dukes, barons, counts, &c., down to the petty shopkeeper, and even the jew of frankfort, mainz, and other neighbouring towns; in short, all the most jarring elements of society, at the same moment, enter the same room, to partake together the same one shilling and eight-penny dinner. even to a stranger like myself, it was easy to perceive that the company, as they seated themselves round the table, had herded together in parties and coteries, neither acquainted with each other, nor with much disposition to be acquainted--still, all those invaluable forms of society which connect the guests of any private individual were most strictly observed; and, from the natural good sense and breeding in the country this happy combination was apparently effected without any effort. no one seemed to be under any restraint, yet there was no freezing formality at one end of the table, nor rude boisterous mirth at the other. with as honest good appetites as could belong to any set of people under the sun, i particularly remarked that there was no scrambling for favourite dishes;--to be sure, here and there, an eye was seen twinkling a little brighter than usual, as it watched the progress of any approaching dish which appeared to be unusually sour or greasy, but there was no greediness--no impatience--nothing which seemed for a single moment to interrupt the general harmony of the scene; and, though i scarcely heard a syllable of the buzz of conversation which surrounded me; although every moment i felt less and less disposed to attempt to eat what for some time had gradually been coagulating in my plate; yet, leaning back in my chair, i certainly did derive very great pleasure, and i hope a very rational enjoyment, in looking upon so pleasing a picture of civilized life. in england we are too apt to designate, by the general term "society," the particular class, clan, or clique in which we ourselves may happen to move, and if that little speck be sufficiently polished, people are generally quite satisfied with what they term "the present state of society;" yet there exists a very important difference between this ideal civilization of a part or parts of a community, and the actual civilization of the community as a whole: and surely no country can justly claim for itself that title, until not only can its various members move separately among each other, but until, if necessary, they can all meet and act together. now, if this assertion be admitted, i fear it cannot be denied that we islanders are very far from being as highly polished as our continental neighbours, and that we but too often mistake odd provincial habits of our own invention, for the broad, useful, current manners of the world. in england, each class of society, like our different bands of trades, is governed by its own particular rules. there is a class of society which has very gravely, and for aught i care very properly, settled that certain food is to be eaten with a fork--that others are to be launched into the mouth with a spoon; and that to act against these rules (or whims) shows "that the man has not lived in _the world_." at the other end of society there are, one has heard, also rules of honour, prescribing the sum to be put into a tin money-box, so often as the pipe shall be filled with tobacco, with various other laws of the same dark caste or complexion. these conventions, however, having been firmly established among each of the many classes into which our country people are subdivided, a very considerable degree of order is everywhere maintained; and, therefore, let a foreigner go into any sort of society in england, and he will find it is apparently living in happy obedience to its own laws; but if any chance or convulsion brings these various classes of society, each laden with its own laws, into general contact, a sort of babel confusion instantly takes place, each class loudly calling its neighbour to order in a language it cannot comprehend. like the followers of different religions, the one has been taught a creed which has not even been heard of by the other; there is no sound bond of union--no reasonable understanding between the parties: in short, they resemble a set of regiments, each of which having been drilled according to the caprice or fancy of its colonel, appears in very high order on its own parade, yet, when all are brought together, form an unorganized and undisciplined army; and in support of this theory, is it not undeniably true, that it is practically impossible for all ranks of society to associate together in england with the same ease and inoffensive freedom which characterizes similar meetings on the continent? and yet a german duke or a german baron is as proud of his rank, and rank is as much respected in his country as it is in our country. there _must_, therefore, in england exist somewhere or other a radical fault. the upper classes will of course lay the blame on the lowest--the lowest will abuse the highest--but may not the error lie between the two? does it not rather rest upon both? and is it not caused by the laws which regulate our small island society being odd, unmeaning, imaginary, and often fictitious, instead of being stamped with those large intelligible characters which make them at once legible to all the inhabitants of the globe? for instance, on the continent, every child, almost before he learns his alphabet, before he is able even to crack a whip, is taught what is termed in europe civility; a trifling example of which i witnessed this very morning. at nearly a league from langen-schwalbach, i walked up to a little boy who was flying a kite on the top of a hill, in the middle of a field of oat stubble. i said not a word to the child--scarcely looked at him--but as soon as i got close to him, the little village clod, who had never breathed anything thicker than his own mountain air, actually almost lost string, kite, and all, in an effort, quite irresistible, which he made to bow to me, and take off his hat. again, in the middle of the forest, i saw the other day three labouring boys laughing together, each of their mouths being, if possible, wider open than the others; however, as they separated, off went their caps, and they really took leave of each other in the very same sort of manner with which i yesterday saw the landgrave of hesse hombourg return a bow to a common postilion. it is this general, well founded, and acknowledged system which binds together all classes of society. it is this useful, sensible system, which enables the master of the allee saal, as he walks about the room during dinner time, occasionally to converse with the various descriptions of guests who have honoured his table with their presence; for, however people in england would be shocked at such an idea, on the continent, so long as a person speaks and behaves correctly, he need not fear to give any one offence. now, in england, as we all know, we have all sorts of manners, and a man actually scarcely dares to say which is the true idol to be worshipped. we have very noble aristocratic manners;--we have the short, stumpy manners of the old-fashioned english country gentleman;--we have thick, dandified manners;--blackstock military manners;--"your free and easy manners" (which, by the by, on the continent, would be translated "_no manners at all_.") we have the ledger manners of a steady man of business;--the last-imported monkey or ultra-parisian manners;--manners not only of a school-boy, but of the particular school to which he belongs;--and, lastly, we have the party-coloured manners of the mobility, who, until they were taught the contrary, very falsely flattered themselves that on the throne they would find the "ship, a-hoy!" manners of "a true british sailor." now, with respect to these motley manners, these "black spirits and white, blue spirits and grey," which are about as different from each other as the manners of the various beasts collected by noah in his ark, it may at once be observed, that (however we ourselves may admire them) there are very few of them indeed which are suited to the continent; and consequently, though russians, prussians, austrians, french, and italians, to a certain degree, can anywhere assimilate together, yet, somehow or other, our manners--(never mind whether better or worse)--are different. which, therefore, i am seriously disposed to ask of myself, are the most likely to be right? the manners of "the right little, tight little island," or those of the inhabitants of the vast continent of europe? the reader will, i fear, think that my dinner reflections have partaken of the acidity of the german mess which lay so long before me untouched in my plate; and at my observations i fully expect he will shake his head, as i did when, afterwards, expecting to get something sweet, i found my mouth nearly filled with a substance very nearly related to sour-crout. should the old man's remarks be unpalatable, they are not more so than was his meal; and he begs to apologize for them by saying, that had he, as he much wished, been able to eat, he would not, against his will, have been driven to reflect. the promenade. a few minutes after the dessert had been placed on the table of the allee saal, one or two people from different chairs rose and glided away; then up got as many more, until, in about a quarter of an hour, the whole company had quietly vanished, excepting here and there, round the vast circumference of the table, a couple, who, not having yet finished their phlegmatic, long-winded argument, sat like pairs of oxen, with their heads yoked together. it being yet only three o'clock in the day, and as people did not begin to drink the waters again till about six, there was a long, heavy interval, which was spent very much in the way in which english cows pass their time when quite full of fine red clover,--bending their fore knees, they lie down on the grass to ruminate. as it was very hot at this hour, the ladies, in groups of two, three, and four, with coffee before them on small square tables, sat out together in the open air, under the shade of the trees. most of them commenced knitting; but, at this plethoric hour, i could not help observing that they made several hundred times as many stitches as remarks. a few of the young men, with cigars in their mouths, meandered, in dandified silence, through these parties of ladies; but almost all the german lords of the creation had hidden themselves in holes and corners, to enjoy smoking their pipes; and surely nothing can be more filthy--nothing can be a greater waste of time and intellect than this horrid habit. if tobacco were even a fragrant perfume, instead of stinking as it does, still the habit which makes it necessary to a human being to carry a large bag in one of his coat-pockets, and an unwieldy crooked pipe in the other, would be unmanly; inasmuch as, besides creating an artificial want, it encumbers him with a real burden, which, both on horseback and on foot, impedes his activity and his progress; but when it turns out that this sad artificial want is a nasty, vicious habit,--when it is impossible to be clean if you indulge in it,--when it makes your hair and clothes smell most loathsomely,--when you absolutely pollute the fresh air as you pass through it:--when, besides all this, it corrodes the teeth, injures the stomach, and fills with red inflammatory particles the naturally cool, clear, white brain of man, it is quite astonishing that these germans, who can act so sensibly during so many hours of the day, should not have strength of mind enough to trample their tobacco-bags under their feet--throw their reeking, sooty pipes behind them, and learn (i will not say from the english, but from every bird and animal in a state of nature) to be clean; and certainly whatever faults there may be in our manners, our cleanliness is a virtue which, above every nation i have ever visited, pre-eminently distinguishes us in the world. during the time which was spent in this stinking vice, i observed that people neither interrupted each other, nor did they very much like to be interrupted; in short, it was a sort of siesta with the eyes open, and with smoke coming out of the mouth. sometimes gazing out of the window of his hof, i saw a german baron, in a tawdry dressing-gown and scullcap (with an immense ring on his dirty forefinger), smoking, and pretending to be thinking; sometimes i winded a creature who, in a similar attitude, was seated on the shady benches near the stahl brunnen; but these were only exceptions to the general rule, for most of the males had vanished, one knew not where, to convert themselves into automatons which had all the smoky nuisance of the steam-engine--without its power. at about half-past five or six o'clock, "the world" began to come to life again; the ladies with their knitting needles lying in their laps, gradually began to talk to each other, some even attempting to laugh. group rising after group, left the small white painted tables and empty coffee-cups round which they had been sitting, and in a short time, the walks to the three brunnens in general, and to the pauline in particular, were once again thronged with people; and as slowly, and very slowly, they walked backwards and forwards, one again saw german society in its most amiable and delightful point of view. a few of the ladies, particularly those who had young children, were occasionally accompanied through the day by a nice steady, healthy-looking young woman, whose dress (being without cap or bonnet, with a plain cloth shawl thrown over a dark cotton gown) at once denoted that she was a servant. the distinction in her dress was marked in the extreme, yet it was pleasing to see that there was no necessity to carry it farther, the woman appearing to be so well behaved, that there was little fear of her giving offence. whenever her mistress stopped to talk to any of her friends, this attendant became a harmless listener to the conversation, and when a couple of families, seated on a bank, were amusing each other with jokes and anecdotes, one saw by the countenances of these quiet-looking young people, who were also permitted to sit down, that they were enjoying the story quite as much as the rest. in england, our fine people would of course be shocked at the idea of thus associating with, or rather sitting in society with their servants, and on account of the manners of our servants, it certainly would not be agreeable; however, if we had but one code, instead of having one hundred and fifty thousand (for i quite forgot to insert in my long list the manners of a fashionable lady's maid), this would not be the case; for then english servants, like german servants, would learn to sit in the presence of their superiors without giving any offence at all. but besides observing how harmlessly these german menials conducted themselves, i must own i could not help reflecting what an advantage it was, not only to them, but to the humble hovel to which, when they married, they would probably return--in short, to society, that they should thus have had an opportunity of witnessing the conduct, and of listening to the conversation of quiet, sensible, moral people, who had had the advantages of a good education. of course, if these young people were placed on high wages--tricked out with all the cast-off finery of their mistresses--and if laden with these elements of corruption, and hopelessly banished from the presence of their superiors, they were day after day, and night after night, to be stewed up together with stewards, butlers, &c., in the devil's frying-pan--i mean, that den of narrow-minded iniquity, a housekeeper's room--of course, these strong, bony, useful servants would very soon dress as finely, and give themselves all those airs for which an english lady's maid is so celebrated even in her own country; but, in germany, good sense and poverty have as yet firmly and rigidly prescribed, not only the dress which is to distinguish servants from their masters, but that, with every rational indulgence, with every liberal opportunity of raising themselves in their own estimation, they shall be fed and treated in a manner and according to a scale, which, though superior, still bears a due relation to the humble station and habits in which they were born and bred. of course, servants trained in this manner cost very little, yet if they are not naturally ill-disposed, there is every thing to encourage them in good behaviour, with very little to lead them astray. they are certainly not, like our servants, clothed in satin, fine linen, and superfine cloth; nor like dives himself, do they fare sumptuously every day, but i believe they are all the happier, and infinitely more at their ease, for being kept to their natural station in life, instead of being permitted to ape an appearance for which their education has not fitted them, or repeat fine slip-slop sentiments which they do not understand. however, it is not our servants who deserve to be blamed; they are quite right to receive high wages, wear veils, kid gloves, superfine cloth, give themselves airs, mock the manners of their lords and ladies, and to farcify below stairs the "comedy of errors," which they catch an occasional glimpse of above; in short, to do as little, consume as much, and be as expensive and troublesome as possible. no liberal person can blame _them_, but it is, i fear, on _our_ heads that all their follies must rest; we have no one but ourselves to blame, and until a few of the principal families in england, for the credit and welfare of the country, agree together to lower the style and habits of their servants, and by a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all together, to break the horrid system which at present prevails,--the distinction between the honest ploughman, who whistles along the fallow, and his white-faced, powder-headed, silver-laced, scarlet-breached, golden-gartered brother in london, must be as strikingly ridiculous as ever: the one must remain an honour, the other a discredit, to the wealth of a country which (we all say unjustly) has been called by its enemy a "nation of shopkeepers." if once the system were to be blown up, thousands of honest, well-meaning servants would, i believe, rejoice; and while the aristocracy and wealthier classes would in fact be served at least as well as ever, the middle ranks, and especially all people of small incomes, would be relieved beyond description from an unnatural and unnecessary burden which but too often embitters all their little domestic arrangements. there can be no points of contrast between germany and england more remarkable than that, in the one country, people of all incomes are supported and relieved in proportion to the number of their servants, while in the other they are tormented and oppressed. again, that in the one country, servants humbly dressed, and humbly fed, live in a sort of exalted and honourable intercourse with their masters; while, in the other, servants highly powdered, and grossly fed, are treated _de haut en bas_, in a manner which is not to be seen on the continent. the enormous wealth of england is the commercial wonder of the world, yet every reflecting man who looks at our debt, at the immense fortunes of individuals, and at the levelling, unprincipled, radical spirit of the age, must see that there exist among us elements which may possibly some day or other furiously appear in collision. the great country may yet live to see distress; and in the storm, our commercial integrity, like an over weighted vessel, may, for aught we know, founder and go down, stern foremost. i therefore most earnestly say, should this calamity ever befall us, let not foreigners be entitled, in preaching over our graves, to pronounce, "that we were a people who did not know how to enjoy prosperity--that our money, like our blood, flew to our heads--that our riches corrupted our minds--and that it was absolutely our enormous wealth which sunk us." without saying one other word, i will only again ask, is it or is it not the interest of our upper classes to countenance this island system? should it be argued, that they ought not to be blamed because vulgar, narrow-minded people are foolish enough to ruin themselves in a vain attempt to copy them, i reply, that they must take human nature, good and bad, not as it ought to be, but as it is; and that, after all, it is no compliment to the high station they hold, that the middle and lower classes will absolutely ruin themselves in overfeeding and overdressing their servants--in short, in following any bad example which such high authority may irrationally decree to be fashionable. but to return to the promenade. from everlastingly vibrating backwards and forwards on this walk, one gets so well acquainted with the faces of one's comrades, that it is easy to note the arrival of any stranger, who, however, after having made two or three turns, is considered as received into, and belonging to, the ambulatory community. in constantly passing the people on the promenade, one occasionally heard a party talking french. during the military dominion of napoleon, that language, of course, flooded the whole of the high duchy of nassau as completely as almost the rest of europe: a strong ebb or re-action, however, has of late years taken place, and in prussia, for instance, the common people do not like even to hear the language pronounced. on the other hand, thanks to sir walter scott, lord byron, and other worn-out literary labourers, now resting in their graves, our language is beginning to make an honest progress; and even in france it is becoming fashionable to display in literary society a flower or two culled from that north border, the jardin anglais. as a passing stranger, the word i heard pronounced on the promenade the oftenest was "ja! ja!" and it really seemed to me that german women to all questions invariably answer in the affirmative, for "ja! ja!" was repeated by them, i know, from morning till night, and, for aught i know, from night till morning. as almost every stranger at langen-schwalbach, as well as several of its inhabitants, were at this hour on the promenade, the three brunnens were often surrounded by more open mouths than the women in attendance could supply. the old mother at the pauline was therefore always assisted in the evening by her daughter, who, without being at all handsome, was, like her parent, a picture of robust, ruddy health; and to poor withered people, who came to them to drink, it was very satisfactory indeed to see the practical effect which swallowing and baling out this water from morning till night had had on these two females; and as they stood in the burning sun bending downwards into the brunnen, to fill the glasses which in all directions converged towards them, it was curious to observe the different descriptions of people who from every point of europe (except england) had surrounded one little well. as i earnestly looked at their various figures and faces, i could not help feeling that it was quite impossible for the goddess pauline to cure them all: for i saw a tall, gaunt, brown, hard-featured, lantern-jawed officer, _à demi-solde_, the sort of fellow that the french call "_un gros maigre_," drinking by the side of a red-faced, stuffy, stumpy, stunted little man, who seemed made on purpose to demonstrate that the human figure, like the telescope, could be made portable.--what in the whole world (i mumbled to myself) can be the matter with that very nice, fresh, comfortable, healthy-looking widow? or what does that huge, unwieldy man in the broad-brimmed hat require from the pauline?--surely he is already about as full as he can hold? and that poor sick girl, who has just borrowed the glass from her withered, wrinkled, skinny, little aunt? can the same prescription be good for them both? a couple of nicely-dressed children are extending their little glasses to drink the water with milk; and see! that gang of countrymen, who have stopped their carts on the upper road, are racing and chasing each other down the bank to crowd round the brunnen! is it not curious to observe that in such a state of perspiration they can drink such deadly cold water with impunity? but this really is the case; and whether it is burning hot, or raining a deluge, this simple medicine is always agreeable, and no sooner is it swallowed, than, like the fire in the grate, it begins to warm its new mansion. such was the scene, and such was the effect, daily witnessed round one of nature's simplest and most beneficent remedies. all the drinkers seemed to be satisfied with the water, which, i believe, has only one virtue, that of strengthening the stomach; yet it is this solitary quality which has made it cure almost every possible disorder of body and mind: for though people with an ankle resting on a knee sometimes mysteriously point to their toes, and sometimes as solemnly lay their hands upon their foreheads, yet i rather believe that almost every malady to which the human frame is subject is either by highways or byways connected with the stomach; and i must own i never see a fashionable physician mysteriously counting the pulse of a plethoric patient, or, with a silver spoon on his tongue, importantly looking down his red, inflamed gullet (so properly termed by johnson "the meat-pipe"), but i feel a desire to exclaim, "why not tell the poor gentleman at once--sir! you've eaten too much, you've drunk too much, and you've not taken exercise enough!" that these are the main causes of almost every one's illness, there can be no greater proof, than that those savage nations which live actively and temperately have only one great disorder--death. the human frame was not created imperfect--it is we ourselves who have made it so; there exists no donkey in creation so overladen as our stomachs, and it is because they groan under the weight so cruelly imposed upon them, that we see people driving them before them in herds to drink at one little brunnen. a list of the strangers visiting bad-ems, langen-schwalbach, and schlangenbad, is published twice a week, and circulated on all the promenades. from it, i find that there are visiters at schwalbach alone--an immense number for so small a place. still, the habits of the people are so quiet, that it does not at all bear the appearance of an english watering-place, and certainly i never before existed in a society where people are left so completely to go their own ways. whether i stroll up and down the promenade or about the town, whether i mount the hill or ramble into distant villages, no one seems to notice me any more than if i had been born there; and yet out of the strangers, i happen to be the only specimen to be seen of old england. no one knows that i have given up feasting in public, for it is not the custom to dine always at the same house; but when one o'clock comes, people go to the allee saal, goldene kette, &c. just as they feel disposed at the moment. there are no horses to be hired at schwalbach, but a profusion of donkeys and mules. it is a pretty, gaudy sight to witness a group of these animals carrying ladies in their parti-coloured bonnets, &c. descending one of the hills. the saddles are covered with coarse scarlet, or bright blue cloth, and the donkey always wears a fine red brow-band; nevertheless, under these brilliant colours, to the eye of a cognoscente, it is too easy to perceive that the poor creatures are sick in their hearts of their finery, and that they are tired, almost unto death, of carrying one large curious lady after another to see hohenstein, adolfseck, and other lions, which without metaphor are actually consuming the carcasses of these unhappy asses. the other day i myself hired one, but not being allowed to have the animal alone, i was obliged to submit to be followed by the owner, who, by order of the duke, was dressed in a blue smockfrock, girded by a buff belt. i found that i could not produce the slightest effect on the animal's pace, but that if the man behind me only shook his stick, down went the creature's long ears, and on we trotted. by this arrangement, i was hurried by objects which i wished to look at, and obliged to crawl before what i was exceedingly anxious to leave behind; and altogether it was travelling so very much like a bag of sand, that ever since i have much preferred propelling myself. the schwein-general. every morning at half-past five o'clock, i hear, as i am dressing, the sudden blast of an immense long wooden horn, from which always proceed the same four notes. i have got quite accustomed to this wild reveille, and the vibration has scarcely subsided, it is still ringing among the distant hills, when, leisurely proceeding from almost every door in the street, behold a pig! some, from their jaded, careworn, dragged appearance, are evidently leaving behind them a numerous litter; others are great, tall, monastic, melancholy-looking creatures, which seem to have no other object left in this wretched world than to become bacon; while others are thin, tiny, light-hearted, brisk, petulant piglings, with the world and all its loves and sorrows before them. of their own accord these creatures proceed down the street to join the herdsman, who occasionally continues to repeat the sorrowful blast from his horn. gregarious, or naturally fond of society, with one curl in their tails, and with their noses almost touching the ground, the pigs trot on, grunting to themselves and to their comrades, halting only whenever they come to anything they can manage to swallow. i have observed that the old ones pass all the carcasses, which, trailing to the ground, are hanging before the butchers' shops, as if they were on a sort of _parole d'honneur_ not to touch them; the middle-aged ones wistfully eye this meat, yet jog on also, while the piglings, who (so like mankind) have more appetite than judgment, can rarely resist taking a nibble; yet, no sooner does the dead calf begin again to move, than from the window immediately above out pops the head of a butcher, who, drinking his coffee, whip in hand, inflicts a prompt punishment, sounding quite equal to the offence. as i have stated, the pigs, generally speaking, proceed of their own accord; but shortly after they have passed, there comes down our street a little bareheaded, barefooted, stunted dab of a child, about eleven years old,--a flibbertigibbet sort of creature, which, in a drawing, one would express by a couple of blots, the small one for her head, the other for her body; while, streaming from the latter, there would be a long line ending in a flourish, to express the immense whip which the child carries in its hand. this little goblin page, the whipper-in, attendant, or aid-de-camp of the old pig-driver, facetiously called, at langen-schwalbach, the "schwein-general," is a being no one looks at, and who looks at nobody. whether the hofs of schwalbach are full of strangers, or empty--whether the promenades are occupied by princes or peasants--whether the weather be good or bad, hot or rainy, she apparently never stops to consider; upon these insignificant subjects it is evident she never for a moment has reflected. but such a pair of eyes for a pig have perhaps seldom beamed from human sockets! the little intelligent urchin knows every house from which a pig ought to have proceeded; she can tell by the door being open or shut, and even by footmarks, whether the creature has joined the herd, or whether, having overslept itself, it is still snoring in its sty--a single glance determines whether she shall pass a yard or enter it; and if a pig, from indolence or greediness, be loitering on the road, the sting of the wasp cannot be sharper or more spiteful than the cut she gives it. as soon as finishing with one street, she joins her general in the main road, the herd slowly proceed down the town. on meeting them this morning, they really appeared to have no hams at all; their bodies were as flat as if they had been squeezed in a vice, and when they turned sideways, their long sharp noses, and tucked-up bellies, gave to their profile the appearance of starved greyhounds. as i gravely followed this grunting, unearthly-looking herd of unclean spirits, through that low part of langen-schwalbach which is solely inhabited by jews, i could not help fancying that i observed them holding their very breaths, as if a loathsome pestilence were passing; for though fat pork be a wicked luxury--a forbidden pleasure which the jew has been supposed occasionally in secret to indulge in, yet one may easily imagine that such very lean ugly pigs have not charms enough to lead them astray. besides the little girl who brought up the rear, the herd was preceded by a boy of about fourteen, whose duty it was not to let the foremost, the more enterprising, or, in other words, the most empty pigs, advance too fast. in the middle of the drove, surrounded like a shepherd by his flock, slowly stalked the "schwein-general," a wan, spectre-looking old man, worn out, or nearly so, by the arduous and every-day duty of conducting, against their wills, a gang of exactly the most obstinate animals in creation. a single glance at his jaundiced, ill-natured countenance was sufficient to satisfy one that his temper had been soured by the vexatious contrarieties and "untoward events" it had met with. in his left hand he held a staff to help himself onwards, while round his right shoulder hung one of the most terrific whips that could possibly be constructed. at the end of a short handle, turning upon a swivel, there was a lash about nine feet long, formed like the vertebræ of a snake, each joint being an iron ring, which, decreasing in size, was closely connected with its neighbour, by a band of hard greasy leather. the pliability, the weight, and the force of this iron whip rendered it an argument which the obstinacy even of the pig was unable to resist; yet, as the old man proceeded down the town, he endeavoured to speak kindly to the herd, and as the bulk of them preceded him, jostling each other, grumbling and grunting on their way, he occasionally exclaimed, in a low, hollow, worn-out tone of encouragement, "nina! anina!" drawling of course very long on the last syllable. if any little savoury morsel caused a contention, stoppage, or constipation on the march, the old fellow slowly unwound his dreadful whip, and by merely whirling it round his head, like reading the riot act, he generally succeeded in dispersing the crowd; but if they neglected the solemn warning, if their stomachs prove stronger than their judgments, and if the group of greedy pigs still continued to stagnate--"arriff!" the old fellow exclaimed, and rushing forwards, the lash whirling round his head, he inflicted, with strength which no one could have fancied he possessed, a smack, that seemed absolutely to electrify the leader. as lightning shoots across the heavens, i observed the culprit fly forwards, and for many yards continuing to sidle towards the left, it was quite evident that the thorn was still smarting in his side; and no wonder, poor fellow! for the blow he received would almost have cut a piece out of a door. as soon as the herd got out of the town, they began gradually to ascend the rocky, barren mountain which appeared towering above them; and then the labours of the schwein-general and his staff became greater than ever; for as the animals from their solid column began to extend or deploy themselves into line, it was necessary constantly to ascend and descend the slippery hill, in order to outflank them. "arriff!" vociferated the old man, striding after one of his rebellious subjects; "arriff!" in a shrill tone of voice was re-echoed by the lad, as he ran after another; however, in due time the drove reached the ground which was devoted for that day's exercise, the whole mountain being thus taken in regular succession. the schwein-general now halted, and the pigs being no longer called upon to advance, but being left entirely to their own motions, i became exceedingly anxious attentively to observe them. no wonder, poor reflecting creatures! that they had come unwillingly to such a spot--for there appeared to be literally nothing for them to eat but hot stones and dust; however, making the best of the bargain, they all very vigorously set themselves to work. looking up the hill, they dexterously began to lift up with their snouts the largest of the loose stones, and then grubbing their noses into the cool ground, i watched their proceedings for a very long time. their tough wet snouts seemed to be sensible of the quality of every thing they touched; and thus out of the apparently barren ground they managed to get fibres of roots, to say nothing of worms, beetles, or any other travelling insects they met with. as they slowly advanced working up the hill, their ears most philosophically shading their eyes from the hot sun, i could not help feeling how little we appreciate the delicacy of several of their senses, and the extreme acuteness of their instinct. there exists, perhaps, in creation, no animal which has less justice and more injustice done to him by man than the pig. gifted with every faculty of supplying himself, and of providing even against the approaching storm, which no creature is better capable of foretelling than a pig, we begin by putting an iron ring through the cartilage of his nose, and having thus barbarously deprived him of the power of searching for, and analyzing, his food, we generally condemn him for the rest of his life to solitary confinement in a sty. while his faculties are still his own, only observe how, with a bark or snort, he starts if you approach him, and mark what shrewd intelligence there is in his bright twinkling little eye: but with pigs, as with mankind, idleness is the root of all evil. the poor animal finding that he has absolutely nothing to do--having no enjoyment--nothing to look forward to but the pail which feeds him, naturally most eagerly, or, as we accuse him, most greedily, greets its arrival. having no natural business or diversion--nothing to occupy his brain--the whole powers of his system are directed to the digestion of a superabundance of food. to encourage this, nature assists him with sleep, which, lulling his better faculties, leads his stomach to become the ruling power of his system--a tyrant that can bear no one's presence but his own. the poor pig, thus treated, gorges himself--sleeps--eats again--sleeps--awakens in a fright--screams--struggles against the blue apron--screams fainter and fainter--turns up the whites of his little eyes--and ...... dies! it is probably from abhorring this picture, that i know of nothing which is more distressing to me than to witness an indolent man eating his own home-fed pork. there is something so horridly similar between the life of the human being and that of his victim--their notions on all subjects are so unnaturally contracted--there is such a melancholy resemblance between the strutting residence in the village, and the stalking confinement of the sty--between the sound of the dinner-bell and the rattling of the pail--between snoring in an arm-chair and grunting in clean straw--that, when i contrast the "pig's countenance" in the dish with that of his lord and master, who, with outstretched elbows, sits leaning over it, i own i always feel it is so hard the one should have killed the other--in short, there is a sort of "tu quoque, brute!" moral in the picture, which to my mind is most painfully distressing. but to return to the schwein-general, whom, with his horn and whip, i have left on the steep side of a barren mountain. in this situation do the pigs remain every morning for four hours, enjoying little else than air and exercise. at about nine or ten o'clock, they begin their march homewards, and nothing can form a greater contrast than their entry into their native town does to their exit from it. their eager anxiety to get to the dinner-trough that awaits them is almost ungovernable; and they no sooner reach the first houses of the town, than a sort of "sauve qui peut" motion takes place: away each then starts towards his dulce domum; and it is really curious to stand still and watch how very quickly they canter by, greedily grunting and snuffling as if they could smell with their stomachs, as well as their noses, the savoury food which was awaiting them. at half-past four, the same four notes of the same horn are heard again; the pigs once more assemble--once more tumble over the hot stones on the mountain--once more remain there for four hours--and in the evening once again return to their styes. such is the life of the pigs not only of langen-schwalbach, but those of every village throughout a great part of germany: every day of their existence, summer and winter, is spent in the way i have described. the squad consists here of about a hundred and fifty, and for each pig the poor old schwein-general receives forty kreuzers (about _d._) for six months' drilling of each recruit. his income, therefore, is about _l._ a year, out of which he has to pay the board, lodging, and clothing of his two aid-de-camps; and when one considers how unremittingly this poor fellow-creature has to contend with the gross appetites, sulky tempers, and pig-headed dispositions of the swinish multitude, surely not even the most niggardly reformer would wish to curtail his emoluments. the lutheran chapel. i have just come from the little lutheran chapel, and while the picture is fresh before my mind, i will endeavour to describe it. on entering the church, the service i found had begun, and the first thing that struck me was, that the pulpit was empty, there being no minister of any sort or kind to be seen! the congregation were chaunting a psalm to very much the same sort of drawling tune which one hears in england; yet the difference in their performance of it was very remarkable. as all were singing about as loud as they could, the chorus was certainly too much for the church: indeed, the sound had not only filled its walls, but, streaming out of the doors and every aperture, it had rolled down the main street, where i had met it long before i reached the church. yet, though it was certainly administered in too strong a dose, it was impossible to help acknowledging that it proceeded from a peasantry who had a gift or natural notion of music, quite superior to anything one meets with in an english village, or even in a london church. the song was simple, and the lungs from which it proceeded were too stout; yet there was nothing to offend the ear: in short, there were no bad faults to eradicate--no nasal whine--no vulgar tremulous mixture of two notes--no awkward attempts at musical finery--but in every bar there was tune and melody, and with apparently no one to guide them, these native musicians proceeded with their psalm in perfect harmony and concert. as this singing lasted nearly twenty minutes, i had plenty of time to look about me. the church, which with its little spire stands on a gentle eminence above the houses of the main street, is a small oblong building of four windows in length by two in breadth; the glass in these recesses is composed of round, plain, unpainted panes, about the size of a common tea-saucer. the inside of the building is whitewashed: a gallery of unpainted wood, supported by posts very rudely hewn, going nearly round three sides of it. there were no pews, but rows of benches occupied about three-fourths of the body of the church; the remaining quarter (which was opposite to the principal entrance-door) being elevated three steps above the rest. at the back of this little platform, leaning against the wall, there was a pulpit containing only one reading-desk, and above it a sounding-board, surmounted by a gilt image of the sun--the only ornament in the church. in front of the pulpit, between it and the congregation, i observed a small, high, oblong table, covered with a plain white table-cloth, and on the right and left of the pulpit, there existed an odd-looking pew, latticed so closely that no one could see at all perfectly through it. the three galleries were occupied by men dressed all alike in the common blue cloth sunday clothes of the country. the benches beneath were filled with women; and as i glanced an eye from one row to another, it was impossible to help regretting the sad progress, or rather devastation, which fashion is making in the national costume even of the little village of langen-schwalbach. three benches nearest to the door were filled with women all dressed in the old genuine "buy a broom" costume of this country--their odd little white caps, their open stays, and their fully-plaited short petticoats seeming to have been cast in one model; in short, they were clad in the native livery of their hills. next to these were seated four rows of women and girls, who, nibbling at novelty, had ventured to exchange the caps of their female ancestors for plain horn combs; over their stays some had put cotton gowns, the coloured patterns of which seemed to be vulgarly quarrelling among each other for precedence. next came a row of women in caps, frilled and bedizened. the langen-schwalbach ladies, who occupied the other two benches, and who were seated behind a row of boys immediately before the white table, had absolutely ventured to put on their heads bonnets with artificial flowers, &c.; in short, they had rigged themselves out as fine ladies--wore gloves--tight shoes--blew their noses with handkerchiefs, evidently conceiving themselves (as indeed they were) fit for london, paris, or any other equally brilliant speck in the fashionable world. as soon as the singing was over, a dead pause ensued, which lasted for many seconds, and i was wondering from what part of the chapel the next human voice would proceed, when very indistinctly i saw something moving in one of the latticed pews--slowly it glided towards the stair of the pulpit, until mounting above the lattice-work, the uncertain vision changed into a remarkably tall, portly gentleman in black, who was now clearly seen leisurely ascending towards the pulpit, on the right of which hung a large black slate, on which were written, in white chalk, the numbers and . as soon as the clergyman had very gravely glanced his eyes round the whole church, as if to recognise his congregation, he slowly, syllable by syllable, began an extempore address; and the first words had scarcely left his lips when i could not help feeling that i was listening to the deepest--the gravest--and the most impressive voice i ever remember to have heard. but the whole appearance and manner of the man quite surprised me, so completely superior was he to anything i had at all expected to have met with. indeed, for many minutes, i had given up all hopes of hearing any clergyman at all; certainly not one whose every look, word, and action, seemed to proceed from the deepest thought and reflection. dressed in a suit of common black clothes, he had apparently nothing to distinguish his holy vocation but the two white bands which are worn by our clergymen, and which appeared to be the only neckcloth he wore. in a loud calm tone of voice, which, perfectly devoid of energy, seemed to be directed not to the hearts but to the understandings of his hearers, he advocated a cause in which he evidently felt that he was triumphant; and the stillness of his attitude, the deep calmness of his voice, and the icy cold deliberation with which he spoke, proved that he was master not only of his subject, but of himself. every word he said was apparently visible in his eyes, as if reflected there from his brain. he stood neither entreating, commanding, nor forbidding; but like a man mathematically demonstrating a problem, he was, step by step, steadily laying before the judgment of his hearers truths and arguments which he well knew it was out of their power to deny. when he had reached his climax he suddenly changed his voice, and, apparently conscious of the victory he had gained, in a sort of half-deep tone he began to ask a series of questions, each of which was followed by a long pause; and in these solemn moments, when his argument had gained its victory--when the fabric he had been raising was crowned with success--there was a benignity in the triumph of his unexpected smile, which i could not but admire, as the momentary joy seemed to arise more for the sake of others than for his own. occasionally during the discourse he raised a hand towards heaven--occasionally he firmly placed it on the bosom of his own dark cloth waistcoat, and then, slowly extending it towards his congregation, it fell again lifeless to his side; yet these actions, trifling as they were, became very remarkable when contrasted with the motionless attention of the congregation. at times, an old woman, with the knuckle of her shrivelled finger, would wipe an eye, as if the subject were stealing from her head to her heart; but no show of feeling was apparent in the minister who was addressing her; with apostolic dignity, he coldly proceeded with his argument, and amidst the storm, the tempest of her feelings--he calmly walked upon the wave! never did i before see a human being listened to with such statue-like attention. as soon as the discourse was concluded, the psalm was given out--a general rustling of leaves was heard, and in a few moments the whole congregation began, with open barn-door mouths, to sing. during this operation the preacher did not sit up in his pulpit to be stared at, but his presence not being required there, he descended into his pew, where i could just faintly trace him through the lattice-work. whether he sang or not i do not know; he was probably resting after his fatigue. the singing lasted a long time--the tune and performance were much what i have already described, and when the psalm came to an end, the same dead pause ensued. it continued rather longer than before; at last the front door of the latticed pew opened, and out walked the tall self-same clergyman in black. as he slowly advanced along the little platform, there was a general rustling of the congregation shutting their books, until he stood directly in front of the little high table covered with the white cloth. with the same pale, placid dignity of manner, he pronounced a short blessing on the congregation, who all leant forwards, as if anxious to receive it; and then dropping his two arms, which, during this short ceremony, had been extended before him, he turned round, and as he slowly walked towards his latticed cell, the people all shuffled out the other way--until, in a few seconds, the small lutheran chapel of langen-schwalbach was empty. the new school. one morning, during breakfast, i observed several little children passing my window in their best clothes. the boys wore a sort of green sash of oak-leaves, which, coming over the right shoulder, crossed the back and breast, and then winding once round the waist, hung in two ends on the left side. the girls, dressed in common white frocks, had roses in their hair, and held green garlands in their hands. on inquiring the reason of the children being dressed in this way, i found out, with some difficulty, that there was to be a great festival and procession, to celebrate the taking possession of a new school, which, built by the town, was only just completed. accordingly, following some of the little ones down the main street, i passed this village seminary, whose first birth-day was thus about to be commemorated. it was a substantial building, consisting of a centre, with two square projecting wings, and it was quite large enough to be taken by any stranger for the hotel-de-ville of langen-schwalbach. wreaths of oak-leaves were suspended in front, and long verdant garlands from the same trees hung in festoons from one wing to the other. it was impossible to contrast the size of this building with the small houses in its neighbourhood, without feeling how creditable it was to the inhabitants of so small a town thus to show that a portion of the wealth they had mildly sucked from the stranger's purse was so sensibly and patriotically expended. the scale of the building seemed to indicate that the peasants of langen-schwalbach were liberal enough to desire that their children should grow up more enlightened than themselves; and as i passed it, i could not help recollecting, with feelings of deep regret, that although in england there is no art or trade that has not made great improvement and progress, the cramped pater-noster system of our public schools, as well as of our universities, have too long remained almost the only pools stagnant in the country, a fact which can scarcely be reconciled with the rapid progress which our lower orders have lately made in useful knowledge. after passing this new seminary, i continued descending the main street about one hundred yards, which brought me to a small crowd of people, standing before the old school, into the door of which, creeping under the arms of the people, child after child hurried and disappeared, like a bee going into its hive. the old school of langen-schwalbach is one of the most ancient buildings in the town. its elevation is fantastic, bordering on the grotesque. the gable seems to be nodding forwards, the hump-backed roof to be sinking in. the wooden frame-work of the house, composed of beams purposely bent into almost every form, has besides been very curiously hewn and carved, and on the front wall, placed most irregularly there are several inscriptions, such as "_ora et labora_," " ," and then again a sentence in german, dated , describing that in that year the house was repaired. there is also a grotesque image on the wall, of a child hugging a cornucopia, &c., &c. nevertheless, though all the parts of this ancient edifice are very rude, there is "a method in the madness" with which they are arranged, that, somehow or other, makes the _tout ensemble_ very pleasing; and whether it be admitted to be good-looking or not, its venerable appearance almost any one would be disposed to respect. i observed that no one entered this door but the children. however, as in this simple, civil country great privileges are granted to strangers (for here, like kings, they can hardly do wrong), i ascended an old rattle-trap staircase, until coming to a landing-place, i found one large room on my left crammed full of little boys, and one on my right overflowing with little girls, these two chambers composing the whole of the building. on the landing-place i met the three masters, all dressed very respectably in black cloth clothes. the senior was about forty years of age, the two others quiet, nice-looking men of about twenty-six, one of whom, to my very great astonishment, addressed me in english. he spoke the language very well, said he could read it with ease, but added that he had great difficulty in understanding it, unless when spoken very slowly; in short, as an enjoyment through the long-winded evenings of winter, he had actually taught himself our hissing, crabbed language, which he had only heard spoken by a solitary englishman whose acquaintance he had formed last year. he seemed not only to be well acquainted with our english authors, but talked very sensibly about the institutions and establishments of our country; in short, he evidently knew a great deal more of england than england knows of langen-schwalbach, of the duchy of nassau, or of many much vaster portions of the globe. he informed me that the school was composed of boys, and about the same number of girls;--that of these children were protestants, catholics; and that since the year the town having agreed to admit to the blessings and advantages of education the children of the jews, there were twenty little boys of that persuasion, and one girl. having witnessed the prejudice, and indeed hatred, which christians and jews in many countries mutually entertain towards each other, i was not little surprised at the statement thus related to me. after listening for some time to the tutor, he offered to show me the children, and accordingly with some difficulty we worked our way into the boys room. it was a pretty sight to witness such an assemblage of little fellows with clean shining faces, and their native oak-leaves gave a freshness to the scene which was very delightful. among these white-haired laddies, most of whom were from four to eight years of age, it was quite unnecessary to inquire which were the jew boys, for there each stood, as distinctly marked as their race is all over the face of the globe; yet i must acknowledge they were by far the handsomest children in the room, looking much more like spaniards than germans. the chamberfull of little girls would have pleased anybody, so nicely were they dressed, and apparently so well-behaved. several were exceedingly pretty children, and the garlands they held in their hands, the wreaths of roses which bloomed on their heads, and the smiles that beamed in their faces, formed as pretty a mixture of the animal and vegetable creation as could well be imagined. in one corner stood the only jewish girl in the room, and rebecca herself could not have had a handsomer nose, a pair of brighter eyes, or a more marked expression of countenance. she was more richly dressed than the other village girls--wore a necklace, and i observed a thick gold or brass ring on the forefinger of her left hand. we went several times from one room full of children to the other, and it was really pleasing to see in a state of such thoughtless innocence those who were to become the future possessors of the houses and property of langen-schwalbach. all of a sudden, a signal was given to the children to descend, and it became then quite as much as the three masters could do to make them go out of the room hand-in-hand. down scrambled first the boys, and then more quietly followed the little girls, though not without one or two screams proceeding from those who, in their hurry, had dropped their garlands. one of these green hoops i picked up, and seeing a little girl crying her heart out, i gave it to her, and no balm of gilead ever worked so sudden a cure; for away she ran, and joined her comrades, laughing. as soon as the children had all left the two rooms, the three masters descended, and we followed them into the street, where the civil authorities of the town, and almost all the parents of the little ones, had assembled. with great difficulty the children were all collected together in a group, in the open air exactly in front of the school; and when this arrangement was effected, the mayor, two catholic ministers, two protestant clergymen, and the three masters, stood exactly in front of the children, facing also the house from which they had proceeded. for some time, the masters and the four christian ministers stood smiling and talking to each other; however, at last the mayor made a bow, everybody took off their hats, the ministers' countenances stiffened, and for a few seconds a dead silence ensued. at last the mayor with due ceremony took off his hat, when the youngest of the lutheran ministers, advancing one step in front, commenced a long address to the children. what he said i was not near enough to hear; but i saw constantly beaming in his countenance that sort of benevolent smile, which would be natural almost to any one, in addressing so very youthful a congregation. occasionally he pointed with his hand to heaven, and then, continuing his subject, smiled as if to cheer them on the way; but the little toads, instead of attending to him, were all apparently eager to get to their fine new school, and with roses on their heads, and garlands in their hands, they seemed as if they did not feel that they stood in need of a routing dose of good advice; in short, not one of them appeared to pay the slightest attention to a discourse which could not but have been very interesting to the parents. however, in one respect i must own i was slightly disappointed; the burden of the discourse must have been on the duties and future prospects of the children, and on the honours and advantages of the new school; for i particularly remarked that not once did the clergyman point or address himself to the old building--not a single eye but my own was ever turned towards it, and none but myself seemed to feel for it any regret that it was about to lose a village importance which for so many years it had enjoyed. it was sentenced to be deserted, and walls which had long been enlivened by the cheerful sound of youthful voices, were in their old age suddenly to be bereft of all! i could not help feeling for the old institution, and when the discourse was ended--when hats had returned to people's heads, and when the procession of children, followed by the ministers, had already begun to move, i could not for some time take my eyes off the old fabric. the date of , and the rude-looking image of the boy, particularly attracted my attention; however, the old hive was deserted,--the bees had swarmed,--had already hovered in the air, and to their new abode they had all flown away. jostled from my position by people who were following the procession, i proceeded onwards with the crowd, but not without mumbling to myself-- "let others hail the rising sun, i bow to him whose course is run." as soon as the children reached their fine new abode, a band, which had been awaiting their arrival, struck up; and in the open air they instantly sung a hymn. the doors were then thrown open, and in high glee the little creatures scrambled up the staircase, and the mayor, clergymen, and schoolmasters having followed, a great rush was made by parents and spectators. i managed to gain a good place, but in a very few moments the room was filled, and so jammed up with people, that they could scarcely raise their hands to wipe the perspiration which soon began to appear very copiously on all faces. it became dreadfully hot, and besides suffering from this cause, i felt by no means happy at a calculation which very unwelcomely kept forcing itself into my mind,--namely, that the immense weight of human flesh which was for the first time trying new beams, might produce a consummation by no means "devoutly to be wished." as soon as order was established, and silence obtained, the catholic minister addressed the children; and when he had finished, the tall lutheran clergyman, whose description i have already given to the reader, followed in his deepest tone, and with his gravest demeanour; but it was all lost upon the children: indeed it was so hot, and we were so little at our ease, that all were very glad, indeed, to hear him conclude by the word "amen!" the children now sang another hymn, which, in a cooler climate, would have been quite beautiful; the mayor made a bow--the thing was at an end, and i believe every one was as much delighted as myself to get once again into pure fresh air. as i had been told by the teacher that the children would dance and eat in the evening, at four o'clock, i went again to the school at that hour, expecting that there would be what in england would be called "a ball and supper;" however, the supper had come first, and the remains of it were on two long tables. the feast which the little ones had been enjoying had consisted of a slice of white bread and a glass of rhenish wine for each; and, as soon as i entered the room, two policemen bowed and begged me to be seated. they and their friends were evidently regaling themselves with the wine which had been furnished for the children; however, the little creatures did not seem to want it, and i was very glad to see it inflaming the eyes of the old party, and flushing their cheeks, instead of having a similar effect on the young ones. it had been settled that the children were to dance; but they were much too young to care for such an amusement. the little boys had got together at one end of the room, and the girls were sitting laughing at the other, both groups being as happily independent as it was possible to be. sometimes the boys amused themselves with a singing game--one chaunting a line, and all the rest bursting in with the chorus, which, though it contained nearly as much laughter as music, showed that the youngsters were well enough conversant with both. the girls had also their song. as i left the room several of the children were singing on the stairs--all were as happy as i had desired to see them; and yet i firmly believe that the whole festival i have described,--oak-leaves, roses, garlands, festoons, bread, wine, &c., altogether,--could not have cost the town of langen-schwalbach ten shillings! nevertheless, in its history, the opening of a public establishment so useful to future generations, and so creditable to the present one, was an event of no inconsiderable importance. the old protestant church. the old protestant church, at the lower extremity of langen-schwalbach, has not been preached in for about three years; and being locked up, i had to call for admission at a house in the centre of the town. the man was not at home, but his wife (very busily employed in dressing, against its will, a squalling infant) pointed to the key, which i gravely took from a nail over her head. this venerable building stands, or rather totters, on a small eminence close to the road--long rents in its walls, and the ruinous, decayed state of the mortar, sufficiently denoting its great antiquity. the roof and spire are still covered with slates, which seem fluttering as if about to take their departure. the churchyard continues in the valley to be the only christian receptacle for the dead; and within its narrow limits, catholics, lutherans, and calvinists end their worldly differences by soundly sleeping together, side by side. here and there a tree is seen standing at the head of a protestant's grave; but though the twig was exclusively planted there, yet its branches, like knowledge, have gradually extended themselves, until they now wave and droop alike over those who, thus joined in death, had, nevertheless, lived in paltry opposition to each other. the rank grass also grows with equal luxuriance over all, as if the turf, like the trees, was anxious to level all human animosities, and to become the winding-sheet or covering of christian fraternities which ought never to have disputed. in various parts of the cemetery i observed several worn-out, wooden, triangular monuments on the totter; while others were lying prostrate on the grass--the "hic jacet" being exactly as applicable to each of themselves as to that departed being, whose life and death they had vainly presumed to commemorate. although the inscriptions recorded by these frail historians were scarcely legible, yet roses and annual flowers, blooming on the grave, plainly showed that there was still in existence some friendly hand, some foot, some heart, that moved with kindly recollection towards the dead. upon several recent graves of children there were placed, instead of tombstones, the wreaths of artificial flowers, which, during their funeral, had either rested upon the coffin, or had been carried in the hands of parents and friends. the sun and rain--the wind and storm--had blanched the artificial bloom from the red roses, and, of course, had sullied the purity of the white ones; yet this worthless finery, lying upon the newly-moved earth, had probably witnessed unaffected feelings, to which the cold, white marble monument is often a stranger. the little heap of perishable wreaths, so lightly piled one upon the other, was the act, the tribute, the effusion of the moment; it was all the mother had had to record her feelings; it was what she had left behind her, as she tore herself away; and though it could not, i own, be compared to a monument sculptured by an artist, yet, resting above the coffin, it had one intrinsic value, at least--it had been left there by a friend! at one corner of the churchyard, there was a grave which was only just completed. the living labourer had retired from it; the dead tenant had not yet arrived; but the moment i looked into it, i could not help feeling how any one of our body-snatchers would have rubbed his rough hands, and what rude raptures he would have enjoyed, at observing that the lid of the coffin would be deposited scarcely a foot and a half below the sod. however, in the little duchy of nassau, human corpses have not yet become coin current in the realm; and whatever may be a man's troubles during his life, at langen-schwalbach he may truly say he will, at least, find rest in the grave. i know it is very wrong--i know that one is always blamed for bringing before the mind of wealthy people any truth which is at all disagreeable to them; yet on the brink of this grave i could not help feeling how very much one ought to detest the polite paris and london fashion of smartening up us old people with the teeth and hair of the dead? it always seems to me so unfair, for us who have _had_ our day--who have ourselves _been_ young--to attempt, when we grow old, to deprive the rising generation of the advantage of that contrast which so naturally enhances their beauties. the spring of life, to be justly appreciated and admired, requires to be compared with the snow and storms of winter, and if by chicanery you hide the latter, the sunshine of the former loses a great portion of its beauty. in naked, savage life, there exists no picture on which i have so repeatedly gazed with calm pleasure, as that of the daughter supporting the trembling, dilapidated fabric of the being to whom she owes her birth; indeed, it is as impossible for man to withhold the respect and pity which is due to age whenever it be seen labouring under its real infirmities, as it is for him to contain his admiration of the natural loveliness of youth. the parent and child, thus contrasted, render to each other services of which both appear to be insensible; for the mother does not seem aware how the shattered outlines of her faded frame heighten the robust, blooming beauties of her child, who, in her turn, seems equally unconscious how beautifully and eloquently her figure explains and pleads for the helpless decrepitude of age! in the babel confusion of our fashionable world, this beautifully arranged contrast of nature, the effect of which no one who has ever seen it can forget, does not exist. before the hair has grown really grey--before time has imparted to it even its autumnal tint, it is artfully replaced by dark flowing locks, obtained by every revolting contrivance. the grave itself is attacked--our living dowagers of the present day do not hesitate to borrow their youthful ornaments even from the dead--and to such a horrid extreme has fashion encouraged this unnatural propensity, that even the carcase of the soldier, who has fallen in a foreign land, and who, "----------leaving in battle no blot on his name, looks proudly to heaven from the death-bed of fame," has not been respected! one would think that the ribands and honours on his breast, flapping in the wind, would have scared even the vulture from such prey; but no! the orders which the london dentist has received must, he pleads, be punctually executed; and it is a revolting fact, but too well known to "the trade," that many, and many, and many a set of teeth which bit the dust of waterloo, by an untimely resurrection, appeared again on earth, smiling lasciviously at almack's ball! so much for what is termed fashion. after rambling about the churchyard for some minutes, occasionally spelling at an inscription, and sometimes looking at (not picking) a sepulchral flower, i walked to the church-door, and turning round its old-fashioned key, which ever since i had received it had been dangling in my hand, the lock started back, and then, as if i had said "open sesame!" the door opened. on looking before me, my first impression was that my head was swimming! for the old gallery, hanging like the gardens of babylon, seemed to be writhing; the four-and-twenty pews were leaning sideways; the aisle, or approach to the altar, covered with heaps of rubbish, was an undulating line, and an immense sepulchral flag-stone had actually been lifted up at one side, as if the corpse, finding the church deserted, had resolutely burst from his grave, and had wrenched himself once again into daylight. the pulpit was out of its perpendicular; some pictures, loosely hanging against the wall, had turned away their faces; and a couple of planks were resting diagonally against the altar, as if they had fallen from the roof. i really rubbed my eyes, fancying that they were disordered; however, the confusion i witnessed was real, and as nearly as possible as i have described it. still, however, there was no dampness in the church, and it was, i thought, a remarkable proof of the dryness of the light mountain air of langen-schwalbach, that the sepulchral wreaths of artificial flowers which were hanging around on the walls were as starched and stiff as on the day they were placed there. a piece of dingy black cloth, with narrow white fringe, was the only ornament to the pulpit, from which both book and minister had so long departed. the thing was altogether on the totter; yet when i reflected what little harm it had done in the world, and how much good, i could not help acknowledging that respect was justly due to its old age, and that, even by the stranger, it ought to be regarded with sentiments of veneration. in gazing at monuments of antiquity, one of the most natural pleasures which the mind enjoys is by them fancifully transported to the scenes which they so clearly commemorate. the roman amphitheatre becomes filled with gladiators and spectators;--the streets of pompeii are seen again thronged with people;--the grecian temple is ornamented with the votive offerings of heroes and of senators;--even the putrid marsh of marathon teems with noble recollections;--while at home, on the battlements of our old english castles, we easily figure to ourselves barons proud of their deeds, and vassals in armour faithfully devoted to their service: in short, while beholding such scenes, the heart glows, until, by its feverish heat, feelings are produced to which no one can be completely insensible: however, when we awaken from this delightful dream, it is difficult, indeed impossible, to drive away the painful moral which, sooner or later in the day, proves to us much too clearly, that these ruins have outlived, and in fact commemorate, the errors, the passions, and the prejudices, which caused them to be built. but after looking up at the plain, unassuming pulpit of an old lutheran church, one feels, long after one has left it, that all that has proceeded from its simple desk has been to promulgate peace, good-will, and happiness among mankind--and though, in its old age, it be now deserted, yet no one can deny that the seeds which in various directions it has scattered before the wind are not only vigorously flourishing in the little valley in which it stands, but must continue there and elsewhere to produce effects, which time itself can scarcely annihilate. turning towards the altar, i was looking at pictures of the twelve apostles, who, like sentinels at their posts, were in various attitudes surrounding it, when _à propos_ to nothing, the great clock in the belfry struck four, and so little did i expect to hear any noise at all, that i could not help starting at being thus suddenly reminded, that the watch was still ticking in the fob of the dead soldier--in short, that that clock was still faithfully pointing out the progress of time, though the church to which it belonged had already, practically speaking, terminated its existence! never did i before listen to four vibrations of an old church clock with more reverential attention: however, at each stroke involuntarily looking upwards, i did not altogether enjoy the sight of some loose rafters which were hanging over my head. i therefore very quietly moved onwards, yet, passing a small door, i could not resist clambering up an old well staircase which led to the belfry; not, however, until i had calculated that, as the building could bear the bells, my weight was not likely to turn the scale. i did not, however, feel disposed to reach the bells, but managed, through a rent in the wall, to look down on the roof, and such a scene of devastation it would be difficult to describe. the half-mouldered slates had not only been ripped away by the wind in every direction, but the remainder appeared as if they were just ready to follow in the flight. the roof was bending in, and altogether it looked so completely on the totter, that the slightest additional weight would have brought every thing to the ground. after descending, i went once more round the church, opened some of the old latticed pews--peeped into the marble font, which was half-filled with decayed mortar--took up a bird's nest that had fallen into the chancel from the roof, and strolling towards the altar, i found there a small board covered with white pasteboard, and ornamented with a garland of roses. on this simple tablet were inscribed, in black letters, the names of the little band of langen-schwalbachians who had been present in the great campaign of ; and in case the reader should like to know not only who were the heroes of so remote a valley, but also what sort of names they possessed, i offer him a copy of the muster-roll of those thus distinguished for having served their native country, which the german language emphatically calls "vaterland."-- dem. verdientfeer conrad blies adam buslach adam klenig christop lindle ludwig liedebach ludwig diefenbach martin eschenever philipp hoenig eberhard rucker casper schenk philipp singhoff eberhard hofman wilhelm koch philipp kraus johannes sartor ferdinand wensel. having carefully locked up the old church with all the relics it contained, descending the steps of the eminence on which it stood, i once more found myself in the street among fellow-creatures. the new protestant church, which is very shortly to be built, and to which the bells of this old one, if possible, are to be removed, will be in the centre of the town, but this site, though more convenient, will not, i think, be so picturesque as that of the old building, which, with the catholic church at the other extremity of the town, seem to be the alpha and omega--the beginning and the end of langen-schwalbach. from the surrounding hills, as the eye glances from the one of these old buildings to the other, they appear to be the good genii of the town--two guardian angels to watch over the welfare of its people here and hereafter. the jewish synagogue. the low part of langen-schwalbach, where the jews live, is the most ancient portion of the town, the houses they inhabit being just above and below the great original brunnen or fountain, which, as i have stated, was celebrated for its medicinal properties even in the time of the romans. this immense spring, which rises within a foot and a half of the surface of the ground (being then carried away by a subterranean drain), is two or three times as large as the stahl brunnen, the wein brunnen, or the fashionable pauline. it contains very little iron, being principally sulphureous. from the violence with which it rises from the rock, the water is apparently constantly boiling, and such a suffocating gas arises from it, that, as at the grotto del cane, at naples, one single inhalation would be nearly sufficient to deprive a person of his senses. besides being strongly impregnated with this gas, it has also such an unearthly taste, that one almost fancies it must flow direct from the cellar of his satanic majesty. still, however, the jews constantly drink, cook, and even wash with this water; however, being below the surface, it is necessary for them to stoop into the suffocating vapour whenever they fill their pitchers; and as one sees jewess after jewess dipping her dark greasy head into this infernal caldron, holding her breath, and then suddenly raising her head, with a momentary paleness and an aspiration which sufficiently explain her sensations, one feels anything but sympathy for a being who can voluntarily flutter in such a fetid climate. with sentiments, i fear, not very liberal, i stood for many minutes looking at those who came to fill their pitchers; at last, rather a better feeling shooting across me, i resolved once more to make a trial of water on which so many of my fellow-creatures seemed to subsist, and i accordingly dipped my hand into a large washing-tub which an old jewess had half suffocated herself in filling with her pitcher. the woman offered me no sign or word of disrespect; but i saw her cast a withering look at the water, as if a cup of poison had been poured into it: she continued, however, very quietly to fill her other tubs; but after i had walked away, turning suddenly round for a moment, i saw her upset the tub from which i had drunk, her lips muttering at the same time some short observation to a sister jewess standing beside her. i could not, however, help acknowledging that her prejudice was not more illiberal, and certainly far more excusable, than my own; and as i had determined to attend that evening the jewish synagogue, in the meanwhile i did what i could to bring my mind to a proper state of feeling towards a people whose form of worship i was desirous seriously to witness. never had i before chanced to enter a synagogue; yet, when i had reflected on the singular history of the jews, i had often concluded that there must be some strange, unaccountable attraction, something inexplicably mysterious in their forms of worship, which could have induced them to brave the persecutions that in all ages, and in so many countries, had traced out their history in letters of blood. full of curiosity, i had therefore inquired at what hour on friday their church would assemble, and being told that they would meet "as soon as the stars were visible," i walked towards the synagogue, a few minutes after sunset, and in every jewish house i observed, as i passed it, seven candles burning in a circle. the house of worship was a small oblong hovel, not unlike a barn. the door was open, but no human being appeared within, excepting a man over whose shoulders there was thrown a piece of common brown sackcloth. this personage, who turned out to be the priest, stood before a sort of altar; and, just as careless of it as of us, he stood bowing to it incessantly. there being not much to see in these vibrations, i walked away, and returning in about five minutes, i found the congregation had suddenly assembled, and the service begun. in the course of my life, like most people, i have chanced to witness a great variety of forms of worship, several of which it would not be very easy to describe. for instance, it would be difficult, or rather impossible, to delineate, by words, high mass, as performed in the great church of st. peter, at rome. one might, indeed, fully describe any part of it, but the silence of one moment, the burst of music at another, the immensity of the building, and the assembled congregation, produce altogether sensations on the eye and ear which the goose-quill has not power to impart. again, to the simple homage which a peruvian indian pays to the sun no man could do justice; one might describe his attitude as he prostrates himself before what he conceives to be the burning ruler of the universe, but the fleeting expressions of his supplicating countenance, as it trembles--hopes--flushes--and then, with eyes dazzled to dimness, trembles again,--may be witnessed, but cannot be described. one of the wildest forms of worship i ever beheld was, perhaps, the dance of the dervishes, at athens; for there is a sort of enthusiasm in the convulsions into which these twelve men throw themselves, which has a most indescribable effect on those who witness it: it is madness,--yet it is a tempest of the mind within the range of which no man's senses can live unruffled;--the strongest judgment bends before the gale, and insensibly are the feelings led astray by conduct, actions, words, grimaces, and contortions, which, taken altogether, are indescribable. but although these and many other forms of worship may be original pictures which cannot be copied, yet i think a child of ten years of age, if he could only hold a pen, might give a reader as good a notion of the langen-schwalbach synagogue, as if he had been there himself a thousand times; for all the poor child would have to do would be to beg him imagine a small dirty barn, swarming with fleas, filled with dirty-looking men in dirty dresses, with old hats on their heads, spitting--hallooing--reading--bowing--hallooing louder than ever--scratching themselves as they leave the synagogue,--and then calmly walking home to their seven candles! to any serious, reflecting mind, all religions, to a certain point, are worthy of respect. it is true, all cannot be right, yet the errors are those which fellow-creatures need not dispute among each other; he who has the happiness to go right has no just cause to be offended with those who unfortunately have mistaken their course; and however men's political opinions may radiate from each other, yet their zeal for religion is at least one tie which ought to connect them together. however, the jews of langen-schwalbach, so far as a spectator can judge by their behaviour, do not even pretend to be zealous in their cause. there is no pretence of feeling, not attempt either at humbug or effect. they perform their service as if, having made a regular bargain to receive certain blessings for hallooing a certain time, they conceived that all they had to do was scrupulously to perform their part of the contract, that there was no occasion to exceed their agreement, or give more than was absolutely required by the bond. as i stood just within the door of the synagogue, listening to their rude, uncouth, noisy worship, almost every eye was turned upon me, and the expression of many of the countenances was so ill-favoured, that i very soon left them, though i had even then a long way to walk before i ceased to hear the strange wild hullabulloo they were making. the harvest. all this day i have been strolling about the fields, watching the getting in of the harvest. the crops of oats, rye, and wheat (principally bearded) are much heavier than any one would expect from such light and apparently poor land; but the heavy dews which characterize the summer climate of this high country impart a nourishment which, in richer lands, often lies dormant from drought. in nassau, the corn is cut principally by women, who use a sickle so very small and light, that it seems but little labour to wield it. they begin early in the morning, and with short intervals of rest continue till eleven o'clock, when the various village bells suddenly strike up a merry peal, which is a signal to the labourers to come home to their dinners. it is a very interesting scene to observe, over the undulating surface of the whole country, groups of peasants, brothers, sisters, parents, &c., all bending to their sickles--to see children playing round infants lying fast asleep on blue smock-frocks placed under the shade of the corn sheaves. it is pleasing to remark the rapid progress which the several parties are making; how each little family, attacking its own patch or property, works its way into the standing corn, leaving the crop prostrate behind them; and then, in the middle of this simple, rural, busy scene, it is delightful indeed to hear from the belfry of their much-revered churches a peal of cheerful notes, which peacefully sound "lullaby" to them all. in a very few seconds the square fields and little oblong plots are deserted, and then the various roads and paths of the country suddenly burst in lines upon the attention, each being delineated by a string of peasants, who are straggling one behind the other, until paths in all directions are seen converging towards the parental village churches, which seem to be attracting them all. as soon as each field of corn is cut, it is bound into sheaves, about the size they are in england: seven of these are then made to lean towards each other, and upon them all is placed a large sheaf reversed, the ears of which hanging downwards form a sort of thatch, which keeps this little stack dry until its owner has time to carry it to his home. it generally remains many days in this state, and after the harvest has been all cut, the country covered with these stacks resembles a vast encampment. the carts and waggons used for carrying the corn are exceedingly well adapted to the country. their particular characteristic is excessive lightness, and, indeed, were they heavy, it would be quite impossible for any cattle to draw them up and down the hills. occasionally they are drawn by horses--often by small active oxen; but cows more generally perform this duty, and with quite as much patience as their mistresses, at the same moment, are labouring before them at the sickle. the yoke, or beam, by which these cows are connected, is placed immediately behind their horns; a little leathern pillow is then laid upon their brow, over which passes a strap that firmly lashes their heads to the beam, and it is, therefore, against such soft cushions that the animals push to advance: and thus linked together for life, by this sort of siamese band, it is curious to observe them eating together, then by agreement raising their heads to swallow, then again standing motionless chewing the cud, which is seen passing and repassing from the stomach to the mouth. at first, when, standing near them, i smelt from their breath the sweet fresh milk, it seemed hard that they should thus be, as it were, domestic candles, lighted at both ends: however, verily do i believe that all animals prefer exercise, or even hard work, to any sort of confinement, and if so, they are certainly happier than our stall-fed cows, many of which, in certain parts of britain, may be seen with their heads fixed economically for months between two vertical beams of wood. the nassau cows certainly do not seem to suffer while working in their light carts; as soon as their mistress advances, they follow her, and if she turns and whips them, then they seem to hurry after her more eagerly than ever. it is true, hard labour has the effect of impoverishing their milk, and the calf at home is consequently (so far as it is concerned) a loser by the bargain: however, there is no child in the peasant's family who has not had cause to make the same complaint; and, therefore, so long as the labourer's wife carries her infant to the harvest, the milch cow may very fairly be required to draw to the hovel what has been cut by her hands. nothing can be better adapted to the features of the country, nothing can better accord with the feeble resources of its inhabitants, than the equipment of these economical waggons and carts: the cows and oxen can ascend any of the hills, or descend into any of the valleys; they can, without slipping, go sideways along the face of the hills, and in crossing the green, swampy, grassy-ravines, i particularly remarked the advantage of the light waggon drawn by animals with cloven feet; for had one of our heavy teams attempted the passage, like a set of flies walking across a plate of treacle, they would soon have become unable to extricate even themselves. but in making the comparison between the horse and the cow (as far as regards nassau husbandry), i may further observe, that the former has a very expensive appetite, and wears very expensive shoes; as soon as he becomes lame he is useless, and as soon as he is dead he is carrion. now a placid, patient langen-schwalbach cow, in the bloom of her youth, costs only two or three pounds; she requires neither corn nor shoeing: the leaves of the forest, drawn by herself to the village, form her bed, which in due time she carries out to the field as manure: there is nothing a light cart can carry which she is not ready to fetch, and from her work she cheerfully returns to her home to give milk, cream, butter and cheese to the establishment: at her death she is still worth eleven kreuzers a pound as beef; and when her flesh has disappeared, her bones, after being ground at the mill, once again appear upon her master's fields, to cheer, manure, and enrich them. as, quite in love with cows, i was returning from the harvest, i met the nassau letter-cart, one of the cheapest carriages for its purpose that can well be conceived. it consists of a pair of high wheels connected by a short axle, upon which are riveted a few boards framed together in the form of a small shallow box; in this little coffin the letter-bag is buried, and upon it, like a monument, sits a light boy dressed in the uniform of a nassau postillion, who with a trumpet in one hand, a long whip in the other, and the reins sporting loose under his feet, starts as if he deliberately meant mischief, intending to get well over his ground; and there being scarcely any weight to carry, the horse really might proceed as a mail-coach horse ought to go; but that horrible punch and judy trumpet upsets the whole arrangement, for as the thing is very heavy, the child soon takes two hands to it instead of one, when down goes the whip, and from that moment the picture, which promised to be a good one, is spoiled. the letter-bag crawls, like a reptile, along the road; while the boy, amusing himself with his plaything, reminds one of those "nursery rhymes" which say, "and with rings on his fingers, and bells on his toes, we shall have music wherever he goes." it is quite provoking to see a government carriage in its theory so simply imagined, and so cleverly adapted to its purpose, thus completely ruined in its practice. music may be, and indeed is, very delightful in its way; but a tune is one thing--speed another; and it always seems to me a pity that the duke of nassau should allow these two substantives to be so completely confounded in his dominions. how admirably does the long tin horn of the guard of one of our mail-coaches perform its blunt duty!--a single blast is sufficient to remove the obstruction of an old gentleman in his gig--two are generally enough for a heavy cart--three for a waggon--and half-a-dozen slowly and sternly applied, are always sufficient to awaken the snoring keeper of a turnpike-gate--in short, to "break his bands of sleep asunder, and rouse him like a rattling peal of thunder. hark! hark! the horrid sound has raised up his head, as awaked from the dead, and amazed he stares around!" the gala turn-out of our mail-coaches on the king's birth-day, i always think must strike foreigners more than anything else in our country with the sterling solid integrity of the english character. to see so many well-bred horses in such magnificent condition--so many well-built carriages--so many excellent drivers, and such a corps of steady, quiet, resolute-looking men as guards, each wearing, as well as every coachman, the king's own livery--all this must silently point out, even to our most jealous enemies, not only the wealth of the country, but the firm basis on which it stands; in short, it must prove to them most undeniably, that there is no one thing in england which, throughout the land, is treated with so much universal attention and respect, as the honest, speedy, and safe delivery of the letters and commercial correspondence of the country. nevertheless, if our english coachmen were to be allowed, instead of attending to their horses, to play on trumpets as they proceeded, we should, as in the duchy of nassau, soon pay very dearly for their music. the sunset. it had been hot all day--the roads had been dusty--the ground, as one trod upon it, had felt warm--the air was motionless--animal as well as vegetable life appeared weak and exhausted--nature herself seemed parched and thirsty--the people on the promenade, as it got hotter and hotter, had walked slower and slower, until they were now crawling along as unwillingly as if they had been marching to their graves. the world, as if from apathy, was coming to a stand still--langen-schwalbach itself appeared to be fainting away, when the evening sun, having rested for a moment on the western height, gradually vanished from our sight. his red tyrannical rays had hardly left our pale abject faces, when all people suddenly revived; like a herd of fawning courtiers who had been kept trembling before their king, they felt that, left to themselves, they could now breathe, and think, and stamp their feet. parasols, one after another, were shut up--the pedestrians on the promenade freshened their pace--even fat patients, who had long been at anchor on the benches, began to show symptoms of getting under weigh--every leaf seemed suddenly to be enjoying the cool gentle breeze which was now felt stealing up the valley; until, in a very few minutes, everything in nature was restored to life and enjoyment. it was the hour for returning to my "hof," but the air as it blew into my window was so delightfully refreshing, and so irresistibly inviting, that i and my broad-brimmed hat went out _tête-à-tête_ to enjoy it. as we passed the red pond of iron water, opposite to the great "indian hof," which comes from the strong stahl brunnen, having nothing to do, i lingered for some time watching the horses that were brought there. after having toiled through the excessive heat of the day, any water would have been agreeable to them; but the nice, cool, strengthening, effervescing mixture into which they were now led, seemed to be so exceedingly delightful, that they were scarcely up to their knees before they made a strong attempt to drink: but the rule being that they should first half walk and half swim two or three times round the pond, this cleansing or ablution was no sooner over--the reins were no sooner loosened--when down went their heads into the red cooling pool; and one had then only to look at the horses' eyes to appreciate their enjoyment. with the whole of their mouths and nostrils immersed, they seemed as if they fancied they could drink the pond dry; however, the greedy force with which they held their heads down gradually relaxed, until, at last, up they were raised, with an aspiration which seemed to say, "we can hold no more!" in about ten seconds, however, their noses again dropped to the surface, but only to play with an element which seemed now to be useless--so completely had one single draught altered its current value! as i stood at the edge of this pond, leaning over the rail, mentally participating with the horses in the luxury they were enjoying, a violent shower of rain came on; yet, before i had hurried fifty yards for an umbrella, it had ceased. these little showers are exceedingly common amongst the hills of nassau in the evenings of very hot days. from the power of the sun, the valleys during the day are filled brimful with a steam, or exhalation, which no sooner loses its parent, the sun, than the cold condenses it; and then, like the tear on the cheek of a child that has suddenly missed its mother, down it falls in heavy drops, and the next instant--smiles again. as the air was very agreeable, i wandered up the hilly road which leads to bad-ems; and then, strolling into a field of corn, which had been just cut, i continued to climb the mountain, until, turning round, i found, as i expected, that i had attained just the sort of view i wanted; but it would be impossible to describe to the reader the freshness of the scene. beneath was the long scrambling village of the langen-schwalbach, the slates of which, absolutely blooming from the shower they had just received, looked so very clean and fresh, that for some time my eyes quite enjoyed rambling from one roof to the next, and then glancing from one extremity of the town to the other;--they had been looking at hot dazzling objects all day--i thought i never should be able to raise them from the cool blue wet slates. however, as the light rapidly faded, the landscape itself soon became equally refreshing, for the dry parched corn-fields assumed a richer hue, the green crops seemed bending under dew, and the whole picture, hills, town, and all, appeared so newly painted, that the colours from nature's brush were too fresh to be dry. all of a sudden, majestically rolling up the valley, was seen a misty vapour, which, at last, reaching the houses, rolled from roof to roof, until it hovered over, or rather rested upon the whole town, and this was no sooner the case than the slates seemed all to have vanished! in vain i looked for them, for the cloud exactly matching them in colour had so completely disguised them, that they formed nothing now but the base or foundation of the misty fabric which rested upon them. instead of a blue town, langen-schwalbach now appeared to be a white one; for, the roofs no longer attracting attention, the shining walls burst into notice, and a serpentine line of glistening patches, nearly resembling a ridge of snow, clearly marked out the shape and limits of the town; but as, in this elevated country, there is little or no twilight, the features of the picture again rapidly faded, until even this white line was hardly to be seen; corn-fields could now scarcely be distinguished from green crops--all became dark--and the large forest on the south hills, as well as the small woods which are scattered on the heights, had so completely lost their colour, that they appeared to be immense black pits or holes. in a short time every thing beneath me was lost; and sitting on the ground, leaning against seven sheaves of corn piled up together, i was enjoying the sublime serenity, the mysterious uncertainty of the scene before me, when another very beautiful change took place! i believe i have already told the reader that, beside myself, there were about strangers in the little village of langen-schwalbach. of course every hof was fully inhabited, and, as soon as darkness prevailed, the effect produced by each house being suddenly and almost simultaneously lighted up, was really quite romantic. in every direction, sometimes at the top of one hof, then at the bottom of another, lights burst into existence--the eye attracted, eagerly flew from one to another, until, from the number which burst into life, it became quite impossible to attend to each. the bottom of the valley, like the dancing of fire-flies, was sparkling in the most irregular succession; till, in a short time, this fantastic confusion vanished, and every room (there being no shutters) having its light, langen-schwalbach was once again restored to view--each house, and every story of each house, being now clearly defined by a regular and very pleasing illumination; and while, seated in utter darkness, i gazed at the gay sparkling scene before me, i could not help feeling that, of all the beautiful contrasts in nature, there can be no one more vivid than the sudden change between darkness and light. how weary we should be of eternal sunshine,--how gloomy would it be to grope through one's life in utter darkness, and yet what loveliness do each of these, by contrast, impart to the other! on the heights above the village, how magnificent was the darkness after a hot sun-shining day; and then, again, how lovely was the twinkling even of tallow-candles, when they suddenly burst upon this darkness! yet it is with these two ingredients that nature works up all her pictures; and, as paganini's tunes all come out of two strings of cat-gut, and two of the entrails of a kitten, so do all the varieties which please our eyes proceed from a mixture in different proportions of light and shade; and, indeed, in the moral world, it is the chiaro-oscuro, the brightness and darkness of which alone form the happiness of our existence. what would prosperity be, if there was no such sorrow as adversity? what would health be if sickness did not exist? and what would be the smile of an approving conscience if there was not the torment of repentance writhing under guilt? but i will persecute the reader no longer with the reflections which occurred to me, as i sat in a wheat-field, gazing on the lights of langen-schwalbach. good or bad, they managed to please me; however, after remaining in darkness, till it became much colder than was agreeable, i wandered back to my hof, entered my dormitory, and my head having there found its pillow, as i extinguished my candle, i mumbled to myself--"there goes one of the tallow stars of langen-schwalbach!--sic transit gloria mundi!" i was lying prostrate, still awake--and (there being no shutters to the window at the foot of the bed) i was looking at some oddly-shaped, tall, acute-angled, slated roofs, glistening in the light of the round full moon, which was hanging immediately above them. the scene was delightfully silent and serene. occasionally i faintly heard a distant footstep approaching, until treading heavily under the window, its sound gradually diminished, till all again was silent. sometimes a cloud passing slowly across the moon would veil the roofs in darkness; and then, again, they would suddenly burst upon the eye, in silvery light, shining brighter than ever. as somewhat fatigued i lay half enjoying this scene, and half dozing, i suddenly heard, apparently close to me, the scream of a woman, which really quite electrified me! on listening it was repeated, when, jumping out of bed and opening the door, i heard it again proceeding from a room at the distant end of the passage; and such was the violence of its tone, that my impression was--"the lady's room is on fire!" there is something in the piercing shriek of a woman in distress which produces an irresistible effect on the featherless biped, called man; and, in rushing to her assistance, he performs no duty--he exercises no virtue--but merely obeys an instinctive impulse which has been benevolently imparted to him--not for his own good, but for the safety and protection of a weaker and a better sex. but although this feeling exists so powerfully chez nous, yet it has not by nature been imparted to common-place garments, such as coats, black figured silk waistcoats, rusty knee-breeches, nor even to easy shoes, blue worsted stockings, or such like; and, therefore, while, by an irresistible attraction which i could not possibly counteract, obeying the mysterious impulse of my nature, i rushed along the passage, these base, unchivalric garments remained coldly dangling over the back of a chair: in short, i followed the laws of my nature--they, theirs. with some difficulty, having succeeded in bursting open the door just as a fifth shriek was repeated, i rushed in, and there, sitting up in her bed--her soft arms most anxiously extended towards me--her countenance expressing an agony of fear--sat a young lady, by no means ill-favoured, and aged (as near as i could hastily calculate) about twenty-one! almost in hysterics, she began, in german, to tell a long incoherent story; and though, with calm, natural dignity, i did what i could to quiet her, the tears rushed into her eyes--she then almost in convulsions began, with her hands under the bed-clothes, to scratch her knees, then shrieked again; and i do confess that i was altogether at a loss to conceive what in the sacred name of virtue was the matter with the young lady, when, by her repeating several times the word "ratten! ratten!!" i at once comprehended that there were (or that the amiable young person fancied that there were)--_rats in her bed_! the dog billy, as well as many puppies of less name, would instantly, perhaps, have commenced a vigorous attack; rats, however, are reptiles i am not in the habit either of hunting or destroying. the young lady's aunt, an elderly personage, now appeared at the door, in her night-clothes, as yellow and as sallow as if she had just risen from the grave; peeping over her shoulder, stood our landlady's blooming daughter in her bed-gown--leonhard, the son _cum multis aliis_. what they could all have thought of the scene--what they could have thought of my strange, gaunt, unadorned appearance--what they could have thought of the niece's screams--and what they would have thought had i deigned to tell them i had come to her bedside merely to catch rats--it was out of my power to divine: however, the fact was, i cared not a straw what they thought; but, seeing that my presence was not requisite, i gravely left the poor innocent sufferer to tell her own story. "ratten! ratten!!" was its theme; and, long before her fears subsided, my mind, as well as its body, were placidly intranced in sleep. the cross of st. john of jerusalem. to an old man, one of the most delightful features in a german watering-place, is the ease with which he can associate, in the most friendly manner, with all his brother and sister water-bibbers, without the fatigue of speaking one single word. almost every glass of water you get from the brunnen adds, at least, one to the list of your acquaintance. merely touching a man's elbow is sufficient to procure from him a look of goodfellowship, which, though it does not inconveniently grow into a bow, or even into a smile, is yet always afterwards displayed in his physiognomy whenever it meets yours. if, as you are stretching out your glass, you retire but half a stride, to allow a thirsting lady to step forward, you clearly see, whensoever you afterwards meet her, that the slight attention is indelibly recorded in your favour. even running against a german produces, as it were by collision, a spark of kind feeling, which, like a star in the heavens, twinkles in his serene countenance whenever you behold it. smile only once upon a group of children, and the little urchins bite their lips, vainly repressing their joy whenever afterwards you meet them. shrouded in this delightful taciturnity, my list of acquaintances at langen-schwalbach daily increased, until i found myself on just the sort of amicable terms with almost everybody, which, to my present taste, is the most agreeable. in early life young people (if i recollect right) are never quite happy, unless they are either talking, or writing letters to their fellow-creatures. whenever, even as strangers, they get together, everything that happens or passes seems to engender conversation--even when they have parted, there is no end to epistolary valedictions, and creation itself loses half its charms, unless the young beholder has some companion with whom the loveliness of the picture may be shared and enjoyed. but old age i find stiffens, first of all, the muscles of the tongue; indeed, as man gradually decays, it seems wisely provided by nature that he should be willing to be dumb, before time obliges him to be deaf: in short the mind, however voraciously it might once have searched for food, at last instinctively prefers rumination, to seeking for more. by young people i shall be thought selfish, yet i do confess that i enjoy silence, because my own notions now suit me best; other people's opinions, like their shoes, don't fit me, and however ill-constructed or old-fashioned my own may really be, yet use has made them easy: my sentiments, ugly as they may seem, don't pinch, and i therefore feel i had rather not exchange them; the one or two friends i have lost rank in my memory better than any i can ever hope to gain: in fact, i had rather not replace them, and at langen-schwalbach, as there was no necessity for a passing stranger like myself to set up a fine new acquaintance with people he would probably never see again, i considered that with my eyes and ears open, my tongue might harmlessly enjoy natural and delightful repose. but there is a perverseness in human nature, which it is quite out of my power to account for; and strange as it may sound, it is nevertheless too true, that the only person at langen-schwalbach i felt desirous to address, was the only individual who seemed to shun every human being. he was a withered, infirm man, who appeared to be tottering on the brink of his grave; and i had long remarked that, for some reason or other, he studiously avoided the brunnen until every person had left it. he spoke to no one--looked at no one--but as soon as he had swallowed off his dose, he retired to a lone bench, on which, with both hands leaning upon his ivory-handled cane, he was always to be seen sitting with his eyes sorrowfully fixed on the ground. although the weather was, to every person but himself, oppressively hot, he was constantly muffled up in a thick cloak, and i think i must have passed him a hundred times before i detected, one exceedingly warm day, that underneath it there hung upon his left breast the cross of the order of st. john of jerusalem. as, ages ago, i had myself passed many a hot summer on the parched, barren rock of malta,--always, however, feeling much interested in the history of its banished knights,--i at once fully comprehended why the poor old gentleman's body was so chilly, and why his heart felt so chilled with the world. by many slow and scientific approaches which it would be only tedious to detail, i at last managed, without driving him from his bench, most quietly to establish myself at his side, and then by coughing when he coughed,--sighing when he sighed,--and by other (i hope innocent) artifices, i at last ventured in a _sotto voce_ to mumble to him something about the distant island in which apparently all his youthful feelings lay buried. the words valetta, civitta vecchia, floriana, cottonera, &c., as i pronounced them, produced, by a sort of galvanic influence, groans--ejaculations--short sentences, until at last he began to show me frankly without disguise the real colour of his mind. poor man! like his eye it was jaundiced--"nullis medicabilis herbis!" i could not at all extract from him what rank, title, or situation he held in the ancient order, but i could too clearly see that he looked upon its extinction as the persian would look upon the annihilation of the sun. creation he fancied had been robbed of its colours,--christianity he thought had lost its heart,--and he attributed every political ailment on the surface of the globe to the non-existence of the knights hospitallers of st. john of jerusalem. for several hours i patiently listened to his unhappy tale; for as lamentations of all sorts are better out of the human heart than in it, i felt that as the vein was open, my patient could not be encouraged to bleed too freely: without therefore once contradicting him, i allowed his feelings to flow uninterrupted, and by the time he had pumped himself dry, i was happy to observe that he was certainly much better for the operation. on leaving him, however, my own pent-up view of the case, and his, continued for the remainder of the day bubbling and quarrelling with each other in my mind. therefore, to satisfy myself before i went to bed, i drew out in black and white the following sketch of what has always appeared to me to be a fair, impartial history of these--knights of malta. * * * * * the mediterranean forms a curious and beautiful feature in the picture of the commercial world. by dint of money and shipping we laboriously bring to england the produce of the most distant regions, but the commerce of the whole globe seems to have a natural or instinctive tendency to flow, almost of its own accord, into the mediterranean sea. beginning with the great atlantic ocean, which connects the old world with the new, we know that, over that vast expanse, the prevailing wind is one which blows from america towards europe; and, moreover, that the waters of the atlantic are, without any apparent return, everlastingly flowing into the narrow straits of gibraltar. when the produce of america, therefore, is shipped for the mediterranean, in general terms it may be asserted that wind and tide are in its favour. across the trackless deserts of africa caravans from various parts of the interior are constantly toiling through the sand towards the waters of this inland sea. the traveller who goes up the nile is doomed, we all know, to stem its torrent, but the produce of egypt and the triple harvest of that luxuriant land is no sooner embarked, than of its own accord it glides majestically towards this favoured sea; and there is truth and nothing speculative in still further remarking, that this very harvest is absolutely produced by the slime or earth of abyssinian and other most remote mountains, which by the laws of nature has calmly floated miles through a desert to top-dress or manure egypt, that garden which eventually supplies so many of the inhabitants of the mediterranean with corn. again, the red sea is a passage apparently created to connect europe with the great eastern world; and as the power of steam gradually increases in its stride, it is evident that by this gulf, or natural canal, much of the produce of india eventually will easily flow into the mediterranean sea. finally, it might likewise be shown, that much of the commerce of asia minor and europe, either by great rivers or otherwise, naturally moves towards this central point; but besides these sources of external wealth, the mediterranean, as we all know, is most romantically studded with an archipelago and other beautiful islands, the inhabitants of which have the power not only of trading on a large scale with every quarter of the globe, but of carrying on in small open boats a sort of little village commerce of their own. among the inhabitants of this sea are to be found at this moment the handsomest specimens of the human race; and if a person not satisfied with the present and future tenses of life, should prefer reflecting or rather ruminating on the past, with antiquarian rapture he may wander over these waters from carthage to egypt, tyre, sidon, rhodes, troy, ephesus, athens, corinth, argos, syracuse, rome, &c., until tired of his flight he may rest upon one of the ocean-beaten pillars of hercules--and seated there, may most truly declare that the history of the mediterranean is like the picture of its own waves beneath him, which one after another he sees to rise, break, and sink. in the history of this little sea, in what melancholy succession has nation and empire risen and fallen, flourished and decayed; and if the magnificent architectural ruins of these departed states mournfully offer to the traveller any political moral at all, is it not that homely one which the most common tomb-stone of our country churchyard preaches to the peasant who reads it? "as i am now, so you will be, therefore prepare to follow me!" however, fully admitting the truth of the lesson which history and experience thus offer to us--admitting that no one can presume to declare which of the great mediterranean powers is doomed to be the next to suffer--or what new point is next to burst into importance; yet if a man were forced to select a position which, in spite of fate or fortune, feuds or animosities, has been, and ever must be, the nucleus of commerce, he would find that in the mediterranean sea that point, as nearly as possible, would be the little island of malta; and the political importance of this possession being now generally appreciated, it is curious rapidly to run over the string of little events which have gradually prepared, fortified, and delivered this valuable arsenal and fortress to the british flag. in the early ages of navigation, when men hardly dared to lose sight of the shore, ignorantly trembling if they were not absolutely hugging the very danger which we now most strenuously avoid, it may be easily conceived that a little barren island, scarcely twenty miles in length or twelve in breadth, was of little use or importance. it is true, that on its north coast there was a spit or narrow tongue of land (about a mile in length and a few hundred yards in breadth), on each side of which were a series of connected bays, now forming two of the most magnificent harbours in the world; but in the ages of which we speak this great outline was a nautical hieroglyphic which sailors could not decipher. accustomed to hide their lilliputian vessels and fleets in bays and creeks on the same petty scale as themselves, they did not comprehend or appreciate the importance of these immense brobdignag recesses, nor did they admire the great depth of water which they contained; and as in ancient warfare, when warriors used javelins, arrows and stones, scalding each other with hot sand, the value of a position adapted to the present ranges of our shot and shells would not have been understood, in like manner was the importance of so large a harbour equally imperceptible; and that malta could have had no very great reputation is proved by the fact, that it is even to this day among the learned a subject of dispute, whether it was upon this island, or upon melita in the adriatic, that st. paul was shipwrecked. now if either had been held in any particular estimation, the question of the shipwreck would not now be any subject of doubt. as navigators became more daring, and as their vessels, increasing in size, required more water and provisions, &c., malta fell into the hands of various masters. at last, when charles v. conquered sicily and naples, he offered it to those warriors of christendom, those determined enemies of the turks and corsairs--the knights hospitallers of st. john of jerusalem. this singular band of men, distinguished by their piebald vow of heroism and celibacy, had, after a most courageous resistance, been just overpowered by an army of , saracens, who, under solyman ii., had driven them from the island of rhodes, which had been occupied by their order years. animated by the most noble blood of europe which flowed in their veins--thirsting for revenge--yet homeless and destitute, it may easily be conceived that these brave, enthusiastic men would most readily have accepted almost any spot on which they could once again establish their busy hive: yet so little was the importance of malta, even at that time, understood, so arid was its surface, and so burning was its rock, that, after minutely surveying it, their commissioners made a report to charles v., which must ever be regarded as a most affecting document; for although the knights of malta were certainly in their day the "bravest of the brave," although by that chivalric oath which bound them together, they had deliberately sworn "_never to count the number of their enemies_," yet after the strong, proud position which they had held at rhodes, it was only hard fate and stern necessity that could force them to seek refuge on a rock upon which there was scarcely soil enough to plant their standard. but though honour has been justly termed "an empty bubble," yet to all men's eyes its colours are so very beautiful, that they allure and encourage us to contend with difficulties which no other advocate could persuade us to encounter; and so it was that the knights of malta, seeing they had no alternative, sternly accepted the hot barren home that was offered to them, and in the very teeth, and before the beard of their barbarous enemy, these lions of the cross landed and established themselves in their new den. when men have once made up their minds to stand against adversity, the scene generally brightens; for danger, contrary to the rules of drawing, is less in the foreground than in the perspective--difficulties of all sorts being magnified by the misty space which separates us from them; and accordingly the knights were no sooner established at malta, than they began to find out the singular advantages it possessed. the whole island being a rock of freestone, which could be worked with peculiar facility, materials for building palaces and houses, suited to the dignity of the order, existed everywhere on the spot; and it moreover became evident, that by merely quarrying out the rock, according to the rules of military science, they would not only obtain materials for building, but that, in fact, the more they excavated for their town, the deeper would be the ditch of its fortress. animated by this double reward, the knights commenced their operations, or, in military language, they "broke ground;" and, without detailing how often the rising fortress was jealously attacked by their barbarous and relentless enemies, or how often its half-raised walls were victoriously cemented with the blood of christians and of turks, it will be sufficient merely to observe, that before the island had been in possession of the order one century, it assumed very nearly the same astonishing appearance which it now affords--a picture and an example, proving to the whole world what can be done by courage, firmness, and perseverance. the narrow spit or tongue of barren rock which on the north side of the island separated the two great harbours, was scarped in every part, so as to render it inaccessible by sea, and on the isthmus, or only side on which it could be approached by land, demi-lunes, ravelins, counter-guards, bastions, and cavaliers, were seen towering one above another on so gigantic a scale, that, as a single datum, it may be stated, that the wall of the escarp is from to feet in height, being nearly five times the height of that of a regular fortress. on this narrow tongue of land, thus fortified, arose the city of valetta, containing a palace for its grand master; and almost equally magnificent residences for its knights, the whole forming at this day one of the finest cities in the world. on every projecting point of the various beautiful bays contained in each of the two great harbours, separated from each other by the town of valetta, forts were built flanking each other, yet all offering a concentrating fire upon any and every part of the port; and when a vessel labouring, heaving, pitching, and tossing, in a heavy gale of wind, now suddenly enters the great harbour of malta, the sudden lull--the unexpected calm--the peaceful stillness which prevails on its deep unruffled surface, is most strangely contrasted in the mind of the stranger with the innumerable guns which, bristling in every direction from batteries one above another, seem fearfully to announce to him that he is in the chamber of death--in a slaughter-house from which there is no escape, and that, if he should dare to offer insult, although he has just escaped from the raging of the elements, the silence around him is that of the grave! it was from the city and harbour of valetta, in the state above described,--it was from this proud citadel of christianity, that the knights of malta continued for some time sallying forth to carry on their uncompromising hostility against the turks and against the corsairs of algiers and tripoli; but the brilliant victories they gained, and the bloody losses they sustained, must be passed over, as it is already time to hurry their history to a close. the fact is, the knights hospitallers of st. john of jerusalem gradually outlived the passions and objects which called them into existence, and their order decayed for want of that nourishment which, during so many ages, it received from the sympathy, countenance, and applause of christendom. in short, as mankind had advanced in civilization, its angry, savage, intolerant passions had gradually subsided, and thus the importance of the order unavoidably faded with its utility. there was nothing premature in its decay--it had lived long enough. the holy, or rather unholy, war, with all its unchristian feelings, having long since subsided, it would have been inconsistent in the great nations of europe to have professed a general disposition for peace, or to have entered into any treaty with the turks, while at the same time they encouraged an order which was bent on their extermination. the vow of celibacy, once the pride of the order, became, in a more enlightened age, a mill-stone round its neck; it attracted ridicule--it created guilt--the sacred oath was broken; and although the head, the heart, and the pockets, of a soldier may be as light as the pure air he breathes, yet he can never truly be reported "fit for duty" if his conscience or his stomach be too heavily laden. in short, in two words, the order of st. john of jerusalem was no longer suited to the times; and burke had already exclaimed--"_the age of chivalry has fled!_" in the year , this order, after having existed nearly years, signed its own death-warrant, and in the face of europe died ignominiously--"_felo de se_." on the th of june, in that year, their island was invaded by the french; and although, as napoleon justly remarked, to have excluded him it would have been only necessary to have shut the gates, valetta was surrendered by treachery, the depravity of which will be best explained by the following extract from a statement made by the maltese deputies:--"no one is ignorant that the plan of the invasion of malta was projected in paris, and confided to the principal knights of the order resident at malta. letters in cyphers were incessantly passing and repassing, without however alarming the suspicions of the deceased grand master, or the grand master hompesch." as soon as the french were in possession of the city, harbours, and impregnable fortresses of valetta, they began, as usual, to mutilate from the public buildings everything which bore the stamp of nobility, or recalled to mind the illustrious actions which had been performed. the arms of the order, as well as those of the principal knights, were effaced from the palace and principal dwelling-houses; however, as the knights had sullied their own reputation, and had cast an indelible blot on their own escutcheons, they had but little right to complain that the image of their glory was thus insulted, when they themselves had been guilty of the murder of its spirit. the order of st. john of jerusalem being now worn out and decayed, its elements were scattered to the winds. the knight who were not in the french interest were ordered to quit the island in three days, and a disgraceful salary was accepted by the grand master hompesch. those knights who had favoured the french were permitted to remain, but, exposed to the rage of the maltese, and unprotected by their false friends, some fled, some absolutely perished from want, but all were despised and hated. in the little theatre of malta the scene is about to change, and the british soldier now marches upon its stage! on the d of september, , the island was blockaded by the english, and the fortifications being absolutely impregnable, it became necessary to attempt the reduction of the place by famine. for two years most gallantly did the french garrison undergo the most horrid suffering and imprisonment--steadily and cheerfully did they submit to every possible privation--their stock of spirits, wine, meat, bread, &c., doled out in the smallest possible allowances, gradually diminished until all came to end. sooner than strike, they then subsisted upon the flesh of their horses, mules, and asses; and when these also were consumed, and when they had eaten not only their cats, but the rats which infested the houses, drains, &c., in great numbers--when, from long-protracted famine, the lamp of life was absolutely expiring in the socket; in short, having, as one of their kings once most nobly exclaimed, "lost all but their honour," these brave men--with nerves unshaken, with reputation unsullied, and with famine proudly painted in their lean, emaciated countenances--on the th of september, , surrendered the place to that nation which napoleon has since termed "the most powerful, the most constant, and the most generous of his enemies." during the long-winded game of war which france and england lately played together, our country surely never made any better move than when she thus laid hold of malta. even if the island had been in the rude state in which it was delivered to the knights of jerusalem, still, to a maritime power like england, such splendid harbours in the mediterranean would have been a most valuable conquest; but when we not only appreciate their noble outline, but consider the gigantic and expensive manner in which this town has been impregnably fortified, as well as furnished with tanks, subterraneous stores, bomb-proof magazines, most magnificent barracks, palaces, &c., it is quite delightful to reflect on the series of events which have led to such a well-assorted alliance between two of the strongest harbours in the world and the first maritime power on the globe. if, like the french, we had taken the island from the knights, however degraded, worn out, and useless their order might have become, yet europe in general, and france in particular, might always have reproached us, and, for aught we know, our own consciences might have become a little tender on the subject. but the delightful truth is, that no power in europe can breathe a word or a syllable against our possession of the island of malta--it is an honour in open daylight we have fairly won, and i humbly say, long, very long, may we wear it! with respect to the maltese themselves, i just at this moment recollect a trifling story which will, i think, delineate their character with tolerable accuracy. the renegade. of all the little unhappy prejudices which in different parts of the globe it has been my fortune, or rather misfortune, to witness, i nowhere remember to have met with a deeper-rooted hatred or a more implacable animosity than existed, some twenty or thirty years ago, in the hearts of the maltese towards the turks. in all warm glowing latitudes, human passions, good as well as bad, may be said to stand at least at that degree which on fahrenheit's scale would be denoted "fever heat;" and steam itself can hardly be more different from ice,--the bengal tiger springing on his prey cannot form a greater contrast to that half-frozen fisherman the white bear, as he sits on his iceberg sucking his paws,--than are the passions of hot countries when compared with the cold torpid feelings of the inhabitants of the northern regions of the globe. in all parts of the mediterranean i found passions of all sorts very violent, but, without any exception, that which, at the period i refer to, stood uppermost in the scale, was bigotry. besides the eager character which belonged to their latitude, one might naturally expect that the maltese, from being islanders, would be rather more prejudiced than their continental neighbours; however, in addition to these causes, when i was among them, they really had good reason to dislike the turks, who during the time of the knights had been _ex officio_ their constant and most bitter enemies. whether these fine knights of jerusalem conquered the turks or were defeated, the maltese on board their galleys (like the dwarf who fought with the giant) always suffered: besides this, their own little trading vessels were constantly captured by the turks, the crews being not only maltreated and tortured, but often in cold blood cruelly massacred; in short, if there was any bad feeling in the heart of a maltese, which the history of his island, as well as every bitter recollection of his life, seemed naturally to nourish, it was an implacable hatred for the turks; and that this sad theory was most fully supported by the fact, became evident the instant one observed a maltese, on the commonest subject, utter that hated, accursed word, _turco_, or turk. the sort of petty convulsion of the mind with which this dissyllable was delivered was really very remarkable, and the roll and flash of the eye--the little bullying shake of the head--the slight stamp of the left foot--and the twitch in the fingers of the right hand, reminded one for the moment of the manner in which a french dragoon, when describing an action, mentions that his regiment came on _sabre à la main_!--words which, if you were to give him the universe, he could not pronounce without grinding his teeth, much less with that cold-hearted simplicity with which one of our soldiers would calmly say "sword in hand." this hatred of the maltese towards the turks was a sort of cat and dog picture which always attracted my notice; however, i witnessed one example of it, on which occasion i felt very strongly it was carried altogether beyond a joke. one lovely morning--i remember it as if it were yesterday--there had been a great religious festival in the island, which, as usual, had caused a good deal of excitement, noise, and fever; and, as a nation seldom allays its thirst without quarrelling, as soon as the hot sun set, a great many still hotter disturbances took place. in one of these rows, a party of turks, justly or injustly, became offended with the inhabitants; an affray occurred, and a mahometan having stabbed a maltese, he was of course thrown into prison; and in process of time, surrounded by a strong guard, he was led into the maltese court to be tried (_anglicè_ condemned) for the offence. as he threaded his way through the crowd which had assembled in those dirty passages and dark chambers that led to the tribunal, the women shrunk back as the _turco_ passed them, as if his very breath would have infected them with the plague; while in the countenances of the men, as they leant forwards arresting him in his progress, and almost touching him with their brown faces, it was evident that they were all animated with but one feeling and one desire, that is to say, hatred and revenge: however, nothing was heard but a very slight murmur or groan, and the prisoner was soon seen a little raised above the crowd, trembling at the bar. he was a diminutive, mean-looking, ill-favoured little fellow, dressed in the loose turkish costume, with a very small dirty white turban, the folds of which were deemed more odious to the christian eye than if they had been formed by the wreathing body of the serpent. while the crowd were shouldering each other, head peeping over head, and before the shuffling of moving feet could be silenced, avvocati, or clerks, who sat in the small space between the prisoner and the bench, were seen eagerly mending their pens, and they had already dipped them into ink, and the coarse, dirty, rough-edged paper on which they were to write was folded and placed ready in front of them, before it was possible to commence the trial. the court was insufferably hot, and there was such a stench of garlic and of clothing impregnated with the stale fumes of tobacco, that one longed almost as much as the prisoner to escape into the open air, while the sallow faces of the avvocati, clerks, and every one connected with the duties of the court, showed how unhealthy, as well as offensive, was the atmosphere which they breathed. on the bench sat what one must call the judges, but to an english mind such a title but ill belonged to those who had only lately been forced, most reluctantly, to expel torture from their code. just before malta fell into the hands of the french and english, my own servant, giuseppe, had lived in the service of one of the maltese judges; and among many horrors which he often very calmly described to me (for he had witnessed them until he had become quite accustomed to them), he told me that he had had constantly to pass through a court in which were those who were doomed to ride upon what was called the "cavallo di legno," or wooden horse. with weights attached to each foot he used to see them sitting bolt upright on this sharp narrow ridge, with two torches burning within a few inches of their naked chests and backs, in order that they should relieve themselves by a change of attitude no longer than they could endure the pain of leaning against the flame. but to return to the court. the trial of the turk now began, and every rigid form was most regularly followed. the accusation was read--the story was detailed--the maltese witnesses in great numbers one after another corroborated almost in the same words the same statement--several times when the prisoner was ordered to be silent, as by some ejaculation he interrupted the thread of the narrative, did the eyes of every being in court flash in anger and contempt upon him, their countenances as suddenly returning to a smile as the evidence of the witnesses proceeded with their criminatory details. at last, the case being fully substantiated, the culprit was called upon for his defence. although a poor, mean, illiterate wretch, it is possible he might have intended to have made a kind of a sort of a speech; but when he came to the point, his heart failed him, and his lips had only power to utter one single word. regardless of the crowd, as if it had not existed, looking as if he thought there was no object in creation but the central judge on the bench, he fixed his eyes for some moments upon his cold, immoveable countenance, until overpowered by his feelings, almost sinking into the ground, he clasped his hands, and in an agony of expression, which it is quite impossible to describe, he asked for "mercy!" "_nix standy! i don't understand ye!_" said an old english soldier one day, in the _bois de boulogne_, to a french general, who, with much gesture and grimace, was telling in french, that the english were acting against the laws of nations in thus cutting down so beautiful a forest as the said _bois de boulogne_. "_nix standy!_" repeated the soldier, continuing to hack with all his might at the young tree which he had almost cut down with his sabre. the very same answer was strongly expressed in the countenance of the judge, to the petition of the unhappy turk, who, had he been in the desert of africa, might just as well have asked merely for the ocean, as, in a maltese court, to have supplicated for _mercy_. for some time the judge sat in awful silence--then whispered a few words to his colleagues--again all was silent: at last, when some little forms had been observed, the chief judge pronounced a sentence on the prisoner, which he might just as well have done without his having endured the pain and anxiety of a long trial. it is hardly worth while mentioning the sentence; for, of course, it was that the turco, being guilty of the murder of the maltese, was to be hanged by the neck till he was dead; every word of which sentence was most ravenously devoured by the audience: and the trial being now over, the prisoner was hurried away to his dungeon, while the crowd eagerly rushed into the hot sunshine and open air. a very considerable time elapsed between the sentence and the day fixed for execution. where the prisoner was--what were his feelings--how he was fed--"and how he fared--no one knew, and no one cared:" however, on the last day of his existence, i happened to be riding along strada forni, when i heard a bellowing sort of a blast from a cow's horn, which i instantly knew to be the signal that a fellow creature was going to the gallows. in any country in the world, the monotonous moan which proceeds from this wild uncouth instrument would be considered as extremely harsh and disagreeable; but at malta, where the ear has been constantly accustomed to good italian music, and to listen to nothing more discordant than the lovely and love-making notes of the guitar, this savage whoop was indescribably offensive, particularly being accompanied by the knowledge that it was the death-march, and the dirge of the murderer--"the knell, that summoned him to heaven or to hell!" as i rode towards strada reale, the principal street of valetta, down which the procession was proceeding, a dismal blast from this horn was heard about every ten seconds; and, as it sounded louder and louder, it was evident the procession was approaching. at last, on coming to the corner of the street, i saw the culprit advancing on his funeral car. the streets on both sides were lined with spectators, and every window was filled with outstretched figures and eager faces. in the middle of strada reale, preceding the prisoner, were three or four mutes; while several others were also begging in different parts of the town. these people, who belonged to some of the principal maltese families, were covered from head to foot, with long loose robes of white linen, a couple of holes being cut for their eyes. their feet were bare, and to each ancle was affixed a chain of such weight and length, that it was as much as they could do to drag one leg after the other. in the right hand they held a tin money-box, in the shape of a lantern, with death's head and bloody bones painted upon it. a small slit in this box received the copper contributions of the multitude; and, as these mutes passed me in horrid triumph, shaking the box every step they took (the rattling of the money forming a sort of savage accompaniment to the deep clanking of their chains), they had altogether an unearthly appearance, which certainly seemed less to belong to heaven than to hell; however, the malefactor now approached, and as soon as he came up to the corner of my street, i, loosening my rein, rode for a few moments at his side, attracted by one of the strangest scenes which i think i have ever beheld. the man was half sitting, half reclining, on a sort of low, rattling, iron vehicle, of an indescribable shape, which raised his head a little above the level of the people; and the very moment i looked him in the face, much of the secret history of what had passed since the day of his condemnation was as legible in his countenance as if it had been written there. he had been existing in some dark place, for his complexion was blanched by absence from light--he had evidently been badly fed, for there was famine in his sunken features--his nerves were gone, for he was trembling--his health had been materially impaired, either by suffering of body or mind, for the man was evidently extremely ill--and last, though not least, for some mysterious reason, either from an expectation of obtaining mercy in this world or in the next, he had evidently abjured his religion, for his dirty white turban was gone, and, very ill at his ease, he sat, or rather reclined, in the clothes of a christian! the car on which he proceeded was surrounded by an immense number of priests, belonging to the different churches of valetta, and apparently to those also of all the _casals_ and villages in the island. all angry feelings had most completely subsided; in their minds, as well as in the minds of the people, the day was one only of triumph and joy; and, intoxicated with the spirit of religious enthusiasm, the priests were evidently beside themselves with joy at having succeeded in the miraculous conversion which they had effected. shouldering and pushing each other with all their strength, with outstretched arms, and earnest countenances, they were all, in different attitudes and voices, calling upon the malefactor to repeat the name of their own peculiar saint; some behind him were trying to attract his notice by pulling his clothes, while those before him, by dint of voice and gesture, were equally endeavouring to catch his eye; and such a confused cry of "viva san tommaso!" "viva san giuseppe!" "viva san giovanni!" "viva san paolo!" i will not pretend to describe. it was, of course, impossible for the wretch to comply with all their noisy demands; yet, poor fellow, he did his best; and in a low faint voice, being dreadfully exhausted by the jolting and shaking of the carriage, he repeated "viva san paolo!" &c. &c., as he caught the eye of the different priests. he had evidently no rule in these exclamations which he uttered, for i observed that the strong brawny-shouldered priests who got nearest to him, often made him repeat the name of their saints twice, before the little bandy-legged ones in the rear could get him to mention theirs once. as this strange concert proceeded, it was impossible to help pitying the poor culprit; for, if one had been travelling from one magnificent palace to another, to be so jolted and tormented both in body and mind when one was ill, would by any of us have been termed dreadfully disagreeable; but for all this to happen to a man just at the very moment he was going to be hanged--at that moment of all others in which any of us would desire to be left to his own reflections--appeared at the time to be hard indeed. after passing under the great gate and subterraneous exit called porta reale, the procession wound its way across the drawbridges, and along the deep ditches, &c., of the fortification, until coming out upon the great esplanade which lies between valetta and floriana, an immense crowd of people was suddenly seen waiting round the gallows--at the sight of which i pulled up. the priests were now more eager than ever in beseeching the criminal to call upon the name of their saint;--the mutes, whose white robes in all directions were seen scattered among the people, were evidently shaking their boxes more violently than ever, while among the crowd there was a general lifting of feet, which showed the intense anxiety of their feelings. as the procession slowly approached the gallows, i could not hear what was going on; but in a very short time, from the distance at which i stood, i saw the man led up the ladder by the executioner, who continued always a step or two above him: the rope was round his neck, and resting loosely on the culprit's head, there was something like a round wooden plate, through a hole in the centre of which the rope passed. as soon as the poor creature got high up on the ladder, the vociferations of the priests suddenly ceased; for a few seconds a dead silence ensued, when all of a sudden, there was a simultaneous burst or shriek of exclamation from priests and populace, echoing and re-echoing the words "viva la cristianità!" which the man, in a low tone of voice, had just been persuaded to utter. all caps waved--every human being seemed congratulating each other on the delightful conversion; and no person seemed to pay the slightest possible attention to the poor wretch, who, with the last syllable on his lips, had been pushed off the ladder, and was now calmly swinging in the air, the executioner standing on the loose wooden plate above his head, holding by the rope, and, with many antics, stamping with all his force to break the neck, while the people, in groups, were already bending their steps homewards. not wishing to encounter such a crowd, i turned my horse in another direction, and passed a number of mules and asses belonging to many of the people who had come from the most remote casals to see the execution. the animals were all standing half asleep, nodding their heads in the sun--a herd of goats were as quietly grazing near the ramparts; and when i contrasted the tranquillity which these animals were enjoying, with the scene i had just witnessed, i could not help feeling that i had more cause than virgil to exclaim--"_sic vos non vobis!_" in returning from my ride i had to cross the esplanade, and as there was then no one at the gallows, i rode close by it. the figure, which was still hanging, was turning round very slowly, as if it were roasting before the sun; the neck was so completely disjointed that the head almost hung downwards, and as i rode by it i was much struck in observing that the tongue was out of the mouth half bitten off--a dreadful emblem, thought i, of a renegade to his religion! whether or not the poor wretch had been induced to utter his last exclamation, from a hollow promise that it would save his life, is a mystery which will probably never on this earth be explained to us; however, whatever was his creed, it is impossible to deny that when he swung from this world to eternity, he had but little reason to admire the practical part of a roman catholic's mercy, however unanswerably its theory might have been explained to him. as soon as i got to valetta, i put up my horse, and, strolling about the streets, soon found myself in the immense church of st. john, which, in point of size and magnificence, is only second in the world to st. peter's, at rome. the congregation was almost exclusively composed of the people who had attended the execution, and quantities of men, as well as women, shrouded in their black silk faldettes, were listening to a tall, strong-looking capuchin friar, who, with great emphasis, was preaching from a high pulpit, placed at a projecting angle of one of the many chapels which ramified from the aisle or great body of the church. he was a remarkably handsome man, of about thirty, and though his face was pale, or rather brown, yet his eye and features were strikingly vivid and intellectual; a rim or band of jet-black hair encircled his head, the rest of his hair by a double tonsure having been shaved at the top and from ear to ear; his throat was completely uncovered, and as he suddenly turned from one part of his congregation to another, his earnest attitudes were very beautiful. his brown sackcloth cowl hung in folds over his shoulders, and the loose negligent manner in which a cloak of the same coarse material hung upon his body, being apparently merely kept together by the white rope, or whip of knots, which encircled his waist, displayed a series of lines which any painter might well have copied; indeed, the whole dress of the capuchins has been admirably well imagined, and above all others is it calculated to impress upon the mind of the spectator that its wearer is a man doomed to abstinence and mortification, seeking no enjoyment on this side of the grave, and never lowering his eyes from heaven, but fervently to exclaim-- "vain pomp and glory of the world, i hate ye!" the subject of the sermon was, of course, the execution which we had all witnessed. the hard-hearted infidelity of the turks was very richly painted and described, and the crime which they had just seen expiated was clearly proved to be the effect, and the natural effect, of a mahometan's anger. the happy conversion of the infidel then became a subject which was listened to with the most remarkable stillness, and every eye was riveted upon the mouth of the capuchin, as he minutely detailed the triumph and the conquest which had been made of the sheep which had that day, before their eyes, been added to the flock. he then explained, or endeavoured to explain (for it was no very easy task), that the money which had that morning been collected for the purchase of masses proved to be just sufficient to purify the soul of the departed sinner; but this, he very eloquently demonstrated, was only to be effected through the mediation of one whose image nailed to the cross was actually erected in the pulpit on his right hand. after expatiating on this subject at considerable length, working himself and his hearers into a state of very great excitement, with both his arms stretched out, with his eyes uplifted, he most fervently addressed the figure, exclaiming in a most emphatic tone of voice--"_si! mio caro signore! si!_" &c. the effect which was instantly produced in the hearts of his hearers was very evident, and the fine melodious voice, together with the strong, nervous, muscular attitude of the preacher, contrasted with the drooping, exhausted, lifeless image above him, would have worked its effect upon the mind of any christian spectator. as soon as the sermon was over, the congregation dispersed. the day ended in universal joy and festivity; no revengeful recollections--no unkind feelings were entertained towards him who had been the principal actor of that day; on the contrary, the maltese seemed rather to feel, that it was to him they were especially indebted for the pleasurable performances they had witnessed, and thus-- "in peaceful merriment ran down the sun's declining ray." schlangenbad; or, the serpents' bath. time had glided along so agreeably ever since my arrival at langen-schwalbach, my body had enjoyed such perpetual motion, my mind such absolute rest, that i had almost forgotten, though my holiday was nearly over, i had not yet reached the intended _nec plus ultra_ of my travels--namely, schlangenbad, or the serpents' bath. on the spur of the moment, therefore, i ordered a carriage; and, with my wallet lying by my side, having bidden adieu to a simple-hearted village, which, for the short remainder of my days, i believe, i shall remember with regard, i continued for some time gradually to ascend its eastern boundary, until i arrived nearly at the summit or pinnacle of the taunus hills. the view from this point was very extensive indeed, and the park-like appearance of the whole of the lofty region or upper story of nassau formed a prospect at once noble and pleasing. the langen-schwalbach band of wind-instruments was playing deep beneath me in the valley, but hidden by the fog, its sound was so driven about by the wind, that had i not recognized the tunes i but faintly heard, i should not have been able to determine from what point of the compass they proceeded. sometimes they seemed to rise, like the mist, from one valley--sometimes from another--occasionally i fancied they were like the hurricane, sweeping across the surface of the country, and once i could almost have declared that the Æolian band was calmly seated above me in the air. the numberless ravines which intersect nassau were not discernible from the spot where my carriage had halted, and langen-schwalbach was so muffled in its peaceful retreat, that a stranger could scarcely have guessed it existed. from this elevated point the taunus hills began gradually to fall towards wiesbaden and frankfort; but a branch road, suddenly turning to the right, rapidly descended, or rather meandered down a long, rocky, narrow ravine, clothed with beech and oak-trees to its summit. with a wheel of the carriage dragged, as i glided fast down this romantic valley, the scenery, compared with what i had just left, was on a very confined, contracted scale--in short, nothing was to be seen but a trickling stream running down the grassy bottom of a valley, and hills which appeared to environ it on both sides; besides this, the road writhed and bent so continually, that i could seldom see a quarter of a mile of it at once. after descending about three-quarters of a league, i came to a new turn, and here schlangenbad, the serpents' bath, dressed in its magic mantle of tranquillity, suddenly appeared not only before, but within less than a hundred yards of me. this secluded spot, to which such a number of people annually retreat, consists of nothing but an immense old building, or "bad-haus," a new one, with two or three little mills, which, fed, as it were, by the crumbs that fall from the rich man's table, are turned by the famous spring of water, after fine, fashionable ladies have done washing themselves in it. when the carriage stopped, my first impression (which but too often, i regret to say, has been an erroneous one) was not in favour of the place; for, though its colours were certainly very beautiful, yet, from being so completely surrounded by hills, it seemed to wear some of the features of a prison; and when, my vehicle driving away, i was first left by myself, i felt for a moment that the little band of music, which was playing upon the terrace above my head, was not quite competent to enliven the scene. however, after i had walked in various directions about this sequestered spot, sufficiently not only to become acquainted with its _locale_, but to discover that it possessed a number of modest beauties, completely veiled from the passing gaze of the stranger, i went to the old "bad-haus," to obtain rooms from the bath-master (appointed by the duke), who has charge of both these great establishments. i found the little man seated in his office, in the agony of calculating upon a slate the amount of seven times nine; perceiving, however, that instead of multiplying the two figures together, he had reared up a ladder of seven nines, which he was slowly ascending, step by step, i felt quite unwilling to interrupt him; and as his wife appeared to be gifted with all or many of the little abilities in which he might have been deficient, i gladly availed myself of her offer to show me over the two buildings, in order that i might select some apartments. the old "bad-haus," and hotel de nassau, which, being united together, form one of the two great buildings i have mentioned, are situated on the side of the hill close to the macadamized road which leads to mainz; and to give some idea of the gigantic scale on which these sorts of german bathing establishments are constructed, i will state, that in this rambling "bad-haus" i counted windows, and that, without ever twice going over the same ground, i found the passages measured paces, or, as nearly as possible, a quarter of a mile! below this immense barrack, and on the opposite side of the road, is the new "bad-haus," or bathing house, pleasantly situated in a shrubbery. this building (which contains windows) is of a modern construction, and straddling across the bottom of the valley, the celebrated water, which rises milk-warm from the rock, after supplying the baths on the lower story, runs from beneath it. no sooner, however, does the fluid escape from the building, than a group of poor washerwomen, standing up to their knees on a sheet, which is stretched upon the ground, humbly make use of it before it has time to get to the two little mills which are patiently waiting for it about a couple of hundred yards below. after having passed, in the two establishments, an immense number of rooms, each furnished by the duke with white window-curtains, a walnut-tree bed with bedding; a chestnut-tree table, an elastic spring sofa, and three or four walnut-tree chairs, the price of each room (on an average from _d._ to _s._ a-day) being painted on the door, i complimented the good, or, to give her her proper title, the "bad" lady who attended me, on the plain, but useful order in which they appeared; in return for which she very obligingly offered to show me the source of the famous water, for the sake of which two such enormous establishments had been erected. in the history of the little duchy of nassau, the discovery of this spring forms a story full of innocence and simplicity. once upon a time there was a heifer, with which everything in nature seemed to disagree. the more she ate, the thinner she grew--the more her mother licked her hide, the rougher and the more staring was her coat. not a fly in the forest would bite her--never was she seen to chew the cud, but hide-bound, and melancholy, her hips seemed actually to be protruding from her skin. what was the matter with her no one knew--what could cure her no one could divine;--in short, deserted by her master and her species, she was, as the faculty would term it, "given over." in a few weeks, however, she suddenly re-appeared among the herd, with ribs covered with flesh--eyes like a deer--skin sleek as a mole's--breath sweetly smelling of milk--saliva hanging in ringlets from her jaw! every day seemed to re-establish her health; and the phenomenon was so striking, that the herdsman, feeling induced to watch her, discovered that regularly every evening she wormed her way, in secret, into the forest, until she reached an unknown spring of water, from which, having refreshed herself, she quietly returned to the valley. the trifling circumstance, scarcely known, was almost forgotten by the peasant, when a young nassau lady began decidedly to show exactly the same incomprehensible symptoms as the heifer. mother, sisters, friends, father, all tried to cure her, but in vain; and the physician had actually "taken his leave with sighs and sorrow, despairing of his fee to-morrow," when the herdsman, happening to hear of her case, prevailed upon her, at last, to try the heifer's secret remedy--she did so; and, in a very short time, to the utter astonishment of her friends, she became one of the stoutest and roundest young women in the duchy. what had suddenly cured one sick lady was soon deemed a proper prescription for others, and all cases meeting with success, the spring, gradually rising into notice, received its name from a circumstance which i shall shortly explain. in the meanwhile, i will observe, that even to this day horses are brought by the peasants to be bathed, and i have good authority for believing, that in cases of slight consumption of the lungs (a disorder common enough among horses), the animal recovers his flesh with surprising rapidity--nay, i have seen even the pigs bathed, though i must own that _they_ appeared to have no other disorder except hunger. but to return to the "bad" lady. after following her through a labyrinth of passages (one of which not only leant sideways, but had an ascent like a hill), she at last unlocked a door, which was no sooner opened, than i saw glide along the floor close by me a couple of small serpents! as the lady was talking very earnestly at the time, i merely flinched aside as they passed, without making any observation; but after i had crossed a small garden, she pointed to a door which she said was that of the source, and while she stopped to speak to one of the servants, i advanced alone, and opening the gate, saw beneath me a sort of brunnen with three serpents about the size of vipers swimming about in it! unable to contain my surprise, i made a signal to the lady with my staff, and as she hurried towards me, i still pointed to the reptiles, as if to know why in the name of Æsculapius they were allowed thus to contaminate the source of the baths? in the calmest manner possible, my conductress (who seemed perfectly to comprehend my sensations) replied, "_au contraire, c'est ce qui donne qualité à ces eaux!_" the quantity of these reptiles, or schlangen, that exist in the woods surrounding the spring is very great; and they of course have given their name to the place. when full grown they are about five feet long, and in hot weather are constantly seen gliding across the paths, or rustling under the dead leaves of the forest. as soon as the lady had shown me the whole establishment, she strongly recommended me to take up my abode in the old "bad-haus;" however, on my first arrival, in crossing the promenade in front of it, i had caught a glimpse of some talkative old ladies, whose tongues and knitting needles seemed to be racing against each other, which made it very advisable to decline the polite invitation; and i accordingly selected apartments at one extremity of the new bad-haus, my windows on the north looking into the shrubbery, those on the east upon the two little water-mills, revolving in the green lonely valley of schlangenbad. the cell of the hermit can hardly be more peaceful than this abode: it is true it was not only completely inhabited (there being no more rooms unoccupied), but it was teeming with people many of whom are known in the great world. for instance, among its inmates were the princess romanow, first wife of the late grand duke constantine of russia--the duke of saxe-coburg--the prince of hesse homburg (whose brother, the late landgrave, married the princess elizabeth of england)--a prussian minister from berlin, and occasionally the princess royal of prussia, married to the son of king frederic william. no part of the building was exclusively occupied by these royal guests, but paying for their rooms no more than the prices marked upon the doors, they ascended the same staircase and walked along the same passages with the humblest inmates of the place. yet within the narrow dominion of their own chamber, visiters were received with every attention due to form and etiquette. the silence and apparent solitude which reigned, however, in this new "bad-haus" was to me always a subject of astonishment and admiration. sometimes a person would be seen carefully locking his door, and then, with the key in his pocket, quietly stealing along the passage: at other times, a lady might be caught on tip-toes softly ascending the stairs; but neither steps nor voices were to be heard; and far from witnessing anything like ostentation, it seemed to me that concealment was rather the order of the day. as soon as it grew dark, a single wick floating in a small glass lamp, open at the top, was placed at each great entrance door; and another at each extremity of the long passages into which the rooms on each floor communicated, giving the visiters just light enough to avoid running against the walls: in obscure weather, there was also a lamp here and there in the shrubbery, but as long as the pale moon shone in the heavens, its lovely light was deemed sufficient. a table d'hôte dinner, at a florin for each person, was daily prepared, for all, or any, who might choose to attend it; and for about the same price, a dinner with knives, forks, table-cloth, napkins, &c., would be forwarded to any guest who, like myself, was fond of the luxury of solitude: coffee and tea were cheap in proportion. i have dwelt long upon these apparently trifling details, because, humble as they may sound, i conceive that they contain a very important moral. how many of our country people are always raving about the cheapness of the continent, and how many every year break up their establishments in england to go in search of it; yet, if we had but sense, or rather courage enough to live at home as economically and as rationally as princes and people of all ranks live throughout the rest of europe, how unnecessary would be the sacrifice, and how much real happiness would be the result! the baths at schlangenbad are the most harmless and delicious luxuries of the sort i have ever enjoyed; and i really quite looked forward to the morning for the pleasure with which i paid my addresses to this delightful element. the effect the water produces on the skin is very singular; it is about as warm as milk, but infinitely softer: and after dipping the hand into it, if the thumb be rubbed against the fingers, it is said by many to resemble satin. nevertheless, whatever may be its sensation, when the reader reflects that people not only come to these baths from russia, but that the water in stone bottles, merely as a cosmetic, is sent to st. petersburg and other distant parts of europe, he will admit that it must be soft indeed to have gained for itself such an extraordinary degree of celebrity: for there is no town at schlangenbad, not even a village--nothing therefore but the real or fancied charm of the water could attract people into a little sequestered valley, which in every sense of the word is out of sight of the civilized world; and yet i must say, that i never remember to have existed in a place which possessed such fascinating beauties; besides which (to say nothing of breathing pure, dry air), it is no small pleasure to live in a skin which puts all people in good humour--at least, with themselves. but besides the cosmetic charms of this water, it is declared to possess virtues of more substantial value: it is said to tranquillize the nerves, to soothe all inflammation; and from this latter property; the cures of consumption which are reported to have been effected, among human beings and cattle, may have proceeded. yet whatever _good_ effect the water may have upon this insidious disorder, its first operation most certainly must be to neutralize the _bad_ effect of the climate, which to consumptive patients must decidedly be a very severe trial, for delightful as it is to people in robust health, yet the keenness of the mountain air, together with the sudden alternations of temperature to which the valley of schlangenbad is exposed, must, i think, be anything but a remedy for weak lungs. the effect produced upon the skin, by lying about twenty minutes in the bath, i one day, happened to overhear a short, fat frenchman describe to his friend in the following words--"_monsieur, dans ces bains on devient absolument amoureux de soi-même!_" i cannot exactly corroborate this gallic statement, yet i must admit that limbs, even old ones, gradually do appear as if they were converted into white marble. the skin assumes a sort of glittering, phosphoric brightness, resembling very much white objects, which, having been thrown overboard, in calm weather within the tropics, many of my readers have probably watched sinking in the ocean, which seems to blanch and illuminate them as they descend. the effect is very extraordinary, and i know not how to account for it, unless it be produced by some prismatic refraction, caused by the peculiar particles with which the fluid is impregnated. the schlangenbad water contains the muriates and carbonates of lime, soda, and magnesia, with a slight excess of carbonic acid which holds the carbonates in solution. the celebrated embellishment which it produces on the skin is, in my opinion, a sort of corrosion, which removes tan, or any other artificial covering that the surface may have attained from exposure and ill-treatment by the sun and wind. in short the body is cleaned by it, just as a kitchen-maid scours her copper saucepan; and the effect being evident, ladies modestly approach it from the most distant parts of europe. i am by no means certain, however, that they receive any permanent benefit; indeed, on the contrary, i should think that their skins would eventually become, if anything, coarser, from the removal of a slight veil or covering, intended by nature as a protection to the cuticle. but whether this water be permanently beneficial to ladies or not, the softness it gives to the whole body is quite delightful; and with two elements, air and water, in perfection, i found that i grew every hour more and more attached to the place. on the cellar-floor, or lower story of my abode ("the new bad-haus"), where the baths are situated, there lived an old man and his wife, whose duty it was to prepare the baths, and to give towels, &c. i do not know whether the schlangenbad waters corrode the temper as well as the skin, yet, certainly, this old couple appeared to me to be continually quarrelling; and every little trifle i required for my bath, though given to me with the greatest good-will, seemed to form a subject of jealous dispute between this subterranean pair. the old woman, however, invariably got the best of the argument,--a triumph which i suspect proceeded more from her physical than moral powers: in short, as is occasionally the case, the old gentleman was afraid of his companion; and i observed that his attitude, as he argued, very much resembled that of a cat in a corner, when spitting in the face of a terrier dog. finding that they did not work happily together, i always managed to prevent both of them coming to me at once. the old woman, however, insisted on preparing my bath; and, with a great pole in one hand, stirring up the water--a thermometer in the other, and a pair of spectacles blinded with steam on her nose, she very good-naturedly brought the temperature of the water to the proper degree, which is said to be of reaumur. after i had had my bath, the old wife being out of the way, i one day paid a visit of compliment to her husband, who had shown, by many little attempted attentions, that he was, had he dared, as anxious as his partner to serve me. with great delight, he showed me several bottles full of serpents; and then, opening a wooden box, he took out, as a fisherwoman would handle eels, some very long ones--one of which (first looking over his shoulder to see that a certain personage was away) he put upon a line, which she had stretched across the room for drying clothes. in order, i suppose, to demonstrate to me that the reptile was harmless, he took it off the rope, along which it was moving very quickly; and, without submitting his project for my approbation, he suddenly placed it on my breast, along which it crawled, until, stretching its long neck with half its body into the air, it held on, in a most singular manner, by a single fold in the cloth, which, by a sort of contortion of the vertebræ, it firmly grasped. the old man, apparently highly satisfied with this first act of his entertainment, gravely proceeded to show living serpents of all colours and sizes,--stuffed serpents, and serpents' skins,--all of which seemed very proper hobbies, to amuse the long winter evenings of the aged servant of schlangenbad, or the serpents' bath. at last, however, the fellow's dry, blanched, wrinkled face began to smile. grinning, as he slowly mounted on a chair, he took from a high shelf a broad-mouthed, white glass bottle, and then, in a sort of savage ecstasy, pronouncing the word "baromet!" he placed it in my hands. the bottle was about half full of dirty water--a few dead flies and crumbs of bread were at the bottom--and near the top there was a small piece of thin wood which went about half across the phial. upon this slender scaffolding, its fishy eyes staring upwards at a piece of coarse linen, which, being tied round the mouth, served as a cork--the shrivelled skin of its under-jaw moving at every sweltering breath which it took--there sat a large, speckled, living toad! like sterne's captive, he had not by his side "a bundle of sticks, notched with all the dismal days and nights he had passed there;" yet their sum total was as clearly expressed in the unhealthy colour of the poor creature's skin; and certainly, in my lifetime, i never had seen what might truly be called--a sick toad. it was quite impossible to help pitying any living being, confined by itself in so miserable a dungeon. however, the old man's eyes were beaming with pride and delight at what he conceived to be his own ingenuity--and exclaiming "schönes wetter!" (fine weather!) he pointed to the wood-work on which the poor creature was sitting--and then he exultingly explained that, so soon as it should be going to rain, the toad would get down into the water. "baromet!" repeated the old fellow, grinning from ear to ear, as, mounting on the chair, he replaced his prisoner on the shelf. my first impression was, "_coûte qui coûte_," to buy this barometer,--carry its poor captive to the largest marsh i could find,--and then, breaking the bottle into shivers, to give him, what toads appreciate better than mankind--liberty; but, on reflecting a moment, i felt quite sure that the old inquisitor would soon procure another subject for torture; and, as with toads as with ourselves, "_c'est le premier pas qui coûte_," i thought it better that this poor imprisoned creature, to a certain degree accustomed to his misery, should exist in it, than that a fresh toad should suffer:--it also occurred to me, that if i should dare to purchase his rude instrument, the ingenious, unfeeling old wretch of a philosopher might be encouraged to make others for sale. the old bath, or "bad" man, had vipers' nests, their eggs, and many other caliban curiosities, which he was desirous to show me; but having seen quite enough for one morning's visit, and besides, hearing his wife's tongue coming along the subterranean passage, i left him--her--toad--reptiles, &c., to fret away their existence, while i rose into far brighter regions above them. after ascending a couple of flights of stairs, i strolled for some time on the little parade, which is close to the entrance of the old "bad-haus;" but the benches being all occupied by people listening to the band of music, and besides, not liking the artificial passages of hedges cut, without metaphor, to the quick, i bade adieu to the scene; and, entering the great forest, with which the hills in every direction were clothed to their summits, i ascended a steep, broad road (across which a couple of schlangens glided close by me), until i came to a hut, from which there is a very pleasing home view of the little valley of schlangenbad. it is certainly a most romantic spot, and that it had appeared so to others was evident, from a marble pillar and inscription which stood on the edge of a precipice before me. the tale it commemorated is simply beautiful. the count de grunne, the dutch ambassador at frankfort, having, in the healthy autumn of his life, come to schlangenbad, with his young wife, was so enchanted with the loveliness of the country, the mildness of the air, and the exquisite softness of the water, that, quite unable to contain himself, on a black marble column he caused to be sculptured, as emblems of himself and his companion, two crested schlangens, eating leaves (apparently a salad) out of the same bowl--with the following pathetic inscription:-- en reconnaissance des délicieuses saisons passées ici ensemble par charles c'te degrunne et betsi c'tesse degrunne. . leaving this quiet sentimental bower, and descending the hill, i entered the great pile of buildings of the old bad-haus, or nassauer-hof, and as i was advancing along one of its endless passages, i passed an open door, from which a busy hum proceeded which clearly proclaimed it to be a school. my grave mentor-like figure was no sooner observed silently standing at its portal, than its master, a short, slight, hectic-looking lad, scarcely twenty, seemed to feel an unaccountable desire to form my acquaintance. begging me to enter his small literary dominion, he very modestly requested leave to be permitted to explain to me the nature of the studies he was imparting to his subjects; the little creatures, from their benches, looking at me all the time with the same sort of fear with which mice look into the face of a bull-dog, or frogs at the terrific bill and outline of a stork. having, by a slight inclination, accepted this offer, the young dominie commenced by stating that all the children in nassau are _obliged_, by order of the duke, to go to school, from six to fourteen years of age;--that the parents of a child, who has intentionally missed, are forced to pay two kreuzers the first time, four the second, six the third, and that if they are too poor to pay these fines, they are obliged to work them out in hard labour, or are otherwise punished for their children's neglect;--that the inhabitants of each village pay the schoolmaster among themselves, in proportions, varying according to their means, but that the duke prescribes what the children are to learn--namely, religion, singing, reading, writing, scripture history, the german language, natural history, geography, and accounts;--and that the mode of imparting this education is grounded upon the system of pestalozzi. this introductory explanation being concluded, the young master now displayed to me specimens of his scholars' writing--showed me their slates covered with sums in the first rules of arithmetic--and then calling up several girls and boys, he placed his wand in the hand of each trembling little urchin, who one by one was desired to point out upon maps, which hung against the walls, the great oceans, seas, mountains, and capitals of our globe. having expressed my unqualified approbation of the zeal and attention with which this excellent young man had evidently been labouring, at the arduous, "never-ending, still beginning" duties of his life, i was about to depart, when, as a last favour, he anxiously intreated me to hear his children, for one moment, sing; and striking the table with his wand, it instantly, as if it had been a tuning fork, called them to attention--at a second blow on the table, they pushed aside their slates and books--at a third, opening their eyes as wide as they could, they inflated their tiny lungs brimfull--and at a fourth blow, in full cry, they all opened, to my no small astonishment, mouths which, in blackness of inside, exactly resembled a pack of king charles's spaniels: had the children been drinking ink, their tongues and palates could not have been darker; and though, accompanied by their master, the psalm they were singing was simply beautiful, and though their infantine voices streaming along the endless passages produced a reverberation which was exceedingly pleasing, yet there was something so irresistibly comic in their appearance, that any countenance but my own would have smiled. the cause of the odd-looking phenomenon suddenly occurred to me,--having, in the morning, observed several peasants, whose trowsers at the knees were stained perfectly black, by their having knelt down to pick bilberries, which grow on the forest-covered hills of nassau in the greatest profusion. the children had evidently been grazing on the same ground, and as soon as the idea occurred, i observed by their little black fingers that my solution of the dark problem was correct. returning to my residence, the new bad-haus, the sun, though much less weary than myself, having sunk to rest, i sat alone for some time in one of the bowers of the shrubbery belonging to the building. occasionally a human figure, scarcely visible from the deep shade of the trees, glided slowly by me, but whether that of a prince or a peasant i neither knew nor cared. what interested me infinitely more, was to observe the fire-flies, which, with small lanterns in their tails, were either soaring close above me, or sparkling among the bushes. the bright emerald green light which they possessed was lovely beyond description, yet apparently they had only received permission to display it so long as they remained on the wing--and as two young ones, gliding before me, rested for a moment on a rose-leaf, at my side, the instant they closed their wings, they were left together in total darkness. some (probably old ones) steadily sailing, passed me, as if on business, while others, dancing in the air, had evidently no object except pleasure; yet, whether flying in a circle or in a line, each little creature, as it proceeded, gaily illuminated its own way, and like a pure, cheerful, well-conditioned mind, it also shed a trifling lustre on whatever it approached. as i sat here alone in the dark, i could not drive from my mind the interesting picture i had just been witnessing in the little village school of schlangenbad. we are all in england so devotedly attached to that odd, easily pronounced, but difficult to be defined word--liberty, that there is, perhaps, nothing we should all at once set our backs, our faces, and our heads against more, than a national compulsatory system of education, similar to that prescribed in nassau; and yet, if law has the power to punish crime, there seems at first to exist no very strong reason why it should not also be permitted, by education, to prevent it. every respectable parent in our country will be ready to admit, that the most certain recipe for making his son a useful, a happy, and a valuable member of society, is carefully to attend to the cultivation of his mind. we all believe that good seeds can be sown there, that bad ones can be eradicated--that ignorance leads a child to error and crime--that his mental darkness, like a town, can be illuminated--that the judgment (his only weapon against his passions) can, like the blacksmith's arm, by use, be strengthened; and if it be thus universally admitted that education is one of the most valuable properties a rational being can bequeath to his own child, it would seem to follow that a parental government might claim (at least before heaven) nearly as much right to sentence a child to education, as a criminal to the gallows. nevertheless, as a curious example of the difference in national taste, it may be observed, that though in england judges and juries can anywhere be found to condemn the body, they would everywhere be observed to shrink at the very idea of chastening the mind; they see no moral or religious objection to imprison the former, but they all agree that it would be a political offence to liberate the latter. although our poor-laws oblige every parish to feed, house, and clothe its offspring, yet in england it is thought wrong to enforce any national provision for the mind, and yet the duke of nassau might argue, that in a civilized community children have no more natural _right_ to be brought up ignorant than naked; in short, that if the mildest government be justified in forcing a man, for decency's sake, to envelop his body, it might equally claim the power of obliging him, for the welfare, prosperity, and advancement of the community--to develop his mind. into so complicated an argument i feel myself quite incompetent to enter; yet were i at this moment to be leaving this world, there is no one assertion i think i could more solemnly maintain--there is no important fact i am more seriously convinced of--and there is no evidence which, from the observation of my whole life, i could more conscientiously deliver, than that, as far as i have been capable of judging, our system of education in england has produced, does produce, and so long as it be persisted in, must produce, the most lamentable political effects. strange as it may sound, i believe few people will, on reflection, deny, what a most remarkable difference exists between a man and what is termed mankind--in fact, between the intelligence of the human being and that of the species to which he belongs. if a man of common or of the commonest abilities be watched throughout a day, it is quite delightful to remark how cleverly he adapts his conduct to the various trifling unforeseen circumstances which occur--how shrewdly, as through a labyrinth, he pursues his own interests, and with what alacrity he can alter his plans, or, as it is vulgarly termed, change his mind, the instant it becomes advisable for him to do so. appeal to him on any plain subject, and you find him gifted with quick perception, possessed with ready judgment, and with his mind sparkling with intelligence. now, mix a dozen such men together, and intellect instantly begins to coagulate; in short, by addition you have produced subtraction. one man means what he cannot clearly explain--another ably expresses what he did not exactly mean--one, while disputing his neighbour's judgment, neglects his own--another indolently reclines his head upon his neighbour's brain--one does not care to see--another forgets to foresee--in short, though any one pilot could steer the vessel into port, with twelve at the helm she inevitably runs upon the rocks. now, instead of a dozen men, if anything be committed to the care, judgment, or honour of a large body, or, as it is not improperly termed, a "corporation" of men, their torpor, apathy, and sloth are infinitely increased, and when, instead of a corporation, it be left to that nonentity, a whole nation--the total neglect it meets with is beyond all remedy. in short, the individuals of a community, compared with the community itself, are like a swarm of bees compared with bees that have swarmed or clung together in a lump; and as the countryman stands shaking the dull mass from the bough, one can scarcely believe that it is composed of little, active, intelligent, busy creatures, each armed with a sting as well as with knowledge, and arrangements which one can hardly sufficiently admire. if this theory be correct, it will account at once for our unfortunate system of education in england, which, being everybody's duty, is therefore nobody's duty, and which, like "the child whom many fathers share, has never known a father's care." in the evening of a long, toilsome life, if a man were to be obliged solemnly to declare what, without any exception, has been the most lovely thing which on the surface of this earth it has been his good fortune to witness, i conceive that, without hesitation, he might reply--_the mind of a young child_. indeed, if we believe that creation, with all its charms, was beneficently made for man, it seems almost to follow that his mind, that mirror in which every minute object is to be reflected, must be gifted with a polish sufficiently high to enable it to receive the lovely and delicate images created for its enjoyment. accordingly, we observe with what delight a child beholds light--colours--flowers--fruit, and every new object that meets his eye; and we all know that before his judgment be permitted to interfere, for many years he feels, or rather suffers, a thirst for information which is almost insatiable. he desires, and very naturally desires, to know what the moon is?--what are the stars?--where the rain, wind, and storm come from? with innocent simplicity he asks, what becomes of the light of a candle when it is blown out? any story or any history he greedily devours; and so strongly does his youthful mind retain every sort of image impressed upon it, that it is well known his after life is often incapable of obliterating the terror depicted there by an old nurse's tales of ghosts, and hobgoblins of darkness. now with their minds in this pure, healthy, voracious state, the sons of all our noblest families, and of the most estimable people in the country, are, after certain preparations, eventually sent to those slaughter-houses of the understanding, our public schools, where, weaned from the charms of the living world, they are nailed to the study of two dead languages--like galley-slaves, they are chained to these oars, and are actually flogged if they neglect to labour. instead of imbibing knowledge suited to their youthful age, they are made to learn the names of actæon's hounds--to study the life of alexander's horse--to know the fate of alcibiades's dog;--in short, it is too well known that dr. lempriere made _l._ a-year by the sale of a dictionary, in which he had amassed, "for the use of schools," tales and rubbish of this description. the poor boy at last "gets," as it is termed, "into ovid," where he is made to study everything which human ingenuity could invent to sully, degrade, and ruin the mind of a young person. the almighty creator of the universe is caricatured by a set of grotesque personages termed gods and goddesses, so grossly sensual, so inordinately licentious, that were they to-day to appear in london, before sunset they would probably be every one of them where they ought to be--at the tread-mill. the poor boy, however, must pore over all their amours, natural and unnatural;--he must learn the birth, parentage, and education of each, with the biography of their numerous offspring, earthly as well as unearthly. he must study love-letters from the heavens to the earth, and metamorphoses which have almost all some low, impure object. the only geography he learns is "the world known to the ancients." although a member of the first maritime nation on the globe, he learns no nautical science but that possessed by people who scarcely dared to leave their shores; all his knowledge of military life is that childish picture of it which might fairly be entitled "war without gunpowder." but even the little which on these subjects he does learn, is so mixed up with fable, that his mind gets puzzled and debilitated to such a degree, that he becomes actually unable to distinguish truth from falsehood, and when he reads that hannibal melted the alps with vinegar, he does not know whether it be really true or not. in this degraded state, with the energy and curiosity of their young minds blunted--actually nauseating the intellectual food which they had once so naturally desired, a whole batch of boys at the age of about fourteen[ ] are released from their schools to go on board men of war, where they are to strive to become the heroes of their day. they sail from their country ignorant of almost everything that has happened to it since the days of the romans--having been obliged to look upon all the phenomena of nature, as well as the mysteries of art, without explanation, their curiosity for information on such subjects has subsided. they lean against the capstan, but know nothing of its power--they are surrounded by mechanical contrivances of every sort, but understand them no more than they do the stars in the firmament. they steer from one country to another, ignorant of the customs, manners, prejudices, or languages of any; they know nothing of the effect of climate--it requires almost a fever to drive them from the sun; in fact they possess no practical knowledge. the first lesson they learn from adversity is their own guiltless ignorance, and no sooner are they in real danger, than they discover how ill spent has been the time they have devoted to the religion of the heathen--how vain it is in affliction to patter over the names of actæon and his hounds! that in spite of all these disadvantages, a set of high-bred, noble-spirited young men eventually become, as they really do, an honour to their country, is no proof that their early education has not done all in its power to prevent them. but, to return to those we left at our public schools. as these boys rise, they become, as we all know, more and more conversant in the dead languages, until the fatal period arrives, when, proudly laden with these two panniers, they proceed to one of our universities. arriving, for instance, at oxford, they find a splendid high street, magnificently illuminated with gas, filled with handsome shops, traversed by the mail, macadamized, and, like every other part of our great commercial country, beaming with modern intelligence. in this street, however, they are not permitted to reside, but, conducted to the right and left, they meander among mouldering monastic-looking buildings, until they reach the cloisters of the particular college to which they are sentenced to belong. by an ill-judged misnomer, they are from this moment encouraged, even by their preceptors, to call each other _men_; and a _man_ of seventeen, "too tall for school," talks of another _man_ of eighteen, as gravely as i always mention the name of my prototype methusalem. what their studies are, will sufficiently appear from what is required of them, when they come before the public as candidates for their degrees. at this examination, which is to give them, throughout their country, the rank of finished scholars, these self-entitled _men_ are gravely examined first of all in divinity,--and then, as if in scorn of it, almost in the same breath, they descant about the god of this vice, and the god of that; in short, they are obliged to translate any two heathen authors in latin, and any other two in greek, they themselves may select. they are next examined in aristotle's moral philosophy, and their examination, like their education, being now concluded, their minds, being now decreed to be brimfull, they are launched into their respective grades of society, as accomplished, polished men, who have reaped the inestimable advantages of a _good classical education_. but it is not these gentlemen that i presume to ridicule; on the contrary, i firmly believe that the students, who at one time are generally at oxford, are as high-minded, as highly talented, as anxious to improve themselves, as handsome, and, in every sense of the word, as fine a set of lads as can anywhere be met with in a body on the face of the globe. i also know that all our most estimable characters, all the most enlightened men our country has ever produced, have, generally speaking, been members of one of our universities; but, in spite of all this, will any reasonable being seriously maintain that the workmanship has been equal to the materials? i mean, that their education has been equal to themselves? let any one weigh what they have _not_ learnt against what they have, and he will find that the difference is exactly that which exists between creation itself and a satchel of musty books. i own they are skilfully conversant in the latter; i own that they have even deserved prizes for having made verses in imitation of sappho--odes in imitation of horace--epigrams after the model of the anthologia, as well as after the mode of martial; but what has the university taught them of the former? has it even informed them of the discovery of america? has it given them the power of conversing with the peasant of any one nation in europe? has it explained to them any one of the wonderful works of creation? has it taught them a single invention of art? has it shown the young landed proprietor how to measure the smallest field on his estate? has it taught him even the first rudiments of economy? has it explained to him the principle of a common pump? has it fitted him in any way to stand in that distinguished situation which by birth and fortune he is honestly entitled to hold? has it given him any agricultural information, any commercial knowledge, any acquaintance with mankind, or with business of any sort or kind; and, lastly, has it made him modestly sensible of his own ignorance?--or has it, on the contrary, done all in its power to make him feel not only perfectly satisfied with his own acquirements, but contempt for those whose minds are only filled with plain useful knowledge? but it will be proudly argued, "the university has taught him divinity!" in theory, i admit it may have done so; but, in all his terms, has the student practically learnt as much omnipotence as the hurricane could explain to him in five minutes? to teach young lads the simple doctrines of christianity, is it advisable to hide from their minds creation? it is advisable to allow them to remain out of their colleges till midnight? but taking leave of the university, let us, for a moment, consider the political effects of its cramped, short-sighted, narrow-minded system. on quitting their colleges, our young men, instead of being sensible, that although they have read much that is ornamental, their education has scrupulously avoided all that is useful--instead of modestly feeling that they have to make up for lost time, and to fight their way from nothing to distinction like subaltern officers in our army, or like midshipmen in the navy, they have very great reason to consider that, far from being literary vessels, rudely put together, they are launched into society as perfect as a frigate from its dock! with respect to the drudgery of gaining honours, they feel that they already possess them, can _produce_ them, and true enough, they show st class, nd class, and rd class honours, which are as current in the country as the coin of the realm; and, with respect to their education being _imperfect_, by universal consent, it has for centuries been coupled with the most flattering adjectives;--it is termed polite--elegant--accomplished--good--complete--excellent--regular-- classical, &c., &c. in literary creation these young men conceive that they are luminaries, not specks--ornaments, not blemishes! not merely in their own opinions, but by universal consent and acclamation. their political place is undeniably, therefore, the helm, not before the mast; they are to guide, conduct, steer the vessel of the state, not ignobly labour at its oar! accordingly, when they take their places in both houses of parliament, plunging at once into their own native element, they rise up in the immediate presence of noblemen and gentlemen who not only boast of having received exactly the same education as themselves, but who, as youths, have proudly won the self-same honours which they enjoy; and i here very humbly beg leave again to repeat, that because our parliament maintains, and always has maintained, a front rank of men of undaunted resolution, transcendent abilities, brilliant natural genius, and clear, comprehensive, enlightened minds, it does not follow that the system of our public schools and universities must necessarily be practically good. on the contrary, it only proves that human institutions can no more extinguish the native virtue, talent, and integrity of a country, than they can hide from the world the light of the sun; but education can misdirect, though it cannot annihilate; it can give the national mind a hankering for unwholesome instead of wholesome food,--it can encourage a passion for useless instead of useful information. on its course high-bred lads may be trained to race against each other, until the vain object they have strived for can never in after life re-appear, but their blood warms within them. now supposing, for a single moment, that english education be admitted to be as useless and dangerous as i have endeavoured to describe it, let us consider what might naturally be expected to be its practical political effects. in our two houses of parliament, classical eloquence would unavoidably become the order of the day; and classical allusions, when neatly expressed, would always receive that heartfelt cheer which even the oldest among us are unable to withhold from what reminds us of the pleasures and attachments of our early days. thus encouraged, young statesmen would feel their power rather than their inexperience; and, with their minds stored with knowledge declared to possess intrinsic value, they would not be very backward in displaying it. language, rather than matter, would thus become the object of emulation--speeches would swell into orations--and, in this contention and conflict of genius, men of cleverness, ready wit, brilliant imagination, retentive memory, caustic reply, and last, though not least, soundness of constitution, would rise to the surface, far above those who, with much deeper reflection, much heavier sense, more sterling knowledge, and more powerful judgment, were yet found to be wanting in activity in their parts of speech. baffled, therefore, in their laconic attempts to expound their uninteresting, ledger-like, unfashionable opinions, this useful class of men would probably, by silence or otherwise, retire from the unequal contest, which would become more and more of an art, until extraordinary talent was required to carry political questions so plain and simple, that were votes mutely to be given by any set of hum-drum men, there would scarcely be a difference in their opinions. in the midst of this civil war, a young man, scarcely one-and-twenty would be very likely rapidly to rise to be the prime minister of our great commercial country! for although, if this world teaches us any one moral, it is, that youth and inexperience are synonymous; yet when talent only be the palm, surely none have better right to contend for it than the young! seated on the exalted pinnacle which he has most fairly and honourably attained, if not by general acclamation, at least by the applauding voice of the majority, he must, of course, stand against the intellectual tempest which has unnaturally brought a person of his age to the surface. accordingly, by the main strength of his youthful genius, by his admitted superiority of talent, this beardless pilot would probably triumphantly maintain his place at the helm--requiring, however, support from those of his admirers most approaching in eloquence to himself. to obtain the services of some great orator, he would (copying the system of his opponents) be induced to appoint a man, for instance, secretary for the colonies, who on this earth had never reached the limits even of its temperate zone; another, who had not heard a shot fired, or even seen a shell in the air, would, perhaps, be created master-general of our ordnance; in short, talent being the weapon or single-stick of parliament, he would, like others before him, arm himself with it at any cost, and thus reign triumphant. however, without supposing such an extreme case, let us fearlessly recall to mind a miserable fact almost of yesterday. in the fatal year , the british government conceived the purely classical and highly poetical idea of "bringing a new world into existence!" most people will remember with what flowery eloquence the elegant project was laid before parliament, and how loudly and generally it was cheered--the blind were led by the blind--all our senators being equally charmed at the splendid possibility of their thus politically dabbling in creation. the truth or moral, however, came upon us at last, like the simmoon upon the traveller who ignorantly ventures on the deserts of africa. the country almost foundered, and though she has, to a certain degree, recovered from the shock, yet thousands of widows, orphans, and people of small incomes, are to this day, in indigence and sorrow, secretly lamenting the hour in which the high-flown parliamentary project was disseminated. the charity, pater-noster system of education pursued to this day at our universities and public schools has produced other historical facts, which it is now equally out of our power to obliterate, atone for, or deny. for instance, we all know that in five years charles ii. touched , of his subjects for the evil;--that our bishops invented (just as ovid wrote his "metamorphoses") a sort of heathen service for the occasion;--that the unchristianlike, superstitious ceremony was performed in public; and that as soon as prayers were ended, we are told, "_the duke of buckingham brought a towel, and the earl of pembroke a basin and ewer, who, after they had made obeisance to his majesty, kneeled down till his majesty had washed._" again, everybody knows that amy drury and her daughter, eleven years of age, were tried before "the great and good sir matthew hale," then lord chief baron, for witchcraft, and were convicted and executed at bury st. edmund's, principally on the evidence of sir thomas brown, one of the first physicians and scholars of his day: also that dr. wiseman, an eminent surgeon of that period, in writing on scrofula, says--"_however, i must needs profess that his majesty (charles ii.) cureth more in any one year than all the chirurgeons of london have done in an age._" the above degrading facts are moral tragedies, which were not acted in a dark corner, by a few obscure strolling individuals--not even by any great political faction,--but the audience was the british nation--the performers the king on his throne, the bishops, the nobility, the judges, the physicians, the philosophers of the day. in short, theory and practice, hand in hand, both prove to the whole world the double error in our system of education. says theory--if young people, instead of being taught to look at the ground under their feet, at the heavens above their head, or at creation around them, are forced by the rod to study events that never happened, speeches that never were made, metamorphoses that never took place, forms of worship and creeds ridiculous and impious, such a nation must inevitably grow up narrow-minded, ignorant, superstitious, and cruel. says practice--this prophecy has been most fatally fulfilled; and accordingly, in england, people _have_ believed in witchcraft--_have_ put savage faith in the king's touch,--and, under the name of a mild and merciful religion, they _have_ burnt each other to ashes at the stake! the mute steadiness of british troops under fire,--the total want of bluster or bravado in our naval actions, where, as we all know, "there is silence deep as death, and the boldest holds his breath for a time,"-- the laconic manner in which business all over england is transacted (millions being exchanged with little more than a nod of assent); in short, our national respect for silent conduct, form a most extraordinary contrast with the flatulent eloquence of our parliamentary debates. but to return to our houses of parliament: shall we now proceed to calculate what would be the expense of such a system of government or misgovernment as that which has just been shown to have proceeded, not from the imbecility of individuals, but from the system of false education maintained by our public schools and universities? no! no! for the history of our country has already solved this great problem, and, at this moment, does it record to our posterity, as well as to the whole world, that the expense of a great mercantile nation, looking behind it instead of before it--the price of its statesmen studying ancient poets instead of modern discoveries--of mistaking the "orbis veteribus cognitus" for the figure of the earth, amounts to neither more nor less than a national debt of eight hundred millions of english pounds sterling! in short, economy having fatally been classed at our universities among the vulgar arts, the current expenses of our statesmen have naturally enough been ordered to be put down to their children, just as their college bills were carelessly ordered to be forwarded to their fathers. however, so long as a nation is _willing_ to purchase at the above enormous, or at any still greater price, the luxury of reading greek and latin poetry, the misfortune at first appears to be only pecuniary; and it might almost further be argued, that a nation, like an individual, ought to be allowed to spend its money according to its own whim or fancy; but, though this may or may not be true so far as our money be concerned, yet there is an event which must arrive, and in england this event has just arrived, when a continuance of such a mode of education must inevitably destroy our church, aristocracy, funds; in short, every thing which a well-disposed mind loves, venerates, and is desirous to uphold. the fearful event to which i allude, is that of the lower classes of people becoming enlightened. in spite of all that party spirit angrily asserts to the contrary, most firmly do i believe that there does not exist, in england, any revolutionary spirit worth being afraid of. in a rich commercial country, the idle, the profligate, and the worthless will always be anxious to level the well-earned honours, as well as plunder the wealth amassed by the brave, intelligent, and industrious; but every respectable member of society, with the coolness of judgment natural to our country, must feel that he possesses a stake, and enjoys advantages which i firmly believe he is desirous to maintain; in fact, not only the good feeling, but the good sense of the country, support the fabric of our society, which we all know, like the army, derives its spirit from possessing various honours (never mind whether they be of intrinsic value or not) which we are all more or less desirous to obtain. but if those who wear these honours degrade themselves--if our upper classes culpably desert their own standards--if they shall continue to insist on giving to their children an elegant, useless education, while the tradesman is filling his son with steady useful knowledge--if our aristocracy, with the goule's horrid taste, _will_ obstinately feed itself on dead languages, while the lower classes are healthily digesting fresh wholesome food--if writing, arithmetic, modern geography, arts, sciences, and discoveries of all sorts are to continue (as they hitherto have been) to be most barbarously disregarded at our public schools and universities, while they are carefully attended to and studied by the poor--the moment must arrive when the dense population of our country will declare that they can no longer afford to be governed by classical statesmen; and, with an equally honest feeling, they will further declare, they begin to find it difficult to look up to people who have ceased to be morally their superiors. that the lower orders of people in england are rising not only in their own estimation, but in the honest opinion of the world, is proved by the singular fact, that the wood-cuts of our _penny magazine_ (so rapidly printed by one of clowes's great steam-presses) are sent, in stereotype, to germany, france, and belgium, where they are published, as with us, for the instruction of the lower classes. the same magazine is also sent to america (page for page) stereotyped. the common people of england are thus proudly disseminating their knowledge over the surface of the globe, while our upper classes, by an infatuation which, without any exception, is the greatest phenomenon in the civilized world, are still sentencing their children to heathen, obscene, and useless instruction; and, though it has beneficently been decreed "let there be light!" our universities seriously maintain that the religious as well as moral welfare of this noble country depends upon its continuing in intellectual darkness. it is now much too late in the day to argue whether the education of the lower classes be a political advantage or not. one might as well stand on the manchester rail-road to stop its train, as to endeavour to prevent that. the people, whether we like it or not, will be enlightened; and, therefore, without bewailing the disorder, our simple and only remedy is, by resolutely breaking up the system of our public schools and universities, to show the people that we have nobly determined to become enlightened too. the english gentleman (a name which, in the army, navy, hunting-field, or in any other strife or contention, has always shown itself able to beat men of low birth) will then hold his ground in the estimation of his tenants, and continue to inhabit his estate. the english nobleman, and the noble englishman, will continue to be synonymous--a well-educated clergy will continue to be revered--the throne, as it hitherto has been, will be loyally supported--our mercantile honour will be saved--the hopes of the radical will be irretrievably ruined--and when the misty danger at which we now tremble has brightened into intellectual sunshine, remaining, as we must do (as long as we continue to be the most industrious), the wealthiest and first commercial nation on the globe, we shall remember, and history will transmit to our children, that old-fashioned prophecy of faulconbridge, which so truly says, "nought shall make us rue, if england to itself do rest but true." * * * * * i had retired to rest much pleased with schlangenbad and all that belonged to it, when about midnight i was awakened by a general slamming of doors, windows, and shutters, occasioned by a most violent gale of wind, and on opening my eyes, the bright moonlight scene, which, without even moving my head, i beheld, was mysteriously grand and imposing. although the moon, which had just risen, was as i lay not discernible through my windows, yet its silvery light beamed so strongly that the two little white-washed mill-cottages in the valley seemed to be even brighter than i had observed them during the day. but what particularly attracted my attention was the apparent writhing of those great hills which, as if they had only just been rent asunder, hemmed me in. every tree on them was bending and waving from the violence of the squall, and as cloud after cloud rapidly hurried across the moon, sometimes, obscuring and then suddenly restoring to my view the strange prospect, the uncertainty of this undulating movement gave a supernatural appearance to the scene, which more resembled the fiction of a dream, or of a romance, than any possible effect of wind on trees. the clean, glistening foliage seemed scarcely able to stand against the gale, which still continued to increase, until a loud peal of thunder, followed by a few heavy drops, announced a calm, which was no sooner established, than the light of the moon appeared to be converted by nature into a heavy deluge of rain. for some few moments, i listened, i believe, to the refreshing sound, and to the rushing of the stream beneath me; but as the darkness around me increased, my eyes closed, and i again dropped off to sleep. the little society of schlangenbad, like that of most of the towns and villages in this part of germany, is composed of lutherans, catholics, and jews. the two former sects have each a place of worship allotted to them in the old bad-haus or nassauer-hof, and their two chambers, standing nearly opposite to each other, remind me very strongly of those twin-roads which in england often lead from one little country town to another. on each is the stranger invited to travel--one boasts that it is the nearest by half a quarter of a mile, the other brags that "it avoids the hill." such is the distinction between the two christian sects at schlangenbad;--both start from the same point--both strain for the same goal, and yet they querulously refuse to travel together. after having spent two or three days in rambling up and down the valley, searching for and admiring its sequestered beauties, like rasselas, i felt anxious to scale the mountains which surrounded me, and accordingly inquired for a path, which, i was told, would extricate me from my happy valley; however, after i had continued on it some way, fancying i could attain the summit by a shorter cut, i attempted to ascend the mountain by a straight course. for some time i appeared to succeed pretty well, feeling every moment encouraged at observing how high i had risen above the grassy valley beneath; however, the mountain grew steeper, and the trees thicker and larger, until i began to find that i had a much heavier job on my hands than i had bargained for; nevertheless, upwards i proceeded, winding my way through some magnificent oak timber, until at last i attained actually the top of the mountain: yet so surrounded was i by trees, that, very much to my disappointment, i found it impossible to see ten yards before me. for a considerable distance i walked along the ridge, hoping to find some gap or open spot which would enable me to get a glimpse of the country beneath me, but in vain,--for, go where i would, i was like a reptile crawling through a field of standing corn; in short, nothing could i see but trees, and even they appeared to be of no value, as a great number of stately oaks were in every direction rotting just as if they were beyond the reach and ken of mankind. as i was winding between these timber trees, hoping, at least, to see deer or wild game of some sort, it began to rain, and though i had no disposition, on that account, to abandon my object, yet absolutely not knowing where to seek it, i was almost in despair, when it occurred to me to climb one of the trees; and the idea had no sooner entered my head, than i felt quite angry with myself for not having thought of it before: however, i was some little time before i could find one to suit, for to swarm up the huge body of any of the great oaks would have been quite impossible. as soon as i found a tree adapted to my purpose and my age, i climbed it in spite of the rain, and i was no sooner in the position of king charles the second, than i witnessed one of the most splendid views that can be well conceived. beneath me was the rhine, glistening and meandering in its course, while nearly opposite and beneath me lay bingen, which appeared to be basking on the banks of a lake. almost every one who has travelled on the rhine speaks in raptures of this part of it, yet the view i enjoyed, seated on the limb of my tree, was altogether superior to what they could have witnessed, because at one view i beheld the beauties which they had only successively admired. the hills on which i was placed were clothed to their summits with foliage, feathering down to the very water's edge; and instead of the little portion of the river, which, as one niggles along, is seen bit by bit from the steam-boat, its whole course seemed to be displaying itself to my view. the opposite shore was comparatively flat, and as far as i could see, a boundless fertile wine country appeared to extend there. the shower, which was still falling in heavy drops upon my tree, only belonged to the mountain on which it stood, for the whole country and river beneath were basking in sunshine. it was really delightful to enjoy at once the sight of so many beautiful objects, and i hardly knew whether to admire most the lovely little islands which seemed floating at anchor in the rhine, or the vast expanse of continent which was prostrate before me; but without continuing the description, any one who will only look in his map for bingen, and then imagine an old man seated in the clouds above it, will perceive what a salient angle i occupied, and what a magnificent prospect i enjoyed. as soon as i had imbibed a sufficient dose of it, i commenced my descent, which was of course easy enough when compared with the fatigue i had suffered in attaining the object. the trees were dripping, and the mossy surface of the ground made my feet equally wet; however, rapidly descending, i soon got first a glimpse of my own window in the new bad-haus, then a peep of the little quiet mills whose wheels i saw slowly turning under the clear bright water that sparkled above them; and really when i at last got down to the green secluded valley of schlangenbad, i felt that i would not exchange its peaceful tranquillity for the possession of all the splendid objects i had just witnessed. yet in viewing this humble scene, as well as in revelling over that magnificent prospect where space and wood seemed to be infinite, the very air smelling of health and freedom, there was a small feature in the picture which gave me very painful reflections. there are perhaps many who will say, that two or three peasants' roofs are specks, which (whatever sad secrets may lie hidden beneath them) ought not to disturb the mind of the spectator, being objects much too insignificant to be worthy of his notice; yet the more i observed the splendour of the mountain scenery,--the more the verdant valley seemed to rejoice,--the more the wild deer, dashing by me, appeared to enjoy the gifts of creation,--the more difficult did i find it to forget the abject poverty of the two or three poor families which were inhabiting this smiling valley; and (on the principle of not muzzling the ox that treadeth out the corn) it certainly did seem to me hard, that, surrounded as these poor people are by an almost boundless forest of timber trees, quantities of which, stag-headed, are actually returning to the dust from which they sprung, they should by the laws of their country be rigidly forbidden to collect fuel to cheer the inclemency of the winter, or even with their fingers to tear up a little wild grass beneath the trees for their cow. considering that the storm, like the wind, cometh where it listeth, afflicting the poor man even more than the well-sheltered rich one, it seems hard, in districts so nearly uninhabited, that when the oak tree is levelled with the ground, the mountain peasant who has weathered the gale should be prevented from plundering this wreck of the desolate forest in which he has been born. nevertheless, that such is the case, will be but too evident from the following short extracts from a very long list of forest penalties, rigidly enforced by the duke of nassau:-- forest penalties. fine. for a load of sear wood { a child kreuzers. { grown-up person do. if it be green wood, the fine is doubled. for a load of dead leaves { a child to kreuzers. { grown-up person to . for a load of green grass torn {a child do. up by the hand {grown-up person do. should a sickle or scythe be used, the fine then becomes doubled; likewise for a second trespass: for a third, imprisonment ensues. it is against the duke's laws to take birds' nests; even those of birds of prey cannot be taken without the permission of the keeper of the forests. for a nest taken of common singing-birds, florins. for nightingales do. should the nest be taken out of a pleasure-ground, the fine then becomes doubled. it may appear to many people quite impossible that these penalties can be enforced in desolate districts so nearly uninhabited: nevertheless, by a sort of diamond-cut-diamond system, the duke's forest officers have various cunning ways of detecting those who infringe them, and the fact is that fuel and wild grass are very often wanting in a solitary hovel absolutely environed by both. i myself was one day told that i had become liable to be fined eighteen kreuzers, because in a reverie i had allowed a rough pony i was riding to bend his head down and eat a few mouthfuls of grass; and another day, seeing a man who was driving the ass i was riding rub with mud the end of a switch he had just cut, i was told by him, in answer to my inquiry, that he did so in order that it might not be proved he had _cut_ it. however, lest these trifling data should not be deemed sufficient proof, i will at once add, that i have myself seen the peasants lying in the duke's prison for having offended against these petty laws. i took some pains to inquire what possible objection there could be to the poor people collecting a few dead leaves, or the rank wild grass which grows here and there all over the forest, and i was told that both of these by rotting are supposed to manure the trees, yet, as i have already stated, quantities of the largest timber are to be seen decaying in every direction. in a crowded, populous country, all descriptions of property must be clearly distinguished and most sternly protected; but in a state of nature, or in districts so nearly approaching to it as many parts of nassau, the same rule is not applicable--the same necessity does not exist; and under such circumstances, the punishment inflicted upon a child for tearing up wild grass with his hands most certainly is (and who can deny it?) greater than the offence. it is with no hostile or bad feeling towards the duke of nassau that i mention these details: he is a personage much beloved in his duchy, and i believe with great reason is he respected there; yet his forest laws no one surely can admire; and though custom certainly has sanctioned them,--though the humble voice of those who have suffered under them has hitherto been too feeble to reach his ears,--and though those about his court and person are but little disposed to awaken his attention to such mean complaints,--yet no one can calmly see and foresee the state of political feeling in germany without admitting that the most humble traveller (and why not an english one?) may render the duke of nassau a friendly service, by bringing into daylight, unveiled by flattery, an act of oppression in his government, which, while it has most probably escaped his attention, is seditiously hoarded up by his political enemies to form part of that fulcrum which they are secretly working at, in order to effect by it, if possible, his downfall. a grievance, like a wound, often only requires to be laid open to be cured; whereas if, deeply seated, it be concealed from view, like gunpowder imbedded in a rock, when once the spark _does_ reach it, it explodes with a violence proportionate to the power which would vainly have attempted to smother it in the earth. nieder-selters. having in various countries drunk so much and heard so much of the celebrated refreshing selters or selzer water, i determined one lovely morning to exchange the pleasure of rambling about the woods of schlangenbad for the self-imposed duty of visiting the brunnen of nieder-selters: accordingly, i managed to procure a carriage, and with three post-horses away i trotted, sitting as upright and as full of exuberant enjoyment as our great departed lexicographer in his hack chaise. the macadamized road on which i travelled, with the sight of men and boys sitting by its side, spitefully cracking with slight hammers little stones upon flat big ones, might easily have reminded me of old england; but five women, each carrying on her head sixteen large stone bottles of schlangenbad water to wash the faces of the ladies of schwalbach--the dress of three peasants with long pipes in their mouths--a little cart drawn by two cows--the prince of saxe cobourg in a rough carriage pulled by horses without blinkers and in rope harness--an immense mastiff, driving before him to be slaughtered a calf not a week old, and scarcely as high as himself--all these trifling incidents, combined with the magnificent outline of wooded hills which towered above the road, constantly reminded me that i was still under the political roof and in the dominions of "the duke." on arriving at schwalbach, i learned that the remainder of the journey, which was to occupy six hours, was to be performed on roads which, in the english language, are termed so very properly "cross." accordingly, passing under the great barren hill appropriated to the schwein-general of langen-schwalbach, we followed for some time the course of a green grassy valley, the herbage of which had just been cut for the second time; and then getting into a country much afflicted with hills, the horses were either straining to ascend them, or suffering equally severely in the descent. in many places the road was hardly as broad as the carriage, and as there was generally a precipice on one side, i might occasionally have felt a little nervous, had it not been for sundry jolts, happily just violent enough to prevent the mind thinking of anything else. passing the eisenhammer, a water-mill lifting an immense hammer, which forges iron by its fall (a lion which the water-drinkers of schwalbach generally visit), i proceeded through the village of neuhof to würges, where we changed horses and, what was still more important, bartered an old postilion for a young one. for a considerable time our road ascended, passing through woods and park-like plantations belonging to the duke of nassau's hunting-seat "die platte;" at last we broke away from these coverts which had environed us, traversing a vast undulating unenclosed country, furrowed by ravines and deep valleys, many of which we descended and ascended. the principal crops were potatoes, barley, oats, rye, and wheat,--the three former being perfectly green, the two latter completely ripe; and as it happened, from some reason or other, that these sets of crops were generally sown on the same sort of land, it constantly occurred that the entire produce of some hills wore the green dress of spring, while other eminences were as wholly clothed in the rich dusky garments of autumn. the harvest, however, not having commenced, and the villages being, generally speaking, hidden in the ravines, the crops often seemed to be without owners. descending, however, into valleys, we occasionally passed through several very large villages, which were generally paved, or rather studded with paving-stones; and as the carriage-wheels hopped from one to another, the sensation (being still too fresh in my memory) i had rather decline to describe: suffice it to say, that the painful excitation vividly expressed in my countenance must have formed an odd contrast with the dull, heavy, half-asleep faces, which, as if raised from the grave by the rattling of my springs as well as joints, just showed themselves at the windows, as if to scare me as i passed. from poverty, their thin mountain air and meagre food, the inhabitants of all these villages looked dreadfully wan, and really there was a want of animation among the young people, as well as the old, which it was quite distressing to witness; the streets seemed nearly deserted, while the mud houses, with their unpainted windows, appeared to be as dry and cheerless as their inmates; here and there were to be seen children, with hair resembling in colour and disorder a bunch of flax--but no youthful merriment, no playfulness--in short, they were evidently sapless chips off the old wooden blocks which were still gaping at me from the window-frames. at one of these solemn villages the postilion stopped at a "gasthaus" to bait his horses. odd as it may sound, it is nevertheless true, that german post-horses have seldom what we should term bridles. snaffle-bits, ending with ts instead of rings, being put into their mouths, are hooked (by these ts) to iron billets in the head-pieces of common stable-halters, by which arrangement, to feed the animals, it is only necessary, without taking them from the carriage, to unhook one end of the bits, which immediately fall from their mouths; a slight trough, on four legs, is then placed before them, and the traveller generally continues, as i did, to sit in his carriage watching the horses voraciously eating up slices of black rye bread. in england, there is no surer recipe known for making a pair of horses suddenly run away with one's carriage, than by taking off their blinkers to allow them to see it; but though our method decidedly suits us the best, yet in germany the whole system of managing horses from beginning to end is completely different from ours. whether there is most of the horse in a german, or of the german in a horse, is a nice point on which people might argue a great deal; but the broad fact really is, that germans live on more amicable terms with their horses, and understand their dispositions infinitely better, than the english: in short, they treat them as horses, while we act towards them, and drill them, as if they were men; and in case any one should doubt that germans are better horsemasters than we are, i beg to remind them of what is perfectly well known to the british army--namely, that in the peninsular war the cavalry horses of the german legion were absolutely fat, while those of our regiments were skin and bone. in a former chapter i have already endeavoured to explain, that instead of reining a horse's head _up_, as we do, for draught, the germans encourage the animal to keep it _down_; but besides this, in all their other arrangements they invariably attend to the temper, character, and instinct of the beast. for instance, in harness, they intrust these sensible animals (who are never known to forget what they have once seen) with the free use of their eyes. their horses see the wheel strike a stone, and they avoid the next one; if they drag the carriage against a post, they again observe the effect; and seeing at all times what is behind them, they know that by kicking they would hurt themselves: when passengers and postilion dismount, from attentive observation, they are as sensible as we are that the draught will suddenly become less, and, consequently, rejoicing at being thus left to themselves, instead of wishing to run away, they invariably are rather disposed to stand still. as soon as, getting tired, or, as we are often too apt to term it, "lazy," they see the postilion threaten them with his whip, they know perfectly well the limits of his patience, and that after eight, ten, or twelve threats, there will come a blow: as they travel along, one eye is always shrewdly watching the driver--the moment he begins the heavy operation of lighting his pipe, they immediately slacken their pace, knowing, as well as archimedes could have proved, that he cannot strike fire and them at the same time: every movement in the carriage they remark; and to any accurate observer who meets a german vehicle, it must often be perfectly evident that the poor horses know and feel, even better than himself, that they are drawing a coachman, and three heavy baronesses with their maid, and that to do that on a hot summer's day is--no joke. when their driver urges them to proceed, he does it by degrees; and they are stopped, not as bipeds, but in the manner quadrupeds would stop themselves. now, though we all like our own way best, let us for a moment (merely while the horses are feeding) contrast with the above description our english mode of treating a horse. in order to break in the animal to draught, we put a collar round his neck, a crupper under his tail, a pad on his back, a strap round his belly, with traces at his sides, and lest he should see that though these things tickle and pinch, they have not power to do more, the poor intelligent creature is blinded with blinkers; and in this fearful state of ignorance, with a groom or two at his head and another at his side, he is, without his knowledge, fixed to the pole and splinter-bar of a carriage. if he kicks, even at a fly, he suddenly receives a heavy punishment, which he does not comprehend--something has struck him, and has hurt him severely; but, as fear magnifies all danger, so, for aught we know or care, he may fancy that the splinter-bar, which has cut him, is some hostile animal, and expect, when the pole bumps against his legs, to be again assailed in that direction. admitting that in time he gets accustomed to these phenomena, becoming, what we term, steady in harness, still, to the last hour of his existence, he does not clearly understand what it is that is hampering him, or what is that rattling noise which is always at his heels: the sudden sting of the whip is a pain with which he gets but too well acquainted, yet the "_unde derivatur_" of the sensation he cannot explain--he neither knows when it is coming, nor where it comes from. if any trifling accident, or even irregularity, occurs--if any little harmless strap, which ought to rest upon his back, happens to fall to his side--the poor, noble, intelligent animal, deprived of his eyesight, the natural lanterns of the mind, is instantly alarmed; and though, from constant heavy draught, he may literally, without metaphor, be on his last legs, yet if his blinkers should happen to fall off, the sight of his own master--of his very own pimple-faced mistress--and of his own fine yellow carriage in motion--would scare him so dreadfully, that off he would probably start, and the more they all pursued him the faster would he fly! i am aware that many of my readers, especially those of the fairer sex, will feel disposed to exclaim--why admire german horses? can there be any in creation better fed or warmer clothed than our own? in black and silver harness are they not ornamented nearly as highly as ourselves? is there any amusement in town which they do not attend? do we not take them to the italian opera, to balls, plays, to hear paganini, &c.; and don't they often go to two or three routs of a night? are our horses ever seen standing before vulgar shops? and do they not drive to church every sunday as regularly as ourselves? most humbly do i admit the force of these observations; all i persist in asserting is, that horses are foolishly fond of their eyesight--like to wear their heads awkwardly, as nature has placed them; and that they have bad taste enough to prefer dull german grooms and coachmen to our sharp english ones. as soon as my horses had finished their black bread, all my idle speculations concerning them vanished; the snaffle-bits were put into their mouths--the trough removed--and on we proceeded to a village where we again changed. the features of the country now began to grow larger than ever; and though crops, green and brown, were, as far as the eye could reach, gently waving around me, yet the want of habitations, plantations, and fences gave to the extensive prospect an air of desolation: the picture was perhaps grand, but it wanted foreground; however, this deficiency was soon most delightfully supplied by the identical object i was in search of--namely, the brunnen and establishment of nieder-selters, which suddenly appeared on the road-side close before me, scarcely a quarter of a mile from its village. the moment i entered the great gate of the enclosure which, surrounded by a high stone wall, occupies about eight acres of ground, so strange a scene presented itself suddenly to my view, that my first impression was, i had discovered a new world inhabited by brown stone bottles; for in all directions were they to be seen rapidly moving from one part of the establishment to another--standing actually in armies on the ground, or piled in immense layers or strata one above another. such a profusion and such a confusion of bottles it had never entered human imagination to conceive; and, before i could bring my eyes to stoop to detail, with uplifted hands i stood for several seconds in utter amazement. on approaching a large circular shed, covered with a slated roof, supported by posts, but open on all sides, i found the single brunnen or well from which this highly celebrated water is forwarded to almost every quarter of the globe--to india, the west indies, the mediterranean, paris, london, and to almost every city in germany. the hole, which was about five feet square, was bounded by a framework of four strong beams mortised together; and the bottom of the shed being boarded, it very much resembled, both in shape and dimensions, one of the hatches in the deck of a ship. a small crane with three arms, to each of which there was suspended a square iron crate or basket, a little smaller than the brunnen, stood about ten feet off; and while peasant girls, with a stone bottle (holding three pints) dangling on every finger of each hand, were rapidly filling two of these crates, which contained seventy bottles, a man turned the third by a winch, until it hung immediately over the brunnen, into which it then rapidly descended. the air in these seventy bottles being immediately displaced by the water, a great bubbling of course ensued; but, in about twenty seconds, this having subsided, the crate was raised; and, while seventy more bottles descended from another arm of the crane, a fresh set of girls curiously carried off these full bottles, one on each finger of each hand, ranging them in several long rows upon a large table or dresser,--also beneath the shed. no sooner were they there, than two men, with surprising activity, put a cork into each; while two drummers, with a long stick in each of their hands hammering them down, appeared as if they were playing upon musical glasses. another set of young women now instantly carried them off, four and five in each hand, to men who, with sharp knives, sliced off the projecting part of the cork; and this operation being over, the poor jaded bottles were delivered over to women, each of whom actually covered of them a day with white leather, which they firmly bound with packthread round the corks; and then, without placing the bottles on the ground, they delivered them over to a man seated beside them, who, without any apology, dipped each of their noses into boiling hot rosin; and, before they had recovered from this operation, the duke of nassau's seal was stamped upon them by another man, when off they were hurried, sixteen and twenty at a time, by girls to magazines, where they peacefully remained ready for exportation. although this series of operations, when related one after another, may sound simple enough, yet it must be kept in mind that all were performed at once; and when it is considered that a three-armed crane was drawing up bottles seventy at a time, from three o'clock in the morning till seven o'clock at night (meal hours excepted), it is evident that, without very excellent arrangement, some of the squads either would be glutted with more work than they could perform, or would stand idle with nothing to do:--no one, therefore, dares to hurry or stop; the machinery, in full motion, has the singular appearance which i have endeavoured to describe; and certainly, the motto of the place might be that of old goethe's ring-- "ohne hast, ohne rast." having followed a set of bottles from the brunnen to the store, where i left them resting from their labours, i strolled to another part of the establishment, where were empty bottles calmly waiting for their turn to be filled. i here counted twenty-five bins of bottles, each four yards broad, six yards deep, and eight feet high. a number of young girls were carrying thirty-four of them at a time on their heads to an immense trough, which was kept constantly full by a large fountain pipe of beautiful clear fresh water. the bottles on arriving here were filled brimful (as i conceived for the purpose of being washed), and were then ranged in ranks, or rather solid columns, of seven hundred each, there being ten rows of seventy bottles. it being now seven o'clock, a bell rung as a signal for giving over work, and the whole process came suddenly to an end: for a few seconds, the busy labourers (as in a disturbed ant-heap) were seen irregularly hurrying in every direction: but in a very short time, all had vanished. for a few minutes i ruminated in solitude about the premises, and then set out to take up my abode for the night at the village, or rather town, of nieder-selters: however, i had no sooner, as i vainly thought, bidden adieu to bottles, than i saw, like birnam wood coming to dunsinane, bottles approaching me in every possible variety of attitude. it appears that all the inhabitants of nieder-selters are in the habit of drinking in their houses this refreshing water; but as the brunnen is in requisition by the duke all day long, it is only before or after work that a private supply can be obtained: no sooner, therefore, does the evening bell ring, than every child in the village is driven out of its house to take empty bottles to the brunnen; and it was this singular-looking legion which was now approaching me. the children really looked as if they were made of bottles; some wore a pyramid of them in baskets on their heads--some were laden with them hanging over their shoulders before and behind--some carried them strapped round their middle--all had their hands full; and little urchins that could scarcely walk were advancing, each hugging in its arms one single bottle. in fact, at nieder-selters, "an infant" means a being totally unable to carry a bottle, puberty and manhood are proved by bottles; a strong man brags of the number he can carry; and a superannuation means a being no longer able in this world to bear .... bottles. the road to the brunnen is actually strewed with fragments, and so are the ditches; and when the reader is informed that, besides all he has so patiently heard, bottles are not only expended and exported, but actually are _made_ at nieder-selters, he must admit that no writer can possibly do justice to that place unless every line of his description contains, at least once, the word .... bottle. the moralists of nieder-selters preach on bottles. life, they say, is a sound bottle, and death a cracked one--thoughtless men are empty bottles--drunken men are leaky ones; and a man highly educated, fit to appear in any country and in any society, is, of course, a bottle corked, rosined, and stamped with the seal of the duke of nassau. as soon as i reached the village inn, i found there all the slight accommodation i required: a tolerable dinner soon smoked on the table before me; and, feeling that i had seen quite enough for one day of brown stone bottles, i ventured to order (merely for a change) a long-necked glass one of a vegetable fluid superior to all the mineral water in the world. the following morning, previous to returning to the brunnen, i strolled for some time about the village; and the best analysis i can offer of the selters water is the plain fact, that the inhabitants of the village, who have drunk it all their lives, are certainly, by many degrees, the healthiest and ruddiest looking peasants i have anywhere met with in the dominions of the duke of nassau. this day being a festival, on reaching the brunnen at eleven o'clock i found it entirely deserted--no human being was to be seen: all had been working from three o'clock in the morning till nine, but they were now at church, and were not to return to their labour till twelve. i had, therefore, the whole establishment to myself; and going to the famous brunnen, my first object was to taste its water. on drinking it fresh from the source, i observed that it possessed a strong chalybeate taste, which i had never perceived in receiving it from the bottle. the three iron crates suspended to the arms of the crane were empty, and there was nothing at all upon the wooden dressers which, the evening before, i had seen so busily crowded and surrounded: in the middle of the great square were the stools on which the several cork-covering women had sat; while, at some distance to the left, were the solid columns or regiments of uncorked bottles, which i had seen filled brimful with pure crystal water the evening before. on approaching this brown looking army, i was exceedingly surprised at observing from a distance that several of the bottles were noseless, and i was wondering why such should ever have been filled, when, on getting close to these troops, i perceived, to my utter astonishment, that not only about one-third of them were in the same mutilated state, but that their noses were calmly lying by their sides, supported by the adjoining bottles! what could possibly have been the cause of the fatal disaster which in one single night had so dreadfully disfigured them, i was totally at a loss to imagine: the devastation which had taken place resembled the riddling of an infantry regiment under a heavy fire; yet few of our troops, even at waterloo, lost so great a proportion of their men as had fallen in twelve hours among these immovable phalanxes of bottles. had they been corked, one might have supposed that they had exploded, but why nothing but their noses had suffered i really felt quite incompetent to explain. as it is always better honestly to confess one's ignorance, rather than exist under its torture, with a firm step i walked to the door of the governor of the brunnen; and sending up to him a card, bearing the name under which i travelled, he instantly appeared, politely assuring me that he should have much pleasure in affording any information i desired. instantly pointing to the noseless soldiers, my instructor was good enough to inform me, that bottles in vast numbers being supplied to the duke from various manufactories, in order to prove them, they are filled brimful (as i had seen them) with water, and being left in that state for the night, they are the next morning visited by an officer of the duke, whose wand of office is a thin, long-handled, little hammer, which at the moment happened to be lying before us on the ground. it appears that the two prevailing sins to which stone bottles are prone, are having cracks, and being porous, in either of which cases they, of course, in twelve hours, leak a little. the duke's officer, who is judge and jury in his own _court_-yard, carries his own sentences into execution with a rapidity which even our lord chancellor himself can only hope eventually to imitate. glancing his hawk-like eye along each line, the instant he sees a bottle not brimful, without listening to long-winded arguments, he at once decides "that there can be no mistake--that there shall be no mistake;" and thus at one blow or tap of the hammer, off goes the culprit's nose. "so much for buckingham!" feeling quite relieved by this solution of the mystery, i troubled the governor with a few questions, to reply to which he very kindly conducted me to his counting-house, where, in the most liberal and gentlemanlike manner, he gave me all the data i required. the following, which i extracted from the daybook, is a statement showing the number of bottles which were filled for exportation during the year , with the proportionate number filled during each month. large. small. january, february , , march , , april , , may , , june , , july , , august , , september , , october , , november , december --------- ------- , , , besides the above, there is a private consumption, amounting, on an average, to very nearly half a million of bottles per annum. it will, i hope, be recollected that by the time a bottle is sealed it has undergone fifteen operations, all performed by different people. the duke, in his payments, does not enter into these details, but, delivering his own bottles, he gives   / kreuzers (nearly sixpence) for every hundred, large or small, which are placed, filled, in his magazines. the peasants, therefore, either share their labour and profits among themselves, or the whole of the operations are occasionally performed by the different members of one family; but so much activity is required in constantly stooping and carrying off the bottles, that this work is principally performed by young women of eighteen or nineteen, assembled from all the neighbouring villages; and who, by working from three in the morning till seven at night, can gain a florin a day, or florins a month, sunday (excepting during prayers) not being, i am sorry to say, at nieder-selters, a day of rest. for the bottles themselves the duke pays   / florins per cent. for the large ones, and florins per cent. for the small ones. the large bottles, when full, he sells at the brunnen for florins a hundred. his profit, last year, deducting all expenses, appeared to be, as nearly as possible, , florins; and yet, this brunnen was originally sold to the duke's ancestor for a single butt of wine! on coming out of the office, the establishment was all alive again, and the peasants being in their sunday clothes, the picture was highly coloured. young women in groups of four and five, with little white or red caps perched on the tops of their heads, from which streamed three or four broad ribands, of different colours, denoting the villages they proceeded from, in various directions, singing as they went, were walking together, heavily laden with bottles. they were dressed in blue petticoats, clean white shifts tucked up above the elbows, with coloured stays laced, or rather half unlaced, in front. old women, covering the corks with leather, in similar costume, but in colours less gaudy, were displaying an activity much more vigorous than their period of life. across this party-coloured, well-arranged system, which was as regular in its movements as the planets in their orbits, an officer of the duke, like a comet, occasionally darted from the office to the brunnen, or from the tiers of empty bottles which had not yet been proved, to the magazine of full ones ready to embark on their travels. in quitting the premises, as i passed the regiments of bottles, an operation was proceeding which i had not before witnessed. women in wooden shoes were reversing the full bottles; in fact, without driving these brown soldiers from their position, they were making them stand upon their heads instead of upon their heels--the object of this military somerset being to empty them; however, every noseless bottle, water and all, was hurled over a wall, into a bin prepared on purpose to receive them; and the smashing sound of devastation which proceeded from this odd-looking operation it would be very difficult to describe. having now witnessed about as much as i desired of the lively brunnen of nieder-selters, i bade adieu to this well-regulated establishment, feeling certain that its portrait would, in future, re-appear before my mind, in all its vivid colours whensoever and wheresoever i might drink the refreshing, wholesome beverage obtained from its bright, sparkling source. my carriage had long been waiting at the gate: however, having aroused my lumbering and slumbering driver, i retraced my steps, was slowly re-jolted homewards, and it was late before i reached my peaceful abode in the gay, green little valley of schlangenbad. the monastery of eberbach. exactly at the appointed moment, luy with his favourite ass, katherinchen, appeared at the door of the new bad-haus; the day, overcast with clouds, was quite cool, and, under such favourable auspices, starting at twelve o'clock, in less than a hundred yards we were all hidden in the immense forest which encircles that portion of the duchy of nassau which looks down upon the maine and the rhine. for about an hour, the ass, who after the second turn seemed to be perfectly sensible where she was carrying me, patiently threaded her way along narrow paths, which, constantly crossing each other at various angles, seemed sufficient to puzzle even the brain of a philosopher: however, although human intellect is said to be always on the march, yet we often find brute instinct far before it; and certainly it did appear that katherinchen's knowledge of the carte du pays of nassau was equal almost to that of "the duke" himself. sometimes we suddenly came to tracks of wheels which seemed to have been formed by carriages that had not only dropped from, but had returned back to, the clouds, for they began _à propos_ to nothing, and vanished in an equally unaccountable manner. sometimes we came to patches bare of timber, except here and there an old oak left on purpose to supply acorns for the swine; then again we followed a path which seemed only to belong to deer, being so narrow that we were occasionally obliged to force our way through the bushes; at last, all of a sudden, i unexpectedly found myself on the very brink of a most picturesque and precipitous valley. close above me, standing proudly on its rock, and pointing to a heavy white cloud which happened at the moment to be passing over it, was the great pillar or tower of sharfenstein, a castle formerly the residence of the bishops of mainz. the village of kiedrich lay crouching at a considerable depth beneath, the precipitous bank which connected us with it being a vineyard, in which every here and there were seen flights of rough stone steps, to enable the peasants to climb to their work. by a rocky path, about a foot or nine inches broad, katherinchen, with luy following as if tied to her tail, diagonally descended through this grape garden, until we at last reached the village mill, the wheel of which i had long observed indolently turning under a stream of water scarcely heavy enough for its purpose. the little village of kiedrich, as i rode by it, appeared to be a confused congregation of brown hovels and green gardens, excepting a large slated mansion of the baron von ritter, whose tower of sharfenstein now seemed in the clouds, as if to draw the lightning from the village; and almost breaking my neck to look up to it, i could not help feeling, as i turned towards the east, how proud its laird must be at seeing every morning its gigantic shadow lying across the valley, then paying its diurnal visit to every habitation, thus eclipsing for a few moments, from each vassal, even the sun in the heavens. after passing kiedrich, i again entered the forest, and for above an hour there was little to be seen except the noble trees which encompassed me; but the mind soon gets accustomed to ever so short a tether, and though i could seldom see fifty yards, yet within that distance there existed always plenty of minute objects to interest me. the foliage of the beeches shone beautifully clear and brilliant, and there were new shoots, which, being lighter in colour than the old, had much the appearance of the autumnal tint, yet when the error was discovered, one gladly acknowledged that youth had been mistaken for age. the forest now suddenly changed from beech trees into an army of oaks, which seemed to be, generally speaking, about fifty years of age; among them, however, there stood here and there a few weather-beaten veterans, who had survived the race of comrades with whom they had once flourished; but we must drop the military metaphor, for their hearts were gone--their bodies had mouldered away--nothing but one side was left--in fact, they were more like sentry-boxes than sentinels, and yet, in this decayed state, they were decked with leaves as cheerfully as the rest. in this verdant picture, there was one pale object which, for a few moments, as i passed it, particularly attracted my attention; it was an immense oak, which had been struck dead by lightning; it had been, and indeed still was, the tallest to be seen in the forest, and pride and presumption had apparently drawn it to its fate. every leaf, every twig, every small branch was gone; barkless--blasted--and blanched--its limbs seemed stretched into the harshest outlines; a human corpse could not form a greater contrast with a living man, than this tree did with the soft green foliage waving around it: it stood stark--stiff--jagged as the lightning itself; and as its forked, sapless branches pointed towards the sky, it seemed as if no one could dare pass it without secretly feeling that there exists a power which can annihilate as well as create, and that what the fool said in his heart--was wrong! i, however, had not much time for this sort of reflection, for whenever katherinchen, coming to two paths, selected the right one, luy from behind was heard loudly applauding her sagacity, which he had previously declared to be superior to that of all the asses in nassau--and yet, luy, in his more humble department, deserved quite as much praise as katherinchen herself. he was a slender, intelligent, active man, of about thirty, dressed in a blue smock frock, girded round the middle by the buff nassau belt: and though, from some cause or other, which he could never satisfactorily account for, his mouth always smelt of rum, yet he was never at a loss--always ready for an expedition, and foot-sore or not, the day seemed never long enough to tire him. the fellow was naturally of an enterprising disposition, and the winters in nassau being long and cheerless, it occurred to luy on his march, that were he with katherinchen and his other two asses to go to england (of which he had only heard that it was the richest country under the sun), they would no doubt there be constantly employed for the whole twelvemonth, instead of only finding lady and gentleman riders at schlangenbad for a couple of months in the year. his project appeared to himself a most brilliant one, and though i could not enter into it quite as warmly as he did (indeed i almost ruined his hopes by merely hinting that our sea, which he had never heard of, might possibly object to his driving asses from schlangenbad to london), yet i inwardly felt that poor luy's speculation had quite as sound a foundation, displayed quite as much knowledge of the world, and had infinitely less roguery in it, than the bubble projects of more civilized countries, which have too often eventually turned out to be nothing more nor less than ass-driving with a vengeance. after winding my way through the trees for a considerable time, inclining gently to the left, i suddenly saw close before me, at the bottom of a most sequestered valley, the object of my journey,--namely, the very ancient monastery of eberbach. the sylvan loveliness, and the peaceful retirement of this spot, i strongly feel it is quite impossible to describe. almost surrounded by hills or rather mountains, clothed with forest trees, one does not expect to find at the bottom of such a valley an immense solitary building, which in size and magnificence not only corresponds with the bold features of the country, but seems worthy of a place in any of the largest capitals of europe. the irregular building, with its dome, spires, statues, and high slated roofs, looks like the palace of some powerful king; and yet the monarch has apparently no subjects but the forest trees, which on all sides almost touch the architecture, and even closely environ the garden walls. a spot better suited to any being or race of beings who wished to say to the world "_fare thee well! and if for ever, still for ever fare thee well!_" could scarcely be met with on its vast circumference; and certainly if it were possible for the vegetable creation to compensate a man for losing the society of his fellow-creatures, the woods of eberbach would, in a high degree, afford him that consolation. a more lovely and romantic situation for a monastery could not have existed; yet i should have wondered how it could possibly have been discovered, had not its history most clearly explained that marvel. in the year , st. bernhard, the famous preacher of the crusade (whose followers eventually possessed, merely in the rhine-gau, six monastic establishments--namely, tiefenthal, gottesthal, eberbach, eibinger, nothgottes, and marienhausen), was attacked by a holy itch, or irresistible determination to erect a monastery; but not knowing where to drop the foundation-stone, he consulted, it is said, a wild boar, on this important subject. the sagacious creature shrewdly listened to the human being who addressed it; and a mysterious meeting being agreed upon, he silently grubbed with his snout, the valley of eberbach, lines marking out the foundation of the building; and certainly such a lovely stye, for men basking in sunshine, to snore away their existence, no animal but a pig would ever have thought of! st. bernhard, highly approving of the boar's taste, employed the best architects to carry his plan into execution; and sparing no expense, a magnificent cathedral--a large palace, with a monastery, connected together by colonnades, as well as ornamented in various places with the image of a pig, its founder--were quickly reared upon the spot; and when all was completed, monks were brought to the abode, and the holy hive, for many centuries, was heard buzzing in the wild mountains which surrounded it: however, in the year , the duke of nassau took violent possession of its honey, and its inmates were thus rudely shaken from their cells. three or four of the monks, of this once wealthy establishment, are all that now remain in existence, and their abode has ever since been used partly as a government prison, and partly as a public asylum for lunatics. before entering the great gate, which was surmounted by colossal figures of the virgin mary, st. john, and the great st. bernhard himself, i was advised by my cicerone, luy, to go to some grotto he kept raving about; and, as katerinchen's nose also seemed placidly to point the same way, i left the monastery, and through a plantation of very fine oaks, which were growing about twenty feet asunder, we ascended, by zigzags, a hill surmounted by a beautiful plantation of firs; and the moment i reached the summit, there suddenly flashed upon me a view of the rhine, which, without any exception, i should say, is the finest i have witnessed in this country. uninterrupted by anything but its own long, narrow islands, i beheld the course of the river, from johannisburg to mainz, which two points formed, from the grotto where i stood, an angle of about degrees. between me and the water, lay, basking in sunshine, the rhine-gau, covered with vineyards, or surrounded by large patches of corn, which were evidently just ready for the sickle; but the harvest not having actually commenced, the only moving objects in the picture were young women with white handkerchiefs on their heads, busily pruning the vines; and the coln, or, as it might more properly be termed, the _english_ steam-boat, which, immediately before me, was gliding against the stream towards mainz. on the opposite side of the rhine, an immense country, highly cultivated, but without a fence, was to be seen. turning my back upon this noble prospect, the monastery lay immediately beneath me, so completely surrounded by the forest, that it looked as if, ready built, it had been dropped from heaven upon its site. a more noble-looking residence could hardly be imagined, and the zigzag walks and plantations of fir imparted to it a gentlemanlike appearance, which i could not sufficiently admire; yet, notwithstanding the rural beauty of the place, i felt within me a strong emotion of pity for those poor, forlorn, misguided beings, whose existence had been uselessly squandered in such mistaken seclusion; and i could not help fancying how acutely, from the spot on which i stood, they might have compared the moral loneliness of their mansion, with the natural joy and loveliness of that river scenery, from which their relentless mountain had severed them: indeed, i hope my reader will not think an old man too anacreontic for saying, that if any thing in this world could penetrate the sackcloth garment of a monk, "and wring his bosom," it would be the sight of what i had just turned my back upon--namely, a vineyard full of women! that the fermentation of the grape was intended to cheer decrepitude, and that the affections of a softer sex were made to brighten the zenith of mid-day life, are truths which, within the walls of a convent or a monastery, it must have been most exquisite torture to reflect upon. as i descended from the grotto, i saw beneath me, entering the great gate of the building, half a dozen carts laden with wood, each drawn by six prisoners. none being in irons, and the whole gang being escorted by a single soldier in the nassau uniform, i was at first surprised,--why, when they penetrated the forest, they did not all run away! however, fear of punishment held them together: there being no large cities in the duchy, they had no where to run, but to their own homes, where they would instantly have been recaptured; and though, to a stranger like myself, the forest seemed to offer them protection, yet it was certain death by starvation to remain in it. on entering the great square, i found it would be necessary to apply to the commandant of the establishment for permission to view it. i accordingly waited upon him, and was agreeably surprised at being politely informed by him, in english, that he would be proud and most happy to attend me. he was a fine, erect, soldierlike-looking man, of about forty, seventeen years of which he had reigned in this valley, over prisoners and lunatics; the average number of the former being , and of the latter about . as i was following him along some very handsome cloisters, i observed, hanging against a wall, twenty-five pictures in oil, of monks, all dressed in the same austere costume, and in features as in dress so much resembling each other, that the only apparent distinction between them was the name of each individual, whose barren, useless existence was thus intended to be commemorated beyond the narrow grave which contained him. ascending a stone staircase, i now came to the lower division of the prison, one half being appropriated to women, and the other to men. although i had been for the whole day enjoying pure fresh air, yet the establishment was so exceedingly clean, that there was no smell of any sort to offend me. the monks' cells had in many places been thrown by threes into large rooms for tailors, weavers, carpenters, shoemakers, &c., &c.,--each of these trades working separately, under the direction of one overseer. in all these chambers every window was wide open, the walls were white-washed, and the blanched floors were without a stain; indeed, this excessive cleanliness, although highly praised by me, and exceedingly attractive to any english traveller, probably forms no small part of the punishment of the prison, for there is nothing that practically teases dirty people more than to inflict upon them foreign habits of cleanliness. the women's rooms were similarly arranged, and the same cleanliness and industry insisted upon; while, for younger culprits, there was an excellent school, where they were daily taught religious singing, reading, writing, arithmetic, and weaving. having finished with this floor, i mounted to the upper story, where, in solitary cells, were confined patients who had relapsed, or, in plainer terms, culprits who had been convicted a second time of the same offence. many of these unfortunate people were undergoing a sentence of three, four, and five years' imprisonment; and to visit them, as i did, in their cells, was, i can assure my reader, anything but pleasing. on the outside of each door hung a small black board, upon which was laconically inscribed, in four words, the name and surname of the captive--his or her offence--and the sentence. i found that their crimes, generally speaking, were what we should call petty thefts--such as killing the duke's game--stealing his wood--his grass, &c., &c. as i paid my melancholy visits, one after another, to these poor people, i particularly observed that they seemed, at least, to be in the enjoyment (if, without liberty, it may be so termed) of good health; the natural effect of the cool, temperate lives they were obliged to lead, and of the pure fresh air which came to each of them through a small open window; yet so soon as their doors were opened, there was an eagerness in their countenances, and a peculiar anxiety in their manner of fixing their eyes upon mine, which seemed to curdle into despondency, as the door was rapidly closed between us. each individual had some work to perform--one man had just finished a coffin for a poor maniac who had lately ended his melancholy career--the lid, instead of being flat, was a prism of many sides, and, on the upper slab, there was painted in black a cross, very nearly the length of the coffin. so long as the soldier, in his buff belt, who attended the commandant, continued to unlock for me, and lock, the dungeons of the male prisoners, so long did i feel myself capable of witnessing their contents; for to see _men_ suffer, is what we are all, more or less, accustomed to; but as soon as he came to the women's cells, i felt, certainly for the first time in my existence, that i should be obliged to abandon my colours, and cease to be of the scene before me--a "reviewer." in the countenance of the very first female captive that i beheld i could not but remark a want of firmness, for the possession of which i had not given to the other sex sufficient credit--the poor woman (to be sure she might have been a mother) showed an anxiety for her release, which was almost hysterical; and hurrying towards me, she got so close to the door, that it was absolutely forcibly slammed by the soldier, almost in her face. in the third cell that i came to, there stood up before me, with a distaff in her hand, a young slight-made peasant-girl of about eighteen; her hair was black, and her countenance seemed to me beaming with innocence and excessive health. she was the only prisoner who did not immediately fix her eyes upon mine; but, neither advancing nor retiring, she stood, looking downwards, with an expression of grief, which i expected every moment, somewhere or other, would burst into tears. such a living picture of youthful unhappiness i felt myself incapable of gazing upon; and the door, being closed upon her, was no sooner locked, than i thanked the commandant for his civility, adding, that i would not trouble the soldier to open any more of the cells, observing, as an excuse, that i perceived they were all alike. after standing for some time listening to the rules and discipline of the prison, i inquired of the commandant whether he had any prisoners confined for any greater crimes than those which i have already mentioned, to which he replied in the negative; and he was going to descend the staircase, when i asked him, as coldly as i could, to be so good as to state for what offence the young person i had just left was suffering so severely. the commandant, with silent dignity, instantly referred me to the little black board, on which was written the girl's name (i need not repeat it) and her crime, which, to my very great astonishment, turned out to be "dissolute;" and it was because she had been convicted a second time of this offence, that she was imprisoned, as i saw her, in a cell, which, like all the others, had only one small window in the roof, from which nothing was to be seen but what she, perhaps, least dared to look at--the heavens! i certainly, from her appearance, did not judge rightly of her character: however, upon such points i neither outwardly profess, nor inwardly do i believe myself, to be what is vulgarly termed--knowing. had i looked into the poor girl's countenance for guilt, it is most probable i should not have searched there in vain, but, at her age, one sought for feelings of a better cast; and, notwithstanding what was written on the black board, those feelings most certainly did exist, as i have very faintly described them. i now accompanied the commandant (going along, i may just observe, that he had learned english from his father, who had served as an officer in our german legion) to another part of the monastery, which had long been fitted up as an asylum for lunatics, most of whom were provided for by the nassau government, the rest being people of family, supplied with every requisite by their friends. there was but little here which particularly attracted my attention. in clean, airy rooms, formed out of three cells, as in the prison, there lived together from eight to ten lunatics, many of whom appeared to be harmless and even happy, although, in the corner of the room, there certainly was a large iron cage for refractory or dangerous patients. in one of these groups stood a madman, who had been a medical student. he was about thirty years of age, extremely dark, exceedingly powerfully made,--and no sooner did i enter the room, than raising his eyes from a book which he was reading, he fixed them (folding his arms at the time) upon me, with a ferocity of countenance, which formed a very striking contrast to the expression of imbecility which characterized the rest of his companions. the longer he looked at me, the deeper and the darker was his frown; and though i steadily returned it, yet, from the flashing of his eyes, i really believe that like a wild beast, he would have sprung upon me, had i not followed the soldier to the next room. having inspected the great apartments, i next visited the cells in which were confined those who were not fitted for intercourse with others; they were generally of a gloomy temperament. some were lying on their beds, apparently asleep; while some, particularly women, actually tried to escape, but were mildly repressed by the commandant, whose manner towards them seemed to be an admirable mixture, in about equal parts, of mildness and immovable firmness. i should have continued along the passage which connected these cells, but the poor creature, whose coffin i had seen, was lying there; i therefore left the building, and went into a great garden of the monastery, filled with standard fruit-trees, which had been planted there by the monks. in this secluded spot there was a sort of summer-house, where the worst lunatic cases were in confinement; none, however, were in chains; though some were so violent, that the commandant made a sign to the soldier not to disturb them. having now very gratefully taken leave of the deserving officer in charge of this singular establishment for crime and lunacy, the whole of which was kept in complete subjection by a garrison of eight soldiers, for a considerable time i strolled alone about the premises. sometimes i looked at ancient figures of a boar, which i found in more than one place, rudely carved both on wood and stone; then i wandered into the old cathedral, which was now strangely altered from the days of its splendour, for the glass in its gothic windows having been broken, had been plastered up with mud, and upon the tombs of bishops and of abbots there was lying corn in sheaves,--heaps of chaff,--bundles of green grass. my attention was now very particularly attracted by the venerable entrance-gate of the monastery, which, on turning a corner, suddenly appeared before me, surmounted by colossal statues of the great st. bernhard with his crosier--of st. john, holding a long thin cross, at the foot of which there was seated a lamb--and of the virgin mary, who, with a glory round her head, and an olive branch in her hand, stood in the centre, considerably exalted above both. the sun had long ago set--and i was no sooner immediately under the great arched gateway, than, leaning on my staff, i stood as it were riveted to the ground at the sight of the moon, which, having risen above the great hill, was shining directly upon the picturesque pile and images above my head. as in silence and solitude i gazed upon the lovely planet, which majestically rose before me, growing brighter and brighter as the daylight decayed, i could not help feeling what strange changes she had witnessed in the little valley of eberbach! before the recorded meeting of the "sus atque sacerdos," she had seen it for ages and ages existing alone in peaceful retirement--one generation of oaks, and beech-trees had been succeeded by another, while no human being had felt disposed either to flourish or to decay among this vegetable community. after this solemn interview with the pig, she had seen the great st. bernhard collecting workmen and materials, and as in the midst of them he stood waving his cross, she had observed a monastery rise as if by magic from the earth, rapidly overtopping the highest of the trees which surrounded it. in the days of its splendour she had witnessed provisions and revenues of all sorts entering its lofty walls, but though processions glittered in its interior, nothing was known by her to have been exported to save a matin and vesper moan, which, accompanying the wind as it swept along the valley, was heard gradually dying, until, in a few moments, it had either ceased to exist, or it had lost itself among the calm, gentle rustling of the leaves. lastly, she had seen the monks of st. bernhard driven from their fastness--and from their holy cells. as with full splendour she had since periodically gazed at midnight upon the convent, too often had she heard--first, the scream of the poor maniac, uttered, as her round gentle light shone mildly upon his brain; and then his wild laugh of grief, as, starting from a distempered sleep, he forced his burning forehead against the barred window of his cell, as if, like henri quatre,-- "pour prendre la lune avec les dents." as she proceeded in her silent course, shining successively into each window of the monastery, how often did she now see the criminal lying on the couch of the bigot--and the prostitute solitarily immured in the cell of celibacy! the madman is now soundly sleeping where the fanatic had in vain sought for repose--and the knave unwillingly suffering for theft where the hypocrite had voluntarily confined himself! from a crowd of these reflections, which, like mushrooms, rapidly grew up by the light of the moon, i was aroused by katherinchen and her satellite luy, whose heads (scarcely visible from the shadow of the great gateway), pointing homewards, mildly hinted that it was time i should return there; but on my entering the convent, rather an odd scene presented itself. the supper of the lunatics, distributed in separate plates, being ready in the great kitchen, like a pack of hounds, they were all of a sudden let loose, and their appetites sufficiently governing their judgments, each was deemed perfectly competent to hunt for his own food, which was no sooner obtained, than, like an ant, he busily carried it off to his cell. the prisoners were also fed from another kitchen at the same hour; and as certain cravings, which with considerable dignity i had long repressed, were painfully irritated by the very savoury smells which assailed me, stopping for a moment, i most gladly partook of the madman's fare, and then, full of soup and of the odd scenes i had witnessed, leisurely seating myself in my saddle, guided by katherinchen, and followed by luy, we retraced our intricate paths through the forest, until, late at night, we found ourselves once again in sight of the little lamps which light up the garden and bowers of my resting-place, or caravanserai--the new bad-haus of schlangenbad. journey to mainz. having occasion to go to mainz, i sent overnight to apprise the ass, katherinchen, and the groom of her bedchamber, luy, that i should require the one to carry, the other to follow me to that place. accordingly, when seven o'clock, the hour for my departure, arrived, on descending the staircase of the great bad-haus, i found luy in light marching order, leaning against one of the plane trees in the shrubbery, but no quadruped! in the man's dejected countenance, it was at once legible that his katherinchen neither was nor would be forthcoming; and he had began to ejaculate a very long-winded lamentation, in which i heard various times repeated something about sacks of flour and langen-schwalbach: however, luy's sighs smelt so strongly of rum, that not feeling as sentimental on the subject as himself, i at once prevailed upon him to hire for me from a peasant a little long-tailed pony, which he accordingly very soon brought to the door. the wretched creature (which for many years had evidently been the property of a poor man) had been employed for several months in the dryest of all worldly occupations, namely, in carrying hard stone bottles to the great brunnen of nieder-selters, and had only the evening before returned home from that uninteresting job. it was evident she had had alloted to her much more work than food, and as she stood before me with a drooping head, she shut her eyes as if she were going to sleep. i at first determined on sending the poor animal back, but being assured by luy that, in that case, she would have much harder work to perform, i reluctantly mounted her, and at a little jog-trot, which seemed to be her best--her worst--in fact, her only pace, we both, in very humble spirits, placidly proceeded towards mainz. luy, who besides what he had swallowed, had naturally a great deal of spirit of his own, by no means, however, liked being left behind; and though i had formally bidden him adieu, and was greatly rejoicing that i had done so, yet, while i was ascending the mountain, happening to look behind me, i saw the fellow following me at a distance like a wolf. i, therefore, immediately, pulled at my rein, a hint which the pony most readily understood, and as soon as luy came up, i told him very positively he must return. seeing that he was detected, he at once gave up the point; yet the faithful vassal, still having a hankering to perform for me some little parting service, humbly craved permission to see if the pony's shoes were, to use the english expression, "all right." the two fore ones were declared by him (with a hiccup) to be exactly as they should be; but no sooner did he proceed to make his tipsy reflections on the hind ones, than in one second the pony seemed by magic to be converted into a mad creature! luy fell, as if struck by lightning, to the ground, while the tiny thing, with its head between its legs (for the rein had been lying loose on its neck), commenced a series of most violent kicks, which i seriously thought never would come to an end. as good luck would have it, i happened, during the operation, to cleave pretty closely to my saddle, but what thunder-clap had so suddenly soured the mild disposition of my palfray, i was totally unable to conceive! it turned out, however, that the poor thing's paroxysm had been caused by an unholy alliance that had taken place between the root of her tail and the bowl of luy's pipe, which, on his reeling against her, had become firmly entangled in the hair, and it was because it remained there for about half a minute, burning her very violently, that she had kicked, or, as a lawyer would term it, had protested in the violent manner and form i have described. after i had left luy, it took some time before the poor frightened creature could forget the strange mysterious sensation she had experienced; however, her mind, like her tail, gradually becoming easy, her head drooped, the rein again hung on her neck, and in a mile or two we continued to jog on together in as good and sober fellowship as if no such eccentric calamity had befallen us. as we were thus ascending the mountain by a narrow path, we came suddenly to a tree loaded with most beautiful black cherries evidently dead ripe. the poor idiot of schlangenbad had escaped from the hovel in which he had passed so many years of his vacant existence, and i here found him literally gorging himself with the fruit. for a moment he stopped short in his meal, wildly rolling eyes, and looking at me, as if his treacherous, faithless brain could not clearly tell him whether i was a friend or an enemy: however, his craving stomach being much more violent than any reflections the poor creature had power to entertain, he suddenly seemed to abandon all thought, and again greedily returned to his work. he was a man about thirty, with features, separately taken, remarkably handsome: he had fine hazel eyes, and aquiline nose, and a good mouth; yet there was a horrid twist in the arrangement, in which not only his features but his whole frame was put together, which, at a single glance, pointed him out to me as one of those poor beings who, here and there, are mysteriously sent to make their appearance on this earth, as if practically to explain to mankind, and negatively to prove to them, the inestimable blessing of reason, which is but too often thanklessly enjoyed. the cherries, which were hanging in immense clusters around us, were plucked five or six at a time by the poor lame creature before me, but his thumb and two fore-fingers being apparently paralyzed, he was obliged to grasp the fruit with his two smallest, and thus, by a very awkward turn of his elbow, he seemed apparently to be eating the cherries out of the palm of his hand, which was raised completely above his head. not a cherry did he bite, but, with canine voracity, he continued to swallow them, stones and all; however, there was evidently a sharp angle or tender corner in his throat, for i particularly remarked, that whenever the round fruit passed a certain point, it caused the idiot's eyes to roll, and a slight convulsion in his frame continued until the cherry had reached the place of its destination. the enormous quantity of ripe fruit which i saw this poor creature swallow in the way i have described quite astonished me; however, it was useless to attempt to offer him advice, so instead i gave him what all people like so much better--a little money--partly to enable him to buy himself richer food, and partly because i wished to see whether he had sense enough to attach any value to it. the silver was no sooner in his hand than, putting it most rationally into the loose pocket of his ragged, coarse cloth trowsers, he instantly returned to his work with as much avidity as ever. seeing that there was to be no end to his meal, i left him hard at it, and continued to ascend the hill, until the path, suddenly turning to the right, took me by a level track into the great forest. the sun had hitherto been very unpleasantly hot, but i was now sheltered from its rays, while the pure mountain air gave to the foliage a brightness which in the schlangenbad woods i had so often stopped to admire. although it was midsummer, the old brown beech leaves of last year still covered the surface of the ground; yet they were so perfectly dry, that far from there being anything unhealthy or gloomy in their appearance, they formed a very beautiful contrast with the bright, clean, polished leaves, as well as with the white, shining bark of the beech trees, out of which they had only a year ago sprung into existence. this russet covering of the ground was, generally speaking, in shade, but every here and there were bright sparkling patches of sunshine, which, having penetrated the foliage, shone like gaudy patterns in a dark carpet. as the breeze gently stole among the trees, their branches in silence bowing as it passed them, their brown leaves, being crisp and dry, occasionally moved;--occasionally they were more violently turned over by small fallow deer, which sometimes darted suddenly across my path, their skin clean as the foliage on which they slept--their eye darker than the night, yet brighter than the pure stream from which they drank. enjoying the variety of this placid scene, i took every opportunity, in search of novelty, to change my track; still, from the position of the sun, always knowing whereabouts i was, i contrived ultimately to proceed in the direction i desired, and after having been for a considerable time completely enveloped in the forest, i suddenly burst into hot sunshine close to georgenborn, a little village, hanging most romantically on the mountain's side. the rhine, and the immense country beyond it, now flashed upon my view, and as i trotted along the unassuming street, it was impossible to help admiring the magnificent prospect which these humble villagers constantly enjoyed; however, the mind, like the eye, soon becomes careless of the beauties of creation, and as my pony jogged onwards in his course, i found that the cottagers looked upon us both with much greater interest than upon that everlasting traveller the rhine. every woman we met, with great civility grunted "guten morgen!" as we passed her, while each mountain peasant seen standing at a door, or even at a window, made obeisance to us as we crossed his meridian, all people's eyes following us as far as they could reach. from georgenborn, descending a little, we crossed a piece of table or level land, on which there stood a rock of a very striking appearance. where it had come from, heaven (from whence apparently it had fallen) probably only knows. as if from the force with which it had been dropped upon its site, it had split into two pieces, separated by a yawning crevice, yet small trees or bushes had grown upon each summit, while the same beech foliage appeared in the forest which surrounded them. passing close beneath this rock, i continued trotting towards the east for about a league, when gradually descending into a milder climate, i was hailed by the vineyards which luxuriously surround the sequestered little village of frauenstein. upon a rock overhanging the hamlet there stood solemnly before me the remains of the old castle of frauenstein or frankenstein, supposed to have been built in the thirteenth century. in the year it was sold to the archbishop gerhardt, of mainz, but soon afterwards, being ruined by the emperor albrecht i., in a tithe war which he waged against the prelate, it was restored to its original possessors. but what more than its castle attracted my attention in the village of frauenstein, was an immense plane-tree, the limbs of which had originally been trained almost horizontally, until, unable to support their own weight, they were now maintained by a scaffolding of stout props. under the parental shadow of this venerable tree, the children of the village were sitting in every sort of group and attitude; one or two of their mothers, in loose, easy dishabille, were spinning, many people were leaning against the upright scaffolding, and a couple of asses were enjoying the cool shade of the beautiful foliage, while their drivers were getting hot and tipsy in a wine-shop, the usual sign of which is in germany the branch of a tree affixed to the door-post. as i had often heard of the celebrated tree of frauenstein, before which i now stood, i resolved not to quit it until i had informed myself of its history, for which i well knew i had only to apply to the proper authorities: for in germany, in every little village, there exists a huge volume either deposited in the church, or in charge of an officer called the schuldheisz, in which the history of every castle, town, or object of importance is carefully preserved. the young peasant reads it with enthusiastic delight, the old man reflects upon it with silent pride, and to any traveller, searching for antiquarian lore, its venerable pages are most liberally opened, and the simple information they contain generously and gratuitously bestowed. on inquiring for the history of this beautiful tree, i was introduced to a sort of doomsday-book about as large as a church bible; and when i compared this volume with a little secluded spot so totally unknown to the world as the valley or glen of frauenstein, i was surprised to find that the autobiography of the latter could be so bulky,--in short, that it had so much to say of itself. but it is the common weakness of man, and particularly, i acknowledge, of an old man, to fancy that all his thoughts as well as actions are of vast importance to the world; why therefore should not the humble frauenstein be pardoned for an offence which we are all in the habit of committing? in this ancient volume, the rigmarole history of the tree was told with so much eccentric german genius, it displayed such a graphic description of highborn sentiments and homely life, and altogether it formed so curious a specimen of the contents of these strange sentimental village histories, that i procured the following literal translation, in which the german idiom is faithfully preserved at the expense of our english phraseology. * * * * * legend of the great plane-tree of frauenstein. the old count kuno seized with a trembling hand the pilgrim's staff--he wished to seek peace for his soul, for long repentance consumed his life. years ago he had banished from his presence his blooming son, because he loved a maiden of ignoble race. the son, marrying her, secretly withdrew. for some time the count remained in his castle in good spirits--looked cheerfully down the valley--heard the stream rush under his windows--thought little of perishable life. his tender wife watched over him, and her lovely daughter renovated his sinking life; but he who lives in too great security is marked in the end by the hand of god, and while it takes from him what is most beloved, it warns him that here is not our place of abode. the "haus-frau" (wife) died, and the count buried the companion of his days; his daughter was solicited by the most noble of the land, and because he wished to ingraft this last shoot on a noble stem, he allowed her to depart, and then solitary and alone he remained in his fortress. so stands deserted upon the summit of the mountain, with withered top, an oak!--moss is its last ornament--the storm sports with its last few dry leaves. a gay circle no longer fills the vaulted chambers of the castle--no longer through them does the cheerful goblet's "clang" resound. the count's nightly footsteps echo back to him, and by the glimmer of the chandeliers the accoutred images of his ancestors appear to writhe and move on the wall as if they wished to speak to him. his armour, sullied by the web of the vigilant spider, he could not look at without sorrowful emotion. its gentle creaking against the wall made him shudder. "where art thou," he mournfully exclaimed, "thou who art banished? oh my son, wilt thou think of thy father, as he of thee thinks--or .... art thou dead? and is that thy flitting spirit which rustles in my armour, and so feebly moves it? did i but know where to find thee, willingly to the world's end would i in repentant wandering journey--so heavily it oppresses me, what i have done to thee;--i can no longer remain--forth will i go to the god of mercy, in order, before the image of christ, in the garden of olives, to expiate my sins!" so spoke the aged man--enveloped his trembling limbs in the garb of repentance--took the cockle-hat--and seized with the right hand (that formerly was accustomed to the heavy war-sword) the light long pilgrim's staff. quietly he stole out of the castle, the steep path descending, while the porter looked after him astounded, without demanding "whither?" for many days the old man's feet bore him wide away; at last he reached a small village, in the middle of which, opposite to a ruined castle, there stands a very ancient plane-tree. five arms, each resembling a stem, bend towards the earth, and almost touch it. the old men of former times were sitting underneath it, in the still evening, just as the count went by; he was greeted by them, and invited to repose. as he seated himself by their side, "you have a beautiful plane-tree, neighbours," he said. "yes," replied the oldest of the men, pleased with the praise bestowed by the pilgrim on the tree, "it was nevertheless planted in blood!" "how is that?" said the count. "that will i also relate," said the old man. "many years ago there came a young man here, in knightly garb, who had a young woman with him, beautiful and delicate, but, apparently from their long journey, worn out. pale were her cheeks, and her head, covered with beautiful golden locks, hung upon her conductor's shoulder. timidly he looked round--for, from some reason, he appeared to fear all men, yet, in compassion for his feeble companion, he wished to conduct her to some secure hut, where her tender feet might repose. there, under that ivy-grown tower, stands a lonely house, belonging to the old lord of the castle; thither staggered the unhappy man with his dear burden, but scarcely had he entered the dwelling, than he was seized by the prince, with whose niece he was clandestinely eloping. then was the noble youth brought bound, and where this plane-tree now spreads its roots flowed his young blood! the maiden went into a convent; but before she disappeared, she had this plane-tree planted on the spot where the blood of her lover flowed: since then it is as if a spirit life were in the tree that cannot die, and no one likes a little twig to cut off, or pluck a cluster of blossom, because he fears it would bleed." "god's will be done!" exclaimed suddenly the old count, and departed. "that is an odd man," said the most venerable of the peasants, eyeing the stranger who was hastening away; "he must have something that heavily oppresses his soul, for he speaks not, and hastens away; but, neighbours, the evening draws on apace, and the evenings in spring are not warm; i think in the white clouds yonder, towards the rhine, are still concealed some snow-storms--let us come to the warm hearth." the neighbours went their way, while the aged count, in deep thought, passed up through the village, at the end of which he found himself before the churchyard. terrific black crosses looked upon the traveller--the graves were netted over with brambles and wild roses--no foot tore asunder the entwinement. on the right hand of the road there stands a crucifix, hewn with rude art. from a recess in its pedestal a flame rises towards the bloody feet of the image, from a lamp nourished by the hand of devotion. "man of sorrow," thus ascended the prayer of the traveller, "give me my son again--by thy wounds and sufferings give me peace--peace!" he spoke, and turning round towards the mountain, he followed a narrow path which conducted him to a brook, close under the flinty, pebbly grape hill. the soft murmurs of its waves rippling here and there over clear, bright stones harmonized with his deep devotion. here the count found a boy and a girl, who, having picked flowers, were watching them carried away as they threw them into the current. when these children saw the pilgrim's reverend attire, they arose--looked up--seized the old man's hand, and kissed it. "god bless thee, children!" said the pilgrim, whom the touch of their little hands pleased. seating himself on the ground, he said, "children, give me to drink out of your pitcher." "you will find it taste good out of it, stranger-man," said the little girl; "it is our father's pitcher in which we carry him to drink upon the vine-hill. look, yonder, he works upon the burning rocks--alas! ever since the break of day; our mother often takes out food to him." "is that your father," said the count, "who with the heavy pickaxe is tearing up the ground so manfully, as if he would crush the rocks beneath?" "yes," said the boy, "our father must sweat a good deal before the mountain will bring forth grapes; but when the vintage comes, then how gay is the scene!" "where does thy father dwell, boy?" "there in the valley beneath, where the white gable end peeps between the trees: come with us, stranger-man, our mother will most gladly receive you, for it is her greatest joy when a tired wanderer calls in upon us." "yes," said the little girl, "then we always have the best dishes; therefore _do_ come--i will conduct thee." so saying, the little girl seized the old count's hand, and drew him forth--the boy, on the other side, keeping up with them, sprung backwards and forwards, continually looking kindly at the stranger, and thus, slowly advancing, they arrived at the hut. the haus-frau (wife) was occupied in blowing the light ashes to awaken a slumbering spark, as the pilgrim entered: at the voices of her children she looked up, saw the stranger, and raised herself immediately; advancing towards him with a cheerful countenance, she said-- "welcome, reverend pilgrim, in this poor hut--if you stand in need of refreshment after your toilsome pilgrimage, seek it from us; do not carry the blessing which you bring with you farther." having thus spoken, she conducted the old man into the small but clean room. when he had sat down, he said-- "woman! thou hast pretty and animated children; i wish i had such a boy as that!" "yes!" said the haus-frau, "he resembles his father--free and courageously he often goes alone upon the mountain, and speaks of castles he will build there. ah! sir, if you knew how heavy that weighs upon my heart!"--(the woman concealed a tear). "counsel may here be had," said the count; "i have no son, and will of yours, if you will give him me, make a knight--my castle will some of these days be empty--no robust son bears my arms." "dear mother!" said the boy, "if the castle of the aged man is empty, i can surely, when i am big, go thither?" "and leave me here alone?" said the mother. "no, you will also go!" said the boy warmly; "how beautiful is it to look from the height of a castle into the valley beneath!" "he has a true knightly mind," said the count; "is he born here in the valley?" "prayer and labour," said the mother, "is god's command, and they are better than all the knightly honours that you can promise the boy--he will, like his father, cultivate the vine, and trust to the blessing of god, who rain and sunshine gives: knights sit in their castles and know not how much labour, yet how much blessing and peace can dwell in a poor man's hut! my husband was oppressed with heavy sorrow; alas! on my account was his heartfelt grief; but since he found this hut, and works here, he is much more cheerful than formerly; from the tempest of life he has entered the harbour of peace--patiently he bears the heat of the day, and when i pity him he says, 'wife, i am indeed now happy;' yet frequently a troubled thought appears to pierce his soul--i watch him narrowly--a tear then steals down his brown cheeks. ah! surely he thinks of the place of his birth--of a now very aged grey father--and whilst i see you, a tear also comes to me--so is perhaps now--" at this minute, the little girl interrupted her, pulled her gently by the gown, and spoke-- "mother! come into the kitchen; our father will soon be home." "you are right," said the mother, leaving the room; "in conversation i forget myself." in deep meditation the aged count sat and thought, "where may, then, this night my son sleep ....?" suddenly he was roused from his deep melancholy by the lively boy, who had taken an old hunting-spear from the corner of the room, and placing himself before the count, said-- "see! thus my father kills the wild boar on the mountains--there runs one along! my father cries 'huy!' and immediately the wild boar throws himself upon the hunter's spear; the spear sticks deep into the brain! it is hard enough to draw it out!" the boy made actions as if the boar was there. "right so, my boy!" said the aged man; "but does thy father, then, often hunt upon these mountains?" "yes! that he does, and the neighbours praise him highly, and call him the valiant extirpator, because he kills the boars which destroy the corn!" in the midst of this conversation the father entered; his wife ran towards him, pressed his sinewy hand, and spoke-- "you have had again a hot labouring day!" "yes," said the man, "but i find the heavy pickaxe light in hand when i think of you. god is gracious to the industrious and honest labourer, and that he feels truly when he has sweated through a long day." "our father is without!" cried suddenly the boy; threw the hunter's spear into the middle of the room, and ran forwards. the little girl was already hanging at his knees. "good evening, father," cried the boy, "come quick into the room,--there sits a stranger-man--a pilgrim whom i have brought to you!" "ah! there you have done well," said the father, "one must not allow one tired to pass one's gate without inviting him in. dear wife," continued he, "does not labour well reward itself, when one can receive and refresh a wanderer? bring us a glass of our best home-grown wine--i do not know why i am so gay to-day, and why i do not experience the slightest fatigue." thus spoke the husband--went into the room--pressed the hand of the stranger, and spoke-- "welcome, pious pilgrim! your object is so praiseworthy; a draught taken with so brave a man must taste doubly good!" they sat down opposite to each other in a room half dark--the children sat upon their father's knees. "relate to us something, father, as usual!" said the boy. "that won't do to-day," replied the father; "for we have a guest here--but what does my hunter's spear do there? have you been again playing with it? carry it away into the corner." "you have there," said the pilgrim, "a young knight who knows already how to kill boars--also you are, i hear, a renowned huntsman in this valley; therefore you have something of the spirit of a knight in you." "yes!" said the vine-labourer, "old love rusts not, neither does the love of arms; so often as i look upon that spear, i wish it were there for some use ... formerly ... but, aged sir, we will not think of the past! wife! bring to the revered--" at this minute the haus-frau entered, placed a jug and goblets on the table, and said-- "may it refresh and do thee good!" "that it does already," said the pilgrim, "presented by so fair a hand, and with such a friendly countenance!" the haus-frau poured out, and the men drank, striking their glasses with a good clank; the little girl slipped down from her father's knee, and ran with the mother into the kitchen; the boy looked wistfully into his father's eyes smilingly, and then towards the pitcher--the father understood him, and gave him some wine; he became more and more lively, and again smiled at the pitcher. "this boy will never be a peaceful vine-labourer, as i am," said the father; "he has something of the nature of his grandfather in him: hot and hasty, but in other respects a good-hearted boy--brave and honourable... alas! the remembrance of what is painful is most apt to assail one by a cheerful glass... if he did but see thee ... thee ... child of the best and most affectionate mother--on thy account he would not any longer be offended with thy father and mother; thy innocent gambols would rejoice his old age--in thee would he see the fire of his youth revive again--but..." "what dost thou say there?" said the pilgrim, stopping him abruptly; "explain that more fully to me!" "perhaps i have already said too much, reverend father, but ascribe it to the wine, which makes one talkative; i will no more afflict thee with my unfortunate history." "speak!" said the pilgrim, vehemently and beseechingly; "speak! who art thou?" "what connexion hast thou with the world, pious pilgrim, that you can still trouble yourself about one who has suffered much, and who has new arrived at the port of peace?" "speak!" said the pilgrim; "i must know thy history." "well!" replied he, "let it be!--i was not born a vine-labourer--a noble stem has engendered me--but love for a maiden drove me from my home." "love?" cried the pilgrim, moved. "yes! i loved a maiden, quite a child of nature, not of greatness--my father was displeased--in a sudden burst of passion he drove me from him--wicked relations, who, he being childless, would inherit, inflamed his wrath against me, and he, whom i yet honour, and who also surely still cherishes me in his heart--he..." the pilgrim suddenly rose and went to the door. "what is the matter with thee?" said the astonished vine-labourer; "has this affected thee too much?" the boy sprang after the aged man, and held him by the hand. "thou wilt not depart, pilgrim?" said he. at this minute the haus-frau entered with a light. at one glance into the countenance of the vine-labourer, the aged count exclaimed, "my son!" and fell motionless into his arms. as his senses returned, the father and son recognized each other. adelaide, the noble, faithful wife, weeping, held the hands of the aged man, while the children knelt before him. "pardon, father!" said the son. "grant it to me!" replied the pilgrim, "and grant to your father a spot in your quiet harbour of peace, where he may end his days. son! thou art of a noble nature, and thy lovely wife is worthy of thee--thy children will resemble thee--no ignoble blood runs in their veins. henceforth bear my arms; but, as an honourable remembrance for posterity, add to them a pilgrim and the pickaxe, that henceforth no man of high birth may conceive that labour degrades man--or despise the peasant who in fact nourishes and protects the nobleman." * * * * * on leaving frauenstein, which lies low in the range of the taunus hills, i found that every trot my pony took introduced me to a more genial climate and to more luxuriant crops. but vegetation did not seem alone to rejoice in the change. the human face became softer and softer as i proceeded, and the stringy, weather-beaten features of the mountain peasant were changed for countenances pulpy, fleshy, and evidently better fed. as i continued to descend, the cows became larger and fatter, the horses higher as well as stouter, and a few pigs i met had more lard in their composition than could have been extracted from the whole langen-schwalbach drove, with their old driver, the schwein-general, to boot. jogging onwards, i began at last to fancy that my own mind was becoming enervated; for several times, after passing well-dressed people, did i catch myself smoothing with my long staff the rough, shaggy mane of my pony, or else brushing from my sleeve some rusty hairs, which a short half-hour ago i should have felt were just as well sticking upon my coat as on his. instead of keen, light mountain air, i now felt myself overpowered by a burning sun; but, in compensation, nature displayed crops which were very luxuriant of their sorts. the following is a list of those i passed, in merely riding from frauenstein to mainz; it will give some idea of the produce of that highly-favoured belt, or district, of nassau (known by the name of the rhein-gau) which lies between the bottom of the taunus hills and the rhine:-- vineyards hop-gardens fields of kidney-beans tobacco hemp flax buck wheat kohl-rabi mangel wurzel fields of beans and peas indian corn wheat of various sorts barley oats rye rape potatoes carrots turnips clover of various sorts grass lucerne tares plum trees of several sorts standard apricots peaches nectarines walnuts pears } apples } of various sorts spanish chestnuts horse chestnuts almonds quinces medlars figs wild raspberries wild gooseberries wild strawberries currants gooseberries whortleberries rhubarb cabbages of all sorts garlick tomatos to any one who has been living in secluded retirement, even for a short time, a visit to a populous city is a dram, causing an excitement of the mind, too often mistaken for its refreshment. accordingly, on my arrival at mainz, i must own, for a few minutes, i was gratified with every human being or animal that i met--at all the articles displayed in the shops--and for some time, in mental delirium, i revelled in the bustling scene before me. however, having business of some little importance to transact, i had occasion, more than once, to walk from one part of the town to another, until getting leg-weary, i began to feel that i was not suited to the scene before me; in short, that the crutches made by nature for declining life, are quietness and retirement; i, therefore, longed to leave the sun-shiny scene before me, and to ascend once again to the clouds of schlangenbad, from which i had so lately fallen. with this object i had mounted my pony, who, much less sentimental than myself, would probably most willingly have expended the remainder of his existence in a city which, in less than three hours, had miraculously poured into his manger three feeds of heavy oats, and i was actually on the bridge of boats which crosses the rhine, when, finding that the saddle was pressing upon his withers, i inquired where i could purchase any sort of substance to place between them, and being directed to a tailor celebrated for supplying all the government postilions with leather breaches, i soon succeeded in reaching a door, which corresponded with the street and number that had been given to me; however, on entering, i found nothing but a well staircase, pitch dark, with a rope instead of a hand rail. at every landing-place, inquiring for the artist i was seeking, i was always told to go up higher; at last, when i reached the uppermost stratum of the building, i entered a room which seemed to be made of yellow leather, for on two sides buckskins were piled up to the ceiling; leather breeches, trowsers, drawers, gloves, &c., were hanging on the other walls, while the great table in the middle of the room was covered with skinny fragments of all shapes and sizes. in this new world which i had discovered, the only inhabitants consisted of a master and his son. the former was a mild tall man of about fifty, but a human being so very thin, i think, i never before beheld! he wore neither coat, waistcoat, neckcloth, nor shirt, but merely an elastic worsted dress (in fact, a guernsey frock), which fitted him like his skin, the rest of his lean figure being concealed by a large, loose, coarse linen apron. the son, who was about twenty-two, was not bad looking, but "_talis pater, talis filius_," he was just as thin as his father, and really, though i was anxious hastily to explain what i wanted, yet my eyes could not help wandering from father to son, and from son to father, perfectly unable to determine which was the thinnest; for though one does not expect to find very much power of body or mind among tailors of any country (nor indeed do they require it), yet really this pair of them seemed as if they had not strength enough united to make a pair of knee breeches for a skeleton. having gravely explained the simple object of my visit, i managed to grope my way down and round, and round and down, the well staircase, stopping only occasionally to feel my way, and to reflect with several degrees of pity on the poor thin beings i had left above me; and even when i got down to my pony (he had been waiting for me very patiently), i am sure we trotted nearly a couple of hundred yards before i could shake off the wan, spectre-like appearance of the old man, or the weak, slight, hectic-looking figure of the young one; and i finished by sentimentally settling in my own mind that the father was consumptive--that the son was a chip from the same block--and that they were both galloping, neck and neck, from their breeches-board to their graves, as hard as they could go. these reflections were scarcely a quarter of a mile long, when i discovered that i had left my memorandum-book behind me, and so, instantly returning, i groped my way to the top of the identical staircase i had so lately descended. i was there told that the old gentleman and his son were at dinner, but, determining not to lose my notes, in i went--and i cannot describe one-hundredth part of the feelings which came over me, when i saw the two creatures upon whom i had wasted so much pity and fine sentiment, for there they sat before me on their shop-board, with an immense wash-hand basin, that had been full of common blue orleans plums, which they were still munching with extraordinary avidity. a very small piece of bread was in each of their left hands, but the immense number of plum-stones on both sides of them betrayed the voracity with which they had been proceeding with their meal. "thin!--no wonder you are thin!" i muttered to myself; "no wonder that your chests and back bones seem to touch each other!" never before had i, among rational beings, witnessed such a repast, and it really seemed as if nothing could interrupt it, for all the time i was asking for what i wanted, both father and son were silently devouring these infernal plums; however, after remounting my pony, i could not help admitting that the picture was not without its tiny moral. two german tailors had been cheerfully eating a vegetable dinner--so does the italian who lives on macaroni;--so does the irish labourer who lives on potatoes;--so do the french peasants who eat little but bread;--so do the millions who subsist in india on rice--in africa on dates--in the south-sea islands and west indies on the bread-tree and on yams; in fact, only a very small proportion of the inhabitants of this globe are carnivorous: yet, in england, we are so accustomed to the gouty luxury of meat, that it is now almost looked upon as a necessity; and though our poor, we must all confess, generally speaking, are religiously patient, yet so soon as the middle classes are driven from animal to vegetable diet, they carnivorously both believe and argue that they are in the world remarkable objects of distress--that their country is in distress--that "things cannot last;"--in short, pointing to an artificial scale of luxury, which they themselves have hung up in their own minds, or rather in their stomachs, they persist that vegetable diet is low diet--that being without roast beef is living below zero, and that molars, or teeth for grinding the roots and fruits of the earth, must have been given to mankind in general, and to the english nation in particular--by mistake. after re-crossing the rhine by the bridge of boats, the sun being oppressively hot, i joyfully bade adieu to the sultry dry city and garrison of mainz. as i gradually ascended towards my home, i found the air becoming cooler and fresher, the herbage greener, and greener, the foliage of the beech-trees brighter and cleaner; everything in the valley seemed in peaceful silence to be welcoming my return; and when i came actually in sight of the hermitage of schlangenbad, i could not help muttering to myself, "hard features--hard life--lean pigs, and lovely nature, for ever!" excursion to the niederwald. wishing to see rudesheim and its neighbourhood, i one morning left schlangenbad very early, in a hired open carriage, drawn by a pair of small punchy horses. we were to get first to the rhine at the village of ellfeld, and we accordingly proceeded about a league on the great macadamized road towards mainz, when, turning to the right, we passed under the celebrated hill of rauenthal, and then very shortly came in sight of the retired peaceful little village of neudorf. the simple outline of this remote hamlet, as well as the costume and attitudes of a row of peasants, who, seated on a grassy bank at the road side, were resting from their labour, formed the subject of an interesting sketch which the paneidolon presented to me in a very few minutes. this exceedingly clever, newly-invented instrument, the most silent--the most faithful, and one of the most entertaining _compagnons de voyage_ which any traveller can desire, consists of a small box, in which can be packed anything it is capable of holding. on being emptied for use, all that is necessary is to put one's head into one side, and then trace with a pencil the objects which are instantly seen most beautifully delineated at the other. whether the perspective be complicated or simple--whether the figures be human or inhuman, it is all the same, for they are traced with equal facility, rain not even retarding the operation. the paneidolon also possesses an advantage which all very modest people will, i think, appreciate, for the operator's face being (like jack's) "in a box," no person can stare at it or the drawing; whereas, while sketching with the camera lucida, everybody must have observed that the village peasants, in crowds, not only watch every line of the pencil, but laugh outright at the contortion of countenance with which the poor syntax, in search of the picturesque, having one optic closed, squints with the other through a hole scarcely bigger than the head of a pin, standing all the time in the inquisitive attitude of a young magpie looking into a marrow-bone. on leaving neudorf, getting into a cross country road, or _chemin de terre_, we began, with the carriage-wheel dragged, an uninterrupted descent, which was to lead us to the banks of the rhine. the horses (which had no blinkers) having neither to pull nor to hold back, were trotting merrily along, occasionally looking at me--occasionally biting at each other; every thing was delightful, save and except a whiff of tobacco, which, about six times a minute, like a sort of pulsation, proved that my torpid driver was not really, as he appeared to be--a corpse; when, all of a sudden, as we were jolting down a narrow ravine, surmounted by vineyards, i saw, about a hundred yards before us, a cart heavily laden, drawn by two little cows. there happened at the moment to be a small road at right angles on our left, into which we ought to have turned to let our opponent pass: but either the driver did not see, or would not see, the humble vehicle, and so onwards he recklessly drove, until our horses' heads and the cows' horns being nearly close together, the dull, heavy lord of the creation pulled at his reins and stopped. the road was so narrow, and the banks of the ravine so precipitous, that there was scarcely room on either side of the vehicle for a human being to pass; and the cows and horses being vis-à-vis, or "at issue," the legal question now arose which of the two carriages was to retrograde. as, without metaphor, i sat on my woolsack, or cushion stuffed with wool, my first judgement was, that the odds were not in favour of the defendant, the poor old woman,--for she had not only to contend with the plaintiff (my stupid driver), his yellow carriage, and two bay horses, but the hill itself was sadly against her; her opponent loudly exclaiming that she and her cows could retire easier than he could. the toothless old woman did not attempt to plead for herself; but what was infinitely better, having first proved, by pushing at her cows' heads with all her force, that they actually did not know how to back, she showed us her face, which had every appearance of going to sleep. seeing affairs in this state, i got out of the carriage, and quietly walked on: however, i afterwards learnt, with great pleasure, that the old woman gained her cause, and that the squabble ended by the yellow carriage retreating to the point where its stupid, inanimate driver ought to have stopped it. on arriving at the bottom of the lane, we reached that noble road, running parallel with and close to the rhine, which was brought into its present excellent state in the time of napoleon. along it, with considerable noise, we trotted steadily, stopping only about once every half hour to pay a few kreuzers at what was called the _barrière_. no barrier, however, existed, their being nothing to mark the fatal spot but an inanimate, party-coloured post, exhibiting, in stripes of blue and orange, the government colours of nassau. on the horses stopping, which they seemed most loyally to do of their own accord, the person whose office it was to collect this road-money, or _chaussée-gelt_, in process of time, appeared at a window with a heavy pipe hanging in his mouth, and in his hand an immense long stick, to the end of which there was affixed a small box containing a ticket, in exchange for which i silently dropped my money into this till. not a word was spoken, but, with the gravity of an angler, the man having drawn in his rod, a whiff of tobacco was vomited from his mouth, and then the window, like the transaction--closed. after proceeding for some hours, having passed through erbach and hattenheim, we drove through the village of johannisberg, which lies crouching at the foot of the hill so remarkable on the rhine for being crowned with the white, shining habitation of prince metternich. the celebrated vineyards on this estate were swarming with labourers, male and female, who were seen busily lopping off the exuberant heads of the vines, an operation which, with arms lifted above their heads, was not inelegantly performed with a common sickle. the rhine had now assumed the appearance of a lake, for which, at this spot, it is so remarkable, and rudesheim, to which i was proceeding, appeared to be situated at its extremity, the chasm which the river has there burst for itself through the lofty range of the taunus mountains not being perceptible. on arriving at rudesheim, i most joyfully extricated myself from the carriage, and instantly hiring a guide and a mule, i contentedly told the former to drive me before him to whatever point in his neighbourhood was generally considered to be the best worth seeing; and perfectly unconscious where he would propel me, the man began to beat the mule--the mule began to trot along--and, little black memorandum-book in hand, i began to make my notes. after ascending a very narrow path, which passed through vineyards, the sun, as i became exposed to it, feeling hotter and hotter, i entered a wild, low, stunted, plantation of oak shrubs, which was soon exchanged for a noble wood of oak and beech trees, between which i had room enough to ride in any direction. the shade was exceedingly agreeable; the view, however, was totally concealed, until i suddenly came to a projecting point, on which there was a small temple, commanding a most splendid prospect. after resting here for a few minutes, my mule and his burden again entered the forest; and, continuing to ascend to a considerable height, we both at last approached a large stone building like a barrack, part of which was in ruins; and no sooner had we reached its southern extremity, than my guide, with a look of vast importance, arrested the progress of the beast. as i beheld nothing at all worth the jolting i had had in the carriage, i felt most grievously disappointed; and though i had no one's bad taste to accuse but my own, in having committed myself to the barbarous biped who stood before me, yet i felt, if possible, still more out of sorts at the fellow desiring me to halloo as loud as i could, he informing me, with a look of indescribable self-satisfaction, that as soon as i should do so, an echo would repeat all my exclamations three times!!! the man seeing that i did not at all enjoy his noisy miracle, made a sign to me to follow him, and he accordingly led me to what appeared to my eyes to be nothing but a large heap of stones, held together by brambles. at one side, however, of this confused mass, there appeared to be a hole which looked very much as if it had been intended as an ice-house: however, on entering it, i found it to be a long, dark, subterranean passage, cut out of the solid rock; and here, groping my way, i followed my guide, until, coming to a wooden partition or door, he opened it, when, to my great astonishment and delight, i found myself in an octagonal chamber, most deservedly called _bezauberte höhle_--the enchanted cave! it was a cavern or cavity in the rock, with three fissures or embrasures radiating at a small angle; yet each looking down upon the rhine, which, pent within its narrow rocky channel, was, at a great depth, struggling immediately beneath us. the sudden burst into daylight, and the brightness of the gay, sunshiny scenes which through the three rude windows had come so suddenly to view (for i really did not know that i was on the brink of the precipice of the rhine), was exceedingly enchanting, and i was most fully enjoying it as well as the reflection, that there was no one to interrupt me when i suddenly fancied that i certainly heard, somewhere or other within the bowels of the living rock in which i was embedded, a faint sound, like the melody of female voices, which, in marked measure, seemed to swell stronger, until i decidedly and plainly heard them, in full chorus, chanting the following well-known national air of this country:--(_see "the schlangenbader volkslied," national air of schlangenbad, at the end of the volume._) from time to time the earthly or unearthly sounds died away,--lost in the intricate turns of the subterraneous passage;--at last, they were heard as if craving permission to enter, and my guide running to the wooden door, no sooner threw it wide open, than the music at once rushing in like a flood, filled the vaulted chamber in which i stood, and in a few seconds, to my very great surprise, there, marched in, two by two, a youthful bridal party! the heads of eight or ten young girls (following a bride and a bridegroom) were ornamented with wreaths of bright green leaves, which formed a pleasing contrast with their brown hair of various shades, and most particularly with the raven-black tresses of the bride, which were plaited round her pleasing, modest-looking face very gracefully. the whole party (the bridegroom, the only representative of his sex, of course included) had left mainz that morning, to spend a happy day in the magic cave; and, certainly, their unexpected appearance gave a fairy enchantment to the scene. after continuing their patriotic song for some time, suddenly letting go each other's hands, they flew to three fissures or windows in the rock, and i heard them, with great emphasis, point out to each other bingenloch, rheinstein, and other romantic points equally celebrated for their beauty. these youthful people then minutely scanned over the interior of the vaulted grave in which we were all so delightfully buried alive; at last, so like young travellers, they all felt an irresistible desire to scrawl their names upon the wall; and, seeing an old man reclining in one corner of the chamber, with about an inch of pencil in his lean, withered hand, the bride, bowing with pleasing modesty and diffidence, asked me to lend it to her. her name, and that of her partner, were accordingly inscribed; and others would, with equal bursts of joy, have been added to the list, but observing that my poor pencil, which would still have lived in my service many a year, and which, in fact, was all i had, was, from its violent rencontres with the hard, gritty wall, actually gasping for life in the illiterate clutches of a great bony bridesmaid, i very civilly managed, under pretence of cutting it, to extract it from her grasp; and the attention of the youthful party flitting of its own accord to some other object, the stump of my poor crayon was miraculously spared to continue its humble notes of the day's proceedings. on leaving the enchanted cave, we ascended through a noble oak wood, until reaching a most celebrated pinnacle of the taunus mountains, we arrived at the rossel, an old ruined castle, which, standing on the niederwald like a weather-beaten sentinel at his post, seemed to be faithfully guarding the entrance of that strange mysterious chasm, through which, at an immense depth beneath, the river was triumphantly and majestically flowing. although the view from the ruined top of this castle was very extensive and magnificent, yet the dark, struggling river was so remarkable an object, that it at first completely engrossed my attention. while the great mass of water was flowing on its course, a sort of civil war was raging between various particles of the element. in some places an eddy seemed to be rebelliously trying to stem the stream; in others the water was revolving in a circle;--here it was seen tumbling and breaking over a sunken rock--there as smooth as glass. in the middle of these fractious scenes, there lay, as it were, calmly at anchor, two or three islands, covered with poplars and willows, upon one of which stood the ruins of the _mäusethurm_, or tower of that stingy bishop of mainz, famous, or rather infamous, in the history of the rhine, for having been gnawed to death by rats. on the opposite side of the river were to be seen the _rochus capelle_, a tower built to commemorate the cessation of the plague, the beautiful castle of rheinstein, the residence of prince frederick of prussia, the blue-slated town of bingen, with its bridge crossing the nahe, which, running at right angles, here delivers up its waters to the rhine. the difference in caste or colour between the two rivers at their point of meeting is very remarkable, the rhine, being clear and green, the nahe a deep muddy brown; however, they no sooner enter the chasm in the taunus hills than the distinction is annihilated in the violent hubble-bubble commotions which ensue. the view beyond these home objects now attracted my attention. the prussian hills opposite were richly clothed with wood, while on their left lay prostrate the province of darmstadt, a large brown flat space, studded, as far as the eye could reach, with villages, which, though distinctly remarkable in the foreground, were yet scarcely perceptible in the perspective. behind my back was the duchy of nassau, with several old ruined castles perched on the pinnacles of the wood-covered hills of the niederwald. during the whole time that i was placidly enjoying this beautiful picture around and beneath me, the bridal party of young people, equally happy in their way, were singing, laughing, or waltzing; and their cheerful accents, echoing from one old ruin to another, seemed for the moment to restore to these deserted walls that joy to which they had so long been a stranger. having at last mounted my mule, i attempted to bid my companions farewell; however, they insisted on accompanying me and my guide through the forest, singing their national airs in chorus as they went. their footsteps kept pace with their tunes, and as they advanced, their young voices thrilled among the trees with great effect; sometimes the wild melody, like a stop-waltz, suddenly ceased, and they proceeded several paces in silence; then, again, it as unexpectedly burst upon the ear,--in short, like the children of all german schools, they had evidently been taught time and the complete management of their voices, a natural and pleasing accomplishment, which can scarcely be sufficiently admired. from these young people themselves i did not attempt to extract their little history; but i learnt from my guide in a whisper (for which i thought there was no great occasion), that the young couple who hand in hand before me were leading the procession through the wood, were verlobt (affianced), that is to say, they were under sentence eventually to be married. this quiet, jog-trot, half-and-half connubial arrangement is very common indeed all over germany; and no sooner is it settled and approved of, than the young people are permitted to associate together at almost all times, notwithstanding it is often decreed to be prudent that many years should elapse before their marriage can possibly take place; in short, they are constantly obliged to wait until either their income rises sufficiently, or until butter, meat, bread, coffee, and tobacco, sufficiently fall. as seated on my mule i followed these steady, well-behaved, and apparently well-educated young people through the forest, listening to their cheerful choruses, i could not, during one short interval of silence, help reflecting how differently such unions are managed in different countries on the globe. a quarter of a century has nearly elapsed since i chanced to be crossing from the island of salamis to athens, with a young athenian of rank, who was also, in his way, "affianced." we spent, i remember, the night together in an open boat, and certainly never did i before or since witness the aching of a lad's heart produce effects so closely resembling the aching of his stomach. my friend lay at the bottom of the trabacolo absolutely groaning with love; his moans were piteous beyond description, and nothing seemed to afford his affliction any relief but the following stanza, which over and over again he continued most romantically singing to the moon:-- "quando la notte viene, non ho riposo, o nice; son misero e infelice esser lontan da te!" on his arrival at athens he earnestly entreated me to call for him on the object of his affection, for he himself, by the custom of his country, was not allowed to see her, precisely from the same reason which permitted the young german couple to stroll together through the lonely, lovely forest of the niederwald, namely--because they were "_verlobt_." the bridal party now separated themselves from my guide, his mule, and myself, they, waving their handkerchiefs to us, descending a path on the right; we continuing the old track, which led us at last to rudesheim. as soon as the horses could be put to my carriage, it being quite late, i set out, by moonlight, to return. vineyards, orchards, and harvest were now veiled from my view, but the castle of prince metternich--the solitary tower of scharfenstein, and the dark range of the taunus mountains had assumed a strange, obscure, and supernatural appearance, magnificently contrasted with the long bright, serpentine course of the rhine, which, shining from ringen to mainz, glided joyfully along, as if it knew it had attracted to itself the light which the landscape had lost. on leaving the great chaussée, which runs along the banks of the river, like the towing-path of a canal, we ascended the cross road, down which we had trundled so merrily in the morning, and without meeting cows, carts, toothless old women, or any other obstruction, i reached about midnight the bad-haus of schlangenbad. on ascending the staircase, i found that the two little lamps in the passage had expired; however, the key of my apartments was in my pocket, the moon was shining through the window upon my table, and so before one short hour had elapsed, rudesheim--the niggardly bishop of mainz, with his tower and rats--the bridal party--the enchanted cave--the lofty rossel, and the magnificent range of the niederwald, were all tumbling head over heels in my mind, while i lay as it were quietly beneath them--asleep. wiesbaden. the day at last arrived for my departure from the green, happy little valley of schlangenbad. whether or not its viper baths really possess the effect ascribed to them, of tranquillizing the nerves, i will not presume to declare; but that the loneliness and loveliness of the place can fascinate, as well as tranquillize, the mind, i believe as firmly, as i know that the schlangenbad water rubs from the body the red rust of langen-schwalbach. those who, on the tiny surface of this little world, please themselves with playing what they call "the great game of life," would of course abhor a spot in which they could neither be envied nor admired; but to any grovelling-minded person, who thinks himself happy when he is quiet and clean, i can humbly recommend this valley, as a retreat exquisitely suited to his taste. after casting a farewell glance round apartments to which i felt myself most unaccountably attached, descending the long staircase of the new bad-haus, i walked across the shrubbery to my carriage, around which had assembled a few people, who, i was very much surprised to find, were witnessing my departure with regret! luy, who had followed my (i mean katherinchen's) footsteps so many a weary hour, strange as it may sound (and so contrary to what the ass must have felt), was evidently sorry i was going. the old "bad" man's countenance looked as serious and as wrinkled on the subject as the throat of his toad--his wan, sallow-faced jezebel of a wife stood before the carriage steps waving her lean hand in sorrow, and the young maid of the bad-haus, who had made my bed, merely because i had troubled her for a longer period than any other visiter, actually began to shed some tears. the whole group begged permission to kiss my hand; and there was so much kind feeling evinced, that i felt quite relieved when i found that the postilion and his horses had spoiled the picture, in short, that we were trotting and trumpeting along the broad road which leads to wiesbaden. as i had determined on visiting the duke of nassau's hunting-seat "die platte" in my way to wiesbaden, after proceeding about four miles, i left the carriage in the high road, and walking through the woods towards my object, i passed several very large plantations of fir-trees which had been so unusually thick that they were completely impervious, even to a wild boar; for, not only were the trees themselves merely a few inches asunder, but their branches, which feathered to the ground, interlaced one with another until they formed altogether an impenetrable jungle. through this mass of vegetation, narrow paths about three feet broad were cut in various directions to enable the deer to traverse the country. in passing through the beech forest, i observed that the roads or cuts were often as much as forty or fifty feet in breadth, and every here and there the boughs and foliage were artificially entwined in a very ingenious manner, leaving small loop-holes through which the duke, his visiters, or his huntsmen, might shoot at the game as they wildly darted by. a single one of these verdant batteries might possibly be observed and avoided by the cautious, deep-searching eye of the deer, but they exist all over the woods in such numbers, that the animals, accustomed to them from their birth, can fear nothing from them, until the fatal moment arrives, when their experience, so dearly bought, arrives too late. after advancing for about an hour through these green streets, i came suddenly upon the duke's hunting-seat, the platte, a plain white stone, cubic building, which, as if disdaining gardens, flowerbeds, or any artificial embellishment, stands alone, on a prominent edge of the taunus hills, looking down upon wiesbaden, mainz, frankfort, and over the immense flat, continental-looking country which i have already described. its situation is very striking, and though of course it is dreadfully exposed to the winter's blast, yet, as a sporting residence, during the summer or autumn months, nothing i think can surpass the beauty and unrestrained magnificence of its view. before the entrance door, in attitudes of great freedom, there are two immense bronze statues of stags, most beautifully executed, and on entering the apartments, which are lofty and grand, every article of furniture, as well as every ornament, is ingeniously composed of pieces, larger or smaller, of buck-horn. immense antlers, one above another, are ranged in the hall, as well as on the walls of the great staircase; and certainly when a sportsman comes to the platte on a visit to the duke of nassau, everything his eyes can rest on, not only reminds him of his favourite pursuit, but seems also to promise him as much of it as the keenest hunter can desire: in short, without the slightest pretension, the platte is nobly adapted to its purpose, and with great liberality it is open at almost all times to the inspection of "gentlemen sportsmen" and travellers from all quarters of the globe. about twelve hundred feet beneath it, in a comparatively flat country, bounded on two sides by the rhine and the main, lies wiesbaden, the capital of the duchy of nassau, the present seat of its government, and the spot by far the most numerously attended as a watering-place. looking down upon it from the platte, this town or city is apparently about three-quarters of an english mile square, one quarter of this area being covered with a rubbishy old, the remainder with a staring formal new town, composed of streets of white stone houses, running at right angles to each other. as i first approached it, it appeared to me to be as hot, as formal, and as uninteresting a place as i ever beheld: however, as soon as i entered it, i very soon found out that its inhabitants and indeed its visiters entertain a very different opinion of the place, they pronouncing it to be one of the most fashionable, and consequently most agreeable, watering-places in all germany. in searching for a lodging, i at once went to most of the principal hotels, several of which i found to be grievously afflicted with smells, which (though i most politely bowed to every person i met in the passage) it did not at all suit me to encounter. at one place, as an excuse for not taking the unsavoury suite of apartments which were offered to me, i ventured quietly to remark, that they were very much dearer than those i had just left. the master at once admitted the fact, but craning himself up into the proudest attitude his large stomach would admit of, he observed--"_mais--monsieur! savez-vous que vous aurez à wiesbaden plus d'amusement dans une heure, que vous n'auriez à schlangenbad dans un an?..._" in the horrid atmosphere in which i stood, i had no inclination to argue on happiness or any subject; so hastening into the open air, i continued my search, until finding, the landlord at the englischen hof civil, and exceedingly anxious to humour all my old-fashioned english whims and oddities, i accepted the rooms he offered me, and thus for a few days dropped my anchor in the capital of the duchy of nassau. about twelve thousand strangers are supposed annually to visit this gay watering-place, and consequently, to pen up all this fashionable flock within the limits of so small a town, requires no little ramming, cramming, and good arrangement. the dinner hour, or time of the tables-d'hôte, as at langen schwalbach, schlangenbad, and indeed all other places in germany, was one o'clock, and the crowds of hungry people who at that hour, following their appetites, were in different directions seen slowly but resolutely advancing to their food, was very remarkable. voluntarily enlisting into one of these marching regiments, i allowed myself to be carried along with it, i knew not where, until i found myself, with an empty stomach and a napkin on my knees, quietly seated at one of three immense long tables, in a room with above people, all secretly as hungry as myself. the quantity of food and attention bestowed upon me for one florin filled me with astonishment; "and certainly," said i to myself, "a man may travel very far indeed, before he will find provisions and civility cheaper than in the duchy of nassau!" the meat alone which was offered to me, if it had been thrown at my head raw, would have been not only a most excellent bargain, but much more than any one could possibly have expected for the money; but when it was presented to me, cooked up with sauces of various flavours, attended with omelettes, fruits, tarts, puddings, preserves, fish, &c. &c., and served with a quantity of politeness and civility which seemed to be infinite, i own i felt that in the scene around me there existed quite as much refreshment and food for the mind as for the body. it is seldom or ever that i pay the slightest attention to dinner conversation, the dishes, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, being, in my opinion, so very much better; however, much against my will, i overheard some people talking of a duel, which i will mention, hoping it may tend to show by what disgusting, fiend-like sentiments this practice can be disgraced. a couple of germans, having quarrelled about some beautiful lady, met with sabres in their hands to fight a duel. the ugly one, who was of course the most violent of the two, after many attempts to deprive his hated adversary, of his life, at last aimed a desperate blow at his head, which, though it missed its object, yet fell upon, and actually cut off, the good-looking man's nose. it had scarcely reached the ground, when its owner, feeling that his beauty was gone, instantly threw away his sword, and with both arms extended, eagerly bent forward with the intention to pick up his own property and replace it; but the ugly german no sooner observed the intention, than, darting forwards with the malice of the devil himself, he jumped upon the nose, and before its master's face crushed it and ground it to atoms! in strolling very slowly about the town, after dinner, the first object which aroused my curiosity was a steam i observed rising through the iron gratings, which at the corners of the streets, covered the main drains or common sewers of the town. at first i thought it proceeded from washerwomen, pig-scalders, or some such artificial cause; but i no sooner reached the great koch-brunnen (boiling spring), than i learnt it was the natural temperature of the wiesbaden waters that had thus attracted my attention. as i stood before this immense cauldron, with eyes staring at the volume of steam which was arising from it, and with ears listening to a civil person who was voluntarily explaining to me that there were fifteen other springs in the town, their temperature being at all times of the year about ° of fahrenheit, i could not help feeling a sort of unpleasant sensation, similar to what i had experienced on the edges of etna and vesuvius; in short, i had been so little accustomed to live in a town heated by subterranean fire, that it just crossed my mind, whether, in case the engineer below, from laziness, should put on too many coals at once, or from carelessness should neglect to keep open his proper valves, an explosion might not take place, which would suddenly send me, koch-brunnen, wiesbaden, and co., on a shooting excursion to the duke's lofty hunting-seat, the platte. the ground in the vicinity of these springs is so warm that in winter the snow does not remain upon it; and formerly, when these waters used to flow from the town into a small lake, from not freezing, it became in hard weather the resort of birds of all descriptions: indeed, even now, they say that that part of the rhine into which the wiesbaden waters eventually flow, is observed to be always remarkably free from ice. wiesbaden, inhabited by people called mattiaci, was not only known to the romans, but fortified by the twenty-second legion, who also built baths, the remains of which exist to the present day. even in such remote ages, it was observed that these waters retained their heat longer than common water, or salt water, of the same specific gravity, heated to the same degree; indeed, pliny remarked--"_sunt et mattiaci in germania fontes calidi, quorum haustus triduo fervet._" the town of wiesbaden is evidently one which does not appreciate the luxury of "home, sweet home;" for it is built, not for itself, but for strangers; and though most people loudly admire the size of the buildings, yet, to my mind, there is something very melancholy in seeing houses so much too fine for the style of inhabitants to whom they belong. a city of lodging-houses, like an army of mercenaries, may to each individual be a profitable speculation, but no brilliant uniform, or external show, can secretly compensate for the want of national self-pride which glows in the heart of a soldier, standing under his country's colours, or in the mind of a man living consistently in his own little home. about twenty years ago, the inhabitants of wiesbaden were pent up in narrow, dirty streets, surrounded by swampy ditches and an old roman wall. a complete new town has since been erected, and accommodation has thus been afforded for upwards of , strangers, the population of the place, men, women, and children included, scarcely amounting to souls. during the gay season, of course all is bustle and delight; but i can conceive nothing less cheerful than such a place must become, when all its motley visiters having flown away, winter begins to look it in the face; however, certainly the inhabitants of wiesbaden do not seem to view the subject at all in this point of view, for they all talk with great pride of their fine new town, and strut about their large houses like children wearing men's shoes ten times too big for their feet. the most striking object at wiesbaden is a large square, bounded on one side by a handsome theatre, on two others by a colonnade of shops, and on a third by a very handsome building called the cursaal, an edifice feet in length, having, in front, a portico supported by six ionic columns, above which there is inscribed, in gold letters-- fontibus mattiacis, mdcccx. on entering the great door, i found myself at once in a saloon, or ball-room, feet in length, in breadth, and in height, in which there is a gallery supported by marble pillars of the corinthian order; lustres are suspended from the ceiling, and, in niches in the wall, there are twelve white marble statues, which were originally intended for letitia bonaparte, and which the wiesbaden people extol by saying that they cost about _l._ branching from this great assembly-room, there are several smaller apartments, which in england would be called hells, or gambling-rooms. the back of the cursaal looks into a sort of parade, upon which, after dinner, hundreds of visiters sit in groups, to drink cheap coffee, listen to a band of most excellent cheap music, and admire, instead of swans, an immense number of snail-gobbling ducks and ducklings, which, swimming about a pond, shaded by weeping willows and acacias, come when they are called, and, ducklike, of course eat whatever is thrown to them. beyond this pond, which is within fifty yards of the cursaal, there is a nice shrubbery, particularly pleasing to the stranger from the reflection, that at very great trouble, and at considerable expense, it has been planted, furnished with benches, and tastefully adorned by the inhabitants of wiesbaden, for the gratification of their guests. from it a long shady walk, running by the side of a stream of water, extends for about two miles, to the ruins of the castle of sonneburg. among the buildings of wiesbaden, the principal ones, after the cursaal and theatre, are the schlosschen, containing a public library and museum, the hotels of the four seasons, the eagle, the rose, the schutzenhof, and the englischen hof. the churches are small, and seem adapted in size to the old, rather than to the new town. by far the greatest proportion of the inhabitants are protestants, and their place of worship is scarcely big enough to hold them. at the southern extremity of the town there exists a huge pile of rubbish, with several high modern walls in ruins. it appears that, a few years ago, the catholics at wiesbaden determined on building a church, which was to vie in magnificence with the cursaal, and other gaudy specimens of the new town. eighty thousand florins were accordingly raised by subscription, and the huge edifice was actually finished, the priests were shaved, and everything was ready for the celebration of mass, when, à propos to nothing, "_occidit una domus!_" down it came thundering to the ground! whether it was blown up by subterranean heat, or burst by the action of frost,--whether it was the foundation, or the fine arched roof which gave way, are points which at wiesbaden are still argued with acrimony and eagerness; and, to this day, men's mouths are seen quite full of jagged consonants, as they condemn or defend the architect of the building--poor, unfortunate mr. schrumpf! after having made myself acquainted with the geography of wiesbaden, i arose one morning at half-past five o'clock to see the visiters drinking the waters. the scene was really an odd one. the long parade, at one extremity of which stood smoking and fuming the great koch-brunnen, was seen crowded with respectably-dressed people, of both sexes, all walking (like so many watchmen, carrying lanterns), with glasses in their hands, filled, half filled, or quarter filled, with the medicine, which had been delivered to them from the brunnen so scalding hot, that they dared not even sip it, as they walked, until they had carried it for a considerable time. it requires no little dexterity to advance in this way, without spilling one's medicine, to say nothing of burning or slopping it over one's fellow patients. every person's eye, therefore, whatever might be the theme of his conversation, was instantly fixed upon his glass; some few carried the thing along with elegance, but i could not help remarking that the greater proportion of people walked with their backs up, and were evidently very little at their ease. a band of wind-instruments was playing, and an author, a native of wiesbaden, in describing this scene, has sentimentally exclaimed--"_thousands of glasses are drunk by the sound of music!_" four or five young people, protected by a railing, are employed the whole morning in filling, as fast as they can stoop down to the brunnen to do so, the quantities of glasses, which, from hands in all directions, are extending towards them; but so excessively hot is the cauldron, that the greater proportion of these glasses were, i observed, cracked by it, and several i saw fall to pieces when delivered to their owners. not wishing to appear eccentric, which, in this amphibious picture any one is who walks about the parade without a glass of scalding hot water in his hand, i purchased a goblet, and the first dip it got cracked it from top to bottom. in describing the taste of the mineral water of wiesbaden, were i to say, that, while drinking it, one hears in one's ears the cackling of hens, and that one sees feathers flying before one's eyes, i should certainly grossly exaggerate; but when i declare that it exactly resembles very hot chicken broth, i only say what dr. granville said, and what in fact everybody says, and must say, respecting it; and certainly i do wonder why the common people should be at the inconvenience of making bad soup, when they can get much better from nature's great stock-pot--the koch-brunnen of wiesbaden. at all periods of the year, summer or winter, the temperature of this broth remains the same, and when one reflects that it has been bubbling out of the ground, and boiling over, in the very same state, certainly from the time of the romans, and probably from the time of the flood, it is really astonishing to think what a most wonderful apparatus there must exist below, what an inexhaustible stock of provisions to ensure such an everlasting supply of broth, always formed of exactly the same eight or ten ingredients--always salted to exactly the same degree, and always served up at exactly the same heat. one would think that some of the particles in the recipe would be exhausted; in short, to speak metaphorically, that the chickens would at last be boiled to rags, or that the fire would go out for want of coals; but the oftener one reflects on these sorts of subjects, the oftener is the old-fashioned observation forced upon the mind, that let a man go where he will, omnipotence is never from his view! as leaning against one of the columns of the arcade under which the band was playing, i stood with my medicine in my hand, gazing upon the strange group of people, who with extended glasses were crowding and huddling round the koch-brunnen, each eagerly trying to catch the eye of the young water-dippers, i could not help feeling, as i had felt at langen-schwalbach, whether it could be possible for any prescription to be equally beneficial to such differently made patients. to repeat all the disorders which it is said most especially to cure, would be very nearly to copy the sad list of ailments to which our creaky frames are subject. the inhabitants of wiesbaden rant, the hotel-keepers rave, about the virtues of this medicine. stories are most gravely related of people crawling to wiesbaden and running home. in most of the great lodging-houses crutches are triumphantly displayed, as having belonged to people who left them behind. it is good they say for the stomach--good for the skin--good for ladies of all possible ages--for all sorts and conditions of men. it lulls pain--therefore it is good, they say, for people going out of this world, yet equally good is it, they declare, for those whose fond parents earnestly wish them to come in. for a head-ache, drink, the inn-keepers exclaim, at the koch-brunnen! for gout in the heels, soak the body, the doctors say, in the chicken-broth!--in short, the valetudinarian, reclining in his carriage, has scarcely entered the town than, say what he will of himself, the inhabitants all seem to agree in repeating--"_benè, benè respondere; dignus es entrare nostro docto corpore!_" however, there would be no end in stating what the wiesbaden water is said to be good for; a much simpler course is to explain, that doctors do agree in saying that it is _not_ good for complaints where there is any disposition to inflammation or regular fever, and that it changes consumption into--death. by about seven o'clock, the vast concourse of people who had visited the koch-brunnen had imbibed about as much of the medicine as they could hold, and accordingly, like swallows, almost simultaneously departing, the parade was deserted; the young water-dippers had also retired to rest, and every feature in the picture vanished, except the smoking, misty fumes of the water, which now, no longer in request, boiled and bubbled by itself, as it flowed into the drains, by which it eventually reached the rhine. the first act of the entertainment being thus over, in about a quarter of an hour the second commenced; in short, so soon as the visiters, retiring to their rooms, could divest or denude themselves of their garments, i saw stalking down the long passage of my lodging-house one heavy german gentleman after another whose skull-cap, dressing-gown, and slippers, plainly indicated that he was proceeding to the bath. in a short time, lady after lady, in similar dishabille, was seen following the same course. silence, gravity, and incognito were the order of the day; and though i bowed as usual in meeting these undressed people, yet the polite rule is, not, as at other moments, to accompany the inclination with a gentle smile, but to dilute it with a look which cannot be too solemn or too sad. there was something to my mind so very novel in bathing in broth, that i resolved to try the experiment, particularly as it was the only means i had of following the crowd. accordingly, retiring to my room, in a minute or two i also, in my slippers and black dressing-gown, was to be seen, staff in hand, mournfully walking down the long passage, as slowly and as gravely as if i had been in such a procession all my life. an infirm elderly lady was just before me--some lighter-sounding footsteps were behind me--but without raising our eyes from the ground, we all moved on just as if we had been corpses gliding or migrating from one churchyard to another. after descending a long well-staircase, i came to a door, which i no sooner opened, than, of its own accord, it slammed after me exactly as, five seconds before, it had closed upon the old lady who had preceded me, and i now found myself in an immense building, half filled with steam. a narrow passage or aisle conducted me down the middle, on each side of me there being a series of doors opening into the baths, which, to my very great astonishment, i observed, were all open at top, being separated from each other by merely a half-inch boarded partition, not seven feet high! into several of these cells there was literally nothing but the steam to prevent people in the houses of the opposite side of the street from looking--a very tall man in one bath could hardly help peeping into the next, and in the roof or loft above the ceiling there were several loop-holes, through which any one might have had a bird's-eye view of the whole unfledged scene. the arrangement, or rather want of arrangement, was altogether most astonishing; and as i walked down the passage, my first exclamation to myself was, "well, thank heaven, this would not do in england!" to this remark the germans would of course say, that low, half-inch scantling is quite sufficient among well-bred people, whatever coarser protection might be requisite among us english; but though this argument may sound triumphant, yet delicacy is a subject which is not fit for noisy discussion. like the bloom on fruit, it is a subject that does not bear touching; and if people of their own accord do not feel that the scene i have described is indelicate, it is quite impossible to prove it to them, and therefore "the less said is the soonest mended." as i was standing in the long passage, occupying myself with the above reflections, a nice, healthy old woman, opening a door, beckoned to me to advance, and accordingly with her i entered the little cell. seeing i was rather infirm, and a stranger, she gave me, with two towels, a few necessary instructions,--such as that i was to remain in the mixture about thirty-five minutes, and beneath the fluid to strike with my arms and legs as strenuously as possible. the door was now closed, and my dressing-gown being carefully hung upon a peg (a situation i much envied it), i proceeded, considerably against my inclination, to introduce myself to my new acquaintance, whose face, or surface, was certainly very revolting; for a white, thick, dirty, greasy scum, exactly resembling what would be on broth, covered the top of the bath. but all this, they say, is exactly as it should be, and, indeed, german bathers at wiesbaden actually insist on its appearance, as it proves, they argue, that the bath has not been used by any one else. in most places, in ordering a warm bath, it is necessary to wait till the water be heated, but at wiesbaden the springs are so exceedingly hot, that the baths are obliged to be filled over-night, in order to be _cool_ enough in the morning; and the dirty scum i have mentioned is the required proof that the water has, during that time, been undisturbed. resolving not to be bullied by the ugly face of my antagonist, i entered my bath, and in a few seconds i lay horizontally, calmly soaking, like my neighbours. generally speaking, a dead silence prevailed; occasionally an old man was heard to cough,--sometimes a young woman was gently heard to sneeze,--and two or three times there was a sudden heavy splash in the cell adjoining mine, which proceeded from the leg of a great awkward german frau, kicking, by mistake, above, instead of (as i was vigorously doing) beneath the fluid. every sigh that escaped was heard, and whenever a patient extricated him or herself from the mess, one could hear puffing and rubbing as clearly as if one had been assisting at the operation. in the same mournful succession in which they had arrived, the bathers, in due time, ascended, one after another, to their rooms, where they were now permitted to eat--what they had certainly well enough earned--their breakfast. as soon as mine was concluded, i voted it necessary to clean my head, for from certain white particles which float throughout the bath, as thickly as, and indeed very much resembling, the mica in granite, i found that my hair was in a sticky state, in which i did not feel disposed it should remain. i ought, however, most explicitly to state, that the operation i here imposed upon myself was an act of eccentricity, forming no part of the regular system of the wiesbaden bathers--indeed, i should say that the art of cleaning the hair is not anywhere much encouraged among germans, who, perhaps with reason, rather pride themselves in despising any sort of occupation or accomplishment which can at all be called--superficial. before i quit the subject of bathing, i may as well at once observe, that one of my principal reasons for selecting the apartments i occupied at the englischen hof was, that the window of my sitting-room looked into the horse-bath, which was immediately beneath them. three or four times a-day, horses, lame or chest-foundered, were brought to this spot. as the water was hot, the animals, on first being led into it, seemed much frightened, splashing, and violently pawing with their fore-feet an if to cool it, but being at last more accustomed to the strange sensation, they very quickly seemed exceedingly to enjoy it. their bodies being entirely covered, the halter was then tied to a post, and they were thus left to soak for half or three-quarters of an hour. the heat seemed to heighten the circulation of their blood, and nothing could look more animated than their heads, as, peeping out of the hot fluid, they shook their dripping manes and snorted at every carriage, and horse, which they heard passing. the price paid for each bathing of each horse is eighteen kreuzers, and this trifling fact always appeared to me to be the most satisfactory proof i could meet with of the curative properties of the wiesbaden baths: for though it is, of course, the interest of the inhabitants to insist on their efficacy, yet the poor peasant would never, i think, continue for a fortnight to pay sixpence a-day, unless he knew, by experience of some sort or other, that his animal would really derive benefit. one must not, however carry the moral too far; for even if it be admitted that these baths cure in horses strains and other effects of _over-work_, it does not follow that they are to be equally beneficial in gout, and other human complaints, which we all know are the effects of _under-work_, or want of exercise. for more than half an hour i had been indolently watching this amphibious scene, when the landlord entering my room said, that the russian prince g----n wished to speak to me on some business; and the information was scarcely communicated, when i perceived his highness standing at the threshold of my door. with the attention due to his rank, i instantly begged he would do me the honour to walk in; and, after we had sufficiently bowed to each other, and i had prevailed upon my guest to sit down, i gravely requested him, as i stood before him, to be so good as to state in what way i could have the good fortune to render him any service. the prince very briefly replied, that he had called upon me, considering that i was the person in the hotel best capable (he politely inclined his head) of informing him by what route it would be most advisable for him to proceed to london, it being his wish to visit my country. in order at once to solve this very simple problem, i silently unfolded and spread out upon the table my map of europe; and each of us, as we leant over it, placing a fore-finger on or near wiesbaden--(our eyes being fixed upon dover)--we remained in this reflecting attitude for some seconds, until the prince's finger first solemnly began to trace its route. in doing this i observed that his highness's hand kept swerving far into the netherlands; so, gently pulling it by the thumb towards paris, i used as much force as i thought decorous, to induce it to advance in a straight line; however, finding my efforts ineffectual, i ventured, with respectful astonishment, to ask, "why travel by so uninteresting a route?" the prince at once acknowledged that the road i had recommended would, by visiting paris, afford him the greatest pleasure, but he frankly told me that no russian, not even a personage of his rank, could enter that capital without first obtaining a written permission from the emperor!!! these words were no sooner uttered than i felt my fluent civility suddenly begin to coagulate; the attention i paid my guest became forced and unnatural--i was no longer at my ease; and though i bowed, strained, and endeavoured to be, if possible, more respectful, than ever, yet i really could hardly prevent my lips from muttering aloud, that i had sooner die a homely english peasant than live to be a russian prince! in short, his highness's words acted upon my mind like thunder upon beer; and, moreover, i could almost have sworn that i was an old lean wolf, contemptuously observing a bald ring rubbed by the collar from the neck of a sleek, well-fed mastiff dog; however, recovering myself, i managed to give as much information as it was in my humble power to afford, and my noble guest then taking his departure, i returned to my open window, to give vent in solitude (as i gazed upon the horse-bath) to my own reflections upon the subject. although the petty rule of my life has been never to trouble myself about what the world calls "politics"--(a fine word, by-the-by, much easier expressed than understood)--yet, i must own, i am always happy when i see a nation enjoying itself, and melancholy when i observe any large body of people suffering pain or imprisonment. but of all sorts of imprisonment, that of the mind is, to my taste, the most cruel; and, therefore, when i consider over what immense dominions the emperor of russia presides, and how he governs, i cannot help sympathizing most sincerely with those innocent sufferers who have the misfortune to be born his subjects; for if a russian prince be not freely permitted to go to paris, in what a melancholy state of slavery and debasement must exist the minds of what we call the lower classes? as a sovereign remedy for this lamentable political disorder, many very sensible people in england prescribe, i know, that we ought to have recourse to arms. i must confess, however, it seems to me that one of the greatest political errors england could commit would be to declare, or to join in declaring war against russia; in short, that an appeal to brute force would, at this moment, be at once most unscientifically to stop an immense moral engine, which, if left to its work, is quite powerful enough, without bloodshed, to gain for humanity, at no expense at all, its object. the individual who is, i conceive to overthrow the emperor of russia--who is to direct his own legions against himself--who is to do what napoleon at the head of his great army failed to effect, is the little child, who, lighted by the single wick of a small lamp, sits at this moment perched above the great steam-press of our "penny magazine," feeding it, from morning till night, with blank paper, which, at almost every pulsation of the engine, comes out stamped on both sides with engravings, and with pages of plain, useful, harmless knowledge, which, by making the lower orders acquainted with foreign lands--foreign production's--various states of society, &c., tend practically to inculcate "glory to god in the highest, and on earth peace--good will towards men." it has already been stated, that what proceeds from this press is now greedily devoured by the people of europe; indeed, even at berlin, we know it can hardly be reprinted fast enough. this child, then,--"this sweet little cherub that sits up, aloft," is the only army that an enlightened country like ours should, i humbly think, deign to oppose to one who reigns in darkness--who trembles at day-light, and whose throne rests upon ignorance and despotism. compare this mild, peaceful, intellectual policy, with the dreadful, savage alternative of going to war, and the difference must surely be evident to every one. in the former case, we calmly enjoy, first of all, the pleasing reflection, that our country is generously imparting to the nations of europe the blessings she is tranquilly deriving from the purification and civilization of her own mind;--far from wishing to exterminate, we are gradually illuminating, the russian peasant--we are mildly throwing a gleam of light upon the fetters of the russian prince; and surely every well-disposed person must see, that, if we will only have patience, the result of this noble, temperate conduct must produce all that reasonable beings can desire. but, on the other hand, if we appeal to arms--if, losing our temper and our head, we endeavour (as the bear is taught to dance) to civilize the emperor of russia by hard blows, we instantly consolidate all the tottering elements of his dominions; we give life, energy, and loyalty to his army; we avert the thoughts of his princes from their own dishonour; we inflame the passions, instead of awakening the sober judgment of his subjects, and thus throwing away both our fulcrum and our lever, by resorting to main strength, we raise the savage not only to a level with ourselves, but actually make ourselves decidedly his inferior; for napoleon's history ought surely sufficiently to instruct us, that the weapons of this northern prince of darkness--(his climate and his legions)--even if we had an army, we ought not, in prudence, to attack; but the fact is, our pacific policy has been to try to exist without an army,--in the opinion of all military men we have even disarmed ourselves too much, and, in this situation, suddenly to change our system, and without arms or armour to attack one who is almost invulnerable, would be most irrationally to paralyze our own political machinery. if, by its moral assistance, we wisely intend, under the blessings of heaven, to govern and be governed, we surely ought not from anger to desert, its standard; and, on the other hand, it must be equally evident that before we determine on civilizing the emperor of russia, by trying the barbarous experiment of whether his troops or ours can, without shrinking, eat most lead, it would be prudent to create an army, as well as funds able to maintain it; for-- "beware of entrance to a quarrel; but, being in, bear it, that the opposer may beware of thee!" * * * * * being desirous to observe the way in which a sunday evening was passed in germany, at seven o'clock on that day i followed a crowd of people into the theatre, and found the house so full, that i had great difficulty in obtaining a seat. the performance was a complete surprise to me; for though ages ago, when i was young, i had been in the habit of regularly attending for years together an italian theatre, yet never having before witnessed a german opera, i did not know it was possible so completely to adapt the sounds of music to every varying thought and sentiment in a play; in short, the words of the play, and the notes of the orchestra, were as nearly as possible fac-similes of each other; demi-semi-quavers, crotchets, and minims being made most ingeniously to mimic, not only exclamations, but marks of admiration, notes of interrogation, colons, and full stops. the musical emphasis which accompanied every line throughout the piece, while it merely astonished me, seemed to be most scientifically appreciated by the audience, whose countenances of severe attention were very remarkable; no interruption, however, of any sort took place, their feelings of approbation or censure being equally mute. in the various departments of the performance, a great deal of natural talent was displayed, and whether one attended to the music--to the style of acting--to the scenery--or even to a dish of devils, which made their appearance, most strangely garnished with toads, bats, serpents, and non-descript beings, one could not help admitting that, in spite of its torpor, there must exist a considerable quantity of latent genius, imagination, and taste, in the audience itself; indeed, there can be no fairer criterion of the mental character of any country, than its own national spectacles, which are of course, and must be, made to correspond with, and suit, the palates of those who support them. it is true that that mimic fashion will occasionally introduce into a country foreign habits, not suited to its climate. for instance, of our own fine london opera, italians say, that without calling upon the english audience itself to sing, their behaviour quite clearly proves that they have no real taste for--that they are not capable of relishing, the foreign musical luxury which by the power of money they have purchased: in short, they accuse us of listening, when we ought to be coughing--of talking to each other, when we ought to be breathless, from attention--and of most barbarously throwing the light of the theatre upon ourselves instead of on the performers--thus showing that we prefer looking at tiers of red cheeks and rows of white teeth, to listening to the soft, simple melody of music. but, whether these foreign remarks respecting an italian performance be true or not, in our own element, in our own english theatres, the accusation of want of taste does not hold good. the admirers of shakspeare, siddons, kemble, kean, o'neil, &c., cannot complain that the writings of the one, or the acting of the others, have not reached the hearts of those to whom they have been directed; in short, without sympathetic talent throughout the country, those names could never have reached the respective eminences on which they stand, and thus, though they do honour to the country, the country can also claim honour from them. when the pleasing performance i had been witnessing was at an end, on coming into the open air, i found it was raining. like myself, most people were without umbrellas; the rain, however, seemed to have no effect upon the tide of human bodies that flowed _en masse_ towards the cursaal, which, ready lighted up, was waiting for the disgorging of the theatre. on entering the great door, each person was required to pay a florin, and as the large room was rapidly very nearly filled, the band struck up, and dancing most vigorously began. i could now scarcely believe my eyes, that the performers, so awkwardly attempting to be active before me, were the identical people whose passive good taste and genius i had, with so much pleasure, been admiring; for with a more awkward, clumsy, inelegant set of dancers i certainly never before had found myself in society. not only was the execution of their steps violently bad, but their whole style of dancing was of a texture as coarse as dowlas, and most especially, in their mode of waltzing, there was a repetition of vulgar jerks which it was painfully disagreeable to witness. leaving, therefore, these dull, heavy, tetotums to spin out the evening in their own way, i quitted the great room; but no sooner did i enter the smaller dens than i found that i had fallen from the frying-pan into the fire, for these "hells" were literally swarming with inhabitants. in each chamber an immense solitary lamp (having a circular reflector) hung over the green cloth table, round which, male and female gamesters, of all ages, were bending, with horrid features of anxiety; and as the powerful rancid oil light shone upon their ill-favoured countenances, i could not help with abhorrence leaning backwards, at seeing a group of fellow-creatures huddled together for such a base, low-minded object. in passing through the chambers of this infernal region, i found one worse, if possible, than the other. under each lamp, there were, here and there, contrasted with young nibblers, individual countenances of habitual gamesters, which, as objects of detestation, many a painter, or rather scene-painter, would have been exceedingly anxious to sketch; but i was so completely disgusted with the whole thing, that, as quickly as my staff and two legs could carry me, swinging the other arm, i took my departure. in hastily worming my way through the ball-room, i saw there no reason for changing my opinion; and when i got into the fresh, cool, open air, though i was fully sensible i had not spent my sunday evening exactly as i ought to have done, yet, in the course of my very long life, i think i never felt more practically disposed to repeat, as in england we are, thank heaven, still taught to do-- "remember that thou keep holy the sabbath day." the end. footnotes: [ ] at this age i myself left my classical school, scarcely knowing the name of a single river in the new world--tired almost to death of the history of the ilissus. in after life i entered a river of america more than five times as broad as from dover to calais--and with respect to the ilissus, which had received in my mind such distorted importance, i will only say, that i have repeatedly walked across it in about twenty seconds, without wetting my ankles! schlangenbader volkslied, national air of schlangenbad. [illustration: music moderato bru-der ich und du, bru-der ich und du, wir schlafen im-mer zu. still und still und im-mer still weil mein mädchen schla-fen will stil-le! stil-le! kein gerausch ge-macht!] transcriber's note obvious typographical errors have been corrected. inconsistent spelling and hyphenation in the original document have been preserved. sidenotes have been enclosed in brackets and moved to the beginning of the respective sentence. transcriber's note: text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). the kaiser's memoirs [illustration: wilhelm ii] the kaiser's memoirs by wilhelm ii emperor of germany - english translation by thomas r. ybarra harper & brothers publishers new york and london the kaiser's memoirs copyright, by mcclure newspaper syndicate copyright, by harper & brothers printed in the u. s. a. _first edition_ k-w contents chap. page i. bismarck ii. caprivi iii. hohenlohe iv. bÜlow v. bethmann vi. my co-workers in the administration vii. science and art viii. my relations with the church ix. army and navy x. the outbreak of war xi. the pope and peace xii. end of the war and my abdication xiii. the enemy tribunal and the neutral tribunal xiv. the question of guilt xv. the revolution and germany's future the kaiser's memoirs chapter i bismarck prince bismarck's greatness as a statesman and his imperishable services to prussia and germany are historical facts of such tremendous significance that there is doubtless no man in existence, whatever his party affiliations, who would dare to place them in question. for this very reason alone it is stupid to accuse me of not having recognized the greatness of prince bismarck. the opposite is the truth. i revered and idolized him. nor could it be otherwise. it should be borne in mind with what generation i grew up--the generation of the devotees of bismarck. he was the creator of the german empire, the paladin of my grandfather, and all of us considered him the greatest statesman of his day and were proud that he was a german. bismarck was the idol in my temple, whom i worshiped. but monarchs also are human beings of flesh and blood, hence they, too, are exposed to the influences emanating from the conduct of others; therefore, looking at the matter from a human point of view, one will understand how prince bismarck, by his fight against me, himself destroyed, with heavy blows, the idol of which i have spoken. but my reverence for bismarck, the great statesman, remained unaltered. while i was still prince of prussia i often thought to myself: "i hope that the great chancellor will live for many years yet, since i should be safe if i could govern with him." but my reverence for the great statesman was not such as to make me take upon my own shoulders, when i became emperor, political plans or actions of the prince which i considered mistakes. even the congress of berlin in was, to my way of thinking, a mistake, likewise the "kulturkampf." moreover, the constitution of the empire was drawn up so as to fit in with bismarck's extraordinary preponderance as a statesman; the big cuirassier boots did not fit every man. then came the labor-protective legislation. i most deeply deplored the dispute which grew out of this, but, at that time, it was necessary for me _to take the road to compromise, which has generally been my road both on domestic and foreign politics_. for this reason i could not wage the open warfare against the social democrats which the prince desired. nevertheless, this quarrel about political measures cannot lessen my admiration for the greatness of bismarck as a statesman; he remains the creator of the german empire, and surely no _one_ man need have done more for his country than that. owing to the fact that the great matter of unifying the empire was always before my eyes, i did not allow myself to be influenced by the agitations which were the commonplaces of those days. in like manner, the fact that bismarck was called the majordomo of the hohenzollerns could not shake my trust in the prince, although he, perhaps, had thoughts of a political tradition for his family. as evidence of this, he felt unhappy, for instance, that his son bill felt no interest in politics and wished to pass on his power to herbert. his grandfather's successor the tragic element for me, in the bismarck case, lay in the fact that i became the successor of my grandfather--in other words, that i skipped one generation, to a certain extent. and that is a serious thing. in such a case one is forced to deal constantly with old deserving men, who live more in the past than in the present, and cannot grow into the future. when the grandson succeeds his grandfather and finds a revered but old statesman of the stature of bismarck, it is not a piece of good luck for him, as one might suppose, and i, in fact, supposed. bismarck himself points that out in the third volume of his memoirs (p. ), when he speaks, in the chapter about bötticher, of the oldish caution of the chancellor, and of the young emperor. and when ballin had the prince cast a glance over the new harbor of hamburg, bismarck himself felt that a new era had begun which he no longer thoroughly understood. on that occasion the prince remarked, in astonishment, "another world, a new world!" this point of view also showed itself on the occasion of the visit of admiral von tirpitz at friedrichsruh, at the time when he wished to win the old imperial chancellor over to favoring the first navy bill. as for me personally, i have the satisfaction of recalling that bismarck intrusted to me in the very delicate brest mission, and said of me: "some day that man will be his own chancellor." this shows that bismarck must have had some belief in me. i feel no grudge against him for the third volume of his reminiscences. i released this volume after i had sought and obtained my rights. to withhold the volume any longer would have been pointless, since the main contents had become known already through indiscretions; were this not true, there might have been varying opinions as to the advisability in the choice of the time for publication. bismarck would turn over in his grave if he could know at what time the third volume appeared, and what consequences it had. i should be honestly grieved if the third volume had damaged the memory of the great chancellor, because bismarck is one of the heroic figures whom the german people need for their regeneration. my gratitude and reverence for the great chancellor cannot be impaired or extinguished by the third volume nor by anything else whatever. in the first half of the 'eighties i had been summoned to the foreign office at the behest of prince bismarck; it was then presided over by count herbert bismarck. upon reporting myself to the prince he gave me a short sketch of the personages employed at the foreign office, and when he named herr von holstein, who was then one of the most prominent collaborators of the prince, it seemed to me that a slight warning against this man ran through the prince's words. i got a room all to myself, and all the documents concerning the preliminary history, origin, and conclusion of the alliance with austria (andrassy) were laid before me in order that i might study them. i went often to the home of the prince and to that of count herbert. the man with the hyena's eyes when i had thus become more intimate in the bismarck circle i heard more open talk about herr von holstein. i heard that he was very clever, a good worker, inordinately proud, an odd sort of man, who never showed himself anywhere and had no social relations, full of distrust, much influenced by whims, and, besides all this, a good hater, and, therefore, dangerous. prince bismarck called him "the man with the hyena's eyes," and told me that it would be well for me to keep away from him. it was quite apparent that the bitter attitude which the prince showed later toward holstein, his former collaborator, was forming even at that time. the foreign office was conducted with the strictest discipline by count herbert, whose rudeness toward his employees particularly struck me. the gentlemen there simply flew when they were summoned or dismissed by the count, so much so that a joking saying arose at the time that "their coat tails stood straight out behind them." the foreign policy was conducted and dictated by prince bismarck alone, after consultation with count herbert, who passed on the commands of the chancellor and had them transformed into instructions. hence _the foreign office was nothing but an office of the great chancellor_, where work was done according to his directions. able men, with independent ideas, were not schooled and trained there. this was in contrast to the general staff under moltke. there new officers were carefully developed and trained to independent thinking and action, in accordance with approved principles, and by dint of preserving old traditions and taking into account all that modern times had taught. at the foreign office there were only executive instruments of a will, who were not informed as to the important interrelationship of the questions turned over to them for treatment, and could not, therefore, collaborate independently. the prince loomed up like a huge block of granite in a meadow; were he to be dragged away, what would be found beneath would be mostly worms and dead roots. i won the confidence of the prince, who consulted me about many things. for instance, when the prince brought about the first german colonial acquisitions (gross and klein popo, togo, etc.), i informed him, at his wish, concerning the state of mind created in the public and the navy by this move, and described to him the enthusiasm with which the german people had hailed the new road. the prince remarked that the matter hardly deserved this. later on i spoke often with the prince about the colonial question and always found in him the intention to utilize the colonies as commercial objects, or objects for swapping purposes, other than to make them useful to the fatherland or utilize them as sources of raw materials. as was my duty, i called the prince's attention to the fact that merchants and capitalists were beginning energetically to develop the colonies and that, therefore--as i had learned from hanseatic circles--they counted upon protection from a navy. for this reason, i pointed out that steps must be taken for _getting a fleet constructed_ in time, in order that german assets in foreign lands should not be without protection; that, since the prince had unfurled the german flag in foreign parts, and the people stood behind it, there must also be a navy behind it. bismarck's continental prepossessions but the prince turned a deaf ear to my statements and made use of his pet motto: "if the english should land on our soil i should have them arrested." his idea was that the colonies would be defended by us at home. the prince attached no importance to the fact that the very assumption that the english could land without opposition in germany--since heligoland was english--was unbearable for germany, and that we, in order to make a landing impossible from the start, needed a sufficiently strong navy, and, likewise, heligoland. the political interest of the prince was, in fact, concentrated essentially upon continental europe; england lay somewhat to one side among the cares that burdened him daily, all the more so since salisbury stood well with him and had, in the name of england, hailed with satisfaction the double (_i. e._, triple) alliance, at the time of its formation. the prince worked primarily with russia, austria, italy, and rumania, whose relations toward germany and one another he constantly watched over. as to the prudence and skill with which he acted, emperor william the great once made a pointed remark to von albedyll, his chief of cabinet. the general found his majesty much excited after a talk with bismarck, to such an extent that he feared for the health of the old emperor. he remarked, therefore, that his majesty should avoid similar worry in future; that, if bismarck was unwilling to do as his majesty wished, his majesty should dismiss him. whereupon the emperor replied that, despite his admiration and gratitude toward the great chancellor, he had already thought of dismissing him, since the self-conscious attitude of the prince became at times too oppressive. but both he and the country needed bismarck too badly. bismarck was the one man who could juggle five balls of which at least two were always in the air. that trick, added the emperor, was beyond his own powers. prince bismarck did not realize that, through the acquisition of colonies for germany, he would be obliged to look beyond europe and be automatically forced to act, politically, on a large scale--with england especially. england, to be sure, was one of the five balls in his diplomatic-statesmanly game, but she was merely one of the five, and he did not grant her the special importance which was her due. for this reason it was that the foreign office likewise was involved entirely in the continental interplay of politics, had not the requisite interest in colonies, navy, or england, and possessed no experience in world politics. the english psychology and mentality, as shown in the pursuit--constant, though concealed by all sorts of little cloaks--of world hegemony, was to the german foreign office a book sealed with seven seals. source of russian enmity once prince bismarck remarked to me that his main object was to not let russia and england come to an understanding. i took the liberty of observing that the opportunity to postpone such an understanding for a long time lay ready to hand in - , when the russians might have been allowed to occupy constantinople--had this been done, the english fleet would have sailed in without further ado to defend constantinople and the russo-english conflict would have been on. instead, i continued, the treaty of san stefano was forced upon the russians and they were compelled to turn about at the very gates of the city which they had reached and saw before them, after frightful battles and hardships. this, i went on, had created an inextinguishable hatred in the russian army against us (as had been reported by prussian officers who had accompanied the russian army on the turkish campaign, especially count pfeil); moreover, the above-mentioned treaty had been cast aside and the berlin treaty substituted for it, which had burdened us even more with the hostility of the russians, who looked upon us as the enemy of their "just interests in the east." thus the conflict between russia and england, which the prince desired, had been relegated far into the future. prince bismarck did not agree with this judgment of "his" congress, concerning the results of which he, as the "honest broker," was so proud; he remarked earnestly that he had wished to prevent a general conflagration and had been compelled to offer his services as a mediator. when i, later on, told a gentleman at the foreign office about this conversation, he replied that he had been present when the prince, after signing the berlin treaty, came into the foreign office and received the congratulations of the officials assembled there. after he had listened to them the prince stood up and replied: "now i am driving europe four-in-hand!" in the opinion of the said gentleman the prince was mistaken in this, since, even at that time, there was the threat of a russo-french friendship in place of the russo-prussian--in other words, two horses were already to be counted out of the four-in-hand. as russia saw it, disraeli's statecraft had turned bismarck's work as "honest broker" into the negotiation of an anglo-austrian victory over russia. despite considerable differences in our opinions, prince bismarck remained friendly and kindly disposed to me, and, despite the great difference in our ages, a pleasant relationship grew up between us, since i, in common with all those of my generation, was an ardent admirer of the prince and had won his trust by my zeal and frankness--nor have i ever betrayed that trust. during the time of my assignment at the foreign office, privy councilor raschdau, among others, discoursed with me on commercial policy, colonies, etc. in these matters, even at that early date, my attention was called to our dependence upon england, due to the fact that we had no navy and that heligoland was in english hands. to be sure, there was a project to extend our colonial possessions under the pressure of necessity, but all this could happen only with england's permission. this was a serious matter, and certainly an unworthy position for germany. intercourt politics my assignment at the foreign office brought a very unpleasant happening in its wake. my parents were not very friendly toward prince bismarck and looked with disfavor upon the fact that their son had entered into the prince's circle. there was fear of my becoming influenced against my parents, of superconservatism, of all sorts of perils, which all sorts of tale bearers from england and "liberal circles," who rallied around my father, imputed against me. i never bothered my head with all this nonsense, but my position in the house of my parents was rendered much more difficult for me and, at times, painful. through my work under prince bismarck and the confidence reposed in me--often subjected to the severest tests--i have had to suffer much in silence for the sake of the chancellor; he, however, apparently took this quite as a matter of course. i was on good terms with count herbert bismarck. he could be a very gay companion and knew how to assemble interesting men around his table, partly from the foreign office, partly from other circles. however, true friendship never ripened between us two. this was shown particularly when the count asked to go at the same time that his father retired. my request that he stay by me and help me to maintain tradition in our political policy elicited the sharp reply that he had become accustomed to report to his father and serve him, wherefore it was out of the question to demand that he come, with his dispatch case under his arm, to report to anybody else than his father. when tsar nicholas ii, he who has been murdered, came of age, i was assigned at the instigation of prince bismarck to confer upon the heir-apparent at st. petersburg the order of the black eagle. both the emperor and prince bismarck instructed me concerning the relationship of the two countries and the two reigning dynasties with each other, as well as concerning customs, personages, etc. the emperor remarked in conclusion that he would give his grandson the same piece of advice that was given him, on the occasion of his first visit as a young man to russia, by count adlerberg, _viz._, "in general, there as well as elsewhere, people prefer praise to criticism." prince bismarck closed his remarks with these words: "in the east, all those who wear their shirts outside their trousers are decent people, but as soon as they tuck their shirts inside their trousers and hang a medal around their necks, they become pig-dogs." from st. petersburg i repeatedly reported to my grandfather and to prince bismarck. naturally, i described, to the best of my knowledge, the impressions which i got. i noticed especially that the old russo-prussian relations and sentiments had cooled to a marked extent and were no longer such as the emperor and prince bismarck in their talks with me had assumed. after my return, both my grandfather and the prince praised me for my plain, clear report, which was all the pleasanter for me since i was oppressed by the feeling that, in a number of things, i had been forced to disillusion these high personages. to offer dardanelles to russia in , at the end of august and beginning of september, after the last meeting at gastein of emperor william the great and prince bismarck with emperor franz josef, where i also was present at the command of my grandfather, i was commissioned to report personally to tsar alexander ii concerning the decisions made there and to take up with him the questions relating to the mediterranean and turkey. prince bismarck gave me his instructions, sanctioned by emperor william; they dealt most especially with russia's desire to reach constantinople, to which the prince meant to raise no obstacles. on the contrary, i received direct instructions to offer russia constantinople and the dardanelles (in other words, san stefano and the berlin treaty had been dropped!). there was a plan to persuade turkey in a friendly way that an understanding with russia was desirable for her also. the tsar received me cordially at brest-litovsk and i was present there at reviews of troops and fortress and defensive maneuvers, which, even then, unquestionably bore an anti-german look. to sum up my conversations with the tsar, the following remark by him is of importance: "if i wish to have constantinople, i shall take it whenever i feel like it, without need of permission or approval from prince bismarck." after this rude refusal of the bismarck offer of constantinople, i looked upon my mission as a failure and made my report to the prince accordingly. when the prince decided to make his offer to the tsar, he must have altered his political conceptions which had led to san stefano and the congress of berlin; or else, on account of the development of the general political situation in europe, he considered that the moment had come for shuffling the political cards in another way or, as my grandfather had put it, to "juggle" differently. only a man of the world importance and diplomatic ability of prince bismarck could embark on such a course. whether the prince had planned his big political game with russia in such a way that he might, first, by means of the congress of berlin, prevent a general war and cajole england, and then, after having thus hindered russia's eastern aspirations, cater to these aspirations later, by a stroke of genius, in an even more striking manner, it is impossible for me to say--prince bismarck never told anyone about his great political projects. if the above is true, bismarck, trusting absolutely to his statesmanlike skill, must have reckoned upon bringing germany all the more into russian favor because russian aspirations were brought to fulfillment by germany alone--and that at a moment when the general european political situation was less strained than in - . in this case, nobody except prince bismarck could have played the tremendous game to a successful end. and therein lies the weakness in the superiority of great men. had he also informed england of his offer to the tsar? england must have been opposed to it, as in . in any event, the prince now adopted the policy which i had already noted when i realized the disillusion of the russians at having stood before the gates of constantinople without being allowed to enter. prophecy of russian downfall at brest-litovsk, in the course of the constant military preparations of all kinds, i could easily see that the conduct of the russian officers toward me was essentially cooler and haughtier than on the occasion of my first visit to st. petersburg. only the small group of old generals, especially those at the russian court, who dated from the days of alexander ii, and who knew and esteemed emperor william the great, still showed their reverence for him and their friendly feeling toward germany. in the course of a talk with one of them concerning the relations between the two courts, armies, and countries, which i had found undergoing a change in comparison with former times, the old general said: "c'est ce vilain congrès de berlin. une grave faute du chancelier. il a détruit l'ancienne amitié entre nous, planté la méfiance dans les coeurs de la cour et du gouvernement, et fourni le sentiment d'un grave tort fait à l'armée russe après sa campagne sanglante de , pour lequel elle veut sa revanche. et nous voilà ensemble avec cette maudite république française, pleins de haine contre vous et rempli d'idées subversives, qui en cas de guerre avec vous, nous coûteront notre dynastie."[ ] a prophetic foreshadowing of the downfall of the reigning russian dynasty! from brest i went to strassburg, where my grandfather was attending the imperial maneuvers. in spite of the failure of my mission i found calm judgments of the political situation. my grandfather was pleased at the cordial greetings from the tsar, which, in so far as the personal relationship of the two rulers was concerned, showed no change of heart. also, to my surprise, i received a letter from prince bismarck wherein he expressed gratitude and appreciation to me for my actions and my report. this meant all the more since my statements could not have been agreeable to my grandfather and the chancellor. the congress of berlin had, especially in russian military circles, done away with the remnants of the brotherhood in arms still fostered among us and had engendered a hatred against everything prussian and german, stirred up by association with french officers, which was increased by the french until it developed into the desire of vengeance by means of arms. that was the soil in which, later, the world war ambitions of our foes found nourishment. "revanche pour sedan," combined with "revanche pour san stefano." the words of the old general at brest have remained unforgettably engraved upon my memory; they induced me to bring about my many meetings with alexander iii and nicholas ii, at which my grandfather's wish, impressed upon me on his deathbed, that i watch over our relations with russia, has always been my guiding motive. relief at chancellor's dismissal in , at the narva maneuvers, i was obliged to describe minutely to the tsar the retirement of prince bismarck. the tsar listened very attentively. when i had finished, the usually very cool and reserved sovereign, who seldom spoke about politics, spontaneously seized my hand, thanked me for this token of my confidence, regretted that i had been brought into such a situation and added, in exactly these words: "je comprends parfaitement ta ligne d'action; le prince avec toute sa grandeur n'était après tout rien d'autre que ton employé ou fonctionnaire. le moment où il réfusait d'agir selon tes ordres, il fallait le renvoyer. moi pour ma part je me suis toujours méfié de lui, et je ne lui ai jamais cru un mot de ce qu'il faisait savoir ou me disait lui-même, car j'étais sûr et savais qu'il me blaguait tout le temps. pour les rapports entre nous deux, mon cher guillaume [this was the first time that the tsar so addressed me], la chute du prince aura les meilleures conséquences, la méfiance disparaîtra. j'ai confiance en toi. tu peux te fier à moi."[ ] i immediately wrote down this important talk at the time it occurred. i am objective enough to ask myself to what extent the courtesy of one ruler to another and possibly, in addition, the satisfaction at the elimination of a statesman of bismarck's importance, can have influenced the tsar, consciously or unconsciously, in making the above-mentioned statement. prince bismarck's belief in the tsar's trust in him was, subjectively, undoubtedly genuine; and, moreover, there can be no doubt as to the esteem in which alexander iii held bismarck's ability as a statesman. in any event, the tsar remained true to his word up to the day of his death. this, to be sure, did little to change russia's general policy, but germany, at least, was safe from an attack from that quarter. the straightforward character of alexander iii guaranteed this--it became otherwise under his weak son. whatever one's attitude may be toward bismarck's russian policy, one thing must be acknowledged: the prince, despite the congress of berlin and the rapprochement of france to russia, was able to avoid serious friction. that is equivalent to saying that, reckoning from the time of the berlin congress, he played a superior diplomatic and statesmanlike game for twelve years ( - ). germany as peacemaker one must also lay stress upon the fact that it was a german statesman who, in , prevented a general war, even at the cost of weakening the relations of germany to russia, in the justified belief that he would succeed, being a statesman of genius who knew exactly what he was aiming at, in strengthening these relations once more, or, at least, in avoiding conflicts after he had overcome the crisis threatening all europe. he succeeded in doing that for twelve years and his successors at the helm of the ship of state succeeded in doing likewise for twenty-four more years. when i was a prince i purposely held aloof from party politics, concentrating my entire attention upon my duties in the different army branches to which i was assigned. this afforded me satisfaction and filled up my whole life. for this reason i avoided, while i was prince of prussia, all attempts to drag me into party activities. often enough endeavors were made, under the cloak of harmless functions, teas and the like, to ensnare me into political circles or for electioneering purposes. but i always held aloof. the outcome of the treacherous malady which killed emperor frederick iii was frankly told me in advance by german physicians called into consultation as experts by the english physician, sir morell mackenzie. my deep grief and sorrow were all the greater because it was almost impossible for me to speak alone with my beloved father. he was guarded like a prisoner by the english physicians and, though reporters from all countries could look upon the poor sick man from the physicians' room, every kind of obstacle was placed in my path to keep me from my father's side and even to prevent me from keeping in constant touch with him by writing; my letters were often intercepted and not delivered. moreover, from among the group of watchers, an infamous, organized campaign of slander was conducted in the newspapers against me. two journalists were especially active in this: one herr schnidrowitz and m. jacques st. cère, of the _figaro_--a german jew--who slandered him who was later emperor in the most poisonous way in france, until the "petit sucrier" trial put an end to his activities. i gave the dying emperor his last joy on earth when i had the second infantry brigade march past him, led by me in person. these were the first and last troops seen by frederick iii as emperor. he delighted his son by writing on this occasion, on a little card, that he was grateful for having had the pleasure of seeing these troops and proud to call them his own. this event was a ray of light during the gloomy ninety-nine days, which brought upon me also, as crown prince, much grief, humiliation, and suspicion. in fulfillment of my duty during this crisis, i kept a watchful eye upon all happenings in military, official, and social circles, and was inwardly outraged at the signs of slackness which i noted everywhere, most especially at the hostility against my mother, which was becoming more and more noticeable. moreover, i was naturally deeply hurt at the constant campaign of slander directed against me which depicted me as living in discord with my father. he becomes emperor after emperor frederick iii had closed his eyes forever, the heavy burden of governing the empire fell upon my youthful shoulders. first of all i was confronted with the necessity of making changes in the government personnel in various quarters. the military entourage of the two emperors, as well as the body of officialdom, had grown too old. the so-called "maison militaire" (military household of emperor william the great) had been retained in its entirety by emperor frederick iii, without being required to discharge military duties. in addition, there was the entourage of emperor frederick iii. i proceeded to dismiss, in the friendliest way, all those gentlemen who wished to go into retirement; some of them received positions in the army, a few of the younger remained in my service for the transition period. during the ninety-nine days, while i was still crown prince, i had silently concerned myself with those personages to whom i proposed later to give appointments, since the physicians had left me no doubt that my father had only a short time to live. i ignored court or external considerations; nothing but previous achievements and character moved me to my choice. i did away with the term "maison militaire" and transformed it into "main headquarters of his majesty." in choosing my entourage i took the advice of only one man in whom i reposed special confidence, my former chief and brigade commander, general--afterward adjutant general--von versen, a man of straightforward, knightly, rather harsh character, an officer of the old prussian school, a typical chip of the old block. during his military service in line and guard regiments he had noted with an observing eye the court influences and tendencies which had often worked to the disadvantage of the officer corps in the old "maison militaire." in this direction the circle of ladies of high position, jokingly known among the officers as "trente et quarante" on account of their age, also played a certain part. i wished to eliminate such influences. i appointed general von wittich my first adjutant general and general von hahnke, commander of the second infantry guard division, chief of my military cabinet. the latter was a friend of emperor frederick iii and, while i was still serving with the first infantry guard regiment, he was my brigade commander. these two were men of military experience and iron principles, who shared absolutely the sentiments of their master, and remained bound to me to the end of their lives by the most exemplary fidelity. as the head of my court i appointed a man known to me from his youth, the former court marshal of my father, count august eulenburg, who remained at the head of the ministry of the royal house until his death in june, , at the age of eighty-two years. he was a man of fine tact, uncommon ability, clear insight in court as well as political matters, sincere character, and golden fidelity to his king and his king's family. his manifold abilities would have enabled him, to the same degree that they had made him known as court marshal throughout europe, to act with equal success as ambassador or as imperial chancellor. working with unswerving zeal, endowed with winning politeness, he stood by me with helpful counsel in many matters--dynastic, family, court, public life. he had to do with many men, in all social strata and all walks of life, by all of whom he was revered and esteemed, and he was treated by me likewise with friendship and gratitude. victoria's hand is felt after consultation with prince bismarck, herr von lucanus from the ministry of public worship and instruction, was appointed chief of the civil cabinet. prince bismarck observed jokingly that he was pleased with this choice, since herr von lucanus was known to him as an able and enthusiastic huntsman, which was always a good recommendation for a civilian official; he added that a good huntsman was a regular good fellow. herr von lucanus took over his post from his excellency von wilmowski. he discharged his duties admirably and, being well endowed in all pertaining to art, technical matters, science, and politics, he was to me a counselor, untiring collaborator, and friend. he combined with a healthy knowledge of men a strong dash of refined humor, which is so often lacking in men of the germanic race. with prince bismarck i had stood on very good and trustful terms ever since my assignment at the foreign office. then, as well as before, i revered the powerful chancellor with all the ardor of my youth and was proud to have served under him and to have the opportunity now to work with him as my chancellor. the prince, who was present during the last hours of the old emperor and had listened with me to the latter's political testament to his grandson--_i. e._, his wish as to the special care to be lavished upon relations with russia--brought about my summer trip to st. petersburg as my first political act before the eyes of the world, in order to emphasize our relationship to russia in accordance with the last wish of my dying grandfather. he also had "travel arrangements" drawn up for me. an obstacle was placed in the way of carrying out this plan by a letter from queen victoria of england, who, upon hearing of the projected visit to st. petersburg, expressed to her eldest grandson, in a good-humored but authoritative tone, her disapproval of the contemplated journey. she said that a year of mourning must first elapse, after which my first visit was due to her, since she was my grandmother, and to england, it being the native country of my mother, before other lands should be considered. when i placed this letter before the prince, he gave way to a violent fit of anger. he spoke about "family dictation in england," of interference from that quarter which must cease; the tone of the letter showed, he said, how the crown prince and emperor frederick had been ordered about and influenced by his mother-in-law, wife, etc. thereupon the prince wished to draw up the text of a reply to the queen. i remarked that i would prepare the appropriate answer, steering the proper middle course between the grandson and the emperor, and that i would show it to the prince before dispatching it. the answer paid heed in its outward form to the close relationship between a grandson and his grandmother, who had carried him in her arms when he was a baby and, in view of her age alone, commanded great respect--but, in its essentials, it laid stress upon the position and duty of the german emperor, compelled to carry out unconditionally a command of his dying father affecting germany's most vital interests. it stated that the grandson was obliged to respect this command of his grandfather in the interest of the country, the representation of which interests had now devolved upon him by the will of god, and that his royal grandmother must leave to him the question of deciding in what manner this was to be done. i added that, otherwise, i was her loving grandson, who would always be grateful for any advice from his grandmother, who had derived so much experience from her long reign; but that i was, nevertheless, in matters affecting germany, compelled to retain my freedom of action; the visit to st. petersburg, i said, was politically necessary, and the command of my imperial grandfather was consonant with the close family relations between me and the russian imperial house; therefore it would be carried out. the prince approved of the letter. the answer, which arrived after a while, was surprising. the queen agreed that her grandson was in the right; he must act in accordance with the interests of his country; she would be glad to see him, even if it were later on, at her own home. from that day onward my relations with the queen, who was feared even by her own children, were of the best imaginable; from that day onward she never treated her grandson except as a sovereign of equal rank with herself! on my first journeys i was accompanied by count herbert, as the representative of the foreign office. he drew up the speeches and conducted the political conferences, in so far as they were of an official nature, in accordance with the instructions of his father. conflict on turkish policy upon my return from constantinople in i described to the prince at his request my impressions of greece, where my sister sophie was married to the heir-apparent, crown prince constantine, and also my constantinople impressions. in doing this, it struck me that prince bismarck spoke quite disdainfully of turkey, of the men in high position there, and of conditions in that land. i thought i might inspire him in part with essentially more favorable opinions, but my efforts were of little avail. upon asking the prince the reason why he held such an unfavorable opinion, he answered that count herbert had reported very disapprovingly on turkey. prince bismarck and count herbert were never favorably inclined toward turkey and they never agreed with me in my turkish policy--the old policy of frederick the great. during the last period of his tenure of office as chancellor, bismarck declared that the maintenance of friendly relations with russia, whose tsar reposed special trust in him, was the most important reason for his remaining at his post. in this connection it was that he gave me the first hints concerning the secret reinsurance treaty with russia. up to then i had heard nothing about it, either from the prince or the foreign office, although it happened that i had concerned myself especially with russian matters. when i assumed the reins of government owing to the early death of my father, the generation of the grandson, as i have already remarked, followed upon the generation of the grandfather, which meant that the entire generation of emperor frederick was overleaped. this generation, through its dealings with crown prince frederick william, was imbued with many liberal ideas and projects of reform which were to be carried out under the direction of the emperor frederick. upon his death, this entire generation, especially the politicians, found itself deceived in its hopes of exerting influence, and felt itself, to a certain extent, in the position of an orphan. those belonging to it, despite the fact that they did not know my inner thoughts and aims, adopted a distrustful and reserved attitude toward me, instead of transferring their interest from the father to the son, for the purpose of furthering the welfare of the fatherland. there was one exception to this--a representative of the national liberals, herr von benda--a man still in the full bloom of youth. while i was still prince i had made his acquaintance at the great hare hunts got up by councilor dietze at barby. there herr von benda had won my affection and confidence when i, surrounded by older men, had listened to discussions on political, agricultural, and national-economic questions. in the course of these, herr von benda held my attention by means of his independent, interesting judgment. i accepted with pleasure an invitation to benda's country seat, rudow, near berlin, and from this arose the custom of a regular yearly visit. the hours spent in the family circle at rudow stand out pleasantly in my memory. his talented daughters used to regale us with music. the political conversations there proved herr von benda to be a man of great foresight, which, free from partisan considerations, gave him an open mind as to the general needs of the state to an extent seldom found among members of political parties. he gave me many a helpful piece of advice for the future, drawn from the depths of his faithful, genuinely prussian heart, by which he was attached firmly to the family of his sovereign; yet he was able to feel broad tolerance for other parties. his attitude toward parties the later periods of my reign proved that i was not hostile to any party, with the exception of the ultra-socialists; also, that i was not anti-liberal. my most important finance minister was the liberal, miquel; my minister of commerce was the liberal, möller; the leader of the liberals, herr von bennigsen, was chief president of hanover. i stood very close, especially in the second half of my reign, to an elderly liberal deputy, whose acquaintance i made through herr von miquel. this man was herr seydel (celchen), owner of an estate in eastern germany--a man with two clever eyes, which gazed forth from a clean-shaven face. he worked with miquel in railway and canal questions, and was a thoroughly able, simple, practical man--a liberal with a streak of conservatism. naturally, i had numerous dealings and points of contact with the conservative party, since the gentlemen of the country nobility often met me at court hunts and other hunts, or else came to court and served in court positions. through them i could become thoroughly informed on all agrarian questions and learn where the farmer's shoe pinched him. the free thinkers, under the "unswerving" leader, entered into no relations with me; they limited themselves to opposition. in my conversations with benda and bennigsen we often spoke of the future of liberalism, and, on one occasion, benda made this interesting observation: "it is not necessary and also not advisable to have the prussian heir-apparent dabble in liberalism--we have no use for that sort of thing. he must be essentially conservative, though he must, at the same time, combine this with breadth, and avoid narrowness and prejudice against other parties." bennigsen agreed with me when i spoke to him of the necessity of having the national liberals revise their program, which--originally bearing the motto: "maintenance of the german empire and freedom of the press"--had long since rallied the members around the liberal banner--in order that, by such revision, the proselytizing power of the old brand of prussian liberalism should not be lost among the people. both the prussian liberals and the conservatives, i continued, made the mistake of remembering too well the old period of conflict of - ; and, at elections and other political fights, they were prone to fall back into the habits of those days. that period, i said, had already passed into history and come to an end so far as our generation was concerned; the present had begun for us with the year and the new empire; our generation had drawn a line under the year ; we must build anew upon the foundations of the empire; political parties must shape their course also in this direction and not take over from the past stuff that was outworn and, moreover, calculated to create discord. unfortunately, all this has not come to pass. bennigsen made a very telling point when he said: "woe to the north german liberals if they come under the leadership of the south german democrats, for that will mean the end of real, genuine liberalism! then we shall get the masked democracy arising from below, for which we have no use hereabout." the conservative party, honorable and faithful to its king, unfortunately has not always produced leaders of superior endowments who were at the same time skillful, tactically trained politicians. the agrarian wing was at times too strongly marked and was a burden to the party. moreover, memories of the period of conflict were still too lively. i counseled union with the liberals, but found little support. i often pointed out that the national liberals in the empire were true to the empire and to the emperor, for which reason they should be thoroughly welcome to the conservatives as allies; that i could not and did not wish to govern without them in the empire, and was absolutely unwilling to govern against them; that north german conservatism was misunderstood in some parts of the empire because of differences in historical development; and that, therefore, the national liberals were the natural allies. it was owing to these views of mine, for instance, that i removed court preacher stöcker, a man of brilliant achievement as a social missionary, from his post, since he made a demagogical provocative speech in south germany, aimed against the liberals there. the center party was welded together by the "kulturkampf" and was strongly anti-protestant and hostile to the empire. notwithstanding this, i had dealings with many important men of the party and managed to interest them in practical collaboration for the good of all. in this schorlemer (the father) was especially helpful to me. he never made a secret of his prussian loyalty to his king. his son, the well-known minister of agriculture, even joined the conservative party. in many matters the center co-operated; at one period it possessed in its old leader, windthorst, the keenest politician in the legislature. nevertheless, in spite of all this, one could not help being aware of the underlying centerist conviction that the interests of the roman church must always be maintained and never relegated to a secondary place. the break with bismarck when i was prince william i was placed for a long time under the chief president of the province of brandenburg, von achenbach, in order that i might learn about home administration, get experience in economic questions, and, moreover, take an active part in the work. spurred on by the captivating discourses of achenbach, i derived from this period of my life a special interest in the economic side of the inner development of the country, whereas the purely judicial side of the administration interested me to a lesser degree. improvements, canal construction, highway building, forestry, improvement in all kinds of transportation facilities, betterment of dwellings, introduction of machines into agriculture and their co-operative development--all of these were matters with which i busied myself later on; this being especially true of hydraulic work and the development of the network of railways, particularly in the badly neglected territory of eastern germany. i discussed all these matters with the ministers of state after i had ascended the throne. in order to spur them on, i allowed them free rein in their various domains. but it turned out that this was hardly possible so long as prince bismarck remained in office, since he reserved for himself the main deciding voice in everything, thereby impairing the independence of those working with him. i soon saw that the ministers, being entirely under bismarck's thumb, could not come out in favor of "innovations" or ideas of the "young master" of which bismarck disapproved. the ministry, in short, was nothing but a tool in the hands of bismarck, acting solely in accordance with his wishes. this state of things was, in itself, natural enough, since a premier of such overwhelming importance, who had won for prussia and germany such great political victories, naturally dominated his ministers completely and led them despotically. nevertheless, i found myself in a difficult position; the typical answer with which my suggestions were met was: "prince bismarck does not want that done; we cannot get him to consent to that; emperor william i would not have asked such a thing; that is not in accordance with tradition, etc." i understood more and more that, in reality, i had no ministry of state at my disposal; that the gentlemen composing it, from long force of habit, considered themselves officials of prince bismarck. here is an example to show the attitude of the cabinet toward me in those bismarck days: the question came up of renewing the socialist law, a political measure devised by prince bismarck for fighting socialism. a certain paragraph therein was to be toned down, in order to save the law. bismarck opposed the change. there were sharp differences of opinion. i summoned a crown council. bismarck spoke in the antechamber with my adjutant; he declared that his majesty completely forgot that he was an officer and wore a sword belt; that he must fall back upon the army and lead it against the socialists, in case the socialists should resort to revolutionary measures; that the emperor should leave him a free hand, which would restore quiet once for all. at the crown council bismarck stuck to his opinion. the individual ministers, when asked to express their views, were lukewarm. a vote was taken--the entire ministry voted against me. this vote showed me once more the absolute domination exerted by the chancellor over his ministers. deeply dissatisfied, i talked over the matter with his excellency lucanus, who was as much struck as i was by the situation. lucanus looked up some of the gentlemen and took them to task for their attitude, whereupon they made it clear that they were "not in a position" to oppose the prince and declared that it was quite impossible for anybody to expect them to vote against the wishes of the prince. handling a coal strike the great westphalian coal workers' strike in the spring of took the civil administration by surprise, causing great confusion and bewilderment, especially among members of the westphalian provincial administration. from all sides came calls for troops; every mine owner wanted, if possible, to have sentries posted outside his room. the commanders of the troops which were summoned immediately made reports on the situation as they had found it. among these was one of my former barrack comrades, belonging to the hussar guard regiment, von michaelis by name, who was famous as a wit. he rode, alone and unarmed, among the striking crowds of workers, who--the early spring being remarkably warm--were camped upon the hillsides, and soon managed, by his confidence-inspiring, jovial ways, to set up a harmless intercourse with the strikers. by questioning them he obtained much valuable information about the grievances--real and imaginary--of the workers, as well as about their plans, hopes, and wishes for the future. he soon won for himself general appreciation and affection among the workers and handled them so well that complete quiet reigned in his territory. when i, on account of nervous and worried telegrams from the big industrial leaders and officials received at the office of the imperial chancellor, inquired of michaelis how the situation stood, the following telegraphed answer came from him: "everything quiet excepting the government officials." a mass of material was collected, during the spring and summer, from the announcements and reports received which showed clearly that all was not well in industrial circles; that many a wish of the workers was justified and, to say the least, entitled to sympathetic investigation on the part both of the employers and of the officials. the realization of this, which was confirmed in me when i questioned my former private teacher, privy councilor dr. hinzpeter--a man particularly well informed on social phenomena, especially those in his own province--caused the resolve to ripen in me to summon the state council, include employers and employees in its deliberations, and bring about, under my personal direction, a thorough investigation of the labor question. i decided that in so doing guiding principles and material were to be acquired which would serve the chancellor and the prussian government as a basis for working out appropriate projects for new laws. inspired by such thought i went to his excellency von bötticher, who at once prophesied opposition on the part of the chancellor to such action, and advised strongly against it. i stuck to my ideas, adducing in support of them the maxim of frederick the great: "je veux être un roi des gueux" ("i wish to be king of the rabble"). i said that it was my duty to take care of those germans who were used up by industry, to protect their strength and better their chances of existence. further conflict with chancellor the predicted opposition from prince bismarck was not long in coming. there was much trouble and fighting before i put through what i wanted, owing to the fact that some of the big industrial interests ranged themselves on the side of the chancellor. the state council met, presided over by me. at the opening session the chancellor unexpectedly appeared. he made a speech in which he ironically criticized and disapproved the whole undertaking set in motion by me, and refused his co-operation. thereupon he walked out of the room. after his departure the strange scene had its effect on the assemblage. the fury and ruthlessness which the great chancellor brought to the support of his own policy and against mine, based upon his absolute belief in the correctness of his own judgment, made a tremendous impression upon me and all those present. nevertheless, it stood to reason that i was deeply hurt by what had occurred. the assemblage proceeded to take up its work again and turned out a wealth of material for the extension of that social legislation called into being by emperor william the great, which is the pride of germany, evincing, as it does, a protective attitude toward the laboring classes such as is not to be found in any other land on earth. thereupon i decided to summon a general social congress. prince bismarck opposed this also. switzerland was contemplating something similar, and had thought of convening a congress at berne. roth, the swiss ambassador, hearing of my scheme, advised canceling the invitations to berne and accepting an invitation to berlin. what he wished occurred. thanks to the generosity of herr roth, it was possible to convene the congress at berlin. the material collected as a result of it was worked out and applied in the form of laws--only in germany, however. later on i talked with bismarck concerning his project of fighting the socialists, in case they resorted to revolutionary acts, with cannon and bayonets. i sought to convince him that it was out of the question for me, almost immediately after william the great had closed his eyes after a blessed reign, to stain the first years of my government with the blood of my own people. bismarck was unmoved; he declared that he would assume responsibility for his actions; that all i need do was to leave the thing to him. i answered that i could not square such a course with my conscience and my responsibility before god, particularly as i knew perfectly well that conditions among the laboring classes were bad and must be bettered at all costs. the conflict between the views of the emperor and the chancellor relative to the social question--_i. e._, the furtherance of the welfare of the laboring classes of the population, with participation therein by the state--was the real cause of the break between us, and caused a hostility toward me, lasting for years, on the part of bismarck and a large part of the german nation that was devoted to him, especially of the official class. this conflict between the chancellor and me arose because of his belief that the social problem could be solved by severe measures and, if the worst came to the worst, by means of soldiers; not by following principles of general love for mankind or humanitarian nonsense which, he believed, he would have to adopt in conformity to my views. bismarck's labor views bismarck was not a foe to the laboring classes--on that i wish to lay stress, in view of what i have previously said. on the contrary! he was far too great a statesman to mistake the importance of the labor question to the state. but he considered the whole matter from the standpoint of pure expediency for the state. the state, he believed, should care for the laborer, as much and in whatever manner it deemed proper; he would not admit of any co-operation of the workers in this. agitation and rebellion, he believed, should be severely suppressed; by force of arms, if necessary. government protection on the one hand, the mailed fist on the other--that was bismarck's social policy. i, however, wished to win over the soul of the german workingman, and i fought zealously to attain this goal. i was filled with the consciousness of a plain duty and responsibility toward my entire people--also, therefore, toward the laboring classes. what was theirs by right and justice should become theirs, i thought; moreover, i believed that this should be brought about, wherever the will or power of the employers ceased, by the lord of the land and his government, in so far as justice or necessity demanded. as soon as i had recognized the necessity for reforms, to some of which the industrial elements would not consent, i took up the cudgels for the laboring classes, impelled by a sense of justice. i had studied history sufficiently to guard myself against the delusion of believing in the possibility of making an entire people happy. i realized clearly that it was impossible for one human being to make a nation happy. the truth is that the only nation which is happy is the one that is contented, or at least is willing to be contented; a willingness which implies a certain degree of realization of what is possible--a sense of the practical, in short. unfortunately, there is often a lack of this. i was well aware that, in the unbounded demands of the socialist leaders, unjustified greed would be constantly developed anew. but, for the very reason that i wished to be able to combat unjustified aspirations with a clear conscience and in a convincing way, it behooved me not to deny recognition and aid to justified aspirations. german social problems the policy that kept in view the welfare of the workers unquestionably imposed a heavy burden upon all the industrial elements of germany in the matter of competition in the world market, through the well-known laws for the protection of workingmen. this was especially true in relation to an industrial system like the belgian, which could, without hindrance, squeeze the last drop out of the human reserves of belgium and pay low wages, without feeling any pangs of conscience or compassion for the sinking morale of the exhausted, unprotected people. by means of my social legislation i made such conditions impossible in germany, and i caused it to be introduced also in belgium, during the war, by general von bissing, in order to promote the welfare of the belgian workers. first of all, however, this legislation is--to use a sporting term--a handicap upon german industry in the battle of world competition: it alienated many big leaders of industry, which, from their point of view, was quite natural. but the lord of the land must always bear in mind the welfare of the whole nation; therefore, i went my way unswervingly. those workers, on the other hand, who blindly followed the socialist leaders, gave me no word of thanks for the protection created for them nor for the work i had done. between them and me lies the motto of the hohenzollerns, "suum cuique." that means, "to each his own"--not, as the social democrats would have it, "to everyone the same!" i also harbored the idea of preventing to some extent competitive warfare, at least in the industrial world of the european continent, by bringing about a sort of quota-fixing in foreign lands, thereby facilitating production and making possible a healthier mode of life among the working classes. there is great significance in the impression which foreign workers get in studying germany's social legislation. a few years before the war people in england, under the pressure of labor troubles, awoke to the conviction that better care must be taken of the workers. as a result of this, commissions visited germany, some of them composed of workingmen. guided by representative germans, among them socialists, they visited the industrial regions, factories, benevolent institutions, sanatoria of insurance companies, etc., and were astonished at all the things they saw. at the farewell dinner given them the english leader of the workingmen's deputation turned to bebel and made this concluding remark: "after all we have seen of what is done in germany for the workers, i ask you: are you people still socialists?" and the englishmen remarked to a german that they would be quite satisfied if they could succeed, after long fights in parliament, in putting through one tenth of what had already been accomplished years before in germany toward bettering the condition of the laboring classes. i had observed with interest these visits of the english deputations and marveled at their ignorance of german conditions. but i marveled even more at a question asked by the english government, through the channel of the english embassy, on the same subject, which betrayed an absolutely amazing lack of knowledge of the progress made in germany in the province of social reform. i questioned the english ambassador, remarking that england, having been represented in at the berlin social congress, must certainly have been informed, at least through the embassy, of the reichstag debates, which had dealt in a detailed way with the various social measures. the ambassador replied that the same thing had also occurred to him and caused him to have the earlier records of the embassy investigated, whereupon it had transpired that the embassy had sent the fullest reports on the subject to london and that thorough reports had been forwarded home concerning every important stage in the progress of social reform; but, "because they came from germany, nobody ever read them; they were simply pigeon-holed and remained there ever since; it is a downright shame; germany does not interest people at home." thus the briton, with a shrug of his shoulders. neither the british king nor parliament had enough conscience or time or desire to work for the betterment of the working class. the "policy of encirclement" for the annihilation of germany, especially of its industry, and, thereby, of its working population, was, in their eyes, far more important and rewarding. on the th of november ( ) the german radical socialist leaders, with their like-minded followers, joined forces with this british policy of annihilation. "welfare work" at the court in a small way, in places where i had influence, as, for instance, in the administration of my court and in the imperial automobile club, i laid stress upon the social point of view. for instance, i caused a fund to be established, out of the tips paid for visiting palaces, which was destined solely to the benefit of the domestic staff, and which, in the course of time, reached a magnificent total. from this fund the domestics and their families received money for trips to bathing resorts, cost of taking cures, burial expenses, dowries for their children, confirmation expenses, and similar payments. when i, at the request of the newly founded imperial automobile club, took it under my protection, i accepted an invitation to a luncheon in the beautiful rooms of the clubhouse, built by ihne. in addition to magnates like the duke of ratibor, the duke of ujest, etc., i found there a number of gentlemen from berlin's high financial circles, some of whom behaved rather wildly. when the conversation turned to the subject of drivers, i suggested establishing a fund which, in case of accident, illness, or death befalling these men, should provide means of livelihood for those whom they left behind. the suggestion met with unanimous approval, and the fund has had most excellent results. later on i brought about the establishment of something similar for the skippers and pilots attached to the imperial yacht club at kiel. special pleasure was afforded me by the kaiser wilhelm children's home, founded by me at ahlbeck, at which, in peace times, between may and the end of september in each year, a large number of children from the most poverty-stricken working people's districts in berlin were accommodated in successive detachments, each lot staying four weeks. this home is still under the tried direction of the admirable superintendent, miss kirschner, daughter of the former chief burgomaster of berlin, and it has achieved most brilliant results, both in the physical and the psychical domain. weakened, pale, needy children were transformed there into fresh, blooming, happy little beings, concerning whose welfare i often joyfully convinced myself by personal visits. for the very reason that i have spoken of my quarrel with bismarck as a result of labor questions, i wish to add to what i have already said about his basic position in the matter--an example showing how brilliantly the prince behaved in something that concerned the workers. in this, to be sure, he was impelled by nationalistic motives, but he also realized at once that it was necessary to protect a large element against unemployment, which caused him to intervene with the full weight of his authority. sometime around , while i was still prince wilhelm, i had learned that the great vulcan shipping concern at stettin was confronted, owing to lack of orders, with bankruptcy, and its entire force of workmen, numbering many thousands, with starvation, which would mean a catastrophe for the city of stettin. only by an order for the building of a big ship could the vulcan shipyards be saved. spurred on some time before by admiral von stosch, who wished to free us once and for all from the english shipbuilders, the vulcan people had set to work courageously to build the first german armored ship, christened by my mother in on her birthday, on which occasion i was present. ever since that time the warships built at the vulcan yards had always satisfied naval experts--the concern, however, seldom built warships. the chancellor in action the german merchant marine, on the other hand, had not dared to follow the path courageously blazed by admiral von stosch. and now the brave german shipyard company was faced with ruin, since the north german lloyd had refused its offer to build a passenger steamer, alleging that the english, because of their years of shipbuilding traditions, could build it better. it was a serious emergency. i hastened to prince bismarck and laid before him the matter as i have described it above. the chancellor was furious; his eyes flashed, his fist came crashing down on the table. "what! do you mean to say that these shopkeepers would rather have their boats built in england than in germany? why, that is unheard of! and is a good german shipyard to fail for such a reason? the devil take this gang of traders!" he rang the bell and a servant entered. "have privy councilor x come here immediately from the foreign office!" in a few minutes--during which the prince stamped up and down the room--the man summoned appeared. "telegram to hamburg, to our envoy--the lloyd in bremen is to have its new ship built by the vulcan company in stettin!" the privy councilor vanished in hot haste, "with his coat tails sticking straight out behind him." the prince turned to me and said: "i am greatly obliged to you. you have done the fatherland, and also myself, an important service. henceforth ships will be built only in our yards--i'll take care to make this clear to the hanseatic crowd. you may telegraph to the vulcan people that the chancellor will guarantee that the ship will be built in the vulcan yards. may this be the first of a whole lot of such ships! as for the workers whom you have thus saved from unemployment, i hope that they will express their thanks to you!" i passed on the news to privy councilor schlutow at stettin and great was the joy caused thereby. this was the first step upon the road destined to lead to the construction of the magnificent german express steamers. when i went, after i had ascended the throne in , to stettin, in order to place honorary insignia on the flags of my pomeranian grenadiers, i also visited the vulcan shipyards, at the invitation of the directors. after my reception by the directors outside the yards, the great doors were flung open and i walked inside. but, instead of work and pounding hammers, i found deep silence. the entire body of workmen was standing in a half circle, with bared heads; in the middle stood the oldest workman of all, a man with a snow-white beard, bearing a laurel wreath in his hand. i was deeply moved. schlutow whispered to me: "a little pleasure for you, which the workmen themselves have thought up." the old workman stepped forward and, in pithy, plain words, expressed to me the gratitude of the workmen to me for having saved them, and, above all, their wives and children, from hardship and hunger, by my appeal to bismarck about the building of the ship. as a token of their gratitude, he asked my permission to hand over the laurel wreath. most deeply moved, i took the wreath and expressed my pleasure at receiving my first laurels, without the shedding of a drop of blood, from the hands of honest german workmen. that was in the year ! in those days, the german laboring classes knew how to appreciate the blessing of labor. [ ] "it is that confounded congress of berlin. a serious mistake on the part of the chancellor. he has destroyed the old friendship between us, sown distrust in the hearts of the court and the government, and engendered the idea of a great injustice done the russian army after its bloody campaign, for which it wishes revenge. and here we are by the side of that damned french republic, full of hate for you and of subversive ideas, which, in case of a war against you, will cost us our dynasty." [ ] "i understand perfectly your line of action; the prince, with all his greatness, was, after all, merely your employee or official. as soon as he refused to follow your orders, it was necessary to dismiss him. as for me, i always distrusted him, and i never believed a word of what he had told me or said to me himself, for i was sure and knew that he was hoaxing me all the time. as to the relations between us two, my dear william, the downfall of the prince will have the best of results; distrust will disappear. i have confidence in you. you can trust me." chapter ii caprivi when i began my reign, general von caprivi was chief of the admiralty. he was the last general to hold this post. i at once took energetically in hand the development and reform--in fact, one may say the foundation anew--of the imperial german navy, based on my preliminary studies in england and at home. that was not to the liking of the general, who was able, but rather self-willed, and not entirely devoid of pride. unquestionably he had rendered valuable services in mobilization, improvement of the officer corps, and the improvement and development of the torpedo-boat organization. on the other hand, the building of ships and the replacement of worn-out material were in a deplorable state, to the detriment of the fleet and to the dissatisfaction of the shipbuilding industry, which was growing and looking about for employment. being an old prussian general, caprivi's way of thinking was that of his day--that of his comrades of , , , --in his eyes, the army had always done everything and would continue to do so in the future; therefore, no great demands for money to be devoted to the navy should be imposed upon the country, since, should this be done, there was danger that the sums destined to the army might be decreased and its development thereby hampered. this idea, from which he was not to be dissuaded, is false. the amounts granted did not flow into a reservoir from which they might be directed, by the mere turning of a valve, now into army, now into navy, channels. whenever caprivi was unwilling to demand anything for naval construction, in order, by so doing, to turn more money toward the army, things did not happen as he foresaw. by his action the army received not one penny more, but merely whatever the minister of war asked for and received in accordance with his budget. there was need of creating a secretaryship of state for the navy which, entirely independent of the ministry of war, should have as its duty to demand and obtain for the navy as much as was required for the protection of our commerce and colonies. and that is what came to pass later on. caprivi soon came to me with the request that i relieve him from his post. he stated that he was not satisfied with it in itself; that, moreover, i had all sorts of plans for the future affecting the navy which he considered impossible of realization, in the first place, because there existed no means of replacement for the officer corps--at that time the yearly influx of cadets was between sixty and eighty--and a large navy without a large officer corps was unthinkable. in addition to this, he informed me, he had soon seen in the course of the inspection tours of his majesty that the emperor knew more about naval matters than he, the general, which placed him in an impossible situation in relation to his subordinates. in view of these circumstances, i parted with him, placing him in command of an army corps. following the motto, "the navy for the seamen!" i chose, for the first time, an admiral as its chief, a step which was received in maritime circles with great joy. the man chosen was admiral count monts. bismarck's successor when i was soon afterward confronted with the rather unexpected retirement of prince bismarck, i found the choice of his successor a difficult one. whoever it might be was sure to have a hard task, without any prospect of appreciation for what he might achieve; he would be looked upon as the usurper of a post to which he was not entitled, and which he was not qualified to fill. criticism, criticism, nothing but criticism--that was sure to be the daily bread upon which the new chancellor must reckon; and he was also certain of becoming the target for the hostility of all those who favored prince bismarck as well as with that of the many who previously could not do enough in opposition to him. there was bound to be a strong current of enmity toward the new chancellor, in which the old prince himself would not be the least serious factor. after taking all this into consideration, it was decided to choose a man belonging to prince bismarck's generation, who had held a leading position in the wars and had already filled a government position under him. hence caprivi was chosen. his age was a guarantee that he would be a careful and calm adviser for the "orphaned" young emperor. very soon the question arose of the extension of the reinsurance treaty with russia. caprivi declared that, out of consideration for austria, he was unable to renew it, since the threat against austria contained therein, when it became known in vienna--as it almost unavoidably would--was such as to lead to very disagreeable consequences. for this reason the treaty lapsed. to my way of thinking, it had already lost its main value from the fact that the russians no longer stood whole-heartedly behind it. i was confirmed in this view by a memorial written by count berchem, under secretary of state, who had worked with prince bismarck. the agrarian conservatives opposed caprivi as a man without landed property and a violent fight raged around the commercial treaties. these difficulties were greatly enhanced because prince bismarck, ignoring his former maxims, took part in the fight against his successor with all his characteristic energy. thus arose the opposition of the conservatives against the government and the crown, and the prince in person sowed the seed from which later grew the "misunderstood bismarck" and that "reichsverdrossenheit" (unfriendliness to the empire) so often taken up in the newspapers. the "misunderstood bismarck" created permanent opposition throughout my reign against my suggestions and aims by means of quotations, speeches, and writings, as well as by passive resistance and thoughtless criticism. everything that was done was painted in black colors, made ridiculous, and criticized from top to bottom, by a press that placed itself quite willingly at the disposal of the prince and often out-bismarcked bismarck in its behavior. this phenomenon became most apparent at the time of the acquisition of heligoland. this island, lying close in front of the great waterways leading to the principal hanseatic commercial ports, was, in the hands of the british, a constant menace to hamburg and bremen and rendered impossible any project for building up a navy. owing to this, i had firmly resolved to win back this formerly german island to its fatherland. the deal for heligoland the way to cause england to give up the red rock of heligoland was found in the colonial domain. lord salisbury proved inclined to exchange the "barren rock" for zanzibar and witu in east africa. from commercial sources and the reports of the commanders of german cruisers and gunboats which were stationed there and cruised along the coast of the recently acquired german east african colonies, i knew that, as soon as togo, dar-es-salaam, etc., rose to prosperity, the importance of zanzibar on the coast of africa as the principal port of transshipment would be a thing of the past, since, as soon as the above-mentioned harbors were made deep enough and provided with sufficient cargo-loading equipment for trading steamers, there would no longer be any need of ferrying goods coming from the interior in dhows to zanzibar, in order to have them again loaded on vessels there, since they could be loaded direct at the new harbors along the coast. therefore, i was convinced that we had, first, an acceptable asset for swapping purposes, and, secondly, a good opportunity to avoid colonial friction with england and come to a friendly understanding with her. caprivi agreed, the negotiations were concluded, and one evening, shortly before dinner, i was able to tell the empress and a few intimates the exceedingly joyful tidings that heligoland had become german. a first and very important extension of the empire had been achieved--without bloodshed--the first condition for the upbuilding of the fleet was fulfilled, something which the natives of the hanseatic towns and the rest of the north germans had wished for centuries had come to pass. in silence, an important event had occurred. had heligoland been acquired in the chancellorship of prince bismarck, it would probably have been valued very highly. having happened under caprivi, it loosed a lot of criticism. it was merely caprivi, the usurper, who had had the audacity to sit in the prince's chair, and the "irresponsible," "ungrateful," "impulsive" young master who had done such a thing! had bismarck only wished, he could have had the old rock any day, but he never would have been so unskillful as to give up to the english for it the very promising african possessions, and he never would have allowed himself to be thus worsted. that was the sort of thing heard almost everywhere. the newspapers of the prince joined loudly in this sort of criticism, to the great grief of the people of the hanseatic cities. curious indeed were the criticisms occasioned by the swapping of zanzibar and witu, which appeared in the bismarckian press, although previously, when i worked under him, these newspapers had always explained that he had not much belief in the value of colonies in themselves and looked upon them merely as objects to be exchanged, possibly, for something else, in deals with the british. his successor acted according to these ideas in the heligoland question, and was most violently criticized and attacked. not until the world war was on did i see articles in the german press which unreservedly admitted the acquisition of heligoland to be an act of far-sighted politics and added reflections as to what would doubtless have happened if heligoland had not become german. the german nation has every reason to be thankful to count caprivi for this achievement, since thereby the building of its navy and its victory at the skagerrak were made possible. as for the german navy, it long ago acknowledged this. the school law of count zedlitz aroused violent new conflicts. when they led to zedlitz's retirement, the cry arose among his adherents: "if the count goes, so must the chancellor." caprivi left his post, in a calm, dignified manner. he tried honestly, within the measure of his powers and abilities, to continue the traditions of prince bismarck. in this he found little support among the political parties, and, for this reason, all the more criticism and hostility in the public and among those who, had they acted for the right and the interests of the state, should have stood by him. without one word of apology, caprivi, in noble silence, lived all the rest of his life in almost solitary retirement. chapter iii hohenlohe again i was confronted with the difficult task of choosing a chancellor. his position and activities were to be under somewhat about the same auspices and subject to the same conditions as in the case of his predecessor. but now there was more of a desire that he should be a statesman, an older man, of course, qualified to inspire prince bismarck with more confidence than a mere general could do. it was assumed that a statesman would know better how to walk in the footsteps of the prince, politically speaking; and provide bismarck with less opportunity for criticism and attacks. these latter had tended to create gradually among all government officials, who dated mostly from the period of bismarck, an unmistakable nervousness and dissatisfaction, by which the work of the entire governmental system was impaired to an extent by no means inconsiderable. moreover, it lent to the opposition in the reichstag a constantly renewed strength drawn from elements previously faithful to the government, and made itself felt in a detrimental manner. especially in the foreign office, the spirit of holstein, the supposed representative of the "old, tried bismarckian traditions," began to assert itself, so that the unwillingness to collaborate with the emperor became particularly strong and the belief grew up that it was necessary to carry on, independently, the policy of bismarck. after mature deliberation, i decided to intrust the post of chancellor to prince hohenlohe, who was then governor of alsace-lorraine. at the outbreak of the war of he had succeeded, as bavarian minister, in getting bavaria to enter the war on the side of prussia. ever since he had been highly esteemed by prince bismarck on account of his fidelity to the empire. it was natural to expect that bismarck's opposition would cool off when confronted with such a successor. thus, the choice of hohenlohe as chancellor was strongly influenced by consideration for prince bismarck and for the public opinion inspired by him. prince hohenlohe was the typical old-style grand seigneur. he was thoroughly urbane by nature and in his dealings with others: a man of refined mind, with a slight touch of playful irony sometimes glinting through, keen on account of his years, a level-headed observer and judge of men. despite the great difference in age between him and me he got along very well with me, which was shown on the surface by the fact that he was treated both by the empress and by myself as our uncle, and addressed as such, which brought about a certain atmosphere of intimate confidence in our intercourse. in his talks with me, especially in giving his opinion as to appointments of officials, he offered very characteristic descriptions of the gentlemen being discussed, often combined with philosophical observations which proved that he had reflected deeply on life and humanity, and which were evidence of a maturity and wisdom grounded on experience. something happened during the first period of hohenlohe's régime as chancellor which throws an interesting light upon the relations between france and russia. having, at the time of the fraternization between russia and france, received reliable information from the general staff as well as from our embassy at paris to the effect that france contemplated withdrawing a portion of her troops from algeria, in order to shift them to southern france either against italy or against alsace, i apprised tsar nicholas ii of this news, adding the remark that i should be obliged to adopt counter-measures unless the tsar could dissuade his ally from so provocative a step. some diplomatic fencing at that time the russian minister of foreign affairs was prince lobanoff, formerly ambassador at vienna, well known for his pro-french proclivities. during the summer of he had visited france and been very cordially entertained. during the autumn, just as i was staying for the hunting at hubertusstock on the schorfheide near eberswalde, prince lobanoff, on his return journey from paris, requested to be received in audience, at the behest of the tsar. upon being received by me he described the calm and sensible frame of mind which he had found in paris and sought to quiet me, too, with regard to the above-mentioned troop movements, which, according to him, were mere empty rumor and chatter without any real basis. he added that he was bringing to me the most quieting assurances, that there was no reason for my feeling the slightest alarm. i thanked him heartily for his report, remarking that the word "alarm" was not to be found in the dictionary of a german officer; and i added that, if france and russia wished to make war, i could not prevent it. whereupon the prince, piously casting up his eyes toward heaven, made the sign of the cross and said: "oh, la guerre! quelle idée; qui y pense?--cela ne doit pas être" ("oh, war! what an idea; who thinks of such a thing? it must not be"). to that i replied that i, in any event, was not thinking about it, but that an observer--and he need not be very keen eyed--must assuredly consider the constant celebrations and speeches, as well as the official and unofficial visits exchanged between paris and st. petersburg, as significant symptoms which could not be ignored, and which were calculated to arouse great dissatisfaction in germany; that, should it come to war, against my own will and that of my people, i felt that, trusting in god and in my army and people, it would be possible for germany to get the better of both opponents. to this i added still another statement, reported to me from paris, which had been made by a russian officer who was in france as a member of an officers' deputation. having been asked by a french comrade whether the russians believed that they could beat the germans, the gallant slav replied: "non, mon ami, nous serons battus à plate couture, mais qu'est-ce que ça fait? nous aurons la république" ("no, my friend, we shall be thoroughly beaten, but what does that matter? we shall get a republic"). at first the prince eyed me, speechless, then, shrugging his shoulders, he remarked: "oh, la guerre, il ne faut pas même y penser" ("oh, war, one must not even think about it"). the officer had merely expressed the general opinion of the russian intelligentsia and social circles. as far back as my first visit to st. petersburg, in the early 'eighties, a grand duchess said to me at dinner, quite calmly: "here we sit all the time on a volcano. we expect the revolution any day! the slavs are not faithful, they are not at all monarchical, all of them are republicans at heart; they disguise their sentiments, and they lie, every one of them, all the time." three important events, related to foreign politics, came within the period of prince hohenlohe's incumbency of the chancellorship: the opening, in , of the emperor william canal (north sea-baltic canal), begun under emperor william the great, to which squadrons or individual ships representing countries all over the world were invited; the annexation, in , of tsing-tao; and, third, the much-discussed kruger dispatch. the seizure of tsing-tao prince hohenlohe played an especially important rôle in the annexation of tsing-tao. he, too, was of the opinion that germany needed some coaling stations for her ships, and that the demands of commercial elements that the opportunity for opening up china to international trade be not allowed to pass were justified. it was resolved that, under unimpaired chinese sovereignty and after payment of the likin (octroi, or internal revenue tax), a trading port, with a marine coaling station as protection, was to be founded, wherein it was contemplated to allow china to co-operate to the utmost possible extent. the station was to serve the ends of commerce, before all else, the military measures being limited solely to the protection of the trading center as it developed; they did not constitute an end in themselves or a basis for further military enterprises. already several places had been considered, but these had proved, upon more careful investigation, to be unfitted, mostly because they had either bad connections or none at all with the interior regions, were not promising from a commercial-political standpoint, or were encumbered by privileges already granted to other foreign countries. finally it was agreed--because of the reports of admiral tirpitz, who was, at that time, chief of the east asiatic cruiser squadron, and because of the opinion of the geographical expert, freiherr von richthofen, who, having been questioned on the subject, had drawn a most promising picture of the possibilities of development in shantung--to found a settlement on the bay of kiao-chau. the chancellor proceeded to collect data on the political questions which arose as a result of this and which must be taken into consideration. it was particularly necessary not to interfere with russia's designs, nor to disturb her. further information was obtained, some of it from our east asiatic division; from this source favorable reports came in as to anchorages and the ice-free nature of the bay of kiao-chau, and as to the prospects, if a port were to be founded there. from conversations among the officers of the russian china division, which had come to our ears in our intercourse with them, it was learned that the russian admiral, in accordance with orders from his government, had anchored one winter in the bay, but had found it so desolate and so atrociously lonesome--there were no tea houses with japanese geisha girls, which the russians deemed absolutely indispensable to winter quarters--that the russian squadron would never go back there any more. it was also reported that the russian admiral had advised his government most earnestly against prosecuting any further its intention of founding a settlement on this bay, since there was absolutely no advantage to be derived from it. hence, the russians had no intention of gaining a foothold there. this last piece of news arrived at about the same time as the answer from the russian foreign minister, count muravieff, sent through the german ambassador, relative to the sounding of russian opinion, which had been made pursuant to instructions from the chancellor. muravieff set forth that russia, to be sure, had no direct claims, based on treaty with china, to the bay, but that she, nevertheless, laid claim to it on the basis of the "droit du premier mouillage" ("right of first anchorage"), since the russian ships had anchored there before those of any other fleet. this answer, it will be seen, ran counter to the report of our east asiatic division relative to the statements made by the russian admiral. when i, with hollmann, met the chancellor, in order to discuss the russian claim to kiao-chau, the prince listened to the reading of it with his little ironical smile, and remarked that he had been unable to find any jurist at the foreign office who could tell him anything about this wonderful claim. was the navy in a position to do so? admiral hollmann declared that he, in all his experience on foreign service, had never heard of it; that it was nonsense and an invention of muravieff, whose only motive was unwillingness to have some other nation settle on the shores of the bay. i advised that privy councilor of the admiralty perels, one of the most famous living experts on international maritime law and an acknowledged authority in this domain, be asked to deliver an opinion, in order to clarify the question. this was done. the opinion tore muravieff's contention to pieces, corroborated that of hollmann, and completely did away with the legend about the "right of first anchorage." months elapsed; my august, , visit to peterhof was imminent. in agreement with the prince, my uncle, i decided to discuss the entire matter in person and frankly with the tsar, and, if possible, put an end to muravieff's notes and evasions. the talk took place at peterhof. the tsar stated that he had no interest in the territory south of the tientsin-peking line, which meant that there was no reason why he should place obstacles in our path in shantung: that his interest was concentrated upon the territory on the yalu, around port arthur, etc., now that the english had made difficulties for him at mokpo; that he would, in fact, be pleased if germany should locate herself in future on the other side of the gulf of chih-li as russia's welcome neighbor. afterward i had a talk with muravieff. he employed all his arts, wriggled back and forth in his statements, and finally brought up his famous "right of first anchorage." that was all i wanted. i now passed to the offensive myself, striking out at him squarely with the opinion delivered by perels. when i had told him, finally, as the tsar desired, the result of the conversations between us two sovereigns, the diplomat was even more embarrassed, lost his assumed calm, and capitulated. thus was the soil prepared, politically speaking. in the autumn came the news from bishop anzer of the murder of the two german catholic missionaries in shantung. the entire german catholic world, particularly the "colonials" in the centerist party, demanded energetic measures. the chancellor proposed to me immediate intervention. while i was engaged in the winter hunting at lotalingen, i consulted with him, in one of the little towers of the castle there, as to what steps were to be taken. the prince proposed to intrust prince henry of prussia, who was present, with the command of the squadron that was to be sent out to reinforce the east asiatic division. i informed my brother of this in the presence of the chancellor, whereat the prince and the other gentlemen present were highly pleased. the chancellor sent the news to the foreign office and to the new secretary of state for foreign affairs, herr von bülow, who was away on a journey. kiao-chau was occupied in november, . in december of that year prince henry sailed, on board the _deutschland_, with his squadron to eastern asia, where he later took over the command of the entire east asiatic division. on the th of march, , the agreement with china concerning kiao-chau was signed. at the same time, mr. chamberlain in london brought up before the japanese ambassador, baron kato, the idea of the conclusion of an anglo-japanese alliance, in order to bar russia's advance in the east. quest for coaling stations one will naturally inquire why, in the discussion of our audacious move, there is no mention of england, since she was certainly deeply interested therein. preliminaries, however, had already been gone into with england. in order to meet the necessity for german coaling stations, i had intended to found, lease, or buy some in agreement with england, so far as might be possible. in view of the fact that my uncle, the chancellor, was, as a member of the hohenlohe family, related to queen victoria, known to her personally for years and highly esteemed by her, i hoped that this might tend to facilitate the negotiations which were entered into with the english government for the above-noted purpose. my hope was disappointed. the negotiations dragged along without any prospect of successful termination. i took occasion, therefore, at the behest of the chancellor, to discuss the matter with the english ambassador at berlin. i complained of the treatment received from the english government, which everywhere opposed german wishes, even such as were justified. the ambassador agreed frankly with this, and expressed his astonishment at england's failure to meet germany halfway, and at english shortsightedness, since, when a young, rising nation like germany, whose development, after all, was not to be prevented, turned directly to england in order to acquire territory with her consent, instead of going straight ahead or allying itself with other nations, it was certainly more than england could reasonably ask. moreover, he added that, since england already owned almost all the world, she could certainly find a place where she might permit germany to establish a station; that he was unable to understand the gentlemen in downing street; that in case germany should not succeed in obtaining england's approval, she would probably occupy, on her own account, such places as were suited to her ends, since, after all, there was no law against it. i laid stress upon the fact that this agreed entirely with my own view and, in conclusion, i summed up my standpoint once more for the ambassador: i told him that germany was the only country in the world which, despite its colonial possessions and its rapidly growing commerce, possessed no coaling stations; that we were quite willing to acquire these with england's consent; that, should she refuse to show a realization of our situation and fail to meet us halfway, we should be compelled to turn to some other great power, in order, with its help, to found settlements. this talk, likewise, was fruitless. finally, the negotiations with england were broken off, without result, in a rather impolite manner. thereupon the chancellor and i decided to appeal to russia. the occupation of kiao-chau aroused surprise and anger in the english government. having refused us her support, england had definitely reckoned on the belief that nobody would help germany in attaining her goal. now things had turned out differently, and there was no lack of recriminations from london. when the english ambassador took up this tone he was referred to the conversation with me, and it was made clear to him that it was solely the fault of his government that it had come to no understanding with germany. england's attitude of aloofness surprised us at that time. an occurrence which, then, was unknown to me, may serve to throw light on the matter. finds seed of world war[ ] in a book (_the problem of japan_) which appeared anonymously at the hague in and was said to have been written by an "ex-diplomat from the far east," an excerpt was published from a work of the american, professor usher of washington university at st. louis. usher, like his former colleague, prof. john bassett moore of columbia university, new york, has often been called into consultation as an adviser on foreign relations by the state department at washington, since he had a knowledge possessed by few other americans on international questions affecting the united states. professor usher, in his book published in , made known, for the first time, the existence and contents of an "agreement" or "secret treaty" between _england_, _america_, and _france_, dating from the spring of . in this it was agreed that, in case germany or austria, or both of them, should begin a war for the sake of "pan-germanism," the united states should at once declare in favor of england and france and go to the support of these powers with all its resources. professor usher cites at length all the reasons, including those of a colonial character, which inevitably imposed upon the united states the necessity of taking part, on the side of england and france, in a war against germany, which professor usher, in , prophesied as _imminent_!! the unknown author of _the problem of japan_ went to the trouble of publishing in tabulated form the agreements between england, france, and america in , in order thereby to show, in a way easily understood, the extent of the reciprocal obligations. this chapter is extraordinarily worth reading; it gives a good glimpse into the preliminary history and _preparation of the world war_ on the part of the _entente_, which even at that time was uniting _against germany_, although not yet appearing under the name of entente cordiale. the ex-diplomat remarks in this connection: here is a treaty that professor usher alleges to have been entered into as long ago as , in which every phase of activity and participation in future events by england, france, and the united states is provided for, including the conquest of the spanish dependencies, control over mexico and central america, the opening of china, and the annexation of coaling stations. and all these measures professor usher wishes us to believe were taken to defend the world against pan-germanism. it is unnecessary to remind professor usher, or anybody else, for that matter, that pan-germanism, if we go so far as to assume that such a thing actually exists, had certainly never been heard of in , at which time germany had not yet adopted her program for naval construction on a large scale, the same having been bruited for the first time in . if, therefore, it is true that england, france, and the united states harbored the mutual designs imputed to them by professor usher, and entered into an alliance to accomplish them, it will scarcely do to attribute the conception of the idea and the stimulus to its consummation to so feeble a pretext as the rise of a pan-germanism.[ ] thus the ex-diplomat. this is truly amazing. a definite treaty of partition directed against spain, germany, etc., arranged even to minute details, was planned between gauls and anglo-saxons, in a time of the profoundest peace, and concluded without the slightest twinge of conscience, in order to annihilate germany and austria and eliminate their competition from the world market! _seventeen years_ before the beginning of the world war _this_ treaty was made by the united anglo-saxons and its goal was systematically envisaged throughout this entire period! now one can understand the ease with which king edward vii could pursue his policy of encirclement; for years the principal actors had been united and in readiness. when he christened the compact "entente cordiale," its appearance was for the world, especially for germany, an unpleasant novelty, but in the countries on the other side it was merely the official acknowledgment of facts long known there. in view of this agreement, one can understand also the opposition of england in to an agreement with germany regarding coaling stations, and the anger aroused because germany managed, in agreement with russia, to gain a firm foothold in china, concerning the exploitation of which land _without_ german participation a tripartite treaty had already been made. usher talked out of school and conclusively proved _at whose door lies the guilt for the world war_. the treaty directed against germany--sometimes called the "gentleman's agreement"--of the spring of , is the basis, the point of departure, for this war, which was systematically developed by the entente countries for seventeen years. when they had succeeded in winning over russia and japan likewise for their purposes, they struck the blow, after serbia had staged the sarajevo murder and had thus touched the match to the carefully filled powder barrel. professor usher's statements are likewise a complete refutation of all those who were impelled, during the war, to find the reason for the entry of the united states in certain military acts on the part of germany, as, for instance, the _lusitania_ case, the expansion of u-boat warfare, etc. none of that is right. the recently published, excellent book of john kenneth turner, _shall it be again?_ points out, on the basis of convincing proofs, that wilson's alleged reasons for going to war and war aims were not the real ones. america--or rather president wilson--was resolved probably from the start, certainly from , to range herself against germany and to fight. she did the latter, alleging the u-boat warfare as a pretext, in reality under the influence of powerful financial groups, and yielding to the pressure and prayers of her partner, france, whose resources in man power were becoming more and more exhausted. america did not wish to leave a weakened france along with england, whose annexation designs on calais, dunkirk, etc., were well known to her. it was a fateful thing for germany--let this be stated here, in a general way--that our foreign office was unable to meet the broad policy of encirclement of england and the cunning of russia and france with an equal degree of diplomatic skill. this was partly because it had not really been trained under prince bismarck; and therefore when, after the retirement of the prince and count herbert, the all-dominating will and spirit were lacking, it was not up to the task of conducting foreign affairs on its own independent initiative. moreover, it is difficult in germany to train up good diplomats, since our people lack the taste and endowment for diplomacy which have shone forth brilliantly only from a few german minds, like frederick the great and bismarck. unfavorable also to the foreign office were the very frequent changes of secretaries of state. imperial chancellors, following the example of bismarck, maintained their influence upon the foreign office and suggested the secretaries of state who should direct its affairs. i acquiesced in the proposals of the imperial chancellors as to these posts, since i admitted their right to choose themselves their leading collaborators in the domain of foreign affairs. that these frequent changes were not calculated to work toward the continuity of political policy was a disadvantage that had to be taken into account. the foreign office was largely influenced by the axiom: "no disagreeable quarrels with other powers"--"surtout pas d'histoires" ("above all, no yarns"), as the french general said to a company of soldiers which, he had heard, wished to mutiny. one of the secretaries of state told me once when, in placing some matter before me, i had called his attention to the apparently serious situation in connection with some foreign question, that this simply must be righted, that the foreign office based its acts primarily upon the maxim: "let us have quiet." given this attitude, one can also understand the answer which the german representative gave to a german merchant in a south american republic who had asked him for help and intercession with the authorities, since his shop had been plundered and his property stolen: "oh, don't bother me with these things! we have established such pleasant relations with this republic; any action undertaken in your behalf would only serve to upset them." i need scarcely add that whenever such a conception of duty came to my attention i removed the official concerned from his post. the foreign office enjoyed general unpopularity both among the people and in the army. i worked continuously, during the tenure of office of various chancellors, for thorough reform, but in vain. every new chancellor, especially if he himself did not come from the ranks of the foreign service, needed the foreign office in order to work himself into foreign affairs, and this took time. but once he had worked himself in he was under obligation to the officials, and was reluctant to make extensive changes, burdened as he was by other matters and lacking detailed knowledge regarding the foreign office personnel, particularly as he still believed that he needed the advice of those who were "orientated." development of tsing-tao but let us return to tsing-tao. here everything was done to promote commerce and industry, and done jointly with the chinese; the flag of the chinese empire, moreover, was hoisted over the custom house at tsing-tao. the development there was such that the port, during the years immediately preceding the war, ranked sixth among all chinese trading centers in the commercial register of the great chinese merchants and of the merchants' guild coming just after tientsin. tsing-tao was a prospering german commercial colony, where many chinese worked side by side with germans; it was, so to speak, a great sample warehouse of german abilities and german achievements, to which the chinese, who formerly had not known germany, her capabilities of achievement, or her products, could repair for selection and emulation; it was a contrast to the naval stations of russia and england, which were purely military, directed solely toward domination and conquest. the rapid rise of tsing-tao as a trading center aroused the envy of the japanese and english, but this did not prevent swarms of the latter from journeying, with their families, to the splendid beach, enjoying its cool air and the beautiful strand hotel, and devoting themselves to playing polo and lawn tennis after they had escaped from the heat of hongkong, canton, and shanghai. envy prompted england in to demand that japan should take tsing-tao, although it was _de facto_ chinese. japan did this joyfully, promising to return it to china, but it was not returned until the beginning of , after much pressure, although japan had agreed with america that she was not to be allowed to make any territorial changes in china without previous consultation with washington. thus a great german cultural work in foreign lands, which stood as a model of the method and manner which a cultured nation should employ in extending the advantages of its culture to another nation, was annihilated by english commercial envy. some day, when hongkong has gone the same way, england will repent of her act and bitterly reproach herself for having abandoned her old maxim, in accordance with which she has acted for so many years: "white men together against colored men." when once japan has made a reality out of her watchword, "asia for the asiatics," and brought china and india under her sway, england will cast her eyes about in search of germany and the german fleet. as to the "yellow peril," i had the following interview with the tsar later, after the russo-japanese war, at a meeting between us. the tsar was, at that time, visibly impressed by the growing power of japan and its constant menace to russia and europe, and requested my opinion concerning this. i answered that if the russians counted themselves among the cultured nations of europe they must be ready to rally to the defense of these nations against the "yellow peril" and to fight for and by the side of europe for their own and europe's existence and culture; but that if the russians, on the other hand, considered themselves asiatics they would unite with the "yellow peril," and, joining forces with it, would assail europe. the tsar, said i, must bear this in mind in providing for the defense of his land and organizing his army. when the tsar asked me what course i thought the russians would take, i replied: "the second." the tsar was outraged and wished to know at once on what i based this opinion. i answered that my opinion was based on russia's construction of railways and on the arraying of the russian army along the prussian-austrian frontier. thereupon the tsar protested that he and his house were europeans, that his country and his russians would certainly cleave to europe, that he would look upon it as a matter of honor to protect europe from the "yellow men." to this i replied that if this was the tsar's attitude he must make his military preparations conform to it without delay. the tsar said nothing. at all events, i sought to utilize tsar nicholas ii's worry at the growing power of japan to the advantage of germany and general european culture. russia, despite siding with japan, was the first nation to collapse among all those participating in the war. reproaches for japan the able statesmen of japan, of whom there are quite a number, must be in some doubt as to whether they ranged their country on the right side in the war. yes, they will perhaps ask themselves whether it would not have been more advantageous for japan to have prevented the world war. this would have been within her powers, had she ranged herself firmly and unequivocally on the side of the central powers, from which in former times she had learned so willingly and so much. had japan adopted soon enough such an orientation in her foreign policy, and, like germany, fought by peaceful means for her share in world trade and activity, i should have put the "yellow peril" away in a corner and joyfully welcomed into the circle of peacefully inclined nations the progressive japanese nation, the "prussians of the east." nobody regrets more than i that the "yellow peril" had not already lost its meaning when the crisis of arose. the experience derived from the world war may yet bring this about. germany's joint action with france and russia at shimonoseki was based upon germany's situation in europe. wedged in between on-marching russia, threatening prussia's frontier, and france, fortifying her borders anew with forts and groups of fortresses, confronted with a friendship between these two nations resembling an alliance, berlin looked with anxiety into the future. the warlike preparations of the two powers were far ahead of ours, their navies far more modern and powerful than the german navy, which consisted of a few old ships almost without fighting value. therefore it seemed to us wise to acquiesce in the suggestion of this strong group, in order that it might not--should we decline--turn immediately to england and cause the entry of the latter into the combination. this would have meant the formation, at that time, of the combination of , which would have been a serious matter for germany. japan, on the other hand, was about to go over anyhow to england, in her sympathies. moreover, germany's making common cause with the franco-russian group offered the possibility of achieving gradually a more trusting and less strained relationship in europe and of living side by side with our two neighbors there in more friendliness, as a result of the common policy, adopted in the far east. the policy adopted by us at this juncture was also consistently based on the maintenance of world peace. in the entire kiao-chau question, prince hohenlohe, despite his age, evinced a capacity for sticking steadily to his purpose and a degree of resolution which must be reckoned as greatly to his credit. unfortunately in the matter of the kruger dispatch his prudence and his vision, so clear on other occasions, abandoned him: only by so assuming is his obstinate insistence on the sending of this dispatch to be understood. the influence of such an energetic and eloquent personage as herr von marschall, former state attorney, may have been so powerful, the siren song of herr von holstein so convincing, that the prince yielded to them. in any event, he did his country an ill turn in this matter, and damaged me seriously both in england and at home. the kruger telegram[ ] since the so-called kruger dispatch made a big stir and had serious political consequences, i shall tell the story of it in detail. the jameson raid caused great and increasing excitement in germany. the german nation was outraged at this attempt to overpower a little nation, which was dutch--and, hence, lower saxon-german in origin--and to which we were sympathetic because of racial relationship. i was much worried at this violent excitement, which also seized upon the higher classes of society, foreseeing possible complications with england. i believed that there was no way to prevent england from conquering the boer countries, should she so desire, although i also was convinced that such a conquest would be unjust. but i was unable to overcome the reigning excitement, and was even harshly judged by my intimates on account of the attitude i adopted. one day when i had gone to my uncle, the imperial chancellor, for a conference, at which the secretary of state for the navy, admiral hollmann, was present, freiherr marschall, one of the secretaries of state, suddenly appeared in high excitement, with a sheet of paper in his hand. he declared that the excitement among the people--in the reichstag, even--had grown to such proportions that it was absolutely necessary to give it outward expression, and that this could best be done by a telegram to kruger, a rough draft of which he had in his hand. i objected to this, being supported by admiral hollmann. at first the imperial chancellor remained passive in the debate. in view of the fact that i knew how ignorant freiherr marschall and the foreign office were of english national psychology, i sought to make clear to freiherr marschall the consequences which such a step would have among the english; in this, likewise, admiral hollmann seconded me. but marschall was not to be dissuaded. then, finally, the imperial chancellor took a hand. he remarked that i, as a constitutional ruler, must not stand out against the national consciousness and against my constitutional advisers; otherwise, there was danger that the excited attitude of the german people, deeply outraged in its sense of justice and also in its sympathy for the dutch, might cause it to break down the barriers and turn against me personally. already, he said, statements were flying about among the people; it was being said that the emperor was, after all, half an englishman, with secret english sympathies; that he was entirely under the influence of his grandmother, queen victoria; that the dictation emanating from england must cease once for all; that the emperor must be freed from english tutelage, etc. says he signed against his will in view of all this, he continued, it was his duty as imperial chancellor, notwithstanding he admitted the justification of my objections, to insist that i sign the telegram in the general political interest, and, above all else, in the interest of my relationship to my people. he and also herr von marschall, he went on, in their capacity of my constitutional advisers, would assume full responsibility for the telegram and its consequences. sir valentine chirol, at that time correspondent of the _times_, wrote, in the _times_ of september th, that herr von marschall, directly after the sending of the dispatch, had stated to him that the dispatch did not give the personal opinion of the emperor, but was a governmental act, for which the chancellor and he himself assumed full responsibility. admiral hollmann, when the imperial chancellor appealed to him for corroboration of this point of view and was asked by him to uphold it to me, declined to do so with the remark that the anglo-saxon world would unquestionably attribute the telegram to the kaiser, since nobody would believe that such a provocative thing could come from his majesty's elderly advisers, and all would consider it an "impulsive" act of the "youthful" emperor. then i again tried to dissuade the gentlemen from their project. but the imperial chancellor and marschall insisted that i sign, reiterating that they would be responsible for consequences. it seemed to me that i ought not to refuse after their presentation of the case. i signed. not long before his death admiral hollmann recalled the occurrence to me in full detail, as it is described here. after the kruger dispatch was made public the storm broke in england, as i had prophesied. i received from all circles of english society, especially from aristocratic ladies unknown to me, a veritable flood of letters containing every possible kind of reproach, some of the writers not hesitating even at slandering me personally and insulting me. attacks and calumnies began to appear in the press, so that soon the legend of the origin of the dispatch was as firmly established as the amen at church. if marschall had also announced in the reichstag what he stated to chirol, i personally would not have been drawn into the matter to such an extent. in february, , while the boer war was in progress and while i was with the fleet at heligoland attending the maneuvers of ships of the line, after having been present at the swearing in of recruits at wilhelmshafen i received news by telegraph from the wilhelmstrasse, _via_ heligoland, that russia and france had proposed to germany to make a joint attack on england, now that she was involved elsewhere, and cripple her sea traffic. i objected and ordered that the proposal be declined. since i assumed that paris and st. petersburg would present the matter at london in such a way as to make it appear that berlin had made the above proposal to both of them, i immediately telegraphed from heligoland to queen victoria and to the prince of wales (edward) the fact of the russo-french proposal, and its refusal by me. the queen answered expressing her hearty thanks, the prince of wales with an expression of astonishment. later, her majesty let me know secretly that, shortly before the receipt of my telegram from heligoland concerning the proposal from paris and st. petersburg, the false version of the matter foreseen by me had indeed been told, and that she was glad to have been able, thanks to my dispatch, to expose the intrigue to her government and quiet it as to the loyal attitude of germany; she added that she would not forget the service i had done england in troublous times. deal with cecil rhodes when cecil rhodes came to me, in order to bring about the construction of the cape-to-cairo railway and telegraph line through the interior regions of german east africa, his wishes were approved by me, in agreement with the foreign office and the imperial chancellor; with the proviso that a branch railway should be built _via_ tabora, and that german material should be used in the construction work on german territory. both conditions were acquiesced in by rhodes most willingly. he was grateful at the fulfillment of his pet ambition by germany, only a short time after king leopold of belgium had refused his request. rhodes was full of admiration for berlin and the tremendous german industrial plants, which he visited daily. he said that he regretted not having been in berlin before, in order to have learned about the power and efficiency of germany, and to have got into touch with the german government and prominent germans in commercial circles. he said he had wished, even before the jameson raid, to visit berlin, but had been prevented in london at that time from so doing; that, had he been able to inform us before of his plan to get permission to build the cape-to-cairo line through the boer countries, as well as through our colonies, the german government would probably have been able to help him by bringing persuasion to bear upon kruger, who was unwilling to grant this permission; that "the stupid jameson raid" would never have been made, in that case, and the kruger dispatch never written--as to that dispatch, he had never borne me a grudge on account of it. he added that as we, in germany, could not be correctly informed as to aim and actual purposes, the said raid must have looked to us like "an act of piracy," which naturally and quite rightly had excited the germans; that all he had wanted was to have such stretches of land as were needed for his rail lines--such, in fact, as germany had just granted to him in the interior of her colonies--a demand which was not unjust and would certainly have met with german support. i was not to worry, he added, about the dispatch and not bother myself any more about the uproar in the english press. rhodes did not know about the origin of the kruger dispatch and wanted to console me, imagining that i was its originator. rhodes went on to advise me to build the bagdad railway and open up mesopotamia, after having had irrigation simultaneously introduced there. he said that this was germany's task, just as his was the cape-to-cairo line. in view of the fact that the building of this line through our territory was also made dependent upon the cession to us of the samoan islands, rhodes worked actively in london toward having them turned over to us. in home politics, prince hohenlohe, as chancellor, showed a mildness which was not generally favorable. owing to his long acquaintanceship with herr von hertling, he was able to establish friendly relations with the vatican. his mildness and indulgence were also exercised toward alsace-lorraine, in which, as an expert of long standing, he showed particular interest. but he got little thanks for this, since the french element, indirectly benefited thereby, behaved with ever-increasing arrogance. pen sketch of hohenlohe prince hohenlohe loved to employ mediation, compromise, and conciliation--toward the socialists likewise--and he employed them on some occasions when energetic measures would have been more fitting. he hailed with much joy my far east trip to constantinople and jerusalem. he was pleased at the strengthening of our relations with turkey and considered the plan for the bagdad railway arising from them as a great cultural work worthy of germany. he also gave his most enthusiastic approval to my visit to england in , made by me with my wife and two sons at the desire of my royal grandmother, who, growing steadily weaker on account of her years, wished to see her oldest grandson once more. he hoped that this journey might serve to efface somewhat the consequences of the kruger dispatch sent by him, and also to clarify some important questions by means of conferences between me and english statesmen. in order to avoid any unpleasantness from the english press, which, angered by the boer war and the partly unjustified attacks of certain german newspapers, had been answering in like tone, the queen had commissioned the author of _the life of the prince consort_, sir theodore martin, to inform the english press of her majesty's desire that a friendly reception be accorded to her imperial grandson. and that is what indeed came to pass. the visit ran its course harmoniously and caused satisfaction on all sides. i held important conferences with various leading men. not once in the entire visit was the kruger dispatch mentioned. on the other hand, my royal grandmother did not conceal from her grandson how unwelcome the whole boer war was to her; she made no secret of her disapproval and aversion for mr. chamberlain and all that he represented, and thanked me again for my prompt and sharp refusal of the russo-french proposal to interfere and for my immediate announcement of this proposal. one could easily see how much the queen loved her splendid army and how deeply she had been grieved by the heavy reverses suffered by it at the outset of the war, which had caused by no means negligible losses. referring to these, the aged field marshal duke of cambridge coined the fine phrase: "the british nobleman and officer have shown that they can die bravely as gentlemen." on my departure, the queen bade me farewell with cordial and grateful greetings to her "much-cherished cousin," the imperial chancellor, whose ability and experience, she hoped, would continue to maintain good relations between our two countries. my report entirely satisfied prince hohenlohe as to the success of my journey; at the same time, however, i was the object of the most violent attacks from a certain section of the press and from many excited "friends of the boers." the german lacks the very thing with which the english people has been inoculated, and to which it has been trained by long political self-discipline: when a fight is on, even though it be merely upon the field of diplomacy, the englishman unquestioningly follows the flag, in accordance with the proverb: "you can't change the jockey while running." in the autumn of prince hohenlohe retired from the chancellorship, since the work had become too arduous for a man of his advanced age. moreover, the constant quarrels and disputes of the political parties with one another were disagreeable to him, and it went against the grain with him to make speeches before them in the reichstag. equally disagreeable to him was the press, part of which had taken the bit between its teeth and imagined that it could conserve the bismarckian tradition by quoting sayings by bismarck, and had greatly jeopardized relations with england, especially during the boer war. chancellor's retirement the hope, aroused by the choice of prince hohenlohe as chancellor and his assumption of the office, that prince bismarck would place less obstacles in his path, had been only partly fulfilled. the atmosphere had been much relieved and prince bismarck brought to a much milder frame of mind by my reconciliation with him, which had received outward expression in his solemn entry into berlin and his staying at the old hohenzollern palace, but his adherents and those rallying around him for the sake of opposition were not to be dissuaded from their activities. moreover, the political representatives of the people succeeded, while i was on my way to friedrichsruh to celebrate bismarck's eightieth birthday, in refusing to pay homage to the old imperial chancellor, a thing which naturally deeply hurt the sensitive prince hohenlohe and filled him with indignation. he, like myself, was deeply moved by the death of his great predecessor, and we, together with the german people, sincerely mourned prince bismarck as one of the greatest of the sons of prussia and germany, in spite of the fact that he had not always made our task easy. i insisted upon hurrying back from my trip to norway in order to pay honor to him who, as a faithful servant of his old master, had helped the german nation to unity, and under whom i, when i was prince, had had the proud privilege of working. it is said that one of the reasons why prince hohenlohe retired from his post was the advice of his son alexander, who was much at his father's house; he was known in society as "the crown prince," and was essentially different from his lovable father. prince hohenlohe could look back upon a series of successes during his term as chancellor: the overcoming of the disputes concerning the "citizens' book of laws," the reform of the military punishment procedure, the naval law, the appointment of waldersee to the command in china at the time of the boxer war, tsing-tao, and the yangtse treaty. he bade me farewell on the th of october, . both of us were greatly moved, for not only was the chancellor and faithful co-worker parting from his emperor, but also the uncle from his nephew, who looked up with grateful esteem to the old man. at the age of seventy-five years--an age when others have long since retired to rest and contemplation--he had not hesitated to obey the summons of the emperor to subject himself to even more exacting labors and devote his time and strength to the german fatherland. when about to leave my room, he grasped my hand once again with the request that i might grant him, during the years of life still remaining to him (which he meant to spend in berlin), the same plain, faithful friendship which he had so long noted and admired between me and admiral von hollmann. i shall always preserve him faithfully in my memory. [ ] "once the magnitude of pan-germanism dawned on the english and french diplomats, once they became aware of the lengths to which germany was willing to go, they realized the necessity of strengthening their position, and therefore made overtures to the united states, which resulted, probably before the summer of the year , in an understanding between the three countries. there seems to be no doubt whatever that no papers of any sort were signed, that no pledges were given which circumstances would not justify any one of the contracting parties in denying or possibly repudiating. nevertheless, an understanding was reached that in case of a war begun by germany or austria for the purpose of executing pan-germanism, the united states would promptly declare in favor of england and france and would do her utmost to assist them."--roland g. usher, _pan-germanism_, chap. x, p. . [ ] _the problem of japan_, by an ex-counselor of legation in the far east, chap. viii, p. , note. published by c. l. langenhuysen, amsterdam and rotterdam. . [ ] tremendous excitement was caused in england when the incident of the kruger message became known. on january , , the german emperor telegraphed as follows to the president of the south african republic: "i congratulate you most sincerely on having succeeded, with your people, without calling on the help of foreign powers, by opposing your own force to an armed band which broke into your country to disturb the peace, in restoring quiet and in maintaining the independence of your country against external attack." on january th, in conversation with sir frank lascelles, baron von marschall protested against the view of the english press that it was an act of hostility against england and an encroachment on english rights for the german emperor to congratulate the head of a friendly state on his victory over an armed band that had invaded his land in defiance of international law, and had been declared to be outside the pale of the law by the english government itself. but it was not recorded that he disavowed the kaiser's responsibility for it. chapter iv bülow on the day after prince hohenlohe's farewell, the man summoned by me as his successor--count bülow, secretary of state for foreign affairs, arrived. his choice for the post was eminently fitting, because he was thoroughly cognizant of our foreign policy and, especially, of our relations with england--which policy was becoming constantly livelier and more complicated--and because he had already proved himself a skillful orator and ready debater in the reichstag. the fact that the second of these qualities was lacking in his predecessor had often been painfully noticeable. when prince hohenlohe's intention to retire became known in the imperial council, the bavarian ambassador at berlin, count lerchenfeld, very pointedly remarked to me that for heaven's sake i was not to choose another south german, since south germans were not fitted for the leading post at berlin; north germans were naturally better able to fill it and, therefore, it would be better for the empire to select a north german. i had been acquainted personally with bülow for a long time, ever since the period of his ambassadorship at rome and his work as secretary of state. then i had often visited him at his home and had held many a conference with him in his garden. he came into closer relationship with me when he accompanied me on my journey to the far east, where, in co-operation with the ambassador, freiherr marschall, he assisted me in getting into personal touch with the leading men of the turkish government. hence, the relations of the new chancellor with me were already begun and, to a certain extent, established, since we had for years discussed all political problems and spheres. moreover, he stood much nearer to me in age than his predecessors, most of whom could have been my grandfather. he was the first "young chancellor" of germany. and this made our common task easier for both of us. when i was in berlin, scarcely a day went by without my taking a long morning walk with the chancellor in the garden of the imperial chancellor's palace, during which outstanding business was cleared up and problems of actuality discussed. i often had a meal with him and always found at his table, where i was most hospitably received by the count, his amiable wife and a group of the most interesting men, in choosing whom the count was a master. he was likewise unsurpassed in skillfully conducting conversation and in the witty handling of the various topics that arose. to me it was always a pleasure to be in the company of the chancellor and enjoy his bubbling wit, to exchange views at his table with many professors, savants, and artists, as well as government officials of all sorts, in informal, unofficial intercourse and stimulating exchange of ideas. the count was an excellent narrator of anecdotes, drawn both from books and his own personal experience, which he told in several languages. he liked to tell stories of the days when he was a diplomat, especially about his stay at st. petersburg. bÜlow a disciple of bismarck the count's father was an intimate friend of prince bismarck and had been one of his closest co-workers. young bülow also had begun his career under the great chancellor; he had been brought up on bismarckian ideas and traditions and strongly influenced by them, but, nevertheless, had not adhered to them to such an extent as to lose his independence. in the course of one of the first talks which i had with bülow as imperial chancellor he informed himself concerning my ideas of how best to handle the english and have dealings with them. i told him that i considered absolute frankness the most important thing in dealing with england and englishmen; that the englishman, in presenting his point of view and working for his interests, was inconsiderate to the point of brutality, for which reason he thoroughly understood anybody who acted similarly toward him; that there must be no playing the diplomatic game, or "finessing," with an englishman, because it made him distrust those with whom he was dealing and suspect that they were not honest and wished secretly to cheat him; that such devious methods could be successful only in dealing with latin and slavic nations; that, once the englishman had become suspicious, there was nothing more to be done with him, despite the most honeyed words and most obliging concessions; that the only advice, therefore, which i could give the chancellor was that he confine himself entirely to straightforwardness in his english policy. i said this with particular emphasis, since "finessing" was especially dear to the diplomatic character of count bülow and had become second nature to him. i also took occasion, during this talk, to warn the chancellor against holstein. in spite of my warning--which was merely a repetition of that given me before by bismarck--bülow worked a great deal, or was obliged to work, with holstein. this remarkable man had been able gradually, especially since the time that the foreign office had been, so to speak, orphaned by bismarck's retirement, to create for himself a position that became steadily more influential and to maintain it under three chancellors with such skill that he was considered indispensable. holstein was unquestionably possessed of great shrewdness, seconded by a phenomenal memory and a certain talent for political combinations, which, to be sure, often became a hobby in his case. his position was also based largely on the fact that he was looked upon in many quarters, especially among the older officials, as the "bearer of the bismarckian traditions," the man who upheld these in the teeth of "the young master." his importance rested, above all, on his wide personal knowledge in the entire domain of the foreign service. since he wielded, on account of this, an authoritative influence on all proposals relative to the appointment of officials and hence, also, on the careers of the younger officials, it may be easily understood why he, little by little, had obtained for himself a dominating position at the foreign office. but he sought more and more to obtain, at the same time, a decisive influence upon the conduct of foreign policy; he had, in fact, become the guiding spirit both of the foreign office and of german foreign policy. holstein's secret power the serious thing about this was that he exerted his far-reaching influence entirely from under cover and avoided all official responsibility as an adviser. he preferred to remain in the dark and exert his influence from there. he refused every responsible post--many stood open to him--every honorary title, every promotion. he lived in complete seclusion. for a long time i tried in vain to become personally acquainted with him, for which purpose i used to invite him to meals, but holstein declined every time. only once, in the course of many years, did he consent to dine with me at the foreign office, and it was characteristic of him that, whereas on this occasion all the other gentlemen present wore full evening dress, he appeared in a frock coat and excused himself on the plea that he had no dress coat. the secrecy with which he surrounded himself in his work, so as not to be held responsible for it, became apparent also at times in the character of the memorials drawn up by him; they were unquestionably ingenious and attractive, but often as involved and ambiguous as the oracle of delphi; there were occasions when, after a decision had been made based on the contents of one of these documents, herr von holstein would prove to a nicety that he meant exactly the opposite of what had been thought. i considered it a serious matter that an irresponsible counselor should bring to bear such powerful influence, especially as he did so from under cover and, hence, in doing it, eluded the officials who were in duty bound to exert influence, and who were the responsible parties. often, especially in the von richthofen era, it happened that i would advise a foreign ambassador to discuss some political question, which he had taken up with me, with the secretary of state, and he would reply: "j'en parlerai avec mon ami holstein" ("i shall speak about it with my friend holstein"). the fact alone that an official of the foreign office dealt with foreign ambassadors, going over the head of his superior, did not seem right to me; but that he should be dubbed by these foreigners "friend" seemed to me to go beyond what i deemed advisable. matters had, in fact, developed gradually to such a stage that holstein conducted a good part of our foreign affairs. to be sure, he still listened to the chancellor in connection with them, but what the emperor thought or said about foreign affairs was rather unimportant. if things turned out successfully, the foreign office reaped the reward; if things went wrong, then it was the fault of the "impulsive young master." in spite of all this, bülow, too, apparently thought herr von holstein indispensable at first; he worked together with him for a long time, until at last he, too, found unbearable the pressure which this strange man exerted on everybody. to herr von tschirschky, during his tenure of office as secretary of state, belongs the merit of finally bringing the unendurable situation to a head. on being questioned by me, he declared that he considered it impossible that herr von holstein remain at his post any longer, since he was embroiling the whole foreign office, seeking to eliminate him, the secretary of state, entirely, and creating all kinds of obstacles, likewise, for the chancellor. dismissal--and an enemy thereupon i ordered herr von tschirschky to prepare the way for the dismissal of herr von holstein, which afterward took place, with the approval of the chancellor, after the latter had recovered from the serious break-down in health which he had suffered meanwhile. herr von holstein himself showed what manner of man he was by going at once after his dismissal to herr harden and placing himself at the latter's disposal for the campaign against the emperor. the year gave count bülow plentiful opportunities to show and assert himself in dealings with england. count bülow still believed strongly in the bismarckian theory of having "two irons in the fire"--_i. e._, in making friendly agreements with another country while always remaining on good terms with russia--in which he received support from the many pretended adherents of bismarck. from the midst of the jubilee celebration of the two hundredth coronation anniversary, i was called to the deathbed of my grandmother, queen victoria, by a dispatch announcing to me the serious condition of the queen. i hurriedly made the journey with my uncle, the duke of connaught, who was at berlin as the queen's representative at the festivities--he was the favorite son of the queen and my particular friend, and a son-in-law of prince frederick charles--and i was cordially received in london by the then prince of wales and the royal family. as my carriage drove out at a trot from the railway station a plainly dressed man stepped forward from the closely packed crowd standing there in absolute silence, to the side of the carriage, bared his head, and said: "thank you, kaiser." the prince of wales, later edward vii, added: "that is what they all think, and they will never forget this coming of yours." nevertheless, they did forget it, and quickly. after the queen had quietly breathed her last in my arms, the curtain fell for me upon many memories of childhood. her death signified the close of an epoch in english history and in germany's relations with england. i now got into touch, as far as possible, with prominent personages, and noted everywhere a thoroughly sympathetic, friendly spirit, which made no secret of the wish for good relations with germany. at the farewell banquet impromptu speeches were made by king edward vii and myself, which were cordial in tone and content, and did not fail to make an impression on their hearers. after the meal the english ambassador at berlin clasped my hand and said that my speech had touched all his fellow countrymen's hearts, because what i said was sincere and simple, as was fitting for englishmen; that the speech must at once be made public, since it would have an effect throughout the country, which was grateful for my coming; and that this would be useful to the relations between the two countries. i answered that it was a matter for the british government and the king to decide, that personally i had no objections to having the speech made public. nevertheless, it was not made public, and the british people never learned of my words, which were the sincere expression of my sentiments and thoughts. in another talk later on with me at berlin the same ambassador deeply regretted this, but was unable to say what the reason was for this omission. in concluding my remarks on my stay in england i cannot pass over the fact that a portion of the german press was unfortunately lacking both in tactful appreciation of the grief of the english royal family and people, as well as of the obligations which my family relationship and political considerations imposed upon me. after my return home from england i was able to report to the chancellor on the good impressions i had received, and particularly that opinion in england was apparently in favor of an understanding and of closer relations. bülow expressed himself as satisfied with the results of the journey, after we had talked at length about it at homburg, and consulted as to how the situation created by the journey should be put to use. i suggested that we should unquestionably come to a good agreement, if an alliance--which i preferred--could not be brought about. in any event, a firm agreement would suffice, i said, and would suit the english; in the long run an alliance might always develop from it. the opportunity for such an alliance came with unexpected promptness. while i was at homburg von der höhe in the spring of , count metternich, who was with me as representative of the foreign office, brought me a notification from berlin that _mr. chamberlain_ had inquired there as to whether germany was ready for an _alliance with england_. i immediately asked: "against whom?"--since, if england so suddenly offered to make an alliance in the midst of peace, it was plain that she needed the german army, which made it worth while to find out against whom the army was needed and for what reason german troops were to fight, at england's behest, by her side. thereupon the answer came from london that they were needed against russia, since russia was a menace both to india and to constantinople. the first thing i did was to call london's attention to the old traditional brotherhood-in-arms between the german and russian armies, and the close family ties between the reigning dynasties of the two countries; in addition, i pointed out the dangers of a war on two fronts, in case france came in on the side of russia, and also the fact that we had acted jointly with france and russia in the far east (shimonoseki, ) and that there was no reason to unloose a conflict with russia at this time, when we were in the midst of peace; that the superiority in number of the russian army on a peace footing was very great and the eastern frontiers of prussia seriously threatened by the grouping of the russian forces; that england would not be in a position to protect our eastern province from a russian attack, since her fleet could accomplish little in the baltic and would be unable to sail into the black sea; that, in case of our making common cause against russia, germany would be the only one who would be in great danger, quite independently of the possibility of the entry of france into the fight. chamberlain then informed us that a firm alliance should be made, by which england would naturally bind herself to come to our aid. british alliance fails i had also pointed out that the validity of an alliance could only be assured when the english parliament had placed its approval upon it, since the ministry might be driven from office by the will of the nation as expressed in parliament, whereby signature of the ministry might be rendered null and void and the alliance invalidated, and that we could look upon the chamberlain suggestion, for the time being, merely as a purely personal project of his own. to this chamberlain replied that he would get backing from parliament in due time and would find the way of winning the unionists over to his idea; that all needed now was the signature of berlin. matters did not progress as far as that, because parliament was not to be won over to chamberlain's plan; therefore the "plan" came to nothing. soon afterward england concluded her alliance with japan (hayashi). the russo-japanese war broke out, in which japan--owing to the fact that it fitted in with her schemes--played the rôle of pawn for england's interests, which rôle had originally been reserved for germany. by this war russia was thrown from the east back to the west, where she might concern herself again with the balkans, constantinople, and india--which was to japan's advantage--leaving to japan a free hand in korea and china. in came my journey to tangier, undertaken much against my will. it came about as follows: toward the end of march i intended, as in the previous year, to take a mediterranean trip for the sake of my health, for which i proposed to avail myself of some ship running empty from cuxhaven to naples. the _hamburg_ was destined by ballin for this purpose. at his request that i take along some other guests, since the steamer was quite empty, i invited a number of gentlemen, among them privy councilor althoc, admiral mensing, count pückler, ambassador von varnbuhler, professor schiemann, admiral hollmann, etc. soon after the proposed trip became known bülow informed me that there was a strong desire at lisbon to have me stop there and pay the portuguese court a visit. to this i agreed. as the date of departure approached, bülow expressed the additional wish that i also stop at tangier and, by visiting that moroccan port, strengthen the position of the sultan of morocco in relation to the french. this i declined, since it seemed to me that the morocco question was too full of explosive matter and i feared that such a visit would work out disadvantageously rather than beneficially. bülow returned to the attack, without, however, persuading me of the necessity or advisability of the visit. again kaiser "gives in" during the journey i had several talks with freiherr von schoen, who accompanied me as representative of the foreign office, as to the advisability of the visit. we agreed that it would be better to drop it. i telegraphed this decision to the chancellor from lisbon. bülow replied emphatically that i must take into consideration the view of the german people and of the reichstag, which had become interested in the project, and that it was necessary that i stop at tangier. i gave in, with a heavy heart, for i feared that this visit, in view of the situation at paris, might be construed as a provocation and cause an inclination in london to support france in case of war. since i suspected that delcassé wished to make morocco a pretext for war, i feared that he might make use of the tangier visit for this purpose. the visit took place, after much difficulty had been experienced in the open roadstead of tangier, and it met with a certain amount of friendly participation by italian and southern french anarchists, rogues, and adventurers. a lot of spaniards stood upon a small square, amid waving banners and loud cries; these, according to a police official who accompanied us, were an assembly of spanish anarchists. the first i learned about the consequences of my tangier visit was when i got to gibraltar and was formally and frigidly received by the english, in marked contrast to my cordial reception the year before. what i had foreseen was justified by the facts. embitterment and anger reigned in paris, and delcassé tried to rouse the nation to war; the only reason that he did not succeed was that both the minister of war and the minister of the navy declared france not yet ready. the fact that my fears were justified was also corroborated later by the conversation between delcassé and the editor of _le gaulois_, in which the minister informed an astonished world that, in case of war, england would have sided with france. thus, even as far back as that, i ran the risk, through the tangier visit forced upon me, of getting blamed for the unchaining of a world war. to think and act constitutionally is often a hard task for a ruler upon whom in every case responsibility is finally saddled. in october, , the paris _matin_ reported that delcassé had declared in the council of ministers that england had offered, in case of war, to land , men in holstein and seize the kaiser wilhelm canal. this english offer was repeated once more later on, with the suggestion that it be affirmed in writing. and the well-known jaurès, who was murdered in accordance with the political ideas of isvolsky upon the outbreak of war in , knew beforehand about the statements by delcassé published in the _matin_. the downfall of delcassé and the accession of rouvier to his post are to be ascribed partly to the influence of the prince of monaco. during the regatta week at kiel the prince had assured himself, by talks with me, the imperial chancellor, and government officials, of the sincerity of our desire to compromise with france for the purpose of enabling us to live at peace with each other. he stood well with the ambassador, prince radolin, and worked actively toward a rapprochement between the two countries. the prince of monaco himself was of the opinion that delcassé was a menace to the maintenance of peace and hoped that he would soon fall and be replaced by rouvier, who was a prudent politician thoroughly inclined to coming to an understanding with germany. the prince said that he was on good terms with rouvier personally and would willingly place himself at the disposal of the german ambassador as a go-between. negotiations fruitless then came delcassé's fall, and rouvier became minister. at once i caused the initiation of the measures wherein i could count upon the support of the prince of monaco. the chancellor was instructed to prepare a rapprochement with france. and i particularly told prince radolin, who personally received his instructions in berlin, to make good use of the rouvier régime for the purpose of eliminating all possibilities of conflict between the two countries. i added that the reports of the prince of monaco, with whom he was well acquainted, would be useful to him in relations with rouvier. prince radolin proceeded with zeal and pleasure to the accomplishment of this worth-while task. at first the negotiations went well, so much so that i began to hope that the important goal would be attained and the evil impression caused by the tangier visit effaced by an understanding. in the meantime, the negotiations concerning morocco were continued; they were concluded, after endless trouble, by the summoning of the algeciras conference, based upon the circular note of prince bülow, which pointed out that the most-favored-nation clause no. of the madrid convention should remain in force and that the reforms in morocco, for which france alone was working, should be carried out, in so far as necessary, only in agreement with the signatory powers of the madrid conference. these events, which riveted general attention upon themselves, relegated the special negotiations with rouvier to the background. with regard to domestic policy, i had agreed with the chancellor that his main task was to be the restoration of order in the relations between the parties in the reichstag, which had got into a bad way under hohenlohe, and, above all, to rally the conservatives, who had been won over to the opposition by the post-bismarckians, once more to the support of the government. the chancellor accomplished this task with great patience and tenacity. he finally formed the famous "bloc," which arose from the great electoral defeat of the socialists. the conservative party had many members who had direct relations with the court, and also with me personally, so that it was easier for this party than for any other to become informed as to my plans in political and other matters and to discuss my ideas with me before they took shape in projects for laws. i have not the impression that this was done to the extent that was possible; i might perhaps have come into agreement with the gentlemen, through informal conversations, in the question of the building of the central canal--opposed, as is well known, by the conservatives--as well as in the less important matters of the construction of the cathedral and the berlin opera house, in which i was deeply interested for the sake of the church and of art. i am saying nothing new if i remark that it was by no means easy to deal with the gentlemen of the conservative party. through their traditional services to the state they had acquired great experience and independence of judgment, and had thus formed firm political convictions, to which they held faithfully and in a genuinely conservative manner. from their ranks great statesmen, eminent ministers, a brilliant officer corps, a model body of officials, had largely been produced. therefore, the consciousness of their own merit was not without justification; in addition, their loyalty to their king was unshakable. the king and the country both owed them gratitude. finds fault with conservatives their weakness lay in the fact that they were at times too conservative--that is, they recognized too late the demands of the time and began by opposing progress, although it might be progress advantageous to themselves. one may understand this in view of their past, but the fact remains that it worked to the detriment of their relations with me, especially during my reign, when the development of the empire, particularly of industry and commerce, pushed rapidly forward; and i desired--and was obliged--to place no obstacles in the way of that development, but to promote it. when i said that it was not always easy, for the reasons adduced, to deal with the conservatives, i am well aware that the same thing is maintained about me. perhaps this is because i stood close to the conservatives on account of my traditions, but was not a conservative for party reasons. i was and am, indeed, in favor of progressive conservatism, which preserves what is vital, rejects what is outworn, and accepts that portion of the new which is useful. let me add that in discussions i was able to endure the truth, even when it was uncomfortable and bitter, better than people are aware, provided it was told to me tactfully. so that, when it is maintained that i and the conservatives did not get along in dealings with each other, the same reason was at the root of the difficulty on both sides. it would have been better to arrive oftener at an understanding with me in private conversations, for which i was always ready. and in the canal question, on which we could not agree, who was better qualified than the conservative to understand and appreciate the fact that i have never subscribed to the pretty couplet, "unser könig absolut, wenn er unseren willen tut" ("absolute our king may be, if he does what we decree")? for, had i acted according to that principle--a very comfortable one for me--the conservatives, in view of their belief in a strong king who really governs, would logically have been forced to oppose me. surely the conservatives must have respected me for having matched their honorable axiom of manly pride before the thrones of kings with mine of kingly pride before the conservative party's throne, just as i did with regard to all other parties. in any event, the occasional differences with the conservative party and with individual conservatives cannot make me forget the services rendered by men of this very party to the house of hohenzollern, the prussian state, and the german empire. bülow finally did the great trick of bringing conservatives and liberals together in germany, thus getting a big majority for the parties siding with the government. in doing so, the great abilities of the chancellor, his skill, statecraft, and shrewd knowledge of men, shone forth most brilliantly. the great service rendered by him in achieving this success won him thorough appreciation and gratitude from his country and from myself; and, in addition, an increase of my trust in him. the boundless delight of the people of berlin in the defeat of the social democrats at the polls led to the nocturnal demonstration, which i shall never forget, in front of my palace, in the course of which my automobile had to force a way for itself, little by little, amid a cheering crowd of many thousands surrounding it. the lustgarten was packed with great multitudes of people, at whose tumultuous request the empress and i had to appear on the balcony in order to receive their homage. the chancellor was present at the visit of king edward vii to kiel. among the many guests was the former chief court marshal of the empress, frederick, count seckendorff, long acquainted with edward vii through his many visits to england, who reposed great trust in the count. this gentleman, at the behest of bülow, with whom he was friendly, arranged an interview between the king and the chancellor. it took place on board the royal english yacht after a breakfast to which i and the chancellor were invited. both gentlemen sat for a long time alone over their cigars. afterward bülow reported to me what had transpired at the interview. in discussing the possible conclusion of an alliance between germany and england, the king, he told me, had stated that such a thing was not at all necessary in the case of our two countries, since there was no real cause for enmity or strife between them. this refusal to make an alliance was a plain sign of the english "policy of encirclement," which soon made itself felt clearly and disagreeably at the algeciras conference. the pro-french and anti-german attitude of england, which there came out into the open, was due to special orders from king edward vii, who had sent sir d. mackenzie wallace to algeciras as his "supervising representative," equipped with personal instructions. from hints given by the latter to his friends it turned out that it was the king's wish to oppose germany strongly and support france at every opportunity. when it was pointed out to him that it might be possible, after all, to take up later with germany this or that question and perhaps come to an understanding, he replied that, first of all came the anglo-russian agreement; that, once that was assured, an "arrangement" might be made with germany also. the english "arrangement" consisted in the encirclement of germany. his friendship with bÜlow the relations between me and the chancellor remained trustful and friendly throughout this period. he was present repeatedly at the kiel regatta. here, he found occasion, among other matters, to confer with the prince of monaco and a number of influential frenchmen, who were guests aboard the prince's yacht, among whom doubtless the most eminent was m. jules roche, the leading expert on european budgets, and a great admirer of goethe. he always carried a copy of _faust_ in his pocket. in april, , came the unfortunate collapse in the reichstag of the overworked chancellor. as soon as i received the news, i hurried there and was glad that privy councilor renvers could give me encouraging news about bülow's condition. while the prince was recuperating during the summer at norderney, i went from heligoland, which i had been inspecting, on a torpedo boat to the island and surprised the chancellor and his wife at their villa. i spent the day in chatting with the chancellor, who had already recovered his health to an encouraging degree and was browned by the sea air and sunlight. in the late autumn of the empress and i paid a visit to windsor, at the invitation of king edward vii. we were most cordially received by the english royal family and the visit went off harmoniously. after this visit i went for a rest to the castle of highcliffe, belonging to general stewart worthley, situated on the south coast of england, opposite the needles. before my departure for england, the chancellor, who was much pleased at the english invitation, had long talks with me as to the best way for getting on a better footing with england, and had suggested to me a number of his desires and projects, to serve me as guides in my conversations with englishmen. during my visit i had frequent occasion to discuss the subjects agreed upon and conduct conversations as desired by the chancellor. cipher telegrams containing my reports on these conversations went regularly to berlin and i repeatedly received from the chancellor approving telegrams. i used to show these after the evening meal to my intimates who accompanied me on my visit; these men, among them the chief court marshal count eulenburg and prince max egon fürstenberg, read them and rejoiced with me at the harmonious understanding between me and the chancellor. after my return from england i made a general report to the chancellor, whereupon he expressed to me his thanks for my having personally troubled myself so much and worked so hard toward improving the relations between the two countries. defends famous interview[ ] a year later came the incident about the so-called "interview," published in the _daily telegraph_. its object was the improvement of german-english relations. i had sent the draft submitted to me to the chancellor for examination through the representative of the foreign office, herr von jenisch. i had called attention, by means of notes, to certain portions which, to my way of thinking, did not belong therein and should be eliminated. through a series of mistakes on the part of the foreign office, when the matter was taken up at my request, this was not done. a storm broke loose in the press. the chancellor spoke in the reichstag, but did not defend the kaiser, who was the object of attack, to the extent that i expected, declaring, on the other hand, that he wished to prevent in future the tendency toward "personal politics" which had become apparent in the last few years. the conservative party took upon itself to address an open letter to the king through the newspapers, the contents of which are known. during these proceedings, i was staying first at eckartsau, with franz ferdinand, heir to the austrian throne, and later with kaiser franz joseph at vienna, both of whom disapproved of the chancellor's conduct. from vienna i went to donaueschingen to visit prince fürstenberg, to whom the press saw fit to address the demand that he should, being an honest, upright man, tell the emperor the truth for once. when we talked over the whole matter, the prince advised me to get together, at the foreign office, the dispatches from highcliffe in , and the answers to them, and have these laid before the reichstag. during this whole affair i underwent great mental anguish, which was heightened by the sudden death before my eyes of the intimate friend of my youth, count hülsen-haeseler, chief of the military cabinet. the faithful, self-sacrificing friendship and care of the prince and his family were most welcome to me in these bitter days. and letters and demonstrations from the empire, part of which sided with me and severely censured the chancellor, were a consolation to me during that period. after my return, the chancellor appeared, lectured me on my political sins, and asked that i sign the document that is already known, which was afterward communicated to the press. i signed it in silence and in silence i endured the attacks of the press against myself and the crown. the chancellor struck a serious blow, by his conduct, at the firm confidence and sincere friendship which had bound me before to him. undoubtedly prince bülow thought that, handling the matter as he did both in the reichstag and with me personally, he could best serve me and the cause, especially as public excitement was running very high at that time. in this i could not agree with him, all the more so since his actions toward me in the _daily telegraph_ affair stood out in too sharp contrast to the complaisance and recognition which bülow had previously manifested toward me. i had become so accustomed to the amiability of the prince that i found the treatment now accorded me incomprehensible. a break with bÜlow the relationship between emperor and chancellor, excellent and amicable up to that time, was, at all events, disturbed. i gave up personal relations with the chancellor and confined myself to official dealings. after consultation with the minister of the royal household and the chief of the cabinet, i resolved to follow prince fürstenberg's advice as to getting together the highcliffe dispatches, and charged the foreign office with this task. it failed of accomplishment because the dispatches in question were not to be found. toward the end of the winter the chancellor requested an audience with me. i walked up and down with him in the picture gallery of the palace, between the pictures of my ancestors, of the battles of the seven years' war, of the proclamation of the empire at versailles, and was amazed when the chancellor harked back to the events of the autumn of and undertook to explain his attitude. thereupon i took occasion to talk with him about the entire past. the frank talk and the explanations of the prince satisfied me. the result was that he remained in office. the chancellor requested that i dine with him that evening, as i had so often done before, in order to show the outer world that all was again well. i did so. a pleasant evening, enlivened by the visibly delighted princess with charming amiability, and by the prince with his usual lively, witty talk, closed that memorable day. alluding to the prince's audience with me, a wag wrote later in a newspaper, parodying a famous line: "the tear flows, germania has me again." by this reconciliation i also wished to show that i was in the habit of sacrificing my own sensitiveness to the good of the cause. despite prince bülow's attitude toward me in the reichstag, which was calculated to pain me, i naturally never forgot his eminent gifts as a statesman and his distinguished services to the fatherland. he succeeded, by his skill, in avoiding a world war at several moments of crisis, during the period indeed, when i, together with tirpitz, was building our protecting fleet. that was a great achievement. a serious epilogue to the above-mentioned audience was provided by the conservatives. the civil cabinet informed the party leaders of the chancellor's audience and what happened there, with the request that the party might now take back its "open letter." this request--which was made solely in the interest of the crown, not of myself personally--was declined by the party. not until , when the war was under way, did we get into touch again, through a delegate of the party, at great general headquarters. just as the conservatives did not do enough out of respect for the crown to satisfy me, so also the liberals of the left, the democrats and the socialists, distinguished themselves by an outburst of fury, which became, in their partisan press, a veritable orgy, in which loud demands were made for the limitation of autocratic, despotic inclinations, etc. this agitation lasted the whole winter, without hindrance or objection from high government circles. only after the chancellor's audience did it stop. later, a coolness gradually arose between the chancellor and the political parties. the conservatives drew away from the liberals--rifts appeared in the bloc. centrists and socialists--but, above all, the chancellor himself--brought about its downfall, as count hertling repeatedly explained to me later--for the last time at spa. he was proud to have worked energetically toward causing bülow's downfall. when matters had reached an impossible pass, the chancellor drew the proper conclusions and recommended to me the choice of herr von bethmann as the fifth chancellor of the empire. after careful consultations, i decided to acquiesce in the wish of prince bülow, to accept his request for retirement, and to summon the man recommended by him as his successor. [ ] one of the most startling incidents of the kaiser's reign was the interview with him printed in the london _daily telegraph_ of oct. , . in it he said that "englishmen, in giving rein to suspicions unworthy of a great nation," were "mad as march hares"; and that "the prevailing sentiment among large sections of the middle and lower classes of my own people is not friendly to england. i am, therefore, so to speak, in a minority in my own land, but it is a minority of the best elements, just as it is in england with respect to germany." german opinion was, he admitted, "bitterly hostile" to england during the boer war, and, that the german people, if he had permitted boer delegates in berlin, "would have crowned them with flowers." he asserted that he had formulated a plan of campaign in south africa which lord roberts adopted in substance. the kaiser was quoted in this interview as declaring germany needed a large fleet chiefly on account of the far eastern situation. the interview was republished in official german organs, and caused as great a stir in germany as in england. there were many debates on it in the reichstag and one or two "investigations." chapter v bethmann i had been well acquainted since my youth with herr von bethmann hollweg. when i was in active service for the first time in , as lieutenant in the sixth company of the first infantry guard regiment, it was quartered once at hohenfinow, the home of old herr von bethmann, father of the chancellor. i was attracted by the pleasant family circle there, which was presided over by frau von bethmann, a most worthy lady, born of swiss nationality, amiable and refined. often, as prince and later as emperor, i went to hohenfinow to visit the old gentleman, and i was received on every occasion by the young head of the rural district administration; at that time neither of us imagined that he would become imperial chancellor under me. from these visits an intimate relationship sprang up little by little, which served to increase steadily my esteem for the diligence, ability, and noble character of bethmann, which were much to my liking. these qualities clung to him throughout his career. as chief president and as imperial secretary of state for the interior bethmann gave a good account of himself, and, while occupying the last-named post, made his appearance successfully before the reichstag. co-operation with the chancellor was easy for me. with bethmann i kept up my custom of daily visits whenever possible, and of discussing fully with him, while walking in the garden of the chancellor's palace, on politics, events of the day, special bills, and occurrences and of hearing reports from him. it was also a pleasure for me to visit the chancellor's home, since bethmann's spouse was the very model of a genuine german wife, one whose simple distinction earned the esteem of every visitor, while her winning kindness of heart spread around her an atmosphere of cordiality. during the bethmann régime the custom of holding small evening receptions, instituted by prince bülow and most enjoyable to me, was continued, and this enabled me to keep on associating informally with men of all circles and walks of life. in the journeys which the chancellor had to make in order to introduce himself, he won esteem everywhere by his distinguished calm and sincere methods of expression. such foreign countries as were not hostile to us considered him a factor making for political stability and peace, to the maintenance and strengthening of which he devoted his most zealous efforts. this was entirely to my liking. in foreign politics he busied himself from the start with the position of england in relation to germany and with the "policy of encirclement" of king edward vii, which had made itself felt more and more since reval, and was a source of worry to bethmann. this was likewise true of the growing desire for revenge and enmity of france, and the unreliability of russia. during his régime as chancellor it became clear that italy was no longer to be reckoned with militarily; the work of barrère in that country made "extra tours" chronic. upon assuming office, herr von bethmann found the situation with regard to france cleared up to such an extent that the german-french morocco agreement had been signed on february , . by recognizing thereby the political predominance of france in morocco prince bülow had put the finishing touch to the german political retreat from morocco. the standpoint which had determined the trip to tangier and, in addition, the algeciras conference, was thereby definitely abandoned. the great satisfaction of the french government over this victory was expressed in a manner unwelcome to us by the conferring of the cross of the legion of honor upon prince radolin and herr von schoen. receives british royalty on the same day king edward vii, with queen alexandra, made his first official visit to the german emperor and his wife at their capital city of berlin--eight years after his accession to the throne! berlin received the exalted gentleman with rejoicing (!!) and showed no signs of dissatisfaction at his unfriendly policy. the king did not look well; he was tired and aged, and suffered, moreover, from a severe attack of catarrh. nevertheless, he accepted the invitation of the municipal authorities of berlin to informal tea at the city hall. from his description, which was corroborated by berlin gentlemen, the function must have been satisfactory to both parties. i informed my uncle of the signing of the german-french morocco agreement and the news seemed to please him. when i added, "i hope this agreement will be a stepping stone to a better understanding between the two countries," the king nodded his head approvingly and said, "may that be so!" if the king had co-operated toward this, my project would probably not have failed. nevertheless, the visit of their english majesties engendered a more friendly atmosphere for the time being, which greeted herr von bethmann upon his assuming office. during his term of office herr von bethmann had plenty of foreign matters to handle, connected with the well-known events of - . concerning this period a mass of material has been published in different quarters, for instance, in the book, _causes of the world war_, by secretary of state von jagow. in the _belgian documents_ the attitude of the german government in the various complications is described from a neutral standpoint. i had based this attitude on the following: caution on the one hand, on the other, support of our austro-hungarian allies whenever there is a plain threat against their position as a world power, combined with counsels of moderation in action. efforts in the rôle of "honest broker" everywhere, activity as a go-between wherever peace seems endangered. firm assertion of our own interests. in view of the "encirclement" ambitions of our opponents, we were in duty bound, for the sake of self-preservation, to work steadily at the same time toward building up our army and navy for purposes of defense, because of the central location of germany and her open, unprotected frontiers. this period of history is also well described in stegemann's book, and helfferich and friedjung also depict the prewar days interestingly. "edward the encircler" the death of the "encircler," edward vii--of whom it was said once, in a report of the belgian embassy at berlin, that "the peace of europe was never in such danger as when the king of england concerned himself with maintaining it"--called me to london, where i shared with my close relations, the members of the english royal family, the mourning into which the passing of the king had thrown the dynasty and the nation. the entire royal family received me at the railway station as a token of their gratitude for the deference to family ties shown by my coming. king george drove with me to westminster hall, where the gorgeously decorated coffin reposed upon a towering catafalque, guarded by household troops, troops of the line, and detachments from the indian and colonial contingents, all in the traditional attitude of mourning--heads bowed, hands crossed over the butts and hilts of their reversed arms. the old, gray hall, covered by its great gothic wooden ceiling, towered imposingly over the catafalque, lighted merely by a few rays of the sun filtering through narrow windows. one ray flooded the magnificent coffin of the king, surmounted by the english crown, and made marvelous play with the colors of the precious stones adorning it. past the catafalque countless throngs of men, women, and children of all classes and strata in the nation passed in silence, many with hands folded to bid a reverent farewell to him who had been so popular as a ruler. a most impressive picture, in its marvelous mediæval setting. i went up to the catafalque, with king george, placed a cross upon it, and spoke a silent prayer, after which my right hand and that of my royal cousin found each other, quite unconsciously on our part, and met in a firm clasp. this made a deep impression on those who witnessed it, to such an extent that, in the evening, one of my relations said to me: "your handshake with our king is all over london: the people are deeply impressed by it, and take it as a good omen for the future." "that is the sincerest wish of my heart," i replied. as i rode through london behind the coffin of my uncle i was a witness of the tremendous and impressive demonstration of grief on the part of the vast multitude--estimated at several millions--on streets, balconies, and roofs, every one of whom was clad in black, every man of whom stood with bared head, among all of whom reigned perfect order and absolute stillness. upon this somber, solemn background the files of british soldiers stood out all the more gorgeously. in splendid array marched the battalions of the english guards: grenadiers, scots guards, coldstreams, irish guards--in their perfectly-fitting coats, white leather facings, and heavy bearskin headgear; all picked troops of superb appearance and admirable martial bearing, a joy to any man with the heart of a soldier. and all the troops lining the path of the funeral cortège stood in the attitude of mourning already described. during my stay i resided, at the special desire of king george, in buckingham palace. the widow of the dead king, queen alexandra, received me with moving and charming kindness, and talked much with me about bygone days; my recollections stretched back to my childhood, since i, while still a little boy, had been present at the wedding of my dead uncle. the pichon conversation the king gave a banquet to the many princely guests and their suites, as well as for the representatives of foreign nations, at which m. pichon was also present. he was introduced to me and, in conversation with him, i told him of the wishes which the imperial chancellor had communicated to me regarding our interests in morocco and some other political matters, which m. pichon readily agreed to carry out. all other combinations connected in various quarters with this talk, belong in the domain of fancy. although the period between and demanded extraordinary attention to foreign events, interior development was, nevertheless, promoted zealously, and efforts made to meet the demands of commerce, transportation, agriculture, and industry, which were growing rapidly. unfortunately endeavors in this direction were made much more difficult by the discord among political parties. the chancellor wished to accomplish everything possible of accomplishment. but his inclination to get to the bottom of problems and his desire to deal only with what was, from his meticulous critical standpoint, thoroughly matured, tended, in the course of time, to hamper progress. it was difficult to bring him to make decisions before he was thoroughly convinced of their being absolutely free from objection. this made working with him tiresome and aroused in those not close to him the impression of vacillation, whereas, in reality, it was merely overconscientiousness carried too far. in addition, the chancellor eventually developed a strong and growing inclination toward domination; in discussions this tended to make him obstinate and caused him to lay down the law to those thinking otherwise as dogmatically as a school teacher. this brought him many enemies and often made things hard for me. a boyhood friend of the chancellor, to whom i spoke once about this, replied, with a smile, that it had been so with him even in school; there herr von bethmann had constantly taught and school-mastered his fellow students, of whom my informant was one, so that finally his classmates had nicknamed him "the governess." he added that this trait was a misfortune for bethmann, but that it had so grown into his very being that he would never be able to get rid of it. an example of this is bethmann's relationship to herr von kiderlen, whom he desired to have as secretary of state, despite my emphatic objections. herr von kiderlen was an able worker and a man of strong character, who always sought to assert his independence. he had been about one year in office when herr von bethmann came to me one day, complained of kiderlen's obstinacy and insubordination, and asked me to appeal to his conscience. i declined, with the observation that the chancellor had chosen kiderlen against my wishes and must now manage to get along with him; that the maintenance of discipline at the foreign office was a duty devolving upon the chancellor, in which i had no desire to interfere. finds fault with bethmann meanwhile, bethmann's inadequacy to the post of chancellor became evident. deep down in his heart he was a pacifist and was obsessed with the aberration of coming to an understanding with england. i can perfectly well understand that a man of pacifist inclinations should act thus in the hope of avoiding a war thereby. his object was entirely in accord with my policy. the ways and means whereby bethmann sought to achieve it were, in my opinion, unsuitable. nevertheless, i backed his endeavors. but i certainly did not believe that real success would result. it became ever more apparent, while he was chancellor, that he was remote from political realities. yet he always knew everything better than anybody else. owing to this overestimation of his own powers he stuck unswervingly to his ideas, even when things all turned out differently from what he had expected. his reports were always admirably prepared, brilliant in form, and, hence, impressive and attractive. and in this there was an element of danger. in his opinion there was always but one solution, the one which he proposed! the apparent solidity and thoroughness of his reports and suggestions, the illuminating treatment of the matters reported upon from every angle, the references to experts, to foreign and native statesmen and diplomats, etc., easily led to the impression that solely the bethmann solution was worthy of consideration. in spite of these thorough preparations, he made mistake after mistake. thus he had an actual share in our misfortune. when i returned from my norwegian trip in he did not place his resignation in my hands, to be sure, but he admitted that his political calculations had gone wrong. nevertheless, i left him in office, even after his reichstag speech and the english declaration of war of august , , because i considered it most serious to change the highest official in the empire at the most critical moment in german history. the unanimous attitude of the nation in the face of the challenge from the entente might have been impaired by such action. moreover, both the chancellor and the chief of the civil cabinet maintained that they had the working classes behind them. i was loath to deprive the working classes, which behaved in an exemplary manner in , of the statesman whom, i had been told, they trusted. the theory, constantly repeated to me in by the chief of the civil cabinet and the representative of the foreign office, that only bethmann had the support of the working classes, was finally supplemented further by reports to me that the chancellor enjoyed the confidence in foreign countries which was necessary to the conclusion of peace. thus it came about that bethmann always stayed in office, until, finally, the crown prince made the well-known investigation among the party leaders which showed that the above-mentioned theory was mistaken. this mistake was made all the clearer to me when i read, at the time of bethmann's dismissal--to which other factors also contributed--the most unfavorable opinions of him, especially in the social democratic and democratic press. i do not wish to blame bethmann with these frank remarks, nor to exonerate others; but, when such important matters are discussed, personal considerations must be ignored. i never doubted the nobility of bethmann's sentiments. may i be allowed to say a few words here concerning the reform in the prussian franchise, since the handling of this by herr von bethmann is characteristic of his policy of vacillation. during the winter of - , when, following the brilliant summer campaign, the hard, severe winter trench-fighting had brought military movements to a standstill, the extraordinary achievements of all the troops and the spirit which i had found among officers and men, both at the front and in the hospitals, made such a profound impression on me that i resolved to provide, for the tried, magnificent "nation in arms," something in the political domain, when it returned home, which should prove that i recognized what it had done and wished to give the nation joy. i often touched upon this theme in conversations and suggested reforms in the prussian franchise; the man, said i, who returned home, after a struggle like this, with the iron cross--perhaps of both classes--must no longer be "classified" at the polls. at this juncture a memorial was submitted to me by herr von loebell which proposed a reform in the prussian franchise on similar grounds. the concise, clear, and convincing treatment of the subject pleased me so much that i had a number of gentlemen read the memorial, which took up, in its original form, only general points of view, without going into detail, and i was pleased to see that it found approval with all whom i questioned concerning it. i had my thanks expressed to herr von loebell through the chief of the cabinet, von valentini, and caused loebell to work out the matter in detail and make suggestions. this was done in the spring of . the memorial was very thorough and dealt with a number of possibilities for the franchise, without advising any one system. it was approved by me, and sent by the chief of the cabinet to the chancellor, with the command that it be discussed, in the course of the year, by the ministers, and that their vote on it--possibly, also, some suggestions from them--be laid before me. the franchise law, of course, was not to be proposed until after the conclusion of peace. early german victories immediately after that i went to pless. the battle of gorlice-tarnow, with its smashing victory over the enemy, brought on the galician-polish campaign, leading to the reconquest of lemberg, przemysl and the capture of warsaw, ivangorod, modlin, brest-litovsk, etc., and completely engaged my attention. the _lusitania_ case, too, cast its shadow over events, and italy severed her alliance with us. so it is not to be wondered at if the franchise memorial was pushed into the background. the next winter, and the summer of , likewise, with their fighting on all fronts, the terrible battle of the somme, and the brilliant rumanian autumn and winter campaign, took me to all sorts of places on the western and eastern fronts, even as far as nisch--where the first memorable meeting with the bulgarian tsar took place--and to orsova, so that i had no opportunity to take up the matter of franchise reform with the care that its importance demanded. in the spring of i asked the chancellor to draw up an announcement of the reform, to be made to the nation at easter, since i assumed that the ministers had long since discussed it. the chancellor drew up the text of the proclamation at hamburg, in agreement with the chief of the cabinet and myself; he proposed that the method of voting be left open for the time being, since he was not yet quite sure about this. the easter proclamation appeared; it was based, like previous treatments of the matter, on the idea that the reform was not to be introduced until after the conclusion of peace, because most of the voters were away facing the enemy. party and press did what they could to postpone the accomplishment of my purpose by recriminations and strife, by bringing up the question of the prussian reichstag franchise, and by the demand for the introduction of the franchise bill while the war was still in progress. thus the question embarked upon its well-known and not very pleasant course, which dragged itself out on account of the interminable negotiations in the landtag. it was not until after the retirement of herr von bethmann that i learned through loebell that the memorial of had never been submitted to the ministers, but had lain untouched for a year and a half in a desk drawer; that the chancellor, influenced by the desires expressed in the country, had dropped the various systems proposed and concentrated upon the general (reichstag) franchise, of the eventual introduction of which he was, doubtless, inwardly convinced. in any event, the original basic idea was thoroughly bungled by bethmann's dilatoriness and the strife among the parties. what i wanted was to present a gift of honor, of my own free will, on its triumphal return home, to my victorious army, to my "nation in arms," my brave prussians, with whom i had stood before the enemy. chancellor's diplomatic power one of the results of bethmann's marked inclination toward control was that the secretary of state for foreign affairs was, under him, a mere helper, so much so that the foreign office was almost affiliated with the office of the chancellor, a state of affairs that made itself felt most especially in the use made of the press department. bethmann likewise asserted his independence decidedly in his relations with me. basing himself upon the fact that, constitutionally, the chancellor alone is responsible for foreign policy, he ruled as he pleased. the foreign office was allowed to tell me only what the chancellor wished, so that it happened sometimes that i was not informed concerning important occurrences. the fact that this was possible is to be laid at the door of the constitution of the empire. and this is the right place for saying a word concerning the relations between the emperor and the chancellor. in what follows i do not refer to my relationship to herr von bethmann, but, quite impersonally, to the difficulties in the relationship of the german emperor to the imperial chancellors, which are caused by the imperial constitution. i wish to call attention to the following points: . according to the constitution of the empire, the chancellor is the director and representative of the foreign policy of the empire, for which he assumes full responsibility; he has this policy carried out by the foreign office, which is subordinated to him, after he has reported on it to the emperor. . the emperor has influence on foreign policy only in so far as the chancellor grants it to him. . the emperor can bring his influence to bear through discussions, information, suggestion, proposals, reports, and impressions received by him on his travels, which then take rank as a supplement to the political reports of the ambassadors or ministers to the countries which he has personally visited. . the chancellor _may_ act pursuant to such action by the emperor, and may make it the basis of his decisions, whenever he is in agreement with the emperor's point of view. otherwise he is supposed to maintain _his own_ point of view and carry it out (kruger dispatch). . according to the constitution, the emperor has no means of compelling the chancellor or the foreign office to accept his views. he cannot cause the chancellor to adopt a policy for which the latter feels that he cannot assume responsibility. should the emperor stick to his view, the chancellor can offer his resignation or demand that he be relieved of his post. . on the other hand, the emperor has no constitutional means of hindering the chancellor or the foreign office from carrying out a policy which he thinks doubtful or mistaken. all he can do, if the chancellor insists, is to make a change in the chancellorship. . every change of chancellors, however, is a serious matter, deeply affecting the life of the nation, and hence, at a time of political complications and high tension, an extremely serious step, an ultima ratio (last resort) which is all the more daring in that the number of men qualified to fill this abnormally difficult post is very small. the position of the imperial chancellor, which was based on the towering personality of prince bismarck, had assumed a serious preponderance through the constantly growing number of posts under the empire, over all of which the chancellor was placed as chief and responsible head. disclaims responsibility if this is borne in mind, it is absolutely impossible that anybody should still hold the emperor alone responsible for everything, as was done formerly, especially toward the end of the war and after the war, by critical know-it-alls and carping revolutionists, both at home and in the entente countries. that, quite apart from everything personal, is a proof of complete ignorance of the earlier constitution of the german empire. the visit of the tsar to potsdam in november, , went off to the satisfaction of all concerned, and was utilized by the chancellor and herr von kiderlen to get into touch with the newly appointed foreign minister, sazonoff, whom the tsar had brought with him. apparently, the russian ruler enjoyed himself among us, and he took an active part in the hunt arranged in his honor, at which he proved himself an enthusiastic huntsman. the result of the conferences between the two statesmen seemed to promise well for the future; both, after they had felt each other out, harbored the hope of favorable relations between the two countries. during my spring visit to corfu, the melissori troubles began, which riveted greek attention upon themselves. corfu was well informed of the constant smuggling of arms from italy by way of valona into albania, and there was a feeling in greek circles that machinations from across the adriatic, as well as from montenegro, were not without responsibility for what was happening. it was also felt that the new turkish government had not been wise in its handling of the albanians, who were very sensitive and suspicious; the former sultan abdul-hamid had realized this very well and understood admirably how to get along with the albanians and to keep them quiet. nevertheless, there was no fear that more serious complications would ensue. at the beginning of i received a most cordial invitation from king george of england to be present at the unveiling of the statue of queen victoria, the grandmother of both of us. therefore i went in the middle of may to london with the empress and our daughter. the reception on the part of the english royal family and the people of london was cordial. the unveiling festivities were well arranged and very magnificent. the big, round space in front of buckingham palace was surrounded by grandstands, which were filled to overflowing by invited guests. in front of them were files of soldiers of all arms and all regiments of the british army, in full parade uniform, the cavalry and artillery being on foot. all the banners of the troops were arrayed at the foot of the statue. the royal family, with their guests and their suites, was grouped around the statue. king george made a dedication speech which had a good effect, in which he made mention also of the german imperial couple. then, amid salutes and greetings, the statue was unveiled; the queen, in marble, seated upon a throne, became visible, surmounted by a golden figure of victory. it was an impressive moment. afterward the troops marched past, the guards in the van, then the highlanders--who, with their gayly colored, becoming costume, gave an especially picturesque touch to the military spectacle--then the rest of the soldiers. the march past was carried out on the circular space, with all the troops constantly wheeling: the outer wings had to step out, the inner to hold back--a most difficult task for troops. the evolution was carried out brilliantly; not one man made a mistake. the duke of connaught, who had made all the military arrangements, deservedly won unanimous applause. festivities in england the remainder of our stay in england was devoted to excursions; we also enjoyed the hospitality of noble english families, at whose homes there was an opportunity to hold intercourse with many members of english nobility. special enjoyment in the domain of art was provided by the king to his guests by a theatrical performance at drury lane theater. a well-known english play, "money," was performed, by a company especially assembled for the occasion, consisting of the leading actors and actresses of london. as a surprise, a curtain fell between the acts, painted especially for the occasion by a lady, which depicted king george and me, life size, on horseback, riding toward each other and saluting militarily. the picture was executed with much dash and was enthusiastically acclaimed by the audience. the performance of the actors and actresses in "money" was veritably masterly, since all concerned played their rôles, even the smallest, to perfection. in fact, it was a classic performance. another day i attended, at the olympia track, the sports of the british army and navy, which included admirable individual feats on foot and horseback, as well as evolutions by bodies of troops in close formation. in describing the unveiling of the statue, as well as the funeral of king edward vii, i have concerned myself purposely with the externals and pomp that are characteristic of such occasions in england. they show that, in a land under parliamentary rule, a so-called democratic land, more importance is attached to well-nigh mediæval magnificence than in the young german empire. the french actions in morocco, which were no longer such as could be reconciled with the algeciras agreement, had once more engaged the attention of the diplomats. for this reason the chancellor had requested me to find out, as soon as opportunity should arise, what king george thought about the situation. i asked him if he thought that the french methods were still in accordance with the algeciras agreement. the king remarked that the agreement, to tell the truth, no longer was in force, and that the best thing to do would be to forget it; that the french, fundamentally, were doing nothing different in morocco from what the english had previously done in egypt; that, therefore, england would place no obstacles in the path of the french, but would let them alone; that the thing to do was to recognize the "fait accompli" of the occupation of morocco and make arrangements, for commercial protection, with france. to the very end the visit went off well, and the inhabitants of london, of all social strata, expressed their good will every time the guests of their king showed themselves. thus the german imperial couple was enabled to return home with the best of impressions. when i informed the chancellor of these, he expressed great satisfaction. from the remarks of king george he drew the inference that england considered the algeciras agreement no longer valid and would not place any obstacles in the way of the french occupation of morocco. from this the policy followed by him and the foreign office arose which led to the agadir case, the last and equally unsuccessful attempt to maintain our influence in morocco. the situation became more serious during the kiel regatta week. the foreign office informed me of its intention to send the _panther_ to agadir. i gave expression to strong misgivings as to this step, but had to drop them in view of the urgent representations of the foreign office. in the first half of came the sending of sir ernest cassel with a verbal note in which england offered to remain neutral in case of an "unprovoked" attack upon germany, provided germany agreed to limit her naval construction program and to drop her new naval bill, the latter being darkly hinted at. owing to our favorable answer to this lord haldane was intrusted with the negotiations and sent to berlin. the negotiations finally fell through, owing to the constantly more uncompromising attitude of england (sir e. grey), who finally disavowed lord haldane and withdrew his own verbal note, because grey was afraid to offend the french by a german-english agreement and jeopardize the anglo-french-russian understanding. here are the details of the case: on the morning of january , , herr ballin had himself announced to me at the palace in berlin and asked for an audience. i assumed that it was a case of a belated birthday greeting, therefore i was not a little astonished when ballin, after a short speech of congratulation, said that he had come as an emissary of sir ernest cassel, who had just arrived in berlin on a special mission and wished to be received. i asked whether it was a political matter, and why, if so, the meeting had not been arranged through the english ambassador. ballin's answer was to the effect that, from hints dropped by cassel, he knew the matter to be of great importance, and the explanation for cassel's acting without the intervention of the ambassador was because the earnest desire had been expressed in london that the official diplomatic representatives, both the english and the german, should not be apprised of the affair. i declared that i was ready to receive cassel at once, but added that, should his mission have to do with political questions, i should immediately summon the chancellor, since i was a constitutional monarch and not in a position to deal with the representative of a foreign power alone without the chancellor. ballin fetched cassel, who handed me a document which, he stated, had been prepared with the "approval and knowledge of the english government." i read the short note through and was not a little surprised to see that i was holding in my hand a formal offer of neutrality in case germany became involved in future warlike complications, conditioned upon certain limitations in the carrying out of our program of naval construction, which were to be the subject of mutual conferences and agreements. walking with ballin into the next room, i handed over the document for him to read. after he had done so both of us exclaimed in the same breath: "a verbal note!" it was plainly apparent that this "verbal note" was aimed at the forthcoming addition to our naval law and designed in some way to delay or frustrate it. no matter how the matter was interpreted, i found myself confronted with a peculiar situation, which also amazed ballin. it reminded me of the situation at cronberg-friedrichshof in , when i was obliged to decline the demand, made to me personally by the english under secretary, hardinge, that we should forego our naval construction. surprise at british note now, an intimate business friend of edward vii appears, without previous announcement through official diplomatic channels, before the german emperor with a "verbal note" inspired by the english government, with explicit instructions to evade all the diplomatic officials of both countries. he hands over an offer from the english government to maintain neutrality in future warlike complications provided certain agreements regarding limitation of naval construction are made. and this is done by england, the mother of "constitutionalism"! when i pointed this out to ballin, he exclaimed: "holy constitutionalism! what has become of you? that is 'personal politics' with a vengeance!" i agreed with ballin to send at once for herr von bethmann, in order that he might learn what was transpiring and decide what to do in this peculiar situation. bethmann was called up on the telephone and soon appeared. at first the situation aroused in him likewise a certain degree of astonishment; it was interesting to watch the play of expression on his face as he was told about the matter. the chancellor suggested that grand admiral von tirpitz also be summoned, for the proper dispatching of the business, and recommended that an answer be drawn up in english, in the same manner and form as the note delivered by cassel, and that it be handed to sir ernest, who wished to return home that night. (english was chosen because there was fear of obscurity and misunderstanding if the note were translated in london.) the chancellor asked me to draw up the note, since i knew english best. after some objection i had to make up my mind to be myself the writer of the answer. and now the following scene took place: i sat at the writing table in the adjutant's room; the other gentlemen stood around me. i would read a sentence from the note aloud and sketch out an answer, which was, in turn, read aloud. then criticisms were made from right and left: one thought the sentence too complaisant, another too abrupt; it was thereupon remodeled, recast, improved, and polished. the chancellor particularly subjected my grammar and style to much torture, owing to his habit of probing things philosophically, to his methods of profound thoroughness, which caused him to be most particular with every word, in order that it, having been studied from every angle, should later on afford nobody cause for criticism. after hours of work the note was finally finished and, having been passed a couple of times from hand to hand and then read aloud by me half a dozen times more, it was signed. when our group broke up, the chancellor asked sir ernest who was to be expected from england to conduct the negotiations. cassel replied that it would certainly be a minister, which one he did not know--perhaps mr. winston churchill, minister of the navy, since the question was a naval one. then the chancellor arranged further with him that the unofficial method should be retained and that ballin should undertake to transmit all the news regarding the matter which should emanate from england. sir ernest expressed his lively gratitude for his cordial reception and his satisfaction at the tenor of our reply. later ballin informed me from his hotel that cassel had expressed himself as completely satisfied over the successful outcome of his mission, and that he would report to his government the good impression made upon him. when i thereupon conferred on the matter with admiral von tirpitz we both agreed that the naval bill was in danger and, therefore, that we must be very careful. diplomatic preparedness in perfect secrecy the material was collected which admiral von tirpitz was to present at the negotiations; it consisted of a short historical sketch of the development of the fleet and of the increasingly difficult tasks devolving upon it; the naval law and its aims, nature, enactment, and extension; finally, the contemplated naval bill, its meaning and the method of putting it through. the chancellor asked that the main negotiations should be conducted at the palace in my presence. in addition, i agreed with admiral von tirpitz that he should speak english, as far as possible, and that i, in case of difficult technical expressions, would interpret. until england made known the name of the negotiator, our time was spent in suppositions, and ballin informed us of combinations in connection with which a number of names, even that of grey, came up. at last the news arrived, through ballin, that haldane--the minister of war, previously a lawyer--had been intrusted with the conduct of the negotiations and would soon arrive. general amazement! just imagine, "mutatis mutandis," that germany had sent her minister of war (at that time von heeringen) to london, instead of admiral von tirpitz, for the discussion of a naval matter! when this point was discussed with bethmann and tirpitz a number of suppositions were advanced; the chancellor said that haldane was known in england as a student of goethe and as a man versed in german philosophy and knowing the german language, so that his choice was a piece of politeness toward us. tirpitz observed that haldane had formerly spent some time in berlin and worked with general von einem at the war ministry, and hence knew the state of affairs in germany. i suggested that all that was very well, but that the choice of haldane showed that england looked upon the question as purely political, since he knew only superficially about naval affairs; that the whole thing was probably directed against germany's naval policy in general and the new naval bill in particular; that it would be well, therefore, not to forget this, in order that the whole thing might not develop into a foreign assault upon our right of self-determination as to the strength of our defensive measures. haldane arrived and was received as an imperial guest. ballin, who accompanied him, solved the riddle of haldane's choice on the basis of information received by him from england. he said that when cassel had got back to london, reported on his reception, and handed over the german reply, the impression made was so favorable that no further doubt was entertained there as to the satisfactory course of the negotiations and their conclusion in the form of an agreement; that, thereupon a keen dispute had arisen among the ministers, especially between churchill and grey, as to who should go to berlin and affix his name to this great historical document, in case the object should be achieved of making germany completely give up the further development of her fleet; that churchill thought himself the right man for the job, since he was at the head of the navy. but grey and asquith would not let their colleague reap the glory, and, for this reason, grey stood for a while in the foreground--another proof that it was politics rather than the number of ships which was to play the leading rôle. selection of churchill after a while, however, it was decided that it was more fitting to grey's personal and official importance to appear only at the termination of the negotiations, to affix his name to the agreement, and--as it was put in the information transmitted from england to ballin--"to get his dinner from the emperor and to come in for his part of the festivities and fireworks"--which, in good german, means to enjoy the "bengal light illumination." as it had been decided that churchill was not to get this in any event, it was necessary to choose somebody for the negotiations who was close to asquith and grey and who, possessing their complete confidence, was willing to conduct the negotiations as far as the beginning of the "fireworks"; one who, moreover, was already known at berlin and not a stranger in germany. churchill, to be sure, qualified in this, for he had been present a few times at the imperial maneuvers in silesia and württemberg as a guest of the emperor. ballin guaranteed the reliability of his london source of information. before the negotiations began i once more pointed out to secretary of state von tirpitz that haldane, in spite of being just then minister of war, probably had prepared himself for his task, and had surely received careful instructions from the english admiralty, in which the spirit of fisher was paramount. in his _handbook for english naval officers_, fisher had stated, among other precepts well worthy of being remembered, one which is characteristic of the admiral, his department and its spirit, which runs, word for word, as follows: "if you tell a lie, stick to it." moreover, i said to tirpitz, we must not forget what an amazing adaptability the anglo-saxons had, which fitted them for occupying positions which had no relation to their previous life and training. furthermore, the interest in england in the navy was generally so intense that almost every educated man was an expert up to a certain point on naval questions. in the course of the negotiations haldane proved himself admirably well informed and a skillful, tenacious debater, and his brilliant qualities as a lawyer came to the fore. the conversation lasted several hours, and brought about a general clarifying, as well as a preliminary agreement as to postponement of time limits of ship construction, etc. the details concerning it are deposited in documents at the imperial naval office. tirpitz was splendid. after some more conferences--at which, likewise, ballin was present--haldane returned to england. ballin informed me that haldane had expressed himself to him as entirely satisfied with the outcome of his mission, and had stated that in about a week or two the first draft of the agreement could be sent to us. time passed--the date set for the introduction of the naval bill approached. tirpitz suggested, in case the agreement were concluded previously, that the naval bill be altered accordingly; otherwise, that it be introduced without alteration. suspects english purposes at last we received, not the draft of the agreement, but a document asking all sorts of questions and expressing a desire for all sorts of data, a reply to which required many consultations and much reflection. little by little the suspicion grew in me that the english were not in earnest with regard to the agreement, since question followed question and details were sought which had nothing directly to do with the agreement. england withdrew more and more from her promises, and no draft of the agreement came to hand. in berlin a big agitation set in against the naval bill, tirpitz and myself on the part of the foreign office, and from other quarters, both qualified and unqualified. the chancellor also, who hoped to achieve the agreement and affix his name to a document which would free germany from "encirclement" and bring her into a regular and better relationship with england, came out in favor of dropping the naval bill. but that would simply have meant allowing a foreign power enormous influence in matters of german national defense and jeopardizing thereby the national right of self-determination and our readiness for battle in case of a war being forced upon us. had we allowed this it would have amounted to our consenting to permit england, germany's principal foe, to grant us whatever she wished, after consulting her own interests, without receiving ourselves the guaranty of any equivalent concession. in this confused state of affairs differences of opinion and violent disputes arose, which, especially in those circles which really knew little about the navy, were conducted with much violence and not always in a practical manner. admiral von tirpitz, all through that winter, which was so hard a one for him and me, fought his fight like a genuine, patriotic officer, realizing the situation and seeing through his opponents with clear vision and supporting me with complete conviction to the limit of his ability. all the government officials agreed that no foreign country could be allowed any voice in helping decide what we had or had not to do toward insuring our protection. the hope of bringing about the agreement grew ever fainter; england continually showed lessening interest and kept eliminating important parts of her original verbal note. and so it came about that admiral von tirpitz and i realized that the whole proposal was merely a "maneuver." the fight over the german naval bill grew steadily hotter. i happened at this time to meet at cuxhaven doctor von burchard, president of the hamburg senate, whom i respected greatly, as he was the very model of an aristocratic citizen of a hanseatic city, and who had often been consulted by me in political matters. i described to him the entire course of the affair and the disputes in berlin as to the introduction or nonintroduction of the bill, and asked him then to tell me, with his usual complete frankness, what he thought the right thing to do in the interest of the national welfare, since i greatly desired to hear an objective opinion, uninfluenced by the rival camps of berlin. doctor burchard replied in his clear, keen, pointed, convincing manner that it was my duty toward the people and the fatherland to stick to the bill; that whosoever spoke against its introduction was committing a sin against them; that whatever we thought necessary to our defense must be unconditionally brought into being; that, above all else, we must never permit a foreign country to have the presumption to interfere with us; that the english offer was a feint to make us drop the naval bill; that this must, in no circumstances, be allowed; that the german nation would not understand why its right of self-determination had been sacrificed; that the bill must unquestionably be introduced; that he would work in its favor in the federal council (as indeed he did in a brilliant, compelling speech) and also otherwise press its acceptance in berlin; that the english would naturally resort to abuse, but that this made no difference, since they had been doing so for a long time; that they certainly would not get into a war for such a cause; that admiral von tirpitz was merely doing his duty and fulfilling his obligations, and that i should support him in every way; that the chancellor must give up opposing the measure, otherwise he would run the risk of finally forfeiting public esteem on account of being "pro-english." thus spoke the representative of the great commercial city, which was threatened before all others in case of war with england. the genuine hanseatic spirit inspired his words. strangely enough, this opinion of doctor burchard concerning the english offer has recently been corroborated to me in holland by a dutchman who heard from englishmen at that time the english point of view. i and tirpitz guessed right--the offer of neutrality, in case naval expansion was curbed, was a political maneuver. countercharges of cheating soon news also came from ballin that the matter was not going well in england: that, according to information received, a dispute had arisen about the agreement; that there was dissatisfaction with haldane, who, it was said, had let himself be cheated by tirpitz! this was plain evidence of the indignation felt because tirpitz had not walked into the trap and simply let the bill drop, and that haldane had been unable to serve up the bill to the english cabinet on a platter at tea time. it is useless to say that there was any "cheating" on germany's part, but the reproach leveled at haldane justifies the suspicion that his instructions were that _he_ should seek to "cheat" the germans. since his fellow countrymen thought that the reverse was true, one can but thank admiral von tirpitz most sincerely for having correctly asserted the german standpoint to the benefit of our fatherland. toward the end of march the fight about the bill took on such violence that finally the chancellor, on the d, asked me for his dismissal as i stepped out of the vault in the charlottenburg park. after long consultation and after i had told him doctor burchard's view, the chancellor withdrew his request. when, some time afterward, i paid a visit to herr von bethmann in his garden, i found him quite overcome and holding in his hand a message from london. it contained the entire disavowal of the verbal note delivered by cassel, the withdrawal of the offer of neutrality, as well as of every other offer, and at the end the advice that i dismiss herr von bethmann from the imperial chancellorship, since he enjoyed to a marked degree the confidence of the british government! tears of anger shone in the eyes of the chancellor, thus badly deceived in his hopes; the praise accorded to him by a foreign government with which germany and he had just had such painful experiences hurt him deeply. for the second time he offered me his resignation; i did not accept it, but sought to console him. i then ordered that the ambassador in london be asked how he could have accepted and forwarded such a message under any conditions. now the chancellor was in favor of the bill, but it was honorably proposed with the limitation which it had been decided to impose upon it in case of the conclusion of the agreement. in england, on the other hand, the full naval construction program was carried out. this "haldane episode" is characteristic of england's policy. this whole maneuver, conceived on a large scale, was engineered for the sole purpose of hampering the development of the german fleet, while, simultaneously, in america, which had an almost negligible merchant fleet; in france, whose navy was superior in numbers to the german; in italy, in russia, which also had ships built abroad--vast construction programs were carried out without eliciting one word of protest from england. and germany, wedged in between france and russia, certainly had to be at least prepared to defend herself on the water against those nations. defends naval program for this our naval construction program was absolutely necessary; it was never aimed against the english fleet, four or five times as strong as ours, and assuring england's superiority and security, to equal the strength of which no sensible man in germany ever dreamed. we needed our fleet for coast defense and the protection of our commerce; for this purpose the lesser means of defense, like u-boats, torpedo boats, and mines, were not sufficient. in addition the coast batteries on the baltic were so antiquated and miserably equipped that they would have been razed within forty-eight hours by the massed fire of the heavy guns of modern battleships. thus, our baltic coast was practically defenseless. to protect it the fleet was necessary. the skagerrak (jutland) battle has proved what the fleet meant and what it was worth. that battle would have meant annihilation for england if the reichstag had not refused up to all proposals for strengthening the navy. those twelve lost years were destined never to be retrieved. before we take our leave of haldane i wish to touch upon another episode in his activities. in he came, with the permission of the german government, to berlin, to inform himself concerning the prussian defense conditions, recruiting, general staff, etc. he busied himself at the ministry of war, where the minister, general von einem, personally gave him information. after about two or three weeks' work there he returned, well satisfied, to england. when, after the outbreak of the world war, the "pro-german" haldane, the friend of goethe, was boycotted and treated with such hostility that he could no longer show himself in public, he had a defense written of his term of office as minister of war by the well-known littérateur and journalist, mr. begbie, entitled _vindication of great britain_. therein his services toward forming a regular general staff and preparing the british army for the world war are placed in a bright light and emphasis is laid on the skill with which he utilized the permission obtained from the prussian war ministry in order to learn in germany about military matters and to reorganize the british army and general staff, to the minutest detail and on the german model, for the coming war against the erstwhile german hosts. here we see the sly, adroit lawyer, who, sheltered under the hospitality of a foreign country, studies its military arrangements in order to forge weapons against it out of the material and knowledge thus acquired. quite characteristically the book is dedicated to king edward vii, whose intimate, emissary, and tool haldane was. in those days berlin saw in haldane's mission a "rapprochement" with england, toward which germans were always bending their efforts; in reality, however, it was a "reconnoitering expedition" under the very roof of the german cousin. england showed her gratitude by the world war, which haldane helped to prepare; in this case haldane "cheated" the germans! that is the history of the haldane mission. later it was summarily maintained by all sorts of ignorant dabblers in politics, belonging to the press and the general public, that the promising "rapprochement" with england through haldane had been wrecked by the obstinacy of the emperor and admiral von tirpitz and by their clinging to the naval bill against the wishes of all "sensible counselors!" kingship of albania at that time [in ] the question of the establishment of an independent albanian state and the choice by the powers of a head for it, was brought to my attention also. a number of candidates lusting for a crown had already presented themselves before the tribunal of the powers, without getting themselves accepted; a number of candidates, considered by the powers, were declined by the albanians. i looked upon the matter in itself with indifference, and was of the opinion that--as in the case of every "creation of a nation"--the greatest possible attention should be paid to historical development, also to geographical peculiarities and the customs of the inhabitants. in this peculiar land there has never been any united nation under one ruler and one dynasty. in valleys, encircled and cut off by high mountain ranges, the albanian tribes live separated to a considerable degree from one another. their political system is not unlike the clan system of the scotch. christians and mohammedans are represented in equal numbers. the custom of "vendetta" is an ancient one, sanctified by tradition, which is no less true of robbery and cattle stealing. agriculture is still in a backward stage of development, farming is in its infancy, the implements used therein date from before the flood. the head man of the clan dispenses justice in the open, under the village tree, as it used to be done once upon a time among the ancient germans. every man is armed and most are excellent shots. whenever the head man of the clan turns up while on a horseback tour through his territory in some hamlet, the inhabitants expect a blessing from him in the form of jingling coins, which sometimes are scattered about by him from the saddle. this, of course, is particularly customary at the outset of a new government's term, and great is the dissatisfaction when it does not happen. up to the time of the balkan war many albanians entered the turkish service, where they rose to high importance, being greatly prized on account of their diligence and keen intelligence, as well as their tenacious energy. they supplied the turkish administration with a large number of officials, also with a certain percentage in the diplomatic corps and the army. the young albanian nobles were proud to serve in a splendid company of palace guards of the sultan, which scarcely had an equal for size, martial appearance, and manly beauty. these were partly relatives of the sultan, since the latter used to have noble albanian women of the principal clans in his harem in order that he--protected by blood brotherhood--might be safe from the "vendettas" of the clans, and, also, that he might find out everything that might serve to influence the feelings of the albanian chieftains. the desires of the albanians which reached him by this road--for instance, as to supplies of arms and ammunition, school houses, building of highways, etc.--were thereupon granted in an inconspicuous manner. thus the sultan was enabled to keep the usually turbulent albanians quiet and loyal by means of "family ties." with this knowledge of the state of affairs as a foundation, i sought to bring my influence to bear toward having a mohammedan prince chosen, if possible--perhaps an egyptian prince--not forgetting that he should have a well-lined purse, which is an absolute necessity in albania. my advice was not heeded by the "areopagus of the powers," whose members were not bothering themselves with the interests of the albanians, but seeking, first of all, for pretexts and opportunities for fishing in the troubled albanian waters in such a way as to benefit their own countries. opposed choice of german therefore, i was not at all pleased when the choice fell upon prince william of wied. i esteemed him as a distinguished, knightly man of lofty sentiments, but considered him unfitted for the post. the prince knew altogether too little about balkan affairs to be able to undertake this thorny task with hope of success. it was particularly unpleasant to me that a german prince should make a fool of himself there, since it was apparent from the start that the entente would place all sorts of obstacles in his path. upon being questioned by the prince, i told my cousin all my doubts, laying stress upon the difficulties awaiting him, and advised him urgently to decline. i could not command him, since the prince of wied, as head of the family, had the final word in the matter. after the prince's acceptance of the candidacy offered him by the powers, i received him in the presence of the chancellor. a certain irresolution in the bearing of the prince, who contemplated his new task with anything but enthusiasm, strengthened the resolve in me and the chancellor to try hard once more to dissuade the young candidate from ascending the recently invented albanian "throne." but in vain. the ambitious, mystically excited wife of the prince saw in albania the fulfillment of her wishes. and "ce que femme veut, dieu le veut" ("what woman wishes, god wishes"). carmen sylva [the queen of rumania] also worked toward having him accept; she went so far, in fact, as to publish an article in the newspapers beginning "fairyland wants its prince." so even the best meant warnings were useless. i had also strongly advised the prince not to go to albania before the settlement of the financial question, since the reasons which had led me to suggest the selection of a rich ruler now came to the fore. the prince was not very wealthy and the powers had to supply him with a "donation," concerning the amount of which, and the method of paying it by installments, an unpleasant quarrel arose. at last a part payment was made. danger lurked for the prince and his eventual government in the person of essad pasha, an unreliable, intriguing, greedy soldier of fortune, who himself had designs on the albanian throne and held sway over a certain number of armed adherents. from the start he was an opponent of the new prince and he plotted secretly with italy, which was not favorably inclined toward the prince of wied. now, it would have been quite natural and a matter of course if the new ruler had taken with him in his suite men from germany whom he knew and who were faithful to him. but he did not. an englishman and an italian were attached to his person as "secretaries" and they had nothing better to do than to work against his interests, to give him bad advice and to intrigue against him. requirements of a ruler during the time that the prince of wied was making his preparations the excellently written pamphlet of an austrian general staff officer, dealing with his travels in albania, appeared. the officer described, in a lively and clear style, the geographical and climatic drawbacks, the population and customs, the general poverty and backwardness of the land. he pointed out that a future ruler of the land must in no circumstances reside on the coast, but must show himself to the inhabitants and travel about in the country. owing to the primitive means of transportation, he went on, the lord of the land must sit all day on horseback and ride through his domain, having at his saddle bow the famous "bag of sequins" mentioned in all oriental tales and legends, in order to sway public opinion in his favor in the places visited by the expected shower of gold. the ruler must be sure, the author continued, to bind some of the clans of the region closely to himself, so as to have at his beck and call an armed force for asserting his will and overcoming any opponents wishing to rebel, since this was the only way to maintain his power, in view of the utter lack of "troops" or an "army" in the european sense of the word. this meant that the ruler of albania must lead at first a nomadic, horseback life, and, in addition, provide himself with a wandering camp, with tents and other accessories and the necessary horses. plenty of men adapted to this sort of life might have been found in his squadron of the third guard uhlan regiment, since many of his uhlans, who were very fond of the prince, had declared that they were ready to accompany him as volunteers. surely, they would have served him better and been more useful to him than what he did in preparing to take over the overlordship of albania, without knowledge of the country. i advised my cousin urgently to study this pamphlet and to follow its recommendations, especially with regard to his residence, which should be fixed at some point as far as possible from the warships of the powers, in order that he might not be forced to act under their pressure and arouse suspicion among the albanians that their ruler needed these ships for protection against his subjects. did the prince ever read the pamphlet? in any event, the course adopted by him subsequently was contrary to its advice and the advice given him by me. the prince and his wife journeyed to albania, and things turned out as i had foreseen. according to reports describing the arrival of the sovereign couple, the princess, although she was a german, addressed the assembled albanians from her balcony in french, since they understood no german! the "court" remained at durazzo under the guns of the foreign ships. the prince did not travel on horseback through the land, nor did he scatter gold sequins about--not even from his balcony on the day of his arrival--nor did he push essad out of the way. so the adventure ended as one might imagine. i have gone into some detail in describing my opinion and attitude toward the question of the choice of the ruler of albania because, from every possible quarter, false rumors have been circulated for the purpose of imputing to me motives which were utterly foreign to me. in this matter, also, i gave honest advice when questioned, based on sound knowledge of mankind. the year also witnessed the meeting with the tsar at baltisch-port, whither i repaired on board my yacht at the invitation of nicholas ii. our two yachts anchored side by side, so that visiting from ship to ship was easy. the tsar, his children, and his entire entourage vied with one another in evidences of good will and hospitality. the russian and german escorting squadrons were inspected, turn and turn about, by the tsar and myself together, and we took our meals either at the tsar's table or mine. we spent one morning on land near baltisch-port. the eighty-fifth "viborg" infantry regiment, whose commander i was, had been drawn up in a field and was inspected first in parade formation, then in company and battalion exercises, which were carried out in as satisfactory a manner as was the parade with which the evolutions were brought to a close. the regiment, composed of four battalions, made an excellent impression. it was in field equipment--brown-gray blouses and caps--and the latter, worn jauntily cocked over one ear by all, gave to the sun-browned, martial faces of the strong young soldiers a bold air which brought joy to the heart of every soldier who gazed upon them. in the course of the brilliant and uncommonly amiable reception which i met with on this occasion i received no hint of the balkan alliance, concluded a short time before. it was my last visit in russia before the outbreak of the war. chapter vi my co-workers in the administration it behooves me to remark that i found particular pleasure in working with his excellency von stephan and in dealing with him. he was a man of the old school, who fitted in so well with me that he always grasped my ideas and suggestions and afterward carried them out with energy and power, owing to his firm belief in them. a man of iron energy and unflagging capacity for work and joyousness; endowed, moreover, with refreshing humor, quick to perceive new possibilities, never at a loss for expedients, well versed in political and technical matters, he seemed to have been born especially for creative co-operation. i trusted him implicitly, and my trust in him was never betrayed. i learned much from my association with this stimulating, shrewd counselor. the post-office department reached an unimagined degree of excellence and aroused the admiration of the whole world. the great invention of the telephone was utilized to the limit, was applied extensively to the public service, and was developed so as to facilitate it. likewise in the domain of building stephan brought about a decided improvement, which received my approval and support. all great state building projects depended on the vote of the investigating "academy of building," which, at that time, was a slow-moving, cumbrous, and backward body. i had already had experiences of my own with it. the "white drawing room," originally merely provisional, had been put up without much attention to style--it had been intended at first for an indian masquerade, a "lalla rookh" festival, in honor of the grand duchess charlotte, daughter of frederick william iii, and her husband, later tsar nicholas i. an investigation instituted at my order showed the material to be spurious and inferior; the structure was in the worst possible state of decay and in danger of collapse; a new one was needed. with the co-operation and collaboration of the empress frederick, projects and plans were made, and, finally, a big model was provided by building councilor ihne--the "modern schlüter," as the empress frederick used to call him--which won unanimous approval. only the building academy opposed wearisome objections, stating that the "white drawing room" ought to be preserved "in its old historical beauty," and required no alterations. when the new structure was completed, however, it also met with the approval of the gentlemen who had been formerly so critical. herr von stephan also was at loggerheads with the academy of building. he wanted to alter many post offices, or build entirely new ones, especially in the big cities, but, in view of the fearful slowness and devotion to red tape of the aforesaid official body, he used to receive no answers at all, or else refusals, when he brought these matters to its attention. the rule of thumb was supreme there. herr von stephan was of the opinion that, in its buildings as well as in other directions, the youthful german empire must give an impression of power, and that the imperial post offices must be built accordingly; he believed that they should harmonize with the general style of the towns where they were located, or, at least, conform to the style of the oldest and most important buildings there. nor could i do otherwise than agree with such a view. academy's shackles broken at last there came a rupture with the aforementioned academy. his excellency von stephan lost patience and informed me that he had freed his office, and the buildings erected by it, from the supervision of the academy; that he had even formed a committee from among his own architects and officials for supervising purposes; and that all he asked of me was to subject the more important plans for buildings to a final inspection. i did so willingly. stephan was an enthusiastic huntsman, so that i had additional opportunities, while on the court hunts, to enjoy association with this refreshing, unchanging, faithful official and counselor. among the ministers whom i particularly esteemed his excellency miquel took first place. he it was who, as my finance minister, put through for prussia the great reform which placed the land on a sound basis and helped it toward prosperity. intercourse with this astute political expert gave me great pleasure, and a wealth of teaching and stimulus. the degree to which miquel was versed in all possible matters was astounding. in conversation he was brisk, humorous, and keen in elucidating and arguing on a subject, in addition to which a strong historical bent ran, like a red thread, through his quotations. in history and ancient languages he was marvelously well equipped, so that, in his reports, he was able often to hark back to the times of the romans and quote from his store of knowledge--not out of büchmann[ ]--pieces of latin in support of his arguments. even when he was instructing he was never tiresome on account of his brilliant dialectics, but used to hold his hearers spellbound to the very end. it was his excellency miquel likewise who incited me to favor the great canal projects and supported me when the prussian conservatives opposed the central [rhine-weser-elbe] canal, and caused the failure of the plan to build it. he lent strength to the king and made the latter decide not to let up in this fight until victory was won. he knew, as i did, what blessings the canals in holland and the splendid canal network of france had brought to those lands and what a relief they were to the ever more hard-pressed railways. in the world war we might have had a splendid east-to-west artery of transportation for ammunition, wounded, siege material, supplies, and the like, which would have made it possible, by thus relieving the railways, for the latter to transport troops on an even greater scale--moreover, this would have lessened the shortage of coal. in time of peace also, for which the canal was destined, it would have been most beneficial. minister von miquel was a most ardent enthusiast for the imperial german idea and the german empire of the hohenzollerns: i lent an attentive ear to his spirited handling of this theme. he was a man who, clinging to the old tradition, thought in a great german, imperial way; he was fully adequate to the requirements and demands of the new era, rightly appreciating when these were of value. from the start i concerned myself with the completion of the railway system. from the reports relating to national defense and the complaints of the general staff, as well as from personal observation, i knew of the absolutely incredible neglect suffered by east prussia in the matter of railways. the state of affairs was absolutely dangerous, in view of the steady, though gradual, reinforcing of the russian troops facing our frontier, and the development of the russian railway system. during the last years of his reign emperor william the great had commanded field marshal moltke to report on the situation, since the russian armies, under the influence of france, were being posted ever more conspicuously on the eastern frontier of prussia, arousing apprehension as to the possibility of irruptions of great masses of russian cavalry into prussia, posen, and silesia. quartermaster-general count waldersee and i were present at the reading of this report. from it came the resolve to shift prussian troops eastward and to push toward completion the neglected railway system. the measures ordained by emperor william i and begun by him required time, particularly as the new railway bridges over the vistula and nogat had to be built by the military authorities in the teeth of strong official opposition (maybach). since the railways were considered a "national pocketbook," there was a desire to build only "paying" lines, which caused prejudice against outlays for military lines designed for the defense of the fatherland, since it diminished the fine surplus funds by which such great store was laid. not until my reign were the plans of emperor william i brought to realization. anyone taking up a railway map of will be amazed at the lack of railway connection in the east, particularly in east prussia, especially if he compares it with a map showing the development in the intervening years. if we had had the old network, we should have lost our eastern territory in . unquestionably, minister von maybach rendered valuable services in the promotion and development of the railway system. he had to take into account the wishes and demands of the rapidly developing industrial sections of western germany, in doing which he naturally considered military desires also, as far as he could. but during his régime eastern germany was very badly treated with regard to railway lines, bridges, and rolling stock. had there been mobilization at that time, it would have been necessary to transfer hundreds of locomotives to the east in order to maintain schedules capable of meeting even part of the requirements of the general staff. the only means of communication with the east were the two antiquated trestle bridges at dirschau and marienburg. the general staff became insistent, which brought quarrels between it and maybach. not until minister thielen came into office was there a change, occasioned by his self-sacrificing work, for which thanks are due him. realizing correctly what the military requirements were, he pushed forward the completion of the eastern railways. thielen was an able, diligent, thoroughly reliable official of the old prussian type, faithful to me and enjoying my high esteem. in common with miquel, he stood faithfully by the side of his sovereign in the fight for the central canal. characteristic of him were the words which he said in my presence, before a big assembly of people, at the opening of the elbe-trave canal: "the central canal must and will be built." relations between him and me remained harmonious until his retirement. despite the railway construction work in the western part of germany, there were in that region likewise serious gaps in the network of railways, from the point of view of mobilization and deployment of troops, which had long since needed remedying. the rhine, as far up as mainz, was crossed by one railway bridge only; the main could be crossed only at frankfort. for a long time the general staff had been demanding the remedying of these conditions. fortunately, general traffic moved in the same direction--for instance, if a traveler coming from the west wished to reach one of the watering places in the taunus mountains, or some place on the railway along the right bank of the rhine, he had to go as far as frankfort, and then return in the same direction whence he had come, although at mainz he had almost been opposite wiesbaden. minister budde was the man chosen for the accomplishment of this work. as chief of the railway department of the general staff he had long since attracted my attention by his extraordinary capacity for work, his energy, and his promptness in making decisions. he had often reported to me on the gaps in our railway system, which would hamper quick deployment of troops on two fronts, and always pointed out the preparations being made by russia and france, which we were in duty bound to meet with preparations of equal scope, in the interests of the national defense. the first consideration, of course, in railway construction had been the improvement and facilitation of industry and commerce, but it had not been able to meet the immeasurably increased demands of these, since the great network of canals, designed to relieve the railways, was not in existence. the war on two fronts, which threatened us more and more--and for which our railways were, technically speaking, not yet ready, partly from financial-technical reasons--made necessary that more careful attention should be paid to military requirements. russia was building, with french billions, an enormous network of railways against us, while in france the railways destined to facilitate the deployment of forces against germany were being indefatigably extended by the completion of three-track lines--something as yet totally unknown in germany. minister budde set to work without delay. the second great railway bridge over the rhine at mainz was constructed, likewise the bridge over the main at costheim, and the necessary switches and loops for establishing communication with the line along the right bank of the rhine, and with wiesbaden; also the triangle at biebrich-mosbach was completed. budde's talents found brilliant scope in the organization and training of the railway employees, whose numbers had grown until they formed a large army, and in his far-sighted care for his subordinates. i respected this vigorous, active man with all my heart, and deeply regretted that a treacherous ailment put an end to his career in the very midst of his work. in his excellency von breitenbach i acquired a new and valuable aid and co-worker in my plans regarding the railways. in the course of years he developed into a personage of high eminence. distinguished and obliging, of comprehensive attainments, keen political insight, great capacity for work and untiring industry, he stood in close relationship to me. his co-operation with the general staff in military matters was due to his thorough belief in the necessity of strengthening our means of defense against possible hostile attacks. plans were made for the construction of three new rhine bridges, at rüdesheim, neuwied, and the loreley, which were not completed until during the war--they were named, respectively, after the crown prince, hindenburg, and ludendorff. in the east, great extensions of railway stations, bridges, and new railway lines were built, some of them while the war was in progress. other important works carried out by breitenbach in the west were the great railway bridge at cologne, to replace the old trestle bridge; a new bridge, by the beyen tower, for freight traffic; and new railways in the eiffel mountains. moreover, at my special suggestion, a through line was built from giessen to wiesbaden, which included reconstruction of the stations at homburg and wiesbaden and the building of a loop around frankfort and höchst. in addition, trains were provided with through cars from flushing to the taunus. to show that it is impossible to please everybody, i wish to observe in passing that we were violently attacked by the hotel proprietors of frankfort, who were naturally not at all pleased at this elimination of frankfort and of the necessity, existing previously, for passengers to change trains there, since they lost thereby many customers formerly obliged to spend a night in some frankfort hotel. this element brought particularly strong opposition to bear against the loop line around höchst. the battle concerning the central canal was decided at last in favor of my plans. under breitenbach, construction on it was pushed forward by sections with great energy. those portions of this canal which it had been possible to place in operation have fully met expectations. during this period, also, the extraordinarily difficult extension and deepening of the kaiser wilhelm canal, almost equivalent to building an entirely new waterway, was brought to completion, likewise the great emden sea lock. these were remarkable achievements in the domain of bridge and lock construction, which aroused the admiration of the world; in the matter of locks, for instance, those built at this time far surpassed the locks of the panama canal in size. the difficult tasks were brilliantly and thoroughly completed by the officials in charge; in so far as the construction work was in the hands of the empire, it was carried out mostly with the supervising co-operation of the prussian ministry of transportation. i often went to breitenbach's home, where i had an opportunity, thanks to him, of having interesting talks on commercial-political and economic subjects with a highly intelligent circle, of meeting a lot of eminent men and discussing important questions. the plans and sketches of all the larger railway stations, locks, and bridges were submitted to me before the work of building or rebuilding them was begun, and reports concerning them were made to me. i have intentionally gone into detail in this matter in order to show the following: first, how a monarch can and must influence the development of his realm by personal participation; second, how, if he makes his selections quite independently of party reasons, he can place able men at the head of the various departments; third, how, by the honest co-operation of these men with the sovereign, whose complete confidence they enjoy, brilliant results can be achieved. everything that we did together was aboveboard and honest; nothing mattered but the welfare and development of the fatherland, its strengthening and equipment for competition in the world market. as was natural, i had close and lasting relations in the regular course of events with the ministry of public worship and instruction. herr von gossler and herr von trott may surely be considered the most important and prominent occupants of this post. in this ministry a co-worker almost without equal arose in the person of ministry director althoff, a man of genius. i had been made acquainted with the dark side of the high-school system of education by my own school experiences. the predominantly philological character of the training led, in the whole educational system as well, to a certain one-sidedness. when i was at the cassel high school in - i had observed that, although there was great enthusiasm for - and the new empire among the boys, there was, nevertheless, a distinct lack of the right conception of the german idea, of the feeling "civis germanus sum" ("i am a german citizen")--which i impressed later upon my people at the laying of the foundation-stone of the saalburg. to create such sentiments and awaken them in the rising generation and to lay the foundations for them firmly in the young hearts was a task somewhat beyond the powers of the teaching staff, in view of the fossilized, antiquated philological curriculum. there was great neglect in the department of german history, which is exactly the study through which young hearts may be made to glow, through which the love of one's native country, its future and greatness, may be aroused. but little was taught of more recent history, covering the years since . young philologists were produced, but no german citizens qualified for practical co-operation toward building up the flourishing young empire. in other words, no _youths who were consciously germans_ were being turned out. in a small reading club composed of my classmates i often tried to inculcate the idea of the greater germany, in order to eliminate parochial and similar conceptions which hampered the german idea. admiral werner's _book of the german fleet_ was one of the few works by means of which the living feeling for the german empire could be fanned into flame. another thing that struck me, in addition to the one-sidedness of the education in the schools, was the tendency, among youths planning their careers in those days, to turn their attention to becoming government officials, and always consider the profession of lawyer or judge the most worthy goal. this was doubtless due to the fact that the conditions obtaining in the prussia of olden days still had their effect in the youthful german empire. as long as the state consisted, so to speak, of government and administration, this tendency among german youths in the shaping of their lives was understandable and justified; since we were living in a country of officials, the right road for a young man to select was the service of the state. british youths of that time, self-reliant and made robust by sports, were already talking, to be sure, of colonial conquests, of expeditions to explore new regions of the earth, of extending british commerce; and they were trying, in the guise of pioneers of their country, to make great britain still stronger and greater, by practical, free action, not as paid hirelings of the state. but england had long been a world empire when we were still a land of officials; therefore, the youth of britain could seek more remote and important goals than the german. now that germany had entered into world economics and world politics, however, as a by no means negligible factor, the aspirations of german youth should have undergone a more prompt transformation. for this reason it was that i, during the later years of my reign, used to compare, with a heavy heart, the proud young britons, who had learned much less latin and greek than was required among us, with the children of germany, pale from overstudy. to be sure, there were even then enterprising men in germany--brilliant names can be cited among them--but the conception of serving the fatherland, not by traveling along a definite, officially certified road, but by independent competition, had not yet become sufficiently generalized. therefore i held up the english as an example, for it seems to me better to take the good where one finds it, without prejudice, than to go through the world wearing blinkers. with these considerations as a basis i won for my german youths the _school reform_ against desperate opposition from the philologists, inside and outside the ministry and school circles. unfortunately, the reform did not take the shape which i hoped, and did not lead to the results which i had expected. the germanic idea in all its splendor was first revealed and preached to the astonished german people by chamberlain in his _foundations of the nineteenth century_. but, as is proved by the collapse of the german people, this was in vain. to be sure, there was much singing of "deutschland über alles," but germans, obeying the commands of their enemies, allowed the emperor to fall and the empire to be broken to pieces; and, placing themselves under the orders of russian criminals vastly inferior to them in culture, they stabbed their own army in the back while it was still fighting valiantly. had germans of all classes and conditions been educated to feel joy and pride in their fatherland, such a degradation of a great nation would have been unimaginable. this degradation--which, it must be admitted, occurred under remarkable, extremely difficult circumstances--is all the more difficult to understand in view of the fact that the youth of germany, although it was impaired in health by overstudy, and not so toughened by sports as the english, achieved brilliant feats in the world war, such as were nowhere equaled before. the years - showed what might have been made out of the german people had it only developed its admirable qualities in the right direction. the th of august, , the heroes of langemark, countless splendid figures from all classes, rise up from the chaos of the long war to show what the german can do when he throws away philistinism and devotes himself, with the enthusiasm which so seldom reveals itself completely in him, to a great cause. may the german people never forget these incarnations of its better self; may it emulate them with its full strength by inculcating in itself the true german spirit! in the post of minister of justice i found his excellency friedberg, the intimate, faithful friend of my father, whom i had known ever since my youth, when he was a welcome guest in the home of my parents. this simple, affable man enjoyed with me the same consideration which had been shown him by my parents. in later years i had frequent and welcome dealings with his excellency beseler, who also enabled me to hear informal discussion at his house of many an interesting legal problem by prominent lawyers, and to come into touch with legal luminaries. i felt no particular inclination toward the lawyers in themselves--since pedantry, remoteness from actualities and doctrinaire leanings often assert themselves in the domain of the law altogether too much for my taste--but the compilation of the _citizens' law book_ interested me greatly. i was present at sessions dealing with it, and was proud that this fundamental german work should have been brought to completion in my reign. when i met the lord chief justice of england, while i was on a visit to that country, at the home of lord haldane, i asked that great jurist what he thought of the administration and interpretation of the law in germany. his answer ran thus: "you pronounce judgment too much according to the letter of the law; we according to the spirit and content of the law." i have often pointed out how unfortunate it was that we have not been able to introduce, in police cases--connected with traffic, streets, etc.--the prompt procedure of the english "police court." for, in england, punishment in such cases is meted out on the very next day, whereas in germany months often elapse, what with gathering of evidence and examination of witnesses, until, finally, some insignificant sentence is pronounced long after the case has been forgotten. i should also have liked to introduce into germany the heavy penalties for libels published in the press which are customary in england. i have often pointed out how unfortunate it was prince, with minister of finance scholz, and had taken part in sessions wherein that famous man, his excellency meinecke, figured. meinecke was under secretary of state in the finance ministry and had, therefore, much to do with other ministers, since finances were an important thing everywhere. he had achieved a certain degree of fame because he--as he thought--was always able smilingly to find the best way out of tight places. scholz was faithful to his duty and able, but he did not succeed in making the dry substance of taxes and the like particularly interesting and pleasant to me, nor was there any change in this state of affairs until the versatile miquel took charge of the finance ministry. when miquel reported to me concerning the prussian financial reform, he suggested three plans: one modest, one medium, one ambitious. to the delight of the minister i decided, without hesitation, for the third. both the monarch and the minister were filled with satisfaction when the reform was carried out. the minister of the interior, herr von puttkamer, had been forced to retire during the ninety-nine days, to the great sorrow of him who was then crown prince. he was an able, tried old prussian official; one of those pomeranians of the old school, filled with loyalty to the king--a nobleman through and through. rumor had it that the empress frederick had driven him from office by a plot, but this is not true. the empress, with her inclination to english liberalism, doubtless did not like the old-time prussian conservative, yet she was not at all to blame for his going. prince bismarck pushed him aside, perhaps out of consideration for the empress frederick. i was deeply interested in forestry and its improvement along practical lines, especially as new gold reserves could be created for the state by reforestation. next to herr von podbielski, the ablest minister of agriculture and forests was freiherr von schorlemer. just as herr von podbielski bent his efforts toward creating great stretches of forests in the east, in order to keep off the east wind by a compact forest zone and thus improve our climate, and, at the same time, provide a natural protection against russian attacks, so herr von schorlemer opened up the eastern forest reservations by extensive construction of roads, and by thus facilitating the transportation of wood helped germany greatly in making headway in competition against wood from russia. both ministers sought, in co-operation with me, to improve our splendid prussian forestry personnel and better living conditions among them, and to help toward promotions in their ranks--all of which these officials, zealous in their work and faithful to their king, fully deserved. the influx of large sums into the state's pocketbook depended indeed on the honesty, industry, and reliability of these men. i expected much toward the restoration of the fatherland from the statesmanlike shrewdness and ability of herr von schorlemer, who was always quite conscious of the goal at which he was aiming.[ ] i learned much about forestry from head foresters freiherr von hövel (joachimsthal, schorfheide) and freiherr speck von sternburg (szittkohnen, rominten) on my many hunting expeditions with these excellent huntsmen and administrators. let me say a word here regarding a russian curiosity in the domain of preserving wild game. the tsar, who had heard a great deal about the fine antlers of the stags at rominten, wished to have some of the same sort at spala, in poland. freiherr von sternburg was sent to the spala hunting lodge one summer in order to give advice regarding this project. he was received very cordially by a general, who had charge of the hunting there and lived at the lodge. sternburg noticed that all the apartments, even those not inhabited, were always kept heated. when he spoke of the enormous waste of wood occasioned by this, the general shrugged his shoulders and remarked that one never could tell, the tsar might put in an appearance some day, after all. a gamekeeper, who was a german, was assigned to sternburg, since the general did not know his way about on the reservation and was quite ignorant of game feeding. in the course of his tours about the place sternburg observed a number of places where meadows could be turned into pastures or good feeding places could be installed. he drew attention to the need of such arrangements, having noticed that the deer had already begun to shed their horns to a considerable extent, thereby causing much damage to the trees. but the gamekeeper shook his head sadly and remarked that he had already reported all that, but in vain, since the hay for the deer had to be brought by rail from the black sea and the shipments sometimes either did not arrive at all or were greatly delayed and arrived spoiled. but nothing would be done to alter this, continued the gamekeeper, since too many people made a good thing out of this transporting of the hay, which was paid for at huge prices. he also told how--after he had called attention to the many splinters of wood found in the intestines of the deer, in order to prove that they were insufficiently fed and that feeding places must be provided--a committee of animal doctors had been brought from st. petersburg to investigate the matter. the said committee lived and ate for weeks in spala at the tsar's expense, shot many deer, examined them, and held sessions; and the upshot of all this was a report that the animals had wood in their stomachs, which proved that they could live on wood, for which reason feeding places would be superfluous and the hay from the black sea would suffice to supplement the wood. and there the matter remained, in spite of sternburg's visit! when i heard this yarn, i involuntarily thought of an anecdote which prince bülow especially delighted to tell in connection with his sojourn at st. petersburg. while there, he had attended the salon of madame durnovo, where society used often to gather. one day a prominent general was complaining to the hostess that he had been trapped in a money matter, which had brought him much unpleasantness from "above." apparently he wished, by his mournful description, to arouse sympathy for his bad luck, but madame durnovo retorted, in her rough way: "mon cher général, quand on fait des sâletés, il faut qu'elles réussissent!" ("my dear general, when you play dirty tricks it is necessary that they be successful!") as secretary of state in the imperial postal department likewise, herr von podbielski, after i had chosen him and declined a number of other candidates, did excellent work, treading worthily in the footsteps of stephan. very practical; endowed with the business sense and a great knowledge of business; well versed and clever in financial matters; of innate administrative talent, and, at the same time, quick to fight; caustically witty; a good speaker and debater--he worked with zeal and skill, often as a pioneer, particularly in matters of world postal service, wireless telegraphy, etc. this former colonel in the ziethen hussars made a name for himself in the service of his fatherland which will never be forgotten. an amusing contrast to his career is that of a russian hussar officer under nicholas i. this tsar, being full of anger against the holy synod, had driven away the man at the head of it. shortly afterward he inspected the hussar body guard regiment, commanded by colonel count protassoff. the immense satisfaction of the tsar at the splendid appearance and maneuvering of the fine regiment found expression in the words, amazing alike to the commander and his men: "thou hast maneuvered thy regiment magnificently, and, as a token of my satisfaction, i name thee procurator of the holy synod, which thou must put into good shape for me!" mention must be made here of another excellent and worthy man, minister möller. he came from bielefeld, like hinzpeter, and was bound to my old teacher by lasting ties of friendship. in the legislature he was one of the leaders of the national liberals, by whom he was highly esteemed, as he was in the reichstag, on account of his upright, distinguished westphalian characteristics and his great experience in the commercial-political domain. when imperial chancellor bülow suggested möller to me as minister i remarked that he was a party man and member of the reichstag. the chancellor said that the national liberals would be pleased at möller's appointment. i observed that the state ministry of the prussian king could not and must not be a party ministry, but must stand above the parties in entire independence of them; that i esteemed möller personally very much, but, should he become minister, every member of the legislature would have the ambition to become one likewise; that, through möller's appointment, the ambitions of the other parties to obtain ministerial chairs would also be aroused and nobody could foresee the consequences; that, moreover, möller would be greatly missed in the reichstag, from which i did not wish to take him on account of his influence with all parties. despite these objections and my advice against it, bülow stuck to his idea. möller became minister, and, as such, stood very well with me. but what i had prophesied occurred comparatively soon: minister möller was obliged to retire by circumstances partially connected with the inner workings of his party. [ ] a german philologist who compiled a well-known book of quotations. [ ] his recent death, which snatched him away in the midst of beneficial labors, is a serious loss to the fatherland. chapter vii science and art the broad and many-sided field whose care devolved upon the ministry of public worship and instruction--embracing art, science, research, medical matters, etc.--always aroused my lively interest and enlisted my efforts in its behalf. special pleasure was afforded me by the development of the technical high school. the increasing importance of technical matters drew ever larger numbers of the ablest youths to institutions of learning of this description, and the achievements of the teachers there and of the young engineers who were graduated constantly brought new laurels to the german name. among the teachers at charlottenburg one of the most prominent and best known all over the world was professor doctor slaby. until his death he had constant dealings with me and kept me informed concerning the newest inventions by means of captivating discourses. these were given not only in his laboratory, but also in the quiet hunting lodge in the forests of brandenburg, where i, together with the empress, surrounded by a few intimates, used to listen eagerly to slaby's words. slaby was also dear to me as an individual and caused me much mental enjoyment by his simple, clear views on every possible sort of thing in this world, which he could always express in the most stimulating and enthralling manner. slaby meant much to me, and i felt grateful affection for him up to the time of his death. influenced by the achievements of the technical high schools and of such men as slaby, intze, and so on, i resolved to grant the high schools the same privilege of representation in the prussian upper house as was enjoyed by the universities. but the universities protested vehemently against this to the minister of public worship and instruction, and there ensued a violent fight against the classical-scientific arrogance of the savants, until i finally enforced my will by a decree. slaby received the news from me by telegraph in his laboratory while he was delivering a lecture, and gave it to the students, who burst into wild cheers. the technical high schools have shown themselves worthy of the honor conferred upon them. in view of the constantly more violent fight for the markets of the world and its outlets, it became necessary, in order to utilize the wisdom of the leaders of german science in this direction, to provide them with more freedom, quiet, possibility for working, and materials. many savants of importance were hampered in research work by their activities as teachers, so that the only time they had left over for research was their vacation. this state of affairs resulted in overwork and overburdening, which had to be stopped. chemical research attention was turned first to improvements in the domain of chemistry. minister von trott and director of the ministry althoff, having grasped the state of affairs with clear understanding, made possible for me the establishment of the kaiser wilhelm society and drew up the statutes governing it. in the short time of its existence it has achieved brilliant results and given me an opportunity, at its general meetings, to become acquainted with eminent men in all branches of knowledge with whom i thereafter entered into regular intercourse. i also visited their laboratories, where i could follow the progress of their labors. new laboratories were founded, others subsidized from the contributions of the senate and members of the organization. i was proud of this creation of mine, since it proved a boon to the fatherland. the inventions due to the research of its members benefited the entire nation. it was a peace-time achievement with a great and most promising future, which, under the guidance of herr von trott, was in most excellent hands; unfortunately, the war robbed me of this joy, along with all others. nowadays i must do without the intercourse with my men of learning of my association, and that is a cruel blow to me. may it continue to live and labor for the benefit of research and the good of the fatherland! i had to face a severe fight in getting professor harnack summoned to berlin. the theologians of the right and the orthodox element protested vehemently. after i had again obtained full information from hinzpeter and he had closed his opinion with the words that it would be most regrettable for berlin and prussia if i backed down, i insisted upon the summoning of harnack, and summoned he was. nowadays it is impossible to understand the opposition to him. what a man harnack is! what an authoritative position he has won for himself in the world of the mind! what benefit, what knowledge, intercourse with this fiery intellect has brought to me! what wonders he has achieved, as head of the royal library and dean of the senate of the kaiser wilhelm society, where he, the theologian, delivered the most learned and most substantial talks on exact sciences, research, inventions, and chemistry. i shall always look back with pleasure on the personality of harnack and on his labors. professor erich schmidt of the university of berlin was also a friend of mine and was often at my home; i owe many an enjoyable evening to the learned discourses of this savant. professor schiemann enjoyed my particular confidence. an upright man, a native of the baltic provinces, a champion of the germanic idea against slavic arrogance, a clear-sighted politician and brilliant historian and writer, schiemann was constantly asked by me for advice on political and historical questions. to him i owe much good counsel, especially regarding the east. he was often at my home and often accompanied me on journeys--as, for instance, to tangier--and he heard from me in our talks much important confidential matter not yet known to others on political questions. his unshakable capacity for keeping his mouth shut justified my trust in him. it was a source of satisfaction to me to appoint this tried man curator of the university of dorpat, after the liberation of the baltic provinces. kaiser's russian foresight how well he and i agreed in our political views regarding russia is illustrated by the following incident: after the peace of portsmouth, between russia and japan, brought about by me in conjunction with president roosevelt in , there was much official (foreign office) and unofficial puzzling of heads at berlin as to what political line russia would take. in general it was thought that russia, angered at her defeat, would lean toward the west--and hence toward germany--in order to find there new connections and strength to help her in striking a blow for revenge against japan and reconquest of her lost territory and prestige. my opinion was quite different--but i could not make the official world share it. i emphasized the following points: that the russians were asiatics and slavs; being the first, they would be inclined to favor japan, in spite of their defeat; being the second, they would like to ally themselves with those who had proved themselves strong. hence i thought that, after a while, russia, despite the björkö agreement, would join japan, not germany, and turn later against germany. on account of these "fantastic" ideas, i was actually ridiculed, officially and unofficially. i summoned schiemann and questioned him on this subject, without revealing to him what i thought about it. i was much pleased when his answer agreed absolutely with the views held by me. for a long time schiemann and i stood almost alone when this weighty matter of foreign politics came up in discussions. the event justified us. the so-called "russian experts" of berlin, as well as the official world, were mistaken. during the very first years of my reign there was occasion for much important building work. first, there was the question of erecting a worthy monument over the tomb of my grandparents. since the old mausoleum at charlottenburg was inadequate, it was necessary to erect an addition. unfortunately, the funds left by emperor william the great for such "extra construction"--the so-called extra construction fund--had been used up during the ninety-nine days on something else. hence i was obliged to burden the crown revenues with unforeseen building expenses. the mausoleum of my parents at marly was erected by the empress frederick, according to her own sketches and designs, and for this, too, i had to provide the funds. a thorough examination of the royal palaces--including those in the provinces--had revealed, particularly at the palace in berlin, such deplorable conditions in sanitation, comfort, and so on, that there could be no more delay in remedying them. in the course of my thirty years' reign i restored these palaces to good condition--working in accordance with carefully prepared budgets, examined, corrected, and supervised by myself with the help of architects (such as ihne), and of artists, with due regard for the traditions of my ancestors--all of which gave me much trouble and tried my patience, but also provided me with a great deal of enjoyment. architectural interests in restoring the berlin palace, the empress frederick, with her sure, keen eye for the proper style and her sound judgment, helped materially in offsetting the harm and neglect dating from bygone days. my mother's expression of her view ought surely to be of general interest: "any style is good so long as it is pure." ihne used to call the eclecticism of the 'nineties "à peu près style" (the "almost style"). the restoration of the picture gallery, the last work of herr ihne--who died, unfortunately, all too soon--was not completed until during the first half of the war. the palace of my forefathers, erected at much pains and a source of pride to me, was later bombarded, stormed, sacked, and devastated by revolutionary hordes. these artistic building enterprises, as well as the already-mentioned restoration of the white drawing room, belong among the duties of representation devolving upon every government, be it absolute, constitutional, or democratic in form. they afford a criterion of the national culture and are a means of encouraging artists and, through them, the development of art. during my vacations i busied myself with archæology and was active in excavation work. here i kept in view one basic idea: to discover the roots from which ancient greek art developed and to erect or find a bridge in the endeavor to establish the cultural influence of the east on the west. it appeared to me that assyriology was important, since from it might be expected an elucidation and vitalizing of the old testament, and, hence, of the holy scriptures. therefore, i accepted with pleasure the offer of the presidency of the german orient society and devoted myself to the study of its work, which i promoted to the best of my ability, never missing one of its public lectures on the results of its explorations. i had much to do with those at the head of it, and caused detailed reports to be made to me of the excavations at nineveh, assur, and babylon, in egypt and in syria, for the protection and facilitation of which i often personally brought influence to bear on the turkish government. professor delitzsch, a member of the society gave his well-known and much-attacked lecture on "babel and bible," which, unfortunately, fell upon the ears of a public as yet too ignorant and unprepared, and led to all sorts of misinterpretations, some of them in church circles. i strove hard to clear up the matter. since i realized that the importance of assyriology, then enlisting the efforts of many prominent men, including clergymen of both religions, was not yet understood and appreciated by the general public, i had my trusted friend and brilliant theater director, count hülsen-haeseler, produce the play "assurbanipal," after long preparation, under the auspices of the german orient society. assyriologists of all countries were invited to the dress rehearsal; in the boxes, all mixed up together, were professors, protestant and catholic clergymen, jews and christians. many expressed to me their thanks for having shown, by this performance, how far research work had already progressed and for having, at the same time, revealed more clearly to the general public the importance of assyriology. my sojourn at corfu likewise afforded me the pleasure of serving archæology and of busying myself personally with excavation. the accidental discovery of a relief head of a gorgon near the town of corfu led me to take charge of the work myself. i called to my aid the experienced excavator and expert in greek antiques, professor dörpfeld, who took over the direction of the excavation work. this savant, who was as enthusiastic as i for the ancient hellenic world, became in the course of time a faithful friend of mine and an invaluable source of instruction in questions relating to architecture, styles, and so on among the ancient greeks and achæans. "iliad" as a guide book it was a joy to hear dörpfeld read and elucidate the old homeric poems, and establish, by means of a map and following the hints and descriptions of the poet, the location of the old achæan settlements destroyed later by the doric migration. it appeared that the names of the old places had often been transferred by the dispossessed inhabitants to the new places. this made the identification of the location more difficult. nevertheless, dörpfeld had rediscovered the location of a whole series of them, with the help of his homer, which he carried in his hand like a baedeker, hitting upon it by following the minute geographical descriptions given by homer. this interested me so much that i took a trip by water, with the empress, in the company of dörpfeld, in order to put the matter to the test. we went to leukas (ithaca) and visited, one after another, the places made famous by the "odyssey," while dörpfeld read from his homer the descriptive text referring to each. i was amazed and had to admit that the region and the description tallied exactly. the excavations begun by me in corfu under dörpfeld's direction had valuable archæological results, since they produced evidence of an extremely remote epoch of the earliest doric art. the relief of the gorgon has given rise already to many theories--probable and improbable--combined, unfortunately, with a lot of superfluous acrimonious discussion. from all this, it seems to me, one of the piers for the bridge sought by me between asia and europe is assuming shape. i sent reports regularly to the archæological society, and i also brought the well-known professor caro from athens to work with me. i was busy with preparations for lectures to be delivered before the society during the winter of - , and with searching discussions on many disputed questions, which i hoped to bring toward a solution "sine ira et studio." it was a pleasure to me to be visited almost regularly, at corfu, by english and american archæologists, former pupils of dörpfeld, who helped zealously in throwing light on the difficult problems which often came up. since they were at work in asia minor, i was deeply interested in hearing what importance they attached to the asiatic influence on early greek art--as a result of their discoveries--and how readily they recognized a connection with the east in the finds made at corfu. in , professor duhn of heidelberg visited the excavations at corfu and, after thorough investigation, gave his support to the views held by dörpfeld and me. i shall tell in a separate piece of writing about the result of my corfu excavations. that was the sort of thing which, in the spring of , occupied the thoughts of the german emperor, who, lusting for robbery and conquest, is accused of having bloodthirstily brought on the world war. while i was exploring and discussing gorgons, doric columns, and homer, they were already mobilizing against us in the caucasus and russia. and the tsar, at the beginning of the year, when asked about his travel plans, had replied: "je resterai chez moi cette année, car nous aurons la guerre!" ("i shall stay at home this year, for we are going to have war!") chapter viii my relations with the church much has been written and said about my relations with the church. even when i was still a prince and a student at bonn, i realized the harmful influence of the "kulturkampf" in its last phase. the religious rift did so much toward antagonism that once, for example, i was directly boycotted, while on a hunting expedition, by members of leading noble rhenish-westphalian families of the rhineland belonging to the ultra-montane party. even as far back as that i resolved, in the interests of the national welfare, to work toward creating a modus vivendi such as would make it possible for people professing the two creeds to live peacefully with each other. the "kulturkampf," as such, had come to an end before the beginning of my reign. i strove patiently and earnestly to be on good terms with the bishops, and i was on very friendly terms with several, especially cardinal kopp, archbishop simar, doctor schulte, prince-bishop bertram, bishop thiel, and, last but not least, archbishop faulhaber and cardinal von hartmann. all of these were men far above the average and an ornament to the episcopate, who gave proof during the war of their patriotic devotion to emperor and empire. this shows that i had succeeded in clearing away the mists of the "kulturkampf" and enabling my catholic subjects, like others, to rejoice in the empire, in accordance with the motto, "suum cuique" ("to each his own"). i was bound particularly closely all my life to cardinal kopp, prince-bishop of breslau. he always served me loyally, so that my relationship to him was most trusting. of much value to me was his mediation in dealings with the vatican, where he stood in high honor, although he championed absolutely the german point of view. friendship for pope leo xiii probably little is known by the general public of the friendly, trusting relationship that existed between me and pope leo xiii. a prelate who was close to him told me later that i had won the confidence of the pope on my first visit by the absolute frankness which i showed toward him and with which i told him things which others intentionally kept from his ears. receptions by the pope were conducted with tremendous pomp. swiss and noble guards, in brilliant uniforms, servants, chamberlains, and ecclesiastical dignitaries, were present in large numbers--a miniature representation of the might of the roman catholic church. after i had traversed the courts, halls, and drawing-rooms, in which all these men had arrayed themselves, i seated myself opposite the pope himself, in his little, one-windowed study. the distinguished gentleman, with the fine, noble-featured old face, whose eyes gazed piercingly at his visitor, made a deep impression upon me. we discussed many timely subjects. i was greatly pleased that the pope spoke appreciatively and gratefully of the position occupied in germany by the catholic religion and its adherents, adding the assurance that he, for his part, would contribute toward having the german catholics yield to no other germans in love for their fatherland and in loyalty. pope leo xiii gave evidences of friendliness toward me whenever he could. for instance, on the occasion of one of my visits to rome, he accorded my suite and servants the honor of a special audience; he sent prince-bishop kopp as papal delegate on the occasion of the consecration by me of the portal which i had had added to the cathedral at metz, and was so kind as to inform me of the naming of archbishop fischer of cologne as cardinal, which was done to celebrate that day. on the occasion of the papal jubilee in to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of his accession to the papacy, i sent a special mission to convey my congratulations to the pope, at the head of which was freiherr von loë, for many years intimately acquainted with him. not long after that--and only a few months before his death--i paid my third and last visit to the pope. though he was very weak, this ninety-three-year-old man came up to me, holding both his hands outstretched. concerning this visit, which was characterized by great cordiality on both sides, i immediately jotted down some notes, which recently came into my possession again. the pope said, among other things, that he could not but give his full approval to the principles according to which i governed; that he had followed with interest my methods of governing and recognized with pleasure that i had built up my rule on a foundation of firm christianity; that such lofty religious principles underlay it that it behooved him to ask the blessing of heaven upon myself, my dynasty, and the german empire, and to grant me his apostolic benediction. "sword of catholic church" it was of interest to me that the pope said to me on this occasion that germany must become the sword of the catholic church. i remarked that the old roman empire of the german nation no longer existed and that conditions had changed. but he stuck to his words. then the pope went on to say that he must thank me once more for my unflagging attention to the welfare of my catholic subjects; that he had heard about this from so many sources that he was glad to tell me personally how grateful both he and the german catholics were for this attention to their interests; that he could assure me that my catholic subjects would stand by me, in good and bad times, with absolute fidelity. "ils resteront absolument et infailliblement fidèles" ("they will remain absolutely and infallibly faithful"). i rejoiced greatly at these words of appreciation from such an exalted source. i answered that i considered it the duty of a christian sovereign to care for his subjects to the best of his ability, irrespective of creed; that i could assure him that, during my reign, everybody could profess his religion without interference and fulfill his duties toward his ecclesiastical overlord; that this was a fundamental principle of my life, from which i could not be swerved. because i showed my catholic fellow countrymen from the very beginning that i wished to allow them complete freedom in the exercise of their religion, a quieter spirit was engendered in the land and the aftermath of the "kulturkampf" disappeared more and more. but i did not conceal from myself the fact that, despite all politeness and friendliness, the prelates, with the sole exception of cardinal kopp, still continued to look upon me as the emperor, and i was compelled to take into account that, in the catholic south and west, this idea would never quite vanish. grateful acknowledgment has repeatedly been made to me of the fact that the catholics were as well off, during my reign, as they could possibly desire; but the constantly more uncompromising attitude of the church on mixed marriages, and that of the centrist party in politics, were certainly a sign that the antiheretical tendency still lived beneath the peaceful surface. this made all the more intense my desire for the firm union of the _protestant churches_--first, in prussia, then in germany, finally, in all europe. my endeavors, in conjunction with the chief ecclesiastical councilor, the general superintendent, and so on, to find means of effecting this union, were most earnest. i hailed the eisenach conference with joy and followed its proceedings with interest. i assembled all the general superintendents for the consecration of the church at jerusalem and also was able to greet invited deputations from sweden, norway, and so forth; and i did likewise on the occasion of the consecration of the berlin cathedral, where, among many other deputations, the church of england was represented by the bishop of ripon (w. boyd-carpenter), the pastor of queen victoria of england, equally prominent as a writer and preacher. whenever possible, i worked toward compromise, closer relations and union, yet nothing definite resulted. though church union in prussia has been a success, lutherans and reformists kept apart in other sections of the fatherland. many local rulers kept sharp watch over their rights in relation to religions and, owing to this, were hostile to a closer union of the different creeds within their territory. therefore, despite my endeavors, the german protestant church was not able to unite and make common cause against the elements hostile to it. only through the emergency brought on by the revolution was this made possible. on ascension day, , to my great joy, the "german evangelical church union" was solemnly formed at the schloss church at wittenberg. doctor dryander's influence during the first years of my military service at potsdam i had felt deeply the inadequacy of the sermons, which often dealt only with dry dogmatic matter and paid too little attention to the person of christ. in bonn i became acquainted with doctor dryander, who made an impression on me lasting throughout my life. his sermons were free from dogma, the person of christ was their pivotal point, and "practical christianity" was brought into the foreground. later i brought him to berlin and soon had him appointed to a post at the cathedral and in my palace. dryander was by my side for years, until long after the th of november, standing close to me spiritually, and bringing to me spiritual consolation. we often talked on religious matters and thrashed out thoroughly the tasks and the future of the protestant church. the views of dryander--mild, yet powerful, clear, and of truly evangelical strength--made of him a pillar and an ornament of his church, and a faithful co-worker with the emperor, to whom he was closely bound, in the interests of the church and its development. since the th of november, doctor dryander also has been exposed to persecutions, but he has stood his ground courageously; the hopes, beliefs, and trust of his king are with him and the evangelical church! the church must again raise up the broken nation inwardly according to the gospel of "ein'feste burg ist unser gott." i cannot allow to pass without remark the influence exerted by the work--translated at my instigation--of the english missionary bernard lucas, entitled _conversations with christ_; as well as the sermons on jesus by pastor schneller (jerusalem), and the collections of sermons called _the old god still lives_ and _from deep trouble_, by consistorial councilor conrad. these brought us much inspiration and comfort by their vital ability to absorb and hold readers and hearers. the fact that i could deal with religious and church questions with complete objectivity "sine ira et studio" is due to my excellent teacher, professor doctor hinzpeter, a westphalian calvinist. he caused his pupil to grow up and live with the bible, eliminating, at the same time, all dogmatic and polemical questions; owing to this, polemics in religion have remained alien to me, and expressions like that autocratic one, "orthodox," are repulsive to me. as to my own religious convictions, i set forth what they were years ago, in a letter to my friend, admiral hollmann, made public at the time, part of which is reproduced at the end of this chapter. i was enabled to bring joy to the hearts of my catholic subjects when i presented the plot of ground known as the "dormition," acquired by me from the sultan in as a result of my sojourn in jerusalem, to the german catholics there. the worthy, faithful father peter schmitz, representative of the catholic society in jerusalem, expressed to me the heartfelt thanks of the german catholics on the spot in eloquent words at the ceremony of taking possession. the church in jerusalem when i conferred with him as to future building operations and as to the selection of persons to occupy the place, the old expert on jerusalem advised me to select none of the order of monks there, since all were more or less mixed up in the intrigues and quarrels concerning the "loci sacri" (sacred spots). after my return a delegation of the german knights of malta, under count praschma, appeared before me to express their gratitude. the design for the church, made by a very talented cologne architect and skillfully adapted to the local style, was submitted to me. after the completion of the church i decided that the benedictine monks of beuron should take over the "dormition"; they did so in , also taking over the monastery built next the new st. mary's church. i was on friendly terms for many years with the benedictine monks of the beuron congregation, with whose archabbot, wolter, i had become acquainted at sigmaringen. in mediæval times the order always stood well with the german emperors, of whom scarcely one failed to visit, in connection with his journeys to rome, the magnificently situated monte cassino. when the benedictine monks asked permission to establish a settlement on the rhine i had the splendid romanesque abbey of maria laach--unused at the time--turned over to them. the order, which counts among its members excellent artists, including father desiderius, has brought new glory to the abbey, which had fallen into neglect and decay, by magnificent interior decorations. often have i visited maria laach and rejoiced in the progress of its restoration, as well as in conversations with the intelligent abbots and in the hearty, simple reception on the part of the faithful brethren. when i visited the monastery of monte cassino i became acquainted, in the person of archabbot monsignor krug, with a man of extraordinary mental gifts and comprehensive culture, who had traveled a great deal about the world. he could express himself with equal fluency in italian, english, and french, and his mother tongue, german. in his address to king victor emmanuel of italy and me, he pointed out that nearly all the german emperors, as well as the lombard kings before them, had paid visits to monte cassino. he presented me with a magnificent collection of copies of documents of the time of the emperor frederick ii, taken from the library of the order, and i reciprocated by presenting him with the works of frederick the great. agriculture flourishes in the environs of the monasteries maintained by the benedictine order, being carried on by the lay brothers with all the latest improvements, to the benefit of the backward peasantry of the region; and in the country and town communities of the order church singing and organ playing are zealously cultivated by the monks, who have attained a high degree of artistic skill. the art of the goldsmith also flourishes among the monks, likewise art embroidery among the benedictine nuns. i caused to be reproduced in its full size the labarum (standard) of the emperor constantine the great, designed in accordance with the researches made by monsignor wilpert: one copy i presented to the pope, another to my palace chapel at berlin. the latter was stolen from the chapel by the mob during the days of the revolution. the metal work was done entirely by monks, the embroidery by nuns of the order, both excellently. one of the places inhabited by nuns of this order is the convent of saint hildegard, above rüdesheim, which i visited in . my letter to admiral hollmann was due to the excitement aroused by a lecture entitled "babel and bible," delivered by professor delitzsch before the german orient society, of which admiral hollmann was one of the board of managers. scholarship and religion the first part of the letter, which deals primarily with professor delitzsch's statements, has been omitted from the reproduction of the letter printed below: _feb. , ._ my dear hollmann: i should now like to return once again to my own standpoint regarding the doctrine or view of revelation, as i have often set it forth to you, my dear hollmann, and other gentlemen. i distinguish between two different kinds of revelation: a progressive, to a certain extent historical revelation, and a purely religious one, paving the way to the future coming of the messiah. of the first, this is to be said: there is not the smallest doubt in my mind that god constantly reveals himself through the human race created by him. he has "breathed his breath into mankind," or, in other words, given it a piece of himself, a soul. he follows the development of the human race with a father's love and interest; for the purpose of leading it forward and benefiting it, he "reveals" himself in some great savant or priest or king, whether among the heathens, jews, or christians. hammurabi was one of these, likewise moses, abraham, homer, charlemagne, luther, shakespeare, goethe, kant, emperor william the great. these men were selected by him and made worthy of his grace; of achieving for their people, both in the spiritual and the physical domain, splendid and imperishable things, in accordance with his will. how often did my grandfather clearly emphasize that he was but an instrument in the hand of the lord. the works of great minds are gifts of god to the peoples of the earth, in order that they may improve themselves on these models and grope forward, by means of them, through the confusion of that which is still unexplored here below. god has certainly revealed himself in different ways to different peoples, according to their standing and degree of culture, and he is still doing it now. for, just as we are overcome most by the greatness and majesty of the splendor of creation when we contemplate it, and are amazed at the greatness of god as revealed therein, so also may we, in contemplating whatever is great or splendid in the works of a man or a people, recognize therein with gratitude the splendor of the revelation of god. he works directly upon us and among us! the second kind of revelation, the more religious kind, is that which leads to the coming of the lord. it is introduced from abraham onward, slowly but with foresight, all-wise and all-knowing; for without it mankind would have been doomed. and now begins the most astounding influence, the revelation of god. the tribe of abraham, and the people descended from it, consider the holiest thing of all, unescapable in its logical consequences, the belief in one god. this belief they must have and cultivate. scattered by the captivity in egypt, the separate parts are welded together by moses for the second time, and still they try to maintain their "monotheism." the direct intervention of god is what brings regeneration to this people. kaiser's theology and thus it goes through the centuries, until the messiah announced and foreshadowed by the prophets and psalmists shall at last appear. the greatest revelation of god in the world! for he himself appeared in the body of his son; christ is god, god in human form. he saved us. he inspires us, we are led to follow him, we feel his fire burning within us, his pity strengthening us, his dissatisfaction destroying us, but also his intercession saving us. sure of victory, building solely upon his word, we go through work, scorn, grief, misery, and death, for in him we have the revealed word of god, and god never lies. that is my view of this question. the word, especially for us of the evangelical faith, has become everything on account of luther; and delitzsch, as a good theologian, should not forget that our great luther taught us to sing and believe: "das wort sie sollen lassen stehn" ("the word they must allow to stand"). it is self-evident that the old testament contains a large number of parts which are of purely human-historical character and not "god's revealed word." these are purely historical descriptions of events of all sorts, which occur in the life of the people of israel in the domain of politics, religion, morals, and spiritual life. for instance, the giving out of the law on mount sinai can be looked upon only symbolically as having been inspired by god, since moses had to turn to a revival of laws perhaps known of old (possibly drawn from the code of hammurabi), in order to bring coherence and solidarity to the framework of his people, which was loose and little capable of resistance. here the historian may perhaps find a connection, either in sense or words, with the laws of hammurabi, the friend of abraham, which may be logically right; but this can never affect the fact that god had inspired moses to act thus, and, to that extent, had revealed himself to the people of israel. therefore, my view is that our good professor should rather avoid introducing and treating of religion as such in his lectures before our association, but that he may continue, unhindered, to describe whatever brings the religion, customs, and so on of the babylonians, and so on, into relation with the old testament. as far as i am concerned, i am led by the above to the following conclusion: (a) i believe in one only god. (b) we men need, in order to teach him, a _form_, especially for our children. (c) this _form_ has been, up to now, the old testament, as we now know it. this _form_ will be essentially changed by research, inscriptions, and excavations; but that will cause no harm, nor will the fact that, thereby, much of the halo of the chosen people will disappear, cause any harm. the kernel and content remain always the same: god and his influence. religion was never a result of science, but something flowing from the heart and being of man, through his relations with god. with heartiest thanks and many greetings, i remain always your sincere friend, (signed) wilhelm i. r. chapter ix army and navy my close relations with the army are a matter of common knowledge. in this direction i conformed to the tradition of my family. prussia's kings did not chase cosmopolitan mirages, but realized that the welfare of their land could only be assured by means of a real power protecting industry and commerce. if, in a number of utterances, i admonished my people to "keep their powder dry" and "their swords sharp," the warning was addressed alike to foe and friend. i wished our foes to pause and think a long time before they dared to engage with us. i wished to cultivate a manly spirit in the german people; i wished to make sure that, when the hour struck for us to defend the fruits of our industry against an enemy's lust of conquest, it should find a strong race. in view of this i attached high value to the educational duty of the army. general compulsory military service has a social influence upon men in the mass equaled by nothing else. it brings together rich and poor, sons of the soil and of the city; it brings acquaintanceship and mutual understanding among young people whose roads, otherwise, would lead them far apart; the feeling that they are serving one idea unites them. and think what we made out of our young men! pale town boys were transformed into erect, healthy, sport-hardened men; limbs grown stiff through labor were made adroit and pliable. i stepped direct from brigade commander to king--to repeat the well-known words of king frederick william iii. up to then i had climbed the steps of an officer's career. i still think with pleasure of my pride when, on the d of may, , during the spring parade, i first stood in the ranks before my grandfather. relations with the individual man have always seemed valuable to me, and, therefore, i particularly treasured the assignments, during my military service, where i could cultivate such relations. my activities as commander of a company, a squadron, and a battery, likewise as head of a regiment, are unforgettable to me. i felt at home among my soldiers. in them i placed unlimited trust. the painful experiences of the autumn of have not diminished this trust. i do not forget that a part of the german people, after four years of unprecedented achievements and privations, had become too ill to withstand being corrupted by foes within and without. moreover, the best of the germans lay under the green sod; the others were thrown into such consternation by the events of the revolution which had been held to be impossible that they could not spur themselves to act. compulsory military service was the best school for the physical and moral toughening of our people. it created for us free men who knew their own value. from these an excellent corps of noncommissioned officers was formed; from the latter, in turn, we drew our government officials, the like of whom, in ability, incorruptibility and fidelity to duty no other nation on earth can show. believes officers still loyal and it is from these very elements that i receive nowadays signs of loyalty, every one of which does me good. my old second company of the first infantry guard regiment has shared, through good and evil days, the vicissitudes of its old captain. i saw them for the last time in , in close formation--still one hundred twenty-five strong--under that excellent sergeant, hartmann, on the occasion of the celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of my accession to the throne. in view of its proud duty as an educator and leader of the nation in arms, the officer corps occupied a particularly important position in the german empire. the method of replacement, which, by adoption of the officers' vote, had been lodged in the hands of the various bodies of officers themselves, guaranteed the needed homogeneity. harmful outcroppings of the idea of caste were merely sporadic; wherever they made themselves felt they were instantly rooted out. i entered much and willingly into relations with the various officer corps and felt like a comrade among them. the materialistic spirit of our age, to be sure, had not passed over the officer corps without leaving traces; but, on the whole, it must be admitted that nowhere else were self-discipline, fidelity to duty, and simplicity cultivated to such an extent as among the officers. a process of weeding out such as existed in no other profession allowed only the ablest and best to reach positions of influence. the commanding generals were men of a high degree of attainment and ability and--what is even more important--men of character. it is a difficult matter to single out individuals from among them. though the man in the ranks at the front was always particularly close to my heart, i must, nevertheless, give special prominence to the general staff as a school for the officer corps. i have already remarked that field marshal count moltke had known how by careful training to build up men who were not only up to requirements, technically speaking, but also qualified for action demanding willingness to assume responsibility, independence of judgment, and far-sightedness. "to be more than you seem" is written in the preface to the _pocket manual for the general staff officer_. field marshal count moltke laid the foundations for this training; and his successors--count waldersee, that great genius, count schlieffen, and general von moltke--built upon them. the result was the general staff, which accomplished unprecedented feats in the world war, and aroused admiration throughout the world. i soon realized that the greatest possible improvement of our highly developed technical department was absolutely necessary and would save precious blood. wherever possible, i worked toward the perfection of our armament and sought to place machinery in the service of our army. among new creations, the very first place is taken by the heavy artillery of the army in the field. in bringing this into being i was obliged to overcome much opposition--particularly, strange to relate, in the ranks of the artillery itself. it is a source of great satisfaction to me that i put this matter through. it laid the foundation for the carrying out of operations on a large scale, and it was long before our foes could catch up with us in this direction. better military equipment mention must also be made of the machine gun, which developed from modest beginnings to being the backbone of the infantry's fighting powers; the replacement of the rifle by the machine gun multiplied the firing power of the infantry while, at the same time, diminishing its losses. nor can i pass over without mention the introduction of the movable field kitchen, which i had seen for the first time at some maneuvers of the russian army. it was of the greatest value in maintaining the fighting efficiency of the army, since the possibility of getting sufficient nourishment kept our troops fresh and healthy. all human work remains unfinished. nevertheless, it may be said, without exaggeration, that the german army which marched to battle in was an instrument of warfare without an equal. whereas, at my accession to the throne, i had found the army in a condition which merely required development upon the foundations already laid, the navy, on the other hand, was in the first stage of development. after the failure of all the attempts of admiral hollmann to move the recalcitrant reichstag to adopt a slowly progressing, systematic strengthening of german sea power--largely due to the cheap catchwords of deputy richter and the lack of understanding of the liberals of the left, who were fooled by them--the admiral requested me to retire him. deeply moved, i acceded to his request; this plain, loyal man, the son of a genuine berlin bourgeois family, had become dear to me through his upright character, his devotion to duty, and his attachment to me. my friendship with him, based upon this estimate, lasted for many years up to the moment of the admiral's sudden death; it often caused me to visit this faithful man, endowed with fine berlin wit, at his home, and there to associate with him as head of the german orient society, as well as to see him, in a small circle of intimates, at my own home, or to take him with me as a treasured traveling companion. he was one of the most faithful of my faithful friends, always remaining the same in his disinterestedness, never asking anything for himself. happy the city which can produce such citizens! i preserve a grateful memory of this tried and trusted friend. admiral tirpitz succeeded hollmann. in his very first reports, which laid the foundation of the first naval law, he showed himself thoroughly in accord with me in the belief that the sanction of the reichstag for the building of warships was not to be gained by the old form of procedure. as i have already pointed out, the opposition was not to be convinced; the tone of the debates conducted by richter was unworthy of the importance of the subject; for instance, the gunboat obtained in the reichstag by the poles, under herr von koscielsky, was jokingly dubbed _koscielska_. ridicule was the weapon used, though the future of the fatherland was in question. it was necessary that the representative of the navy should have a solid phalanx behind him, both among the ministers of state and in the reichstag, and that it should, from absolute conviction, energetically support him and the cause. therefore, there was need of communicating to the reichstag members, still rather ignorant in naval matters, the details of the great work; moreover, a great movement must be engineered among the people, among the "general public," indifferent as yet, to arouse its interest and enthusiasm for the navy, in order that pressure from the people itself might be brought to bear upon the reichstag members. to this end, an energetic propaganda was needed, through a well-organized and well-directed press, as well as through eminent men of science at the universities and technical high schools. fight in the reichstag there was need of a complete change in the whole method of handling the matter in the reichstag. there must be no more bickerings about individual ships and docks. in making up the military budget, no arguments arose over the strength of the army, unless it was a matter of new formations. the makeup of the navy, like that of the army, must be settled by law once for all, its right of existence recognized and protected. the units composing it must no longer be a matter for debate. moreover, not only the officer corps but that of noncommissioned officers must be strengthened and trained, in order to be ready for service on the new ships. at the beginning of my reign, sixty to eighty cadets, at the most, were enrolled every year; in the last few years before the war several hundred asked admission. twelve precious years, never to be retrieved, were lost by the failure of the reichstag; it is even harder to create a navy overnight than an army. the goal to be striven for was implied in the law, which expressed the "idea of risk"; the aim was to cause even the strongest hostile fleet to think seriously before it came to blows with the german fleet, in view of the heavy losses that were to be feared in a battle, which put the foe in danger of becoming too weak for other tasks. the "idea of risk" was brilliantly vindicated in the skager-rak (jutland) battle; the enemy, in spite of his immense superiority, dared not risk a second battle. trafalgar was already dim; its laurels must not be completely lost. the total number of units (ships) on hand--it was principally a matter of ships of the line--was taken as a basis for the naval law, although these, with the exception of the four ships of the _brandenburg_ class, were little better than old iron. the naval law was looked upon by many laymen, in view of the numbers involved, as a naval increase. in reality, however, this was a false view, since the so-called existing fleet was absolutely no longer a fleet. it was slowly dying of old age--as hollmann said when he retired; included in it were almost the oldest ships still in service in all europe. now that the naval law was gradually coming into force, lively building operations set in, launchings were reported in the press, and there was joy among those under the dominion of the "rage du nombre" at the growing number of ships. but when it was made clear to them that as soon as the new ships were ready the old ones must be eliminated, so that, as a matter of fact, the total number of ships of fighting value would, at first, not be increased, they were greatly disillusioned. had the necessary ships been built in time during the wasted twelve years the naval law would have found a quite different, usable basis already in existence. but as matters now stood it was really a question of the complete rebuilding of the entire german fleet. the large number of ships, to which those which had to be eliminated were added, was a fallacy. therefore the english made a mistake when they merely took account of the number of ships--since that fitted in well with the propaganda against germany--but paid no attention to age or type, arriving thus at a total that was far too high, and, by such misleading methods, artificially nourishing the so-called apprehension at the growth of the german navy. admiral tirpitz now went ahead with the program approved by me. with iron energy and merciless sacrifice of his health and strength he soon was able to inject efficiency and power into the handling of the naval question. at my command he went, after the drafting of the naval law, to friedrichsruh, the residence of prince bismarck, in order to convince the latter of the necessity for having a german navy. the press worked zealously toward the introduction of the naval law, and political economists, experts on commerce and politics and so forth, placed their pens at the service of the great national cause, the necessity for a navy having been by now widely realized. in the meantime the english, too, helped--though quite unconsciously--toward bettering the naval law's chance of being passed. the boer war had broken out, and had aroused among the german people much sympathy for the little country and much indignation on account of england's violent assault upon it. thereupon the news came of the utterly unjustified capture of two german steamers on the east african coast by english warships. indignation was general. the news of the stopping of the second steamer happened to be received by the secretary of state, von bülow, at the very moment when tirpitz and i were with him. as soon as bülow had read the dispatch aloud, i quoted the old english proverb, "it's an ill wind that blows nobody good," and tirpitz exclaimed, "now we have the wind we need for bringing our ship into port. the naval law will go through. your majesty must present a medal to the captain of the english ship in gratitude for having put it through." the imperial chancellor ordered up champagne and the three of us drank joyously to the new law, its acceptance, and the future german fleet, not forgetting to express our thanks to the english navy, which had proved so helpful to us. many years later, on my return from lowther castle, where i had been hunting with lord lonsdale, i was invited to dine with lord rosebery, the great liberal statesman and former minister of foreign affairs, also known through his researches in the history of napoleon, at his beautiful country estate of dalmeny castle, situated close to the sea, not far from the great forth bridge. among the guests was general sir ian hamilton, a scotchman, well known on account of his part in the boer war, with whom i had become acquainted when he was a guest at the imperial german maneuvers, the lord provost of edinburgh, and a captain of the english navy, who was commander of the naval station there. the last sat next admiral freiherr von senden, directly across the table from me, and attracted my attention by the obvious embarrassment which he manifested in his talk with the admiral, which he conducted in a low voice. after dinner admiral von senden introduced the captain to me, whereat the englishman's embarrassment caused him to behave even more awkwardly than before, and aroused my attention because of the worried look of his eyes and his pale face. after the conversation, which turned on various maritime topics, had come to an end, i asked freiherr von senden what the matter was with the man; the admiral laughed and replied that he had elicited from his neighbor, during the meal, that he had been the commander of the ship which had captured the two german steamers in the boer war, and that he had been afraid that i might find this out. senden had thereupon told him that he was entirely mistaken about this; that had his majesty learned who he was he could rest assured that he would have been very well treated and thanked into the bargain. "thanked? what for?" queried the englishman. "for having made the passage of the naval law so much easier for the emperor!" one of the prime considerations in the passage of the naval law--as also for all later additions, and, in general, for the whole question of warship construction--was the question whether the german shipbuilding industry would be in a position to keep pace with the naval program; whether, in fact, it would be able to carry it out at all. here, too, admiral von tirpitz worked with tireless energy. encouraged and fired with enthusiasm by him, the german shipbuilding yards went at the great problem, filled with german audacity, and solved it with positively brilliant results, greatly distancing their foreign competitors. the admirable technical endowment of the german engineers, as well as the better education of the german working classes, contributed in full measure toward this achievement. feverish haste for navy consultations, conferences, reports to me, service trips to all shipbuilding yards, were the daily bread of the indefatigable tirpitz. but the tremendous trouble and work were richly rewarded. the people woke up, began to have a thought for the value of the colonies (raw materials provided by ourselves without foreign middlemen!) and for commercial relations, and to feel interest in commerce, navigation, shipping, etc. and, at last, the derisive opposition stopped cracking its jokes. tirpitz, always ready for battle, wielded a sharp blade in fighting, never joked and allowed nobody to joke with him, so that his opponents no longer felt like laughing. things went particularly badly with deputy richter when tirpitz brilliantly snubbed and silenced him by quoting a patriotic saying, dating from the 'forties, of old harkort--whose district richter represented--concerning the need for a german fleet. now it was the turn of the other side of the reichstag to laugh. and so the great day dawned. the law was passed, after much fighting and talking, by a great majority. the strength of the german navy was assured; naval construction was to be accomplished. by means of construction and keeping an increased number of ships in service a fleet soon sprang into being. in order to maneuver, lead, and train its personnel a new book of regulations and signal code were needed--at the beginning of my reign these had been worked out merely for one division--four ships--since at that time a larger number of units never navigated together in the german navy--_i. e._, a larger number were not kept in service. and even these were out of service in the autumn, so that, in winter, there was (with the exception of cruisers in foreign waters) absolutely no german navy. all the care expended during the summer season on training of crews, officers, noncommissioned officers, engine-room crews, and stokers, as well as on rigging and upkeep of ships, was as good as wasted when the ships were retired from service in the autumn; and when spring came and they were put back into commission things had to be started at the beginning again. the result was that any degree of continuity in training and of coherence among the crews with relation to each other and their ships--of "ship spirit," in short--could not be maintained. this was maintained only on board the ships stationed in foreign waters. therefore, after the necessary heating equipment, etc., had been put in, i ordered that ships be kept in service also through the winter, which was a veritable boon to the development of the fleet. in order to obtain the necessary number of units needed by the new regulations, admiral von tirpitz, in view of the shortage of ships of the line, had already formed into divisions all the sorts of vessels available, including gunboats and dispatch boats, and carried out evolutions with them, so that when the replacement of line ships began to take place the foundations for the new regulations had already been laid. the latter were then constantly developed with the greatest energy by all the officials concerned and kept pace with the growth of the fleet. hard work was done on the development of that important weapon, the torpedo boat. at that time we were filled with joyful pride that a german torpedo-boat division was the first united torpedo squadron ever to cross the north sea. it sailed, under the command of my brother, prince henry, to take part in the celebration of queen victoria's golden jubilee ( ). colonel goethal's visit the development of heligoland and its fortifications as a point of support for small cruisers and torpedo boats--also, later on, for u-boats--was also taken in hand, after the necessary protective work for preserving the island had been constructed by the state--in connection with which work the empire and prussia fought like cat and dog. on account of the growth of the fleet it became necessary to widen the kaiser wilhelm canal. after a hard struggle we caused the new locks to be built of the largest possible size, capable of meeting the development of dreadnaughts for a long time to come. there the far-sighted policy of the admiral was brilliantly vindicated. this found unexpected corroboration by a foreigner. colonel goethals, the builder of the panama canal, requested through the united states government permission to inspect the kaiser wilhelm canal and its new locks. permission was most willingly granted. after a meal with me, at which admiral von tirpitz was present, the admiral questioned the american engineer (who was enthusiastic over our construction work) concerning the measurements of the panama locks, whereupon it transpired that the measurements of the locks of the panama canal were much smaller than those of the kaiser wilhelm canal. to my astonished question as to how that could be possible, goethals replied that the navy department, upon inquiry by him, had given those measurements for ships of the line. admiral von tirpitz then remarked that this size would be far from adequate for the future, and that the newer type of dreadnaughts and superdreadnaughts would not be able to go through the locks, consequently the canal would soon be useless for american and other big battleships. the colonel agreed, and remarked that this was already true of the newest ships under construction, and he congratulated his excellency upon having had the courage to demand and put through the big locks of the kaiser wilhelm canal, which he had looked upon with admiration and envy. in like manner the very backward and antiquated imperial docks [the old tinker's shops, as tirpitz called them] were rebuilt and developed into model modern plants and the arrangements for the workers were developed so as to further the welfare of the latter along the most approved lines. only those who, like myself, have followed and seen with their own eyes from the very beginning the origin and development of all these factors necessary to the building up--nay, the creation anew--of the fleet can form anything like a proper idea of the enormous achievement of admiral von tirpitz and his entire corps of assistants. the office of the imperial naval department was also a new creation; the old "oberkommando" was eliminated when it was divided into the two main branches of admiralty staff and imperial naval department. both of these (as in the army) were directly under the supreme war commander in chief--this meant that there was no longer any official between the emperor and his navy. coming of the dreadnaught when admiral fisher evolved an entirely new type of ship for england in the shape of the "dreadnaught"--thereby surprising the world as if he had launched a sudden assault upon it--and thought that he had thus given england, once for all, an unapproachable naval superiority which the rest of the powers could never meet, there was naturally great excitement in all naval circles. the idea, to be sure, did not originate with fisher, but came--in the form of an appeal to shipbuilders of the whole world--from the famous italian engineer cuniberti, who had made public a sketch in fred jane's _illustrated naval atlas_. at the first conference regarding the introduction of the "dreadnaught" type of big fighting ship by england i at once agreed with admiral von tirpitz that it had robbed all pre-dreadnaughts of their value and consigned them to the scrap heap, especially the german ships, which it had been necessary to keep considerably smaller, on account of the measurements of our old locks, than the ships of other navies, particularly the english. thereupon admiral von tirpitz remarked that this would also apply to the english fleet itself as soon as the other nations had followed fisher's example; that england had robbed her enormous pre-dreadnaught force, upon which her great superiority lasted, of its fighting value, which would necessitate her building an entirely new fleet of big fighting ships, in competition with the entire world, which would do likewise; that this would be exceedingly costly; that england, in order to maintain her notorious "two-power standard," would have to exert herself to such an extent that she would look with more disfavor than ever on new warships built by other nations, toward whom she was unfriendly, and begin to make objections; then this would be especially true if we started building, but would be in vain, since, with the existing types of ships in our fleet, we could not expect to fight against big battleships, but were forced, "nolens volens," to follow england along this road. the war fully confirmed admiral tirpitz's opinion. every one of our ships not in the big fighting-ship class had to be retired from service. when the first german big fighting ship was placed in service there was a loud outcry in the land of the british. the conviction gradually dawned that fisher and his shipbuilders had counted absolutely on the belief that germany would not be able to build any big fighting ships. therefore the disappointment was all the greater. why such an assumption was made is beyond comprehension, since, even at that time, german shipbuilders had already built the great ocean greyhounds, far surpassing our warships of the line in tonnage, which had occasioned painfully noticeable competition to the english steamship lines. our big fighting ships, despite their small number, showed themselves, at the skager-rak (jutland) battle, not only equal to their english opponents, but superior to them both in seaworthiness and in standing up under gunfire. impatient for u-boats the building of u-boats, unfortunately, could not be pushed forward before the war to an extent commensurate with my desires. on the one hand, it was necessary not to overburden the naval budget during the carrying out of the naval law; moreover, most important of all, it was necessary to collect further data from experiments. tirpitz believed that the types with which other nations were experimenting were too small and fit only for coast defense; that germany must build "seagoing" submarines capable of navigating in the open sea; that this necessitated a larger type--which, however, must first be systematically developed. this took a long time and required careful experiments with models. the result was that, at first, in , there were only a small number of seaworthy submarines in readiness. even then more pressure might have been brought to bear upon england with the available submarines had not the chancellor been so concerned lest england be provoked thereby. the number and efficiency of the submarines rose rapidly in the course of the war; in considering numbers, however, one must always remember that in wartime, u-boats are to be reckoned as follows: one third of the total in active service, one third on the outward or return journey, one third undergoing repairs. the achievements of the u-boats aroused the admiration of the entire world and won the ardent gratitude of the fatherland. admiral von tirpitz's tremendous success in creating the commercial colony of tsing-tao must never be forgotten. here he gave proof once more of his brilliant talent for administration and organization in all directions. those talents of his created, out of a place that was previously almost unknown and entirely without importance, a commercial center which, within a few years, showed a turnover of between fifty and sixty millions. the dealings with reichstag members, the press, and big industrial and world-commercial elements gradually increased the admiral's interest in political matters, particularly in foreign affairs, which were always bound up with the utilization of ships. the clear world-vision acquired by him as a traveled sailor, well acquainted with foreign parts, qualified tirpitz to make quick decisions, which his fiery temperament wished to see translated promptly into action. the opposition and slowness of officialdom irritated him greatly. a certain tendency to distrust, perhaps strengthened by many an experience, often misled him to harbor suspicion--sometimes justified, sometimes not--against individuals. this caused a strong tinge of reserve in tirpitz's character and "hampered the joyful workings of the heart" in others. he was also capable of bringing to bear new views on a matter with great decision, when, after renewed reflection or study of new facts, he had altered his previous view. this made working with him not always exactly agreeable or easy. the tremendous results of his achievements, of which he was justly proud, gave him a consciousness of the power of his personality, which sometimes made itself apparent even to his friends. during the war tirpitz's tendency to mix in politics got the upper hand with him so much that it eventually led to differences of opinion which finally caused his retirement, since von bethmann, the imperial chancellor, demanded the dismissal of the admiral-in-chief with the observation that the imperial secretaries of state were his subordinates and that the political policy must be conducted by himself alone. it was with a heavy heart that i acquiesced in the departure of this energetic, strong-willed man, who had carried out my plans with genius and who was indefatigable as a co-worker. tirpitz may always rest assured of my imperial gratitude. if only this source of strength might stand soon again by the side of the unfortunate german fatherland in its misery and distress! tirpitz can do and dares to do what many others do not dare. the saying of the poet most certainly applies to admiral von tirpitz: "the greatest blessing to the children of earth is, after all, personality!" the criticisms which the admiral felt constrained to make of me, in his book--which is well worth reading--cannot change, in the slightest, my opinion of him. chapter x the outbreak of war after the arrival of the news of the assassination of my friend, the archduke franz ferdinand, i gave up going to kiel for the regatta week and went back home, since i intended to go to vienna for his funeral. but i was asked from there to give up this plan. later i heard that one of the reasons for this was consideration for my personal safety; to this i naturally would have paid no attention. greatly worried on account of the turn which matters might now take, i decided to give up my intended journey to norway and remain at home. the imperial chancellor and the foreign office held a view contrary to mine and wished me to undertake the journey, as they considered that it would have a quieting effect on all europe. for a long time i argued against going away from my country at a time when the future was so unsettled, but imperial chancellor von bethmann told me, in short and concise terms, that if i were now to give up my travel plans, which were already widely known, this would make the situation appear more serious than it had been up to that moment and possibly lead to the outbreak of war, for which i might be held responsible; that the whole world was merely waiting to be put out of suspense by the news that i, in spite of the situation, had quietly gone on my trip. thereupon i consulted the chief of the general staff, and, when he also proved to be calm and unworried regarding the state of affairs and himself asked for a summer leave of absence to go to carlsbad, i decided, though with a heavy heart, upon my departure. the much-discussed so-called potsdam crown council of july th in reality never took place. it is an invention of malevolent persons. naturally, before my departure, i received, as was my custom, some of the ministers individually, in order to hear from them reports concerning their departments. neither was there any council of ministers and there was no talk about war preparations at a single one of the conferences. my fleet was cruising in the norwegian fjords, as usual, while i was on my summer vacation trip. during my stay at balholm i received only meager news from the foreign office and was obliged to rely principally on the norwegian newspapers, from which i got the impression that the situation was growing worse. i telegraphed repeatedly to the chancellor and the foreign office that i considered it advisable to return home, but was asked each time not to interrupt my journey. when i learned that the english fleet had not dispersed after the review at spithead, but had remained concentrated, i telegraphed again to berlin that i considered my return necessary. my opinion was not shared there. but when, after that, i learned from the norwegian newspapers--not from berlin--about the austrian ultimatum to serbia, and, immediately thereafter, about the serbian note to austria, i started without further ado upon my return journey and commanded the fleet to repair to wilhelmshaven. upon my departure i learned from a norwegian source that it was said that a part of the english fleet had left secretly for norway in order to capture me (though peace still reigned!). it is significant that sir edward goschen, the english ambassador, was informed on july th at the foreign office that my return journey, undertaken on my own initiative, was to be regretted, since agitating rumors might be caused by it. says war was not foreseen upon my arrival at potsdam i found the chancellor and the foreign office in conflict with the chief of the general staff, since general von moltke was of the opinion that war was sure to break out, whereas the other two stuck firmly to their view that things would not get to such a bad pass, that there would be some way of avoiding war, provided i did not order mobilization. this dispute kept up steadily. not until general von moltke announced that the russians had set fire to their frontier posts, torn up the frontier railway tracks, and posted red mobilization notices did a light break upon the diplomats in the wilhelmstrasse and bring about both their own collapse and that of their powers of resistance. they had not _wished_ to _believe_ in the war. this shows plainly how little we had expected--much less prepared for--war in july, . when, in the spring of , tsar nicholas ii was questioned by his court marshal as to his spring and summer plans, he replied: "je resterai chez moi cette année parceque nous aurons la guerre" ("i shall stay at home this year because we shall have war"). (this fact, it is said, was reported to imperial chancellor von bethmann; i heard nothing about it then and learned about it for the first time in november, .) this was the same tsar who gave me, on two separate occasions--at björkö and baltisch-port--entirely without being pressed by me and in a way that surprised me, his word of honor as a sovereign, to which he added weight by a clasp of the hand and an embrace, that he would never draw his sword against the german emperor--least of all as an ally of england--in case a war should break out in europe, owing to his gratitude to the german emperor for his attitude in the russo-japanese war, in which england alone had involved russia, adding that he hated england, since she had done him and russia a great wrong by inciting japan against them. at the very time that the tsar was announcing his summer war program i was busy at corfu excavating antiquities; then i went to wiesbaden, and, finally, to norway. a monarch who wishes war and prepares it in such a way that he can suddenly fall upon his neighbors--a task requiring long secret mobilization preparations and concentration of troops--does not spend months outside his own country and does not allow his chief of the general staff to go to carlsbad on leave of absence. my enemies, in the meantime, planned their preparations for an attack. our entire diplomatic machine failed. the menace of war was not seen because the foreign office was so hypnotized with its idea of "surtout pas d'histoires" ("above all, no stories"), its belief in peace at any cost, that it had completely eliminated war as a possible instrument of entente statesmanship from its calculations, and, therefore, did not rightly estimate the importance of the signs of war. herein also is proof of germany's peaceful inclinations. the above-mentioned standpoint of the foreign office brought it to a certain extent into conflict with the general staff and the admiralty staff, who uttered warnings, as was their duty, and wished to make preparations for defense. this conflict in views showed its effect for a long time; the army could not forget that, by the fault of the foreign office, it had been taken by surprise, and the diplomats were piqued because, in spite of their stratagems, war had ensued, after all. innumerable are the pieces of evidence that as early as the spring and summer of , when nobody in germany believed as yet in the entente's attack, war had been prepared for in russia, france, belgium, and england. i included the most important proofs of this, in so far as they are known to me, in the _comparative historical tables_ compiled by me. on account of their great number, i shall cite only a few here. if in so doing i do not mention all names, this is done for reasons easily understood. let me remark furthermore that this whole mass of material became known to me only little by little, partly during the war, mostly after the war. . as far back as april, , the accumulation of gold reserves in the english banks began. on the other hand, germany, as late as july, was still exporting gold and grain; to the entente countries, among others. . in april, , the german naval attaché in tokyo, captain von knorr, reported that he was greatly struck by the certainty with which everyone there foresaw a war of the triple alliance against germany in the near future ... that there was a something in the air as if, so to speak, people were expressing their condolences over a death sentence not yet pronounced. . at the end of march, , general sherbatsheff, director of the st. petersburg war academy, made an address to his officers, wherein, among other things, he said: that war with the powers forming the triple alliance had become unavoidable on account of austria's anti-russian balkan policy; that there existed the strongest sort of probability that it would break out as early as that same summer; that, for russia, it was a point of honor to assume the offensive immediately. . in the report of the belgian ambassador at berlin regarding a japanese military mission which had arrived from st. petersburg in april, , it was stated, among other things: at the regimental messes the japanese officers had heard quite open talk of an imminent war against austria-hungary and germany; it was stated, however, that the army was ready to take the field, and that the moment was as auspicious for the russians as for their allies, the french. . according to the memoirs of the then french ambassador at st. petersburg, m. paléologue, published in , in the _revue des deux mondes_, the grand duchesses anastasia and militza told him on july , , at tsarskoe selo, that their father, the king of montenegro, had informed them, in a cipher telegram, that "we shall have war before the end of the month [that is, before the th of august, russian style]; ... nothing will be left of austria.... you will take back alsace-lorraine.... our armies will meet in berlin.... germany will be annihilated." . the former serbian chargé d'affaires at berlin, bogitshevich, tells in his book, _causes of the war_, published in , of the following statement which cambon, the then french ambassador at berlin, made to him on the th or th of july, : "if germany wishes matters to come to a war, she will have england also against her. the english fleet will take hamburg. we shall thoroughly beat the germans." bogitshevich states that this talk made him sure that the war had been decided upon at the time of the meeting of poincaré with the russian tsar at st. petersburg, if not sooner. russian crown council . another russian of high rank, a member of the duma and a good friend of sazonoff, told me later about the secret crown council held, with the tsar presiding, in february, ; moreover, i obtained corroboration, from other russian sources mentioned in my _historical tables_, of the following: at this crown council sazonoff made an address wherein he suggested to the tsar to seize constantinople, which, since the triple alliance would not acquiesce in it, would cause a war against germany and austria. he added that italy would break away from these two, in the natural course of events; that france was to be trusted absolutely and england probably. the tsar had agreed, it was said, and given orders to take the necessary preliminary steps. the russian finance minister, count kokovzeff, wrote to the tsar advising against this course--i was informed of this by count mirbach after the peace of brest-litovsk--recommending a firm union with germany and warning against war, which, he said, would be unfavorable to russia and lead to revolution and the fall of the dynasty. the tsar did not follow this advice, but pushed on toward war. the same gentleman told me this: _two_ days after the outbreak of war he had been invited by sazonoff to breakfast. the latter came up to him, beaming with joy, and, rubbing his hands together, asked: "come now, my dear baron, you must admit that i have chosen the moment for war excellently, haven't i?" when the baron, rather worried, asked him what stand england would take, the minister smote his pocket, and, with a sly wink, whispered: "i have something in my pocket which, within the next few weeks, will bring joy to all russia and astound the entire world; i have received the english promise that england will go with russia against germany!" . russian prisoners belonging to the _siberian_ corps, who were taken in east prussia, said that they had been transported by rail in the summer of , to the vicinity of moscow, since maneuvers were to be held there by the tsar. the maneuvers did not take place, but the troops were not taken back. they were stationed for the winter in the vicinity of moscow. in the summer of they were brought forward to the vicinity of vilna, since big maneuvers were to be held there by the tsar; at and near vilna they were deployed and then, suddenly, the sharp cartridges (war ammunition) were distributed and they were informed that there was a war against germany; they were unable to say why and wherefore. . in a report, made public in the press, during the winter of - ; by an american, concerning his trip through the caucasus in the spring of , the following was stated: when he arrived in the caucasus, at the beginning of _may_, , he met, while on his way to tiflis, long columns of troops of all arms, in war equipment. he had feared that a revolt had broken out in the caucasus. when he made inquiries of the authorities at tiflis, while having his passport inspected, he received the quieting news that the caucasus was quite peaceful, that he might travel wheresoever he wished, that what he had seen had to do only with practice marching and maneuvers. at the close of his trip at the end of may, , he wished to embark at a caucasian port, but all the vessels there were so filled with troops that only after much trouble could he manage to get a cabin for himself and his wife. the russian officers told him that they were to land at odessa and march from there to take part in some great maneuvers. the cossack's testimony . prince tundutoff, hetman of the calmuck cossacks living between tsaritsin and astrakhan, who was, before and during the war, personal aid of the grand duke nicholas nicholaievitch, came to general headquarters at bosmont in , seeking to establish connection with germany, since the cossacks were not slavs at all and thoroughly hostile to the bolsheviki. he stated that he had been sent by nicholas nicholaievitch, before the outbreak of war, to the general staff, in order to keep the grand duke posted on happenings there and that he had been a witness of the notorious telephone talks between the tsar and the chief of the general staff, general januskevitch; that the tsar, deeply impressed by the earnest telegram of the german emperor, had resolved to forbid mobilization and had ordered januskevitch by telephone not to carry out mobilization, _i. e._, to break it off; that the latter had not obeyed the unmistakable order, but had inquired by telephone of sazonoff, minister of foreign affairs--with whom, for weeks, he had kept in touch, intrigued and incited to war--what he was to do now; that sazonoff had answered that the tsar's order was nonsense, that all the general need do was to carry out mobilization, that he [sazonoff] would bring the tsar around again next day and talk him out of heeding the stupid telegram from the german emperor; that, thereupon, januskevitch had informed the tsar that mobilization was already under way and could no longer be broken off. prince tundutoff added: "this was a lie, for i myself saw the mobilization order lying beside januskevitch on his writing table, which shows that it had not as yet been given out at all." the psychologically interesting point about the above is that tsar nicholas, who helped prepare the world war and had already ordered mobilization, wished to recede at the last moment. my earnest, warning telegram, it seems, made him realize clearly for the first time the colossal responsibility which he was bringing upon himself by his warlike preparations. therefore, he wished to stop the war machine, the murderer of entire peoples, which he had just set in motion. this would have been possible and peace might have been preserved if sazonoff had not frustrated his wish. when i asked whether the grand duke, who was known as a german-hater, had incited much to war, the cossack chief replied that the grand duke had certainly worked zealously for war, but that incitement on his part would have been superfluous, since there was already a strong sentiment against germany all through the russian officer corps; that this spirit was transmitted, principally, from the french army to the russian officers; that there had been a desire, in fact, to go to war in - (bosnian question), but france was not then ready; that, in , russia, likewise, was not quite ready; that januskevitch and sukhomlinoff had really planned the war for , but sazonoff and isvolsky, as well as the french, could not be restrained any longer; that the former two were afraid of revolution in russia and of the influence of the german emperor on the tsar, which might dissuade the tsar from the idea of waging war; and that the french, who were sure, for the time being, of england's help, were afraid that england might come to an understanding later on with germany at the expense of france. when i asked whether the tsar had been aware of the warlike spirit in russia and had tolerated it, the cossack prince answered that it was worthy of note that the tsar had forbidden once for all, as a matter of precaution, the inviting of german diplomats or military attachés to luncheons or evening meals given by russian officers at which he himself was to be present. stores of english coats . when our troops advanced in they found, in northern france and along the belgian frontier, great stores of english soldiers' greatcoats. according to statements by the inhabitants, these were placed there during the _last years of peace_. most of the english infantrymen who were made prisoners by us in the summer of had no greatcoats; when asked why, they answered, quite naïvely: "we are to find our greatcoats in the stores at maubeuge, le quesnoy, etc., in the north of france and in belgium." it was the same regarding maps. in maubeuge great quantities of english military maps of northern france and belgium were found by our men; copies of these have been shown to me. the names of places were printed in french and english, and all sorts of words were translated in the margin for the convenience of soldiers; for instance: moulin=mill, pont=bridge, maison=house, ville=town, bois=wood, etc. these maps date from and were engraved at southampton. the stores were established by england, with the permission of the french and belgian governments, _before_ the war, in the midst of peace. what a tempest of horror would have broken out in belgium, the "neutral country," and what a rumpus england and france would have kicked up, if we had wished to establish stores of german soldiers' greatcoats and maps in spa, liège, and namur! among the statesmen who, besides poincaré, particularly helped unleash the world war, the sazonoff-isvolsky group probably should take first rank. isvolsky, it is said, when at paris, proudly placed his hand upon his breast and declared: "i made the war. je suis le père de cette guerre" ("i am the father of this war"). delcassé also has a large share in the guilt for the world war, and grey an even larger share, since he was the spiritual leader of the "encirclement policy," which he faithfully pushed forward and brought to completion, as the "legacy" of his dead sovereign. i have been informed that an important rôle was played in the preparation of the world war directed against the monarchical central powers by the policy of the international "great orient lodge"; a policy extending over many years and always envisaging the goal at which it aimed. but the german great lodges, i was furthermore told--with two exceptions wherein non-german financial interests are paramount and which maintain secret connection with the "great orient" in paris--had no relationship to the "great orient." they were entirely loyal and faithful, according to the assurance given me by the distinguished german freemason who explained to me this whole interrelationship, which had, until then, been unknown to me. he said that in an international meeting of the lodges of the "great orient" was held, after which there was a subsequent conference in switzerland; at this the following program was adopted: dismemberment of austria-hungary, democratization of germany, elimination of the house of hapsburg, abdication of the german emperor, restitution of alsace-lorraine to france, union of galicia with poland, elimination of the pope and the catholic church, elimination of every state church in europe. i am not now in a position to investigate the very damaging information which has been transmitted to me, in the best of faith, concerning the organization and activities of the great orient lodges. secret and public political organizations have played important parts in the life of peoples and states, ever since history has existed. some of them have been beneficial: most of them have been destructive, if they had to have secret passwords which shunned the light of day. the most dangerous of these organizations hide under the cloak of some ideal object or other--such as active love of their neighbors, readiness to help the weak, and poor, and so forth--in order that, with such pretexts as a blind, they may work for their real secret ends. it is certainly advisable to study the activities of the great orient lodges, since one cannot adopt a final attitude toward this worldwide organization until it has been thoroughly investigated. i shall not take up the war operations in this work. i shall leave this task all the more readily to my officers and to the historians, since i, writing as i am without a single document, would be able to describe events only in very broad outline. when i look back upon the four arduous war years, with their hopes and fears, their brilliant victories and losses in precious blood, what is uppermost in my mind is the feeling of ardent gratitude and undying admiration for the unequaled achievements of the german nation in arms. proud of german army just as no sacrifice in endurance and privation was too great for those staying at home, so also the army, in defending itself during the war criminally forced upon us, did not merely overcome the crushing superiority of twenty-eight hostile nations, but likewise, on land and water and in the air, won victories whose glory may have paled a bit in the mists of the present day, but, for that very reason, will shine forth all the more brightly in the light of history. nor is that all. wherever there was distress among our allies, german intervention, often with weak forces, always restored the situation and often won noteworthy successes. germans fought on all the battlefields of the far-flung world war. surely the heroic bravery of the german nation deserved a better fate than to fall a victim to the dagger that treacherously stabbed it from behind; it seems to be the german destiny that germans shall always be defeated by germans. recently i read the unfortunately not entirely unjustified words: "in germany every siegfried has his hödur behind him." finally, let me say a word concerning the german "atrocities" and give two instances thereof! after our advance into northern france i immediately ordered that art treasures be protected. art historians and professors were assigned to each army, who traveled about inspecting, photographing, and describing churches, châteaux, and castles. among them professor clemen, curator of the rhine province, especially distinguished himself and reported to me, when i was at the front, on the protection of art treasures. all the collections in towns, museums, and castles were catalogued and numbered; whenever they seemed to be imperiled by the fighting they were taken away and assembled, at valenciennes and maubeuge, in two splendid museums. there they were carefully preserved and the name of the owner marked on each article. the old windows of the cathedral of st. quentin were removed by german soldiers, at the risk of their lives, under english shell-fire. the story of the destruction of the church by the english was told by a german catholic priest, who published it with photographs, and it was sent, by my orders, to the pope. at the château of pinon, which belongs to the princess of poix, who had been a guest of mine and the empress, the headquarters of the general commanding the third army corps was located. i visited the château and lived there. previously the english had been quartered there and had ravaged the place terribly. the commanding general, von lochow, and his staff had a great deal of trouble getting it into some sort of shape again after the devastation wrought by the english. accompanied by the general, i visited the private apartments of the princess, which, up to then, our soldiers had been forbidden to enter. i found that her entire wardrobe had been thrown out of the clothes presses by the english soldiers and, together with her hats, was lying about on the floor. i had every garment carefully cleaned, hung in the presses, and locked up. the writing desk had also been broken into and the princess's correspondence was scattered about. at my command, all the letters were gathered together, sealed in a package, placed in the writing desk, and locked up. afterward, all the silverware was found buried in the garden. according to the villagers this had been ordered as early as the _beginning of july_, so the princess had known about the war long before its outbreak! i at once ordered that the silver be inventoried, deposited in the bank at aix-la-chapelle, and returned to the princess after the war. through neutral channels i caused news to be transmitted to the princess in switzerland, by my court marshal, freiherr von reischach, concerning pinon, her silverware, and my care for her property. no answer was received. instead, the princess had published in the french press a letter to the effect that general von kluck had stolen all her silver. on account of my care and the self-sacrificing work of german art experts and soldiers--partly at the risk of their lives--art treasures worth billions were preserved for their french owners and for french towns. this was done by the huns, the boches! chapter xi the pope and peace in the summer of i received at krueznach a visit from the papal nuncio, pacelli, who was accompanied by a chaplain. pacelli is a distinguished, likable man, of high intelligence and excellent manners, the perfect pattern of an eminent prelate of the catholic church. he knows german well enough to understand it easily when he hears it, but not sufficiently to speak it with fluency. our conversation was conducted in french, but the nuncio now and then employed german expressions of speech. the chaplain spoke german fluently and took part--even when not asked--in the conversation, whenever he feared that the nuncio was becoming too much influenced by what i said. very soon the conversation turned on the possibility of peace mediation and the bringing about of peace, in which connection all sorts of projects and possibilities were touched upon, discussed, and dismissed. finally, i suggested that the pope should make an effort, seeing that my peace offer of december , , had been rejected in such an unprecedented manner. the nuncio remarked that he thought such a step would be attended with great difficulties; that the pope had already been rebuffed when he had made certain advances in this direction; that, aside from this, the pope was absolutely in despair on account of the slaughter and wondered ceaselessly how he might help toward freeing the world and european culture from the scourge of war. any suggestion as to this, he added, would be most valuable to the vatican. i stated that the pope, as the highest in rank among all the priests of the roman catholic christians and church, should, first of all, seek to issue instructions to his priests in all countries to banish hate, once for all, from their minds, since hate was the greatest obstacle in the path of the peace idea; that it was, unfortunately, true that the clergy in the entente countries were, to a positively frightful extent, the standard-bearers and instigators of hate and fighting. i called attention to the numerous reports from soldiers at the beginning of the war concerning abbés and parish priests captured with arms in their hands; to the machinations of cardinal mercier and the belgian clergy, members of which often worked as spies; to the sermon of the protestant bishop of london, who, from the pulpit, glorified the "baralong" murderers; and to other similar cases. i added that it would be, therefore, a great achievement if the pope should succeed in having the roman catholic clergy in all the countries at war condemn hatred and recommend peace, as was already being done by the german clergy, be it from the pulpit or by means of pastoral letters. urges papal intercession pacelli found this idea excellent and worthy of attention, but he remarked that it would be difficult to enlist the efforts of the various prelates in its support. i replied that, in view of the severe discipline of the hierarchy of the roman catholic church, i could not imagine that, if the pope should solemnly call upon the prelates of the church to preach reconciliation and consideration for the foe, those of any country whatsoever should refuse obedience; that the prelates, on account of their eminent rank, were above all parties, and, since reconciliation and love of our neighbor were fundamental principles of the christian religion, they were absolutely in duty bound to work toward making people observe these principles. pacelli agreed to this and promised to give the idea his earnest attention and report upon it to the vatican. in the further course of the conversation, the nuncio asked what form--beyond the purely ecclesiastical step suggested by me--the bringing about of peace possibilities through the intervention of the pope might take. i pointed out that italy and austria were two roman catholic states, upon which the pope could bring influence to bear easily and effectively; that one of these lands was his native country and place of residence, in which he was greatly revered by the people and exerted direct influence upon his fellow countrymen; that austria was ruled by a sovereign who actually bore the title "apostolic"; who, with all his family, had direct relations with the vatican and was among the most faithful adherents of the catholic church; that i was, therefore, of the opinion that it would not be difficult for the pope to try at least to make a beginning with these two countries and cause them to talk peace. i added that the diplomatic skill and wide vision of the vatican were known the world over; that, if once a beginning were made in this way--and it had a good chance of success--the other powers could scarcely refuse an invitation from the vatican later on to an exchange of views, which should be, at first, not binding upon them. the nuncio remarked that it would be difficult for the vatican to make the italian government agree to such a thing, since it had no direct relation with the said government and no influence upon its members; that the italian government would never look with favor upon an invitation, even to mere conferences. here the chaplain interposed that such a step by the pope was absolutely out of the question, since it would entail consequences which might be actually dangerous to the vatican; the government would at once mobilize the "piazza" ("man in the street") against the vatican, and the vatican certainly could not expose itself to that. when i refused to attach importance to this objection, the chaplain grew more and more excited. he said that i did not know the romans; that, when they were incited they were simply terrible; that just as soon as the "piazza" got into action things would get disagreeable; that, if it did, there was even a possibility of an attack on the vatican, which might actually imperil the life of the pope himself. scouts danger from "piazza" i replied that i, too, was well acquainted with the vatican; that no rabble or "piazza" could storm it; that, in addition, the pope had a strong party of adherents in society circles and among the people, which would at once be ready to defend him. the nuncio agreed with me, but the chaplain continued unabashed to expatiate upon the terrors of the "piazza" and paint the risks run by the pope in the blackest of colors. i then remarked that anyone wishing to capture the vatican must first get a battery of heavy mortars and howitzers, as well as pioneers and storm troops, and institute a regular siege; that all this was scarcely possible for the "piazza"; that, therefore, it was highly improbable that the latter would undertake anything. moreover, i mentioned having heard that measures had already been taken in the vatican to guard against such an emergency. at this the priest was silent. the nuncio then remarked that it was difficult for the pope to do anything really practical toward peace without giving offense and arousing opposition in lay italy, which would place him in danger; that it must be borne in mind that he was, unfortunately, not free; that had the pope a country, or at least a district of his own where he could govern autonomously and do as he pleased, the situation would be quite different; that, as matters stood, he was too dependent upon lay rome and not able to act according to his own free will. i remarked that the aim of bringing peace to the world was so holy and great that it was impossible for the pope to be frightened away, by purely worldly considerations, from accomplishing such a task, which seemed created especially for him; that, should he succeed in it, the grateful world would assuredly bring influence to bear upon the italian government in support of his wishes and of his independence. this made an impression on the nuncio; he remarked that i was right, after all; that the pope must do something in the matter. then i called the attention of the nuncio to the following point: he must have noticed, i said, how the socialists of all countries were zealously working in favor of peace efforts. i told him that we had always allowed the german socialists to travel to foreign parts in order to discuss the question of making peace at conferences, because i believed them to be acquainted with the desires and views of the lower classes; that we placed no obstacles in the path of anybody desiring to work honestly and without veiled purpose in the interests of peace; that the same desires for peace also existed among the entente nations and among their socialists, but that the latter were prevented by refusal of passports from attending congresses in neutral lands; that the desire for peace was gaining strength in the world, nations were acquiring it more and more, and if nobody in any government should be found willing to work for peace--i, unfortunately, had failed in my attempt--the peoples would finally take the matter into their own hands. i added that this would not occur without serious shocks and revolutions, as history proved, through which the roman church and the pope would not come unscathed. wins promise of action what must a catholic soldier think, i asked, when he reads always of efforts by socialists only, never of an effort by the pope, to free him from the horrors of war? if the pope did nothing, i continued, there was danger of peace being forced upon the world by the socialists, which would mean the end of the power of the pope and the roman church, even among catholics! this argument struck home to the nuncio. he stated that he would at once report it to the vatican and give it his support; that the pope would have to act. greatly worried, the chaplain again interposed, remarking that the pope would endanger himself by such a course; that the "piazza" would attack him. to this i replied that i was a protestant, and, hence, a heretic in the chaplain's eyes, notwithstanding which i was obliged to point out that the pope was designated the "viceroy of christ upon earth" by the catholic church and world; that i had, in studying the holy scriptures, occupied myself earnestly and carefully with the person of the saviour and sought to immerse myself profoundly therein; that the lord had never feared the "piazza," although no fortresslike building, with guards and weapons, was at his disposal; that the lord had always walked into the midst of the "piazza," spoken to it, and finally gone to his death on the cross for the sake of this hostile "piazza." was i now to believe, i asked, that his "viceroy upon earth" was afraid of the possibility of becoming a martyr, like his lord, in order to bring peace to the bleeding world, all on account of the ragged roman "piazza"? i, the protestant, thought far too highly of a roman priest, particularly of the pope, to believe such a thing. nothing could be more glorious for him, i went on, than to devote himself unreservedly, body and soul, to the great cause of peace, even despite the remote danger of thus becoming a martyr! with shining eyes, the nuncio grasped my hand and said, deeply moved: "vous avez parfaitement raison! c'est le devoir du pape; il faut qu'il agisse; c'est par lui que le monde doit être régagné à la paix. je transmettrai vos paroles à sa sainteté" ("you are absolutely right! it is the duty of the pope; he must act; it is through him that the world must be won back to peace. i shall transmit your words to his holiness"). the chaplain turned away, shaking his head, and murmured to himself: "ah, la piazza, la piazza!" chapter xii end of the war and my abdication a few days after august , , i summoned a crown council, in order to get a clear conception of the situation and to draw therefrom the necessary conclusions upon which to base the policy to be followed by count hertling. the chief military command approved the idea that the imperial chancellor should keep in sight the possibility of getting into closer touch with the enemy, but laid stress on the necessity of first occupying the siegfried line and there thoroughly beating off the foe, and on the fact that negotiations must not begin before this occurred. thereupon i directed that the chancellor get into communication with a neutral power--the netherlands--in order to ascertain whether it was ready to undertake such a step toward mediation. what rendered the contemplated action through dutch channels very difficult was that austria could not be brought to a definite agreement, but continually postponed the declaration which had been requested of her. even a verbal agreement given to me by the emperor charles was afterward broken by him under burian's influence. the dutch government had already been informed by me and had signified its readiness to act. meanwhile, austria, without notifying us, made her first separate peace offer, which set the ball rolling. the emperor charles had indeed got into touch secretly with the entente and had long since resolved to abandon us. he acted according to the plan which he had explained thus to his entourage: "when i go to the germans, i agree to everything they say, and when i return home, i do whatever i please." thus it happened that my government and i were constantly deceived by actions in vienna, without being able to do anything against it, since from there we constantly received the hint: "if you make things hard for us, we shall leave you in the lurch; in other words, our army will no longer fight by your side." in view of our situation, such action on austria's part had to be avoided in any way possible, both on military and political grounds. the defection of hungary and austria brought a crisis upon us. had emperor charles kept control of his nerves for three weeks longer, many things would have turned out differently. but andrassy--as he himself admitted--had been negotiating for a long time in switzerland, behind our backs, with the entente. thus emperor charles believed that he would assure himself of good treatment at the hands of the entente. after our failure of august th, general ludendorff had declared that he could no longer guarantee a military victory. therefore, the preparation of peace negotiations was necessary. since diplomacy had not succeeded in initiating any promising negotiations and the military situation had become even worse in the meantime, on account of revolutionary agitation, ludendorff, on the th of september, demanded that preparations be made for an armistice instead of for peace negotiations. movement for abdication at this critical time a strong movement began at home in favor of setting up a new government for the now necessary termination of the war. i could not ignore this movement, since the old government, during the seven weeks from august th to the end of september, had not managed to initiate peace negotiations offering any hope of success. meanwhile, general von gallwitz and general von mudra, summoned from the front, appeared before me. they gave a picture of the inner situation of the army, laying due emphasis upon the great number of shirkers behind the front, the frequency of insubordination, the displaying of the red flag upon trains filled with soldiers returning from furloughs at home and other similar phenomena. the two generals considered that the principal cause of the bad conditions was to be sought in the unfavorable influence exerted upon the soldiers by the spirit predominating behind the front and in the general desire for ending the fighting and getting peace, which was spreading from the homeland along the lines of communication behind the front and was already becoming noticeable even among some of the troops at the front itself. the generals advanced the opinion that, owing to these reasons, the army must immediately be withdrawn behind the antwerp-meuse line. on that same day i commanded field marshal von hindenburg by telephone to effect as soon as possible the retreat to the antwerp-meuse line. the falling back of the tired, but nowhere decisively beaten, army to this position merely signified occupying an essentially shorter line, possessing far greater natural advantages. it was not yet completed, to be sure, but the fact was to be borne in mind that we had engaged in battle on the somme while occupying positions composed largely of shell craters. what we had to do was to regain operative freedom, which, to my way of thinking, was by no means impossible; in the course of the war, had we not often retreated in order to put ourselves in a situation that was more advantageous from the military point of view? the army, to be sure, was no longer the old army. the new troops particularly were badly tainted with revolutionary propaganda and often took advantage of the darkness at night to sneak away from the firing and vanish to the rear. but the majority of my divisions fought flawlessly to the very end and preserved their discipline and military spirit. to the very end they were always a match for the foe in morale; despite superiority in numbers, cannon, munitions, tanks, and airplanes, the foe invariably succumbed when he ran up against serious resistance. therefore, the associations of our ex-fighters at the front are right in bearing upon their banners the motto: "unbeaten on land and sea!" says army was still strong the achievements of the german fighters at the front and of the german nation in arms, during four and a half years of war, are beyond all praise. one does not know what to admire most: the enthusiasm with which the magnificent youth of , without waiting for our artillery fire to take effect, joyfully charged on the enemy, or the self-sacrificing fidelity to duty and tenacity with which our men in field gray, sparingly fed and seldom relieved, year in, year out, digging by night, living in dugouts and earthholes by day, or crouching in shell holes, defied the hail of steel from the enemy artillery, flyers, and tanks. and this army, which one might have expected was to be rated as utterly fought to a finish, was able, after nearly four years of war, to carry out successful offensive operations such as our foes could nowhere boast of, despite their colossal superiority. in spite of all this, it was not right to believe the german army capable of accomplishing the superhuman; it was necessary for us to fall back, in order to get breath. the field marshal balked at the order to retreat; the army, he thought, should stay where it was, for political reasons (peace negotiations and so on); he also pointed out, among other things, that it was necessary, first, to arrange for the withdrawal to the rear of war materials, etc. i now resolved to go to the front, acquiescing in the desire expressed to me by the army that i might be with my hard-fighting troops and convince myself personally of their spirit and condition. i could carry out this resolve all the sooner in view of the fact that, ever since the new government had been set up, no further claims were made upon my time either by it or by the imperial chancellor, which made my staying at home seem useless. the notes to wilson were discussed and written by solf, the war cabinet, and the reichstag, after sessions lasting hours, without my being informed thereof; until, finally, on the occasion of the last note to wilson, i caused solf to be given to understand very plainly, through my chief of cabinet, that i demanded to know about the note _before_ it was sent. solf appeared and showed the note; he was proud of his antithesis between _laying down_ of arms ("waffenstreckung"), which was demanded by wilson, and _armistice_ ("waffenstillstand"), which was proposed. when i spoke about the rumors of abdication and demanded that the foreign office adopt an attitude, through the press, against what was unworthy in the newspaper polemics, solf replied that already everybody on every street corner was talking about abdication and that, even in the best circles, people were discussing it quite unreservedly. when i expressed my indignation at this, solf sought to console me by observing that, should his majesty go, he also would, since he could serve no longer under such conditions. i went, or--to put it much more correctly--i was overthrown by my own government, and--herr solf remained. when the imperial chancellor, prince max, heard of my resolve to go to the front, he did all he could to prevent it. he asked why i wished to go and received the answer that i considered it my duty, as supreme commander, to return to the front, since i had been separated for almost a month from the hard-fighting army. when the chancellor objected that i was indispensable at home, i retorted that we were at war, that the emperor belonged to his soldiers. finally, i declared, once for all, that i would go; that in case wilson's armistice note arrived, it would have to be discussed, anyhow, at the general headquarters of the army, for which purpose the chancellor and other members of the government would be obliged to go to spa for the conferences. "joyfully received" by army i went to the army in flanders, after having once more given the general staff at spa definite orders to fall back as quickly as possible to the antwerp-meuse line, in order that the troops might finally be taken out of the fighting and given a rest. despite objections that this would demand time, that the position was not yet ready, that the war material must first be taken back, and so forth, i stood by the order. the retreat was begun. in flanders i saw delegations from the different divisions, spoke with the soldiers, distributed decorations, and was everywhere joyfully received by officers and men. particularly ardent enthusiasm reigned among the soldiers of a royal saxon recruit depot, who greeted me with wild cheers at the railway station when i was returning to my train. while i was giving out decorations to members of the reserve guard division, an enemy bombing squadron, followed by heavy fire from anti-aircraft guns and machine guns, flew directly over us and dropped bombs near the special train. the commanders of the army were unanimous in declaring that the spirit of the troops at the front was good and reliable; that, further to the rear, among the supply columns, it was not so good; that the worst of all were the soldiers back from leave, who, it was plain to be seen, had been worked upon and infected at home, whence they had brought back a poor spirit. the young recruits at the depots, it was stated, furthermore, were good. at spa, whither i now went, news came constantly from home about the ever more violent agitation and hostile attitude against the emperor and the growing slackness and helplessness of the government, which, without initiative or strength, was letting itself be pushed around at will. it was alluded to contemptuously in the newspapers as the "debating society" and prince max was called by leading newspapers the "revolution chancellor." as i learned afterward, he lay in bed for ten days, suffering from grippe and incapable of really directing affairs. his excellency von payer and solf, with the so-called war cabinet, which was in permanent session, governed the german empire. at such a critical time, to my way of thinking, the imperiled ship of state should not be steered by representatives of the imperial chancellor, since they certainly cannot have the authority possessed by the responsible head of the government. what was particularly needed at this juncture was authority; yet, so far as i know, no wide powers to act had been conferred upon the vice chancellor. the right solution--_i. e._, the one that those concerned were in duty bound to adopt--would have been to remove prince max actually from the post of chancellor and summon in his place some man of strong personality. since we had the parliamentary form of government it devolved upon the political parties to bring about the change in the chancellorship and present me with a successor to prince max. this did not take place. now the efforts of the government and the imperial chancellor to induce me to abdicate began. drews, the minister of the interior, came to me at the behest of the chancellor, in order to supply me with information concerning the spirit in the country. he described the well-known happenings in press, high finance, and public, and laid emphasis on the fact that the imperial chancellor himself adopted no attitude toward the question of my abdication, but, nevertheless, had sent him to me. drews, in short, was to suggest to me that i myself should decide to abdicate, in order that it might not appear that the government had exerted pressure upon me. i spoke to the minister about the fateful consequences of my abdication and asked how he, as a prussian official, could reconcile such a supposition with his oath as an official to his king. the minister grew embarrassed and excused himself by reference to the command of the imperial chancellor, who had been unable to find any other man for the task. i was informed later that drews was one of the first officials who spoke of the abdication of his master and king. i refused to abdicate and declared that i would gather troops together and return with them in order to help the government to maintain order in the land. after that, drews was received, in my presence, by field marshal von hindenburg and general gröner, whom he informed of the mission intrusted to him by the imperial chancellor and by both of whom he was very sharply rebuked in the name of the army. gröner's characterization of prince max, in particular, was expressed in such plain terms that i had to appease and comfort the minister. the field marshal also called drews's attention to the fact that, in the event of my abdication, the army would not go on fighting, but would disperse, and that the majority of the officers, in particular, would probably resign and thus leave the army without leaders. soon after that i learned from one of my sons that the imperial chancellor had tried to ascertain whether he was prepared to undertake the mission which subsequently was undertaken by drews. my son indignantly declined to suggest abdication to his father. in the meantime i had sent the chief of cabinet, von delbrück, to berlin, in order to lay before the chancellor a general address, also intended for publication, which should take the place of my address to the ministry (not published by the chancellor), deal more broadly with the matters taken up therein, and make clear my attitude toward the government and toward the new direction taken by public opinion. at first the chancellor failed to publish this. not until several days later did he find himself forced to permit publication, owing to a letter written to him, as i learned afterward, by the empress. thereupon herr von delbrück informed me that the address had made a good impression in berlin and in the press, relieved the situation, and tended to quiet the people, so that the idea of abdication had begun to disappear and even the socialists of the right had decided to postpone action concerning it. socialist activity during the next few days there were constant reports that the socialists in berlin were planning trouble and that the chancellor was growing steadily more nervous. the report given by drews to the government, after his return from spa, had not failed to cause an impression; the gentlemen wished to get rid of me, to be sure, but for the time being they were afraid of the consequences. their point of view was as obscure as their conduct. they acted as if they did not want a republic, yet failed completely to realize that their course was bound to lead straight to a republic. many, in fact, explained the actions of the government by maintaining that the creation of a republic was the very end that its members had in view; plenty of people drew the conclusion, from the puzzling conduct of the chancellor toward me, that he was working to eliminate me in order to become himself president of the german republic, after being, in the interim, the administrator of the empire. to believe this is undoubtedly to do the prince an injustice; such a train of thought is impossible in a man belonging to an old german princely family. general gröner, who had gone to berlin to study the situation, reported on his return that he had received very bad impressions regarding the government and the sentiment prevailing in the country; that things were approaching revolution; that the government was merely tearing down without setting up anything positive; that the people wanted peace at last, at any cost, no matter what kind of peace; that the authority of the government was equal to zero, the agitation against the emperor in full swing, my abdication hardly to be avoided longer. he added that the troops at home were unreliable and disagreeable surprises might come in case of a revolt; that the courier chests of the russian bolshevist ambassador, seized by the criminal police, had disclosed some very damaging evidence that the russian embassy, in conjunction with the spartacus group, had long since thoroughly prepared, without being disturbed, a bolshevist revolution on the russian model. (this had gone on with the knowledge of the foreign office--which had received constant warning, but had either laughed at them all or dismissed them with the remark that the bolsheviki must not be angered--likewise under the very eyes of the police, which was continually at loggerheads with the foreign office.) the men back from leave, he went on, infected by propaganda, had already carried the poison to the army, which was already partly affected and would, as soon as it had been made free by an armistice, refuse to fight against the rebels upon its return home. therefore, he declared, it was necessary to accept, immediately and unconditionally, any sort of armistice, no matter how hard its conditions might be; the army was no longer to be trusted and revolution was imminent behind the front. prince max insistent on the morning of the th of november,[ ] the imperial chancellor, prince max of baden, caused me to be informed again--as he had already done on the th--that the social democrats, and also the social democratic secretaries of state, demanded my abdication; that the rest of the members of the government, who had stood out so far against it, were now in favor of it, and that the same was true of the majority parties in the reichstag. for these reasons, he continued, he requested me to abdicate immediately, since, otherwise, extensive street fighting attended by bloodshed would take place in berlin; it had already started on a small scale. i immediately summoned field marshal von hindenburg and the quartermaster general, general gröner. general gröner again announced that the army could fight no longer and wished rest above all else, and that, therefore, any sort of armistice must be unconditionally accepted; that the armistice must be concluded as soon as possible, since the army had supplies for only six to eight days more and was cut off from all further supplies by the rebels, who had occupied all the supply storehouses and rhine bridges; that, for some unexplained reason, the armistice commission sent to france--consisting of erzberger, ambassador count oberndorff, and general von winterfeldt--which had crossed the french lines two evenings before, had sent no report as to the nature of the conditions. the crown prince also appeared, with his chief of staff, count schulenburg, and took part in the conference. during our conversation several telephone inquiries came from the imperial chancellor, which, pointing out that the social democrats had left the government and that delay was dangerous, became most insistent. the minister of war reported uncertainty among part of the troops in berlin-- th jägers, second company of alexander regiment, second battery, jüterbog, gone over to the rebels--no street fighting. i wished to spare my people civil war. if my abdication was indeed the only way to prevent bloodshed, i was willing to _renounce the imperial throne, but not to abdicate as king of prussia_; i would remain, as such, with my troops, since the military leaders had declared that the officers would leave in crowds if i abdicated entirely, and the army would then pour back, without leaders, into the fatherland, damage it, and place it in peril. a reply had been sent to the imperial chancellor to the effect that my decision must first be carefully weighed and formulated, after which it would be transmitted to the chancellor. when, a little later, this was done, there came the surprising answer that my decision had arrived late! the imperial chancellor, on his own initiative, had summarily announced my abdication--which had not occurred yet at all!--as well as renunciation of the throne by the crown prince, who had not even been questioned. he had turned over the government to the social democrats and summoned herr ebert as imperial chancellor. all this had been spread simultaneously by wireless, so the entire army could read it. denies he forsook followers thus the decision as to my going or staying, as to my renunciation of the imperial crown and retention of the royal crown of prussia, was summarily snatched from me. the army was shaken to the core by the erroneous belief that its king had abandoned it at the most critical moment of all. if the conduct of the imperial chancellor, prince max of baden, is considered as a whole, it appears as follows: first, solemn declaration that he will place himself, together with the new government, before the emperor's throne, to protect it; then, suppression of the address, which might have impressed public opinion favorably, elimination of the emperor from all co-operation in the government, sacrifice of the respect due the emperor by suppression of the censorship, failure to come to the support of the monarchy in the matter of abdication; then, attempts to persuade the emperor to abdicate voluntarily; and, finally, announcement of my abdication by wireless, in which the chancellor went over my head. this sequence of events shows the course--a perilous one to the nation--adopted by scheidemann, who held the chancellor in the hollow of his hand. scheidemann left the ministers, his colleagues, in the dark as to his real purposes, drove the prince from one step to another, and finally summoned ebert, declaring that the leaders no longer had the masses under control. thus he caused the prince to sacrifice the emperor, the princes, and the empire, and made him the destroyer of the empire. after that, scheidemann overthrew the weak princely "statesman." following the arrival of the wireless message, the situation was difficult. to be sure, troops were being transported to spa for the purpose of going on undisturbed with the work at great general headquarters, but the field marshal now thought it no longer possible to reckon absolutely on their reliability in case rebellious forces should advance from aix-la-chapelle and cologne and confront our troops with the dilemma of whether or not to fight against their own comrades. in view of this, he advised me to leave the army and go to some neutral country, for the purpose of avoiding such a "civil war." i went through a fearful internal struggle. on the one hand, i, as a soldier, was outraged at the idea of abandoning my still faithful, brave troops. on the other hand, there was the declaration of our foes that they were unwilling to conclude with me any peace endurable to germany, as well as the statement of my own government that only by my departure for foreign parts was civil war to be prevented. in this struggle i set aside all that was personal. i consciously sacrificed myself and my throne in the belief that, by so doing, i was best serving the interests of my beloved fatherland. the sacrifice was in vain. my departure brought us neither better armistice conditions nor better peace terms; nor did it prevent civil war--on the contrary, it hastened and intensified, in the most pernicious manner, the disintegration in the army and the nation. proud of the army for thirty years the army was my pride. for it i lived, upon it i labored. and now, after four and a half brilliant years of war with unprecedented victories, it was forced to collapse by the stab in the back from the dagger of the revolutionists, at the very moment when peace was within reach! and the fact that it was in my proud navy, my creation, that there was first open rebellion, cut me most deeply to the heart. there has been much talk about my having abandoned the army and gone to neutral foreign parts. some say the emperor should have gone to some regiment at the front, hurled himself with it upon the enemy, and sought death in one last attack. that, however, would not only have rendered impossible the armistice, ardently desired by the nation, concerning which the commission sent from berlin to general foch was already negotiating, but would also have meant the useless sacrifice of the lives of many soldiers--of some of the very best and most faithful, in fact. others say the emperor should have returned home at the head of the army. but a peaceful return was no longer possible; the rebels had already seized the rhine bridges and other important points in the rear of the army. i could, to be sure, have forced my way back at the head of loyal troops taken from the fighting front; but, by so doing, i should have put the finishing touch to germany's collapse, since, in addition to the struggle with the enemy, who would certainly have pressed forward in pursuit, civil war would also have ensued. still others say the emperor should have killed himself. that was made impossible by my firm christian beliefs. and would not people have exclaimed: "how cowardly! now he shirks all responsibility by committing suicide!" this alternative was also eliminated because i had to consider how to be of help and use to my people and my country in the evil time that was to be foreseen. i knew also that i was particularly called upon to champion the cause of my people in the clearing up of the question of war guilt--which was disclosing itself more and more as the pivotal point in our future destiny--since i better than anyone else could bear witness to germany's desire for peace and to our clean conscience. after unspeakably arduous soul struggles, and following the most urgent advice of my counselors of the highest rank who were present at the moment, i decided to leave the country, since, in view of the reports made to me, i must needs believe that, by so doing, i should most faithfully serve germany, make possible better armistice and peace terms for her, and spare her further loss of human lives, distress, and misery. [ ] concerning the course of events up to the fateful th of november and this day itself there are authentic statements by an eyewitness in the book (well worth reading) of major niemann, who was sent by the chief army command to me, entitled _war and revolution (krieg und revolution)_, berlin, . chapter xiii the enemy tribunal and the neutral tribunal when the entente's demand that i and the german army leaders should be surrendered for trial before entente tribunals became known, i immediately asked myself whether i could be of use to my fatherland by giving myself up before the german people and the german government had expressed themselves regarding this demand. it was clear to me that, in the opinion of the entente, such a surrender would so seriously shake the prestige of germany, as a state and people, for all time, that we could never again take our place, with equal rights, equal dignity, and equal title to alliances, in the first rank of nations, where we belonged. i recognized it as my duty not to sacrifice the honor and dignity of germany. the question resolved itself into deciding whether there was any way to give myself up which might benefit the german nation and not subject it to the above-mentioned disadvantages. were there such a way i should have been ready without hesitation to add another sacrifice to those already made. the question of my giving myself up has also been debated--as i know--in well-meaning and earnest german circles. wherever this was due to psychological depression or failure to realize the impression which self-chastisement, self-debasement, and fruitless martyrdom in the face of the entente must arouse, all that was needed was to recall the materially political origin of the entente's demand, cursorily mentioned above, in order to arrive at a clean-cut decision--in other words, at an emphatic refusal. it was otherwise with the considerations based upon the assumption that i might, by taking upon myself, before the eyes of the whole world, the responsibility for all important decisions and acts of my government connected with the war, contribute toward making the fate of the german nation easier. here was not an act of unpolitical sentimentality, but, on the contrary, a deed which, in my eyes, had much to commend it. the thought that, according to the constitution of the empire then in force, not i, but the chancellor alone as was well known--bore the responsibility, would naturally not have bothered me with regard to this. had there been even the slightest prospect of bettering germany's situation by taking such a step, there would have been no possible doubt for me personally as to what i should do. already i had shown my personal willingness to sacrifice myself when i left the country and gave up the throne of my fathers, because i had been erroneously and deceivingly assured that i could, by so doing, make possible better peace terms for my people and prevent civil war. i should likewise have made this further attempt to help my people, despite the fact that, in the meantime, one of the considerations in favor of it which have been urged upon me--_viz._, the prevention of civil war--had already turned out to be false. recalls plight of vercingetorix there was, however, no possibility of helping the german people by such an act. surrender of my person would have had no result beyond our obedience to the demand from the entente that i be given up. for no tribunal in the world can pronounce a just sentence before the state archives of _all_ the nations participating in the war are thrown open, as has been done, and is still being done, by germany. who, after the unprecedented judgment of versailles, could still summon up optimism enough to believe that the entente nations would place their secret documents at the disposal of such a tribunal? therefore, after careful reflection on my part, i gave the decisive importance that was their due to the above-mentioned weighty considerations of personal and national dignity and honor, and rejected the idea of giving myself up. it was not for me to play the rôle of vercingetorix, who, as is well known, relying upon the magnanimity of his foes, surrendered himself to them in order to obtain a better fate for his people. in view of the conduct of our enemies during the war and in the peace negotiations, it was surely not to be assumed that the entente would show any greater magnanimity than did cæsar when he threw the noble gaul into chains, subsequently had him executed, and, in spite of what vercingetorix had done, enslaved his people just the same. i wish to remark in a general way that it has always proved wrong to follow the suggestions of the enemy or to heed them to any extent. the well-meant suggestions regarding my giving myself up, emanating from germans, also grew from the soil of the enemy demands, though perhaps partly unknown to those making them. for that very reason it was necessary to refuse to heed them. thus the only solution remaining is an international, nonpartisan court, which, instead of trying individuals, shall examine and pronounce judgment upon all the happenings leading to the world war, in all the countries taking part therein, after all the national archives, not merely those of germany, have been opened up. germany can well agree to this mode of procedure. whosoever opposes it pronounces judgment upon himself! my standpoint on the subject here discussed is expressed in the letter reproduced below, which i addressed, under date of april , , to field marshal von hindenburg, and which the latter has made public in the meantime. to make matters clearer, the letter which preceded it, from the marshal, is also given.[ ] hindenburg's letter hanover, _march , _. your imperial and royal majesty: i beg to thank your majesty most respectfully for his gracious interest in the illness of my wife. she is not yet out of danger. i have little that is pleasant to report from our country. the troubles in central germany are more serious than they are represented to be by the prussian government. i hope that they will soon be suppressed. the effects of the versailles peace decree lie ever more crushingly upon the german people, and the object of this peace--the policy of annihilation of our enemies--comes more plainly to the fore every day. for the purpose of justifying this policy of force the fairy tale of german war guilt must be adhered to. the spokesman of the enemy alliance, mr. lloyd george, is little disturbed by the fact that, on december th of last year, he declared that no statesman wished war in the summer of , that all the nations had slipped or stumbled into it. in his speech at the london conference on march d he calmly remarked that germany's responsibility for the war was fundamental, that it was the basis on which the peace of versailles was erected, and that, if the admission of this guilt should be refused or given up, the treaty would become untenable. now as before, the question of war guilt is the cardinal point in the future of the german nation. the admission of our alleged "guilt" regarding the war, forced from the german representatives at versailles against their judgment, is wreaking frightful vengeance; equally so the untrue acknowledgment of germany's "complicity" which minister simons gave at the london conference. i agree with your majesty to the uttermost depths of my soul--in my long term of military service i have had the good fortune and honor to enter into close personal relations with your majesty. i know that all the efforts of your majesty throughout your reign were bent toward maintaining peace. i can realize how immeasurably hard it is for your majesty to be eliminated from positive co-operation for the fatherland. the _comparative historical tables_ compiled by your majesty, a printed copy of which your majesty sent me recently, are a good contribution to the history of the origin of the war and are calculated to remove many an incorrect conception. i have regretted that your majesty did not make the tables public, but limited them instead to a small circle. now that the tables, owing to indiscretions, have been published in the foreign press, partly in the form of incomplete excerpts, it seems to me advisable to have them published in full in the german press. to my great joy i have heard that there has been an improvement recently in the health of her majesty. may god help further! with the deepest respect, unlimited fidelity and gratitude, i am your imperial and royal majesty's most humble servant, (signed) von hindenburg, field marshal. the kaiser's letter house doorn, _april , _. my dear field marshal: accept my warmest thanks for your letter of march th, ult. you are right. the hardest thing of all for me is to be obliged to live in foreign parts, to follow, with burning anguish in my soul, the awful fate of our dear fatherland, to which i have devoted the labors of my entire life, and to be barred from co-operation. you stood beside me during the dark, fatal days of november, . as you know, i forced myself to the difficult, terrible decision to leave the country only upon the urgent declaration of yourself and the rest of my counselors who had been summoned that only by my so doing would it be possible to obtain more favorable armistice terms for our people and spare it a bloody civil war. the sacrifice was in vain. now, as well as before, the enemy wishes to make the german people expiate the alleged guilt of "imperial germany." silent under attacks in my endeavor to subordinate all personal considerations to the welfare of germany, i keep myself completely in the background. i am silent in the face of all the lies and slanders which are spread abroad concerning me. i consider it beneath my dignity to defend myself against attacks and abuse. in accordance with this policy of restraint i have also kept the _historical tables_ mentioned by you strictly objective and made them accessible only to a narrow circle of acquaintances. i am utterly at a loss to understand how they have now become public through some sort of indiscretion or theft (?). the purpose inspiring me when i prepared the historical tables was this: to bring together strictly historical material by a systematic enumeration of sober facts, such as might enable the reader to form his own judgment of the historical happenings preceding the war. i found my most convincing sources, be it remarked, in the literature which has sprung up after the war, particularly in the works of natives of the enemy countries. therefore i am glad that you find my modest contribution to history useful. as to your suggestion to make the tables, which have been completed in the meantime, accessible to the german press, i thank you, and will follow it.[ ] truth will hew a way for itself--mightily, irresistibly, like an avalanche. whoever does not close his ears to it against his better judgment must admit that, during my twenty-six-year reign previous to the war, germany's foreign policy was directed solely to the maintenance of peace. its one and only aim was to protect our sacred native soil, threatened from the west and the east, and the peaceful development of our commerce and political economy. had we ever had warlike intentions we should have struck the blow in , when england's hands were tied by the boer war, russia's by the japanese war, at which time almost certain victory beckoned us. in any event, we assuredly would not have singled out the year , when we were confronted by a compact, overwhelmingly superior foe. also, every impartial man must acknowledge to himself that germany could expect nothing from the war, whereas our enemies hoped to obtain from it the complete realization of the aims which they had based, long since, upon our annihilation. the fact that my zealous efforts and those of my government were concentrated, during the critical july and august days of , upon maintaining world peace is being proved more and more conclusively by the most recent literary and documentary publications in germany, and, most especially, in the enemy countries. the most effective proof thereof is sazonoff's statement: "the german emperor's love of peace is a guarantee to us that we ourselves can decide upon the moment of war." what further proof of our innocence is needed? the above means that the intention existed to make an attack upon one who was absolutely unsuspecting. calls accusation futile god is my witness that i, in order to avoid war, went to the uttermost limit compatible with responsibility for the security and inviolability of my dear fatherland. it is futile to accuse germany of war guilt. to-day there is no longer any doubt that not germany, but the alliance of her foes, prepared the war according to a definite plan, and intentionally caused it. for the purpose of concealing this, the allied enemies extorted the false "admission of guilt" from germany in the shameful peace treaty and demanded that i _be produced before a hostile tribunal_. you, my dear field marshal, know me too well not to be aware that no sacrifice for my beloved fatherland is too great for me. nevertheless, a _tribunal in which the enemy alliance would be at once plaintiff and judge would be not an organ of justice, but an instrument of political arbitrariness, and would serve only, through the sentence which would inevitably be passed upon me, to justify subsequently the unprecedented peace conditions imposed upon us_. therefore, the enemy's demand naturally had to be rejected by me. but, in addition, the idea of _my being produced before a neutral tribunal_, no matter how constituted, cannot be entertained by me. _i do not recognize the validity of any sentence pronounced by any mortal judge whatsoever, be he never so exalted in rank, upon the measures taken by me most conscientiously as emperor and king--in other words, as the constitutional, not responsible, representative of the german nation_--since, were i to do so, i should thereby be sacrificing the honor and dignity of the german nation represented by me. _legal proceedings having to do with guilt and punishment_, instituted solely _against the head_ of one of the nations which took part in the war, _deprive that one nation of every vestige of equality of rights with the other nations_, and thereby of its prestige in the community of nations. moreover, this would cause, as a consequence, _the impression desired by the enemy that the entire "question of guilt" concerns only this one head of a nation and the one nation represented by him_. it must be taken into consideration, moreover, that _a nonpartisan judgment of the "question of guilt" is impossible_, if the _legal proceedings are not made to include the heads and leading statesmen of the enemy powers_, and if their conduct is not subjected to the same investigation, since it goes without saying that the conduct of the aforesaid one nation at the outbreak of the war can be judged correctly only if there is simultaneous consideration of the actions of its opponents. _a real clearing up of the "question of guilt,"_ in which surely germany would have no less interest than her foes, could be accomplished only if _an international, nonpartisan tribunal, instead of trying individuals as criminals, should establish all the events which led to the world war_, as well as all other offenses against international law, in order thereafter to measure correctly the guilt of individuals implicated in every one of the nations participating in the war. such an honest suggestion was officially made in germany after the end of the war, but, so far as i know, it was partly refused, partly found unworthy of any answer at all. furthermore, germany, immediately after the war, unreservedly threw open her archives, whereas the enemy alliance has taken good care so far not to follow such an example. the secret documents from the russian archives, now being made public in america, are but the beginning. this method of procedure on the part of the enemy alliance in itself, combined with overwhelming damaging evidence coming to hand, shows where the "war guilt" is really to be sought! this makes it all the more a solemn duty for germany to collect, sift, and make public, by every possible means, every bit of material bearing on the "question of guilt," in order, by so doing, to unmask the real originators of the war. unfortunately, the condition of her majesty has become worse. my heart is filled with the most grievous worry. god with us! your grateful (signed) wilhelm. [ ] this letter and the letter from the field marshal which preceded it are reprinted herewith. the parts which are most important in relation to the matter in question are underscored in the text. [ ] this has meanwhile been done. the _comparative historical tables from to the outbreak of the war in _ were published in december, , by k. f. koehler, leipsic. chapter xiv the question of guilt history can show nothing to compare with the world war of - . it also can show nothing like the perplexity which has arisen as to the causes leading up to the world war. this is all the more astounding in that the great war befell a highly cultivated, enlightened, politically trained race of men, and the causes leading up to it were plainly to be seen. the apparent complicity in the crisis of july, , should deceive nobody. the telegrams exchanged at that time between the cabinets of the great powers and their rulers, the activities of the statesmen and leading private individuals in verbal negotiations with important personages of the entente, were certainly of the greatest importance on account of the decisive significance assumed by almost every word when it came from responsible lips, by every line that was written or telegraphed. the essential basis of the causes of the war, however, is not altered by such things; it is firmly established, and people must never hesitate from freeing it, calmly and with an eye to realities, from the bewildering outcroppings from the events accompanying the outbreak of war. the general situation of the german empire in the period before the war had become continually more brilliant, and for that very reason continually more difficult from the point of view of foreign politics. unprecedented progress in industry, commerce, and world traffic had made germany prosperous. the curve of our development tended steadily upward. the concomitant of this peaceful penetration of a considerable part of the world's markets, to which german diligence and our achievements justly entitled us, was bound to be disagreeable to older nations of the world, particularly to england. this is quite a natural phenomenon, having nothing remarkable about it. nobody is pleased when a competitor suddenly appears and obliges one to look on while the old customers desert to him. for this reason i cannot reproach the british empire because of english ill humor at germany's progress in the world's markets. had england been able, by introducing better commercial methods, to overcome or restrict german competition, she would have been quite within her rights in doing so and no objections could have been made. it simply would have been a case of the better man winning. in the life of nations nobody can find it objectionable if two nations contend against each other peacefully by the same methods--_i. e._, peaceful methods--yet with all their energy, daring, and organizing ability, each striving to benefit itself. on the other hand, it is quite another matter if one of these nations sees its assets on the world's balance sheet threatened by the industry, achievements, and super business methods of the other, and hence, not being able to apply ability like that of its young competitor, resorts to force--_i. e._, to methods that are not those of peace, but of war--in order to call a halt upon the other nation in its peaceful campaign of competition, or to annihilate it. navy merely protective our situation became more serious since we were obliged to build a navy for the protection of our welfare, which, in the last analysis, was not based on the nineteen billions yearly to which german exports and imports amounted. the supposition that we built this navy for the purpose of attacking and destroying the far stronger english fleet is absurd, since it would have been impossible for us to win a victory on the water, because of the discrepancy between the two navies. moreover, we were striding forward in the world market in accordance with our desires and had no cause for complaint. why, then, should we wish to jeopardize the results of our peaceful labors? in france the idea of revenge had been sedulously cultivated ever since - ; it was fostered, with every possible variation, in literary, political, and military writings, in the officer corps, in schools, associations, political circles. i can well understand this spirit. looked at from the healthy national standpoint, it is, after all, more honorable for a nation to desire revenge for a blow received than to endure it without complaint. but alsace-lorraine had been german soil for many centuries; it was stolen by france and taken back by us in as our property. hence, a war of revenge which had as its aim the conquest of thoroughly german territory was unjust and immoral. for us to have yielded on this point would have been a slap in the face to our sentiments of nationality and justice. since germany could never voluntarily return alsace-lorraine to france, the french dream could be realized only by means of a victorious war which should push forward the french boundary posts to the left bank of the rhine. germany, on the contrary, had no reason for staking what she had won in - , so the course for her to pursue was to maintain peace with france, all the more so because of the fact that the combination of the powers against the german-austrian dual alliance was continually becoming more apparent. as to russia, the mighty empire of the tsars was clamoring for an outlet on the sea to the southward. this was a natural ambition and not to be harshly judged. in addition, there was the russian-austrian conflict of influence, especially in serbia, which also concerned germany in so far as germany and austria-hungary were allies. the russia of the tsars, moreover, was in a state of continual internal ferment and every tsaristic government had to keep the possibility for a foreign conflict ever in readiness, in order always to be able to deflect attention from inner troubles to foreign difficulties; to have a safety valve as an outlet for the passions that might lead to trouble at home. another point was that russia's enormous demand for loans was met almost exclusively by france; more than twenty billions of french gold francs found their way to russia, and france had a voice, to some extent, in determining how they should be expended. as a result, it became entirely a matter of expenditure on strategic measures and preparations for war. the golden chain of the french billions not only bound russia to france financially, but made russia serve the french idea of revenge. purpose of "encirclement" thus england, france, and russia had, though for different reasons, an aim in common--_viz._, to overthrow germany. england wished to do so for commercial-political reasons, france on account of her policy of revenge, russia because she was a satellite of france and also for reasons of internal politics and because she wished to reach the southern sea. these three great nations, therefore, were bound to act together. the union of these ambitions in a common course of action, duly planned, is what we call the "policy of encirclement." added to all this there was also the gentlemen's agreement which has only recently come to light and has already been thoroughly discussed in the "hohenlohe" chapter; concerning this agreement i knew absolutely nothing during my reign, and the german foreign office was only superficially and unreliably informed. when i learned of it, i immediately sought information about it from herr von bethmann. he wrote me a rather puzzling letter to the effect that there was surely something about it among the documents of the foreign office; that the german ambassador at that time in washington, von holleben, had made some confidential report on it, to be sure, but had not given his source of information, wherefore the foreign office had not attached any importance to the matter and had not reported further on it to me. hence the said agreement had actually no influence upon germany's policy, but it constitutes supplementary proof that the anglo-saxon world as far back as had combined against us, and thereby explains a number of obstacles encountered by germany in her foreign policy. it also explains america's attitude in the war. we were quite well acquainted, on the other hand, with the entente cordiale, its foundations and purposes, and it decisively influenced the course of our policy. in view of the grouping of england, france, and russia--three very strong powers--only one political course lay open to germany, the threat of deciding germany's future by force of arms must be avoided until we had secured for ourselves such an economic, military, naval, and national-political position in the world as to make it seem advisable to our opponents to refrain from risking a decision by arms and to yield us the share in the apportionment and management of the world to which our ability entitled us. we neither desired nor were we entitled to jeopardize our hard-won welfare. _the aims of the entente could be attained only through a war, those of germany only without a war._ it is necessary to hold fast to this basic idea; it is of more decisive value than all accessory matters. hence i shall not go into detail here, nor take up belgian or other reports, nor the telegrams sent just before the outbreak of war. the thorough treatment of these details lies in the domain of research. in germany our situation was correctly understood, and we acted accordingly. sought england's friendship taking up once more our relations with england, we did everything in our power to bring about a rapprochement; we consented to the demand for limitation of naval construction, as i have shown in my report of haldane's visit to berlin. i went so far as to try to utilize my family connections. but in vain. the actions of king edward vii are explained by the simple fact that he was an englishman and was trying to bring to realization the plans of his government. maybe the political ambitions of the king, who did not begin to reign until well along in years, contributed to this. we certainly did all that was possible to meet england halfway, but it was useless, because the german export figures showed an increase; naturally we could not limit our world commerce in order to satisfy england. that would have been asking too much. as regards our policy toward england, we have been much blamed for having refused the offer of an alliance made us by chamberlain, the english colonial minister, toward the close of the 'nineties. this matter, however, was far different in character, on closer inspection, from what it was represented as being. first, chamberlain brought a letter with him from the english premier, salisbury, to bülow, in which the english prime minister declared that chamberlain was dealing on his own account only, that the english cabinet was not behind him. this, to be sure, might have meant the adoption of a course that was diplomatically permissible, giving the english cabinet, which was responsible to parliament, a free hand; but it turned out later, be it remarked, that the liberal group in england was at that time hostile to a german-english alliance. nevertheless, in view of the fact that there was a possibility that the course adopted was a mere diplomatic formality--that chamberlain might have been sent on ahead and complete freedom of action retained for the english cabinet, which is a favorite method in london--prince bülow, with my consent, went thoroughly into the matter with chamberlain. it transpired then that the english-german alliance was aimed unquestionably against russia. chamberlain spoke directly about a war to be waged later by england and germany against russia. prince bülow, in full agreement with me, declined politely but emphatically thus to disturb the peace of europe. in so doing he was but following the example of the great chancellor, for prince bismarck coined the phrase--i myself have heard it repeatedly in the bismarck family circle: "germany must never become england's dagger on the european continent." so we did nothing further at that time than to go straight ahead with our policy--_viz._, we refused all agreements which might lead to a war which was not based directly on the defense of our native soil. the refusal of the chamberlain offer is a proof of the german love of peace. as to france, we sought to bring about an endurable state of affairs. this was difficult, for, in french eyes, we were the archenemy and it was impossible for us to acquiesce in the demands inspired by the policy of revenge. we settled the morocco quarrel peacefully; no man of standing in germany entertained the idea of war on account of morocco. for the sake of peace we allowed france at that time to encroach upon the essentially legitimate interests of germany in morocco, strengthened as the french were by the agreement concluded secretly with england as to mutual compensation in egypt and morocco. in the algeciras conference the outline of the great war was already visible. it is assuredly not pleasant to be forced to retreat politically, as we did in the morocco matter, but germany's policy subordinated everything to the great cause of preserving the peace of the world. we tried to attain this end by courtesy, which was partially resented. i recall the journey of my mother, the empress frederick, to paris. we expected a tolerably good reception, since she was an english princess and went, as an artist, to be the guest of french art. twice i visited the empress eugénie--once from aldershot at her castle of fernborough, the other time aboard her yacht, in norwegian waters, near bergen. this was a piece of politeness that seemed to me perfectly natural, seeing that i happened to be very near her. when the french general bonnal was in berlin with several officers, these gentlemen dined with the second infantry regiment. i was present and toasted the french army--something that was still out of the ordinary, but was done with the best intentions. i brought french female and male artists to germany. all this sort of thing, of course, was a trifle in the great game of politics, but it at least showed our good will. with regard to russia, i went to the utmost trouble. my letters, published in the meantime, were naturally never sent without the knowledge of the imperial chancellors, but always in agreement with them and largely at their desire. russia would doubtless never have got into a war with germany under alexander iii, for he was reliable. tsar nicholas was weak and vacillating; whoever had last been with him was right; and, naturally, it was impossible for me always to be that individual. i made every effort with this tsar, also, to restore the traditional friendship between germany and russia. i was moved to do so not only by political reasons, but by the promise which i had made to my grandfather on his deathbed. i most urgently advised tsar nicholas, repeatedly, to introduce liberal reforms within his country, to summon the so-called great duma, which existed and functioned even as far back as the reign of ivan the terrible. in doing so it was not my intention to interfere in russian internal affairs; what i wanted was to eliminate, in the interests of germany, the ferment going on in russia, which had often enough been deflected before to foreign conflicts, as i have already described. i wished to help toward eliminating at least this one phase of the internal situation in russia, which threatened to cause war, and i was all the more willing to make the effort since i might thereby serve both the tsar and russia. the tsar paid no heed to my advice, but created a new duma instead, which was quite inadequate for coping with the situation. had he summoned the old duma he might have dealt and talked personally with all the representatives of his huge realm and won their confidence. when the tsar resolved upon war against japan, i told him that i would assure him security in the rear and cause him no annoyances. germany kept this promise. grand duke's visit when the course taken by the war did not fulfill the tsar's expectations, and the russian and japanese armies finally lay before each other for weeks without serious fighting, the young brother of the tsar, grand duke michael, arrived at berlin for a visit. we could not quite make out what he wanted. prince bülow, who was then chancellor, requested me to ask the grand duke sometime how matters really stood with russia; he said that he, the prince, had received bad news and thought it was high time for russia to bring the war to an end. i undertook this mission. the grand duke was visibly relieved when i spoke to him frankly; he declared that things looked bad for russia. i told him that it seemed to me that the tsar ought to make peace soon, since what the grand duke had told me about the unreliability of troops and officers appeared to me quite as serious as the renewed internal agitation. grand duke michael was grateful for my having given him an opportunity to talk. he said that the tsar was vacillating, as always, but he must make peace and would make it if i advised him to do so. he asked me to write a few lines to the tsar to that effect, for him to deliver. i drafted a letter in english to tsar nicholas, went to bülow, told him what the grand duke had told me, and showed him the draft of my letter. the prince thanked me and found the letter suitable. the grand duke informed the russian ambassador in berlin, count osten-sacken, and, after he had repeatedly expressed his thanks, went direct to the tsar, who then had peace negotiations begun. count osten-sacken told me, when next we met, that i had done russia a great service. i was glad this was recognized, and felt justified in hoping, on account of this, that my conduct would contribute toward bringing about friendly relations with russia. in acting as i did i also worked toward preventing the possible spread of a russian revolution, during the russo-japanese war, across the frontiers of germany. germany earned no thanks thereby; however, our conduct during the russo-japanese war is another proof of our love of peace. the same purpose underlay my suggestion which led to the björkö agreement (july, ). it contemplated an alliance between germany and russia, which both the allies as well as other nations should be at liberty to join. ratification of this agreement failed through the opposition of the russian government (isvolsky). it remains to say a few words about america. aside from the gentlemen's agreement already mentioned, which assured america's standing beside england and france in a world war, america did not belong to the entente cordiale created by king edward vii at the behest of his government, and, most important of all, america, in so far as it is possible at present to judge events, did not contribute toward bringing on the world war. perhaps the unfriendly answer given by president wilson to the german government at the beginning of the war may have had some connection with the gentlemen's agreement. american factors in defeat but there can be no doubt that america's entry into the war, and the enormous supplies of ammunition, and especially of war materials, which preceded her entry, seriously hurt the chance of the central powers to bring the war to a successful termination by force of arms. it is necessary, however, to avoid all emotional criticism of america also, since, in the great game of politics, real factors only can be considered. america was at liberty (despite the gentlemen's agreement) to remain neutral or to enter the war on the other side. one cannot reproach a nation for a decision as to war or peace made in accordance with its sovereign rights so long as the decision is not in violation of definite agreements. such is not the case here. nevertheless, it must be noted that john kenneth turner, in his already mentioned book, _shall it be again?_ shows, on the basis of extensive proofs, that all wilson's reasons for america's entry into the war were fictitious, that it was far more a case of acting solely in the interest of wall street high finance. the great profit derived by america from the world war consists in the fact that the united states was able to attract to itself nearly fifty per cent of all the gold in the world, so that now the dollar, instead of the english pound, determines the world's exchange rate. but here also no reproach is at all justified, since any other nation in a position to do so would have rejoiced in attracting to itself this increase of gold and of prestige in the world's money market. it was certainly regrettable for us that america did not do this stroke of business on the side of the central powers. but just as germany objects with perfect justification to having had her peaceful labors combated by the entente, not with peaceful, but with warlike means, so also she can and must enter constant protest--as she is already trying to do by means of published material--against america's violation of the right at the close of the world war. personally i do not believe that the american people would have consented to this; american women particularly would not have participated in the denial of president wilson's fourteen points, if they could have been enlightened at that time as to the facts. america, more than other countries, had been misled by english propaganda, and therefore allowed president wilson, who had been provided with unprecedented powers, to act on his own initiative at paris--in other words, to be beaten down on his fourteen points. just as mr. wilson omitted mention, later on, of the english blockade, against which he had protested previously, so also he acted with regard to his fourteen points. the german government had accepted wilson's fourteen points, although they were severe enough. the allies likewise had accepted the fourteen points, with the exception of those on reparations and the freedom of the seas. wilson had guaranteed the fourteen points. fourteen points abandoned i fail to find the most important of them in the versailles instrument, but only those expressing the entente's policy of violence, and even part of these in a greatly falsified form. relying on wilson's guaranty, germany evacuated the enemy territory occupied by her and surrendered her weapons--in other words, made herself defenseless. in this blind confidence and the abandonment of the fourteen points on the one side, and in the outbreak of the german revolution on the other, lies the key to our present condition. according to turner, the fourteen points, as far back as the drawing up of the armistice terms, were, to wilson, no more than a means of making germany lay down her arms; as soon as this end was achieved he dropped them. already a very large part of the american people has arrayed itself against mr. wilson and is unwilling to be discredited along with him. i am not dreaming of spontaneous american help for germany; all i count upon is the sober acknowledgment by the american people that it has to make good the gigantic wrong done germany by its former president. for the atmosphere of a victory does not last forever, and later on, not only in germany, but elsewhere, people will remember the unreliability of the american president and look upon it as american unreliability. that is not a good thing, however, for the american people. to have the policy of a nation branded with the stigma of unreliability is not advantageous. when judgment is passed hereafter on american policy, people will forget that mr. wilson, unversed in the ways of the world, was trapped by lloyd george and clemenceau. i have met--particularly at the kiel regattas--many american men and women whose political judgment and caution would make it impossible for them to approve such a flagrant breach of faith as was committed by mr. wilson, because of its effect on america's political prestige. it is upon such considerations of national egotism, not upon any sort of sentimental considerations, that i base my hope that germany's burden will be lightened from across the ocean. besides the injustice in the abandonment of the fourteen points, it must also be remembered that mr. wilson was the first to demand of the german reigning dynasty that it withdraw, in doing which he hinted that, were such action taken, the german people would be granted a better peace. before the government of prince max joined in the demand for my abdication of the throne, which it based on the same grounds as mr. wilson--that germany would thereby get better terms--(prevention of civil war was used as a second means of bringing pressure on me)--it was in duty bound to get some sort of a binding guaranty from mr. wilson. in any event, the statements made, which became continually more urgent and pressing, contributed toward making me resolve to quit the country, since i was constrained to believe that i could render my country a great service by so doing. accepted "sight unseen" i subordinated my own interests and those of my dynasty, which certainly were not unimportant, and forced myself, after the severest inward struggles, to acquiesce in the wish of the german authorities. later it transpired that the german government had obtained no real guaranties. but, in the tumultuous sequence of events during those days, it was necessary for me to consider the unequivocal and definite announcement of the imperial chancellor as authoritative. for this reason i did not investigate it. why the entente demanded, through mr. wilson, that i should abdicate is now obvious. it felt perfectly sure that, following my being dispossessed of the throne, military and political instability would necessarily ensue in germany and enable it to force upon germany not easier but harder terms. at that time the revolution had not yet appeared as an aid to the entente. for me to have remained on the throne would have seemed to the entente more advantageous to germany than my abdication. i myself agree with this view of the entente, now that it has turned out that the max of baden government had no substantial foundation for its declaration that my abdication would bring better terms to my fatherland. i go even further and declare that the entente would never have dared to offer such terms to an intact german empire. it would not have dared to offer them to an imperial realm upon which the parliamentary system had not yet been forced, with the help of german utopians, at the very moment of its final fight for existence; to a realm whose monarchical government had not been deprived of the power to command its army and navy. in view of all this, heavy guilt also lies on the shoulders of the american ex-president as a result of his having demanded my abdication under the pretense that it would bring germany better terms. here also we certainly have a point of support for the powerful lever which is destined to drag the treaty of versailles from where it lies behind lock and key. in germany, however, mr. wilson should never be confused with the american people. in setting forth my political principles in what follows i am actuated solely by a desire to contribute toward proving germany's innocence of having brought on the world war. from the outset of my reign german policy was based upon compromise of the differences which it found existing between nations. in its entirety, therefore, my policy was eminently peaceful. this policy of peaceful compromise became apparent in internal politics, at the very beginning of my reign, in the legislation desired by me for the protection of the workers. the development of social legislation, which placed germany at the head of civilized nations in the domain of governmental protection, was based on a like foundation. the fundamental idea of a policy of compromise went so far within germany that the strength of the army would have remained far less than universal compulsory military service and the size of the population made possible. here, as well as in the matter of naval construction, the curtailments demanded by the reichstag were put up with by the crown and the government. already at that time the question of germany's capabilities of defense was left to the decision of the people's representatives. a nation that wished and prepared war would have adopted quite different tactics. inadequate preparedness the more apparent the entente's "policy of encirclement" and attack became, the more the means of protecting our welfare should have been strengthened for defensive reasons. this idea of natural and justified self-protection, by means of defensive measures against a possible hostile attack was carried out in a wretchedly inadequate manner. germany's desire for peace, in fact, was unable to develop this protection by land and sea in a manner compatible with her financial and national strength and with the risk which our welfare was bound to run in case of a war. therefore, we are now suffering not from the consequences of the tendency toward aggression falsely imputed to us, but actually from the consequences of a well-nigh incredible love of peace and of blind confidence. the entirely different political principles of the entente have already been described by me, also our continuous efforts to get upon friendly terms with the individual entente nations. i do not wish to ignore completely the less important work done by germany, also included within the framework of politics on a large scale, which was always inspired by the same purpose: to effect compromise of existing points of conflict. the kiel regatta brought us guests from all the leading nations. we sought compromise with the same zeal on the neutral territory of sport as in the domain of science by means of exchange professors, and foreign officers were most willingly allowed to inspect our army system. this latter might be adjudged a mistake, now that we can look back, but, in any event, all these points are certain proofs of our honest desire to live at peace with all. moreover, germany did not take advantage of a single one of the opportunities that arose for waging war with a sure prospect of success. i have already pointed out the benevolent neutrality of germany toward russia at the time of the russo-japanese war. at the time when england was deeply involved in the boer war we might have fought against england or against france, which, at that time, would have been obliged to forego help from england. but we did not do so. also, while the russo-japanese war was in progress, we might have fought not only against russia, but also against france. but we did not do so. in addition to the morocco crisis already touched upon, in connection with which we set aside the idea of going to war, we also gave evidence of our desire for peace by overcoming the bosnian crisis by diplomatic means. when one considers these plainly visible political events as a whole and adduces the declarations of entente statesmen such as poincaré, clemenceau, isvolsky, tardieu, and others, one is bound to ask one's self, in amazement, how a peace treaty, founded upon germany's guilt in having brought on the world war, could have been drafted and put through. this miscarriage of justice will not stand before the bar of world history. blames france for a frenchman, louis guetant, delegate from lyon to the society for the rights of man, recently made this statement: "if we once look upon events without prejudice, with complete independence and frankness, without bothering about which camp chance placed us in at birth, the following is forced upon our attention first of all: the war of is a consequence of the war of . for, ever since that earlier date, the idea of revenge, more or less veiled, has never left us. "the war of , however, was prepared and declared by the french government. the french empire, indeed, needed it very badly in order to contend against interior troubles and its steadily growing unpopularity with the public. even gambetta, the wild tribune of the opposition, exclaimed: 'if the empire brings us the left bank of the rhine, i shall become reconciled with it!' thus, it was a war of conquest; nobody bothered about what the conquered populations might have to say about it. 'we shall bend their will to ours!' thus it is written in the law of the victor! "and now, suddenly, the opportunity for doing this was to escape france. in view of the political difficulties and dangers of war caused by his candidacy, prince leopold declared himself ready to withdraw. that is bad! without a pretext there can be no war! "it was the same with france as with the milkmaid and the broken pitcher in the fable, only instead of, 'farewell, calf, cow, pig, hens,' it was, 'farewell, bloody profits, glory, victory, left bank of the rhine, even belgium!'--for the latter, too, lay on that left bank of the rhine which france coveted. no, that would have been too hard, the disillusionment would have been too great, the opportunity must be created anew. the entire chauvinistic press, the entire clan of boasters, set to work and soon found a way. gramont, minister of foreign affairs, sent ambassador benedetti to visit emperor william, who was taking the cure at ems, and demand from him a written promise that, in case prince leopold should change his mind about his withdrawal, he, william, as head of the family, would take issue against this. "the withdrawal of prince leopold was announced to france in a valid manner and officially accepted by the spanish government. there could be no doubt as to its genuineness. nevertheless the paris newspapers, almost without exception, clamored for war. whoever, like robert michell in the _constitutionel_, expressed his pleasure at the prospects for peace and declared himself satisfied, was insulted on the street. gambetta shouted at him: 'you are satisfied! what a base expression!' copies of his newspapers were stolen from the news stands, thrown into the river, hurled in his face! emilie de girandin wrote to him: 'the opportunity is unique, unhoped-for; if the empire misses it the empire is lost!' then it was that preparation for the war of was begun." voices like this also, which are not unique either in france or england, must always be adduced as proof that the guilt is not ours. "mistaken, but not guilty" our political and diplomatic operations in the course of decades were not, it must be admitted, faultlessly conceived or executed. but where we made mistakes they were caused invariably by the too great desire to maintain world peace. such _mistakes do not constitute guilt_. as i mentioned elsewhere, i even consider the congress of berlin a mistake, for it made our relations with russia worse. the congress was a victory for disraeli, an anglo-austrian victory over russia, which turned russian anger upon germany. yet--think of all that has been done since then to make up with russia! i have partly enumerated these acts. and bismarck's sole intention in bringing about the congress of berlin was, as i have pointed out, the prevention of a great general war. chancellor von bethmann hollweg also, who had strict orders from me to maintain peace if it was at all possible, made mistakes in ; as a statesman he was not at all adequate to the world crisis. but the blame for the war cannot be put upon us simply because our opponents profited by our mistakes. bethmann hollweg wished to avoid the war, like all of us--sufficient proof of this is to be found in the one fact alone that he persisted, until the th of august, in his political inertia, negotiating with england in the erroneous belief that he could keep england out of the entente. while on this subject i wish also to call attention to the delusion under which prince lichnowsky, the german ambassador in london, was laboring. soon after he had become ambassador, king george came to the embassy to dinner. the king's example was followed automatically by the best society people in london. the prince and princess were singled out for marked attentions and exceedingly well treated socially. from this the german ambassador drew the conclusion that our relations with england had improved, until, shortly before the war, sir edward grey coolly informed him that he must draw no political conclusions from social favors and good treatment accorded to him personally. nothing could give a better insight into the difference between the english and german mentality than this. the german assumed social friendliness to be the expression of political friendliness, since the german is accustomed to express aversion and approval by means of social forms as well as otherwise. he is very outspoken about what he has on his mind. charges english insincerity the englishman, however, makes a distinction; in fact, he is rather pleased if the man to whom he is speaking confuses form with substance, or, in other words, if he takes the form to be the expression of actual sentiments and political views. judged from the english standpoint, the above-mentioned words of sir edward grey were a perfectly frank statement. the much-discussed nonrenewal of the reinsurance treaty with russia, already touched upon by me, is not to be considered so decisive as to have influenced the question of whether there was to be war or peace. the reinsurance treaty, in my opinion, would not have prevented the russia of nicholas ii from taking the road to the entente; under alexander iii it would have been superfluous. prince bismarck's view that the russian ambassador, prince shuvaloff, would have renewed the reinsurance treaty with him but not with his successor, is naturally the honest, subjective way of looking at the matter--judged in the light of fact, however, it does not hold water, in view of what the two parties concerned had to consider at that time. for instance, the under secretary of state of the prince, count berchem, stated officially in a report to the prince that the treaty could not be renewed, which meant that it could not be renewed through shuvaloff, either. i thought that not the old treaty, but only a new and different kind of treaty, was possible, in the drawing up of which austria must participate, as in the old three-emperor-relationship. but, as i said, treaties with nicholas ii would not have seemed absolutely durable to me, particularly after the sentiment of the very influential russian general public had also turned against germany. our acts were founded upon the clear perception that germany could reach the important position in the world and obtain the influence in world affairs necessary to her solely by maintaining world peace. this attitude was strengthened, moreover, by personal considerations. never have i had warlike ambitions. in my youth my father had given me terrible descriptions of the battlefields of and , and i felt no inclination to bring such misery, on a colossally larger scale, upon the german people and the whole of civilized mankind. old field marshal moltke, whom i respected greatly, had left behind him the prophetic warning: woe to him who hurls the firebrand of war upon europe! and i considered as a political legacy from the great chancellor the fact that prince bismarck had said that germany must never wage a preventive war; that german resistance would be neutralized if she did. thus the trend of the german policy of maintaining the peace was determined by political insight, personal inclination, the legacies of two great men, bismarck and moltke, and the desire of the german people to devote itself to peaceful labors and not to plunge into adventures. whatever has been said in malevolent circles about the existence of a german party favoring war is a conscious or unconscious untruth. in every land there are elements which, in serious situations, either from honest conviction or less lofty motives, favor the appeal to the sword, but never have such elements influenced the course of german policy. the accusations, especially those which have been made against the general staff to the effect that it worked for war, are pretty untenable. the prussian general staff served its king and fatherland by hard, faithful work, and maintained germany's ability to defend herself by labors extending over many years of peace, as was its duty, but it exerted absolutely no political influence whatsoever. interest in politics, as is well known, was never particularly strong in the prussian-german army. looking backward, one might almost say, in fact, that it would have been better for us if those in leading military circles had concerned themselves a bit more with foreign policy. therefore, how the peace of versailles, in view of this perfectly clear state of affairs, could have been founded upon germany's guilt in having caused the world war, would seem an insoluble riddle if it were not possible to trace the tremendous effect of a new war weapon--_viz._, the political propaganda of england against germany--planned on a large scale and applied with audacity and unscrupulousness. i cannot bring myself to dismiss this propaganda by branding it with catchwords such as "a piece of rascality," etc., since it constitutes an achievement which, in spite of its repugnant nature, cannot be ignored; it did us more harm than the arms in the hands of our opponents. to us germans, such an instrument of insincerity, distortion, and hypocrisy is not pleasing; it is something that is incompatible with the german character; we try to convince our opponents with the weapon of truth as well as with other weapons. but war is a cruel thing and what matters in it is to win; after all, to fire heavy guns at civilized beings is not a pleasant matter, nor to bombard beautiful old towns, yet this had to be done by both sides in the war. moreover, we could not have developed a propaganda on a large scale like that of our enemies during the war for the very reason that they had no foes in their rear, whereas we were surrounded. in addition, most germans have not the gift to fit a scheme of propaganda to the different nationalities of the nations upon which it is supposed to work. but, just as the english were more than our match with that terrible weapon of theirs, the tank, against which we could bring nothing of equal efficiency, so also were they superior to us with their very effective weapon of propaganda. and this weapon still continues its work and we are compelled still to defend ourselves against it over and over again. for there can be no doubt that the unjust peace of versailles could not have been founded upon germany's war guilt unless propaganda had previously accomplished its task and, partly with the support of german pacifists, instilled into the brains of , , human beings the belief in germany's guilt, so that the unjust peace of versailles seemed to many justified. hopes for versailles reaction meanwhile, things have changed, the barriers between nations have fallen, and gradually they are awakening to the realization of how their confidence was imposed upon. the reaction will be crushing to the makers of the versailles peace, but helpful to germany. it goes without saying that, among the statesmen, politicians, and publicists of the entente who really know, not a single one is really convinced of germany's guilt in having caused the world war. every one of them knows the real interrelation of events, and assuredly there never was a case where so many augurs smiled at each other over a secret held in common as the case of the responsibility for the world war. in fact, one may even speak of a chorus of such individuals, since twenty-eight nations took part in the war against germany. but, in the long run, not even the shrewdest augurs will suffice to make world history. truth will make its way forward and thus germany will come into her rights. the various stipulations of the versailles treaty are in themselves null and void, since they can be observed neither by the entente nor by germany. it has been possible for months to note what difficulties are arising in the path not only of germany, but of the victors, as a result of such an extravagant instrument. in many ways the treaty has been punctured by the entente itself, and for this the reason is easily found. in the present highly developed state of the world, which rests upon free, systematic exchange of material and intellectual property, regulated solely by production itself, it is quite out of the question for three men--no matter how eminent they may be--to sit themselves down anywhere and dictate paragraphed laws to the world. yet that is what the versailles treaty does, not only for germany, but also, indirectly, for the entente and america, since all economic questions can be solved by mutual, not one-sided, action. the life of nations is regulated always--and most particularly in our day--not by paragraphs, but simply and solely by the needs of nations. it is possible, to be sure, to do violence to those national needs temporarily by the imposition of arbitrary decisions, but, in such cases, both parties concerned must suffer. the world is in such a stage just now. conditions like those at present cannot last; not guns, nor tanks, nor squadrons of airplanes, can perpetuate them. therefore, their removal has already begun; for, if the peace of versailles were really such a judicious, unimpeachable instrument, bringing blessings upon the world, there would not be constant need of new conferences, discussions, and meetings having to do with this "marvelous" document. the constant necessity for new interpretations is due, indeed, to the fact that the needs of highly cultivated and civilized nations were not taken into account when the peace was concluded. one must not be pharisaical, however; up to a certain point the extravagance of the terms imposed by the victor after a life-and-death struggle is a natural consequence of the relief felt at having escaped alive from deadly danger. nevertheless, i know that germany, if we had emerged victorious from the war, would have imposed quite different terms--_i. e._, terms that would have been just and endurable. the peace treaties of brest-litovsk and bucharest--which indeed are not at all comparable with the treaty of versailles--cannot be adduced against us. they were concluded in the very midst of the war and had to include conditions which would guarantee our safety until the end of the war. had it come to a general peace, the treaty made by us in the east would have had a far different aspect; had we won the war, it would have been revised by ourselves. at the time it was made it was necessary to give preference to military requirements. but enlightenment regarding the unjust treaty of versailles is on the way and the necessities of life among present-day nations will speak in imperious tones to victors and vanquished. after years of the heaviest trial will come the liberation from a yoke imposed unjustly upon a great, strong, honest nation. then every one of us will be glad and proud again that he is a german. chapter xv the revolution and germany's future i do not care what my foes say about me. i do not recognize them as my judges. when i see how the same people who exaggeratedly spread incense before me in other days are now vilifying me, the most that i can feel is pity. the bitter things that i hear about myself from home disappoint me. god is my witness that i have always wished what was best for my country and my people, and i believed that every german had recognized and appreciated this. i have always tried to keep my political acts, everything that i did as a ruler and a man, in harmony with god's commandments. much turned out differently from what i desired, but my conscience is clean. _the welfare of my people and my empire was the goal of my actions._ i bear my personal fate with resignation, for the lord knows what he does and what he wishes. he knows why he subjects me to this test. i shall bear everything with patience and await whatsoever god still holds in store for me. the only thing that grieves me is the fate of my country and my people. i am pained at the hard period of trial which my children of the german land are undergoing, which i--obliged to live in foreign parts--cannot suffer with them. _that is the sword thrust which pierces through my soul_; that is what is bitter to me. here in solitude i still feel and think solely for the german people, still wonder how i can better matters and help with enlightenment and counsel. nor can bitter criticism ever lessen my love for my land and people. i remain faithful to the germans, no matter how each individual german may now stand with regard to me. to those who stand by me in misfortune as they stood in prosperity, i am grateful--they comfort me and relieve my gnawing homesickness for my beloved german home. and i can respect those who, impelled by honest convictions, array themselves against me; as for the rest, let them look to justifying themselves to god, their consciences, and history. they will not succeed in separating me from the germans. always i can look upon country and people solely as one whole. they remain to me what they were when i said on the occasion of the opening of the reichstag on the st of august, , in the imperial palace: "i know no more of parties; i know only germans." the revolution broke the empress's heart. she aged visibly from november, , onward, and could not resist her bodily ills with the strength of before. thus her decline soon began. the hardest of all for her to bear was her homesickness for the soil of germany, for the german people. notwithstanding this, she still tried to bring me consolation. the revolution destroyed things of enormous value. it was brought about at the very moment when the german nation's fight for existence was to have been ended, and every effort should have been concentrated upon reconstruction. it was a crime against the nation. wind and whirlwind i am well aware that many who rally around the social democratic banner did not wish revolution; some of the individual social democratic leaders likewise did not wish it at that time, and more than one among them was ready to co-operate with me. yet these social democrats were incapable of preventing the revolution, and therein lies their share of guilt for what is now going on, all the more so since the socialist leaders stood closer to the revolutionary masses than the representatives of the monarchical government and, therefore, could exert more influence upon them. but the leaders, even in the days before the war, had brought the idea of revolution to the masses and fostered it, and the social democracy had been, from time immemorial, openly hostile to the earlier, monarchical form of government, and had worked systematically toward eliminating it. it sowed the wind and reaped the whirlwind. the time and nature of the revolution were not to the liking of a number of the leaders, but it was exactly these men who, at the decisive moment, abandoned leadership to the most unbridled elements and failed to bring their influence to bear toward maintaining the government. it was the duty of the government of prince max to protect the old form of government. it failed to fulfill its holy duty because it had become dependent on the socialist leaders, the very men who had lost their influence on the masses to the radical elements. therefore, the greatest share of the guilt falls upon the leaders, and for that reason history will not brand the german working classes, but their leaders, with the curse of the revolution, in so far as these leaders participated in making the revolution or failed to prevent it and it will also brand the government of prince max of baden with that curse. the german workers fought brilliantly in battle under my leadership, and at home, as well, labored ceaselessly to provide munitions and war material. that is something which must not be forgotten. it was only later that some of them began to break away, but the responsibility for this lies at the door of the agitators and revolutionists, not at that of the decent, patriotic section of the working classes. the conscienceless agitators are the men really responsible for germany's total collapse. that will be recognized some day by the working classes themselves. the present is a hard time for germany. of the future of this healthy, strong nation i do not despair. a nation which can achieve such an unprecedented rise as that of germany between and , a nation which can maintain itself successfully for over four years in a defensive war against twenty-eight nations, cannot be driven from the earth. economically, the world cannot do without us. but in order that we may regain the position in the world which is germany's due, we must not await or count upon help from outside. such help will not come, in any event; were it to come, it would but mean at best our being mere helots. also, the help which the german social democratic party hoped for from abroad has not materialized, after all. the international part of the socialistic program has proved itself a frightful mistake. the workers of the entente lands took the field against the german people in order to destroy it; nowhere was there a trace of international solidarity among the masses. another german mistake this mistake, too, is one of the reasons why the war turned out so badly for germany. the english and french working classes were rightly directed--_i. e._, nationalistically--by their leaders; the german working classes were wrongly directed--_i. e._, internationally. the german people must rely upon no other people, but solely upon themselves. when self-conscious, national sentiment returns to all the strata of our people our upward march will begin. all classes of the population must be united in national sentiment, no matter if their ways lie apart in other departments of the nation's life. therein lies the strength of england, of france--even of the poles. if this comes to pass, the feeling of solidarity with all fellow members of the nation, the consciousness of the dignity of our noble land, the pride in being german, and the genuinely german conception of ethics, which was one of the secret sources of strength that have made germany so great, will come back to us. in the community of cultured nations germany will again play, as she did before the war, the rôle of the nation with the greatest capacity for labor, and will once more march victoriously in the van in peaceful competition, offering not only to herself, but to all the nations of the earth, whatever is best in the domain of technical achievement, of science, of art. i believe in the revocation of the unjust peace of versailles by the judgment of the sensible elements of foreign lands and by germany herself. i believe in the german people and in the continuation of its peaceful mission in the world, which has been interrupted by a terrible war, for which germany, since she did not will it, does not bear the guilt. index a abdication of kaiser and crown prince, - , , , . abdul-hamid, sultan, and the albanians, , , . achenbach, von, . adlerberg, count, . admiralty, english, ; staff, german, , . agadir affair, . agrarian conservatives, . agreement, anglo-russian, ; german-french, morocco, , . airplanes, , . aix-la-chapelle, , . albania, , - . albedyll, von, . aldershot, . alexander ii, of russia, , , , , , . alexander iii, of russia, , . alexandra, queen, of england, , . algeciras conference, , , , , , . alliance, triple, , , ; double, , ; anglo-japanese, ; balkan, ; german-english, , . alsace-lorraine, , , , , , . althoc, privy councilor, . althoff, von, , . america. _see_ united states. america, central, . anastasia, grand duchess, . andrassy, , . annihilation, policy of, . antwerp-meuse line, , . archives, , , . "areopagus of the powers," . armistice, , , , , , , , , . armored ship, first german, . army, german, , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; russian, , , , ; british, , , . "asia for the asiatics," . asquith, herbert henry, , . "assurbanipal," . assyriology, - . astrakhan, . austria, alliance with, ; worked with, ; threat against, ; war begun by germany on, n.; if germany or, should begin war, ; ultimatum to serbia, ; serbia's answer to, ; anti-russian balkan policy, ; "nothing will be left of austria," ; dismemberment of austria-hungary, ; elimination of the house of hapsburg, ; and the pope, , ; emperor charles's vacillation, ; peace offer of, ; deceives germany, ; russo-austrian conflict of influence in serbia, ; germany's ally, . automobile club, imperial , . b "babel and the bible," , . baden, , , , . bagdad railway, , . balholm, . balkans, , , , . ballin, albert, , , , , , , , , , , . baltic, . baltisch-port, - , . "baralong" murderers, . barrère, camille, . battlefields of - , . bavaria, . _belgian documents_, . belgium, , , , . bender, herr von, - , . benedetti, ambassador, . benedictine monks, . bennigsen, rudolf von, , , . berchem, count, , . bergen, . berlin treaty, , , ; congress, , , , , . berlin, university of, ; palace chapel at, . bertram, prince-bishop, . beseler, max, . bethmann hollweg, von, chancellor, - ; "the governess," ; enjoys confidence of foreign countries, ; dismissed, ; his diplomatic power, , ; mistakes in , ; wished to avoid war, ; tried to keep england out of the entente, . beuron congregation, . biebrich-mosbach, . bismarck, bill, . bismarck, count herbert, , , , , , , . bismarck, prince, chancellor, - ; greatness as a statesman, ; services to prussia and germany, ; creator of the german empire, ; memoirs, , ; fight against the kaiser, ; appreciation by the prince of prussia (later the kaiser), ; majordomo of the hohenzollerns, ; and the harbor of hamburg, ; the third volume of his reminiscences, ; continental preparations, ; his congress, ; "honest broker," , ; "now i am driving europe four-in-hand," ; retirement of, , ; and the socialists, ; his labor views, ; and the vulcan shipyards, ; succeeded by caprivi, ; fight his successor, ; "misunderstood bismarck," , ; reconciliation with kaiser, ; eightieth birthday, ; "germany must never become england's dagger on the european continent," ; and the congress of berlin, . bismarckian theory, . björkö agreement, , , . bissing, general von, . black sea, , , . blockade, english, . boches, . bolsheviki, , , . bonn, . bonnal, general, . _book of the german fleet_, . bosmont, . bosnia, , . bötticher, his excellency von, , . boyd-carpenter, w., bishop of ripon, . brandenburg, . _brandenburg_, . breitenbach, paul von, , , . brest-litovsk, , , , , ; treaty of, . brest mission, . bucharest, treaty of, . buckingham palace, . budde, hermann, , . bülow, prince von, ; chancellor, - , , , , , , , , . burchard, doctor von, , - , . burian, stefan, . c cabinet, german war, , , ; civil, , , , ; english, , . cæsar, . calmuck cossacks, . cambon, jules, . cambridge, duke of, . canal, central, , , , , ; elbe-trave, ; kaiser wilhelm, , , - ; panama, , . canton, . cape-to-cairo railway and telegraph line deal, - , . caprivi, general leo von, ; chancellor, - ; opposition of bismarck, . carlsbad, , . caro, professor, . cassel, sir ernest, , , , , . cassino, monte, . caucasus, , . _causes of the world war_, , . centrists, , . central powers, , , , . chamberlain, joseph, , , , , , . charles, emperor, agreement with kaiser, ; secret dealings with the entente, ; "when i go to the germans, i agree to everything they say, and when i return home, i do whatever i please," . charlotte, grand duchess, . charlottenburg, , . chih-li, gulf of, . china, , . chinese empire, . chirol, sir valentine, , . church, of england, ; st. mary's (jerusalem), . churchill, winston, , , . "citizens' book of laws," , . "civis germanus sum," . clemenceau, georges, , . clemen, professor paul, . coaling stations, , - , , . cologne, , . colonial acquisitions, , . colonies, german, , , , , , , , . commerce, world, . _comparative historical tables from to the outbreak of the war in _, , , , , n. conference, london, , . conflict, russo-english, . conflict of influence, russian-austrian, . congress of berlin, , . connaught, duke of, . conrad, consistorial councilor, . conservatives, , , , , , , , , , . constantine, crown prince (of greece), . constantine the great, . constantinople, , , , , , , , , . constitution, german, , - , . _constitutionel_, . _conversations with christ_, . costheim, . court, international, . cronberg-friedrichshof situation, . crown council, german, , ; russian, , . crown prince, german, , . cuniberti, . cuxhaven, , . d _daily telegraph_, london, , ; "interview," . dardanelles, offer of, to russia, . dar-es-salaam, . "debating society," . delbrück, klemens von, . delcassé, théophile, , . delitzsch, professor friedrich, , . "deutschland über alles," . dirschau, . disraeli, benjamin, , . documents, secret, . dollar, american, . donaueschingen, . "dormition," . dorpat, university of, . dörpfeld, professor wilhelm, , . downing street, . dreadnaughts, , , , . drews, bill, minister of interior, . dryander, doctor ernest, . duhn, professor, . duma, great, , ; new, . durnovo, madame, , . e ebert, imperial chancellor, , . eckartsau, . edward vii, of england, , , ; at kiel, ; invites kaiser to windsor, ; "policy of encirclement," , , , , ; visits berlin, ; death of and funeral, - , ; actions of explained, ; political ambitions of, ; and the entente cordiale, . egypt, . eiffel mountains, . einem, general von, , . eisenach conference, . emden, . empire, french, , . empress, german, , , , , . ems, , . england, , , , , , ; conditions of english workmen, - ; and germany as to coaling stations, ; anger at germany's occupation of kiao-chau, - ; and france, n., , , ; and united states, n., - , ; naval stations, ; and japan, , ; kaiser foresees complications with, ; kruger telegram, - ; russia and france's proposal to germany to attack, , ; kaiser loyal to, ; the kaiser's opinion of englishmen, ; death of queen victoria, ; kaiser's reception in england, - ; chamberlain suggests alliance between germany and england against russia, - ; validity of alliance, ; plan fails, ; alliance with japan, ; pro-french and anti-german attitude of, at algeciras convention, - ; kaiser visits windsor, ; edward vii visits berlin, ; death of edward vii, - ; funeral, - ; unveiling of statue to queen victoria, - ; kaiser at, - ; festivities, - ; comparison of pomp between democratic england and mediæval germany, ; in egypt, ; offer to remain neutral in "unprovoked" attack on germany, ; "verbal note" to the kaiser, ; negotiations, - ; repudiation, ; kaiser denounces haldane, ; evolution of the dreadnaught, ; fleet, , , ; "two-power standard," ; tsar's hatred for, ; promise of, to side with russia against germany, ; germany's progress disagreeable to, ; aim to overthrow germany, ; grouping of russia, france, and, ; germany tries to bring about a rapprochement with, ; germany consents to limitation of naval construction, ; political ambitions of king edward, ; german could not satisfy, ; secret agreement with france as to morocco and egypt, ; propaganda in america, ; blockade, ; bethmann tries to keep england out of the entente, ; political propaganda, - ; working classes, ; strength of england, . enmity, source of russian, . entente, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . erzberger, ambassador, . essad pasha, , . eugénie, empress, . eulenburg, count augustus, , . f "fairyland wants its prince," . fatherland, , , , , , , , . faulhaber, archbishop, . federal council, . fernborough, castle of, . _figaro_, . fischer, cardinal, . fisher, admiral, , . flanders, , . fleet, english, , , , , , . foch, general, . foreign office, german, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . _foundations of the nineteenth century_, . fourteen points, , , . france, and russia, ; and germany, n.; and united states, n., , , ; and england, n., - ; at shimonoseki, ; fortifications, ; russo-french proposal to germany against england, , ; anger at kaiser's visit to tangier, ; not yet ready for war, ; england's offer of , men to seize kaiser wilhelm canal, ; downfall of delcassé, ; accession of rouvier, ; growing desire for revenge and enmity toward germany, , ; german-french morocco agreement, ; confers cross of legion of honor on radolin and von schoen, ; railways, ; armistice commission in, , ; kaiser understands spirit, ; alsace-lorraine, ; enormous loans to russia, ; aim to overthrow germany, ; grouping of england, russia, and, ; germany arch enemy of, ; secret agreement with england as to morocco and egypt, ; war of , ; working classes, ; strength of france, . franchise, prussian, - . frankfort, . franz ferdinand, archduke, , . franz josef, emperor, , . frederick ii, emperor, . frederick charles, prince, . frederick, crown prince, , . frederick, empress, , , , . frederick the great, , , , . frederick, william iii, , , , , , , . free thinkers, . friedberg, his excellency heinrich, . friedjung, heinrich, . friedrichsruh, admiral von tirpitz at, ; kaiser at, . friendship, russo-french to replace russo-prussian, . fürstenberg, prince max egon, , . g gambetta, léon, , . galician-polish campaign, . gallwitz, general von, . general headquarters, german, , , , . general staff, german, , , , , , , , , , , , ; english, , , ; austrian, ; russian, . "gentlemen's agreement," , , . george, david lloyd, , . george v, of england, , , , , , . "german evangelical church union," . germany, bismarck creator of german empire, ; constitution of, , - ; alliance with austria, ; animosity of russian military circles against, ; as peace maker, ; maintenance of, ; conditions of laboring classes in, - ; first armored ship, ; merchant marine, ; shipbuilding industry, , ; corps, naval officer, , , , , ; reinsurance treaty with russia, ; and kiao-chau, - , ; coaling stations, , - ; and united states, n., - ; difficulty of training up good diplomats in, ; english commercial envy of, ; russia and france's proposal to attack england, ; cecil rhodes's admiration for berlin and tremendous german industrial plants, ; difference between germans and english, ; reform of military punishment procedure, ; naval law, , , ; appointment of waldersee, ; boxer war, ; tsing-tao, ; yangtse treaty, ; relations with england become more complicated, ; france, russia, and, in the far east, ; validity of an alliance, ; failure of plan, ; disturbed relations among the parties in the reichstag, ; popular demonstration at defeat of social democrats, ; edward vii at kiel, ; kaiser's _daily telegraph_ interview, ; press demands fürstenberg to "tell the emperor the truth for once," ; conservatives' "open letter," ; retirement of bülow, ; bethmann hollweg appointed chancellor, ; growing desire for revenge and enmity of france, ; german-french morocco agreement, ; austro-hungarian allies, ; "nation in arms," , ; chancellor's powers, - ; german french agreement, ; "a verbal note!" , ; astonishment at, ; discussion and reply, - ; negotiations, - ; verbal note disavowed by england, ; haldane "cheated" the germans, ; blamed on kaiser and von tirpitz, ; the central canal, ; railways, - ; schools, - ; forests, ; science and art, - ; must become sword of the catholic church, ; revolution, , , ; protestant union, - ; officer corps, , ; noncommissioned officer corps, , ; development of heligoland, ; first big fighting ship, ; u-boats, - ; democratization of, ; germans on all battlefields, ; "germans always defeated by germans," ; "in germany every siegfried has his hödur behind him," ; atrocities, ; protection of churches, châteaux, castles, and art treasures, ; failure of august , , , ; movement for setting up of new government, ; inner situation of army, , ; revolutionary agitation in, , ; general desire for ending fighting, ; achievements of fighters and nation in arms, ; army of cannot compare with army of , , ; approaching revolution, ; people want peace at any cost, ; authority of government zero, ; agitation against emperor in full swing, ; abdication of emperor not to be avoided any longer, ; evidence of russian bolshevist influence in, ; relations between foreign office and police, ; army no longer to be trusted, ; revolution imminent behind front, ; kaiser's abdication demanded, ; revolt among troop begins, ; kaiser willing to renounce imperial throne, but not to abdicate as king of prussia, ; abdication of kaiser and crown prince summarily announced, ; conduct of prince max, - ; sacrifice of emperor, princes, and empire, ; kaiser advised to go to neutral country, ; foes unwilling to conclude peace with kaiser, ; the question of war guilt, , ; desire for peace and clean conscience, ; kaiser decides to leave country for country's good, , ; entente demands surrender of kaiser for trial, , ; state archives thrown open, ; demands for kaiser's surrender rejected, ; policy of annihilation of enemies, ; general situation before the war, ; unprecedented progress in industry, commerce, and world traffic, ; navy merely protective, ; exports and imports, ; alsace-lorraine, german soil for centuries, ; stolen by france, ; retaken in , ; and serbia, ; aim of england, france, and russia to overthrow, ; obstacles encountered in foreign policy, ; only one political course, ; seeks england's friendship, ; consents to limitation of naval construction, ; blamed for refusing alliance with england, ; "germany must never become england's dagger on the european continent" (bismarck), ; archenemy of france, ; traditional friendship between russia and, ; protests against america's violation of right, ; and president wilson's fourteen points, ; evacuated german territory and surrendered arms on wilson's guaranty, ; revolution as an aid to entente, ; financial and national strength, ; war of , ; political and diplomatic operations, ; english propaganda against, - ; wind and whirlwind, ; agitators responsible for collapse, ; english and french working classes _versus_ german working classes, ; german people must rely on themselves, ; upward march will begin again, ; will again march in the van, . "germany will be annihilated," . girandin, emilie de, . goethals, colonel, - . gorlice-tarnow, battle of, . goschen, sir edward, . gossler, gustav von, . gramont, herzog agénor, . greatcoats, english soldiers', . greater germany, . "great orient lodge," . greece, , , . grey, sir edward, , , , , , , . gröner, general wilhelm, , , . guetant, louis, . h hague, the, . hahnke, general wilhelm von, . "haldane episode," . haldane, lord, , , , , , , , , . hamburg, , , , . hamilton, sir ian, . _handbook for english naval officers_, . hanseatic ports, , , , . harden, maximilian, . hardinge, sir charles, . harkort, friedrich, . harnack, professor adolf von, . hartmann, cardinal felix von, . hayashi, tadasu, . headquarters, great general, , , , . heavy artillery, . heeringen, josias von, . helfferich, karl, . heligoland, , , ; a menace to hamburg and bremen, ; deal for, ; acquired by germany, ; kaiser at, , ; development of, ; colonel goethals enthusiastic over, . helots, . henry of prussia, prince, , . hertling, count von, , , . highcliffe dispatches, , , . hildegard, convent of saint, . hindenburg, field marshal paul von, , , , , , , , - . hinzpeter, professor george ernst, , , , , . höchst, . hohenfinow, . hohenlohe, alexander ("the crown prince"), . hohenlohe, prince, chancellor, - ; governor of alsace-lorraine, ; bismarck's opposition, , , ; attitude toward socialists, , ; retires, , . hohenzollern, house of, , , , , . holland. _see_ netherlands. holleben, ambassador von, . holstein, fritz von, , , , , - . hollmann, admiral, , , , , , . hövel, freiherr baldwin von, . homburg, , . hongkong, , . hubertusstock, . hülsen-haeseler, count george von, , . hungary, defection of, . huns, . i "idea of risk," , . _illustrated naval atlas_, . india, , . intze, . italy, , ; severs alliance with germany, ; smuggling of arms from, to albania, ; plots against william of wied, ; would break away from germany and austria, ; and the pope, , - . isvolsky, , , , . ivan the terrible, . ivangorod, . j jagow, gottlieb von, secretary of state, . jameson raid, , . januskevitch, general nikolai, . japan, ; england and, ; watchwords, ; growing power of, ; menace to russia and europe, ; reproached by kaiser, ; "prussians of the east," ; sympathies with england, ; alliance with england, ; war with russia, ; pawn of england, ; free hand in korea and china, ; portsmouth treaty, . jaurès, jean, . jenisch, martin von, . jerusalem, ; church at, , . joachimsthal, . jubilee, papal, ; queen victoria's golden, . jutland, , , , . k kaiser, bismarck's fight against, ; his regard for bismarck while prince of prussia, ; his grandfather's successor, ; in the foreign office, , ; at st. petersburg, , , , ; prophecy of russian downfall, ; conduct of russian officers toward, ; relief at bismarck's dismissal, ; and his father, ; he becomes emperor, ; and queen victoria, - ; conflict with bismarck on turkish policy, ; impressions of greece, ; constantinople impressions, ; turkish policy, ; attitude of father's friends toward, ; his attitude toward parties, - ; conflict with bismarck, ; attitude of bismarck cabinet toward, ; handles a coal strike, ; and the laboring classes, , ; his welfare fund, - ; and the vulcan shipyard, , ; presented with a laurel wreath by workingmen, ; "orphaned" young emperor, ; newspaper criticism of, , ; and heligoland, - ; and prince lobanoff, - ; finds seed of world war, ; tsar asks opinion as to growing power of japan, - ; reproaches for japan, ; at shimonoseki, ; sees complications with england, ; kruger telegram, - ; at heligoland, ; loyalty to england, ; cecil rhodes consults about cape-to-cairo railway and telegraph line, ; visits england in , ; reconciliation with bismarck, ; at friedrichsruh, ; his opinion of englishmen, - ; warns bülow against holstein, ; his reception in england at queen victoria's death, - ; at tangier, ; at the portuguese court, ; declines to visit morocco, ; decides to do so, ; reception at tangier, ; at gibraltar, ; visit to tangier, ; the construction of the cathedral and berlin opera house, ; disagreement with conservatives, - ; at windsor, ; highcliffe dispatches, , , ; "englishmen are as mad as march hares," n.; _daily telegraph_ "interview," - ; visits eckartsau and donaueschingen, ; "tell the emperor the truth for once," ; his mental anguish, ; lectured by chancellor bülow, ; "the tear flows, germania has me again," ; his attitude, ; fury of all parties against, ; appoints bethmann-hollweg chancellor, ; goes to london to funeral of edward vii, - ; his reception, ; finds fault with bethmann, ; at pless, ; at nisch, ; at orsova, ; meets bulgarian tsar, ; his franchise plan, - ; at corfu, , ; goes to london at the unveiling of statue of queen victoria, ; surprise at "verbal note" from england, ; writes the answer, ; and the naval bill, - ; defends naval program, ; and albania, , - ; meets tsar at baltisch-port, - , ; and von stephan, ; the "white drawing room," ; and the academy of building, - ; and the central (rhine-weser-elbe) canal, ; and the railways, - ; and the schools, - ; and forestry, ; interest in science and art, ; russian foresight, - ; assyriology and the achæans, - ; at corfu, , , , ; relations with the catholic church, - ; boycotted by rhenish-westphalian families, ; friendship for pope leo xiii, ; consecration of portal of cathedral at metz, ; welfare of catholic subjects, - ; union of protestant churches, ; doctor dryander's influence over, ; presents "dormition" to german catholics at jerusalem, ; and the benedictine monks, , , ; letter to hollmann, - ; his theology, ; relations with army and navy, - ; at vienna, ; his journey to norway, - ; tsar's treachery toward, ; evidence war had been prepared for in france, england, and russia in spring of , - ; his _comparative historical tables_, , , , ; abdication of, , - ; orders churches, châteaux, castles, and art treasures protected, ; receives papal nuncio, ; suggests pope make peace offer, ; deceived by vienna, , ; goes to the front, ; note to wilson, ; rumors of abdication, - ; wilson's armistice note, ; orders retreat to antwerp-meuse line, ; retreat begun, ; joyfully received by army, ; in danger from aircraft bombs, ; hostile attitude of people against, , ; minister of interior drews suggests abdication, ; "fateful consequences of my abdication," ; refuses to abdicate, ; sends delbrück to berlin, ; son declines to suggest abdication, ; address to the ministry, ; abdication no longer to be avoided, ; abdication demanded, ; calls conference, ; wishes to prevent bloodshed, ; willing to renounce imperial throne, but not to abdicate as king of prussia, ; decision too late, ; abdication summarily announced, ; as to the abandonment of the army by, ; advised to go to neutral country, ; sacrifice in vain, ; sorrows at disaffection in army and navy, ; opinions of german people as to what he should have done, ; decides to leave country for country's good, , ; entente demands his surrender for trial, , ; undecided, ; surrender debated in german circles, ; decides not to give himself up, ; letter from hindenburg, - ; the kaiser's answer, - ; silent in the face of lies and slanders, ; does not recognize the validity of sentence pronounced by any mortal judge, ; toasts the french army, ; tries to influence nicholas ii, ; tsar's obstinacy, ; receives the grand duke michael, ; suggests alliance between russia and germany, ; opinion of american women, , ; accuses wilson of wronging germany, ; counts on american people making good wrong done by wilson, ; sees dark future for america, ; wilson first to demand abdication, ; political principles, ; policy eminently peaceful, ; constant striving for peace, - ; legacies of bismarck and moltke, ; impervious to criticism, ; disappointed in german people, ; conscience is clean, ; has confidence in the lord, ; his sympathy and love for german people, ; is homesick, . kaiser wilhelm children's home, . kato, baron takaaki, . kiao-chau, - , . kiderlen, alfred von, , . kiel, , , , , , . kirschner, miss, . kluck, general alexander von, . knights of malta, german, . koehler, k. f., . kokovzeff, count vladimir, . kopp, cardinal george, , , . korea, . _krieg und revolution_, n. krueznach, . krug, archabbot, . kruger dispatch, , - , , , , , . "kulturkampf," , , , , . l labor-protective legislation, . _la gaulois_, . landtag, . langemark, . lascelles, sir frank, n. law, international, . legislation, labor-protective, . lemberg, . leo xiii, pope, ; receptions of, ; friendship between kaiser and, - , ; kaiser asks to make peace effort, - . leopold, king of belgium, . leopold, prince, . le quesnoy, . lerchenfeld, count hugo, . liberals, german, , , , , , , , , ; english, . lichnowsky, prince karl max, . liège, . _life of the prince consort, the_, . lobanoff, prince alexei borissowitsch, . lochow, ewald von, . loë, freiherr walter von, . loebell, friedrich wilhelm von, , . london, recriminations from, ; kaiser visits, , , , ; message to bethmann from, ; bishop of, ; favorite method, . lonsdale, earl hugh cecil lowther, . lotalingen, . lucanus, herman von, - , . lucas, bernard, . ludendorff, general erich von, bridge named after, ; cannot guarantee military victory, ; demands preparations for armistice, . _lusitania_, , . m machine gun, , . mackenzie, sir morell, . madrid convention, . mainz, , . "maison militaire," , . man with the hyena's eyes, the, . maria laach, abbey of, . marienburg, . market, world, , ; money, . marschall, adolf von, , n., , . martin, sir theodore, . _matin_, paris, . maubeuge, , . max, prince, imperial chancellor, , , , , , , , , , , , . maybach, albert von, , . meinecke, his excellency, . melissori troubles, . memoirs, bismarck's, , . mensing, admiral, . mentality, english and german, - . merchant marine, german, . mercier, cardinal, . mesopotamia, . metternich, count paul, . mexico, . michael, grand duke, . michaelis, von, . michell, robert, . militza, grand duchess, . miquel, his excellency johanna, , , . mirbach, count william, . "misunderstood bismarck," . modlin, . mokpo, . möller, theodore von, , . moltke, count von, , , . moltke, general von, , , . monaco, prince of, , . montenegro, ; king of, . moore, john bassett, prof., . morocco, sultan of, ; question, ; negotiations concerning concluded, ; agreement, german-french, , ; french actions in, - ; king george's views on, . moscow, , , , . most-favored-nation clause no. , . mountains, taunus, , . mudra, general bruno von, . muravieff, count michael, , . n namur, . narva, . national liberals, , , , . naval bill, german, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . "nation in arms," , . navy, germany, , , , , - , , , , , , , - , , , ; english, , , , , , . needles, the, . netherlands, the, and mediation, - . nicholaievitch, grand duke nicholas, , . nicholas i, of russia, , . nicholas ii, of russia, , , , - , , - ; visit to potsdam, ; meets the kaiser at baltisch-port, - , , , ; "i shall stay at home this year, for we are going to have war," , ; summer plans, ; hatred for england, ; his perfidy toward kaiser, ; meets poincaré, ; sazonoff suggests seizing constantinople, ; vacillation of, , , ; kaiser tries to influence, ; drafts a letter to, ; treaties with not endurable, . niemann, major, n. nisch, . o "oberkommando," . oberndorff, count alfred von, . officer corps, german, naval, , , , , ; noncommissioned, , ; army, , ; french, ; russian, . order of the black eagle, . osten-sacken, count nicholai, . "our armies will meet in berlin," . p pacelli, eugenio, papal nuncio, . palace, imperial, . paléologue, m., . _pan-germanism_, n. pan-germanism, n., , . parliament, british, , , . payer, his excellency friedrich von, . peace, offers, by germany, ; by the pope, ; by austria, ; negotiations, , . perels, privy councilor ferdinand, , . peterhof, . "petit sucrier" trial, . pfeil, count richard, . philistinism, . "piazza," , , , , . pichon, stephane, . pinon, château of, , . _pocket manual for the general staff_, . podbielski, victor von, , , . poincaré, president, , , . poix, princess of, , . poland, stags in, ; union of galicia with, . poles, strength of, . "policy of encirclement," , , , , , , , , . politics, intercourt, . pomeranian grenadiers, . pope. _see_ leo xiii. popo, gross and klein, . port arthur, . portsmouth, peace of, . posen, . post-bismarckians, . potsdam, . pound, english, . powers, great, , , . praschma, count frederick, . _problem of japan, the_, , , n. prussia, and bavaria, ; prussian-austrian frontier, ; eastern frontier threatened by russian forces, ; conditions in olden days, ; financial reform, ; forestry, ; ministry of prussian king, ; upper house, ; protestant churches, ; kings, ; east, , , . przemysl, . psychology, english national, . pückler, count maximilian, . puttkamer, robert victor von, . r radolin, prince hugo, , . raschdau, privy councilor, . ratibor, duke of, , . reichstag, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . "reichsverdrossenheit," . reinsurance treaty, , . reischach, hugo, freiherr, von, . relations, russo-prussian, , . renvers, privy councilor rudolf, . reparations, . republic, french, n.; german, . reval, . "revolution chancellor," . revolution, german, , , , , , , , , , , , , ; russian, , , , . _revue des deux mondes_, . rhine, , , , , , , . rhodes, cecil, - . richter, deputy eugen, , , . richthofen, ferdinand, freiherr von, , . ripon, bishop (boyd-carpenter, w.), . roche, m. jules, . roman catholic church, interests, ; kaiser's relations with, - ; might of, ; germany must become sword of the, ; elimination of the pope and, ; kaiser's views of the power of, - . rominten, , . roosevelt, president theodore, . rosebery, lord archibald philip primrose, . roth, arnold (swiss ambassador), . rouvier, maurice, , . rumania, bismarck and, ; campaign, ; queen of, indorses william of wied for albanian throne, . russia, , , , , , , , , ; reinsurance treaty with germany, , ; and france, ; and kiao-chau, , ; naval stations, ; tsar and kaiser, ; at shimonoseki, ; russo-french proposal to germany against england, , ; bülow and, ; chamberlain suggests alliance between england and germany against, , , ; a menace to india and constantinople, ; france, germany, and, in the far east (shimonoseki, ), ; army, ; russo-japanese war, , ; tsar nicholas visits potsdam, ; railways, ; holy synod, , ; portsmouth treaty, ; björkö agreement, , ; mobilization, , , ; field kitchen, ; tsar's treachery toward germany, ; he meets poincaré, ; sazonoff suggests seizing constantinople, ; italy would break away from austria and germany, ; france to be trusted absolutely, england probably, ; evidence russian embassy prepared bolshevist revolution in germany, ; archives, ; clamor for an outlet on the sea to southward, ; in continual internal ferment, ; possibility of foreign conflict, ; enormous demand for loans, ; french gold in, ; and the french idea of revenge, ; aim to overthrow germany, ; grouping of england, france, and, ; traditional friendship between germany and, ; weakness of nicholas ii, ; grand duke michael visits berlin, ; unreliability of troops in russo-japanese war, ; alliance between germany and, ; anglo-austrian victory over, . russo-prussian relations, . s saalburg, . st. cère, jacques, . st. petersburg, , , ; bülow at, , ; japanese military mission at, ; poincaré meets tsar at, . saint-quentin, cathedral of, . samoan islands, . san stefano, treaty of, , , ; revanche pour, . salisbury, lord, , , . sarajevo murders, . sazonoff, , , , , , , . scheidemann, philip, . schiemann, professor theodor, , - , . schlieffen, count alfred, . schlutow, privy councilor albert, , . schnidrowitz, herr, . schmidt, professor erich, . schmitz, father peter, . schneller, pastor ludwig, . schoen, wilhelm, freiherr von, , . scholz, finance minister adolf, . school reform, . schorfheide, . schorlemer, burghard, freiherr von, , . schulenburg, count friedrich von, . schulte, doctor joseph, . science, german, - . seas, freedom of, . "secret treaty" between england, america, and france, . "sedan, revanche pour," . senden, admiral gustav von, . serbia, ; austrian ultimatum to, ; note to austria, ; russian-austrian conflict of influence in, . seven years' war, . seydel, herr (celchen), . _shall it be again?_ , . shanghai, . shantung, , , . sherbatsheff, general, . shimonoseki, , . shuvaloff, prince, . siegfried line, . sigmaringen, . silesia, . simar, archbishop hubert, . simons, walter, . skagaraak (jutland), , , , . slaby, professor adolf, - . social congress, berlin, , . social democrats, , , , , , , , , . socialist law, . social problems, - . socialists, - , - , , , , , , , , , , , . society for the rights of man, . society, kaiser wilhelm, , ; german orient, , , , . solf, wilhelm, , , . somme, battle of, , . source of russian enmity, . south african republic, n. spa, , , , . spain, , . spala, , . spartacus group, . spithead, . stephan, his excellency heinrich von, , , , . sternburg, speck von, joseph, , . stettin, , . stöcker, adolf, court preacher, . stosch, admiral albrecht von, , . strassburg, . sukhomlinoff, vladimir, . surrender for trial, kaiser's, - . "suum cuique" (hohenzollern motto), . switzerland, , , , . sylva, carmen, . szittkohnen, . t tangier, kaiser at, ; result of visit, - , . tanks, , , . tardieu, . theology, kaiser's, . thiel, bishop, . thielen, . three-emperor-relationship, . tientsin, . tientsin-peking line, . _times_, london, . tirpitz, admiral von, at friedrichsruh, , ; and fleet, ; called into consultation, , , , ; takes part in negotiations, - ; and the naval bill, - ; succeeds hollmann, ; and naval program, , , , , ; and the kaiser wilhelm canal, , ; and the dreadnaught, , ; and the u-boat, ; and tsing-tao, ; his temperament, ; bethmann demands his dismissal, . togo, , . torpedo boat, . trafalgar, . treaties, berlin, , , ; yangtse, ; shimonoseki, ; portsmouth, ; versailles, , , , , , , , , ; bucharest, ; brest-litovsk, . "trente et quarante," . tribunal, enemy, and the neutral tribunal, . trott, von, , . tsaritsin, . tsarskoe selo, . tschirschky, herr von, . tsing-tao, ; development of, , , . tundutoff, prince, . turkey, questions relating to the mediterranean and, ; bismarck and, ; kaiser's policy, ; german relations with strengthened, ; his dealings with, ; and albanians, , ; kaiser's influence on, . turner, john kenneth, , , . u u-boat warfare, . ujest, duke of, . ultra-montane party, . ultra-socialists, , . "unbeaten on land and sea," . understanding, russian-english, ; anglo-french, . united states, and england and france, n., - , ; russian archives made public in, ; attitude in the war, ; "gentlemen's agreement" assures standing beside england and france in world war, ; did not belong to entente cordiale, ; did not contribute toward bringing on world war, ; germany's unfriendly answer to president wilson, ; effect of entering the war, ; her right to choose, ; president wilson's reasons fictitious, ; wall street's influence, ; great financial profit, ; germany protests against america's violation of the right, ; denial of wilson's fourteen points, ; misled by english propaganda, ; wilson's unprecedented powers, ; american women, , ; germany evacuated enemy territory and surrendered her weapons on wilson's guaranty, ; kaiser accuses wilson of wronging germany, ; counts on american people righting the wrong, ; unreliability of americans, ; national egotism, ; wilson not the american people, . "unser könig absolut, wenn er unseren willen tut," . usher, roland g., , . v valenciennes, . valentini, rudolf von, . varnbuhler, ambassador axel von, . vatican, the, , , , , , , . vendetta, , . "verbal note," - , . vercingetorix, , . versailles, , , , , , , , , . versen, general maximilian von, . "viceroy of christ upon earth," . victor emmanuel, king, . victoria, queen, of england, , , , , , , , , , , . vienna, . _vindication of great britain_, . vulcan shipyard, - . w "waffenstreckung," difference between, and "waffenstillstand," . waldersee, count von, , . wales, prince of (edward), , . wallace, sir d. mackenzie, . wall street, . _war and revolution_, n. war academy, st. petersburg, . war guilt, the question of, , , , , , , , , , , , , . war, russo-turkish, ; world, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; of , ; russo-japanese, , , , , , ; boer, , , , , , n., , , , ; boxer, ; seven years', ; english declaration of, ; balkan, ; causes of the world, ; of a consequence of the war of , ; civil, in germany, , - , , , . warsaw, . "welfare work" at the german court, . werner, admiral reinhold, . westphalian coal strike, - . "white drawing room," . "white men together against colored men," . wied, prince william of, and the albanian throne, - ; selects an english and an italian secretary, . wiesbaden, , , , . wilhelmshafen, , . wilhelmstrasse, . william i, , . william the great, , , , , , , , , , . wilmowski, his excellency von, . wilpert, monsignor, . wilson, president, against germany in , ; notes to by germany, ; armistice note of, ; unfriendly answer of, ; unprecedented powers, ; his fourteen points, ; and the english blockade, ; double dealing, ; unreliability of, ; gigantic wrong done germany, ; trapped by lloyd george and clemenceau, ; flagrant breach of faith, ; first to demand withdrawal of reigning dynasty, ; kaiser convinced reasons were good, ; president's heavy guilt, . windthorst, ludwig, . winterfeldt, general henry von, . wittenberg, schloss church at, . wittich, general adolf von, . witu, . wolter, archabbot, . women, american, , . world, anglo-saxon, . worthley, general stewart, . württemberg, . y yacht club, imperial, . yangtse treaty, . "yellow peril," , , . "you will take back alsace-lorraine," . z zanzibar, , . zedlitz, count, . * * * * * transcriber's note: apparent punctuation errors were corrected and inconsistencies were made consistent. footnotes have been moved to ends of chapters; index entries may refer to footnotes' original page numbers. alternate spellings "skagerrak," "skager-rak," and "skagaraak" retained as in the original text. alternate spellings "wilhelmshafen" and "wilhelmshaven" retained as in the original text. alternate spellings "wilhelm" and "william" retained as in the original text. page : "vout" changed to "veut" (elle veut sa revanche) page : "ou" changed to "où," as in the original german version (le moment où il réfusait) page : "at" changed to "et," as in the original german version (et je ne lui ai jamais) page : "sur" changed to "sûr," as in the original german version (car j'étais sûr) page : "confidance" changed to "confiance," as in the original german version (j'ai confiance en toi.) page : "even" changed to "event" (in any event, the tsar) page : "compaign" changed to "campaign" (organized campaign of slander) page : "chip of the old block" retained instead of more common "chip off the old block;" non-literal translation from the german "schrot und korn" page : "moeller" changed to "möller" (was the liberal, möller) page : "stocker" changed to "stöcker" (court preacher stöcker) page : "neverthless" changed to "nevertheless" (nevertheless, it stood to reason) page : "kaio-chau" changed to "kiao-chau" (the occupation of kiao-chau aroused surprise) page : "yangste" changed to "yangtse" (and the yangtse treaty) page : "through out" changed to "throughout" (effect throughout the country) page : "eulenberg" changed to "eulenburg" (count eulenburg and prince) page : "medieval" changed to "mediæval" (marvelous mediæval setting) page : "medieval" changed to "mediæval" (well-nigh mediæval magnificence) page : "inne" changed to "ihne" (provided by building councilor ihne) page : "ofter" changed to "often" (i have often pointed out) page : apparent printer's error retained: second instance of "i have often pointed out how unfortunate it was" incorrectly overwrites another line. original german version of the overwritten sentence reads "beim finanzminister v. scholz hatte ich als prinz einige zeit hospitiert und an sitzungen teilgenommen, bei denen die berühmte erzellenz meinecke eine rolle spielte." page : "bjökö" changed to "björkö" (despite the björkö agreement) page : "a" changed to "à," as in the original german version (à peu près style) page : "hülsen-haesler" changed to "hülsen-haeseler" (theater director, count hülsen-haeseler) page : "loe" changed to "loë" (von loë, for many years) page : "hollman" changed to "hollmann," as in the original german version (to you, my dear hollmann) page : "unforgetable" changed to "unforgettable" (are unforgettable to me) page : "non-commissioned" changed to "noncommissioned" to match all other instances (corps of noncommissioned officers) page : " ." changed to " ." since original text skips " ." ( . russian prisoners belonging) page : " ." changed to " ." since original text skips " ." ( . in a report) page : " ." changed to " ." since original text skips " ." ( . prince tundutoff) page : "( )" changed to " ." since original text skips " ." and to make number formatting consistent ( . when our troops advanced) page : "wordly" changed to "worldly" (by purely worldly considerations) page : "unfavorble" changed to "unfavorable" (the unfavorable influence exerted) page : "were" changed to "where" (should stay where it was) page : "aix-le-chapelle" changed to "aix-la-chapelle" (advance from aix-la-chapelle) page : "german's" changed to "germany's" (germany's foreign policy) page : "vascillating" changed to "vacillating" to match other instances (the tsar was vacillating) page : "bjökö" changed to "björkö" (björkö agreement, , , .) page : index entry for "boyd-carpenter, w., bishop of ripon" moved from end of "b" section to correct alphabetic position page : "dahn" changed to "duhn" (duhn, professor, .); index entry for "duhn, professor" moved to correct alphabetic position page : "deldrück" changed to "delbrück" (delbrück, klemens von, .) page : "donaneschingen" changed to "donaueschingen" (donaueschingen, .) page : "eckartsan" changed to "eckartsau" (eckartsau, .) page : "einen" changed to "einem" (einem, general von, , .) page : "eugenie" changed to "eugénie" (eugénie, empress, .) page : "weid" changed to "wied" (plots against william of wied, ;) page : "eckartsan" changed to "eckartsau" (visits eckartsau and donaueschingen, ;) page : "acheans" changed to "achæans" (assyriology and the achæans, - ;) page : "drysander's" changed to "dryander's" (doctor dryander's influence over, ;) page : "lengemark" changed to "langemark" (langemark, .); index entry for "langemark" moved to correct alphabetic position page : "marienbad" changed to "marienburg" (marienburg, .) page : "reichach" changed to "reischach" (reischach, hugo, freiherr, von, .) page : "rotte" changed to "roth" (roth, arnold (swiss ambassador), .) page : "weid" changed to "wied" (queen of, indorses william of wied for albanian throne, .) page : "bjökö" changed to "björkö" (björkö agreement, , ;) page : "freidrich" changed to "friedrich" (schulenburg, count friedrich von, .) page : "valentine" changed to "valentini" (valentini, rudolf von, .) page : "weid" changed to "wied" (wied, prince william of); index entry for "weid, prince william of" moved to correct alphabetic position page : "wilmonski" changed to "wilmowski" (wilmowski, his excellency von, .) every attempt has been made to replicate the original, printed. some typographical errors have been corrected; a list follows the text. some illustrations have been moved from mid-paragraph for ease of reading. (etext transcriber's note) the empress frederick [illustration] the empress frederick a memoir _with illustrations_ [illustration] new york dodd, mead and company copyright, , by dodd, mead and company preface memoirs of royal personages form not the least interesting part of the whole vast field of biography, in spite of the fact that such memoirs differ from the lives of most persons in a private station because of the reticence and discretion which are necessary, especially in regard to affairs of state and political characters. it is often not until a whole generation has passed that it is possible to publish a full biography of a member of a royal house, and in the meantime the exalted rank of the subject operates both to enhance and to diminish the interest of the memoir. this is also true in a modified degree of statesmen, of whom full and frank biographies are seldom possible until their political associates and rivals have alike disappeared from the scene. this necessary delay is a test of the subject's greatness, for it has sometimes happened that by the time a full memoir can be published the public interest in the individual has waned. by heredity, by training, by all the circumstances of their lives, royal personages form a caste apart; and though their lot may seem to some persons enviable, it is often not realised how great are the sacrifices of happiness and contentment which they are called upon to make as the inevitable consequence of their exalted position. the empress frederick presents an extraordinary example of what this exalted position may bring in the way of both happiness and suffering. her life has the added interest that, quite apart from her rank, she possessed an intensely vivid and human personality. history furnishes examples of many royal personages who have been, so to speak, crushed and stunted in their intellectual and spiritual growth by the restraints of their position. not so the subject of this memoir. the empress was a woman of remarkable moral and intellectual qualities--indeed, it is not difficult to see that, had she been born in a private station, she would have attained certainly distinction, and very possibly eminence, in some branch of art, letters, or science. her rank, far from crushing and stunting her powers, had the effect of diffusing her intellectual interests over many fields, and perhaps laid her open to the charge of dilettanteism. but such a charge cannot really be maintained in view of the solid constructive work which she achieved, both in the field of philanthropy and in that of the application of art to industry. the exacting mental discipline which she underwent at the hands of her father, though it was in some respects ill-advised as her life turned out, at any rate supplied her with the habit of mental concentration which enabled her to carry out those practical and lasting enterprises with which her name in germany should ever be associated. her early training disciplined her eager, natural enthusiasm for all that was good and serviceable to humanity, and directed it especially to the welfare of soldiers and of women and children. she was "a doer of the word and not a hearer only." all through her life one is perhaps most profoundly impressed by her inexhaustible energy; her sense of the tremendous importance and interest of life, of the wonders of knowledge, of the delights of art and literature, and of all that there is to do and to feel and to think in the short years that are given us on earth. one of the greatest dangers to which royal personages are exposed by the circumstances of their position is that of falling into an attitude of gentle cynicism. naturally they are often brought into contact with the seamy side of human nature, while at the same time they are not perhaps so well acquainted with its better side, as are persons of less exalted rank. that the cleverer among them should take up an attitude of humorous toleration of the whole human comedy is consequently very natural. it is no small testimony to the empress frederick's moral greatness that, though she had experiences in plenty of the bad side of human nature, she was never tempted to relapse into such an attitude. no one was ever less of a cynic. she was full of intense passionate enthusiasms and of a profound sympathy for the unfortunate, and the disinherited of the earth. in her warm heart there was no room for hatred or for contempt of others, and she was equally incapable of shrugging her shoulders at the foibles and follies of poor humanity. this eagerness to be up and doing was, however, combined, as has been often seen in the history of mankind, with a touching faith in the power of logic and reason. it was not exactly that the empress held too high an opinion of human nature, but she undoubtedly showed too little appreciation of human stupidity and, we must add, of human malice. she had been brought up with kindly, honourable, well-bred, and, on the whole, very intelligent people, and when she came into rough collision with less agreeable qualities of human nature, she suffered intensely. but she was not soured as a less noble nature might have been; on the contrary, she continued to the end of her life always to believe the best of people, always to assume that they are actuated by good motives, as well as by reason and common-sense. she seems to have missed the key to the oddities and the vagaries, as well as to the baser qualities of human nature, and therein lies, perhaps, the secret of the tragedy of her life. that tragedy, as we know, was greatly enhanced by the singular blows of fate. her rank had, strangely enough, given her a marriage of love and affection more real and more lasting than often falls to the lot of private persons. but the husband whom she adored, as well as two idolized children, were taken from her. it was her fate also to be constantly misunderstood; to see the purity of her motives doubted and her most innocent actions misconstrued. owing partly to the circumstances of her time, partly to her own generous and warm-hearted but imprudent impulsiveness, she failed to win the affection of her adopted country as a whole, though she certainly earned its respect and esteem. this was not the least bitter trial of her life, for she was one of those natures who have a craving for affection and understanding sympathy; and the criticism and even the hostility with which she was regarded in germany were all the more painful to her in that she could not in the least understand on what they were based. perhaps she was too deeply convinced of the superiority of england and of english institutions, and made too little allowance for the sensitiveness of a people who were then slowly emerging into a national in place of a particularist consciousness. at the same time it is certain that, however she had comported herself, she could not have escaped criticism of which she was no more than the ostensible object, and the real purpose of which is to be found in the political cross-currents of the period. in this memoir the attempt is made to draw a true picture of this singularly engaging and generous personality, who played her part in great affairs, and who suffered all reversals of fortune, the anguish of bereavement, and the pain of cruel disease, alike with unflinching courage and dignity. the materials have been found, not only in many works of history, biography, memoir and reminiscence, both german and english, some of which are little known, especially to english readers, but also in the recollection of persons who were honoured with the empress's friendship. the aim of the writer has been, while avoiding such indiscriminate laudation as really degrades the subject of it, to draw a full-length portrait of one of the noblest and most attractive characters in the long history of the royal houses of europe. table of contents page pedigree showing the family connections of the emperor and empress frederick xv chap. i childhood and girlhood ii betrothal iii opinion in both countries iv marriage v early married life vi birth of prince william vii advice from england viii death of the king of prussia ix first relations with bismarck x the war of the duchies xi home life and religion xii the austrian war: work in the hospitals xiii the franco-german war xiv public and private activities xv the crown prince's regency xvi silver wedding: the crown prince's illness xvii the hundred days' reign xviii early widowhood: fall of bismarck xix the planning of friedrichshof: visit to paris xx life at friedrichshof xxi last years illustrations the empress frederick (photogravure) _frontispiece_ facing page the prince of wales and the princess royal the princess royal, victoria adelaide mary louisa her royal highness victoria, princess royal his royal highness, prince frederick william of prussia her royal highness, princess frederick william of prussia her royal highness, princess frederick william of prussia and infant prince frederick william victor albert frederick william, crown prince of prussia, after the franco-prussian war the late empress frederick the late empress frederick pedigree showing the family connections of the emperor and empress frederick, and their descent from king james i of england ernest augustus, = sophia (grand-dau. of james i), elector of hanover, | - . - . | | +------------------------+--------------+ | | sophia charlotte, = frederick i, george i, - . | king of prussia, - . | - . | | | +--------+ +-----------------+----+ | | | frederick william i, = sophia dorothea, george ii, king of prussia, | - . - . - . | | | | +--------------+------+ | | | | frederick the great, prince augustus frederick, - . william, prince of wales, - . - . | | frederick william ii, george iii, - . - . | | | +------+--------+ frederick william iii, | | | - . george iv, | edward, | - . | duke of kent, +---------------+------+ | - . | | | | frederick william iv, william i, william iv | - . german emperor, - . | - . | | queen victoria, | - . | | +-----------+ +-----------------+ | | | emperor frederick, = victoria, princess king edward vii, - . | royal, - . | - . | | king george v. | +--------+--------+----------+-+----+------+------+---------+ | | | | | | | | emperor | henry, | victoria, | sophia, | william ii, | _b._ . | _b._ ;. | _b._ ;. | _b._ . | _m._ princess | _m._ prince | queen of the | | | irene of hesse, | adolphus of | hellenes. | six sons and | his first cousin. | schaumburg | | | | | | -lippe. | | | one daughter. | | | | three sons and | | three sons. | | two daughters. | | | | | charlotte, sigismund, waldemar, margaret, _b._ ;. - . - _b._ ;. _m._ prince _m._ prince bernhard of frederick charles saxe-meiningen. of hesse-cassel. | | one daughter. six sons. the empress frederick chapter i childhood and girlhood before the birth of the princess royal in november , no direct heir had been born to a reigning british sovereign for nearly eighty years. the prince regent, afterwards george iv, was born in , two years after his father's accession, and the death in childbirth of the prince regent's daughter, princess charlotte, when she was only twenty, was still vividly remembered. queen victoria was now but little older than princess charlotte, and the birth of her first child was regarded with a certain anxiety by the nation. it might prove to be the only child, and in that event much would hang on the preservation of its life. those members of the "old royal family" who were next in succession were not popular, and the little princess royal may truly be described as having been the child of many prayers. it was natural that queen victoria should have recourse to prince albert's confidential adviser, baron stockmar, the more so that he was a skilled physician. stockmar therefore came to london early in november. those were not the days of trained nurses, but rather of the types immortalised by dickens, and it is interesting to find the shrewd old german, characteristically in advance of his time, urging the prince to be most careful in the choice of a nurse, "for a man's education begins the first day of his life, and a lucky choice i regard as the greatest and finest gift we can bestow on the expected stranger." on november the court arrived at buckingham palace, where on the st the princess was born. "for a moment only," the queen says, "was the prince disappointed at its being a daughter and not a son." the character of the monarchy in england has changed so much, both absolutely and also relatively to the people, that it is difficult for us to realise the measure of prejudice and even contempt which still subsisted before queen victoria had had time to win the full confidence of her subjects. it is not therefore really surprising that the little princess royal should have been greeted on her first appearance with a shower of caricatures, some of them not remarkable for their refinement. still, a good deal of the rough humour lavished on the princess was kindly in its intention, though sometimes there was a sting in the tail. for instance, melbourne, the prime minister, was shown as nurse, proudly presenting the princess royal to john bull: "i hope the caudle is to your liking, mr. bull. it must be quite a treat, for you have not had any for a long time." john bull replies: "well, to tell you the truth, mother melbourne, i think the caudle the best of it, for i had hoped for a boy." melbourne's fatherly devotion to the queen was indeed a piece of luck for the caricaturists of the day. a cartoon entitled "old servants in new characters" shows him dressed as a nurse with the infant princess in his care; she is sitting in a tiny carriage, with lord john russell as outrider. it was arranged that the christening should take place in london on february , the anniversary of the queen's marriage, the infant receiving the names of victoria adelaide mary louise. even the christening of the princess royal inspired a long satirical poem. one verse ran: "this is the bishop, so bold and intrepid, a-making the water so nice and so tepid, to christen the baby, who's stated, no doubt, her objection to taking it 'cold without.'" the sponsors were prince albert's brother, the duke of saxe-coburg and gotha (represented in his absence by the duke of wellington), the king of the belgians, the queen dowager (adelaide), the duchess of gloucester, the duchess of kent, and the duke of sussex. lord melbourne remarked of the princess to the queen next day: "how she looked about her, quite conscious that the stir was all about herself! this is the time the character is formed!" the prime minister would have agreed with stockmar's view that a man's education (and presumably also a woman's) begins with the first day of life. prince albert sent a vivid account of the ceremony to the venerable dowager duchess of gotha: "the christening went off very well. your little great-grandchild behaved with great propriety, and like a christian. she was awake, but did not cry at all, and seemed to crow with immense satisfaction at the lights and brilliant uniforms, for she is very intelligent and observing. the ceremony took place at half-past six p. m., and after it there was a dinner, and then we had some instrumental music. the health of the little one was drunk with great enthusiasm. the little girl bears the saxon arms in the middle of the english, which looks very pretty." the princess royal, like her brothers and sisters, led an ideal childhood. all through her later life she often referred to the unclouded happiness of these early years, and it comes out equally clearly in the published correspondence of her sister, princess alice. in this matter both prince albert and queen victoria were in advance of their time, and the prince, especially, perceived, what was not then at all generally believed, that children could be made happy without being spoiled. perhaps the most sensible decision of the parents was that the royal children should come in contact as little as possible with the actual life of the court. not that the tone of the court was bad; on the contrary, it was singularly high, but the queen and prince albert knew the subtle danger of even innocent petting and flattery on young and impressionable minds. so it was that the royal children had very little to do with the queen's ladies-in-waiting--indeed they were only seen by them for a few moments after dinner at dessert, or when driving out with their parents. the queen and the prince entrusted the care of their sons and daughters exclusively to persons who possessed their whole confidence, and with whom they could be in constant direct communication. both were kept regularly informed of the minutest details of what was being done for their children, and as the princesses grew older they had an english, a french, and a german governess, who were, in their turn, responsible to a lady superintendent. it has been the custom of late to speak as if the children of queen victoria had been over-educated and over-stimulated. this was at least partly true of their infancy, but if they had been really over-educated, they would not have turned out as well as they did later, nor would they have all delighted in looking back with fond reminiscence to their earliest years. the princess royal was soon recognised by all those about her as intellectually the flower of the happy little flock. she was clever, self-willed, and high-spirited; learning everything that was put before her with marvellous intelligence and rapidity. her dearest friend and companion was her sister, the sweet-natured, pensive princess alice, who was next in age, after the prince of wales, to herself. the two lived for some years a life which was exactly alike. they shared the same lessons, the same amusements, the same interests; both had a strong love of art and of drawing; both were, if anything, over-sensitively alive to the claims of duty and of patriotism. naturally the most detailed and accurate impression of the princess royal's childhood is to be derived from the correspondence of sarah lady lyttelton, who was appointed governess to the royal children in april . this lady, who was then approaching her fifty-fifth birthday, was the daughter of the second earl spencer, and sister of that lord althorp who was a member of lord grey's reform ministry, and who played a notable part in politics rather by his strength of character than by any commanding ability. lady sarah married the third lord lyttelton in . it is interesting to recall that her son, afterwards the fourth lord lyttelton, married mrs. gladstone's sister, miss glynne. sarah lady lyttelton was widowed in after a singularly happy married life, and soon afterwards queen victoria appointed her a lady-in-waiting. when, some four years later, she was given the responsible post of governess to the royal children, she was already very well known to the queen and the prince consort, as well as to their closest adviser. lord melbourne, for instance, heartily approved the appointment, declaring that no other person so well qualified could have been selected. the picture of the princess royal which her guardian draws in these letters is one of an extraordinarily winning though precocious child, and if it seems to modern judgment that the precocity was rather too much stimulated, it must be remembered that we are back in the 'forties, when a scientific study of the psychology of infants was not dreamed of. moreover, it is abundantly evident that the little princess had such a way with her, "so innocent arch, so cunning simple," that it must have required no ordinary resolution to avoid spoiling her, while even the most scientific modern expert would probably have found it very hard to draw the line between over-stimulation and proper encouragement of her remarkable intelligence. lady lyttelton had her first glimpse of the princess royal in july . she describes her as a fine, fat, firm, fair, royal-looking baby, "too absurdly like the queen." her look was grave, calm, and penetrating, and she surveyed the whole company most composedly. she was shown at her carriage window to the populace; and lady lyttelton, noting the universal grin in all faces, declares that the baby will soon have seen every set of teeth in the kingdom! some months later she records that "the dear babekin is really going to be quite beautiful. such large smiling soft blue eyes, and quite a handsome nose, and the prettiest mouth." the child early acquired the appropriate pet name of "pussy," while she herself, finding lady lyttelton's name too large a mouthful, simplified it to "laddle." it may be here recorded that an absurd rumour had been circulated that the princess royal had been born blind, and it was this and other foolish gossip which first induced the queen, at the suggestion of prince albert, to issue an official court circular, which has been continued ever since. the queen had the baby constantly with her, and thought incessantly about her, with the result that the child was perhaps rather over-watched and over-doctored. she was fed on asses' milk, arrow-root, and chicken broth, which were measured out so carefully that lady lyttelton fancied she left off hungry. lady lyttelton, indeed, had some experience of this dieting craze, for her brother, lord althorp, at one time, when he had a terror of getting fat, used to weigh out his own breakfast every morning, and when he had consumed the tiny allowance used to hasten out of the room lest he should be led into temptation! the little princess was over-sensitive and affectionate, and rather irritable in temper, and with a prophetic eye lady lyttelton says that "it looks like a pretty mind, only very unfit for roughing it through a hard life, which hers may be." after the birth of the prince of wales, lady lyttelton gives us a passing, but sufficiently terrible glimpse of the anxieties which royal parents must all suffer, more or less. she mentions that threatening letters aimed directly at the children were received, and though they were probably written by mad people, nevertheless no protection in the way of locks, guard-rooms, and intricate passages was omitted for the defence of the royal nurseries; while the master key was never out of prince albert's own keeping. the princess royal spent her second birthday at walmar castle, and she is described as being "most funny all day," joining in the cheers and asking to be lifted up to look at "the people," to whom she bowed very actively whether they could see her or not. perhaps one reason why she became, and remained, so fond of france was that from infancy she was placed in the charge of a french lady, madame charlier. she was very advanced through all her childhood, especially in music and painting, yet she remained quite natural and simple in all her ways. she was only three years old when prince albert wrote to stockmar: "the children in whose welfare you take so kindly an interest are making most favourable progress. the eldest, 'pussy,' is now quite a little personage. she speaks english and french with great fluency and choice of phrase." but to her parents she generally talked german. "our _pussette_," the queen writes a few weeks afterwards, "learns a verse of lamartine by heart, which ends with 'le tableau se déroule à mes pieds.' to show how well she understood this difficult line, i must tell you the following _bon-mot_. when she was riding on her pony, and looking at the cows and sheep, she turned to madame charlier, and said: 'voilà le tableau qui se déroule à mes pieds!' is not this extraordinary for a child of three years?" it is evident that the oral teaching of languages had very sensibly preceded that of books, for when the princess is four years and three months old we hear that she is getting on very well with her lessons, "but much is still to be done before she can read." in spite of her accomplishments, she was a very natural human child, and could be naughty on occasion. lady lyttelton records about this time that the princess, after an hour's naughtiness, said she wished to speak to her; but instead of the expected penitence, she delivered herself as follows: "i am very sorry, laddle, but i mean to be just as naughty next time"--a threat which was followed by a long imprisonment. perhaps the princess royal's happiest days were spent at osborne, where she began going at the age of five. there the royal children had a cottage, built on the swiss model, to themselves. it comprised a dining-room, a kitchen, a store-room, and a museum; and in it the princesses were encouraged to learn how to do household work, and to direct the management of a small establishment. when in their swiss cottage, each princess was allowed to choose her own occupation and to enjoy a certain liberty; their parents used to be invited there as guests at meals which the princess royal and princess alice had themselves prepared. years later, when they had both married to germany, there were certain tunes which neither the princess royal nor princess alice could hear without tears rising to their eyes, so powerfully did the recollection of the happy birthdays and holidays they spent at osborne remain with them. not long before her death princess alice wrote to her mother: "what a joyous childhood we had, and how greatly it was enhanced by dear sweet papa, and by all your kindness to us!" many happy days were also spent by the princesses at balmoral. in the highlands the restraints of court life were entirely thrown off, and the queen encouraged her daughters to come into close contact with the poorer classes of their neighbours, indeed everything in reason was done to arouse their sympathies for the needy and the suffering. the princess royal showed even in her early childhood an astonishing power of vivid expression. for example, when she was about five and a half, she found mentioned in a history book the name of an ancient poet called wace. lady lyttelton thereupon observed that she had never heard of that poet till then, but the princess insisted: "oh, yes, i daresay you did, only you have forgotten it. réfléchissez! go back to your _youngness_ and you will soon remember." that the child had a natural and instinctive religious feeling is shown by another incident. she had narrowly escaped serious injury from treading on a large nail, and lady lyttelton explained to her that it had pleased god to save her from great pain. instantly the child said: "shall we kneel down?" in october the princess royal had an accident which might have been very serious. the children were riding with their ponies when the princess was quietly thrown after a few yards of cantering. she was not hurt, but the prince of wales's pony ran away with him. fortunately he was strapped into the saddle, and, after one loud cry for help, he showed no signs of fear, but cleverly kept as tight hold of the reins as he could pull. the princess royal was not at all frightened herself until she saw her brother's danger, and then she screamed out: "oh, can't they stop him? dear bertie!" and burst into tears. fortunately all ended well, and the children went on riding as fearlessly as ever. in october the royal children, crossing in the yacht _fairy_ from osborne on their way to windsor, witnessed a terrible accident--the sinking of a boatload of people in a sudden squall. it made a deep impression on all the children, and the princess royal kept thinking of it all that night. it is about this time that lady lyttelton observes: "the princess royal might pass, if not seen but only overheard, for a young lady of seventeen in whichever of her three languages she chose to entertain the company." nearly a year afterwards, lady lyttelton notes that "dear princessey" had been now perfectly good ever since they came to osborne, and she says that she continues to reflect and observe and reason like a very superior person, and is as affectionate as ever. again, in april , she notes every moment more and more "the blessed improvement of the princess royal." "she is becoming capable of self-control and principle and patience, and her wonderful powers of head and heart continue. she may turn out a most distinguished character." and a few months later she notes that "the princess royal is so enormously improved in manner, in temper, and conduct--altogether as really to give a bright promise of all good. her talent and brilliancy have naturally lost no ground: she may turn out something remarkable." all the children showed real kindness to the poor, visiting them and beginning to understand what poverty is. the princess accompanied her parents and the prince of wales on a visit to ireland in august , and afterwards went to cherbourg, that being her first visit to france. it was during that stay at cherbourg that the curé of a neighbouring village gave the young english princess a charming sketch done by one of his parishioners, a then unknown artist named jean françois millet. the princess royal and the prince of wales made their first official appearance in london on october , , when they represented their mother, who was suffering from chicken-pox, at the opening of the new coal exchange. the scene has been often described, notably by miss alcott, the author of _little women_, who was however, naturally more interested in the prince than in his sister. much to their delight, the children went from westminster to the city in the state barge rowed by twenty-six watermen, and all london turned out to greet them. they were very wisely not allowed to attend the big public luncheon, but were given their lunch in a private room. lady lyttelton mentions that the gentleman who made the arrangements was so overcome by his loyal feelings at the sight of the children that he melted into tears and had to retire! in the summer before the princess's tenth birthday, lady lyttelton records: "princess royal standing by me to-day, as i was trying a few chords on the pianoforte, was pleased and pensive like her old self. 'i like chords, one can _read_ them. they make one sometimes gay, sometimes sad. it used to be too much for me to like formerly.'" the year was memorable in the princess royal's life, for it was then that she first met her future husband. it has been said that prince frederick william of prussia, who was twenty at the time, became attracted to his future wife during this first visit of his to the english court, when he accompanied his parents and his only sister to see the great exhibition. but that is surely absurd, for the princess, charming and clever as she was, was then only a child. still the english court was probably never seen to greater advantage than during that year of miracles, and it is clear that the young prussian prince saw for the first time a royal family leading a happy, natural life, full of affection and kindness. queen victoria's children were healthy, well-mannered, and devoted to their parents, and the leader and head of the little band was the princess royal, full of eager interest in everything she was allowed to see and know, blessed with high spirits and a keen sense of humour even then already well developed. she was adored by her father, and encouraged in every way to "produce herself," to use an expressive french phrase. prince frederick william could not but note the contrast between the young people whose friendship he was making at windsor, and the shy, etiquette-ridden royal children of the minor german courts. nor could he help contrasting this delightful domestic scene with what he knew at home. at berlin he was in constant contact with a royal family profoundly disunited and unhappy. only three years before his first visit to england he had stood at the palace window and seen the first shot fired in the revolution of . although the prince had a tenderly-loved sister, he had spent a lonely, austere youth, for his parents, though outwardly on good terms, were in no sense united as queen victoria and prince albert were united--indeed, it was an open secret that the prince of prussia had only one love in his life, elise radziwill. prince frederick william's sister was only a very little older than the princess royal. the two princesses formed on this visit a friendship destined never to be broken, and henceforth the royal children called the prince and princess of prussia "uncle prussia" and "aunt prussia." the great exhibition itself undoubtedly helped to strengthen prince frederick william's attraction to england. the palace of glass in hyde park absorbed the minds and thoughts of the whole royal family, if only because all those who were old enough to understand anything of public affairs were aware that the success or failure of the enterprise would seriously affect the position of prince albert in england. the feeling among the royal family is shown by a passage in a letter of queen victoria to lady lyttelton. writing on may , the opening day of the exhibition, her majesty said: "the proudest and happiest day of--as you truly call it--my happy life. to see this great conception of my beloved husband's mind--to see this great thought and work, crowned with triumphant success in spite of difficulties and opposition of every imaginable kind, and of every effort to which jealousy and calumny could resort to cause its failure, has been an immense happiness to us both." prince frederick william, thoughtful beyond his years, and already under the spell of prince albert's kindly and affectionate interest, began to regard england as the model state, and took most significant pains to make himself better acquainted with her national life and polity. even on this comparatively short visit he found time to make an excursion to the industrial north. on his return to bonn university his admiration for england by no means waned, and his english tutor, mr. perry, gives us an interesting glimpse of the thoroughness with which he set to work to increase his knowledge: "at the request of the prince, i visited him three times a week, and had the honour of superintending his studies in english history and literature, in both of which he took special interest. his love for england and his great veneration of the queen were most remarkable, and our intercourse became very agreeable and confidential. he manifested the keenest interest for all that i was able to tell him of england's political and social life, and when our more serious studies were over, we amused ourselves by writing imaginary letters to ministers and leading members of english society." it was in truth with england that prince frederick william fell in love on this memorable visit, not with the little princess royal, though he was undoubtedly attracted, as all the people round her were, by her winning charm and quick intelligence. the idea of a marriage between the two had, however, occurred to other people, as is shown by the fact that in the following year the princess of prussia desired to visit england with a view to suggesting it. but the prince's uncle, king frederick william iv, influenced by his pro-russian consort, did not look on the proposal with favour, and it remained in abeyance, partly on account of the princess royal's youth, partly owing to the outbreak of the crimean war. [illustration: the prince of wales and the princess royal painted by command of the queen] the crimean war made an immense impression on the princess royal. for months the queen, the prince, and the elder royal children thought and talked of nothing else. the children contributed drawings to be sold for the benefit of the war funds, and we know that the princess's emotions were deeply stirred by the thought of the sufferings of the wounded and by the work of florence nightingale, which was followed with intense interest in the royal circle. the princess in fact was able at a most impressionable age to realise something of the horrors of war, and this was destined, as we shall see, to bear rich fruit. the war also led directly to the princess's first real sight of france. in august, , the princess royal and the prince of wales accompanied their parents on a state visit to the emperor napoleon iii and the empress eugénie. of this visit a story was told at the time which greatly delighted all the royal families of the continent. much as queen victoria and prince albert were respected for their solid virtues, their artistic taste in matters of dress was considered to be not always infallible. it was feared at the french court that the princess royal would be dressed, not exactly unbecomingly, but in a style which would by no means harmonise with parisian taste and parisian surroundings. the question was how to beguile her parents into dressing the child in a suitable manner. in this difficulty someone suggested a really brilliant stratagem. the height and other measurements of the princess royal were obtained, and a doll of exactly corresponding size was procured, provided with a large and exquisitely finished wardrobe, and despatched to buckingham palace as an imperial gift to the princess. the expected then happened. queen victoria transferred most of the doll's wardrobe to her daughter, with the result that the princess appeared at her best and everyone was pleased. the children stayed at the delightful country palace of saint cloud, whence they drove in every day to see the sights of paris. they were not, of course, present at evening entertainments, but an exception was made on the occasion of the great ball held in the galeries des glaces at versailles, when they supped with the emperor and empress. they both became sincerely attached to the emperor, who was himself very fond of children. indeed, his young guests enjoyed themselves so much that, according to an oft-quoted story, the prince of wales asked that his sister and himself might stay on after their parents had gone home, "for there are six more of us at home and they don't want _us_!" as to their conduct, prince albert wrote to the duchess of kent: "i am bound to praise the children greatly. they behaved extremely well, and pleased everybody. the task was no easy one for them, but they discharged it without embarrassment and with natural simplicity." this visit laid the foundation of that strong affection and admiration for france and the french which thenceforth characterised the princess royal. it was on this visit, too, that she conceived her enthusiastic adoration of the empress eugénie. her character was now beginning to be formed, and it is the key to the tragedy of her life, for a cruel fate so ordered her future that, while she was made to pay the full penalty for her failings, her many lovable and generous qualities seemed often to find none but the most grudging recognition. during the whole of her life, the princess royal had a peculiarity which only belongs to the generous-hearted and impulsive. she was apt to be violently attracted, sometimes for very little reason, to those she met, and then she would be proportionately cast down if these new friends and acquaintances did not turn out on fuller knowledge all that she had expected them to be. those who knew her well are agreed in saying that she was not a good judge of character. she was apt to see in human beings what she expected to see, not what was there. she not only liked some people at first sight, but she had an equally instinctive dislike of others, and this was an even greater misfortune, for sometimes the prejudices she thus formed were hard to eradicate. in this she was quite unlike queen victoria, who, having once formed a wrong impression, was capable of altering it entirely if she was given good reason to change her mind. as she grew up to womanhood, the princess royal was very wisely allowed to make the acquaintance of some of the brilliant men and women of the day who were admitted to her parents' friendship. one of these was the second lord granville, the "pussy" granville who was afterwards foreign minister in mr. gladstone's cabinets, and we may conclude this chapter with a quotation which shows how he could count on the young princess's appreciation of a funny story. lord granville, who went to st. petersburg as the head of the special british mission at the coronation of the tsar alexander, wrote a long letter to queen victoria, in which he requested the queen to convey his respectful remembrances to the princess royal; and he went on to advise the princess, when residing abroad, not to engage a russian maid: 'lady wodehouse found hers eating the contents of a pot on her dressing-table, which happened to be castor-oil pomatum for the hair!' chapter ii betrothal even in the days of her extreme youth, queen victoria, owing to the fact that she was the reigning sovereign, had to know much that is generally concealed from the young concerning the private lives and careers of their relatives. this is made abundantly clear in the extracts from her majesty's private diary which have already been published. in these intimate records, written by the girl queen herself, we see that lord melbourne early decided never to treat his royal mistress as a child. when she asked him a question he evidently answered her truthfully; and she must have asked him many questions concerning that group of princes and princesses who, even then, were already known as the "old royal family." they were queen victoria's own aunts and uncles; and over those who were still living when she came to the throne she possessed, as sovereign, very peculiar and extended powers. it was inevitable that they should play a considerable part, if not in her life, certainly in her imagination; and yet we hardly ever find them mentioned in the work she directly supervised and inspired--the life of the prince consort. her fear, her contempt, her horror, of the way they had conducted their lives, her dread lest even their innocent follies, and their sad tragedies of the heart, should be repeated in the lives of her own sons and daughters, were perhaps only revealed to trusted friends in her old age. it may even be doubted if queen victoria ever communicated to prince albert certain of the facts which had necessarily to be made known to her. whether she did so or not, the course she very early set herself to pursue--a course, be it remembered, in which she persisted at a time when she seemed to lack courage and energy to go on even with life itself, that is during the years that immediately succeeded the prince consort's death--proved how determined she was to secure that the lives of her children should be entirely different from those of their great-uncles and great-aunts. that her daughters, and later her grand-daughters, should marry early, and make marriages of inclination; that her sons' wives should be chosen among princesses young, charming, sympathetic, and personally attractive to each prince concerned--this was one of queen victoria's chief and most anxious preoccupations. she may have tried to guide inclination, she undoubtedly tried to arrange suitable alliances, but in no single case did she ever seriously oppose a marriage based on strong attraction. in that matter queen victoria was a typical englishwoman. to her mind, a union between a young man and a young woman based on any other foundation save strong mutual love and confidence, was vile; and all through her life she wished ardently to ensure that those marital blessings which fall comparatively often on ordinary people, but comparatively seldom on members of the royal caste, should be the lot of her immediate descendants. it was natural that the queen, with that eager enthusiasm which was so much a part of her character, especially in this still radiantly happy period of her life, should have welcomed the thought of a marriage between her eldest daughter and the future king of prussia. she had formed the most favourable opinion of prince frederick william during his brief sojourn in england in . he was a man of high and honourable character at a time when such virtues were rare among the marriageable princes of reigning families, and his parents were regarded by the queen and prince albert as among their dearest and most intimate friends. the prince of prussia had spent some time in england after the berlin revolution of , and on parting from madame bunsen, the wife of the prussian minister, he had exclaimed: "in no other state or country could i have passed so well the period of distress and anxiety through which i have gone." during his stay he had become intimate with the queen and prince albert--indeed, the queen, as was her way when she trusted and admired, had grown to be warmly attached to him. she regarded him as noble-minded, honest, and cruelly wronged; and, what naturally endeared him to her still more, he showed great confidence in prince albert, apparently always accepting the advice constantly tendered him by the prince. all through his life prince albert had seen a vision of a germany united under the leadership of prussia, and it was delightful to him to learn that it was now open to him to enter into a close relationship with one whom he naturally believed destined to play a supreme part in the regeneration of his beloved fatherland. it is not generally known that prince albert had written a pamphlet entitled "the german question explained," in which he propounded a scheme for a federated german empire with an emperor at the head. this pamphlet must have been either privately printed or withdrawn from circulation, for not even sir theodore martin, when writing the prince's life, could procure a copy. this suggested marriage of the princess royal opened out to her father the fair prospect of being able to bring about by his counsel and assistance the realisation of his disinterested ambitions for the future welfare of germany. the then king of prussia was already sick unto death; the prince of prussia had now passed middle age; everything pointed to the probability that within a reasonable time prince frederick william would become ruler of prussia and, incidentally, overlord of the german peoples. there is good authority for the truth of the now famous story of "la belle alliance." in the princess of prussia came to england on a short visit to her aunt, queen adelaide. the then prussian envoy, baron von bunsen, while waiting to be received by the princess, turned over in her sitting-room some engravings which had been sent by a print-seller; among them was that of a painting of the farm-house at waterloo named by the belgians, "la belle alliance." in the same room was a portrait of the princess royal and one of prince frederick william. the baron placed the two portraits side by side over the engraving, and when the princess entered the room, he silently pointed out to her what he had done, and she saw the two young faces above the words "la belle alliance." "a rapid glance was exchanged, but not a word was spoken," wrote baron von bunsen's son many years after. as for the young prince himself, when the question of his marriage had to be discussed, it was natural that his first thought, as also, it is clear, that of his mother, turned to england--to that affectionately united royal family who were the envied model of all european courts. the feeling of that day is indicated by a curious caricature, which was largely reproduced on the continent. it shows a huge pair of scales. in one scale, high in the air, stand huddled together the then reigning sovereigns of europe; in the other, touching the ground, proudly alone, stands the slight figure of queen victoria. under the cartoon runs the significant words, "light sovereigns." england alone among the nations had had no trouble worth speaking of in ' , and among the princesses and queens of her day it was believed that queen victoria alone possessed the faithful love of her husband. the greatest obstacle to the marriage, though neither queen victoria nor prince albert suspected it, was the king of prussia himself. it is plain that at no time did he favour the suggestion, and that at last he yielded was in response to a strong appeal made to him in person by the young prince. but, even so, the king desired the matter to be kept secret as long as possible. he did not even tell his queen, and his own immediate circle and household only heard of the betrothal when it was being widely rumoured in the german newspapers. general von gerlach came to the king one day with a sheet of the _cologne gazette_ and indignantly complained of the "absurd reports that were being spread about." it is said that the young prince was going on to england from ostend for the purpose of proposing for the hand of an english princess. the king laughed aloud, and observed: "well, yes, and it is really the case," to the amazement and consternation of von gerlach. while the matter was being thus discussed at berlin, the princess royal was kept in absolute ignorance. but the crimean war and the subsequent visit to france had quickened her sensibilities, turned her from a child into a woman, and made her in a measure ready for the event which was about to occur. it should, however, be plainly said--the more so because later historians have blamed queen victoria and prince albert in the matter--that neither of her parents was willing even to consider the idea of any immediate betrothal. on the contrary, they wished that the two young people should meet in an easy friendly fashion, and thus have a real opportunity of becoming well acquainted the one with the other. prince frederick william of prussia arrived at balmoral on september , . he allowed some days to elapse, and then, on the morning of the th, he sought out queen victoria and laid before her and prince albert his proposal of marriage. that proposal the parents of the princess royal accepted in principle, but they requested him to say nothing to their daughter till after she had been confirmed. it was their wish that, for some months at any rate, the young princess should continue the simple yet full life of unconstrained girlhood. it was therefore suggested that the prince should return in the following spring. the queen also stipulated that the marriage should not take place till after the princess royal's seventeenth birthday. after this interview with prince frederick william, prince albert wrote to stockmar: "i have been much pleased with him. his prominent qualities are great thought, straight-forwardness, frankness, and honesty. he appears to be free from prejudices, and pre-eminently well-intentioned; he speaks of himself as personally greatly attracted by vicky. that she will have no objection to make i regard as probable." prince albert wrote the following day to lord clarendon, who was then foreign minister, informing him that he might communicate the news to the prime minister, lord palmerston, and to no one else. "pam" was pleased to approve, declaring that the marriage would be in the interest, not only of the two countries, but of europe in general. queen victoria did not fail to communicate the interesting secret to her beloved uncle, king leopold, observing that her wishes on the subject of the future marriage of her daughter had been realised in the most gratifying and satisfactory manner. indeed, she spoke of the joy with which she and prince albert for their part had accepted the suitor, while she reiterated that "the child herself is to know nothing till after her confirmation, which is to take place next winter." the days went on, and a sincere effort was made to keep what had taken place from the knowledge of the young princess. letters of warm congratulation arrived from coblentz, as well as a very cordial message from the king of prussia. prince frederick william's relations were quite at one with the queen and prince albert as to the propriety of postponing the betrothal till after the princess royal's confirmation. but the plan so carefully made was not destined to be carried out. the prince was very much in love, and, as the emperor of the french truly observed in a letter to prince albert: "on devine ceux qui aiment." it was impossible to keep such a secret, and one which so closely concerned herself, from a girl as clever and mentally alive as the princess royal. what happened is best told in queen victoria's entry in her diary on september : "our dear victoria was this day engaged to prince frederick william of prussia, who had been on a visit to us since the th. he had already spoken to us, on the th, of his wishes; but we were uncertain, on account of her extreme youth, whether he should speak to her himself, or wait till he came back again. however, we felt it was better he should do so, and during our ride up craig-na-ban this afternoon, he picked a piece of white heather (the emblem of 'good luck,') which he gave to her; and this enabled him to make an allusion to his hopes and wishes as they rode down glen girnoch, which led to this happy conclusion." a few days later her father wrote to stockmar: "she manifested towards fritz and ourselves the most childlike simplicity and candour. the young people are ardently in love with one another, and the purity, innocence, and unselfishness of the young man have been on his part touching." to mr. perry, his english tutor at bonn, the prince declared that his engagement was not politics, nor ambition, "it was my heart." at the time of her engagement the princess royal was not yet fifteen, and it was arranged that the marriage should take place in two years and three months. in one respect the princess was singularly fortunate. in the majority of royal marriages, the bride has not only to make her home in a country where everything will be foreign to her, but she is sometimes even ignorant of the language, manners, and customs which she will have henceforth to adopt as her own. the princess royal, however, had to undergo no such sudden initiation. to her germany was in truth a second fatherland, if only as the birthplace of her beloved father. she had been as familiar with the german as with the english language from her birth, constantly writing long letters to german relations and friends, and keeping up--to give but one instance--a close correspondence with her parents' trusted friend, baron stockmar, who had for her the greatest affection and admiration. in a letter quoted in his memoirs stockmar says: "from her youth upwards i have been fond of her, have always expected great things of her, and taken all pains to be of service to her. i think her to be exceptionally gifted in some things, even to the point of genius." this familiarity with the german language was very well as a foundation, but prince albert considered that there was much to build on it. the whole of the princess's education was now arranged solely with a view to the life she was to lead as wife of the prussian heir-presumptive. in addition to giving her, for an hour every day, special instruction in german political and legal institutions and sociology, prince albert made her henceforth his intellectual companion, preparing her as if she was destined to be a reigning sovereign rather than a queen consort. not only did he discuss with her all current international questions, but he read her the long political letters he received daily from abroad, and discussed with her what he should write in reply. it was indeed a mental training which, particularly in those 'fifties which now seem so remote from us, would have been deemed only appropriate for the cleverest of boys in a private station. but prince albert had long known that his daughter was a good deal cleverer than most boys, and he was really running no risks in subjecting her to this intelligent preparation for her high destiny. as much as he could, he taught her himself, and such teaching as was entrusted to others he supervised with conscientious care. in one of his letters to his future son-in-law, the prince wrote: "vicky is learning many and various things. she comes to me every evening from six to seven, when i put her through a kind of general catechising. in order to make her ideas clear, i let her work out subjects for herself, which she then brings to me for correction. she is at present writing a short compendium of roman history." in order to give the princess a clear picture of german policy--or rather of german policy as prince albert then hoped it would become, that is, broad and liberal in conception and aim--he set her to translate a german pamphlet published at weimar. this essay by j. g. droysen, entitled "karl august und die deutsche politik," would be counted rather stiff reading even by experts. but the princess seems to have done her task admirably, and the proud father sent the manuscript to lord clarendon, who was genuinely impressed by the way it had been translated. he wrote back to the prince: "in reading droysen i felt that the motto of prussia should be _semper eadem_, and in thinking of his translator i felt that she is destined to change that motto into the _vigilando ascendimus_ of weimar." the statesman added the further tribute to the young translator: "the princess's manner would not be what it is if it were not the reflection of a highly cultivated intellect, which, with a well-trained imagination, leads to the saying and doing of right things in right places." chapter iii opinion in both countries the queen and prince albert, as we know, much wished to keep the fact of the princess's engagement a secret from the public. but rumour was naturally busy with the visit of the prussian prince to balmoral, and on the day after his departure, that is on october , there appeared in the _times_ a leading article, in which the proposed alliance of the princess royal was alluded to with anything but approval--indeed, in germany the article was considered grossly insulting both to the king of prussia and to germany. prince albert was very much angered at the terms in which it was written, which he described as "foolish and degrading to this country." but the article was really inspired by a consciousness of the violent dislike of england entertained by the court of prussia, and especially by the camarilla surrounding the then sovereign and his consort, and this was better realised by publicists than by royal circles in england. amazing as it may seem to us now, it is nevertheless abundantly clear that neither queen victoria nor prince albert, well served as they were in some respects by the faithful stockmar, had any idea of the real situation at the prussian court. the extreme youth of their daughter made them wish to postpone the marriage for a while, but there is no hint in any of the many letters and documents which have now come to light of the slightest fear that she would lack a good reception in that new country which she already loved as part of prince albert's fatherland. on the contrary, the prince had evidently persuaded himself that his daughter's marriage would be very popular in germany--more popular than it happened to be just then in england. like most men of high, strong, narrow character, prince albert never allowed himself to perceive what at the moment he did not wish to see. this view is entirely borne out by the letters which prince albert wrote then and later to the prince of prussia. even when addressing one who was far older than himself, and already in the position of a ruler, he always assumed the attitude of mentor rather than of adviser; and as one glances over the immensely long epistles, dealing with a state of things of which the writer could know but very little, one wonders if the future emperor william had the patience always to read them to the very end. even were there no other evidence existing, these letters remain to show how curiously lacking prince albert was in that knowledge of elementary human nature which belongs to so many commoner types of mind. the prince consort's misapprehension is the more extraordinary when we consider that his brother, duke ernest of saxe-coburg-gotha, judged the situation with accuracy. in a letter published in his memoirs the duke says: "the family events at balmoral and stolzenfels [king frederick william iv was staying at stolzenfels when he received the news of the engagement of his nephew to the princess royal and of his niece, princess louise, to the prince regent of baden] gave rise to all kinds of dissatisfaction in many reactionary circles of the prussian capital. the more the liberal papers of germany applauded, the more disagreeably was the other side affected by the unpopularity of the circumstances which threatened to strengthen, at the court of berlin, the influence of the royal relations whose sentiments were not regarded with favour. one of the peculiarities of frederick william iv was that, with reference to his personal sympathies, he would not submit to any coercion from those who were familiar with politics and affairs of state, so that the secret opponents had to beware of expressing their displeasure at the new family connections." as we have seen, the king of prussia had kept his own counsel in the affair of his nephew's engagement, which he had only sanctioned in consequence of prince frederick william's strong personal appeal. his queen was intensely pro-russian, and as a result of the crimean war had conceived a positive hatred for england and the english. as for the princess of prussia, afterwards the empress augusta, she was a woman of the highest cultivation, the old cultivation of weimar and of the french eighteenth century, but she had not much influence in berlin, where even then she was said to be strongly inclined to roman catholicism. the prince of prussia was himself not really popular. it was inevitable therefore, in all the circumstances, that the prospect of an english alliance should become a fresh cause of contention and division, in which the voices of disapproval decidedly prevailed. even after the engagement had been actually announced, prince frederick william told lady bloomfield, the wife of the british minister in berlin, that, though he was very much disappointed that the queen and prince albert wished the marriage to be postponed as the princess royal was so young, it was perhaps a good thing, for by that time party spirit in prussia would run less high. the strength of that party spirit was ominously shown on the occasion of the marriage of the prince's sister, princess louise, when the great nobility of prussia ostentatiously absented themselves from the festivities. general von gerlach, who as we have seen extracted from the king of prussia that dry admission that the rumours of the english engagement were well-founded, drew also a more interesting comment on the news from a very different personage. bismarck, who was already regarded as a man with a future, and at the time held an important diplomatic post at the diet at frankfort, wrote to the general on april , , a commentary which was in some ways extraordinarily prophetic: "you ask me in your letter what i think of the english marriage. i must separate the two words to give you my opinion. the 'english' in it does not please me, the 'marriage' may be quite good, for the princess has the reputation of a lady of brain and heart. if the princess can leave the englishwoman at home and become a prussian, then she may be a blessing to the country. if our future queen on the prussian throne remains the least bit english, then i see our court surrounded by english influence, and yet us, and the many other future sons-in-law of her gracious majesty, receiving no notice in england save when the opposition in parliament runs down our royal family and country. on the other hand, with us, british influence will find a fruitful soil in the noted admiration of the german 'michael' for lords and guineas, in the anglomania of papers, sportsmen, country gentlemen, &c. every berliner feels exalted when a real english jockey from hart or lichtwald speaks to him and gives him an opportunity of breaking the queen's english on a wheel. what will it be like when the first lady in the land is an englishwoman?" not less interesting in their way are the comments which prince albert's brother, duke ernest, made on his niece's betrothal: "the royal house of prussia has long afforded in its genealogical history a singular spectacle of waverings between the west and east of europe. while family alliances between orthodox russia and catholic austria were almost wholly excluded, the protestant faith did not at all prevent the hohenzollerns from having a strong leaning towards the family of the tsars, and the connections which were thus made undoubtedly exerted their influence upon germany. the crimean war may be regarded as a political lesson on this concatenation of circumstances. was it not most extraordinary that even before peace had been concluded with russia, the royal house of prussia was, in its matrimonial aims, on the point of exhibiting a marked tendency towards the west of europe? the union of a prussian heir-apparent with a princess of my house, with its numerous branches, was an event which at the time unquestionably seemed opposed to the russian tradition. "if we remember how at the end of the war everyone looked upon my brother as the active force against russia, though at the beginning this was by no means clear, the marriage of a prussian prince who was destined to the succession with a daughter of the queen of england necessarily possessed a decided political character. my brother, however, loved his eldest daughter too well to be influenced entirely by political considerations in respect of her marriage; and i often had an opportunity of observing that the chief wish of his heart for many years had been to see his favourite child occupy some exalted position. with paternal ambition, he was wont to picture to himself his promising daughter, whose abilities had been early developed, upon a lofty throne, but, more than all, i know that he was anxious to make her also truly happy. the prince of prussia, above all other scions of reigning houses, afforded the greatest hopes for the future." there was another court at which the news of the engagement was regarded with mixed feelings. the emperor napoleon at first received the anglo-prussian alliance almost with dismay. he feared that, by strengthening prussian influence, it would have the effect of weakening, and possibly destroying, the french understanding with england. but he allowed himself to be reassured by lord clarendon, who declared that queen victoria's affection for the house of prussia was private and personal, and had nothing to do with politics. prince frederick william, returning by way of paris as a successful suitor, had brought the emperor a letter from the queen, and to it napoleon replied, rather coldly: "we like the prince very much, and i do not doubt that he will make the princess happy, for he seems to me to possess every characteristic quality belonging to his age and rank. we endeavoured to make his stay here as pleasant as possible, but i found his thoughts were always either at osborne or at windsor." it was on this visit of the prince's that the empress eugénie made the following comments in a letter to an intimate friend, which, in view of those later events in which moltke played so great a part, possess a pathetic significance: "the prince is a tall, handsome man, almost a head taller than the emperor; he is slim and fair, with a light yellow moustache--in fact, a teuton such as tacitus described, chivalrously polite, and not without a resemblance to hamlet. his companion, herr von moltke (or some such name), is a man of few words, but nothing less than a dreamer, always on the alert, and surprising one by the most telling remarks. the germans are an imposing race. louis says it is the race of the future. bah! nous n'en sommes pas encore là." there was also a neighbouring sovereign to whose opinion all those who appreciate the complex dynastic relations of that period will be inclined to attach importance. this was the king of the belgians. though he was in no sense the noble, selfless human being queen victoria took him to be, king leopold was nevertheless a very shrewd judge of human nature, and had evidently seen enough of the princess royal to note certain peculiarities in her character which had escaped the loving, partial eyes of her parents. this is clearly shown in a letter written by queen victoria in the december of . in this letter there is a passage, prefaced by "now one word about vicky," in which the queen protests that she has never seen her daughter take any predilection to a person which was not _motivé_ by a certain amiability, goodness, or distinction of some kind or other. she goes on to say: "you need be under no apprehension whatever on this subject; and she has moreover great tact and esprit de conduite." this surely makes it clear that king leopold was aware of the sudden fancies which the princess royal, even at that early age, often showed to those who attracted her, and that for no sufficient reason. probably in this case he was thinking of the princess royal's passionate attachment to the empress eugénie--an attachment which lasted all through her youth, and which perhaps had more justification for it than some other of her enthusiasms for individuals. in england, at any rate at first, the news of the engagement was received rather coldly, almost as if it was a _mésalliance_, though the knowledge that it was really a love-match did much to reconcile public opinion. the following passage from a letter written by mr. cobden, at this time the triumphant protagonist of the anti-corn law league, reflects as well as anything the general feeling that the bridegroom was indeed "a lucky fellow": "it is generally thought that the young prince frederick william of prussia is to be married to our princess royal. i was dining _tête-à-tête_ with mr. buchanan, the american minister, a few days ago, who had dined the day before at the queen's table, and sat next to the princess royal. he was in raptures about her, and said she was the most charming girl he had ever met: 'all life and spirit, full of frolic and fun, with an excellent head, and a _heart as big as a mountain_'--those were his words. another friend of mine, colonel fitzmayer, dined with the queen last week, and, in writing to me a description of the company, he says that when the princess royal smiles, 'it makes one feel as if additional light were thrown upon the scene.' so i should judge that this said prince is a lucky fellow, and i trust he will make a good husband. if not, although a man of peace, i shall consider it a _casus belli_!" to the bride's parents, if not to herself and her betrothed, the fact that the marriage negotiations were not quite pleasantly conducted must have been not only painful but astonishing. it was actually suggested that the ceremony should take place in berlin, but queen victoria very properly scouted the proposal, which was really in the circumstances disagreeably like an insult. she wrote in her emphatic, italicising way to lord clarendon, the foreign secretary: "the queen _never_ could consent to it, both for public and private reasons, and the assumption of its being _too much_ for a prince royal of prussia to _come_ over to marry _the princess royal of great britain in_ england is too _absurd_, to say the least. the queen must say that there never was even the _shadow_ of a _doubt_ on _prince frederick william's_ part as to _where_ the marriage should take place, and she suspects this to be the mere gossip of the berliners. whatever may be the usual practice of prussian princes, it is not _every_ day that one marries the eldest daughter of the queen of england. the question therefore must be considered as settled and closed." in view of all this and of what was to befall the princess royal in the land for which she even then cherished so fond an affection, and of which she had already formed so high an ideal, there is something intensely pathetic in the blindness of her parents to the real conditions of her future life. this blindness is shown with amazing clearness in the sentence, certainly inspired and very likely written by queen victoria herself, which concludes the chapter, in sir theodore martin's _life of the prince consort_, dealing with the betrothal of the princess royal: "no consideration, public or private, would have induced the queen or himself [_i.e._, prince albert] to imperil the happiness of their child by a marriage in which she could not have found scope to practise the constitutional principles in which she had been reared." the idea that the prussia of that day, or indeed of any day, would have amiably afforded a foreign princess scope to practise constitutional principles of any sort seems extraordinary, and yet, as we shall see, there was some little justification for it at the time, though it was quickly swept away by the course of events. the confirmation of the princess royal took place on march , , in the private chapel at windsor castle. the princess was led in by her father, followed by her godfather, the king of the belgians, who had come to england on purpose, and the royal children and most of the members of the royal family were present, as were also the ministers, the great officers of state, and many of those whom disraeli was wont to describe as the "high nobility." in fact, everything was done to make the rite a state ceremony--a striking contrast to the more recent practice by which the princes and princesses of england have all been confirmed privately, in the presence of their near relatives only. the second lord granville, the statesman who shared with the princess royal the flattering nickname of "pussy," wrote to lord canning this lively account of the confirmation. the inaudible archbishop was j. b. sumner; his lordship of oxford was the samuel wilberforce, called by his enemies "soapy sam," who played a conspicuous part in the court and social life of the period: "had a slight spasm in bed; sent for meryon. it was well before he came. he desired me not to go to windsor for the confirmation of the princess royal. i went, and am none the worse; my complexion beautiful. it was an interesting sight. as pam observed, 'ah, ah! a touching ceremony; ah, ah!' the king of the belgians the same as i remember him when i was a boy, and he used to live for weeks at the embassy, using my father's horses, and boring my mother to death. the princess royal went through her part well. the princess alice cried violently. the archbishop read what seemed a dull address; luckily it was inaudible. the bishop of oxford rolled out a short prayer with conscious superiority. pam reminded lord aberdeen of their being confirmed at cambridge, as if it was yesterday. i must go to bed, so excuse haste and bad pens, as the sheep said to the farmer when it jumped out of the fold." there was certainly too much pomp about the princess royal's confirmation for the taste of another spectator, princess mary of cambridge, afterwards duchess of teck. she succeeds in drawing in a few words a remarkably vivid picture of what happened: "the ceremony was very short (the service for the day being omitted) and not solemn enough for my feeling, although the anthems were fine and well-chosen. it was followed by a great deal of standing in the green drawing-room, where the queen held a kind of tournée in honour of the ministers, who had come down for the confirmation; after which dear victoria, who looked particularly nice, and was very much impressed with the solemnity of the rite, received our presents on the occasion, and about half-past one we sat down to lunch _en famille_ as usual." it was on april , , that the betrothal was publicly announced on the conclusion of the crimean war, and in the following month the princess appeared as a débutante at a court ball at buckingham palace. this spring "fritz of prussia," as his future father-in-law called him, came to pay a long visit to his fiancée. it is curious that queen victoria, in spite of her strong belief in love as the only right foundation for an engagement, had by no means the english notion of discreetly leaving the young people a good deal alone together. on the contrary, she seems to have entirely adopted the continental practice of chaperonage; a passage in a letter written by her to king leopold shows that she was always with them, and that she naturally found it very boring, but she endured it because she thought it was her duty. prince frederick william was still in england when in june the princess royal met with rather a terrifying accident, which is worthy of mention because it showed how strong was her character and how high her physical courage. the princess was sealing a letter at her writing-table, when suddenly the sealing-wax flamed out and the flames caught her muslin sleeve. her english governess, miss hildyard, was fortunately seated close to her, and her music mistress, mrs. anderson, was also in the room, giving princess alice a lesson. they sprang at once to the princess's assistance and beat out the flames with a hearthrug; but not before her right arm had been severely burned from below the elbow to the shoulder. she showed the greatest self-possession and presence of mind, her first words being: "send for papa, and do not tell mamma till he has been told." the princess royal had a long engagement, probably the longest that any lady of her rank has had, at least in modern times, but the months as they went by were fully occupied with her father's sedulous preparation of her intellect, as well as with the more frivolous preparations of her trousseau. in may parliament voted for the princess a dowry of £ , and an annuity of £ --a provision which does not now seem to have erred on the side of generosity. but it must be remembered that what economists call "the purchasing power of the sovereign" was considerably greater then than now, and to find the modern equivalent of these sums one would have to add probably as much as per cent. prince frederick william, attended by count moltke, paid another visit to england in june, and made his first public appearance with the princess at the manchester art exhibition. the young couple seem to have corresponded on quite the old-fashioned voluminous scale. after the prince had gone home again in august, moltke writes to his wife that the princess had written a letter of forty pages to the prince, and he adds the sarcastic comment: "how the news must have accumulated!" whatever the aide-de-camp may have thought, the prince himself was certainly a happy lover in his own characteristically serious way. we find him a few months later writing to his french tutor, the swiss pastor godet, a long and moving letter, in which he alludes very frankly to the difficulties which even then surrounded his position. then, going on to speak of his coming marriage, he says: "yes, if you knew my betrothed you would, i am sure, thoroughly understand my choice, and you would realise that i am truly happy. i can but bless and thank god to have given me the happiness of finding in her everything which ensures the true union of hearts, and repose and calm in home life, for i do not care, as you know, for the world, which i find empty and with very little happiness in it." the seventeenth birthday of the princess royal, the last she was to spend with her family before her marriage, was saddened by the death of queen victoria's half-brother, prince leiningen. the royal family were all extremely fond of him, especially the princess royal, to whom he had ever shown himself a most affectionate and kindly uncle. this was the first time the princess had come in close contact with death, and it made the more impression on her owing to the passionate grief which her grandmother, the duchess of kent, showed at the loss of her only son. the wedding had now been fixed for january , , and already in october the bride had taken leave of those places in balmoral which were dear to her. of this prince albert writes to the widowed duchess of gotha: "vicky suffers from the feeling that all those places she visits she must look upon for the last time as her home. the maid of orleans with her 'joan says to you an everlasting farewell,' often comes into my mind." and in another letter: "the departure from here will be heavy for all of us, particularly for vicky who is going away for good, and the good highland people who love her so much say: 'i suppose we shall never see you again,' which naturally upsets her." these rather sentimental farewells had been going on for a long time. queen victoria, in a letter a fortnight before the wedding, says that her daughter had had ever since january a succession of emotions and leave-takings which would be most trying to anyone, but particularly so to so young a girl with such powerful feelings. the loving mother goes on to say that she is much improved in self-control, and is so clever and sensible that her parents can talk to her of anything. her other parent, in a letter to his grandmother, spoke of the frightful gap which the separation for ever of this dear daughter would make in the family circle, and then, with his characteristic optimism, he adds that in germany people seem ready to welcome her with the greatest friendliness. here perhaps is the place to consider what sort of a country was the "germany" whither prince albert was sending his cherished daughter as future queen. to begin with, it was not yet "germany" at all; it was prussia. we are well accustomed in the twentieth century to regard germany as one of the great powers of europe, with her enormous army and her expanding navy and mercantile marine, with all else for which the fatherland stands in science, letters, and industry. it is necessary, however, to realise that the princess royal's marriage was to bring her to what was then a very different country. prussia was in fact not to be compared in power, wealth, or security with the princess's native land. including silesia, brandenburg, and westphalia, the country only had a population of some seventeen millions in , or about that of england alone. the revenue was comparatively insignificant, but the army numbered , officers and men; the navy had ships, officers and men, and guns; while the mercantile marine is given as ships of , tons. the germanic confederation had superseded the confederation of the rhine formed by napoleon. it included austria, as well as prussia and the various german states, and by the nature of its constitution it was weak where it should have been strong. the jealousy felt by austria for the hegemony of prussia among the smaller german states, and the internal jealousies of those states among themselves, almost doomed the confederation to impotence. indeed, the primary object of the confederation, namely, the maintenance of the external security of the states, was in constant danger, owing partly to the complicated regulations for voting in the diet, partly to a military system which was full of compromises and certain to produce, on the outbreak of war, a maximum of confusion and a minimum of efficiency. the constitutional liberties of the individual states had been gravely menaced by a series of feudal decrees passed between and ; while in the confederation had actually suppressed the constitution of hesse-cassel. in prussia itself the manteuffel ministry had been working, beneath the cloak of the constitutional reforms granted in , to establish a centralised police state on the model of the french préfet system combined with typical prussian mediævalism. [illustration: the princess royal victoria adelaide mary louisa born november , ] it was in that king frederick william iv uttered the famous words that he would never allow a piece of written parchment to be placed, like a second providence, between god in heaven and his country. now the constitution of only two years later did seem to be such a piece of written parchment, but this was only in appearance, because it did not settle by organic laws the crucial questions of political liberty, but left them in practice to the chambers which it called into existence. the task of baron manteuffel's ministry, therefore, resolved itself into obtaining a sufficiently reactionary parliament which could be trusted to remove the foundations of political liberty laid by the great constitutional lawgiver, stein, and his follower, hardenburg. it was not till , three years before the princess royal's marriage, that a thoroughly servile chamber was obtained. the two principal reforms effected by stein, namely, the localising of the administration and the independence of officials, were abolished, and the administration was carefully centralised on the french model, and the whole official class was made dependent upon the government. this latter object was effected by an ingenious theory--that any opposition to a constitutional ministry which enjoyed the confidence of the sovereign became constructively an offence against the crown, and therefore punishable. it is significant that it took five years before a really servile chamber was obtained, even by these methods. the prussian mediævalists did not altogether like the police supremacy established by the manteuffel ministry; but, on the other hand, by their alliance with the ministry they had the satisfaction of staving off certain reforms which they especially dreaded, notably the equalisation of the land tax, the removal of the rural police from the control of the lord of the manor, and the liberal organisation of the rural communes. moreover, they were given practical freedom to do what they liked in ecclesiastical and educational administration. it must be remembered that, while england has had from time to time her mediævalists, they have, on the whole, failed to make any real impression on politics, and have exerted their influence only in the province of religious belief and in that of art. it was different in prussia, where feudalism as a practical system had a much longer life. numerous small states within the kingdom of prussia, with their feudal powers and rights, had to be broken up by the great elector as a first step towards a prussian nationality. it was really by continuing the great elector's work in this respect that stein had aroused that national movement which eventually threw off the french yoke. but frederick william iii had set himself to reorganise the provincial states on the basis of a strict observance of their historical rights. this reorganisation did not satisfy the mediævals because it failed to provide any real check upon the bureaucratic character of the remaining part of the king's administration. at the time of the princess royal's marriage there still survived an extraordinary number of little states, each with its ruling family, and for the most part as poor as they were proud. chapter iv marriage it is the universal testimony that at the time of her wedding the princess royal was at the height of her youthful beauty and charm. this is not the mere flattery of courtiers, to whom all royal ladies are beautiful as a matter of course; it is the opinion expressed by a multitude of observers in contemporary private letters, diaries, and reminiscences. and of all the descriptions of her at this time in existence the most lifelike we owe to a german lady of rank, one of the princess's future ladies-in-waiting, countess walpurga de hohenthal, who afterwards married sir augustus berkeley paget, british ambassador in rome and vienna. this lady gives in her book of reminiscences, _scenes and memories_, this vivid vignette of her royal mistress as she looked just before her marriage: "the princess appeared extraordinarily young. all the childish roundness still clung to her and made her look shorter than she really was. she was dressed in a fashion long disused on the continent, in a plum-coloured silk dress fastened at the back. her hair was drawn off her forehead. her eyes were what struck me most; the iris was green like the sea on a sunny day, and the white had a peculiar shimmer which gave them the fascination that, together with a smile showing her small and beautiful teeth, bewitched those who approached her. the nose was unusually small and turned up slightly, and the complexion was ruddy, perhaps too much so for one thing, but it gave the idea of perfect health and strength. the fault of the face lay in the squareness of the lower features, and there was even a look of determination about the chin, but the very gentle and almost timid manner prevented one realising this at first. the voice was very delightful, never going up to high tones, but lending a peculiar charm to the slight foreign accent with which the princess spoke both english and german." as we have already seen, queen victoria felt strongly that it was not every day that even a future king married the daughter of a queen of england, and she was resolved to surround the ceremony with all possible pomp and circumstance. the reader may for the most part be spared the details of these functions. what is interesting to us, looking back on that age which seems so remote from our own, is the curious note of tearful sentiment, which some would now call by a harsher name, yet mingled with high hopes and pathetic confidence in the future. the court spent the early part of january at windsor castle, and on the th, the day of the departure for london, the queen wrote in her diary: "went to look at the rooms prepared for vicky's 'honeymoon.' very pretty. it quite agitated me to look at them. poor, poor child! we took a short walk with vicky, who was dreadfully upset at this real break in her life; the real separation from her childhood! she slept for the last time in the same room with alice. now all this is cut off." and we may quote, too, a characteristic passage from a letter written to the queen by her sister, the princess of hohenlohe-langenburg, with reference to another young royal bride: "poor little wife now! i have quite the same feeling as you have on these dear young creatures entering the new life of duties, privations, and trials, on their marrying so young. alas! the sweet blossoms coming in contact with rude life and all its realities so soon, are changed into mature and less lovely persons, so painful to a mother's eye and feeling; and yet we must be happy to see them fulfil their _bestimmung_ (destiny); but it is a happiness not unmixed with many a bitter drop of anguish and pain." by the th all the royal guests had arrived in london, among them the king of the belgians with his sons, the prince and princess of prussia, and princes and princesses in such numbers that the accommodation of buckingham palace was taxed to the uttermost. "such a house-full," says the queen in her diary. "such bustle and excitement!" between eighty and ninety sat down to dinner at the royal table daily. "after dinner," says the same record, "a party, and a very gay and pretty dance. it was very animated, all the princes dancing." the first of the public festivities was a performance at her majesty's theatre of _macbeth_, by helen faucit and phelps, while mr. and mrs. keeley appeared in a farce. this was the first of four representations, organised at the queen's command in honour of the marriage, and each was made the occasion of an extraordinary popular demonstration. a great ball, at which over a thousand guests were present, was given at the palace, and there was also a state performance of balfe's opera, _the rose of castille_. prince frederick william arrived on january , and on the next day queen victoria writes: "poor dear vicky's last unmarried day. an eventful one, reminding me so much of mine. after breakfast we arranged in the large drawing-room the gifts (splendid ones) for vicky in two tables. fritz's pearls are the largest i ever saw, one row. on a third table were three fine candelabra, our gift to fritz. vicky was in ecstasies, quite startled, and fritz delighted." more magnificent presents kept on arriving, and the queen goes on: "very busy--interrupted and disturbed every instant! dear vicky gave me a brooch (a very pretty one) before church with her hair; and, clasping me in her arms, said: 'i hope to be worthy to be your child!'" at the end of the day the queen and prince "accompanied vicky to her room, kissed her and gave her our blessing, and she was much overcome. i pressed her in my arms, and she clung to her truly adored papa with much tenderness." of the wedding itself queen victoria made herself the historian for all time, and we cannot do better than quote her vividly emotional account of the scene: "monday, january .--the second most eventful day in my life as regards feelings. i felt as if i were being married over again myself, only much more nervous, for i had not that blessed feeling which i had then, which raises and supports one, of giving myself up for life to him whom i loved and worshipped--then and ever! got up, and, while dressing, dearest vicky came to see me, looking well and composed, and in a fine quiet frame of mind. she had slept more soundly and better than before. this relieved me greatly. gave her a pretty book called _the bridal offering_." before the procession started for the chapel royal at st. james's palace, the queen and the princess were daguerreotyped together with prince albert, but, says the queen, "i trembled so, my likeness has come out indistinct." her majesty continues: "then came the time to go. the sun was shining brightly; thousands had been out since very early, shouting, bells ringing, &c. albert and uncle, in field marshal's uniform, with bâtons, and the two eldest boys went first. then the three girls in pink satin trimmed with newport lace, alice with a wreath, and the two others with only _bouquets_ in their hair of cornflowers [the favourite flower of queen louise of prussia and of all her children and descendants], and marguerites; next the four boys in highland dress. the flourish of trumpets and cheering of thousands made my heart sink within me. vicky was in the carriage with me, sitting opposite. at st. james's took her into a dressing-room prettily arranged, where were uncle, albert, and the eight bridesmaids, who looked charming in white tulle, with wreaths and bouquets of pink roses and white heather. "then the procession was formed, just as at my marriage, only how small the _old_ royal family has become! mama last before me--then lord palmerston with the sword of state--then bertie and alfred. i with the two little boys on either side (which they say had a most touching effect) and the three girls behind. the effect was very solemn and impressive as we passed through the rooms, down the staircase, and across a covered-in court. "the chapel, though too small, looked extremely imposing and well,--full as it was of so many elegantly-dressed ladies, uniforms, &c. the archbishop, &c. at the altar, and on either side of it the royal personages. behind me mama and the cambridges, the girls and little boys near me, and opposite me the dear princess of prussia, and the foreign princes behind her. bertie and affie, not far from the princess, a little before the others. "the drums and trumpets played marches, and the organ played others as the procession approached and entered. there was a pause between each, but not a very long one, and the effect was thrilling and striking as you heard the music gradually coming nearer and nearer. fritz looked pale and much agitated, but behaved with the greatest self-possession, bowing to us, and then kneeling down in a most devotional manner. then came the bride's procession and our darling flower looked very touching and lovely, with such an innocent, confident, and serious expression, her veil hanging back over her shoulders, walking between her beloved father and dearest uncle leopold, who had been at her christening and confirmation. "my last fear of being overcome vanished on seeing vicky's quiet, calm, and composed manner. it was beautiful to see her kneeling with fritz, their hands joined, and the train borne by eight young ladies, who looked like a cloud of maidens hovering round her, as they knelt near her. dearest albert took her by the hand to give her away. the music was very fine, the archbishop very nervous; fritz spoke very plainly. vicky too. the archbishop omitted some of the passages." sarah lady lyttelton, too, noted the calm and rather serious, though happy and loving, expression of the princess's look and manner--"not a bit of bridal missiness and flutter." another eye-witness of the scene supplies a moving touch: "the light of happiness in the eyes of the bride appealed to the most reserved among the spectators, and an audible 'god bless you!' passed from mouth to mouth along the line." the queen's description proceeds: "when the ceremony was over, we both embraced vicky tenderly, but she shed not one tear, and then she kissed her grandmama, and i fritz. she then went up to her new parents, and we crossed over to the dear prince and princess [of prussia], who were both much moved, albert shaking hands with them, and i kissing both and pressing their hands with a most happy feeling. my heart was so full. then the bride and bridegroom left hand in hand, followed by the supporters, the 'wedding march' by mendelssohn being played, and we all went up to the throne room to sign the register. here general congratulations, shaking hands with all the relations. i felt so moved, so overjoyed and relieved, that i could have embraced everybody." the young couple drove off to windsor for a honeymoon of only two days, as was then the custom with royal personages. "we dined," says queen victoria, "_en famille_, but i felt so lost without vicky." in the evening, however, there came a messenger from windsor with a letter from the bride, containing the news that the eton boys had dragged the carriage of the prince and princess from the railway station to the castle, and that they had been welcomed by immense crowds and with the greatest enthusiasm. all london, too, was illuminated, and there were great rejoicings in the streets. the duke of buccleuch made it his business to mingle with the humblest people in the crowds, and he afterwards greatly pleased the queen with his account of their simple, hearty enthusiasm. of those two days at windsor, the bride, thirty-six years later, when she was already a widow, spoke to her old friend, bishop boyd carpenter. she received the bishop in the red brocade drawing-room which overlooks the long walk, a room which awakened memories: "we spent," she said, "our honeymoon at windsor. this room was one of those we occupied. it was our private sitting-room. i remember how we sat here--two young innocent things--almost too shy to talk to one another." the court moved to windsor on the th, and on the following day the bridegroom was invested with the order of the garter. on the th the court returned to town, and in the evening the queen and prince albert, and the bridal pair, went in state to her majesty's theatre. the audience demanded the national anthem twice before and once after the play, two additional verses appropriate to the occasion being added. prince frederick william led his bride to the front of the royal box, and they stood to receive the acclamations of the house. on january the queen held a drawing-room, at which there were no presentations, "only congratulations," and the princess wore her wedding dress and train. in the evening the eight bridesmaids, with their respective parents, came, but though there were no young men, they all danced till midnight. the dreaded separation was fast approaching. those were days in which people of all classes seemed to give freer play to their natural emotions than they do now, and the actual parting at buckingham palace may almost be described as agonising. "i think it will kill me to take leave of dear papa!" were the words of the princess to her mother. "a dreadful moment, and a dreadful day," wrote the queen. "such sickness came over me, real heartache, when i thought of our dearest child being gone, and for so long--all, all being over! it began to snow before vicky went, and continued to do so without intermission all day. at times i could be quite cheerful, but my tears began to flow afresh frequently, and i could not go near vicky's corridor." even the less emotional but not less warm-hearted princess mary of cambridge writes in her diary of february : "a very gloomy, tearful day! at eleven-thirty we drove to the palace to see poor dear vicky off. it was our intention to wait downstairs; but we were sent for, and found dear victoria [the queen] surrounded by a number of crying relations in the queen's closet. it was a sad, a trying scene. we all accompanied her to the carriage, and, after bidding her adieu, mamma and i hurried to one of the front rooms to see her drive up the mall." there exists a private photograph, or rather a daguerreotype, taken of the princess royal that morning, her face unrecognisable, swollen with tears. it may be imagined how delighted the populace were when they saw that, though it was snowing hard, their princess had chosen an open carriage for her drive through the london she even then loved so well and went on loving to the very end. the route taken was through the mall, fleet street, cheapside, and over london bridge, and in spite of the terrible weather enormous crowds gathered to see the last of the bride. the stalwart draymen of barclay and perkins's brewery shouted out to the bridegroom in menacing tones, "be kind to her or we'll have her back!" the princess was accompanied by her father and her two elder brothers; and at gravesend, where the royal yacht, the _victoria and albert_, was waiting to take her and her bridegroom across the channel, the scene was again most affecting. the prince consort was deeply moved but he was determined to appear composed, and he kept his look of serenity. not so the prince of wales and prince alfred; they wept openly, and their example was followed by many, for there was something profoundly moving in this departure of the daughter of england--as cobden had called her--for a country of which the great majority of englishmen and englishwomen at that time knew little or nothing. perhaps the general feeling among the educated classes of the england of that day is best reflected in a leading article in the _times_, which said: "we only trust and pray that the policy of england and of prussia may never present any painful alternatives to the princess now about to leave our shores; that she will never be called on to forget the land of her birth, education, and religion; and that, should the occasion ever occur, she may have the wisdom to render what is due both to her new and her old country. there is no european state but what changes and is still susceptible of change, nor is this change wholly by any internal law of development. we influence one another. england, indeed, has ever been jealous of foreign influence, and she would be the last to repudiate the honour of influencing her neighbours. for our part, we are confident enough of our country to think an english princess a gain to a prussian court, but not so confident to deny that we may be mutually benefited, and europe through us, by a greater cordiality and better acquaintance than has hitherto been between the two countries." chapter v early married life the bridal journey to berlin was in the nature of a triumphal progress, and it was well that the prince and princess were both young and full of healthy vitality. at brussels they were present at a great court ball given in their honour, but early the next morning they were again on their route, and all the way there were receptions, addresses of congratulations, &c., to be received and answered. it was probably at brussels that the princess received a touching letter from her father, written on the day after her departure from england:-- "my heart was very full when yesterday you leaned your forehead on my breast to give free vent to your tears. i am not of a demonstrative nature, and therefore you can hardly know how dear you have always been to me, and what a void you have left behind in my heart: yet not in my heart, for there assuredly you will abide henceforth, as till now you have done, but in my daily life, which is evermore reminding my heart of your absence." three days later prince albert again wrote to her: "thank god, everything apparently goes on to a wish, and you seem to gain 'golden opinions' in your favour; which naturally gives us extreme pleasure, both because we love you, and because this touches our parental pride. but what has given us most pleasure of all was the letter, so overflowing with affection, which you wrote while yet on board the yacht. poor child! well did i feel the bitterness of your sorrow, and would so fain have soothed it. but, excepting my own sorrow, i had nothing to give; and that would only have had the effect of augmenting yours." to stockmar, whose son, baron ernest stockmar, was appointed treasurer to the princess royal on her marriage, he wrote: "throughout all this agitated, serious and very trying time, the good child has behaved quite admirably, and to the mingled admiration and surprise of every one. she was so natural, so childlike, so dignified and firm in her whole bearing and demeanour, that one might well believe in a higher inspiration. i shall not forget that your son has proved himself in all ways extremely useful, and takes and holds his ground, which, among the berliners, is no easy matter." the progress to berlin was, at any rate, by no means dull; it was marked by plenty of incident, sometimes not of a pleasant nature. for instance, when the bridal pair were entertained at a great court banquet at hanover, whether by malice, or more probably by sheer stupidity, the feast was spread on the very gold dinner-service which had been a subject of dispute between queen victoria and king ernest, a dispute which had been decided by the english law officers of the crown in favour of hanover. the princess royal, who knew all about the affair, felt deeply hurt, but she did not allow this to be noticed except by her intimate entourage. in magdeburg cathedral the crowd became so obstreperous in their eager desire to see the princess that shreds of her gown, a dress of tartan velvet, were actually torn off her back. just before potsdam was reached, the famous field-marshal wrangel, who had played so great a part in the revolution of , jumped into the train. after he had complimented the royal bride, he sat down on a seat on which had been placed an enormous apple-tart which had just been presented to the princess at wittenberg, a town noted for its pastry. fortunately the old soldier took the accident in good part, and joined in the hearty laughter which accompanied the efforts of the princess and her ladies to clean his uniform. the whole of the prussian royal family assembled at potsdam to greet the bride and bridegroom, who made their state entry into berlin on february . it was a fine day, but the cold was of an intensity never before experienced by the princess. nevertheless, she and her ladies were all in low court dresses, and, by her express wish, the windows of the state carriages were kept down, so that the eager populace might be the better able to see inside. the drive lasted two hours and ended at the old schloss, where the prince and princess found once more the whole of the prussian royal family assembled, headed by the then king and his queen. as the queen embraced the bride, she observed coldly: "are you not frozen?" the princess replied with a smile; "i have only one warm place, and that is my heart!" it is a curious fact that on that night of the state entry into berlin, when every house, and especially every palace and embassy, was brilliantly illuminated, the english legation alone remained in darkness. this was simply because the gas company had undertaken to do more than it could accomplish, for gas had never been used for public illumination in berlin before that night. still, the circumstance was long remembered by the more superstitious of the berliners. the youthful bride made a very favourable impression on those who saw her on that first day in berlin. her manner was singularly quiet and self-possessed, and she found a kind and suitable word to say to everyone. yet, even so, feeling ran so high in prussian society, and especially at the court, that lord and lady bloomfield, the then english minister and his wife, made a point of avoiding the princess royal, so desirous were they of giving no cause of offence to the king and queen. meanwhile, the loving parents in london were kept busy in reading the accounts, which poured in on them from every quarter, of their daughter's reception in their new home. thus, queen victoria's sister, the princess of hohenlohe-langenburg, writes from berlin on february : "you know of everything that is going on, and how much she [the princess royal] is admired, and deserves so to be. the enthusiasm and interest shown are beyond everything. never was a princess in this country received as she is. that shows where the sympathies turn to, certainly not towards the north pole." this was perhaps a little too _couleur de rose_, and when prince frederick william telegraphed to his parents-in-law, "the whole royal family is enchanted with my wife," prince albert's dry comment, in writing to his daughter, was that the telegraph must have been amazed at the message. nor did the anxious father fail to seize the opportunity for a little sermon. in this same letter, dated february , he writes to the princess: "you have now entered upon your new home, and been received and welcomed on all sides with the greatest friendship and cordiality. this kindly and trustful advance of a whole nation towards an entire stranger must have kindled and confirmed within you the determination to show yourself in every way worthy of such feelings, and to reciprocate and requite them by the steadfast resolution to dedicate the whole energies of your life to this people of your new home. and you have received from heaven the happy task of effecting this object by making your husband truly happy, and of doing him at the same time the best service, by aiding him to maintain and to increase the love of his countrymen. "that you have everywhere made so favourable an impression has given intense happiness to me as a father. let me express my fullest admiration of the way in which, possessed exclusively by the duty which you had to fulfil, you have kept down and overcome your own little personal troubles, perhaps also many feelings of sorrow not yet healed. this is the way to success, and the _only_ way. if you have succeeded in winning people's hearts by friendliness, simplicity, and courtesy, the secret lay in this, that you were not thinking of yourself. hold fast this mystic power; it is a spark from heaven." admirable advice in a sense, but unfortunately too general to be of much service to the warm-hearted, impulsive princess, before whom lay so many unsuspected pitfalls. prince albert believed, as he had said to his son-in-law, that his daughter possessed "a man's head and a child's heart," an allusion to the poet's words, "in wit a man, simplicity a child." but prussia was not coburg, and even from coburg prince albert had now been away for nearly twenty years. he does not appear at all to have appreciated either the situation which now confronted the princess royal, or how little adapted she was by her temperament and her training to meet it. in the princess of prussia (afterwards the empress augusta) her english daughter-in-law ever had a true friend and ally, and during the forty years which followed, the two ladies were on far better terms than anyone could have expected, considering how entirely different had been their upbringing and outlook on life. for example, princess augusta had been taught as a child to _tenir cercle_ in the gardens of the palace at weimar--that is to say, she had to make the round of the bushes and trees, each of which represented for the moment a lady or gentlemen of the court, and say something pleasant and suitable to each! in this curious but extremely practical fashion was inculcated one of the most fundamentally important duties of royal personages, and it may be suggested with all respect that the future empress frederick would have benefited if she had had some similar training. the princess who was to become queen of prussia and the first german empress had been brought up at goethe's knee. she belonged, in an intellectual sense, to the eighteenth rather than the nineteenth century. she knew french as well as she knew german--indeed, it is said that she often thought in french, and perhaps her chief friend, at the time of her son's marriage to the princess royal, was monsieur de bacourt, the french diplomatist to whom the duchesse de dino's diary-letters were for the most part addressed. among her intimates were many catholics, and for many years it was believed in berlin that she had been secretly received into the roman church. as a young woman she was full of heart and warmth of feeling, but she soon learnt, what her daughter-in-law never succeeded in mastering, the wisdom of circumspection and the painful necessity for prudence. she early made up her mind to remain on the whole in shadow. while never concealing her point of view from those about her, she yet never took any public part in the affairs of state. during the crimean war, when the whole of the prussian court was pro-russian, the princess of prussia had been pro-english--a fact which naturally endeared her to queen victoria, but which had made her prussian relatives very sore and angry. when the princess royal arrived in berlin as the bride of the king of prussia's heir-presumptive, the crimean war was already being forgotten. among the liberals there was what may be called a pro-english party, and the joyous simplicity and youthful charm of the princess silenced criticism, at any rate for a time. it must be remembered that the princess royal had left a young court. at the time of her marriage her parents were still young people--she made them grandparents when they were only thirty-eight. but the court in which she now became an important personage was composed of middle-aged men and women, with some very old people. there was still living in the court circle a lady who was said to remember frederick the great. this was the countess pauline neale, who had been one of queen louise's ladies-in-waiting. she could recollect with vivid intensity every detail and episode associated with napoleon's treatment of the king and queen. of great age, too, was the gigantic field-marshal wrangel, who had actually carried the colours of his regiment at the battle of leipzig. another interesting personality in the princess royal's new family circle was her husband's aunt, princess charles, sister of the princess of prussia, who afterwards became the grandmother of the duchess of connaught. she still bore traces of the wonderful beauty for which she had been famed in the 'twenties, but was, of course, no longer a young woman. not long after the princess royal's arrival in berlin, a german observer wrote to the prince consort: "she sees more clearly and more correctly than many a man of commanding intellect, because, while possessing an acute mind and the purest heart, she does not know the word 'prejudice.'" less than a month after her marriage, on february , the prince consort sent his daughter a letter full of wise warning: "your festival time, if not your honeymoon, comes to an end to-day; and on this i take leave to congratulate you, unfeeling though it may sound, for i wish you the necessary time and tranquillity to digest the many impressions you have received, and which otherwise, like a wild revel, first inflame, and then stupefy, leaving a dull nerveless lassitude behind. your exertions, and the demands which have been made upon you, have been quite immense; you have done your best, and have won the hearts, or what is called the hearts, of all. in the nature of things we may now expect a little reaction. the public, just because it was rapturous and enthusiastic, will now become minutely critical and take you to pieces anatomically. this is to be kept in view, although it need cause you no uneasiness, for you have only followed your natural bent, and have made no external demonstration which did not answer to the truth of your inner nature. it is only the man who presents an artificial demeanour to the world, who has to dread being unmasked. "your place is that of your husband's wife, and of your mother's daughter. you will desire nothing else, but you will also forego nothing of that which you owe to your husband and to your mother. ultimately your mind will, from the over-excitement, fall back to a little lassitude and sadness. but this will make you feel a craving for activity, and you have much to do, in studying your new country, its tendencies and its people, and in over-looking your household as a good housewife, with punctuality, method, and vigilant care. to success in the affairs of life, apportionment of time is essential, and i hope you will make this your _first_ care, so that you may always have some time over for the fulfilment of every duty." baron stockmar had also been watching the details of the princess's reception in her new country with anxious interest. he, too, saw the danger of a reaction, and he wrote a letter to the prince consort, in reply to which the father, after commending the princess's tact, said: "the enthusiasm with which she seems to have been everywhere received exceeds our utmost calculations and hopes, and proves that the people approved the idea of this alliance, and have found vicky in herself answer to their expectations. it is only now, indeed, the difficulties of her life will begin, and after the excitement of the festivities a certain melancholy will come over the poor child, however happy she may feel with her husband. with marriage, a new life has opened for her, and you would have marvelled at the sudden change and development which even here became at once apparent. "we, that is, she and i, have, i think, remained, and i believe will remain, the same to one another. she continues to set great store by my advice and my confidence; i do not thrust them upon her, but i am always ready to give them. during this time of troubles she has written less to me, and communicated the details of her life, and what she is doing, more to her mother. i had arranged this with her, but i hold her promise to impart to me faithfully the progress of her inner life, and on the other hand have given her mine, to take a constantly active part in fostering it. you may be sure i will not fail in this, as i see in it merely the fulfilment of a sacred duty. "what you say about an early visit had already been running in my head, and i will frankly explain what we think on this subject. victoria and i are both desirous to have a meeting with the young couple, somewhere or other in the course of the year, having moreover given them a promise that we would. this could only be in the autumn. a _rendezvous_ on the rhine--for example at coblentz--would probably be the right thing. this does not exclude a flying visit by myself alone, which, if it is to be of any use, must be paid earlier in the year. how and where we could see each other i have naturally weighed, and am myself doubtful whether berlin is the appropriate place for me. i have therefore come to the conclusion that i might go to coburg, and give the young people a _rendezvous_ there." the princess royal spent her first winter in berlin in the old schloss. the castle had not been lived in for a considerable time, and to one accustomed to the even then high standard of english living and hygiene, it must have seemed almost mediæval in its lack of comfort, and of what the princess had been brought up to regard as the bare necessities of life--light, warmth, and plenty of hot water. the young couple were allotted a suite of splendidly decorated but very dark and gloomy rooms; and none of the passages or staircases were heated. the princess, who had always been encouraged to turn her quick mind to practical matters, and who delighted in creating and in making, found her way blocked at every turn owing to the fact that nothing could be done in the old schloss without the direct permission of the king. not only was frederick william iv in a very bad and mentally peculiar state of health, but to him and to his queen any attempt to change or modify anything in the ancient pile of buildings where his predecessor had lived savoured of sacrilege. to give one instance, king frederick william iii had died in the very suite of rooms allotted to the prince and princess, and his children had piously preserved the "death-chamber," as it was still called, in exactly the same state as it was on the day of his death. this room was situated next to the princess's boudoir, and every time she went to her bedroom or dressing-room she was obliged to pass through it. the old schloss was widely believed to be haunted, not only by the "white lady" but by other ghosts, and the door between the princess royal's boudoir and the "death-chamber" would sometimes open by itself. one winter evening, the princess and one of her ladies were sitting together in the boudoir. the lady, who was reading aloud, raised her eyes and suddenly saw the door of the death-chamber, which was covered, like the walls, with blue silk, open noiselessly, as if pushed by an invisible hand. she stopped reading abruptly. the princess asked nervously, "what's happened? do you see anything?" the lady answered, "nothing, ma'am," and, getting up, shut the door. but it would be absurd to suppose that the princess allowed the ungraciousness of the king and the material discomforts which surrounded her at this time to cloud the beginning of a singularly happy married life. she threw herself with eager zest into her husband's interests, and for the time she seemed completely merged in him. having regard to the mental equipment and demands of the princess, it is obvious that she found in her husband great intellectual gifts. the theory that the prince was wholly influenced by his wife, who took the lead in all, cannot be maintained. he was nine years older than the princess, who was little more than a child when they married, and his character and outlook were formed long before. his uncle, duke ernest, testifies on the contrary, to the influence which the prince exerted over his wife. it must, however, be acknowledged that prince frederick william, especially in these early days, agreed with the princess in regarding england as a perfect country with a perfect constitution. he was deeply grateful to her for having left an ideally happy home to become his wife, and his entire devotion was shown in many ways. indeed, the only thing in which the prince frederick william of these days seems to have ever withstood the princess royal was in his refusal to give up his solitary evening walk in the streets of berlin. the princess used to go to bed quite early, and then the prince would go out and walk about quite unattended. years later, in reference to her domestic happiness, the empress wrote feelingly to a friend: "the peace and blessed calm that i ever found in my home, by the side of my beloved husband, when powerful influences from outside were first distressing me, are blessings which i cannot describe." some of the conditions of the princess royal's new life were undoubtedly very irksome to her. the tone of the prussian court in matters, not only of religion and politics, but also of etiquette, was very much narrower than that of the english court. she seems to have found it impossible to guard her tongue, to conceal her convictions, or to hold aloof from political discussion. at "home," as she soon very unwisely began to call england, she had been used to say everything she thought from childhood upwards, sure of not being misunderstood, and reticence would have seemed to her mean, if not absolutely dishonest. but it is difficult to say when the prussian reactionary party first became aware that in the bride of prince frederick william they had a determined and a brilliant opponent. it must, however, have been fairly early, for it is on record that during that first winter in berlin "the very approach of a tory or a reactionary seemed to freeze her up." nor is it easy to see how much the princess's father, watching anxiously from england, knew of this. she continued with unabated enthusiasm those historical and literary studies to which the prince consort had accustomed her, and she wrote him a weekly letter, asking his advice on political questions. she wrote to her mother daily, sometimes twice a day, but it was her father's influence which really counted with her, and that remained quite unimpaired. it is reasonable to suppose that he attributed whatever seemed to annoy and distress her in prussian public life to the still paramount influence of the dying king. but he evidently did not at any time realise that, though factious persons might be ready enough to use her in their own interests, no one in prussia really wanted to see a princess dabbling in politics at all. thus, we find the prince writing to stockmar in march : "from berlin the tenor of the news continues excellent. vicky appears to go on pleasing, and being pleased. she is an extremely fortunate, animating, and tranquillising element in that region of conflict and indecision." and again: "brunnow had reckoned upon moustier from berlin, whom he would have had in his pocket, and through him walewski. now he gets the duke of malakoff! he has not yet been able to realise the position, and is by way of being extremely confidential; it is he alone who has made vicky's marriage popular in berlin, where it was at first very unpopular, and he weeps tears of emotion when he speaks of her!" to the princess herself he wrote also in march: "you seem to have taken up your position with much tact. the bandage has been torn from your eyes all at once as regards all the greatest mysteries of life, and you stand not only of a sudden before them, but are called upon to deal with them, and that too on the spur of the moment. 'oh! it is indeed most hard to be a man,' was the constant cry of the old würtemberg minister, von wangenheim, and he was right!" the prince was generally philosophising, but even so the following, written a few days later, seems an extraordinary letter for any father to write to a girl not much over seventeen: "that you should sometimes be oppressed by home-sickness is most natural. this feeling, which i know right well, will be sure to increase with the sadness which the reviving spring, and the quickening of all nature that comes with it, always develop in the heart. it is a painful yearning, which may exist quite independently of, and simultaneously with, complete contentment and complete happiness. i explain this hard-to-be-comprehended mental phenomenon thus. the identity of the individual is, so to speak, interrupted; and a kind of dualism springs up by reason of this, that the _i which has been_, with all its impressions, remembrances, experiences, feelings, which were also those of youth, is attached to a particular spot, with its local and personal associations, and appears to what may be called _the new i_ like a vestment of the soul which has been lost, from which nevertheless _the new i_ cannot disconnect itself, because its identity is in fact continuous. hence the painful struggle, i might almost say the spasm, of the soul." to the faithful stockmar the prince confided his belief: "as to vicky, unquestionably she will turn out a very distinguished character, whom prussia will have cause to bless." the prince's cherished scheme of a visit to coburg began to take shape, and he writes: "my whole stay in coburg can only be for six days. to see you and fritz together in a quiet homely way without visits of ceremony, &c.--i dare not picture it to myself too strongly. talk it over with fritz, and let me know if i can count on you, but do not let the plan get wind, otherwise people will be paying us visits, and our meeting will lose its pleasant private character." another letter, dated april , is interesting as showing that the prince was beginning to perceive some of the difficulties in his daughter's path: "what you are now living through, observing, and doing, are the most important experiences, impressions and acts of your life, for they are the first of a life independent and responsible to itself. that outside of and in close proximity to your true and tranquillising happiness with dear fritz your path of life is not wholly smooth, i regard as a most fortunate circumstance for you, inasmuch as it forces you to exercise and strengthen the powers of your mind." nothing that concerned her but was of moment to her father: "i am delighted to see by your letter that you deliberate gravely upon your budget, and i shall be most happy to look through it, if you send it to me; this is the only way to have a clear idea to one's self of what one has, spends, and ought to spend. as this is a business of which i have had long and frequent experience, i will give you one rule for your guidance in it, namely, to set apart a considerable balance _pour l'imprévu_. this gentleman is the costliest of guests in life, and we shall look very blank if we have nothing to set before him." during the first summer of their married life, the prince and princess set up quite a modest establishment at the castle of babelsberg, and this made the princess very happy. seated on a declivity of a richly wooded hill, about three miles from potsdam, and looking down upon a fine expanse of water, the little castle of babelsberg commands a charming view of the surrounding country. "everything there," wrote queen victoria on her first visit, "is very small, a gothic _bijou_, full of furniture, and flowers (creepers), which they arrange very prettily round screens, and lamps, and pictures. there are many irregular turrets and towers and steps." it was at babelsberg that the princess royal began to try and see something of the intellectual and artistic world of berlin. neither the husband nor the wife was under the dominion of the class and caste prejudices which even now are so astonishing a feature of german social life, and which were then even more powerful and far-reaching. that the prince and princess should appear actually to enjoy the society of mere painters and writers and scientists, whether they occupied any official positions or not, seemed extraordinary and highly improper to the whole bureaucratic element of berlin, and must, we can well imagine, have seriously offended the prince's father. it is easy to be wise after the event. no one now can help seeing that it would have been the truest wisdom for the young princess to have rigidly suppressed her natural tastes and intellectual interests, and to have led a life of the narrowly conventional character which prussian princesses were expected to lead. but she was incapable of such self-suppression, which would have seemed to her deceitful, and the mild cautions and hints at prudence in her father's letters were pathetically inadequate to the needs of her critical position. she was herself still quite unaware of how closely she was being watched and criticised. "i am very happy," she told a guest at one of the court receptions, "and i am intensely proud of belonging to this country." the more the princess's social preferences aroused the suspicion and indignation of the court world, the more popular she became with the "intellectuals," unfortunately not a profitable exchange for her as she was then situated. we become aware of this by a passage in the _reminiscences_ of professor schellbach, who had been mathematical tutor to prince frederick william. he writes: "the first words which the princess addressed to me with the greatest kindness were, 'i love mathematics, physics, and chemistry.' i was much pleased, for i saw that the prince must have given her a pleasant account of me. under the direction of her highly cultivated father, who had himself studied it, princess victoria had become acquainted with natural science, and had even received her first teaching from such famous men as faraday and hoffman. our beloved princess soon revealed her love for art and science, as well as her pleasure in setting problems of her own. her royal highness at first tried to go on with her studies in physics and mathematics under my direction, but soon her artistic work took up the remainder of time which the requirements of court life left to her." early in june prince albert carried out his plan of visiting his daughter and son-in-law, but it was at babelsberg, not at coburg, as he had hoped. he was able to report to queen victoria: "the relation between the young people is all that can be desired. i have had long talks with them both, singly and together, which gave me the greatest satisfaction." prince albert was, however, shocked to find the king of prussia in a terrible state: "the king looks frightfully ill; he was very cordial and friendly, and for the half hour he stayed with us, did not once get confused, but complained greatly about his state of health. he is thin and fallen away over his whole body, with a large stomach, his face grown quite small. he made many attempts at joking in the old way, but with a voice quite broken, and features full of pain. '_wenn ich einmal fort bin, wieder fort bin_,' he said, grasping his forehead and striking it, 'then the queen must pay us a visit here, it will make me so happy.' what he meant was, '_wenn ich wieder wohl bin_.' 'it is so tedious,' he murmured; thus it is plainly to be seen that he has not quite given up all thought of getting better. the prince's whole aim is to be serviceable to his brother. he still walks very lame, but looks well. i kept quietly in the house all day with vicky, who is very sensible and good." the princess had special reasons for being "sensible" at this time, for, to the great joy of the prussian royal family, she was enceinte. in august queen victoria and the prince consort paid a visit of some length to their daughter. the queen herself describes the visit as "quite private and unofficial," although she carried in her train not only lord malmesbury, the foreign secretary in lord derby's government (which had been formed in february), but also lord clarendon, his predecessor, and lord granville, who had been lord president of the council in palmerston's government. prince albert, at any rate, did not neglect the opportunity of studying the political situation. he wrote to stockmar a letter highly approving the prince of prussia's political views, while his son-in-law he described as firm in his constitutional principles and despising the manteuffel ministry, the members of which he met with obvious coolness. the berliners gave a hearty reception to queen victoria and prince albert, and the queen declared to the burgomaster of berlin that she felt exceedingly happy there, because she had realised with what love and devotion everyone was attached to the royal house and to her daughter. she was delighted with old wrangel, whom she calls a great character. "he was full of vicky and the marriage, and said she was an angel." there was a great deal of sight-seeing, mitigated by charming little _gemuthlich_ family dinners, and a grand review at potsdam. prince albert's birthday occurred during the visit, and one of the queen's presents to him was "a paper-weight of balmoral granite and deer's teeth designed by vicky." "vicky gave her portrait, a small oil one by hartmann, very like though not flattered, and a drawing by herself. there were two birthday cakes. vicky had ordered one with as many lights as albert numbered years, which is the prussian custom." her majesty notes with pleasure the arrival of "our dear, excellent old friend stockmar," whose presence, however, by no means gave universal satisfaction. indeed, sir theodore martin says frankly that, although his visit was due solely to his desire to meet the queen and prince consort, it was viewed with rancorous suspicion by the aristocratic party, who held in abhorrence the man whom they knew to be the great advocate for the establishment of constitutional government in germany. he was even accused of actively intriguing for the downfall of the manteuffel administration, having, it was said, "brought in his pocket, all cut and dry from england, the ministry of the new era." stockmar's views of what was needful to raise germany to her proper place among the nations were unchanged, but age and infirmity had for some time made him a mere looker-on. nevertheless, it is probable that neither the queen nor prince albert in the least realised how inadvisable, in the interests of the princess royal, was the old man's visit. it must not, however, be thought that the prussians were indifferent to the princess royal's singular personal charm. we have a most interesting glimpse of this in a long letter written to queen victoria by the beautiful and brilliant duchess of manchester, herself a hanoverian by birth, who afterwards married the duke of devonshire and for many years held a remarkable position in english society. the duchess relates how well the princess royal was looking during the manoeuvres on the rhine, and how much she seemed to be beloved, not only by all those who knew her, but also by those who had only seen and heard of her. "the english could not help feeling proud of the way the princess royal was spoken of, and the high esteem she is held in. for one so young it is a most flattering position, and certainly, as the princess's charm of manner and her kind unaffected words had in that short time won her the hearts of all the officers and strangers present, one was not astonished at the praise the prussians themselves bestow on her royal highness. the prussian royal family is so large, and their opinions politically and socially sometimes so different, that it must have been very difficult indeed at first for the princess royal, and people therefore cannot praise enough the high principles, great discretion, sound judgment, and cleverness her royal highness has invariably displayed." and the duchess adds, on the authority of field marshal wrangel, that the soldiers were particularly delighted to see the princess on horseback and without a veil. the royal visit to babelsberg came to an end all too soon, and the leave-taking was tearful and emotional in the extreme. queen victoria wrote with natural feeling, "all would be comparatively easy, were it not for the one thought that i cannot be with her at the very critical moment when every other mother goes to her child!" in october of that first year of the princess royal's married life, her father-in-law became permanent regent, owing to the continued mental incapacity of king frederick william iv. this filled the young princess with intense satisfaction, which was increased when the new prince regent declared it to be his intention strictly to adhere to the letter and the spirit of the constitution of . the great bulk of the nation rallied instantly round him, and it seemed as if the gulf between the house of hohenzollern and the people of prussia had been suddenly bridged. the manteuffel ministry fell in the following month, a general election produced an enormous liberal majority, and the hopes of the constitutionalists ran high. the manteuffel ministry was succeeded by one of which prince charles anthony of hohenzollern was the president. from this time forward prince frederick william regularly attended the meetings of the ministry, and privy councillor brunnemann was assigned to him as a kind of secretary and channel of communication on state affairs. the princess royal imprudently expressed to a gentleman of the court her satisfaction at the change in the political situation, and her words, being repeated and exaggerated, gave great offence to the conservative party, which was also the party of the king. the princess's satisfaction was of course shared by her father, who wrote to the sympathetic stockmar a letter showing no prevision of that great rock of army administration on which these high hopes were destined to be wrecked: "the regency seems now to have been secured for the prince. we have only news of this at present by telegrams from our children, but are greatly delighted at this first step towards the reduction to order of a miserable chaos. will the prince have the courage to surround himself with honourable and patriotic men? that is the question, and what shape will the new chamber take, and what will its influence on him be?" on november , , prince and princess frederick william moved into the palace in unter den linden which was henceforth to be their residence in berlin; and on the following day, the princess's eighteenth birthday, there was a kind of dedicatory service in the palace chapel, which was attended by all the members of the royal house. [illustration: her royal highness victoria, princess royal ] this palace had been the scene of the happy life of the prince's grandfather, king frederick william iii, and of queen louise. the intimate and beautiful family life that had filled these rooms was the best of omens for the young pair, and the princess royal was delighted with her new home. but the palace required to be brought up to modern standards of comfort, and it was very difficult to have the alterations approved by the moody and violent king. what he allowed on one day he took back with hasty blame on the morrow. at last prince frederick william obtained the royal assent to those alterations which were absolutely urgent, together with a grant of , thalers. among other improvements was added an eight-cornered "gedenkhalle" or "memory-hall," in which were placed the numerous wedding presents of the young pair, and to these, from time to time, were added other rare and beautiful objects. chapter vi birth of prince william on january , , berlin was on the tip-toe of expectation. the custom is that guns announce the birth of a prince, and only twenty-one that of a princess, and as in prussia the salic law still obtains, it may easily be imagined with what anxiety the berliners counted the successive discharges. there was indeed no need to wait for the whole tale of the guns, for the firing of the twenty-second was enough to spread the glad news. the story goes that when old field-marshal wrangel, "papa wrangel" as the berliners affectionately called him, left the palace, the populace crowded round him and demanded to know what he could tell them. "children," he answered, "all is well! it is as fine and sturdy a recruit as one could wish!" it soon became known, however, that all had not gone well with the young mother and her child. there had been one of those unfortunate mishaps, the exact truth of which it is always so difficult to disentangle, but the following account, we believe, represents what actually happened: it had been queen victoria's wish that the princess should be attended in her confinement by dr. martin, her english doctor, as well as the german court physicians. about eight o'clock in the morning of january , one of the latter wrote to his english colleague, asking him to come at once to the palace. but the servant to whom the letter was entrusted, instead of taking it to dr. martin's house, put it in the post, and it never reached him till the afternoon. to that fact the princess royal's friends always attributed the circumstances which resulted in the weakness of the infant's left arm. be that as it may, both mother and baby were for a time in imminent danger. no anæsthetic was administered, and the princess with characteristic courage looked up to her husband, who held her in his arms the whole time, and asked him to forgive her for being impatient. none of those about her thought her strength would hold out, and one of the german doctors actually said in her presence that he thought she would die, and her baby too. but at last her ordeal came to an end, and to her intense joy she was told that she had given birth to a fine healthy boy. the news of the birth of their first grandchild was quickly flashed to the anxious parents at windsor. "a boy," ran the telegram, and queen victoria characteristically replied, "is it a fine boy?" but it was not till the following day, so prince albert told stockmar, that the courier brought "our first information of the severe suffering which poor vicky had undergone, and of the great danger in which the child's life had hovered for a time." to king leopold the prince wrote, "the danger for the child and the sufferings for the mother were serious. poor fritz and the prince and princess must have undergone terrible anxiety, as they had no hope of the birth of a living child, and their joy over a strong, healthy boy is therefore all the greater." on the evening of the baby's birth, the prince regent, also a grandfather for the first time, held a reception of which we have a vivid description from the pen of the dramatist, gustav zu putlitz, then a member of the prussian landtag, and afterwards chamberlain to princess frederick william. he says: "it was like a great family festival. everyone hurried there with congratulations, and when the young father, beaming with happiness, appeared, the rejoicings increased. this delight is shared by all classes of society, and is a testimony to the extent of the popularity of the prince and princess." prince frederick william received on january the congratulations of the prussian chambers, to which he made the following reply: "i thank you very heartily for the interest you have shown in the joyful event, which is of such consequence to my family and to the country. if god should preserve my son's life, it shall be my chief endeavour to bring him up in the opinions and sentiments which bind me to the fatherland. it is nearly a year to-day since i told you how deeply moved i was by the universal sympathy which was exhibited towards me, as a young married man, by the country as a whole. this sympathy it was which made the princess, my wife, who had left her home to come to a new fatherland, realise those ties of affection which have now, owing to the birth of this son, become unbreakable. may god therefore bless our efforts to bring up our son to be worthy of the love which has been thus early manifested towards him. the princess, to whom i was able to communicate your intention, desires me to express her most sincere thanks." the christening was fixed for march , but neither of the parents of the princess could be present. "i don't think i ever felt so bitterly disappointed," wrote the queen to uncle leopold. "it almost breaks my heart. and then it is an occasion so gratifying to both nations and brings them so much together that it is peculiarly mortifying." however, the queen consoled herself by doing all she could to mark the importance of the occasion. she sent a formal mission to represent her and the prince consort at the christening, consisting of lord raglan, the son of the victor of the alma, inkerman, and balaclava, and captain (afterwards lord) de ros, equerry to prince albert. they were both old friends of the princess, to whom her father wrote: "i was certain that the presence of lord raglan and captain de ros would give you pleasure. ours will come when they return, and we can put questions to them. my first will be: has the princess gone out and does she begin to enjoy the air, to which alone she can look for regaining strength and health? or is she in the way to grow weak and watery by being baked like a bit of pastry in hot rooms? my second: is she grown? i will spare you my others. "your description of the prince's kindness and loving sympathy for you makes me very happy. i love him dearly, and respect and value him, and i am glad too, for his sake, that in you and my little grandchild he has found ties of family happiness which cannot fail to give him those domestic tastes, in which alone in the long run life's true contentment is to be found." the baby prince was duly christened on march , when he received the names of frederick william victor albert, and on the following day his parents issued a touching expression of their gratitude for the sympathy and congratulations they had received from the public. in it they pledged themselves afresh to bring up their son, with the help of god, to the honour and service of the fatherland. after the special envoys had returned from berlin, the prince writes to his daughter a letter on the duties of motherhood, which was decidedly candid for those rather prudish days: "lord raglan's and captain de ros's news of you have given me great pleasure. but i gather from them that you look rather languid and exhausted. some sea air would be the right thing for you; it is what does all newly-made mothers the most good when their 'campaign is over.' i am, however, delighted to hear you have begun to get into the air. now pass on as soon as possible to cold washing, shower baths, &c., so as to brace the system again, and to restore elasticity to the nerves and muscles. "you are now eighteen years old, and you will hold your own against many a buffet in life; still, you will encounter many for which you were not prepared and which you would fain have been spared. you must arm yourself against these, like austria against the chance of war, otherwise you will break down and drop into a sickly state, which would be disastrous to yourself, and inflict a frightful burden upon poor fritz for life; besides which, it would unfit you for fulfilling all the duties of your station. "in reference to having children, the french proverb says: _le premier pour la santé, le second pour la beauté, le troisième gâte tout_. but england proves that the last part of the saying is not true, and health and beauty, those two great blessings, are only injured where the wife does not make zealous use of the intervals to repair the exhaustion, undoubtedly great, of the body, and to strengthen it both for what it has gone and what it has to go through, and where also the intervals are not sufficiently long to leave the body the necessary time to recruit." the princess had a favourable convalescence, during which her active mind was troubled by an article on freemasonry. her father, to whom of course she turned for counsel, had never consented to be initiated as a mason, though his sons, king edward and the duke of connaught, both became enthusiastic members of the craft. the princess seems to have been troubled by the idea that her husband's connection with the order--he had been appointed patron of the masonic lodges of prussia and head of the grand lodge in berlin--would in some way lessen the confidence between them. prince albert endeavours to reassure her with a paradox which she probably found quite unconvincing: "i will get alice to read to me the article about freemasons. it is not likely to contain the whole secret. the circumstance which provokes you only into finding fault with the order, namely that husbands dare not communicate the secret of it to their wives, is just one of its best features. if _to be able to be silent_ is one of the chief virtues of the husband, then the test which puts him in opposition to that being towards whom he constantly shows the greatest weakness, is the hardest of all, and therefore the most compendious of virtues, and the wife should not only rejoice to see him capable of withstanding such a test, but should take occasion out of it to vie with him in virtue by taming the inborn curiosity which she inherits from her mother eve. if the subject of the secret, moreover, be nothing more important than an apron, then every chance is given to virtue on both sides, without disturbing the confidence of marriage, which ought to be complete." the baby prince william thrived, in spite of the defect in his left arm, which was shorter than the other. we have some entertaining glimpses of him, and of his parents' pride in him, in the correspondence of priscilla lady westmorland. a german friend of hers, a lady of high rank, wrote to lady westmorland when the prince was only about a week old: "i must tell you of my wonderful good fortune--i have actually seen this precious child in his father's arms! you will ask me what this child of so many prayers and wishes is like. they say all babies are alike: i do not think so: this one has a beautiful complexion, pink and white, and the most lovely little hand ever seen! the nose rather large; the eyes were shut, which was as well, as the light was so strong. his happy father was holding him in his arms, and himself showed traces of all he has gone through at the time. the child was believed to be dead, so you may conceive the ecstasy of everyone at his first cry." prince frederick william was indeed, as this lady put it, beside himself with joy. he delighted in showing his baby to his friends and loyal servants, calling him "mein junge." in the early summer of the princess royal spent a happy holiday at osborne, and her english relatives and friends thought her extraordinarily well and happy; it was also considered that she had become much better looking. the queen describes her as "flourishing, and so well and gay," and as "a most charming companion," while prince albert tells stockmar that "we found vicky very well, and looking blooming, somewhat grown, and in excellent spirits. the short stay here will certainly be beneficial both to her health and spirits." while the princess was in england, she was asked by her parents if she would make private inquiries as to any german princesses who might be suited to become princess of wales, but the search does not seem to have been successful. it was then that sir augustus paget, who had been for two years british minister in copenhagen, spoke to his fiancée, the princess royal's lady-in-waiting, of princess alexandra. it was from this lady, now walpurga lady paget, that queen victoria and the prince consort first heard of the beauty and many endearing graces of the danish princess. so impressed were they by her account that it was arranged that the princess royal should meet princess alexandra informally at strelitz, in the palace of the grand duchess of mecklenburg. this meeting duly took place, and the princess royal wrote most enthusiastically of the result of their informal interview. it was directly owing to this fact that it was settled that the prince of wales and princess alexandra should meet, as if by chance, in the cathedral of spiers with a view to making close acquaintance. the birth of prince william brought a considerable change in the lives of his parents. babelsberg had become too small to make a convenient summer home, and so the king granted them the use of the new palace at potsdam, which is only about half an hour's journey from berlin. this enormous rococo building with its two hundred rooms was erected by frederick the great at the end of the seven years' war, in order to show his enemies that he had plenty of money still left with which to go to war again if necessary. prince frederick william was very fond of the new palace, where he had himself been born, and which was full of reminders of his great namesake. apparently the only thing he did not like about it was its name, for it will be remembered that during his brief reign he altered it to friedrichskron. queen victoria, on her visit to babelsberg in august, , had gone to see the palace, and she describes it in her diary as "a splendid building that reminded me much of hampton court--the same colour, same style, same kind of garden, with splendid orange trees which in the cool calm evening sent out a delicious smell. the garten-saal, one enormous hall, all in marble with incrustations of stones, opening into a splendid room or gallery, reminded me of the salle des glaces at versailles. there is a theatre in the palace, and many splendid fêtes have been given there. there are some rooms done in silver, like those at sans souci and potsdam, and all in very rich renaissance style. the millions it must have cost! but none of these palaces is _wohnlich_ (liveable in). none like dear babelsberg!" the princess royal was determined to make at any rate her own rooms in the palace _wohnlich_. after the fashion of the period, she surrounded herself with portraits of her relations, and with paintings of her various beloved english homes. there were endless souvenirs of her childhood scattered about in her rooms--souvenirs of her christmases and of birthdays, little gifts presented to her as a child and young girl by her grandmother, by her "aunt gloucester," and by all those who had surrounded her during the days of her happy youth. it is curious to reflect that, twenty years after the princess royal first took up her residence there, an english visitor was to write: "without carlyle's _frederick the great_, potsdam would be a collection of mere dead walls enclosing a number of costly objects. illuminated by the book, each room, each garden wall thrills with human interest." but when the princess royal first went there to make the new palace her home for a part of each year, it might much more truly have been described as an arid and dusty waste, and that though it was surrounded by many waters. the gardens were very stiff, indeed ugly, but the princess's active, creative mind saw their possibilities, and under her fostering hand and taste they were transformed and made to yield the utmost of beauty and delight. the new palace henceforth became associated, in the minds of all those who were truly attached to the princess, with all that was best and most peaceful in her life. it was there that she was able to set the example of that helpful and happy country life which she had learned to value in england, and it was not long before its simple domestic character became known far and wide, and exercised an influence the extent of which it is impossible to estimate. the prince and princess had a farm at bornstedt, not far off, and there the prince delighted to become for the time a simple farmer, managing himself all the details of the crops and the labourers, while the princess occupied herself with the poultry and her model dairy. it may, indeed, be doubted whether the prince and princess found the farm a very good investment financially, but that was of small importance compared with the spiritual refreshment which they derived from this close periodical contact with the simple, natural gifts of mother earth. among the neighbouring villagers, too, they found plenty of scope for the exercise of an intelligent philanthropy, in gradually modifying the primitive ideas then prevalent on sanitation, and in caring for the children and the old people. the prince would himself sometimes teach in the village schools. a pretty story is told that one day, when he was questioning a class, he asked a little girl to what kingdom his watch-chain and a flower in his button-hole respectively belonged, and when she had answered correctly, he went on to ask, "to what kingdom do i belong?" and the child replied, "to the kingdom of heaven." in june, , the war between austria and the allied french and sardinian armies, culminating in the defeat of the austrians at solferino, brought natural anxieties to the princess. the prince regent, while declaring the neutrality of prussia, nevertheless ordered a mobilisation of the army for the protection of germany, and major-general prince frederick william, commanding the first infantry brigade of guards, was appointed to the command of the first infantry division of guards. though the princess, thus early in her married life, showed by her quietude that she was a true soldier's wife, it was a great relief to her when the threatened danger was over and the mobilisation rescinded on the conclusion of the peace of villafranca in july. prince frederick william's promotion to command a division was then confirmed by his father. the political situation, however, remained difficult, and prince albert and his daughter watched it with anxious concern. the following passage in a letter of his dated september is no doubt in reply to some comments of hers on the position of prussia and germany in view of the rising agitation for unity in italy: "i am for prussia's hegemony; still _germany_ is for me first in importance, prussia as prussia second. prussia will become the chief if she stand at the head of germany: if she merely seek to drag germany down to herself, she will not herself ascend. she must, therefore, be magnanimous, act as one with the german nation in a self-sacrificing spirit, prove that she is not bent on aggrandisement, and then she will gain pre-eminence, and keep it," and he goes on to point the moral in the sacrifices which sardinia had already made for the italian idea. in november the princess royal paid a visit to england with her husband in time to celebrate the prince of wales's birthday on the th, and prince albert tells stockmar: "we find the princess royal looking extremely well, and in the highest spirits, infinitely lively, loving, and mentally active. in knowledge of the world, she has made great progress." the visit lasted till december , and prince albert wrote to the dowager duchess of coburg that prince frederick william "has delighted us much. vicky has developed greatly of late, and yet remains quite a child; of such indeed is the kingdom of heaven." and after his daughter had gone back to berlin, the loving father wrote to her: "your dear visit has left upon us the most delightful impression; you were well, full of life and freshness, and withal matured. i may therefore yield to the feeling, sweetest of all to my heart as your father, that you will be lastingly happy. in this feeling i wait without apprehension for what fate may bring." on this visit to england the princess did not fail to see her old friend and ruler, sarah lady lyttelton, who records: "the dear princess came in, habited and hatted and cockfeathered from her ride, looking very well though in a _very_ bad cold. she embraced me and received me _most_ kindly, and took me into her magnificent sitting-room, where i spent almost an hour with her, till she had to go and change her dress for luncheon. she talked much of her baby and inquired after everybody belonging to me and seemed as happy as ever." chapter vii advice from england the year was on the whole a happy one for the princess royal. it brought her a long visit from her parents and the birth of her eldest daughter, but on the other side of the account the relations between her two countries, england and prussia, became perceptibly worse. for the new year her father sent her one of his customary letters of sagacious counsel, in which may be detected a certain note of uneasiness as to the development of his daughter's powers of self-control: "you enter upon the new year with hopes, which god will surely graciously suffer to be fulfilled, but you do also with good resolutions, whose fulfilment lies within your own hand and must necessarily contribute to your success, also happiness, in this suffering and difficult world. hold firmly by these resolutions, and evermore cherish the determination, with which comes also strength, to exercise unlimited control over yourself, that the moral law may govern and the propensity obey,--the end and aim of all education and culture, as we long ago discovered and reasoned out together." it is remarkable that early in this year prince frederick william appears to have been for a time the centre of the hopes of the reactionary party. the junkers actually planned to bring about the resignation of the prince regent, and to induce prince frederick william to assume the supreme power and govern without a constitution, which formed the great obstacle to their military ambitions. this scheme argued an extraordinary misapprehension, not only of prince frederick william's honest, straightforward character, but also of all his political ideals. he was, especially at this period of his life, a pure constitutionalist, with a profound admiration for the free polity of england, and it would be difficult to imagine any form of government which would have seemed both to him and to his wife more immoral, as well as more certain to entail a counter-revolution, than a military dictatorship. it is perhaps not without significance that in march a british warship was launched at portsmouth and was named _frederick william_ by way of compliment to the husband of the princess royal. in june there was a parade at the königsberg garrison, at which the prince regent said to his son, "fritz, i appoint you to the first infantry regiment, the oldest corps in the service," and about a month afterwards the young commander was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general. the princess royal's eldest daughter was born on july , and was christened victoria augusta charlotte, being known as princess charlotte till her marriage in to the hereditary prince of saxe-meiningen. queen victoria records the news of the baby's birth in her usual vivid style: "soon after we sat down to breakfast came a telegram from fritz--vicky had got a daughter at . , and both were well! what joy! children jumping about--everyone delighted--so thankful and relieved." only the day before there had come a letter from the princess royal containing the intelligence that prince louis of hesse was ardently desirous of paying his addresses to princess alice, the princess royal's much-loved sister and companion of her childhood. to this prince albert refers in writing to his daughter: "only two words of hearty joy can i offer to the dear newly-made mother, and these come from an overflowing heart. the little daughter is a kindly gift from heaven, that will (as i trust) procure for you many a happy hour in the days to come. the telegraph speaks only of your doing well; may this be so in the fullest sense! "upon the subject of your last interesting and most important letter, i have replied to fritz, who will communicate to you as much of my answer as is good for you under present circumstances. alice is very grateful for your love and kindness to her, and the young man behaves in a manner truly admirable." a few days later the anxious father writes to the young mother one of his curious medical homilies: "i hope you are very quiet, and keep this well in mind, that although you are well, and feel yourself well, the body has to take on a new conformation, and the nervous system a new life. only rest of brain, heart, and body, along with good nourishment, and its assimilation by regular undisturbed digestion, can restore the animal forces. my physiological treatise should not bore you, for it is always good to keep the great principles in view, in accordance with which we have to regulate our actions." but it was not all physiological treatise that was despatched from osborne to berlin. the prince has an amusing reference to the busy importance with which the little princess beatrice, who was then three and a quarter years old, regarded the arrival of her first niece: "the little girl must be a darling. little maidens are much prettier than boys. i advise her to model herself after her aunt beatrice. that excellent lady has now not a moment to spare. 'i have no time,' she says, when she is asked for anything, 'i must write letters to my niece.' "it will make you laugh, if i tell you that i have christened a black mare ayah (as black nurse). i lately asked the groom what was the horse's name, which i had forgotten. 'haya,' was the answer. 'what?' i asked. 'we spell it hay, why, hay.' you should call your westphalian nurse, 'hay, why, hay!'" it had been arranged that the queen and prince albert should pay their visit to their daughter and son-in-law at coburg at the end of september. by a most unfortunate chance there had occurred about the middle of the month one of those "incidents" which are sometimes, when mishandled by officialdom and magnified by offended national pride, allowed to exercise an influence ludicrously disproportionate to their real triviality. the macdonald affair, as it was called, at one moment threatened to bring about a serious breach between england and prussia, and as it was unquestionably one of the causes of the dislike and suspicion with which the princess royal was to be regarded by a section of the prussians, it is worth while to record it in some detail. a scottish gentleman, a certain captain macdonald, had a dispute about a seat in a railway carriage at bonn. he knew no german, was ignorant of prussian law, and very likely behaved, or was considered by the authorities to have behaved, in an autocratic manner. however that may be, he was not only ejected from the carriage but was committed to prison, where he remained from september to . on the th he was tried and fined twenty thalers and costs. the english residents at bonn warmly espoused his cause, and captain macdonald seems, apart from the original dispute, to have had reason to complain of violence used to him and also of his treatment while in prison. it was also particularly unfortunate that at the trial the staatsprocurator, or public prosecutor, should have denounced the behaviour when abroad of english people generally. "the english residing and travelling," he said, "are notorious for the rudeness, impudence, and boorish arrogance of their conduct." this accusation, whether well founded or not, naturally seemed to english lawyers and the english public a piece of gratuitous irrelevance, intended merely to excite prejudice against captain macdonald. it is impossible now to apportion the blame for the way in which the incident was allowed to embitter public opinion in both countries. the affair dragged on for months--indeed, it was not finally disposed of till the following may. there were questions in parliament, lord palmerston was extremely angry, and an article in the _times_ served to pour oil on the flame. in the circumstances the incident inevitably rather dashed the joy of the happy family party at coburg. the queen conferred with lord john russell, then foreign secretary, whom she had brought with her, and she alludes in her journal to "the ejection and imprisonment (unfairly, it seems) of a captain macdonald, and the subsequent offensive behaviour of the authorities. it has led to ill blood, and much correspondence, but lord john is very reasonable about it, and not inclined to do anything rash. these foreign governments are very arbitrary and violent, and our people apt to give offence, and to pay no regard to the laws of the country." the queen and prince albert arrived at coburg on september , and the princess royal delighted in visiting with her father the scenes of his boyhood. she went with the guns to a drive of wild boars, and almost every day there was an expedition to some interesting place in all the relief of _incognito_. one day prince albert had a narrow escape. he was alone in an open carriage when the horses ran away. with great presence of mind, he jumped out, and happily got off with nothing worse than a few cuts and bruises. gustav freytag, the distinguished german novelist and dramatist, was received, and the queen records that there was much conversation with him after dinner. as we shall see later, freytag was admitted to the confidence of the princess royal and her husband, and he repaid their kindness in strange fashion. it was on this visit that the queen saw her eldest grandchild for the first time. writing on september , she says: "our darling grandchild was brought. such a little love! he came walking in at mrs. hobbs's [his nurse's] hand, in a little white dress with black bows, and was so good. he is a fine, fat child, with a beautiful white soft skin, very fine shoulders and limbs, and a very dear face, like vicky and fritz, and also louise of baden. he has fritz's eyes and vicky's mouth, and very fair curly hair. we felt so happy to see him at last!" this was the beginning of an enduring friendship between grandmother and grandson, and no one with any historical imagination can help recalling the last scene of that friendship, when this fine little boy, grown to be a mighty emperor, hastened to share the grief of the english people at the death-bed of their great queen. the queen was evidently much attracted by the already characteristic energy of the little prince, for there are references to him all through her records of this visit: "dear little william came to me as he does every morning. he is such a darling, so intelligent." "dear little wilhelm as usual with me before dinner--a darling child." "the dear little boy is so intelligent and pretty, so good and affectionate." "had a last visit from dear stockmar. towards the end of his stay, dear little william came in and played about the room." "the darling little boy with us for nearly an hour, running about so dearly and merrily." "at cologne our darling little william was brought into our carriage to bid good-bye. i felt the parting deeply." prince albert wrote to the duchess of kent: "your great-grandson is a very pretty, clever child--a compound of both parents, just as it should be." mrs. georgina hobbs, the nurse mentioned above, first went to germany as a maid in the service of the princess royal on her marriage, and was afterwards promoted to be chief nurse to the royal children. prince william and his brother and sisters were devotedly attached to "hobbsy," as they called her, and it was from "hobbsy" that they learnt english, for their parents always talked german to one another. the princess royal, perhaps naturally, preferred to have her children's nursery arranged and conducted on the english rather than on the german model, but who can doubt that in this, as in other matters of even less importance, she would have done better to have studied the susceptibilities of her adopted country? indeed, dr. hinzpeter, who was afterwards appointed the tutor of her sons, bears witness that her nursery management became a great subject of gossip among the berliners, and stories were even current of corporal punishment administered before the court to princes with dirty faces. it is true that dr. hinzpeter describes these stories as mythical, but the fact that they were circulated and believed helps to account for the princess's growing unpopularity. at this period prince albert was seriously disturbed by the attacks which the _times_ was constantly making on prussia and everything prussian. in an article in the _saturday review_, recommended by him to his daughter, it was said: "the only reason the _times_ ever gives for its dislike of prussia, is that the prussian and english courts are connected by personal ties, and that british independence demands that everything proceeding from the court should be watched with the most jealous suspicion." the prince was honestly indifferent to the insinuations against himself by which these attacks were frequently pointed, but he was reasonably anxious about the bad effect they would have in germany. writing to his daughter on october , after his return to england, he refers to the macdonald affair, which had already become acute: "what abominable articles the _times_ has against prussia! that of yesterday upon warsaw and schleinitz is positively too wicked. it is the bonn story which continues to operate, and a total estrangement between the two countries may ensue, if a newspaper war be kept up for some time between the two nations. feelings, and not arguments, constitute the basis for actions. an embitterment of feeling between england and prussia would be a great misfortune, and yet they are content in berlin to make no move in the bonn affair." it was only too true that the prussian government was in no hurry to settle the macdonald affair. the bitterness which it engendered did not die out till long after its formal termination in may of the following year, and undoubtedly it contributed far more than was suspected at the time to increase the delicacy and difficulty of the princess royal's position. it was actually thought in germany that she inspired the attacks in the british press. "this attitude of the english newspapers preys upon the princess royal's spirits and materially affects her position in prussia," so wrote lord clarendon. this autumn and winter prince albert, in spite of many political and other anxieties and a sharp attack of illness, faithfully continued to instruct his daughter in the art of government. it does not seem ever to have crossed his mind that such instruction, though admirable in itself, was ill-advised in view of his pupil's position. the ideal woman in prussia was then, and still is to a large extent, one who, conscious of her intellectual inferiority, contents herself with managing her household and children. if this view obtained with regard to women in private stations, much more was it considered to be the duty of princesses of the royal house to abstain from any active interest in public affairs. but either prince albert did not appreciate this, or it is possible that he thought his daughter to be freed by her exceptional ability from the ordinary restrictions and limitations of her rank. there is yet a third possibility--that he did not altogether trust his son-in-law's political judgment, and was anxious to give him, in the troublous times that seemed impending, an help-meet who could influence him in the right, that is in the coburg, direction. whatever may have been the reason, the prince certainly continued to the end of his life to cultivate his daughter's knowledge and grasp of public affairs. in december, , the prince consort received from berlin a memorandum upon the advantages of a law of ministerial responsibility. its object was to remove the apprehensions entertained in high quarters at the prussian court as to the expediency of a measure of this kind. this memorandum was the work of the princess royal, and it is easy to imagine what a storm of indignation would have arisen in prussia if by any accident or indiscretion the knowledge that the princess had written such a paper had leaked out. still, it was undoubtedly an able piece of work. sir theodore martin says that it would have been remarkable as the work of an experienced statesman; and, as the fruit of the liberal political views in which the prince had been at pains to train its author, it must have filled his mind with the happiest auguries for her fulfilment of the great career which lay before her. "it would have delighted your heart to read it," were his words in writing to baron stockmar. to his daughter he sent a long and flattering reply beginning: "it is remarkably clear and complete, and does you the greatest credit. i agree with every word of it, and feel sure it must convince everyone who is open to conviction from sound logic, and prepared to follow what sound logic dictates." this pathetic faith in the potency of logic in political affairs is hard to reconcile with the prince consort's earlier and sounder dictum that feelings, not arguments, constitute the basis for actions. it is evident from the rest of the letter that the princess had laid it down that the responsibility of his advisers does not in fact impair the monarch's dignity and importance, but is really for him the best of safeguards. she had gone on to discuss the proposition that the patriarchal relation in which the monarchs of old were supposed to stand towards their people was preferable to the constitutional system which interposes the minister between the sovereign and his subjects. her father's comments on this would have seemed to many prussians most heretical doctrine to be imparted to their future queen. the patriarchal relation, he says, is pretty much like the idyllic life of the arcadian shepherds--a figure of speech, and not much more. it was the fashionable phrase of an historical transition-period. monarchy in the days of attila, of charlemagne, of the hohenstaufen, of the austrian emperors, of louis xi, xii, xiii, xiv, xv, &c., was as little like a patriarchal relation as anything could be. on the contrary it was sovereignty based upon spoliation, war, murder, oppression, and massacre. that relation was sedulously developed in the small german states, whose rulers were little more than great landed proprietors, during a short period in the eighteenth century, and was cherished out of a sentimental feeling. it then gave way before the voltairean philosophy during the reigns of frederick ii, joseph ii, louis xvi, &c., was turned topsy-turvy by the french revolution, and finally extinguished in the military despotism of napoleon. the prince went on to say that in the great war of liberation the people and their princes stood by one another in struggling for the establishment of civic freedom, first against the foreign oppressor, and then as citizens in their own country; and the treaties of , as well as the appeal to the people in , decreed constitutional government in every country. the charter was granted in france, and special constitutions were promised in all the states; even to poland the promise of one was made, although there, as well as in prussia and austria, that promise was not kept. then came the holy alliance and introduced reaction into germany, france, spain, and italy, by dint of sword and congress (in - ). once more the patriarchal relation was fostered with the sentimentalism of the kotzebue school, and the betrayed peoples were required to become good children, because the princes styled themselves good fathers! the july revolution, and all that has taken place since then, sufficiently demonstrate that the peoples neither will nor can play the part of children. as for the personal government of absolute sovereigns, prince albert declared that to be a pure illusion. nowhere does history present us with such cases of government by ministers and favourites as in the most absolute monarchies, because nowhere can the minister play so safe a game. a court cabal is the only thing he has to fear, and he is well skilled in the ways by which this is to be strangled. history is full of examples. recent instances have occurred where the personal discredit into which the sovereign has fallen makes the maintenance of the monarchy, not as a form of government, but as an effective state machine, all but impossible. when, as in the case of the king of naples, this result has arisen, all that people are able to say in defence is, "he was surrounded by a bad set, he was badly advised, he did not know the state the country was in." to what purpose, then, is personal government, if a man in his own person knows nothing and learns nothing? the sovereign should give himself no trouble, said the prince in conclusion, about details, but exercise a broad and general supervision, and see to the settlement of the principles on which action is to be based. this he can, nay, must do, where he has responsible ministers, who are under the necessity of obtaining his sanction to the system which they pursue and intend to uphold in parliament. this the personally ruling sovereign cannot do, because he is smothered in details, does not see the wood for the trees, and has no occasion to come to an agreement with his ministers about principles and systems, which to both him and them can only appear to be a great burden and superfluous nuisance. how these doctrines would have been regarded by probably the majority of prussians appears from another letter which the prince wrote a fortnight later. his daughter had sent him an article from the conservative _kreuz-zeitung_, and on it he comments: "the article expresses in plain terms the view that _monarchy_ as an institution has for that party a value only so long as it is based upon arbitrary will; and so these people arrive at precisely the same confession of faith as the red democrats, by reason of which a republic is certain to prove neither more nor less than an arbitrary despotism. freedom and order, which are set up as political antitheses, are, on the contrary, in fact, synonymous, and the necessary consequences of _legality_. 'the majesty of the law' is an idea which upon the continent is not yet comprehended, probably because people cannot realise to themselves a dead thing as the supreme power, and seek for _personal_ power in government or people. and yet virtue and morality are also dead things, which nevertheless have a prerogative and a vocation to govern living men--_divine laws_, upon which our human laws ought to be moulded." christmas brought the customary exchange of loving gifts. prince louis of hesse, now the betrothed of princess alice, joined the family circle in england, and prince albert writes to his daughter in berlin: "oh! if you, with fritz and the children, were only with us! louis was an accession. he is a very dear good fellow, who pleases us better and better daily. in my abstraction i call him 'fritz.' _your fritz_ must not take it amiss, for it is only the personification of a beloved, newly-bestowed, full-grown son. "but to return to the dear christmas festival! your gifts which were there have caused the highest delight, and those we have yet to expect will be looked for with impatience. to the latter belong wilhelm's bust, fritz's boar's head--for which in the meantime i beg you will give the lucky huntsman my hearty thanks. wilhelm shall be placed in the light you wish when he issues (i hope unbroken) from his dusty box. the album, which arrived yesterday morning, is very precious to us, as it enables us to live altogether beside you--in imagination. "prejudice walking to and fro in flesh and blood is my horror, and, alas, a phenomenon so common; and people plume themselves so much upon their prejudices, as signs of decision of character and greatness of mind, nay of true patriotism; and all the while they are simply the product of narrowness of intellect and narrowness of heart." chapter viii death of the king of prussia on january , , died the king of prussia, frederick william iv, and his brother, the prince regent, succeeded as william i. prince frederick william became crown prince of prussia, and henceforth the princess royal was called, both in england and in germany, the crown princess. in the _letters of queen victoria_ there is a most impressive account, written by the princess royal, and there published for the first time, of the death of the king of prussia. the event moved her the more deeply because, not only was she present at the death-bed, but it was really her first sight of death. the king had been ailing so long that those about him had ceased to be specially anxious. on monday evening, december , the prince and princess frederick william were sitting at tea with the prince regent and the princess of prussia, when there was brought bad news from san souci, but still nothing to make them particularly uneasy. in the middle of the night, or rather early next morning, they were called up with the intelligence that all hope for the king had been abandoned. without waiting for any kind of carriage, although, as the princess notes, there were twelve degrees of cold réaumur, she and prince frederick william hurried on foot to the prince of prussia's palace. from thence they went in a special train to potsdam. there they found the king dying, and the members of the royal family standing round watching the death struggle. the painful scene went on till five the next afternoon, when prince frederick william wisely sent the princess off to bed. at one o'clock in the morning of january they were again called, with the news that the king had not many minutes more to live. the letter in which all these facts are recorded is a remarkable composition, especially when it is remembered that the writer was only twenty. we may be sure that any thought of literary effect was far from her, and yet no one, reading it now after the lapse of so many years, can be insensible to the poignancy of this simple, unstudied, almost artless description of the scene in the death-chamber--the dim lamp; the silence broken only by the crackling of the fire and the death-rattle; the queen, elizabeth, continually wiping the perspiration from the dying man's forehead. but the letter also shows how really noble was the new crown princess's outlook on life. she speaks with the warmest affection of her parents-in-law: "may god bless and preserve them, and may theirs be a long and happy reign," and she goes on to describe the king as he lay dead, peaceful and quiet like a sleeping child. she could hardly bring herself to believe that this was really death, "that which i had so often shuddered at and felt afraid of"; there was nothing dreadful or appalling, only a heavenly calm and peace. the crown princess also speaks with deep feeling for the queen dowager, who had never really liked her, and who, as we know, had been in sympathy so pro-russian all through the crimean war. but this grief brought the two together as perhaps nothing else could have done, and the princess says: "she was so kind to me, kinder than she has ever been yet, and said i was like her own child and a comfort to her." prince albert was evidently greatly moved by his daughter's letter. in his reply he reminds her that in one of the most impressive experiences of life she was now older than himself. "the more frequently you look upon the body, the stronger will be your conviction that yonder casing is not the _man_, yea, that it is scarcely conceivable how it can have been. in seeing and observing the approach of death, as you have been called upon to do, you have become older in experience than myself. i have never seen anyone die." to stockmar the prince wrote that "the princess, now crown princess, has in the late trying time at berlin again behaved quite admirably, and receives on all sides the most entire recognition." that same eventful january of , the princess lost two firm and loyal friends in lord and lady bloomfield. she parted with them with great regret, and presented to lady bloomfield a bust of little prince william done by herself. at that time it must indeed have seemed to the crown princess as if all her own and her husband's hopes and aspirations for a full and useful public life were about to be amply fulfilled. the new king had not only always been an affectionate father to his only son and heir, but he had also been marked among the princes of his time for his liberal opinions and english sympathies. the third anniversary of the crown princess's marriage came very soon after the death of the old king, and writing on that day to her mother she said: "every time our dear wedding day returns i feel so happy and thankful--and live every moment of that blessed and never-to-be-forgotten day over again in thought. i love to dwell on every minute of the day; not a hope has been disappointed, not an expectation that has not been realised, and much more--that few can say--and i _am_ thankful as i ought to be." soon after the accession of william i, herr max duncker was formally attached to the crown prince as a channel of communication in state matters. duncker had been professor of history at the universities of halle and tübingen, and had also obtained some practical experience of politics as a member of the frankfort and erfurt diet, and as a prussian deputy. he had indeed been chosen by stockmar for the position of confidential adviser to the prince, with whom and with the princess he was already in favour; and he saw in his new post an opportunity of sowing seed which might one day spring up and bear fruit an hundred-fold. in march the death of the duchess of kent deprived the crown princess of a grandmother to whom she had been very warmly attached, and with whom was associated all the events of her happy childhood and girlhood. on receiving the unexpected news, for the duchess of kent had only been really ill a few hours, the princess started for england, not entirely with the approval of her father-in-law. the prince consort, who in this matter of his daughter's relations to her father-in-law always showed exceptional tact, wrote and thanked the king: "her stay here has been a great comfort and delight to us in our sorrow and bereavement, and we are truly grateful for it." the problem of the schleswig-holstein duchies and the unfortunate macdonald affair combined to draw england and prussia still further apart. it is true that the latter was formally settled in may, but the bad feeling it created was not appeased. lord palmerston said in the house that the conduct of the prussian government had been a blunder as well as a crime, while the prussian foreign minister (baron von schleinitz), then on the eve of his retirement, retaliated with a stiff rejoinder. a leading article in the _times_, backing up palmerston's view, is described by prince albert, in a letter to berlin, as "studiedly insulting." at the same time the prince saw clearly that schleinitz had made a mistake in mixing up the macdonald affair with _la haute politique_. "in germany the idea of the state in the abstract is a thing divine; here it means the freedom of the individual citizen." and he goes on to say that the feeling in england ought to teach prussia that mere talk will not do. "prussia has been always talking of being the only natural and real ally of england, but since she has taken no part in any european question. prussia sets up a claim to stand at the head of germany, but she is not german in her conduct. the zollverein was the only really german action to which she can point. she leads germany, not upon the path of liberty and constitutional development, which germany (prussia included) requires and desires. i can imagine that with the high military pretensions to which she has laid claim for the last forty-five years, she suffers under an oppressive consciousness that her army is the only one which during this long period has not been called into action. i repeat, however, that a large, liberal, generous policy is the preliminary condition for an alliance with england, for hegemony in germany, and for her military renown." [illustration: his royal highness prince frederick william of prussia painted at buckingham palace, june , by winterhalter] these were the views with which the crown princess was steadily indoctrinated. it is possible that she found them a little too cool and impartially objective for her patriotism, but if so, there is no trace of such disagreement in prince albert's correspondence. it was fortunate that prussian opinion was at this time distracted by the thought of the coming coronation of the new king. the ceremony raised certain questions which, though nominally concerned with mere ceremonial, possessed in reality considerable importance from a constitutional point of view. the principal question was whether the oath of allegiance traditionally taken by the estates of the realm was consistent with the new constitutional law desired by the king. apparently the king wished the oath to be taken, but was dissuaded by his ministers, and it was decided that his majesty should simply be crowned at königsberg in the presence of the landtag. in july, , the crown prince, who had gone with the crown princess to pay a visit to queen victoria, wrote from osborne a long and remarkable letter to his father, a passage in which shows how constantly he consulted his wife on questions of high politics. the crown prince begs the king not to regard the coronation with repugnance on account of the omission of the oath of allegiance. he describes the act of assuming the crown as a despotic act, and as solemn proof that the crown is not conferred by any earthly power, in spite of the prerogatives abandoned in . he goes on to argue that the ceremony will compel the great powers to show deference to prussia by sending ambassadors, and that therefore it ought to take place in berlin. in this way it would exhibit the development of prussia. frederick i, by being crowned at königsberg, marked the beginning of a new era for the state, but now a coronation at berlin would mark the new future which opened out for prussia as the defender of the united german territories. the crown prince advised that the king and queen should go to königsberg before the coronation in berlin, either to receive the oath of allegiance or to hold a great reception, and then he goes on: "i have ventured, dear father, to express my opinion quite frankly, though you may perhaps be surprised by my strong inclination for the coronation ceremony. the fact is simply that i have often calmly discussed this with vicky as the only desirable conclusion, when i saw the increasing difficulties arising in your mind with reference to the oath of allegiance." these opinions of the crown prince's, in which his wife evidently concurred, would hardly have been approved by prince albert. they show the future emperor frederick in a new light--no longer as the liberal constitutionalist, the firm admirer of england's free polity, but as the champion of the divine right of the hohenzollerns, with a splendid vision of a united germany under the military protection of prussia. at the same time there is that qualifying sentence in which the crown prince refers to the plan of a coronation at berlin almost as if he and his wife had been driven to recommend it as the only solution of the king's difficulties regarding the oath of allegiance. the whole question becomes the more interesting in the light of a remarkable piece of dynastic history which was revealed for the first time at the jubilee celebrations of the emperor william ii in june, , in an address by professor hintze at the berlin university. it seems that his imperial majesty was informed, before his father's death in , that upon that event a sealed document of high importance would be placed in his hands. when he read it, he found that it was the political testament of his great-uncle, king frederick william iv of prussia, brother of the emperor who made united germany. as its name implies, the paper contained king frederick william's advice to his successors on the throne of prussia. part at least of these counsels was deemed to be possibly so seductive to sovereigns of a certain temperament that the emperor william ii felt it his duty to commit the whole paper to the flames. the royal testator, who inherited from his mother, queen louise, an exceedingly exalted idea of the rights of the crown, recommended his successors to revoke the written constitution which he himself had granted his people. but he had a high sense of the obligations of his kingly word and of his royal oath, and accordingly he advised any of them who might take the step to take it before he had sworn to observe the constitution at his coronation. the emperors william i and frederick iii seem to have been content with ignoring the testament. it was left for their successor, william ii, fearful lest it might one day tempt some "young and inexperienced ruler" into dangerous paths, to destroy it. his apprehensions were curiously strong. he felt, he told professor hintz, as if he had a barrel of gunpowder in his house, and he knew no peace until he had got rid of the terrible document. we need not discuss here whether these apprehensions were well founded. what is of the highest interest is the knowledge, thus come to light after so many years, of this extraordinary political testament. it had unquestionably been read at this time, july, , by the new king william i, and it is equally certain that it had not then been read by the crown prince and crown princess. probably the knowledge of the document would have modified the views expressed in the crown prince's letter from osborne. in any case, it seems so far to have influenced the new king that he rejected his son's advice and adhered to his decision in favour of a coronation at königsberg, which duly took place there with all suitable pomp on october . among the very few published letters of the crown princess is one which she wrote to her mother describing the ceremony. she modestly declares herself "a very bad hand at descriptions," but no one who reads the letter now would possibly agree with that. on the contrary, she shows the same remarkably vivid and picturesque power of narration of which we had an example in her account of the death-bed of king frederick william iv. the fact that the day chosen for the coronation was her husband's birthday gave the crown princess great pleasure, as also that an english artist, mr. george housman thomas, was commissioned to paint a picture entitled "homage of the princess royal at the coronation of the king of prussia." lord clarendon, who was the british special ambassador on the occasion, writing to queen victoria on the day after the coronation, observed that "_the_ great feature of the ceremony was the manner in which the princess royal did homage to the king. lord clarendon is at a loss for words to describe to your majesty the exquisite grace and the intense emotion with which her royal highness gave effect to her feelings on the occasion. many an older as well as younger man than lord clarendon, who had not his interest in the princess royal, were quite as unable as himself to repress their emotion at that which was so touching, because so unaffected and sincere." lord granville also wrote to prince albert, "one of the most graceful and touching sights ever seen was the princess's salute of the king." lord clarendon added in his letter to the queen, not very prudently: "if his majesty had the mind, the judgment, and the foresight of the princess royal, there would be nothing to fear, and the example and influence of prussia would soon be marvellously developed. lord clarendon has had the honour to hold a very long conversation with her royal highness, and has been more than ever astonished at the _statesmanlike_ and comprehensive views which she takes of the policy of prussia, both internal and foreign, and of the _duties_ of a constitutional king." unfortunately, prussia was far from desiring the wife of the heir apparent to entertain any views, statesmanlike or other, on either domestic or foreign policy. lord clarendon also told the queen that the princess was appreciated and beloved by all classes. every member of the royal family, he said, had spoken of her to him in terms of admiration, and through various channels he had had opportunities of learning how strong was the feeling of educated and enlightened people towards her. there is significance in the english statesman's reference to "educated and enlightened" people. he must have been aware that the majority of prussians of that day were neither educated nor enlightened in his sense of the words, and that the princess was really only appreciated by the small intellectual group who were flattered by the recognition which she and the crown prince bestowed on them. but lord clarendon was perhaps disposed to see everything _en beau_, for the crown princess mentions that the king and queen showed a marked cordiality to him, contrasting with the stiff etiquette observed in their reception of the other ambassadors. to return to the crown princess's account of the coronation. she contrives to give in comparatively few words an unforgettable picture of the _coup d'oeil_ in the chapel--the knights of the black eagle in their red velvet cloaks, the various colours of the uniforms, and the diamonds and court dresses of the ladies, all harmonised by the sun pouring in through the high windows. the princess says that she herself was in gold with ermine and white satin, while one of her ladies wore blue and the other red velvet. "dearest fritz was in a great state of emotion and excitement, as we all were." the king looked so handsome and noble with the crown on, and the moment when he put the crown on the queen's head was so touching that there was hardly a dry eye in the chapel. the princess's keen sense of humour was stirred by the large assemblage of princes and other notables. "half europe is here, and one sees the funniest combinations in the world. it is like a happy family shut up in a cage!" and she mentions as an example the italian ambassador sitting close to a cardinal. there is also a young prince of hesse who nearly dies of fright and shyness among so many people; he at once excites the sympathy of the warm-hearted princess, though she herself had no experience of the agonies of shyness. but the princess was even more diverted by a compliment which the king paid her: "the king gave me a charming little locket for his hair, and only think--what will sound most extraordinary, absurd, and incredible to your ears--made me second _chef_ of the nd regiment of hussars! i laughed so much, because really i thought it was a joke--it seemed so strange for ladies; but the regiments like particularly having ladies for their _chefs_! the queen and the queen dowager have regiments, but i believe i am the first princess on whom such an honour is conferred." possibly the princess thought at first that she was being appointed honorary cook to the regiment! in any case it is curious that she should not have known of the custom of conferring such distinctions on royal ladies, which obtains in the british army as well as on the continent. we have no means of knowing how the crown prince and crown princess regarded the new king's declaration at königsberg--that declaration which amounted to an explicit assertion of the divine right of kings. but in queen victoria's letters there is a curious revelation of the anxiety with which her majesty regarded the constant attacks of the _times_ on everything german, and particularly everything prussian. she even wrote to lord palmerston about it, suggesting that he might see his way to remonstrate with the conductors of the journal. "pam" did see his way, and he got an entertaining answer from the great delane, then at the zenith of his power, which he forwarded to her majesty. the editor says that he would not have intruded advice on the prussians during the splendid ceremonies of the coronation "had not the king uttered those surprising anachronisms upon the divine right." we learn from a letter written by lord clarendon to queen victoria that the crown princess was much alarmed at the state of affairs in berlin at this time. the king saw democracy and revolution in every symptom of opposition to his will. his ministers were mere clerks, content to register his decrees, and there was no one from whom he sought advice, or indeed who was capable or would have the moral courage to give it. the king would never accept the consequences of representative government or allow it to be a reality, though at the same time he would always religiously keep his word and never overturn the institutions he had sworn to maintain. such was this experienced statesman's diagnosis of the situation, arrived at after an audience of the crown princess. the princess celebrated her twenty-first birthday on november , . in the letter which she received from her father, almost the last which he was ever to write to her, one detects a pathetic note, as if the prince, wearied and out of health, actually foresaw his approaching death and wished to give her his parting counsel and blessing: "may your life, which has begun beautifully, expand still further to the good of others and the contentment of your own mind! true inward happiness is to be sought only in the internal consciousness of effort systematically directed to good and useful ends. success indeed depends upon the blessing which the most high sees meet to vouchsafe to our endeavours. may this success not fail you, and may your outward life leave you unhurt by the storms, to which the sad heart so often looks forward with a shrinking dread! without the basis of health it is impossible to rear anything stable. therefore see that you spare yourself now, so that at some future time you may be able to do more." the death of prince albert on december , , at the age of forty-two, profoundly affected the lives of both his widow, on her now lonely throne, and his idolized daughter in berlin. it is evident from queen victoria's correspondence that she was quite unprepared. her letters to king leopold almost up to the last are full of the most pathetic hopefulness, and she certainly wrote in the same vein of cheery optimism to berlin. the blow fell therefore with all the more stunning effect on both mother and daughter--indeed, it is hard to say which of the two felt more utterly crushed and broken-hearted. the crown princess, as we have seen, was much more her father's child than is usual in family life in any station. the tie between them was something deeper and stronger even than the natural affection of parent and daughter; he had sedulously formed her mind and tastes, and he had become the one counsellor to whom she felt she could ever turn in any perplexity or trouble, sure of his helpful understanding and sympathy. very soon after her marriage, in a letter to the prince of wales, she dwelt on their father as the master and leader ever to be respected: "you don't know," she wrote, "how one longs for a word from him when one is distant." nor did the princess, like many daughters, allow her marriage to weaken this tie; indeed, the thought of the physical distance between them seemed to bring them, if possible, spiritually nearer. for her mother, the princess felt the tenderest and most filial affection, writing to her every day, sometimes twice a day, about the little details of her personal life. but though she and her father only wrote to one another once a week, it was to him that she poured out her full self, the total of her varied interests in politics, literature, science, art, and philosophy. the citations already made in the preceding pages from the prince's letters to her show, not only the many fields over which their correspondence ranged, but also the singular charm of their mutual confidence. it would be difficult to find in history a more touching and beautiful example of spiritual and intellectual communion between father and daughter. and now this great solace and stay of the princess's life is suddenly withdrawn from her, practically without any warning. if only she had known, even suspected, that there was danger, how she would have hurried to him! no one with any imagination and human sympathy can think of it without profound pity. during the first weeks which followed the receipt of the telegram announcing his death the crown princess fell into a silent, listless state, only rousing herself to bursts of grief which were terrible to witness. the simple religious faith to which her mother turned could not, unfortunately, bring her the same consolation. in her extremity it was on her husband that she leaned. he was untiringly patient and tender, though it must have been most painful for him to be told that she felt as if her life was over and she could never be happy again. it is surely true to say that in these difficult days the crown prince revealed the essential nobility of his character quite as much as he did in the great spectacular moments of his life--on the stricken field and in the glory of conquest. many a husband would have shown a certain resentment at his wife's absorption in her father, but it is clear that the crown prince, far from feeling any such petty jealousy, brought his wife the truest consolation by understanding and himself sharing in her sorrow. he knew what a really remarkable man prince albert was, he had felt the charm of his personality and of his intellectual gifts; and so we find him looking back on this bereavement, in a letter written some months later to his old tutor, m. godet: "our whole life is, if such a thing be possible, increasing in happiness daily. all the tribulation, all the bitterness, of my outside life, and of what i may call my practical life, i am able to leave behind me when i reach the door which leads to my 'home.' we had the great grief of losing my dear father-in-law, the most intimate and tender friend of my wife, and to me a true second father. it came like a clap of thunder on our peaceful, happy life. we are now deprived of him whom we thought would help to guide us during many many years, and now the british sovereign is bereft of her only help, while europe is deprived of one of her most brilliant and most distinguished minds." it may reasonably be doubted whether to the crown princess the prolongation of her father's life would have been of great service. we cannot feel at all sure that in her critical relations with bismarck, for instance, his counsel would always have been of the safest kind. he had not brought her up to be the wife of an autocratic sovereign, still less that of the wife of an heir apparent; she was brought up as might have been a prince of wales in a constitutional country. by an unfortunate irony of fate, all those who warmly and sincerely sympathised with the point of view of the prince consort, and of herself and the crown prince, were not prussians; they were--in the phrase then generally used--coburgers. this was pre-eminently the case with stockmar, and in a less degree with bunsen and other liberal germans. the mere fact that they were not prussians discounted any value their opinions might otherwise have had, both with the then king of prussia and with those who surrounded him. fortunately for the crown princess, the course of public events soon came to rouse her from her apathy and grief. early in that same december which saw the death of the prince consort, the prussian elections had resulted in large democratic gains, thus considerably weakening the ministry. in a memorandum addressed to the crown prince just before he left for england to attend the funeral of his father-in-law, duncker prophesied the fall of the ministry, and for the first time suggested the plan of calling bismarck to office. in his reports during the ministerial crisis which followed, duncker warned both the crown prince and the crown princess of the danger of trying to govern at one time with the liberals and at another with the conservatives. he advocated a ministry composed of business rather than party men, who would know how to govern as liberals on a conservative basis; and he again urged that bismarck should be utilised to strengthen the ministry. the crown princess after her bereavement seemed to cling the more closely to the ties which bound her to the land of her birth and of her father's adoption, and this, as we shall see later, provoked a good deal of criticism in berlin. she went to england as often as she could, or perhaps it would be truer to say as often as her father-in-law could be induced to give his permission. her first visit after the prince consort's death was in march, . princess mary of cambridge went to windsor especially to see her cousin. she says: "we found her well, and better in spirits than we expected." but it must have been a very sad and mournful time, for the queen was "rigid as stone, the picture of desolate misery"; and everything reminded the crown princess of the father she had lost. in the following may, the crown prince, at the special request of queen victoria, represented his father at the great exhibition of , but the crown princess, much to her regret, could not accompany him. he had served as chairman of the committee appointed to secure an adequate representation of german arts and industries, and had thus greatly promoted the success of the enterprise. the crown princess, however, went to england at the end of june to be present at the quiet wedding of her favourite sister, princess alice, to prince louis, afterwards grand duke of hesse. it was solemnised at osborne on july . on august , , a second son, prince henry, destined to be germany's sailor prince, was born. the choice of his name seems to have troubled his grandmother, queen augusta. she wrote to her son from baden: "my dear fritz, your first letter moved me deeply, because of your affectionate heart, and because of all the particulars it contained about our beloved vicky. i certainly anticipated that your son would be called albert, for that name, no matter whether it is more or less german, really ought to be handed down as a legacy from the never-to-be-forgotten grandfather--and i believe that queen victoria expected it too." as a matter of fact the baby was christened albert william henry, but probably what queen augusta meant was that he ought to have been generally known as prince albert instead of prince henry. it might have been expected that the birth of three healthy children, two of whom were boys, would have, at least in a measure, disarmed the hostility with which the crown princess was regarded by a powerful section in prussia. but these people were dissatisfied because the arrival of the children naturally strengthened the position of the princess, and they also feared that the princes in the direct line of succession to the throne would be brought up under english rather than prussian influence. there was, it must be admitted, a certain justification for the belief that the crown princess had never really ceased to be an englishwoman. in there had been presented to prince albert a remarkable young englishman who was destined to play a considerable part in the life of the crown princess. this was robert morier, already well and affectionately known to baron stockmar, who even styled him his "adopted son." it was natural that prince albert should take a warm interest in the young man who came to him with such credentials--indeed, morier was quickly made to understand that the prince wished him to prepare himself in every way for diplomatic work in germany. and in january, , at the time of the royal marriage, prince albert did everything in his power to have morier appointed attaché to the british embassy in berlin. morier had another good friend in the princess of prussia, the princess royal's mother-in-law. she had known, not only morier but his distinguished father, for many years, and it was her personal wish, which she expressed to lord clarendon, that the young man should be sent to berlin in order that he might be of use to her son and her daughter-in-law. it need hardly be said that morier was also on intimate terms with ernest von stockmar, who at the same time was appointed private secretary to the princess. morier obtained the appointment, and it was the beginning of a lifelong intimacy with prince frederick william and the princess royal. he became and remained one of their most trusted friends and advisers, a fact which undoubtedly injured his diplomatic career. when, many years later, it was proposed that sir robert morier, as he had then become, should be appointed ambassador in berlin, his name was the only one which was absolutely vetoed by the then all-powerful bismarck. probably because morier had a remarkably strong and original personality, he at once aroused jealousy, dislike, and suspicion; he was even said to influence the then dying king, as afterwards he was supposed to influence king william through queen augusta, and the crown prince through the crown princess. when one now reads the very frank letters written by morier to english relations and friends, one cannot help feeling an uncomfortable suspicion that the contents of some of them may have gone back to germany, perhaps in exaggerated and distorted versions, in spite of the great precautions taken to keep their contents secret. one observation in one of his letters certainly leaked out--namely, that his long experience of german little statesmen had taught him that "like certain plain middle-aged women, they delight in nothing so much as to talk with pretended indignation of attacks supposed to have been made upon their virtue!" such judgments, when barbed with a sufficient measure of truth, are apt to rankle. it must not be thought for a moment that morier was incorrect in his official relations in berlin, but his remarkable ability and strength of character gave importance to his known liberal and constitutional sympathies. had he been a diplomatist of merely ordinary qualifications, there would have been hardly need to mention him at all, but as a matter of fact he was an important factor in the complex situation of the crown prince and crown princess at this period. a passage in theodor von bernhardi's diary, written in november, , exhibits the feeling in berlin aroused by the crown princess's visits to england: "conversation with frau duncker. i showed myself very impatient and discontented over the repeated long visits the crown princess made to england. 'she has nothing to do there and nothing to seek,' i exclaimed. frau duncker replied: 'the crown princess has her own views and her own will; her views and resolutions are very quickly formed--but when formed, there is nothing to be done against them.' further conversation showed me that the crown princess cannot distinguish between our three-thaler diets and the english parliament; that she thinks everything here must be just as in england; the government must ever be by majority, the ministry always chosen by the majority--that she tries to force these views on her husband, and that max duncker fights against it as much as he can. max duncker let me see that he is ever trying to set this young couple by the ears; their ideas cannot be acted upon here." the formation in the spring of a new prussian cabinet composed entirely of conservatives placed the crown prince in a considerable difficulty, because he had openly given his support to the late liberal ministry. duncker's advice to him was that he should absent himself for a time, and that he should thereafter be present at the ministerial councils without himself taking part in the discussions. this advice was accepted, and when the ministry endeavoured to remove duncker to an appointment at bonn university, the crown prince prevented it by emphatically declaring that he did not wish to lose his counsellor. the events which followed,--the crisis on the subject of military reforms, and the accession of bismarck to office,--were regarded by the crown prince with something like dismay, but he was disarmed by the king's threats of abdication. the crown princess's secretary, the younger stockmar, in particular, strongly urged that the crown prince should not intervene, as it was essential that he should preserve his position removed from party strife. the crown prince saw the wisdom of this advice, and on october , , he started with his wife on a long visit to italy. as the guests of the prince of wales, they joined the english royal yacht _osborne_ at marseilles, and went to sicily and the coast of africa, including tunis, where they visited the bey at his castle, and the ruins of carthage. at naples the crown princess enjoyed herself particularly, sketching and taking long walks and excursions in all the delights of _incognito_. november , the princess's twenty-second birthday, was spent by her in rome, where the party made a long stay. after visiting other italian cities, they returned to berlin by way of trieste and vienna, having been away altogether rather more than three months. it was this tour which laid the foundation of the great love for italy and for italian art which henceforth was a marked characteristic of the crown princess. in the december of the crown prince and princess made a short stay in vienna. the american historian, motley, was visiting austria at the time, and it was characteristic of the princess that the only person, outside the imperial family, whom she desired to see was this brilliant writer. he gives a charming account of the interview in a letter to his mother: "she is rather _petite_, has a fresh young face with pretty features, fine teeth, and a frank and agreeable smile and an interested, earnest and intelligent manner. nothing could be simpler or more natural than her style, which i should say was the perfection of good breeding." the crown princess told mr. motley that she had been reading froude with great admiration, and she was surprised to find that, though motley admired froude and had a high opinion of him as an historian, he had been by no means converted to froude's view of henry viii. the princess was evidently disposed to admire that polygamous party, and was also a great admirer of queen elizabeth. the princess also spoke of carlyle's _frederick the great_, which she had just read, but we are not told whether she agreed with motley's view that carlyle was a most immoral writer, owing to his exaggerated reverence for brute force, so often confounded by him with wisdom and genius. chapter ix first relations with bismarck after the death of prince albert, the relations between the crown princess and bismarck become of absorbing interest to the student both of politics and of human nature. bismarck seems to have first met prince albert in the summer of , when queen victoria and the prince paid their state visit to paris. in his _reminiscences_, bismarck says that in the prince's manner to him there was a kind of "malevolent curiosity," and he convinced himself--not so much at the time as from subsequent events--that the prince regarded him as a reactionary party man, who took up sides for russia in order to further an absolutist and "junker" policy. bismarck goes on to say that it was not to be wondered at that this view of the prince's and of the then partisans of the duke of coburg descended to the prince's daughter. "even soon after her arrival in germany, in february, , i became convinced, through members of the royal house and from my own observations, that the princess was prejudiced against me personally. the fact did not surprise me so much as the form in which her prejudice against me had been expressed in the narrow family circle--'she did not trust me.' i was prepared for antipathy on account of my alleged anti-english feelings and by reason of my refusal to obey english influences; but, from a conversation which i had with the princess after the war of , while sitting next to her at table, i was obliged to conclude that she had subsequently allowed herself to be influenced in her judgment of my character by further-reaching calumnies. "i was ambitious, she said, in a half-jesting tone, to be a king or at least president of a republic. i replied in the same semi-jocular tone that i was personally spoilt for a republican; that i had grown up in the royalist traditions of the family, and had need of a monarchical institution for my earthly well-being: i thanked god, however, i was not destined to live like a king, constantly on show, but to be until death the king's faithful subject. i added that no guarantee could, however, be given that this conviction of mine would be universally inherited, and this not because royalists would give out, but because perhaps kings might. 'pour faire un civet, il faut un liévre, et pour faire une monarchie, il faut un roi.' i could not answer for it that, for want of such, the next generation might not be republican. i further remarked that, in thus expressing myself, i was not free from anxiety at the idea of a change in the occupancy of the throne without a transference of the monarchical traditions to the successor. but the princess avoided every serious turn and kept up the jocular tone, as amiable and entertaining as ever; she rather gave me the impression that she wished to tease a political opponent. "during the first years of my ministry, i frequently remarked in the course of similar conversation that the princess took pleasure in provoking my patriotic susceptibility by playful criticism of persons and matters." in this passage we have evidently a perfectly frank expression of bismarck's real feeling, and it gives an extraordinarily vivid picture of these two remarkable personalities, facing one another with watchful, guarded, measuring glance, like two duellists awaiting the signal for combat. that bismarck to a great extent misunderstood the princess is plain enough, and indeed it would have been extraordinary if he had understood her, so different was she from any normal type of german lady. but there is abundant evidence that he did not underrate her intellectual ability, though it must have been a perpetual astonishment to him to find such mental powers in a woman, and there were even moments when the aims of the two, generally so wide apart, seemed actually to converge. it is curious to speculate how different the course of history might have been if the princess had added to her other qualities that tact, prudence, and power of judging human character, which were surely alone wanting to make her one of the most remarkable women who have ever held her exalted rank. the greatest injustice which bismarck did the princess lay in his suspicion--to use a mild term--of her german patriotism. the prince consort had consistently pursued the ideal of a union of the german states under the leadership of prussia as the champion of german liberalism. such a new-born germany might, or might not, have become the ally of england, but the prince consort must certainly be acquitted of any machiavellian designs for the benefit of his adopted country; the supreme end he had in view was undoubtedly the happiness and greatness of germany, and both his wife and his daughter knew and shared his aims. from to the prince consort's influence in prussian politics may almost be described as paramount; but the happy relations between england and prussia were broken, partly by the inability of king william to share the liberalism of queen victoria and prince albert, which seemed to him positively anti-monarchical, partly by anti-prussian feeling in england, and partly by the claim of the prussian liberals to dictate to the crown on the question of army reorganisation. prince albert did not live to see how completely his hopes had been shattered, and his premature death deprived his daughter of his counsel at the very moment when bismarck came into office in the full tide of russophil reaction and anglophobia. it is difficult to realise, in view of later events, how strong was the distrust which bismarck inspired at the beginning of his accession to power. it was known that he desired an alliance with napoleon iii, and it was even believed that he would be capable of ceding german territory to france. the trend of popular opinion was significantly shown on march , , when the fiftieth anniversary of the proclamation "to my people" was celebrated, and the foundation-stone of a memorial to frederick william iii was laid in berlin. nothing that the authorities could do to give distinction to the occasion was omitted. the crown prince, who had just been appointed to a high post on the staff, commanded the military parade, and was present with his father at the festivities in honour of the survivors of the war of liberation and the knights of the iron cross. the citizens of berlin, however, were conspicuous by their absence, and the popular feeling was expressed by the great writer, freytag, who said in an article in a liberal newspaper: "all good prussians will pass this day quietly, seriously, and will consider the means by which they may best preserve the illustrious house of hohenzollern for the future welfare of the state." the first real efforts made by bismarck to alienate the king from the crown prince and princess date from the year , just when the princess was beginning to recover her spirits and normal state of mental health. "every kind of calumny was spread," wrote morier, "respecting the persons supposed to be the prince's friends. spies were placed over him in the shape of aides-de-camp and chamberlains; conversations were distorted and imagined, till the dantzig episode brought matters to a climax, and very nearly led to the transfer of the prince to a fortress." this episode, a speech delivered by the crown prince at dantzig, possessed all the importance that morier attributes to it, and it must be admitted that it was in the circumstances a highly imprudent utterance, for it dragged the differences between the crown prince and his father into the light of day. the speech was delivered to the municipality of dantzig on june , . in it the crown prince referred to the variance which had occurred between the government and the people, by which he meant a new ordinance restricting the freedom of the press. this variance, he said, had occasioned him no small degree of surprise; and he added: "of the proceedings which have brought it about i know nothing. i was absent. i have had no part in the deliberations which have produced this result." although the crown prince went on to pay tribute to the noble and fatherly intentions and magnanimous sentiments of the king, nevertheless the speech naturally created a great sensation, not only in germany, but in other countries too. a correspondence followed between the prince and his father, in which the former, while asking pardon for his action, offered to resign all his offices. bismarck professes to have himself succeeded in making peace between the two, quoting to the king the text: "deal tenderly with the boy absalom," and urging that it was not advisable to make his heir apparent a martyr. bismarck's own account of the circumstances which led up to the speech is significant for its emphasis on the dates. he says that the royal ordinance on the subject of the press appeared on june ; that on june the crown princess followed the prince to graudenz; and that on june the prince wrote to the king expressing disapproval of the decree, complaining that he had not been summoned to the councils in which the step had been discussed, and enlarging on his view of his position as heir apparent. this obviously suggests, without exactly saying so in plain words, that the crown prince's speech on june was inspired by his wife. but behind both the crown prince and the crown princess, bismarck thought that he detected the hand of morier. and yet it is on record that morier had not seen the crown prince or had any kind of communication with him at the time, before, or after, the dantzig episode; in fact, it is quite clear, from letters morier wrote to ernest von stockmar, that both he and his german correspondent sincerely regretted the crown prince's action. the crown princess, however, seemed doomed to be associated with this unlucky speech. not long after the affair was apparently settled, a remarkable and obviously inspired statement appeared in the _times_ to the following effect: "while travelling on military duty the prince allowed himself to assume an attitude antagonistic to the policy of the sovereign, and to call in question his measures. the least that he could do to atone for this grave offence was to retract his statements. this the king demanded of him by letter, adding that, if he refused, he would be deprived of his honours and offices. the prince, in concert, it is said, with her royal highness the princess, met this demand with a firm answer. he refused to retract anything, offered to resign his honours and commands, and craved leave to withdraw with his wife and family to some place where he would be free from suspicion of the least connection with the affairs of state. "this letter is described as a remarkable performance, and it is added that the prince is to be congratulated on having a consort who not only shares his liberal views, but is also able to render him so much assistance in a momentous and critical juncture. it is not easy to conceive a more difficult position than that of the princely pair placed, without a single adviser, between a self-willed sovereign and a mischievous cabinet on the one hand, and an incensed people on the other." naturally this version of the affair, with its open reference to the influence of the crown princess, aroused fresh excitement. ernest von stockmar, the private secretary of the crown princess, was said to have communicated the substance of the statement to the _times_. who really did so has never been revealed. the unfortunate stockmar, in any case, knew nothing of the matter; he would have given much to find out who was responsible. indeed, this new complication to an already painful and suspicious affair so distressed stockmar that he fell ill, and had to resign his position as secretary to the crown princess. this was for her a real misfortune, as even the most spiteful and prejudiced of her critics could not accuse the old baron's son and pupil of being anything but a sound and patriotic german. bismarck was good enough to accept the crown prince's assertion that the statement was inserted in the _times_ entirely without his cognizance, and he thought it was inspired by geffcken; in fact, he attributed it to the same quarter to which, as he believed, the crown prince owed the bent of his political views, namely, the school of writers who extolled the english constitution as a model to be imitated by other nations, without thoroughly comprehending it. what wonder, then, observed bismarck, that the crown princess and her mother overlooked that peculiar character of the prussian state which renders its administration by means of shifting parliamentary groups a sheer impossibility? the party of progress were then daily anticipating victory in their struggle with prerogative, and naturally took every opportunity to place the situation "in the light best calculated to influence female minds." in the following august, bismarck says, the crown prince visited him at gastein, and there, "less under the sway of english influences," "used the unreserved language of one who sees that he has done wrong and seeks to excuse himself on the score of the influences under which he had lain." this attitude, however, if it was ever really adopted, was certainly short-lived. a fresh difference broke out between the crown prince and the king on the subject of the former's attendance at cabinet councils, and on this point the crown prince undoubtedly held firm. bismarck prints his marginal notes on a memorandum sent by the crown prince to his father. in these notes the whole constitutional position of the crown prince is discussed, but we are here only concerned with the following references to the crown princess: "especially necessary is it that the intermediary advisers, with whose aid alone his royal highness can be authorised to busy himself with the consideration of pending affairs of state, should be adherents, not of the opposition, but of the government, or at least impartial critics without intimate relations with the opposition in the diet or the press. the question of discretion is that which presents most difficulty, especially in regard to our foreign relations, and must continue to do so until his royal highness, and her royal highness the crown princess, have fully realised that in ruling houses the nearest of kin may yet be aliens, and of necessity, and as in duty bound, represent other interests than the prussian. it is hard that a frontier line should also be the line of demarcation between the interests of mother and daughter, of brother and sister; but to forget the fact is always perilous to the state." in the autumn of queen victoria was staying at coburg. she sent for morier and had a long talk with him on the growing difficulties which seemed to encompass the crown prince and princess. the fact that morier ventured to hint that any appearance of interference on the part of england would be very prejudicial to the interests of their royal highnesses, and that a suspicion that the crown prince was being prompted from over the water would materially diminish in the eyes of the liberal party the value of his opposition, shows that there was something, even then, to be said for the feeling which bismarck so sedulously fostered. during the summer of , the crown princess accompanied her husband on a long tour of military inspections in the provinces of prussia and pomerania, and her royal highness performed the ceremony of naming a warship, the _vineta_, at dantzig. this tour caused a good deal of discomfort to the crown prince and princess, for in most of the towns they visited the municipal authorities ostentatiously refrained from celebrating the occasion; on the other hand, the populace as a rule received the royal pair with abundant loyalty. we have a curious glimpse of the sort of impression made in east prussia by the crown princess in a private letter written by a member of the progressive party, who afterwards became a confidential friend of the crown prince. this gentleman says that everyone was pleased with the crown princess, for she showed that she had a mind of her own. she informed a certain official that she read the _volkszeitung_, the _national-zeitung_, and the _times_ every day, and that she agreed entirely with those newspapers--in the circumstances an amazingly imprudent statement. it was, indeed, such a shock to the official that it reduced him to blank silence. the breach between the crown and parliament was not the only question with which prussia was troubled at this time. the summer of was also marked by the attempt of austria to take the solution of the german question into her own hands by initiating a scheme for reforming the federal constitution. the emperor francis joseph invited the princes and the free cities of germany to a conference at frankfort to discuss the reorganisation of the germanic confederation. king william was inclined to accept this proposal, but bismarck held other views; and a further invitation from the emperor that the king should send the crown prince to the congress of princes, was also declined. nevertheless the congress was held, and there was also held a sort of family gathering of what bismarck would have designated "the coburgers" at coburg. queen victoria was there, and in august the crown princess joined her, quickly followed by the crown prince. lord granville, who was a close observer of the complicated intrigues of the congress, wrote to lord stanley of alderley: "the princess royal is very prussian on this confederation question." the crown prince's views on the subject were expressed in a letter which he sent to his wife's uncle, duke ernest, early in september. from this letter it seems clear that, whereas at first he had been inclined to favour the austrian move, he altered his views when austria showed her hand by demanding from the congress a simple vote of assent or dissent to her project of reform. he mentioned that he had asked the king for permission to be absent from the meetings of the cabinet, and indeed he paid with his family a long visit to italy. from italy the crown prince and princess proceeded to england, and that, with visits to brussels and karlsruhe, took up the rest of the year. it must not, however, be thought that during this absence from germany the crown prince and princess ceased to take an interest in politics; on the contrary, they followed with the closest attention, what was indeed a serious constitutional crisis in the autumn of . in october, after they had started for italy, the crown prince wrote to bismarck: "i hope that, to use your own words, your efforts in the present difficult position of the constitutional life of our country may be successful, and may accomplish that which you yourself describe as the urgent and essential understanding with the national representatives. i am following the course of events with the deepest interest." the constitutional crisis turned on the rejection, by the upper house and the crown, of the budget which had been adopted by the lower house. the king, as advised by bismarck, was for governing without a constitution, but the crown prince, with his strong predisposition in favour of the english constitutional system, which had by this time been developed by queen victoria, could not help regarding his father's attitude as jeopardising the security of the crown. the crown prince's position was particularly difficult because he was appealed to by all parties--by the liberals, who looked forward to the day when he would be king of prussia as perhaps not very far distant; and by the conservatives, who adjured him to support the government on dynastic grounds. of the two parties, the liberals appeared to have the best of it, for the prolonged absence of the crown prince and crown princess was naturally interpreted in germany as indicating, if not their sympathy with the liberal party, at any rate their dislike of the existing government. but events were shaping themselves in such a way that the dantzig affair, with all that had led up to it and had followed it, was soon to be forgotten in a crisis of much greater moment, and one which brought to the crown prince his baptism of fire. it was during the visit of the crown prince and his family to england that king frederick vii of denmark, the last of his dynasty, died, and the question of the succession to the duchies of schleswig-holstein immediately became acute. chapter x the war of the duchies palmerston is reported to have said on one occasion, that there had been only three men in europe who really understood the schleswig-holstein question. one of them was himself--and he had forgotten it; the second man was dead; and the third was in a mad-house. but the members of the royal houses of england, prussia, and denmark considered that, without being either jurists or diplomatists by profession, they understood the question quite well enough to take different sides with ardent enthusiasm. the question came, in fact, like a dividing sword, and not for the first time it brought war in its train between prussia and denmark. the british royal family was placed by its intimate ties with both combatants--the prince of wales had married princess alexandra of denmark in march, --in a position of peculiar delicacy, which was not rendered easier by the fact that public opinion in england warmly espoused the cause of denmark. if it was not easy for queen victoria and her advisers to steer a prudent course, the position of the crown princess in berlin was even more difficult. she met the crisis with her customary courage, and she applied to its solution the teachings of that constitutional liberalism which she had imbibed from her father. the princess felt very strongly that the honour as well as the interest of prussia--or perhaps one should say her interest as well as her honour--required the nation to play an unselfish part, and to seek indemnity in the moral prestige to be derived from the settlement of this ancient racial feud. as future queen of prussia, the princess wished to see the interests of the crown identified with the constitutional rights of the people; she desired to see the inhabitants of the duchies once more contented, loyal subjects of duke frederick of schleswig-holstein. it was not her fault, nor was it within her knowledge, that the solution which bismarck even then contemplated, and which he was ultimately able to carry out, belonged to a wholly different order of ideas. it is necessary, in a brief retrospect, to show how this question of the duchies had become like an open sore, poisoning the relations between denmark and prussia. perhaps the most fertile cause of trouble lay in the fact that schleswig and holstein, though grouped together by historical circumstances, were each very different in the character of its population and their real or supposed rights. we need not go back further than , when king christian of denmark declared the right of the crown to schleswig-holstein. his son and successor, frederick vii, on his accession in january, , proclaimed a new constitution uniting the duchies more closely with denmark. this step caused an insurrection and the foundation of a provisional government. prussia thereupon came to the help of the duchies and defeated the danes near dannawerke. after a fruitless attempt at intervention by the powers, hostilities were renewed, and in april, , the danes were victorious over the holsteiners and germans. there was further fighting and further diplomacy, until in july, , the integrity of denmark was guaranteed by england, france, prussia, and sweden. this was quickly followed by the defeat of the schleswig-holsteiners by the danes at the battle of idstedt. early in the following year the stadholders of schleswig-holstein issued a proclamation placing the rights of the country under the protection of the germanic confederation. this led to the treaty of london of , by which the possession of the duchies was assured to denmark conditionally on the preservation of their independence and the rights of the german population in them. now, holstein belonged to the germanic confederation, but the treaty stipulated that schleswig was not to be separated from holstein, though it was a point of honour with denmark not to give up schleswig. the natural successor of king frederick vii in the duchies was his kinsman, duke christian of sonderburg-augustenburg, who, in may, , resigned his hereditary claim in return for a sum of two and a half million thalers. this settlement might have been excellent but for two facts--first that it had not received the assent of the germanic confederation; and secondly, that duke christian's two sons violently objected to it--indeed, the elder son, the hereditary prince frederick, made a formal declaration of his rights of succession. moreover, it must be admitted that denmark showed a cynical disregard of the conditions in the treaty of london respecting the independence of the duchies and the rights of their german population. the schleswig assembly complained and protested, and even petitioned the prussian chamber of deputies, who actually promised aid to the duchies. at last the crisis came in march, , when the king of denmark granted to holstein a new and independent constitution, but annexed schleswig which did not belong to the germanic confederation. thereupon the confederation invited denmark to withdraw this constitution. so far from doing so, however, the danish parliament proceeded to ratify it only two days before the death of king frederick vii, whose successor, king christian ix, was forced on his accession, owing to a menacing uprising of popular feeling in denmark, to sign the new constitution annexing schleswig. [illustration: her royal highness princess frederick william of prussia married january , ] the glove was thus thrown down for germany to pick up; the hereditary prince frederick assumed by proclamation the government of the duchies, and appealed to the germanic confederation for the support of his rights. the majority of the german governments sided with him, especially the grand duke frederick of baden, brother-in-law of the crown prince; while the lower house in prussia declared by a large majority that the honour and interest of germany demanded the recognition and active support of the hereditary prince. it will be evident from what has been said above that prussia had plausible and even sound reasons for her intervention, the chief of which was the popular feeling prevailing in schleswig. now, it so happened that the crown prince and princess had a strong personal as well as political interest in the question of duchies. the crown prince and the hereditary prince frederick were old friends. they had first met as fellow-students at the university of bonn. the hereditary prince had afterwards served in the first regiment of the prussian guards, he had been often at the prussian court, and the crown prince was the godfather of one of his children. naturally, therefore, the crown prince and princess were favourable to his claims. there is now no doubt that bismarck had some time before resolved in principle on the annexation of the duchies, but of course he did not show his hand until it suited him, and above all he studiously concealed his plans from the crown prince. indeed, the crown prince's personal relations with bismarck were at this time practically suspended, if only because he happened at the time to be in england, where, however, the prevailing sympathy with denmark did not influence him or the crown princess. in a letter written to duncker from windsor in december the prince says that he has "daily defended the cause of my dear friend duke frederick, well backed up by my wife, who exhibits warm and absolutely german feelings in a most moving degree." the crown prince and princess would certainly have recoiled with horror from bismarck's secret design of annexing the duchies. how little they understood the minister's plans is curiously shown in the letter of the crown prince just referred to. he took the view that prussia ought at once to occupy the duchies in order to establish the hereditary prince there. bismarck, he says, hated the augustenburg family and considered the national aspirations of germany as revolutionary, desiring on the contrary to maintain the treaty of london and strengthen denmark. the crown prince in fact thought that bismarck had been too late, and that his policy was opposed to the proper assertion of prussia's position. events now moved fast. the troops of the germanic confederation expelled the danish troops from holstein, and the hereditary prince was proclaimed throughout the duchy. the augustenburg party, who were aware of the hostility of bismarck to their candidate, endeavoured to win over the king of prussia through the medium of the crown prince; but ultimately, aided no doubt by certain imprudences on the part of the hereditary prince, bismarck had his way. both austria and prussia separated from the majority of the diet, demanding that the king of denmark should annul the new constitution annexing schleswig, already mentioned, and announced that they would jointly manage the affairs of the two duchies. in january, , austria and prussia issued an ultimatum to denmark, and in february began the war, which was somewhat euphemistically described as "undertaken by austria and prussia to protect the ancient rights of the german province of schleswig-holstein, in danger of extinction from denmark." it was considered essential in berlin that a prussian officer should be in command of the allied troops, and this could only be effected by calling on the venerable field-marshal von wrangel, as he alone was of superior rank to the officer at the head of the austrian forces. von wrangel, therefore, although he was much too old and eccentric for such responsibility, took the supreme command in right of his rank, but the crown prince was attached to his staff, with the understanding that he was to prevent the aged field-marshal from coming to any unfortunate decisions. events showed that this was extremely necessary--indeed, nothing could have been more useful than the crown prince's tact in dealing with the rivalries among the divisional commanders, and also in altering the extraordinary, and sometimes positively insane, orders given by von wrangel himself. as a rule the crown prince was able to persuade the old man to make the necessary alterations, but there were occasions on which he was compelled, on his own responsibility, either to suppress an order altogether or in some other way to prevent it from being carried out. the english royal family were deeply divided in their sympathies in this war, but the crown princess, as her husband had written to duncker, was wholly german in her feelings. she wrote to her uncle in coburn: "for the first time in my life i regret not being a young man and not to be able to take the field against the danes," and there is reason to believe that it was her influence which decided queen victoria to restrain the bellicose palmerston, who would have liked england to support denmark by force of arms. in these circumstances it seems all the more monstrous that bismarck's friends actually charged the crown princess with betraying the secrets of the prussian government to the english ministers. her complaints to the king only received as answer that the whole thing was nonsense, and that she should not treat it seriously. but the fact that the slanderers were never punished caused these calumnies to be long repeated, and even in part believed. by the side of the crown prince and princess there stood, in bismarck's estimation, queen augusta, who had ever been the energetic champion of the coburg doctrine of a liberated and united germany under the leadership of prussia. in his profound disbelief in liberalism, bismarck played the obvious game of raising the cry of foreign dictation. by means of his instruments in the press and elsewhere, he set himself to exhibit england as at all times seeking to influence germany for her own ends and often against german interests, for promoting her own security and the extension of her power, "lately through women, daughters and friends of queen victoria." this campaign was only too successful, and it must soon have become obvious, both to queen victoria and to her daughter, that the unification of germany by means of prussian liberalism was not in the range of practical politics. at the same time bismarck risked a great deal. nothing would have more completely upset his plans than a war with england over the duchies, and, as we have said, he was saved from that danger largely owing to the fact that queen victoria was influenced by the crown princess to withstand the chauvinism of her ministers. throughout the campaign of , the crown prince won the deep affection of the troops, not only by himself sharing their hardships, but also by his constant kindness and care for their comfort. though he showed himself a true soldier and even a strategist of no small ability, the crown prince had no illusions about the horrors of war, which he now saw for the first time. he was deeply moved by the terrible sights he witnessed on the field of battle and in the hospitals. after the victory at düppel in april, he would have been glad if an armistice had been concluded, and he wrote to duncker: "you will understand how heavily my long absence weighs on me, for you know what a happy home i have waiting for me." he had not long to wait, however, for on may the supreme command was transferred from field-marshal von wrangel to prince frederick charles, the "red prince," and so the crown prince's mission came to an end. he joined the crown princess at hamburg. she had originally meant to proceed as far as schleswig in order to do what she could for the wounded in the hospitals, but, in obedience to urgent advice, she did not go further than hamburg. the crown prince's journey thither, covered with all the laurels of successful warfare, was a triumphal progress. as this campaign was the crown prince's baptism of fire, so to the crown princess it was a revelation and a call to action. on the occasion of the king of prussia's birthday in march, the crown prince and princess had presented him with a sum of money as the nucleus of a fund for helping the families of soldiers who had fallen or been disabled in war, and on the eve of the battle of düppel the crown prince drew up an appeal on behalf of this institution, which afterwards bore his name. but the war with denmark revealed an even greater need than that of the care of the soldiers' wives and families. the crown princess saw with surprise and horror that the medical service of the troops in the field was practically non-existent. she remembered the achievements of florence nightingale in the crimean war, and, though she was at the time herself more or less disabled, she undertook the heavy task of organising some sort of an army nursing corps. for this work, so appropriate for a soldier's wife, she was admirably fitted. indeed, the war of the duchies gave the princess for the first time real scope for the exercise of her remarkable powers of organisation. the crown princess, however, does not seem to have grown more prudent as time went on. there is a curious revelation in bernhardi's diary in may, , of her unfortunate habit of praising england to the disadvantage of prussia. says bernhardi: "after dinner conversation with the crown princess. she asked after england; supposed that i had enjoyed england very much; once there, one always longed to go back. i said: 'yes, life is full in england.' she said with a very peculiar expression: 'yes, one misses that here.' i thought to myself, however, that only the material interests are greater and more far-reaching than with us; in many ways life is richer here than there." fighting, with intervals of diplomatic action, went on after the crown prince's return from the front, until peace was signed at vienna on october . by this instrument the king of denmark surrendered the duchies to the allies, and agreed to a rectification of the frontier and the payment of a considerable war indemnity. it was understood that schleswig and holstein were to be made independent, but differences of opinion arose between austria and prussia on this point, which led ultimately to the dissolution of the germanic confederation and the austro-prussian war of . delightful glimpses of the family life led in the summer of by the crown prince and princess, and of her musical, literary, and artistic tastes, are given in letters written by gustav putlitz, the dramatist, to his wife. putlitz was at this time chamberlain to the crown princess. his letters are too long and detailed to be quoted in full, but the following extracts will give a good idea of how deeply impressed this distinguished writer was with the vivid, eager personality of the princess: "_june ._--i passed a most delightful hour yesterday in this way. as i was going through the drawing-room, i found the crown princess with countess hedwig brühl, the former looking for the words of a song of goethe's, which she remembered in part, while hedwig played the air. i found the song in goethe for them. thereupon we had a most interesting conversation about books. the crown princess is wonderfully well read; she has absolutely read everything, and knows it all more or less by heart. she showed us a reproduction of a drawing she had done in aid of the crown prince's fund. it is a memorial of the victory at düppel, and represents four soldiers, each belonging to a different arm of the service. the first is shown before the attack in the morning; the second is waving the flag at noon; the third, wounded, is listening to a hymn in the afternoon; while the fourth, victorious with a laurel wreath, stands in the evening at an open grave. the last is extremely natural and impressive, without any sentimentality. the conception shows real genius, and it is carried out most artistically. this youthful princess is more cultivated than any other woman i know of her age, and she has such charming manners, which put people entirely at their ease in spite of etiquette. she is not allowed to ride, and so she is accustomed to drive out daily for several hours, and practises pistol-shooting. in fact she possesses a wonderful mental and physical energy." "_june _ (after dinner).--this morning the crown princess sent for me in the garden. i do not know what she is not devoted to--art, music, literature, the army, the navy, hunting, riding. on leaving she went down the mountain on foot, and i went with her through woods soaked with rain. she took out of her pocket the last issue of the _grenzboten_, and gave it to me. it is amazing that she remembers everything she reads, and she debates history like a historian, with admirable judgment and firmness. after dinner she sang english and spanish songs with a charming voice and correct expression." "_june ._--after breakfast we went for a four hours' drive. the crown princess wanted every variety of wild flower we could find, and she knew the latin, english, and german names of each kind. every time we stopped she got out of the carriage and picked a flower which her sharp eye had detected, and which was not in the bouquet." the party moved to stettin, and putlitz describes how the crown princess beguiled the journey with a constant stream of brilliant conversation on politics, literature, and art, as well as on more frivolous subjects. when they arrived at headquarters and found the crown prince, she saw that everything was in disorder, and immediately, with characteristic energy, she began directing the rearrangement of furniture and the hanging of pictures. she herself was going on to potsdam, but she was determined that her husband should be as comfortable as possible at stettin. says putlitz: "furniture was put in its place, pictures were hung, wall-paper selected--all the things having been brought from berlin. afterwards we went all over the house with the architect, and the crown princess issued her orders in the most practical and business-like way. then we drove out and bought more furniture, and the things required for the prince's washstand and writing-table. all the things were suitable, and chosen with care. we had an interesting conversation about english literature and drama. i am kept in perpetual astonishment by her natural behaviour, so many-sided, and full of judgment and sense." when they arrived at the new palace, putlitz happened to say that he had never seen more of it than the room where people wrote their names in the visitors' book. at once the princess showed him all over it. he draws a charming picture of a tea-party at the palace. the young mistress, wearing a simple black woollen dress, sat at a spinning-wheel, and as she span she sang snatches of all kinds of songs, accompanied by one of her ladies. not far off, a chamberlain was reading poems by geibel, or prompting others by goethe and heine which were recited by the princess. putlitz cannot help recalling historical memories of the palace which was built by frederick the great in ridicule of austria and france; which had seen the curious entertainments of his successor; had been decorated by frederick william iii in the stiff fashion of his day; had been opened by frederick william iv to an intellectual and artistic audience at representations of _antigone_ and _a midsummer night's dream_; "and was now the home of modern cultivation freed from formality." the princess, indeed, wanted a sort of history of the new palace to be written, and she consulted putlitz about it. a few days later they discussed frederick william iii and queen louise, how the latter was always idealised, and how the former had become popular in spite of his roughness. in his delightful book, _my reminiscences_, lord ronald gower gives a most interesting account of a visit which he paid in this summer of to the crown prince and princess, "two of the kindest and most amiable of royalties," as he calls them. they met lord ronald and his mother at the station, in defiance of royal etiquette, and took them off to the new palace: "we dined at two p. m. and we had to dress in our evening things for this repast. it took place upstairs in a corner room, with the walls of blue silk, fringed with gold lace. the princess very smart, in a magenta-coloured gown with pearls and lace. the crown prince in his plain uniform, with only a star or two, which he always wears. 'it is a custom,' he said, 'and looks so very officered.' after dinner we went to the crown princess's sitting-room; the furniture there is covered with gobelins tapestry--a gift of the empress eugénie." here lord ronald found some of the princess's own paintings, including those lately finished, representing prussian soldiers, his account of which it may be interesting to compare with that of putlitz: "one of these paintings was of a warrior holding a flag, inscribed _es lebe der könig_. the second a soldier looking upward. he has been wounded, and he wears a bandage across his brow; a sunset sky for a background. this is inscribed _nun danket alle gott_. the third is another soldier looking down on a newly-made grave. of these three i thought the second by far the best. there was another painting, also by the princess, representing the entombment." the visitors were taken out driving: "we could judge of the popularity of our hosts, for everyone that we passed stopped to bow to them, and those who were in carriages stood up in them to salute as the prince and princess passed by." the arrangements about meals seem extraordinary to modern taste. lord ronald says: "tea was served at ten in the evening in one of the rooms on the ground floor of the palace. they call it the apollo room, i believe. it was a curious meal, beginning with tea and cake, followed by meat, veal, and jellies, and two plates of sour cream. for this repast one was not expected to don one's evening apparel a second time." the visitors breakfasted upstairs with the crown prince and princess and their children, in a room lined with pale blue silk framed in silver--not, perhaps, the best possible background for "the princess in her favourite pink-coloured dress." then, "the princess showed us her private garden, and here she picked a clove, which she gave me with her own little hand." lord ronald mentions the children with approval, but putlitz, whose visit was much longer, got to know them really well: "_july ._--the royal children are very charming and well trained. the crown princess is strict with them, which is very praiseworthy in so young a mother, who is relieved by her rank of the duty of taking an active part in their education, for which she has not the time. people will indeed be surprised at this talented and cultured nature, when once her will has full scope." the children on their side seem to have taken to putlitz with enthusiasm. he gave the boys rides on his head, and he records with pride that "they came running from quite a long way off when they caught sight of me." he also records an accident--little prince william being thrown from his pony--which must have reminded the mother of that day at windsor when she was so distressed at a similar though more dangerous mishap to her brother, the prince of wales. one morning after breakfast, says putlitz, he met the crown prince and princess on the terrace, "both full of almost infantile gaiety." soon afterwards the children appeared. prince william was riding his pony, when his hat fell off and hit the pony between its ears; the animal reared, and the prince was thrown off on his back. both parents remained quite calm, and apparently took no notice; whereupon the prince mounted again and went on riding. it is not difficult to imagine the mother's pang of terror beneath that outward calmness. well may putlitz praise the sensible upbringing of the children, which made them perfectly natural, well-behaved, and obedient. but it is the remarkable personality of the crown princess which chiefly interests this literary man turned courtier. one moment she is instructing him to write to a poet and thank him for a copy of verses; at another she is arranging a picnic party in her own little garden near the palace. someone, generally putlitz himself, reads aloud after tea, and if the poem or story is pathetic the crown princess is moved to tears. at other times they have music, generally glees, followed by good talk on literature or on contemporary politics and personages, about whom both the crown prince and the princess speak with a candour which astonishes putlitz. he cannot praise enough this delightfully informal, unaffected, and yet exquisitely cultivated and intellectual family life: "here one feels absolutely secure from intrigue, and only meets with frankness and clear intelligence. all evil designs must necessarily fail in the end before such qualities." the dramatist felt also the great charm of the crown prince's personality. he says that the two natures of husband and wife are each a perfect complement of the other, and each exercises on the other an unmistakably happy influence. it is at the same time significant that, while emphasizing the perfect harmony of the marriage, he does not hesitate to say that the crown prince, notwithstanding the more brilliant qualities of the princess, still preserves his simple and natural attitude and his undeniable influence. and when the time comes to say good-bye, putlitz sums up his experiences to his wife: "i have been entertained by a most highly dowered princess and a most marvellous woman, full of intellect, energy, culture, kindness, and benevolence." on september , , a third son was born, prince sigismund. this little prince was destined to have but a brief life. he was born the child of peace, the emperor francis joseph becoming his godfather, but he died almost on the very day that prussia drew the sword against austria in the war of . that same autumn the crown princess paid her first visit to darmstadt, to stay with her best loved sister, princess alice. the latter wrote to queen victoria a charming account of the visit, in which she said: "i always admire vicky's understanding and brightness each time i see her again. she is so well, and in such good looks as i have not seen her for long. the baby is a love and is very pretty." in october the crown prince and princess, with their four children, started for la farraz, in switzerland. they left immediately after the birthday of the crown prince, which day was also that of the baptism of prince sigismund. the prince wrote just before leaving potsdam to an intimate friend: "the older i grow, the more i come to know of human beings, the more i thank god for having given me a wife like mine. what happiness it is to leave behind one all one's anxieties and all the troubles of this life, to be alone with those we love! i trust that god will preserve our peace and domestic happiness. i ask for nothing else." chapter xi home life and religion the successful campaign against denmark had drawn all german hearts together. neither the crown prince nor the crown princess had ever been unpopular with the army, who felt really honoured by that honorary colonelcy which had so much amused the princess. the danish war greatly increased their popularity, and the year that followed was probably one of the happiest of their lives. they adored their children, who were being thoroughly well brought up, and, with the one paramount exception of the prince consort's death, no great bereavement had cast its shadow over their family circle. the crown princess had early determined in her social life to consider neither party spirit nor high official position; she preferred to gather round her a remarkable society of interesting and distinguished people,--scholars, theologians, archæologists and explorers, artists, and men of letters. she was always passionately fond of music, and many a young performer owed his or her first introduction to the public at the winter concerts which she organised, while no british painter or writer of eminence ever came to berlin without receiving an invitation to the new palace. one of the most striking testimonies to the crown princess's intellectual interests is to be found in a letter written to charles darwin, in january, , by sir charles lyell. the great geologist says that he had had, "an animated conversation on darwinism with the princess royal, who is a worthy daughter of her father, in the reading of good books and thinking of what she reads. she was very much _au fait_ at the _origin_ and huxley's book, the _antiquity_, &c. &c., and with the pfahlbauten museums which she lately saw in switzerland. she said that, after twice reading you, she could not see her way as to the origin of four things; namely, the world, species, man, or the black and white races. did one of the latter come from the other, or both from some common stock? and she asked me what i was doing, and i explained that, in re-casting the _principles_, i had to give up the independent creation of each species. she said she fully understood my difficulty, for after your book 'the old opinions had received a shake from which they never would recover.'" it may seem an intrusion on what should be sacred ground to touch on the religious belief of the crown princess, but it is a subject on which there have been a certain number of misstatements, and it may therefore be well to set forth plainly the material facts. the present generation perhaps hardly realises what a period of intellectual ferment had set in just at the time when the princess's mind was most eagerly absorbing all that she could read and hear on the subject of religion and philosophy. she was twenty when _essays and reviews_ appeared: she was twenty-two when colenso published his book on the pentateuch: twenty-three when renan's _vie de jésu_ appeared: twenty-four when strauss's shorter _leben jesu_ was published: and in one year from the time in her life at which we have now arrived _ecce homo_ was to appear. most important of all, darwin had published his _origin of species_ in , when the princess was nineteen, and it is evident from sir charles lyell's letter that she had not only read but understood that epoch-making book. of all the giants of those days darwin alone remains a giant; the lapse of time, as well as the work of other scholars and thinkers, has reduced the intellectual stature of those other writers whose work seemed of such crucial importance when the princess was a young woman. it was indeed a period when many thought that the old sound, even impregnable, position of christianity had been not only undermined but overthrown. strauss, for example, honestly believed that he had entirely destroyed the historical credibility of the four gospels. the princess herself came to germany at a moment when the tübingen schools were the intellectual leaders, and strauss was their prophet, and the training which she had undergone under the superintendence of her father had prepared her to sympathise rather with the attack than with the defence. it is easy now to see that orthodoxy was not then very fortunate in its champions, and that the overwhelming weight of the scholarship and intellectual strength of the time belonged to the advanced thinkers. moreover, it must be remembered that much of the religion of that day was mere lip-service, a conventional orthodoxy which, while it resisted investigation and inquiry on the one hand, failed to bear practical fruit in conduct and life. only a few months after the princess had arrived in prussia as a bride, the then prince regent, her father-in-law, made a speech which attracted great attention, not only in germany but in europe generally. in it he said it could not be denied that in the lutheran church, the established church of prussia, an orthodoxy had grown up which was not consistent with the basic principles of the church, and the church, in consequence, had dissemblers among its adherents. all hypocrisy, the prince continued--and he defined hypocrisy as ecclesiastical matters which are utilised for selfish purposes--ought to be exposed wherever possible. it was in the whole conduct of the individual that real religion was exhibited, and that must always be distinguished from external religious appearance and show. when such language could be used from the very steps of the throne, it may be imagined how great was the intellectual ferment in which everyone who thought and read at all was necessarily involved. naturally the eager, impulsive princess, with the intellectual courage and sincerity which her father had implanted in her, could not stand aloof. but if, at this time of her life, she seemed to abandon the old orthodox positions, it is not less true to say, that, while paying the penalty at the time in unhappiness and spiritual disquiet, she ultimately reaped the reward of an even firmer faith. she came to see, indeed, that the deepest religious convictions are not the fruit of philosophical speculation or of textual criticism, but of experience. in the years that followed, the princess was destined to be a near spectator of great events--of the progress and ultimate triumph of bismarck's policy of blood and iron; while in her own home she suffered the bitter pain of the death of her children, of sister, of brother. even what seemed surely the crowning tragedy of her husband's brief reign and swift end was not all. that cruel malady, the origin of which still defies research, and which often, as in her case, kills slowly with lingering torture, seized upon her in her stricken widowhood. yet the successive ordeals through which she passed seemed but to strengthen her grasp upon the realities of life, and the christian faith took on for her a new meaning and became the rock to which alone she clung. she left a most striking expression of her religious belief, written in the summer of , at a time when she had no prevision of the fiery trials which were still in store for her. long as the passage is, it is worth quoting in full: "when people are puzzled with christianity (or their acceptance of it), i am reminded of a discussion between an englishman and an advanced radical of the continent (a politician). the latter said, 'england will become a republic as time advances.' the englishman answered, 'i do not see why she should. we enjoy all the advantages a republic could give us (and a few more), and none of its disadvantages.' does not this conversation supply us with a fit comparison when one hears, the days of creeds are gone by, &c? i say 'no.' you can be a good christian and a philosopher and a sage, &c. the eternal truths on which christianity rests are true for ever and for all; the forms they take are endless; their modes of expression vary. it is so living a thing that it will grow and expand and unfold its depths to those who know how to seek for them. "to the thinking, the hoard of traditions, of legends and doctrines, which have gathered around it in the course of centuries remain precious and sacred, to be loved and venerated as garbs in which the vivifying, underlying truths were clad, and beyond which many an eye has never been able to penetrate. it would be wrong, and cruel, and dangerous to disturb them; but meanwhile the number of men who soar above the earth-born smallness of outward things continues to increase, and the words in which they clothe their souls' conception of christianity are valuable to mankind; they are in advance of the rest of human beings, and can be teachers and leaders by their goodness and their wisdom. so were the prophets and the apostles in their day, and so are all great writers, poets, and thinkers. that the church of england should now possess so many of these men is a blessing for the nation, and the best proof that the mission of the church on earth has not come to an end." side by side with this we may quote some lines which brought the empress frederick comfort in her last hours of suffering: "all are stairs of the illimitable house of god. ... and men as men can reach no higher than the son of god. the perfect head and pattern of mankind. the time is short, and this sufficeth us to live and die by; and in him again we see the same first starry attribute, 'perfect through suffering,' our salvation's seal, set in the front of his humanity. for god has other words for other worlds, but for this world the word of god is christ." we must now take up again the thread of the crown princess's life, when, unshadowed by any sense of impending doom, she was absorbed in her husband and children and in her intellectual and artistic pursuits. early in the year the crown princess had the joy of welcoming her sister, princess alice, on a visit to berlin. princess alice wrote to the queen: "vicky is so dear, so loving! i feel it does me good. there is the reflection of papa's great mind in her. he loved her so much and was so proud of her;" and she adds a vivid little picture of the baby: "sigismund is the greatest darling i have ever seen--so wonderfully strong and advanced for his age--with such fine colour, always laughing, and so lively he nearly jumps out of our arms." it was a great pleasure to the crown princess when her husband was appointed to the curious office of protector of public museums. thenceforward they both took a very active part in the management of these institutions, and it was owing to their efforts that the old museum has but few rivals in europe in completeness and arrangement. prussia was then very backward in the practical application of art to industry, but the crown princess, who had seen how much her father had achieved in this direction in england, was determined to do all she could to secure a similar improvement in her adopted country. early in she caused a memorandum to be drawn up setting forth the necessity of founding a school of applied art on the model of similar institutions in england. the movement thus started by the crown princess led eventually to the foundation of the museum of industrial art at berlin, which is connected with the school of applied art. it was largely due to the active support and interest of the crown prince and princess that applied art not only found a home in prussia, but in the course of time reached so high a pitch of excellence that other countries are now fain to learn from germany. the crown prince and princess, also, both suggested and themselves supervised the collection and arrangement of an exhibition of artistic objects in the royal armoury at berlin. this, by showing prussian craftsmen what had already been done, greatly promoted the development of applied art. but all was not sunshine during this peaceful, happy year, for during its course the crown princess lost the constant support and loyal help of robert morier. although the whole of his diplomatic career had been given up to germany, although he had devoted himself entirely to the study of the political, social, and commercial conditions, and of the relations between prussia and england, it was arranged that he should be transferred to athens. morier parted with the crown prince and princess on december , and it is on record that the princess wept bitterly on saying good-bye to him. bismarck and his followers were proportionately delighted at getting rid of him. but their joy was premature, for the athens appointment fell through, and morier was finally transferred to darmstadt as chargé d'affaires, a change due to the personal intervention of queen victoria. it must be remembered that bismarck generally looked at things from a personal point of view. he had found by experience the value of secret agents, of whom he made constant use, and so he believed that every one whom he disliked, whom he feared, whom he wished to conciliate, made use of them too. to his mind robert morier was a secret agent, and it was his great desire to isolate the crown prince and princess from everyone who did not belong directly to his own party. while at darmstadt morier remained in touch with the crown prince and princess, and it was he who advised the selection of dr. hinzpeter as tutor to their eldest son, afterwards the emperor william ii. dr. hinzpeter, who had been a friend of morier for some time, was an authority on national economy and social reform, as well as a man of the highest personal character. in the summer of frau putlitz and her husband were the guests of the crown prince and princess at potsdam. this time it is the wife who records her impressions in a series of letters to her sister. she was quite as fervent an admirer of the crown princess as putlitz was, and her letters really supplement and complete his letters, for they supply the feminine point of view. frau putlitz was perhaps most impressed by the crown princess's versatility--the ease with which she could turn from a gay and smiling talk about bulbs, for instance, to the serious discussion of the profoundest subjects of philosophy. naturally, this feminine observer notes the princess's style of dressing, which she greatly admires as being both simple and perfect. "there is," she says, "a charm about her whole presence which it is impossible to describe." her way of speaking, too, was fascinating, and though she declared that her german had an english accent, frau putlitz found it delightfully soft. shakespeare the princess frequently quoted, and one morning she read long passages with an expression which was warmly approved by the dramatist, putlitz himself, who might be allowed to be a good judge. frau putlitz thought that the special charm of the princess consisted in her entire simplicity and naturalness, which was exemplified in her never uttering banal, used-up phrases. of the children we have some glimpses; they are described as perfectly charming and very lively. the princess told frau putlitz how anxious she was to have prince william educated away from home with other boys of his own age, and this intention, as we know, she afterwards carried out in the case of both prince william and prince henry. little prince sigismund is pronounced to be really a delightful child. the princess spoke with deep feeling of her father, whom she scarcely mentioned without tears, and she brought out all her souvenirs of him which she kept with loving care. we are also shown the princess among her books and pictures, the princess singing old scottish ballads and english hymns, the princess painting flower-pieces, and above all the princess as a gardener. frau putlitz compares the neatness of the princess's own little garden, laid out by herself, to that of a little jewel-box. enormous strawberries grew on beds of white moss under the beech hedges, and a gigantic lily brought by the crown prince from hamburg was exhibited with pride. frau putlitz was surprised at the princess's practical knowledge of horticulture, and the thoroughness with which she set about it. these are not, to be sure, matters of great importance in themselves, but it is interesting to see how completely the charm of the princess's personality fascinated both husband and wife, who were by no means ordinary observers. chapter xii the austrian war: work in the hospitals we come now to the outbreak of the war with austria, which arose directly out of the war with denmark, and which, as we now look back upon it, seems to fall naturally into its place as part of bismarck's _politique de longue haleine_ for the unification of germany. the royal personages of his time were to bismarck only pawns in the great game on which he was ever engaged. it is impossible to read his life and other literary remains without being struck by the contempt which he entertained for at any rate the great majority of those belonging to the royal caste, though the management of them sometimes tried all his powers. it is significant that at one moment bismarck had practically made up his mind to espouse the cause of the prince whom he habitually called "the augustenburger" in the elbe duchies, and it was only after a prolonged interview with the prince himself that he changed his mind, finding him to be, from his point of view, quite impracticable. as a rule, however, those royal personages whom bismarck looked upon as pawns were actually not only content but proud of the position; the capital exceptions were of course the crown prince and princess, who steadily resented and fought--sometimes successfully--against bismarck's efforts to relegate them to a position in which they would not count at all. it is curious to observe how bismarck always managed to turn to account even circumstances which seemed at first sight most prejudicial to his designs. thus in june the budget, which included the payment of the bill for the danish war, was rejected by the liberal deputies in the chamber, but it was this which enabled bismarck to take the plunge and govern without the constitution. this rejection of the budget was followed by the convention of gastein in august, by which austria was to have the temporary government of holstein, and prussia that of schleswig. such an arrangement contained no element of permanence, and was indeed an obvious step on the way towards annexation. to the hereditary claims of "the augustenburger," which the crown prince had most loyally continued to support, it dealt a fatal blow, and it is particularly interesting to note that bismarck implored the king to keep the negotiations which led up to the convention absolutely secret from the crown prince. he frankly told his sovereign that if a hint should reach queen victoria, the suspicions of the emperor francis joseph would be aroused, and the whole negotiations would fail, and he added, "behind such failure there lies an inevitable war with austria." the secret was duly kept from the crown prince; he received the news of the convention with amazement, and it served to increase--if that was possible--his detestation of bismarck's policy. the year therefore began with the gloomiest prospects from the point of view held by the crown prince and princess. the chambers were opened, but quickly prorogued, and prussia openly prepared for war. bismarck saw that the moment was most favourable, for austria was in want of money, and was also beset with domestic difficulties in hungary, while he himself had already practically arranged for the support of italy. austria was thus driven to demand the demobilisation of prussia, and this was supported in the federal diet by bavaria, saxony, hanover, hesse-cassel, and other states. thereupon, on june , prussia declared the germanic confederation dissolved, and war began on the th. we have become so much accustomed to the conception of a united germany that it seems now extraordinary that in this war prussia, with the northern states, should have been ranged against, not only austria, but hanover and hesse-cassel, with saxony and bavaria. it thus fell out that the crown princess and her sister, princess alice, were on opposite sides--a singular penalty which royal personages are liable to pay for the privileges of their rank. the circumstance naturally increased the maternal anxiety of queen victoria. there is no doubt that she believed that austria would win, and when the result proved that she was wrong, her distrust of bismarck was increased, not by his success, but by the use which he made of it. princess alice's correspondence with her mother reveals how much she was affected by the prospect of this civil war, as she calls it. there are constant references to "poor vicky and fritz." on the eve of the outbreak she told her mother that her husband, prince louis of hesse, intended to go to berlin for a day just to see fritz and explain how circumstances now forced him to draw his sword against the prussians in the service of his own country. we have already noted the extent to which the crown prince was excluded at this time from state policy, but as far as he possibly could, even up to the eleventh hour, he continued to oppose the idea of war. the moment, however, that the die was cast and war was declared, he became the simple soldier, intent only on his military duties and ardently desiring a victory for prussia. the crown princess's second daughter was born on april , and was christened frederica amelia wilhelmina victoria. in may, the prussian army was divided into three corps, of which the second was placed under the command of the crown prince, who was also appointed military governor of silesia during the mobilisation. immediately after the christening of the little princess, the crown prince joined his staff at breslau. but he left under the most mournful auspices. just before his departure the baby prince sigismund, whom princess alice had described as "that beautiful boy, the joy and pride of his parents," fell suddenly ill, and, what seemed particularly cruel and unnecessary, even the doctor in attendance on the sick child had to leave for the front. there is a very sad reference to the illness of her little nephew in a letter written by princess alice on june : "the serious illness of poor little sigismund in the midst of all these troubles is really dreadful for poor vicky and fritz, they are so fond of that merry little child." prince sigismund's disease was at first difficult to diagnose. as a matter of fact it was meningitis, and very soon it became clear that there was no hope. on june the child died, at the very moment when his father was addressing his troops at niesse, and the crown princess found herself alone, without anyone near or dear to her to share her bitter grief in this, the second great loss of her life. queen augusta journeyed to the front to tell her son of his bereavement. he, however, more fortunate than the crown princess, had much to absorb every moment of his time and thoughts. but after the war was over, in a speech made to the municipality of berlin, the crown prince alluded briefly to his loss. "it was a heavy trial to be separated from my wife and my dying boy. it was a sacrifice which i offered to my country." in the _reminiscences of diplomatic life_ published by lady macdonell, widow of sir hugh macdonell, a fact is revealed which shows how the mother's heart must have hungered for prince sigismund. lady macdonell became on terms of considerable intimacy with the crown princess, who was evidently impressed by her sympathetic nature. one day, when they were going down a corridor in the new palace, the princess suddenly unlocked a door, and in the room to which the locked door gave access was preserved surely one of the strangest and most pathetic forms of consolation to which a bereaved mother ever had recourse. lady macdonell writes: "i saw a cradle, and in it a baby boy, beautiful to look upon, but it was only the waxen image of the former occupant, the little prince wenceslau [a mistake for sigismund], who had died when the crown prince went to the war of . how pathetic it was to note the silver rattle and ball lying as though flung aside by the little hand, the toys which had amused his baby mind arranged all about the cradle, his little shoes waiting, always waiting--at the side." when, five years later, prince and princess charles of roumania lost their only child, princess marie, at the age of three and a half, the crown prince wrote a letter of condolence to prince charles, who was prince sigismund's godfather, in which he said: "may the grace of god give you strength to bear the hopeless grief, the weight of which we know from our own knowledge! in imagination i place myself in your attitude of mind, and realise that you must both be benumbed with sorrow at seeing your sweet child dead before you, knowing that you can never again see a light in her dear eyes, never again a smile on her face! certainly it is hard to say: 'thy will be done!' i put this text on the tomb of my son sigismund, your god-child, because i know of no other consolation; and yet i cannot overcome that pain to-day, though many years have already gone by, and though god has given me a large family. time does undoubtedly blunt the keenest edge of a parent's anguish, but it does not take away the weight of sorrow which goes with one for the rest of one's life. that my wife is united with me in these sympathetic thoughts you know." the course of the war of is well known, and there is no need to trace it in detail. the operations of the crown prince with the second, or silesian, army exercised a crucial influence on the whole campaign. field-marshal count von blumenthal, who, as chief of the staff, saw the whole of the operations, bears testimony to the brilliant strategic dispositions of the crown prince, which were particularly exhibited in the defeat of the austrians at nachod and the subsequent engagements. von blumenthal notes that the crown prince possessed, not only an extraordinary power of self-control and coolness, but also, what is not always found even in the greatest military leaders an instinctive perception of how much he could leave to subordinates, while himself keeping a firm hand on the general course of action. the soldiers themselves adored him, for he always managed to find time to visit the wounded in the field hospitals, as well as to encourage by his inspiring utterances the troops in line. the manner in which the crown prince effected a junction with prince frederick charles and the first army was most masterly; he came up exactly at the right moment and at the right place. unfortunately, as generally happens, politics intervened, and the crown prince was prevented from following up the victories with as much energy as he desired--indeed, it seemed to him that there was a conspiracy to tie his hands and control his movements. he even dropped a hint in the sympathetic ear of von blumenthal that if this treatment continued he would ask the king to relieve him of his command. happily this was not necessary. the king himself assumed the supreme command on july , and two days later there came the crowning mercy of königgrätz, or sadowa, when the austrians, under benedek, were totally defeated. it was for his services at this great battle that the crown prince was decorated with the order "pour le mérite." of bismarck's exertions in this war, an english observer who was with the prussian army has left the following striking picture: "bismarck believes in himself and fully so. he believes he was called on to do a certain work, and that he is quite able to accomplish it. his power of endurance is very great. he often sits up night after night working hard. during this campaign he has never slept more than three hours out of the twenty-four: this is less than the great napoleon, who under similar circumstances took four hours' sleep. but constantly continued work has had an effect upon him: his face is seamed all over, he has dark lines under his eyes, and the eyes themselves are bloodshot. he looks like a man who is knocked up by overwork, and yet he is gay and jovial, pleasant and cheery. what surprised me most was his thorough openness in conversation. without the least reserve he spoke of his intentions, of the future of prussia and of germany. for an hour and a half he thus went on. his resolve is indomitable, and he also feels certain of going through the work before him. the king is of course a mere tool in his hands; but it shows his great skill and dexterity in turning such an instrument to serve his purpose. i do not think him liberal in the sense that you or i are liberal. there is no doubt but what he thinks best he will enforce, and that what he does is, he believes, for the good and glory of prussia." [illustration: h.r.h. the princess frederick william of prussia princess royal of great britain and ireland and the infant prince frederick william victor albert, may ] further prussian victories followed, and the negotiations for peace exhibited a curious rearrangement of the three personalities concerned. bismarck was strongly in favour of concluding peace very much on the terms offered by austria, partly because he feared french intervention, and partly because he saw the imprudence of pressing home her defeat so deeply upon austria as to leave her with a burning desire for revenge. he wanted to look forward, in the diplomacy of the future, to a friendly austria. the king, however, could not bear to sacrifice, as it seemed to him, the result of the expenditure of so much blood and treasure, and he wished to follow up the prussian victories, without having any very clear idea of what further gains could thereby be made. in these circumstances it was the crown prince who came forward as the mediator between the king and his minister; it was the crown prince who supported bismarck against his father. what really clinched the matter with the king was bismarck's threat to resign. at the critical council of war there was a dramatic scene. the king turned to the crown prince and said, "you speak, in the name of the future;" and when he found that his son agreed with bismarck he gave in, and consented, as he himself described it, to bite into the sour apple. nevertheless, the terms of peace were not at all bad for prussia. her great object, namely, the dissolution of the germanic confederation, was secured; she obtained a considerable accession of territory, including schleswig and holstein, hanover, the electorate of hesse, and other territories, which covered more than square miles, with a population of over four millions. moreover, in august, , on the invitation of the king of prussia, the northern states of germany concluded a treaty of alliance, offensive and defensive. thus was established the north-german confederation, which was joined by saxony in the following october, and formed an important step on the way to a united german empire. altogether the confederation consisted of twenty-two states, and the first meeting of the deputies was held at berlin on february , . it was suggested that the crown prince should become governor-general of hanover, thus newly annexed to prussia. it was thought that this plan would to a great extent console hanover for losing her status as a kingdom, especially as the crown princess was closely related to the dispossessed monarch, king george v. the crown prince, however, insisted on arrangements which would have made hanover altogether too independent to be agreeable to bismarck, and so the idea was not carried out. on the close of the war of , the crown prince and princess proceeded to haringsdorf, a little village on the shores of the baltic, to which the princess and her children had been sent on account of the cholera, which was then very prevalent in potsdam. while there the princess still busied herself with plans for the care of the wounded in the war. she had already assigned a great part of the palace at potsdam for the nursing of wounded officers, and a little later on she proceeded with her husband on a long visit to silesia. there they greatly improved the organisation of the war hospital at hirschberg. everything was under their personal supervision, and, thanks to their energy and kindly encouragement, the work was undoubtedly much more efficiently done than it would otherwise have been. the crown prince had ridden with his father over the stricken field of königgrätz, doing what they could to succour the wounded and the dying. how deeply the horrors of war had been impressed on the prince's mind is shown by the words he wrote in his diary on the night of the battle: "he who causes war with a stroke of the pen knows not what he is calling up from hades." as for the crown princess, though she had been spared the sight of the worst horrors, she had nevertheless seen enough to enable her, with her eager, imaginative sympathy, to share in the fullest degree her husband's intense feeling. she never felt she could do enough to mitigate the sufferings of the soldiers, both on the battlefield and afterwards in the weary months of convalescence in hospital. this autumn she organised an enormous bazaar at the new palace in aid of the wounded, to which contributions came from all over the world. the crown prince himself went round collecting money for the soldiers, and the whole enterprise brought in a large sum for the fund. the years that followed up to the outbreak of the war with france were not very eventful. at the beginning of , the crown prince and princess stayed a while at dover, where they met princess alice and her husband, who went back with them to stay for a few weeks in berlin. they afterwards went together to paris, at the invitation of the emperor and empress of the french, in order to visit the great international exhibition then being held there. the crown prince had served as president of the prussian committee for the exhibition. their stay in france gave great pleasure to the crown princess; the two sisters visited many philanthropic centres, and made an exhaustive survey of french art. it was on this visit to paris that the crown princess first conceived the idea of the school of design in berlin which now bears her name, for she was greatly impressed by the imaginative fertility of the parisian craftsmen, and by the perfection of their work. the crown princess left paris before her husband. princess alice wrote to her mother on june : "dear vicky is gone. she was so low the last days, and dislikes going to parties so much just now, that she was longing to get home. the king [of prussia] wished them both to stop, but only fritz remained. how sad these days will be for her, poor love! she was in such good looks; every one here is charmed with her." the crown prince had induced his father to visit the exhibition, and the king, who brought bismarck with him, had a magnificent reception from the imperial court. the crown prince and princess did not abate their interest in politics, and they certainly shared bismarck's view at this time that an arrangement with france was in every way desirable in order to avert war and to consolidate the gains of . in the autumn a terrible scarcity, almost amounting to famine, in east prussia afforded a fresh opportunity for the practical sympathy of the crown prince and princess. together they organised a relief fund and relief works by which the sufferings of the population were much mitigated. it was on february , , the anniversary of queen victoria's wedding, and of the crown princess's christening, that another son was born, who seemed sent to fill the terrible gap which the death of prince sigismund had made two years before. the child was christened on the king of prussia's seventy-first birthday, at berlin, receiving the names of joachim frederick ernest waldemar. the princess's fourth son was a beautiful and clever child, and his death, which was to follow when he was only eleven years old, was perhaps the deepest grief that fell on his parents. it is significant that when the emperor frederick chose his last resting-place, he desired to lie by the side of this child. in the spring of the crown prince paid a visit to italy in return for the visit paid to berlin by prince humbert the year before. the crown princess did not go with him, but she followed with deep interest and pleasure the accounts of his reception, which were remarkably enthusiastic, and also politically useful, for it prevented the accession to power of a ministry hostile to prussia. in the crown princess received a long visit from princess alice at potsdam, and the two sisters spent their mother's birthday, may , together. princess alice spoke in a letter to queen victoria of the delightful life "with dear vicky, so quiet and pleasant, which reminds me in many things of our life in england in former happy days, and so much that we had vicky has copied for her children. yet we both always say to each other that no children were so happy, and so spoiled with all the enjoyments and comforts children can wish for, as we were." again, on june , "vicky was very low yesterday; she has been so for the last week, and she told me much of what an awful time she went through in when dear siggie [sigismund] died. the little chapel is very peaceful and cheerful and full of flowers. we go there _en passant_ nearly daily, and it seems to give dear vicky pleasure to go there." the two sisters spent a happy time together at cannes in the late autumn of , while their respective husbands were abroad. the crown prince, with prince louis of hesse, visited vienna, athens, constantinople, and the holy land, and went on thence to port said for the opening of the suez canal. in jerusalem the crown prince took formal possession in the name of his father of the ruined convent of st. john, ceded by the sultan for the erection of a german protestant church. the two princes joined their wives at cannes shortly before christmas. on their way home the crown prince and princess spent a week in paris, staying at an hotel. the crown princess was surprised to see how changed the emperor napoleon was since they had seen him last. she thought him ailing and dejected. in the course of conversation, the emperor mentioned that he had a new minister, a certain m. ollivier. the crown prince and princess returned to berlin on the morning of the new year, . the next time the crown prince met napoleon iii was on the morning after the capitulation of sedan. chapter xiii the franco-german war the year opened with no premonition of the tremendous events it was to bring forth. princess victoria had been born on the eve of the austrian war in , and now, on the eve of this yet greater struggle, on june , , the crown princess gave birth to her third daughter, princess sophia dorothea ulrica alice, who was destined to become queen of the hellenes. the candidature of prince leopold of hohenzollern-sigmaringen for the throne of spain was announced on july , and after fruitless attempts at intervention by the crown princess's old friend, lord granville, then the british foreign minister, war was declared between france and prussia on july . at the time of the little princess's christening, which took place at the new palace on july , there were few present at the ceremony who were not under orders for the front, and most of the men were already in their campaigning uniform. emotion, anxiety, and excitement made the even then old king william feel unequal to the task of holding his little granddaughter at the baptismal font according to his wont, and this duty was performed for him by queen augusta. the fact that the kings of würtemberg and bavaria were the child's godfathers marked the decision of those states, with baden and hesse-darmstadt, to throw in their lot with prussia in the war, as the deputies of the north-german confederation had also done. the christening was one of special splendour and solemnity, the two outstanding figures in the congregation being bismarck, in his uniform of major of dragoons, and field-marshal wrangel, now in his eighty-ninth year. among the guests at the christening were lord ronald gower and "billy" russell, the famous war correspondent. two or three days before, they had been received by the crown princess at the new palace, and lord ronald writes: "the princess expressed almost terror at the idea of the war, and was deeply affected at the sufferings it must bring with it. she feared the brutality of bazaine and his soldiers, should they invade germany." after the christening, king william and queen augusta held a kind of informal court in the curious hall known as the hall of the shells, full of memories of frederick the great. early the next morning the crown prince slipped away out of the palace to spare his wife the agony of parting. even at such a moment as this, the crown princess's private and personal anxieties were embittered by circumstances which she was unable to modify or affect. although england was not only ignorant, but was to remain, like the rest of the world, in ignorance for many years, of the falsification of the famous ems telegram, sympathy with germany as the supposed injured party in the quarrel was by no means universal. it is true that on the morrow of the declaration of war the _times_ described it as "unjust but pre-meditated--the greatest national crime that we have had the pain of recording since the days of the first french revolution." nevertheless, france by no means, lacked sympathisers in england--indeed the crown princess was much distressed at the way in which her native country interpreted the obligation of neutrality. the prussian government considered that the exportation of coal and arms to france was a breach of neutrality; and the attitude of england during the danish war was still remembered and resented in germany. bismarck, with what europe has now become aware was gross hypocrisy, observed to lord augustus loftus, the british ambassador in berlin, that "great britain should have forbidden france to enter on war. she was in a position to do so, and her interests and those of europe demanded it of her," a sufficiently cynical observation on the part of a man who, as we now know, had himself forced on the conflict at the eleventh hour. to queen victoria the crown princess confided her troubles: "the english are more hated at this moment than the french, and lord granville more than benedetti. of course, _cela a rejailli_ on my poor innocent head. i have fought many a battle about lord granville, indignant at hearing my old friend so attacked, but all parties agree in making him out _french_. i picked a quarrel about it on the day of the christening, tired and miserable as i was. i sent for bismarck up into my room on purpose to say my say about lord granville, but he would not believe me, and said with a smile, '_but his acts prove it_.' many other people have told me the same. lord a. loftus knows it quite well. fritz, of course, does not believe it, but i think the king and queen do." meanwhile, france was complaining bitterly of lord granville's "cold, very cold" attitude. then suddenly, on july , the _times_ published a draft secret treaty which had been proposed by the emperor napoleon to prussia in . the terms were--( ) that the emperor should recognise prussia's acquisitions in the late war; ( ) the king of prussia should promise to facilitate the acquisition of luxemberg by france; ( ) the emperor should not oppose a federal union of the northern and southern german states, excluding austria; ( ) the king of prussia, in case the emperor should enter and conquer belgium, should support him in arms against any opposing power; and ( ) france and prussia should enter into an offensive and defensive alliance. this disclosure caused an enormous sensation, and queen victoria was much shocked at the apparent revelation of french greed and duplicity. writing to the queen, the crown princess observed: "count bismarck may say the wildest things, but he never acts in a foolish way,"--an interesting pronouncement when one remembers how keen had been and was to be the struggle between these two powerful and determined natures. as a matter of fact, bismarck did not hesitate to admit that the document was authentic, but he insisted that he had never seriously entertained the proposal, which came entirely from the emperor. not long afterwards, on the day of the battle of wörth, the game of "revelations" was taken up by general turr, who disclosed proposals made by bismarck in and for the annexation of luxemberg and belgium by france. but already all such recriminations and discussions seemed merely of academic interest; already everything was swept from the mind of the crown princess save the necessity for hard work and intelligent organisation. with an ardour natural to her generous and sympathetic temperament she threw herself into everything that could mitigate the sufferings and promote the welfare of both combatants and non-combatants. prussia's two former wars had given her an amount of experience which she was now able to turn to the best account. spontaneously, without any advice or prompting from others, she wrote the following letter to the whole german world, her desire being to touch the hearts, not only of those germans at home, but also of those who had settled overseas, in america and elsewhere: "once more has germany called her sons to take arms for her most sacred possessions, her honour, and her independence. a foe, whom we have not molested, begrudges us the fruits of our victories, the development of our national industries by our peaceful labour. insulted and injured in all that is most dear to them, our german people--for they it is who are our army--have grasped their well-tried arms, and have gone forth to protect hearth, and home, and family. for months past, thousands of women and children have been deprived of their bread-winners. we cannot cure the sickness of their hearts, but at least we can try to preserve them from bodily want. during the last war, which was brought to so speedy, and so fortunate, a conclusion, germans in every quarter of the globe responded nobly when called upon to prove their love of fatherland by helping to relieve the suffering. let us join hands once more, and prove that we are able and willing to succour the families of those brave men who are ready to sacrifice life and limb for us! let us give freely, promptly, that the men who are fighting for our sacred rights may go into battle with the comforting assurance that at least the destinies of those who are dearest to them are confided to faithful hands. "victoria crown princess." this eloquent appeal met with the splendid response which it deserved, and although practically every german princess of the time took a more or less active part in the care of the wounded and of the families of the soldiers, it was soon realised that the crown princess was the master mind to whom all must look for their orders. queen augusta supervised the ambulance and hospital services in berlin, while the crown princess moved to homburg and started on the organisation of a series of field-lazareths, being most efficiently helped in her labours by her sister, princess alice, who herself organised and actively supervised four field hospitals in darmstadt itself. the crown princess began by turning the old military barracks at homburg into a hospital, the existing hospital being set aside for the use of wounded french prisoners. she also built at her own expense two magnificent wards, and they--doubtless partly because they were new buildings--showed far more satisfactory results in lower death-rate and shorter convalescence than did the wards in any other of the german military hospitals. the victoria barrack, as the new wards were called, was built of wood on a brick foundation. in addition to the wards, the building contained a good store-room, lined with glass cupboards, in which was kept a quantity of old linen which queen victoria had sent for the wounded. each ward contained twenty-four beds. a feature which the german doctors and nurses regarded with decidedly mixed feelings was a system of ventilation which enabled the whole building to be opened from end to end when required. by the crown princess's orders, the very simplest and plainest appliances compatible with health and comfort were used. thus the necessary furniture was all of varnished deal. by her wish, too, a great effort was made to give a bright and homelike appearance to each ward, and this, like the special ventilation, was quite a new idea to both german patients and german doctors. in the corners of each ward stood large evergreen shrubs, and on every table were placed cut flowers in glasses. whenever the crown princess received a personal gift of flowers, she immediately sent it off to the hospital, often bringing a bouquet and arranging it herself. nothing in the victoria barrack was used which could conceal any dirt; for instance, the crockery was white and the glass plain. the crown princess attended the military hospitals daily. she went through every ward, and spoke to every patient; and she was quite as regular in her attendance on the wards containing the french prisoners as she was on those where the german soldiers lay. in this way she came into personal association with ordinary people of a class of whom princesses see as a rule little or nothing. with many of the soldiers who were then tended under her supervision and care she kept in touch long after the war was ended--indeed, she was always eager to help in after life any of those whom she had known at homburg, or who had fought under her husband's orders. but the crown princess did far more than the work associated with her name at homburg. it was owing to her promptness and her energy that a long line of military hospitals was rapidly organised along the whole of the rhine valley. at the end of the campaign of the crown prince and princess had founded the national institution for disabled soldiers, and by the special order of the king it was given the name of the victoria institution, because the crown princess had suggested and instigated its creation. at the close of , this institution, again at her suggestion, was placed upon a wider footing, and applied to the whole of germany instead of only to prussia. there is no need here to describe the course of the war itself. a vast literature, both technical and general, has grown up round it, and there are many people by no means yet old who remember vividly that immense and sanguinary struggle. to the crown prince was assigned the command of the third army, in which nearly every state of both north and south germany was represented, including the bavarian corps and the divisions of würtemberg and baden. once more the prince proved his fitness for high command, perhaps most notably at the battle of wörth, when his admirable dispositions and his unhesitating resolve that even the last man must if necessary be staked were the main causes of the victory. yet the crown prince said to the great german writer, freytag, who was with him in this early part of the war: "i hate this slaughter. i have never desired the honours of war, and would gladly have left such glory to others. nevertheless, it is my hard fate to go from battlefield to battlefield, from one war to another, before ascending the throne of my ancestors." much as he hated war, the crown prince never hesitated, as weak commanders have always done, to pay the necessary price of victory in human lives. among the troops, "unser fritz," as they called him, quickly became extraordinarily popular--indeed, their devotion to their leader formed a strong and politically useful link between men who had actually fought against one another so recently as the austrian war. throughout the campaign, the crown prince and princess corresponded daily. the siege of paris had begun on september , and the crown prince was at versailles on his birthday, on october , almost the first birthday he had spent away from his wife since their marriage. when he woke in the morning he found on his table a small pocket-pistol, and a housewife, filled with articles for daily use, from the crown princess. there is a very interesting glimpse of the crown princess in december , that is, during the middle of the war, in prince hohenlohe's memoirs. he was asked to lunch with her, and they had a long talk about public affairs. the princess was very dissatisfied concerning the proposed convention with bavaria, and it seemed to the statesman that both she and princess alice were enthusiastic for the idea of a united empire without any exception, and that neither sister liked the proposal of federation. the crown princess listened attentively, however, to hohenlohe's defence of the special nature and justification of the bavarian claims, but it is evident that she agreed with her husband on the question of coercing the bavarians, if it should be necessary. the two sisters were together as much as was possible during those terrible months of hard work and anxiety. princess alice spent half of the december of in berlin, and wrote to her mother: "it is a great comfort to be with dear vicky. we spend the evenings alone together, talking or writing our letters. it is nearly five months since louis left, and we lead such single existences that a sister is inexpressibly dear when all closer intercourse is so wanting!" on christmas eve there arrived at the house at versailles where the crown prince was then living a huge chest, and he asked his hostess and her family to share his christmas cake, "for," said he, "this cake was baked by my wife, and you will much oblige me by tasting it." he then chatted to them about the christmas festival in his own happy household, and translated the letters of the crown princess and of his two elder children. long afterwards this lady wrote to a friend a letter which has since been published: "in those fateful days we learnt to know the good and open heart of the late emperor. we were fortunate indeed to be under the protection of that stately and friendly gentleman, who appeared to us, as we now think of him, to have been a good genius who warded off mischief from our household." the crown princess was accused of having interfered to prevent the bombardment of paris. thus busch writes on december , : "bucher told us at lunch he had heard from berlin that the queen and the crown princess had become very unpopular, owing to their intervention on behalf of paris; and that the princess, in the course of a conversation with putbus, struck the table and exclaimed: 'for all that, paris shall not be bombarded!'" as a matter of fact, though both moltke and the crown prince considered that the right tactics would be to starve out paris by a strict investment, the bombardment, which was urged by bismarck for political reasons, was delayed, not by any slackness on the part of the third army, but simply by insufficient preparation of the siege-train in berlin. the crown princess suffered bitterly from bismarck. she knew well that he was indispensable, the man of the hour, but he would never trust her. he often held back important political news from the crown prince for fear it should leak out through the crown princess to england. in this he did her an injustice so gross that it could not be atoned for by his own tardy acknowledgment of the fact in _thoughts and remembrances_. on january , , we learn from busch that bismarck said of the english who wanted to send a gunboat up the seine to remove the english families there: "they merely want to ascertain if we have laid down torpedoes and then to let the french ships follow them. what swine! they are full of vexation and envy because we have fought great battles here--and won them. they cannot bear to think that shabby little prussia should prosper so. the prussians are a people who should merely exist in order to carry on war for them in their pay. this is the view taken by all the upper classes in england. they have never been well disposed towards us, and have always done their utmost to immure us. the crown princess herself is an incarnation of this way of thinking. she is full of her own great condescension in marrying into our country. i remember her once telling me that two or three merchant families in liverpool had more silver-plate than the entire prussian nobility. 'yes,' i replied, 'that is possibly true, your royal highness, but we value ourselves for other things besides silver.'" after the capitulation of sedan, the crown prince issued from rheims an appeal for the wounded soldiers and the relatives of the killed and wounded. in it he spoke of his happiness in commanding in the field an army in which prussians fought side by side with bavarians, würtembergers, and men of baden, and declared that the war had created one german army and had also unified the nation. later on, when the german armies sat down before paris, the crown prince allotted some of the large rooms of the palace of versailles for a hospital, and himself supervised the arrangements. all through the war, indeed, he showed the keenest interest in the hospital service, and was constant in his visits to the wounded soldiers. here we may trace the influence of his wife, who eagerly awaited all that he could tell her in his letters about poor men to whom her woman's heart went out with such ardent sympathy. the crown prince took pains to supply the patients with interesting reading, and at his suggestion the editor of a berlin liberal paper sent many hundreds of copies of it daily to the military hospitals. this, however, was not approved at headquarters, and an order was actually issued by von roon, forbidding the distribution of the paper. such incidents illustrate the difficulties with which both the crown prince and the princess had to contend. the presence at versailles, not only of the king and bismarck, but of a cohort of german princes with their retinues, as well as numerous diplomatists, ministers, and other official personages, did not make the crown prince's position easier. he had been raised after the fall of metz to the highest rank in the army, that of general field-marshal, the promotion being communicated to him in a letter from his father bearing grateful testimony to his brilliant successes in the field, notably the strategic advance by which he covered the left of the main army and enabled it to overcome bazaine's forces. but this elevation in rank does not appear to have been of much practical value to him. naturally both the crown prince and the crown princess took the keenest interest in the question of the imperial title. by the end of november, , baden, hesse-darmstadt, würtemberg, and bavaria had all joined the north-german confederation by treaty. early in december, the king of bavaria, in a letter to the king of saxony which was really written by bismarck, nominated the king of prussia as emperor of germany, and the north-german parliament, after voting large supplies for the continuance of the war, adopted by an overwhelming majority an address requesting the king to become emperor. his brother and predecessor had refused the imperial crown proffered him by the frankfort parliament, on the ground that the legal title was insufficient, but now that the dignity was tendered by the sovereigns and the people of germany, it was not possible for the king to refuse. neither the king himself, however, nor the older prussian nobility liked the change, which, it was feared, might transform the almost parsimonious austerity of the prussian court into something like the pomp and extravagance with which other sovereigns had surrounded themselves. bismarck, who considered all such matters as titles and heraldic pomp to be only important because they influence men's minds, was disposed to agree with his sovereign's feelings, but it was the corner-stone of his policy to conciliate the south german states. to the crown prince, on the other hand, with his strongly idealistic nature and his highly developed historical imagination, the conception of the empire won by the sword made an irresistible appeal. he was ready to see in it a revival of the old empire, by which the king of prussia should be, not first among his peers, but the overlord of all germany. it is significant, however, that king william was proclaimed, in the hall of mirrors at versailles, not emperor of germany, but german emperor. this was on january , , the anniversary of the day on which the first king of prussia had crowned himself at königsberg. the crown prince supervised all the arrangements for the ceremony, and it was his idea to form a kind of trophy of the colours of the regiments which had won glory at wörth and weissenburg, mars-la-tour, gravelotte, and sedan. before this trophy the king pronounced the establishment of the german empire. on the same day by imperial rescript the new emperor conferred on the crown prince and on his successors as heir apparent the title of imperial highness. the preliminaries of peace were not signed till february , and we have, in a letter written two days later by his friend, herr abeken, an interesting glimpse of the feelings with which the crown prince regarded these great events, and also the reliance which he placed on the aid of his wife. the crown prince told abeken that he was fully conscious of the tremendous responsibility now incumbent on him. it was thrice as great as that which lay on him as crown prince of prussia, but he did not shrink from it. god had already given him a blessed help and support in his wife, by whose assistance he hoped to fulfil his great work. the crown prince had the satisfaction of leaving behind him in france as friendly feelings towards him personally as could well be entertained by the vanquished for a victorious foe. he had distinguished himself among the german leaders by his moderation in victory, by his stern repression of excesses, and by his chivalrous tributes to the bravery of his enemies. the crown princess, absorbed in her labours among the suffering soldiers, was scarcely aware at the time of the venomous feelings still cherished against her in prussia, and it was with an exultant heart--as "german" as her most captious and suspicious critics could have wished--that she welcomed the conclusion of the great conflict. berlin was reached on march , , though no official reception then took place, the royal carriage in which the new emperor and the crown prince were to be seen side by side, could only proceed at foot's pace through the dense masses who crowded the streets. later, in response to the call of the great crowd who thronged about his palace, a window opened, and the crown prince was seen in the midst of his family beside the crown princess, with his youngest child, the little princess who had been born at the beginning of the war in his arms. chapter xiv public and private activities when the great struggle was over at last and peace was declared, the crown princess had a pleasant opportunity of exercising the generosity and delicacy which formed perhaps the most notable part of her many-sided and impulsive character. m. thiers had sent to berlin as french ambassador the comte de gontaut biron. although allied by birth to several great german families, m. de gontaut, as he was generally styled, found his position in berlin a very painful one. france lay in the dust at the feet of the only real conqueror she had ever known. the whole of the huge war indemnity had not yet been paid off, and french territory was not yet free from the foot of the invader. there were also all kinds of comparatively unimportant, yet vexatious and annoying, outstanding points which still awaited settlement, and till these were arranged germany refused to give up certain prisoners confined in german fortresses. moreover, bismarck, though outwardly conciliatory and courteous, did not seek to spare the french ambassador as a more generous and sensitive foe would have done. m. de gontaut was actually expected to be present at each of the splendid court and military fêtes which were then being given to celebrate the foundation of the new german empire for the victorious return of the prussian army to the capital. from the very beginning of his difficult task, the ambassador found firm and kind friends in the crown prince and princess. on the occasion of his first audience the crown princess came forward with kindly, eager words, telling him that she and her husband had just read with the greatest pleasure the memoirs of his grandmother, that duchess de gontaut who, as gouvernante of the royal children, played so great a part in the revolution, and later, in the restoration. the princess went on to speak of her intense satisfaction and relief at the declaration of peace and she concluded with the words: "we know that you have made a great sacrifice in coming to berlin; and we will do everything in our power to make your task less painful." when m. de gontaut was later joined by his daughter, the crown princess did all she could to make the daily life of this young french lady as agreeable as was possible in the circumstances, and in this she had the warm sympathy and assistance of the empress augusta, who, as we know, had many old and affectionate links with the legitimist world to which the ambassador belonged. the crown princess's youngest child, who afterwards married prince frederick charles of hesse, was born on april , , and was christened margaret beatrice feodora--margaret after the queen of italy, whom the child's parents both regarded with warm affection. queen margherita came to berlin for the ceremony, and a great fête was given at the new palace. it was more like an english garden party than anything previously known at the prussian court, but the crown princess had a way of making her own precedents. she caused invitations to be sent, not only to the nobility and the hosts of officials who had a prescriptive right to be present at such a function, but also to persons who were merely distinguished for their literary, artistic, or scientific achievements. the months which followed ushered in a peaceful period of happiness and rest for the princess. her magnificent work during the war had won her warm friends and admirers in every class, but of more moment to her than her own personal popularity was that enjoyed by the crown prince, whose relations with the military party now became much pleasanter in consequence of his achievements in the field and the enthusiastic devotion felt for him throughout the army. unfortunately for the crown prince and princess, bismarck's position had been even more radically transformed by the war, and the minister's domination over his already aging sovereign grew more and more obvious. it was an open secret that the emperor and his heir differed on many important questions, and the gulf between them was sedulously widened by bismarck's jealous prejudice against the crown prince. incidents that would have been in ordinary circumstances too slight to mention now revealed, even to strangers, the friction which was symptomatic of deeper disagreement. the crown prince, as we have seen, set much store by the new imperial honours which the war had brought to his house, and he was always very punctilious in speaking of his father as "emperor" and of his mother as "empress." the emperor, however, habitually still spoke of himself as "king" and of the empress as "queen." the story goes that on one occasion the emperor, addressing some lady in the presence of his son, observed that it was extraordinarily mild for the time of year, and that "the queen" had brought him some spring flowers which she had picked out of doors that morning. the crown prince answered, "yes, so the empress told me." "i did not know you had already seen the queen to-day," remarked his father. the experiences she had just gone through had shown the crown princess the inadequacy of the existing hospital organisation in germany. from her point of view, and from that of the english ladies who had rendered her such great assistance in creating--it was nothing less--the army nursing service, a more scientific training for nurses was evidently the first necessity; and in securing this she was particularly helped by miss lees, afterwards mrs. dacre craven, who had been a friend and associate of miss nightingale. in the crown princess had drawn up a memorandum in which she laid it down that the best nurses would prove to be those who would combine the obedience of the catholic sisterhoods with a more scientific and comprehensive training. the kaiserwerth institution, where florence nightingale had gained valuable experience, did not give a sufficiently scientific education, and she came to the conclusion that a nursing school must be established in berlin, where ladies, who should be given a distinguishing dress and badge, should be trained. the outbreak of the war of interrupted this scheme, but now that the pressing emergency was over, the princess returned to her old scheme, the fundamental principle of which was that it should be carried out by educated and refined gentlewomen, preferably orphans. they were to have a three years' theoretical and practical course, followed by a course of monthly nursing, and were to pass an examination to test their proficiency. in the face of strong opposition, both on the part of the medical profession and of the middle classes in germany, the princess organised this society of trained lady nurses, who tended the sick poor in their own homes. the society began in a very quiet, humble way, but now you could not find a german, man or woman, who would not admit that this was a splendid addition to the philanthropic institutions of the country. the princess also founded a society for sending the sick children of poor parents out of the larger towns into the country or to the seaside. it need hardly be pointed out that in each of these cases the crown princess copied peculiarly british institutions, and this no doubt was partly why they aroused such indignant opposition. all through her life one of the princess's mental peculiarities was that of thinking it impossible that any reasoning human being could object to anything that was obviously in itself a good and wise measure. to oppose a scheme simply because the idea of it had first originated in england or in france was something that she could not understand, so far removed was she from certain littlenesses of human nature, as well as from the dominion of national and racial prejudice. the crown princess, and in this also she was warmly supported by her husband's approval and sympathy, wished the new empire to bestow more recognition on those germans who had attained distinction in the arts of peace rather than of war. encouraged by the knowledge that her work during the country's wars had at last won a measure of national understanding and gratitude, she again did every thing in her power to break down the old prussian court barrier between the "born" and the "not born." but, as might have been predicted, the princess's efforts were fairly successful as regards the latter, though not as regards the former. to german women of all classes, the princess's interest in science seemed both eccentric and unfeminine. she had attended, when still a very young woman, some lectures given in berlin by the great chemist, hoffmann, who dedicated to her, in later years, his book, _remembrances of past friends_--a compliment which pleased and touched her very much. her practical love of art was also regarded as uncalled for in a royal lady and indeed unnatural in the mother of a large young family. she had a studio built in the palace, where she worked under the teaching of professor hagen, and she also studied under von angeli. she was fond of visiting the studios of berlin painters, particularly of the two begas, of oscar the painter, and reinhold the sculptor, where she sometimes made studies as a student, and where she sometimes was herself the study. she and her husband were always great friends of the various artists. among the names that recur constantly in this connection are those of anton von werner, to one of whose children the crown prince was godfather, and georg bleibtreu. the new palace in berlin was nicknamed "the palace of the medicis," because of the enthusiastic encouragement which its owners always gave to what they believed to be genius, or even talent. the crown princess not only entertained persons of distinction in art and literature, but, what was less easily forgiven her, any foreign scientists and artists of eminence who came to berlin, were eagerly invited by her, generally to informal tea-parties. but in time even the princess realised that it was hopeless to try to blend the two elements. unfortunately, she never took the trouble to hide her preference for people who interested and amused her to those who were merely "hoffahige." the prussian nobility were amazed and affronted that a prussian princess should esteem so lightly the possession of numerous quarterings, and it was a bitter grievance that their future sovereign and his consort actually preferred the society of painters and musicians and similar persons whom they regarded as nobodies. at the same time, she was always on cordial and pleasant terms with diplomatists, who as a rule combine the advantages of good birth with intelligence and culture and the most delightful of professions. for many years of her life her greatest personal friends were lord ampthill (at the time lord odo russell) and his wife, a daughter of that lord clarendon who had expressed so high an admiration of the princess royal's mental gifts. but perhaps the crown princess most surprised and offended her husband's future subjects by her pro-jewish attitude. in this she showed extraordinary courage and breadth of view. for example, she accepted the patronage of the auerbach schools for the education of jewish orphans, and that at a time when the whole of berlin, from the great official world to the humblest tradesman, was taking part in the judenhetze. the crown princess was indeed, as we have seen, extremely broad-minded in matters of religion. she heartily despised the type of mind which attacks jews as jews, or catholics as catholics. she showed this in march, , when she spoke strongly to prince hohenlohe about the hostile policy the prussian government was then pursuing towards his church. she observed that in her opinion those called upon to govern should influence the education of the people, as that of itself would make them independent of the hierarchy, and she added: "i count upon the intelligence of the people; that is the great power." but hohenlohe drily answered: "a much greater power is human stupidity, of which we must take account in our calculations before everything." what we should call the middle classes were incensed by certain other activities of the future empress. from the very first the crown princess had been ardently desirous of improving the position of the women of her adopted country. but the german woman of that day was quite content with the place she then held, both in the public esteem and in the consideration of her menfolk; the fact that in youth she was surrounded with an atmosphere of sentimental adoration made up, in her opinion, for the way she was treated in old age and in middle age. even so, the efforts made by the crown princess in time bore fruit. they comprised the victoria lyceum, founded in june, , but placed--and here one reluctantly perceives a certain want of tact on the part of the foundress--under the direction of an english lady. there were also, under the special patronage of the crown princess, fraulein letze's school for girls of the upper classes, and the letteverein. other educational establishments which owed much to her sympathy and direct encouragement were the victoria and frederick william institute, and the pestalozzi-froebel house, and these are only a few of the educational establishments in which she took an active and personal interest. perhaps the most admirable of them all was the victoria fortbildung-schule, which gave girls the means of continuing their education after they had left school. in another matter concerning the education of women the crown princess was violently opposed to german public opinion. she was a firm believer in the value of gymnastic exercises and outdoor games for girls, and that at a time when they were practically unknown in prussia. the first lawn-tennis net ever seen in germany was put up in the grounds of the new palace at potsdam, and she was unceasing in her efforts to introduce gymnasiums into girls' schools. in the winter of , the crown prince fell ill of an internal inflammation, and though the critical period was soon over, he took a long time to recover his strength. margaretha von poschinger reproduces in her life of him an extraordinary utterance said by the _rheinische kurier_ to have been made by the crown prince to his wife at this time: "the doctors say that my illness is dangerous. as my father is old, and prince william is still a minor, you may not improbably be called upon to act temporarily as regent. you must promise me to do nothing without prince bismarck, whose policy has lifted our house to a power and greatness of which we could not have dreamed." the interest of this is considerable if we could be sure that it was authentic, and not simply what the newspaper wished the public to believe that the crown prince had said. it may well be that bismarck, who was in the habit of providing for every contingency, was alarmed by the crown prince's illness, and desired to consolidate his own position in the event of the crown princess becoming regent. after a long convalescence at wiesbaden the crown prince returned with his wife to berlin in the spring of . in the summer they went to vienna for the international exhibition, and while there they called, quite without ceremony, on von angeli, the painter. the crown princess invited him to come to potsdam to paint her husband's portrait; he accepted the commission, and it was the beginning of a long friendship. von angeli speaks with enthusiasm of the simple and charming home life of the crown prince and princess, who often entertained him. he notes that, while there was much talk of a literary, artistic, and scientific kind, politics and military matters were never referred to. for the crown princess the painter had the highest admiration--indeed, he says she was gifted with every adornment of mind and heart. she made such progress in painting that von angeli declares himself proud to call himself her instructor. the crown prince took a keen interest in his wife's success, and was himself encouraged to begin working, both in charcoal and in colour. as regarded the relations between england and germany, the crown princess had an increasingly difficult part to play during the years that immediately succeeded the war. france and germany--the former with far more reason--both considered that they had been badly treated by great britain during the conflict. prince bismarck either was, or pretended to be, watchful and apprehensive of the state of feeling in france, and moltke, following his lead, spoke at a state banquet as if war might again be forced on germany by france. urged, as bismarck and his friends believed, by the crown princess, but really by the advice of lord granville, queen victoria, in , made a personal appeal to the german emperor. in her letter, after observing that england's sympathies would be with germany in any difference with france, she added the significant qualification, "unless there was an appearance on the part of germany of an intention to avail herself of her greatly superior force to crush a beaten foe." in reviewing the life of the empress frederick as a whole, it must never be forgotten that the emperor william was not expected to reach, as in fact he did, an extraordinary old age. after the franco-prussian war, everyone of any intelligence, from bismarck downwards, attached great importance to the crown princess's views and feelings; they believed that she had established a commanding influence over her husband, and that the moment he succeeded to the throne she would be the real ruler. accordingly, the further intervention of queen victoria in , when a german attack on france appeared imminent, was the crowning offence of the "british petticoats." queen victoria, as is well known, wrote a personal letter to the tsar, who responded by going himself to berlin. the "british petticoats," it is true, had resented what appeared to be the act of aggression of france before the falsification of the ems despatch had been revealed, but they were angered by bismarck's conspiracy with russia in denouncing the black sea treaty; and his opposition to a law of ministerial responsibility, which might have given the new empire a constitutional basis, showed the impossibility of any real political sympathy between the minister and the princess who had been trained in the school of prince albert. the consequence of queen victoria's successful intervention was indeed far-reaching. the ten years which followed were probably the most anxious of bismarck's whole life. france, by the prompt payment of the indemnity and in other ways, had shown a most disquieting power of revival after the war. in addition, the understanding with russia, which was the pivot of bismarck's foreign policy, having been broken in his hands, he was obliged to recast his policy from the foundations; and, though he succeeded in his immediate aims of separating england and france on the one hand, and france and russia on the other, his resentment against the crown princess and her mother as the origin of all his troubles burned all the more fiercely. [illustration: frederick william crown prince of prussia after the franco-prussian war] after each quarrel--for quarrels there were--between the all-powerful minister and his future sovereign, a peace, or rather a truce, was generally patched up, and bismarck would be invited to some kind of festivity at the crown prince's palace. a shrewd observer has recorded that on such occasions his manner to the crown princess was always courteous, but to the crown prince he was often curt to the verge of insolence. so intense was the feeling aroused among bismarck and his followers, that the crown prince and princess found life in berlin almost intolerable, and they began spending a considerable portion of each year abroad. the many philanthropic, social, and political interests of the crown princess were never allowed to interfere with her family life and duties. very soon after the war, both she and the crown prince began to give much anxious thought to the education and training of their eldest son. we have a significant glimpse of how the question moved the conscientious father in a passage in the crown prince's diary written on january , , while he was still in the field: "to-day is my son william's thirteenth birthday. it is enough to frighten one to think what hopes already fill the head of this boy, and how we are responsible for the direction which we may give to his education; this education encounters so many difficulties owing to family considerations and the circumstances of the berlin court." the crown princess was the victim of much malevolent and ignorant criticism when it was realised that the old traditions were to be broken in some important particulars. the civil element was to be at least of equal importance as the military in the training of prince william, and he and prince henry were sent to the ordinary "gymnasium," or public school as we should call it, at cassel, a little town in the old duchy of hesse, which the parents deliberately chose because it was some distance from berlin. the sanction of the emperor william had to be obtained for this plan, and though he gave it there can be little doubt that he really disapproved. this "magnanimous resolve, heretofore unexampled in the annals of our reigning families," was indeed regarded with mixed feelings by the country generally. it was not, as was supposed by many, an english idea to send their heir to the throne to an ordinary school. the prince of wales had not been educated at all on those lines, and there was certainly no precedent in the royal house of prussia. the plan was not without risks, but on the whole it succeeded admirably. by the special wish of the parents, the two princes were treated just like other boys; they were addressed as "you," and were called "prince william" and "prince henry." "no one," said an english newspaper correspondent, "seeing these two simple, kindly-looking lads in their plain military frocks, sitting on a form at the cassel gymnasium among the other pupils, would have guessed that they were the two young imperial princes." the princes had one privilege accorded them; they lived with their tutor, dr. hinzpeter, but this circumstance certainly did nothing to reconcile bismarck to the plan. bismarck gives a significant account of his meeting with hinzpeter at a time when public opinion was busy with the polish question, and the alvensleben convention aroused the indignation of the liberals in the diet. hinzpeter was introduced to bismarck at a gathering at the crown prince's. "as he was in daily communication with the royalties, and gave himself out to be a man of conservative opinions, i ventured upon a conversation with him, in which i set forth my views of the polish question, in the expectation that he would now and again find opportunity of giving expression to it." some days later hinzpeter wrote to bismarck that the crown princess had asked to know the subject of their long conversation. he had recounted it all to her, and had then reduced it to writing, and he sent bismarck the memorandum with the request that he would examine it, and make any needful corrections. this was really courting a snub, which bismarck hastened to administer, flatly refusing hinzpeter's request. the princess's english ideas prevailed in the physical education of her children, and in her care to occupy them with such innocent pursuits as gardening. but the mother's desire that her eldest son should not be too much under the glamour of military glory was defeated, partly by the boy's own firmness of character, partly by the events of history. the three great wars which culminated in the foundation of the german empire--the danish, the austrian, and the french--covered the period of his boyhood, and his earliest recollections of his father were of a great soldier going forth to win the laurels of victory over the successive enemies of his country. the young prince in fact spent most of his impressionable years in the full influence of that hero-worship for frederick the great which formed the strongest link between the father and the son, though it is plain that each admired his great forebear for different reasons. chapter xv the crown prince's regency in the january of the crown princess went to russia to be present at the marriage of her brother, the duke of edinburgh, with the grand duchess marie alexandrovna. unlike most royal personages, many of whom regard such functions as weddings as duties to be endured, the crown princess thoroughly enjoyed the experience. the emperor alexander was charmed with her cleverness and enthusiasm, and gave her a ruby bracelet, which she was fond of wearing to the end of her life. the princess had the pleasure of entertaining the prince and princess of wales on their way home from st. petersburg. it was the first time the princess of wales had appeared at the prussian court since the war of the duchies, and her wonderful beauty and charm of manner greatly impressed all those who were brought in contact with her. the crown princess gave a splendid fancy dress ball at the new palace in february, . to some who were present it recalled the costume ball given by queen victoria and prince albert at buckingham palace nearly thirty years before. the crown princess, who was devoted to italy and to italian art, decided that the entertainment should be known as the venetian fête. she herself wore a replica of the dress in which leonora conzaga was painted by titian. later there was painted by von angeli a portrait of the crown princess in this dress. the crown prince and princess spent the spring of in italy, including a long stay in venice. there they entertained the painter anton von werner, who has left an enthusiastic account of their visit. he records that the princess drew and painted with real industry, now sketching the unequalled treasures of the past, now studying the effects of light or shade on the canals or in the square of st. mark's. the painter was astonished, not only at the princess's powers of technique, but also at her artistic sympathy and feeling. she seemed to know intuitively what would make a fine sketch. on the evening of her departure, he says, this artist princess carried away with her an unforgettable picture. the grand canal was covered with a fleet of gondolas, each lighted with torches, while the full moon shed her radiance over the noble palaces and the rialto bridge. von werner adds that the princess, in spite of the many claims on her time, had since that time persevered in all her artistic studies, and he particularly mentions von angeli, wilberg, lutteroth and albert hertel, as painters who helped and inspired her. she did life-sized portraits of her children, prince william and the hereditary princess of saxe-meiningen, in addition to numerous pencil and water-colour sketches of really remarkable artistic merit. in the october of that year the crown prince, in a long letter to his old friend, prince charles of roumania, mentions that the princess is more industrious and successful than ever in painting and drawing, and does marvels in the way of portraits. he also describes how his wife led her hussar regiment past the king. she did it, he says, magnificently, and looked extremely well in her simple yet becoming uniform. the crown princess was of great assistance to her husband in his scheme of adding a royal mausoleum to the berlin cathedral, which should be a kind of pantheon of the house of hohenzollern. there were to be statues of all the electoral princes and kings, with inscriptions relating the history and exploits of each. this involved a great deal of historical research, of which the princess took her share, as also in the composition of the more detailed historical memoirs or character sketches of his ancestors to which the crown prince also devoted himself. a visit to scheveningen in enabled the crown princess to study, much to her delight, the historical and artistic treasures of the old cities of holland. it will be remembered that the crown princess, many years before, had had scruples about her husband's association with freemasonry. she was perhaps reassured by a speech which he delivered in july, , when prince frederick of the netherlands celebrated his sixtieth anniversary as grand master. freemasonry, he declared, aimed at love, freedom, and tolerance, without regard to national divisions, and he hoped it might be victorious in the struggle for intellect and liberty. this speech is particularly interesting because, only two years before, the crown prince had resigned his office in grand lodge in berlin owing to the opposition he encountered in striving to carry out certain reforms in the craft. was an eventful year in the prussian imperial family. in february, prince william received his commission in the foot guards; princess charlotte was betrothed to the hereditary prince bernhard of saxe-meiningen; and prince henry made his formal entry into the navy. in april of this year it became known that bismarck had made one of his not infrequent threats to resign, and bucher wrote to busch to tell him the news: "it is not a question of leave of absence," he said, "but a peremptory demand to be allowed to retire. the reason: augusta, who influences her aging consort, and conspires with victoria (the crown princess)." the year opened brightly for the crown princess, for in february her eldest daughter, princess charlotte, was married to prince bernhard of saxe-meiningen. prince bismarck, however, excused himself from appearing at the ceremony on the pretext of ill-health. it was at this marriage, the first of the crown princess's family weddings, that her brother, the duke of connaught, made the acquaintance of his future wife. in the month of may came the attempted assassination of the emperor by a youth called hodel. the emperor then had a marvellous escape, but on june , which happened to be a sunday, the aged sovereign was driving down unter den linden when, from an upper window of an inn called "the three ravens," nobeling, a socialist, fired two charges of buckshot into the emperor's head and shoulders. violent hæmorrhage set in, and for some hours it was said, first, that he was dead, and secondly, that if not dead he could not survive the day. the crown prince and princess were then in england, and the news reached them at hatfield, where they were staying with lord and lady salisbury. within a very short time of the receipt of the telegram, they started for berlin, finding on their arrival that the emperor had recovered sufficiently to sign an order conferring the regency on the crown prince. the regency was hardly more than titular, for the old emperor stipulated that his son was only to "represent" him, and that the government was to be carried on as before in accordance with the emperor's known views. as to that, bismarck had his own ideas, and he succeeded in overcoming the crown prince's natural hesitation at accepting such a position. nevertheless, it was an extraordinarily sudden and dramatic change in the whole position of the crown prince and princess. in the first place it absolutely put an end to the plan, which had been seriously discussed and on the whole approved by bismarck, that the crown prince should become governor-general or lieutenant-governor of alsace-lorraine. obviously this scheme was no longer practical. the emperor was old and his wound was serious; the accession of his son seemed imminent. it is curious to recall that, so far back as january, , queen augusta, speaking to prince hohenlohe, had observed: "the king and i are old people: we can hardly hope to do more than work for the future. but i wish we could look forward to a happier state of things for our son." she was destined to live thirty years longer, and to survive the son to whom she ever proved herself a loyal and devoted mother, while her husband, whom even then she described as old, was destined to live more than another quarter of a century--almost as long, in fact, as the son who succeeded him for so tragically brief a reign. but now, in , it seemed as if the crown prince, even in the unlikely event of his father's recovery from his wound, must become virtual ruler of the german empire. a very few days, however, made it clear that bismarck was determined to allow the new regent as little authority as possible beyond that conferred by the signing of state documents, and that he was to have no practical influence on foreign politics. but fortune, then as always, seemed to single out bismarck for special favour, for in the all-important matter of russo-german relations the crown prince was far easier to manage, in so far as any management of him was necessary, than the old emperor, who was fondly attached to his nephew, the tsar alexander ii. those months, during which the crown prince exercised in theory a power which he certainly did not possess in reality, were among the most trying of all the trying months the crown princess ever passed through, the more so that the berlin congress, which she and the prince had gone to england to avoid, opened on june . among those who sojourned in berlin during those eventful days, and whose presence must have been a pleasure to the princess, were lord and lady salisbury. but during the congress the crown prince and princess kept rigidly apart from even its social functions, the only exception being that the crown prince gave an official dinner in the king's name to the plenipotentiaries. the crown princess stayed out at potsdam, while the empress refused to appear in any official way; she treated her son entirely as if he were already emperor. most serious was the sharp division caused between the father and son by the decisions of the congress. the crown prince, who had a life long dislike and suspicion of russia and of russian state-craft, was supposed to have favoured england, and the old emperor, to the very end of his life, considered that germany had not done as well at the congress as she should have done. he ascribed the fact--probably most unfairly--to the crown prince instead of to bismarck. meanwhile, all kinds of gossip were rife as to the crown princess's efforts to influence her husband, for by the public at large the regent was regarded as all-powerful. to give an example of how the princess was misunderstood and misjudged; when hodel attacked the emperor, the latter declared that he did not wish the full severity of the law to be exercised. but when nobeling's far more serious attempt at assassination followed, public opinion demanded that hodel should be condemned to death. the crown prince, as regent, had to sign the death warrant, and it became known that he had told a personal friend how very painful it was to him to sign it. it was widely believed that this over-scrupulousness, for so the good berliners considered it, was due to the influence of the crown princess; yet as a matter of fact she had been, from the first, of opinion that hodel, who had certainly meant to kill his sovereign, should be executed. in spite, however, of bismarck's determination to make him a cypher, the crown prince did not allow himself to be put wholly in the background. to the minister's great annoyance, he opened a personal correspondence with the new pope, leo xiii, in the hope of putting an end to the kulturkampf. though at the time it did not seem as though the prince had succeeded, it laid the foundations for the ultimate solution of the problem. the regent also appointed a certain dr. friedberg, a distinguished jewish jurist, who belonged to the liberal party, to a very high judicial post. curiously enough, this was the only appointment the crown prince made which was not afterwards revoked. the emperor william i retained friedberg, but refused to bestow on him the black eagle even after he had served for nine years in office. ten years later, when the emperor frederick was on his way home from san remo after his father's death, he received a ministerial delegation at leipzig, and, on seeing friedberg, he took the black eagle from his own neck and placed it about that of his old friend. by the end of the year, the emperor was quite himself again. on a certain memorable evening in december, he appeared at the opera and was the object of an extraordinary popular demonstration. the next day he wrote an open letter to the crown prince, thanking him in the warmest terms for the way in which he had fulfilled his duties as regent. it was rumoured at the time--it is difficult to know with what truth--that the crown princess would have liked, after the recovery of her father-in-law, that a special post should be created for her husband. but, on his side, the crown prince said to an english friend that he had no wish to find himself the fifth wheel of the coach, and that he hated having only a semblance of authority. during that visit to england which was so suddenly interrupted by nobeling's attempt on the emperor, mr. goschen, the statesman whom lord randolph churchill afterwards "forgot" at the time of his dramatic resignation, was asked to arrange a meeting between the crown prince and princess and george eliot. the novelist thus describes the party in a letter to a friend: "the royalties did themselves much credit. the crown prince is really a grand-looking man, whose name you would ask for with expectation if you imagined him no royalty. he is like a grand antique bust--cordial and simple in manners withal, shaking hands, and insisting that i should let him know when next we came to berlin, just as if he had been a professor gruppe, living _au troisième_. _she_ is equally good-natured and unpretending, liking best to talk of nursing soldiers, and of what her father's estate was in literature. we had a picked party to dinner--the dean of westminster, the bishop of peterborough, lord and lady ripon, dr. lyon playfair, kinglake, froude, mrs. ponsonby (lord grey's granddaughter), and two or three more 'illustrations'; then a small detachment coming in after dinner. it was really an interesting occasion." this was the kind of party which the crown princess thoroughly enjoyed, though even then her shyness always struck those who met her for the first time. on this occasion she opened her conversation with george eliot by saying, "you know my sister louise?"--and george eliot's comment is "just as any other slightly embarrassed mortal might have done." on december , the anniversary of the prince consort's death, the crown princess suffered another, and a hardly less terrible bereavement. her beloved sister, princess alice, grand duchess of hesse, after losing one child from diphtheria and devotedly nursing her husband and her other children, herself fell a victim to the malady, the treatment of which was not then so well understood as it is now. the sisters had been fondly attached to one another from childhood, and after princess alice's marriage the tie was drawn even closer. they had been inseparable during the franco-prussian war, and for many years the happiest days spent each year by the crown princess were those when she was able to pay a flying visit to the grand duchess, or when the grand duchess was able to spend a few days at berlin or potsdam. but there was yet another and an even more bitter sorrow in store for the crown princess. in march, , her third son, prince waldemar, died in his eleventh year. he was a clever, affectionate, merry-hearted boy, and would have been his mother's favourite child, if she had allowed herself to make differences between her children. like the princess herself, he had been intellectually far in advance of his years, and he had had as tutor a distinguished professor, herr delbrück, who succeeded treitschke in the chair of history at the berlin university, and afterwards played a considerable part in german thought and even in german politics. it is shocking to have to record an example of the prejudice which was even then still felt in certain circles in germany against the bereaved crown princess. a minister of the sect who called themselves the orthodox protestants, when he heard of the death of the young prince, observed that he hoped it was a trial sent by god to humiliate her hard heart. this monstrous utterance must have found its way into print, or to the ears of some singularly ill-advised human being, for the princess came to know of it, and in her then state of anguish it gave her more pain than perhaps even the minister himself would have wished to inflict. it was natural that the mother's heart should at this moment turn with keen anxiety to her son, prince henry, who was then serving abroad in a german warship. she imagined him in the midst of all sorts of perils, and she begged the emperor to allow him to return home at once. but the sovereign, though expressing kindly sympathy, was obliged, in view of the rigid rules of the service, to refuse her petition, and the princess had to bear as best she could this addition to her burden. at this time the crown princess's relations with bismarck had undergone some improvement. on february , , bismarck gave to busch a most unflattering picture of the old emperor, but he described the crown princess as unaffected and sincere, like her husband, "which her mother-in-law is not." he observed that it was only family considerations (the coburger and the augustenburger more than the uncle in hanover) that made the crown princess troublesome, formerly more so than at present. "but she is honourable and has no pretensions." it was thought that the crown princess was sadly in need of mental change and refreshment after the two terrible blows which had deprived her of her child and of her sister. she, therefore, went to stay in rome _incognito_ during the april of , being only attended by a lady-in-waiting and her "chambellan." to those of her english friends whom she happened to meet she spoke constantly of her dead son, saying that he had been the most promising of her children, and that she felt as if she could never be resigned to her loss. in answer to a kindly suggestion that she had so many duties to perform that she would soon be taken out of herself, she said: "ah, yes, there is much to do and one cannot sit down with one's sorrow, but the mother who has lost her child carries a heavy heart all her life." during her stay in rome, the princess spent almost the whole of each day in the picture galleries, and in the evening she generally dined with some of her english friends and members of the diplomatic corps. as was always her wont, she managed to see all the more interesting strangers who were just then in rome, many being asked to meet her at the british embassy. one night, when lady paget asked her whom she would like to meet, she answered instantly: "cardinal howard and mr. story" (the american sculptor). the princess, however, could not stay as long in rome as she would have liked, for she had to hurry back to be present at the emperor's golden wedding festivities. fortunately for the crown princess, there came other thoughts to distract her from her grief. she welcomed her first grandchild, the hereditary princess of saxe-meiningen giving birth to a daughter, and in april, , her eldest son prince william was betrothed to princess victoria of the house of schleswig-holstein-augustenburg, an alliance entirely approved by his parents. the crown prince, in a letter to prince charles of roumania, said that it was really a love-match, and that the young princess possessed remarkable gifts of heart, mind, and character, as well as a certain gracious dignity. it was also felt that the marriage would be a sort of compensation to the augustenburg family for the loss of the elbe duchies. in september, , the crown princess had the joy of welcoming back prince henry from his voyage round the world, and the marriage of prince william took place in february, , amid universal rejoicings. the crown princess's influence on the artistic life of germany was shown by a little incident connected with her eldest son's marriage. on the occasion of the wedding the town of berlin decorated the streets in a particularly original and beautiful way, and other prussian towns gave the young people as a wedding present a really artistic table service. the crown prince exclaimed: "and whom have we to thank that such things can be done by us in germany to-day? not least my wife!" in the following march, when the crown prince was in russia attending the funeral of alexander ii, who had been assassinated by nihilists, the princess received an anonymous threatening letter, informing her that her husband would also fall a victim to the nihilists in the next few hours. she was in a dreadful state of agitation until reassuring telegrams arrived. a son was born to prince and princess william on may , , and the old emperor william telegraphed to the crown prince: "praise and thanks to god! four generations of kings living! what a rare event! may god shield the mother and child!" in november of the same year, the crown princess had a curious conversation with prince hohenlohe, who thus records it: "it may be that christian consolation does not suffice one, but it is better to keep this to oneself and think it over. plato's dialogues and the ancient tragedies she finds very consolatory. much that she said was true. but she is too incautious and hasty in her verdicts upon things which are, after all, worthy of reverence." chapter xvi silver wedding: the crown prince's illness the crown prince and princess now looked forward to celebrating their silver wedding on january , . the festivities were rather dashed by the sudden death, only four days before, of prince charles of prussia, the emperor's brother. the old prince had never liked his english niece, and it was whispered in the diplomatic world that he had much preferred to die before rather than after the celebrations in which she was to be so conspicuous a figure! preparations for commemorating the anniversary with due honour had been made for fully a year before, and money was being collected for various presentations, when it was intimated that the crown prince and princess wished the subscriptions to be devoted to public and philanthropic objects. this made a great impression, and the central committee raised the large sum of £ , , mostly in quite small contributions. it was presented to the prince and princess on february , with the request that it should be used for charitable purposes chosen by their imperial highnesses. the money was accordingly distributed among the various charities with which the crown prince and princess were connected, and some of which they had themselves founded--such as the workmen's colonies for reclaiming the unemployed and finding temporary occupation for them; institutions for the technical and practical education of working men in their leisure hours; the promotion of health in the home; the victoria school for the training of nurses; and the victoria foundation for the training of young girls in domestic and industrial work. the city of berlin had a separate fund, which reached the round sum of £ , , and of this £ was spent on building a nursing institute. the death of prince charles caused the postponement of the festivities to the end of february, when they were held in what we should call "full state." the prince of wales represented queen victoria, and the emperor francis joseph also sent his heir apparent. the principal ceremony was both impressive and artistic, and there we can trace the influence of the crown princess. it consisted in a representation of the court of queen elizabeth, arranged by the artists of berlin. the crown prince, in the uniform of the queen's cuirassiers, and the crown princess in white satin and silver lace, led the magnificent procession, in which all the royal personages took part. after the crown prince and princess had taken their seats between the emperor and empress, a dramatic representation of the court of charles the bold, of burgundy, with its picturesque troubadours, was given, followed by the elizabethan pageant. then came what was perhaps the most interesting scene of all--a large assemblage dressed to represent the great painters of the renaissance in italy, germany, and the netherlands, who advanced, one by one, and did obeisance to the crown prince and princess as patrons of the arts. in may, , the princess paid a private visit to paris. she only stayed three days, but during those three days undertook more intelligent sight-seeing than most women of her then age would have found possible. she was entertained at luncheon by lord lyons, and at dinner at saint germain by prince hohenlohe, who in his diary rather ungraciously observes: "royal excursions with royal personages are not exactly among the pleasant things of life." during this visit the princess said to a french friend that one of the lives she would have liked to lead would have been that of a little bourgeoise of the rue saint denis, going on high-days and holidays to the théâtre français. the crown princess was now able to carry out her cherished project of building an english church dedicated to st. george in berlin, largely with the £ which was contributed in england for the silver wedding celebrations. the wisdom of this employment of the money subscribed may perhaps be doubted, for it can only have confirmed the idea prevailing in some quarters that the princess remained, and would always remain, an englishwoman in all her feelings and sympathies. however, the laying of the foundation-stone, which the crown princess performed herself in the spring of , was carried out with considerable ceremony. the crown prince made a speech on the occasion, in which he recalled that king frederick william iv had assigned one of the rooms in the palace of monbijou to the use of the english congregation, and that the king's brother, the then emperor, actuated by the same feelings, had granted the land on which the church was to be built. the crown princess took the keenest interest in the building, and followed the carrying out of the architect's plans in every detail. after the death of field-marshal baron von manteuffel, stadhalter of alsace-lorraine, it was suggested that the crown prince might be his successor, but the old emperor refused to consider the notion, while being willing to consider the appointment of the young prince william. it is said that the crown princess herself went to her father-in-law and begged him not to put so great an affront on her husband. the post was, therefore, conferred on prince hohenlohe. in the november of , matthew arnold paid a visit to germany in order to obtain information as to the german system of education. the crown princess was keenly interested in the inquiries he was making. with her usual energy, she went to considerable personal trouble in order to help him, and she arranged, among other things, that mr. arnold should make a short stay on count redern's property, in the mark of brandenburg. in one of his letters arnold gives a charming account of a soirée at the new palace: "the crown princess came round the circle, and i kissed her hand, as everyone here does when she holds it out. she talked to me a long time, and said i must come and see her quietly, comfortably." a few days later he dined at the palace, the only other guest being hoffmann, the great chemist. arnold sat next the crown princess, who "talked i may say all dinner. she is very able and well-informed." a day or two later came a message asking him to tea with the crown princess: "she was full of the eastern question, as all of them here are; it is of so much importance to them. she talked, too, about bismarck, lord ampthill, the emperor, the empress, the queen, the church, english politics, the german nation, everything and everybody indeed, except the crown prince and herself." mr. arnold was very anxious to meet "the great reichs-kanzler" himself, but this was not easy, as the great man was reputed to be almost inaccessible: but the crown princess herself wrote and asked bismarck to receive her compatriot. matthew arnold was struck by the lack in berlin of what certainly exists in london and paris, namely, an agreeable, cultivated society consisting mainly of upper middle-class elements. he observed that in berlin there was, in addition to the court, only groups of functionaries, of soldiers, and of professors. as may be gathered from much that has already appeared in this volume, the crown princess was ever pathetically anxious that england and germany should be on the most friendly terms of confidence and affection. consequently she went through some days of considerable anxiety, in the spring and early summer of , over the "inciden" of angra pequena. when lord granville decided to recognise german sovereignty in this territory, the crown princess was quite as pleased in her way as bismarck was. lord ampthill, in a letter to lord granville, observes: "the crown princess, who dined with us last night, was beyond measure happy at the general contentment and altered tone of the press." this lord ampthill, the lord odo russell of former days, was a valued friend of the crown princess. she was always, naturally, on terms of friendship with her mother's representative in berlin, but lord ampthill's appointment had given her special satisfaction. the ambassador's premature death in was a great grief to the princess, and the day after his death the crown prince himself came to the villa, where lord and lady ampthill had lived near sans souci, to lay a wreath on the coffin. the health of the old emperor now began to give occasion for anxiety. he had been born on march , , and when he reached his eighty-seventh birthday in , it seemed as if his course was almost run. in the circumstances the crown prince and princess could scarcely help anticipating the time when, as it then seemed, the great powers and responsibilities of the throne would be theirs. but it is certainly true to say that the feeling of duty was paramount in their minds, and that nothing was further from their thoughts than to covet the imperial purple for its own sake. they regarded it as the symbol of all that they were determined to do for the welfare and happiness of the people. even if they had been blind to the apparently immediate consequences of the old emperor's failing health, they would have been enlightened by the altered demeanour of prince bismarck. he showed clear signs of a desire to cultivate better relations with the heir apparent and his family, and he even attended an evening party given by the crown princess on the occasion of her birthday. not long afterwards, early in , the crown prince sounded bismarck as to whether, in the event of the emperor's death, he would remain in office. the astute chancellor said that he would, subject to two conditions, namely, that there should be no foreign influences in state policy, and that there should be no parliamentary government; it is said that the crown prince assented with an eloquent gesture. the real tragedy of the crown princess's life surely lies in these years of waiting. she could not--assuredly she did not--for a moment wish that the old emperor should die. she had nursed him devotedly during the long illness caused by nobeling's attempted assassination, and it is a significant fact that she alone had been able to persuade the stern old soldier to leave his hard camp bed for a soft invalid couch. she knew as well as anyone the emperor's noble qualities, and she cherished for him a warm and filial affection. yet it was patent, especially to all those who shared the strong political and constitutional opinions of the crown princess, that the aged sovereign had outlived his usefulness to his country. she could not help being conscious that in her husband, and in herself, too, there lay, capacities of national service of which william i and his consort had never dreamed. if the word "disappointment" is used of the crown princess's long-deferred hopes, it was in no sense the baulking of any commonplace ambition. the tragedy lay in the failure of the pure and single-hearted dedication of her husband and herself to bettering the lot of those vast, silent millions on whose pains and toil the pomp of thrones and empires, the exquisite refinements of civilisation, the discoveries of science, and the delights of art and literature, seemed to her to be all ultimately based. the sympathies of one of the most warm-hearted women who ever lived were thus continually torn and divided, for, while it seemed to her loyal nature an act of treachery to look forward to the old emperor's death, she was continually being reminded, by the demeanour of those about her, that that event, which would so entirely transform her position, was expected almost daily. in the midst of this subtle mental and spiritual conflict, the crown princess was struck by yet another arrow from the quiver of fate, inflicting an anguish of anxiety which even her bitterest enemies would surely have wished her to be spared. in april, , the crown prince suffered from a severe attack of measles, which probably left him in a weakened state, as this disease is apt to do when it attacks a man over fifty. however, he was thought to have recovered sufficiently to visit the king and queen of italy on the riviera in the autumn, and it was there, while out driving, that the prince caught a severe cold, which brought on an affection of the throat. the princess herself undertook, with great efficiency, the chief responsibility of nursing the patient. but the throat affection did not yield to treatment, and the terrible suspicion that it might never so yield must often have assailed the princess, even in these early months of her husband's illness. but she did not betray the anxiety gnawing at her heart; on the contrary, she showed throughout a gallant optimism which, as we now look back on it, seems intensely pathetic. it was the more necessary that the princess should never for a moment relax her cheerfulness, because the patient himself soon began to suffer from periods of deep depression. to one friend he even said that his time had already passed away, and the future belonged to his son; to another he declared that he had become an old man and stood with one foot in the grave. on the emperor william's ninetieth birthday, march , , the sailor son of the crown princess, prince henry of prussia, was formally betrothed to his cousin, his mother's favourite niece, princess irene of hesse. during the festivities given in honour of the event, it began to be whispered among the guests that the crown prince's throat affection was more serious than had as yet been acknowledged. but it is said that the word "cancer" was only first mentioned in connection with the case when, in deference to the highest medical advice of berlin, he was sent to ems to be treated for "a bad cold with bronchial complications following on measles." the crown prince and princess, with their family, went to ems in the middle of april and spent a month there. not only did this bring no improvement, but the patient became perceptibly worse. he was brought back to berlin, and a consultation of the most eminent medical experts, including bergmann, gerhardt, and wagener, was held, as the result of which a growth in the throat of a malignant character was diagnosed. bismarck in his _reminiscences_ contradicts two curious stories which are worth notice, if only for the reason that they have obtained a certain amount of currency, and one of them is even to be found in an english work on the emperor william ii. the first of these stories is that, after his return from ems, the crown prince signed a document in which, in the event of his surviving his father, he renounced his succession to the throne in favour of his eldest son. there is not, says bismarck, a shadow of truth in this story. the other statement is that any heir to the prussian throne who suffers from an incurable physical complaint is, by the hohenzollern family law, excluded from the succession. the importance of this provision, if it really existed, is obvious; and, at the period we have now reached, when the physical state of the crown prince became a subject of intense public interest, it obtained wide currency and no small amount of credit. if, on a strict interpretation of such a rule, the crown prince was excluded from the succession, it might have been argued that his eldest son was also incapable of succeeding, owing to the weakened state of his arm. but bismarck declares categorically that the hohenzollern family law contains no provision on the matter at all, any more than does the text of the prussian constitution. bismarck goes on to say that the doctors who were treating the crown prince resolved at the end of may to carry out the removal of the larynx under an anæsthetic without having informed the prince of their intention. the chancellor, however, immediately raised objections; required that they should not proceed without the consent of the prince; and, further, that as they were dealing with the successor to the throne, the consent of the head of the dynasty should also be obtained. the old emperor, therefore, after being informed of the circumstances by bismarck, forbade the doctors to carry out the operation without the consent of the crown prince. it must be remembered, in considering the diagnosis of the german experts, that laryngology was at that time almost in its infancy, and it was natural that the crown princess should have clung desperately to the belief that a mistake had been made. indeed, it is said that professor bergmann himself advised that the opinion of some other eminent throat specialist should be obtained before it was decided to have recourse to surgical interference. this was the position when the eminent english throat specialist, dr. (afterwards sir) morell mackenzie was summoned. there is no need here to go over in detail the painful controversy which was engendered by this step, and which was embittered, not only by thorny questions of professional etiquette, but also by irrelevant political passions. our purpose is rather to state the principal facts, and leave the reader to form his own conclusions. the crown princess was widely believed to have insisted that the english specialist should be called in simply because of her english prejudices, and this was considered an affront to the medical profession in germany. as a matter of fact a list of the most eminent throat specialists in europe was drawn up. one was a frenchman, another a viennese, and the third was morell mackenzie. the frenchman was discarded for political reasons, the viennese for other reasons, and it was a consensus of political and medical opinion which led to the choice of the english specialist. on may , , dr. morell mackenzie arrived in berlin. the german physicians informed him that they believed they had to deal with a cancer, but they desired his diagnosis. mackenzie performed more than one small operation to serve as a basis for a microscopic examination, which was entrusted to professor virchow, probably the greatest physiologist then living. it was virchow who reported, to the exultant relief and joy of the crown princess, that, while he found a certain thickening of the membrane, he had "discovered nothing to excite suspicions of a wider and graver disease." henceforth there was a party in berlin who were convinced that the growth, if growth it was, in the crown prince's throat was benign. but it may serve as an illustration of the passions which the whole affair aroused when it is stated that there were many who asserted that virchow had been deliberately deceived, and that the english specialist had refrained from submitting to him those portions of the membrane which would have clearly shown the presence of malignant disease. it was this monstrous accusation which chiefly served to inflame the controversy on both sides. virchow's report greatly relieved the anxieties of the crown prince and princess at the time, and, relying on it implicitly, they went to england with their daughters in the middle of june for three months. they stayed at first on the healthy heights of norwood, in the south of london, going later to scotland and the isle of wight. while at norwood they saw many distinguished english people, though even then the prince was prohibited from uttering a word above his breath. those who met the prince at this time were painfully struck by his appearance. he was much thinner, but the princess, who, being always with him, did not notice the gradual change which had come over him, was full of hope. indeed, she found time to continue her interest in social work. she was present at a gathering held in drapers' hall to promote the training of women teachers, and her old friend lord granville made a charming little speech about her youth. the crown prince was present with his wife at queen victoria's golden jubilee, and it is still remembered how great an impression was made on the london populace by his knightly figure in his white cuirassier uniform. his was the central and by far the most magnificent presence, like some paladin of mediæval chivalry, in the mounted escort of princes which surrounded the venerable sovereign on her way to and from westminster abbey. during their stay in scotland, the crown prince was asked by a gentleman to name his steam launch. he chose the name _the white heather_, showing how his thoughts travelled back to the day, nearly thirty years before, when he had gathered on a scotch mountain the symbolic sprig of white heather to give to the princess royal. the crown prince and princess returned to germany in the middle of september, and proceeded to toblach, in the tyrol. but the climate there was considered too chilly, and the patient was moved to venice at the end of the month. it was from venice that the prince wrote to an old friend a pathetic letter full of hope, in which he said that the real trouble was now overcome, and that it was only necessary to avoid speaking and catching cold. early in october the prince was again moved to baveno, on lake maggiore, and at the beginning of november to the villa zirio, at san remo. from san remo the princess telegraphed for dr. morell mackenzie, who arrived on november . the villa zirio was a comfortable house standing in its own grounds. the first floor, which consisted of two suites of large rooms, was occupied by the crown prince and princess. on this floor were also the rooms of the princess's lady-in-waiting, countess von bruschl. the second floor was assigned to the three young princesses and the rest of the suite. unfortunately, owing to the great curiosity and anxiety felt all over europe as to the progress of the crown prince's illness, the little italian town was filled with newspaper representatives, their headquarters being a large hotel opposite the villa zirio. in fact, during the winter of - , all the world was watching the race between the two lives--that of the ninety-year-old emperor, and that of his son, already stricken with a mortal disease, on whom so many fair hopes rested. the crown prince and princess owed a great deal, at this troubled period of their lives, to the devotion and vigilant loyalty of their friend and servant, count theodor seckendorff, whose official position in the crown princess's household was that of "chambellan." seckendorff was once well described by an english friend as "the baldassare castiglione of the present day." he was, indeed, "the perfect courtier." his father, a distinguished diplomatist, had been attached to the prussian legation in london, and so the count knew england and the english intimately. indeed, he had obtained leave to accompany lord napier of magdala on the abyssinian campaign, and he was also with that distinguished commander on the north-west frontier of india. afterwards he was on the staff of the crown prince in the franco-german war, and was chosen by the latter to be one of the officers to escort napoleon iii to wilhelmshöhe. thereafter the count's relationship with the crown prince and princess became even closer. a man of fine literary and artistic taste, and a really good artist, count seckendorff spoke english, italian, and french with ease and distinction, and he retained--what few men and women seem able to retain in the world of courts--a great simplicity of manner and absolute sincerity of nature. while patriotically devoted to his own country, he was also a true lover of england, and he always did everything that lay in his power to ease the often strained relations between the two nations. after the death of the empress frederick, count seckendorff continued in faithful and kindly touch with her native country. he organised the loan exhibition of british art in berlin as late as , and his premature death, two years later, caused much sorrow to a large circle of attached friends in both london and berlin. to return to the life at san remo; in a letter written about this time the crown princess says: "we are passing through a time of heavy trial, but the knowledge that the nation has not forgotten us, and that it hopes and sympathises with us, is a perpetual source of comfort. if it be god's will, this confidence will remain the crown prince's most valued future possession, and be the greatest help to him in achieving his noble ideals. who can tell how many days may yet be granted to him? but when we see him so virile and fresh, we can only trust to the strength of his constitution and believe that his health will not fail him in carrying out his duties, though even in the happiest circumstances he will have to economise his strength and use his voice as little as possible." from san remo, too, the crown prince wrote to his beloved french tutor a touching letter, in which occurs the following passage: "as to the life we are leading here, it could not be more intimate and more _gemütlich_. first of all, my wife nurses me as might a true sister of charity, with a calm and knowledge truly admirable. our daughters surround us with their loving tenderness, and the riviera is a delightful climate and does us much good." even then, the crown princess had not given up hope. her husband still looked in good health; he slept well, and his appetite was excellent. on december , the princess herself wrote to m. godet: "we are profoundly touched by the many proofs of sympathy which reach us from all sides. i cannot help feeling that it must make you very happy to know that all the care you took, in old days, in developing that pure and noble soul, has now brought to him these universal tributes of respect and confidence." alas, even then the prince had heard from the physicians his sentence of death, which he received with the same stoicism he had shown on the field of battle. christmas came, and was celebrated with characteristic kindliness by the prince, who arranged magnificent gifts for his wife and the little circle of intimate friends at san remo. but his health steadily declined, and a sudden operation had to be performed early in january. meanwhile the aged emperor had caught a chill in the severe berlin winter. his magnificent constitution was already enfeebled by age, and to his physical weakness were now added the distress and anxiety caused by the news from san remo, which became continually more and more disquieting. the end soon came, and the stout old soldier sank and died on march , , less than a fortnight before his ninety-second birthday. chapter xvii the hundred days' reign on the morning of march , , the crown prince was walking in the gardens of the villa zirio, when a telegram was brought to him. he took it up with languid interest, but when he read the address, "to his imperial majesty the emperor frederick william," there was no need to open the envelope, and it is said that his habitual self-control deserted him, and he burst into tears. a pathetic, and yet in its way a magnificent, scene followed in the great drawing-room on the ground floor of the villa. the households of the new emperor and empress had assembled there and stood in a circle waiting.... suddenly the emperor appeared, and we have the following striking description from one who claims to have been a witness of what occurred: "he had become handsome again, as in the radiant days of his youth. his beard, with a few silver streaks, glowed in the brilliant light cast by the chandelier. tall and well built, he dominated the entire company. his blue eyes were slightly misty. his delicate complexion, now heightened with a little colour, seemed to show the real tranquillity which had taken possession of his soul; and his mouth with the red lips had now that fascinating smile which characterised him. with a firm step he walked straight to a small table in the middle of the drawing-room and wrote--for the tube in his throat prevented him from speaking--a few lines, which he signed. an officer read out the paper aloud--it was the announcement of the death of the emperor william i and of his own accession as frederick iii. the emperor then walked towards the empress, made a long and reverent bow, paying full homage to his wife's devotion, and with a grave and tender gesture passed round her neck the ribbon of the black eagle." it is also recorded that the emperor walked up to dr. morell mackenzie and, after shaking him warmly by the hand, wrote for him the following words: "i thank you for having made me live long enough to recompense the valiant courage of my wife." the emperor frederick, with the empress and their daughters, set out for berlin on march , making what was then the swiftest journey in the records of continental travel. the only interruption, and that was very short, was to enable the emperor to receive the greetings of his old friend, king humbert of italy, who had himself travelled by forced marches for the purpose. amid a terrible storm of sleet and snow, on the night of march , the imperial party entered berlin. those who then saw the emperor, whatever their political predilections, were amazed at his look of health and strength. for months past a thick veil of secrecy had been drawn over the life at the villa zirio. naturally, therefore, rumour had had it all her own way, and in germany the general pessimism was undoubtedly fostered by the medical profession. they had persuaded themselves that the emperor was already _in articula mortis_, and the empress was openly censured for bringing him back at all. it was even believed by many that he might very well die on the journey owing to the sudden transition from the warm, equable climate of san remo to the biting cold of berlin. the one certain fact which had been published was that he had undergone the operation of tracheotomy, and that he could not speak owing to the tube in his throat. but, apart from that, to the general astonishment, the emperor was, or seemed to be, not very different from his normal condition. at once he took up the reins of power, granting audiences, and dealing for many hours every day with state affairs. though the joy with which the friends of the new emperor and empress hailed their accession was dashed by the thought of how brief must be the new reign, yet it is abundantly evident that no such idea occurred to the empress herself, and that very fact seems to enhance the poignancy of the whole tragedy. at the beginning of the emperor frederick's reign, a distinguished german wrote to a friend: "the empress, as you have rightly judged, is making her way among the people. however brief her tenure of power will be, the more will the public at large perceive the truly astounding richness and resource, the practised leadership, and the affectionate disposition of that rare creature. she is indefatigable, and gives a fresh indication of the grand aims she has in view each day." it is significant to note how all those who knew the empress even slightly welcomed the fact of the emperor's accession. thus mrs. augustus craven: "somehow i hope the present emperor will live. anyhow i am thankful that he is still alive, and that _she_ is empress of germany, also that perhaps after all the very great deal there is in her is not to be lost for germany and for europe." the feeling in the court and political world is clearly shown in the _memoirs_ of prince hohenlohe. he was received by the empress a week after her return to berlin, and he says that he found her unchanged; "her frank and cheerful manner filled me with astonishment." three days later prince hohenlohe noted in his diary that already officials were complaining of the interference of the empress in public business. [illustration: the late empress frederick] bötticher told him that she had induced the emperor to refuse his signature to the anti-socialist bill, and that he had only given way after bismarck had explained the matter to the empress. the minister added that the emperor had little power of resistance to the influence of the empress, and that she, again, was under the influence of "certain advanced ladies." if the emperor's illness, he went on, was of long duration, all kinds of things might happen, but if the emperor were well, or should become so, the influence of the empress would diminish. a few days later prince hohenlohe was himself able to judge how far this was true about the empress, for he went out to call on his sovereign at charlottenburg, and found him with his wife. the empress excused her presence by pleading the necessity of supporting the emperor during the audience. the whole of the conversation had to be carried on, so far as the emperor was concerned, by means of writing-tablets. hohenlohe observed that the emperor would benefit by the amount of work he had to do, at which the sovereign nodded approvingly. at the end of the interview: "the emperor placed his hand on my shoulder and smiled sadly, so that i could hardly restrain my tears. he gave me the impression of a martyr; and, indeed, no martyrdom in the world is comparable with this slow death. everyone who comes near him is full of admiration for his courageous and quiet resignation to a fate which is inevitable, and which he fully realises." but it is plain that the empress had not yet resigned herself to consider his death as in any way imminent. later in the same month, hohenlohe had an audience of the empress, and during their conversation she said something which made it clear to her old friend that she still entertained illusions as to her husband's real condition--indeed, he was himself so shaken by what she said that he wrote in his diary: "it is perhaps possible that the illness will be of long duration. the expectation of a speedy end has not yet been confirmed." there can be no doubt that the accession of the emperor frederick was expected in not a few quarters to mean the almost immediate fall of bismarck, but this expectation left out of account various important factors of the situation. both the new emperor and his empress, though, as we have seen, they profoundly disapproved of bismarck's policy as a whole, nevertheless fully realised the chancellor's patriotism and the unparalleled services which he had been able to render to the german people. bismarck, in his own account of his relations with the emperor, recalls that they began as far back as , when prince frederick william was only seventeen, and he had since received from him various proofs of personal confidence, notably on the occasion of the dantzig episode in . this confidence was, bismarck declares, quite independent of political principles and differences of opinion, and though many attempts to shake it were made from interested quarters, they had no permanent success. later bismarck also asserted roundly that the emperor frederick made it easy for him, by his amiability and confidence, to transfer to him the affection he had cherished for his father. he was both more open than his father had been to the constitutional idea of ministerial responsibility, and also less hampered by family traditions in adjusting himself to political necessities. and bismarck goes on to state that "all assertions of lasting discord in our relations are unfounded." on the subject of the crown princess's influence bismarck said: "i could not assume that his wife had the same kindly feeling for me; her natural innate sympathy for her home had, from the beginning, shown itself in the attempt to turn the weight of prusso-german influence in the groupings of european power into the scale of her native land; and she never ceased to regard england as her country. in the differences of interest between the two asiatic powers, england and russia, she wished to see the german power applied in the interests of england if it came to a breach. this difference of opinion, which rested on the difference of nationality, caused many a discussion between her royal highness and me on the eastern question, including the battenberg question. her influence on her husband was at all times great, and it increased with years, to culminate at the time when he was emperor. she also, however, shared with him the conviction that in the interests of the dynasty it was necessary that i should be maintained in office at the change of reign." it is interesting here to recall that on august , , after the battle of beaumont, busch obtained from bismarck the following opinion of the then crown prince: "he will be reasonable later on, and allow his ministers to govern more, and not put himself too much forward, and in general he will get rid of many bad habits that render old gentlemen of his trade sometimes rather troublesome. [it is to be feared that this uncomplimentary allusion is to the old emperor.] for the rest, he is unaffected and straightforward; but he does not care to work much, and is quite happy if he has plenty of money and amusements, and if the newspapers praise him." a very superficial judgment of the emperor frederick, and the suggestion that he was too fond of money is particularly gratuitous. as a matter of fact, only the year before his accession, in , a certain frenchman, ballardin by name, died, leaving the whole of his fortune, valued at several million francs, to the then crown prince. m. ballardin appeared to have been so embittered by disputes with the french authorities that he determined to show his hatred and contempt for his native country by the novel method of bequeathing his property to the german crown prince, who, however, absolutely refused to accept even the smallest portion of the legacy. that is certainly not the action of a man who could be accused of a love of money. it may here be stated, on this subject of money, that when the emperor frederick succeeded to the throne, there was in the hands of baron kohn, the private banker of the old emperor william, a sum of fifty-four million marks (£ , , ), which was bequeathed to the emperor frederick as a kind of family treasure, to be controlled by the head of the house of hohenzollern for the time being. when the emperor frederick died, however, it was found that the great bulk of this money had been invested abroad by his orders in the name of his widow; her uncle, the duke of saxe-coburg-gotha, and her cousin, king leopold of belgium, being the trustees. it is even asserted that the late prince stolberg resigned at the time his office of minister of the imperial household in consequence of what he considered the diversion of this sum of money from the hohenzollern family. according to another version, however, only a portion of this money became the absolute property of the empress, the remainder being hers for life, with power of appointment among her younger children. to return to busch; he also obtained from bismarck a curious anecdote of the empress: "i took the liberty to ask further what sort of woman the crown princess was, and whether she had much influence over her husband. 'i think not,' the count said; 'and as to her intelligence, she is a clever woman; clever in a womanly way. she is not able to disguise her feelings, or at least not always. i have cost her many tears, and she could not conceal how angry she was with me after the annexations (that is to say of schleswig and hanover). she could hardly bear the sight of me, but that feeling has now somewhat subsided. she once asked me to bring her a glass of water, and as i handed it to her she said to a lady-in-waiting who sat near and whose name i forget, 'he has cost me as many tears as there is water in this glass.' but that is all over now." this incident about the glass of water evidently much impressed bismarck, for he told it to busch again some months later, when he said of the crown princess, "she is in general a very clever person, and really agreeable in her way, but she should not interfere in politics." the empress's relations with bismarck after her husband's accession were more pleasant than they had ever been before. the emperor naturally leaned upon his wife, and her influence perhaps appeared greater than it was. but, whatever its precise extent, bismarck, with his intensely practical mind, saw that it was at any rate a factor in the situation, and he made use of it accordingly. it was, indeed, as natural for him to cultivate her good will now, as it was for him a little later to heap contumely and insult on her head. such conduct was utterly incomprehensible to the empress, with her upright, loyal nature; she would have suffered less from the chancellor had she been able to find the key to both his greatness and his littleness. but, even at this time, when bismarck had the strongest reasons for conciliating the empress, there was one question, that of the battenberg marriage, on which he felt compelled to do battle with her, and in which he vanquished her in fair fight. the empress, different as she was in many respects from her mother, was absolutely at one with queen victoria in her views of everything which should regulate family life. thus, she was as firm a believer in the importance of securing happy marriages for her sons and daughters as the queen had proved herself to be. that the union of two human beings should be guided by state considerations was to her abhorrent. she had welcomed with eager delight her niece, princess irene of hesse, as a daughter-in-law; she knew that the latter's sister, princess victoria, had formed a happy marriage with prince louis of battenberg. now it was prince louis's brother, alexander of bulgaria, who had been from boyhood a favourite with her sister, princess alice, whom the empress desired to see married to her second daughter, princess victoria. the alliance had been mooted some four years before, but was then considered, by bismarck especially, as quite out of the question, if only because the hero of slivnitza had earned the intense hostility of the tsar alexander. in july, , bismarck told hohenlohe that, whereas the emperor and the crown prince were in favour of the marriage of princess victoria with the king of portugal, the crown princess and the young princess herself preferred the prince of bulgaria, and that there was "great skirmishing" going on over the business. more than a year later, in october, , the old emperor himself spoke to hohenlohe of the matter, and with some bitterness, declaring that the crown princess and princess victoria still entertained the idea of this alliance. he said he had questioned the crown prince, who had denied it, and he further observed that in politics his son was ruled by his wife. in the empress still desired the marriage because she believed that the affections of her daughter were seriously engaged. but, changed as were all the conditions of her own and the new emperor's life, she at once found arrayed against her the same powerful influences as before, with the addition of that of her eldest son, the new crown prince. the difference of opinion in the imperial family became known to the whole of europe, and was very frankly discussed in the english and continental press. matters seemed at a deadlock. on the one side were ranged the empress and all those royal personages who by kinship or marriage were connected with the battenberg family; on the other were the crown prince, bismarck, and, it was whispered, the emperor frederick himself, who had a great dislike to any marriage that savoured of a _mésalliance_. this was the position when queen victoria arrived at charlottenburg to visit her stricken son-in-law. bismarck, with his usual unerring eye for the potentialities of a situation, seized the opportunity. he sought an audience of the queen, and succeeded in convincing her by his arguments that the battenberg alliance was really extremely inadvisable. not until she found her mother ranged among the opponents of the marriage did the empress yield, and consent, to use her own phrase, "to sacrifice her daughter's happiness on the altar of the fatherland." we have a slightly different, and probably less accurate, account of the termination of the affair in hohenlohe's journal of may , : "the empress had said that in the end it would be no misfortune if bismarck did retire. this was at once retailed to him, whereupon the newspaper war. malet reported to queen victoria at florence that it was very disadvantageous for english interests that the queen should appear to interest herself in the battenberg match. it would be well, more particularly in view of her impending visit to berlin, to prevent people from thinking she favoured the marriage. the english ministry also concurred in this. thereupon queen victoria wrote a severe letter to her daughter, the empress; and during her stay also she expounded her views in an energetic fashion, which produced unhappy and tearful scenes. the relations between queen victoria and the imperial chancellor have shaped very well. they were enchanted with each other." the empress's belief that she had been fighting for her daughter's happiness added a special bitterness to her defeat at the hands of bismarck. it may, however, be stated that the day came when the empress frederick acknowledged that she had been mistaken, at least to some extent, in the qualities which she had attributed to alexander of battenberg, and she lived to see her daughter make a happier marriage than the battenberg alliance would probably have ever been. not the least pathetic feature of the hundred day's reign was the gallant persistence of the empress in fulfilling the duties of her new station. she only held one court, and one who was present has left a vivid description of the strange scene: "the empress was dressed in the deepest mourning, indeed wrapped in black from head to foot, her face hidden by a crape veil, while a long procession of women likewise veiled in crape filed past the throne, their black gowns high in the neck and skirts banded with crape a quarter of a yard wide, while long folds of double crape fell upon the floor in guise of court trains." on may , the marriage of prince henry, the second son of the emperor and empress, to his cousin, princess irene of hesse, was celebrated at charlottenburg. it was a bright and happy day in the midst of sadness, and everything was done to surround the ceremony with brilliance. death was now drawing very near to the doomed emperor. on june he was conveyed by boat from charlottenburg to the new palace, where he had been born, where he had spent the happiest days of his married life, and the name of which he now changed to "friedrichskron." but he was not allowed to die in peace; his last days were disturbed by what is known as the puttkamer incident. puttkamer, a typical bismarckian, had been minister of the interior for seven years. in his official announcement of the old emperor's death, he had actually made no allusion to the new emperor; the latter in consequence insisted on the minister's retirement as the condition of his signing the bill prolonging the life of the reichstag to five years. puttkamer's resignation was gazetted on june , and on the same evening prince bismarck gave a dinner at which the fallen minister was the guest of honour. the emperor frederick died at friedrichskron on june . the first message written by the widowed empress was to the aged empress augusta: "she whose one pride and happiness it was to be the wife of your son grieves with you, afflicted mother. no mother ever had so good a son. be proud and strong in your sorrow." chapter xviii early widowhood: the fall of bismarck it is said that one of the last acts of the dying emperor was to place bismarck's hand in that of the empress as a token of reconciliation. but there was no reconciliation. on the contrary, the emperor frederick was no sooner dead, than bismarck once more became all-powerful, and ruthlessly he used his power. the accession of the young emperor william was followed by an astounding outburst of violence against the empress frederick on the part of bismarck's tools, his agents in the press and elsewhere--indeed, the empress once told an intimate friend that no humiliation and pain which could be inflicted on her had been spared her. the first humiliation took a strange and terrible form; a cordon of soldiers was drawn round the new palace, when the emperor frederick was known to be dying, in order that no secret documents might be removed without the knowledge of the new emperor. the empress, aware that this was the work of bismarck, requested an interview with him, but bismarck replied that he had no time, as he was so fully occupied with his master, the new emperor. as a matter of fact, everything at the new palace which the late emperor or the empress frederick considered to be important had been placed out of bismarck's reach. for a considerable time these private papers were entrusted to the care of a person in the empress's confidence, who resided outside the country, ultimately they were sent back to germany. unfortunately not all the late emperor's papers had been so carefully guarded, and, to the anguish of his widow, his memory became involved in acute, and it may even be said degrading, controversy. in the well-known review, the _deutsche rundschau_, dr. geffcken, a liberal publicist who had been honoured by the emperor frederick's friendship, published extracts from the diary of the late sovereign. they were designed to defend his memory against his traducers, and in particular to prove that it was he who suggested the united german empire. it seems that the diaries were found locked up at the villa zirio, and it was stated that they were given, or at least shown, by the emperor frederick to baron von roggenbach, the baden statesman. bismarck at first affected to believe, and apparently he succeeded in persuading the emperor william, that the published extracts were forgeries. the offending number of the review was accordingly suppressed, and geffcken was arrested on september on a charge of high treason. he was acquitted of criminal intention in the following january, and in the interval the _cologne gazette_ charged sir robert morier, then british ambassador in st. petersburg, with having given information to marshal bazaine of the movements of the prussian forces in . fortunately morier was able to produce convincing documentary evidence of his innocence, but it was generally felt that this monstrous attack on the empress frederick's old friend was really directed against the empress herself. the empress behaved with the greatest dignity and self-restraint during this time of bitter persecution, and in the many diaries and memoirs of the period we can find but one reference which reveals how she really felt. this reference is in sir horace rumbold's _recollections_. he tells of the deep feeling with which the empress spoke of the suffering she had passed through and the wrongs she had endured. "she spoke of them with an exceeding bitterness, emphasising what she said with clenched hands and betraying an emotion which suddenly gained me, and more than explained the queen's well-known reference to her as her 'dear persecuted daughter.'" it may be asked why the young emperor william did not intervene to protect his mother from the hostility of his chancellor. unfortunately there is no doubt that at this time there was an estrangement between mother and son. years before, bismarck had taken precautions to prevent the heir presumptive to the throne from imbibing the liberal principles of both his parents, and had caused him to spend the impressionable years of early manhood entirely under the influence of his grandfather, the old emperor, and the military glories of the new empire. bismarck no doubt thought that he had obtained a complete ascendancy over his new master. it was significant that whereas on his accession the emperor frederick had addressed his first message to the nation at large through the chancellor, the emperor william addressed his first messages to the army and navy, the civilians having to wait a day or two for their recognition. another indication of the character of the new régime was afforded by the emperor william's reversal of his father's decision to name the new palace, friedrichskron. these and other incidents show how the emperor began his reign under the domination of bismarck, but it is pleasant to record that the estrangement from his mother, which the old chancellor undoubtedly fostered, was not of long duration. it is curious how seldom, among the many studies, criticisms, and estimates of the emperor william ii, we find his extraordinary versatility attributed to the influence of heredity; and yet it is easy to see now that the empress frederick ought to have enjoyed much greater popularity in germany than she did as a matter of fact enjoy at any time, if only because she was the mother of such a son. we can best perhaps realise the remarkable qualities which the empress brought into the house of hohenzollern by comparing her eldest son with his predecessors on the throne. king frederick william iv had a mind which appeared incapable of appreciating matters of greater importance than the etiquette of courts and the prescriptions of mediæval heraldry. as we know, during the last years of his life his intellect was clouded much in the same way as was that of king george iii of england. king frederick's brother and successor, the old emperor william, possessed remarkable strength of character combined with little capacity or intellect, as bismarck very frankly explained, both to his creature, busch, and in other recorded expressions of opinion. as for the emperor william's father, the ill-fated frederick, it was no doubt from him that the son derived that dash of romantic idealism characteristic of both monarchs. but undoubtedly william ii was always much more the son of his mother than of his father, which seems, indeed, to be the rule in families of less exalted rank. we have seen how the empress really received from her father the training of a man, and, it may be added, of an extremely versatile man. if fate had compelled her eldest son to earn his own living in a private station, it is extraordinary to think of the number of professions in any one of which he could have attained a competence, if not indeed high distinction. from his mother, rather than from his father, he inherited a great appetite for work and an extraordinary aptitude for detail; and he showed himself at different times to have had in him the making, not only of a soldier and a sailor, but of a musician, a poet, an artist, a preacher, and an orator. compare this with his grandfather, the old emperor, who, if he had not been born in the purple, could only have been a soldier, and not, it must be added, one who could have held very high commands. compare him again with his father; the emperor frederick, if he had not been born in the purple, though he certainly showed greater military capacity than the old emperor, nevertheless would probably not have been happy or successful in any private station other than that of a great moral teacher. the emperor william's affinity to his mother in character, temperament, and accomplishments becomes the more striking the more it is investigated. he shared with her a certain impulsiveness, a deficiency in what is ordinarily called tact, which really amounts to a constitutional inability to appreciate the effect which a particular word or action will necessarily have on other people. this, which seems a negative quality, is really a positive one, interwoven with a high courage and a contempt for the mean little dictates of conventional prudence, which have always commanded the admiration of generous minds. this remarkable similarity between mother and son assuredly furnishes the key to the somewhat complex question of their relationships at different periods. they were in fact too much alike for their relations to be always harmonious. the widowed empress did not owe all her unhappiness to bismarck alone. in gustav freytag published a volume of reminiscences of the emperor frederick which attracted a great amount of attention, more perhaps than they intrinsically deserved. but freytag's position among german writers as novelist, poet, dramatist, and historian, was so great that everything he wrote had its importance, and in addition to that it was known that he had at one time been admitted to the confidence of the then crown prince, whose political liberalism he appeared to share. freytag was a silesian by birth, and this no doubt did him no harm with the emperor frederick, who was warmly attached to silesia, and delighted in the graphic pictures of life in that province which freytag drew in his novels. the empress made freytag's acquaintance in the early years of her married life--indeed, the first german novel which she read with her husband was freytag's _soll und haben_. the novelist had been presented to the prince consort by his patron, duke ernest of saxe-coburg-gotha, and it was natural in all the circumstances that the crown princess and her husband should have shown the great writer marked signs of favour. it is all the more extraordinary, therefore, that in his reminiscences freytag should have drawn such a picture of the emperor frederick as must have deeply distressed his then newly-made widow. it was a picture which she herself knew to be inaccurate, and which indeed could only gratify the personal hostility of bismarck and his adherents. there is no need to linger long over this picture, but it demands some notice because it, so to speak, gathers together in a convenient form the principal features of what may be called the bismarckian view of both the empress and her husband. it has been said that freytag apparently shared the crown prince's liberalism, but he was also steeped in prussian particularism, and it was this that brought him to his almost blind admiration of bismarck, and rendered him incapable of appreciating the political conceptions of the emperor frederick. freytag, indeed, was a bad judge of character, the presentation of which was his weak point as a novelist. allusion has already been made to the fact that the crown prince invited freytag to accompany him with the third army in the franco-german war, and the reminiscences terminate soon after the battle of sedan. after the crown prince hardly ever saw freytag, and never with any real intimacy; yet on this slender foundation of knowledge the novelist revived, under the specious cloak of affection, some of the worst charges of the reptile press, and of the insulting commentary which bismarck published on the late emperor's diary. the principal charge for our purposes here is that the crown prince was subjected to foreign influence, and was entirely dominated by his wife. in effect freytag suggests that through the crown princess, princess alice, and other members of the english royal family, important secrets of german military movements reached the french commanders. "both the empress frederick and princess alice," he says, "wrote to their august mother and the family in london, and what crossed the north sea could be sent to france again in letters a few hours later. it is therefore not unnatural that the french learned by way of england a variety of news about our army which with greater propriety would have remained concealed." such a charge is incapable of complete disproof, but at any rate it is obvious that freytag could know nothing of the contents, either of the crown prince's letters to his wife, who was at that time working day and night in the german hospitals, or of the letters of the crown princess and her sister to their relations in england. yet he describes princess alice as "at heart during the whole of the war a brave german woman," which is a plain insinuation that the crown princess had not her whole heart in the success of the german arms. the whole plan of _dénigrement_ is the more subtle, for freytag professes the most ardent admiration for the ability of the crown princess, her rich natural gifts, and her keen soaring intellect. at the same time he says: "the crown prince's love for her was the highest and holiest passion of his life, and filled his whole existence; she was the lady of his youth, the _confidante_ of all his thoughts, his trusted counsellor whenever she was so inclined. arrangements of the garden, decorations of the house, education of the children, judgments of men and things, were in every respect regulated by him in accordance with her thoughts and wishes. it is perfectly intelligible that so complete an ascendancy of the wife over the husband, who was destined to be the future ruler of prussia, threatened to occasion difficulties and conflicts, which, perhaps, would be greater for the woman than the man--greater for the wife who led and inspired the husband whose guidance she ought to have accepted." here again we see the limitations of freytag's undoubtedly great intellect, as well as his instinctive german middle-class conception of woman's sphere. to the north-german the idea of woman as a comrade, as being even approximately on a level with her husband, was then, and is still to a great extent, inconceivable. in that view of matrimony the wife is really a chattel, or at best a respected housekeeper. it may be asked, how could freytag have supposed that the emperor frederick would have submitted to such domination on the part of his wife? the answer is that freytag's conception of the emperor's character was hopelessly erroneous. he is obliged to confirm his title to be considered the originator of the idea of a german empire, but he attributes it to a mere love of pomp and ceremony, a passion for court millinery. the plain truth is that few monarchs have been simpler in their personal tastes than the emperor frederick; the etiquette, the monotony, and the restraint of court life bored him, and he was never so happy as when he could escape to the congenial society of savants, artists, and writers. it is certainly true that his imaginative and poetical gifts induced him to try to infuse some elements of dignity and meaning into the routine of court ceremonial, but that he cared for such ceremonial in itself, or attached to it any greater value than that of symbolism, is frankly absurd. freytag even accuses the crown prince of having been ready to risk civil war in order that he might secure the creation of the imperial dignity after the franco-german war. this is based on a misapprehension of the prince's discussions with bismarck at versailles. the crown prince believed that force would be unnecessary, and that the south german states would accept the constitution proclaimed by the majority of the princes assembled at versailles. it is possible that he would have advocated compulsion if bavaria and würtemberg had thrown themselves into the arms of austria, but he well knew that that contingency was in the last degree improbable. early in the empress frederick suffered another bereavement which, though not of course to be compared with many which she had endured, nevertheless added perceptibly to her state of melancholy and depression. this was the death of the venerable empress augusta, which broke a much valued link with the happy past. from those days in the early fifties when that highly-bred and highly-cultivated princess had become "aunt prussia" to the royal children at windsor, and even more after the marriage of the princess royal, she had remained a loyal and most kindly and affectionate friend to her daughter-in-law. the two royal ladies looked upon life from widely different angles, and the elder must often have disapproved of the way in which the younger interpreted her duty. but the empress augusta never faltered in her admiration and affection for one who was so entirely unlike herself, and in these latter days the death of the emperor frederick had brought them, if possible, even more closely together. the dramatic fall of bismarck--the "dropping the pilot" of sir john tenniel's memorable cartoon in _punch_--occurred in march, . it could hardly have been regretted by the empress frederick, but she was far too magnanimous, and we may add too well aware of bismarck's incomparable services to the empire, to regard the event as in any sense a personal triumph for herself. what is truly astonishing, in view of all that had passed, is that the fallen minister should have turned to her for sympathy, and should even, according to some authorities, have begged her to exert on his behalf her now growing influence with her son. it is said that she then reminded him that his past treatment of her had deprived her of any power of helping him now, but such an answer does not accord with what we know of the empress's whole character. she was surely incapable at such a moment of adding anything to the humiliation of her old enemy. besides, professor nippold speaks of bismarck's having himself written: "her influence over her husband was very great at any time, and became greater with the years, to culminate at the time when he was emperor. but also in her was the conviction that my position close to the throne was in the interest of the dynasty." there are, indeed, different versions of what took place in the now famous interview between bismarck and the empress frederick. it is quite possible that she regarded the minister's dismissal from office as an imprudent and even dangerous step. however that may be, prince hohenlohe declares that bismarck did not entreat the empress to intercede for him with the emperor; he merely said, when the empress asked if she could do anything for him, "i ask only for sympathy." but he certainly did ask to be received by her in audience, although he must have vividly remembered the insolent message which he had sent her immediately after the emperor frederick's death, when she had requested him to come to her. a year later, at homburg, prince hohenlohe and the empress frederick had a long conversation over the bismarck affair. she said she was not at all surprised at his dismissal, that "bismarck was of a combative nature and would never cease to fight. he could do nothing else." she talked of previous incidents, of bismarck's groundless distrust of her, and of the empress augusta, and expressed the opinion "that we had only to thank the old emperor's quiet gentleness for any success of bismarck's. he was a very dangerous opponent, but not a republican. he was too prussian for that. but the brandenburg-prussian noble was determined to rule, though it were with the king." chapter xix the planning of friedrichshof: visit to paris the empress's relations with her son improved after the fall of bismarck. she was particularly touched by the many tributes which he paid to his father's memory, and she now felt encouraged to try and build up again the fragments of her tragically broken life. the emperor william had placed at his mother's disposal the palace in unter den linden in berlin where the emperor and empress frederick lived while they were crown prince and princess, as well as the charlottenhof at potsdam, and the schloss at homburg. charlottenhof is in the royal grounds at potsdam, at some distance from the new palace. it was built by frederick william iv in , in imitation of a pompeian villa, and in the grounds are fountains, statues, and bronzes which were brought from herculaneum and pompeii. as to homburg, the empress had always been very fond of the place; she had often spent part of the summer at the old schloss, and she valued its associations with the daughter of another british sovereign, for the delightful gardens to which thackeray refers in _the four georges_ were laid out by the landgravine elizabeth, daughter of george iii. when the empress frederick decided to build a house after her own heart, it was to the neighbourhood of homburg that her thoughts naturally turned. perhaps another reason which governed the choice of that neighbourhood was the fact that the widowed empress's beloved brother, king edward, was so fond of the place, and for many years went there each year. some account of friedrichshof will be not only interesting but really necessary for our purpose, for this noble castle and estate at cronberg in the taunus mountains were so entirely the creation of the empress's own mind and taste that they throw a strong light on her personality and character. her majesty was able to build friedrichshof out of the large sum, estimated at nearly a quarter of a million, which she had inherited from an intimate friend, the duchess of galliera, within a few months of the emperor's death. in the days when as crown princess she was living at the old castle at homburg, the empress had once visited cronberg. after the tragic events of her majesty longed to have a place of her own where she could occupy her mind in building and improving. the empress remembered the visit to cronberg, and as the inquiries she caused to be made as to its climate, soil, and so on, proved satisfactory, she decided on the purchase without delay. the owner was one dr. steibel, son-in-law of mr. reiss, a manchester manufacturer who built the short line of railway connecting frankfort with cronberg. the property consisted of a villa and a few acres, but, as some neighbouring properties were bought up, the estate was enlarged to some acres. fortunately the pine forests surrounding the estate were communal property. the empress resolved that friedrichshof should be primarily a memorial to her husband, a sort of model _domus regalis_, as was shown by the pathetic inscription on the porch, "friderici memoriæ." the first thing to do was to make roads, and this, with draining, building, and planting, occupied fully four years, from to . the villa of dr. steibel was practically demolished, and in its place rose a stately mansion in the style of the early sixteenth century. there are many examples of this style, which marks the period of transition from gothic to renaissance, to be found along the rhine and throughout hesse and nassau. the schloss itself and the stables, which are in the style of a rhenish or hessian farmhouse, as well as the out-buildings, were all designed by herr ihne, a famous berlin architect; but the empress herself personally superintended the carrying out of all his plans. the empress's first idea was to call the place friedrichsruh, but it was pointed out that name might cause confusion with prince bismarck's estate in the north of prussia. the name friedrichshof was then suggested by princess victoria, and finally adopted. the improved relations between the emperor william and his mother were exhibited early in . he was desirous of testing the real feeling of the paris populace towards germany, and so with his sanction, possibly even at his direct request, the empress frederick went to paris. if her visit had been a success, there is no doubt that the emperor would have next proposed to visit paris himself, as he had long been keenly desirous of doing. but the memories of the franco-prussian war were more lasting than the emperor imagined, and his mother's mission, so far as it was intended to improve franco-german relations, was a failure. it was on february , , that the empress frederick arrived in paris. her visit, though not technically of an official character, could not be called _incognito_, as she and her daughter, princess margaret, attended by a considerable suite, stayed at the german embassy. the general surprise in paris was so marked that a _communiqué_ was issued to the french press. in this it was pointed out that the empress, having consented to accept the position of patroness of an art exhibition about to be opened in berlin, had asked some notable french artists to contribute paintings. a number of these, notably m. bouguereau and m. detaille, had accepted, and she had felt bound to come to paris and thank them personally. it was erroneously said, not only in the french but also in the german papers, that this was the first visit the empress had paid to paris since the franco-prussian war. this was not the case. she had been there three times, but on the previous occasions she had stayed at the hotel bristol, and had travelled in real _incognito_. the first three or four days of her stay, whatever the public thought of the reason assigned for it, passed off well. the empress visited a considerable number of studios and picture galleries, and she also made large purchases in some of the curiosity-shops for which paris has always been famous. the german ambassador gave a dinner party each evening in honour of his august guest, and many members of the diplomatic corps, notably lord and lady lytton, were asked to meet her. meanwhile, the german press, which had been kept beforehand completely in the dark as to the visit, was now devoting to it a great deal of not very kindly attention. it was hinted that the young emperor wished to effect a thorough reconciliation with france, and with this idea in view had asked his mother to _tâter le terrain_. these hints aroused the susceptibilities of the boulangist party. much ill-feeling had been awakened by the arbitrary suppression of the ligue des patriotes, and long before the empress's visit a huge protest meeting had been arranged. the meeting was held, and inflammatory speeches were delivered in favour of "la revanche," but no insult of any sort was levelled at the imperial visitor. in fact the empress later testified to the perfect courtesy which she had received from every class of frenchman and frenchwoman. it suddenly became known that twice--once alone with the german ambassador, and then, on another day, attended by a large suite--the empress had driven out from paris to view the ruins of the palace of saint cloud, believed by the french to have been wantonly destroyed by the prussians in . the empress also visited versailles and the neighbouring battlefields. the news of these excursions aroused very bitter feelings among many otherwise sober and sensible parisians, to whom the memories of l'année terrible, and especially of the prussian occupation of versailles, were still painfully vivid. their indignation was intensified when it became known that some ill-advised government official had directed that a laurel wreath placed at the foot of the monument to henri regnault, the greatest french painter of his generation, who was killed at buzenval, in the last desperate sortie from paris, should be removed on the occasion of the visit of the empress to the ministry of fine arts. this was indeed pouring oil on the fire! it was rumoured that this special act of tactless stupidity would be the subject of an interpellation in the chamber. the depth of feeling aroused is illustrated by one fact, which did not, however, find its way into the press. all those painters who had accepted the empress's invitation to exhibit at berlin received each morning, till their acceptances were withdrawn, the following _macabre_ visiting-card: "henri regnault, " e battalion de marche, e campagnie, "buzenval." meanwhile, the less responsible section of the paris press had also added fuel to the flame by such headings as "insultes aux français"--"visites impériales à saint cloud et à versailles," &c. the french government reluctantly informed the german ambassador that it would be advisable that the empress, who had already prolonged her visit for several days longer than had at first been arranged, should leave paris. on february the following note was sent to the press: "the empress frederick will leave paris to-morrow morning for london at : _via_ calais." as a matter of fact, the imperial party left for london the next day by the ten o'clock express _via_ boulogne. but the "incident" was by no means over. the french artists who had accepted the invitation to exhibit their works at berlin all withdrew their acceptances, and as a result the german press burst forth into most violent and coarse abuse of france and of the french. indeed, it looked at one moment as if nothing could prevent the two nations from rushing at each other's throats. the empress was greatly distressed, and it is on record that she wrote to her son a long private letter, pointing out that she had been personally very well received, and indeed most courteously treated, during her stay in paris. it is clear that in france all parties, and even those members of the diplomatic corps who were personally attached to the empress, regretted, if they did not blame, her imprudence, for what had finally lighted the tinder was the expedition to versailles. with all her love of french art and her sympathy with the french "intellectuals"--her great admiration for renan was well known--the empress frederick had always taken on the whole what may be called the german view of the french character--that is, she regarded the french as gay, frivolous, and lacking in ballast and in the deeper qualities of humanity. if they had been what their imperial guest believed them to be, the nation as a whole would have shrugged its shoulders and diplomatically remained silent, however _froissée_ it might have been at such lack of tact on the part of a great personage. some months later the empress spoke of the matter to english friends with deep regret, but still with a curious lack of understanding. she even mentioned the subject to the then french ambassador in london, m. waddington, eagerly telling him that she had experienced nothing but respect and even sympathy during the first part of her visit, and expressing her astonishment and distress at the feeling her visit to versailles and the battlefields round paris had provoked. she had brought herself by then to share queen victoria's view, namely, that the whole thing had been a more or less histrionic demonstration against the french government. it showed, however, the empress's largeness of mind that during this same visit to england which followed her hasty departure from france she spoke with the warmest admiration of the verse of paul déroulède, the great chauvinist leader of the revanche party. this was the last intervention of the empress frederick in public affairs. in the following year the empress had the grief of losing a very old friend in the person of lord arthur russell. of these three gifted brothers, who were at once so alike and so different, she said pathetically: "the chief charm of the two others to me used to be that they were lord odo's brothers, until i came to know them well and to appreciate each other for his own sake." there burst forth, late in the year , a most extraordinary scandal, in which the empress frederick, although the affair was almost ostentatiously unconnected with her, could not but be deeply interested. various members of the imperial family, as well as members of their households, began to be assailed with scurrilous anonymous letters, which not only contained shrewd and well-aimed abuse of each individual, but which also revealed all sorts of shameful secrets to those from whom they had been sedulously hidden. long-buried family skeletons were dragged out into the light of day, and no one was spared. indeed, the greatest sufferers were those most closely clustered round about the throne. there was, however, one exception. the widowed empress was neither attacked nor even mentioned, and the attempt was evidently made, by the writer or writers of these extraordinary communications, to respect, as far as was possible, the feelings and prejudices of the emperor's mother. nothing was left undone to discover the perpetrators of this most evil and incomprehensible practical joke, if practical joke it was. at first it was supposed that the letters emanated from two people, presumed to be husband and wife, but soon it became clear to thoughtful investigators, and these comprised all the more intelligent members of the berlin court world, that many more than two or even three persons must be implicated in the conspiracy. indeed, the empress frederick is said to have observed to a friend that she felt sure that many of those who had at first been victims had now become aggressors, and that practically everybody was taking the opportunity of slinging mud by way of revenge for real or fancied injuries. this is not the place to deal with the long and complicated story of what came to be known as the anonymous letter scandal. no really satisfactory conclusion was ever attained. even now german opinion, notably among those chiefly concerned with the exhaustive investigation which took place by the emperor's command, is hopelessly divided. the affair ended in the imprisonment--unjust as it turned out--of a high court official, in a fatal duel, and in many tragi-comedies. chapter xx life at friedrichshof for many interesting details and anecdotes in the following chapter, we are indebted to a valuable pamphlet entitled, "reminiscences of victoria empress frederick," by professor g. a. leinhaas, her honorary librarian. during the building of friedrichshof the empress took up her residence at homburg and drove over every day, being on the friendliest terms, not only with the architect and builder, but also with the masons and the other workmen. one might say that she watched the laying of nearly every stone, and she must have felt sorry when the work was done. still, there was plenty of occupation left for her, when the building was finished, in superintending the furnishing and other arrangements. at this time she showed not the least sign of failing health or strength--indeed, for her age she was remarkably strong and even robust. there is no need to enlarge upon the details of the drawing-rooms and other apartments of the castle, but some of the pictures and sculpture were of particular interest. for instance, there were many curious portraits of members of the house of hanover; a sketch, by titian, of the emperor charles v of germany; a fine portrait of frederick the great; and many busts and statues of the empress's relatives, including a beautiful marble bust of her son, little prince waldemar. the fireplace in the library deserves mention, being of istrian stone in the venetian style--indeed, all through the castle the fireplaces were of remarkable artistic beauty. thus, that in the great dining-room was of marble supported on columns, and surmounted by a bust of the emperor frederick. in the library was placed a replica of the altarpiece in cologne cathedral, representing the adorations of the magi. the bookcases, running nearly all round the room, contained the empress's collection of some thirty years. one case was devoted entirely to books dedicated to her, and the authors of many of them had been admitted to her personal friendship. another section contained all the books written on the subject of the english royal family, and many of these were gifts with inscriptions in queen victoria's large, clear handwriting. every book in the library had been examined by the empress, and many of them had been read and re-read. this was notably the case in the section devoted to political economy, a subject in which she was intensely interested. here were to be seen all the works of jeremy bentham, a gift from dean stanley; here, too, were kept the empress's marvellous collection of autographs, begun when she was twelve years old, and containing the handwriting, not only of practically all the royal personages of europe, but also of statesmen, artists, and literary and scientific men, who had all made their mark in their several callings. the empress was indeed a collector. her possessions afforded her intense pleasure; to use her own expressive phrase: "one loves one's own things so much; one strokes them with one's eyes." there was arranged in glass cases her collection of coins and medals, which contained some particularly fine and rare examples from the brandenburg-prussian, english, french, and vatican mints. one case was devoted to a numismatic portrait-gallery of her own relations. her collection of photographs, each properly titled, took up portfolios. when going over these the empress would wax enthusiastic over the views of the places where she had herself stayed, particularly those in italy, such as rapallo, s. margherita, baveno, and portofino. a favourite city of hers was triest, of which she seemed to know every stock and stone. in the library, too, there was much to recall the emperor frederick. every word that her husband had ever written, however trivial, the empress carefully preserved. all his marginal notes were treated with fixative, and one of her chief cares when sending any books to institutions was to make sure that there was nothing written in her husband's own hand in them. [illustration: the late empress frederick] the empress was fond of collecting curiosities,--bits of old oak, old sculpture, and silver--and she amused herself from time to time in bargaining for these things in cottages and dealers' shops. nor was she superior to the familiar pride of the collector in displaying her treasures afterwards and explaining what bargains she had secured. the empress, especially as a young woman, did not care very much for reading, though she was fond of being read aloud to, as are most royal personages. she was, however, passionately interested in books, and it is recorded that in her tenth year she spent all her pocket-money on them. as she grew older, she read more, but she read in order to instruct herself rather than for pleasure. as a matter of course she always read all those books published in her native country which made any stir, whether they were memoirs, books of exploration, essays, or novels. at half-past ten every morning (sundays excepted) the empress went into her library to work. she was an extremely rapid reader, and if her intellectual interests--science, theology, philosophy, history, literature, archæology, art, economics, hygiene--may have seemed too discursive there is abundant evidence to acquit her of dilettanteism. she possessed in all these different branches a solid foundation of knowledge, which enabled her to understand and appreciate the discussions of experts. like her brother, king edward, she possessed in a high degree the truly royal gift of assimilating knowledge from conversation, and she had been so well "grounded," so to speak, that whenever she talked with a specialist in any subject she knew just what questions to ask. when reading a book, the empress almost always made notes in the margin. this is interesting as showing how restlessly alive, and in a sense over-stimulated, her brain must always have been. it is perhaps a fortunate thing during her long illness, for even then she never felt any wish to be idle, or to sit alone and think of herself. in the grounds of friedrichshof her majesty was able to indulge to the full her love of gardening. not only did she know the latin names of every plant and flower, but she was a really practical gardener, able to design landscape schemes. the rosery, for instance, was her creation. about half an acre in extent, it resembled the rosery at birkhall, on the balmoral estate. it sloped gently upwards, divided into numerous little terraces, bearing double rows of half-standard roses, and it was bounded partly by a creeper-clad wall, and partly by trelliswork over which roses were trained. in the flower-beds of her ordinary garden her majesty showed her strong preference for old-fashioned english flowers--indeed, throughout she evidently aimed at reproducing the mingled beauty and repose so characteristic of english gardens. all kinds of trees, too, she planted, and many have the added interest of an iron tablet recording that it was planted by some royal or distinguished visitor. the empress certainly had no lack of occupation and interest at cronberg. she had always been fascinated by restoration and excavation work, and fortunately cronberg possessed both an old castle and an old church, which she eagerly set herself to preserve for future generations. at the old burg she found many ancient remains, such as arrowheads, keys, &c., and, most important of all, several gothic iron "ofenplatten." she was interested in every detail. once she spent a long time hunting for a passage-way which she knew must be there because of the "pechnaze," or slit in the wall through which boiling lead used to be poured in mediæval sieges. when out riding she always kept a keen look-out for survivals of the past. thus she was much interested in the iron crosses to be found in the taunus, and she proposed to draw all the different kinds and publish a book about them. to the restoration of cronberg church the empress devoted an immense amount of personal trouble. two ministers and some important officials had to be approached before the order from the cabinet was obtained granting the necessary financial help. when it was at last issued, the empress herself brought it to cronberg, and, arriving there in the evening, carried it the first thing in the morning to the pastor. hardly a nail was put in the church without her knowledge. she studied and re-studied for months the details of windows, doors, hinges, &c. her delight was great when under the whitewash she discovered some frescoes of the fifteenth century. a tablet was put up in the choir setting forth what the empress had done for the restoration of the church, but here the truly modest nature of the woman showed itself. she had the tablet removed from the choir, and refixed in a place high up where it is practically unseen. it is pleasant to look back on these comparatively happy years at friedrichshof. the empress as a rule dressed very simply in black. her only jewellery were two gold rings, one with a sapphire and two diamonds, and the other a smooth ruby, while a miniature of the emperor frederick hung round her neck. she was up early every morning. she liked to see everything bright and gleaming in the castle, and not a speck of dust was allowed. at eight o'clock it was her habit to go out riding for two hours. she was an excellent horsewoman and full of daring; even when nearing sixty she still jumped difficult ditches and obstacles, and she always rode young and spirited animals. once she was pushed against a wall by a frisky horse, and later she had the more serious accident which some think brought about her final illness. but even in the worst weather she never gave up her morning ride. during her widowhood the empress had at last the joy of knowing that she was really loved and understood by her neighbours, both gentle and simple. she was regarded at cronberg much as queen victoria was regarded in the neighbourhood of balmoral. she made herself acquainted with practically the whole population, not only with the poor, on whom she was able to shower intelligent gifts and much practical good advice, but also with that difficult intermediate class who, all the world over, generally remain out of touch with the great house of the village. people of this class dwelt in little châlets which began to spring up over that healthy and beautiful neighbourhood, but even their thorny pride was not proof against the empress's friendliness, in which there was never any touch of condescension or patronage. there were not a few artists living in the neighbourhood, and with some of these the empress was on specially intimate terms. she was fond of dropping in and finding them at work. the empress was full of quaint conceits and ideas; thus, when she was going to see an artist or anyone in whom she took a special interest, she liked to choose his birthday for the visit. her energy was extraordinary. one observer who saw a great deal of her in her widowhood declares that she used to go upstairs and downstairs like a young girl, and when she greeted the company assembled at table every compulsion of etiquette seemed to be instantly removed. naturally cronberg benefited by her great knowledge of hygiene. to the elaborately equipped hospital which she founded there, she gave the most punctilious care. she often cut her roses herself and took them to the sick. the empress also built a poorhouse, a victoria school, and a library for the people, and she arranged the victoria and kaiser friedrich public park. she hated leaving cronberg every autumn: "the departure is dreadful to me," she said on one occasion: "when i am travelling i feel like a mussel without its shell." professor nippold, in his book on the first two german emperors, has drawn a very sympathetic and understanding picture of the empress frederick. she had, he says, a most cheerful temperament, and a rapid eye for the humorous, in spite of so many terrible blows of fate. she always saw everything from the good side and quickly forgave people their faults; no one was allowed to speak ill of anyone in her presence. she was often misunderstood and unjustly accused, and when she saw things written against her in the papers she was terribly wounded. for instance, it was said that she had prevented the building of a tower on the "altkönig" for the public to enjoy the view, but the fact was that she had never heard anything about the proposal. sometimes she could hardly be restrained from answering some of these base accusations. she was also accused of parsimony, and her income was enormously exaggerated. the claims on her purse were innumerable. she had forty-two philanthropic institutions which she had to help, and in one year there were thirty-seven bazaars, to each of which she had to send gifts. altogether her expenses were enormously heavy. when the empress is blamed for being a thorough englishwoman, let it be said at once, exclaims professor nippold, that everything good and praiseworthy in england she tried to introduce into her own adopted country. she was always vexed and pained when things were said against england, more especially in the case of england's colonies. "the english," she would say, "arrange everything in the colonies most beautifully,--roads, railways, post, telegraphs, hospitals, schools, and police, and then everyone, to whichever nation he belongs, can trade undisturbed. and i cannot think that for that england should be thanked in such an evil way!" many people regarded it as an injustice to germany that she should have had such warm sympathies with england. she was through and through an englishwoman, if not by descent, yet by every impression received in childhood and by education. the professor goes on to express the opinion that no englishman or englishwoman, of whatever age, ever gives up his or her nationality and love of country, in whatever circumstances they may find themselves, "a contrast to so many germans, who are far less faithful to their nationality. the empress frederick, as eldest child of queen victoria of england, had the title of princess royal, and she could not help feeling herself the first princess of a wonderful empire of very old culture, and this proud feeling never left her." this estimate and defence of the empress is particularly valuable as coming from a man of shrewd intelligence and observation, who was himself a german. on another occasion nippold wrote of the empress with clear insight: "one thing this distinguished woman never understood--to hide her feelings. she never posed; everything was sincere in her in the true sense of the word." in her will the empress left professor nippold a letter-weight, which she had used every day, as a souvenir of a conversation they had had one evening in her study. this letter-weight, which always lay on her table, was composed of an old roman bronze--a broken sphinx figure--on a marble slab. a ring bound this figure to the slab, and the inscription engraved was: "this stone was picked up by h.r.h. princess elizabeth on the walk of frogmore, ." professor nippold goes on to say that while the empress was talking to him one evening a telegram arrived which obviously had to do with the crisis which led to the greco-turkish war. as nippold saw that she was much preoccupied with the telegram and had to think of the answer, and yet did not want to send him away, he delicately asked to be allowed to wait and look at the pictures. when the empress resumed the conversation, the professor asked about a picture which hung in the study. she named the different figures in the group, among them being that young princess elizabeth who had found the stone. that she should have left nippold the letter-weight showed, as he truly says, the wonderful memory and kindly attention in which consists _la politesse des princes_. the princess elizabeth married one of the last counts of hesse-homburg. since then a monument to that royal house has been erected in homburg, and in the emperor's speech at the unveiling on august , , occurred these words: "i commemorate the landgräfin elizabeth, a daughter of george iii of england. she was a real mother to this country and worked and cared for her adopted fatherland. the homburgers to this day think of her with real thankfulness and reverence." professor nippold gives a characteristic letter which he received from the empress, evidently on the subject of those historical studies of the house of hohenzollern to which, as we have already mentioned, the emperor frederick at one time devoted himself with ardour. the letter is so interesting, especially in the views which it expresses on the subject of royal biography, that to quote it in full needs no apology: "dear professor,--many thanks for sending the separate pages from the _deutsche revue_ of february, and for your excellent report, which has so much in it that does my heart good. you mean well and truly, not only as regards history, but also with the noble men who now lie in their graves, and whose deeds and influence should be properly appreciated in wide circles and through the proper medium. "the work grows, however, even as you work upon it; the subject becomes more and more important, and one should ask oneself whether the time has come thus to lift the veil. would it not be wiser and more cautious to close these papers for the _revue_, and then to continue your labours, so that later a book could appear for which we could utilise this material, but not lightly or too soon? the letter of which you send me a copy--from our kaiser friedrich wilhelm iv--should not, for instance, appear without the letter from my father, but that would arouse a fearful storm of discussion. in the political world there is so much tinder ready that one must do all one can to avoid bringing in anything exciting. "as long as bismarck is alive, it is very difficult! also these things affect my mother, so that i should like very much to have a serious talk with you before the publication continues in the _deutsche revue_. professor ranke has handled the life of friedrich wilhelm iv as the court here wished it to be treated. similar books have now appeared, with authorisation, with regard to the kaiser wilhelm, and in weimar, i believe, someone is writing a book on the kaiserin augusta. all these writers, however, are strictly conservative and orthodox in religion (therefore one-sided), and of all those currents which flowed into the lives of the dead, no word is spoken, in the sense that i mean. it is impossible thus to omit and yet give the public a true picture of the persons, of their time, and of the parts they played. you will see for yourself the consequences of such publication. you have more experience than i, and perhaps you can reassure me." chapter xxi last years during the last years of her life, the empress frederick paid repeated visits to england, where she had many attached friends. she much enjoyed a visit to the bishop of ripon in , when she was able to study the wood carving in the cathedral, as well as fountains abbey and other places of historical interest. it was characteristic of her that only a few moments before she left ripon, while she was actually waiting for the carriage to take her to the station, she exclaimed, "how much i should like to paint this view!" drawing materials and a paint-box were brought her; she sat down, and in a few minutes produced a charming sketch of the cathedral amid fields and trees. as an artist the empress was undoubtedly far more than a mere amateur, especially in sculpture. it is said that on one occasion, having given a commission to the famous german sculptor, uphues, for a colossal statue of the emperor frederick, she visited his studio one day when he was at work on the clay model. this did not seem to her to promise a good likeness, and she thereupon set to work on the clay herself, and in about half an hour she quite transformed the model, so that when it was carried out in marble it became universally recognised as the best presentment in existence of the emperor's features. uphues also made a bust of the empress herself, which was set up in on the kaiser friedrich promenade at homburg. the empress had first met the boyd carpenters in , soon after the death of prince sigismund. she happened to hear a sermon from the then canon boyd carpenter which brought her much comfort, and the acquaintance then begun developed into warm friendship. the bishop had a great admiration for the empress's sympathetic alacrity of mind. "she had wide range," he writes, "and quick intellectual sympathies; she understood a passing allusion; she followed the track of thought; there were no irritating delays; there were no vacant incoherences in an observation, which show that the thread has been lost. she had read; she had thought; she had travelled; she had observed; she had mixed with many of the foremost minds of the time; she had taken practical part in many great and humane enterprises. consequently her range was large, and her mental equipment was well furnished and ready for use. conversation with her could never become insipid." the empress always did everything she could to improve anglo-german relations, and the feeling aroused by the famous telegram which her son sent to president kruger in january, , keenly distressed her. she wrote to her old friend sir mountstuart grant duff: "but even this most sad episode between our two countries has not shaken my faith in our old opinions that there are many, many higher interests in common, why we should get on together and be of use to each other in helping on civilisation and progress. i trust that a good understanding will outlive hatred and jealousy." and again: "when i think of my father and of all his friends and of our friends, it appears to me almost ludicrous that germany and england should be enemies." in the empress frederick took part in the diamond jubilee, driving in the procession with princess henry of battenberg. the sight of the two widowed sisters, who had put aside their grief to join in that great day of national rejoicing, deeply touched many of the spectators. the empress herself wrote of this occasion in which she "gladly and thankfully joined with proud heart": "the weight of lonely, hidden grief often feels heaviest when all surroundings are in such contrast. and yet the heart of man is so made that many feelings find room in it together; so gratitude and thankfulness mingle with memories so sad that they can never lose their bitterness." madame waddington, the wife of that old rugby and cambridge man who filled with such distinction the post of french ambassador in london, has left a record of a conversation she had with the empress in august, . madame waddington, who was an american by birth, was struck by a question the empress asked her, namely, whether she did not find it difficult to settle down in france after having lived ten years in london--"the great centre of the world." madame waddington replied that she was not at all to be pitied for living in paris, that her son was a frenchman, and all his interests were in france. she adds: "au fond, notwithstanding all the years she has lived in germany, the empress is absolutely english still in her heart." they had some talk about wagner, and madame waddington informed the empress that there was a difficulty as to the performance of _die meistersinger_ at the grand opera owing to the fact that frau wagner considered the choruses too difficult to translate or to sing with the true spirit in any language but german. the empress replied: "she is quite right; it is one of the most difficult of wagner's operas, and essentially german in plot and structure. it scarcely bears translation in english, and in french would be impossible;--neither is the music in my mind at all suited to the french character. the mythical legends of the cycle would appeal more to the french, i think, than the ordinary german life." the empress was a real connoisseur in music, of which she had a wide knowledge, though her skill as a performer was considered to be inferior to that of queen victoria. like her mother, the empress frederick was a great letter-writer. she wrote in a mixture of german and english, choosing the most telling expressions, and she was in constant communication with various distinguished englishmen for years. to them she sent long and very frank letters about everything that interested her, especially foreign politics. as has been already indicated in this book, the empress was in the habit of showing far more clearly than most royal personages allow themselves to do, exactly what she felt about those whom she met even for the first or second time. this found either an answering antagonism or a reciprocal liking in those with whom she was brought in contact. many of the distinguished men whom she heartily admired speak of her, and that in their most secret letters and diaries, with an admiration approaching enthusiasm. but now and again comes a discordant note. such may be found in mr. g. w. smalley's _anglo-american memories_. the old journalist describes her in a way which gives a far from pleasant impression of the empress towards the end of her life. he was presented to her by the then prince of wales at homburg, and the first thing he noticed was that, though she was very like queen victoria, her manner was less simple and therefore had less authority. he also criticises her dress, and observes that both the late queen and her eldest daughter "showed an indifference to the art of personal adornment." mr. smalley admits that the empress has a much greater vivacity than the queen, but he thinks that this vivacity becomes restless, and that her mind can never be in repose. he says drily that, from her marriage and down to the day of the emperor frederick's death, she had lived in a dream-world of her own creation, her belief being so strong, her conviction that she knew what was best for those about her so complete, that the facts had to adjust themselves as best they could to that belief and that conviction. as was the empress's way when a stranger, and especially a foreigner, was presented to her, she at once began to talk of mr. smalley's country and of what she supposed would interest him. instead of allowing him to say what he thought, she plunged directly into american topics, especially commenting on what she supposed to be the position of women in the united states. it soon became clear, or so he thought, that she had a correspondent in chicago from whom she had derived her impressions. "she talked with clearness, with energy and almost apostolic fervour, the voice penetrating rather than melodious." mr. smalley said to himself that all that she asserted might be true of chicago, but of what else was it true? and he was evidently much nettled that she generalised from the "windy city" to the rest of the united states. instead of seeing, as probably most women would have seen, that she was speaking to an auditor who was fast becoming prejudiced, the empress continued to unburden herself in the frankest, freest way to this journalist whom she had never met before. she even seems to have touched on politics, on anglo-german relations, on the internal affairs of germany: "never for a moment did this dreamer's talk stop or grow sluggish. carlyle summed up macaulay in the phrase 'flow on, thou shining river'; he might in a sardonic mood have done the same to this princess." it was an illuminating interview, declares mr. smalley, throwing light on events to come as well as on those of the past, and he goes on to explain that multitudes of germans shared bismarck's distrust of the crown princess, and believed that she wanted to anglicise germany. he reiterates what has so often been said--that she told all-comers that what germany needed was parliamentary government as it was understood and practised in england. in little things as in great she made no secret for her preference for what was english over what was german: "judgment was not her strong point, nor was tact; if i am to say what was her strong point, i suppose it would be sincerity. her gifts of mind were dazzling rather than sound; impulse was not always under control. her animosities once roused never slept, as prince bismarck well knew." seldom has a more prejudiced view of the empress been given to the world, but it is interesting as showing how she sometimes impressed those who had been fascinated by the bismarck legend when they were brought into passing contact with her eager, enthusiastic mind. to a fall from her horse at cronberg in the autumn of may be traced the beginning of that merciless disease which ultimately killed her. it was a bad accident. the horse reared and the empress fell on the wrong side on her head with her feet under the horse and her habit still clinging to the saddle. her head was much bruised, and her right hand was injured and trodden on by the horse. she was not at all frightened, indeed she took it very calmly, observing: "i have ridden for fifty years, and it is natural that an accident must come sooner or later. but i shall ride to-morrow. i'm going to try and paint and write some letters in spite of my hand." but her injuries did not yield to treatment, and very soon began the long martyrdom of pain which she bore for more than two years with the same stoic fortitude which the emperor frederick had shown. the disease was undoubtedly cancer, and it is suggested that it had been gathering force for quite a number of years. however that may be, it was certainly known in that a cure was impossible. the most terrible feature of these last months was the severe pain which seized her at intervals. it was characteristic, both of her courage and of her kindly nature, that during these attacks she would not see even the members of her family, to whom the sight of her sufferings would have been so distressing. but in the intervals she occupied herself with conversation, or one of her ladies would read aloud to her, and she even painted a little. her son, the emperor, was constant in his attentions, coming over almost daily from homburg, but even he was only allowed to remain with her a few minutes at a time. physically the patient had suffered a great change. her cheeks, which had been round and apparently in the bloom of health, gradually became thin and sunken, and her face assumed that curious transparent paleness which is the unmistakable sign of approaching death. it is said that when the empress received the news of queen victoria's death, in january, , she said to those about her: "i wish i were dead too." but for more than six months longer she bore with extraordinary fortitude the chronic suffering which the most able physicians were unable to relieve. her consideration for those around her was constant. on one occasion, in a spasm of agony, she cried out loudly and seized the nurse's hand; then at once apologised: "i am so sorry, i am afraid i hurt you." the nurse said afterwards, "i have only been with the empress for a week, but already she has filled me with higher ideals, and i am going back resolved to be a better nurse than ever." as long as it was possible, the empress continued her painting and drawing; and to the very end she was especially happy when she was able to work with some practical object in view, such as the laying out of a new rose-garden or suggesting alterations in architectural plans. her greatest pleasure--and she was intensely susceptible to happiness even during the last six sad months--was a visit from her eldest brother. when she was expecting king edward, she supervised closely every little arrangement made for his comfort and convenience, and while doing so she would be wheeled in her bath-chair about the rooms he was to occupy. she felt most deeply the attacks which were then being made in germany on england, and even on king edward, at the time of the boer war. an article in the _vossische zeitung_, which observed that such attacks on a constitutional sovereign were unworthy of a great nation, gave her much satisfaction. king edward paid his last visit to his sister at cronberg in february, . a contemporary chronicler notes that everything was arranged to show that the visit was meant for the empress frederick and not for her son. this was doubtless by the wish of the emperor himself, for, though he did all due honour to his uncle, meeting him at frankfort and conducting him across the lovely taunus valley, to the very door of friedrichshof, he took leave of king edward at the threshold, so that the brother and sister might be alone at their first meeting. among the last english visitors received by the empress at friedrichshof were her old friends, the boyd carpenters. this was in may, . they found her on their arrival lying on a couch in her beautiful garden, and the bishop was struck by her likeness to queen victoria--a likeness enhanced by the black dress and by the form of hat which she wore. the empress rejoiced in the spring and in the colour which was spreading everywhere through her garden. she still took a practical interest in everything concerning the beautiful home she had created. the bishop gives one instance: the great blue face of the clock, the tower of which dominated friedrichshof, needed re-painting. before she decided what exact tint should be used, she caused slips of paper giving different shades of blue to be held up against the face of the clock. then she made up her mind. once, as they passed through the flower garden together, she quoted to the bishop the words, "the effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much." another time, looking round at the beauty of the trees she had planted, she said, "i feel like moses on pisgah, looking at the land of promise which i must not enter." when parting from mrs. boyd carpenter, for whom she had a great regard, the empress gave her a bracelet of her own, one she had often worn and with which she had affectionate associations. to the bishop she gave a seal which had belonged to queen victoria, and which had been in the room when the queen died. it commemorated a picnic in scotland, in which the queen, the prince consort, and princess alice had shared. the seal, mounted in silver and set in aberdeen granite, was a cairngorm found by prince albert and princess alice on that day. the bishop remained with her a moment at the very last, and she said to him, "when i am gone i want you to read the english burial service over me." and then she characteristically explained to him exactly what would have to be done to make this possible. when the end came three months later, thanks to the prompt acquiescence of the emperor, his mother's wishes were carried out. the empress became much worse at the beginning of august, and, by the wish of her son, canon teignmouth-shore was telegraphed for. he arrived at friedrichshof on august , and in the presence of the emperor and the empress's daughters the canon knelt down and offered some prayers from the office for the visitation of the sick. the whole sad scene, he says, was quite over-powering and far too sacred for him to describe. "the dying empress was at first slightly conscious, and i could see a gentle movement of her lips as we said the lord's prayer." towards six o'clock in the evening the canon was again summoned to the sick-room. "the sweet noble soul was just passing away. i said a few prayers at the bedside, concluding with the first two verses of that exquisite poem, 'now the labourer's task is o'er.'" a butterfly flew into the room and hovered for awhile over the dying empress, and when she had breathed her last it spread its wings and flew out into the free air again. the emperor desired canon teignmouth-shore to arrange with dr. boyd carpenter for a private funeral service to be held at friedrichshof. on the following sunday the canon preached a funeral sermon in the english church at homburg. in it he made a statement with regard to her majesty's religious views which deserves quotation: "the religious conceptions which inspired and guided this life, alike in its humblest and in its loftiest spheres of action, were, as i believe, neither crude nor complex nor dogmatic; they were clear and simple and broad--an absolute faith in the fatherhood of god, and in the brotherhood and redeeming love of him who died that we might live." the lutheran funeral service, which was held in the parish church of cronberg, was most impressive in its simplicity. at one point of the service the crown prince and three of his young brothers rose from their seats, and, having put on their helmets, drew their swords and took their places at each corner of the coffin of their grandmother, where they remained until the end of the service. this old church, which, as we know, the empress had herself restored, dates back to the middle of the fifteenth century. on the organ, which is of exquisite tone, mendelssohn often played when he visited the taunus. perhaps the most touching of all the hundreds of wreaths sent for the funeral was one of simple heather which had been made by the emperor's younger children. attached to it was a sheet of black-edged paper on which they had all written their names in large childish characters. the empress was buried beside her husband and her son waldemar in the friedenskirche at potsdam, and the sarcophagus over her tomb is by her artist friend, begas. of memorials to her, there is the bust at homburg already mentioned. in the english church at homburg, where she attended divine service for the first time after the death of her husband, is a memorial consisting of four reliefs, placed in the spandrels of the arches in the aisle, representing the four evangelists. a striking statue of the empress in coronation robes by gerth was unveiled by the emperor william in october, . it is opposite the statue of her husband in the open space outside the brandenburg gate at berlin. so lived, and so died, this most gifted and generous lady, who was rendered illustrious, not by the symbols of her imperial station, but by her many winning qualities of heart and intellect. we cannot do better than quote in conclusion from the remarkable tributes which were paid to her memory by the late lord salisbury and the late lord spencer. lord salisbury, who was then prime minister, in moving an address of condolence with king edward in the house of lords, summed up in masterly fashion both the beauty and the tragedy of the empress's life: "when the then princess royal left these shores, there was no person, either of contemporary experience or in history, before whom a brighter prospect extended itself in life, and all that could make it desirable spread itself before her. she had a devoted husband, himself one of the noblest characters of his generation, who probably centred in himself more admiration than any man in his rank or in any rank. she had every prospect of becoming the consort of the emperor--an absolute emperor--of the greatest of the continental powers. she had every hope that she would share fully in his illustrious position, and in no small degree in the powers that he wielded. this was before her for nearly thirty years, and in that time she had all the enjoyments which were derived from her own great abilities, her own splendid artistic talents, and from the powers which she exercised over the artistic, æsthetic, and intellectual life of germany. she occupied an unexampled position. then suddenly came the blow, first on her husband and then on herself. by that fell disease--which probably is the most formidable of all to which flesh is heir--her dream of happiness, of usefulness, and glory was suddenly cut short. the blow, in striking her husband, struck herself in even greater degree; and she felt--she could not but feel--how deeply she shared in all the disappointments, all the sufferings, that attached themselves to his history. when he had been emperor only a few weeks, he died, and then she spent her life in retirement. her health failed, and she, too, fell under the same blow, passing through years of suffering, with the sympathy of all connected with her and all those who knew her. she was deeply valued in this country by those who knew her, and they were very many. she had an artistic and intellectual charm of no common order; she spread her power over all who came within her reach; and her gradual disappearance from the scene was watched with the deepest sorrow and sympathy by numbers in her own country and in this." the motion was seconded on behalf of the opposition by lord spencer, who, it will be remembered, was a near kinsman of that lady lyttelton to whom was entrusted the charge of the empress's early childhood: "her imperial majesty had no ordinary character. brought up with the greatest care and solicitude by her royal and devoted parents, she early and ever afterwards showed the highest accomplishments, not only in art but in literature. she was herself an artist of no small merit, and her power of criticism and influence in art was even of a higher order. in this age, which had been so remarkable for the enormous number of persons who have joined in endeavours to alleviate the sufferings of the human race, whether in peace or in war, i venture to think that no one stands in a higher position than the empress frederick of germany. during those wars, in which her illustrious husband played such a splendid part, she exerted herself to do all she could to alleviate the sufferings of the wounded, and she had ever in peace used her endeavours to promote the same objects among the suffering poor of her country. no one, i am sure, will be remembered in the future with more affection and devotion on this account than her majesty. she was always sympathetic and energetic with regard to other matters. there was nothing which stirred her sympathies or energies more than the education and improvement of her own sex. she did much in this respect in her adopted country; but we cannot consider her life without remembering the beautiful simplicity and earnestness of it. she was devoted to duty, and although she suffered intensely during her life when her noble husband was afflicted with the terrible disease which took him off, and during the sad years in which the same malady afflicted her, she always showed a patient endurance which will remain an example for all mankind. i cannot but refer to her great charm in private as well as in public life. it so happened that very early in my life, before she was married, she honoured me with her acquaintance. it was only on rare occasions i had the privilege of continuing that acquaintance, but i have from time to time within the last few years seen her majesty, and i shall always recall, as one of the most delightful recollections of my life, the charm and influence of her conversation." index abeken, herr, aberdeen, lord, adelaide, queen dowager, , albert, prince, , , , , , , ; his children's affection, , , ; exhibition of , , ; view of german politics, , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , ; training of the princess royal, - ; her betrothal, - , , - ; and marriage, - ; letters to his daughter, , , - , , , - , , - , , , , , , , - , , , ; visits to his daughter, , ; acquaintance with morier, ; first meeting with bismarck, ; theory of monarchy, - ; narrow escape, ; death, - , alcott, miss, alexander of bulgaria, prince, , alexander i, the tsar; alexander ii, , , , alexandra, queen, , , , alice, princess (grand duchess of hesse), , , , , , , , , , ; wedding, , , , , , , , , , ; death, , , althorp, lord, , ampthill, lord and lady, , , , , anderson, mrs., angeli, von, , , arnold, matthew, - augusta, german empress, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; death, , , , augustenburg, duke christian of sonderburg-, augustenburg, hereditary prince frederick of sonderburg-, - , , , austria, emperor francis joseph, , , , babelsberg, , , , , bacourt, monsieur de, baden, prince regent of, ballardin, m., barclay & perkins's draymen, battenberg marriage, the, , , bavaria, king of, , bazaine, marshal, , , beatrice, princess (princess henry of battenberg), , begas, benedek, benedetti, bergmann, prof., bernhard of saxe-meiningen, prince, , bernhardi, theodor von, , bismarck, prince, opinion of the english marriage, ; relations with crown princess, , , - , , , , , ; relations with morier, , ; accession to office, , ; dantzig incident, , ; relations with crown prince, , , ; policy on scheswig-holstein question, , , - ; attitude to royal personages, ; austrian war, - , - ; visit to paris, ; at a royal christening, ; franco-german war, - , - , , ; the imperial dignity, , , ; "british petticoats," - ; and hinzpeter, , ; and the regency of the crown prince, - , , ; and the crown prince's illness, , ; relations with the emperor and empress frederick, - , - , - , - , , , ; fall, , bleibtreu, bloomfield, lady, , and lord, , blumenthal, field-marshal, bornstedt, country life at, bötticher, bouguereau, m., boyd carpenter, bishop, , , , , brühl, countess hedwig, brunnemann, privy councillor, brunnow, buccleuch, duke of, buchanan, mr., bucher, , bunsen, baron, , bunsen, mme., busch, , , , , , canning, lord, carlyle, , , charles anthony of hohenzollern, prince, charles of prussia, prince, , charles of prussia, princess, charles of roumania, prince and princess, , , charlier, mme., charlotte, princess, charlotte, princess (daughter of the empress), , - , christian ix of denmark, king, , churchill, lord randolph, clarendon, lord, , , , , , , , , , , cobden, , coburgers, the, , colenso, bishop, connaught, duke of, , consort, prince. _see_ albert, prince "court circular," official, craven, mrs. augustus, craven, mrs. dacre, dantzig incident, the, - darwin, charles, delane, john, delbrück, prof., de ros, captan, déroulède, paul, detaille, m., _deutsche revue_, _deutsche rundschau_, devonshire, louise duchess of, dino, duchesse de, droysen, j. g., duff, sir m. e. grant, duncker, frau, duncker, herr max, , , , , , edinburgh, duke of, , , , edward vii, king, , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , eliot, george, elizabeth, landgravine, the, , elizabeth of prussia, queen, , ernest of hanover, king, ernest of saxe-coburg and gotha, duke, , , , , , , eugénie, empress, , , , , , exhibition, of , , , ; of , ; of (paris), faraday, faucit, helen, fitzmayer, colonel, frankfort congress, frederick charles of hesse, prince, frederick charles of prussia, prince, , frederick, grand duke of baden, frederick, prince of netherlands, frederick, the emperor-- as prince frederick william of prussia-- first visit to england, - , ; betrothal, - , , ; visits england again, ; marriage, - ; admiration of england, ; pride in his eldest son, , , , ; new palace at potsdam, - ; country life at bornstedt, , ; military promotions, , , ; hope of the junkers, as crown prince-- death of king frederick william iv, - ; his father's coronation, - ; death of his father-in-law, - ; visits to england, , , , ; to italy, , , ; to the east, ; to paris, ; the dantzig incident, - ; relations with bismarck, , , , , , , - , , , - , , ; admiration of england, ; schleswig-holstein question, - ; in the danish war, - ; hatred of war, , , ; work for soldiers and their families, , , , ; family life, - , - , ; the austrian war, - , - ; freemasonry, , ; the franco-german war, , - ; the imperial dignity, , ; regency, - ; illnesses, , - ; silver wedding, - as emperor-- accession, , ; journey to berlin, ; state business, - ; relations with bismarck, - , - ; monetary position, - ; death, ; freytag's reminiscences, - frederick, the empress, physical descriptions of, , , , , as princess royal-- birth, , ; christening, , ; education and childhood, - ; first meeting with her husband, - ; visit to paris, , ; betrothal, - ; training by her father, - ; confirmation, - ; an accident, ; marriage, - ; arrival in berlin, ; reception, - ; the old schloss, , ; influence of and on her husband, ; conditions at the prussian court, ; babelsberg, ; social preferences, , ; visits of her parents, - ; new residence in berlin, - ; birth of prince william, - ; new palace at potsdam, - ; country life at bornstedt, , ; birth of princess charlotte, , ; interest in politics, , , ; paper on ministerial responsibility, , ; nursery management, as crown princess-- description of death of king of prussia, - ; anniversary of marriage, ; coronation of her father-in-law, description, - ; colonel of hussar regiment, , , ; political views, , , , , , , , ; death of her father - ; relations with bismarck, , - , , - , , , , , , , , , , , ; love of england, ; visits to england, , , , , , , , , ; love of france, , ; birth of prince henry, ; position in prussia, , ; relations with her husband, - , , - , , , , ; visits to italy, , , ; favourite newspapers, ; patriotism, , , , , , , , ; popularity, , , ; schleswig-holstein question, - ; work for army and other nursing, , - , , ; family life, - , - , , , , ; artistic tastes, - , , , , , , , , , ; musical tastes, , , , , , ; literary tastes, , , , , ; as botanist, ; interest in science, ; pistol-shooting, ; education of children, , , , , - ; social preferences, , , , , , ; religious position, , , , ; art and industry, , , ; bereavements, , , , , ; work for soldiers and their families, , , , , ; visits to paris, , ; work for education, - , , , ; visit to russia, ; affection for the old emperor, ; her husband's last illness, - as empress, - ; relations with bismarck, - ; influence over her husband, , , , - ; the battenberg marriage, - ; her first and last court, ; death of the emperor, as dowager empress-- relations with bismarck, - , , , , ; relations with her son, the emperor william ii, - , , ; comparison with him, - ; planning of frederickshof, - ; life there, - ; patriotism, , , , ; visit to paris, - ; death of empress augusta, , , ; the anonymous letter scandal, , ; collections, - ; reading, , ; gardening, , ; restoration work, , ; personal tastes, - ; philanthropy, ; character sketches, - , , - ; views on royal biography, , ; visits to england, ; artistic tastes, , ; musical tastes, , ; religious position, , , , ; last illness, - ; death and funeral, - ; tributes in the house of lords, - frederick the great, king of prussia, , , , , , , frederick vii of denmark, king, , frederick william iii, king of prussia, , , , , frederick william iv, king of prussia, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; death, - ; political testament, - , , , , , , freemasonry, , freytag, , , , , friedberg, dr., froude, , galliera, duchess of, garter, order of the, geffcken, dr., , geibel, george of hanover, king, , gerhardt, gerlach, general, , , germany in , - gerth, sculptor, gloucester, duchess of, , godet, pastor, , , goethe, , , gontaut biron, m. de, , gontaut, duchesse de, goschen, mr. (afterwards lord), gotha, dowager duchess of saxe-coburg and, , , gower, lord ronald, , , granville, lord, , , , , , , , , , _grenzboten_, hardenburg, hagen, prof., heine, henry of prussia, prince, , , , , , , , , , hertel, painter, hildyard, miss, hintze, prof., , hinzpeter, dr., , , hobbs, mrs., nurse, , hodel, , hoffmann, , , hohenlohe, prince, , , , , , , , , , , hohenlohe-langenburg, princess of, , howard, cardinal, humbert, prince (afterwards king of italy), , , huxley, ihne, herr, irene of hesse, princess, , , keeley, mr. and mrs., kent, duchess of, , , , , ; death of, kinglake, kohn, baron, _kreutz zeitung_, kruger, president, lees, miss, leiningen, prince, leo xiii, pope, leopold i, king of the belgians, , , , , , , , , , , , , leopold, prince of hohenzollern-sigmaringen, letze, fraulein, loftus, lord augustus, , louis, prince (grand duke of hesse), , , , , , , louis of battenberg, prince, louise, queen of prussia, , , , , , louise of prussia, princess (grand duchess of baden), , , , , lutteroth, painter, lyell, sir charles, , lyons, lord, lyttelton, sarah, lady, - , , , , lytton, lord and lady, macaulay, macdonald incident, the, - , , , macdonell, lady, mackenzie, sir morell, , , magdeburg cathedral, malakoff, duke of, malet, sir edward, malmesbury, lord, manchester, duchess of (louise), manteuffel, baron, , , , , margaret, princess (daughter of the empress), , margherita, queen of italy, , marie of roumania, princess, martin, dr., martin, sir theodore, , , , mary of cambridge, princess (duchess of teck), , , mecklenburg, grand duchess of, melbourne, lord, , , millet, j. f., monarchy in england, moltke, , , , morier, sir robert, , , , , , , , , motley, j. l., , moustier, napier of magdala, lord, napoleon, emperor of the french, , , , , , , , , _national-zeitung_, neale, countess pauline, nightingale, florence, , , nippold, prof., , - nobeling, , , "old" royal family, the, , , ollivier, m., oscar, painter, paget, sir augustus, , paget, walpurga lady, , , palmerston, lord, , , , , , , , perry, mr., , phelps, the actor, playfair, dr. lyon, ponsonby, mrs., poschinger, margaretha von, putbus, prince, putlitz, frau, - putlitz, gustav, , , puttkamer incident, the, radziwill, princess elise, raglan, lord, - ranke, prof., redern, count, regnault, henri, , reinhold, sculptor, reiss, mr., renan, , ripon, lord and lady, roggenbach, baron, roon, von, rumbold, sir horace, russell, lord arthur, russell, lord john, , russell, lord odo. _see_ ampthill russell, sir. w. h., salisbury, lord and lady, , , _saturday review_, saxe-meiningen, hereditary princess of, saxony, king of, schellbach, prof., schleinitz, baron, , schleswig-holstein duchies, ; history of, - ; the war, - seckendorff, count, sigismund, prince (son of the emperor frederick), , , , - , , , smalley, g. w., journalist, , , sophia, princess (afterwards queen of the hellenes), , , spencer, lord, stanley, dean, stanley of alderley, lord, steibel, dr., stein, , stockmar, baron, , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , stockmar, baron ernest, , , , , stolberg, prince, story, mr., strauss, sumner, archbishop, sussex, duke of, teignmouth-shore, canon, , tenniel, sir john, _times, the_, , , , , , , , , , , titian, thiers, thomas, g. h., thürr, general, uphues, sculptor, , victoria of hesse, princess, victoria, princess, daughter of empress frederick, , , - , victoria, princess of schleswig-holstein-augustenburg, victoria, queen, , , ; education of her children, - , , ; exhibition of , , ; marriages of her children, , ; princess royal's betrothal, - , , , , - , - ; a caricature, ; birth of first grandchild, - ; sees him for first time, - ; description of the new palace, ; birth of princess charlotte, , ; death of prince consort, - ; relations with morier, , ; relations with bismarck, , , , ; attitude in danish war, , , ; austrian war, ; franco-german war, , , ; intervention on behalf of france, , ; visit to the emperor frederick, , ; the battenberg marriage, , ; death, virchow, prof., _volkszeitung_, _vossische zeitung_, wace, poet, waddington, m., , , waddington, mme., , wagener, wagner, waldemar, prince (son of empress frederick), , , walewski, wangenheim, von, wellington, duke of, werner, anton von, painter, , westmorland, priscilla lady, wilberforce, bishop, wilberg, painter, william i, german emperor; as prince of prussia, , , , , , , , , ; regency, , , , , , ; succession as king william i, , , ; coronation, - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , ; emperor, , , , , , - , , ; attempted assassinations, - ; failing health, - , ; death, , , , ; character, , , william ii, german emperor, birth and christening, - ; and queen victoria, - , , , , , , , ; education, - , , ; betrothal and marriage, ; accession, - ; comparison with his mother, - ; relations with his mother, , , , , wittenberg, wodehouse, lady, wrangel, field-marshal von, , , , , , , würtemberg, king of, * * * * * typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber: two shy to talk=> too shy to talk {pg } indeed crown princess was much distressed=> indeed the crown princess was much distressed {pg } au troisiéme=> au troisième {pg } kaiser freidrich wilhelm iv=> kaiser friedrich wilhelm iv {pg } life of freidrich wilhelm iv=> life of friedrich wilhelm iv {pg } mendelsshon often played=> mendelssohn often played {pg } coronation of her fatther-in-law, description, - ;=> coronation of her father-in-law, description, - ; {pg } redern, count, => redern, count, _the story of nuremberg_ _all rights reserved_ _first edition, april _ _second edition, september _ _third edition, november _ [illustration: _portrait of albert durer by himself, from the painting at munich._] _the story of_ nuremberg _by cecil headlam with illustrations by miss h. m. james and with woodcuts_ [illustration] _london:_ _j. m. dent & co._ _aldine house, and bedford street_ _covent garden w.c._ "quaint old town of toil and traffic, quaint old town of art and song."--longfellow. "wenn einer deutschland kennen und deutschland lieben soll, wird man ihm nürnberg nennen, der edlen künste voll. dich, nimmer noch veraltet du treue, fleiss'ge stadt, wo dürer's kraft gewaltet, und sachs gesungen hat." --max von schenkendorf. "nihil magnificentius, nihil ornatius tota europa reperias." --Æneas silvius. _to maurice hewlett in friendship and in admiration_ preface i am painfully aware of the defects of this little book, and still more painfully unaware of its errors. the best excuse for the mistakes that have surely crept in is the vast scope and variety of my subject--the story of the old mediæval town which was for long the centre of german industry and thought. but, for a guide-book, accuracy is above all things desirable, and i shall therefore be deeply grateful to the courtesy of any of my readers, who, having discovered any error or omission, will kindly point it out to me. the sources from which i have drawn are far too numerous to acknowledge in detail. but in the matter of topography and architecture a more express note of indebtedness is due to the devoted labours of r. von rettberg, a. von essenwein, and ernst mummenhoff. above all, i must pay my tribute of gratitude and acknowledgment to the enthusiastic erudition of dr emil reicke,[ ] whose mighty volume, _geschichte der reichsstadt nürnberg_, is a mine of information from which i have freely quarried. lastly, to those old chroniclers at whom i have sometimes laughed, but whose quaint phrases and legends may have saved these pages from too serious a dulness, i now hasten to make amends and to assure them that i am very conscious of my own inferiority as a storyteller. the object of this book will have been in great part achieved if it succeeds in reviving the memories and quickening the affections of old lovers of nuremberg; if it awakens a desire in those who have not yet known and loved her, to visit the old "white city," and join the band of her worshippers. contents page _the origin of nuremberg_ chapter ii _the development of nuremberg_ chapter iii _nuremberg and the reformation_ chapter iv _nuremberg and the thirty years war_ chapter v _the castle and the walls_ chapter vi _the council and the council-house. nuremberg tortures_ chapter vii _albert durer and the arts and crafts of nuremberg_ chapter viii _hans sachs and the meistersingers_ chapter ix _the churches of nuremberg_ chapter x _old houses, bridges and wells_ chapter xi _german museum_ chapter xii _arms of nuremberg_ chapter xiii _hotels, itinerary, etc._ illustrations page frontispiece. _portrait of albert durer, from the painting by himself at munich_ _the heathen tower_ _luginsland, kaiserstallung, and five-cornered tower_ _nürnberger zeidler (beefarmer) armed with crossbow_ _nassauer haus_ _the pegnitz_ _oriel window of the parsonage_ _beautiful well_ _frauen thor_ _rothenburg_ _pellerhof_ _the castle from the hallerthorbrücke_ _sinwel or vestner thurm_ _the walls and ditch_ _the walls (interior)_ _the rathaus. old window_ _henkersteg (hangman's tower)_ _albert durer's house_ _albert durer as a boy. from a drawing by himself at the age of thirteen_ _st. anthony, from the engraving by albert durer. background of nuremberg scenery_ _sakramentshäuslein. adam krafft_ _nuremberg spruchsprecher or state poet_ _brautthüre, st. sebalduskirche_ _st. lorenzkirche. from the river_ _hauptthor, st. lorenzkirche_ _st. lorenzkirche. north side_ _st. lorenzkirche. interior_ _west door, frauenkirche_ _house on the pegnitz_ _fleischbrücke_ _the nuremberg madonna_ _the seals of nuremberg_ _all the illustrations with the exception of the frontispiece, "st. anthony" and "albert durer as a boy" have been drawn by miss james, or cut in wood from the beautiful photographs by captain gladstone, r.n., to whose generosity the publishers are indebted for permission to reproduce the pictures in this volume._ the story of nuremberg chapter i _origin and growth_ "in the valley of the pegnitz, where across broad meadow-lands rise the blue franconian mountains, nuremberg the ancient stands."--longfellow. year by year, many a traveller on his way to bayreuth, many a seeker after health at german baths, many an artist and lover of the old world, finds his way to nuremberg. it is impossible to suppose that such any one is ever disappointed. for in spite of all changes, and in spite of the disfigurements of modern industry, nuremberg is and will remain a mediæval city, a city of history and legend, a city of the soul. she is like venice in this, as in not a little of her history, that she exercises an indefinable fascination over our hearts no less than over our intellects. the subtle flavour of mediæval towns may be likened to that of those rare old ports which are said to taste of the grave; a flavour indefinable, exquisite. rothenburg has it: and it is with rothenburg, that little gem of mediævalism, that nuremberg is likely to be compared in the mind of the modern wanderer in franconia. but though rothenburg may surpass her greater neighbour in the perfect harmony and in the picturesqueness of her red-tiled houses and well-preserved fortifications, in interest at any rate she must yield to the heroine of this story. for, apart from the beauty which nuremberg owes to the wonderful grouping of her red roofs and ancient castle, her coronet of antique towers, her gothic churches and renaissance buildings or brown riverside houses dipping into the mud-coloured pegnitz, she rejoices in treasures of art and architecture and in the possession of a splendid history such as rothenburg cannot boast. to those who know something of her story nuremberg brings the subtle charm of association. whilst appealing to our memories by the grandeur of her historic past, and to our imaginations by the work and tradition of her mighty dead, she appeals also to our senses with the rare magic of her _personal_ beauty, if one may so call it. in that triple appeal lies the fascination of nuremberg. for this reason one may hope to add to the enjoyment of those who may spend or have spent a few days in the "quaint old town of toil and traffic, quaint old town of art and song," by recounting the tale of her treasures, and by telling, however imperfectly, something of the story of her rise and fall, and of the artists whom she cradled. _many shall go to and fro and their knowledge shall be increased._ is not that the justification of a guide-book? * * * * * the facts as to the origin of nuremberg are lost in the dim shadows of tradition. when the little town sprang up amid the forests and swamps which still marked the course of the pegnitz, we know as little as we know the origin of the name nürnberg. it is true that the chronicles of later days are only too ready to furnish us with information; but the information is not always reliable. the chronicles, like our own peerage, are apt to contain too vivid efforts of imaginative fiction. the chroniclers, unharassed by facts or documents, with minds "not by geography prejudiced, or warped by history," cannot unfortunately always be believed. it is, for instance, quite possible that attila, king of the huns, passed and plundered nuremberg, as they tell us. but there is no proof, no record of that visitation. again, the inevitable legend of a visit from charlemagne occurs. he, you may be sure, was lost in the woods whilst hunting near nuremberg, and passed all night alone, unhurt by the wild beasts. as a token of gratitude for god's manifest favour he caused a chapel to be built on the spot. the chapel stands to this day--a twelfth-century building--but no matter! for did not otho i., as our chroniclers tell us, attend mass in st. sebald's church in , though st. sebald's church cannot have been built till a century later? the origin of the very name of nuremberg is hidden in clouds of obscurity. in the earliest documents we find it spelt with the usual variations of early manuscripts--nourenberg, nuorimperc, niurenberg, nuremberc, etc. the origin of the place, we repeat, is equally obscure. many attempts have been made to find history in the light of the derivations of the name. but when philology turns historian it is apt to play strange tricks. nur ein berg (only a castle), or nero's castle, or norix tower--what matter which is the right derivation, so long as we can base a possible theory on it? the norixberg theory will serve to illustrate the incredible quantity of misplaced ingenuity which both of old times and in the present has been wasted in trying to explain the inexplicable. the heidenthurm--the heathen tower of the castle--is so called from some carvings on the exterior which were once regarded as idols. wolckan maintains that it was an ancient temple of diana. for those carvings, he says, represent the figures of dogs and of two male figures with clubs, who must be hercules and his son _noricus_. hence norixberg. after which it seems prosaic to have to assert that the "figures of dogs" are really lions, and the male figures are saints or kings of israel, and certainly not heathen images. there is in point of fact no trace of roman colonisation here. [illustration: the heathen tower] other ingenious historians, not content with imaginary details of heathen temples and sanctuaries, hint darkly of an ancient god--nuoro by name--who, they say, was worshipped here and gave his name to the locality, but "of whom nothing else is known." some chroniclers drag in the name of drusus nero (neronesberg) and refine upon the point, debating whether we ought not rather to attribute this camp to tiberius claudius nero; and others, again, suggest that _noriker_, driven out by the huns, settled in this favourable retreat in the heart of germany, and laid the foundations of nuremberg's greatness. all we can say is that these things were or were not: but they have no history. after all, why should they have any? but those who prefer precision to truth shall not go empty away. "the imperial fortress of nuremberg began to be built fourteen years before the birth of christ, the th of april, on a tuesday, at o'clock in the morning; but the town only twenty-six years after christ, on the rd of april, on a tuesday, at . a.m." thus spake the astrologer andreas goldmeyer, in his "earthly jerusalem." and yet, as sir philip sidney sings, some "dusty wits can scorn astrology!" be that as it may, the history of our town begins in the year . it is most probable that the silence regarding the place--it is not mentioned among the places visited by conrad ii. in this neighbourhood--points to the fact that the castle did not exist in , but was built between that year and . that it existed then we know, for henry iii. dated a document from here in , summoning a council of bavarian nobles "in fundo suo nourinberc." of the growth of the place we shall speak more in detail in the chapter on the castle and the walls. here it will suffice to note that the oldest portion, called in the fifteenth century altnürnberg, consisted of the fünfeckiger thurm--the five-cornered tower--the rooms attached and the otmarkapelle. the latter was burnt [illustration: luginsland, kaiserstallung, and the five-cornered tower] down in , rebuilt in , and called the walpurgiskapelle. these constituted the burggräfliche burg--the burggraf's castle. the rest of the castle was built on by friedrich der rotbart (barbarossa), and called the kaiserliche burg. the old five-cornered tower and the surrounding ground was the private property of the burggraf, and he was appointed by the emperor as imperial officer of the kaiserliche burg. whether the emperors claimed any rights of personal property over nuremberg or merely treated it, at first, as imperial property, it is difficult to determine. the castle at any rate was probably built to secure whatever rights were claimed, and to serve generally as an imperial stronghold. an imperial representative, as we have seen, took up his residence there.[ ] gradually round the castle grew up the straggling streets of nuremberg. settlers built beneath the shadow of the burg. the very names of the streets suggest the vicinity of a camp or fortress. söldnerstrasse, schmiedstrasse, and so forth, betray the military origin of the present busy commercial town. from one cause or another a mixture of races, of germanic and non-germanic, of slavonic and frankish elements, seems to have occurred amongst the inhabitants of the growing village, producing a special blend which in dialect, in customs, and in dress was soon noticed by the neighbours as unique, and stamping the art and development of nuremberg with that peculiar character which has never left it. various causes combined to promote the growth of the place. the temporary removal of the mart from fürth to nuremberg under henry iii. doubtless gave a great impetus to the development of the latter town. henry iv., indeed, gave back the rights of mart, customs and coinage to fürth. but it seems probable that these rights were not taken away again from nuremberg. the possession of a mart was, of course, of great importance to a town in those days, promoting industries and arts and settled occupations. the nurembergers were ready to suck out the fullest advantage from their privilege. that mixture of races, to which we have referred, resulted in remarkable business energy--energy which soon found scope in the conduct of the business which the natural position of nuremberg on the south and north, the east and western trade routes, brought to her. it was not very long before she became the centre of the vast trade between the levant and western europe, and the chief emporium for the produce of italy--the _handelsmetropole_ in fact of south germany. nothing in the middle ages was more conducive to the prosperity of a town than the reputation of having a holy man within its borders, or the possession of the miracle-working relics of a saint. just as st. elizabeth made marburg so st. sebaldus proved a very potent attraction to nuremberg. we shall give some account of this saint when we visit the church that was dedicated to him. here we need only remark that as early as and we hear of pilgrimages to nuremberg in honour of her patron saint. another factor in the growth of the place was the frequent visits which the emperors began to pay to it. lying as it did on their way from bamberg and forcheim to regensburg the kaisers readily availed themselves of the security offered by this impregnable fortress, and of the sport provided in the adjacent forest. for there was good hunting to be had in the forest which, seventy-two miles in extent, surrounded nuremberg. and hunting, next to war, was then in most parts of europe the most serious occupation of life. all the forest rights, we may mention, of woodcutting, hunting, charcoal burning and bee-farming belonged originally to the empire. but these were gradually acquired by the nuremberg council (rat), chiefly by purchase in the fifteenth century. in the castle the visitor may notice a list of all the emperors--some thirty odd, all told--who have stayed there--a list that should now include the reigning emperor. we find that henry iv. frequently honoured nuremberg with his presence. this is that [illustration: nÜrnberger zeidler (bee-farmer) armed with cross-bow] henry iv. whose scene at canossa with the pope--kaiser of the holy roman empire waiting three days in the snow to kiss the foot of excommunicative gregory--has impressed itself on all memories. his last visit to nuremberg was a sad one. his son rebelled against him, and the old king stopped at nuremberg to collect his forces. in the war between father and son nuremberg was loyal, and took the part of henry iv. it was no nominal part, for in she had to stand a siege from the young henry. for two months the town was held by the burghers and the castle by the præfect conrad. at the end of that time orders came from the old kaiser that the town was to surrender. he had given up the struggle, and his undutiful son succeeded as henry v. to the holy roman empire, and nuremberg with it. the mention of this siege gives us an indication of the growth of the town. the fact of the siege and the words of the chronicler, "the townsmen (oppidani) gave up the town under treaty," seem to point to the conclusion that nuremberg was now no longer a mere fort (_castrum_), but that walls had sprung up round the busy mart and the shrine of st. sebald, and that by this time nuremberg had risen to the dignity of a "stadt" or city state. presently, indeed, we find her rejoicing in the title of "_civitas_." the place, it is clear, was already of considerable military importance or it would not have been worth while to invest it. the growing volume of trade is further illustrated by a charter of henry v. ( ) giving to the citizens of worms _zollfreiheit_ in various places subject to him, amongst which frankfort, goslar and nuremberg are named as royal towns (_oppida regis_). we may note at this point, however, that the chroniclers declare that the town fell into the hands of the enemy, through the treachery of the jewish inhabitants and was plundered and burnt. by this destruction they account for the absence of all earlier records, and are left at liberty to evolve their theories as to the history of previous days. they add that when the town was rebuilt ( ) the jews chose all the best sites for their houses, and retained them till they were driven out. the first statement was an easy invention. the second, very probably true in effect, points to the reason--commercial jealousy--but does not afford an excuse for the shortsighted and unchristian persecution of the jews which disfigures the record of the acts of nuremberg. with the death of henry v., which occurred in , the frankish or salic imperial line ended. for the empire, though elective, had always a tendency to become hereditary and go in lines. if the last kaiser left a son not unfit, who so likely as the son to be elected? but now a member of another family had to be chosen. the german princes elected count lothar von supplinburg, duke of saxony. this departure was not without influence on the fortunes of nuremberg. the question arose whether nuremberg had belonged to the late imperial house as private or imperial property. did it now belong to the heirs of that house or to the newly-elected emperor? in fact, part of the possessions, which had passed from the salian franks to the heirs, conrad and frederick, dukes of swabia, of the house of hohenstaufen, was now demanded back by lothar as being imperial property. nuremberg was numbered among these possessions and became the head-quarters of the war which followed between the kaiser and the two brothers. in the town had to stand another siege--this time of ten weeks' duration--whilst the hohenstaufen brothers held it against lothar. the siege was raised; but three years later the brothers had to give in. the burg and town of nuremberg were then given by the emperor to henry the proud of bavaria, a member of the great wittelsbach family. he kept them till , when conrad having been elected king of the germans, they went back in the natural course of things to the hohenstaufen, who came once more to look upon the flourishing town as their own private property. it was to the above-mentioned kaiser conrad that the chronicles attribute the foundation of the monastery of st. Ægidius, on the site of the chapel, st. martin's, which charlemagne was reputed to have built. to conrad also, with less show of likelihood, they ascribe the widening of the city. widened the city has been more than once, as we can tell by the remains of walls and towers.[ ] but the earliest fragment of these now extant--the lower part of the white tower--dates only from the thirteenth century. it seems to have been the policy of the hohenstaufen kaisers to favour nuremberg. they often held their court here. the greatest of them--the greatest and wisest of the kaisers since charlemagne--frederick i. barbarossa, to wit, lived in the castle in . it was he, in all probability, who built the kaiserliche burg, and erected, over the margaretenkapelle, the kaiserkapelle, a grander and more splendid chapel of marble, which was certainly completed in the twelfth century. of the remarkable double chapel thus constructed we shall have more to say later on. meanwhile we must content ourselves with calling attention to the very similar double chapel at eger in bohemia. it was through barbarossa that nuremberg became connected with another of the great ruling families of the world. "it was in those same years," says carlyle,[ ] "that a stout young fellow, conrad by name, far off in the southern part of germany set out from the old castle of hohenzollern (the southern summit of that same huge old hercynian wood, which is still called the schwarzwald or black forest though now comparatively bare of trees) where he was but a junior and had small outlooks, upon a very great errand in the world.... his purpose was to find barbarossa and seek fortune under him. to this frederick redbeard--a magnificent, magnanimous man, holding the reins of the world, not quite in the imaginary sense; scourging anarchy down and urging noble effort up, really on a grand scale--conrad addressed himself; and he did it with success; which may be taken as a kind of testimonial to the worth of the young man. details we have absolutely none; but there is no doubt that conrad recommended himself to kaiser redbeard, nor any that the kaiser was a judge of men.... one thing further is known, significant for his successes: conrad found favour with 'the heiress of the vohburg family,' desirable young heiress, and got her to wife. the vohburg family, now much forgotten everywhere, and never heard of in england before, had long been of supreme importance, of immense possessions, and opulent in territories, and, we need not add, in honours and offices, in those franconian nürnberg regions; and was now gone to this one girl. i know not that she had much inheritance after all: the vast vohburg properties lapsing all to the kaiser, when the male heirs were out. but she had pretensions, tacit claims: in particular the vohburgs had long been habitual or in effect hereditary burggrafs of nürnberg; and if conrad had the talent for that office, he now in preference to others might have a chance for it. sure enough, he got it; took root in it, he and his; and, in the course of centuries, branched up from it, high and wide, over the adjoining countries; waxing towards still higher destinies. that is the epitome of conrad's history; history now become very great, but then no bigger than its neighbours and very meagrely recorded; of which the reflective reader is to make what he can.... "as to the office, it was more important than perhaps the reader imagines. in a diet of the empire ( ) we find conrad among the magnates of the country, denouncing henry the lion's high procedures and malpractices. every burggraf of nürnberg is in virtue of his office 'prince of the empire'; if a man happened to have talent of his own and solid resources of his own (which are always on the growing hand with this family), here is a basis from which he may go far enough. burggraf of nürnberg: that means again graf (judge, defender, manager, g'reeve) of the kaiser's burg or castle,--in a word, kaiser's representative and _alter ego_,--in the old imperial free-town of nürnberg; with much adjacent very complex territory, also, to administer for the kaiser. a flourishing extensive city, this old nürnberg, with valuable adjacent territory, civic and imperial, intricately intermixed; full of commercial industries, opulences, not without democratic tendencies. nay, it is almost, in some senses, the _london and middlesex_ of the germany that then was, if we will consider it! "this is a place to give a man chances, and try what stuff is in him. the office involves a talent for governing, as well as for judging: talent for fighting also, in cases of extremity, and, what is still better, a talent for avoiding to fight. none but a man of competent superior parts can do that function; i suppose no imbecile could have existed many months in it, in the old earnest times. conrad and his succeeding hohenzollerns proved very capable to do it, as would seem; and grew and spread in it, waxing bigger and bigger, from their first planting there by kaiser barbarossa, a successful judge of men." nuremberg continued to receive marks of imperial favour. the importance to which she had now grown is illustrated by the fact that frederick ii., son of barbarossa, held a very brilliant _reichstag_ here in , and on this occasion gave to the town her first great charter. the first provision of this charter, by which the town is declared free of allegiance to anyone but the emperor, is of special interest, seeing that it raises the question whether nuremberg was really the private property of the imperial family, or only owed allegiance to the emperor as such. probably frederick did not intend to alienate nuremberg from himself and his heirs as private individuals; but, regarding the empire as a permanent possession of his family, he intended by this clause to bind the burghers of nuremberg more closely to his own personal service by freeing them from all feudal obligations to others. a few years later frederick, in order to carry out his plans with regard to italian lands, appointed his ten-year-old son as king of rome and as his successor to the german empire. then leaving the young king in germany under the guardianship of bishop engelbert of cologne, he went to italy, and was crowned emperor by the pope. young henry held his court in nuremberg in . in the castle, in november, a double festival was celebrated--the marriage of the young king with margaret, daughter of duke leopold of austria, and of the brother of the bride, duke henry of austria, with agnes, a daughter of the landgraf hermann von thüringen. at this double wedding, as some chroniclers aver, or at the wedding of rudolph von hapsburg ( ), as is more probable, a terrible catastrophe occurred. for just as the numerous assembly of nobles and ladies had begun to dance in the hall, the platform erected for spectators fell in, and about seventy nobles, knights, and girls were crushed to death. it was certainly in the middle of this festival that the horrible news arrived that the archbishop of cologne, the young king's adviser, had been murdered, from motives of revenge, by his nephew, duke of isenburg. "such deeds were then very frequent," says the abbot conrad von lichtenau, "because the doers thereof hoped to obtain pardon by a pilgrimage to the holy land." three days after his marriage the young king had to sit in judgment on the culprit at the kaiserburg. deeply moved, he asked the noble gerlach von büdingen for his opinion. ought the murderer to be outlawed, there and then? gerlach answered yes, for the crime was patent. friedrich von truhendingen opposed him violently, however, maintaining that the accused man ought to be first produced, as justice and custom demanded. gerlach became enraged. the argument grew hot, and presently, in spite of the king's presence, the supporters of either opinion seized their arms and came to blows. a fearful crush occurred on the stairs, which gave way under the weight of struggling humanity, and some fifty people were killed upon the spot. but the sentence of outlawry got itself pronounced, and a decree of excommunication followed from the church. this was but one example of the lawlessness of the times. violence was not often so swiftly punished. germany had fallen on evil days, and worse were in store for her. the absenteeism of her emperors was producing its inevitable result. one after another, the emperors "had squandered their talents and wasted the best strength of their country in pursuit of a fancy, and never learned by the experience of their predecessors to desist from the dangerous pursuit. instead of turning their attention to the development of their country, to the curtailment of the powers of the nobility, to the establishment of their thrones on enduring foundations, they were bewitched with the dream of a roman-imperial world-monarchy, which was impossible to be realised when every nation was asserting more and more its characteristic peculiarities and arriving at consciousness of national and independent life. the emperors were always divided between distinct callings, as kings of germany and emperors of rome. the italians hated them; the popes undermined their powers, and involved them in countless difficulties at home and in italy, so that they could not establish their authority as emperors, and neglected to make good, or were impeded in attempting to make good, their position as kings in germany. the bat in the fable was rejected by the birds because he was a beast, and by the beasts because he had wings as a bird."[ ] so it came to pass that when the line of hohenstaufen went miserably out on the death of the ill-fated conradin ( ), germany was already involved in times of huge anarchy; "was rocking down," as carlyle puts it, "towards one saw not what--an anarchic republic of princes, perhaps, and of free barons fast verging towards robbery? sovereignty of multiplex princes, with a peerage of intermediate robber barons? things are verging that way. such princes, big and little, each wrenching off for himself what lay loosest and handiest to him, found it a stirring game, and not so much amiss." towns like nuremberg, on the other hand, found it very much amiss. fortunately many of them were rich and strong, and took the task of preserving peace and order to some extent into their own hands. during the period of the interregnum, as it was called ( - ), "die herrenlose, die schreckliche zeit" of disturbance and lawlessness, when the electors--the bishops and princes of the land--could only agree in giving the crown to foreigners who would leave them alone and unhindered in their efforts to enlarge their powers and territories by fair or foul means, some curious transactions took place with regard to nuremberg. there exists a document by which, in , conradin pledged to his uncle, duke ludwig of bavaria, a number of possessions to raise money in order to pay back the loan which his former guardian had advanced to him, and which was used to acquire the town and castle of nuremberg. the transaction is obscure. possibly after the death of conradin's father, conrad iv., nuremberg was claimed by his executors as private property. in that case we may hazard the conjecture that the town resisted the claim, and that an appeal to arms was made. the money referred to may have been spent in conducting a siege. this much is known for certain from a contemporary document, that when, in , duke ludwig and his brother henry, as heirs of conradin, divided the hohenstaufen inheritance between them, they took equal rights over nuremberg. that may have been, however, merely a paper phrase. imperial and private rights were apt to get confused in the minds of the hohenstaufen. nuremberg, at any rate, continues always to act as if she were a free town of the empire. she was acutely conscious of the dignity of her charter. the great object for which the european towns, and nuremberg among them, were all this time struggling was a charter of incorporation and a qualified privilege of internal self-government. emperors and princes might try to get hold of a rich city like nuremberg, and treat it as their private property, but, once she had won her charter, she was determined to remain a reichstadt, and to enjoy all the privileges and liberties of a free city. one interesting and important result this period of lawlessness had. the towns began to band themselves together in leagues--der rheinische städtebund, , was the first of these--for the purpose of defence against the plunder and rapine of the robber-knights, who had formerly been held in check to some degree by the sword and authority of the emperors, but who now swooped down from their fortresses as they pleased on the merchants travelling from town to town, and robbed them or levied on them heavy tolls. nuremberg joined this league: and it is in a document ( ) welcoming the entrance of regensburg (ratisbon) into the league that we first find mention of the rat or council of burghers joined to the chief magistrate as an institution representative of the community. since the charter of , almost the whole administration of justice--government, police and finance--had been centred no longer in the burggraf, but in the chief magistrate (schuldheiss) of the town. but, by the same charter, nuremberg was now to be taxed as a community. from the natural necessity and apprehensions of the situation, the burghers felt the need of a representative body to sit with and to advise the magistrate, who was, originally at any rate, a king's man and officer of the burggraf. so it came to pass that the bench of judges who assisted the schuldheiss in his judicial work, a bench composed of the most powerful and influential citizens, gradually acquired the further function of an advising and governing body, and finally became independent of the magistrate. little by little, by one charter after another, by gradual and persistent effort, the rat gained the position of landlords and _territoriiherren_. but, as the council gained power, the great families began to arrogate to themselves the sole right of sitting on it. a close aristocracy of wealth grew up more and more jealous of their fancied rights. such was the origin of the constitution of nuremberg--a constitution which in later times offers a striking resemblance to that of venice. at last the interregnum came to an end. it was mainly through burggraf frederick iii. of nuremberg that rudolph von hapsburg succeeded to the empire. for this and other service the burggraviate was made hereditary in his family. under rudolph the strong and just, who, after the demoralising period of anarchy, worked wonders in the way of tightening, whether with gloved hand or mailed fist, the bonds of imperial unity, a brilliant gathering of princes assembled at nuremberg for the reichstag in . the chronicles are full of stories to illustrate the character of their modern solomon on this occasion. the following example will suffice:-- a merchant complained that he had given his host a purse of silver marks to keep, but the host denied having received them. the emperor thereupon summoned the landlord and several citizens. they all came, naturally enough, in their best clothes. the landlord, in particular, wore a costly cap, which, as he stood before the emperor, he twisted nervously in his hand. rudolph took it from him and, putting it on, exclaimed that it would become even an emperor. then he went into the next room--apparently forgetting all about the cap. the landlord meanwhile was detained. the emperor sent the cap to the landlord's wife, with a request in her husband's name that she should give the bearer that sack of money she knew about. the ruse succeeded, and whilst the landlord was emphatically asserting his innocence to the emperor, the sack of money was produced to confound him. the wretch had to atone for his crime by the payment of a heavy fine. one other record of kaiser rudolph's presence at nuremberg we have. it is illustrative of the violence of those times. in a grand tournament was held in honour of the king. in the course of it krafft von hohenlohe had the misfortune to run his spear through the neck of duke ludwig von baiern, and the latter died of the wound. in consequence of this mischance such strife arose between the followers of the duke and those of the kaiser that the council had to take measures for the defence of the town. they barred the streets with chains and garrisoned the rathaus as well as the towers and walls. luckily the quarrel was smoothed over and no further disturbance took place. [illustration: nassauer haus] a few years later graf adolph von nassau succeeded rudolph. once in and twice in he held his court in nuremberg and ratified all the privileges of the town. to him and to his race legend ascribes a great share in the building of the lorenzkirche. "but," says dr reicke, "there is as little ground for this assertion as for the unfounded belief that the schlüsselfelderische stiftungshaus, so called because it belonged to the institution founded by hans karl schlüsselfelder who died in , and now known as the nassauerhaus, was once in the possession of the counts of nassau." this house which stands at the corner of the carolinenstrasse was built, according to essenheim, at the beginning of the fifteenth century. according to the earliest existing records it belonged, with the house to the west of it, to a branch of the haller family, long since extinct. the figure on the well at the east end of this house, which represents king adolph of nassau, belongs to the year . to-day the crypt of the house has been turned into a weinhaus, and there, in a vaulted cellar wreathed with yew, the diligent oenophilist will be rewarded by the discovery of some rare vintages. the new king albert held his court at nuremberg in . his arrival brought many days of splendour and festivity to the town. for the king had his wife elizabeth crowned by the archbishop wigbold of cologne in st. sebalduskirche. six thousand guests assembled on this occasion. there was no accommodation in the houses for so vast a gathering of strangers, many of whom, in spite of the wintry weather, had to camp out under canvas in the streets. it was about this time that one of the fearful periodical persecutions of the jews--persecutions as unchristian as uneconomical--broke out over all franconia. it was said that in rothenburg the jews had pounded the host in a mortar and that blood had flowed from it. on the strength of this fabulous sacrilege a fanatic, called rindfleisch, led a "crusade" against the unfortunate people. in würtzburg the jews were burnt and massacred in crowds and utterly extirpated. many from the surrounding country sought refuge in nuremberg, where they were hospitably received by their fellow-believers and were at first protected by the rat. rindfleisch and his bands of murderous fanatics were then at a safe distance. but, as these drew near, the hatred of the jews, which had long smouldered among the people, broke out into flame. the jewish quarter was then in the centre of the town, a very advantageous position. their houses reached from the market where their synagogue stood, on the site of the present frauenkirche, to the zotenberg, the present dötschmannsplatz. rich as a community, though they counted, then as ever, both the greatest and the least among their number, they were envied for their possessions and hated as people of a foreign faith. nuremberg, like all the neighbouring towns except regensburg, became the scene of murder and brutality. a hundred thousand jews were the victims of a fearful death. the persecution continued till king albert, in spite of the unpopularity of the proceeding, came to franconia and put a stop to it, punishing the instigators and laying a heavy fine upon the towns. in albert was murdered by his nephew, john of swabia--parracida. the story of this murder is introduced, it will be remembered, at the end of schiller's _wilhelm tell_. after seven months' interval, henry vii., count of luxembourg, was elected king. he, in the following year, held his court in nuremberg, before departing to be crowned emperor at rome, in the midst of battle and strife with the guelphs. dating from pisa, , henry granted nuremberg a very important charter. here are some of its provisions:-- ( ) the imperial magistrate at nuremberg shall protect the imperial or principal roads and have the right of way. ( ) once a year the magistrate shall pledge himself before the council to exercise impartial justice towards rich and poor, to judge and to arrange all matters with the counsel of the schöpfen (bench of judges). ( ) the burgomeister and judges are given complete control over the markets, trade, and means of preserving order. ( ) the burg is not to be separated from the town. generally, one may say, this charter confirms and extends the self-governing privileges of the town. the magistrate is still an imperial officer, but his position is in acknowledged dependence on the council, into whose hands the regulation of trade and the preservation of order are entrusted. moreover, in another provision, the citizens are clearly protected against trial by outside authorities, and against arbitrary imprisonment. scarcely had he marked his appreciation of nuremberg in this way, when henry was poisoned whilst besieging siena. on his death, discord broke out in germany. we will avoid, as far as possible, stepping on to the quaking bog of reich's history. suffice it to say that one party elected frederick, the beautiful son of albert, and grandson of rudolph von hapsburg. the other and stronger party chose ludwig von baiern, of the wittelsbach family. nuremberg stood by ludwig. a long war ensued, till the great battle of mühldorf ended the struggle. ludwig's victory was in great part attributable to the timely arrival of the nuremberg cavalry, under burggraf frederick iv. "to us this is the interesting point: at one turn of the battle, tenth hour of it now ending, and the tug of war still desperate, there arose a cry of joy over all the austrian ranks: 'help coming! help!'--and friedrich noticed a body of horse in austrian cognisance (such the cunning of a certain man), coming in upon his rear. austrians and friedrich never doubted but it was brother leopold just getting on the ground; and rushed forward doubly fierce; and were doubly astonished when it plunged in upon them, sharp-edged, as burggraf friedrich of nürnberg,--and quite ruined austrian friedrich! austrian friedrich fought personally like a lion at bay; but it availed nothing. rindsmaul (not lovely of lip, _cowmouth_ so-called) disarmed him: 'i will not surrender except to a prince!'--so burggraf friedrich was got to take surrender of him; and the fight, and whole controversy with it was completely won."--_carlyle._ it was after this battle that the kaiser, when eggs were found to be the only available provision in a country eaten to the bone, distributed them with the legendary phrase that still lives on the lips of every german child-- "jedem mann ein ey dem frommen schweppermann zwey." "to every man one egg and to the excellent schweppermann two." schweppermann was one of his generals, and it seems probable that he was a nuremberg citizen. the story of how ludwig shared his kingdom with his noble prisoner and united with him in such cordial affection that they ate at the same table and slept in the same bed, forms one of the best known and most romantic episodes in german history. nuremberg, who had helped ludwig with money and men, reaped her full reward. ludwig showed great affection for her, staying continually within her walls ( - ), residing usually not in the castle, but with some distinguished citizen. hence, and because the city stood by him throughout his quarrel with the pope, he gave her many charters, confirming and increasing the rights and privileges of the burghers. he gave her permission, for instance, to hold a fair fourteen days after easter for a month, and to issue her own decrees regarding it. from this arose the practice of the easter fair which still takes place. he granted her, also, freedom of customs in munich, thus helping her trade. she already enjoyed a mutual zollfreiheit with berne and heilbronn. all this amounts to evidence of the steadily increasing trade of nuremberg. already, in the beginning of the fourteenth century, her trade with italy was considerable, in spite of the robber-knights and imperial requisitions. no paper privileges were, indeed, of much value, however often renewed, unless supported by power to resist the robber-knights who, from their castles, descended on the rich caravans of the peaceful merchants. that trade flourished now as it did, shows that the knights did not have matters all their own way. if the emperors did little to preserve order in the empire, the towns were now fortunately strong enough and independent enough to protect themselves. when the knights proved too troublesome, the [illustration: the pegnitz] citizens attacked their fortresses and burned them, and hanged the robbers from their own towers. there is, for instance, a document extant ( ) in which ludwig grants immunity to the citizens of nuremberg for having destroyed the castle "zu dem turm," which belonged to one conrad schenk von reicheneck, a robber-knight, and promises the castle shall never be rebuilt. nor did the towns despise the advantages of combination. in we find nuremberg entering into a league, for mutual protection and the maintenance of peace, with the dukes of bavaria, with würzburg, rothenburg, etc., and a number of spiritual and temporal lords. but if nuremberg waxed in power and independence under the favour of ludwig, the burggraf also had claims on the king. to him therefore was given the office of chief-magistrate (schuldheiss) and certain revenues from the town. this was not at all to the taste of the burghers. they grew restive under the burggraf's abuse of justice, and finally managed to buy back the office from him through the agency of their rich citizen conrad gross, with whom the king often stayed. conrad gross was an early specimen of that fine type of merchant princes who contributed so much in later days to the glory of nuremberg. barter--trade in kind--was now giving place to trade done with money drawn from the german mines. the merchant prince began to raise his head. whereas the trader had hitherto been despised as a shopkeeper by the free-knights, the merchant, who could indulge in luxury of dress and household furniture, now began to look down on the knights as impecunious robbers. the time was at hand when the italian Æneas sylvius could write:-- "when one comes from lower franconia and perceives this glorious city, its splendour seems truly magnificent. when one enters it, one's original impression is confirmed by the beauty of the streets and the fitness of the houses. the churches of st. sebald and st. laurence are worthy of worship as well as admiration. the imperial castle proudly dominates the town, and the burghers' dwellings seem to have been built for princes. in truth, the kings of scotland would gladly be housed so luxuriously as the ordinary citizen of nuremberg." it was conrad gross who, "longing to change his worldly goods for heavenly ones," founded, in , the "_new hospital of the holy ghost_." within the church is the tomb of the founder. additions were made to the hospital and church at the end of the fifteenth century. what is called the south building was erected on two arches over the water. in the courtyard of the hospital is a little chapel of the holy sepulchre, founded by george ketzel in . the church itself was restored in the seventeenth century, from which period dates the stucco work of the chancel. these things the visitor will see and appraise for himself. meantime the following beautiful legend concerning the founder is worth recording:-- a man of the family of heinzen, afterwards called "great" (gross), fell asleep one day in his garden beneath the shade of a lime tree. he dreamed that he found a large treasure there, but had no spade with which to dig for it. to mark the place, therefore, he took a handful of leaves and laid them on the spot where the treasure was buried. when he awoke and walked round the garden, he came to a spot where it seemed that someone had purposely scattered lime leaves on the ground. then he remembered his dream, and, since he thought the dream had not come to him without some reason, he called his men to help him, and vowed that if he found anything he would help the poor and sick with it. and indeed he found so great a treasure of silver and gold that he became very rich, and founded therewith the hospital of the holy ghost. ludwig had been a good friend to nuremberg, and therefore when karl iv.,[ ] the enemy of ludwig and friend of the pope, succeeded him, the new kaiser was regarded with some apprehension. karl, however, was very gracious to nuremberg, and gave her new privileges, for he was eager to secure the loyalty of her citizens. he confirmed the rich burghers in their offices, and succeeded in winning over the patricians to his side. but it was at this time that a desire for a more democratic form of government began to manifest itself throughout the towns of germany. the lower classes showed signs of restiveness, and evinced a desire to have a voice in the counsels of their town. the patrician families had engrossed all the rights. the proceedings of the council were secret, and no account of the money which passed through their hands was forthcoming. the administration of justice rested entirely with them. complaints were loud that the rights of the poor and the artisans did not receive proper attention. the pride of the hereditary patrician councillors had become notorious. the sturdy independent craftsmen began to murmur against this state of affairs. they felt they were entitled to a place in the government of the town, which they supported by their industry and, in war, with their arms. they were ready at last to take steps to secure that place. when their demands were refused by the patricians, bloodshed and strife resulted. in rothenburg, regensburg, and munich the patricians were successful in retaining the council in their own hands. and so it was with nuremberg. but of the details of the great revolution which broke out there at the beginning of karl's reign little is known. the artisans, it seems, were staunch and faithful to the memory of ludwig. he had, says one of the chroniclers, won their adherence by his popular manners and by giving them the right of having their own drinking clubs. the change of policy on the side of the council who embraced the cause of the luxembourg (caroline) party enabled the artisans, who were loyal to the bavarian (wittelsbach) family, to make a bid for a share in the government of their town. the council, with promises of redress of grievances, tried to stem the revolt. but it was too late. in alarm they called in the aid of karl, and karl sent a peace-maker who came and went in vain. some of the council then fled the town. the chroniclers go so far as to say that a surprise of the council--a regular coup d'état--was planned for a particular day, but that the council was warned in time. though the rathaus was stormed and the gates of the town occupied, "the birds had flown." they had escaped from the town by all sorts of curious devices. this story may have sprung from the unchastened imagination of the chroniclers, but we know as an historical fact that on june , , the rebels opened the gates to soldiers of ludwig, markgraf of brandenburg, eldest son of the late emperor. he was excommunicated (for karl was the papal nominee) as his father had been. the city when it received him shared in his excommunication. the clergy tried to escape from the tainted city, but the people, having shut the gates, compelled them to read mass. a copy of a certificate from the bishop of clure to the clergy, testifying that they had only held mass under compulsion, is still extant. the rebels, then, were for the moment successful: the old council was abolished and a new one chosen, which was composed mainly of artisans, but did not exclude all the old councillors. their chief work of innovation was to allow the artisans to form guilds. on the whole the new council was not a success. prosperity is a cynical but convincing test of a government. confusion and disorder obtained, and commerce was affected by the lack of police and the little real power of the council. the finances of the town suffered accordingly. the partisans of the old _régime_ refused to contribute. it was therefore a good thing for nuremberg when, in , the opposition of the wittelsbach party broke down, and terms were made which left karl master of the situation. nuremberg passed into his hands, and he proceeded to restore the _status quo ante_ there. a new council[ ] was elected, and the ringleaders of the conspiracy were banished with their families. chapter ii _development of nuremberg_ "nürnberg's hand geht durch alle land." --_old proverb._ karl iv. proceeded to confirm the privileges of the town for a cash consideration. that was the way of mediæval monarchs. we have seen that the finances of nuremberg were not at this moment in a very flourishing condition. there is little doubt that the heavy payment she was called upon to make to the king was one of the chief causes which led to the great persecution of the jews which soon broke out. the jews are first mentioned in nuremberg in . they were then personally free. they could hold land and live after their own laws. medicine was their chief profession; for money-lending--at first without interest--was originally the business of the monasteries. it was one of the most unfortunate results of the crusades that they stirred up feeling against the jews. persecutions began, and a change took place in the personal position of the jews. they had now to wear a special dress and to cut their beards, whilst the christians luxuriated in beards as long as they could possibly grow them. when the christians were no longer allowed to take interest for money lent, the jews stepped in, being under their own laws, as money-lenders. in many places they were forbidden to follow any other profession than that of usury. by a charter of the hohenstaufen another important change was wrought in their condition. they were made directly subject to the king and empire (königliche kammerknechte). for this protection they had to pay a tax direct to the imperial treasury. their riches grew in spite of all sorts of commercial disabilities, and with them grew the value of this tax. one good result of this was that it interested the king in their favour. he did not care to see his golden geese slain, and their property confiscated by the towns. in nuremberg it was possible for the jews to become citizens on the payment of a certain sum of money. in , it appears from an old burgher list, there were jewish citizens. ten years later, when the black death was devastating europe, it was said that the jews had poisoned the wells and purposely propagated the plague in order to annihilate the christians. they were accused of all sorts of sacrilege and unnatural crimes. a frightful persecution broke out. all along the rhine thousands of them were burnt at the stake. the austrian poet helbing echoed the public sentiment, during a later persecution, when he exclaimed, "there are too many jews in our country. it is a shame and a sin to tolerate them. if i were king, if i could lay my hand on you, jews, i tell you in truth i would have you all burnt." and this is the opinion of the humanist, conrad celtes, in his praise of nuremberg:-- "exscindenda protecto gens aut ad caucasum et ultra sauromatas perpetuo exilio releganda, quæ, per universum orbem in se totiens iram numinum concitat, humani generis societatem violans et conturbans." at nuremberg there were other reasons for the outbreak. in old days the jews had been told to build their houses in the modern dötschmannsplatz. their synagogue stood on the site of the present frauenkirche. hence the space between the rathaus and the fleischbrücke was all the market-room the christians had. the increasing numbers and prosperity of the jews, in this, the best site of the town, was very distressing to observe. so it came to pass that in , on the strength of a document signed by karl, in which he undertakes to ask no questions if anything should happen to the jews at the hands of the people or the council, the christians pulled down the jewish houses, and made the two large market-places, called to-day the hauptmarkt and the obstmarkt. between these they built, to the glory of god, the beautiful frauenkirche. as for the jews, "_the jews were burnt on st. nicholas' eve_, ," is the laconic report of ulman stromer, chronicler.[ ] the modern maxfeld is supposed to have been the scene of this atrocity. such is the origin of those picturesque market-places, where to-day beneath the shadow of st. sebald's shrine, st. mary's church and the stately rathaus, the beautiful fountain pours its silvery waters, and the peasants sell the produce of the country, sitting at their stalls beneath huge umbrellas, or leading the patient oxen which have drawn their carts to the city. we have mentioned above the grievances of the artisans at this period. it must not be supposed that they were altogether down-trodden and miserable. pecuniarily they must have been comparatively well off. for from this time, up to the middle of the thirty years war, the nuremberg workmen flourished in reputation and execution. their numbers were large; their work was distinguished for its beauty and durability. their metal work in particular was famous; and they maintained its excellence for a long while, fostered by the system of masters and apprentices, which in this case led to a real desire to reach or improve upon a high standard of sound and artistic work. even to-day you can hardly walk ten yards in nuremberg without coming upon some perfect piece of ironwork, such as the railings round the wells or in front of the frauenkirche. in the german museum[ ] there are two rooms full of locks and hinges, which, if once seen and studied by the modern manufacturer of inferior wares, should almost certainly make him cease from his evil ways. or, if the reader wish for an example of the wide gulf which separates the good from the indifferent, let him secure a genuine specimen of those old waterpots (_butte_), in which women so picturesquely carry water on their backs from the wells, and compare it with a modern imitation. these old workmen took a pride in their work. they were not, however, for that reason contemptuous of a little relaxation. they had their general holidays. we know victor hugo's description of all fools' day in _notre dame de paris_. and here, in nuremberg, we find the butchers and cutlers asking and obtaining from karl the right to hold a carnival, and to dance in silks and velvets like the great families. this right was afterwards extended to all the trades. _schembartläufer_ the carnival was called. every year the dance took place. by degrees the great people began to take part in it. the good burghers were very fond of dancing, as we shall have further occasion to notice. in time all sorts of rites and ceremonies grew up round the celebration of this holiday, which not even the presence of the enemy or the plague could induce the artisans to omit. like don't-care hippocleides, they _would_ dance. masks were worn, spears and crackers carried, and a special costume designed for each year. popular songs and pasquinades were sung and published. personalities of course were rife. in , for instance, a man appeared dressed in "indulgences." not a little rough buffoonery of one sort or another found place. to conclude the proceedings, a so-called "hell," made of fireworks, was let off in front of the rathaus. and so to bed, as pepys would have written. the influence of the reformers proved fatal to indulgence in this sort of wild hilarity. the celebration of the carnival was finally forbidden in , much to the annoyance of the people. in karl issued from nuremberg the declaration of public peace (he was always an eager promoter of landfrieden--public peaces) for franconia--to last for two years. in this arrangement nuremberg was accorded the same standing as other imperial cities and received, under karl, equal political rights with the princely and other communities. a board of representatives of each town or district was to sit periodically at nuremberg and see to it that the peace was kept. whilst the king tried to preserve order in this way, peace leagues were also common in these times of feuds. so we find nuremberg joining the league of the swabian towns. it was at nuremberg that karl, when he returned from being crowned at rome ( ), held a famous reichstag and issued the golden bull, so-called from the golden seal, or _bulla_, appended to the deed, which determined the method of electing the emperors and reduced the number of electors to seven. the place where the first twenty-three articles of this important law were published is still known as the house "_zum goldenen schild_," in the schildgasse. the old custom by which the newly chosen kaiser held his first reichstag at nuremberg was made law by the golden bull--a law in later times frequently ignored. by the golden bull, also, towns were forbidden to league together, which was a very burdensome provision secured by the influence of the princes, but, luckily for the towns, not able to be enforced. the golden bull, acknowledging, as it did, the power and increasing the territorial rights of the great princes, and rousing the envy of those who were not made electors, held in it the seeds of the dissolution of the empire. it encouraged, in effect, all the petty princes to exceed their powers and to encroach on the rights of the towns. the nuremberg burggraf was no exception to this rule. from this time forward he is continually coming into conflict with the town. the quarrel began over the _geleitsrecht_, right of convoy and customs. the emperor in gave to the burggraf certain rights of way which enabled him to exact toll from the merchants on their way to frankfort. now this was a direct infringement of the charter given them a few years before forbidding all unjust or unusual taxes. they appealed on the strength of this and the kaiser revoked the right. but the question crops up again and again. a little later we find the kaiser, in recognition of his indebtedness to the burggraf for past services, giving him the office of chief magistrate of the town together with large revenues therefrom. the town, anxious to have the magistracy under its own control, wished to buy it from the burggraf. the kaiser, with a view to sharing the proceeds, raised the price at which it was to be sold, so that in the town had to redeem the magistracy and taxes for the exorbitant sum of gulden. karl, as far as one can make out, tried to hunt with the hounds and run with the hare, first helping the town and then the burggraf, partly because he was indebted to both for their aid, and partly because the issue of a new charter was a proceeding which brought cash into the imperial treasury. for directly or indirectly charters were always paid for. this accounts to some extent for the mass of contradictory decrees which survive to perplex the modern historian. such a little compliment as the following, for instance, which we find at the end of a charter dated , had doubtless its origin in a cash transaction:-- "the emperor is accustomed to live and to hold his court in his imperial town of nuremberg, as being the most distinguished and best situated town of the empire here in the land." the relations between the burggraf and the town continued to be so strained that they almost came to blows in over the building of a wall. this wall was run up in forty days by the citizens, completely cutting off the approach from the castle to the town, and thus protecting the town from all hostile attacks of the burggraf. the quarrel thereby occasioned dragged on for ten years before it was settled by an imperial decree. much to the chagrin of the burggraf, the kaiser, in deciding the dispute, unexpectedly favoured the town. we can hardly be surprised that the burggraf, still smarting from this humiliation, was inclined to interpret as an act of aggression the building by the citizens of the tower "luginsland" ( ),[ ] which, besides commanding, as its name implied, a wide view of the surrounding country, would serve also as a watch-tower whence the actions of the burggraf might be observed and forestalled. "man pawet in darümb das man darauf ins marggrafen purk möcht gesehen," says one chronicler. before all this, the future king wenzel had been born in nuremberg and baptised in st. sebalduskirche. the chronicles say that at the baptism of the imperial child--with whose birth karl was so pleased that he remitted the imperial taxes of the town for a year--the font was not clean, and that, as the baptismal water was being warmed in the parsonage, a fire broke out and the whole of the choir adjoining it was burnt down. only the beautiful (fourteenth century) oriel window remained uninjured by the flames.[ ] the present parsonage was built by pfinzing, the author of the _theuerdank_, of whom more anon. [illustration: oriel window of the parsonage] on the day of the baptism it is recorded that the emperor displayed to the people from the gallery over the door of the church the imperial insignia and relics which he had brought from prague to the new frauenkirche. this wenzel, or wenceslas, of whom we have spoken, succeeded his father when he was but seventeen. half-idiot, half-maniac, addicted to drunkenness and hunting, he was not the man to restore order in an empire which had already fallen into a state of chaos. he was one of the worst kaisers and the least victorious on record. he would attend to nothing in the reich, "the prague white beer and girls of various complexions being much preferable," as he was heard to say. the result was that his reign was a period of feuds, the golden era of free or robber knights. club-law, or faustrecht, as it was called--the right of private warfare--was the order of the day. the history of nuremberg resolves itself into the police-news of the period, the record of the sallies and outrages of such knights as ekkelein von gailingen, whose headquarters were at windsheim, some thirty miles off, and who was the götz von berlichingen of the fourteenth century. the old castles which the traveller sees from time to time on the banks of the rhine, or on the ravines and large brooks which flow into it, were then no picturesque ruins, rendered interesting by the stories which were told about their former inhabitants, but constituted the real and apparently impregnable strongholds of this robber-chivalry. on the east wall of the castle, near the five-cornered tower, they will show you to this day two hoof-shaped marks, which are said to be the impressions left there by the hoofs of ekkelein (or eppelein) von gailingen's gallant steed. for this freebooter, ekkelein, who had long been feared, admired, and even credited with magical powers, was at length captured by the nuremberg burgher-soldiers and condemned to death. shut up in the castle, he pined in the dungeon until the day arrived on which he was to expiate his crimes with his life. when he was brought out into the yard for execution, he begged, as a last request, that he might be allowed to say farewell to his favourite horse and his servant jäckel. the beautiful charger, neighing with pleasure, was brought. ekkelein put his arm round its neck and embraced it lovingly. "if only, before i die, i might once more feel myself on his back!" so natural and so harmless did the request seem that his wish was granted. his groom placed the saddle and bridle on the horse, who, when his master mounted, shook his mane for joy. at first the faithful creature moved gently and proudly in the circle of the guard, looking round him and snorting. when ekkelein patted his powerful, smooth neck, the muscles of the noble animal grew larger and the veins of his flanks swelled at the touch of the master's hand. he spurned the ground, raised his fore-feet and threw himself forward into a thundering gallop. lightly and gently the spur of the rider touched his sides: he rushed furiously round the court. guards and jailors shrank back before the stones which his hoofs threw high into the air. but the gate was secure and escape not to be thought of. then, whoever is able to read the eyes of dumb beasts might have seen flaming in those of ekkelein's charger a lament like this: "how, my noble master? shalt thou die here? shall thy knightly blood flow ignominiously in this miserable place! shall i never again carry thee into the battle, or bear thee through the defiles and the forests, and never more eat golden oats out of thy brave hand! o my master, save thyself! trust in me and my strength and the impossible shall become possible." the horse raised himself. the knight struck both spurs into his sides, held breath and, stooping low, embraced with both arms the neck of the faithful steed, from whose hoofs showered sparks of fire. before the burghers could stay them, before the guards could lift a finger, before breath could be drawn, the desperate spring was made and man and horse were over the parapet which overhung the moat feet below. they leaped not--as it appeared to the incredulous eyes that peeped at them from the top of the battlements--to their destruction; for, after a huge splash and struggle in the waters of the fosse, horse and rider rose again to the surface, and, long before the drawbridge could be let down and his captors could pursue him, ekkelein was away in the deep forest, galloping on his brave steed, well on the road to the impregnable castle of gailingen. the dent made by the horse's hoofs in the stones below is there to this day. can we wonder if the story went round that it was his satanic majesty who had presented the bold knight with this wondrous steed, the better to facilitate the various little errands with which he had entrusted him? fortunately for the burgesses of nuremberg not every free-knight could rely on such diabolic means of succour, so that they were able to defend themselves with energy and success against the noble and aggressive freebooters. the council saw to it that the fortifications were continually strengthened and they did not despise the aid of the newly-introduced blunderbuss.[ ] indeed, even in the field the burgesses and their mercenaries showed themselves a match for the free-knights. so confident was nuremberg in her own resources that at first she refused to join the great league of all the rhenish towns founded in , but three years later she came in. though the great princes of the empire were very jealous of such leagues, the kaiser managed to patch up a union, with himself at the head, between this league and the princes, and called it the "heidelberg union" for the maintenance of peace. however a year or two later the dukes of bavaria, jealous as ever of the towns, broke loose, and seized the archbishop pilgrim von salzburg, a friend of the towns, and some nuremberg merchants. the kaiser, instead of taking strong measures at once, pursued his usual policy of shilly-shally. but in january a strong army of the league started from augsburg, ravaging all bavaria with fire and sword. to this army nuremberg contributed some mounted mercenaries, and at the same time marched an army of her own-- strong, a very large army for those days--against hilpoltstein, but without success. the war resolved itself into a struggle between the interests of the princes and of the towns. the towns failed to hold together, and paid the penalty in failure. they had commenced hostilities vigorously, but nuremberg set the example of wavering. in a year or so she made peace on no very favourable terms, consenting to pay heavy indemnities. still, the general result of the war, though the towns were not successful, was not to lower the status of the towns. so far as nuremberg was concerned the administration of the war had been carried on by a committee of the rat--the kriegsrat, which henceforth became permanent. as to the expenses, they were in part defrayed by a wholesale seizure of jews and confiscation of their property. this disgraceful proceeding was done by the league in general ( , and again in ), and countenanced by the kaiser. here is a characteristic story of that very feckless kaiser, which will show how fit he was to govern the german empire. wenzel, the story runs, demanded from the nuremberg council the key of the _stadtthor_. the council, though very loth to do so, gave him the key, on condition that he would grant them a request in return. the kaiser consented. when he graciously inquired what it was they demanded, the burgomeister asked for the key back again! the kaiser was so enraged that he slapped the burgomeister on the cheek, and rode off in a royal huff to rothenburg. in revenge, on st. margaret's day, when the consecration of the _schlosskapelle_ was celebrated, he allowed his followers to plunder the booths of the fair held round about the castle. wenzel, in fact, let things go their own gait in the empire. knights plundered and traders quarrelled as they would. the kaiser indulged in bouts of drinking, in long hunting forays, and in insane fits of rage. at last the princes began to dispense with his presence. they called a reichstag at frankfort and sent to him demanding a regent. then wenzel roused himself, returned to nuremberg, and proclaimed a public peace ( ). a crusade against the turbulent knights in the valley of the pegnitz was undertaken and proved successful. their castles were taken and wenzel forbade them to be rebuilt. this was but a momentary outburst of energy on his part. he soon resumed his old indifference. in the discontent of the princes came to a head. wenzel was deposed: ruprecht von der pfalz was chosen king and, after some cautious hesitation, was finally accepted by the towns. in a charter confirming her privileges ruprecht granted to nuremberg the care of the reichsburg at all times, and made the town independent of the burggraf in the time of feud,--excused them, that is, from assisting him in his little wars. nuremberg gave ruprecht active support in the proceedings against wenzel; her chief exploit being the capture of rothenburg after a siege of five weeks. when ruprecht died ( ) jobst and sigismund were competitors for the kaisership, wenzel too striking in with claims for reinstatement. _both_ the former were elected, so that germany rejoiced in as many kaisers as christianity had popes. happily jobst died in three months, and sigismund, chiefly through the faithful and unwearied diligence of burggraf frederick vi. of nuremberg, became kaiser, "an always hoping, never resting, unsuccessful, vain and empty kaiser. specious, speculative, given to eloquence, diplomacy, and the windy instead of the solid arts: always short of money for one thing." this last fault affected nuremberg in more than one way. in the first place it necessitated the borrowing of heavy loans from her. throughout the fourteenth century and onwards the kaisers asked and received very large loans (pleasantly so-called) from nuremberg. wenzel, ruprecht and sigismund demanded ever larger and increasingly frequent donations. sometimes, but not very often, the citizens were rewarded by the concession of a charter or the ratification of some procedure on their part. but the price was, of course, out of all proportion to the value of the thing purchased. as an example of these dealings we may instance the "loan" exacted by sigismund in , which amounted to gulden, besides other requisitions in the same year. one sees, at any rate, that nuremberg must have been sufficiently full-blooded to endure being bled in this manner. but it was this same impecuniosity on the part of the kaiser which led him to sell outright, for a total sum of , gulden, the electorate of brandenburg, with its land, titles and sovereign electorship and all to burggraf frederick, who already held it in pawn. this step was, in its immediate results at least, distinctly advantageous to nuremberg. clever and energetic, the burggraf set about suppressing the robber-knights and establishing order. burggraf frederick on his first coming to brandenburg found but a cool reception as statthalter. he came as a representative of law and rule; and there had been many noble gentlemen of the turpin profession helping themselves by a ruleless life of late. industry was at a low ebb, violence was rife; plunder and disorder everywhere; trade wrecked, private feuds abounding; too much the habit of baronial gentlemen to live by the saddle, as they termed it; that is by highway robbery in modern phrase. at first the burggraf tried gentle methods, but when he found the noble lords scoffed at him, calling him a "nürnberger tand" (nuremberg toy), and continued their plunderings and other contumacies, then with the aid of his frankish men-at-arms, neighbouring potentates and artillery--one huge gun, a twenty-four pounder, called lazy peg (_faule grete_), is mentioned--he set to work, and in a remarkably short period established comparative peace and order.[ ] that was a piece of work highly acceptable, we may be sure, to the merchants of nuremberg. were they not concerned in bringing fish and wool from the north, to exchange them in italy and venice for the silks and spices of the east? in we catch a glimpse of the sombre figure of john huss, the reformer, the bohemian successor of wiclif, passing through nuremberg. the people here seem to have sympathised with his views. he explained his position to the clergy and council, and they invited him to return to them if he fared successfully at kostnitz. but there he met his martyrdom. his supporters, the down-trodden peasantry of bohemia, thereupon rose in a revolt, which empire for a long while utterly failed to suppress. nuremberg had exhibited no great enthusiasm against heretics. though, in , she had burnt six women and a man for heresy, yet she had given huss a warm welcome. but the devastation wrought by the hussite army alienated all sympathy, and on the suppression of the "heretics," nuremberg joined in the universal rejoicings of all steady-going merchants. she had taken occasional part in the hussite wars; but chiefly through paying money instead of sending a proper contingent of men--a fact which illustrates the narrow, selfish and lazy policy of the town communities where the empire was concerned. it was impossible for the emperor to keep order with insufficient means of police. for the emperor got not a foot of german territory with his imperial crown. he was merely the feudal head, and as such found it very hard to get troops or money from the german people. most of the members of the empire--petty princes and imperial towns alike--were concerned chiefly not with the ordering of the empire but with becoming sovereign in their own territories. there was very little feeling of imperial unity. if the empire did not do its duty by the towns, the towns did very little for the empire, beyond supplying money. the nurembergers were energetic enough when it came to fortifying their town on the approach of the victorious hussites ( ). the grim heretics advanced ravaging and destroying the country, depopulating the towns. night and day, men, women and children worked at the walls, striving to render the place impregnable. but the danger passed away. thanks to the markgraf frederick, who bought them off very cheaply, the hussites returned, for the time, in peace to their homes. sigismund succeeded in being crowned at rome in , and on this occasion he knighted sebald behaim, of the great nuremberg family of that name, and gave to nuremberg a charter confirming her privileges and giving her the right to keep the imperial jewels, insignia, and sacred relics for ever. these were brought with great pomp and rejoicing to the church of the holy spirit (_neuenspital_) and there they were kept and jealously guarded till . they were shown with much ceremony once a year to the people. this occasion was a very popular festival down to the reformation days. but in the relics were shown for the last time. frederick the third we shall only mention for the sake of the picturesque ceremonial which occurred when he held his first reichstag at nuremberg, at easter . the kaiser rode in at the spittlerthor. in the middle of the street where he had to pass st. jakobskirche a table was spread on which, besides a crucifix, were placed the heads of st. sebald and st. cyprian. the kaiser dismounted, took the cross from the abbot of st. Ægidius and kissed it. thereupon one of the holy skulls was placed on the kaiser's head, whilst the priests and choristers in surplices and birettas sang responses. the kaiser and his retinue and all the priesthood then made a solemn procession to the sebalduskirche. here the kaiser worshipped on his knees before the altar. the priest read the special collect over him, and, taking a handful of flax and tow, lighted it and, as it burnt, exclaimed in a loud voice, "most illustrious kaiser, _sic transit gloria mundi_." then the chorus of priests burst out into the strains of the _te deum_, and the kaiser went his way in the world--a compromising emperor who slept through a long reign to the no small detriment of germany. we must not think of the nurembergers as altogether given up to trade and merchandise. they were capable of being stirred up into the deepest religious enthusiasm. i know not what reception they gave to the cardinal nicholas of cusa, who ( ) came preaching through germany, and passed through nuremberg selling "indulgences" like a cheap-jack, lowering his price from time to time to get rid of his stock. but the monk, capistranus, a great preacher, who came in the following year, created so tremendous a sensation by his eloquence and by miracles which he wrought that the people, we are told, flocked in crowds, laden with their new-fashioned pointed shoes, their _schlitten_ (sledges--harmless enough one would have thought--but they were regarded as extravagant luxuries), and thousands of dice and cards, and burnt them all in the market-place. next year they were stirred again by the terrible news that the turks had taken constantinople. eleven hundred burghers seized their arms and went as crusaders to help the hungarians in belgrade against the infidel turk.[ ] but they did not do great deeds. scarce a third of them returned at christmastide. the rest had died of hardship or of disease. this gave the council a distaste for crusades. they took to discouraging the preachers who came to beat up recruits against hussites or turks. the town, it was found, had to support the widows and children of the dead crusaders. the preachings of the firebrand johannes capistranus had another evil result. the jews since the persecution in had not been much molested, though continually squeezed for money by both kaiser and council. but the increase in their numbers, the riches they had accumulated through usury, and the eloquence of this monk all tended to rouse religious hatred. "the hatred against the jews is so general in germany," writes froissart in , "that the calmest people are beside themselves when the conversation turns on their usury. i should not be surprised if on a sudden a bloody persecution broke out against them all over the country. they have already been forcibly expelled from many towns." after many half resolves, the council determined to ask maximilian to drive these "sucking leeches" from the town. reluctantly he consented. "their numbers have increased too much. under pretext of loans they have given themselves up to a dangerous and detestable traffic of usury. many honourable citizens, deceived by their devices, are so deeply in debt that they see their private honour and their very means of existence threatened. for these reasons the jews are invited to quit the town altogether within a period fixed by the council. they are permitted to take with them their moveable property, but henceforth none of them shall have the right to reside in nuremberg."[ ] on the th of march , driven from their homes amid the curses of the christians, the jews left nuremberg with groans and lamentations, never to dwell there again till . maximilian sold their houses to the council. their churchyard was built over, their tombstones used for building the corn exchange--(die waage). but no persecution, no repression, no laws forbidding commercial transactions between christian and jew, could ever subdue that despised but indomitable race. most of them found refuge in frankfort; but some years later, with the encouragement of the markgrafs of brandenburg, many of them settled at fürth, which speedily became a serious commercial rival to nuremberg, and remains to this day as prosperous as her neighbour. one curious and interesting result this expulsion had. in order to supply the place of the money-lenders the emperor ordered a leihaus or state pawnshop to be built, where money was to be advanced at a moderate percentage on property to people in difficulties. it was to be run at cost price, or, if there were any surplus, it was to go to the state. this was an imitation of the italian system (monte di pietà) already in vogue at augsburg--a system not without interest to the englishman of to-day. during the thirty years war, the jews in fürth, oppressed by the imperial troops, asked to be received back into nuremberg. some of the council were ready to comply, on the receipt of a large payment, but the majority refused to have the "damaging rascals" within their walls. so long did the hostility towards the jews survive here that it was not till that the regulation was done away with by which, in order to stop a day in nuremberg, a jew had to pay a personal tax of kreuzer, and, in addition, had to be accompanied by a guard, for he was not allowed to walk in the streets alone. this guard was usually an old woman, who followed her jew everywhere for the consideration of kreuzer. chapter iii _nuremberg and the reformation_ "trading staple of the german world in old days, toyshop of the german world in these new, albert dürer's and hans sachs' city."--carlyle. we have watched the dawning sun of nuremberg's greatness rise over the forest till now it has reached the _mittags_-quarter. we have seen, to change the metaphor, the little foundling of the swamps grow year by year till at last she has arrived at the full strength and beauty of womanhood. for it was under maximilian that nuremberg reached her prime: it was under him and his successors that the greatest of her sons flourished. she was lavish as a princess in the adornment of her person. once in , and again in , for instance, we find her voting some florins to gild the beautiful fountain (schöner brunnen), which had been placed in the hauptmarkt .[ ] she was already adorned with those churches which in her old age are still her brightest jewels. once completed, these churches were not regarded merely as houses of prayer, but rather as the books of god, where the divine history of the redemption might be read and illustrated. the christian fervour of the artists led them to give their best and sincerest work to the decoration of them. so that in the course of time the churches came to represent for the people museums constantly open, historic galleries of sacred art, to which one masterpiece after another was added. "from daily admiration of them an æsthetic sense was formed in the minds of the young, and thanks to them the artists found repeated opportunities for exercising their art. orders from private individuals or public bodies abounded. every well-to-do family, every corporation was eager to do honour to god by the presentation of some gift to his holy dwelling-place: some offered a picture, a statue, a window, or an altar-piece; the portraits of the families themselves,[ ] as portraits of the donors, were placed at the feet of the saints. when the artists represented themselves in paint, bronze, wood, or stone, they gave themselves the humble attitude of suppliants: in those of their compositions which contain numerous personages they always choose the humblest place for themselves; often, like adam krafft in the tabernacle in the church of st. lorenz, they appear in their working clothes, tools in hand, in the attitude of servants."[ ] whilst such men as adam krafft and peter vischer were giving their life-work to the beautifying of the churches, sculpture and painting also were turned to the adornment of domestic and public life. the mansions of the merchant princes still bear witness to the wealth of the burgesses, and to the vigour of the artistic impulse of this period. every house, apart from architectural splendour, was decorated with a painting, whether of some symbol or the patron saint of the family. the very aspect of the streets spoke to the importance of the rôle which art played in the life of the town. the influence of the town reacted no less surely on the art of the period. albert durer, for instance, in spite of his wide experience always speaks in his art, like his master wolgemut, in the nuremberg dialect. the intense patriotism and the deep religious feeling which formed so intimate a part of the lives of the citizens are reproduced in their art and literature, [illustration: schÖner brunnen] giving the greatest examples of them the added charm of locality. their love of science was no less genuine than their love of art. in june , a few weeks after the birth of albert durer, johannes muller, (surnamed regiomontanus in allusion to königsberg, his native village) the great mathematical genius, "the wonder of his generation," took up his abode at nuremberg, making her the true home of physical and mathematical science and contributing mightily to her reputation as "the capital of german art, the most precious jewel of the empire, the meeting-place of art and industry." "i have chosen nuremberg for my place of residence," he writes, "because there i find without difficulty all the peculiar instruments necessary for astronomy, and there it is easiest for me to keep in touch with the learned of all countries, for nuremberg, thanks to the perpetual journeyings of her merchants, may be counted the centre of europe." inspired with the eager desire to know everything, so characteristic of his age, he was equally desirous to impart his knowledge. we may trace to his influence durer's book on geometry and his beautiful chart of the heavens. muller introduced popular science lectures, and organised the manufacture of astronomical and nautical instruments. his most famous pupil was martin behaim the constructor of the first globe and the adventurous navigator, whose monument ( ) may be seen in the theresien platz. behaim in indicated on his terrestrial globe the precise route followed six years later by vasco da gama when he doubled the cape of good hope. it was behaim, too, who suggested to magellan the first idea of the strait which bears his name. behaim's famous globe is kept in the behaim house, which is in the Ægiden platz, next to the house of koberger, the printer, and opposite the statue of melanchthon (by burgschmiet, ). maximilian, "the last of the knights," had taken a considerable part in the government before he succeeded his father in . the nurembergers, who always had an eye for a strong man, had already shown their loyalty to him. he had stayed amongst them at the house of christopher scheurl (father of the famous dr scheurl), and whilst there would seem to have amused himself light-heartedly enough. when about to depart, we are told, he invited twenty great ladies to dinner; after dinner, when they were all in a good humour, the margraf frederick asked maximilian in the name of the ladies to stay a little longer and to dance with them. _they_, it is said, had taken away his boots and spurs, so he had no choice. then the whole company adjourned to the council house, several other young ladies were invited, and maximilian stayed dancing all through the afternoon and night and arrived a day late at neumarkt where the count of the palatinate had been expecting him all the preceding day. as emperor, maximilian stayed at the kaiserburg. a brilliant assembly attended his first reichstag. masques, dances, tourneys and so forth are recorded with gusto by the chroniclers. the emperor, they say, entertained all the ladies of the town at dinner and provided them with two hundred and forty sorts of dishes. no wonder he was popular! nuremberg was not allowed to be content with supplying maximilian with partners in the ball-room. in she had to support him in his disastrous war with switzerland. the nuremberg contingent was under willibald pirkheimer and wolf pömer. beautifully dressed in red and white uniforms these soldiers earned the reputation of cowardice and treachery. such imputations were, let it be confessed, not unfrequently cast upon nuremberg courage; but on this occasion the emperor took their part and refuted the charge. nuremberg knew at any rate how to fight her own battles. throughout this period we find her engaged in continual quarrels with the markgrafs of brandenburg. the burggraf frederick once made elector, had parted with the burggrafship, sold it, all but the title, to the burghers in . but principalities and territories were retained in that quarter, and about these, and their feudal rights and boundaries and tolls, endless trouble arose. some fifty years later actual furious war resulted between the elector albert achilles and the jealous citizens--a war in "which eight victories are counted on albert's part--furious successful skirmishes they call them; in one of which albert plunged in alone, his ritters being rather shy, and laid about him hugely, hanging by a standard he had taken, till his life was nearly beaten out. eight victories, and also one defeat wherein albert got captured and had to ransom himself. the captor was one kunz of kauffungen, the nürnberg hired general at the time, a man known to some readers for his stealing of the saxon princes (prinzenraut, they call it), a feat which cost kunz his head."[ ] such quarrels continued, for the markgrafs did not relinquish their efforts to extend their powers. details it would be wearisome to give, but they illustrate the general family tendency of the hohenzollern. it is characteristic that they were generally successful in their claims (all cases, it was now decided, arising from nuremberg property outside the walls were to be tried by the landgericht, of which the markgraf was president), and based on this success still greater claims in the future. the memoirs of götz von berlichingen furnish us with an interesting account of the battle of the forest of nuremberg ( ), which affords a good example of the sort of thing continually occurring in those days. towards the end of may it was rumoured in the town that warlike preparations were being made in ansbach, the headquarters of the markgraf. the feelings of the citizens were still further roused by the fact that the markgraf had taken under his protection an enemy of nuremberg. the day of the affalterbacher fair was at hand. the prospect seemed so threatening that the council sent a specially large contingent-- men, with a "wagenburg" and cannon under the command of the magistrate hans von weichsdorf, wolf haller, and wolf pömer--to escort their citizens who went to attend the fair. an accidental explosion of powder when they were starting seemed ominous. at home they kept a small force under ulman stromer, who drew up between the frauen- and spitler-thor. on the day of the fair, the markgraf appeared with a large force of knights, swiss and local soldiery. amongst them was götz von berlichingen, who was only twenty-two years of age. the following manoeuvers then took place. in the morning some sixty horsemen were seen driving off the cattle about a quarter of a mile south of nuremberg. ulman stromer thereupon marched out and took up a strong position, under protection of his guns, and drove the horsemen back into the woods, "for they did not find it very amusing: it is not everybody who likes to hear the cannon roar," says götz. the retreat of the enemy enticed ulman stromer to follow them with his carts and cannon into the wood. suddenly he came upon the markgraf casimir with his main army. though outnumbered, the nurembergers did not lose their courage, but fired with such effect that the riff-raff of the enemy [illustration: frauen thor] cleared off, leaving the knights and switzers to do battle. under cover of a strong fire, "so that nothing could be seen for smoke," stromer tried to form a "wagenburg" (waggon fortress), by having the carts driven round so as to form a circle about the men and guns, hoping to be able to wait in this extemporised fort till reinforcements should arrive from affalterbach. götz boasts that it was he who prevented this manoeuvre from being executed. for he killed one of the drivers, and so interrupted the completion of the circle. the brandenburgers were thus enabled to rush in, and compelled the citizens to take to flight. at this juncture the reinforcements came up, but it was too late. a general rush for safety to the town took place. on the bridge over the moat there was so great a crush of refugees that many were forced over into the water. luckily the cannon on the frauen thor kept the markgraf at a safe distance. within the town a terrible panic had occurred. götz, indeed, says that the place could easily have been taken--a statement not very easy to believe. at any rate, the markgraf did not attempt it, but marched back to schwabach to hold a service of thanksgiving, whilst the nurembergers revenged themselves on the peasants whom they had taken prisoner. intense indignation was felt and expressed against the markgraf: prisoners were torn to pieces in the streets. at last a curious peace was arranged, to begin on july st, but not before. each side tried to damage the other as much as possible before that day came, and the council, in order to get in a good final blow, burned the markgraf's castle of schönberg at the last moment. a peace thus inaugurated did not, as may be imagined, produce any lasting good feeling between the two parties. in the very next year fresh trouble arose over one heinz baum, a nuremberg citizen who had come down in the world and been put into prison by his creditors. as soon as he was released, he left the town, threw up his citizenship, and, after writing various threatening letters to the council, he surprised hans tucher, a nuremberg patrician, when riding out to his country seat, and kept him prisoner till he was ransomed. with the markgraf's secret support, baum proceeded to seize and keep in the stocks till ransom was paid all the citizens he could lay his hands on. though the emperor outlawed him, he pursued his way unhindered, protected by the markgraf, till , when nuremberg bought off his chief supporter, and heinz baum retired to bamberg, where he died poor but unpunished. the importance of nuremberg was still further enhanced by the part she took in the war of the bavarian succession. in george the rich of bavaria had died without male issue. according to the feudal right, his lands ought to have gone to the male heir, but, hating as he did his natural successors, his cousins albrecht of bavaria and wolfgang, he had made his daughter his sole heiress, and married her to her cousin ruprecht (third son of the powerful philip, elector of the palatinate), whom he adopted as his son and made governor of a great part of the country. on the death of duke george, ruprecht succeeded, but albrecht and wolfgang raised such strenuous protest that the emperor, after repeated attempts to arrange a compromise, was obliged to outlaw ruprecht and all his supporters, his father the elector philip included. war was the inevitable result. the emperor and other princes, amongst whom was the markgraf of brandenburg, gave their support to albrecht, who promised them a share in what was conquered. many of philip's possessions were close to nuremberg. albrecht was therefore able to entice her to fight for him, promising her in return for her aid , gulden, with all the palatinate towns and the value of all george's towns that she might manage to take. with the aid of three special cannon, called the owl, the falcon, and the fishermaid, capable of shooting balls of pounds weight, the nuremberg army captured a considerable number of palatinate towns. but even after the deaths first of ruprecht and then of his brave widow, who had carried on the struggle like another margaret of anjou, the war still dragged on on behalf of their little sons, and the palatinate party were actually getting a little the best of it when, at a reichstag in cologne, maximilian at length arranged a successful compromise. nuremberg was allowed to keep what she had taken, and now had more land than any other free town in the empire. it was a doubtful blessing. she was involved in constant wars to keep it, in further quarrels with the markgraf over the rights of _fraisgericht_,--of jurisdiction in matters of life and death in the newly acquired towns, and she had to pay largely increased contributions to the empire. altogether she was impoverished rather than benefited by her new property. we have now to trace the story of the celebrated feud with götz von berlichingen--the warrior knight, the chivalrous and charitable, the brave, free-booting noble, götz of the iron hand. such is the character goethe gave him when he centred in him, as the heroic champion of the privileges of the free knights, the interest of his shakesperian drama. truth, however, compels us to declare, that though men like götz or franz von sickingen, the robin hoods of germany, had the qualities of a certain rough justice and courage, they were, for the rest, wholly undeniable brigands. the love of destruction, disorder, and rapine, and the hatred of authority were their chief motives. they used their rights as pretexts for violence and devoted themselves to brigandage as to a legitimate vocation and organised industry. they were, indeed, little better than leaders of bands of robbers, the wolves of civilisation. "one day," says götz, "as i was on the point of making an attack, i perceived a pack of wolves descending on a flock of sheep. this incident seemed to me a good omen. we were going to begin the fight. a shepherd was near us, guarding his sheep, when, as if to give us the signal, five wolves threw themselves simultaneously on the flock. i saw it and noted it gladly. i wished them success and ourselves too, saying, 'good luck, dear comrades, success to you everywhere!' i took it as a very good augury that we had begun the attack together!" it was in that maximilian, ever anxious to promote peace and order within the borders of his empire, abrogated by edict the right of private war under the penalty of the ban of the empire--a penalty which involved the dooms of outlawry and excommunication. thus the "last of the knights" gave the death-blow to the chivalry of the middle ages. hitherto every german noble holding fief directly from the emperor had been on his own property a petty monarch, as it were, subordinate to the imperial authority alone. these proud military barons,--an ever-increasing host of petty lords, since the rule of inheritance in germany was division among the male heirs--esteemed above all other privileges the right of making war on each other, or on the towns, with no other ceremony than that of three days' notice in writing (fehdebrief). the evils and dangers of this privilege are clear, but they were left untouched by the golden bull. with the advance of civilisation, which was ever opposed to the feudal system, this faustrecht had come to be regarded as intolerable by such princes, bishops and free towns as suffered from the consequent disorder of the country and the marauding expeditions of the free-knights. for the residence of every baron had become, as we have seen, a fortress from which, as his passions or avarice dictated, a band of marauders sallied forth to back his quarrel or to collect an extorted revenue from the merchants who presumed to pass through his domain. princes and bishops, abbots and wealthy merchants of the towns banded together, therefore, to enforce the new ordinance and to suppress the petty feudatories, who, like götz, struggled to maintain their privilege and independence. under sigismund various efforts had been made to suppress the harrying of the knights and many robber-nests on solitary rocks were taken. when taken the robbers, especially those of the lower class, were made short work of and dealt with in various ways--ways best illustrated by a visit to the torture chambers of the castle. there was one hans schuttensamen, for instance, on whose head the council put a price. a citizen of bamberg came forward and claimed the reward, saying he had shot him. after he had received the money his story was found to be a stretch of the imagination and he was burnt accordingly. ten years later ( ) the robber also got burnt. so bitterly were these knights hated and feared that even the great tourneys, such as the one recorded in ,[ ] when all the neighbouring nobles came in from the surrounding country and tilted and displayed their skill and valour in the market-place, were very unpopular with the peace-loving burghers. nuremberg, then, joined the swabian league to suppress such knights as chose still to indulge in the forbidden club law or faustrecht. it was not long before she came into direct collision with götz von berlichingen of the iron hand. götz, who had a fine gift for chastising the gutter-blooded citizens of a free town, had long been anxious to try conclusions with the men of nuremberg. he carried out his intention on a very futile pretext. the nurembergers, it seems, had pursued and fought in the adjacent woods some unknown knights, who had refused, when challenged, to give their names as honest knights and fled. now, some years after, hans von geislingen, brother of one george, who was the squire of eustace of lichtenstein and was killed on this occasion, demanded blood-money for his brother, and on being refused, he seized some nuremberg citizens and merchants' caravans. he was outlawed, but this did not prevent götz von berlichingen from helping him. george, he declared, had been his page (a statement that had the defect of being untrue), and he demanded a large sum of money in compensation. when this was refused götz did not send an _absagebrief_, or letter of notice of war, but merely a note saying that he was considering, with his friends, how to get compensation. his bitterness was further increased by the action of the council, who shortly afterwards decapitated sebastian von seckendorf, a knight who had long been a source of annoyance, and whom they had at last been successful in catching. suddenly, and without warning, götz and his friends swooped down on a party of fifty-five nuremberg merchants who were travelling back from the fair at leipzig, under the escort of the bishop of bamberg. these he plundered and took prisoners as they were crossing the rednitz, near forcheim. götz did not treat his prisoners too gently, but used the art of torture to persuade them to offer huge ransoms. the news of this seizure caused consternation and surprise in nuremberg. götz's letter of notice came only nine days later to the council. spies were sent out to discover his whereabouts: the town was prepared for a siege, and mercenary soldiers were hired. götz was outlawed. but the council were accused of being slack to avenge, what they called "a handful of small merchants, not of patrician families," and maximilian was not willing to be plunged into an imperial war "to recover a merchant's sack of pepper." what he did do was to attempt to bring about one of his favourite compromises. the markgraf was appointed to arbitrate, and his award was that nuremberg should pay a certain sum. as is not unusual in the case of arbitrations, the money was not paid. götz, laughing at the sentence of outlawry that had been passed upon him, protected by the princes who resented peace and order in an empire, continued to ravage, burn and pillage, until the swabian league was renewed, at the end of , to keep the "eternal peace," at which maximilian aimed. nuremberg once more joined the league, on maximilian's injunction, though she distrusted the alliance with the markgraf thereby involved. the league, however, decided in january to take strong measures to repress the outlawed nobles and to destroy the castles of the robber-knights. but the emperor objected, and said that he wanted to arrive at a peaceful compromise with götz. the nurembergers replied that they would be content if the latter paid over a sum of money sufficient to compensate the merchants for the losses they had suffered. at the same time they took prisoner a robber-knight who was a friend of the markgraf, and to procure his release the markgraf promised to arrange peace for them with hans von geislingen. this he succeeded in doing. götz, however, remained at war, proud and obstinate in spite of all mediation. again and again the league threatened war, the emperor temporised, and götz plundered, until at last maximilian got it arranged that götz should pay florins damages. these were subscribed chiefly by his supporters, such as the bishop of würzburg, who also persuaded him to cease from his career of robbery. maximilian died in . he had shown himself a good friend to the nuremberg artists. no doubt his patronage and his keen interest in art and literature had been partly responsible for the good work of this period. he was himself an author, for he had a considerable share in the _weisskunig_ and the _theuerdank_--the latter, a poem which describes allegorically the private life and ideals of the emperor, being chiefly executed by melchior pfinzing, his secretary, the provost of st. sebald's and builder of the parsonage. of the artists, he frequently employed peter vischer and veit stoss, whilst he showed the greatest appreciation of albert durer, to whom he gave a pension of florins. when at nuremberg in maximilian with the aid of willibald pirkheimer and others, planned a colossal _holzschnittwerk_, or wood-cut picture, "the triumph," in which he himself was, as usual in the works of art he inspired, to be idealised as the greatest of princes. durer was to draw part of it. ninety-two blocks did durer design for the _triumphal arch_ in the course of the next two years. amongst other works for this patron we may mention _the triumphal car_, the _crucifixion_, and the ornamental borders of the famous _book of hours_. finally when maximilian held the diet at augsburg in , durer, who was one of the commissioners sent by the town of nuremberg, drew the emperor's portrait from the life, "in the little room upstairs in the palace." from this sketch he painted the picture now at vienna, another version of which is in the german museum at nuremberg. durer was as good a courtier as artist. melanchthon tells us how maximilian was endeavouring to draw a design which he wished durer to carry out, but kept breaking the charcoal in doing so. durer took the charcoal and, without breaking it, easily finished the drawing. maximilian, somewhat vexed, asked how this was, to which the artist replied, "i should not like your majesty to be able to draw as well as i. it is my province to draw and yours to rule." _aliud est plectrum, aliud sceptrum._ the hand that wields the sceptre is too strong for the brush. maximilian was, in many aspects of his character, a typical product of the renaissance. nuremberg had felt the full force of the revival of learning, the new stimulus in art and literature which was being brought to the west from constantinople by the jews and greeks who had been driven out by the turks. not a few of the knights and pilgrims, too, must have passed through nuremberg on their return from the crusades, and her growing commerce with the east and west and italy would tend to keep her in touch with the developments which were taking place in the world of ideas, and which were tending inevitably towards the reformation. she had been among the first to welcome and to practise the new "german art" of printing. between , when johann sensenschmidt had brought gutenberg's invention to nuremberg, and the end of the century, twenty-five printers received the rights of citizenship. johannes regiomontanus printed here in his _kalendarium novum_. but anthoni koberger was the most celebrated man in the trade. over two hundred different works, mostly in large folio, were issued from his twenty-four printing presses before . the "prince of booksellers," as one of his contemporaries calls him, he had agents in every country, and sixteen depôts in the principal towns in christendom. the first work of art which left his presses was a magnificent illustrated bible, published in , and printed from blocks he had obtained from henry quentel of cologne. but, besides the bible and theology, the press poured forth a stream of literature of every kind, spreading new ideas with unexampled rapidity, and giving expression to thoughtful criticism or popular satire of established abuses. under such influences as these it was felt that a new era of progress was at hand. nuremberg, stimulated by the education of self-government and of commercial intercourse, did not fail to produce such independent humanists as conrad celtes, dr scheurl, lazarus spengler, albert durer, willibald pirkheimer, who could write as well as read, and preach as well as applaud the doctrines of necessary reform. she was, in fact, one of the first towns to express sympathy with martin luther, when he nailed his ninety-five theses on the church door of wittenberg, in protest against what erasmus had called "the crime of false pardons," the sale of indulgences, to which leo x. had resorted in order to raise money for a little war. luther came to nuremberg in the course of the next year ( ) and stayed in the augustinerkloster. his friend leirck, we are told, had to buy him a new cowl, in order that he might appear in fitting costume before the cardinal cajetan at augsburg, where he was summoned to answer for his heresies. none the less the cardinal received at nuremberg a great welcome next year, and luther's followers continued at present to perform the rites and cling to the old forms of the church. reform, not revolution, was what they still hoped for. but the stream of events carried them rapidly with it. willibald pirkheimer, thanks to a satire against eck, the bitter opponent of luther, was included in in the papal bull, by which luther was excommunicated. the council, annoyed by the excommunication of pirkheimer and lazarus spengler (clerk of the council), refused to interfere with the printing and publishing of luther's works, and gradually passed over to his side. to show how little they respected this decree of excommunication, they actually sent spengler to represent the town at the diet of worms. for charles v. held his first reichstag ( ) at worms, and not at nuremberg, because of an outbreak of plague there. (outbreaks of plague were not uncommon at nuremberg, nor were they surprising. for all refuse was always thrown into the pegnitz on the understanding that "the river would eat up all the dirt.") it was at this diet of worms that luther made his confession of faith, and fought single-handed against pope and emperor the great battle for the right of freedom of conscience. when, as the result, the ban of the empire had been passed upon him and all his works, and the report was abroad that violent hands had been laid on him, albert durer, who had followed him from the first, wrote in his diary, expressing at the same time the opinion of the nation; "whether he lives or whether he has been murdered, i know not; but he has suffered for the christian faith and has been punished by the unchristian papacy." that, too, was the opinion of all the more important men in nuremberg. cautious in expressing their feelings at first, after a time the people boldly showed their dislike of monasteries and their approval of the new movement. "wake up! now may the dawn be seen; and singing in a thicket green i hear a tuneful nightingale," wrote hans sachs, in a poem which had no small influence in forwarding the reformation movement. so, in many of his later prose dialogues, he upholds liberty of conscience and freedom of opinion in religious matters. the council, in deference to the emperor, made a bare pretence of stopping the publication of lutheran writings. so half-hearted were they that the papal legate demanded that stronger measures should be taken, and that lutheran preachers should be imprisoned. but the council pursued its policy of keeping the peace between both parties, taking a middle course and siding with neither reactionary nor revolutionary. that policy could not be pursued for long. the council had to yield, not unwillingly, to public opinion. at a meeting of representatives of the towns at rothenburg, held there in because forbidden by imperial edict to meet at spires and to discuss religious matters, nuremberg was very bold and "gave three brave christian reasons" why they should not obey this edict. she organised a further meeting of the towns at ulm, and for herself began to determine on a new form of worship. the sacrament was now administered in both kinds, and mass was read in german, with lutheran omissions, by the prior of the augustin monastery. both the parish churches followed his example. the council excused themselves for allowing this by saying that they did it to avoid an uproar among the people. the bishop of bamberg held an inquiry, and summoned the officiating priests before him. they denied his power to judge them, and his sentence of excommunication was practically ignored. other towns followed the example of nuremberg, and imitated her lutheran services. meanwhile the dislike of the people for monasteries and nunneries broke out more vehemently. the air was full of satires and cartoons directed against nuns and monks. hans sachs was not silent on this point. at last the council ordered these institutions to be handed over to the guidance of the lutheran preachers. charitas pirkheimer, the virtuous and accomplished abbess of the _klarakloster_, friend and correspondent of durer and sister of willibald, has left us in her memoirs a touching account of the manner in which she was torn from her beloved convent, over which no breath of scandal had ever passed, and which contained many of the daughters of the best families in nuremberg. these memoirs are well worth looking at by those who care to see the other side of the question, and to make the acquaintance of a beautiful and fascinating character. unfortunately we have no space in this little book to deal with them here. shortly after this an organised discussion between the representatives of the old and new orders of religious belief was held before the council. one by one, twelve points of doctrine were put to the heads of the lutheran, carmelite, augustin and dominican bodies, and each answered after his kind. the catholic party finally claimed that the decision between them should be referred to the university; but osiander, declaring that god's word was the only salvation, wound up the discussion with a bold and eloquent speech, and called upon the council for an immediate decision. the council gave their vote for the lutheran case, and thus formally threw in their lot with the reformation. the following year saw a whole series of decrees from the council carrying out lutheran principles. thus, chiefly no doubt in deference to the popular demand--for these were the days of the terrible peasant wars--the property of the priests was ordered to be taxed. there was little violence. the influence of the gentle melanchthon, who came to nuremberg in , did much to smooth down any tendency to brutality, or harsh treatment of the monks and nuns. even in the first flash of religious excitement education was not neglected. the educational movement inaugurated by luther's letter to the towns asking them to found schools, met with eager support at nuremberg. through the agency of hieronymus paumgärtner and spengler, philip melanchthon was induced to come and assist at the founding of a new gymnasium for secondary education. no expense was spared, and melanchthon brought a brilliant staff of teachers with him. the institution was established in the buildings of the Ægidienkloster. but the school languished. nuremberg, after all, was a town of shopkeepers, and, though some were ready to pay for masters, few were ready to pay, or spare the time, for their sons' higher education. the school was at last moved to altdorf, and grew into the university there. the present gymnasium was refounded in . melanchthon's statue, mentioned above, stands in front of the building erected in on the site of the old monastery which together with the church was burnt down in . conrad iii. is said to have built the church for the benedictine order in . three chapels remain--the eucharius, the wolfgang, and the tetzel chapels, of which the first is the oldest, and affords an interesting example of the transition style (see p. ). the council all this time had a difficult part to play: it had to show itself both strong and conciliatory. when the peasants' war broke out, nuremberg, the capital of franconia, was not unaffected by it though [illustration: rothenburg] she suffered less than her neighbours--rothenburg for example. but the new-found spiritual freedom preached from lutheran pulpits was likely to be misinterpreted by the lower classes in the town, as it had been by the peasants outside, and construed into temporal licence. the council, therefore, whilst striving not to cause any irritation, had to take strong measures to repress the outbreaks which occurred within the walls, when the peasants, whom götz von berlichingen had joined, were ravaging and rioting through the country in their barbarous struggle for emancipation. first of all the council very wisely expelled thomas münzer, the mad, well-meaning fanatic and agitator, and then promised the peasants to remain neutral, as long as they did not ravage her territory or tamper with her citizens. still, for a few months, nuremberg was in imminent danger. she might have fallen into the hands of the rebels at any moment in the may of this year ( ). the council, realising the peril, remitted some of the tithes, as a sop to the peasants, and sent urgent appeals for aid to the swabian league. but the thunder-cloud passed by without breaking over nuremberg, and she, to her credit be it recorded, when the revolt was crushed, was not slow to speak on behalf of towns like rothenburg which had taken the side of the peasants. the result of her intervention was to preserve for us the walls and fortifications of rothenburg. the illustration shows the towers and gateways there which recall the white tower and lauferschlagthurm at nuremberg. in the later developments of the protestant revolution, we find willibald pirkheimer warmly supporting luther with his pen, when zwingle, denying the real presence, treated the sacrament as symbolic, and was violently denounced by luther for this view. pirkheimer, however, was no blind follower of luther. he, remembering his sister's case, thought the monasteries and convents too hardly treated, and he saw, what luther failed to see, that the peasant risings were the inevitable results of such times of upheaval and repression. he grew soured and disappointed with luther. like scheurl, and, as he says ( )-- "like durer, i was at first a good lutheran. we hoped things would be better than in the roman church, but the lutherans are worse. the former were hypocrites: the latter openly live disgraceful lives. for justification by faith alone is not possible. without works faith is dead. luther, with his bold, petulant tongue, has either fallen under a delusion, or else is being led astray by the evil one." however, in spite of splits, the wave of protestantism was not diminishing. the answer to the emperor's order that stringent measures should be taken against the lutheran heresy, and that the edict of worms should be carried out, was, that the towns, under the leadership of nuremberg, banded themselves together with the lutheran princes, and at the diet of spires ( ) it was decreed that "each state should, as regards the diet of worms, so live, rule, and bear itself as it thought it could answer to god and the empire." from this decree, which was an acknowledgment of the temporary breakdown of roman catholicism, resulting from the emperor's quarrel with the pope, came the division of germany into catholic and protestant states. next year, when the bishop of bamberg commanded the priests of nuremberg to observe the roman catholic ceremonies, the council, whom he asked not to interfere with the carrying out of his order, were able to point to this edict. in order, however, to be secure from the swabian league, which was hostile to the new teaching, nuremberg, augsburg, ulm, and other towns, bound themselves together and protested against any interference, on the part of the league, in religious matters. but in the emperor had settled his quarrel with the pope and returned to his loyalty to rome. taking advantage of this, the papal party succeeded in passing a decree in the reichstag confirming the edict of worms. the lutheran princes protested against the decree, and so earned the name of "protestants." the protestant communities assembled in nuremberg, and sent a representative to the emperor, who was in italy, to complain. the emperor, however, took a firm tone with them and declared the dispensation of spires at an end. philip von hessen and other zealous leaders were now very eager to make a firm stand and to form a protestant union against this fresh attempt to suppress the new teaching. but the lutherans could not bring themselves to work with the zwinglians. the influence of luther and osiander was sufficient to deter nuremberg from joining in such a scheme. wisely or not, she refused to belong to any union which might bring her into conflict with the head of the empire. but, though she said she would not take up arms, she knew her own mind in religious matters. at a reichstag held at augsburg ( ) the emperor was to be present. owing to the exertions of the nuremberg council, the evangelical party united to send the celebrated "confession," or statement of lutheran doctrines, which was drawn up by luther and melanchthon, signed by nuremberg and reutlingen, and read to charles. the representatives of nuremberg also took with them a confession of faith, drawn up under the direction of the council by nuremberg theologians. a peaceful solution of the question was what they aimed at: a recognition of religious freedom brought about by argument, not by arms. for this reason, and because she had a great distrust of the protestant princes ("the princes are princes," it was said, "and if anything happens they will withdraw their heads out of the noose and leave the towns in the lurch") nuremberg would not join "the league of schmalkalden," formed by the protestant princes to defend themselves from that crushing of the lutheran heresy by the imperial power, which the diet now threatened. this league, in spite of luther's protest against opposition to the civil power, would have led at once to war, had not a turkish invasion of austria diverted charles' attention. something like a religious truce was proclaimed, and nuremberg sent a double contingent of men to help charles. it was, perhaps, in recognition of this proof of loyalty that charles, on his way to regensburg in , held the reichstag at nuremberg for the first time. the town on this occasion was in a great state of festivity. the roads were strewn with sand; festoons and hangings brightened the streets which were lined by armed citizens. bells were rung and cannon fired as charles, clothed in black, with a felt hat on his head, rode into the town, beneath a magnificent red velvet canopy held by eight members of the council in turn. he passed beneath a triumphal arch which had been erected near neudörfer's house, in the burgstrasse. in the rathaus a solemn act of homage was performed, and the emperor confirmed all the privileges of the town. costly gifts were lavished on him; fireworks were let off from the bastion then being built (see p. ). the council, in fact, though they would concede nothing, even at the emperor's request, on the religious question, showed themselves loyal and conciliatory. the bells of the principal churches were ordered to be rung at noon, to remind all good christians to pray for protection against the turks, the arch-enemies of christianity. this ringing, called _betläuten_, still takes place. the civil war, which was the inevitable result of the formation of the schmalkalden league, had only been postponed. the emperor and the catholic princes tried to reduce the protestant princes to obedience, with the aid of spanish soldiery, soon after the death of luther. though charles had said he was going to attack the princes and not the towns, the northern towns promised help to the princes. nuremberg, however, determined to obey the emperor; she strove, in fact, to pursue, so far as possible, her usual policy of inactive neutrality. money was paid to the emperor: but, when urgent appeals for help came from the princes, the council sent them privately a sum of money, but would take no further step for the evangelical cause at present. the sympathy of the majority was, indeed, with the league, but they shrank from risking all the great wealth and privileges of the town for the common welfare and for the freedom of religious belief. _nürnberg trage auf beiden achseln_ was the bitter sneer of the day. the temper of her citizens was sorely tried when the emperor's ill-behaved spanish troops were quartered on them. still, money was supplied loyally enough to the imperial treasury. in religious matters they remained steadfast, politely but firmly forbidding the emperor's confessor to read mass to the nuns in the katharinenkirche. the result of charles' campaigns against the princes was to leave him apparently more powerful than any emperor since charlemagne. we can hardly wonder if, in the reichstag of , he tried to get himself recognised as supreme head of the empire, not only in political, but also in religious matters. a year later he appointed a commission which published the "interim," establishing a half-and-half religion for all not of the roman catholic faith. it was called the strait-waistcoat of german protestantism. papacy was thereby almost reintroduced. the work of luther seemed entirely undone. this attempt at repressing evangelical teaching roused the nurembergers. sermons thundered from the pulpit, and the council was severely criticised. none the less they accepted the "interim." osiander resigned his post and shook the dust of nuremberg from off his feet. others followed his example. but, in spite of protest, the catholic reaction was, for the moment, successful. it could not last. the spanish yoke was in itself intolerable. in the revolt of the princes, in alliance even with france, began. the council pursued its old policy of neutrality--a policy destined this time not to pay. money was contributed to the princes: devotion to the emperor was expressed. so they thought they were safe. but the markgraf of brandenburg, albert alcibiades, who had declared for the protestant cause, held only to the princes' manifesto, that those who were not for them were against them. he turned his eyes on his old enemy, and seized the merchant-trains that were leaving the city in fancied security. then, suddenly in may, he appeared with a strong force before lichtenau--a castle and mart belonging to nuremberg. the place fell into his hands, was burnt and razed to the ground. next day he sent a message, bearing the bourbon arms, to express his surprise that he had received no help from nuremberg. in the name of the king of france and of the allied princes who "purposed to bring back and keep liberty in the dear fatherland, and to establish a right and true christian religion," he demanded whether the town intended to join the league against the emperor or not. she referred to her dealings with the princes. but the markgraf, ignoring this subterfuge, moved on the city, and the council, seeing that he was set on war, determined to stand a siege, and strained every nerve to strengthen the fortifications. the princes, indeed, remonstrated with the markgraf; but in vain. he advanced, ravaging the villages, taking castles, burning and plundering all he could lay his hands on in his drunken and murderous march. when he arrived beneath the walls of nuremberg, a truce of eight days was arranged till the markgraf could hear from francis i. of france. meanwhile he busied himself with throwing up entrenchments. but before the eight days had expired, he opened fire on the city. some cannon-shots struck the Ægidienskirche, in which a service was being held. one house in the Ægidiensplatz still bears the marks of shot that struck it on this occasion, says dr reicke. meanwhile nuremberg was not slow to defend herself. her citizens returned the fire with energy, and made some successful sallies. gold they seem to have used as well as steel; for the markgraf, after one or two experiments, declared that he would hold no more parleyings with the nurembergers, for that they had tried to corrupt one of his commanders. the position of nuremberg was now very serious. no help was to be expected from any quarter. when, therefore, the towns of franconia and swabia came forward at last to act as intermediaries, she welcomed them with every feeling of relief, and was easily persuaded to join, nominally, at any rate, the league against the emperor. the markgraf's _casus belli_ was now gone; but his demands knew no bounds. he insisted on a huge indemnity and the right to garrison the town. in face of this, continued resistance was the only course for nuremberg. the siege began again with renewed vigour. the markgraf, who boasted, between his curses, that murder and burning were his favourite pastimes, now thoroughly enjoyed himself. he destroyed, in this war, monasteries, small towns, villages, castles, estates, mills, and acres of wood. the position of nuremberg thus became more and more difficult. her trade and buildings were suffering severely: the forest was being burnt down. the lukewarmness with which she had espoused their cause made it not worth while for the princes to relieve her. the markgraf, on the other hand, had received numerous reinforcements, and had won over the neighbouring towns to his side. at last, therefore, nuremberg yielded on these terms (june , ):-- ( ) she was to join the league on the same terms as augsburg and the other towns. ( ) she was to demand no compensation for injuries inflicted. ( ) she was to pay a large indemnity in cash and war material. ( ) the markgraf was to give back all the castles, etc., which he had taken. ( ) matters in dispute between the two parties were to be decided by a commission of princes. so, for a moment, ended this disastrous war, only to break out again with variations in the following year, until the emperor, who had entered into treaty with the league, declared the markgraf outlawed and bade the four rhenish electors to carry out the sentence. for the markgraf had refused to enter into this treaty, which, seeing that the money and lands he had won in the name of religion and liberty were not guaranteed to him by it, he denounced as a betrayal of the german nation and carried on the war on his own account. his power was broken at last in a battle with the allies near schwarzach. nuremberg paid a _douceur_ to the emperor and was excused from her obligations to the markgraf, whose lands were sequestered. it is amusing to find that, in spite of this, the markgraf's rightful heir, george frederick, succeeded him and actually obtained through the emperor compensation from the allies for the damage done to his property. hence arose a fresh series of quarrels with nuremberg. the hatred of nuremberg for the elector albert is expressed in the unsparing satire of hans sachs, in which the full bitterness of ruthless patriotism finds vent. this poem is of so violent a nature that the council suppressed it, but a copy is still preserved in the library. it was written in after the markgraf's death, and describes the descent into hell of this "blütiger kriegsfürst." a spirit appears to hans and bids him accompany him for the purpose of seeing how the soul of a bloodthirsty warrior goes to--heaven, "ich will dir zeigen ein kriegsfürsten den allezeit hart nach blut ward dürsten welcher schier das ganze deutschland mit krieg erweckt--hat durch sein hand wollauf rund kom bald mit dar schan wie sein sel gen himmel far," and shows the reception the markgraf gets there from the soldiers he has not paid, the citizens and peasants, with their wives and children, whom he has robbed and ruined, and the wretched men whom he has forced to murder the helpless and innocent. the result of the treaty we have mentioned above was that the "interim" was revoked. religion was declared free. three years later came the peace of augsburg, with its legal recognition of the protestant states and its system of toleration--_cujus regio, ejus religio_--not of the sort to avert the evils of the thirty years war. [illustration: pellerhof] nuremberg was now at last at peace and kept on good terms with the new emperor. but the hapsburg emperors seldom visited her. in , however, the emperor maximilian ii. was welcomed with such pomp and jubilation as had greeted charles v. on this occasion the records mention the novelty of an elephant bearing a gold and grey canopy with a moorish _mahout_. again we are told that when the emperor matthias, then king of bohemia, stayed in the town in , on his way to be crowned king of rome, he was lodged, not in the castle but in the Ægidienplatz. the house of martin peller was intended for his residence, but to this the king's chamberlain objected on the ground that the queen did not care for that style of architecture and decoration. this house, on the north side of the Ægidienplatz, is a very fine specimen of rich florentine, renaissance building. it is interesting to observe how the façade has been adapted to the old german high-pitched roof. it was built in by jakob wolff, and is now used for the art and furniture show-rooms of herr j. a. eysser. within will be found a grand hall, court and staircase, carved and decorated in the same rich style, and upstairs a beautifully panelled room. the policy of the town during this period was purely defensive. the wars with the markgraf had cost nuremberg dear, and she now set herself to recover from their disastrous effects. her history for the next few years is a record of peace and of commercial and architectural activity. the great new building of the rathaus was begun in the year by jakob wolff, the younger. the outbreak of the thirty years war prevented it from ever being really completed. with regard to religious matters peace was preserved outwardly. whilst the struggles between the catholics and protestants and lutherans and calvinists and various other sects were being stubbornly fought out elsewhere, the nuremberg council was content to forbid the propagation of false doctrines by word or writing. _cujus regio, ejus religio_. they rejected the _konkordienformal_ drawn up at magdeburg and directed against melanchthon and his followers. and in they, in conjunction with the markgraf, published a sort of confession of faith, consisting of various lutheran and other theological works, which was signed by the clergy and accepted as a sort of rule for the churches. it was called the nuremberg konkordienbuch--_libri normales_--and every priest was required to swear to conform to it. perhaps one of the most important occurrences for nuremberg, in connection with these theological matters, was the founding of the university of altdorf (south-west of nuremberg). joachim camerarius, we are told, suggested to joachim haller, the superintendent of the nuremberg schools, that he should form a new school on the pattern of the monastic schools in saxony, at which youths were prepared for the university. this school was to be outside the town, so that there should be no distractions to interfere with the work of the students. the council approved of the scheme. the school was founded and endowed, and melanchthon's institution at st. Ægidien's was moved there. in the emperor raised it to the rank of a university. among the most famous of its _alumni_ was goethe's grandfather. leibnitz received his degree as doctor-of-law, and oberst von pappenheim and the great wallenstein matriculated there. but whilst pappenheim became rector for a short period, wallenstein, by reason of his wild excesses, was requested to leave after a residence of five months. the university, however, after a chequered career, fell at last on evil days: the new university of erlangen proved too powerful a rival on her borders, and in the old university of altdorf was by royal order abolished. chapter iv _nuremberg and the thirty years war_ wallenstein--gustavus adolphus--kaspar hauser. the catholic reaction was now in full swing. with the determination of catholicism to regain her ancient dominion came the thirty years war, the last and cruellest of the religious wars, which deprived germany of, some say, half her population, and turned a comparatively rich and prosperous country into a barren desert. the violence of duke maximilian of bavaria towards the town of donauwörth ( ), "which had been put under ban of the empire for some fault on the part of the populace against a flaring mass-procession which had no business to be there," filled the free-towns and protestant communities with dark forebodings of approaching disturbance. an evangelical league, "the union," was formed by the towns and princes for the purposes of self-defence against any attacks on religious freedom. nuremberg joined it in . this step was, of course, distasteful to the emperor, but nuremberg was left no choice in the matter. for the bishops of bamberg and eichstätt had forced the nuremberg evangelical subjects, living in their dioceses, to revert to the old religion. the catholic communities formed a counter-league. only a signal was wanted to make the opposing parties draw swords; and in the bohemian resistance to the suppression of the evangelical religion gave the signal for that bloody war, in which nuremberg was to endure her full share of suffering. but, first, for a long time she endeavoured to pursue her old policy of neutrality, keeping peace with both parties and remaining subject to the emperor. meantime, as one after another of the catholic generals passed through, men were quartered on nuremberg in ceaseless relays, and she was bled of money and provisions. the treasury was depleted; trade disorganised; and the peasantry suffered cruelly. in ferdinand ii. thought the time had come to strike a determined blow for catholicism, and he published an edict of restitution, giving back to the roman catholics all the ecclesiastical property and institutions which had been handed over to the evangelists by the treaty of passau and the peace of augsburg. this brought matters to a crisis. but even yet nuremberg did not follow the example of magdeburg and make a firm stand against religious aggressions. even when gustavus adolphus, the protestant champion, the lion of the north, had landed on the pomeranian coast, and made secret proposals of union with her, she turned a deaf ear to him, and received, with princely honours, wallenstein, duke of friedland, the catholic general, when on his way to memmingen. but at a convention of the evangelical communities at leipzig, called together by the elector of saxony, she did sign a complaint to the emperor with regard to religious oppression, and also an agreement of the communities to help each other in case of need, and to prevent the unbearable quartering of troops and other exactions of the emperor. then in came the fall of magdeburg. the subsequent horrors of that two-days' sack struck terror into the hearts of protestant germany. nuremberg gave in at once to the demands of the emperor. she denounced the leipzig convention, dismissed her soldiers, and paid the money required of her. in spite of these concessions, she had reason to fear that the freedom of the town would be forfeited. tilly's defeat at breitenfeld, however, prevented the emperor from carrying out his expressed intention. inspired by that victory of the swedes, the council plucked up courage to refuse almost all imperial contributions. if they had consulted the wishes of the citizens, they would have joined gustavus adolphus forthwith. they still hankered after neutrality, however, and even when gustavus adolphus informed them that he would treat neutrals as enemies, they would only promise to be true to the evangelical faith. the swedish king continued to press them, and, still in the hope of being able to keep in favour with the emperor, they sent a sum of money. but gustavus adolphus demanded their full and open support. they were still torn between the fear of offending the emperor and the desire of securing gustavus' aid. a sharp and menacing letter arrived. at last it was decided to send envoys to würtzburg with instructions to draw up a treaty, if there was no help for it. the result was that nuremberg and bayreuth drew up a treaty with gustavus adolphus (october ), in which money was promised, and it was arranged that a special alliance should be concluded in two months' time. they agreed to put their resources at his disposal, and to stand by him to the last, whilst he on his side promised to succour them in all danger, and to relieve them if besieged. in november they renounced their allegiance to the emperor, and lost not a moment in arming themselves. it was not too soon, for the cloud of war which had long been hanging over franconia broke at last. tilly took rothenburg on october th, and on the th of november lichtenau surrendered. negotiations with him were opened by nuremberg, to gain time, but, when he found how strongly fortified and garrisoned the town was, he drew off. he returned next year, but attempted nothing, for gustavus adolphus was now drawing near, to whom nuremberg, after much shilly-shallying, was persuaded, by dint of threats, to send men with arms and ammunition. in march , the king, leaving his army near fürth, entered the town by the spittlerthor amidst the heart-felt enthusiasm of the people, who had never approved of the pusillanimous policy of the council. the defender of the protestants received a splendid and affecting welcome. the patricians rode out to meet him before the gates. they presented him with four cannons and, amongst other works of art, two silver globes supported by figures of atlas and hercules respectively, which are still to be seen in the museum at stockholm. "tears of joy streamed down the cheeks of bearded men as they welcomed the deliverer from the north, whose ready jest and beaming smile would have gone straight to the popular heart even if his deserts had been less. the picture of gustavus was soon in every house, and a learned citizen set to work at once to compose a pedigree by which he proved to his own satisfaction that the swedish king was descended from the old hereditary burggrafs of the town."[ ] the same day, with further reinforcements from nuremberg, he went on his way south to deliver donauwörth. three months later wallenstein, breaking up from bohemia, directed his whole force upon nuremberg, which thus became the chief scene in that drama immortalised by schiller in his trilogy of plays. for no sooner did gustavus hear that wallenstein with the imperial army was marching against her than, mindful of his pledge and eager not to sacrifice so valued an ally, he summoned all his reinforcements and set out to the relief of nuremberg. thus beneath her walls the protestant king and the inscrutable catholic general were to be brought face to face at last. the citizens had for some time past been anxiously increasing their fortifications, storing provisions, and enlisting soldiers. now, between june st and july th, under the direction of hans olph, the swedish engineer, and with the aid of gustavus' army, an entirely new ring of earthworks was constructed enclosing the suburbs. men and women, soldiers, burghers and peasants, laboured night and day at these entrenchments, which were provided with many small bastions and redoubts, and defended by over cannon. round them was dug a moat eight feet deep and twelve feet wide. very few traces of these fortifications, which were removed soon after , can be found to-day. in the swedish camp lay some , veterans, for whom , pounds of bread were supplied per diem. within the city was a population of at least , , of whom were fighting men, of these being armed citizens. such were the resources with which gustavus hoped to do battle with wallenstein's gigantic army of , men and , horse. his preparations were not yet complete when wallenstein appeared, july , at schwabach. had he consulted the wishes of gustavus or listened to the advice of the elector of bavaria, wallenstein would have attacked the swedes at once. but, though superior in numbers, he would not pit his newly enrolled troops against the veterans of the swedish king. he preferred to entrench himself in a strong position on the hills above fürth, and to starve his enemy out. by the th of july he had completed a camp, which, if not so skilfully engineered as that of the swedes, was, thanks to the natural advantages of the ground, almost impregnable. this vast camp, nearly eight miles round, stretched from the left banks of the rednitz, from stein, over the stream of the biebert, and enclosed the villages of zierndorf, altenberg, unterasbach, and kreutles. every house and village and advantage of the ground was turned to account and utilised for defence. the ruin of an old _burgstall_--the _alte veste_--a castle which had been destroyed in during the great _städtekrieg_ by the nurembergers, formed the most important outwork. here, where the hill is at its highest, was the northernmost point of the camp, and from this fortress on the steep, wooded ridge across four miles of clear plain, through which the little rednitz winds its course, wallenstein gazed sternly on the climbing roofs and splendid mansions, the gabled houses and innumerable turrets of the beleaguered city. to-day, a modern tower, some eighty feet high, rears its head above the woods that crown the hill, and the adjoining inn is a favourite place of resort with the inhabitants of fürth and nuremberg. but some few traces of the old fortress and of wallenstein's entrenchments may yet be found, and he who loves "to summon up remembrance of things past" will find food enough for his imagination when he attempts to reconstruct the scene of that terrible encampment. for terrible it was both to besiegers and besieged. gustavus was cut off from his base of supplies in the upper danube and rhine by this great entrenched camp south-west of nuremberg, and all the roads leading into franconia were scoured by wallenstein's light croatian cavalry. though provisions had at first been plentiful, the resources of the city were soon strained to the uttermost by the influx of peasants who had fled for refuge from the country. the mills and bakeries were unable to supply bread fast enough to the starving inhabitants, so that mobs fought outside the bakers' shops in their desperate haste for food. famine laid hold of the city first, then of the swedish, and finally of the imperial camp. and in the path of famine followed, as ever, pestilence. pestilence in july, in a mediæval city, crowded with grim soldiers, grown shrunken and meagre, with starving women and whitefaced children--it would require the pen of a flaubert or a zola to describe. worse than all for gustavus to bear, when want came to be felt in the army, there came the relaxation of that discipline on which he had prided himself. the citizens complained that his swedish troops were behaving like austrian banditti. sending for the chief germans in his service, the king rated them soundly in a famous oration. never was his majesty seen before in such a rage. "they are no swedes who commit these crimes," he said truly enough, "but you germans yourselves. you princes, counts, lords, and noblemen, are showing great disloyalty and wickedness on your own fatherland, which you are ruining. you colonels and officers, from the highest to the lowest, it is you who steal and rob everyone, without making any exceptions. "you plunder your own brothers in the faith. had i known that you had been a people so wanting in natural affection for your country, i would never have saddled a horse for your sakes, much less imperilled my life and my crown and my brave swedes and finns. it is your inhumanity towards your mother-country that has tarnished the glory of my victorious subjects. my heart is filled with gall when i see anyone of you behaving thus villainously. for you cause men to say openly, 'the king, our friend, does us more harm than our enemies.' if you were real christians you would consider what i am doing for you, how i am spending my life in your service. i came but to restore every man to his own, but this most accursed and devilish robbing of yours doth much abate my purpose. i have given up the treasures of my crown for your sake, and have not enriched myself so much as by one pair of boots since my coming to germany, though i have had forty tons of gold passing through my hands. "enter into your hearts, and think how sad you are making me, so that the tears stand in my eyes. you treat me ill with your evil discipline; i do not say with your evil fighting: for in that you have behaved like honourable gentlemen, and for that i am much obliged to you. take my warning to heart, and we will soon show our enemies that we are honest men and honourable gentlemen." again when informed that a soldier had stolen a cow, he turned a deaf ear to him as he pleaded for his life, for "my son," he said, "it is better that thou shouldst expiate thy offence by the sacrifice of life than that thy crime should draw down the vengeance of the almighty upon me and thy gallant comrades; for though i consider every soldier in the light of a child, yet i am destined to perform the duties of a judge, no less than those of a parent." so for two weary months plague, famine and wounds did their fell work inside and out. the hospitals were full to overflowing. the graves could not be dug fast enough to hold the dead. the countless victims of hunger and pestilence lay for days in the trenches, poisoning the air. in the streets were strewn the half-decayed bodies of men and horses, eaten of pigs. but if the protestants suffered so did the imperialists. and always wallenstein sat implacable on the height refusing to join battle, waiting grimly till starvation should have done its work and the sack of magdeburg could be repeated. for gustavus must either attack wallenstein in his impregnable position or march away the city to its fate. the arrival of reinforcements, which increased the king's army to , men, determined him to make a general assault on the alte veste and the northern side of the camp. it will be clear to anyone who examines the ground that this was an almost impossible undertaking, the forlornest of forlorn hopes. what desperate courage could do was done. for ten hours the swedes stormed undaunted against fearful odds and with fearful losses. three times they got actual footing in the burgstall itself; three times they were hurled back. at last gustavus, who had had a piece of the sole of his right boot shot off, and had always been in the thickest part of the fight, dragging the cannon to points of vantage and aiming them with his own hands, was obliged to relinquish the desperate enterprise. "we have done a stupid thing to-day," was his comment. for the first time in his life, indeed, he was conquered, because he was not conqueror. but wallenstein's claws were cut: he had suffered little less than gustavus in the fight round the alte veste. nuremberg was saved for the present, for wallenstein was in no condition to prosecute a siege. after fifteen days, therefore (september ), gustavus, unable to stay for lack of supplies, and failing to entice the enemy into battle on the plain, marched away into thuringia, and two months later, on the field of lutzen, he fell in the moment of victory when he had defeated his old enemy. before that, however, ten days after he had departed, and a week after wallenstein had broken up his camp, gustavus came back to fürth and looked at what had been the enemy's position. it is said that he had breakfast on the round stone table still to be found at the alte veste, and known as the _schweden tisch_. once more, in october, he returned, drove the imperial troops out of the nuremberg territory, and took his last farewell of the town. the treaty of westphalia brought the thirty years war to an end in , but not before the interruption of commerce and the extraordinary exertions she had made had reduced the resources of nuremberg to a very low ebb, and saddled her with a load of debt from which she never recovered. when at last peace was announced, the festivals with which she celebrated it reflected the last splendour of the once prosperous city. karl gustav, as representative of the crown of sweden, gave a magnificent dinner--the "_friedensmal_"--in the rathaus to celebrate this occasion. the council ordered a neptune with nymphs and dolphins, designed by christoph ritter, and figures modelled by georg schweigger, to be placed in the middle of the market-place. it was, for some reason, placed in the peünt-hof. it was sold in to paul of russia to raise money. another incident which is recorded of these days of rejoicing is as follows: when peace was proclaimed with france, octavio piccolomini was staying in the pellerhaus, and he gave a dance to the peasants. now a rumour was circulated that all the boys who appeared on hobby-horses before his house on the following sunday would get a silver coin. they assembled accordingly, and when he heard the reason of this extraordinary parade, he told them to come next sunday, and then gave them each a four-cornered medal--still to be seen in numismatic collections--with a picture of a hobby-horse, and the date on it. through the peace of westphalia nuremberg with the other free towns obtained full political equality with the princes of the empire. their representatives, who before only had a voice in the discussions, now enjoyed the full right of voting. but, in spite of this, the political importance of nuremberg began to disappear. her sovereignty, her right of peace and war, were recognised. but she became a quiet and obedient attendant of the reichstag in regensburg, paying her quota of men and money, and supporting the hapsburg interests. her energy, in fact, had been exhausted. the census of her citizens in amounted to , ; in to , . with the decrease in her population, her prosperity decreased. the load of debt accumulated during the thirty years war weighed her down. her trade, like that of augsburg and all the other german towns, went from bad to worse. dislocated during the war, it could not recover now. chief among the causes of decay must be counted the circumnavigation of the cape of good hope. prior to that, all merchandise from the east was obliged to travel overland into europe and came for distribution by way of germany. nuremberg then naturally became the chief entrepôt. now she suffered, with venice, from the discovery of this new channel of commerce. the venetians had boasted that thanks to them nuremberg had come from nothing to be the richest town in germany. the fondaco dei tedeschi, the german quarter in venice since the days of the crusades, still bears witness to their connection with the german traders, and, in nuremberg, winged lions on many of the houses still record the same fact. other and more avoidable causes contributed to the decrease of nuremberg trade. she adopted an exaggerated system of protection, and levied exorbitant taxes on goods brought into or through the country. in the old days every good thing had been said to come out of nuremberg (was gut sein sollte, wurde aus nürnberg verschrieben); now the output of her manufactures was foolishly limited by rules. in some trades, for instance, only the son or the husband of a widow of a master might become a master craftsman. hence many failed to find employment, and set up in the surrounding country as competitors. the selfish and misguided prejudices of the trades led also to the exclusion of the protestant weavers who had been exiled from france or flanders, and who, finding asylum elsewhere, soon became rivals of the shortsighted nurembergers. the council, too, suffered and aided the common degeneration. a narrow, effete, and selfish oligarchy, it became more tyrannical as it became more incompetent. the authors of libels and satires, criticising it, were rewarded with lifelong imprisonment. more and more the patrician families drew together and separated themselves from the common people. they clung closer to their exclusive privileges as they became less worthy of them. endeavouring to become more like the landed nobility, they began to abandon business, and withdrew from the state the capital and brains which had formerly made it prosperous. they grew, indeed, in their false pride, so ashamed of trade that they said that no nuremberg patrician had ever had to do with business! so a proud and poor nobility came to take the place of rich and patriotic merchant princes. some even gave up their rights of citizenship and went to live on their property outside nuremberg, thus still further weakening the council and quarrelling with it over rights of taxation. from war, also, nuremberg suffered. besides her own private bickerings with the markgraf, she felt the wars with france, the war of the austrian succession, and suffered still more in the seven years war. in a fresh struggle arose between the council and the town over a new tax which it was sought to impose without consultation. the citizens made a fruitless complaint to the imperial court. then the council appealed to the diet, saying that the town was overtaxed. an inquiry into her finances showed that nuremberg was heavily in debt and practically bankrupt. there had been a large yearly deficit since . a commission to economise and to govern was appointed from both councils, and in an arrangement was confirmed by the emperor by which the larger council was to consist of members ( of whom were to be patricians), chosen by the smaller council. the citizens, however, were not contented, complaining that they were still not properly represented. meanwhile an event had occurred which drove another nail into the coffin of the free imperial city. in , charles alexander, markgraf of brandenburg, ansbach and bayreuth, died childless, and the government of his principalities passed to prussia, together with the old claims of the franconian line of the brandenburg house. a minister, graf karl august von hardenberg, the famous chancellor, was appointed to rule these lands. in the name of the king of prussia he asserted his right of supremacy over all the territory up to the gates of the town itself. the oldest claims of the _burggräflichen_ times were reasserted by the prussians. nuremberg was powerless to resist. even so her troubles were not yet ended. a prussian army had occupied fürth on july , , and in august a vanguard of the french victorious army, which was swarming over south germany, entered nuremberg on the th of august. the scenes of the thirty years war were repeated. the country was ravaged, and the town called upon for contributions. it was impossible to comply at once with these demands. eighteen citizens were therefore taken away to france as hostages. when, a few weeks later, the french army withdrew, after the archduke karl's victory, a fresh contribution was demanded. in despair the town almost unanimously decided to seek union with their old enemy, the king of prussia. but he refused this grecian gift, for the debt of the town was enormous. then the council turned to the emperor and offered to accept an imperial commission, which introduced some financial reforms. but the year brought more french troops into nuremberg, who were a further strain upon her resources. even after the peace of pressburg the long agony of the imperial free city was continued, till in by a decree of napoleon, in the th article of the rheinbund act, it was laid down that "the town and territory of nuremberg be united to bavaria with full sovereignty and possession." on the th of august , emperor francis abdicated, and the holy roman empire, "which was a grand object once, but had gone about in a superannuated and plainly crazy state for some centuries back, was at last put out of pain and allowed to cease from the world." since then the story of nuremberg is swallowed up in the history of united germany. she has shared and still shares in the growing prosperity of the new empire. the first railway in germany was opened in between nuremberg and fürth. her hops, her toys, her cakes, her railway-carriages, her lead-pencils, are they not known the world over? new buildings have sprung up on every side of her: the suburbs are themselves great manufacturing towns. the population has grown to , . these are all things on which she may most sincerely be congratulated; but whatever her prosperity in the present or the future, her golden age, we feel, is in the past. she is albert durer's and hans sachs' city. * * * * * we began by hinting that the atmosphere of nuremberg is mediæval, that of a city of legend. we will close this account of her history with the brief narration of her last, her nineteenth century myth. for we cannot pass over in silence the curious case of kaspar hauser. at a time when europe was still dripping from the douche of sentimentality in which it had been bathed by the sorrows of werther and the romanticism of byron, kaspar hauser appeared suddenly in nuremberg. his astonishing story achieved a european celebrity. the history of this impostor has recently been placed once more before the public by the duchess of cleveland,[ ] with the object of clearing her father from imputations which would have been ridiculous if they had not been so impudent. charity, and the facts of the case, enable us to add with regard to kaspar himself, that if he was an impostor he was also half a lunatic; for we can trace in the records of his career, among other symptoms of a diseased brain, the mania of persecution, an over acute and perverted sense of smell, a restless love of notoriety, and an ineradicable habit of lying. on easter monday, may , a lad of seventeen, dressed like a countryman, appeared outside the neue thor, and asked, in the low bavarian dialect, his way to the neue thor strasse. he had with him two letters in one envelope addressed to "the captain of the th squadron of the schmolischer regiment, neue thor strasse, nuremberg." they ran as follows, in handwriting exactly similar to kaspar's:-- "honored sir,--i send you a lad who wishes to serve his king truly; this lad was brought to me on oct. , . i am a poor day labourer, with ten children of my own; i have enough to do to get on at all. his mother asked me to bring up the boy. i asked her no questions, nor have i given notice to the county police that i had taken the boy. i thought i ought to take him as my son. i have brought him up as a good christian, and since i have never let him go a step away from the house, so no one knows where he has been brought up, and he himself does not know the name of my house or of the place; you may ask him, but he can't tell you. i have taught him to read and to write; he can write as well as myself. when we ask him what he would like to be, he says a soldier, like his father. if he had parents (which he has not) he would have been a scholar: only show him a thing and he can do it. "honoured sir, you may question him, but he don't know where i live. i brought him away in the middle of the night; he can't find his way back." dated, "from the bavarian frontier; place not named." the second letter ran thus:-- "the boy is baptized, his name is kaspar; his other name you must give him. i ask you to bring him up. his father was a schmolischer (trooper). when he is seventeen send him to nuremberg to the th schmolischer regiment; that is where his father was. i beg you to bring him up till he is seventeen. he was born on april , . i am so poor, i can't keep the boy; his father is dead." in answer to the captain's questions the lad would only reply: "my foster-father bade me say, 'i don't know, your honour.'" the result was that he was placed in a prison cell in the castle. that was neither a fair nor a judicious proceeding. the garbled story of a wild man, a wronged man, quickly spread through the town. feigning at first an intense fear and animal stupidity, it seems probable that kaspar picked up from the visitors who discussed his history in his presence the suggestion of the marvellous tale which he presently told, and which made so tremendous a sensation. it was a tale demonstrably false on the face of it--of a life spent in close and solitary confinement in a cell, without knowledge of his kind or acquaintance with the outside world. here is his story as he told it to the nuremberg magistrates, and as it found acceptance in credulous quarters. "all his life," he said, "had been spent in a cell or feet long, feet wide, and feet high, and always in a sitting posture; the only change in which was that when awake he sat upright, but leant back on a truss of straw when he slept. there were two small windows, but they were both boarded up, and as it was always twilight he never knew the difference between day and night. nor did he ever feel hot or cold. he saw no one, and no sound of any kind ever reached his ear. each morning, when he awoke, he found a pitcher of water and a loaf of rye bread by his side. he was often thirsty, and when he had emptied his pitcher, he used to watch to see whether the water would come again, as he had no idea how it was brought there. sometimes it tasted strangely and made him feel sleepy. he had toys to play with--two wooden horses and a wooden dog, and he spent his time in rolling them about, and dressing them up with ribbons. "one day a stool was placed across his knees, with a piece of paper upon it: an arm was stretched out over his shoulder, a pencil put into his hand, which was taken hold of, and guided over the paper. 'i never looked round to see whom the arm belonged to. why should i? i had no conception of any other creature beside myself.' this proceeding was repeated seven or eight times: the arm was then withdrawn, but the stool and paper left behind. he tried to copy the letters he had been made to trace, and pleased with this new occupation, persevered till he had succeeded. thus it was that he learned to write his name. about three days afterwards--as far as he could judge--the man came again and brought a little book (a prayer-book which was found on him). this was placed on his knees and his hand laid upon it; then, pointing to one of the wooden horses, the man kept on repeating the word 'ross' (horse) till he had learned to say it after him. according to his own account, this was the first time in his life he had ever heard a sound of any kind, as the man came and went noiselessly. then, in the same fashion, he was taught two sentences--'in the big village, where my father is, i shall get a fine horse.' 'i want to be a trooper as my father was'--which he repeated by rote, of course without understanding them. when his lesson was learnt the man went away, and he began playing with his toys, making so much noise that the man returned and gave him a smart blow with a stick, which hurt him very much. "'after that i was always quiet.' the last time the man came it was to take him away. his clothes had been changed while he slept; a pair of boots were now brought and put on; he was hoisted up on the man's shoulders, and carried up a steep incline into the open air. it was night-time and quite dark. he was laid down on the ground, and fell asleep at once. when he awoke, he was lifted upon his feet, and placed in front of the man, who, holding him under the arms, pushed forward his legs with his own, and showed him how to walk. but the pain and fatigue were very great, and he cried bitterly. the man said impatiently, 'leave off crying at once, or you shall not get that horse;' and he thereupon obeyed. then he was again lifted up and carried; again dropped asleep, and again he woke to find himself lying on the ground. this was repeated over and over again. there were the same painful attempts to walk; the same floods of tears, checked by the same threat; and then the same rest on the ground, with 'something soft' under his cheek. by degrees he began to walk alone, supported by the man's arm, though at first only six steps at a time. the sunshine and fresh air together dazzled and bewildered him, and he scarcely took note where they went. they never travelled on a beaten track, but generally on soft sand; never went up or down hill, or crossed a stream. sometimes he attempted to look about him; then the man instantly desired him to hold his head down. his clothes were once more changed; but the man, even while dressing him, stood behind him, so that he might not see his face. the two sentences he had learned were again and again impressed on his memory as he went along, the man always adding impressively, 'mind this well.' "he also said, 'when you are a trooper like your father, i will come and fetch you again.' "the journey cannot have been a long one, as he only took food once; he himself computed it had lasted a day and a night. "finally the letter was put into his hands with the words: 'go there--where the letter belongs;' and the man suddenly vanished from his side. he found himself alone in the street of nuremberg--having never till then perceived that he had entered the town, or, in fact, seen it at all. he was quite dazed and helpless, but someone kindly came and took charge of him and his letter." ... so great was the interest caused by this story, which easily roused the sympathy of the illogical--people are always readier to sympathise than to inquire--that kaspar was (july ) formally adopted by the town of nuremberg. an annual sum of florins was voted for his maintenance and education. he became the idol of society. it was openly hinted that he was the legitimate son of the reigning house of baden, who stood in the way of the next in succession, and would have been long since in his grave had he not been rescued by a faithful retainer, who kept him in close confinement to conceal him from his pursuers. in the course of a year or so, however, the interest in him began to wane. his tutor, who had at first been delighted with him, was beginning to find him out. kaspar, in fact, was both cunning and untruthful. one day a particularly gross instance of his deceitfulness came to his tutor's knowledge. the same morning nuremberg was electrified by the news that kaspar's life had been attempted in broad daylight, and actually under his tutor's roof. a man, he said, with a black handkerchief drawn across his face, had suddenly confronted him, and aimed at him a blow with a heavy woodman's knife, crying, "after all, you will have to die before you leave nuremberg." the voice was the voice of the man who had brought him to the town. he described him accurately. but no such man could be traced. the wound was very slight. almost certainly it was self-inflicted, with the object of stimulating the flagging public interest by a new and romantic incident. that at any rate was its effect. pamphlets by the dozen appeared, and in president von feuerbach published his "history of a crime against a human soul," which moved all hearts by the pathos and eloquence with which it pleaded the cause of the mysteriously persecuted "child of europe." but the nurembergers were no longer eager to continue their allowance to the boy, so lord stanhope, who had always befriended him, now came forward, and made himself responsible for his education and maintenance. the rest of kaspar's life is somewhat dismal reading. he had to endure the process of being found out by successive people at successive places, for he had all the astuteness but also all the vanity of a lunatic. once again, it appears, he attempted to reawaken the flagging interest of the public. at ansbach he tried to repeat his nuremberg success, and to confirm the existence of the mysterious persecutor who was supposed to haunt him. but this time he failed. once more he got stabbed, but instead of a slight, he inflicted on himself a deadly wound. now though he had taken much trouble to make the conditions of the affair as mysterious and misleading as possible, a long judicial investigation resulted in the irresistible conclusion that "no murder was committed." at ansbach stands the tomb of the poor deluded and deluding "child of europe," a monument of folly not all his own. "hic jacet casparus hauser Ænigma sui temporis ignota nativitas occulta mors, ." chapter v _the castle, the walls and mediæval fortifications_ "aufwärts ich mit dem alten ging nach einer königlichen veste, am fels erbauet auf das beste; manch thurm auf felsvorsprüngen lag, darin ein kaiserlich gemach. geziert nach meisterlichen sinnen die fenster waren und die zinnen; darum ein graben war gehauen in harten fels." --hans sachs. nuremberg is set upon a series of small slopes in the midst of an undulating, sandy plain, some feet above the sea. here and there on every side fringes and patches of the mighty forest which once covered it are still visible; but for the most part the plain is now freckled with picturesque villages, in which stand old turreted châteaux, with gabled fronts and latticed windows, or it is clothed with carefully cultivated crops or veiled from sight by the smoke which rises from the new-grown forest of factory chimneys. the railway sets us down outside the walls of the city. as we walk from the station towards the frauen thor, and stand beneath the crown of fortified walls three and a half miles in circumference, and gaze at the old grey towers and picturesque confusion of domes, pinnacles and spires, suddenly it seems as if our dream of a feudal city has been realised. there, before us, is one of the main entrances, still between massive gates and beneath archways flanked by stately towers. still to reach it we must cross a moat fifty feet deep and a hundred feet wide. true, the swords of old days have been turned into pruning-hooks; the crenelles and embrasures which once bristled and blazed with cannon are now curtained with brambles and wallflowers, and festooned with virginia creepers; the galleries are no longer crowded with archers and cross-bowmen; the moat itself has blossomed into a garden, luxuriant with limes and acacias, elders, planes, chestnuts, poplars, walnut, willow and birch trees, or divided into carefully tilled little garden plots. true it is that outside the moat, beneath the smug grin of substantial modern houses, runs that mark of modernity, the electric tram. but let us for the moment forget these gratifying signs of modern prosperity and, turning to the left ere we enter the frauen thor, walk with our eyes on the towers which, with their steep-pitched roofs and myriad shapes and richly coloured tiles, mark the intervals in the red-bricked, stone-cased galleries and mighty bastions, till we come to the first beginnings of nuremberg--the castle. there, on the highest eminence of the town, stands that venerable fortress, crowning the red slope of tiles. roofs piled on roofs, their pinnacles, turrets, points and angles heaped one above the other in a splendid confusion, climb the hill which culminates in the varied group of buildings on the castle rock. we have passed the spittler, mohren, haller and neu gates on our way, and we have crossed by the hallerthorbrücke the pegnitz where it flows into the town. before us rise the bold scarps and salient angles of the bastions built by the italian architect, antonio fazuni, called the maltese ( - ). crossing the moat by a wooden bridge which curls round to the right, we enter the town by the thiergärtnerthor. the right-hand corner house opposite us now is albert durer's house. we turn to the left and go along the obere schmiedgasse and the row of houses labelled am oelberg, till we arrive at the top of a steep hill (burgstrasse). above, on the left, is the castle, and close at hand the "mount of olives" sculpture (see p. ). we may now either go through the himmels thor to the left, or keeping straight up under the old trees and passing the "mount of olives" on the left, approach the large deep-roofed building between two towers. this is the kaiserstallung, as it is called, the imperial stables, built originally for a granary. the towers are the luginsland (look in the land) on the east, and the fünfeckiger thurm, the five-cornered tower, at the west end (on the left hand as we thus face it). the luginsland was built by the townspeople in the hard winter of . the mortar for building it, tradition says, had to be mixed with salt, so that it might be kept soft and be worked in spite of the severe cold. the chronicles state that one could see right into the burggraf's castle from this tower, and the town was therefore kept informed of any threatening movements on his part. to some extent that was very likely the object in view when the tower was built, but chiefly it must have been intended, as its name indicates, to afford a far look-out into the surrounding country. the granary or kaiserstallung, as it was called later, was erected in , and is referred to by hans behaim as lying between the five-cornered and the luginsland towers. inside the former there is a museum of curiosities (hans sachs' harp) and the famous collection of instruments of torture and the maiden (eiserne jungfrau), to which we shall refer at greater length in the next chapter. the open space [illustration: the castle from the hallerthorbrÜcke] adjoining it commands a splendid view to the north. there, too, on the parapet-wall, may be seen the hoof-marks of the horse of the robber-knight, ekkelein von gailingen, whose story we have already narrated (p. ). here for a moment let us pause, consider our position, and endeavour to make out from the conflicting theories of the archæologists something of the original arrangement of the castles and of the significance of the buildings and towers that yet remain. stretching to the east of the rock on which the castle stands is a wide plain, now the scene of busy industrial enterprise, but in old days no doubt a mere district of swamp and forest. westwards the rock rises by three shelves to the summit. the entrance to the castle, it is surmised, was originally on the east side, at the foot of the lower plateau and through a tower which no longer exists. opposite this hypothetical gate-tower stood the five-cornered tower. the lower part dates, we have seen, from no earlier than the eleventh century. it is referred to as alt-nürnberg (old nuremberg) in the middle ages. the title of "five-cornered" is really somewhat a misnomer, for an examination of the interior of the lower portion of the tower reveals the fact that it is quadrangular. the pentagonal appearance of the exterior is due to the fragment of a smaller tower which once leant against it, and probably formed the apex of a wing running out from the old castle of the burggrafs. the burggräfliche burg stood below, according to mummenhof, south-west and west of this point. it was burnt down in , and the ruined remains of it are supposed to be traceable in the eminence, now overgrown by turf and trees, through which a sort of ravine, closed in on either side by built-up walls, has just brought us from the town to the vestner thor. the burggrafs' castle would appear to have been so situated as to protect the approach to the imperial castle (kaiserburg). the exact extent of the former we cannot now determine. meisterlin refers to it as _parvum fortalitium_--a little fort. we may, however, be certain that it reached from the five-cornered tower to the walpurgiskapelle. for this little chapel, east of the open space called the freiung, is repeatedly spoken of as being on the property of the burggrafs. besides their castle proper, which was held at first as a fief of the empire, and afterwards came to be regarded as their hereditary, independent property, the burggrafs were also entrusted with the keeping of a tower which commanded the entrance to the castle rock on the country side, perhaps near the site of the present vestner thor. the _custodia portæ_ may have been attached to the tower, the lower portion of which remains to this day, and is called the bailiff's dwelling (burgamtmannswohnung). the exact relationship of the burggraf to the town on the one hand, and to the empire on the other, is, as we have already observed, somewhat obscure. originally, it would appear, he was merely an imperial officer, administering imperial estates, and looking after imperial interests. in later days he came to possess great power, but this was due not to his position as castellan or castle governor as such, but to the vast private property his position had enabled him to amass and to keep. as the scope and ambitions of the burggrafs increased, and as the smallness of their castle at nuremberg, and the constant friction with the townspeople, who were able to annoy them in many ways, became more irksome, they gave up living at nuremberg, and finally were content to sell their rights and possessions there to the town. besides the _custodia portæ_ of the burggrafs, which together with their castle passed by purchase into the hands of the town ( ), there were various other similar guard towers, such as the one which formerly occupied the present site of the luginsland, or the hasenburg at the so-called himmels thor, or a third which once stood near the deep well on the second plateau of the castle rock. but we do not know how many of these there were, or where they stood, much less at what date they were built. all we do know is that they, as well as the burggrafs' possessions, were purchased in succession by the town, into whose hands by degrees came the whole property of the castle rock. above the ruins of the "little fort" of the burggrafs rises the first plateau of the castle rock. it is surrounded by a wall, strengthened on the south side (_l_) by a square tower against which leans the walpurgiskapelle. the path to the kaiserburg leads under the wall of the plateau, and is entirely commanded by it and by the quadrangular tower, the lower part of which alone remains and is known by the name of burgamtmannswohnung (_r_). the path goes straight to this tower, and at the foot of it is the entrance to the first plateau. then along the edge of this plateau the way winds southwards (_l_), entirely commanded again by the wall of the second plateau, at the foot of which there probably used to be a trench. over this a bridge led to the gate of the second plateau. the trench has been long since filled in, but the huge round tower which guarded the gate still remains and is the vestner thurm (_r_).[ ] the vestner thurm or sinwel thurm (sinwel = round), or, as it is called in a charter of the year , the "turm in der mitte," is the only round tower of the burg. it was built in the days of early gothic, with a sloping base, and of roughly flattened stones with a smooth edge. it was partly restored and altered in , when it was made a few feet higher and its round roof was added. it is worth paying the small gratuity required for ascending to the top. the view obtained of the city below is magnificent. the vestner thurm, like the whole imperial castle, passed at length into the care of the town, which kept its tower watch here as early as the fourteenth century.[ ] [illustration: vestner thurm] the well which supplied the second plateau with water, the "deep well," _tiefer brunnen_, as it is called, stands in the centre, surrounded by a wall. it is feet deep, hewn out of the solid rock, and is said to have been wrought by the hands of prisoners, and to have been the labour of thirty years. so much we can easily believe as we lean over and count the six seconds that elapse between the time when an object is dropped from the top to the time when it strikes the water beneath. passages lead from the water's edge to the rathaus, by which prisoners came formerly to draw water, and to st. john's churchyard and other points outside the town. the system of underground passages here and in the castle was an important part of the defences, affording as it did a means of communication with the outer world and as a last extremity, in the case of a siege, a means of escape.[ ] meanwhile, leaving the deep well and passing some insignificant modern dwellings (_r_), and leaving beneath us on the left the himmelsthor, let us approach the summit of the rock and the buildings of the kaiserburg itself. as we advance to the gateway with the intention of ringing the bell for the castellan, we notice on the left the double chapel, attached to the heidenthurm (heathen tower, see page ), the lower part of which is encrusted with what were once supposed to be pagan images. the tower protrudes beyond the face of the third plateau, and its prominence may indicate the width of a trench, now filled in, which was once dug outside the enclosing wall of the summit of the rock. the whole of the south side of this plateau is taken up by the _palas_ (the vast hall, two stories high, which, though it has been repeatedly rebuilt, may in its original structure be traced back as far as the twelfth century), and the _kemnate_ or dwelling-rooms which seem to have been without any means of defence. this plateau, like the second, is supplied with a well. but the first object that strikes the eye on entering the court-yard is the ruined lime-tree, the branches of which once spread their broad and verdant shelter over the whole extent of the quadrangle. the empress kunigunde planted it, says the legend, some seven hundred years ago. for once, when king henry was a-hunting, he came in the pursuit of a deer to the edge of a steep precipice, and this in the heat of the chase he did not perceive, but would have fallen headlong had not a lime-branch, at which he grasped in his extremity, stopped and saved him. and he, recognising the special protection of the most high, broke off a twig of the lime-tree in remembrance of his wonderful preservation, and brought it to his anxious wife, who planted it at once with her own hands in the earth, and it soon grew into a beautiful tree. a modern staircase leads from the court to the rooms of the castle. they have been much spoilt by being rebuilt in modern gothic style by voit ( ) and being furnished as a royal residence. some objects of considerable interest, however, may still be seen here. in the great hall and in the bedrooms will be found some magnificent old stoves by augustin hirschvogel and others; whilst in the various rooms may be seen some fine stained glass and some heraldic paintings of albert durer's time. the single large spread-eagle on the ceiling of the writing-room (which was discovered in after two other ceilings had been removed) is especially remarkable. the windows command splendid views of the surrounding country. there are a few pictures in the hall of unequal interest. they are mostly copies of italian painters; but we may mention the venus and cupid by lucas cranach, the mocking of christ by hans schäuffelein, durer's favourite pupil, and others by artists of the old nuremberg and flemish schools. a narrow staircase leads from the dining-hall to the _emperor's chapel_ (kaiser-kapelle). it was built in the twelfth century by one of the hohenstaufen emperors, very likely by frederick barbarossa himself, when the growing favour with which nuremberg was regarded gave rise to the need of a larger and more splendid building than the primitive _st. margaret's chapel_ and fort which already existed. a rebuilding and enlarging of the imperial castle then took place, and the beautiful emperor-chapel was superimposed on the margaret-chapel, thus forming the two-storied or double chapel. romanesque in style, it is comparatively uninjured, and resembles the double chapel of eger, where the lower chapel is also attributed to barbarossa. the two chapels are very different in character. the lower, which was used as a gruftkapelle[ ] or place of sepulture, is solemn and almost gloomy in effect; the upper, whilst harmonising with the lower, is in a much lighter and more charming style. the plan of the lower chapel is rectangular with an extension into the heathen tower in the shape of a rectangular choir, lighted by a romanesque window. the low, round vaulting of this, the st. margaret's chapel, rests on two low four-cornered pillars and on four columns, the capitals of which, hewn from great blocks, are richly sculptured, one with four eagles, two with foliage, and the fourth with masks. they were, according to the manner of construction customary at nuremberg, set up unwrought and only carved afterwards, as may be seen from the capital of the south-west column, which is only decorated on the two inner sides, the other two being unfinished. from the walls spring heavy brackets to receive the plinths of the arches which support the cross-vaulting. the two low pillars mentioned above divide the main body of the chapel from an irregular intermediate building adjoining the castle. entrance to the upper, or kaiser, chapel is only possible from the lower rooms of the castle, whence, above the flight of steps already referred to, a gothic doorway now leads to the chapel, by way of a vestibule or entrance hall. this hall is situated exactly over the western irregular section of the lower chapel. the low stout pillars which support the vaulting correspond in their ornamentation with that of the lower chapel. on the hexagonal capitals of one we find four of the familiar mediæval masks, whilst on both of them the sculptured foliage and basket-work recall that of the margaret chapel. in the wall which separates the vestibule from the castle a small connecting staircase leads up to a platform, which opens out in two arches towards the chapel and probably formed the imperial oratory. it is in immediate connection with the upper rooms of the castle by means of a gothic door which has replaced a romanesque gateway. thus the emperor could easily reach his seat in the chapel from the castle. ascending three steps, one arrives through a broad archway at the raised choir, which also resembles the margaret chapel in its ornamentation. but the most striking and distinctive feature of the kaiserkapelle, which gives it its characteristically light and graceful appearance, is the four slender columns of white marble, with richly decorated capitals and bases, which support the vaulting. one of the columns is built of two pieces. an unwrought ring covers the seam. hence arose the legend that, at the time when the chapel was building, the devil, who lusted after the soul of the castle chaplain, wagered him that he would bring these four pillars from milan sooner than the priest could read the mass. the priest, who had a glib tongue, cheerfully undertook the wager. the devil was quick, but the chaplain was quicker. the devil had already brought three columns, and the fourth was close at hand, when the nimble priest said "amen." so infuriated was the devil at losing his wager that he flung down the pillar. it fell so heavily on the floor that it broke in two, and had to be bound together with the ring. the coloured stone head above the choir-arch is supposed to be a memorial of this castle chaplain, who so cleverly obtained cheap transport for the church! without taking this legend altogether _au pied de la lettre_, we may think it likely from the style and material that these pillars were brought from some italian building. on the north-east wall of the chapel is an altarpiece with wings by wolgemut--ss. wenceslaus and martin, and ss. barbara and elizabeth on the reverse. the carved figures in the centre of the altarpiece on the south-east wall are by veit stoss, and the wings are of the school of wolgemut. on the south wall are two pictures by burgkmair (?) and a relief after designs by adam krafft. on the west wall are a picture by kulmbach and a remarkable relief by krafft, and on the north wall two pictures by strigel, and one by holbein the elder. the quadrangular aperture,[ ] which occupies the entire space between the four pillars and allows a full view of the lower chapel, was for a long time walled up. this was done after the chapel had been plastered over, probably towards the end of the fifteenth century. ably restored in the chapel is now very much in its original state. the plaster, repeated layers of which had covered the capitals and ornaments with a thick crust, preventing their shape from being any longer recognisable, has been removed. the missing parts of the ornaments have been very skilfully replaced. the original red stone flooring was laid bare and the aperture reopened. there is some disagreement as to the purpose of this opening. we are usually told that it was made for a united church service of the emperor and castle retainers: the emperor taking his seat in the upper, the retainers in the lower chapel. it may be so: but one would rather believe that it was intended to enable the castle dignitaries, when the service was held in the upper chapel, still to obtain a view of the niches where the mortal remains of their ancestors rested, and to reflect upon the virtues and the end of their mighty dead, remembering the while that they too were mortal. * * * * * on leaving the castle we find ourselves in the burgstrasse, called in the old days unter der veste, which was probably the high street of the old town. off both sides of this street and of the bergstrasse ran narrow crooked little alleys lined with wooden houses of which time and fire have left scarcely any trace. as you wander round the city tracing the line of the old walls, you are struck by the general air of splendour. most of the houses are large and of a massive style of architecture, adorned with fanciful gables and bearing the impress of the period when every inhabitant was a merchant, and every merchant was lodged like a king. the houses of the merchant princes, richly carved both inside and out, tell of the wealth and splendour of nuremberg in her proudest days. but you will also come upon a hundred crooked little streets and narrow alleys, which, though entrancingly picturesque, tell of yet other days and other conditions. they tell of those early mediæval days when the houses were almost all of wood and roofed with straw-thatching or wooden tiles; when the chimneys and bridges alike were built of wood. only here and there a stone house roofed with brick could then be seen. the streets were narrow and crooked, and even in the fifteenth century mostly unpaved. in wet weather they were filled with unfathomable mud, and even though in the lower part of the town trenches were dug to drain the streets, they remained mere swamps and morasses. in dry weather the dust was even a worse plague than the mud. pig-styes stood in front of the houses; and the streets were covered with heaps of filth and manure and with rotting corpses of animals, over which the pigs wandered at will. street police in fact was practically non-existent. mediævalism is undoubtedly better when survived. as to the original extent of the city walls there are many theories. most likely they embraced a very small district. according to mummenhoff the first town wall ran from the west side of the castle in a southerly direction over the modern weinmarkt. (to reach it go straight down the albert durer strasse, starting from durer's house.) further on the wall struck eastwards (_l_) to the river, either leaving the swampy meadowland near the river free, or, as others hold, coming right down to the river banks. then, leaving the river again near the spitalplatz, it stretched northward, apparently from the malerthor which was then in existence, to the romer tower in the tetzelgasse.[ ] this tower was probably not actually part of the wall but a fortified house, such as may be seen in many german and italian towns, built by the dwellers in it for their own especial protection. a noble family of the name of romer lived there in early times and gave their name to the house. but popular tradition has forgotten this fact and asserts that the tower dates back from roman times. from this spot the wall made a distinct bend to the east, ran over the Ægidien hill through the wolfsgasse, where we may perhaps still recognise in one of the houses an old tower of the wall, and so on to the fröschturm, or frog's tower near the maxthor of to-day. a glance at the map will show us that nuremberg, as we know it, is divided into two almost equal divisions. they are called after the names of the principal churches the st. lorenz, and the st. sebald-quarter. the original wall which we have just described included, it will be seen, only a small portion of the northern or st. sebald division. with the growth of the town an extension of the walls and an increase of fortification followed as a matter of course. it became necessary to carry the wall over the pegnitz in order to protect the lorenzkirche and the suburb which was springing up around it. the precise date of this extension of the fortifications cannot be fixed. the chronicles attribute it to the twelfth century, in the reign of the first hohenstaufen, konrad iii. no trace of a twelfth-century wall remains; but the chroniclers may, for all that, have been not very wide of the mark. the mud and wood which supplied the material of the wall may have given place to stone in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. however that may be, it will be remembered that the lower part of the white tower, which is the oldest fragment of building we can certainly point to dates from the thirteenth century. all other portions of the second wall clearly indicate the fourteenth century, or later, as the time of their origin. what, then, was the course along which ran this second line of fortifications? assuming that the reader has accompanied us on our short circuit of the imaginary first town wall--(there is no better way of acquainting oneself with the topography of the place and of coming upon the most picturesque bits of old nuremberg than to work round the three lines of fortifications sketched here)--we will start again from the maxthor, the nineteenth-century gateway on the north side of the town. from the froschturm, which is near at hand, the wall ran alongside of the seven rows of houses (zeilen) which were built by the council in (on the old moat which had been filled in) for the immigrating swabian weavers; and then from the webersplatz by the landauerkloster (used at the present time as a polytechnic school) straight down to the lauferschlagturm. this tower, also called the inner lauferturm, dates in its present form from the fifteenth century and in part from the sixteenth century. it derives its name from the striking clock which was put up in , at a period when clocks with bells to mark the hours were still rare. proceeding past the lauferschlagturm we can trace clearly enough the shooting-trench, which was assigned to the cross-bowmen in and runs on to the former foundry of the coppersmiths "auf dem sand." presently before reaching the pegnitz the wall made a sharp turn to the west: it is uncertain whether the present neuegasse (which we must follow) ran inside or outside of it; at any rate the mohler or mahler thor (müllerthor) stood at the spot where the heugässchen and neuegasse run into the spitalplatz. leaving the mohlerthor the wall crossed the spitalplatz (_l_) and ran in a straight line, strongly protected by towers, across the two arms of the pegnitz which encircle the schütt island. in the northern arm of the river, near the synagogue (_l_), you may still distinguish a bit of ruined wall overgrown by alders, rising out of the water. this is the remains of the pier which once buttressed the town-wall against the current of the pegnitz. on the island there are still two towers, the larger of the two being the schuldturm or debtor's tower for men (männereisen) which bears the date . originally a corresponding tower for female debtors stood on the south bank of the river. but this, together with the connecting walls and the arch over the pegnitz, was demolished in . the bridge, which joined the two debtors' towers, was called the schuldbrücke, and the whole probably resembled the henkersteg group at which we shall presently arrive. at any rate it is recorded that towards the end of the fifteenth century "they built dwellings for the townspeople on the old arch by the debtors' towers, through which the pegnitz formerly flowed into the town." we have now reached the south or lorenz-quarter of the town. from the river the wall ran straight on along the nonnen-gasse to the inner frauenthor, which was destroyed in . cross the lorenzer platz and go down the theatergasse opposite. behind the theatre there is still a piece of open ditch--the old lorenzer shooting-trench, and near the old _inner_ frauenthor is the entrance to the herrenkeller, which goes under the königstrasse to beneath the great hall. the old moat was converted into this cellar, which is feet long, and supported by twenty-six pillars. over it the architect hans behaim erected the neue kornhaus and the great hall or grosse wage, a deep-roofed building, also called the mauthaus, because it is now used as a custom house. going straight on down the north side of this hall we come to the frauengässlein, a fascinating old street, which stretches behind the old arsenals (_r_) (now used as storehouses for hops) to the färbergasse, and marks the further course of the walls, which, from the arsenals to the white tower (weissturm) is easily traced. for a considerable part of the old moat (färbergraben) and a piece of the old wall, with its large curved blocks of sandstone black with age, are still visible. at the end of the frauengasse turn first to the right and then to the left into the breitegasse, when the white tower will confront you. the lower portion of the white tower, or inner spittlerthurm as it used to be called (a name, like that of the modern spittlerthor, derived from the st. elizabethspital), is, as we have noted, thirteenth-century work. the tower was renovated in the fifteenth century and fitted, like the lauferschlagturm, with a chiming clock. the outer gate (vorthor) is still preserved. keeping on the inside of the white tower cross the ludwig strasse and go down the waisen strasse, which brings you to the brewery. keep on down the same street with first the brewery and then the unschlitthaus on the right till you reach the river. beyond the white tower the moat was long ago filled up, but the section of it opposite the unschlittplatz remained open for a longer period than the rest, and was called the klettengraben, because of the burdocks which took root there. hereabouts, on a part of the moat, the waizenbräuhaus was built in , which is now the famous freiherrlich von tuchersche brewery. here, too, the unschlitthaus was built at the end of the fifteenth century as a granary. it has since been turned into a school. we have now reached one of the most charming and picturesque bits of nuremberg. once more we have to cross the pegnitz, whose banks are overhung by quaint old houses. their projecting roofs and high gables, their varied chimneys and overhanging balconies from which trail rich masses of creepers, make an entrancing foreground to the towers and the arches of the henkersteg. the wall was carried on arches over the southern arm of the pegnitz to the point of the saumarkt (or trödelmarkt) island which here divides the river, and thence in like manner over the northern arm. the latter portion of it alone survives and comprises a large tower on the north bank called the wasserthurm, which was intended to break the force of the stream; a bridge supported by two arches over the stream, which was the henkersteg, the habitation of the hangman or _löb_ as he was called, of whom and of whose duties we shall have to speak in the next chapter; and on the island itself a smaller tower, which formed the point of support for the original, southern pair of arches, which joined the unschlitthaus, but were so badly damaged in by a high flood that they were demolished and replaced by a wooden, and later by an iron bridge. after the great wasserthurm, all trace of the old wall is lost. probably it stretched in a straight line across the weintraubengässlein, along the back of the houses of the karlstrasse, and across the irrergasse to the lammsgasse. mummenhoff fancies that he can recognise one of the towers of it in an exceptionally high house on the north side of this latter street. there too stood the _inner_ neuthor. the houses at the back of albrecht-dürerstrasse show pretty clearly the further course of the wall until at the thiergärtnerthurm it finally joined the fortifications of the castle. thus we have completed the second circuit of the old imperial town as it was in the thirteenth and most of the first half of the fourteenth centuries. it was then a city of no mean size for the middle ages, but it was far from having attained its full development. new monasteries and churches and new suburbs sprang up outside the new line of fortification. as usually happens, the majority of the dwellers outside the walls were of the lower class: but, besides their houses, there were, especially towards the east, splendid gardens and properties belonging to the patrician families and also several large buildings, including the katherine and clara convents, the mary hospital, and the carthusian monastery (now part of the german museum). buildings of this kind, close to and outside of the gates of the old town, would, if they fell into the hands of an enemy, be a continual menace to the peace and safety of the burghers. hardly, therefore, was the second line of fortifications completed when it became necessary to protect the new suburbs with wall and ditch like the old town. it may be noted that even when the new enceinte, that is the _third_ or outer town wall, was finished, the second wall was still carefully preserved as a second line of defence. this was directly contrary to the advice of macchiavelli "not to establish within the circuit of a city fortifications which may serve as a retreat to troops who have been driven back from the first line of entrenchments ... for there is no greater danger for a fortress than rear-fortifications whither troops can retire in case of a reverse; for once a soldier knows that he has a secure retreat after he has abandoned the first post, he does, in fact, abandon it and so causes the loss of the entire fortress." the nurembergers, however, never favoured any policy that could even remotely suggest that of burning their boats. for a long time they kept their second line of defence. thus in it came to the notice of the authorities that "the inner moat near the arsenals and granaries were filled up with dirt and rubbish, which at some future time might do harm to the town, and the neighbours were forbidden to empty any more rubbish into the moat, and the town architect was ordered to see to it that what had been thrown into it was either levelled or taken out and that the parapet was renewed." similarly and in the same year the inhabitants of the neighbourhood of st. katherinagraben (the present peter vischerstrasse) were refused leave to build a bridge over the existing moat. that part of the town which lay between the second and third lines of fortification continued for a long time to retain something of a suburban character. people of small fortunes who came to settle in nuremberg were at first admitted only into the district outside the older wall and were only allowed to move into the inner town after they had been domiciled in the outer town for several years. the suburban character of the outer town was and is still in some degree apparent also from the large open spaces there and, especially on the eastern side, from the extensive farms and gardens belonging to the richer citizens, such as the holzschuhers, the volkamers and the tuchers. somewhere in the second half of the fourteenth century, then, in the reign of karl iv., they began to build the outer enceinte, which, although destroyed at many places and broken through by modern gates and entrances,[ ] is still fairly well preserved, and secures to nuremberg the reputation of presenting most faithfully of all the larger german towns the characteristics of a mediæval town. the fortifications seem to have been thrown up somewhat carelessly at first, but dread of the hussites soon inspired the citizens to make themselves as secure as possible. in times of war and rumours of war all the peasants within a radius of two miles of the town were called upon to help in the construction of barriers and ramparts. the whole circle of walls, towers, and ditches was practically finished by , when with pardonable pride tucher wrote, "in this year was completed the ditch round the town. it took twenty-six years to build, and it will cost an enemy a good deal of trouble to cross it." part of the ditch had been made and perhaps revetted as early as , but it was not till twenty years later that it began to be dug to the enormous breadth and depth which it boasts to-day. the size of it was always a source of pride to the nurembergers, and it was perhaps due to this reason that up till as recently as it was left perfectly intact. on the average it is about feet broad. it was always intended to be a dry ditch, and, so far from there being any arrangements for flooding it, precautions were taken to carry the little fischbach, which formerly entered the town near the modern sternthor, across the ditch in a trough. the construction of the ditch was provided for by an order of the council in , to the effect that all householders, whether male or female, must work at the ditch one day in the year with their children of over twelve years of age, and with all their servants, male or female. those who were not able to work had to pay a substitute. subsequently this order was changed to the effect that every one who could or would not work must pay ten pfennige (one penny). there were no exemptions from this liturgy, whether in favour of councillor, official, or lady. the order remained ten years in force, though the amount of the payment was gradually reduced. whilst the enceinte was in course of erection the burggraf frederic vi. sold ( ) to the town the ruins of his castle. steps were immediately taken therefore to fortify the whole of the castle grounds with ditch and large revetted circular bastions. paul stromer was the director of the works. at this time we first find distinct mention of the vestner thor, and the vestnerthorbrücke. the other main gates, the neue thor, the spittler thor, the frauen thor, and the laufer thor had begun to be built about . [illustration: walls and ditch] the wührderthürlein and the hallerthürlein were constructed probably about the same time as the vestnerthor--_i.e._ circ. . it was against the gates that the main attacks of the enemy were usually delivered, and they were therefore provided with the most elaborate means of defence. each principal gate in fact was an individual castle, a separate keep: for it was defended by one of those huge round towers which still help to give to nuremberg its characteristic appearance. the laufer, spittel, and frauen towers, and the tower near the new gate were built in the above order in their present cylindrical shape ( - ) by the architect george unger, on the site of four quadrilateral towers that already existed. the towers are about yards in diameter. they are furnished on the ground story with one or two gun-casemates, which would command the parapet wall if that were taken. above, beneath the flat roof, is fixed a platform blinded with wood relieved by embrasures capable of receiving a considerable number of cannon. guns indeed were in position here as recently as , when together with all the contents of the arsenal they were removed by the austrians. at the time of the construction of these and the other lofty towers it was still thought that the raising of batteries as much as possible would increase their effect. in practice the plunging fire from platforms at the height of some eighty feet above the level of the parapets of the town wall can hardly have been capable of producing any great effect, more especially if the besieging force succeeded in establishing itself on the crest of the counterscarp of the ditches, since from that point the swell of the bastions masked the towers. but there was another use for these lofty towers. the fact is that the nuremberg engineers, at the time that they were built, had not yet adopted a complete system of flank-works, and not having as yet applied with all its consequences the axiom that _that which defends should itself be defended_, they wanted to see and command their external defences from within the body of the place, as, a century before, the baron could see from the top of his donjon whatever was going on round the walls of his castle, and send up his support to any point of attack. the great round towers of nuremberg are more properly, in fact, detached keeps than portions of a combined system, rather observatories than effective defences.[ ] they were perhaps the last of their kind. tradition has quite incorrectly ascribed them to albert durer. not only were they built thirty years after his death, but they are in principle entirely opposed to the views expounded in his book on the "fortification of towns." this book, which appeared in , broke completely with the old mediæval art of fortification (the theory of which may be said roughly to have consisted in an extensive use of towers), and recommended the construction of such bastions as the köcherts-zwinger, or that in the neighbourhood of the laufer thor ( ) which form the starting-point of modern fortification. the round towers, however, were not the sole defences of the gates. outside each one of them was a kind of fence of pointed beams after the manner of a chevaux-de-frise, whilst outside the ditch and close to the bridge stood a barrier, by the side of which was a guard-house. though it was not till that all the main gates were fitted with drawbridges, the wooden bridges that served before that could doubtless easily be destroyed in cases of emergency. double-folding doors and portcullises protected the gateways themselves. once past there, the enemy was far from being in the town, for the road led through extensive advanced works, presenting, as in the case of the laufer thor outwork, a regular _place d'armes_. further, the road was so engineered as not to lead in a straight line from the outer main gates to the inner ones, but rather so as to pursue a circuitous course. thus the enemy in passing through from the one to the other were exposed as long as possible to the shots and projectiles of the defenders, who were stationed all round the walls and towers flanking the advanced tambour. this arrangement may be traced very clearly at the frauen thor to-day. the position of the round tower, it will be observed, was an excellent one for commanding the road from the outer to the inner gate. the entrance and exit of the pegnitz were two weak spots, calling equally with the gates for special measures of defence. they were completely barred by "schossgatter" as they were termed--strong oak piles covered with iron--set beneath the arches that spanned the river. strong iron chains were stretched in front of them, forming a boom to prevent the approach of boats. the tower at the exit of the pegnitz was erected, we know, in . it is mentioned by sixteenth-century chroniclers as the schlayerturm, and, though it has lost its former height, it serves to-day in conjunction with the adjoining building over the water as a jail. the most vulnerable points were thus provided for. the rest of the enceinte consisted of the ditch and walls and towers. there were two lines of walls and towers enclosing a space which in peace-time served as a game-park. celtes in his poem in praise of nuremberg boasts of the rich turf growing there, upon which grazed splendid herds of deer. the tiergärtner thor, however, did not derive its name from this game-park (tiergärten), but from another earlier one belonging to the burggrafs. the interior line of walls was the first to be built. it was made about three feet thick and twenty-two feet high. originally there were no buttresses to it (as one may gather from the short length of old wall, north of the spittler thor, where the inside of the wall is plain), but afterwards buttresses were added along the whole of it, at a distance of eighteen feet or so from centre to centre. about four feet broad, they projected some two feet beyond the actual wall. they are joined by circular arches, the coins of which are walled up. the blinded galleries thus formed are still frequently used as workshops. [illustration: interior of the walls] the top of the wall is about three yards broad, thanks to a coping stone which projects on each side. along the outer edge of the coping stone runs a crenelated wall, only a foot and a half thick. seeing that it was already at the time of construction exposed to artillery, the thinness of this wall is somewhat surprising. probably the nurembergers knew that the neighbouring nobility could not afford a heavy and expensive siege-train. a roof, composed, according to the poet celtes, of tiles partly glazed, was erected over the crenelated wall and thus formed a covered way. the crenelles were furnished with hanging shutters, which had a hole pierced in them and were adapted therefore either to the fire of small pieces or of arquebuses. at intervals of every or feet the interior wall is broken by quadrilateral towers. some eighty-three of these, including the gate towers, can still be traced. what the number was originally we do not know. it is the sort of subject on which chroniclers have no manner of conscience. the hartmann schedel chronicle, for instance, gives nuremberg towers in all. the fact that there are days in the year is of course sufficient proof of this assertion! the towers, which rise two or even three stories above the wall, communicated on both sides with the covered way. they are now used as dwelling-houses. on some of them there can still be seen, projecting near the roof, two little machicoulis turrets, which served as guard-rooms for observing the enemy, and also, by overhanging the base of the tower, enabled the garrison to hurl down on their assailants at the foot of the wall a hurricane of projectiles of every sort. like the wall the towers are built almost entirely of sandstone, but on the side facing the town they are usually faced with brick. the shapes of the roofs vary from flat to pointed, but the towers themselves are simple and almost austere in form in comparison with those generally found in north germany, where fantasy runs riot in red brick. the nuremberg towers were obviously intended in the first place for use rather than for ornament. parallel with the interior town wall there ran an exterior lower one, which, together with the former, enclosed a space, to which we have already referred, varying from fifty to twenty feet in breadth. we know very little about the _original_ height and form of this exterior wall. it suffered many changes and can no longer be traced in its original shape. experts hold diametrically opposite views both as to the use and the height of it. but that is the way of experts. we shall probably not be far wrong in concluding that this wall was originally a mere crenelated crowning[ ] of the escarp of the ditch; that catapults were worked from the space enclosed by the two walls; and that the chief object of the outer wall and the enclosure was to prevent the enemy from working at the main, or inner, wall and towers with his rams and moveable turrets. later, when the use and effectiveness of artillery developed and guns supplanted catapults in vigour as well as in fact, some time at the end of the fifteenth or the beginning of the sixteenth century, we may suppose that this old crenelated wall was removed, and the escarp wall of the ditch was raised and strengthened and provided with embrasures for large cannon, and rounded off on the outside so as to neutralise the effect of shot striking the face of the walls. in this form the exterior wall is well preserved, and can be seen at many places in the course of a walk round the outside of the town. at many points in the circumference, but chiefly where the fortifications are accessible (_e.g._ near the frauen thor) the parapets of this curtain-wall present a somewhat remarkable arrangement. the parapets, pierced with embrasures for cannon, are surmounted by timber hoards or filled in with brick and mortar, like the old english half-timbered houses. in these hoards (wooden galleries roofed in with tiles) arquebusiers and even archers, who were still employed at that period, might be placed. pieces in battery were covered by these hoards just in the same way as pieces in the "'tween decks" of a man-of-war. the crenelles of the hoards were closed by shutters opening on the inside, in such a way as to present an obstacle to the balls or arrows fired by the assailants placed on the top of the glacis. the outer, like the inner wall was provided with towers. these were thicker in construction but lower and less numerous than the interior ones. they were placed at intervals of to feet and amounted in all to forty or thereabouts. the chief purpose of them was to flank and command the ditch and thus to prevent the enemy from building a dam across it. with this object they projected some distance into the ditch. simultaneously with the alterations of the exterior wall small bastion-like towers were also constructed, chiefly at places where the wall formed an angle, and where the enemy could not therefore advance in line. from these towers a searching fire could be maintained in all directions, sweeping both the ditch and the ground in front. the strong, low, semi-circular tower at the haller thor is supposed to be the oldest work of this description. lastly, in the second half of the sixteenth century, the large bastions which bring us in touch with modern ideas of fortification were built. we may instance the bastion adjoining the neue thor, called the doktors zwinger because the doctors had their summer garden there. and in the vöhrderthor-zwinger was added to the old town-wall. it was designed by meinhard von schönberg, and built by jakob wolf, the younger. but in this magnificent structure, with the armorial devices which decorated the four corners of it, was enclosed in the vestner thor zwinger. an account of the fortifications of nuremberg would be incomplete if no mention were made of the _landwehr_--a continuous line of defence which was thrown up at some little distance from the town about the middle of the fifteenth century, in the time of the first marggravian war. the _landwehr_ was a ditch with an earthen parapet strengthened by stockades, barricaded at the crossings of the roads with obstacles and moveable barriers, and defended by blockhouses in which guards were always kept. the main object of this fortification was to afford shelter to the country people, and to secure them and their goods and cattle from the raids of the enemy. only the merest fragment of the "land-ditch" remains, viz., the landgraben, running through the lichtenhof meadow. it will be gathered from these dry details that the chief note struck by the fortifications of nuremberg is that of picturesque variety. the defences have been built at different times and form no stereotyped pattern. walls, towers, and bastions of varying types and shapes, suggesting the ideas of different ages, succeed each other in pleasant confusion. the walls themselves, now high, now low, now with, now without roofing, here crenelated with narrow loopholes and arrow-slits, there fitted with broad embrasures for heavy guns, seem to be typical of the place and to suggest to us the recollection of her chequered career. at the end of our long perambulations of the walls it will be a grateful relief to sit for a while at one of the _restaurations_ or restaurants on the walls. there, beneath the shade of acacias in the daytime, or in the evening by the white light of the incandescent gas, you may sit and watch the groups of men, women, and children all drinking from their tall glasses of beer, and you may listen to the whirr and ting-tang of the electric cars, where the challenge of the sentinel or the cry of the night-watchman was once the most frequent sound. or, if you have grown tired of the horn- and the schloss-zwinger, cross the ditch on the west side of the town and make your way to the rosenau, in the fürtherstrasse. the rosenau is a garden of trees and roses not lacking in chairs and tables, in bowers, benches, and a band. there, too, you will see the good burgher with his family drinking beer, eating sausages, and smoking contentedly. chapter vi _the council and the council house--nuremberg tortures_ da ist in dieser stadt ein weiser, fürsichtiger rath, der so fürsichtiglich regiert und alle ding fein ordinirt. --hans sachs, _lobspruch der stadt nürnberg_. we have seen how in gradual and piecemeal fashion the council, as representative of nuremberg, acquired the character of an imperial state on an equality with the reigning princes and territorial lords. the special mark of sovereign power, the higher jurisdiction, was accorded in perpetuity to the nuremberg council through an edict of frederick iii., . the council was composed originally of such burghers as the community saw fit to elect. but gradually it came about that only the moneyed classes, large merchants, large land-owners, and court-officials admitted to the citizenship took part in the election, and that, within this circle again, those who had already held office formed themselves into a specially privileged group. so there resulted in nuremberg, as everywhere else, the formation of a special town-aristocracy of those families eligible to the council, which in nuremberg particularly, where the original suffrage soon had to give place to the council's right of self-election, developed into the most pronounced exclusiveness. the final result was the separation of the citizens into the governing families and into the remaining classes cut off from any influence upon the town government, and represented in general by the trades guilds. this antithesis, which existed in all towns, led everywhere, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, to violent conflicts; in our town, to the riots of , to which we have already referred. the families eligible to the council composed the _patriciate_, the origin of which can no longer be traced in detail. the patricians were not, as often in other towns, burghers of long standing, for in the fourteenth century and later, even up to the beginning of the sixteenth century, it happened that foreign families settling here were at once accepted as eligible to the council. this is a circumstance which does not at all correspond to the usual conception of the burgher exclusiveness in the middle ages; but on the contrary it betrays a certain liberality. the patricians appear with others of the nobility as witnesses to documents, and are not infrequently given precedence over the territorial nobility. they carried shield, helmet, and seal; their hatchments hung in the churches, they held fiefs from the princes, and were eligible to church dignities. the patriciate, however, did not by any means occupy itself wholly with military service and knightly exercises. many of them carried on wholesale businesses and manufacturing trades. this occurred pretty generally throughout the middle ages, as also in the sixteenth century, though their descendants denied that they were ever connected with trade. as the burghers were in general capable of bearing arms, the governing families especially kept themselves in military practice. they led the armed burghers or the mercenaries in the wars of their country, and many of them obtained in the service of the emperor, or elsewhere, the dignity of knighthood. as early as the fifteenth century the patrician families claimed the rights of knighthood and heraldry like territorial nobles. probably the tourney held in , on the occasion of a patrician wedding, and represented in life-size stucco-work on the ceiling of the upper corridor in the town hall, by hans kuhn, , was intended as a manifesto to this effect. at any rate it is recorded that this tourney vexed the nobles very sorely, "as they opined, it did not become the nuremberg families to tilt in noble conflict or to indulge in such knightly pastime; it was indeed generally held that this tourney had had no little influence in bringing about the great margravian war which soon followed." in the year , and again in , in the heidelberg and heilbronn tournament regulations, the town patriciate's right of tourney was formally contested. though we do not know how their prerogative arose, we certainly find that by the number of actual patrician families was limited to forty-three, whilst, by the end of the century, only twenty-eight are left eligible for the council. they formed a close and very exclusive corporation, clinging very tightly to their fabricated privileges. "anno ," runs an old statute, "it was declared and set down by the elders of the town of nuremberg which families have always from time immemorial danced and may still dance in the town hall." we cannot deny that the short-sighted policy so often pursued by nuremberg to her own undoing was due to the narrow and selfish oligarchy thus formed. but if we blame them for the decay we must also give them full meed of praise for the ripening of the prosperity of nuremberg. the truth seems to be that the government of oligarchies of this nature, formed, not of all the wealthy families, but of a patrician order of certain families, is, owing to the varied interests of the remaining society over whom they rule, peculiarly difficult to overthrow. moreover, it is at first likely to lead on the state to success and prosperity: for at first the prominence of particular families represents the triumph of the fittest, the rise of those best able to govern, to conduct commerce, to encourage industry and art. but when in the course of nature these families begin to decay and cling all the more obstinately to their rights, it is then that the weakness of the position appears and the state is involved in the ruin of its most degenerate members. it is noticeable that many of the early measures of the council bore a decidedly socialistic character. we may instance the establishment of public baths, and the storing up of corn against the time of famine, besides the foundation of a great town brewery, which is the origin of the famous tucher brewery of to-day, and the keeping of public stallions to improve the breed of horses, a measure that resulted in nuremberg becoming famous for its chargers. on the other hand, as an instance of the jealous tyranny of the council, we may quote the case of christoph scheurl. when he, the "oracle of the republic" as he was called, threatened to appeal to the imperial chamber against a sentence of the council they replied by torturing him in the cruellest fashion for three weeks. the public attitude of the councillors being of this somewhat grandmotherly kind, it is not surprising that they left the young members of their families very little liberty in placing their affections. love affairs and marriage for love were in fact not regarded with favour. girls were betrothed by their parents at eight years of age and married at fourteen, often to old men of sixty or seventy. a couple were very seldom permitted to initiate for themselves an affair of the heart. so when leonhard groland, against good manners and tradition, had begun a love affair with catherine, daughter of hans hardörfer, and this was discovered, the precocious lover was punished with two months' imprisonment and banished for five years from the town. when a father did allow his son to choose his own wife he very seldom allowed him to woo her. they tell us how when the young paul tucher said that he would like to marry ursula, daughter of the late albrecht scheurl, his father did the wooing for him, and went to andreas imhof, her guardian, and these two "with unshaken calm and dignified respectability" arranged the dowry and settlements. the public betrothal took place first in the rathaus and then in the house of the bride. the wedding, after many formalities, took place not in the church, but before the portal of the church,[ ] and only after the marriage service was completed did the bridal pair enter the church to partake of the holy sacrament. after the service the bridal party danced in the morning and then, after dinner at the bride's home (where it was customary for the pair to reside for a year), another dance took place in the evening; in the case of members of the patriciate, in the rathaus. these proceedings were regulated by laws by which the council continually strove to repress the tendency to luxury and extravagance which always accompanies commercial prosperity. * * * * * the _rathaus_, the heart of the old trading republic, fronts the chancel end of the sebald-kirche, a position architecturally unfortunate. the original councilhouse, which was shared by the council with the clothiers guild, stood in the present tuchgasse. but in the council bought from the heilsbronn monastery a house on the site of the present rathaus, and here they built themselves a new council-house into which they first moved in . in its oldest form the rathaus consisted only of a large hall, large enough to hold with comfort and dignity the numerous assembly that might gather there on the occasion of a reichstag. all that now remains intact of this hall is the outer architecture on the east side. the oldest portions of the rathaus are to be seen from the interior quadrangle and from the rathausgasse, the street at the back. [illustration: rathaus (window)] in new rooms were added. they are mostly by hans behaim and are very good specimens of late gothic. in the rathaus hall was renovated and altered and the side walls were painted after durer's designs, by georg pencz and other pupils of the master. the hall was again restored and adorned with new pictures in . two years later the great chandelier, by hans wilhelm behaim, was placed there. two copies of it were added in . the rathaus took almost its present form in . the architect, eucharius karl holzschuher, adapted, so far as possible, the old rathaus to the new italian style of building which now enclosed it. the outbreak of the thirty years war, however, prevented the completion of his plan. the north-east portion of the rathaus has indeed only recently been finished after the designs of dr a. von essenwein. the imposing renaissance façade confronting st. sebald's is nearly feet long and consists of two stories containing thirty-six windows apiece. three doric portals form the entrances, and are ornamented with sculptures of reclining figures--justice holding the scales and truth with a mirror, julius cæsar and alexander, ninus and cyrus--by leonhard kern. the sculptor received the moderate wage of gulden per figure. entering the first court by the central portal, we see in front on the right the charming old gothic gallery, supported by three pillars. in the centre of the court is a bronze fountain by pankraz labenwolf ( ); in the second court is the apollo fountain of hans vischer.[ ] the principal[ ] staircase (_r_ of central entrance) leads to the great hall or council chamber already referred to ( ). the arched wooden ceiling dates from . the hall is feet long and feet wide and contains the chandeliers and the paintings after durer's designs mentioned above. the latter, on the north wall, have been much spoiled by the effects of time and of incompetent restoration. the first of them represents the triumphal car of maximilian i. drawn by twelve horses. victory holds a laurel wreath over the emperor, who is attended by the various virtues. behind the car follows an animated procession of nuremberg town musicians. the second design is on the well-worn subject of calumny--midas with his long ears sitting in judgment on innocence who is accused by calumny, fraud, envy, and so forth, whilst in the background appear punishment, penitence, and truth. on the right of the judge (our left) who sits between ignorance and suspicion, are the words: _nemo unquam sententiam ferat priusquam cuncta ad amussim perpenderit_, on the left the same sentiment in german: ein richter soll kein urtheil geben er soll die sach erforschen eben. over the little door is written "eins manns red ist eine halbe red. man soll die teyl verhören bed." (one man's rede is but half the rede. the other side should be heard.) the frescoes (now scarcely visible) between the windows are by gabriel weyer ( ?). as both _bædeker_ and _murray_ state that "among them is a representation of the _guillotine_, which is thus proved to be two centuries older than the french revolution," it may be worth while to remark that nothing of the sort is proved. the falling-axe, _fall-beil_, the italian _caraletto_ here represented, was of course much used at this time, as the engravings of lucas cranach, georg pencz and others and as our own halifax gibbet and morton's maiden show. but the guillotine, properly so-called, was a revived and modified form of this. the instrument then took its name from the inventor of these modifications, m. guillotin, a philanthropic french physician, who designed "to reduce the pain of death to a shiver" by this machine; "qui simplement nous tuera et que l'on nommera, guillotine." as the royalist song first phrased it. the bronze railing, by peter vischer, which once separated the lower from the upper half of the hall has now disappeared. the small hall on the second floor is used now as the city court. it has recently been repaired and contains, besides portraits of modern nuremberg worthies, some pompous allegorical paintings by paul juvenell ( - ). in the rathaus as in the castle and museum some very fine specimens of old german stoves are to be seen. the stucco-relief on the ceiling of the corridor on this floor we have already mentioned more than once.[ ] the municipal art gallery (gratuity) on the third floor contains an interesting collection of paintings that deal with the history of nuremberg. the most remarkable historically is the _banquet held in the rathaus_ on the occasion of the peace of westphalia ( ), by joachim von sandrart ( - ). thirty of the forty-seven figures at the table in this piece are portraits from life. * * * * * the power over life and death was given, as we have said, to the council along with the other rights of the _schuldheiss_ in by frederick iii. till then the emperor had reserved to himself the power to give to any individual he chose this right, "ban über das blut in der stadt zu richten." it was an evil thing now to fall into the hands of the council. prisoners even during their detention before trial were made to suffer more severely than the worst modern convicts. the accused were put into the _loch_, the hole which formed a part of the cellar of the old rathaus, where there are twelve underground cells, each about two yards square, and two yards high. entering the rathaus by the portal nearest to the schöner brunnen we turn to the right, ascend a flight of steps and ring the bell for the hausmeister,[ ] who will guide us with lanterns to those gloomy caverns which like the piombi of venice cry shame on the inhumanity of man. we follow our guide down a narrow stone staircase to the dungeons cold and dark as the grave. over the various entrances were symbolic figures of animals: the two last being ornamented with a red cock and a black cock. no one seems able to say what these strange hieroglyphics denote. the cells were never cleaned, but were warmed by a brazier in the winter. two of them are furnished with stocks; in each there is an angular wooden couch; in some, when the sight has got gradually accustomed to the darkness, we become aware of a ghastly cleft in the floor. flaubert, poe, scott, and victor hugo never fail to make my blood run cold with their descriptions of tortures, but the pages of "salammbo," of the "pit and the pendulum," of "old mortality," or "les misérables" have no such terrors for my imagination as the actual sight of these deep and horrid dungeons wherein so many hundreds, innocent and guilty alike, have been incarcerated and suffered, with no anne of geierstein to deliver them. presently we pass on to a room of still more horrible interest--the torture-chamber where the judges (die blutrichtern) sat, whilst their wretched victim, far removed from human aid and human sympathy, was "examined" till a confession was wrung from him. this vaulted room in the _loch_ was called the "chapel." over it is written "folterkammer, " (torture chamber). on the wall was inscribed the jingling verse-- "_ad mala patrata hæc sunt atra theatra parata_." revolting as the idea of torture is to us, it would not be fair to concentrate our indignation on the nurembergers, as we are tempted to do, when we see these things and still more when, in the castle, we visit the stupendous collection of torture-instruments, those melancholy monuments of human error. for torture as a system of trial, as the great alternative to the ordeal, has received the sanction of the wisest lawgivers throughout far the greater portion of the world's history. it is, indeed, only quite recently that we have in practice acknowledged quintilian's objection to torture--that under it one man's constancy makes falsehood easy to him whilst another's weakness makes falsehood necessary. history, too, has shown us the evil effects of this system upon the judge, who became inevitably eager to convince himself of the guilt of the poor wretch whom he had already caused to suffer. how completely the prisoner thus became a quarry to be hunted to the death is shown by the jocular remark of farinacci, a celebrated authority in criminal law, that the torture of sleeplessness invented by marsigli was most excellent, for out of a hundred martyrs exposed to it not two could endure it without becoming confessors as well. this form of torture was practised in england even without the continental limit of time. but on the whole, torture in england fell short of the best continental standard. still, it remains true to say that human ingenuity could not invent suffering more terrible than was constantly and legally employed in _every_ civilised community. satan himself, one writer exclaims, would be unable to increase its refinements. a visit to the tower of london will prove that nuremberg was not a solitary and disgraceful exception to the manners of her day. the robber-barons, who flourished under king stephen in england used the same methods as their german brethren to extract ransoms from the rich merchants they captured, using knotted ropes twisted round the head, crucet-houses, or chests filled with sharp stones in which the victim was crushed, sachentages, or frames with a sharp iron collar preventing the wearer from sitting, lying, or sleeping. a visit to the castle of nuremberg shows us that the rich merchants were ready to use similar arguments to the robber-barons. when the prisoner had been brought into the torture chamber and the professional gentlemen (the hangman and the secretary) had decided how much the patient could bear, operations began. a circular opening on the inside of the room above the entrance marks the place behind which sat the person who took down the prisoner's confession. innumerable devices and instruments had been invented, as we see in the castle, by using which separately and in combination the confession was extorted. burning candles held under the arms were found very effective and the favourite spanish methods, the strappado (suspension by the arms behind the back with weights to the feet), pouring water down the throat and applying fire to the soles of the feet were in frequent use. we find many varieties of the "little ease" or rack in the castle. the severity of the instrument is attested by the signature of our guy fawkes before and after being submitted to that ordeal. but even less attractive than this must have been the _peine forte et dure_. john gow, it will be remembered, in "the pirate," stands mute even when his thumbs were squeezed by two men with a whipcord till it broke, and again when it was doubled and trebled so that the operators could pull with their whole strength. but his fortitude gave way and he confessed when he had seen the preparations for pressing him to death with the _peine forte et dure_, a board loaded with heavy weights. a peculiar atrocity marked the torture system of scotland. torture retained its place in that kingdom's laws as long as she preserved the right of self-legislation. her system could not surpass, but it serves to illustrate the fiendish barbarities of the nuremberg questions. readers of sir walter scott will remember his description of the "boot"--an iron frame in which the leg was inserted and broken by iron wedges driven in with a hammer. the penni-winkis, thumb-screws, and caschielawis, iron frames for the leg heated from time to time over a brazier, were also favourite instruments both there and here. it is not surprising that such persuasion usually succeeded in producing a confession from the prisoners, whether true or not, of their own or of other people's guilt. they were not infrequently compelled to confess to crimes which they had never committed[ ] and were hanged for murdering persons who afterwards were found to be alive and well. real criminals, however, often refused to speak; for habitual and professional malefactors used to torture each other regularly in order to be hardened when brought to justice. but in that case their wives and children often proved less reticent. confession having been secured the council appointed a day of judgment for the _armen_, "poor fellow," as they termed him. if when he came before them he still persisted in his confession he was condemned. but condemnation depended on the confession of the criminal, and the church had long maintained that confessions obtained under torture were invalid. if, therefore, when brought before the council he recanted he was tortured again, and as often as he retracted this process was repeated until a confession apart from torture was obtained. the humane intervention of the church thus resulted in a redoublement of cruelty. even after condemnation, if the convict told the clergyman, who came to prepare him for death, that he was really not guilty but had confessed only because of the torture, the council on hearing of it had to begin all over again. this became such a nuisance that they warned the clergy not to talk to the condemned too much about temporal matters! after sentence had been passed by the council a public trial of an entirely formal character was held, very wearisome to the condemned wretch, who probably knew that it was so empty a form that it was held even if the prisoner had already succumbed to the torture or committed suicide in the cells. in nuremberg, as elsewhere, various methods of punishment were employed. much ingenuity and some humour were displayed in making "the punishment fit the crime." the shrew was tamed, as in england, by the application of the _brank_ or scold's bridle--an iron framework placed over the head in such a way that a plate covered with spikes, which was attached to it, fitted into the mouth. thieves, like english authors, had their ears cut off. this operation was performed on the fleischbrücke. the tongues of blasphemers were torn out, and if the banished returned to the city their eyes were gouged out. the latter treatment was often applied in the east to junior princes not required to be heirs. but there the removal of the eyeball gave way, in later times, to the drawing of a red-hot sword blade across the eyeball. in italy the use of a heated metal basin (bacinare) was preferred. whilst, in england, we punished drunkenness, as lately as , with confinement in the stocks, the use of the ordinary nuremberg punishment--"the drunkard's cloak"--a barrel worn after the manner of a cloak--was almost confined to newcastle. the ancient moslem punishment for wine-drinkers--the pouring of melted lead down the offender's throat--does not appear to have been in vogue. other devices shown in the five-cornered tower are the spanish horse, which suggests the modern american method of "riding on a rail," the finger-cramp for bad musicians, pipes for excessive smokers, faces to be worn by husband-beaters, ducking-stools and the wheel, last used in , and the cradle, last used in . even the sentence of death was variously performed. robbers were hanged; murderers beheaded; worse criminals were torn asunder by horses or broken on the wheel. sinners against the church were exposed barefooted and bareheaded and hanged before the church doors; sinners against morality were branded. jews--if it was a question of hanging them--were always hung from the end of the gallows' beam, so that they and the christians might swing from a different place. boiling oil does not seem to have been indulged in, though it was used in france for mere counterfeiters, and in england for poisoners. the bishop of rochester's cook for instance was treated in this manner in . terrible as these atrocities were, they are also terribly recent. the last burning at the stake in germany took place in berlin, , and in the same year at vienna occurred the last case of breaking on the wheel. the victim was tortured with red-hot pincers as he walked to the place of execution. and in england the execution of the rebels after the " " was carried out in exact accordance with the statute of treason of edward iii., , by which the unhappy victim of justice must be drawn to the gallows and not walk; be cut down alive and his entrails be then torn out and burnt before his face. women in nuremberg, as in france and england, were not exposed on gibbets in chains but were buried alive, till , when at the hangman's request they were drowned instead. in they took to being decapitated. women who had murdered their husbands were bound to a cart on the way to execution, bared to the waist and tortured with red-hot tongs. the condemned criminal usually walked from the [illustration: henkersteg (hangman's tower)] rathaus over the barfüsserbrücke to the frauenthor, where the gallows stood. on the way priests confessed him; pious people prayed for him and supported him with draughts of wine. it is satisfactory to learn that the feeling of the people was usually in favour of the "poor" thing. fellow-feeling made them wondrous kind, so that if the hangman bungled his business and failed to kill his subject outright the mob might prove dangerous. but the executioners, who lived in the picturesque henkersteg, were usually masters of their art.[ ] they tell us of one great artist who in killed two robbers almost at a blow. he placed them back to back, two or three yards apart, and took his stand between them. he beheaded the first one, who was kneeling, then with the same sweep, swinging round in a circle, he whipped off the other's head. clearly he was not devoid of professional pride, and worthy was he to be compared with the executioner in anne of geierstein who boasted that "tristrem of the hospital and his famous assistants andré and trois eschelles are novices compared with me in the use of the noble and knightly sword," and who claimed "if one of my profession shall do his grim office on nine men of noble birth with the same weapon and with a single blow to each patient, hath he not a right to his freedom from taxes and his nobility by patent?" the day-book of the nuremberg executioner, - , shows that no less than were executed, and were beaten with rods and had their ears and fingers cut off in that period. besides these there were doubtless many dungeon executions and much cellar practice as well. there were also the victims of the secret tribunal, the vehme-gericht. after leaving the torture-chamber we pass the entrance to a passage, inaccessible now by reason of the masses of fallen stone, which leads beyond the town to a distance of nearly two miles, and emerges (it is said) in the forest near dutzendteich. it was used to despatch envoys, and as a means of access to, and escape for, the senate in troublous times. the passage which we follow was constructed about . it runs beneath the streets towards the castle, making a circuitous course and passing under the albrecht dürer platz. it varies in height from to feet, and, as it nears the castle, is hewn out of the living rock. presently we pass on the right the passage which leads down to the deep well (see chap. v.); and then at last we emerge first into the thiergärtnerthorthurm and then on to the castle bastion--the schlosszwinger. this bastion is now a well-kept garden, and the empty, spreading embrasures for guns are now covered with creepers. our guide leads us out into the burgstrasse. a few years ago it was possible to descend again into the passages, traverse the inner side of the town-wall and pass into the castle dungeon--the secret prison of the vehme-gericht. underground passages led thither both from their own tribunal--a hall now used as a warehouse in the pannier-gasse--and from the private residences of the senators. there, too, was that deep and dismal abyss[ ] which was wont to receive the mangled remains of the prisoners, mostly of rank, who had been condemned to "kiss the maiden"--_die verfluchte jungfer_. he upon whom doom had been passed was forced, after a night spent in her presence, into the embraces of the famous female figure, which stands to-day with sphinx-like placidity in the castle. gradually by cunningly-contrived machinery the maiden grasped the unhappy man with iron arms and pressed him crushingly to her bosom. but from her body and from her face sharp spikes sank as gradually into his eyes and flesh, piercing him through and through. at last the arms relaxed from their cruel embrace, but only to precipitate him, a mass of ghastly laceration, into the pit below, where the body was received upon sharply-pointed bars of steel placed vertically at the bottom, and was cut to pieces by wheels armed with knives which soon completed this inhuman work of secret destruction. this subsequent cutting into a thousand pieces may be compared with the chinese _ling-chee_, and the _bodoveresta_ prescribed by zoroaster for incompetent physicians. besides its horrid appeal to the imagination, it was doubtless useful in concealing the identity of a prisoner secretly condemned and secretly executed. there are various parallels to the nuremberg maiden. a similar instrument was invented by nabis, a spartan tyrant, who named it the apega, after his wife. but the famous morton's maiden in the museum of antiquities in edinburgh is simply a beheading machine, something after the manner of a guillotine. tradition says that the regent, earl of morton, introduced it into scotland and was the first to suffer by it. this is a story as old as the bull of phalaris. but it is not likely that morton introduced it and he was certainly not the first to suffer by it. similarly the rack was called exeter's daughter because the duke of exeter is said to have introduced it into england. so, too, the scavenger's daughter in the tower of london took its name from sir william skevington, a lieutenant of the tower under henry viii., who revived the use of an iron hoop, in which the prisoner was bent heels to hams and chest to knees, and was thus crushed together unmercifully. in all these cases, it will be observed, the instrument took its title of maiden or daughter from the grim contrast that would strike the popular mind between the soft embraces of a girl and the cruel greeting of the machine. it was the sweetest maiden he ever kissed, said the marquis and earl of argyle when he suffered death by morton's maiden. so in the navy the gun to which a sailor was lashed before being flogged was termed the gunner's daughter.[ ] so, too, in the days of the french revolution, as dickens tells us, the figure of the sharp female figure called la guillotine was the popular theme for jests: it was the best cure for headache, it infallibly prevented the hair from turning grey, it imparted a peculiar delicacy to the complexion, it was the national razor which shaved close; who kissed la guillotine looked through the little window and sneezed into the sack. in nuremberg this grim jest was translated into literal earnest. but it must have been difficult for the sufferer to appreciate the hideous humour of the thing. not long ago there was an exhibition of torture instruments in london. the nuremberg maiden was represented, and round her neck hung a placard with the legend: "maiden: nuremberg." a cockney, the story runs, read out this inscription to his companion: "syme old gyme," was the comment; "myde in germany." and it was. chapter vii _albert durer and the arts and crafts of nuremberg. (michel wolgemut, peter vischer, veit stoss, adam krafft, etc.)_ "wie friedsam treuer sitten ertrost in that und werk liegt nicht in deutschlands mitten mein liebes nüremberg." --wagner, _die meistersinger_. "here, when art was still religion, with a simple, reverent hart, lived and laboured albrecht dürer, the evangelist of art; hence in silence and in sorrow, toiling still with busy hand, like an emigrant he wandered, seeking for the better land. emigravit is the inscription on the tomb-stone where he lies; dead he is not--but departed,--for the artist never dies." --longfellow. at nuremberg, as elsewhere, in the middle ages, every trade formed a close corporation, the rules and ordinances of which were subject to the council alone. these unions, besides enjoying a monopoly of their particular trade, aimed at producing good work after their kind, and at "living together peacefully and amicably, according to the christian law of brotherly love." wages and prices were fixed, the relations of masters and subordinates were regulated by the corporations. equality as well as fraternity was aimed at. each master was allowed only a certain number of apprentices and workmen, who might not work at night, on sundays, or on feast days. occasionally, in the case of artists whose work was in very great repute and demand, the council relaxed this rule. by special privilege adam krafft was allowed to increase his establishment of workers. the trade-corporations paid great attention to the quality of the goods produced. they were always anxious that only products which were "in the eyes of all good, irreproachable, and without flaw," should be delivered. to guarantee their quality and soundness goods were carefully inspected before being put on sale: shoes or works of art, bread or beef--all alike came under the eye of inspectors appointed by the respective associations. punishment for infringement of the rules was severe. two men were burnt alive at nuremberg in for having sold adulterated wine. the modern publican would doubtless be surprised at such treatment. the youth who was destined for a certain trade had to be apprenticed to some master of that trade, "who," say the rules of the time, "must maintain his apprentice night and day in his house, give him bread and attention (and in some cases even clothes), and keep him under lock and key." the master, who was responsible for his apprentice's work, had also to teach him his trade, and to see that he was brought up in the fear of god, and that he attended church. when the apprenticeship (lehrjahre) expired the young worker set out on his travels (wanderjahre) for one, three, or even five years, visiting foreign countries, and learning all he could of his trade. then he returned and occupied himself, whilst working for a master, in endeavouring to produce a piece of work--his masterpiece--which should entitle him to be admitted to the rank of master. [illustration: albert durer's house] that this system had faults, economically, is undeniable. that it produced good work and engendered in the craftsmen a personal interest and pride in their work, is equally certain. among the craftsmen of nuremberg in her golden age were albert durer, peter vischer, adam krafft, veit stoss, and a host of others eminent in their line. it was under the conditions we have sketched that they learned and laboured. * * * * * among the most treasured of nuremberg's relics is the low-ceilinged, gabled house near the thiergärtnerthor, in which _albert durer_ lived and died, in the street now called after his name. the works of art which he presented to the town, or with which he adorned its churches, have unfortunately, with but few exceptions, been sold to the stranger. it is in vienna and munich, in dresden and berlin, in florence, in prague, or the british museum, that we find splendid collections of durer's works. not at nuremberg. but here at any rate we can see the house in which he toiled--no genius ever took more pains--and the surroundings which impressed his mind and influenced his inspiration. if, in the past, nuremberg has been only too anxious to turn his works into cash, to-day she guards albert durer's house with a care and reverence little short of religious. she has sold, in the days of her poverty and foolishness, the master's pictures and drawings, which are his own best monument; but she has set up a noble monument to his memory (by rauch, ) in the durer platz, and his house is opened to the public (on payment of pfennige) between the hours of a.m. and p.m., and and p.m. on week days. the albert-durer-haus society has done admirable work in restoring and preserving the house in its original state with the aid of professor wanderer's architectural and antiquarian skill. reproductions of durer's works are also kept here. the most superficial acquaintance with durer's drawings will have prepared us for the sight of his simple, unpretentious house and its contents. in his "birth of the virgin" he gives us a picture of the german home of his day, where there were few superfluous knick-knacks, but everything which served for daily use was well and strongly made and of good design. ceilings, windows, doors and door-handles, chests, locks, candlesticks, banisters, waterpots, the very cooking utensils, all betray the fine taste and skilled labour, the personal interest of the man who made them. so in durer's house, as it is preserved to-day, we can still see and admire the careful simplicity of domestic furniture, which distinguishes that in the "birth of the virgin." the carved coffers, the solid tables, the spacious window-seats, the well-fitting cabinets let into the walls, the carefully wrought metal-work we see there are not luxurious; their merit is quite other than that. in workmanship as in design, how utterly do they put to shame the contents of the ordinary "luxuriously furnished apartments" of the present day! _simplex munditiis_ is the note struck here. the artists of those days gave themselves no airs: they were content to regard themselves merely as successful workmen. the same hands that carved the most splendid cathedral stalls were ready to lavish equal care on the most insignificant domestic utensil: whilst the simplest artisan was filled with the ambition to turn out work truly artistic. he aimed at perfection, sharing in his master's toil and triumphs, and hoping, no doubt, to produce some day a masterpiece himself. and what manner of man was he who lived in this house that nestles beneath the ancient castle? in the first place a singularly loveable man, a man of sweet and gentle spirit, whose life was one of high ideals and noble endeavour.[ ] in the second place an artist who, both for his achievements and for his influence on art, stands in the very front rank of artists, and of german artists is _facile princeps_. at whatever point we may study durer and his works we are never conscious of disappointment. as painter, as author, as engraver or simple citizen, the more we know of him the more we are morally and intellectually satisfied. fortunately, through his letters and writings, his journals and autobiographical memoirs we know a good deal about his personal history and education. durer's grandfather came of a farmer race in the village of eytas in hungary. durer, it has been plausibly suggested, is a nuremberg rendering of the hungarian word ajtó = door = eytas. the open door, azure, in his canting coat of arms seems to confirm this. the grandfather turned goldsmith, and his eldest son, albrecht durer the elder, came to nuremberg in and settled in the burgstrasse (no. ). he became one of the leading goldsmiths of the town: married and had eighteen children, of whom only three, boys, grew up. albrecht, or as we call him albert durer, was the eldest of these. he was born may , , in his father's house, and anthoni koberger, the printer and bookseller, the stein of those days, stood godfather to him. the maintenance of so large a family involved the father, skilful artist as he was, in unremitting toil. "my dear father," writes durer, "passed his life in the midst of great toil, and difficult and arduous labour, having only what he earned by his handiwork to support himself, his wife and his family. his possessions were few and in his life he experienced many tribulations, struggles and reverses of all sorts: but all who knew him had a good word to say of him, for he clung to the conduct of a good and honourable christian. he was a patient and gentle man, at peace with all men and full of gratitude to god." the portrait he has left of his father (at munich) corresponds exactly to the character he has thus described. it is the trustful, strenuous face of a worn but strong old man, who seems to accept without regret, in the glad possession of a conscience free from all reproach, a life deprived of all comfort and worldly pleasure. he took great pains to bring up his children in the way they should go. "my father took much trouble over our education. he brought us up to the glory of god: his chief desire was to keep his children under severe discipline, so that they might be acceptable to god and to man. every day he urged us to love god and to show a sincere affection for our neighbours." of his mother, albert durer writes, "it was her constant custom to go much to church. she never failed to reprove me every time that i did wrong. she kept us, my brothers and me, with great care from all sin, and on my coming in or my going out, it was her habit to say 'christ bless thee.' i cannot praise enough her good works, the kindness and charity she showed to all, nor can i speak enough of the good fame that was hers." his father, who was delighted with albert's industry, took him from school as soon as he had learned to read and write and apprenticed him to a goldsmith. "but my taste drew me towards painting rather than towards goldsmithry. i explained this to my father, but he was not satisfied, for he regretted the time i had lost." [illustration: albert durer as a boy. from a drawing by himself at the age of thirteen] benvenuto cellini has told us how his father, in like fashion, was eager that he should practise the "accursed art" of music. durer's father, however, soon gave in and in apprenticed the boy to michel wolgemut. that extraordinarily beautiful, and, for a boy of that age, marvellously executed portrait of himself at the age of thirteen (now at vienna) must have shown the father something of the power that lay undeveloped in his son. so "it was arranged that i should serve him for three years. during that time god gave me great industry so that i learnt many things; but i had to suffer much at the hands of the other apprentices." * * * * * painting was already in vogue at nuremberg in the fourteenth century, but it was never much encouraged. one of the reasons may perhaps have been that there was little opportunity for fresco painting here, as in italy; for the gothic style of architecture offers no large surfaces that seem to demand the relief of colour and drawing. painting was regarded at first merely as an assistant of architecture, glass-blowing and sculpture, for the purposes of decoration and ornament, and painters therefore always continued to be treated as mere artisans of one craft or another. "here i am a master," writes durer from italy, "at home a parasite." but, however regarded, the art of painting had attained to the dignity of a separate existence when, in the fourteenth century, it was called in to supply the place of sculpture and to furnish altar-pieces and memorial pictures attached to monuments. these latter, "epitaphs," are highly characteristic of northern art, and no better examples of them are to be found than in the great churches of nuremberg. many of them, in their original positions, can be seen in the churches of st. lorenz and st. sebald, executed for the great burgher families--imhoffs, tuchers, holzschuhers, etc.--on the death of one of their number. an early example is that of paul stromer ( ) in st. lorenzkirche. the oldest nuremberg picture is said to be an altarpiece in st. jakobskirche. a great advance on this awkward work is the celebrated imhoff'sche altar-piece in the lorenzkirche ( - ). of the same period, but more full of colour and movement, are the pictures of the deokarus altar in the same church, of the altar of the sacristy in st. jakobskirche, and notably of the tuchersche altar in the frauenkirche ( ). the figures in this picture are more severe and also more vigorous than the graceful, soft, full figures of the imhoff'sche altar-piece. the names of the painters of these works are unknown. berthold, who was commissioned by the council in to paint the interior of the rathaus, is the only early painter of note whose name has survived. to him some of the earliest epitaphs are safely to be attributed. so far no outside influence had affected the work of the nuremberg painters. they were content to supply their pictures with plain gold backgrounds and to subordinate the composition of them to the requirements of the folding divisions of the altar-pieces, carved in stone or wood. the grouping is therefore often crowded and the drawing and arrangement of the limbs and figures frequently approaches the grotesque. but presently, and probably through the agency of martin schongauer, the famous engraver and painter of colmar, the influence of the flemish school began to make itself felt. the introduction of landscape backgrounds and a great improvement in drawing and composition are noticeable, and may be traced in the löffelholz altar-piece in st. sebald's ( ). in these respects and in the smooth and brilliant colouring, not quite perfectly harmonised, _michel wolgemut's_ ( - ) earliest works show the influence of the flemish school in full vigour. it was in that he married the widow of hans pleydenwurf, a painter of some reputation, and in his house, beneath the old castle, proceeded to carry on the firm of wolgemut and pleydenwurf. from this workshop all the principal paintings of that period would seem to have issued. it is extremely difficult to determine how far the pictures that have hitherto passed under the name of michel wolgemut are really his. the master has certainly failed as a rule to stamp his own personality on his works. this is no doubt due in great part to the fact that he left much of each picture to be done by his pupils and assistants. the "firm" took a frankly business view of their handiwork. the amount of personal attention michel wolgemut gave to a picture probably varied with the price paid for it. it is unfortunate that durer in many cases followed the same custom. he found that his careful and elaborate style of painting was simply beggaring him, and he frequently therefore allowed his paintings to be finished by his assistants. some common characteristics of the pleydenwurf-wolgemut school soon impress themselves on us as we study their works in the german museum, or the churches of st. lorenz, st. sebald, st. john, and st. jakob. the drapery is stiffly drawn but the colouring remarkably clear and brilliant. the modelling of the limbs, not founded on durer's close studies of the nude, still leaves much to be desired. the female type is at first sight graceful, but on closer acquaintance we find it soulless and unsatisfying. the prominent cheekbones, straight noses, mild expression of almond-shaped eyes, thin lips and lifeless mouths produce an impression very different from that caused by the almost painful intensity of durer's portraits. as the fifteenth century draws to a close an increasing severity of design and hardness of expression becomes noticeable. it is not altogether fanciful, i think, to attribute this in part to the stern independent spirit of the reformation and in part to the prevalence of engraving. for wolgemut, with wilhelm pleydenwurf, paid much attention to woodcarving,[ ] and aided doubtless by their youthful apprentice, albert durer, illustrated the _schatzbehalter_ ( ) and the _hartmann-schedel chronicle_ ( ), published by koberger. the influence of this style of work is perhaps traceable in the flatness and severe modelling of the hands, feet, and faces, and in the stiff movement of the figures in wolgemut's pictures. wolgemut is seen to best advantage in his single figures of saints, as in his peringsdörffer masterpiece, from the augustinerkirche, now in the german museum, the only painting of importance known to have been produced in his studio during durer's apprenticeship. but even in his best pieces we see little more than the fine feeling of a skilful workman. we look in vain for inspiration, in vain for imagination, we listen in vain for any echo from that world of perfect beauty which durer and the greatest artists have known in part and striven to express. and yet, somehow, his best works do appeal to us and stir our hearts. what the secret of that appeal may be is a question which will doubtless find various answers. _quot homines tot sententiæ._ for me it is that wolgemut speaks in the naïve, straightforward tones of the middle ages, and decks the actors of the sacred story in the clothes and colours of his own time and his own surroundings. the atmosphere of his pictures is laden with subtle associations. if there was no note of poetry in wolgemut, still, round the landscapes in his pictures, there hovers a tone like the echo of some old folk-song that has been sung and yet lingers in the air. * * * * * _albert durer_ always entertained the highest respect for his master, and in painted the immortal portrait of him in his eighty-second year, now in munich. when in his apprenticeship was completed durer set out on his wanderjahre, to learn what he could of men and things, and, more especially, of his own trade. martin schongauer was dead, but under that master's brothers durer studied and helped to support himself by his art at colmar and at basle. various wood-blocks executed by him at the latter place are preserved there. whether he also visited venice now or not is a moot point. here or elsewhere, at any rate, he came under the influence of the bellini, of mantegna, and more particularly of jacopo dei barbari--the painter and engraver to whom he owed the incentive to study the proportions of the human body--a study which henceforth became the most absorbing interest of his life. "i was four years absent from nuremberg," he records, "and then my father recalled me.... after my return hans frey came to an understanding with my father. he gave me his daughter agnes and with her florins, and we were married." durer, who writes so lovingly of his parents, never mentions his wife with any affection: a fact which to some extent confirms her reputation as a xantippe. she, too, in her way, it is suggested, practised the art of _cross-hatching_. pirkheimer, writing after the artist's death, says that by her avariciousness and quarrelling nature she brought him to the grave before his day. she was probably a woman of a practical and prosaic turn, to whom the dreamy, poetic, imaginative nature of the artist-student, her husband, was intolerably irritating. yet as we look at his portraits of himself--and no man except rembrandt has painted himself so often--it is difficult to understand how anyone could have been angry with albert durer. never did the face of man bear a more sweet, benign, and trustful expression. in those portraits we see something of the beauty, of the strength, of the weakness of the man so beloved in his generation. his fondness for fine clothes and his legitimate pride in his personal beauty reveal themselves in the rich vestments he wears and the wealth of silken curls, so carefully waved, so wondrously painted, falling proudly over his free neck. joachim camerarius, the first rector of the melanchthon gymnasium in nuremberg, tells a pleasant story of how the aged giovanni bellini once asked durer to present him with one of the brushes with which he drew hairs. "durer immediately produced several ordinary brushes such as bellini himself used, and begged him to take the best, or all if he would. bellini said 'no, i don't mean these. i mean the ones with which you draw several hairs with one stroke. they must be more spread out and more divided; otherwise in a long sweep such regularity of curvature and distance could not be preserved.' 'i use no other than these,' albrecht replies, 'and, to prove it, you may watch me.' then taking up one of the same brushes, he drew some very long, wavy tresses, such as women generally wear, in the most regular order and symmetry. bellini looked on wondering, and afterwards admitted that no human being could have convinced him by report of the truth of that which he had seen with his own eyes." "nature had given him a body," says the same writer, "noble in build and structure, consonant with the beautiful mind it contained. his head was expressive, the eyes flashing, the nose nobly formed, and what the greeks called [greek: tetragônon] (roman). his neck was long, and his chest broad; his thighs muscular, and legs powerful." and most noteworthy of all are his exquisitely beautiful hands and fingers, which strike us equally in the portrait of the boy of thirteen, and in the munich portrait which forms our frontispiece. no one who studies the latter picture can fail to notice how closely the countenance of durer approaches the ideal type of jesus christ in art. the artist, indeed, was conscious of this himself, for his own representations of christ bear a resemblance to his own features. on his marriage durer did not proceed to live in the house of his parents-in-law as was customary, but, for some reason, took up his abode in his father's house. it was his ambition to excel as a painter, but it is as an engraver that he won his hold on the world--and still retains it. copperplate engraving had been practised as early as the first quarter of the fifteenth century. it had been developed out of the goldsmith's art, and perfected by the masters e. s. and martin schongauer. there was a great demand for engravings. accordingly, with a view to earning the much needed money for his family, durer at first devoted himself to this art. we can trace clearly enough the progress of the artist as he endeavoured to produce not merely the simple representation of a subject, but by the aid of landscape backgrounds, a picture, an artistic whole on the copper. for this purpose he turned to account his early studies of nuremberg scenery and his charming drawings of nuremberg, the pegnitz, and the houses to which he was ever devoted. piracy of his works soon followed on and proved his popularity. literary piracy, it will be seen, if not yet respectable, is at any rate of some antiquity. meantime he was busy painting the portraits of members of patrician families, of his father, of himself. for these we must not seek in nuremberg, but an example of his painting at this period (_circa_ ), is to be found in the pietà, now in the german museum. in painting, it was durer's rule to deal only with sacred subjects or portraits. the much damaged and inferior work, "hercules with the stymphalian birds," in the same museum forms an interesting exception to this rule. but in his engravings durer did not confine himself to any one subject: sacred and secular history, mythology, animals, satire, humour, architecture, land and water scapes, portraits, all formed material for his receptive and strenuous mind. his humour may be studied in his designs for maximilian's "book of hours," and there, too, his mordant satire lashes the faults of vain women and the _gaucheries_ of proud and foolish peasants. we have already had occasion to refer to the circle in which durer moved in these days; but special mention should here be made of willibald pirkheimer, his great friend and patron, the most generous mæcenas of sciences and art in nuremberg. scholar and statesman, writer, orator, and soldier, his house and splendid library in the herrenmarkt was the centre of intellectual activity in germany, and the chief meeting-place of the humanists. maximilian i., conrad celtes, eobanus hesse, luther and melanchthon, and especially ulrich von hutten and durer were among his most favoured and frequent guests. he was a constant correspondent [illustration: st. anthony, from the engraving by albert durer. background of nuremberg scenery] also of reuchlin and erasmus. a martyr to gout, he was naturally choleric, but he had the humour to write a poem in praise of gout. his quick temper and vehement opinions led to his quarrelling in time with every friend except the gentle durer. coarse and caustic was his wit: and it is only under his influence that durer ever shows these qualities. pirkheimer was, in fact, a great man, a very great man, in his day; but he lives now through his friendship with durer, and through the portrait, that marvellous engraving so full of character, which durer published in . besides copper-engraving and painting durer also turned his attention to wood-engraving, and by his admirable work and designs began to give it its place among the pictorial arts. one of his earliest woodcuts is entitled _the men's bath_. it represents a group of nude male figures in one of those open-air public baths in the pegnitz, which are still used in nuremberg, and of which an old writer says: "a solicitude particularly attentive to the needs of the working classes and to the health and well-being of artisans, servants and the poor, has established baths in the towns and villages: it is a habit very praiseworthy and profitable to the health to take a bath at least once a fortnight." there were a dozen such public baths at nuremberg, often visited by durer no doubt in his pursuit of the study of the nude. he continued to pour forth works drawn from mythology and church history, until in he produced that "great trumpet-call of the reformation," the famous series of wood-cut illustrations to the _apocalypse_. in this series, so full of artistic skill and imagination, durer not only reveals to us the aspirations of his own mind, but he also expresses the thoughts and emotions of the age in which he lived. the apocalypse, in which under the veil of religious symbolism are made to appear the terrible judgments of the lord and the peace of his saints, was followed by that sweet and tender poem, _the life of mary_, and by the _great_ and the _little passion_, two sublime tragedies that leave nothing to be desired in truth of expression and vigour of design. durer put his whole soul into these religious works--the same deeply penitent, simply trusting soul which he reveals to us in his prayers, his diaries, and his books. how real his subjects were to him, how homely his religion, is indicated by the inevitable manner in which he transfers the scenes of holy writ to the ordinary surroundings of his daily life in nuremberg. deeply imbued with the religious spirit, he tells this pictorial history of the christian faith as one to whom it was indeed a living reality and a very intimate part of his life. but before this immortal series was finished various important events occurred in the life of the artist. in his father died. "o all you who are my friends," writes albert, in words that remind us of st. augustine, "i pray you for the love of god, when you read the account of my good father's death, remember his soul, and say for him a _pater_ and an _ave_. do so too for your own salvation, that we may all obtain the grace of truly serving god, and that it may be granted to us to lead a holy life and to make a good end. no, it is not possible that he who has lived a good life should leave this world with regret or fear, for god is full of mercy." in the following year were produced the tender _virgin and child_, and in the _adam and eve_, in which the fruits of his study of the nude were given to the world in ideal figures of man before the fall. next year another break occurred in durer's career. whether, as vasari says, to secure himself against the piracy of his engravings, or merely in search of fresh knowledge, towards which "his lofty mind was ever striving," durer paid another visit to venice in . here he painted for the german colony, as an altar-piece in the church of st. bartolommeo, the _madonna del rosario_, now at prague. this picture contains portraits of maximilian, julius ii., durer, pirkheimer, and several german merchants. so great was the admiration roused by it that the doge visited the artist and endeavours were made to induce him to live permanently in venice. but in , in spite of all temptations, he returned to his native town and proceeded to execute many commissions. in he obtained an injunction from the council to prevent the fraudulent copying of his prints. in the same year a nuremberg worthy, matthäus landauer, added a chapel to the almshouses (zwölfbrüderhaus or landauerkloster) he had founded in . the chapel was dedicated to all saints, and durer was invited to paint an altar-piece for it, representing "the adoration of the trinity by all saints." the result, the allerheiligenbild, is one of the artist's noblest and most famous compositions, but it too has left nuremberg. for in the rat sold it to emperor rudolph ii., replacing it by a copy for which they retained the original frame. in durer bought the durer-haus and took his aged mother to live with him there. he also bought his father's house in the burgstrasse off his brother. this in itself shows that the stories of his poverty have been much exaggerated. on his death he left gulden--a very good fortune in those days. his connection with maximilian, to which we have already referred,[ ] no doubt brought him something, though he had difficulty in procuring the payment of the pension allowed him by the emperor. the council, in , at last gave a sign that they were aware of the presence of a great artist in their city by ordering durer to paint the portraits of charlemagne and sigismund, to be displayed at the festival when the imperial insignia and sacred relics--many of which were introduced into the pictures--were shown to the people. these portraits, into the former of which durer introduced the features of stabius, maximilian's poet-laureate, are now in the german museum, much restored and over-daubed with repaintings. the illness and death of his mother in caused albert durer very great grief. most touching is his description of that event. "just a year after she had fallen ill, my mother died in a christian manner, after having received full absolution. before dying she gave me her blessing, and with many pious words invoked upon me the peace of god, recommending me above all to keep myself from all sin. she had much fear of death, but, she said, she had no fear of appearing before the lord. she suffered when she died, and i observed that she saw before her something which terrified her, for she asked for holy water, although she had not uttered a word for a long time. at last her eyes grew fixed and i saw death deal her two great blows to the heart. then she closed her eyes and mouth and died suffering. i betook myself to reciting prayers at her side, and experienced such paroxysms of anguish as i cannot express to you. may god have mercy on my mother! it was always her greatest joy to speak to us of god, and she saw with gladness everything that could increase the glory of the lord. she was sixty-three years of age when she died, and i had her interred honourably according to my means. may our lord give me grace to die a holy death even as she died! may god with all the heavenly host, my father, my mother, my relatives and my friends, be present at my end! may god almighty grant us the life everlasting! amen. and after my mother was dead her face became more beautiful than it had been during her life." sorrow is the source of most great works of art. in his sorrow durer produced his three most famous, best-wrought engravings, works full of imagination and of thought, works in which, expressed in exquisite draughtsmanship, lies his whole philosophy. through _st. jerome in his library_, _the knight_, _death and the devil_, and _melencolia_, durer has more than elsewhere revealed himself to us and shown us his outlook upon things, his manner of regarding the world, his criticism of life. on the death of maximilian durer travelled to the court of charles v. in order to get his pension confirmed. he succeeded in his object, and, after travelling through the netherlands, where he was accorded a great reception, he returned to nuremberg in , having refused the pressing invitation of the council of antwerp that he should take up his residence in their city. when he returned he received another commission from the rat--to design decorative paintings for the great hall of the council-house. but durer's health was broken and his prolific imagination was flagging. he seems to have taken little interest in this commission. he chose the time-worn subject of the _calumny_ of apelles for one design, and used his unfinished sketch of maximilian's _triumphal car_ for the other. the painting was carried out by georg pencz and others of his pupils. durer's last great imaginative effort was the painting of the four preachers, two large upright panels with figures of st. peter and st. john on the one, and st. mark and st. paul on the other. these, as his final message to his native town, he presented in to his _gunstigen und gnädigen herren_, the council of nuremberg. painter, designer, engraver, mathematician, durer was also an author. the year before he died, he published his "instructions how to use the compass" and "instructions how to fortify towns, castles, and villages," and after his death appeared the four books of his life-long work on "the human proportions." his life had been passed in a strenuous endeavour to perfect his art: he died amid a universal chorus of regret, on april th, . his grave is in st. john's churchyard (no. ). a plain bronze plate on the headstone bears his well-known monogram and the following inscription:-- me(ister) al(brecht) du(rer) quicquid alberti dvreri mortale fuit, svb hoc conditur tumulo. emigravit, viii, idus aprile, m., d. xxviii. "i can truthfully say," wrote durer to the council, "that in the thirty years i have stayed at home, i have not received from people in this town work worth gulden--truly an absurd and trifling sum--and not a fifth part of that has been profit." after his death his fellow-citizens became more fully alive to the value of his works, and the worthy shopkeepers began those transactions which gradually stripped nuremberg of almost all the master's drawings and paintings. i borrow the following account from mr lionel cust's excellent monograph on "the paintings and drawings of albert durer":-- "the greater part of his drawings, which were made for his own use, appear to have passed into the possession of his life-long friend, pirkheimer, perhaps handed over by durer's widow to redeem the many financial obligations under which durer lay to his friend. the sketch-books used by durer in the netherlands seem to have passed into the possession of the pfinzing family, and were dispersed by their next owner. at pirkheimer's death the whole of his collections, including the paintings and drawings by durer, became the property of the imhoff family, the bankers and usurers of nuremberg. the imhoffs, as befits a good, steady, money-making firm, seem to have regarded durer's works as a marketable commodity. at the end of the sixteenth century, when the emperor rudolph ii. was forming his great collection of works of art and curiosities, the imhoffs, knowing his intense admiration for the works of durer, pressed upon him the collection of paintings and drawings which they possessed. the town council of nuremberg seem to have followed suit with the paintings which were immediately under their control, if not actually in their possession. in a short time rudolph became possessed of the bulk of durer's paintings and drawings at prague or vienna. several of the paintings remain in the imperial collection to this day, and a large portion of the drawings now forms the nucleus of what is known as the 'albertina' collection at vienna. another portion of the imhoff collection found its way through a collector in the netherlands, perhaps through one of the austrian governors, into that of sir hans sloane, and is now in the print-room at the british museum. these two collections, together with the great collection, which official industry and acumen have brought together at berlin, are the best field for the study of durer's work as a draughtsman, although in some of the smaller public or private collections some of the most remarkable examples are to be found. "the good citizens of nuremberg continued their work of converting durer's works into hard cash whenever the opportunity occurred. in the town council persuaded or compelled the governors of the landauer almshouses to sell to the emperor rudolph their great painting of _all saints_, replacing it by a copy which, by way of carrying out the deception, was inserted in the original frame designed by durer. the _adam and eve_ also appear to have passed into the same imperial hands. in the council sold to the elector maximilian of bavaria the two great panels of the _four preachers_, durer's last gift to his native town, and replaced them by copies. the long inscriptions from the bible were cut off from the original panels and added on below the copies. a few years before, in , they had presented the same elector with the beautiful baumgärtner altar-piece, which was torn from its place in st. catherine's church at nuremberg. the two _descents from the cross_ followed in the same channel: and the praun collection at nuremberg yielded up the portrait of wolgemut and the portrait of hans durer. worst of all, the portrait of their beloved and honoured citizen, the world-famous portrait of durer by himself, which had become actually the property of the town council, was lent by them to a local painter to copy; this ingenious craftsman sawed the panel in half, and glued his copy on to the back, on which were the town seal and other marks of ownership, and sold the original to king ludwig of bavaria. the worthy magistrates never discovered the fraud, or pretended not to, and this copy hangs to-day at nuremberg a monument of dishonour and fraud. gradually nuremberg divested itself of every work by durer which it could, and rejoiced in its copies and its cash. ludwig i. of bavaria took pity on its denuded condition, and gave back to it as a gift the _descent from the cross_, known as the peller altar-piece, and also apparently returned from schleissheim the _hercules and the stymphalian birds_. with the overdaubed paintings of charlemagne and sigismund, these appear to be the only authenticated paintings by durer in his native town at the present day. three hundred years after durer's death, a statue was erected to him in nuremberg, and his house is now preserved and shown as a national relic. yet little more than fifty years after the erection of this statue, in , the citizens allowed the famous 'holzschuher' portrait, the last great work by durer which the town possessed, to be sold by the family, to whom it still belonged, to the munich gallery. truly a prophet hath little honour in his own country!" of the pupils and assistants of durer who carried on his tradition we may mention hans schäuflein, albert altdorfer, hans baldung, georg pencz, the two behaims and the two sebalds, and hans von kulmbach. we meet with many examples of their work in the churches and in the german museum. * * * * * as we turn our steps from durer's house and wander through the durer-platz to st. sebald's we come upon the oldest restaurant in nuremberg, where the devout tourist should not fail to drink _ein glas bier_ to the memory of hans sachs, pirkheimer, and durer, who sat here, drank and talked in days gone by. the _bratwurstglöcklein_ is a little beerhouse clinging to the north wall of st. moritz chapel, and owes its name, i suppose, to the custom of ringing a small bell when the sausage was ready. as to the curious position of this little restaurant we may remark that the practice of bargaining in the sacred precincts was very prevalent at one time, and little booths were frequently built on to the churches. it is only quite recently that the booths attached to the frauenkirche were broken up. * * * * * north of the rathaus runs the theresien strasse. no. is the house of adam krafft, the greatest of nuremberg sculptors ( - ). the house belonged originally to the pfinzing family, and is of interest in itself for its architectural features. the figure of st. moritz on the fountain in the courtyard is by peter vischer. here adam krafft, the pious and modest stone-mason, worked at his art to the glory of god. we know next to nothing of the man beyond what we can learn from his handiwork. there is fortunately little reason for believing the legend that he died in great poverty. a friend we know he was of lindenast and vischer, with whom, so great was his industry and eagerness to improve in art, he used to practise drawing on holidays, even in his old age; and it is recorded that he made his wife call herself eva because he was adam. that quaint humour of his is revealed in the pleasing relief over the gateway of the "waage" or old weighing-house in the winklerstrasse. if we would see the counterfeit presentment of the man himself, we must pay a visit to st. lorenzkirche, and there, on the pedestal of his masterpiece the figure of the master appears with the tools and in the costume of his craft, kneeling in company with his assistants and supporting their beautiful creation. a simple man, of calm, unruffled temper and fervent faith he must have been, thoroughly representative of the best german spirit of his day. no german artist has portrayed the scenes of christ's passion with greater depth of genuine feeling. happily many of his principal works are at nuremberg. probably the earliest examples of nuremberg sculpture are the figures of adam and eve and the prophets round the portal of st. lorenzkirche. they date from the fourteenth century. in point of style and execution it is a far cry from these stern and angular figures to the almost supernatural grace and lightness of krafft's pix within the cathedral. well did legend pay him the pretty compliment of saying that he knew the art of _founding_ stone like bronze. tender and graceful as the artist here shows himself, the strength and vigour of his reliefs are equally remarkable. his treatment of the folds of garments seems to reflect the influence of the netherland school, and to point to a dangerous striving after the effects of painting. for his subjects krafft rarely went outside the new testament, which he interpreted in the terms of nuremberg life and dress. his figures, like those in the works of his contemporaries at nuremberg, are in most cases short, not to say dumpy, and reflect, no doubt, the ordinary type of human form around him. but always the homely nuremberg costumes in which they are clad seem to bring the scenes portrayed nearer to our hearts; and thereby when a mary draws to her breast the head of her crucified son, or a magdalene at the feet of jesus waters his feet with her tears, we are impressed the more vividly with sympathy for their sorrow. one of his earliest works, if, as i think, it is indeed by him, is the last judgment over the schauthüre, on the south-east side of st. sebaldskirche. his earliest works of unquestioned authority are the seven stations of the cross on the burgschmietsstrasse. these are a series of bas-reliefs on seven pillars, each representing a scene in the passion of our lord. starting from the house of the founder they mark the way to st. john's churchyard. some of them are much defaced by time and some have been carefully copied by burgschmiet,[ ] but here and there we can still recognise the vigorous touch of adam krafft, and they still keep green the memory of their pious founder. martin ketzel, somewhere about the year , had undertaken a pilgrimage to the holy land. struck by the fact that the distance between pilate's house and golgotha was exactly that between his own house and st. john's churchyard, he returned home with various measurements, determined to erect at certain intermediate stations some pieces of sculpture commemorative of our saviour's passion. to his dismay when he arrived he discovered that he had lost his precious measurements. there was nothing for it but to return to jerusalem and take the measurements afresh. for he could trust no one to perform so important a task for him. this time he was more successful, and adam krafft was commissioned to provide the reliefs. starting from pilate's house, which was represented by ketzel's own house--thiergärtnerthorplatz (opposite durer's house--it is adorned by the statue of an armed knight) the pillars were placed at intervals, marking the spots corresponding to those where christ was said to have rested on the real dolorous way to mount calvary. calvary itself is represented at st. john's. each pillar bears an inscription:-- . hir begegnet christus seiner wirdigen lieben muter die vor grossem hertzenleit anmechtig ward. srytt von pilatus haws. . hir ward symon gezwungen cristo sein krewtz helfen tragen. sryt von pilatus haws. . hir sprach christus jr döchter von jherusalem nit weint über mich, sünder uber euch und ewvre kinder. srytt von pilatus haws. . hier hat christus sein heiligs angesicht der heiligen fraw veronica auf iren slayr gedruckt vor irem haws. sryt von pilatus haws. . hier tregt christus das creuz und wird von den juden ser hart geslagen. srytt von pilatus haws. . hier felt cristus vor grosser unmacht auf die erden bei srytt von pilatus haws. then on a small eminence by the gate of the cemetery we behold the last sad scenes of calvary reproduced. it is a noble group which moves us alike by the pathos and dignity of its treatment and by the beauty of the inscription. . hir legt cristus tot vor seiner gebenedeyten wirdigen muter die in mit grosem herzenleyt und bitterlichen smertz claget und beweynt. in the holzschuher chapel near at hand is krafft's last work ( ) the burial of christ. in this piece, which lacks the fervent feeling of his earlier representations of christ's passion and was probably chiefly executed by his assistants, the figure of joseph of arimathea is a portrait of adam krafft. krafft in his prime ( ) had dealt with the same subject in the sebald-schreyer-tomb on the outer wall of the choir of st. sebaldskirche, facing the rathaus. the "burial" in st. john's church seems cold and hard compared with the pathos and beauty of this masterpiece, so finely composed and exquisitely wrought. other works of adam krafft's which well repay study are:-- . bearing the cross, st. sebaldskirche. . the last supper, mount of olives and betrayal, behind the high altar, st. sebaldskirche. . the annunciation, on the house at the corner of winklerstrasse and schulgässchen. . the crowning of mary (pergenstorfer relief) in the frauenkirche. . madonna with child, on the corner-house, wunderburggässlein. . crowning of mary, in the tetzellchapel of the Ægidien church. but most important of all stands in the st. lorenzkirche the wonderful pix, ciborium, weibrodgehäuse, or sakramentshäuslein, wherein were deposited the elements of the eucharist, previous to consecration. this "miracle of german art" ( - ) was made on commission for hans imhoff, a member of the great family of merchant princes, who died in , a year before it was finished, though long after it was due to be delivered. his heirs, however, recognised the merit of the master who, inspired by friendly rivalry with vischer's sebaldusgrab, completed at last so great a work of art. they gave to krafft gulden more than the gulden he asked, and to his wife a mantle worth gulden. [illustration: sakramentshÄuslein. (adam krafft)] nuremberg, so rich in legend, tells a story of the origin of the pix. a servant of hans imhoff was accused of having stolen a goblet and, in terror of being tortured, confessed the theft. he suffered death accordingly. but a little while afterwards the goblet was found, full of wine, beneath a bed, where it had been placed, it was surmised, by some guest who had been drinking too freely. as an atonement for his hastiness hans imhoff dedicated this offering to the lord. similar, but inferior _weihbrodgehäusen_ by adam krafft are to be seen at schwabach and at heilsbronn. that by the master of weingarten at ulm rivals though it can scarcely surpass the st. lorenzkirche masterpiece. the life-size kneeling figures of the master, in the middle with cap, apron and mallet, and two assistants, the one with a measure and the other with a chisel, support the balcony which runs round the ciborium. the pillars of the balustrade are adorned with eight figures of saints, including st. lorenz (with gridiron) and st. sebald. on the pillars of the ciborium itself (beneath which are small angels and escutcheons), are the statues of moses, john, mary, and james the less. above the receptacle rises a spire like a bishop's crosier, representing perhaps the crook of the good shepherd. it is ornamented with statuettes of saints, and as the holy sacrament was instituted to commemorate the death of the redeemer the artist has added reliefs representing episodes of the passion, which with the resurrection complete for all believers the fruits of the holy supper. . christ comforting the women. . the holy supper. . the mount of olives. above these again are four patriarchs and eight angels holding signs of the passion, which interpreted as instruments of torture may have given rise to the story of the origin of the pix. then-- . christ before pilate. . the crown of thorns. . the crucifixion. ss. mary and john and a kneeling figure (the church?). on the pillars above stand the four evangelists(?) and above all the figure of the risen saviour, the right hand stretched out in benediction, the left holding the banner of victory. but apart from the details of the carving, it is the grace of the fretted gothic pinnacle of finest filigree stonework that seizes our attention. tapering, or rather mounting airily on high it carries the eye up to the spandril of the vaulting of the choir, soaring like the notes of a flute-like voice, and embodying, as it were, the utterance of some deeply spiritual aspiration. the delicate elaboration of this wonderful stonework seems to have overcome all terrestial heaviness. higher still and higher, it springs from the earth like shelley's skylark, but it fades not from view. for when, some sixty feet from the ground, the bend of the vaulting checks its further growth, it bows its beautiful head and like a lily on its stalk or snowdrop on its stem terminates in a pendant flower. it is indeed a miracle of rare device. so slender and graceful is it and withal so clear-cut that the triumph of the artist over his material seems almost unearthly, whilst the spring and proportion of the whole and the sharpness of the carving redeem him from the imputation of making an inappropriate use of stone. in this, as in the schreyertomb, it is usual to trace the influence of durer on the sculptor. to me it seems more probable that adam krafft's style with its excessive minuteness influenced albert durer and was in turn influenced by martin schongauer. * * * * * wood-carving (as a visit to the museum will demonstrate) flourished exceedingly at nuremberg. there were indeed so many carvers there towards the end of the fifteenth century that it is difficult to understand how they all gained a livelihood. the greatest artist among them, if we except the unknown master of the nuremberg madonna in the museum, was certainly veit stoss. born in he was of abstemious and frugal habits and lived till . in he gave up his rights of citizenship, went to poland, and at cracow made a great reputation by the high altar and choir-stalls he carved for the church of st. mary there. like durer he was very versatile--a carver in wood and stone, painter, engraver, mechanician, and architect. but unlike most of the great artists of this period, his character was stained by a considerable crime. on returning to nuremberg in he was nick-named the pole and was presently condemned on a charge of forging a signature to a document which was to substantiate his claim against a nuremberg merchant, whom he accused of having cheated him out of a sum of money. he was sentenced to be branded on both cheeks--a gentle punishment, seeing that a forger was liable to lose both eyes. the council also compelled him to swear that he would never leave nuremberg, but, when he found that no one would work with him, he fled. but later, the council pardoned him and received him back. they seem to have appreciated his artistic gifts as much as maximilian. stoss worked very diligently at nuremberg and received orders even from transylvania and portugal. whatever his character--and it is fair to add that on the count of forgery he always maintained that he was unjustly accused--his art will always bring him praise. of his numberless altar-pieces, crucifixes and madonnas, the very beautiful wood gilt crucifix and the much-admired angels' greeting, both in the lorenzkirche, are the most famous. his earliest work in nuremberg is a painted carving of the madonna and child on the north wall of the frauenkirche, executed for the old welser altar ( ). veit stoss, it is pointed out in his later work, exhibits the increasing influence of albert durer, but nowhere more unmistakably than in the "englischer gruss" ( )--the angelic greeting, which hangs from the roof of the lorenzkirche, a work of tender piety, in which the delicacy of the figures is very noticeable. formerly the greeting hung in the choir suspended by a costly chain. but owing to the torrent of coarse abuse which osiander, the great preacher and reformer, hurled against it, it was wrapped up in a green sack, on which were set the tucher arms. later on, the chain was replaced by a rope. then the greeting was moved about from church to church till at last it returned to st. lawrence's. but it was insecurely hung, and in it fell from a height of feet and was broken to pieces. it was very skilfully put together again by the brothers rotermundt. but the huge crown which originally surmounted it was not restored. celebrated as this carving is, and beautiful as are many of the individual figures and details in the medallions, the angelic greeting as a whole is, i confess, too florid and too heavy for my taste. so that, rather than be dishonest in my enthusiasms, i will only add (without superciliousness) that for those who like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing they like. the praying mary, who holds in her left hand a book, her right hand being laid upon her breast, and an angel with the staff of the annunciation, stand alone, over life-size, in the centre of a rose-wreath frame. over the wreath is carved god the father, sitting between two angels, with crown and sceptre, blessing the figures beneath. other angels hovering about mary make heavenly music. under the wreath, eve's serpent (with the apple), is being conquered by the ave with which the angel of annunciation greets mary. on the wreath itself, seven round medallions in low relief represent the seven joys of mary:--the annunciation, visitation, birth of christ, (_cf._ the rosenkranz-tafel in the museum), adoration of the wise men, resurrection of christ, pouring out of the holy spirit, and crowning of mary. * * * * * krafft and stoss worked in the gothic style, but peter vischer ( - ), the bronze founder, except in his early works, of which there are no examples in nuremberg, shows the influence of the italian renaissance. perhaps this had come to him through jacopo dei barbari, whose influence on durer we have noted. however that may be, peter vischer remains a truly original artist. and yet, the son of a coppersmith, he ever continued to regard himself as a simple artisan. with a workman's cap, and a large leather apron round his waist, with hammer and chisel in hand, the signs of his calling, he has portrayed himself to us in his most beautiful work of art--the shrine of st. sebald. there, in a niche facing the altar, stands, thick-set and full-bearded, the modest, pious labourer, whose reputation had spread beyond the limits of germany, and whose bronze work, if we may believe the chronicler, once "filled poland, bohemia, hungary, and the palaces of princes throughout the holy roman empire." seldom did prince or potentate come to nuremberg without paying a visit to vischer's workshop. adam krafft and sebastien lindenast, the coppersmith who made works of art of copper "as if they had been of gold or silver," and who is responsible for the copper figures which adorn the frauenkirche clock, were his two bosom friends. they seemed, we are told, to have but one heart. all three were equally simple, disinterested, and ever eager to learn. "they were like brothers: every friday, even in their old age, they met and studied together like apprentices, as the designs which they executed at their meetings prove. then they separated in friendly wise, but without having eaten or drunk together." the masterpiece[ ] of peter vischer is without doubt the shrine of st. sebald, the highest expression of german art in this kind. imagination, which is so much lacking in most german art, is found here in plenty, and in a still higher degree the artist displays his sense of form and his careful attention to detail. to find any work of the fifteenth century which can vie with this in richness of fancy and in depth of feeling, as well as in successful handling of bronze, we must go i think to ghibellino ghiberti's gates of the baptistry at florence. the criticism, however, which must be passed on the sebaldusgrab is that the parts are very much greater than the whole; but the beauty and finish of the details are so great that once we are within range of their influence we forget and forgive any fault that may have caught our eye in the proportionment of the complete structure. it was in that vischer received the commission to make this superb receptacle for the bones of st. sebald. for twelve years he with his five sons laboured, though their labour was often interrupted by want of funds. private subscriptions failed to supply the cost even of the , pounds--about tons--of metal used. at last when, in , anton tucher in moving words had told the citizens in st. sebald's church that they ought to subscribe the gulden still wanting "for the glory of god and his holy saint," the money was forthcoming, and the monument was completed. the iron railings which surround it were made by george heuss, who was also responsible for the clockwork at the frauenkirche and the mechanism for drawing water at the deep well on the paniersberg. round the base of the shrine runs the following inscription:--"peter vischer bürger in nürnberg machet dieses werk, mit seinen söhnen, ward vollbracht im jahr, . ist allein gott dem allmächtigen zu lob und st. sebald dem himmelsfürsten zu ehren, mit hülf andächtiger leut von dem almosen bezahlt." that is the keynote of this wonderful structure. through years of difficulty and distress the pious artist had toiled and struggled on with the help of pious persons, paid by their voluntary contributions, to complete a work "to the praise of god almighty alone and the honour of st. sebald." no words, one feels, can add to the simple dignity and faith of that inscription. it supplies us with the motive of the work, and it supplies us also with the interpretation of the various groups and statues which form the shrine. to the glory of god,--we are shown how all the world, all nature and her products, all paganism with its heroic deeds and natural virtues, the old dispensation with its prophets and the new with its apostles and saints, pay homage to the infant christ, who enthroned on the summit holds in his hands the terrestrial globe. to the honour of st. sebald,--the miniature gothic chapel of bronze, under the richly fretted canopy some fifteen feet high, contains the oaken coffer encased with silver in which the bones of st. sebald lie; and below this sarcophagus, which dates from , are admirable bas-reliefs representing scenes and miracles from the life of the saint.[ ] at the feet of the eight slender pillars which support the canopy are all sorts of strange figures and creatures suggestive of the world of pagan mythology, gods of the forest and of the sea, nymphs of the water and the wood. between them are some lions couchant, which recall to the memory wolgemut's peringsdörffer altar-piece. at the four corners are candlesticks held by most graceful and seductive winged mermaids. but the most famous and the most beautiful figures are those of the twelve apostles, which stand, each about two feet, on high brackets and in niches on the pillars of the canopy. clad in graceful, flowing robes, their expression and whole attitude expressive both of vigour and of tranquil dignity, these statues are wholly admirable. i know no sculpture or painting which conveys to a higher degree the sense of the intellectual and moral beauty and strength which centred in these first followers of christ. that characteristic pervades them all, but the unity of suggestion is conveyed through a variety of individualities and of actions. each apostle stands forth distinct in the vigour of his own inspired personality. those at the east end of the monument are st. peter and st. andrew; on the north, or right side as we face these, are ss. simon, bartholomew, thomas, and matthew; on the south, or left, ss. john, james, philip, and paul; and on the west ss. thaddæus and matthias. the apostles are surmounted by the forms of the fathers of the church, or rather perhaps of the twelve minor prophets. beneath the apostles, on the substructure in a niche facing west, is a fine statue of st. sebald, and at the corresponding place on the other end of the monument is the excellent statue of p. vischer himself, to which we have referred. right at the bottom, at the foot of the four corner pillars, are the nude figures of nimrod with his bow and quiver, of samson with the slaughtered lion and jawbone of an ass, perseus with sword and shield and in company of a mouse, and innumerable other little animals; hercules with a club. between these heroes, in the centre of either side, are female figures representing the four chief manly virtues--strength in a coat of mail with a lion, temperance with vessel and globe, truth with mirror and book, and justice with sword and balance. in all, besides the apostles and prophets, there are seventy-two figures, in the presentation of which amidst flowers and foliage the exuberant fancy of the artist has run riot. but all are subordinated to the two central ideas which animate the whole, and all are executed with a delicacy and finish little short of marvellous. the whole fabric rests on twelve large snails with four dolphins at the corners. peter vischer died in and was buried in the rochus churchyard. his sons and pankraz labenwolf proved worthy successors in his art. labenwolf was responsible for the gänsemännchen fountain in the gänsemarkt, the fountain in the court of the rathaus and perhaps for the st. wenzel in the landauerbrüderhaus. after peter vischer's death his sons received an order to complete for the great hall of the rathaus a very beautiful bronze railing, which their father had begun in for the family of fugger in augsburg, who, however, had withdrawn their commission. this railing, which divided the great hall, was a work of very great artistic excellence. but it was taken away in by the bavarian government, _and sold for the weight of the metal_. it was probably melted down by the purchaser for the sake of the bronze. anyhow all trace of this beautiful work of art has disappeared. we have now dealt with the most famous of the nuremberg craftsmen. it would be wearisome to do more than mention a few of the leading names amongst those who excelled in other branches of art. a host of locksmiths, glasscutters, potters and stovemakers, bookbinders and carvers turned out in the golden age of nuremberg work which has never received its artist's name, but which continues to delight us. the painted glass, which in spite of much modern restoration is one of nuremberg's most priceless possessions, is often by unknown hands. but we can name such artists as schapfer and helmbach and later veit, augustin and sebald hirschvogel, guttenberger, juvenell, amnon, kirnberger and springlin. especially is it the case with the early glass in the smaller churches that we must label it _pictor ignotus_. the principal churches contain painted glass windows which surpass even those of ulm and cologne. in st. lorenzkirche there is the tucher window ( ) by springlin; whilst the volkamer window ( ), representing the family and patron saint of the donor and the genealogical tree of jesus christ, is justly claimed to be, for richness and depth of colouring and for elaboration of design, one of the noblest windows in the world. it can only be doubtfully attributed to veit hirschvogel. to him, however, belongs the credit of the maximilian window in st. sebald's ( ), and the margrave's window ( ), designed by kulmbach, in the same church. there, too, is a window by kirnberger and the bishop of bamberg's window ( ), which may perhaps be by katzheimer of bamberg. there were at one time fifty masters in the goldsmith trade, whose delicate work, excellent in execution and varied in design, was renowned throughout europe. the fact that in nine hundred pounds' weight of silver and silver-gilt ornaments was taken from the churches and sold by order of the council, will show how rich nuremberg was in this respect. but we can do here no more than mention the names of ludwig krug and wenzel jamnitzer and augustin hirschvogel, goldsmiths and painters on enamel. of armourers and metal-workers there were hans grünewalt, who died in , and his son-in-law wilhelm von worms, whilst martin harscher ( ) and kaspar endterlein ( ) were chief among the makers of waterpots and candelabra. sebald behaim, the great gunsmith; hieronymus gärtner, the architect; jakob püllman, the clockmaker and locksmith, also claim mention. nuremberg was the home of invention as well as of industry. christopher denner invented the clarionet in , and lobsinger the air-gun in . cannon were first cast here about the year , and in peter henlein made the first watches, which, from their shape, were called nuremberg eggs. specimens may be seen in the castle and in the museum. erasmus ebner discovered the particular alloy of metals which we call brass, the brass of earlier times being apparently of different combination, and one rudolph invented a machine for drawing wire in . about the same time the first paper-mill in germany, if not in europe, was established at nuremberg; and here at the latter end of the fourteenth century playing-cards, though not invented, were certainly printed. last, but not least, the honey cakes, which still introduce the german child to the name of nürnberg, were famous as our banbury cakes, and much appreciated by princes in the middle ages. it will be seen that the proverb-- "nürnberg tand geht durch alle land," was no empty boast, and we can now understand the force of the rhyme-- "hätt' ich venedigs macht, augsburger pracht, nürnberger witz,[ ] strassburger geschütz und ulmer geld so wär ich der reichste in der welt" chapter viii _the meistersingers and hans sachs_ "here hans sachs, the cobbler poet, laureate of the gentle craft, wisest of the twelve wise masters, in huge folios sang and laughed.... not thy councils, not thy kaisers, win for thee the world's regard; but thy painter albrecht durer and hans sachs thy cobbler-bard." --longfellow. "heil sachs! hans sachs! heil nürnbergs theurem sachs!" --wagner, _die meistersinger von nürnberg_. it is impossible to be in nuremberg many hours without becoming conscious of the fact that there once lived and died here a poet, who is still, as wagner calls him, the "darling of nuremberg." his name is heard and his portrait seen on every side. in the spital-platz stands the monument erected to his memory in (johann krausser). his house in the hans sachsgässlein,[ ] much restored and rebuilt since he lived there, is marked by a tablet. who then was this great man? a cobbler--and more than a cobbler, a poet. hans sachs, the son of a master-tailor, was born th november , and died january , . apprenticed to a shoemaker he yet always found time, he tells us, to practise the lovely art of poetry. his first teacher was lienhard nunnenbeck. but it was during his five years of travel (wanderjahre), in which he visited the greater part of germany, that he formed his determination "to devote himself to german poetry all his life long." in he returned from his travels to nuremberg, made his "master piece," and became a "master singer." we have already seen how ardently he supported the lutheran teaching, and we have referred to his poem ( ) "die wittenbergische nachtigall."[ ] his object was always both to amuse and to instruct. even his light poems usually end with a moral. he strove to make the new teaching popular by versifying and translating passages from the old and new testaments. he was apt, however, to be too vehement in the expression of his convictions. so violent was he against roman catholicism that in the council, anxious as ever to preserve peace and quiet, forbade him to write any more books or rhymes on that subject. hans sachs was twice married. his first wife died in , and the following year he married the beautiful widow, barbara harscherin, whose beauty and worth he praises in one of his most pleasing poems, "der künstliche frauenlob," written after the manner of the minnesingers:-- "wohlauf herz, sinn, muth, und vernunft helft mir auch jetzt und in zukunft, zu loben sie, so fein und zart, ihre sitt', gestalt und gute art, auf dass mit lobe ich bekröne die tugendreich', erwälhte schöne, dass ich ausbreite mit begierde wohl ihres frauenwesens zierde. vor allen frauen und jungfrauen, die je ich thät mit augen schauen hin und wieder in manchem land, ward keine mir wie die meine bekannt an leibe nicht, nicht an gemüthe, die gott mir ewiglich behüte...." we have mentioned both meistersingers and minnesingers. it may perhaps not be superfluous to add a word or two on the difference between these. the minnesingers flourished in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. they were mostly of noble birth, and, in an age when poetry and chivalry kissed each other, they exclusively cultivated the poetic art, living in kings' palaces, or wandering from court to court, and composing and singing pure and beautiful little love poems, in which the meadows and flowers sparkle, as it were, in the sunlight of their song. best known of these minstrels is walter von der vogelweide. he, during his wanderings, visited and sang in this old town at the court of frederick ii., himself a minnesinger. heinrich von meissen, surnamed frauenlob, also visited nuremberg, but he was the last of the minnesingers, and was buried at mainz, . after his time the practice of german poetry devolved almost exclusively on the burgher and artisan class. close societies were formed: the rules of poetry and singing were taught in their schools. versecraft became one of the incorporated trades. the sängerzünfte, or singers' guilds, flourished chiefly at augsburg, and on the rhine at strasburg, mainz, and worms. the meistersingers, ever anxious, but all unable to clothe themselves with the fallen mantle of ancient glory, speak of the "twelve old masters" (including tannhäuser, walter von der vogelweide, wolfran, etc.), as having lived together and formed the first society of meistersingers, under otto i. the truth is that these twelve masters were minnesingers, and did not live together. longfellow's phrase, "wisest of the twelve wise masters," cannot, therefore, be correctly applied to hans sachs. the incorporated poets, we must confess, though they derived many of their rules and metres from the minnesingers, managed to degrade the old german minnesinging to a close, artificial, and philistine art. the final pitch of absurdity was reached, when in was published harsdörfer's "nuremberg funnel, for pouring in the art of german poetry and rhyme, without the aid of the latin tongue, in six lessons." succeeding ages have thanked harsdörfer for that phrase. "nürnberger trichter" has passed into a proverb. the first celebrated master-singer of nuremberg was hans folz ( ), whom hans sachs called a "durchleutig deutschen poeten" (noble german poet). it is to be noted that the poems of the meistersingers were always sung to music, and often had to be written to a particular tune. hence the stringent rules made for their formation: hence, too, when prizes were given for the fewest mistakes in mere technique, the great attention paid to form and metre, and the gradual elimination of true passion and poetry. nuremberg had always fostered music. the art of lute-making, as of organ-building, had found a home there. borkhardt, the famous inventor of musical instruments, built the st. sebald's organ about this time. conrad gerler's instruments, too, were much sought after. in , for instance, we find charles the bold, duke of burgundy, sending for three lutes for the players at his court. an extremely good and interesting collection of old musical instruments will be found in the _german museum_. in this connection should also be noted there a picture of the meistersingers' singing school.[ ] the reputation of the nuremberg school of poetry and singing was greatly enhanced by hans sachs. remarkable for his own personality and literary fertility, he was also famous for reducing all the rules of the meistersingers to writing, in a code which lasted till . but, in spite of his attention to rules, he, at any rate, showed some poetic and original talent. it is for this reason that wagner makes him, in "die meistersinger," recognise the real poetry in walter, though the latter's impassioned song does not conform with all the artificial rules of the guild, mere paper rules which added nothing to the sound or rhythm of the words. for, as all the world knows, hans sachs has achieved a second lease of life on men's lips, through the genius of richard wagner, dramatist, poet, satirist, and wonderful musician, who, in this opera, laughs at the conceit of the incorporated poets in assigning an extravagant antiquity to their guilds, and at their pedantic sacrifice of matter to form. no more vivid and humorous picture of mediæval german life and of the people of quaint old nuremberg has ever been drawn. though "die meistersinger von nürnberg" was not published till , wagner had already as early as sketched out the plan of an opera which was to display the triumph of genius and genuine passion over pedantry and conventionalism in art. the passage[ ] from "eine mittheilung an meine freunde" is worth quoting here. "immediately after the completion of this work" (tannhäuser), he writes, "i was permitted to visit some baths in bohemia to restore my strength. here, as always, when i have been able to withdraw from the atmosphere of the foot-lights and my duties in the theatre, i soon found myself in a light and joyous humour. for the first time, and with artistic significance, a gaiety peculiar to my character declared itself. capriciously, and yet not without some premeditation, i had determined a little time previously to write as my next work a comic opera. i call to mind that i had been influenced in arriving at this decision by the well-meant advice of good friends, who wished to see an opera of a 'lighter kind' composed by me, because this, they said, would open the german theatres to my work, and so bring about that success, the invincible want of which had undoubtedly begun to threaten my worldly circumstances with serious embarrassment. as, with the athenians, a gay satirical piece followed on a tragedy, so suddenly there appeared to me, on that holiday journey, the picture of a comic play, which might suitably be attached as a satirical sequel to my 'battle of the bards at wartburg.' this was 'die meistersinger zu nürnberg,' with hans sachs at their head. hans sachs i conceived as embodying the last appearance of the artistically productive folk's-spirit, and as such i opposed him to the vulgar narrow-mindedness of the master-singers, whose very droll, rule-of-thumb pedantry i personified in the character of the 'marker.' this marker, as is well-known (or as is perhaps not known to our critics), was the overseer appointed by the singers' guild to 'mark' with strokes the faults against the rules committed by the performers, especially if they were candidates for admission to the guild. whoever received a certain number of strokes had _versungen_--failed in his singing." (the singer sat in a chair before the assembly: the marker was ensconced behind curtains, and gave his attention chiefly to marking mistakes in singing, in biblical history, in lutheran german, in rhymes, music and syllables.) "now the eldest of the guild offered the hand of his young daughter to that master who should win the prize at an approaching public singing-competition. the marker, who has already been wooing the maiden, finds a rival in the person of a young knight, who, fired by reading the 'book of heroes' and the old minnesingers, leaves the poor and decaying castle of his ancestors to learn in nuremberg the art of the master-singers. he announces his candidature for admission to the guild, being inspired thereto by a sudden passion for the prize-maiden, 'whom only a master of the guild may win.' he submits himself for examination, and sings an enthusiastic song in praise of women, which, however, provokes such incessant disapprobation on the part of the marker that ere his song is half-sung he has 'failed in his singing.' sachs, who is pleased with the youth and wishes him well, baffles a desperate attempt to carry off the maiden, and thereby finds an opportunity of deeply annoying the marker. the latter, who, with a view to humbling him, has already been turning rudely on sachs about a pair of shoes not yet finished, plants himself at night before the maiden's window, in order to make trial of the song with which he hopes to win her by singing it as a serenade. by so doing he hopes to secure her voice in his favour at the adjudication of the prize. sachs, whose cobbler's shop is opposite the house thus serenaded, begins singing loudly as soon as the marker strikes up, because, as he informs the infuriated lover, this is necessary if he must keep awake to work so late: that the work is pressing nobody knows better than the marker himself, who has dunned him so mercilessly for the shoes! at last he promises the poor wretch to stop singing on condition that whatever faults he may find, in his judgment, in the marker's song, he may be allowed to mark according to his shoemaker's art--namely, with a blow of the hammer upon the shoe stretched on the last. then the marker sings: sachs strikes on the last again and again. the marker jumps up indignantly. sachs asks him nonchalantly whether his song is finished. 'not nearly,' he cries. then sachs laughingly holds up the shoes outside his shop, and declares that they are now quite finished, thanks to the 'marker's strokes.' with the rest of his song, which in desperation he screams out without a pause, the marker fails lamentably before the lady, who appears at the window violently shaking her head. disconsolate, he asks sachs next day for a new song for his wooing. sachs gives him a poem by the young knight, pretending not to know its source: only he warns him to secure an appropriate tune to which it may be sung. the conceited marker thinks he has nothing to fear in that respect, and sings the song before the public assembly of masters and people to a quite inappropriate tune, which so disfigures it that he once more and this time decisively fails altogether. in his mortification he accuses sachs of having cheated him by providing so base a song. but sachs declares the song is a very good one, only it must be sung to a suitable tune. it is then agreed that whoever knows the right tune shall be the victor. the young knight does this and wins the bride: but rejects with disdain the admission to the guild now offered to him. sachs humorously defends the master-singers' guild, and closes with the rhyme-- "though should depart the pride of holy rome, still thrives at home our sacred german art." the "marker," thus pourtrayed in the meistersingers, is sigs beckmesser, who is one of those whom hans sachs mentions as having taught him. there is nothing remarkable in hans sachs being a shoemaker as well as a meistersinger, for the guild was chiefly composed of weavers and shoemakers. what is remarkable is that he was something of a poet as well as a meistersinger. the guild had to get special leave from the council each year to maintain their singing schools. this leave was sometimes refused, on the ground that the masters sang lascivious songs, and bawled them rather than sang. their meetings occurred principally in the church of st. catherine, after afternoon service on sundays--usually once a month. public performances took place thrice a year, at christmas, easter and pentecost. the public were invited to these great assemblies by placards representing a rose-garden and david playing the harp before our lord on the cross. this placard also announced the subjects chosen and the forms of songs allowed on the occasion. as an author, hans sachs was astonishingly prolific. besides his songs, he wrote fables, eighteen books of proverbs, comedies, tragedies and farces (in which he himself acted). altogether, the number of his works reached the huge total of . some of his plays--and some were in seven acts--were acted in the marthakirche and some in the rathaus. from sachs' time the drama began to make headway in germany; but it was not till after his death that it received its first great stimulus, when the english strolling players began to come through germany, acting shakespeare's plays among others no doubt, and the more blood-curdling scenes from ford and webster. in the council provided for such performances by building the fencing school, "for fencing and comedies" on the schütt, next to the wildbad. [illustration: nürnberger spruchsprecher] sachs was above all things a popular poet. he reflects both the good and the bad side of the people he represents. at his best we find in him that mixture of religious gravity with fresh and pungent humour which is so characteristic of the german spirit of those days. the narrative poem "der schneider mit dem panier" is a good example of this, and is free from that coarseness which too often disfigures his writings. nor must we forget to mention the long poem, "ein lobspruch der stadt nürnberg," a descriptive eulogy of his native town. his narrative style is plain and straightforward, his manner pleasingly naive, though often both prolix and prosaic, his humour original and unaffected, if too frequently rough and rabelaisian. but we can forgive him much for his robust good sense and shrewd irony. the first line of one of his poems-- "in dem zwanzigsten kapitel" (of the bible) will show how prosaic he can be: his well-known couplet on himself-- "hans sachs war ein schuh- macher und poet dazu," is a fair example of the roughness of his versification. hans sachs is buried in st. john's churchyard, and what is shown as his grave is numbered . but whether that is actually his grave seems to be somewhat uncertain. on the whole, literature was far behind art in nuremberg. but we must not pass over the institution of the _spruchsprecher_, the poet laureate of the town. he was a speciality of nuremberg, and had to deal in rhyme with the occasion of all weddings and festivals, when called upon. he rejoiced in a special dress, and was invented, it seems, about the middle of the fifteenth century. one other nuremberg poet is worth mentioning--johann konrad grübel, "the nuremberg philistine," as goethe called him in compliment. a comic, dialect poet of the people, he was first-rate of his kind. he died in , and a statue of him by professor wanderer adorns a little fountain near the house of hans sachs. chapter ix _the churches of nuremberg_ der kirchen act sind in dem ort darin man predigt gottes wort. --hans sachs. nuremberg is rich in churches, those sermons in stones so much more eloquent than any words that ever fell from the lips of the preachers. the gothic style has been finely called the true architectural expression of christianity. in her churches nuremberg possesses some of the finest specimens of the pure german gothic style. they exhibit, it is true, the common failing of german architecture. exquisite, though sometimes extravagant, in detail, they fall far below the masterpieces of the french architects in the proportionment of the whole. st. sebald, the patron saint of nuremberg, affords one more proof of the fact that a prophet is not without honour save in his own country. it is, indeed, not even known what his country was. his history and even his name are so unfamiliar to any but nurembergers that it will be of interest if i add here the record of his life from the account written by an eleventh-century (?) monk.[ ] born at the beginning of the eighth (?) century, sebald was the son of a christian king: but as to whether his father was king of the danes, britons or irish or a petty chief on the danube biographers differ. sebald's parents had long been childless, but at last when all hope seemed gone, god heard the prayers of his servants and gave them a son. sebald was born. the boy grew up waxing in years and virtue, learning the lesson of the love and fear of the lord, obedience to his parents and charity to all men. at the age of fifteen he was sent to paris to study theology, in which he quickly eclipsed all the scholars of his own age and many of riper years. he returned to his home full of wisdom and honours and was betrothed to a beautiful and virtuous maiden. but before the marriage was consummated he fled from the things of this world, and, leaving his wife, his father and mother and his inheritance, he chose the chaste and solitary life of a hermit. within the lonely recesses of a dense wood he passed his days in prayer and fasting and his nights in self-inflicted chastisement. fifteen years passed and then the hermit made his way to rome, whence pope gregory the second despatched him in company with ss. willibald and wunibald to go forth and preach the gospel, succour the feeble, confirm the good, and correct errors of doctrine. together the holy men pursued their way, praising the lord with cheerful heart, until at length it came to pass that weary with journeying and exhausted by storm and wind, they grew faint with hunger, and his two companions called upon sebald to provide them with food. then, having comforted them with doctrine, he departed from them a little way, and when he had poured out his soul in prayer, lo! there came an angel from heaven bringing to them bread that had been baked under the ashes. and when they were now come to the parts about vincentia (vicenza) sebald, moved by the holy spirit, would go no further, but abode as a hermit in the wood. his fame spread abroad. from far and near, even from milan and pavia, people flocked to hear from his lips the wonderful works of god. but, amongst those who came, came also an unbeliever who scoffed and blasphemed at the prophet and his message. then sebald prayed to god that a sign might be given, and immediately in the sight of all, the earth opened and the scoffer sank up to his neck. then the hermit prayed with a loud voice and interceded for him, so that he was delivered,[ ] and he and many of the unbelievers embraced the true faith. sebald now left italy and came to ratisbon (regensburg), bringing the gospel into the wilds of germany. at ratisbon, after crossing the danube in a miraculous manner, he stayed for a short time and mended, by the power of prayer, a vessel which his host had borrowed and broken. at last he came to nuremberg and settled there in the forest, in the heart of the franconian people, teaching them the word of god and working miracles. on one occasion, we are told, he sought shelter in the house of a poor but churlish mechanic. it was winter: the snow lay on the ground and the wind howled over the frozen marshes of the pegnitz. but the signs of charity did not shine brightly in the host. sebald called upon the man's wife to bring more wood for the fire so that he might warm his body: for he was chilled to the bone. but though he repeated his request the niggard host forbade his wife to obey. at length the saint cried out to her to bring the cluster of icicles which hung from the roof and to put them on the fire if she could not or would not bring the faggots. the woman, pitying him, obeyed, and in answer to the prayer of sebald, a flame shot up from the ice and the whole bundle was quickly ablaze. when he saw this miracle the chilly host gave the hermit a warmer welcome (frigidus hospes ad ipsum factus est liberalis). perhaps, it has been suggested, we may see in this pretty story an allegory of how sebald quickened the flame of divine love within the icy franconian natures, which it seemed as impossible to warm with grace as the winter's ice. sebald's host now, to make amends, sallied forth and bought some fish in the market, contrary to the regulations of the authorities, and, being caught, was blinded. but the holy hermit restored to him the light of his eyes. sebald clearly foretold the date of his death: the place of his burial was appointed by a miracle. at length, says the chronicler lambert schagnaburgensis, full of good works, he fell on sleep in the town of nuremberg. the bier of the saint was drawn by untamed oxen. and they, when they had reached the spot chosen for his resting-place, refused though goaded to the utmost to move any further. thus was the site of the church afterwards built to the patron saint of nuremberg determined. those who ministered to him swung incense over the dead body of the old hermit and lit candles above it. now there was a woman, a sinner, whom sebald had turned to the love of the true god. in memory of her sins and in expiation she wore about her arm a hoop of iron. and she came to see the dead hermit. it chanced that one of the candles above his head was crooked, and she stretched forth her arm and set it straight. at that moment the iron band burst. so she knew that the saint, when he entered into the presence of god, had not forgotten the poor woman whom he had converted on earth and that god had heard her prayer, and that her sins, which were many, were forgiven, as the broken ring signified. many other miracles were attributed to the ashes and relics of the saint which lie in the beautiful shrine in st. sebalduskirche.[ ] we have spoken at length of this exquisite work of art (p. ), to which, says eobanus hessus in his poem on nuremberg, no words can do justice and with which not even the greatest artists of past ages could have found fault. "musa nec ulla queat tanto satis esse labori nec verbis æquare opus immortale futurum; quod neque praxiteles, nec myron, nec polycletus, nemo cares, nemo scopas reprehendere posset." the east end of _st. sebalduskirche_ faces the rathaus: but the western is the oldest portion of it. here the st. peter's or löffelholz chapel, as it was called later, after the nuremberg family of that name, with its crypt and choir (engelschörlein), and the _lower_ part of the two towers[ ] date from the beginning of the thirteenth century. they belong, in their original state, to the romanesque style of architecture; whilst the nave affords a beautiful example of the transition to gothic forms and the magnificent east choir is in the purest german gothic. we may conjecture that the church was originally a basilica with a romanesque east choir, flanked by two small adjoining aisles, corresponding to the west choir which is still preserved, and with a nave in the shape of a cross. then, about , they began to build broader and higher aisles in place of the low and narrow ones, and, in so doing, half concealed the old round-arched windows. but the most important alteration must have been when they pulled down the old east choir and began to build ( ) the gothic choir, which together with the rest of the church has been recently and carefully restored. twenty-two pillars feet high support the vaulting. the two simple, slender towers at the west end, some feet high, were apparently completed towards the end of the fifteenth century. according to tradition, the southernmost of these is built on piles--a tradition that reminds us of the swamps and marshes that once stood here, in the days when the narrow circumference of the first town wall did not cross if indeed it reached the river (see ch. v.). in the base of each tower is a romanesque doorway: over the southern one, in the tympanum, a high relief in stone represents the trial of st. helena. on the north side of the north tower is a low relief of the crucifixion, a memorial to burkhard semler, . beneath the towers is the crypt in which was once the tomb of konrad von neumarkt, the founder of the convent of st. catherine. this, the oldest nuremberg tomb, is now in the german museum. the colossal bronze crucifix outside the west end, against the middle window of the st. peter chapel, was presented by the starck family in . it is attributed to h. vischer, father of peter vischer, and has some merits as a work of art, though the figure is that of a hercules rather than of a christ. it was repaired in , on which occasion the nurembergers incurred the nickname of herrgottschwärzer, or blackeners of god. for, the story runs, the cross was made of silver, and the council ordered it to be coloured black in order to protect it from the roving bands of soldiers who passed through the town in the thirty years war. [illustration: brautthÜre, st. sebalduskirche] on the north side of the church the beautiful brautthüre ( ?) or bride's door (see p. ) is especially worthy of attention. very richly and daintily carved, the outer and inner arches form a porch which was meant to protect the bridal pair from the inclemency of the weather when they stood here for the first part of the marriage service. on either side of the pointed arch are the figures of the madonna and child and of st. sebald with his pilgrim's staff and a model of the sebalduskirche in his hands. the ten intercolumniated statues on the inside walls of the porch represent the five wise and the five foolish virgins (at present being restored). within the entrance appear adam and eve with a half-length christ above them, and the snake and apple-tree of eden. on the buttresses of the east choir are some sculptures in half-relief, representing the passion, and at the east end, facing the rathaus, is the schreyer monument (schreyer's begräbnuss), a high relief by adam krafft ( ). nobly conceived and nobly executed, these representations of the passion and burial of christ are among the most noteworthy of the master's works. especially beautiful in grouping and in feeling is the grablegung--the laying in the grave. sebald schreyer, who died in , was a keen patron of art and, as churchwarden of st. sebald's, devoted to the interests of his church. in recognition of his services, and as he was the last of his family, the rule which had lately come into force that all citizens except the clergy must be buried in st. john's churchyard, was set aside in his case, and he was buried in the east choir of the church to which he had devoted his life and fortune. for the begräbnuss of adam krafft and vischer's sebaldusgrab owed their existence chiefly to schreyer's care and encouragement. the animals on the capitals of the door of the south aisle are full of characteristic humour. one may trace here some of that mockery of the monks in which the mediæval masons not infrequently indulged, and of which there is a famous example at strasburg. st. peter with his key and a crowned saint with a sword are on either side of the door itself. a partly gilded last judgment occupies the space above the arch. it will be found interesting to compare the numerous figures of it with those on the main entrance of the lorenzkirche, to which they are strikingly akin. above the door called the schautthüre (show-door) on the s.e. side of the church, near the guard-house, is a last judgment ( ), probably by adam krafft (see p. ). it is a fine and interesting work. at the top, beneath four hovering angels and between twelve apostles, christ sits on a rainbow to judge the world. the earth is his footstool. mary and john baptist (the figures remind us of those in the rosenkranztafel in the museum) intercede for the poor souls who are rising from their graves. on one side they are conducted (with crowns of glory on their heads) by an angel to the gates of paradise, over which waves the triumphant banner of christ. on the other side the devil, who is also similar to the devil in the rosenkranz, with the head of a cock, drags his prey into the jaws of hell. the figures are all strong and full of animation. in the midst of the group of those rising from the dead, between the kneeling figure of the founder, hartmann schedel, and his arms, is a latin inscription which gives us to understand that hartmann schedel, to whose memory this relief was erected, died dec. , . for admittance to the church we must knock at the anschreibethüre, the portal on the n.w. side.[ ] this anschreibethüre--so called because it was customary to enter the names of the dead on a register kept here for that purpose--was renewed in . it is adorned on either side with the figures of gabriel and mary (annunciation), and above with a relief of the death, burial (the unbelieving jews falling prostrate before the coffin) and crowning of mary. note the figures of female saints on the capitals. on entering, our first impression is one of disappointment. a vile whitewash disfigures the walls, whilst the fact that the church has not been designed by one hand as a complete whole deprives us of that satisfied sense of perfect proportion for which we are forever hoping but so often in vain. but as we grow more familiar with the details of this church the feeling of disappointment vanishes and we are left grateful if not completely satisfied. on our right is the st. peter's or löffelholz chapel, and we notice that this, which forms the western end of the church, has been altered from a romanesque into a polygonal apse. the pointed cells of the vaulting make up five-eighths of an octopartite compartment. thus the old double-apse arrangement of romanesque buildings is retained at st. sebald's; but the west end is in the transitional, the east in the pure german gothic style. by introducing this pointed vaulting into the older romanesque shell of the st. peter's chapel, the engelschor above it, or angels' choir as it is called, has been concealed from view. but we can easily see where it springs from the apex of the great arch which forms the entrance to the chapel. the lofty central nave is, as we have already said, a good example of the transition to gothic architecture in german churches, when the horizontal lines of the romanesque style were giving place to the upright and upward tendency of the gothic. the sexpartite vaulting, the broad but pointed arches, the substitution of rolls for the flat and square-edged vaulting ribs, the clustering of the shafts and the flanking by shafts of pointed windows are all eloquent of this tendency. the pillars, too, begin to be prolonged in extent and diminished in thickness, and the line is no longer interrupted by the rectangular effect of square capitals. the varied patterns (flowers, pearl strings, etc.) of the capitals here should be noted. the walls beneath the clerestory are relieved by a triforium, which had no place in the conceptions of the original romanesque architects. there is here no gallery set apart for the young men, as there frequently is in the triforium of an early german church. this triforium consists only of a row of low, pointed openings supported by short pillars, variously ornamented. the east choir ( - ) is a building of the same period as the frauenkirche. compared with the rest of the church its dimensions are a good deal exaggerated. nor is it placed symmetrically as regards the axis of the older part; for it inclines considerably to the north. regarded in itself, however, it must be admitted to be a splendid building, the lofty and airy effect of which is greatly enhanced by the single row of tall windows. the light streams in through beautiful stained glass. the windows, however, are really too tall in proportion to their breadth ( feet by ). the mullions, too, nearly feet in height, are more interesting as triumphs of masonic skill than admirable as features of architectural design. contenting ourselves with these general observations as to the building itself, we will here add a list of the principal objects of art which will catch the attention of the visitor to the church. in the löffelholz chapel stands conspicuous the highly decorated bronze font wherein the emperor wenzel was baptized ( , see p. ). at the base are statuettes of the four evangelists. it is said to be the oldest existing product of the nuremberg foundries. the altar-piece in memory of kunigunde wilhelm löffelholz ( ) is by an unknown painter. scenes from the life of st. catherine are depicted on a plain gold background. it is the earliest nuremberg work to show any trace of the netherland influence: but, unfortunately, it has been painted over at least once. there are three other pictures in this chapel, of an earlier date, by unknown artists. the two-winged haller altar-piece (n. near the anschreibethüre) may very likely be an early work of the master of the high altar-piece in the frauenkirche. the background is of gold: the subject is christ on the cross between mary and john; on the wings, the mount of olives and ss. catherine and barbara. in this picture the cramping of the figures and the crude drawing of the hands and feet are noticeable, but in the modelling of the heads there is much that is very noble and very beautiful. on the pillar next to (s.) the haller altar is a relief, "carrying the cross," by adam krafft, . later and more vigorous works by the same master are the last supper, mount of olives and betrayal ( ), reliefs feet high by feet broad on the e. wall of the choir. the betrayal is distinctly the best composed and most telling of the three. the last supper, the arrangement of which is somewhat crowded and confused, has the interest of exhibiting in the apostles portraits of some members of the council. the apostle with the goblet is said to be paul volkamer (the founder) and he with the small cap adam krafft himself, or, it may be, veit stoss, to whom the sculptures, on the strength of the monogram v.s. on them, are now usually attributed. we need not stay long over the tucher altar with its ever-burning lamp, founded by the first baron tucher, , and its seventeenth-century altar-piece, or the painting by joh. franz ermel ( ) of the resurrection, over the muffels altar next the schauthüre, or the new pulpit ( ) by heideloff and rotermundt. the choir-stalls and the pix (n.), with its old sculptures, dating from the second half of the fourteenth century, are worth examining, as also are the numerous reliefs on the pillars of the choir. the crowning of mary on the first choir pillar on the north side is attributed to v. stoss. on a column to the right of the pulpit hangs a copy of durer's _interment of christ_, with the armorial bearings of the holzschuhers, and opposite, beneath a copy of rubens' day of judgment, is another painting by durer, little worthy of him, in which figure the imhoff family, willibald pirkheimer and the artist himself (on the right). the carrying of the cross (tucherische kreuztragung), on the column next to the sebaldusgrab, can only doubtfully be attributed to wolgemut ( ). the madonna and child on the next column was cast by peter vischer's son. the great crucifix, with ss. mary and john, of the high altar was executed by veit stoss in , when he was now in his eightieth year. the head of the christ is a masterpiece of expression. the lower part of the high altar is modern, and was carved by rotermundt after the designs of c. heideloff ( ). in the choir also (n. wall), we find a good example of the work of hans von kulmbach, who passed from the school of jacopo dei barbari (jakob walch) to that of durer. the tucherische tafel ( ) shows the influence of the latter in a very marked manner: durer may, in fact, have supplied the designs for it. in the centre of the triptych is mary enthroned, crowned by two angels. the holy child on her knee is trying to seize an apple from the mother's left hand: but both mother and child are looking out of the picture. the five bellinesque angels, who, clad in brightly coloured garments, and playing various musical instruments, stand at mary's feet, are altogether charming. on either side of the throne are ss. catherine and barbara, whilst on the right wing are ss. peter and lawrence, presenting the founder, provost lorenz tucher, to mary, and on the left are st. john baptist and st. jerome. a mountain scene forms the background of the picture, which for all that it owes much to durer owes much also to the individuality of kulmbach. near this is a commemorative escutcheon of the tucher family, by holbein, and below it a small wood carving, said to be by albert durer. the adam and eve in paradise over the schauthüre is by joh. creuzfelder ( ), and was placed there by members of the behaim family. one of the chief features of interest in the sebalduskirche is the stained glass. the tucher and schürstab windows, according to rettberg, contain some late fourteenth-century glass, but would seem to have been much restored. the fürer window was first set up in (christ before pilate). in the bishop of bamberg window (wolf katzheimer, ?) are the portraits of kaiser heinrich, kunigunde, otto, peter, paul and georg, and in the corners four bishops, and over all four gothic canopies. the maximilian window is by veit hirschvogel ( ). the emperors maximilian and charles v. stand on a ground of white tracery, with their consorts, patron saints, and arms. the margrave's window is by the same artist, after the designs of hans von kulmbach. it was only completed after hirschvogel's death ( ), and has quite recently been restored. the single figures of the margrave friedrich von ansbach and baireuth, and of his wife and eight sons, are on a white ground. ss. mary and john the evangelist above, and the margrave's arms on the sides. in the foreground, an inscription and an architectural substructure in the shape of a temple, according to the fashion of stained glass at this period. * * * * * finer, better designed and considerably larger than st. sebald's is the _church of st. lawrence_. it is one of the best examples of pure german gothic. outside and inside, in form and in detail, it exhibits both the beauties and the defects of the german style when pointed architecture was developed according to the taste and feelings of the germans, uninfluenced by french inspiration. with regard to detail, amid so much that is admirable, now and again the besetting sin of german art makes itself felt--that lack of self-restraint, that prodigality and extravagance, one may almost call it, of ornament, by which the effect of gorgeous richness is obtained indeed, but at the sacrifice of distinctness. even in the beautiful windows this is the case. the multiplicity and intersection of the lines tend to blur the "dry light" of the dry beauty of a perfect design. with regard to form, viewed from the exterior, two features strike the eye and remain in the memory. on the one hand, the enormously high and grossly ugly roof of the choir which overwhelms the building produces the ludicrous effect of a camel's hump. it is unrelieved by pinnacles or even by the flying buttresses which seem to lift the soaring gothic naves of france into a world beyond our ken. once again, as in st. sebald's, the notes of symmetry and proportion are lacking. some flying buttresses do indeed figure in the nave where the side-aisles are not, as in the choir, of the same height as the central nave. these buttresses, however, are decidedly clumsy. on the other hand, the richly decorated western front, with its towers, rose window, open parapet and light gallery connecting the towers, is a pure and pleasing specimen of german art. according to tradition the st. lorenzkirche stands on the site of an older, romanesque chapel which bore the name of "zum heiligen grab" (holy sepulchre) and was erected for the spiritual needs of the inhabitants when houses first began to be built on this side of the pegnitz. [illustration: st. lorenzkirche, from the river] as it now stands the church dates almost entirely from the latter part of the middle ages. begun in it was not completed till . of the two towers ( feet in height) that to the north was built in , the other about . the square portion of each and the elevation of the gable between them are crowned by a light and beautiful open parapet. the north tower, with its roof of gilded metal, was burned down some thirty years ago, but has been carefully rebuilt. the towers terminate in octagonal storeys and spires. at the top of the square portions are wide openings, divided by many mullions, suggesting the gridiron on which st. lawrence was broiled. why the church was dedicated to this spanish saint i have not been able to discover. the stately portal ( feet wide and feet high), and the rose window ( feet in diameter), recently much restored, belong to the fourteenth century. during the fifteenth century the church was repeatedly enlarged, and, in , the foundation-stone of the lofty choir was laid. the plans were designed by konrad roritzer, who came here from rothenburg. at the laying of the foundation-stone a miracle occurred. the pulley which was to raise the stone broke. the workmen then broke the stone, so heavy was it and impossible to raise. and when they had done so, they found inside a hewn cross. probably, says the sceptical german historian, this was all arranged in order to stir the enthusiasm and to promote the generosity of the people on behalf of the new church. the figures of adam and eve and of the prophets, etc. on the _hauptthor_, the grand portal, are the earliest specimens we have of nuremberg sculpture. they date from the fourteenth century. the reliefs of the scenes from the life of christ and the last judgment are later, like the reliefs on st. sebald's and the bride's door. [illustration: hauptthor (st. lorenzkirche)] a central pillar divides the hauptthor into two halves, and bears a madonna and child. the arches above the two doors, which are separated by this pillar, contain high reliefs of the birth of the saviour and adoration of the magi (left), and the slaughter of the innocents and flight into egypt, and the presentation in the temple (right). in the spandrels of these arches are four prophets. in the upper half of the great arch are represented the crucifixion, and on the right side christ before pilate and christ bearing the cross; on the left the burial and resurrection of christ. these scenes correspond to those depicted on the sides of the entrance hall. the remaining space in the tympanum of the arch deals with the last judgment. two angels blowing the last trump, and two others (restored) holding the instruments of the passion, surround the judge, whose feet are set upon the sun and moon, and he judges the just and the unjust. at his side ss. mary and john kneel and intercede. the inner curve of the arch contains the twelve apostles and the outer the twelve prophets. below are the above-mentioned life-size statues of adam and eve, next to whom two other figures stand, the scripture in their hands, expounding, one may fancy, to the parents of mankind the story of the redemption, which the reliefs of the gateway have thus told in stone. similar in workmanship to the figures of this portal is the statue of christ, with flowing beard and folded hands, which is near the door on the south-west side. this in its turn will remind us of a statue of christ, with hands pointing to the wound in his side, in the st. jakobskirche. the brautthüre or bridal door on the north side of the church was built in , but it shows little trace of the renaissance spirit. (recently restored.) of the fine though crumbling old piece of sculpture--gethsemane--near this door, i can find no history at all. high up on the roof of the choir outside rises a pole with a hat upon it. two choir-boys (the story runs) who were playing marbles in the church fell to quarrelling, and one of them who held the two marbles in his hand, maintained his rights with the exclamation, "devil take me!" thereupon the devil immediately appeared and wrung the boy's neck. at the corner of the st. lawrence schoolhouse, on the pedestal of st. lawrence, you may see carved in the stone the head as it was twisted on the trunk. the hat on the pole on the choir is that of the unfortunate chorister. [illustration: st. lorenzkirche (n.)] entering the church by the north-west door, near the tugendbrunnen (see ch. x.), we notice that the nave is twice as high and broad as the aisles which are thus subordinated to it. but, as in st. sebald's, the three aisles of the choir are of equal height. here there are two stories of windows, instead of a single row of tall ones. two visits should be paid to st. lawrence's in order to see the full effects of this church--one in the morning when the sun is shining through the windows of the polygonal east end, and one in the afternoon when the light streams through the glorious rose window in the west. plain, slender pillars carry the vaulting of the choir with its flat spidery network. a gallery which runs round the whole choir is reached by a staircase next the sacristy (_s_). the sacristy should be looked into both for the sake of its own beauty and for the sake of the choral books, illuminated by jakob elssner(?) (d. ), and a baptismal basin by endterlein (d. ).[ ] the east end of the choir contains splendid windows (see p. ). the subject of the first, on the north side, behind the altar of st. john, is the wanderings of the children of israel; of the second the passion, of the third the transfiguration, of the fourth the donor, emperor frederic iii. and his consort, of the fifth, saints and fathers of the church. but far the finest and most famous of the windows is the sixth, the volkamer window. it is a "jesse" window, displaying the genealogical tree of christ, and, below, the founder and his family. the seventh, or schlüssfelder window, represents the holy mill and the four evangelists with the four apostles, after durer, beneath. all these belong to the last half of the fifteenth century; but the eighth is a modern one ( ), commemorating the re-establishment of the german empire. the tucher window next the sacristy was painted by springlin, , and contains beautiful red glass in the early renaissance style. another noticeable window is that on the south side, exhibiting the arms of the schmidmayer family. the designs are attributed to durer. near this stands one of the old carved chairs, in which the masters of the guilds once sat in turn to receive alms. of the chief treasures of the st. lorenzkirche we have already dealt sufficiently with two--the pix or ciborium, the weihbrodgehäuse or sacramentshaüslein or whatever name we choose to give to adam krafft's masterpiece[ ]-- "a piece of sculpture rare, like a foamy sheet of fountains rising thro' the painted air," and the angels' greeting, and the still finer wood-gilt crucifix of the high altar, by veit stoss.[ ] the six angels in bronze bearing the candles are by burgschmiet (b. ). anton tucher dedicated the angels' greeting and also the great bronze chandelier, which may contain the handiwork of both veit stoss and peter vischer. the handsome modern pulpit is by rotermundt and heideloff ( ). there is also in the choir some beautiful tapestry ( ?) with figures of the twelve apostles who stand in a scroll-work of wise sayings for our instruction, such as pis. maister. deiner. zung. dez. ist. dir. not. oder. si. werdint. dir. den. ewigen. dot., and so forth. the church of st. lawrence is rich in examples of the memorial tablets or epitaphs on which the skill of the early painters was chiefly exercised. the altar-pieces and epitaphs founded in memory of some member or another of the great burgher families form a complete gallery of early nuremberg art and provide moreover a perfect feast for the enthusiastic herald. we have already spoken of the general tendencies of the nuremberg artists in the seventh chapter of this little book. perhaps, therefore, the most interesting way to treat of the pictures in st. lawrence's will be to mention them in chronological order. . epitaph of paul stromer, --next the rochus altar, on west wall of the sacristy. the redeemer throned on the clouds, surrounded by angels bearing the instruments of the passion. ss. mary and john kneel in intercession before him, and underneath is the family of the founder. the drawing throughout is strong but severe, and there is considerable harshness in the contours. . epitaph of frau kunigunde kunz rymensnyderin, . body of christ supported by ss. mary and john. figures of the founders on either side of the napkin. . wolfgang's altar ( ?). resurrection of christ. ss. conrad and wolfgang on the inside of the wings (no. , north wall). . _the celebrated imhoff altar-piece_ in the imhoff gallery (north transept). this picture, dedicated by kunz imhoff, was painted - , and is counted the finest achievement of mediæval painting in nuremberg. in the centre christ is crowning mary; on the wings two apostles, at whose feet kneel the founder and his three first wives. the burial of christ, with ss. mary and john, which formed originally the reverse of this altar-piece, is now in the german museum (no. ). a deep love of nature, which reveals itself in the vigorous, homely conception of the forms, is here combined with that spiritual reverence of treatment which inspired the first works of christian art. in the earnest faces of ss. peter and paul we see not merely a reproduction of the traditional types, but faces full of character and originality. they have been carefully thought out as well as carefully carried out. there is individuality again in the sympathetic, the winsome beauty of the countenance of mary; whilst the countenance of christ seems to tell us both of the thoughtful earnestness and the gentle dignity of the saviour. notwithstanding their slimness, the figures in the picture are somewhat crowded. the shoulders and necks are powerful, and the hands evince remarkable carefulness in execution. the folds of the drapery, in spite of the simplicity and clearness of them, are by no means monotonous in design. the harmony of colours (green, red, and blue, on a gold background) is strong and happily attuned. the artist is unknown, but, whoever he was, he had looked upon nature with loving eyes and worshipped her; and this love of nature, purified by his deep religious feeling, he had brought to the service of his living faith. frequently we shall observe in the old nuremberg artists that this mixture of naivete and reverence in the conception of religious subjects produces too commonplace a representation of them. but here the result is not commonplace, only just towards nature. the picture, says dr janitschek,[ ] is like the most beautiful bloom of a period just drawing to a close and already bearing in itself flowers of a more dazzling development. the imhoff picture (see below, no. ) shows similar handling and similar freedom from flemish influence in the full, soft beauty of the forms. and yet the mastery of nature displayed in the portraits of the founders reveals to us an artist who was following the same paths as those of the flemish painters. . epitaph of agnes hans glockengiesserin, . the death of mary as she knelt in prayer, and portrait of founder. a picture full of tender feeling (no. , south side). . theokars altar (deocarus altar, no. , north side) , founded by andreas volkamer. christ between six apostles, and below, st. deocarus between the other six apostles, carved in wood. below a life-sized painting of the saint. the wings of the picture, which represent the transfiguration, the miraculous draught of fishes, the last supper, and the resurrection, and four scenes from the life of st. deocarus (kneeling before a chapel, healing a blind man, confessing charlemagne, and on his death-bed), should be compared with the haller altar-piece of st. sebald's and the high altar-piece of the frauenkirche. though very nearly contemporary with the latter works, this painting is representative of the old school. it exhibits, indeed, great dramatic spirit, though the movements are often awkward, and the [illustration: st. lorenzkirche (interior)] colouring lacks the strength and brilliancy of the frauenkirche picture. and . a saint in armour, and a suffering christ with gold background and the saints henry, kunigunde, and lawrence (with the gridiron), are also probably of the same date. . margaret and anton imhoff memorial ( ) (numbered , on the north wall of the church). madonna and child and four angels, and the founder's family--the father with eight sons, and the mother with four daughters. the further development of the nuremberg school of painting, as i have sketched it above (pp. - ), may be observed in the following memorial pictures in this church:-- h. gärtner epitaph, , madonna and child, ss. bartholomew and barbara (south, near doorway). erhard schon epitaph, , st. wolfgang and other saints. friedrich schon epitaph, , birth of christ, aaron, moses, etc. hans lechner epitaph, , death of mary (south). hans meyer epitaph, , st. gregory (no. , north side). berthold kraft epitaph, , st. dionisius (opposite rochus altar, south). hans schmidmayer epitaph, , adoration of the magi (over stairs leading to schmidmayer oratory, south). leonhard spengler epitaph, , christ between ss. philip and james (no. , north side). stör family epitaph, , christ treading blood, and four evangelists, etc. (north-west). the rochus altar, triptych with scenes from the life of st. rochus, dedicated by six imhoff brothers, (no. , west of sacristy), and the krellsche altar, , which may perhaps be by wolgemut. it is beneath the frederick window in the choir, and contains a madonna and child and various saints, apostles, etc. the background of this picture represents the town of nuremberg as it was before the last extension of the walls. (chap. v.) by wolgemut and his school there are several characteristic pictures, of which i may mention here the burial of christ (no. ), the ascension (no. ), and the praying priests (no. ). the right wing of the st. catherine altar-piece (no. ) is by wolgemut, and the two pictures of st. vitus, with his parents and denouncing the idol, are signed by r. f., a painter whose touch is visible in part of the peringsdörffer masterpiece (see p. ). the adoration of the magi (no. ) is a fine picture: the angels bringing the child jesus to the virgin (no. ) bears durer's monogram. lastly, the wings of the nikolaus (no. ) and of the annen--or marien--altar are by hans von kulmbach, (?) (next to the passion window in the choir). frauenkirche _(marienkirche, marienhall)_ the frauenkirche, which occupies the east end of the haupt markt, was built, as we have seen (p. ), under somewhat discreditable circumstances on the site of the old jewish synagogue ( - ). the brothers georg and friedrich ruprecht are mentioned as the architects, and the sculptor, sebald schonhofer, is responsible for the rich ornamentation of the vestibule. this vestibule (restored with the rest of the church some twenty years ago) is unique of its kind. it is conjectured that this part of the church was intended to serve as a kind of treasure-house for the imperial crown jewels and relics, which in the year were certainly shown, as an object of veneration, from the gallery above the main entrance of the church. [illustration: west door, frauenkirche] the plan of the west gate is borrowed in the main from the st. lorenz portal. there the life and work of christ, here the life and work of mary are set forth. many of the figures strongly recall those of the st. lorenz statues. at the corners of the vestibule are statues of karl iv. and his consort, and ss. lorenz and sebald. above the rich and massive portal with its fine iron railings is the chapel of st. michael, whereon is to be seen an extraordinary old clock known to young and old in nuremberg by the name of "männleinlaufen." the chronicles relate that karl iv., in memory of the "golden bull" (p. ), which was drawn up in nuremberg in , and recorded what honours and reverences the electors of the empire were to pay to the emperor, caused an ingenious clockwork to be mounted over the portal of the church. the mechanism was so contrived that the seven electors passed at noon before the emperor, who sat upon a throne and received their reverent homage as they passed. the clock was renewed in by georg heuss (even since then it has twice been restored), and the figures were cast by the coppersmith, sebastian lindenast. still, at the stroke of noon, much as in the old mediæval days, the heralds blow their trumpets, the emperor raises his sceptre, and out from their gloomy chamber the electors file forth and bow low in reverence to the dead representative of an empire which has ceased to exist. and they revive in our hearts something of the child-like pleasure which the middle ages took in these elaborate toys.[ ] but a sturdy english protestant who lived in nuremberg some forty years ago, took another view of the matter. "it is generally said to represent the pope," he writes, "who, seated in a comfortable sort of arm-chair, was formerly accustomed at a certain hour to raise his sceptre and summon the representative figures of the twelve apostles, who accordingly used to make their appearance and do obeisance. that time, however, seems to be gone by. the latter after a while became tired of the ceremony, refused their mechanical homage, and st. peter himself, it is said, setting the irreverent example, they began to reject the uniformity required in their evolutions." the clock was at that time out of repair. the subject of clocks leads me to mention what is perhaps not generally known, that as nuremberg was the inventor of the watch (nuremberg eggs, shown in the museum and the castle), so also she invented a system of time peculiar to herself. to-day we have the central europe system (our -hour system), and the italian or -hour system. but at the close of the middle ages the nurembergers, the great clockmakers, had a third plan of dividing the day, called the nuremberg great hour (grosse uhr), for which regiomontanus drew out elaborate tables. briefly the plan was this. at the equinox the night was assumed to begin directly after sunset, and day began twelve hours after sunset. this arbitrary "dawn" (_garaus_) was sounded by the clock. to this day it is announced by ringing of bells from the principal churches. with the progress of the year, as the days after the equinox lengthened or decreased, time was added to or subtracted from the night or day. for instance, on the shortest day there would be hours night and hours day, and on the longest day hours day and hours night. again, when the sun set at , the "great clock would strike at a.m., because hours had passed since sunset. seasons of the year were, in common parlance, denoted in accordance with this system. "at the time of year when the day strikes " would fix a date. the system, it will be seen, was almost as involved as the sentences of a modern german historian. but with all its drawbacks it lasted on, along with the central europe system, till . owing to the great elaboration of machinery required, the hours were usually struck by bell-ringers. but the clock of the frauenkirche, owing to the additional mechanism needed for its toy-work, probably had to be fitted with the "little hour" from the first. besides some old painted glass in the nave (coats of arms of nuremberg patricians) and some carvings by veit stoss, the only works of art in the frauenkirche that need detain us are the pergenstorfer tomb ( ), at the end of the north wall of the nave, by adam krafft, and close to it the side altar-piece[ ] ( ), which was originally the tuchersche high altar in the church of the carthusian monastery. we have already had occasion to note more than once how the early nuremberg painters, before wolgemut, were struggling to achieve the simple portrayal of nature and to combine it with the expression of their deep religious emotion. the picture before us is a very good example of this simple and yet sympathetic realism. let us add that this quality, or combination of qualities, is not borrowed. for the nuremberg school of painting remains distinct and peculiar, with very little trace of foreign influence, long after the school of van eyck had made itself felt in the regions of the lower and the upper rhine. in the centre of the picture are the crucifixion (ss. mary and john by the cross, and at the feet of mary a skull), the annunciation and resurrection; on the wings the birth of christ and apostles. there is a rare conjunction of dignity and life and truth to nature in these pieces--an individuality too. the mary is portrayed in the same spiritual mood as that of the imhoff altar-piece, but generally the figures are more full of vigour and the countenances more full of expression than in that picture. in depicting the body of christ, which is carefully proportioned and in which the muscle-play is planned with evident care, the artist, we can see, has wrestled with nature, and not failed altogether in his attempt to gain the mastery over her. the figures of the apostles are sturdy, thick-set, and in their faces is an expression of concentrated power. the drapery falls in broad, well-arranged masses. the colouring is deep and clear, and the rich harmony of strong red, blue and yellow (gold background) is happily supplemented by a luscious green. st. Ægidienkirche the church of st. Ægidius, or st. giles[ ] (Ægidienplatz) was founded originally by conrad iii., it is said, for some scotch benedictine monks. but, with the exception of the side chapels, which still remain and are in the highest degree interesting, it was burnt down in , and rebuilt - in the debased, and to nuremberg utterly inappropriate, style of that period. the high altar-piece is a _pietà_ by vandyck (nineteenth-century angels above). behind this are two bronze reliefs, one, the beautiful "entombment," is by peter vischer the younger, the other by his brother hans. the eighteenth-century paintings on the ceiling are by j. d. preisler. but apart from the vandyck, the Ægidien church is well worth a visit for the sake of the eucharius, the tetzel and the wolfgang's chapels. the first of these is much the oldest ( ), and is in the late romanesque or transitional style. the roman vaulting, such as we have seen in the chapels at the castle, is combined with a mixture of round and pointed arches. the pillars are slender, with broad capitals. the capitals of the centre pillars distinctly suggest byzantine influence. the two altars here are by veit stoss. the st. wolfgang's chapel dates from the end of the fourteenth century. there are here two pictures ( and ) and a piece of sculpture ( ), grablegung christi, by hans decker, which cannot by any stretch of the imagination be called a spirited work. the chapel is disfigured by a hideous gallery which has been run round it, but the roof is, as they say, _sehr interessant_. the tetzel chapel ( ) contains a coronation of mary, by adam krafft, unfortunately much damaged. in the centre mary is being crowned by two angels. on either side of her are noble figures of god the father and christ. beneath mary is a group of angels, and beneath god and christ stand many suppliants. an older and very interesting stone-relief is to be seen on the south-west wall. some old glass and over seventy coats of arms of the tetzel family are also placed in this chapel. there are many other churches in nuremberg, and several of them have a distinctive charm of their own. but i must content myself with a bare sketch of the chief treasures they possess. only let me add that any lover of nuremberg who has time to spare will be rewarded by the discovery of many characteristic details in the minor churches. the richest in works of art is the st. jakobskirche. chief among these is a pietà, by the unknown master of the madonna in the museum (see p. ), and the old glass of the windows. the high altarpiece has the distinction of being the earliest specimen of nuremberg painting. there are, besides, various early reliefs and carvings by veit stoss. the church itself, which was restored in , belongs in its present form to the beginning of the fifteenth century. it was, however, in existence in the twelfth century, for the emperor otto presented it and all its property in to the "hospital der heiligen maria der deutschherrren zu jerusalem," an order which had long had a firm foothold in nuremberg, and came, there is evidence to show, continually into conflict with the council. after the jakobskirche was handed over to the protestants in by gustavus adolphus, the deutschherren held their roman catholic services in the elizabethkapelle, which was completed in its present shape, as the elizabethkirche with its mighty italian dome in . the marthakirche ( ), right of the königstrasse as you come from the frauen thor, contains little of interest. like the chapel "zum heiligen kreuz," north-west of the town on the road to st. john's churchyard, it was founded as the chapel of a pilgrims' hospital, wherein "all poor strange persons, whencesoever they come, are to be harboured for one or two days and provided with food and drink free of charge." almost facing it is the klarakirche ( ). here there are some good windows and an altar by veit stoss (?), also an oelberg, an early mount of olives by adam krafft. opposite st. sebald's, on the north side, lies the st. moritzkapelle. built originally on the present hauptmarkt, it was removed in to a site upon what was then st. sebald's churchyard. it was restored by heideloff in and used, till , as a gallery for some of the pictures now in the german museum. in the spital platz is the hospital and spital kirche (heiliggeist kirche), founded by konrad gross, which we have already mentioned (p. ). in the courtyard of the hospital may be seen the chapel founded by georg ketzel after the great epidemic in . it is built in imitation of the chapel of the holy sepulchre at jerusalem. east of the spital kirche stands the handsome moorish synagogue by wolf. since nuremberg was from early days both pious and comparatively secure, she was naturally one of the first places in germany where the mendicant friars settled and founded monasteries. the earliest of these was the augustiner kloster (beginning of the thirteenth century). the franciscan monastery, or barfüsser kloster, was built somewhere about , where now the house of the museum club and the buildings of the industrial museum stand. the dominican monastery, built a little later, is now used as the public library and record office (no. burgstrasse, mon. wed. fri., - a.m.). thanks chiefly to the efforts of hieronymus paumgärtner and erasmus ebner the council formed a fine collection from the treasures--mainly manuscript--of the libraries of the various monasteries. this was placed together with the library, which the council had itself been founding for over a hundred years, first of all in the monastery of st. giles, and then in in its present home. among the mss. are a fragment of durer's work on the "proportions of the human figure," some poems of hans sachs, and autograph letters of gustavus adolphus, melanchthon, luther, lazarus spengler, regiomontanus, etc., besides an amusing one from ulrich von hutten, the knight and reformer, who herein congratulates an abbot on having renounced celibacy and taken unto himself a wife. but the most valuable ms. is the almost unique hebrew _machsor_ ( ) written on vellum. its pages comprise a full collection of jewish prayers, hymns, and ceremonies up to the thirteenth century. amongst other drawings, portraits, prints, and curiosities in the library are a black silk cap worn by luther and a drinking cup given by him to his friend dr justus jonas. the portraits of the two friends adorn the cup, together with the following inscription:-- _dat vitrum vitreo jonæ vitrum ipse lutherus_ _ut vitro fragili similem se noscat uterque._ then, beautifully written and illuminated, there is a breviary ( ?) of an english queen with the inscription:-- la liver du roy de france charles done a madame la roigne d'engleterre. among the early printed books is a copy of the "rationale durandi" ( , mainz), of "boccaccio" ( , mantoni), and of the "florentine homer" ( ). matthäus landauer's almshouse--landauer'sche zwölfbrüderhaus (east end of Ægidien platz) has frequently been mentioned. the almshouse has now been turned into a school of technical design, but the chapel ( ) will repay a visit. the roof, supported by two spiral columns, has the cone-shaped pendants of the contemporary english style, very exceptional in germany. it was for this church that durer painted his all saints' picture, now at vienna. there were many foundations, in the old days, for the relief of the sick and needy. amongst others were two houses for waifs and strays, founded no one knows by whom. they were transferred later to the barfüsser kloster. in connection with this institution a charming annual procession takes place. one charitable lady, elizabetha krauss, left in a sum of money to provide the children with a good dinner on st. john's day. in grateful memory the children always go on that occasion to the st. rochus churchyard. on their way they must pass the corner house near the karlsbrücke. on that house is the statue of a youth, busily engaged in pounding with pestle and mortar. people say this figure represents the apprentice of an apothecary who once lived there. and because the apprentice ran away from his work to gaze at the procession of children, who clad in red and white, and, roses themselves, crowned with garlands of roses were wending their way hand in hand to the tomb of their benefactress, his master grew so angry that he killed the lad. it is in the churchyard of st. rochus that peter vischer ( ) lies buried (rothenburger strasse). in the church itself are some paintings after durer, some altar-pieces by veit stoss (?), and some glass by veit hirschvogel. but the chief burial-place of nuremberg from the sixteenth century, and one of the most peculiar and impressive spots of the town, is the _churchyard of st. john_. for this has been the burial-place of the nuremberg patricians from generation unto generation, ever since in the council decreed that everybody, with the exception of the clergy, must be buried in st. john's churchyard, and no longer in the churches within the town. such a wise measure of compulsory extramural interment must have been almost without parallel at that time. the route to this churchyard the reader already knows, for it lies along burgschmietstrasse, along that road to calvary marked by ketzel's pious stations of the cross (see p. ). a low walk and pillared gateway, over whose broken pediment the willow bends mournfully, mark this place of tombs. the churchyard is sprinkled with trees: to the south, the shadows of a thicker fringe of branches deepen the natural solemnity of the place. it is here that the mighty dead of the white city are sleeping the sleep that knows no waking; but, as we seek the graves of durer, sachs, or pirkheimer, we pass along the rows of flat tombstones quietly, with hushed voices and reverent steps, as if dreading to disturb even the silence of their inviolable repose.[ ] on every side of us are emblems of the past glory and pride of nuremberg. there are no headstones to the tombs, but every slab, in high relief of imperishable bronze fashioned by the skill of the most distinguished artists,[ ] bears the coats-of-arms and devices of the civic noble who moulders beneath. what pomp of funeral processions must have ascended the steep from the city, year by year, through that gateway, to convey another, and yet another, wealthy burgher from the busy scenes of commerce and office, to the silent abodes of the dead! poets and artists, too, as well as patricians, lie here; and the indistinguishable dust of the famous and infamous, of rich and poor, known and unknown, old and young mingles in this still churchyard of st. john. "golden lads and girls all must, as chimney-sweepers, come to dust." we feel the pathos, the pity of it, as we stand here and read the message of the tombstones; but even more clearly does st. john's churchyard suggest that other mood:-- "hark! how the sacred calm that breathes around bids ev'ry fierce tumultuous passion cease; in still small accents whispering from the ground a grateful earnest of eternal peace." chapter x _the houses, wells, and bridges_ every other house in nuremberg, whether in the narrow and crooked side streets, or in the busy thoroughfares, is, as it were, a leaf from some mediæval chronicle. here, in the hirschelgasse or the Ægidien platz, we read the story of some rich merchant prince, returning from venice or from palestine, eager to spend some of the fruits of his emprise in the decoration of his house, according to the style of the country which had fascinated him in his travels. there, in the tetzel-or the schild-gasse, we read in the overhanging upper stories the desire of the architect in this crowded mediæval city to utilise every foot of available space, and the device is revealed to us which he adopted when the council forbade the projection of the ground floor into the street. and those statues of saints and madonnas, which still stand in their niches at the corners of so many houses, those reliefs by adam krafft or other artists, which adorn the mansions of the great with the story of christ and his followers, are they not eloquent, in the very lack of variety displayed in the choice of subjects, of the simple child-like faith of the middle ages, ever ready to hear once more the story of the redeemer's suffering for the sake of man who had sinned? from the varying height, breadth, and styles of the houses the streets of nuremberg gain the mediæval charm of irregularity. there is the usual happy [illustration: house on the pegnitz] avoidance of the straight lines which render modern towns so unattractive. the general character of the red-tiled houses here is lofty, with high-peaked gables and frequently with oriel windows. the ornamentation is lavish and smacks of the renaissance. especially is this noticeable in the courts within. for even where the front of a house may seem narrow and almost insignificant, on entering it you frequently find a large quadrangle, with open winding staircases and broad, projecting balconies, highly ornamented, which carry back to the street behind. i mention here a few of the more notable houses, to some of which reference has already been made. albrecht dürer haus, corner of albrecht dürer strasse. albrecht dürer birthplace, winklerstrasse. anton koberger haus, Ægidien platz. opposite the statue of melanchthon. martin behaim haus, next door to the above. here the famous globe of the navigator is kept. peller (now fuchs) haus, Ægidien platz. recently restored. willibald pirkheimer, Ægidien platz. hans sachs haus, hans sachs gasse. hieronymus paumgärtner haus, theresien strasse. the relief, st. george and the dragon, is probably an early work by adam krafft. krafft (formerly pfinzing) haus, theresien strasse. fembo haus, burgstrasse. (opposite the library.) scheurl haus, burgstrasse. this house contains the room in which maximilian i. stayed, carefully preserved. topler, now petersen haus, panierplatz. tucher haus, hirschelgasse. rupprecht haus, next to the above. volkamer haus, hauptmarkt. grundherr (zum goldenen schild) haus, schildgasse. where the golden bull was drawn up. nassauer haus, corner of karolinenstrasse. peter vischer haus, peter vischer strasse. palm haus, winklerstrasse. this is the house of the bookseller palm, who was shot by bonaparte for publishing a pamphlet against him. imhoff haus, tucherstrasse. ketzel haus (pilatushaus), thiergärtnerthorplatz. glossner haus, adlerstrasse. grundherr haus, (now the bairischer hof karlsstrasse). * * * * * "manch edles brünnlein strömt darin aus goldnen röhren schnell dahin." so wrote hans sachs in his poem in praise of his native town. and indeed the wells and fountains here are as characteristic though not of course so beautiful as the well-heads of venice. far the most important of them is the so-called beautiful fountain (der schöne brunnen) in the corner of the haupt markt, near the rathaus. it is in the shape of an octagonal gothic spire. the construction of it is usually spoken of as contemporaneous with that of the frauenkirche and the design is likewise attributed to sebald schonhofer. but recent researches have shown that it was not built till the years - , and that one heinrich der palier, or der parlierer, as he is commonly named in the city accounts, had the building of it. no doubt he was very much under the influence of schonhofer, and very likely he may have been his pupil. so much may be gathered from the similarity of the ornamentation on the frauenkirche and the beautiful fountain. in old days, as we have seen, the well was richly painted and gilded. but this is no longer the case. it was carefully restored in great part in and again at this moment further restoration is in contemplation. the iron railing which surrounds the fountain was made by paul köhn ( ). curious funnels on levers are used for drawing the water, and they remind one irresistibly of that _reductio ad absurdum_ of the meistersingers' guilds, harsdörfer's "nuremberg funnel" for pouring in poetry (p. ). [illustration: fleischbrÜcke] the beautiful fountain is a niched and tabernacled monument of stone, over feet high, tapering at intervals to a pinnacle. the niches in the pillars of the lower compartment contain statues of the seven electors and of nine heroes, the christian charlemagne, godfrey of bouillon and cloris, the jewish judas maccabæus, joshua and david, and the pagan julius cæsar, alexander the great and hector. above, in the second division, are moses and the seven prophets. the water of this well has the reputation of being remarkably good. formerly, even more than at present, the beautiful fountain was the very centre of nuremberg life. at the well, as in the days of abraham, lovers met and the gossips talked, waiting their turn to fill their long, copper pitchers. to-day, too, the beautiful fountain is a household word, and parents explain to their too inquisitive children, when they ask how their new baby brother arrived--"es ist ein geschenk von dem schönen brunnen!" of the other fountains we may enumerate the "gänsemännchen" in the obstmarkt and the dainty well in the town hall courtyard by pankraz labenwolf ( ). the son-in-law of labenwolf, benedict wurzelbauer designed the tugend brunnen, or virtue fountain, which stands at the north-west corner of the st. lorenzkirche. this was in when german art was already becoming decadent and mannered. then in , to celebrate the victory over the turks at siklos the "wasserspeier" was erected in the maxplatz. it was copied by bromig from bernini's original at rome. lastly in the plärrer, opposite the spittler thor, is the "kunstbrunnen"--which commemorates the opening of the first railway in germany, between nuremberg and fürth. the bridges, of which over a dozen span the pegnitz in its course through the town, must once have added greatly to the picturesqueness of the place. but the pegnitz is liable to sudden and violent spates which have continually swept away the old bridges. the modern ones cannot boast of any great inherent beauty. the fleischbrücke, indeed, was built by peter carl it is said on the model of the rialto. but it requires a kindly imagination or a bad memory to admit any comparison between the two. over a gateway near this bridge will be found the figure of a large bull, with the inscription-- "omnia habent ortus suaque incrementa, sed, ecce! quem cernis numquam bos fuit hic vitulus." town mottoes of this kind were common enough in the old days. a quaint example is that which was inscribed over an entrance of the city of arras in belgium. originally it ran--_les françois prendront arras, lorsque ce chat prendra le rat_. when the french had taken the town in they erased the letter _p_ in _prendront_ and thus cunningly caused the inscription to read in their favour. chapter xi _german museum_ (entrance in the vordere karthäusergasse. open - a.m. and - . p.m. summer, - p.m. winter. fee, mark. free sundays, and in winter also on wednesdays. sticks, etc., must be left in the entrance hall ( pfennige). full catalogue (german) pfennige. certain sections of the museum, including the collections of prints, seals, medals, tapestry, records and the library, are reserved for the use of students and artists. the visitor who wishes to study any of these magnificent collections must apply to the director of the particular department.) the museum, which owes its inception to the generosity of freiherr hans von aufsess, and its development to the imperial and municipal co-operation of united germany, has found a home in the old carthusian monastery and church. it was in that marquard mendel, a scion of a rich and distinguished nuremberg patrician family, founded a monastery for the most severe of the ecclesiastical orders on a spot outside the then town-wall. the foundation stone of the carthusian church, was laid in the presence of king wenzel in the following year. the pious founder took the vows of the order he had thus encouraged, and he lived in a cell of the monastery. the services in the church were so popular that to accommodate the crowds of people who thronged there konrad mendel, brother of marquard, founded an additional chapel--the mendel chapel, in . it is now used as a fire-station. opposite this chapel konrad also founded an almshouse for twelve destitute citizens. it is still marked by the statue of one of the former inmates. the prior and most of the monks adopted the evangelical creed in and the rich monastery became the property of the town. both the church and the monastery were for a long while used for very profane purposes until at last in they were utilised as a storehouse for the museum. then in the old augustinian monastery was removed and re-erected as an additional part of the museum. so vast and varied is the collection of interesting objects here and so careful and elaborate is the german catalogue that it is at once impossible and unnecessary for me to give an exhaustive account. the following notes are intended to serve rather as an index than as a complete guide to the treasures of the museum; but they make more particular mention of things that may prove interesting to those who care for the "story of nuremberg." the various sections of the museum though called after their original architectural purpose--saal, halle, kreuzgang, kirche, lichthofgang, etc., are usually numbered consecutively as if they were all rooms of the same type. the entrance hall leads into the cloisters of the old monastery (walls decorated with nuremberg heraldry). the first portion of the cloister contains an historical collection of monuments (mostly casts) arranged chronologically. room (on left). ceiling ornamented with the arms of the towns which under the old empire belonged to princes and bishops. weapons and implements of the stone age. room . bronze weapons and implements. coins. rooms - . roman antiquities found in germany and german antiquities from fourth to tenth centuries. the exquisite german gold and metal-work of the charlemagne period seems to foreshadow the work of the great nuremberg goldsmiths. room . latest acquisitions of the museum. rooms - . a very fine collection of characteristic stoves and tiles. the latter, used for covering the walls and floors, took the place of mosaics and are ornamented with leaf-work, stars, rosettes, coats-of-arms or grotesques. the tiles of the stoves, which should be compared with those in the castle and the rathaus, were made, in the fifteenth century, to represent chiefly mythological subjects, whilst the seventeenth-century ones betray, as we should expect, italian influence. a green stove with concave plates (room ) and an eighteenth-century rococco specimen (room ), from the house of the löffelholz family are remarkable. rooms , . contain some beautiful examples of the locksmith's art; locks, keys, hinges, knockers, and knocker plates, exquisite in workmanship and in design. we have here a real lesson in ironwork, a perfect education in hinges. room . is the wilhelms-halle, so-called after emperor wilhelm i. it contains a window given by him in , when he was still only king of prussia. passing by this and the hohenzollern-halle opposite and going down the ludwigsgang, built by the aid of ludwig of bavaria ( ) we come to the reichs-hof, a court (left) in which stands a gigantic cast of the roland in the market-place of bremen. rooms - are called the victoria and friedrich wilhelm buildings. (more tombs and casts.) on the right of the corridor (room ) there now begins a very interesting collection of stained glass which is arranged chronologically. (twelfth to sixteenth-century glass here.) rooms , . the old refectory of the monks serves now as the home for a collection of german and italian pottery, majolica and faience, porcelain, glass and stoneware. (german faience, first half of sixteenth century. augustin hirschvogel and nuremberg work, room , cabinets and .) pewter work, end of sixteenth century, by kaspar endterlein (room , cabinets , ). english wedgewood (cabinet ). room (cloister). bronze epitaphs from nuremberg tombstones (_cf._ st. john's churchyard). room (kirche) is the old monastic church. it is filled with mediæval church utensils (ninth to fifteenth century), amongst which we may mention the silver casket in which the imperial insignia used (p. ) to be hung in the spital-kirche, and with original examples of plastic work, carvings and sculptures (thirteenth to sixteenth century). the majority of these have no great artistic merit though they have great interest for the student of german art. they represent the period when painting was not yet regarded as a separate art but as the accessory, the handmaiden of sculpture. in the beginning images of madonnas and saints were carved and painted; then, first of all on the wings of altar-pieces, and afterwards throughout, the painter took the place of the carver or sculptor. the process is clearly demonstrated in this collection. i can only call attention to the following:--cabinet , six apostles in a sitting posture, excellent examples of nuremberg plastic work (burnt clay) at the end of the fourteenth century. over the north-west door st. anna, madonna and child, by michel wolgemut ( ?). the nuremberg landscape background is noteworthy. the picture has the appearance of having been recently retouched. various works of the nuremberg school and the pacher school of carving (late fifteenth century), are ranged along the south and north walls. the large fresco visit of emperor otho iii. to the tomb of charlemagne, is by w. von kaulbach, and was bequeathed by that painter to the museum. but the gem of the whole collection is the nuremberg madonna. it stands at the back of an early sixteenth-century altar-piece of the swabian school, facing the tombstone ( ) of georg ludwig von seinsheim. no second glance is required to assure us that we have here not only the _chef d'æuvre_ of [illustration: nuremberg madonna] nuremberg carving, but also one of the works of art of all time. and yet the name of the master is unknown, and the very date of the work is a matter of dispute. clearly the beautiful female figure of this sorrowing mary, this praying madonna, as she is called (trauende, betende maria), once formed one of a group, and stood facing st. john at the foot of the cross, gazing upwards in that bitter grief which is beyond the expression and abandonment of tears. who can that artist have been who could select that pose of the head, that poise of the limbs, who could carve those robes, which in purity and flow have never been surpassed in german art, and who could express in the suppliant hands such poignant emotion? _man weiss nicht!_ and whose touch was so delicate, that with his chisel he could stamp on the upturned face those mingled feelings of sorrow so supreme, yearning so intense, love so human, hope so divine? for all this we can read there still, even through the grey-green coat of paint which certainly had no place in the original intentions of the artist. _man weiss nicht!_ but this much one may hazard--that it was some german artist, touched by the spirit of the italian renaissance till he rose to heights of artistic performance elsewhere never attained by him, and scarcely ever approached by his fellows.[ ] at the end of the choir is the high altar-piece from hersbruck, with figures of mary and the four fathers of the church, from the workshop of wolgemut, who painted the wings once attached to it. this is a good example of nuremberg work of the kind, with its good and bad points, towards the end of the fifteenth century. on the reverse of this altar-piece is a sadly-faded church banner, richly painted. figures of christ, ss. peter, and sebald, in a rich renaissance border, attributed to albert durer. room (kapelle) is the old sacristy on the north side of the church. there are several interesting carvings here, chief of which is the rosary (rosenkranztafel), judgment-scene, and crowning of mary, attributed to veit stoss. amongst other important works attributed to, or actually by him, is the frame of durer's great allerheiligen picture (see p. ). there is also here the original wood model of labenwolf's familiar "gooseman" fountain, and a picture of a meeting of the meistersingers (with hans sachs). winding steps lead up from this chapel to the volkamer chapel above. room is the chapel on the south side of the church. church utensils, etc., and in the choir arch an iron painted chandelier, dedicated by the son of martin behaim, the navigator, in memory of his father. room . mediæval furniture, household articles, beds, and doors with splendid ironwork and hinges. turn (left) down corridor till you come to (right) room . the coloured portal is a remarkable piece of late romanesque work, and was once the doorway of the refectory of the monastery at heilsbronn. more stoves and furniture. rooms - . carved woodwork. room , cabinets and tapestry. goldsmiths' works. magnificent bedstead of ebony and alabaster (nuremberg). turn (left) down corridors - . historical collection of tombs and stained glass continued. rooms - , and (above). guns and weapons from eleventh century. chased armour. room (above). costumes. heraldic ceiling. hence down the open spiral staircase, past the bear-pit, to room . cannons, fourteenth to nineteenth century. room . torture instruments and guillotine (end of eighteenth century). from this point a small staircase in the corner of the cloisters (room ) leads to room , containing some interesting examples of early book-bindings. passing through this room, and turning to the left, we arrive at rooms - , where we have before our eyes the development of manuscripts, engraving and printing from the beginning of the eighth century. the first room contains many documents and charters, manuscripts, autographs, and illuminations. besides these there are many sketches, architectural drawings and designs, chiefly heraldic, for works of art. here, too, is a noticeable collection of wood-engravings, including many fine leaves by durer (apocalypse, passions, life of mary), lucas cranach, hans burgkmair, grien, schäuffelein, etc., and of copper-engravings[ ] by durer, lucas van leyden, aldegrever, altdorfer, augustin hirschvogel, etc. in the next room we enter the region of printed books, and find a well-arranged and delightful collection. in case i., among other examples of the early "block books" (books printed wholly from carved blocks of wood, from which undoubtedly the idea of moveable type arose), we note the _ars moriendi_ and the _kalendar of ludwig von basel_ ( ?). of block books at nuremberg, we may note that hans sporer produced here an edition of the _endkrist_ ( ), of the _ars moriendi_, , and of the _biblia pauperum_ ( ). the first two books to be printed from moveable type were two latin bibles (_circ._ ). of these, one is known as the thirty-six line, or bamberg bible. it was printed by gutenberg, and is represented in the museum by two leaves only (case i.). the other is known as the forty-two line, or mazarine bible. it was printed by gutenberg, in partnership with fust and schöffer, and is represented here by one leaf (case ii.). one leaf, too, is all there is here to tell of the _psalter_, with the wonderful capital letters printed by fust and schöffer. the extraordinary beauty and perfection of printing in its infancy can never fail to arrest attention. the explanation is obvious. it was not till the scribes, with whom printers had at first to compete in the multiplication of books, had ceased to exist that printers could afford to be careless in their work and indifferent in their choice of types. then there are the three books ascribed to gutenberg's press about the year -- ( ) the _tractatus racionis et conscientiæ_ of matthæus de cracovia; ( ) the _summa de articulis fidei_ of thomas aquinas; and ( ) the _catholicon_. the _catholicon_ type appears again in the latin-german dictionary known as the _vocabularius ex quo_, the second edition of which, published by nikolaus bechtermünze at eltvil, is here represented. copies of the first fourteen german bibles ( , etc.), with the exception of the second and seventh, will be found in the various cases (iv., v., vii., ix., etc.), and the original editions of luther's bible ( - ) and other writings of his in case xxii. the first german bible to be printed in nuremberg (actually the fourth german bible) was published by frisner and sensenschmid, (?), case vii. illustrations, it will be observed, are introduced into the large initial letters. it was johann sensenschmid ("the type-cutter") who, with the aid of heinrich keffer of mainz, a pupil of gutenberg, first introduced the art of printing into the town (franciscus de retza, _comestorium vitiorium_, , case vii.). then in johann müller, or regiomontanus, as he called himself, came with the object of establishing a private printing press, in order to issue his own works here. he printed his german and latin calendar from blocks, and various mathematical works from moveable types. but anton koberger[ ] ( - ) was the greatest printer of nuremberg. to the zeal with which he produced woodcut illustrations for his great works, the _schatzbehalter_ and the _hartmann schedels weltchronik_ (cases xiii., xiv.), the growth of the nuremberg school of engraving is due. another famous nuremberg printer closely connected in business with koberger[ ] was friedrich creussner, who printed the first german edition of "marcho polo, das puch von mangerley wunder der landt vnd lewt" in (case xii.). in case xix. we find a unique copy of hans schmuttermeyer von nürnberg, _fialenbüchlein_, and also the _nürnberger heiligtumsbüchlein_, published by hans mair, . the _quatuor libri amorum_ of conrad celtes, poet and humanist, was published at nuremberg, , with woodcuts after durer (case xxi.). durer's writings on the _proportions of the human frame_, on _perspective_, _measurements_ and _fortification_ figure in case xxiii., in which also the large coloured woodcuts of the "_abbildung der dreiundzwanzig vom schwäbischen bunde im jahre verbrannten fränkischen raubschlösser_," published at nuremberg by hans wandereisen, are conspicuous. to nuremberg also was vouchsafed the honour of publishing melchior pfinzing's _theuerdank_ ( ),[ ] although it would appear to have been printed by hans schönsperger at augsburg from the handsome type (scarcely improved by the tremendous flourishes) specially cut by jost dienecker of antwerp. it was adorned with over a hundred illustrations--hunting scenes and knightly conflicts--by hans schäuffelein, burgkmair and others. a copy of the second, , edition may be seen in case xxii. after the death of koberger, illustrated books in nuremberg came chiefly from the presses of jobst gutknecht and peypus. other printers here were:-- conrad zeninger, - . fratres vitæ communis, - . georg stuchs, - . johann petrejus, - . alexander kaufmann (greek types). konrad bauer, . _polyglot bible._ leonhard heussler, . joachim lochner's _chronicle_. endter, . fugger's _Österreichischer ehrenspiegel_ (case xxviii.). in this case also is grimmelshausen's _simplicissimus_ (nuremberg, ). in the next case (xxix.) is a copy of the pamphlet "_deutschland in seiner tiefen erniederung_," , which occasioned the execution of the publisher palm (see p. ), "who fell a victim to the tyranny of napoleon." near this case are two old printing presses, and in case xxx. are the bust, some manuscripts, and the collected works of hans sachs the cobbler-poet. room . ship models, etc. room (gallery of the church). old weights and scales. room . scientific instruments, dials, early watches and watch-cocks. durer's reissfeder. regiomontanus' astronomical instruments. rooms - . old drugs and drug-stores, etc. the old apothecary's shop, decorated with crocodiles and so forth, suggests the familiar scene in romeo and juliet. rooms - . technical models, globes, maps, etc. room . banners of old nuremberg guilds, signs of inns, trade-marks, etc. room a. early nuremberg toys, dolls' houses, etc. we now come to the picture gallery, which, if not of great size or of first-rate importance, is eminently interesting to those who care to study the development of nuremberg art. the pictures are unfortunately numbered and arranged in a somewhat eccentric fashion. in the small room on the right, as we enter room , are some early pictures which would seem to be the forerunners of the system of epitaphs which obtained so largely in the later middle ages. besides these there are two byzantine pictures. the first two sections of room are taken up with some examples of the rhenish and old netherland school up to the end of the sixteenth century. to meister wilhelm of cologne is attributed the charming madonna with the pea-blossom (no. ). of the same school are nos. , , and . stephan lockner, nos. , , , , . rogier van der weyden (copy), no. . hugo van der goes. cardinal bourbon. no. . the "master of the life of mary." nos. , , . jan scorel. two portraits. nos. , . the "master of the death of mary." nos. , , . bartholomew bruyns. no. . with the third section of this room begins the collection of franconian and nuremberg paintings. as i have already on more than one occasion sketched the characteristics of this school, it would be superfluous to add anything here. but perhaps one may be allowed to express the conviction that no one who studies these pictures will fail to be impressed by the comparative merits of wolgemut, or go away without ranking the master of durer higher in his estimation than he was wont to do before he came. the scenes from the passion (no. ), , may be taken to represent the beginnings of the franconian school of painting. no. is the reverse of that imhoff altar-piece in the lorenzkirche with which we have already dealt at some length (p. ). no. --from the frauenkirche--is an important picture of the same date ( - ). the workshop of pleydenwurff and wolgemut is very well represented here. the admirable portrait of kanonikus schönborn ( ), whose figure appears again in the crucifixion ( ) painted for him by the master, and ss. thomas aquinas and dominicus ( , ) are good examples of hans pleydenwurff at his best. of the numerous pictures by michel wolgemut it will suffice to mention in particular the two portraits of old men so full of individuality (hans perckmeister and another, , a), and the hallersche epitaph ( ), besides his masterpiece, the peringsdÖrffer altar-piece ( - , room ; and , room , ss. cosmos damian, magdalena, and lucia). we have seen how wolgemut usually allowed his assistants to help him in his pictures. the peringsdörffer masterpiece ( ) was no exception; but in this at any rate the master's own share was very considerable. the outer sides of the altar contain four pairs of saints, male and female, standing on gothic brackets--ss. catherine and barbara, rosalia and margaret, george and sebald, john the baptist and nicholas. here we have the most animated of wolgemut's female figures, the most vigorous and life-like of his men. the most notable faces,--finer even than that of the st. sebald who stands like some great architect holding the model of his church, or of the st. nicholas, with his refined and critical countenance, are those of ss. john and george. the former turns upon us his keen and spiritual gaze, so that his great brown eyes seem to pierce the veil that bounds our earthly vision and to penetrate into the hidden depths of futurity; whilst the latter stands rigid, his every feature--powerful nose, firmly closed mouth, thin but not sunken cheeks--eloquent of a bold and earnest resolution. incidents from the life of st. vitus (veit) and other saints form the subjects of the inner sides of the picture. here again there is an inequality both of style and of excellence. the simple countenance of mary, who holds on her knee a very animated child, represents a type halfway between that of rogier and that of schongauer. the st. luke, the character of whose head is well worked out, is attractive through his expression of earnestness. but there is far more dramatic power and "soul" in the scene from the legend of st. bernard, according to which christ came down from the cross to his ardent worshipper. there the countenance of st. bernard is made to exhibit a depth of feeling rarely to be found in wolgemut; as if the artist's imagination had indeed been lit by something of the glow of the saint's adoration. the st. christopher, who is walking through the stream with the christ-child on his shoulder, is rough to the point of ugliness, whilst in the landscape, which is beautifully executed, there is a most intimate charm. in the martyrdom of st. sebastian, the saint wears that almost inane expression which often does duty, however unintentionally, for the look of deep suffering in wolgemut's work. the guard, however, are pleasingly and vividly portrayed. evidently they are akin to the rabble which is found in the scenes of the passion in schongauer's works. but it is when we come to the scenes from the legend of st. vitus that we seem to trace only the faintest signs of wolgemut's style. the composition here bears only a distant resemblance to his, and in the execution the assistant employed must surely have been he who painted the scene of st. vitus denouncing the idols in the lorenzkirche (see p. ), and whose initials are r. f. the pictures by albrecht durer in the museum we have already mentioned (pp. , - ). ( ) hercules and the stymphalian birds, room ( ) kaiser maximilian, " " ( ) pietà--mourning over christ's body, " ( ) charlemagne, " " ( ) kaiser sigismund, " " besides these originals there are several copies of the master's works, including the excellent copies of the four apostles ( , ) by johann georg fischer. the original inscriptions are retained. the allerheiligen or trinity picture, no. , is a bad copy in a worse frame. among other works by contemporaries or followers of durer are:-- bartholomew zeitblom of ulm, { room { " bernhard strigel, { , " { , " martin schwarz of rothenburg, , " hans holbein the elder, { , " { , " hans friess of freiburg, room , hans leonhard schäuffelein, { , , } " { , etc. } hans von kulmbach, { " { , , " albrecht altdorfer, , " , mathias grünewald, " hans baldung grien, - " lucas cranach, { " { martin schaffner, , " hans burgkmair, { " { - " georg pencz, , " in the following rooms the decline of german art is historically well represented. but in room , which is devoted mainly to painters of the dutch school of the seventeenth century, mention should be made of the interior by peter de hooch ( ) and an early portrait of rembrandt by himself ( ) and his powerful st. paul ( ). johann kupetzky is also well represented ( - ). rooms , . models of cannons and weapons. room . a collection of musical instruments: some very rare and costly, but mostly of recent date. there are few from mediæval times. engravings and miniatures will tell us most about these. but the history of the development of the lute and violin, the clarionet and the piano, can here be traced. of the early nuremberg makers, whose instruments are preserved, the chief are-- conrad gerler and melchior neuziedler (lutes and violins). hans meuschen (wind instruments). sigmund schnitzer (whistles). pachelbel (organs). the bavarian industrial museum (königstrasse) contains a collection of patterns and samples, ancient and modern, and a good technical library. chapter xii _the arms of nuremberg_ "da sass ein vogel wunderschön, wie ein adler war er anzusehn kohlschwarz, der hatt' allda gehecket. seine linke seit' war ihm bedecket mit lichten rosen, roth und weiss, fein abgetheilt mit allem fleiss." ... hans sachs. nuremberg is a happy hunting ground for the herald. the hatchments in the churches and the houses, and the arms in the stained glass windows are very noteworthy. the arms of the city may be seen carved over the north and south main entrances to the rathaus. you will also find them roughly painted on a little money-box in albert durer's house. durer, as was natural in an engraver, was fond of heraldic drawing. his engravings of the "armorial bearings of the durer family," and of "the coat of arms, with a cock," and of the "arms of nuremberg," are good examples of his work in this _genre_, whilst his last piece of pure etching was "the great cannon," with the arms of nuremberg upon it. i take the following account of the seals and arms of nuremberg from dr reicke and mummenhoff. it was one of the privileges of the council to have a seal of its own. both mayor and council had their own seals. the mayor's seal, known to have existed from a.d. onwards, was of red wax bearing the imperial eagle originally looking to [illustration: seals of nuremburg] the sinister but afterwards to the dexter, with the legend _sigillum sculteti de nuremberg_ (seal of the mayor of nuremberg) which subsequently became _sigillum judicii de nurenberch_ (seal of the court of nuremberg). the council's seal (which first appears on documents of ) bore an eagle closely feathered up to the neck, with a human head surrounded by flowing locks and wearing a crown. this town-seal usually bears the legend _sigillum universitatis civium de nurenberch_ (_i.e._ seal of the community of the citizens of nuremberg) or even _civitatis norimbergue_ (of the city of nuremberg). somewhat later than the middle of the fourteenth century it had a black letter n for counter-seal, and bore the following legend in abbreviated writing, _sigillum secretum nurembergense_, _i.e._ nuremberg secret _or_ privy seal. a little later it bore for its counter-seal the proper arms of the city, of which we must shortly speak. towards the end of the fourteenth century (in ) a smaller privy seal appears, similar in form, and bearing the legend _secretum civium de nuremberch_. this was always used as a privy seal for letters of importance. before this seal came into use the city seal was used for all purposes, and even appended (for greater security) to private documents such as contracts of sale, entailing deeds, testaments and jointures. at a later date this seal was chiefly appended to testaments. the seals, both of the mayor and of the council, though not arms, were used as such; however, their real character was well understood. even in the council decreed that the window which the city proposed to place in the choir of st. lawrence's church should be adorned "with the arms of the council and the privy and common arms of the city." here a distinction is expressly made between the seal and the arms. however, the proper arms of the town were--bendy of six gules and argent impaling or an imperial eagle dimidiated, sable. the dexter side of the shield is often incorrectly represented as gules, three bendlets argent. it is also wrong to describe it (as many writers have done), as barry of six, gules and argent. meisterlin applies to the dexter side the term field of swabia, which we only mention here because it is still occasionally employed. he gives the same name to the district in which nuremberg lies (apparently by confusion with the "gau" of sualafeld). nuremberg has accordingly nothing to do with swabia, as was probably inferred centuries ago. the origin of the arms is obscure. it is however worth mentioning that the burggraves of nuremberg bore this "field of swabia" as a bordure on their arms. these arms, as we said before, have been used since the second half of the fourteenth century as the counter-seal of the city seal above mentioned, as also on stamped parchment and stamped paper (only introduced towards the end of the seventeenth century), on coins struck at nuremberg, on public buildings, etc. the human head on the eagle of the privy seal, afterwards called the "eagle-maiden," is explained by mummenhoff as the face of an emperor with long flowing locks and the imperial crown on his head. it retains this character throughout the middle ages both on the seal, and also when the seal was used as a coat-of-arms. mummenhoff instances in particular the fine eagle on the town side of the upper story of the thiergärtner-gate-tower. with albert durer, however, begins the quite unhistorical transfiguration of this eagle. the emperor's face was no longer understood and was mistaken for a female face; and thus in course of time a series of unjustifiable embellishments produced a coat-of-arms bearing a maiden, described by even a modern historian as an "eagle-maiden." in quite recent times a mural crown has been set upon her head. we will pass over the jesting explanations formerly given for this seeming eagle-maiden, which would be untenable, were they even serious. we need only mention that when the arms are set out in colours the eagle is or and the field azure (and very often vert). these three coats-of-arms (counting the seals as coats) arranged in different ways were employed on public monuments, buildings and coins, and afterwards on all publications, commissions, ordinances, etc., issued by the council. usually the simple eagle is at the top, the so-called eagle-maiden below on the right, and the bends impaling the dimidiated eagle on the left. frequently, especially on the coins, only the eagle-maiden and the dimidiated eagle appear. sometimes also we find the imperial eagle without the shield surmounting the two lower coats, and, as it were, protecting them with its wings. the double-headed crowned eagle also frequently occurs, for example on the old fünferhaus (now the post-office) with the date . here it appears alone, whereas on the tugendbrunnen it is associated with the eagle-maiden and the impaled dimidiated eagle. it was also employed on the eastern part of the city wall, both on the bastion near the wöhrderthürlein (pulled down in ) and on the line of wall. a really handsome example of this double-headed eagle is to be seen on the entrance to the new rathaus building from the fünferplatz. this eagle dates from the seventeenth century and was formerly placed on the arsenal, and consequently bears the inscription:-- "einst wächter von nürnbergs waffen und wehr jetzt hüter von nürnbergs wohlstand und ehr." "once guard over nuremberg's weapons and steel now keeper of nuremberg's honour and weal." according to lochner it appears to have been left to the taste of the artist whether in such combinations this the real imperial eagle, or the one-headed, uncrowned eagle of the mayor should be used. chapter xiii _itinerary, places of resort, hotels_ the following scheme may perhaps prove of use to those who have but a day or two to spend in nuremberg and wish to glance at the chief places of interest:-- ( ) walk round the walls and visit the castle (ch. v.). ( ) going from the frauenthor down the königstrasse see st. lorenzkirche (ch. ix.), the nassauer haus (p. ), and tugendbrunnen (p. ). then crossing the pegnitz by the fleisch--or the museums-brücke, arrive at the haupt markt and the beautiful fountain (p. ). visit the frauenkirche (ch. ix.) (r.), the rathaus (ch. vi.) and st. sebalds, (ch. ix.) and look at the parsonage window (p. ), st. moritzkirche (ch. ix.) and the bratwürstglöcklein (p. ). ( ) albert durer's house and monument (ch. vii.). st. Ægidienkirche (ch. ix.) and the pellerhaus (p. ). st. john's churchyard and the adam krafft stations (ch. ix. and vii.). ( ) german museum (ch. xi.), library (ch. ix.). walks or drives from the town. ( ) to the alte veste. (wallenstein's camp, see ch. iv.). ( ) castle of lichtenhof. (once the residence of gustavus adolphus.) ( ) dutzendteich. ( ) schmausenbuch. hotels. there are several first-class hotels in nuremberg. the württemberger hof has the advantage of being very close to the station and just outside the old walls of the town. the management is excellent and i have met with every comfort and courtesy there. of the hotels within the walls the strauss ranks for comfort and cuisine among the best hotels in europe, whilst of the others the bairischer hof, the goldner adler and the wittelsbacher are recommended. [illustration: nuremberg] index _note_.--for particular houses, streets, churches, etc., see under general heading--houses, streets, churches, etc. a altdorf, , , . altdorfer, albert, , . altnÜrnberg, , . alte, veste, _ff_. angelic greeting, the (stoss), , . anschreibethÜre, . arms, . art and artists, - , _ff_. artisans, , , , . astrologers, . b barbari, jacopo dei, , , . bastions, , , , , . baths, public, , . battle of mühldorf, . bayreuth, , . behaim, sebald, . ---- martin, . ---- hans, , , . ---- hans, wilhelm, . bellini, - . berlichingen, _see_ götz von. berthold, . betlÄuten. . books, - , , , - . borkhardt, . brandenburg, markgraf of, , - , , _ff_, . bratwurstglÖcklein, . brautthÜre, , , . brewery, , . bridges, (brücke)-- ---- barfüsser, , , . ---- fleisch, , . ---- hallerthor, . ---- schuld, . ---- vestner thor, . brunnen (wells)-- ---- apollo, . ---- gänsemännchen, , . ---- grübel, . ---- kuntsbrunnen, . ---- labenwolf, . ---- schöner, , , - . ---- tiefer, , , . ---- tugend, , , . ---- wasserspeier, . burg, , - , , , , , - , , , . burgamtmannswohnung, , . burggraf, , , , , , , , - , - , , , , - , , . burgkmair, , . burgomeister, , , , . burgschmiet, , , . c camerarius, joachim, , . carlyle, thomas, , , , , , . carnival, . castle, _see_ burg. celtes, conrad, , , , , , , . charlemagne, , . charters, , , , , , , , , . chronicle, h. schedel, , , . chroniclers, , , , , , , . churches and chapels, _ff_, - . ---- augustiner, , . ---- s. Ægidien, with eucharius, wolfgang, and tetzel chapels, , , , , . ---- s. catherine, , . ---- s. elizabeth, . ---- frauen, with michael chapel, , , , , , , , , , - . ---- heiliggeistspital, , , ---- holzschuher chapel, . ---- s. jakobs, , , , , . ---- s. john's church, , . ---- s. john's churchyard, , , , , , , , . ---- kaiserkapelle, , - . ---- s. katharinen, , . ---- karthäuser, . ---- s. klara, . ---- landauer, . ---- s. lorenz, , , , - , , , , , , , - , . ---- margaretenkapelle, , , . ---- s. martha, , . ---- s. martin, . ---- s. moritz, , . ---- otmarkapelle, . ---- s. rochus, , , . ---- s. sebald, with s. peter's or löffelholz chapel, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , . ---- synagogue, , , , . ---- walpurgiskapelle, , , . ---- zum heiligen kreuz, . clock, , , , , - . convent, _see_ kloster. council, _see_ rat. councilhouse, _see_ rathaus. courtship, system of, . cranach, lucas, , , . crenelles, - . crusades, , , . d diet of worms, , , . ---- of spires, , . ditch, chap. v. double chapel, , - . durer, albert, , , - , , , , - , , - , , , , , , , , , . durer's house, _see_ haus. dutzendteich, . e ebner, , . education, . eger, double chapel, , . eggs (watches), , . ekkelein von gailingen, _ff_, . emperors, _see_ kaiser. endterlein, k., , . epitaphs, , , - , , . erasmus, , . erlangen, university, . essenwein, a. von, . f fair (easter), . fazuni, . fischbach, . five-cornered tower, , , , , , , _ff_. fortifications, - . fountains, _see_ brunnen. freiung, , . friedensmal, . fÜrth, , , , , , , . g gailingen, ekkelein von, _ff_, . gÄnsemÄnnchen, , . gates, _see_ thor. german museum, _see_ museum. glass, , , , , , . golden bull, , , , . goldmeyer, a., . gÖtz von berlichingen, , _ff_, - , . gross, conrad, , . grÜbel, j. k., , . guilds, , , , _ff_, - . guillotine, , . gustavus adolphus, - , . gutenberg, , . h haller altar piece, _ff_, . hangman, _ff_. haus, _ff_. ---- durer, , , , , , , ---- ketzel, or pilatus, . ---- krafft, . ---- maut, . haus, nassauer, . ---- palm, . ---- peller, , , . ---- pirkheimer, . ---- sachs, . ---- unschlitt, . ---- waizenbräu, . ---- zum goldenen schild, . ---- zwölfbrüder, , , . hauser, kaspar, - . heathen tower (heidenthurm), _see under_ thurm. henkersteg, - , . henlein, p., . heraldry, , , , , , . hesse, eobanus, , . heuss, georg, , . hirschvogel, , , , , . hoards, . hohenstaufen, , , , , . hohenzollern, , , . holbein, , , . holzschuher, , , . ---- e. k., . hotels, . houses, - , and _see under_ haus. huss, john, . hussites, , . hutten, ulrich von, , . i imhoff, , , , . ---- altarpiece, , - , . indulgences, , , . j jamnitzer, w., , . jews, , , - , , - , . jewish machsor, . jungfrau, _see_ maiden. juvenell, p., , . k kaiser-- ---- otho l, . ---- conrad ii., . ---- henry iii., , . ---- frederick barbarossa, , - , . kaiser, henry iv., - . ---- henry v., , . ---- lothar, . ---- conrad (hohenstaufen), . ---- frederick ii., . ---- henry vi., . ---- conradin, . ---- rudolph von hapsburg, , . ---- adolph von nassau, . ---- albert, , . ---- henry vii., . ---- ludwig von baiern, - ---- karl iv., _ff_, . ---- wenzel, - , . ---- ruprecht, . ---- sigismund, - , . ---- frederick iii., , . ---- maximilian i., , - , , . ---- charles v., - , . ---- maximilian ii., . ---- ferdinand ii., . ---- francis, . kaiserstallung, , . katzheimer, , , . kern, leonhard, . ketzel, georg, , . ---- martin, . kirnberger, . kloster, , . ---- st. Ægidius, , , , . ---- augustinen, , . ---- dominican, . ---- franciscan (barfüsser), , . ---- karthäuser, , , . ---- katherinen, , . ---- klara, , . ---- landauer, , , , . koberger, a., , , , , . krafft, adam, , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , . kuhn, , . kulmbach, haus von, , , , , , , . kunigunde, empress, . l labenwolf, pankraz, , , . landauer, matthäus, . landgraben, . landwehr, . leagues, of towns, etc., , , , , , , , - , . legends, , , , , , , _ff_, , , , , - , , , , . leihaus, . lindenast, sebastian, , , . loch, . lÖffelholz, altarpiece, , . ---- chapel, , , . longfellow, , , , , , . luginsland, , , . luther, - , , . m macchiavelli, . machicoulis turrets, . machsor, . madonna, the nuremberg, , , _ff_. maiden, the nuremberg, , - . ---- morton's, , . mantengna, . market places-- ---- hauptmarkt, , , , , . ---- obstmarkt, , . ---- sau- or trödel-markt, . ---- gänsemarkt, . ---- weinmarkt, . markgrafs of brandenburg, , , , - , , _ff_, . mart, , . meissen, heinrich von, . meistersingers, , . melanchthon, , , , , , . mendel, . minnesingers, - . moat, chap. v. monastery, _see_ kloster. monuments-- ---- behaim, . ---- durer, . ---- grübel, . ---- kunstbrunnen, . ---- melanchthon, . ---- sachs, . ---- wasserspeier, . ---- motto, , . mount of olives, . mÜhldorf, battle of, . muller, johannes (regiomontanus), , , , , . museums-- ---- bavarian industrial, , ---- five-cornered tower, _see_ f ---- german, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - . musical instruments, , . n nassauerhaus, . neumarkt, k: von, . nuremberg, charm of, ; origin of, _ff_; name, ; altnürnberg, ; mixture of races at, ; mart established at, ; siege of, ; charter, ; burning of, ; second siege, ; hohenstaufen, ; hohenzollern, ; reichstag and charter, ; catastrophe at a royal wedding, ; lawlessness, ; third siege, ; joins league, ; rudolf von hapsburg at, ; massacre of jews, ; charter, ; supports ludwig, ; revolution, ; council, , _ff_; persecution of jews, ; joins swabian league, ; golden bull issued from, ; quarrels with the burggraff, ; heidelberg union, ; supports ruprecht, ; loans exacted by sigismund, ; hussites, ; frederick iii. at, ; religious feeling and expulsion of jews, - ; "capital of german art" under maximilian, _ff_; quarrels with the burggraff, ; götz von berlichingen, , - ; war of bavarian succession, ; renaissance, ; luther and the reformation at, _ff_; peasants' war, ; school founded at, ; war with elector albert, ; founds university of altdorf, ; catholic reaction, , _ff_; wallenstein and gustavus adolphus, _ff_; celebrates treaty of westphalia, ; decline of, - ; kaspar hauser, - ; general view and topography of, ; castle, walls and fortification, - ; tortures, - ; art and artists, - ; meistersingers of, - ; churches of, - ; arms, _ff_. nuremberg chronicle, . ---- carnival, . ---- eggs, , . ---- grosse uhr, . ---- konkordienbuch, . ---- lebkuchen, . ---- madonna, , , _ff_. ---- maiden, , - . nuremberg, school of painting, - , - , . ---- spruchsprecher, . ---- trichter, or funnel, , . o olives, mount of, . osiander, , , , . p painters and painting, - , , , - , - , , - , , , - . palm, , . paniersberg, . parsonage window, . passages, , - . patricians, - . paumgÄrtner, h., , . pegnitz, , , , - , , , , , . peller altarpiece, . pellerhof, , . pencz (georg), , , , , . pergenstorfer relief, , . peringsdÖrffer altarpiece, , , , , . pfinzing, m., , , . piccolomini, octavio, . pirkheimer, charitas, . ---- willibald, , , , , , , , , , , , , , . pix (krafft's), , - , . platz, Ægidien, , , , , , . ---- albrecht dürer, , . ---- dötschmanns, , . ---- lorenzer, . ---- max, , . platz, spital, , , , . ---- theresien, , . ---- thiergärtnerthor, . ---- unschlitt, , . ---- webers, . pleydenwurf, hans, , . poets, . pope, gregory, ii. ---- leo x., , . printing, - , , , - . protestants, _ff_. r rat (council), , , , - , , - , , , _ff_, , , , , , , , , . rathaus, , , , , , , , , , , , . reformation, _ff_, , . regiomontanus, _see_ muller. reichstag, , , , , - . rembrandt, . renaissance, . restaurants, , , . robber knights, , , , , , - . rosenau, . rosenkranztafel, , . rotermundt, , , , . rothenburg, , , , , , , , . s sachs, hans, , , , , , , - , , , , . sakramentshÄuslein, - , . sandrart, j. von, . schatzbehalter, , . schÄuffelein, hans, , , . schautthÜre, , , . schedel, hartmann, chronicle, , , , . schembartlÄufer, . scheurl, dr., , , . schiller, . schongauer, m., , , , , . schonhofer, , . school, , , . schreyer tomb, , . schÜtt island, , . schweigger, georg, , . schweppermann, . seals, . sebald, s., , , - . sebaldusgrab, - , , . secret passages, , - . ---- tribunal, - . sensenschmidt, johann, , . spengler, lazarus, , , , , . spires, diet of, , . springlen, , . stations (krafft's), - . stoss, veit, , , , - , , , , , , - , , , . stoves, , , . streets (strasse)-- ---- albrecht dürer, , , . ---- am oelberg, . ---- berg, . ---- breitegasse, . ---- burg, , , , , , . ---- burgschmiets, , . ---- carolinen, . ---- dielingasse, . ---- färbergasse, . ---- frauengässlein, . ---- fürther, . ---- hans sachs, , . ---- heugässchen, . ---- hirschel, . ---- irrergasse, . ---- karl, . ---- königs, , , . ---- lammsgasse, . ---- ludwig, . ---- neue, , . ---- nonnen, . ---- obere schmiedgasse, . ---- panier, . ---- peter vischer, . ---- rathaus, . ---- rothenburger, . ---- schildgasse, , . ---- schmied, . ---- söldner, . ---- tetzel, , . ---- theater, . ---- theresien, . ---- tucher, . ---- waisen, . ---- weintraubengässlein, . ---- winkler, , , . ---- wolfs, . ---- wunderburg, . ---- zeilen, . strigel, . stromer, p., , . ---- ulman, , . swedish camp, . sylvius, Æneas, . synagogue, , , , . t theuerdank, , . . thor, frauen, , , , , , , , , . ---- haller, , . ---- hallerthürlein, . ---- himmels, , . ---- laufer, , , . ---- maler, , . ---- marien, . ---- max, , , . ---- morhen, , . ---- neu, , , , . ---- spittler, , , , , , , . ---- stadt, . ---- stern, , . ---- thiergärtner, , , . ---- vestner, , . ---- walch, . ---- wühderthürlein, . thurm (tower), frauen, . ---- frosch, , . ---- fünfeckiger (five-cornered), , , , , , , _ff_. ---- heiden (heathen), , , . ---- laufer, . ---- lauferschlag, , . ---- luginsland, , , . ---- romer, . ---- schlayer, . ---- schuld, . ---- spittel, . ---- thiergärtner, , , . ---- vestner, , . ---- wasser, . ---- weiss (white), , , , , . tilly, , . torture, , , , , - . tourneys, , , . tower, _see_ thurm. ---- hangman's, _see_ henkersteg. towers, - . tucher, , , , , , , . tucher altarpiece, , . ---- lamp, etc., , . ---- window, , , . u unger, georg, , . v vandyck, . vehmegericht, , . venice, , , , , , . vischer, peter, etc., , , , , , - , , , , , . vogelweide, w. von der, . volkamer, , , . ---- altar, . ---- window, , . w waage, , , . wagner, , , - . walch, _see_ barbari. wallenstein, , , - . wallenstein's camp, . walls, _ff_. watches, , . wells, _see_ brunnen. weyer, gabriel, . windows, , , , , , . wittelsbach, family of, , , , wolff, jakob, . ---- the younger, , . wolgemut, m., , , - , , , , , , - . worms, diet of, , , . wurzelbauer, . z zwinger, , , , , , . zwingle, . printed by turnbull and spears, edinburgh footnotes: [ ] kustos an der stadtbibliothek und am städtischen archiv in nürnberg [ ] note that the prussian imperial house in stipulated for the possession of the kaiserburg, as it was called later, on the ground that it was once the residence of their ancestors. [ ] see ch. v. [ ] "hist. frederick the great," vol. i., bk. ii., ch. v. [ ] baring gould, _germany_. [ ] "this karl iv. is the kaiser who discovered the well of karlsbad known to tourists of this day: and made the golden bull, which i forbid all englishmen to take for an agricultural prize animal, the thing being far other, as is known to several.--_carlyle._ [ ] the new council was to consist of eight artisans and thirty-four patricians. the artisans, however, only attended on special occasions. they had no real power. the guilds were suppressed, and even such unions as had existed before the revolution were put under the control of the council, who kept in their own hands the decision of even the smallest matters, which were wont to be decided in other towns by the guilds. members of the council had to be fathers of families. of the thirty-four patrician members twenty-six were eligible for the office of burgomeister. two by two, one old and the other young, they held office by turn for four weeks. one of the duties of the younger was to be present at the function of torturing prisoners. the elder had to perform the office of asking the opinion of the house. from the thirteen older men seven were chosen as a secret committee. from this committee three were chosen, and from this triumvirate two were chosen, the chief of whom was the first person in the town. there was another, or great, council which varied in numbers, and was elected by the smaller council from the patrician and leading and even from the lower houses. members were elected for life, and had no powers of importance. they were consulted on questions of war, and when the smaller council was elected. then they assembled in the rathaus hall, and chose two out of the old committee of seven. the smaller council (with the eight artisans) then nominated three out of the eight who made up the original thirty-four. these five nominees then chose the small council for the ensuing year. none of these electors might elect two years running, and no two might be of the same family. those who were not re-elected to the council became ordinary citizens again. re-election was not usual. [ ] ulman stromer, the oldest of the nuremberg chroniclers, died on april . he was the first man to set up a paper mill ( , at the entrance of the pegnitz into the town, the first of the kind in germany). [ ] rooms and . [ ] see pp. and . [ ] facing the north side of st. sebalduskirche. [ ] in the germanische museum there is a very interesting and instructive collection of arms and weapons of all sorts. rooms - and and . note that the rich towns were able to afford the latest and best artillery and guns, whilst the knights had to be content with old-fashioned arms as a rule. [ ] from carlyle. [ ] see theodor körner's well-known play on this subject. [ ] wurtel, _histor. nachrichten von der judengemeinde der reichstadt nürnberg_. [ ] see pp. and . [ ] see, for instance, the pictures in st. lorenzkirche. [ ] janssen. [ ] carlyle. [ ] berthold volkamer, who took part in it, had the great hall in his house in the dielingasse decorated with a representation of this tournament painted on linen. the council, in , had the life-size stucco-relief on the ceiling of the upper corridor of the rathaus, executed by heinrich and hans kuhn, based on this. [ ] gardiner, "thirty years war." [ ] "the story of kaspar hauser." macmillan, . [ ] immediately after passing the arch labelled vestnerthor, turn to the left. the open space of the plateau called the freiung commands a very fine view of the city. [ ] it was by the following charter of that king sigmund gave the reichsburg over to the council:-- "we hereby order and command the burgomaster, council, and citizens, as they are true and faithful subjects of us and of the empire, that now and henceforth they shall build and fortify with gates, doors, walls, moats, and other buildings, this same fortress of us and the empire, with its accessories within and without, and look after them without let or hindrance. further, it is our will and pleasure as king of rome that this same fortress of us and of the empire, shall in no way be separated or divided from the town of nuremberg. and when we ourselves or our successors are not residing in person at n., no one else shall inhabit the said castle, and we hereby decree that no one else shall command it save only the council of the town of n., who shall keep it faithfully for our successors and the empire, as the emperor charles our father of holy memory and likewise king ruprecht of good memory wrote and ordered to our fore-fathers in the kingdom." [ ] the original entrance to these passages cannot be determined now as the principal tower which might have been the last place of refuge and the extremest point of defence no longer exists. to-day the entrance is to be found in the tower at the most westerly corner of the castle grounds. we shall come to the subject of the subterranean passages in the next chapter. [ ] the skeletons of (probably) two twelfth-century burggrafs were discovered here in the course of the recent excavations. we know also that a few members, male and female, of patrician families were buried here in the sixteenth century. [ ] that at eger is octagonal. [ ] we shall do well enough if we work down winklerstrasse, and then strike across (_l_) the haupt markt, pass through hans sachs gasse, across the spital platz, up the neue gasse, crossing tucher strasse and the top of theresien platz. after which, short turns first to the left and then to the right bring us into tetzel gasse. [ ] the max-, mohren-, stern-, and marien-gates are all quite modern. [ ] see "military architecture," m. viollet-le-duc. [ ] a bit of this crenelation may be seen to the east of the walch thor. [ ] the brautthüre of st. sebald's will occur to the reader in this connection. [ ] . after a drawing by jacopo de' barbari. [ ] ring the bell for the hausmeister who lives to the right of the door of the great hall. [ ] note, pp. , . [ ] the fee for showing the dungeons and the secret passages is a matter for arrangement before starting. [ ] _cf._ arabian nights. _twenty-ninth night._ [ ] see sir r. burton's note on the thirty-first night, _arabian nights_, . . [ ] the iron maiden is shown now in the five-cornered tower. this is not, of course, its original position. nor is it profitable to inquire how far the instruments shown are the actual original ones; for the collection of torture instruments, rings, pictures, books, etc.; which used to be shown at nuremberg, are now the property of the earl of shrewsbury. [ ] _cf._ plautus, _captivi_, . boius est, boiam terit. [ ] it is interesting to note that most of the nuremberg artists were essentially good men who drew their inspiration from religion--a fact that may afford food for reflection to those who nowadays declare so loudly that art has nothing to do with morals, that they incline to fall into the opposite error and suppose that it has everything to do with immorality. [ ] "it appears to have been the ancient practice of those masters, who furnished designs for the wood-engravers to work from, carefully to avoid all cross-hatchings, which, it is probable, were considered as beyond the power of the xylographist to represent. wolgemut perceived that, though difficult, this was not impossible; and in the cuts of the nuremberg chronicle, the execution of which, besides furnishing the designs, he doubtless superintended, a successful attempt was first made to imitate the bold hatchings of a pen-drawing, crossing each other, as occasion prompted the designer, in various directions. to him belongs the praise of having been the first who duly appreciated the powers of this art, and it is more than probable that he proved with his own hand, to the subordinate artists employed under him, the practicability of that style of workmanship which he acquired."--ottley, "history of engraving." it should, however, be added that cross-hatching appears in reuwick's illustrations to breydenbach's "pilgrimage" ( ). [ ] see p. . [ ] the originals of those which have been replaced are in the german museum. [ ] some smaller bronze pieces by or attributed to him will be found in the german museum. these and his other works and those of his sons are fully discussed in my monograph "peter vischer." [ ] for the life and miracles of st. sebald see ch. ix. [ ] witz = skill in art. [ ] running east from the south-east corner of the hauptmarkt. the house was called "zum güldenen bären" later. [ ] p. . [ ] museum, room . [ ] "schriften und dichtungen," vol. iv. p., ff. [ ] cf. acta st. sebaldi, ab auctore incerto incertæ ætatis. [ ] see the beautiful relief on the sebaldusgrab (p. ). [ ] the feast of st. sebald was celebrated august th. the following verses from the mass sung in the cathedral on that day in honour of the saint may be of interest. hic de francis genitus propinquos postergat, quamvis natus inclytus, ne in nefas vergat. merito vincentiam eremum elegit, vincat ut malitiam se deo subegit. paucos contubernio eremo assumit, vivit soli domino abs quo nil præsumit. visitat miraculis hunc deus frequenter notum fecit patulis factis pertinenter. famem patientibus fert refectionem, sitim sustinentibus miram potionem. aquam vertit in vinum diu duraturum panem opus alivinum præstat opportunum. mortuus deducitur rudibus jumentis nurnberg perducitur divinis fomentis. stant in loco humili nec abinde cedant, donec loci populi locum sacrum edunt. transferri se coeperat, nil per hoc secutum, a scotis redierat corpus revolutum. ad locum divinitus primum vehebatur, factum illud coelitus cunctis propalatur. illudentis facies in plaga notatur mulieris species passa commutatur. or as conrad celtes has it in his hymn to the saint:-- cumque jam longo fueras labore fessus, et sedes meritus beatas te senem nostras deus impetrabat linquere terras, spiritus sanctos ubi liquit artus, mox boves corpus tulerant agrestes qua tuas sanctas modo personamus, carmine laudes. ergo jam coelo merito locatus hanc velis urbem, mediis arenis conditam, sanctis precibus juvare sedulus orans. etc. [ ] they and much of the rest of the church are now in course of restoration. [ ] the kirchner lives at no. burgstrasse. [ ] these will be shown you if you ask for them. [ ] see pp. - . there is also a relief by adam krafft near the south-east door. [ ] see p. . [ ] geschichte von deutschen malerei. [ ] the clockworks at prague, strasburg and wells tell the same tale. [ ] recently renovated. [ ] the kirchner (l. burkman) lives in the far corner of the gymnasium hof, right of the church, in the house with a double flight of steps in front of it. [ ] durer's grave, no. (see p. ). w. pirkheimer, ; hans sachs, ; veit stoss, ; lazarus spengler, ; wenzel jamnitzer, ; konrad grübel, . [ ] the best of these epitaphia, or grave-plates, are by georg schweigger, _e.g._ no. . [ ] all things have their origin and increase, but lo! the bull you see never was a calf. [ ] i am inclined now to agree with those who attribute it to peter vischer's son and namesake. see my monograph on peter vischer, or dr seeger's p. vischer der jungere. [ ] to view a further collection apply to the director. [ ] see pp. , . [ ] he occasionally used koberger's type. "the poggius of by creussner and the boethius of by koberger are in the same type. most of the early nuremberg types are readily distinguished by the capital n, in which the cross stroke slants the wrong way."--early printed books. e. gordon duff. [ ] see pp. , . * * * * * typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber: sakramentshaüslein=> sakramentshäuslein {pg xii} haupt thor=> hauptthor {pg xii} schlusselfelderische, schlusselfelder=> schlüsselfelderische, schlüsselfelder {pg } goethe's _wilhelm tell_=> schiller's _wilhelm tell_ {pg } vasco di gama=> vasco da gama {pg } called _betlaüten_=> called _betläuten_ {pg } waizenbraühaus=> waizenbräuhaus {pg } tannhaüser=> tannhäuser {pg } karthaüsergasse=> karthäusergasse {pg } betlaÜten. .=> betlÄuten. . {pg } bratwurstglÖcklsin, .=> bratwurstglÖcklein, . {pg } karthaüser, , , .=> karthäuser, , , . {pg } waizenbraü, .=> waizenbräu, . {pg } st gidius=> st. Ægidius {pg } grubel, .=> grübel, . {pg } heidleberg union, ;=> heidelberg union, ; {pg } [frontispiece: maximilian in painting by a. de predis] maximilian i holy roman emperor (stanhope historical essay ) with numerous illustrations r. w. seton-watson commoner of new college oxford "mein ehr ist deutsch ehr und deutsch ehr ist mein ehr" westminster archibald constable & co ltd whitehall gardens butler & tanner, the selwood printing works, frome, and london. {v} prefatory note no apology seems necessary for illustrating such an essay as the present, save that it is an innovation. no one now denies the value of portraits in rendering history more vivid; and it might be argued that an essay dealing with a personality requires illustration more, not less, than important historical studies. my best thanks are due to the keeper of the hope collection of engraved portraits, oxford, and his assistants, for the use of eight of the illustrations, and for their unfailing courtesy and ready assistance in the selection; to the well-known publishers, messrs. velhagen & klasing, of leipzig, for the use of illustrations , and ; and to herr löwy, of vienna, for the two photographs of maximilian (frontispiece) and bianca maria sforza. the imperial arms of maximilian, which appear upon the cover, are taken from sir david lindsay's scottish heraldic manuscript. but for a prolonged illness the essay would have undergone a much more thorough revision. {vii} illustrations . maximilian in --painting by a. de predis (from a photograph by herr j. löwy, of vienna) . . . (_frontispiece_) . mary of burgundy (from the hope collection, oxford) . anne of brittany (from the hope collection, oxford) . bianca maria sforza--painting by a. de predis (from a photograph by herr j. löwy, of vienna) . ludovico sforza, duke of milan (from the hope collection) . armour of maximilian (by permission of messrs. velhagen & klasing, leipzig) . maximilian in --chalk drawing of dürer (by permission of messrs. velhagen & klasing, leipzig) . sebastian brant (from the hope collection) . conrad peutinger (from the hope collection) . wilibald pirkheimer (from the hope collection) . albrecht dürer (from the hope collection) . das rosenkranzfest--painting by dürer, with kneeling figure of maximilian (by permission of messrs. velhagen & klasing) . conrad celtes (from the hope collection) . genealogy of the imperial house of hapsburg index {viii} "preis dem wackern gemsenjäger! ruhm in fehden, ruhm in frieden, in gedichten ruhm beschieden dir, o ritterlicher max!" --_max von schenkendorf_. { } i there is a peculiar difficulty in bridging over long periods of history, and in clearing our minds of the habits and prejudices of to-day, before we criticize characters and events which belong to distant periods and other lands. this difficulty, in spite of the strange charm which encourages us to surmount it, makes itself all the more felt in a transition period, such as the close of the fifteenth, and the dawn of the sixteenth century. the breath of new ideas is in the air. "the old order changeth, yielding place to new," but the old dreams are not yet banished from the imagination, and the old ideals have not yet wholly lost their power. change is everywhere apparent, consummation is still a dream of the far-distant future. to those who look for a figure typical of the age, maximilian stands forth pre-eminent. heir to all the splendid traditions of the caesars and the later glories of the saxon and franconian emperors, he filled the highest position of germany, not in an attitude of indifference or aloofness, but devoting all his energies and sympathies to every movement or aspiration of his time. his actual achievements in the hard concrete of facts are, from a national point of view, but small; but these are more than balanced by his activity in other and more abstract directions. it is in his relations to the budding thought of modern life that we can feel the real charm and fascination of { } maximilian's character. for his was a nature which could never rest satisfied with the past, and aspired to ends which only the far distant future was destined to attain. maximilian cannot fairly be judged solely from an historical standpoint; from this a judgment in the main unfavourable would be difficult to avoid. for his task was to bridge over a necessary period of transition--to check the perils of innovation, to employ political expedients which could not, from their very nature, stand the shock of later developments, and to make shift with materials and resources which were soon to be altered or replaced. hence his achievements, though of very real value to his own age, have left but few traces visible to modern eyes. the southern temperament which he inherited from his mother often drove him into foolhardy adventures, from which he only extricated himself with a loss of dignity. but the questionable results of his headlong enthusiasms are atoned for by the noble ideals which prompted them; and the very traits which were disastrous to his political career have earned for him his truest claims to greatness. to tell the life-story of an idealist seems to be repugnant to the most modern of historical methods. hard dry facts must be summoned to describe his career; an array of political exploits and the wearisome details of fruitless legal reforms must be poured forth in profitless and unending monotony. the soul and its impulses, human or divine, seem no longer to be admitted to the chamber of the historian, whose dull and regulated pulse scorns to beat faster at the tragedy of human lives. but if there is one case in which a true account must not be limited to { } mere facts, it is that of maximilian. the specious system of accumulating details, coldly balancing them, and leaving the reader to judge, would be utterly unfair in his case. as well attempt to do justice to luther, while omitting the agonies and self-reproach of his cloister life, the deep formative influence of those silent months upon the wartburg, as estimate maximilian, the dreamer and idealist, by the necessities of his purse or the extravagance of his vast designs! his personality and his office do not by any means coincide. there are many features of his character which have no connexion with the government of his lands, which the historians of his own day overlooked, and which would still be overlooked from a strictly political and historical point of view. but while our admiration is aroused by his active share in the great living movements of the age, it must be confessed that his versatility and breadth of interest have an unfortunate counterpart in the fickleness and lack of concentration which led him to flit from scheme to scheme, without ever allowing any single one to attain to maturity. such inconstancy in a sovereign is usually negatived, or at least held in bounds, by the apparatus of government. but in this case all centred in maximilian himself, and not even the influential matthew lang was entirely trusted in high affairs of state. as a rule, maximilian could not endure to have men of masterly or original character about him, mainly owing to the passionate conviction with which he clung to his own opinions, and partly perhaps to a half-conscious fear of unfavourable comparisons. we are thus driven to the conclusion that his policy is mainly his own work, and that, though inspired by lofty patriotism and definite family and { } territorial ambitions, he never succeeded in combining the two motives, and finally left the problem unsolved and insoluble. but this conviction should only serve to remind us that his greatest achievements lie outside the province of politics. indeed, regarded as a whole, his life is not so much a great historical drama, as an epic poem of chivalry, rich in bright colours and romantic episodes, and crowded with the swift turns and surprises of fortune. { } ii to describe the events of maximilian's political career with any sort of detail would be to narrate the history of europe during one of its most fascinating and complicated phases. to an essay such as the present such a scheme must be entirely alien; and for its purposes maximilian's life may be broadly divided into two periods. in the first, which ends with , his ambitions are directed towards the west; and burgundy, the netherlands, and the french frontier claim his whole attention. but in the midst of his designs against france, new developments at home summon him away. the acquisition of tyrol and the recovery of austria shift the centre of gravity from west to east, and his accession to the empire finally compels him to take up new threads of policy, which point him to the east and the south rather than to the west. in this later period, which is more purely political, and in which the character of maximilian is perhaps less marked, the main trend of his policy is towards the re-establishment of imperial influence in italy, and combinations either against the french or the turks. in each case he is doomed to disappointment; and the misfortunes that arise from his continual lack of money and resources form a story at once irritating and pathetic. while engaged in certain operations against the { } county of cilly, , the emperor frederick iii. narrowly escaped capture by the enemy. he ascribed his safety to a dream, in which st. maximilian[ ] warned him of his danger; and thus when his wife presented him with a son, the infant received the name of his father's saintly patron. maximilian was born at neustadt near vienna on may , . his mother, eleanor of portugal, whose marriage to frederick iii. has been immortalized by the brush of pinturicchio,[ ] was a princess of lively wit and considerable talent: and many points of his character are to be traced to the southern temperament of eleanor, rather than to the phlegmatic and ineffectual nature of frederick. his early years were times of stress and trouble; and, while still an infant, he shared the dangers of his parents, who were closely besieged in the citadel of vienna by albert of austria and the insurgent citizens. to such straits was the slender garrison reduced, that the young prince is said to have wandered through the castle vaults, tearfully begging the servants for a piece of bread.[ ] in spite of a vigorous defence, frederick must have yielded to superior force, but for the timely assistance of his allies, the bohemians, through whose influence peace was restored between the rival brothers. the death of albert in left frederick supreme in austria and its dependencies. but his past experiences had inspired him with a very natural prejudice against the citizens of vienna; and they, on their part, were never slow to reveal the dislike and contempt in { } which they held their imperial master. this mutual ill-feeling largely accounts for the ease with which matthias effected the conquest of austria. frederick, at first from choice, later from necessity, chose linz or graz as his austrian residences, and never overcame his distrust of the viennese. thus it was that maximilian's childhood was spent at wiener neustadt, thirteen miles s.e. from vienna. his education was entrusted to peter engelbrecht, afterwards bishop of wiener neustadt; and we learn that up to the age of six he found great difficulty in articulating. this may have thrown him back somewhat; and, indeed, he himself complained in later days of his bad education. "if peter, my teacher, still lived," he declared, "i would make him live near me, in order to teach him how to bring up children."[ ] but maximilian's strictures are probably undeserved, and may be due to the fact that his tutor restrained him from the study of history, which he loved, and held him down to latin and dialectics, even enforcing them upon his unwilling pupil by rudely practical methods. certainly, if we may judge by the accounts furnished in weisskunig, which seems the most reliable of the books compiled under maximilian's supervision, there were but few pursuits, physical or mental, in which the young prince had not his share. not merely was he instructed in the art of war, and in the technical details of various trades, such as carpentry and founding, but also in the prevailing theories of statesmanship and government. these are quaintly divided by the young white king under five heads--the all-mightiness of god, the influence of the planets on man's { } destiny, the reason of man, excessive mildness in administration, and excessive severity in power; and his discourse on the subject wins the complete approval of his father and the wonder of his biographer. everything which maximilian does approaches perfection; if he fishes, he catches more than other men; he cures horses of which all the horse-doctors have despaired; he has few equals as blacksmith or locksmith. but though all this is clearly exaggeration, it yet affords a clue to the accomplishments to which maximilian was brought up, and to the manysidedness of his early training. there is no doubt as to his proficiency as a linguist; he could speak latin, french, italian and flemish fluently, and had some knowledge of spanish, walloon, and english besides.[ ] his thirst for knowledge was almost unquenchable, and increased with his years--history, mathematics, languages, all receiving attention from the royal student. but his literary tastes, even in later life, never superseded his love of manly exercises; and it was no doubt in his early years that he first acquired that passion for the chase which never deserted him. his marvellous adventures in pursuit of the chamois or the bear are still remembered in the tyrolese alps. he possessed the most dauntless courage, and is said to have been one of the finest swordsmen in europe. he had few equals at the tourney; and one of the most romantic incidents of his life was the single combat at worms, when, entering the lists in the simplest of armour, he overcame a famous french knight, and then, raising his vizor, revealed his identity amid the deafening plaudits of the crowd. nor were his exploits confined to chivalrous { } amusements: time and again he proved his courage on the field of battle; notably at guinegate, where "he raged like a lion in the fight," and later, with characteristic generosity, devoted himself to dressing the wounds of the vanquished. gallant, chivalrous and versatile, full of high ideals and noble enthusiasms, he was formed by nature to be the darling of his age and nation. such general characteristics must suffice for a description of maximilian's early life, of which we possess but few details or facts, until the burgundian marriage brought him into the full blaze of the political arena. this famous event, whose results are still to be traced in the political conditions of europe, was the first step of the house of hapsburg towards the "weltmacht" of charles v. to frederick iii. belongs the credit of this achievement. during his long reign of fifty-three years the imperial crown lost much of its remaining prestige and influence; and it is undoubtedly true that frederick used his imperial office for purposes of hapsburg aggrandisement. but he can hardly be blamed for adopting a policy to which there was no alternative. chosen mainly for his impotence, he had literally no hold upon the empire itself, beyond the largely nominal prerogatives of his office; and he had good precedent for his scheme of attaining to real imperial power by building up a compact territorial state. something must be allowed to a prince who, with such slight resources as frederick iii., could aspire to the proud motto, "alles erdreich ist oesterreich unterthan,"[ ] and who, after years of disaster and disappointment, succeeded in laying the { } foundations of a greatness which he did not live to see. the policy of the hohenstauffen was no longer practicable. the power of the emperor had all but vanished, and the sole way of meeting the territorial tendencies of the great princes was to develop a territorial power for himself. the task required a man of courage and endurance, who should paralyse the opposing forces by passive resistance; and such a man was frederick. that the burgundian marriage was no mere lucky accident, but the fruit of a long and deliberate policy, is abundantly shown by the negotiations which preceded the event. a life-long struggle against inadequate means effectually soured the character of the old monarch, but it had not been wholly in vain; and the marked contrast between father and son may perhaps account for the unfavourable light in which frederick has been viewed by posterity. the first suggestion of a marriage between maximilian and mary of burgundy occurs in a letter of pius ii. to philip the good in .[ ] the pope doubtless hoped that an alliance of austria and burgundy would further his great scheme of a crusade against the turks; but even hints of a kingly title failed to rouse the old duke's interest in the proposal, and it seems to have been allowed to drop. in an envoy appeared at the burgundian court, with full powers to treat as to the marriage, and the election of charles the bold as king of the romans. but the latter's soaring ambitions were a hindrance to the marriage; and when the long negotiations for the revival of the old burgundian kingdom came to nothing in , frederick's object { } seemed as far from fulfilment as ever. throughout charles's reign there was a continual danger of the prize falling to some more favoured suitor. it was only when the burgundian arms first met with disaster at the hands of the swiss, that charles's day dreams began to be dispelled, and he gave serious thought to the future of his only child. a month after the defeat of grandson, an imperial embassy waited upon the duke; and on may , , the betrothal of maximilian and mary was formally announced. in its immediate results, the alliance was disastrous to charles; for his desertion by the prince of taranto, one of mary's disappointed suitors, the day before the battle of morat, was one of the causes of his second defeat by the swiss. charles now became anxious to hasten on the marriage, and sent an envoy to obtain his daughter's consent. on november , he wrote to frederick begging him and maximilian to come with all speed to koln for the ceremony;[ ] and soon after, maximilian received a letter from his bride, thanking him for the letter and ring which he had sent her, and declaring her agreement with her father. but now, as ever, frederick was tied down by want of money, and the final catastrophe, when charles the bold perished on the field of nancy (january , ), found the bridegroom quite unprepared for his new and arduous task. at a time when so much depended on prompt action,[ ] the emperor contented himself with sending despatches to the officials and stadtholders of the low countries, urging them to obey none but mary { } and maximilian as her betrothed husband, and promising to come in person at the earliest possible date. meanwhile, mary's position was pitiable in the extreme. the ungallant citizens of ghent took prompt advantage of her weakness by extorting from her "the great privilege": the chief cities refused to pay taxes; and french agents everywhere incited the burghers to rebellion. louis xi. did not imitate his cousin of austria, and lost no time in profiting by mary's helpless condition. in the course of a few weeks, picardy, franche comté, and the duchy of burgundy were annexed to the french crown. king louis demanded, almost at the sword's point, the hand of mary for the infant dauphin; and his ungenerous betrayal of her secret overtures exposed her to an unpardonable affront at the hands of her disloyal subjects. despite her tears and entreaties, and before her very eyes, her two most trusted counsellors were executed by the citizens of ghent; and the young duchess found herself friendless and alone, at the mercy of the treacherous louis and her own rebellious people. in her distress she turned naturally to her knight and protector, maximilian, whose admirers pictured to her a new lohengrin destined at the last moment to restore the desperate fortunes of elsa of brabant. the romance of this journey to succour his princess in distress is somewhat marred by the long delay which preceded it. it can only be explained by the money difficulties of his father, and the intrigues of matthias of hungary, which brought him to the verge of war with frederick. notwithstanding mary's pressing entreaties[ ] for his coming, it was only on may that maximilian left { } vienna, and he did not actually reach ghent till august . but though this delay was of great advantage to louis xi., it may be doubted whether maximilian could have effected much, even had he arrived on the scene at an earlier date. the ghentois were probably hostile to him,[ ] or sank their opposition mainly because of the distance of his own dominions. it was the growing fear of french predominance which won adherents to his cause, and he found many supporters among the flemish nobles, and the party of the hoeks. the old netherland chronicler gives us a favourable sketch of maximilian, when he says: "though still a youth, he displayed the true qualities of a man and a prince. he was magnanimous, brave and liberal, born for the good of the race. his fame was increased by a countenance of right royal dignity, the splendour of his father's majesty, the antiquity of his lineage, and the amplitude of his inheritance."[ ] the day after his arrival in ghent, the marriage was celebrated by the legate with great pomp and rejoicings. "i beheld the pageants splendid, that adorned those days of old; stately dames, like queens attended, knights who bore the fleece of gold; lombard and venetian merchants with deep-laden argosies; ministers from twenty nations; more than royal pomp and ease. i beheld proud maximilian, kneeling humbly on the ground; i beheld the gentle mary, hunting with her hawk and hound." [illustration: mary of burgundy] the young prince seems at first to have carried all before him; and as we read the words of an eye-witness of the proceedings, our charmed fancy pictures { } for us one of the deathless paladins of charles the great. "mounted on a large chestnut horse, clad in silver armour, his head uncovered, his flowing locks bound with a circlet of pearls and precious stones, maximilian looks so glorious in his youth, so strong in his manliness, that i know not which to admire most--the beauty of his youth, the bravery of his manhood, or the promise of his future. man muss ihn gern haben, den glänzenden mann."[ ] from the very first the marriage seems to have been one of great happiness; and the birth of philip (june ) set a crown to their affection. maximilian himself gives a happy description of his wife in a confidential letter to sigismund prüschenk: "i have a lovely good virtuous wife ... she is small of body, much smaller than 'die rosina,'[ ] and snow-white. brown hair, a small nose, a small head and features, brown and grey eyes mixed, clear and beautiful. her mouth is somewhat high, but pure and red."[ ] mary was a fine horsewoman, and excelled at most forms of sport; and this formed an additional link between them. "my wife is thoroughly at home with falcons and hounds; she has a greyhound of great pace."[ ] in all affairs of government mary yielded to her husband, and they remained in complete accord till the day of her death. on maximilian devolved the task of repelling the french { } attacks, and we find him complaining of the stress of business which filled every moment of the day.[ ] infusing his own vigour into his new subjects, and substantially aided by the imperial diet, he was ere long enabled to take the offensive; and on august , , gained a complete victory over the french at guinegate. the personal prowess which maximilian displayed, while it helps to explain the estimation in which he was held, inevitably suggests that he was more brilliant as a soldier than as a commander. for so decisive a success, the results were remarkably small. maximilian's sanguine nature induced him to reject louis' overtures for peace, and though the tide of invasion had been rolled back, the most favourable time for a satisfactory settlement was allowed to pass. but while maximilian eagerly awaited the death of the french king,[ ] he was himself plunged into mourning and disaster by the sudden death of mary (march , ). filled with the liveliest grief at his unexpected bereavement,[ ] he found that at the same time he had lost control of the source of his authority; and though recognized by brabant and holland, he met with nothing but opposition from the refractory flemings. louis xi. could not repress his delight at the welcome news, and confided to the sagacious comines his hopes of maximilian's discomfiture.[ ] nor was he mistaken in his forecast of { } events. without even consulting maximilian, the flemings ratified the treaty of arras with louis xi. by it the guardianship of philip was entrusted to the estates of flanders; and the infant margaret was to be educated at the french court as the bride of the dauphin charles. artois and franche comté, over which the flemings had not the slightest legal control, were calmly ceded as her immediate dowry.[ ] to this humiliating treaty maximilian had perforce to give his assent, and it was not till [ ] that the flemings recognized him as the guardian of his son. even then his authority was hedged in by various conditions; and the young duke might not be removed from the country. maximilian continued to reside in the netherlands; but the favour which he bestowed on his own countrymen, as well as his influence in brabant and holland, soon rekindled the jealousy of the flemings, who accused him of prolonging the war against france for his own private ends. he could not leave the low countries without ruining his position and prospects, and abandoning his children to the mercy of the ghent citizens; french agents were ready to make the most of even a temporary absence; and he was powerless to assist his father in his unequal struggle with matthias. but even want of { } money or resources does not excuse the indifference with which he treated the news of frederick's misfortunes. the old emperor was driven from his capital, the whole of lower austria fell into the hands of matthias, and it was only the remonstrances of venice which assured to frederick his adriatic provinces. there was an evident coolness at this period between father and son, and this was not removed by maximilian's dealings with the electors, in the hope of securing his election as king of the romans. frederick had been chosen emperor mainly for his insignificance, but it was felt that he had played the part of a nonentity only too well. there was a growing inclination to turn from frederick to maximilian, and to shift the duties of the empire's struggle with matthias of hungary on to the burgundian possessions of the hapsburg house. various causes combined to secure maximilian's election: but none of the credit can be assigned to frederick iii., who only consented to entertain the idea, when he had become a fugitive from his dominions, and when maximilian had promised not to make inroads upon his imperial power. frederick's manifest dislike of the scheme was a recommendation with most of the electors. maximilian was welcomed by albert achilles and the old imperial party, who wished a strong ruler at the head of the empire; and his favourable attitude towards reform won favour with the party of berthold of henneberg, the great elector of mainz. the opposition of france and hungary was met by the secrecy of the electors; and their choice was announced almost before the suspicions of uladislas had been aroused (february , ). frederick { } is said to have wept feebly at the news, but elsewhere the announcement gave rise to the most sanguine anticipations; and the gorgeous ceremonial of his coronation at aachen made a sensible impression upon the popular mind. the proclamation of a ten years' landfriede throughout the empire, which was the new king's first act, was perhaps better calculated to please the reforming party than the rank of the knights, whose brightest ornament maximilian was held to be; yet it seemed to augur well for a new era of peace and order. in [ ] a new instrument was devised for the enforcement of the landfriede. the private feuds, so frequent and so ruinous in mediaeval times, were now falling into disuse, but only because the general unrest took larger forms. leagues and unions superseded the looser ties of warlike neighbours, and whole districts became involved in the settlement of some contemptible quarrel. the swiss confederacy was in reality a development of this system of leagues, its primary object being protection against the house of hapsburg. every access of strength on the part of the swiss, and especially the prestige which their triumph over charles the bold had won them, tended to weaken the hapsburg influence in swabia, the cradle of their race, and their mainstay in the empire. thus, when in the bavarian dukes directly infringed the landfriede by their seizure of regensburg,[ ] the moment seemed favourable for some fresh organization, which should preserve the peace of the empire and at the same time restore the { } waning hapsburg power in swabia. in july an invitation was issued in the name of frederick and maximilian to all the nobles, knights, prelates and cities of swabia, to a meeting at esslingen. this step resulted in the formation of the famous swabian league. though really a development of the league of st. george's shield, whose captain, count hugo von werdenberg, was the chief originator of the scheme, it differed from it by extending its membership from the ranks of the nobles of all orders and classes of the empire. a confederate council and court of justice were instituted, and expenses were allotted for the raising of an army of , foot and , horse. a decisive influence was preserved to the emperor, and the league was further strengthened by the adhesion of such princes as sigismund of tyrol, eberhard of würtemberg, and the electors of mainz and trier. the swabian league remained for many years a leading factor in german affairs. though it widened the gulf between the swiss and the members of the empire (and thus no doubt was partly responsible for the swiss war of ten years later), it also checked the gradual drifting of single towns from the imperial to the swiss system. and still more, it gave the hapsburgs a strong weapon of defence against the house of wittelsbach, whose aggressive policy might, without it, have proved entirely successful. meanwhile, so far from maximilian realizing the hopes of the electors by bringing the forces of the netherlands to the aid of the empire, it was not very long ere imperial troops were needed to rescue him from the hands of his turbulent subjects. he was rapidly becoming unpopular among the netherlands, { } whose constitutional traditions were vitally opposed to his dynastic plans; and the french government, strong in flemish sympathy, renewed the war with greater vigour and success. maximilian's first organized body of landsknechts was completely defeated at bethune, and afterwards roughly handled by their nominal allies. the final outbreak was largely due to a commercial treaty between maximilian and henry vii., which closed the flemish harbours to english products. as a result, a lively commercial intercourse in english cloth sprang up in the coast towns of brabant, and the economic rivals of flanders reaped a rich harvest. the french government fanned the flame of flemish disaffection. it declared maximilian to have forfeited the french fief of flanders, and formally absolved this country from all allegiance to him. his refusal to account for the expenditure of the public money was an additional grievance; and when a rash visit to bruges, with but a slender escort of troops, placed him in their power, the burghers used their advantage to the full. the morning after his entry a sudden insurrection took place (february , ). the whole town was soon up in arms, the gates were seized, and the ducal palace was stormed by an excited mob. maximilian himself was removed to the kranenburg, and closely guarded; his councillors were racked in the public square, some of his chief adherents were beheaded, and the citizens of ghent and bruges united in depriving him of the regency, and forming a new government wholly subservient to france. for three months he remained in this perilous condition, in continual fear of death or betrayal to charles viii. kunz von der rosen, his { } faithful jester, who shared his captivity, begged maximilian to exchange clothes with him and thus escape from the city in disguise; but the latter refused to expose him to almost certain death at the hands of the infuriated mob. maximilian's letter to his father and the electors shows the imminent danger in which he lay. "they will give me poison to eat, and so kill me ... they are taking all my people from me; this is my last letter for good and all ... i beseech you, in the name of god and justice, for counsel and aid."[ a] for once frederick's sluggish nature was fully roused, and, relinquishing all other objects, he moved heaven and earth to obtain his son's release. over , men answered to the imperial summons to koln, and by the middle of may this army was advancing on liège. the news of its approach brought the rebels to reason, and led them to hasten on negotiations with maximilian. without awaiting the liberating army, he gave his consent to the most humiliating terms, and solemnly pledged himself not to repudiate the agreement. by it he was to win the consent of the emperor and electors, and to withdraw all foreign troops from the netherlands within eight days. he renounced, for flanders, the guardianship of philip, and acceded to the formation of a council of regency and to a peace with france (may ). on the strength of these promises he was liberated, and joined his father's army at liège. frederick and the princes refused to recognize any such agreement; it was declared invalid and contrary to his coronation oath, on the ground that the flemings were subjects { } of the empire;[ ] and maximilian, weakly yielding to their pressure, contented himself with returning the , groschen which had been granted him to lessen the bitterness of the pill. the march was resumed, and ghent was closely invested. but as usual the old emperor effected little or nothing, the town made a vigorous defence, and maximilian was glad to avail himself of events in germany, which claimed his attention. it is useless to attempt to justify his repudiation of his oath, for he had carefully precluded himself from all lawful methods of evasion. it leaves a deep stain upon his honour, and the most that can be said for him is that it is the one indefensible action of his life. after an absence of twelve years[ ] maximilian returned to the empire in december , leaving duke albert of saxony as his representative in the netherlands. the latter showed his zeal by his promise "so to serve his master that men should write of it for , years," and displayed great ability both as a commander and an organizer. the cause of peace was furthered by the treaty of frankfort (july , ), in accordance with which charles viii. was to use his influence with the flemings, and an interview was to be arranged between him and maximilian for the settlement of the burgundian question. as a result of this treaty, flanders again recognized maximilian as lawful regent and guardian of his son, and granted him the sum of , gold thalers in token of their submission. the readiness with which charles viii. concluded { } peace was due to the recent turn of affairs in brittany, to which country his rivalry with maximilian was now transferred. during the aggressive war waged by france in the netherlands the king of the romans had found a natural ally in the duke of brittany, who dreaded the expansive policy of the french king. the death of francis ii. (september, ) left the breton throne to his young daughter anne; and ferdinand v. and henry vii. united to protect her against her dangerous neighbour. but this protection was on the whole rather sympathetic than practical; and the insecurity of her position led the young duchess to search the political horizon for some efficient defender. she turned to maximilian as the sovereign most interested in resistance to france and most likely to afford her practical aid. it seemed as though the romantic episode of his first marriage was to be re-enacted in a new quarter. on march , , anne and maximilian were betrothed, and towards the end of the year the marriage was formally celebrated by proxy.[ ] anne openly assumed the title of queen of the romans, and maximilian's diplomacy was for the time triumphant. but the acquisition of brittany was a matter of supreme importance to the french crown; and charles viii. strained every nerve to secure the discomfiture of his rival. brittany was overrun by french troops, nantes surrendered after a feeble resistance, and anne found herself closely besieged in rennes, with little prospect of timely relief, and with a strong french faction within the walls. maximilian's hands were tied down by the necessities { } of the hungarian war, and, confident in the validity of his union with anne, and relying on the promised aid of henry vii., he stirred not a muscle in her defence. at last anne found herself forced to come to terms. brittany was to remain in the hands of the french, and free passage was granted to her through french territory, on her way to join maximilian. but her feeling as a princess overcame her feeling as a woman. she was naturally reluctant to leave her ancestral dominions in hostile hands for the sake of a man whom she had never seen and who was her senior by seventeen years; and her offended pride at maximilian's inexcusable absence at her time of need led her footsteps to chateau langeais rather than to the german frontier. the cunning charles had all prepared, and was able to produce the double dispensation of innocent viii.[ ] on december , , the marriage of charles viii. and anne of brittany was duly solemnized at langeais, and brittany was finally incorporated with france. [illustration: anne of brittany] maximilian, mainly owing to his dilatory conduct, thus found himself exposed to the most unpardonable of insults at the hands of a mere stripling. not merely had charles viii. deprived him of his lawful wife and her inheritance, but in so doing he repudiated maximilian's daughter margaret, who, since , had been educated at the court of charles as the future queen of france. to aggravate matters, charles { } showed no inclination to restore margaret's magnificent dowry, which consisted of artois, picardy and franche comté. nothing could exceed maximilian's indignation, and, full of threats of vengeance, he entered into an offensive alliance against france with the kings of england and spain. but the acquisition of brittany had set a seal to the internal consolidation of france, and charles, having deprived his enemies of an excellent base for hostile operations, was now free to indulge in his golden dreams of foreign conquest. no concession was thought too great to secure the neutrality of his neighbours. henry vii. was bought off by hard cash and by the promise of a yearly pension; ferdinand was appeased by the cession of the coveted provinces of roussillon and cerdagne. maximilian, whose troops were meeting with some success in franche comté,[ ] saw himself deserted by his allies, and consented to pocket his outraged dignity in return for the substantial concessions of the peace of senlis (may , ). his daughter margaret was restored, and the french evacuated franche comté, artois and nevers, in favour of the young archduke philip. [ ] saints bonosus and maximilian, martyrs a.d. (day, august ). [ ] library, siena cathedral. [ ] janssen, _gesch. des deutschen volkes_, i. page . [ ] quoted by le glay, _correspondance de maximilian et de marguerite_, vol. ii. page . [ ] janssen, i. . [ ] austriae est imperare orb; universo. [ ] _see_ rausch, _die burgundische heirat maximilians i_. [ ] chmel, _mon. hapsb._ i. i. , p. (quoted rausch). [ ] on january , maximilian had not yet heard of charles' death. lichnowsky reg. vii. (quoted rausch). [ ] letter dated march . [ ] they freed duke adolf of gueldres, in hope of forcing him on mary. _see_ rausch. [ ] pontus heuterus, _rerum belgie_, lib. ii. . [ ] letter of wilhelm v. hoverde, august , , quoted janssen, i. . [ ] a former sweetheart of maximilian, from whom he seems to have had a most tearful parting.--v. von kraus, _maximilians i. vertraulicker briefwechsel init sigmund prüschenk_, p. . [ ] maximilian to s. p. (december , ).--v. kraus, p. . [ ] "mein gemahl ist ein gantze waidtmännin mit valckhen und hundten. sie hat ein weis windtspil daz laufft vast bald."--_ibid._ [ ] "ich bin aber der armist mensch daz ich nicht essen schlaffn spatziren stechen (tilt) mag von ubrigen geschefften." [ ] for whom he seems to have had a profound hatred--"kein grosser verzagter bösswicht ist in aller welt nit als er ist."--v. kraus, p. . [ ] "per omnem exinde vitam, cum de ea m. mentionem inferret, aut fieri audiret, a lachrymis aut suspirio abstinere non poterat." [ ] comines: "le dit seigneur me compta ces nouvelles, et en eust grande joye; et aussi que les deux enfans estoyent demourés en la gardes des gandois, lesquels il cognoissoit enclins à noise et division contre ceste maison de bourgonge et lui sembloit avoir trouvé l'heure, pour ce que le duc d'austriche estoit jeune, et pour ce qu'il avoit encores père, et guerre partout, et estoit estranger, et mal accompaigné." [ ] auxerrois, maconnais and charolais were added by "nos seigneurs de grand" (as louis xi. called them), who wished to conduct the affair majestically. [ ] when maximilian had defeated the forces of the rebels. [ ] the decree founding the league was dated march , , but it was actually formed in the previous year. [ ] a free imperial city. [ a] _vertr. briefwechsel_, p. . [ ] as a matter of fact, flanders was a fief of the french crown. [ ] if we except his coronation. [ ] maximilian was represented by wilhelm v. polheim, his confidential agent in brittany. [ ] to be more exact, the pope had _promised_ the dispensation: it was not actually published till december , . anne's matrimonial experiences form one of the most disgraceful incidents in all history. the shameless manner in which the papacy issued this dispensation is only surpassed by the later bull which released louis xii. from his virtuous though childless wife jeanne, that he might marry anne of brittany. [ ] battle of dournon, january , , in which - , french horse were defeated by kappeller and his germans, inferior in number, but possessed of cannon. they held a hollow way and withstood the repeated charges of the french cavalry.--ulmann, _kaiser maximilian i._, i. . { } iii das liebe heil'ge röm'sche reich, wie hält's nur noch zusammen?--faust. with the breton incident we reach the close of maximilian's western career, and are free to examine the events which engaged his attention while charles viii. was robbing him of his bride. the exigencies of hapsburg policy and of his imperial office now draw him into all the various currents of european diplomacy, and it is hardly to be wondered at, if his personality is sometimes lost sight of in an attempt to connect the intricate threads of contemporary politics. maximilian the man and the chevalier must be our subject, rather than maximilian the politician. the kaleidoscope of political combinations must be left to a sismondi or a creighton. for it is from the description of his earlier years and of his later relations to humanism and art that we gain the truest insight into the charm and fascination of his character--the romantic incidents which made the nation mourn him as the last of the knights, and the versatility which dazzled the eyes of so many brilliant contemporaries. on his return to the empire, maximilian found that his presence was urgently needed in tyrol, where duke sigismund, after a long reign of folly and mismanagement, could hardly restrain the general discontent in his dominions from open expression. the incapable old duke had in later life fallen { } completely under the power of his mistresses, who played upon his superstitions by incantations and witch-processes, and who squandered the revenues on their own worthless ends.[ ] his life-long hatred of frederick iii., which even the cession of vorder-austria ( ) could not remove, filled him with the idea that his cousins wished to deprive him during his lifetime, and inclined him towards the bavarian court, which eagerly furthered the misunderstanding. the sale of burgau ( ) to duke george the rich called attention to the possibility of sigismund leaving his possessions outside the hapsburg family. bavaria was again responsible for sigismund's war with venice; and when defeat came and money failed, the duke was obliged to sell all the vorder-austria lands to dukes albert and george on terms which made recovery doubtful. the austrian party in tyrol now insisted upon the summons of a diet, and the estates subjected sigismund to an "ordnung," by which, in return for the payment of his debts, he was restricted to a limited expenditure every year. in the event of his violation of this ordnung, the estates were at liberty to choose another prince from the house of austria. the dukes of bavaria had been brought to reason by the formation of the swabian league, and raised no serious opposition to this blighting of their hopes. as was to be expected, six months had not elapsed ere sigismund had broken through the ordnung; while albert of bavaria put in a demand for , florins, in recompense for the sinking of his claims. this development brought the old emperor to innsbruck, whither he was { } followed in april by maximilian. the latter, who entertained more friendly feelings than his father towards bavaria, maintained a mediatory position. at last, on march , , the long-desired step was taken. sigismund made a formal renunciation of tyrol, and all his other dominions in favour of maximilian, contenting himself with a fixed income and free rights of hunting and fishing. almost at the same time maximilian was recognized heir by count bernard of görz. but by that irony of fate which pursued him throughout life, maximilian was never permitted to finish any one thing thoroughly. time and again we see him ruined by an excess of alternatives, and by his inability to devote himself exclusively to one out of many objects. less than a month after sigismund's abdication, the death of matthias corvinus diverted maximilian's attention to those ancestral dominions from which his father had been so ignominiously expelled, and justified him in the hope of restoring the old hapsburg influence over hungary. frederick's claim to the latter kingdom was based on the agreement of , ratified by matthias and the leading magyar nobles, by which frederick or his son was to succeed, if matthias should die childless. though this condition was now fulfilled, the hungarians were by no means disposed to act upon it; and uladislas, king of bohemia, was a dangerous rival to the hapsburgs, both by reason of the nearness of his dominions and the strength of his hereditary claims.[ ] several causes { } combined to handicap maximilian. his father, with his usual jealousy, refused to waive his rights in favour of maximilian, who alone was capable of carrying the enterprise to a successful issue. want of money, his curse throughout life, told heavily against him; nor was any assistance to be obtained from the german princes without concessions on the emperor's part, and these frederick stubbornly declined to make. finally, austria claimed first attention, and till it had been recovered, uladislas was left unassailed in hungary. whatever might be the feeling in the latter country, there was no doubt as to the popularity of maximilian's cause in austria. great enthusiasm prevailed, and his advance was as rapid and bloodless as it was triumphant. vienna university declared unanimously in his favour, and, by the end of june, , men had enlisted in his service. in july maximilian entered graz, and on august , made his triumphal entry into vienna, which had been hastily abandoned by the hungarian forces.[ ] the oath of allegiance was taken to maximilian only: the citizens remembered frederick too well to entrust themselves a second time to his mismanagement. meanwhile uladislas had been proclaimed king of hungary on july , ,[ ] and in september was crowned at stuhlweissenburg. maximilian on this occasion displayed great activity, and, aided by a liberal grant of money from the tyrolese estates, invaded hungary at the head of an army of about , men. crossing the raab late in october, he met with but slight opposition; uladislas was unprepared, and by nature averse to energetic measures; and the invader was joined by a number { } of hungarian magnates. but this phenomenal success was fatal to the invaders; and by the time that it reached stuhlweissenburg, the army was virtually out of hand. in spite of a firm resistance, the city was cannonaded (maximilian personally directing the artillery) and taken by storm; but a disgraceful scene of plunder and slaughter ensued. maximilian and his captains were quite unable to restrain the soldiers, and on the next day an open mutiny broke out. their refusal to advance upon buda, and the consequent delay, proved fatal to the whole enterprise. when summoned to surrender, the capital indignantly declined, and uladislas found time to bring up his bohemians and to threaten vienna. frederick iii., true to his ultra-fabian motto--"mit der zeit lohnt oder rächt sich alles"[ ]--sent no assistance, and maximilian, seeing his base endangered, and hampered by want of money and discipline, found it necessary to withdraw westwards. his overtures to poland met with no response, and he was quite unable to continue the struggle alone. by july stuhlweissenburg fell into the hands of uladislas, and all maximilian's recent conquests were lost. the urgent appeals of reichenburg to maximilian for reinforcements and of maximilian to his father for money were all in vain. his position was absolutely desperate from sheer want of funds,[ ] while the turn which breton affairs were taking seemed to render peace necessary, at whatever price. frederick, who { } throughout the war had thwarted his aims and damped his ardour,[ ] now offered his mediation, and negotiations were opened in august. by the treaty of pressburg (november , ), uladislas was formally recognized as king of hungary, but, failing his lawful issue, the crown was to fall to maximilian or his son. this promise was to be solemnly ratified by the hungarian estates in presence of the imperial envoys. moreover, uladislas renounced all claims upon austria, and undertook to refund maximilian for the expenses of the war.[ ] the old emperor's attitude during the late war had not improved his relations with maximilian; and the friction was rendered the more acute, when frederick refused to see his son, and shut off various sources of income from him, thus seriously injuring his chances of success against france. moreover, frederick's hostility to the bavarian dukes formed a marked contrast to maximilian's conciliatory position, which was mainly due to the influence of his sister cunigunda, wife of albert iv.[ ] duke albert's high-handed conduct in imposing a general tax on his subjects, in spite of the refusal of the estates, had led to the formation of a league of discontented nobles, known as the löwlerbund, which united with the swabian league and was openly encouraged by the emperor. by the end of the movement had ended in hostilities, and on january , , frederick { } iii. published the ban of the empire against duke albert of bavaria. the swabian league began to arm. the french were ready to invade the empire, if the league should attack bavaria. an outbreak which would involve the whole of south-west germany seemed wellnigh inevitable, and the entire credit of the preservation of peace, must rest with maximilian. at the last moment, when the armies were actually encamped and facing each other in the field, his influence secured an adjustment of the quarrel. he had appeased his father's anger by freeing the austrian dominions from the oath which they had taken to himself, and by referring them to the emperor as their ruler. frederick was now satisfied with the restoration of regensburg to the empire[ ] and the cancelling of bavarian claims on tyrol; while a full pardon was granted by albert to all members of the löwlerbund. (may .) maximilian, notwithstanding this triumph of his diplomacy, met with the utmost difficulty in raising money for his operations against the french; while a new enemy had arisen in the young charles of egmont, who had recently recovered the duchy of gueldres, and who was destined to be a thorn in maximilian's side for the rest of the reign. though his position in west germany was strengthened by a league with the "lower union,"[ ] the sole result of his efforts at the diet of coblenz was a prospective grant of , gulden, of which only , actually came in. his campaign against the french has already been sketched (p. ). scarcely were his { } hands freed by the peace of senlis, when an incursion of the turks into styria (august ) made a fresh demand upon his attention. then, as usual, the necessary aid arrived too late, and the marauders returned home almost unchallenged. in the midst of this danger frederick iii., whose health had been failing for some time, and whose foot it had been found necessary to amputate,[ ] died at linz, in the seventy-eighth year of his age (august , ). the old emperor had lived to see his dreams of hapsburg revival and consolidation to a great extent realized; but his irritable nature had led him to thwart the family aspirations on hungary. in his dread lest the acquisition of a throne should make his son more powerful than himself, he afforded him no assistance, nay rather, threw every hindrance in his way. frederick's death was an undoubted gain to maximilian, for it left him emperor elect and unquestioned ruler of the hapsburg dominions. family divisions were no longer possible, since no relative capable of resistance survived.[ ] but while his position was rendered more definite and imposing, there seems to have been at this period a general cooling of maximilian's popularity, at least among the ruling classes. a powerful party in the empire, led by berthold of mainz, now claimed the fulfilment of those promises of reform which he had made at the diet of ,[ ] and his reluctance to devote { } his time to its discussion produced a distinctly bad impression among the princes. moreover, the part which he now began to play in italian politics, exposing, as it did, the imperial person to indignity and failure, roused all the old prejudices of the caste of nobles, and acted as a damper to their enthusiasm. gladly as we should avoid threading the intricate maze of italian politics--a task which is after all more apposite to a general history--some treatment of maximilian's attitude during these momentous years is inevitable, even in so slight a sketch as the present. a general idea of maximilian's ambitions in italy will best be conveyed by his own words. "italy has for centuries experienced what it means for the people, if no emperor is there to restrain unruly passions, and hence the friends of the people have ever looked with favour on the imperial power, and longed for the return of the emperor."[ ] [illustration: bianca maria sforza painting by a. de predis] the fortunes of milan were at this moment in the hands of ludovico il moro, who, at first merely regent for gian galeazzo, had retained the whole powers of government in his own hands, even after his nephew had come of age. the young duke's wife, isabella of naples, deeply resented her husband's sudordinate position, and ludovico lived in terror of intervention on the part of ferrante and his florentine allies. hoping to veil the injustice of his cause under imperial recognition, he turned to maximilian, and offered, in return for his own investiture as duke of milan, the hand of his niece, bianca maria sforza, and a substantial dowry of , ducats.[ ] so much hard cash seemed to promise to the needy maximilian the fulfilment of many a golden { } dream; and the bride's want of pedigree was atoned for by the practical possession of her uncle's money bags. the marriage was duly celebrated on march , , at halle in tyrol, when the heir of all the caesars linked himself with the granddaughter of a romagnol peasant.[ ] thus his first entry into italian politics rightly exposed him with justice to the nickname afterwards bestowed upon him--massimiliano pochi danari. "on the altar of politics the heart is often the lamb of sacrifice." maximilian's second marriage is not the most creditable episode in his life. the luckless bianca maria never filled the place of mary in her husband's affections, and remained till her death[ ] a mere cipher, with next to no influence over him, and, though never ill-treated, entirely neglected and overlooked. the unpopularity of his marriage in germany induced maximilian to postpone the investiture of ludovico with the milanese, and gian galeazzo dying in the interval, the emperor was able, with less offence to his conscience, to fulfil his promise in may .[ ] maximilian's first intention was to employ his wife's dowry in a crusade against the turks; and he plunged eagerly into projects of forming active alliances abroad and of raising permanent forces at home to stem the tide of infidel invasion.[ ] but disturbing { } rumours of the doings of charles viii. diverted his attention to the italian peninsula. by the death of lorenzo de' medici in , the balance of power, which his skill had so long preserved in italy, was seriously endangered. the incapable piero inclined towards naples, whose attitude was now little short of openly hostile to the milanese usurper. ludovico, in dire need of some influential ally, made advances to the new pope and to venice. but his alliance with these powers was shortlived: spanish diplomacy effected a reconciliation between naples and alexander vi., and ludovico found himself more isolated than ever. the death of the old king of naples, in january , hastened events. the universal hatred with which his successor, alfonso ii., was regarded, while it drove the exiled barons to extreme measures, was favourable to the cause of ludovico. he turned naturally to charles viii., who had recently acquired the angevin claims to the throne of naples, and whose feeble mind was filled with all the clap-trap of mediaeval chivalry. the appeal met with an enthusiastic response: every other trend of policy was sacrificed that this might succeed. by the end of august , all was prepared for the invasion of italy, and, with a magnificently appointed army of , men, charles crossed the alps and was welcomed by the traitor ludovico. florence opened her gates to the deliverer: the pope abandoned rome at his approach, and looked on in sullen anxiety from sant' angelo; and naples itself was occupied amid general rejoicings, almost before a single blow had been struck. dazzled by such unprecedented success, charles viii. lost all restraint and began to indulge in the { } wildest dreams. he was to recover jerusalem, to eject the infidel from europe, and to restore in his own person the fallen empire of constantinople. rightly or wrongly, he was credited with the intention of forcing the pope to crown him emperor of the west, or of driving him from the papal throne and instituting a thorough reform of the church. such rumours could not but fill maximilian with an uneasiness which borgia's letters did not fail to augment.[ ] it was only owing to the skilful diplomacy of charles' envoys and his own strained relations with venice, that he preserved neutrality for so long as he did.[ ] had not others taken alarm at the turn of affairs, he might have prevaricated till the time for action had passed. ludovico, who was before all others responsible for the french expedition, was the first to be disillusioned. alarmed at the open designs of the duke of orleans on milan, he soon became as anxious for charles' ruin as he had been eager for his success, and looked for assistance to his more powerful neighbours. but it was ferdinand of spain who really brought about maximilian's change of policy, by holding out the tempting bait of a double marriage alliance with his house. the emperor's[ ] suspicions of venice were overcome, and the signoria became { } the centre of opposition to france. the various intrigues were conducted with such skill and secrecy, that even comines, who then held the post of french ambassador in venice, was completely outwitted. but their details do not leave us with a favourable impression of the confederates' straightforwardness. the itch of the republic's patriotic palm was allayed by a promise of the apulian ports; while the pope displayed to the full his talent for shifty intrigue and prevarication, and maximilian kept up a stream of friendly assurances which effectively duped his young and incapable rival. thus the proclamation of the holy league, between the pope, maximilian, ferdinand, ludovico and the venetians, (march , ) came upon the french as a bolt from the blue. its ostensible objects were to defend the papacy, and to secure peace in italy and mutual protection against the attacks of other princes. but from the very first its members made little attempt to conceal their genuine aim--the expulsion of the french from the peninsula. the massing of troops by each of the allies removed all doubts upon the subject; and charles viii. saw himself compelled to abandon naples. on july , , ne encountered the forces of the league at the battle of fornovo, and after a running engagement made good his retreat westwards. even then the german and venetian troops might have inflicted serious losses on his armies ere they recrossed the alps; but the treachery of ludovico, who concluded a treaty with charles without consulting any of his allies, forced them to retire and leave the french unmolested. meanwhile maximilian was engaged at the famous { } diet of worms ( march-august, ). burning to strike a blow which might tend to the humiliation of his rival, he found himself once more, so to speak, the prisoner of his pocket. the electors and the other estates were determined that redress should precede supply, and stubbornly refused to grant a single florin, until the question of reform had been placed on a satisfactory basis. nor can they be accused of any want of patriotism; for the interests of the empire were by no means coincident with those of austria. indeed, had not maximilian's territorial instincts triumphed so completely over his feelings as emperor, he might have been the first to recognize the deep and sterling patriotism which inspired the elector berthold. as it was, his first intention had been to remain fourteen days at worms, and, after obtaining the diet's sanction for the imperial levies, to conduct a vigorous campaign against the french. but here he was met by the practical impossibility of inducing a body mainly constituted for peace, to undertake a long and tedious war at a distance. the feudal system had fallen into decay, and the old military power of the empire was no more. new circumstances demanded new measures; and the triumph achieved by a standing army in france pointed the direction which military reform should take. the proposal, then, which maximilian laid before the diet, was for a continuous money aid for ten or twelve years; with this he might form an army of landsknechts. but the diet was wholly unsympathetic, and rigidly confined itself to schemes of reform. meetings were sometimes held without any reference to the emperor, and, as he indignantly exclaimed, he found himself treated with { } less consideration than some petty burgomaster. the struggle of parties lasted throughout the summer, maximilian adopting a highly undignified attitude of sulking. on three occasions he was particularly pressing, especially in august, when novara was threatened by the swiss, and a mutiny of the lands-knechts might be expected, if their pay was not forthcoming. at last nothing was left for maximilian but submission, and he accepted the elector berthold's proposals for reform. but charles viii. had already recrossed the alps, and the time for action was past. yet, notwithstanding his enforced inactivity, maximilian's presence at worms had not been in vain. the brilliancy of the court and the gallant ceremonies of the lists hid from the casual observer the true meaning of this great assembly of princes and nobles. yet the two important results of maximilian's policy form a striking contrast to his humiliation at the hands of the electors. in return for the services of count eberhard, he erected würtemberg into a duchy, at the same time limiting the succession to heirs-male. since the hopes of the new ducal family rested upon one delicate youth,[ ] this arrangement held out to maximilian or his successors the prospect of acquiring the fair valley of the upper neckar. but the other achievement of his policy was destined to have far more momentous consequences. this was the fulfilment of his agreement with ferdinand the catholic, in accordance with which the prince of asturias was betrothed to margaret of austria, and the archduke philip to joanna of spain. by an extraordinary fatality, the latter marriage, which at the time had { } seemed the less important of the two, came to exercise a vast influence on the history of europe. the spanish heir died within a year of his marriage ( ), and margaret's child lived but a few days. isabella queen of portugal was now heiress of castile and arragon; but the fates fought against the unity of the peninsula. in isabella died, and in her only child, prince miguel, followed her to the grave. philip's wife, joanna, became heiress of spain and all its splendid dependencies in the new world. though maximilian had been thwarted in the hope of meeting his rival on the open field, the next year brought a prospect of intervention in italian affairs. charles viii., on his return to france, had set on foot preparations for a fresh invasion. the success of his overtures to the swiss cantons, and the servile attitude of florence, filled the venetians and ludovico with alarm; and the two powers invited maximilian to make an expedition to italy in person. his eagerness to restore imperial influence in that country, coupled with his knightly thirst for renown, led him, with curious inconsistency, to submit to the indignity of becoming the pensioner of states whose feudal superior he claimed to be. each promised , ducats for three months towards the payment of his troops and engaged a number of swiss mercenaries in addition. the emperor's sanguine nature already saw the french party in italy crushed, and frontier provinces wrested from the grasp of charles. but the estates of the empire, which had been summoned to meet at lindau, proved more unmanageable than ever. even had his condottiere-contract not filled them with disgust, they were wholly disinclined to { } repay his grudging and half-cancelled concessions by grants of money for an object which the empire viewed with indifference. his penury may be judged by a letter which he received from his councillors at worms, containing an urgent request for more money, as the maintenance of the courtiers has been stopped, and the queen and her ladies will be provided for "only three or four days more; and if within that time no money comes, even their food-supplies will come to an end."[ ] [illustration: ludovico sforza (duke of milan)] charles viii.'s financial straits soon compelled him to abandon his schemes of active interference in italy; and the signoria, no longer needing maximilian's presence, now came to regard him as a positive hindrance to their aggrandizing policy. but nothing could divert him from his project. when the venetians boggled over their promised subsidy, he secured the necessary sum by loans from the fuggers. the remonstrances of his advisers were of none avail. at augsburg and linz he divided his time between wild dreams of conquest with the archduke philip, and the festive entertainments of the citizens. on st. john's eve he led the fairest maiden of the town to the dance, and gallantly assisted her to kindle the bonfire, to the sound of drums and cornets and the merry music of the dance.[ ] in july he had an interview with ludovico at munster,[ ] receiving him in hunting dress, surrounded by his companions of the chase; and in the last days of august entered italy { } by the valtelline. even then his compact was not strictly fulfilled. instead of the stipulated , men, his army never amounted to more than , . his first scheme, of driving the french from asti and forcing savoy to join the league, was sacrificed to the jealousy of venice, which opposed any increase of the power of milan. nor were his own relations with ludovico distinguished by their cordiality. the latter declined to subsidize him unless the pope and venice granted equal amounts, and sought to employ him in garrisoning the milanese against french attacks.[ ] finally, maximilian decided upon an attack on florence, and as a preliminary laid siege to livorno, curtly informing ludovico that if he would not provide money for his troops he had better dismiss them to their homes.[ ] but the numbers of the besiegers were insufficient for the task, the venetians held aloof, and the french garrison never lost entire command of the sea. the arrival of a fleet from marseilles removed maximilian's last hopes of reducing the city; his resources were by now exhausted, and, declaring that "against the will of god and men he would not wage this war," he hurriedly retired northwards. he turned a deaf ear to the entreaties of the papal legate,[ ] and before christmas was again in tyrol. according to the italian wits, not even hunting invitations could detain the disappointed monarch. in short his conduct presents a favourable opportunity for introducing the cricitisms of quirini, one of the first { } of that line of brilliant ambassadors, whose diplomacy prolonged the existence of venice till modern times. "he is of excellent parts, and more fertile in expedients than any of his advisers, yet he does not know how to avail himself of any single remedy at the right moment; while he is as full of ideas and plans as he is powerless to execute them. and though two or three methods lie open to his intellect, and though he chooses one of them as the best, yet he does not pursue this, because before its fulfilment another design which he considers better has suddenly presented itself. and thus he flits from better to better, till both time and opportunity for execution are past"![ ] yet with all his indecision and want of perseverance, he was resigned and cheerful in adversity, and it was perhaps at this period that he consoled himself with the assurance "gott sorgt schon: es könnte noch schlimmer gehen."[ ] maximilian's failure left the french influence all-powerful in italy; but charles viii. made no further movement, and his premature death in april materially changed the situation. the first act of louis xii.--his infamous divorce from jeanne of france, followed by his marriage to anne of brittany--can hardly have been gratifying news to maximilian. still, the latter hoped to obtain the restoration of burgundy from the new king, in return for acquiescence in the french policy in italy. but when his representations met with no response, he sought aid { } from the diet for a war against france. in spite of its refusal, and though he might have seen that the league had no intention of pulling his chestnuts out of the fire, he threw an army into burgundy. but the swiss mercenaries, who formed its strength, either were bribed by louis or mutinied for want of pay; while philip concluded a separate peace with france (july , ), actually renouncing the claims which his father brought forward in his name, and receiving from louis xii. the investiture of artois and flanders. the french king was led to conclude this treaty by his designs upon the duchy of milan, which he claimed as the lawful heir of the visconti dynasty. his wise policy of treating the various members of the league as though it were non-existent was crowned with success. ere long all were pacified but maximilian, and he was rendered harmless by systematic intriguing with the swiss confederates--a policy which had a perceptible influence in producing the memorable swiss war of . the immediate causes of the outbreak were incidents of petty friction on the tyrolese border; but the real question at issue was the relation of the confederates to the empire. no sooner had the swiss in earlier days attained their object of holding directly from the emperor, than they made it sufficiently obvious that this dependence was for the future to be mainly nominal. during the long reign of frederick iii. they had enjoyed just such a state of internal peace and order as the perpetual landfriede and the kammergericht aimed at securing for the rest of the empire; and now, when maximilian demanded their submission to the decrees of the diet of worms, by contributing men and money for his schemes of foreign policy, war was practically { } inevitable. their close relations with successive kings of france had long shown the slight regard in which they held their nominal ruler. their connexion with the empire brought them no advantage, submission to the common penny (das gemeine pfennig) naturally appeared a hardship to them, and the decisions of the kammergericht they regarded as assaults upon their treasured freedom. their refusal of maximilian's demands was coupled with general steps for union with the sister leagues of the graubünden and the valais. the war began with marauding and skirmishing, growing fiercer and assuming larger proportions when the swabian league armed itself at the imperial summons. but the swiss everywhere held their own: their superiority was admitted even by the count of fürstenberg, general of the league, who branded his own troops as "ein flüchtig, schnöd und ehrlos volk." maximilian himself had been engaged in unprofitable operations against the duke of gueldres, and only arrived upon the scene in july, to find matters going against him. even his presence did not turn the balance, and at schwaderloch the swiss, though somewhat outnumbered, more than held their own. only four days later (july ), the army of henry of fürstenberg, , to , strong, suffered a severe defeat at dornach at the hands of , confederates. the austrian leader, with many distinguished nobles and about , men, perished on the field. this disaster dealt the final blow to maximilian's hopes. at first he shut himself up in the castle of lindau, and refused to see any of his nobles.[ ] but he soon reconciled himself to the necessity of coming to terms. the { } treaty of basel (september , ), though less remarkable for its provisions than for its omissions, is one of the landmarks of swiss history. by it mutual conquests were restored, and maximilian recovered the prättigau, while various small disputes were referred to arbitration. but, while swiss independence was not formally recognized by the empire till a century and a half later, it was tacitly secured by this treaty; and henceforward the confederates enjoyed entire immunity from imperial jurisdiction and from imperial taxation. nor was this the only result of the struggle. the swiss had won for themselves a position which inspired their neighbours with a genuine admiration and a very wholesome fear. respected and courted by the outer world, they strengthened their position internally by a close union of the confederates and the graubünden. the empire was deprived for ever of a number of its most valuable subjects,[ ] and the house of hapsburg was finally excluded from the cradle of its greatness. no one reaped fuller advantage from the swiss war than louis xii. while all the energies of maximilian were devoted to coping with the confederates, he found himself free to carry into execution his projected invasion of the milanese. had the emperor proved successful, ludovico might perhaps have saved himself (or at least prolonged the struggle) by entering the swabian league; but with the defeat of dornach the usurper's fate was sealed. louis xii., who had already allied himself with the pope and venice, winning the support of the latter by the promise of cremona, crossed the alps at the end of july with an army { } of , men, and entered milan almost unopposed. ludovico, deserted and betrayed by his people, sought refuge in tyrol, and was among the first to bring the tidings of his own misfortunes to his imperial nephew. but though received with the utmost sympathy and respect by maximilian, he soon perceived that the latter was as usual at the end of his resources, and that no assistance need be looked for from him. he purchased the services of , swiss mercenaries and of the celebrated burgundian guard, and with their aid recovered his capital and most of its territory. but the army which louis xii. despatched to the assistance of bayard consisted largely of swiss troops; and ludovico's mercenaries, refusing to fight against their countrymen in the french service, renounced his cause and betrayed him to the enemy. (april , ). in this undignified way one of the chief disturbers of the peace of italy bids a last farewell to the field of politics; he remained in the most rigorous confinement at loches for the next five years, after which the earnest intercession of maximilian secured some relaxation in his treatment. he was allowed a space of several leagues around his prison for hunting and other amusements, and died in captivity in . on the very day when ludovico fell into the hands of the french, maximilian opened the imperial diet at augsburg. his main object was to obtain aid against france; but the complete failure of his recent military enterprises--alike in burgundy, gueldres, switzerland and milan--compelled him to acquiesce in the formation of a council of regency, (reichsregiment), which was to discuss all military and financial affairs, and even questions of foreign policy, which at that period were considered the special department { } of the monarch. this council consisted of twenty-one members, of whom sixteen were appointed by the electors and princes, two by the imperial towns; while maximilian nominated two for austria and burgundy, and only one, the president, in his capacity of emperor. the promoters of the scheme aimed at little short of his abdication; while he, on his part, cheerfully assumed that they would defer to his wishes on matters of foreign politics. the bait held out to him by berthold was a permanent war administration, possessing power both to levy troops and to impose taxes; from this he promised himself an army of , men, and money to maintain it. but the project remained upon paper, and maximilian's disgust was turned to fury when the first step of the new council was to conclude a truce with france, and virtually to commit him to investing louis xii. with milan. finding himself helpless in view of the diet's opposition, and determined not to submit to the ruling of the council, he began to make separate overtures to the french king. in this he was readily encouraged by the archduke philip and by ferdinand, who was already hatching his iniquitous plot for the partition of naples, and who found maximilian's hostile attitude to france a drag upon louis' action. in october the visit of cardinal d'amboise, the trusted adviser of louis xii., to the court of innsbruck, brought matters to a final issue. a treaty, whose friendliness was only rivalled by its hypocrisy, was concluded between the two monarchs. the infant archduke charles was betrothed to louis' daughter claude; louis himself was to receive the investiture of milan, in return for the sum of , crowns, and promised to assist the { } emperor in his journey to rome and in his projects against the turks. but the actual terms of the agreement were of little importance, as they were obviously intended only for momentary ends. the conquest of naples, which was effected in the years - , soon led to quarrels between the two conquerors. louis xii.'s continual intrigues with the german princes induced maximilian to support the spanish cause by the despatch of , landsknechts; and by the end of the brilliant tactics of the great captain resulted in the final expulsion of the french from the kingdom of naples. at the same time the emperor found means to check louis' intrigues, which the outbreak of the bavarian war had rendered dangerous. by the treaty of blois (september ), milan was ensured to louis xii., and, failing heirs-male, to claude and her youthful bridegroom charles.[ ] but this agreement, like its predecessor, was not made to be observed. no sooner had d'amboise obtained louis' formal investiture from the emperor (april ), than the betrothal of claude to the archduke was secretly annulled, and francis of angoulême took his place as her prospective husband. the death of isabella the catholic, and the struggle of ferdinand and philip for the castilian regency, removed all danger of any united effort between spain and the hapsburgs against france; and early in louis' breach of faith was formally proclaimed and ratified by the states-general of tours.[ ] { } notwithstanding this rebuff, maximilian had gained a very distinct advantage from peace with france. so long as the question of investiture was pending, louis could not interfere in the affairs of the empire, and maximilian was free to profit by the turn of events. the death of george the rich, duke of bavaria-landshut (december , ), resulted in a disputed succession. in spite of a family agreement (erbvertrag) which expressly nominated as his heirs duke albert iv. of munich and his brother wolfgang, the old duke left his lands to his daughter elizabeth, wife of rupert, a younger son of the elector palatine. both parties prepared to assert their rights, and rupert, careless of the consequences, threw himself into landshut, thus opening the war, and putting himself under the ban of the empire.[ ] the estates refused allegiance to albert, and called in maximilian as mediator in the quarrel. the emperor preferred to renounce his position of _tertius gaudens_, and to throw the whole weight of his support on albert's side. even had he not already, in , recognized albert's title, both justice and his own interests urged him to the bavarian side. the palatine house had ever been the foe of the hapsburgs, and duke albert, as the emperor's brother-in-law, would naturally seem the less dangerous of the two claimants. maximilian at first offered rupert a third of george's possessions, in the hope of averting hostilities; but, meeting with a curt refusal, he roused the forces of the swabian league, and, assisted by würtemberg, brunswick and hesse, took the field in person at the head of a considerable army. the sudden death of { } rupert (august , ), closely followed by that of his masculine wife elizabeth, did not put an end to the war, the elector continuing the struggle in the name of his grandsons. a fierce encounter took place near regensburg between the imperialists and a large body of bohemian mercenaries in the elector's service. maximilian himself led the right wing to the charge, and drove the enemy back to their laager, which, after the example of zizka, they had constructed from their baggage waggons. a desperate sally for the moment broke the imperialist ranks, and he was surrounded and dragged from his horse by the long grappling hooks attached to the bohemians' lances. he owed his life to the distinguished gallantry of eric of brunswick, who scattered his assailants when all hope seemed lost. rallying his troops, he led them on to victory, and defeated the enemy with heavy loss. this affray was followed up by the siege of kufstein, in which the emperor's artillery played an important part--especially two heavy pieces, which he had christened "purlepaus" and "weckauf von oesterreich." the hesitation of the garrison, which at first made promises of surrender, and then decided upon resistance, so deeply incensed maximilian, that when the inevitable capitulation came, he refused to show any mercy. it was only when half the scanty garrison had been executed that the intercession of the princes prevailed to secure pardon for such as remained (october , ). the capture of kufstein was the last serious incident of the war. a truce was concluded in february, , and in august, when maximilian appeared at the diet of köln, he was able to dictate his own terms to the discomfited elector. with the exception of neuburg, { } and some territory north of the danube, which were formed into an appanage for rupert's children, all the lands of george were made over to bavaria. but the emperor had not conducted the war solely from the kindness of his heart, and both claimed and secured a substantial reward for his services. from the palatinate he acquired hagenau and the ortenau; from bavaria, kufstein, rattenberg, and a number of petty lordships,[ ] and, most important of all, the zillerthal, which gave tyrol a strong frontier to the north-east, and rounded off the territories to which he had succeeded in on the death of leonard of görz. maximilian's reputation in the empire was now perhaps higher than it had ever been before; the more so, that in the winter of death had removed his old opponent, berthold of mainz, and that the new elector was a near relative of his own.[ ] but when the future was all bright with hope, and when his coronation at rome and an union of spain and the empire against the french and the turks seemed at last on the point of realization, his golden dreams met with a rude awakening. the sudden and premature death of philip, who had assumed in person the government of castile, and was successfully defending himself against the spiteful intrigues of ferdinand, put an end to the emperor's projects of hapsburg combination (sep. , ). the catholic king recovered the regency, and was soon more powerful than ever in the spanish peninsula. maximilian at first met with no better success in his attempt to { } secure the government of the low countries. the estates of the seventeen provinces refused to recognize his claims to the regency during the minority of his grandson charles, and were encouraged by louis xii. in the formation of a council of regency. but internal troubles, and the activity of charles of gueldres, pled his cause more eloquently than any measures of his own. on their voluntary submission to his rule, he appointed william de croy, lord of chièvres, and adrian of utrecht[ ] as charles' tutors, and entrusted the administration to his daughter margaret, the widowed duchess of savoy, who made her public entry into mechlin in july , and who throughout her rule justified his choice by her scrupulous integrity and brilliant statesmanship. in the same year, , maximilian made a fiery appeal to the diet assembled at constance, for assistance in his schemes of a journey to rome and the expulsion of the french from milan. after considerable delay he obtained a grant of , horse and , foot for six months, and received a further promise of , men from the swiss envoys. but his sanguine expectations were once more doomed to disappointment. the majority of the promised troops never made their appearance; french gold won over his swiss allies;[ ] and the estates of his own dominions outdid all previous occasions in their parsimony. meanwhile his ardent preparations had roused the distrust of venice, which refused him passage through { } her dominions, unless he restricted himself to a trifling escort. his army was too weak to force its way either through milanese or through venetian territory; and hence he was driven to an expedient which involved a break with the old mediaeval traditions of the empire. on february , , he had himself proclaimed with great pomp and solemnity, in the cathedral of trent, as holy roman emperor. it was declared that for the future in all official documents he should be known by the title of "erwählte römischer kaiser," but that for convenience sake he should commonly be called "emperor." julius ii. raised no objection, partly because maximilian fully acknowledged the papal right to crown him, and still more because his arrival in rome with an army would have been a most unwelcome event. maximilian's step was the first departure from the immemorial custom of his predecessors; but with the exception of his grandson, charles v., not one of his successors in the empire received his crown at the hands of the pope. the refusal of venice to grant a passage to the imperial army accentuated the ill-feeling which had long existed between maximilian and the republic. now that his ambitions could find no outlet to the south, he turned his gaze eastwards, and rashly embroiled himself with his powerful neighbour. within a month of his assumption of the imperial dignity, his troops were advancing into venetian territory from three different directions, threatening vicenza, the valley of the adige, and friuli. maximilian gives expression to his rosy dreams of victory in a letter to the elector of saxony: "the venetians paint their lion with two feet in the sea, the third on { } the plains, the fourth on the mountains. we have almost won the foot on the mountains, only one claw is wanting, which with god's help we shall have in eight days; then we mean to conquer the foot on the plains too."[ ] but the very day after this confident epistle was penned, trautson, one of his best captains, was routed and killed by the venetians, with a total loss of over , . the venetians now took the offensive in earnest, and, superior both in numbers and discipline, completely turned the tables on the imperialists. town after town fell before their advance, and by the end of june, görz, pordenone, adelsberg, trieste were in their hands; while the fleet seized fiume and overawed the whole of istria. as soon as the tide began to turn, maximilian had hastened back to germany, to rouse the electors and the swabian league, but from neither could he obtain any real assistance. the whole brunt of the defence fell upon the tyrolese, who responded manfully to the call, and checked the venetian advance at pietra, on the way to trent. but any prolonged resistance was hopeless; and maximilian saw himself obliged to conclude a three years' truce with the republic, by which the latter retained all her conquests except adelsberg. the emperor's humiliation at the hands of venice only served to augment the suspicion and dislike with which she was regarded by her other neighbours. the pope felt an especial grudge against her, as the possessor of ravenna and rimini, which lawfully belonged to the holy see. already in the summer of he had been feeling his way towards a coalition, by an attempt to restore friendly relations between { } louis and maximilian; but the latter was then still too full of schemes for the recovery of milan to entertain the proposal. when however he engaged in war with venice, he sent agents of his own accord to louis xii. the latter at first refused all accommodation unless venice were included; but when the republic neglected to include gueldres in the truce, he availed himself of this flimsy excuse to negotiate with the emperor. an active exchange of views followed between margaret and her father, both as to an agreement with france, with regard to which he trusted largely to her judgment,[ ] and the proposed marriage of charles with mary of england, to which he would only consent in return for a substantial loan.[ ] maximilian himself arrived in the netherlands in august, but does not seem to have visited his daughter. when the crisis of the negotiations was reached he still remained in the background, and deputed margaret and his councillor, matthew lang,[ ] to receive the french envoys at cambrai. d'amboise raised so many difficulties that at length margaret threatened to return home, declaring that they were merely wasting time.[ ] this firm attitude brought the french envoys to reason, and on december , , the memorable league of cambrai was duly ratified. ostensibly it was a renewal of the treaties of and , with the exception of the betrothal of claude and charles. but its genuine aim was the complete partition of the venetian land-empire between the four { } arch-conspirators. the pope was to receive the towns of the romagna, ferdinand the apulian seaports. maximilian was to recover all his lost territories and to supplement them by verona, padua, vicenza, treviso and friuli; while louis xii. should occupy brescia, bergamo and cremona. the imperial conscience, which felt some scruples at so prompt an infringement of the truce, was salved by the commands of julius ii., who bade him, as protector of the church, take part in the recovery of her lands. further, to veil the iniquity of the agreement, the pope excommunicated venice and all its subject lands. though maximilian thus isolated venice, and made it possible to recover his lost territory, yet his adhesion to the league was an undoubted political error. not only did his action assist the destruction of the only power in north italy capable of resisting the foreigner, and thus directly lead to the establishment of french predominance in lombardy; but it also implanted in the minds of the signoria that irremovable distrust of his intentions which was responsible for many of his later misfortunes, and which the pursuance of a straightforward policy might have averted. had he exercised but a moderate amount of foresight, he would have realized that louis, with his vast superiority in power and resources, would sooner or later discard his needy ally and reserve the lion's share for himself. it is probable that the false glamour and vanity of the imperial tradition obscured his eyes to the fact of his own weakness; and what from one point of view is his strength--his unquenchable hopefulness and buoyancy of spirit--here proved his weakness and egged him on to defeat and humiliation. { } leaving the netherlands after a year's residence, maximilian repaired to the diet of worms (april, ). never before had the estates been so unanimous in refusing all support and loading him with complaints. the cities were enraged at the practical supersession of the council of regency, the princes at his negotiating without their consent. after mutual recriminations, they separated without effecting anything; and their dispersal marks the end of all genuine attempts at reform. even maximilian's hereditary estates voted far fewer men than he had expected, and qualified even this grant by making the troops liable to service only when he was personally in command. he thus found himself involved in a serious war, without having sufficient resources to execute his far-reaching designs, and was reduced to pledge tolls, mines, and other sources of revenue in order to raise money. the first great incident of the war was the battle of agnadello (may , ), in which the venetians suffered defeat at the hands of the french. the papal troops occupied ravenna and the rest of the romagna, while ferdinand added the apulian ports to his new dominions. for the first and last time venice made maximilian a really advantageous offer: all his lands should be restored, the imperial suzerainty should be recognized, and a handsome yearly subsidy paid down. but the envoys of the republic were not even allowed to approach him, and about midsummer the emperor opened the campaign in person with , men. the venetians had drawn off the mass of their troops to meet the french advance, and he was virtually unopposed. by the middle of july he had recovered all that he { } had lost, and occupied in addition verona, vicenza, padua, bassano and feltre. he had already fetched some heavy artillery over the brenner to reduce treviso, when the complexion of affairs was suddenly and completely reversed. the inhabitants of the invaded districts remained loyal to the venetians, and so many of the imperial troops were required to check their harassing movements that the towns were insufficiently garrisoned. the pope and ferdinand, their own objects once attained, grew indifferent to the progress of the league, and the venetians bravely rallied and by a sudden movement regained possession of padua. the emperor, leaving treviso, laid siege to padua with some , men, and employed his heavy ordnance with considerable effect. but the numbers of the garrison prevented him from maintaining a complete blockade; and when two brilliant and determined assaults had failed to reduce the town, he raised the siege and returned to tyrol (october). he himself explains his action by the great number of troops and artillery inside, by the wonderful strength of the defences, and by the lukewarm spirit of his own troops.[ ] but the main reasons are to be found in the short period for which the troops were voted, and the entire lack of money to win them for further services. even in august the emperor was pawning "deux couliers d'or garniz de beaucop de bonnes et riches pierres," and a number of other valuable jewels.[ ] the venetians quickly recovered all places of any importance, with the solitary exception of verona, which was defended by a mixed garrison of germans, french and { } spaniards. maximilian, at the end of his resources, threw himself unreservedly into the hands of louis xii. the diet of augsburg, which met in january, , would have acted wisely in strengthening his hands; for, now that there was a danger of both italy and the papacy becoming dependent upon france, it was more than ever to the interests of germany to hold a strong position south of the alps. in spite of his rash onsets without adequate preparation, maximilian had a strong sense of the greatness of the empire, and was pre-eminently fitted to rouse the patriotism of germany in a struggle against the foreigner. the diet did, it is true, vote , horse and , foot for six months, but it had taken four months to make up its mind to the sacrifice, and even then the troops never arrived. meanwhile the league had broken up. julius ii., once in possession of the romagnan cities, devoted himself to the problem of "the expulsion of the barbarian." with this end in view, he removed the ban from the republic (february, ) and concluded a five years' league with the swiss, who were to send , mercenaries to his aid. in july the papal and venetian armies assumed the offensive, and the latter were able to reoccupy friuli. but julius met with disaster on all sides; maximilian and louis won over the swiss to inactivity, and henry viii., on whose aid the pope had reckoned, made peace with france. maximilian's attitude towards venice was fiercer and more hostile than ever, and led him to encourage the pasha of bosnia to attack her adriatic possessions. he himself declares that he hopes soon "to carry out some fine exploit and execution against our enemy; for it is not enough to put them to death by the { } hundred: we must dispose of them by the thousand."[ ] julius was driven to modify or conceal his contemptuous opinion of the emperor, whom he had treated to the nick-name of "a naked baby."[ ] for it was mainly through the latter's influence that the congress of mantua was arranged, and attended by the envoys of france, spain, england and the pope (march ), the primary object being the restoration of the league against venice. earnest negotiations were also conducted at bologna between the pope and matthew lang, who loyally resisted the bribes of a cardinal's hat from julius and of large subsidies from venice. the disproportion between the demands of the emperor and the republic was too great to be overcome, and the pope's hopes of winning maximilian to his league were frustrated. still powerless by himself, maximilian was more than ever dependent on the french, and played a somewhat subordinate part in the operations of louis against the venetians. a despatch which he received from trivulzio shows us in what scanty consideration he was held by the french commander. referring to the capture of mirandola by a german captain, he declares that "it has thrown me into a worse humour than i have been in during my life," and denounces the imperialists in the most outspoken fashion.[ ] the sudden illness of julius ii. (august ), from which a fatal issue was generally expected, led to an episode, which, though trivial in itself and void of result, gives us a vivid impression of maximilian's { } visionary nature. he actually entertained the preposterous idea of himself succeeding julius and uniting empire and papacy in one person. lang, bishop of gurk, was to proceed at once to rome, to persuade the pope "to take us as coadjutor, so that on his death we may be assured of having the papacy, and of becoming a priest, and afterwards a saint, so that after my death you will be constrained to adore me, whence i shall gain much glory."[ ] if necessary, lang was to spend , ducats in bribing the various cardinals, and maximilian counted upon the assistance of ferdinand and the people of rome. his confidential letter to margaret bears the signature--"vostre bon père maximilian, futur pape." but these extravagant dreams were dissipated by the unexpected recovery of julius ii., who plunged more eagerly than ever into political life. on october , , the holy league was openly published in rome. its members--the pope, ferdinand and venice--veiled their real design, the expulsion of the french, under the sanctimonious pretence of maintaining the integrity of the papal states. throughout the early stages of the war maximilian remained virtually inactive, but steadily declined to desert his french allies. but none the less he permitted ferdinand and the pope to conclude in his name a ten months' truce with venice. he was thus in the happy position of being in request with both sides, while himself free from all immediate danger. when the death of gaston de foix at ravenna (april , { } ) deprived the french of their most capable leader, and the tide began to turn against them, maximilian inclined towards the side of the pope. in allowing , swiss to pass through tyrol on their way to join the venetians, and in issuing strict orders that all germans serving with louis should return home, he was certainly guilty of unfriendly conduct towards his ally. in the actual expulsion of the french from the milanese he took no direct part, but from want of funds rather than disinclination,--the diet of trier turning a deaf ear to his most urgent entreaties. at length in november he took the decisive step. though he had hoped to see milan under his grandson charles rather than massimiliano sforza, he consented to a league with julius ii., to whom the imperial recognition of the lateran council was of vital importance. in return for this the pope promised his support against venice, with temporal as well as spiritual arms. [illustration: armour of maximilian] in february , however, the situation was again changed by the death of julius ii., and by the reconciliation of france and venice. the new pope, leo x., was vacillating and untrustworthy, though nominally well-disposed to the emperor; and the latter began to turn elsewhere for an ally. on april , , a treaty of alliance was concluded between maximilian and henry viii., mainly through the efforts of margaret, who had long urged on her father a break with france and a close union with spain and england. at first we find him complaining that henry "gives us only to understand what he wishes from us, while of what he ought to do for us there is no mention."[ ] but the promise of , gold { } crowns was magical in its effect; all his opposition ceased, and he indulged in the usual sanguine anticipations. ferdinand, henry and maximilian would unite until france was completely crushed, and by a joint invasion would win back all the territories which had been wrested from their ancestors. the alliance was to be cemented at the earliest possible date by the marriage of charles to mary of england. notwithstanding such threatening signs, the french king pushed on his preparations for a new invasion of italy. the rapid success of the expedition was suddenly effaced on the field of novara (june , ), where the french sustained a severe defeat at the hands of the swiss and were driven back across the alps. their return to france virtually coincided with the expedition of henry viii. at the end of june the english army landed at calais, and marching in three divisions, appeared before thérouenne on august . eleven days later he was joined by maximilian, who had already announced his intention of serving as the english king's chief captain. "his experienced eye at once detected a capital blunder in henry's strategic position," but the lethargy and exhaustion of the french had saved the latter from any awkward consequences. the french armies had suffered terribly at novara, and louis xii. himself was too broken in health to infuse vigour into the operations. on august , maximilian, at the head of the allied forces, won a brilliant little victory at guinegate, the scene of his earlier triumph over the french in . the enemy's headlong retreat won for the engagement the familiar name of the battle of spurs. this resulted in the surrender of thérouenne, whose example was followed on { } september by the important town of tournai. but, in spite of maximilian's eager encouragement, henry viii. refused to make full use of his advantage. the lateness of the season, the difficulties of obtaining sufficient supplies, and still more the position of affairs in scotland, made him anxious to return to england; and in november he re-embarked his army, leaving vague promises of a renewal of the campaign in the following spring. maximilian's disappointment had been seriously augmented by the course of events on the burgundian frontier. towards the end of august an army of , swiss and germans, led by ulric of würtemberg, had penetrated into burgundy, and on september laid siege to dijon. a determined assault upon the town came within an ace of success, and made it clear to la trémouille, the commander of the garrison, that any prolonged resistance was impossible. substantial bribes to the swiss leaders won over the invaders to a treaty, by which louis xii. was to make peace with the pope, to evacuate milan, cremona and asti in favour of the young sforza, and to pay , crowns to the swiss. on the strength of this agreement burgundy was evacuated; but no sooner was all danger from that quarter at an end than louis xii. repudiated the treaty, on the ground that la trémouille had greatly exceeded his powers. in spite of the failure of maximilian's hopes, he and henry seem to have parted on friendly terms. indeed, the last event of the campaign had been the treaty of lille (october , ), between the two sovereigns and ferdinand, which stipulated for a triple attack on france in the summer. maximilian was to maintain , troops on the french frontier in { } return for a substantial subsidy from henry viii., and charles's betrothal to mary of england was formally renewed. but the unscrupulous ferdinand only signed this treaty to infringe it. ere six weeks had elapsed, he had formed a close alliance with louis xii., which was to be cemented by the marriage of the princess renée to one of ferdinand's grandsons. milan and genoa were to form her dowry, and were to be jointly occupied by the two sovereigns until the marriage was actually accomplished. although the execution of this treaty could not but thwart one at least of maximilian's projects--the marriage of charles and mary, and that of young ferdinand and anne of bohemia---the emperor was none the less won over by the wiles of the catholic king to listen to french proposals of peace. the earnest dissuasions and sagacious advice of margaret fell upon deaf ears. "it seems to me," she wrote, "that this is done only to amuse you ... in order to gain time, just as happened last year by reason of the truce.... small wonder if ferdinand is the most readily disposed of you three towards peace; for he has what he wants."[ ] and again, "you know the great inveterate hatred which the french bear towards our house,"[ ] and, "it is clear that now is the hour or never, when you will be able, with the aid of your allies, to get the mastery over our common enemies." even her warnings that peace means that the duchy of burgundy will remain french[ ] and that henry viii., "if he sees himself deserted by you, will win for himself better terms than you will know how to secure," seem to have been entirely { } disregarded by the obstinate maximilian. on march , , the emperor signed the treaty of orleans with france, and so confident was he of ferdinand's influence with his son-in-law henry viii., that he actually guaranteed the english king's adhesion. the natural result of such presumption was that henry and maximilian fell apart, and early in august the former made his own terms with louis xii., fully justifying margaret's prophecy that the french king would set more value upon a settlement with england than upon the less solid advantages to be gained from her father's goodwill. peace was followed in october by the marriage of the enfeebled louis xii. and the vivacious mary of england, the rupture of whose betrothal to charles completed the estrangement of henry and maximilian. but the gaieties and entertainments which heralded the new queen's arrival proved fatal to the bridegroom. the death of louis xii. on new year's day , and the accession of his cousin, the young and fiery francis of angoulême, produced a complete change in the political situation. the typical product of his age, the new sovereign personified only too well the france of the renaissance and of the later valois kings, combining all their exaggerated license and treachery with those debased ideals of chivalry which had replaced the ancient code of honour. his mind was fired by wild dreams of foreign conquest, and his accession was promptly followed by preparations for a fresh invasion of italy. the treaties with england and venice were renewed, and by the end of march the young archduke charles, who had assumed the government in january, signed, at the instance of his tutor chièvres, a treaty of peace and amity { } with france. but the french monarch was not to remain unopposed. a new league was speedily formed against him between the pope, the emperor, ferdinand, milan and the swiss, the latter resolutely rejecting all francis's overtures for peace. undeterred by the threatening attitude of the league, francis led a magnificent army of , men across the alps, and in the desperate battle of marignano (september and , ) drove back the swiss army by sheer hard fighting. full , men were left dead upon the field, and the swiss, exhausted by so crushing a defeat, were compelled to abandon the milanese to yet another conqueror. leo x. promptly sued for peace, and the spanish and papal forces in north italy were practically disbanded. the strange inactivity and want of interest, which maximilian would at first sight seem to have displayed, while such grave issues were at stake, must be attributed to an event of great importance in the history of his own dominions. this was no less than his reception, at vienna, of the kings of hungary and poland, which set a seal to the negotiations and labours of many years by a final understanding between the two dynasties.[ ] under the terms of the treaty of vienna (july ), prince louis of hungary was definitely betrothed to mary of austria, while his sister anne was delivered over to the emperor to be educated, in view of her marriage with the young archduke ferdinand. the flattery and congratulations which surrounded these proceedings included the adoption of louis by maximilian as his successor in the empire. but this was merely a formal move in the diplomatic game, calculated to { } win the support of the young prince. the emperor well knew that the electors cared little for any wishes which he might express; otherwise we may be sure that charles, not louis, would have been designated.[ ] the completeness of francis's success, and his efforts to rouse the scots against england drove henry viii. into the arms of ferdinand. (october .) english gold was liberally expended among the confederates; and in february, , , swiss mercenaries moved on verona, to join the imperialists. maximilian, whose forces were further swelled by levies of tyrol and the swabian league, was thus enabled to take the offensive in north italy, with better prospects of success than on any previous occasion. in march he led a well-appointed army of , men across the mincio, and forced the french and venetians to raise the siege of brescia and fall back upon their respective bases. maximilian continued to advance rapidly beyond the oglio and the adda, until he was within nine miles of milan itself. but now, when bourbon was well-nigh incapable of any prolonged resistance, and when fortune, after so many rebuffs, seemed at length about to crown the imperial arms with victory, maximilian, for some inexplicable reason, hesitated to strike home, and withdrew his army once more behind the adda. his motives for so extraordinary a step have never been discovered; and today we are as completely in the dark as were his own allies at the time. pace, who, as english envoy in maximilian's camp, had peculiar opportunities for clearing up the mystery, writes in { } his report to wolsey, "that no man could, ne can, conject what thing moved him to be so slack at that time, when every man did see the victory in his hands, and the expulsion of the frenchmen out of italy."[ ] maximilian's own version--that the difficulties of foraging, the enemy's superiority in cavalry, and the stoppage of english money necessitated a retreat--is, in the face of incontestable facts, most improbable; and the only plausible suggestion--that the emperor's change of policy was produced by a liberal outlay of french gold--is pure conjecture, unsupported by proofs. if we may believe the testimony of pace in a matter which concerned his own person (and there is no reason to suspect his honesty), the emperor, in his straits for money, actually profited by the english envoy's helpless condition, to extort a large sum of money from him, declaring that in case of a refusal he would make terms with france and would inform henry that pace had been responsible for his defection.[ ] the universal indignation which maximilian's withdrawal aroused among the troops is shown by the nicknames of "strohkönig" and "apfelkönig" which were levelled at him.[ ] the army rapidly melted away, and, after struggling through the val camonica in deep snow, he reached innsbruck with but a few hundred tyrolese troops. on may brescia surrendered to the french and venetians, and of all the emperor's conquests verona alone continued its resistance. the sorry outcome of maximilian's last italian expedition seriously impaired his credit, alike within the { } empire and abroad. he now found it advisable to give heed to the counsellors of his grandson charles, whose position had been materially altered by recent events. on january , , the arch-intriguer ferdinand had passed from the scene of his questionable triumphs; and the young archduke was left master of the entire spanish dominions, with all their boundless possibilities. in spite of francis' intrigues in gueldres and navarre, and his scarcely veiled designs upon the throne of naples, charles persisted in a policy of friendship towards france. on august he concluded the treaty of noyon, by which francis was unquestionably the greater gainer. charles' betrothal to the french king's infant daughter not only put in question his rights to naples, but also condemned him to remain a bachelor for many years, until the bride should attain a marriageable age. he further undertook to win maximilian's consent to the restoration of verona to the republic, for a sum of , ducats. the emperor at first repudiated an agreement which implied such a lowering of self-esteem, and again sought subsidies from henry viii. but the conclusion of the perpetual peace between francis i. and the swiss (november , ) left him entirely unsupported, and revealed to him the hopelessness of further resistance. by a treaty at brussels, maximilian agreed to surrender verona and to conclude a six months' truce with the enemy. but wounded pride still kept him from consenting to a permanent peace with venice, and it was not till july that he finally acknowledged his discomfiture. a five years' truce was concluded, under the terms of which maximilian retained roveredo and the district { } known as "the four vicariates."[ ] but these small acquisitions were completely outbalanced by the extensive pledging of domains, tolls and other sources of revenues, which the long-drawn-out war had rendered necessary, and by the further accumulation of an enormous debt. the dream of restoring imperial influence in italy was thus finally and completely dissolved.[ ] while the french ruled supreme in the north of italy and the spaniards in the south, germany alone saw herself excluded from the scenes of her former predominance. the blame of this failure must rest largely with the imperial diet, which hardly once throughout maximilian's reign allowed itself to be moved by considerations of patriotism, and which by a studied neglect of the demands of foreign policy clearly thwarted the true interests of germany. yet, while there were several occasions on which the effective assistance of the estates would have crowned the imperial arms with success, it cannot be denied that on the whole maximilian displayed an incapacity and want of decision which forms a striking contrast to his earlier record. the plain truth is that maximilian lacked the distinguishing features of a great general, combining, if we may use a modern comparison, the qualities of a drill-sergeant and a cavalry-colonel. brave as a lion himself,[ ] he was apt to forget the duties of a commander in the fierce { } delights of the melée; and the dashing successes of his tactics were often neutralized by the want of a connected plan for the whole campaign. but we cannot review his military failings without bestowing the highest praise on his organizing and disciplinary talents. the landsknechts, who spread the fame of the german arms throughout europe, were mainly his creation. his eager care for their welfare, and his readiness to share their fatigues and privations, won him the entire devotion, nay adoration of his soldiers; and a personal bond of union was thus established between them, which accounts for their willingness to submit to a continual discipline, such as was still contrary to the practice of the age. among his many other accomplishments he possessed a practical knowledge of the founder's trade, which enabled him to invent several kinds of siege- and field-pieces, and to introduce various minor improvements in the art of war. in the summer of , while the settlement with venice was still pending, maximilian met the estates of the empire for the last time, at the diet of augsburg. his two main objects--the election of charles as his successor, and a permanent military organization with a view to a crusade against the turks,--met with little encouragement from the estates, whose minds were filled with religious grievances and dreams of a national german church. hence they were scarcely likely to assist the emperor, when they realized that his present policy involved entire dependence upon the pope.[ ] the endless { } complaints and proposals which characterized the diet, "showed clearly that the highest power in the empire no longer fulfilled its office, but also that the possibility of doing so had been removed from its hands." but maximilian's comparative lifelessness at this time admits of another explanation, apart from his pre-occupation with the venetian treaty. throughout the year he had been in failing health, and the pathetic words in which he bade farewell to his beloved augsburg suggest that he was conscious of his approaching end. "god's blessing rest with thee, dear augsburg, and with all upright citizens of thine! many a happy mood have we enjoyed within thy walls; now we shall never see thee more!" possibly at the prompting of cajetan, the papal legate, maximilian gave a most pointed proof of his lack of sympathy with luther, by leaving the city only two days before the monk arrived. the closing months of his life were troubled by the uncertainty of the succession to the empire. his efforts to secure charles' election as king of the romans had almost been crowned with success. the day before he left augsburg, he induced four of the electors to meet him and to give their consent to the scheme. but his hopes were dashed to the ground by the opposition of frederick of saxony and richard von greifenklau, elector of trier, who contended that no election for the crown of the romans was possible, while maximilian himself still remained uncrowned as emperor, and that charles, as king of naples, was expressly debarred from the imperial dignity. the cup of his disappointment was full, and the emperor retired wearily to innsbruck, hoping to end his days in peace beneath the shadow of his { } beloved alps. but one final indignity awaited him. the burghers of innsbruck, who had suffered severely on former occasions from the emperor's insolvency, resolutely closed their gates upon him; and he was obliged to retire to lower austria. on january , , maximilian's adventurous career closed at the little town of wels, not far from linz. the body was interred without pomp in the church of st. george at wiener neustadt; but his heart was removed to bruges and buried beside the remains of the consort, whose early loss had robbed him of life's brightest joy. thus, amid disillusionment and humiliation, ends the career which had opened so full of rich promise. with maximilian passed away the last holy roman emperor, in the true mediaeval sense. the dominion of charles v. was doubtless more universal than any which europe had seen since the days of charles the great, but its universality was essentially modern rather than mediaeval--dynastic and personal, not founded on the old dreams of an united christian commonwealth. "henceforth the holy roman empire is lost in the german, and after a few faint attempts to resuscitate old-fashioned claims nothing remains to indicate its origin save a sounding title and a precedence among the states of europe."[ ] [illustration: maximilian in from a chalk drawing by dürer] [ ] _maximilians i. beziehungen zu sigmund von tyrol._--victor v. kraus. [ ] his mother was the daughter of albert ii., emperor and king of hungary and bohemia (died ). though hungary was strictly an elective monarchy, the next heir was almost invariably elected. [ ] a small garrison held out in the citadel till the end of august. [ ] huber, _gesch. oesterreichs_, iii. . [ ] "time ever brings its reward or its revenge." [ ] maximilian to s. p. (september ). debts growing ever larger: "darumb pit helfft und rath ains für als." he adds, "der könig v. behaimb ... ist auch nicht viel erberer dann der ander gewest" (i.e. matthias).--_vertraulicher briefwechsel_, p. . [ ] this attitude was due to jealousy. frederick disliked the idea of maximilian as king of hungary, fearing that he would then usurp all his remaining power in the empire. [ ] to the amount of , gulden. [ ] this marriage of his only daughter against his will ( ) was a very sore point with frederick iii., and the fact that maximilian acquiesced in it increased his irritation against him. [ ] it had been seized by albert in . _see_ above. [ ] which included the free towns of strassburg and basel and their bishops. [ ] v. polheim and w. v. waldenstein to maximilian. even if frederick recovers, "werde er doch die fuesse nit mer mugen brauchen"; ... "hab in den zehen kain empfintlichait."--_vertraulicher briefwecksel_, p. . [ ] sigismund was now a nonentity, living obscurely in his former dominions. [ ] for maximilian's relations to internal reform, _see_ appendix. [ ] janssen, i. . [ ] huber, iii. p. . [ ] creighton's _papacy_, i. p. . [ ] december , . for a most beautiful and touching letter of condolence from margaret to maximilian, _see_ le glay, _correspondance_, i. p. . [ ] few people seem to have troubled themselves about gian galeazzo's infant son, who was now the lawful heir of the sforza. [ ] for maximilian's efforts towards war against the turks, _see_ ulmann, i. pp. - . [ ] cp. chmel, _urkunden_, _briefen_, etc., page . marquard breisacher to maximilian, about charles viii., in rome--"darauss ich sorge, der kung v. frankreich werd auff das mindest die kirchen reformieren und damit jm selbs in aller cristenheyt lob eer und auffsechen machen, das doch e. ko. mt. von götlichem und weltlichem rechtem me zu gepürett denn jm." [ ] ulmann, i. - . [ ] the more correct name of emperor elect has been sunk for convenience sake. [ ] afterwards the famous, or notorious, ulric. [ ] "und wo in der zeit kein gelt herkumbt, wirdet die speisung an dem end auch still sten"! dated may , .--_vertr. briefwecksel_, page . [ ] ranke, _latin and teutonic nations_, page . [ ] in south germany. [ ] chmel, _urkunden_, _briefen_, etc.--letter , stangha to maximilian (sept. , ). [ ] chmel, _ibid_.--letter , maximilian to stangha (genoa oct. , ). [ ] chmel, _ibid_.--letter , bishop of concordia to maximilian (lindau, dec. ). [ ] this was written in .--_relazioni degli ambasciatori veneti al senato_, ed. alberi, serie i. vol. vi. page sqq. [ ] janssen, i. . cp. trithemius' view of the hapsburg characteristic;--"seelenruhe und gottvertrauen beim missgeschick; viel noth, viel ehr." [ ] pirkheimer, quoted by ranke, _latin and teut. nations_, p. . [ ] the more so, as the confederacy was joined by the imperial cities of schaffhausen and basel. [ ] if louis xii. died without male issue, brittany and burgundy were likewise to fall to charles. [ ] "il y a longtemps que françois ont tousiours fait le piz qu'ilz ont peu a ceste maison, et n'ay espoir qu'ilz doyent changier," writes chièvres to maximilian . [ ] by violating the perpetual landfriede. [ ] kirchberg, weissenhorn, marstetten, neuburg-am-inn, etc. [ ] catherine, paternal aunt of maximilian, married charles, m. of baden, whose son james was. [ ] afterwards adrian vi. [ ] yet the people, maximilian is convinced, are always on his side, and a few of the cantons; "mes en sumarum il sount meschans, villains, prest pour traïre france on almaingnes" (dated august , lindau).--le glay, _correspondance_, vol. i., letter . [ ] march , , quoted huber, iii. pp. , . [ ] le glay, i. p. (dated july ). [ ] le glay, i. p. (dated july ). [ ] bishop of gurk. [ ] le glay, i. letter (dated cambrai, december). [ ] le glay, i.--letter (dated october ). [ ] le glay, i.--letter (bassano, august ). [ ] le glay, i.--letter (augsburg, april , ). [ ] sanuto, x. , quoted by huber, iii. . [ ] chmel's _urkunden_, etc., p. (may , ). [ ] le glay, ii. p. --autograph letter, dated september , no year or place given. but a. jäger, in _kaiser maximilians i. verhältniss zum papstthum_, p. , shows that was almost certainly the year. [ ] le glay, ii. p. (dated january , ). [ ] le glay, correspondance, vol. ii.--letter , page . [ ] le glay, ii.--letter . [ ] le glay, ii.--letter . [ ] kings of hungary and poland were brothers. [ ] it is possible, however, that he was actuated by pique against his grandson, who had recently asserted his independence of control. (january .) [ ] quoted in brewer, _reign of henry viii._, page . [ ] brewer, i. page . [ ] huber, iii. page . [ ] ala, avio, mori, and brentonica. [ ] the early years of charles v.'s reign do not disprove this assertion. for, though it was an imperialist army which was responsible for the sack of rome in , this was entirely composed of mercenaries, and charles's predominance in italy was due to his position as king of spain and the sicilies, and was won by the pikes of his spanish infantry. [ ] he was called "coeur d'acier," by olivier de la marche. [ ] he hoped to obtain from leo x. full recognition of himself as crowned emperor, and, further, the grant of a tithe on church property in germany for his projected crusade. [ ] bryce, _holy roman empire_, page ( st edition). { } iv "the essence of humanism is the belief ... that nothing which has ever interested living men and women can wholly lose its vitality."--_walter pater_. it is with a certain sense of relief that we pass from the tragi-comedy of maximilian's political life to those realms where lies his real claim to fame and gratitude. great ambitions thwarted by the sordid details of poverty are never a pleasant subject of contemplation; and there have been few monarchs in whose lives they have played a more prominent part. but it may fairly be argued that all the more credit is due to one who, under such unfavourable circumstances, ever remained buoyant and full of the joy of living, and whose frequent disappointments never soured his enthusiasms nor turned him from the path of knowledge. the first of his race to welcome the new culture, and possessed of that joyous temperament which seems to offer immortal youth, maximilian was acclaimed by the scholars of his day as the ideal emperor of dante's or petrarch's dreams. his predecessors had shown little interest in intellectual pursuits. sigismund had indeed crowned several poets, but was always too needy himself to spare much money for their salaries; frederick iii. was devoid of literary tastes, and, in spite of his connexion with Æneas sylvius, gave { } but slight encouragement to art or learning. but maximilian surrendered himself, with all his habitual energy and enthusiasm, to the new spirit of the age. in spite of his many political failures he remains to all time the darling of the scholar and the poet. this almost universal favour he did not win by liberal donations or the grant of lucrative posts, for he was seldom free from money embarrassments--nor by the maintenance of a gorgeous court and imposing ceremonial--for his endless projects and expeditions made any fixed residence impossible; but by his restless activity, his manly self-reliance, his wide and human sympathy with all ranks and classes of the people. above all, he identified himself with the struggling ideals of a new german national feeling, and with the growing opposition to france, to italy, and to rome; and, as a national hero, inspired the devotion alike of the scholar, the knight, and the peasant. "mein ehr ist deutsch ehr, und deutsch ehr ist mein ehr" is the ruling motive of his life; and the praise which is continually on all lips is, before all, the result of his passionate loyalty to that larger germany of which the poet sings-- so weit die deutsche zunge klingt und gott im himmel lieder singt das soll es sein! das, wackrer deutscher, nenne dein! nowhere is the general admiration more evident than in the volkslieder and the popular poetry of the time. and even when death overtook him in the midst of complete failure and humiliation, no scornful voice is heard, and all is regret and loving appreciation. { } first among earthly monarchs, a fount of honour clear, sprung of a noble lineage, where shall we find his peer? ... he stands a bright ensample for other princes' eyes, the lieges all appraise him the noble and the wise. his justice is apportioned to poor and rich the same. just before god eternal shall ever be his name. and god the lord hath willed it, our pure, immortal king, and welcomed him in glory, where ceaseless praises ring. our hero hath departed, time's sceptre laying down, since god hath, of his goodness, prepared a deathless crown.[ ] a vital distinction is at once apparent between the italian and the german renaissance. in italy the movement was essentially aristocratic and largely dependent upon the various courts--the medici, the popes, the dukes of urbino. in germany such open-handed patrons were few and far between. albert of mainz, frederick of saxony, and eberhard of würtemberg stand alone among the princes as patrons of learning; while ulrich von hutten is the sole representative of the knightly order in the ranks of the humanists.[ a] the political and intellectual development of the german towns is of great importance during this transition period, and it is in { } them that the leaders of the german renaissance are to be found. the movement remained throughout municipal rather than aristocratic, making itself first felt where there was closest commercial intercourse with italy--notably in the cities of swabia and the rhine valley. but for this very reason humanism took deep root in the soul of the german people. not merely aesthetic or sensuous, like the italian movement, it had a profound ethical and national basis, on which the powerful art of dürer, the sonorous language of luther, the sweet singing of hans sachs, might safely rest. almost from the very beginning it pursued a moral aim. it was inspired by no mere sordid quest of pleasure, but by a noble dream of purer manners and loftier ideals. it realized the decadence into which society, both lay and ecclesiastical, had fallen, and earnestly strove to arrest it in the only possible way--by the introduction of a new spirit at once into the details of daily life, and into the broad principles of national existence. but as the humanist movement gathered strength and influence, it remained isolated from politics and from those who ruled the destinies of the empire, and, developing in various places and under separate leaders, tended to waste its energies through lack of systematic or united effort. under such circumstances its unspoken appeal for assistance in high places met with an eager response from maximilian. for the last twenty-five years of his life he forms the central figure of the new movement--possibly not its most glorious or most brilliant representative, but yet giving life and uniformity to the whole. if for nought else, he would deserve to be remembered as the connecting link between the { } humanists of strasburg, augsburg and nuremberg. in order to interpret this feature of the emperor's character, we must present a slight sketch of the german renaissance in its three main channels, with especial regard to maximilian and his connexion with the leading humanists, and must then proceed to examine maximilian's own literary achievements, and his relations to science and art in its various branches. in a quaint old comedy written at the close of the fifteenth century, cicero and caesar are brought to life and taken round the cities of germany. they are made to describe strasburg as "the most beautiful of the german towns, a treasure and ornament of the fatherland"; of augsburg they exclaim, "rome with its quirites has wandered here"; while nuremberg is pictured as "the corinth of germany, if one looks at the wonderful works of the artist; yet if you look at its walls and bastions, no mummius would conquer it so easily."[ ] such are the three great centres of the german renaissance. in strasburg, education was the most crying need of the time; for though there were excellent schools in the franciscan and dominican convents, these were reserved for novices, the laity being wholly excluded. jacob wimpheling, under whom humanism first took deep root in the city, was himself a pupil of the deventer school,[ ] and, like them, { } devoted his energies to educational reform. his hopes of founding a university were not realized, and he had to content himself with forming the centre of a literary society, such as was formed both at mainz and vienna by conrad celtes. wimpheling and his friends differ largely from their contemporaries in other parts of germany. they were characterized by a theological bias which led them into violent and unprofitable controversies. though himself a cleric, and thus a supporter of the spiritual order and of orthodox belief, he indulged in fierce attacks upon the monks for their immorality, and in spite of his admiration for heathen authors, he pushed his defence of theology so far as to condemn the art of poetry as useless and unworthy to be called a science, and only to exempt from utter damnation the sacred poets of christianity.[ ] he was equally limited in his patriotic polemics. his praise of everything german is only surpassed by his hatred for the french and italians, his profound contempt for the swiss. his best-known work, entitled _germania_, was written with the double object of proving the exclusively german origin of alsace and of "defending the king of the romans against the monks and secular preachers who attack him."[ ] even the ingenuous arguments in which the book abounds, and the quaint array of authorities, from caesar and tacitus to aeneas sylvius and sabellico cannot blind us to the genuine patriotism, which is latent in every page. "we are germans, not french," he exclaims, "and our land must be called germany, not france, because germans live in it. { } this fact has been acknowledged by the romans. for when they had conquered us, the alemanni on the rhine, and, crossing the river, saw that the dwellers on the further bank were like us in courage, stature, and fair hair, as well as in customs and way of life, they called us germans, that is, brothers. but it is certain that we, these germans, are like the real gauls neither in speech and appearance, nor in character and institutions. hence our city and all alsace is right in preserving the freedom of the roman empire, and will maintain it also in the future, in spite of all french attempts to win over or conquer us."[ ] such fervent expressions of german feeling must have called maximilian's attention to wimpheling, even without his vigorous defence of the imperial dignity. in , when maximilian was opposed to julius ii., and hoped to intimidate him by recounting the wrongs of the german nation, he could think of none more versed in them than wimpheling, and therefore requested him to draw up a summary of the french pragmatic sanction, such as would suit the needs of germany. in march, , he wrote to wimpheling that he was about to hold an assembly at koln, to deliberate with the french envoys as to summoning a general council; and he begged him to think out means of redressing the various abuses, "without touching religion." as a result of this request, wimpheling drew up his _gravamina germanicae nationis_ and added the desired _remedia_.[ ] but { } the emperor's policy had already changed, and wimpheling was informed through the imperial councillors that the moment was unfavourable for publication. indeed, his labours only received the attention which they deserved, when they were employed as the basis of "the hundred grievances of the german nation" ( ).[ ] [illustration: sebastian brant] side by side with wimpheling stands sebastian brant, whose literary worth has probably obtained wider recognition than that of any german humanist, with the sole exception of erasmus. his _narrenschiff_ ("the ship of fools") is penetrated by a deep religious spirit, and fearlessly attacks all the corruptions and abuses of the day, "branding as fools all those who are willing, for things transitory, to barter things eternal."[ ] brant is in no sense a great poet; his verses are often stiff and ill-proportioned, and his matter frequently sinks to the level of the common-place. but the appearance of "the ship of fools" caused an unparalleled stir, not merely in the republic of letters, but throughout the whole german people; and it owes its extraordinary popularity to its skilful intermixture of problems which were in all men's minds. he was the first to give full expression to the ideas of the middle classes (anticipating the manly independence of the scottish poet,[ ]) when he sang-- { } aber wer hätt' kein tugend nit, kein zucht, scham, ehr, noch gute sitt, den halt' ich alles adels leer, wenn auch ein fürst sein vater wär'. but the ruling motives which inspire his muse are the maintenance of the church in her pristine purity, and the defence of christendom against the onslaught of the infidel. while he preaches earnestly the headship of christ, and exhorts all men to put their trust in god rather than in mortal men, he is also never tired of enjoining reverence for the emperor, and urging them to unite in loyal obedience to his wishes and aspirations. apparently unconscious of his inconsequence, he upheld the principle of absolute papal domination, and yet early associated himself with that august dream of the middle ages--the universal monarchy of the emperor. for him he claimed the same power in the temporal, as the pope exercised in the spiritual world. as the pope was the organ of religion, so was the emperor the source of law; and the revival of his power as temporal head of christendom was to coincide with the re-establishment of that order and discipline whose absence brant so frequently laments. the whole fabric of these vast aspirations brant rested upon maximilian. he could not foresee that this prince, so brilliant, so chivalrous, so sympathetic, would disappoint the rich promise of his youth and fail to restore the fallen grandeur of the empire owing to his schemes of { } family aggrandisement. he greeted his election with adulatory verses, protesting that under such a prince the golden age could not fail to return. the news of maximilian's imprisonment at bruges rouses a very whirlwind of indignant phrases, contrary to the whole spirit of his later teaching. "destroy the flemings," he cries, "extirpate the very race of this crime, hang and behead the miscreants, overturn their walls, and make the plough pass over this accursed soil. such is the demand of justice."[ ] his belief in omens and portents is unlimited, and they are generally connected with maximilian in some quaint and high-sounding verses. thus the killing of an enormous deer on some hunting expedition inspires brant with an absurd and laboured comparison. "no animal is nobler than the stag: thou, maximilian, art the most noble of princes. he stops astonished before things which seem new; thou also dost admire things new and great. at the approach of danger he pricks up his ear and places his young in safety; thou hearest the menacing noises of thine enemies, and dost protect thy people."[ ] a number of falcons which were seen to assemble and fly southwards is acclaimed as a symbol of maximilian, aided by the princes in his italian expedition. "destiny calls you, o germans; go and restore the empire in italy." even when it became evident that maximilian was not destined to realize the poet's high ideals, such extravagances did not cease. moreover, he was sustained by a personal attachment for the emperor, which was deepened by his various visits to the court and closer acquaintance { } with his early hero, and doubtless strengthened by the imperial favours bestowed upon him. and thus it is with unfeigned grief that brant celebrates his death. "o magnanimous caesar, that hope is vanished which we had founded on thee while thou didst hold the sceptre. how should i restrain my tears? thou wert worthy to live, thou the sole anchor of safety for the german nation. one swift hour hath removed thee: thou art no more, and misfortune assails the empire."[ ] our subject is maximilian, not brant, and we may not linger. but the epitaph on the strasburg poet's tomb should not be omitted, even in the translation; for it gives us a sure clue to a character which was sweet and winning in spite of all its extravagances. "toi qui regardes ce marbre, souhaite à brant le ciel!" [illustration: conrad peutinger] if in strasburg the movement assumed a theological and educational character, in augsburg it was rather directed towards politics and the study of history. alike from its geographical position[ ] and from its industrial and commercial importance,[ ] augsburg was thrown into close relations with italy and italian thought; and enthusiasm for classical studies was early introduced by sigismund gossembrot, one of the leading merchants of the city. the direction of the movement was further influenced by the diets which were held within the city,[ ] and by the frequent visits of the emperor maximilian.[ ] the place of { } gossembrot was worthily filled by conrad peutinger,[ ] who returned from italy in , as a doctor of law, embued with all the ardour of a scholar. he became a prominent official of his native city, and retained his position for many years from inclination rather than from necessity, betraying throughout his writings the sharp eye and critical knowledge of the practitioner. his first meeting with maximilian probably took place at augsburg in , and from this time onwards he was continually employed by the emperor in various positions of trust. as ambassador, secretary or orator, he visited many countries in europe, and, besides ordering affairs of politics, was entrusted with the truly humanist task of presenting and answering formal addresses and greetings. while in his foreign relations he was eager to maintain the honour of the german name, he skilfully used his double position as imperial councillor and town-official to smooth over differences between maximilian and augsburg, to the advantage of both parties. the emperor's love of augsburg led him to purchase various houses within the walls, and the castle of wellenburg in the neighbourhood. his action was far from welcome to the burghers, who did not wish this powerful citizen to acquire too much property in their midst; and they were only pacified by the assurances of peutinger that maximilian would raise no fortifications round the castle. on the other hand, during his honourable mission to hungary ( ), he obtained from the { } emperor a substantial grant of privileges for his native city--notably the right "de non appellando." but peutinger was maximilian's confidant not merely in political affairs. indeed, his employment in imperial diplomacy directly arose from his intellectual and artistic relations with maximilian, who sought the support of every scholar in his attempt to place the fatherland in the forefront of art and science. in italy peutinger had learned the value of old roman inscriptions, and in he was encouraged by maximilian to publish a collection of the inscriptions of german antiquity.[ ] the emperor and the scholar kept up a correspondence on the subject of ancient coins, large consignments of which were sent to augsburg, by order of the former, from every part of the empire. during peutinger's visit to vienna in he was monopolized for three whole days for learned conversation, and received a new and more important commission from maximilian. he was to examine the letters and documents of members of the house of hapsburg, and to prepare a selection of them for publication; and with this object he was assigned a special apartment in the castle of vienna, to which chronicles and histories were brought for his use from all quarters. here he remained for almost three months, and the fruit of his labours was the _kaiserbuch_, or book of the emperors, which was unfortunately never published and which is now extant only in a few fragments. during his labours for maximilian he seems to have acquired a great number of valuable manuscripts; and had his literary projects been fully realized, we should have gained { } an astonishing contribution to the historiography of the sixteenth century. but apart from his own unfinished writings, he edited and published, with maximilian's approval, various early historical works,--the chronicles of paul the deacon and of ursperg being of especial value.[ ] moreover, he was charged by the emperor with a species of censorship, by virtue of which he prevented the appearance at augsburg of a swiss chronicle, containing statements derogatory to the house of hapsburg. in short, in almost every phase of the struggle of culture and civilization, which maximilian so gallantly led, we find peutinger intimately engaged as his friend and fellow-labourer; and with beatus rhenanus we may truly exclaim, "our conrad peutinger is the immortal ornament, not merely of the town of augsburg, but also of all swabia!" the activity of augsburg was not confined to historical studies. the rising art of germany had found here a worthy representative in hans holbein, who, though not strictly a humanist himself, took the deepest interest in the movement. his attitude is clearly visible from his portraiture of erasmus, more, and other leaders of the renaissance, and from his illustrations to the _praise of folly_ and the _dance of death_. but holbein, though the greatest of the augsburg school, was too much of a wanderer to be { } thrown into close contact with maximilian. the latter none the less found capable artists to give expression to his own literary projects. hans burgkmair, the most distinguished of their number, produced over one hundred illustrations of _weisskunig_, seventy-seven for the _genealogy_, which consists of portraits of maximilian's ancestors, and close upon seventy for the _triumphal procession_, the main idea of which belongs to dürer. leonhard beck illustrated a book of _austrian saints_, and the greater part of the famous _teuerdank_; whilst freydal represented in his _mummereien_ the various tournays and festivities of which maximilian was the central figure. all these woodcuts and engravings were executed under the supervision of peutinger, who also directed the casting of figures for maximilian's tomb at innsbruck, and the making of armour and warlike equipments for the emperor's own person. indeed, maximilian put his humanist friend to very strange uses; for among the manifold commissions of peutinger we find the selection of tapestries from the netherlands, inquiries after the inventor of a special kind of siege-ladder, the building of hatching-houses for the imperial falcons, and the establishment of an important cannon foundry. the climax is reached when maximilian employs peutinger's historical knowledge to obtain the names of a hundred women famous in history, after whom he may christen the latest additions to his artillery! [illustration: wilibald pirkheimer] of the three centres of german humanism, nuremberg is the greatest and the most fascinating. the home of invention as well as of industry, it made no mere empty boast in the proverb, "nürnberg tand geht durch alle land." its churches and { } public buildings were the glory of the age, its craftsmen and designers perhaps then unequalled in the world. its literary circle contains a larger number of distinguished names than any of its rivals. meisterlin, the author of the famous nuremberg chronicle, cochläus, the bitter satirist of luther; osiander, the celebrated hebrew scholar and reformed preacher; jäger the mathematician; above all hans sachs, the cobbler-poet, "the sweet singer of nuremberg"--all these fill an honourable place in the annals of the city. but the central figures of its life are, beyond any doubt, wilibald pirkheimer and albrecht dürer; in any case they would monopolise our attention on account of their intimate connexion with maximilian. when still king of the romans, he had resided at nuremberg, and the joyous animation with which he entered into the life of the city won for him wide popularity. "when about to depart, we are told he invited twenty great ladies to dinner; after dinner, when they were all in a good humour, the markgrave frederick asked maximilian in the name of the ladies to stay a little longer and to dance with them. they had taken away his boots and spurs, so that he had no choice. then the whole company adjourned to the council house, several other young ladies were invited, and maximilian stayed dancing all through the afternoon and night, and arrived a day late at neumarkt, where the count palatine had been expecting him all the preceding day."[ ] as emperor, maximilian paid many visits to nuremberg, and his first diet was enlivened by a succession of brilliant masques, dances and tournaments, such as roused the enthusiasm of the local { } chroniclers. he remained on terms of great intimacy with pirkheimer, who in many ways is the most typical figure of the german renaissance. after an excellent education, at padua and pavia, in jurisprudence, literature and arts, pirkheimer became councillor in nuremberg, and won the special confidence of the emperor both by his skilful diplomacy and by his patriotic assistance in the swiss war. his great riches he employed not merely for the adornment of his own house, but also in generous support of less-favoured followers of the muse. while he resembled peutinger as diplomat, as historian, and as theologian, he had less of the temperament of a pedagogue, and more of the joyous nature of a true poet. as the representative of a great movement of the intellect, he was open to all its various methods and aspirations, and yet understood the lesson of self-restraint and concentration too well to exhaust his powers in a labyrinth of alternatives. with the true cheerfulness and humour of the man who knows the world, yet remains unsullied by contact with it, he and his friends devoted themselves to what is after all the highest philosophy, the study of mankind--hiding under a smiling face, nay, often a mocking mien, their confidence in the great destinies of the race. and yet a deep pathos attaches to pirkheimer's closing days. disappointed in his dreams of moral and spiritual regeneration for the people, he turned wearily back from the paths of the new doctrine to the bosom of mother church. his violent attack upon johann eck, his noble defence of reuchlin, had seemed to foreshadow him as a leader of the reformation.[ ] but his ideals were in reality of { } the past rather than of the future; and, brooding over his shattered hopes, he lingered out a solitary old age, whose sadness is but deepened by his swan-like lament for dürer. [illustration: albrecht durer] dürer was indeed well worthy of all the praise which has been lavished upon him; for from all his works there shines forth the noble modesty of a pure good man. though scarcely a scholar himself, his deep sympathy with the great movement is manifest not only in the manner in which his art interprets it, but also in his own written words.[ ] his letters to pirkheimer from venice form delightful reading and show the keenness of his sympathy and observation. the years which followed his return to nuremberg, - , were the most productive period of his life, as well as the period of his most intimate connexion with maximilian. from them date the ambitious designs of the "ehrenpforte" (triumphal arch), which, though executed under maximilian's direct supervision, were entirely the idea of dürer. no less than ninety-two large woodcuts, the production of which occupied dürer for two years, go to { } make up this imposing metaphorical picture. a structure in itself impossible is overburdened by portraits of all the ancestors of maximilian, mythical as well as real, and by the many exploits and adventures of the emperor's own life. but the work must be estimated less by the quaintness of its composition than by its sterling artistic qualities and by the important place which it holds in the development of german art. the idea was further developed in the "triumphzug" and the "triumphwagen," which was completed in . the imperial and other triumphal cars were drawn by dürer in sixty-three woodcuts, while the remaining seventy-four were prepared in augsburg by hans burgkmair and l. beck.[ ] the procession, whose magnificence was to idealize maximilian as the greatest of princes, includes sketches of almost everything that ever roused the emperor's interest. landsknechts, cannon, huntsmen, mummers, dancers of every rank and variety, the noble ladies of the court, are mingled with allegories of every imperial and human virtue, elaborately grouped upon triumphal cars. the keen personal interest of maximilian in the progress of the work is well attested. indeed, he showed his impatience, while the various blocks were in progress, by frequently visiting not merely dürer himself, but also the "formschneider" or block-cutter, who lived in a street approached by the frauengasslein. hence the old nuremberg proverb, "the emperor still often drives to petticoat lane."[ ] dürer was appointed painter to maximilian, with a grant of arms and a salary of florins a year; and { } a letter of the emperor to the town council of nuremberg is still extant, in which he demands dürer's exemption from "communal imposts, and all other contributions in money, in testimony of our friendship for him, and for the sake of the marvellous art of which it is but just that he should freely benefit. we trust that you will not refuse the demand we now make of you, because it is proper, as far as possible, to encourage the arts he cultivates and so largely develops among you."[ ] these earnest words of maximilian reveal to us very clearly his attitude towards the great movement of his day. yet, sad as it is to relate, dürer never received payment for the ninety-two sheets of the "triumphal arch," which had cost him so much time and labour, and after maximilian's death they were sold separately. but the emperor may fairly be absolved from the charge of mean treatment of dürer, for his own needs were great and many, and it is strictly true that he spent very little upon himself. the great artist was always treated with distinction as a personal friend of the emperor, who, besides granting him a fixed salary, gave him material assistance in checking the forging and pirating of his engravings. he sometimes resided at court, when maximilian held it at augsburg, and often employed his time in making sketches in chalk of the illustrious persons whom he met. on one occasion maximilian was attempting to draw a design for dürer, but kept breaking the charcoal in doing so. when the artist took the pencil and, without once breaking it, easily completed the sketch, the emperor expressed his surprise and probably showed his annoyance. but { } dürer was ready with his compliment. "i should not like your majesty," he said, "to be able to draw as well as i. it is my province to draw and yours to rule."[ ] not the least interesting and important of dürer's commissions was to paint that portrait of the emperor which now hangs in the imperial gallery at vienna. the prominent nose, the hanging eyelid, the half-contemptuous, half-mournful turn of the lips, the wrinkled cheeks and neck, the long hair falling over the ears, the pointed bonnet with its clasp, the sombre flowing robes, form a striking picture and suggest a speaking likeness. disappointment, but also that peculiar attribute of the hapsburgs, resignation, are clearly marked upon maximilian's face. in the other two portraits by dürer--a chalk drawing executed at the diet of augsburg ( ) and a woodcut completed shortly before his death--the features are less rugged, and reveal somewhat more of the sanguine spirit of maximilian's early days. with the exception of these sketches,[ ] dürer's last commission for maximilian was the exquisite decoration for the latter's private gebetbuch (book of prayer), of which only ten copies were printed,[ ] and which will ever remain one of the gems of artistic and devotional literature. with dürer's career after we are not concerned; but it is worthy of notice that his most brilliant work dates from the reign of maximilian, and that his sympathy with "the nightingale of wittenberg" seems to have partially diverted his attention from his art. { } it must not be supposed that maximilian's humanistic enthusiasms were confined to the three great centres which have just been described, or that he only helped on such movements as were already animated by a vigorous existence and a fair prospect of success. his own hereditary dominions were even more directly indebted to his efforts than were other parts of the empire. [illustration: das rosenkranzfest. painting by dürer, with kneeling figure of maximilian] during the first century of its existence, vienna university[ ] was an autonomous ecclesiastical corporation, over which the methods of the mediaeval schoolmen held complete sway. but during the long reign of frederick iii., several circumstances combined to cast a blight upon its hitherto flourishing condition. during the council of basel it assumed a hostile attitude to the pope, and its surrender of that position only emphasised its folly; while in the struggle of frederick and his brother albert the professors were unwise enough to dabble in politics and thus to throw off the immunity which guarded their proper sphere. their open sympathy with albert was fatal to a good understanding with frederick, who never showed any favour to their body. vienna further suffered from a six months' siege by matthias of hungary ( ) and from a violent outbreak of the plague ( ); and this had scarce abated, when war was renewed and matthias overran the whole of lower austria. during the ensuing siege (december to june ) all lectures were inevitably suspended, and the whole work of the university was at a standstill. the refusal of the university authorities to take the oath of { } allegiance to matthias--on the ground that, as a clerical corporation, they were independent of the temporal power--induced the conqueror to stop all the revenues which they derived from the government; and though he at length granted[ ] a sum sufficient for the payment of the professors and other necessities, yet he never extended to vienna the same liberality towards art and science which had distinguished his relations with buda-pest. by the time of his death ( ) vienna university was in a state of almost complete decay. under such circumstances the recovery of austria by maximilian was greeted with joy on the part of the authorities, and immediate steps were taken to restore the tottering fabric of the university. maximilian set himself definitely to transform it from a clerical corporation to a home of the new humanism, and was aided in this difficult task by the superintendent perger, the intention of whose office was not only to control the government grants, but also to decide upon their expenditure, and to refer to the emperor all questions of professorial appointments. in spite of much internal opposition, the humanists ere long acquired predominance in the philosophical faculty, the medicals threw off the monstrous requirements of scholasticism, and the jurists began to study roman as well as ecclesiastical law. the revival of vienna soon roused the interest of that peculiar product of the renaissance period, the wandering scholar. the first to visit the university was johann spiesshaimer--more celebrated as cuspinian--who rapidly won favour with the hapsburgs by a poem in praise of st. leopold, markgrave of austria, and { } who was crowned poet by maximilian shortly after his father's death, in presence of a brilliant and representative assembly. soon afterwards he began to hold regular lectures on poetry and rhetoric, discussing such writers as cicero, sallust, horace, virgil and lucan. but perger's preference lay decidedly with the humanists of italy, many of whom he had known personally during his residence at padua and bologna. at his recommendation, maximilian in summoned hieronymus balbus from venice to vienna, and appointed him lecturer on the roman poets. but the italian's fiery temper soon led him into disputes with the university authorities, and after an unsatisfactory career of two years he found a fresh outbreak of plague in the city a convenient pretext for returning to italy. krachenberger and fuchsmagen, the two councillors whom maximilian had appointed to assist perger, doubtless influenced by the unseemly brawling of balbus, were loud in their complaints of perger's favouritism, and urged their imperial master to encourage german rather than italian scholars. but maximilian was, after all, only following his own judgment, when in he sent a cordial invitation to stabius and celtes to fill professorships at vienna. conrad celtes is the most famous of the earlier german humanists, and is in a sense the forerunner of peutinger and pirkheimer. but while his influence penetrated into every part of the empire as a stimulating force, vienna was the scene of his longest and most definite labours, and hence all mention of him has been postponed till now. born in , in humble circumstances, celtes devoted himself from youth to the pursuit of learning, studying the { } roman classics in the leading universities of germany. without any settled abode, he wandered from one university to another, associating with scholars and supporting himself by lectures on the philosophy of plato, the rhetoric of cicero, or the poetry of horace. in he visited italy and made the acquaintance of all the famous humanists of the age. on his return, the publication of his first treatise, the _ars versificandi_, brought him to the notice of frederick iii., by whom he was crowned as poet at the diet of nuremberg ( ). during the next four years he visited cracow, prague, buda, heidelberg and mainz, and again settled down at nuremberg in . here he published a life of st. sebald, patron of the city, in sapphics, and a treatise upon the origin and customs of nuremberg itself. but within a year he was summoned to ingolstadt as professor of poetry and rhetoric, and here he was residing when maximilian's letter reached him. the emperor's appeal was not in vain, and celtes took up his permanent abode in vienna university in , as professor of the same subjects as at ingolstadt. his opening lectures, which treated the philosophy of plato in connexion with the neo-platonism of the italian scholars, were regarded with suspicion and dislike by many members of the university; but his position was strengthened by the hearty support of maximilian, who in appointed cuspinian, the intimate friend of celtes, to the post of superintendent. celtes, and with him the emperor, was convinced that new methods of instruction were necessary, if humanism was to triumph over scholasticism. "a new institute was required, which should serve for the preparation and { } training of humanism, a sort of seminary of humanist scholars, not outside, but _inside_, the university."[ ] these views led, in october , to the foundation of the "collegium poetarum et mathematicorum" by maximilian. planned by celtes with the active approval of cuspinian, the college in no way formed a fifth faculty, though it was directly connected with the faculty of arts. of its two divisions, the first was devoted to the study of mathematics, physics and astronomy, the second to that of poetry and rhetoric. the right of the coronation of poets, which had hitherto lain with the emperor alone, was now vested by maximilian in celtes, as director of his own creation. the most distinguished scholars were to receive the crown of laurel, as a mark of high distinction and as an incentive to further efforts. but this privilege was exercised by celtes for the first and last time, when in he crowned stabius, his former colleague at ingolstadt, and now professor of mathematics and astronomy at vienna. all subsequent coronations of poets were by maximilian himself;[ ] and the college of poets fell into disuse after the death of celtes in . even had worthy successors to celtes and stabius been found, it is doubtful whether the college would have had a permanent existence. its hybrid position, as an independent institution and yet an integral part of the university, was a source of endless bickerings and quarrels, which can scarcely have been a recommendation to foreign scholars. celtes' other peculiar institution, { } the "literary society of the danube," which he had originally founded at buda, and which transplanted itself to vienna when he settled there, was a kind of academy or free union of scholars for the spread of humanism. its members were recruited from almost every nation, and were only held together by the personal influence of celtes; on his death it shared the same fate as the college of poets. [illustration: conrad celtes.] an interesting development of such humanist unions formed itself in the mind of aldus manutius, the famous venetian printer. he longed for the establishment of an academy which should devote itself to the perfecting of printing and to the spread of the greek language, and he entertained the further hope of converting it into an educational institute, which should form a point of scientific intercourse between germany and italy, under the direct initiative of the emperor. but though he approached maximilian on the subject, he obtained nothing but vague promises of assistance, whose fulfilment was thwarted by the emperor's lack of resources. besides his general services to humanism, celtes earned the gratitude of maximilian by his attention to historical studies. his sketch of nuremberg contains a valuable description of its buildings and its trades, its climate and its inhabitants. his eager investigations resulted in the discovery of the comedies of the saxon nun hroswith, whose lax morality has been adduced as a proof of their fictitious character, and the works of ligurinus, upon which he and his friends lectured at vienna.[ ] at the moment of his death he { } was engaged upon important work for maximilian. his projected history of the origin of the house of hapsburg still remained very much in embryo; but his great work, _germania illustrata_, had assumed very real dimensions and would, if completed, have eclipsed even the famous _nuremberg chronicle_. the place of celtes was filled in maximilian's estimation by stabius and cuspinian. the former, who had been crowned poet in , was appointed historiographer by the emperor in , and was virtually monopolized for historical research. even during maximilian's last illness stabius was employed to read aloud volumes of austrian history.[ ] but his achievements in the field of history are of trifling value, and are not to be compared to his works on geographical and mathematical subjects. cuspinian is much more worthy of consideration, especially as his relations with maximilian drew him in the same direction as peutinger. already rector of vienna university in , he was incessantly employed by the emperor on embassies and in affairs of politics. in the course of five years he was engaged in no fewer than twenty-four missions to hungary, and he took the leading part in the negotiations of and , which resulted in the double marriage between austria and bohemia-hungary, and the close union of maximilian with uladislas ( ). nothwithstanding his political activity, he found time for medical and historical pursuits, lectures and public addresses on philosophy and rhetoric, and elaborate discussions { } with his humanist friends. besides editing several of the later classical authors,[ ] he brought out the _weltchronik_ of bishop otto of freisingen, and the same writer's _warlike deeds of frederick barbarossa_. his own productions include an account of the congress of princes at vienna in , and a sketch of _the origin, religion and tyranny of the turks_, which naturally roused imperial interest. all his most important works exhibit traces of his connexion with maximilian. his _commentarii de romanorum consulibus_ are probably the most profound and critical; but his history _de caesaribus et imperatoribus romanorum_,[ ] which employed him between the years and , undoubtedly possesses the most practical interest, since it furnishes us with many valuable details of maximilian's life and character. his other work, _austria_, contains a complete history of the country up till , as well as a geographical and topographical description of its several provinces. unhappily it was not published till , and by that time the maps which were to have been included had disappeared. under maximilian's auspices, the medical faculty of the university was improved to an equal extent with the others, and an ordinance was issued imposing the severest penalties, at the hands of the magistrates, on all foreign physicians whose incompetence was discovered. again, the emperor's passionate love of music led to a distinct revival in that noble science. a famous choirmaster of the day, heinrich isaak, who had spent twelve years in the service of lorenzo { } the magnificent, was induced to settle at maximilian's court, where his labours raised the imperial chapel to a high level of musical excellence. amongst other really valuable compositions, his setting to the poem attributed to maximilian, "innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen," is well known at the present day. the court organist, paul hofheimer, was likewise esteemed the glory of his profession, and was the forerunner of a school of brilliant organists scattered throughout germany.[ ] though maximilian knew well how to employ the activity of the scholar and the artist, and to stimulate the most varied aspirations of his time, there is one necessary limitation to our praise of his attitude. the buoyancy of his nature was to some extent due to a trait of vaingloriousness, which gave a rosy colouring to his own achievements, and prevented him from seeing himself as others saw him. moreover, this airy self-conceit led him to lay by material, which should win from posterity a more comprehensive admission of his greatness than was accorded either by the bare facts of his political life or by the estimate of contemporaries; and thus he naturally emphasized the common idea of that period--that history was a relation of the warlike and peaceful exploits of the monarchs of the world. and yet he often rose above his own limitations. at one time he eagerly entertained the idea of a great monumenten-sammlung, or collection of authorities for mediaeval german history; while his encouragement of critical inquiry atoned for the incompleteness of his own conceptions. still his literary productions are crowded with passages of fulsome adulation, which, { } by reason of over-statement and extravagant diction, rarely produce the effect intended. among these works two stand out prominently; yet even their execution was entrusted to others, partly no doubt on account of the many political demands upon maximilian's time, but also because he did not himself possess sufficient patience or poetical talent. _weisskunig_[ ] is a prose romance, much of the material of which was taken down from maximilian's dictation by his secretaries, and re-arranged and compiled by marx treitzsauerwein of innsbruck. it is divided into three parts, of which the latter is too obvious a mixture of "wahrheit und dichtung" to be of any great value. the earlier portion describes the life of the old white king (frederick iii.), his journey to win his bride, his marriage and his coronation, while the second deals with the youth and education of the young white king, maximilian. the description of his endless accomplishments exhibits to the full the emperor's love of minute information, as well as the happy conviction of his own excellence in almost every art and science. his quaint conversation with his father on the art of government has already been referred to (p. ). undoubtedly the chief interest and value of the book, which was only given to the world in , lies in its illustrations, which show maximilian engaged in the most varied pursuits. the charming picture of mary and maximilian teaching each other flemish and german, the deathbed of frederick iii. with its simple pathos, the humorous contrast of the young prince and his instructors in cannon-founding, his serious { } deportment over his correspondence--these are but four scenes chosen somewhat at random from a most fascinating collection. _teuerdank_, the other great prose-epic of maximilian, is rather a fairy tale than a history, describing, under a highly allegorical form, the difficulties which opposed themselves to the burgundian marriage. a fabulously wealthy king has an only daughter, a miracle of virtue and beauty, who is to belong to the most gallant and distinguished of her many suitors. king romreich dies before a decision has been come to, but princess ehrenreich sees from his will that only ritter teuerdank is worthy of her hand. she summons him and he promptly sets forth to join her, accompanied by his trusty comrade erenhold. but he is continually detained and led astray by the evil one, who urges him to follow his natural instincts, and throws every kind of adventure in his way. moreover, the envious magnates of ehrenreich's court enlist against him three captains, who endeavour to lure him to destruction. fürwittig represents the vain ambition of youth, to give proof of its strength and skill and glory, merely for its own gratification; unfalo, the fascination for the noble youth, which lies in travel and adventure by sea and land; while neidelhard personifies the deadliest of unseen enemies, jealousy, that foe who leads the young prince into the most difficult entanglements. but the gallant teuerdank comes scathless through every ordeal, thanks to his innate virtue and to the powerful genius of love. but even then his trial is not at an end. at the request of ehrenreich, and the exhortation of a heavenly messenger, he conducts a campaign against the infidels, who consent to become his { } vassals. at length he is free to return, covered with glory and honour, to the court of ehrenreich, when the marriage is duly celebrated. this extravagant romance, which, with all its sentiment, is inclined to be wooden and tedious, was actually composed by melchior pfinzing, provost of st. sebald's, nuremberg, though maximilian directed its whole tone and substance. it also was elaborately illustrated by beck, burgkmair, and others, but its woodcuts are much inferior in interest and in execution to those of _weisskunig_. in the whole work was privately printed upon parchment, but in it was published to the world in an edition which is famous for its sumptuous style. the _ehrenpforte_ and _triumphzug_, the _genealogie_ and _wappenbuch_ lend additional force to the argument that maximilian's enthusiasm owed part of its vigour to motives of self-glorification. the most important of these works have already been referred to in connexion with the augsburg artists and with dürer.[ ] but some mention must here be made of the recently discovered _gejaid buch_, which was written for maximilian during - , by his master of the game, carl von spaur, and adorned with rich illuminations, dealing with the emperor's sport on the mountains of north tyrol. this book contains such minute information, that he could at a glance "ascertain the head of { } chamois and red deer in any of the and odd localities described therein," and is full of hints and suggestions as to the posting of the sportsmen and as to possible quarters for the night. often when there was no castle in the neighbourhood, the emperor had to content himself with a primitive log-hut high up on the mountain-slopes. sometimes, to avoid such rough lodging for the night, he covered tremendous distances on horseback, to get back to more frequented valleys; and it was doubtless on such an occasion as this that he found a beggar dying by the roadside, and, dismounting, gave him his own flask to drink from, wrapped his own mantle round him, and then rode hotly to the next town to summon a priest.[ ] fatigue was well-nigh unknown to him, and he must sometimes "have started from his headquarters in the middle of the night, getting back only after some thirty-six hours in the saddle.... only those acquainted with the very voluminous correspondence of this keen sportsman can form any idea of the close attention paid by him to every detail connected with the chase.... in the thick of a bloody war in the netherlands we find him writing letters about a young ibex buck some peasant women in a remote tyrolese valley were keeping for him, or promising in an autograph letter a silk dress to each of certain peasants' wives in an isolated glen, as a reward for preventing their husbands from poaching this rare game, or giving minute instructions where a particular couple of hunting hounds were to be kept, and what was to be done with their puppies."[ ] our { } astonishment is not lessened when we learn that maximilian possessed as many as , hounds. this brief digression, to which the emperor's literary works have inevitably tempted us, is far from inappropriate to any description of one whose passion for the chase led him to sign himself "sportsman and emperor." thus, in all their manifold branches, literature, art and science owe maximilian a deep debt of gratitude. he worthily led the great onward movement of his day, devoting himself to its cause with whole-hearted service. he guided and controlled it up to the very threshold of that mighty revolution, in which "a solitary monk" was destined to shake the world; and on the threshold it was but fitting that he should leave its direction to others. his little foibles and conceits vanish, in view of the great fact that he had nobly performed his duty in the march of time; and it would indeed have been a cruel mockery of fate, had he been left to see his ideals shattered and falsified, the world of his conception renovated and transformed, while he himself, too old in years and too passionate in conviction to remain leader of the van, dropped backward amid the indistinguishable throng. though maximilian was wholly out of sympathy with the principles which guided luther, and would probably have opposed him had he lived, yet it may { } be said that indirectly the reformation owes something to him. the earlier stages of the german renaissance were dominated by a strong theological bias, and it was only gradually that the prevailing idea was dispelled, that a student or literary man must belong to the spiritual order. the revival of the study of greek and hebrew strengthened the element of criticism; and with criticism of theology came criticism of history, and a desire to dispel the mists which had gathered round the great past of germany, and to kindle the growing national spirit by a closer knowledge of the glorious deeds of men's ancestors. this patriotic movement, which no one did more to foster and encourage than maximilian, soon brought the passionate upholders of germany into collision with foreign sentiment. the opposition to italy and to rome, which was mainly due to the degradation of the papacy and its practice of draining german resources for purely italian ends, was regarded with favour by maximilian, though his policy was possibly dictated by secular considerations. wimpheling's attack on papal abuses in germany, written at maximilian's command, is the most outspoken defiance of rome prior to the appearance of luther. but while maximilian possessed that deep national enthusiasm which was one of the leading inspirations of luther's career, he had none of the reformer's profound criticism and self-depreciation, and was too much a man of action to take any deep interest in questions of theology. we cannot pass to a final estimate of maximilian's character and policy without some mention of the wonderful monument in the hofkirche at innsbruck. the church itself was erected in compliance with the { } will of maximilian, but owing to the loss of the original plans, the whole work was not completed till the year . in the centre of the nave stands a massive marble sarcophagus, which supports the kneeling figure of maximilian, surrounded by the four cardinal virtues. on the sides of the sarcophagus are twenty-four exquisite marble reliefs, representing the principal events of the emperor's life, all but four of which were executed by alexander colins of mechlin, the architect of the famous otto-heinrichsbau in heidelberg castle. many of the reliefs are especially interesting for the careful studies of faces; those of maximilian's meetings with his daughter margaret and with henry viii. contain striking portraits of the emperor. but the unique feature of this famous memorial is the long line of bronze figures which extend round the nave, the silent witnesses of the vanished grandeur of the holy roman empire. all the great rulers of the house of hapsburg here watch over what should have held the mortal remains of their gallant descendant; while the gentle mary and her children take their places in the silent pageant. but amid all the throng two figures stand out conspicuously. maximilian had wished that the heroes of his early dreams should share the long vigil over his grave; and the magic power of peter vischer, the great nuremberg craftsman, has given the touch of life and genius to the figures of theodoric and arthur. fitting indeed it was that the personality of the champion of the table round should be made to rise before us. arthur, the great type of all that was best and noblest in mediaeval chivalry, and maximilian, the last worthy representative of a worn-out order and a subverted code of honour, are thus indissolubly linked { } together in our imaginations; and as we turn away from the empty tomb and its spellbound watchers, we can realize something of the glamour and romance of the imperial dreamer's life. [ ] quoted, geiger, _renaissance und humanismus_, page . [ a] the only two possible exceptions to this assertion, joachim of brandenburg, who founded the university of frankfurt-on-oder, and eitelwolf von stein, who introduced hutten to the court of mainz. [ ] see geiger, p. . [ ] an educational movement was set in motion at deventer by the brethren of the common life, headed by gerhard groot, and later by radewins. the chief of many brilliant pupils were cardinal nicholas of cusa, rudolph agricola, and alexander hegius. among its offshoots was the school of schletstadt in alsace, whence wimpheling came. [ ] _defensio theologiae contra turpem libellum philomusi_. [ ] see letter of wimpheling to brant, quoted by schmidt, _histoire litteraire de l'alsace_, i., page . [ ] quoted, geiger, page . [ ] see prof. ulmann, _studie über maximilians i plan einer deutschen kirchenreform in_ --in briegers zeitschrift für kirchengeschichte, vol. iii. [ ] creighton, vi., page . [ ] janssen, i., p. . the english translation of alexander barclay, published in , is a favourite with collectors of rare editions. [ ] "a prince can mak' a belted knight a marquis, duke an' a' that; but an honest man's aboon his might-- guid faith, he mauna fa' that."--_burns_. compare also-- "ferre lo sole il fango tutto il giorno; vile riman, nè il sol perde calore. dice uomo altier, 'gentil per schiatta torno'; lui sembro al fango, al sol gentil valore."--_guido guinicelli_. [ ] _elegiaca exhortatio contra perfldos et sacrilegos flamingos_--quoted schmidt, i., p. . [ ] quoted, schmidt, i. . [ ] _varia carmina_.--brant. [ ] one of the trade routes from venice and the east was through innsbruck direct to augsburg. [ ] the great houses of fugger and welser had connexions throughout europe. [ ] , , . [ ] the following list of his visits does not profess to be complete-- , , , march , february to may and june to july , march to april, and may , march , january , january , january and july , july . [ ] see theodor herberger, _conrad peutinger in seinem verhältniss zum kaiser maximilian i_. [ ] _romanae vetustatis fragmenta in augusta vindelicorum et eius diocesi_. [ ] his chief publications were: ( ) _historia horarum canonicarum de s. hieronymo_ ( ). ( ) _jornandes, de rebus gothorum_ ( ). ( ) _paulus diaconus forojuliensis, de gestis langobardorum_ ( ). ( ) _chronicon abbatis urspergensis a nino rege assyriorum magno usque ad fridericum ii. rom. imperatorem_ ( ). ( ) new edition of macrobius, _de somno scipionis_. he also wrote himself--_sermones convivales de finibus germaniae contra gallos_, and _germania ex variis scriptoribus perbrevis explicatio_. [ ] c. headlam, _nuremberg_, p. . [ ] it is not, i think, pedantic nor beside the mark, to compare the words of pirkheimer and zola--"ich werde nie verschweigenswertes enthüllen, denn die wahrheit, die nur zeitweise bedrückt, aber niemals unterdrückt werden kann, wird sich selbst offenbaren" (from _der gehobelte eck_); and "la vérité est en avance, et rien ne l'arrêtera!" (open letter on dreyfus). [ ] "alle begehrenden und wirkenden kräfte des gemüthes können eines jeglichen dinges, wie nützlich und lustbar das immer erscheinen mag, von täglicher Übung vielem und überflüssigem gebrauche befriedigt, erfüllet und zuletzt verdriesslich werden, allein die begierde viel zu wissen; die da einem jeglichen von natur eingepflanzet ist, die ist gegen solche ersättigung gefeiert und aller verdriesslichkeit ganz und gar nicht unterworfen"--quoted from dürer, in geiger, _renaissance und humanismus_, p. . [ ] beck only did seven. (total .) [ ] see _albert dürer_, by wm. bell scott, p. . [ ] quoted, scott's _dürer_, p. . [ ] headlam, _story of nuremberg_, p. . [ ] maximilian also appears in dürer's beautiful picture, "das rosenkranzfest," now at prague. the blessed virgin enthroned in the centre gently lays a crown upon the head of maximilian, who kneels sideways, with clasped hands, to her left. [ ] six more were printed by lucas cranach. [ ] see joseph von aschbach, _geschichte der wiener universitat_, vols. [ ] at the instance of innocent viii. [ ] aschbach, xi. . [ ] they were as follows: velocianus, ; joachim v. watt (vadianus), ; janus hadelius, ; rudolfus agricola (the younger), . [ ] the former he unearthed in the monastery of st. emmeran at augsburg, and edited in ; the latter was found in the franconian monastery of ebrach, and printed in augsburg in . see wattenbach, _deutschlands geschichtsquellen_, i. - . on celtes, see a. horawitz, _zur geschichte des deutschen humanismus_, article in _zeitschrift für deutsche kulturgeschichte_, . [ ] _script. univ. vienn._ ii. , quoted aschbach. [ ] ovid, the hymns of aurelius prudentius, a christian poet, and _periegesis_ by dionysius of alexandria. [ ] from julius caesar up to the death of maximilian. [ ] janssen, i. - . [ ] see _jahrbuch det kunsthistorischen sammlung des ah. kaiserhauses, vol. vi._ containing _weisskunig_. [ ] bibliography of maximilian--"_die bücher die kaeyser max selbst macht--grab, ehren, weise künig, teuerdanck, freydanck, triumph wagen, stamm cronick, der stamm, artalerey; die sieben lust-gezirck, wappen-buch, stall-buch, joegerey, valcknerey, kücherey, kellnerey, fischerey, goertnerey, baumeisterey, moralitoet, andacht st. jürgen. nec ullus eorum hactenus impressus est, praeterquam is qui inscribitur der theuerdanck._" quoted in "notice sur max. i."; in le glay, _correspondence_, vol. ii. [ ] janssen, i. . [ ] see a most interesting article in the _monthly review_, february , "an emperor's sporting chronicle," by w. baillie grohman. perhaps even more extraordinary than these instances is the letter to his daughter margaret (dec. , ). he desires her to make three requests of henry viii.--first, for , archers for maximilian's expedition to rome; second, for pardon for the duke of suffolk; and _third_, for "deux beaux doghes femelles et ung masle," for the duke of würtemberg--le glay, i., letter . earlier in the same year (february ), he expresses his delight at the eager way in which his young grandson charles is taking to the chase, and adds, "otherwise one might deem him a bastard." { } v the wideness of maximilian's interests, and the variety of spheres in which those interests led him to take a part, enhance the difficulty of estimating or defining his character as a whole, and each different attitude demands discussion before any general conclusion can be drawn. his political career, however, despite all its intrigues and complications, is comparatively easy to estimate; for his persistence in controlling his own policy and his dislike of associates and confidants throw the entire responsibility of any given action upon the emperor's own shoulders. his retentive memory and tireless energy aided him in what would otherwise have been a hopeless effort. "he seldom or never," writes the venetian ambassador in , "discusses with any one what he has in hand or does, especially in important matters."[ ] he was in the habit of dictating to his secretaries late into the night, and often drew up important documents with his own hands; while even during his meals, and in the midst of his hunting expeditions, he dictated dispatches or gave instructions to his councillors. for his credit as a politician this monopolizing spirit was most unfortunate. his secrecy kept his councillors and ambassadors ever in the dark, and rendered a firm attitude on their part almost impossible. his over-confidence, both in his own capacity { } and in the honesty of others, received many a rude shock, and often made him the dupe of his intellectual inferiors. machiavelli tells us the opinion of an intimate friend of the emperor, "that anyone could cheat him without his knowing it."[ ] his condemnation as a bungler by the florentine statesman has been used as an argument in maximilian's favour; but the only possible inference is that in affairs of state the emperor's morals had not suffered so complete an eclipse as those of his rivals, while his statecraft was based upon a neglect of sound political principles. but even more prominent than the self-centred nature of his policy are two fatal weaknesses in his character, which account for most of his failures and disappointments--his want of perseverance and his open-handedness. the whole history of his reign is an illustration of the inconstancy with which he flitted from scheme to scheme, never allowing the time { } necessary for a successful issue; and the disastrous consequences of this habit were only accentuated by the fact that he remained a law unto himself, self-deprived of all moderating influences. it was this fickle and over-sanguine disposition which caused louis xii. to exclaim, "what this king says at night, he does not hold to the next morning."[ ] the criticism of ferdinand v. is perhaps even more apposite--"if maximilian thinks of a thing, he also believes that it is already done."[ ] without duly considering the means at his disposal, he stormed impetuously towards an end which was obviously unattainable under the circumstances, and, to make matters worse, he had already lost all interest in the project before there was even a prospect of its being crowned with success. in other cases, his inventive intellect showed him two or three ways towards the same goal, with the result that he either pursued all at once, or, confining himself to one only, soon changed his mind and adopted a course which he regarded as safer. "and so," writes quirini, "he springs from one decision to another, till time and opportunity are past ... and thus he wins from all men a light enough reputation."[ ] but perhaps the greatest weakness of maximilian's administration was faulty finance. it is true that the resources at his disposal were wholly inadequate, whether in the empire or in his own dominions. yet his own unpractical and visionary nature prevented him from making the best of such means as he possessed, and drew him into quite a needless amount of money difficulties. he had absolutely no conception { } of the meaning of economy, and, deeming it an unkingly trait, gave with both hands to his servants and his friends, and laid no proper check upon his household expenses. the fact that he spent but little upon himself, and that his personal requirements were frugal in the extreme, while it speaks well for the generosity of his nature, cannot affect our estimate of his financial incapacity. indeed, such were his extravagance and his penury, that the venetian ambassador was induced to exclaim: "for a ducat he can be won for anything."[ ] and truly, the fact that he actually served venice and milan, and in later years england, for hire, after the manner of an italian condottiere, justifies the severe exaggeration of this remark. his liberal patronage of art and science, and the magnificence of the court entertainments, must have contributed in some degree to his popularity among contemporaries; but his ruinous method of raising supplies in his own dominions really transferred the burden of his endless undertakings to the shoulders of the next generation.[ ] as emperor, maximilian has been severely censured for subordinating the imperial to the territorial ideal, and for furthering hapsburg ambitions at the expense of germany as a whole. but a survey of his youth and early training at once helps to explain this policy and proves it to have been inevitable. such a path had been mapped out for him by his father's motto, a.e.i.o.u., and frederick's own impotence to achieve its aspirations only served to impress { } it more firmly upon the youthful maximilian. and indeed there is much truth in his idea, that the building up of a strong hereditary state was the surest road towards an imposing position in the empire. while the personal defects of maximilian, which have already been discussed, are largely responsible for the comparative ineffectiveness of his imperial policy, yet the chief cause of all was inherent in the constitution of the empire. it can hardly be doubted but that an emperor far more powerful than maximilian ever was would have failed to combine the many conflicting elements into a central government capable of strong and united action. "constitution, law, order in the state were everywhere forcing themselves out of the perverted forms of the middle ages into more perfect models." but as yet confusion and impotence held sway, and the broad principles of reform were obscured from maximilian's eyes by a perplexing array of minor questions. feudalism had long been in decay, and the efforts of rulers in every state were directed towards extending their authority and bringing the nobles and the towns into greater dependence upon the throne. but the permanent taxation and the standing army which made the attainment of this end possible to the french kings, and through which france became for a number of years the first military power of europe, were denied to maximilian by the peculiar circumstances of the empire. not even in his hereditary lands, still less elsewhere, was there any regular system of "aids" for the sovereign's support; and maximilian had to wage his wars, either with militia, who were ever slow to assemble and prompt to disband, whose discipline was not beyond { } reproach, and who were not liable to serve outside their own territory, or with mercenaries, whose maintenance involved an expense which the absence of regular taxation made it difficult to meet. apart from the revenues of crown lands and the deeply mortgaged mines and tolls, he could raise no contributions without the diet's consent; and as a rule each estate vied with the others in resolutely setting aside all considerations of patriotism and maintaining the tightest hold upon their purse-strings. they showed no sympathy with maximilian's aims and interests; while the emperor lacked the power to enforce his wishes upon them. such circumstances would almost justify his policy of retaliation by obstructing the diet's efforts towards reform. but in any case he can hardly be blamed for falling back upon a strictly austrian policy and using his imperial office to further hapsburg interests. whenever the emperor's political action is deserving of praise, the house of hapsburg rather than the empire will be found to have reaped the benefit. his enthusiastic belief in the future greatness of his house was the guiding star of his whole life, and encouraged him to consolidate his dominions internally, and thus, as he hoped, to fit them to become the central point of a world-wide empire. besides the introduction of roman law, for which he was mainly responsible, he thoroughly reorganized the administration of the austrian duchies. the revenues had become insufficient for the execution of his princely duties, especially in time of war; and maximilian set himself to introduce into the country the same methods of government which he employed in the netherlands. he replaced the old feudal survivals { } in the state by a modern officialdom, which gradually paralyzed the opposition of the estates, and from which certain individuals exercised a permanent control over the government during his own absence. meanwhile it was his hapsburg and territorial ambitions which prompted him to reassert the imperial authority in italy, and which were partly responsible for his eagerness to recover croatia and southern hungary from the hands of the turks. above all, it was these ambitions that inspired him in his endless projects of alliances and marriages--projects which secured for his descendants the glorious inheritance of spain, the two sicilies and the new world, and the kingdoms of bohemia and hungary. passing from his public to his private life, we may reasonably assert that maximilian, while far from spotless, compares favourably with the princes of his time. the excesses of charles viii., the luxurious vice of louis xii., the barbaric licentiousness of francis i., and again the unrestrained passions of henry viii., and ferdinand v.'s frank disavowal of morality--all these traits are happily wanting in maximilian's life. he seems to have loved the gracious mary faithfully and tenderly, and it is said that, to the day of his death, any mention of her name drew from him a deep sigh of remembrance. but for her untimely death he might have resisted the fierce temptations of his royal position. he had at least eight natural children, of whom two only are known to history--george, bishop of brixen, who eventually became prince bishop of liège, and a daughter, who perished with her husband, the count of helfenstein, in the peasants' revolt of . it cannot be maintained that maximilian's second { } marriage was a love-match; yet there is reason to believe that, though he paid little attention to the unfortunate bianca maria, he at least remained faithful to her. though his table was always magnificently served, he himself was extremely temperate, both in food and drink. indeed, his strong detestation of drunkenness forms a pleasant contrast to the opinions and practice of his courtiers and even of the great princes of the empire. his moderation and healthy diet gave added strength to a frame which was naturally robust and untiring. he could endure with ease the extremes of heat and cold, prolonged journeys and want of sleep, and even privations in food and drink. his strong constitution was united to a pleasing countenance, which seldom failed to prepossess in his favour. a prominent nose and well-defined features, together with the lightning glances of his eye, imparted to him a searching look, which seemed to pierce through men and read their very souls. withal, he was fully endowed with that genial and gracious manner which veils its condescension under a mingling of good humour and perfect tactfulness. in conversation he exercised a fascination which was not without its effect even upon his sternest opponents; while the whole-hearted and friendly spirit with which he threw himself into the amusements and sports of the common people won for him an even wider respect and love than his passion for the chase and his intimate relations with the tyrolese mountaineers. he frequently took his place in a village dance, or competed with the peasants in their shooting matches; and he recommended the chase to his descendants not merely for those delights which none knew better than himself, but also because of the opportunities which it { } offered to princes of coming into contact with their subjects, of learning their wishes and helping them in their difficulties. his fresh joyous nature showed itself in a thousand little touches, but perhaps in none more vividly than in his ardent love of music and in the delight which he took in the presence of singing-birds in the palace of innsbruck. thus whether fraternizing with the peasants of his beloved tyrol, clad in a hunting suit of simple grey, or affably conversing with the burghers and ladies of frankfort or augsburg, he awoke in all hearts an involuntary feeling of admiration. before all, maximilian was a german of the germans. as he was the last representative of the dying mediaeval chivalry, and the last monarch of the ancient german stamp, so also he was the first german patriot-king of modern times; and herein lies the secret of the love and admiration which his contemporaries poured so fully upon him. the proud and royal motto to which he gave utterance, "my honour is german honour, and german honour mine," graphically reminds us that he identified himself with the joys and sorrows, the glories and the failures of the german race. it is neglect of this fact, and want of sympathy with german thought and ideals, that are responsible for the indiscriminating criticisms of several modern historians--criticisms which would often be bestowed with greater justice upon the constitution of the empire than upon the emperor himself. and the motto has been realized in a further sense. for the feeling of germany, turning from the weaknesses and failures which mar the fullness of maximilian's glory, has reciprocated the loyalty which he expressed towards his people, and { } has elevated the chivalrous emperor into one of the national heroes, worthy to rank with hermann and barbarossa. for maximilian, in no uncertain sense, personified the dreams, the aspirations, the strugglings of the fatherland. the nation, chastened and revivified by a new birth of patriotism, sought an object on whom to fix its affections and its hopes. it turned naturally to the emperor, the heir of so many splendid traditions, and it was met on his side by the ardent devotion of a whole lifetime. in a word, he and his people had realized--incompletely it may be, yet in a very genuine sense--the true relations of a monarch and his subjects, and, linked to one another by ties of mutual sympathy, handed down the happy tradition as an example to their remote posterity. "kaiser max" (as his people fondly called him) was not a great man, in the strictest sense of the word; yet all lovers of large-hearted and human characters must ever treasure his memory in their hearts. and here let us take our leave of maximilian, in the kindly words of a contemporary-- du hattest wenig ru in dysem leben, darumb dir got yetz ewig freud hat geben. here upon earth small rest to thee was given, now god hath granted thee the joy of heaven. [ ] _archivio storico ital._ vii. . , quoted ulmann, i. . [ ] opere iv. . see also dissertation by rösemeier, _machiavelli's erste legation zum k. maximilian i., mid seine drei schriften über deutschland_. in the main, machiavelli blames maximilian, st, for his openhandedness; and, as undecided, credulous, and all the more dependent on others, in that he tries not to be. but he qualifies his strictures by saying, "the emperor is a great general; he bears fatigue like the most hardened soldiers; he is brave in danger and just in governing. when he grants an audience, he is patient and gracious, and is a pattern of many princely virtues." vettori is not quite so severe--"none can deny," he says, "that he (max) is wise and circumspect, skilful and untiring in war, and widely experienced. he possesses the confidence of the nation more than any of his predecessors for more than a hundred years; but he is so amiable and kind-hearted, that it makes him yielding and credulous"--quoted janssen, i. . ludovico ticiano is less critical when he declares, that "on no general can the soldier rely more implicitly, from none can he expect more boldness in the courting of perils and more skill in meeting them; nor can the burgher wish for any juster or milder prince, or one in whom justness and mildness are so equally poised"--quoted geiger, p. . [ ] see ulmann, i. . [ ] despatch of cornero to venice, --quoted huber, iii. . [ ] albèri, _relazioni degli ambasciatori veneti_, serie i., vi. . [ ] see prof. e. heyck, _maximilian i._, in the wellknown german series of ideal illustrated monographs. [ ] for maximilian's treatment of finance, see ulmann, i. , - , and huber, iii., ch. . { } appendix appendix i though some reference to maximilian's relations to the question of imperial reform was unavoidable, a detailed account must be sought for rather in an authoritative history of germany than in an essay which centres round an individual. hence an appendix seems the most fitting place for dealing with the subject. when maximilian was elected king of the romans ( ), it had long been evident that, if a new or reformed constitution was to be secured, the initiative must be taken by the estates. during the years - frequent deliberations took place, with a view to evolving some scheme for strengthening the institutions of the empire. the leaders of the movement sought especially to impart to the imperial diets more regular forms and greater dignity, and to check the resistance to their decrees which was met with in the towns. at the diet of , the towns, renouncing the policy of obstruction and equivocation which had characterized them throughout the century, were fully represented, and took an active part in the business of the committee which discussed the landfriede. in a new stage of development was reached by the diet, when the three colleges of electors, princes and burghers separated for the first time and conducted their deliberations apart. their proposal to limit the power of the imperial tribunal met with determined opposition from frederick the third; and the estates applied to maximilian, and obtained from him a promise of the reform of the kammergericht, or imperial chamber. the old emperor's attitude necessitated a postponement of the question; but on his death in it was revived with greater urgency than ever. the leading spirit of the whole movement was berthold of henneberg, elector of mainz, whose patriotism and calm impartiality won the respect of all parties. at the great diet of worms, which opened at the end of march , the estates united in pressing on maximilian a fulfilment of his promises, and persisted in refusing him all support until he submitted to their demands. the struggle lasted { } throughout the summer, maximilian throwing every obstacle in the way of reform, but finally, on august , he signed his agreement to the demands of the diet. the results of the diet may be classified under four heads: st. the landfriede was more closely organized, and was made perpetual. no difficulty was experienced over this point, as maximilian had taken the lead in enforcing the landfriede at an earlier date. nd. the kammergericht, or imperial chamber, was founded, to act as a court of first instance for all direct subjects of the emperor. its jurisdiction was, however, limited to cases of prelates, nobles, knights and towns among each other; in the event of complaints against any of the princes or electors, an arbitration was first necessary before the councillors of the accused prince. the chamber consisted of a judge, nominated by the emperor, and sixteen other members, appointed by the estates, half being of knightly birth, half learned in the law. its distinguishing features were: (_a_) that it was to sit continuously in the empire, not following the court, but fixed permanently at frankfurt-on-main. (_b_) that it could receive appeals from the landgerichte. (_c_) that its members were to receive their salaries out of the fees of the court, though they might be supplemented from the imperial revenues if these fees proved insufficient. (_d_) that the judge acquired the power of proclaiming the ban of the empire in the sovereign's name. rd. a proposal was laid down for yearly meetings of the estates, with the object of controlling the imperial expenditure. to this assembly the treasurer was to deliver the money which he received from the taxes, and it was to hold the exclusive power of deciding the expenditure; while neither the emperor nor his son might declare war without its consent. "the constitution thus proposed was a mixture of monarchical and federal government, but with an obvious preponderance of the latter element; a political union, preserving the forms of the ancient hierarchy of the empire." but the defective nature of the diet's composition, and the virtual impossibility of securing a united effort for any length of time, prevented the accomplishment of this scheme. th. in return for these concessions on the part of maximilian, the diet instituted "the common penny" (der gemeine pfennig). this was an attempt at systematic taxation, according to which an impost of half a gulden was levied on every gulden, and among { } the poorer classes every twenty-four people above the age of fifteen contributed one gulden. the common penny was imperfectly organized and soon became merely nominal, as the needy maximilian often found to his cost; and though it was revived under charles v., it soon disappeared again after a brief and fitful existence. the only actions of the diet of lindau ( ), the next in succession to that of worms, were to renew the common penny, to transfer the imperial chamber from frankfurt to worms, and to impose a tax upon the jews of the chief imperial towns. though maximilian had at worms evaded the demand for a reichs-regiment, or council of regency, as too serious a limitation to his prerogative, yet at the diet of augsburg ( ) he was obliged to give way even at this point. the diet gave its sanction to a scheme of military organization, according to which every inhabitants were to provide one foot soldier, the cavalry was to be raised by the princes and nobles upon a fixed scale, and a tax was imposed on those who could not themselves take any active share. in return for this concession, maximilian consented to the establishment of a council of regency, which, had it preserved the powers which were at first granted to it, would have deprived the emperor of whatever power he still possessed. it was composed of a president, chosen by the emperor, one delegate from each of the electors, six from the princes conjointly, two from austria and the netherlands, and two from the imperial cities. its powers were most comprehensive, and included the administration of justice, the maintenance of peace, the defence of the empire from attack, and, most astounding of all, the control of foreign affairs. it is conceivable that maximilian might have submitted to the council's authority, had it displayed becoming moderation. but its first act--the conclusion of peace with france--was so directly contrary to the whole trend of maximilian's policy, that he was naturally driven into active opposition to its powers. "in he fell back upon his imperial right of holding courts of justice (hofgerichte), and erected a standing court or aulic council (hofrath), entirely under his own control." he himself was its president, and its assessors were arbitrarily appointed. this action led to a congress of electors at gelnhausen in june , at which they arranged to meet four times a year to deliberate on public affairs, and actually announced the first meeting for the following november, without consulting the emperor in any way upon the matter. maximilian was too weak to oppose them, and therefore proclaimed the assembly himself. but the successful issue of the war of landshut and the death of { } berthold of mainz greatly strengthened maximilian's position in the empire, and proportionately weakened the cause of reform. hence the council of regency was allowed to die a natural death. at the diet of constance ( ) some progress was again made. in return for a grant of troops and money, maximilian re-established the imperial chamber, which had held no sittings for three years, and a small tax was instituted to pay the salaries of its officials. the diets of worms ( ) and augsburg ( ) were occupied by complaints and abuse, which were wholly without effect. in , however, the diet of koln, to which city it had removed from trier, secured the division of the empire into six kreise, or circles, for administrative and military purposes. the circles were to be placed under captains, who were all controlled by a captain-general, and the organization was to be entrusted to a council of eight, "who were to act as a privy council under the emperor's control." but the jealousy of the diet refused him the nomination of these captains, and of the council, with the result that the measure fell through for the time, and did not take effect till , under charles v. this was the last serious attempt at reform during the reign of maximilian; for the later diets were mere scenes of confusion and of mutual recrimination. the failure of the reforming movement only served to emphasize the fact that the constitution of the empire had become an unworkable machine, and that the empire itself could only be saved from weakness and disorganization by the rise of a strong central monarchy. but this was not to be. such a contingency, which maximilian's vast dreams of austrian world-power had seemed to foreshadow, was rendered impossible by the great spiritual revolution, which filled all minds throughout the reign of charles v. several centuries were required to permit the growth of a strong german state out of the chaos of the mediaeval empire; and it was reserved for the nineteenth century to see a native dynasty restore to germany the long-lost blessings of consolidation and unity. [illustration: the imperial house of hapsburg] { } index the names of battles have their dates in brackets tr.=treaty aachen, adelsberg, . agnadello ( ), . albert achilles, albert iv., of bavaria, , , albert vi., of austria, albert, el. of mainz, albert of saxony, aldus manutius, alexander vi., amboise cardinal d', , anne of brittany, - , apulian ports, , arras, tr. of ( ), _ars versificandi_, ausburg, diet of ( ), ; ( ) ; ( ) ---- humanists of, aulic council, austria, , , , , _austria_, balbus, hieronymus, basel, tr. of ( ), bavarian war of succession, - beck, leonhard, , berthold, el. of mainz, , , , - , , bianca maria sforza, , , blois, tr. of ( ), brant, sebastian, - brittany, - bruges, , , brussels, tr. of ( ), burgau, burgkmair, hans, burgundy, loss of, burgundian marriage, - cajetan, cardinal, cambrai, league of ( ), celtes, , - charles, archduke, , , , , , , , charles the bold, charles of egmont, , , charles viii., , , , ; death, chièvres, , coblenz, diet of ( ), cochläus, colins, alexander, collegium poetarum, comines, , common penny, constance, diet of ( ), cunigunda, sister of max., cuspinian, - , , deventer, school of, dijon, dornach ( ), dournon ( ), dürer, albrecht, - eberhard of würtemberg, , , eck, johann, _ehrenpforte_, eleanor of portugal, engelbrecht, bishop, eric of brunswick, esslingen, ferdinand v., , , , , , , _sqq._, , ; death, fornovo ( ), francis i., , - , frankfurt, tr. of ( ), frederick iii., , , , , _sqq._; death, ; policy, frederick, el. of saxony, , freydal's _mummereien_, fuchsmagen, fugger, fürstenberg, c. of, gaston de foix, _gebetbuch_, _gejaidbuch_, george the rich, d. of landshut, , _germania_, gian galeazzo, ii., görz, , , gossembrot, sigismund, grandson ( ), "great privilege" of ghent, greifenklau, el. of trier, _grievances, the hundred_, guinegate ( ), , ; ( ), henry vii., henry viii., , _sqq._, hofheimer, paul, holbein, hans, holy league ( ), ; ( ) humanists, in strasburg, - ; in augsburg, - ; in nuremberg, - ; in vienna, - hutten, ulrich von, innocent viii., innsbruck, , , ---- tomb of max. at, , isaak, heinrich, isabella the catholic, istria, joanna of spain, julius ii., , _sq._, , köln, , ; diet of ( ), krachenberger, kufstein, kunz von der rosen, landshut, lang, matthew, bp. of gurk, , , la trémouille, leo x., , lille, tr. of ( ), lindau, diet of ( ), , linz, , livorno, louis xi., intrigues of, - louis xii., , _sqq._, , , , , , ; death, louis (ii.) of hungary, lower union, löwlerbund, ludovico sforza, , , , , machiavelli, mantua, congress of ( ), margaret of austria, , , , - , , , , , marignano ( ), mary of burgundy, , - mary of england, , , - massimiliano sforza, matthias of hungary, , ; death, maximilian i.,--character, - , - ; as idealist, ; as soldier, - ; as sportsman, - ; dream of papacy, ; administration, - ; portraits, ; nicknames, , , . ---- contemporary descriptions of, , , , and note, ---- and the german renaissance, - meisterlin, milan, , , , , , , moral ( ), münster, nancy ( ), naples, conquest of, _narrenschiff_, neustadt, , , novara, ; ( ) noyon, tr. of ( ) nuremberg, chronicle, , ; diet of ( ), ; humanists of, - orléans, tr. of ( ), osiander, pace, richard, - padua, papacy, max. aspires to, perger, perpetual peace ( ), peutinger, conrad, - pfinzing, melchior, philip, archduke, , , , , , , pirkheimer, wilibald, - pius ii. (aeneas sylvius), , prättigau, pressburg, tr. of ( ), quirini, , ravenna ( ), regensburg, , ; ( ) reichsregiment, , , renaissance, german, maximilian's connexion with, - ---- german and italian, contrasted, - rupert of palatinate, sachs, hans, schwaderloch ( ), senlis, peace of ( ), sigismund, emperor, , spanish marriages, - spaur, carl von, stabius, , strasburg, humanists of, - stuhlweissenburg, swabian league, , , , swiss, , , swiss war, - _teuerdank_, thérouenne, ticiano, ludovico, tournai, trautson, treitzsauerwein, marx, trent, , trier, diet of ( ), _triumphzug_, trivulzio, turks, , tyrol, , , uladislas iv., , - , ulrich of würtemberg, , venice, , , , , , - , , - verona, , , , vicariates, the four, vienna, tr. of ( ), ---- university, , - _wappenbuch_, _weisskunig_, , - wels, werdenberg, hugo von, , wimpheling, jacob, - worms, ; diet of ( ), - , ; ( ) würtemburg, , , zillerthal, butler & tanner, the selwood printing works, frome, and london. none trenck*** transcribed from the cassell & co. edition by david price, email ccx @pglaf.org, proofed by kenyon, uzma g., marie gilham, l. f. smith and david. the life and adventures of baron trenck translated by thomas holcroft. vol. ii. cassell & company, limited: _london_, _paris, new york & melbourne_. . introduction. thomas holcroft, the translator of these memoirs of baron trenck, was the author of about thirty plays, among which one, _the road to ruin_, produced in , has kept its place upon the stage. he was born in december, , the son of a shoemaker who did also a little business in horse-dealing. after early struggles, during which he contrived to learn french, german, and italian, holcroft contributed to a newspaper, turned actor, and wrote plays, which appeared between the years and . he produced also four novels, the first in , the last in . he was three times married, and lost his first wife in . in , his sympathy with ideals of the french revolutionists caused him to be involved with hardy, horne tooke, and thelwall, in a charge of high treason; but when these were acquitted, holcroft and eight others were discharged without trial. holcroft earned also by translation. he translated, besides these memoirs of baron trenck, mirabeau's _secret history of the court of berlin_, _les veillees du chateau_ of madame de genlis, and the posthumous works of frederick ii., king of prussia, in thirteen volumes. the memoirs of baron trenck were first published at berlin as his _merkwurdige lebensbeschreibung_, in three volumes octavo, in and . they were first translated into french by baron bock (metz, ); more fully by letourneur (paris, ); and again by himself (strasbourg, ), with considerable additions. holcroft translated from the french versions. h.m. chapter i. blessed shade of a beloved sister! the sacrifice of my adverse and dreadful fate! thee could i never avenge! thee could the blood of weingarten never appease! no asylum, however sacred, should have secured him, had he not sought that last of asylums for human wickedness and human woes--the grave! to thee do i dedicate these few pages, a tribute of thankfulness; and, if future rewards there are, may the brightest of these rewards be thine. for us, and not for ours, may rewards be expected from monarchs who, in apathy, have beheld our mortal sufferings. rest, noble soul, murdered though thou wert by the enemies of thy brother. again my blood boils, again my tears roll down my cheeks, when i remember thee, thy sufferings in my cause, and thy untimely end! i knew it not; i sought to thank thee; i found thee in the grave; i would have made retribution to thy children, but unjust, iron-hearted princes had deprived me of the power. can the virtuous heart conceive affliction more cruel? my own ills i would have endured with magnanimity; but thine are wrongs i have neither the power to forget nor heal. enough of this.-- the worthy emperor, francis i., shed tears when i afterwards had the honour of relating to him in person my past miseries; i beheld them flow, and gratitude threw me at his feet. his emotion was so great that he tore himself away. i left the palace with all the enthusiasm of soul which such a scene must inspire. he probably would have done more than pitied me, but his death soon followed. i relate this incident to convince posterity that francis i. possessed a heart worthy an emperor, worthy a man. in the knowledge i have had of monarchs he stands alone. frederic and theresa both died without doing me justice; i am now too old, too proud, have too much apathy, to expect it from their successors. petition i will not, knowing my rights; and justice from courts of law, however evident my claims, were in these courts vain indeed to expect. lawyers and advocates i know but too well, and an army to support my rights i have not. what heart that can feel but will pardon me these digressions! at the exact and simple recital of facts like these, the whole man must be roused, and the philosopher himself shudder. once more:--i heard nothing of what had happened for some days; at length, however, it was the honest gelfhardt's turn to mount guard; but the ports being doubled, and two additional grenadiers placed before my door, explanation was exceedingly difficult. he, however, in spite of precaution, found means to inform me of what had happened to his two unfortunate comrades. the king came to a review at magdeburg, when he visited star-fort, and commanded a new cell to be immediately made, prescribing himself the kind of irons by which i was to be secured. the honest gelfhardt heard the officer say this cell was meant for me, and gave me notice of it, but assured me it could not be ready in less than a month. i therefore determined, as soon as possible, to complete my breach in the wall, and escape without the aid of any one. the thing was possible; for i had twisted the hair of my mattress into a rope, which i meant to tie to a cannon, and descend the rampart, after which i might endeavour to swim across the elbe, gain the saxon frontiers, and thus safely escape. on the th of may i had determined to break into the next casemate; but when i came to work at the bricks, i found them so hard and strongly cemented that i was obliged to defer the labour till the following day. i left off, weary and spent, at daybreak, and should any one enter my dungeon, they must infallibly discover the breach. how dreadful is the destiny by which, through life, i have been persecuted, and which has continually plunged me headlong into calamity, when i imagined happiness was at hand! the th of may was a cruel day in the history of my life. my cell in the star-fort had been finished sooner than gelfhardt had supposed; and at night, when i was preparing to fly, i heard a carriage stop before my prison. o god! what was my terror, what were the horrors of this moment of despair! the locks and bolts resounded, the doors flew open, and the last of my poor remaining resources was to conceal my knife. the town- major, the major of the day, and a captain entered; i saw them by the light of their two lanterns. the only words they spoke were, "dress yourself," which was immediately done. i still wore the uniform of the regiment of cordova. irons were given me, which i was obliged myself to fasten on my wrists and ankles; the town-major tied a bandage over my eyes, and, taking me under the arm, they thus conducted me to the carriage. it was necessary to pass through the city to arrive at the star-fort; all was silent, except the noise of the escort; but when we entered magdeburg i heard the people running, who were crowding together to obtain a sight of me. their curiosity was raised by the report that i was going to be beheaded. that i was executed on this occasion in the star-fort, after having been conducted blindfold through the city, has since been both affirmed and written; and the officers had then orders to propagate this error that the world might remain in utter ignorance concerning me. i, indeed, knew otherwise, though i affected not to have this knowledge; and, as i was not gagged, i behaved as if i expected death, reproached my conductors in language that even made them shudder, and painted their king in his true colours, as one who, unheard, had condemned an innocent subject by a despotic exertion of power. my fortitude was admired, at the moment when it was supposed i thought myself leading to execution. no one replied, but their sighs intimated their compassion; certain it is, few prussians willingly execute such commands. the carriage at length stopped, and i was brought into my new cell. the bandage was taken from my eyes. the dungeon was lighted by a few torches. god of heaven! what were my feelings when i beheld the whole floor covered with chains, a fire-pan, and two grim men standing with their smiths' hammers! * * * * * to work went these engines of despotism! enormous chains were fixed to my ankle at one end, and at the other to a ring which was incorporated in the wall. this ring was three feet from the ground, and only allowed me to move about two or three feet to the right and left. they next riveted another huge iron ring, of a hand's breadth, round my naked body, to which hung a chain, fixed into an iron bar as thick as a man's arm. this bar was two feet in length, and at each end of it was a handcuff. the iron collar round my neck was not added till the year . * * * * * no soul bade me good night. all retired in dreadful silence; and i heard the horrible grating of four doors, that were successively locked and bolted upon me! thus does man act by his fellow, knowing him to be innocent, having received the commands of another man so to act. o god! thou alone knowest how my heart, void as it was of guilt, beat at this moment. there sat i, destitute, alone, in thick darkness, upon the bare earth, with a weight of fetters insupportable to nature, thanking thee that these cruel men had not discovered my knife, by which my miseries might yet find an end. death is a last certain refuge that can indeed bid defiance to the rage of tyranny. what shall i say? how shall i make the reader feel as i then felt? how describe my despondency, and yet account for that latent impulse that withheld my hand on this fatal, this miserable night? this misery i foresaw was not of short duration; i had heard of the wars that were lately broken out between austria and prussia. patiently to wait their termination, amid sufferings and wretchedness such as mine, appeared impossible, and freedom even then was doubtful. sad experience had i had of vienna, and well i knew that those who had despoiled me of my property most anxiously would endeavour to prevent my return. such were my meditations! such my night thoughts! day at length returned; but where was its splendour? fled! i beheld it not; yet was its glimmering obscurity sufficient to show me what was my dungeon. in breadth it was about eight feet; in length, ten. near me once more stood a night-table; in a corner was a seat, four bricks broad, on which i might sit, and recline against the wall. opposite the ring to which i was fastened, the light was admitted through a semi-circular aperture, one foot high, and two in diameter. this aperture ascended to the centre of the wall, which was six feet thick, and at this central part was a close iron grating, from which, outward, the aperture descended, and its two extremities were again secured by strong iron bars. my dungeon was built in the ditch of the fortification, and the aperture by which the light entered was so covered by the wall of the rampart that, instead of finding immediate passage, the light only gained admission by reflection. this, considering the smallness of the aperture, and the impediments of grating and iron bars, must needs make the obscurity great; yet my eyes, in time, became so accustomed to this glimmering that i could see a mouse run. in winter, however, when the sun did not shine into the ditch, it was eternal night with me. between the bars and the grating was a glass window, most curiously formed, with a small central casement, which might be opened to admit the air. my night-table was daily removed, and beside me stood a jug of water. the name of trenck was built in the wall, in red brick, and under my feet was a tombstone with the name of trenck also cut on it, and carved with a death's head. the doors to my dungeon were double, of oak, two inches thick; without these was an open space or front cell, in which was a window, and this space was likewise shut in by double doors. the ditch, in which this dreadful den was built, was enclosed on both sides by palisades, twelve feet high, the key of the door of which was entrusted to the officer of the guard, it being the king's intention to prevent all possibility of speech or communication with the sentinels. the only motion i had the power to make was that of jumping upward, or swinging my arms to procure myself warmth. when more accustomed to these fetters, i became capable of moving from side to side, about four feet; but this pained my shin-bones. the cell had been finished with lime and plaster but eleven days, and everybody supposed it would be impossible i should exist in these damps above a fortnight. i remained six months, continually immersed in very cold water, that trickled upon me from the thick arches under which i was; and i can safely affirm that, for the first three months, i was never dry; yet did i continue in health. i was visited daily, at noon, after relieving guard, and the doors were then obliged to be left open for some minutes, otherwise the dampness of the air put out their candles. this was my situation, and here i sat, destitute of friends, helplessly wretched, preyed on by all the torture of thought that continually suggested the most gloomy, the most horrid, the most dreadful of images. my heart was not yet wholly turned to stone; my fortitude was sunken to despondency; my dungeon was the very cave of despair; yet was my arm restrained, and this excess of misery endured. how then may hope be wholly eradicated from the heart of man? my fortitude, after some time, began to revive; i glowed with the desire of convincing the world i was capable of suffering what man had never suffered before; perhaps of at last emerging from this load of wretchedness triumphant over my enemies. so long and ardently did my fancy dwell on this picture, that my mind at length acquired a heroism which socrates himself certainly never possessed. age had benumbed his sense of pleasure, and he drank the poisonous draught with cool indifference; but i was young, inured to high hopes, yet now beholding deliverance impossible, or at an immense, a dreadful distance. such, too, were the other sufferings of soul and body, i could not hope they might be supported and live. about noon my den was opened. sorrow and compassion were painted on the countenances of my keepers. no one spoke; no one bade me good morrow. dreadful indeed was their arrival; for, unaccustomed to the monstrous bolts and bars, they were kept resounding for a full half-hour before such soul-chilling, such hope-murdering impediments were removed. it was the voice of tyranny that thundered. my night-table was taken out, a camp-bed, mattress, and blankets were brought me; a jug of water set down, and beside it an ammunition loaf of six pounds' weight. "that you may no more complain of hunger," said the town-major, "you shall have as much bread as you can eat." the door was shut, and i again left to my thoughts. what a strange thing is that called happiness! how shall i express my extreme joy when, after eleven months of intolerable hunger, i was again indulged with a full feast of coarse ammunition bread? the fond lover never rushed more eagerly to the arias of his expecting bride, the famished tiger more ravenously on his prey, than i upon this loaf. i ate, rested; surveyed the precious morsel; ate again; and absolutely shed tears of pleasure. breaking bit after bit, i had by evening devoured all my loaf. oh, nature! what delight hast thou combined with the gratification of thy wants! remember this, ye who gorge, ye who rack invention to excite appetite, and yet which you cannot procure! remember how simple are the means that will give a crust of mouldy bread a flavour more exquisite than all the spices of the east, or all the profusion of land or sea! remember this, grow hungry, and indulge your sensuality. alas! my enjoyment was of short duration. i soon found that excess is followed by pain and repentance. my fasting had weakened digestion, and rendered it inactive. my body swelled, my water-jug was emptied; cramps, colics, and at length inordinate thirst racked me all the night. i began to pour curses on those who seemed to refine on torture, and, after starving me so long, to invite me to gluttony. could i not have reclined on my bed, i should indeed have been driven, this night, to desperation; yet even this was but a partial relief; for, not yet accustomed to my enormous fetters, i could not extend myself in the same manner i was afterwards taught to do by habit. i dragged them, however, so together as to enable me to sit down on the bare mattress. this, of all my nights of suffering, stands foremost. when they opened my dungeon next day they found me in a truly pitiable situation, wondered at my appetite, brought me another loaf; i refused to accept it, believing i nevermore should have occasion for bread; they, however, left me one, gave me water, shrugged up their shoulders, wished me farewell, as, according to all appearance, they never expected to find me alive, and shut all the doors, without asking whether i wished or needed further assistance. three days had passed before i could again eat a morsel of bread; and my mind, brave in health, now in a sick body became pusillanimous, so that i determined on death. the irons, everywhere round my body, and their weight, were insupportable; nor could i imagine it was possible i should habituate myself to them, or endure them long enough to expect deliverance. peace was a very distant prospect. the king had commanded that such a prison should be built as should exclude all necessity of a sentinel, in order that i might not converse with and seduce them from what is called their duty: and, in the first days of despair, deliverance appeared impossible; and the fetters, the war, the pain i felt, the place, the length of time, each circumstance seemed equally impossible to support. a thousand reasons convinced me it was necessary to end my sufferings. i shall not enter into theological disputes: let those who blame me imagine themselves in my situation; or rather let them first actually endure my miseries, and then let them reason. i had often braved death in prosperity, and at this moment it seemed a blessing. full of these meditations, every minute's patience appeared absurdity, and resolution meanness of soul; yet i wished my mind should be satisfied that reason, and not rashness, had induced the act. i therefore determined, that i might examine the question coolly, to wait a week longer, and die on the fourth of july. in the meantime i revolved in my mind what possible means there were of escape, not fearing, naked and chained, to rush and expire on the bayonets of my enemies. the next day i observed, as the four doors were opened, that they were only of wood, therefore questioned whether i might not even cut off the locks with the knife that i had so fortunately concealed: and should this and every other means fail, then would be the time to die. i likewise determined to make an attempt to free myself of my chains. i happily forced my right hand through the handcuff, though the blood trickled from my nails. my attempts on the left were long ineffectual; but by rubbing with a brick, which i got from my seat, on the rivet that had been negligently closed, i effected this also. the chain was fastened to the run round my body by a hook, one end of which was not inserted in the rim; therefore, by setting my foot against the wall, i had strength enough so far to bend this hook back, and open it, as to force out the link of the chain. the remaining difficulty was the chain that attached my foot to the wall: the links of this i took, doubled, twisted, and wrenched, till at length, nature having bestowed on me great strength, i made a desperate effort, sprang forcibly up, and two links at once flew off. fortunate, indeed, did i think myself: i hastened to the door, groped in the dark to find the clinkings of the nails by which the lock was fastened, and discovered no very large piece of wood need be cut. immediately i went to work with my knife, and cut through the oak door to find its thickness, which proved to be only one inch, therefore it was possible to open all the four doors in four-and-twenty hours. again hope revived in my heart. to prevent detection i hastened to put on my chains; but, o god! what difficulties had i to surmount! after much groping about, i at length found the link that had flown off; this i hid: it being my good fortune hitherto to escape examination, as the possibility of ridding myself of such chains was in nowise suspected. the separated iron links i tied together with my hair ribbon; but when i again endeavoured to force my hand into the ring, it was so swelled that every effort was fruitless. the whole might was employed upon the rivet, but all labour was in vain. noon was the hour of visitation, and necessity and danger again obliged me to attempt forcing my hand in, which at length, after excruciating torture, i effected. my visitors came, and everything had the appearance of order. i found it, however, impossible to force out my right hand while it continued swelled. i therefore remained quiet till the day fixed, and on the determined fourth of july, immediately as my visitors had closed the doors upon me, i disencumbered myself of my irons, took my knife, and began my herculean labour on the door. the first of the double doors that opened inwards was conquered in less than an hour; the other was a very different task. the lock was soon cut round, but it opened outwards; there was therefore no other means left but to cut the whole door away above the bar. incessant and incredible labour made this possible, though it was the more difficult as everything was to be done by feeling, i being totally in the dark; the sweat dropped, or rather flowed, from my body; my fingers were clotted in my own blood, and my lacerated hands were one continued wound. daylight appeared: i clambered over the door that was half cut away, and got up to the window in the space or cell that was between the double doors, as before described. here i saw my dungeon was in the ditch of the first rampart: before me i beheld the road from the rampart, the guard but fifty paces distant, and the high palisades that were in the ditch, and must be scaled before i could reach the rampart. hope grew stronger; my efforts were redoubled. the first of the next double doors was attacked, which likewise opened inward, and was soon conquered. the sun set before i had ended this, and the fourth was to be cut away as the second had been. my strength failed; both my hands were raw; i rested awhile, began again, and had made a cut of a foot long, when my knife snapped, and the broken blade dropped to the ground! god of omnipotence! what was i at this moment? was there, god of mercies! was there ever creature of thine more justified than i in despair? the moon shone very clear; i cast a wild and distracted look up to heaven, fell on my knees, and in the agony of my soul sought comfort: but no comfort could be found; nor religion nor philosophy had any to give. i cursed not providence, i feared not annihilation, i dared not almighty vengeance; god the creator was the disposer of my fate; and if he heaped afflictions upon me he had not given me strength to support, his justice would not therefore punish me. to him, the judge of the quick and dead, i committed my soul, seized the broken knife, gashed through the veins of my left arm and foot, sat myself tranquilly down, and saw the blood flow. nature, overpowered fainted, and i know not how long i remained, slumbering, in this state. suddenly i heard my own name, awoke, and again heard the words, "baron trenck!" my answer was, "who calls?" and who indeed was it--who but my honest grenadier gelfhardt--my former faithful friend in the citadel! the good, the kind fellow had got upon the rampart, that he might comfort me. "how do you do?" said gelfhardt. "weltering in my blood," answered i; "to-morrow you will find me dead."--"why should you die?" replied he. "it is much easier for you to escape here than from the citadel! here is no sentinel, and i shall soon find means to provide you with tools; if you can only break out, leave the rest to me. as often as i am on guard, i will seek opportunity to speak to you. in the whole star-fort, there are but two sentinels: the one at the entrance, and the other at the guard- house. do not despair; god will succour you; trust to me." the good man's kindness and discourse revived my hopes: i saw the possibility of an escape. a secret joy diffused itself through my soul. i immediately tore my shirt, bound up my wounds, and waited the approach of day; and the sun soon after shone through the window, to me, with unaccustomed brightness. let the reader judge how far it was chance, or the effect of divine providence, that in this dreadful hour my heart again received hope. who was it sent the honest gelfhardt, at such a moment, to my prison? for, had it not been for him, i had certainly, when i awoke from my slumbers, cut more effectually through my arteries. till noon i had time to consider what might further be done: yet what could be done, what expected, but that i should now be much more cruelly treated, and even more insupportably ironed than before--finding, as they must, the doors cut through and my fetters shaken off? after mature consideration, i therefore made the following resolution, which succeeded happily, and even beyond my hopes. before i proceed, however, i will speak a few words concerning my situation at this moment. it is impossible to describe how much i was exhausted. the prison swam with blood; and certainly but little was left in my body. with painful wounds, swelled and torn hands, i there stood shirtless, felt an inclination to sleep almost irresistible, and scarcely had strength to keep my legs, yet was i obliged to rouse myself, that i might execute my plan. with the bar that separated my hands, i loosened the bricks of my seat, which, being newly laid, was easily done, and heaped them up in the middle of my prison. the inner door was quite open, and with my chains i so barricaded the upper half of the second as to prevent any one climbing over it. when noon came and the first of the doors was unlocked, all were astonished to find the second open. there i stood, besmeared with blood, the picture of horror, with a brick in one hand, and in the other my broken knife, crying, as they approached, "keep off, mr. major, keep off! tell the governor i will live no longer in chains, and that here i stand, if so he pleases, to be shot; for so only will i be conquered. here no man shall enter--i will destroy all that approach; here are my weapons; lucre will i die in despite of tyranny." the major was terrified, wanted resolution, and made his report to the governor. i meantime sat down on my bricks, to wait what might happen: my secret intent, however, was not so desperate as it appeared. i sought only to obtain a favourable capitulation. the governor, general borck, presently came, attended by the town-major and some officers, and entered the outward cell, but sprang back the moment he beheld a figure like me, standing with a brick and uplifted arm. i repeated what i had told the major, and he immediately ordered six grenadiers to force the door. the front cell was scarcely six feet broad, so that no more than two at a time could attack my intrenchment, and when they saw my threatening bricks ready to descend, they leaped terrified back. a short pause ensued, and the old town-major, with the chaplain, advanced towards the door to soothe me: the conversation continued some time: whose reasons were most satisfactory, and whose cause was the most just, i leave to the reader. the governor grew angry, and ordered a fresh attack. the first grenadier was knocked down, and the rest ran back to avoid my missiles. the town-major again began a parley. "for god's sake, my dear trenck," said he, "in what have i injured you, that you endeavour to effect my ruin? i must answer for your having, through my negligence, concealed a knife. be persuaded, i entreat you. be appeased. you are not without hope, nor without friends." my answer was--"but will you not load me with heavier irons than before?" he went out, spoke with the governor, and gave me his word of honour that the affair should be no further noticed, and that everything should be exactly reinstated as formerly. here ended the capitulation, and my wretched citadel was taken. the condition i was in was viewed with pity; my wounds were examined, a surgeon sent to dress them, another shirt was given me, and the bricks, clotted with blood, removed. i, meantime, lay half dead on my mattress; my thirst was excessive. the surgeon ordered me some wine. two sentinels were stationed in the front cell, and i was thus left four days in peace, unironed. broth also was given me daily, and how delicious this was to taste, how much it revived and strengthened me, is wholly impossible to describe. two days i lay in a slumbering kind of trance, forced by unquenchable thirst to drink whenever i awoke. my feet and hands were swelled; the pains in my back and limbs were excessive. on the fifth day the doors were ready; the inner was entirely plated with iron, and i was fettered as before: perhaps they found further cruelty unnecessary. the principal chain, however, which fastened me to the wall, like that i had before broken, was thicker than the first. except this, the capitulation was strictly kept. they deeply regretted that, without the king's express commands, they could not lighten my afflictions, wished me fortitude and patience, and barred up my doors. it is necessary i should here describe my dress. my hands being fixed and kept asunder by an iron bar, and my feet chained to the wall, i could neither put on shirt nor stockings in the usual mode; the shirt was therefore tied, and changed once a fortnight; the coarse ammunition stockings were buttoned on the sides; a blue garment, of soldier's cloth, was likewise tied round me, and i had a pair of slippers for my feet. the shirt was of the army linen; and when i contemplated myself in this dress of a malefactor, chained thus to the wall in such a dungeon, vainly imploring mercy or justice, my conscience void of reproach, my heart of guilt--when i reflected on my former splendour in berlin and moscow, and compared it with this sad, this dreadful reverse of destiny, i was sunk in grief, or roused to indignation, that might have hurried the greatest hero or philosopher to madness or despair. i felt what can only be imagined by him who has suffered like me, after having like me flourished, if such can be found. pride, the justness of my cause, the unbounded confidence i had in my own resolution, and the labours of an inventive head and iron body--these only could have preserved my life. these bodily labours, these continued inventions, and projected plans to obtain my freedom, preserved my health. who would suppose that a man fettered as i was could find means of exercising himself? by swinging my arms, acting with the upper part of my body, and leaping upwards, i frequently put myself in a strong perspiration. after thus wearying myself i slept soundly, and often thought how many generals, obliged to support the inclemencies of weather, and all the dangers of the field--how many of those who had plunged me into this den of misery, would have been most glad could they, like me, have slept with a quiet conscience. often did i reflect how much happier i was than those tortured on the bed of sickness by gout, stone, and other terrible diseases. how much happier was i in innocence than the malefactor doomed to suffer the pangs of death, the ignominy of men, and the horrors of internal guilt! chapter ii. in the following part of my history it will appear i often had much money concealed under the ground and in the walls of my den, yet would i have given a hundred ducats for a morsel of bread, it could not have been procured. money was to me useless. in this i resembled the miser, who hoards, yet hives in wretchedness, having no joy in gentle acts of benevolence. as proudly might i delight myself with my hidden treasure as such misers; nay, more, for i was secure from robbers. had fastidious pomp been my pleasure, i might have imagined myself some old field-marshal bedridden, who hears two grenadier sentinels at his door call, "who goes there?" my honour, indeed, was still greater; for, during my last year's imprisonment, my door was guarded by no less than four. my vanity also might have been flattered: i might hence conclude how high was the value set upon my head, since all this trouble was taken to hold me in security. certain it is that in my chains i thought more rationally, more nobly, reasoned more philosophically on man, his nature, his zeal, his imaginary wants, the effects of his ambition, his passions, and saw more distinctly his dream of earthly good, than those who had imprisoned, or those who guarded me. i was void of the fears that haunt the parasite who servilely wears the fetters of a court, and daily trembles for the loss of what vice and cunning have acquired. those who had usurped the sclavonian estates, and feasted sumptuously from the service of plate i had been robbed of, never ate their dainties with so sweet an appetite as i my ammunition bread, nor did their high-flavoured wines flow so limpid as my cold water. thus, the man who thinks, being pure of heart, will find consolation when under the most dreadful calamities, convinced, as he must be, that those apparently most are frequently least happy, insensible as they are of the pleasures they might enjoy. evil is never so great as it appears. "sweet are the uses of adversity, which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious jewel in his head." _as you like it_. happy he who, like me, having suffered, can become an example to his suffering brethren! youth, prosperous, and imagining eternal prosperity, read my history attentively, though i should be in my grave! read feelingly, and bless my sleeping dust, if it has taught thee wisdom or fortitude! father, reading this, say to thy children, i felt thus like them, in blooming youth, little prophesied of misfortune, which after fell so heavy on me, and by which i am even still persecuted! say that i had virtue, ambition, was educated in noble principles; that i laboured with all the zeal of enthusiastic youth to become wiser, better, greater than other men; that i was guilty of no crimes, was the friend of men, was no deceiver of man or woman; that i first served my own country faithfully, and after, every other in which i found bread; that i was never, during life, once intoxicated; was no gamester, no night rambler, no contemptible idler; that yet, through envy and arbitrary power, i have fallen to misery such as none but the worst of criminals ought to feel. brother, fly those countries where the lawgiver himself knows no law, where truth and virtue are punished as crimes; and, if fly you cannot, be it your endeavour to remain unknown, unnoticed; in such countries, seek not favour or honourable employ, else will you become, when your merits are known, as i have been, the victim of slander and treachery: the behests of power will persecute you, and innocence will not shield you from the shafts of wicked men who are envious, or who wish to obtain the favour of princes, though by the worst of means. sire, imagine not that thou readest a romance. my head is grey, like thine. read, yet despise not the world, though it has treated me thus unthankfully. good men have i also found, who have befriended me in misfortunes, and there, where i had least claim, have i found them most. may my book assist thee in noble thoughts; mayest thou die as tranquilly as i shall render up my soul to appear before the judge of me and my persecutors. be death but thought a transition from motion to rest. few are the delights of this world for him who, like me, has learned to know it. murmur not, despair not of providence. me, through storms, it has brought to haven; through many griefs to self-knowledge; and through prisons to philosophy. he only can tranquilly descend to annihilation who finds reason not to repent he has once existed. my rudder broke not amid the rocks and quicksands, but my bark was cast upon the strand of knowledge. yet, even on these clear shores are impenetrable clouds. i have seen more distinctly than it is supposed men ought to see. age will decay the faculties, and mental, like bodily sight, must then decrease. i even grew weary of science, and envied the blind-born, or those who, till death, have been wilfully hoodwinked. how often have i been asked, "what didst thou see?" and when i answered with sincerity and truth, how often have i been derided as a liar, and been persecuted by those who determined not to see themselves, as an innovator singular and rash! sire, i further say to thee, teach thy descendants to seek the golden mean, and say with gellert--"the boy fritz needs nothing;--his stupidity will insure his success, examine our wealthy and titled lords, what are their abilities and honours, then inquire how they were attained, and, if thou canst, discover in what true happiness consists." once more to my prison. the failure of my escape, and the recovery of life from this state of despair, led me to moralise deeper than i had ever done before; and in this depth of thought i found unexpected consolation and fortitude, and a firm persuasion i yet should accomplish my deliverance. gelfhardt, my honest grenadier, had infused fresh hope, and my mind now busily began to meditate new plans. a sentinel was placed before my door, that i might be more narrowly watched, and the married men of the prussian states were appointed to this duty, who, as i will hereafter show, were more easy to persuade in aiding my flight than foreign fugitives. the pomeranian will listen, and is by nature kind, therefore may easily be moved, and induced to succour distress. i began to be more accustomed to my irons, which i had before found so insupportable; i could comb out my long hair, and could tie it at last with one hand. my beard, which had so long remained unshaven, gave me a grim appearance, and i began to pluck it up by the roots. the pain at first was considerable, especially about the lips; but this also custom conquered, and i performed this operation in the following years, once in six weeks, or two months, as the hair thus plucked up required that length of time before the nails could again get hold. vermin did not molest me; the dampness of my den was inimical to them. my limbs never swelled, because of the exercise i gave myself, as before described. the greatest pain i found was in the continued unvivifying dimness in which i lived. i had read much, had lived in, and seen much of the world. vacuity of thought, therefore, i was little troubled with; the former transactions of my life, and the remembrance of the persons i had known, i revolved so often in my mind, that they became as familiar and connected as if the events had each been written in the order it occurred. habit made this mental exercise so perfect to me, that i could compose speeches, fables, odes, satires, all of which i repeated aloud, and had so stored my memory with them that i was enabled, after i had obtained my freedom, to commit to writing two volumes of my prison labours. accustomed to this exercise, days that would otherwise have been days of misery appeared but as a moment. the following narrative will show how munch esteem, how many friends, these compositions procured me, even in my dungeon; insomuch that i obtained light, paper, and finally freedom itself. for these i have to thank the industrious acquirements of my youth; therefore do i counsel all my readers so to employ their time. riches, honours, the favours of fortune, may be showered by monarchs upon the most worthless; but monarchs can give and take, say and unsay, raise and pull down. monarchs, however, can neither give wisdom nor virtue. arbitrary power itself, in the presence of these, is foiled. how wisely has providence ordained that the endowments of industry, learning, and science, given by ourselves, cannot be taken from us; while, on the contrary, what others bestow is a fantastical dream, from which any accident may awaken us! the wrath of frederic could destroy legions, and defeat armies; but it could not take from me the sense of honour, of innocence, and their sweet concomitant, peace of mind--could not deprive me of fortitude and magnanimity. i defied his power, rested on the justice of my cause, found in myself expedients wherewith to oppose him, was at length crowned with conquest, and came forth to the world the martyr of suffering virtue. some of my oppressors now rot in dishonourable graves. others, alas! in vienna, remain immured in houses of correction, as krugel and zeto, or beg their bread, like gravenitz and doo. nor are the wealthy possessors of my estates more fortunate, but look down with shame wherever i and my children appear. we stand erect, esteemed, and honoured, while their injustice is manifest to the whole world. young man, be industrious: for without industry can none of the treasures i have described be purchased. thy labour will reward itself; then, when assaulted by misfortune, or even misery, learn of me and smile; or, shouldst thou escape such trials, still labour to acquire wisdom, that in old age thou mayest find content and happiness. the years in my dungeon passed away as days, those moments excepted when, thinking on the great world, and the deeds of great men, my ambition was roused: except when, contemplating the vileness of my chains, and the wretchedness of my situation, i laboured for liberty, and found my labours endless and ineffectual; except while i remembered the triumph of my enemies, and the splendour in which those lived by whom i had been plundered. then, indeed, did i experience intervals that approached madness, despair, and horror: beholding myself destitute of friend or protector, the empress herself, for whose sake i suffered, deserting me; reflecting on past times and past prosperity; remembering how the good and virtuous, from the cruel nature of my punishment, must be obliged to conclude me a wretch and a villain, and that all means of justification were cut off: o god! how did my heart beat! with what violence! what would i not have undertaken, in these suffering moments, to have put my enemies to shame! vengeance and rage then rose rebellious against patience; long-suffering philosophy vanished, and the poisoned cup of socrates would have been the nectar of the gods. man deprived of hope is man destroyed. i found but little probability in all my plans and projects; yet did i trust that some of them should succeed, yet did i confide in them and my honest gelfhardt, and that i should still free myself from my chains. the greatest of all my incitements to patient endurance was love. i had left behind me, in vienna, a lady for whom the world still was dear to me; her would i neither desert nor afflict. to her and my sister was my existence still necessary. for their sakes, who had lost and suffered so much for mine, would i preserve my life; for them no difficulty, no suffering was too great; yet, alas! when long-desired liberty was restored, i found them both in their graves. the joy, for which i had borne so much, was no more to be tasted. about three weeks after my attempt to escape, the good gelfhardt first came to stand sentinel over me; and the sentinel they had so carefully set was indeed the only hope i could have of escape; for help must be had from without, or this was impossible. the effort i had made had excited too munch surprise and alarm for me to pass without strict examination; since, on the ninth day after i was confined, i had, in eighteen hours, so far broken through a prison built purposely for myself, by a combination of so many projectors, and with such extreme precaution, that it had been universally declared impenetrable. gelfhardt scarcely had taken his post before we had free opportunity of conversing together; for, when i stood with one foot on my bedstead, i could reach the aperture through which light was admitted. gelfhardt described the situation of my dungeon, and our first plan was to break under the foundation which he had seen laid, and which he affirmed to be only two feet deep. money was the first thing necessary. gelfhardt was relieved during his guard, and returned bringing within him a sheet of paper rolled on a wire, which he passed through my grating; as he also did a piece of small wax candle, some burning amadone (a kind of tinder), a match, and a pen. i now had light, and i pricked my finger, and wrote with my blood to my faithful friend, captain ruckhardt, at vienna, described my situation in a few words, sent him an acquittance for three thousand florins on my revenues, and requested he would dispose of a thousand florins to defray the expenses of his journey to gummern, only two miles from magdeburg. here he was positively to be on the th of august. about noon, on this same day, he was to walk with a letter in his hand; and a man was there to meet him, carrying a roll of smoking tobacco, to whom he must remit the two thousand florins, and return to vienna. i returned the written paper to gelfhardt by the same means it had been received, gave him my instructions, and he sent his wife with it to gummern, by whom it was safely put in the post. my hopes daily rose, and as often as gelfhardt mounted guard, so often did we continue our projects. the th of august came, but it was some days before gelfhardt was again on guard; and oh! how did my heart palpitate when he came and exclaimed, "all is right! we have succeeded." he returned in the evening, and we began to consider by what means he could convey the money to me. i could not, with my hands chained to an iron bar, reach the aperture of the window that admitted air--besides that it was too small. it was therefore agreed that gelfhardt should, on the next guard, perform the office of cleaning my dungeon, and that he then should convey the money to me in the water-jug. this luckily was done. how great was my astonishment when, instead of one, i found two thousand florins! for i had permitted him to reserve half to himself, as a reward for his fidelity; he, however, had kept but five pistoles, which he persisted was enough. worthy gelfhardt! this was the act of a pomeranian grenadier! how rare are such examples! be thy name and mine ever united! live thou while the memory of me shall live! never did my acquaintance with the great bring to my knowledge a soul so noble, so disinterested! it is true, i afterwards prevailed on him to accept the whole thousand; but we shall soon see he never had them, and that his foolish wife, three years after, suffered by their means; however, she suffered alone, for he soon marched to the field, and therefore was unpunished. having money to carry on my designs, i began to put my plan of burrowing under the foundation into execution. the first thing necessary was to free myself from my fetters. to accomplish this, gelfhardt supplied me with two small files, and by the aid of these, this labour, though great, was effected. the cap, or staple, of the foot ring was made so wide that i could draw it forward a quarter of an inch. i filed the iron which passed through it on the inside; the more i filed this away, the farther i could draw the cap down, till at last the whole inside iron, through which the chains passed, was cut quite through! by this means i could slip off the ring, while the cap on the outside continued whole, and it was impossible to discover any cut, as only the outside could be examined. my hands, by continued efforts, i so compressed as to be able to draw them out of the handcuffs. i then filed the hinge, and made a screw-driver of one of the foot-long flooring nails, by which i could take out the screw at pleasure, so that at the time of examination no proofs could appear. the rim round my body was but a small impediment, except the chain, which passed from my hand-bar: and this i removed, by filing an aperture in one of the links, which, at the necessary hour, i closed with bread, rubbed over with rusty-iron, first drying it by the heat of my body; and would wager any sum that, without striking the chain link by link, with a hammer, no one not in the secret would have discovered the fracture. the window was never strictly examined; i therefore drew the two staples by which the iron bars were fixed to the wall, and which i daily replaced, carefully plastering them over. i procured wire from gelfhardt, and tried how well i could imitate the inner grating: finding i succeeded tolerably, i cut the real grating totally away, and substituted an artificial one of my own fabricating, by which i obtained a free communication with the outside, additional fresh air, together with all necessary implements, tinder, and candles. that the light might not be seen, i hung the coverlid of my bed before the window, so that i could work fearless and undetected. every thing prepared, i went to work. the floor of my dungeon was not of stone, but oak plank, three inches thick; three beds of which were laid crossways, and were fastened to each other by nails half an inch in diameter, and a foot long. raving worked round the head of a nail, i made use of the hole at the end of the bar, which separated my hands, to draw it out, and this nail, sharpened upon my tombstone, made an excellent chisel. i now cut through the board more than an inch in width, that i might work downwards, and having drawn away a piece of board which was inserted two inches under the wall, i cut this so as exactly to fit; the small crevice it occasioned i stopped up with bread and strewed over with dust, so as to prevent all suspicious appearance. my labour under this was continued with less precaution, and i had soon worked through my nine-inch planks. under them i came to a fine white sand, on which the star fort was built. my chips i carefully distributed beneath the boards. if i had not help from without, i could proceed no farther; for to dig were useless, unless i could rid myself of my rubbish. gelfhardt supplied me with some ells of cloth, of which i made long narrow bags, stuffed them with earth, and passed them between the iron bars, to gelfhardt, who, as he was on guard, scattered or conveyed away their contents. furnished with room to secrete them under the floor, i obtained more instruments, together with a pair of pistols, powder, ball, and a bayonet. i now discovered that the foundation of my prison, instead of two, was sunken four feet deep. time, labour, and patience were all necessary to break out unheard and undiscovered; but few things are impossible, where resolution is not wanting. the hole i made was obliged to be four feet deep, corresponding with the foundation, and wide enough to kneel and stoop in: the lying down on the floor to work, the continual stooping to throw out the earth, the narrow space in which all must be performed, these made the labour incredible: and, after this daily labour, all things were to be replaced, and my chains again resumed, which alone required some hours to effect. my greatest aid was in the wax candles, and light i had procured; but as gelfhardt stood sentinel only once a fortnight, my work was much delayed; the sentinels were forbidden to speak to me under pain of death: and i was too fearful of being betrayed to dare to seek new assistance. being without a stove, i suffered much this winter from cold; yet my heart was cheerful as i saw the probability of freedom; and all were astonished to find me in such good spirits. gelfhardt also brought me supplies of provisions, chiefly consisting of sausages and salt meats, ready dressed, which increased my strength, and when i was not digging, i wrote satires and verses: thus time was employed, and i contented even in prison. lulled into security, an accident happened that will appear almost incredible, and by which every hope was nearly frustrated. gelfhardt had been working with me, and was relieved in the morning. as i was replacing the window, which i was obliged to remove on these occasions, it fell out of my hand, and three of the glass panes were broken. gelfhardt was not to return till guard was again relieved: i had therefore no opportunity of speaking with him, or concerting any mode of repair. i remained nearly an hour conjecturing and hesitating; for certainly had the broken window been seen, as it was impossible i should reach it when fettered, i should immediately have been more rigidly examined, and the false grating must have been discovered. i therefore came to a resolution, and spoke to the sentinel (who was amusing himself with whistling), thus: "my good fellow, have pity, not upon me, but upon your comrades, who, should you refuse, will certainly be executed: i will throw you thirty pistoles through the window, if you will do me a small favour." he remained some moments silent, and at last answered in a low voice, "what, have you money, then?"--i immediately counted thirty pistoles, and threw them through the window. he asked what he was to do: i told him my difficulty, and gave him the size of the panes in paper. the man fortunately was bold and prudent. the door of the pallisadoes, through the negligence of the officer, had not been shut that day: he prevailed on one of his comrades to stand sentinel for him, during half an hour, while he meantime ran into the town, and procured the glass, on the receipt of which i instantly threw him out ten more pistoles. before the hour of noon and visitation came, everything was once more reinstated, my glaziery performed to a miracle, and the life of my worthy gelfhardt preserved!--such is the power of money in this world! this is a very remarkable incident, for i never spoke after to the man who did me this signal service. gelfhardt's alarm may easily be imagined; he some days after returned to his post, and was the more astonished as he knew the sentinel who had done me this good office; that he had five children, and a man most to be depended on by his officers, of any one in the whole grenadier company. i now continued my labour, and found it very possible to break out under the foundation; but gelfhardt had been so terrified by the late accident, that he started a thousand difficulties, in proportion as my end was more nearly accomplished; and at the moment when i wished to concert with him the means of flight, he persisted it was necessary to find additional help, to escape in safety, and not bring both him and myself to destruction. at length we came to the following determination, which, however, after eight months' incessant labour, rendered my whole project abortive. i wrote once more to ruckhardt, at vienna; sent him a new assignment for money, and desired he would again repair to gummern, where he should wait six several nights, with two spare horses, on the glacis of klosterbergen, at the time appointed, everything being prepared for flight. within these six days gelfhardt would have found means, either in rotation, or by exchanging the guard, to have been with me. alas! the sweet hope of again beholding the face of the sun, of once more obtaining my freedom, endured but three days: providence thought proper otherwise to ordain. gelfhardt sent his wife to gummern with the letter, and this silly woman told the post-master her husband had a lawsuit at vienna, that therefore she begged he would take particular care of the letter, for which purpose she slipped ten rix-dollars into his hand. this unexpected liberality raised the suspicions of the saxon post-master, who therefore opened the letter, read the contents, and instead of sending it to vienna, or at least to the general post-master at dresden, he preferred the traitorous act of taking it himself to the governor of magdeburg, who then, as at present, was prince ferdinand of brunswick. what were my terrors, what my despair, when i beheld the prince himself, about three o'clock in the afternoon, enter my prison with his attendants, present my letter, and ask, in an authoritative voice, who had carried it to gummern. my answer was, "i know not." strict search was immediately made by smiths, carpenters, and masons, and after half an hour's examination, they discovered neither my hole nor the manner in which i disencumbered myself of my chains; they only saw that the middle grating, in the aperture where the light was admitted, had been removed. this was boarded up the next day, only a small air-hole left, of about six inches diameter. the prince began to threaten; i persisted i had never seen the sentinel who had rendered me this service, nor asked his name. seeing his attempts all ineffectual, the governor, in a milder tone, said, "you have ever complained, baron trenck, of not having been legally sentenced, or heard in your own defence; i give you my word of honour, this you shall be, and also that you shall be released from your fetters, if you will only tell me who took your letter." to this i replied, with all the fortitude of innocence, "everybody knows, my lord, i have never deserved the treatment i have met with in my country. my heart is irreproachable. i seek to recover my liberty by every means in my power: but were i capable of betraying the man whose compassion has induced him to succour my distress; were i the coward that could purchase happiness at his expense, i then should, indeed, deserve to wear those chains with which i am loaded. for myself, do with me what you please: yet remember i am not wholly destitute: i am still a captain in the imperial service, and a descendant of the house of trenck." prince ferdinand stood for a moment unable to answer; then renewed his threats, and left my dungeon. i have since been told that, when he was out of hearing, he said to those around him, "i pity his hard fate, and cannot but admire his strength of mind!" i must here remark that, when we remember the usual circumspection of this great man, we are obliged to wonder at his imprudence in holding a conversation of such a kind with me, which lasted a considerable time, in the presence of the guard. the soldiers of the whole garrison had afterwards the utmost confidence, as they were convinced i would not meanly devote others to destruction, that i might benefit myself. this was the way to gain me esteem and intercourse among the men, especially as the duke had said he knew i must have money concealed, for that i had distributed some to the sentinels. he had scarcely been gone an hour, before i heard a noise near my prison. i listened--what could it be? i heard talking, and learned a grenadier had hanged himself to the pallisadoes of my prison. the officer of the town-guard, and the town-major again entered my dungeon to fetch a lanthorn they had forgotten, and the officer at going out, told me in a whisper, "one of your associates has just hanged himself." it was impossible to imagine my terror or sensations; i believed it could be only my kind, my honest gelfhardt. after many gloomy thoughts, and lamenting the unhappy end of so worthy a fellow, i began to recollect what the prince had promised me, if i would discover the accomplice. i knocked at the door, and desired to speak to the officer; he came to the window and asked me what i wanted; i requested he would inform the governor that if he would send me light, pen, ink, and paper, i would discover my whole secret. these were accordingly sent, an hour's time was granted; the door was shut, and i was left alone. i sat myself down, began to write on my night-table, and was about to insert the name of gelfhardt, but my blood thrilled, and shrank back to my heart. i shuddered, rose, went to the aperture of the window and called, "is there no man who in compassion will tell me the name of him who has hanged himself, that i may deliver many others from destruction?" the window was not nailed up till the next day; i therefore wrapped five pistoles in a paper, threw them out, called to the sentinel, and said, "friend, take these, and save thy comrades; or go and betray me, and bring down innocent blood upon thy head!" the paper was taken up; a pause of silence ensued: i heard sighs, and presently after a low voice said, "his name is schutz; he belonged to the company of ripps." i had never heard the name before, or known the man, but i however immediately wrote schutz, instead of gelfhardt. having finished the letter i called the lieutenant, who took that and the light away, and again barred up the door of my dungeon. the duke, however, suspected there must be some evasion, and everything remained in the same state: i obtained neither hearing nor court-martial. i learned, in the sequel, the following circumstances, which will display the truth of this apparently incredible story. while i was imprisoned in the citadel, a sentinel came to the post under my window, cursed and blasphemed, exclaiming aloud against the prussian service, and saying, if trenck only knew my mind, he would not long continue in his hole! i entered into discourse with him, and he told me, if i could give him money to purchase a boat, in which he might cross the elbe, he would soon make my doors fly open, and set me free. money at that time i had none; but i gave him a diamond shirt-buckle, worth five hundred ferns, which i had concealed. i never heard more from this man; he spoke to me no more. he often stood sentinel over me, which i knew by his westphalian dialect, and i as often addressed myself to him, but ineffectually; he would make no answer. this schutz must have sold my buckle, and let his riches be seen; for, when the duke left me, the lieutenant on guard said to him--"you must certainly be the rascal who carried trenck's letter; you have, for some time past, spent much money, and we have seen you with louis-d'ors. how came you by them?" schutz was terrified, his conscience accused him, he imagined i should betray him, knowing he had deceived me. he, therefore, in the first agonies of despair, came to the pallisadoes, and hung himself before the door of my dungeon. chapter iii. how wonderful is the hand of providence! the wicked man fell a sacrifice to his crime, after having escaped a whole year, and the faithful, the benevolent-hearted gelfhardt was thereby saved. the sentinels were now doubled, that any intercourse with them might be rendered more difficult. gelfhardt again stood guard, but he had scarcely opportunity, without danger, to speak a few words: he thanked me for having preserved him, wished me better fortune, and told me the garrison, in a few days, would take the field. this was dreadful news: my whole plan was destroyed at a breath. i, however, soon recovered fresh hopes. the hole i had sunken was not discovered: i had five hundred florins, candles, and implements. the seven years' war broke out about a week after, and the regiment took the field. major weyner came, for the last time, and committed me to the care of the new major of the militia, bruckhausen, who was one of the most surly and stupid of men. i shall often have occasion to mention this man. all the majors and lieutenants of the guard, who had treated me with compassion and esteem, now departed, and i became an old prisoner in a new world. i acquired greater confidence, however, by remembering that both officers and men in the militia were much easier to gain over than in the regulars; the truth of which opinion was soon confirmed. four lieutenants were appointed, with their men, to mount guard at the star fort in turn, and before a year had passed, three of them were in my interest. the regiments had scarcely taken the field ere the new governor, general borck, entered my prison, like what he was, an imperious, cruel tyrant. the king, in giving him the command, had informed him he must answer for my person with his head: he therefore had full power to treat me with whatever severity he pleased. borck was a stupid man, of an unfeeling heart, the slave of despotic orders; and as often as he thought it possible i might rid myself of my fetters and escape, his heart palpitated with fear. in addition to this, he considered me as the vilest of men and traitors, seeing his king had condemned me to imprisonment so cruel, and his barbarity towards me was thus the effect of character and meanness of soul. he entered my dungeon not as an officer, to visit a brother officer in misery, but as an executioner to a felon. smiths then made their appearance, and a monstrous iron collar, of a hand's breadth, was put round my neck, and connected with the chains of the feet by additional heavy links. my window was walled up, except a small air-hole. he even at length took away my bed, gave me no straw, and quitted me with a thousand revilings on the empress-queen, her whole army, and myself. in words, however, i was little in his debt, and he was enraged even to madness. what my situation was under this additional load of tyranny, and the command of a man so void of human pity, the reader may imagine. my greatest good fortune consisted in the ability i still had to disencumber myself of all the irons that were connected with the ankle-rims, and the provision i had of light, paper, and implements; and though it was apparently impossible i should break out undiscovered by both sentinels, yet had i the remaining hope of gaining some officer, by money, who, as in glatz, should assist my escape. had the commands of the king been literally obeyed escape would have been wholly impossible; for, by this, all communication would have been totally cut off with the sentinels. to this effect the four keys of the four doors were each to be kept by different persons; one with the governor, another with the town-major, the third with the major of the day, and the fourth with the lieutenant of the guard. i never could have found opportunity to have spoken with any one of them singly. these commands at first were rigidly observed, with this exception, that the governor made his appearance only every week. magdeburg became so full of prisoners that the town-major was obliged to deliver up his key to the major of the day, and the governor's visitations wholly subsided, the citadel being an english mile and a half distant from the star fort. general walrabe, who had been a prisoner ever since the year , was also at the star fort, but he had apartments, and three thousand rix-dollars a year. the major of the day and officer of the guard dined with him daily, and generally stayed till evening. either from compassion, or a concurrence of fortunate circumstances, these gentlemen entrusted the keys to the lieutenant on guard, by which means i could speak with each of them alone when they made their visits, and they themselves at length sought these opportunities. my consequent undertakings i shall relate, with all the arts and inventions of a wretched prisoner endeavouring to escape. borck had selected three majors and four lieutenants for this service as those he could best trust. my situation was truly deplorable. the enormous iron round my neck pained me, and prevented motion; and i durst not attempt to disengage myself from the pendant chains till i had, for some months, carefully observed the mode of their examination, and which parts they supposed were perfectly secure. the cruelty of depriving me of my bed was still greater: i was obliged to sit upon the bare ground, and lean with my head against the damp wall. the chains that descended from the neck collar were obliged to be supported first with one band, and then with the other; for, if thrown behind, they would have strangled me, and if hanging forward occasioned most excessive headaches. the bar between my hands held one down, while leaning on my elbow; i supported with the other my chains; and this so benumbed the muscles and prevented circulation, that i could perceive my arms sensibly waste away. the little sleep i could have in such a situation may easily be supposed, and, at length, body and mind sank under this accumulation of miserable suffering, and i fell ill of a burning fever. the tyrant borck was inexorable; he wished to expedite my death, and rid himself of his troubles and his terrors. here did i experience what was the lamentable condition of a sick prisoner, without bed, refreshment, or aid from human being. reason, fortitude, heroism, all the noble qualities of the mind, decay when the corporal faculties are diseased; and the remembrance of my sufferings, at this dreadful moment, still agitates, still inflames my blood, so as almost to prevent an attempt to describe what they were. yet hope had not totally forsaken me. deliverance seemed possible, especially should peace ensue; and i sustained, perhaps, what mortal man never bore, except myself, being, as i was, provided with pistols, or any such immediate mode of despatch. i continued ill about two months, and was so reduced at last that i had scarcely strength to lift the water-jug to my mouth. what must the sufferings of that man be who sits two months on the bare ground in a dungeon so damp, so dark, so horrible, without bed or straw, his limbs loaded as mine were, with no refreshment but dry ammunition bread, without so much as a drop of broth, without physic, without consoling friend, and who, under all these afflictions, must trust, for his recovery, to the efforts of nature alone! sickness itself is sufficient to humble the mightiest mind; what, then, is sickness, with such an addition of torment? the burning fever, the violent headaches, my neck swelled and inflamed with the irons, enraged me almost to madness. the fever and the fetters together flayed my body so that it appeared like one continued wound--enough! enough! the malefactor extended living on the wheel, to whom the cruel executioner refuses the last stroke--the blow of death--must yet, in some short period, expire: he suffers nothing i did not then suffer; and these, my excruciating pangs, continued two dreadful months--yet, can it be supposed? there came a day! a day of horror, when these mortal pangs were beyond imagination increased. i sat scorched with this intolerable fever, in which nature and death were contending; and when attempting to quench my burning entrails with cold water, the jug dropped from my feeble hands, and broke! i had four-and-twenty hours to remain without water. so intolerable, so devouring was my thirst, i could have drank human blood! ay, in my madness, had it been the blood of my father! * * * * * * willingly would i have seized my pistols, but strength had forsaken me, i could not open the place i was obliged to render so secure. my visitors next day supposed me gone at last. i lay motionless, with my tongue out of my mouth. they poured water down my throat, and i revived. oh, god! oh, god! how pure, how delicious, how exquisite was this water! my insatiable thirst soon emptied the jug; they filled it anew, bade me farewell, hoped death would soon relieve my mortal sufferings, and departed. the lamentable state in which i lay at length became the subject of general conversation, that all the ladies of the town united with the officers, and prevailed on the tyrant, borck, to restore me my bed. oh, nature, what are thy operations? from the day i drank water in such excess i gathered strength, and to the astonishment of every one, soon recovered. i had moved the heart of the officer who inspected my prison; and after six months, six cruel months of intense misery, the day of hope again began to dawn. one of the majors of the day entrusted his key to lieutenant sonntag, who came alone, spoke in confidence, and related his own situation, complained of his debts, his poverty, his necessities; and i made him a present of twenty-five louis-d'ors, for which he was so grateful that our friendship became unshaken. the three lieutenants all commiserated me, and would sit hours with me, when a certain major had the inspection; and he himself, after a time, would even pass half the day with me. he, too, was poor: and i gave him a draft for three thousand florins; hence new projects took birth. money became necessary; i had disbursed all i possessed, a hundred florins excepted, among the officers. the eldest son of captain k---, who officiated as major, had been cashiered: his father complained to me of his distress, and i sent him to my sister, not far from berlin, from whom he received a hundred ducats. he returned and related her joy at hearing from me. he found her exceedingly ill; and she informed me, in a few lines, that my misfortunes, and the treachery of weingarten, had entailed poverty upon her, and an illness which had endured more than two years. she wished me a happy deliverance from my chains, and, in expectation of death, committed her children to my protection. she, however, grew better, and married a second time, colonel pape; but died in the year . i shall forbear to relate her history: it indeed does no honour to the ashes of frederic, and would but less dispose my own heart to forgiveness, by reviving the memory of her oppressions and griefs. k---n returned happy with the money: all things were concerted with the father. i wrote to the countess bestuchef, also to the grand duke, afterwards peter iii., recommended the young soldier, and entreated every possible succour for myself. k---n departed through hamburg, for petersburg, where, in consequence of my recommendation, he became a captain, and in a short time major. he took his measures so well that i, by the intervention of his father, and a hamburg merchant, received two thousand rubles from the countess, while the service he rendered me made his own fortune in russia. to old k---, who was as poor as he was honest, i gave three hundred ducats; and he, till death, continued my grateful friend. i distributed nearly as much to the other officers; and matters proceeded so far that lieutenant glotin gave back the keys to the major without locking my prison, himself passing half the night with me. money was given to the guard to drink; and thus everything succeeded to my wish, and the tyrant borck was deceived. i had a supply of light; had books, newspapers, and my days passed swiftly away. i read, i wrote, i busied myself so thoroughly that i almost forgot i was a prisoner. when, indeed, the surly, dull blockhead, major bruckhausen, had the inspection, everything had to be carefully reinstated. major z---, the second of the three, was also wholly mine. he was particularly attached to me; for i had promised to marry his daughter, and, should i die in prison, to bequeath him a legacy of ten thousand florins. lieutenant sonntag got false handcuffs made for me, that were so wide i could easily draw my hands out; the lieutenants only examined my irons, the new handcuffs were made perfectly similar to the old, and bruckhausen had too much stupidity to remark any difference. the remainder of my chains i could disencumber myself of at pleasure. when i exercised myself, i held them in my hands, that the sentinel might be deceived by their clanking. the neck-iron was the only one i durst not remove; it was likewise too strongly riveted. i filed through the upper link of the pendant chain, however, by which means i could take it off, and this i concealed with bread in the manner before mentioned. so i could disencumber myself of most of my fetters, and sleep in ease. i again obtained sausages and cold meat, and thus my situation, bad as it still was, became less miserable. liberty, however, was most desirable: but, alas! not one of the three lieutenants had the courage of a schell: saxony, too, was in the hands of the prussians, and flight, therefore, more dangerous. persuasion was in vain with men determined to risk nothing, but, if they went, to go in safety. will, indeed, was not wanting in glotin and sonntag; but the first was a poltroon, and the latter a man of scruples, who thought this step might likewise be the ruin of his brother at berlin. the sentinels were doubled, therefore my escape through my hole, which had been two years dug, could not, unperceived by them, be effected: still less could i, in the face of the guard, clamber the twelve feet high pallisadoes. the following labour, therefore, though herculean, was undertaken. lieutenant sonntag, measuring the interval between the hole i had dug and the entrance in the gallery in the principal rampart, found it to be thirty-seven feet. into this it was possible i might, by mining, penetrate. the difficulty of the enterprise was lessened by the nature of the ground, a fine white sand. could i reach the gallery my freedom was certain. i had been informed how many steps to the right or left must be taken, to find the door that led to the second rampart: and, on the day when i should be ready for flight, the officer was secretly to leave this door open. i had light, and mining tools, and was further to rely on money and my own discretion. i began and continued this labour about six months. i have already noticed the difficulty of scraping out the earth with my hands, as the noise of instruments would have been heard by the sentinels. i had scarcely mined beyond my dungeon wall before i discovered the foundation of the rampart was not more than a foot deep; a capital error certainly in so important a fortress. my labour became the lighter, as i could remove the foundation stones of my dungeon, and was not obliged to mine so deep. my work at first proceeded so rapidly, that, while i had room to throw back my sand, i was able in one night to gain three feet; but ere i had proceeded ten feet i discovered all my difficulties. before i could continue my work i was obliged to make room for myself, by emptying the sand out of my hole upon the floor of the prison, and this itself was an employment of some hours. the sand was obliged to be thrown out by the hand, and after it thus lay heaped in my prison, must again be returned into the hole; and i have calculated that after i had proceeded twenty feet, i was obliged to creep under ground, in my hole, from fifteen hundred to two thousand fathoms, within twenty-four hours, in the removal and replacing of the sand. this labour ended, care was to be taken that in none of the crevices of the floor there might be any appearance of this fine white sand. the flooring was the next to be exactly replaced, and my chains to be resumed. so severe was the fatigue of one day, in this mode, that i was always obliged to rest the three following. to reduce my labour as much as possible, i was constrained to make the passage so small that my body only had space to pass, and i had not room to draw my arm back to my head. the work, too, must all be done naked, otherwise the dirtiness of my shirt must have been remarked; the sand was wet, water being found at the depth of four feet, where the stratum of the gravel began. at length the expedient of sand-bags occurred to me, by which it might be removed out and in more expeditiously. i obtained linen from the officers, but not in sufficient quantities; suspicions would have been excited at observing so much linen brought into the prison. at last i took my sheets and the ticking that enclosed my straw, and cut them up for sand-bags, taking care to lie down on my bed, as if ill, when bruckhausen paid his visit. the labour, towards the conclusion, became so intolerable as to incite despondency. i frequently sat contemplating the heaps of sand, during a momentary respite from work; and thinking it impossible i could have strength or time again to replace all things as they were, resolved patiently to wait the consequence, and leave everything in its present disorder. yes! i can assure the reader that, to effect concealment, i have scarcely had time in twenty-four hours to sit down and eat a morsel of bread. recollecting, however, the efforts, and all the progress i had made, hope would again revive, and exhausted strength return: again would i begin my labours, that i might preserve my secret and my expectations: yet has it frequently happened that my visitors have entered a few minutes after i had reinstated everything in its place. when my work was within six or seven feet of being accomplished, a new misfortune happened that at once frustrated all further attempts. i worked, as i have said, under the foundation of the rampart near where the sentinels stood. i could disencumber myself of my fetters, except my neck collar and its pendent chain. this, as i worked, though it was fastened, got loose, and the clanking was heard by one of the sentinels about fifteen feet from my dungeon. the officer was called, they laid their ears to the ground, and heard me as i went backward and forward to bring my earth bags. this was reported the next day; and the major, who was my best friend, with the town-major, and a smith and mason, entered my prison. i was terrified. the lieutenant by a sign gave me to understand i was discovered. an examination was begun, but the officers would not see, and the smith and mason found all, as they thought, safe. had they examined my bed, they would have seen the ticking and sheets were gone. the town-major, who was a dull man, was persuaded the thing was impossible, and said to the sentinel, "blockhead! you have heard some mole underground, and not trenck. how, indeed, could it be, that lee should work underground, at such a distance from his dungeon?" here the scrutiny ended. there was now no time for delay. had they altered their hour of coming, they must have found me at work: but this, during ten years, never happened: for the governor and town-major were stupid men, and the others, poor fellows, wishing me all success, were willingly blind. in a few days i could have broken out, but, when ready, i was desirous to wait for the visitation of the man who had treated me so tyranically, bruckhausen, that his own negligence might be evident. but this man, though he wanted understanding, did not want good fortune. he was ill for some time, and his duty devolved on k---. he recovered; and the visitation being over, the doors were no sooner barred than i began my supposed last labour. i had only three feet farther to proceed, and it was no longer necessary i should bring out the sand, i having room to throw it behind me. what my anxiety was, what my exertions were, may well be imagined. my evil genius, however, had decreed that the same sentinel, who had heard me before, should be that day on guard. he was piqued by vanity, to prove he was not the blockhead he had been called; he therefore again laid his ear to the ground, and again heard me burrowing. ho called his comrades first, next thee major; lee came, and heard me likewise; they then went without the pallisadoes, and heard me working near the door, at which place i was to break into the gallery. this door they immediately opened, entered the gallery with lanthorns, and waited to catch the hunted fox when unearthed. through the first small breach i made i perceived a light, and saw the heads of those who were expecting me. this was indeed a thunder-stroke! i crept back, made my way through the sand i had cast behind me, and awaited my fate with shuddering! i had the presence of mind to conceal my pistols, candles, paper, and some money, under the floor which i could remove. the money was disposed of in various holes, well concealed also between the panels of the doors; and under different cracks in the floor i hid my small files and knives. scarcely were these disposed of before the doors resounded: the floor was covered with sand and sand-bags: my handcuffs, however, and the separating bar, i had hastily resumed that they might suppose i had worked with them on, which they were silly enough to credit, highly to my future advantage. no man was more busy on this occasion than the brutal and stupid bruckhausen, who put many interrogatories, to which i made no reply, except assuring him that i should have completed my work some days sooner, had it not been his good fortune to fall sick, and that this only had been the cause of my failure. the man was absolutely terrified with apprehension; he began to fear me, grew more polite, and even supposed nothing was impossible to me. it was too late to remove the sand; therefore the lieutenant and guard continued with me, so that this night at least i did not want company. when the morning came, the hole was first filled up; the planking was renewed. the tyrant borck was ill, and could not come, otherwise my treatment would have been still more lamentable. the smiths had ended before the evening, and the irons were heavier than ever. the foot chains, instead of being fastened as before, were screwed and riveted; all else remained as formerly. they were employed in the flooring till the next day, so that i could not sleep, and at last i sank down with weariness. the greatest of my misfortunes was they again deprived me of my bed, because i had cut it up for sand-bags. before the doors were barred bruckhausen and another major examined my body very narrowly. they often had asked me where i concealed all my implements? my answer was, "gentlemen, beelzebub is my best and most intimate friend; he brings me everything i want, supplies me with light: we play whole nights at piquet, and, guard me as you please, he will finally deliver me out of your power." some were astonished, others laughed. at length, as they were barring the last door, i called, "come back, gentlemen! you have forgotten something of great importance." in the interim i had taken up one of my hidden files. when they returned, "look ye, gentlemen," said i, "here is a proof of the friendship beelzebub has for me, he has brought me this in a twinkling." again they examined, and again they shut their doors. while they were so doing, i took out a knife, and ten louis-d'ors, called, and they re turned, grumbling curses; i then shewed the knife and the louis-d'ors. their consternation was excessive; and i diverted my misfortunes by jesting at such blundering, short-sighted keepers. it was soon rumoured through magdeburg, especially among the simple and vulgar, that i was a magician to whom the devil brought all i asked. one major holtzkammer, a very selfish man, profited by this report. a foolish citizen had offered him fifty dollars if he might only be permitted to see me through the door, being very desirous to see a wizard. holtzkammer told me, and we jointly determined to sport with his credulity. the major gave me a mask with a monstrous nose, which i put on when the doors were opening, and threw myself in an heroic attitude. the affrighted burger drew back; but holtzkammer stopped him, and said, "have patience for some quarter of an hour, and you shall see he will assume quite a different countenance." the burger waited, my mask was thrown by, and my face appeared whitened with chalk, and made ghastly. the burger again shrank back; holtzkammer kept him in conversation, and i assumed a third farcical form. i tied my hair under my nose, and a pewter dish to my breast, and when the door a third time opened, i thundered, "begone, rascals, or i'll set your necks--awry!" they both ran: and the silly burger, eased of his fifty dollars, scampered first. the major, in vain, laid his injunctions on the burger never to reveal what he had beheld, it being a breach of duty in him to admit any persons whatever to the sight of me. in a few days, the necromancer trenck was the theme of every alehouse in magdeburg, and the person was named who had seen me change my form thrice in the space of one hour. many false and ridiculous circumstances were added, and at last the story reached the governor's ears. the citizen was cited, and offered to take his oath of what himself and the major had seen. holtzkammer accordingly suffered a severe reprimand, and was some days under arrest. we frequently laughed, however, at this adventure, which had rendered me so much the subject of conversation. miraculous reports were the more easily credited, because no one could comprehend how, in despite of the load of irons i carried, and all the vigilance of my guards, i should be continually able to make new attempts, while those appointed to examine my dungeon seemed, as it were, blinded and bewildered. a proof this, how easy it is to deceive the credulous, and whence have originated witchcraft, prophecies, and miracles. chapter iv. my last undertaking had employed me more than twelve months, and so weakened me that i appeared little better than a skeleton. notwithstanding the greatness of my spirit, i should have sunk into despondency, at seeing an end like this to all my labours, had i not still cherished a secret hope of escaping, founded on the friends i had gained among the officers. i soon felt the effects of the loss of my bed, and was a second time attacked by a violent fever, which would this time certainly have consumed me had not the officers, unknown to the governor, treated me with all possible compassion. bruckhausen alone continued my enemy, and the slave of his orders; on his day of examination rules and commands in all their rigour were observed, nor durst i free myself from my irons, till i had for some weeks remarked those parts on which he invariably fixed his attention. i then cut through the link, and closed up the vacancy with bread. my hands i could always draw out, especially after illness had consumed the flesh off my bones. half a year had elapsed before i had recovered sufficient strength to undertake, anew, labours like the past. necessity at length taught me the means of driving bruckhausen from my dungeon, and of inducing him to commit his office to another. i learnt his olfactory nerves were somewhat delicate, and whenever i heard the doors unbar, i took care to make a stir in my night-table. this made him give back, and at length he would come no farther than the door. such are the hard expedients of a poor unhappy prisoner! one day he came, bloated with pride, just after a courier had brought the news of victory, and spoke of the austrians, and the august person of the empress-queen with so much virulence, that, at last, enraged almost to madness, i snatched the sword of an officer from its sheath, and should certainly have ended him, had he not made a hasty retreat. from that day forward he durst no more come without guards to examine the dungeon. two men always preceded him, with their bayonets fixed, and their pieces presented, behind whom he stood at the door. this was another fortunate incident, as i dreaded only his examination. the following anecdote will afford a specimen of this man's understanding. while digging in the earth i found a cannon-ball, and laid it in the middle of my prison. when he came to examine--"what in the name of god is that?" said he. "it is a part of the ammunition," answered i, "that my familiar brings me. the cannon will be here anon, and you will then see fine sport!" he was astonished, told this to others, nor could conceive such a ball might by any natural means enter my prison. i wrote a satire on him, when the late landgrave of hesse-cassel was governor of magdeburg; and i had permission to write as will hereafter appear: the landgrave gave it to him to read himself; and so gross was his conception, that though his own phraseology was introduced, part of his history and his character painted, yet he did not perceive the jest, but laughed heartily with the hearers. the landgrave was highly diverted, and after i obtained my freedom, restored me the manuscript written in my own blood. about the time that my last attempt at escaping failed, general krusemarck came to my prison, whom i had formerly lived with in habits of intimacy, when cornet of the body guard. without testifying friendship, esteem, or compassion, he asked, among other things, in an authoritative tone, how i could employ my time to prevent tediousness? i answered in as haughty a mood as he interrogated: for never could misfortune bend my mind. i told him, "i always could find sources of entertainment in my own thoughts; and that, as for my dreams, i imagined they would at least be as peaceful and pleasant as those of my oppressors." "had you in time," replied he, "curbed this fervour of yours, had you asked pardon of the king, perhaps you would have been in very different circumstances; but he who has committed an offence in which he obstinately persists, endeavouring only to obtain freedom by seducing men from their duty, deserves no better fate." justly was my anger roused! "sir," answered i, "you are a general of the king of prussia, i am an austrian captain. my royal mistress will protect, perhaps deliver me, or, at least, revenge my death; i have a conscience void of reproach. you, yourself, well know i have not deserved these chains. i place my hope in time, and the justness of my cause, calumniated and condemned, as i have been, without legal sentence or hearing. in such a situation, the philosopher will always be able to brave and despise the tyrant." he departed with threats, and his last words were, "the bird shall soon be taught to sing another tune." the effects of this courteous visit were soon felt. an order came that i should be prevented sleeping, and that the sentinels should call, and wake me every quarter of an hour; which dreadful order was immediately executed. this was indeed a punishment intolerable to nature! yet did custom at length teach me to answer in my sleep. four years did this unheard of cruelty continue! the noble landgrave of hesse-cassel at length put an end to it a year before i was released from my dungeon, and once again, in mercy, suffered me to sleep in peace. under this new affliction, i wrote an elegy which may be found in the second volume of my works, a few lines of which i shall cite. wake me, ye guards, for hark, the quarter strikes! sport with my woes, laugh loud at my miseries hearken if you hear my chains clank! knock! beat! of an inexorable tyrant be ye th' inexorable instruments! wake me, ye slaves; ye do but as you're bade. soon shall he lie sleepless, or dreaming, the spectres of conscience behold and shriek, who me deprives of rest. wake me: again the quarter strikes! call loud rip up all my bleeding wounds, and shrink not! yet think 'tis i that answer, god that hears! to every wretch in chains sleep is permitted: i, i alone, am robb'd of this last refuge of sinking nature! hark! again they thunder! again they iterate yells of trenck and death. peace to thy anger, peace, thou suffering heart! nor indignant beat, adding tenfold pangs to pain. ye burthened limbs, arise from momentary slumbers! shake your chains! murmur not, but rise! and ye! watch-dogs of power! let loose your rage: fear not, for i am helpless, unprotected. and yet, not so--the noble mind, within itself, resources finds innumerable. thou, oh god, thought'st good me t' imprison thus: thou, oh god, in thy good time, wilt me deliver. wake me then, nor fear! my soul slumbers not. and who can say but those who fetter me, may, ere to-morrow, groan themselves in fetters! wake me! for lo! their sleep's less sweet than mine. call! call! from night to morn, from twilight to dawn, incessant! yea, in god's name, call! call! call! amen! amen! thy will, oh god, be done! yet surely thou at length shalt hear my sighs! shalt burst my prison doors! shalt shew me fair creation! yea, the very heav'n of heav'ns! with whom these orders originated, unexampled in the history even of tyranny, i shall not venture to say. the major, who was my friend, advised me to persist in not answering. i followed his advice; and it produced this good effect that we mutually forced each other to a capitulation: they restored me my bed, and i was obliged to reply. immediately after this regulation, the sub-governor, general borck, my bitter enemy, became insane, was dispossessed of his post, and lieutenant- general reichmann, the benevolent friend of humanity, was made sub-governor. about the same time the court fled from berlin, and the queen, the prince of prussia, the princess amelia, and the margrave henry, chose magdeburg for their residence. bruckhausen grew more polite, probably perceiving i was not wholly deserted, and that it was yet possible i might obtain my freedom. the cruel are usually cowards, and there is reason to suppose bruckhausen was actuated by his fears to treat me with greater respect. the worthy new governor had not indeed the power to lighten my chains, or alter the general regulations; what he could, he did. if he did not command, he connived at the doors being occasionally at first, and at length, daily, kept open some hours, to admit daylight and fresh air. after a time, they were open the whole day, and only closed by the officers when they returned from their visit to walrabe. having light, i began to carve, with a nail, on the pewter cup in which i drank, satirical verses and various figures, and attained so much perfection that my cups, at last, were considered as master-pieces, both of engraving and invention, and were sold dear, as rare curiosities. my first attempts were rude, as may well be imagined. my cup was carried to town, and shown to visitors by the governor, who sent me another. i improved, and each of the inspecting officers wished to possess one. i grew more expert, and spent a whole year in this employment, which thus passed swiftly away. the perfection i had now acquired obtained me the permission of candle-light, and this continued till i was restored to freedom. the king gave orders these cups should all be inspected by government, because i wished, by my verses and devices, to inform the world of my fate. but this command was not obeyed; the officers made merchandise of my cups, and sold them at last for twelve ducats each. their value increased so much, when i was released from prison, that they are now to be found in various museums throughout europe. twelve years ago the late landgrave of hesse-cassel presented one of them to my wife; and another came, in a very unaccountable manner, from the queen-dowager of prussia to paris. i have given prints of both these, with the verses they contained, in my works; whence it may be seen how artificially they were engraved. a third fell into the hands of prince augustus lobkowitz, then a prisoner of war at magdeburg, who, on his return to vienna, presented it to the emperor, who placed it in his museum. among other devices on this cup, was a landscape, representing a vineyard and husbandmen, and under it the following words:--_by my labours my vineyard flourished_, _and i hoped to have gathered the fruit_; _but ahab came_. _alas_! _for naboth_. the allusion was so pointed, both to the wrongs done me in vienna, and my sufferings in prussia, that it made a very strong impression on the empress-queen, who immediately commanded her minister to make every exertion for my deliverance. she would probably at last have even restored me to my estates, had not the possessors of them been so powerful, or had she herself lived one year longer. to these my engraved cups was i indebted for being once more remembered at vienna. on the same cup, also, was another engraving of a bird in a cage, held by a turk, with the following inscription:--_the bird sings even in the storm_; _open his cage_, _break his fetters_, _ye friends of virtue_, _and his songs shall be the delight of your abodes_! there is another remarkable circumstance attending these cups. all were forbidden under pain of death to hold conversation with me, or to supply me with pen and ink; yet by this open permission of writing what i pleased on pewter, was i enabled to inform the world of all i wished, and to prove a man of merit was oppressed. the difficulties of this engraving will be conceived, when it is remembered that i worked by candle-light on shining pewter, attained the art of giving light and shade, and by practice could divide a cup into two-and-thirty compartments as regularly with a stroke of the hand as with a pair of compasses. the writing was so minute that it could only be read with glasses. i could use but one hand, both, being separated by the bar, and therefore held the cup between my knees. my sole instrument was a sharpened nail, yet did i write two lines on the rim only. my labour became so excessive, that i was in danger of distraction or blindness. everybody wished for cups, and i wished to oblige everybody, so that i worked eighteen hours a day. the reflection of the light from the pewter was injurious to my eyes, and the labour of invention for apposite subjects and verses was most fatiguing. i had learnt only architectural drawing. enough of these cups, which procured me so much honour, so many advantages, and helped to shorten so many mournful hours. my greatest encumbrance was the huge iron collar, with its enormous appendages, which, when suffered to press the arteries in the back of my neck, occasioned intolerable headaches. i sat too much, and a third time fell sick. a brunswick sausage, secretly given me by a friend, occasioned an indigestion, which endangered my life; a putrid fever followed, and my body was reduced to a skeleton. medicines, however, were conveyed to me by the officers, and, now and then, warm food. after my recovery, i again thought it necessary to endeavour to regain my liberty. i had but forty louis-d'ors remaining, and these i could not get till i had first broken up the flooring. lieutenant sonntag was consumptive, and obtained his discharge. i supplied bins with money to defray the expenses of his journey, and with an order that four hundred florins should be annually paid him from my effects till his death or my release. i commissioned him to seek an audience from the empress, endeavour to excite her compassion in my behalf, and to remit me four thousand florins, for which i gave a proper acquittance, by the way of hamburgh. the money-draft was addressed to my administrators, counsellors kempf and huttner. but no one, alas! in vienna, wished my return; they had already begun to share my property, of which they never rendered me an account. poor sonntag was arrested as a spy, imprisoned, ill treated for some weeks, and, at last, when naked and destitute, received a hundred florins, and was escorted beyond the austrian confines. the worthy man fell a shameful sacrifice to his honesty, could never obtain an audience of the empress, and returned poor and miserable on foot to berlin, where he was twelve months secretly maintained by his brother, and with whom he died. he wrote an account of all this to the good knoblauch, my hamburgh agent, and i, from my small store, sent him a hundred ducats. how much must i despair of finding any place of refuge on earth, hearing accounts like these from vienna. a friend, whom i will never name, by the aid of one of the lieutenants, secretly visited me, and supplied me with six hundred ducats. the same friend, in the year , paid four thousand florins to the imperial envoy, baron reidt, at berlin, for the furthering of my freedom, as i shall presently more fully show. thus i had once more money. about this time the french army advanced to within five miles of magdeburg. this important fortress was, at that time, the key of the whole prussian power. it required a garrison of sixteen thousand men, and contained not more than fifteen hundred. the french might have marched in unopposed, and at once have put an end to the war. the officers brought me all the news, and my hopes rose as they approached. what was my astonishment when the major informed me that three waggons had entered the town in the night, had been sent back loaded with money, and that the french were retreating. this, i can assure my readers, on my honour, is literally truth, to the eternal disgrace of the french general. the major, who informed me, was himself an eye-witness of the fact. it was pretended the money was for the army of the king, but everybody could guess whither it was going; it left the town without a convoy, and the french were then in the neighbourhood. such were the allies of maria theresa; the receivers of this money are known in paris. not only were my hopes this way frustrated, but in russia likewise, where the countess of bestuchef and the chancellor had fallen into disgrace. i now imagined another, and, indeed, a fearful and dangerous project. the garrison of magdeburg at this moment consisted but of nine hundred militia, who were discontented men. two majors and two lieutenants were in my interest. the guard of the star fort amounted but to a hundred and fifteen men. fronting the gate of this fort was the town gate, guarded only by twelve men and an inferior officer; beside these lay the casemates, in which were seven thousand croat prisoners. baron k---y, a captain, and prisoner of war, also was in our interest, and would hold his comrades ready at a certain place and time to support my undertaking. another friend was, under some pretence, to hold his company ready, with their muskets loaded, and the plan was such that i should have had four hundred men in arms ready to carry it into execution. the officer was to have placed the two men we most suspected and feared, as sentinels over me; he was to command them to take away my bed, and when encumbered, i was to spring out, and shut them in the prison. clothing and arms were to have been procured, and brought me into my prison; the town-gate was to have been surprised; i was to have run to the casemate, and called to the croats, "trenck to arms!" my friends, at the same instant, were to break forth, and the plan was so well concerted that it could not have failed. magdeburg, the magazine of the army, the royal treasury, arsenal, all would have been mine; and sixteen thousand men, who were then prisoners of war, would have enabled me to keep possession. the most essential secret, by which all this was to have been effected, i dare not reveal; suffice it to say, everything was provided for, everything made secure; i shall only add that the garrison, in the harvest months, was exceedingly weakened, because the farmers paid the captains a florin per man each day, and the men for their labour likewise, to obtain hands. the sub-governor connived at the practice. one lieutenant g--- procured a furlough to visit his friends; but, supplied by me with money, he went to vienna. i furnished him with a letter, addressed to counsellors kempf and huttner, including a draft for two thousand ducats; wherein i said that, by these means, i should not only soon be at liberty, but in possession of the fortress of magdeburg; and that the bearer was entrusted with the rest. the lieutenant came safe to vienna, underwent a thousand interrogatories, and his name was repeatedly asked. this, fortunately, he concealed. they advised him not to be concerned in so dangerous an undertaking; told him i had not so much money due to me, and gave him, instead of two thousand ducats, one thousand florins. with these he left vienna, but with very prudent suspicions which prevented him ever returning to magdeburg. a month had scarcely passed before the late landgrave of hesse-cassel, then chief governor, entered my prison, showed me my letter, and demanded to know who had carried the letter, and who were to free me and betray magdeburg. whether the letter was sent immediately to the king or the governor i know not; it is sufficient that i was once more betrayed at vienna. the truth was, the administrators of my effects had acted as if i were deceased, and did not choose to refund two thousand ducats. they wished not i should obtain my freedom, in a manner that would have obliged the government to have rewarded me, and restore the effects they had embezzled and the estates they had seized. what happened afterwards at vienna, which will be related in its place, will incontestably prove this surmise to be well founded. these bad men did not, it is true, die in the manner they ought, but they are all dead, and i am still living, an honest, though poor man: they did not die so. be this read and remembered by their luxurious heirs, who refuse to restore my children to their rights. chapter v. my consternation on the appearance of the landgrave, with my letter in his hand, may well be supposed; i had the presence of mind, however, to deny my handwriting, and affect astonishment at so crafty a trick. the landgrave endeavoured to convict me, told me what lieutenant kemnitz had repeated at vienna concerning my possessing myself of magdeburg, and thereby showed me how fully i had been betrayed. but as no such person existed as lieutenant kemnitz, and as my friend had fortunately concealed his name, the mystery remained impenetrable, especially as no one could conceive how a prisoner, in my situation, could seduce or subdue the whole garrison. the worthy prince left my prison, apparently satisfied with my defence; his heart felt no satisfaction in the misfortunes of others. the next day a formal examination was taken, at which the sub-governor reichmann presided. i was accused as a traitor to my country; but i obstinately denied my handwriting. proofs or witnesses there were none, and in answer to the principal charge, i said, "i was no criminal, but a man calumniated, illegally imprisoned, and loaded with irons; that the king, in the year , had cashiered me, and confiscated my parental inheritance; that therefore the laws of nature enforced me to seek honour and bread in a foreign service; and that, finding these in austria, i became an officer and a faithful subject of the empress-queen; that i had been a second time unoffendingly imprisoned; that here i was treated as the worst of malefactors, and my only resource was to seek my liberty by such means as i could; were i therefore in this attempt to destroy magdeburg, and occasion the loss of a thousand lives, i should still be guiltless. had i been heard and legally sentenced, previous to my imprisonment at glatz, i should have been, and still continued, a criminal; but not having been guilty of any small, much less of any great crime, equal to my punishment, if such crime could be, i was therefore not accountable for consequences; i owed neither fidelity nor duty to the king of prussia; for by the word of his power he had deprived me of bread, honour, country, and freedom." here the examination ended, without further discovery; the officers, however, falling under suspicion, were all removed, and thus i lost my best friends; yet it was not long before i had gained two others, which was no difficult matter, as i knew the national character, and that none but poor men were made militia officers. thus was the governor's precaution fruitless, and almost everybody secretly wished i might obtain my freedom. i shall never forget the noble manner in which i was treated on this occasion by the landgrave. this i personally acknowledged, some years afterwards, in the city of cassel, when i heard many things which confirmed all my surmises concerning vienna. the landgrave received me with all grace, favour, and distinction. i revere his memory, and seek to honour his name. he was the friend of misfortune. when i not long afterwards fell ill, he sent me his own physician, and meat from his table, nor would he suffer me, during two months, to be wakened by the sentinels. he likewise removed the dreadful collar from my neck; for which he was severely reprimanded by the king, as he himself has since assured me. i might fill a volume with incidents attending two other efforts to escape, but i will not weary the reader's patience with too much repetition. i shall merely give an abstract of both. when i had once more gained the officers, i made a new attempt at mining my way out. not wanting for implements, my chains and the flooring were soon cut through, and all was so carefully replaced that i was under no fear of examination. i here found my concealed money, pistols, and other necessaries, but till i had rid myself of some hundredweight of sand, it was impossible to proceed. for this purpose i made two different openings in the floor: out of the real hole i threw a great quantity of sand into my prison; after which i closed it with all possible care. i then worked at the second with so much noise, that i was certain they must hear me without. about midnight the doors began to thunder, and in they came, detecting me, as i intended they should. none of them could conceive why i should wish to break out under the door, where there was a triple guard to pass. the sentinels remained, and in the morning prisoners were sent to wheel away the sand. the hole was walled up and boarded, and my fetters were renewed. they laughed at the ridiculousness of my undertaking, but punished me by depriving me of my light and bed, which, however, in a fortnight were both restored. of the other hole, out of which most of the earth had been thrown, no one was aware. the major and lieutenant were too much my friends to remark that they had removed thrice the quantity of sand the false opening could contain. they supposed this strange attempt having failed, it would be my last, and bruckhausen grew negligent. the governor and sub-governor both visited me after some weeks, but far from imitating the brutality of borck, the landgrave spoke to me with mildness, promised me his interest to regain my freedom, when peace should be concluded; told me i had more friends than i supposed, and assured me i had not been forgotten by the court at vienna. he promised me every alleviation, and i gave him my word i would no more attempt to escape while he remained governor. my manner enforced conviction and he ordered my neck-collar to be taken off, my window to be unclosed, my doors to be left open two hours every day, a stove to be put in my dungeon, finer linen for my shirts, and paper to amuse myself by writing my thoughts. the sheets were to be numbered when given, and then returned, by the town-major, that i might not abuse this liberty. ink was not allowed me, i therefore pricked my fingers, suffered the blood to trickle into a pot; by these means i procured a substitute for ink, both to write and draw. i now engraved my cups, and versified. i had opportunity to display my abilities to awaken compassion. my emulation was increased by knowing that my works were seen at courts, that the princess amelia and the queen herself testified their satisfaction. i had subjects to engrave from sent me; and the wretch whom the king intended to bury alive, whose name no man was to mention, never was more famous than while he vented his groans in his dungeon. my writings produced their effect, and really regained my freedom. to my cultivation of the sciences and presence of mind i am indebted for all; these all the power of frederic could not deprive me of. yes! this liberty i procured, though he answered all petitions in my behalf--"he is a dangerous man: and so long as i live he shall never see the light!" yet have i seen it during his life: after his death i have seen it without revenging myself, otherwise than by proving my virtue to a monarch who oppressed because he knew me not, because he would not recall the hasty sentence of anger, or own he might be mistaken. he died convinced of my integrity, yet without affording me retribution! man is formed by misfortune; virtue is active in adversity. it is indifferent to me that the companions of my youth have their ears gratified, delighted with the titles of general! field-marshal i have learned to live without such additions; i am known in my works. i returned to my dungeon. here, after my last conference with the landgrave, i waited my fate with a mind more at ease than that of a prince in a palace. the newspapers they brought me bespoke approaching peace, on which my dependence was placed, and i passed eighteen months calmly, and without further attempt to escape. the father of the landgrave died; and magdeburg now lost its governor. the worthy reichmann, however, testified for me all compassion and esteem; i had books, and my time was employed. imprisonment and chains to me were become habitual, and freedom in hope approached. about this time i wrote the poems, "the macedonian hero," "the dream realised," and some fables. the best of my poems are now lost to me. the mind's sensibility when the body is imprisoned is strongly roused, nor can all the aids of the library equal this advantage. perhaps i may recover some in berlin; if so, the world may learn what my thoughts then were. when i was at liberty, i had none but such as i remembered, and these i committed to writing. on my first visit to the landgrave of hesse-cassel i received a volume of them written in my own blood; but there were eight of these which i shall never regain. the death of elizabeth, the deposing of peter iii., and the accession of catherine ii. produced peace. on the receipt of this intelligence i tried to provide for all contingencies. the worthy captain k--- had opened me a correspondence with vienna: i was assured of support; but was assured the administrators and those who possessed my estates would throw every impediment in the way of freedom. i tried to persuade another officer to aid my escape, but in vain. i therefore opened my old hole, and my friends assisted me to disembarrass myself of sand. my money melted away, but they provided me with tools, gunpowder, and a good sword. i had remained so long quiet that my flooring was not examined. my intent was to wait the peace; and should i continue in chains, then would i have my subterranean passage to the rampart ready for escape. for my further security, an old lieutenant had purchased a house in the suburbs, where i might lie concealed. gummern, in saxony, is two miles from magdeburg; here a friend, with two good horses, was to wait a year, to ride on the glacis of klosterbergen on the first and fifteenth of each month, and at a given signal to hasten to my assistance. my passage had to be ready in case of emergency; i removed the upper planking, broke up the two beds, cut the boards into chips, and burnt them in my stove. by this i obtained so much additional room as to proceed half way with my mine. linen again was brought me, sand-bags made, and thus i successfully proceeded to all but the last operation. everything was so well concealed that i had nothing to fear from inspection, especially as the new come garrison could not know what was the original length of the planks. i must here relate a dreadful accident, which i cannot remember without shuddering, and the terror of which has often haunted my very dreams. while mining under the rampart, as i was carrying out the sand-bag, i struck my foot against a stone which fell down and closed up the passage. what was my horror to find myself buried alive! after a short reflection, i began to work the sand away from the side, that i might turn round. there were some feet of empty space, into which i threw the sand as i worked it away; but the small quantity of air soon made it so foul that i a thousand times wished myself dead, and made several attempts to strangle myself. thirst almost deprived me of my senses, but as often as i put my mouth to the sand i inhaled fresh air. my sufferings were incredible, and i imagine i passed eight hours in this situation. my spirits fainted; again i recovered and began to labour, but the earth was as high as my chin, and i had no more space where i might throw the sand. i made a more desperate effort, drew my body into a ball, and turned round; i now faced the stone; there being an opening at the top, i respired fresher air. i rooted away the sand under the stone, and let it sink so that i might creep over; at length i once more arrived in my dungeon! the morning was advanced; i sat down so exhausted that i supposed it was impossible i had strength to conceal my hole. after half an hour's rest, my fortitude returned: again i went to work, and scarcely had i ended before my visitors approached. they found me pale: i complained of headache, and continued some days affected by the fatigue i had sustained. after a time strength returned; but perhaps of all my nights of horror this was the most horrible. i repeatedly dreamt i was buried in the centre of the earth; and now, though three and twenty years are elapsed, my sleep is still haunted by this vision. after this accident, when i worked in my cavity, i hung a knife round my neck, that if i should be enclosed i might shorten my miseries. over the stone that had fallen several others hung tottering, under which i was obliged to creep. nothing, however, could deter me from trying to obtain my liberty. when my passage was ready, i wrote letters to my friends at vienna, and also a memorial to my sovereign. when the militia left magdeburg and the regulars returned, i took leave of my friends who had behaved so benevolently. several weeks elapsed before they departed and i learnt that general reidt was appointed ambassador from vienna to berlin. i had seen the world; i knew this general was not averse to a bribe: i wrote him a letter, conjuring him to act with ardour in my behalf. i enclosed a draft for six thousand florins on my effects at vienna, and he received four thousand from one of my relations. i have to thank these ten thousand florins for my freedom, which i obtained nine months after. my vouchers show the six thousand florins were paid in april, , to the order of general reidt. the other four thousand i repaid, when at liberty, to my friend. i received intelligence before the garrison departed that no stipulation had been made on my behalf at the peace of hubertsberg. the vienna plenipotentiaries, after the articles were signed, mentioned my name to hertzberg, with but few assurances of every effort being made to move frederic, a promise on which i could much better rely than on my protectors at vienna, who had left me in misfortune. i determined to wait three months longer, and should i still find myself neglected, to owe my escape to myself. on the change of the garrison, the officers were more difficult to gain than the former. the majors obeyed their orders; their help was unnecessary; but still i sighed for my old friends. i had only ammunition-bread again for food. my time hung very heavy; everything was examined on the change of the garrison. a stricter scrutiny might occur, and my projects be discovered. this had nearly been effected, as i shall here relate. i had so tamed a mouse that it would eat from my mouth; in this small animal i discovered proofs of intelligence. this mouse had nearly been my ruin. i had diverted myself with it one night; it had been nibbling at my door and capering on a trencher. the sentinels hearing our amusement, called the officers: they heard also, and thought all was not right. at daybreak the town-major, a smith, and mason entered; strict search was begun; flooring, walls, chains, and my own person were all scrutinised, but in vain. they asked what was the noise they had heard; i mentioned the mouse, whistled, and it came and jumped upon my shoulder. orders were given i should be deprived of its society; i entreated they would spare its life. the officer on guard gave me his word he would present it to a lady, who would treat it with tenderness. he took it away and turned it loose in the guardroom, but it was tame to me alone, and sought a hiding place. it had fled to my prison door, and, at the hour of visitation, ran into my dungeon, testifying its joy by leaping between my legs. it is worthy of remark that it had been taken away blindfold, that is to say, wrapped in a handkerchief. the guard- room was a hundred paces from the dungeon. all were desirous of obtaining this mouse, but the major carried it off for his lady; she put it into a cage, where it pined, and in a few days died. the loss of this companion made me quite melancholy, yet, on the last examination, i perceived it had so eaten the bread by which i had concealed the crevices i had made in cutting the floor, that the examiners must be blind not to discover them. i was convinced my faithful little friend had fallen a necessary victim to its master's safety. this accident determined me not to wait the three months. i have related that horses were to be kept ready, on the first and fifteenth, and i only suffered the first of august to pass, because i would not injure major pfuhl, who had treated me with more compassion than his comrades, and whose day of visitation it was. on the fifteenth i determined to fly. this resolution formed, i waited in expectation of the day, when a new and remarkable succession of accidents happened. an alarm of fire had obliged the major to repair to the town; he committed the keys to the lieutenant. the latter, coming to visit me, asked--"dear trenck, have you never, during seven years that you have been under the guard of the militia, found a man like schell?" "alas! sir," answered i, "such friends are rare; the will of many has been good; each knew i could make his fortune, but none had courage enough for so desperate an attempt! money i have distributed freely, but have received little help." "how do you obtain money in this dungeon?" "from a correspondent at vienna, by whom i am still supplied." "if i can serve you, command me: i will do it without asking any return." so saying, i took fifty ducats from between the panels, and gave them to the lieutenant. at first he refused, but at length accepted them with fear. he left me, promised to return, pretended to shut the door, and kept his word. he now said debt obliged him to desert; that this had long been his determination, and that, desirous to assist me at the same time if he could find the means, i had only to show how this might be effected. we continued two hours in conference: a plan was formed, approved, and a certainty of success demonstrated; especially when i told him i had two horses waiting. we vowed eternal friendship; i gave him fifty ducats, and his debts, not amounting to more than two hundred rix-dollars, which he never could have discharged out of his pay. he was to prepare four keys to resemble those of my dungeon; the latter were to be exchanged on the day of flight, being kept in the guard-room while the major was with general walrabe. he was to give the grenadiers on guard leave of absence, or send them into the town on various pretences. the sentinels he was to call from their duty, and those placed over me were to be sent into my dungeon to take away my bed; while encumbered with this, i was to spring out and lock them in, after which we were to mount our horses, which were kept ready, and ride to gummern. every thing was to be prepared within a week, when he was to mount guard. we had scarcely formed our project before the sentinels called the major was coming; he accordingly barred the door, and the major passed to general walrabe. no man was happier than myself; my hopes of escape were triple; the mediation at berlin, the mine i had made, and my friend the lieutenant. when most my mind ought to have been clear, i seemed to have lost my understanding. i came to a resolution which will appear extravagant and pitiable. i was stupid enough, mad enough, to form the design of casting myself on the magnanimity of the great frederic! should this fail, i still thought my lieutenant a saviour. having heated my imagination with this scheme, i waited the visitation with anxiety. the major entered, i bespoke him thus: "i know, sir, the great prince ferdinand is again in magdeburg. inform him that he may examine my prison, double the sentinels, and give me his commands, stating what hour will please him i should make my appearance on the glacis of klosterbergen. if i prove myself capable of this, i then hope for the protection of prince ferdinand: and that he will relate my proceeding to the king, who may he convinced of my innocence." the major was astonished; the proposal he held to be ridiculous, and the performance impossible. i persisted; he returned with the sub-governor, reichmann, the town-major, riding, and the major of inspection. the answer they delivered was, that the prince promised me his protection, the king's favour, and a release from my chains, should i prove my assertion. i required they would appoint a time; they ridiculed the thing as impossible, and said that it would be sufficient could i prove the practicability of such a scheme; but should i refuse, they would break up the flooring, and place sentinels in my dungeon, adding, the governor would not admit of any breaking out. after promises of good faith, i disencumbered myself of my chains, raised my flooring, gave them my implements, and two keys, my friends had procured me, to the doors of the subterranean gallery. this gallery i desired them to sound with their sword hilts, at the place through which i was to break, which might be done in a few minutes. i described the road i was to take through the gallery, informed them that two of the doors had not been shut for six months, and to the others they had the keys; adding, i had horses waiting at the glacis, that would be now ready; the stables for which were unknown to them. they went, examined, returned, put questions, which i answered with precision. they left me with seeming friendship, came back, told me the prince was astonished at what he had heard, that he wished me all happiness, and then took me unfettered, to the guard-house. the major came in the evening, treated us with a supper, assured me everything would happen to my wishes, and that prince ferdinand had written to berlin. the guard was reinforced next day. the whole guard loaded with ball before my eyes, the drawbridges were raised in open day, and precautions were taken as if i intended to make attempts as desperate as those i had made at glatz. i now saw workmen employed on my dungeon, and carts bringing quarry-stones. the officers on guard behaved with kindness, kept a good table, at which i ate; but two sentinels, and an under-officer, never quitted the guard-room. conversation was cautious, and this continued five or six days; at length, it was the lieutenant's turn to mount guard; he appeared to be as friendly as formerly, but conference was difficult; he found an opportunity to express his astonishment at my ill-timed discovery, told me the prince knew nothing of the affair, and that the report through the garrison was, i had been surprised in making a new attempt. my dungeon was completed in a week. the town-major re-conducted me to it. my foot was chained to the wall with links twice as strong as formerly; the remainder of my irons were never after added. the dungeon was paved with flag-stones. that part of my money only was saved which i had concealed in the panels of the door, and the chimney of my stove; some thirty louis-d'ors, hidden about my clothes, were taken from me. while the smith was riveting my chains, i addressed the sub-governor. "is this the fulfilment of the pledge of the prince? think not you deceive me, i am acquainted with the false reports that have been spread; the truth will soon come to light, and the unworthy be put to shame. nay, i forewarn you that trenck shall not be much longer in your power; for were you to build your dungeon of steel, it would be insufficient to contain me." they smiled at me. reichmann told me i might soon obtain my freedom in a proper manner. my firm reliance on my friend, the lieutenant, gave me a degree of confidence that amazed them all. it is necessary to explain this affair. when i obtained my liberty, i visited prince ferdinand. he informed me the majors had not made a true report. their story was, they had caught me at work, and, had it not been for their diligence, i should have made my escape. prince ferdinand heard the truth, and informed the king, who only waited an opportunity to restore me to liberty. once more i was immured. i waited in hope for the day when my deliverer was to mount guard. what again was my despair when i saw another lieutenant! i buoyed myself up with the hope that accident was the occasion of this; but i remained three weeks, and saw him no more. i heard at length that he had left the corps of grenadiers, and was no longer to mount guard at the star fort. he has my forgiveness, and i applaud myself for never having said anything by which he might be injured. he might have repented his promise, he might have trusted another friend with the enterprise, and have been himself betrayed; but, be it as it may, his absence cut off all hope. i now repented my folly and vanity; i had brought my misfortunes on myself. i had myself rendered my dungeon impenetrable. death would have followed but for the dependence i placed in the court of vienna. the officers remarked the loss of my fortitude and thoughtfulness; the verses i wrote were desponding. the only comfort they could give was--"patience, dear trenck; your condition cannot be worse; the king may not live for ever." were i sick, they told me i might hope my sufferings would soon have an end. if i recovered they pitied me, and lamented their continuance. what man of my rank and expectations ever endured what i did, ever was treated as i have been treated! chapter vi. peace had been concluded nine months. i was forgotten. at last, when i supposed all hope lost, the th of december, and the day of freedom, came. at the hour of parade, count schlieben, lieutenant of the guards, brought orders for my release! the sub-governor supposed me weaker in intellect than i was, and would not too suddenly tell me these tidings. he knew not the presence of mind, the fortitude, which the dangers i had seen had made habitual. my doors for the last time resounded! several people entered; their countenances were cheerful, and the sub-governor at their head at length said, "this time, my dear trenck, i am the messenger of good news. prince ferdinand has prevailed on the king to let your irons be taken off." accordingly, to work went the smith. "you shall also," continued he, "have a better apartment." "i am free, then," said i. "speak! fear not! i can moderate my transports." "then you are free!" was the reply. the sub-governor first embraced me, and afterwards his attendants. he asked me what clothes i would wish. i answered, the uniform of my regiment. the tailor took my measure. reichmann told him it must be made by the morning. the man excused himself because it was christmas eve. "so, then, this gentleman must remain in his dungeon because it is holiday with you." the tailor promised to be ready. i was taken to the guard-room, congratulations were universal, and the town-major administered the oath customary to all state prisoners. st. that i should avenge myself on no man. nd. that i should neither enter the prussian nor saxon states. rd. that i should never relate by speech or in writing what had happened to me. th. and that, so long as the king lived, i should neither serve in a civil nor military capacity. count schlieben delivered me a letter from the imperial minister, general reidt, to the following purport:--that he rejoiced at having found an opportunity of obtaining my liberty from the king, and that i must obey the requisitions of count schlieben, whose orders were to accompany me to prague. "yes, dear trenck," said schlieben, "i am to conduct you through dresden to prague, with orders not to suffer you to speak to any one on the road. i have received three hundred ducats, to defray the expenses of travelling. as all things cannot be prepared today, the, sub-governor has determined we shall depart to-morrow night." i acquiesced, and count schlieben remained with me; the others returned to town, and i dined with the major and officers on guard, with general walrabe in his prison. once at liberty, i walked about the fortifications, to collect the money i had concealed in my dungeon. to every man on guard i gave a ducat, to the sentinels, each three, and ten ducats to be divided among the relief- guard. i sent the officer on guard a present from prague, and the remainder of my money i bestowed on the widow of the worthy gelfhardt. he was no more, and she had entrusted the thousand florins to a young soldier, who, spending them too freely, was suspected, betrayed her, and she passed two years in prison. gelfhardt never received any punishment; he was in the field. had he left any children, i should have provided for them. to the widow of the man who hung himself before my prison door, in the year , i gave thirty ducats, lent me by schlieben. the night was riotous, the guard made merry, and i passed most of it in their company. i was visited by all the generals of the garrison on christmas morning, for i was not allowed to enter the town. i dressed, viewed myself in the glass, and found pleasure; but the tumult of my passions, the congratulations i received, and the vivacity round me, prevented my remembering incidents minutely. yet how wonderful an alteration in the countenances of those by whom i had been guarded! i was treated with friendship, attention, and flattery. and why? because these fetters had dropped off which i had never justly borne. evening came, and with it count schlieben, a waggon, and four post-horses. after an affecting farewell, we departed. i shed tears at leaving magdeburg. it seems strange that i lived here ten years, yet never saw the town. the duration of my imprisonment at magdeburg was nearly ten years, and with the term of my imprisonment at glatz, the time is eleven years. thus was i robbed of time, my body weakened, my health impaired, so that in my decline of life, a second time, i suffer the gloom and chains of the dungeon at magdeburg. the reader would now hope that my calamities were at an end; yet, upon my honour, i would prefer the suffering of the star fort to those i have since endured in austria, especially while krugel and zetto were my referendaries and curators. at this moment i am obliged to be guarded in my expressions. i have put my enemies to shame; but the hope of justice or reward is vain. no rewards are bestowed on him who, with the consciousness of integrity, demands, and does not deplore. the facts i shall relate will seem incredible, yet i have, in my own hands, the vouchers of their veracity. "if my right hand is guilty of writing untruths in this book, may the executioner sever it from my body, and, in the memory of posterity, may i live a villain!" i will proceed with my history. on the nd of january i arrived, with count schlieben, at prague; the same day he delivered me to the governor, the duke of deuxponts. he received me with kindness; we dined with him two days, and all prague were anxious to see a man who had surmounted ten years of suffering so unheard of as mine. here i received three thousand florins, and paid general reidt his three hundred ducats, which he had advanced count schlieben, for my journey, the repayment of which he demanded in his letter, although he had received ten thousand florins. the expense of returning i also paid to schlieben, made him a present, and provided myself with some necessaries. after remaining a few days at prague, a courier arrived from vienna, to whom i was obliged to pay forty florins, with an order from government to bring me from prague to vienna. my sword was demanded; captain count wela, and two inferior officers, entered the carriage, which i was obliged to purchase, in company with me, and brought me to vienna. i took up a thousand florins more, in prague, to defray these expenses, and was obliged, in vienna, to pay the captain fifty ducats for travelling charges back. i was brought back like a criminal, was sent as a prisoner to the barracks, there kept in the chamber of lieutenant blonket, with orders that i should be suffered to write to no one, speak to no one, without a ticket from the counsellors kempt or huttner. thus i remained six weeks; at length, the colonel of the regiment of poniatowsky, the present field-marshal, count alton, spoke to me. i related what i supposed were the reasons of my being kept a prisoner in vienna; and to the exertions of this man am i indebted that the intentions of my enemies were frustrated, which were to have me imprisoned as insane in the fortress of glatz. had they once removed me from vienna, i should certainly have pined away my life in a madhouse. yet i could never obtain justice against these men. the empress was persuaded that my brain was affected, and that i uttered threats against the king of prussia. the election of a king of the romans was then in agitation, and the court was apprehensive lest i should offend the prussian envoy. general reidt had been obliged to promise frederic that i should not appear in vienna, and that they should hold a wary eye over me. the empress-queen felt compassion for my supposed disease, and asked if no assistance could be afforded me; to which they answered, i had several times let blood, but that i still was a dangerous man. they added, that i had squandered four thousand florins in six days at prague; that it would be proper to appoint guardians to impede such extravagancies. count alton spoke of me and my hard destiny to the countess parr, mistress of the ceremonies to the empress-queen. the late emperor entered the chamber, and asked whether i ever had any lucid intervals. "may it please your majesty," answered alton, "he has been seven weeks in my barracks, and i never met a more reasonable man. there is mystery in this affair, or he could not be treated as a madman. that he is not so in anywise i pledge my honour." the next day the emperor sent count thurn, grand-master of the archduke leopold, to speak to me. in him i found an enlightened philosopher, and a lover of his country. to him i related how i had twice been betrayed, twice sold at vienna, during my imprisonment; to him showed that my administrators had acted in this vile manner that i might be imprisoned for life, and they remain in possession of my effects. we conversed for two hours, during which many things were said that prudence will not permit me to repeat. i gained his confidence, and he continued my friend till death. he promised me protection, and procured me an audience of the emperor. i spoke with freedom; the audience lasted an hour. at length the emperor retired into the next apartment. i saw the tears drop from his eyes. i fell at his feet, and wished for the presence of a rubens or apelles, to preserve a scene so honourable to the memory of the monarch, and paint the sensations of an innocent man, imploring the protection of a compassionate prince. the emperor tore himself from me, and i departed with sensations such as only those can know who, themselves being virtuous, have met with wicked men. i returned to the barracks with joy, and an order the next day came for my release. i went with count alton to the countess parr, and by her mediation i obtained an audience with the empress. i cannot describe how much she pitied my sufferings and admired my fortitude. she told me she was informed of the artifices practised against me in vienna; she required me to forgive my enemies, and pass all the accounts of my administrators. "do not complain of anything," said she, "but act as i desire--i know all--you shall be recompensed by me; you deserve reward and repose, and these you shall enjoy." i must either sign whatever was given to sign, or be sent to a madhouse. i received orders to accompany m. pistrich to counsellor ziegler; thither i went, and the next day was obliged to sign, in their presence, the following conditions:-- first--that i acknowledged the will of trenck to be valid. secondly--that i renounced all claim to the sclavonian estates, relying alone on her majesty's favour. thirdly--that i solemnly acquitted my accountants and curators. and, lastly--that i would not continue in vienna. this i must sign, or languish in prison. how did my blood boil while i signed! this confidence i had in myself assured me i could obtain employment in any country of europe, by the labours of my mind, and the recital of all my woes. at that time i had no children; i little regretted what i had lost, or the poor portion that remained. i determined to avoid austria eternally. my pride would never suffer me, by insidious arts, to approach the throne. i knew no such mode of soliciting for justice, hence i was not a match for my enemies; hence my misfortunes. appeals to justice were represented as the splenetic effusions of a man never to be satisfied. my too sensitive heart was corroded by the treatment i met at vienna. i, who with so much fortitude had suffered so much in the cause of vienna, i, on whom the eyes of germany were fixed, to behold what should be the reward of these sufferings, i was again, in this country, kept a prisoner, and delivered to those by whom i had been plundered as a man insane! before my intended departure to seek my fortune, i fell ill, and sickness almost brought me to the grave. the empress, in her great clemency, sent one of her physicians and a friar to my assistance, both of whom i was obliged to pay. at this time i refused a major's commission, for which i was obliged to pay the fees. being excluded from actual service, to me the title was of little value; my rank in the army had been equal ten years before in other service. the following words, inserted in my commission, are not unworthy of remark:--"her majesty, in consequence of my fidelity for her service, demonstrated during a long imprisonment, my endowments and virtues, had been graciously pleased to grant me, in the imperial service, the rank of major."--the rank of major!--from this preamble who would not have expected either the rank of general, or the restoration of my great sclavonian estates? i had been fifteen years a captain of cavalry, and then was i made an invalid major three-and-twenty years ago, and an invalid major i still remain! let all that has been related be called to mind, the manner in which i had been pillaged and betrayed; let vienna, dantzic, and magdeburg he remembered; and be this my promotion remembered also! let it be known that the commission of major might be bought for a few thousand florins! thirty thousand florins only of the money i had been robbed of would have purchased a colonel's commission. i should then have been a companion for generals. during the thirty-six years that i have been in the service of austria, i never had any man of rank, any great general, my enemy, except count grassalkowitz, and he was only my enemy because he had conceived a friendship for my estates. my character was never calumniated, nor did any worthy man ever speak of me but with respect. who were, who are, my enemies?--jesuits, monks, unprincipled advocates, wishing to become my curators, referendaries, who died despicable, or now live in houses of correction. such as live, live in dread of a similar end, for the emperor joseph is able to discover the truth. alas! the truth is discovered so late; age has now nearly rendered me an invalid. men with hearts so base ought, indeed, to become the scavengers of society, that, terrified by their example, succeeding judges may not rack the heart of an honest man, seize on the possessions of the orphan and the widow, and expel virtue out of austria. i attended the levee of prince kaunitz. not personally known to him, he viewed in me a crawling insect. i thought somewhat more proudly; my actions were upright, and so should my body be. i quitted the apartment, and was congratulated by the mercenary swiss porter on my good fortune of having obtained an audience! i applied to the field-marshal, from whom i received this answer--"if you cannot purchase, my dear trenck, it will be impossible to admit you into service; besides, you are too old to learn our manoeuvres." i was then thirty-seven. i briefly replied, "your excellency mistakes my character. i did not come to vienna to serve as an invalid major. my curators have taken good care i should have no money to purchase; but had i millions, i would never obtain rank in the army by that mode." i quitted the room with a shrug. the next day i addressed a memorial to the empress. i did not re-demand my sclavonian estates, i only petitioned. first--that those who had carried off quintals of silver and gold from the premises, and had rendered no account to me or the treasury, should refund at least a part. secondly--that they should be obliged to return the thirty-six thousand florins taken from my inheritance, and applied to a hospital. thirdly--that the thirty-six thousand florins might be repaid, which count grassalkowitz had deducted from the allodial estates, for three thousand six hundred pandours who had fallen in the service of the empress; i not being bound to pay for the lives of men who had died in defence of the empress. fourthly--i required that fifteen thousand florins, which had been deducted from my capital, and applied to the bohemian fortifications, should likewise be restored, together with the fifteen thousand which had been unduly paid to the regiment of trenck. fifthly--i reclaimed the twelve thousand florins which i had been robbed of at dantzic by the treachery of the imperial resident, abramson; and public satisfaction from the magistracy of dantzic, who had delivered me up, so contrary to the laws of nations, to the prussian power. i likewise claimed the interest of six per cent, for seventy-six thousand florins, detained by the hungarian chamber, which amounted to twenty thousand florins; i having been allowed five per cent., and at last four. i insisted on the restoration of my sclavonian estates, and a proper allowance for improvements, which the very sentence of the court had granted, and which amounted to eighty thousand florins. i petitioned for an arbitrator; i solicited justice concerning rights, but received no answer to this and a hundred other petitions! i must here speak of transactions during my imprisonment. i had bought a house in vienna in the year ; the price was sixteen thousand florins, thirteen thousand of which i had paid by instalments. the receipts were among my writings; these writings, with my other effects, were taken from me at dantzic, in the year ; nor have i, to this hour, been able to learn more than that my writings were sent to the administrators of my affairs at vienna. with respect to my houses and property in dantzic, in what manner these were disposed of no one could or would say. after being released at magdeburg, i inquired concerning my house, but no longer found it mine. those who had got possession of my writings must have restored the acquittances to the seller, consequently he could re- demand the whole sum. my house was in other hands, and i was brought in debtor six thousand florins for interest and costs of suit. thus were house and money gone. whom can i accuse? again, i had maintained, at my own expense lieutenant schroeder, who had deserted from glatz, and for whom i obtained a captain's commission in the guard of prince esterhazy, at eisenstadt. his misconduct caused him to be cashiered. in my administrator's accounts i found the following "to captain schroeder, for capital, interest, and costs of suit, sixteen hundred florins." it was certain i was not a penny indebted to this person; i had no redress, having been obliged to pass and sign all their accounts. i, four years afterwards, obtained information concerning this affair: i met schroeder, knew him, and inquired whether he had received these sixteen hundred florins. he answered in the affirmative. "no one believed you would ever more see the light. i knew you would serve me, and that you would relieve my necessities. i went and spoke to dr. berger; he agreed we should halve the sum, and his contrivance was, i should make oath i had lent you a thousand florins, without having received your note. the money was paid me by m. frauenberger, to whom i agreed to send a present of tokay, for madam huttner." this was the manner in which my curators took care of my property! many instances i could produce, but i am too much agitated by the recollection. i must speak a word concerning who and what my curators were. the court counsellor, kempf, was my administrator, and counsellor huttner my referendary. the substitute of kempf was frauenberger, who, being obliged to act as a clerk at prague during the war, appointed one krebs as a sub-substitute; whether m. krebs had also a sub-substitute is more than i am able to say. dr. bertracker was _fidei commiss-curator_, though there was no _fidei commissum_ existing. dr. berger, as fidei commiss-advocate, was superintendent, and to them all salaries were to be paid. let us see what was the business this company had to transact. i had seventy-six thousand florins in the hungarian chamber, the interest of which was to be yearly received, and added to the capital: this was their employment, and was certainly so trifling that any man would have performed it gratis. the war made money scarce, and the discounting of bills with my ducats was a profitable trade to my curators. had it been honestly employed, i should have found my capital increased, after my imprisonment, full sixty thousand florins. instead of these i received three thousand florins at prague, and found my capital diminished seven thousand florins. frauenberger and berger died rich; and i must be confined as a madman, lest this deputy should have been proved a rogue. this is the clue to the acquittal i was obliged to sign:--madam k--- was a lady of the bedchamber at court; she could approach the throne: her chamber employments, indeed, procured her the keys of doors that to me were eternally locked. not satisfied with this, kempf applied to the empress, informed her they were acquitted, not recompensed, and that frauenberger required four thousand florins for remuneration. the empress laid an interdict on the half of my income and pension. thus was i obliged to live in poverty; banished the austrian dominions, where my seventy-six thousand florins were reduced to sixty-three, the interest of which i could only receive; and that burthened by the above interdict, the _fidei commissum_, and administratorship. the empress during my sickness ordered that my captain's pay, during my ten years' imprisonment, should be given me, amounting to eight thousand florins; which pay she also settled on me as a pension. by this pension i never profited; for, during twenty-three years, that and more was swallowed by journeys to vienna, chicanery of courtiers and agents, and costs of suits. of the eight thousand florins three were stolen; the court physician must be paid thrice as much as another, and what remained after my recovery was sunk in the preparations i had made to seek my fortune elsewhere. how far my captain's pay was matter of right or favour, let the world judge, being told i went in the service of vienna to the city of dantzic. neither did this restitution of pay equal the sum i had sent the imperial minister to obtain my freedom. i remained nine months in my dungeon after the articles were signed, unthought of; and, when mentioned by the austrians, the king had twice rejected the proposal of my being set free. the affair happened as follows, as i received it from prince henry, prince ferdinand of brunswick, and the minister, count hertzberg:--general reidt had received my ten thousand florins full six months, and seemed to remember me no more. one gala day, on the st of december, the king happened to be in good humour; and her majesty the queen, the princess amelia, and the present monarch, said to the imperial minister, "this is a fit opportunity for you to speak in behalf of trenck." he accordingly waited his time, did speak, and the king replied, "yes." the joy of the whole company appeared so great that frederic _the great_ was offended! other circumstances which contributed to promote this affair, the reader will collect from my history. that there were persons in vienna who desired to detain me in prison is indubitable, from their proceedings after my return. my friends in berlin and my money were my deliverers. walking round vienna, having recovered from my sickness, the broad expanse of heaven inspired a consciousness of freedom and pleasure indescribable. i heard the song of the lark. my heart palpitated, my pulse quickened, for i recollected i was not in chains. "happen," said i, "what may, my will and heart are free." an incident happened which furthered my project of getting away from austria. marshal laudohn was going to aix-la-chapelle to take the waters. he went to take his leave of the countess parr; i was present the empress entered the chamber, and the conversation turning upon laudohn's journey, she said to me, "the baths are necessary to the re- establishment of your health, trenck." i was ready, and followed him in two days, where we remained about three months. the mode of life at aix-la-chapelle and spa pleased me, where men of all nations meet, and where princes mingle with persons of all ranks. one day here procured me more pleasure than a whole life in vienna. i had scarcely remained a month before the countess parr wrote to me that the empress had provided for me, and would make my fortune as soon as i returned to vienna. i tried to discover in what it consisted, but in vain. the death of the emperor francis at innsbruck occasioned the return of general laudohn, and i followed him, on foot, to vienna. by means of the countess parr i obtained an audience. the empress said to me, "i will prove to you, trenck, that i keep my word. i have insured your fortune; i will give you a rich and prudent wife." i replied, "most gracious sovereign, i cannot determine to marry, and, if i could, my choice is already made at aix-la-chapelle."--"how! are you married, then?"--"not yet, please your majesty."--"are you promised?" "yes."--"well, well, no matter for that; i will take care of that affair; i am determined on marrying you to the rich widow of m---, and she approves my choice. she is a good, kind woman, and has fifty thousand florins a year. you are in want of such a wife." i was thunderstruck. this bride was a canting hypocrite of sixty-three, covetous, and a termagant. i answered, "i must speak the truth to your majesty; i could not consent did she possess the treasures of the whole earth. i have made my choice, which, as an honest man, i must not break." the empress said, "your unhappiness is your own work. act as you think proper; i have done." here my audience ended. i was not actually affianced at that time to my present wife, but love had determined my choice. marshal laudohn promoted the match. he was acquainted with my heart and the warmth of my passion, and perceived that i could not conquer the desire of vengeance on men by whom i had been so cruelly treated. he and professor gellert advised me to take this mode of calming passions that often inspired projects too vast, and that i should fly the company of the great. this counsel was seconded by my own wishes. i returned to aix-la-chapelle in december, , and married the youngest daughter of the former burgomaster de broe. he was dead; he had lived on his own estate in brussels, where my wife was born and educated. my wife's mother was sister to the vice-chancellor of dusseldorf, baron robert, lord of roland. my wife was with me in most parts of europe. she was then young, handsome, worthy, and virtuous, has borne me eleven children, all of whom she has nursed herself; eight of them are still living and have been properly educated. twenty-two years she has borne a part of all my sufferings, and well deserves reward. during my abode in vienna i made one effort more. i sought an audience with the present emperor joseph, related all that had happened to me, and remarked such defects as i had observed in the regulations of the country. he heard me, and commanded me to commit my thoughts to writing. my memorial was graciously received. i also gave a full account of what had happened to me in various countries, which prudence has occasioned me to express more cautiously in these pages. my memorial produced no effect, and i hastened back to aix-la-chapelle. chapter vii. for some years i lived in peace; my house was the rendezvous of the first people, who came to take the waters. i began to be more known among the very first and best people. i visited professor gellert at leipzig, and asked his advice concerning what branch of literature he thought it was probable i might succeed in. he most approved my fables and tales, and blamed the excessive freedom with which i spoke in political writings. i neglected his advice, and many of the ensuing calamities were the consequence. i received orders to correspond with his majesty's private secretary, baron roder; suffice it to say, my attempts to serve my country were frustrated; i saw defects too clearly, spoke my thoughts too frankly, and wanted sufficient humility ever to obtain favour. in the year i wrote "the macedonian hero," which became famous throughout all germany. the poem did me honour, but entailed new persecutions; yet i never could repent: i have had the honour of presenting it to five reigning princes, by none of whom it has been burnt. the empress alone was highly enraged. i had spoken as nathan did to david, and the jesuits now openly became my enemies. the following trick was played me in . a friend in brussels was commissioned to receive my pay, from whom i learnt an interdict had been laid upon it by the court called hofkriegsrath, in vienna, in which i was condemned to pay seven hundred florins to one bussy, with fourteen years' interest. bussy was a known swindler. i therefore journeyed, post-haste, to vienna. no hearing; no satisfactory account was to be obtained. the answer was, "sentence is passed, therefore all attempts are too late." i applied to the emperor joseph, pledged my head to prove the falsification of this note; and entreated a revision of the cause. my request was granted and my attorney, weyhrauch, was an upright man. when he requested a day of revision to be appointed, he was threatened to be committed by the referendary. zetto, should he interfere and defend the affairs of trenck. he answered firmly, "his defence is my business: i know my cause to be good." four months did i continue in vienna before the day was appointed to revise this cause. it now appeared there were erasures and holes through the paper in three places; all in court were convinced the claim ought to be annulled, and the claimant punished. zetto ordered the parties to withdraw, and then so managed that the judges resolved that the case must be laid before the court with formal and written proofs. this gave time for new knavery; i was obliged to return to aix-la-chapelle, and four years elapsed before this affair was decided. two priests, in the interim, took false oaths that they had seen me receive money. at length, however, i proved that the note was dated a year after i had been imprisoned at magdeburg. further, my attorney proved the writs of the court had been falsified. zetto, referendary, and bussy, were the forgers; but i happened to be too active, and my attorney too honest, to lose this case. i was obliged to make three very expensive journeys from aix-la-chapelle to vienna, lest judgement should go by default. sentence at last was pronounced. i gained my cause, and the note was declared a forgery, but the costs, amounting to three thousand five hundred florins, i was obliged to pay, for bussy could not: nor was he punished, though driven from vienna for his villainous acts. zetto, however, still continued for eleven years my persecutor, till he was deprived of his office, and condemned to the house of correction. my knowledge of the world increased at aix-la-chapelle, where men of all characters met. in the morning i conversed with a lord in opposition, in the afternoon with an orator of the king's party, and in the evening with an honest man of no party. i sent hungarian wine into england, france, holland, and the empire. this occasioned me to undertake long journeys, and as my increased acquaintance gave me opportunities of receiving foreigners with politeness an my own house, i was also well received wherever i went. the income i should have had from vienna was engulfed by law-suits, attorneys, and the journeys i undertook; having been thrice cited to appear, in person, before the hofkriegsrath. no hope remained. i was described as a dangerous malcontent, who had deserted his native land. i nevertheless remained an honest man; one who could provide for his necessities without the favour of courts; one whose acquaintance was esteemed. in vienna alone was i unsought, unemployed, and obscure. one day an accident happened which made me renowned as a magician, as one who had power over fogs and clouds. i had a quarrel with the palatine president, baron blankart, concerning a hunting district. i wrote to him that he should repair to the spot in dispute, whither i would attend with sword and pistol, hoping he would there give me satisfaction for the affront i had received. thither i went, with two huntsmen and two friends, but instead of the baron i found two hundred armed peasants assembled. i sent one of my huntsmen to the army of the enemy, informing them that, if they did not retreat, i should fire. the day was fine, but a thick and impenetrable fog arose. my huntsman returned, with intelligence that, having delivered his message just as the fog came on, these heroes had all run away with fright. i advanced, fired my piece, as did my followers, and marched to the mansion of my adversary, where my hunting-horn was blown in triumph in his courtyard. the runaway peasants fired, but the fog prevented their taking aim. i returned home, where many false reports had preceded me. my wife expected i should be brought home dead; however, not the least mischief had happened. it soon was propagated through the country that i had raised a fog to render myself invisible, and that the truth of this could be justified by two hundred witnesses. all the monks of aix-la-chapelle, juliers, and cologne, preached concerning me, reviled me, and warned the people to beware of the arch-magician and lutheran, trenck. on a future occasion, this belief i turned to merriment. i went to hunt the wolf in the forests of montjoie, and invited the townsmen to the chase. towards evening i, and some forty of my followers, retired to rest in the charcoal huts, provided with wine and brandy. "my lads," said i, "it is necessary you should discharge your pieces, and load them anew; that to-morrow no wolf may escape, and that none of you excuse yourselves on your pieces missing fire." the guns were reloaded, and placed in a separate chamber. while they were merry-making, my huntsman drew the balls, and charged the pieces with powder, several of which he loaded with double charges. some of their notched balls i put into my pocket. in the morning away went i and my fellows to the chase. their conversation turned on my necromancy, and the manner in which i could envelope myself in a cloud, or make myself bullet-proof. "what is that you are talking about?" said i.--"some of these unbelieving folks," answered my huntsman, "affirm your honour is unable to ward off balls."--"well, then," said i, "fire away, and try." my huntsman fired. i pretended to parry with my hand, and called, "let any man that is so inclined fire, but only one at a time." accordingly they began, and, pretending to twist and turn about, i suffered them all to discharge their pieces. my people had carefully noticed that no man had reloaded his gun. some of them received such blows from the guns that were doubly charged that they fell, terrified at the powers of magic. i advanced, holding in my hand some of the marked balls. "let every one choose his own," called i. all stood motionless, and many of them slunk home with their guns on their shoulders; some remained, and our sport was excellent. on sunday the monks of aix-la-chapelle again began to preach. my black art became the theme of the whole country, and to this day many of the people make oath that they fired upon me, and that, after catching them, i returned the balls. my invulnerable qualities were published throughout juliers, aix-la-chapelle, maestricht, and cologne, and perhaps this belief saved my life; the priests having propagated it from their pulpits, in a country which swarms with highway robbers, and where, for a single ducat, any man may hire an assassin. it is no small surprise that i should have preserved my life, in a town where there are twenty-three monasteries and churches, and where the monks are adored as deities. the catholic clergy had been enraged against me by my poem of "the macedonian hero;" and in i published a newspaper at aix-la-chapelle, and another work entitled, "the friend of men," in which i unmasked hypocrisy. a major of the apostolic maria theresa, writing thus in a town swarming with friars, and in a tone so undaunted, was unexampled. at present, now that freedom of opinion is encouraged by the emperor, many essayists encounter bigotry and deceit with ridicule; or, wanting invention themselves, publish extracts from writings of the age of luther. but i have the honour of having attacked the pillars of the romish hierarchy in days more dangerous. i may boast of being the first german who raised a fermentation on the upper rhine and in austria, so advantageous to truth, the progress of the understanding, and the happiness of futurity. my writings contain nothing inimical to the morality taught by christ. i attacked the sale of indulgences, the avarice of rome, the laziness, deceit, gluttony, robbery, and blood-sucking of the monks of aix-la-chapelle. the arch-priest, and nine of his coadjutors, declared every sunday that i was a freethinker, a wizard, one whom every man, wishing well to god and the church, ought to assassinate. father zunder declared me an outlaw, and a day was appointed on which my writings were to be burnt before my house, and its inhabitants massacred. my wife received letters warning her to fly for safety, which warning she obeyed. i and two of my huntsmen remained, provided with eighty-four loaded muskets. these i displayed before the window, that all might be convinced that i would make a defence. the appointed day came, and father zunder, with my writings in his hand, appeared ready for the attack; the other monks had incited the townspeople to a storm. thus passed the day and night in suspense. in the morning a fire broke out in the town. i hastened, with my two huntsmen, well armed, to give assistance; we dashed the water from our buckets, and all obeyed my directions. father zunder and his students were there likewise. i struck his anointed ear with my leathern bucket, which no man thought proper to notice. i passed undaunted through the crowd; the people smiled, pulled off their hats, and wished me a good- morning. the people of aix-la-chapelle were bigots, but too cowardly to murder a man who was prepared for his own defence. as i was riding to maestricht, a ball whistled by my ears, which, no doubt, was a messenger sent after me by these persecuting priests. when hunting near the convent of schwartzenbruck, three dominicans lay in ambush behind a hedge. one of their colleagues pointed out the place. i was on my guard with my gun, drew near, and called out, "shoot, scoundrels! but do not kill me, for the devil stands ready for you at your elbow." one fired, and all ran: the ball hit my hat. i fired and wounded one desperately, whom the others carried off. in , journeying from spa to limbourg, i was attacked by eight banditti. the weather was rainy, and my musket was in its case; my sabre was entangled in my belt, so that i was obliged to defend myself as with a club. i sprang from the carriage, and fought in defence of my life, striking down all before me, while my faithful huntsman protected me behind. i dispersed my assailants, hastened to my carriage, and drove away. one of these fellows was soon after hanged, and owned that the confessor of the banditti had promised absolution could they but despatch me, but that no man could shoot me, because lucifer had rendered me invulnerable. my agility, fighting, too, for life, was superior to theirs, and they buried two of their gang, whom with my heavy sabre i had killed. to such excess of cruelty may the violence of priests be carried! i attacked only gross abuses--the deceit of the monks of aix-la-chapelle, cologne, and liege, where they are worse than cannibals. i wished to inculcate true christian duties among my fellow-citizens, and the attempt was sufficient to irritate the selfish church of rome. from my empress i had nothing to hope. her confessor had painted me as a persecutor of the blessed mother church. nor was this all. opinions were propagated throughout vienna that i was a dangerous man to the community. hence i was always wronged in courts of judicature, where there are ever to be found wicked men. they thought they were serving the cause of god by injuring me. yet they were unable to prevent my writings from producing me much money, or from being circulated through all germany. the _aix-la-chapelle journal_ became so famous, that in the second year i had four thousand subscribers, by each of whom i gained a ducat. the postmasters, who gained considerably by circulating newspapers, were envious, because the _aix-la-chapelle journal_ destroyed several of the others, and they therefore formed a combination. prince charles of sweden placed confidence in me during his residence at aix-la-chapelle and spa, and i accompanied him into holland. when i took my leave of him at maestricht, he said to me, "when my father dies, either my brother shall be king, or we will lose our heads." the king died, and prince charles soon after said, in the postscript of one of his letters, "what we spoke of at maestricht will soon be fully accomplished, and you may then come to stockholm." on this, i inserted an article in my journal declaring a revolution had taken place in sweden, that the king had made himself absolute. the other papers expressed their doubts, and i offered to wager a thousand ducats on the truth of the article published in my journal under the title of "aix-la-chapelle." the news of the revolution in sweden was confirmed. my journal foretold the polish partition six weeks sooner than any other; but how i obtained this news must not be mentioned. i was active in the defence of queen matilda of denmark. the french ministry were offended at the following pasquinade:--"the three eagles have rent the polish bear, without losing a feather with which any man in the cabinet of versailles can write. since the death of mazarin, they write only with goose-quills." by desire of the king of poland, i wrote a narrative of the attempt made to assassinate him, and named the nuncio who had given absolution to the conspirators in the chapel of the holy virgin. the house was now in flames. rome insisted i should recall my words. her nuncio, at cologne, vented poison, daggers, and excommunication; the empress-queen herself thought proper to interfere. i obtained, for my justification, from warsaw a copy of the examination of the conspirators. this i threatened to publish, and stood unmoved in the defence of truth. the empress wrote to the postmaster-general of the empire, and commanded him to lay an interdict on the _aix-la-chapelle journal_. informed of this, i ended its publication with the year, but wrote an essay on the partition of poland, which also did but increase my enemies. the magistracy of aix-la-chapelle is elected from the people, and the burghers' court consists of an ignorant rabble. i know no exceptions but baron lamberte and de witte; and this people assume titles of dignity, for which they are amenable to the court at vienna. knowing i should find little protection at vienna, they imagined they might drive me from their town. i was a spy on their evil deeds, of whom they would have rid themselves. i knew that the two sheriffs, kloss and furth, and the recorder, geyer, had robbed the town-chamber of forty thousand dollars, and divided the spoil. to these i was a dangerous man. for such reasons they sought a quarrel with me, pretending i had committed a trespass by breaking down a hedge, and cited me to appear at the town-house. the postmaster, heinsberg, of aix-la-chapelle, although he had two thousand three hundred rix-dollars of mine in his possession, instituted false suits against me, obtained verdicts against me, seized on a cargo of wine at cologne, and i incurred losses to the amount of eighteen thousand florins, which devoured the fortune of my wife, and by which she, with myself and my children, were reduced to poverty. the gravenitz himself, in , acknowledged how much he had injured me, affirmed he had been deceived, and promised he would try to obtain restitution. i forgave him, and he attempted to keep his promise; but his power declined; the bribes he had received became too public. he was dispossessed of his post, but, alas! too late for me. two other of my judges are at this time obliged to sweep the streets of vienna, where they are condemned to the house of correction. had this been their employment instead of being seated on the seat of judgment twenty years ago, i might have been more fortunate. it is a remarkable circumstance that i should so continually have been despoiled by unjust judges. who would have had the temerity to affirm that their evil deeds should bring them to attend on the city scavenger? i indeed knew them but too well, and fearlessly spoke what i knew. it was my misfortune that i was acquainted with their malpractices sooner than gracious sovereign. let the scene close on my litigations at aix-la-chapelle and vienna. may god preserve every honest man from the like! they have swallowed up my property, and that of my wife. enough! chapter viii. from the year to , i journeyed through england and france. i was intimate with dr. franklin, the american minister, and with the counts st. germain and de vergennes, who made me proposals to go to america; but i was prevented by my affection for my wife and children. my friend the landgrave of hesse-cassel, who had been governor of magdeburg during my imprisonment, offered me a commission among the troops going to america, but i answered--"gracious prince, my heart beats in the cause of freedom only; i will never assist in enslaving men. were i at the head of your brave grenadiers. i should revolt to the americans." during i continued at aix-la-chapelle my essays, entitled, "the friend of men." my writings had made some impression; the people began to read; the monks were ridiculed, but my partisans increased, and their leader got himself cudgelled. they did not now mention my name publicly, but catechised their penitents at confession. during this year people came to me from cologne, bonn, and dusseldorf, to speak with me privately. when i inquired their business, they told me their clergy had informed them i was propagating a new religion, in which every man must sign himself to the devil, who then would supply them with money. they were willing to become converts to my faith, would beelzebub but give them money, and revenge them on their priests. "my good friends," answered i, "your teachers have deceived you; i know of no devils but themselves. were it true that i was founding a new religion, the converts to whom the devil would supply money, your priests, would be the first of my apostles, and the most catholic. i am an honest, moral man, as a christian ought to be. go home, in god's name, and do your duty." i forgot to mention that the recorder of the sheriff's court at aix-la- chapelle, who is called baron geyer, had associated himself in with a jew convert, and that this noble company swindled a dutch merchant out of eighty thousand florins, by assuming the arms of elector palatine, and producing forged receipts and contracts. geyer was taken in amsterdam, and would have been hanged, but, by the aid of a servant, he escaped. he returned to aix-la-chapelle, where he enjoys his office. three years ago he robbed the town-chamber. his wife was, at that time, _generis communis_, and procured him friends at court. the assertions of this gentleman found greater credit at vienna than those of the injured trenck! oh, shame! oh, world! world! my wine trade was so successful that i had correspondents and stores in london, paris, brussels, hamburg, and the hague, and had gained forty thousand florins. one unfortunate day destroyed all my hopes in the success of this traffic. in london i was defrauded of eighteen hundred guineas by a swindler. the fault was my brother-in-law's, who parted with the wine before he had received the money. when i had been wronged, and asked my friends' assistance, i was only laughed at, as if they were happy that an englishman had the wit to cheat a german. finding myself defrauded, i hastened to sir john fielding. he told me he knew i had been swindled, and that his friendship would make him active in my behalf; that he also knew the houses where my wine was deposited, and that a party of his runners should go with me, sufficiently strong for its recovery. i was little aware that he had, at that time, two hundred bottles of my best tokay in his cellar. his pretended kindness was a snare; he was in partnership with robbers, only the stupid among whom he hanged, and preserved the most adroit for the promotion of trade. he sent a constable and six of his runners with me, commanding them to act under my orders. by good fortune i had a violent headache, and sent my brother-in-law, who spoke better english than i. him they brought to the house of a jew, and told him, "your wine, sir, is here concealed." though it was broad day, the door was locked, that he might be induced to act illegally. the constable desired him to break the door open, which he did; the jews came running, and asked--"what do you want, gentlemen?"--"i want my wine," answered my brother.--"take what is your own," replied a jew; "but beware of touching my property. i have bought the wine." my brother attended the constable and runners into a cellar, and found a great part of my wine. he wrote to sir john fielding that he had found the wine, and desired to know how to act. fielding answered: "it must be taken by the owner." my brother accordingly sent me the wine. next day came a constable with a warrant, saying, "he wanted to speak with my brother, and that he was to go to sir john fielding." when he was in the street, he told him--"sir, you are my prisoner." i went to sir john fielding, and asked him what it meant. this justice answered that my brother had been accused of felony. the jews and swindlers had sworn the wine was a legal purchase. if i had not been paid, or was ignorant of the english laws, that was my fault. six swindlers had sworn the wine was paid for, which circumstance he had not known, or he should not have granted me a warrant. my brother had also broken open the doors, and forcibly taken away wine which was not his own. they made oath of this, and he was charged with burglary and robbery. he desired me to give bail in a thousand guineas for my brother for his appearance in the court of king's bench; otherwise his trial would immediately come on, and in a few days he would be hanged. i hastened to a lawyer, who confirmed what had been told me, advised me to give bail, and he would then defend my cause. i applied to lord mansfield, and received the same answer. i told my story to all my friends, who laughed at me for attempting to trade in london without understanding the laws. my friend lord grosvenor said, "send more wine to london, and we will pay you so well that you will soon recover your loss." i went to my wine-merchants, who had a stock of mine worth upwards of a thousand guineas. they gave bail for my brother, and he was released. fielding, in the interim, sent his runners to my house, took back the wine, and restored it to the jews. they threatened to prosecute me as a receiver of stolen goods. i fled from london to paris, where i sold off my stock at half-price, honoured my bills, and so ended my merchandise. my brother returned to london in november, to defend his cause in the court of king's bench; but the swindlers had disappeared, and the lawyer required a hundred pounds to proceed. the conclusion was that my brother returned with seventy pounds less in his pocket, spent as travelling expenses, and the stock in the hands of my wine-merchants was detained on pretence of paying the bail. they brought me an apothecary's bill, and all was lost. the swedish general sprengporten came to aix-la-chapelle in . he had planned and carried into execution the revolution so favourable to the king, but had left sweden in discontent, and came to take the waters with a rooted hypochondria. he was the most dangerous man in sweden, and had told the king himself, after the revolution, in the presence of his guards, "while sprengporten can hold a sword, the king has nothing to command." it was feared he would go to russia, and prince charles wrote to me in the name of the monarch, desiring i would exert myself to persuade him to return to sweden. he was a man of pride, which rendered him either a fool or a madman. he despised everything that was not swedish. the prussian minister, count hertzberg, the same year came to aix-la-chapelle. i enjoyed his society for three months, and accompanied this great man. to his liberality am i indebted that i can return to my country with honour. the time i had to spare was not spent in idleness; i attacked, in my weekly writings, those sharpers who attend at aix-la-chapelle and spa to plunder both inhabitants and visitants, under the connivance of the magistracy; nor are there wanting foreign noblemen who become the associates of these pests of society. the publication of such truths endangered my life from the desperadoes, who, when detected, had nothing more to lose. how powerful is an innocent life, nothing can more fully prove than that i still exist, in despite of all the attempts of wicked monks and despicable sharpers. though my life was much disturbed, yet i do not repent of my manner of acting; many a youth, many a brave man, have i detained from the gaming- table, and pointed out to them the most notorious sharpers. this was so injurious to spa, that the bishop of liege himself, who enjoys a tax on all their winnings, and therefore protects such villains, offered me an annual pension of five hundred guineas if i would not come to spa; or three per cent. on the winnings, would i but associate myself with colonel n---t, and raise recruits for the gaming-table. my answer may easily be imagined; yet for this was i threatened to be excommunicated by the holy catholic church! i and my family passed sixteen summers in spa. my house became the rendezvous of the most respectable part of the company, and i was known to some of the most respectable characters in europe. a contest arose between the town of aix-la-chapelle and baron blankart, the master of the hounds to the elector palatine: it originated in a dispute concerning precedence between the before-mentioned wife of the recorder geyer and the sister of the burgomaster of aix-la-chapelle, kahr, who governed that town with despotism. this quarrel was detrimental to the town and to the elector palatine, but profitable to kahr, whose office it was to protect the rights of the town, and those persons who defended the claims of the elector; the latter kept a faro bank, the plunder of which had enriched the town; and the former kahr, under pretence of defending their cause, embezzled the money of the people; so that both parties endeavoured with all their power to prolong the litigation. it vexed me to see their proceedings. those who suffered on each side were deceived; and i conceived the project of exposing the truth. for this purpose i journeyed to the court at mannheim, related the facts to the elector, produced a plan of accommodation, which he approved, and obtained power to act as arbitrator. the minister of the elector, bekkers, pretended to approve my zeal, conducted me to an _auberge_, made me dine at his house, and said a commission was made out for my son, and forwarded to aix-la-chapelle--which was false; the moment he quitted me he sent to aix-la-chapelle to frustrate the attempt he pretended to applaud. he was himself in league with the parties. in fine, this silly interference brought me only trouble, expense, and chagrin. i made five journeys to mannheim, till i became so dissatisfied that i determined to quit aix-la-chapelle, and purchase an estate in austria. the bavarian contest was at this time in agitation; my own affairs brought me to paris, and here i learned intelligence of great consequence; this i communicated to the grand duke of florence, on my return to vienna. the duke departed to join the army in bohemia, and i again wrote to him, and thought it my duty to send a courier. the duke showed my letter to the emperor; but i remained unnoticed. i did not think myself safe in foreign countries during this time of war, and purchased the lordship of zwerbach, with appurtenances, which, with the expenses, cost me sixty thousand florins. to conclude this purchase, i was obliged to solicit the referendary, zetto, and his friend whom he had appointed as my curator, for my new estate was likewise made a _fidei commissum_, as my referendaries and curators would not let me escape contribution. the six thousand florins of which they emptied my purse would have done my family much service. in may, , i went to aix-la-chapelle, where my wife's mother died in july; and in september my wife, myself, and family, all came to vienna. my wife solicited the mistress of the ceremonies to obtain an audience. her request was granted, and she gained the favour of the empress. her kindness was beyond expression: she introduced my wife to the archduchess, and commanded her mistress of the ceremonies to present her everywhere. "you were unwilling," said she, "to accompany your husband into my country, but i hope to convince you that you may live happier in austria than at aix-la-chapelle." she next day sent me her decree, assuring me of a pension of four hundred florins. my wife petitioned the empress to grant me an audience: her request was complied with: and the empress said to me: "this is the third time in which i would have made your fortune, had you been so disposed." she desired to see my children, and spoke of my writings. "how much good might you do," said she, "would you but write in the cause of religion!" we departed for zwerbach, where we lived contentedly, but when we were preparing to return to vienna, and solicited the restitution of part of my lost fortune, during this favour of the court, theresa died, and all my hopes were overcast. i forgot to relate that the archduchess, maria anna, desired me to translate a religious work, written in french by the abbe baudrand, into german. i replied i would obey her majesty's commands. i began my work, took passages from baudrand, but inserted more of my own. the first volume was finished in six weeks; the empress thought it admirable. the second soon followed, and i presented this myself. she asked me if it equalled the first; i answered, i hoped it would be found more excellent. "no," said she; "i never in my life read a better book:" and added, "she wondered how i could write so well and so quickly." i promised another volume within a month. before the third was ready, theresa died. she gave orders on her death-bed to have the writings of baron trenck read to her; and though her confessor well knew the injustice that had been done me, yet in her last moments he kept silence, though he had given me his sacred promise to speak in my behalf. after her death the censor commanded that i should print what i have stated in the preface to that third volume, and this was my only satisfaction. for one-and-thirty years had i been soliciting my rights, which i never could obtain, because the empress was deceived by wicked men, and believed me a heretic. in the thirty-second, my wife had the good fortune to convince her this was false; she had determined to make me restitution; just at this moment she died. the pension granted my wife by the empress in consequence of my misfortunes and our numerous family, we only enjoyed nine months. of this she was deprived by the new monarch. he perhaps knew nothing of the affair, as i never solicited. yet much has it grieved me. perhaps i may find relief when the sighs wrung from me shall reach the heart of the father of his people in this my last writing. at present, nothing for me remains but to live unknown in zwerbach. the emperor thought proper to collect the moneys bestowed on hospitals into one fund. the system was a wise one. my cousin trenck had bequeathed thirty-six thousand florins to a hospital for the poor of bavaria. this act he had no right to do, having deducted the sum from the family estate. i petitioned the emperor that these thirty-six thousand florins might be restored to me and my children, who were the people whom trenck had indeed made poor, nothing of the property of his acquiring having been left to pay this legacy, but, on the contrary, the money having been exacted from mine. in a few days it was determined i should be answered in the same tone in which, for six-and-thirty years past, all my petitions had been answered:-- "the request of the petitioner cannot be granted." fortune persecuted me in my retreat. within six years two hailstorms swept away my crops; one year was a misgrowth; there were seven floods; a rot among my sheep: all possible calamities befell me and my manor. the estate had been ruined, the ponds were to drain, three farms were to be put into proper condition, and the whole newly stocked. this rendered me poor, especially as my wife's fortune had been sunk in lawsuits at aix- la-chapelle and cologne. the miserable peasants had nothing, therefore could not pay: i was obliged to advance them money. my sons assisted me, and we laboured with our own hands: my wife took care of eight children, without so much as the help of a maid. we lived in poverty, obliged to earn our daily bread. the greatest of my misfortunes was my treatment in the military court, when zetto and krugel were my referendaries. zetto had clogged me with a curator and when the cow had no more milk to give, they began to torture me with deputations, sequestrations, administrations, and executions. nineteen times was i obliged to attend in vienna within two years, at my own expense. every six years must i pay an attorney to dispute and quarrel with the curator. i, in conclusion, was obliged to pay. if any affair was to be expedited, i, by a third hand, was obliged to send the referendary some ducats. did he give judgment, still that judgment lay fourteen months inefficient, and, when it then appeared, the copy was false, and so was sent to the upper courts, the high referendary of which said i "must be dislodged from zwerbach." they obliged me at last to purchase my naturalisation. i sent to prussia for my pedigree; the attestation of this was sent me by count hertzberg. although the family of trenck had a hundred years been landholders in hungary, yet was my attorney obliged to solicit the instrument called ritter-diploma, for which, under pain of execution, i must pay two thousand florins. by decree a prussian nobleman is not noble in austria, where every lackey can purchase a diploma, making him a knight of the empire, for twelve hundred wretched florins!--where such men as p--- and grassalkowitz have purchased the dignity of a prince! tortured by the courts, terrified by hailstorms, i determined to publish my works, in eight volumes, and this history of my life. fourteen months accomplished this purpose. my labours found a favourable reception through all germany, procured me money, esteem, and honour. by my writings only will i seek the means of existence, and by trying to obtain the approbation and the love of men. chapter ix. on the nd of august, , the news arrived that frederic the great had left this world! * * * * * the present monarch, the witness of my sufferings in my native country, sent me a royal passport to berlin. the confiscation of my estates was annulled, and my deceased brother, in prussia, had left my children his heirs. * * * * * i journey, within the imperial permission, back to my country, from which i have been two-and-forty years expelled! i journey--not as a pardoned malefactor, but as a man whose innocence has been established by his actions, has been proved in his writings, and who is journeying to receive his reward. here i shall once more encounter my old friends my relations, and those who have known me in the days of my affliction. here shall i appear, not as my country's traitor, but as my country's martyr! possible, though little probable, are still future storms. for these also i am prepared. long had i reason daily to curse the rising sun, and, setting, to behold it with horror. death to me appears a great benefit: a certain passage from agitation to peace, from motion to rest. as for my children, they, jocund in youth, delight in present existence. when i have fulfilled the duties of a father, to live or die will then be as i shall please. thou, o god! my righteous judge, didst ordain that i should be an example of suffering to the world; thou madest me what i am, gavest me these strong passions, these quick nerves, this thrilling of the blood, when i behold injustice. strong was my mind, that deeply it might meditate on deep subjects; strong my memory, that these meditations i might retain; strong my body, that proudly it might support all it has pleased thee to inflict. should i continue to exist, should identity go with me, and should i know what i was then, when i was called trenck; when that combination of particles which nature commanded should compose this body shall be decomposed, scattered, or in other bodies united; when i have no muscles to act, no brain to think, no retina on which pictures can mechanically be painted, my eyes wasted, and no tongue remaining to pronounce the creator's name, should i still behold a creator--then, oh then, will my spirit mount, and indubitably associate with spirits of the just who expectant wait for their golden harps and glorious crowns from the most high god. for human weaknesses, human failings, arising from our nature, springing from our temperament, which the creator has ordained, shall be even thus, and not otherwise; for these have i suffered enough on earth. such is my confession of faith; in this have i lived, in this will i die. the duties of a man and of a christian i have fulfilled; nay, often have exceeded, often have been too benevolent, too generous; perhaps also too proud, too vain. i could not bend, although liable to be broken. that i have not served the world, in acts and employments where best i might, is perhaps my own fault: the fault of my manner, which is now too radical to be corrected in this, my sixtieth year. yes, i acknowledge my failing, acknowledge it unblushingly; nay, glory in the pride of a noble nature. for myself, i ask nothing of those who have read my history; to them do i commit my wife and children. my eldest son is a lieutenant in the tuscan regiment of cavalry, under general lasey, and does honour to his father's principles. the second serves his present prussian majesty, as ensign in the posadowsky dragoons, with equal promise. the third is still a child. my daughters will make worthy men happy, for they have imbibed virtue and gentleness with their mother's milk. monarchs may hereafter remember what i have suffered, what i have lost, and what is due to my ashes. here do i declare--i will seek no other revenge against my enemies than that of despising their evil deeds. it is my wish, and shall be my endeavour, to forget the past; and having committed no offence, neither will i solicit monarchs for posts of honour; as i have ever lived a free man, a free man will i die. i conclude this part of my history on the evening preceding my journey to berlin. god grant i may encounter no new afflictions, to be inserted in the remainder of this history. this journey i prepared to undertake, but my ever-envious fate threw me on the bed of sickness, insomuch that small hope remained that i ever should again behold the country of my forefathers. i seemed following the great frederic to the mansions of the dead; then should i never have concluded the history of my life, or obtained the victory by which i am now crowned. a variety of obstacles being overcome, i found it necessary to make a journey into hungary, which was one of the most pleasant of my whole life. i have no words to express my ardent wishes for the welfare of a nation where i met with so many proofs of friendship. wherever i appeared i was welcomed with that love and enthusiasm which only await the fathers of their country. the valour of my cousin trenck, who died ingloriously in the spielberg, the loss of my great hungarian estates, the fame of my writings, and the cruelty of my sufferings, had gone before me. the officers of the army, the nobles of the land, alike testified the warmth of their esteem. such is the reward of the upright; such too are the proofs that this nation knows the just value of fortitude and virtue. have i not reason to publish my gratitude, and to recommend my children to those who, when i am no more, shall dare uprightly to determine concerning the rights which have unjustly been snatched from me in hungary? not a man in hungary but will proclaim i have been unjustly dealt by; yet i have good reason to suspect i never shall find redress. sentence had been already given; judges, more honest, cannot, without difficulty, reverse old decrees; and the present possessors of my estates are too powerful, too intimate with the governors of the earth, for me to hope i shall hereafter be more happy. god knows my heart; i wish the present possessors may render services to the state equal to those rendered by the family of the trencks. there is little probability i shall ever behold my noble friends in hungary more. here i bid them adieu, promising them to pass the remainder of any life so as still to merit the approbation of a people with whose ashes i would most willingly have mingled my own. may the god of heaven preserve every hungarian from a fate similar to mine! the croats have ever been reckoned uncultivated; yet, among this uncultivated people i found more subscribers to my writings than among all the learned men of vienna; and in hungary, more than in all the austrian dominions. the hungarians, the unlettered croats, seek information. the people of vienna ask their confessors' permission to read instructive books. various subscribers, having read the first volume of my work, brought it back, and re-demanded their money, because some monk had told them it was a book dangerous to be read. the judges of their courts have re-sold them to the booksellers for a few pence or given them to those who had the care of their consciences to burn. in vienna alone was my life described as a romance; in hungary i found the compassion of men, their friendship, and effectual aid. had my book been the production of an englishman, good wishes would not have been his only reward. we german writers have interested critics to encounter if we would unmask injustice; and if a book finds a rapid sale, dishonest printers issue spurious editions, defrauding the author of his labours. the encouragement of the learned produces able teachers, and from their seminaries men of genius occasionally come forth. the world is inundated with books and pamphlets; the undiscerning reader knows not which to select; the more intelligent are disgusted, or do not read at all, and thus a work of merit becomes as little profitable to the author as to the state. i left vienna on the th of january, and came to prague. here i found nearly the same reception as in hungary; my writings were read. citizens, noblemen, and ladies treated me with like favour. may the monarch know how to value men of generous feelings and enlarged understandings! i bade adieu to prague, and continued my journey to berlin. in bohemia, i took leave of my son, who saw his father and his two brothers, destined for the prussian service, depart. he felt the weight of this separation; i reminded him of his duty to the state he served; i spoke of the fearful fate of his uncle and father in austria, and of the possessors of our vast estates in hungary. he shrank back--a look from his father pierced him to the soul--tears stood in his eyes--his youthful blood flowed quick, and the following expression burst suddenly from his lips:--"i call god to witness that i will prove myself worthy of my father's name; and that, while i live, his enemies shall be mine!" at peterswald, on the road to dresden, my carriage broke down: my life was endangered; and my son received a contusion in the arm. the erysipelas broke out on him at berlin, and i could not present him to the king for a month after. i had been but a short time at berlin before the well-known minister, count hertzberg, received me with kindness. every man to whom his private worth is known will congratulate the state that has the wisdom to bestow on him so high an office. his scholastic and practical learning, his knowledge of languages, his acquaintance with sciences, are indeed wonderful. his zeal for his country is ardent, his love of his king unprejudiced, his industry admirable, his firmness that of a man. he is the most experienced man in the prussian states. the enemies of his country may rely on his word. the artful he can encounter with art; those who menace, with fortitude; and with wise foresight can avert the rising storm. he seeks not splendour in sumptuous and ostentatious retinue; but if he can only enrich the state, and behold the poor happy, he is himself willing to remain poor. his estate, briess, near berlin, is no chanteloup, but a model to those patriots who would study economy. here he, every wednesday, enjoys recreation. the services he renders the kingdom cost it only five thousand rix-dollars yearly; he, therefore, lives without ostentation, yet becoming his state, and with splendour when splendour is necessary. he does not plunder the public treasury that he may preserve his own private property. this man will live in the annals of prussia: who was employed under the great frederic; had so much influence in the cabinets of europe; and was a witness of the last actions, the last sensations, of his dying king; yet who never asked, nor ever received, the least gratuity. this is the minister whose conversation i had the happiness to partake at aix-la-chapelle and spa, whose welfare is the wish of my heart, and whose memory i shall ever revere. i was received with distinction at his table, and became acquainted with those whose science had benefited the prussian states; nor was anything more flattering to my self-love than that men like these should think me worthy their friendship. not many days after i was presented to the court by the prussian chamberlain, prince sacken, as it is not customary at berlin for a foreign subject to be presented by the minister of his own court. though a prussian subject, i wore the imperial uniform. the king received me with condescension; all eyes were directed towards me, each welcomed me to my country. this moved me the more as it was remarked by the foreign ministers, who asked who that austrian officer could be who was received with so much affection and such evident joy in berlin. the gracious monarch himself gave tokens of pleasure at beholding me thus surrounded. among the rest came the worthy general prittwitz, who said aloud-- "this is the gentleman who might have ruined me to effect his own deliverance." confused at so public a declaration, i desired him to expound this riddle; and he added-- "i was obliged to be one of your guards on your unfortunate journey from dantzic to magdeburg, in , when i was a lieutenant. on the road i continued alone with you in an open carriage. this gave you an opportunity to escape, but you forbore. i afterwards saw the danger to which i had exposed myself. had you been less noble-minded, had such a prisoner escaped through my negligence, i had certainly been ruined. the king believed you alike dangerous and deserving of punishment. i here acknowledge you as my saviour, and am in gratitude your friend." i knew not that the generous man, who wished me so well, was the present general prittwitz. that he should himself remind me of this incident does him the greater honour. having been introduced at court, i thought it necessary to observe ceremonies, and was presented by the imperial ambassador, prince reuss, to all foreign ministers, and such families as are in the habit of admitting such visits. i was received by the prince royal, the reigning queen, the queen-dowager, and the royal family in their various places, with favour never to be forgotten. his royal highness prince henry invited me to a private audience, continued long in conversation with me, promised me his future protection, admitted me to his private concerts, and sometimes made me sup at court. a like reception i experienced in the palace of prince ferdinand of brunswick, where i frequently dined and supped. his princess took delight in hearing my narratives, and loaded me with favour. prince ferdinand's mode of educating children is exemplary. the sons are instructed in the soldier's duties, their bodies are inured to the inclemencies of weather; they are taught to ride, to swim, and are steeled to all the fatigue of war. their hearts are formed for friendship, which they cannot fail to attain. happy the nation in defence of which they are to act! how ridiculous these their _royal highnesses_ appear who, though born to rule, are not deserving to be the lackeys to the least of those whom they treat with contempt; and yet who swell, strut, stride, and contemplate themselves as creatures essentially different by nature, and of a superior rank in the scale of beings, though, in reality, their minds are of the lowest, the meanest class. happy the state whose prince is impressed with a sense that the people are not his property, but he the property of the people! a prince beloved by his people will ever render a nation more happy those he whose only wish is to inspire fear. the pleasure i received at berlin was great indeed. when i went to court, the citizens crowded to see me, and when anyone among them said, "that is trenck," the rest would cry, "welcome once more to your country," while many would reach me their hands, with the tears standing in their eyes. frequent were the scenes i experienced of this kind. no malefactor would have been so received. it was the reward of innocence; this reward was bestowed throughout the prussian territories. oh world, ill-judging world, deceived by show! dost thou not blindly follow the opinion of the prince, be he severe, arbitrary, or just? thy censure and thy praise equally originate in common report. in magdeburg i lay, chained to the wall, ten years, sighing in wretchedness, every calamity of hunger, cold, nakedness, and contempt. and wherefore? because the king, deceived by slanderers, pronounced me worthy of punishment. because a wise king mistook me, and treated me with barbarity. because a prudent king knew he had done wrong, yet would not have it so supposed. so was his heart turned to stone; nay, opposed by manly fortitude, was enraged to cruelty. most men were convinced i was an innocent sufferer; "yet did they all cry out the more, saying, let him be crucified!" my relations were ashamed to hear my name. my sister was barbarously treated because she assisted me in my misfortunes. no man durst avow himself my friend, durst own i merited compassion; or, much less, that the infallible king had erred. i was the most despised, forlorn man on earth; and when thus put on the rack, had i there expired, my epitaph would have been, "here lies the traitor, trenck." frederic is dead, and the scene is changed; another monarch has ascended the throne, and the grub has changed to a beautiful butterfly! the witnesses to all i have asserted are still living, loudly now proclaim the truth, and embrace me with heart-felt affection. does the worth of a man depend upon his actions? his reward or punishment upon his virtue? in arbitrary states, certainly not. they depend on the breath of a king! frederic was the most penetrating prince of his age, but the most obstinate also. a vice dreadful to those whom he selected as victims, who must be sacrificed to the promoting of his arbitrary views. how many perished, the sin offerings of frederic's obstinate self-will, whose orphan children now cry to god for vengeance! the dead, alas! cannot plead. trial began and ended with execution. the few words--it is the king's command--were words of horror to the poor condemned wretch denied to plead his innocence! yet what is the ukase (imperial order) in russia, _tel est notre bon plaisir_ (such is our pleasure) in france, or the allergnadigste hofresolution (the all-gracious sentence of the court), pronounced with the sweet tone of a vienna matron? in what do these differ from the arbitrary order of a military despot? every prayer of man should be consecrated to man's general good; for him to obtain freedom and universal justice! together should we cry with one voice, and, if unable to shackle arbitrary power, still should we endeavour to show how dangerous it is! the priests of liberty should offer up their thanks to the monarch who declares "the word of power" a nullity, and "the sentence" of justice omnipotent. who can name the court in europe where louis, peter, or frederic, each and all surnamed the great, have not been, and are not, imitated as models of perfection? lettres-de-cachet, the knout, and cabinet-orders, superseding all right, are become law! no reasoning, says the corporal to the poor grenadier, whom he canes!--no reasoning! exclaim judges; the court has decided.--no reasoning, rash and pertinacious trenck, will the prudent reader echo. throw thy pen in the fire, and expose not thyself to become the martyr of a state inquisition. my fate is, and must remain, critical and undecided. i have six-and-thirty years been in the service of austria, unrewarded, and beholding the repeated and generous efforts i made effectually to serve that state, unnoticed. the emperor joseph supposes me old, that the fruit is wasted, and that the husk only remains. it is also supposed i should not be satisfied with a little. to continue to oppress him who has once been oppressed, and who possess qualities that may make injustice manifest, is the policy of states. my journey to berlin has given the slanderer further opportunity of painting me as a suspicious character: i smile at the ineffectual attempt. i appeared in the imperial uniform and belied such insinuations. to this purpose it was written to court, in november, when i went into hungary, "the motions of trenck ought to be observed in hungary." ye poor malicious blood-suckers of the virtuous! ye shall not be able to hurt a hair of my head. ye cannot injure the man who has sixty years lived in honour. i will not, in my old age, bring upon myself the reproach of inconstancy, treachery, or desire of revenge. i will betray no political secrets: i wish not to injure those by whom i have been injured.--such acts i will never commit. i never yet descended to the office of spy, nor will i die a rewarded villain. yes, i appeared in berlin among the upright and the just. instead of being its supposed enemy, i was declared an honour to my country. i appeared in the imperial uniform and fulfilled the duties of my station: and now must the prussian trenck return to austria, there to perform a father's duty. yet more of what happened in berlin. some days after i had been presented to the king, i entreated a private audience, and on the th of february received the following letter:-- "in answer to your letter of the th of this month, i inform you that, if you will come to me to-morrow, at five o'clock in the afternoon, i shall have the pleasure to speak with you; meantime, i pray god to take you into his holy keeping. "frederic william. "berlin, feb. , ." "p.s.--after signing the above, i find it more convenient to appoint to-morrow, at nine in the morning, about which time you will come into the apartment named the marmor kammer (marble chamber)." the anxiety with which i expected this wished-for interview may well be conceived. i found the prussian titus alone, and he continued in conversation with me more than an hour. how kind was the monarch! how great! how nobly did he console me for the past! how entirely did his assurance of favour overpower my whole soul! he had read the history of my life. when prince of prussia, he had been an eyewitness, in magdeburg, of my martyrdom, and my attempts to escape. his majesty parted from me with tokens of esteem and condescension.--my eyes bade adieu, but my heart remained in the marble chamber, in company with a prince capable of sensations so dignified; and my wishes for his welfare are eternal. i have since travelled through the greater part of the prussian states. where is the country in which the people are all satisfied? many complained of hard times, or industry unrewarded. my answer was:-- "friends, kneel with the rising sun, and thank the god of heaven that you are prussians. i have seen and known much of this world, and i assure you, you are among the happiest people of europe. causes of complaint everywhere exist; but you have a king, neither obstinate, ambitious, covetous, nor cruel: his will is that his people should have cause of content, and should he err by chance, his heart is not to blame if the subject suffers." prussia is neither wanting in able nor learned men. the warmth of patriots glows in their veins. everything remains with equal stability, as under the reign of frederic; and should the thunder burst, the ready conductors will render the shock ineffectual. hertzberg still labours in the cabinet, still thinks, writes, and acts as he has done for years. the king is desirous that justice shall be done to his subjects, and will punish, perhaps, with more severity, whenever he finds himself deceived, than from the goodness of his disposition, might be supposed. the treasury is full, the army continues the same, and there is little reason to doubt but that industry, population, and wealth will increase. none but the vile and the wicked would leave the kingdom; while the oppressed and best subjects of other states would fly from their native country, certain of finding encouragement and security in prussia. the personal qualities of fredric william merit description. he is tall and handsome, his mien is majestic, and his accomplishments of mind and body would procure him the love of men, were he not a king. he is affable without deceit, friendly and kind in conversation, and stately when stateliness is necessary. he is bountiful, but not profuse; he knows that without economy the prussian must sink. he is not tormented by the spirit of conquest, he wishes harm to no nation, yet he will certainly not suffer other nations to make encroachments, nor will he be terrified by menaces. the wise frederic, when living, though himself learned, and a lover of the sciences, never encouraged them in his kingdom. germany, under his reign, might have forgotten her language: he preferred the literature of france. konigsberg, once the seminary of the north, contains, at present, few professors, or students; the former are fallen into disrepute, and are ill paid; the latter repair to leipsic and gottingen. we have every reason to suppose the present monarch, though no studious man himself, will encourage the academies of the literati, that men learned in jurisprudence and the sciences may not be wanting: which want is the more to be apprehended as the nobility must, without exception, serve in the army, so that learning has but few adherents, and these are deprived of the means of improvement. frederic william is also too much the friend of men to suffer them to pine in prisons. he abhors the barbarity with which the soldiers are beaten: his officers will not be fettered hand and foot; slavish subordination will be banished, and the noble in heart will be the noble of the land. may he, in his people, find perfect content! may his people be ever worthy of such a prince! long may he reign, and may his ministers be ever enlightened and honourable men! he sent for me a second time, conversed much with me, and confirmed those ideas which my first interview had inspired. on the th of march i presented my son at another audience, whom i intended for the prussian service. the king bestowed a commission on him in the posadowsky dragoons, at my request. i saw him at the review at velau, and his superior officers formed great expectations from his zeal. time will discover whether he who is in the austrian, or this in the prussian service, will first obtain the rewards due to their father. should they both remain unnoticed, i will bestow him on the grand turk, rather than on european courts, whence equity to me and mine is banished. to austria i owe no thanks; all that could be taken from me was taken. i was a captain before i entered those territories, and, after six-and-thirty years' service, i find myself in the rank of invalid major. the proof of all i have asserted, and of how little i am indebted to this state is most incontestable, since the history of my life is allowed by the royal censor to be publicly sold in vienna. it is remarkable that one only of all the eight officers, with whom i served, in the body guard, in , is dead. lieutenant-colonel count blumenthal lives in berlin; pannewitz is commander of the knights of malta: both gave me a friendly reception. wagnitz is lieutenant-general in the service of hesse-cassel; he was my tent comrade, and was acquainted with all that happened. kalkreuter and grethusen live on their estates, and jaschinsky is now alive at konigsberg, but superannuated, and tortured by sickness, and remorse. he, instead of punishment, has forty years enjoyed a pension of a thousand rix-dollars. i have seen my lands confiscated, of the income of which i have been forty-two years deprived, and never yet received retribution. time must decide; the king is generous, and i have too much pride to become a beggar. the name of trenck shall be found in the history of the acts of frederic. a tyrant himself, he was the slave of his passions; and even did not think an inquiry into my innocence worth the trouble. to be ashamed of doing right, because he has done wrong, or to persist in error, that fools, and fools only, can think him infallible, is a dreadful principle in a ruler. since i have been at berlin, and was received there with so many testimonies of friendship, the newspapers of germany have published various articles concerning me, intending to contribute to my honour or ease. they said my eldest daughter is appointed the governess of the young princess. this has been the joke of some witty correspondent; for my eldest daughter is but fifteen, and stands in need of a governess herself. perhaps they may suppose me mean enough to circulate falsehood. i daily receive letters from all parts of germany, wherein the sensations of the feeling heart are evident. among these letters was one which i received from bahrdt, professor at halle, dated april , wherein he says, "receive, noble german, the thanks of one who, like you, has encountered difficulties; yet, far inferior to those you have encountered. you, with gigantic strength, have met a host of foes, and conquered. the pests of men attacked me also. from town to town, from land to land, i was pursued by priestcraft and persecution; yet i acquired fame. i fled for refuge and repose to the states of frederic, but found them not. i have eight years laboured under affliction with perseverance, but have found no reward. by industry have i made myself what i am; by ministerial favour, never. worn out and weak, the history of your life, worthy sir, fell into my hands, and poured balsam into my wounds. there i saw sufferings immeasurably greater; there, indeed, beheld fortitude most worthy of admiration. compared to you, of what could i complain? receive, noble german, my warmest thanks; while i live they shall flow. and should you find a fortunate moment, in the presence of your king, speak of me as one consigned to poverty; as one whose talents are buried in oblivion. say to him--'mighty king! stretch forth thy hand, and dry up his tears.' i know the nobleness of your mind, and doubt not your good wishes." to the professor's letter i returned the following answer:-- "i was affected, sir, by your letter. i never yet was unmoved, when the pen was obedient to the dictates of the heart. i feel for your situation; and if my example can teach wisdom even to the wise, i have cause to triumph. this is the sweetest of rewards. at berlin i have received much honour, but little more. men are deaf to him who confides only in his right. what have i gained? shadowy fame for myself, and the vapour of hope for my heirs! "truth and trenck, my good friend, flourish not in courts. you complain of priestcraft. he who would disturb their covetousness, he who speaks against the false opinions they scatter, considers not priests, and their aim, which is to dazzle the stupid and stupefy the wise. deprecate their wrath! avoid their poisoned shafts, or they will infect tiny peace: will blast thy honour. and wherefore should we incur this danger. to cure ignorance of error is impossible. let us then silently steal to our graves, and thus small we escape the breath of envy. he who should enjoy all even thought could grasp, should yet have but little. having acquired this knowledge, the passions of the soul are lulled to apathy. i behold error, and i laugh; do thou, my friend, laugh also. if that can comfort us, men will do our memory justice--when we are dead! fame plants her laurels over the grave, and there they flourish best. "baron trenck "_schangulach_, _near konigsberg_, _april_ _th_, ." "p.s--i have spoken, worthy professor, the feelings of my heart, in answer to your kind panegyric. you will but do me justice, when you believe i think and act as i write with respect to my influence at court, it is as insignificant at berlin as at vienna or at constantinople" among the various letters i have received, as it may answer a good purpose, i hope the reader will not think the insertion of the following improper. in a letter from an unknown correspondent, who desired me to speak for this person at berlin, eight others were enclosed. they came from the above person in distress, to this correspondent: and i was requested to let them appear in the berlin journal. i selected two of them, and here present them to the world, as it can do me injury, while they describe an unhappy victim of an extraordinary kind: and may perhaps obtain him some relief. should this hope be verified, i am acquainted with him who wishes to remain concealed, can introduce him to the knowledge of such as might wish to interfere in his behalf. should they not, the reader will still find them well-written and affecting letters; such as may inspire compassion. the following is the first of those i selected. letter i "_neuland_, _feb_ _th_, . "i thought i had so satisfactorily answered you by my last, that you would have left me in peaceful possession of my sorrows! but your remarks, entreaties, and remonstrances, succeed each other with such rapidity, that i am induced to renew the contest. cowardice, i believe, you are convinced, is not a native in my heart, and should i now yield, you might suppose that age and the miseries i have suffered, had weakened my powers of mind as well as body; and that i ought to have been classed among the unhappy multitudes whose sufferings have sunk them to despondency. "baron trenck, that man of many woes, once so despised, but who now is held in admiration, where he was before so much the object of hatred; who now speaks so loudly in his own defence, where, formerly, the man who had but whispered his name would have lived suspected; baron trenck you propose as an example of salvation for me. you are wrong. have you considered how dissimilar our past lives have been; how different, too, are our circumstances? or, omitting these, have you considered to whom you would have me appeal? "in , i became acquainted, in vienna, with this sufferer of fortitude, this agreeable companion. we are taught that a noble aspect bespeaks a corresponding mind; this i believe him to possess. but what expectations can i form from baron trenck? "i will briefly answer the questions you have put. baron trenck was a man born to inherit great estates; this and the fire of his youth, fanned by flattering hopes from his famous kinsman, rendered him too haughty to his king; and this alone was the origin of all his future sufferings. i, on the contrary, though the son of a silesian nobleman of property, did not inherit so much as the pay of a common soldier; the family having been robbed by the hand of power, after being accused by wickedness under the mask of virtue. you know my father's fate, the esteem in which he was held by the empress theresa; and that a pretended miracle was the occasion of his fall. suddenly was he plunged from the height to which industry, talents, and virtue had raised him, to the depth of poverty. at length, at the beginning of the seven years' war, one of the king of prussia's subjects represented him to the austrian court as a dangerous correspondent of marshal schwerin's. then at sixty years of age, my father was seized at jagerndorf, and imprisoned in the fortress of gratz, in styria. he had an allowance just sufficient to keep him alive in his dungeon; but, for the space of seven years, never beheld the sun rise or set. i was a boy when this happened, however, i was not heard. i only received some pecuniary relief from the empress, with permission to shed my blood in her defence. in this situation we first vowed eternal friendship; but from this i soon was snatched by my father's enemies. what the empress had bestowed, her ministers tore from me. i was seized at midnight, and was brought, in company with two other officers, to the fortress of gratz. here i remained immured six years. my true name was concealed, and another given me. "peace being restored, trenck, i, and my father were released; but the mode of our release was very different. the first obtained his freedom at the intercession of theresa, she, too, afforded him a provision. we, on the contrary, according to the amnesty, stipulated in the treaty of peace, were led from our dungeons as state prisoners, without inquiry concerning the verity or falsehood of our crimes. extreme poverty, wretchedness, and misery, were our reward for the sufferings we had endured. "not only was my health destroyed, but my jawbone was lost, eaten away by the scurvy. i laid before frederic the great the proofs of the calamities i had undergone, and the dismal state to which i was reduced, by his foe, and for his sake; entreated bread to preserve me and my father from starving, but his ear was deaf to my prayer, his heart insensible to my sighs. "providence, however, raised me up a saviour,--count gellhorn was the man. after the taking of breslau, he had been also sent a state prisoner to gratz. during his imprisonment, he had heard the report of my sufferings and my innocence. no sooner did he learn i was released, than he became my benefactor, my friend, and restored me to the converse of men, to which i had so long been dead. "i defer the continuance of my narrative to the next post. the remembrance of past woes inflict new ones. i am eternally." letter ii. "_february_ , . "dear friend,--after an interval of silence, remembering my promise, i again continue my story. "my personal sufferings have not been less than those of trenck. his, i am acquainted with only from the inaccurate relations i have heard: my own i have felt. a colonel in the prussian service, whose name was hallasch, was four years my companion; he was insane, and believed himself the christ that was to appear at the millennium: he persecuted me with his reveries, which i was obliged to listen to, and approve, or suffer violence from one stronger than myself. "the society of men or books, everything that could console or amuse, were forbidden me; and i considered it as wonderful that i did not myself grow mad, in the company of this madman. four hard winters i existed without feeling the feeble emanation of a winter sun, much less the warmth of fire. the madman felt more pity than my keeper, and lent me his cloak to cover my body, though the other denied me a truss of straw, notwithstanding i had lost the use of my hands and feet. the place where we were confined was called a chamber; it rather resembled the temple of cloacina. the noxious damps and vapours so poisoned my blood that an unskilful surgeon, who tortured me during nine months, with insult as a prussian traitor, and state criminal, i lost the greatest part of my jaw. "schottendorf was our governor and tyrant; a man who repaid the friendship he found in the mansion of my fathers--with cruelty. he was ripe for the sickle, and time cut him off. tormentini and galer were his successors in office, by them we were carefully watched, but we were treated with commiseration. their precautions rendered imprisonment less wretched. ever shall i hold their memory sacred. yet, benevolent as they were, their goodness was exceeded by that of rottensteiner, the head gaoler. he considered his prisoners as his children; and he was their benefactor. of this i had experience, during two years after the release of hallasch. "here i but cursorily describe misery, at which the monarch shall shudder, if the blood of a tyrant flow not in his veins. theresa could not wish these things. but she was fallible, and not omniscient. "from the above narrative, you will perceive how opposite the effects must be which the histories of baron trenck and of myself must produce. "trenck left his dungeon shielded from contempt; the day of freedom was the day of triumph. i, on the contrary, was exposed to every calamity. the spirit of trenck again raised itself. i have laboured many a night that i might neither beg nor perish the following day: working for judges who neither knew law nor had powers of mind to behold the beauty of justice: settling accounts that, item after item, did not prove that the lord they were intended for, was an imbecile dupe. "trenck remembers his calamities, but the remembrance is advantageous to himself and his family; while with me, the past did but increase, did but agonise, the present and the future. he was not like me, obliged to crouch in presence of those vulgar, those incapable minds, that do but consider the bent back as the footstool of pride. every man is too busy to act in behalf of others; pity me therefore, but advise me not to hope assistance, by petitioning princes at second hand. i know your good wishes, and, for these, i have nothing to return but barren thanks.--i am, &c." the reasons why i published the foregoing letters are already stated, and will appear satisfactory to the reader. once more to affairs that concern myself. i met at berlin many old friends of both sexes; among others, an aged invalid came to see me, who was at glatz, in , when i cut my way through the guard. he was one of the sentinels before my door, whom i had thrown down the stairs. the hour of quitting berlin, and continuing my journey into prussia, towards konigsberg, approached. on the eve of my departure, i had the happiness of conversing with her royal highness the princess amelia, sister of frederic the great. she protected me in my hour of adversity; heaped benefits upon me, and contributed to gain my deliverance. she received me as a friend, as an aged patriot; and laid her commands upon me to write to my wife, and request that she would come to berlin, in the month of june, with her two eldest daughters. i received her promise that the happiness of the latter should be her care; nay, that she would remember my wife in her will. at this moment, when about to depart, she asked me if i had money sufficient for my journey: "yes, madam," was my reply; "i want nothing, ask nothing; but may you remember my children!" the deep feeling with which i pronounced these words moved the princess; she showed me how she comprehended my meaning, and said, "return, my friend, quickly: i shall be most happy to see you." i left the room: a kind of indecision came over me. i was inclined to remain longer at berlin. had i done so, my presence would have been of great advantage to my children. alas! under the guidance of my evil genius, i began my journey. the purpose for which i came to berlin was frustrated: for after my departure, the princess amelia died! peace be to thy ashes, noble princess! thy will was good, and be that sufficient. i shall not want materials to write a commentary on the history of frederic, when, in company with thee, i shall wander on the banks of styx; there the events that happened on this earth may be written without danger. so proceed we with our story. chapter x. on the nd of march i pursued my journey to konigsberg, but remained two days at the court of the margrave of brandenburg, where i was received with kindness. the margrave had bestowed favours on me, during my imprisonment at magdeburg. i departed thence through soldin to schildberg, here to visit my relation sidau, who had married the daughter of my sister, which daughter my sister had by her first husband, waldow, of whom i have before spoken. i found my kinsman a worthy man, and one who made the daughter of an unfortunate sister happy. i was received at his house within open arms; and, for the first time after an interval of two-and-forty years, beheld one of my own relations. on my journey thither, i had the pleasure to meet with lieutenant-general kowalsky: this gentleman was a lieutenant in the garrison of glatz, in , and was a witness of my leap from the wall of the rampart. he had read my history, some of the principal facts of which he was acquainted with. should anyone therefore doubt concerning those incidents, i may refer to him, whose testimony cannot be suspected. from schildberg i proceeded to landsberg, on the warta. here i found my brother-in-law, colonel pape, commander of the gotz dragoons, and the second husband of my deceased sister: and here i passed a joyous day. everybody congratulated me on my return into my country. i found relations in almost every garrison. never did man receive more marks of esteem throughout a kingdom. the knowledge of my calamities procured me sweet consolation; and i were insensible indeed, and ungrateful, did my heart remain unmoved on occasions like these. in austria i never can expect a like reception; i am there mistaken, and i feel little inclination to labour at removing mistakes so rooted. yet, even there am i by the general voice, approved. yes, i am admired, but not known; pitied but not supported; honoured, but not rewarded. when at berlin, i discovered an error i had committed in the commencement of my life. at the time i wrote i believed that the postmaster-general of berlin, mr derschau, was my mother's brother, and the same person who, in , was grand counsellor at glogau, and afterwards, president in east friesland. i was deceived; the derschau who is my mother's brother is still living, and president at aurich in east friesland. the postmaster was the son of the old derschau who died a general, and who was only distantly related to my mother. neither is the younger derschau, who is the colonel of a regiment at burg, the brother of my mother, but only her first cousin; one of their sisters married lieut.- colonel ostau, whose son, the president ostau, now lives on his own estate, at lablack in prussia. i was likewise deceived in having suspected a lieutenant, named mollinie, in the narrative i gave of my flight from glatz, of having acted as a spy upon me at braunau, and of having sent information to general fouquet. i am sorry. this honest man is still alive, a captain in brandenburg. he was affected at my suspicion, fully justified himself, and here i publicly apologise. he then was, and again is become my friend. i have received a letter from one lieutenant brodowsky. this gentleman is offended at finding his mother's name in my narrative, and demands i should retract my words. my readers will certainly allow the virtue of madame brodowsky, at elbing, is not impeached. although i have said i had the fortune to be beloved by her, i have nowhere intimated that i asked, or that she granted, improper favours. by the desire of a person of distinction, i shall insert an incident which i omitted in a former part. this person was an eye-witness of the incident i am about to relate, at magdeburg, and reminded me of the affair. it was my last attempt but one at flight. the circumstances were these:-- as i found myself unable to get rid of more sand, after having again cut through the planking, and mined the foundation, i made a hole towards the ditch, in which three sentinels were stationed. this i executed one night, it being easy, from the lightness of the sand, to perform the work in two hours. no sooner had i broken through, than i threw one of my slippers beside the palisades, that it might be supposed i had lost it when climbing over them. these palisades, twelve feet in length, were situated in the front of the principal fosse, and my sentinels stood within. there was no sentry-box at the place where i had broken through. this done, i returned into my prison, made another hole under the planking, where i could hide myself, and stopped up the passage behind me, so that it was not probable i could be seen or found. when daylight came, the sentinel saw the hole and gave the alarm, the slipper was found, and it was concluded that trenck had escaped over the palisades, and was no longer in prison. immediately the sub-governor came from magdeburg, the guns were fired, the horse scoured the country, and the subterranean passages were all visited: no tidings came; no discovery was made, and the conclusion was i had escaped. that i should fly without the knowledge of the sentinels, was deemed impossible; the officer, and all the guard, were put under arrest, and everybody was surprised. i, in the meantime, sat quiet in my hole, where i heard their searches, and suppositions that i was gone. my heart bounded with joy, and i held escape to be indubitable. they would not place sentinels over the prison the following night, and i should then really have left my place of concealment, and, most probably have safely arrived in saxony. my destiny, however, robbed me of all hope at the very moment when i supposed the greatest of my difficulties were conquered. everything seemed to happen as i could wish. the whole garrison came, and visited the casemates, and all stood astonished at the miracle they beheld. in this state things remained till four o'clock in the afternoon. at length, an ensign of the militia came, a boy of about fifteen or sixteen years of age, who had more wit than any or all of them. he approached the hole, examined the aperture next the fosse, thought it appeared small, tried to enter it himself, found he could not, therefore concluded it was impossible a man of my size could have passed through, and accordingly called for a light. this was an accident i had not foreseen. half stifled in my hole, i had opened the canal under the planking. no sooner had the youth procured a light, than he perceived my shirt, examined nearer, felt about, and laid hold of me by the arm. the fox was caught, and the laugh was universal. my confusion may easily be imagined. they all came round me, paid me their compliments, and finding nothing better was to be done, i laughed in company with them, and, thus laughing was led back with an aching heart to be sorrowfully enchained in my dungeon. i continued my journey, and arrived, on the fourth of april, at konigsberg, where my brother expected my arrival. we embraced as brothers must, after the absence of two-and-forty years. of all the brothers and sisters i had left in this city, he only remained. he lived a retired and peaceable life on his own estates. he had no children living. i continued a fortnight within him and his wife. here, for the first time, i learned what had happened to my relations, during their absence. the wrath of the great frederic extended itself to all my family. my second brother was an ensign in the regiment of cuirassiers at kiow, in , when i first incurred disgrace from the king. six years he served, fought at three battles, but, because his name was trenck, never was promoted. weary of expectation he quitted the army, married, and lived on his estates at meicken, where he died about three years ago, and left two sons, who are an honour to the family of the trencks. fame spoke him a person capable of rendering the state essential service, as a military man; but he was my brother, and the king would never suffer his name to be mentioned. my youngest brother applied himself to the sciences; it was proposed that he should receive some civil employment, as he was an intelligent and well-informed man; but the king answered in the margin of the petition, "no trenck is good for anything." thus have all my family suffered, because of my unjust condemnation. my last-mentioned brother chose the life of a private man, and lived at his ease, in independence, among the first people of the kingdom. the hatred of the monarch extended itself to my sister, who had married the son of general waldow, and lived in widowhood, from the year , to her second marriage. the misfortunes of this woman, in consequence of the treachery of weingarten, and the aid she sent to me in my prison at magdeburg, i have before related. she was possessed of the fine estate of hammer, near landsberg on the warta. the russian army changed the whole face of the country, and laid it desert. she fled to custrin, where everything was destroyed during the siege. the prussian army also demolished the fine forests. after the war, the king assisted all the ruined families of brandenburg; she alone obtained nothing, because she was my sister. she petitioned the king, who repined she must seek for redress from her dear brother. she died, in the flower of her age, a short time after she had married her second husband, the present colonel pape: her son, also, died last year. he was captain in the regiment of the gotz dragoons. thus were all my brothers and sisters punished because they were mine. could it be believed that the great frederic would revenge himself on the children and the children's children? was it not sufficient that he should wreak his wrath on my head alone? why has the name of trenck been hateful to him, to the very hour of his death? one derschau, captain of horse, and brother of my mother, addressed himself to the king, in , alleging he was my nearest relation and feudal heir, and petitioned that he would bestow on him my confiscated estates of great sharlack. the king demanded that the necessary proofs should be sent from the chamber at konigsberg. he was uninformed that i had two brothers living, that great sharlack was an ancient family inheritance, and that it appertained to my brothers, and not to derschau. my brothers then announced themselves as the successors to this fief, and the king bestowed on them the estate of great sharlack conformable to the feudal laws. that it might be properly divided, it was put up to auction, and bought by the youngest of my brothers, who paid surplus to the other, and to my sister. he likewise paid debts charged upon it, according to the express orders of the court. the persons who called themselves my creditors were impostors, for i had no creditors; i was but nineteen when my estates were confiscated, consequently was not of age. by what right therefore, could such debts be demanded or paid? let them explain this who can. the same thing happened when an account was given in to the fiscus of the guardianship, although i acknowledge my guardians were men of probity. one of them was eight years in possession, and when he gave it up to my brothers he did not account with them for a single shilling. at present, therefore, the affair stands thus:--frederic william has taken off the sentence of confiscation, and ordered me to be put in possession of my estates, by a gracious rescript: empowered by this i come and demand restitution; my brother answers, "i have bought and paid for the estate, am the legal possessor, have improved it so much that great sharlack, at present, is worth three or four times the sum it was at the time of confiscation. let the fiscus pay me its actual value, and then let them bestow it on whom they please. if the reigning king gives what his predecessor sold to me, i ought not thereby to be a loser." this is a problem which the people of berlin must resolve. my brother has no children, and, without going to law, will bequeath great sharlack to mine, when he shall happen to die. if he is forced in effect to restore it without being reimbursed, the king instead of granting a favour, has not done justice. i do not request any restitution like this, since such restitution would be made without asking it as a favour of the king. if his majesty takes off the confiscation because he is convinced it was originally violent and unjust, then have i a right to demand the rents of two-and-forty years. this i am to require from the fiscus, not from my brother. and should the fiscus only restore me the price for which it then sold, it would commit a manifest injustice, since all estates in the province of prussia have, since , tripled and quadrupled their value. if the estates descend only to my children after my death, i receive neither right nor favour; for, in this case, i obtain nothing for myself, and shall remain deprived of the rents, which, as the estate is at present farmed by my brother amount to four thousand rix- dollars per annum. this estate cannot be taken from him legally, since he enjoys it by right of purchase. such is the present state of the business. how the monarch shall think proper to decide, will be seen hereafter. i have demanded of the fiscus that it shall make a fair valuation of great sharlack, reimburse my brother, and restore it to me. my brother has other estates. these he will dispose of by testament, according to his good pleasure. be these things as they may, the purpose of my journey is accomplished. thou, great god, has preserved me amidst my trouble. the purest gratitude penetrates my heart. oh, that thou wouldst shield man from arbitrary power, and banish despotism from the earth! may this my narration be a lesson to the afflicted, afford hope to the despairing, fortitude to the wavering, and humanise the hearts of kings. joyfully do i journey to the shores of death. my conscience is void of reproach, posterity shall bless my memory, and only the unfeeling, the wicked, the confessor of princes and the pious impostor, shall vent their rage against my writings. my mind is desirous of repose, and should this be denied me, still i will not murmur. i now wish to steal gently towards that last asylum, whither if i had gone in my youth, it must have been with colours flying. grant, almighty god, that the prayer i this day make may be heard, and that such may be the conclusion of my eventful life! history of francis baron trenck. written by frederick baron trenck, as a necessary supplement to his own history. francis baron trenck was born in , in calabria, a province of sicily. his father was then a governor and lieutenant-colonel there, and died in , at leitschau, in hungary, lord of the rich manors of prestowacz, pleternitz, and pakratz, in sclavonia, and other estates in hungary. his christian name was john; he was my father's brother, and born in konigsberg in prussia. the name of his mother was kettler; she was born in courland. trenck was a gentleman of ancient family; and his grandfather, who was mine also, was of prussia. his father, who had served austria to the age of sixty- eight, a colonel, and bore those wounds to his grave which attested his valour. francis baron trenck was his only son; he had attained the rank of colonel during his father's life, and served with distinction in the army of maria theresa. the history of his life, which he published in , when he was under confinement at vienna, is so full of minute circumstances, and so poorly written, that i shall make but little use of it. here i shall relate only what i have heard from his enemies themselves, and what i have myself seen. his father, a bold and daring soldier, idolised his only son, and wholly neglected his education, so that the passions of this son were most unbridled. endowed with extraordinary talents, this ardent youth was early allowed to indulge the impetuous fire of his constitution. moderation was utterly unknown to him, and good fortune most remarkably favoured all his enterprises. these were numerous, undertaken from no principle of virtue, nor actuated by any motives of morality. the love of money, and the desire of fame, were the passions of his soul. to his warlike inclination was added the insensibility of a heart natively wicked: and he found himself an actor, on the great scene of life, at a time when the earth was drenched with human gore, and when the sword decided the fate of nations: hence this chief of pandours, this scourge of the unprotected, became an iron-hearted enemy, a ferocious foe of the human race, a formidable enemy in private life, and a perfidious friend. constitutionally sanguinary, addicted to pleasures, sensual, and brave; he was unappeased when affronted, prompt to act, in the moment of danger circumspect, and, when under the dominion of anger, cruel even to fury; irreconcilable, artful, fertile in invention, and ever intent on great projects. when youth and beauty inspired love, he then became supple, insinuating, amiable, gentle, respectful; yet, ever excited by pride, each conquest gave but new desires of adding another slave over whom he might domineer; and, whenever he encountered resistance, he then even ceased to be avaricious. a prudent and intelligent woman, turning this part of his character to advantage, might have formed this man to virtue, probity, and the love of the human race: but, from his infancy, his will had never suffered restraint, and he thought nothing impossible. as a soldier, he was bold even to temerity; capable of the most hazardous enterprise, and laughing at the danger he provoked. his projects were the more elevated because the acquirement of renown was the intent of all his actions. in council he was dangerous; everything must be conceded to his views. to him the means by which his end was to be obtained were indifferent. the croats at this time were undisciplined, prone to rapine, thirsting for human blood, and only taught obedience by violence; these had been the companions of his infancy: these he undertook to subject, by servitude and fear, to military subordination, and from banditti to make them soldiers. with respect to his exterior, nature had been prodigal of her favours. his height was six feet three inches, and the symmetry of his limbs was exact; his form was upright, his countenance agreeable, yet masculine, and his strength almost incredible. he could sever the head from the body of the largest ox with one stroke of his sabre, and was so adroit at this turkish practice, that he at length could behead men in the manner boys do nettles. in the latter years of his life, his aspect had become terrible; for, during the bavarian war, he had been scorched by the explosion of a powder-barrel, and ever after his face remained scarred and impregnated with black spots. in company he rendered himself exceedingly agreeable, spoke seven languages fluently, was jocular, possessed wit, and in serious conversation, understanding; had learned music, sung with taste, and had a good voice, so that he might have been well paid as an actor, had that been his fate. he could even, when so disposed, become gentle and complaisant. his look told the man of observation that he was cunning and choleric; and his wrath was terrible. he was ever suspicious, because he judged others by himself. self-interest and avarice constituted his ruling passion, and, whenever he had an opportunity of increasing his wealth, he disregarded the duties of religion, the ties of honour, and human pity. in the thirty-first year of his age, when he was possessed of nearly two millions, he did not expend a florin per day. as he and his pandours always led the van, and as he thence had an opportunity to ravage the enemy's country, at the head of troops addicted to rapine, we must not wonder that bavaria, silesia, and alsatia were so plundered. he alone purchased the booty from his troops at a low price, and this he sent by water to his own estates. if any one of his officers had made a rich capture, trenck instantly became his enemy. he was sent on every dangerous expedition till he fell, and the colonel became his universal heir, for trenck appropriated all he could to himself. he was reputed to be a man most expert in military science, an excellent engineer, and to possess an exact eye in estimating heights and distances. in all enterprises he was first; inured to fatigue, his iron body could support it without inconvenience. nothing escaped his vigilance, all was turned to account, and what valour could not accomplish, cunning supplied. his pride suffered him not to incur an obligation, and thus he was unthankful; his actions all centred in self, and as he was remarkably fortunate in whatever he undertook, he ascribed even that, which accident gave, to foresight and genius. yet was he ever, as an officer, a most useful and inestimable man to the state. his respect for his sovereign, and his zeal in her service, were unbounded; whenever her glory was at stake, he devoted himself her victim. this i assert to be truth: i knew him well. of little consequence is it to me, whether the historians of maria theresa have, or have not, misrepresented his talents and the fame he deserved. the life of trenck i write for the following reasons. he had the honour first to form, and command, regular troops, raised in sclavonia. the soldiers acquired glory under their leader, and sustained the tottering power of austria: they made libations of their blood in its defence, as did trenck, in various battles. he served like a brave warrior, with zeal, loyalty, and effect. the vile persecutions of his enemies at vienna, with whom he refused to share the plunder he had made, lost him honour, liberty, and not only the personal property he had acquired, but likewise the family patrimony in hungary. he died like a malefactor, illegally sentenced to imprisonment; and knaves have affirmed, and fools have believed, and believe still, he took the king of prussia prisoner, and that he granted him freedom in consequence of a bribe. so have the loyal hungarians been led to suppose that an hungarian had really been a traitor. by my writings, i wish to prove to this noble nation on the contrary, that trenck, for his loyalty deserved compassion, esteem, and honour in his country. this i have already done in the former part of my history. the dead trenck can speak no more; but it is the duty of the living ever to speak in defence of right. trenck wrote his own history while he was confined in the arsenal at vienna; and, in the last two sheets he openly related the manner in which he had been treated by the council of war, of which count loewenwalde, his greatest enemy, was president. the count, however, found supporters too powerful, and these sheets were torn from the book and publicly burnt at vienna. defence after this became impossible: he groaned under the grip of his adversaries. i have given a literal copy of these sheets in the first part of this history; and i again repeat i am able to prove the truth of what is there asserted, by the acts, proceedings, and judicial registers which are in my possession. he was confined in the spielberg, because much was to be dreaded from an injured man, whom they knew capable of the most desperate enterprises. he died defenceless, the sacrifice of iniquity and unjust judges. he died, and his honour remained unprotected. i am by duty his defender: although he expired my personal enemy, the author of nearly all the ills i have suffered. i came to the knowledge of his persecutors too late for the unfortunate trenck. and who are those who have divided his spoils--who slew him that they might fatten themselves? your titles have been paid for from the coffers of trenck! yet neither can your cabals, your wealthy protectors, your own riches, nor your credit at court, deprive me of the right of vindicating his fame. i have boldly written, have openly shown, that trenck was pillaged by you; that he served the house of austria as a worthy man, with zeal; not in court-martials and committees of inquiry, but fighting for his country, sharing the soldier's glory, falling the victim of envy and power; falling by the hands of those who are unworthy of judging merit. he take the king of prussia! they might as well say he took the emperor of morocco. yes, he is dead. but should any man dare affirm that the hungarian or the prussian trenck were capable of treason, that either of them merited punishment for having betrayed their country, he will not have long to seek before he will be informed that he has done us both injustice. after this preface, i shall continue my narrative on the plan i proposed. trenck, the father, was a miser, yet a well-meaning man. trenck the son, was a youthful soldier, who stood in need of money to indulge his pleasures. many curious pranks he played, when an ensign in i know not what regiment of foot. he went to one of the collectors of his father's rents, and demanded money; the collector refused to give him any, and trenck clove his skull with his sabre. a prosecution was entered against him, but, war breaking out in , between the russians and the turks, he raised a squadron of hussars, and went with it into the russian service, contrary to the will of his father. in this war he distinguished himself highly, and acquired the protection of field-marshal munich. he was so successful as a leader against the tartars, that he became very famous in the army, and at the end of the campaign, was appointed major. it happened that flying parties of turks approached his regiment when on march, and trenck seeing a favourable moment for attacking them, went to colonel rumin, desiring the regiment might be led to the charge, and that they might profit by so fair an opportunity. the colonel answered, "i have no such orders." trenck then demanded permission to charge the turks only with his own squadron; but this was refused. he became furious, for he had never been acquainted with contradiction or subordination, and cried aloud to the soldiers, "if there be one brave man among you, let him follow me." about two hundred stepped from the ranks; he put himself at their head, routed the enemy, made a horrible carnage, and returned intoxicated with joy, accompanied by prisoners, and loaded with dissevered heads. once more arrived in presence of the regiment, he attacked the colonel, treated him like the rankest coward, called him opprobrious names, without the other daring to make the least resistance. the adventure, however, became known; trenck was arrested, and ordered to be tried. his judges condemned him to be shot, and the day was appointed, but the evening before execution, field-marshal munich passed near the tent in which he was confined, trenck saw him, came forward, and said, "certainly your excellency will not suffer a foreign cavalier to die an ignominious death because he has chastised a cowardly russian! if i must die, at least give me permission to saddle my horse, and with my sabre in my hand, let me fall surrounded by the enemy." the tartars happened to be at this time harassing the advanced posts; the field-marshal shrugged his shoulders, and was silent. trenck, not discouraged, added, "i will undertake to bring your excellency three heads or lose my own. will you, if i do, be pleased to grant me my pardon?" the field-marshal replied, "yes." the horse of trenck was brought: he galloped to the enemy, and returned within four heads knotted to the horse's mane, himself only slightly wounded in the shoulder. munich immediately appointed him major in another regiment. various and almost incredible were his feats: among others, a tartar ran him through the belly with his lance: trenck grasped the projecting end with his hands, exerted his prodigious strength, broke the lance, set spurs to his horse, and happily escaped. of this wound, dreadful as it was, he was soon cured. i myself have seen the two scars, and can affirm the fact; i also learned this, and many others in , from officers who had served in the same army. during this campaign he behaved with great honour, was wounded by an arrow in the leg, and gained the affection of field-marshal munich, but excited the envy of all the russians. towards the conclusion of the war he had a new misfortune; his regiment was incommoded on all sides by the enemy: he entreated his colonel, for leave to attack them. the colonel was once more a russian, and he was refused. trenck gave him a blow, and called aloud to the soldiers to follow him. they however being russians, remained motionless, and he was put under arrest. the court-martial sentenced him to death, and all hope of reprieve seemed over. the general would have granted his pardon, but as he was himself a foreigner, he was fearful of offending the russians. the day of execution came, and he was led to the place of death, munich so contrived it that field-marshal lowenthal should pass by, at this moment, in company within his lady. trenck profited by the opportunity, spoke boldly, and prevailed. a reprieve was requested, and the sentence was changed into banishment and labour in siberia. trenck protested against this sentence. the field-marshal wrote to petersburg, and an order came that he should be broken, and conducted out of the russian territories. this order was executed, and he returned into hungary to his father. at this period he espoused the daughter of field-marshal baron tillier, one of the first families in switzerland. the two brothers of his wife each became lieutenant-general, one of whom died honourably during the seven years' war. the other was made commander-general in croatia, where he is still living, and is at the head of a regiment of infantry that bears his name. trenck did not live long with his lady. she was pregnant, and he took her to hunt with him in a marsh: she returned ill, and died without leaving him an heir. having no opportunity to indulge his warlike inclination, because of the general peace, he conceived the project of extirpating the sclavonian banditti. trenck, to execute this enterprise, employed his own pandours. the contest now commenced and activity and courage were necessary to ensure success in such a war. trenck seemed born for this murderous trade. day and night he chased them like wild beasts, killing now one, then another, and without distinction, treating them with the utmost barbarity. two incidents will sufficiently paint the character of this unaccountable man. he had impaled alive the father of a harum-bashaw. one evening he was going on patrol, along the banks of a brook, which separated two provinces. on the opposite shore was the son of this impaled father, with his croats. it was moonlight, and the latter called aloud--"i heard thy voice, trenck! thou hast impaled my father! if thou hast a heart in thy body, come hither over the bridge, i will send away my followers; leave thy firearms, come only with thy sabre, and we will then see who shall remain the victor." the agreement was made--and the harum-bashaw sent away his croats, and laid down his musket. trenck passed the wooden bridge, both drew their sabres; but trenck treacherously killed his adversary with a pistol, that he had concealed, after which he severed his head from his body, took it with him, and stuck it upon a pole. one day, when hunting, he heard music in a lone house which belonged to one of his vassals. he was thirsty, entered, and found the guests seated at table. he sat down and ate within them, not knowing this was a rendezvous for the banditti. as he was seated opposite the door, he saw two harum-bashaws enter. his musket stood in a corner; he was struck with terror, but one of them addressed him thus:--"neither thee, nor thy vassals, trenck, have we ever injured, yet thou dost pursue us with cruelty. eat thy fill. when thou hast satisfied thy hunger, we will then, sabre in thy hand, see who has most justice on his side, and whether thou art as courageous as men speak thee." hereupon they sat down and began to eat and drink and make merry. the situation of trenck could not be very pleasant. he recollected that besides these, there might be more of their companions, without, ready to fall upon him; he, therefore, privately drew his pistols, held them under the table while he cocked them, presented each hand to the body of a harum-bashaw, fired them both at the same instant, overset the table on the guests, and escaped from the house. as he went he had time to seize on one of their muskets, which was standing at the door. one of the croats was left weltering in his blood; the other disengaged himself from the table, and ran after trenck, who suffered him to approach, killed him within his own gun, struck off his head and brought it home in triumph. by this action the banditti were deprived of their two most valorous chiefs. war broke out about this time, in , when all the hungarians took up arms in defence of their beloved queen. trenck offered to raise a free corps of pandours, and requested an amnesty for the banditti who should join his troops. his request was granted, he published the amnesty, and began to raise recruits; he therefore enrolled his own vassals, formed a corps of men, went in search of the robbers, drove them into a strait between the save and sarsaws, where they capitulated, and of them enrolled themselves with his pandours. most of these men were six feet in height, determined, and experienced soldiers. to indulge them on certain occasions in their thirst of pillage were means which he successfully employed to lead them where he pleased, and to render them victorious. by means like these trenck became at once the terror of the enemies of austria, and rendered signal services to his empress. in , while he was exercising his regiment, a company fired upon trenck, and killed his horse, and his servant that stood by his side. he ran to the company, counted one, two, three, and beheaded the fourth. he was continuing this, when a harum-bashaw left the ranks, drew his sword, and called aloud, "it is i who fired upon thee, defend thyself." the soldiers stood motionless spectators. trenck attacked him and hewed him down. he was proceeding to continue the execution of the fourth man, but the whole regiment presented their arms. the revolt became general, and trenck, still holding his drawn sabre, ran amidst them, hacking about him on all sides. the excess of his rage was terrific; the soldiers all called "hold!" each fell on their knees, and promised obedience. after this he addressed them in language suitable to their character, and from that time they became invincible soldiers whenever they were headed by himself. let the situation of trenck be considered; he was the chief of a band of robbers who supposed they were authorised to take whatever they pleased in an enemy's country, a banditti that had so often defied the gallows, and had never known military subordination. let such men be led to the field and opposed to regular troops. that they are never actuated by honour is evident: their leader is obliged to excite their avidity by the hope of plunder to engage them in action; for if they perceive no personal advantage, the interest of the sovereign is insufficient to make them act. trenck had need of a particular species of officers. they must be daring, yet cautious. they are partisans, and must be capable of supporting fatigue, desirous of daily seeking the enemy, and hazarding their lives. as he was himself never absent at the time of action, he soon became acquainted with those whom he called old women, and sent them from his regiment. these officers then repaired to vienna, vented their complaints, and were heard. his avarice prevented him from making any division of his booty with those gentlemen who constituted the military courts, thus neglecting what was customary at vienna: and in this originated the prosecution to which he fell a victim. scarcely had he entered austria with his troops before he found an opportunity of reaping laurels. the french army was defeated at lintz. trenck pursued them, treated his prisoners with barbarity; and, never granting quarter in battle, the very appearance of his pandours inspired terror. trenck was a great warrior, and knew how to profit by the slightest advantage. from this time he became renowned, gained the confidence of prince charles, and the esteem of the field-marshal count kevenhuller, who discovered the worth of the man. no partisan had ever before obtained so much power as trenck; he everywhere pursued the enemy as far as bavaria, carrying fire and sword wherever he went. as it was known trenck gave no quarter, the bavarians and the french flew at the sight of a red mantle. pillage and murder attended the pandours wherever they went, and their colonel bought up all the booty they acquired. chamb, in particular, was a scene of a dreadful massacre. the city was set on fire and the people perished in the flames; women and children who endeavoured to fly, were obliged to pass over a bridge, where they were first stripped, and afterwards thrown into the water. this action was one of the accusations brought against trenck when he was prosecuted, but he alleged his justification. the banks of the iser to this day reverberate groans for the barbarities of trenck. deckendorf and filtzhofen felt all his fury. in the first of these towns french prisoners capitulated, although his forces were four miles distant; but he formed a kind of straw men, on which he put pandour caps and cloaks, and set them up as sentinels; and the garrison, deceived by this stratagem, signed the capitulation. the services he rendered the army during the bavarian war are well known in the history of maria theresa. the good he has done has been passed over in silence, because he died under misfortunes, and did not leave his historian a legacy. he was informed that either at deckendorf or filtzhofen there was a barrel containing , florins, concealed at the house of an apothecary. impelled by the desire of booty, trenck hastened to the place, with a candle in his hand, searching everywhere, and, in his hurry, dropped a spark into a quantity of gunpowder, by the explosion of which he was dreadfully scorched. they carried him off, but the scars and the gunpowder with which his skin was blackened rendered his countenance terrific. the present field-marshal laudohn was at that time a lieutenant in his regiment, and happened to be at the door when his colonel was burnt. scarcely was trenck cured before his spies informed him that laudohn had plenty of money. immediately he suspected that laudohn had found the barrel of florins, and from that moment he persecuted him by all imaginable arts. wherever there was danger he sent him, at the head of men, against , hoping to have him cut off, and to make himself his heir. this was so often repeated that laudohn returned to vienna, where, joining the crowd of the enemies of trenck, he became instrumental in his destruction. yet it is certain that, in the beginning, trenck had shown a friendship for laudohn, had given him a commission, and that this great man learned, under the command of trenck, his military principles. general tillier was likewise formed in this nursery of soldiers, where officers were taught activity, stratagem, and enterprise. and who are more capable of commanding a hungarian army than tillier and laudohn? i, one day said to trenck, when he was in vienna, embarrassed by his prosecution, and when he had published a defamatory writing against all his accusers, excepting no man,--"you have always told me that laudohn was one of the most capable of your officers, and that he is a worthy man. wherefore then do you class him among such wretches?" he replied, "what! would you have me praise a man who labours, at the head of my enemies, to rob me of honour, property, and life!" i have related this incident to prove by the testimony of so honourable a man, that trenck was a great soldier, and a zealous patriot, and that he never took the king of prussia prisoner, as has been falsely affirmed, and as is still believed by the multitude. had such a thing happened, laudohn must have been present, and would have supported this charge. bavaria was plundered by trenck; barges were loaded with gold, silver, and effects, which he sent to his estates in sclavonia; prince charles and count kevenhuller countenanced his proceedings; but when field-marshal neuperg was at the head of the army, he had other principles. he was connected with baron tiebes, a counsellor of the hofkriegsrath who was the enemy of trenck. persecution was at that time instituted against him, and trenck was imprisoned; but he defended himself so powerfully that in a month he was set at liberty. mentzel, meanwhile, had the command of the pandours; and this man appropriated to himself the fame that trenck had acquired by the warriors he himself had formed. mentzel never was the equal of trenck. trenck now increased the number of his croats to , , from whom, in , a regiment of hungarian regulars was formed, but who still retained the name of pandours. it was a regiment of infantry. trenck also had hussars and chasseurs, whom he equipped at his own expense. yet, when this corps was reduced, all was sold for the profit of the imperial treasury, without bringing a shilling to account. with a corps so numerous, he undertook great enterprises. the enemy fled wherever he appeared. he led the van, raised contributions which amounted to several millions, delivered unto the empress, in five years, , prisoners, french and bavarian, and more than , prussians. he never was defeated. he gained confidence among his troops, and will remain in history the first man who rendered the savage croats efficient soldiers. this it was impossible to perform among a bloodthirsty people without being guilty himself of cruel acts. the necessity of the excesses he committed, when the army was in want of forage, was so evident that he received permission of prince charles, though for this he was afterwards prosecuted; while the plunders of brenklau, mentzel, and the whole army, were never once questioned. that trenck advanced more than , florins to his regiment, i clearly proved, in . this proof came too late. he was dead. the evidence i brought occasioned a quartermaster, frederici, to be imprisoned. he confessed the embezzlement of this money, yet found so many friends among the enemies of trenck that he refunded nothing, but was released in the year , when i was thrown into the dungeon of magdeburg. my cousin, who had lived like a miser, did not, at his death, leave half of the property he had inherited from his father, and which legally descended to me; it was torn from me by violence. in he obliged the french to retire beyond the rhine, seized on a fort near phillipsburg, swam across the river with pandours, attacked the fortifications, slew the marquis de crevecoeur, with his own hand manned the post, traversed the other arm of the rhine, surprised two bavarian regiments of cavalry, and by this daring manoeuvre, secured the passage of the rhine to the whole army, which, but for him, would not have been effected. wherever he came, he laid the country under contribution, and, at this moment of triumph for the austrian arms, opened himself a passage to enter the territories of france. in september, , war having broken out between austria and prussia, the imperial army was obliged to return, abandon alsatia, and hasten to the succour of the austrian states. trenck succeeded in covering its retreat. the history of maria theresa declares the damages he did the enemy, during this campaign. he gave proof of his capacity at tabor and budweis. with men he attacked one of these towns, which was defended by the two prussian regiments of walrabe and kreutz. he found the water in the moats was deeper than his spies had declared, and the scaling ladders too short: most of those led to the attack were killed, or drowned in the water, and the small number that crossed the moats were made prisoners. the garrison of tabor, of budweis, and of the castle of frauenburg, were, nevertheless, induced to capitulate, and yield themselves prisoners, although the main body under trenck was more than five miles distant. his corps did not come up till the morrow, and it was ridiculous enough to see the pandours dressed in the caps of the prussian fusiliers and pioneers, which they wore instead of their own, and which they afterwards continued to wear. the campaign to him was glorious, and the enemy's want of light troops gave free scope to his enterprises, highly to their prejudice. he never returned without prisoners. he passed the elbe near pardubitz, took the magazines, and was the cause of the great dearth and desertion among the prussians, and of that hasty retreat to which they were forced. the king was at cohn with his headquarters, where i was with him, when trenck attacked the town, which he must have carried, had he not been wounded by a cannon-ball, which shattered his foot. he was taken away, the attack did not succeed, and his men, without him, remained but so many ciphers. in , he went to vienna, where his entrance resembled a triumph. the empress received him with distinction. he appeared on crutches; she, by her condescending speech, inflamed his zeal to extravagance. who would have supposed that the favourite of the people would that year be abandoned to the power of his enemies; who had not rendered, during their whole lives, so much essential service to the state as trenck had done in a single day? he returned to his estate, raised eight hundred recruits that he might aid in the next campaign, and gather new laurels. he rejoined the army. at the battle of sorau he fell upon the prussian camp, and seized upon the tent of the king, but he came too late to attack the rear, as had been preconcerted. frederic gave up his camp to be plundered, for the croats could not be drawn off to attack the army, and the king was prepared to receive them, even if they should. in the meantime, the imperial army was defeated. here was a field for the enemies of trenck to incite the people against him. they accused him of having made the king of prussia a prisoner in his tent; that he also pillaged the camp instead of attacking the rear of the army. after having ended the campaign, he returned to vienna to defend himself. here he found twenty-three officers, whom he expelled his regiment, most of them for cowardice or mean actions. they were ready to bear false testimony. counsellor weber and gen. loewenwalde, had sworn his downfall, which they effected. trenck despised their attacks. while things remained thus, they instructed one of the empress's attendants to profit by every opportunity to deprive him of her confidence. it was affirmed, trenck is an atheist! who never prayed to the holy virgin! the officers, whom he had broken, whispered it in coffee-houses, that trenck had taken and set free the king of prussia! this raised the cry among the fanatical mob of vienna. teased by their complaints, and at the requisition of trenck himself, the empress commanded that examination should be undertaken of these accusations. field-marshal cordova was chosen to preside over this inquiry. he spoke the truth, and drew up a statement of the case; it was presented to the court, and which i shall here insert. "the complaints brought against him did not require a court-martial. trenck had broken some officers by his own authority; their demands ought to be satisfied by the payment of , florins. the remaining accusations were all the attempts of revenge and calumny, and were insufficient to detain at vienna, entangled in law-suits, a man so necessary to the army. moreover, it would be prudent not to inquire into trifles, in consideration of his important services." trenck, dissatisfied by this sentence, and animated by avarice and pride, refused to pay a single florin, and returned to sclavonia. his presence was necessary at vienna, to obtain other advantages against his enemies. they gave the empress to understand, that being a man excessively dangerous, whenever he supposed himself injured, trenck had spread pernicious views in sclavonia, where all men were dependent on him. he raised six hundred more men, with whom he made a campaign in the netherlands, and in october, , returned to vienna. after the peace of dresden, his regiment was incorporated among the regulars, and served against france. scarcely had he arrived at vienna, before an order came from the empress that he must remain under arrest in his chamber. here he rendered himself guilty by the most imprudent action of his whole life. he ordered his carriage and horses, despising the imperial mandate, went to the theatre, when the empress was present. in one of the boxes he saw count gossau, in company with a comrade of his own, whom he had cashiered: these persons were among the foremost of his accusers. inflamed with the desire of revenge, he entered the box, seized count gossau, and would have thrown him into the pit in the presence of the sovereign herself. gossau drew his sword, and tried to run him through, but the latter seizing it, wounded himself in the hand. everybody ran to save gossau, who was unable to defend himself. after this exploit, the colonel of the pandours returned foaming home. such an action rendered it impossible for maria theresa to declare herself the protectress of a man so rash. sentinels were placed over him, and his enemies profiting by his imprudence and passion, he was ordered to be tried by a court-martial. general loewenwalde intrigued so successfully, that he procured himself to be named, by the hofkriegsrath, president of the court-martial, and to be charged with the sequestration of the property of trenck. in vain did the latter protest against his judge. the very man, whom the year before he had kicked out of the ante- chamber of prince charles, received full power to denounce him guilty. then was it that public notice was given that all those who would prefer complaints against colonel baron trenck should receive a ducat per day while the council continued to sit. they soon amounted to fifty-four, who, in a space of four months, received , florins from the property of trenck. the judge himself purchased the depositions of false witnesses; and count loewenwalde offered me one thousand ducats, if i would betray the secrets of my cousin, and promised me i should be put in possession of my confiscated estates in prussia, and have a company in a regiment. that the indictment and the examinations of the witnesses were falsified, has already been proved in the revision of the cause; but as the indictment did not contain one article that could affect his life, they invented the following stratagem. a courtesan, a mistress of baron rippenda, who was a member of the court-martial, was bribed, and made oath she was the daughter of count schwerin, field-marshal in the prussian service, and that she was in bed with the king of prussia, when trenck surprised the camp at sorau, made her and the king prisoners, and restored them their freedom. she even ventured to name baron hilaire, aide-de-camp to frederic, whom she affirmed was then present. hilaire, who afterwards married the baroness tillier, and who consequently was brother-in-law to trenck, fortunately happened to be in vienna. he was confronted with this woman, and through her falsehoods, the gentleman was obliged to remain in prison, where they offered him bribes, which be refused to accept; and, to prevent his speaking, he continued in prison some weeks, and was not released till this shameful proceeding was made public. count loewenwalde invented another artifice; he drew up a false indictment; and, that he might be prevented all means of justification, he chose a day to put it in practice, when the emperor and prince charles were hunting at holitzsch. loewenwalde's court-martial had already signed a sentence of death, and every preparation for the erection of a scaffold was made. his intention was then to go to the empress and induce her to sign the sentence, under a pretence that there was some imminent peril at hand, if a man so dangerous to the state was not immediately put out of the way, and that it would be necessary to execute the sentence of death before the emperor could return. he well knew the emperor was better acquainted with trenck, and had ever been his protector. had this succeeded, trenck would have died like a traitor; miss schwerin would have espoused the aide-de-camp of loewenwalde, with fifty thousand florins, taken from the funds of trenck, and his property would have been divided between his judges and his accusers. as it happened, however, the valet-de-chambre of count loewenwalde, who was an honest man, and who had an intimacy with a former mistress of trenck, confided the whole secret to her. she immediately flew to colonel baron lopresti, who was the sincere friend of my kinsman, and, being then powerful at court, was his deliverer. the emperor and prince charles were informed of what was in agitation, but they thought proper to keep it secret. the hunting at holitzsch took place on the appointed day. count loewenwalde made his appearance before the empress, and solicited her to sign the sentence. she, however, had been pre-informed, the emperor having returned on the same day, and their abominable project proved abortive. miss schwerin was imprisoned; loewenwalde was deprived of his power, as well as of the sequestration of the effects of trenck; a total revision of the proceedings of the court-martial, and of the prosecution of my cousin, was ordered, which was an event, that, till then, was unexampled at vienna. trenck was freed from his fetters, removed to the arsenal, an officer guarded him, and he had every convenience he could wish. he was also permitted the use of a counsellor to defend his cause. i obtained by the influence of the emperor leave to visit him and to aid him in all things. it was at this epoch that i arrived at vienna, and, at this very instant, when the revision of the prosecution was commanded and determined on. count loewenwalde, supposing me a needy, thoughtless youth, endeavoured to bribe me, and prevail on me to betray my kinsman. prince charles of lorraine then desired me seriously to represent to trenck that his avarice had been the cause of all these troubles, for he hind refused to pay the paltry sum of , florins, by which he might have silenced all his accusers; but that, as at present, affairs had become so serious, he ought himself to secure his judges for the revision of the suit; to spare no money, and then he might be certain of every protection the prince could afford. the respectable field-marshal konigseck, governor of vienna, was appointed president; but, being an old man, he was unable to preside at any one sitting of the court. count s--- was the vice-president, a subtle, insatiable judge, who never thought he had money enough. i took , ducats, which baron lopresti gave me, to this most worthy counsellor. the two counsellors, komerkansquy and zetto, each received , rix-dollars, with a promise of double the sum if trenck were acquitted; there was a formal contract drawn up, which a certain noble lord secretly signed. trenck was defended by the advocate gerhauer and by berger. they began with the self-created daughter of marshal schwerin; and, to conceal the iniquitous proceedings of the late court- martial, it was thought proper that she should appear insane, and return incoherent answers to the questions put by the examiners. trenck insisted that a more severe inquiry should be instituted; but they affirmed that she had been conducted out of the austrian territories. trenck was accused of having ordered a certain pandour, named paul diack, to suffer the bastinado of , blows, and that he had died under the punishment. this was sworn to by two officers, now great men in the army, who said they were eye-witnesses of the fact. when the revision of the suit began, trenck sent me into sclavonia, where i found the dead paul diack alive, and brought him to vienna. he was examined by the court, where it appeared that the two officers, who had sworn they were present when he expired, and had seen him buried, were at that time miles from the regiment, and recruiting in sclavonia. paul diack had engaged in plots, and had mutinied three times. trenck had pardoned him, but afterwards mutinying once more, with forty others, he was condemned to death. at the place of execution he called to his colonel: "father, if i receive a thousand blows, will you pardon me?" trenck replied in the affirmative. he received the punishment, was taken to the hospital, and cured. i brought fourteen more witnesses from sclavonia, who attested the falsity of other articles of accusation which were not worthy of attention. the cause wore a new aspect; and the wickedness of those who were so desirous to have seen trenck executed became apparent. one of the chief articles in the prosecution, which for ever deprived him of favour from his virtuous and apostolic mistress, and for which alone he was condemned to the spielberg, was, that he had ravished the daughter of a miller in silesia. this was made oath of, and he was not entirely cleared of the charge in the revision, because his accusers had excluded all means of justification. two years after his death, i discovered the truth of this affair. mainstein accused him of this crime that he might prevent his return to the regiment; his motive was, because he, in conjunction with frederici, had appropriated to their own purposes , florins of regimental money. this miller's daughter was the mistress of mainstein, before she had been seen by trenck. maria theresa, however, would never forgive him; and, to satisfy the honour of this damsel, he was condemned to pay , florins to her, and , to the chest of the invalids, and to suffer perpetual imprisonment. sixty-three civil suits had i to defend, and all the appeals of his accusers to terminate after his death. i gained them all and his accusers were condemned in costs, also to refund the so much per day which had been paid them by general loewenwalde; but they were all poor, and i might seek the money where i could. in justice, loewenwalde ought to have reimbursed me. the total of the sum they received was , florins. most of the other articles of accusation consisted in trenck's having beheaded some mutinous pandours, and broken his officers without a court- martial; that he had bought of his soldiers, and melted down the holy vessels of the church, chalices, and rosaries; had bastinadoed some priests, had not heard mass every sunday, and had dragged malefactors from convents, in which they had taken refuge. when the officers were no longer protected by loewenwalde, or weber, they decamped, but did not cease to labour to gain their purpose, which they attained by the aid of the court-confessor. this monk found means to render maria theresa insensible of pity towards a man who had been so prodigal of his blood in her defence. loewenwalde knew how to profit by the opportunity. gerhauer discovered the secret proceedings; and loewenwalde, now deeply interested in the ruin of trenck, went to the empress, related the manner in which the judges had been bribed, and threatened that should he, through the protection of the emperor and prince charles, be declared innocent, he would publicly vindicate the honour of the court-martial. had my cousin followed my advice and plan of flight he would not have died in prison nor should i have lain in the dungeon of magdeburg. with respect to individuals whom he robbed, innocent men whom he massacred, and many other worthy people whom he made miserable; with respect to his father, aged eighty-four, and his virtuous wife, whom he treated with barbarity; with respect to myself, to the duties of consanguinity and of man, he merited punishment, the pursuit of the avenging arm of justice, and to be extirpated from all human society. epilogue. thomas carlyle's opinion of the author of this history is expressed in the following passages from his _history of friedrich ii. of prussia_: "'frederick baron trenck,' loud sounding phantasm, once famous in the world, now gone to the nurseries as mythical, was of this carnival ( - .) . . . a tall actuality in that time, swaggering about in sumptuous life guard uniform in his mess-rooms and assembly-rooms; much in love with himself, the fool! and i rather think, in spite of his dog insinuations, neither princess had heard of him till twenty years hence, in a very different phasis of his life! the empty, noisy, quasi-tragic fellow; sounds throughout quasi-tragical, like an empty barrel; well-built, longing to be filled."--book xiv., ch. . http://www.archive.org/details/rollorhine abborich rollo on the rhine, by jacob abbott. boston: published by taggard and thompson m dccc lxiv. entered, according to act of congress, in the year , by jacob abbott, in the clerk's office of the district court of the district of massachusetts stereotyped at the boston stereotype foundry riverside, cambridge: printed by h. o. houghton [illustration: rolandseck and drachenfels.--see chap. ] [illustration] rollo's tour in europe. order of the volumes rollo on the atlantic. rollo in paris. rollo in switzerland. rollo in london. rollo on the rhine. rollo in scotland. rollo in geneva. rollo in holland. rollo in naples. rollo in rome. principal persons of the story. rollo; twelve years of age. mr. and mrs. holiday; rollo's father and mother, travelling in europe. thanny; rollo's younger brother. jane; rollo's cousin, adopted by mr. and mrs. holiday. mr. george; a young gentleman, rollo's uncle. contents. chapter page i.--the approach to cologne, ii.--the unfinished cathedral, iii.--the galleries, iv.--travelling on the rhine, v.--the sieben gebirgen, vi.--roland's tower, vii.--rollo's list, viii.--a sabbath on the rhine, ix.--ehrenbreitstein, x.--rollo's letter, xi.--the raft, xii.--dinner, xiii.--bingen, xiv.--the ruin in the garden, xv.--rheinstein, conclusion. engravings. page rolandseck and drachenfels. frontispiece. the ride, cologne in sight, the beggar, minnie's roguery, towing, donkey riding, the students, the nun, the emigrants, rollo on the raft, dinner on the rhine, minnie, the night journey, [illustration: ride.--see chap. .] rollo on the rhine. chapter i. the approach to cologne. if a man were to be raised in a balloon high enough above the continent of europe to survey the whole of it at one view, he would see the land gradually rising from the borders of the sea on every side, towards a portion near the centre, where he would behold a vast region of mountainous country, with torrents of water running down the slopes and through the valleys of it, while the summits were tipped with perpetual snow. the central part of this mass of mountains forms what is called switzerland, the eastern part is the tyrol, and the western savoy. but though the men who live on these mountains have thus made three countries out of them, the whole region is in nature one. it constitutes one mighty mass of mountainous land, which is lifted up so high into the air that all the summits rise into the regions of intense and perpetual cold, and so condense continually, from the atmosphere, inexhaustible quantities of rain and snow. the water which falls upon this mountainous region must of course find its way to the sea. in doing so the thousands of smaller torrents unite with each other into larger and larger streams, until at length they make four mighty rivers--the largest and most celebrated in europe. all the streams of the southern slopes of the mountains form one great river, which flows east into the adriatic. this river is the po. on the western side the thousands of mountain torrents combine and form the rhone, which, making a great bend, turns to the southward, and flows into the mediterranean. on the eastern side the water can find no escape till it has traversed the whole continent to the eastward, and reached the black sea. this stream is the danube. and finally, on the north the immense number of cascades and torrents which come out from the glaciers, or pour down the ravines, or meander through the valleys, or issue from the lakes, of the northern slope of the mountains, combine at basle, and flow north across the whole continent, nearly six hundred miles, to the north sea. this river is the rhine. all this, which i have thus been explaining, may be seen very clearly if you turn to any map of europe, and find the mountainous region in the centre, and then trace the courses of the four great rivers, as i have described them. it would seem that the country through which the river rhine now flows was at first very uneven, presenting valleys and broad depressions, which the waters of the river filled, thus forming great shallow lakes, that extended over very considerable tracts of country. in process of time, however, these lakes became filled with the sediment which was brought down by the river, and thus great flat plains of very rich and level land were formed. at every inundation of the river, of course, these plains, or intervals, as they are sometimes called, would be overflowed, and fresh deposits would be laid upon them; so that in the course of ages the surface of them would rise several feet above the ordinary level of the river. in fact they would continue to rise in this way until they were out of the reach of the highest inundations. immense plains of the most fertile land, which seem to have been formed in this way, exist at the present time along the banks of the rhine at various places. these plains are all very highly cultivated, and are rich and beautiful beyond description. to see them, however, it is necessary to travel over them in a diligence, or post chaise, or by railway trains; for in sailing up and down the river, along the margin of them, in a steam-boat, you are not high enough to overlook them. you see nothing all the way, in these places, but a low, green bank on each side of the river, with a fringe of trees and shrubbery along the margin of it. for about one hundred miles of its course, however, near the central portion of it, the river flows through a very wild and mountainous district of country, or rather through a district which was once wild, though now, even in the steepest slopes and declivities, it is cultivated like a garden. the reason why these mountainous regions are so highly cultivated is because the soil and climate are such that they produce the best and most delicious grapes in the world. they have consequently, from time immemorial, been inhabited by a dense population. every foot of ground where there is room for a vine to grow is valuable, and where the slope was originally steep and rocky, the peasants of former ages have gathered out the rocks and stones, and built walls of them to terrace up the land. the villages of these peasants, too, are seen every where nestling in the valleys, and clinging to the sides of the hills, while the summits of almost all the elevations are crowned with the ruins of old feudal castles built by barons, or chiefs, or kings, or military bishops of ancient times, famous in history. this picturesque portion of the river, which extends from bonn, a little above cologne, to mayence,--which towns you will readily find on almost any map of europe,--was the part which mr. george and rollo particularly desired to see. when they left switzerland they intended to come down the river, and see the scenery in descending. but mr. george met some friends of his on the frontier, who persuaded him to make a short tour with them in germany, and so come to the rhine at cologne. "we can then," said he to rollo, "go _up_ the river, and see it in ascending, which i think is the best way. when we get through all the fine scenery,--which we shall do at mayence,-we can then go up to strasbourg, and take the railroad there for paris--the same way that we came." "yes," said rollo, "i shall like that." rollo liked it simply because it would make the journey longer. when at length, at the end of the tour in germany, our travellers were approaching cologne on the rhine, rollo began to look out, some miles before they reached it, to watch for the first appearance of the town. he had been riding in the coupé of the diligence[ ] with his uncle; but now, in order that he might see better, he had changed his place, and taken a seat on the banquette. the banquette is a seat on the top of the coach, and though it is covered above, it is open in front, and so it affords an excellent view. mr. george remained in the coupé, being very much interested in reading his guide book. [footnote : the stage coaches on the continent of europe are called _diligences_.] at length rollo called out to tell his uncle that the city was in view. the windows of the coupé were open, so that by leaning over and looking down he could speak to his uncle without any difficulty. mr. george was so busy reading his guide book that he paid little attention to what rollo said. "uncle george," said rollo, calling louder, "i can see the city; and in the midst of it is a church with a great square tower, and something very singular on the top of it." mr. george still continued his reading. "there is a spire on the top of the church," continued rollo, "but it is bent down on one side entirely, as if it had half blown over." "o, no," said mr. george, still continuing to read. "it really is," said rollo. "i wish you would look, uncle george. it is something very singular indeed." [illustration: cologne in sight.] mr. george yielded at length to these importunities, and looked out. the country around in every direction was one vast plain, covered with fields of grain, luxuriant and beautiful beyond description. it was without any fences or other divisions except such as were produced by different kinds of cultivation, so that the view extended interminably in almost every direction. there were rows and copses of trees here and there, giving variety and life to the view, and from among them were sometimes to be seen the spires of distant villages. in the distance, too, in the direction in which rollo pointed, lay the town of cologne. the roofs of the houses extended over a very wide area, and among them there was seen a dark square tower, very high, and crowned, as rollo had said, with what seemed to be a spire, only it was bent over half way; and there it lay at an angle at which no spire could possibly stand. "what can it mean?" asked rollo. "i am sure i do not know," said mr. george. next to rollo, on the banquette, was seated a young man, who had mounted up there about an hour before, though rollo had not yet spoken to him. rollo now, however, turned to him, and asked him, in english, if he spoke english. the young man smiled and shook his head, implying that he did not understand. rollo then asked him, in french, if he spoke french. the young man said, "_nein_."[ ] [footnote : pronounced _nine_.] rollo knew that _nein_ was the german word for _no_, and he presumed that the language of his fellow-traveller was german. so he pointed to the steeple, and asked,-- "_was ist das?_" this phrase, _was[ ] ist das?_ is the german of what is that? rollo knew very little of german, but he had learned this question long before, having had occasion to ask it a great many times. it is true he seldom or never could understand the answers he got to it, but that did not prevent him from asking it continually whenever there was occasion. he said it was some satisfaction to find that the people could understand his question, even if he could not understand what they said in reply to it. [footnote : the _w_ is pronounced like _v_.] the man immediately commenced an earnest explanation; but rollo could not understand one word of it, from beginning to end. the truth of the case was, that the supposed leaning spire, which rollo saw, was in reality a monstrous _crane_ that was mounted on one of the towers of the celebrated unfinished cathedral at cologne. this cathedral was commenced about six hundred years ago, and was meant to be the grandest edifice of the kind in the world. they laid out the plan of it five hundred feet long, and two hundred and fifty feet wide, and designed to carry up the towers and spires five hundred feet high. you can see now how long this church was to be by going out into the road, or to any other smooth and level place, and there measuring off two hundred and fifty paces by walking. the pace--that is, the _long step_--of a boy of ten or twelve years old is probably about two feet. that of a full grown man is reckoned at three feet. so that by walking off, _by long steps_, till you have counted two hundred and fifty of them, you can see how long this church was to be; and then by turning a corner and measuring one hundred and twenty-five paces in a line at right angles to the first, you will see how wide it was to be. to walk entirely round such an area as this would be nearly a third of a mile. the church was laid out and begun, and during the whole generation of the workmen that began it, the building was prosecuted with all the means and money that could be procured; and when that generation passed away, the next continued the work, until, at length, in about a hundred years it was so far advanced that a portion of it could have a roof put over it, and be consecrated as a church. they still went on, for one or two centuries more, until they had carried up the walls to a considerable height in many parts, and had raised one of the towers to an elevation of about a hundred and fifty feet. when the work had advanced thus far the government of holland, in the course of some of the wars in which they were engaged, closed the mouth of the rhine, so that the ships of cologne could no more go up and down to get out to sea. this they could easily do, for the country of holland is situated at the mouth of the rhine, and the dutch government was at that time extremely powerful. they had strong fleets and great fortresses at the mouth of the river, and thus they could easily control the navigation of it. thus the merchants of cologne could no more import goods from foreign lands for other people to come there and buy, but the inhabitants were obliged to send to holland to purchase what they required for themselves. the town, therefore, declined greatly in wealth and prosperity, and no more money could be raised for carrying on the work of the cathedral. at the time when the work was interrupted the builders were engaged chiefly on one of the towers, which they had carried up about one hundred and fifty feet. the stones which were used for this tower were very large, and in order to hoist them up the workmen used a monstrous crane, which was reared on the summit of it. this crane was made of timbers rising obliquely from a revolving platform in the centre, and meeting in a point which projected beyond the wall in such a manner that a chain from the end of it, hanging freely, would descend to the ground. the stones which were to go up were then fastened to this chain, and hoisted up by machinery. when they were raised high enough, that is, just above the edge of the wall, the whole crane was turned round upon its platform, in such a manner as to bring the stone in over the wall; and then it was let down into the place which had been prepared to receive it. when the work on the cathedral was suspended on account of the want of funds, the men left this crane on the top of the tower, because they hoped to be able to resume the work again before long. but years and generations passed, and the prospect did not mend; and at last the old crane, which in its lofty position was exposed to all the storms and tempests of the sky, of course began gradually to decay. it is true it was protected as much as possible by a sort of casing made around it, to shelter it from the weather; but notwithstanding this, in the course of several centuries it became so unsound that there began to be danger that it might fall. the authorities of the town, therefore, decided to take it down, intending to postpone putting up a new one until the work of finishing the cathedral should be resumed, if indeed it ever should be resumed. the people of the town were very sorry to see the crane taken down. it had stood there, like a leaning spire, upon the top of the cathedral, from their earliest childhood, and from the earliest childhood, in fact, of their fathers and grandfathers before them. besides, the taking down of the crane seemed to be, in some sense, an indication that the thought of ever finishing the cathedral was abandoned. this made them still more uneasy, and a short time afterwards a tremendous thunder storm occurred, and this the people considered as an expression of the displeasure of heaven at the impiety of forsaking such a work, and as a warning to them to put up the crane again. so a new crane was made, and mounted on the tower as before, and being encased and enclosed like the other, it had at a distance the appearance of a leaning spire, and it was this which had attracted rollo's attention in his approach to cologne. within a few years, on account of the opening again of the navigation of the rhine, and other causes, the city of cologne, with all the surrounding country, has been returning to its former prosperity, and the plan of finishing the cathedral has been resumed. the government of prussia takes a great interest in the undertaking, and the kings and princes of other countries in germany make contributions to it. a society has been organized, too, to collect funds for this purpose all over europe. more than a million of dollars have already been raised, and the work of completing the cathedral has been resumed in good earnest, and is now rapidly going on. all this rollo's fellow-traveller attempted to explain to him; but as he spoke in german, rollo did not understand him. when mr. george and rollo reached their hotel, and had got fairly established in their room, mr. george took his cane and prepared to "go exploring," as he called it. "well, rollo," said he, "what shall we go to see first?" "i want to go and see the cathedral," replied rollo. "the cathedral?" said mr. george. "i am surprised at that. you don't usually care much about churches." "but this does not look much like a church," said rollo. "i saw the end of it as we came into the town. it looks like a range of cliffs rising high into the air, with grass and bushes growing on the top of them, and wolves and bears reaching out their heads and looking down." mr. george complied with rollo's request, and went to see the cathedral first. the adventures which the travellers met with on the excursion will be described in the next chapter. chapter ii. the unfinished cathedral. as soon as mr. george and rollo issued from the door of their hotel into the street, which was very narrow and without sidewalks, so that they were obliged to walk in the middle of it, a young man, plainly but neatly dressed, came up to them from behind, and said something to them in german. he was what is called a commissioner, and he was coming to offer to act as their guide in seeing the town. nearly all the travelling on the rhine is _pleasure_ travelling. the strangers consequently, who arrive at any town or city by the steamboats and by railway, come, almost all of them, for the purpose of seeing the churches and castles, and other wonders of the place, and not to transact business; and in every town there is a great number of persons whose employment it is to act as guides in showing these things. these men hover about the doors of the hotels, and gather in front of all the celebrated churches, and in all public places where travellers are expected to go; and as soon as they see a gentleman, or a party of gentlemen and ladies, coming out of their hotel, or approaching any place of public interest, they immediately come up to them, and offer their services. sometimes their services are valuable, and the traveller is very ready to avail himself of them, especially when in any particular town there is a great deal to see, and he has but little time to see it. at other times, however, it is much pleasanter to go alone to the remarkable places, as a map of the city will enable any one to find them very easily, and the guide book explains them in a much more satisfactory manner than any of these commissioners can do it. the commissioners generally speak french, english, and german, and after trying one of these tongues upon the strangers whom they accost, and finding that they are not understood, they try another and another until they succeed. the commissioner in this case addressed mr. george first in german. mr. george said, "_nein_," meaning no, and walked on. the commissioner followed by his side, and began to talk in french, enumerating the various churches and other objects of interest in cologne, and offering to go and show them. "no," said mr. george, "i am acquainted with the town, and i have no need of a guide." mr. george had studied the map and the guide book, until he knew the town quite well enough for all his purposes. "you speak english, perhaps," said the commissioner, and then proceeded to repeat what he had said before, in broken english. he supposed that mr. george and rollo were english people, and that they would be more likely to engage him as a guide, if they found that he could explain the wonders to them in their own language. mr. george said, "no, no, i do not wish for a guide." "dere is die churts of st. ursula," said the commissioner, persisting, "and die grand towers of die gross st. martin, which is vare bu'ful." mr. george finding that refusals did no good, determined to take no further notice of the commissioner, and so began to talk to rollo, walking on all the time. the commissioner continued for some time to enumerate the churches and other public buildings, which he could show the strangers if they would but put themselves under his guidance; but when at length he found that they would not listen to him, he went away. [illustration: the beggar.] very soon an old beggar man came limping along on a crutch, with a countenance haggard and miserable, and, advancing to them, held out his cap for alms. mr. george, who thought it was not best to give to beggars in the streets, was going on without regarding him; but the man hobbled on by the side of the strangers, and seemed about to be as pertinacious as the commissioner. they went on so for a little distance, when at length, just as the man was about giving up in despair, rollo put his hand in his pocket, and feeling among the money there, happened to bring up a small copper coin, which he at once and instinctively dropped into the beggar's cap. he performed the movement a little slyly, so that mr. george did not see him. this he was able to do from the fact that the beggar was on _his_ side, and not on mr. george's, and, moreover, a little behind. as soon as the man received the coin, he took it, put the cap on his head, and fell back out of view. "i am glad he is gone," said mr. george; "i was afraid he would follow us half through the town." rollo laughed. "what is it?" said mr. george. "what makes you laugh?" "why, the fact is," said rollo, "i gave him a batz." "ah!" said mr. george. "yes," said rollo, "or something like a batz, that i had in my pocket." a batz is a small swiss coin, of the value of a fifth of a cent. rollo had become familiar with this money in the course of his travels in switzerland, but he did not yet know the names of the prussian coins. the money which he gave the beggar was really what they called a _pfennige_.[ ] [footnote : pronounced _fenniger_.] rollo supposed that his uncle would not quite approve of his giving the beggar this money; but as he never liked to have any secrecy or concealment in what he did, he preferred to tell him. this is always the best way. as soon as the beggar had gone, another commissioner came to offer his services. this time, however, mr. george, after once telling the man that he did not wish for his services, took no further notice of him; and so he soon went away. the streets of cologne are exceedingly narrow, and there are no sidewalks--or scarcely any. in one place mr. george and rollo passed through a street which was so narrow, that, standing in the middle and extending his hands, mr. george could touch the buildings at the same time on each side. and yet it seemed that carriages were accustomed to pass through this street, as it was paved regularly, like the rest, and had smooth stones laid on each side of it for wheels to run in, with grooves, which seemed to have been worn in them by the wheels that had passed there. the reason why the streets are so narrow in these old towns is, that in the ancient times, when they were laid out, there were no wheeled carriages in use, and the streets were only intended for foot passengers. when, at length, carriages came into use, the houses were all built, and so the streets could not easily be widened. our travellers at length reached a large, open square, on the farther side of which the immense mass of the cathedral was seen rising, like a gray and venerable ruin. the wall which formed the front of it, and which terminated above in the unfinished mason work of the towers, was very irregular in its outline on the top, having remained just as it was left when the builders stopped their work upon it, five hundred years ago. the whole front of this wall, having been formed apparently of clusters of gothic columns, which had become darkened, and corroded, and moss-covered by time, appeared very much, as rollo had said, like a range of cliffs--the resemblance being greatly increased by the green fringe of foliage with which the irregular outline of the top was adorned. it may seem strange that such a vegetation as this could arise and be sustained at such a vast elevation. but ancient ruins are almost always found to be thus covered with plants which grow upon them, even at a very great height above the ground, with a luxuriance which is very surprising to those who witness this phenomenon for the first time. the process is this: mosses and lichens begin to grow first on the stones and in the mortar. the roots of these plants strike in, and assisted by the sun and rain, they gradually disintegrate a portion of the masonry, which, in process of time, forms a soil sufficient for the seeds of other plants, brought by the wind, or dropped by birds, to take root in. at first these plants do not always come to maturity; but when they die and decay, they help to increase the soil, and to make a better bed for the seeds that are to come afterwards. thus, in the course of centuries, the upper surfaces of old walls and towers become quite fertile in grass and weeds, and sometimes in shrubbery. i once gathered sprigs from quite a large rosebush which i found growing several hundred feet above the ground, on one of the towers of the cathedral of strasbourg. it was as flourishing a rosebush as i should wish to see in any gentleman's garden. what rollo meant by the bears and wolves which he said he saw looking down from these cliff-like towers, were great stone figures of these animals, that projected from various angles and cornices here and there, to serve as waterspouts. there was an immense door of entrance to the church, at the end of a very deep, arched recess in the middle of the wall, and mr. george and rollo went up to it to go in. they were met at the door by another commissioner, who offered his services to show them the church. mr. george declined this offer, and went in. the feeling of amazement and awe which the aspect of the interior of the cathedral first awakened in the minds of our travellers was for a moment interrupted by a man in a quaint costume, who came up to them, holding a large silver salver in his hand, with money in it. he said something to mr. george and rollo in german. they did not understand what he said; but his action showed that he was taking up a contribution, for something or other, from the visitors who came to see the church. mr. george paid no attention to him, but walked on. on looking above and around them, our travellers found themselves in the midst of a sort of forest of monstrous stone columns, which towered to a vast height above their heads, and there were lost in vaults and arches of the most stupendous magnificence and grandeur. the floor was of stone, being formed of square flags, all cracked and corroded by time. along the sides of the church were various chapels, all adorned with great paintings, and containing altars richly furnished with silver lamps, and glittering paraphernalia of all kinds. parties of ladies and gentlemen, strangers from all lands, were walking to and fro at leisure about the floor, looking at the paintings, or gazing up into the vaulted roofs, or studying out the inscriptions on the monuments and sculptures which meet the eye on every hand. all this was in the body of the church, or the _nave_, as it is called, which is in fact only the vestibule to the more imposing magnificence of what is beyond, in the ambulatory and in the choir. mr. george and rollo advanced in this direction, and at length they came to a vast screen made of a very lofty palisade of iron. they approached a door in the centre of the screen, and looking through between the iron bars, they beheld a scene of grandeur and magnificence wholly indescribable. the carved oak stalls, the gorgeously decorated altar, the immense candlesticks with candles twenty feet high, and the lofty ceiling with its splendid frescoes, formed a spectacle so imposing that they both gazed at it for some moments in silent wonder. "i wish we could get in," said rollo. "i wish so too," said mr. george; "but i suppose that this is a sort of sacred place." a moment after this, while mr. george and rollo were looking through this grating, a sudden sound of music burst upon their ears. it was produced evidently by an organ and a choir of singers, and it seemed to come from far above their heads. the sound was at once deepened in volume by the reverberation of the vaults and arches of the cathedral, and at the same time softened in tone, so that the effect was inconceivably solemn. "hark!" said mr. george. "where does that music come from?" said rollo. "hark!" repeated mr. george. so mr. george and rollo stood still and listened almost breathlessly to the music, until it ceased. "that was good music," said rollo. mr. george made a sort of inarticulate exclamation, which seemed to imply that he had no words to express the emotion which the music awakened in his mind, and walked slowly away. presently they came to a place on one side, where there was a great iron gate or door in the screen, which seemed to be ajar. "here's a door open," said mr. george; "let us go in here." rollo shrank back a little. "i'm afraid they will not let us go in here," said he. "it looks like a private place." rollo was always very particular, in all his travels, to avoid every thing like intrusion. he would never go where it seemed to him doubtful whether it was proper to go. by this means he saved himself from a great many awkward predicaments that persons who act on a contrary principle often get themselves into while travelling. mr. george was not quite so particular. "it looks rather private," said mr. george; "but if they do not wish us to go in, they must keep the door shut." so he pushed the great iron gate open, and walked in. rollo followed him, though somewhat timidly. they passed between a row of chapels[ ] on one side, and a high, carved partition on the other, which seemed to separate them from the choir, until, at length, they came to the end of the partition, where there was a gate that led directly into the choir. mr. george _turned in_, followed by rollo, and they found themselves standing in the midst of a scene of gorgeous magnificence which it is utterly impossible to describe. [footnote : these chapels are recesses or alcoves along the side of the church, fitted up and furnished with altars, crucifixes, confessionals, paintings, images, and other sacred emblems connected with the ritual of the catholic worship. they are usually raised a step or two above the floor of the church, and are separated from it by an ornamented railing, with a gate in the middle of it.] "that is where the music came from that we heard," said rollo, pointing upward. mr. george looked up where rollo had pointed, and there he saw a gallery at a great elevation above them, with a choir of singers in front, and an enormous organ towering to a great height towards the vaulted roof behind. the choir was separated from the body of the church by ranges of columns above, and by richly-carved and ornamental screens and railings below. the ceilings were beautifully painted in fresco, and here and there were to be seen lofty windows of stained glass, antique and venerable in form, and indescribably rich and gorgeous in coloring. after gazing about upon this scene for a few minutes with great admiration and awe, rollo called his uncle's attention to a discovery which he suddenly made. "see," said he; "uncle george, there is a congregation." so saying, rollo pointed across the choir to a sort of gateway, which was opposite to the side on which they came in, and where, through the spaces which opened between the great columns that intervened, a congregation were seen assembled. they were in a chapel which was situated in that part of the church. the chapel itself was full, and a great many persons were seated in the various spaces rear. mr. george and rollo walked across the choir, and joined this congregation by taking a position near a pillar, where they could see what was going on. at a corner near a little gateway in a railing, where the people appeared to come in, there was a woman sitting with a brush in her hand. the brush was wet with holy water. the people, as they came in,--for a few came in after rollo and mr. george arrived at the place,--touched their fingers to this brush, to wet them, and then crossed themselves with the holy water. at the altar was a priest dressed in splendid pontificals. he was standing with his back to the people. there was a great number of immensely tall candlesticks on each side of him, and a great many other glittering emblems. the priest was dressed in garments richly embroidered with gold. there was a boy behind him dressed also in a very singular manner. the priest and the boy went through with a great variety of performances before the altar, none of which rollo could at all understand. from time to time the boy would ring a little bell, and the organ and the choir of singers in the lofty gallery would begin to play and sing; and then, after a short time, the music would cease, and the priest and the boy would go on with their performances as before. presently rollo heard a sound of marching along the paved floor, and looking into the choir whence the sounds proceeded, he saw a procession formed of boys, with a priest, bearing some glittering sacred utensils of silver in his hands, at the head of them. the boys were all dressed alike. the dress consisted of a long crimson robe with a white frock over it, which came down below the waist, and a crimson cape over the frock, which covered the shoulders. thus they were red above and below, and white in the middle. one of these boys had a censer in his hands, and another had a little bell; and as they came along you could see the censer swinging in the air, and the volumes of fragrant smoke rising from it, and you could hear the tinkling of the little bell. the priest advanced to the altar before which the audience were sitting, and there, while the censer was waving and the smoke was ascending, he performed various ceremonies which rollo could not at all understand, but which seemed to interest the congregation very much, for they bowed continually, and crossed themselves, and seemed impressed with a very deep solemnity. presently, when the ceremony was completed, the procession returned into the choir, the priest at the head of it, just as it came. when the procession had passed away, mr. george made a sign for rollo to follow him, and then walked along out through the gate where the woman was sitting with the holy water. she held out the brush to mr. george and rollo as they passed, but they did not take it. "what ridiculous mummeries!" said rollo, in a low tone, as soon as they had got out of the hearing of the congregation. "yes," said mr. george, "they seem so to us; but i have a certain respect for all those ceremonies, since they are meant to be the worship of god." "i thought it was the worship of images," said rollo. "did not you see the images?" "yes," said mr. george, "i saw them; and perhaps we can make it out that those rites are, in reality, the worship of images; but they are not _meant_ for that. they are _meant_ for the worship of god." chapter iii. the galleries. "i want to get up upon the towers," said rollo, "if we can." "yes," said mr. george, "but i want first to go and see the tomb of the three kings." "what is that?" asked rollo. "i will show you," said mr. george. so saying, mr. george led the way, and rollo followed, along what is called the _ambulatory_, which is a broad space that extends all around the head of the cross in the cathedral churches of europe, between the screen of the choir on one side and the ranges of chapels on the other. the ambulatory is usually very grand and imposing in the effect which it produces on the mind of the visitor, on account of the immense columns which border it, the loftiness of the vaulted roof, which forms a sort of sky over it above, and by the elaborate carvings and sculptures of the screen on one side, and the gorgeous decorations of the chapels on the other. then all along the floor there are sculptured monuments of ancient warriors armed to the teeth in marble representations of iron and steel, while the walls are adorned with rich paintings of immense magnitude, representing scenes in the life of the savior. there seemed to mr. george some incongruity between the reverence evinced for the teachings and example of jesus, in the pictures above, and the honor paid to the barbarous valor of the fighting old barons, in the monuments and effigies which occupied the pavement below. at length, at the head of the cross, exactly opposite to the centre of the high altar, which faced the choir, in the place which seemed to be the special place of honor, mr. george pointed to a small, square enclosure, or sort of projecting closet, which was richly carved and gilded, and adorned with a variety of ancient inscriptions. "there," said mr. george, "that must be the tomb of the three kings. that is the sepulchre which contains, as they pretend, the skulls of the three wise men of the east, who came to bethlehem to worship jesus the night on which he was born." "how came they here?" asked rollo. "they were at milan about six or eight hundred years ago," said mr. george, "and they were plundered from the church there by a great general, and given to the archbishop of cologne, and he put them in this church. they have been here ever since, and they are prized very highly indeed. they are set round with gold and precious stones, and have the names of the men marked on them in letters formed of rubies." "can we see them?" asked rollo. as he said this he climbed up upon a little step, and attempted to look through a gilded grating in the front of the coffer which contained the rubies. "yes," said mr. george, "but we must pay the sacristan for showing them to us. we can ask him about them when we come down from the galleries." "and besides," continued mr. george, "the guide book says that under the floor of the church, just in front of the tomb of the three kings, the heart of mary de medicis is buried. that must be the place." so saying, mr. george pointed to a large, square flagstone, which looked somewhat different from the others around it. rollo gazed a moment at the stone, and then said,-- "i suppose so; but i don't care much about these things, uncle george. let us go up into the towers." "very well," said mr. george, "we will go and see if we can find the way." so our travellers went on along the ambulatory, and thence into the aisles and nave of the church, stopping, however, every few minutes to gaze at some gorgeously decorated altar, or large and beautiful painting, or quaint old effigy, or at some monument, or inscription, or antique and time-worn sculpture. there were a great many other parties of visitors, consisting of ladies and gentlemen, and sometimes children, rambling about the church at the same time. rollo observed, as he passed these groups, that some were talking french, some german, and some english. here and there, too, rollo passed plain-looking people, dressed like peasants, who were kneeling before some altar or crucifix, saying their prayers or counting their beads, and wearing a very devout and solemn air. some of these persons took no notice of mr. george and rollo as they passed them; but others would follow them with their eyes, scrutinizing their dress and appearance very closely until they got by, though they continued all the time to move their lips and utter inarticulate murmurings. "i don't think those girls are attending much to their prayers," said rollo. "i'm afraid the girls in the protestant churches in america do not attend to them much better," said mr. george. "there is a great deal of time spent in seeing how people are dressed by worshippers in other churches than the roman catholic." at length rollo caught a view of the man who had held the plate for a contribution, at the time when he and mr. george came in at the church door. he was walking to and fro, with his plate in his hand, in a distant portion of the church. rollo immediately offered to go to him, and ask how he and mr. george were to get to the towers. so he left mr. george looking at a great painting, and walked off in that direction. just before rollo came to the man, his attention was attracted by a girl of about twelve or thirteen years of age, who was strolling about the church at a little distance before him, swinging her bonnet in her hand. she was very pretty, and her dark eyes shone with a very brilliant, but somewhat roguish expression. she stopped when she saw rollo coming, and eyed him with a mingled look of curiosity and pleasure. rollo, observing that this young lady appeared not to be particularly afraid of him, thought he would accost her. "do you speak french?" said he in french, as he was walking slowly by her. he supposed from her appearance that she was a french girl, and so he spoke to her in that language. the girl replied, not in french, but in english,-- "yes, and english too." "how did you know that i spoke english?" said rollo, speaking now in english himself. "by your looks," said the girl. "what is your name?" asked rollo. "tell me your name first," said the girl. "my name is rollo," said rollo. "and mine," replied the stranger, "is minnie." "do you see that man out there," said minnie, immediately after telling her name, "who is gathering the donations? come and see what a play i will play him." minnie was a french girl, and so, though she had learned english, she did not speak it quite according to the established usage. so she walked along towards the contribution man, wearing a very grave and demure expression of countenance as she went. rollo kept by her side. as soon as they came near, the man held out his plate, hoping to receive a contribution from them. but as the plate already contained money which had been put in by former contributors, the action was precisely as if the man were offering money to the children, instead of asking it of them. so minnie put forth her hand, and making a courtesy, took one of the pieces of money that were in the plate, pretending to suppose that the man meant to give it to her, and said at the same time, in french,-- "i am very much obliged to you, sir. it is just what i wanted." the man immediately exclaimed, "_nein nein!_" which is the german for no! no! and then went on saying something in a very earnest tone, and holding out his hand for minnie to give him back the money. minnie did so, and then, looking up at rollo with a very arch and roguish expression of countenance, she turned round and skipped away over the stone pavement, until she was lost from view behind an enormous column. rollo saw her afterwards walking about with a gentleman and lady, the party to which she belonged. rollo then asked the man who held the plate what he should do to get up into the towers. he asked this question in french, and the man replied in french that he must go "to the swiss, and the swiss would give him a ticket. "where shall i find the swiss?" asked rollo. the man pointed to a distant part of the church, where a number of people were going in through a great iron gateway. "you will find him there somewhere," said the man, "and you will know him by his red dress." [illustration: minnie's roguery.] so rollo went and reported to his uncle george, and they together went in pursuit of the swiss. they soon came to the great gate; and just inside of it they saw a man dressed in a long red gown which came down to his ankles. this proved to be what they called the swiss. on making known to him what they wanted, this man gave them a ticket,--they paying him the usual fee for it,--and then went and found a guide who was to show them up into the galleries. the guide, taking them under his charge, led them outside the church, and then conducted them to a door leading into a small round tower, which was built at an angle of the wall. this tower, though small in size, was as high as the church, and it contained a spiral staircase of stone, which conducted up into the upper parts of the edifice. mr. george and rollo, however, found that they could not go up to the towers but only to what were called the galleries. but it proved in the end that they had quite enough of climbing and of walking along upon dizzy heights, in visiting these galleries, and rollo was very willing to come down again when he had walked round the upper one of them, without ascending to the towers. there were three of these galleries. the first was an inner one; that is, it was inside the church. the two others were outside. the party was obliged to ascend to a vast height before they reached the first gallery. this gallery was a very narrow passage, barely wide enough for one person to walk in, which extended all around the choir, with a solid wall on one side, and arches through which they could look down into the church below on the other. after walking along for several hundred feet, listening to the swelling sounds of the music, which, coming from the organ and choir below, echoed grandly and solemnly among the vaults and arches above them, until they reached the centre of the curve at the head of the cross, mr. george and rollo stopped, and leaned over the stone parapet, and looked down. the parapet was very high and very thick, and rollo had to climb up a little upon it before he could see over. they gazed for a few minutes in silence, completely overwhelmed with the dizzy grandeur of the view. it is always impossible to convey by words any idea of the impression produced upon the mind by looking down from any great height upon scenes of magnificence or of beauty; but it would be doubly impossible in such a case as this. far below them in front, they could see the choir of singers in the singing gallery, with the organ behind them. the distance was, however, so great that they could not distinguish the faces of the singers, or even their persons. then at a vast distance, lower still, was the floor of the choir, paved beautifully in mosaic, and with little dots of men and women, slowly creeping, like insects, over the surface of it. at a distance, through the spaces between the columns, a part of the congregation could be seen, with the women and children at the margin of it, kneeling on the praying chairs, and a little red spot near a gate, which rollo thought must be the swiss. the whole of the interior of the choir, which they looked down into as you would look down into a valley from the summit of a mountain, was so magnificently decorated with paintings, mosaics, and frescoes, and enriched with columns, monuments, sculptures, and carvings, and there were, moreover, so many railings, and screens, and stalls, and canopies, and altars, to serve as furnishing for the vast interior, that the whole view presented the appearance of a scene of enchantment. mr. george said it was the most imposing spectacle that he ever saw. after this, the guide led our two travellers up about a hundred feet higher still, till they came to the first outer gallery; and the scene which presented itself to view here would be still more difficult to describe than the other. the gallery was very narrow, like the one within, and it led through a perfect maze of columns, pinnacles, arches, turrets, flying buttresses, and other constructions pertaining to the exterior architecture of the church. it was like walking on a mountain in the midst of a forest of stone. the analogy was increased by the monstrous forms of bears, lions, tigers, boars, and other wild and ferocious beasts, which projected from the eaves every where to convey the water that came down from rains, out to a distance from the walls of the building. these images had deep grooves cut along their backs for the water to flow in. these grooves led to the mouths of the animals, and they were invisible to persons looking up from below, so that to observers on the ground each animal appeared perfect in his form, and was seen stretching out the whole length of his body from the cornices of the building, and pouring out the water from his mouth. from these outer galleries rollo could not only see the pinnacles, and turrets, and flying buttresses, of the part of the church which was finished, but he could also observe the immense works of scaffolding and machinery erected around the part which was now in progress. men were at work hoisting up immense stones, and moving them along by a railway to the places on the walls where they were destined to go. the yard, too, on one side, far, far down, was covered with blocks, some rough, and others already carved and sculptured, and ready to go up. the towers were in view too, with the monstrous crane leaning over from the summit of one of them; but there seemed to be no way of getting to them but by crossing long scaffoldings where the masons were now at work. this rollo would have had no wish to do, even if the guide had proposed to conduct him. so, after spending half an hour in surveying the magnificent prospect which opened every where around them over the surrounding country, and in scrutinizing the details of the architecture near, the sculptures, the masonry, the painted windows, the massive piers, and the buttresses hanging by magic, as it were, in the air, and all the other wonders of the maze of architectural constructions which surrounded them, the party began their descent. "i am glad they are going to finish it," said rollo to mr. george, as they were walking round and round, and round and round, in the little turret, going down the stairs. "the next time we come here, perhaps, it will be done." "they expect it will take twenty years to finish it," said mr. george. "twenty years!" repeated rollo, surprised. "yes," said mr. george, "and about four millions of dollars. why, when they first determined that they would attempt to finish it, it took fifteen years to make the repairs which were necessary in the old work, before they could begin any of the new. and now, at the rate that they are going on, it will take twenty years to finish it. for my part, i do not know whether we ought to be glad to have it finished or not, on account of the immense cost. it seems as if that money could be better expended." "perhaps it could," said rollo. "but every body that comes here to see it gets a great deal of pleasure; and as an immense number of people will come, i think the amount of the pleasure will be very great in all." "that is true," said mr. george, "and that is the right way to consider it; but let us make the calculation in the same way that we made the calculation about the gold chain that you were going to buy in london. if we suppose that the church was half done when they left off the work, and that it will now cost four millions of dollars to finish it, that will make eight millions of dollars in all. now, what is the interest of eight millions of dollars, say at three per cent.?" rollo began to calculate it in his mind; but before he had got through, mr. george said that it was two hundred and forty thousand dollars a year. "that," said mr. george, "is equal, with a proper allowance for repairs, to, say a thousand dollars per day. now, do you think that the people who will come here to see it will get pleasure enough from it to amount in all to a thousand dollars a day?" "i don't know," said rollo, doubtfully. "i'd give one dollar, i know, to see it." "yes," said mr. george, "so would i; and i do not know but that there would be three hundred thousand to come in a year, including all the great occasions that would bring out immense assemblages from all the surrounding country." "at any rate, i hope they will finish it," said rollo. "so do i," said mr. george. "and i mean to put a little in the man's plate when i go down," said rollo, "and then i shall have a share in it." "i will too," said mr. george. accordingly, as they passed by the man when they were leaving the church, mr. george put a franc into his plate, and rollo half a franc. just at the time that they put their money in, the party that minnie belonged to came by, and the gentleman put in a silver coin called a thaler, which is worth about seventy-five cents; so that rollo had the satisfaction of seeing that one of the four millions of dollars was raised on the spot. [illustration] chapter iv. travelling on the rhine. the steamboats and hotels, and all the arrangements made for the accommodation of travellers on the rhine, are entirely different from those of any american river, partly for the reason that so very large a portion of the travelling there is pleasure travelling. the boats are smaller, and they go more frequently. the company is more select. they sit upon the deck, under the awnings, all the day, looking at their guide books, and maps, and panoramas of the river, and studying out the names and history of the villages, and castles, and ruined towers, which they pass on the way. the hotels are large and very elegant. they are built on the banks of the river, or wherever there is the finest view, and the dining room is always placed in the best part of the house, the windows from it commanding views of the mountains, or overlooking the water, so that in sitting at table to eat your breakfast, or your dinner, you have before you all the time some charming view. then there is usually connected with the dining room, and opening from it, some garden or terrace, raised above the road and the river, with seats and little tables there, shaded by trees, or sheltered by bowers, where ladies and gentlemen can sit, when the weather is pleasant, and read, or drink their tea or coffee, or explore, with an opera glass, or a spy glass, the scenery around. they can see the towers and castles across the river, and follow the little paths leading in zigzag lines up among the vineyards to the watchtowers, and pavilions, and belvideres, that are built on the pinnacles of the rocks, or on the summits of the lower mountains. the hotels and inns, even in the smallest villages, are very nice and elegant in all their interior arrangements. these small villages consist usually of a crowded collection of the most quaint and queer-looking houses, or rather huts, of stone, with an antique and venerable-looking church in the midst of them, looking still more quaint and queer than the houses. the hotels, however, in these villages, or rather on the borders of them,--for the hotels are often built on the open ground beyond the town, where there is room for gardens and walks, and raised terraces around them,--are palaces in comparison with the dwellings of the inhabitants. and well they may be, for the villagers are almost all laborers of a very humble class--boatmen, who get their living by plying boats up and down the river; vinedressers, who cultivate the vineyards of the neighboring hills; or hostlers and coachmen, who take care of the carriages and of the horses employed in the traffic of the river. a great number of horses are employed; for not only are the carriages of such persons as choose to travel on the rhine by land, or to make excursions on the banks of the river, drawn by them, but almost all the boats, except the steamboats that go up the river, are _towed_ up by these animals. to enable them to do this, a regular tow path has been formed all the way up the river, on the left bank, and boats of all shapes and sizes are continually to be seen going up, drawn, like canal boats in america, by horses--and sometimes even by men. once i saw some boys drawing up a small boat in this way. it seems they had been going down the stream to take a sail, or perhaps to convey a traveller down; and now they were coming up again, drawing their boat by walking along the bank, the current being so rapid that it is much easier to draw a boat up than it is to row it. the boys had a long line attached to the mast of their boat, and both of them were drawing upon this line by means of broad bands, forming a sort of harness, which were passed over their shoulders. [illustration] now, the small villages that i was speaking of are formed almost exclusively of the dwellings of the various classes which i have described, while the hotels or inns that are built on the margins of them are intended, not as they would be in america, for the accommodation of the people of the same class, but for travellers of wealth, and rank, and distinction, who come from all quarters of the world to explore the beauties and study the antiquities of the rhine. thus the inns, however small and secluded they may be, and however retired and solitary the places in which they stand, are always very nice, and even elegant, in their interior arrangements. the chambers are furnished and arranged in the prettiest possible manner. handsome open carriages and pretty boats are ready to convey visitors on any excursion which they may desire to make in the neighborhood, and the table is provided with almost as many delicacies and niceties as you can have in paris. the roads along the banks of the rhine, too, are absolutely perfect. well they may be so in fact, for workmen have been constantly employed in making and perfecting them for nearly two thousand years. julius cæsar worked upon them. charlemagne worked upon them. frederic the great worked upon them. napoleon worked upon them. they are walled up wherever necessary on the side towards the river; the rock is cut away on the side towards the land; valleys have been filled up; hill sides have been terraced, and ravines bridged over; until the road, though passing along the margin of a very mountainous region, is almost as level as a railway throughout the whole of its course. and as it is macadamized throughout, and is kept in the most perfect condition, it is always, in wet weather as well as dry, as firm, and hard, and smooth as a floor. with such roads and such carriages on the land, and such pretty steamboats as they have upon the water, it would be very pleasant going up through the highlands of the rhine, if there were nothing but the natural scenery to attract the eye of the traveller. but besides the quaint and ancient villages, and the curious old churches which adorn them,--villages which sometimes line the margin of the water, and sometimes cling to the slopes of the hills, or nestle in the higher valleys,--there are other still stronger attractions, in the castles, towers, and palaces, which are seen scattered every where on the river banks, adorning every prominent and commanding position along the shores, and crowning, in many cases, the summits of the hills. many of these castles and towers, though built originally hundreds of years ago, are still kept in repair and inhabited, some being used as the summer residences of princes, or of private men of fortune, and others, being armed with cannon and garrisoned with soldiers, are held as strongholds by the kings, or dukes, or electors, in whose dominions they lie. there are a great many of them, however, that have been allowed to go to decay; and the ruins of these still stand, presenting to the eye of the traveller who gazes up to them from the deck of the steamer, or from his seat in his carriage, or who climbs up to visit them more closely, by means of the zigzag paths which lead to them, very interesting relics and memorials of ancient times. the ruins are generally on very lofty summits, and they usually occupy the most commanding positions, so that the view from them up and down the river is almost always very grand. the castles were built by the dukes, and barons, and other feudal chieftains of the middle ages, and they are placed in these commanding positions in order that the chieftains who lived in them might watch the river, and the roads leading along the banks of it, and come down with a troop of their followers to exact what they called tribute, but what those who had to pay it called plunder, from the merchants or travellers whom they saw from the windows of their watchtowers, passing up and down. in fact these men were really robbers; being just like any other robbers, excepting that they restricted themselves to some rule and system in their plunderings, such as an enlightened regard for their own interest required. if, when they found a vessel laden with merchandise, or a company of travellers coming down the river, they had robbed them of every thing they possessed, the river and the roads would soon have been entirely abandoned, and their occupation would have been gone. in order to avoid this result, they were accustomed to content themselves with a certain portion of the value which the traveller was carrying; and they called the money which they exacted a tribute, or tax, paid for the privilege of passing through their dominions. they kept continual watch in their lofty castles, both up and down the river, to see who came by, and then, descending with a sufficient force to render resistance useless, they would take what they pretended to consider their due, and retreat with it to their almost inaccessible fastnesses, where they were safe from all pursuers. they often had wars with one another; and in the progress of these wars the weaker chieftains became, in the course of time, subjected to the stronger, and thus two or more small dominions would often become united into one. these amalgamations went on continually; and as they advanced, the condition of the cultivator of the ground, and of the peaceful merchant or traveller, was improved, for the rules and regulations for the collection of the tribute became more fixed and settled, and men knew more and more what they could calculate upon, and could regulate their business accordingly. arrangements were made, too, to collect a regular tax from the cultivators of the ground; and just so far as these arrangements were matured, and the produce of the plunder, or the tribute, or the tax, or whatever we call it, increased, just so far it became for the interest of the chieftains that the cultivation of the land and the traffic on the river should be increased, and should be protected from all depredations but their own. thus a system of law grew up, and arrangements for preserving public order, for promoting the general industry, and rules and regulations for the collection of the tribute, until at length, when all these arrangements were matured, and the multitude of petty chieftains became combined under one great chieftain ruling over the whole, and collecting the revenue for his subordinates, we find a great kingdom as the result, in which the descendants of the ancient marauders that lived in castles on the hills, under the name of princes and nobles, collect the means of enabling themselves to live in idleness and luxury out of the avails of the labor of the agriculturists, the merchants, and the manufacturers, by a combined and concerted arrangement, and a regular system of rents, taxes, and tolls, instead of by irregular forrays and depredations, as in former years. when any one of these nobles is questioned as to the nature of his claim to the enjoyment of so large a portion of the produce of the land, without doing any thing to earn or deserve it, he says that it is a _vested right_; that is, that he has a right to claim and take a certain portion of the proceeds of the toil of the _present_ generation of laborers, because his forefathers claimed and took a similar portion from theirs. and the one monarch, whose ancestors succeeded in overpowering or crowding out the others, claims his right to rule on the same ground. thus, in the progress of ages, by a strange commutation, robbery and plunder, when systematized, and extended, and established on a permanent basis, become legitimacy, and the divine right of kings. in america there is no such division of the fruits of industry between those who do the work and a class of idle nobles, and soldiers, and priests, who do nothing but consume the proceeds of it. there every man possesses the full fruit of his labor, except so far as he himself joins with his fellow-citizens in setting apart a portion for the purposes of public and general utility. this is the reason why such immense numbers of laboring men are every year leaving germany and emigrating to america. but to return to the rhine. of course, just so fast and so far as the smaller chieftains were conquered and dispossessed, and the country came into the hands of a smaller number of greater princes, the old castles became useless. besides, when rules and laws, instead of surprises and violence, became the means by which contributions were levied, it was no longer necessary to have strongholds on high hills to come down from, when a vessel or a traveller was coming by, and to retreat to with the booty when the plunder had been taken. a great number of these old castles have, therefore, gone to decay; for they were generally built too high on the hills and rocks to be convenient as dwellings for peaceable men. a few of the largest and strongest of them were retained as fortresses; and those that were retained have been greatly enlarged and strengthened in their defences in modern times, so that some of them are now the greatest and strongest fortresses in the world. others, that were built in tolerably accessible situations, or which commanded an unusually beautiful view, were retained and kept in repair, and are used now as the summer residences of wealthy men. the rest were suffered gradually to go to decay, and the ruins and remains of them are seen crowning almost every remarkable height all along the river. some of these ruins are still in a very good state of preservation, so that in going up to explore them you can make out very easily the whole original plan of the edifice. you can find the turret, with the remains of the stairs which led up to the watchtower, and the kitchen, and the hall, and the armory, and the stables. in others, there is nothing to be seen but a confused mass of unintelligible ruins; and in others still, every thing is gone, except, perhaps, some single arch or gateway, which stands among a mass of shapeless mounds, the last remaining relic of the edifice it once adorned, and itself tottering, perhaps, on the brink of its precipitous foundation, as if just ready to fall. [illustration: donkey riding.] these old ruins are visited every year by thousands of persons who come from every part of the world to see them. these visitors arrive every year in such numbers that the steamboats, both going up and coming down, and all the hotels, and thousands of carriages, which are perpetually plying to and fro along the shores on both sides of the river, are constantly filled with them. a great many people merely pass up or down the river in a steamer, in a day and a night, and only see the ruins and the other scenery by gazing at them from the deck of the vessel. but in this case they get no idea whatever of the rhine. it is necessary to travel slowly, to stop frequently at the towns on the bank, to make excursions along the shores and into the interior, and to ascend to the sites of the ruins, and to other elevated points, so as to view the valley and the stream meandering through it from above, or you obtain no correct idea whatever of travelling on the rhine. the work of ascending to the old ruins would be a very arduous and difficult one for all but the young and robust, were it not for the assistance that is afforded by the donkeys that are kept at the foot of every remarkable hill that travellers might be supposed desirous to ascend. these donkeys have a sort of chair fitted upon them, that is, a saddle, flat upon the top, and guarded all around one side by a sort of back, like the back of a chair. the trappings are covered with some kind of scarlet cloth, so that the troop of donkeys standing together under the shade of the trees, at the foot of the hill which they are to ascend, make a very gay appearance. the donkeys look very small to bear so heavy a load as a full grown person; but they are very strong, and they carry their burden quite easily, especially as the distance is not very great. for these mountains of the rhine, celebrated as they are for the romantic grandeur which they impart to the scenery, are, after all, seldom more than a few hundred feet high. there is also, almost always, an excellent path leading up to them. it winds usually by zigzags through the groves of trees, or between gardens and vineyards, in a very delightful manner, so that the ascent in going up any of these hills would make a very pleasant excursion even without the ruins on the top. such, in its general features, is the mountainous region of the rhine, as it appears to the travellers who go to visit it at the present day; and it was this region that rollo and mr. george were now going to explore. chapter v. the sieben gebirgen. the word _sieben_ means _seven_, and _gebirgen_ means _mountains_.[ ] thus the _sieben gebirgen_ is the seven mountains. it is the name given to a mountainous mass of land which rises into seven or more principal peaks, just at the entrance of the romantic part of the rhine. the highest of these mountains is the celebrated drachenfels, which has a ruined castle on the top of it, and an inn for the accommodation of travellers just below. the seven mountains and drachenfels are on the east bank of the river. opposite to them on the left bank are some other remarkable mountains, crowned also with celebrated ruins. the river flows between these highlands as through a gateway. they form, in fact, the commencement of the mountainous region of the rhine, in ascending the river from cologne.[ ] [footnote : the words are pronounced as they are spelled, except that the _g_ in _gebirgen_ is hard.] [footnote : the reader must be very careful to get the idea right in his mind in respect to which way is _up_ on the rhine. the river flows north. of course, in looking on the map, what is _down_ on the page is _up_ in respect to the flow of the river.] the large town next below where these mountains commence is bonn, which is, perhaps, thirty or forty miles above cologne. the country up as far as bonn from cologne is pretty level, and a railroad has been made there. at bonn the mountains begin, and the railroad has accordingly not been yet carried any farther. mr. george and rollo went up to bonn by the railroad. mr. george wished to stop at bonn for half a day to visit a celebrated university that is there. the buildings of this university were formerly a palace; but they were afterwards given up to the use of the university, which subsequently became one of the most distinguished seminaries of learning in europe. mr. george wished to visit this university. he had letters of introduction to some of the professors. he wished also to see the library and the cabinets of natural history that were there. he invited rollo to go with him, but rollo concluded not to go. he would have liked to have seen the library very well, and the cabinets, but he was rather afraid of the professors. so, while mr. george went to visit the literary institution, rollo amused himself by rambling about the town, and looking at the quaint old churches, and the houses, and the fortifications, and in strolling along the quay, by the shore of the river, to see the steamers and tow boats go up and down. at length he went to the hotel. the hotel was just without the gates, near the river. there was a garden between the hotel and the river, with a terrace at the margin of it, overlooking the water, where there were tables and chairs ready for any person who might choose to take coffee or any other refreshments there. mr. george's room was on this side of the hotel, and being pretty high it overlooked the gardens, and the terrace, and the river, and afforded a charming view. up the river, on the other side, about three or four miles off, the sieben gebirgen were plainly to be seen, the summits of them tipped with ancient ruins. after rollo had been sitting there about half an hour, mr. george came home. it was then about one o'clock. "well, rollo," said he, "we are going up the river. i have engaged the landlord to send us up in a carriage to some pleasant place on the bank of the river among the mountains, where we can spend the sabbath." "why, what day is it?" asked rollo. "it is saturday," replied mr. george. rollo was quite surprised to find that it was saturday. in fact, in travelling on the rhine, as there is so little to mark or distinguish one day from another, we almost always soon lose our reckoning. "what is the name of the place where we are going?" asked rollo. "i don't know," replied mr. george. "i cannot understand very well. he is going to send us somewhere. how it will turn out i cannot tell. we must trust to the fortune of war." mr. george often called the luck that befell him in travelling the fortune of war. "if we were contented," he would say, "to travel over and over again in places that we know, then we could make some calculations, and could know beforehand, in most cases, where we were going and how we should come out. but in travelling in new and strange places we cannot tell at all, especially when there is no language that we can communicate well with the people in. so we have to trust to the fortune of war." mr. george, however, determined to make one more effort to find out where he was going; and so, when the carriage came to the door, and he and rollo were about to get into it, he asked the porter of the house--who was the man that "spoke english"--what the name of the place was where they were going to stop. "yes, sare," replied the man. "you will stop. you will go to poppensdorf and to kreitzberg, and then you will go to gottesberg, and then you will go to rolandseck, where there is a boat that will take you to drachenfels, or to koenigswinter." he said all this with so strong a german accent, and pronounced the barbarous words with so foreign an intonation, that no trace or impression whatever was left by them on mr. george's ear. "but which is the place," asked mr. george, speaking very deliberately and plainly,--"which is the place where we are to be left by the carriage to stay on sunday? is it rolandseck or koenigswinter?" "yes, sare," said the porter, making a very polite bow. "yes, sare, you will go to rolandseck, and to kreitzberg, and to gottesberg, and if you please you can stop at poppensdorf." "very well," said mr. george. "tell him to drive on." this is a tolerably fair specimen of the success to which travellers, and the porters, and waiters, who "speak english," attain to, in their attempts to understand one another. in fact, the attempts of these domestic linguists to _speak_ english are sometimes still more unfortunate than their attempts to understand it. one of them, in talking to mr. george, said "no, yes," for no, sir. another told rollo that the dinner would be ready in _fiveteen_ minutes, and a very worthy landlord, in commenting on the pleasant weather, said that the time was very _agregable_. so a waiter said one day that the _bifstek_ was just coming up out of the _kriken_. he meant kitchen. the place where the porter, who engaged the carriage for mr. george, intended to leave him, was really rolandseck. rolandseck is the name of a ruined arch, the remains of an ancient tower which may be seen in the engraving a little farther on, upon the height of land on the left side of the view. the lofty ruin on the right, farther in the distance, is drachenfels. at the foot of drachenfels, a little farther down the river,--and we are looking down the river in the engraving,--is a town called koenigswinter, which is the place that people usually set out from to ascend the mountain, a great number of donkeys being kept there for that purpose. beneath the tower of rolandseck, near the margin of the water, is a row of three or four houses, two of which are hotels. the land rises so suddenly from the river here, that there is barely room for the road and the houses between the water and the hill. in fact, the road itself is terraced up with a wall ten or fifteen feet high towards the water, and the houses in the same manner from the road. you enter them, indeed, from the level of the road; but you are immediately obliged to ascend a staircase to reach the principal floor of the house, which is ten or fifteen feet above the road, and the gardens of the house are on terraces raised to that height by a wall. thus from the gardens and terraces you look down fifteen feet over a wall to the road, and from the road you look down fifteen feet over a wall to the water. along the outer margin of the road is a broad stone wall or parapet, flat at the top and about three feet high. all this you can see represented in the engraving. in the middle of the river, opposite to the hotels, is a very beautiful island with a nunnery upon it. this island is called nonnenwerth. now, in regard to all these castles and churches, and other sacred edifices on the rhine, there is almost always some old legend or romantic tale, which has come down through succeeding generations from ancient times, and which adds very much to the interest of the locality where the incidents occurred. the tale in respect to rolandseck and nonnenwerth is this: roland was the nephew of the great monarch and conqueror, charlemagne. he became engaged to the daughter of the chieftain who lived in drachenfels, the ruins of which you see in the engraving crowning the hill on the right bank of the river, some little distance down the stream. in a battle in which he was engaged, he killed his intended father-in-law by accident, being deceived by the darkness of the night, and thinking that he was striking an enemy instead of a friend. after this, he could not be married to his intended bride, the etiquette of those days forbidding that a warrior should marry one whose father he had slain. the maiden, in her grief and despair, betook herself to the nunnery on the island near her father's castle, and roland, since he could not be permitted to visit her there, built a tower on the nearest pinnacle of the opposite shore, in order that he might live there, and at least comfort himself with a sight of the building where his beloved was confined. the story is, however, that the unhappy nun lived but a short time. roland himself, however, continued to live in his tower, a lonely hermit, for many years. another version of this legend is, that the maiden was led to go to the convent and consecrate herself as a nun, on account of a false report which she had heard, that roland himself was killed in the battle, and that when she learned that he was still alive, it was too late for her to be released from her vows. however this may be, roland retired to this lofty tower, in order to be as near her as possible, and to be able to look down upon the dwelling where she lived. how well he could do this you can easily see by observing how finely the ruined tower on the top of the hill commands a view of the river and of the island, as well as of the nunnery itself, imbosomed in the trees. a little below the ruin of roland's tower you see a pavilion on a point of the rock, which, though somewhat lower in respect to elevation, projects farther towards the stream, and consequently commands a finer view. this pavilion has been erected very lately by a gentleman who lives in one of the houses at the margin of the road, and who owns the vineyards that cover the slope of the hill. the road to it leads up among these vineyards through the gentleman's grounds, but he leaves it open in order that visitors who ascend up to roland's tower may go to the pavilion on the way, and enjoy the view. it was to one of these hotels at rolandseck that the porter at bonn had arranged to send mr. george, as the pleasantest place that was near to spend the sabbath in. he could not have made a better selection. the ride, too, in the carriage from bonn up to rolandseck, was delightful. nothing could be more enchanting than the scenery which was presented to view on every hand. the carriage, like all the other private carriages used for travellers on the rhine, was an open barouche, and when the top was down it afforded an entirely unobstructed view. the day was pleasant, and yet the sun was so obscured with clouds that it was not warm, and rollo stood up in the carriage nearly all the way, supporting himself there by taking hold of the back of the driver's seat, and looking about him on every side, uttering continual exclamations of wonder and delight. he attempted once or twice to talk with the driver, trying him in french and english; but the driver understood nothing but german, and so the conversation soon settled down to an occasional _was ist das?_ from rollo, and a long reply to the question from the driver, not a word of which rollo was able to understand. they passed out of bonn by means of a most singular avenue. it was formed of a very broad space in the centre, which seemed, by its place, to have been intended for the road way; but instead of being a road way, it was covered with a rich growth of grass, like a mowing field. on each side of this green were two rows of trees, which bordered a sort of wide sidewalk, of which there were two, one on each side of the road. these side passages were the carriage ways. "see, uncle george," said rollo. "the road has all grown up to grass, and we are riding on the sidewalk." the carriage passed on, and when it reached the end of the avenue, it came to a beautiful and extensive edifice, standing in the midst of groves and gardens, which was formerly a chateau, but is now used for a museum of natural history. here were arranged the cabinets which mr. george had been to see that morning. passing this place, the carriage gradually ascended a long hill, on the summit of which, half concealed by groves of trees, was an ancient-looking church. mr. george had seen this hill before from the windows of the hotel, and knew it must be the kreitzberg. "he is taking us to the kreitzberg," said mr. george. "what is that famous for?" asked rollo. "it is an ancient church, on the top of a high hill," said mr. george, "where there is a flight of stairs made to imitate those that jesus ascended at jerusalem, when he went to pilate's judgment hall. nobody is allowed to go up or down these stairs except on their knees. "then, besides," continued mr. george, looking along the page of his guide book as he spoke, "the air is so dry up at the top of this high hill, that the bodies of the old monks, who were buried there hundreds of years ago, did not corrupt, but they dried up and turned into a sort of natural mummies; and there they lie now under the church, in open coffins, in full view." "let us go down and see them," said rollo. what mr. george said was true; and these things are but a specimen of the strange and curious legends and tales that are told to the traveller, and of the extraordinary relics and wonders that are exhibited to his view, in the old churches and monasteries, which are almost as numerous as the castles, on the rhine. the carriage, after ascending a long time, stopped at a gate by the way side, whence a long, straight road led up to the church, which stood on the very summit of the hill. mr. george and rollo got out and walked up. when they drew near to the church, they turned round to admire the splendor of the landscape, and to see if the carriage was still waiting for them below. they saw that the carriage still stood there, and that there was another one there too, and that a party of ladies and gentlemen were descending from it to come up and see the church. there was a little girl in this party. "i should not wonder if that was minnie," said rollo. in a short time this party, with a commissioner at the head of them, came up the walk. the girl proved to be really minnie. she seemed very glad to see rollo, and she stopped to speak with him while the rest of the party went on. rollo and minnie followed closely behind. the commissioner led the way round to the side of the church, where there were some other ancient buildings, which were formerly a nunnery. here they found a man who had the care of the place. he was a sacristan.[ ] he brought a great key, and unlocked the church door, and let the party in. [footnote : a sacristan is an officer who has charge of the sacred utensils and other property of the church, and who shows them to visitors.] the interior of the church was very quaint and queer,--as in truth the interiors of all the old churches are on the banks of the rhine,--and was adorned with a great many curious old effigies and paintings. after waiting a few minutes for the company to look at these, the sacristan went to a place in the middle of the church before the altar, and lifted up a great trap door in the floor. when the door was lifted up, a flight of steps was seen leading down under ground. "where are they going now?" said minnie. "i suppose they are going down to see the monks," said rollo. the party went down the stairs, rollo and minnie following them. the sacristan had two candles in his hands. as soon as he got to the bottom of the stairs, he passed along a narrow passage way between two rows of open coffins, placed close together side by side, and in each coffin was a dead man, his flesh dried to a mummy, his clothes all in tatters, and his face, though shrivelled and dried up, still preserving enough of the human expression to make the spectacle perfectly horrid. when rollo and minnie reached the place near enough to see what was there, the sacristan was moving his candles about over the coffins, one in each hand, so as to show the bodies plainly. at the first glance which minnie obtained of this shocking sight, she uttered a scream, and ran up the stairs again as fast as she could go. rollo followed her, but somewhat more slowly. when he came out into the church, he caught a glimpse of minnie's dress, as she was just making her escape from the door. rollo would have followed her, but he was afraid of losing his uncle george. when the party, at length, came up from their visit to the dead monks, they went to see the sacred staircase. rollo went with them. the staircase seemed to be at the main entrance to the church: the party had gone round to a door in the side where they came in. the sacred stairs occupied the centre of the hall in which they were placed. there were on the sides two plain and common flights of stairs, for people to go up and down in the usual way. the sacred stairs in the centre could only be ascended and descended on the knees. the side stairs were separated from the central flight by a solid balustrade or wall, not very high, so that people who came to see the sacred steps could stand on the side steps and look over. the flight of sacred steps was very wide, and was built of a richly variegated marble, of brown, red, and yellow colors, intermingled together in the stone; and some of the stains were said to have been produced by the blood of christ. here and there, too, on the different steps of the staircase, were to be seen little brass plates let into the stone, beneath which were small caskets containing sacred relics of various kinds, such as small pieces of wood of the true cross, and fragments of the bones of saints and apostles. neither mr. george nor rollo took much interest in this exhibition; and so, giving the sacristan a small piece of money, they went back to their carriage. as rollo got into the carriage that he had come in, he saw that minnie was seated in hers, and she nodded her head when rollo's carriage moved away, to bid him good by. mr. george and rollo passed one or two other very picturesque and venerable looking ruins on the way up the river, but they did not stop to go and explore any of them. in one place, too, they rode along a sort of terrace, where the view over the river, and over the fields and vineyards beyond, was perfectly enchanting. mr. george said he had never before seen so beautiful a view. it was at a place where the road had been walled up high along the side of a hill, at some distance from the river, so that the view from the carriage, as it moved rapidly along, extended over the whole valley. the fields and vineyards, the groves and orchards, the broad river, the zigzag paths leading up the mountain sides, the steamers and canal boats gliding up and down over the surface of the water, and the mountains beyond, with the rocky summit of drachenfels, crowned with its castle, towering among them, combined to make the whole picture appear like a scene of enchantment. the poet byron described this view in three stanzas, which have been read and admired wherever the english language is spoken, and have made the name of drachenfels more familiar to english and american ears than the name of almost any other castle on the rhine. drachenfels. the castled crag of drachenfels frowns o'er the wide and winding rhine, whose breast of waters broadly swells between the banks which bear the vine; and hills all rich with blossomed trees, and fields which promise corn and wine, and scattered cities crowning these, whose far white walls along them shine, have strewed a scene which i should see with double joy wert _thou_ with me. and peasant girls with deep blue eyes, and hands which offer early flowers, walk smiling o'er this paradise; above, the frequent feudal towers through green fields lift their walls of gray; and many a rock which steeply lowers, and noble arch in proud decay, look o'er this vale of vintage bowers; but one thing want these banks of rhine-- thy gentle hand to clasp in mine! the river nobly foams and flows, the charm of this enchanted ground, and all its thousand turns disclose some fresher beauty varying round: the haughtiest breast its wish might bound through life to dwell delighted here; nor could on earth a spot be found to nature and to me so dear, could thy dear eyes in following mine still sweeten more these banks of rhine. in due time, mr. george and rollo arrived at rolandseck, where they were received very politely by the landlord of the inn, and introduced to a very pleasant room, the windows of which commanded a fine view both of drachenfels and of the river. [illustration] chapter vi. roland's tower. "and now," said mr. george, as soon as the porter had put down his trunk and gone out of the room, "the first thing to be thought of is dinner." rollo was also ready for a dinner, especially for such excellent little dinners of beefsteaks, fried potatoes, nice bread and butter, and coffee, as his uncle usually ordered. so, after refreshing themselves a few minutes in their room, mr. george and rollo went down stairs in order to go into the dining room to call for a dinner. as they passed through the hall, they saw a door there which opened out upon beautifully ornamented grounds behind the house. the land ascended very suddenly, it is true, but there were broad gravel paths of easy grade to go up by; and there were groves, and copses of shrubbery, and blooming flowers, in great abundance, on every hand. on looking up, too, rollo saw several seats, at different elevations, where he supposed there must be good views. while they were standing at this door, looking out upon the grounds, a waiter came by, and they told him what they wished to have for dinner. "very well," said the waiter; "and where will you have it? you can have it in your room, or in the dining room, or in the garden, just as you please." "let us have it in the garden," said rollo. "well," said mr. george, "in the garden." so the young gentlemen went out into the garden to choose a table and a place, while the waiter went to make arrangements for their dinner. the part of the garden where the seats and the tables were placed was a level terrace, not behind the house, but in a line with it, at the end, so that it fronted the road, and commanded a very fine view both of the road and of the river, as well as of all the people, and carriages, and boats that were passing up and down. this terrace was high up above the road, being walled up on that side, as i have already described; and there was a parapet in front, to prevent people from falling down. this parapet was, however, not so high but that rollo could look over it very conveniently, and see all that was passing in the road and on the river below. there was a sort of roof, like an awning, over this place, to shelter it from the sun and the rain; and there were trees and trellises behind, and at the ends, to enclose it, and give it an air of seclusion. the trellises were covered with grapevines, on which many clusters of grapes were seen, that had already grown quite large. numerous flower pots, containing a great many brilliant flowers all in bloom, were placed in various positions, to enliven and adorn the scene. some were on the tables, some on benches behind them, and there were six of the finest of them placed at regular intervals upon the parapet, on the side towards the street. these last gave the gardens a very attractive appearance as seen outside, by people going by in carriages along the road, or in boats on the river. rollo and mr. george chose a table that stood near the parapet, in the middle of the space between two of the flower pots, and sitting down they amused themselves by looking over the wall until the waiter brought them their dinner.[ ] the dinner came at length, and the travellers immediately, with excellent appetites, commenced eating it. [footnote : for a view of this part of the river see frontispiece.] "uncle george," said rollo, in the middle of the dinner, "my feet are getting pretty lame." "are they?" said mr. george. "yes," said rollo, "i have walked a great deal lately." "then," said mr. george, "you must let them rest. you must go down to the river and bathe them in the cool water after dinner, and not walk any more to-night." "but i want to go up to roland's tower," said rollo. "well," said mr. george, "perhaps you might do that. you can ride up on one of the donkeys." this plan was accordingly agreed to, and as soon as the dinner was ended it was put in execution. the donkeys that were used for the ascent of the hill to roland's tower were kept standing, all caparisoned, at the foot of the hill, at the entrance to a little lane where the pathway commenced. mr. george and rollo had seen them standing there when they came along the road. the place was very near where they were sitting; so that, after finishing their dinner, they had only to walk a few steps through the garden, and thence out through a back gate, when they found themselves in the lane, and the donkeys and the donkey boys all before them. mr. george thought that he should prefer to _walk_ up the mountain; but rollo chose a donkey, and with a little assistance from mr. george he mounted into the seat. at first he was afraid that he might fall; for the seat, though there was a sort of back to it, as has already been described, to keep persons in, seemed rather unsteady, especially when the donkey began to move. "it will not do much harm if i do fall," said rollo, "for the donkey is not much bigger than a calf." mr. george, who was accustomed to leave rollo a great deal to himself on all occasions, did not stop in this instance to see him set off, but as soon as he had got him installed in his seat, began to walk himself up the pathway, with long strides, and was soon hid from view among the grapevines, at a turn of the road, leaving rollo to his own resources with the donkey and the donkey boy. at first the donkey would not go; but the boy soon compelled him to set out, by whipping him with the stick, and away they then went, all three together, scrambling up the steep path with a rapidity that made it quite difficult for rollo to keep his seat. the paths leading up these hill sides on the banks of the rhine are entirely different from any mountain paths, or any country roads, of any sort, to be seen in america. in the first place, there is no waste land at the margin of them. just width enough is allowed for two donkeys or mules to pass each other, and then the walls which keep up the vineyard terrace on the upper side, and enclose the vine plantings on the other, come close to the margin of it, on both sides, leaving not a foot to spare. the path is made and finished in the most perfect manner. it is gravelled hard, so that the rains may not wash it; and it mounts by regular zigzags, with seats or resting-places at the turnings, where the traveller can stop and enjoy the view. in fact, the paths are as complete and perfect as in the nature of the case it is possible for them to be made; and well they may be so, for it is perhaps fifteen hundred years since they were laid out; and during this long interval, fifty generations of vinedressers have worked upon them to improve them and to keep them in order. in fact, it is probable that the roads and the mountain paths, both in switzerland and on the rhine, are more ancient than any thing else we see there, except the brooks and cascades, or the hills and mountains themselves. when rollo had got up about two thirds the height of the hill, he came to the pavilion, which you see in the engraving standing on a projecting pinnacle of the rock, a little below the ruin. there was a gateway which led to the pavilion, by a sort of private path; but the gate was set open, that people might go in. rollo dismounted from his donkey, and went in. his uncle was already there. it is wholly impossible to describe the view which presented itself from this commanding point, both up and down the river, or to give any idea of the impression produced upon the minds of our travellers when they stood leaning over the balcony, and gazed down to the water below from the dizzy height. the pavilion is built of stone, and is secured in the most solid and substantial manner, being very far more perfect in its construction than the old towers and castles were, whose remains have stood upon these mountains so long. it will probably last, therefore, longer than they have, and perhaps to the very end of time. it stands on a pinnacle of basaltic rock, which here projects so as actually to overhang its foundations. the view both up and down the river is inconceivably beautiful and grand. there was no seat in the pavilion, but there was one against the rocks, and under the shades of the trees just behind it; and here mr. george and rollo sat down to rest a while, after they had looked out from the pavilion itself as long as they desired. "i believe i'll walk up the rest of the way," said rollo, "and let the donkey stay where he is." "why, don't you like riding on the donkey?" asked mr. george. "yes," said rollo, "i like to ride, but he don't seem to like to carry me very well. besides, it is not far now to the top." the path immediately above the pavilion passed out of the region of the vineyards, and entered a little thicket of evergreen trees, through which it ascended by short zigzags, very steep, until at length it came out upon a smooth, grassy mound, which crowned the summit of the elevation; and here suddenly the ruin came into view. it was a single ruined arch, standing alone on the brink of the hill. the arch was evidently, when first built, of the plainest and rudest construction. the stones were of basalt, which is a volcanic rock, very permanent and durable in character, and as hard almost as iron. the mortar between the stones had crumbled away a good deal, but the stones themselves seemed unchanged. mr. george struck his cane against them, and they returned a ringing sound, as if they had been made of metal. around this arch were the remains of the ancient wall of the building, by means of which it was easy to see that the whole edifice must have been of very small dimensions, and that it must have been originally constructed in a very rude manner. the arch seems to have been intended for a door or a window. probably they took more pains with the construction of the arch than they did with the rest of the edifice, using larger and better stones for it, and stronger mortar; and this may be the reason why this part has stood so long, while the rest has fallen down and gone to decay. in fact, it is generally found that the arches of ancient edifices are the parts of the masonry which are the last to fall. the opening in the arch looked down the river. mr. george took his stand upon the line of the wall opposite the island of nonnenwerth, and said that he supposed there must have been another window there. "here is where the old knight must have stood," said he, "to look down on the island, and the convent where his lost lady was imprisoned." "yes," said rollo, "he could look right down upon it from here. i wonder whether the nun knew that he was up here." "yes," said mr. george, "there is not the least doubt that she did. they found out some way to have an understanding together, you may depend." after lingering about the old ruin as long as they wished, our travellers came down the hill again as they went up, except that rollo walked all the way. he was afraid to ride on the donkey going down, for fear that he should fall. rollo went down to the river side, and taking off his stockings and shoes, bathed his feet in the stream. while he was there a great boat came by, towed by two horses that walked along the bank. the rope, however, by which the horses drew the boat was fastened, not to the side of the boat, as is common with us on canals, but to the top of the mast, so that it was carried high in the air, and it passed over rollo's head without disturbing him at all. they always have the tow ropes fastened to the top of the mast on the rhine, because the banks are in some places so high that a rope lying low would not draw. rollo remained on the bank of the river some time, and then he put on his shoes and stockings and went up into his room. he found that his uncle george was seated at the table, with pen, ink, and paper out, and was busy writing letters. "uncle george," said rollo, "what shall i do now?" "let me think," said mr. george. then after a moment's reflection, he added, "i should like to have you take a sheet of paper, and draw this little table up to the window, and take your seat there, and look out, and whenever you see any thing remarkable, write down what it is on the paper." "what shall you do with it when i have got it done?" said rollo. "i'll tell you that when it _is_ done," replied mr. george. "but perhaps i shall not see any thing remarkable," said rollo. "then," said mr. george, "you will not have any thing to write. you will in that case only sit and look out of the window." "very well," said rollo, "i will do it. but will it do just as well for me to go down to the terrace, and do it there?" "yes," said mr. george, "just as well." so rollo took out his portfolio and his pocket pen and inkstand, and went down to the terrace, and there he sat for nearly two hours watching what was going by, and making out his catalogue of the remarkable things. at the end of about two hours, mr. george, having finished his letters came down to see how rollo was getting along. rollo showed him his list, and mr. george was quite pleased with it. in the course of the evening rollo made several additions to it; and when at length it was completed, it read as follows. [illustration] chapter vii. rollo's list. _remarkable things seen from the terrace of the hotel at rolandseck, by rollo h., saturday evening, august ._ . an elegant steamer, painted green. her name is the _schiller_. she is going up the river. . another steamer, the _koenig_. ladies and gentlemen on the deck, under an awning. . i can see the ruins of drachenfels with my spy glass, and the inn near the top of the mountain, painted white. i have been trying to find the path, to see if i could see any donkeys going up; but i cannot find it. . a boat with some men and women in it putting off from the landing just above here. they are going down the stream. the current carries them down very fast. i think they are going over to the island. no, they are going away down the river. . a great steamer coming _down_, with flags and banners flying. now she has gone by, only i can see the smoke from her smoke pipe behind the point of land. . the nuns are taking a walk under the trees on the island. some of the girls of the school are going with them. the nuns are dressed in black, with bonnets partly black and partly white. the girls are dressed in pink, all alike. they are laughing and frolicking on the grass, as they go along. the nuns walk along quietly. the girls are having an excellent good time. they are walking away down to the end of the island. the walk that they are going in is bordered by a row of poplar trees. . a procession of pilgrims going up to remagen. at least, the waiter says they are pilgrims. they are in two rows, one on each side of the road, so that there is room for the carriages to pass along between them. they are dressed very queerly, like peasants. the girls and women go first, and the men come afterwards. the women have baskets, with something to eat in them, i suppose. the men have nothing. there is one man at the head, who carries a crucifix, with a wreath of flowers over it, on the top of the pole. they sing as they go along, and keep step to the music. first, the women sing a few words, and then the men sing in response. it is a very strange sight. . a very swift steamer, with a great many gentlemen and ladies on board. it has gone down on the other side of the island. . i hear guns firing down the river. . a man is going by with a very long and queer-shaped wheelbarrow, and there is a dog harnessed to it before to draw, while he pushes it behind. . more guns firing down the river. a steamer is coming into view, with a great many flags and banners flying. the guns that i heard are on board that steamer. the waiter says it is a company of students, from the university at bonn, coming up on a frolic. . the steamer with the students is going by. there is a band of music on board, playing beautifully. . the steamer has stopped just above here, and all the students are going on shore. . the students have formed into a company on the beach, and they are marching up, with banners flying and music playing, to the terrace of a hotel, just above here. . the steamer has gone away up the river, and left them. there are five or six small boats on the shore at the landing, with boatmen standing by them, waiting to be hired. i mean to ask uncle george to let me go and take a sail in one of them on monday. . i can see the students by leaning over the parapet and looking through my spy glass. they are sitting at the tables under the trees on the terrace, smoking pipes and drinking something. they have very funny looking caps on. . a tow boat coming up the river. it is drawn by two horses, that walk along the road. the boat has a roof over it instead of a deck, and it looks like a floating house with a family in it. . a steamer coming up--the _wilhelm_. she came up the other side of the island. . a small boat going away from the landing. it is rowed by one man, with one oar, which he works near the bow on the starboard side. he has set the helm hard a-port, and tied it there, and that keeps his boat from being pulled round. i never thought of that way before. there is a woman and a child in the stern of the boat. . there is a man eating his supper on the parapet below me, in front of the road. a girl has brought it to him in a basket. the man seems to be a boatman, and i think the girl is his daughter. she has a tin tea kettle with something to drink in it, and she pours it out into a mug as fast as the man wants it to drink. there is also some bread, which she breaks and gives him as fast as he wants it. there is a little child standing by, and the man stops now and then to play with her. now there is another man that has come and sat down by the side of him; and a woman has brought him his supper in a basket. i think it is his wife. . a long raft is coming down the river. it is very long indeed. it is made of logs and boards. there are twenty-two men on it, thirteen at the front end, and nine at the back end. they have got two monstrous great oars out; one of these oars runs out at the front end of the raft, and the other at the back end, and the men are rowing. there are six men taking hold of each of these oars and working them, trying to row the raft more into the middle of the river. there is a small house on the middle of the raft, and a fire in a large flat box near the door of it. i should think it would set the raft on fire. this fire is for cooking, i suppose, for there is a kettle hanging over it. . now the students are singing a song. . there is a great fleet of large boats coming up the river, with a steamboat at the head of them. they come very slowly. . the students have finished their drinking and smoking, and are beginning to come out into the road. they are walking about there and frolicking. . the great fleet of boats have come up so that i can see them. they are great canal boats, towed by a steamer. there are seven of them in all. the steamer has hard work to get them along against the current. it is just as much as she can do. . four of the students are getting into a small boat. one of them has a flag. now they are putting off from the shore. they are going out to take a sail. . the fleet of boats is now just opposite to the window. . a large open carriage, with a family in it, is riding by. there is a trunk on behind; so i suppose they are travellers, going to see the rhine. . three of the students are walking by here. one of them--the middle one--is so tipsy that he cannot walk straight, and the others are taking hold of his arms and holding him up. i suppose they are going to see if they cannot walk him sober. they have gone off away down the road. . here comes an elegant carriage and two outriders. the outriders are dressed in a sort of uniform, and they are riding on horseback a little way before the carriage. they go very fast. there is a gentleman and a lady in the carriage. now they have gone by. . several parties of students have gone by, to take a walk down the road. some of them are walking along very steadily, but there are several that look pretty tipsy. here are three or four of them coming back, riding the donkeys. they are singing and laughing, and making a great deal of fun. . here is a family of poor peasants coming down the river. they look very poor. the woman has a very queer cap on. she has one child strapped across her back, and she is leading another. there is a man and a large boy. they have packs on their backs. i wonder if they are not emigrants going to america. . one of the students has got hurt. i can see him down the road limping. there are two other students with him, helping him. they are going to bring him home. they have taken a cane, and are holding it across between them, and he is sitting on it and putting his arms about their necks. each student holds one end of the cane, and so they are bringing him along. [illustration: the students.] the cane has broken, and let the lame student fall down. they have got another cane, stronger, and now they are carrying him again. now they are stopping to rest right opposite to this house. they have changed hands, and are now carrying him again. . here is a woman coming along up the river drawing a small boat. she has a band over her shoulders, and a long line attached to it, and the other end of the line is fastened to the mast of the small boat. there is a man in the boat steering. i think the man ought to come to the shore and draw, and let the woman stay in the boat and steer, for it seems very hard work to pull the boat along. . a boat with two women in it, and a man to row, is going across the river to the nuns' island. now they are landing. the women are walking up towards the nunnery, under the trees, and the man is fastening his boat. . the students are gathering on the landing. i think that, perhaps, they are going back to bonn in small boats. it is beginning to be dark, and time for them to go home.[ ] yes, they are crowding into two or three boats. the boats are getting very full. if they are not careful they will upset. [footnote : this rollo wrote in the latter part of the evening, in his room.] the boats are pushing off from the shore. there are three boats, with two flags flying in each. they are drifting out into the current. the students have got one or two oars out, but they are not rowing much. the current carries them down fast enough without rowing. . i can hear the bells ringing or tolling, away down the river, the air is so still. i think it must be the bells of bonn. . the students' boats are all drifting down just opposite our windows. they are going sidewise, and backwards, and every way, and are all entangled together. the students on board are calling out to one another, and laughing, and having a great time. some of them are trying to sing, but the rest will not listen. if they are not very careful they will upset some of those boats before they get to bonn. . here comes a carriage driving slowly down the road, with four students in it. two of them are hanging down their heads and holding them with their hands, as if they had dreadful headaches. they look very sick. the other two students seem pretty well. i suppose they are going in the carriage with the sick ones to take care of them. it is getting too dark for me to see any more chapter viii. a sabbath on the rhine. about eight o'clock the next morning, mr. george and rollo went up among the gardens behind the hotel, and after ascending for some time, they came at length to a seat in a bower which commanded a very fine view, and here they sat down. mr. george took a small bible out of his pocket, and opened it at the book of the acts, and began to read. he continued to read for half an hour or more, and to explain to rollo what he read about. rollo was very much interested in the stories of what the apostles did in their first efforts for planting christianity, and of the toils and dangers which they encountered, and the sufferings which they endured. at length, after finishing the reading, mr. george proposed that they should go down to breakfast. so they went down the winding walks again which led to the inn. there they found, on the front side of the house, a very pleasant dining room, with tables set in it, some large and some small. mr. george and rollo took their seats at a small front table near a window, where they could look out over the water. here a waiter came to them, and they told him what they would have for breakfast. "i will have a beefsteak," said mr. george, "and my nephew will have an omelet. we should like some fried potatoes too, and some coffee." "_ja_,[ ] monsieur," said the waiter. "let us see. you will have one bifstek, one omelet, two fried potatoes, and two caffys." [footnote : pronounced _yah_.] "yes," said mr. george. "varry well," said the waiter. "it shall be ready in fiveteen minutes." so the waiter went away. "we shall want more than two fried potatoes," said rollo, looking very serious. "o, he means two portions," replied mr. george; "that is to say, enough for two people. he will bring us plenty, you may depend." rollo and mr. george sat by the window in the dining room until the breakfast was brought in. besides the things which they had called for, the waiter brought them some rolls of very nice and tender bread, and some delicious butter. he also brought a large plate full of fried potatoes, and the beefsteak which came for mr. george was very juicy and rich. the omelet which rollo had chosen for his principal dish was excellent too. he made an exchange with mr. george, giving him a piece of his omelet, and taking a part of the steak. thus they ate their breakfast very happily together, looking out the window from time to time to see the steamboats and the carriages go by, and to view the magnificent scenery of the opposite shores. "i'll tell you what it is, rollo," said mr. george; "people may say what they please about the castles and the ruins on the rhine--i think that the inns and breakfasts on the rhine are by no means to be despised." "i think so too," said rollo. when they had nearly finished their breakfast, mr. george asked the waiter what churches there were in the neighborhood. the waiter said there was a church on the island of nonnenwerth, belonging to the convent, and that there was another up the river a few miles, at the village of remagen. "we might go over to the island this morning, and up to remagen this afternoon," said mr. george, "only you are too lame to walk so far." "no, sir," said rollo, decidedly; "my feet are well to-day. i can walk as well as not." a few minutes after this, the waiter came to tell mr. george that the master of the hotel was himself going over to the convent to attend church, and that he and rollo could go in the same boat if they pleased. the boat would go at about a quarter before ten. mr. george said that he should like this arrangement very much; and accordingly, at the appointed time, he and rollo set out from the inn in company with the landlord. they walked along the road a short distance, and then went down a flight of steps that led to the landing. here there was a number of boats drawn up upon the beach. one of them had a boatman in attendance upon it, waiting for the company that he was to take over to the island. besides the landlord and his two guests, there were two or three girls waiting on the beach, who seemed to be going over too. all these people got into the boat, and then the boatman, after embarking himself, pushed it off from the shore. it was a very pleasant summer morning, and rollo had a delightful sail in going over to the island. mr. george and the landlord talked together nearly all the way; but rollo did not listen much to their conversation, as he could not understand the landlord very well, notwithstanding that the language which he used was english. he was seated next to the girls; but he did not speak to them, as he felt sure that they did not know any language but german. so he amused himself with looking at the hills on the shore, and at the gardens and vineyards which adorned them, and in tracing out the zigzag paths which led up to the arbors and summer houses, and to the ancient ruins. he attempted at one time to look down into the water by the side of the boat, to see if he could see any fishes; but the water of the rhine is very turbid, and he could not see down into it at all. at length the boat came to the land in a little cove on the side of the island, where there was a sandy beach, under the shade of some ancient trees. there was a path leading from this place up towards the convent. the party in the boat landed, and began to walk up this path. mr. george and the landlord were first, and rollo came next. [illustration: the nun.] the little path that they were walking in came out into another which led along among the fields that extended down the island. there was a nun coming up this path, leading one of the schoolgirls. it seems they had been to take a walk. the nun had her face shaded by a large cap, or bonnet, with, a veil over it; and though she looked pale, her countenance had a very gentle expression, and was very beautiful. she bowed to the party that was coming up from the boat, and went on before them to the church. "i wonder whether she is happy," thought rollo to himself, "in living on this island, a nun. i wish i knew where her father and mother live, and how she came to be here, such a beautiful young lady." this nun was indeed very beautiful, though she was an exception to the general rule, for nuns are often very plain. the church formed a part of the convent building. it was, in fact, only a small chapel, built in a wing of the convent, with a little cupola and a bell over it. the bell was ringing when the party from the boat went up towards the edifice. on entering rollo found that the room was very small. at the upper end was a platform, with an altar and a crucifix at the farther end of it. the altar had very tall candles upon it, and several bouquets of flowers. the candles were lighted. below the platform, in the place where the congregation would usually be, there were two rows of seats, like pews, with small benches before each seat to kneel upon, and also a support to lean upon in time of prayer. these seats were very few, and there were but few people sitting on them. the people that were there seemed to be the servants of the convent. mr. george and rollo, and the people that came with them, were the only strangers. rollo looked around for the nuns and for the girls of the school, but they were nowhere to be seen. as soon as rollo had taken his seat, he observed that, though there was no minister or priest at the altar, the service was going on. he could hear a female voice, which appeared to issue from some place in a gallery behind him, out of view, reading what seemed to be verses from the bible, in a very sweet and plaintive tone, and at the close of each verse all the people in the congregation below would say something in a responding voice together. "do you suppose that that is one of the nuns?" whispered rollo to his uncle. "yes," said mr. george, "probably it is." "this is a catholic church, is it not?" asked rollo. "yes," said mr. george, "almost all the churches on the rhine are catholic churches; and nunneries are _always_ catholic." rollo said no more, but attended to the service. there was nothing that was said or done that rollo could at all understand; and yet the scene itself was invested with a certain solemnity which produced a strong and quite salutary impression on his mind. by and by a priest, dressed in his pontifical robes, came in by a side door, and taking his place before the altar, with an attendant kneeling behind him, or by his side, went through a great number of ceremonies, of which rollo understood nothing from beginning to end. mr. george, however, explained the general nature of the performance to him that afternoon when they were walking up the river to remagen, in a conversation which i shall relate in due time. the service was concluded in about an hour, and then the congregation was dismissed. all but the party that came in the boat went out by a side door which led into the other apartments of the convent. the boat party went down to the shore, and getting into the boat were rowed back across the water. after dinner, mr. george and rollo set out to walk up the river to remagen, in order to attend church there. it was during this walk that they had the conversation i have referred to on the subject of the service which they had witnessed in the little chapel at the nunnery. "you must understand," said mr. george, "that the nature and design of the ceremonies of public worship in a protestant and in a catholic church are essentially and totally distinct. the protestants meet to offer up their common prayers and supplications to god, and to listen to the instructions which the minister gives them in respect to their duties. the catholics, on the other hand, meet to have a sacrifice performed, as an atonement for their sins. the protestants think that all the atonement which is necessary for the sins of the whole world has already been made by the sufferings and death of christ. the catholics think that a new sacrifice must be made for them from time to time by the priest; and they come together to kneel before the altar while he makes it, in order that they may have a share in the benefits of it. thus the protestant comes to church to hear something said; the catholic to witness something done. this is one reason, in fact, why the catholic churches may very properly be enormously large. the people who assemble in them do not come to hear, so much as to see, or rather to be present and know what is going on, and to take part in it in heart. "the great thing that is done," continued mr. george, "is the receiving of the communion, that is, of the bread and wine of the lord's supper, which they suppose is renewing the sacrifice of christ, for the benefit of those who are present at the ceremony. did you see the man who was kneeling at the foot of the steps of the altar while the priest was performing, and who brought two little silver vessels, out of which he poured something into the priest's cup?" "yes," said rollo. "the silver vessels were on a little shelf at first, at the side of the altar, and he went at the proper time and kneeled with them by the side of the priest, until the priest was ready to take them." "one of these vessels," continued mr. george, "contained wine, the other water. when the priest held his large silver cup out to him, the man poured some of the wine into it." "yes," said rollo. "and i saw the priest wiping out the cup very carefully, with a large white napkin, before he held it out for the wine." "true," said mr. george. "when he took the wine in his cup, it was common wine, in its natural state; but afterwards, by being consecrated to the service of the mass, it was changed, they all believe, into the blood of christ. it looked, they knew, just as it did before; but though it thus still retained all the appearance of wine, they believe that it became really and truly the blood of christ, and that the priest in drinking it would make a sacrifice of christ anew for the salvation of the souls of those who should witness and join in the ceremony. "in the same manner a small round piece of bread, shaped like a large wafer, when consecrated by the priest's prayers, becomes, they think, really and truly the body of christ; and the priest by eating it performs a sacrifice, just as he does by drinking the wine. when he has consecrated this wafer, he holds it up for a moment, that the people may look upon it; and they, in looking upon it, think they see a portion of the true body of christ, which is about to be offered up by the priest as a sacrifice for their sins." "yes," said rollo, "i remember when he held up the wafer. i did not know what it was." "did you not see that all the people bowed their heads just then," rejoined mr. george, "and said something to themselves in a very reverent manner." "yes," said rollo, "but i did not understand what it meant." "thus you see," continued mr. george, "that the essential thing at a catholic service like this, as they regard it, is the eating of the body and the drinking of the blood of jesus christ, as a new sacrifice for the sins of the people who are present and consenting in heart to the ceremony. there are a great many subordinate operations and rites. the assistant goes back and forth a great many times from one side of the altar to the other, stopping to bow and kneel every time he passes the crucifix. the priest makes a great deal of ceremony of wiping out the cup before he receives the wine. then there is a long service, which he reads in a low voice, and there are many prayers which he offers, and he turns to various passages of the scriptures, and reads portions here and there. the people do not hear any thing that he says and does, nor is it necessary, according to their ideas of the service, that they should do so; for they know very well that the priest is consecrating the bread or the wine, and changing it into the body and the blood of christ, in order that it may be ready for the sacrifice. then, when the wine is changed, the priest drinks it in a very solemn manner, raising it to his lips three several times, so as to take it in three portions. then he holds the cup out to his assistant again, who pours a little water into it from his other vessel; and the priest then, after moving the cup round and round, to be sure that the water mixes itself well with the wine which was left on the inner service of the cup, drinks that too. he does this in order to make sure that no portion of the precious blood remains in the cup. he then wipes it out carefully with his napkin, and puts it away." "yes," said rollo, "i saw all those things. and after he had got through, he covered the cup with a cloth, embroidered with gold, and carried it away." "and after that," continued rollo, "the assistant, with an extinguisher on the top of a tall pole, put out the candles, and then _he_ went away." "yes," said mr. george, and so the service was concluded. "thus you see," continued mr. george, "that for all that the people come for, to such a service as that, it was not necessary that they should hear at all. there was not any thing to be _said to_ them. there was only something to be _done for_ them; and so long as it was done, and done properly, they standing by and consenting, it was not of much consequence whether they could see and hear or not. so the priest turned his face away from them towards the altar; and when he had any thing to say, he spoke the words in a very low and inaudible voice." "it is impossible," said rollo, after a short pause, "that the wine should become blood, and the wafer flesh, while they yet look just as they did before." [illustration: the emigrants.] "true," said mr. george, "it seems impossible to us, who hear of it for the first time, after we have grown up to years of discretion; but that does not prevent its being honestly believed by people that have been taught to consider it true from their earliest infancy." "do you suppose the priests themselves believe it?" asked rollo. "yes," said mr. george, "a great many of them undoubtedly do. we find, it is true, every where, that the most intelligent and well educated men will continue, all their lives, to believe very strange things, provided they were taught to believe them when they were very young; and provided, also, that their worldly interests are in any way concerned in their continuing to believe them." just at this time, rollo's attention was attracted to what seemed to be an encampment on the roadside at a little distance before them. it was a family of emigrants that were going down the river, and had stopped to rest. the horses had been unharnessed, and were eating, and the wagon was surrounded with a family consisting of men, women, and children, who were sitting on the bank taking their suppers. rollo wished very much that he understood german, so as to go and talk with them. but he did not, and so he contented himself with wishing them _guten abend_, which means good evening, as he went by. he went on after this, without any farther adventure, to the village, and after attending church there, he returned with his uncle down along the bank of the river to the hotel. [illustration] chapter ix. ehrenbreitstein. the people of the rhine have not allowed all the old castles to go to ruin. some have been carefully preserved from age to age, and never allowed to go out of repair. others that had gone to decay, or had been destroyed in the wars, have been repaired and rebuilt in modern times, and are now in better condition than ever. some of the strongholds that have thus been restored are now great fortresses, held by the governors of the states and kingdoms that border on the river; others of them are fitted up as summer residences for the persons, whether princes or private people, that happen to own them. about midway between the beginning and the end of the mountainous region of the rhine is a place where there are two very important works of this kind. one of them is far the largest and most important of all on the river. this is the castle of ehrenbreitstein. ehrenbreitstein is not only a very strong and important fortification, but it guards a very important point. this point is the place where the river moselle, one of the principal branches of the rhine, comes in. the valley of the moselle is a very rich and fertile one, and in proportion to its extent is almost as valuable as that of the rhine. the junction of the two rivers is the place for defending both of these valleys, and has consequently, in all ages of the world, been a very important post. the romans built a town here, in the days of julius cæsar, and the town has continued to the present day. it is called coblenz. the romans named it originally _confluentes_, which means the _confluence_; and this name, in the course of ages, has gradually become changed to coblenz. coblenz is built on a three-cornered piece of flat land, exactly on the point where the two rivers come together. there is a bridge over the mouth of the moselle where it comes into the rhine, and another over the rhine itself. the bridge over the moselle is of stone, and was built a great many hundred years ago. that over the rhine is what is called a bridge of boats. a row of large and solid boats is anchored in the river, side by side, with their heads up the stream, and then the bridge is made by a platform which extends across from boat to boat, across the whole breadth of the stream. near the coblenz side of the bridge there are two or three lengths of it which can be taken out when necessary, in order to let the steamers, or rafts, or tow boats, that may be coming up or down the river, pass through. rollo was very much interested, while he remained at coblenz, in looking out from the windows of his hotel, which faced the river, and seeing them open this bridge, to let the steamers and vessels pass through. a length of the bridge, consisting sometimes of _two_ boats with the platform over it, and sometimes of _three_, would separate from the others, and float down the stream until it cleared itself from the rest of the bridge, and then would move by some mysterious means to one side, and so make an opening. then, when the steamer, or whatever else it was, had passed through, the detached portion of the bridge would come back again slowly and carefully to its place. of course all the travel on the bridge would be interrupted during this operation; but as soon as the connection was again restored, the streams of people would immediately begin to move again over the bridge, as before. across the bridge, on the heights upon the other side, rollo could see the great castle of ehrenbreitstein, together with an innumerable multitude of walls, parapets, bastions, towers, battlements, and other constructions pertaining to such a work. one day mr. george and rollo went over to see this fortress. they were stopped a few minutes at the bridge, by a steamer going through. there was a large company of soldiers stopped too, part of the garrison of ehrenbreitstein that had been over to attend a parade on the public square at coblenz, and were now going home, so that rollo was not sorry for the detention, as it gave him a fine opportunity to see the soldiers, and to examine the prussian uniform. it consisted of a blue frock coat and white trousers, with an elegant brass-mounted helmet for a cap. the way up to the castle was by a long and winding road, built up artificially on arches of solid masonry. this road was every where overlooked by walls, with portholes and embrasures for cannon, and all along it, at short distances, were immense gateways exceedingly massive and strong, which could all be shut in time of siege. when mr. george and rollo reached the top of the castle, they found a great esplanade there, surrounded with buildings for barracks, and for the storing of arms and provisions. the view from this esplanade was magnificent beyond description. you could see far up and down the river rhine, and far _up_ the moselle, while all coblenz, and the two bridges, and the town below the castle, and three other immense forts that stood on the other side of the river, were directly beneath. rollo went into some of the barracks, and also up to the top of the buildings. the buildings were all arched over above, and covered with earth ten feet deep, with grass growing on the top. the men were mowing this grass when mr. george and rollo were there. the object of this earth on the roofs of the buildings is to prevent the bombshells of the enemy from breaking down through the roofs and killing the men. on the afternoon of the same day that mr. george and rollo visited ehrenbreitstein, they went up the river a few miles in a boat to see a smaller castle, which has been repaired and changed into a private residence. the name of it is stoltzenfels. they rode up the mountain that this castle was built upon on donkeys. the road was very good, but the place was so steep that it was necessary to make it twist and turn, in winding its way up, in the most extraordinary manner. in one place it actually went over itself by an arched bridge thrown across the ravine. in fact, this path was just like a corkscrew. rollo was exceedingly delighted with the castle of stoltzenfels. a man who was there conducted him and his uncle, together with a small company of other visitors who arrived at the same time, all over it. it would be impossible to describe it, there were so many curious courts, and towers, and winding passage ways, and little gardens, and terraces, all built in a sort of nest among the rocks, of the most irregular and wildest character. the rooms were all beautifully finished and furnished, and they were full of old relics of feudal times. the floors were of polished oak, and the visitors, when walking over them, wore over their boots and shoes great slippers made of felt, which were provided there for the purpose. [illustration] chapter x. rollo's letter. at one place where mr. george and rollo stopped to spend a night, rollo wrote a letter to jenny. it was as follows:-- st. goar on the rhine.} _friday evening._} dear jenny: we have got into a very lonely place. i did not know there was such a lonely place on the rhine. the name of it is st. goar; but they pronounce it st. _gwar_. the river is shut in closely by the mountains on both sides, and also above and below; so that it seems as if we were in a very deep valley, with a pond of water in the bottom of it. away across the river is a long row of white houses, crowded in between the edge of the water and the mountain. on the mountain above is an old ruined castle, called the cat. there is another old ruin a few miles below, called the mouse. i can see both of these ruins from my windows. there is a little town on this side of the village too. we went out this morning to see it. it is very small, and the streets are very narrow. we came to the queerest old church you ever saw. it was all entangled up with other buildings, and there were so many arches, and flights of steps, and various courts all around it, that it was a long time before we could find out where the door was. while we were looking about, a little girl came up and asked us something. we supposed she asked us whether we wished to see the church; so we said _ja_, and then she ran away. presently we saw a boy coming along, and he asked us something, and we said _ja_; and then _he_ ran away. we did not know what they meant by going away; but the fact was, they went to find some men who kept the keys. it seems there are two men who keep keys, and the girl went for one and the boy for the other; and so, after we had waited about five minutes under an arch which led to an old door, _two_ men came with keys to let us in. uncle george paid them both, because he said the second man that came looked disappointed. he paid the girl and the boy too; so he had four persons to pay; and when we got in, we found that it was nothing but a protestant church, after all. i like the catholic churches the best. they are a great deal the funniest. we went to see the catholic church afterwards. there was a monstrous old gallery all on one side of the church, and none on the other. then there was an organ away up in a loft, and all sorts of old images and statues. i never saw such an old looking place. as we walked along the streets, or rather the pathways between the houses, we could see the rocks and mountains away up over our heads, almost hanging over the town. they are very pretty rocks, being all green, with grapevines and bushes. close by the town too, up a long and very steep path, is a monstrous old ruin. the name of it is rheinfels. i can see it from the balcony of my windows. besides, uncle george and i went up to it this afternoon. it is nothing but old walls, and arches, and dark dungeons, all tumbling down. there was a little fence and a gate across the entrance, and the gate was locked. but there was a man who asked us something in german; but we could see it all just as well without going in; so we said _nein_, which means no. they say that a great many years ago the french took this castle, and then, to prevent its doing the enemy any good forever afterwards, they put a great deal of gunpowder into the cellars, and blew it up. i did not care much about the old ruins, but i should have liked very well to have seen them blow it up. the waiter has just come to call us to go out and hear the echo, and so i must go. i will tell you about it afterwards. the man played on a trumpet down on the bank of the river, and we could hear the echo from the rocks and mountains on the other side. he also fired a gun two or three times. after the gun was fired, for a few minutes all was still; but then there came back a sharp crack from the other shore, and then a long, rumbling sound from up the river and down the river, like a peal of distant thunder. it is a gloomy place here after all, and i shall be glad when i get out of it; for the river is down in the bottom of such a deep gorge, that we cannot see out any where. there are some old castles about on the hills, and they look pretty enough at a distance; but when you get near them they are nothing but old walls all tumbling down. the vineyards are not pretty either. they are all on terraces kept up by long stone walls; and when you are down on the river, and look up to them, you cannot see any thing but the walls, with the edge of the vineyards, like a little green fringe, along on the top. but there is no great loss in this, for the vineyards are not pretty when you can see them. they look just like fields full of beans growing on short poles. i shall be glad when we get out of this place; but uncle george says he is going to stay here all day to-morrow, to write letters and to bring up his journal. but never mind; i can have a pretty good time sitting on the steps that go down to the water, and seeing the vessels, and steamboats, and rafts go by. your affectionate cousin, rollo. p.s. the cat and the mouse used to fight each other in old times, and the mouse used to beat. was not that funny? [illustration] chapter xi. the raft. the morning after rollo had finished the letter to jenny, as recorded in the last chapter, his uncle george told him at breakfast time that he might amuse himself that day in any way he pleased. "i shall be busy writing," said mr. george, "nearly all the morning. it is such a still and quiet place here that i think i had better stay and finish up my writing. besides, it must be an economical place, i think, and we can stay here a day cheaper than we can farther up the river, at the large towns." "shall we come to the large towns soon?" asked rollo. "yes," replied his uncle. "this deep gorge only continues fifteen or twenty miles farther, and then we come out into open country, and to the region of large towns. you see there is no occasion for any other towns in this part of the rhine than villages of vinedressers, except here and there a little city where a branch river comes in." "well," said rollo, "i shall be glad when we get out. but i will go down to the shore, and play about there for a while." accordingly, as soon as rollo had finished his breakfast, he went down to the shore. the hotel faced the river, though there was a road outside of it, between it and the water. from the outer edge of the road there was a steep slope, leading down to the water's edge. this slope was paved with stones, to prevent the earth from being washed away by the water in times of flood. here and there along this slope were steps leading down to the water. at the foot of these steps were boats, and opposite to them, in the road, there were boatmen standing in groups here and there, ready to take any body across the river that wished to go. rollo went down to the shore, and took his seat on the upper step of one of the stairways, and began to look about him over the water. there were two other boys sitting near by; but rollo could not talk to them, for they knew only german. presently one of the boatmen came up to him, and pointing to a boat, asked him a question. rollo did not understand what the man said, but he supposed that he was asking him if he did not wish for a boat. so rollo said _nein_, and the man went away. there was a village across the river, in full view from where rollo sat. this village consisted of a row of white stone houses facing the river, and extending along the margin of it, at the foot of the mountains. there seemed to be just room for them between the mountains and the shore. among the houses was to be seen, here and there, the spire of an antique church, or an old tower, or a ruined wall. after sitting quietly on the steps until he had seen two steamers go down, and a fleet of canal boats from holland towed up, rollo took it into his head that it might be a good plan for him to go across the river. so he went in to ask his uncle george if he thought it would be safe for him to go. "you will take a boatman?" said mr. george. "yes," said rollo. "and how long shall you wish to be gone?" "about an hour," said rollo. "very well," said mr. george, "you may go." so rollo went down to the shore again, and as he now began to look at the boats as if he wished to get into one of them, a man came to him again, and asked him the same question. rollo said _ja_. so the man went down to his boat, and drew it up to the lowest step of the stairs where rollo was standing. rollo got in, and taking his seat, pointed over to the other side of the river. the man then pushed off. the current was, however, very swift, and so the boatman poled the boat far up the stream before he would venture to put out into it; and then he was carried down a great way in going across. when they reached the landing on the opposite shore, rollo asked the man, "how much?" he knew what the german was for how much. the man said, "two groschen." so rollo took the two groschen from his pocket and paid him. two groschen are about five cents. rollo walked about in the village where he had landed for nearly half an hour; and then, taking another boat on that side, he returned as he had come. on his way back he saw a great raft coming down. he immediately conceived the idea of taking a little sail on that raft, down the river. he wanted to see "how it would seem" to be on such an immense raft, and how the men managed it. so he went in to propose the plan to his uncle george. he said that he should like to go down the river a little way on the raft, and then walk back. "yes," said mr. george, "or you might come up in the next steamer." "so i might," said rollo. "i have no objection," said mr. george. "how far down may i go?" said rollo. "why, you had better not go more than ten or fifteen miles," said mr. george, "for the raft goes slowly,--probably not more than two or three miles an hour,--and it would take you four or five hours, perhaps, to go down ten miles. you would, however, come back quick in the steamer. go down stairs and consider the subject carefully, and form your plan complete. consider how you will manage to get on board the raft, and to get off again; and where you will stop to take the steamer, and when you will get home; and when you have planned it all completely, come to me again." so rollo went down, and after making various inquiries and calculations, he returned in about ten minutes to mr. george, with the following plan. "the waiter tells me," said he, "that the captain of the raft will take me down as far as i want to go, and set me ashore any where, in his boat, for two or three groschen, and that one of the boatmen here will take me out to the raft, when she comes by, for two groschen. a good place for me to stop would be boppard, which is about ten or twelve miles below here. the raft will get there about two o'clock. then there will be a steamer coming along by there at three, which will bring up here at four, just about dinner time. the waiter says that he will go out with me to the raft, and explain it all to the captain, because the captain would not understand me, as he only knows german." "very well," said mr. george. "that's a very good plan. only i advise you to make a bargain with the captain to put you ashore any where you like. because you know you may get tired before you have gone so far as ten miles. "in fact," continued mr. george, "i would not say any thing about the distance that you wish to go to the captain. just make a bargain with him to let you go aboard his raft for a little while, and to send you ashore whenever you wish to go." "yes," said rollo, "i will; that will be the best plan. but i am sure that i shall want to go as far as ten miles." so rollo went to his trunk, and began to unlock it in a hurried manner; and when he had opened it, he put his hand down into it at the left hand corner, on the front side, which was the place where he always kept his fishing line. "what are you looking for?" said mr. george. "my fishing line," replied rollo; "is not that a good plan?" "yes," said mr. george, "an excellent plan." rollo had no very definite idea of being able to fish while on the raft, but there was a sort of instinct which prompted him always to take his fishing line whenever he went on any excursion whatever that was connected with the water. mr. george had a pretty definite idea that he would _not_ be able to fish; but still he thought it a good plan for rollo to take the line, for he observed that to have a fishing line in his pocket, on such occasions, was always a source of pleasure to a boy, even if he did not use it at all. rollo, having found his fishing line, shut and locked his trunk, and ran down stairs. as soon as he had gone, mr. george rose and rang the bell. very soon the waiter came to the door. "this young gentleman who is with me," said mr. george, "wishes to go on board this raft, and sail down the river a little way." "yes, sir," said the waiter. "rudolf is arranging it for him." "very well," said mr. george. "and now i wish to have you send a commissioner secretly to accompany him. the commissioner is to remain on the raft as long as rollo does, and leave it when he leaves it, and keep in sight of him all the time till he gets home, so as to see that he does not get into any difficulty." "yes, sir," said the waiter. "but let the commissioner understand that he is not to let rollo know any thing about his having any charge over him, nor to communicate with him in any way, unless some emergency should arise requiring him to interpose." "yes, sir," said the waiter, "i will explain it to him." "and choose a good-natured and careful man to send," continued mr. george; "one that speaks french." "yes, sir," replied the waiter; and so saying, he disappeared, leaving mr. george to go on with his writing. in the mean time rollo had gone down to the shore with the waiter rudolf, and was standing there near a boat which was drawn up at the foot of the landing stairs, watching the raft, which was now getting pretty near. there was a great company of men at each end of the raft. rollo could see those at the lowest end the plainest. they were standing in rows near the end of the raft, and every six of them had an oar. there were eight or ten of these oars, all projecting forward, from the front end of the raft, and the raftsmen, by working them, seemed to be endeavoring to row that end of the raft out farther into the stream. it was the same at the farther end of the raft. there was a similar number of oarsmen there, and of oars, only those projected behind, just as the others did before. there were no oars at all along the sides of the raft. the fact is, that these monstrous rafts are always allowed to float down by the current, the men not attempting to hasten them on their way by rowing. all that they attempt to do by their labor is to keep the immense and unwieldy mass in the middle of the stream. thus they only need oars at the two ends, and the working of them only tends to row the raft sidewise, as it were. sometimes they have to row the ends from left to right, and sometimes from right to left, according as the current tends to drift the raft towards the left or the right bank of the river. rollo did not understand this at first, and accordingly, when he first saw these rafts coming with a dense crowd of men at each end, rowing vigorously, while there was not a single oar to be seen, nor even any place for an oar along the sides, he was very much surprised at the spectacle. he thought that the men at the back end of the raft were sculling; but what those at the forward end were doing he could not imagine. when, however, he came to consider the case, he saw what the explanation must be, and so he understood the subject perfectly. at length, when rollo saw that the forward end of the raft, in its progress down the river, had come nearly opposite to the place where he was standing, he got into the boat, and the boatman rowed him out to the raft. as soon as they reached the raft rollo stepped out upon the boards and logs. the top of the raft made a very good and smooth floor, being covered with boards, and it was high and dry above the water. rollo looked down into the interstices, and saw that that part of the raft which was under water was formed of logs and timbers of very large size, placed close together side by side, with a layer above crossing the layer below. the whole was then covered with a flooring of boards, so close and continuous that rollo had to look for some time before he could find any openings where he could look down and see how the raft was constructed. in the middle of the raft were several houses. the houses were made of boards, and were of the plainest and simplest construction. around the doors of these houses several women were sitting wherever they could find shady places. some were knitting and some were sewing. there were several children there too, amusing themselves in various ways. one was skipping a rope. rudolf conducted rollo up to one of these families, and told the women that he was an american boy, who was travelling with his uncle on the rhine, and seeing this raft going by, had a curiosity to come on board of it. the women looked very much pleased when they heard this. some of them had friends in america, and others were thinking of going themselves with their husbands; and they immediately began to talk very volubly to rollo, and to ask him questions. but as they spoke german, rollo could not understand what they said. in the mean time the waiter had gone away to speak to the captain of the raft, and to make arrangements for having rollo put ashore when he had sailed long enough upon it. the captain was walking to and fro, upon a raised platform, near the middle of the raft. this platform i will describe presently. in a few minutes the man returned. "the captain gives you a good welcome," said he, "and says he wishes he could talk english, for he wants to ask you a great many questions about america. he says you may stay on the raft as long as you please, and when you wish to go ashore, you have only to go and get on board one of the boats, and that will be a signal. he will soon see you there, and will send a man to row you to the shore." rollo liked this plan very much. so rudolf, having arranged every thing, wished rollo a "good voyage," and went off in the boat as he came. thus rollo was left alone, as it were, upon the raft; and for a moment he felt a little appalled at the idea of going down through such a dark and gloomy gorge as the bed of the river here presented to view, on such a strange conveyance, and surrounded with so wild and savage a horde of men as the raftsmen were,--especially since, as he supposed, there was not a human being on board with whom he could exchange a word of conversation. it is true the commissioner whom his uncle george had sent was on the raft. he had come out in the same boat with rollo, and had remained when the boat went back to the shore. but rollo had not noticed him particularly. he observed, it is true, that two men came with him to the raft, and that only one returned; but he thought it probable that the other might be going down the river a little way, or perhaps that he belonged to the raft. he had not the least idea that the man had come to take charge of _him_, and so he felt as if he were entirely alone in the new and strange scene to which he found himself so suddenly transferred. there were, however, so many things to attract his attention that at first he had no time to think much of his loneliness. there was a fire burning at a certain part of the raft, not far from the door of one of the houses, and he went to see it. as soon as he reached it, the mystery in respect to the means of having a fire on such a structure, without setting the boards and timbers on fire, was at once solved. rollo found that the fire was built upon a hearth of _sand_. there was a large box, about four feet square and a foot deep, which box was filled with sand, and the fire was built in the middle of it. it seemed to rollo that this was a very easy way to make a fireplace, especially as the sand seemed to be of a very common kind, such as the raftsmen had probably shovelled up somewhere on the shore of the river. "the very next time i build a raft," said rollo, "i will have a fire on it in exactly that way." there was a sort of barricade or screen built up on two sides of this fire, to keep the wind from blowing the flame and the heat away from the kettle that was hung over it. this screen was made of short boards, nailed to three posts, that were placed in such a manner as to make, when the boards were nailed to them, two short fences, at right angles to each other, or like two sides of a high box. the corner of this screen was turned towards the wind, and thus the fire was sheltered. a pole passed across from one of the posts to the other, and the kettle was hung upon the pole. after examining this fireplace rollo went to look at the platform where the captain had his station. this platform was about six feet high and ten feet long; and it was just wide enough for the captain to walk to and fro upon it. there was a flight of steps leading up to this platform from the floor of the raft, and a little railing on each side of it, to keep the captain from falling off while he was walking there. the object of having this platform raised in this way, was to give the captain a more commanding position, so as not only to enable him to survey the whole of the raft, and observe how every thing was going on upon it, but also to give him a good view of the river below, so that he might watch the currents, and see how the raft was drifting, and give the necessary orders for working it one way or the other, as might be required in order to keep it in the middle of the stream. then rollo went to the forward end of the raft to see the raftsmen row. the oars were of monstrous size, as you might well suppose to be the case from the fact that each of them required six men to work it. these six men all stood in a row along the handle of the oar, which seemed to be as large as a small mast. they all pressed down upon the handle of the oar so as to raise the blade out of the water, and then walked along over the floor of the raft quite a considerable distance. at last they stopped, and lifting up their hands, they allowed the blade of the oar to go down into the water. then they turned, and began to push the oar with their hands the other way. the outside men had to reach up very high, for as the oar was very long, and the blade was now necessarily in the water, the end of the handle was raised quite high in the air. the men, accordingly, that were nearest the end of the oar, were obliged to hold their hands up high, in order to reach it; and they all walked along very deliberately, like a platoon of soldiers, pushing the oar before them as they advanced. and as each of the other six oars had a similar platoon marching with it to and fro, and as all acted in concert, and kept time with each other in their motions, the whole operation had quite the appearance of a military manoeuvre. rollo watched it for some time with great satisfaction. after this rollo walked up and down the raft two or three times, and then his attention was attracted by a steamer going by. the steamer cut her way through the water with great speed, and the waves made by her paddle wheels dashed up against the margin of the raft as if it had been along shore. there was a great number of tourists on board the steamer. rollo could see them very distinctly sitting under the awning on the deck. some were standing by the railing and examining the raft by means of their spy glasses or opera glasses. others were seated at tables, eating late breakfasts, in little parties by themselves. the boat glided by very swiftly, however, and soon rollo could see nothing of her but the stern, and the foaming wake which her paddle wheels left behind them in the water. as soon as the steamboat had gone by, rollo began to feel a slight sense of loneliness on the raft, which feeling was increased by the sombre aspect of the scenery around him. the river was closely shut in by mountains on both sides, and between them the raft seemed to be drifting slowly down into a dark and gloomy gorge, which, though it might have seemed simply sublime to a pleasant party viewing it together from the cheerful deck of a steamer, or from a comfortable carriage on the banks, was well fitted to awaken an emotion of awe and terror in the mind of a boy like rollo, floating down into it helplessly on an enormous raft, with a hundred men, looking more like brigands than any thing else, marching solemnly to and fro at either end of it, working prodigious oars, with incessant toil, to prevent its being carried upon the rocks and dashed to pieces. in fact, rollo began soon to wish that he was safe on shore again. "i am very thankful," said he to himself, "that i made a bargain with the captain to put me ashore whenever i wished to go. i don't believe that i shall wish to go more than half way to boppard." so saying, rollo looked anxiously down the river. the mountains looked more and more dark and gloomy, and they appeared to shut in before him in such a manner that he could not see how it could be possible for such an immense raft to twist its way through between them. "i don't believe i shall wish to go more than a quarter of the way to boppard," said he. two or three minutes afterwards, on looking back, he saw the town of st. goar, where he had embarked, gradually disappearing behind a wooded promontory which was slowly coming in the way, and cutting it off from view. [illustration: rollo on the raft.] "in fact," said rollo to himself, "since i am not going all the way to boppard, i had better not go much farther; for i shall have to walk back, as the steamer does not stop this side of boppard. besides, i have seen all that there is on the raft already, and there is no use in staying on it any longer." so he concluded to go at once to the boat, according to the arrangement which he had made with the captain. he was afraid that he might have to wait some time before the captain would see him; but he did not. the captain saw him immediately, and sent a man to row him ashore. _two_ men came, in fact, the commissioner being one of them. but rollo did not pay any particular attention to this circumstance. he did not even observe that it was the same man that had come on board with him. rollo could not talk to the oarsman on the way, but on landing he gave him a little money,--about what he thought was proper,--and then went up into the road with a view to go home. the commissioner, in order not to awaken any suspicions in rollo's mind that he was following him, turned away as soon as he landed, and walked along the tow path down the stream. rollo went slowly home. he had not been more than half an hour on the raft, and had not gone down the stream more than a mile; so that in three quarters of an hour after he had left his uncle at the hotel he found himself drawing near to it again, on his return. he felt a little ashamed to get back so soon. so he thought that he would not go in at once and report himself to his uncle, but would go down on the bank of the river, and see if he could find a place to fish a little while, until some little time should have elapsed, so as to give to the period of his absence a tolerably respectable duration. "uncle george will laugh at me," said he to himself, "if he sees me come home so soon." so rollo went down to the quay, and taking out his fishing line, he began to make arrangements for fishing. he did not, however, feel quite at his ease. there seemed to be something a little like artifice in thus prolonging his absence in order to make his uncle think that he had gone farther down the river than he had been. it was not being quite honest, he thought. "after all," said he to himself, "i'll go and tell uncle george now. i shall have a better time fishing if i do. if he chooses to laugh at me, he may. if he is going to do it, i should like to have it over." so he went into the hotel, and advanced somewhat timidly to the door of the room where he had left his uncle writing. he opened the door, and looking in, said,-- "uncle george! i've got back." mr. george did not seem at all surprised, but looking up a moment from his writing, he smiled, and said,-- "ah! i'm glad to see you safe back again. it is rather lonesome here without you. did you have a pleasant voyage?" "yes," said rollo, "very pleasant. only i did not go very far. i got them to put me ashore about a mile below here." "that was right," said mr. george. "you did exactly as i should have done myself. in fact you can see all you wish to see on such a raft in half an hour." "yes," said rollo, "i found that i could." "and i am very glad that you came to tell me," said mr. george, "as soon as you came home." so rollo, quite relieved in mind, went down stairs again, and returning to the quay, he resumed his fishing. chapter xii. dinner. about half past three o'clock rollo went up to his uncle's room. "uncle george," said he, "have not you got almost through with your writing?" "why," said mr. george, "are you tired of staying here?" "yes," said rollo, "i am tired of being down in the bottom of such a deep valley. i wish you would put away your writing and go on up the river till we get out where we can see, and then you may write as much as you please." "do you wish to go up the river to-night?" asked mr. george. "yes," said rollo, "very much." mr. george took out his watch. "go down and ask the waiter when the next steamer comes along." rollo went down, and presently returned with the report that the next steamer came by at five o'clock. "there is a place up the river about two hours' sail, called bingen," said mr. george, "where the mountains end. above that the country is open and level, and the river wide. we might go up there, i suppose; but what should we do for dinner?" "we might have dinner on board the steamer," said rollo. "very well," said mr. george; "that's what we will do. you may go and tell the waiter to bring me the bill, and then be ready at half past four. that will give me an hour more to write." at half past four rollo came to tell mr. george that the steamer was coming. the trunk had been previously carried down and put on board a small boat, for this was one of the places where the steamers were not accustomed to come up to a pier, but received and landed passengers by means of small boats that went out to meet them in the middle of the river. such a boat was now ready at the foot of the landing stairs, and mr. george and rollo got into it. the boatman waited until the steamer came pretty near, and then he rowed out to meet it. he stopped rowing when the boat was opposite to the paddle wheel of the steamer, and the steamer stopped her engine at the same time. a man who stood on the paddle box threw a rope to the boat, and the boatman made this rope fast to a belaying pin that was set for the purpose near the bow of the boat. by means of this rope the boat was then drawn rapidly up alongside the steamer, at a place directly aft the paddle wheel, where there was a little stairway above, and a small platform below, both of which, when not in use, were drawn up out of the way, but which were always let down when passengers were to come on board. as soon as the boat came alongside this apparatus, rollo and mr. george stepped out upon the platform, and went up the little stairway, the hands on board the steamer standing there to help them. in a moment more the trunk was passed up, the boat was pushed off, and the paddle wheels of the steamer were put in motion; and thus, almost before rollo had time to think what was going on, he found himself comfortably seated on a camp stool under the awning, by the side of mr. george, on the quarter deck of the steamer, and sailing swiftly along on his voyage up the river. "what sudden transitions we pass through," said, mr. george, "in travelling on the rhine!" "yes," said rollo, "it seems scarcely five minutes ago that i was sitting, all by myself, on the bank of a lonesome river, fishing; and now i am on board a steamer, with all this company, and dashing away through the water at a great rate." "true," said mr. george; "and how quickly we came on board! one minute we are creeping along slowly over the water in a little boat, and the next, as if by some sort of magic, we find ourselves on the deck of the steamer, with the boat drifting away astern." "how high the mountains are," said rollo, "along the shores here! do the mountains end at bingen?" "yes," said mr. george, "at bingen, or soon after that. there the country opens, and the banks of the river become level and flat. the river widens, and there are a great many islands in it. there we come to railroads again too, for where the land is level they can make railroads very easily. it would be very difficult to make a railroad here, though i believe they are going to do it." "i should think it would be difficult," said rollo. "but now, uncle george, about our dinner." "very well," said mr. george, "about the dinner." so the two travellers held a consultation on this subject, and concluded what to have. a few minutes afterwards a waiter came by, carrying a large salver, with some coffee and bread and butter upon it, for a gentleman on the deck. mr. george beckoned to this waiter, and when he came to him, he ordered the dinner that he and rollo had agreed upon. it consisted of sausages for rollo, a beefsteak for mr. george, and fried potatoes for both. after that they were to have an omelet and some coffee. the coffee on board the rhine steamers, being made with very rich and pure milk, is delicious. the waiter brought up a small square table to the part of the deck where mr. george and rollo were sitting, which was under the shady side of the awning, and set it for their dinner. in about twenty minutes the dinner was ready. the table itself was as neat and nice as possible, and the dishes which had been ordered were prepared in the most perfect manner. i need not add, i suppose, that mr. george and rollo--it being now so late--were provided with excellent appetites. so they had a very good time eating their dinner. while they were eating it they could watch the changes in the scenery of the banks, as they glided swiftly along, and observe the steamers, tow boats, and other river craft, that passed them from time to time. while they were at dinner, rollo asked mr. george about the rafts, and where the timber that they were made of came from. [illustration: dinner on the rhine.] "why, you see," said mr. george, "the river rhine, in the upper portions of it, has a great many branches which come down from among the mountains, where nothing will grow well but timber. so they reserve these places for forests, and as fast as the timber gets grown, they cut it down, and slide it down the slopes to the nearest stream, and then float it along till they come to great streams; and there they form it into rafts, and send it down the river to holland and belgium, where timber does not grow." "would not timber grow in belgium and holland?" asked rollo. "yes," said mr. george, "it would grow very well, but the land is too valuable to appropriate it to such a purpose. the whole country below cologne, where we came to the river, is smooth and level, and free from stones, so that it is easily ploughed and tilled; and thus grain, and flax, and other very valuable crops can be raised upon it. they raise a few trees in that part of the country, but not many." "i never heard of raising trees before," said rollo, "except apple trees, or something like that." "true," said mr. george, "because in america, as that is a new country, there is an abundance of native forests, where the trees grow wild. but you must remember that every foot of land in europe has been in the possession of man, and occupied by him, for two thousand years. there is not a field or a hill, or even a rocky steep on the mountain side, which has not had sixty or seventy generations of owners, who have all been watching it, and taking care of it, and improving it more or less all that time; each one carefully considering what his land can produce most profitably, and taking care of it and managing it especially with reference to that production. if his land is smooth and level, he ploughs it, and cultivates it for grass, or grain, or other plants requiring special tillage. if it is in steep slopes, with a warm exposure, he terraces it up, and makes vineyards of it. if it is in steep slopes, with a cold exposure, then it will do for timber, provided there are streams near it, so that he can float the timber away. if there are no streams near it, he can use it as pasture ground for sheep or cattle; for the wool, or the butter and cheese, which he obtains from this kind of farming, can be transported without streams; or, at least, such commodities will bear transporting farther before coming to a stream than wood or timber. thus, you see, whatever the land is fit for, it has been appropriated to for a great many centuries; and it has all been cropped over and over again, even where the crop is a forest of trees. if we allow the trees even a hundred years to grow, before they are large enough to cut, that would give, in two thousand years, time to cut them off and let them grow up again twenty times." "here comes a steamer," said rollo. just then the bow of a steamer came shooting into view, down the river. on the forward part of the deck were several soldiers and laborers, with women and children that looked like emigrants, and also a huge pile of trunks and merchandise covered with a tarpauling. then came the paddle wheels, and then the quarter deck, with a large company of tourists, most of whom were looking about very eagerly at the scenery, with guide books and glasses in their hands. these were tourists that had been travelling in switzerland, and were coming home by way of the rhine; and as they were now just entering the part of the river where the grand and imposing scenery was to be seen,--though mr. george and rollo were just leaving it,--they were full of wonder and admiration at the various objects which appeared around them on every side. rollo had but a very brief opportunity to look at these strangers, for the steamer which conveyed them passed by very swiftly, and in a moment they were gone. "how swift!" said rollo. "yes," said mr. george, "they go down the stream much faster than they go up; for in going down they have the current to help them, but we have it to hinder us in going up." "and does it help just as much as it hinders?" asked rollo. "yes," said mr. george, "for any given time. if the current flows two miles an hour, it will carry forward a boat that is going _with_ it just two miles faster than it would go in still water. and if the boat is going _against_ it, it will go just two miles an hour slower. "thus, you see," continued mr. george, "if a steamer had an engine capable of driving her twelve miles an hour through the water, in navigating a stream that flows _two_ miles an hour, she would go _fourteen_ miles an hour in going down, and _ten_ miles an hour in going up." "then," said rollo, "it seems that the _help_ of a current is just as much as the _hinderance_ of it, and that a river running fast is just as good for navigation as if the water were still. because, you see," he added, "that though they lose some headway in going up, they gain it just the same in coming down." "that reasoning seems plausible," replied mr. george, "but it is not sound." "what do you mean by _plausible_?" asked rollo. "why, it _appears_ to be good, when it really is not so. reasoning very often appears to be good, while there is all the time some latent flaw in it which makes the conclusion wrong. very often something is left out of the account which ought to be taken in and calculated for, and that is the case here. the truth is, that the current helps the steamer in going down just as much as it retards her in coming up _for any given time_; as for instance, for an hour, or for six hours. but we are to consider that in accomplishing any given _distance_, the steamer is longer in coming up than she is in going down, and so is exposed to the retarding effect of the current longer than she has the benefit of its coöperation. "for example," continued mr. george, "suppose the distance from one place to another, on a river flowing two miles an hour, is such that it takes a steamer three hours to go down and four hours to come up. in going down she would be aided how much?" "two miles an hour," said rollo. "and that makes how much for the whole time going down?" asked mr. george. "six miles," said rollo. "now, it takes her _four_ hours to go up," said mr. george. "how much would she be kept back then by the current?" "why, two miles an hour for _four_ hours," said rollo, "which would make eight miles." "thus in the double voyage," said mr. george, "the boat would be helped _six_ miles and hindered _eight_, so that the current would on the whole be a serious disadvantage. for a steamer, therefore, which is to be navigated equally both ways, the current is an evil. "but for that sort of navigation which goes only one way, it is a great advantage. for instance, the rafts have to come down, but they never have to go back again; and so they have the whole advantage of the current in bringing them down, without any disadvantage to balance it. "on the whole," said mr. george, "i do not see but that the currents of great rivers are an advantage, for there is always a much greater quantity to come down than to go up. the heavy products that grow on the borders of the rivers are to come down, while comparatively little in quantity goes up. so the benefit, on the whole, which is produced by the flow of the water, may be greater than the injury." "what do they do with the rafts," said rollo, "when they get them down the river?" "they break them up," said mr. george, "and sell the timber in the countries near the mouth of the river, where but little timber grows." by this time, mr. george and rollo had finished eating the meats which they had ordered for their dinner, and so the waiter came and took away the plates, and brought the omelet and the coffee. with the coffee the waiter brought two small plates and knives, and some very nice rolls and butter. he also brought a plate containing several slices of a kind of cake, _toasted_. this cake was very nice. while rollo was eating it he asked his uncle george whether, in case he had gone down the river to boppard, and had not got back until dark, he should not have been anxious about him. "no," said mr. george, "not much. i took precautions against that." "what precautions?" asked rollo. "why, i sent a man with you to take care of you," said mr. george. "you sent a man with me?" repeated rollo, very much surprised. "yes," said mr. george, quietly. "as soon as you had gone out of my room, to go on board the raft, i called the waiter, and asked him to send a commissioner with you, to see that you did not get into any difficulty, and to take care of you in case there should be any occasion." "now, uncle george," said rollo, in a mournful and complaining tone, "that was not fair." "why not?" asked mr. george. "because," said rollo, "i wanted to take care of myself." "well," said mr. george, "you _did_ take care of yourself--didn't you? my plan did not interfere with yours at all--did it?" rollo did not answer, but he looked as if he were not convinced. "i gave the man special charge," said mr. george, "not to interfere with you in any way, and not even to let you know that i had said any thing about you to him, so that you should be left entirely to your own resources. and you _were_ so left. you acted in the whole affair just as you thought proper, and took care of yourself admirably well. i think especially that you were very wise in leaving the raft when you did, instead of remaining on board three or four hours longer. but however this may be, you acted for yourself throughout. i did not interfere with you at all." "well," said rollo, after a moment's pause, "what you say is very true. but it seems to me it was a little artful in you to do that; and you always tell me that i must not be artful, but must be perfectly honest and open in all that i do. don't you think you deceived me a little?" "i do not see that i did," said mr. george. "when we deceive a person, we do it by saying or doing something to give him a false impression, or to make him suppose that something is true which is not true. now, what did i do or say to give you any false impression?" "why, nothing, i suppose," said rollo, "except sending that man to take care of me without letting me know it." "that was _concealing_ something from you," said mr. george, "not deceiving you. there are a thousand occasions when it is right to conceal things from the people around us. that is very different from deceiving them. this was a case in which i thought it best to conceal what i did, for a time, though i intended to tell you in the end. you see, i should not have done my duty, as a guardian intrusted with the care of a boy by his father, if i had allowed you to go away from me on such a doubtful expedition without some precautions. so i thought it best to send the commissioner; but i knew you wished to take care of yourself, and so i charged the commissioner to allow you to do so, and on no account to interpose, unless some accident, or unforeseen emergency, should occur. i told him not even to let you know that he was there, so that you might not be embarrassed or restricted at all by his presence, or even relieved of any portion of your solicitude. but i determined to tell you all about it as soon as it was over, and i was fondly imagining that you would praise me for my sagacity in managing the business as i did, and also especially for my openness and honesty in explaining all to you at last. but instead of that, it seems you think i did wrong; so that where i expected compliments and praise, i get only censure and condemnation; and i do not know what i shall do." mr. george said this with a perfectly grave face, and with such a tone of mock meekness and despondency, that rollo burst into a loud laugh. "if you could think of any suitable punishment for me," continued mr. george, in the same penitent tone, "i would submit to it very contentedly; though i do not see myself any suitable way by which i can be punished, except perhaps by a fine." "yes," said rollo, "a fine; you shall be fined, uncle george. there is a woman out here that has got some raspberries, in little paper baskets. you shall be fined a paper of raspberries." mr. george acceded to this proposal. the raspberries were two groschen a basket. mr. george gave rollo the money, and rollo, going forward with it, bought the raspberries, and he and mr. george ate them up together. they served the double purpose of a punishment for the offence, and of a dessert for the dinner. [illustration] chapter xiii. bingen. at some places on the rhine the passengers go on board the steamers and land from them in a small boat, as mr. george and rollo did at st. goar. at others there is a regular pier for a landing. at all the large towns there is a pier,--in some there are two or three,--which belong severally to the different companies which own the lines of steamers. these piers are constructed in a very peculiar manner. they are made by means of a large and heavy boat, which is anchored at a short distance from the shore, and then a massive platform is built, extending from the quay to this boat. the boat, being afloat, rises and falls with the river; and thus the end of the platform which rests upon it is kept always at the proper level for the landing of the passengers, so that, whatever may be the state of the water, they go over on a level plank. this is a very convenient arrangement for such a river as the rhine, which rises and falls considerably at different seasons, on account of the variation in the quantity of rain, and in the melting of the snows, on the mountains in switzerland. bingen is one of the towns where there is a floating pier of this kind, and mr. george and rollo were safely landed upon it about eight o'clock. it was a very pleasant evening. as they approached the town, before they landed, they both walked forward towards the bows of the vessel, to see what sort of a place it was where they were going to spend the night. "it is just like coblenz," said mr. george, "only on a small scale." it was indeed very much like coblenz in its situation, for it was built on a point of land formed between the rhine and the nahe, a branch which came in here from the westward, just as coblenz was at the junction of the rhine and the moselle. there was a bridge across the moselle, you recollect, just at the mouth of it, on the lower side of the town, which bridge was made to accommodate the travellers going up and down the rhine on that side. there was just such a bridge across the mouth of the nahe. so that the situation of the town was in all respects very similar to that of coblenz. just below the town there was a small green island covered with shrubbery, and on the upper end of the island was a high, square tower, standing alone. "that's must be bishop hatto's tower," said mr. george. "who was he?" asked rollo. "he was a man that was eaten up by the rats," said mr. george, "because he called the poor people rats, and burned up a great many of them in his barn. the story is in the guide book. i will read it to you when we get to the hotel." by this time the boat had glided by the island, and the tower was out of view; and very soon afterwards mr. george and rollo were landed on the floating pier, as i have already said. there were very few people to land, and the boat seemed merely to touch the pier and then to glide away again. there were several porters standing by, and they immediately took up the passengers' baggage, and carried it away to the hotels, which were all very near the river. rollo and mr. george were soon comfortably established in a room with two beds in it, one in each corner, and a large round table near one of the windows. outside of the other window was a balcony, and rollo immediately went out there, to look at the view. "we have not got quite _out_ yet, uncle george," said he. rollo was right, for the bank of the river opposite bingen was very steep and high, and was terraced from top to bottom for vineyards. in fact, this part of the river is more celebrated, perhaps, than any other for the excellent quality of the grapes which it produces. it is here that are situated the famous vineyards of rudesheim and johannisberg. in fact, the whole country, for miles in extent, is one vast vineyard. the separate fields are divided from one another by the terrace walls, which run parallel to the river, and by paths formed sometimes by steps, and sometimes by zigzags, which ascend and descend from the crest of the hills above to the line of the shore. the only buildings to be seen among all this vast expanse of walls and terraces are the little watchtowers that are erected here and there at commanding points to enable the vinegrowers to watch the fruit, when it comes to the time of ripening. the laborers who till the fields, and dress the vines, and gather the grapes in the season, live all of them in compact villages, built at intervals along the shore. while rollo was looking at this scene, and wondering how such an immense number of walls and terraces could ever have been built, his attention was suddenly arrested by hearing a sweet and silvery voice, like that of a girl, calling out,-- "rollo." rollo turned in the direction of the sound, and found that it was minnie speaking to him. she was standing on another balcony, one which opened from the chamber next to his. rollo was very much pleased to see her. he thought it very remarkable that he should meet her thus so many times; but it was not. travellers on the rhine going in the same direction, and stopping to see the same things, often meet each other in this way again and again. after talking with minnie some little time from the balcony, rollo asked her if her mother was there. "yes," said minnie. "ask her then," said rollo, "if you may come down and take a walk with me in the garden." minnie went in from the balcony, and in a moment returning, she said, "yes," and immediately disappeared again. so rollo went down, and minnie presently came and met him in the garden. [illustration: minnie.] the garden was a small piece of ground in front of the hotel, between the hotel and the river. there was a large gate opening from it towards the hotel, and another towards the river. the garden was full of shade trees, with pleasant walks winding about among them, and here and there a border, or a bed of flowers. there were several carved images placed here and there, one of which amused rollo and minnie very much, for it represented a monkey sitting on a pole and looking at himself in a hand looking glass which he held before his face. in the other hand he had a parasol. in the front part of the garden, towards the river, were several tables under the trees, where people might take coffee or ices, or they might take their dinner there if they chose. in the front of the garden too, at the corners, were two summer houses, with tables and chairs in them. the sides of these houses that were turned towards the river, and also those that were towards the gardens, were open. the other two sides of each summer house had walls, on which were painted views of castles and other scenery of the rhine. over one of the summer houses was a little room for a lookout, where there was a very fine prospect up and down the river. rollo and minnie rambled about here for some time, examining every thing with great attention. they chose one of the pleasantest tables, and sat down before it. "this is a nice place," said minnie. "i propose that you and i come out here to-morrow morning and have breakfast, all by ourselves." "o, we can't do that very well," said rollo. "yes we can," replied minnie, "just as well as not. i'll plan it all." minnie then jumped up and led the way, rollo following, through the open gate towards the river. there was a sort of street outside, and rollo and minnie stood here for a few minutes to see a steamer go by. minnie then proposed that they should get into a boat that was lying there, and take a sail. "you can row--can't you?" said she to rollo. "no," said rollo, "not on such a river as this. see how swift the current flows." "never mind," said minnie, "i can. let us jump into this boat, and have a sail." "no," said rollo, "not for the world. we should be carried off down the stream in spite of every thing." "never mind," said minnie; "we should land somewhere, and they would send down for us. we should have a great deal of fun." how far minnie would have persevered in urging her plan for a venture in the boat on the river i do not know; but the conversation was here interrupted by the appearance of mr. george, who had come down through the garden, and just at this instant joined the children on the quay. [illustration] chapter xiv. the ruin in the garden. mr. george said that he had come to ask rollo to go and take a walk to see an old ruin in the town, and he told minnie that he should be very glad to have her go too, if her mother would be willing. "o, yes," said minnie, "she will be willing. i'll go." "you must go and ask her first," said mr. george. so, while mr. george and rollo walked slowly up towards the hotel, minnie ran before them to ask her mother. mr. george explained to rollo in walking through the garden, that there were two ruins that he wished to see while he was at bingen. one was the famous castle of rheinstein, which stood on the bank of the river, a few miles below the town. "but it is too late to go there to-night," said mr. george. "we will take that for to-morrow. but there is an old ruin back here in the village, which i think we can see to-night." when they reached the door of the hotel, minnie met them, and said that she could go; and so they walked along together. mr. george groped about a long time among the narrow streets and passage ways of the town, to find some way of access to the ruin, but in vain. he obtained frequent views of it, and of the rocky hill that it stood upon, which was seen here and there, by chance glimpses, rising in massive grandeur above the houses of the town; but he could not find any way to get to it. "it is in a private garden," said mr. george, "i know; but how to find the way to it i cannot imagine." "perhaps it is here," said minnie. so saying, minnie ran up to a gate by the side of the street, which led into a very pretty yard, all shaded with trees and shrubbery, and having a large and handsome house by the side of it. the gate was shut and fastened, but minnie could look through the bars. there was a woman standing near one of the doors of the house, and minnie beckoned to her. the woman came immediately down towards the gate. minnie pointed in towards a walk which seemed to lead back among the trees, and said to the woman,-- "_schloss?_" _schloss_ is the german word for _castle_. minnie could not speak german; but she knew some words of that language, and the words that she did know she was always perfectly ready to use, whenever an occasion presented. "_ja_, _ja_," said the woman; and immediately she opened the gate. by this time minnie had beckoned mr. george and rollo to come up from the road, and they all three went in through the gate. the woman called to a man who was then just coming down out of the garden, and said something to him in german. none of our party could understand what she said; but they knew from the circumstances of the case, and from her actions, that she was saying to him that the strangers wished to see the ruins. so, the man leading the way, and the three visitors following him, they all went on along a broad gravel walk which led up into the garden. mr. george asked the guide if he could speak english, and he said, "_nein._" then he asked him if he could speak french, and he said, "_nein._" he said he could only speak german. "he can't explain any thing to us, children," said mr. george; "we shall have to judge for ourselves." the walk was very shady that led along the garden, and as it was now long past eight o'clock, it was nearly dark walking there, though it was still pretty light under the open sky. the walk gradually ascended, and it soon brought the party to a place where they could see, rising up among the trees, fragments of ancient walls of stupendous height. rollo looked up to them with wonder. he even felt a degree of awe, as well as wonder, for the strange and uncouth forms of windows and doors, which were seen here and there; the embrasures, and the yawning arches which appeared below, leading apparently to subterranean dungeons, being all dimly seen in the obscurity of the night, suggested to his mind ideas of prisoners confined there in ancient times, and wearing out their lives in a dreadful and hopeless captivity, or being put to death by horrid tortures. minnie was still more afraid of these gloomy remains than rollo. she was afraid to look up at them. "look up there, minnie," said rollo. "see that old broken window with iron gratings in the walls." "no," replied minnie, "i do not want to see it at all." so saying she looked straight down upon the path before her, and walked on as fast as possible. "if i should look up there, i should see some dreadful thing mowing and chowing at me," she added. rollo laughed, and they all walked on. presently the path began to ascend more rapidly, and soon it brought the whole party out into the light, on the slope of an elevation which was covered with the main body of the ruined castle. the man led the way up a steep path, and then up a flight of ancient stone steps built against a wall, until he came to an iron gateway. this he unlocked, and the whole party went in, or rather went through, for as the roofs were gone from the ruins, they were almost as much out of doors after passing through the gateway as they were before. mr. george and the children gazed around upon the confused mass of ruined bastions, towers, battlements, and archways, that lay before them, with a feeling of awe which it is impossible to describe. the grass waved and flowers bloomed on the tops of the walls, on the sills of the windows, and on every projecting cornice, or angle, where a seed could have lodged. in many places thick clusters of herbage were seen growing luxuriantly from crumbling interstices of the stones in the perpendicular face of the masonry, fifty feet from the ground. large trees were growing on what had formerly been the floors of the halls, or of the chambers, and tall grass waved there, ready for the scythe. there was one tower which still had a roof upon it. a steep flight of stone steps led up to a door in this tower. the door was under a deep archway. the guide led the way up this stairway, and unlocking the door, admitted his party into the tower. they found themselves, when they had entered, in a small, square room. it occupied the whole extent of the tower on that story, and yet it was very small. this room was in good condition, having been carefully preserved, and was now the only remaining room of the whole castle which was not dismantled and in ruins. but this room, though still shut in from the weather, and protected in a measure from further decay, presented an appearance of age wholly indescribable. the door where the party had come in was on one side of it, and there was a window on the opposite side, leading out to a little stone balcony. on the other two sides were two antique cabinets of carved oak, most aged and venerable in appearance, and of the most quaint construction. the walls and the floor were of stone. in the middle of the floor, however, was a heavy trap door. the guide lifted up this door by means of a ponderous ring of rusty iron, and let mr. george and the children look down. it was a dark and dismal dungeon. "_prison,_" said the guide. this, it seemed, was the only english word that he could speak. "yes," said mr. george, speaking to rollo and minnie. "he means that this was the prison of the castle." the guide shut down the trap door, and the children, after gazing around upon the room a few minutes longer, were glad to go away. just before reaching the hotel on their way home, rollo told minnie that he and mr. george were going down the next day to see rheinstein, a beautiful castle down the river, and he asked her if she would not like to go too. mr. george was walking on before them at this time, and he did not hear this conversation. "no," said minnie, "i believe not. it makes me afraid to go and see these old ruins." "but this one that we are going to see is not an old ruin," said rollo. "it has been all made over again as good as new, and is full of beautiful rooms and beautiful furniture. besides, it stands out in a good clear place on the bank of the river, and you will not be afraid at all. i mean to ask uncle george if i may ask you to go." that evening, in reflecting on the adventures of the day, rollo wondered that minnie, who seemed to have so much courage about going out in a boat on the water, and in clambering about into all sorts of dangerous places, should be so afraid of old ruins; but the fact is, that people are in nothing more inconsistent than in their fears. [illustration] chapter xv. rheinstein. rollo determined to ask his uncle george at breakfast if he might invite minnie to accompany them on their visit to the castle of rheinstein. he was sorry, however, when he came to reflect a little, that he had not first asked his uncle george, before mentioning the subject to minnie at all. "for," said he to himself, "if there _should_ be any difficulty or objection to prevent her going with us, then i shall have to go and tell her that i can't invite her, after all; and that would be worse than not to have said any thing about it." when, at length, rollo and mr. george were seated at table at breakfast, rollo asked his uncle if he was willing that minnie should go with them to the castle. "i told her," said he, "last night, that we were going, and i said i intended to ask you if she might go with us. but i thought afterwards that it would have been better to have spoken about it to you first." "yes," said mr. george, "that would be much the best mode generally, though in this case it makes no difference, for i shall be very glad to have minnie go." so rollo immediately after breakfast went to renew his invitation to minnie, and about an hour afterwards the party set out on their excursion. they went in a fine open barouche with two horses, which mr. george selected from several that were standing near the hotel, waiting to be hired. mr. george took the back seat, and rollo and minnie sat together on the front seat. thus they rode through the streets of the town, and over the old stone bridge which led across the nahe near its junction with the rhine. from the bridge rollo could see the little green island on which stood bishop hatto's tower. "there is bishop hatto's tower," said rollo, "and you promised, uncle george, to tell me the story of it." "well," said mr. george, "i will tell it to you now." so mr. george began to relate the story as follows:-- "there was a famine coming on at one time during bishop hatto's life, and the people were becoming very destitute, though the bishop's granaries were well supplied with corn. the poor flocked and crowded around his door. at last the bishop appointed a time when, he told them, they should have food for the winter, if they would repair to his great barn. young and old, from far and near, did so, and when the barn could hold no more, he made fast the door, and set fire to it, and burned them all. he then returned to his palace, congratulating himself that the country was rid of the 'rats,' as he called them. he ate a good supper, went to bed, and slept like an innocent man; but he never slept again. in the morning, when he entered a room where hung his picture, he found it entirely eaten by rats. presently a man came and told him that the rats had entirely consumed his corn; and while the man was telling him this, another man came running, pale as death, to tell him that ten thousand rats were coming. 'i'll go to my tower on the rhine,' said the bishop; ''tis the safest place in germany.' he immediately hastened to the shore, and crossed to his tower, and very carefully barred all the doors and windows. after he had retired for the night, he had hardly closed his eyes, when he heard a fearful scream. he started up, and saw the cat sitting by his pillow, screaming with fear of the army of rats that were approaching. they had swum over the river, climbed the shore, and were scaling the walls of his tower by thousands. the bishop, half dead with fright, fell on his knees, and began counting his beads. the rats soon gained the room, fell upon the bishop, and in a short time nothing was left of him but his bones. "there is an account of it in poetry too, in my book," said mr. george. "read it to us," said minnie. so mr. george opened his book, and read the account in poetry, as follows:-- bishop hatto. the summer and autumn had been so wet, that in winter the corn was growing yet; 'twas a piteous sight to see all around the grain lie rotting on the ground. every day the starving poor crowded around bishop hatto's door, for he had a plentiful last year's store; and all the neighborhood could tell his granaries were furnished well. at last bishop hatto appointed a day to quiet the poor without delay: he bade them to his great barn repair, and they should have food for the winter there. rejoiced at such tidings good to hear, the poor folk flocked from far and near; the great barn was full as it could hold of women and children, and young and old. then, when they saw it could hold no more, bishop hatto he made fast the door; and while for mercy on christ they call, he set fire to the barn, and burned them all. "i' faith 'tis an excellent bonfire!" quoth he, "and the country is greatly obliged to me for ridding it, in these times forlorn, of rats that only consume the corn." so then to his palace returned he, and he sat down to supper merrily, and he slept that night like an innocent man; but bishop hatto never slept again. in the morning, as he entered the hall where his picture hung against the wall, a sweat like death all o'er him came, for the rats had eaten it out of the frame. as he looked there came a man from his farm; he had a countenance white with alarm. "my lord, i opened your granaries this morn, and the rats had eaten all your corn." another came running presently, and he was pale as pale could be: "fly, my lord bishop, fly," quoth he; "ten thousand rats are coming this way; the lord forgive you for yesterday." "i'll go to my tower on the rhine," replied he, "'tis the safest place in germany; the walls are high, and the shores are steep, and the stream is strong, and the water deep." bishop hatto fearfully hastened away, and he crossed the rhine without delay, and reached his tower, and barred with care all the windows, doors, and loopholes there. he laid him down and closed his eyes; but soon a scream made him arise. he started, and saw two eyes of flame on his pillow, from whence the screaming came. he listened and looked: it was only the cat: but the bishop he grew more fearful for that; for she sat screaming, mad with fear at the army of rats that were drawing near. for they have swum over the river so deep, and they have climbed the shores so steep, and now by thousands up they crawl to the holes and windows in the wall. down on his knees the bishop fell, and faster and faster his beads did he tell, as louder and louder, drawing near, the saw of their teeth without he could hear. and in at the windows, and in at the door, and through the walls by thousands they pour, and down through the ceiling and up through the floor, from the right and the left, from behind and before, from within and without, from above and below; and all at once at the bishop they go. they have whetted their teeth against the stones, and now they pick the bishop's bones; they gnawed the flesh from every limb, for they were sent to do judgment on him. "i'm glad they ate him up," said minnie, as soon as mr. george had finished reading the poetry. "i am very glad indeed." "yes," said rollo, "so am i." "what a pleasant ride this is!" said rollo, after a little pause. it was, indeed, a delightful ride. the road was carried along the bank of the river a short distance above the level of the water. it was very hard, and smooth, and level; and on the side of it opposite to the water, the land rose abruptly in a steep ascent, which was covered with forest trees. at the distance of about a mile before them, down the river, they could see the towers and battlements of the castle which they were going to visit, rising among the tops of the trees, on a projecting promontory. "i like the ride very much," said rollo; "but i don't care much about the castle. i'm tired of castles." "so am i," said mr. george; "but this is different from the rest. this is a castle restored." "what do you mean by that?" said rollo. "why, nearly all the old castles on the rhine," replied mr. george, "have been abandoned, and have gone to decay; or else, if they have been repaired or rebuilt, they have been finished and furnished in the fashion of modern times. but this castle of rheinstein, which we are now going to see, has been restored, as nearly as possible, to its ancient condition. the rooms, and the courts, and the towers, and battlements are all arranged as they used to be in former ages; and the furniture contained within is of the ancient fashion. the chairs, and tables, and cabinets, and all the other articles, are such as the barons used when the castles on the rhine were inhabited." "where do they get such things nowadays?" asked rollo. "some of the furniture which they have in this castle," said mr. george, "originally belonged there, and has been kept there all the time, for hundreds of years. when they repaired and rebuilt the castle, they repaired this furniture too, and put it in perfect order. some other furniture they bought from other old castles which the owners did not intend to repair, and some they had made new, after the ancient patterns. but here we are, close under the castle." a few minutes after this, the carriage stopped in the road at the entrance to a broad, gravelled pathway, which diverged from the road directly under the castle walls, and began to ascend at once through the woods in zigzags. mr. george and his party got out, and began to go up. the carriage, in the mean time, went on a few steps farther, to a smooth and level place by the roadside, under the shade of some trees, there to await the return of the party from their visit to the castle above. "now, children," said mr. george, "we will see how you can stand hard climbing." rollo and minnie looked up, and they could see the walls and battlements of the castle, resting upon and crowning the crags and precipices of the rock, far above their heads. the road, or rather the pathway,--for it was not wide enough for a carriage, and was besides too steep, and turned too many sharp corners for wheels,--was very smooth and hard, and the children ascended it without any difficulty. they stopped frequently to look up, for at every turn there was some new view of the walls or battlements, or towers above, or of the crags and precipices of the rock on which the various constructions of masonry rested. the cliffs and precipices in many places overhung the path, and seemed ready to fall. in fact, in one place, an immense mass had cracked off, and was all ready to come down, but was retained in its place by a heavy iron chain, which passed around it, and was secured by clamps and staples to the more solid portion of the rock behind it. rollo and minnie looked up to this cliff, as they passed beneath it, with something like a feeling of terror. "i should not like to have that rock come down upon our heads," said minnie. "no," said rollo, "nor i; but i should like to see it come down if we were out of the way." at length the road, after many winding zigzags and convolutions, came out upon a gravelled area in front of a great iron gate at an angle between two towers. a man came from a courtyard within, and opened a small gate, which formed a part of the great one. he seemed to be a servant. mr. george asked him in french if they could come in and see the castle. the man smiled and shook his head, but at the same time opened the door wide, and stood on one side, as if to make way for them to come in. "he says no," whispered rollo. "no," replied mr. george, "his _no_ means that he does not understand us; but he wishes us to come in." as mr. george said these words, he passed through the gate, leading minnie by the hand, and followed by rollo. the man shut the gate after them, and then began to say something to them, very fluently and earnestly, pointing at the same time to a door which opened upon a gallery that extended along the wall of a tower near by. as soon as he had finished what seemed to be some sort of explanation, he left the party standing in the court, and returned to his work. "he says," remarked mr. george, "that there is a man coming to show us the castle." "how do you know?" asked rollo. "i know by the signs that he made," replied mr. george. "besides, i heard him say _schloss-vogt_." "what is _schloss-vogt_?" asked rollo. "that was the ancient name for the officer who kept the keys of a castle," replied mr. george, "and in restoring this castle they thought they would reëstablish the old office. so they call the man who keeps the keys the _schloss-vogt_." in a few minutes the _schloss-vogt_ came. he was dressed in the ancient costume. he wore a black velvet frock coat, and green velvet cap, both made in a very antique and curious fashion, after the pattern of those worn, in ancient days, by the officers who had the custody of the keys in the baronial castles. the _schloss-vogt_ conducted his visitors all over the edifice that was under his charge. it would be impossible to describe the variety of halls, corridors, courts, towers, ramparts, and battlements which rollo and minnie were led to see. they went from one to another, until they were at length completely bewildered with the intricacy, as well as dazzled by the magnificence, of the place. there were suites of most beautiful apartments, with polished floors, and painted walls, and furniture of the most curious and antique description. the chairs, the tables, the cabinets, and the beds of these rooms were all of the strangest forms; and though they were of very elaborate and splendid workmanship, being richly carved and inlaid with mosaic work, and often ornamented with mountings of silver, they all wore a very antique and venerable air, which was extremely imposing. the rooms were of all shapes and sizes, and were arranged and connected with each other in the most odd and singular fashion, as the external walls which enclosed them were extremely irregular in plan, being conformed in a great measure to the shape of the rocks on which the castle was founded. the _schloss-vogt_ was continually leading his party, as he guided them through the rooms, into some unexpected and curious place--a little cabinet, built on an angle of the wall; a winding staircase, opening suddenly in a corner, and leading up to a watchtower, or down to a court; a balcony overhanging a precipice, and commanding a most magnificent view up and down the river; or some other curious nook or corner, which in the snugness and coziness of its seclusion, and the beauty of its adornments, filled the hearts of rollo and minnie with delight. there were a great many specimens of ancient arms and armor, hung up in various halls in the castle, all of the most quaint and curious forms, but yet of the most elaborate and beautiful workmanship. there were swords, and daggers, and bows and arrows, and spurs, and shields, and coats of mail, and every other species of weapons, offensive and defensive, that the warriors of the middle ages were accustomed to use. rollo was most interested in the bows and arrows. they were of great size, and were made in a style of workmanship, and ornamented with mountings and decorations, which rollo had never dreamed of seeing in bows and arrows. among the other articles of armor, the _schloss-vogt_ showed the party a _gauntlet_, as it is called; that is, an iron glove, which was worn in ancient times to defend the hand from the cuts of swords and sabres. the inside of the glove--i mean the part which covered the inside of the hand--was of leather; but the back was formed of iron scales made to slide over each other, so as to allow the hand to open and shut freely, without making any opening in the iron. mr. george tried this glove on, and so, in fact, did rollo and minnie. they were all surprised to find how well it fitted to the hand, and how freely the fingers could be moved while it was on. the _schloss-vogt_ said that a man could write with it; and mr. george placed his hand, with the glove upon it, in the proper position for writing, and then moved his fingers to and fro, as if there had been a pen between them. "yes," said he, "i think i could write with it very well." all the furniture of the rooms was of a very quaint and curious description, while yet it was very rich and magnificent. there were elegant bedsteads of carved ebony surmounted with silken curtains and canopies of the most gorgeous description. there were cabinets inlaid with silver and pearl, and elegant cameos and mosaics, and a profusion of other such articles, all of which rollo had very little time to examine, as the _schloss-vogt_ led the party forward from one room to another without much delay. the rooms themselves, in respect to form and arrangement, were almost as curious as the articles which they contained. every one seemed different from the rest. you were constantly coming into the strangest and most unexpected places. there were cabinets, and wide halls, and intricate winding corridors, and open courts, and vaulted passages, and balconies, paved below and arched over above. at one place there was a light iron staircase built on the outside of a round tower, and as the tower itself was built on the pinnacle of an overhanging rock, you seemed, in ascending the staircase, to be poised in the air, with the rocks that lined the shore of the river beneath your feet, hundreds of feet below. after rambling about the castle for half an hour, the party returned to the gate where they had come in, and the _schloss-vogt_ bade them good by. he gave minnie a little bouquet of flowers as she came away. they were flowers which he had gathered for her, one by one, from the plants growing in the various balconies, and in little parterres in the courtyards, which they passed in going about the castle. minnie was very much pleased with this bouquet. "i mean to press some of the flowers," said she, "and keep them for a souvenir." "yes," said rollo, "i'll help you press them. i've got a pressing apparatus at home." "well," said minnie, in a tone of great satisfaction. "and then, when they are pressed, i'll give you one of them." so the party went down the zigzag path till they came to the main road at the bank of the river, and there getting into their carriage again, they rode home to the hotel. conclusion. our travellers had now passed through all that portion of the rhine which contains the castles and the romantic scenery. above bingen the valley of the rhine widens; that is, the mountains, instead of crowding in close to the river, recede from it many miles, enclosing a broad and level, but very fertile plain, through the midst of which the river flows between low banks, and with endless meanderings. the level country through which the river thus flows is inexpressibly beautiful, being divided into magnificent fields, and cultivated every where like a garden. it presents to the view a broad expanse of the richest verdure and beauty, but it cannot be seen from the steamboats on the river. travellers are, accordingly, accustomed to leave the river at mayence, a short distance above bingen, and to go on up to strasbourg by the railway. this was the plan which mr. george and rollo pursued. from strasbourg, mr. george took passage for paris by a railway train which left strasbourg in the afternoon, so that they travelled all night. this was rollo's plan. he wished to see how "it would seem," he said, to be travelling in the cars at midnight. [illustration: the night journey.] he, however, fell asleep soon after dark, and slept soundly all the way. * * * * * taggard & thompson publish the following popular juvenile books. rollo's tour in europe. ten volumes, mo, cloth. being a new series of rollo books. by rev. jacob abbott. beautifully illustrated. rollo on the atlantic--rollo in paris--rollo in switzerland--rollo on the rhine--rollo in london--rollo in scotland--rollo in geneva--rollo in holland--rollo in naples--rollo in rome. price per vol. cts. my uncle toby's library. by francis forrester, esq., consisting of twelve volumes, elegantly bound, and illustrated with upwards of sixty beautiful engravings. each book is printed in large and splendid type, upon superior paper. price per vol. cts. the summer house stories. by the author of "daisy," "violet," &c. elegantly illustrated by billings. six volumes. price per vol. cts. this series is designed to sketch attractively and simply the wonders of reptile and insect existences, the changes of trees, rocks, rivers, clouds, and winds. this is done by a family of children writing letters, both playful and serious, which are addressed to all children whom the books may reach. the martin and nellie stories. by josephine franklin. twelve volumes, mo, cloth. illustrated by billings and others. price per vol. cts. the object of these stories is the inculcation, in a quiet, simple way, of the principles of good nature, kindness, and integrity among children. they consist of the usual pathetic and mirthful incidents that constitute boy and girl life. the glen morris stories. by francis forrester, author of "my uncle toby's library." five vols. mo, cloth. beautifully illustrated. price per vol. cts. the purpose of the "glen morris stories" is to sow the seed of pure, noble, manly character in the mind of our great nation's childhood. they exhibit the virtues and vices of childhood, not in prosy, unreadable precepts, but in a series of characters which move before the imagination, as living beings do before the senses. pictures from the history of the swiss. one volume, mo. price cts. a very instructive and entertaining juvenile, designed for children from ten to fifteen years of age. pictures from the history of spain. by the author of "pictures from the history of the swiss." a new volume just published. price cts. life and adventures of whitenose woodchuck. one volume, mo. price cts. intended especially for younger children, and illustrated with numerous engravings, by billings. in addition to the above, b. & t. publish a great variety of toy and juvenile books, suited to the wants of children of all ages. * * * * * an interesting book for scholars. the boys have long desired such a book. the universal speaker: containing a collection of speeches, dialogues, and recitations, adapted to the use of schools, academies, and social circles. edited by n. a. calkins and w. t. adams. the excellences of this work consist, in part, of its entire originality, of its more than usual adaptation to the wants of our high schools and academies, and of the systematic arrangement of its selections for declamation and for elocutionary practice. those in part second were prepared by prof. wm. russell, the eminent elocutionist, expressly for this work. the publishers feel assured that in presenting this work to teachers and scholars, they are offering them no revision of old matter with which they have long been familiar, but an original work, full of new, interesting, and instructive pieces, for the varied purposes for which it is designed. in vol. mo. price $ . the instructions in declamation are so complete and accompanied by such ample illustrations relative to position and gestures of the student, that the "universal speaker" needs only to be seen to become what its name indicates--universal.--rochester repository. the pieces are judiciously selected, and the book is very attractive in its appearance--connecticut school journal. we find, upon close inspection, that the work contains much fresh matter, which will be acceptable to schools and students, particularly in the department of dialogues of which there is a great dearth of really good and fit matter in most speakers.--united states journal. they are all school-like, the dialogues being illustrative of scenes in common life, including some first-rate conversations pertinent to school-room duties and trials. the speeches are brief and energetic. it will meet with favor.--r. i. schoolmaster. the selection has been made with a great deal of foresight and taste, by men who are highly esteemed as elocutionists, writers, or teachers. the notation, the directions and cuts appended to the pieces, will be found useful to those who use them.--mass. teacher. looking it over hastily, we notice many admirable selections from the best authors, and as the book is entirely fresh, the matter never having appeared in previous readers or speakers, it cannot fail to be a welcome addition to the books of its class.--springfield republican. in this they have succeeded, and have also been fortunate in the selection. the book contains a larger number of dialogues than any we have seen, and they are mostly relative to school children and school affairs.--penn. school journal. * * * * * instruction and amusement. pictures from the history of the swiss. in vol. mo. pages. price cents. with characteristic illustrations, designed by hammett billings. it is not generally known that the early history of the swiss abounds in the most thrilling and interesting stories, of which that of wm. tell shooting the apple from the head of his son, by order of the tyrant gessler, so familiar to every child, is but a specimen. the present volume, while it introduces the youthful reader to many of the scenes through which the brave swiss passed in recovering their liberty, also narrates many stories of peculiar interest and romance, every way equal to that of tell. among these we may name, the thievish raven, and the mischief he caused. how the wives and daughters of zurich saved the city. how the city of lucerne was saved by a boy. the baker's apprentice. how a wooden figure raised troops in the valois. little roza's offering. a little theft, and what happened in consequence. the angel of the camp. with twenty-one other similar stories. * * * * * a new series of juveniles. the summer-house series. by the author of "violet," "daisy," etc. the first volume of what the publishers sincerely believe will be the most popular series of juvenile books yet issued, is now ready, entitled our summer-house, and what was said and done in it. in vol. mo. price cents. handsomely illustrated by hammett billings. from the author's preface:-- "the summer-house series of children's books, of which the present volume is the first, is an attempt to sketch attractively and simply the wonders of reptile and insect existence, the changes of trees, rocks, rivers, clouds and winds. "to this end a family of intelligent children, of various ages, collected in a garden summer-house, are supposed to write letters and stories, sometimes playful, sometimes serious, addressing them to all children whom the books may reach. "the author has hoped, by thus awakening the quick imagination and ready sympathies of the young, to lead them to use their own eyes, and hearts, and hands, in that plentiful harvest-field of life, where 'the reapers indeed are few.'" among the stories in the present volume are the following:-- bessie's garden. one of the most touching and affecting stories we have read for many a day. the lancers. a most humorous story, with a never-to-be-forgotten moral, inculcating contentment. the working fairies. in this story industry is held up for attainment, and idleness receives a severe rebuke. the style and language, though perfectly intelligible to children, are worthy of a beecher. the princess. a story of wrong and suffering. little red-head. a true story of a bird. the little preacher. a sweet story, introducing bird and insect life, and conveying more truth and instruction to children, than can be found in a dozen ordinary sermons. taggard & thompson, publishers, cornhill, boston. bertha our little german cousin by mary hazelton wade illustrated by l. j. bridgman boston the little cousin series preface when the word germany comes to our minds, we think at once of ruined castles, fairies, music, and soldiers. why is it? first, as to the castles. here and there along the banks of the river rhine, as well as elsewhere throughout the country, the traveller is constantly finding himself near some massive stone ruin. it seems ever ready to tell stories of long ago,--of brave knights who defended its walls, of beautiful princesses saved from harm, of sturdy boys and sweet-faced girls who once played in its gardens. for germany is the home of an ancient and brave people, who have often been called upon to face powerful enemies. next, as to the fairies. it seems as though the dark forests of germany, the quiet valleys, and the banks of the beautiful rivers, were the natural homes of the fairy-folk, the gnomes and the elves, the water-sprites and the sylphs. our german cousins listen with wonder and delight to the legends of fearful giants and enchanted castles, and many of the stories they know so well have been translated into other languages for their cousins of distant lands, who are as fond of them as the blue-eyed children of germany. as to the music, it seems as though every boy and girl in the whole country drew in the spirit of song with the air they breathe. they sing with a love of what they are singing, they play as though the tune were a part of their very selves. some of the finest musicians have been germans, and their gifts to the world have been bountiful. as for soldiers, we know that every man in germany must stand ready to defend his country. he must serve his time in drilling and training for war. he is a necessary part of that fatherland he loves so dearly. our fair-haired german cousins are busy workers and hard students. they must learn quite early in life that they have duties as well as pleasures, and the duties cannot be set aside or forgotten. but they love games and holidays as dearly as the children of our own land. contents chapter i. christmas ii. toy-making iii. the wicked bishop iv. the coffee-party v. the beautiful castle vi. the great frederick vii. the brave princess viii. what the waves bring ix. the magic sword list of illustrations bertha bertha's father and mother the rats' tower courtyard of heidelberg castle statue of frederick the great bertha's home chapter i. christmas "don't look! there, now it's done!" cried bertha. it was two nights before christmas. bertha was in the big living-room with her mother and older sister. each sat as close as possible to the candle-light, and was busily working on something in her lap. but, strange to say, they did not face each other. they were sitting back to back. "what an unsociable way to work," we think. "is that the way germans spend the evenings together?" no, indeed. but christmas was near at hand, and the air was brimful of secrets. bertha would not let her mother discover what she was working for her, for all the world. and the little girl's mother was preparing surprises for each of the children. all together, the greatest fun of the year was getting ready for christmas. "mother, you will make some of those lovely cakes this year, won't you?" asked bertha's sister gretchen. "certainly, my child. it would not be christmas without them. early to-morrow morning, you and bertha must shell and chop the nuts. i will use the freshest eggs and will beat the dough as long as my arms will let me." "did you always know how to make those cakes, mamma?" asked bertha. "my good mother taught me when i was about your age, my dear. you may watch me to-morrow, and perhaps you will learn how to make them. it is never too early to begin to learn to cook." "when the city girls get through school, they go away from home and study housekeeping, don't they?" asked gretchen. "yes, and many girls who don't live in cities. but i hardly think you will ever be sent away. we are busy people here in our little village, and you will have to be contented with learning what your mother can teach you." "i shall be satisfied with that, i know. but listen! i can hear father and hans coming." "then put up your work, children, and set the supper-table." the girls jumped up and hurriedly put the presents away. it did not take long to set the supper-table, for the meals in this little home were very simple, and supper was the simplest of all. a large plate of black bread and a pitcher of sour milk were brought by the mother, and the family gathered around the table. the bread wasn't really black, of course. it was dark brown and very coarse. it was made of rye meal. bertha and gretchen had never seen any white bread in their lives, for they had never yet been far away from their own little village. neither had their brother hans. they were happy, healthy children. they all had blue eyes, rosy cheeks, and fair hair, like their father and mother. "you don't know what i've got for you, hans," said bertha, laughing and showing a sweet little dimple in her chin. hans bent down and kissed her. he never could resist that dimple, and bertha was his favourite sister. "i don't know what it is, but i do know that it must be something nice," said her brother. when the supper-table had been cleared, the mother and girls took out their sewing again, while hans worked at some wood-carving. the father took an old violin from its case and began to play some of the beautiful airs of germany. when he came to the "watch on the rhine," the mother's work dropped from her hands as she and the children joined in the song that stirs every german heart. "oh, dear! it seems as though christmas eve never would come," sighed bertha, as she settled herself for sleep beside her sister. it was quite a cold night, but they were cosy and warm. why shouldn't they be? they were covered with a down feather bed. their mother had the same kind of cover on her own bed, and so had hans. but christmas eve did come at last, although it seemed so far off to bertha the night before. hans and his father brought in the bough of a yew-tree, and it was set up in the living-room. the decorating came next. tiny candles were fastened on all the twigs. sweetmeats and nuts were hung from the branches. "how beautiful! how beautiful!" exclaimed the children when it was all trimmed, and they walked around it with admiring eyes. none of the presents were placed on the tree, for that is not the fashion in germany. each little gift had been tied up in paper and marked with the name of the one for whom it was intended. when everything was ready, there was a moment of quiet while the candles were being lighted. then bertha's father began to give out the presents, and there was a great deal of laughing and joking as the bundles were opened. there was a new red skirt for bertha. her mother had made it, for she knew the child was fond of pretty dresses. besides this, she had a pair of warm woollen mittens which gretchen had knit for her. hans had made and carved a doll's cradle for each of the girls. everybody was happy and contented. they sang songs and cracked nuts and ate the christmas cakes to their hearts' content. "i think i like the ones shaped like gnomes the best," said hans. "they have such comical little faces. do you know, every time i go out in the forest, it seems as though i might meet a party of gnomes hunting for gold." "i like the animal cakes best," said bertha. "the deer are such graceful creatures, and i like to bite off the horns and legs, one at a time." "a long time ago," said their father, "they used to celebrate christmas a little different from the way we now do. the presents were all carried to a man in the village who dressed himself in a white robe, and a big wig made of flax. he covered his face with a mask, and then went from house to house. the grown people received him with great honours. he called for the children and gave them the presents their parents had brought to him. "but these presents were all given according to the way the children had behaved during the year. if they had been good and tried hard, they had the gifts they deserved. but if they had been naughty and disobedient, it was not a happy time for them." "i don't believe the children were very fond of him," cried hans. "they must have been too much afraid of him." "that is true," said his father. "but now, let us play some games. christmas comes but once a year, and you have all been good children." the room soon rang with the shouts of hans and his sisters. they played "blind man's buff" and other games. their father took part in all of them as though he were a boy again. the good mother looked on with pleasant smiles. bedtime came only too soon. but just before the children said good night, the father took hans one side and talked seriously yet lovingly with him. he told the boy of the faults he must still fight against. he spoke also of the improvement he had made during the year. at the same time the mother gave words of kind advice to her little daughters. she told them to keep up good courage; to be busy and patient in the year to come. "my dear little girls," she whispered, as she kissed them, "i love to see you happy in your play. but the good lord who cares for us has given us all some work to do in this world. be faithful in doing yours." chapter ii. toy-making "wake up, bertha. come, gretchen. you will have to hurry, for it is quite late," called their mother. it was one morning about a week after christmas. "oh dear, i am so sleepy, and my bed is nice and warm," thought bertha. [illustration: bertha's father and mother.] but she jumped up and rubbed her eyes and began to dress, without waiting to be called a second time. her mother was kind and loving, but she had taught her children to obey without a question. both little girls had long, thick hair. it must be combed and brushed and braided with great care. each one helped the other. they were soon dressed, and ran down-stairs. as soon as the breakfast was over and the room made tidy, every one in the family sat down to work. bertha's father was a toy-maker. he had made wooden images of santa claus all his life. his wife and children helped him. when bertha was only five years old, she began to carve the legs of these santa claus dolls. it was a queer sight to see the little girl's chubby fingers at their work. now that she was nine years old, she still carved legs for santa claus in her spare moments. gretchen always made arms, while hans worked on a still different part of the bodies. the father and mother carved the heads and finished the little images that afterward gave such delight to children in other lands. bertha lives in the black forest. that name makes you think at once of a dark and gloomy place. the woods on the hills are dark, to be sure, but the valleys nestling between are bright and cheerful when the sun shines down and pours its light upon them. bertha's village is in just such a valley. the church stands on the slope above the little homes. it seems to say, "look upward, my children, to the blue heavens, and do not fear, even when the mists fill the valley and the storm is raging over your heads." all the people in the village seem happy and contented. they work hard, and their pay is small, but there are no beggars among them. toys are made in almost every house. every one in a family works on the same kind of toy, just as it is in bertha's home. the people think: "it would be foolish to spend one's time in learning new things. the longer a person works at making one kind of toy, the faster he can make them, and he can earn more money." one of bertha's neighbours makes nothing but noah's arks. another makes toy tables, and still another dolls' chairs. bertha often visits a little friend who helps her father make cuckoo-clocks. did you ever see one of these curious clocks? as each hour comes around, a little bird comes outside the case. then it flaps its wings and sings "cuckoo" in a soft, sweet voice as many times as there are strokes to the hour. it is great fun to watch for the little bird and hear its soft notes. perhaps you wonder what makes the bird come out at just the right time. it is done by certain machinery inside the clock. but, however it is, old people as well as children seem to enjoy the cuckoo-clocks of germany. "some day, when you are older, you shall go to the fair at easter time," bertha's father has promised her. "is that at leipsic, where our santa claus images go?" asked his little daughter. "yes, my dear, and toys from many other parts of our country. there you will see music-boxes and dolls' pianos and carts and trumpets and engines and ships. these all come from the mining-towns. "but i know what my little bertha would care for most. she would best like to see the beautiful wax dolls that come from sonneberg." "yes, indeed," cried bertha. "the dear, lovely dollies with yellow hair like mine. i would love every one of them. i wish i could go to sonneberg just to see the dolls." "i wonder what makes the wax stick on," said gretchen, who came into the room while her father and bertha were talking. "after the heads have been moulded into shape, they are dipped into pans of boiling wax," her father told her. "the cheap dolls are dipped only once, but the expensive ones have several baths before they are finished. the more wax that is put on, the handsomer the dolls are. "then comes the painting. one girl does nothing but paint the lips. another one does the cheeks. still another, the eyebrows. even then miss dolly looks like a bald-headed baby till her wig is fastened in its place." "i like the yellow hair best," said bertha. "but it isn't real, is it, papa?" "i suppose you mean to ask, 'did it ever grow on people's heads?' my dear. no. it is the wool of a kind of goat. but the black hair is real hair. most dolls, however, wear light wigs. people usually prefer them." "do little girls in sonneberg help make the dolls, just as bertha and i help you on the santa claus images?" asked gretchen. "certainly. they fill the bodies with sawdust, and do other easy things. but they go to school, too, just as you and bertha do. lessons must not be slighted." "if i had to help make dolls, just as i do these images," said gretchen to her sister as their father went out and left the children together, "i don't believe i'd care for the handsomest one in the whole toy fair. i'd be sick of the very sight of them." "look at the time, bertha. see, we must stop our work and start for school," exclaimed gretchen. it was only seven o'clock in the morning, but school would begin in half an hour. these little german girls had to study longer and harder than their american cousins. they spent at least an hour a day more in their schoolrooms. as they trudged along the road, they passed a little stream which came trickling down the hillside. "i wonder if there is any story about that brook," said bertha. "there's a story about almost everything in our dear old country, i'm sure." "you have heard father tell about the stream flowing down the side of the kandel, haven't you?" asked gretchen. "yes, i think so. but i don't remember it very well. what is the story, gretchen?" "you know the kandel is one of the highest peaks in the black forest. you've seen it, bertha." "yes, of course, but tell the story, gretchen." "well, then, once upon a time there was a poor little boy who had no father or mother. he had to tend cattle on the side of the kandel. at that time there was a deep lake at the summit of the mountain. but the lake had no outlet. "the people who lived in the valley below often said, 'dear me! how glad we should be if we could only have plenty of fresh water. but no stream flows near us. if we could only bring some of the water down from the lake!' "they were afraid, however, to make a channel out of the lake. the water might rush down with such force as to destroy their village. they feared to disturb it. "now, it came to pass that the evil one had it in his heart to destroy these people. he thought he could do it very easily if the rocky wall on the side of the lake could be broken down. there was only one way in which this could be done. an innocent boy must be found and got to do it. "it was a long time before such an one could be found. but at last the evil one came across an orphan boy who tended cattle on the mountainside. the poor little fellow was on his way home. he was feeling very sad, for he was thinking of his ragged clothes and his scant food. "'ah ha!' cried the evil one to himself, 'here is the very boy.' "he changed himself at once so he had the form and dress of a hunter, and stepped up to the lad with a pleasant smile. "'poor little fellow! what is the matter? and what can i do for you?' he said, in his most winning manner. "the boy thought he had found a friend, and told his story. "'do not grieve any longer. there is plenty of gold and silver in these very mountains. i will show you how to become rich,' said the evil one. 'meet me here early to-morrow morning and bring a good strong team with you. i will help you get the gold.' "the boy went home with a glad heart. you may be sure he did not oversleep the next morning. before it was light, he had harnessed four oxen belonging to his master, and started for the summit of the mountain. "the hunter, who was waiting for him, had already fastened a metal ring around the wall that held in the waters of the lake. "'fasten the oxen to that ring,' commanded the hunter, 'and the rock will split open.' "somehow or other, the boy did not feel pleased at what he was told to do. yet he obeyed, and started the oxen. but as he did so, he cried, 'do this in the name of god!' "at that very instant the sky grew black as night, the thunder rolled and the lightning flashed. and not only this, for at the same time the mountain shook and rumbled as though a mighty force were tearing it apart." "what became of the poor boy?" asked bertha. "he fell senseless to the ground, while the oxen in their fright rushed headlong down the mountainside. but you needn't get excited, bertha, no harm was done. the boy was saved as well as the village, because he had pulled in the name of god. "the rock did not split entirely. it broke apart just enough to let out a tiny stream of water, which began to flow down the mountainside. "when the boy came to his senses, the sky was clear and beautiful once more. the sun was shining brightly, and the hunter was nowhere to be seen. but the stream of water was running down the mountainside. "a few minutes afterward, the boy's master came hurrying up the slope. he was frightened by the dreadful sounds he had heard. but when he saw the waterfall, he was filled with delight. "'every one in the village will rejoice,' he exclaimed, 'for now we shall never want for water.' "then the little boy took courage and told the story of his meeting the hunter and what he had done. "'it is well you did it in the name of the lord,' cried his master. 'if you had not, our village would have been destroyed, and every one of us would have been drowned.'" "see! the children are going into the schoolhouse, gretchen. we must not be late. let's run," said bertha. the two little girls stopped talking, and hurried so fast that they entered the schoolhouse and were sitting in their seats in good order before the schoolmaster struck his bell. chapter iii. the wicked bishop "the rhine is the loveliest river in the world. i know it must be," said bertha. "of course it is," answered her brother. "i've seen it, and i ought to know. and father thinks so, too. he says it is not only beautiful, but it is also bound into the whole history of our country. think of the battles that have been fought on its shores, and the great generals who have crossed it!" "yes, and the castles, hans! think of the legends father and mother have told us about the beautiful princesses who have lived in the castles, and the brave knights who have fought for them! i shall be perfectly happy if i can ever sail down the rhine and see the noted places on its shores." "the schoolmaster has taught you all about the war with france, hasn't he, bertha?" "of course. and it really seemed at one time as if france would make us germans agree to have the rhine divide the two countries. just as if we would be willing to let the french own one shore of our beautiful river. i should say not!" bertha's cheeks grew rosier than usual at the thought of such a thing. she talked faster than german children usually do, for they are rather slow in their speech. "we do not own all of the river, little sister, as it is. the baby rhine sleeps in an icy cradle in the mountains of switzerland. then it makes its way through our country, but before it reaches the sea it flows through the low lands of holland." "i know all that, hans. but we own the best of the rhine, anyway. i am perfectly satisfied." "i wish i knew all the legends about the river. there are enough of them to fill many books. did you ever hear about the rats' tower opposite the town of bingen, bertha?" [illustration: the rats' tower.] "what a funny name for a tower! no. is there a story about it, hans?" "yes, one of the boys was telling it to me yesterday while we were getting wood in the forest. it is a good story, although my friend said he wasn't sure it is true." "what is the story?" "it is about a very wicked bishop who was a miser. it happened one time that the harvests were poor and grain was scarce. the cruel bishop bought all the grain he could get and locked it up. he intended to sell it for a high price, and in this way to become very rich. "as the days went by, the food became scarcer and scarcer. the people began to sicken and die of hunger. they had but one thought: they must get something to eat for their children and themselves. "they knew of the stores of grain held by the bishop. they went to him and begged for some of it, but he paid no attention to their prayers. then they demanded that he open the doors of the storehouse and let them have the grain. it was of no use. "at last, they gathered together, and said: "'we will break down the door if you do not give it to us.' "'come to-morrow,' answered the bishop. 'bring your friends with you. you shall have all the grain you desire.' "the morrow came. crowds gathered in front of the granary. the bishop unlocked the door, saying: "'go inside and help yourselves freely.' "the people rushed in. then what do you think the cruel bishop did? he ordered his servants to lock the door and set the place on fire! "the air was soon filled with the screams of the burning people. but the bishop only laughed and danced. he said to his servants: "'do you hear the rats squeaking inside the granary?' "the next day came. there were only ashes in place of the great storehouse. there seemed to be no life about the town, for the people were all dead. "suddenly there was a great scurrying, as a tremendous swarm of rats came rushing out of the ashes. on they came, more and more of them. they filled the streets, and even made their way into the palace. "the wicked bishop was filled with fear. he fled from the place and hurried away over the fields. but, the swarm of rats came rushing after him. he came to bingen, where he hoped to be safe within its walls. somehow or other, the rats made their way inside. "there was now only one hope of safety. the bishop fled to a tower standing in the middle of the rhine. but it was of no use! the rats swam the river and made their way up the sides of the tower. their sharp teeth gnawed holes through the doors and windows. they entered in and came to the room where the bishop was hiding." "wicked fellow! they killed and ate him as he deserved, didn't they?" asked bertha. "there wasn't much left of him in a few minutes. but the tower still stands, and you can see it if you ever go to bingen, although it is a crumbling old pile now." "rats' tower is a good name for it. but i would rather hear about enchanted princesses and brave knights than wicked old bishops. tell me another story, hans." "oh, i can't. listen! i hear some one coming. who can it be?" hans jumped up and ran to the door, just in time to meet his uncle fritz, who lived in strasburg. the children loved him dearly. he was a young man about twenty-one years old. he came home to this little village in the black forest only about once a year. he had so much to tell and was so kind and cheerful, every one was glad to see him. "uncle fritz! uncle fritz! we are so glad you've come," exclaimed bertha, putting her arms around his neck. "and we are going to have something that you like for dinner." "i can guess what it is. sauerkraut and boiled pork. there is no other sauerkraut in germany as good as that your mother makes, i do believe. i'm hungry enough to eat the whole dishful and not leave any for you children. now what do you say to my coming? don't you wish i had stayed in strasburg?" "oh, no, no, uncle fritz. we would rather see you than anybody else," cried hans. "and here comes mother. she will be just as glad as we are." that evening, after hans had shown his uncle around the village, and he had called on his old friends, he settled himself in the chimney-corner with the children about him. "talk to us about strasburg, uncle fritz," begged gretchen. "please tell us about the storks," said bertha. "are there great numbers of the birds in the city, and do they build their nests on the chimneys?" "yes, you can see plenty of storks flying overhead if you will come back with me," said uncle fritz, laughingly. "they seem to know the people love them. if a stork makes his home about any one's house, it is a sign of good fortune to the people who live there. "'it will surely come,' they say to themselves, 'and the storks will bring it.' do you wonder the people like the birds so much?" "i read a story about a mother stork," said bertha, thoughtfully. "she had a family of baby birds. they were not big enough to leave their nest, when a fire broke out in the chimney where it was built. poor mother bird! she could have saved herself. but she would not leave her babies. so she stayed with them and they were all burned to death together." "i know the story. that happened right in strasburg," said her uncle. "please tell us about the beautiful cathedral with its tall tower," said hans. "sometime, uncle, i am going to strasburg, if i have to walk there, and then i shall want to spend a whole day in front of the wonderful clock." "you'd better have a lunch with you, hans, and then you will not get hungry. but really, my dear little nephew, i hope the time will soon come when you can pay me a long visit. as for the clock, you will have to stay in front of it all night as well as all day, if you are to see all it can show you." "i know about cuckoo-clocks, of course," said gretchen, "but the little bird is the only figure that comes out on those. there are ever so many different figures on the strasburg clock, aren't there, uncle fritz?" "a great, great many. angels strike the hours. a different god or goddess appears for each day in the week. then, at noon and at midnight, jesus and his twelve apostles come out through a door and march about on a platform. "you can imagine what the size of the clock must be when i tell you that the figures are as large as people. when the procession of the apostles appears, a gilded cock on the top of the tower flaps its wings and crows. "i cannot begin to tell you all about it. it is as good as a play, and, as i told hans, he would have to stay many hours near it to see all the sights." "i should think a strong man would be needed to wind it up," said his nephew. "the best part of it is that it does not need to be wound every day," replied uncle fritz. "they say it will run for years without being touched. of course, travellers are coming to strasburg all the time. they wish to see the clock, but they also come to see the cathedral itself. it is a very grand building, and, as you know, the spire is the tallest one in all europe. "then there is so much beautiful carving! and there are such fine statues. oh, children, you must certainly come to strasburg before long and see the cathedral of which all germany is so proud." "strasburg was for a time the home of our greatest poet," said bertha. "i want to go there to see where he lived." the child was very fond of poetry, even though she was a little country girl. her father had a book containing some of goethe's ballads, and she loved to lie under the trees in the pleasant summer-time and repeat some of these poems. "they are just like music," she would say to herself. "a marble slab has been set up in the old fish market to mark the spot where goethe lived," said uncle fritz. "they say he loved the grand cathedral of the city, and it helped him to become a great writer when he was a young student there. i suppose its beauty awakened his own beautiful thoughts." the children became quiet as they thought of their country and the men who had made her so strong and great,--the poets, and the musicians, and the brave soldiers who had defended her from her enemies. uncle fritz was the first one to speak. "i will tell you a story of strasburg," he said. "it is about something that happened there a long time ago. you know, the city isn't on the rhine itself, but it is on a little stream flowing into the greater river. "well, once upon a time the people of zurich, in switzerland, asked the people of strasburg to join with them in a bond of friendship. each should help the other in times of danger. the people of strasburg did not think much of the idea. they said among themselves: 'what good can the little town of zurich do us? and, besides, it is too far away.' so they sent back word that they did not care to make such a bond. they were scarcely polite in their message, either. "when they heard the reply, the men of zurich were quite angry. they were almost ready to fight. but the youngest one of their councillors said: "'we will force them to eat their own words. indeed, they shall be made to give us a different answer. and it will come soon, too, if you will only leave the matter with me.' "'do as you please,' said the other councillors. they went back to their own houses, while the young man hurried home, rushed out into the kitchen and picked out the largest kettle there. "'wife, cook as much oatmeal as this pot will hold,' he commanded. "the woman wondered what in the world her husband could be thinking of. but she lost no time in guessing. she ordered her servants to make a big fire, while she herself stirred and cooked the great kettleful of oatmeal. "in the meanwhile, her husband hurried down to the pier, and got his swiftest boat ready for a trip down the river. then he gathered the best rowers in the town. "'come with me,' he said to two of them, when everything had been made ready for a trip. they hastened home with him, as he commanded. "'is the oatmeal ready?' he cried, rushing breathless into the kitchen, "his wife had just finished her work. the men lifted the kettle from the fire and ran with it to the waiting boat. it was placed in the stern and the oarsmen sprang to their places. "'pull, men! pull with all the strength you have, and we will go to strasburg in time to show those stupid people that, if it should be necessary, we live near enough to them to give them a hot supper.' "how the men worked! they rowed as they had never rowed before. "they passed one village after another. still they moved onward without stopping, till they found themselves at the pier of strasburg. "the councillor jumped out of the boat, telling two of his men to follow with the great pot of oatmeal. he led the way to the council-house, where he burst in with his strange present. "'i bring you a warm answer to your cold words,' he told the surprised councillors. he spoke truly, for the pot was still steaming. how amused they all were! "'what a clever fellow he is,' they said among themselves. 'surely we will agree to make the bond with zurich, if it holds many men like him.' "the bond was quickly signed and then, with laughter and good-will, the councillors gathered around the kettle with spoons and ate every bit of the oatmeal. "'it is excellent,' they all cried. and indeed it was still hot enough to burn the mouths of those who were not careful." "good! good!" cried the children, and they laughed heartily, even though it was a joke against their own people. their father and mother had also listened to the story and enjoyed it as much as the children. "another story, please, dear uncle fritz," they begged. but their father pointed to the clock. "too late, too late, my dears," he said. "if you sit up any longer, your mother will have to call you more than once in the morning. so, away to your beds, every one of you." chapter iv. the coffee-party "how would you like to be a wood-cutter, hans?" "i think it would be great sport. i like to hear the thud of the axe as it comes down on the trunk. then it is always an exciting time as the tree begins to bend and fall to the ground. somehow, it seems like a person. i can't help pitying it, either." hans had come over to the next village on an errand for his father. a big sawmill had been built on the side of the stream, and all the men in the place were kept busy cutting down trees in the black forest, or working in the sawmill. after the logs had been cut the right length, they were bound into rafts, and floated down the little stream to the rhine. "the rafts themselves seem alive," said hans to his friend. "you men know just how to bind the logs together with those willow bands, so they twist and turn about like living creatures as they move down the stream." "i have travelled on a raft all the way from here to cologne," answered the wood-cutter. "the one who steers must be skilful, for he needs to be very careful. you know the rafts grow larger all the time, don't you, hans?" "oh, yes. as the river becomes wider, the smaller ones are bound together. but is it true that the men sometimes take their families along with them?" "certainly. they set up tents, or little huts, on the rafts, so their wives and children can have a comfortable place to eat and sleep. then, too, if it rains, they can be sheltered from the storm." "i'd like to go with you sometime. you pass close to strasburg, and i could stop and visit uncle fritz. wouldn't it be fun!" "hans! hans!" called a girl's voice just then. "i don't see her, but i know that's bertha. she came over to the village with me this afternoon. one of her friends has a coffee-party and she invited us to it. so, good-bye." "good-bye, my lad. come and see me again. perhaps i can manage sometime to take you with me on a trip down the river." "thank you ever so much." hans hurried away, and was soon entering the house of a little friend who was celebrating her birthday with a coffee-party. there were several other children there. they were all dressed in their best clothes and looked very neat and nice. the boys wore long trousers and straight jackets. they looked like little old men. the girls had bright-coloured skirts and their white waists were fresh and stiff. their shoes were coarse and heavy, and made a good deal of noise as the children played the different games. but they were all so plump and rosy, it was good to look at them. "they are a pretty sight," said one of the neighbours, as she poured out the coffee. "they deserve to have a good time," said another woman with a kind, motherly face. "they will soon grow up, and then they will have to work hard to get a living." the coffee and cakes were a great treat to these village children. they did not get such a feast every day in the year. their mothers made cakes only for festivals and holidays, and coffee was seldom seen on their tables oftener than once a week. in the great cities and fine castles, where the rich people of germany had their homes, they could eat sweet dainties and drink coffee as often as they liked. but in the villages of the black forest, it was quite different. "good night, good night," said hans and bertha, as they left their friends and trudged off on a path through the woods. it was the shortest way home, and they knew their mother must be looking for them by this time. it was just sunset, but the children could not see the beautiful colours of the evening sky, after they had gone a short distance into the thick woods. "do you suppose there are any bears around?" whispered bertha. the trees looked very black. it seemed to the little girl as though she kept seeing the shadow of some big animal hiding behind them. "no, indeed," answered hans, quite scornfully. "too many people go along this path for bears to be willing to stay around here. you would have to go farther up into the forest to find them. but look quickly, bertha. do you see that rabbit jumping along? isn't he a big fellow?" "see! hans, he has noticed us. there he goes as fast as his legs can carry him." by this time, the children had reached the top of a hill. the trees grew very thick and close. on one side a torrent came rushing down over the rocks and stones. it seemed to say: "i cannot stop for any one. but come with me, come with me, and i will take you to the beautiful rhine. i will show you the way to pretty bridges, and great stone castles, and rare old cities. oh, this is a wonderful world, and you children of the black forest have a great deal to see yet." "i love to listen to running water," said bertha. "it always has a story to tell us." "do you see that light over there, away off in the distance?" asked hans. "it comes from a charcoal-pit. i can hear the voices of the men at their work." "i shouldn't like to stay out in the dark woods all the time and make charcoal," answered his sister. "i should get lonesome and long for the sunlight." "it isn't very easy work, either," said hans. "after the trees have been cut down, the pits have to be made with the greatest care, and the wood must be burned just so slowly to change it into charcoal. i once spent a day in the forest with some charcoal-burners. they told such good stories that night came before i had thought of it." "i can see the village ahead of us," said bertha, joyfully. a few minutes afterward, the children were running up the stone steps of their own home. "we had such a good time," hans told his mother, while bertha went to gretchen and gave her some cakes she had brought her from the coffee-party. "i'm so sorry you couldn't go," she told her sister. "perhaps i can next time," answered gretchen. "but, of course, we could not all leave mother when she had so much work to do. so i just kept busy and tried to forget all about it." "you dear, good gretchen! i'm going to try to be as patient and helpful as you are," said bertha, kissing her sister. chapter v. the beautiful castle "father's coming, father's coming," cried bertha, as she ran down the steps and out into the street. her father had been away for two days, and hans had gone with him. they had been to heidelberg. bertha and gretchen had never yet visited that city, although it was not more than twenty miles away. "oh, dear, i don't know where to begin," hans told the girls that evening. "of course, i liked to watch the students better than anything else. the town seems full of them. they all study in the university, of course, but they are on the streets a good deal. they seem to have a fine time of it. every one carries a small cane with a button on the end of it. they wear their little caps down over their foreheads on one side." "what colour do they have for their caps, hans?" asked gretchen. "all colours, i believe. some are red, some blue, some yellow, some green. oh, i can't tell you how many different kinds there are. but they were bright and pretty, and made the streets look as though it must be a festival day." "i have heard that the students fight a good many duels. is that so, hans?" "if you should see them, you would certainly think so. many of the fellows are real handsome, but their faces are scarred more often than not. "'the more scars i can show, the braver people will think i am.' that is what the students seem to think. they get up duels with each other on the smallest excuse. when they fight, they always try to strike the face. father says their duelling is good practice. it really helps to make them brave. if i were a student, i should want to fight duels, too." bertha shuddered. duelling was quite the fashion in german universities, but the little girl was very tender-hearted. she could not bear to think of her brother having his face cut up by the sword of any one in the world. "what do you think, girls?" hans went on. "father had to go to the part of the town nearest the castle. he said he should be busy for several hours, and i could do what i liked. so i climbed up the hill to the castle, and wandered all around it. i saw a number of english and american people there. i suppose they had come to heidelberg on purpose to see those buildings. "'isn't it beautiful!' i heard them exclaim again and again. and i saw a boy about my own age writing things about it in a note-book. he told his mother he was going to say it was the most beautiful ruin in germany. he was an american boy, but he spoke our language. i suppose he was just learning it, for he made ever so many mistakes. i could hardly tell what he was trying to say." "what did his mother answer?" asked bertha. "she nodded her head, and then pointed out some of the finest carvings and statues. but she and her son moved away from me before long, and then i found myself near some children of our country. they must have been rich, for they were dressed quite grandly. their governess was with them. she told them to notice how many different kinds of buildings there were, some of them richly carved, and some quite plain. 'you will find here palaces, towers, and fortresses, all together,' she said. 'for, in the old days, it was not only a grand home, but it was also a strong fortress.'" [illustration: courtyard of heidelberg castle.] "you know father told us it was not built all at once," said gretchen. "different parts were added during four hundred years." "yes, and he said it had been stormed by the enemy, and burned and plundered," added bertha. "it has been in the hands of those horrid frenchmen several different times. did you see the blown-up tower, hans?" "of course i did. half of it, you know, fell into the moat during one of the sieges, but linden-trees have grown about it, and it makes a shady nook in which to rest one's self." "you did not go inside of the castle, did you, hans?" asked gretchen. "no. it looked so big and gloomy, i stayed outside in the pretty gardens. i climbed over some of the moss-grown stairs, though, and i kept discovering something i hadn't seen before. here and there were old fountains and marble statues, all gray with age." "they say that under the castle are great, dark dungeons," said bertha, shivering at the thought. "what would a castle be without dungeons?" replied her brother. "of course there are dungeons. and there are also hidden, underground passages through which the people inside could escape in times of war and siege." "oh, hans! did you see the heidelberg tun?" asked gretchen. now, the heidelberg tun is the largest wine-cask in, the whole world. people say that it holds forty-nine thousand gallons. just think of it! but it has not been filled for more than a hundred years. "no, i didn't see it," replied hans. "it is down in the cellar, and i didn't want to go there without father. i heard some of the visitors telling about the marks of the frenchmen's hatchets on its sides. one of the times they captured the castle, they tried to break open the tun. they thought it was full of wine. but they did not succeed in hacking through its tough sides." "good! good!" cried his sisters. they had little love for france and her people. that evening, after hans had finished telling the girls about his visit, their father told them the legend of count frederick, a brave and daring man who once lived in heidelberg castle. count frederick was so brave and successful that he was called "frederick the victorious." once upon a time he was attacked by the knights and bishops of the rhine, who had banded together against him. when he found what great numbers of soldiers were attacking his castle, count frederick was not frightened in the least. he armed his men with sharp daggers, and marched boldly out against his foes. they attacked the horses first of all. the daggers made short work, and the knights were soon brought to the ground. their armour was so heavy that it was an easy matter then to make them prisoners and take them into the castle. but frederick treated them most kindly. he ordered a great banquet to be prepared, and invited his prisoners to gather around the board, where all sorts of good things were served. one thing only was lacking. there was no bread. the guests thought it was because the servants had forgotten it, and one of them dared to ask for a piece. count frederick at once turned toward his steward and ordered the bread to be brought. now his master had privately talked with the steward and had told him what words to use at this time. "i am very sorry," said the steward, "but there is no bread." "you must bake some at once," ordered his master. "but we have no flour," was the answer. "you must grind some, then," was the command. "we cannot do so, for we have no grain." "then see that some is threshed immediately." "that is impossible, for the harvests have been burned down," replied the steward. "you can at least sow grain, that we may have new harvests as soon as possible." "we cannot even do that, for our enemies have burned down all the buildings where the grain was stored for seed-time." frederick now turned to his visitors, and told them they must eat their meat without bread. but that was not all. he told them they must give him enough money to build new houses and barns to take the places of those they had destroyed, and also to buy new seed for grain. "it is wrong," he said, sternly, "to carry on war against those who are helpless, and to take away their seeds and tools from the poor peasants." it was a sensible speech. it made the knights ashamed of the way they had been carrying on war in the country, and they left the castle wiser and better men. all this happened long, long ago, before germany could be called one country, for the different parts of the land were ruled over by different people and in different ways. this same count frederick, their father told them, had great love for the poor. when he was still quite young, he made a vow. he said, "i will never marry a woman of noble family." not long after this, he fell in love with a princess. but he could not ask her to marry him on account of the vow he had made. he was so unhappy that he went into the army. he did not wish to live, and hoped he would soon meet death. but the fair princess loved frederick as deeply as he loved her, and as soon as she learned of the vow he had made, she made up her mind what to do. she put on the dress of a poor singing-girl, and left her grand home. she followed frederick from place to place. they met face to face one beautiful evening. then it was that the princess told her lover she had given up her rank and title for his sake. how joyful she made him as he listened to her story! you may be sure they were soon married, and the young couple went to live in heidelberg castle, where they were as happy and as merry as the day is long. chapter vi. the great frederick "i declare, hans, i should think you would get tired of playing war," said bertha. she was sitting under the trees rocking her doll. she was playing it was a baby. hans had just come home after an afternoon of sport with his boy friends. but all they had done, bertha declared, was to play war and soldiers. she had watched them from her own yard. "tired of it! what a silly idea, bertha. it won't be many years before i shall be a real soldier. just picture me then! i shall have a uniform, and march to music. i don't know where i may go, either. who knows to what part of the world the emperor will send his soldiers at that time?" "i know where you would like to go in our own country," said bertha. "to berlin, of course. what a grand city it must be! father has been there. our schoolmaster was there while he served his time as a soldier. at this very moment, it almost seems as though i could hear the jingling of the officers' swords as they move along the streets. the regiments are drilled every day, and i don't know how often the soldiers have sham battles." hans jumped up from his seat under the tree and began to march up and down as though he were a soldier already. "attention, battalion! forward, march!" bertha called after him. but she was laughing as she spoke. she could not help it, hans looked so serious. at the same time she couldn't help envying her brother a little, and wishing she were a boy, too. it must be so grand to be a soldier and be ready to fight for the emperor who ruled over her country. "the schoolmaster told us boys yesterday about the grand palace at berlin. the emperor lives in it when he is in the city," said hans, wheeling around suddenly and stopping in front of bertha. "i think you must have caught my thoughts," said the little girl, "for the emperor was in my mind when you began to speak." "well, never mind that. do you wish to hear about the palace?" "of course i do, hans." "the schoolmaster says it has six hundred rooms. just think of it! and one of them, called the white room, is furnished so grandly that , , marks were spent on it. you can't imagine it, bertha, of course. i can't, either." a german mark is worth about twenty-four cents of american money, so the furnishing of the room hans spoke of must have cost about $ , . it was a large sum, and it is no wonder the boy said he could hardly imagine so much money. "there are hundreds of halls in the palace," hans went on. "some of their walls are painted and others are hung with elegant silk draperies. the floors are polished so they shine like mirrors. then the pictures and the armour, bertha! it almost seemed as though i were there while the schoolmaster was describing them." "i never expect to see such lovely things," said his sober little sister. "but perhaps i shall go to berlin some day, hans. then i can see the statue of frederick the great, at any rate." "it stands opposite the palace," said her brother, "and cost more than any other bronze statue in the world." "how did you learn that, hans?" "the schoolmaster told us so. he said, too, that it ought to stir the blood of every true german to look at it. there the great frederick sits on horseback, wearing the robe in which he was crowned, and looking out from under his cocked hat with his bright, sharp eyes. that statue alone is enough to make the soldiers who march past it ready to give their lives for their country." [illustration: statue of frederick the great.] "he lived when the different kingdoms were separated from each other, and there was no one ruler over all of them. i know that," said bertha. "yes, he was the king of prussia. and he fought the seven years' war with france and came out victorious. hardly any one thought he could succeed, for there was so much against him. but he was brave and determined. those two things were worth everything else." "that wasn't the only war he won, either, hans." "no, but it must have been the greatest. did you know, bertha, that he was unhappy when he was young? his father was so strict that he tried to run away from germany with two of his friends. the king found out what they meant to do. one of the friends was put to death, and the other managed to escape." "what did his father do to frederick?" bertha's eyes were full of pity for a prince who was so unhappy as to wish to run away. "the king ordered his son to be put to death. but i suppose he was angry at the time, for he changed his mind before the sentence was carried out, and forgave him." "i wonder how kings and emperors live," said bertha, slowly. it seemed as though everything must be different with them from what it was with other people. "i'll tell you about frederick, if you wish to listen." "of course i do, hans." "in the first place, he didn't care anything about fine clothes, even if he was a king and was born in the grand palace at berlin. his coat was often very shabby. "in the next place, he slept only about four hours out of the whole twenty-four for a good many years. he got up at three o'clock on summer mornings, and in the winter-time he was always dressed by five, at the very latest. "while his hair-dresser was at work, he opened his most important letters. after that, he attended to other business affairs of the country. these things were done before eating or drinking. but when they had been attended to, the king went into his writing-room and drank a number of glasses of cold water. as he wrote, he sipped coffee and ate a little fruit from time to time. "he loved music very dearly, and sometimes rested from his work and played on his flute. "dinner was the only regular meal of the day. it was served at twelve o'clock, and lasted three or four hours. there was a bill of fare, and the names of the cooks were given as well as the dishes they prepared." "did the king ever let them know whether he was pleased or not with their cooking?" asked bertha. "yes. he marked the dishes he liked best with a cross. he enjoyed his dinner, and generally had a number of friends to eat with him. there was much joking, and there were many clever speeches. "when the meal was over, the king played on his flute a short time, and then attended to more business." "did he work till bedtime, hans?" "oh, no. in the evening there was a concert or lecture, or something like that. but, all the same, the king was a hard-working man, even in times of peace." "he loved his people dearly, father once told me," said bertha. "he said he understood his subjects and they understood him." "yes, and that reminds me of a story the schoolmaster told. king frederick was once riding through the street when he saw a crowd of people gathered together. he said to his groom, 'go and see what is the matter.' the man came back and told the king that the people were all looking at a caricature of frederick himself. a caricature, you know, is a comical portrait. "perhaps you think the king was angry when he heard this. not at all. he said, 'go and hang the picture lower down, so they will not have to stretch their necks to see it.' "the crowd heard the words. 'hurrah for the king!' they cried. at the same time, they began to tear the picture into pieces." "frederick the great could appreciate a joke," said bertha. "i should think the people must have loved him." "he had some fine buildings put up in his lifetime," hans went on. "a new palace was built in berlin, besides another one the king called 'sans souci.' those are french words meaning, 'without a care.' he called the place by that name because he said he was free-hearted and untroubled while he stayed there. "i've told you these things because you are a girl. but i'll tell you what i like to think of best of all. it's the stories of the wars in which he fought and in which he showed such wonderful courage. so, hurrah for frederick the great, king of prussia!" hans made a salute as though he stood in the presence of the great king. then he started for the wood-pile, where he was soon sawing logs with as much energy as if he were fighting against the enemies of his country. chapter vii. the brave princess "listen, children! that must be the song of a nightingale. how sweet it is!" it was a lovely sunday afternoon. every one in the family had been to church in the morning, and come home to a good dinner of bean soup and potato salad. then the father had said: "let us take a long walk over the fields and through the woods. the world is beautiful to-day. we can enjoy it best by leaving the house behind us." some of the neighbours joined the merry party. the men smoked their pipes, while the women chatted together and the children frolicked about them and picked wild flowers. how many sweet smells there were in the fields! how gaily the birds sang! the air seemed full of peace and joy. they all wandered on till they came to a cascade flowing down over some high rocks. trees grew close to the waterfall, and bent over it as though to hide it from curious eyes. it was a pretty spot. "let us sit down at the foot of this cascade," said bertha's father, "it is a pleasant place to rest." every one liked the plan. bertha nestled close to her father's side. "tell us a story. please do," she said. "ask neighbour abel. he knows many a legend of just such places as this. he has lived in the hartz mountains, and they are filled with fairy stories." the rest of the party heard what was said. "neighbour abel! a story, a story," they cried. of course the kind-hearted german could not refuse such a general request. besides, he liked to tell stories. taking his long pipe out of his mouth, he laid it down on the ground beside him. then he cleared his throat and began to speak. "look above you, friends. do you see that mark on the rocky platform overhead? i noticed it as soon as i got here. it made me think of a wild spot in the hartz mountains where there is just such a mark. the people call it 'the horse's hoof-print.' i will tell you how they explain its coming there. "once upon a time there was a beautiful princess. her name was brunhilda, and she lived in bohemia. she lived a gay and happy life, like most young princesses, till one day a handsome prince arrived at her father's palace. he was the son of the king of the hartz country. "of course, you can all guess what happened. the prince fell in love with the princess, and she returned his love. the day was set for the wedding, and the young prince went home to prepare for the great event. "but he had been gone only a short time when a powerful giant arrived at brunhilda's home. he came from the far north. his name was bodo. "he asked for the princess in marriage, but her heart had already been given away. she did not care for the giant, even though he gave her the most elegant presents,--a beautiful white horse, jewels set in gold, and chains of amber. "'i dare not refuse the giant,' said brunhilda's father. 'he is very powerful, and we must not make him angry. you must marry him, my daughter, in three days.' "the poor maiden wept bitterly. it seemed as though her heart would break. but she was a clever girl, and she soon dried her tears and began to think of some plan by which she might yet be free. she began to smile upon the giant and treat him with great kindness. "'i should like to try the beautiful horse you brought me,' she said to him. he was much pleased. the horse was brought to the door. the princess mounted him and rode for a time up and down in front of the palace. "the very next day was that set apart for the wedding. the castle was filled with guests who feasted and made merry. the giant entered into everything with a will. he laughed till the floors and walls shook. little did he think what was taking place. for the princess slipped out of the castle when no one was watching, hurried into the stable, and leaped upon the back of her swift white horse. "'lower the drawbridge instantly,' she called to the guard. she passed over it, and away she flew like the wind. "you were too late, too late, o giant, when you discovered that brunhilda was missing. "he flew out of the castle, and on the back of his own fiery black horse he dashed after the runaway princess. "on they went! on, on, without stopping. over the plains, up and down the hillsides, through the villages. the sun set and darkness fell upon the world, but there was never a moment's rest for the maiden on the white horse or the giant lover on his black steed. "sometimes in the darkness sparks were struck off from the horses' hoofs as they passed over rough and rocky places. these sparks always showed the princess ahead and slowly increasing the distance between herself and her pursuer. "when the morning light first appeared, the maiden could see the summit of the brocken ahead of her. it was the home of her lover. her heart leaped within her. if she could only reach it she would be safe. "but alas! her horse suddenly stood still. he would not move. he had reached the edge of a precipice. there it lay, separating the princess from love and safety. "the brave girl had not a moment to lose. the giant was fast drawing near. she wheeled her horse around; then, striking his sides a sharp blow with her whip, she urged him to leap across the precipice. "the spring must be strong and sure. it was a matter of life and death. the chasm was deep. if the horse should fail to strike the other side securely, it meant a horrible end to beast and rider. "but he did not fail. the feet of the brave steed came firmly down upon the rocky platform. so heavily did they fall that the imprint of a hoof was left upon the rock. "the princess was now safe. it would be an easy matter for her to reach her lover's side. "as for the giant, he tried to follow brunhilda across the chasm. but he was too heavy and his horse failed to reach the mark. the two sank together to the bottom of the precipice." every one thanked the story-teller, and begged him to tell more of the hartz mountains, where he had spent his boyhood days. the children were delighted when he spoke of the gnomes, in whom he believed when he was a child. "every time i went out in the dark woods," he said, "i was on the lookout for these funny little fairies of the underground world. i wanted to see them, but at the same time i was afraid i should meet them. "i remember one time that my mother sent me on an errand through the woods at twilight. i was in the thickest part of the woods, when i heard a sound that sent a shiver down my back. "'it is a witch, or some other dreadful being,' i said to myself. 'nothing else could make a sound like that.' my teeth chattered. my legs shook so, i could hardly move. somehow or other, i managed to keep on. it seemed as though hours passed before i saw the lights of the village. yet i suppose it was not more than fifteen minutes. "when i was once more safe inside my own home, i told my father and mother about my fright. "'it was no witch, my child,' said my father. 'the sound you describe was probably the cry of a wildcat. i thank heaven that you are safe. a wildcat is not a very pleasant creature to meet in a lonely place.' "after that, i was never sent away from the village after dark. "my boy friends and i often came across badgers and deer, and sometimes foxes made their way into the village in search of poultry, but i never came nearer to meeting a wildcat than the time of which i have just told you." "what work did you do out of school hours?" asked hans. the boy was thinking of the toys he had to carve. "my mother raised canary-birds, and i used to help her a great deal. nearly every woman in the village was busy at the same work. what concerts we did have in those days! mother tended every young bird she raised with the greatest care. would it become a good singer and bring a fair price? we waited anxiously for the first notes, and then watched to see how the voices gained in strength and sweetness. "it was a pleasant life, and i was very happy among the birds in our little village. would you like to hear a song i used to sing at that time? it is all about the birds and bees and flowers." "do sing it for us," cried every one. herr abel had a good voice and they listened with pleasure to his song. this is the first stanza: "i have been on the mountain that the song-birds love best. they were sitting, were flitting, they were building their nest. they were sitting, were flitting, they were building their nest." after he had finished, he told about the mines in which some of his friends worked. it was a hard life, with no bright sunlight to cheer the men in those deep, dark caverns underground. "of course you all know that the deepest mine in the world is in the hartz mountains." his friends nodded their heads, while hans whispered to bertha, "i should like to go down in that mine just for the sake of saying i have been as far into the earth as any living person." "the sun is setting, and there is a chill in the air," said bertha's father. "let us go home." chapter viii. what the waves bring bertha's mother had just come in from a hard morning's work in the fields. she had been helping her husband weed the garden. she spent a great deal of time outdoors in the summer-time, as many german peasant women do. they do a large share of the work in ploughing the grain-fields and harvesting the crops. they are much stronger than their american cousins. "supper is all ready and waiting for you," said bertha. the little girl had prepared a dish of sweet fruit soup which her mother had taught her to make. [illustration: bertha's home.] "it is very good," said her father when he had tasted it. "my little bertha is getting to be quite a housekeeper." "indeed, it is very good," said her mother. "you learned your lesson well, my child." bertha was quite abashed by so much praise. she looked down upon her plate and did not lift her eyes again till gretchen began to tell of a new amber bracelet which had just been given to one of the neighbours. "it is beautiful," said gretchen, quite excitedly. "the beads are such a clear, lovely yellow. they look so pretty on frau braun's neck, i don't wonder she is greatly pleased with her present." "who sent it to her?" asked her mother. "her brother in cologne. he is doing well at his trade, and so he bought this necklace at a fair and sent it to his sister as a remembrance. he wrote her a letter all about the sights in cologne, and asked frau braun to come and visit him and his wife. "he promised her in the letter that if she would come, he would take her to see the grand cologne cathedral. he said thousands of strangers visit it every year, because every one knows it is one of the most beautiful buildings in all europe. "then he said she should also see the church of saint ursula, where the bones of the eleven thousand maidens can still be seen in their glass cases." "do you know the story of st. ursula, gretchen?" asked her father. "yes, indeed, sir. ursula was the daughter of an english king. she was about to be married, but she said that before the wedding she would go to rome on a pilgrimage. "eleven thousand young girls went with the princess. on her way home she was married, but when the wedding party had got as far as cologne, they were attacked by the savage huns. every one was killed,--ursula, her husband, and the eleven thousand maidens. the church was afterward built in her memory. ursula was made a saint by the pope, and the bones of the young girls were preserved in glass cases in the church." "did frau braun tell of anything else her brother wrote?" asked her mother. "he spoke of the bridge of boats across the river, and said she would enjoy watching it open and shut to let the steamers and big rafts pass through. and he told of the cologne water that is sold in so many of the shops. it is hard to tell which makes the town most famous, the great cathedral or the cologne water." "father, how was the bridge of boats made?" asked bertha. "the boats were moored in a line across the river. planks were then laid across the tops and fastened upon them. vessels cannot pass under a bridge of this kind, so it has to be opened from time to time. they say it is always interesting to see this done." "yes, frau braun said she would rather see the bridge of boats than anything else in the city. she has already begun to plan how she can save up enough money to make the trip." "i will go over there to-morrow to see her new necklace," said bertha. "but what is amber, father?" "if you should go to the northern part of germany, bertha, you would see great numbers of men, women, and children, busy on the shores of the ocean. the work is greatest in the rough days of autumn, when a strong wind is blowing from the northeast. "then the men dress themselves as though they were going out into a storm. they arm themselves with nets and plunge into the waves, which are bringing treasure to the shore. it is the beautiful amber we admire so much. "the women and children are waiting on the sands, and as the men bring in their nets, the contents are given into their hands. they separate the precious lumps of amber from the weeds to which they are clinging." their father stopped to fill his pipe, and the children thought he had come to the end of the story. "but you haven't told us yet what amber is," said bertha. "be patient, my little one, and you shall hear," replied her father, patting her head. "as yet, i have not half told the story. but i will answer your question at once. "a long time ago, longer than you can imagine, bertha, forests were growing along the shores of the baltic sea. there was a great deal of gum in the trees of these forests. it oozed out of the trees in the same manner as gum from the spruce-tree and resin from the pine. "storms arose, and beds of sand and clay drifted over the forests. they were buried away for thousands of years, it may be. but the motion of the sea washes up pieces of the gum, which is of light weight. "the gum has become changed while buried in the earth such a long, long time. wise men use the word 'fossilized' when they speak of what has happened to it. the now beautiful, changed gum is called amber. "there are different ways of getting it. i told you how it comes drifting in on the waves when the winds are high and the water is rough. but on the pleasant summer days, when the sea is smooth and calm, the men go out a little way from the shore in boats. they float about, looking earnestly over the sides of the boats to the bottom of the sea. "all at once, they see something. down go their long hooks through the water. a moment afterward, they begin to tow a tangle of stones and seaweed to the shore. as soon as they land, they begin to sort out the great mass. perhaps they will rejoice in finding large pieces of amber in the collection. "there is still another way of getting amber. i know hans will be most interested in what i am going to say now. it has more of danger in it, and boys like to hear anything in the way of adventure." hans looked up and smiled. his father knew him well. he was a daring lad. he was always longing for the time when he should grow up and be a soldier, and possibly take part in some war. "children," their father went on, "you have all heard of divers and of their dangerous work under the sea. gretchen was telling me the other day about her geography lesson, and of the pearl-divers along the shores of india. i did not tell her then that some men spend their lives diving for amber on the shores of our own country. "they wear rubber suits and helmets and air-chests of sheet iron." "how can they see where they are going?" asked bertha. "there are glass openings in their helmets, and they can look through these. they go out in boats. the crew generally consists of six men. two of them are divers, and four men have charge of the air-pumps. these pumps force fresh air down through tubes fastened to the helmet of each diver. besides these men there is an overseer who has charge of everything. "sometimes the divers stay for hours on the bed of the sea, and work away at the amber tangles." "but suppose anything happens to the air-tubes and the men fail to get as much air as they need?" said hans. "is there any way of letting those in the boat know they are in trouble? and, besides that, how do the others know when it is time to raise the divers with their precious loads?" "there is a safety-rope reaching from the boat to the men. when they pull this rope it is a sign that they wish to be drawn up. but i have told you as much about amber now as you will be able to remember." "are you very tired, father dear?" said bertha, in her most coaxing tone. "why should i be tired? what do you wish to ask me? come, speak out plainly, little one." "you tell such lovely fairy-tales, papa, i was just wishing for one. see! the moon is just rising above the tree-tops. it is the very time for stories of the wonderful beings." her father smiled. "it shall be as you wish, bertha. it is hard to refuse you when you look at me that way. come, children, let us sit in the doorway. goodwife, put down your work and join us while i tell the story of siegfried, the old hero of germany." chapter ix. the magic sword far away in the long ago there lived a mighty king with his goodwife and his brave son, siegfried. their home was at xanten, where the river rhine flows lazily along. the young prince was carefully taught. but when his education was nearly finished, his father said: "siegfried, there is a mighty smith named mimer. it will be well for you to learn all you can of him in regard to the making of arms." so siegfried went to work at the trade of a smith. it was not long before he excelled his teacher. this pleased mimer, who spent many spare hours with his pupil, telling him stories of the olden times. after awhile, he took siegfried into his confidence. he said: "there is a powerful knight in burgundy who has challenged every smith of my country to make a weapon strong enough to pierce his coat of mail. "i long to try," mimer went on, "but i am now old and have not strength enough to use the heavy hammer." at these words siegfried jumped up in great excitement. "i will make the sword, dear master," he cried. "be of good cheer. it shall be strong enough to cut the knight's armour in two." early the next morning, siegfried began his work. for seven days and seven nights the constant ringing of his hammer could be heard. at the end of that time siegfried came to his master with a sword of the finest steel in his right hand. mimer looked it all over. he then held it in a stream of running water in which he had thrown a fine thread. the water carried the thread against the edge of the sword, where it was cut in two. "it is without a fault," cried mimer with delight. "i can do better than that," answered siegfried, and he took the sword and broke it into pieces. again he set to work. for seven more days and seven more nights he was busy at his forge. at the end of that time he brought a polished sword to his master. mimer looked it over with the greatest care and made ready to test it. he threw the fleeces of twelve sheep into the stream. the current carried them on its bosom to siegfried's sword. instantly, each piece was divided as it met the blade. mimer shouted aloud in his joy. "balmung" (for that was the name siegfried gave the sword) "is the finest weapon man ever made," he cried. siegfried was now prepared to meet the proud knight of burgundy. the very first thrust of the sword, balmung, did the work. the head and shoulders of the giant were severed from the rest of the body. they rolled down the hillside and fell into the rhine, where they can be seen even now, when the water is clear. at least, so runs the story. the trunk remained on the hilltop and was turned to stone. soon after this mimer found that siegfried longed to see the world and make himself famous. so he bound the sword balmung to the young prince's side, and told him to seek a certain person, who would give him a fine war-horse. siegfried went to this man, from whom he obtained a matchless steed. in fact it had descended from the great god odin's magic horse. siegfried, you can see, must have lived in a time when men believed in gods and other wonderful beings. he was now all ready for his adventures, but before starting out, mimer told him of a great treasure of gold guarded by a fearful serpent. this treasure was spread out over a plain called the glittering heath. no man had yet been able to take it, because of its terrible guardian. siegfried was not in the least frightened by the stories he heard of the monster. he started out on his dangerous errand with a heart full of courage. at last, he drew near the plain. he could see it on the other side of the rhine, from the hilltop where he was standing. with no one to help him, not even taking his magic horse with him, he hurried down the hillside and sprang into a boat on the shore. an old man had charge of the boat, and as he rowed siegfried across, he gave him good advice. this old man, as it happened, was the god odin, who loved siegfried and wished to see him succeed. "dig a deep trench along the path the serpent has worn on his way to the river when in search of water," said the old boatman. "hide yourself in the trench, and, as the serpent passes along, you must thrust your sword deep into his body." it was good advice. siegfried did as odin directed him. he went to work on the trench at once. it was soon finished, and then the young prince, sword in hand, was lying in watch for the dread monster. he did not have long to wait. he soon heard the sound of rolling stones. then came a loud hiss, and immediately afterward he felt the serpent's fiery breath on his cheek. and now the serpent rolled over into the ditch, and siegfried was covered by the folds of his huge body. he did not fear or falter. he thrust balmung, his wonderful sword, deep into the monster's body. the blood poured forth in such torrents that the ditch began to fill fast. it was a time of great danger for siegfried. he would have been drowned if the serpent in his death-agony had not rolled over on one side and given him a chance to free himself. in a moment more he was standing, safe and sound, by the side of the ditch. his bath in the serpent's blood had given him a great blessing. hereafter it would be impossible for any one to wound him except in one tiny place on his shoulder. a leaf had fallen on this spot, and the blood had not touched it. "what did siegfried do with the golden treasure?" asked hans, when his father had reached this point in the story. "he had not sought it for himself, but for mimer's sake. all he cared for was the power of killing the serpent." as soon as this was done, mimer drew near and showed himself ungrateful and untrue. he was so afraid siegfried would claim some of the treasure that he secretly drew balmung from out the serpent's body, and made ready to thrust it into siegfried. but at that very moment his foot slipped in the monster's blood, and he fell upon the sword and was instantly killed. siegfried was filled with horror when he saw what had happened. he sprang upon his horse's back and fled as fast as possible from the dreadful scene. "what happened to siegfried after that? did he have any more adventures?" asked bertha. "yes, indeed. there were enough to fill a book. but there is one in particular you girls would like to hear. it is about a beautiful princess whom he freed from a spell which had been cast upon her." "what was her name, papa?" asked gretchen. "brunhild, the queen of isenland. she had been stung by the thorn of sleep." odin, the great god, had said, "brunhild shall not awake till some hero is brave enough to fight his way through the flames which shall constantly surround the palace. he must then go to the side of the sleeping maiden and break the charm by a kiss upon her forehead." when siegfried, in his wanderings, heard the story of brunhild, he said, "i will make my way through the flames and will myself rescue the fair princess." he leaped upon the back of his magic steed, and together they fought their way through the fire that surrounded the palace of the sleeping beauty. he reached the gates in safety. there was no sign of life about the place. every one was wrapped in a deep sleep. siegfried made his way to the room of the enchanted princess. ah! there she lay, still and beautiful, with no knowledge of what was going on around her. the young knight knelt by her side. leaning over her, he pressed a kiss upon her forehead. she moved slightly; then, opening her blue eyes, she smiled sweetly upon her deliverer. at the same moment every one else in the palace woke up and went on with whatever had been interrupted when sleep overcame them. siegfried remained for six months with the fair brunhild and her court. every day was given up to music and feasting, games and songs. time passed like a beautiful dream. no one knows how long the young knight might have enjoyed this happy life if odin had not sent two birds. thought and memory, to remind him there were other things for him yet to do. he did not stop to bid brunhild farewell, but leaped upon his horse's back and rode away in search of new adventures. "dear me, children," exclaimed their father, looking at the clock, "it is long past the time you should be in your soft, warm beds." "papa, do you know what day to-morrow is?" whispered bertha, as she kissed him good night. "my darling child's birthday. it is ten years to-morrow since your eyes first looked upon the sunlight. they have been ten happy years to us all, though our lives are full of work. what do you say to that, my little one?" "very happy, papa dear. you and mother are so kind! i ought to be good as well as happy." "she is a faithful child," said her mother, after bertha had left the room. "that is why i have a little surprise ready for to-morrow. i have baked a large birthday cake and shall ask her little friends to share it with her. "her aunt has finished the new dress i bought for her, and i have made two white aprons, besides. she will be a happy child when she sees her presents." the mother closed her eyes and made a silent prayer to the all-father that bertha's life should be as joyful as her tenth birthday gave promise of being. trenck*** transcribed from the cassell & co. edition by david price, email ccx @pglaf.org, proofed by bridie, rab hughes and roland chapman. the life and adventures of baron trenck translated by thomas holcroft. vol. i. cassell & company, limited: _london_, _paris & melbourne_. . introduction. there were two cousins von der trenck, who were barons descended from an ancient house in east prussia, and were adventurous soldiers, to whom, as to the adventurous, there were adventures that lost nothing in the telling, for they were told by the authors' most admiring friends--themselves. franz, the elder, was born in , the son of an austrian general; and frederick, whose adventures are here told, was the son of a prussian major-general. franz, at the age of seventeen, fought duels, and cut off the head of a man who refused to lend him money. he stood six feet three inches in his shoes, knocked down his commanding officer, was put under arrest, offered to pay for his release by bringing in three turks' heads within an hour, was released on that condition, and actually brought in four turks' heads. when afterwards cashiered, he settled on his estates in croatia, and drilled a thousand of his tenantry to act as "pandours" against the banditti. in , he served with his pandours under maria theresa, and behaved himself as one of the more brutal sort of banditti. he offered to capture frederick of prussia, and did capture his tent. many more of his adventures are vaingloriously recounted by himself in the _memoires du baron franz de trenck_, published at paris in . this trenck took poison when imprisoned at gratz, and died in october, , at the age of thirty-six. his cousin frederick is the trenck who here tells a story of himself that abounds in lively illustration of the days of frederick the great. he professes that frederick the king owed him a grudge, because frederick the trenck had, when eighteen years old, fascinated the princess amalie at a ball. but as frederick the greater was in correspondence with his cousin franz at the time when that redoubtable personage was planning the seizure of frederick the great, there may have been better ground for the trenck's arrest than he allows us to imagine. mr. carlyle shows that frederick von der trenck had been three months in prison, and was still in prison, at the time of the battle of the sohr, in which he professes to have been engaged. frederick von der trenck, after his release from imprisonment in , married a burgomaster's daughter, and went into business as a wine merchant. then he became adventurous again. his adventures, published in german in - , and in his own french version in , formed one of the most popular books of its time. seven plays were founded on them, and ladies in paris wore their bonnets a la trenck. but the french finally guillotined the author, when within a year of threescore and ten, on the th of july, . he had gone to paris in , and joined there in the strife of parties. at the guillotine he struggled with the executioner. h.m. chapter i. i was born at konigsberg in prussia, february , , of one of the most ancient families of the country. my father, who was lord of great scharlach, schakulack, and meichen, and major-general of cavalry, died in , after receiving eighteen wounds in the prussian service. my mother was daughter of the president of the high court at konigsberg. after my father's death she married count lostange, lieutenant-colonel in the kiow regiment of cuirassiers, with whom she went and resided at breslau. i had two brothers and a sister; my youngest brother was taken by my mother into silesia; the other was a cornet in this last-named regiment of kiow; and my sister was married to the only son of the aged general valdow. my ancestors are famous in the chronicles of the north, among the ancient teutonic knights, who conquered courland, prussia, and livonia. by temperament i was choleric, and addicted to pleasure and dissipation; my tutors found this last defect most difficult to overcome; happily, they were aided by a love of knowledge inherent in me, an emulative spirit, and a thirst for fame, which disposition it was my father's care to cherish. a too great consciousness of innate worth gave me a too great degree of pride, but the endeavours of my instructor to inspire humility were not all lost; and habitual reading, well-timed praise, and the pleasures flowing from science, made the labours of study at length my recreation. my memory became remarkable; i am well read in the scriptures, the classics, and ancient history; was acquainted with geography; could draw; learnt fencing, riding, and other necessary exercises. my religion was lutheran; but morality was taught me by my father, and by the worthy man to whose care he committed the forming of my heart, whose memory i shall ever hold in veneration. while a boy, i was enterprising in all the tricks of boys, and exercised my wit in crafty excuses; the warmth of my passions gave a satiric, biting cast to my writings, whence it has been imagined, by those who knew but little of me, i was a dangerous man; though, i am conscious, this was a false judgment. a soldier himself, my father would have all his sons the same; thus, when we quarrelled, we terminated our disputes with wooden sabres, and, brandishing these, contested by blows for victory, while our father sat laughing, pleased at our valour and address. this practice, and the praises he bestowed, encouraged a disposition which ought to have been counteracted. accustomed to obtain the prize, and be the hero of scholastic contentions, i acquired the bad habit of disputation, and of imagining myself a sage when little more than a boy. i became stubborn in argument; hasty to correct others, instead of patiently attentive: and, by presumption, continually liable to incite enmity. gentle to my inferiors, but impatient of contradiction, and proud of resisting power, i may hence date, the origin of all my evils. how might a man, imbued with the heroic principles of liberty, hope for advancement and happiness, under the despotic and iron government of frederic? i was taught neither to know nor to avoid, but to despise the whip of slavery. had i learnt hypocrisy, craft, and meanness, i had long since become field-marshal, had been in possession of my hungarian estates, and had not passed the best years of my life in the dungeons of magdeburg. i was addicted to no vice: i laboured in the cause of science, honour, and virtue; kept no vicious company; was never in the whole of my life intoxicated; was no gamester, no consumer of time in idleness nor brutal pleasures; but devoted many hundred laborious nights to studies that might make me useful to my country; yet was i punished with a severity too cruel even for the most worthless, or most villanous. i mean, in my narrative, to make candour and veracity my guides, and not to conceal my failings; i wish my work may remain a moral lesson to the world. yet it is an innate satisfaction that i am conscious of never having acted with dishonour, even to the last act of this distressful tragedy. i shall say little of the first years of my life, except that my father took especial care of my education, and sent me, at the age of thirteen, to the university of konigsberg, where, under the tuition of kowalewsky, my progress was rapid. there were fourteen other noblemen in the same house, and under the same master. in the year following, , i quarrelled with one young wallenrodt, a fellow-student, much stronger than myself, and who, despising my weakness, thought proper to give me a blow. i demanded satisfaction. he came not to the appointed place, but treated my demand with contempt; and i, forgetting all further respect, procured a second, and attacked him in open day. we fought, and i had the fortune to wound him twice; the first time in the arm, the second in the hand. this affair incited inquiry:--doctor kowalewsky, our tutor, laid complaints before the university, and i was condemned to three hours' confinement; but my grandfather and guardian, president derschau, was so pleased with my courage, that he took me from this house and placed me under professor christiani. here i first began to enjoy full liberty, and from this worthy man i learnt all i know of experimental philosophy and science. he loved me as his own son, and continued instructing me till midnight. under his auspices, in , i maintained, with great success, two public theses, although i was then but sixteen; an effort and an honour till then unknown. three days after my last public exordium, a contemptible fellow sought a quarrel with me, and obliged me to draw in my own defence, whom, on this occasion, i wounded in the groin. this success inflated my valour, and from that time i began to assume the air and appearance of a hector. scarcely had a fortnight elapsed before i had another with a lieutenant of the garrison, whom i had insulted, who received two wounds in the contest. i ought to remark, that at this time, the university of konigsberg was still highly privileged. to send a challenge was held honourable; and this was not only permitted, but would have been difficult to prevent, considering the great number of proud, hot-headed, and turbulent nobility from livonia, courland, sweden, denmark, and poland, who came thither to study, and of whom there were more than five hundred. this brought the university into disrepute, and endeavours have been made to remedy the abuse. men have acquired a greater extent of true knowledge, and have begun to perceive that a university ought to be a place of instruction, and not a field of battle; and that blood cannot be honourably shed, except in defence of life or country. in november, , the king sent his adjutant-general, baron lottum, who was related to my mother, to konigsberg, with whom i dined at my grandfather's. he conversed much with me, and, after putting various questions, purposely, to discover what my talents and inclinations were, he demanded, as if in joke, whether i had any inclination to go with him to berlin, and serve my country, as my ancestors had ever done: adding that, in the army, i should find much better opportunities of sending challenges than at the university. inflamed with the desire of distinguishing myself, i listened with rapture to the proposition, and in a few days we departed for potzdam. on the morrow after my arrival, i was presented to the king, as indeed i had before been in the year , with the character of being, then, one of the most hopeful youths of the university. my reception was most flattering; the justness of my replies to the questions he asked, my height, figure, and confidence, pleased him; and i soon obtained permission to enter as a cadet in his body guards, with a promise of quick preferment. the body guards formed, at this time, a model and school for the prussian cavalry; they consisted of one single squadron of men selected from the whole army, and their uniform was the most splendid in all europe. two thousand rix-dollars were necessary to equip an officer: the cuirass was wholly plated with silver; and the horse, furniture, and accoutrements alone cost four hundred rix-dollars. this squadron only contained six officers and a hundred and forty-four men; but there were always fifty or sixty supernumeraries, and as many horses, for the king incorporated all the most handsome men he found in the guards. the officers were the best taught of any the army contained; the king himself was their tutor, and he afterwards sent them to instruct the cavalry in the manoeuvres they had learnt. their rise was rapid if they behaved well; but they were broken for the least fault, and punished by being sent to garrison regiments. it was likewise necessary they should be tolerably rich, as well as possess such talents as might be successfully employed, both at court and in the army. there are no soldiers in the world who undergo so much as this body guard; and during the time i was in the service of frederic, i often had not eight hours' sleep in eight days. exercise began at four in the morning, and experiments were made of all the alterations the king meant to introduce in his cavalry. ditches of three, four, five, six feet, and still wider, were leaped, till that someone broke his neck; hedges, in like manner, were freed, and the horses ran careers, meeting each other full speed in a kind of lists of more than half a league in length. we had often, in these our exercises, several men and horses killed or wounded. it happened more frequently than otherwise that the same experiments were repeated after dinner with fresh horses; and it was not uncommon, at potzdam, to hear the alarm sounded twice in a night. the horses stood in the king's stables; and whoever had not dressed, armed himself, saddled his horse, mounted, and appeared before the palace in eight minutes, was put under arrest for fourteen days. scarcely were the eyes closed before the trumpet again sounded, to accustom youth to vigilance. i lost, in one year, three horses, which had either broken their legs, in leaping ditches, or died of fatigue. i cannot give a stronger picture of this service than by saying that the body guard lost more men and horses in one year's peace than they did, during the following year, in two battles. we had, at this time, three stations; our service, in the winter, was at berlin, where we attended the opera, and all public festivals: in the spring we were exercised at charlottenberg; and at potzdam, or wherever the king went, during the summer. the six officers of the guard dined with the king, and, on gala days, with the queen. it may be presumed there was not at that time on earth a better school to form an officer and a man of the world than was the court of berlin. i had scarcely been six weeks a cadet before the king took me aside, one day, after the parade, and having examined me near half an hour, on various subjects, commanded me to come and speak to him on the morrow. his intention was to find whether the accounts that had been given him of my memory had not been exaggerated; and that he might be convinced, he first gave me the names of fifty soldiers to learn by rote, which i did in five minutes. he next repeated the subjects of two letters, which i immediately composed in french and latin; the one i wrote, the other i dictated. he afterwards ordered me to trace, with promptitude, a landscape from nature, which i executed with equal success; and he then gave me a cornet's commission in his body guards. each mark of bounty from the monarch increased an ardour already great, inspired me with gratitude, and the first of my wishes was to devote my whole life to the service of my king and country. he spoke to me as a sovereign should speak, like a father, like one who knew well how to estimate the gifts bestowed on me by nature; and perceiving, or rather feeling, how much he might expect from me, became at once my instructor and my friend. thus did i remain a cadet only six weeks, and few prussians can vaunt, under the reign of frederic, of equal good fortune. the king not only presented me with a commission, but equipped me splendidly for the service. thus did i suddenly find myself a courtier, and an officer in the finest, bravest, and best disciplined corps in europe. my good fortune seemed unlimited, when, in the month of august, , the king selected me to go and instruct the silesian cavalry in the new manoeuvres: an honour never before granted to a youth of eighteen. i have already said we were garrisoned at berlin during winter, where the officers' table was at court: and, as my reputation had preceded me, no person whatever could be better received there, or live more pleasantly. frederic commanded me to visit the literati, whom he had invited to his court: maupertuis, jordan, la mettrie, and pollnitz, were all my acquaintance. my days were employed in the duties of an officer, and my nights in acquiring knowledge. pollnitz was my guide, and the friend of my heart. my happiness was well worthy of being envied. in , i was five feet eleven inches in height, and nature had endowed me with every requisite to please. i lived, as i vainly imagined, without inciting enmity or malice, and my mind was wholly occupied by the desire of earning well-founded fame. i had hitherto remained ignorant of love, and had been terrified from illicit commerce by beholding the dreadful objects of the hospital at potzdam. during the winter of , the nuptials of his majesty's sister were celebrated, who was married to the king of sweden, where she is at present queen dowager, mother of the reigning gustavus. i, as officer of my corps, had the honour to mount guard and escort her as far as stettin. here first did my heart feel a passion of which, in the course of my history, i shall have frequent occasion to speak. the object of my love was one whom i can only remember at present with reverence; and, as i write not romance, but facts, i shall here briefly say, ours were mutually the first-fruits of affection, and that to this hour i regret no misfortune, no misery, with which, from a stock so noble, my destiny was overshadowed. amid the tumult inseparable to occasions like these, on which it was my duty to maintain order, a thief had the address to steal my watch, and cut away part of the gold fringe which hung from the waistcoat of my uniform, and afterwards to escape unperceived. this accident brought on me the raillery of my comrades; and the lady alluded to thence took occasion to console me, by saying it should be her care that i should be no loser. her words were accompanied by a look i could not misunderstand, and a few days after i thought myself the happiest of mortals. the name, however, of this high-born lady is a secret, which must descend with me to the grave; and, though my silence concerning this incident heaves a void in my life, and indeed throws obscurity over a part of it, which might else be clear, i would much rather incur this reproach than become ungrateful towards my best friend and benefactress. to her conversation, to her prudence, to the power by which she fixed my affections wholly on herself, am i indebted for the improvement and polishing of my bodily and mental qualities. she never despised, betrayed, or abandoned me, even in the deepest of my distress; and my children alone, on my death-bed, shall be taught the name of her to whom they owe the preservation of their father, and consequently their own existence. i lived at this time perfectly happy at berlin, and highly esteemed. the king took every opportunity to testify his approbation; my mistress supplied me with more money than i could expend; and i was presently the best equipped, and made the greatest figure, of any officer in the whole corps. the style in which i lived was remarked, for i had only received from my father's heritage the estate of great scharlach; the rent of which was eight hundred dollars a year, which was far from sufficient to supply my then expenses. my amour, in the meantime, remained a secret from my best and most intimate friends. twice was my absence from potzdam and charlottenberg discovered, and i was put under arrest; but the king seemed satisfied with the excuse i made, under the pretext of having been hunting, and smiled as he granted my pardon. never did the days of youth glide away with more apparent success and pleasure than during these my first years at berlin. this good fortune was, alas, of short duration. many are the incidents i might relate, but which i shall omit. my other adventures are sufficiently numerous, without mingling such as may any way seem foreign to the subject. in this gloomy history of my life, i wish to paint myself such as i am; and, by the recital of my sufferings, afford a memorable example to the world, and interest the heart of sensibility. i would also show how my fatal destiny has deprived my children of an immense fortune; and, though i want a hundred thousand men to enforce and ensure my rights, i will leave demonstration to my heirs that they are incontestable. chapter ii. in the beginning of september, , war again broke out between the houses of austria and prussia. we marched with all speed towards prague, traversing saxony without opposition. i will not relate in this place what the great frederic said to us, with evident emotion, when surrounded by all his officers, on the morning of our departure from potzdam. should any one be desirous of writing the lives of him and his opponent, maria theresa, without flattery and without fear, let him apply to me, and i will relate anecdotes most surprising on this subject, unknown to all but myself, and which never must appear under my own name. all monarchs going to war have reason on their side; and the churches of both parties resound with prayers, and appeals to divine justice, for the success of their arms. frederic, on this occasion, had recourse to them with regret, of which i was a witness. if i am not mistaken, the king's army came before prague on the th of september, and that of general schwerin, which had passed through silesia, arrived the next day on the other side of the moldau. in this position we were obliged to wait some days for pontoons, without which we could not establish a communication between the two armies. the height called zischka, which overlooks the city, being guarded only by a few croats, was instantly seized, without opposition, by some grenadiers, and the batteries, erected at the foot of that mountain, being ready on the fifth day, played with such success on the old town with bombs and red-hot balls that it was set on fire. the king made every effort to take the city before prince charles could bring his army from the rhine to its relief. general harsh thought proper to capitulate, after a siege of twelve days, during which not more than five hundred men of the garrison, at the utmost, were killed and wounded, though eighteen thousand men were made prisoners. thus far we had met with no impediment. the imperial army, however, under the command of prince charles of lorraine, having quitted the banks of the rhine, was advancing to save bohemia. during this campaign we saw the enemy only at a distance; but the austrian light troops being thrice as numerous as ours, prevented us from all foraging. winter was approaching, dearth and hunger made frederic determine to retreat, without the least hope from the countries in our rear, which we had entirely laid waste as we had advanced. the severity of the season, in the month of november, rendered the soldiers excessively impatient of their hardships; and, accustomed to conquer, the prussians were ashamed of and repined at retreat: the enemy's light troops facilitated desertion, and we lost, in a few weeks, above thirty thousand men. the pandours of my kinsman, the austrian trenck, were incessantly at our heels, gave us frequent alarms, did us great injury, and, by their alertness, we never could make any impression upon them with our cannon. trenck at length passed the elbe, and went and burnt and destroyed our magazines at pardubitz: it was therefore resolved wholly to evacuate bohemia. the king hoped to have brought prince charles to the battle between benneschan and kannupitz, but in vain: the saxons, during the night, had entered a battery of three-and-twenty cannon on a mound which separated two ponds: this was the precise road by which the king meant to make the attack. thus were we obliged to abandon bohemia. the dearth, both for man and horse, began to grow extreme. the weather was bad; the roads and ruts were deep; marches were continual, and alarms and attacks from the enemy's light troops became incessant. the discontent all these inspired was universal, and this occasioned the great loss of the army. under such circumstances, had prince charles continued to harass us, by persuading us into silesia, had he made a winter campaign, instead of remaining indolently at ease in bohemia, we certainly should not have vanquished him, the year following, at strigau; but he only followed at a distance, as far as the bohemian frontiers. this gave frederic time to recover, and the more effectually because the austrians had the imprudence to permit the return of deserters. this was a repetition of what had happened to charles xii. when he suffered his russian prisoners to return home, who afterwards so effectually punished his contempt of them at the battle of pultawa. prague was obliged to be abandoned, with considerable loss; and trenck seized on tabor, budweis, and frauenberg, where he took prisoners the regiments of walrabe kreutz. no one would have been better able to give a faithful history of this campaign than myself, had i room in this place, and had i at that time been more attentive to things of moment; since i not only performed the office of adjutant to the king, when he went to reconnoitre, or choose a place of encampment, but it was, moreover, my duty to provide forage for the headquarters. the king having only permitted me to take six volunteers from the body guard, to execute this latter duty, i was obliged to add to them horse chasseurs, and hussars, with whom i was continually in motion. i was peculiarly fortunate on two occasions, by happening to come after the enemy when they had left loaded waggons and forage bundles. i seldom passed the night in my tent during this campaign, and my indefatigable activity obtained the favour and entire confidence of frederic. nothing so much contributed to inspire me with emulation as the public praises i received, and my enthusiasm wished to perform wonders. the campaign, however, but ill supplied me with opportunities to display my youthful ardour. at length no one durst leave the camp, notwithstanding the extremity of the dearth, because of the innumerable clouds of pandours and hussars that hovered everywhere around. no sooner were we arrived in silesia, than the king's body guard were sent to berlin, there to remain in winter quarters. i should not here have mentioned the bohemian war, but that, while writing time history of my life, i ought not to omit accidents by which my future destiny was influenced. one day, while at bennaschen, i was commanded out, with a detachment of thirty hussars and twenty chasseurs, on a foraging party. i had posted my hussars in a convent, and gone myself, with the chasseurs, to a mansion-house, to seize the carts necessary for the conveyance of the hay and straw from a neighbouring farm. an austrian lieutenant of hussars, concealed with thirty-six horsemen in a wood, having remarked the weakness of my escort, taking advantage of the moment when my people were all employed in loading the carts, first seized our sentinel, and then fell suddenly upon them, and took them all prisoners in the very farm- yard. at this moment i was seated at my ease, beside the lady of the mansion-house, and was a spectator of the whole transaction through the window. i was ashamed of and in despair at my negligence. the kind lady wished to hide me when the firing was heard in the farm-yard. by good fortune, the hussars, whom i had stationed in the convent, had learnt from a peasant that there was an austrian detachment in the wood: they had seen us at a distance enter the farmyard, hastily marched to our aid, and we had not been taken more than two minutes before they arrived. i cannot express the pleasure with which i put myself at their head. some of the enemy's party escaped through a back door, but we made two-and-twenty prisoners, with a lieutenant of the regiment of kalnockichen. they had two men killed, and one wounded; and two also of my chasseurs were hewn down by the sabre, in the hay-loft, where they were at work. we continued our forage with more caution after this accident: the horses we had taken served, in part, to draw the carts; and, after raising a contribution of one hundred and fifty ducats on the convent, which i distributed among the soldiers to engage them to silence, we returned to the army, from which we were distant about two leagues. we heard firing as we marched, and the foragers on all sides were skirmishing with the enemy. a lieutenant and forty horse joined me; yet, with this reinforcement, i durst not return to the camp, because i learned we were in danger from more than eight hundred pandours and hussars, who were in the plain. i therefore determined to take a long, winding, but secret route, and had the good fortune to come safe to quarters with my prisoners and five-and-twenty loaded carts. the king was at dinner when i entered his tent. having been absent all night, it was imagined i had been taken, that accident having happened the same day to many others. the instant i entered, the king demanded if i returned singly. "no, please your majesty," answered i; "i have brought five-and-twenty loads of forage, and two-and-twenty prisoners, with their officer and horses." the king then commanded me to sit down, and turning himself towards the english ambassador, who was near him, said, laying his hand on my shoulder, "_c'est un matador de ma jeunesse_." a reconnoitring party was, at the same moment, in waiting before his tent: he consequently asked me few questions, and to those he did ask, i replied trembling. in a few minutes he rose from the table, gave a glance at the prisoners, hung the order of merit round my neck, commanded me to go and take repose, and set off with his party. it is easy to conceive the embarrassment of my situation; my unpardonable negligence deserved that i should have been broken, instead of which i was rewarded; an instance, this, of the great influence of chance on the affairs of the world. how many generals have gained victories by their very errors, which have been afterwards attributed to their genius! it is evident the sergeant of hussars, who retook me and my men by bringing up his party, was much better entitled than myself to the recompense i received. on many occasions have i since met with disgrace and punishment when i deserved reward. my inquietude lest the truth should be discovered, was extreme, especially recollecting how many people were in the secret: and my apprehensions were incessant. as i did not want money, i gave the sergeants twenty ducats each, and the soldiers one, in order to insure their silence, which, being a favourite with them, they readily promised. i, however, was determined to declare the truth the very first opportunity, and this happened a few days after. we were on our march, and i, as cornet, was at the head of my company, when the king, advancing, beckoned me to come to him, and bade me tell him exactly how the affair i had so lately been engaged in happened. the question at first made me mistrust i was betrayed, but remarking the king had a mildness in his manner, i presently recovered myself, and related the exact truth. i saw the astonishment of his countenance, but i at the same time saw he was pleased with my sincerity. he spoke to me for half an hour, not as a king, but as a father, praised my candour, and ended with the following words, which, while life remains, i shall never forget: "confide in the advice i give you; depend wholly upon me, and i will make you a man." whoever can feel, may imagine how infinitely my gratitude towards the king was increased, by this his great goodness; from that moment i had no other desire than to live and die for his service. i soon perceived the confidence the king had in me after this explanation, of which i received very frequent marks, the following winter, at berlin. he permitted me to be present at his conversations with the literati of his court, and my state was truly enviable. i received this same winter more than five hundred ducats as presents. so much happiness could not but excite jealousy, and this began to be manifest on every side. i had too little disguise for a courtier, and my heart was much too open and frank. before i proceed, i will here relate an incident which happened during the last campaign, and which will, no doubt, be read in the history of frederic. on the rout while retreating through bohemia, the king came to kollin, with his horse-guards, the cavalry piquets of the head-quarters, and the second and third battalions of guards. we had only four field pieces, and our squadron was stationed in one of the suburbs. our advance posts, towards evening, were driven back into the town, and the hussars entered pell-mell: the enemy's light troops swarmed over the country, and my commanding officer sent me immediately to receive the king's orders. after much search, i found him at the top of a steeple, with a telescope in his hand. never did i see him so disturbed or undecided as on this occasion. orders were immediately given that we should retreat through the city, into the opposite suburb, where we were to halt, but not unsaddle. we had not been here long before a most heavy rain fell, and the night became exceedingly dark. my cousin trenck made his approach about nine in the evening, with his pandour and janissary music, and set fire to several houses. they found we were in the suburb, and began to fire upon us from the city windows. the tumult became extreme: the city was too full for us to re-enter: the gate was shut, and they fired from above at us with our field-pieces. trenck had let in the waters upon us, and we were up to the girths by midnight, and almost in despair. we lost seven men, and my horse was wounded in the neck. the king, and all of us, had certainly been made prisoners had my cousin, as he has since told me, been able to continue the assault he had begun: but a cannon ball having wounded him in the foot, he was carried off, and the pandours retired. the corps of nassau arrived next day to our aid; we quitted kollin, and during the march the king said to me, "your cousin had nearly played us a malicious prank last night, but the deserters say he is killed." he then asked what our relationship was, and there our conversation ended. chapter iii. it was about the middle of december when we came to berlin, where i was received with open arms. i became less cautious than formerly, and, perhaps, more narrowly observed. a lieutenant of the foot guards, who was a public ganymede, and against whom i had that natural antipathy and abhorrence i have for all such wretches, having indulged himself in some very impertinent jokes on the secret of my amour, i bestowed on him the epithet he deserved: we drew our swords, and he was wounded. on the sunday following i presented myself to pay my respects to his majesty on the parade, who said to me as he passed, "the storm and the thunder shall rend your heart; beware!" { } he added nothing more. some little time after i was a few minutes too late on the parade; the king remarked it, and sent me, under arrest, to the foot-guard at potzdam. when i had been here a fortnight, colonel wartensleben came, and advised me to petition for pardon. i was then too much a novice in the modes of the court to follow his counsel, nor did i even remark the person who gave it me was himself a most subtle courtier. i complained bitterly that i had so long been deprived of liberty, for a fault which was usually punished by three, or, at most, six days' arrest. here accordingly i remained. eight days after, the king being come to potzdam, i was sent by general bourke to berlin, to carry some letters, but without having seen the king. on my return i presented myself to him on the parade; and as our squadron was garrisoned at berlin, i asked, "does it please your majesty that i should go and join my corps?" "whence came you?" answered he. "from berlin." "and where were you before you went to berlin?" "under arrest." "then under arrest you must remain!" i did not recover my liberty till three days before our departure for silesia, towards which we marched, with the utmost speed, in the beginning of may, to commence our second campaign. here i must recount an event which happened that winter, which became the source of all my misfortunes, and to which i must entreat my readers will pay the utmost attention; since this error, if innocence can be error, was the cause that the most faithful and the best of subjects became bewildered in scenes of wretchedness, and was the victim of misery, from his nineteenth to the sixtieth year of his age. i dare presume that this true narrative, supported by testimonies the most authentic, will fully vindicate my present honour and my future memory. francis, baron of trenck, was the son of my father's brother, consequently my cousin german. i shall speak, hereafter, of the singular events of his life. being a commander of pandours in the austrian service, and grievously wounded at bavaria, in the year , he wrote to my mother, informing her he intended me, her eldest son, for his universal legatee. this letter, to which i returned no answer, was sent to me at potzdam. i was so satisfied with my situation, and had such numerous reasons so to be, considering the kindness with which the king treated me, that i would not have exchanged my good fortune for all the treasures of the great mogul. on the th of february, , being at berlin, i was in company with captain jaschinsky, commander of the body guard, the captain of which ranks as colonel in the army, together with lieutenant studnitz, and cornet wagnitz. the latter was my field comrade, and is at present commander-general of the cavalry of hesse cassel. the austrian trenck became the subject of conversation, and jaschinsky asked if i were his kinsman. i answered, yes, and immediately mentioned his having made me his universal heir. "and what answer have you returned?" said jaschinsky.--"none at all." the whole company then observed that, in a case like the present, i was much to blame not to answer; that the least i could do would be to thank him for his good wishes, and entreat a continuance of them. jaschinsky further added, "desire him to send you some of his fine hungarian horses for your own use, and give me the letter; i will convey it to him, by means of mr. bossart, legation counsellor of the saxon embassy; but on condition that you will give me one of the horses. this correspondence is a family, and not a state affair; i will make myself responsible for the consequences." i immediately took my commander's advice, and began to write; and had those who suspected me thought proper to make the least inquiry into these circumstances, the four witnesses who read what i wrote could have attested my innocence, and rendered it indubitable. i gave my letter open to jaschinsky, who sealed and sent it himself. i must omit none of the incidents concerning this letter, it being the sole cause of all my sufferings. i shall therefore here relate an event which was the first occasion of the unjust suspicions entertained against me. one of my grooms, with two led horses, was, among many others, taken by the pandours of trenck. when i returned to the camp, i was to accompany the king on a reconnoitring party. my horse was too tired, and i had no other: i informed him of my embarrassment, and his majesty immediately made me a present of a fine english courser. some days after, i was exceedingly astonished to see my groom return, with my two horses, and a pandour trumpeter, who brought me a letter, containing nearly the following words:-- "the austrian trenck is not at war with the prussian trenck, but, on the contrary, is happy to have recovered his horses from his hussars, and to return them to whom they first belonged," &c. i went the same day to pay my respects to the king, who, receiving me with great coldness, said, "since your cousin has returned your own horses, you have no more need of mine." there were too many who envied me to suppose these words would escape repetition. the return of the horses seems infinitely to have increased that suspicion frederic entertained against me, and therefore became one of the principal causes of my misfortunes: it is for this reason that i dwell upon this and suchlike small incidents, they being necessary for my own justification, and, were it possible, for that of the king. my innocence is, indeed, at present universally acknowledged by the court, the army, and the whole nation; who all mention the injustice i suffered with pity, and the fortitude with which it was endured with surprise. we marched for silesia, to enter on our second campaign: which, to the prussians, was as bloody and murderous as it was glorious. the king's head-quarters were fixed at the convent of kamentz, where we rested fourteen days, and the army remained in cantonments. prince charles, instead of following us into bohemia, had the imprudence to occupy the plain of strigau, and we already concluded his army was beaten. whoever is well acquainted with tactics, and the prussian manoeuvres, will easily judge, without the aid of calculation or witchcraft, whether a well or ill-disciplined army, in an open plain, ought to be victorious. the army hastily left its cantonments, and in twenty-four hours was in order of battle; and on the th of june, eighteen thousand bodies lay stretched on the plain of strigau. the allied armies of austria and saxony were totally defeated. the body guard was on the right; and previous to the attack, the king said to our squadron, "prove today, my children, that you are my body guard, and give no saxon quarter." we made three attacks on the cavalry, and two on the infantry. nothing could withstand a squadron like this, which for men, horses, courage, and experience, was assuredly the first in the world. our corps alone took seven standards and five pairs of colours, and in less than an hour the affair was over. i received a pistol shot in my right hand, my horse was desperately wounded, and i was obliged to change him on the third charge. the day after the battle all the officers were rewarded with the order of merit. for my own part, i remained four weeks among the wounded, at schweidnitz, where there were sixteen thousand men under the torture of the army surgeons, many of whom had not their wounds dressed till the third day. i was near three months before i recovered the use of my hand: i nevertheless rejoined my corps, continued to perform my duty, and as usual accompanied the king when he went to reconnoitre. for some time past he had placed confidence in me, and his kindness towards me continually increased, which raised my gratitude even to enthusiasm. i also performed the service of adjutant during this campaign, a circumstantial account of which no person is better enabled to write than myself, i having been present at all that passed. i was the scholar of the greatest master the art of war ever knew, and who believed me worthy to receive his instructions; but the volume i am writing would be insufficient to contain all that personally relates to myself. i must here mention an adventure that happened at this time, and which will show the art of the great frederic in forming youth for his service, and devotedly attaching them to his person. i was exceedingly fond of hunting, in which, notwithstanding it was severely forbidden, i indulged myself. i one day returned, laden with pheasants; but judge my astonishment and fears when i saw the army had decamped, and that it was with difficulty that i could overtake the rear- guard. in this my distress, i applied to an officer of hussars, who instantly lent me his horse, by the aid of which i rejoined my corps, which always marched as the vanguard. mounting my own horse, i tremblingly rode to the head of my division, which it was my duty to precede. the king, however, had remarked my absence, or rather had been reminded of it by my superior officer, who, for some time past, had become my enemy. just as the army halted to encamp, the king rode towards me, and made a signal for me to approach, and, seeing my fears in my countenance, said, "what, are you just returned from hunting?" "yes, your majesty. i hope--" here interrupting me, he added, "well, well, for this time, i shall take no further notice, remembering potzdam; but, however, let me find you more attentive to your duty." so ended this affair, for which i deserved to have been broken. i must remind my readers that the king meant by the words remembering potzdam, he remembered i had been punished too severely the winter before, and that my present pardon was intended as a compensation. this was indeed to think and act greatly; this was indeed the true art of forming great men: an art much more effectual than that of ferocious generals, who threaten subalterns with imprisonment and chains on every slight occasion; and, while indulging all the rigours of military law, make no distinction of minds or of men. frederic, on the contrary, sometimes pardoned the failings of genius, while mechanic souls he mechanically punished, according to the very letter of the laws of war. i shall further remark, the king took no more notice of my late fault, except that sometimes, when i had the honour to dine with him, he would ridicule people who were too often at the chase, or who were so choleric that they took occasion to quarrel for the least trifle. the campaign passed in different manoeuvres, marches, and countermarches. our corps was the most fatigued, as being encamped round the king's tent, the station of which was central, and as likewise having the care of the vanguard; we were therefore obliged to begin our march two hours sooner than the remainder of the army, that we might be in our place. we also accompanied the king whenever he went to reconnoitre, traced the lines of encampment, led the horse to water, inspected the head-quarters, and regulated the march and encampment, according to the king's orders; the performance of all which robbed us of much rest, we being but six officers to execute so many different functions. still further, we often executed the office of couriers, to bear the royal commands to detachments. the king was particularly careful that the officers of his guards, whom he intended should become excellent in the art of tactics, should not be idle in his school. it was necessary to do much in order that much might be learnt. labour, vigilance, activity, the love of glory and the love of his country, animated all his generals; into whom, it may be said, he infused his spirit. in this school i gained instruction, and here already was i selected as one designed to instruct others; yet, in my fortieth year, a great general at vienna told me, "my dear trenck, our discipline would be too difficult for you to learn; for which, indeed, you are too far advanced in life." agreeable to this wise decision was i made an austrian invalid, and an invalid have always remained; a judgment like this would have been laughed at, most certainly, at berlin. if i mistake not, the famous battle of soor, or sorau, was fought on the th day of september. the king had sent so many detachments into saxony, bohemia, and silesia, that the main army did not consist of more than twenty-five thousand men. neglecting advice, and obstinate in judging his enemy by numbers, and not according to the excellence of discipline, and other accidents, prince charles, blind to the real strength of the prussian armies, had enclosed this small number of pomeranian and brandenburg regiments, with more than eighty-six thousand men, intending to take them all prisoners. it will soon be seen from my narrative with what kind of secrecy his plan was laid and executed. the king came into my tent about midnight; as he also did into that of all the officers, to awaken them; his orders were, "secretly to saddle, leave the baggage in the rear, and that the men should stand ready to mount at the word of command." lieutenant studnitz and myself attended the king, who went in person, and gave directions through the whole army; meantime, break of day was expected with anxiety. opposite the defile through which the enemy was to march to the attack eight field-pieces were concealed behind a hill. the king must necessarily have been informed of the whole plan of the austrian general, for he had called in the advanced posts from the heights, that he might lull him into security, and make him imagine we should be surprised in the midst of sleep. scarcely did break of day appear before the austrian artillery, situated upon the heights, began to play upon our camp, and their cavalry to march through the defile to the attack. as suddenly were we in battle array; for in less than ten minutes we ourselves began the attack, notwithstanding the smallness of our number, the whole army only containing five regiments of cavalry. we fell with such fury upon the enemy (who at this time were wholly employed in forming their men at the mouth of the defile, and that slowly, little expecting so sudden and violent a charge), that we drove them back into the defile, where they pressed upon each other in crowds; the king himself stood ready to unmask his eight field-pieces, and a dreadful and bloody slaughter ensued in this narrow place; from which the enemy had not the power to retreat. this single incident gained the battle, and deceived all time hopes of prince charles. nadasti, trenck, and the light troops, sent to attack our rear, were employed in pillaging the camp. the ferocious croats met no opposition, while this their error made our victory more secure. it deserves to be noticed that, when advice was brought to the king that the enemy had fallen upon and were plundering the camp, his answer was, "so much the better; they have found themselves employment, and will be no impediment to our main design." our victory was complete, but all our baggage was lost; the headquarters, utterly undefended, were totally stripped; and trenck had, for his part of the booty, the king's tent and his service of plate. i have mentioned this circumstance here, because that, in the year , my cousin trenck, having fallen into the power of his enemies, who had instituted a legal, process against him, was accused, by some villanous wretches, of having surprised the king in bed at the battle of sorau, and of having afterwards released him for a bribe. what was still worse, they hired a common woman, a native of brunn, who pretended she was the daughter of marshal schwerin, to give in evidence that she herself was with the king when trenck entered his tent, whom he immediately made prisoner, and as immediately released. to this part of the prosecution i myself, an eye-witness, can answer: the thing was false and impossible. he was informed of the intended attack. i accompanied the watchful king from midnight till four in the morning, which time he employed in riding through the camp, and making the necessary preparations to receive the enemy; and the action began at five. trenck could not take the king in bed, for the battle was almost gained when he and his pandours entered the camp and plundered the head- quarters. as for the tale of miss schwerin, it is only fit to be told by schoolboys, or examined by the inquisition, and was very unworthy of making part of a legal prosecution against an innocent man at vienna. this incident, however, is so remarkable that i shall give in this work a farther account of my kinsman, and what was called his criminal process, at reading which the world will be astonished. my own history is so connected with his that this is necessary, and the more so because there are many ignorant or wicked people at vienna, who believe, or affirm, trenck had actually taken the king of prussia prisoner. never yet was there a traitor of the name of trenck; and i hope to prove, in the clearest manner, the austrian trenck as faithfully served the empress-queen as the prussian trenck did frederic, his king. maria theresa, speaking to me of him some time after his death, and the snares that had been laid for him, said, "your kinsman has made a better end than will be the fate of his accusers and judges." of this more hereafter: i approach that epoch when my misfortunes began, and when the sufferings of martyrdom attended me from youth onward till my hairs grew grey. chapter iv. a few days after the battle of sorau, the usual camp postman brought me a letter from my cousin trenck, the colonel of pandours, antedated at effek four months, of which the following is a copy:-- "your letter, of the th of february, from berlin, informs me you desire to have some hungarian horses. on these you would come and attack me and my pandours. i saw with pleasure, during the last campaign, that the prussian trenck was a good soldier; and that i might give you some proofs of my attachment, i then returned the horses which my men had taken. if, however, you wish to have hungarian horses, you must take mine in like manner from me in the field of battle: or, should you so think fit, come and join one who will receive you with open arms, like his friend and son, and who will procure you every advantage you can desire," &c. at first i was terrified at reading this letter, yet could not help smiling. cornet wagenitz, now general in chief of the hesse cassel forces, and lieutenant grotthausen, both now alive, and then present, were my camp comrades. i gave them the letter to read, and they laughed at its contents. it was determined to show it to our superior officer, jaschinsky, on a promise of secrecy, and it was accordingly shown him within an hour after it was received. the reader will be so kind as to recollect that, as i have before said, it was this colonel jaschinsky who on the th of february, the same year, at berlin, prevailed on me to write to the austrian trenck, my cousin; that he received the letter open, and undertook to send it according to its address; also that, in this letter, i in jest had asked him to send me some hungarian horses, and, should they come, had promised one to jaschinsky. he read the letter with an air of some surprise; we laughed, and, it being whispered through the army that, in consequence of our late victory, detached corps would be sent into hungary, jaschinsky said, "we shall now go and take hungarian horses for ourselves." here the conversation ended, and i, little suspecting future consequences, returned to my tent. i must here remark the following observations:-- st. i had not observed the date of the letter brought by the postman, which, as i have said, was antedated four months: this, however, the colonel did not fail to remark. ndly. the probability is that this was a net, spread for me by this false and wicked man. the return of my horses, during the preceding campaign, had been the subject of much conversation. it is possible he had the king's orders to watch me; but more probably he only prevailed on me to write that he might entrap me by a fictitious answer. certain it is, my cousin trenck, at vienna, affirmed to his death he never received any letter from me, consequently never could send any answer. i must therefore conclude this letter was forged. jaschinsky was at this time one of the king's favourites; his spy over the army; a tale-bearer; an inventor of wicked lies and calumnies. some years after the event of which i am now speaking, the king was obliged to break and banish him the country. he was then also the paramour of the beauteous madame brossart, wife of the saxon resident at berlin, and there can be little doubt but that this false letter was, by her means, conveyed to some saxon or austrian post- office, and thence, according to its address, sent to me. he had daily opportunities of infusing suspicions into the king's mind concerning me; and, unknown to me, of pursuing his diabolical plan. i must likewise add he was four hundred ducats indebted to me. at that time i had always a plentiful supply of money. this booty became his own when i, unexamined, was arrested, and thrown into prison. in like manner he seized on the greatest part of my camp equipage. further, we had quarrelled during our first campaign, because he had beaten one of my servants; we even were proceeding to fight with pistols, had not colonel winterfield interfered, and amicably ended our quarrel. the lithuanian is, by nature, obstinate and revengeful; and, from that day, i have reason to believe he sought my destruction. god only knows what were the means he took to excite the king's suspicious; for it is incredible that frederic, considering his _well- known professions_ of public justice, should treat me in the manner he did, without a hearing, without examination, and without a court-martial. this to me has ever remained a mystery, which the king alone was able to explain; he afterwards was convinced i was innocent: but my sufferings had been too cruel, and the miseries he had inflicted too horrible, for me ever to hope for compensation. in an affair of this nature, which will soon he known to all europe, as it long has been in prussia, the weakest is always guilty. i have been made a terrible example to this our age, how true that maxim is in despotic states. a man of my rank, having once unjustly suffered, and not having the power of making his sufferings known, must ever be highly rewarded or still more unjustly punished. my name and injuries will ever stain the annals of frederic _the great_; even those who read this book will perhaps suppose that i, from political motives of hope or fear, have sometimes concealed truth by endeavouring to palliate his conduct. it must ever remain incomprehensible that a monarch so clear-sighted, himself the daily witness of my demeanour, one well acquainted with mankind, and conscious i wanted neither money, honour, nor hope of future preferment; i say it is incomprehensible that he should really suppose me guilty. i take god to witness, and all those who knew me in prosperity and misfortune, i never harboured a thought of betraying my country. how was it possible to suspect me? i was neither madman nor idiot. in my eighteenth year i was a cornet of the body guard, adjutant to the king, and possessed his favour and confidence in the highest degree. his presents to me, in one year, amounted to fifteen hundred dollars. i kept seven horses, four men in livery; i was valued, distinguished, and beloved by the mistress of my soul. my relations held high offices, both civil and military; i was even fanatically devoted to my king and country, and had nothing to wish. that i should become thus wretched, in consequence of this unfortunate letter, is equally wonderful: it came by the public post. had there been any criminal correspondence, my kinsman certainly would not have chosen this mode of conveyance; since, it is well known, all such letters are opened; nor could i act more openly. my colonel read the letter i wrote; and also that which i received, immediately after it was brought. the day after the receipt of this letter i was, as i have before said, unheard, unaccused, unjudged, conducted like a criminal from the army, by fifty hussars, and imprisoned in the fortress of glatz. i was allowed to take three horses, and my servants, but my whole equipage was left behind, which i never saw more, and which became the booty of jaschinsky. my commission was given to cornet schatzel, and i cashiered without knowing why. there were no legal inquiries made: all was done by the king's command. unhappy people! where power is superior to law, and where the innocent and the virtuous meet punishment instead of reward. unhappy land! where the omnipotent "such is our will" supersedes all legal sentence, and robs the subject of property, life, and honour. i once more repeat i was brought to the citadel of glatz; i was not, however, thrown into a dungeon, but imprisoned in a chamber of the officer of the guard; was allowed my servants to wait on me, and permitted to walk on the ramparts. i did not want money, and there was only a detachment from the garrison regiment in the citadel of glatz, the officers of which were all poor. i soon had both friends and freedom, and the rich prisoner every day kept open table. he only who had known me in this the ardour of my youth, who had witnessed how high i aspired, and the fortune that attended me at berlin, can imagine what my feelings were at finding myself thus suddenly cast from my high hopes. i wrote submissively to the king, requesting to be tried by a court-martial, and not desiring any favour should i be found guilty. this haughty tone, in a youth, was displeasing, and i received no answer, which threw me into despair, and induced me to use every possible means to obtain my liberty. my first care was to establish, by the intervention of an officer, a certain correspondence with the object of my heart. she answered, she was far from supposing i had ever entertained the least thought treacherous to my country; that she knew, too well, i was perfectly incapable, of dissimulation. she blamed the precipitate anger and unjust suspicions of the king; promised me speedy aid, and sent me a thousand ducats. had i, at this critical moment, possessed a prudent and intelligent friend, who could have calmed my impatience, nothing perhaps might have been more easy than to have obtained pardon from the king, by proving my innocence; or, it may be, than to have induced him to punish my enemies. but the officers who then were at glatz fed the flame of discontent. they supposed the money i so freely distributed came all from hungary, furnished by the pandour chest; and advised me not to suffer my freedom to depend upon the will of the king, but to enjoy it in his despite. it was not more easy to give this advice than to persuade a man to take it, who, till then, had never encountered anything but good fortune, and who consequently supported the reverse with impatience. i was not yet, however, determined; because i could not yet resolve to abandon my country, and especially berlin. five months soon passed away in prison: peace was concluded; the king was returned to his capital; my commission in the guards was bestowed on another, when lieutenant piaschky, of the regiment of fouquet, and ensign reitz, who often mounted guard over me, proposed that they and i should escape together. i yielded; our plan was fixed, and every preparatory step taken. at that time there was another prisoner at glatz, whose name was manget, by birth a swiss, and captain of cavalry in the natzmerschen hussars; he had been broken, and condemned by a court-martial to ten years' imprisonment, with an allowance of only four rix-dollars per month. having done this man kindness, i was resolved to rescue him from bondage, at the same time that i obtained freedom for myself. i communicated my design, and made the proposal, which was accepted by him, and measures were taken; yet were we betrayed by this vile man, who thus purchased pardon and liberty. piaschky, who had been informed that reitz was arrested, saved himself by deserting. i denied the fact in presence of manget, with whom i was confronted, and bribed the auditor with a hundred ducats. by this means reitz only suffered a year's imprisonment, and the loss of his commission. i was afterwards closely confined in a chamber, for having endeavoured to corrupt the king's officers, and was guarded with greater caution. here i will interrupt my narrative, for a moment, to relate an adventure which happened between me and this captain manget, three years after he had thus betrayed me--that is to say, in , at warsaw. i there met him by chance, and it is not difficult to imagine what was the salutation he received. i caned him; he took this ill, and challenged me to fight with pistols. captain heucking, of the polish guards, was my second. we both fired together; i shot him through the neck at the first shot, and he fell dead on the field. he alone, of all my enemies, ever died by my own hand; and he well merited his end, for his cowardly treachery towards the two brave fellows of whom i have spoken; and still more so with respect to myself, who had been his benefactor. i own, i have never reproached myself for this duel, by which i sent a rascal out of the world. i return to my tale. my destiny at glatz was now become more untoward and severe. the king's suspicions were increased, as likewise was his anger, by this my late attempt to escape. left to myself, i considered my situation in the worst point of view, and determined either on flight or death. the length and closeness of my confinement became insupportable to my impatient temper. i had always had the garrison on my side, nor was it possible to prevent my making friends among them. they knew i had money, and, in a poor garrison regiment, the officers of which are all dissatisfied, having most of them been drafted from other corps, and sent thither as a punishment, there was nothing that might not be undertaken. my scheme was as follows:--my window looked towards the city, and was ninety feet from the ground in the tower of the citadel, out of which i could not get, without having found a place of refuge in the city. this an officer undertook to procure me, and prevailed on an honest soap- boiler to grant me a hiding place. i then notched my pen-knife, and sawed through three iron bars; but this mode was too tedious, it being necessary to file away eight bars from my window, before i could pass through; another officer therefore procured me a file, which i was obliged to use with caution, lest i should be overheard by the sentinels. having ended this labour, i cut my leather portmanteau into thongs, sewed them end to end, added the sheets of my bed, and descended safely from this astonishing height. it rained, the night was dark, and all seemed fortunate, but i had to wade through moats full of mud, before i could enter the city, a circumstance i had never once considered. i sank up to the knees, and after long struggling, and incredible efforts to extricate myself, i was obliged to call the sentinel, and desire him to go and tell the governor, trenck was stuck fast in the moat. my misfortune was the greater on this occasion, because that general fouquet was then governor of glatz. he was one of the cruellest of men. he had been wounded by my father in a duel; and the austrian trenck had taken his baggage in , and had also laid the country of glatz under contribution. he was, therefore, an enemy to the very name of trenck; nor did he lose any opportunity of giving proofs of his enmity, and especially on the present occasion, when he left me standing in the mire till noon, the sport of the soldiers. i was then drawn out, half dead, only again to be imprisoned, and shut up the whole day, without water to wash me. no one can imagine how i looked, exhausted and dirty, my long hair having fallen into the mud, with which, by my struggling, it was loaded. i remained in this condition till the next day, when two fellow-prisoners were sent to assist and clean me. my imprisonment now became more intolerable. i had still eighty louis- d'ors in my purse, which had not been taken from me at my removal into another dungeon, and these afterwards did me good service. the passions soon all assailed me at once, and impetuous, boiling, youthful blood overpowered reason; hope disappeared; i thought myself the most unfortunate of men, and my king an irreconcileable judge, more wrathful and more fortified in suspicion by my own rashness. my nights were sleepless, my days miserable; my soul was tortured by the desire of fame; a consciousness of innocence was a continued stimulus inciting me to end my misfortunes. youth, inexperienced in woe and disastrous fate, beholds every evil magnified, and desponds on every new disappointment, more especially after having failed in attempting freedom. education had taught me to despise death, and these opinions had been confirmed by my friend la mettrie, author of the famous work, "l'homme machine," or "man a machine." i read much during my confinement at glatz, where books were allowed me; time was therefore less tedious; but when the love of liberty awoke, when fame and affection called me to berlin, and my baulked hopes painted the wretchedness of my situation; when i remembered that my loved country, judging by appearances, could not but pronounce me a traitor; then was i hourly impelled to rush on the naked bayonets of my guards, by whom, to me, the road of freedom was barred. big with such-like thoughts, eight days had not elapsed since my last fruitless attempt to escape, when an event happened which would appear incredible, were i, the principal actor in the scene, not alive to attest its truth, and might not all glatz and the prussian garrison be produced as eye and ear witnesses. this incident will prove that adventurous, and even rash, daring will render the most improbable undertakings possible, and that desperate attempts may often make a general more fortunate and famous than the wisest and best concerted plans. major doo { } came to visit me, accompanied by an officer of the guard, and an adjutant. after examining every corner of my chamber, he addressed me, taxing me with a second crime in endeavouring to obtain my liberty; adding this must certainly increase the anger of the king. my blood boiled at the word crime; he talked of patience; i asked him how long the king had condemned me to imprisonment; he answered, a traitor to his country, who has correspondence with the enemy, cannot be condemned for a certain time, but must depend for grace and pardon on the king. at that instant i snatched his sword from his side, on which my eyes had some time been fixed, sprang out of the door, tumbled the sentinel from the top to the bottom of the stairs, passed the men who happened to be drawn up before the prison door to relieve the guard, attacked them sword in hand, threw them suddenly into surprise by the manner in which i laid about me, wounded four of them, made way through the rest, sprang over the breastwork of the ramparts, and, with my sword drawn in my hand, immediately leaped this astonishing height without receiving the least injury. i leaped the second wall with equal safety and good fortune. none of their pieces were loaded; no one durst leap after me, and in order to pursue, they must go round through the town and gate of the citadel; so that i had the start full half an hour. a sentinel, however, in a narrow passage, endeavoured to oppose my flight, but i parried his fixed bayonet, and wounded him in the face. a second sentinel, meantime, ran from the outworks, to seize me behind, and i, to avoid him, made a spring at the palisadoes; there i was unluckily caught by the foot, and received a bayonet wound in the upper lip; thus entangled, they beat me with the butt-end of their muskets, and dragged me back to prison, while i struggled and defended myself like a man grown desperate. certain it is, had i more carefully jumped the palisadoes, and despatched the sentinel who opposed me, i might have escaped, and gained the mountains. thus might i have fled to bohemia, after having, at noonday, broken from the fortress of glatz, sprung past all its sentinels, over all its walls, and passed with impunity, in despite of the guard, who were under arms, ready to oppose me. i should not, having a sword, have feared any single opponent, and was able to contend with the swiftest runners. that good fortune which had so far attended me forsook me at the palisadoes, where hope was at an end. the severities of imprisonment were increased; two sentinels and an under officer were locked in with me, and were themselves guarded by sentinels without; i was beaten and wounded by the butt-ends of their muskets, my right foot was sprained, i spat blood, and my wounds were not cured in less than a month. chapter v. i was now first informed that the king had only condemned me to a year's imprisonment, in order to learn whether his suspicions were well founded. my mother had petitioned for me, and was answered, "your son must remain a year imprisoned, as a punishment for his rash correspondence." of this i was ignorant, and it was reported in glatz that my imprisonment was for life. i had only three weeks longer to repine for the loss of liberty, when i made this rash attempt. what must the king think? was he not obliged to act with this severity? how could prudence excuse my impatience, thus to risk a confiscation, when i was certain of receiving freedom, justification, and honour, in three weeks? but, such was my adverse fate, circumstances all tended to injure and persecute me, till at length i gave reason to suppose i was a traitor, notwithstanding the purity of my intentions. once more, then, was i in a dungeon, and no sooner was i there than i formed new projects of flight. i first gained the intimacy of my guards. i had money, and this, with the compassion i had inspired, might effect anything among discontented prussian soldiers. soon had i gained thirty- two men, who were ready to execute, on the first signal, whatever i should command. two or three excepted, they were unacquainted with each other; they consequently could not all be betrayed at a time: had chosen the sub-officer nicholai to head them. the garrison consisted only of one hundred and twenty men from the garrison regiment, the rest being dispersed in the county of glatz, and four officers, their commanders, three of whom were in my interest. everything was prepared; swords and pistols were concealed in the oven which was in my prison. we intended to give liberty to all the prisoners, and retire with drums beating into bohemia. unfortunately, an austrian deserter, to whom nicholai had imparted our design, went and discovered our conspiracy. the governor instantly sent his adjutant to the citadel, with orders that the officer on guard should arrest nicholai, and, with his men, take possession of the casement. nicholai was on the guard, and the lieutenant was my friend, and being in the secret, gave the signal that all was discovered. nicholai only knew all the conspirators, several of whom that day were on guard. he instantly formed his resolution, leaped into the casement, crying, "comrades, to arms, we are betrayed!" all followed to the guard-house, where they seized on the cartridges, the officer having only eight men, and threatening to fire on whoever should offer resistance, came to deliver me from prison; but the iron door was too strong, and the time too short for that to be demolished. nicholai, calling to me, bid me aid them, but in vain: and perceiving nothing more could be done for me, this brave man, heading nineteen others, marched to the gate of the citadel, where there was a sub-officer and ten soldiers, obliged these to accompany him, and thus arrived safely at braunau, in bohemia; for, before the news was spread through the city, and men were collected for the pursuit, they were nearly half-way on their journey. two years after i met with this extraordinary man at ofenbourg, where hue was a writer: he entered immediately into my service, and became my friend, but died some months after of a burning fever, at my quarters in hungary, at which i was deeply grieved, for his memory will be ever dear to me. now was i exposed to all the storms of ill-fortune: a prosecution was entered against me as a conspirator, who wanted to corrupt the officers and soldiers of the king. they commanded me to name the remaining conspirators; but to these questions i made no answer, except by steadfastly declaring i was an innocent prisoner, an officer unjustly broken; unjustly, because i had never been brought to trial; that consequently i was released from all my engagements; nor could it be thought extraordinary that i should avail myself of that law of nature which gives every man a right to defend his honour defamed, and seek by every possible means to regain his liberty: that such had been my sole purpose in every enterprise i had formed, and such should still continue to be, for i was determined to persist, till i should either be crowned with success, or lose my life in the attempt. things thus remained: every precaution was taken except that i was not put in irons; it being a law in prussia that no gentleman or officer can be loaded with chains, unless he has first for some crime been delivered over to the executioner; and certainly this had not been my case. the soldiers were withdrawn from my chamber; but the greatest ill was i had expended all my money, and my kind mistress, at berlin, with whom i had always corresponded, and which my persecutors could not prevent, at last wrote-- "my tears flow with yours; the evil is without remedy--i dare no more--escape if you can. my fidelity will ever be the same, when it shall be possible for me to serve you.--adieu, unhappy friend: you merit a better fate." this letter was a thunderbolt:--my comfort, however, still was that the officers were not suspected, and that it was their duty to visit my chamber several times a day, and examine what passed: from which circumstance i felt my hopes somewhat revive. hence an adventure happened which is almost unexampled in tales of knight-errantry. a lieutenant, whose name was bach, a dane by nation, mounted guard every fourth day, and was the terror of the whole garrison; for, being a perfect master of arms, he was incessantly involved in quarrels, and generally left his marks behind him. he had served in two regiments, neither of which would associate with him for this reason, and he had been sent to the garrison regiment at glatz as punishment. bach one day, sitting beside me, related how, the evening before, he had wounded a lieutenant, of the name of schell, in the arm. i replied, laughing, "had i my liberty, i believe you would find some trouble in wounding me, for i have some skill in the sword." the blood instantly flew in his face; we split off a kind of pair of foils from an old door, which had served me as a table, and at the first lunge i hit him on the breast. his rage became ungovernable, and he left the prison. what was my astonishment when, a moment after, i saw him return with two soldiers' swords, which he had concealed under his coat.--"now, then, boaster, prove," said he, giving me one of them, "what thou art able to do." i endeavoured to pacify him, by representing the danger, but ineffectually. he attacked me with the utmost fury, and i wounded him in the arm. throwing his sword down, he fell upon my neck, kissed me, and wept. at length, after some convulsive emotions of pleasure, he said, "friend, thou art my master; and thou must, thou shalt, by my aid, obtain thy liberty, as certainly as my name is bach." we bound up his arm as well as we could. he left me, and secretly went to a surgeon, to have it properly dressed, and at night returned. he now remarked, that it was humanly impossible i should escape, unless the officer on guard should desert with me;--that he wished nothing more ardently than to sacrifice his life in my behalf, but that he could not resolve so far to forget his honour and duty to desert, himself, while on guard: he notwithstanding gave me his word of honour he would find me such a person in a few days; and that, in the meantime, he would prepare everything for my flight. he returned the same evening, bringing with him lieutenant schell, and as he entered said, "here is your man." schell embraced me, gave his word of honour, and thus was the affair settled, and as it proved, my liberty ascertained. we soon began to deliberate on the means necessary to obtain our purpose. schell was just come from garrison at habelchwert to the citadel of glatz, and in two days was to mount guard over me, till when our attempt was suspended. i have before said, i received no more supplies from my beloved mistress, and my purse at that time only contained some six pistoles. it was therefore resolved that bach should go to schweidnitz, and obtain money of a sure friend of mine in that city. here must i inform the reader that at this period the officers and i all understood each other, captain roder alone excepted, who was exact, rigid, and gave trouble on all occasions. major quaadt was my kinsman, by my mother's side, a good, friendly man, and ardently desirous i should escape, seeing my calamities were so much increased. the four lieutenants who successively mounted guard over me were bach, schroeder, lunitz, and schell. the first was the grand projector, and made all preparations; schell was to desert with me; and schroeder and lunitz three days after were to follow. no one ought to be surprised that officers of garrison regiments should be so ready to desert. they are, in general, either men of violent passions, quarrelsome, overwhelmed with debts, or unfit for service. they are usually sent to the garrison as a punishment, and are called the refuse of the army. dissatisfied with their situation, their pay much reduced, and despised by the troops, such men, expecting advantage, may be brought to engage in the most desperate undertaking. none of them can hope for their discharge, and they live in the utmost poverty. they all hoped by my means to better their fortune, i always having had money enough; and, with money, nothing is more easy than to find friends, in places where each individual is desirous of escaping from slavery. the talents of schell were of a superior order; he spoke and wrote six languages, and was well acquainted with all the fine arts. he had served in the regiment of fouquet, had been injured by his colonel, who was a pomeranian; and fouquet, who was no friend to well-informed officers, had sent him to a garrison regiment. he had twice demanded his dismissal, but the king sent him to this species of imprisonment; he then determined to avenge himself by deserting, and was ready to aid me in recovering my freedom, that he might, by that means, spite fouquet. i shall speak more hereafter of this extraordinary man, that i must not in this place interrupt my story. we determined everything should be prepared against the first time schell mounted guard, and that our project should be executed on our next. thus, as he mounted guard every four days, the eighth was to be that of our flight. the governor meantime had been informed how familiar i was become with the officers, at which taking offence, he sent orders that my door should no more be opened, but that i should receive my food through a small window that had been made for the purpose. the care of the prison was committed to the major, and he was forbidden to eat with me, under pain of being broken. his precautions were ineffectual; the officers procured a false key, and remained with me half the day and night. captain damnitz was imprisoned in an apartment by the side of mine. this man had deserted from the prussian service, with the money belonging to his company, to austria, where he obtained a commission in his cousin's regiment, who having prevailed on him to serve as a spy, during the campaign of , he was taken in the prussian territories, known, and condemned to be hanged. some swedish volunteers, who were then in the army, interested themselves in his behalf, and his sentence was changed to perpetual imprisonment, with a sentence of infamy. this wretch, who two years after, by the aid of his protectors, not only obtained his liberty but a lieutenant-colonel's commission, was the secret spy of the major over the prisoners; and he remarked that, notwithstanding the express prohibition laid on the officers, they still passed the greater part of their time in my company. the th of december came, and schell mounted guard. he entered my prison immediately, where he continued a long time, and we made our arrangements for flight when he next should mount guard. lieutenant schroeder that day dined with the governor, and heard orders given to the adjutant that schell should be taken from the guard, and put under arrest. schroeder, who was in the secret, had no doubt but that we were betrayed, not knowing that the spy damnitz had informed the governor that schell was then in my chamber. schroeder, full of terror, came running to the citadel, and said to schell, "save thyself, friend; all is discovered, and thou wilt instantly be put under arrest." schell might easily have provided for his own safety, by flying singly, schroeder having prepared horses, on one of which he himself offered to accompany him into bohemia. how did this worthy man, in a moment so dangerous, act toward his friend? running suddenly into my prison, he drew a corporal's sabre from under his coat, and said, "friend, we are betrayed; follow me, only do not suffer me to fall alive into the hands of my enemies." i would have spoken: but interrupting me, and taking me by the hand, he added, "follow me; we have not a moment to lose." i therefore slipped on my coat and boots, without having time to take the little money i had left; and, as we went out of the prison, schell said to the sentinel, "i am taking the prisoner into the officer's apartment; stand where you are." into this room we really went, but passed out at the other door. the design of schell was to go under the arsenal, which was not far off, to gain the covered way, leap the palisadoes, and afterwards escape after the best manner we might. we had scarcely gone a hundred paces before we met the adjutant and major quaadt. schell started back, sprang upon the rampart, and leaped from the wall, which was there not very high. i followed, and alighted unhurt, except having grazed my shoulder. my poor friend was not so fortunate; having put out his ankle. he immediately drew his sword, presented it to me, and begged me to despatch him, and fly. he was a small, weak man: but, far from complying with his request, i took him in my arms, threw him over the palisadoes, afterwards got him on my back, and began to run, without very well knowing which way i went. chapter vi. it may not be unnecessary to remark those fortunate circumstances that favoured our enterprise. the sun had just set as we took to flight; the hoar frost fell. no one would run the risk that we had done, by making so dangerous a leap. we heard a terrible noise behind us. everybody knew us; but before they could go round the citadel, and through the town, in order to pursue us, we had got a full half league. the alarm guns were fired before we were a hundred paces distant; at which my friend was very much terrified, knowing that in such cases it was generally impossible to escape from glatz, unless the fugitives had got the start full two hours before the alarm guns were heard; the passes being immediately all stopped by the peasants and hussars, who are exceedingly vigilant. no sooner is a prisoner missed than the gunner runs from the guard-house, and fires the cannon on the three sides of the fortress, which are kept loaded day and night for that purpose. we were not five hundred paces from the walls, when all before us and behind us were in motion. it was daylight when we leaped, yet was our attempt as fortunate as it was wonderful: this i attributed to my presence of mind, and the reputation i had already acquired, which made it thought a service of danger for two or three men to attack me. it was besides imagined we were well provided with arms for our defence; and it was little suspected that schell had only his sword, and i an old corporal's sabre. among the officers commanded to pursue us was lieutenant bart, my intimate friend. captain zerbst, of the regiment of fouquet, who had always testified the kindness of a brother towards me, met us on the bohemian frontiers, and called to me, "make to time left, brother, and you will see some lone houses, which are on the bohemian confines: the hussars have ridden straight forward." he then passed on as if he had not seen us. we had nothing to fear from the officers; for the intimacy between the prussian officers was at that time so great, and the word of honour so sacred, that during my rigorous detention at glatz i had been once six- and-thirty hours hunting at neurode, at the seat of baron stillfriede; lunitz had taken my place in the prison, which the major knew when he came to make his visit. hence may be conjectured how great was the confidence in which the word of the unfortunate trenck was held at glatz, since they did not fear letting him leave his dungeon, and hunt on the very confines of bohemia. this, too, shows the governor was deceived, in despite of his watchfulness and order, and that a man of honour, with money, and a good head and heart, will never want friends. these my memoirs will be the picture of what the national character then was; and will prove that, with officers who lived like brothers, and held their words so sacred, the great frederick well might vanquish his enemies. arbitrary power has now introduced the whip of slavery, and mechanic subordination has eradicated those noble and rational incitements to concord and honour. instead of which, mistrust and slavish fear having arisen, the enthusiastic spirit of the brandenburg warrior declines, and into this error have most of the other european states fallen. scarcely had i borne my friend three hundred paces before i set him down, and i looked round me, but darkness came on so fast that i could see neither town nor citadel; consequently, we ourselves could not be seen. my presence of mind did not forsake me: death or freedom was my determination. "where are we, schell?" said i to my friend. "where does bohemia lie? on which side is the river neiss?" the worthy man could make no answer: his mind was all confusion, and he despaired of our escape: he still, however, entreated i would not let him be taken alive, and affirmed my labour was all in vain. after having promised, by all that was sacred, i would save him from an infamous death, if no other means were left, and thus raised his spirits, he looked round, and knew, by some trees, we were not far from the city gates. i asked him, "where is the neiss?" he pointed sideways--"all glatz has seen us fly towards the bohemian mountains; it is impossible we should avoid the hussars, the passes being all guarded, and we beset with enemies." so saying, i took him on my shoulders, and carried him to the neiss; here we distinctly heard the alarm sounded in the villages, and the peasants, who likewise were to form the line of desertion, were everywhere in motion, and spreading the alarm. as it may not be known to all my readers in what manner they proceed on these occasions in prussia, i will here give a short account of it. officers are daily named on the parade whose duty it is to follow fugitives as soon as the alarm-guns are fired. the peasants in the villages, likewise, are daily appointed to rim to the guard of certain posts. the officers immediately fly to these posts to see that the peasants do their duty, and prevent the prisoner's escape. thus does it seldom happen that a soldier can effect his escape unless he be, at the very least, an hour on the road before the alarm-guns are fired. i now return to my story. i came to the neiss, which was a little frozen, entered it with my friend, and carried him as long as i could wade, and when i could not feel the bottom, which did not continue for more than a space of eighteen feet, he clung round me, and thus we got safely to the other shore. my father taught all his sons to swim, for which i have often had to thank him; since by means of this art, which is easily learnt in childhood, i had on various occasions preserved my life, and was more bold in danger. princes who wish to make their subjects soldiers, should have them educated so as to fear neither fire nor water. how great would be the advantage of being able to cross a river with whole battalions, when it is necessary to attack or retreat before the enemy, and when time will not permit to prepare bridges! the reader will easily suppose swimming in the midst of december, and remaining afterwards eighteen hours in the open air, was a severe hardship. about seven o'clock the hoar-fog was succeeded by frost and moonlight. the carrying of my friend kept me warm, it is true, but i began to be tired, while he suffered everything that frost, the pain of a dislocated foot (which i in vain endeavoured to reset), and the danger of death from a thousand hands, could inflict. we were somewhat more tranquil, however, having reached the opposite shore of the neiss, since nobody would pursue us on the road to silesia. i followed the course of the river for half an hour, and having once passed the first villages that formed the line of desertion, with which schell was perfectly acquainted, we in a lucky moment found a fisherman's boat moored to the shore; into this we leaped, crossed the river again, and soon gained the mountains. here being come, we sat ourselves down awhile on the snow; hope revived in our hearts, and we held council concerning how it was best to act. i cut a stick to assist schell in hopping forward as well as he could when i was tired of carrying him; and thus we continued our route, the difficulties of which were increased by the mountain snows. thus passed the night; during which, up to the middle in snow, we made but little way. there were no paths to be traced in the mountains, and they were in many places impassable. day at length appeared: we thought ourselves near the frontiers, which are twenty english miles from glatz, when we suddenly, to our great terror, heard the city clock strike. overwhelmed, as we were, by hunger, cold, fatigue, and pain, it was impossible we should hold out through the day. after some consideration, and another half-hour's labour, we came to a village at the foot of the mountain, on the side of which, about three hundred paces from us, we perceived two separate houses, which inspired us with a stratagem that was successful. we lost our hats in leaping the ramparts; but schell had preserved his scarf and gorget, which would give him authority among the peasants. i then cut my finger, rubbed the blood over my face, my shirt, and my coat, and bound up my head, to give myself the appearance of a man dangerously wounded. in this condition i carried schell to the end of the wood not far from these houses; here he tied my hands behind my back, but so that i could easily disengage them in ease of need: and hobbled after me, by aid of his staff, calling for help. two old peasants appeared, and schell commanded them to run to the village, and tell a magistrate to come immediately with a cart. "i have seized this knave," added he, "who has killed my horse, and in the struggle i have put out my ankle; however, i have wounded and bound him; fly quickly, bring a cart, lest he should die before he is hanged." as for me, i suffered myself to be led, as if half-dead, into the house. a peasant was despatched to the village. an old woman and a pretty girl seemed to take great pity on me, and gave me some bread and milk: but how great was our astonishment when the aged peasant called schell by his name, and told him he well knew we were deserters, having the night before been at a neighbouring alehouse where the officer in pursuit of us came, named and described us, and related the whole history of our flight. the peasant knew schell, because his son served in his company, and had often spoken of him when he was quartered at habelschwert. presence of mind and resolution were all that were now left. i instantly ran to the stable, while schell detained the peasant in the chamber. he, however, was a worthy man, and directed him to the road toward bohemia. we were still about some seven miles from glatz, having lost ourselves among the mountains, where we had wandered many miles. the daughter followed me: i found three horses in the stable, but no bridles. i conjured her, in the most passionate manner, to assist me: she was affected, seemed half willing to follow me, and gave me two bridles. i led the horses to the door, called schell, and helped him, with his lame leg, on horseback. the old peasant then began to weep, and beg i would not take his horses; but he luckily wanted courage, and perhaps the will to impede us; for with nothing more than a dung-fork, in our then feeble condition, he might have stopped us long enough to have called in assistance from the village. and now behold us on horseback, without hats or saddles; schell with his uniform scarf and gorget, and i in my red regimental coat. still we were in danger of seeing all our hopes vanish, for my horse would not stir from the stable; however, at last, good horseman-like, i made him move: schell led the way, and we had scarcely gone a hundred paces, before we perceived the peasants coming in crowds from the village. as kind fortune would have it, the people were all at church, it being a festival: the peasants schell had sent were obliged to call aid out of church. it was but nine in the morning; and had the peasants been at home, we had been lost past redemption. we were obliged to take the road to wunshelburg, and pass through the town where schell had been quartered a month before, and in which he was known by everybody. our dress, without hats or saddles, sufficiently proclaimed we were deserters: our horses, however, continued to go tolerably well, and we had the good luck to get through the town, although there was a garrison of one hundred and eighty infantry, and twelve horse, purposely to arrest deserters. schell knew the road to brummem, where we arrived at eleven o'clock, after having met, as i before mentioned, captain zerbst. he who has been in the same situation only can imagine, though he never can describe, all the joy we felt. an innocent man, languishing in a dungeon, who by his own endeavours, has broken his chains, and regained his liberty, in despite of all the arbitrary power of princes, who vainly would oppose him, conceives in moments like these such an abhorrence of despotism, that i could not well comprehend how i ever could resolve to live under governments where wealth, content, honour, liberty, and life all depend upon a master's will, and who, were his intentions the most pure, could not be able, singly, to do justice to a whole nation. never did i, during life, feel pleasure more exquisite than at this moment. my friend for me had risked a shameful death, and now, after having carried him at least twelve hours on my shoulders, i had saved both him and myself. we certainly should not have suffered any man to bring us, alive, back to glatz. yet this was but the first act of the tragedy of which i was doomed the hero, and the mournful incidents of which all arose out of, and depended on, each other. chapter vii. could i have read the book of fate, and have seen the forty years' fearful afflictions that were to follow, i certainly should not have rejoiced at this my escape from glatz. one year's patience might have appeased the irritated monarch, and, taking a retrospect of all that has passed, i now find it would have been a fortunate circumstance, had the good and faithful schell and i never met, since he also fell into a train of misfortunes, which i shall hereafter relate, and from which he could never extricate himself, but by death. the sufferings which i have since undergone will be read with astonishment. it is my consolation that both the laws of honour and nature justify the action. i may serve as an example of the fortitude with which danger ought to be encountered, and show monarchs that in germany, as well as in rome, there are men who refuse to crouch beneath the yoke of despotism, and that philosophy and resolution are stronger than even those lords of slaves, with all their threats, whips, tortures, and instruments of death. in prussia, where my sufferings might have made me supposed the worst of traitors, is my innocence universally acknowledged; and instead of contempt, there have i gained the love of the whole nation, which is the best compensation for all the ills i have suffered, and for having persevered in the virtuous principles taught me in my youth, persecuted as i have been by envy and malicious power. i have not time further to moralise; the numerous incidents of my life would otherwise swell this volume to too great an extent. thus in freedom at braunau, on the bohemian frontiers, i sent the two horses, with the corporal's sword, back to general fouquet, at glatz. the letter accompanying them was so pleasing to him that all the sentinels before my prison door, as well as the guard under arms, and all those we passed, were obliged to run the gauntlet, although the very day before he had himself declared my escape was now rendered impossible. he, however, was deceived; and thus do the mean revenge themselves on the miserable, and the tyrant on the innocent. and now for the first time did i quit my country, and fly like joseph from the pit into which his false brethren had cast him; and in this the present moment of joy for my escape, the loss even of friends and country appeared to me the excess of good fortune. the estates which had been purchased by the blood of my forefathers were confiscated; and thus was a youth, of one of the noblest families in the land, whose heart was all zeal for the service of his king and country, and who was among those most capable to render them service, banished by his unjust and misled king, and treated like the worst of miscreants, malefactors, and traitors. i wrote to the king, and sent him a true state of my case; sent indubitable proofs of my innocence, and supplicated justice, but received no answer. in this the monarch may be justified, at least in my apprehension. a wicked man had maliciously and falsely accused me; colonel jaschinsky had made him suspect me for a traitor, and it was impossible he should read my heart. the first act of injustice had been hastily committed; i had been condemned unheard, unjudged; and the injustice that had been done me was known too late; frederic the great found he was not infallible. pardon i would not ask, for i had committed no offence; and the king would not probably own, by a reverse of conduct, he had been guilty of injustice. my resolution increased his obstinacy: but, in the discussion of the cause, our power was very unequal. the monarch once really loved me; he meant my punishment should only be temporary, and as a trial of my fidelity. that i had been condemned to no more than a year's imprisonment had never been told me, and was a fact i did not learn till long after. major doo, who, as i have said, was the creature of fouquet, a mean and covetous man, knowing i had money, had always acted the part of a protector as he pretended to me, and continually told me i was condemned for life. he perpetually turned the conversation on the great credit of his general with the king, and his own great credit with the general. for the present of a horse, on which i rode to glatz, he gave me freedom of walking about the fortress; and for another, worth a hundred ducats, i rescued ensign reitz from death, who had been betrayed when endeavouring to effect our escape. i have been assured that on that very day on which i snatched his sword from his side, desperately passed through the garrison, and leaped the walls of the rampart, he was expressly come to tell me, after some prefatory threats, that by his general's intercession, my punishment was only to be a year's imprisonment, and that consequently i should be released in a few days. how vile were means like these to wrest money from the unfortunate! the king, after this my mad flight, certainly was never informed of the major's base cunning; he could only be told that, rather than wait a few days, i had chosen, in this desperate manner, to make my escape, and go over to the enemy. thus deceived and strengthened in his suspicion, must he not imagine my desire to forsake my country, and desert to the enemy, was unbounded? how could he do otherwise than imprison a subject who thus endeavoured to injure him and aid his foes? thus, by the calumnies of wicked men, did my cruel destiny daily become more severe; and at length render the deceived monarch irreconcilable and cruel. yet how could it be supposed that i would not willingly have remained three weeks longer in prison, to have been honourably restored to liberty, to have prevented the confiscation of my estate, and to have once more returned to my beloved mistress at berlin. and now was i in bohemia, a fugitive stranger without money, protector, or friend, and only twenty years of age. in the campaign of i had been quartered at braunau with a weaver, whom i advised and assisted to bury his effects, and preserve them from being plundered. the worthy man received us with joy and gratitude. i had lived in this same house but two years before as absolute master of him and his fate. i had then nine horses and five servants, with the highest and most favourable hopes of futurity; but now i came a fugitive, seeking protection, and having lost all a youth like me had to lose. i had but a single louis-d'or in my purse, and schell forty kreutzers, or some three shillings; with this small sum, in a strange country, we had to cure his sprain, and provide for all our wants. i was determined not to go to my cousin trenck at vienna, fearful this should seem a justification of all my imputed treasons; i rather wished to embark for the east indies, than to have recourse to this expedient. the greater my delicacy was the greater became my distress. i wrote to my mistress at berlin, but received no answer; possibly because i could not indicate any certain mode of conveyance. my mother believed me guilty, and abandoned me; my brothers were still minors, and my friend at schweidnitz could not aid me, being gone to konigsberg. after three weeks' abode at braunau, my friend recovered of his lameness. we had been obliged to sell my watch, with his scarf and gorget, to supply our necessities, and had only four florins remaining. from the public papers i learned my cousin, the austrian trenck, was at this time closely confined, and under criminal prosecution. it will easily be imagined what effect this news had upon me. never till now had i felt any inconvenience from poverty; my wants had all been amply supplied, and i had ever lived among, and been highly loved and esteemed by, the first people of the land. i was destitute, without aid, and undetermined how to seek employment, or obtain fame. at length i determined to travel on foot to prussia to my mother, and obtain money from her, and afterwards enter into the russian service. schell, whose destiny was linked to mine, would not forsake me. we assumed false names: i called myself knert, and schell, lesch; then, obtaining passports, like common deserters, we left braunau on the st of january, in the evening, unseen of any person, and proceeded towards bielitz in poland. a friend i had at neurode gave me a pair of pocket pistols, a musket, and three ducats; the money was spent at braunau. here let me take occasion to remark i had lent this friend, in urgent necessity, a hundred ducats, which he still owed me; and when i sent to request payment, he returned me three, as if i had asked charity. though a circumstantial description of our travels alone would fill a volume, i shall only relate the most singular accidents which happened to us; i shall also insert the journal of our route, which schell had preserved, and gave me in , when he came to see me at aix-la-chapelle, after an absence of thirty years. this may be called the first scene in which i appeared as an adventurer, and perhaps my good fortune may even have overbalanced the bad, since i have escaped death full thirty times when the chances were a hundred to one against me; certain it is i undertook many things in which i seemed to have owed my preservation to the very rashness of the action, and in which others equally brave would have found death. journal of travels on foot. from braunau, in bohemia, through bielitz, in poland, to meseritsch, and from meseritsch, by thorn, to ebling; in the whole miles, { } performed without begging or stealing. january th, .--from braunau, by politz, to nachod, three miles, we having three florins forty-five kreutzers in our purse. jan. .--to neustadt. here schell bartered his uniform for an old coat, and a jew gave him two florins fifteen kreutzers in exchange; from hence we went to reichenau; in all, three miles. jan. .--we went to leitomischl, five miles. here i bought a loaf hot out of the oven, which eating greedily, had nearly caused my death. this obliged us to rest a day, and the extravagant charge of the landlord almost emptied our purse. jan. .--from trubau, to zwittau, in moravia, four miles. jan. .--to sternberg, six miles. this day's journey excessively fatigued poor schell, his sprained ankle being still extremely weak. jan. .--to leipnik, four miles, in a deep snow, and with empty stomachs. here i sold my stock-buckle for four florins. jan. .--to freiberg, by weiskirch, to drahotusch, five miles. early in the morning we found a violin and case on the road; the innkeeper in weiskirch gave us two florins for it, on condition that he should return it to the owner on proving his right, it being worth at least twenty. jan. .--to friedek, in upper silesia, two miles. jan. .--to a village, four miles and a half. jan. .--through skotschau, to bielitz, three miles. this was the last austrian town on the frontiers of poland, and captain capi, of the regiment of marischall, who commanded the garrison, demanded our passports. we had false names, and called ourselves common prussian deserters; but a drummer, who had deserted from glatz, knew us, and betrayed us to the captain, who immediately arrested us very rudely, and sent us on foot to teschin (refusing us a hearing), four miles distant. here we found lieut.-colonel baron schwarzer, a perfectly worthy man, who was highly interested in our behalf, and who blamed the irregular arbitrary conduct of captain capi. i frankly related my adventures, and he used every possible argument to persuade me, instead of continuing my journey through poland to go to vienna, but in vain; my good genius, this time, preserved me--would to god it ever had! how many miseries had i then avoided, and how easily might i have escaped the snares spread for me by the powerful, who have seized on my property, and in order to secure it, have hitherto rendered me useless to the state by depriving me of all post or preferment. i returned, therefore, a second time to beilitz, travelling these four miles once more. schwarzer lent us his own horse and four ducats, which i have since repaid, but which i shall never forget, as they were of signal service to me, and procured me a pair of new boots. irritated against captain capi, we passed through beilitz without stopping, went immediately to biala, the first town in poland, and from thence sent capi a challenge to fight me, with sword or pistol, but received no answer; and his non-appearance has ever confirmed him in my opinion a rascal. and here suffer me to take a retrospective view of what was my then situation. by the orders of capi i was sent prisoner as a contemptible common deserter, and was unable to call him to account. in poland, indeed, i had that power, but was despised as a vagabond because of my poverty. what, alas! are the advantages which the love of honour, science, courage, or desire of fame can bestow, wanting the means that should introduce us to, and bid us walk erect in the presence of our equals? youth depressed by poverty, is robbed of the society of those who best can afford example and instruction. i had lived familiar with the great, men of genius had formed and enlightened me; i had been enumerated among the favourites of a court; and now was i a stranger, unknown, unesteemed, nay, condemned, obliged to endure the extremes of cold, hunger, and thirst; to wander many a weary mile, suffering both in body and mind, while every step led me farther from her whom most i loved, and dearest; yet had i no fixed plan, no certain knowledge in what these my labours and sufferings should end. i was too proud to discover myself; and, indeed, to whom could i discover myself in a strange land? my name might have availed me in austria, but in austria, where this name was known, would i not remain; rather than seek my fortune there, i was determined to shun whatever might tend to render me suspicious in the eyes of my country. how liable was a temper so ardent as mine, in the midst of difficulties, fatigues, and disappointments, hard to endure, to betray me into all those errors of which rash youth, unaccustomed to hardship, impatient of contrariety, are so often guilty! but i had taken my resolution, and my faithful schell, to whom hunger or ease, contempt or fame, for my sake, were become indifferent, did whatever i desired. once more to my journal. feb. .--we proceeded four miles from biala to oswintzen, i having determined to ask aid from my sister, who had married waldow, and lived much at her case on a fine estate at hanmer, in brandenburg, between lansberg, on the warta and meseritsch, a frontier town of poland. for this reason we continued our route all along the silesian confines to meseritsch. feb. .--to bobrek and elkusch, five miles. we suffered much this day because of the snow, and that the lightness of our dress was ill suited to such severe weather. schell, negligently, lost our purse, in which were nine florins. i had still, however, nineteen grosch in my pocket (about half-a-crown). feb. .--to crumelew, three miles; and feb. .--to wladowiegud joreck, three miles more; and from thence, on. feb. .--to czenstochowa, where there is a magnificent convent, concerning which, had i room, i might write many remarkable things, much to the disgrace of its inhabitants. we slept at an inn kept by a very worthy man, whose name was lazar. he had been a lieutenant in the austrian service, where he had suffered much, and was now become a poor innkeeper in poland. we had not a penny in our purse, and requested a bit of bread. the generous man had compassion on us, and desired us to sit down and eat with himself. i then told him who we were, and trusted him with the motives of our journey. scarcely had we supped, before a carriage arrived with three people. they had their own horses, a servant and a coachman. this is a remarkable incident, and i must relate it circumstantially, though as briefly as possible. we had before met this carriage at elkusch, and one of these people had asked schell where we were going; he had replied, to czenstochowa; we therefore had not the least suspicion of them, notwithstanding the danger we ran. they lay at the inn, saluted us, but with indifference, not seeming to notice us, and spoke little. we had not been long in bed, before our host came to awaken us, and told us with surprise, these pretended merchants were sent to arrest us from prussia; that they had offered, first, fifty, afterwards, a hundred ducats, if he would permit them to take us in his house, and carry us into silesia: that he had firmly rejected the proposal, though they had increased their promises: and that at last they had given him six ducats to engage his silence. we clearly saw these were an officer and under-officers sent by general fouquet, to recover us. we conjectured by what means they had discovered our route, and imagined the information they had received could only come from one lieutenant molinie, of the garrison of habelschwert, who had come to visit schell, as a friend, during our stay at braunau. he had remained with us two days, and had asked many questions concerning the road we should take, and he was the only one who knew it. he was probably the spy of fouquet, and the cause of what happened afterwards, which, however, ended in the defeat of our enemies. the moment i heard of this infamous treachery, i was for entering with my pistols primed, into the enemy's chamber, but was prevented by schell and lazar: the latter entreated me, in the strongest manner, to remain at his house till i should receive a supply from my mother, that i might be enabled to continue my journey with more ease and less danger: but his entreaties were ineffectual; i was determined to see her, uncertain as i was of what effect my letter had produced. lazar assured me, we should, most infallibly, be attacked on the road. "so much the better," retorted i; "that will give me an opportunity of despatching them, sending them to the other world, and shooting them as i would highwayman." they departed at break of day, and took the road to warsaw. we would have been gone, likewise, but lazar, in some sort, forcibly detained us, and gave us the six ducats he had received from the prussians, with which we bought us each a shirt, another pair of pocket pistols, and other urgent necessaries; then took an affectionate leave of our host, who directed us on our way, and we testified our gratitude for the great services done us. feb. .--from czenstochowa to dankow, two miles. here we expected an attack. lazar had told us our enemies had one musket: i also had a musket, and an excellent sabre, and each of us was provided with a pair of pistols. they knew not we were so well armed, which perhaps was the cause of their panic, when they came to engage. feb. .--we took the road to parsemechi: we had not been an hour on the road, before we saw a carriage; as we drew near, we knew it to be that of our enemies, who pretended it was set in the snow. they were round it, and when they saw us approach, began to call for help. this, we guessed, was an artifice to entrap us. schell was not strong; they would all have fallen upon me, and we should easily have been carried off, for they wanted to take us alive. we left the causeway about thirty paces, answering--"we had not time to give them help;" at which they all ran to their carriage, drew out their pistols, and returning full speed after us, called, "stop, rascals!" we began to run, but i suddenly turning round, presented my piece, and shot the nearest dead on the spot. schell fired his pistols; our oppressors did the same, and schell received a ball in the neck at this discharge. it was now my turn; i took out my pistols, one of the assailants fled, and i enraged, pursued him three hundred paces, overtook him, and as he was defending himself with his sword, perceiving he bled, and made a feeble resistance, pressed upon him, and gave him a stroke that brought him down. i instantly returned to schell, whom i found in the power of two others that were dragging him towards the carriage, but when they saw me at their heels, they fled over the fields. the coachman, perceiving which way the battle went, leaped on his box, and drove off full speed. schell, though delivered, was wounded with a ball in the neck, and by a cut in the right hand, which had made him drop his sword, though he affirmed he had run one of his adversaries through. i took a silver watch from the man i had killed, and was going to make free with his purse, when schell called, and showed me a coach and six coming down a hill. to stay would have exposed us to have been imprisoned as highwaymen; for the two fugitives who had escaped us would certainly have borne witness against us. safety could only be found in flight. i, however, seized the musket and hat of him i had first killed, and we then gained the copse, and after that the forest. the road was round about, and it was night before we reached parsemechi. schell was besmeared with blood; i had bound up his wound the best i could; but in polish villages no surgeons are to be found: and he performed his journey with great difficulty. we met with two saxon under- officers here, who were recruiting for the regiment of guards at dresden. my six feet height and person pleased them, and they immediately made themselves acquainted with me. i found them intelligent, and entrusted them with our secret, told them who we were, related the battle we had that day had with our pursuers, and i had not reason to repent of my confidence in them. schell had his wounds dressed, and we remained seven days with these good saxons, who faithfully kept us company. i learned, meantime, that of the four men by whom we had been assaulted, one only, and the coachman, returned to glatz. the name of the officer who undertook this vile business was gersdorf; he had a hundred and fifty ducats in his pocket when found dead. how great would our good fortune have been, had not that cursed coach and six, by its appearance, made us take to flight; since the booty would have been most just! fortune, this time, did not favour the innocent; and though treacherously attacked, i was obliged to escape like a guilty wretch. we sold the watch to a jew for four ducats, the hat for three florins and a half, and the musket for a ducat, schell being unable to carry it farther. we left most of this money behind us at parsemechi. a jew surgeon sold us some dear plaisters, which we took with us and departed. feb. .--from parsemechi, through vielum, to biala, four miles. feb. .--through jerischow to misorcen, four miles and a half. feb. .--to osterkow and schwarzwald, three miles. feb. .--to sdune, four miles. feb. .--to goblin two miles. here we arrived wholly destitute of money. i sold my coat to a jew, who gave me four florins and a coarse waggoner's frock, in exchange, which i did not think i should long need, as we now drew nearer to where my sister lived, and where i hoped i should be better equipped. schell, however, grew weaker and weaker; his wounds healed slowly, and were expensive; the cold was also injurious to him, and, as he was not by nature cleanly in his person, his body soon became the harbour of every species of vermin to be picked up in poland. we often arrived wet and weary, to our smoky, reeking stove-room. often were we obliged to lie on straw, or bare boards; and the various hardships we suffered are almost incredible. wandering as we did, in the midst of winter, through poland, where humanity, hospitality, and gentle pity, are scarcely so much as known by name; where merciless jews deny the poor traveller a bed, and where we disconsolately strayed, without bread, and almost naked: these were sufferings, the full extent of which he only can conceive by whom they have been felt. my musket now and then procured us an occasional meal of tame geese, and cocks and hens, when these were to be had; otherwise, we never took or touched anything that was not our own. we met with saxon and prussian recruiters at various places; all of whom, on account of my youth and stature, were eager to inveigle me. i was highly diverted to hear them enumerate all the possibilities of future greatness, and how liable i was hereafter to become a corporal: nor was i less merry with their mead, ale, and brandy, given with an intent to make me drunk. thus we had many artifices to guard against; but thus had we likewise, very luckily for us, many a good meal gratis. feb. .--we went from goblin to pugnitz, three miles and a half. feb. .--through storchnest to schmiegel, four miles. here happened a singular adventure. the peasants at this place were dancing to a vile scraper on the violin: i took the instrument myself, and played while they continued their hilarity. they were much pleased with my playing: but when i was tired, and desired to have done, they obliged me, first by importunities, and afterwards by threats, to play on all night. i was so fatigued, i thought i should have fainted; at length they quarrelled among themselves. schell was sleeping on a bench, and some of them fell upon his wounded hand: he rose furious: i seized our arms, began to lay about me, and while all was in confusion, we escaped, without further ill-treatment. what ample subject of meditation on the various turns of fate did this night afford! but two years before i danced at berlin with the daughters and sisters of kings: and here was i, in a polish hut, a ragged, almost naked musician, playing for the sport of ignorant rustics, whom i was at last obliged to fight. i was myself the cause of the trifling misfortune that befell me on this occasion. had not my vanity led me to show these poor peasants i was a musician, i might have slept in peace and safety. the same vain desire of proving i knew more than other men, made me through life the continued victim of envy and slander. had nature, too, bestowed on me a weaker or a deformed body, i had been less observed, less courted, less sought, and my adventures and mishaps had been fewer. thus the merits of the man often become his miseries; and thus the bear, having learned to dance, must live and die in chains. this ardour, this vanity, or, if you please, this emulation, has, however, taught me to vanquish a thousand difficulties, under which others of cooler passions and more temperate desires would have sunk. may my example remain a warning; and thus may my sufferings become somewhat profitable to the world, cruel as they have been to myself! cruel they were, and cruel they must continue; for the wounds i have received are not, will not, cannot be healed. feb. .--from schmiegel to rakonitz, and from thence to karger holland, four miles and a half. here we sold, to prevent dying of hunger, a shirt and schell's waistcoat for eighteen grosch, or nine schostacks. i had shot a pullet the day before, which necessity obliged us to eat raw. i also killed a crow, which i devoured alone, schell refusing to taste. youth and hard travelling created a voracious appetite, and our eighteen grosch were soon expended. feb. .--we came through benzen to lettel, four miles. here we halted a day, to learn the road to hammer, in brandenburg, where my sister lived. i happened luckily to meet with the wife of a prussian soldier who lived at lettel, and belonged to kolschen, where she was born a vassal of my sister's husband. i told her who i was, and she became our guide. feb. .--to kurschen and falkenwalde. feb. .--through neuendorf and oost, and afterwards through a pathless wood, five miles and a half to hammer, and here i knocked at my sister's door at nine o'clock in the evening. chapter viii. a maidservant came to the door, whom i knew; her name was mary, and she had been born and brought up in my father's house. she was terrified at seeing a sturdy fellow in a beggar's dress; which perceiving, i asked, "molly, do not you know me?" she answered, "no;" and i then discovered myself to her. i asked whether my brother-in-law was at home. mary replied, "yes; but he is sick in bed." "tell my sister, then," said i, "that i am here." she showed me into a room, and my sister presently came. she was alarmed at seeing me, not knowing that i had escaped from glatz, and ran to inform her husband, but did not return. a quarter of an hour after the good mary came weeping, and told us her master commanded us to quit the premises instantly, or he should be obliged to have us arrested, and delivered up as prisoners. my sister's husband forcibly detained her, and i saw her no more. what my feelings must be, at such a moment, let the reader imagine. i was too proud, too enraged, to ask money; i furiously left the house, uttering a thousand menaces against its inhabitants, while the kind-hearted mary, still weeping, slipped three ducats into my hand, which i accepted. and, now behold us once more in the wood, which was not above a hundred paces from the house, half dead with hunger and fatigue, not daring to enter any habitation, while in the states of brandenburg, and dragging our weary steps all night through snow and rain, until our guide at length brought us back, at daybreak, once again to the town of lettel. she herself wept in pity at our fate, and i could only give her two ducats for the danger she had run; but i bade her hope more in future; and i afterwards sent for her to vienna, in , where i took great care of her. she was about fifty years of age, and died my servant in hungary, some weeks before my unfortunate journey to dantzic, where i fell into my enemies' hands, and remained ten years a prisoner at magdeburg. we had scarcely reached the wood, before, in the anguish of my heart, i exclaimed to schell, "does not such a sister, my friend, deserve i should fire her house over her head?" the wisdom of moderation, and calm forbearance, was in schell a virtue of the highest order; he was my continual mentor; my guide, whenever my choleric temperament was disposed to violence. i therefore honour his ashes; he deserved a better fate. "friend," said he, on this occasion, "reflect that your sister may be innocent, may be withheld by her husband; besides, should the king discover we had entered her doors, and she had not delivered us again into his power, she might become as miserable as we were. be more noble minded, and think that even should your sister be wrong, the time may come when her children may stand in need of your assistance, and you may have the indescribable pleasure of returning good for evil." i never shall forget this excellent advice, which in reality was a prophecy. my rich brother-in-law died, and, during the russian war, his lands and houses were laid desolate and in ruins; and, nineteen years afterwards, when released from my imprisonment at magdeburg, i had an opportunity of serving the children of my sister. such are the turns of fate; and thus do improbabilities become facts. my sister justified her conduct; schell had conjectured the truth; for ten years after i was thus expelled her house, she showed, during my imprisonment, she was really a sister. she was shamefully betrayed by weingarten, secretary to the austrian ambassador at berlin; lost a part of her property, and at length her life fell an innocent sacrifice to her brother. this event, which is interwoven with my tragical history, will be related hereafter: my heart bleeds, my very soul shudders, when i recollect this dreadful scene. i have not the means fully to recompense her children; and weingarten, the just object of vengeance, is long since in the grave; for did he exist, the earth should not hide him from my sword. i shall now continue my journal: deceived in the aid i expected, i was obliged to change my plan, and go to my mother, who lived in prussia, nine miles beyond konigsberg. feb. .--we continued, tired, anxious, and distressed, at lettel. march .--we went three miles to pleese, and on the nd, a mile and a half farther to meseritz. march .--through wersebaum to birnbaum, three miles. march .--through zircke, wruneck, obestchow, to stubnitz, seven miles, in one day, three of which we had the good fortune to ride. march .--three miles to rogosen, where we arrived without so much as a heller to pay our lodgings. the jew innkeeper drove us out of his house; we were obliged to wander all night, and at break of day found we had strayed two miles out of the road. we entered a peasant's cottage, where an old woman was drawing bread hot out of the oven. we had no money to offer, and i felt, at this moment, the possibility even of committing murder, for a morsel of bread, to satisfy the intolerable cravings of hunger. shuddering, with torment inexpressible, at the thought, i hastened out of the door, and we walked on two miles more to wongrofze. here i sold my musket for a ducat, which had procured us many a meal: such was the extremity of our distress. we then satiated our appetites, after having been forty hours without food or sleep, and having travelled ten miles in sleet and snow. march .--we rested, and came, on the th, through genin, to a village in the forest, four miles. here we fell in with a gang of gipsies (or rather banditti) amounting to four hundred men, who dragged me to their camp. they were mostly french and prussian deserters, and thinking me their equal, would force me to become one of their hand. but, venturing to tell my story to their leader, he presented me with a crown, gave us a small provision of bread and meat, and suffered us to depart in peace, after having been four and twenty hours in their company. march .--we proceeded to lapuschin, three miles and a half; and the th to thorn, four miles. a new incident here happened, which showed i was destined, by fortune, to a variety of adventures, and continually to struggle with new difficulties. there was a fair held at thorn on the day of our arrival. suspicions might well arise, among the crowd, on seeing a strong tall young man, wretchedly clothed, with a large sabre by his side, and a pair of pistols in his girdle, accompanied by another as poorly apparelled as himself, with his hand and neck bound up, and armed likewise with pistols, so that altogether he more resembled a spectre than a man. we went to an inn, but were refused entertainment: i then asked for the jesuits' college, where i inquired for the father rector. they supposed at first i was a thief, come to seek an asylum. after long waiting and much entreaty his jesuitical highness at length made his appearance, and received me as the grand mogul would his slave. my case certainly was pitiable: i related all the events of my life, and the purport of my journey; conjured him to save schell, who was unable to proceed further, and whose wounds grew daily worse; and prayed him to entertain him at the convent till i should have been to my mother, have obtained money, and returned to thorn, when i would certainly repay him whatever expense he might have been at, with thanks and gratitude. never shall i forget the haughty insolence of this priest. scarcely would he listen to my humble request; thou'd and interrupted me continually, to tell me, "be brief, i have more pressing affairs than thine." in fine, i was turned away without obtaining the least aid; and here i was first taught jesuitical pride; god help the poor and honest man who shall need the assistance of jesuits! they, like all other monks, are seared to every sentiment of human pity, and commiserate the distressed by taunts and irony. four times in my life i have sought assistance and advice from convents, and am convinced it is the duty of every honest man to aid in erasing them from the face of the earth. they succour rascals and murderers, that their power may be idolised by the ignorant, and ostentatiously exert itself to impede the course of law and justice; but in vain do the poor and needy virtuous apply to them for help. the reader will pardon my native hatred of hypocrisy and falsehood, especially when he hears i have to thank the jesuits for the loss of all my great hungarian estates. father kampmuller, the bosom friend of the count grashalkowitz, was confessor to the court of vienna, and there was no possible kind of persecution i did not suffer from priestcraft. far from being useful members of society, they take advantage of the prejudices of superstition, exist for themselves alone, and sacrifice every duty to the support of their own hierarchy, and found a power, on error and ignorance, which is destructive of all moral virtue. let us proceed. mournful and angry, i left the college, and went to my lodging-house, where i found a prussian recruiting-officer waiting for me, who used all his arts to engage me to enlist; offering me five hundred dollars, and to make me a corporal, if i could write. i pretended i was a livonian, who had deserted from the austrians, to return home, and claim an inheritance left me by my father. after much persuasion, he at length told me in confidence, it was very well known in the town that i was a robber; that i should soon be taken before a magistrate, but that if i would enlist he would ensure my safety. this language was new to me; my passion rose instantaneously; i remembered my name was trenck, i struck him, and drew my sword; but, instead of defending himself, he sprang out of the chamber, charging the host not to let me quit the house. i knew the town of thorn had agreed with the king of prussia, secretly, to deliver up deserters, and began to fear the consequences. looking through the window, i presently saw two under prussian officers enter the house. schell and i instantly flew to our arms, and met the prussians at the chamber door. "make way," cried i, presenting my pistols. the prussian soldiers drew their swords, but retired with fear. going out of the house, i saw a prussian lieutenant, in the street, with the town-guard. these i overawed, likewise, by the same means, and no one durst oppose me, though every one cried, "stop thief!" i came safely, however, to the jesuits' convent; but poor schell was taken, and dragged to prison like a malefactor. half mad at not being able to rescue him, i imagined he must soon be delivered up to the prussians. my reception was much better at the convent than it had been before, for they no longer doubted but i was really a thief, who sought an asylum. i addressed myself to one of the fathers, who appeared to be a good kind of a man, relating briefly what had happened, and entreated he would endeavour to discover why they sought to molest us. he went out, and returning in an hour after, told me, "nobody knows you: a considerable theft was yesterday committed at the fair: all suspicious persons are seized; you entered the town accoutred like banditti. the man where you put up is employed as a prussian enlister, and has announced you as suspicious people. the prussian lieutenant therefore laid complaint against you, and it was thought necessary to secure your persons." my joy, at hearing this, was great. our moravian passport, and the journal of our route, which i had in my pocket, were full proofs of our innocence. i requested they would send and inquire at the town where we lay the night before. i soon convinced the jesuit i spoke truth; he went, and presently returned with one of the syndics, to whom i gave a more full account of myself. the syndic examined schell, and found his story and mine agreed; besides which, our papers that they had seized, declared who we were. i passed the night in the convent without closing my eyes, revolving in my mind all the rigours of my fate. i was still more disturbed for schell, who knew not where i was, but remained firmly persuaded we should be conducted to berlin; and, if so, determined to put a period to his life. my doubts were all ended at ten in the morning when my good jesuit arrived, and was followed by my friend schell. the judges, he said, had found us innocent, and declared us free to go where we pleased; adding, however, that he advised us to be upon our guard, we being watched by the prussian enlisters; that the lieutenant had hoped, by having us committed as thieves, to oblige me to enter, and that he would account for all that had happened. i gave schell a most affectionate welcome, who had been very ill-used when led to prison, because he endeavoured to defend himself with his left hand, and follow me. the people had thrown mud at him, and called him a rascal that would soon be hanged. schell was little able to travel farther. the father-rector sent us a ducat, but did not see us; and the chief magistrate gave each of us a crown, by way of indemnification for false imprisonment. thus sent away, we returned to our lodging, took our bundles, and immediately prepared to leave thorn. as we went, i reflected that, on the road to elbing, we must pass through several prussian villages, and inquired for a shop where we might purchase a map. we were directed to an old woman who sat at the door across the way, and were told she had a good assortment, for that her son was a scholar. i addressed myself to her, and my question pleased her, i having added we were unfortunate travellers, who wished to find, by the map, the road to russia. she showed us into a chamber, laid an atlas on the table, and placed herself opposite me, while i examined the map, and endeavoured to hide a bit of a ragged ruffle that had made its appearance. after steadfastly looking at me, she at length exclaimed, with a sad and mournful tone--"good god! who knows what is now become of my poor son! i can see, sir, you too are of a good family. my son would go and seek his fortune, and for these eight years have i had no tidings of him. he must now be in the austrian cavalry." i asked in what regiment. "the regiment of hohenhem; you are his very picture." "is he not of my height?" "yes, nearly." "has he not light hair?" "yes, like yours, sir." "what is his name?" "his name is william." "no, my dear mother," cried i, "william is not dead; he was my best friend when i was with the regiment." here the poor woman could not contain her joy. she threw herself round my neck, called me her good angel who brought her happy tidings: asked me a thousand questions which i easily contrived to make her answer herself, and thus, forced by imperious necessity, bereft of all other means, did i act the deceiver. the story i made was nearly as follows:--i told her i was a soldier in the regiment of hohenhem, that i had a furlough to go and see my father, and that i should return in a month, would then take her letters, and undertake that, if she wished it, her son should purchase his discharge, and once more come and live with his mother. i added that i should be for ever and infinitely obliged to her, if she would suffer my comrade, meantime, to live at her house, he being wounded by the prussian recruiters, and unable to pursue his journey; that i would send him money to come to me, or would myself come back and fetch him, thankfully paying every expense. she joyfully consented, told me her second husband, father-in-law to her dear william, had driven him from home, that he might give what substance they had to the younger son; and that the eldest had gone to magdeburg. she determined schell should live at the house of a friend, that her husband might know nothing of the matter; and, not satisfied with this kindness, she made me eat with her, gave me a new shirt, stockings, sufficient provisions for three days, and six lunenburg florins. i left thorn, and my faithful schell, the same night, with the consolation that he was well taken care of; and having parted from him with regret, went on the th two miles further to burglow. i cannot describe what my sensations were, or the despondence of my mind, when i thus saw myself wandering alone, and leaving, forsaking, as it were, the dearest of friends. these may certainly be numbered among the bitterest moments of my life. often was i ready to return, and drag him along with me, though at last reason conquered sensibility. i drew near the end of my journey, and was impelled forward by hope. march .--i went to schwetz, and march .--to neuburg and mowe. in these two days i travelled thirteen miles. i lay at mowe, on some straw, among a number of carters, and, when i awoke, perceived they had taken my pistols, and what little money i had left, even to my last penny. the gentlemen, however, were all gone. what could i do? the innkeeper perhaps was privy to the theft. my reckoning amounted to eighteen polish grosch. the surly landlord pretended to believe i had no money when i entered his house, and i was obliged to give him the only spare shirt i had, with a silk handkerchief, which the good woman of thorn had made me a present of, and to depart without a single holler. march .--i set off for marienburg, but it was impossible i should reach this place, and not fall into the hands of the prussians, if i did not cross the vistula, and, unfortunately, i had no money to pay the ferry, which would cost two polish schellings. full of anxiety, not knowing how to act, i saw two fishermen in a boat, went to them, drew my sabre, and obliged them to land me on the other side; when there, i took the oars from these timid people, jumped out of the boat, pushed it off the shore, and left it to drive with the stream. to what dangers does not poverty expose man! these two polish schellings were not worth more than half a kreutzer, or some halfpenny, yet was i driven by necessity to commit violence on two poor men, who, had they been as desperate in their defence as i was obliged to be in my attack, blood must have been spilled and lives lost; hence it is evident that the degrees of guilt ought to be strictly and minutely inquired into, and the degree of punishment proportioned. had i hewn them down with my sabre, i should surely have been a murderer; but i should likewise surely have been one of the most innocent of murderers. thus we see the value of money is not to be estimated by any specific sum, small or great, but according to its necessity and use. how little did i imagine when at berlin, and money was treated by me with luxurious neglect, i may say, with contempt, i should be driven to the hard necessity, for a sum so apparently despicable, of committing a violence which might have had consequences so dreadful, and have led to the commission of an act so atrocious! i found saxon and prussian recruiters at marion-burgh, with whom, having no money, i ate, drank, listened to their proposals, gave them hopes for the morrow, and departed by daybreak. march .--to elbing, four miles. here i met with my former worthy tutor, brodowsky, who was become a captain and auditor in the polish regiment of golz. he met me just as i entered the town. i followed triumphantly to his quarters; and here at length ended the painful, long, and adventurous journey i had been obliged to perform. this good and kind gentleman, after providing me with immediate necessaries, wrote so affectionately to my mother, that she came to elbing in a week, and gave me every aid of which i stood in need. the pleasure i had in meeting once more this tender mother, whose qualities of heart and mind were equally excellent, was inexpressible. she found a certain mode of conveying a letter to my dear mistress at berlin, who a short time after sent me a bill of exchange for four hundred ducats upon dantzic. to this my mother added a thousand rix-dollars, and a diamond cross worth nearly half as much, remained a fortnight with me, and persisted, in spite of all remonstrance, in advising me to go to vienna. my determination had been fixed for petersburg; all my fears and apprehensions being awakened at the thought of vienna, and which indeed afterwards became the source of all my cruel sufferings and sorrows. she would not yield in opinion, and promised her future assistance only in case of my obedience; it was my duty not to continue obstinate. here she left me, and i have never seen her since. she died in , and i have ever held her memory in veneration. it was a happiness for this affectionate mother that she did not hive to be a witness of my afflictions in the year . an adventure, resembling that of joseph in egypt, happened to me in elbing. the wife of the worthy brodowsky, a woman of infinite personal attraction, grew partial to me; but i durst not act ungratefully by my benefactor. never to see me more was too painful to her, and she even proposed to follow me, secretly, to vienna. i felt the danger of my situation, and doubted whether potiphar's wife offered temptations so strong as madame brodowsky. i owned i had an affection for this lady, but my passions were overawed. she preferred me to her husband, who was in years, and very ordinary in person. had i yielded to the slightest degree of guilt, that of the present enjoyment, a few days of pleasure must have been followed by years of bitter repentance. having once more assumed my proper name and character, and made presents of acknowledgment to the worthy tutor of my youth, i became eager to return to thorn. how great was my joy at again meeting my honest schell! the kind old woman had treated him like a mother. she was surprised, and half terrified, at seeing me enter in an officer's uniform, and accompanied by two servants. i gratefully and rapturously kissed her hand, repaid, with thankfulness, every expense (for schell had been nurtured with truly maternal kindness), told her who i was, acknowledged the deceit i had put upon her concerning her son, but faithfully promised to give a true, and not fictitious account of him, immediately on my arrival at vienna. schell was ready in three days, and we left thorn, came to warsaw, and passed thence, through crakow, to vienna. i inquired for captain capi, at bilitz, who had before given me so kind a reception, and refused me satisfaction; but he was gone, and i did not meet with him till some years after, when the cunning italian made me the most humble apologies for his conduct. so goes the world. my journey from dantzic to vienna would not furnish me with an interesting page, though my travels on foot thither would have afforded thrice as much as i have written, had i not been fearful of trifling with the reader's patience. in poverty one misfortune follows another. the foot-passenger sees the world, becomes acquainted with it, converses with men of every class. the lord luxuriously lolls and slumbers in his carriage, while his servants pay innkeepers and postillions, and passes rapidly over a kingdom, in which he sees some dozen houses, called inns; and this he calls travelling. i met with more adventures in this my journey of miles, than afterwards in almost as many thousand, when travelling at ease, in a carriage. here, then, ends my journal, in which, from the hardships therein related, and numerous others omitted, i seem a kind of second robinson crusoe, and to have been prepared, by a gradual increase and repetition of sufferings, to endure the load of affliction which i was afterwards destined to bear. arrived at vienna in the month of april, . and now another act of the tragedy is going to begin. chapter ix. after having defrayed the expenses of travelling for me and my friend schell, for whose remarkable history i will endeavour to find a few pages in due course, i divided the three hundred ducats which remained with him, and, having stayed a month at vienna, he went to join the regiment of pallavicini, in which he had obtained a lieutenant-colonel's commission, and which was then in italy. here i found my cousin, baron francis trenck, the famous partisan and colonel of pandours, imprisoned at the arsenal, and involved in a most perplexing prosecution. this trenck was my father's brother's son. his father had been a colonel and governor of leitschau, and had possessed considerable lordships in sclavonia, those of pleternitz, prestowacz, and pakratz. after the siege of vienna, in , he had left the prussian service for that of austria, in which he remained sixty years. that i may not here interrupt my story, i shall give some account of the life of my cousin baron francis trenck, so renowned in the war of , in another part, and who fell, at last, the shameful sacrifice of envy and avarice, and received the reward of all his great and faithful services in the prison of the spielberg. the vindication of the family of the trencks requires i should speak of him; nor will i, in this, suffer restraint from the fear of any man, however powerful. those indeed who sacrificed a man most ardent in his country's service to their own private and selfish views, are now in their graves. i shall insert no more of his history here than what is interwoven with my own, and relate the rest in its proper place. a revision of his suit was at this time instituted. scarcely was i arrived in vienna before his confidential agent, m. leber, presented me to prince charles and the emperor; both knew the services of trenck, and the malice of his enemies; therefore, permission for me to visit him in his prison, and procure him such assistance as he might need, was readily granted. on my second audience, the emperor spoke so much in my persecuted cousin's favour that i became highly interested; he commanded me to have recourse to him on all occasions; and, moreover, owned the president of the council of war was a man of a very wicked character, and a declared enemy of trenck. this president was the count of lowenwalde, who, with his associates, had been purposely selected as men proper to oppress the best of subjects. the suit soon took another face; the good empress queen, who had been deceived, was soon better informed, and trenck's innocence appeared, on the revision of the process most evidently. the trial, which had cost them twenty-seven thousand florins, and the sentence which followed, were proved to have been partial and unjust; and that sixteen of trenck's officers, who most of them had been broken for different offences, had perjured themselves to insure his destruction. it is a most remarkable circumstance that public notice was given, in the _vienna gazette_, to the following purport. "all those who have any complaints to make against trenck, let them appear, and they shall receive a ducat per day, so long as the prosecution continues." it will readily be imagined how fast his accusers would increase, and what kind of people they were. the pay of these witnesses alone amounted to fifteen thousand florins. i now began the labour in concurrence with doctor gerhauer, and the cause soon took another turn; but such was the state of things, it would have been necessary to have broken all the members of the council of war, as well as counsellor weber, a man of great power. thus, unfortunately, politics began to interfere with the course of justice. the empress queen gave trenck to understand she required he should ask her pardon; and on that condition all proceedings should be stopped, and he immediately set at liberty. prince charles, who knew the court of vienna, advised me also to persuade my cousin to comply; but nothing could shake his resolution. feeling his right and innocence, he demanded strict justice; and this made ruin more swift. i soon learned trenck must fall a sacrifice--he was rich--his enemies already had divided among them more than eighty thousand florins of his property, which was all sequestered, and in their hands. they had treated him too cruelly, and knew him too well, not to dread his vengeance the moment he should recover his freedom. i was moved to the soul at his sufferings, and as he had vented public threats, at the prospect of approaching victory over his enemies, they gained over the court confessor: and, dreading him as they did, put every wily art in practice to insure his destruction. i therefore, in the fulness of my heart, made him the brotherly proposition of escaping, and, having obtained his liberty, to prove his innocence to the empress queen. i told him my plan, which might easily have been put in execution, and which he seemed perfectly decided to follow. some days after, i was ordered to wait on field-marshal count konigseck, governor of vienna. this respectable old gentleman, whose memory i shall ever revere, behaved to me like a father and the friend of humanity, advised me to abandon my cousin, who he gave me clearly to understand had betrayed me by having revealed my proposed plan of escape, willing to sacrifice me to his ambition in order to justify the purity of his intentions to the court, and show that, instead of wishing to escape, he only desired justice. confounded at the cowardly action of one for whom i would willingly have sacrificed my life, and whom i only sought to deliver, i resolved to leave him to his fate, and thought myself exceedingly happy that the worthy field-marshal would, after a fatherly admonition, smother all farther inquiry into this affair. i related this black trait of ingratitude to prince charles of lorraine, who prevailed on me to again see my cousin, without letting him know i knew what had passed, and still to render him every service in my power. before i proceed i will here give the reader a per-'trait of this trenck. he was a man of superior talents and unbounded ambition; devoted, even fanatically, to his sovereign; his boldness approached temerity; he was artful of mind, wicked of heart, vindictive and unfeeling. his cupidity equalled the utmost excess of avarice, even in his thirty-third year, in which he died. he was too proud to receive favours or obligations from any man, and was capable of ridding himself of his best friend if he thought he had any claims on his gratitude or could get possession of his fortune. he knew i had rendered him very important services, supposed his cause already won, having bribed the judges, who were to revise the sentence, with thirty thousand florins, which money i received from his friend baron lopresti, and conveyed to these honest counsellors. i knew all his secrets, and nothing more was necessary to prompt his suspicious and bad heart to seek my destruction. scarcely had a fortnight elapsed, after his having first betrayed me, before the following remarkable event happened. i left him one evening to return home, taking under my coat a bag with papers and documents relating to the prosecution, which i had been examining for him, and transcribing. there were at this time about five- and-twenty officers in vienna who had laid complaints against him, and who considered me as their greatest enemy because i had laboured earnestly in his defence. i was therefore obliged, on all occasions, to be upon my guard. a report had been propagated through vienna that i was secretly sent by the king of prussia to free my cousin from imprisonment; he, however, constantly denied, to the hour of his death, his ever having written to me at berlin; hence also it will follow the letter i received had been forged by jaschinsky. leaving the arsenal, i crossed the court, and perceived i was closely followed by two men in grey roquelaures, who, pressing upon my heels, held loud and insolent conversation concerning the runaway prussian trenck. i found they sought a quarrel, which was a thing of no great difficulty at that moment, for a man is never more disposed to duelling than when he has nothing to lose, and is discontented with his condition. i supposed they were two of the accusing officers broken by trenck, and endeavoured to avoid them, and gain the jew's place. scarcely had i turned down the street that leads thither before they quickened their pace. i turned round, and in a moment received a thrust with a sword in the left side, where i had put my bag of papers, which accident alone saved my life; the sword pierced through the papers and slightly grazed the skin. i instantly drew, and the heroes ran. i pursued, one of them tripped and fell. i seized him; the guard came up: he declared he was an officer of the regiment of kollowrat, showed his uniform, was released, and i was taken to prison. the town major came the next day, and told me i had intentionally sought a quarrel with two officers, lieutenants f---g and k---n. these kind gentlemen did not reveal their humane intention of sending me to the other world. i was alone, could produce no witness, they were two. i must necessarily be in the wrong, and i remained six days in prison. no sooner was i released, than these my good friends sent to demand satisfaction for the said pretended insult. the proposal was accepted, and i promised to be at the scotch gate, the place appointed by them, within an hour. having heard their names, i presently knew them to be two famous swaggerers, who were daily exercising themselves in fencing at the arsenal, and where they often visited trenck. i went to my cousin to ask his assistance, related what had happened, and, as the consequences of this duel might be very serious, desired him to give me a hundred ducats, that i might be able to fly if either of them should fall. hitherto i had expended my own money on his account, and had asked no reimbursement; but what was my astonishment when this wicked man said to me, with a sneer, "since, good cousin, you have got into a quarrel without consulting me, you will also get out of it without my aid!" as i left him, he called me back to tell me, "i will take care and pay your undertaker;" for he certainly believed i should never return alive. i ran now, half-despairing, to baron lopresti, who gave me fifty ducats and a pair of pistols, provided with which i cheerfully repaired to the field of battle. here i found half a dozen officers of the garrison. as i had few acquaintances in vienna, i had no second, except an old spanish invalid captain, named pereyra, who met me going in all haste, and, having learned whither, would not leave me. lieutenant k---n was the first with whom i fought, and who received satisfaction by a deep wound in the right arm. hereupon i desired the spectators to prevent farther mischief; for my own part i had nothing more to demand. lieutenant f---g next entered the lists, with threats, which were soon quieted by a lunge in the belly. hereupon lieutenant m- f, second to the first wounded man, told me very angrily--"had i been your man, you would have found a very different reception." my old spaniard of eighty proudly and immediately advanced, with his long whiskers and tottering frame, and cried--"hold! trenck has proved himself a brave fellow, and if any man thinks proper to assault him further, he must first take a breathing with me." everybody laughed at this bravado from a man who scarcely could stand or hold a sword. i replied--"friend, i am safe, unhurt, and want not aid; should i be disabled, you then, if you think proper, may take my place; but, as long as i can hold a sword, i shall take pleasure in satisfying all these gentlemen one after another." i would have rested myself a moment, but the haughty m-f, enraged at the defeat of his friend, would not give me time, but furiously attacked me, and, having been wounded twice, once in the hand and again in the groin, he wanted to close and sink me to the grave with himself, but i disarmed and threw him. none of the others had any desire to renew the contest. my three enemies were sent bleeding to town; and, as m---f appeared to be mortally wounded, and the jesuits and capuchins of vienna refused me an asylum, i fled to the convent of keltenberg. i wrote from the convent to colonel baron lopresti, who came to me. i told him all that had passed, and by his good offices had liberty, in a week, to appear once more at vienna. the blood of lieutenant f---g was in a corrupt state, and his wound, though not in itself dangerous, made his life doubtful. he sent to entreat i would visit him, and, when i went, having first requested i would pardon him, gave me to understand i ought to beware of my cousin. i afterwards learned the traitorous trenck had promised lieutenant f---g a company and a thousand ducats if he would find means to quarrel with me and rid the world of me. he was deeply in debt, and sought the assistance of lieutenant k-n; and had not the papers luckily preserved me, i had undoubtedly been despatched by his first lunge. to clear themselves of the infamy of such an act, these two worthy gentlemen had pretended i had assaulted them in the streets. i could no more resolve to see my ungrateful and dangerous kinsman, who wished to have me murdered because i knew all his secrets, and thought he should be able to gain his cause without obligation to me or my assistance. notwithstanding all his great qualities, his marked characteristic certainly was that of sacrificing everything to his private views, and especially to his covetousness, which was so great that, even at his time of life, though his fortune amounted to a million and a half, he did not spend per day more than thirty kreutzers. no sooner was it known that i had forsaken trenck than general count lowenwalde, his most ardent enemy, and president of the first council of war, by which he had been condemned, desired to speak to me, promised every sort of good fortune and protection, if i would discover what means had secretly been employed in the revision of the process; and went so far as to offer me four thousand florins if i would aid the prosecution against my cousin. here i learned the influence of villains in power, and the injustice of judges at vienna. the proposal i rejected with disdain, and rather determined to seek my fortune in the east indies than continue in a country where, under the best of queens, the most loyal of subjects, and first of soldiers, might be rendered miserable by interested, angry, and corrupt courtiers. certain it is, as i now can prove, though the bitterest of my enemies, and whose conduct towards me merited my whole resentment, he was the best soldier in the austrian army, had been liberal of his blood and fortune in the imperial service, and would still so have continued had not his wealth, and his contempt for weber and lowenwalde put him in the power of those wretches who were the avowed enemies of courage and patriotism, and who only could maintain their authority, and sate their thirst of gain, by the base and wicked arts of courts. had my cousin shared the plunder of the war among these men, he had not fallen the martyr of their intrigues, and died in the spielberg. his accusers were, generally, unprincipled men of ruined fortunes, and so insufficient were their accusations that a useful member of society ought not, for any or all of them, to have suffered an hour's imprisonment. being fully informed, both of all the circumstances of the prosecution and the inmost secrets of his heart, justice requires i should thus publicly declare this truth and vindicate his memory. while living he was my bitterest enemy, and even though dead, was the cause of all my future sufferings; therefore the account i shall give of him will certainly be the less liable to suspicion, where i shall show that he, as well as myself, deserved better of austria. i was resolved forever to forsake vienna. the friends of trenck all became distrustful of him because of his ingratitude to me. prince charles still endeavoured to persuade me to a reconciliation, and gave me a letter of recommendation to general brown, who then commanded the imperial army in italy. but more anxious of going to india, i left vienna in august, , desirous of owing no obligation to that city or its inhabitants, and went for holland. meantime, the enemies of trenck found no one to oppose their iniquitous proceedings, and obtained a sentence of imprisonment, in the spielberg, where he too late repented having betrayed his faithful adviser, and prudent friend. i pitied him, and his judges certainly deserved the punishment they inflicted: yet to his last moments he showed his hatred towards me was rooted, and, even in the grave, strove by his will to involve me in misfortune, as will hereafter be seen. i fled from vienna, would to god it had been for ever; but fate by strange ways, and unknown means, brought me back where providence thought proper i should become a vessel of wrath and persecution: i was to enact my part in europe, and not in asia. at nuremberg i met with a body of russians, commanded by general lieuwen, my mother's relation, who were marching to the netherlands, and were the peace-makers of europe. major buschkow, whom i had known when russian resident at vienna, prevailed on me to visit him, and presented me to the general. i pleased him, and may say, with truth, he behaved to me like a friend and a father. he advised me to enter into the russian service, and gave me a company of dragoons, in the regiment of tobolski, on condition i should not leave him, but employ myself in his cabinet: and his confidence and esteem for me were unbounded. peace followed; the army returned to moravia, without firing a musket, and the head-quarters were fixed at prosnitz. in this town a public entertainment was given, by general lieuwen, on the coronation day of the empress elizabeth; and here an adventure happened to me, which i shall ever remember, as a warning to myself, and insert as a memento to others. the army physician, on this day, kept a faro bank for the entertainment of the guests. my stock of money consisted of two and twenty ducats. thirst of gain, or perhaps example, induced me to venture two of these, which i immediately lost, and very soon, by venturing again to regain them, the whole two and twenty. chagrined at my folly, i returned home: i had nothing but a pair of pistols left, for which, because of their workmanship, general woyekow had offered me twenty ducats. these i took, intending by their aid to attempt to retrieve my loss. firing of guns and pistols was heard throughout the town, because of the festival, and i, in imitation of the rest, went to the window and fired mine. after a few discharges, one of my pistols burst, and endangered my own hand, and wounded my servant. i felt a momentary despondency, stronger than i ever remember to have experienced before; insomuch that i was half induced, with the remaining pistol, to shoot myself through the head. i however, recovered my spirits, asked my servant what money he had, and received from him three ducats. with these i repaired, like a desperate gamester, once more to the faro table, at the general's, again began to play, and so extraordinary was my run of luck, i won at every venture. having recovered my principal, i played on upon my winnings, till at last i had absolutely broke the doctor's bank: a new bank was set up, and i won the greatest part of this likewise, so that i brought home about six hundred ducats. rejoiced at my good fortune, but recollecting my danger, i had the prudence to make a solemn resolution never more to play at any game of chance, to which i have ever strictly adhered. it were to be wished young men would reflect upon the effects of gaming, remembering that the love of play has made the most promising and virtuous, miserable; the honest, knaves; and the sincere, deceivers and liars. officers, having first lost all their own money, being entrusted with the soldiers' pay, have next lost that also; and thus been cashiered, and eternally disgraced. i might, at prosnitz, have been equally rash and culpable. the first venture, whether the gamester wins or loses, ensures a second; and, with that, too often destruction. my good fortune was almost miraculous, and my subsequent resolution very uncommon; and i entreat and conjure my children, when i shall no longer be living to advise and watch for their welfare, most determinedly to avoid play. i seemed preserved by providence from this evil but to endure much greater. general lieuwen, my kind patron, sent me, from crakow, to conduct a hundred and forty sick men down the vistula to dantzic, where there were russian vessels to receive and transport them to riga. i requested permission of the general to proceed forward and visit my mother and sister, whom i was very desirous to see: at elbing, therefore, i resigned the command to lieutenant platen, and, attended by a servant, rode to the bishopric of ermeland, where i appointed an interview with them in a frontier village. here an incident happened that had nearly cost me my life. the prussians, some days before, had carried off a peasant's son from this village, as a recruit. the people were all in commotion. i wore leathern breeches, and the blue uniform of the russian cavalry. they took me for a prussian, at the door, and fell upon me with every kind of weapon. a chasseur, who happened to be there, and the landlord, came to my assistance, while i, battling with the peasants, had thrown two of them down. i was delivered, but not till i had received two violent bruises, one on the left arm, and another which broke the bridge of my nose. the landlord advised me to escape as fast as possible, or that the village would rise and certainly murder me; my servant, therefore, who had retired for defence, with a pair of pistols, into the oven, got ready the horses and we rode off. i had my bruises dressed at the next village; my hand and eyes were exceedingly swelled, but i was obliged to ride two miles farther, to the town of ressel, before i could find an able surgeon, and here i so far recovered in a week, that i was able to return to dantzic. my brother visited me while at ressel, but my good mother had the misfortune, as she was coming to me, to be thrown out of her carriage, by which her arm was broken, so that she and my sister were obliged to return, and i never saw her more. i was now at dantzic, with my sick convoy, where another most remarkable event happened, which i, with good reason, shall ever remember. i became acquainted with a prussian officer, whose name i shall conceal out of respect to his very worthy family; he visited me daily, and we often rode out together in the neighbourhood of dantzic. my faithful servant became acquainted with his, and my astonishment was indeed great when he one day said to me, with anxiety, "beware, sir, of a snare laid for you by lieutenant n-; he means to entice you out of town and deliver you up to the prussians." i asked him where he learned this. "from the lieutenant's servant," answered he, "who is my friend, and wishes to save me from misfortune." i now, with the aid of a couple of ducats, discovered the whole affair, and learned it was agreed, between the prussian resident, reimer, and the lieutenant, that the latter should entice me into the suburb of langfuhr, where there was an inn on the prussian territories. here eight recruiting under-officers were to wait concealed, and seize me the moment i entered the house, hurry me into a carriage, and drive away for lauenberg in pomerania. two under-officers were to escort me, on horseback, as far as the frontiers, and the remainder to hold and prevent me from calling for help, so long as we should remain on the territories of dantzic. i farther learned my enemies were only to be armed with sabres, and that they were to wait behind the door. the two officers on horseback were to secure my servant, and prevent him from riding off and raising an alarm. these preparations might easily have been rendered fruitless, by my refusing to accept the proposal of the lieutenant, but vanity gave me other advice, and resentment made me desirous of avenging myself for such detestable treachery. lieutenant n--- came, about noon, to dine with me as usual, was more pensive and serious than i had ever observed him before, and left me at four in the afternoon, after having made a promise to ride early next day with him as far as langfuhr. i observed my consent gave him great pleasure, and my heart then pronounced sentence on the traitor. the moment he had left me i went to the russian resident, m. scheerer, an honest swiss, related the whole conspiracy, and asked whether i might not take six of the men under my command for my own personal defence. i told him my plan, which he at first opposed; but seeing me obstinate, he answered at last, "do as you please; i must know nothing of the matter, nor will i make myself responsible." i immediately joined my soldiers, selected six men, and took them, while it was dark, opposite the prussian inn, hid them in the corn, with an order to run to my help with their firelocks loaded the first discharge they should hear, to seize all who should fall into their power, and only to fire in case of resistance. i provided them with fire-arms, by concealing them in the carriage which brought them to their hiding-place. notwithstanding all these precautions, i still thought it necessary to prevent surprise, by informing myself what were the proceedings of my enemies, lest my intelligence should have been false; and i learned from my spies that, at four in the morning, the prussian resident, reimer, had left the city with post horses. i loaded mine and my servant's horse and pocket pistols, prepared my turkish sabre, and, in gratitude to the lieutenant's man, promised to take him into my service, being convinced of his honesty. the lieutenant cheerfully entered about six in the morning, expatiated on the fineness of the weather, and jocosely told me i should be very kindly received by the handsome landlady of langfuhr. i was soon ready; we mounted, and left the town, attended by our servants. some three hundred paces from the inn, my worthy friend proposed that we should alight and let our servants lead the horses, that we might enjoy the beauty of the morning. i consented, and having dismounted, observed his treacherous eyes sparkle with pleasure. the resident, reimer, was at the window of the inn, and called out, as soon as he saw me, "good-morrow, captain, good-morrow; come, come in, your breakfast is waiting." i, sneering, smiled, and told him i had not time at present. so saying, i continued my walk, but my companion would absolutely force me to enter, took me by the arm, and partly struggled with me, on which, losing all patience, i gave him a blow which almost knocked him down, and ran to my horses as if i meant to fly. the prussians instantly rushed from behind their door, with clamour, to attack me. i fired at the first; my russians sprang from their hiding- place, presented their pieces, and called, _stuy_, _stuy_, _yebionnamat_. the terror of the poor prussians may well be supposed. all began to run. i had taken care to make sure of my lieutenant, and was next running to seize the resident, but he had escaped out of the back door, with the loss only of his white periwig. the russians had taken four prisoners, and i commanded them to bestow fifty strokes upon each of them in the open street. an ensign, named casseburg, having told me his name, and that he had been my brother's schoolfellow, begged remission, and excused himself on the necessity which he was under to obey his superiors. i admitted his excuses and suffered him to go. i then drew my sword and bade the lieutenant defend himself; but he was so confused, that, after drawing his sword, he asked my pardon, laid the whole blame upon the resident, and had not the power to put himself on his guard. i twice jerked his sword out of his hand, and, at last, taking the russian corporal's cane, i exhausted my strength with beating him, without his offering the least resistance. such is the meanness of detected treachery. i left him kneeling, saying to him, "go, rascal, now, and tell your comrades the manner in which trenck punishes robbers on the highway." the people had assembled round us during the action, to whom i related the affair, and the attack having happened on the territories of dantzic, the prussians were in danger of being stoned by the populace. i and my russians marched off victorious, proceeded to the harbour, embarked, and three or four days after, set sail for riga. it is remarkable that none of the public papers took any notice of this affair; no satisfaction was required. the prussians, no doubt, were ashamed of being defeated in an attempt so perfidious. i since have learnt that frederic, no doubt by the false representations of reimer, was highly irritated, and what afterwards happened proves his anger pursued me through every corner of the earth, till at last i fell into his power at dantzic, and suffered a martyrdom most unmerited and unexampled. the prussian envoy, goltz, indeed, made complaints to count bestuchef, concerning this dantzic skirmish, but received no satisfaction. my conduct was justified in russia, i having defended myself against assassins, as a russian captain ought. some dispassionate readers may blame me for not having avoided this rencontre, and demanded personal satisfaction of lieutenant n---. but i have through life rather sought than avoided danger. my vanity and revenge were both roused. i was everywhere persecuted by the prussians, and i was therefore determined to show that, far from fearing, i was able to defend myself. i hired the servant of the lieutenant, whom i found honest and faithful, and whom i comfortably settled in marriage, at vienna, in . after my ten years' imprisonment, i found him poor, and again took him into my service, in which he died, at zwerbach, in . chapter x. and now behold me at sea, on my voyage to riga. i had eaten heartily before i went on board; a storm came on; i worked half the night, to aid the crew, but at length became sea-sick, and went to lie down. scarcely had i closed my eyes before the master came with the joyful tidings, as he thought, that we were running for the port of pillau. far from pleasing, this, to me, was dreadful intelligence. i ran on deck, saw the harbour right before me, and a pilot coming off. the sea must now be either kept in a storm, or i fall into the hands of the prussians; for i was known to the whole garrison of pillau. i desired the captain to tack about and keep the sea, but he would not listen to me. perceiving this, i flew to my cabin, snatched my pistols, returned, seized the helm, and threatened the captain with instant death if he did not obey. my russians began to murmur; they were averse to encountering the dangers of the storm, but luckily they were still more averse to meet my anger, overawed, as they were, by my pistols, and my two servants, who stood by me faithfully. half an hour after, the storm began to subside, and we fortunately arrived the next day in the harbour of riga. the captain, however, could not be appeased, but accused me before the old and honourable marshal lacy, then governor of riga. i was obliged to appear, and reply to the charge by relating the truth. the governor answered, my obstinacy might have occasioned the death of a hundred and sixty persons; i, smiling, retorted, "i have brought them all safe to port, please your excellency; and, for my part, my fate would have been much more merciful by falling into the hands of my god than into the hands of my enemies. my danger was so great that i forgot the danger of others; besides, sir, i knew my comrades were soldiers, and feared death as little as i do." my answer pleased the fine grey-headed general, and he gave me a recommendation to the chancellor bestuchef at moscow. general lieuwen had marched from moravia, for russia, with the army, and was then at riga. i went to pay him my respects; he kindly received me, and took me to one of his seats, named annaburg, four miles from riga. here i remained some days, and he gave me every recommendation to moscow, where the court then was. it was intended i should endeavour to obtain a company in the regiment of cuirassiers, the captains of which then ranked as majors, and he advised me to throw up my commission in the siberian regiment of tobolski dragoons. peace be to the names and the memory of this worthy man! may god reward this benevolence! from riga i departed, in company with m. oettinger, lieutenant-colonel of engineers, and lieutenant weismann, for moscow. this is the same weismann who rendered so many important services to russia, during the last war with the turks. on my arrival, after delivering in my letters of recommendation, i was particularly well received by count bestuchef. oettinger, whose friendship i had gained, was exceedingly intimate with the chancellor, and my interest was thereby promoted. i had not been long at moscow before i met count hamilton, my former friend during my abode at vienna. he was a captain of cavalry, in the regiment of general bernes, who had been sent as imperial ambassador to russia. bernes had been ambassador at berlin in , where he had consequently known me during the height of my favour at the court of frederic. hamilton presented me to him, and i had the good fortune so far to gain his friendship, that, after a few visits, he endeavoured to detach me from the russian service, offering me the strongest recommendations to vienna, and a company in his own regiment. my cousin's misfortunes, however, had left too deep an impression on my mind to follow his advice. the indies would then have been preferred by me to austria. bernes invited me to dine with him in company with his bosom friend, lord hyndford, the english ambassador. how great was the pleasure i that day received! this eminent statesman had known me at berlin, and was present when frederic had honoured me with saying, _c'est un matador de ma jeunesse_. he was well read in men, conceived a good opinion of my abilities, and became a friend and father to me. he seated me by his side at table, and asked me, "why came you here, trenck?" "in search of bread and honour, my lord," answered i, "having unmeritedly lost them both in my own country." he further inquired the state of my finances; i told him my whole store might be some thirty ducats. "take my counsel," said he; "you have the necessary qualifications to succeed in russia, but the people here despise poverty, judge from the exterior only, and do not include services or talents in the estimate; you must have the appearance of being wealthy. i and bernes will introduce you into the best families, and will supply you with the necessary means of support. splendid liveries, led horses, diamond rings, deep play, a bold front, undaunted freedom with statesmen, and gallantry among the ladies, are the means by which foreigners must make their way in this country. avail yourself of them, and leave the rest to us." this lesson lasted some time. bernes entered in the interim, and they determined mutually to contribute towards my promotion. few of the young men who seek their fortune in foreign countries meet incidents so favourable. fortune for a moment seemed willing to recompense my past sufferings, and again to raise me to the height from which i had fallen. these ambassadors, here again by accident met, had before been witnesses of my prosperity when at berlin. the talents i possessed, and the favour i then enjoyed, attracted the notice of all foreign ministers. they were bosom friends, equally well read in the human heart, and equally benevolent and noble-minded; their recommendation at court was decisive; the nations they represented were in alliance with russia, and the confidence bestuchef placed in them was unbounded. i was now introduced into all companies, not as a foreigner who came to entreat employment, but as the heir of the house of trenck, and its rich hungarian possessions, and as the former favourite of the prussian monarch. i was also admitted to the society of the first literati, and wrote a poem on the anniversary of the coronation of the empress elizabeth. hyndford took care she should see it, and, in conjunction with the chancellor, presented me to the sovereign. my reception was most gracious. she herself recommended me to the chancellor, and presented me with a gold-hilted sword, worth a thousand roubles. this raised me highly in the esteem of all the houses of the bestuchef party. manners were at that time so rude in russia, that every foreigner who gave a dinner, or a ball, must send notice to the chancellor bestuchef, that he might return a list of the guests allowed to be invited. faction governed everything; and wherever bestuchef was, no friend of woranzow durst appear. i was the intimate of the austrian and english ambassadors; consequently, was caressed and esteemed in all companies. i soon became the favourite of the chancellor's lady, as i shall hereafter notice; and nothing more was wanting to obtain all i could wish. i was well acquainted with architectural design, had free access to the house and cabinet of the chancellor, where i drew in company with colonel oettinger, who was then the head architect of russia, and made the perspective view of the new palace, which the chancellor intended to build at moscow, by which i acquired universal honour. i had gained more acquaintance in, and knowledge of, russia in one month, than others, wanting my means, have done in twelve. as i was one day relating my progress to lord hyndford, he, like a friend, grown grey in courts, kindly took the trouble to advise me. from him i obtained a perfect knowledge of russia; he was acquainted with all the intrigues of european courts, their families, party cabals, the foibles of the monarchs, the principles of their government, the plots of the great peter, and had also made the peace of breslau. thus, having been the confidential friend of frederic, he was intimately acquainted with his heart, as well as the sources of his power. hyndford was penetrating, noble-minded, had the greatness of the briton, without his haughtiness; and the principles, by which he combined the past, the present, and the future, were so clear, that i, his scholar, by adhering to them, have been enabled to foretell all the most remarkable revolutions that have happened, during the space of six-and-thirty years, in europe. by these i knew, when any minister was disgraced, who should be his successor. i daily passed some hours improving by his kind conversation; and to him i am indebted for most of that knowledge of the world i happen to possess. he took various opportunities of cautioning me against the effects of an ardent, sanguine temper; and my hatred of arbitrary power warned me to beware of the determined persecution of frederic, of his irreconcilable anger, his intrigues and influence in the various courts of europe, which he would certainly exert to prevent my promotion, lest i should impede his own projects, and lamented my future sufferings, which he plainly foresaw. "despots," said he, "always are suspicious, and abhor those who have a consciousness of their own worth, of the rights of mankind, and hold the lash in detestation. the enlightened are by them called the restless spirits, turbulent and dangerous; and virtue there, where virtue is unnecessary for the humbling and trampling upon the suffering subject, is accounted a crime, of all others the most to be dreaded." hyndford taught me to know, and highly to value freedom: to despise tyrants, to endure the worst of miseries, to emulate true greatness of mind, to despise danger, and to honour only those whose elevation of soul had taught them equally to oppose bigotry and despotism. bernes was a philosopher; but with the penetration of an italian, more cautious than hyndford, yet equally honest and worthy. his friendship for me was unbounded, and the time passed in their company was esteemed by me most precious. the liberality of my sentiments, thirst after knowledge and scientific acquirements gained their favour; our topics of conversation were inexhaustible, and i acquired more real information at moscow than at berlin, under the tuition of la metri, maupertuis, and voltaire. chapter xi. scarcely had i been six weeks in this city before i had an adventure which i shall here relate; for, myself excepted, all the persons concerned in it are now dead. intrigues properly belong to novels. this book is intended for a more serious purpose, and they are therefore here usually suppressed. it cannot be supposed i was a woman-hater. most of the good or bad fortune i experienced originated in love. i was not by nature inconstant, and was incapable of deceit even in amours. in the very ardour of youth i always shunned mere sensual pleasures. i loved for more exalted reasons, and for such sought to be beloved again. love and friendship were with me always united; and these i was capable of inciting, maintaining, and deserving. the most difficult of access, the noblest, and the fairest, were ever my choice: and my veneration for these always deterred me from grosser gratifications. by woman i was formed; by the faith of woman supported under misfortunes; in the company of woman enjoyed the few hours of delight my life of sorrows has experienced. woman, beautiful and well instructed, even now, lightens the burden of age, the world's tediousness and its woes; and, when these are ended, i would rather wish mine eyes might be closed by fair and virgin hands, than, when expiring, fixed on a hypocritical priest. my adventures with women would amply furnish a romance: but enough of this, i should not relate the present, were it not necessary to my story. dining one public day with lord hyndford, i was seated beside a charming young lady of one of the best families in russia, who had been promised in marriage, though only seventeen, to an old invalid minister. her eyes soon told me she thought me preferable to her intended bridegroom. i understood them, lamented her hard fate, and was surprised to hear her exclaim, "oh, heavens! that it were possible you could deliver me from my misfortune: i would engage to do whatever you would direct." the impression such an appeal must make on a man of four and twenty, of a temperament like mine, may easily be supposed. the lady was ravishingly beautiful; her soul was candour itself, and her rank that of a princess; but the court commands had already been given in favour of the marriage; and flight, with all its inseparable dangers, was the only expedient. a public table was no place for long explanations. our hearts were already one. i requested an interview, and the next day was appointed, the place the trotzer garden, where i passed three rapturous hours in her company: thanks to her woman, who was a georgian. to escape, however, from moscow, was impossible. the distance thence to any foreign country was too great. the court was not to remove to petersburg till the next spring, and her marriage was fixed for the first of august. the misfortune was not to be remedied, and nothing was left us but patience perforce. we could only resolve to fly from petersburg when there, the soonest possible, and to take refuge in some corner of the earth, where we might remain unknown of all. the marriage, therefore, was celebrated with pomp, though i, in despite of forms, was the true husband of the princess. such was the state of the husband imposed upon her, that to describe it, and not give disgust, were impossible. the princess gave me her jewels, and several thousand roubles, which she had received as a nuptial present, that i might purchase every thing necessary for flight; my evil destiny, however, had otherwise determined. i was playing at ombre with her, one night, at the house of the countess of bestuchef, when she complained of a violent headache, appointed me to meet her on the morrow, in the trotzer gardens, clasped my hand with inexpressible emotion, and departed. alas! i never beheld her more, till stretched upon the bier! she grew delirious that very night, and so continued till her death, which happened on the sixth day, when the small-pox began to appear. during her delirium she discovered our love, and incessantly called on me to deliver her from her tyrant. thus, in the flower of her age, perished one of the most lovely women i ever knew, and with her fled all i held most dear. all my plans were now to be newly arranged. lord hyndford alone was in the secret, for i hid no secrets from him: he strengthened me in my first resolution, and owned that he himself, for such a mistress, might perhaps have been weak enough to have acted as i had done. almost as much moved as myself, he sympathised with me as a friend, and his advice deterred me from ending my miseries, and descending with her, whom i have loved and lost, to the grave. this was the severest trial i had ever felt. our affection was unbounded, and such only as noble hearts can feel. she being gone, the whole world became a desert. there is not a man on earth, whose life affords more various turns of fate than mine. swiftly raised to the highest pinnacle of hope, as suddenly was i cast headlong down, and so remarkable were these revolutions that he who has read my history will at last find it difficult to say whether he envies or pities me most. and yet these were, in reality, but preparatory to the evils that hovered over my devoted head. had not the remembrance of past joys soothed and supported me under my sufferings, i certainly should not have endured the ten years' torture of the magdeburg dungeon, with a fortitude that might have been worthy even of socrates. enough of this. my blood again courses swifter through my veins as i write! rest, gentle maiden, noble and lovely as thou wert! for thee ought heaven to have united a form so fair, animated as it was, by a soul so pure, to ever-blooming youth and immortality. my love for this lady became well-known in moscow; yet her corpulent overgrown husband had not understanding enough to suppose there was any meaning in her rhapsodies during her delirium. her gifts to me amounted in value to about seven thousand ducats. lord hyndford and count bernes both adjudged them legally mine, and well am i assured her heart had bequeathed me much more. to this event succeeded another, by which my fortune was greatly influenced. the countess of bestuchef was then the most amiable and witty woman at court. her husband, cunning, selfish, and shallow, had the name of minister, while she, in reality, governed with a genius, at once daring and comprehensive. the too pliant elizabeth carelessly left the most important things to the direction of others. thus the countess was the first person of the empire, and on whom the attention of the foreign ministers was fixed. haughty and majestic in her demeanour, she was supposed to be the only woman at court who continued faithful to her husband; which supposition probably originated in her art and education, she being a german born: for i afterwards found her virtue was only pride, and a knowledge of the national character. the russian lover rules despotic over his mistress: requires money, submission, and should he meet opposition, threatens her with blows, and the discovery of her secret. during elizabeth's reign foreigners could neither appear at court, nor in the best company, without the introduction of bestuchef. i and sievers, gentlemen of the chamber, were at that time the only germans who had free egress and regress in all houses of fashion; my being protected by the english and austrian ambassadors gave me very peculiar advantages, and made my company everywhere courted. bestuchef had been resident, during the late reign, at hamburg, in which inferior station he married the countess, at that time, though young and handsome, only the widow of the merchant boettger. under elizabeth, bestuchef rose to the summit of rank and power, and the widow boettger became the first lady of the empire. when i knew her she was eight and thirty, consequently no beauty, though a woman highly endowed in mind and manners, of keen discernment, disliking the russians, protecting the prussians, and at whose aversions all trembled. her carriage towards the russians was, what it must be in her situation, lofty, cautious, and ironical, rather than kind. to me she showed the utmost esteem on all occasions, welcomed me at her table, and often admitted me to drink coffee in company with herself alone and colonel oettinger. the countess never failed giving me to understand she had perceived my love for the princess n---; and, though i constantly denied the fact, she related circumstances which she could have known, as i thought, only from my mistress herself; my silence pleased her; for the russians, when a lady had a partiality for them, never fail to vaunt of their good fortune. she wished to persuade me she had observed us in company, had read the language of our eyes, and had long penetrated our secret. i was ignorant at that time that she had then, and long before, entertained the maid of my mistress as a spy in her pay. about a week after the death of the princess, the countess invited me to take coffee with her, in her chamber; lamented my loss, and the violence of that passion which had deprived me of all my customary vivacity, and altered my very appearance. she seemed so interested in my behalf, and expressed so many wishes, and so ardent to better my fate, that i could no longer doubt. another opportunity soon happened, which confirmed these my suspicions: her mouth confessed her sentiments. discretion, secrecy, and fidelity, were the laws she imposed, and never did i experience a more ardent passion from woman. such was her understanding and penetration, she knew how to rivet my affections. caution was the thing most necessary. she contrived, however, to make opportunity. the chancellor valued, confided in me, and employed me in his cabinet; so that i remained whole days in his house. my captainship of cavalry was now no longer thought of: i was destined to political employment. my first was to be gentleman of the chamber, which in russia is an office of importance, and the prospect of futurity became to me most resplendent. lord hyndford, ever the repository of my secrets, counselled me, formed plans for my conduct, rejoiced at my success, and refused to be reimbursed the expense he had been at, though now my circumstances were prosperous. the degree of credit i enjoyed was soon noticed: foreign ministers began to pay their court to me: goltz, the prussian minister, made every effort to win me, but found me incorruptible. the russian alliance was at this time highly courted by foreign powers; the humbling of prussia was the thing generally wished and planned: and nobody was better informed than myself of ministerial and family factions at this court. my mistress, a year after my acquaintance with her, fell into her enemies' power, and with her husband, was delivered over to the executioner. chancellor bestuchef, in the year , was forced to confession by the knout. apraxin, minister of war, had a similar fate. the wife of his brother, then envoy in poland, was, by the treachery of a certain lieutenant berger, with three others of the first ladies of the court, knouted, branded, and had their tongues cut out. this happened in the year , when elizabeth ascended the throne. her husband, however, faithfully served: i knew him as russian envoy, at vienna, . this may indeed be called the love of our country, and thus does it happen to the first men of the state: what then can a foreigner hope for, if persecuted, and in the power of those in authority? no man, in so short a space of time, had greater opportunities than i, to discover the secrets of state; especially when guided by hyndford and bernes, under the reign of a well-meaning but short-sighted empress, whose first minister was a weak man, directed by the will of an able and ambitious wife, and which wife loved me, a stranger, an acquaintance of only a few months, so passionately that to this passion she would have sacrificed every other object. she might, in fact, be considered as empress of russia, disposing of peace or war, and had i been more prudent or less sincere, i might in such a situation, have amassed treasures, and deposited them in full security. her generosity was boundless; and, though obliged to pay above a hundred thousand roubles, in one year, to discharge her son's debts, yet might i have saved a still larger sum; but half of the gifts she obliged me to receive, i lent to this son, and lost. so far was i from selfish, and so negligent of wealth, that by supplying the wants of others, i often, on a reverse of fortune, suffered want myself. this my splendid success in russia displeased the great frederic, whose persecution everywhere attended me, and who supposed his interest injured by my success in russia. the incident i am going to relate was, at the time it happened, well known to, and caused much agitation among all the foreign ambassadors. lord hyndford desired i would make him a fair copy of a plan of cronstadt, for which he furnished the materials, with three additional drawings of the various ships in the harbour, and their names. there was neither danger nor suspicion attending this; the plan of cronstadt being no secret, but publicly sold in the shops of petersburg. england was likewise then in the closest alliance with russia. hyndford showed the drawing to funk, the saxon envoy, his intimate friend, who asked his permission to copy it himself. hyndford gave him the plan signed with my name; and after funk had been some days employed copying it, the prussian minister, goltz, who lived in his neighbourhood, came in, as he frequently paid him friendly visits. funk, unsuspectingly, showed him my drawing, and both lamented that frederic had lost so useful a subject. goltz asked to borrow it for a couple of days, in order to correct his own; and funk, one of the worthiest, most honest, and least suspicious of men, who loved me like a brother, accordingly lent the plan. no sooner was goltz in possession of it than he hurried to the chancellor, with whose weakness he was well acquainted, told him his intent in coming was to prove that a man, who had once been unfaithful to his king and country, where he had been loaded with favours, would certainly betray, for his own private interest, every state where he was trusted. he continued his preface, by speaking of the rapid progress i had made in russia, and the free entrance i had found in the chancellor's house, where i was received as a son, and initiated in the secrets of the cabinet. the chancellor defended me: goltz then endeavoured to incite his jealousy, and told him my private interviews with his wife, especially in the palace-garden, were publicly spoken of. this he had learned from his spies, he having endeavoured, by the snares he laid, to make my destruction certain. he likewise led bestuchef to suspect his secretary, s-n, was a party in the intrigue; till at last the chancellor became very angry; goltz then took my plan of cronstadt from his pocket, and added, "your excellency is nourishing a serpent in your bosom. this drawing have i received from trenck, copied from your cabinet designs, for two hundred ducats." he knew i was employed there sometimes with oettinger, whose office it was to inspect the buildings and repairs of the russian fortifications. bestuchef was astonished; his anger became violent, and goltz added fuel to the flame, by insinuating, i should not be so powerfully protected by bernes, the austrian ambassador, were it not to favour the views of his own court. bestuchef mentioned prosecution and the knout; goltz replied my friends were too powerful, my pardon would be procured, and the evil this way increased. they therefore determined to have me secretly secured, and privately conveyed to siberia. thus, while i unsuspectingly dreamed of nothing but happiness, the gathering storm threatened destruction, which only was averted by accident, or god's good providence. goltz had scarcely left the place triumphant, when the chancellor entered, with bitterness and rancour in his heart, into his lady's apartment, reproached her with my conduct, and while she endeavoured to soothe him, related all that had passed. her penetration was much deeper than her husband's: she perceived there was a plot against me: she indeed knew my heart better than any other, and particularly that i was not in want of a poor two hundred ducats. she could not, however, appease him, and my arrest was determined. she therefore instantly wrote me a line to the following purport. "you are threatened, dear friend, by a very imminent danger. do not sleep to-night at home, but secure yourself at lord hyndford's till you hear farther from me." secretary s-n, her confidant (the same who, not long since, was russian envoy at ratisbon) was sent with the note. he found me, after dinner, at the english ambassador's, and called me aside. i read the billet, was astonished at its contents, and showed it lord hyndford. my conscience was void of reproach, except that we suspected my secret with the countess had been betrayed to the chancellor, and fearing his jealousy, hyndford commanded me to remain in his house till we should make further discovery. we placed spies round the house where i lived; i was inquired for after midnight, and the lieutenant of the police came himself and searched the house. lord hyndford went, about ten in the morning, to visit the chancellor, that he might obtain some intelligence, who immediately reproached him for having granted an asylum to a traitor. "what has this traitor done?" said hyndford. "faithlessly copied a plan of cronstadt, from my cabinet drawings," said the chancellor; "which he has sold to the prussian minister for two hundred ducats." hyndford was astonished; he knew me well, and also knew that he had then in money and jewels, more than eight thousand ducats of mine in his own hands: nor was he less ignorant of the value i set on money, or of the sources whence i could obtain it, when i pleased. "has your excellency actually seen this drawing of trenck's?"--"yes, i have been shown it by goltz."--"i wish i might likewise be permitted to see it; i know trenck's drawing, and make myself responsible that he is no traitor. here is some mystery; be so kind as to desire m. goltz will come and bring his plan of cronstadt. trenck is at my house, shall be forthcoming instantly, and i will not protect him if he proves guilty." the chancellor wrote to goltz; but he, artful as he was, had no doubt taken care to be informed that the lieutenant of the police had missed his prey. he therefore sent an excuse, and did not appear. in the meantime i entered; hyndford then addressed me, with the openness of an englishman, and asked, "are you a traitor, trenck? if so, you do not merit my protection, but stand here as a state prisoner. have you sold a plan of cronstadt to m. goltz?" my answer may easily be supposed. hyndford rehearsed what the chancellor had told him; i was desired to leave the room, and funk was sent for. the moment he came in, hyndford said, "sir, where is that plan of cronstadt which trenck copied?" funk, hesitating, replied, "i will go for it." "have you it," continued hyndford, "at home? speak, upon your honour."--"no, my lord, i have lent it, for a few days, to m. goltz, that he may take a copy." hyndford immediately then saw the whole affair, told the chancellor the history of this plan, which belonged to him, and which he had lent to funk, and requested a trusty person might be sent with him to make a proper search. bestuchef named his first secretary, and to him were added funk and the dutch envoy, schwart, who happened then to enter. all went together to the house of goltz. funk demanded his plan of cronstadt; goltz gave it him, and funk returned it to lord hyndford. the secretary and hyndford both then desired he would produce the plan of cronstadt which he had bought of trenck for two hundred ducats. his confusion now was great, and hyndford firmly insisted this plan should be forthcoming, to vindicate the honour of trenck, whom he held to be an honest man. on this, goltz answered, "i have received my king's commands to prevent the preferment of trenck in russia, and i have only fulfilled the duty of a minister." hyndford spat on the ground, and said more than i choose to repeat; after which the four gentlemen returned to the chancellor, and i was again called. everybody complimented me, related to me what had passed, and the chancellor promised i should be recompensed; strictly, however, forbidding me to take any revenge on the prussian ambassador, i having sworn, in the first transports of anger, to punish him wherever i should find him, even were it at the altar's foot. the chancellor soothed me, kept me to dine with him, and endeavoured to assuage my boiling passions. the countess affected indifference, and asked me if suchlike actions characterised the prussian nation. funk and schwart were at table. all present congratulated me on my victory, but none knew to whom i was indebted for my deliverance from the hasty and unjust condemnation of the chancellor, although my protectress was one of the company. i received a present of two thousand roubles the next day from the chancellor, with orders to thank the empress for this mark of her bounty, and accept it as a sign of her special favour. i paid these my thanks some days after. the money i disregarded, but the amiable empress, by her enchanting benevolence, made me forget the past. the story became public, and goltz appeared neither in public, nor at court. the manner in which the countess personally reproached him, i shall out of respect pass over. bernes, the crafty piedmontese, assured me of revenge, without my troubling myself in the matter, and--what happened after i know not; goltz appeared but little in company, fell ill when i had left russia, and died soon after of a consumption. this vile man was, no doubt, the cause of all the calamities which fell upon me. i should have become one of the first men in russia: the misfortune that befel bestuchef and his family some years afterward might have been averted: i should never have returned to vienna, a city so fatal to the name of trenck: by the mediation of the russian court, i should have recovered my great sclavonian estates; my days of persecution at vienna would have passed in peace and pleasure: nor should i have entered the dungeon of magdeburg. chapter xii. how little did the great frederic know my heart. without having offended, he had rendered me miserable, had condemned me to imprisonment at glatz on mere suspicion, and on my flying thence, naked and destitute, had confiscated my paternal inheritance. not contented with inflicting all these calamities, he would not suffer me peaceably to seek my fortune in a foreign land. few are the youths who, in so short a time, being expelled their native country with disgrace, by their own efforts, merits, and talents, have obtained honour and favour so great, acquired such powerful friends, or been entrusted with confidence equally unlimited in transactions so important. enraged as i was at the treachery of goltz, had opportunity offered, i might have been tempted even to turn my native country into a desert; nor do i deny that i afterwards promoted the views of the austrian envoy, who knew well how to cherish the flame that had been kindled, and turn it to his own use. till this moment i never felt the least enmity either to my country or king, nor did i suffer myself, on any occasion, to be made the agent of their disadvantage. no sooner was i entrusted more intimately with cabinet secrets, than i discovered the state of factions, and that bestuchef and apraxin were even then in prussian pay; that a counterpoise, by their means, might be formed to the prevalence of the austrian party. hence we may date the change of russian politics in the year . here also we may find a clue to the contradictory orders, artifices, positions, retreats and disappointments of the russian army, in the seven years' war, beginning in . the countess, who was obliged to act with greater caution, foresaw the consequence of the various intrigues in which her husband was engaged: her love for me naturally drew her from her former party; she confided every secret to me, and ever remained till her fall, which happened in , during my imprisonment, my best friend and correspondent. hence was i so well informed of all the plans against prussia, to the years and ; much more so than many ministers of the interested courts, who imagined they alone were in the secret. how many after events could i then have foretold! such was the perverseness of my destiny, that where i should most have been sought for, and best known, there was i least valued. no man, in my youth, would have believed i should live to my sixtieth year, untitled and obscure. in berlin, petersburg, london, and paris, have i been esteemed by the greatest statesmen, and now am i reduced to the invalid list. how strange are the caprices of fortune! i ought never to have left russia: this was my great error, which i still live to repent. i have never been accustomed to sleep more than four or five hours, so that through life i have allowed time for paying visits and receiving company. i have still had sufficient for study and improvement. hyndford was my instructor in politics; boerhaave, then physician to the court, my bosom friend, my tutor in physic and literary subjects. women formed me for court intrigues, though these, as a philosopher, i despised. the chancellor had greatly changed his carriage towards me since the incident of the plan. he observed my looks, showed he was distrustful, and desirous of revenge. his lady, as well as myself, remarked this, and new measures became necessary. i was obliged to act an artful, but, at the same time, a very dangerous part. my cousin, baron trenck, died in the spielberg, october , , and left me his heir, on condition i should only serve the house of austria. in march, , count bernes received the citation sent me to enter on this inheritance. i would hear nothing of vienna; the abominable treatment of my cousin terrified me. i well knew the origin of his prosecution, the services he had rendered his country, and had been an eye-witness of the injustice by which he was repaid. bernes represented to me that the property left me was worth much above a million: that the empress would support me in pursuit of justice, and that i had no personal enemy at vienna, that a million of certain property in hungary was much superior to the highest expectations in russia, where i myself had beheld so many changes of fortune, and the effects of family cabals. russia he painted as dangerous, vienna as secure, and promised me himself effectual assistance, as his embassy would end within the year. were i once rich, i might reside in what country i pleased; nor could the persecutions of frederic anywhere pursue me so ineffectually as in austria. snares would be laid for me everywhere else, as i had experienced in russia. "what," said he, "would have been the consequence, had not the countess warned you of the impending danger? you, like many other honest and innocent men, would have been sent to siberia. your innocence must have remained untested, and yourself, in the universal opinion, a villain and a traitor." hyndford spoke to me in the same tone, assured me of his eternal protection, and described london as a certain asylum, should i not find happiness at vienna. he spoke of slavery as a briton ought to speak, reminded me of the fate of munich and osterman, painted the court such as i knew it to be, and asked me what were my expectations, even were i fortunate enough to become general or minister in such a country. these reasonings at length determined me; but having plenty of money, i thought proper to take stockholm, copenhagen, and holland in my way, and barnes was in the meantime to prepare me a favourable reception at vienna. he desired, also, i would give him authority to get possession of the estates to which i was heir. my mistress strongly endeavoured to detain me, but yielded at length to the force of reason. i tore myself away, and promised, on my honour, to return as soon as i had arranged my affairs at vienna. she made the proposition of investing me within some foreign embassy, by which i might render the most effectual services to the court at vienna. in this hope we parted with heavy hearts: she presented me with her portrait, and a snuffbox set with diamonds; the first of these, three years after was torn from my bosom by the officers in my first dungeon at magdeburg, as i shall hereafter relate. the chancellor embraced me, at parting, with friendship. apraxin wept, and clasped me in his arms, prophesying at the same time, i should never be so happy as in russia. i myself foreboded misfortune, and quitted russia with regret, but still followed the advice of hyndford and bernes. from moscow i travelled to petersburg, where i found a letter, at the house of baron wolf, the banker, from the countess, which rent my very heart, and almost determined me to return. she endeavoured to terrify me from proceeding to vienna, yet inclosed a bill for four thousand roubles, to aid me on my journey, were i absolutely bent to turn my back on fortune. my effects, in money and jewels, amounted to about thirty-six thousand florins; i therefore returned the draft, intreated her eternal remembrance, and that she would reserve her favour and support to times in which they might become needful. after remaining a few days at petersburg, i journeyed, by land, to stockholm; taking with me letters of recommendation from all the foreign envoys. i forgot to mention that funk was inconsolable for my departure; his imprudence had nearly plunged me into misery, and destroyed all my hopes in russia. twenty-two years after this i met the worthy man, once more in dresden. he, there, considered himself as the cause of all the evils inflicted on me, and assured me the recital of my sufferings had been so many bitter reproaches to his soul. our recapitulation of former times gave us endless pleasure, and it was the sweetest of joys to meet and renew my friendship with such a man, after having weathered so many storms of fate. at stockholm i wanted for no recommendation; the queen, sister to the great frederic, had known me at berlin, when i had the honour, as an officer of the body guard, of accompanying her to stettin. i related my whole history to her without reserve. she, from political motives, advised me not to make any stay at stockholm, and to me continued till death, an ever-gracious lady. i proceeded to copenhagen, where i had business to transact for m. chaise, the danish envoy at moscow: from whom also i had letters of recommendation. here i had the pleasure of meeting my old friend, lieutenant bach, who had aided me in my escape from my imprisonment at glatz. he was poor and in debt, and i procured him protection, by relating the noble manner in which he behaved i also presented him with five hundred ducats, by the aid of which he pushed his fortune. he wrote to me in the year , a letter of sincere thanks, and died a colonel of hussars in the danish service in . i remained in copenhagen but a fortnight, and then sailed in a dutch ship, from elsineur to amsterdam. scarcely had we put to sea, before a storm arose, by which we lost a mast and bowsprit, had our sails shattered, and were obliged to cast anchor among the rocks of gottenburg, where our deliverance was singularly fortunate. here we lay nine days before we could make the open sea, and here i found a very pleasant amusement, by going daily in the ship's boat from rock to rock, attended by two of my servants, to shoot wild ducks, and catch shell-fish; whence i every evening returned with provisions, and sheep's milk, bought of the poor inhabitants, for the ship's crew. there was a dearth among these poor people. our vessel was laden with corn; some of this i purchased, to the amount of some hundreds of dutch florins, and distributed wherever i went. i also gave one of their ministers a hundred florins for his poor congregation, who was himself in want of bread, and whose annual stipend amounted to one hundred and fifty florins. here in the sweet pleasure of doing good, i left behind me much of that money i had so easily acquired in russia; and perhaps had we stayed much longer should myself have left the place in poverty. a thousand blessings followed me, and the storm-driven trenck was long remembered and talked of at gottenburg. in this worthy employment, however, i had nearly lost my life. returning from carrying corn, the wind rose, and drove the boat to sea. i not understanding the management of the helm, and the servants awkwardly handling the sails, the boat in tacking was overset. the benefit of learning to swim, i again experienced, and my faithful servant, who had gained the rock, aided me when almost spent. the good people who had seen the shallop overset, came off in their boats to my assistance. an honest calmuc, whom i had brought from russia, and another of my servants perished. i saw the first sink after i had reached the shore. the kind swedes brought me on board, and also righted and returned with the shallop. for some days i was sea-sick. we weighed anchor, and sailed for the texel, the mouth of which we saw, and the pilots coming off, when another storm arose, and drove us to the port of bahus, in norway, into which we ran, without farther damage. in some few days we again set sail, with a fair wind, and at length reached amsterdam. here i made no long stay; for the day after my arrival, an extraordinary adventure happened, in which i was engaged chiefly by my own rashness. i was a spectator while the harpooners belonging to the whale fishery were exercising themselves in darting their harpoons, most of whom were drunk. one of them, herman rogaar by name, a hero among these people, for his dexterity with his snickasnee, came up, and passed some of his coarse jests upon my turkish sabre, and offered to fillip me on the nose. i pushed him from me, and the fellow threw down his cap, drew his snickasnee, challenged me, called me monkey-tail, and asked whether i chose a straight, a circular, or a cross cut. thus here was i, in this excellent company, with no choice but that of either fighting or running away. the robust, herculean fellow grew more insolent, and i, turning round to the bystanders, asked them to lend me a snickasnee. "no, no," said the challenger, "draw your great knife from your side, and, long as it is, i will lay you a dozen ducats you get a gash in the cheek." i drew; he confidently advanced with his snickasnee, and, at the first stroke of my sabre, that, and the hand that held it, both dropped to the ground, and the blood spouted in my face. i now expected the people would, indubitably, tear me to pieces; but my fear was changed into astonishment at hearing a universal shout applauding the vanquisher of the redoubted herman rogaar who, so lately feared for his strength and dexterity, became the object of their ridicule. a jew spectator conducted me out of the crowd, and the people clamorously followed me to my inn. this kind of duel, by which i gained honour, would anywhere else have brought me to the highest disgrace. a man who knew the use of the sabre, in a single day, might certainly have disabled a hundred herman rogaars. this story may instruct and warn others. he that is quarrelsome shall never want an enemy. my temerity often engaged me in disputes which, by timely compliance and calmness, might easily have been avoided; but my evil genius always impelled me into the paths of perplexity, and i seldom saw danger till it was inevitable i left amsterdam for the hague, where i had been recommended to lord holderness, the english ambassador, by lord hyndford; to baron reisbach, by bernes; to the grand pensionary fagel, by schwart; and from the chancellor i had a letter to the prince of orange himself i could not, therefore, but be everywhere received with all possible distinction. within these recommendations, and the knowledge i possessed, had i had the good fortune to have avoided vienna, and gone to india, where my talents would have insured me wealth, how many tears of affliction had i been spared! my ill fortune, however, had brought me letters from count bernes, assuring me that heaven was at vienna, and including a citation from the high court, requiring me to give in my claim of inheritance. bernes further informed me the austrian court had assured him i should meet with all justice and protection, and advised me to hasten my journey, as the executorship of the estates of trenck was conducted but little to my advantage. this advice i took, proceeded to vienna, and from that moment all my happiness had an end. i became bewildered in lawsuits, and the arts of wicked men, and all possible calamities assaulted me at once, the recital of which would itself afford subject matter for a history. they began by the following incidents:-- one m. schenck sought my acquaintance at the hague. i met with him at my hotel, where he intreated i would take him to nuremberg, whence he was to proceed to saxony. i complied, and bore his expenses; but at hanau, waking in the morning, i found my watch, set with diamonds, a ring worth two thousand roubles, a diamond snuff-box, with my mistress's picture, and my purse, containing about eighty ducats, stolen from my bed-side, and schenck become invisible. little affected by the loss of money, at any time, i yet was grieved for my snuff-box. the rascal, however, had escaped, and it was fortunate that the remainder of my ready money, with my bills of exchange, were safely locked up. i now pursued my journey without company, and arrived in vienna. i cannot exactly recollect in what month, but i had been absent about two years; and the reader will allow that it was barely possible for any man, in so short a time, to have experienced more various changes of fate, though many smaller incidents have been suppressed. the places, where my pledged fidelity required discretion will be easily supposed, as likewise will the concealment of court intrigues, and artifices, the publication of which might even yet subject me to more persecutions. all writers are not permitted to speak truth of monarchs and ministers. i am the father of eight children, and parental love and duty vanquish the inclination of the author; and this duty, this affection, have made me particularly cautious in relating what happened to me at vienna, that i might, thereby, serve them more effectually than by indulging the pride of the writer, or the vengeance of the man. chapter xiii. since accounts so various, contradictory, and dishonourable to the name of trenck, have been circulated in vienna, concerning facts which happened thirty-seven years ago, i will here give a short abstract of them, and such as may he verified by the records of the court. i pledge my honour to the truth of the statement, and were i so allowed, would prove it, to the conviction of any unprejudiced court of justice: but this i cannot hope, as princes are much more disposed to bestow unmerited favours than to make retribution to those whom they have unjustly punished. francis baron trenck died in the spielberg, october th, . it has been erroneously believed in vienna that his estates were confiscated by the sentence which condemned him to the spielberg. he had committed no offence against the state, was accused of none, much less convicted. the court sentence was that the administration of his estate should be committed to counsellor kempf and baron peyaczewitz, who were selected by himself, and the accounts of his stewards and farmers were to be sent him yearly. he continued, till his death, to have the free and entire disposal of his property. although, before his death, he sent for his advocate, doctor berger, and by him petitioned the empress she would issue the necessary orders to the governor of the spielberg, to permit the entrance of witnesses, and all things necessary to make a legal will, it by no means follows that he petitioned her for permission to make this will. the case is too clear to admit of doubt. the royal commands were given, that he should enjoy all freedom of making his will. permission was also given that, during his sickness, he might be removed to the capuchin convent, which was equal to liberty, but this he refused to accept. neither was his ability to make a will questioned. the advocate was only to request the queen's permission to supply some formalities, which had been neglected, when he purchased the lordships of velika and nustar, which petition was likewise granted. the royal mandate still exists, which commissioned the persons therein named as trustees to the estate and effects of trenck, and this mandate runs thus: "let the last will of trenck be duly executed: let dispatch be used, and the heir protected in all his rights." confiscation, therefore, had never been thought of, nor his power to make a will questioned. i will now show how i have been deprived of this valuable inheritance, while i have been obliged to pay above sixty thousand florins, to defray legacies he had left; and when this narrative is read, it will no longer be affirmed at vienna, that by the favours of the court i inherited seventy-six thousand florins, or the lordship of zwerbach from trenck, i shall proceed to my proofs. the father of baron trenck, who died in the year , governor of leitschau, in hungary, named me in his will the successor of his son, should he die without heirs male. this will was sent to be proved, according to form, at vienna, after having been authenticated in the most legal manner in hungary. the court called hofkriegsrath, at vienna, neglected to provide a curator for the security of the next heir; yet this could not annul my right of succession. when trenck succeeded his father, he entered no protest to this, his father's will; therefore, dying without children, in the year , my claim was indisputable. i was heir had he made no will: and even in case of confiscation, my title to his father's estates still remained valid. trenck knew this but too well: he, as i have before related, was my worst enemy, and even attempted my life. i will therefore proceed to show the real intent of this his crafty testament. determined no longer to live in confinement, or to ask forgiveness, by which, it is well known, he might have obtained his freedom, having lost all hopes of reimbursing his losses, his avarice was reduced to despair. his desire of fame was unbounded, and this could no way be gratified but by having himself canonized for a saint, after spending his life in committing all the ravages of a pandour. hence originated the following facts:-- he knew i was the legal claimant to his father's estates. his father had bought with the family money, remitted from prussia, the lordships of prestowacz and pleternitz, in sclavonia, and he himself, during his father's life, and with his father's money, had purchased the lordship of pakratz, for forty thousand florins: this must therefore descend also to me, he having no more power to will this from me, than he had the remainder of his paternal inheritance. the property he himself had gained was consigned to administrators, but a hundred thousand florins had been expended in lawsuits, and sixty-three suits continued actually pending against him in court; the legacies he bequeathed amounted to eighty thousand florins. these, he saw, could not be paid, should i claim nothing more than the paternal inheritance; he, therefore, to render me unfortunate after his death, craftily named me his universal heir, without mentioning his father's will, but endeavoured, by his mysterious death, and the following conditions, to enforce the execution of his own will. first,--i was to become a catholic. secondly,--i was to serve only the house of austria; and, lastly,--he made his whole estate, without excepting the paternal inheritance, a _fidei commissum_. hence arose all my misfortunes, as indeed was his intention; for, but a short time before his death, he said to the governor, baron kottulinsky, "i shall now die contented, since i have been able to trick my cousin, and render him wretched." his death, believed in vienna to be miraculous, happened after the following manner; and by this he had induced many weak people, who really believed him a saint, to further his views. three days before his death, while in perfect health, he desired the governor of the spielberg would send for his confessor, for that st. francis had revealed to him he should be removed into life everlasting on his birth-day at twelve o'clock. the capuchin was sent for, but the prediction laughed at. the day, however, after the departure of his confessor, he said, "praise be to god, my end approaches; my confessor is dead, and has appeared to me." strange as it may seem; it was actually found to be true that the priest was dead. he now had all the officers of the garrison of brunn assembled, tonsured his head like a capuchin, took the habit of the order, publicly confessed himself in a sermon of an hour's length, exhorted them all to holiness, acted the part of a most exemplary penitent, embraced all present, spoke with a smile of the insignificance of all earthly possessions, took his leave, knelt down to prayers, slept calmly, rose, prayed again, and about eleven in the forenoon, october th, taking his watch in his hand, said, "thanks be to my god, my last hour approaches." all laughed at such a farce from a man of such a character; yet they remarked that the left side of his face grew pale. he then leaned his arm on the table, prayed, and remained motionless, with his eyes closed. the clock struck twelve--no signs of life or motion could be discovered; they spoke to him, and found he was really dead. the word miracle was echoed through the whole country, and the transmigration of the pandour trenck, from earth to heaven, by st. francis, proclaimed. the clue to this labyrinth of miracles, known only to me, is truly as follows:--he possessed the secret of what is called the _aqua tofana_, and had determined on death. his confessor had been entrusted with all his secrets, and with promissory notes, which he wished to invalidate. i am perfectly certain that he had returned a promissory note of a great prince, given for two hundred thousand florins, which has never been brought to account. the confessor, therefore, was to be provided for, that trenck might not be betrayed, and a dose of poison was given him before he set off for vienna: his death was the consequence. he took similar means with himself, and thus knew the hour of his exit; finding he could not become the first on earth, he wished to be adored as a saint in heaven. he knew he should work miracles when dead, because he ordered a chapel to be built, willed a perpetual mass, and bequeathed the capuchins sixty thousand florins. thus died this most extraordinary man, in the thirty-fourth year of his age, to whom nature had denied none of her gifts; who had been the scourge of bavaria; the terror of france; and who had, with his supposed contemptible pandours, taken above six thousand prussian prisoners. he lived a tyrant and enemy of men, and died a sanctified impostor. such was the state of affairs, as willed by trenck, when i came to vienna, in , where i arrived with money and jewels to the amount of twenty thousand florins. instead of profiting by the wealth trenck had acquired, i expended a hundred and twenty thousand florins of my own money, including what devolved to me from my uncle, his father, in the prosecution of his suits. trenck had paid two hundred ducats to the tribunal of vienna, in the year , to procure its very reprehensible silence concerning a curator, to which i was sacrificed, as the new judges of this court refused to correct the error of their predecessors. such are the proceedings of courts of justice in vienna! on my first audience, no one could be received more kindly than i was, by the empress queen. she spoke of my deceased cousin with much emotion and esteem, promised me all grace and favour, and informed me of the particular recommendations she had received, on my behalf, from count bernes. finding sixty-three cases hang over my head, in consequence of the inheritance of trenck, to obtain justice in any one of which in vienna, would have employed the whole life of an honest man, i determined to renounce this inheritance, and claim only under the will and as the heir of my uncle. with this view i applied for and obtained a copy of that will, with which i personally appeared, and declared to the court that i renounced the inheritance of francis trenck, would undertake none of his suits, nor be responsible for his legacies, and required only his father's estates, according to the legal will, which i produced; that is to say, the three lordships of pakratz, prestowacz, and pleneritz, without chattels or personal effects. nothing could be more just or incontrovertible than this claim. what was my astonishment, to be told, in open court, that her majesty had declared i must either wholly perform the articles of the will of trenck, or be excluded the entire inheritance, and have nothing further to hope. what could be done? i ventured to remonstrate, but the will of the court was determined and absolute: i must become a roman catholic. in this extremity i bribed a priest, who gave me a signed attestation, "that i had abjured the accursed heresy of lutheranism." my religion, however, remained what it had ever been. general bernes about this time returned from his embassy, and i related to him the lamentable state in which i found my affairs. he spoke to the empress in my behalf, and she promised everything. he advised me to have patience, to perform all that was required of me, and to make myself responsible for the depending suits. some family concerns obliged him, as he informed me, to make a journey to turin, but his return would be speedy: he would then take the management of my affairs upon himself, and insure my good fortune in austria. bernes loved me as his son, and i had reason to hope, from his assurance, i should be largely remembered in his will, which was the more probable, as he had neither child nor relations. he parted from me, like a father, with tears in his eyes; but he had scarcely been absent six weeks before the news arrived of his death, which, if report may be credited, was effected by poison, administered by _a friend_. ever the sport of fortune, thus were my supporters snatched from me at the very moment they became most necessary. the same year was i, likewise, deprived by death of my friend and protector, field-marshal konigseck, governor of vienna, when he had determined to interest himself in my behalf. i have been beloved by the greatest men austria ever produced, but unfortunately have been persecuted by the chicanery of pettifoggers, fools, fanatics, and priests, who have deprived me of the favour of my empress, guiltless as i was of crime or deceit, and left my old age in poverty. my ills were increased by a new accident. soon after the departure of bernes, the prussian minister, taking me aside, in the house of the palatine envoy, m. becker, proposed my return to berlin, assured me the king had forgotten all that was past, was convinced of my innocence, that my good fortune would there be certain, and be pledged his honour to recover the inheritance of trenck. i answered, the favour came too late; i had suffered injustice too flagrant, in my own country, and that i would trust no prince on earth whose will might annihilate all the rights of men. my good faith to the king had been too ill repaid; my talents might gain me bread in any part of the world, and i would not again subject myself to the danger of unmerited imprisonment. his persuasions were strong, but ineffectual. "my dear trenck," said he, "god is my judge that my intentions are honest; i will pledge myself, that my sovereign will insure your fortune: you do not know vienna; you will lose all by the suits in which you are involved, and will be persecuted because you do not carry a rosary." how often have i repented i did not then return to berlin! i should have escaped ten years' imprisonment; should have recovered the estates of trenck: should not have wasted the prime of life in the litigation of suits, and the writing of memorials; and should have certainly been ranked among the first men in my native country. vienna was no place for a man who could not fawn and flatter: yet here was i destined to remain six-and-thirty years, unrewarded, unemployed; and through youth and age, to continue on the list of invalid majors. having rejected the proposition of the prussian envoy, all my hopes in vienna were ruined; for frederic, by his residents and emissaries, knew how to effect whatever he pleased in foreign courts, and determined that the trenck who would no longer serve or confide in him should at least find no opportunity of serving against him: i soon became painted to the empress as an arch heretic who never would be faithful to the house of austria, and only endeavoured to obtain the inheritance of trenck that he might devote himself to prussia. this i shall hereafter prove; and display a scene that shall be the disgrace of many, by whom the empress was induced to harbour unjust suspicions of an able and honest man. i here stand erect and confident before the world; publish the truth, and take everlasting shame to myself, if any man on earth can prove me guilty of one treacherous thought. i owe no thanks; but so far from having received favours, i have six and thirty years remained unable to obtain justice, though i have all the while been desirous of shedding my blood in defence of the monarchy where i have thus been treated. till the year , i was equally zealous and faithful to prussia; yet my estates there, though confiscated, were liable to recovery: in hungary, on the contrary, the sentence of confiscation is irrevocable. this is a remarkable proof in favour of my honour, and my children's claims. surely no reader will be offended at these digressions; my mind is agitated, my feelings roused, remembering that my age and grey hairs deprive me of the sweet hope of at length vanquishing opposition, either by patience, or forcing justice, by eminent services, or noble efforts. this my history will never reach a monarch's eye, consequently no monarch, by perceiving, will be induced to protect truth. it may, indeed, be criticised by literati; it will certainly be decried by my persecutors, who, through life, have been my false accusers, and will probably, therefore, be prohibited by the priests. all germany, however, will read, and posterity perhaps may pity, should my book escape the misfortune of being classed among improbable romances; to which it is the more liable, because that the biographers of frederic and maria theresa, for manifest reasons, have never so much as mentioned the name of trenck. once more to my story: i was now obliged to declare myself heir, but always _cum reservatione juris mei_, not as simply claiming under the will of francis trenck i was obliged to take upon myself the management of the sixty-three suits, and the expenses attending any one of these are well known in vienna. my situation may be imagined, when i inform the reader i only received, from the whole estate of trenck, , florins in three years, which were scarcely sufficient to defray the expenses of new year's gifts to the solicitors and masters in chancery. how did i labour in stating and transcribing proofs for the court! the money i possessed soon vanished. my prussian relations supported me, and the countess bestuchef sent me the four thousand roubles i had refused at petersburg. i had also remittances from my faithful mistress in prussia; and, in addition, was obliged to borrow money at the usurious rate of sixty per cent. bewildered as i was among lawyers and knaves, my ambition still prompted me to proceed, and all things are possible to labour and perseverance; but my property was expended: and, at length, i could only obtain that the contested estates should be made a _fidei commissum_, or put under trust; whereby, though they were protected from being the further prey of others, i did not inherit them as mine. in this pursuit was my prime of life wasted, which might have been profitably and honourably spent. in three years, however, i brought my sixty-three suits to a kind of conclusion; the probabilities were this could not have been effected in fifty. exclusive of my assiduity, the means i took must not be told; it is sufficient that i here learnt what judges were, and thus am enabled to describe them to others. for a few ducats, the president's servant used to admit me into a closet where i could see everything as perfectly as if i had myself been one of the council. this often was useful, and taught me to prevent evil; and often was i scarcely able to refrain bursting in upon this court. their appointed hour of meeting was nine in the morning, but they seldom assembled before eleven. the president then told his beads, and muttered his prayers. someone got up and harangued, while the remainder, in pairs, amused themselves with talking instead of listening, after which the news of the day became the common topic of conversation, and the council broke up, the court being first adjourned some three weeks, without coming to any determination. this was called _judicium delegatum in causis trenkiansis_; and when at last they came to a conclusion, the sentence was such as i shall ever shudder at and abhor. the real estates of trenck consisted in the great sclavonian manors, called the lordships of pakratz, prestowatz, and pleternitz, which he had inherited from his father, and were the family property, together with velika and nustak, which he himself had purchased: the annual income of these was , florins, and they contained more than two hundred villages and hamlets. the laws of hungary require-- st. that those who purchase estates shall obtain the _consensus regius_ (royal consent). nd. that the seller shall possess, and make over the right of property, together with that of transferring or alienating, and dly. that the purchaser shall be a native born, or have bought his naturalisation. in default of all, or any of these, the fiscus, on the death of the purchaser, takes possession, repaying the _summa emptitia_, or purchase- money, together within what can be shown to have been laid out in improvements, or the _summa inscriptitia_, the sum at which it stands rated in the fiscal register. without form or notice, the hungarian fiscal president, count grassalkowitz, took possession of all the trenck estates on his decease, in the name of the fiscus. the prize was great, not so much because of the estates themselves, as of the personal property upon them. trenck had sent loads of merchandise to his estates, of linen, ingots of gold and silver from bavaria, alsatia, and silesia. he had a vast storehouse of arms, and of saddles; also the great silver service of the emperor charles vii., which he had brought from munich, with the service of plate of the king of prussia; and the personal property on these estates was affirmed considerably to exceed in value the estates themselves. i was not long since informed by one of the first generals, whose honour is undoubted, that several waggons were laden with these rich effects and sent to mihalefze. his testimony was indubitable; he knew the two pandours, who were the confidants of trenck, and the keepers of his treasures; and these, during the general plunder, each seized a bag of pearls, and fled to turkey, where they became wealthy merchants. his rich stud of horses were taken, and the very cows driven off the farms. his stand of arms consisted of more than three thousand rare pieces. trenck had affirmed he had sent linen to the amount of fifty thousand florins, in chests from dunnhausen and cersdorf, in the county of glatz, to his estates. the pillage was general; and when orders came to send all the property of trenck and deliver it to his universal heir, nothing remained that any person would accept. i have myself seen, in a certain hungarian nobleman's house, some valuable arms, which i knew i had been robbed of! and i bought at esseck some silver plates on which were the arms of prussia, that had been sold by counsellor d-n, who had been empowered to take possession of these estates, and had thus rendered himself rich. of this i procured an attestation, and proved the theft: i complained aloud at vienna, but received an order from the court to be silent, under pain of displeasure, and also to go no more into sclavonia. the principal reason of my loss of the landed property in hungary was my having dared to make inquiries concerning the personal, not one guinea of which was ever brought to account. i then proved my right to the family estates, left by my uncle, beyond all dispute, and also of those purchased by my cousin. the commissions appointed to inquire into these rights even confirmed them; yet after they had been thus established, i received the following order from the court, in the hand of the empress herself:--"the president, count grassalkowitz, takes it upon his conscience that the sclavonian estates do not descend to trenck, _in natura_; he must therefore receive the _summa emptitia et inscriptitia_, together with the money he can show to have been expended in improvements." chapter xiv. and herewith ended my pleadings and my hopes. i had sacrificed my property, laboured through sixty-three inferior suits, and lost this great cause without a trial. i could have remained satisfied with the loss of the personal property: the booty of a soldier, like the wealth amassed by a minister, appears to me little better than a public robbery; but the acquirements of my ancestors, my birth-right by descent, of these i could not be deprived without excessive cruelty. oh patience! patience!--yet shall my children never become the footmen, nor grooms, of those who have robbed them of their inheritance; and to them i bequeathed my rights in all their power: nor shall any man prevent my crying aloud, so long as justice shall not be done. the president, it is true, did not immediately possess himself of the estates, but he took good care his friends should have them at such rates that the sale of them did not bring the fiscal treasury , florins, while i, in real and personal property, lost a million and a half; nay, probably a sum equal to this in personal property alone. the summa _inscriptitia et emptitia_ for all these great estates only amounted to , florins, and this was to be paid by the chamber, but the president thought proper to deduct , on pretence the cattle had been driven off the estate of pakratz; and, further, , more, under the shameful pretence that trenck, to recruit his pandours, had drained the estates of , vassals, who had never returned; the estates, therefore, must make them good at the rate of thirty florins per head, which would have amounted to , florins; but, with much difficulty, this sum was reduced, as above stated, to , florins, each vassal reckoned at ten florins per head. thus was i obliged, from the property of my family, to pay for , men who had gloriously died in war, in defence of the contested rights of the great maria theresa; who had raised so many millions of contributions for her in the countries of her enemies; who, sword in hand, had stormed and taken so many towns, and dispersed, or taken prisoners, so many thousands of her foes. would this be believed by listening nations? all deductions made for legacies, fees, and formalities, there remained to me , florins, with which i purchased the lordship of zwerbach, and i was obliged to pay , florins for my naturalisation. thus, when the sums are enumerated which i expended on the suits of trenck, received from my friends at berlin and petersburg, it will be found that i cannot, at least, have been a gainer by having been made the universal heir of the immensely rich trenck. with regret i write these truths in support of my children's claims, that they may not, in my grave, reproach me for having neglected the duty of a father. i will mere add a few particulars which may afford the reader matter for meditation, cause him to commiserate my fate, and give a picture of the manner in which the prosecution was carried on against trenck. one schygrai, a silly kind of beggarly baron, who was treated as a buffoon, was invited in the year to dine with baron pejaczewitz, when trenck happened to be present. the conversation happened to turn on a kind of brandy made in this country, and trenck jocularly said he annually distilled this sort of brandy from cow-dung to the value of thirty thousand florins. schygrai supposed him serious, and wished to learn the art, which trenck promised to teach him pejaczewitz told him he could give him thirty thousand load of dung. "but where shall i get the wood?" said schygrai. "i will give you thirty thousand klafters," answered trenck. the credulous baron, thinking himself very fortunate, desired written promises, which they gave him; and that of trenck ran thus: "i hereby permit and empower baron schygrai to sell gratis, in the forest of tscherra horra, thirty thousand klafters of wood. "witness my hand, "trenck." trenck was no sooner dead than the baron brought his note, and made application to the court. his attorney was the noted bussy, and the court decreed the estates of trenck should pay at the rate of one form thirty kreutzers per klafter, or forty-five thousand florins, with all costs, and an order was given to the administrators to pay the money. just at this time i arrived at vienna, from petersburg. doctor berger, the advocate of trenck, told me the affair would admit of no delay. i hastened to the empress, and obtained an order to delay payment. an inquiry was instituted, and this forest of tscherra horra was found to be situated in turkey. the absurdity and injustice were flagrant, and it was revoked. i cannot say how much of these forty-five thousand florins the baron had promised to the noble judge and the attorney. i only know that neither of them was punished. had not some holidays luckily intervened, or had the attorney expected my arrival, the money would have been paid, and an ineffectual attempt to obtain retribution would have been the consequence, as happened in many similar instances. i have before mentioned the advertisement inviting all who had any demands or complaints against trenck to appear, with the promise of a ducat a day; and it is mere proper to add that the sum of fifteen thousand florins was brought to account, and paid out of the estates of trenck. for this shameful purpose some thousand of florins were paid besides to this species of claimants and though, after examination, their pretensions all proved to be futile, and themselves were cast in damages, yet was none of this money ever refunded, or the false claimants punished. among these the pretended daughter of general schwerin received two thousand florins, notorious as was her character. again, trenck was accused of having appropriated the money to his own use, and treated as if convicted. after his death a considerable demand was accordingly made. i happening, however, to meet with ruckhardt, his quarter-master, he with asseverations declared that, instead of being indebted to the regiment, the regiment was more than a hundred thousand florins indebted to him, advised me to get attestations from the captains, and assured me he himself would give in a clear statement of the regiment's accounts. i followed his advice, hastened to the regiment, and obtained so many proofs, that the quarter-master of the regiment, who, with the major, had in reality pocketed the money, was imprisoned and put in irons. what became of the thief or the false witness afterward i know not; i only know that nothing was refunded, that the quarter-master found protectors, detained the money, and, some years after this vile action, purchased a commission. one instance more. trenck, to the corps of infantry he commanded, added a corps of hussars, which he raised and provided with horses and accoutrements sold by auction. my demand on this account was upwards of sixty thousand florins, to which i received neither money nor reply. he had also expended a hundred thousand florins for the raising and equipping his three thousand pandours; in consequence of which a signed agreement had been given by the government that these hundred thousand florins should be repaid to his heir, or he, the heir, should receive the command of the regiment. the regiment, however, at his decease, was given to general simschen; and as for the agreement, care was taken it should never come into my hands. thus these hundred thousand florins were lost. yet it has been wickedly affirmed he was imprisoned in the spielberg for having embezzled the regiment's money; whereas, i would to god i only was in possession of the sums he expended on this regiment; for he considered the regiment as his own; and great as was his avarice, still greater was his desire of fame, and greater still his love for his empress, for whom he would gladly have yielded both property and life. within respect to the money that was to have been repaid for improvement of the estates, i must add, these estates were bought at a time when the country had been left desolate by the turks, and the reinstalment of such places as had fallen into their hands, and the erecting of farmhouses, mills, stocking them with horses, cattle, and seed corn, according to my poor estimate, could not amount to less than eighty thousand florins; but i was forbidden to go into sclavonia, and the president offered, as an indemnification, four thousand florins. everybody was astonished, but he, within the utmost coolness, told me i must either accept this or nothing. the hearers of this sentence cast their eyes up to heaven and pitied me. i remonstrated, and thereby only made the matter worse. grief and anxiety occasioned me to take a journey into italy, passing through venice, rome, and florence. on my return to vienna, i, by a friendly interference in behalf of a woman whose fears rather than guilt had brought her into danger, became suspected myself; and the very officious officers of the police had me imprisoned as a coiner without the least grounds for any such accusation except their own surmises. i was detained unheard nine days, and when, having been heard, i had entirely justified myself, was again restored to liberty; public declaration was then made in the gazette that the officers of the police had acted too precipitately. this was the satisfaction granted, but this did not content me. i threatened the counsellor by whom my character had been so aspersed, and the empress, condescending to mediate, bestowed on me a captainship of cavalry in the cordova cuirassiers. such was the recompense i received for wounds so deep, and such the neglect into which i was thrown at vienna. discontent led me to join my regiment in hungary. here i gained the applause of my colonel, count bettoni, who himself told the empress i, more than any other, had contributed to the forming of the regiment. it may well be imagined how a man like me, accustomed, as i had been, to the first company of the first courts, must pass my time among the carpathian mountains, where neither society nor good books were to be found, nor knowledge, of which i was enamoured, improved. the conversation of count bettoni, and the chase, together with the love of the general of the regiment, old field-marshal cordova, were my only resources; the persecutions, neglect, and even contempt, i received at vienna, were still the same. in the year , in the month of march, my mother died in prussia, and i requested the permission of the court that held the inheritance of trenck, as a _fidei commissum_, to make a journey to dantzic to settle some family affairs with my brothers and sister, my estates being confiscated. this permission was granted, and thither i went in may, where i once more fell into the hands of the prussians; which forms the second great and still more gloomy epoch in my life. all who read what follows will shudder, will commiserate him who, feeling himself innocent, relates afflictions he has miserably encountered and gloriously overcome. i left hungary, where i was in garrison, for dantzic, where i had desired my brothers and sister to meet me that we might settle our affairs. my principal intent, however, was a journey to petersburg, there to seek the advice and aid of my friends, for law and persecution were not yet ended at vienna; and my captain's pay and small income scarcely sufficed to defray charges of attorneys and counsellors. it is here most worthy of remark that i was told by prince ferdinand of brunswick, governor of magdeburg, he had received orders to prepare my prison at magdeburg before i set out from hungary. nay, more; it had been written from vienna to berlin that the king must beware of trenck, for that he would be at dantzic at the time when the king was to visit his camp in prussia. what thing more vile, what contrivance more abominable, could the wickedest wretch on earth find to banish a man his country, that he might securely enjoy the property of which the other had been robbed? that this was done i have living witnesses in his highness prince ferdinand of brunswick and the berlin ministry, from whose mouths i learned this artifice of villainy. it is the more necessary to establish this truth, because no one can comprehend why the _great frederic_ should have proceeded against me in a manner so cruel that, when it comes to be related, must raise the indignation of the just, and move hearts of iron to commiserate. men so vile, so wicked, as i have described them, in conjunction with one weingarten, secretary to count puebla, then austrian minister at berlin, have brought on me these my misfortunes. this was the weingarten who, as is now well known, betrayed all the secrets of the austrian court to frederic, who at length was discovered in the year , and who, when the war broke out, remained in the service of prussia. this same weingarten, also, not only caused my wretchedness, but my sister's ruin and death, as he likewise did the punishment and death of three innocent men, which will hereafter be shown. it is an incontrovertible truth that i was betrayed and sold by men in vienna whose interest it was that i should be eternally silenced. i was immediately visited by my brothers and sister on my arrival at dantzic, where we lived happy in each other's company during a fortnight, and an amicable partition was made of my mother's effects; my sister perfectly justified herself concerning the manner in which i was obliged to fly from her house an the year : our parting was kind, and as brother and sister ought to part. our only acquaintance in dantzic was the austrian resident, m. abramson, to whom i brought letters of recommendation from vicuna, and whose reception of us was polite even to extravagance. this abramson was a prussian born, and had never seen vienna, but obtained his then office by the recommendation of count bestuchef, without security for his good conduct, or proof of his good morals, heart, or head. he was in close connection with the prussian resident, reimer; and was made the instrument of my ruin. scarcely had my brothers and sister departed before i determined to make a voyage by sea to russia. abramson contrived a thousand artifices, by which he detained me a week longer in dantzic, that, he in conjunction with reimer, might make the necessary preparations. the king of prussia had demanded that the magistrates of dantzic should deliver me up; but this could not be done without offending the imperial court, i being a commissioned officer in that service, with proper passports; it was therefore probable that this negotiation required letters should pass and repass; and for this reason abramson was employed to detain me some days longer, till, by the last letters from berlin, the magistrates of dantzic were induced to violate public safety and the laws of nations. abramson, i considered as my best friend, and my person as in perfect security; he had therefore no difficulty in persuading me to stay. the day of supposed departure on board a swedish ship for riga approached, and the deceitful abramson promised me to send one of his servants to the port to know the hour. at four in the afternoon he told me he had himself spoken to the captain, who said he would not sail till the next day; adding that he, abramson, would expect me to breakfast, and would then accompany me to the vessel. i felt a secret inquietude which made me desirous of leaving dantzic, and immediately to send all my luggage, and to sleep on board. abramson prevented me, dragging me almost forcibly along with him, telling me he had much company, and that i must absolutely dine and sup at his house; accordingly i did not return to my inn till eleven at night. i was but just in bed when i heard a tremendous knocking at my chamber door, which was not shut, and two of the city magistrates with twenty grenadiers entered my chamber, and surrounded my bed so suddenly that i had not time to take to my arms and defend myself. my three servants had been secured and i was told that the most worthy magistracy of dantzic was obliged to deliver me up as a delinquent to his majesty the king of prussia. what were my feelings at seeing myself thus betrayed! they silently conducted me to the city prison, where i remained twenty-four hours. about noon abramson came to visit me, affected to be infinitely concerned and enraged, and affirmed he had strongly protested against the illegality of this proceeding to the magistracy, as i was actually in the austrian service; but that they had answered him the court of vienna had afforded them a precedent, for that, in , they had done the same by the two sons of the burgomaster rutenberg, of dantzic, and that, therefore, they were justified in making reprisal; and likewise, they durst not refuse the most earnest request accompanied with threats, of the king of prussia. their plea of retaliation originated as follows:--there was a kind of club at vienna, the members of which were seized for having committed the utmost extravagance and debauchery, two of whom were the sons of the burgomaster rutenberg, and who were sentenced to the pillory. great sums were offered by the father to avoid this public disgrace, but ineffectually--they were punished, their punishment was legal, and had no similarity whatever to my case, nor could it any way justly give pretence of reprisal. abramson, who had in reality entered no protest whatever, but rather excited the magistracy, and acted in concert with reimer, advised me to put my writings and other valuable effects into his hands, otherwise they would be seized. he knew i had received letters of exchange from my brothers and sister, about seven thousand florins, and these i gave him, but kept my ring, worth about four thousand, and some sixty guineas, which i had in my purse. he then embraced me, declared nothing should be neglected to effect my immediate deliverance; that even he would raise the populace for that purpose; that i could not be given up to the prussians in less than a week, the magistracy being still undetermined in an affair so serious, and he left me, shedding abundance of crocodile tears, like the most affectionate of friends. the next night two magistrates, with their posse, came to my prison, attended by resident reimer, a prussian officer and under officers, and into their hands i was delivered. the pillage instantly began; reimer tore off my ring, seized my watch, snuff-box, and all i had, not so much as sending me a coat or shirt from my effects; after which, they put me into a close coach with three prussians. the dantzic guard accompanied the carriage to the city gate, that was opened to let me pass; after which the dantzic dragoons escorted me as far as lauenburg in pomerania. i have forgotten the date of this miserable day; but to the best of my memory, it must have been in the beginning of june. thirty prussian hussars, commanded by a lieutenant, relieved the dragoons at lauenburg, and thus was i escorted from garrison to garrison, till i arrived at berlin. hence it was evidently falsely affirmed, by the magistracy of dantzic, and the conspirator abramson, who wrote in his own excuse to vienna, that my seizure must be attributed wholly to my own imprudence, and that i had exposed myself to this arrest by going without the city gates, where i was taken and carried off; nor was it less astonishing that the court of vienna should not have demanded satisfaction for the treachery of the dantzickers toward an austrian officer. i have incontrovertibly proved this treachery, after i had regained my liberty abramson indeed they could not punish, for during my imprisonment he had quitted the austrian for the prussian service, where he gradually became so contemptible, that in the year , when i was released from my imprisonment, he was himself imprisoned in the house of correction; and his wife, lately so rich, was obliged to beg her bread. thus have i generally lived to see the fall of my betrayers; and thus have i found that, without indulging personal revenge, virtue and fortitude must at length triumph over the calumniator and the despot. this truth will be further proved hereafter, nor can i behold, unmoved, the open shame in which my persecutors live, and how they tremble in my presence, their wicked deeds now being known to the world nay, monarchs may yet punish their perfidy:--yet not so!--may they rather die in possession of wealth they have torn from me! i only wish the pity and respect of the virtuous and the wise. but, though austria has never resented the affront commenced on the person of an officer in its service, still have i a claim on the city of dantzic, where i was thus treacherously delivered up, for the effects i there was robbed of, the amount of which is between eleven and twelve thousand florins. this is a case too clear to require argument, and the publication of this history will make it known to the world. this claim also, among others, i leave to the children of an unfortunate father. enough of digression; let us attend to the remarkable events which happened on the dismal journey to berlin. i was escorted from garrison to garrison, which were distant from each other two, three, or at most five miles; wherever i came, i found compassion and respect. the detachment of hussars only attended me two days; it consisted of twelve men and an officer, who rode with me in the carriage. the fourth day i arrived at ---, where the duke of wirtemberg, father of the present grand duchess of russia, was commander, and where his regiment was in quarters. the duke conversed with me, was much moved, invited me to dine, and detained me all the day, where i was not treated as a prisoner. i so far gained his esteem that i was allowed to remain there the next day; the chief persons of the place were assembled, and the duchess, whom he had lately married, testified every mark of pity and consideration. i dined with him also on the third day, after which i departed in an open carriage, without escort, attended only by a lieutenant of his regiment. i must relate this, event circumstantially for it not only proves the just and noble character of the duke, but likewise that there are moments in which the brave may appear cowards, the clear-sighted blind, and the wise foolish; nay, one might almost be led to conclude, from this, that my imprisonment at magdeburg, was the consequence of predestination, since i remained riveted in stupor, in despite of suggestions, forebodings, and favourable opportunities. who but must be astonished, having read the daring efforts i made at glatz, at this strange insensibility now in the very crisis of my fate? i afterwards was convinced it was the intention of the noble-minded duke that i should escape, and that he must have given particular orders to the successive officers. he would probably have willingly subjected himself to the reprimands of frederic if i would have taken to fight. the journey through the places where his regiment was stationed continued five days, and i everywhere passed the evenings in the company of the officers, the kindness of whom was unbounded i slept in their quarters without sentinel, and travelled in their carriages, without other guard than a single officer in the carriage. in various places the high road was not more than two, and sometimes one mile from the frontier road; therefore nothing could have been easier than to have escaped; yet did the same trenck, who in glatz had cut his way through thirty men to obtain his freedom, that trenck, who had never been acquainted with fear, now remain four days bewildered, and unable to come to any determination. in a small garrison town, i lodged in the house of a captain of cavalry, and continually was treated by him with every mark of friendship. after dinner he rode at the head of his squadron to water the horse, unsaddled. i remained alone in the house, entered the stable, saw three remaining horses, with saddles and bridles; in my chamber was my sword and a pair of pistols. i had but to mount one of the horses and fly to the opposite gate. i meditated on the project, and almost resolved to put it in execution, but presently became undetermined by some secret impulse. the captain returned some time after, and appeared surprised to find me still there. the next day he accompanied me alone in his carriage; we came to a forest, he saw some champignons, stopped, asked me to alight, and help him to gather them; he strayed more than a hundred paces from me, and gave me entire liberty to fly; yet notwithstanding all this, i voluntarily returned, suffering myself to be led like a sheep to the slaughter. i was treated so well, during my stay at this place, and escorted with so much negligence, that i fell into a gross error. perceiving they conveyed me straight to berlin, i imagined the king wished to question me concerning the plan formed for the war, which was then on the point of breaking out. this plan i perfectly knew, the secret correspondence of bestuchef having all passed through my hands, which circumstance was much better known at berlin than at vienna. confirmed in this opinion, and far from imagining the fate that awaited me, i remained irresolute, insensible, and blind to danger. alas, how short was this hope! how quickly was it succeeded by despair! when, after four days' march, i quitted the district under the command of the duke of wirtemberg, and was delivered up to the first garrison of infantry at coslin! the last of the wirtemberg officers, when taking leave of me, appeared to be greatly affected; and from this moment till i came to berlin, i was under a strong escort, and the given orders were rigorously observed. chapter xv. arrived here, i was lodged over the grand guardhouse, with two sentinels in my chamber, and one at the door. the king was at potzdam, and here i remained three days; on the third, some staff-officers made their appearance, seated themselves at a table, and put the following questions to me:-- first. what was my business at dantzic? secondly. whether i was acquainted with m. goltz, prussian ambassador to russia? thirdly. who was concerned with me in the conspiracy at dantzic? when i perceived their intention, by these interrogations, i absolutely refused to reply, only saying i had been imprisoned in the fortress of glatz, without hearing, or trial by court-martial; that, availing myself of the laws of nature, i had by my own exertions procured my liberty, and that i was now a captain of cavalry in the imperial service; that i demanded a legal trial for my first unknown offence, after which i engaged to answer all interrogatories, and prove my innocence; but that at present, being accused of new crimes, without a hearing concerning my former punishment, the procedure was illegal. i was told they had no orders concerning this, and i remained dumb to all further questions. they wrote some two hours, god knows what; a carriage came up; i was strictly searched, to find whether i had any weapons; thirteen or fourteen ducats, which i had concealed, were taken from me, and i was conducted under a strong escort, through spandau to magdeburg. the officer here delivered me to the captain of the guard at the citadel; the town major came, and brought me to the dungeon, expressly prepared for me; a small picture of the countess of bestuchef, set with diamonds, which i had kept concealed in my bosom, was now taken from me; the door was shut, and here was i left. my dungeon was in a casemate, the fore part of which, six feet wide and ten feet long, was divided by a party wall. in the inner wall were two doors, and a third at the entrance of the casemate itself. the window in the seven-feet-thick wall was so situated that, though i had light, i could see neither heaven nor earth; i could only see the roof of the magazine; within and without this window were iron bars, and in the space between an iron grating, so close and so situated, by the rising of the walls, that it was impossible i should see any parson without the prison, or that any person should see me. on the outside was a wooden palisade, six feet from the wall, by which the sentinels were prevented from conveying anything to me. i had a mattress, and a bedstead, but which was immovably ironed to the floor, so that it was impossible i should drag it, and stand up to the window; beside the door was a small iron stove and a night table, in like manner fixed to the floor. i was not yet put in irons, and my allowance was a pound and a half per day of ammunition bread, and a jug of water. from my youth i had always had a good appetite, and my bread was so mouldy i could scarcely at first eat the half of it. this was the consequence of major reiding's avarice, who endeavoured to profit even by this, so great was the number of unfortunate prisoners; therefore, it is impossible i should describe to my readers the excess of tortures that, during eleven months, i felt from ravenous hunger. i could easily every day have devoured six pounds of bread; and every twenty-four hours after having received and swallowed my small portion, i continued as hungry as before i began, yet must wait another twenty-four hours for a new morsel. how willingly would i have signed a bill of exchange for a thousand ducats, on my property at vienna, only to have satiated my hunger on dry bread! for, so extreme was it, that scarcely had i dropt into a sweet sleep. therefore i dreamed i was feasting at some table luxuriously loaded, where, eating like a glutton, the whole company were astonished to see me, while my imagination was heated by the sensation of famine. awakened by the pains of hunger, the dishes vanished, and nothing remained but the reality of my distress; the cravings of nature were but inflamed, my tortures prevented sleep, and, looking into futurity, the cruelty of my fate suffered, if possible, increase, from imagining that the prolongation of pangs like these was insupportable. god preserve every honest man from sufferings like mine! they were not to be endured by the villain most obdurate. many have fasted three days, many have suffered want for a week, or more; but certainly no one, beside myself, ever endured it in the same excess for eleven months. some have supposed that to eat little might become habitual, but i have experienced the contrary. my hunger increased every day; and of all the trials of fortitude my whole life has afforded, this, of eleven months, was the most bitter. petitions, remonstrances, were of no avail; the answer was--"we must give no more, such is the king's command." the governor, general borck, born the enemy of man, replied, when i entreated, at least, to have my fill of bread, "you have feasted often enough out of the service of plate taken from the king, by trenck, at the battle of sorau; you must now eat ammunition bread in your dirty kennel. your empress makes no allowance for your maintenance, and you are unworthy of the bread you eat, or the trouble taken about you." judge, reader, what pangs such insolence, added to such sufferings must inflict. judge what were my thoughts, foreseeing, as i did, an endless duration to this imprisonment and these torments. my three doors were kept ever shut, and i was left to such meditations as such feelings and such hopes might inspire. daily, about noon, once in twenty-four hours, my pittance of bread and water was brought. the keys of all the doors were kept by the governor; the inner door was not opened, but my bread and water were delivered through an aperture. the prison doors were opened only once a week, on a wednesday, when the governor and town major, my hole having been first cleaned, paid their visit. having remained thus two months, and observed this method was invariable, i began to execute a project i had formed, of the possibility of which i was convinced. where the night-table and stove stood, the floor was bricked, and this paving extended to the wall that separated my casemate from the adjoining one, in which was no prisoner. my window was only guarded by a single sentinel; i therefore soon found, among those who successively relieved guard, two kind-hearted fellows, who described to me the situation of my prison; hence i perceived i might effect my escape, could i but penetrate into the adjoining casemate, the door of which was not shut. provided i had a friend and a boat waiting for me at the elbe, or could i swim across that river, the confines of saxony were but a mile distant. to describe my plan at length would lead to prolixity, yet i must enumerate some of its circumstances, as it was remarkably intricate and of gigantic labour. i worked through the iron, eighteen inches long, by which the night-table was fastened, and broke off the clinchings of the nails, but preserved their heads, that i might put them again in their places, and all might appear secure to my weekly visitors. this procured me tools to raise up the brick floor, under which i found earth. my first attempt was to work a hole through the wall, seven feet thick behind, and concealed by the night-table. the first layer was of brick. i afterwards came to large hewn stones. i endeavoured accurately to number and remember the bricks, both of the flooring and the wall, so that i might replace them and all might appear safe. this having accomplished, i proceeded. the day preceding visitation all was carefully replaced, and the intervening mortar as carefully preserved; the whole had, probably, been whitewashed a hundred times; and, that i might fill up all remaining interstices, i pounded the white stuff this afforded, wetted it, made a brush of my hair, then applied this plaster, washed it over, that the colour might be uniform, and afterwards stripped myself, and sat with my naked body against the place, by the heat of which it was dried. while labouring, i placed the stones and bricks upon my bedstead, and had they taken the precaution to come at any other time in the week, the stated wednesday excepted, i had inevitably been discovered; but, as no such ill accident befell me, in six months my herculean labours gave me a prospect of success. means were to be found to remove the rubbish from my prison; all of which, in a wall so thick, it was impossible to replace; mortar and stone could not be removed. i therefore took the earth, scattered it about my chamber, and ground it under my feet the whole day, till i had reduced it to dust; this dust i strewed in the aperture of my window, making use of the loosened night-table to stand upon, i tied splinters from my bedstead together, with the ravelled yarn of an old stocking, and to this i affixed a tuft of my hair. i worked a large hole under the middle grating, which could not be seen when standing on the ground, and through this i pushed my dust with the tool i had prepared in the outer window, then, waiting till the wind should happen to rise, during the night i brushed it away, it was blown off, and no appearance remained on the outside. by this simple expedient i rid myself of at least three hundred weight of earth, and thus made room to continue my labours; yet, this being still insufficient, i had recourse to another artifice, which was to knead up the earth in the form of sausages, to resemble the human faeces: these i dried, and when the prisoner came to clean my dungeon, hastily tossed them into the night-table, and thus disencumbered myself of a pound or two more of earth each week. i further made little balls, and, when the sentinel was walking, blew them, through a paper tube, out of the window. into the empty space i put my mortar and stones, and worked on successfully. i cannot, however, describe my difficulties after having penetrated about two feet into the hewn stone. my tools were the irons i had dug out, which fastened may bedstead and night-table. a compassionate soldier also gave me an old iron ramrod and a soldier's sheath knife, which did me excellent service, more especially the latter, as i shall presently more fully show. with these two i cut splinters from my bedstead, which aided me to pick the mortar from the interstices of the stone; yet the labour of penetrating through this seven-feet wall was incredible; the building was ancient, and the mortar occasionally quite petrified, so that the whole stone was obliged to be reduced to dust. after continuing my work unremittingly for six months, i at length approached the accomplishment of my hopes, as i knew by coming to the facing of brick, which now was only between me and the adjoining casemate. meantime i found opportunity to speak to some of the sentinels, among whom was an old grenadier called gelfhardt, whom i here name because he displayed qualities of the greatest and most noble kind. from him i learned the precise situation of my prison, and every circumstance that might best conduce to my escape. nothing was wanting but money to buy a boat, and crossing the elbe with gelfhardt, to take refuge in saxony. by gelfhardt's means i became acquainted with a kind-hearted girl, a jewess, and a native of dessau, esther heymannin by name, and whose father had been ten years in prison. this good, compassionate maiden, whom i had never seen, won over two other grenadiers, who gave her an opportunity of speaking to me every time they stood sentinel. by tying my splinters together, i made a stick long enough to reach beyond the palisades that were before my window, and thus obtained paper, another knife, and a file. i now wrote to my sister, the wife of the before-mentioned only son of general waldow; described my awful situation, and entreated her to remit three hundred rix-dollars to the jewess, hoping, by this means, i might escape from my prison. i then wrote another affecting letter to count puebla, the austrian ambassador at berlin, in which was enclosed a draft for a thousand florins on my effects at vienna, desiring him to remit these to the jewess, having promised her that sum as a reward for her fidelity. she was to bring the three hundred rix-dollars my sister should send to me, and take measures with the grenadiers to facilitate my flight, which nothing seemed able to prevent, i having the power either to break into the casemate or, aided by the grenadiers and the jewess' to cut the locks from the doors and that way escape from my dungeon. the letters were open, i being obliged to roll them round the stick to convey them to esther. the faithful girl diligently proceeded to berlin, where she arrived safe, and immediately spoke to count puebla. the count gave her the kindest reception, received the letter, with the letter of exchange, and bade her go and speak to weingarten, the secretary of the embassy, and act entirely as he should direct. she was received by weingarten in the most friendly manner, who, by his questions, drew from her the whole secret, and our intended plan of flight, aided by the two grenadiers, and also that she had a letter for my sister, which she must carry to hammer, near custrin. he asked to see this letter; read it, told her to proceed on her journey, gave her two ducats to bear her expenses, ordered her to come to him on her return, said that during this interval he would endeavour to obtain her the thousand florins for my draft, and would then give her further instructions. esther cheerfully departed for hammer, where my sister, then a widow, and no longer, as in , in dread of her husband, joyful to hear i was still living, immediately gave her three hundred rix-dollars, exhorting her to exert every possible means to obtain my deliverance. esther hastened back with the letter from my sister to berlin, and told all that passed to weingarten, who read the letter, and inquired the names of the two grenadiers. he told her the thousand florins from vienna were not yet come, but gave her twelve ducats; bade her hasten back to magdeburg, to carry me all this good news, and then return to berlin, where he would pay her the thousand florins. esther came to magdeburg, went immediately to the citadel, and, most luckily, met the wife of one of the grenadiers, who told her that her husband and his comrade had been taken and put in irons the day before. esther had quickness of perception, and suspected we had been betrayed; she therefore instantly again began her travels, and happily came safe to dessau. here i must interrupt my narrative, that i may explain this infernal enigma to my readers, an account of which i received after i had obtained my freedom, and still possess, in the handwriting of this jewess. weingarten, as was afterwards discovered, was a traitor, and too much trusted by count puebla, he being a spy in the pay of prussia, and one who had revealed, in the court of berlin, not only the secrets of the imperial embassy, but also the whole plan of the projected war. for this reason he afterwards, when war broke out, remained at berlin in the prussian service. his reason for betraying me was that he might secure the thousand florins which i had drawn for on vienna; for the receipt of the th of may, , attests that the sum was paid, by the administrators of my effects, to count puebla, and has since been brought to account; nor can i believe that weingarten did not appropriate this sum to himself, since i cannot be persuaded the ambassador would commit such an action, although the receipt is in his handwriting, as may easily be demonstrated, it being now in my possession. thus did weingarten, that he might detain a thousand florins with impunity, bring new evils upon me and upon my sister, which occasioned her premature death; caused one grenadier to run the gauntlet three successive days, and another to be hung. esther alone escaped, and since gave me an elucidation of the whole affair. the report at magdeburg was, that a jewess had obtained money from my sister and bribed two grenadiers, and that one of these had trusted and been betrayed by his comrade. indeed, what other story could be told at magdeburg, or how could it be known i had been betrayed to the prussian ministry by the imperial secretary? the truth, however, is as i have stated: my account-book exists, and the jewess is still alive. her poor imprisoned father was punished with more than a hundred blows to make him declare whether his daughter had entrusted him with the plot, or if he knew whither she was fled, and miserably died in fetters. such was the mischief occasioned by a rascal! and who might be blamed but the imprudent count puebla? in the year , this said jewess demanded of me a thousand florins; and i wrote to count puebla, that, having his receipt for the sum, which never had been repaid, i begged it might be restored. he received my agent with rudeness, returned no answer, and seemed to trouble himself little concerning my loss. whether the heirs of the count be, or be not, indebted to me these thousand florins and the interest, i leave the world to determine. thrice have i been betrayed at vienna and sold to berlin, like joseph to the egyptians. my history proves the origin of my persuasion that residents, envoys, and ambassadors must be men of known worth and honesty, and not the vilest of rascals and miscreants. but, alas! the effects and money they have robbed me of have never been restored; and for the miseries they have brought upon me, they could not be recompensed by the wealth of any or all the monarchs on earth. estates they may, but truth they cannot confiscate; and of the villainy of abramson and weingarten i have documents and proofs that no court of justice could disannul. stop, reader, if thou hast a heart, and in that heart compassion for the unfortunate! stop and imagine what my sensations are while i remember and recount a part only of the injustice that has been done me, a part only of the tyranny i have endured! by this last act of treachery of weingarten was i held in chains, the most horrible, for nine succeeding years! by him was an innocent man brought to the gallows! by him, too, my sister, my beloved, my unfortunate sister, was obliged to build a dungeon at her own expense! besides being amerced in a fine, the extent of which i never could learn. her goods were plundered, her estates made a desert, her children fell into extreme poverty, and she herself expired in her thirty-third year, the victim of cruelty, persecution, her brother's misfortunes, and the treachery of the imperial embassy! footnotes: { } a common expression with frederic when he was angry, and which has since become proverbial among the prussian and other german officers. see critical _review_, _april_, . { } the same doo who was governor of glatz during the seven years' war, and who, having been surprised by general laudohu, was made prisoner, which occasioned the loss of glatz. the king broke him with infamy, and banished him with contempt. in he came to vienna, where i gave him alms. he was, by birth, an italian, a selfish, wicked man; and, while major under the government of fouquet, at glatz, brought many people to misery. he was the creature of fouquet, without birth or merit; crafty, malignant, but handsome, and, having debauched his patron's daughter, afterwards married her; whence at first his good, and at length his ill fortune. he wanted knowledge to defend a fortress against the enemy, and his covetousness rendered him easy to corrupt. { } the german mile contains from four to seven english miles, and this variation appears to depend on the ignorance of the people and on the roads being in some places but little frequented. it seems probable the baron and his friend might travel about english miles.--translator. images of public domain material from the google print project.) transcriber's notes: the author's incorrect spellings of danish and other foreign names and words have been retained. an incorrect reference to the danish king christian iv. has been corrected in "as all the children of king christian iv.[ix.] were". ten years near the german frontier ten years near the german frontier a retrospect and a warning by maurice francis egan former united states minister to denmark hodder and stoughton london · new york · toronto _copyright, , by george h. doran company_ preface the purpose of this book is to show the reflections of prussian policy and activity in a little country which was indispensable to prussia in the founding of the german empire, and which, in spite of its heroic struggle in , was forced to serve as the very foundation of that power; for, if prussia had not unrighteously seized slesvig, the kiel canal and the formation of the great german fleet would have been almost impossible. the rape of slesvig and the acquisition of heligoland--that despised 'trouser button' which kept up the 'indispensables' of the german navy--are facts that ought to illuminate, for those who would be wise, the past as a warning to the future. there is no doubt that the assimilation of slesvig by prussia led to the franco-prussian war, and liberated modern germany from the difficulties that would have hampered her intention to become the dominant power in the world. the further acquisition of denmark would have been only a question of time, had not the march of the despot through belgium aroused the civilised world to the reality of the german imperial aggression--until then, unhappily, not taken seriously. had germany followed the policy which induced her to hold slesvig, in spite of the promise that the slesvigers, passionately danish, might by vote decide their own fate--and seize denmark, the virgin islands, not american, would have been german possessions. the change of policy which sent the german army into belgium and northern france, instead of into denmark, was, in a measure, due to the belief in germany, that the war would be short; and, with france helpless, russia terrorised and england torn by political factions, she could control the danish belts that lead from the north sea to the baltic and treat these waters as german lakes. she reckoned as erroneously on that as she reckoned on controlling the mediterranean and on smashing the monroe doctrine by practically possessing argentine and brazil. she built well, however, when she made kiel the pride of the emperor and the empire. europe watched the process, and hardly gave a thought to the outrage on humanity and liberty it involved. the world is suffering for this indifference. the retention of danish slesvig created the german sea power and the constant threat to denmark concerns us all. it is a world question; and it must be answered in the interest of democracy. denmark is geographically part of germany. in normal times you reached berlin from copenhagen in a night. in a few short hours you may see german sentinels on the slesvig frontier, and hear the field practice of german guns. a zeppelin might have reached copenhagen from berlin in eight hours, and an army corps might land in jutland in about double that time. copenhagen is so near what was that centre of world politics--the german court--its royal family is so closely allied with all the reigning and non-reigning royal families of europe, and its diplomatic life so tense and comprehensive,--that it has been well named the whispering gallery of europe. i have not attempted to keep out of this sketch of my diplomatic experiences and deductions all traces of amusement; but, as to the terrible seriousness of the greater part of this record, i may appropriately quote the answer of bismarck's tailor, when that genius of blood and iron accused him of asking an enormous price for a fur coat, of 'joking.' 'no,' answered the tailor, 'never in business!' and, in spite of the fact that there are lights and even laughs in the diplomatic career, it is a serious business; and the sooner my fellow countrymen recognise this, the fewer international errors they will have to regret. maurice francis egan. contents page chapter i a scrap of paper and the danes chapter ii the menace of 'our neighbour to the south' chapter iii the kaiser and the king of england chapter iv some details the germans knew chapter v glimpses of the german point of view in relation to the united states chapter vi german designs in sweden and norway chapter vii the religious propaganda chapter viii the prussian holy ghost chapter ix , , chapter x a portent in the air chapter xi the preliminaries to the purchase of the danish antilles chapter xii the beginning of and the end chapter i a scrap of paper and the danes let us trace deliberately, with as much calmness as possible, the beginning of that policy, of 'blood and iron' which made the german empire, as we knew it yesterday, possible. it began with the tearing up of 'a scrap of paper' in . it began in perfidy, treachery, and the forcible suppression of the rights of a free people. it began in denmark; and nothing could make a normal american more in love with freedom, as we know it, than to live under the shadow of a tyrannical power, cynically opposed to the legitimate desire of a little nation to develop its own capabilities in its own way. the hanoverian on the throne of england in ' ,--that 'snuffy old drone from a german hive'--never dared to suggest that the colonies should be crushed out of all semblance of freedom; but, suppose our language had been different from that which his environment compelled him to speak, and that he had resolved to force his tongue on our own english-speaking people; suppose that he and his counsellors had resolved that german should be the language spoken in sermons and prayers from washington's old church in alexandria to faneuil hall; suppose that all the colleges and schools of the country, as well as the law courts, were forced to use this alien tongue; that a german-speaking empire existed to the south of us, and the minority in this german domain, arrogant, closely connected with the hanoverian régime, ruled us with the mailed fist, would we submit without constant efforts to obtain justice? and yet denmark, in the province of slesvig, has endured these things since . she alone of all the world resisted the beginning of german tyranny, of german arrogant evolution; and her resistance was useless because the rest of europe saw in the future neither the german empire nor the kiel canal. denmark is, as every schoolboy knows, geographically part of germany; and the pan-germans spoke of it benevolently as 'our northern province.' it might long ago have been their northern province if england and russia had not been powers in the world and if the great queen louise of denmark, a beautiful and fragile little woman, with a heart of gold and a will of steel, had not used all her wits to keep her country free by the only means of diplomacy she knew--the ties of family. queen louise, the wife of christian ix., new king of an old line, was not born in the purple, though her blood was the bluest in europe. the beautiful princesses, her three daughters, later the empress of russia, dagmar, the queen of england, alexandra, and the duchess of cumberland, thyra, made their frocks and were taught all the household arts--for their father, royal by blood as he was, was a poor officer. these princesses hold lovingly in remembrance the time of their poverty; these princesses love the old times. there is a villa on the strandvej (the beach way) called hvidhöre, white as befits the name, with sculptured sea-nymphs and pretty gardens and a path under the strand to the sound. here, until , the empress dowager of russia and the queen of england regularly spent part of the summer and autumn. the russian yacht, _the polar star_, and the english _victoria and albert_ appeared regularly in the sound, the officers added to the gaiety of copenhagen and the royal ladies went to hvidhöre, 'where,' as the widow queen of england said to my wife, smiling, 'we can make our own beds, as we did when we were girls.' the servants might drop a plate or two during luncheon or stumble over a chair; but the empresses of russia and of india made no objections--'the dear old people were a little blind, perhaps, but then they had served our father, king christian.' and anything that relates to their father is sacred to these ladies; and everything concerning denmark very dear. in the small parties at hvidhöre went on as usual, though the great royal gatherings at the palace of fredensborg had ceased. here, in the time of the old queen louise, from sixty to eighty scions of royalty, young and old, had often gathered under the high blue ceiling, from which looked down beautiful white gods and goddesses. in - king frederick viii. gave occasionally a dinner on sunday night at the country house not far from copenhagen, charlottenlund, when it was hard to keep from turning one's back to a royalty,--there were so many crowned heads present. there, if queen alexandra made it plain that she wanted to speak to you, you, approaching her, found yourself with your back to the king of greece or to king haakon of norway, or to the queen of denmark herself! times have changed; the circumstances which made the late mother of king frederick so powerful in keeping 'the family' together can never occur again. of the four daughters of the late king frederick, two married, one in sweden and the other in germany. the danish princess, louise, who became the wife of his serene highness, prince friedrich georg wilhelm bruno of lippe-schaumbourg, is to the danes a lovely and pathetic memory. they say that he treated her badly, that the bride fled from him to the protection of her parents, whom they censured for not taking her home before her death. the criticism--which even found expression in public disapproval--was unreasonable, but the mass of the danes is always more generous than just in the treatment of its children. in - , to mention the name of prince friedrich was to commit a social error; he was taboo; every mother in denmark was furious at the stories told of his injuries to their dead princess louise. princess ingeborg, born in , married the 'blue prince,' charles of sweden, duke of westgothia. king frederick viii., after the failure of the german marriage, kept his two other daughters, thyra and dagmar, in the background. he was a very sympathetic king, and he liked to talk of ordinary affairs; he was truly much interested in the life immediately around him. 'i do not encourage princes in search of wives,' he said; 'i shall keep my daughters with me.' princess thyra--one cannot conceal the age of princesses, while there is an _almanach de gotha_--was born on march th, , and princess dagmar on may rd, . the princess thyra is of the type of her beautiful aunt, the queen mother of england; like her aunt, she looks much younger than her age; the princess dagmar has the quality of this royal family, of always seeming to be ten years, in appearance, younger than they are. they were our near neighbours for ten years, and my wife often threatened to marry them to nice 'americans';--king frederick, considering this impossible, gave his consent at once! he often brought them in to tea, and they met 'nice americans,' and seemed to like them very much. the emperor william--who wanted to be called the emperor of germany rather than the german, or prussian emperor, as we always called him--showed no affection for his danish relatives; but, nevertheless, he did not underrate the value of denmark as the 'whispering gallery' of europe. in the old palace of rosenborg, in copenhagen, there is a room so arranged that, by means of a narrow tunnel in the wall, christian iv., a contemporary of queen elizabeth, could hear what his guards said, in their cabinet, at all hours of the day and night. 'there is a similar room at potsdam,' a dane said to me; 'william always listens when he is not speaking!' william knew what the danes said of the german marriage; his plans did not lie in the way of annexing either of the danish princesses, whose sympathies were not with the despoilers of the country; he had his eyes on the son of their aunt, the duchess of cumberland, who was later to marry his daughter. but royal marriages had ceased to strengthen or weaken denmark; the archduke michael of russia 'hung around' for a time; others came; but king frederick walked out with his daughter, princess thyra, both evidently content. princesses are expected to make marriages of 'convenience,' but princess thyra, like her aunt, princess victoria of england, does not seem inclined to make a marriage of that kind. princess dagmar was too young to be permitted to expect suitors, when her father lived; and the princess margaret, daughter of prince valdemar, brother of king frederick, for whom, it was said, overtures had already been made on behalf of the growing prince of the house of saxony, was younger still. denmark had ceased to be a marriage market of kings; the futility of attempting to cement international relations by royal alliances was becoming only too evident. prince valdemar, brother of king frederick, had refused more than once a balkan kingdom, and, when consulted by very great personages as to a marriage of his oldest son to the grand duchess of luxembourg, had answered, like his brother frederick, that he preferred 'to keep his children at home.' nevertheless, the previous royal marriages and the fact that nearly every diplomat at copenhagen was a favourite with his sovereign, sent by a relative of the court at home to please the court at copenhagen, gave the post unusual prestige, and made 'conversations' possible there which could not have taken place elsewhere. the court circle, when one had the entrance, but not until then, was like that of an agreeable family. nearly every minister at copenhagen was destined for an embassy. when my predecessor, mr. o'brien, was translated to tokyo, our prestige was enhanced; the danes believed that our country but followed the usual precedent, according to which their french m. jusserand had been made ambassador at washington. even the united states had begun to understand the importance of the post; and it was in the line of diplomatic usage when it was rumoured that i had been offered vienna. i met, too, ministers to copenhagen who considered themselves, because of royal patronage, ambassadors by brevet, and who exacted 'excellency,' not as a courtesy but a right! mr. whitelaw reid wrote to me, speaking of my post as a 'delightful, little dresden china court'; the epithet was pretty, and there were times, when the young princesses and their friends thronged the rococo rooms of the amalieborg palace, that it seemed appropriate. when the processions of guests moved up the white stairs between the line of liveried servants, some of them with quaint artificial flowers in their caps, the sight was very like a bit out of watteau. bismarck had not looked on denmark as a negligible country; he knew its importance; there was a legend that one of the few persons he really respected and feared in europe was the old queen louise. besides, he knew the history of denmark so well, that he chose to correct the supposed taint in the blood of the hohenzollerns by choosing an empress for william ii. of 'the blood of struense.' this struense, the german physician who, through the degeneracy of christian vii., had in become the guide, the philosopher, and--it was said--the more than friend of his queen, caroline matilda, tried to be the bismarck of denmark; but he was of too soft a mould,--the disciple of rousseau and voltaire rather than of machiavelli and cæsar borgia. he was drawn and quartered, after having confessed, in the most ungentlemanly way, his relations with the queen, sister of king george iii. of england. it is probable that part of the emperor's dislike to bismarck was due to that '_mot_' of the iron chancellor about the royal marriage he had helped to make. it was the kind of '_mot_' that william would not be likely to forget. it is an axiom of courts that the child of a queen cannot be illegitimate. even the duke de morny, son of queen hortense of holland, bore proudly 'hortensias' in the panels of his carriage during the third empire in france. nevertheless, though queen caroline matilda had died, in her exile at celle, protesting her innocence, it was understood that struense was the father of the supposed daughter of christian vii., the daughter who married into the house of slesvig-holstein-sonderburg-augustenburg. her descendant, the princess augusta victoria frederika-louisa-feodora-jenny married the emperor william ii., on february th, , at berlin. it was a love match--at least on the side of the empress. one of the ladies in waiting at the german court once told my wife that the famous augusta victoria rose--the magnolia rose of our youth--was always cherished by her imperial majesty because of its association with her courtship--'the emperor knew how to make love!' the empress said. the appearance of struense among the ancestors of the empress, to which bismarck is said to have so brutally alluded, was not agreeable to the proudest monarch in europe. queen caroline matilda, sister of the second george of england, was only fifteen years of age when she came to denmark to become the wife of christian vii. in . and, if anything could have excused her later relations with struense (her son, frederick vii., was undoubtedly legitimate)--it was the attitude of her degenerate husband and her mother-in-law, julianna maria. having been dragged one bitter cold morning to the castle of elsinore, she confessed her guilt; but under such circumstances of cruel oppression that the confession goes for little; circumstances, however, were against her, and the courts of europe only remember that she was the daughter of a king, of blood sufficiently royal, to make up for her declension. in copenhagen, in , the echoes of public opinion in london, among the higher classes at least, showed that the momentary insecurity caused by the reverses in the boer war had passed. people had forgotten the emperor's telegram to oom paul. nobody wanted war; therefore, there would be no war. 'if we have no property,' st. francis of assisi, pleading for his order to the pope, said, 'we shall need no soldiers to protect it.' it was forgotten that, reversely, if we have property, we must always have armies and fleets to protect it. it was not war that anybody wanted; but there was property to be had, which could only be had by the use of armies and fleets. in paris (for reasons which secret history will one day disclose, and for other reasons only too plain), the german designs were apparently not understood by high officials who directed the course of france. france made the mistake, as we are always likely to do, of reading its own psychology into the minds of its opponents. paris believed, to use voltaire's opinion of the prophet habakkuk, that germany was capable of everything, except the very thing that germany was preparing without rest, without haste, and without shame to do--to bleed her white! from echoes in copenhagen, we learned, too, that in petrograd, germany was better understood because the russian spies were real spies; they knew what they were about, and, being half oriental, they understood how to use the scimitar of saladin. there were other spies who knew only the use of the battle-axe of coeur-de-lion; but they were often deceived though very well paid; in fact, the ordinary paid spy is a bad investment. in belgium the internationals talked universal peace; indeed, among others than the internationals, the army was disliked. as in holland, german commercial aggression was feared. the most amazing thing is that internationalism did not weaken the _morale_ of the heroic belgians when the test came. in copenhagen, the idea of a permanent peace seemed untenable, and war meant ruin to denmark. this was not a pleasant state of mind; but it did not induce subserviency. in the vaults of hamlet's castle of elsinore on the delectable sound, holger dansker sits, waiting to save denmark from the ruthless invader. there are brave danes to-day who would follow holger, the dane, to the death, who believe that their country never can be enslaved; but, though the conquering germans spared denmark, they did not need the knowledge of the fate of belgium to convince them of what they might expect as soon as it pleased the kaiser to act against them. the fate of belgium had confirmed the fears they had inherited. there is no doubt where their hearts were, but a movement--a slight movement--against germany would have meant for the king of denmark the fate of the king of belgium or the king of serbia. that he is married to a princess half german by blood would not shield him. belgium was not spared because its queen was of german birth. copenhagen, as i have said, was not only a city of rumours, but a city of news. the pulse of europe could be felt there because europeans of distinction were passing and repassing continually, and the danes, like the athenians of st. paul's time, love to hear new things. but there was and is one old query which all denmark never forgets to ask: will danish slesvig come back to its motherland? slesvig-holstein is the alsace-lorraine question in denmark. for slesvig denmark would dare much. she could not court certain destruction but, in her heart, 'slesvig' is written as indelibly as 'calais' was written in the heart of the dying queen, mary tudor. she had forgiven and forgotten the loss of her fleet and the bombardment of copenhagen by the english in and . she then stood for france and new ideas, and tory england made her suffer for it. she lost norway in ; she was reduced almost to bankruptcy; and, until , she could only devote her attention to the revival of her economic life. holstein was german; slesvig, danish. they could not be united unless the language of one was made dominant over the language of the other. the imperial law of germany governed holstein; all slesvig legislation had since been based upon the laws of the danish king valdemar. to force the german law and language on slesvig was to wipe out all danish ideas and ideals in the most danish of the provinces of denmark. the attempt to germanise slesvig took concrete form in . desiring to bring it under german domination, uve lornsen, a frisian lawyer, proposed to make the duchies of slesvig and holstein self-governing states, separated from denmark, and entirely under german influence. as, according to him, only royal persons of the male lineage could govern the united duchies, the king of denmark might have the title of duke until the male line should become extinct. uve lornsen met remonstrances based on the laws and traditions of the danes with the arrogant assertion, uttered in german: 'ancient history is not to be considered; we will have it our own way now.' kristian poulsen, a dane, who knew both the german and the danish views, opposed the beginning of a process which meant the imposition of autocratic methods on a people who were resolved to develop their own national spirit in freedom. in slesvig there are square miles. in the greater part of this territory, consisting of square miles, danish was the vernacular, while square miles were populated by speakers of german. german power had secured german teaching for , people in churches and schools. the injustice of this will be seen when it is understood that only , were given opportunities, religious and educational, of hearing danish. danish could not be used in the courts of law. it was required that the clergy should be educated at the university of kiel, and other officials of the state could have no chance of advancement unless they used german constantly and fluently. the teachers in the communal schools were all trained in germany. the danish speech was not used in a single college. in a word, the german influence, under the eyes of a danish king and government, was driving out all the safeguards of danish national life in slesvig. king christian viii., partly awakened to the wrongs of the slesvigers, issued in a rescript insisting on the introduction of danish into the law courts. the german partisans were outraged by this insult to german kultur; no tongue but the german should be used even in danish slesvig. the king, the danish court, for over two hundred years had been germanised; the king did not dare to announce himself as a nationalist; but, against the german partisans, he decided that the danish kings had always possessed the right of succession in denmark, that the succession was not confined to the male line in slesvig. in holstein the position was different. if the danish line should become extinct, the succession might fall to the russian emperor; but slesvig must be danish. on the death of king christian viii. in , feeling ran high in denmark and in slesvig-holstein. in truth, all europe was in a ferment. the results of the french revolt in were still leavening europe. the assembly of holstein and slesvig was divided in opinion. the desire of the germans in the provinces to control the majority became more and more apparent. danish interests must disappear, the beginning of the german 'kultur,' not yet developed by bismarck, must take its place. five deputies were sent to copenhagen, with, among other demands, a demand that the danish part of the country be incorporated into the german confederation. the citizens of copenhagen had reason to believe that the holstein counts, moltke and reventlow-criminel, potent ministers and men of strong wills, might influence king frederick vii. to give way to the germans. the king determined to dismiss these ministers; the demands of the town council of copenhagen and the people of denmark were answered before they were made. his majesty had 'neither the will nor the power to allow slesvig to be incorporated in the german confederation; holstein could pursue her own course.'[ ] [ ] h. rosendal, _the problem of danish slesvig_. but the german opposition in the provinces had not been idle. berlin had shown itself favourable to the duke of augustenburg, and the prince of noer had headed a band of rebels against denmark and instigated the garrison of rendsborg to mutiny on the plea that the danes had imprisoned their king. a contest of arms took place between the two parties. prussia interfered; but prussia was not then what it is now. at the conclusion of a three years' war, the rebels were defeated and the king of denmark decreed that slesvig should be a separate duchy, governed by its own assembly. the german party so juggled the election--'fatherland over all' governed their point of view, the end justified the means--that the assembly shamefully misrepresented the danes. it was prussianised. the danes did not lose heart--slesvig must be danish; but if they allowed their language to disappear, there could be no hope for their nationality. on the other hand, the germans held, as they hold to-day, that all languages must yield to theirs. the german press would have extirpated the danish language; it was seditious; the danes were rebels. from the danish side to tönder-flensborg, the official speech and that of the people was danish. between the two belts--the space can easily be traced on the map--danish was spoken in the churches every second sunday. in the schools both danish and german was permitted; in the courts of law both languages were used. you made your choice! the world was deceived by an unscrupulous assembly and the german press into the belief that slesvig was german, lovingly german, and that the danes were merely restless malcontents, hating the beneficent prussian rule simply from a perverted sense of their own importance. the crucial moment came in . denmark had no real friends in europe. the united states, if her people had understood the matter, would have been sympathetic; but, at the moment, she was fighting for her own existence as a nation. the european powers, in spite of all their statecraft, allowed themselves to be blinded. austria, apparently proud and noble, allowed herself, as usual, to be made the tool of prussia. the two powers, on the false pretence that the right of christian ix. to the succession to the duchies was involved, forced denmark, which stood alone, to surrender slesvig-holstein and lauenburg. this was the beginning of the mighty german empire; it made the kiel canal possible, and laid the foundation of the german navy. slesvig, too, supplied the best sailors in the world. bismarck, when he cynically treated slesvig as a pawn in his game, had his eye on a future navy--a navy which would one day force the british from the dominion of the sea. he had his way. he became master of the baltic and the north sea. prussia, in forcing the danish king to cede slesvig, admitted his right to the duchies; yet the pretext for war on denmark had been that no such right existed. prussia soon threw off her ally, austria. she did not want a half owner in the holstein canal or in the coming fleet at kiel. it must be remembered that, when christian ix. had ascended the throne of denmark, it had been with the consent of all the great european powers. they had practically guaranteed him the right to rule slesvig-holstein, and yet england and france and russia stood by and allowed the outrage to take place. france made an attempt to satisfy her conscience. in the treaty of peace france had this clause inserted: 'h.m. the emperor of austria hereby transfers to h.m. the king of prussia all the right which according to the treaty of peace of vienna of october , , he had acquired in respect to the duchies of slesvig and holstein, provided that the northern districts of slesvig shall be united to denmark, if the inhabitants by a free vote declare their desire to that effect.' this was a 'scrap of paper'--nothing more! nevertheless a scrap of paper may be inconvenient. austria, never scrupulous when the acquisition of new territory was expedient, was willing to help prussia to tear it up. bosnia and herzogovina raised their heads. austria wanted help from prussia. here was the prussian chance to induce her to abrogate her part in clause fifty of the peace treaty. what matter? denmark, in time, must be german, as slesvig was german, in spite of all right. austria would play the same game with the slavs as prussia had played with the danes. individuals might have consciences, but nations had no system of ethics, and therefore no canons (except those of expediency), to rule such consciences as they had. prussia treated the right of the danes in slesvig, guaranteed by a 'scrap of paper,' to a free vote as to their fate, with contempt. it had amused bismarck to deceive france, the exponent of the new democracy in europe, but that was all. slesvig was to be crushed until it became quiescently prussian. prussia needed it, therefore it must be prussian. fiat! this is a plain, unvarnished tale. few of my fellow-countrymen have known it. some who knew it hazily concluded that slesvig had become german of its own free will that it might belong to a prosperous and great empire. others, who remembered that, even in their struggle for freedom in , the danes paused for a moment to give us their aid at the request of president lincoln, had a vague idea that wrong had been done somehow; but how great the wrong, and how terrible the effect of the wrong was to be on the history of the world, none of them even dreamed; and yet it was plain enough to those who watched the policy of blood and iron of this, the new germany. people who believed that prussia had any respect for an engagement that might seem to work against her own designs ought to have been warned by the experience of denmark. but there were those who believed that the acquisition of heligoland from the british was a mere trifle, in which germany had the worse of the bargain, as there are people who held that the danish west indies were of no manner of importance to us. they classed these acquisitions with that of alaska--'seward's folly!' and, in , the old powers of europe were so satisfied with their own methods, or so engaged with internal questions, that they let the monstrous tyranny of the conquest of slesvig pass almost in silence. prussia alone kept her eyes on one thing--the increase of her military power. in she induced austria to abrogate her part in the treaty of vienna of october , . austria agreed to give up any rights acquired by her in slesvig-holstein under the fifth clause of that treaty. this withdrawal (not to be irreverent, it was like the washing of the hands of pontius pilate) left slesvig naked to her enemy. the prussian autocrats chuckled when they found themselves bound by a 'scrap of paper' to the restoration of the northern districts of slesvig to denmark, 'if the inhabitants by a free vote declare their desire to that effect.' the imperial german statesmen, astute and unscrupulous, have always taken religion into consideration in making their propaganda. the german crown prince's sympathy with the same methods as used by napoleon bonaparte was perhaps inherited from his ancestors, as napoleon, too, knew the political value of religion. the church, an enslaved church in a despotic state,--the reverse of cavour's famous maxim--has always been one of statesmen's tools. they have never hesitated to use religion as the means of accomplishing the ends of the state. in fact, the catholic church in germany was in great danger of being enslaved. the old wars of the popes and the emperors--so little understood in modern times--would be very possible, had the victory of germany been a probability. let us see what happened in slesvig. since ' , prussia has governed slesvig. this rule has been a prolonged and constant attempt to force the danes from their homes. a very distinguished and rather liberal german diplomatist, count brockdorff-rantzau, once asked me, 'as an american, tell me frankly what is wrong with our position in slesvig?' 'everything,' i said. 'you seem even to assume that the religion of the people should be the religion of the state.' 'the state religion in slesvig is as the state religion in denmark, lutheranism.' 'but not germanised lutheranism. i have the testimony of a lutheran pastor himself, the reverend d. troensegaard-hansen, to the effect that the authorities in slesvig prefer german materialistic teaching to danish christianity, and that all kinds of influence is brought to bear on the clergy to make them german in their point of view. if, in the philippines, we attempted to do the things you do in slesvig, there would be no end of trouble.' he laughed. 'but democrats as you are, you will never keep your promise to grant those people self-government.' 'we will.' 'your democracy is not statesmanlike. it would be fatal for us to let the slesvigers defy our power. they must be part of germany; there is no way out.' 'either you want difficulties with them or you are worrying them just as a great mastiff worries a small dog.' 'but suddenly a gymnast raises the danish flag, or somebody utters a seditious speech in danish, or school books are circulated in which ultra-danish views of history are given. if a country is to be ruled by us, it must be a german country. we can tolerate no difference that tends to denationalise our population. it is a dream--the danish idea that we shall give up what we have taken or, rather, what has been ceded to us.' 'without the consent of the people?' 'who are the people? when you answer that i will tell what is truth. come, you are a democrat; by and by, when you americans are older, you will see democracy from a more practical point of view.' * * * * * the practical point of view in slesvig was squeezing out gradually the independence of the slesvigers. the dane loves passionately his home, his language, his literature. he may be sceptical about many things, but it would be difficult to persuade him to deny that the red and white flag, the danish flag, did not come down from heaven borne by angels! his culture is danish, and part of his life. he keeps it up wistfully even when he swears allegiance to another nation. the danes in denmark will never cease to regard slesvig as their own. it is one flesh with them; but prussia has torn this one body asunder. fancy a 'free election' being permitted in a country ruled by prussian autocrats or a 'free election' in alsace-lorraine under german rule! the geographical position of denmark is unfortunate. there are imperialists of all countries who hold that the little countries have no right to live; junkerism is not confined to germany. the geographical position of most of the little countries is unfortunate, but none is so unfortunate as that of denmark. when the war broke out, it seemed to her people that the road to german conquest lay through her borders. the powers that were in germany decided to attack belgium, and for the moment denmark escaped. do you think that it was an easy thing for a proud people to be in the position of old king canute before the advancing ocean? the waves came on, but nobody in his wildest imaginings ever dreamed that the modern danish canute could stem the tide. the danes have their army and their navy; officers and men expected to die defending denmark. what else could they do? death would be preferable to slavery. the dane does his best to forget; but always the echo of the words of the sentinel in _hamlet_ recurs: ''tis bitter cold, and i am sick at heart.' no number of royal alliances counts as against a bad geographical place in the world and the evil disposition of a strong neighbour. a change of heart has come over the world since germany induced austria to be her catspaw in . the example of a country which deliberately asserted that might makes right, and followed this assertion with deeds that make the angels weep, has shocked the world, and forced other nations to examine their consciences. after all, we are a long time after machiavelli. after the great breakdown in russia there was a feeling among some of the conservatives in denmark that the cousin of the tsar of russia, king george of england, might have laid a restraining hand on the russian parties that forced the tsar to abdicate. but the very mention of this seemed utterly futile. the king of spain, though married to an english princess, could expect little help in any difficulty, were the interests of the english ministry not entirely his. the contemplation of these alliances offers much material for the man who thinks in the terms of history. when president fallières visited copenhagen in , there was a gala concert given at the palace of amalieborg in his honour. the president was accompanied by a 'bloc' of black-coated gentlemen, some of them journalists of distinction. there was no display of gold lace, and the representatives of the french republic were really republican in their simplicity. the danish court and the diplomatic corps were splendid, decorations glittered, and the white and gold rococo setting of the concert room was worthy of it all. the queen of denmark--now the dowager queen--was magnificent, as she always is at gala entertainments, possessing, as she does in her own right, some of the finest jewels in europe. fallières represented the new order. his hostess, the queen, is the daughter of charles xv., a descendant of bernadotte. representing the lines of both st. louis and louis philippe was the princess valdemar, now dead, who, as marie of orleans, came of the royal blood of the families of bourbon and orleans. it was interesting to watch this gracious princess, whose father, the duc de chartres, had been with general mclellan during our civil war. she adapted herself to the circumstances, as she always did, and seemed very proud of the honours shown to france. the countess moltke-huitfeldt, louise bonaparte, was not in denmark at the time. it would have added interest to the occasion, had this descendant of the youngest brother of the emperor napoleon bonaparte been there. count moltke-huitfeldt, married to louise eugénie bonaparte, is almost as french in his sentiments as his wife, and, for her, when the united states joined hands with france, it was a very happy day. one of the events that made the fine castle of glorup, the seat of the moltke-huitfeldts, interesting was the visit of the ex-empress eugénie. the empress eugénie, like all the bonapartes, acknowledged the validity of the patterson-bonaparte marriage. she has always shown a special affection and esteem for the countess moltke-huitfeldt. the estate of glorup, with its artificial lake and garden, in which hans christian andersen often walked, was copied by an ancestor of the present count's from a part of versailles. it was at its best during the visit of the empress, who was the most considerate of guests. the american bonapartes were not ranked as royal highnesses for fear, on the part of napoleon iii. and prince napoleon, 'plon-plon,' of raising unpleasant questions as to the succession. jerome himself, for a short time king of westphalia, never pretended that his american marriage was not valid. meeting madame patterson-bonaparte by accident in the pitti palace, he whispered to the princess of würtemburg--she had then ceased to be queen of westphalia--'there is my american wife.' mr. jerome bonaparte was offered the title of 'duke of sartine' by napoleon iii. if he would give up the name of his family, which, of course, he declined to do. under the french laws, as well as the american, he was the legitimate son of jerome bonaparte. the presence of the countess moltke-huitfeldt would have added another interesting touch to the assemblage in amalieborg palace, a touch which would have served for a footnote to history. in spite of the name 'moltke,' count adam and his wife are as french as the french themselves. names in denmark are very deceptive. the question of war was even then, in , in the air. the german diplomatists were polite to fallières, but they considered him heavy and _bourgeois_, and believed that he represented the undying dislike for germany which the french system of education was inculcating. 'if the french schools teach the rising generation to hate germany, what is the attitude of the german educators?' i asked. 'we know that we are hated, and we teach our young to be ready for an attack from wherever it comes; but we love peace, of course.' in , it was generally thought that the kaiser himself was inclined to keep the peace. now and then an isolated englishman would declare that he had his doubts, when a german traveller seemed to know _too_ much about his country, or when amiable german guests asked too many intimate questions. it was the custom for the older colleagues to offer the newer ones a history of the slesvig-holstein dispute, which dated from the fifteenth century. on my arrival, sir alan johnston had presented me with a volume on the subject by herr neergaard, considered the 'last word' on the subject. the pages, i noticed, were uncut, so i felt justified in passing it on to the newest colleagues, taking care, in order to give him perfect freedom, not to autograph it! it was, as a french secretary often said, 'a complication most complicated'; but one fact was clear--the deplorable position of a liberty-loving people, deprived of the essentials that make life worth living! the great barrier to the entire domination of prussian ideals in this area between the baltic and the north sea is the existence of the danish national spirit in slesvig. 'if the other nations of europe had looked ahead, the power of prussia might have been held within reasonable bounds; the war in would have been impossible; this last awful world-conflict would not have occurred. germany would have been taught her place long ago.' how often was this repeated! the relations between the emperor william and the emperor of russia were supposed to be unusually friendly then, after the practical defeat of russia by japan. in older days, queen louise of denmark thought she had laid the foundation for a certain friendliness; but, nevertheless, the tsar, though closely related to the kaiser and dominated largely by his very beautiful german wife, was never free to ignore the slavic genius of his people. kings and emperors--all royal folk--made up a family society of their own until this war. we have changed all that, as the man in molière's comedy said; and yet, as a rule, german royal princesses remained prussian in spite of all temptation, while other women seemed naturally to adopt the nationalities of their husbands. the princesses connected with the prussian royal house seem immutably prussian. the tsar, then, like the kaiser, cousin of the king of england, the son of a mother who remembered slesvig-holstein and never liked the prussians, had second thoughts. (they were nearly always wrong when his wife influenced them.) it was one thing to call the mighty prussian 'willie'--all royalties have little domestic names--another to break with france and to bow the slavic head to german benevolent assimilation. the tsar might call the emperor by any endearing epithet, but that did not imply political friendship; king george of greece and queen alexandra were very fond of each other, but the queen would never have attempted to give her brotherly majesty the island of crete which he badly wanted. with the death of the queen of christian ix., assemblies of royalties ceased in denmark; the old order had changed. there was no neutral ground where the royalties and their scions could meet and soften asperities by the simplicity of family contact. the point of view in europe had become more democratic and more keen. even if there had been a queen louise to try to make her family, even to the remotest grandchild, a unit, it could not have been done. reverence for royalty had passed out with queen victoria; the idols were dissolving, and restless ideals became visible in their places. prussia had drawn her states into a united empire; tributary kings were at the chariot wheel of the prussian emperor, not because the kings so willed, but because the subjects of the kings--the commercial people, the landowners, the military caste, the capitalists, the increasingly prosperous farmers--discovered it to be to their advantage. bismarck's policy of blood and iron meant more money and more worldly success for the germans. although the smaller teutonic states had lost their freedom, bismarck began to pay each of them its price in good gold with the stamp of the empire upon it. to take and to hold was the motto of the empire:--'we take our own wherever we find it!' the old germans disappeared; the germans who were frugal and philosophical, poor and poetical, were emerging from the simplicity of the past to the luxury of the present. as a rule, i found the russian diplomatists very well informed and clever. their foreign office seemed to have no confidants outside the bureaucratic circle. the russian journalist, like most other journalists, was not better or earlier informed of events than the diplomatists. as copenhagen was the place where every diplomat in the world went at some time or other, one was sure to discover interesting rumours or real news without much trouble. while the newspapers or magazines of nearly every other nation gave indications in advance of the public opinion that might govern the cabinets or the foreign offices, the russian periodicals gave no such clues. there was no use in keeping a russian translator; real russian opinion was seldom evident, except when a royalty or a diplomatist might, being bored by his silence, or with a patriotic object, tell the truth. 'what prevents war?' i asked in of one of my colleagues. 'lack of money,' he answered promptly, repeating the words of prince koudacheff. 'germany and russia will fly at each other's throats as soon as the financiers approve of it. you will not report this to your foreign office,' he said, laughing, 'because america looks on war, a general european war, as unthinkable. it would seem absurd! nobody in america and only ten per cent. of the thinking people in england will believe it! as for france, she is wise to make friends with my country, but she would be wiser if she did not believe that germany will wait until she is ready to make her _revanche_. there are those in her government who hold that the _revanche_ is a dream--that france would do well to accept solid gains for the national dream. they are fools!' 'iswolsky is of the same opinion, i hear,' i said, for we had all a great respect for iswolsky. but when the london _national review_ repeated the same sentiments over and over again, it seemed unbelievable that the kaiser's professions of peace were not honest. yet individual pan-germans were extremely frank. 'we must have our place in the east,' they said; 'we must cut the heart out of slavic ambitions, and deal with english arrogance.' in a general way, we were always waiting for war. in , count aehrenthal, then a very great austrian, told a celebrated financial promoter who visited our legation, that war was inevitable. the austrians and the russians feared it and believed it--feared it so much that when i was enabled to contradict the rumour, there was a happy sigh as the news was well documented. austria did not want war; russia did not want war. 'but the emperor of germany?' i asked of one of the most honourable and keenest diplomatists in berlin. 'he is surrounded by a military clique; he desires to preserve the rights and prerogatives of the german empire, above all, the hereditary and absolute principle without a long war. a war will do it for him--if it is short. he himself would prefer to avoid it. yet he must justify the army and the navy; but the war must be short.' 'but does he _want_ war?' 'he is not bloodthirsty; he knows what war means, but he will want what his _clique_ wants.' these two diplomatists are both alive--one in exile--but i shall not mention their names. my colleagues were sometimes very frank. it would not be fair to tell secrets which would embarrass them--for a harmless phrase over a glass of tokai is a different thing read over a glass of cold water! and, in the old days, before , good dinners and good wines were very useful in diplomatic 'conversations.' things began to change somewhat when after-dinner bridge came in. but, dinner or no dinner, bridge or no bridge, the diplomatic view was always serious. in denmark the thoughtful citizen often said, 'we are doomed; germany can absorb us.' count holstein-ledreborg once said, 'but providence may save us yet.' 'by a miracle.' it seemed absurd in that any great power should be allowed to think of conquering a smaller nation, simply because it was small. 'you don't reckon with public opinion--in the united states, for instance,--or the view of the hague conference,' i said. 'public opinion in your country or anywhere else will count little against krupp and his cannon. public opinion will not save denmark, for even russia might have reason to look the other way. that would depend on england.' it seemed impossible, for, like most americans, i was almost an idealist. the world was being made a vestibule of heaven, and the pessimist was anathema! was not science doing wonderful things? it had made life longer; it had put luxuries in the hands of the poor. the bad old days, when madame du barry could blind the eyes of louis xv. to the horrors of the partition of poland, and when the proud maria theresa could, in the same cause, subordinate her private conscience to the temptations of national expediency, were over. no man could be enslaved since lincoln had lived! the hague conference would save poland in due time, the democratic majority in great britain and ireland was undoing the wrongs of centuries by granting home rule for ireland, and, as for the little nations, public opinion would take care of them! 'what beautiful language you use, mr. minister,' said count holstein-ledreborg; 'but you americans live in a world of your own. nobody knows what the military party in germany will do. go to germany yourself. it is no longer the germany of canon schmid, of auerbach, of heyse, of the lorelei and the simple musical concert and the happy family life. why, as many cannons as candles are hung on the christmas trees!' i repeated this speech to one of the most kindly of my colleagues, count henckel-donnersmarck, who was really a sane human creature, too bored with artificiality to wear his honours with comfort. 'oh, for your dress coat,' he would say. 'look at my gold lace; i am loaded down like a camel. the old germany, _cher collègue_, it is gone. i long for it; i am not of blood and iron; the old germany, you will not find it, though you search even bavaria and silesia. and i believe, with the great frederick, that your great country and mine may possess the future, if we are friends; therefore,' he smiled, 'i will not deceive you. the germany of the american imagination, our old germany, is gone.' he hated court ceremonies, whereas i rather like them; they were beautiful and stately symbols, sanctified by tradition. he ought to have danced at the court balls, but he never would. he was lazy. he was grateful to my wife, because she ordered me to dance the cotillions with countess henckel, who must dance with somebody who 'ranked,' or sit for five or six hours on a crimson bench. the danes had no belief that we could or would help them in a conflict for salvation, but they liked us. in , when dr. cook suddenly came, they declared that they would take 'the word of an american gentleman' for his story of the north pole. sweden accepted him at once, england was divided--king edward against cook; queen alexandra for him! when admiral peary made his claim, the queen of england said,--'thank heaven! it is american against american, and not englishman against american.' we were all glad of that; and i was very grateful to the danes for showing respect for the honour of an american, in whom none of us had any reason to disbelieve. there was no warning from the scientists in the united states. the german savants accepted dr. cook at once. in fact, until admiral peary sent his message, there seemed to be no doubt as to cook's claims, except on the part of the royal british geographical society. i joined the danish royal geographical society at his reception; it was not my duty to cast aspersions on the honour of an american, of whom i only knew that he had written _the voyage of the belgic_, had been the associate of admiral peary, and was a member of very good clubs. even if i had been scientific enough to have doubts, i should have been polite to him all the same. as it was, denmark was delighted to welcome cook because he was an american; he had apparently accomplished a great thing, and besides, he directed attention from politics at a tremendous public crisis. the great question for the danish government was as usual: shall we defend ourselves? shall we build ships and keep a large army and erect fortresses, or simply say 'kismet' when germany comes? the conservatives were for defence; the radicals and socialists against it. mr. j. c. christensen, one of the most powerful of danish politicians, of the moderate school, holding the balance of power, was in a tight place. alberti, the clever radical, had been supported by christensen, who had been innocently involved in his fall. alberti languished in jail, and christensen was being horribly assailed when dr. cook came and denmark forgot christensen and went wild with delight! in - , denmark trembled for fear that she would lose her freedom. when would the germans attack? the disorder in slesvig was perennial. a bill for a reasonable defence had been proposed to the danish parliament. king frederick had had great difficulty in forming a ministry. count morgen friis, capable, distinguished, experienced, but with some of the indolence of the old grand seigneur, had refused. richelieu could not see his way clear; nobody wanted the responsibility. the socialists and the radicals, practical, if you like, did not believe in building forts in the hope of saving the national honour. king frederick viii. was at his wit's end for a premier, for, as i have said, even count morgen friis, a man of undoubted ability and great influence, failed him. king frederick, because of his desire to stand well with his people, was never popular. his glove was too velvety, and he treated his political enemies as well as he did his friends. count friis was known to lean towards england, and he was very popular; he would have stood for a strong defence. admiral de richelieu was a man of great influence, a devoted slesviger, and the greatest 'industrial,' with the exception of state-councillor andersen, in denmark; he was not keen for the premiership, and his friends did not care that he should compromise their business interests; for, in denmark, business and politics do not mix well. finally, king frederick called on count holstein-ledreborg, without doubt, with perhaps the exception of--but i must not mention living men--the cleverest man in denmark. count holstein-ledreborg was a recluse; he had been practically exiled by the scornful attitude taken by the aristocracy on account of his radicalism, but had returned to his renascence castle near the old dwelling-place of beowulf. count holstein-ledreborg was the last resource, he had been out of politics for many years. although he was a pessimist, he was a furious patriot. he had a great respect for the abilities of the radicals, like edward brandès, but very little for those--'if they existed,' he said--of his own class in the aristocracy. he was one of the few catholics among the aristocracy, and he had a burning grievance against the existing order of churchly things. the state church in denmark is, like that of sweden and norway, lutheran. until , except in one or two commercial towns where there was a constant influx of merchants, no catholic church was permitted. the chapel of count holstein in his castle of ledreborg, was still lutheran. he was not permitted to have mass said in it, as it was a church of the commune. this made the lord of ledreborg furious. there must be lutheran worship in his own chapel, or no worship; this was the law! there was something else that added to his indignation. one day, very silently, he opened the doors that concealed a panel in the wall. there was a very lutheran picture indeed! it was done in glaring colours, even realistic colours. it represented various devils, horned and tailed and pitch-forked, poking into the fire in the lower regions a pope and several cardinals, who were turning to crimson like lobsters, while some pious lutheran prelates gave great thanks for this agreeable proceeding. 'in my own chapel,' said count holstein, 'almost facing the altar; and the law will not permit me to remove it!' being an american, i smiled; thereby, i almost lost a really valued friendship. 'i shall arrange with the king to give a substitute for the chapel to the commune--a school-house or a library--and have the chapel consecrated,' he said. 'i think i see my way.' '"all things come to him who knows how to wait,"' i quoted. in , at the time of the crisis, he accepted the task of forming a cabinet to get the defence bill through parliament, but he made one condition with the king--that he should have his own chapel to do as he liked with. he carried the defence bill through triumphantly and then, having made his point, and finding parliament unreasonable, from his point of view, on some question or other, he told its members to go where orpheus sought eurydice, and retired! he died too soon; he would have been a great help to us in the troubled days when we were trying to buy the virgin islands. he was my mentor in european politics, and a most distinguished man; and what is better, a good friend. at times he was sardonic. 'i would make,' he said, 'if i had the power, edward brandès (brandès is of the famous brandès family) minister of public worship!' (as brandès is a jew and a greek pagan both at once, it would have been one of those ironies of statecraft like that which made the duke of norfolk patron of some anglican livings.) count holstein disliked state churches. he was a strange mixture of the wit of voltaire with the faith of pascal, and one of the most inflexible of radicals. the party for the defence and for the integrity of the army and navy had its way; but, owing to the attitude of the socialists, a very moderate way. 'if germany comes, she will take us,' the radicals said with the socialists; 'why waste public money on soldiers and military bands and submarines?' but there are enough stalwarts, including the king, christian, to believe that a country worth living in is worth fighting for! chapter ii the menace of 'our neighbour to the south' in , russia seemed to me to be, for americans, the most important country in europe. our department of state was no doubt informed as to what the other countries would do in certain contingencies, for none of our diplomatic representatives, although always working under disadvantages not experienced by their european colleagues, had been idle persons. but all of us who had even cursorily studied european conditions knew that the actions of germany would depend largely on the attitude of russia. it was to the interest of emperor william to keep nicholas ii. and the romanoffs on the throne. he saw no other way of dividing and conquering a country which he at once hated and longed to control. the balkan situation was always burning; it was the etna and vesuvius of the diplomatic world; wise men might predict eruptions, but they were always unexpected. to most people in the united states the balkans seemed very far off; bulgaria with her eyes on macedonia, the tsar ferdinand and his attempt to put his son, boris, under the greater tsar, him of russia; rumania and her ambitions for more freedom and more territory; serbia, with her fears and aspirations, appeared to be of no importance--of less interest, perhaps, than other petty kingdoms. but at one fatal moment austria refused to allow serbia to export her pigs, and we came to pay about two million dollars an hour and to sacrifice most precious lives, much greater things, because of the ferocious growth of this little germ of tyranny and avarice. most of us have fixed ideas; if they are the result of prejudice, they are generally bad; if they are the result of principle, that is another question. when i went to denmark at the request of president roosevelt, i had several fixed ideas, whether of prejudice or principle i could not always distinguish. i had been brought up in a sentiment of gratitude to russia--she had behaved well to us in the civil war--and in a firm belief that her people only needed a fair chance to become our firm friends. we must seek european markets for our capital and our investments, and russia offered us a free way. towards the end of the year , the signs in russia were more ominous than usual. it had always seemed to me--and the impression had come probably from long and intimate association with some very clever diplomatists--that russian problems, industrially and economically, were very similar to our own, and that, in the future, her interests would be our interests. she was in evil hands--that was evident; nicholas ii., after the peace of portsmouth, was not so pleased with the action of president roosevelt as he ought to have been, and the arrogant clique, the bureaucrats who controlled the tsar, regarded us with suspicion and dislike. at the same time, it was plain that a great part of the landed nobility looked with hope to the united states as a nation which ought to understand their problems and assist, with technical advice and capital, in the solving of them. the baltic barons, many with german names and not of the orthodox faith, preferred that the united states, by the investments of her citizens in russia, should hold a balance between the french and the german financial influences, for germany was slowly beginning to control russia financially, and french capital meant a competition with the german interests which might eventually mean a conflict and war. the well instructed among the russian people, including the estate owners whose interests were not bureaucratic, feared war above all things. the japanese war had given them reason for their fears. to my mind there were three questions of great importance for us: how could we, with self-respect, keep on good terms with russia? how could we discover what germany's intentions were? and how could we strengthen the force of the monroe doctrine by acquiring, through legitimate means, certain islands on our coasts, especially the gallapagos, the danish west indies and others which, perhaps, it might not be discreet to mention. while the united states seemed fixed in her policy of keeping out of foreign entanglements, it seemed to me that the rule of conduct of a nation, like that of an individual, cannot always be consistent with its theories, since all intentions put into action by the party of the first part must depend on the action and point of view of the party of the second part. i had been largely influenced in my views of the value of the monroe doctrine by the speeches and writings of ex-president roosevelt and senator lodge. it was a self-evident truth, too, that, for the sake of democracy, for the sake of the future of our country, the autonomy of the small nations must be preserved. this attitude i made plain during my ten years in denmark; perhaps i over-accentuated it, but to this attitude i owe the regard of the majority of the danish people and of some of the folk of the other scandinavian nations. the position taken by germany, under prussian influence, in brazil and argentine, certain indications in our own country, which i shall emphasise later, the intrigues as to the bagdad railway, and the threats as to what germany might do in scandinavia in case russia attempted to interfere with german plans in the east, were alarming. then again was the hint that denmark might be seized if germany found russia in an alliance against england. from my earliest youth, i knew many germans whom i esteemed and admired; but they were generally descendants of the men of , that year which saw the hungarians defeated and the german lovers of liberty exiled. there were others of a later time who believed, with the kaiser, that a german emigrant was simply a german colonist--waiting! these people were so naïve in their prussianism, in their disdain for everything american, that they scarcely seemed real! when a german waiter looked out of the hotel window in trafalgar square and said, waving his napkin at the spectacle of the congested traffic, 'when the day comes, we shall change all this,' we americans laughed. this was in the eighties. yet he meant it; and 'we' have not changed all this even for the day! the alarm was sounded in south america, but few north americans took it seriously, and we knew how the english accepted the german invasions to the very doors of their homes. however, when i went to denmark in august , deeply honoured by president roosevelt's outspoken confidence in me, i became aware that prussianised germany might at any moment seize that little country, and that, in that case, the danish west indies would be german. a pleasant prospect when we knew that germany regarded the monroe doctrine as the silly figment of a democratic brain unversed in the real meaning of world politics. again, i saw exemplified the fact that _in the eyes of the kaiser, a german emigrant was a german colonist_. once a german always a german; the ideas of the fatherland must follow the blood, and these ideas are one and indivisible. consequently, no place could have been more interesting than the capital of denmark. here diplomatists were taught, made, or unmade. until we were forced to join in the european concert by the acquirement of the philippines, the post did not seem to be important. 'you always send your diplomatists here to learn their art,' the clever queen of christian ix. had said to an american. it may not have been intended as a compliment! in the second place, copenhagen was the centre of those new social and political movements that are affecting the world; denmark was rapidly becoming socialistic. she, one of the oldest kingdoms in the world, presented the paradox of being the spot in which all tendencies supposed to be anti-monarchical were working out. she had already solved problems incidental to the evolution of democratic ideals, which in our own country we have only begun timidly to consider. in the third place, copenhagen was near the most potent country in the world--germany under prussian domination. i make the distinction between 'potency' and 'greatness.' and, in the fourth place, it gave anybody who wanted to be 'on his job' a good opportunity of studying the effect of german propinquity on a small nation. unfortunately, in - - - - , no experience in watching german methods seemed of much value to our own people or to the english. the english who watched them critically, like maxse, the editor of the _national review_ of london, were not listened to. perhaps these persons were too radical and intemperate. the english foreign office had, after the vatican, the reputation of having the best system for obtaining information in europe, but both the english foreign office and the vatican secretariat seemed to have suddenly become deaf. we americans were too much taken up with the german _gemütlichkeit_, or scientific efficiency, to treat the prussian movements with anything but tolerance. the germans had won the hearts of some of our best men of science, who believed in them until belief was impossible; and, with most of my countrymen, i held that a breach of the peace in europe seemed improbable. there was always the hague! the only thing left for me was to let the germans be as _gemütlich_ as they liked, and to watch their attitude in denmark, for on this depended the ownership of the west indies. my german colleagues, henckel-donnersmarck, von waldhausen, and brockdorff-rantzau, were able men; and, i think, they looked on me as a madman with a fixed idea. count rantzau, if he lives, will be heard of later; he is one of the well-balanced among diplomatists. i realised early in the game that my work must be limited to watching germany in her relations with denmark. i knew what was expected of me. i had no doubt that the united states was the greatest country in the world in its potentialities, but i had no belief, then, in its power to enforce its high ideals on the politics of the european world. in fact, it never occurred to me that our country would be called upon to enforce them, for, unless the imperial german government should take it into its head to lay hands on a country or two in south america, it seemed to me that we might keep entirely out of such foreign entanglements as concerned western europe and constantinople and the balkans. if, however, there should be such interference by france and england with the interests of germany as would warrant her and her active ally in attacking these countries, denmark and, automatically, her islands would be german. then, we, in self-defence, must have something to say. secret diplomacy was flourishing in europe, and nothing was really clear. after the event it is very easy to take up the rôle of the prophet, but that is not in my line. if a man is not a genius, he cannot have the intuition of a genius, and, while i accepted the opinions of my more experienced colleagues, i imagined that their fears of a probable war were exaggerated. besides, i had been impressed by the constantly emphasised opinion--part of the german propaganda, i now believe--that our great enemy was japan. since the year , when i had been well introduced into diplomatic circles in washington, i had known many representatives of foreign powers. since those days, so well described in madame de hegermann-lindencrone's _sunny side of diplomatic life_, the german point of view had greatly changed. it was a far cry from the days of the easy-going herr von schlözer to speck von sternberg and efficient count bernstorff, a far cry from the amicable point of view of mr. poultney bigelow taken of the young kaiser in the eighties, and his revised point of view in . mr. poultney bigelow's change from a certain attitude of admiration, in his case with no taint of snobbishness, was typical of that of many of my own people. i must confess that no instructions from the state department had prepared me for the german echoes i heard in denmark; but even if treitschke had come to the united states to air his views at the university of chicago, i should probably have considered them merely academic, and have treated them as cavalierly as i had treated the speech of the waiter in the trafalgar square hotel about 'changing all that.' nietzsche's philosophy seemed so atrocious as to be ineffective. but we americans, as a rule, take no system of philosophy as having any real connection with the conduct of life, and, except in very learned circles, his was looked on as no more part of the national life of germany than william james is of ours. in a little while, i discovered that the kaiser had imposed on the prussians, at least, a most practical system of philosophy, which our universities had come to admire. i had not been long in denmark when i realised that germany, in the three scandinavian countries, was looked on either as a powerful enemy or as a potential friend, and that she tried, above all, to control the learned classes. the united states hardly counted; she was too far off and seemed to be hopelessly ignorant of the essential conditions of foreign affairs. her diplomacy, if it existed at all, was determined by existing political conditions at home. i visited holland and belgium; germany loomed larger. she was bent on commercial supremacy everywhere. one could not avoid admitting that fact. as to denmark, it was piteous to see how the danes feared the power that never ceased to threaten them. prussia has made her empire possible by establishing the beginnings, in , of her naval power at the expense of denmark. the longer i lived in denmark the more strongly i felt that germany was getting ready for a short, sharp war in which the united states of america, it seemed to me (as i was no prophet), was not to be a factor, but russia was. the members of the german legation were very sympathetic, especially the minister, count henckel-donnersmarck. he loved weimar; he loved the old germany. it was a delight to hear him talk of the real glories of his country. his family, in the opinion of the germans, was so great that he could afford to do as he pleased; i rather think he looked on the hohenzollerns as rather _parvenus_. he was of the school of frederick the noble rather than of william the conqueror. 'do you mind talking politics?' i asked him one day. 'it bores me,' he said, 'because there is nothing stable. my country feels that it is being isolated. since algeria, in , she stands against europe, with austria.' 'stands against the united states?' 'no, no; we shall always be at peace,' he said. 'our interests are not dissimilar; our military organisation is almost perfect. yes, we learned some lessons even from your civil war, though you are not a military people. your country is full of our citizens.' '_your_ citizens, count!' 'ah, yes,--in brazil and argentine, everywhere, a german citizen is like a roman citizen, proud and unchanging, that is the german citizen who understands the aims of modern germany. _civis romanus sum!_ the older ones are different; it is a question of sentiment and memories with them. your great german population will always keep you out of conflict with us, though even you, who know our literature, are at heart english--i mean politically. you cannot help it. your irish blood may count, but the point of view is made by literature. it gets into the blood. see what homer has done for those old savages of his. our bankers can always manage the finances of new york, as they manage those of london. it would be a sad day for germany if we should break with you; some of us know that frederick the great saw your future, and believed that we always ought to be friends. but do not imagine that your nation, great as it is, can do anything your people wills to do. great power, i understand, is hidden in your country; but, as the actors say, you cannot get it across the footlights. it is not, as gambetta spoke of the catholic religion in france, a matter for export.' 'our education,' count henckel-donnersmarck resumed, 'is practical; goethe and schiller mean little now to us. bismarck has made new men of us. i shall not live long, and i cannot say i regret it,' he said; 'and, as the lust of power becomes the rule of the world, my son must be a new german or suffer.' 'count henckel,' as he preferred to be called, did not remain long in copenhagen; he was recalled because, it was reported, he did not provide the kaiser, who carefully read his ministers' reports, with a sufficient number of details of life in denmark. when i took his hint and went to germany, at christmas--christmas was a divine time in the old germany!--i found that count henckel was right. berlin was hygienic, ugly, and more offensively immoral than paris was once said to be. there was an artificial rule of life. even the lives of the boys and girls seemed to be ordered by some unseen law. you could breathe, but it was necessary not to consume too much oxygen at a time. that was _verboten_; and there were cannons on the christmas trees! chapter iii the kaiser and the king of england it was pleasant to renew old memories among diplomatists and ex-diplomatists in copenhagen. i remembered the old days in washington, when sir edward thornton's house was far up-town, when the rows between the chileans and peruvians--i forget to which party the amiable ibañez belonged--convulsed the coteries that gathered at mrs. dahlgren's, when bodisco and aristarchi bey and baron de santa ana were more than names, and the hegermann-lindencrones[ ] were the handsomest couple in washington. so it was agreeable to find some colleagues with whom one had reminiscences in common. then there were the americans married to members of the corps. lady johnston, wife of sir alan; madame de riaño, married to one of the most well-balanced and efficient diplomatists in europe. these ladies made the way of my wife and my daughters very easy. [ ] madame hegermann-lindencrone is the author of _in the court of memory_ and _the sunny side of diplomacy_. an envoy arriving at a new post has one consolation, not an unmitigatedly agreeable one. he is sure of knowing what his colleagues think of him. and for a while they weigh him very carefully. the american can seldom shirk the direct question: 'is this your first post?' it required great strength of mind not to say: 'i had a special mission to the indian reservations, and i have always been, more or less, you know----' 'ah, i see! calcutta, bombay----!' 'not exactly--red lake, you know--the reservations, wards of our government.' 'oh, red indians! i was not aware that you had diplomatic relations with the old red indian princes. but this is your first post in europe?' you cannot avoid that. however, the longer one is at a post, the more he enjoys it. in the course of nearly eleven years, i never knew one of my colleagues who did not show _esprit de corps_. they become more and more kindly. you know that they know your faults and your virtues. in the diplomatic service you are like wolsey, naked, not to your enemies, but to your colleagues. they can help you greatly if they will. after the peace of portsmouth, which in the opinion of certain russians gave all the advantages to japan, the emperor of germany spoke of president roosevelt with added respect, we were told. the attitude toward americans on the part of germans seemed always the reflection of the point of view of the kaiser. from their point of view, it was only the president who counted; our nation, from the pan-german point of view seemed not to be of importance. it was rather hard to find out exactly what the kaiser's attitude towards us was. some of the court circle--there were always visitors from berlin--announced that the kaiser was greatly pleased by the result of the portsmouth conference. he knew the weakness of russia, and though he believed that german interests required that she should not be strong, he feared, above all things, the preponderance of the yellow races. i discovered one thing early, that the pan-german party propagated the idea that the japanese alliance with england could be used against the united states. it was vain to argue about this. 'japan is your enemy; the philippines will be japanese, unless you strengthen yourselves by a quasi-alliance with us; then england, tied to japan, can not oppose you.' one could discover very little from the kaiser's public utterances; but he indemnified himself for his conventionality in public by his frankness in private. he described the danish as the most 'indiscreet of courts.' he forgot that his own indiscretions had become proverbial in copenhagen. whether this 'indiscretion' was first submitted to the foreign office is a question. his diplomatists were usually miracles of discretion; but the city was full of 'echoes' from berlin which did not come from the diplomatists or the court. the truth was, the kaiser looked on the courts of denmark and stockholm as dependencies, and he was 'hurt' when any of the court circle seemed to forget this. in his eyes, a german princess, no matter whom she married, was to remain a german. the present queen of denmark, the most discreet of princesses, never forgot that she was a danish princess and would be in time a danish queen. every german princess was looked upon as a propagator of the views of the kaiser;--the queen of the belgians was a sore disappointment to him; but, then, she was not a prussian princess. when one of the princesses joined the catholic church, there was an explosion of rage on his part. as far as i could gather, in - - , he was _chambré_, as liberal germany said, surrounded by people who echoed his opinions, or who, while pretending to accept them, coloured them with their own. it was surmised that he despised his uncle, king edward. evidences of this would leak out. he admired our material progress, and he was determined to imitate our methods. the loquacity of some of our compatriots amused him. he understood president roosevelt so little as to imagine that he could influence him. there was one american he especially disliked, and that was archbishop ireland; but the reason for that will form almost a chapter by itself. as i have said, it seemed to me most important that good feeling in the little countries of europe should be founded on respect for us. somebody, a cynic, once said that the only mortal sin among americans is to be poor. that may or may not be so. it was, however, the impression in europe. it was difficult in denmark to make it understood that we were interested in literature and art, or had any desire to do anything but make money. the attempt to buy the danish west indies, made in , was looked on by many of the danes as the manifestation of a desire on the part of an arrogant and imperial-minded people to take advantage of the poverty of a little country. 'you did not dare to propose to buy an island near your coast from england or france, or even holland,' they said. this prejudice was encouraged by the german press whenever an opportunity arose. and against this prejudice it was my business to fight. until after the war with spain--unfortunate as it was in some aspects--we were disdained; after that we were supposed to have crude possibilities. german propagandists took advantage of our seeming 'newness,' forgetting that the new germany was a _parvenu_ among the nations. our people _en tour_ in europe spent money freely and gave opinions with an infallible air almost as freely. they too frequently assumed the air of folk who had 'come abroad' to complete an education never begun at home; or, if they were persons who had 'advantages,' they were too anxious for a court _entrée_, asking their representative for it as a right, and then acting at court as if it were a divine privilege. it was necessary in denmark to accentuate the little things. the danes love elegant simplicity; they are, above all, aesthetic. my predecessor, who did not remain long enough in denmark to please his danish admirers, called the danes 'the most civilised of peoples.' i found that he was right; but they were full of misconceptions concerning us. we used toothpicks constantly! we did not know how to give a dinner! the values of the wine list (before the war, most important) would always remain a mystery to us. in a word, we were 'yankees!' to make propaganda--the first duty of a diplomatist--requires thought, time and money. the germans used all three intelligently. one cannot travel in the provinces without money. one cannot reach the minds of the people without the distribution of literature. unhappily, governments before the war, with the exception of the german government, took little account of this. one of the best examples of an effective propaganda, of the most practicable and far-sighted methods, was that of the french ambassador to the united states, jusserand. he did not wait to be taught anything by the germans. we have two bad habits: we read our psychology as well as our temperament--the result of a unique kind of experience and education--into the minds of other people, and we despise the opinion of nations which are small. the first defect we have suffered from, and the latter we shall suffer from if we are not careful. who cares whether bulgaria respects us or not? and yet a diplomatist soon learns that it counts. it is a grave question whether the little countries look with hope towards democracy, or with helpless respect towards autocracy. we see that bulgaria counted; we shall see that denmark counted, too, when the moment came for our buying the virgin islands. the german propaganda was incessant. denmark was in close business relations with england. denmark furnished the english breakfast table--the inevitable butter, bacon and eggs. but the trade relations between england and denmark were not cultivated as were those between denmark and germany. the german 'drummer' was the rule, the english commercial traveller the exception. as to the american, he seldom appeared, and when he came he spoke no language but his own. in literature the germans did all they could to cultivate the interest of the danish author. he was petted and praised when he went to berlin--that is, after his books had been translated. berlin never allowed herself to praise any scandinavian books in the original. as to music, the best german musicians came to denmark. richard strauss led the _rosenkavalier_ in person; the berlin symphony and rheinhart's plays were announced. every opportunity was taken to show denmark germany's best in music, art and science. 'if you speak the word culture, you must add the word german.' this was a berlin proverb. 'all good american singers must have my stamp before america will hear them,' the kaiser said. danish scientists were always sure of recognition in germany, but they must be read in german or speak in german when they visited berlin. in king edward came to copenhagen. he was regarded principally as the husband of the beloved princess alexandra. he did not conceal the fact that copenhagen bored him, and the copenhageners knew it. however, they received him with an appearance of amiability they had not shown to the kaiser on the occasion of his visit. no dane who remembered bismarck and slesvig and who saw at kiel the growing german fleet could admire the emperor william ii. even the most ferocious propagandists demanded too much when they asked that. they looked on the visits of king frederick viii. to germany with suspicion. when the crown prince, the present christian x., married the daughter of the grand duke of mecklenburg-schwerin, they were not altogether pleased. they were reconciled, however, by the fact that the crown princess was the daughter of a russian mother. besides, the crown princess, now queen alexandrina, was chosen by prince christian because he loved her. 'she is the only woman i will marry,' he had said. and when she married him, she became danish, unlike her sister-in-law, the princess harald, who has always remained german, much to the embarrassment of her husband, and the rumoured annoyance of the present king, who holds that a danish princess must be a dane and nothing else. the danish queen's mother is the clever grand duchess anastasia michaelovna,[ ] who was russian and parisian, who loved the riviera, above all cannes, and who was the most brilliant of widows. when the sister of queen alexandrina married the german crown prince in , the danes were relieved, but not altogether pleased. those of them who believed that royal alliance counted, hoped that a future german empress, so nearly akin to their queen, might ward off the ever-threatening danger of prussian conquest. [ ] on the outbreak of the war, the grand duchess threw off her allegiance to germany, and resumed her russian citizenship. the crown princess cecilia became a favourite in germany; it was rumoured that she was not sufficient of a german housewife to suit the kaiser. 'the crown princess cecilia is adorable, but she will not permit her august father-in-law to choose her hats,' said a visiting lady of the german autocratic circle; 'she might, at least, follow the example of her mother-in-law, for the emperor's taste is unimpeachable!' my wife remembered that this serene, well-born lady wore a hat of mustard yellow, then a favourite colour in berlin! in april , king edward vii. and queen alexandra made a visit to copenhagen. it was the custom in denmark that, when a reigning sovereign came on a gala visit, the court and the diplomatists were expected to go to the station to meet him. the waiting-room of the station was decorated with palms which had not felt the patter of rain for years, and with rugs evidently trodden to shabbiness by many royal feet. amid these splendours a _cercle_ was held. the visiting monarch, fresh from his journey, spoke to each of the diplomatists in turn. he dropped pearls of thought for which one gave equally valuable gems. 'the american minister, your majesty,' said the chamberlain. 'glad to see you; where are you from?' 'washington, the capital.' 'there are more washingtons?' 'many, sir.' 'how do you like copenhagen?' 'greatly--almost as well as london' (insert stockholm, christiania, the hague, to suit the occasion). and then came the voice of the chamberlain--'the austrian minister, your majesty.' 'how do you like copenhagen?' the same formula was used until the _chargés d'affaires_, who always ended the list, were reached: 'how long have you been in copenhagen?' king edward was accompanied by a staff of the handsomest and most soldierly courtiers imaginable; they were the veritable splendid captains of kipling's _recessional_. queen alexandra was attended by the hon. charlotte knollys and miss vivian. it was a great pleasure to see miss knollys again. to those who knew her all the tiresome waiting was worth while; she seemed like an old friend. the police surveillance was not so strict when the king and queen of england were in copenhagen; but when any of the russian royalties arrived, the police had a time of anxiety though they were reinforced by hundreds of detectives. in copenhagen it was always said that the empress dowager, the grand duke michael, the archduchess olga, and others of the romanoff family, were only safe when in the company of some of the english royal people. the empress dowager of russia, formerly the princess dagmar of denmark, never went out without her sister. they were inseparable, devoted to each other, as all the children of king christian ix. were. it was not the beauty and charm of queen alexandra that saved her from attack; it was the fact that england was tolerant of all kinds of political exiles, as a visit to soho, in london, will show. at the station, just as the king and queen of england entered, there was an explosion. 'a bomb,' whispered one of the uninitiated. it happened to be the result of the sudden opening of a _chapeau claque_ in the unaccustomed hands of a radical member of the cabinet who, against his principles, had been obliged to come in evening dress. we, of the legation, always wore evening dress in daylight on gala occasions. one soon became used to it. our american citizens of danish descent always deplored this, and some of our secretaries would have worn the uniform of a captain of militia or the court dress of the danish chamberlains, which, they said, under the regulations we were permitted to wear. not being english, i found evening dress in the morning not more uncomfortable than the regulation frock coat. i permitted a white waistcoat, which the danes never wore in the morning, but refused to allow a velvet collar and golden buttons because this was too much like the _petit uniforme_ of other legations. there was one inconvenience, however--the same as irked james russell lowell in spain--the officers on grand occasions could not recognise a minister without gold lace, and so our country did not get the proper salute. on the occasion of the arrival of the king of england, i remedied this by putting on the coachmen rather large red, white and blue cockades. arthur and hans were really resplendent! later, when my younger daughter appeared in society after the marriage of the elder, there was no difficulty. all the officers who loved parties recognised the father of the most indefatigable dancer in court circles. a cotillion or two at the legation amply made up for the absence of uniforms. our country, in the person of its representative, after that had tremendously resounding salutes. prince hans, the brother of the late king christian ix., who has since died, was especially friendly with us. he was beloved of the whole royal family. his kindliness and politeness were proverbial. when he was regent in greece, he had been warned that the greeks would soon hate him if he continued to be so courteous. his equerry, chamberlain de rothe, told me that he answered: 'i cannot change; i _must_ be courteous.' he is the only man on record who seems to have entirely pleased a people who have the reputation of being the most difficult in europe. prince hans came in to call, at a reasonable time, after the arrival of the king and queen of england; we were always glad to see him; he was so really kind, so full of pleasant reminiscences; he had had a very long and full life; he was the 'uncle' of all the royalties in europe. he especially loved the king of england. having lived through the invasion of slesvig, he was most patriotically danish; he looked on the prussians as an 'uneasy' people. 'the king of england is much interested in the condition of your ex-president, grover cleveland,' he said. 'if you will have him, he will come to tea with you; i will bring him. he is engaged to dine with the count raben-levitzau and, i think, to go to the zoological gardens and to dine with the count friis; but he will make you a visit, to ask personally for ex-president cleveland and to talk of him after, of course, he has lunched at the british legation.' i said that the legation would be deeply honoured. informal as the visit would be, it would be a great compliment to my country. 'the german legation will be surprised; but it can give no offence; i am _sure_ that it can give no offence. king edward is not pleased altogether with his nephew. when the emperor came to copenhagen in he was not so friendly to us as he is now. poor little denmark. it has escaped a great danger through bertie's cleverness,' prince hans murmured. from this i gathered that prince hans felt that the king's coming to the american legation would be noticed by all the legations as unusual, but especially by the german legation. from this i judged that some danger to denmark might have been threatening. 'the kaiser dined in this room,' prince hans said, 'when he was here in --no, no, he took coffee in this room, and not in the dining-room. however, as madame hegermann-lindencrone has told, the german minister, von schoen, who gave so many parties that all the young danish people loved him, and his wife could not decide where coffee was to be taken; the kaiser settled it himself. it is an amusing story; it has made king frederick laugh. if the king of england comes to tea, you will not be expected to have boiled eggs, as we have for the empress dowager of russia and queen alexandra and king george of greece, some champagne, perhaps, and the big cigars, of course.' 'and, as to guests?' 'only the americans of your staff, i think, who have been already presented to the king.' the announcement that the king of england would take tea with us did not cause a ripple in the household; the servants were used to kings. king frederick had a pleasant way of dropping in to tea without ceremony, and the princesses liked our cakes. besides, hans, the indispensable hans, had waited on king edward frequently, so he knew his tastes. but the king did not come; prince hans said that he was tired. he sent an equerry, with a most gracious message for grover cleveland, and another inquiry as to his health. the royal cigars lasted a long time as few guests were brave enough to smoke them. the king at the _cercle_ at court was most gracious. 'i hope to see you in london,' he said. my colleagues seemed to think that his word was law, and that i would be the next ambassador at the court of st. james's. i knew very well that his politeness was only to show that he was in a special mood to manifest his regard for the country i represented. the king of england was failing at the time as far as his bodily health was concerned, but he had what a german observer called 'a good head' in more senses than one. he still took his favourite champagne; his cigars were too big and strong for most men, but not too big and strong for him. he showed symptoms of asthma, but he was alert, and firmly resolved to keep the peace in europe, and, it was evident--he made it very evident--he was determined to keep on the best terms with the united states. during the pause between the parts of the performance at the royal opera house, where we witnessed queen alexandra's favourite ballet, _napoli_, and heard excerpts from _i poliacci_ and _cavalleria_, the king renewed the questions about grover cleveland's health. prince hans suddenly announced that he was dead. as every minister is quite accustomed to having all kinds of news announced before he receives it, i could only conclude that it was true. several ladies of american birth came and asked me; i could only say, 'prince hans says so.' countess raben-levitzau, whose husband was then minister of foreign affairs, seemed to be much amused that i should receive a bit of information of that kind through prince hans. late that night, after the gala was over, a cable came telling me that the ex-president was well. i was glad that i was not obliged to put out the flag at half-mast for the loss of a president whom the whole country honoured, and who had shown great confidence in me at one time. prince hans was full of the sayings and doings of the king of england after his departure. he called him 'bertie' when absent-minded, recovering to the 'king of england' when he remembered that he was speaking to a stranger. once, quoting the german emperor, he said 'uncle albert.' 'denmark will not become part of germany in the kaiser's time--"uncle albert" will see to that. england will not fight germany in his time on any question; therefore russia will not go against us.' 'but the crown prince. what of him?' '"uncle albert" will see to that if the kaiser should die--but life is long. the king of england will cease to smoke so much, and, after that, his health will be good; he has saved us, i will tell you, by defeating at berlin the designs of the pan-germans against denmark.' the late king of england had new issues to face, and he knew it. the cause of sane democracy would have been better served had he lived longer. perhaps he had been, like his brother-in-law, king frederick of denmark, crown prince too long. nevertheless, he had observed, and he was wise. he may have been too tolerant, but he was not weak. in denmark, one might easily get a fair view of the characters of the royal people. the danes are keen judges of persons--perhaps too keen, and the members of their aristocracy had been constantly on intimate terms with european kings and princes. 'as for queen alexandra,' miss knollys once said, 'she will go down in history as the most beautiful of england's queens, but also as the most devoted of wives and mothers. the king makes us all work, but she works most cheerfully and is never bored.' the visit of the king of england caused more conjectures. what did it mean? a pledge on the part of england that denmark would be protected both against germany and russia? notwithstanding the opinion that the foreign office in england did all the work, the diplomatists held that kings, especially king edward and the kaiser, had much to do with it. chapter iv some details the germans knew i gathered that germany, in , , , was growing more and more furiously jealous of england. to make a financial wilderness of london and reconstruct the money centre of the world in berlin was the ambition of some of her great financiers. our time had not come yet; we might grow in peace. it depended on our attitude whether we should be plucked when ripe or not. if we could be led, i gathered, into an attitude inimical to england, all would be well; but that might safely be left 'to the irish and the great german population of the middle west.' it was 'known that english money prevented the development of our merchant marine'; but this, after all, was not to the disadvantage of germany since, if we developed our marine, it might mean state subsidies to american ocean steamer lines. this would not have pleased herr ballin. count henckel-donnersmarck held no such opinions, but the members of the berlin _haute bourgeoisie_, who occasionally came to copenhagen, were firmly convinced that english money was largely distributed in the united states to prejudice our people against the beneficent german kultur, which, as yet, we were too crude to receive. i gathered, too, that many of the important, the rich business representatives of germany in our country reported that we were 'only fit to be bled.' we were unmusical, unliterary, unintellectual. we knew not what a gentleman should eat or drink. our cooking was vile, our taste in amusement only a reflection of the english music halls. we bluffed. we were not virile. the aristocrat did not express these opinions; but the middle class, or higher middle class, sojourners in our land did. 'good heavens!' exclaimed one american at one of our receptions to a german-american guest; 'you eat that grouse from your fists like an animal.' 'i am a male,' answered fritz proudly; 'we must devour our food--we of the virile race!' the pretensions of this kind of german were intolerable. he was the most brutal of snobs. he arrogated to himself a rank, when one met him, that he was not allowed to assume in his own country. it was often amusing to receive a call from a spurious 'von,' representing german interests in milwaukee, chicago, or cincinnati, who patronised us until he discovered that we knew that he would be in the seventh heaven if he could, by any chance, marry his half-american daughter to the most shop-worn little lieutenant in the german army! to see him shrivel when a veritable junker came in, was humiliating. i often wondered whether the well-to-do german burghers of st. louis or cincinnati were really imposed upon by men of this kind. the nobles' club in copenhagen is not a club as we know clubs. there are chairs, newspapers from all parts of the world, and bridge tables, if you wish to use them. you may even play the honoured game of _l'ombre_--after the manner of christian iv., or, perhaps, his lordship, the high chamberlain polonius, of the court of his late majesty, king claudius. people seldom go there. it is the one place in denmark where the members of the club are never found. the country gentlemen have rooms there when they come to town. it is in an annex of the hotel phoenix. a few of the best bridge players in copenhagen meet there occasionally; the rest is silence; therefore it is a safe place for diplomatic conversations. a very distinguished german came to me with a letter of introduction from munich, in --late in the year. his position was settled. he was not in the class of the spurious 'vons.' he was, however, high in the confidence of the kings of saxony and bavaria, both of whom, he confessed, were displeased because the united states had no diplomatic representatives at their courts. he had been _persona non grata_ with bismarck because of his father's liberalism; he had been friendly with windthorst, the centre leader, and he had been in some remote way connected with the german legation at the vatican. we talked of washington in the older days, of speck von sternberg[ ] and of his charming wife, then a widow in berlin; of the cleverness of secretary radowitz, who had been at the german embassy at washington; of the point of view of von schoen, who had been minister to copenhagen. he spoke of the kaiser's having dined in our apartment, which von schoen had then occupied; and then he came to the point. [ ] baron speck von sternberg died on may rd, . 'is the united states serious about the monroe doctrine--really?' he asked. 'it is an integral part of our policy of defence.' 'we, in germany, do not take it seriously. i understand from my friends you have lived in washington a long time. we are familiar with your relations with president cleveland and of your attitude towards president mckinley. we know,' he said, 'that president mckinley offered you a secret mission to rome. we know other things; therefore, we are inclined to take you more seriously than most of the political appointees who are here to-day and gone to-morrow. your position in the affair of the philippines is well known to us. it would be well for you to ask your ambassador at berlin to introduce you to the emperor; he was much pleased with your predecessor, mr. o'brien. there is, no doubt, some information you could give his imperial majesty. you have friends in munich, too, and in dresden there is the count von seebach whom you admire, i know.' 'i admire count von seebach, but i am paid not to talk,' i said; 'but about the secret mission to rome in the philippine matter--you knew of that?' it was more than i knew, though president mckinley, through senator carter, had suggested, when the friars' difficulty had been seething in the philippines, a solution which had seemed to me out of the question. but how did this man know of it? i had not spoken of it to the count von seebach, or to anybody in germany. no word of politics had ever escaped my lips to the count von seebach, who was his excellency the director of the royal opera at dresden. 'yes; we know all the secrets of the philippine affair, even that domingo merry del val came to washington to confer with mr. taft. i want to know two facts,--facts, not guesses. your ministers who come from provincial places, after a few months' instruction in washington, cannot know much except local politics. they are like pomeranian squires or jutland farmers. we know that henckel-donnersmarck and you are on good terms, and we are prepared to treat you from a confidential point of view.' this was interesting; it showed how closely even unimportant persons like myself were observed; it was flattering, too; for one grows tired of the foreign assumption that every american envoy has come abroad because, as de tocqueville says in _democracy in america_ he has failed at home. 'mr. poultney bigelow, whom you doubtless know, once said in conversation with the kaiser, that his father would rather see him dead than a member of your diplomatic corps, and he was unusually well equipped for work of that kind. with few exceptions, as i have remarked, your service is _pour rire_. what can a man from one of your provincial towns know of anything but local politics and business?' i laughed: 'but you are businesslike, too; i hear that, when the kaiser speaks to americans--at least they have told me so--it is generally on commercial subjects. he likes to know even how many vessels pass the locks every year at sault sainte marie, and the amount of grain that can be stored in the chicago elevators.' 'it is useful to us,' my acquaintance said. 'you would scarcely expect him to talk about things that do not exist in your country--music, art, literature, high diplomacy----' my reply shall be buried in oblivion; it might sound too much like _éloquence de l'escalier_. after an interval, not without words, i said: 'it is not necessary for a man to have lived in washington or new york in order to have a grasp on american politics in relation to the foreign problem at the moment occupying the attention of the american people or the department of state. every country boy at home is a potential statesman and a politician. i recall the impression made on two visiting foreigners some years ago by the interest of our very young folk in politics. "good heavens!" said the marquis moustier de merinville, "these children of ten and twelve are monsters! they argue about bryan and free silver! such will make revolutions." "i cannot understand it," said prince adam saphia. "children ask one whether one is a republican or democrat."' 'that may be so,' he said. 'your presidents are not as a rule chosen from men who live in the great cities.' 'you forget that, while paris is france, berlin, germany----' 'no, berlin is prussia,' he said, smiling; 'but london is england; paris, france; and vienna would be austria if it were not for budapest.' 'new york or washington is not, as you seem to think, the united states.' 'that may be,' he said, 'nevertheless it is difficult for a european to understand. it may be,' he added thoughtfully, 'there are some things about your country we shall never come to understand thoroughly.' 'you will have to die first--like the man of your own country who, crossing a crowded street, was injured mortally and cried: "now i shall know it _all_." you will never understand us in this world.' 'that is _blague_,' he said. 'we germans know all countries. besides, you know the german language.' 'who told you that? it's nonsense!' i asked, aghast. 'the other day, i have heard that the austrians were talking in german to the first secretary of the german legation at the foreign office, when you suddenly forgot yourself and asked a question in good german!' he said triumphantly. this was true. count zichy, secretary of the austrian-hungarian legation, had dropped from french into german. now, i had read heine and goethe when i was young, and i had written the german script; but that was long ago. there were great arid spaces in my knowledge of the german language, but something that count zichy had said about an arbitration treaty had vaguely caught my attention, and i had blundered out, 'was ist das, herr graf?' or something equally elegant and scholarly. this was really amusing. my friends had always accused me of turning all german conversation toward _wilhelm meister_ and _der erlkönig_, since i could quote from both! 'you can _finesse_,' continued the great nobleman. 'you are not usual. your government has sent you here for a special mission; it is well to pose as a poet and a man of letters, but you have been reported to our government as having a _mission secrète_. you are allied with the russians; we know that you are not rich.' this very charming person, who always laid himself at 'the feet of the ladies' and clicked his heels like castanets, did not apologise for discussing my private affairs without permission, and for insinuating that i was paid by the russian government. 'do you mean----?' 'nothing,' he said hastily, 'nothing; but the russians use money freely; they would not dare to approach _you_. nevertheless, i warn you that their marked regard for you must have some motive, and yours for them may excite suspicions.' 'surely my friend henckel-donnersmarck has not reported me to the kaiser?' 'our ministers are expected to report everything to the kaiser, especially from copenhagen; but henckel-donnersmarck does not report enough. he is either too haughty or too lazy. my master will send him to weimar, if he is not more alert; but we have others!' 'i like him.' 'it is evident. why?' asked the count, with great interest. 'i sent him a case of lemp's beer. he says it is better than anything of the kind made in germany--polite but unpatriotic.' 'you jest,' said the count. 'you have the reputation of being apparently never in earnest, but----' 'you shall have a case too,' i said, 'and then you can judge whether his truthfulness got the better of his politeness, or his politeness of his truthfulness.' he rose and bowed, he seated himself again. 'remember, we shall always be interested in you,' he said; 'but there is one thing i should like to ask--are you interested in potash?' 'i have no business interests. if you wish to talk business, count, you must go to the consul general.' that was the beginning. henckel and i continued to be friends. he seldom spoke of diplomatic matters. he assured me (over and over again) that, if the ideas of frederick the great were to be followed, germany and the united states must remain friends. i told him that count von x. had said that 'if the united states could arrange to oust england from control of the atlantic and make an alliance with germany, these two countries would rule the world.' 'you will never do that,' he said. 'you are safer with england on the atlantic than you would be with any other nation. i am not sure what our ultra pan-germans mean by "ruling the world." you may be sure that your monroe doctrine would go to splinters if our pan-germans ruled the world. as for me, i am sick of diplomacy. why do you enter it? it either bores or degrades one. i am not curious or unscrupulous enough to be a spy. as to slesvig, i have little concern with it. if germany should find it to her interest, she might return northern slesvig; but there would be danger in that for denmark. she must live in peace with us, or take the consequences.' 'the consequences!' 'dear colleague, you know as well as i do that all the nations of the earth want territory or a new adjustment of territory. in the middle ages, nations had many other questions, and there was a universal christendom; but, since the renascence, the great questions are land and commerce. germany must look, in self-defence, on slesvig and denmark as pawns in her game. she is not alone in this. you know how tired i am of it all. no man is more loyal to his country than i am; but i should like to see germany on entirely sympathetic terms with the kingdoms that compose it and reasonably friendly to the rest of the world; but we could not give up slesvig, even if the danish government would take it, except for a _quid pro quo_.' 'what?' 'well, let us say a place in the pacific, on friendly terms with you. your country can hardly police the philippines against japan. germany is great in what i fear is the new materialism. as to slesvig, in which you seem particularly interested, ask prince koudacheff, the russian minister; write to iswolsky, the russian minister, or talk to michel bibikoff, who is a russian patriot never bored in the pursuit of information. these russians may not exaggerate the consequences as they know what absolute power means. 'there is one thing, germany will not tolerate sedition in any of her provinces, and, since we took slesvig from denmark in , she is one of our provinces. the danes may tolerate a hint of secession on the part of iceland, which is amusing, but the beginning of sedition in slesvig would mean an attitude on our part such as you took towards secession in the south. but it is unthinkable. the demonstrations against us in slesvig have no importance.' * * * * * michel bibikoff, secretary of the russian legation, was most intelligent and most alert. wherever he is now, he deserves well of his country. as a diplomatist he had only one fault--he underrated the experience and the knowledge of his opponents; but this was the error of his youth. i say 'opponents,' because at one time or other bibikoff's opponents were everybody who was not russian. a truer patriot never lived. he was devoted to my predecessor, mr. o'brien, who was, in his opinion, the only american gentleman he had ever met. he compared me very unfavourably with my courteous predecessor, who has filled two embassies with satisfaction to his own country and to those to whom he was accredited. at first bibikoff distrusted me; and i was delighted. if he thought that you were concealing things he would tell you something in order to find out what he wanted to know. for me, i was especially interested in discovering what the tsar's state of mind was concerning the portsmouth peace arrangements. bibikoff had means of knowing. indeed, he found means of knowing much that might have been useful to all of us, his colleagues. a long stay in the united states would have 'made' bibikoff. he was one of the few men in europe who understood what germany was aiming at. he predicted the present war--but of that later. he had been in washington only a few months. i suffered as to prestige in the beginning only, as every american minister and ambassador suffers from our present system of appointing envoys. no representative of the united states is at first taken seriously by a foreign country. he must earn his spurs, and, by the time he earns them, they are, as a rule, ruthlessly hacked off! each ambassador is supposed by the foreign offices to be appointed for the same reason that so many peerages have been conferred by the british government. every minister, it is presumed, has given a _quid pro quo_ for being distinguished from the millions of his countrymen. 'if you have the price, you can choose your embassy,' is a speech often quoted in europe. i cannot imagine who made it--possibly the famous flannigan, of texas. it is notorious that peerages are sold for contributions to the campaign fund in england; but places in the diplomatic service, though governed sometimes by political influence, cannot be said to be sold. i had one advantage; nobody suspected me of paying anything for my place; and, then, i had come from washington, the capital of the country. as i said, my eyes were fixed on russia. i found, however, that the main business of my colleagues seemed to be to watch germany, and that attitude for a time left me cold. denmark had reason to fear germany; but then, at that time, every other european nation was on its guard against possible aggressions on the part of its neighbours. i had hope that a scandinavian confederacy or the swelling rise of the social democracy in germany would put an end to the fears of all the little countries. there seemed to be no hope that the attitude of the german nation towards the world could change unless the social democrats and the moderate liberals should gain power. but why should we watch germany, the powerful, the self-satisfied, the splendid country whose kaiser professed the greatest devotion to our president, and had sent his brother, prince henry, over to show his regard for our nation? i was most anxious to find the reason. in my time, good americans--say in --when they died, went to paris, never to berlin. the emperor of germany had determined to change this. he tried to make his capital a glittering imitation of paris; he received americans with every show of cordiality. berlin was to be made a paradise for americans and for the world; but nearly every american is half french at heart. nevertheless, i do not think that we took the french attitude of revenge against germany seriously; we thought that the french were beginning to forget the _revanche_; their government had apparently become so 'international.' many of us had been brought up with the germans and the sons of germans. we read german literature; we began with grimm and went on to goethe and, to descend somewhat, heyse and auerbach. without asking too many questions, we even accepted frederick the great as a hero. he was easier to swallow than cromwell, and more amusing. in fact, most of us did not think much of foreign complications, the charm of the deutscher club in milwaukee, the warmth of the singing of german _lieder_ by returned students from freiburg or bonn or heidelberg; the lavish hospitality of the opulent german in this country, the german love for family life, and, for me personally, the survival of the robust virtues, seemingly of german origin, among the descendants of the germans in pennsylvania, impressed me. as far as education was concerned, i had hated to see the german methods and ideas _servilely_ applied. i belonged to the alliance française and preferred the french system as more efficient in the training of the mind than the german. besides, the importation of the german basis for the doctorate of philosophy into our universities seemed to me to be dangerous. it led young men to waste time, since there was no governmental stamp on their work and no concrete recognition of the results of their studies as there was in germany; and, this being so, it meant that the dignified degree, from the old-fashioned point of view, would become degraded, or, at its best, merely a degree for the decoration of teachers. it would be sought for only as a means of earning a living, not as a preparation for research. 'of course i know spain,' said a flippant attaché in copenhagen. 'i have seen _carmen_, eaten _olla podrida_, and adored the russian ballet in the _cachuca_!' none of my friends who thought they knew germany was as bad as this. some of the professors of my acquaintance, who had seen only one side of german life, loved the fatherland for its support to civilisation. _nous avons changé--tout cela!_ other gentlemen, who had started out to love germany, hated everything german because they had been compelled to stand up in an exclusive club when anybody of superior rank entered its sacred precincts or when something of the kind happened. the man with whom i had read heine and worked out jokes in _kladdertasch_ was devoted to everything german because he had once lived in a small german town where there was good opera! personally, i had hated bismarck and all his works and pomps for several reasons:--one was because of busch's glorifying book about him; another for the kulturkampf; another for his attitude toward hanover, and because one of my closest german friends was a hanoverian. brought up, as most philadelphians of my generation were, in admiration for karl schurz and the men of ' , i could not tolerate anything that was prussian or bismarckian; but, as windthorst, the creator of the centrum party in the reichstag, was one of my heroes, i counted myself as the admirer of the best in germany. the position of the great power, evident by its attitude to us in the beginning of the spanish-american war, was disquieting; but germany had shown a similar sensitiveness under similar circumstances many times without affecting international relations. and german world dominion? what, in the twentieth century?--the best of all possible centuries? civilised public opinion would not tolerate it! in the balkans, of course, there would always be rows. the german propaganda? it existed everywhere, naturally. one could see signs of that; these signs were not even concealed. it seemed to be reasonable enough that any country should not depend entirely on the press or diplomatic notes to avoid misunderstanding; and a certain attention to propaganda was the duty of all diplomatists. still, my observations in my own country, even before the chicago exposition--when the kaiser had done his best to impress us with the mental and material value of everything german--had made me more than suspicious. i had reason to be suspicious, as you will presently see. but war? never! it was cardinal falconio who, i think, made me feel a little chilly, when he wrote: 'war is not improbable in europe; you are too optimistic. let us pray that it may not come; but, as a diplomatist you must not be misled into believing it impossible.' it seemed to me that such talk was pessimistic. other voices, from the diplomatists of the vatican--even the ex-diplomatists--confirmed this. 'if the kaiser says he wants peace, it is true--but only on his own terms. believe me, if the kaiser can control russia, and draw a straight line to the persian gulf, he will close his fist on england.' the people at the vatican, if you can get them to talk, are more valuable to an inquiring mind than any other class of men; but they are so wretchedly discreet just when their indiscretions might be most useful. some of them are like king james i., who 'never said a foolish thing and never did a wise one.' those who helped me with counsel were both wise in speech and prudent action but, unhappily, hampered by circumstances. among the wise and the prudent i do not include the diplomatic representative of the vatican in paris just before the break with rome! the russians in copenhagen kept their eyes well on germany; and it was evident that, while the position of france gave the germans no uneasiness--they seemed to look on france with a certain contempt--any move of russia was regarded as important. prince koudacheff, late the russian ambassador at madrid, in minister at copenhagen, who seldom talked politics, again returned to the great question. 'my brother, who is in washington, and an admirer of your country, says that you americans believe that war is unthinkable. is this your opinion?' 'it is--almost.' 'well, i will say that as soon as the bankers feel that there is enough money, there will be a war in europe.' 'i wonder if your husband meant that?' i asked the princess koudacheff; it was well to have corroboration occasionally, and she was a sister-in-law of iswolsky's; iswolsky was a synonym for diplomatic knowledge. 'if he did not mean it he would not have said it. when he does not mean to say a thing he remains silent. as soon as there is money enough, there will be war. germany will go into no war that will impoverish her,' she said. her opinion was worth much; she was a woman who knew well the inside of european politics. 'and who will fight, the slavs and teutons?' 'you have said it! it will come.' i knew a russian who, while a nobleman, was not an official. in fact, he hated bureaucrats. he could endure no one in the russian court circle except the empress dowager, marie, because she was sympathetic, and the late grand duke constantine, because he had translated shakespeare. 'if prince valdemar of denmark had been the son instead of the brother of the dowager empress, russia would have a future. as it is, i will quote from father gapon for you. you know his _life_?' 'no,' i said. 'well, he has attempted to give the working-men in russia a chance; he has tried to gain for them one-tenth of the place which working-men in your country have, and, in , he was answered by the massacre of the narva gate. the tsar is a fool, with an imperialistic _hausfrau_ for a wife. if you will read the last words of father gapon's _life_, you will find these words: '"i may say, with certainty, that the struggle is quickly approaching its inevitable climax: that nicholas ii. is preparing for himself the fate which befell a certain english king and a certain french king long ago, and that such members of his dynasty as escape unhurt from the throes of the revolution, will some day, in a not very distant future, find themselves exiles upon some western shore." i may live to see this; but i hope that the empress marie may not. she knows where the policy of her daughter-in-law, who has all the stupidity of marie antoinette, without her charm, would lead; she says of her son,--"he was on the right road before he married that narrow-minded woman!"' this, remember, was in . it was whispered even then in copenhagen that russia was beginning to break up. the dean of the diplomatic corps was count calvi di bergolo, honest, brave, opinionated, who would teach you everything, from how to jump a hurdle to the gaseous compositions in the moon. he was of the _haute école_ at the riding school and of the _vielle école_ of diplomacy. he was very frank. he had a great social vogue because of a charming wife and a most exquisite daughter, now the princess aage. he would never speak english; french was the diplomatic language; it gave a diplomatist too much of an advantage, if one spoke in his native tongue. he believed in the protocol to the letter; he was a martinet of a dean. 'public opinion,' he said scornfully, 'public opinion in the united states is for peace. in europe, if we could all have what we want, we should all keep the peace; but what chance of peace can there be until italy has the trentino or france alsace-lorraine, or until germany gets to her place by controlling the slavs. you are of a new country, where they believe things because they are impossible.' he was a wise gentleman and he, too, watched germany. it was plain that he disliked the triple alliance. suddenly it dawned on me 'like thunder' that we had an interest in watching germany, too. it seemed to be a foregone conclusion that germany would one day absorb denmark. 'and then the danish west indies would automatically become german!' this was my one thought. the 'fixed idea'! it is pleasanter to be dean of the diplomatic corps than a new-comer. it must be extremely difficult for a diplomatic representative to be comfortable at once, coming from american localities where etiquette is a matter of gentlemanly feeling only, and where artificial conventionalities hardly count. in a monarchical country, the outward relations are changed. socially, rank counts for much, and the rules of precedence are as necessary as the use of a napkin. to have lived in washington--not the changed washington of - --was a great help. after long observation of the niceties of official etiquette in the official society of our own capital, copenhagen had no terrors. chapter v glimpses of the german point of view in relation to the united states time passed. there were alarms, and rumours that german money was corrupting france, that the distrust aroused by the morocco incident was growing, that the french patriot believed that his opponent, the french pacifist, was using religious differences to weaken the _morale_ of the french army and navy, to convince germany that the 'revenge' for was forgotten. one day, a very clever english attaché came to luncheon; he always kept his eyes open, and he was allowed by me to take liberties in conversation which his chief would never have permitted; it is a great mistake to bottle up the young, or to try to do it. 'you are determined to be friends with germany,' he said, 'and germany seems to be determined to be friends with you. your foreign office has evidently instructed you to be very sympathetic with the german minister. he seldom sees anybody but you; but, at the same time you have recalled mr. tower, whom the kaiser likes, to give him mr. hill, whom he seems not to want.' 'it is not a question as to whom the kaiser wants exactly; we ostensibly sent an ambassador to the german emperor, but really to the german people. mr. hill is one of the most experienced of our diplomatists.' 'the kaiser does not want that. mr. tower habituated him to splendour, and he likes americans to be splendid. rich people ought to spend their money in berlin. besides, he had been accustomed to mr. tower, who, he thinks, will oil the wheels of diplomatic intercourse. just at this moment, when the kaiser has lost prestige because of his double-dealing with the boers and his apparent deceit on the morocco question, he does not want a man of such devotion to the principles of the hague convention and so constitutional as mr. hill, who may acknowledge the charm of the emperor, but who, even in spite of himself, will not be influenced by it.' 'how do you know this?' 'everybody about the court in berlin knows it, but i hear it from munich. but speck von sternberg would have balanced hill, if he had lived. they think he would have influenced president roosevelt. tell us the secrets of the white house--you ought to know--it was an awful competition between speck and jusserand, i hear.' 'president roosevelt is not easily influenced,' i said. persons whom i knew in berlin wrote to me, informing me how charmed the kaiser was with the new ambassador; but, in copenhagen, we learned that what the kaiser wanted was not a great international lawyer, but a rich american of less intensity. * * * * * it was worth while to get russian opinions. 'the kaiser is having a bad time,' i remarked to a russian of my acquaintance--a most brilliant man, now almost, as he said himself, _homme sans patrie_. 'temporarily,' he answered; 'those indiscreet pronouncements of his on the boers and the reversion of his attitude against england in the affair of morocco have shown him that he cannot clothe inconsistency in the robes of infallibility. he is a personal monarch and he sinks all his personality in his character as a monarch. he is made to the likeness of god, and there is an almost hypostatic union between god and him! our tsar is by no means so absolute, though you americans all persist in thinking so. i have given you some documents on that point; i trust that you have sent them to your president. i am sure, however, that he knew _that_. do not imagine that the emperor will be deposed, because he has made a row in germany. he has only discovered how far he can go by personal methods, that is all; he has learned his lesson--_reculer pour mieux sauter_. he has played a clever game with you. bernstorff, his new ambassador, will offset hill. your investments in russia will now come through german hands, and you will get a bad blow in the matter of potash.' 'what do you mean?' i asked. i had regarded count bernstorff as a liberal. his english experience seemed to have singled him out as one of the diplomatists of the central powers--there were several--inclined to admit that other nations had rights which germany was bound to respect. in private conversations, he had shown himself very favourable to the united states, and had even disapproved of german attacks on the monroe doctrine in brazil. 'count bernstorff is not likely to offend washington, or to reopen the wound that was made at manila.' 'you talk as if diplomatists were not, first of all, instructed to look after the business interests of their countries. do you think bernstorff has been chosen to dance cotillions with your 'cave dwellers' in washington or to compliment senators' wives? first, his appointment is meant to flatter you. second, he will easily flatter you because he really likes america and it is his business to flatter you. third, he will do his best to induce you to assist england in strangling russia in favour of turkey. fourth, he will grip hard, without offending you, the german monopoly of potash. he doesn't want trouble between the united states and germany. he knows that any difficulty of that kind would be disastrous; he is as anxious to avoid that as is ballin. under the glimmer of rank, of which you think so much in america, commercialism is the secret of germany's spirit to-day. in berlin, i heard an american, one of your denaturalised, trying to curry favour with prince von bülow by saying that the national genius of germany demanded that alsace-lorraine should be kept by germany to avenge the insolence of louis xiv. and napoleon. prince von bülow smiled. he knew that your compatriot was working for an invitation to an exclusive something or other for his wife. bernstorff is just the man to neutralise hill. it's iron ore and potash in alsace-lorraine that the emperor cares about.' 'and yet i know, at first hand, that the pan-german hates bernstorff. if anything approaching to a liberal government came in germany, bernstorff will be minister of foreign affairs.' my russian friend smiled sardonically. 'we russians feel that our one salvation is to oust the turk and get to the mediterranean. my party would provoke a war with germany to-morrow, if we could afford it, and germany knows it. count bernstorff, the most sympathetic of all german diplomatists, knows this, too, and you may be sure that he will persuade your government that he loves you, give the russian programme a nasty stroke when he can, and keep the price of potash high. i, desirous as i am of being an excellency, would refuse to go to berlin to-morrow, if i had bernstorff against me on the other side. see what will happen to hill! germany may offend you, but bernstorff will persuade you that it is the simple _gaucherie_ of a rustic youth who assumes the antics of a playful bear[ ]--a hug or two; it may hurt, but the jovial bear means well! if hill should leave berlin, you will need a clever man who has political power with your government. bernstorff will contrive to put any other kind of man in the wrong--i tell you that.' [ ] 'we can say without hesitation that during the last century the united states have nowhere found better understanding or juster recognition than in this country. more than any one else the emperor william ii. manifested this understanding and appreciation of the united states of america.'--von bülow's _imperial germany_, p. . the russian who predicted this is in exile, penniless, a man _sans patrie_, as he says himself. when i took these notes he seemed to be above the blows of fate! if the hand of germany was everywhere, everybody was watching the movements of the fingers. among the english there were two parties: one that could tolerate nothing german, the other that hated everything russian, but both united in one belief, that the alliance with japan would not hold under the influence of german intrigue and that italy could not long remain a member of the triple alliance. the gossip from berlin was always full of pleasant things for an american to hear. the kaiser treated our compatriots with unusual courtesy. in copenhagen we were deluged with letters announcing that count bernstorff's coming meant a new era; he even excelled 'speck' in his charm, sympathy, and everything that ought to endear him to us; in him showed that true desire for peace of which his august master was, of all the world, the best representative. it was even rumoured that the german foreign office had begun to coquette with the danish social democrats. the exchange of professors between the united states and germany was becoming an institution. sometimes the american professors found themselves in awkward positions; they did not 'rank'; they had no fixed position from the german point of view. as mere american commoners, unrecognised by their government, undecorated, they could not expect attentions from the court as a right. however, the germans studied them and rather liked some of them, but, not being _raths_, they were poor creatures without standing. even if they should make reputations approved by the great german universities, they had no future. how green were the lawns and how pleasant the sweet waters in the enclosed gardens of autocracy, of which the emperor, fountain of honours, kept the key! it was amusing to note the german attitude toward democracy, in spite of all the pleasant things said by the high, well-born citizens of the fatherland in favour of the american brand. at the same time, one could not help seeing that the children of the kaiser were wiser than the children of--let us say modestly--light. 'if the president asked me,' said one of the most distinguished of lawyers and the most loyal of philadelphians to me, 'i should be willing to live all my life in germany.' this was the result of the impression the charm of the kaiser made on the best of us. he has changed his opinion now; he swears by the works of his compatriot, mr. beck. even then, in - , my distinguished philadelphia friend could not have endured life in germany. he forgot that even the emperor could not give him rank, and that no matter how cosmopolitan, how learned, how tactful he was, he would at once be a commoner, and very much of a commoner on the day he settled there as a resident. a prussian serene highness, who came with letters from an irish relative in hungary dropped in; he was mostly bavarian in blood; he had cousins in england and italy. he liked a good luncheon, and, as miss knollys always said (i quote this without shame), 'the best food in europe is at the american legation!' he smoked, too, and rafael estrada, of havana, had chosen the cigars. 'france is difficult,' said my acquaintance, his serene highness. 'it is not really democratic; and england will go to pieces before it becomes democratic. 'you americans have freedom with order, and you respect rank and titles, though you do not covet them. that is why the kaiser would not send any ambassador not of a great family to you. all americans who come to berlin desire to be presented at court. it is a sign that you will come to our way of thinking some day. we are not so far apart. you who write must tell your people that we are calumniated, we are not despots. that woman, the author of _elizabeth and her german garden_, married to a friend of mine, does us harm. but most americans see germany in a mellow light. we are akin in our aspirations--frederick the great understood that. 'bismarck, great as he was, became ambitious only for his family. his son, the coming chancellor, would have used our young emperor as a puppet, if our emperor had not put him into his place. this is the truth, and i am telling it to you confidentially. the british government will come to anarchy if it weakens the house of lords. the house of commons is already weak. there is no barrier between honest rule and the demagogues. with your magnificent senate there will always be a wall between the will of the _canaille_ and good government. we germans understand you!' 'but suppose,' it was mr. alexander weddell, then connected with the legation, now consul general at athens, who broke in, 'you should differ from us on the monroe doctrine. i have recently read an article by mr. frederick wile in an english magazine on your management of your people in brazil.' '"our people!" the serene highness seemed startled. 'a german is always a german. it is the call of the blood.' 'and something more,' mr. weddell said, 'a german citizen is always a german citizen; you never admit that a german can become a brazilian. suppose you should want to join your germans in brazil with your germans at home. what would become of our monroe doctrine?' 'there are germans in your country who have ceased to be germans, and your upper classes are anglicised, except when they marry into one of our great families; nevertheless, our own people would still see that you don't go too far with your monroe doctrine. it has not yet been drastically interpreted. the monroe doctrine is a method of defence. to interfere with the call of the german blood from one country to another would be offensive to us, and i cannot conceive of your country so far forgetting itself!' his serene highness was of a mediatised house--a gentleman who had much experience in diplomacy. he had, i think, visited newport, and been almost engaged to an american girl. the legend ran that, when this lady saw him without his uniform, she broke the engagement. he was splendid in his uniform. he thought he knew the united states; he even quoted bryce and de tocqueville; he had the impression that the kaiser's propaganda of education was germanising us for our good. 'the most eminent professors at your most important universities are germans. your newest university, that of chicago, would have no reputation in europe if it were not for the germans. wundt has revolutionised your conception of psychology; your scientific and historical methods are borrowed from us. even your orthodox protestants quote harnack. virchow long ago put out the lights of huxley and spencer. and the catholic german in america, whom bismarck almost alienated from us, revolts against the false americanism of cardinal gibbons and archbishop ireland, whom the kaiser rates as a son of the revolution. your catholic university has begun to be moulded in the german way. mgr. schroeder, highly considered, was one of the most energetic of the professors----' 'was,' i said. 'i happen to know that he was relieved of his professorship because of those very dominating qualities you value so much.' 'that is regrettable; but, you see, in germany we follow the train of events in your country. who has a larger audience than münsterberg? in the things of the mind we germans must lead.' in my opinion, it is best for a diplomatist--at least for a man who is in the avocation of diplomacy--to be satisfied with _l'eloquence de l'éscalier_. if he writes memoirs he can always put in the repartee he intended to make; and, if he does not, he can always think, too, with satisfaction of what he was almost clever enough to say! it was enough to have discovered one thing--that, with a large number of the ruling classes in the fatherland, the monroe doctrine was looked on as an iridescent bubble. many times afterwards this fact was emphasised. the austrians were not always so careful as the germans to save, when it came to democracy, american susceptibilities. they were always easy to get on with, provided one remembered that even to the most discerning among them, the united states, 'america' as they always called it, was an unknown land. as for count dionys szechenyi, the minister of austria-hungary, he was the most genial of colleagues, and he had no sympathy with tyranny of any kind; he had no illusions as to america. his wife is a belgian born, countess madeleine chimay de caraman. he was always careful not to touch on 'prussianism,' as the danes called the principle of german domination. he had many subjects of conversation, from portrait buying to transactions in american steel and, what had its importance in those days, a good dinner. at his house one met occasionally men who liked to be frank, and then these austro-hungarians were a delightful group. 'if we should be involved in a war with england--which is unthinkable, since king edward and our ambassador, count mensdorff would never allow it--i could not buy my clothes in london,' said one very regretfully. this austrian magnate heard with unconcealed amusement the german talk of 'democracy.' 'max harden is sincere, but a puppet; he helps the malcontents to let off steam; the german government will never allow another _émeute_ like that of . bismarck taught the government how to be really imperial. in austria we are frankly autocratic, but not so new as the prussian. we wear feudalism like an old glove. there are holes in it, of course, and hungary is making the holes larger. if the hungarians should have their way, there would be no more _majorats_, no more estates that can be kept in families; and that will be the end of our feudalism. 'as it is, things are uncomfortable enough, but a war would mean a break-up. what do you americans expect for max harden and his _zukunft_--exile and suppression as soon as he reaches the limit. all the influences of the centre could not keep the jesuits from being exiled! why? they would not admit the superiority of the state. harden will never have the real power of the jesuits, for the reason that he founds his appeal on principles that vary with the occasion. but he will go! as for the social democrats, they can be played with as a cat plays with a mouse. democracy! if the kaiser gets into a tight place he can always declare war! 'is the imperial chancellor responsible to the german people? no. he is imperial because he wears the imperial livery. can the reichstag appoint a chancellor? the idea is _pour rire_! my dear mr. minister, you and your countrymen do not understand prussian rule in germany! and the federal council, what chance has it against the will of our emperor? and what have the people to do with the federal council? the members are appointed by the rulers by right divine. there is the duke of mecklenburg-schwerin. he rules his little duchy with a firm hand. there is the duke of brunswick, the prince of lippe-schaumbourg--not to speak of the grand duke of baden and a whole nest of rulers responsible only to the head of the house.' 'but the people _must_ count,' i said. 'prince von bülow has shown himself to be nervous about the growing power of the social democrats.' 'oh, yes, they are very amusing. they may caterwaul in the reichstag; they may wrangle over the credits and the budget; but the emperor can prorogue them at any time. the pan-germans could easily, if the reichstag were too independent, counsel the kaiser to prorogue that debating club altogether. 'who can prevent his forcing despotic military rule on the nation, for the nation's good, of course? everything in germany must come from the top--you know that. again, the power of the rich, as far as suffrage is concerned, is unlimited. the members of the reichstag are elected by open ballot. woe be to the working man who defies his emperor. fortunately the rich german is not socially powerful until he ranks. you may be as rich as krupp, but if the fountain of honour has not dashed a spray of the sacred water on you, you are as nobody. 'the greatest american plutocrat may visit germany and spend money like water, and he remains a mere commoner. the kaiser may invite him on his yacht and say polite things, but, until he _ranks_, he is nobody. his wife may manage to be presented at court under the wing of the american ambassadress, but that is nothing! the poorest and most unimportant of the little provincial baronesses outranks her. she will always be an outsider, no matter how long she may live in germany. 'with us, in austria, an american woman, no matter whom she marries, is never received at court. she is never "born,"' and he laughed. 'americans can have no heraldic quarterings; but, then, we do not pretend to be democratic. if i loved an american girl, i would marry her, of course; but if i went to court, i should go alone. it is the rule, and going to court is not such a rare treat to people who are used to it. it becomes a bore.' to do my german diplomatic colleagues justice, they never attempted masquerades in the guise of democrats. there were other germans, whom one met in society. these people were always loyal to the fatherland. their attitude was that the german world was the best of all possible worlds. if my own countrymen and countrywomen abroad were as solidly american as these people were german, our politeness would not be so frequently stretched to the breaking point. the most loyal of germans were american people of leisure who had lived long in germany with titled relatives. they enjoyed themselves; they lived for a time in the glory of rank. with those who had to earn their own living in germany, it was another story. they did not 'rank'; they were ordinary mortals; they had not the _entrée_ to some little provincial court, and so they saw the prussian point of view as it really was. the american women, strangely enough, who had married ranking germans loved everything german. 'but how do you endure the interference with your daily life?' my wife asked an american girl married to a baron. 'i like it; it makes one so safe, so protected; your servants are under the law, and give you no trouble. order is not an idea, but a method. i know just how my children shall be educated. that is the province of my husband. i have no fault to find.' she laughed. 'i do not have to explain myself; i do not have to say, "i am a daughter of the revolution, my uncle was senator so-and-so"--my place is fixed, and i like it!' it was a distinguished german professor who assumed the task of convincing american university men that the german army was democratic, and the conclusion of his syllogism was: 'no officer is ever admitted to a club of officers who has not been voted for by the members.' would you believe it? it seems incredible that democracy should seem to depend on the votes of an aristocracy and not on principles. but later, just at the beginning of the war, this professor and a half dozen others signed a circular in which the same argument was used. in - - - , the propaganda for convincing americans that germany--that is that the kaiser--loved us was part of the daily life in the best society in the neutral countries. the norwegians openly laughed at it. they knew only too well what the kaiser's opinion of them and their king, haakon, was. amazed by the frequent allusions of the admirers of the kaiser to his love for democracy, especially the american kind, i had a talk one day with one of the most frank and sincere of germans, the late baron von der quettenburg, the father of the present vicar of the church of st. ansgar's in copenhagen. he was a hanoverian. he was at least seventy years of age when i knew him, but he walked miles; he rode; he liked a good dinner; he enjoyed life in a reasonable way; but he was frequently depressed. hanover, his proud, his noble, his beautiful hanover, was a vassal to the arrogant prussian! 'but, if there were a war you would fight for the kaiser?' i asked, after a little dinner of which any man might be proud. 'fight? naturally. (i did not know that you knew so well how to eat in america.) fight! yes! it would be our duty. russia or france or the yellow nations might threaten us;--yes, all my family, except the priest, would fight. but, because one is loyal to the kaiser through duty, it does not mean that we hanoverians are prussians through pleasure. we shall never be content until we are hanoverians again--nor will bavaria.' 'a break up of the empire by force?' 'oh, no!' he said. 'not by force; but if the government does not distract public attention, hanover will demand more freedom; so will bavaria. none of us would embarrass the kaiser by raising the question of--let us say--greater autonomy for our countries, if there were question of a foreign war; but we must raise them soon.' 'do you think the emperor would make war to avoid the raising of these questions, which might mean a tendency toward the disintegration of the german monarchy?' 'the emperor would be incapable of that; he is for peace, but the raising of the question of a certain independence among the states that form the german empire can only be prevented now by a war or some affliction equally great. hanover can never remain the abject vassal of prussia.' 'you would, then, like to see the german emperor more democratic--a president, like ours, only hereditary, governing quasi-independent states?' 'that would not suit us at all,' he laughed. 'we are quite willing that the reichstag should be in the power of the emperor, as it is a mere association for talk; but we want the tributary kings to have more power in their own states. hanover a republic! how absurd! republics may be good on your continent, but, then, you know no better; you began that way. whoever tells us that we are democratic in germany, deceives you. we hanoverians want more power for hanover, all the reasonable rights of our kings restored and less power for prussia; but that we want republicanism, oh, no! a liberal constitution--yes; but no republic!' * * * * * an old friend, a swedish social democrat, brought in to tea a german social democrat; they came to meet an icelandic composer, in whom i was interested. the icelander was a good composer, but filled with curious ideas about icelandic independence. he was not content that iceland should have the power of a state in the federal union. a separate flag meant to him complete independence of denmark. he wanted to know the german social democrat's opinion of government. 'it is,' said the german, 'that hohenzollerns shall go, and people have equality.' 'with us it is,' said the swede, 'that the king of sweden shall go, and the people have equality.' 'but, if germany goes to war?' i asked. 'for a short war, we will be as one people; but after----' and he shook his head gravely. in the meantime, we were told constantly of the kaiser's charm. 'you once said,' remarked a débutante at the german court, who had been presented under the wing of our ambassadress, 'that if one wanted to dislike mr. roosevelt, one must keep away from him! i assure you, it is the same with the kaiser. he is charming. for instance, notice this: he presented a lovely cigarette case, with imperial monogram in diamonds or something of that kind, to madame hegermann-lindencrone, the wife of the danish minister, when her husband was leaving. "but my husband does not smoke," said madame hegermann-lindencrone, later in the day. "that is the reason i gave it to him," said the kaiser; "i knew that you like a cigarette, madame!" _isn't_ he charming?' we were told that the kaiser loved mark twain. to love mark twain was to be american. to be sure he turned his back very pointedly on mark on one occasion because mark had dared to criticise the pension system of the united states. pensions for the army should not be criticised, even if their administration were defective. all soldiers must be taken care of. this was the first duty of a nation, and mark twain forgot himself when he censured any system that put money into the pockets of the old soldiers, even of the wives of the soldiers of ! and this to the war lord, the emperor of more than a prætorian guard! and as for president roosevelt, if the kaiser could only see this first of republicans! this meeting had been the great joy of his brother prince henry of prussia's life. the kaiser had learned much from americans--our great capitalists, for example. no american who was doing things was alien to him. other monarchs might pretend to have an interest in the united states; his was genuine, for germany, youngest among the nations, had so much to learn from the giant republic of the west which possessed everything, except potash, the science of making use of by-products, and german kultur! president roosevelt had just gone out of office, and president taft was in. he wrote to me: 'you shall remain in your post as long as i remain in mine.' i was pleased and grateful. the chance that president roosevelt had given me, president taft continued to give me. i was the slave of a fixed idea, that the validity not the legality, of the monroe doctrine was somewhat dependent on our acquiring by fair bargains all the territory we needed to interpret it! as to denmark in , it was much more french than anything else. and, whatever might be done in the way of propaganda by germany, france always remained beloved; while the english way of living might be imitated, nobody ever thought of imitating germany's ways. besides, the danes are not good at keeping secrets, and the whisperings of german intentions, desires, likes, and dislikes disseminated in that city were generally supposed to be heart-to-heart talks with the world and received by the danes with shrewd annotations. this the kaiser did not approve of. it was curious that neither he nor his uncle, the king of england, liked copenhagen--for different reasons! it was understood that the king of england disliked it because he found it dull--the simplicity of hvidhöre had no charms for him. he could not join in the liking of his queen for everything danish, from the ballets of de bournonville to the red-coloured herring salad. _napoli_, a ballet which queen alexandra especially recommended to my wife and myself, frankly bored him, and the _mise-en-scène_ of the royal theatre was not equal to covent garden. the kaiser disliked copenhagen because he had no regard for his danish relatives, who took no trouble to bring out those charming boyish qualities he could display at times: the influence of the princess valdemar in denmark displeased him; she was too french, too democratic, and too popular, and she had something of the quality for command of her late mother-in-law, queen louise. altogether, the danes were not amenable to german kultur, or subservient to the continual threat of being absorbed in it, as the good buddhist is absorbed in the golden lotus! chapter vi german designs in sweden and norway as far as insinuating, mental propaganda was concerned, germany, as i have said, had the advantage over 'die dumme schweden,' as the prussians always called them. 'the stupid swedes' were the easiest pupils of german world politics, but even the most german of the swedes never realised, until lately, what the prussian dream of world politics meant. before , the swedes had been led to believe that any general european difficulty would throw them into the hands of russia. the constantly recurring difficulty of the aaland islands was before their eyes. look at the map of northern europe and observe what the fortifying of the aaland islands by a foreign power means to sweden. we americans do not realise that the small nations of europe have neither a monroe doctrine nor the power of enforcing one. and, so far as sweden was concerned, her only refuge against the power of russia seemed to be germany. when austria made her ultimatum to serbia, sweden believed that her moment for sacrifice or triumph had come. in august , all scandinavia felt that the fate of the northern nations was at stake. for sweden the defeat of germany meant the conquest of sweden by the russians, for, sad to say, no little nation believed absolutely in the good faith of a great one. the united states, where so many scandinavians had found a home, what of her? too far off, and the swedish leaders of public opinion knew too well what had been the fate of the attempts at the hague conference to abrogate the machiavellian doctrines that have been the basis of diplomacy almost since diplomacy became a recognised science and art. as for diplomacy, what had it to do with the fate of the little nations? scandinavia, among the rest of europe, looked on it as a purely commercial machine dominated essentially by local political issues. our state department had a few fixed principles, but all europe believed that we were too ignorant of european conditions and, more than that, too indifferent to them to be effective. the slightest political whisper in russia or the smallest hint from court circles in germany was enough to upset the equilibrium of scandinavian statesmen. american opinion really never counted, because american opinion was looked on as insular. a diplomacy labelled as 'shirt sleeve' or 'dollar' might delight those members of congress who had come to washington to complete an education not yet begun at home, but, from the european point of view, it was beneath notice. it cannot be said that the united states was not looked on, because of her riches and her size, with respect; but her apparent indifference to the problem on which the peace of the world seemed, to europe, to depend, and her policy of changing her diplomatic ministers or keeping them in such a condition of doubt that they kept their eyes on home political conditions, had combined to deprive her of importance in matters most vital to every european. this is not written in the spirit of censure, but simply as a statement of fact. the swedes, the norwegians, the danes had flocked to our country. in parts of the west, during some of the political campaigns, my old and witty friend, senator carter, chuckling, used to quote: 'the irish and the dutch, they don't amount to much, but give me the scan-di-na-vi-an.' these people are a power in our political life; but they knew in minnesota, in nebraska, wherever they lived in the united states, that our country would not forcibly interfere with the designs either of russia or of germany. and, in sweden, while king gustav and the conservatives saw with alarm the constant depletion of the agricultural element in the nation by emigration to the united states, their feeling towards our country was one of amiable indulgence for the follies of youth. king oscar showed this constantly, and king gustav went out of his way to show attentions to our present minister, mr. ira nelson morris. nevertheless, until lately, american diplomacy was not taken seriously, and, when the war opened, it was taken less seriously than ever. sweden, then, fearing russia, doubtful of england, full of german propagandists, her ruling classes looking on france as an unhappy country governed by _roturiers_ and pedagogues, and, except in a commercial way, where we never made the most of our opportunities, regarding our country as negligible, sweden, divided violently between almost autocratic ideas and exceedingly radical ones, was in a perilous position from to . frankly, there are no people more delightful than the swedes of the upper classes whom one meets at their country houses. kronoval, the seat of the count and countess sparre, is one of the places where the voices of both parties may be heard. and, when one thinks of the swedish aristocrat, one almost says, as talleyrand said of the _talons rouges_, 'when the old order changes, much of the charm of life will disappear.' under a monarchy, life is very delightful--for the upper classes. it is no wonder that they do not want to let go of it. it must be remembered, in dealing with european questions, that the swede and the spaniard are probably the proudest people on the earth. another thing must not be forgotten: the educated classes are imperial-minded. and of this quality german intrigue makes the most. a scandinavian confederacy, like the grecian one, of which king george of greece dreamed, was not looked on with yearning by the pan-germans. it must be remembered to the credit of king gustav, that, overcoming the rancour born of the separation, he made the first move towards the meeting of the three kings at malmö,[ ] in the beginning of the war. [ ] malmö is a town on the swedish side of the sound, an hour and a half by steamboat from copenhagen. lord bothwell was imprisoned there. when finland was annexed by germany, the terror of russia in sweden became less intense. before that sven hedin, suspected of being a tool of germany, did his best to raise the threatening phantom of the russian terror whenever he could. the hatred and fear of russia revived. it was not in vain that sane-minded persons urged that russia would have enough to do to manage the eastern question, to watch japan, to keep her designs fixed on constantinople. the german propaganda constantly raised the question of the fortification of the aaland islands. denmark and norway were intensely interested in it; it gave count raben-levitzau much thought when he was minister of foreign affairs in denmark, especially after the separation of norway from sweden; and since then, it has been a burning question, and the foreign office in christiania was not untroubled. on the question of the aaland islands neither the russian nor the swedish diplomatists would ever speak except in conventional terms; but, when i wanted light, i went to the cleverest man in denmark, count holstein-ledreborg. 'de l'esprit?' he said, laughing, 'mais oui, j'ai de l'esprit. tout le monde le dit; but other things are said, too. fortunately, a bad temper does not drive out l'esprit. you are wrong; the cleverest man in denmark is edward brandès.' but this is a digression. 'the swedes,' count holstein-ledreborg said, 'are at heart individualists. they would no more bear the german rule of living than they would commit national suicide by throwing themselves into the arms of germany. england met with no success in sweden in spite of the tact of her envoys, because her ideas of sweden are insular. she scorns effective propaganda; she has never even attempted to understand the swedes. the bulk of the swedes do not vote ( ). the destinies of sweden are in the hands of the court. a king is still a king in sweden; but that will pass, and the movement of the swedish nation will be further and further away from the political ideas of germany.' in modified liberal suffrage became a swedish institution. still, the state and church remain united. religion is not free; nobody can hold office but a lutheran. the 'young sweden' party is governed very largely by the ideas of the german historian, treitschke. the philosophy of his history is reflected in the pages of harald von hjarne. he is patriotic to the core, but, whether consciously or not, he played into the hands of the prussian propagandist. his history, a chronicle of the lives of kings charles xii. and gustavus adolphus, displayed in apotheosis; and the imperialistic idea, which carries with it militarist tendencies, is illuminated with all the radiance of hjarne's magic pen. sweden must have an adequate army. when norway threatened to secede, its attitude very largely due to the bad management of the very charming and indolent king oscar, the swedish army began to mobilise. the swedes--that is the minority of swedes, the governing body--would not brook the thought that norway might become a real nation. 'we must fight!' young sweden said. the young sweden, intolerant and imperious, did not realise that it had old and young norwegians to contend with. now, if the spaniard and the swede are the proudest folk in europe, the norwegian and the icelandic are the most stiff-necked. the swedish pride and the norwegian firmness, which contains a great proportion of obstinacy, met, and norway became a separate monarchy with such democratic tendencies as make american democracy seem almost despotism. after the success of the liberals in , there was a reaction. the german propaganda fanned the excited patriotism of the swedish people; 'their army was too small, their navy inefficient'; the force of arms must be used against russia. in fact, russia had her eastern problems; the best-informed of the swedish diplomatists admitted this; but the propaganda was successful; the people were tricked; nearly forty thousand farming folk and labourers marched to the palace of king gustav. they had made great contributions in money for the increase of the fleet. 'that cruiser,' said a cynical naval attaché, 'will one day fight for germany--when the yellow peoples attack us,' he added to ward off further questions. nevertheless the german influence made no points against the 'yellow peoples.' it was against russia all their bullets were aimed. the russians understood secret diplomacy well; but, either because they despised the common people too much or because the writers on russia were too self-centred, nothing was done to meet this propaganda effectively. the swede was taught to believe that germany was the best-governed nation on the face of the earth, and russia the worst; that germany would benevolently protect, while russia was ready to pounce malignantly. russian literature gave no glimpse of light. it was grey or black, and the language in which the russian papers were printed was an effectual barrier to the understanding of the swedes, who, as a matter of course, nearly all read german. young sweden believed that the first step on the road to greatness was a declaration of war with russia. nothing could have suited the plans of the pan-germans better than this, for it meant for sweden an alliance with germany. the swedish literary man and university professors voiced, as a rule, the pro-german opinions of young sweden. there were some exceptions; but there were not many. and the worst of all this was that these men were sincere. they were not bribed with money. they were flattered, if you like, by german commendations. every historical work, every scientific treatise, every volume of poetry of any value, found publishers and even kindly critics in germany. russia was the enemy, and, from the point of view of the intellectual swede, illiterate. russia had nothing to offer except commercial opportunities at great risks. swedish capital might easily be invested at home or, if necessary, there was the united states or germany for their surplus. the pictures of russian life given out by the great writers who ought to know it, were not inspiring of hope in the future of russia. there was no special need for the swedish scholar to complain of the german influence in his country since it was all in his favour. the government honoured him--following the german examples--and made him part of the state. even the english intellectuals, who, as every scandinavian knew, ought to have distrusted germany, acknowledged the superiority of german 'kultur' without understanding that it meant, not culture, but the worship of a prussian apotheosis. one of the most agreeable of swedish professors whom i met in christiania at the centennial of the christiania university, went over the situation with me. i had come in contact with him especially as i had been honoured by being asked to represent georgetown university and further honoured by being elected dean of all the american representatives, including the mexican and south american. this was in . 'frankly,' i said, 'are not you swedes putting all your eggs into one basket? what have you to do with the teuton and slavic quarrel? do you believe for a moment that the ultra-bismarckian policy which controls germany will consider you anything but a pawn in the diplomatic game? i think that, as swedes, you ought to help to consolidate scandinavia, and your diplomatists, instead of playing into germany's hands, ought to make it worth her while to support her, as far as you choose. you are selling yourself too cheap.' his eyes flashed. 'you do not talk like an american,' he said. then he remembered himself and became polite, even 'mannered.' 'i mean that you talk too much like diplomatists of the old school of secret diplomacy.' 'i believe that there are secrets in diplomacy which no diplomatist ever tells.' 'but you would have us attempt to disintegrate russia, and, at the same time, play with germany in order to make ourselves stronger.' 'i did not say so. for some reason or other, the germans call you "stupid swedes."' 'not now. that has passed. the germans recognise our qualities,' he added proudly. 'the english do not. the russians look on us only as their prey. you, being an american, are pro-russian. i have heard that you were particularly pro-russian. not,' he added hastily, 'that you are anti-german. the german vote counts greatly in the united states, and you could not afford to be; you might lose your "job," as one of your ministers at stockholm called it; but you, confess it!--have a regard for the russians.' 'they are interesting. we of the north owe them gratitude for their conduct during our civil war. anti-german? i love the old germany; i love weimar and the tyrol; but, speaking personally, i do not love the prussianisation of germany. i have written against the _kulturkampf_. i dislike the "prussian holy ghost" who tried to rule us back in the ' 's, but my german colleagues recognise the fact that i see good in the german people, and love many of their qualities.' 'still,' laughed the professor, who knows one of my best friends in rome, 'they say that you came abroad to live down your attacks in the _freeman's journal_ on the german holy ghost.' i changed the subject; that was not one of the things i had to live down. 'germany is our only friend, our only equal intellectually, our only sympathetic relative by blood. the norwegians hate us, the danes dislike us. we have the same ideas as the germans, namely, that the elect, not the merely elected, must govern. it was martin luther's idea, and his idea has made germany great.' 'but there is nothing contrary to that idea in the northern league, which count carl carlson bonde and other swedes dreamed about, is there? you swedes seem to believe that martin luther was infallible in everything but religion. he would probably like to see most of you burned, although you are all "confirmed."' the professor laughed: 'paris vaut une messe,' he quoted. 'i admit that luther would not approve of the religious point of view of our educated classes; but, at least, we have a semblance of unity, while you, like the english, have a hundred religions and only one sauce. our lutheranism is a great bond with germany, as well as our love of science and our belief in authority. as to the northern league, count bonde was a dreamer.' 'everybody is a dreamer in sweden who is not affected by the pan-german idea. is that it?' 'you are badly informed,' he said. 'your danish environment has affected you. as long as we can control our people, we shall be great. we have only to fear the socialist. the decision in essential matters must always rest with the king and the governing classes. our army and navy will be supported by popular vote, as in germany; they are the guarantees of our greatness.' this was the opinion of most of the autocratic and military--and to be military was to be autocratic--classes in . later i spoke with one of the most distinguished of the norwegians, professor morgenstjern. he seemed to be an exception to the general idolatry of german kultur. it was impossible to get the swede of traditions to see that germany's policy was to keep the three northern nations apart--not only the northern nations but the other small nations. when, just before the war, christian x. and queen alexandrina visited belgium on their accession the german propagandists in scandinavia were shocked; it was _infra dig_. it was 'french.' 'the king and queen of denmark will be visiting alsace-lorraine and wearing the tricolour!' a disappointed hanger-on in the german legation said. it was my business to find out what various foreign offices meant, not what they said they meant. 'of open diplomacy in the full sun, there are few modern examples. secrecy in diplomacy has become gradually greater than it was a quarter of a century ago, not from mere reticence on the part of ministers, but to a large extent from the decline of interest in foreign affairs.' the writer of this sentence in the _contemporary review_ alluded to england. this lack of interest existed even more in the united states. and then as militarism grew in europe, one's business was to discover what the admiralty thought, for in germany and austria, even in france, after the dreyfus scandal, one must be able to know what the military dictators were about. the newspapers had a way of discovering certain facts that foreign offices preferred to hide. but the most astute newspaper owing to the necessity of having a fixed political policy and the difficulty of finding men foolish enough or courageous enough to risk life for money, could rarely predict with certainty what foreign offices really intended to do. besides foreign offices, outside of germany, were generally 'opportunists.' few diplomatists of my acquaintance were deceived by the kaiser's professions of peace. that he wanted war seemed incredible, for he had the reputation of counting the cost. he was indiscreet at times, but his 'indiscretions' never led him to the extent of giving away the intentions of the general staff. that he wanted to turn the baltic into a german sea was evident. the swedish 'activist' would calmly inform you that, if this were true, germany would treat sweden, and perhaps the other scandinavian countries, as great britain treated the united states--the atlantic, as everybody knew, being a 'british lake' and yet free to the united states! there was no missing link in the german propaganda in sweden. prussia used the lutheran church as she had tried to use the german jesuits and failed. the good commonsense of the swedish common people alone saved them from making german kultur an integral part of their religion. when it filtered out that, notwithstanding the close relationship of the tsaritza of russia with the german emperor, the prussian camorra had determined to control russia, to humiliate her, to control her, there were those among the leaders who saw what this meant. they saw finland and the aaland islands germanised, and their resources, the product of their mines and of their factories, as much germany's as krupp's output. the bourgeoisie and the common people saw no future glory or profit in this. the knowledge of it filtered through; the lutheran pastor, with his dislike of democracy, his love for the autocratic monarchy, 'all power comes from god,' i heard him quote, without adding that st. paul did not say that 'all rulers come from god,'--could not convince the hard-thinking, hard-working swede that religion meant subjugation to a foreign power. the lutheran church, which, like all national churches, was hampered by the state, could give no intelligent answer to his doubts, so he turned to the social democrats. the governing class in sweden seemed to take no cognisance of the growth of democracy in the hearts of the people. germany was alive to it and feared it; but, in sweden, rather than admit it and its practical effects, the rulers ignored it, were shocked by the great tide of emigration to the united states, yet careless of its effects on swedish popular opinion. on one occasion in copenhagen, king gustav asked me why so many of his people emigrated to my country. the king of sweden is a very serious man, not easily influenced or distracted from any subject that interests him, and the good of his people interested him very much. it was a difficult question to answer, for comparisons were always odious. 'i can better tell you, sir, why your subjects prefer to remain at home:--when they get good land cheap, and when they see the chance of rising beyond their fathers' position in the social scale.' he began to speak, but etiquette demanded a move. when i met him again he returned to the subject. it was better that he should talk, and he talked well. it became evident to me that there was little good agricultural land in sweden to give away, and the division between the classes was not so impassable as i had believed. he made that clear. the social democrat in sweden wants an equal opportunity, no wars to be declared by the governing classes, and the abolition of the monarchy. he is not concerned greatly with the central powers or the entente. he was glad to see the hohenzollerns displaced, but he is german in the sense that he is affiliated with the german social democrats who, he believes, were forced to deny their principles temporarily or they would have been thrown to the lions; and as, above all things, he prizes a moderate amount of material comfort for himself and his family, he will not go out of his way to be martyred; but even he was the victim of modified german propaganda; he was too patriotic to accept it all. of late, as we know, the liberal party has gained strength, and the designs of a small activist military coterie were frustrated by a series of circumstances, of which the luxburg revelations were not the least; but the main reason was the coquetting of the government with germany, one of the signs of which was that the allied blockade was not treated as a fact, while the mythical blockade by germany was accepted as really existing. personally, i had respect for dr. hammarskjold, the premier of the conservative cabinet that ruled sweden in the beginning of the war. he was formerly a colleague in copenhagen, and, with the exception of francis hagerup, now norwegian minister at stockholm, he is the greatest jurist in northern europe. he is a swede of swedes, with all the traditions of the over-educated swede. neutrality he desired above all things--that is, as long as it could be preserved with honour; but he evidently believed that, for the preservation of this neutrality, it was most necessary to keep on very good terms with germany. hammarskjold's point of view was more complicated, more technical than that of herr branting, and it is to herr branting's raising of the voice of the swedish nation that a serious difficulty with the entente was avoided. nevertheless, it would be wrong to put down hammarskjold as pro-german, for he is, first of all, pro-swedish. edwin bjorkman, an expert in swedish affairs, says, after he has paid the compliments of an honest man to the wretched prussian conspiracies in sweden:-- 'for this german intriguing against supposedly friendly nations there can be no defence. for the more constructive side of germany's effort to win sweden, there is a good deal to be said, not only in defence, but in praise. it was not wholly selfish or hypocritical, and it was directed with an intelligence worthy of emulation. all the best german qualities played a conspicuous and successful part in that effort,--enthusiasm, thoroughness, systematic thinking and acting, intellectual curiosity, adaptability, and a constant linking of national and personal interests.'[ ] [ ] _scribner's magazine._ men, like hammarskjold, were naturally affected by an influence which no other nation condescended to counteract. besides, as a good swede, hammarskjold knew that, in a possible conflict with germany, sweden had nothing to expect, in the way of help, from the allies. the german propaganda had convinced many swedes that it was england that deprived king oscar of norway with the view of isolating sweden and assisting russia's move to the sea. the late minister of foreign affairs, herr wallenberg, was regarded as a friend of the entente, and was less criticised than any other member of the government. many of his financial interests were supposed to be in france, and he has many warm friends in all social circles in that country. he is a man of cosmopolitan experience. he has the reputation of being the best-informed man in europe on european affairs. dr. e. f. dillon, in one of his very valuable articles said: 'as far back as march , he gave it as his opinion that the friction in the near east would in a brief space of time culminate in a european war.' to dr. dillon the english-speaking world owes the knowledge of the points of view of certain activists, entirely under german influence, as expressed in _schwedische stimmen zum weltkrieg--uebersetzt mit einem vorwart verschen von dr. friedrich steve_. the real title is best translated _sweden's foreign policy in the light of the world war_. it was a plea for war in the interests of germany, representing those of germany and sweden as one. they were anonymous--now that some of them have had a change of mind it is well that their names were withheld. they were evidently pro-germans of all swedish political parties. it may not be out of place to say that the papers of dr. dillon, such as those printed in the _contemporary review_, are documents of inestimable diplomatic-social value. it was the leader of the socialists, herr branting, who helped to make evident that a change had been slowly taking place among the swedish people. herr branting is of a very different type from the generally received idea of what a socialist is. he would not do on the stage. in fact, like many of the constructive socialists in scandinavia, he is rather more like a modern disciple of thomas jefferson than of marx or bakounine. he knows europe, and he brings to the cause of democracy in europe great power, well-digested knowledge, and a tolerance not common in sweden, where religious sectarianism among the bulk of the people was as great an enemy to political progress as the prussian propaganda. the most influential man in sweden, herr branting, was obliged to renew his formal adhesion to the lutheran church, which he had renounced, to hold office. the strength of herr branting's position, which has lately immensely increased, may be surmised from the fact that, in , the radicals gave , votes as against , . the government would have been wise to have heeded this warning in time; but the men who had engineered the activist movement, who had worked the swedish folk up to their demand for stronger defences and a greater army and navy, seemed to think that sweden was still to be governed from the top. the swedes are not the kind of people who can be led hither and thither by bread and the circus. they know how to amuse themselves without the assistance of their government and to earn their bread, too; but when the government, through its presumably pro-german policy, seemed to be responsible for the curtailment of the necessities of life, they turned on their leaders and read the riot act to them. sweden boldly defied pan-germanism. a great day in sweden was april st, . it was a turning point in the nation's destiny. the people took matters in their own hands. hjalmar branting had forced the swartz-lindman cabinet into a corner; no more secret understandings, no more disregard of the feelings of the voters who felt that, to help their nation intelligently, they must know what was going on. appeals to charles xii. or the shade of gustavus adolphus no longer counted. what germany liked or disliked was of no moment to branting. on the first of may we were all anxious in denmark. our minister at stockholm, mr. ira nelson morris, understood the situation; he expected no great outbreak as a result of branting's action in the rigstag, revealing the existence of a secret intrigue to raise, on the part of the government, a guard of civilians to protect the 'privileged classes,' as the socialists called them, against disturbances on the part of the proletariat. branting gave a guarantee that no tumult among the people should take place. nevertheless, the german propaganda kept at work; the people were not to be trusted. on may st, the party in power protected the palace with machine guns and packed its environs with troops. it was a rather indiscreet thing to do, since branting had given his word for peace, providing that the pro-german protectorate did not make war. on may st at least fifty thousand of the working classes, 'the unprivileged classes,' made their demonstration in procession quietly and solemnly. in the provinces, on the same day, half a million swedes sympathetically joined in this protest against the pro-german attitude of the government. when we entered the war the ruling classes declared, either privately or publicly, that we had made a 'mistake'; they hinted that germany would make us see this mistake--this out of no malevolence to america as america, but simply from a complete lack of sympathy with our ideals. it must be remembered that an aristocracy, a bureaucracy without privileges is as anomalous as a british duke without estate. the french revolution was a protest, as we all know, against vested privileges. when madame roland, the intellectual representative of a great class, was expected to dine with the servants at a noble woman's house, a long nail was driven into the coffin of privilege. in sweden the fight is on against the privileges which the higher classes in sweden have expected germany to help them conserve. on october th a new cabinet was formed; the people demanded a government which would be neutral. this was the result of the election in september. on this result--the first real step in the swedish nation toward political democracy--they stand to-day. unrestrained or uninfluenced by prussia, the classes of sweden who love their privileges, will accept the situation. the death-blow to the landed aristocracy will doubtless be the suppression of the majorats and the conversion of the entailed estates into cash. this seems to be one of the fundamental intentions of the new order. the classes who look to germany as their model and mentor are now non-existent--naturally! germany allowed to the upper classes in sweden no intellectual contact with the democracies of the world. the world news dripped into sweden carefully expurgated. her suspicions of russia were kept alive as we have seen; the good feeling which existed in denmark towards sweden (due to the help the swedish troops had given when they were quartered at glorup, near odense, in readiness to meet the prussian attack in ) had been gradually undermined. while sweden owed much of her suspicions of the other two countries to german influence as well as her fears of russia, denmark was confronted with a real danger. whatever progress sweden has made towards democracy is not due to intelligent propaganda on the part of america or england. it needed a war to teach the foreign offices that diplomatic representatives have greater duties than to be merely 'correct' and obey technical orders. german propaganda had little influence in norway, but german methods have been used to an almost unbelievable extent in the attempt to lower the morale of this self-respecting and independent people. the german propaganda could get little hold on a nation that cared only to be sufficient for itself in an entirely legitimate way. the norwegian can neither be laughed, argued, nor coerced out of an opinion that he believes to be founded on a principle, and he looks on all questions from the point of view of a free man thinking his own thoughts. german propaganda, during the war, took the form of coercion. the ordinary influences brought to bear on sweden would not be effective in norway. socialism seemed to be less destructive to the existing order of things in norway than it was in sweden, because it had fewer obstacles to overcome. it was against the pan-german idea that the three scandinavian countries should form the northern confederation dreamed of by baron carlson bonde and others. when the late king oscar of sweden came under german influence--through all the traditions of his family he should have been french--he began to give the norwegian causes of offence, and his attitude intensified their growing hatred of all privileges founded on birth, hereditary office, or assumption of superiority founded on extraneous circumstances. as we know, the form of lutheranism accepted in norway has little effect on the political life of the people, who, as a rule, are attached to their special form of protestantism because of traditions (part of this tradition is hatred of rome, as it is supposed to represent imperial principles) and because it leaves them free to choose from the bible what suits them best. it is a mistake to imagine, as some sociologists have, that the lutheran church in norway inclined the norwegians to sympathy with german ideas. i have never, as yet, met a norwegian who seemed to associate his religion with germany or to imagine that he owed any regard to that country because 'the light,' as he sometimes calls it, came to him through that german of germans, martin luther. in his mind, as far as i could see, there seemed to be two kinds of lutheranism--the german kind and the norwegian kind. i am speaking now of the people of average education--who would dare to use the phrase 'lower classes' in speaking of the norwegians as we use it of the swedes or the english? an 'average education' means in norway a high degree of knowledge of what the norwegian considers essential. this shows that racial differences are much more potent than religious beliefs; and yet, in considering the problems of the world to-day, it would be vain to leave religious affairs out of the question, worse than vain--foolish. the crown prince of germany, having studied the life of napoleon bonaparte, knew this; the kaiser, knowing machiavelli, understood it too well. lutheranism in norway is not a political factor owing to the peculiar temperament of the people; therefore, germany could not make use of it. with the intellectual classes, the independent thinkers, it has ceased to be a factor at all. ibsen, who was in soul a mystic, is accused of leaning towards german philosophies even by some of his own countrymen; but there was never a more individualistic man than he. in my conversation with learned and intellectual norwegians, i discovered no leaning whatever to autocratic ideals. they were only aristocrats in the intellectual sense. 'even our upper classes,' said a swede, an ardent admirer of the ideas of the liberal swede, count hamilton, 'are changing. you ought to know our people as you know the danes. a nation as plastic as ours, capable of breaking its traditions by making a king of marshal bernadotte, a person not "born" has great capacities for adaptation; and this is the reason why my country will not be divided between germanised aristocrats and a socialistic proletariat.' this, after all, represents the essential attitude of the best in sweden. that german ideals were propagated and well received by the ruling classes is true, but, to generalise about any country, simply because of the attitude of the persons one meets in society, is a mistake that would lead a diplomatic representative into all manner of difficulties. to assume that sweden could have been governed as germany was governed, because german is the fashionable language among the aristocracy and the intellectuals, or because sweden is lutheran, or because the university and military education is founded on german methods, is too misleading. the swedish folk are not the kind that would tamely submit to the drastic rule of the autocratic hohenzollern. the german attitude toward norway was frankly antagonistic. there was no power there to persuade the citizens of that country that all kultur should come from above. the norwegian is a democrat at heart. he believes, with reason, in the industrial future of his country; he understands what may be done with his inexhaustible supply of 'white coal'; he knows the value of the process for seizing the nitrates from the air. when he heard that supplies of potash had been discovered in spain, a distinguished norwegian said: 'poor spain! the prussians will seize it now; but we should be willing to meet all the prussian fury if we could discover potash in norway!' it is an open secret that norway, at the time of her separation from sweden, would have preferred a republican form of government. the powers, england and russia and germany, would not hear of this, and the norwegians consented to a very limited monarchy. german or russian princes were out of the question, and prince charles of denmark, now king haakon, who had married the princess maud of great britain and ireland, was chosen. king edward vii. was pleased with this arrangement; he had no special objection to the cutting down of monarchical prerogatives, provided the hereditary principle was maintained, and the marriage strengthened the english influence in norway. as king haakon and queen maud have a son--prince olav--the norwegians are content, especially as king haakon knows well how to hold his place with tact, sympathy, and discretion. norway is naturally friendly to the united states and england, and, in spite of the kaiser's regular summer visits, it was never at all friendly to him. the treatment of norway, when the germans found that the norwegians were openly against their methods, was ruthless. the plot of the german military party against the capital of norway, which meant the blowing up of a part of the city, has been hinted at, but not yet fully revealed. the reports of the attempt to introduce bombs in the shape of coals into the holds of norwegian ships bound to america were well founded, and the misery and wretchedness inflicted on the families of norwegian sailors by the u-boat 'horribleness' has made the german name detested in norway. after the crime of the _lusitania_, the german minister was publicly hissed in christiania. remaining neutral, norwegian business men kept up such trade with the belligerents as the u-boat on one side and the embargo on the other permitted. war and business seem to have no scruples, and the norwegian merchant, like most of ours, before we joined the allies, felt it his duty to try to send what he could into germany. the british minister at christiania, the british admiralty, and a patriotic group of norwegians did their utmost in limiting this, and, when the united states entered the war, they were ably seconded by the american minister, mr. schmedeman. the norwegians, in spite of all dangers, kept their boats running, and they were shocked when the united states tightened the embargo, with a strangle grip. the norwegian press openly said that we, the friend of the little nations, had proved faithless, and pointed to their record as friends of democracy. the american minister, in the midst of the storm, did an unusual thing; he published the text of the prepared agreement, which nansen had sent to washington to negotiate. there was a time, before this, when the name of our country, formerly so beloved and revered, was execrated among the norwegians. mr. schmedeman's quick insight calmed a storm which arose from disappointment at the stringent demands of a nation they had hitherto considered as their best friend. this constant friendship for us was shown on all occasions in copenhagen by dr. francis hagerup and dr. john irgens, two of the most respected diplomatists in europe. dr. hagerup's reputation is widely spread in this country. no human being could be imagined as a greater antithesis to the prussians than the norwegians; the norwegian is in love with liberty; he is an idealistic individual; it is difficult, too, to believe that the norwegian, the swede and the dane are of the same race. the norwegian is as obstinate as a lowland scot and as practical; he is a born politician; he calls a spade a spade, and he is not noted for that great exterior polish which distinguishes the swede and the dane of the educated classes. a norwegian gentleman will have good manners, but he is never 'mannered.' for frankness, which sometimes passes for honesty, the norwegian of the lower classes is unequalled. this has given the norwegian a reputation for rudeness which he really does not deserve. he is no more rude than a child who looks you in the eye and gives his opinion of your personal appearance without fear or favour; it does not imply that he is unkind. there is a story of a norwegian shipowner, who, asked to dine with king haakon, found that a business engagement was more attractive, so he telephoned: 'hello, mr. king, i can't come to dinner!' a norwegian told me, with withering scorn, the 'stupid comment' of an 'ignorant swede' on the norwegian character: 'you have no niagara falls in sweden, no great city like chicago, no red indians!' he had said, 'we have finer cataracts than your niagara falls, a magnificent city, stockholm, the paris of scandinavia, and many red indians, but _we_ call them norwegians!' one summer day, two well-mounted german officers, probably attending the kaiser or making arrangements for his usual yachting trip to norway, came along a country road. they were splendid looking creatures, voluminously cloaked--a wind was blowing--helmets glittering. our car had stopped on a side road; something was wrong. a peasant, manipulating two great pine stems on a low, two-wheeled cart, had barred the main road, and, as the noontide had come, sat down to eat his breakfast. one of the officers haughtily commanded him to clear the way, expecting evidently a frightened obedience. the peasant put his hands in his pockets and said,--'mr. man, i will move my logs when i can. first, i must eat my breakfast, you can jump your horses over my logs; why not? jump!' the officer made a movement to draw his revolver; the norwegian only laughed. 'besides,' he said, 'there is a wheel half off my cart; i cannot move it quickly.' the language of the officers was terrifying. finally, they were compelled to jump. neither the sun glittering on the fierce eagles nor the curses of the officers moved this amiable man; he drank peacefully from his bottle of schnapps and munched his black bread and sausage as if their great persons had never crossed his path, or, rather, he theirs. neither art, literature nor music has been germanised in norway. art, of later years, has been touched by the french ultra-impressionists. there is no humble home in the mountains that does not know grieg. and why? when you know grieg and know norway, you know that grieg is norway. norway is the land of the free and the home of the brave. there was no fear that german ideas would control it, and the prussians knew this. what is good in german methods of education the norwegians adopt, but they first make them norwegian. chapter vii the religious propaganda machiavelli, in _the prince_, instructs rulers in the use of religion as a means of obtaining absolute power; and from the point of view of monarchs of the renaissance and after, he would have been a fool, if he had neglected this important bond in uniting the nations he governed. it was not a question as to the internal faith of the ruler; that was a personal matter; but outwardly he must conform to the creed which gave him the greatest political advantages. there is a pretty picture of napoleon's teaching the rudiments of christianity to a little child at saint helena; but who imagines that he would have hesitated to make the sacred pilgrimage to mecca or to prostrate himself before the idols of any powerful pagan nation, if he could have fulfilled his plans in the east? 'paris vaut une messe,' said henry iv. of navarre and france with the cynicism of his tribe. queen catherine di medici and queen elizabeth had their superstitions. they probably believed that all clever people have the same religion, but never tell what it is--the religion to which lord beaconsfield thought he belonged. it is against the subversion of religion, of spirituality, to the state that democracy protests. frankly, it is as much against the despotism of socialism as it is against the machiavellianism of his late imperial majesty, the german emperor. he hoped to become emperor of germany and the world, and to speak from berlin _urbi et ubi_. to be german emperor did not content him. the kaiser's use of religion as an adjunct to the possession of absolute power began very early in his reign. bismarck could teach him nothing, though bismarck was as decided a hegelian as he was a prussian in his idea of the function of the ruler. hegel, the learned author of the _philosophy of right_, was prussian to the core. he was on the side of the rulers, and he hated reforms, or rather, feared reformers, because they might disturb the divinely ordered authority. there must be a dot to the 'i' or it meant nothing in the alphabet. this dot was the king. he was the darling of the prussian government and the spokesman of frederick william iii. he loathed the movement in germany towards democratic reforms, and watched england with distrustful eyes. the teaching of most hegelians in the universities of the united states--and the hegelian idea of the state had made much progress here--was to minimise somewhat the arbitrary and despotic ideas of their favourite prussian philosopher. no man living has yet understood the full meaning of all parts of his philosophical teachings, but one thing was clear to all men who, like myself, watched the application of hegelianism to prussia and to germany. the state must be supreme. the catholics in germany saw the errors of hegelianism as applied to the state, but they were not sufficiently enlightened or clever, and they neglected to oppose its progress efficiently. there are various opinions about the activities of the fathers of the congregation of jesus (founded by saint ignatius loyola as a _corps d'élite_ of the counter-reformation) in germany and in the world in general. bismarck heartily disapproved of them for the same reasons as hegel disapproved of them. they taught that cæsar is not omnipotent, that the human creature has rights which must be respected, and are above the claims of the state. in a word, in germany, they stood for the one thing that the prussian monarchs detested--dissent on the part of any subject to their growing assertion of the divine right of kings. windthorst formed the centrum, and opposed bismarck valiantly, but political considerations prussianised the centre, or catholic party, as they moved 'the enemies of prussianism,' the socialists, when the crucial moment arrived, and burned incense to absolute cæsar. it was not a question of lutheranism against catholicism in germany in , not a question of an enlightened philosophy, founded on modern research against obscurantism, as most of my compatriots have until lately thought, but a clean-cut issue between the doctrine of the entire supremacy of the state and the inherent rights of the citizen to the pursuit of happiness, provided he rendered what he owed to cæsar legitimately. that the victims of the oppression were jesuits blinded many of us to the motive of the attack. the educational system of the jesuits had enemies among the catholics of germany, too, so that they lost sight of the principle underneath the falk laws, so dear to bismarck. frederick the great and catherine of russia protected the jesuits, it is true, but they were too absolute to fear them. besides, as intellectuals, they were bound to approve of a society, which in the eighteenth century had not lost its reputation for being the most scientific of religious bodies. the falk laws were, in the opinion of bismarck and the disciples of the _kulturkampf_, the beginning of the moulding of the catholic church in germany as a subordinate part of the autocratic scheme of government. they had nothing to fear from the lutherans--they were already under control--and nothing to fear from the unbelieving intellectuals, of the universities, for they had already accepted hegel and his corollaries. the main enemies of the ultra-kaiserism were the catholic church and socialism--socialism gradually drawing within its circle those men who, under the name of social democrats, believed that the hohenzollern rule meant obscurantist autocracy. the socialists, pure and simple, are as great an enemy to democracy as the pan-germans. the varying shades of opinion among the social democrats,--there are liberals among them of the school of asquith, and even of the school of lloyd george, constitutional monarchists with jeffersonian leanings, lutherans, catholics, non-believers, men of various shades of religious opinion are all bent on one thing,--the destruction of the ideals of government advocated by hegel and put into practice by the emperor and his coterie. both the socialist and the social democrat came to copenhagen. they talked; they argued. they were on neutral soil. it was impossible to believe, on their own evidence, that the socialism of marx, of bebel, of the real socialists in germany, could remedy any of the evils which existed under imperialistic régime in that country. the socialist or the social democrat was feared in germany, until he applied the razor to his throat, or, rather, attempted hari-kari when he voted for war. the socialists can never explain this away. his prestige, as the apostle of peace and good-will, is gone; he is no longer international; he is out of count as an altruist. the social democrat is in a better position; he never claimed all the attributes of universal benignity; he was still feared in germany, but in that harmless debating society, the reichstag, with the flower of the german manhood made dumb in the trenches, he could only threaten in vain. in our country, pure socialism is misunderstood. it is either cursed with ignorant fury or looked on as merely democracy, a little advanced, and perhaps too individualistic. it ought to be better understood. socialism means the negation of the individual will; the deprivations of the individual of all the rights our countrymen are fighting for. it is a false christianity with christian precepts of good-will, of love of the poor, of equality, fraternity, liberty,--phrases which have, on the lips of the pure socialist, the value of the same phrases uttered by robespierre and marat. 'i find,' said a berlin socialist, whom i had invited to meet ben tillett, the english labour agitator, 'that danish socialism is merely social democracy. given a fair amount of good food and comfort, schools, and cheap admittance to the theatres, the copenhagen socialists seem to be contented. you may call it "constructive socialism," but i call it social degeneracy. we, following the sacred principles of marx and bakounine, different as they were, must destroy before we can construct. in the future, every honest man will drive in his own car, and the best hospitals will not be for those that pay, but for those who cannot pay. cagliostro said we must crush the lily, meaning the bourbons; we must crush all that stands in the way of the perfect rule which will make all men equal. we must destroy all governments as they are conducted at present; we have suffered; all restrictive laws must go!' ben tillett could not come to luncheon that day, so we missed a tilt and much instruction. the european socialist's only excuse for existence is that he has suffered, and he has suffered so much that his sufferings must cry to god for justice. as to his methods, they are not detestable. they are so reasonable, so christian, that some of us lose sight of his principles in admiring them. the kaiser has borrowed some of the best of the socialistic methods in the organisation of his superbly organised empire, and that makes germany strong. but sympathy with the socialists anywhere is misplaced. their principles are as destructive as their methods are admirable. their essential article of faith is that the state, named the socialistic aggregation, shall be supreme and absolute. as to the other enemies of despotism in germany, the jesuits, they were downed simply because bismarck and the hegelian ideal would not tolerate them. they exalted, as hegel said, the virtue of resignation, of continency, of obedience, above the great old pagan virtues, which ought to distinguish a teuton. the jesuits, german citizens, few in number, apparently having no powerful friends in europe or the world, were cast out, as the war lord would have cast out the socialist if he had dared. but the socialists were a growing power; they had shown that they, like the unjust steward in the parable, know how to make friends of the mammon of unrighteousness. the jesuits went; the catholic party, the centre was placated by the request of germany to have the pope arbitrate the affair of the caroline islands and by the colonial policy of bismarck in in supporting the work of cardinal lavigerie in africa. the catholic population of germany, more than one-third of the whole, accepted the dictum that the state had the right to exile german citizens because they disagreed with the government as to the freedom of the human conscience. however, as the catholic germans were divided in sentiment as to the value of the jesuit system of education, which in this country seems to be very plastic, they were at last fooled by the centrum, their party, into the acceptance of a compromise. to copenhagen, there came, after the opening of the war, an old priest, who had been caught in the net in belgium; 'that christians should forgive such horrors as the germans commit! why do not the christian germans protest? i confessed a german colonel, a catholic, who had lain a day and a night in a field outside a belgian town. he was dying when some of your americans found him, and brought him to me. "i suffered horrors during the night," he said, "horrors almost unbearable. i groaned many times; i heard the voices of men passing; these men heard me." "there is a wounded man," one said, and they came to me. "he's a german," the other said, "qu'il crève" (let him die). and they passed on. "this," i thought, in my agony, "this, in a christian land where the story of the good samaritan is read from the pulpits; yet they leave me to die. but when i remembered, father, the atrocities for which i had been obliged to shoot ten of my own soldiers, i understood why they had passed me by."' the good priest, who had many friends in germany, repeated over and over again: 'whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad; the catholics in germany must be mad!' bismarck had used falk and the liberals to divide and control. he later found it necessary to placate windthorst and the centrum, then a 'confessional,' or religious party. it has changed since that time; it is now, like the social democratic block, made up of persons of various shades of religious opinion, but having similar political ideas. it represents a determination not to allow the state to be absolute, and, no doubt, if the united states had realised its position, it might have been strengthened by intelligent propaganda to be of use in breaking the prussian autocracy. but hitherto even travelled americans have regarded it as a remnant of the middle ages, and hopelessly reactionary. it was part of the kaiser's policy to make the rest of the world think so, for he had adopted and adapted this bismarckian chart while throwing the pilot of many stormy seas overboard. bismarck lived to see the heritage of despotism, which he had destined for his oldest son, seized by a young monarch, whose capabilities he had underrated. then, the danes say, he uttered the sneer, 'i will freshen the hohenzollern blood with that of struense!' the german propaganda for controlling the church in the united states had been well thought out in . the emigrants from germany, just after , were not open to the influence of prussian ideas; they had had more than sufficient of them, but when the great crowd of germans came in later, it was time to inject the proper spirit of prussianism into their veins. it is well known that the emperor william had his eyes on the vatican. he was wise enough to see that if the catholic church lost in one place, she was certain to gain in another; it was not necessary for him to read macaulay's eloquent passage on the papacy, as most statesmen who speak english do. but his indiscretions in speech and writing, whether premeditated or not, for the _zeitgeist_ and the orthodox lutherans must be propitiated--were constantly nullifying his plans. as to the spiritual essence of the catholic church, the emperor did not recognise it. papal rome was dangerous to him as long as it remained independent; he coquetted with harnack and with the most advanced of the higher critics who whittled the bible into a pipestem. how he squared himself with the orthodox lutherans, apparently nearly two-thirds of the population, can only be shown by his constant allusions to the prussian god. as a state church, yielding obedience almost entirely to the governing power of the country, he had little fear of lutheranism in its varying shades of opinion. the jews he evidently always distrusted. he regarded them as internationalists and not to be recognised until they became of the state church; then they might aspire, for certain considerations, to be _rath_ and even to wear the precious _von_. the emperor wanted control of the vatican. he knows history (at least we thought so in copenhagen), and he was sympathetic with his ancestors in all their quarrels with the holy see on the subject of the investitures; the emperor had wisely foreseen that difficulties of the same kind between the vatican and himself might easily break out, were not the vatican modernised or controlled. he knew that the claims of the popes to dethrone rulers could never be revived since they were not inherent in the papacy, but only admitted by the consent of christendom, which had ceased to exist as a political entity; but the question of the right of a lay emperor to control the policy of the holy father in matters of the religious education, marriage, church discipline of catholics might at any time arise. he knew the _non possumus_ of rome too well to believe that in a spiritual crisis she could be moved by the threats of any ruler. if his imperial majesty could have forced the principle of some of his ancestors that the religion of a sovereign must be that of his subjects, the question might be settled. if he could have arranged the religion of his subjects as easily as he settled the question as to the authenticity of the flora of lucas in berlin in favour of director bode, how clear the way would have been! as it was, he knew too well what he might expect from rome in a crisis where he, following the prussian _zeitgeist_, might wish to infringe on the spiritual prerogatives. to understand the world every european diplomatist of experience knows the vatican must not be ignored, and, while the war lord, the future emperor of the world, hated to acknowledge this, he was compelled to do it. the vatican, that had nullified the may laws and defeated falk, their sponsor, might give the emperor trouble at any time. catholics of the higher classes all over europe were ceasing to be royalists. the pope, leo xiii., had even accepted the french republic, and for the part of cardinal rampolla and of archbishop ireland in this the kaiser hid his rancour. he must be absolute as far as the right of his family and those of the hereditary succession went, and quite as absolute in his control over such laws as were for the increase of the kultur of his people. at one time, since the present war opened, it was rumoured at copenhagen that plural marriages were to be allowed, to increase the population of a nation so rapidly being depleted. i was astonished to hear a german lutheran pastor--he was speaking personally, and not for his church--say that there was nothing against this in the teachings of luther or melanchthon. he quoted the affair of a landgraf of hesse in the sixteenth century. 'but the kaiser would not consent to this,' i said. 'why not?' responded the pastor. 'he knows his old testament; he has the right of private interpretation especially when the good of the state is to be considered.' 'over a third of the germans are catholics; the pope would never consent to that.' 'there would be an obstacle,' he admitted; 'but the kaiser, in the interests of the nation, would have his way. our nation must have soldiers. you americans,' he added, bitterly, 'are killing our prospective fathers in the name of bethlehem. we must make up the deficit by turning to the hebraic practice.' 'you cannot bring the catholics to that, and i doubt whether any decent people would consent to it, in spite of your quotation from luther's precedent. no pope could allow it.' 'a pope can do anything--whom you shall forgive,' he laughed, 'is forgiven.' 'a pope cannot do anything; the moment he approved of plural marriages in the interest of any nation, he would cease to be pope. he cannot abrogate a law both divine and natural, and i doubt----' 'do not doubt the power of the head of the german people, the shepherd of his church. the german people are the religious, the spiritual counterparts of the true israelites, were begotten by the spirit, mystical jehovah who made israel the prophet-nation; mystically he has designated the german tribes as their successors. he lives in us. this war is his doing; our kultur, which is saturated with our religion, is inspired by him. he must destroy that the elect may live.' 'again, i repeat, germany can no more accept such debasing of the moral currency than she can encourage the production of illegitimate children at the present moment. i do not believe that there is a hospital in berlin, especially arranged for the caring for the offspring of army nurses and soldiers. it is a calumny.' 'we must have boy children,' said the pastor, 'but that is going too far. still, _deutschland über alles_. we may one day have a german pope with modern ideas.' my friend of st. peter's lutheran german church was out of town. i asked another friend to report the conversation to him. our mutual friend said that pastor lampe smiled and said, 'there are extremists in every country. tell the american minister to read dr. preuss in the _allgemeine evangelische_, _lutherische kirchenzeitung_.' but i am out of due time; dr. preuss's famous _passion of germany_, in full, appeared later, in . it is true that austria's vote at the conclave had defeated cardinal rampolla as a candidate for the papacy. the emperor of austria had permitted himself to be used as a tool of the german emperor, not willingly, perhaps, for rampolla stood for many things political which the absolutists hated. nevertheless, he had done it, to the disgust of the college of cardinals, who thus saw a forgotten weapon of the lay power used against themselves. they abolished the right of veto, which austria as a catholic power had retained. but the conclave elected a pope who did not please the kaiser. he was a kindly man of great religious fervour, impossible to be moved by german cajoling or threats. the knowledge of the crime of germany killed him. nevertheless, the emperor william had curbed the power of rampolla, as he hoped to destroy that of archbishop ireland in the great republic of the west. a powerful church with a tendency to democracy was what he feared, and archbishop ireland, a frankly democratic prelate, the friend of france, the admirer of lafayette, had dared to raise his powerful hand against the religious propaganda of the all highest in the united states of america, where one day german kultur was to have a home. the great napoleon had thought of his sister, the princess pauline, as empress of the western hemisphere. why not one of our imperial sons for the crude republic which had helped mexico in the old, blind days to eject maximilian? napoleon had made his son, later the duke of reichstadt, king of rome. why should not one of the sons of our napoleonic crown prince be even greater, a german pope--at least a german prince of the church expounding harnack with references to strauss's _life of jesus_? why not? the vicegerent of the teutonic god? from many sources it leaked out that the kaiser looked on the most reverend john ireland as an enemy of his projects both in europe and the united states. the archbishop of st. paul was known to be the friend of cardinal rampolla. all who knew the inside of recent history were aware that he had been consulted by leo xiii. on vital matters pertaining to france, in which country the ultra-royalists, who had managed to wrap a large part of the mantle of the church around them, were making every possible mistake and opposing the pope's determination to recognise the republic. archbishop ireland had been educated in france; he had served in the civil war as chaplain; he knew his own country as few ecclesiastics knew it. he, growing up with the west, in the most american part of the west, had brought all the resources of european culture, of an unusual experience in world affairs, to a country at that time not rich in men of his type. in the east, the catholic church had had prelates like cardinal cheverus, archbishop of boston, a number of them, but st. paul was little better than a trading station when john ireland finished the first part of his education in france. the tide of emigration had not yet begun to raise questions on the answers to which the future of the country depended. it required far-sighted men to consider them sanely. from the beginning archbishop ireland reflected on them. he saw the danger of rooting in new soil the bad, old weeds, the seeds of which were poisoning europe. he was familiar with the _coulisses du vatican_, knew that rome ecclesiastically would try to do the right thing. but rome ecclesiastically depends very largely on the information it receives from the countries under consideration. the attitude of the opponents of the catholic church is due, as a rule, to their ignorance of anything worth knowing about the church and their utter disregard of its real history. their narrow attitude is illustrated by the story that president roosevelt, in a cabinet meeting was once considering the form of a document which official etiquette required, should be addressed to the pope. 'your holiness,' said the president. a member of the cabinet objected. this title from a protestant president! 'do you want me to call the pope the son of the scarlet lady?' asked the president. the objection was as valid as that of the puritan who objected to sign a letter 'yours faithfully' because he was not _his_ faithfully! in the celebrated _century_ article of , the handling of which showed that the editors of the _century_ held their honour higher than any other possession, an allusion to archbishop ireland appeared. i have been informed that it showed the animus of the kaiser against the archbishop, who with cardinal gibbons, the bishops keane, spalding, o'gorman, and archbishop riordan seconded by the present bishop of richmond, denis o'connell, had defeated, after a frightful struggle, the attempt of kaiserism to govern the catholic church in this country. its beginnings seemed harmless enough. a merchant named peter paul cahensly of limburg, prussia, suggested at the catholic congress of trier, the establishment of a society for protecting german emigrants to the united states, both at the port of leaving and the port of arriving. another catholic congress met in bamburg, bavaria, three years later. connection was made with the central verein, which at its convention took up the matter zealously. but the zeal waned, and in , herr cahensly came to new york in the steerage so that he could know how the german emigrant lived at sea. he arranged that the german emigrants should be looked after in new york and then left for home. it was reasonable enough that cahensly should interest himself in the welfare of the germans at the point of departure, but entirely out of order that he should attempt any control of the methods for taking care of the emigrants on this side. it was suspected that cahensly had talked over a plan for retaining the catholic germans, especially in the west, where they formed large groups, as still part of their native country. this had already been tried among the lutherans, and had for a time succeeded. the swedish lutherans, segregated under the direction of german-educated pastors, were considered to have been well taken care of. the war has shown that the americans of swedish birth in the west showed independence. the suspicions entertained by the watchful were corroborated when, in , cahensly presented a memorial to the papal secretary of state, cardinal rampolla, making the plea that the 'losses' to the church were so great, owing to the lack of teaching and preaching in german, that a measure ought to be taken to remedy this evil by appointing foreign bishops and priests, imported naturally, so that each nationality would use the language of its own country. the object aimed at was to put the english language in the background, to have the most tender relations, those between god and little children, between the growing youths and christianity, dominated by a mode of thought and expression which would alienate them from their fellows. in business, a man might speak such english as he could; but english was not good enough for him in the higher relations of life. he might earn money in 'this crude america,' but all the finenesses of life must be german. i think i pointed out in the new york _freeman's journal_ at the time, that, if there were a special german holy ghost, as some of these germanophiles seemed to believe, he had failed to observe that there was little in the 'heretical' english language so devoid of all morality as the dogmas proposed to govern the conduct of life in some of the wisconsin papers, printed in german. some clear-sighted americans, cardinal gibbons and archbishop ireland at their head, saw what this meant. kaiserism was concealed in the glow of piety. the proceedings of the priester verein convention, in newark, september , , is on record. the ordinary of the diocese, bishop wigger, had protested against the stand the german priests' society proposed to take; he had announced his disapproval in advance of 'cahenslyism'; he was stolidly against the appointment of 'national,' that is, trans-atlantic bishops selected because they spoke no language but their own. the choice of the 'germanisers' was the reverend dr. p. j. schroeder--monseigneur schroeder, rather; he had been imported by bishop keane, afterwards archbishop, to lecture at the catholic university. bishop keane, like most americans before the war, believed that germany held many persons of genius who honoured us by coming over. when dr. schroeder's name was mentioned, a caustic english prelate had remarked: 'i thought the americans had enough mediocrities in their own country without going abroad for them.' but mgr. schroeder had a very high opinion of himself. american catholics were heretical persons, of no metaphysical knowledge; they could not count accurately the number of angels who could dance on the point of a needle! he arrogantly upheld the german idea. english-speaking priests were neither willing nor capable. the emigrants in the united states would be germans or nothing--_aut kaiser aut nullus_. the german priests in the west claimed the right to exclude from the sacraments all children and their parents who did not attend their schools, no matter how inefficient they were. the controversy became international. in germany, to deny the premises of mgr. schroeder was to be heretical, worthy of excommunication; in this country there was a camp of kaiserites who held the same opinion. it is true that bismarck had opened the _kulturkampf_ in the name of the unity of the fatherland. it is true that the kaiser would gladly have claimed the right his ancestors had struggled for--of investing bishops with the badges of authority--and that he gave his hearty approbation to the exile of the jesuits. nevertheless, he was the kaiser! compared with him, the president of the united states was an upstart, and cardinal gibbons was to the ultra-germans almost an anathema as cardinal mercier is! there was a fierce struggle for several years. bombs, more or less ecclesiastical, were dropped on archbishop ireland's diocese. to hear some of these bigots talk, we would have thought that this brave american was talleyrand, bishop of autun. but the right won. cahenslyism was stamped out, and here was another reason why the kaiser did not love archbishop ireland, and another reason why bavaria and austria, backed up by prussia, protested against every attempt on the part of rome to give him the cardinal's hat. this would have meant the highest approval of a prelate who stood for everything the kaiser and the bavarian and austrian courts detested. the _curia_ is made up of the councillors of the pope; a layman might be created cardinal--it is not a sacerdotal office in itself--and while the pope would reject with scorn the request that a temporal government should nominate a bishop, he might accept graciously a request that a certain prelate be made a cardinal from the ruler of any nation. if president roosevelt had been willing to make such a request to leo xiii.--he was urged to do it by many influential protestants who saw what archbishop ireland had done in the interest of this country--there is no doubt that his request would have been granted. the cardinals are 'created' for distinguished learning. one might quote the comparatively modern example of cardinals newman and gasquet; for traditional reasons, because of the importance of their countries in the life of the church; and they might be created, in older days, for political reasons. but the wide-spread belief that a cardinal was necessarily a priest leads to misconceptions of the quality of the office. if the french republic were to follow the example of england and china, send an envoy to the holy see, and make a 'diplomatic' _rapprochement_, neither rome nor any nation in europe would be shocked if his holiness should consent to a suggestion from the president of the french republic and 'create,' let us say, abbé klein a cardinal. archbishop ireland with his group of americans saved us from the insults of the propaganda of kaiserism. this name was synonymous with all things political and much that is social, loathed by the absolutes in austria, bavaria and, of course, germany. the creation of archbishop ireland as a cardinal would have been looked on by these powers as a deadly insult to them, on the part of the pope. they made this plain. the failure of the cahensly plan caused much disappointment in germany. the kaiser, in spite of his flings at the catholic church--witness a part of the suppressed _century_ article and the letter to an aunt 'who went over to rome'--was quite willing to appear as her benefactor. much has been made of his interest in the restoration of the cathedral of cologne. this, after all, was simply a national duty. a monarch with over one-third of his subjects catholics, taking his revenues from the taxes levied on them, could scarcely do less than assist in the preservation of this most precious historical monument. he seemed to have become regardless of the opinion of his subjects. he had heart-to-heart talks with the world; one of these talks was with mr. william bayard hale; the _century magazine_ bought it for $ , . . it was to appear in december . that its value as a 'sensation' was not its main value may be inferred from the character of the editors, richard watson gilder, robert underwood johnson and clarence clough buel--a group of scrupulously honourable gentlemen. this conversation with mr. hale took place on the kaiser's yacht. it was evidently intended for publication, for the most indiscreet of sovereigns do not talk to professional writers without one eye on the public. speaking of his _impressions of the kaiser_, the hon. david jayne hill says: 'it seemed like a real personal contact, frank, sincere, earnest and honest. one could not question that, and it was the beginning of other contacts more intimate and prolonged; especially at kiel, where the sportsman put aside all forms of court etiquette, lying flat on the deck of the _meteor_ as she scudded under heavy sail with one rail under water; at eckernforde, where the old tars came into the ancient inn in the evening to meet their kaiser and drink to his majesty's health a glass of beer.' 'did you ever see anything more democratic in america?' the kaiser asked, gleefully, one time. 'what would roosevelt think of this?' he inquired at another. 'hating him, as many millions no doubt do,' mr. hill continues, 'it would soften their hearts to hear him laugh like a child at a good story, or tell one himself. can it be? yes, it can be. there is such a wide difference between the gentler impulses of a man and the rude part ambition causes him to play in life! a rôle partly self-chosen, it is true, and not wholly thrust upon him. a soul accursed by one, great, wrong idea, and the purposes, passions, and resolutions generated by it. a mind distorted, led into captivity, and condemned to crime by the obsession that god has but one people, and they are his people; that the people have but one will, and that is his will; that god has but one purpose, and that is his purpose; and being responsible only to the god of his own imagination, a purely tribal divinity, the reflection of his own power-loving nature, that he has no definite responsibility to men.' nevertheless, in copenhagen, we understood from those who knew him well that he was a capital actor, that he never forgot the footlights except in the bosom of his family, and even there, as the young princes grew older, there were times when he had to hide his real feelings and assume a part. in , he was determined that the united states should be with him; he never lost an opportunity of praising president roosevelt or of expressing his pleasure in the conversation of americans. i think i have said that he boasted that he knew russia better than any other man in germany, and it seemed as if he wanted to know the united states to the minutest particular. it is a maxim among diplomatists that kings have no friends, and that the only safe rule in conducting one's self towards them are the rules prescribed by court etiquette. it is likewise a rule that politeness and all social courtesies shall be the more regarded by their representatives as relations are on the point of becoming strained between two countries. how little the kaiser regarded this rule is obvious in the case of judge gerard, who however frank he was at the foreign office--and the outspoken methods he used in treating with the german bureaucrats were the despair of the lovers of protocol--was always most discreet in meetings with the kaiser. i was asked quietly from berlin to interpret some of his american 'parables,' which were supposed to have an occult meaning. there was a tale of a one-armed man, with an inimitable broadway flavour, that 'intrigued' a high german official. i did my best to interpret it diplomatically. but, though our ambassador, the most 'american' of ambassadors, as my german friends called him, gave out stories at the foreign office that seemed irreverent to the great, there was no assertion that he was not most correct in his relations with the german emperor. yet, one had only to hear the rumours current in copenhagen from the berlin court just after the war began, to know that the emperor had dared to show his claws in a manner that revealed his real character. judge gerard's book has corroborated these rumours. the fact that i had served under three administrations gave me an unusual position in the diplomatic corps, irrespective entirely of any personal qualities, and--this is a digression--i was supposed to be able to find in ambassador gerard's parables in slang their real menace. a very severe bavarian count, who deplored the war principally because it prevented him from writing to his relations in france, from paying his tailor's bill in london, and from going for the winter to rome, where he had once been chamberlain at the vatican, said that he had heard a story repeated by an attaché of the foreign office and attributed to ambassador gerard, a story which contained a disparaging allusion to the holy father. as a catholic, i would perhaps protest to ambassador gerard against this irreverence which he understood had given the foreign minister great pain, as, i must know, the german government is most desirous of respecting the feelings of catholics. 'impossible,' i said. 'our ambassador is a special friend of cardinal farley's and he has just sent several thousand prayer-books to the english catholic prisoners in germany.' thus the story was told.[ ] [ ] i regret that i cannot give the story in the rhyme, which was bavarian french. it seemed that among the evil new yorkers with whom the ambassador consorted, there was an american, named michael, whose wife went to the priest and complained that michael had acquired the habits of drinking and paying attention to other ladies. 'very well,' said the priest, 'i will call on thursday night, if he is at home, and i'll take the first chance of remonstrating with him.' the evening came; the priest presented himself, and entered into a learned conversation on the topics of the hour, while michael hid himself behind his paper, giving no opportunity for the pastor to address him. however, he knew that his time would come if he did not make a move into the enemy's country. 'father,' he said, lowering his paper, 'you seem to know the reason for everything that's goin' on to-day; maybe you'll tell me the meanin' of the word "diabetes"?' 'it is the name of a frightful disease that attacks men who beat their wives and spend their money on other women, mike.' 'i'm surprised, father,' said michael, 'because i'm readin' here that the pope has it.' it was necessary for me to explain that this was one of our folklore stories, and could be traced back to _gesta romanorum_--merely one of the merry jests of which the german literature itself of the middle ages was so full, of the character, perhaps, of rheinhard the fox! this is an example of the way our ambassador played on the germans' sense of humour, as rosencrantz and guildenstern tried to play on hamlet's pipe! * * * * * the german propaganda went on in the united states. look at france, look at italy, in comparison with germany's respect for religion! the falk laws were no longer of importance; catholics were to be encouraged to go into the political service, having hitherto been 'rather discouraged' and even under suspicion, as von bülow admitted. the german was obsessed by the one idea--the preponderance of the fatherland.[ ] he was conscientious, he had for years cultivated a false conscience which judged everything by one standard: is this good for the spread of german kultur? [ ] the army bill of 'met with such a willing reception from all parties as has never before been accorded to any requisition for armaments on land or at sea.'--von bülow's _imperial germany_, p. . 'what do you think of all this?' i asked one of the most distinguished diplomatists in europe, now resident in berlin, the representative of a neutral country. 'there will be no peace in europe until germany gets what she wants. she knows what she wants, and since she has used every possible method to attain it.' to return to the indiscretions of the kaiser--indiscretions that were not always uncalculated. mr. clarence clough buel, one of the editors of _the century_, felt obliged, in justice, to give an authoritative explanation of dr. hale's suppressed 'interview.' his account was printed in _the new york world_ for december , : 'the proof of this interview had been passed by the german foreign office, with not more than half a dozen simple verbal changes. they were made in a bold, ready hand, but as there was no letter, we could not be sure that the proofs had been revised by the emperor. the usual hair-splitting of great men and officialdom had been anticipated, so with considerable glee, the trifling plate changes were rushed, and the big "sixty-four" press was started to toss off , copies.' the london _daily telegraph_ 'interview' of october , , was a thunderbolt, and the editors of _the century_, at the urgent request of the german government, suppressed the edition. i had been informed by mr. gilder of the facts. i was very glad of it, as i was enabled to explain this very interesting episode at the danish foreign office. mr. clarence buel writes (it was his duty to read the last galley proofs):--'but in the last cold reading i had grave suspicion that the kaiser's reference to the virgin mary might be construed by devout catholics as a slur on an important tenet of their faith. so the sacred name was deleted, and the kaiser's diction slightly assisted in the kindly spirit for which editors are not so often thanked by the writing fraternity as they should be. this incident is mentioned to show the protective attitude of the magazine, and also to indicate that the original "leak" as to the contents of the interview came from an employee of the printing office. only some one familiar with the galley proofs could have known that the virgin mary had figured in the manuscript, for the name did not appear in the printed pages and consequently could not have reached the public except for the killing of the interview. let it be said, with emphasis, that there was nothing in the kaiser's references to the part taken by the vatican in looking out for the interests of the church in world politics which could have caused serious irritation in any part of europe. as a student at the berlin university, i had attended some of the debates in the landtag during the famous _kulturkampf_ over the clerical laws devised by bold bismarck to loosen the catholic grip on the cultural life of prussian poland. knowing the nature of that controversy, and the usual, familiar attitude of (protestant) europeans toward religious topics, i could believe that everything in the article bearing on church and state, from the over-lord of most lutherans, was offered in a respectful spirit, and would hardly make a ripple across the sea.' mr. buel admits that the kaiser criticised the action of the pope and spoke slurringly of the virgin mary. mr. buel evidently means that the foreign offices of the world would not have been stirred by the censure of the kaiser or by even some frivolous comments on the blessed virgin. mr. buel, who is discretion itself, having been one of those who practically gave his word of honour that the 'interview' should be suppressed, was evidently desirous that public curiosity should not be too greatly excited as to its tenor. he does not excuse the kaiser, but as he is a very liberal protestant himself, speeches coming from a ruler, that would excite indignation even among catholics in europe, naturally do not strike him as insulting. it leaked out long ago that in the 'interview' his imperial majesty alluded to archbishop ireland in rather disrespectful terms. only the staunch americanism of the catholics of this country saved them from this insidious propaganda. if this spirit did not exist among them, they would have been led to believe that the central powers were the only european countries in the world where a catholic was free to practise his religion. we know what the german propaganda working on politicians did in canada among the french-speaking population. we saw, in the beginning of the war, how the protestants of ulster were used. there is a passage in mr. wells's _mr. britling sees it through_ which illuminates this. 'england will grant home rule,' said a prussian closely connected with the berlin foreign office, 'and then sir edward carson and his ulsterites will, with his mutineering british army, keep england too busy to fight us.' they believed this in very high quarters in germany. but when the british government did not put the home rule bill in force, the propagandists turned to certain irish intellectuals. 'you had better be governed by germany than england,' said the followers of sir roger casement, and the sentiment, whether uttered academically or not, found a hundred echoes. but first had been heard the german-inspired cry of the ulsterites, 'we had rather be governed by germany than the irish, by the kaiser rather than the irish roman catholic bishops.' most of us knew that there was no such danger, for home rule would have naturally cut into the political power of the irish bishops by strengthening the secular element forced into the background by the unfortunate conditions in ireland, which had prevented the catholic laymen from acquiring higher education, and obliging the clergy to become political leaders. it made no difference. the fermenters of religious dissension in ireland played into the hands of the prussians; there was laughter in hell. we knew that the slogan, 'better be governed by germany than by ulster,' was not echoed in our own country among men of irish blood. but when germany, through her agents, began to suggest an irish republic, protected by the imperial eagle, a small party formed in the united states, not pro-german, but anti-english. this was before we went into the war. 'every defeat of the english is a gain for ireland,' the german propagandist repeated over and over again. it sank in; the ulsterites thundered, and sinn fein, which had been non-political, became suddenly revolutionary. in our country the effect of all this was marked. every sentiment of religion and patriotism was played upon. only those who received the confidences of some of those deceived revolutionists of the unhappy easter day know how bitter was the feeling against england generated by the conspiracies in the interest of prussian domination. then we gloriously took our stand and went in. the practical answer came. the swedish lutherans and the sinn fein catholics took up their arms without waiting to be drafted; ireland must look after herself until the invaders were driven out of france and belgium! if the secret service is ever permitted to take the american public and the world into its confidence, the strength, the cleverness, and the permeativeness of the propaganda, especially religious, in the united states, will be shown to be astounding. 'what, son of luther, strikes at the german breast of your forefathers!' to use a phrase that would not be understood at the berlin foreign office, the prussian propagandist had us 'coming and going.' one could not help admiring the skill of these people. we, in our honest shirt sleeves were left gaping. shirt sleeves and dollar diplomacy were beautiful things in the opinion of people who believed that the little red schoolhouse and the international hague conference were all that were needed to keep us free and make the world safe for democracy! there are no such beautiful things now. if we are to fight the devil with fire, we ought to know previously what kind of fire the devil uses. that requires the use of chemical experts, and the german experts, before this war, were not employed on the side of the angels. we have won; but do not let us imagine that we have killed the devil. the propaganda still went on, and honest people were influenced by it. 'the pope belongs to us,' the german propagandists said. 'he has not reprimanded cardinal mercier,' replies some logical person, 'and cardinal mercier has done more harm to german claims even in germany than any other living man.' 'the pope sympathises with our claims; he is the friend of law and order, consequently, he is with us.' easily impressed folk among the allies accepted this. they believed the tale that the italian rout in the autumn of was due to catholic officers, who were paraded through every city in europe with 'traitor' placarded on each back! a foolish story to direct attention from the efforts of the paid conspirators who did the mischief. they saw only the surface of things. they seemed to think that the theorem of euclid that a straight line is the shortest distance from one point to another holds in the political underworld. the pope was attacked, which pleased the propagandists. 'o holy father, see how i, head of the german lutheran church, love you, and see! your wicked enemies are my enemies.' and so the german propagandist divided and discouraged! chapter viii the prussian holy ghost the prussic acid had permeated every vein and artery of the lutheran church in germany. whatever religious influence that could be brought to bear on the danes was used; but they look with suspicion on any mixture of religion and politics. besides, their kind of lutheranism is more liberal than the german. with the proper apologies i must admit that they are not, at present, easily accessible to any religious considerations that will interfere with their individual comfort. the union between the lutherans in denmark and the lutherans in germany is not close. the danes will not accept the doctrine, preached in germany, that martin luther was the glorious author of the war, and that victory for germany must be in his name! i had many friends in germany. one, a lutheran pastor, wrote in : 'your country, though pretending to be neutral, is against us, and you, once dear friend, are against us. you are no longer a child of light.' the effect of the religious propaganda has been too greatly underrated for the simple and illogical reason that religion, in the opinion of the people of the outside world, moulded for long years by the german school of philosophy, had concluded that religion had ceased to be an influence in men's lives. the pope, because he had lost his temporal power, was effete, reduced to the position of john bunyan's impotent giant! lutheranism, in fact, all protestant sects, were giving up the ghost, under the blows of hæckel, virchow, rudolf harnack and the rest of the school of higher critics! these men laid the foundation stones for the acceptance of nietzsche--schopenhauer being outworn--and the learned as well as the more ignorant of the cultured seemed to think that, as german scholars had settled the matter, faith in christianity was only the prejudice of the weak. the kaiser knew human nature better than this. while he believed in his prussian holy ghost--napoleon had his star--he was not averse to seeing the spiritual foundations of the world, especially the dogmatic part, which supported christianity, disintegrated. discussing the effect of this, i was forced, in march of , to say publicly, 'the kaiser is the greatest enemy to christianity in europe.' the reception of many protests from apparently sincere persons confirmed me in my belief that the propaganda had been more insidious than most of us believed. let us turn now to the effect of the ruthless propaganda in germany itself. note this letter: 'you, i can almost forgive, because, as i have told you often, you dwell religiously in darkness; but your protestant country, which owes its best to us, i cannot forgive. in the name of bethlehem, you kill our sons, and corrupt our cousins, karl and bernhard, whom you know in america. karl, when he was in my house last week, was insolent; he dared to say that the germans in america were americans, that, if martin luther sympathised with our glorious struggle, he was in hell! this is wild american talk; but i fear that too many of our good people in america have been "yankeefied" and lost their religion. however, our glorious kaiser has not been idle all these years; the good germans in your misled country, not bought by english gold, will arise shortly and demand that no more ammunition shall be sent to be used against their relatives. i saw your relation, lagos, in fiume; he cares nothing for luther or the prussian cause, but he is only a hungarian, with irish blood, and he will only speak of his emperor respectfully, and say nothing against our enemies in america; his son has been killed in russia; it is a judgment upon a man who is so lukewarm. the austrian emperor is forced to help us; he, too, is tainted with the blood of anti-christ. i have heard that, when the war broke out, and they told him, he said: "i suppose we shall fight those damned prussians again!" was this jocose? lagos laughed; it is no time to laugh; karl and bernhard will go back to where they belong, in pennsylvania, accursed for their treachery,--vipers we have cherished, false to the principles of luther.' an honest man, sincere enough, with no sense of humour, and a very good friend until one contradicted his pan-germanism. one might differ from him, with impunity, on any other question! 'our pulpits are thundering for the lord, luther, and a german victory!' there had been a movement in england for a union of the anglican church with the lutheran branch of protestantism in denmark. it may have been extended to norway and sweden as well, but i do not know. there was much opposition on the part of the germanised lutherans: 'it would be giving up the central principle of lutheranism to submit to re-consecration and reordination by the anglican bishops. it would be as bad as going to rome or russia or abyssinia for holy orders. in denmark, especially, luther, through bergenhagen, had cut off the falsely-claimed apostolical succession. how could a national church remain national and become english?' if i remember rightly, pastor storm, a clergyman greatly distinguished for his character, learning, and breadth of view, was in favour of such a union; he did not think it meant the anglicanising of the lutheran church. men like pastor storm were placed in the minority. the germans were against it. bishop rördam, the primate, bishop of zeeland, told me that german influence could have had nothing to do with the decision; he said, 'it is true that, if we wanted the apostolical succession we could go either to rome or russia. we are well enough as we are.' when the attempt at the union failed, those pastors in germany who had watched the progress of the undertaking, rejoiced greatly. my former friend, the lutheran pastor, wrote: 'the anglican church is a great enemy to our german kultur, though german influence among its divines is becoming greater and greater. i am obliged to you for the american books on st. paul. i read them slowly. i observe with joy that all the authorities quoted are from german sources; surely such good men as the authors of these books must see that your country is recreant to the memories of the great liberator, martin luther, in not preaching against the export of arms from your country to the entente and the starving of our children! i thank you for the books, and also for the one by the french priest, which is, of course, worthless, as he sneers at harnack. later, these french will know our kultur with a vengeance! i gather from the volumes of canon sheehan, as you call him, that the influence on clerical education in ireland is german. we have driven the french influence from your universities, too, and the theological schools of harvard and yale, thanks to the great dr. münsterberg, who is opposed by a creature called schofield, are german. the power of our cultural lutheranism is spreading against the errors of calvin in the college of princeton, and the roman catholic colleges in the states are becoming more enlightened by the presence of men like the late magistrate schroeder, who may be tolerated by us as the entering wedge of our kultur. you have been frank; i am frank with you. i have received your translation of goethe's _knowest thou the land_ and _the parish priest's work_. as your ancient preceptor, i will say that both are bad.' he is, after all, an honest man. of course, i do not hear from him. his two sons are dead, in russia; he probably talks less of 'judgments' now, poor soul! he was only part of the machine of which the kaiser was the god! the perverted state of mind of these honest men in whom a false conscience has been carefully cultivated was amazing. on december rd, , a danish bishop wrote a letter of good-will to a colleague of his in germany, saying, among other things, 'even the victor must now bear so many burdens that for a generation he must lament and sigh under them.' the german pastor answered on december th: 'do you remember, at the beginning of the war, you answered, to my well-grounded words, "we must, we will, and we shall win," "how can that ever be?" the question has been answered; from vilna to salonica, from antwerp to the euphrates, in courland and poland, our armies are triumphant; we take our own wherever we find it, and we hold it! i pity you,' the amiable pastor continued; 'i have the deepest commiseration for you neutrals, that you should remain outside of this wonderfully great experience of god's glory, you, above all, who call yourselves scandinavians and are of the stock of the german martin luther. you hold nought of the mighty things that god has now for a year and a half been bestowing on the fatherland. he who has little, from him shall be taken away what he has. this war is not a _kaffeeklarch_, and the work of a soldier is not embroidery. our lord god, who let his son die on the cross is not the chairman of a tea party, and he who came to bring, not peace, but a sword, is not a town messenger. he lives, he reigns, he triumphs! the chant of the bethlehem angels, "peace on earth" is as veritable as when it was for the first time heard. there lay on the manger the infant who as a man was to conquer, that he might give peace to earth. our germans, who in bled, died and conquered, won for their own country and scandinavia and central europe forty-four years of peace. for these nations and for a more permanent peace in this world our country is battling to-day. gloria! victoria! we will throw down our arms only when we have conquered, that this peace may reign.' bishop koch, of ribe--jacob riis's old town in denmark--was the writer of the first letter. it is not necessary to name the writer of the second; his name is legion! it is not for the right, for the defence of the poor, the helpless, the forsaken, for the old woman, pitifully weeping, in the hands of the bloody supermen, to whom, according to this pious pastor, christ sent the sword, that germany may rule, and force her dyes, and her 'by-products,' and her ruthless, selfish brutality on the world. if john the baptist lived to-day, and had asked these good pastors to follow him in the real spirit of christianity, one may be sure that they would have found some excuses for the energetic salome, who gloated over the precursor's head. frequently the german pastors made flying visits to copenhagen--after the war began--not in the old way, when in the summer they came, with hundreds of their countrymen, bearing frugal meals, and wearing long cloaks and cocks' feathers in their hats. the day of the very cheap excursion had passed. now, they came to 'talk over' things, to assure their danish brethren of the stock 'of luther' that it was a crime to be neutral. i had gone to the house of a very distinguished lutheran clergyman, professor valdemar ammundsen, to listen to a 'talk' by pasteur soulnier, of the lutheran church in paris: mr. cyril brown, the keen observer and clever writer, accompanied me. we were struck with the evidences of christian charity and breadth of kindness shown by pasteur soulnier. he had only words of praise for his catholic brethren in france; there was no word of bitterness or hatred in his discourse; but his voice broke a little when he spoke of rheims, and he seemed like old canon luçon, the guardian of that beloved cathedral, who cannot understand that men can be such demons as the destroyers have shown themselves to be. we were late for dinner, and mr. brown and i stepped into a restaurant of a position sufficiently proper for diplomatic patronage, to dine. the day after, as i was taking my walk, accompanied by my private secretary, a man took off his hat and addressed me. he spoke english with an accent. 'pardon me; i do not know your name; but i know your friend, pastor lampe, one of the most learned of our young divines; i have seen you talking to him; i likewise recognised your companion at dinner last night, mr. cyril brown; he is an american well known in berlin. my name is pastor x. i was formerly of bremen. may i have a few words with you?' 'certainly,' i said, interested, 'if you will walk to friedericksberg.' 'part of the way, sir,' he said. my secretary whispered,--'another spy? shall i pump him?' we had been frequently followed. only a short time before, when i had escorted my wife and frau frederika hagerup, lady-in-waiting to queen maud of norway, for a short walk, we had been closely followed, by eavesdroppers. at the corner of the amaliegade and saint anna's place, just opposite the hotel king of denmark, men had crawled up within earshot, and one had accompanied us the whole distance. was this a similar case? 'spy?' i said in french. 'well let him talk!' my young secretary shook his head; his way of dealing with suspected spies was to wring their necks, if possible. from a long experience with spies, it is my conclusion that much money is wasted on them. some are very agreeable, and give the party of the second part much amusement. the german pastor, in his rusty black, looked so respectable, too! he took the right, which showed that he did not understand that i was a minister. a well brought up german, who knew my rank, would have taken my left side even if he were about to strangle me! 'bitte,' i said, 'but speak english!' 'i must beg pardon,' he answered; 'i could not forbear to tell you what i thought of your conversation at the restaurant last night. i should have interrupted you, but i was in the middle of my dinner.' _his_ sacred dinner; ours did not count. 'i heard you say to mr. cyril brown that the german nation at present is the greatest enemy to christianity in the world.' 'no, no, herr pastor,' i interrupted; 'i said that the emperor william is the worst enemy of christianity in the world.' 'ah, it is the same thing. you americans call yourselves christians,' he broke out, 'and yet your bombs from bethlehem have shattered my son's leg and they killed thousands of our children. your nation is protestant. you ought to be with us against impious france and idolatrous italy--i spit on italy--the _cocotte_ of the nations, the handmaid of the papish prostitute of rome! and yet you say that our most christian nation is not christian! how can you say it? we are not at war, yet you treat us as enemies!' 'we shall soon be at war. the ambassador of the united states at berlin is sending americans out of that city. he feels, evidently, that, in spite of his influence with the chancellor, you will begin your u-boat outrages, and then we must be at war! that is plain. but i think you have said enough. herr pastor, good-bye!' 'no, no,' he said. 'answer me one question: why do you say that we germans are un-christian? our christianity is the most beautiful, the most learned, the most cultured!' the young are relentless critics; i knew that my secretary was calling me names for 'picking up' this strange german clergyman in the street. moreover, the secretary was beautifully attired; his morning coat was perfect; his tall hat tilted back at the right degree, and the triple white carnation in his buttonhole was a sight to see. (dear chap! he is in the greasy automobile service in flanders now!) and his cane! (if you walk out without a cane in polite copenhagen, you are looked on as worse than nude.) fancy! to be seen walking with a threadbare german pastor with a bulbous umbrella! he groaned; he knew that i would pause on the brink of an abyss for a little refreshing theological conversation! 'you cannot deny, herr pastor,' i said, 'that you people in germany swear by harnack, that strauss's _life of jesus_ is a book that you look on with great admiration, that much of the foolish "higher criticism" like the attacks on saint luke,[ ] which sir william ramsay has so carefully refuted, and all the sneering at the fundamentals of christianity have come from germany, with the approval of the emperor.' [ ] _the bearing of recent discovery on the trustworthiness of the new testament_, by sir william m. ramsay. hodder and stoughton. 'there are no english scientific theologians. i do not know your ramsay. we are learned; we study; we see many of the christian myths in an allegorical sense, but yet we adore the german god, who is with us, and we believe in christ, though our learned ones may dissipate much that the populace hold. there must be a broad law for the christian divine; a narrow one for the humble believer. we may not accept miracles, we of the learned, but we may not disturb the belief of the people in them. culture must come from the top. the catholics among us still accept the miracles, but they are most retrograde of the germans. we are gaining upon them. it is the _zeitgeist_; when we have conquered, with their help, we shall teach them the real lesson of christianity! the german god will not brook idolatry. our scientists disprove myths, but we work in the line of luther still. he disproved myths!' 'i do not hold a brief for martin luther,' i said, 'but i think that he would have cursed any man who denied the divinity of christ. you talk of a german god. he is not a christian god, and i repeat to you what you heard me say to my friend in the restaurant.' 'it is well, sir,' he said, 'to hear this coming from an american who defends the starving of our children and the supplying of arms to slaughter us. we have god on our side--the german god. we only!' 'good day, sir,' i said; 'you corroborate my impression about your christianity!' i took off my hat, and crossed the street. he stood still; 'these americans are rude!' my secretary heard him say. this would seem impossible to me--if i had not been a part of the episode; if it seems impossible to you--the result probably of some misunderstanding on my part--let me quote a few examples of the result of the prussian propaganda among a people whom we considered, at least, honest and not un-christian. but, first: on the long line for my usual walk with mr. myron hofer, one of the first americans to rush from his post at the legation and join the aviation corps, i saw the pastor again. mr. hofer saw him coming towards us, and said: 'you ought not to stand in the wind, if that man speaks to you; let us go on.' 'go on,' i said, 'but come back to rescue me in a minute or two.' 'excellency,' the pastor said, 'i have heard from pastor lampe who you are. forgive me for addressing you!' and he passed on, hat in hand. what can one make of this bigotry and phariseeism? have these qualities developed only since the war? will they disappear after the war? 'and the devils besought him, saying: if thou cast us out hence, send us unto the herd of swine. and he said to them: go. but they going out went into the swine, and behold the whole herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea: and they perished in the waters.' we all know that london was an unfortified city. read this, from the _evangelische-lutherische kirchenzeitung_, written in . it is an answer to the truthful charge that children, helpless women, old men, civilians going quietly about their business, had been slaughtered by the pitiless rain of death from the skies. the danish lutherans, among whom this pious sheet had been circulated with a view to exciting their sympathies, did not accept this. 'london has ceased to be a city without the defence of fortifications; it is filled with such numbers of aeroplanes and anti-aircraft guns, that, as we are all aware, the zeppelins can attack it at night only. to attack london is to make an offensive on a den of murderers.' 'if you ask me,' says the _protestenblatt_, number , 'how shall i build up the kingdom of god,' my answer is: 'be a good german! stand fast by the fatherland. do your duty and fill your mission. _seek to submerge yourself in german spirit, in german mind._ be german in piety and will, which simply means, be true, faithful, and valiant. help as best you can towards our victory; help to make our fatherland grow and wax mighty.'[ ] [ ] dr. j. p. bang's translation. doctor bang deserves well of all lovers of freedom for his translation into danish of typical sermons from german pastors possessed of the spirit of hatred. dr. bang is a professor of theology in the university of copenhagen. it ought to be remembered that the university of copenhagen, in a neutral country geographically part of germany, made no protest against the audacious volume. it is true that there are protestants in germany who will not accept the 'fatherland' as god and eternal life or as a life continued in the memories of later generations, as a hessian peasant put it in a letter written from the front. his attitude shows how barren all this rhetoric seems to the unhappy soldier who must obey. those who knew the lives of truly religious germans before the war must believe that these arrogant, feverish, diabolical utterances do not represent them. the lutheran households where the fear of god and the love of one's neighbour reigned cannot have entirely disappeared; the old christian spirit must fill some hearts. but here is a man, a lutheran divine, whose pious books have 'circulated in the army in millions of copies.' he is a very great clergyman; if you saw him in the streets of lübeck, or hamburg, or berlin, many hats would be raised; even officers in the army would greet him with respect. he is geheimkonsistorialrath! 'likewise,' he writes, in his book, _strong in the lord_--'the blessings of the reformation are at stake. shall french ungodliness, shall russian superstition, shall english hypocrisy rule the world? never! for the blessing of our faith, for the freedom of our conscience, for our germanism and for our gospel, we shall fight and struggle and make every sacrifice. _ein' feste burg ist unser gott._ and, if the world were full of devils, we shall maintain our empire!' according to dr. conrad, germany is a great surgeon. she must cut; she must even kill, if necessary, the nation that stands in the way of her beneficient kultur! so strenuously has the name of martin luther been made use of by these fanatics, that the fact is lost sight of in germany, that the question is not one of religion. there is scarcely a war even in modern times with which religion had so little to do as this; but to hear these shriekers from the pulpit, one would think that martin luther was the instigator of the war and that the kaiser is his prophet! what the catholic population in germany--in bavaria, in silesia--what the jews in berlin and munich think of all this, we have not yet discovered. a cardinal holding the standard of luther, with two rabbis gracefully toying with its gilded tassels is a sight the preachers offer to us when they appeal to luther as the representative of germany. luther was no democrat; he would scarcely have approved of president wilson's speeches; but yet he would not have worshipped the trinity of the kaiser, the crown prince and the prussian holy ghost as the godhead! think of the tremendous force that must have perverted these 'men of god!' who can help believing in the miracle of the swine driven into the sea after this, or in the old latin adage, 'whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad,' or in shakespeare's 'lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds?' religion is made a mark to cover avarice and arrogant ambition, christianity, to veil a god more material than the golden calf. the learned danes answered the shrieks of the preachers, and the specious reasonings of such scientists as wilhelm von bode, wundt, richard dehmel, wilhelm röntgen, ernest haeckel, sudermann, etc., with dead silence, erudition and art had been corrupted. 'in italy,' christopher nyrop,[ ] the dane, says, 'which, when the manifesto of the german learned appeared, was not among the belligerent states, the amazement and the disappointment were so great that the ninety-three signers, "representatives of german kultur," were named _verräter der deutschen kultur_, traitors to german kultur.' it was only necessary to change 'vertreter' to 'verräter.' and among them were max reinhart, harnack, gerhard hauptmann, siegfried wagner! [ ] devoted to france, the friend of m. jusserand; a great romance philologer. the wonder and amazement were even greater when there was no protest from the catholics or the lutherans of germany against the inexcusable outrage on louvain or rheims. the remonstrances of the pope were unheeded. it was the policy of the german government to suppress them as far as possible. it wanted to give the impression that the holy father was theirs, and too many thoughtless persons fell in with this idea. that the german catholics were misinformed by bethmann-hollweg and the war office makes their position worse. the proofs offered by the dean of the cathedral of rheims proved that this horror, the destruction of the sacred symbol of the french nation, was not 'a military necessity.' chapter ix - - the visits of mr. john r. mott to the scandinavian countries were events; his was a name to conjure with. when an intimation of his coming appeared in the papers, our legation was bombarded with requests for the opportunity of meeting him. 'we must,' my wife often said, 'make it understood that every american of good repute shall be welcome in our house; and it is our mission to give our danish friends an opportunity to meet him.' the danes came to know this and, whenever there was an american in copenhagen worth while--i do not mean merely having what is called 'social position'--we were always glad to arrange that the right persons should meet. we were not socially indiscriminate, but we were certainly eclectic. we wanted mr. mott for three meals a day, but he was always, like martha, so busy about many things, that we could only secure him for a short breakfast or something like that, with one of his warmest admirers, count joachim moltke, who is devoted to the moral improvement of young men, and chamberlain and madame oscar o'neill oxholm. the only rift in the lute of the affection of certain danish ladies for my wife was that she allowed mr. mott to leave copenhagen on various occasions without 'making an occasion' for them to meet him. among these ladies were mademoiselle wedel-hainan, one of the ladies in-waiting to the queen dowager, and others interested in the cultivation of reverence for christianity among their compatriots. the result of mr. mott's masterly work was shown when the war broke out. the 'red-blooded' who formerly looked at the young men's christian association as rather effeminate and effete must, in view of what it has done in europe, forever close their lips. at this time, in , we had expectations of another visitor. cardinal gibbons almost promised to make the northern trip; he would come to copenhagen, it was intimated in a baltimore newspaper. great interest was shown among these agreeable athenians, the cosmopolitan danes. the question of etiquette bothered me; sweden had still remote relations with the holy see, though the catholic religion is still practically proscribed in that country. at least, the king of sweden writes, i think, a letter once a year to his 'cousin,' the pope, or is it to his 'cousins,' the cardinals; but denmark, though very liberal since in its religious attitude, has not such vaguely official relations. i was informed that no cardinal had visited denmark since the reformation. i made inquiries in the proper quarters at once. of course, i might give cardinal gibbons his rank as a prince of the church, and even the most exalted who should go in after him at our dinner would be pleased. he could not come. his one hasty trip to europe, after his friends had raised my hopes of his visiting us, was to be present at the conclave that elected benedict xv. pius x. had died of a broken heart, and the heart of the cardinal was sore and troubled at the horrors thrust upon the world. what he has done to fill our army and navy with courageous men contemporaneous history shows. but the great visit, the epoch, which dulled even the glories of the coming of the atlantic squadron, was that of ex-president roosevelt. to the danes it was almost as if holger dansker, who, as everybody knows, is waiting in the vaults of hamlet's castle at elsinore to protect denmark, had burst into the light. from the european point of view, which took no account of our home politics, ex-president roosevelt was not only the most important figure in america, but in the world, and the most picturesque. even under the new democracy, men will probably count more than nations in the minds of our brethren across the sea. however large collectiveness may loom in the future, there will be some man or other who will show above it, who will be a part greater than the whole. mr. roosevelt had made the panama canal possible; he had succeeded when de lesseps had failed; he had forced, more than any other president before him, the respect of europe; the radicals wanted to greet him because he had curbed the power of the capitalists; kings and prime ministers welcomed him because they--even the kaiser--feared his potentialities. that he would be the next president of the united states nobody in europe doubted. these people were not welcoming, as they thought, a man like general grant, who had merely done a great thing. the american who was coming was not only a man of splendid past, but one with a future that was rising up like thunder. you can imagine the excitement in copenhagen when it was announced that he would pay that city a short visit. from copenhagen he was to go to christiania to make a nobel prize speech. the death of björnson occurred just at this time; it was mourned in both norway and denmark as a national loss; but even this did not affect the reception of the ex-president. 'we would have rejoiced in our sorrow for nobody else,' the norwegian minister said. king frederick viii. had made all his arrangements to go to the riviera; his health was not good. he sent for me; he was doubtful whether the rumours of mr. roosevelt's visit were well founded or not. 'if he comes, this most distinguished citizen of yours, i will see that he is received with the greatest courtesy; i will do as much for him as if he were an emperor. he and his family shall be given the palace of christian vii. during their stay. my son, the crown prince, will go to greet him; i regret, above all things, that i cannot be here.' mr. and mrs. roosevelt came; he saw; he conquered, but mrs. roosevelt won all hearts. the young folks, kermit and ethel, fled from all gaieties and ceremonies and explored the town; if i remember they courted not the smiles of kings and princes; but they searched intensively for specimens of old pewter. mr. roosevelt's trunks did not arrive in time; he and mrs. roosevelt were obliged to wear their travelling clothes. in the long history of court life in denmark this had occurred only once on a gala occasion, and the guest had been her majesty the queen of england, when she was princess of wales. she had accepted the result with the utmost simplicity. mrs. roosevelt, the ladies of the court said, was 'royal' in the charming way in which she accepted this unpleasant accident; she has contradicted practically the stories that american ladies have the plebeian habit of 'fussiness.' the crown princess declared that mrs. roosevelt was 'adorable,' and the crown prince referred to the pleasure of this visit nearly every time, during the last eight years, i met him. 'he is a man,' he said. the marshal of the court arranged the etiquette admirably, and there was not the slightest hitch. some of my colleagues who knew that mr. roosevelt, as an ex-president, had no official rank, wondered how the technical details of the reception of a 'commoner' had been arranged. the court and the foreign office offered all the courtesies usually bestowed on royal highnesses. the legation and the consulate were particularly proud of the decorations of the railway station, and grateful to the minister of commerce who was responsible for them. as usual, admiral de richelieu was both thoughtful and generous. the best part of the programme, the voyage and breakfast on the _queen maud_--we went to elsinore--and a hundred other agreeable details were arranged perfectly by him and commander cold, director of the scandinavian-american line. a great dinner, such as only danes can manage to perfect at short notice, was offered to him by the mayor and the municipality of copenhagen. his speech was eagerly looked for. it charmed the moderates; the extreme socialists, who had claimed him for their own, were disappointed. 'your radicalism is our conservatism,' said chamberlain carl o'neill oxholm. later, we heard that the kaiser was disappointed in mr. roosevelt. this was from one of the berlin court circles. mr. roosevelt (this was said _sub rosa_) had not been too radical, but too frank. after all, there was no reason why a man who had represented the people of one of the greatest nations on earth should be too reverential to the all highest! when mr. roosevelt left denmark, he left an impression of force, of virility, of dignity, of honesty that became part of the history of the country. in loubet, the french ex-president, came with his son paul and a staff of delegates to the international congress of public and private charities. he was very genial and frank--qualities inherited by his son. his conversation was directed to the rapid reconstruction of france after . 'a country that can do that has little to fear,' he said, 'if we can avoid the pitfalls of professional politicians. that may be our difficulty. our enemies are glad that there should be dissensions among us, vital dissensions, not the healthy differences of opinion you have in your country.' 'et "la revanche?"' 'ah, monsieur le ministre,' answered one of his staff, 'how can he speak of that, with the german minister, mr. waldhausen, so near us? he is beckoning to you now. it is not "revanche" we want, but the return of our territory. if that could be done without war! paul, his son, will talk international politics with you, if you like. as to local politics, the royalists do wrong in mixing religion and politics; it forces the hand of the opposition, and makes the attitude of us republicans misunderstood. in spite of all dissensions, france is one at heart; but the voice of the country is not for war. of course, we may have to fight in our colonies.' 'tripoli?' i asked. 'no,' he answered smiling. 'that's the leading question. we must fight as you fought the red indians. we have no fear of war at present--our ways are the ways of peace.' 'naturally,' i answered, 'since the german minister tells me that germany will never fight france unless attacked, and he sees no signs of that.' 'the belgians are growing restless because hamburg is taking all the brazilian coffee trade,' he said, absent-mindedly. 'which means, interpreted,' i answered, 'that we might well look after our interests in brazil.' 'like all frenchmen,' he said, 'i am ignorant of foreign geography, but our ambassador in washington is different; he knows the world, and the united states.' i thanked him; i was always glad to hear frenchmen speak well of mr. jusserand. he deserved all the praise they could give him. 'my friend,' said paul loubet, 'says the world and the united states, which means, i suppose, that europe is one world and the united states another.' 'it almost seems so in europe; but your acquisition of the philippines will probably make you more and more a part of the european world.' 'i am afraid that george washington and lafayette would not have liked this,' said the ex-president. one of the french delegates asked me whether it was true that the germans would try to make terms with us for a cession of some foreign territory for one of the philippine islands. waldhausen was at my elbow; i, smiling, put the question to him. 'it is arcadian,' he said. 'germany never gives up what she holds,' said the frenchman, also smiling. 'otherwise, you might induce her to surrender heligoland to england, for a consideration, with the understanding that england should give it back to denmark.' waldhausen laughed. 'such generosity is too far in advance of our time. i am afraid admiral von tirpitz might object.' von tirpitz, for those behind the scenes in german politics, was much in the public eye. it was well understood that as far as the naval programme was concerned, he was germany. if the seizing of slesvig and the completion of the kiel canal made the german fleet possible, with the acquiring of heligoland, the efforts of admiral von tirpitz had made it a navy. through all the financial difficulties of the german government, difficulties that alone prevented it from attacking france, von tirpitz had held fast to the axiom that germany's future was on the ocean. he was not the kind of marine minister who sticks fast to his desk and 'never goes to sea.' he had become the 'captain of the king's navee' by knowing his business, and, more than that, by studying the caprices of his imperial master's mind, as well as its fixed determination. many times i had been told by candid friends in the diplomatic corps that the german emperor had no respect for our navy, that he knew every ship by heart, that nevertheless, he examined as far as possible any new inventions adopted by our naval experts who were most kind in permitting german naval attachés and experts to examine them. in the coming of the atlantic squadron had excited interest in the naval position of our country. one scarcely ever saw an american flag on the ocean. whatever columbia did or wanted to do, she did not rule the seas; so our flag on the ships of the atlantic squadron was a delight to all americans and somewhat of a surprise to foreigners. at kiel the general impression seemed to be that the atlantic squadron represented our whole navy! the kaiser and von tirpitz knew better, of course. privately the kaiser expressed his amusement at our attempt to build warships--he and von tirpitz had secrets of their own. however, america was important enough to be given a sedative until his designs on france and russia were completed. one might suspect this, then; but who could believe it! my correspondents in germany--people who know are wonderful helps to a man in the diplomatic service--concerned themselves largely with von tirpitz and general von freytag-loringhoven. von tirpitz was the german navy and the very intelligent writings of general the baron von freytag-loringhoven made us almost think that he was the army. 'is he related to freytag?' i had asked. 'what, the novelist?' 'the author of _debit and credit_?' i added. 'certainly not; he is one of the greatest of the baltic baronial families.' if i had asked a bourbon, in the reign of louis xiv., whether he was related to crébillon, he could not have been more shocked. von freytag-loringhoven cut a great figure in berlin. he had russian affiliations, being of a baltic family; his father had been well known in diplomacy. he knew russia as well as he knew germany; he was technical and experienced, and his writings were supposed to give indications of the ideas of the general staff. the russians in copenhagen talked much of von freytag-loringhoven. i must repeat that, in interesting myself in german personalities, i was not considering them in relation to the future of my own country. there were some among my friends, like james brown scott--men of foresight--who seemed to have a wider vision. i was interested because i feared that the autonomy of a little nation was at stake, and because the absorption of that little nation would mean the assumption of the danish antilles. that germany had consulted russia about a question to make war with england a pretext for seizing denmark, we suspected. the end of the japanese war had curbed russia's eastern ambition for a time. how were we to be sure that the baltic and the north sea might not, under german tutelage, attract her? if von freytag-loringhoven's utterances were to be taken seriously, it was evident that war was in the air; and why was von tirpitz building up the german navy? the distributors of rumours in denmark said that all hopes of a scandinavian confederacy were to be ended by a quarrel with england, a move on france, and the division of scandinavia into two parts, one nominally russian, the other, denmark, to be actually german, while norway should gradually be terrorised into submission. this shows how excited public opinion was. the german propaganda spread pleasant reports of the peaceful intentions of the kaiser, the crown prince, and the personages in power in germany. above all, we were told how charming the crown princess cecilia was, and how potent her influence would be in warding off any attempts of the pan-germans on denmark, even if germany and england should fly at each other's throats. people in the court circle, who knew how little royal family alliances count to-day in actual politics, admitted that the crown princess was most charming and sympathetic; she is the sister of the queen of denmark, and she had become as german as it was possible for the daughter of a russian mother to be. her sister, queen alexandrina, had become thoroughly danish, but then her tendencies had always been towards democracy and the simplicities of life. the german news vendors alternately praised the crown prince and depreciated him. if he were violent, it was against the wishes of his father--he was a second prince hal trying on the imperial crown. as a rule, however, he was brought out of the background to show his virtues. on several occasions he had evinced more knowledge of what was going on than his father. this was notable in the eulenberg scandal, when he fearlessly laid bare a horrible ulcer which was beginning to eat into the heart of the army. on this subject he and max harden, of the _zukunft_, were in amazing alliance. whatever may be said of the crown prince's political ambitions--and we believed and do believe that they meant world conquest--he is very much of a man. in , it was understood that he would not condescend to wear the peace-mask that seemed to conceal his father's face. dr. von bethmann-hollweg, the chancellor, was temporising as usual. the moroccan affair led to nothing because germany's financial backers were not ready for war. the chancellor was attacked by von heydebrand; the danish press gave graphic accounts of the scene when the crown prince, from the royal box, applauded every insult that the powerful junker heaped on the chancellor, who was merely the tool of the kaiser. it was the time of the emperor to temporise; the time had not come to strike; germany was not rich enough. russia was still doubtful. france, in the imperial opinion, was not sufficiently corrupted, and the dissensions between ulster and the rest of ireland had not yet reached that poisonous growth which, in that opinion, would force mutiny and sedition to poison the english. the crown prince probably, in his frankness, voiced more than his own inner sentiments. at any rate, to us near the frontier, it seemed so. however, the incident was used to the credit of the crown prince. fair and open dealing for him! england might interfere in morocco and other places to prevent his country from taking a place 'in the sun'; but let us have it out! in the secret councils of the social democrats was the hope that, if a hohenzollern must succeed the kaiser, it would not be the crown prince. in spite of his amiabilities and his apparently youthful point of view of life--though there were fewer indiscretions to his credit than are generally attributed to crown princes--it was known that he was military to the core, and that in his time the soldier of the world would never lack employment. while the kaiser was constantly insisting that more soldiers and more sailors and krupp von bohlen's newest instruments of destruction were pawns in the game of peace, his son made no pretence of agreeing with him. clever or not, he had held that a straight line was the shortest way from one given point to another. and the zabern incident and several others showed that the crown prince meant, when his chance came, to make war after the napoleonic method and to exalt the sword above the pen and the ploughshare. the social democrats in denmark were not flattered when he said that 'one day the social democrats would go to court!' but he was right; they went to court as their old emperor went to carrossa, when they accepted the war! the german writers said, too, that in france his admiration for napoleon endeared him to the french. if he appeared in paris, he would be as popular as king edward of england was when he was prince of wales! 'who knows,' one of their writers said, 'he may make the hopes of the duke de reichstadt his own, and live to see them fulfilled'? i called the attention of an austrian friend to this. this gentleman, high in favour in , but somewhat gloomed in , owing to a _bon mot_, said: 'but the french remember that the heir of napoleon, who might have completed his father's conquests, was the son of an austrian mother.' he was _gemütlich_, like his grandfather, they said, and how sweetly amiable to the american ladies who had married into the superior race! more than one titled american hoped to be saved from the position of morganaticism in the future through the kindness of his imperial highness. but the fixity of will has been underrated. napoleon tried to conquer europe; his eyes were on the kingdoms of solomon and of the jewelled monarchs of the east. why he failed, the crown prince believed he had discovered. there was no reason, therefore, why a prussian napoleon might not succeed, and no necessity to repeat the defeats of moscow and waterloo. the prince would begin by fighting waterloo first and then putting russia out of commission! in mr. frederick wile, then correspondent of the london _daily mail_, wrote: 'he is the idol of the german army almost to a greater degree than his father. his _hunting diary_ is amusing. he writes of his sympathy with his 'sainted' ancestor frederick the great, in the dictum that everybody should be allowed to pursue happiness and salvation in his own sweet way.' holy moses! * * * * * it was not difficult to get near to the characters of the important men in power in germany. a night's run took one to berlin, and at flensberg, a few hours from our legation, one could see the german war vessels. there were constant visits of germans of distinction; prince eitel friedrich often came in his yacht, and the waldhausens--madame waldhausen was a belgian--were constantly entertaining guests of all countries. princess harald, the wife of prince harold, brother of the king of denmark, attracted many germans, with whom she was in sympathy. at court very few germans appeared, unless they were of high official rank. both king christian x. and the queen seemed to prefer to speak english, and nothing irritated the king, who speaks english and french and german well, more than any attempt on the part of a diplomatist to speak to him in danish. it is best, i think, for diplomatists at court to use french. one is always more guarded in speaking a foreign language, but every member of the danish court spoke english and seemed to like it. prince valdemar and the princess marie always spoke english in their family. prince valdemar's french was not so good as his english, and, in the beginning, the princess marie found the learning of danish slow work, and she had, during the exile of her family in england, become entirely at home in the english language. prince axel, their son, who recently visited america as the guest of the american navy, spoke english admirably. like all his family, he is in love with freedom. nevertheless, german was much spoken in denmark, and the intercourse between the two countries close. the point of view of germany, or, rather, the germans, was better understood in denmark than perhaps in any other country, the more so because the danes, naturally satirical and entirely disillusioned as to the altruism of great european nations, looked with clear eyes at the progress, or, rather, the evolution of germany. whatever progress germany had made, many of them, like the learned dr. gudmund schütte, who reluctantly agreed that the reconquest of slesvig would be 'to commit suicide in order to escape death,' never seemed to utter a word of german without remembering the loss of their provinces. the most astonishing things were the intellectual greatness and exact training of the german thinkers and doers, and, at the same time, their lack of independence. with the outside world, as far as one could gather from the press and conversations with the english, french and americans--though my fellow countrymen, as a rule, showed little interest in foreign affairs--it was plain that the german political parties were supposed to be static: the conservatives junkerish, the centrists intensely catholic, following the slightest signal of the pope, the socialists devoted to the ideas of bebel, and the liberal-nationalists fixed in their opinion that a moderate constitutional monarchy was to be, in germany, the solution of all problems. we knew better than that in denmark. through the whole catholic world the german propagandists spread the opinion that the centre party was strictly 'denominational.' nothing could be more untrue. the traditions of windthorst, who had boldly defined to bismarck the difference between what was due to christ and what to cæsar, were rapidly disappearing. the fiction remained that the centre was constantly opposing the policy of the emperor, when at every session of the reichstag, the centre became more and more 'political' and more subservient to the designs of the government. one could see the changing policy in the pages of the _social democrat_, the socialist organ in denmark. the danish socialists were always influenced by their german brethren; but destructive socialism finds, up to the present time, no place in the social democratic scheme, and this is due, not only to the danish temperament, but to the dislike on the part of social democrats to the growing power of syndicalism. the leaders of the socialists and of the centrists are not great men. of the centre, which had rightfully boasted of windthorst and mallinkrot as the opponents of ultra-imperialism, hertling and erzberger were the most important. all germany recognised the intellectual ability of hertling. baron von hertling, professor of the university of munich, represented apparently everything that the fashionable prussian philosophical system did not. 'glory is the only religion of great men' is a doctrine he abhors; philosophically, he is the direct enemy of kant and hegel, above all, of nietzsche and schopenhauer. nobody denies those qualities of mind that had made his name as well known philosophically in learned circles as that of cardinal mercier. he had been prime minister of bavaria, and he, of all men, might have been expected to see the abyss to which imperialism was tending. it was easy, in denmark, to perceive that, in the reichstag, all parties--there were some individual exceptions, like liebknecht--had begun to be slaves of the emperor as represented by his subservient grand-viziers, the chancellors. both the centre, from which much was expected, and the mixed party, called the social democrats, from which stronger resistance to imperialism had been hoped, gradually became the upholders of the doctrine of conquest. erzberger, of the centre, is a later development of the change that took place in the attitude of hertling. with lieber and spahn, veteran politicians, the centre position became one of compromise. the centre had managed to grow stronger and stronger after the _kulturkampf_, against which it had started as a party of defence. matthias erzberger, who had begun as a school teacher, wisely chose the centre party as a road to power. he has gained step by step by his unconquerable audacity. in even the chancellor seemed to fear him. he is a bold speculator, and his rivals, even in his own party, predicted that he would come to grief through his napoleonic idea of finance. from the parties in the reichstag became more and more imperialistic, the prussian tone more and more insolent as regards foreign countries. the _cameraderie_ of the kaiser at times, his fits of arrogant indiscretion--checked suddenly after the 'interviews' of --continued to give us 'lookers-on in vienna' grave concern. in spite of the encomiums made by nearly all my best european friends--many of them english--and all my compatriots who had been received at court, we in denmark distrusted the kaiser. i must say that my danish friends, except the chamberlain and madame de hegermann-lindencrone, seldom praised him. to them he had been most courteous. i remembered that the most chivalrous of men, hegermann-lindencrone, never would speak ill of a sovereign to whose court he had been accredited. count carl moltke, a good dane, never, even in confidence, allowed a word of censure to pass his lips when the kaiser was mentioned by his critics; i often wondered what he thought! as to the emperor francis joseph, i had reason to have a great respect and affection for him--even of gratitude. it is the fashion to tear his reputation to pieces now, a fashion that will pass. at any rate, even his detractors will be glad to hear the story that, when the war broke out and he was ill and very drowsy, one of his chamberlains said, 'our army is in the field, sire!' 'fighting those damned prussians again!' he said, contentedly; and went to sleep again! he liked france, but he disliked the french government. 'your president,' he said to a distinguished french sailor, with a touch of contempt, 'is a bourgeois!' he did not mean a 'commoner'--with him 'bourgeois' implied a man who was not a soldier; and the emperor could not understand that a european country should be well ruled by a man who could not himself take the field; at any time, the emperor would have gladly taken it against these 'prussian parvenus,' i am sure. more and more, the representatives of the stolen provinces, like slesvig and alsace-lorraine, became disheartened by their weakness in the reichstag. the representatives of poland received no political support from the centre; yet these poles were ardent catholics, and their representative, prince radziwell, made eloquent speeches. the delegates from alsace-lorraine, the abbé wetterlé being the most audacious, were as little regarded as 'hans peter,' h. p. hanssen, the one danish representative in the reichstag. if the centre had not posed as catholic, which implied, if not an unusual regard for the liberties of the oppressed, at least a certain christian charity for the persecuted, censure might have been silent. if the socialists had not been the open and apparently unrelenting opponents of political oppression, the good samaritan might have tried to succour their victims, while reflecting that the robbers who had inflicted the wound were at least not hypocrites; but here were von hertling and martin spahn and groeber and the rest of the centre, who knew what the tyranny of bismarck had meant; here were the followers of the later bebel--willing to join the centrists on many political questions, the friends of the imperial autocracy! here were two groups, antagonistic and irreconcilable in principle, but both united when it was expedient to support plans of world conquest! the centre still used religion as a tool to uphold the government. the pope and the kaiser were as antagonistic on many questions as popes and kaisers have ever been since christianity was imperfectly accepted by the teutons. windthorst, a great man of the type of o'connell, but greater, had forced bismarck to revoke some of the infamous may laws in . still, certain german citizens, the members of the congregation of the redemptionists, were exiled. the centre protested--for effect. the jesuits were at last admitted on condition that they were not allowed to speak in the churches, and that under no circumstances should they be permitted to speak in public on religious subjects. prince von bülow publicly admitted that there was a lack of toleration shown to catholics, and there were certain parts of germany in which professors of the catholic faith were still under disabilities. the question of the admission of the jesuits and the other religious congregations ought to have been considered as justly as it would have been in the united states. the centrists' representatives gave the impression of being violently interested in the preservation of the rights of german citizens to preach and teach any doctrines that were not immoral or seditious, and then, at a breath from the government, allowed these priests to be treated as the danish lutheran pastors were treated in slesvig.[ ] [ ] 'my old commander, the late general field-marshal freiheer von loë, a good prussian and a good catholic, once said to me that, in this respect, matters would not improve until the well-known principle of french law "_que la recherche de la paternité était interdite_" is changed to "_la recherche du confessional était interdite_."'--von bülow: _imperial germany_, p. . i am not writing from the point of view of any creed at this moment, but only from that of a democracy which encourages reasonable freedom of speech, the use of equal opportunities, and preserves to everybody alike the free exercise of his religion. the centre has shown as little sympathy with democracy of this kind as the socialists. the latter party deserve no sympathy from any class of americans. their methods are, as worked out in denmark and germany, admirable. religious bodies, interested in actively loving their neighbours as themselves, have much to learn from them, but the german socialists played a worse part during the war than benedict arnold in our revolution. they did not act the part of judas only because they never acknowledged christ. the bane of every civilised country seems to be party politics. after theological hatreds, the ordinary variety of political hatreds and compromises is the worst. the centre has become corrupt and time-serving, the socialists expedient and slavish, all because the imperial head, the chancellor, could scatter the spoils! chapter x a portent in the air 'this is the first page of my diary and the last,' wrote william h. seward. 'one day's record satisfies me that, if i should every day set down my hasty impressions, based on half information, i should do injustice to everybody around me and to none more than my intimate friends.' this is true; and, when suspicion seemed to reign everywhere, after august , and one's private papers were never safe, in spite of the fidelity of our servants--and no strangers were ever blessed with better servants than my wife and i--it became all the more necessary not to put down explicitly the day's talk. and the colleagues were very frank--except when their foreign officers instructed them to say something for export. if we were at the end of the world, i might give daily conversations that would have a certain interest, but probably some persons whom i have the honour to call friends, and even intimate friends, might be misunderstood. a diplomatic corps in a city like copenhagen is one large family, and in copenhagen the court treats its members, who are sympathetic, with unusual courtesy, and, at every fitting opportunity, makes them of the royal circle, which is a very cosy and cheerful one. the years , , and were eventful ones, not because things happened, but because things were about to happen. it was a period of unrest. the diplomatic conversations at this time occupied themselves with the position of germany. henckel-donnersmarck had gone to weimar, much to my regret. he was supposed to have retired to private life because the kaiser did not find his reports minute enough, but, knowing him, it seemed to me that he was glad to be out of a position which bored him thoroughly, and which exacted of him duties that he did not care to fulfil. denmark was becoming more and more socialistic, and even the conservatives were so extremely 'advanced,' that count henckel found himself rather out of place. he made no country-house visits in the summer, and gave dinners in the winter only when he could not help it. beyond certain conversations with me on political subjects already mentioned, he did not go. literature and the simpler aspects of life interested him--children especially. we amused ourselves by mapping out the career of his son, leo, a very young person of marked individualistic qualities. for impressions of germany and austria, one had to go to other sources. the upheaval in germany caused by the kaiser's disregard of public opinion in had caused most of my colleagues some concern. nobody wanted war. the austrians and the russians alike were horrified at the thought of it. in there had been rumours of grave events; count ehrenthal had announced privately to some bankers that 'war was evitable.' count szechenyi, the austrian-hungarian, a lover of peace, if there ever was one, met me one day on the steps of the foreign office, in a state of trepidation. mr. michel bibikoff, of the russian legation, had seen me several times on the subject of the possible conflict, academically and personally, of course, as our government was supposed to have no great interest in war in europe. a speech made by mr. alexander konta, whose son, geoffrey, was one of the best private secretaries i ever had, put me on the track (mr. konta, an american of hungarian birth, had been conducting some financial affairs in his native country). i suspected there would be no war since count ehrenthal had announced to the financiers that there would be war. in my opinion, it was a question of the fall or rise of stocks. count de beaucaire, the french minister, was intensely interested; a flame lit in the balkans might involve france. the english minister, sir alan johnstone, seemed to take matters more calmly; we all expected his foreign office to send him to vienna, and his calmness was a sedative. he, a prospective ambassador, was supposed to know something of conditions, but count szechenyi discovered that he was nervous, too. it struck me that it was rather absurd for me not to know something definite. there was an old friend, deep in the diplomatic secrets of the vatican, who knew the balkans well, who disliked russia as much as he suspected germany. it was easy to get an opinion from him because he knew i would use it with discretion. there was a clever old hanoverian noble, much in the secrets of the court at berlin, and there was frederick wile in berlin, who knew many things. when count szechenyi, rather pale, came up the stairs of the foreign office, and said, 'my god! there will be war!' 'no,' i answered, 'it is settled--there will be no war. i give you my word of honour.' 'you are sure?' 'i have just told bibikoff, and he is delighted.' i have been grateful many times to frederick wile, who was once a student of mine, but that day i was more grateful than ever, for war _is_ hell and i was glad to relieve my friends' minds. that night there was a _cercle_ at court. king frederick viii., the most affable of kings, greatly interested in the danes in america, had been praising count carl moltke, who had shown a great interest in the americans of danish blood; it was an interesting subject. to speak well of count moltke, who had the good taste to marry an american, is always a genuine pleasure, though, i believe, he would have left washington if the sale of the danish west indies had been mooted in his time. then the king said, 'your country is fortunate not to be entangled in european affairs. there is talk of war. as the american minister, you have no interest, except a humanitarian one, in a european war; you do not trouble yourself about the question seriously.' i bowed, being discreet, i hope. suddenly a deep voice, audible everywhere, called out: 'but egan told szechenyi that the propositions had been accepted, and there will be no war.' the king turned to me; i was not especially desirous of admitting that i had been making investigations, and still less desirous of revealing my sources of information. before the king could ask a question, sir alan johnstone cut in, just behind me, 'from whom did you hear it?' 'from a journalist,' i answered, remembering frederick wile. 'it will be in the papers to-morrow, then,' said the king. i was relieved. i should have hesitated to appear to have shown such interest to the king as my mention of the other authorities might have revealed. it was announced later, but not in the next day's papers. however, the apprehension still remained. the kaiser was for peace--yes!--but on his own terms. the one objection to mr. seward's dictum on the exact keeping of journals is that the writer, after the facts--unrelated and distorted as they are each day--are seen in the light of experience, the diarist finds it only too easy to prophesy for the public, because now he _knows_. this is a temptation; but, as i look back, i must confess that in , in spite of the anxiety of my colleagues, germany seemed mainly important as regards her attitude to the sale of the danish east indies to us. lord salisbury's trade of zanzibar for heligoland was always in my mind. the correspondence of mr. john hay and other investigations had led me to believe that the failure of the proposed sale in - had been caused by german opposition. i was, i must confess, glad to see the friendliness between germany and the united states. i knew rather well that it could never grow very deep; the german point of view of the monroe doctrine was too fixed for that. i knew, too, that if the very radical and socialistic parties in denmark continued to grow, the island must be sold, and likewise that, if the united states and germany were unfriendly, the social democrats, who were too near their german brethren not to be in sympathy with their brethren, might turn the scale in favour of retaining the islands. the eyes of my colleagues were on germany; mine were also, but for different reasons. while they feared that germany might want some of their territory--we knew that, in spite of the triple alliance germany and austria were one, italy always being an 'outsider'--i was anxious to save from germany islands that might be hers if she should absorb denmark. i confess, with repentant tears, if you will, i had not the slightest belief in the disinterestedness, when it came to a question of territory, of any nation, except our own--and that might have its limitations! in august , i was very glad to go to visit the raben-levitzaus. one reason was that the count and countess raben-levitzau are among the most cosmopolitan and interesting people in europe; another was, that chamberlain and madame hegermann-lindencrone were to be at the castle of aalholm. raben-levitzau had been minister of foreign affairs. he had married miss moulton, one of the most beautiful ladies in europe and the daughter of madame hegermann-lindencrone by her first marriage. hegermann-lindencrone had been minister to washington when i was at georgetown college doing some philosophical work under father guida and father carroll; but i had been permitted to go into society occasionally and the fame of hegermann-lindencrone was just beginning. mutual acquaintances and memories established a friendship, and i came to know him as one of the cleverest, most farseeing and kind of diplomatists. if he has an enemy in the world, that enemy must be one of the few human beings worthy of eternal damnation! the conversation is always good at aalholm. raben-levitzau was rather depressed; he was out of public life, which he loved. he had gone out in with the j. c. christensen ministry, owing to the fact that alberti, the minister of justice, had been found guilty of some inexcusable manipulation of the public money. alberti, with the rest of the reigning ministry had been invited to the wedding of my daughter patricia, in september . he very courteously declined, giving as a reason that he was 'engaged'; he went to jail on that day. he was a polite man. raben-levitzau resigned through the most delicate sentiment of honour, in spite of the remonstrances of his friends. i found him not against the sale, though he seemed to regards it as very improbable. he felt that the danes had ceased to practise the art--if they ever had it--of ruling colonies, and, i think, that the tremendous expenses of the socialistic régime in denmark, where the poor are practically supported in all difficulties by state funds, would render improvements in distant possessions almost impossible. sentimentally he would hate to see the red and the white of the dannebrog cease to fly amid the flags of holland, of england, of france, on the other side of the atlantic. hegermann-lindencrone was frankly for the sale, though it was not then in question. i asked about germany's design on denmark, rumours of which were in everybody's mouth. he--he was still danish minister in berlin--said that, since the completion of the kiel canal, germany had no reason for assuming denmark. this was reassuring. nevertheless, when one caught the reflections of german opinion in denmark, one became surer than ever that the new empire was not inclined to accept the isolation which european politicians were apparently forcing on her. hegermann-lindencrone and his wife were favourites at the german court; the kaiser made a point of signalising his regard for them. madame hegermann was by birth an american, a greenough of cambridge, massachusetts, and never for a moment does she forget it, though she has borrowed from the best european society all the cultivation it could give her, in addition to her natural talent and charm. the kaiser showed his best side to the hegermann-lindencrones, and they believed that personally he had no evil designs on the peace of the world. as a dane, hegermann-lindencrone's task at berlin had not been easy, with discontent in slesvig always threatening to break out, although for a time he had, as secretary of legation, eric de scavenius, who knew germany as well as denmark, who was as patriotically firm as he was humanly genial. he seemed to think that the sale of the islands in had failed because the sum offered was comparatively small, others because of the governmental scandals, and of the opposition of the princess marie and the east asiatic company. this was interesting; he did not believe that either the german government of that time or the industrials, like herr ballin, were against it--in fact, german interests on the islands, especially those of the hamburg-american line, were deemed as safe in the hands of the americans as those of the danes. the time was, however, not ripe for taking up the question; national opinion was against it, and the great danish industrials, like etatsraad andersen, admiral de richelieu, commander cold, holger petersen and others had not yet had their opportunity of testing the national feeling. as far as i could see in , england and france gave the matter no consideration, though, to his horror, i occasionally informed the count de beaucaire that an attempt on our part might be made to buy martinique and jamaica and curaçoa, unless the danish islands could be linked into our belt. 'if i thought you were serious, i should oppose you with all my might!' he said. the south american representatives showed indifference when i mentioned the gallapagos islands. the buying of islands was a fixed idea with me, and i liked to talk about it. diplomatic opinion was inclined to treat the prospect as chimerical, but it was evident that neither sweden nor norway liked it. however, as i have said, the time had not come. i discovered that, when it came to the matter of patent laws, etc., denmark could not act without the example of germany, and i gathered from this, that, when the time should come, germany might expect to have something to say. in the meantime, there were other questions to study, but somehow or other all of them seemed to hinge on germany's attitude. she was the sphinx of europe. it was in june, , that the atlantic squadron stopped at denmark on its way to germany. admiral badger, suave and sympathetic, was in command. the four war vessels made a great effect, but the officers and sailors a greater. before they left for kiel--it was a visit of courtesy to the german navy--the officers gave various dances on board, and the decorum, the elegance, and, above all, the good manners and good dancing of these gentlemen were praised even by those who had been led to believe that most 'yankees' were crude and unpolished. king frederick expressed to me most cordially the honour done his nation by the visit, and was very much amused by the flattering attentions paid by the american sailors at tivoli to the danish girls. 'i saw them myself!' he said. he was delighted by the 'tenue' of the officers, and complimented by the enthusiasm of the sailors, who had apparently taken a great fancy to him. after one of the receptions given by the american officers, the equerry who had been appointed to look after the admiral and his immediate suite, came to me in great perplexity. he held in his hand a little box. 'i am in difficulty,' he said, 'and i have come to ask you to help me out of it. his majesty has received several letters from the american sailors, and there is one which especially amused him. it seems that he pleased the men by asking for the scandinavians in your navy. a sailor thanks him for this, addressing him as 'dear king,' declaring that the men like copenhagen so much that they beg his majesty to induce the admiral to stay a few days longer. of course, his majesty cannot do that, but he has asked me to give the little medal in this box to the sailor. i am told that is against the rules, which seem to be very strict. i really cannot tell the king that i have not given the medal to the worthy sailor; you know the king's kindness of heart. i am at my wit's end, so i appeal to you. it seems so difficult to arrange without infringing upon the discipline.' 'it is easy enough,' i said. 'when in a quandary of this kind, call in the church.' we found the chaplain, and the amiable frederick viii. received a note of gratitude, addressed 'dear king.' the french and the russians were especially interested in the coming of the squadron, but it was made rather evident that the germans would have preferred that the warships might have gone directly to kiel. to stop at copenhagen and stockholm was looked on as rather tarnishing the compliment to the imperial master. there were several private intimations that i had arranged it with a view to making the danes feel that the united states admired their qualities and desired to stimulate their national ambition. 'it was as if the magi had concluded to visit a lesser monarch on their way to bethlehem,' said a sarcastic dane i met at oxholm's château of rosenfeldt; 'the ultra-imperialists hold you responsible for it.' i replied that it was a great honour to be mistaken for providence! the few pro-german writers on the danish press rejoiced at the compliment the united states was showing germany; the press itself was delighted. there were always some sarcastic paragraphs in the danish papers, the result of a german propaganda which allowed nothing good in any other nation. these took the form of slight sneers at the gaiety of our sailors and their open-handedness. the response was indignantly made that american sailors were the only sailors in the world who had too much to spend--and they spent this largely in racing about in taxi-cabs, the cheapness of which amazed them. there were rumours of depredation made by our men among the beautiful flower beds in the kongens nytor. i investigated them. there was not one valid case. what did the visit of the squadron to kiel mean? germany again! were we afraid of the kaiser? was an alliance to be made between the two great nations? where did england come in? it was an arrangement, offensive and defensive, against japan? the united states would cede the philippines to germany, to save those islands from the yellow peril? 'germany and the united states would drive the english from the atlantic, control the pacific, and rule the world'--this was part of a toast drunk by some enthusiastic german-americans at a dinner in the hotel bristol, which, fortunately, i had refused to attend. from a diplomatic point of view, when in doubt, one always ought to refuse a public dinner. dinners are more dangerous to diplomatists than bombs! my son, gerald, now in france, arranged a glorious game of baseball between two of the crews of the squadron. some of the american colony said it was 'educational.' the danes, although mr. cavling, editor of _politiken_, gave a valuable silver vase to the winner, seemed to look on it that way rather than as an amusement. the visit of the _north carolina_, the _louisiana_, the _kansas_ and the _new hampshire_ made an epoch, to which americans could always allude with justifiable pride. prince hans, the 'uncle of europe,' the elder brother of frederick viii., our neighbour, was very ill at the time of the visit. the dances put on the programme of a cotillion, to be directed by mr. william kay wallace, then secretary of legation, were, of course, cancelled. prince hans, dying as he was, sent an attendant to the legation, to thank my wife for her courtesy. there was great fear that his highness would die, and thus force us to cancel our own gala dinner, and naturally put an end to all festivities on the part of the court and the navy. 'my uncle will not die until everything is over,' said prince gustav; 'he is too polite!' he was. he died just before the dinner given by king frederick and queen louise, but the news of his death was kept back by his own request, until the dinner was over and the 'cercle' had begun; then the sad news began to be whispered. in the english and russian squadrons appeared in the sound. this occasioned uneasiness. some of the danes asked 'did it mean a protest against the presumed alliance between the united states and germany? or was it an intimation to germany that england and russia had their eyes on germany? as to the second question, i had no answer; as to the first, i laughed, and translated into my best danish that such an alliance would come when 'the sea gives up its dead.' it was a curious allusion to make, in the light of horrible events that had not yet occurred; i think i got it out of one of jean ingelow's poems. by comparison with the glitter and gaiety of the americans, both the english and russians seemed sad, and their officers rather bored, too. tea and cakes and conversation were no compensation in the eyes of the danes, who love to dance, for the american naval bands and the claret punch of admiral badger's men--the navy was 'wet' then! i have no doubt, however, that the english chargé d'affaires and the russian minister, were not obliged to see so many lovelorn damsels, asking for the addresses or for news of various sailor men, to whom they were engaged or expected to be. _calypso ne pouvait pas consoler_--for a time; but one or two marriages did actually occur! the dancing of the american officers, and the weather had been so 'marvellous'! how these enterprising sailor men managed to engage themselves to young persons who spoke no english and understood no language but danish it was difficult to understand. they had lost no time, however, but i left the problem to the consulate. the officers had been more discreet. many times before the english and russian ships left the sound, the question, what will the germans do now? was asked. the copenhageners, as i have said, like the old athenians, are much given to the repeating of new things. 'now all the athenians and strangers that were there' (the danes call diplomatists 'strangers') 'employed themselves in nothing else but either in telling or in hearing some new things,' says st. luke. this makes copenhagen a most amusing place, though, unlike the athenians, the danes only talk of new things in their moments of leisure. one day just before the english and russian vessels left, the question as to what germany would do was answered. a zeppelin from berlin sailed over the masts of the english and russian ships. copenhagen was indignant, but amused. we were invited to take the trip back to berlin in the zeppelin--the fare was one hundred kroner, or rather marks. what could be more pacific? but the zeppelin continued to float majestically, by preference over that space in the sound occupied by the english and russians. was it a threat? was it a notice served to these possible enemies that germany had more powerful instruments, more insidious, more deadly, than even the great gun of the _lion_ which we had admired so much? it was a portent in the sky! i reported it to my government. it seemed significant enough. chapter xi the preliminaries to the purchase of the danish antilles the more i studied the relations of germany to denmark, the more important it seemed to me that a great nation like ours, bound by the most solemn oaths to the vindication of the cause of liberty and even to the protection of the little nations, should have a special interest in a country which deserved our respect and sympathy. as i have said, the danes never for a moment forgot the loss of slesvig, and never ceased to fear the mightily growing power of which that loss had been the foundation. if germany, whose future was on the sea, had not acquired slesvig, would kiel and the good danish sailors she acquired with slesvig, have been possible as a means of her aggrandisement? danish diplomatists seemed to think that germany, now that she had created the kiel canal, had no further designs on denmark, whom the pan-germans continued, however, to call, 'our northern province.' this was the opinion of hegermann-lindencrone, of raben-levitzau, and i have heard a similar opinion credited to the present danish minister at berlin, count carl moltke, though he did not express it to me. my old friend, count holstein-ledreborg, was not altogether of that opinion. 'in case of war with england, denmark would be seized by our neighbour, naturally,' he said; 'unless we go carefully we are doomed to absorption.' count holstein-ledreborg knew germany well. he had lived in that country for many years, having shaken the dust of his native land from his soles because many of his friends and relatives--in fact, nearly all the aristocratic class in denmark--had practically turned their backs on him on account of his political liberalism. this he told me. he had returned, with his family, to his beautiful estate at ledreborg, and, for a short time, became prime minister, in order to do what seemed impossible--to unite the factions in parliament in favour of a bill for the defence of the kingdom. against england? england had no designs. against russia? russia was allied to france, and she could hardly join hands with germany. the intentions of the kaiser? but the kaiser seemed to be a peaceful opportunist. even the acute lord morley had more than once, in conversation, put him down as a lover of peace; but--there was always a 'but' and the general staff of the german army! study the personality of the important personages as one might, there were always these things to be considered as obstacles to clear vision:--the growing corruption of principle in the reichstag and among the german people, if hamburg represented them, and the point of view of the military caste. in the increasing riches--the thirst for money had become a veritable passion--of the german people seemed to indicate that one of the principal obstacles to aggression which would involve war was being rapidly removed. the difference between the american desire for money and the german was, as i was often compelled to point out, that, while the german desired great possessions to have and to hold, the american wanted them in order to use them; and, in spite of the industrious 'muck rakers,' it was evident that our enormously rich men were not hoarding their wealth for the sake of greed and selfish power as the german rich were doing. possibly, as our government does nothing for art or for music or for the people in need, there is a greater necessity for private benevolence than in countries where the government subsidises even the opera. nevertheless, the fact remains; the european rich man hoarded more than the american. and germany, in spite of the extravagance of berlin and the great cities, was hoarding. it was a bad sign for the world. of slesvig, prince bismarck said in , 'dat möt wi hebben.' he was terribly in earnest, and he spoke in his own low german. at any moment, the kaiser might say of denmark, 'her must we have.' but how foolish this statement must seem to the pacifists and all the more foolish in the mind of a minister who ought not to be carried away by rumour or guesses or to be determined by anything but the exact truth! it would have been foolish if, in , a serious man behind the scenes could have trusted any country in the european concert to act in any way that was not for its own national ends. a damaging confession this, but the truth is the truth. we all know how amazed some statesmen were when president roosevelt refused the chinese spoil, when cuba was restored, and promises to the filipinos began to be kept. if denmark should be 'assumed,' the danish antilles would be the property of the nation that 'assumed' it. as it was apparently to the interest of the pan-germans to keep the danes in suspense, and, as most of the danes distrusted the intentions of their neighbours, it was not well to assume that there was smoke and no fire. besides, were there not other powers who might find it to their advantage to prevent the danish west indies from falling into our hands? we were not, from to , in such a state of security as we imagined, in spite of our system of peace treaties. _dans les coulisses_ of all countries, there was a certain amount of cynicism as to the effect of these peace treaties, and very little belief, except among the international lawyers, that anything binding or serious had been accomplished by them. after all, my business was to hoe my own row, but i listened with great respect to such men as my colleague, now the norwegian minister at stockholm, mr. francis hagerup, and other legal-minded men. however, i determined to make the task of saving the islands from 'assimilation' as easy as possible for my successor or his successor. i hoped, of course, for the chance of doing something worth while for the country seemed to be mine, and president wilson--i shall always be most grateful to him--gave me the happiness of doing humbly what i could. in i found that the irritation caused by the attitude of our government in the matter of the islands had not worn away. the majority of the danes had really never wanted to sell the islands. 'why should a great country like yours want to force us to sell the danish antilles? you pretend to be democratic, but you are really imperialists. it is not a question of money with us; it is a question of honour. your country has approached us only on the side of money--and when you knew that our poverty consented.' this was the substance of conservative opinion. there was a widespread distrust, especially among the upper classes in denmark, as to our intentions. the title of a brochure written by james parton in was often quoted against us, for the danes have long memories. it was entitled _the danish west indies: are we bound in honour to pay for them?_ 'an arrogant nation, no longer democratic' because we had seized the philippines! it must be said that a minister desiring to make a good impression on the people had little help from the press at home. foreign affairs were treated as of no real importance in the organs of what is called our popular opinion. the american point of view, as so well understood over all the world now, was not explained; but sensational stories describing the exaggerated splendours of our millionaires, frightful tales of lynching in the south, the creation of an american versailles on staten island, which would make the sun king in the shades grow pale with envy, the luxuries of american ladies, were invariably reproduced in the danish papers. president roosevelt was looked upon as the one idealist in a nation mad for money, and even he had a tremendous fall in the estimation of the radicals when he spoke of a conservative democracy in copenhagen. it was necessary to overcome a number of prejudices which were constantly being fostered, partly by our own estimate of ourselves as presented by the scandinavian papers in extracts from our own. then, again, the real wealth of our people, our art and literature--which count greatly in denmark--were practically unknown. everything seemed to be against us. the press was either contemptuous or condescending; we were not understood. it is true that nearly every family in denmark had some representative in the united states, but their representatives were, as a rule, hard-working people, who had no time to give to the study of the things of the mind among us. in spite of all their misconceptions, which i proposed to dissipate to the best of my ability, i found the danes the most interesting people i had ever come in contact with, except the french, and, i think the most civilised. there was one thing certain:--if the danish west india islands were so dear to denmark that it would be a wound to her national pride to suggest the sale of them to us, no such suggestion ought to be made by an american minister. first, national pride is a precious thing to a nation, and the more precious when that nation has been great in power, and remains great in heart in spite of its apparently dwindling importance. it was necessary, then, to discover whether the danes could, in deference to their natural desire to see their flag still floating in the atlantic ocean, retain the islands, and rule them in accordance with their ideals. their ideals were very high. they hoped that they could so govern them that the inhabitants of the islands might be fairly prosperous and happy under their rule. they were not averse to expending large sums annually to make up the deficit occasioned by the possession of them. the colonial lottery was depended upon to assist in making up this budget. the danes have no moral objections to lotteries, and the most important have governmental sanction. under the administrations of presidents roosevelt and taft it was useless to attempt to reopen the question. all negotiations, since the first in , had failed. that of , and the accompanying scandals, the danes preferred to forget. president roosevelt's opinion as to the necessity of our possessing the islands was well known. in the project for the sale had been defeated in the danish upper house by one vote. mr. john hay attributed this to german influence, though the princess marie, wife of prince valdemar, a remarkably clever woman, had much to do with it, and she could not be reasonably accused of being under german domination. the east-asiatic company was against the sale and likewise a great number of danes whose association with the islands had been traditional. herr ballin denied that the german opposition existed; he seemed to think that both france and england looked on the proposition coldly. at any rate, he said that denmark gave no concessions to german maritime trade that the united states would not give, and that the property of the hamburg-american line would be quite as safe in the hands of the united states as in those of denmark. in denmark had declined to sell the islands for $ , , , but offered to accept $ , , for st. john and st. thomas, or $ , , for the three. secretary seward raised the price to $ , , in gold for st. thomas, st. john and santa cruz. denmark was willing to accept $ , , for st. thomas and st. john; santa cruz, in which the french had some rights, might be had for $ , , additional. secretary seward, after some delay, agreed to give $ , , for the two islands, st. thomas and st. john. the people of st. john and st. thomas voted in favour of the cession. in $ , , was offered by the united states. diligent inquiries into the failure of the sale, although the hon. henry white, well and favourably known in denmark, was sent over in its interest, received the answer from those who had been behind the scenes, '$ , , was not enough, unaccompanied by a concession that might have deprived the transaction of a merely mercenary character.' at that time germany might have preferred to see the islands in the hands of the united states rather than in those of any other european power. it was apparently to the interest of the united states to encourage the activities of that great artery of emigration, the hamburg-american line. she did not believe that the united states would fail to raise the spectre of the monroe doctrine against either of the nations who owned bermuda or mauritius, if one of them proposed to place her flag over st. thomas. in the question of spain's buying st. thomas, in order to defend puerto rico, thrown out by an obscure journalist, was a theory to laugh at. germany was practically indifferent to our acquisition of islands on the atlantic coast that might possibly bring us one day in collision with either england or france. as to the pacific, her point of view was different. her politicians even then cherished the sweet hope that the irish in the united states and canada might force the hand of our government against 'perfidious albion' if the slightest provocation was given. besides, in , germany had done her worst to the danes. she had taken slesvig, and had ruined denmark financially; she had made kiel the centre of her naval hopes; she could neither assume denmark nor borrow the $ , , --then a much greater sum than now--for her own purposes. i have never had reason to believe that germany prevented the sale of the danish antilles in . the congressional examination of the scandalous rumours that might have reflected on the honour of certain danish gentlemen and of some of our own congressmen are a matter of record, and show no traces of any such domination. curiously enough, there was a persistent rumour of a secret treaty with denmark which gave the united states an option on the islands. no such treaty existed, and no danish minister of foreign affairs of my acquaintance would have dreamed of proposing such an arrangement. it is hardly necessary to dwell here on the value of these islands to the united states. president roosevelt, president wilson, senator lodge, most persistently, made the necessity of possessing these islands, through legitimate purchase, very plain. the completion of the panama canal increased their already great importance. if such men as seward, foster, olney, root, hay, and our foremost naval experts considered them worth buying before the issues raised by the creation of the panama canal were practical, how much more valuable had they become when that marvellous work was completed! many interests contributed to the desirability of our acquiring islands in the west indies--every additional island being of value to us--but the great public seemed to see this as through a glass--darkly. puerto rico was of little value in a strategic way without the danish antilles. a cursory examination of the map will show that puerto rico, with no harbours for large vessels and its long coast line, would offer no defences against alien forces. naval experts had clearly seen the hopelessness of defending san juan. major glassford, of the signal corps, in a report often quoted and carefully studied by people intelligently interested in the active enforcement of the monroe doctrine rather than its mere statement as a method of defence on paper, said that 'st. thomas might be converted into a second gibraltar.' he was right. the frightful menace of the cession of heligoland to germany was an example of what might happen if we failed to look carefully to the future. besides, even those advocates of peace, right or wrong, who infested our country before the war, who were not sympathetic with the acquisition of territory, ought to have remembered that one of the best guarantees of peace was to leave nothing to fight about as far as these islands of value in our relations 'to the region of the orinoco and the amazon' and the windward passages were concerned. the german occupation of brazil--increasing so greatly that the brazilians were alarmed, the european prejudices, made evident during the spanish-american war as existing in south and central america--were all occasions for thought. 'the harbour of charlotte amalie,' wrote major glassford, writing of st. thomas, 'and the numerous sheltered places about the island offer six and seven fathoms of water. besides, this harbour and the roadsteads are on the southern side of the island, completely protected from the prevailing strong winds. if this place were strongly fortified and provisioned'--the number of inhabitants are small compared with puerto rico--'it would be necessary for an enemy contemplating a descent upon puerto rico to take it into account first. the location on the north-east side of the antilles is in close proximity to many of the passages into the caribbean sea, and affords an excellent point of observation near the european possessions in the archipelago. it is also a centre of the west indian submarine cable systems, being about midway between the windward passage and the trinidad entrance into the caribbean sea.' other interests distracted attention from the essential value of these islands for local reasons, party reasons, which are the curse of all modern systems of government. the failure to purchase the islands in did not discourage senator lodge. on march st, , the committee on foreign affairs reported a bill authorising the president to buy the danish west india islands for a naval and coal station. on this bill, senator lodge made a most interesting and valuable report, in which he said, after stating that the fine harbour of st. thomas possessed all the required naval and military conditions--'it has been pointed out by captain mahan, as one of the great strategic points in the west indies.' 'the danish islands,' he concluded, 'could easily be governed as a territory, could be readily defended from attack, occupy a commanding strategic position, and are of incalculable value to the united states, not only as part of the national defences, but as removing by their possession a very probable cause of foreign complications.' my predecessors in denmark, messrs. risley, carr, svendsen, were of this opinion. the arguments of mr. carr, expressed in his despatches, are invincible. mr. o'brien, who was minister plenipotentiary to denmark until he was sent as ambassador to japan, saw, as i did, in , that the danes and their government were in no mood to accept any suggestions on the subject. however, i discussed the matter academically with each minister of foreign affairs, saying that the united states would make no proposition at any time which might offend the national self-respect of the danes, that in fact, as valuable as the islands would be to us and as expedient as it might be for the danes to sell them to us, their government must give some unequivocal sign that it was willing to part with them before we should seriously take up the question again. neither count raben-levitzau nor count william ahlefeldt-laurvig gave me any official encouragement, though i hardly expected it as i had taken means to sound public opinion on my own account. both count raben-levitzau and count ahlefeldt were liberal ministers of foreign affairs, and i knew that, if there was any hope that a sale might be made, they would give me reasonable encouragement. besides, i was doubtful whether the price--which might probably be asked--reasonable enough in my eyes and in the eyes of those european diplomatists who knew what heligoland and gibraltar meant to germany and to england--would not have raised such an outcry among voters at home, who had not yet learned to weigh any transaction with a foreign government--except commercially, in terms of dollars and cents, that another failure might have followed. it was out of the question to risk that. many of my friends among the more conservative of the danes scorned the idea of the sale on any terms. among these was admiral de richelieu, whose father is buried in st. thomas, and who is the most intense of danish patriots. if objections to the sale on the part of my best friends in denmark had governed me, i should have despaired of it. however, my friends, like de richelieu, felt that our government would be glad to see the danish west india islands improved as far as the danes could improve them. de richelieu, etatsraad andersen--etatsraad meaning councillor of state--holger petersen, director cold, formerly governor of the islands, hegemann, who bore the high title of _geheimekonferensraad_, were among those most interested in the islands. hegemann, since dead, was the only one of the group who thought that the danish government could never either improve the islands socially or make them pay commercially. 'the danes are bad colonisers,' he said. he was a man of great common-sense, of wide experience, and a philanthropist who never let his head run away with his heart. he did a great deal for technical education in denmark. in fact, there was scarcely any movement for the betterment of the country economically in which he was not interested. he had great properties in the island of santa cruz; but he looked on the danish possession of the islands as bad for the reputation of his native country and worse for the progress of the islands and the islanders. 'the present government is too mild in its treatment of the blacks,' he said; 'equality, liberty and fraternity, the motto of the ruling party, is excellent, but it will not work in the islands.' besides, the construction of the panama canal was drawing the best labourers from them. he was interested in sugar and even in sea cotton; he thought that, the tariff restrictions being removed and a market for labour made, something might be done by us towards making the islands a profitable investment. i was entirely indifferent as to that--our great need of the islands was not for commercial uses. the prevailing opinion in court circles was against the sale, based on no antagonism to the united states, but on the desire that denmark should not lose more of its territory. the faroe islands, greenland and iceland were still appendages; but iceland was always restive, and greenland seemed, in the eyes of the danes, to have only the value of remotely useful territory. they had been shorn of territory by england, by sweden, and, last of all, by germany. our government, knowing well how strong the national pride was, and how reasonable, permitted me to show it the greatest consideration. when the east-asiatic company, which had important holdings in st. thomas, proposed that the national sentiment should be tested, and each danish citizen asked to make a pecuniary sacrifice for the retention of the islands, i was permitted to express sympathy with the movement, and to assist it in every way compatible with my position. the attempt failed. it was evident that the majority of the people, whatever were their sentiments, knew that it was impracticable to attempt to govern the islands from such a distance. if it had been possible to retain them with honour, with justice to the inhabitants, who for a long time had been desirous of union with the united states, no amount of money would have induced denmark to part with the last of her colonial possessions. as it was, the prospect was not at all clear. in modern times, a man who aspires to do his duty in diplomacy must be honest and reasonably frank. to pretend to admire the institutions of a nation, to affect a sympathy one does not feel, with a view to obtaining something of advantage to one's own country, was no doubt possible when foxes were preternaturally cunning and crows unbelievingly vain, but not now. the whole question of the islands was a matter which must be settled by the commonsense of the danes at the expense of their sentiment; no pressure on our part could be used, short of such arguments as might point to the forcible possession of the islands temporarily in case of war; but the fact that the united states preferred to give what seemed to be an enormous sum--(though $ , , have to-day scarcely the purchasing power of the $ , , demanded for the three islands from secretary seward in )--rather than run the risk of future unpleasant complications with a small and friendly state, showed that the intentions of our government were on a par with its professions. when the proposed sale of the islands stopped, largely because senator sumner disliked president johnson, and the treaty lapsed in in spite of the support of secretary fish, king christian ix. wrote, in a proclamation to the people of the danish islands--a majority of whom had consented to the proposed sale,--'the american senate has not shown itself willing to maintain the treaty made, although the initiative came from the united states themselves.' the king had only consented to the sale to lighten the terrible financial burdens imposed on his country by the unjust war which germany and austria had forced upon denmark with a view to the theft of slesvig; and his consent would never have been given had not secretary seward, the predecessor of secretary fish, reluctantly agreed that the vote of the inhabitants should be taken. he was more democratic than mr. seward. king christian would not sign the treaty, which gave $ , , to denmark for the two islands of st. thomas and st. john, until mr. seward consented to 'concede the vote.' the danes were frank in admitting that their 'poverty, but not their will,' consented. 'ready as we were to subdue the feelings of our heart, when we thought that duty bade us so to do,' continued the king in his proclamation, 'yet we cannot otherwise than feel a satisfaction that circumstances have relieved us from making a sacrifice which, notwithstanding the advantages held out, would always have been painful to us. we are convinced that you share these sentiments, and that it is with a lightened heart you are relieved from the consent which only at our request you gave for a separation from the danish crown.' the king added that he entertained the firm belief that his government, supported by the islanders, would succeed in making real progress, and end by effacing all remembrances of the disasters that had come upon them, his overseas dominions. affairs in the mother country did look up; the danes developed their country, in spite of the worst climatic conditions, into a land famous for its scientific farming. a wit has said that denmark, after the loss of slesvig, was divided like old gaul, itself, into three parts,--butter, eggs and bacon. the danes, cast into a condition of moral despondency and temporal poverty, with their national pride stricken, and their soil outworn, seized the things of the spirit and made material things subservient. religion and patriotism, developed by bishop grundtvig, saved the mother country; but the islands continued to go through various stages of hope and fear. the united states was too near and denmark too far off. home politics were generally paramount, and each new governor was always obliged to consider the sensitiveness of his government to the amount of expenditure allowed. there were persons in power at home who seemed to see the islands from the point of view of bernardin de saint pierre--sentimentally. the happy black men were to dance under spreading palms, gently guided by danish pauls and virginias! the black men were only too willing to dance under palms, whether spreading or not, and to be guided by any idyllic persons who, leaving them the pleasures of existence, would take the trials. all the governors suffered more or less from the rousseau-like point of view taken by the government. mr. helvig larsen was the last who was expected to be 'idyllic.' one of the fears often expressed to me was that 'the americans would treat the blacks badly--we have all read _uncle tom's cabin_, you know.' even her majesty, the dowager queen louise, one of the best-informed women in europe, had her doubts about our attitude to the negroes. 'you have black nurses,' her majesty said to me; 'why are your people, especially in the south, not more kind to their race?' queen louise, who was sincerely interested in the welfare of her coloured subjects, would listen to reason. i sent her the _soul of the black_, which shows unconsciously why social equality in this case would be undesirable, but not until booker washington's visit did her majesty understand the attitude that sensible americans, who know the south, take on the subject of the social equality of our coloured fellow-citizens. during my stay in europe this matter was frequently discussed. some of my german colleagues politely insinuated that 'democracy' was little practised in a country where a president could be severely censured for inviting a coloured man of distinction to lunch. and nearly all the danes of the modern school took this point of view. the naval officers, who are always better informed as to foreign conditions than most other men, readily understood that social equality assumes a meaning in the united states which would imply the probability of what is known as 'amalgamation.' while the german critic of our conditions might very well understand the impossible barrier of caste in his own country and object to 'permanent marriages' with women of the inferior 'yellow' races, he seemed to think that the laws in some of the united states against the marriages of blacks and whites were un-christian and illogical. 'but you would not encourage such marriages?' i asked of one of the most distinguished danes at the copenhagen university. 'why not?' he asked. from my point of view, the case was hopeless. and every now and then an extract from an american paper, containing the account of a lynching with all the gruesome details described, would be translated into danish. i never believed in censoring the press until i came to occupy a responsible position in denmark. i confess, _mea culpa_!--that i wanted many times to have the right to say what should or should not be reprinted for foreign consumption! the newspapers seemed to have no regard for the plans of the diplomatists, believing news is news! there will always be the irrepressible conflict! one of my wife's friends in denmark, the late countess rantzau, born of the famous theatrical family of the poulsens, who was well-read, and who knew her europe well, produced one day an old embroidered screen for my benefit. there were the palms; there was an ancient african with a turban on his very woolly head; there was a complacent young person in stiff skirts seated at his feet, looking up to him with adoring eyes. 'antique?' i asked, preparing to admire the work of art; the tropical foliage of acanthus leaves was so flourishing in the tapestry, and the luncheon had been so good! 'it is not as a work of art that i show it to the american minister, but to let him know that we danes love the virtues of the blacks. this is uncle tom and little eva!' it was intended to soften a hard heart! in october mr. andrew carnegie telegraphed that mr. booker washington would pay a visit to denmark. i had met mr. booker washington with mr. richard watson gilder in new york, and i admired him very greatly. however, i felt that i should be embarrassed by his visit, as i knew both king frederick and queen louise were interested in him and would not only expect me to present him, but likewise--they were the fine flowers of courtesy--wish my wife and myself to dine at amalieborg palace with him. when admiral bardenfleth, the queen's chamberlain, came to inquire as to when mr. booker washington should arrive, i suggested that her majesty, who had often shown her high appreciation of mr. washington's work, might like to talk with him informally, as i knew that she had many questions to ask, and that he himself would be more at his ease if i were not present. the admiral thanked me. i said the same thing to the master of ceremonies of the court when he came on behalf of the king. for charm of manner, ease, the simplicity that conceals the perfection of social art, and at least apparent sympathy with one's difficulties, let the high officials of the court of denmark be commended! the master of ceremonies was delighted. their majesties would miss me from the introduction and regret that mrs. egan and i would not be present at the dinner, which, however, would be earlier than usual, as i had said that mr. booker washington must catch a train; it would also be very unceremonious. his majesty would ask only his immediate _entourage_. i was pleased with myself (a fatal sign by the way!); mr. washington would have all the honour due him. i arranged to attend his lecture, with all the americans i could collect. i sent the landau with two men on the box, including the magnificent arthur and the largest cockades, to meet mr. washington. in , king frederick used only carriages and the diplomatists followed his example, though some of a more advanced temperament had taken to motor cars. mr. washington was pleased. he loved the landau and the cockades, and arthur, our first man, who had been 'in diplomacy twenty-five years,' treated him with distinction. 'you have honoured my people and my work most delicately,' he said to me. 'i thank you for sending me the king's invitation to dinner to the hôtel d'angleterre. too much public talk of this honour in the united states would do my people and myself much harm. i will make, in print, an acknowledgment of your courtesy, so effective and so agreeable. to have my work recognised in this manner by the most advanced court in europe is indeed worth while, and to have this honour without too much publicity is indeed agreeable.' mr. washington's lecture had been a great success. it had helped, too, to do away with the impression that lynching is to the americans of north america what bull fights are to those of south america. the most awkward question constantly put to me at court and in society was, 'but why do you lynch the black men?' filled with satisfaction at the result of my machinations (a bad state of mind, as i have said), i was bending over my desk one morning when two correspondents of american newspapers were announced. they came from london; i had met them both before. 'cigars?' 'yes. we do not want to give you trouble, mr. minister; you were very decent to us all in the cook affair, but we shall make a good story out of this booker washington visit, and we think it is only fair to say that we are going to 'feature' you. there is nothing much doing now, and we've been asked to work this thing up. we know on the best authority that the king will give a dinner to booker washington; you will respond with a reception; mrs. egan will be taken in to dinner by mr. washington; there will be lots of ladies there--in a word, we'll get as big a sensation out of it as the newspapers did out of the roosevelt-booker washington incident. it will do you good in the north, and, as you're a philadelphian, you need not care what the south thinks.' these gentlemen meant to be kind; they were dropping me into a hole kindly, but they _were_ letting me into a hole! 'it is not a question as to _how_ i feel,' i said; 'it is a question of raising unpleasant discussions, of injuring the coloured people by holding out false hopes, which, hurried into action, excite new prejudices against them. president roosevelt, when he invited booker washington to lunch, acted as i should like to act now, but i would regret the ill-feeling raised by discussions of such an incident as greatly as he regretted it; but,' i added, 'you have your duty to your papers, which must have news, although the heavens fall. if my wife is taken in to dinner by mr. booker washington at court, if i give the reception you speak of----' 'you will,' said the elder newspaper man, joyously; 'it is a matter of rigid etiquette. we have a private tip!' 'very well, when i do these things, i shall not complain if you headline them.' 'sensation in denmark,' he read, from a slip. 'wife of american minister is taken in to dinner by representative coloured man. perfect social equality exemplified by reception to mr. booker washington at american legation! london will like you all the better for that,' he said, laughing. 'as "tout paris" liked president roosevelt,' i answered. i shivered a little. 'come to lunch to-morrow, but do not let us talk on this subject. if i am compelled by etiquette, as you insist i shall, i'll swallow the headlines. i shall ask mr. hartvig of some london papers and the _new york world_ to meet you.' and off they went! if i were a spartan person and really loved to perform my duties in the most idealistic way, i should have treated the situation greatly, nobly, and unselfishly; i should not have been pleased at the prospect of cheating my journalistic friends out of a good story; but, not being spartan and really not loving difficult duties, i felt that i had done enough in giving them a luncheon worthy of the reputation of our legation, with _sole à la bernaise_ and the best sauterne. mr. washington called before he went to the king's dinner; he was all smiles, and his evening suit was perfect. he said 'good-bye,' and i was thankful that the event of his visit was over; he was not only satisfied, but radiant and grateful. consul-general bond and his wife, dr. brochardt, of the library of congress, and several other interesting people were to come in, to dine and to play bridge this evening. i fancied the disappointment of the newspaper men when they should arrive, to find no reception in progress and no booker washington. i think i told my guests of the remarkably clever way--i hope i did not use that phrase--by which they had been outwitted. we were about to go into the drawing-room for coffee when a card was brought in. 'mr. booker washington.' some of the guests, those from the south especially, wanted to see him; but i trembled when i imagined the scene that would meet the reporters, who were, i knew, sure to come about nine o'clock. the drawing-room would be brilliantly lighted, half a dozen charming ladies in evening gowns would be there, surrounding the eminent apostle! enter the writers, and then would follow an elaborate sketch of the social function to be described as a new step in social evolution, the dawn of a new day, a symbol of entire social equality. i knew that the elder newspaper man, a friend of stead's, was quite capable of all this! 'coffee will be served in my study,' i said, not waiting to consult my wife. 'i will see mr. washington, at least for a moment, _alone_.' the group of guests moved off reluctantly. mr. washington waited in the back drawing-room, where both the kaiser and colonel roosevelt had once stood, though at different times. his train would be late; he came in the fulness of his heart, to tell me that king frederick and queen louise had been most sympathetic. he was enthusiastic about the discernment and commonsense of queen louise, who had read his book and followed every step of his work with great interest. 'i was glad to have her majesty know that the best men of my race are with me, that the opposition to me comes, not from the whites, but from that element in my own race which wants to enjoy the luxuries of life and its leisure without working! i thank you again, mr. minister, for arranging this affair in such a way as to preserve my dignity and to prevent me from appearing as if i were vain; yet i am legitimately proud of the great honour i have received. i shall now go to my hotel, and arrange for my departure.' 'i have ordered the carriage,' i said. just then, the footman threw the doors open, and in came the two newspaper men, resplendent as a starry night, one wearing a russian decoration. 'alone?' he said. 'with dr. booker washington.' 'the reception?' 'dr. booker washington has just come to describe his dinner at the court. let me present you two gentlemen. dr. washington has little time; if you will accompany him to the hotel, he will, i am sure, give you an interview. mr. hartvig of the _new york world_ will be present, too.' 'stung!' said the younger newspaper man. 'lunch with me to-morrow,' i said; 'i have some white bordeaux.' dr. washington gave a prudent interview and the incident was closed. may he rest in peace. he was a great man, a modest, intelligent and humble man, and no calumny can lessen his greatness. this is a digression to show that the social question in the united states, much as it might have seemed to people who looked on denmark as entirely out of our orbit, had its importance in the affair of the purchase of the islands, which then interested me more than anything else in the world. pastor bast was the only methodist clergyman in copenhagen. his good works are proverbial and not confined to his own denomination. the methodists were few; indeed, i think that even pastor bast's children were lutherans. having recommended one of his charities, i was asked by a very benevolent dane: 'are the methodists really christians in america?' 'why do you ask that question?' 'i have read that there is a division in their ranks because most of them refuse to admit black people on equal terms. if that is so, i cannot help pastor bast's project, although i can see that it has value.' it was in vain to explain the difference of opinion on the 'afro-american question' which separated the northern and southern methodists; he could not understand it. i hope, however, that pastor bast received his donation. * * * * * in august , the unrest in europe, reflected in denmark, was becoming more and more evident. the diplomatic correspondents during the succeeding years--some of it has been made public--showed this. japan, it was understood, would, with the mexican difficulty, keep the united states out of any entanglements in europe. so sure were some of the distinguished danes of our neutrality in case of war--a contingency in which nobody in the united states seemed to believe--that i was asked to submit to my government, not officially, a proposal to denmark for the surrender of greenland to us, we to give, in return, the most important island in the philippines--mindanao. denmark was to have the right to transfer to germany this island for northern slesvig. the danish government had no knowledge of this plan, which was, however, presented in detail to me. against it was urged the necessity of denmark's remaining on good terms with germany. 'we could never be on good terms with our southern neighbour, if we possessed slesvig; besides, the younger danes in slesvig are so tied up with germany economically that their position would be more complicated. 'in fact,' this slesviger said, 'though i hate the prussian tyranny, i fear that our last state would be worse than our first. germany might accept the philippine island, and retake slesvig afterwards. unless we could be protected by the powers, we should regard the bargain as a bad one. besides, england would never allow you to take greenland.' it was an interesting discussion _in camera_. these discussions were always informal--generally after luncheon--and very enlightening. admiral de richelieu, who will never die content until slesvig is returned to denmark, looked on the arrangement as possible. 'germany wants peace with you; she could help you to police the philippines; greenland would be more valuable to you than to us,--and slesvig would be again danish.' 'but suppose we should propose to take the danish antilles for mindanao?' i asked. 'out of the question,' he said, firmly. 'you will never induce us to part with the west indies. we can make them an honourable appendage to our nation; but greenland, with your resources, might become another alaska.' de richelieu is one of the best friends i have in the world; but, when it came to the sale of the islands, he saw, not only red, but scarlet, vermilion, crimson and all the tints and shades of red! in , it seemed to me that my time had come to make an attempt to do what nearly every american statesman of discernment had, since seward's time, wanted done. it must be remembered that, if i seem egoistical, i am telling the story from the point of view of a minister who had no arbitrary instructions from his government, and very little information as to what was going on in the minds of his countrymen as to the expediency of the purchase. it is seldom possible to explain exactly the daily varying aspect of foreign politics in a european country to the state department; if one keeps one's ear to the ground, one often discovers the beginning of social and political vibrations in the evening which have quite vanished when one makes a report to one's government in the morning. again, mails are slow; we had no pouch; any document, even when closed by the august seal of the united states might be opened 'by mistake.' long cables, filled with minutiæ, were too expensive to be encouraged. besides, they might be deciphered and filed by under-clerks, who probably thought that 'dr. cook had put denmark on the map,'--only that, and nothing more! i knew one thing--that my colleague, constantin brun, was for the sale; another, that erik de scavenius, the youngest minister of foreign affairs in europe, was as clever as he was patriotic and honourable, and as resourceful as audacious. he had an irish grandfather. that explained much. another thing i assumed--that my government trusted me, and had given me, without explicitly stating the fact, _carte blanche_. however, i prepared myself to be disavowed by the state department if i went too far. i knew that, provided i was strictly honourable, such a disavowal would mean a promotion on the part of the president. i had done my best to accentuate the good reasons given by my predecessors, especially carr and risley, for they were beyond denial, for our buying the islands. one despatch i had sent off in may or june , almost in despair, a despatch in which i repeated the fear of german aggression and quoted heligoland, which had become as much a part of my thoughts and talk in private as the appearance of the head of charles i. in that of dickens's eccentric character. in june , no nation had the time or the leisure or the means of interfering with the project, for war means concentration, and i had found means of knowing that germany would not coerce denmark in the matter. i hoped and prayed that our government would take action. i knew, not directly, but through trusted friends like robert underwood johnson, lately editor of _the century magazine_, what point of view nearly every important journal in the united states would take. senator lodge's views were well known; in fact, he had first inflamed my zeal. president wilson had put himself on record in this momentous matter. unless public opinion should balk at the price--$ , , would not have been too much--the purchase would be approved of by the senate and the house. this seemed sure. against these arguments was the insinuation made and widely but insidiously spread, that germany approved the sale because she expected to borrow the amount of money paid! in june , it was plain to all who read the signs of the times, that we could not long keep out of the war. 'i did not raise my boy to be a soldier' was neither really popular in the united states nor convincing, for, sad as it may seem, disheartening as it is to those who believe in that universal peace which christ never promised, the american of the united states is a born fighter! if the islands were to be ours, now was the acceptable time. in denmark, the prospect looked like a landscape set for a forlorn hope. erik de scavenius, democrat, even radical, though of one of the most aristocratic families in denmark, would consider only the good of his own country. he was neither pro-german, pro-english nor pro-american. young as he was, his diplomatic experience had led him to look with a certain cynicism on the altruistic professions of any great european nation. he relied, i think, as little as i did on the academic results of the hague conferences. denmark needed money; the government, pledged to the betterment of the poor, to the advancement of funds to small farmers, to the support of a co-operative banking system in the interest of the agriculturists, to old-age pensions, to the insurance of the working man and his support when involuntarily idle, to all those socialistic plans that aim at the material benefit of the proletariat,[ ] and in addition to this, to the keeping up of a standing army as large as our regular army before the war, now 'quasi-mobilised,'--could ill afford to sink the state's income in making up the deficit caused by the expenses of the islands. [ ] in rome, 'the proletariat' meant the people who had children. the radicals, like edward brandès, despaired of righteously ruling their islands on the broad, humanitarian principles they had established in denmark. the position of the government was so precarious that to raise the question might have serious consequences. this we all knew, and none better than erik de scavenius. it will be seen that the difficulties on the danish side were greater than on ours. the price, which, reasonably enough, would be greater than that offered in previous times, would hardly be a very grave objection from the american point of view, since the war had made us more clear-minded, for our people are most generous in spending money when they see good reasons for it. it would take much time to unravel the intricacies of danish politics. 'happy,' said my friend, mr. thomas p. gill,[ ] visiting denmark in , 'is that land which is ruled by farmers!' i have sometimes doubted this. the conservatives naturally hated the social democrats, and the government was kept in power by the help of the social democrats. the conservatives would have gladly pitched the government to hades, if they had not had a great fear that erik de scavenius and perhaps edward brandès, the minister of justice, were too useful to lose during the war when the position of denmark was so delicate. the recent elections have shown how weak the present government is. [ ] mr. thomas p. gill is the permanent secretary of the irish agricultural and technical board. the danes, as i have said, are probably the most civilised people in europe, but an average american high school boy thinks more logically on political questions. a union of such intellectual clearness with such a paralysis of the logical, political qualities of the mind as one finds in denmark, is almost incredible. they seem to feel in matters of politics but not to think. after a large acquaintance among the best of the young minds in denmark, i could only conclude that this was the result of unhappy circumstances: the pessimism engendered by the nearness to germany, the fact that the dane was not allowed to vote until he became almost middle-aged, and the absence, in the higher schools, of any education that would cultivate self-analysis, and which would force the production of mental initiative. sentiment was against the sale of the islands,--therefore, the cause already seemed lost! the press, as a rule, would be against it, but the press in denmark, though everybody reads, has not a very potent influence. i was sure of _politiken_, a journal which most persons said was 'yellow,' but which appealed to people who liked cleverness. the press, i was sure, would be against the sale largely for reasons of internal politics. the farmers would not oppose the sale as a sale--in itself--the possession of a great sum of money, even while it remained in the united states, meant increased facilities for the import of fodder, etc., but j. c. christensen, their leader, must be reckoned with. there were local questions. politics is everywhere a slippery game, but in denmark it is more slippery than anywhere else in the world, not even excepting in, let us say, kansas. j. c. christensen had stubbed his toe over alberti, who had, until , been a power in denmark, and who, in , was still in the copenhagen jail. he had been prime minister from until alberti's manipulation of funds had been discovered in . under the short administration of holstein-ledreborg, he had been minister of worship, but he smarted over the accident which had driven him undeservedly out of office. socialism, curious as it may seem to americans, is not confined to the cities in denmark. it thrives in the farmlands. in the country, the socialists are more moderate than in the cities. in the country, socialism is a method of securing to the peasant population the privileges which it thinks it ought to have. it is a pale pink compared with the intense red of the extreme urban internationalists. j. c. christensen represented the moderates as against the various shades of left, radical and socialistic opinions. besides j. c. christensen, though his reputation was beyond reproach, needed, perhaps, a certain rehabilitation, and he had a great following. a further complication was the sudden rise of violent opposition to the government because of the decision made by the secular authorities in favour of retaining in his pulpit arboe rasmussen, a clergyman who had gone even further towards modernism in his preaching than harnack. however, as the bishops of the danish lutheran church had accepted this decision, it seemed remarkable that an opposition of this kind should have developed so unexpectedly. in june , my wife and i were at aalholm, the principal castle of count raben-levitzau. i was hoping for a favourable answer to my latest despatch as to the purchase of the islands. a visit to aalholm was an event. the count and countess raben-levitzau know how to make their house thoroughly agreeable. talleyrand said that 'no one knew the real delights of social intercourse who had not lived before the french revolution.' one might easily imitate this, and say, that if one has never paid a visit to aalholm, one knows little of the delights of good conversation. count raben's guests were always chosen for their special qualities. with mr. and mrs. francis hagerup, señor and señora de riaño, count and countess szchenyi,[ ] chamberlain and madame hegermann-lindencrone, mrs. ripka, and the necessary additional element of young folk, one must forget the cares of life. during this visit, there was one care that rode behind me in all the pleasant exclusions about the estate. it constantly asked me: what is your government thinking about? will the president's preoccupations prevent him from considering the question of the purchase? does mr. brun, the danish minister, fear a political crisis in his own country? it is difficult to an american at home to realise how much in the dark a man feels away from the centre of diplomacy, washington, especially when he has once lived there for years and been in touch with all the tremulous movements of the wires. [ ] dr. francis hagerup, norwegian minister to copenhagen, now at stockholm. count szchenyi, austro-hungarian minister, señor de riaño, now spanish minister at washington. one day at aalholm, the telephone rang; it was a message from the clerk of the legation, mr. joseph g. groeninger of baltimore. i put clerk with a capital letter because mr. groeninger deserved diplomatically a much higher title. during all my anxieties on the question of the purchase, he had been my confidant and encourager; the secretaries had other things to do. the message, discreetly voiced in symbols we had agreed upon, told me that the way was clear. our government was willing,--secrecy and discretion were paramount necessities in the transaction. returning to copenhagen, i saw the foreign minister. the most direct way was the best. i said, 'excellency, will you sell your west indian islands?' 'you know i am for the sale, mr. minister,' he said, 'but--' he paused, 'it will require some courage.' 'nobody doubts your courage.' 'the susceptibilities of our neighbour to the south----' 'let us risk offending any susceptibilities. france had rights.' 'france gave up her rights in santa cruz long ago; but i was not thinking of france. besides the price would have to be dazzling. otherwise the project could never be carried.' 'not only dazzling,' i said, 'but you should have more than money--our rights in greenland; his majesty might hesitate if it were made a mere question of money. he is like his grandfather, christian ix. you know how he hated, crippled as denmark was in , to sell the islands.' 'you would never pay the price.' 'excellency,' i said, 'this is not a commercial transaction. if it were a commercial transaction, a matter of material profit, my government would not have entrusted the matter to me, nor would i have accepted the task, without the counsel of men of business. besides, commercially, at present, the islands are of comparatively small value. i know that my country is as rich as it is generous. it is dealing with a small nation of similar principles to its own, and with an equal pride. unless the price is preposterous, as there is no ordinary way of gauging the military value of these islands to us, i shall not object. my government does not wish me to haggle. and i am sure that you will not force me to do so by demanding an absurd price. you would not wish to shock a people prepared to be generous.' he will ask $ , , , i thought; he knows better than anybody that we shall be at war with germany in less than a year. i felt dizzy at the thought of losing the gibraltar of the caribbean! however, i consoled myself, while mr. de scavenius looked thoughtfully, pencil in hand, at a slip of paper. after all, _i_ thought, the president, knowing what the islands mean to us, will not balk at even $ , , . while mr. de scavenius wrote, i tried to feel like a man to whom a billion was of no importance. he pushed the slip towards me, and i read: '$ , , dollars, expressed in danish crowns.' the crown was then equal to about twenty-six cents. i said, 'there will be little difficulty about that; i consider it not unreasonable; but naturally, it may frighten some of my compatriots, who have not felt the necessity of considering international questions. you will give me a day or two?' 'the price is dazzling, i know,' he said. 'my country is more generous even than she is rich. the transaction must be completed before----' mr. de scavenius understood. my country was neutral _then_; it was never necessary to over-explain to him; he knew that i understood the difficulties in the way. it was agreed that there should be no intermediaries; denmark had learned the necessity of dealing without them by the experience in . i was doubtful as to the possibility of complete secrecy. what the newspapers cannot find out does not exist. 'there are very many persons connected with the foreign office,' he said thoughtfully. 'i may say a similar thing of our state department. i wish the necessity for complete secrecy did not exist,' i said. 'the press _will_ have news.' a short time after this i was empowered to offer $ , , with our rights in greenland. as far as the foreign office and our legation were concerned, the utmost secrecy was preserved. there were no formal calls; after dinners, a word or two, an apparently chance meeting on the promenade (the long line) by the sound. rumours, however, leaked out on the bourse. the newspapers became alert. _politiken_, the government organ, was bound to be discreet, even if its editor had his suspicions. there were no evidences from the united states that the secret was out. in fact, the growing war excitement left what in ordinary times would have been an event for the 'spot' light in a secondary place. in denmark, as the whispers of a possible 'deal' increased in number, the opponents of the government were principally occupied in thinking out a way by which it could be used for the extinction of the council--president (prime minister) zahle, the utter crushing of the minister of war, peter munch, who hated war and looked on the army as an unnecessary excrescence, and the driving out of the whole ministry, with the exception of erik de scavenius and, perhaps, edward brandès, the minister of finance, into a sea worthy to engulf the devil-possessed swine of the new testament. there are, by the way, two zahles--one the minister, theodore, a bluff and robust man of the people, and herluf zahle, of the foreign office, chamberlain, and a diplomatist of great tact, polish and experience. mr. edward brandès and mr. erik de scavenius, interviewed, denied that there was any question of the sale. 'had i ever spoken to edward brandès on the subject of the sale?' i was asked point-blank. as i had while in copenhagen, only formal relations with the members of the government, except those connected with the foreign office, i was enabled to say no quite honestly. it was unnecessary for me to deny the possession of a secret not my own, too, because, when asked if i had spoken to the foreign minister on the subject of the sale, i always said that i was always hoping for such an event, i had spoken on the subject to count raben-levitzau, count ahlefeldt-laurvig and erik de scavenius whenever i had a chance. i felt like the boy who avoided sunday school because his father was a presbyterian and his mother a jewess; this left me out. i trembled for the fate of mr. de scavenius and mr. edward brandès when their political opponents (some of them the most imaginative folk in denmark) should learn the facts. a lie, in my opinion, is the denying of the truth to those who have a moral right to know it. the press had no right whatever to know the truth, but even the direct diplomatic denial of a fact to persons who have no right to know it is bound to be--uncomfortable! i was astonished that both mr. brandès and mr. scavenius had been so direct; political opponents are so easily shocked and so loud in their pious appeals to providence! for myself, i was sorry that i could not give mr. albert thorup, of the associated press, a 'tip.' he is such a decent man, and i shall always be grateful to him, but i was forced to connive at his losing a great 'scoop.' the breakers began to roar; anybody but the foreign minister would have lost his nerve. two visiting american journalists, who had an inkling of possibilities of the truth, behaved like gentlemen and patriots, as they are, and agreed to keep silent until the state department should give them permission to release it. these were mr. william c. bullitt, of the philadelphia _ledger_, and mr. montgomery schuyler, of the new york _times_. the newspaper, _copenhagen_, was the first to hint at the secret, which, by this time, had become a _secret de polichinelle_. various persons were blamed; the parliament afterwards appointed a committee of examination. on august st, , i find in my diary,--'thank heaven! the secret is out in the united states, but not through us.' 'secret diplomacy' is difficult in this era of newspapers. if we are to have a secretary of education in the cabinet of the future, why not a secretary of the press? a happy interlude in the summer of was the visit of henry van dyke and his wife and daughter. it was a red letter night when he came to dinner. we forgot politics, and talked of stedman, gilder and the elder days. the first inkling that the _secret de polichinelle_ was out came from a cable in _le temps_ of paris. mr. bapst, the french minister, who had very unjustly been accused of being against the sale, came to tell me he knew that the treaty had been signed by secretary lansing and mr. brun in washington. i was not at liberty to commit myself yet, so i denied that the treaty had been signed in washington. mr. bapst sighed; i knew what he thought of me; but i had told the truth; the treaty had been signed in new york. sir henry lowther, the british minister, was frankly delighted that the question of the islands was about to be opened. irgens, formerly minister of foreign affairs in norway, and a good friend to the united states, shook his head. 'if norway owned islands, we would never give them up,' he said; but he was glad that they were going to us. the other colleagues, including count brockdorff-rantzau, the german minister, were occupied with other things. count rantzau was desirous of keeping peace with the united states. i think that he regarded war with us as so dangerous as to be almost unthinkable. i found count rantzau a very clever man; he played his game fairly. it was a game, and he was a colleague worth any man's respect. he is one of the most cynical, brilliant, forcible diplomatists in europe, with liberal tendencies in politics. if he lives, he ought to go far, as he is plastic and sees the signs of the times. i found him delightful; but he infuriated other people. one day, when he is utterly tired of life, he will consciously exasperate somebody to fury, in order to escape the trouble of committing suicide himself. the plot thickened. the ideas of the foreign office were, as a rule, mine--but here there was sometimes an honest difference. i was willing to work with the foreign office, but not under it. de scavenius never expected this, but i think it was sometimes hard for him to see that i could not, in all details, follow his plans. nothing is so agreeable as to have men of talent to deal with; and i never came from an interview with de scavenius or chamberlain clan, even when, perhaps, de scavenius did not see my difficulties clearly, without an added respect for these gentlemen. the air was full of a rumour that the united states, suspected in europe, in spite of the fair treatment of cuba and the philippines, of imperialism, had made threats against denmark, involving what was called 'pressure.' whether it was due to enemy propaganda or not, the insinuation that the danish west indies would be taken by force, because denmark was helpless, underlay many polite conversations. 'the united states would not dare to oblige france or england or a south american republic to give up an island. she does not attempt to coerce holland; but in spite of the pretensions to altruism, she threatens denmark.' this was an assertion constantly heard. the charges of imperialism made in our newspapers against some of the 'stalwart' politicians who were supposed to have influenced president mckinley in older days, were not forgotten. letters poured in, asking if it were possible that i had used threats to the danish government. the danish politicians were turning their ploughshares into swords. on august th the rigstag went into 'executive session.' chamberlain hegermann-lindencrone still heartily approved of the sale. he had, he said, tried to arrange it, under president mckinley's administration, through a hint from major cortelyon when he was in paris. the attitude of the press became more and more evident. mr. holger angelo, one of the best 'interviewers' in the danish press, and very loyal to his paper, the _national news_ (_national tidende_), came to see me. personally, he was desirous not to wound me or to criticise the conduct of my government; but he was strongly against the sale, yet he could find no valid arguments against it. he was obliged to admit reluctantly that the only ground on which his paper could make an attack was the denial of the cabinet ministers that any negotiations had existed. this was the line all the opposition papers would follow. nobody would say that the purchase had been negotiated on any grounds unfavourable to the national sensibilities of the danes. even admiral de richelieu admitted that neither my government nor myself had failed to give what help could be given to his plans for improving the economic conditions of the islands. on august th the debate in the rigstag showed, as had been expected, that mr. j. c. christensen, who held the balance of power, would demand a new election under the new constitution. a furious attack was made on messrs. brandès and de scavenius for having denied the existence of negotiations. all this was expected. nobody really wanted a new election. it was too risky under war conditions. suddenly the rumour was revived that the british fleet would break the neutrality of denmark by moving through the great belt, and that the united states was secretly preparing to send its fleet through the belt to help the british. the reason of this was apparent: every rumour that corroborated the impression that the united states would become a belligerent injured the chances of the sale. such delay, to my knowledge, was an evil, since the continued u-boat horror made a war imminent. in spite of all optimism, advice from the american embassy at berlin, direct and indirect, pointed that way. the crisis would no doubt be delayed--this was our impression--but it must come. count brockdorff-rantzau hoped to the last that it might be avoided, and prince wittgenstein of his legation, who knew all sides, seemed to believe that a conflict with the united states might yet be avoided. and there was still a dim hope, but it became dimmer every day, so that my desire to expedite matters became an obsession. on august th, j. c. christensen seemed to hold the folkerting (the lower house) in the hollow of his hand. he moved to appeal to the country, and to leave the question of a sale to a new rigstag. this meant more complications, more delay, and perhaps defeat through the threatening of the war clouds. j. c. christensen's motion was defeated by eleven votes. on august th it was concluded that the quickest and least dangerous way of securing assent to the sale was by an appeal to the people, not through a general election, but through a plebiscite, in which every man and woman of twenty-nine would vote, under the provisions of the new constitution. the landsting (the upper house) held a secret meeting. if a coalition ministry should not be arranged and the motion for a plebiscite should fail, there would certainly be a general election. this would, i thought, be fatal, as it would probably mean a postponement of the sale until after the close of the war. in the meantime, we heard the german representatives of the hamburg-american line at st. thomas were carrying on 'some unusual improvements.' these activities, begun without the knowledge of the governor, who was then in denmark, were stopped by the minister of justice, mr. edward brandès, when the knowledge of them was brought to the danish government. on august th i was convinced that one of the most important men in denmark, indeed in europe, etatsraad h. n. andersen, of the east asiatic company, approved of the sale. this i had believed, but i was delighted to hear it from his own lips. political confusion became worse. in some circumstances the danes are as excitable as the french used to be. it looked, towards the end of august, as if the project of the sale was to be a means of making of denmark, then placid and smiling under a summer sun, a veritable seething cauldron. the gentlemen of the press enjoyed themselves. i, who had the reputation of having on all occasions a _bonne presse_, fell from grace. i had not, it is true, concealed the truth by diplomatic means, as had mr. edward brandès and mr. erik de scavenius, but i had talked 'so much and so ingenuously' to the newspaper men, as one of them angrily remarked, that they were sure a man, hitherto so frank, had nothing to conceal; and yet there had been much concealed. the opposition, which would have been pleasantly horrified to discover any evidence of bribery, or, indeed, any evidence of the methods by which our legation had managed its side of the affair (they hoped for the worst), could discover very little; when they called on de scavenius to show all the incriminating documents in the case, they found there was nothing incriminating, and the documents were the slightest scraps of paper. knowing how far away our department of state was, how busy and how undermanned, owing to the attitude which congress has hitherto assumed towards it, i acted as i thought best as each delicate situation arose, always arranging as well as i could not to compromise my government, and to give it a chance to disavow any action of mine should it be necessary. i had found this a wise course in the cook affair. i had resolved to take no notice of dr. cook, until the royal danish geographical society determined to recognise him as a scientist of reputation. when commander hovgaard, who had been captain of the king's yacht, asked me to go with the crown prince, president of the geographical society, to meet the american explorer, i went; but my government was in no way committed. in fact, president taft understood the situation well; receiving no approval of dr. cook from me, he merely answered dr. cook's telegram, congratulating him on 'his statement.' i must say that, when the royal geographical society received cook, no word of disapproval from any american expert had reached our legation or the geographical society itself. the society, with no knowledge of the mount mckinley incident, behaved most courteously to an american citizen who appeared to have accomplished a great thing. the only indication that made me suspect that dr. cook was not scientific was that he spoke most kindly of all his--may i say it?--step-brother scientists! but, as i had accompanied the crown prince, in gratitude for his kind attention to a compatriot, i felt sure that a wise department would only, at the most, reprimand me for exceeding the bounds of courtesy. suddenly a crashing blow struck us; edward brandès, in the midst of a hot debate, in which he and de scavenius were fiercely attacked, announced that the united states was prepared to exert 'friendly pressure.' brandès is too clever a man to be driven into such a statement through inadvertence; he must have had some object in making it. what the object was i did not know--nobody seemed to know. even de scavenius seemed to think he had gone too far, for whatever were the contents of minister brun's despatches, it was quite certain that neither he nor our government would have allowed a threat made to denmark involving the possession of her legitimately held territory to become public. something had to be done to avoid the assumption that we were no more democratic than germany. 'we wanted the territory from a weaker nation; we were prepared to seize it, if we could not buy it! we americans were all talking of the rights of the little nations. germany wanted to bleed france, and she took belgium after having insolently demanded that she should give up her freedom. we, the most democratic of nations, prepared to pay for certain islands; but if it was not convenient for a friendly power to sell her territory, we would take it.' this was the inference drawn from mr. edward brandès' words in parliament. i could not contradict a member of the government, and yet i was called on, especially by danes who had lived in the united states, to explain what this 'pressure' meant. many danish women who approved of the social freedom of american women, but mistrusted our government's refusing them the suffrage, took the question up with me. 'pressure _et tu brute_!' the women were to vote in the plebiscite. some of their leaders balked at the word 'pressure,' but a country which had hitherto refused the suffrage to american women was capable of anything. mr. edward brandès had performed a great service to his country in letting out some of the horrors of our secret diplomacy. mr. constantin brun, whose loyalty to his own country i invoked in these interviews, was, they said, 'corrupted' in the united states; he was more american than the americans! i should have much preferred to be put in the 'ananias society' so suddenly formed of mr. brandès and mr. de scavenius than to have myself set down as an imperialist of a country as arrogant as it was grasping, which not only threatened to seize danish territory, but which, while pretending to hold the banner of democracy in the war of nations, deprived the best educated women in the world (mrs. chapman catt had said so) of their inalienable right to vote! fortunately, i had once lectured at the request of some of the leading suffragists. bread cast upon the waters is often returned, toasted and buttered, by grateful hands. madame de münter--wife of the chamberlain--and madame gad, wife of the admiral, were great lights in the feminist movement. madame gad is a most active, distinguished and benevolent woman of letters. there were others, too, who felt that there must be some redeeming features in a condition of society which produced a minister who was so devoted to woman suffrage as i was (as my wife gave some of the best dinners in denmark, nobody expected _her_ to go beyond that!). to madame de münter i owed much good counsel and a circle of defenders; to madame gad (if we had an order of valiant women, i should ask that she be decorated), i am told i owe the chance that helped to turn the women's vote in our favour, and induced many ladies, who were patriotic traditionalists, to abstain from voting. the general opinion, as far as i could gauge it--and i tried to get expert testimony--was that the women's vote would be against us. the _national news_ (_national tidende_) had never been favourable to the united states, though personally i had no reason to complain of it. it was moderate in politics, not brilliant, but very well written. the virtue of its editor was outraged by the denial of the two ministers that negotiations for the sale of the islands had been in process. this position in defence of the truth edified the community. 'truth, though the heavens fall!' was his motto; he kept up a fusillade against the sale. except that one of my interviews had been unintentionally misquoted, i had hitherto been out of the newspapers--though i was no longer, in the opinion of the whole press, the sweet and promising young poet of sixty-five who had written sonnets--now i was forced in. an interview appeared triumphantly in the _national news_. it was attributed to one of the most discreet officials of the state department. it denied 'pressure,' which would have pleased me, if it had not also contradicted my repeated statement that the senate of the united states would not adjourn without ratifying the treaty. it was a blow. i questioned at once the authenticity of the interview. the senate, i had said, would ratify the treaty before the end of the session. the danish foreign office and the public took my word for it. unless i could get a disavowal of the interview by cable, it would seem that the department of state was not supporting me. the foreign office itself, with the problem of our entering the war before it, was beginning to be disheartened. the authenticity of the interview meant failure, the triumph of the enemies of the sale! after a brief interval, a denial of the interview, which had been fabricated in london, came to our legation. there was joy in nazareth, but it did not last long. with the permission of the foreign office, i prepared to give this very definite denial from our state department to the press. it was a busy evening. the staff of the legation was small, and the necessity of sending men to the rigstag to watch the debate in the landsting, where the treaty was being considered, of gathering information, and of translating and copying important documents relating to the islands for transmission to the united states, strained our energies. moreover, the secretary of legation, mr. alexander richardson magruder, had just been transferred to stockholm. mr. joseph g. groeninger, the clerk, who knew all the details relating to the affair of the islands, was up to his eyes in work. mr. cleveland perkins, the honorary attaché, was struggling heroically with danish reports, and i was at the telephone receiving information, seeing people, and endeavouring to discover just where we stood. a most trustworthy--but inexperienced--young man was in charge of the downstairs office, where mr. groeninger, the omniscient, usually reigned. i telephoned to him a memorandum on the subject of 'pressure' which the bogus interview had denied. it was a quotation from the 'interview,' to be made the subject of comment, and then the denial. both of these were sent up on the same piece of typewritten paper, and o.k.ed by me, as a matter of routine. it was not until late in the night that the young man discovered that a mistake had been made. he was most contrite, though the mistake was my fault and due to thoughtlessly following the usual routine. he telephoned at once to the _national news_ and to the other newspapers explaining that he had made a mistake. the _national news_ preferred to ignore his explanation. the opportunity of accusing the ministry of further duplicity was too tempting. de scavenius had lied again, and i had connived at it. the denial of the washington telegram was 'faked' by the american minister in collusion with the minister of foreign affairs! it must be admitted that _politiken_, edited by the terribly clever cavling, had driven the slower-witted _national tidende_ to desperation. i had a bad morning; then i resolved to draw the full fire of the _national news_ on myself. i owed it to de scavenius, who had become rather tired of being called a liar in all the varieties of rhetoric of which copenhagen slang is capable. from the american point of view, after i had made my plan, it was amusing--all the more amusing, since, after the first regret that i had unwittingly added to the _opera bouffe_ colour of the occasion, i saw that the _national tidende_ would become so abusive against me, that i should soon be an interesting victim of vituperative persecution. i repeated calmly the truth that the 'interview' was a fabrication, adding that i had no intention to attack the honour of the _national tidende_; it had been deceived; i merely wanted it understood that my government was not in the habit of contradicting its responsible representatives (_politiken_ kindly added that the _national tidende_ had received its information from the 'coloured door-keeper at the white house'). more fire and fury signifying nothing! the most elaborate frightfulness in print missed its mark, as nobody at the legation had time to translate the rhetoric of the furies, and besides, the _national tidende_ had no case. as i hoped, the diplomatic sins of the foreign office in keeping the secret were forgotten in the flood of invective directed against me. the result was expressed in my diary:--'the row has proved a help to the treaty; i did not know i had so many friends in denmark. my hour of desolation was when i feared that somebody in the state department had permitted himself to be interviewed. it was a dark hour!' after this tempest in a tea-pot, all talk about 'pressure' ceased; the air was, at least, clear of that--and i thanked heaven. september came in; the debates in the rigstag continued. various papers were accused of having prematurely divulged the secret--especially _copenhagen_. it was amusing--the secret among business men had long before the revelation of _copenhagen_ become an open secret. in fact, one of these gentlemen had come to me and informed me of the various attitudes of people on the bourse; at the legation, we never lacked secret information. the debate, as everybody knew, and the threat of an investigation of the responsibility for letting out the secret was a bit of comedy, probably invented for the provinces, for a copenhagener is about as easily fooled as a parisian. on september th, i had one of the greatest pleasures i have ever experienced. i announced to the foreign office that the treaty had been ratified, without change, by the senate. still the opposition made delays. the foreign minister did all in his power to expedite matters. it was hoped that charges of 'graft' could be developed against the ministers. 'if you had had a _bonne presse_, as usual,' a candid friend said to me, 'you might have been accused of bribing. as it is, the _national tidende_ attitude showed that you never offered that paper any money!' 'as much as i regret the attitude of the _national tidende_,' i said, 'i could as soon imagine myself taking a bribe as of the editor's accepting one. the attack was a great advantage to me.' 'you yankees turn everything to your advantage,' the candid friend said. on september th, ambassador and mrs. gerard arrived. it was a red letter day. mr. gerard showed the strain of his work, but, like all good new yorkers, was disposed 'to take the goods the gods provided' him--one of them was a dinner at the legation of which he approved. praise from brillat-savarin would not have delighted us more than this. the legation, to use the diplomatic phrase, threw themselves at the feet of mrs. gerard. gerard deserved the title, given him by the germans, of 'the most american of american ambassadors.' mrs. gerard was cosmopolitan, with an american charm, but also with a touch of the older world that always adds to the social value of an ambassadress. i had arranged, in advance of judge gerard's coming, a luncheon with my colleague across the street, count brockdorff-rantzau. it was interesting. mr. and mrs. swope were present, their serene highnesses the prince and princess sayn wittgenstein-sayn, count wedel, and, i think, dr. toepffer. judge gerard told me that he spoke little french, but he got on immensely well with count rantzau, who spoke no english. count wedel, with his love for old germany, of the weimar of goethe, of the best in literature, will, i trust, live to see a happier new order of things in his native country. the wittgensteins were charming young people. the prince was connected with almost every great russian, french and italian family. if ambassadors are not put out of fashion by the new order of things, the princess, closely connected with important families of england, would be a fortunate ambassadress to an english-speaking country. peace ought to come to men of good-will, and i am persuaded that there are men of good-will in germany. september, october, even december came in, and the political factions still fought, ostensibly about the sale, but really for control, copenhageners said, of the $ , , ! every chance was taken to delay the matter until after the war. german propaganda and bribing was talked of, but there was no evidence of it. in my opinion, it was largely a question as to who should spend the $ , , . in a monarchy such a horror was to be expected naturally! in a republic like ours, the patriotic republicans would cheerfully see the equally patriotic democrats control the funds, but, then, republics are all utopias, the lands of the hope fulfilled! all this was amusing to many observers--embarrassing and humiliating to danes who respected reasonable public opinion and the dignity of their country. it was terrible to me who saw the war coming, for mr. gerard and my private informants in germany left me in no doubt about that. even count szchenyi, always for peace, and with us in sympathy, declared that 'the u-boat war would go on, not to crush england, but as part of the germanic league to enforce peace.' and the use of the u-boat meant war for us! on all sides, i was told that the women's votes would be against the sale. it was not unreasonable to believe that ladies, just emancipated, would vote against their late lords and masters, at least for the first time. besides, as mrs. chapman catt had made very clear during her fateful visit to denmark, the liveliest, the most reasonable, the most intellectual women in the world were deprived by the unjust laws of the country that wanted the islands of the right to vote. even the fact that mr. edward brandès, a noted ladies' man, was on the side of the angels, might have no effect. he began to be tired of the whole thing. he hoped, i really believe, that the islands would settle the question and sink into the sea! we _must_ have the women's vote. madame gad helped to save the day. 'you will, in your annual _conférence_,' she said to me, 'explain the position of the american women, and your words will be reprinted, not only all over denmark, but throughout sweden and norway. the editor of _politiken_ will give you his famous "_politiken hus_," and your words will make good feeling.' 'i can honestly say,' i answered, 'that i want the women to vote. in fact, in my country, they have only to want the suffrage badly enough to have it! it is the fault of their own sex, not of ours, if they do not get it!' it was agreed that i should speak on 'the american woman and her aspirations,' at _politiken hus_, on the evening of december th. the proceeds were to go to charity. and i never knew, until i began to prepare my lecture, how firmly i believed that woman suffrage was to be the salvation of the world. without exaggeration, i believe it will be, since men have made such an almost irremediable mess of worldly affairs. my friend, the late archbishop spalding, once said that women had, since the deluge, been engaged in spoiling the stomach of man, and now they prepared to spoil his politics! i have some reason to believe that a report of my lecture might have converted him to higher ideals. i was told by some ladies that it had a great effect on their husbands. in the meantime, the tardy delegates, summoned from st. thomas and santa cruz, arrived. they were called simply to delay action. the foreign minister was heartily ashamed of the transaction on the part of his opponents; it was palpably childish. the plebiscite must be delayed as long as possible. the united states had done its part in a most prompt and generous manner. the press could give only sentimental reasons against the sale; denmark found the islands a burden; she wanted our rights in greenland; she needed the $ , , , but her politicians were willing to risk anything rather than give the control of the money to a ministry they were afraid to turn out. a coalition ministry, that is, the addition of new members without portfolios to the present ministry, was agreed to, j. c. christensen representing the moderate left, theodore stauning, a socialist, and two others. nobody really wanted a general election until after the war. on the evening of december th, i drove to _politiken hus_. there was a red light over the door. this meant _alt udsolgt_, 'standing room only.' what balm for long anxieties this! mr. william jennings bryan looking at the crowded seats of a chautauqua meeting could not have felt prouder. i recalled the night on which king christian x. had asked me if i always delivered the same lecture during a season's tour in the provinces. i said, 'yes, sir.' 'but if people come a second time?' 'oh, they never come a second time, sir.' at least, for the first time, the red light was lit,--who cared for a second time? the hall was crowded. sir ralph paget, who seldom went out, had come, and, at some distance--sir ralph was of all men the most anti-prussian--were the prince and princess wittgenstein. 'all copenhagen,' madame gad said, which was equivalent to 'tout paris.' i did my best. at the reception afterwards at admiral urban gad's, the ladies--some of them of great influence in politics--told me i had said the right things. i had the next day a _bonne presse_. the provincial papers all over scandinavia reprinted the most important parts of the discourse with approval, and letters of commendation from all parts of denmark--from ladies--came pouring in. one from a constant correspondent in falster, a 'demoiselle,' which is a much better word than 'old maid,' who was sometimes in very bad humour with 'america,' wrote that, after what i said of the american women's position, she would like to marry an american, and that, though opposed to the sale, she and her club would refrain from voting. her offer to marry an american has not been withdrawn. a few days after this, an american paper containing an account of a lynching in the south, with the most terrible details graphically described, reached copenhagen. the newspaper man who brought it to me consented, after some argument, for old friendship's sake, not to release it at this inauspicious moment. time dragged; but the news from the provinces was consoling. the foreign office seemed still to be discouraged, and i am sure that edward brandès again wished that the danish antilles had suffered extinction. even the enamelled surface of de scavenius began to crack a little. dilatory motions of all kinds were in order. the examination by the parliamentary committees at which the delegates from the west indies were present, had ceased to be even amusing. it was a farce without fun. the plebiscite could be put off no longer; on december th, the vote was taken. for the sale, , ; against the sale, , . a comparatively small vote was cast. many voters abstained. these were mostly conservatives and moderates. at last, it had come, but after what anxiety, doubts, fears, efforts,--but always hopes! the opposition proposed to continue objections to the sale of all the islands. this would mean more appalling delays, and, with the u-boat menace increasing, failure. on december th, i entered the foreign office just as djeved bey, the turkish minister, was taking his leave; he had not been very sympathetic with the turkish-german alliance; he was very french. after a few minutes' talk, i saw the minister of foreign affairs. he looked unhappy and harassed, which was unusual. in the midst of alarms, he had always retained a certain calm, which gave everybody confidence. when the petrels flew about his head and the storms dashed, he was astonishingly courageous. to-day, he sighed. in spite of the plebiscite, he seemed to think that we were beaten. i was astonished. i had always thought that we had one quality, at least, in common--we liked embarrassing situations. i soon discovered the reason for this apparent loss of nerve. 'would our government agree to take less than the three islands?' it was plain that the opposition, not always fair, was tiring him and brandès out; i could understand their position, and sympathise with their discouragement, but not feel it. 'to admit a new proposition on our part would be to interfere in the interior politics of denmark,' i said. 'the plebiscite was arranged on the question of the treaty; it meant the cession of all the danish islands or nothing.' the rigstag should not prepare such a change without making a new appeal to the country. i knew it was in the power of the rigstag to refuse to ratify the vote of the people. it would simply mean a delay of the decision if it did so. i would make no proposition to my government for a change in the treaty; if such a proposition was seriously made, i must step down and out at once. de scavenius approved of what i said. i believed that we would win, in spite of dire prophecies. on wednesday, december th, , the vote in the folkstag was taken; it stood,-- for the sale; against it. on december st, it stood, in the landstag, votes for the sale, and against it. ambassador gerard who had come to copenhagen again, was among the first to offer his congratulations. he was most cordial. the sale was a fact. 'just in time,' de scavenius said. just in time! the war cloud was about to burst, and the legation must prepare for it. the islands had hitherto cut off my view; i now saw a new world. chapter xii the beginning of and the end at the end of , the affair of the islands was practically settled. every now and then a newspaper put forth a rumour that brought up the question again. _copenhagen_, a journal which was very well written, announced as a secret just discovered, that the united states, even after congress had appropriated the $ , , for the sale of the islands, would not agree to accept them at once. this excited much discussion which, however, was soon stopped. it was remarkable how the fury and fire of the controversy disappeared. people seemed to forget all the hard names they had called one another. i forgave the _national news_, and later even attempted to get printing material for the paper from the united states. the need of printing material had become so great, that an attempt was made to print one edition in coal tar! the embargo was drastic. if the _national news_ had had a good case against me and interfered with the sale, perhaps i might not have been so forgiving; one's motives are always mixed. new difficulties were coming upon us, and i think that most of our diplomatic representatives knew that we were unprepared for them. since the opening of the war, we had been adjured to be neutral. that was sometimes hard enough. but, as it seemed inevitable that our country must be drawn into the war (though we were told that the popular air at home was 'i did not raise my boy to be a soldier') it seemed necessary to be prepared. captain totten--now colonel--our military attaché, urged 'preparedness' in season and out of season. the position of a minister who wants to be prepared for a coming conflict, but is obliged to act as if no contest were possible, is not an easy one. besides, through the departure of mr. francis hagerup, the norwegian minister, to stockholm, i had become dean of the diplomatic corps. i represented, when i went to court officially, the central powers as well as their enemies. 'you are atlas,' the king said, when i presented myself as dean for the first time; 'you bear all the powers of the world on your shoulders!' he regretted that the foreign ministers could not meet at a neutral court on occasions of ceremony. i think his majesty believed that the members of the diplomatic corps were in the position of the heralds of the elder time--exempt, at least outwardly, from all the hatreds developed by the war, and ready to look on the enemy of to-day as their friend of to-morrow. this is good diplomacy; i agreed with his majesty, but wondered whether, if his majesty's country was in the position of belgium, he would have instructed his minister to be polite to the representative of the invader. i had my doubts, for if there were ever a king passionately devoted to his country, it is king christian x. after the sinking of the _lusitania_, my position would have been terribly difficult, if my german and austrian colleagues had not acted in a way that made it possible for me to forget that i had said, on hearing of bernstorff's warning, 'the day after an american is killed without warning at sea, we will declare war!' it was undiplomatic; but i had said it to count rantzau, to prince wittgenstein, to count raben-levitzau, to prince waldemar, to the princes, to other persons, and, i think, at the foreign office. a very distinguished german had replied, in the true junker spirit, 'but your great government would not bring a war on itself for the sake of the lives of a few hundred _bourgeoisie_.' and, when i stood, foolish and confounded, recognising that the time had not come for our government to act, he said: 'you see you were wrong. your government is not so altruistic as you thought, nor so ready to bring new disasters on the world.' count rantzau always took a moderate tone. when in difficulty he could switch the conversation to a passage in the _memoirs_ of st. simon, or some other chronicle--a little frivolous--of the past. count szchenyi was hard hit--his brother-in-law, mr. vanderbilt, had perished among the _bourgeoisie_ on the _lusitania_; it was a subject to be avoided. prince von wittgenstein simply said that it was a pity that the _lusitania_ carried munitions of war, though they were not high explosives, but he made no excuses. it was evident that these gentlemen regretted the horrible crime. the few germans one met in society were inclined to blame what they called the stupidity of the captain of the steamship; they had the testimony of the hearing taken from the london _times_, at their finger ends, and they knew 'the name of the firm in lowell, massachusetts, whose ammunition had been exported on the _lusitania_.' their opinions i always heard at second-hand. a great danish lady, whose family the king of prussia and the present emperor had honoured, sent me from the country all the signed portraits of the kaiser, torn to pieces. 'i could not write,' she said afterwards at dinner, 'i could not say what i thought,--i had promised my husband to be silent,--but you know what i meant,' and she added in danish, 'damn little willie!' the only place in which representatives of the warring nations saw one another was in church, that is, in the church of st. ansgar; but count szchenyi and prince von wittgenstein were always so deeply engaged in prayer that they could not see the french minister or the belgian. the english church--one of the most beautiful in copenhagen--was frequented only by the english and a few americans, so the rector, the rev. dr. kennedy, was never troubled about the position of his pews, nor was the russian pope across the street from st. ansgar's. mr. francis hagerup had been a model dean. everybody trusted and respected him; it seemed a pity that he should go away from copenhagen, after such good service, without the usual testimonial from the diplomatic corps; but there were difficulties in the way. would sir henry lowther, the english, and baron de buxhoevenden, the russian minister, permit their names to go on a piece of plate with those of count brockdorff-rantzau and count szchenyi? count szchenyi, always kindness itself, had his eye on two silver vegetable dishes of the true danish-rosenborg type. he consulted me as the dean. i wanted mr. hagerup to have these beautiful things, and szchenyi seemed to think that the matter could be arranged. i agreed to get the signatures to the proposition, expressed in french, that the dishes should be bought from the court jeweller, the famous carl michelsen, who had designed them. i doubt whether any of the tiffanys have more foreign decorations than michelsen; it is worth while being a jeweller and an artist in denmark. the gift was to show the unusual honour to an unusual dean, offered by all the diplomatic corps in time of war. i had the opinion of the ladies sounded; they were all against it, especially one of the most intellectual ladies of the diplomatic corps, madame de buxhoevenden. she warned me that my attempt would be a failure. however, i sent the paper out, done in the most diplomatic french. hans, our messenger, asked for the ladies first. if they were at home, he waited for another day. after i had all the signatures and they were engraved on the dishes, the baroness de buxhoevenden bore down on me, warlike. 'quelle horreur,' she said. 'how did you get my husband's name?' 'when you were out!' i said. 'i think it disgraceful all the same, that my husband's name should appear on the same plate with those of the enemies of my country.' 'on the second plate, madame, the enemies' appear,' i answered,--'there are two!' hagerup was so touched when i took the plates to him that i saw tears in his eyes. the baroness de buxhoevenden remained very friendly to me, 'because,' she said, 'she loved my wife so much.' not long after, she died in russia, heartbroken. she had faced the inclemencies of the weather and the first outbreak of the revolution (she was a sane woman, an imperialist, but one who would have had imperialism reform itself, well-read and deeply religious) to see her daughter, the young baroness sophie, who was one of the maids of honour to the late czarina. this young lady was ill and imprisoned with the imperial family. she was the only child of the buxhoevendens--their son, a brave soldier, having died some years before. you can imagine the anxiety of the buxhoevendens when the unrestrained ferocity of the mob in petrograd broke out. madame de buxhoevenden could not see her daughter, though, thanks to the american ambassador, who never failed to do a kind thing for us in copenhagen, she managed to have a message from her. a lover of russia, like her husband, of order, of reason in government, she died. with all the russians i knew, love of country was a passion. they might differ among themselves. meyendorff might look on bibikoff as a 'clever boy' and smile amicably at his vagaries; bibikoff might declare that 'baron meyendorff had, as st. simon said of the regent d'orleans, all the talents, but the talent of using them'; but they were fervently devoted to russia. they were in a labyrinth, and, as at the time of the french revolution, everybody differed in opinion as to the best way out. it was from the russians i first heard of prince karl lichnowsky. i think it was meyendorff, who once said: 'the austrian ambassador to london and prince lichnowsky are such honest men that the prussians find it easy to deceive them into deceiving the english as to the designs of germany!' one great difficulty would have stood in the way, had i, as dean, been willing to accept the kindly hint of the king and attempt to arrange that all the corps should go as usual together at new years and on birthdays to court. there was the conduct of the german government to the french ambassador at the opening of the war. it was frightfully rude, even savage, and unprecedented. it shocked everybody. it will be difficult to explain it when relations between the belligerents are resumed again. it seems to be a minor matter, but it corroborated the variation of the old proverb,--'scratch a prussian and you find a hun.' the tale of the insults heaped on the french ambassador is a matter of record for all time. judge gerard has told his own story. the russian ladies coming out of berlin were treated no better than a group of cocottes driven from a city might have been. the condition of the russian ladies when they reached copenhagen was deplorable. they all possessed the inevitable string of pearls, which every russian young girl of the higher class receives before her marriage. these and the clothes they wore were all they were allowed to bring out of the super-civilised city of berlin. it did not prevent them from smiling a little at the plight of the old princess de ----, one of the haughtiest and richest of the noble ladies, who loved the baths of germany more than her compatriots approved of. her carefully dressed wig--never touched before except by the tender fingers of her two maids--was lifted off her head, while the german soldiers looked underneath it for secret documents! from all this it will be seen that, notwithstanding the politeness of the representatives of the central powers in copenhagen, it would have been impossible for the diplomatic corps to unite itself in the same room, even for a moment. everybody went to see mr. francis hagerup off; but this was at the railway station, where people were not obliged to seem conscious of one another's presence. this would have been impossible at court. social life in copenhagen has fixed traditions (very fixed, in spite of the democracy of the people); they make it delightful. society is all the better for fixed, artificial rules. they enable everybody to know his place and produce that ease that cannot exist where there is a constant expectancy of the unexpected; but they were not proof against the savagery which germany's action had indicated. when count szchenyi's mother died, his colleagues, disliking the action of his country as they did, sent messages of condolence privately, through me, then a 'neutral.' when madame de buxhoevenden died, deep sympathy was expressed by the diplomatists on the other side, but the utter disregard, on the part of the germans in berlin for the ordinary decencies of social life caused society in copenhagen to become resentful and cold and suspicious whenever a german appeared in a 'neutral' house. it seemed incredible that hatred should have so carried away those around the german emperor, who had formerly seemed only too anxious to observe the smallest social decencies, that the civilised world was willing to retort in kind. even in the convents, the german sisters were 'suspect,' and it took all the tact of the superiors to emphasise the fact that these ladies by their vows were bound to look on all with the eyes of christ. 'yes,' a belgian sister had answered, 'with the eyes he turned to the impenitent thief!' however, religious discipline is strong, and it is the business of those set apart from the world to overcome even their righteous anger. still, when i saw the expression on the face of the abbé de noë, who had been a papal zouave and was still at heart a french soldier, on a great festival, as he gave the kiss of peace to two german priests on the altar steps, i felt that the grace of god is compelled sometimes to run uphill! commercial transactions formed a great part of the work of the legation when great britain began seriously to restrain alien foreign trade and to put a firm hand on such neutrals as adopted the motto of some of the english merchants, before they were awakened, 'business as usual.' i am afraid that i gave little satisfaction; our instructions were not precise. that some of our great business people should have fallen into a panic after august ,--men of the highest ability, of the most scientific imagination, who foresaw contingencies to the verge of the impossible--seemed amazing. in conversation with some of these gentlemen as late as the spring of , when i had come home to deliver some lectures at harvard university, i was convinced that they knew what germany's aims were in the east. they were aware of the negotiations regarding the bagdad railway and the opposition which existed between german and russian claims. how long would germany be satisfied with the english and russian predominance? they discussed this. some of them had travelled much in germany; they were willing to admit that the balkan question could be settled only by war. in , secretary bryan seemed to be sure that no war cloud threatened. when i saw him early in that year, he was entirely absorbed in the mexican question and in extending the knowledge of the minutiæ of the sacred scriptures among american travellers in palestine. i had just opened my lips (having silently listened to the most delectable eloquence i have ever heard) to say that russia had begun to mobilise and that germany would be ready to pounce by september, when mr. john lind came in, and the secretary had attention for no other man. the affairs of europe faded. the germans, as far as i could see, had great hopes of a breakdown of the allies through treachery in the french government itself. from such private information as we could get, it seemed that they relied on treachery among the italians--especially among the 'reds.' there is a french lady who wore the pearls of the deutsche bank, whose husband they had bought, and there were others it was said. our means of getting private information was not great. we had no money for secret service or for organisation. when we went into the war, our legation had neither the offices nor the staff to meet the event. this was not the fault of the state department, but of the system on which it rests. it was necessary to have a decent official place in which to receive people, a place which was elegant and simple at the same time. this we had, but barely room enough for ordinary work. if a distinguished visitor came, he was ushered into the salon or the dining-room. if sir ralph paget, the british minister, came hurriedly on business a moment after count szchenyi arrived, he was shown into the dining-room, as the three offices were always full of people. after the war opened, the legation--a very elegant apartment, which i secured through the foresight of my predecessor, mr. t. i. o'brien--was often like a bit of scenery in a modern french farce, where people disappear behind all kinds of screens and curtains in order to avoid embarrassments. mr. allard, the belgian, to whom we were devoted, came one day by appointment, and almost met prince wittgenstein in the salon, while the turkish minister held the dining-room, confronted by lady paget, who was led off to mrs. egan's rooms on pretence of hearing a victrola which happened to have been lent to somebody a few days before. the state department would have permitted me to rent, on urgent request, a satisfactory place, but the coal bill would have amounted to three thousand dollars a year. as i had not recovered from the expenses of the entertainment of the atlantic squadron (they were small enough considering the pleasure the gentlemen of that squadron gave us) and other outlays, i felt that the coal bill would be too great, and even with the war cloud on the horizon, the state department was not in a position to give us a reasonable amount of money or the necessary rooms for a staff such as the british had been obliged to collect. the british government owned its own house, which answered the demands made on it. the fiery captain totten gave the legation no peace. we were not prepared; we knew it. it would have absorbed twenty thousand dollars to put us on an efficient basis. and our staff for the very delicate work must be specialists; one cannot pick up specialists for the salary paid to a secretary of legation or even to a minister. it is different to-day; the old system has broken down now. money is supplied, even to that most starved of all the branches of the service, the state department, where men, like ten i could name, work for salaries which a third rate bank clerk in new york would refuse--and poor men too! as things were, the legation did the best it could. the greatest difficulty was to get trustworthy information. what were the german military plans? what were the social conditions in germany? as to financial conditions, it was comparatively easy to secure information. the german financiers would never have consented to the war had they not scientifically analysed the situation. industrials, like herr ballin, counted on a short war; they had provided. we knew, too, that the military authorities, which overrode the civil, believed that the foreign office could manage to ameliorate the consequences of their insolence and arrogance. it was strange that these very military authorities thought that the united states would not fight under any circumstances, for they had voluminous reports in their archives on the details of our military position. our government had always been generous in giving information to foreign military attachés. in fact, a german officer once boasted to me that his war office had filed the secrets of every military establishment in the world, except the japanese. that we were despised for our inaction was plain; americans were treated with contempt by certain austrian officials, until some enterprising newspaper announced that a great army of american students had made a hostile demonstration in new york against germany! a change took place at once; even in france, it was believed that the united states would make only a commercial war. i remember that the vicomte de faramond, who deserves the credit of having unveiled prussian schemes before many of his brother diplomatists even guessed at them, asked me anxiously, 'you _must_ fight, but is it true that it will be only a commercial war? i think, if i know america, that you will fight with bayonets.' he has an american wife. ambassador gerard was quietly warning americans to leave berlin; and yet we were 'neutral,' and the german government believed that we would remain neutral at least in appearance. no german seemed to believe that we were neutral at heart, though there were those among the expatriated who held that we ought to be, in spite of the _lusitania_ and our traditions. one of the puzzles of this was (every american in copenhagen tried to solve it) the effect that a long residence in germany had on americans. 'i sometimes read the english papers,' said one of these; 'i try to be fair, but i am shocked by their calumnies. the kaiser loves the united states; he has said it over and over again to americans, and yet you will not believe it.' 'belgium!' 'oh, the germans have made a fruitful and orderly country out of belgium.' this kind of american helped to deceive the germans into the belief that our patience would endure all the insults of cataline. there was very little opportunity to compare notes with my colleagues in sweden and norway. they were busy men. i fancy mr. morris's real martyrdom did not begin in sweden until after easter sunday, . mr. schmedeman doubtless had his when the rigours of the embargo struck norway; but for me, the worst time was when we were 'neutral'! as to the german foreign office, why should it listen to the warnings of our ambassador, in november, who might be recalled by a change of administration in march? six months before election, no american envoy has any real influence at the foreign office with which he deals. the chances are that the policy of the last four years will be reversed by the election in november. up to the last moment, as far as i could see, the foreign office in berlin believed that the growing warlike democratic attitude would be softened by the new administration, which, it was informed, would not dare to make colonel roosevelt secretary of state. 'secretary of state,' an austrian said, 'how could an ex-president condescend to become secretary of state. one might as well expect a deposed pope to become grand electeur!' previous to november th, , the day of the presidential election, our situation was looked on by all the diplomatists and all the foreign offices as fluid. it might run one way or the other. there was a widely diffused opinion in denmark that, as president wilson had been elected on a peace platform for his first term, germany might go as far as she liked without drawing the united states into the conflict. in berlin, in high circles, the election of mr. hughes was considered certain. he was supposed to represent capital, and capital would think twice before burning up values. the kaiser had given colonel roosevelt up; 'sa conduite est une grande illusion pour notre empereur,' count brockdorff-rantzau had said. i learned from berlin that the ex-president had been approached by a representative of the kaiser of sufficient rank, who had reminded colonel roosevelt of the honours the kaiser had showered upon him during his european tour. 'i was also well received by the king of the belgians,' colonel roosevelt answered. 'c'est une grande illusion,' count brockdorff-rantzau repeated, more in sorrow than in anger. 'the emperor did not think that the ex-president would turn against him!' until election day, every american diplomatist in europe merely marked time. he represented a government which was without power for the time being. an expatriated irish-american came in to sound us as to the prospects. 'president wilson will have a second term,' i said; 'the west is with him, and mr. hughes's speeches are not striking at the heart of the people.' 'he is pro-english, god forbid!' he said. 'wilson means war!' 'we may have, on the other hand, colonel roosevelt as secretary of state for war.' 'god forbid!' he said. he had stepped between two stools; he still lives in germany--a man without a country. we were still 'neutral,' and the election was some months off. count rantzau saw the danger which the military party was courting. he was too discreet to make confidential remarks which i would at once repeat to my government; he knew, of course, that i would not repeat them to my colleagues, who never, however, asked me what he said to me. he was equally tactful, but we saw that he was exceedingly nervous about the outcome of the u-boat aggression. it was worth while to know his attitude, for he represented much that was really important in germany. he began to be more nervous, and many things he said, which i cannot repeat, indicated that the military party was running amuck. he was always decent to americans, and he was shocked when he found that his _laissez passer_, which i obtained from him for the hon. d. i. murphy and his wife to pursue their journey to holland, was treated as 'a scrap of paper.' mr. murphy had not received the corroborative military pass, which one of my secretaries had obtained at the proper office, consequently mrs. murphy was treated shamefully at the german frontier. i remonstrated, of course, but it was evident that the military authorities had orders to treat all civil officials as inferiors. miss boyle o'reilly had a much worse experience at the frontier. her papers had been taken from her boxes at a hotel in copenhagen, carefully examined, and put back. miss o'reilly had had many thrilling experiences (people imitated desdemona--and loved her for the dangers she had passed through) but like most of her compatriots she could not be induced to disguise her opinions or to really believe that there were spies everywhere. being a bostonian, she could not say 'damn,' but she never used the name of the kaiser without attaching to it, with an air of perfect neutrality, the back bay equivalent for that dreadful adjective. she made a great success in copenhagen. her magnificent lace, presented to her by an uncle who had been a chamberlain to cardinal rampolla, was extravagantly admired at the dinner mrs. egan gave for her. miss o'reilly, according to some of the experts present, had reason to be proud of it. after the adventure of the note books at the hotel, it was almost hopeless to imagine that miss boyle o'reilly would be allowed to cross the frontier, in spite of her passport and the courtesy of the german legation. she was undaunted as any other daughter of the gods. she tried it, and came back, not very gently propelled, but with the calm contentment of one who had said what she thought to various official persons on the frontier. we were glad to get her back on any terms. people asked for invitations to meet her; we were compelled to adopt her as a daughter of the house to retain her. the experts in lace were horrified to find that the vulgar creatures at the frontier--smelling of sausage and beer--had injured the precious texture. they seemed to have thought that its threads were barbed wire. we protested; miss boyle o'reilly demanded damages. ambassador gerard seemed to be impressed by the fact that the lace had been part of a surplice of the late cardinal rampolla's. we made this very plain, but the german authorities took it very lightly; they were so frivolous, so lacking in tact and justice, that miss boyle o'reilly became more 'neutral' than ever. in spite of count rantzau's courtesy, we were having constant trouble at the frontier. every dane who had relatives in the united states expected us to protest against the rigidity of the search. 'i did not mind when they took all my letters; but when they rubbed me with lemon juice to bring out secret writing, i said it was too much'; said one of these ladies, who had to be escorted to her own foreign office. mrs. william c. bullitt, just married, had to be coached into 'neutrality.' 'good gracious! i always say what i think,' she remarked, declaring that, of course, the german, his serene highness she was to go into dinner with, must see how wrong the belgian business was! mr. and mrs. bullitt had some trouble at the frontier, but her diary, uncensored, came over safe for our delight. the spanish minister, aguera, who had lately been superseded by his brother, had his own troubles, which, however, he wore very lightly. he was as neutral as his temperament, which was rather positive, allowed him to be. when he left to be promoted, the pro-germans enthusiastically announced that the german government had complained of him to madrid. the cause of the war, it was generally conceded, was the question of the way to the near east and the control of the east. now that germany had practically all of the bagdad railway and more than that, a clear way to the persian gulf, would she cut short the war, if she could? count rantzau, without explicitly admitting that his country's chief aim had been accomplished, said yes. the great desire of his nation was for peace. the u-boat war was only a means of forcing peace. 'we do not want to crush england! heaven forbid!' said count szchenyi, 'but we tolerate the u-boat war only as an instrument for obliging england to make peace. peace,' he said, 'we must have peace or all the world will be in anarchy,' i do not think he 'accepted' the u-boat war, except diplomatically. another distinguished representative of one of the central powers, making a flying visit, said, first assuming that the 'north american' and english interests were identical--'peace may bring germany and england close together. we are too powerful to be kept apart. with germany ruler of the land of the world, and england of the sea,--what glory might we not expect!' 'if the allies do not accept the chancellor's peace note, i give them up!' cried szchenyi. 'people talk democracy and the need of it among us! why, hungary is verging on a democracy of which you americans, with your growing social distinctions, have no conception of. what we want is peace, to save the world!' when the new emperor karl ascended the austro-hungarian throne, szchenyi, whose ideas were more liberal than some of the old régime liked, became a prime favourite at court, and was removed to the foreign office. before the fall of russia, it was generally conceded that germany, in holding turkey and bulgaria, had gained her main purpose. both of these countries hated her in their hearts. we had proof of this. what more did she want? only peace on her own terms, perhaps slightly modified, owing to the hardness of the hearts of the english; if she could gain england, she could deal with france and easily with russia. before the czar abdicated, it was understood in diplomatic circles that germany believed it was time to stop. while there was no immediate danger of starvation in germany, there was great inconvenience. moreover, the great commercial position of germany was each day that prolonged the war melting like ice on summer seas; and a short war had been promised to the german nation. parties in germany were divided as to indemnities and the retention of belgium. antwerp was as a cannon levelled at the breast of england (hamburg had good reason for not wanting antwerp retained as a rival city in german territory); but the way to the persian gulf, the submission of bulgaria and turkey, the possession of the key to the balkans, the near east, meant the confusion of the english in india. the germans were ready to oust the english from their place in the sun! it was plain that the diplomatists, at least, looked on the alsace-lorraine question as of small importance in comparison. alsace-lorraine, as bismarck admitted, had nothing to do with national glory. it was a proposition of iron and potash. as to italy, 'we must always live on good terms with such a dangerous neighbour,' said the austrians. 'prussia would throw us over to-morrow for any advantage in the east. if she could hamstring the slavs, we might appeal in vain against her destroying our scraps of paper!' we knew that the austrian distrust of prussia never slept. but austria and germany were absolute monarchies--against the world. it was the general belief that rumania would not be drawn into the war. the swedish legation at rome seemed to be of a different opinion. it was noted for the accuracy of its information, but this time we doubted. as observers, it seemed incredible to us in copenhagen, that she should be allowed to sacrifice herself; but the rumours from rome persisted. one well-known british diplomatist, sir henry lowther, formerly the british minister at copenhagen, had never wavered in his doubts as to the solidarity of russia. at the beginning of the war, he had said, to my astonishment, 'our great weakness is russia; if you do not come in and offset it, i fear greatly.' events proved that he was right. for those of the diplomatic corps who came in contact with people from the near east, or with the turkish diplomatists, the great question was--the designs of germany in the east. one of the advantages of diplomatic life is that one comes in contact with the most interesting people. in spite of a determination to follow all the rules of the protocol as closely as possible terence's announcement, through the lips of chremes, was good enough for me,--'homo sum; humani nil a me alienum puto,' and consequently, i made profit out of good talk wherever i found it. i saw too little of dr. morris jastrow, of the university of pennsylvania, in , when he came to copenhagen with a group of distinguished orientalists; but one of his sentences remained in my mind (i quote from memory), 'the crucial question, and a terrible answer it may be when germany gives it to the world, is, who shall control bulgaria and serbia and constantinople. settle the matter of the road to the east, so that germany and austria may not join in monopolising it, and then, we can begin to talk of a tranquil europe.' much later, i had a long talk with rudolph slatin, who had been a close friend of king edward's, and who knew the east. he had had too many favours from england to be willing to take arms against her; he was austrian, but not pro-prussian. his views were not exactly those of dr. jastrow's, as dr. jastrow afterwards expressed them,[ ] but one could read between the lines. the eastern route was the real core of the war. russia knew this when she began to make preparations for mobilisation in the early spring of . all the turks i met, including the two ministers, confirmed this. [ ] in _the war and the bagdad railway_. j. b. lippincott & co. lady paget, the wife of the british minister, who came to copenhagen in , knew more of the inside history of the war in the balkans than the _soi-disant_ experts who talked. she seldom talked; but the serbians, who adored her, did not hesitate to sing the praises of her knowledge and of her efforts to save them. to her very few intimates it was plain that she, as well as her husband, looked on the balkans as the key to the cause of the war. the serbians that i knew, men of all classes, said that, if lady paget had been listened to, serbia would have been saved to herself and the allies. whether this was true or not, the serbians believed it. the missionaries driven out of turkey who came to the legation were full of the eastern situation, and the wrongs of the armenians. the stories of the missionaries, driven out, made one feel that germany was paying--even from the point of view of her longed-for conquest--too high a price for the possession of turkey. the turkish ministers were more french than german in their sympathies, but to them the armenians were deadly parasites. they looked on them as the russian yunker looked on the lower class of jews. miss patrick of roberts college, passed our way. she was ardent, sincere, naturally diplomatic,--discreet is a better word. but one could see that the turks and the balkan peoples, whatever might be their difference of opinion, or their own desire for territory, felt that the german control meant the closing of the steel fist upon them. the young turks believed that they could hold the dardanelles, when they once turned the germans out, and that turkey might be the land of the turks. to attain this, they did not fail to appeal to all the bigotry of the moslem. one could see that serbia despaired of the allies, that the bulgarians believed that their untenable position was due to the intrigues of czar ferdinand and to the blundering of these same allies. america was a land of promise, the hope of freedom; but america seemed too far off. the balkans peoples felt that even america, had, while conserving her democracy at home, cared little for the rights of the people abroad. this feeling existed in all the neutral nations. a graduate of roberts college with whom i had talked of our interest in the small nations, smiled. 'the attitude of your country to the smaller nations reminds me of a famous speech of the author of _utopia_ when one of his household congratulated him on henry viii.'s putting his arms about the chancellor's neck. 'if the king's grace could gain a castle in france by giving up my head, off it would go.' i did not dream, in january , how soon we should begin to 'make the world safe for democracy.' mr. vopika, our minister to rumania, came on the way home from bucharest about this time. he was full of interesting information, and very cheerful, though practically imprisoned in copenhagen, as no boats were running. more and more it became plain that russia was breaking, and that germany would soon be lifted from that doubt which had begun to worry her statesmen. there was talk of the grand rabbi going to washington as ambassador, which seemed to infuriate the young turkish party. aaronshon, the expert for the jewish agricultural society in palestine, came; a wonderful man, capable of great things, and shrewd beyond the power of words to express. he did not deny that the turkish crown prince had been shot, having first fired at enver pasha. harold al raschid is a novice to him in his knowledge of eastern things that western diplomatists ought to know. from all sources came the corroboration of the fact that, once sure of russia, with the slavs in her grasp, germany held, in her own opinion, the keys to the world. opinions differed as to whether she was starving or not. rumania had helped her with oil and perhaps coal. the chinese minister at berlin said that she could hold out longer than china could in similar circumstances, as his citizens would be compelled to reduce themselves to less than two meals, and the germans were coming down from four! we know on the authority of the actor in the episode that he had paid twenty marks in a restaurant in berlin for a portion of roast fowl; it was tough, and he laid down his knife and fork in despair, when two ladies, at a table near him, politely asked if they might take it! rumours, very disturbing, as to the conditions of russia, came to us from all sides. our neighbour, prince valdemar, looked disturbed when one asked as to the health of the empress dowager, who had been most kind to my daughter, carmel. he seemed to think that she would be safe, though i heard him say that a revolution seemed inevitable. the forcible and insolent 'conversations' on the part of germany with norway--shortly before october th, , she had actually threatened war--had ceased for the moment. mr. angel carot, the french journalist, who was correspondent of the petrograd press, had reported on good authority that the germans were preparing a descent on jutland. vicomte de faramond seemed to think that the rumour was well founded. 'we know the point of view that the berlin foreign office has; count rantzau represents it,' said mr. de scavenius, 'but who can not tell from day to day what the general staff will do?' the general staff kept its secrets. poland was in a frightful condition. the germans were not only impoverishing the landed proprietors, but seizing their cattle and forcing their farm people into the army. a pole fighting for german autocracy was in as pitiable position as a slesviger fighting for the enslaving of his own land. the poles were not inclined toward a republic, but there was not one of their noble families from whom they would draw a constitutional king. a son of the austrian grand duke stefan, who was popular in poland, was much spoken of. i felt that i ought to be flattered when a polish prince and princess came, well introduced, to lay the plan before me, as a diplomatist who might assist in making a royal marriage! i concealed my surprise; but it was delightful to hear of my 'relations avec des grandes personnes dans toutes les chancelleries du monde.' and what a pleasure to hear, 'we know that even the quirinal and the vatican, etc. you who are three times minister of the united states.' the 'three times minister of the united states' puzzled me at first; then i remembered that one of the german papers, i think it was _die woche_, had said the same thing, meaning that i had served under three presidents. our polish guests were willing, under the circumstances, to approve of the marriage with archduke stefan's son, provided a catholic princess, of liberal political views, could be found. to have a german princess forced on them would mean new disturbances,--revolts, dissatisfaction. there was perhaps the princess margaret of denmark, who had every quality, they understood, to make an ideal queen of poland. 'every quality,' i agreed, 'to make a man happy--but it must be the right man.' i knew that prince valdemar, who had refused balkan thrones, was not desirous of marrying his daughter to a prince 'simply because he was a prince.' would i sound his royal highness? 'i know,' i answered, 'that prince valdemar believes in happy marriages, not in brilliant ones. in fact, i had heard him say that he did not want denmark to be looked on only as an arsenal for the making of crowns.' the prince and princess went on their way, to consult more influential persons. they would not have welcomed a republic; in february the german grip was strong in poland, and a danish princess, the daughter of a french mother, seemed to offer them hope in the gloom. the fears of the austrians, of the russians, of the poles, of the bulgarians that, if the war continued, anarchy must ensue, were not concealed. the polish prince and princess believed that russia would have a change of government, but this change, they thought, would be brought about by a 'palace revolution,' for petrograd was the centre of intrigues. the british minister was accused of working in the interests of the grand duke nicholas; the german propaganda, as far as we could discover, was for the practical application of 'divide and conquer.' baron de meyendorff, whose cheerfulness was as proverbial as his discretion, was uneasy; but as, unlike his chief, baron de buxhoevenden, he belonged to the more liberal party, this was taken as a sign that he was uncertain whether the new elements in russian political life would develop in an orderly way or not. baron de buxhoevenden, the most calm, the most self-controlled of all my colleagues, was unusually silent; his wife, than whom russia had no more intelligent and patriotic woman in her borders, had said that the war would either break or make russia. 'the russian people,' she said, 'since the beginning of the war, are better fed than they ever were. the suppression of _vodka_ has enabled them to pay their taxes and to begin to get rid of the parasites who prey on thoughtless drunkards. their prosperity will either induce them to rebel against their rulers, or to accept the government because of their improved conditions.' 'but why are they better fed?' i had asked. 'we are exporting nothing. the russian peasant eats the food he raises. butter is no longer a luxury. i have hopes for russia--and fears.' her fears were justified. the murder of rasputin called attention to the dissensions in the russian court. admiring the empress dowager, as everybody in the court circle did, it seemed amazing that her son, of whom we knew little, should have permitted this peasant to acquire such influence over his wife. there were fashionable ladies who knelt to this strange apostle of the occult, who kissed his hands with fervour. but murder was murder, and coming not so long after the killing of the crown prince of turkey, it gave the impression that the oriental point of view as to the value of human life existed in both countries. as time went on, russia occupied our vision more and more. in spite of the revelations that have been made, revelations which show that the only secrets are those buried with men who have found it to their honour or interest to keep them--the details of the reasons which caused russia to mobilise in july are not fully known. how the russians gained their information of the intentions of germany in their regard is very well known. the most clever of russian spies was always in the confidence of the kaiser; he paid for his knowledge with his life. as days passed, it became evident that the royal couple in russia were being gradually isolated. calumnies almost as evil and quite as baseless against the tsarina as those published about marie antoinette were freely circulated. to review here this campaign of malice is not necessary. there were no chivalrous swords ready to leap from the scabbards for her. the age of chivalry seemed indeed dead. the poor lady was not even picturesque, whereas her brilliant mother-in-law, dagmar of denmark, was still beautiful and picturesque; she was imperial, but then she understood what democracy meant. it is said that she believed that, if her son had appeared in his uniform on horseback, surrounded by a staff of men who represented traditions, the revolution would not have begun. neither the tsar not the tsarina understood what tradition meant to the russian mind. the empress was a german at heart,--an overfond and superstitious mother. good women have never made successful rulers, as a rather cynical russian said to me, _à propos_ of the empress catherine. the nobility disliked her because she kept aloof from them. the glitter and the pomp of court life which the russian aristocracy loved, the consideration which monarchs are expected to show for the social predilections of their subjects were disregarded by her. living in perpetual fear, her nerves were shattered. all her interests centred in her family and in the unbending conviction of a german princess that the divine right of kings is a dogma. she was as incapable of understanding that there were powers in the nation which could destroy as was marie antoinette before she met destruction. we understood at copenhagen that she looked on all the acts of the emperor that were not autocratic as weak; members of the duma must be subservient and grateful; otherwise, it was the duty of the tsar to treat them with the severity they deserved. the concessions, which, if granted earlier would have saved the emperor, were very moderate--merely a responsible ministry and a constitution. the tsar, under the influence of the empress, the reactionary protopopoff and the little clique of exclusives, who had forgotten everything valuable and learned nothing new, refused to grasp these ropes of salvation. the strength of the grand duke nicholas-michailovitch amazed and disconcerted this clique. 'if,' said one of the elderly russian gentlemen we knew, 'he is not exiled, he will try to be president of all the russias one day!' the emperess dowager was distrusted by the party around the empress. the empress dowager believed in prosecuting the war, for she knew that russia could only follow her destiny happily freed from german control. from february until march, , russia continued to be the one subject of discussion in diplomatic circles. it was the general opinion that the empress was the great obstacle to the emperor's giving a liberal constitution to his people. the danish court, though the emperor william had accused it of indiscretion, was silent. prince valdemar, who was, like all the sons and daughters of king christian ix., devoted to the dowager empress, was plainly uneasy. we all knew that his sympathies were with the liberal party and against the pro-german and absolutist clique. 'the russian people have endured much,' he said on march th, the day on which the news of the tsar's abdication arrived; and, afterwards,--'thank god--so far it has been almost a bloodless revolution.' 'why,' asked the devout danish conservative, who believed that kings were still all-powerful, 'why does not king george of england help his cousin?' it was only too plain that in spite of all warnings, 'his cousin' had put himself beyond all human help. the russian soldiers calmly doffed their caps and said 'i will go home for my part of the land!' the condition of petrograd was such that chaos had come again. to save the lives of the tsar and tsarina, kerensky insisted that capital punishment should be abolished. count christian holstein-ledreborg, fresh from russia, reported that at the soldiers' meeting in the banquet room of the winter palace, speakers imposed silence by shooting at the ceiling! there was an attempt on the part of the new democrats to have prostitution, hitherto the luxury of the rich, put within the reach of all. russia had gone out of the war; it was surely time for us to go in. on april , , i informed the foreign office that the president at congress had declared us in a state of war with germany. further patience would have been a crime. from that day the legation took on a new aspect. our decks were cleared for observation and action. mr. cleveland perkins, who had courageously assumed the duties of the secretary of legation although relieved by a secretary, had new and difficult duties thrust upon him, to which he was fully equal. mr. seymour beach conger and mr. john covington knapp were invaluable. no words of mine can express my sense of their self-sacrificing patriotism. mr. groeninger did three men's work and captain totten kept us all up to the mark by his fiery and persistent enthusiasm. no great dinners now! even if we had been in the mood, fire and food had become too scarce. mr. conger did a most important service; he looked after the crowds of late comers from germany, and discovered what light they could throw on german conditions. the state department came to the rescue of our staff, which was few but fit; mr. grant-smith was sent from washington, with instructions to spend all the money that was necessary. he made a complete organisation, and i, struck heavily in health, laid down my task regretfully, leaving it in hands more competent under the changed circumstances. there is no use in hiding the fact that, even before russia broke, we who feared the triumph of germany had many dark days; but there was never a time when my colleagues of the allies despaired. how mr. allart, our belgian colleague, lived through it, i do not know! the danes stood by him manfully, and he never lacked the sympathy of his colleagues; but he suffered. 'the moment that england is seriously inconvenienced,' a german professor of psychology had said, 'she will give in.' we know how false this was. the race, pronounced degenerate, whose fibre was supposed to be eaten up with an inordinate love of sport, showed bravery to the backbone when it awakened to the real issues of the war. the upper classes of the english were splendid beyond words. their sacrifices were terrible in the beginning, but their example told; and long before the crash of russia came, there was no question of 'business as usual.' the british nation had realised that it was fighting, not only for its life, but for the principle on which its life is based. yet the victory was by no means sure. 'the empire may go down under the assaults of the huns--let it go rather than that we should make a single compromise,' said sir ralph paget. mr. gurney, colonel wade, and all the staunch men connected with his legation, echoed his words. mr. wells, the novelist preacher, may say what he will of the failure of english education, but it has produced men of a quality which all the men can understand and admire.[ ] as to the french, they, too, had their sober hours, and the saddest was caused, perhaps, by the dread that we had forgotten what the war was for; such soldiers as they were!--captain de courcel and baron taylor, suffering from wounds, and yet counting every hour with pain that kept them from their duty. but we came in none too soon; from my point of view, it is unreasonable to believe that the apparent disintegration of germany and austria was the cause of our victory. the cause of it was the increase of man power on the western front. in copenhagen, our best military experts said, 'if the united states can be ready in time to supply the losses of the french and english; if your aviators can get to work, victory is assured.' these experts feared that we would be too slow, and there were dark, very dark, days in and . [ ] of all the many young men i knew in england and ireland, most of them the sons or grandsons of old friends, there are only three alive; two of them, the sons of mr. thomas p. gill, of the irish technical and agricultural board, have been made invalids in the war. president wilson's ideals were, in the beginning, looked on as doctrinaire--breezes from the groves of the academies. some of the elders and scribes of europe, adept in the methods that nullified the good intentions of the hague conferences, looked on his explanation of the aims of the conflict as the courtiers of louis xiv. might have contemplated the pages of chateaubriand's _genius of christianity_, if chateaubriand had lived at port royal in the time of those cynics; but the people in all the scandinavian countries took to them as the expression of their aspirations. the chancelleries of europe heard a new voice with a new note, but the people did not find it new. president wilson found himself, when he gave the reasons of our country for entering the war, interpreting the meaning of the people. until he spoke the war seemed to mean the saving of the territory of one nation, or the regaining it for another, or the existence of a nation's life. standing out of the european miasma, with nothing to gain except the fulfilment of our ideals, and all to lose if there were to be losses of life and material, we gave a meaning to the war,--a new meaning which had been obscured. nevertheless, let us not forget that germany has not changed her ideals; all the forces of the civilised world have not succeeded in changing them. of democracy, in the american sense of the word, she has no more understanding than russia--nor at present does she really want to have. to a certain extent she conquered us. she obliged us to adopt her methods of warfare; to imitate her system of espionage; to co-ordinate, for the moment at least, all the functions of national life under a system as centralised as her own. if she gave temperance to russia, an army to england, religion to france, she almost succeeded in depriving our western hemisphere of its faith in god. her efficiency was so expensive that it was making her bankrupt; she was paying too much for her perfection of method. to justify it in the eyes of her own people she went to war. france was to pay her debts and russia to be the way of an inexpensive road to the east. her methods in peace cost her too much; a short war would save her credit. to our regret, perhaps remorse, we have been forced by her to fight her devil with his own fire; and now we hope for a process of reconstruction in this great and populous country based on our own ideals; but we cannot change the aspirations or the hearts of the germans. we can only take care that they keep the laws made by nations who have well-directed consciences,--this lesson i have learned near to their border. the end printed by t. and a. constable, printers to his majesty at the edinburgh university press [illustration: albert ballin] albert ballin by bernhard huldermann _translated from the german by w. j. eggers, m.a. (london)_ [illustration: decoration] cassell and company, limited london, new york, toronto and melbourne to the memory of albert ballin in true veneration and heartfelt gratitude "_he was a man; take him for all in all, i shall not look upon his like again._" shakespeare, _hamlet_ (_act i, scene _). preface my principal reason for publishing the information contained in this volume is to keep alive the memory of albert ballin. i particularly desire to show what was his share in bringing about the economic advance of germany during the golden age of the empire's modern history, and to relate how he--unsuccessfully, alas!--strove to prevent the proud structure which he had helped to raise, from falling to ruin in the time of his country's distress. i believe that much that concerns the latter aspect of his work will be new to most readers. in spite of all that has been said and written concerning the political activities which ballin displayed (and is alleged to have displayed) both before and during the war, their object--and, more important still, their intimate connexion with his economic activities--is scarcely known. eminently successful though ballin had been in creating an atmosphere of mutual understanding between the various nations in the economic sphere, his attempts to reconcile the contending ambitions of those same nations where politics were concerned ended in failure. and yet it is impossible to understand his failure in one respect without first understanding his success in the other; indeed, the connexion between the two sides of his work forms the key to the character of the man and to the historical significance of his achievements. it is possible that this volume may shed some new light on the causes of germany's collapse; this idea, at any rate, was before my mind when i decided upon publication. frederick the great somewhere remarked that, to the great loss of mankind, the experiences gained by one generation are always useless to the next, and that each generation is fated to make its own mistakes. if this is true, it is nevertheless to be hoped that germany, considering the magnitude of the disaster that has overtaken her, will not allow the spirit of resignation implied by this remark to determine her actions in the present case. in thus submitting to the public the information contained in this book, i am carrying out the behest of the deceased, who asked me to collect his papers, and to make whatever use i thought fit of them. moreover, the fact that i had the privilege of being his collaborator for more than ten years gives me perhaps a special right to undertake this task. my best thanks are due to director a. storm for supplying me with material illustrative of ballin's early career; to chief inspector emil f. kirchheim for assistance with the technical details, and to professor francke, who was on intimate terms of friendship with ballin during a number of years, for information concerning many matters relative to ballin's personal character. my constant endeavour has been to describe persons and events _sine ira et studio_, and to refrain from stating as a fact anything for which no documentary evidence is available. the author. _october, ._ contents chapter page . morris and co. . general representative of the carr line . head of the packetfahrt's passenger department . the pool . the morgan trust . the expansion of the hamburg-amerika linie . the technical reorganization of the hamburg-amerika linie . politics . the kaiser . the war . personal characteristics extract annotated by william ii index albert ballin chapter i morris and co. albert ballin was a native of hamburg. before the large modern harbour basins of the city were built, practically all the vessels which frequented the port of hamburg took up their berths along the northern shore of the elbe close to the western part of the town. a long road, flanked on one side by houses of ancient architecture, extended--and still extends--parallel to this predecessor of the modern harbour. during its length the road goes under different names, and the house in which ballin was born and brought up stood in that portion known as steinhöft. a seaport growing in importance from year to year is always a scene of busy life, and the early days which the boy ballin spent in his father's house and its interesting surroundings near the river's edge left an indelible impression on his plastic mind. those were the times when the private residence and the business premises of the merchant and of the shipping man were still under the same roof; when a short walk of a few minutes enabled the shipowner to reach his vessel, and when the relations between him and the captain were still dominated by that feeling of personal friendship and personal trust the disappearance of which no man has ever more regretted than albert ballin. throughout his life he never failed to look upon as ideal that era when every detail referring to the ship and to her management was still a matter of personal concern to her owner. he traced all his later successes back to the stimulating influence of those times; and if it is remembered how enormous was then the capacity for work, and how great the love of it for its own sake, it must be admitted that this estimate was no exaggeration. true, it is beyond doubt that the everyday surroundings in which his boyhood was spent, and the impressions gained from them, powerfully influenced his imagination both as boy and growing youth. it may, however, also be regarded as certain that the element of heredity was largely instrumental in moulding his character. ballin belonged to an old jewish family, members of which--as is proved by ancient tombstones and other evidence--lived at frankfort-on-main centuries ago. later on we find traces of them in paris, and still later in central and north germany, and in denmark. documents dating from the seventeenth century show that the ballins at that time were already among the well-to-do and respected families of hamburg and altona. some of the earliest members of the family that can be traced were distinguished for their learning and for the high reputation they enjoyed among their co-religionists; others, in later times, were remarkable for their artistic gifts which secured for them the favour of several kings of france. those branches of the family which had settled in germany and denmark were prominent again for their learning and also for their business-like qualities. the intelligence and the artistic imagination which characterized albert ballin may be said to be due to hereditary influences. his versatile mind, the infallible discernment he exercised in dealing with his fellow-men, his artistic tastes, and his high appreciation of what was beautiful--all these are qualities which may furnish the key to his successes as a man of business. his sense of beauty especially made him extremely fastidious in all that concerned his personal surroundings, and was reflected in the children of his imagination, the large and beautifully appointed passenger steamers. ballin always disliked publicity. when the literary bureau of his company requested him to supply some personal information concerning himself, he bluntly refused to do so. hence there are but few publications available dealing with his life and work which may claim to be called authentic. nevertheless--or perhaps for that very reason--quite a number of legends have sprung up regarding his early years. it is related, for instance, that he received a sound business training first in his father's business and later during his stay in england. the actual facts are anything but romantic. being the youngest of seven brothers and sisters, he was treated with especial tenderness and affection by his mother, so much so, in fact, that he grew up rather a delicate boy and was subject to all sorts of maladies and constitutional weaknesses. he was educated, as was usual at that time, at one of the private day-schools of his native city. in those days, when hamburg did not yet possess a university of her own, and when the facilities which she provided for the intellectual needs of her citizens were deplorably inadequate for the purpose, visitors from the other parts of germany could never understand why that section of the population which appreciated the value of a complete course of higher education--especially an education grounded on a classical foundation--was so extremely small. the average hamburg business man certainly did not belong to that small section; and the result was that a number of private schools sprang up which qualified their pupils for the examination entitling them to one year's--instead of three years'--military service, and provided them with a general education which--without any reflection on their principals--it can only be said would not bear comparison with that, for instance, which was looked upon as essential by the members of the higher grades of the prussian civil service. fortunately, the last few decades have brought about a great improvement in this respect, just as they have revolutionized the average citizen's appreciation of intellectual culture and refinement. albert ballin did not stand out prominently for his achievements at school, and he did not shine through his industry and application to his studies. in later life he successfully made up for the deficiencies of his school education by taking private lessons, especially in practical mathematics and english, in which language he was able to converse with remarkable fluency. his favourite pastime in his early years was music, and his performances on the 'cello, for instance, are said to have been quite excellent. none of his friends during his later years can furnish authoritative evidence on this point, as at that time he no longer had the leisure to devote himself to this hobby. apart from music, he was a great lover of literature, especially of books on _belles lettres_, history, and politics. thanks to his prodigious memory, he thus was able to accumulate vast stores of knowledge. during his extended travels on the business of his company he gained a first-hand knowledge of foreign countries, and thus learned to understand the essential characteristics of foreign peoples as well as their customs and manners, which a mere study of books would never have given him. so he became indeed a man of true culture and refinement. he excelled as a speaker and as a writer; although when he occasionally helped his adopted daughter with her german composition, his work did not always meet with the approval of the teacher, and was once even returned with the remark, "newspaper german." in , at the age of seventeen, ballin lost his father. the business, which was carried on under the firm of morris and co., was an emigration agency, and its work consisted in booking emigrants for the transatlantic steamship lines on a commission basis. office premises and dwelling accommodation were both--as already indicated--located in the same building, so that a sharp distinction between business matters and household affairs was often quite impossible, and the children acquired practical knowledge of everything connected with the business at an early age. this was especially so in the case of young albert, who loved to do his home lessons in the office rooms. history does not divulge whether he did so because he was interested in the affairs of the office, or whether he obtained there some valuable assistance. the whole primitiveness of those days is illustrated by the following episode which ballin once related to us in his own humorous way. the family possessed--a rare thing in our modern days--a treasure of a servant who, apart from doing all the hard work, was the good genius of the home, and who had grown old as the children grew up. "augusta" had not yet read the modern books and pamphlets on women's rights, and she was content to go out once a year, when she spent the day with her people at barmbeck, a suburb of hamburg. one day, when the young head of morris and co. was discussing some important business matters with some friends in his private office, the door was suddenly thrust open, and the "treasure" appeared on the scene and said: "adjüs ook albert, ick gah hüt ut!" ("good-bye, albert, i am going out to-day!") it was the occasion of her annual holiday. the firm of morris and co., of which ballin's father had been one of the original founders in , had never been particularly successful up to the time of his death. albert, the youngest son, who was born on august th, , joined the business when his father died. he had then just finished his studies at school. the one partner who had remained a member of the firm after ballin's death left in , and in albert ballin became a partner himself. the task of providing for his widowed mother and such of his brothers and sisters as were still dependent on his help then devolved on him, and he succeeded in doing this in a very short time. he applied himself to his work with the greatest diligence, and he became a shining example to the few assistants employed by the firm. on the days of the departure of the steamers the work of the office lasted until far into the night, as was usually the case in hamburg in former years. an incident which took place in those early days proves that the work carried on by morris and co. met with the approval of their employers. one day the head of one of the foreign lines for which the firm was doing business paid a personal visit to hamburg to see what his agents were doing. on entering the office young albert received him. he said he wanted to see mr. ballin, and when the youthful owner replied that he was mr. ballin the visitor answered: "it is not you i want to see, young man, but the head of the firm." the misunderstanding was soon cleared up, and when ballin anxiously asked if the visitor had come to complain about anything connected with the business, the reply was given that such was by no means the case, and that the conduct of the business was considered much more satisfactory than before. to arrive at a proper understanding of the conditions ruling in hamburg at the end of the 'seventies, it is necessary to remember that the shipping business was still in its infancy, and that it was far from occupying the prominent position which it gained in later years and which it has only lost again since the war. the present time, which also is characterized by the prevalence of foreign companies and foreign-owned tonnage in the shipping business of hamburg, bears a strong likeness to that period which lies now half a century back. the "hamburg-amerikanische packetfahrt-actien-gesellschaft," although only running a few services to north and central america, was even then the most important shipping company domiciled in hamburg; but it counted for very little as an international factor, especially as it had just passed through a fierce struggle against its competitor, the adler line, which had greatly weakened it and had caused it to fall behind other lines with regard to the status of its ships. of the other hamburg lines which became important in later times, some did not then exist at all, and others were just passing through the most critical period of their infancy. the competitors of the packetfahrt in the emigrant traffic were the north german lloyd, of bremen; the holland-america line, of rotterdam, and the red star line, of antwerp. apart from the direct traffic from hamburg to new york, there was also the so-called indirect emigrant traffic _via_ england, which for the most part was in the hands of the british lines. the passengers booked by the agents of the latter were first conveyed from hamburg to a british port, and thence, by a different boat, to the united states. it was the time before the industrialization of germany had commenced, when there was not sufficient employment going round for the country's increasing population. the result was that large numbers of the inhabitants had to emigrate to foreign countries. that period lasted until the 'nineties, by which time the growth of industries required the services of all who could work. simultaneously, however, with the decrease of emigration from germany, that from southern europe, austria-hungary, and the slavonic countries was assuming huge proportions, although the beginnings of this latter were already quite noticeable in the 'seventies and 'eighties. this foreign emigrant traffic was the mainstay of the business carried on by the emigration agencies of the type of morris and co., whereas the german emigrants formed the backbone of the business on which the german steamship lines relied for their passenger traffic. either the companies themselves or their agencies were in possession of the necessary government licences entitling them to carry on the emigration business. the agencies of the foreign lines, on the other hand, either held no such licence at all, or only one which was restricted to certain german federal states or prussian provinces--such, for instance, as morris and co. possessed for the two mecklenburgs and for schleswig-holstein. this circumstance naturally compelled them to tap foreign districts rather than parts of germany; and since the german lines, in order to keep down their competition, refused to carry the passengers they had booked, they were obliged to work in conjunction with foreign ones. they generally provided the berths which the sub-agencies required for their clientèle, and sometimes they would book berths on their own account, afterwards placing them at the disposal of the agencies. they were the connecting link between the shipping companies and the emigrants, and the former had no dealings whatever with the latter until these were on board their steamers. the hamburg emigration agents had therefore also to provide accommodation for the intending emigrants during their stay in hamburg and to find the means for conveying them to the british port in question. a number of taverns and hostelries in the parts near the harbour catered specially for such emigrants, and the various agents found plenty of scope for a display of their respective business capacities. a talent for organization, for instance, and skill in dealing with the emigrants, could be the means of gaining great successes. this was the sphere in which the youthful albert ballin gave the first proofs of his abilities and intelligence. within a few years of his entering the firm the latter acquired a prominent position in the "indirect" emigration service _via_ england, a position which brought its chief into personal contact with the firm of richardson, spence and co., of liverpool, who were the general representatives for great britain of the american line (one of the lines to whose emigration traffic morris and co. attended in hamburg), and especially with the head of that firm, mr. wilding. an intimate personal friendship sprang up between these two men which lasted a lifetime. these close relations gave him an excellent opportunity for studying the business methods of the british shipping firms, and led to the establishment of valuable personal intercourse with some other leading shipping people in england. thus it may be said that ballin's connexions with england, strengthened as they were by several short visits to that country, were of great practical use to him and that, in a sense, they furnished him with such business training as until then he had lacked. how successfully the new chief of morris and co. operated the business may be gauged from the fact that, a few years after his advent, the firm had secured one-third of the volume of the "indirect" emigration traffic _via_ england. at that time, in the early 'eighties, a period of grave economic depression in the united states was succeeded by a trade boom of considerable magnitude. such a transition from bad business to good was always preceded by the sale of a large number of "pre-paids," i.e. steerage tickets which were bought and paid for by people in the united states and sent by them to those among their friends or relatives in europe who, without possessing the necessary money, wished to emigrate to the states. a few months after the booking of these "pre-paids" a strong current of emigration always set in, and the time just referred to proved to be no exception to the rule. the number of steerage passengers leaving hamburg for new york increased from , in to , in , and , in . it was quite impossible for the biggest hamburg shipping company--the packetfahrt--to carry successfully this huge number of emigrants. and even if this had been possible, the packetfahrt would not have undertaken it, because it intentionally ignored the stream of non-german emigrants. besides, the company had neglected for years to adapt its vessels to the needs of the times, and had allowed its competitors to gain so much that even the north german lloyd, a much younger undertaking, had far outstripped it. the latter, under its eminent chairman, mr. lohmann, had not only outclassed the packetfahrt by the establishment of its service of fast steamers--"bremen-new york in days"--which was worked with admirable regularity and punctuality, but had also increased the volume of its fleet to such an extent that, in , of the transatlantic steamers flying the german flag belonged to this company, whereas the packetfahrt possessed only. for all these reasons it would have been useless for morris and co. to suggest to the packetfahrt that they should secure for it a large increase in its emigrant traffic; and even if they had tried to extend their influence by working in co-operation with the packetfahrt, such an attempt would doubtless have provoked the liveliest opposition on the part of the firm of august bolten, the owner of which was one of the founders of the packetfahrt, and which, because they were acting as general agents for the north american cargo and passenger business, exercised a powerful influence over the management of the packetfahrt. the firm of august bolten, moreover, had, like the line they represented, always consistently refused to have any dealings with the emigrant agencies. ballin, knowing that the next few years would lead to a considerable increase in the emigrant traffic, therefore approached a newly established hamburg shipping firm--which intended to run a cargo service from hamburg to new york--with the proposal that it should also take up the steerage business. his british friends, when they were informed of this step, expressed the apprehension lest their own business with his firm should suffer from it, but ballin had no difficulty in allaying their fears. chapter ii general representative of the carr line the new shipping line for which morris and co. contracted to act as general passenger agents was the privately owned firm of mr. edward carr. the agreement concluded between the two firms shows distinct traces of ballin's enterprising spirit and of the largeness of his outlook. morris and co. undertook to book for the two steamships of the carr line then building, viz. the _australia_ and the _america_, as many passengers as they could carry, and guaranteed to pay the owners a passage price of marks per head, all the necessary expenses and commissions, including those connected with the dispatch of the passengers, to be paid by morris and co. the steerage rate charged by the packetfahrt at that time was marks. it was agreed that, if this rate should be increased, a corresponding increase should be made in the rates of the carr line. the number of trips to be performed by each steamer should be about eight or nine per annum. if a third boat were added to the service, the agreement entered into should be extended so as to cover this boat as well. for every passenger short of the total capacity of each steamer morris and co. were to pay a compensation of marks, if no arrangements had been made for the accommodation of the passenger, and marks in case such accommodation had been arranged. it was expected that each boat would carry from to passengers. the actual number carried, however, turned out to be slightly less, and amounted to when the first steamer left hamburg on june th, . morris and co. also undertook to hand over to the carr line all the through cargo they could secure. from the very start the work done by ballin seems to have met with the unqualified approval of the carr line people; because the latter waived their claim to the compensation due to them for the sixty passengers short of the total number which were to be carried on the first trip, as morris and co. could prove that these passengers had failed to arrive, although the firm had been advised from denmark that they were to come. on how small a scale the firm's business was conducted may be gauged from the circumstance that the whole staff consisted of nine employees only, who were paid salaries aggregating , marks. in one essential feature the service of the new line differed from those of its old-established competitors. the _australia_ and the _america_ were ordinary cargo boats, but, in addition to a moderate amount of cargo, they also carried steerage passengers. they thus had not much in common with the usual passenger steamers by which both cabin and steerage passengers were carried. the advantage of the new type to the emigrants was that it gave them much more space than was at their disposal on the older boats. whereas on the cabin steamers they were practically confined to a very small part of the boat, the carr line steamers made no restriction whatever as to their movements on board; all the available space, especially on deck, was thrown open to them. this type was not entirely a novelty, the sailing vessels of the older period used for the emigrant traffic being run on similar lines. the advantages accruing to the owners from their new type of steamers were obvious. the arrangements for the accommodation and provisioning of the emigrants, compared with what was needed in the case of cabin passengers, were of the simplest kind, and thus the cost price of the steamers was considerably less than that of vessels of the usual type. this also meant a saving in the wages bill, as it led to a reduction in the number of hands on board; and since the speed of the new boats was also less than that of the older ones, the working expenses were reduced in proportion. the financial results of the service, therefore, were better, in spite of the low rates charged to the steeragers, than those obtainable by running cabin steamers with steerage accommodation, and than those obtainable by running cargo steamers without any passenger accommodation. the new line soon made itself felt as a serious competitor to the packetfahrt, especially so as by its fleet had increased from two to five steamers. the lower steerage rates charged by the carr line led to a general decrease of rates in the new york service, which was not confined to the lines running their services from hamburg. the passage prices charged from the various ports are naturally closely related to each other, because each port tries to attract as much traffic as possible to itself, and this can only be brought about by a carefully thought-out differentiation. the struggle between the various lines involved which had started in hamburg quickly extended to other seaports and affected a great many lines in addition to those of hamburg. the rate-cutting process began in may, . in the following october the packetfahrt and the lloyd had reduced their rates to and in june, , to marks, whilst the british lines in february, , charged so little as s. the carr line, of course, had to follow suit. it not only did so, but in proportion reduced its own rates even more than the other lines. the rates were even lower in practice than they appeared to be, owing to the constantly growing commissions payable to the agents. the agents of the competing lines, by publishing controversial articles in the newspapers, soon took the general public into their confidence; and in order to prevent such publicity being given as to their internal affairs, the managements of the various steamship lines entered into some sort of mutual contact. the worst result of the rate-slashing was that the agreements which the older lines had concluded amongst themselves for the maintenance of remunerative prices soon became unworkable. first those relating to the westbound rates had to go down before the new competitor; and in , when this competition had really commenced to make itself appreciably felt, the packetfahrt found itself compelled to declare its withdrawal from the new york continental conference by which the eastbound rate had been fixed at $ for the passage from new york to the continent, a rate which was so high that the carr line found it easy to go below it. the packetfahrt made great efforts to hold its own against the newcomer, but, as the following figures show, its success was but slight. in the packetfahrt carried , passengers on voyages, against , passengers carried on voyages by the carr line, so that the traffic secured by the latter amounted to about per cent. of that of the former. the figures for show that , passengers were carried by the packetfahrt on voyages, against , steeragers on voyages by the carr line. if the figures relative to the direct and the indirect emigrant traffic from hamburg are studied, it will be seen that a considerable decrease had taken place in the volume of the latter kind within a very few years, thus leading to an improvement in the position of the german lines as compared with that of their british competitors. these figures are as follows: _number of emigrants carried_ _packetfahrt_ _carr line_ _via british ports_ , -- , , , , , , , , , , , , , at the same time the packetfahrt, in order to prevent french competition from becoming too dangerous on the havre-new york route, had to reduce its rates from havre, and a little later it had to do likewise with regard to the eastbound freight rates and the steerage rates. the keen competition going on between the lines concerned had led to a lowering of the eastbound rate to hamburg from $ to $ ; and as the commission payable to the agents had gone up to $ , the net rate amounted to $ only. at last the shareholders of the packetfahrt became restless, and at the annual general meeting held in one of their representatives moved that the board of the company should be asked to enter into an agreement with the competing firm of edward carr. the motion, however, was lost; and the further proposal that a pool should be established among the hamburg emigrant agents fared no better. it was clear that the rate-war, which continued for a long period, would considerably affect the prosperity of the carr line in common with the other shipping companies. this circumstance prompted the proposal of edward carr, when the discussions were renewed in the spring of , to carry them on upon a different basis altogether. he proposed, in fact, that the carr line itself should be purchased by the packetfahrt. in the course of the ensuing negotiations albert ballin, as the representative of edward carr, who was absent from hamburg for a time, played a prominent part. the packetfahrt, in the meantime, had received advices from its new york office to the effect that the latter had reconsidered its attitude towards the claims of the carr line, that it looked upon a successful termination of the struggle against this line as hopeless, and that it therefore recommended the granting of the differential rates which formed the obstacle to peace. nevertheless, it was not until july, , that, at a conference held in hamburg, an agreement was concluded by the packetfahrt, the lloyd, the carr line, the dutch, belgian, and french lines, and the representative of the british lines. all these companies bound themselves to raise their rates to marks, except that the carr line should be entitled to fix theirs at marks. thus the latter had at length received the recognition of its claim to a differentiation, and of its right to exist side by side with the older company, although its steamers were not of an equal quality with those of the latter. an agreement was also concluded by which the rates of commission due to the hamburg emigrant agents were fixed, and at the continued negotiations with the other lines albert ballin, from that time onward, in his capacity of representative of the carr line, was looked upon as on an equal footing with the representatives of the other lines. the principal subject of the discussions was the question of eliminating, as far as possible, british influence from the emigrant traffic _via_ hamburg. the competition of the british was, naturally, very detrimental to the business of all the continental, but more especially the german lines, because the interests of the respective sides were utterly at variance with each other. the firm foundations of the business transacted by the british lines were laid in england, and the continental business was merely a source of additional profit; but to the german lines it was the mainstay of their existence, and to make it pay was of vital importance to them. the german lines, therefore, did not rest until, as the result of the continued negotiations among the continental companies, it was agreed that the uniform rates just fixed should not apply to the traffic which was carried on by the two hamburg lines from that city. towards the end of the first object aimed at by this step was realized: the conclusion of an agreement between the two hamburg lines and the representatives of the british lines settling the rates and the commissions; but apart from this, no changes of fundamental importance were made in this business until after albert ballin, under an agreement proposed by the packetfahrt, had entered the service of the packetfahrt, as head of their passenger department. an important exception, however, was the amalgamation suddenly announced in march, , of the carr line and the union line, which latter company was operated by rob. m. sloman and co., of hamburg. the fact of this amalgamation considerably weakened the position of the packetfahrt in its dealings with the carr line, because it gave additional strength to the latter. the details of the five years' agreement between ballin and the packetfahrt were approved by the board of trustees of that company about the middle of may, . it was stipulated that, in conformity with the pool agreement concluded between the two lines on may nd, the packetfahrt should appoint mr. albert ballin sole and responsible head of its north american passenger department (westbound as well as eastbound services); that his work should include the booking of steeragers for the union company's steamers (which, in accordance with the pool agreement, the packetfahrt had taken over), that he should appoint and dismiss the clerks employed by his department; that he should fix their salaries and commissions; that he should sign passage agreements on behalf of the company, and that he should issue the necessary instructions to the agents and officers of the company. all letters and other documents were to be signed "by proxy of the hamburg-amerikanische packetfahrt-actien-gesellschaft," and he was required annually to submit to the directors a draft estimate of the expenses of his department. on how modest a scale the whole arrangement was drawn up may be inferred from the figures given in the first year's draft estimate, viz. salaries, , marks; advertisements, , marks; posters and printed matter, , marks; travelling expenses, , marks; postage and telegrams, , marks; extras and sundries, , marks. equally modest was the remuneration of the new head who was to receive a fixed salary of , marks per annum, plus a commission under the pool agreement, allowing the inference that the total annual income of the newly appointed head of the department would work out at something like , marks, which goes to show that the company had a high opinion of his capacity for attracting traffic to its services. the conclusion of this agreement meant that the packetfahrt henceforth took entire control of its passenger business--which, until then, had been looked after by the firm of aug. bolten--and that a passenger department had to be specially created. thus an important step forward was made which could only be undertaken by the firm because such a well-qualified man as ballin happened to be at their service just then. if the course of the negotiations between the packetfahrt and the carr line had not already shown it, this agreement would prove without a shadow of doubt that the then head of morris and co. had, at the age of twenty-nine, and after twelve years of practical work, gained the premier position in the emigrant business of his native city and also a leading one in the general european emigrant business which in itself is one of the most important branches of the shipping trade. the correspondence between edward carr and ballin furnishes no indication that the latter himself had insisted upon his being taken over by the packetfahrt or that he had worked with this object. chapter iii head of the packetfahrt's passenger department on may st, , albert ballin first took part in a joint meeting of the board of trustees and the board of directors of the packetfahrt. on this occasion two proposals were put forward by him: one, to provide new premises for the work connected with the booking of passengers at an annual rent of , marks; the other, to start a direct service from stettin to new york _via_ gothenburg. this latter proposal was prompted by the desire to reduce the influence of the british lines competing for the hamburg business. such a reduction could only be brought about if it were proved to the british lines that their position was by no means unassailable. the scandinavian emigrant business to the united states which for long had been a source of great profit to the british, lent itself admirably to such purposes. ballin's proposal was agreed to by the company's management, with the result that in july, , a pool agreement was concluded between the packetfahrt (on behalf of a stettin line of steamers) and the danish thingvalla line. steamers now began to call at gothenburg and christiansand on their voyages from stettin to the united states. the new line was known as the "scandia line"; and in later years, when a similar object was aimed at, it was called into existence once more. the aim was not to establish a new steamer service for its own sake, but rather to create an object for compensation which, in the negotiations with the british lines, could be given up again in exchange for concessions on the part of the latter regarding the hamburg business. if this plan failed, ballin had another one mapped out: he threatened to attack the british in their own country by carrying steerage passengers either from liverpool _via_ havre, or from plymouth _via_ hamburg. people in england laughed at this idea. "surely," they said, "no british emigrant will travel on a german vessel." the british lines replied to ballin's threat by declaring that they would again reduce to s. their rates from hamburg to new york _via_ a british port. however, the negotiations which ballin entered into with them in england during the month of september, , soon cleared the air, and led to the conclusion of an agreement towards the end of the year. the packetfahrt promised to withdraw its scandia line, and the british lines, in return, agreed to raise their steerage rates from hamburg to marks gross, and those from liverpool, glasgow, and london to £ s. net. a clearing house which should be under the management of a representative of the british lines, and which was also to include the business done by the bremen agents of the latter, was to be set up in hamburg. this clearing house was kept on until other and more far-reaching agreements with the british lines made its continued existence superfluous. the arrangements which ballin made with the agents represented in the clearing house show his skill in his dealings with other people. the whole agreement, especially the fixing of the terms governing the share to be assigned to the agents--which amounted to per cent, of the hamburg business--was principally aimed at the realization of as high a rate as possible. this policy proved to be a great success. another step forward was that the packetfahrt now consented to accept passengers booked by the agents, thus reversing their previous policy of ignoring them altogether. the agreement with the british lines also provided that the union line should raise its rates to marks, the packetfahrt to marks, and the lloyd those charged for its services to baltimore and new york to and marks respectively. henceforward both competing groups were equally interested in obtaining as high a rate as possible. the practical working of the agreement did not fail to give satisfaction, and the continental lines could, undisturbed by external interference, put their own house in order. a few years later, in , the british lines complained that they did not succeed in getting the percentage of business to which they were entitled. negotiations were carried on at liverpool, during which ballin was present. he pointed out that, considering the whole continental position, the british lines would be ill-advised to withdraw from the agreement, and he stated that he would be prepared to guarantee them their share ( per cent.) of the hamburg business. the outcome was that the british lines declared themselves satisfied with these new stipulations. a few years later, when the british lines joined the continental pool, the hamburg agreement ceased to be necessary, and in the clearing house was abolished. the new emigration law of --due to the exertions of the north german lloyd and the packetfahrt--strengthened the position of the lines running direct services from german ports. another step forward was the increase of the passage rates which was agreed upon after negotiations had taken place at antwerp and in england, and after the german, dutch, and belgian lines had had a conference at cologne. contact was also established with the chief french line concerned. the improvement, however, was merely temporary. the termination of the struggle for the hamburg business did not mean that all the differences between all the transatlantic lines had been settled. on the contrary, all the parties concerned gradually realized that it would be necessary to institute quite different arrangements; something to ensure a fairer distribution of the traffic and a greater consolidation of their common interests. a proposal to gain these advantages by the establishment of a pool was submitted by the representative of the red star line at a conference held in the autumn of , and a memorandum written by ballin, likewise dating from , took up the same idea; but an agreement was not concluded until the close of . that, in spite of ballin's advocacy, five years had to elapse before this agreement became perfect is perhaps to some extent due to the fact that ballin--who at that time, after all, was only the head of the passenger department of his company--could not always speak with its full authority where his own personal views were concerned. moreover, the influence of his company was by no means very considerable in those early days. the only passenger boat of any importance which the company possessed in the early 'eighties, before ballin had entered its services, was the _hammonia_, and she was anything but a success. she was inferior both as regards her efficiency and her equipment. at last, however, ballin's desire to raise the prestige of the company triumphed, and the building of several fast boats was definitely decided upon. in addition to a comparatively large number of passengers--especially those of the first cabin--they were to carry a moderate amount of cargo. in size they were subject to the restrictions imposed upon them by the shortcomings of the technical knowledge of that time, and by the absence of the necessary improvements in the fairway of the lower elbe. speed, after all, was the main consideration; and it was the struggle for the blue riband of the atlantic which kept the attention of the travelling public riveted on these boats. a statement giving details of the financial results obtained by the first four of the new fast steamers which were entered into the service of the company between and showed that the earnings up to and including the year did not even cover the working expenses, and that those up to were not sufficient to allow for an interest of per cent, on the average book values of the steamers. it must be remembered, however, that the first of these two periods included the disastrous season of - , when hamburg was visited by an epidemic of cholera. and a different light is shed on the matter also if we further remember that depreciation had been allowed for on a generous scale, no less than per cent, of the cost price plus the expenditure incurred through an enlargement of the _auguste victoria_, the oldest of the boats, having been deducted on that account. the packetfahrt, like all the other german shipping companies, has always been very liberal in making ample provision for depreciation. when, therefore, these steamers were sold again at the time of the spanish-american and russo-japanese wars, a considerable profit was realized on the transactions which enabled the company to replace them by a very high-grade type of vessel (the _deutschland_, _amerika_, and _kaiserin auguste victoria_). it must be admitted in this connexion that perhaps no shipowner has ever been more favoured by fortune than ballin where the sale of such difficult objects as obsolete express steamers was concerned. the value which these boats had in relation to the prestige of the company was very considerable; for, as ballin expressed it to me one day: "the possession of the old express steamers of the packetfahrt certainly proved to be something like a white elephant; but just consider how greatly they have enhanced the prestige of the company." they attracted thousands of passengers to the line, and acted as feeders to its other services. the orders for the first two of these steamers were given towards the close of to the vulkan yard, at stettin, and to the firm of laird respectively, at a price of £ , each, and the boats were to be completed early in . they were the first twin-screw steamers, and were provided with the system of "forced draught" for the engines. this system had just been introduced in british yards, and ballin's attention had been drawn to it by his friend wilding, who was always ready to give him valuable advice on technical matters. in order to find the means for the construction of these and of some other boats, the general meeting of the shareholders, held on october th, , voted a capital increase of , , marks and the issue of , , marks of debentures. knowing that an improvement of the services was the great need of the time, ballin, since the time of joining the company, had done all he could to make the latter a paying concern again, and in this he succeeded. for the year a dividend of per cent. was paid, and thus it became possible to sanction an increase of the joint-stock capital. further foundations for later successes were laid by the reform of the organization and of the technical services of the company. his work in connexion with the carr line had taught the youthful head of the passenger department that careful attention to the material comfort of the steerage passengers could be of great benefit to the company. he continued along lines such as these, and at his suggestion the steerage accommodation on two of the packetfahrt's steamers was equipped with electric light, and provided with some single berths as well. this latter provision was extended still further during the succeeding year. in addition to the fast steamers, some ordinary ones were also ordered to be built. in two steamers were ordered for the company's west indies service, and shortly afterwards eight units of the union line were bought at a price of , , marks. all these new orders and purchases of steamers led to the joint-stock capital being raised from to million marks. two more boats were laid down in the stettin vulkan yard, and a third with the firm of laird. the express steamer then building at the vulkan yard was named _auguste victoria_ in honour of the young empress. during the summer months of ballin, together with mr. johannes witt, one of the members of the board of trustees, went to new york in order to discuss with the agents a reorganization of the new york representation, which was looked after by edward beck and kunhardt. in consequence of the negotiations which ballin carried on to that end, the agents undertook to submit their business for the company to the control of an officer specially appointed by the packetfahrt. this small beginning led, in later years, to the establishment in new york of the company's direct representation under its own management. when ballin joined the packetfahrt, he did not strictly confine his attention to matters connected with the passenger services. when, for instance, the head of the freight department was prevented from attending a meeting called by the board of trustees, ballin put forward a proposal for raising the rates on certain cargo. it was therefore only but fit acknowledgment of his many-sided talents, and recognition that his energetic character had been the guiding spirit in the company's affairs, that the board of trustees appointed ballin in a member of the board of directors after two years with the packetfahrt. this appointment really filled a long-felt gap. chapter four the pool the term "pool" may be defined in a variety of ways, but, generally speaking, the root idea underlying its meaning is always the same, both in its application to business and to betting. a pool, in brief, is a combination of a number of business concerns for their own mutual interests, all partners having previously agreed upon certain principles as to the distribution of the common profits. in other words, it is a community of interests concluded upon the basis of dividing the profits realized in a certain ratio. i have been unable to discover when and where this kind of combination was first used in actual practice. before the transatlantic steamship companies did so, the big trunk lines of the united states railway system are said to have used it in connexion with the westbound emigrant traffic, and possibly for other purposes also. when ballin wrote his memorandum of february th, , the steamship lines must already have been familiar with the meaning of the term, for the memorandum refers to it as something well known. ballin begins by stating that the "conference of the northern european lines" might be looked upon as having ceased to exist, seeing that two parties were represented on it whose claims were diametrically opposed to each other. whereas the north german lloyd insisted on the right to lower its rates, the red star line claimed that these rates should be raised, so that it might obtain a better differential rate for itself. a reconciliation of these mutually contradictory views, the memorandum went on to say, appeared to be impossible, unless all parties agreed upon an understanding which would radically alter the relations then existing between their respective interests; and a way leading out of the _impasse_ would be found by adopting the pooling system proposed by the representative of the red star line. if we take the number of steeragers carried to new york from to by the six lines concerned as a basis, the respective percentages of the total traffic are as follows: _percentage_ north german lloyd · north german lloyd (baltimore line) · packetfahrt · union line · red star line · holland american line · it was, however, justly pointed out at a meeting of the conference that the amount of tonnage must also be taken into account in laying down the principles which were to govern the distribution of the profits. the average figures of such tonnage employed by the six lines during the same period were: _tons_ _percentage_ north german lloyd , · north german lloyd (baltimore line) , · packetfahrt , · union line , · red star line , · holland american line , · ------- ----- total tonnage , the average of both sets of percentage figures worked out as follows: _percentage_ north german lloyd · north german lloyd (baltimore line) · packetfahrt · - / union line · red star line · - / holland american line · "it would be necessary," the memorandum continued, "to calculate each company's share annually on the basis of the average figures obtained for the five years immediately preceding, so that, for instance, the calculation for would be based on the figures for the five years from to ; that for on those for the period from to , and so on. uniform passage rates and uniform rates of commission would have to be agreed upon. to those lines which, like the north german lloyd, maintained a service which was run by fast steamers exclusively, would have to be conceded the right to charge in their separate accounts passage money up to marks in excess of the normal rates, seeing that their expenses were heavier than those of the other lines. those companies, however, claiming differential rates below the general ones agreed upon would have to make up the difference themselves, which was not to exceed the amount of marks--i.e. they would have to contribute to the common pool a sum equal to the general rate without deduction." the two cardinal principles lying at the root of this proposal were ( ) the assigning to each line of a definite percentage of the total traffic on the basis of the average figures ascertained for a definite period of time, and ( ) the possibility of further grading these percentages by taking into account the amount of tonnage which each line placed at the disposal of the joint undertaking. this latter provision--which was known during the early stages of the movement as the tonnage clause--was intended to prevent any single line from stagnation, and to give scope to the spirit of enterprise. the tonnage clause was not maintained for the whole time during which the pool agreement was in force. it was afterwards abolished at the instance of the north german lloyd. this event led, in the long run, to the last big crisis which the pool had to pass through by the notice of withdrawal given by the hamburg-amerika linie. when this company proposed to considerably enlarge its steerage accommodation through the addition to its service of the three big boats of the _imperator_ class, it demanded a corresponding increase of its percentage figure, and, when this claim fell through owing to the opposition of the north german lloyd, it gave formal notice of its withdrawal from the pool. precautions taken to counteract this led to negotiations which had to be discontinued when the war broke out. nevertheless, the pool, which was first proposed in , and which came into existence in , did a great deal of good. more than once, however, the agreement ceased to be effective for a time, and this was especially the case on the occasion of the struggle with the cunard line which followed upon the establishment of the morgan trust in . the secretary of the pool was heinrich peters, the former head of the passenger department of the lloyd. the choice of mr. peters is probably not unconnected with the fact that it was he who, at a moment when the negotiations for establishing a pool had reached a critical stage, appeared on the scene with a clearly-defined proposal, so that he, with justice, has been described as "the father of the pool." shortly before his death in the summer of mr. peters wrote to me concerning his proposal and the circumstances of its adoption:-- "the history of the events leading up to the creation of the 'north atlantic steamship lines association,'" he wrote in his letter, "was not without complications. so much so that after the conference at cologne, at which it had been found impossible to come to an understanding, i went to bed feeling very worried about the future. shortly afterwards--i don't know whether i was half awake or dreaming--the outline of the plan which was afterwards adopted stood out clearly before my mind's eye, its main features being that each line should be granted a fixed percentage of the traffic on the basis of 'moore's statistics' (reports issued periodically and showing the number of passengers landed in new york at regular intervals), and that the principle of compensation should be applied to adjust differences. when i was fully awake i found this plan so obviously right that, in order not to let it slip my memory, i jotted down a note concerning it on my bedside table. next morning, when ballin, reuchlin (of the holland american line), strasser (of the red star line), and myself met again in the smoking-room of the hotel du nord, i told them of my inspiration, and my plan was looked upon by them with so much favour that ballin said to me: 'well now, peters, you have discovered the philosopher's stone.' we then left, previously agreeing amongst ourselves that we would think the matter over at our leisure, and that we should refrain from taking any steps leading to a conflict, at least for the time being. on my return to bremen i went straight to lohmann (who was director general of the lloyd at that time), but he immediately threw a wet blanket over my enthusiasm. his objection was that such an agreement would interfere with the progressive development of the lloyd. a few days later a meeting of the board of trustees was held at which i entered into the details of my proposal; but i am sorry to say that my oratorical gifts were not sufficient to defend it against the objections that were raised, nor to prevent its rejection. i can hardly imagine what the representatives of the other lines must have felt on hearing that it was the lloyd itself which refused to accept the proposal which had been put forward by its own delegate, although the share allotted to it was very generous. thus the struggle went on for another eighteen months, and it was not until january, , that the principal lines concerned definitely concluded a pool agreement closely resembling the draft agreement i had originally proposed. "the north atlantic steamship lines association was originally intended to remain in existence for the period of five years; but as it was recognized by all parties that it was necessarily a step in the dark, people had become so doubtful as to the wisdom of what they had done that a clause was added to the effect that it could be cancelled after the first six months provided a fortnight's notice was given by any partner to it. nevertheless, the agreement successfully weathered a severe crisis during the very first year of its existence, when the disastrous cholera epidemic paralysed the hamburg trade and shipping." that this account is correct is confirmed by the minutes of the cologne meeting of february th, . the british lines definitely declined in march, , to join the pool. thus the plan finally agreed upon in was subscribed to by the continental lines alone, with the exception of the french line. in contrast with previous proposals, the eastbound traffic was also to be parcelled out by the lines forming the pool. this so-called north atlantic steamship lines association, the backbone of the later and greater pool, was built up on the following percentages: _westbound_ _eastbound_ _traffic_ (_p.c._) _traffic_ (_p.c._) north german lloyd · · packetfahrt (including the union line) · · red star line · · holland american line · · these percentages were subject to the effect of the tonnage clause by which it was provided that per cent. of the tonnage (expressed in gross registered tons) which any line should possess at any time in excess of that possessed in should entitle such line to an increase of its percentage. it has already been stated that mr. heinrich peters was appointed secretary of the pool. he, in compliance with the provision that the secretariat should be domiciled at a "neutral" place, chose the small university town of jena for his residence. thus this town, so famous in the literary annals of germany, became, for more than twenty years, the centre of an international organization with which few, if any, other places could vie in importance, especially since the four lines which had just concluded the original pool were joined, in course of time, by the british lines, the french line, the austrian line, and some scandinavian and russian lines as well. later on a special pool was set up for the mediterranean business which, in addition to the german, british, and austro-hungarian lines, also comprised the french mediterranean, the italian, and the greek lines, as well as one spanish line. the business of all these lines was centred at jena. of considerable importance to the smooth working of the pool was the court of arbitration attached to its organization. on account of the prominent position occupied by the german companies, german law was agreed to as binding for the decisions, and since at the time when the pool was founded, germany did not possess a uniform code of civil law for all parts of the empire, the law ruling at cologne was recognized to be applicable to such purposes. cologne was the city at which the establishment of the pool was decided upon, and there all the important meetings that became necessary in course of time were held. the chairman of the cologne association of solicitors was nominated president of the arbitration court, but later on this office devolved on president hansen, a member of the supreme court for the hanseatic cities, who filled his post for a long term of years--surely a proof of the confidence and esteem with which he was honoured by all parties concerned. numerous awards issued by him, and still more numerous resolutions adopted at the many conferences, have supplemented the original pool agreement, thus forming the nucleus of a real code of legislation affecting all matters dealing with the pool in which a large number of capable men drawn from the legal profession and from the world of business have collaborated. the knowledge of these regulations gradually developed into a science of its own, and each line had to possess one or more specialists who were experts in these questions among the members of its staff. i am sure they will unanimously agree that albert ballin surpassed them all in his knowledge of the intricate details. his wonderful memory enabled him, after a lapse of more than twenty years, to recall every phase in the history of the pool, so that he acquired an unrivalled mastery in the conduct of pool conferences. this is abundantly borne out by the fact that in , when negotiations were started in london for the establishment of a general pool--i.e. one comprising the whole of northern europe, including great britain--ballin, at the proposal of the british lines, was selected chairman of the conference which, after several critical phases had been passed through, led to a complete success and an all-round understanding. in the normal development of business was greatly handicapped by the terrible epidemic of cholera then raging in hamburg. for a time the united states completely closed her doors to all emigrants from the continent, and it was not until the following year that conditions became normal again. nevertheless ballin, in order to extend the various understandings between the northern european lines, took an important step, even before the close of , by falling back upon a measure which he had already once employed in . his object was to make the british lines more favourably inclined towards an understanding, and to this end he attacked them once more in the scandinavian business. the actual occasion which led to the conflict was that the british lines, owing to differences of opinion among themselves, had given notice of withdrawal from the hamburg agreement and from the hamburg clearing house. this gave the packetfahrt a free hand against its british competitors, and enabled it to carry as many as , scandinavian passengers via hamburg in . the position of the packetfahrt during the ensuing rate war was considerably improved by the agreement which it had concluded with the hamburg agents of the british lines, who, although their principals had declared their withdrawal from the pool, undertook to maintain the rate which had been jointly agreed upon by both parties. some time had to elapse before this move had its desired effect on the british lines. early in they declared themselves ready to come to an understanding with the continental lines on condition that they were granted per cent. of the continental traffic (in they had been offered per cent.), and that the packetfahrt was to discontinue its scandia line. this general readiness of the british companies, however, did not preclude the hostility of some of their number against any such agreement, and so the proposal fell through. the proposed understanding came to grief owing to the refusal of the cunard line to join a continental pool at the very moment when the negotiations with the british lines had, after a great deal of trouble, led to a preliminary understanding with them. a letter which ballin received from an english friend in january, , shows how difficult it was to make the british come round to the idea of a pool. in this letter it was said that the time was not ripe then for successfully persuading the british lines to join any pool or any other form of understanding which would necessitate agreement on a large number of details. all that could be expected to be done at the time, the writer continued, was a rate agreement of the simplest possible kind, and he thought that if such an understanding were agreed to and loyally carried out, that would be an important step forward towards arriving at a general agreement of much wider scope. to such vague agreements, however, the continental lines objected on principle, and the opposition of the cunard line made it impossible to agree upon anything more definite. thus the struggle was chiefly waged against this line. the continental lines were assisted by the american line, which had sailings from british ports, and with the management of which ballin had been on very friendly terms ever since the time when he, as the owner of the firm of morris and co., had worked for it. after the conflict had been going on for several months, it terminated with a victory of the continental lines. thus the road was at last clear for an attempt to make the whole north atlantic business pay. the first step in that direction was the conclusion, in , of an agreement concerning the cabin business. the packetfahrt's annual report for that year states that the results obtained through the carrying of cabin passengers could only be described as exceedingly unfavourable, considering that the huge working expenses connected with that kind of business had to be taken into account. nevertheless, this traffic, which had reached a total of more than , passengers during the preceding year, could be made a source of great profit to the companies if they could be persuaded to act in unison. the agreement then concluded was at first restricted to the fixing of the rates on a uniform scale. both these agreements--the one dealing with the steerage and the one dealing with the cabin business--were concluded, in , for three years in the first instance. in may, , discussions were opened in london, at which ballin presided, with a view to extending the period of their duration, and these proceedings, after a time, led to a successful conclusion, but in june, ballin again presiding, the desired understanding was reached. a few weeks later an agreement concerning the second cabin rates was also arrived at, and towards the close of the year negotiations were started with a view to the extension of the steerage agreement. in the pool was extended to run for a further period of five years, under percentages: _westbound_ _eastbound_ _traffic_ (_p.c._) _traffic_ (_p.c._) north german lloyd · · packetfahrt · · red star line · · holland american line · · to the packetfahrt these new percentages meant a step forward, although the omission of the tonnage clause was a decided hindrance to its further progress. the next important event in the development of the relations between the transatlantic lines was the establishment of the so-called morgan trust and the conclusion of a "community of interest" agreement between it and the german lines. chapter v the morgan trust speaking generally, the transatlantic shipping business may be said to consist of three great branches, viz. the cargo, the steerage, and the cabin business. the pool agreements that were concluded between the interested companies covered only the cargo business and the steerage traffic. the condition which alone makes it possible for the owners to work the shipping business on remunerative lines is that all needless waste of material must be strictly banned. the great advantage which was secured by concluding the pool agreement was that it satisfied this condition during the more than twenty years of its existence, to the mutual profit of the associated lines. each company knew that the addition of new steamers to its fleet would only pay if part of a carefully considered plan, and if, in course of time, such an increase of tonnage would give it a claim to an increase of the percentage of traffic allotted to its services. much less satisfactory was the state of things with regard to the third branch of the shipping business, viz. the cabin traffic. a regular "cabin pool," with a _pro rata_ distribution of the traffic, was never established, although the idea had frequently been discussed. all that was achieved was an agreement as to the fares charged by each company which were to be graded according to the quality of the boats it employed in its services. owing to the absence of any more far-reaching understandings, and to the competition between the various companies--each of which was constantly trying to outdo its competitors as regards the speed and comfort of its boats, in order to attract to its own services as many passengers as possible--the number of first-class boats increased out of all proportion to the actual requirements, and frequent and regular services were maintained by each line throughout the year. there was hardly a day on which first-class steamers did not enter upon voyages across the atlantic from either side, and the result was that the boats were fully booked during the season only, i.e. in the spring and early part of summer on their east-bound, and in the latter part of summer and in the autumn on their westbound, voyages. during the remaining months a number of berths were empty, and the fares obtainable were correspondingly unprofitable. ballin, in , estimated the unnecessary expenditure to which the companies were put in any single year owing to this unbusinesslike state of affairs at not less then million marks. the desire to do away with conditions such as these by extending the pool agreement so as to develop it into a community-of-interest agreement of comprehensive scope was one of the two principal reasons leading to the formation of the morgan trust. the other reason was the wish to bring about a system of co-operation between the european and the american interests. this desire was prompted by the recognition of the cardinal importance to the transatlantic shipping companies of the economic conditions ruling in the united states. the cargo business depended very largely on the importation of european goods into the united states, and on the exportation of american agricultural produce to europe which varied from season to season according to the size of the crop and to the consuming capacity of europe. the steerage business, of course, relied in the main on the capacity of the united states for absorbing european immigrants, which capacity, though fluctuating, was practically unlimited. the degree of prosperity of the cabin business, however, was determined by the number of people who travelled from the states to europe, either on business, or on pleasure, or to recuperate their health at some european watering-place, at the riviera, etc. social customs and the attractions which the paris houses of fashion exercised on the american ladies also formed a considerable factor which had to be relied on for a prosperous season. in the transatlantic shipping business, in fact, america is pre-eminently the giving, and europe the receiving, partner. thus it was natural to realize the advisability of entering into direct relations with american business men. to the packetfahrt, and especially to ballin, credit is due for having attempted before anybody else to give practical shape to this idea. his efforts in this direction date far back to the early years of his business career. we possess evidence of this in the form of a letter which he wrote in to mr. b. n. baker, who was at the head of one of the few big american shipping companies, the atlantic transport company, the headquarters of which were at baltimore, and which ran its services chiefly to great britain. mr. baker was a personal friend of ballin's. the letter was written after some direct discussions had taken place between the two men, and its contents were as follows:-- "i replied a few days ago officially to your valued favour of the th ult. to the effect that in consonance with your expressed suggestion one of the directors will proceed to new york in september with a view to conferring with you about the matter at issue. "having in the meantime made it a point to go more fully into your communication, i find that the opinions which i have been able to form on your propositions meet your expressed views to a much larger extent than you will probably have supposed. i have not yet had an opportunity of talking the matter over with my colleagues, and i therefore do not know how far they will be prepared to fall in with my views. but in order to enable me to frame and bring forward my ideas more forcibly here, i think it useful to write to you this strictly confidential letter, requesting you to inform me--if feasible by cable--what you think of the following project: "( ) you take charge of our new york agency for the freight, and also for the passage business, etc. "( ) you engage those of our officials now attached to our new york branch whom we may desire to retain in the business. "( ) you take over half of our baltimore line in the manner that each party provides two suitable steamers fitted for the transport of emigrants. to this end i propose you should purchase at their cost price the two steamers which are in course of construction in hamburg at present for our baltimore line ( feet length, feet beam, feet moulded, steerage feet, carrying , tons on feet and about steeragers, guaranteed to steam knots, ready in october this year), and we to provide two similar steamers for this service. the earnings to be divided under a pool system. "( ) your concern takes up one million dollars of our shares with the obligation not to sell them so long as you control our american business. i may remark that just at present our shares are obtainable cheaply in consequence of the general depression prevailing in the european money market, and further, owing to the fact that only a small dividend is expected on account of the very poor return freight ruling from north america. i think you would be able to take the shares out of the market at an average of about per cent. above par. we have paid in the last years since we concluded the pool with the union line, viz. in per cent., per cent., - / per cent., per cent., per cent. in the way of dividends, and during this time we wrote off for depreciation and added to the reserve funds about per cent. "the position of our company is an excellent one, our fleet consisting of modern ships (average age only about five years), and the book values of them being very low. "i should be obliged to you for thinking the matter over and informing me--if possible by cable--if you would be prepared to enter into negotiations on this basis. i myself start from the assumption that it might be good policy for our company to obtain in the states a centre of interest and a position similar to that held by the red star line and the inman lines in view of their connexion with the pennsylvania railroad, etc. it further strikes me that if this project is brought into effect one of your concern should become a member of our board. i should thank you to return me this letter which, as i think it right expressly to point out to you, contains only what are purely my individual ideas." it may be assumed that the writing of this letter was prompted not only by the packetfahrt's desire to strengthen its position in the united states, but also by its wish to obtain a foothold in great britain. this would enable it to exercise greater pressure on the competing british lines, which--indirectly, at least--still did a considerable portion of the continental business. ballin's suggestion did not lead to any practical result at the time, but was taken up again eight years later, in , on the advice of mr. (now lord) pirrie, of messrs. harland and wolff, of belfast. important interests, partly of a financial character, linked his firm to british transatlantic shipping; and his special reason for taking up ballin's proposal was to prevent an alliance between mr. baker's atlantic transport company and the british leyland line, a scheme which was pushed forward from another quarter. he induced mr. baker to come to europe so that the matter might be discussed directly. the attractiveness of the idea to ballin was still further enhanced by the circumstance that the atlantic transport line also controlled the national line which maintained a service between new york and london, and was, indeed, the decisive factor on the new york-london route. ballin, accordingly, after obtaining permission from the board of trustees, went to london, where he met mr. baker and mr. pirrie. it soon became clear, however, that the board of trustees did not wish to sanction such far-reaching changes. when ballin cabled the details of the scheme to hamburg, it was seen that million marks--half the amount in shares of the packetfahrt--would be needed to carry it through. thus the discussions had to be broken off; but the attitude which the board had taken up was very much resented by ballin. subsequent negotiations which were entered into in the early part of in hamburg at the suggestion of mr. baker also failed to secure agreement, and shortly afterwards the american company was bought up by the leyland line. at the same time a movement was being set on foot in the united states which aimed at a strengthening of the american mercantile marine by means of government subsidies. this circumstance suggested to mr. baker the possibility of setting up an american shipping concern consisting of the combined leyland and atlantic transport company lines together with the british white star line, which was to profit by the expected legislation concerning shipping subsidies. neither the latter idea, however, nor mr. baker's project assumed practical shape; but the atlantic transport-leyland concern was enlarged by the addition of a number of other british lines, viz. the national line, the wilson-furness-leyland line, and the west indian and pacific line, all of which were managed by the owner of the leyland line, mr. ellerman, the well-known british shipping man of german descent. the tonnage represented by these combined interests amounted to half a million tons, and the new combine was looked upon as an undesirable competitor, by both the packetfahrt and the british lines. the dissatisfaction felt by the latter showed itself, among other things, in their refusal to come to any mutual understanding regarding the passenger business. in the end, mr. baker himself was so little pleased with the way things turned out in practice that he severed his connexion with the other lines shortly afterwards, and once more the question became urgent whether it would be advisable for the packetfahrt--either alone, or in conjunction with the white star line and the firm of messrs. harland and wolff--to purchase the atlantic transport line. that was the time when mr. pierpont morgan's endeavours to create the combine, which has since then become known as the morgan trust, first attracted public attention. ballin's notes give an exhaustive description of the course of the negotiations which lasted nearly eighteen months and were entered into in order to take precautions against the danger threatening from america, whilst at the same time they aimed at some understanding with mr. morgan, because the opportunity thus presented of setting up an all-embracing organization promoting the interests of all the transatlantic steamship concerns seemed too good to be lost. ballin's notes for august, , contain the following entry: "the grave economic depression from which germany is suffering is assuming a more dangerous character every day. it is now spreading to other countries as well, and only the united states seem to have escaped so far. in addition to our other misfortunes, there is the unsatisfactory maize-crop in the states which, together with the other factors, has demoralized the whole freight business within an incredibly short space of time. for a concern of the huge size of our own such a situation is fraught with the greatest danger, and our position is made still worse by another circumstance. in the states, a country whose natural resources are wellnigh inexhaustible, and whose enterprising population has immensely increased its wealth, the creation of trusts is an event of everyday occurrence. the banker, pierpont morgan--a man of whom it is said that he combines the possession of an enormous fortune with an intelligence which is simply astounding--has already created the steel trust, the biggest combination the world has ever seen, and he has now set about to lay the foundations for an american mercantile marine." a short report on the position then existing which ballin made for prince henckell-donnersmarck, who had himself called into being some big industrial combinations, is of interest even now, although the situation has entirely changed. but if we want to understand the position as it then was we must try to appreciate the views held at that time, and this the report helps us to do. ballin had been referred to prince henckell-donnersmarck by the kaiser, who had a high opinion of the latter's business abilities, and who had watched with lively interest the american shipping projects from the start, because he anticipated that they would produce an adverse effect on the future development of the german shipping companies. the report is given below:-- "in about per cent. of the united states sea-borne trade was still carried by vessels flying the american flag. by this percentage had gone down to per cent., and it has shown a constant decrease ever since. in it had dwindled down to per cent., and in to as low a figure as per cent. during recent years this falling off, which is a corollary of the customs policy pursued by the united states, has given rise to a number of legislative measures intended to promote the interests of american shipping by the granting of government subsidies. no practical steps of importance, however, have been taken so far; all that has been done is that subsidies have been granted to run a north atlantic mail service maintained by means of four steamers, but no success worth mentioning has been achieved until now. "quite recently the well-known american banker, mr. j. pierpont morgan, conjointly with some other big american capitalists, has taken an interest in the plan. the following facts have become known so far in connexion with his efforts: "morgan has acquired the leyland line, of liverpool, which, according to the latest register, owns a fleet of vessels, totalling , gross register tons. this purchase includes the west india and pacific line, which was absorbed into the leyland line as recently as a twelvemonth ago. the mediterranean service formerly carried on by the leyland line has not been acquired by morgan. he has, however, added the atlantic transport company. morgan's evident intention is to form a big american shipping trust, and i have received absolutely reliable information to the effect that the american line and the red star line are also going to join the combine. the shares of the two last-named lines are already for the most part in american hands, and both companies are being managed from new york. both lines together own steamers representing , tons. "a correct estimate of the size of the undertaking can only be formed if the steamers now building for the various companies, and those that have been added to their fleets since the publication of the register from which the above figures are taken, are also taken into account. these vessels represent a total tonnage of about , tons, so that the new american concern would possess a fleet representing , gross register tons. the corresponding figures for the hamburg-amerika linie and for the lloyd, including steamers building, are , and , tons respectively. "the proper method of rightly appreciating the importance of the american coalition is to restrict the comparison, as far as the two german companies are concerned, to the amount of tonnage which they employ in their services to and from united states ports. if this is borne in mind, we arrive at the following figures: german lines-- , g.r.t.; american concern--about , g.r.t. these figures show that, as regards the amount of tonnage employed, the morgan trust is superior to the two german companies on the north atlantic route. it can also challenge comparison with the regular british lines--grand total, , g.r.t. "in all the steps he has taken, morgan, no doubt, has been guided by his confidence in his ability to enforce the passing of a subsidy act by congress in favour of his undertaking. so long as he does not succeed in these efforts of his he will, of course, be obliged to operate the lines of which he has secured control under foreign flags. up to the present only four steamers of the american line, viz. the _new york_, _philadelphia_, _st. louis_, and _st. paul_, are flying the united states flag, whereas the remaining vessels of the american line, and those of the leyland, the west india and pacific, the american transport, the national, and the furness-boston lines, are sailing under the british, and those of the red star line under the belgian flag. "the organization which mr. morgan either has created, or is creating, is not in itself a danger to the two german shipping companies; neither can it be said that the government subsidies--provided they do not exceed an amount that is justified by the conditions actually existing--are in themselves detrimental to the german interests. the real danger, however, threatens from the amalgamation of the american railway interests with those of american shipping. "it is no secret that morgan is pursuing his far-reaching plans as the head of a syndicate which comprises a number of the most important and most enterprising business men in the united states, and that the railway interests are particularly well represented in it. morgan himself, during his stay in london a few months ago, stated to some british shipping men that, according to his estimates, nearly per cent. of the goods which are shipped to europe from the north atlantic ports are carried to the latter by the railroads on through bills of lading, and that their further transport is entrusted to foreign shipping companies. he and his friends, morgan added, did not see any reason why the railroad companies should leave it to foreign-owned companies to carry those american goods across the atlantic. it would be much more logical to bring about an amalgamation of the american railroad and shipping interests for the purpose of securing the whole profits for american capital. "this projected combination of the railroad and sea-borne traffic is, as i have pointed out, a great source of danger to the foreign shipping companies, as it will expose them to the possibility of finding their supplies from the united states _hinterland_ cut off. this latter traffic is indispensable to the remunerative working of our north american services, and it is quite likely that morgan's statement that they amount to about per cent. of the total sea-borne traffic is essentially correct." the negotiations which ballin carried on in this connexion are described as follows in his notes:-- "when i was in london in july ( ), i had an opportunity of discussing this american business with mr. pirrie. pirrie had already informed me some time ago that he would like to talk to me on this subject, but he had never indicated until then that morgan had actually instructed him to discuss matters with me. a second meeting took place at which ismay (the chairman of the white star line) was present in addition to pirrie and myself, and it was agreed that pirrie should go to new york and find out from morgan himself what were his plans regarding the white star line and the hamburg-amerika linie. "shortly after pirrie's return from the states i went to london to talk things over with him. he had already sent me a wire to say that he had also asked mr. wilding to take part in our meeting; and this circumstance induced me to call on mr. wilding when i passed through southampton _en route_ for london. what he told me filled me with as much concern as surprise. he informed me that the syndicate intended to acquire the white star line, but that, owing to my relations with the kaiser, the acquisition of the hamburg-amerika linie was not contemplated. morgan, he further told me, was willing to work on the most friendly terms with us, as far as this could be done without endangering the interests of the syndicate; but the fact was that the biggest american railroad companies had already approached the syndicate, and that they had offered terms of co-operation which were practically identical with a combination between themselves and the syndicate. "in the course of the discussions then proceeding between pirrie, wilding, and myself the situation changed to our advantage, and i was successful in seeing my own proposals accepted, the essence of which was that, on the one hand, our independence should be respected, that the nationality of our company should not be interfered with, and that no american members should be added to our board of trustees; whilst, on the other hand, a fairly close contact was to be established between the two concerns, and competition between them was to be eliminated." the draft agreement, which was discussed at these meetings in london (and which was considerably altered later on), provided that it should run for ten years, and that a mutual interchange of shares between the two concerns should be effected, the amount of shares thus exchanged to represent a value of million marks (equivalent to per cent. of the joint-stock capital of the hamburg-amerika linie). mutual participation was provided for in case of any future increase in the capital of either company; but the american concern was prohibited from purchasing any additional shares of the hamburg-amerika linie. the voting rights for the hamburg shares should be assigned to ballin for life, and those for the american shares to morgan on the same terms. instead of actually parting with its shares, the hamburg company was to have the option of paying their equivalent in steamers. the agreement emphasized that, whilst recognizing the desirability of as far-reaching a financial participation as possible, ballin did not believe that, with due regard to german public opinion and to the wishes of the imperial government, he was justified in recommending an interchange of shares exceeding the amount agreed upon. the american concern was prohibited from calling at any german ports, and the hamburg company agreed not to run any services to such european ports as were served by the other party. a pool agreement covering the cabin business was entered into; and with respect to the steerage and cargo business it was agreed that the existing understandings should be maintained until they expired, and that afterwards a special understanding should be concluded between both contracting parties. immediately after ballin's return to hamburg the board of trustees unanimously expressed its agreement in principle with the proposals. "for my own part," ballin says in his notes on these matters, "i declared that i could only regard the practical execution of these proposals as possible if they receive the unequivocal assent of the kaiser and of the imperial chancellor. next evening i was surprised to receive two telegrams, one from the lord chamberlain's office, and one from the kaiser, commanding my presence on the following day for dinner at the hubertusstock hunting lodge of the kaiser, where i was invited to stay until the afternoon of the second day following. i left for berlin on the same evening, october th ( ); and, together with the chancellor, i continued my journey the following day to eberswalde. at that town a special carriage conveyed us to hubertusstock, where we arrived after a two-hours' drive, and where i was privileged to spend two unforgettable days in most intimate intercourse with the kaiser. the chancellor had previously informed me that the kaiser did not like the terms of the agreement, because metternich had told him that the americans would have the right to acquire million marks' worth of our shares. during an after-dinner walk with the kaiser, on which we were accompanied by the chancellor and the kaiser's a.d.c., captain v. grumme, i explained the whole proposals in detail. i pointed out to the kaiser that whereas the british lines engaged in the north atlantic business were simply absorbed by the trust, the proposed agreement would leave the independence of the german lines intact. this made the kaiser inquire what was to become of the north german lloyd, and i had to promise that i would see to it that the lloyd would not be exposed to any immediate danger arising out of our agreement, and that it would be given an opportunity of becoming a partner to it as well. the kaiser then wanted to see the actual text of the agreement as drafted in london. when i produced it from my pocket we entered the room adjacent to the entrance of the lodge, which happened to be the small bedroom of captain v. grumme; and there a meeting, which lasted several hours, was held, the kaiser reading out aloud every article of the agreement, and discussing every single item. the kaiser himself was sitting on captain v. grumme's bed; the chancellor and myself occupied the only two chairs available in the room, the captain comfortably seating himself on a table. the outcome of the proceedings was that the kaiser declared himself completely satisfied with the proposals, only commissioning me, as i have explained, to look after the interests of the north german lloyd. "on the afternoon of the following day, after lunch, the chancellor and i returned to berlin, this giving me a chance of discussing with the former--as i had previously done with the kaiser--every question of importance. on october th i arrived back in hamburg." the negotiations with the north german lloyd which ballin had undertaken to enter upon proved to be very difficult, the director general of that company, dr. wiegand, not sharing ballin's views with respect to the american danger and the significance of the american combination. after ballin, however, had explained the proposals in detail, the lloyd people altered their previously held opinion, and in the subsequent london discussions, which were resumed in november, the president of the lloyd, mr. plate, also took part. nevertheless, it was found impossible to agree definitely there and then, and a further discussion between the two directors general took place at potsdam on november th, both of them having been invited to dinner by the kaiser, who was sitting between the two gentlemen at the table. ballin's suggestion that he and dr. wiegand should proceed to new york in order to ascertain whether the shipping companies and the american railroads had actually entered into a combination, was heartily seconded by the kaiser, and was agreed to by dr. wiegand. the lloyd people, however, were still afraid that the proposed understanding would jeopardize the independence of the german lines; but ballin, by giving detailed explanations of the points connected with the financial provisions, succeeded in removing these fears, and the board of trustees of the lloyd expressed themselves satisfied with these explanations. they insisted upon the omission of the clauses dealing with the financial participation, but agreed to the proposals in every other respect. the arrangements for such mutual exchange of shares were thereupon dropped in the final drafting of the agreement, and were replaced by a mutual participation in the distribution of dividends, the american concern guaranteeing the german lines a dividend of per cent., and only claiming a share in a dividend exceeding that figure. this change owed its origin to a proposal put forward by mr. v. hansemann, the director of the disconto-gesellschaft, who had taken an active interest in the development of the whole matter. in the course of the negotiations the lloyd made a further proposal by which it was intended to safeguard the german national character of the two great shipping companies. it was suggested that a corporation--somewhat similar to the preussische seehandlung--should be set up by the imperial government with the assistance of some privately owned capital. this corporation should purchase such a part of the shares of each company as would defeat any attempts at destroying their national character. ballin, however, to whom any kind of government interference in shipping matters was anathema, would have nothing to do with this plan, and thus it fell through. ballin thereupon having informed the kaiser in kiel on board the battleship _kaiser wilhelm ii_ regarding the progress of the negotiations, a further meeting with the lloyd people took place early in december, which led to a complete agreement among the two german companies as to the final proposals to be submitted to the american group; and shortly afterwards, at a meeting held at cologne, agreement was also secured with mr. pirrie. the final discussions took place in new york early in february, ballin and mr. tietgens, the chairman of the board of directors, acting on behalf of the hamburg-amerika linie, and president plate and dr. wiegand on that of the lloyd. meanwhile, morgan's negotiations with the white star line and other british companies had also led to a successful termination. concerning the new york meetings we find an interesting entry in ballin's diary: "in the afternoon of february th, , messrs. griscom, widener, wilding, and battle, and two sons of mr. griscom met us in conference. various suggestions were put forward in the course of the proceedings which necessitated further deliberations in private between ourselves and the bremen gentlemen, and it was agreed to convene a second general meeting at the private office of mr. griscom on the th floor of the empire building. this meeting was held in the forenoon of the following day, and a complete agreement was arrived at concerning the more important of the questions that were still open. i took up the position that the combine would only be able to make the utmost possible use of its power if we succeeded in securing control of the cunard and holland american lines. i was glad to find that mr. morgan shared my view. he authorized me to negotiate on his behalf with director van den toorn, the representative of the holland american line, and after a series of meetings a preliminary agreement was reached giving morgan the option of purchasing per cent. of the shares of the holland american line. morgan undertook to negotiate with the cunard line through the intermediary of some british friends. it has been settled that, if the control of the two companies in question is secured to the combine, one half of it should be exercised by the american group, and the other half should be divided between the lloyd and ourselves. this arrangement will assure the german lines of a far-reaching influence on the future development of affairs. "on the following thursday the agreements, which were meanwhile ready in print, were signed. we addressed a joint telegram to the kaiser, informing him of the definite conclusion of the agreement, to which he sent me an exceedingly gracious reply. the kaiser's telegram was dispatched from hubertusstock, and its text was as follows: "'ballin, director general of the hamburg-amerika linie, new york. have received your joint message with sincere satisfaction. am especially pleased that it reached me in the same place where the outlines gained form and substance in october last. you must be grateful to st. hubertus. he seems to know something about shipping as well. in recognition of your untiring efforts and of the success of your labours i confer upon you the second class of my order of the red eagle with the crown. remember me to henry.--wilhelm i.r.' "morgan gave a dinner in our honour at his private residence which abounds in treasures of art of all descriptions, and the other gentlemen also entertained us with lavish hospitality. tietgens and i returned the compliment by giving a dinner at the holland house which was of special interest because it was attended not only by the partners of morgan, but also by mr. jacob schiff, of messrs. kuhn, loeb & co., who had been morgan's opponents in the conflict concerning the northern pacific. during the following week the lloyd provided a big dinner on board the _kronprinz wilhelm_ for about invited guests. "prince henry of prussia was one of the passengers of the _kronprinz wilhelm_ which, owing to the inclemency of the weather, arrived in new york one day behind her scheduled time. on the day of her arrival--sunday, february rd--i had dinner on board the _hohenzollern_. we also took part in a number of other celebrations in honour of the prince. especially memorable and of extraordinary sumptuousness was the lunch at which mr. morgan presided, and at which one hundred captains of industry--leading american business men from all parts of the states--were present. on the evening of the same day the press dinner took place which , newspaper men had arranged in honour of the prince. mr. schiff introduced me to mr. harriman, the chairman of the union pacific, with whom i entered into discussions concerning our participation in the san francisco-far east business." at the request of the american group the publication of the agreement was delayed for some time, because it was thought desirable to wait for the final issue of the congress debates on the subsidies bill. a report which ballin, after some further discussion with morgan and his london friends had taken place, made for the german embassy in london, describes the situation as it appeared in april, . it runs as follows: "( ) acquisition of the joint control of the cunard line by the two german companies and the american syndicate. on this subject discussions have taken place with lord inverclyde, the chairman of the cunard line. neither lord inverclyde nor any of the other representatives of british shipping interests objected in any way to the proposed transaction for reasons connected with the national interest. he said, indeed, that he thought the syndicate should not content itself with purchasing per cent. of the shares, but that it should rather absorb the whole company instead. the purchase price he named appeared to me somewhat excessive; but he has already hinted that he would be prepared to recommend to his company to accept a lower offer, and it is most likely that the negotiations will lead to a successful issue, unless the british government should pull itself together at the eleventh hour. "( ) public announcement of the formation of the combine. whereas until quite recently the american gentlemen maintained that it would be advisable to wait for the conclusion of the negotiations going on at washington with respect to the proposed subsidy legislation, mr. morgan now shares my view that it is not desirable to do so any longer, but that it would be wiser to proceed without any regard to the intentions of washington. the combine, therefore--unless unexpected obstacles should intervene--will make its public appearance within a few weeks. "( ) the british admiralty. an agreement exists between the british admiralty and the white star line conceding to the former the right of pre-emption of the three express steamers _oceanic, teutonic,_ and _majestic._ this agreement also provides that the white star line, against an annual subsidy from the government, must place these boats at the disposal of the admiralty in case of war. the first lord has now asked mr. ismay whether there is any truth in the report that he wants to sell the white star line; and when he was told that such was the case, he declared that, this being so, he would be compelled to exercise his right of pre-emption. "it would be extremely awkward in the interests of the combine if the three vessels had to be placed at the service of the admiralty, especially as it is probable that they would be employed in competition with the combine. therefore a compromise has been effected in such a form that mr. morgan is to take over the agreement on behalf of the combine for the three years it has still to run. this means that the steamers will continue to fly the british flag for the present, and that they must be placed at the disposition of the admiralty in case of war. the admiralty suggested an extension of the terms of the agreement for a further period of three years; but it was content to withdraw its suggestion when mr. morgan declined to accept it. the agreement does not cover any of the other boats of the line which are the biggest cargo steamers flying the union jack, and consequently no obligations have been incurred with respect to these. "( ) text of the public announcement. a memorandum is in course of preparation fixing the text of the announcement by which the public is to be made acquainted with the formation of the combine. in compliance with the wishes emanating from prominent british quarters, the whole transaction will be represented in the light of a big anglo-american 'community of interest' agreement; and the fact that it virtually cedes to the united states the control of the north atlantic shipping business will be kept in the background, as far as it is possible to do so." the first semi-official announcement dealing with the combine was published on april th by the british press, and at an extraordinary general meeting of the hamburg-amerika linie on may th, the public was given some carefully prepared information about the german-american agreement. at that meeting dr. diederich hahn, the well-known chairman of the _bund der landwirte_ (agrarian league), rose, to everybody's surprise, to inquire if it was the case that the national interests, and especially the agricultural interests of germany, would be adversely affected by the agreement. the ensuing discussion showed ballin at his best. he allayed dr. hahn's fears lest the american influence in the combination would be so strong as to eliminate the german influence altogether by convincing him that the whole agreement was built up on a basis of parity, and that the german interests would not be jeopardized in any way. the argument that the close connexion established between the trust and the american railroad companies would lead to germany being flooded with american agricultural produce he parried by pointing out that the interests of the american railroads did not so much require an increased volume of exports, but rather of imports, because a great disproportion existed between their eastbound and their westbound traffic, the former by far exceeding the latter, so that a further increase in the amount of goods carried from the western part of the country to the atlantic seaports would only make matters worse from the point of remunerative working of their lines. what ballin thought of the system of government subsidies in aid of shipping matters is concisely expressed by his remarks in a speech which he made on the occasion of the trial trip of the s.s. _blücher_, when he said: "if it were announced to me to-day that the government subsidies had been stolen overnight, i should heave a sigh of relief, only thinking what a pity it was that it had not been done long ago." in great britain the news that some big british shipping companies had been purchased by the american concern caused a great deal of public excitement. in ballin's diary we find the following entry under date of june th: "in england, in consequence of the national excitement, a very awkward situation has arisen. sir alfred jones and sir christopher furness know how to make use of this excitement as an opportunity for shouldering the british nation with the burden which the excessive tonnage owned by their companies represents to them in these days of depression. king edward has also evinced an exceedingly keen interest in these matters of late, which goes to show that what makes people in england feel most uncomfortable is not the passing of the various shipping companies into american hands, but the fact that the german companies have done so well over the deal. mr. morgan has had an interview with some of the british cabinet ministers at which he declared his readiness to give the government additional facilities as regards the supply of auxiliary cruisers. we are hopeful that such concessions will take the wind out of the sails of those who wish to create a counter-combination subsidized by grants-in-aid from the government." an outcome of the german-american arrangements was that morgan and his friends were invited by the kaiser to take part in the festivities connected with the kiel week. the american gentlemen were treated with marked attention by the kaiser, and extended their visit so as to include hamburg and berlin as well. at a conference of the transatlantic lines held in december, , at cologne, ballin put forward once more his suggestion that a cabin pool should be established. the proposal, however, fell through owing to the opposition from the cunard line. the depression in the freight business which had set in in , and which was still very pronounced towards the close of , seriously affected the prospects of the transatlantic shipping companies, especially those combined in the morgan trust, who were the owners of a huge amount of tonnage used in the cargo business, and whose sphere of action was restricted to the north atlantic route. "experience now shows," ballin wrote in his notes, "that we were doing the right thing when we entered into the alliance with the trust. if we had not done this, the latter would doubtless have tried to invade the german market in order to keep its many idle ships going." meanwhile the cunard line had concluded an agreement with the british government by which the government bound itself to advance to the company the funds for the building of its two mammoth express liners, the _mauretania_ and the _lusitania_, while at the same time granting it a subsidy sufficient to provide for the payment of the interest on and for the redemption of the loan advanced by the government for the building of the vessels. further difficulties seemed to be ahead owing to the aggressive measures proposed by the canadian pacific company, which was already advertising a service from antwerp to canada. to ward off the danger threatening from this quarter, ballin proceeded to new york to take up negotiations with sir thomas shaughnessy, the president of the canadian pacific. he went there on behalf of all the continental shipping companies concerned, and the results he arrived at were so satisfactory to both parties that ballin corresponded henceforth on terms of close personal friendship with sir thomas, who was one of the leading experts on railway matters anywhere. these friendly relations were very helpful to ballin afterwards when he was engaged in difficult negotiations with other representatives of sir thomas's company, and never failed to ensure a successful understanding being arrived at. on the occasion of this trip to america ballin had some interesting--or, as he puts it, "rather exciting"--discussions with morgan and his friends. he severely criticized the management of the affairs of the trust, and tried to make morgan understand that nothing short of a radical improvement--i.e. a change of the leading personages--would put matters right. "morgan," he writes, "finds it impossible to get the right men to take their places, and he held out to me the most alluring prospects if i myself should feel inclined to go to new york as president of the trust, even if only for a year or two; but i refused his offer, chiefly on account of my relations with the kaiser." ballin's suggestions, nevertheless, led to a change in the management of the trust. this was decided upon at meetings held in london, where ballin stayed for a time on his way back to hamburg. mr. pirrie also took part in these meetings. in the meantime the relations between the cunard line and the other transatlantic shipping companies had become very critical. the hungarian government, for some time past, had shown a desire to derive a greater benefit from the considerable emigrant traffic of the country--a desire which was shared by important private quarters as well. the idea was to divert the stream of emigrants to fiume--instead of allowing them to cross the national frontiers uncontrolled--and to carry them from that port to the united states by direct steamers. ballin had repeatedly urged that the lines which were working together under the pool agreement should fall in with these wishes of the hungarian government; but his proposals were not acted upon, mainly owing to the opposition of the north german lloyd, which company carried the biggest share of the hungarian emigrants. to the great surprise of the pool lines it was announced in the early part of that the hungarian government was about to conclude an agreement with the cunard line--the only big transatlantic shipping company which had remained outside the trust--by which it was provided that the cunard line was to run fortnightly services from fiume, and by which the hungarian government was to bind itself to prevent--by means of closing the frontiers or any other suitable methods--emigrants from choosing any other routes leading out of the country. such an agreement would deprive the pool lines of the whole of their hungarian emigrant business. discussions between ballin and the representatives of the cunard line only elicited the statement on the part of the latter that it had no power any longer to retrace its steps. an episode which took place in the course of these discussions is of special interest now, as it enables us to understand why the amalgamation of the cunard line with the morgan trust never took place. ballin asked lord inverclyde why the attitude of the cunard line had been so aggressive throughout. the reply was that the morgan trust, and not the cunard line, was the aggressor, because morgan's aim was to crush it. when ballin interposed that this had never been intended by the trust--that the trust, indeed, had attempted to include the cunard line within the combination, that lord inverclyde himself had also made a proposal towards that end, and that the project had only come to grief on account of the strong feeling of british public opinion against it--lord inverclyde answered that, far from this being the case, the trust had never replied to his proposal, and that he had not even received an acknowledgment of his last letter. in a letter to mr. boas, the general representative of his company in new york, in which he described the general situation, ballin stated that the statement of lord inverclyde was indeed quite correct. the hungarian situation became still more complicated after the receipt of some information that reached ballin from vienna to the effect that the austrian government intended to imitate the example set by the hungarian government by running a service from trieste. after prolonged discussions the austrian government also undertook not to grant an emigration licence to the cunard line so long as the struggle between the two competing concerns was not settled. thereupon this struggle of the pool lines--both the continental and the british ones--against the cunard line was started in real earnest, not only for the british but also for the scandinavian and the fiume business. after some time negotiations for an agreement were opened in london in july on the initiative and with the assistance of mr. balfour, who was then president of the board of trade. these, however, led to no result, and a basis for a compromise was not found until august, , when renewed negotiations took place at frankfort-on-main. a definite understanding was reached towards the close of the same year, and then at last this struggle, which was really one of the indirect consequences of the establishment of the morgan trust, came to an end. looked upon from a purely business point of view, the morgan trust--or, to call it by its real name, the "international mercantile marine company," which in pool slang, was simply spoken of as the "immco lines"--was doubtless a failure. only the world war, yielding, as it did, formerly unheard-of profits to the shipping business of the neutral and the allied countries, brought about a financial improvement, but it is still too early to predict whether this improvement will be permanent. the reasons why the undertaking was bound to be unremunerative before the outbreak of the war are not far to seek, and include the initial failure of its promoters to secure the adhesion of the cunard line--a failure which, as is shown by ballin's notes, was to a large extent due to the hesitating policy of the hamburg company. to make business as remunerative as possible was the very object for which the trust was formed, but the more economical working which was the means to reach this end could not be realized while such an essential factor as the cunard line not only remained an outsider, but even became a formidable competitor. it can hardly be doubted that the adhesion of the cunard line to the morgan trust--or, in other words, the formation of a combine including all the important transatlantic lines without exception--would have brought about such a development of the pool idea as would have led to a much closer linking-up of the financial interests of the individual partners than could be achieved under a pool agreement. under such a "community of interest" agreement, every inducement to needless competition could be eliminated, and replaced by a system of mutual participation in the net profits of each line. this was the ideal at which ballin, taught by many years of experience, was aiming. over and over again the pool lines had an opportunity of finding out that it paid them better to come to a friendly understanding, even if it entailed a small sacrifice, than to put up a fight against a new competitor. sometimes, indeed, an understanding was made desirable owing to political considerations. however, the number of participants ultimately grew so large that ballin sarcastically remarked: "sooner or later the pool will have to learn how to get along without us," and he never again abandoned his plan of having it replaced by closely-knit community of interest agreements which would be worked under a centralized management, and therefore produce much better results. in other branches of his activities--e.g. in his agreements with the other hamburg companies and in the one with the booth line, which was engaged in the service to northern brazil, he succeeded in developing the existing understandings into actual community of interest agreements, and it seems that these have given all-round satisfaction. the negotiations between himself and the north german lloyd shortly before the outbreak of the war were carried on with the same object. throughout the endless vicissitudes in the history of the pool the formation of the morgan trust decidedly stands out as the most interesting and most dramatic episode. at the present time the position of the german steamship companies in those days seems even more imposing than it appeared to the contemporary observer. to-day we can hardly imagine that some big british lines should, one after the other, be offered for purchase first to some german, and then to the american concerns. such a thing was only possible because at that time british shipping enterprise was more interested in the employment of tramp steamers than in the working of regular services, the shipowners believing that greater profits could be obtained by the former method. the result was a noticeable lack of leading men fully qualified to speak with authority on questions relating to the regular business, whereas in germany such men were not wanting. the transatlantic business threatened, in fact, to become more and more the prerogative of the german-american combination. to-day, of course, it is no longer possible to say with certainty whether the cunard line could have been induced to join that combination, if the right moment had not been missed. the great danger with which british shipping was threatened at that time, and the great success which the german lines achieved, not only stirred british public opinion to its depths, but also acted as a powerful stimulus on the shipping firms themselves. this caused a pronounced revival of regular line shipping, which went so far that tramp shipping became less and less important, and which ultimately led to a concentration of the former within the framework of a few large organizations which exercise a correspondingly strong influence on present-day british shipping in general. these organizations differ from the big german companies by the circumstance that they represent close financial amalgamations and that they have not, like the german companies, grown up slowly and step for step with the expanding volume of transatlantic traffic. chapter vi the expansion of the hamburg-amerika linie the principal work which fell to ballin's share during the period immediately following his nomination in on the board of his company was that connected with the introduction of the fast steamers and the resulting expansion of the passenger business. offices were established in berlin, dresden, and frankfort-on-main in , and arrangements were made with the hamburg-south american s.s. co., the german east africa line, and the hansa line--the latter running a service to canada--by which these companies entrusted the management of their own passenger business to the packetfahrt. thus, step by step, the passenger department developed into an organization the importance of which grew from year to year. the expansion of the passenger business also necessitated an enlargement of the facilities for the dispatch of the company's steamers. this work had been effected until then at the northern bank of the main elbe, but in it was transferred to the amerika-kai which was newly built at the southern bank; and when the normal depth of the fairway of the elbe was no longer sufficient to enable the fast steamers of considerable draught to come up to the city, it was decided to dispatch them from brunshausen, a small place situated much lower down the elbe. in the long run, however, it proved very inconvenient to manage the passenger dispatch from there, and the construction of special port facilities at cuxhaven owned by the company was taken in hand. the accommodation at the amerika-kai, although it was enlarged as early as , was soon found to be inadequate, so that it was resolved to provide new accommodation at the petersen-kai, situated on the northern bank of the elbe, and this project was carried out in . the number of services run by the company was augmented in those early years by the establishment of a line to baltimore and another to philadelphia. in a new line starting from new york was opened to venezuelan and colombian ports. the north atlantic services were considerably enlarged in , when the company took over the hansa line. the desire to find remunerative employment for the fast steamers during the dead season of the north atlantic passenger business prompted the decision to enter these boats into a service from new york to the mediterranean during the winter months. the same desire, however, also gave rise to one of the most original ideas carried into practice through ballin's enterprise, i.e. the institution of pleasure trips and tourist cruises. it may perhaps be of interest to point out in this connexion that, about half a century earlier, another hamburg shipping man had thought of specially fitting out a vessel for an extended cruise of that kind. i do not know whether this plan was carried out at the time, and whether ballin was indebted to his predecessor for the whole idea; in any case, the following advertisement which appeared in the _leipziger illustrierte zeitung,_ and which i reprint for curiosity's sake, was found among his papers. "an opportunity for taking part in a voyage round the world "the undersigned hamburg shipowner proposes to equip one of his large sailing vessels for a cruise round the world, to start this summer, during which the passengers will be able to visit the following cities and countries, viz. lisbon, madeira, teneriffe, cap verde islands, rio de janeiro, rio de la plata, falklands islands, valparaiso, and all the intermediate ports of call on the pacific coast of south america as far as guayaquil (for quito), the marquesas islands, friendly islands (otaheite), and other island groups in the pacific, china (choosan, hongkong, canton, macao, whampoa), manilla, singapore, ceylon, Île de france or madagascar, the cape of good hope, st. helena, ascension island, the azores, and back to hamburg. "the cruise is not intended for business purposes of any kind; but the whole equipment and accommodation of the vessel, the time spent at the various ports of call, and the details of the whole cruise, are to be arranged with the sole object of promoting the safety, the comfort, the entertainment, and the instruction of the passengers. "admission will be strictly confined to persons of unblemished repute and of good education, those possessing a scientific education receiving preference. "the members of the expedition may confidently look forward to a pleasant and successful voyage. a first-class ship, an experienced and well-educated captain, a specially selected crew, and a qualified physician are sufficient guarantees to ensure a complete success. "the fare for the whole voyage is so low that it only represents a very slight addition to the ordinary cost of living incurred on shore. in return, the passenger will have many opportunities of acquiring a first-hand knowledge of the wonders of the world, of the beautiful scenery of the remotest countries, and of the manners and customs of many different nations. during the whole voyage he will be surrounded by the utmost comfort, and will enjoy the company of numerous persons of culture and refinement. the sea air will be of immeasurable benefit to his health, and the experience which he is sure to gain will remain a source of pleasure to him for the rest of his life. "full particulars may be had on application to the undersigned, and a stamped envelope for reply should be enclosed. "rob. m. sloman, "_hamburg, january_, . _shipowner in hamburg._" ballin's idea of running a series of pleasure cruises did not meet with much support on the part of his associates; the public, however, took it up with enthusiasm from the very start. early in ballin himself took part in the first trip to the far east on board the express steamer _auguste victoria_. organized pleasure trips on a small scale were by no means an entire novelty in germany at that time; the carl stangen tourist office in berlin, for instance, regularly arranged such excursions, including some to the far east, for a limited number of participants. to do so, however, for as many as persons, as ballin did, was something unheard-of until then, and necessitated a great deal of painstaking preparation. among other things, the itinerary of the intended cruise, owing to the size and the draught of the steamer used, had to be carefully worked out in detail, and arrangements had to be made beforehand for the hotel accommodation and for the conveyance of passengers during the more extended excursions on shore. all these matters gave plenty of scope to the organizing talents of the youthful director, and he passed the test with great credit. the first far eastern cruise proved so great a success that it was repeated in . in the following year it started from new york, surely a proof that the company's reputation for such cruises was securely established not in germany alone, but in the states as well. meanwhile, however, hamburg had been visited by a terrible catastrophe which enormously interfered with the smooth working of the company's express steamer services. this was the cholera epidemic during the summer of . it lasted several weeks, and thousands of inhabitants fell victims to it. those who were staying in hamburg in that summer will never forget the horrors of the time. in the countries of northern europe violent epidemics were practically unknown, and the scourge of cholera especially had always been successfully combated at the eastern frontier of germany, so that the alarm which spread over the whole country, and which led to the vigorous enforcement of the most drastic measures for isolating the rest of germany from hamburg, may easily be comprehended, however ludicrous those measures in some instances might appear. there are no two opinions as to the damage they inflicted on the commerce and traffic of the city. the severest quarantine, of course, was instituted in the united states, and the passenger services to and from hamburg ceased to be run altogether, so that the transatlantic lines decided to temporarily suspend the steerage pool agreement they had just concluded. the packetfahrt, in order not to stop its fast steamer services completely, first transferred them to southampton, and afterwards to wilhelmshaven, thus abstaining from dispatching these boats to and from hamburg. the steerage traffic had to be discarded entirely, after an attempt to maintain it, with stettin as its home port, had failed. financially this epidemic and its direct consequences brought the company almost to the verge of collapse, and the packetfahrt had to stop altogether the payment of dividends for , , and . business was resumed in , but at first it was very slow. every means were tried to induce the united states to rescind her isolation measures. an american doctor was appointed in hamburg; disinfection was carried out on a large scale; with great energy the city set herself to prevent the recurrence of a similar disaster. the packetfahrt, in conjunction with the authorities, designed the plans for building the emigrants' halls situated at the outskirts of the city, which are unique of their kind and are still looked upon as exemplary. these plans owe their origin to the extremely talented hamburg architect, mr. thielen, whose early death is greatly to be regretted. an important innovation was the establishment of regular medical control and medical treatment for the emigrants from the east of europe on their reaching the german frontier, a measure which was decided upon and taken in hand by the prussian government. the expansion of the packetfahrt's business, of course, was most adversely affected by the epidemic and its after-effects; and several years of consolidation were needed before the latter could be overcome. consequently, hardly any new services were opened during the years immediately following upon the epidemic. an important step forward, which greatly strengthened the earning capacities of the company's resources, was taken in , when the building orders for the steamers of the "p" class were given. these vessels were of large size but of moderate speed. they were extremely seaworthy, and were capable of accommodating a great many passengers, especially steeragers, as well as of carrying large quantities of cargo. the number of services run by the company was added to in by a line from new york to italy, and in the following year by one from italy to the river plate. pool agreements were concluded with the lloyd and the allan line with respect to the first-named route, and with the italian steamship companies with respect to the other. the agreement with the italians, however, did not become operative until a few years afterwards. in the packetfahrt celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of its existence--an event in which large sections of the public took a keen interest. perhaps the most noteworthy among the immense number of letters of congratulation which the company received on that occasion is the one sent by the chairman of the cunard line, of which the verbatim text is given below. it was addressed to one of the directors in reply to an invitation to attend the celebrations in person. "it is with great regret i have to announce my inability to join with you in celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of your company, to be held on board your s.s. _auguste victoria_. "i the more regret this as i have the greatest possible admiration of the skill and enterprise which has directed the fortunes of your company, especially in recent years. "you were the first to give the travelling public the convenience of a speedy and reliable transit between the two great continents of the world by initiating a regular service of twin-screw steamers of high speed and unexceptionable accommodation. "you also set the shipping world the example of the great economy possible in the transit of the world's commodities in vessels of greatly increased capacity and proportionate economy, which other nations have been quick to follow and adopt to their great advantage. "your company had furthermore met a felt want in giving most luxurious and well-appointed accommodation for visiting scenes, both new and old, of world-wide interest, and making such journeyings, hitherto beset with anxiety and difficulty, as easy of accomplishment as the ordinary railway journey at home. "you have succeeded in this, not through any adventitious aids, such as government subsidies, but by anticipating and then meeting the wants of the travelling and commercial public; and no one, be his nationality what it was, can, in the face of such facts, abstain from offering his meed of praise to the foresight, acumen, and ability that have accomplished such great results in such a comparatively small time as the management and direction of the hamburg-american packet company. "i would venture, therefore, to thus congratulate you and your colleagues, and whilst reiterating my regret at being prevented from doing so at your forthcoming meeting, allow me the expression of the wish that such meeting may be a happy and satisfactory one, and that a new era of, if possible, increased success to the hamburg-american packet company may take date from it." towards the latter end of the 'nineties, at last, a big expansion of the company's activities set in. in the hamburg-calcutta line was purchased, but the service was discontinued, the steamers thus acquired being used for other purposes. shortly before the close of the same year a suggestion was put forward by some hamburg firms that were engaged in doing business with the far east that the packetfahrt should run a service to that part of the world. just then the steamship companies engaged in the far eastern trade were on the point of coming to a rate agreement among themselves; and the management of the packetfahrt which, owing to the offer held out to it by hamburg, antwerp, and london firms, could hope to rely on finding a sure basis for its far eastern business, did not consider it wise to let the favourable opportunity slip. quick decision and rapid action, before the proposed agreement of the interested lines had become an accomplished fact, were necessary; because, once the gates were closed, an outsider would find it difficult to gain admission to the ring. hence the negotiations with a view to the packetfahrt joining in the far eastern business, which had only been started during the second half of december, , came to a close very soon; and in the early days of january, , the packetfahrt advertised its intention of running monthly sailings to penang, singapore, hongkong, shanghai, yokohama, and hiogo. six cargo steamers of , tons burden were entered into the new service; and simultaneously an announcement was made to the effect that large fast passenger boats would be added to it as soon as the need for these should make itself felt. the participation in the far eastern business, and the consequent taking over of competing lines or the establishment of joint services with them, was not the only important event of the year as far as the development of the packetfahrt is concerned. in the spring of that same year an agreement was made with the philadelphia shipping company--which, in its turn, had an agreement with the pennsylvania railroad company--by which the packetfahrt undertook to run a regular service of cargo steamers between hamburg and philadelphia. an event of still greater importance, however, was the outbreak of war between the united states and spain which also took place in that year. the spanish government desired to strengthen the fighting power of its navy by the addition of several auxiliary cruisers; and even some time before the war broke out an offer reached the packetfahrt through the intermediary of a third party to purchase its two express steamers, _columbia_ and _normannia_, which were among the fastest ocean-liners afloat. before accepting this offer, the packetfahrt, in order to avoid the reproach of having committed a breach of neutrality, first offered these two steamers to the united states government; but on its refusal to buy them, they were sold to the british firm acting on behalf of the spanish government, and re-sold to the latter. as the packetfahrt had allowed a high rate of depreciation on the two boats, their book-value stood at a very low figure; and the considerable profit thus realized enabled it to acquire new vessels for the extension of its passenger services. meanwhile a new express steamer, the _kaiser wilhelm der grösse_, had been added to the fleet of the north german lloyd. ballin, having made a voyage on board this vessel to new york, reported to the trustees of his company that he considered her a splendid achievement. owing to the heavy working expenses, however, she would not, he thought, prove a great success from a financial point of view. he held that the remunerativeness of express steamers was negatived by the heavy working expenses and, as early as , had projected the construction of two steamers of very large proportions, but of less speed. this, however, was not carried out. instead, the packetfahrt decided to build a vessel which was to be bigger and faster still than the _kaiser wilhelm der grösse_. the new liner was built by the stettin vulkan yard, and completed in . she was the _deutschland_, the famous ocean greyhound, a great improvement in size and equipment, and she held the blue riband of the atlantic for a number of years. about the same time, the express service to new york had been supplemented by the inauguration of an additional passenger service on the same route, which proved a great success in every way. the steamers employed were the combined passenger and cargo boats of moderate speed of the "p" class referred to above; and, their working expenses being very low, they could carry the cargo at very low rates, so that they proved of great service to the rapidly expanding interchange of goods between germany and the united states. their great size made it necessary to accelerate their loading and discharging facilities as much as possible. this necessity, among other things, led to the introduction of grain elevators which resulted in a great saving of time, as the grain was henceforth no longer discharged in sacks, but loose. the company also decided to take the loading and discharging of all its vessels into its own hands. to accelerate the dispatch of steamers to the utmost possible extent, it was decided in to enlarge once again the company's harbour facilities, and an agreement was concluded with the hamburg government providing for the construction of large harbour basins with the necessary quays, sheds, etc., in the district of kuhwärder on the southern banks of the elbe. it was typical of ballin's policy of the geographical distribution of risks and of the far-sighted views he held concerning the international character of the shipping business that he attempted at the end of the 'nineties to gain an extended footing abroad for the company's activities. the packetfahrt therefore ordered the building of two passenger boats in italian yards, and it was arranged that these vessels should fly either the german or the italian flag. in the end, however, a separate italian shipping company, the italia, was set up, which was to devote itself more particularly to the river plate trade. when the financial results of the new enterprise failed to come up to expectations, the shares were sold to italian financiers in . the closing years of the nineteenth and the opening years of the twentieth century represented a period of extraordinary prosperity to shipping business all over the world--a prosperity which was caused by the outbreak of the south african war in . an enormous amount of tonnage was required to carry the british troops, their equipment, horses, etc., to south africa, and the circumstance that this tonnage temporarily ceased to be available for the needs of ordinary traffic considerably stiffened the freight rates. the favourable results thus obtained greatly stimulated the spirit of enterprise animating the shipping companies everywhere. about the same time the business of the company experienced a notable expansion in another direction. a fierce rate war was in progress between the hamburg-south american s.s. co. and the firm of a. c. de freitas & co., and neither party seemed to be able to get the better of the other. as early as ballin, on behalf of the hamburg-south american s.s. co., had carried on some negotiations with the firm of de freitas with the object of bringing about an amalgamation of the two companies with respect to their services to southern brazil. in he had done so again in compliance with the special request of mr. carl laeisz, the chairman of the former company, and in he did so for the third time, but in this case on his own initiative. no practical results, however, were reached, and as ballin was desirous of seeing an end being put to the hopeless struggle between the two rival firms, he took up those negotiations for the fourth time in , hoping to acquire the de freitas line for his own company. he was successful, and an expert was nominated to fix the market value of the fourteen steamers that were to change hands. as the valuation took place at a time when the shipping business was in an exceedingly flourishing state, the price which he fixed worked out at so high an average per ton as was never again paid before the outbreak of the war. the valuer told me that he himself considered the price very high, so that he felt in duty bound to draw ballin's attention to it beforehand. ballin tersely replied: "i know, but i want the business," thus making it perfectly clear that he attached more than ordinary importance to the deal. as soon as the purchase of the de freitas lines had become an accomplished fact, arrangements were made with the hamburg-south american s.s. company, which provided for a joint service to south america, a service which was still further extended when the packetfahrt bought up a british line trading from antwerp to the plate, thus also securing a footing at antwerp in connexion with its south american business. the necessity for taking such a step grew in proportion as antwerp acquired an increasing importance owing to the increasing german export business. perhaps there is no country which can be served by the seaports of so many foreign countries as germany. several mediterranean ports attract to themselves a portion of the south german trade; antwerp and some of the french ports possess splendid railway connexion with southern and western germany, and both antwerp and rotterdam are in a position to avail themselves of the highway of the rhine as an excellent means of communication with the whole german hinterland. finally, it must be remembered that the scandinavian seaports are also to a certain extent competing for the german business, especially for the trade with the hinterland of the baltic ports of germany. all this goes to show that the countries surrounding germany which have for centuries striven to exercise a kind of political hegemony over germany--or, rather, generally speaking, over central europe--are not without plenty of facilities enabling them to try to capture large portions of the carrying trade of these parts of europe. this danger of a never-ending economic struggle which would not benefit any of the competing rivals was the real reason underlying ballin's policy of compromise. he clearly recognized that any other course of action would tend to make permanent the existing chaos ruling in the realm of ocean shipping. in this struggle for the carrying trade to and from central europe the port of antwerp occupied a position all by itself. the more the countries beyond the sea were opened up by the construction of new railways and the establishment of industrial undertakings, and the more orders the manufacturers in the central european countries received in consequence of the growing demand, the greater became the value of antwerp to the shipping companies in every country. in this respect the early years of the twentieth century witnessed an extraordinary development, which, in its turn, benefited the world's carrying trade to an ever-increasing extent. never before had so much european capital been invested in overseas countries. again, as a result of the spanish war the political and economic influence of the united states had enormously expanded in the west indian islands, whilst, at the same time, the monroe doctrine was being applied more and more thoroughly and systematically. consequently the attention of the american investors was also increasingly drawn towards those same countries. in central america new railway lines were constructed by british and american capital, including some right across the country from the atlantic to the pacific, thus considerably facilitating trade with the pacific coast of america. other lines were built in brazil and in the argentine, and harbour and dock facilities were constructed in nearly all the more important south american ports. french and belgian capital shared in these undertakings, and some german capital was also employed for the same purpose. the trans-andine railway was completed, and numerous industrial works were added to the existing ones. the great economic advance was not exclusively restricted to south america; it extended to the far east, to the great british dominions beyond the sea, especially to canada and australia, and--after the close of the south african war--to africa also. russia built the great trans-siberian railway, and germany commenced to exploit the resources of her colonies. as a result of all these activities the iron and steel manufacturers were overwhelmed with export orders. this applies particularly to the german iron and steel manufacturers, whose leading organization, the stahlwerks-verband, largely favoured the route _via_ antwerp, because it was the cheapest, to the great detriment of the german ports. thus the german shipowners were compelled to follow the traffic, and the importance of antwerp increased from year to year. the hamburg-amerika linie met this development by opening a special branch office for dealing with the antwerp business. in , a year before the hamburg-amerika linie established itself in the services to brazil and the river plate, a line had been started by the company to northern brazil and the amazon river. the conflict with the booth line which resulted from this step was amicably settled in through negotiations conducted by ballin. later on, indeed, the relations between the two companies became very cordial, and even led to the conclusion of a far-reaching community of interest agreement, the booth line being represented in hamburg by the hamburg-amerika linie, and the latter in brazil by the british company. an agreement of such kind was only feasible when a particularly strong feeling of mutual trust existed between the two contracting partners, and ballin repeatedly declared that he looked upon this agreement with the booth line as the most satisfactory of all he had concluded. in the west indian business was extended by opening a passenger service to mexico, and another noteworthy event which took place during the same year was the conclusion of an agreement with the big german iron works in the rhenish-westphalian district by which the hamburg-amerika linie undertook to ship to emden the swedish iron ore needed by them from the ports of narvik and lulea. two special steamers were ordered to be exclusively used for this service. henceforth emden began to play an important part in connexion with the german ore supply, and the real prosperity of that port dated from that time. early in ballin decided to embark on a trip round the world. he thought it desirable to do so in order to acquire a first-hand knowledge of the far eastern situation, which had become of special interest to the country owing to the acquisition by germany of tsingtau, and to the unrest in china. his special object was to study the questions that had become urgent in connexion with the organization of the passenger service of which the packetfahrt, in consequence of the agreement with the lloyd, had just become a partner. there was, in addition, the project of starting a pacific service, which engaged his attention. all these important details could only be properly attended to on the spot. it became necessary to acquire a business footing in the various ports concerned, to organize the coast transport services which were to act as feeders to the main line, etc. besides, the packetfahrt, and the lloyd as well, had special reasons for being interested in far eastern affairs, as both companies had been entrusted with troop transports and the transport of equipment needed for the german contingent during the troubles in china. during his far eastern trip ballin wrote detailed accounts dealing with the business matters he attended to, and also describing his personal impressions of persons and things in general, the former kind addressed to the board of his company, the latter to his mother. these letters are full of interest; they present a more faithful description of his character as a man, and as a man of business, than could be given in any other way. i shall therefore quote a few extracts from the comprehensive reports, commencing with those he wrote to his mother:-- "_on board the i.m.s._ '_kiautschou_' "_january th, ._ "the weather was cold and windy when we arrived late at night outside port said, and midnight was well past when we had taken up the pilot and were making our way into the port. the intense cold had caused me to leave the navigating bridge; and as i did not think it likely that our agent would arrive on board with his telegrams until the next morning, i had followed the example of my wife and of nearly all the other passengers and had gone to bed. however, if we had thought that we should be able to sleep, we soon found out our mistake. the steamer had scarcely taken up her moorings when several hundreds of dusky natives, wildly screaming and gesticulating, and making a noise that almost rent the skies, invaded her in order to fill her bunkers with the tons of coal that had been ordered. perhaps there is no place anywhere where the bunkers are filled more rapidly than at port said, and certainly none where this is done to the accompaniment of a more deafening noise. just imagine a horde of natives wildly screaming at the top of their voices, and add to this the noise produced by the coal incessantly shot into the bunkers, and the shouting of the men in command going on along with it. you will easily understand that it was impossible for anyone to go to sleep under conditions such as these.... after trying for several hours, i gave up the attempt, and, on entering the drawing-room, i found that willy-nilly (but, as wippchen would have said, more nilly than willy) practically all the other passengers had done the same thing. there i was also informed that those who were in the know had not even made an attempt to go to sleep, but had gone ashore at a.m. port said is a typical brigands' den, and relies for its prosperity on the mail packets calling there. the shops, the taverns, the music-halls, and the gambling places are all organized on lines in accordance with the needs of modern traffic. so it was not surprising to see that the proprietors of these more or less inviting places of entertainment had brightly lit up their premises, and hospitably opened their doors despite the unearthly hour, being quite willing to try and entice the unwary passengers into their clutches." "_between_ aden _and_ colombo. "_january th_, . " ... we did not stop long at aden; and as the quarantine regulations for all vessels arriving from port said were very strict, it became impossible for the passengers on board the _kiautschou_ to land on the island. aden, which the british would like to turn into a second gibraltar, is situated in a barren, treeless district, and is wedged in between hills without any vegetation. small fortifications are scattered all over the island. it must be a desolate spot for europeans to live at. the british officers call it 'the devil's punch bowl,' and to be transferred to aden is equivalent to them to being deported." "_january th_, . " ... in the meantime we have spent a most enjoyable and unforgettable day at colombo. the pilot brought the news of queen victoria's death, which filled us with lively sympathy, and which caused a great deal of grief among the british passengers. shortly before o'clock we went ashore: and as the business offices do not open until an hour later--thus preventing me from calling on my business friends at that hour--i took a carriage-drive through the magnificent park-like surroundings of the city. the people one meets there are a fit match to the beautiful scenery; but whilst in former times they were the rulers of this fertile island, they are now, thanks to the blessings of civilization, the servants of their european masters.... "when we reached the old-established oriental hotel where we had our lunch, we met there a number of our fellow-passengers busily engaged in bargaining with the singhalese and indian dealers who generally flock to the terraces of the hotel as soon as a mail packet has arrived. the picture presented by such oriental bargaining is the same everywhere, except that the colombo dealers undeniably manifest an inborn gracefulness and gentlemanly bearing. when i tried to get rid of an old man who was pestering me with his offers to sell some precious stones, he said to me, in the inimitable singing tone of voice used by these people when they speak english: 'just touch this stone, please, but do not buy it: i only wish to receive it back from your lucky hands.' in spite of their manners, however, these fellows are the biggest cheats on earth. another dealer wanted to sell me a sheet of old ceylon stamps for which he demanded fifteen marks--a price which, as he stated, meant a clean loss of five marks to him. when i offered him two marks instead, merely because i had got tired of him, he handed me the whole sheet, and said: 'please take them; i know that one day i shall be rewarded for the sacrifice which i bring.' later on i discovered that the same man had sold exactly the same stamps to a fellow-passenger for pfennigs, and that he had told the same story to him as to me. such are the blessings of our marvellous civilization.... " ... in the afternoon we went for a magnificent drive to the mount lavinia hotel, which is beautifully situated on a hill affording an extensive view of the sea. boys and girls as beautiful as greek statues, and as swift-footed as fallow deer, pursued us in our carriage, begging for alms. it was curious to see with what unfailing certainty they managed to distinguish the german from the english passengers, and they were not slow in availing themselves of this opportunity to palm off what little german they knew on us. 'oh, my father! my beautiful mother! you are a great lady! please give me ten cents, my good uncle!' we were quite astonished to meet such a large progeny...." "_february nd_, . ".... the entrance to singapore is superbly beautiful. the steamer slowly wended her way through the channels between numerous small islands clad with the most luxurious vegetation, so that it almost took us two hours to reach the actual harbour.... the food question is extremely complicated in this part of the tropics, which is favoured by kind nature more than is good. the excessive fertility of the soil makes the cultivation of vegetables and cereals quite impossible, as everything runs to seed within a few days, so that, for instance, potatoes have to be obtained from java, and green vegetables from mulsow's, in hamburg. i am sure my geography master at school, who never ceased to extol the richness of the soil of this british colony, was not aware of this aspect of the matter. "singapore is a rapidly developing emporium for the trade with the far east. it has succeeded in attracting to itself much of the commerce with the dutch indies, british north borneo, the philippines, and the federated malay states. to achieve this, of course, was a difficult matter, even with the aid of the shipping companies, but its clever and energetic business community managed to do it. we germans may well be proud of the fact that our countrymen now occupy the premier position in the business life of the city.... " ... we spent about thirty-six hours at saigon. this city has been laid out by the french with admirable skill, and there is no doubt but that indo-china is a most valuable possession of theirs. as regards the difference in the national character of the french and the british, it is interesting to note that the former have just erected a magnificent building for a theatre at saigon, at a cost of - / million francs. the british would never have dreamt of doing such a thing; i am sure they would have invested that money in the building of club-houses and race-courses...." "_february th_, . " ... as far as social life and social pleasures are concerned, it must be said that the german colony at hongkong is in no way inferior to that at singapore. premier rank in this respect must be assigned to the siebs family. mr. siebs, the senior member of the hamburg firm of siemssen and co., has been a resident in the east for a long term of years--forty-two, if i remember rightly; and he now occupies an exceedingly prominent position both in german and british society. that this is so is largely due--apart from his intimate knowledge of all that concerns the trade and commerce of china, and apart from his own amiability and never-failing generosity--to his charming wife, who, by means of the hospitality, the refinement, and the exemplary management characterizing her home, has been chiefly instrumental in acquiring for the house of siebs the high reputation it enjoys. whoever is received by mrs. siebs, i have been told, is admitted everywhere in hongkong society. "even though i only give here an outline of my impressions, i cannot refrain from adding a few details dealing with some aspects of everyday life at hongkong, this jewel among the crown colonies of britain. the offices of the big firms and of the shipping companies' agencies, most of them housed in beautiful buildings, flank the water's edge; farther back there is the extensive shopping quarter, and still more in the rear there is the chinese quarter, teeming with an industrious population. being myself so much mixed up with the means of communication, i am surely entitled to make a few remarks concerning this subject in particular. horses are but rarely seen, and are only used for riding, and sporting purposes generally. their place is taken by the coolies, who no doubt represent the most pitiable type of humanity--at least, from the point of view of a sensitive person. in the low-lying part of the town the jinrikishas, which are drawn by coolies, predominate; but the greater part of hongkong is situated on the slopes of a hill, and nearly all the private residences are built along the beautifully kept, terrace-like roads leading up to the summit of the peak. in this part the chair coolies take the place of the jinrikisha coolies; and in the low-lying parts also it is considered more stylish to be carried by chair coolies. the ordinary hired chairs are generally carried by two coolies only, but four are needed for the private ones. the work done by these poor wretches is fatiguing in the extreme. they have to drag their masters up and down the hill, which is very steep in places, and it is a horrid sensation to be carried by these specimens of panting humanity for the first time. in the better-class european households each member of the family has his own chair, and the necessary coolies along with it, who are paid the princely wage of from marks to marks pfennigs a month. they also receive a white jacket and a pair of white drawers reaching to the knee, but they have to provide their own food. the poor fellows are generally natives from the interior parts of the island. they spend about one mark a week on their food; the rest they send home to their families. they are mostly married, and the money they earn in their capacity as private coolies represents to them a fortune. they rarely live longer than forty years; in fact, their average length of life is said not to exceed thirty-five. as many as eight coolies were engaged to attend to the needs of my wife and myself for the time of our stay. the poor creatures, who, by the way, had quite a good time in our service, spent the whole day from early in the morning to late at night lying in front of a side entrance to our hotel, except when they had to do their work for us.... " ... the chinese have only one annual holiday--new year. they are hard at work during the whole year; they know of no sundays and of no holidays, but the commencement of the new year is associated with a peculiar belief of theirs. to celebrate the event, they take their best clothes out of pawn (which, for the rest of the year, they keep at the pawnbroker's to prevent them from being stolen). to keep the evil spirits away during the coming twelvemonth, they burn hundreds of thousands of firecrackers when the new year begins, and also during the first and second days of it, accompanied by the noise of the firing of guns. one must have been through it all in order to understand it. for the better part of two days and two nights one could imagine a fierce battle raging in the neighbourhood; crackers were exploding on all sides, together with rockets and fireballs, and the whole was augmented by the shouting and screaming of the revellers. it was a mad noise, and we could scarcely get any sleep at night. "the houses in the chinese quarter were decorated up to the roofs with bunting, beautiful big lanterns, paper garlands with religious inscriptions, and a mass of lovely flowers. "on such days--the only holidays they possess--the chinese population are in undisputed possession of their town, and the british administration is wise enough not to interfere with the enjoyment of these sober and hard-working people. i really wonder how the german police would act in such cases...." "shanghai, _march th, _. " ... it is surely no exaggeration to describe shanghai as the new york of the far east. the whole of the rapidly increasing trade with the yangtse ports, and the bulk of that with the northern parts of the country, passes through shanghai. the local german colony is much larger than the one at hongkong; and here, too, it is pleasant to find that our countrymen are playing an extremely important part in the extensive business life of the town...." "_between_ tsingtau _and_ nagasaki, _on board the s.s_ _'sibiria_.' "_march th, ._ "our s.s. _sibiria_ had arrived in the harbour about ten days ago, and was now ready for our use. i had decided first of all to make a trip up the yang-tse-kiang on board the _sibiria_, because i wanted to get to know this important river, which flows through such a fertile tract of country, and on the banks of which so many of the busiest cities of china are situated. the yangtse--as it is usually called for shortness' sake--is navigable for very large-sized ocean-going steamers for a several days' journey. during the summer months it often happens that the level of the water in its upper reaches rises by as much as feet, which--on account of the danger of the tremendous floods resulting from it--has made it necessary to pay special attention to the laying-out of the cities situated on its banks. the object of our journey was nanking. this city, which was once the all-powerful capital of the celestial empire, has never again reached its former importance since its destruction during the great revolution of , and since the choice of peking as the residence of the imperial family. two years ago it was thrown open to foreign commerce; and the powers immediately established their consulates in the city, not only because a new era of development is looked forward to, but also because nanking is the seat of a viceroy. "our amiable consul, herr v. oertzen, received us with the greatest hospitality. the german colony which he has to look after consists of only one member so far. this young gentleman, who holds an appointment in connexion with the chinese customs administration, feels, as is but natural, quite happy in consequence of enjoying a practical monopoly of the protection extended to him by the home government. he has helped himself to the consul's cigars and to his moselle to such good effect that the _sibiria_ arrived just in time to prevent the german colony at nanking from lodging a complaint regarding the insufficiency of the supplies put at its disposal by the government. the consul told us that we should never have a chance of coming across another chinese town that could compare with the interior of nanking, and so we had to make up our minds to pay a visit to these parts. "i had seen plenty of dirt and misery at jaffa and jerusalem, but i have never found so much filth and wretchedness anywhere as i noticed at nanking. my wife and a charming young lady who accompanied us on our yangtse expedition were borne in genuine sedan chairs as used for the mandarins, preceded by the interpreter of the consulate, and followed by the rest of us, who were riding on mules provided with those typically chinese saddles, which, owing to their hardness, may justly claim to rank among the instruments of torture. "our procession wended its way through a maze of indescribably narrow streets crowded with a moving mass of human beings and animals. everywhere cripples and blind men lay moaning in front of their miserable hovels, and it almost seemed that there were more people suffering from some disease or other than there were healthy ones. when we stopped outside the big temple of confucius, where the ladies of our party dismounted from their chairs, the people, in spite of their natural timidity, flocked to see us, because they had probably never seen any european ladies until then. we were thankful when at last we reached the consulate building again, and when, after having had a good bath, we are able to enjoy a cup of tea. " ... in the early hours of march th our steamer arrived at tsingtau. i was surprised and delighted with what i saw. there, in spite of innumerable difficulties, a city had sprung up in an incredibly short space of time. "rooms had been reserved for us at the handsome, but very cold, hotel prinz heinrich; and in the afternoon of the day of our arrival we strolled up the roads, which were still somewhat dusty, and in parts only half finished, to the summit of the hill where the acting governor and the officers of higher rank had their homes. even though it is true that up to now military necessities have taken precedence in the laying-out of the town, so that the needs of trade and traffic have not received due attention, it must be admitted that a wonderful piece of constructive work has been achieved. all the members of our party--especially those who, like dr. knappe, our consul-general at shanghai, had known the place two years ago--were most agreeably surprised at the progress that had been made. "our first few days at tsingtau were spent much as they were everywhere else--plenty of work during the day-time, and plenty of social duties in the evenings. but things began to look different on saturday morning, when my old friend and well-wisher, field-marshal count waldersee, arrived on board h.m.s. _kaiserin auguste_. he had announced that his arrival would take place at a.m., and his flagship cast anchor with military punctuality. the governor and i went on board to welcome the old gentleman, who was evidently greatly touched at meeting me out here, and it was plain to see that my presence in this part of the world made him almost feel homesick. the field-marshal very much dislikes the restrictions imposed on his activities; and judging from all he told me, i must confess that a great military leader has hardly ever before been faced with a more thankless task than he. on the one hand he is handicapped through the diplomatists, and on the other through the want of unanimity among the powers. thus, instead of fulfilling the soldier's task with which he is entrusted, he is compelled to waste his time in idleness, and to preside at endless conferences at which matters are discussed dealing with the most trivial questions of etiquette. he really deserves something better than that...." "tokio. _march st, ._ " ... what a difference between japan and the cold and barren north of china! there everything was dull and gloomy, whilst this country is flooded with sunshine. here we are surrounded by beautifully wooded hills, and a magnificent harbour extends right into the heart of the city. from the windows of our rooms we overlook big liners and powerful men-of-war, and our own _sibiria_ has chosen such a berth that the hapag flag merrily floating in the breeze gives us a friendly welcome. "the difference in the national character of the chinaman and the japanese clearly proves the great influence which the climate and the natural features of a country can exercise on its inhabitants. the one always grave and sulky, and not inclined to be friendly; the other always cheerful, fond of gossip, and overflowing with politeness in all his intercourse with strangers. but it must not be forgotten that the integrity of the chinese, especially of the chinese merchants, is simply beyond praise, whereas the japanese have a reputation for using much cunning and very little sincerity, so that european business men cannot put much faith in them. "the women of japan are known to us through 'the mikado' and 'the geisha.' they make a direct appeal to our sympathies and to our sense of humour. in one week the stranger will become more closely acquainted with the womenfolk and the family life of japan than he would with those of china after half a dozen years of residence in their midst. in china the women are kept in seclusion as much as possible, but the whole family life of the japs is carried on with an utter indifference to publicity. this is due to a large extent to the way their homes are built. their houses are just as dainty as they are themselves; and it is really quite remarkable to see that the japs, who closely imitate everything they see in europe, still build them exactly as they have done from time immemorial. they are practically without windows, and in place of these the openings in the walls are filled with paper stretched on to frames. instead of doors there are movable screens made of lattice-work; and since everything is kept wide open during the day-time one can look right into the rooms from the street. in the summer the japanese make their home in the streets, and we are told that then the most intimate family scenes are enacted in the open air. i am of opinion that this, far from pointing to a want of morality, is really the outcome of a highly developed code of morals. things which are perfectly natural in themselves are treated as such, and are therefore not hidden from the light of day.... " ... at a.m. on march rd we arrived at kobe, where we had to spend several days. "our trip is now approaching its end; at least, we now experience the pleasant feeling that we are daily nearing home. what will it look like when we get back? at almost every port of call some sad news has reached us, and our stay at kobe was entirely overshadowed by my grief at the loss of my old friend laeisz. even now i cannot realize that i shall find his place empty when i return...." the brief statement in which ballin summarized the results of his trip from a business point of view is appended:-- "among the business transacted during my trip the following items are of chief importance: "( ) the establishment of a branch of our company at hongkong. "( ) the acquisition of the imperial mail packet service to shanghai, tsingtau, and tientsin, formerly carried on by messrs. diedrichsen, jebsen and co. "( ) the acquisition of the yangtse line, hitherto carried on by the firm of rickmers. "( ) the joint purchase with the firm of carlowitz and messrs. arnhold, karberg and co. of a large site outside shanghai harbour intended for the building of docks and quays, and the lease of the so-called eastern wharf, both these undertakings to be managed by a specially created joint-stock company. "( ) the establishment of temporary offices at shanghai. "( ) in japan discussions are still proceeding concerning the running of a line from the far east to the american pacific coast. "( ) in new york negotiations with the representative of the firm of forwood are under way regarding the purchase of the atlas line." this list summarizes the contents of a long series of letters from all parts of the world where ballin's keen insight, long foresight, and business acumen suggested to his alert mind possibilities of extending packetfahrt shipping interests. time translated many of his suggestions into flourishing actualities, some of which survived the - years; others disappeared in the cataclysm; others, again, by the lapse of time have not the keen general interest that appertained to the ideas when they fell fresh-minted from his pen. the following, however, in regard to china and japan, are worthy of record: "_shanghai._ _march th, ._ "i am not quite satisfied with the course which the negotiations concerning the possible inauguration of a yangtse line have taken so far. "the vessels employed are of the flat-bottomed kind, some being paddle boats, others twin-screw steamers. in their outward appearance the yangtse steamers, owing to their high erections on deck, greatly resemble the saloon steamers plying on the hudson. their draught rarely exceeds feet, and those which occasionally go higher up the river than hankau draw even less. most of the money earned by these boats is derived from the immense chinese passenger traffic they carry.... the chief difficulty we have experienced in our preparations for the opening of a yangtse line of our own consists in the absence of suitable pier accommodation...." "_on board the s.s. sibiria on the yangtse._ _march th, ._ " ... after what i have seen of nanking, i am afraid that the development of that place which is being looked forward to will not be realized for a fairly long time to come. matters are quite different with respect to chin-kiang where we are stopping now, a port which is even now carrying on a thriving trade with the interior parts of the country. it can scarcely be doubted that, if the celestial empire is thrown open to the western nations still more than has been done up to now, the commerce of the yangtse ports is bound to assume large proportions. during the summer months, i.e. for practically two-thirds of the year, the yangtse is navigable for ocean-going steamers of deep draught, even more so than the mississippi. at that time of the year the volume of water carried by the river increases enormously in certain reaches. this increase has been found to amount to as much as feet, and some of the steamers of the russian volunteer fleet going up to hankau possess a draught which exceeds feet...." "_on board the sibiria between_ tsingtau and japan. _march th, ._ " ... we arrived at tsingtau on the morning of march th. the impression produced by this german colony on the new-comer is an exceedingly favourable one. everywhere a great deal of diligent work has been performed, and one feels almost inclined to think that the building activity has proceeded too fast, so that the inevitable reaction will not fail to take place. looked at from our shipping point of view, it must be stated that the work accomplished looks too much like wilhelmshaven, and too little like hongkong. it was, of course, a foregone conclusion that in the development of a colony which is completely ruled by the admiralty the naval interests would predominate. however, there is still time to remedy the existing defects, and i left kiautschou with the conviction that a promising future is in store for it. only the landing facilities are hopelessly inadequate at present; and as to the accommodation for merchant vessels which is in course of being provided, it would seem that too extensive a use has been made of the supposed fact that mistakes are only there in order to be committed, and that it would be a pity not to commit as many as possible...." "_on board the s.s. empress of china between_ yokohama and vancouver. _april th, ._ " ... in the meantime i have had opportunities of slightly familiarizing myself in more respects than one with the conditions ruling in japan. "the country is faced with an economic crisis. encouraged by a reckless system of credit, she has imported far more than necessary; she is suffering from a shortage of money, which is sure to paralyse her importing capacities for some time to come. "it seems pretty certain too, that future development will be influenced by another and far more serious factor, viz.: the ousting of the german by the american commerce from the japanese market. the exports from the united states to japan have increased just as much as those to china.... i cannot help thinking that in the coming struggle america will enjoy immense advantages over us; but you must permit me to postpone the presentation of a detailed statement showing my reasons for thinking so until my return to hamburg.... i believe we shall be well advised to establish as soon as possible a service between the far east and the pacific coast of america...." in far-reaching alterations were made in the relations existing between the hamburg-amerika linie and the north german lloyd, which had become somewhat less friendly than usual in more respects than one; and in particular the agreement concerning the far eastern services of both companies was subjected to some considerable modifications. the year is also remarkable for an event which, although not of great importance from the business point of view, is of interest in other respects. this event was the establishment of business relations with a danish company concerning, in the first place, the west indian trade, and later that with russia also. the danish concern in question was the east asiatic company, of copenhagen. the founder of this company was a mr. andersen, one of the most successful business men known to modern commercial enterprise, and certainly not only the most successful one of his own country, but also one of high standing internationally. when still quite young he founded a business in further india which, although conducted at first on a small scale only, he was able to extend by the acquisition of valuable concessions, especially of teak-wood plantations in siam. in course of time this business developed into a shipping firm which, owing to the concessions just mentioned, was always in a position to ship cargo of its own--an advantage which proved inestimable when business was bad and no other freight was forthcoming. when mr. andersen returned to europe he continued to enlarge his business, making copenhagen its centre. he enjoyed the special patronage of the danish royal family, and afterwards also that of the imperial russian family. his special well-wisher and a partner of his firm was the princess marie of denmark, who became known in the political world because she incurred the enmity of bismarck, chiefly on account of her attempt to stir up ill feeling between the iron chancellor and tsar alexander iii. bismarck, in the second volume of his memoirs, describes how he succeeded in circumventing her plans through a personal meeting with the tsar. it was the exceptional business abilities of the princess marie which brought mr. andersen into contact with the russian imperial family. it is typical of the common sense of the princess and of her unaffected manners that she arrived at the offices of the hamburg-amerika linie one day without having been previously announced; and as she did not give her name to the attendant outside ballin's private office, he could only tell him that "a lady" wanted to see him. the two letters addressed to ballin which are given below are also illustrative of her style. "my dear sir, "_january th_, . "i hope you will excuse my writing in french to you, but you may reply to me in english. i have had a chat with director andersen, who told me that your discussions with him have led to nothing. i greatly regret this, both for personal reasons and in the interests of the business. i am convinced that your negotiations would have had the desired result if it had not been for some special obstacles with which this new company had to contend. it is such a pity that mr. andersen had to attend to so many other things. if you and he alone had had to deal with it, and if it had been purely a business matter, the agreement would certainly have been concluded at once. perhaps you and andersen will shortly discover a basis on which you can co-operate. i personally should highly appreciate an understanding between my company and yours if it could be brought about, so that you could work together hand in hand like two good friends. you _must_ help me with it. mr. andersen was so charmed with your amiability when he came back. one other thing i must tell you, because i possess sufficient business experience to understand it, and that is that both he and i admire you as a man of business. i should be delighted if you could come here; but i request you to give a few days' notice of your arrival. wishing you every success in your undertakings and the best of luck during the new year, "i remain, yours faithfully, (_signed_) "marie." "my dear director, "_february th, ._ "i am so delighted to hear from mr. andersen that his company and yours intend to co-operate in the danish west indies and in russia to your mutual interest. i have always held that such an understanding between you and mr. andersen would lead to good results, and you may feel convinced that i shall extend to you not only my personal assistance and sympathy, but also that of my family, and that of my russian family, all of whom take a great interest in this matter. i am looking forward to seeing you in hamburg early in march on my way to france. with my best regards, "yours faithfully, (_signed_) "marie." in june, , after the close of kiel week, ballin paid a visit to copenhagen. there he met the princess marie and the king and queen of denmark, and was invited to dine with them at bernstorff castle. the business outcome of the negotiations was that in a joint service to the west indies was established between the hamburg-amerika linie and the danish west indian company. four of the big new steamers of the latter were leased to the packetfahrt, and operated by that company, which thus not only increased the tonnage at its disposal, but also succeeded in eliminating an unnecessary competition. at the same time the packetfahrt bought the larger part of the shares of the russian east asiatic s.s. company owned by the danish firm. the object of the purchase was to establish a community of interests with the russian company. the kaiser took great interest in this scheme, and during his visits to copenhagen in and mr. andersen reported to him on the subject. it was intended to bring about close business relations between germany, russia, and denmark for the special purpose of developing russian trade, and to organize the russian east asiatic s.s. company on such lines as would make it a suitable instrument to this end. it is to be regretted that the community of interest agreement then concluded was not of long duration. the russian bureaucracy made all sorts of difficulties, and it is possible that the representatives of the hamburg-amerika linie in russia did not display as much discretion in their dealings with these functionaries as they ought to have done. at any rate, the packetfahrt was so little satisfied with its participation in this russian concern that it re-sold its rights to the interested copenhagen parties in , not without incurring a considerable loss on the transaction. the west indies agreement automatically lapsed when the packetfahrt acquired sole possession of the four danish steamers. later on some sort of co-operation with the russian company was brought about once more by the admission of that company to the transatlantic steerage pool. the packetfahrt also had an opportunity of profiting from the technical experience gained by the danish east asiatic company, which was the first shipping concern to specialize in the use of motor-ships. it was enabled to do so by the support it received from the shipbuilding firm of messrs. burmeister and wain, of copenhagen, who had applied the diesel engine, a german invention, to the propulsion of ships, and who subsequently built a fleet of excellent motor-ships for the east asiatic company. one of these vessels was afterwards acquired by the hamburg-amerika linie for studying purposes. the new type of vessel proved exceedingly remunerative during the war, as it made the owners independent of the supply of british bunker coal, and relieved them of the numerous difficulties connected with obtaining it. this great practical success of the danish shipbuilders became possible only because they applied themselves consistently to the development of one particular type of engine, whereas in germany endless experiments were made with a great variety of different types which led to no tangible results. it was only when the war came, and when the building of numerous submarines became necessary that german engineering skill obtained a chance of showing what it could do, and then, indeed, it proved itself worthy of the occasion. in war broke out between russia and japan, an event which exercised such an influence on the packetfahrt that it is hardly an exaggeration to say that the rapid progress the company made during the next few years amounted to a re-birth. the war provided the company with a chance to sell a large number of its units at a considerable rate of profit, and the contract concluded with the russian government for the coal supply added enormously to its revenues. the russian government partly converted the purchased steamers into auxiliary cruisers for the purpose of checking and disorganizing japanese sea-borne trade, and it partly used them to accompany its baltic fleet on its way to the far east. as an illustration of the magnitude and the complexity of this transaction, it may be permitted to quote a few extracts from ballin's notes referring to it: "_may, ._ "much though my time has been occupied by the hungarian affair (the competition of the cunard line in hungary), and great though the strain on my nerves has been on that account, i must say that much bigger claims are made on my time and on my nerves by the negotiations we are now carrying on with the russian government concerning the sale of some of our steamers. on christmas day i sent some representatives to petrograd who were to approach the government in case it intended to acquire any merchant vessels for purposes of war. these gentlemen are still staying at petrograd, where they have been all the time with the exception of a few weeks, and we have carried on some extremely difficult negotiations by cable which so far have led to the definite sale of the _fürst bismarck_ and the _belgia_. the _auguste victoria_, which is still in dock until the necessary repairs have been executed, has also been sold to russia, and the prospects that the _columbia_ will follow suit are extremely good. "the sales, of course, necessitate large alterations of the existing schedules, and they lead to a great deal of inconvenience. a particularly awkward situation has been brought about by the circumstance that the _fürst bismarck_ has been chartered to the firm of thos. cook and sons for an excursion from marseilles, in which members of a sunday school are to take part, so that, in order to release her, it has become necessary for the _augusts victoria_ to interrupt her usual trip to the near east, and for the _columbia_ to take her place.... "our big coal contract with the russian government has, in the meantime, been considerably added to. the execution of the contract, however, is causing me a great deal of anxiety, as the english press, notably _the times_, is only too glad to make use of this circumstance as a pretext for rousing suspicions as to germany's neutrality. as our government is not taking up a very firm attitude, the effect of these articles, of course, is highly disagreeable. on friday, september rd, i had an opportunity of discussing this matter with the imperial chancellor at homburg. the chancellor did not disguise the anxiety he felt concerning these contracts, especially as he had just then received a long telegram from the german ambassador in tokio advising him to proceed with much caution. i told the chancellor that he need not study in any way the damage which our company might suffer; that we did not ask that any regard should be paid to our business interests in case these should clash with those of the country, and that, if the government were of opinion that the interests of the country necessitated the cancelling of the whole agreement, i should be glad to receive instructions from him to that effect. failing such instructions, of course, i was not entitled to cancel a contract which was in every respect a properly drawn-up legal instrument. at the same time i pointed out to the chancellor that germany, if he thought that he had reason to adopt such an attitude, would run the risk of offending both antagonists; for it was but reasonable to expect that, owing to the agitation carried on by the british, no action on germany's part would cause a change of feeling in japan, but that it would be a fatal blow to russia, whose baltic fleet in that case would simply be unable to reach the far east. "from frankfort i went to berlin in order to discuss the question of the coal contract with the foreign office, which the chancellor had requested me to do. i had a long conference with richthofen.... " ... _october st, ._ meanwhile our negotiations with the russian government have made good progress, and practically the whole of my time is taken up with these transactions, which have given us a very exciting time. they compel me to go to berlin pretty frequently, as i consider it both fair to the foreign office and advisable in our own interests that the former should always be fully informed of all the steps i am taking. several of our gentlemen are constantly travelling from hamburg to petrograd, and conferences of our directors are held nearly every morning, necessitated by the telegrams which arrive from petrograd practically every day. in order to be in a position to carry out the coal contracts, we have been obliged to charter a large number of steamers, so that at times as many as of these are employed in this russian transaction. besides the old express steamers and the _belgia_ we have now sold to the russians the _palatia_ and the _phoenicia_, as well as nine other boats of our company, including the _belgravia_, _assyria_, and _granada_ (the remaining ones are cargo vessels, mostly taken out of the west indies service), but as regards these latter, we have reserved to ourselves the right of redemption.... we have successfully accomplished the great task we had undertaken, although, owing to the absence of coaling stations, it was thought next to impossible to convey such a huge squadron as was the baltic fleet all the way from european to far eastern waters. it safely reached its destination, because the previously arranged coaling of the vessels was carried out systematically and without a hitch anywhere, although in some cases it had to be done in open roadsteads. its inglorious end in the korea straits cannot, and does not, diminish the magnitude of the achievement; and the experiences we have gained by successfully carrying out our novel task will surely prove of great value to the government. this whole coaling business has been a source of considerable profits to our company, although if due regard is paid to the exceptional character of the work and to the unusual risks we had to run, they cannot be called exorbitant." a few statistics will show what the whole undertaking meant to the hamburg-amerika linie from a business point of view. during the years and the company increased its fleet by no less than steamers--partly new buildings and partly new purchases--representing a value of - / million marks. to these new acquisitions must be added the steamers then building, of a value of million marks, amongst them the two big passenger steamers _amerika_ and _kaiserin auguste victoria_ for the new york route, and other big boats for the mexico, the river plate, and the far east services. a large fraction of the sums spent on this new tonnage--viz. no less than million marks--represented the profits made on the sales of ships; another large portion was taken out of current earnings, and the remainder was secured by a debenture issue. never again, except in , has the company added such an amount of tonnage to its fleet in a single year as it did at that time. but the "re-birth" of the company did not only consist in this augmentation of tonnage, but also, and chiefly, in the entire reorganization of its new york service by the addition to its fleet of the _amerika_ and the _kaiserin auguste victoria_. this event meant that the era of the express steamers was being succeeded by one characterized by another type of vessel which, though possessing less speed, was mainly designed with a view to securing the utmost possible comfort to the passengers. the two steamers proved exceedingly remunerative investments, and added enormously to the clientèle of the company. the profits earned on the russian transaction also made up to a large extent for the losses incurred in the keen rate war with the cunard line then in progress. in spite of this rate war the company was able to increase its dividend to per cent. in , and to per cent. in . another event which took place in was the conclusion of a contract with the german government concerning the troop transports to german south-west africa, and the year witnessed the settlement of a short-lived conflict with the north german lloyd. this conflict attracted a great deal of attention at the time, and the kaiser himself thought fit to intervene with a view to terminating it. when it was seen that german commercial interests in the middle east had considerably increased, the hamburg-amerika linie opened a special line to the persian gulf in . the year is chiefly remarkable for a rate war affecting the services from hamburg to the west coast of africa, of which until then the woermann line had considered itself entitled to claim a monopoly. the african shipping business had been jealously nursed by its founder, adolph woermann, who had always tried hard to guard this special domain of his against the encroachments of all outsiders. however much ballin and adolph woermann differed in character, they were akin to each other in one essential feature--viz. the jealous love they bore to the undertaking with which they had identified themselves. both men, grown up in absolutely different environments, yet resembled each other in the daring and the fearlessness with which they defended the interests of their businesses. the one had trained himself to employ moderation and commonsense to overcome resistance where the use of forcible means promised no success; the other was a pioneer in the colonial sphere, a king in his african empire, the discoverer of new outlets, but broken in spirit and bereft of his strength when compelled by circumstances to share with others. when adolph woermann had died, ballin honoured his memory by contributing to the public press an appreciation of his character, which is perhaps the best that has been written, and which ought to be saved from being forgotten. this fact, it is hoped, will be sufficient justification for reproducing in this connexion a translation of ballin's article: "the late adolph woermann was a man whom we may truly describe as the ideal of what a hanseatic citizen should be. secretary of state dernburg himself once told me that he knew quite well that the work he was doing for the benefit of our colonies would never come up to what adolph woermann had achieved in the face of the greatest imaginable difficulties. "never before, perhaps, has any private shipowner displayed so much daring as we see embodied in the business he has built up through his labours. woermann has developed the means of communication between germany and her african colonies to such perfection that even the similar work performed by british shipping men has been overshadowed. he has done this without receiving any aid from the government; in fact, he had to overcome all sorts of obstacles which were put in his way by the bureaucracy. his confidence in his work was not shaken when losses had to be faced. then, more than ever, he had his eyes firmly fixed on his goal; and practically every vessel which he had built to facilitate communication between the german mother country and her colonies represented a fresh step forward towards a higher type, thus increasing the immense personal responsibility with which he burdened himself. his patriotism was of the practical kind; he did his work without asking for the help of others, especially without that of the government. "and now he has died in bitter disappointment. his striking outward appearance has always reminded us of the iron chancellor, but the similarity in the character of the two men has only become apparent during the last few years. it is well known that when the troubles in the colonies had been settled he was accused of having enriched himself at the expense of the country. he never lost his resentment of this accusation; and even though his accusers can point to the fact that the court which had to investigate the claims put forward by the government gave judgment to the effect that some of these claims were justified, it must be said in reply that this statement of the case is inadequate and one-sided. all that was proved was that woermann, who hated red tape, and who never had recourse to legal assistance when drawing up his agreements, did not use as much caution in this matter as would have been advisable in his own interest. the facts that have become known most clearly disprove the accusation that he had made large profits at the expense of the country, and that he had used the country's distress to enrich himself. to the task of carrying out the troop transports he devoted himself with his customary largeness of purpose, and he accomplished it magnificently. in order to be able to do so, he had enlarged his fleet by a number of steamers, and the consequence was that, when the work was achieved, he had to admit himself that he had over-estimated his strength. when my late colleague dr. wiegand, the director-general of the north german lloyd, and i were asked to express an expert opinion on the rates which woermann had charged the government, we found them thoroughly moderate; in fact, we added a rider to the effect that if either of our companies had been entrusted with those transports, we could only have carried out a very few expeditions at the rates charged by woermann. woermann, however, carried through the whole task; and when it was done he found himself compelled to pass on to the shoulders of the hamburg-amerika linie part of the excessive burden which he had taken upon himself. "his iron determination would have enabled him to dispense with the assistance thus obtained. but by that time his accusers had commenced their attacks on his character, and when the government had officially taken up an attitude against him, he became a prey to that resentment to which i have referred before. all those who had the privilege of being associated with him during the past few years must have noted with grief how this great patriot gradually became an embittered critic. the heavy blow also led to the breakdown of his health, and during the last years of his life we only knew him as a sick man. "if it is borne in mind how strong, how masterful, and how self-reliant a man has passed away with adolph woermann, it is sad to think that in the end he was not strong enough after all to bear on his own shoulders entirely the immense burden of responsibility which he had taken upon himself, and that he received nothing but ingratitude as the reward of his life's work, although he was actuated by truly patriotic motives throughout. still, this shall not prevent us from acknowledging that he was the greatest, the most daring, and the most self-sacrificing private shipowner whom the hanseatic cities have ever produced--a princely merchant if ever there was one. he was a true friend and an earnest well-wisher to the city in which he was born, and to the country which he served as a statesman. we are sincerely grateful to him for the work he has done, and in honouring his memory we know that we are paying tribute to the greatest hanseatic citizen who had been living in our midst." to complete the enumeration of the many rate wars which occurred during the first decade of the twentieth century, we must make brief reference to the competition emanating in from the so-called "princes' trust" (fürstenkonzern) and its ally, viz. a hamburg firm which had already fought the woermann line. the object of the fight was to secure the business from antwerp to the plate. the struggle ended with the acquisition of the shipping interests of the princes' trust, the business career of which came to a sudden end shortly afterwards by a financial disaster causing enormous losses to the two princely families concerned--the house of hohenlohe and that of fürstenberg. the details connected with this affair are still in everybody's memory, and it would be beyond the scope of this volume to enter into them. it should be mentioned, however, that in connexion with the settlement arrived at the two big companies undertook to start some transatlantic services from the port of emden, and in particular to establish a direct line for the steerage traffic to north america. the necessary arrangements to this end had just been made when the war broke out, and further progress became impossible. the transatlantic pool was considerably extended in scope during those years. more than once, however, after the rate war with the cunard line had come to an end, the amicable relations existing between the lines were disturbed, e.g. when the russian volunteer fleet opened a competing service--a competition which was got rid of by the aid of the russian east asiatic s.s. company; when some british lines temporarily withdrew from the steerage pool, and when some differences of policy arose between the hamburg-amerika linie and the north german lloyd. the hamburg company demanded a revision of the percentages, contending that the arrangements made fifteen years ago no longer did justice to the entirely altered relative positions of the two companies. the discussions held in london in february, , under ballin's chairmanship, which lasted several days, and in which delegates of all the big continental and british lines, as well as of the canadian pacific railway company took part, led to the formation of the atlantic conference (also known as the general pool). it was supplemented in the following year by that of the mediterranean conference. both these agreements were renewed in , and further agreements were concluded with the russian and scandinavian lines to complete the system. agreements on so large a scale had never before been concluded between any shipping companies. this network of agreements existed until it was destroyed through the outbreak of the war. during the fluctuating conditions which characterized the shipping business of those years the year witnessed a depression which, in its after-effects, is comparable only to that caused by the cholera epidemic sixteen years earlier. business had been excellent for a fairly long time, but it became thoroughly demoralized in the second half of , and an economic crisis of a magnitude such as has seldom been experienced began to affect every country. no part of the shipping business remained unaffected by it; hundreds and hundreds of ocean-going liners lay idle in the seaports of the world. very gradually prospects began to brighten up in the course of , so that the worst of the depression had passed sooner than had been expected. indeed, in one respect the crisis had proved a blessing in disguise, inasmuch as it had strengthened the inclination of the shipping concerns everywhere to compromise and to eliminate unnecessary competition--the formation of the general pool, in fact, being the outcome of that feeling. the subsequent recovery made up for the losses; and the succeeding years, with their very gratifying financial results, and their vast internal consolidation, represent the high-water mark in the development of the hamburg-amerika linie. shortly after the end of the depression a renewed spell of building activity set in. first of all a new cargo steamer, possessing a burden of , tons--which was something quite unusual at the time--was ordered to be built by messrs. harland and wolff, at a price which was also unusually low. it almost created a record for cheapness; and the courage of the builders who accepted such an order at such terms was greatly admired. a german yard--the vulkan, of bremen--then came forward with a similar offer, because the german shipbuilders, too, were glad to provide their men with work. the result of the combined labour of both these firms was a type of cargo boat which proved extremely useful, especially in the far eastern trade, and which represented a good investment to the company. gradually the other branches of the business began to increase their activity, and the service to north america especially received the close attention of the company's management. meanwhile, other shipping companies had added some vessels of the very highest class to their fleets. the two big turbine steamers of the cunard line, the _lusitania_ and the _mauretania_, had attracted many passengers, and the white star line had the mammoth liner _olympic_ building, which was to be followed by two others of the same type, the _titanic_ and the _gigantic_. the new cunarder, the _aquitania_, was to be of the same type, so that once more the public was offered the choice of steamers of a kind unknown until then. this competition compelled the packetfahrt to follow suit, and ballin commenced to evolve plans for the building of a new vessel which, of course, had to surpass the highest achievement of the competing lines, i.e. the _olympic_. thus, in co-operation with the vulkan yard, of stettin, and with messrs. blohm and voss, of hamburg, the plans for the three steamers of the "imperator" class were designed. the competition among the various yards had been extremely keen, and the vulkan yard secured the order for the building of the first unit of this class, the _imperator_. from the point of view of speed, these new vessels resembled the fast steamers of the older kind; with regard to their equipment, they represented a combination of this type and that of the _kaiserin_, but from the business point of view they were quite a novelty, as the basis of their remunerativeness was no longer the cargo and steerage business, but the cabin business. if the booking of a certain number of cabins could be relied on for each voyage an adequate return would be assured. everything, therefore, was done to attract as many cabin passengers as possible. these vessels were a triumph of german shipbuilding and engineering skill; and the senior partner of messrs. blohm and voss, when the _vaterland_ was launched, stated with just pride that she was the biggest vessel in existence; that she was built on the biggest slip; that she had received her equipment under the biggest crane, and that she would be docked in the biggest floating dock in the world. the launching of the third and biggest of the three steamers, the _bismarck_, represented a red-letter day in the life of ballin and in the history of the company. nominally she was christened by the granddaughter of the iron chancellor, but actually by the kaiser. the bottle of champagne used for the purpose did not break when it left the young lady's hands; but the kaiser seized it, and with a sweeping movement of the arm hurled it against the stem of the huge vessel. to remove as far as possible the last vestige of the unhappy estrangement between the kaiser and the chancellor had always been ballin's earnest desire. so it filled him with great joy when he was enabled to dedicate the greatest product of his life-work to the memory of the prince whom he admired intensely; and still more was he pleased when the kaiser consented to take part in the ceremony. he had often expressed his regret at the unfortunate stage management in connexion with the kaiser's visit to hamburg after the unveiling of the bismarck monument, when he was driven past it without an opportunity having been arranged for him to inspect it. such a course, ballin remarked, was bound to create the impression that the kaiser had intentionally been led past it. "i wish i had been permitted to speak to the kaiser about it beforehand," he told me afterwards. "i am sure he would have insisted upon seeing it." proper stage management plays so prominent a part in the life of royalty, and it can be of such great use in avoiding certain blunders and in hiding certain shortcomings that it is much to be regretted that the kaiser had so often to dispense with it. the entering into the packetfahrt's service of the "imperator" type of steamers represented an extraordinary increase in the amount of tonnage which the company employed on the new york route; and when the north german lloyd refused to allow the packetfahrt a corresponding addition to its percentage share under the pool agreement, which the packetfahrt believed itself justified in asking for, a conflict threatened once more to disturb the relations existing between the two companies. as a result the position of both was weakened in austria, where the government cleverly used the situation to its own advantage. apart from this, however, not much damage was done, as negotiations were soon started with the object of securing the conclusion of a far-reaching community of interest agreement which was not merely to be restricted to the transatlantic services of the two companies. if these negotiations could be brought to a successful issue, ballin thought that this would be the dawn of a new era in the contractual relations existing between shipping firms everywhere, because he believed that such development would not be confined to the german lines, but would assume international proportions. the agreements actually in force seemed to him obsolete--at least in part. that this should be so is but natural, as the factor which it is intended to eliminate by the terms of such agreements--man's innate selfishness--is, after all, ineradicable. "nature," in the words of the roman poet, "will always return, even if you expel it with a pitchfork." wherever a human trait like selfishness is to be kept within certain bounds by means of written agreements, it becomes necessary not only to make small improvements from time to time, but to subject the whole system to a thorough overhauling every now and then. many events affecting the progress of the company's business have no reference in these pages, but the reader can visualize the importance of albert ballin's life-work if he keeps before his mind the fact that while in the early part of the hamburg-amerika linie maintained but a mail service from hamburg to new york and four lines to mexico and the west indies, from that date to fifty new services were added to the existing ones. the fleet possessed by the hamburg-amerika linie in consisted of ocean-going steamers, totalling , g.r.t.[ ] by the end of these figures had increased to steamers and , , g.r.t. respectively. during the twenty-eight years vessels of , , tons had been added, either by new building or by purchase, and steamers of , tons had been sold. at the end of steamers of , tons were building, so that, including these, the total tonnage amounted to , , g.r.t. at that date. during the same period the joint-stock capital of the company had increased from to - / million marks, the debenture issues from · to · million marks, and the visible reserves from , , to , , marks. the working profits of the company during those twenty-eight years amounted to , , marks, , , of which were government subsidies received during the temporary participation in the imperial mail service to the far east. the average dividend paid to the shareholders was · per cent. per annum. this figure, to my thinking, proves that the biggest steamship company the world has ever known was to a small extent only a "capitalist enterprise." out of a total net profit of over millions, no more than million marks went to the shareholders as interest on their invested capital; by far the greater part of the remainder was used to extend the company's business, so that the country in general benefited by it. concerning one matter which played an important part in ballin's career, viz., the relations between his company and the north german lloyd, the reader may perhaps desire a more exhaustive account. there certainly was no want of rivalry between the two companies. one notable reason for this was the fact that at the time when ballin joined the packetfahrt the latter had fallen far behind its younger competitor in its development, both from the business and the technical point of view. the packetfahrt, in particular, had not kept pace with the technical progress in steamship construction, and the consequence was that, when the pool was set up, it had to content itself with a percentage which was considerably less than that allotted to the lloyd. the enormous advance made under the ballin régime naturally caused it to demand a larger share. at the same time the lloyd also increased its efforts more than ever before, and thus a race for predominance was started between the two big companies, which greatly assisted them in obtaining the commanding position they acquired as the world's leading shipping firms. i do not think this is the place to go into all the details of this struggle, and i shall confine myself to reproducing an article which ballin himself contributed in on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the north german lloyd. as this article throws several interesting sidelights on the development of transatlantic shipping enterprise, it may furnish a suitable conclusion to the account given in the present chapter: "the year is one which will stand out prominently in the history of our transatlantic shipping on account of the two anniversaries which we are going to celebrate during its course. on may th it will be sixty years since the hamburg-amerika linie was called into existence, and on february th the north german lloyd will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of its foundation. i suppose that a more competent pen than mine will present us on that day with a detailed account of the development of the great bremen shipping firm, and my only object in writing this article is to review in brief the period of more than twenty years during which i have had the pleasure of working hand in hand with our bremen friends. "until the year the two big companies, the lloyd and the packetfahrt, scarcely had any mutually profitable dealings with each other; on the contrary, their relations were characterized by open enmity. it is true that the attempts at a _rapprochement_, which were made from time to time, did in some cases lead to the conclusion of an agreement concerning certain rates to which both companies bound themselves to adhere, but they never lasted more than a short time, and ultimately, far from causing an improvement of the existing state of things, they left matters worse than they had been before. i think i may congratulate myself on being the first to have brought about a better understanding between the two companies which, in the end, paved the way to the establishment of a lasting friendship which has grown closer and closer during the past twenty years. "in , shortly after i had joined the hamburg-amerika linie, when i went to bremen in order to find out what could be done to lessen or, if possible, to remove altogether the competition between both companies, the conduct of the firm's business had passed from the hands of consul meier, who was getting on in years, into those of director lohmann. mr. lohmann was a man of unusual energy and possessed of a rare gift for organization. in the annals of international shipping his name will be for ever associated with the introduction into the north atlantic route of fast steamers under the german flag. he had been fortunate enough to meet with a congenial mind on the technical side in the head of the firm of messrs. john elder and co., the glasgow shipbuilders. at their yard, starting in , a series of fast steamers were built--the _elbe_, the _werra_, the _fulda_, the _saale_, the _trave_, the _aller_, and the _lahn_--which opened up a new and memorable era in the progress of the means of communication between the old world and the new. these boats proved of great benefit to the company financially, and they were also a considerable boon to the passengers owing to their speed and punctuality. i recollect talking to the chairman of a big british steamship company on board one of his steamers in new york harbour in , when the s.s. _lahn_, of the north german lloyd, steamed in. my british colleague, filled with admiration, glanced at his watch, touched his hat by way of salutation, and said with honest enthusiasm: 'wonderful boats; they are really doing clockwork.' he only expressed the sentiment felt by the travelling public generally; everybody appreciated their reliability and punctuality, and the excellence of their service. "director lohmann died very suddenly on february th, ; he had just concluded an address at a general meeting of the company held at the 'haus seefahrt' when he dropped down dead. during the last few years of his life he had not been well advised technically, and failed to adopt the twin-screw principle, as had been done by the hamburg company. thus, when the two fast single-screw steamers, the _havel_ and the _spree_, were built at stettin in , they were practically obsolete, because the travelling public by that time had come to prefer those of the twin-screw type, owing to the increased safety they afforded. "in consul meier retired from the chairmanship of the lloyd, to be succeeded--after the short reign of mr. reck--by mr. george plate. to mr. plate, if i am rightly informed, great credit is due for having secured the services of director-general dr. heinrich wiegand on the board of the company. "what the lloyd has achieved under the wiegand régime far surpasses anything accomplished in the past. "the hamburg-amerika linie, meanwhile, had been alive to the needs of the times; and the consequence was a healthy competition between these two steamship companies--by far the biggest the world has ever seen--practically on all the seven seas. this competition, by intelligent compromise, was restricted within reasonable limits, the guiding spirits of the two concerns consciously adopting the policy implied by the strategic principle: 'in approaching the enemy's position we must divide our forces; in attacking him we must concentrate them.' "it would not be correct to say that this atmosphere of friendship had never been clouded--it would, indeed, have been tedious had it been otherwise than it was. up to now, however, wiegand and i have always been able to maintain pleasant relations between our two concerns, and in the interests of both of them it is sincerely to be hoped that this spirit of mutual understanding will continue to animate them in the future." chapter vii the technical reorganization of the hamburg-amerika linie in another chapter of this book the big passenger boats of the hamburg-amerika linie have been described as the outcome of ballin's imaginative brain. this they were indeed, and in many instances it is scarcely possible to say how far the credit for having built them is due to the naval architect, and how far it is due to ballin. he was profoundly against employing _one_ system throughout, and on accepting the views of _one_ expert exclusively; and this aversion was so pronounced that he objected on principle to the nomination of any technical expert to the board of his company. the company, he said, is surely going to last longer than a lifetime or two. besides, it must try to solve the problem of perpetual youth, and therefore it cannot afford to run the risk of staking its fortune on the views held by one single man who is apt to ignore the progress of his science without noticing it. the same dislike of onesidedness induced him to encourage to the best of his capacity a healthy competition among the various shipyards, and to avail himself of the experiences gained not only by the german yards but by their british rivals also. at an early stage of his career close business relations were established between himself and messrs. harland and wolff, of belfast; and a personal friendship connected him with the owner of that firm, mr. (now lord) pirrie. acting upon the example set by the white star line, ballin made an agreement with messrs. harland and wolff as early as , by which the latter bound themselves always to keep a slip at the disposal of the packetfahrt. the reason which prompted ballin to make this arrangement was, as he explained to the board of trustees, that the company's orders for new construction and repairs had nowhere been carried out more satisfactorily and more cheaply than by the belfast yard, where all the new vessels ordered were built under a special agreement, i.e. at cost price with a definitely fixed additional percentage representing the profits and certain expenditure incurred by the builders. this arrangement enabled the packetfahrt to become acquainted with whatever was latest and best in british shipyard production, and, as it were, to acquire models which it could improve upon in german yards after they had been tested on actual service. some of the best and most important types of vessels which the packetfahrt has produced owe their origin to this system; and it is only fair to say that it exercised an entirely beneficial influence on the progress of the german shipbuilding industry, the prosperity of which is largely due to the fact that it has profited from the century-old experience gained by the british yards and by british ocean-shipping. ballin held the view that, just as the shipbuilding expert had to watch the progress of naval architecture and to make practical application of its results, and just as the merchant had to exploit this progress for the benefit of his business, the shipowner--especially the one who maintains a service of passenger boats--has the special task of making every step in the direction of further advance serviceable to the needs of the passengers. being himself, as has been pointed out elsewhere, gifted with a strong faculty for appreciating things beautiful, and raising no less high demands as regards the beauty and the comfort of all his surroundings, ballin constantly endeavoured to make use of all the results of his own observations and of his own experience for the greater comfort of the passengers. those who saw the finished products of his imagination, the beautifully appointed "floating hotels," hardly realized how many apparently insignificant details--which, after all, in their entirety make what we call comfort--owe their origin to his own personal suggestions. each time he made a sea voyage on board a steamer of his own, or of some other company, he brought home with him a number of new ideas, chiefly such as affected technicalities, and matters dealing with the personal comfort of the passengers. numerous entries in the notebooks which he carried on such occasions are there to serve as illustrations; the following items, for instance, are selected from those which he jotted down, roughly, on a voyage to new york some time in the 'nineties. they speak for themselves, in spite of their sketchiness: "list of moselle purveyors wants revision--notices on board to be restricted as much as possible, those which are necessary to be tastefully framed--sailing lists and general regulations to be included in passengers' lists--state cabin on board _kaiser friedrich_: key, latch, drawer; no room for portmanteaux and trunks; towels too small--_deutschland_: soiled linen cupboard too small--stewards _oceanic_ white jackets--celery glasses--butter dishes too small--large bed pillows--consommé cups--playing cards: packetfahrt complete name of firm--packetfahrt complete name on wehber's wine bottles--toast to be served in a serviette (hot)." rough notes such as these were used to serve ballin as the material underlying the detailed reports and instructions to the company's servants which he composed during the voyage, so that not even a long sea voyage gave him the unbroken spell of leisure he so badly needed. indeed, the longer it lasted the more chances did it provide for thoroughly inspecting the practical working of the steamer. many other reports are in my possession, but the one given will serve to emphasize the meticulous quality of observation he possessed, and how practical was his mind in regard to details of comfort and convenience, and the special climatic needs of different routes. even where the peculiar conditions obtaining in tropical climates were concerned--conditions with which he was personally quite unacquainted--he unfailingly discovered any defects that might exist, and also the means by which they could be remedied. ballin's connexion with the packetfahrt practically coincides with the whole of that period during which the immense progress of modern steamship building from humble beginnings to its present stage of development took place; with the only exception that the north german lloyd had already, before ballin joined the packetfahrt, established its services of fast steamers which were far ahead of those maintained by other shipping companies owing to their punctuality and reliability, and which ballin then set himself to improve upon and to excel. apart from this one type of vessel, the science of steamship construction, as seen from our modern point of view, was still in its infancy. in the steamships owned by the hamburg-amerika linie were mainly of two different types, viz., those used in the north atlantic service (principally on the new york route), and those used in the mexico-west indies service. the expansion of the packetfahrt's business after ballin had joined the company, and especially the addition of new services together with the increase in the number of ports of departure and of destination, made it necessary constantly to increase the size and the carrying capacity of the cargo boats, and the size and the speed of the passenger steamers, as well as to improve and to modernize the passenger accommodation on board the latter. all this, of course, considerably added to the cost price of the vessels, so that, as a further consequence, the facilities for loading and discharging them had to be improved and extended. four principal types of steamers may be distinguished in the development of the company's fleet, especially of that part of it which was engaged on the north atlantic route, where the main development took place. _type one_: fast steamers--twin screws, knots, , g.r.t.--possessing accommodation for passengers of all classes and provided with comparatively little cargo space, but comfortably and luxuriously appointed throughout. the three leading ideas governing their construction were safety, speed, and comfort; and progress was made to keep abreast of competing lines, until it culminated in the vessels of the "imperator" class. the _imperator_ was built in . they were quadruple screw turbine steamers, possessing no fewer than multitubular boilers each, and, as they were of a capacity of , gross register tons, they were nearly three times the size of the _deutschland_. _type two_: ships of medium speed and of considerable size, and therefore providing a high standard of comfort for passengers combined with ample facilities for cargo accommodation. _type three_: chiefly built as cargo boats, but in such a way that a part of their space could be utilized for the accommodation of a large number of steerage passengers. _type four_: cargo steamers without any passenger accommodation. the difference between the floating palaces of type no. in and those vessels which the hamburg-amerika linie possessed when ballin first entered upon his career as a shipping man was like that between day and night. a brief comparison of a few details will be the best means of illustrating the enormous progress achieved within less than the lifetime of a generation. the size of the vessels had increased from , to more than , tons; the speed from to nearly knots; the height of the decks from - / to feet in the lower decks, whilst that of the upper ones, as far as the social rooms were concerned, amounted to as much as feet. large portions of the upper decks were reserved for the social rooms, the finest of which--the ball-room--could challenge comparison with almost any similar room in any hotel ashore with respect to its size and to the magnificence of its furnishings and of its decoration. from a technical point of view, too, the construction of such a huge room on board a vessel, which possessed a floor space of , square feet, and a ceiling unsupported by any columns or pillars of any kind, was an unprecedented achievement. besides, there were immense dining-rooms for each class, smoking-rooms, ladies' saloons, a restaurant, a winter garden, a swimming pool, and numerous smaller rooms suitable for the relaxation and amusement of the passengers. on the older boats the arrangement was that the small cabins were all grouped round the one and only social room on board, so that the occupants of the cabins could hear all that was going on in the social room, and _vice versa_. the superficial area at the disposal of each passenger was gradually increased from square feet in the double cabins to square feet in the cabins of the _imperator_, so that the latter were really no longer mere cabins, but actual rooms. the suites-de-luxe comprised up to twelve rooms, the largest of which covered an area of square feet. it must not be thought, however, that the first-class passengers were the only ones for whose comfort the company catered. the other classes progressed proportionately in added comfort, space, and social facilities, not excepting the steerage. but by far the greatest improvements made were those in connexion with the enormous progress of the purely technical side of shipbuilding during the whole period under review. the more the vessels increased in size, the less were they liable to the pitching and rolling motion caused when the weather was rough. moreover, special appliances, such as bilge keels and bilge tanks, were employed to lessen these movements still more, even when the sea was high. the reciprocating engines gradually gave place to higher types, and later on turbines and oil-engines were also introduced. in addition to the propelling machinery a number of auxiliary engines were used which were of various kinds and for various purposes, such as the ventilation of the cabins and the other rooms, the generation of light, the services in connexion with the personal welfare of the passengers and with their safety whilst on board ship. instead of single bottoms, double bottoms were used, and the additional safety resulting therefrom was still further enhanced by dividing the space between the two by means of a whole network of partitions. the vessels of the "imperator" class, indeed, possessed practically a double shell, which formed an effective protection against the danger of collision. the lifeboats increased in size and in number, and their shape and equipment were improved. emergency lighting stations were arranged which could generate a sufficient amount of electric current if the ordinary supply should break down at any time. the whole vessels were divided into self-contained compartments by water-tight bulkheads, the doors of which could be automatically closed. this division into many compartments proved an effective protection against the risk of fire; but a number of special devices were also adopted to serve the same purpose, e.g. an extensive system of steampipes by which each single room could be rapidly filled with steam, so that the fire could be automatically extinguished. fire-proof material was used for the walls separating adjacent rooms and cabins, and, not content with all this, the company provided its mammoth liners with an actual fire brigade, the members of which were fully trained for their work. the most important improvements affecting the navigation of the steamers were the introduction of wireless telegraphy apparatus, the gyroscopic compasses, the system of submarine direction indicator signalling, and the substitution of two steering gears instead of one, not to mention a series of minor improvements of all kinds. the provisioning on board the german steamers was of proverbial excellence, the kitchen arrangements were modelled after those found in the big hotels, and were supplied with all manner of supplementary devices. the huge store rooms were divided into sections for those provisions that were of a perishable nature and for those that were not; and for the former refrigerating rooms were also provided in which the temperature could be regulated according to the nature of the articles. perhaps the most interesting development of the various types of steamers is that which type no. has undergone. it originated in great britain, whence it was taken over in . the first unit of this type added to the fleet of the packetfahrt was the _persia_, of , g.r.t., and a speed of knots, built to accommodate a number of cabin and steerage passengers, and to carry a considerable amount of cargo as well. these boats possessed many advantages over similar ones, advantages which were due to their size, their shape, and the loading facilities with which they were equipped. ballin immediately recognized the good points of this type, and he improved it until the vessels reached a size of , g.r.t., which still enabled them to travel at a speed of knots. they were twin-screw steamers, and were provided with every safety device known at the time. a still further improvement of this type was represented by the _amerika_ and the _kaiserin auguste victoria_, built in and respectively, luxuriously equipped throughout; by their large size--they possessed a capacity of very nearly , g.r.t.--extremely seaworthy, and as they could travel at the rate of - / knots, their speed was scarcely inferior to that possessed by the older type of fast steamers. from the point of view of actual remunerativeness they were far superior to the fast steamers, combining, as they did, all the earning possibilities of the passenger and of the cargo vessels. the development of the types comprising the cargo steamers went hand in hand with the expansion of international trade relations, and with the constant increase in the amount of goods exchanged between the nations. to a certain extent development was limited by the dimensions of the suez canal. still, improvements became possible in this respect too when the depth of the canal was increased to feet in , feet in , and feet in . ballin carefully watched this development, incessantly improving the existing types of his company's cargo boats, so that they should always meet the growing needs of sea-borne trade, and in some instances even anticipating them, until, when the war broke out, twin screw cargo boats of a capacity of , tons and possessing a speed of knots were being built for the company. in a brief outline such as this, it is not possible to enter into details concerning the expansion of the other lines which became affiliated to or otherwise associated with the packetfahrt in course of time. one special type, however, ought to receive a somewhat more detailed treatment in this connexion, viz., that of the excursion steamers. the running of pleasure cruises, originally nothing but a mere expedient to prevent the express steamers from lying idle during the dead season, gradually became an end in itself. the northern and mediterranean cruises were soon followed by others, e.g. those to the west indies and the pleasure trips round the globe. two special steamers, the _prinzessin victoria luise_, and the somewhat smaller and less sumptuous _meteor_, both of them equipped after the style of pleasure yachts, were built when it was found advisable to make this service independent of the fast steamers and the big passenger boats which had also been employed for this purpose. after the loss of the _prinzessin victoria luise_ she was replaced first by a british passenger boat that had been purchased, and then by the _deutschland_, specially reconditioned for her new purpose, and renamed _victoria luise_. both vessels were extremely popular with the international travelling public, and year after year they carried thousands of tourists to countries and places distinguished for the beauty of their natural scenery or for their historical and artistic associations. they were largely instrumental in constantly augmenting the number of those who formed the regular clientèle of the company. "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." in the realm of shipping it has always been customary for each company to profit by the experience gained and the progress made by its competitors. this applies to the packetfahrt and its management also; but in their case they have given infinitely more than they have received, and in the whole history of shipping there has never been one single person who has exercised a more stimulating influence on its technical progress than albert ballin. chapter viii politics notwithstanding the many business controversies in which ballin took an important part, it has occasionally been said that he was not really a "fighter." this statement may be allowed to pass quite unchallenged, provided that by the term "fighter" we mean a man whose habit it is to fight to the bitter end. ballin never indulged in fighting for its own sake, nor was it ever his object to see his vanquished opponent lie prostrate before him. such a mental attitude he, in his own drastic way, would have described as a "perverted pleasure." always and everywhere it was his aim to secure to himself and to those he represented the maximum benefit obtainable consistent with the realities of the situation, so that he has been justly described as "a man of compromise." this feature of his personality, indeed, forms the key-note both to his policy and to the principles on which it was based. perhaps in other spheres of economic activity it is possible for a struggle between two competing rivals to end in the complete victory of one of them; in the shipping business such an outcome is the exception but not the rule. there a really _weak_ opponent is never met with, unless one's rival happens to be exceptionally inexperienced or constitutionally unsound. the minor competitor, where shipping is concerned, is by no means always the less powerful of the two. on the contrary, the contest which inflicts small losses on him inflicts heavy losses on his big opponent, and may easily exhaust the latter first. the last few decades have witnessed the establishment of many new shipping firms under the auspices of national sentiment. governments and whole peoples have backed them, and in such cases private undertakings have found it difficult to compete. during his early training ballin had so thoroughly convinced himself of the necessity for co-operation and compromise in matters economic that this conviction became the corner-stone of his policy. he also made it his principle never to tie an unwilling partner to an agreement which the latter considered to be detrimental to his vital interests, and he would only approve of an agreement if both parties to it felt satisfied that they had done a good stroke of business by concluding it. the numerous "community of interest" agreements to which he signed his name established, the longer they lasted and the further they were extended, an increasingly intimate contact between the shipping firms all over the world, thus proving that the consistent application of his principles was justified by its success. in politics, too, he regarded this line of action as the only correct one. over and over again he described the world war as a "stupid war" or as the "most stupid of all wars," because its origin, the conflict between austria-hungary and serbia, was so utterly meaningless to the progress of the world. its actual outbreak was caused by the strained economic relations between hungary and serbia, or--to put it quite plainly--by the boycott of the serbian pig, a matter which was surely of no importance to the world's trade and traffic at large. "no bismarck was needed to prevent _this_ war," he often said when speaking of its immediate origin. this attitude of his does not mean that he shut his eyes to the deep-seated antagonisms which were at the back of these local squabbles, viz., the franco-russian coalition against germany, and the anglo-german rivalry. the latter he regarded as sufficient to turn the scale; if it could be adjusted a world war, he felt sure, would be avoided. the possibility of a universal conflagration had been pointed out to him by no less an authority than prince bismarck on the occasion of the latter's visit to hamburg, when he was shown over the express steamer of the packetfahrt that was to bear his name. "i shall not live to see the world war," bismarck told him; "but you will, and it will start in the near east." with ever-increasing anxiety, ballin noticed how, as a result of the german naval armaments, the anglo-german antagonism came into existence, and how in time the position became worse and worse. when the government, about the year , embarked upon its propaganda for the creation of a big navy, he lent it his active assistance, but in later years he strongly opposed the naval race with great britain, trying to the best of his ability to circumvent its disastrous consequences. the british argument against germany's naval programme was that a nation which owned one-third of the inhabited globe and intended to maintain its supremacy could not renounce its naval predominance. his knowledge of british mentality--gained, as it was, through many years of intercourse with the english--told him that this reasoning was certainly unassailable from the british point of view, and that england would fight for its recognition to the bitter end. therefore, he considered the situation could only be met by an anglo-german understanding. the failure of arriving at such a solution was probably caused--apart from personal motives--by the fact that in germany the spirit of compromise was not the predominant one, but that its place was taken by an exaggerated opinion of the country's own strength combined with a certain ignorance regarding foreign countries. this mental attitude is typical of the two factions which were all-powerful in germany at the time, viz., what might be called the old prussian aristocracy, and the representatives of the heavy industries. the common platform on which these two groups met was the policy to be pursued regarding customs tariffs, which, although it formed the basis of the economic greatness of germany, also prepared the way for serious international conflicts. during the war these two groups were in charge of what was meant to be the political policy of the country, but which was, in fact, nothing but an inferior substitute for it. ballin's international position is illustrated by the fact that he was the first to be approached in the matter of a projected anglo-german rapprochement, an affair which reached its climax with lord haldane's visit to berlin. owing to its historical interest this episode is worth a detailed account. the first steps in this direction date back as far as the year , and the ultimate breakdown of the project did not take place until the outbreak of the war. the british negotiator was sir ernest cassel, who, a native of germany, had settled in england when quite young, and who had become one of the world's most successful financiers. he was the intimate friend of king edward from the time when the latter was prince of wales, and he also acted as his banker and as his political adviser. the king visited his home almost daily during the last few years of his life to take part in a game of bridge. the motives which may have prompted sir ernest to lend his assistance and his great influence to an endeavour which aimed at an understanding between his adopted country and the land of his birth need not, in the case of a man so clever and so experienced, be very far to seek. sir ernest repeatedly referred to himself as a german, and as such he was deprived of his privy-councillorship during the war. thus it is quite likely that he might have been prompted no less by an inherited predilection for the one, than by an acquired preference for the other country. this very fact may also have enabled him to see matters with particular clearness of vision and without any prejudice. he and his friends reasoned somewhat along the following lines: the policy of king edward having led to a considerable strengthening of the position of france on the continent, there arose the danger of an armed conflict between the continental powers, especially as many points of dispute threatened at the same time to disturb the relations between germany and great britain. these differences were caused on the one hand by the political activities of germany as a world power, and on the other by her commercial and industrial expansion which bid fair to relegate great britain to a subordinate position. people in england regarded the want of a system of protection similar to the german protective tariffs as the real cause of this development, a want which retarded the progress of british industrialism, and which prevented british financiers from taking an active interest in these matters. the german financiers, however, exerted all their influence on behalf of the industrial expansion of their country, thus emancipating it more and more from foreign capital. the time during which the financing of the german industries by french money (the so-called french "pensions"), i.e. the discounting by french capitalists of bills drawn by german industrialists, played an important part, and even represented a serious menace in days of political tension, had only just passed, but, thanks to the increasing capital strength of germany, its effects had now quite ceased to make themselves felt. the advantage to great britain of an understanding with germany was that it would guarantee her maritime supremacy which she was resolved to maintain at any price, whilst at the same time reducing the burden of her naval armaments which, in her case, too, had become wellnigh insupportable. the liberal government then in power was particularly interested in such financial retrenchment, being quite aware that the time had arrived for the state to enter upon an era of social legislation. contact between ballin and the above-mentioned british groups was established through the agency of some friends of his connected with german high finance. the fact that the british selected ballin to start these negotiations is probably due to his well-known friendship with the kaiser, which suggested the possibility of approaching the german government--even if only by informal channels in the first instance. this first attempt, should it prove successful, might at any moment be followed up by direct negotiations between the two governments. in view of the traditional close connexion existing in england between business circles on the one hand, and the politicians, the parties, and the government on the other, such proceedings did not by any means imply a policy of backstairs, but might be relied upon to open up a way for sounding german official quarters in the most natural manner. the general tenor of anglo-german relations at that time was somewhat as follows. the visit of king edward to wilhelmshöhe and that of the german emperor and empress to windsor castle in the summer of had been of a very friendly character, and, together with other manifestations of friendship exchanged between various german and british societies, they had exercised a favourable impression on public opinion in both countries. but very soon this friendly feeling was replaced by one of irritation. great britain and russia had concluded an agreement concerning their frontiers in the middle east, and this led to questions in the reichstag as to whether german interests had been properly safeguarded. at the same time (in the summer of ) the hague conference came to an end without having led to an understanding regarding the limitation of armaments, which many people in england would have liked to be brought about. towards the end of the year the german government submitted to the reichstag a navy bill by which the life of the capital ships was to be reduced from to years. this was tantamount to asking for the cost of three new ships of the line. simultaneously a powerful propaganda for the navy was started, and when prince rupprecht of bavaria resigned the protectorate of the bavarian section of the navy league, because the league which at that time was presided over by the well-known general keim had engaged in party politics, his withdrawal had the undesirable effect of focusing public attention on the league's share in this agitation. this step, as was but natural, brought about a change in the chairmanship of the league. in england the agitation against germany in general, and against her naval policy in particular, became very violent in the early part of . in february _the times_ announced that the kaiser, for the express purpose of interfering with the british naval budget, had sent a letter to that effect to lord tweedmouth, the first lord of the admiralty. his lordship categorically denied in parliament that the document had any political character whatever, but in spite of this denial, and in spite of the support which he received from lord lansdowne and from lord rosebery, the matter produced a violent outburst of feeling on the part of the british press and public. during march, , both houses of parliament discussed german and british naval policy in great detail. in an article published by the _national review_, lord esher, the chairman of the imperial maritime league, demanded that for every keel laid down by germany, britain should lay down two, and general baden-powell described the danger of a german invasion as imminent. on the other hand, sir edward grey, the foreign secretary, emphasized in one of his speeches the point of view referred to above, viz. that a reduction of the naval burdens would also be desirable in the interest of britain, but that he could recommend such a policy only if the other governments consented to do the same. all these considerations might easily suggest to the clear-headed men of business on either side of the north sea how greatly it would be to the mutual advantage of both if a way could be found towards a limitation of naval armaments. the first interview between ballin and sir ernest cassel took place in the summer of , and ballin afterwards gave the kaiser a detailed account of it when the latter visited hamburg and kiel at the end of june. another report, based on material supplied by ballin, was composed by the chief of the press department of the foreign office, geheimrat hammann, for the use of the imperial chancellor and the foreign secretary, and in the absence of any original account by ballin himself, it may be permitted to give an outline of its contents below. sir ernest opened the conversation by saying that for a long time back he had desired to discuss the political situation simply in his capacity as a private person, and that he felt qualified to do so because of his intimate acquaintance with some of the leading personages and with politics in general. he would like to contribute his share towards the prevention of a dangerous development of the existing rivalry. the king felt very keenly that the rapid increase of the german naval forces constituted a menace to britain's maritime position. he was convinced, however, that his nephew would never provoke a wanton conflict, and that, in his heart of hearts, he loathed the horrors of war. although, therefore, during his--the king's--lifetime the danger of an anglo-german war was remote, it was nevertheless necessary that, when his son succeeded him, the latter should find britain's maritime position so strong that the kaiser's successor should be unable to assail it. when ballin interposed at this stage that the british navy, because of its unchallenged superiority in numbers, need not be afraid of the newly created naval power of germany, sir ernest replied that it was well known to british naval experts that the increase of the german navy was considerably greater than the official statements made in the reichstag would let it appear. undoubtedly the british navy would always preserve its superiority, not only numerically, but also technically with regard to material, construction, and armaments. nevertheless, the advantages possessed by the german system of manning the ships and the great efficiency of german naval officers justified an apprehension lest the german superiority in the human factor might outweigh the british superiority in tonnage. the boer war had taught england how difficult it was to conquer a high-spirited, though numerically weak enemy. he said that fear of the german danger formed the driving power of the whole policy of the entente, and that this policy was only meant to guard against that menace. therefore russia had been advised at the reval meeting to forgo the enlargement of her navy, and to concentrate all her energies on her army. upon sir ernest's intimation that at some date britain, together with france and russia, might inquire of germany when she intended to put a stop to her naval armaments, ballin replied that his friend, if he was anxious to render a really valuable service to britain and to the cause of peace, could do no better than make it perfectly plain that such an inquiry would mean war. germany would resist with her whole strength any such attempt which unmistakably suggested the methods employed at fashoda. during the progress of the interview sir ernest--who showed that he possessed excellent information concerning germany's finances--observed that the state of the same would render it very difficult for her to make war. in that connexion he pointed out the intimate bearing of international finance on political relations, and he emphasized how much the borrowing countries were dependent on the lending ones. still, even the creditor nations would sometimes be forced into an uncomfortable position, as was, for instance, the case with great britain after the united states had passed on to her the greater part of the japanese debt. in japan the disproportion between military burdens and economic strength was becoming more and more pronounced, and if the country were faced with the alternative of choosing between the total financial exhaustion of the people and a stoppage of the payment of interest, it would prefer to take the latter course. in london ballin was present at the constitutional club when a member of parliament made a speech in which he stated, with the general approval of his audience, that the position of britain was not really so good as the policy pursued by the entente might lead one to believe. the national balance-sheet had been much more satisfactory during the reign of queen victoria; the items now appearing on the credit side being partly bad debts incurred by spaniards, portuguese, and japanese, for whose political good behaviour britain paid far too high a price, and one should not allow oneself to be misled as to the value of these ententes by balance-sheets which were purposely kept vague. geheimrat hammann told ballin by letter that prince bülow, the imperial chancellor, and herr v. schön, the foreign secretary, were very grateful to him for his information, and that in the opinion of both gentlemen his reply to the suggestion concerning the stoppage of naval armaments was "as commendable as it was correct." meanwhile the kaiser had also supplied the chancellor with a general résumé of ballin's report to him. ballin's visit gave rise to an exchange of letters which it may not be inappropriate to reproduce in this place. by way of explanation, it should first be said that the sandjak railway project, to which reference is made in ballin's letter, had greatly agitated public opinion all over europe during the spring of . in february, count aehrenthal, the austrian foreign minister, at a committee meeting of the delegations, had announced the government's intention of constructing a railway line connecting the bosnian system with the town of mitrovitza in the sandjak (or province) of novi bazar. this announcement led to a violent outburst of the russian press, which described this project as a political _démarche_ on the part of austria in the balkans and as an interference with the macedonian reforms aimed at by the powers. in austria it was thought that germany would support her ally as a matter of course, and prince bülow, in an interview given to a journalist, tried to pacify the _novoie vremia_. he declared that the russian papers were absolutely mistaken when they alleged that the project was inspired from berlin, and he stated that austria, like her german ally, pursued none but commercial aims in the balkans. these remarks will be a sufficient explanation of the allusions contained in ballin's letter of july th, , which, after an expression of thanks for the hospitality extended to him, reads as follows: "by the way, the views i expressed to you on the matter of the sandjak railway are now completely borne out by the facts. both the kaiser and, later, prince bülow have given me positive assurances that the german government was just as much taken by surprise on hearing of this austrian project as were the london and petrograd cabinets. "i hope that our respective monarchs may soon meet now. there is nothing that we on our side would welcome more heartily than the establishment and the maintenance of the most friendly and most cordial relations between the two sovereigns and their peoples. the kaiser will not return home from his northern cruise and from his visit to the swedish royal court until the middle of august, but i think it is probable that the two monarchs may meet when king edward returns from marienbad, and that their majesties will then fix the date for the official return visit to berlin. i sincerely trust that this berlin visit will be of the utmost benefit to both countries." sir ernest cassel replied: "i also feel that the meeting of their majesties must produce a great deal of good, and, as i now hear, it will after all be possible to arrange for this meeting to take place on the outward journey of the king. i am still as convinced as ever that our side is animated by the same friendly sentiments as yours." the meeting between the kaiser and king edward which was suggested in these letters actually took place on august th at friedrichshof castle, when the king was on his way to ischl, and it was accorded a friendly reception in the german press. it was followed up by an exchange of equally friendly manifestations on the part of the peoples of both countries. mr. lloyd george, then chancellor of the exchequer, went to germany in august, , to study the german system of workmen's insurance against disability and old age, and british workmen came to visit german trade unions, and to gather information about german industrial conditions. official britain also pronounced herself in favour of an understanding between the two countries which mr. lloyd george described as the only means of relieving the european tension, and mr. churchill professed similar sentiments. shortly afterwards, however, at the end of october, an event took place which severely compromised the kaiser's policy, viz. the incident of the _daily telegraph_ interview. in this the kaiser, amongst other matters, bitterly complained that his friendship for england received such scant acknowledgment. as a proof of the friendly sentiments by which his actions were guided he stated that he, during the boer war, had refused the humiliating suggestion put forward by france and russia that the three powers conjointly should compel britain to put a stop to the war; that he had communicated this refusal to king edward, and that he previously had presented queen victoria with a plan of campaign mapped out by himself, to which the one actually pursued by britain bore a striking resemblance. with regard to germany's naval programme, he emphasized that his country needed a big fleet in order to command attention when the question of the future of the pacific was discussed. finally, with regard to anglo-german relations, the kaiser said that the middle and lower classes in germany did not entertain very friendly feelings towards england. the effect which this interview produced all over germany was one of profound consternation. its publication led to the well-known discussions in the reichstag in november, , during which the kaiser, to the great dismay of the nation, was staying at donaueschingen with prince fürstenberg, where he was hunting. in england, and abroad generally, people regarded this interview as proving a great want of consistency in the conduct of germany's foreign policy, and this impression was by no means changed when it became known that its publication was only due to an unfortunate oversight. the kaiser had sent the account of it, as he was bound to do by the constitution, to prince bülow, who was then staying at norderney. bülow, however, did not read it himself, but passed it on to the berlin foreign office to be examined. there, indeed, an examination took place, but only with a view to finding out whether it contained any errors of fact, and when this was proved not to be the case, it was marked to that effect, passed the various ministries without any further examination, and was published. this unfortunate chain of accidents did not, however, alter the fact that the kaiser ought to have been aware of the great political importance of his utterances. it has always been a chief fault of his to speak out too impulsively when it would have been politically more expedient to be less communicative. nor can the entourage of the sovereign be excused for not drawing his and the chancellor's attention to the great political significance of his utterances. the chancellor himself and the foreign office, profiting from their previous experiences with the kaiser and his appearances in public, ought to have used a great deal more circumspection, and it would have been well if the permanent officials in the foreign office had shown rather more political insight. the endeavours of the official circles to remove the tension existing between the two countries were not affected by the incident. on february th, , king edward and his queen paid their visit to berlin, thus bringing about the event which ballin in his letter of july th, , had described as so very desirable. to appreciate the importance of this strictly official visit, we must bear in mind the fact that it did not take place until the ninth year of the reign of king edward. this long postponement was no doubt due to a large extent to the estrangement between uncle and nephew, and this, in its turn, had its origin in the natural dislike which the kaiser felt for his uncle's mode of conducting his private life while still prince of wales. it would have been preferable, however, to relegate such personal likes and dislikes to the background where politics or business were concerned. british official comments emphatically underlined the significance of the visit, and the german press followed suit, although voices were not wanting to warn against any over-estimation of such acts of courtesy. the reply given in the reichstag by herr v. schön, the foreign secretary, to a question as to whether any suggestions had been put forward by great britain with respect to a reduction of naval armaments was very cool in its tone. his statement amounted to this: that no formal proposal for an understanding which might have served as a basis for negotiations had been received, probably for the reason that it was not customary among friendly powers to put forward any proposals of which it was doubtful to say whether they would be entertained. in spite of this cold douche and in spite of other obstacles, the promoters of an understanding, ballin and sir ernest cassel, did not cease their efforts in that direction. in july, , ballin paid a second visit to sir ernest, during which the political discussions were continued. on these latter he reported to the kaiser as follows: "my friend to whom i had intimated in a private letter written about a week earlier that it was my intention to visit him--at the same time hinting that, for my personal information, i should like very much to take up the threads of the conversation we had had a twelvemonth ago on the subject of the question of the navy--had evidently used the interval to supply himself at the proper quarters with authoritative information about this matter. during the whole of our long talk he spoke with extraordinary assurance, and every word seemed to be thought out beforehand. "at the commencement of our conversation i said to my friend that in view of the great excitement which reigned in england on account of the german naval armaments, and which was assuming a decidedly anti-german character, he would quite understand that i should desire to take up once more the interesting discussions which we had had on the same subject a year ago. i pointed out that this excitement--spread as it was by an unscrupulous press and fostered by foolish politicians--was apt to produce results altogether different from those which the government might perhaps consider it desirable to bring about within the scope of its programme. i emphasized the fact that, of course, i was merely speaking as a private citizen, reading with interest the english papers and the letters of his english friends, so that all my knowledge of the subject was derived from private sources. "a year ago, i said, my friend, in the clear and concise manner that distinguished him, had explained to me the need for an understanding between germany and britain governing the future development of their naval forces, at the same time requesting me to exert myself in that sense. this suggestion of his had not been made in vain. the fact that i had been successful in establishing complete concord amongst germans, british, french, italians, austrians, and a whole series of small nations on questions affecting their highly important shipping interests, and in replacing an unbridled and economically disastrous competition by friendly agreements to the benefit of each partner, was bound to make me sympathize with any measures that it was possible to take in order to bring about a similar result between the governments if only they were met in the right spirit. i, therefore, had made up my mind to submit such a plan to our government, but before doing so, it would be necessary for me to know whether britain still adhered to the principles which my friend had enunciated to me at our previous meeting. "sir ernest's reply was that as far as britain was concerned a great change had taken place during the interval, and that he was no longer able to endorse the views he had held at that time. the necessity for his country to maintain her supremacy on the sea at all hazards, and subject to no engagements of any kind, was now more clearly recognized than it had been a year ago. a one-sided understanding between germany and britain could no longer be thought of, since both austria and france had now voted large sums for the enlargement of their respective navies. austria would certainly be found on the german side, but france could by no means be said to be an asset on which it would be safe for britain to rely, to say nothing about the two 'dark horses,' russia and italy. if britain, in view of these uncertainties, were to permit germany to nail her down to a fixed programme, she would dwindle down to a fifth-rate power. germany possessed her overwhelmingly large army with which she could keep in check austria, italy, russia, and france, but britain had nothing but her navy to guarantee her existence as a world power and to safeguard the roads that linked her to her colonies. for many decades britain had enjoyed opportunities for accumulating big fortunes. these times, however, had now passed. during the reign of the emperor william ii, who, with a consistency which it would be difficult to praise too highly, had made his country a commercial power of world-wide importance, and who had raised german industrial enterprise and german merchant shipping to a condition of undreamt-of prosperity, britain sustained immense losses in her overseas commerce. british trade was declining, and there was no doubt but that in the long run britain would be compelled to abandon her principles of free trade. "the question of the austrian naval armaments appeared to trouble my friend more than anything, and this circumstance, combined with the doubtful attitude of russia and the uncertainty of the situation in france, was evidently a source of great anxiety to the king. my friend remarked in this connexion that in his opinion the moment chosen for the conclusion of an understanding was very favourable to german but very unfavourable to british interests. it was useless to talk of an agreement so long as an element of mutual fear had to be reckoned with. at present this fear manifested itself in britain in a manner which was most inopportune, so that it was bound to make the german public believe that britain would be ready to come to an understanding even if the terms of it were detrimental to her own interests. britain had got behindhand both with her commerce and with her naval programme. to fight her competitors in the world's trade with a fair chance of success was impossible for more reasons than one, but the elimination of the disadvantage from which she suffered with respect to her naval armaments was merely a question of money. the funds that were required to bring the british navy up to the necessities of the international situation would certainly be found, because they had to be found. "i told my friend that i was astonished to hear how completely his views had changed on these matters. not what he did say, but what he had left unsaid, made me suspect that official circles in england--partly, perhaps, through the fault of the german government--had arrived at the conclusion that the latter would refrain from a further strengthening of the navy after the existing naval programme had been carried out, and that it would merely content itself with the gradual replacement of the units as they became obsolete. such a proceeding could be justified only if the same plan were adopted by britain also. if, however, his remarks implied that in the opinion of his government the moment had now arrived for altering the ratio of naval strength existing between both countries by a comprehensive programme of new building, it would soon become evident that there were some flaws in that calculation. in view of any such intentions it was my opinion--which, however, was quite personal and unofficial--that germany would have to decide upon such an increase of her navy as would enable her to carry on a war of defence with the certainty of success. if, therefore, britain meant to go on building warships on a large scale, this would merely lead to an aimless naval race between the two countries. "these remarks of mine concluded our first conversation, and i accepted my friend's invitation to dine with him that evening in company with some prominent men of his acquaintance. "in the evening i was greatly surprised to see that i was the only guest present. my friend told me that, in order to be alone with me, he had cancelled his invitations to the other gentlemen, stating that he did not yet feel well enough to see them. it was obvious to me that he had, meanwhile, reported on the outcome of our conversation, and that the atmosphere had changed. this change had without doubt been brought about by my remarks concerning the necessity for a further enlargement of the german navy, if the action of britain compelled our government to take such a course. the long discussions that followed proved that this view of mine was correct in every detail. "sir ernest explained that the liberal cabinet had acted penny wise and pound foolish in dealing with the question of the navy. this was the conviction of the great majority of the british people, and this action had caused the feelings of apprehension and of hostility animating them. the liberal government had thus made a serious blunder, and had, in his opinion, prepared its own doom by doing so. he thought the days of the liberal party were numbered, and another party would soon be in office. anti-german feeling would be non-existent to-day if the liberal cabinet had not, because of its preoccupation with questions of social policy, neglected the navy. the whole matter was further aggravated by other questions of a political kind. france, on account of the french national character, had always been a doubtful asset to britain, and, considering the state of her internal politics, she was so now more than ever. germany, on the other hand, possessed a great advantage in that her military preponderance enabled her to rely with absolute certainty on her austrian ally. he would say nothing about russia, because he had never regarded the anglo-russian _rapprochement_ as politically expedient. "if it was admitted--and he thought this admission was implied by my remarks--that her colonial and her commercial interests made it imperative for britain to maintain an unchallenged supremacy on the seas, he felt certain that some reasonable men would, after all, be able to discover a formula which would make an understanding between both countries possible. a great difficulty, however, was presented by my often reiterated demand that britain must not abandon her principles of free trade. in questions such as these, she could, indeed, speak for herself, but not for her great colonies. history had proved that she lost her american colonies as soon as she tried to foist her own commercial policy on the colonists. he had no doubt that germany, despite the disagreeable surprises which she had experienced when adjusting the system of her imperial finances, possessed sufficient wealth to go on increasing her navy in the same proportion as britain. the great mistake committed by the liberal cabinet and by the other advisers of the king had been their assumption that financial considerations would prevent germany from carrying out her naval programme in its entirety. german prosperity had grown far more rapidly, he thought, than even the german government and german financial experts had believed to be possible. signs of it could be noticed wherever one went, and one would turn round in astonishment if, during the season, one heard the tourists in italy or in egypt talk in any language but german. he, at any rate, felt certain of germany's ability to keep pace with britain in the naval race, even if that pace was very greatly accelerated. "reasons of internal policy had convinced him that britain would not in any case abandon her free trade principles within a measurable period of time, and as it was not intended to conclude a perpetual agreement, but only one for a limited number of years, he thought it was not at all necessary that germany should insist upon her demand in connexion with this question. as the colonies enjoyed complete independence in these as in other matters, the difficulties would be insurmountable. in return for such a concession on germany's part, britain would doubtless be willing to meet the views of the german government in other respects. for these reasons he would be quite ready to change the opinion he had expressed in the morning, and to agree that it could produce nothing but good if either side were to appoint some moderate men for the purpose of discussing the whole question. such a meeting would have to be kept absolutely secret, and both parties should agree that there should be no victor and no vanquished if and when an agreement was concluded. this condition would have to be a _sine qua non_. "i promised sir ernest that i would use my best endeavours to this end when an opportunity should present itself, and we arranged to have another meeting in the near future. "there is no doubt but that my friend is an extremely well-qualified negotiator. i do not recollect that during my long experience, extending over many years, i have ever come across a man who could discuss matters for hours at a time with so much self-reliance, deliberation, and fixity of purpose." this report was passed on by the kaiser to herr v. tirpitz, the secretary for the navy, who not only expressed his approval of the project, but also recommended that the imperial chancellor, herr v. bethmann-hollweg, who had succeeded prince bülow on july th should be kept informed of all that was done to bring about an understanding. the chancellor, accordingly, was presented by the kaiser himself with a copy of ballin's report. this was the correct thing to do, as it avoided a _faux pas_ such as, during the chancellorship of prince bülow, had sometimes been made. future developments, however, proved that this step deprived the whole action of its spontaneity, and its immediate effect was that the secretary for the navy was relieved of all responsibility in the matter. ballin, in later days, summed up his views on this way of dealing with the subject by saying that if herr v. tirpitz had been left a free hand in the whole matter--if, for instance, _he_ had conducted it as imperial chancellor--it would hardly have turned out a failure. the main object of the negotiations that ballin had carried on was to ensure that a number of "experts and men of moderate views," i.e. naval experts in the first instance, should join in conference in order to discuss how, without injury to their relative fighting efficiency, both countries could bring about a reduction of their naval armaments. this plan was so simple and so obviously right that, had it been carried out as a preliminary to something else, and had the attention of the experts been drawn to the enormous political importance of their decision, success would have been assured. the procedure, however, which the chancellor adopted compelled him to combat the active opposition of the various departments involved even before a meeting of the naval experts could be arranged for, and this was a task which far exceeded the strength of herr v. bethmann-hollweg, the most irresolute of all german chancellors, the man to whom fate afterwards entrusted the most momentous decision which any german statesman has ever had to make. an interview between ballin and the chancellor was followed up, with the consent of the latter, by an exchange of telegrams between ballin and sir ernest cassel. from these it became clear that official circles in london were favourably disposed towards the opening of discussions in accordance with the terms laid down in ballin's report, and ballin approached the chancellor with the request to let him know whether he should continue to work on the same lines as before, or whether the chancellor would prefer a different method, by which he understood direct official negotiations. in a telegram to the chancellor he explained that in his opinion sir ernest's reference to the friendly disposition of official london implied that he was authorized to arrange the details about the intended meeting of experts. if, therefore, he went to england again, he would have to know what were the views and intentions of the chancellor. the reply of the latter, dated august th, was as follows: "many thanks for your welcome telegram, which has found my closest attention. i shall send you further details as soon as i have interviewed the gentlemen concerned, which i intend to do to-morrow and during the next few days." this reply clearly showed that the chancellor had made up his mind to deal with the matter along official lines and in conformity with his own ideas. the subsequent course of events is indicated by a letter of the chancellor to ballin, dated august st, in which he says: "i have to-day taken the official steps of which i told you. as sir ernest goschen[ ] and i have agreed to observe absolute secrecy in this matter, and as a statement of your friend to the british government to the effect that i had undertaken an official _démarche_, might possibly be regarded as an indiscretion, i suggest that if you inform your friend at all, you should word your reply in such a way that this danger need not be feared." this letter shows, and later events have also proved, that the guiding spirits of germany's political destiny were unable to meet on such terms as expediency would dictate the overtures of a man like sir ernest cassel, whose status and whose good intentions were beyond criticism. if, on receipt of this news, sir ernest, who had been working so hard for an understanding, was not entirely discouraged, it was no doubt due to the diplomatic skill with which ballin--who was a master of this art, as of so many others--interpreted the chancellor's rebuff when communicating it to his friend. that the latter's account of british feeling towards germany was perfectly unbiased, may also be inferred from another piece of news which reached ballin about the same time from a british source, and which reads as follows: "my only object in writing just now is to say that if there is any feeling in high quarters in your country favourable to coming to an understanding with this country concerning naval matters, i am quite satisfied from the inquiries i have made that the present would be an opportune time for approaching this question, and that the present government of this country would be found entirely favourable to coming to such an arrangement." however, by that time, the matter was in the hands of the various departments, and they proved unable to make a success of it. why they failed, and why the step which herr v. bethmann had taken with the british ambassador produced no results, are questions which can only be answered by reference to the files of the foreign office. mr. asquith, in a speech dealing with the british naval programme delivered on july th, , explained why no understanding with germany had been arrived at. "the german government told us--i cannot complain, and i have no answer to make--that their procedure in this matter is governed by an act of the reichstag under which the programme automatically proceeds year by year. that is to say, after the year - , the last year in which under that law four dreadnoughts are constructed, the rate of construction drops in the two succeeding years to two each year, so that we are now, we may hope, at the very crest of the wave. if it were possible, even now, by arrangement to reduce the rate of construction no one would be more delighted than his majesty's government. we have approached the german government on the subject. they have found themselves unable to do anything; they cannot do it without an act of the reichstag, repealing their navy law. they tell us--and no doubt with great truth--they would not have the support of public opinion in germany to a modified programme." as these statements have never been contradicted, it must be assumed that the departments concerned sheltered themselves behind the formal objection that, owing to public feeling, a repeal or a modification of the navy law was out of the question. if this assumption is correct, it is evident that no touch of political genius was revealed in the treatment of this important question. even the hope that the "crest of the wave" had been reached turned out a disappointment, as was proved by the introduction of the new navy bill in . the objections which herr v. bethmann, on march th, , raised to an international limitation of armaments can likewise only be described as formal ones. he said: "if it is the intention of the powers to come to an understanding with regard to general international armaments, they must first of all agree upon a formula defining the relative position of each.... practically, it might be said, such an order of precedence has already been established by great britain's claim that, notwithstanding her anxiety to effect a reduction of her expenditure on armaments, and notwithstanding her readiness to submit any disputes to arbitration, her navy must under all circumstances be equal--or even superior--to any possible combination. great britain is perfectly justified in making this claim, and in conformity with the views i hold on the disarmament problem, i am the last person in the world to question her right to do so. but it is quite a different matter to use such a claim as the basis of an agreement which is to receive the peaceful consent of the other powers. what would happen if the latter raised any counter-claims of their own, or if they were dissatisfied with the percentage allotted to them? the mere suggestion of questions such as these is sufficient to make us realize what would happen if an international congress--because one restricted to the european powers alone could not be comprehensive enough--had to adjudicate on such claims." if this explanation is intended to be a reply to such statements from the british side as the one just quoted from mr. asquith, the fact had been disregarded that the most serious problem under discussion--viz. the anglo-german rivalry--could quite well be solved without convening an "international congress." as early as december th, , herr v. bethmann, in a speech delivered before the reichstag, had enlarged on this same subject from the political point of view: "as to the relations between ourselves and great britain, and as to the alleged negotiations with the latter country concerning a mutual curtailment of naval armaments, i am bound to say that the british government, as everybody knows, has more than once expressed its conviction that the conclusion of an agreement fixing the naval strengths of the various powers would conduce to an important improvement of international relations.... we, too, share great britain's desire to eliminate the question of naval competition, but during the informal _pourparlers_ which have taken place from time to time, and which have been conducted in a spirit of mutual friendship, we have always given prominence to our conviction that a frank discussion of the economic and political spheres of interest to be followed up by a mutual understanding on these points would constitute the safest way of destroying the feeling of distrust which is engendered by the question of the respective strengths of the military and naval forces maintained by each country." the speech which sir edward grey delivered in the house of commons on march th, , with special reference to this speech of herr v. bethmann shows unmistakably that the remarks of the latter did not reassure great britain with respect to the only point at issue in which she was interested, viz. the limitation of the german naval programme. britain, according to sir edward, did not desire that her relations with any power should be of such a nature as to impede the simultaneous existence of cordial relations with germany. an anglo-german agreement had been specially suggested. this suggestion required some careful thinking over. if he were to hold out any hope that germany, in compliance with the terms of some such agreement would be willing to cancel or to modify her naval programme, he would be contradicted at once. only within the limits of this programme would it be possible to come to some understanding between the two governments. it might, for instance, be agreed to spread the expenditure voted for the navy over a longer term of years, or to arrange that the present german programme should not be increased in future. matters such as these could form the subjects for discussion between the two governments, and it would be desirable from every point of view that an understanding should be arrived at. to this speech the _north german gazette_ replied that germany would be quite prepared to fall in with sir edward's suggestions if agreements such as those outlined by him could in any way allay the feeling of distrust governing public opinion in great britain. if from this semi-official pronouncement it may be inferred that herr v. bethmann on his part was favourably disposed towards an agreement, the question arises: "why was it not concluded?" in order to understand why the british cabinet attached so much value to the settlement of the anglo-german naval questions and to the pacification of public opinion, it must be remembered that the liberal cabinet, owing to its hostile attitude towards the house of lords, had drifted into a violent conflict with the conservative party, and that the latter, in its turn, during the election campaign had accused the cabinet of having neglected the navy, driving home its arguments by constantly pointing out the "german danger." moreover, king edward had died in the meantime (may th, ), and of his son and successor it was said that he, at the time of his accession to the throne, was no longer a man of unbiased sentiment, that he was very anti-german, and that he was under the influence of a small group of conservative extremists. it may not be out of place to reproduce in this connexion the text of two accounts dealing with the situation in england which ballin wrote in the spring and in the summer of respectively, when he was staying in london, and which he submitted to the kaiser for his information. in the early part of he wrote: "if i were to say that london was completely dominated by the election campaign, this would be a very mild way of characterizing the situation as it is. the whole population has been seized with a fit of madness. the city men who, until quite recently, had preserved an admirable calm, have now lost their heads altogether, and are the most ardent advocates of tariff reform. every victory of a conservative candidate is cheered by them to the echo. under these circumstances, even in the city, the fear of war has grown. if we ask ourselves what it is that has brought about such an extraordinary change in the attitude of commonsense business people, we find that there are several reasons for it, viz. the general slump in business; the unfortunate policy cf lloyd george with regard to the irish nationalists; the advances he made to the labour party, and the effects of his social legislation which are now felt with increasing seriousness. "business is bad in england, and up to now very little has been seen of the improvement which is so marked in germany. it is but natural that, in view of the extended trade depression which has so far lasted more than two years, a people endowed with such business instincts as the british should feel favourably disposed towards a change of the country's commercial policy. this disposition is further strengthened by the constant reiteration of the promise that it will be possible to provide the money needed for new warship construction and for the newly inaugurated social policy by means of the duties which the foreigner will be made to pay. "it seems pretty certain that the present government, in spite of the great election successes gained by the conservative party, will still retain a slight majority if it can rely on the nationalist vote. that is what i had always predicted. but the majority on which the liberal cabinet depends will doubtless be a very uncomfortable one to work with, and the opinion is general that it will hardly take more than a twelvemonth before another dissolution of parliament will be necessary. it is said that the elections that will then be held will smash up the liberal party altogether, but i consider this is an exaggeration. in this country everything depends on the state of business. if, in the course of the year, trade prospects brighten up again, and if everything becomes normal once more, the tariff reformers in the city will turn free traders again and will take great care not to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. i am quite convinced that everything hangs on the future development of trade and traffic. to-day, as i have said before, tariff reform and a zollverein with the colonies are the catchwords that are on everybody's lips, and the anti-german feeling is so strong that it is scarcely possible to discuss matters with one's oldest friends, because the people over here have turned mad and talk of nothing but the next war and the protective policy of the near future. large crowds are spending hours every night in the principal squares such as trafalgar square, where they have come to watch the announcements of the election results in the provinces. their behaviour is exemplary. it is a curious thing that in this country the election game is spread over several weeks, in consequence of which the political excitement of the masses is raised to boiling-point. within a few months' time, i am sure, things will look entirely different again." from the second report, in the summer of , the following is the salient extract: "i am now returned from england, and it may not be out of place to report the impressions i received of the political and economic conditions over there. "my previous visit to london coincided with the big election campaign, and i have already described the fit of mad excitement which had taken possession of the people, and which was directed against germany. "the situation has now undergone a complete change, which is noticeable everywhere and which is caused by the close of the election campaign, by the death of the king, and, finally, by the visit of the kaiser on the occasion of the royal funeral. everyone whom i met in london--liberals and conservatives alike--spoke in terms of the highest praise of the kaiser's sympathetic attitude displayed during his stay in england, and which was all the more commendable as it was not denied that he had suffered many slights during the lifetime of his late uncle. "the attitude of the people towards the new monarch is one of reserve, but also--in conformity with the national character of the english--one of loyalty and good faith. the situation with regard to home politics is as difficult now as it has been all along. unless a compromise between the parties is arrived at new elections will be unavoidable in the spring or even before. i have met a great many persons of political experience who are of opinion that, even if a compromise is made, it will be necessary to submit such an arrangement to the decision of the electorate by an appeal to the country. it is difficult to predict the result of such new elections. the views held by large sections of the press and of the public bear out the truth of the remarks in my previous letter when i emphasized the fact that the british are a nation of business men who act on the principle of 'leave well alone,' and who will refuse to have anything to do with tariff reform as soon as there is an improvement in trade. "business has, indeed, improved in the meantime, but only very slightly, and much less than in germany. this slight improvement, however, has not failed to give a fillip to the cause of free trade among the city men. if elections in the spring are regarded as likely, much will depend on the further development of trade. i must confess that i take a very pessimistic view as to the future of great britain in this respect. the british can really no longer compete with us, and if it were not for the large funds they have invested, and for the sums of money which reach the small mother-country from her great dominions, their saturated and conservative habits of life would soon make them a _quantité négligeable_ as far as their competition with us in the world's markets is concerned. "of course, their financial strength and their excellent system of foreign politics, in which they have now been trained for centuries, will always attract business to their country, the possession of which we shall always begrudge them (for is not envy one of the national characteristics of the german race?)." up to the summer of the feeling remained friendly. early in july ballin wrote: "to-day the feeling, as far as the city is concerned, is thoroughly friendly towards germany. the visit in the spring of the kaiser and the kaiserin, on the occasion of the unveiling of the monument to queen victoria, has created a most sympathetic impression--an impression which has been strengthened by the participation of the crown prince and princess in the coronation festivities. at present the kaiser is actually one of the most popular persons in england, and the suggestion of bringing about an anglo-german understanding is meeting with a great deal of approval from all sections of the population." however, this readiness to come to an understanding received a setback during the course of the year, when it was adversely affected by the new developments in the morocco affair and by the dispatch of the _panther_ to agadir, which led to fresh complications with france, and later also with great britain. the grievances of the latter found expression in a sharply worded speech by lloyd george in july, , the main argument of which was that great britain, in questions affecting her vital interests, could not allow herself to be treated as though she were non-existent. in germany this pronouncement led to violent attacks on the part of the conservative opposition against herr v. bethmann and against england, and it was the latter against whom herr v. heydebrand directed his quotation from schiller, to the effect that a nation which did not stake her everything on her honour was deserving only of contempt. it is also well known that the outcome of the whole affair, as well as its sequel, the franco-german congo agreement, produced much indignation in germany, where it was felt that the material results obtained were hardly worth the great display of force, and that it was still less worth while to be drifted into a big war in consequence of this incident. the measure of the anxiety which was felt at that time in business and financial circles all over the world may be gauged by reading the following letter from ballin to the secretary of state, herr v. kiderlen-wächter, in which it is necessary to read between the lines here and there. "baron leopold de rothschild has just sent me a wire from london in which he says that, on the strength of information he has received from the paris rothschilds, people there are greatly disappointed to see that the german answer--the details of which are still unknown there--leaves some important questions still unsolved. public sentiment in the french capital, he says, is beginning to get excited, and it would be to the interest of everybody to settle matters as speedily as possible. "i felt it my duty to draw your attention to this statement, and you may take it for what it is worth. "i need not tell your excellency that people here and, i suppose, all over germany, are watching the progress of events with growing anxiety. in this respect, therefore, the desires of the german people seem identical with those of the french. "it would also be presumptuous on my part to speak to your excellency about the feeling in england and the british armaments, as the information you derive from your official sources is bound to be better still than that which i can obtain through my connexions. "with best wishes for a successful solution of this difficult and important problem, i have the honour to remain, "your excellency's most obedient servant, (_signed_) ballin." a most interesting document, and one which casts a clear sidelight on the divergence of opinion held in germany and great britain, and on the chances of arriving at an agreement, is an article which dates from the latter part of . this article deals with the anglo-german controversy and was published by the _westminster gazette_. it was sent to ballin by an english friend with the remark that it presented a faithful picture of the views on foreign affairs held by the great majority of british liberals. ballin forwarded it to berlin for the kaiser's information, with a note saying that he had received it from one of the most level-headed englishmen he had ever met. it was subsequently returned to him, with the addition of a number of marginal notes and a lengthy paragraph at its close, all written in the kaiser's own handwriting. the numerous underlinings, too, are the kaiser's own work. on account of its historical interest a facsimile reproduction of this article is inserted at the end of the book. the following is a translation of the kaiser's criticism at the conclusion of the article: "quite good, except for the ridiculous insinuation that we are aspiring after the hegemony in central europe. we simply _are_ central europe, and it is quite natural that other and smaller nations should tend towards us and should be drawn into our sphere of action owing to the law of gravity, particularly so if they are of our own kin. to this the british object, because it absolutely knocks to pieces their theory of the balance of power, i.e. their desire to be able to play off one european power against another at their own pleasure, and because it would lead to the establishment of a united continent--a contingency which they want to prevent at all costs. hence their lying assertion that we aim at a predominant position in europe, while it is a fact that they claim such a position for themselves in world politics. we hohenzollerns have never pursued such ambitious and such fantastic aims, and, god granting it, we shall never do so. "(_signed_) wilhelm i.r." the year opened with several pronouncements of the british press in favour of an anglo-german understanding. it was even hinted that britain would raise no objections to a possible extension of germany's colonial activities, or, as one paper put it, "to the foundation of a german african empire stretching from the atlantic to the indian ocean." similar sentiments were expressed in a letter from sir ernest cassel to ballin, dated january th, . "since writing to you last," says sir ernest, "i have had the opportunity of a confidential chat with mr. winston churchill. he is aware that the position which he has now occupied for some time ties him down to some special limitations which will not allow him to pay a visit of the kind you suggest so long as the situation remains what it is. should the king go to germany, and should he take winston with him, he--winston--would feel highly honoured if he were permitted to discuss the important questions that were demanding a solution. such an opportunity would have to come about quite spontaneously, and winston would have to secure the previous consent of the prime minister and of sir edward grey. "thus far winston. his friendly sentiments towards germany are known to you. i have been acquainted with him since he was quite a young man, and he has never made a secret of his admiration of the kaiser and of the german people. he looks upon the estrangement existing between the two countries as senseless, and i am quite sure he would do anything in his power to establish friendly relations. "the real crux of the situation is that great britain regards the enormous increase of the german navy as a grave menace to her vital interests. this conviction is a deep-rooted one, and there are no two opinions in london as to its significance. "if it were possible to do something which, without endangering the safety of germany, would relieve great britain of this nightmare, it is my opinion that people over here would go very far to conciliate german aspirations." the striking fact that after a long interval, and in spite of the failure of the previous endeavours, a renewed attempt was made to arrive at a naval understanding, and that special pains were taken to ensure its success, may be due to various causes. for instance, the morocco incident of had shown how easily a series of comparatively unimportant events might lead within reach of a dangerous catastrophe, unless the atmosphere of general distrust could be removed, and it was felt in great britain that this distrust was largely the result of the constant and regular increase of germany's armaments. moreover, it was known that a new navy bill was then forthcoming in germany which, in its turn, would be bound to cause fresh alarm, and growing expenditure in great britain, and that the liberal cabinet would prefer to gain its laurels by bringing about a more peaceful frame of mind. finally, mr. winston churchill had been appointed first lord of the admiralty in october, , and as he was known to be by no means anti-german, his entering upon office may have given rise to the hope that, while he was administering the affairs of the navy, it would be possible to settle certain purely technical matters affecting his department, which could then furnish the conditions preliminary to an understanding with germany. ballin, at any rate, had cherished the hope--as is borne out by the letter quoted above--that mr. churchill could be induced to pay a visit to germany, and that an opportunity might then be found to bring the naval experts of both countries face to face with each other. ballin had always eagerly desired that such a meeting should take place, because his long experience in settling difficult business questions had taught him that there was no greater barrier between people, and certainly none that hampered their intellectual _rapprochement_ to a larger extent, than the fact of their never having come into personal contact with one another, and of never having had a chance to actually familiarize themselves with the mentality and the whole personality of the man representing the other side. it might also be assumed that, once the two really responsible persons--churchill and tirpitz--had met in conclave, the feeling of their mutual responsibility would be too strong to allow the negotiations to end in failure. unfortunately, such a meeting never took place; all that was achieved was a preliminary step, viz. the visit of lord haldane to berlin. owing to the lack of documentary evidence it is not possible to say who first suggested this visit, but it is clear that the suggestion--whoever may have been its author--was eagerly taken up by sir ernest cassel and ballin, and that it also met with a warm welcome on the part of herr v. bethmann. in reply to a telegram which ballin, with the approval--if not at the actual desire--of the chancellor, sent to his friend in london, a message reached him on february nd, , when he was in berlin engaged on these very matters. this reply, which originated with the foreign office, expressed the sender's thanks for the invitation to attend a meeting of delegates in berlin and his appreciation of the whole spirit which had prompted the german suggestion, and then went on to say that the new german navy bill would necessitate an immediate increase in the british naval estimates, because the latter had been framed on the supposition that the german programme would remain unaltered. if the british government were compelled to find the means for such an increase, the suggested negotiations would be difficult, if not impossible. on the other hand, the german programme might perhaps be modified by spreading it out over a longer period of time or by some similar measure, so that a considerable increase of british naval construction in order to balance the german efforts could be avoided. in that case the british government would be ready to proceed with the negotiations without loss of time, as it would be taken for granted that there was a fair prospect of the proposed discussions leading to a favourable result. if this suggestion was acceptable to germany, the british government thought the next step should be a private--and not an official--visit of a british cabinet minister to berlin. perhaps it is now permissible to give the text of some documents without any further comment, as these latter speak for themselves. the first is a letter of the chancellor addressed to ballin, and reads as follows: "berlin. _febr. th, ._ "dear mr. ballin,-- "we are still busy wording the text of our reply, and i shall not be able to see you at o'clock. as soon as the text is settled, i shall submit it to his majesty for his approval. under these circumstances i think it is doubtful whether we ought to adhere to the time fixed for our appointment. i rather fancy that i cannot tell you anything definite before or o'clock, and i shall ring you up about that time. you have already made such great sacrifices in the interest of our cause that i hope you will kindly accept this alteration as well. "in great haste. "(_signed_) bethmann-hollweg." the next document is a letter of ballin to sir ernest cassel, intended to explain the situation. "the demand raised by your official telegram rather complicates matters. the fact is that the bill as it stands now only asks for half as much as was contained in the original draft. this reduced demand is much less than the nation and the reichstag had expected. if after this a still further curtailment is decided upon, such a step will create the highly undesirable impression that, in order to pave the way for an understanding with london, it had become necessary to make very considerable sacrifices. this, of course, must be avoided at all costs, because if and when an understanding is arrived at, there must be neither victors nor vanquished. "i need not emphasize the fact that our government is taking up the matter with the greatest interest and that it is keenly anxious to bring about a successful issue. the reception with which you have met on our side must have given you convincing and impressive proofs of this attitude. "i have now succeeded in making our gentlemen promise me--although not without much reluctance on their part--that they would not object to the formula proposed by your government, viz. 'it is agreed to submit the question of the proposed increase of naval tonnage to a _bona fide_ discussion.' thus there is now a fair prospect of reaching a favourable result, and the preliminary condition laid down by your government has been complied with. "i think that the delegate sent should be accompanied by a naval expert. the gentleman in question should also understand that he would have to use the utmost frankness in the discussions, and that he must be able to give an assurance that it is intended to subject the british programme, too, to such alterations as will make it not less, but rather more, acceptable than it is now. surely, your government has never desired that we should give you a definite undertaking on our part, whereas you should be at liberty to extend your programme whenever you think fit to do so. a clearly defined neutrality agreement is another factor which will enter into the question of granting the concessions demanded by your government. "'reciprocal assurances' is a term which it is difficult to define; if, for instance, the attitude of great britain and her action last summer had been submitted to a court of law, it would hardly be found to have violated the obligations implied by such 'reciprocal assurances,' and yet we were at the edge of war owing to the steps taken by your people. "i thought it my duty, my dear friend, to submit these particulars to you, so that you, for the benefit of the great cause we are engaged in, may take whatever steps you consider advisable before the departure of the delegate. "our people would appreciate it very much if you would make the great sacrifice of coming over to this country when the meeting takes place. i personally consider this also necessary, and it goes without saying that i shall be present as well. "p.s.--the chancellor to whom i have shown this letter thinks it would be better not to send it, because the official note contains all that is necessary. "however, i shall forward it all the same, because i believe it will present a clearer picture of the situation to you than the note. please convince the delegate that it is a matter of give and take, and please come. it entails a great sacrifice on your part, but the cause which we have at heart is worth it. "the bearer of this note is our general secretary, mr. huldermann. he is a past master of discretion, and fully acquainted with the situation." i was instructed to hand the following note by the german government to sir ernest cassel with the request to pass it on to the british government, and at the same time i was to explain verbally and in greater detail the contents of ballin's letter on the situation. the text of the official note is as follows: "we are willing to continue the discussion in a friendly spirit. the navy bill is bound to lead to a discussion of the naval plans of both countries, and in this matter we shall be able to fall in with the wishes of the british government if we, in return, receive sufficient guarantees as to a friendly disposition of british policy towards our own interests. any agreement would have to state that either power undertakes not to join in any plans, combinations, or warlike complications directed against the other. if concluded, it might pave the way for an understanding as to the sums of money to be spent on armaments by either country. "we assume that the british government shares the views expressed in this note, and we should be glad if a british cabinet minister could proceed to berlin, in the first instance for the purpose of a private and confidential discussion only." on the evening of the same day (february th) i left for london. i arrived there the following evening and went straight to sir ernest cassel. i prepared the following statement for ballin at the time, in which i described the substance of our conversation and the outcome of my visit: "the note which i had brought with me did not at first satisfy our friend. he made a brief statement to the effect that we saw a fair prospect of reaching a successful solution of the problem was all that was needed, and that our answer was lengthy, but evasive. this opinion, however, he did not maintain after the close of our conversation, which lasted more than two hours. i pointed out to him that, as i understood it, the phrase 'we are willing to continue the discussion in a friendly spirit' amounted to a declaration on the part of the german government that, in its opinion, there was a 'fair prospect,' and that an accommodating spirit was all one could ask at present. he thought that lord haldane had been asked to go to berlin so that a member of the cabinet should have an opportunity of ascertaining on the spot that berlin was really disposed to discuss matters in a friendly spirit. on this point positive assurances were needed before sir edward grey and mr. winston churchill went across, who, if they did go, would not return without having effected the object of their visit. sir ernest always emphasized that he only stated his own private views, but it was evident that he spoke with the highest authority. the demand for three dreadnoughts, he said, which the new german navy bill asked for, amounted to a big increase of armaments, and great britain would be compelled to counterbalance it by a corresponding increase, which she would not fail to do. if, however, germany were prepared not to enlarge her existing programme, great britain would be pleased to effect a reduction on her part. when i referred to the apprehension of the german government lest great britain should take advantage of the fact that germany had her hands tied, in order to effect big armaments which it would be impossible for us to equal, our friend remarked that, for the reason stated above, such fears were groundless. in spite of this assurance, i repeatedly and emphatically drew his attention to the necessity for limiting the british programme just as much as the german one. he evidently no longer fancied the suggestion previously put forward that the question of agreeing upon a definite ratio of strength for the two navies should be discussed; because, if this was done, one would get lost in the details. nevertheless, he did not, as the discussion proceeded, adhere to this standpoint absolutely. he agreed that the essential thing was to establish friendly political relations, and if, as i thought, germany had reason to complain of british opposition to her legitimate expansion, one could not do better than discuss the various points at issue one by one, similar to the method which had proved so successful in the case of the anglo-french negotiations. great britain would not raise any objections to our desire for rounding-off our colonial empire, and she was quite willing to grant us our share in the distribution of those parts of the globe that were still unclaimed. "by keeping strictly to the literal text of the german note, he found the latter quite acceptable as far as it referred to the question of a declaration of neutrality. he said there was a great difference between such declarations, and often it was quite possible to interpret them in various ways. i imagined that what was in his mind were the obligations which britain had taken upon herself in her agreement with france, and i therefore asked him for a definition of the term 'neutrality.' his answer was very guarded and contained many reservations. what he meant was something like this: great britain has concluded agreements with france, russia, and other countries which oblige her to remain neutral where the other partner is concerned, except when the latter is engaged in a war of aggression. "applied to two practical cases, this would mean: if an agreement such as the one now under consideration had been in existence at the time of the morocco dispute last summer, great britain would have been free to take the side of france if war had broken out between that country and ourselves, because in this case we--as he argued with much conviction--had been the aggressors. on the other hand, if we had severed our relations with italy during the turco-italian war and had come to the support of turkey, great britain would not have been allowed to join italy in conspiring against us if we had an agreement such as the one in question. "in the interval between my first and my second visit sir ernest evidently had, by consulting his friend haldane, arrived at a very definite opinion, and when i visited him for the second time he assured me most emphatically that great britain would concede to us as much as she had conceded to the other powers, but not more. we could rely on her absolute loyalty, 'and,' he added, 'our attitude towards france proves that we can be loyal to our friends.' "for the rest, the manner in which he pleaded the british point of view was highly interesting. great britain, he argued, had done great things in the past, but owing to her great wealth a decline had set in in the course of the last few decades. ('traces of this development,' he added, 'have also been noticeable in your country.') germany, however, had made immense progress, and within the next fifteen or twenty years she would overtake great britain. if, then, such a dangerous competitor commenced to increase his armaments in a manner which could be directed only against britain, he must not be surprised if the latter made every effort to check him wherever his influence was felt. great britain, therefore, could not remain passive if germany attempted to dominate the whole continent; because this, if successful, would upset the balance of power. neither could she hold back in case germany attacked and annihilated france. thus, the situation being what it was, britain was compelled--provided the proposed agreement with germany was not concluded--to decide whether she would wait until her competitor had become still stronger and quite invincible, or whether she would prefer to strike at once. the latter alternative, he thought, would be the safer for her interests. "our friend had a copy of the german note made by his secretary, and then forwarded it to haldane. in the course of the evening the latter sent an acknowledgment of its receipt, from which sir ernest read out to me the words: 'so far very good.' it was evident that his friend's opinion had favourably influenced his own views on the german note. "on tuesday sir ernest and lord haldane drove to the former's house after having attended thanksgiving service. lord haldane stayed for lunch, and was just leaving when i arrived at o'clock. he did not want to be accompanied by a naval expert, for, although he did not pretend to understand all the technical details, he said that he knew all that was necessary for the discussion. he stated that he would put all his cards on the table and speak quite frankly. "our friend spoke of our german politics in most disparaging terms, saying that they had been worth nothing since bismarck's time. what ballin had attained in his dealings with the shipping companies was far superior to all the achievements of germany's diplomatists." the positive information which this report contained was passed on to the chancellor. by way of explanation it may be added that the german navy bill, which later on, at the end of march, , was laid before the reichstag, provided for the formation of a third active squadron in order to adapt the increase in the number of the crews to the increase in the material. this third squadron necessitated the addition of three new battleships and of two small cruisers, and it was also intended to increase the number of submarines and to make provision for the construction of airships. the discussions with lord haldane took place at the royal castle, berlin, on february th, the kaiser being in the chair. the chancellor did not attend, he had a separate interview with haldane. the outcome of the conference is described in a statement from an authoritative source, viz. in a note which the kaiser dispatched to ballin by special messenger immediately after the close of the conference. it reads as follows: "the castle, berlin. " . . . p.m. "dear ballin, "the conversation has taken place, and all the pros and many cons have been discussed. our standpoint has been explained in great detail, and the bill has been examined. at my suggestion, it was resolved to agree on the following basis (informal line of action): "( ) because of its scope and its importance, the agreement must be concluded, and it must not be jeopardized by too many details. "( ) therefore, the agreement is not to contain any reference to the size of the two fleets, to standards of ships, to constructions, etc. "( ) the agreement is to be purely political. "( ) as soon as the agreement has been published here, and as soon as the bill has been laid before the reichstag, i, in my character of commander-in-chief, instruct tirpitz to make the following statement to the committee: the third squadron will be asked for and voted, but the building of the three additional units required to complete it will not be started until , and one ship each will be demanded in and respectively. "haldane agreed to this and expressed his satisfaction. i have made no end of concessions. but this must be the limit. he was very nice and very reasonable, and he perfectly understood my position as commander-in-chief, and that of tirpitz, with regard to the bill. i really think i have done all i could do. "please remember me to cassel and inform him. "your sincere friend, "(_signed_) wilhelm i.r." after lord haldane's departure from berlin there was a gap of considerable length in the negotiations which had made such a promising start, and unfortunately during that time mr. churchill made a speech which not only the german papers but also the liberal press in great britain described as wanting in discretion. the passage which german opinion resented most of all was the statement that, in contrast with great britain, for whom a big navy was an absolute necessity, to germany such navy was merely a luxury. for the rest, the following two letters from the chancellor to ballin may throw some light on the causes of the break in the negotiations: "berlin. " . . . "dear mr. ballin, "our supposition that it is the contents of the bill which have brought about the change of feeling is confirmed by news from a private source. it is feared that the bill as it stands will have such an adverse influence on public opinion that the latter will not accept a political agreement along with it. nevertheless, the idea of an understanding has not been lost sight of, even though it may take six months or a year before it can be accomplished. "in consequence of this information the draft reply to london requires to be reconsidered, and it has not been dispatched so far. i shall let you know as soon as it has left. "sincerely yours. "(_signed_) bethmann-hollweg." "berlin. " . . . "dear mr. ballin, "this is intended for your confidential information. regarding the naval question great britain now, as always, lays great stress on the difficulty of reconciling public opinion to the inconsistency implied by a big increase in the naval estimates hand in hand with the conclusion of a political and colonial agreement. however, even if an agreement should not be reached, she hopes that the confidential relations and the frank exchange of opinions between both governments which have resulted from lord haldane's mission may continue in future. the question of a colonial understanding is to be discussed in the near future. "it is imperative that the negotiations should not break down. success is possible in spite of the navy bill if the discussions are carried on dispassionately. as matters stand, the provisions of the bill must remain as they are. great britain has no right to interfere with our views on the number of the crews which we desire to place on board our existing units. as far as the building dates of the three battleships are concerned, i should have preferred--as you are aware--to leave our hands untied, but his majesty's decision has definitely fixed and as the years for laying them down. this is a far-reaching concession to great britain. "discreet support from private quarters will be appreciated. "many thanks for your news. you know that and why i was prevented from writing these last few days. "sincerely yours, "(_signed_) bethmann-hollweg." in order to find out whether any foreign influence might have been at work in london, i was commissioned to meet sir ernest cassel in the south of europe early in march. ballin supplied me with a letter containing a detailed account of the general situation. owing to a delay in the proposed meeting, i took the precaution of burning the letter, as i had been instructed to do, and i informed sir ernest of its contents by word of mouth. in this document ballin gave a brief résumé of the situation as it appeared to him after his consultations with the various competent departments in berlin, somewhat on the following lines: ( ) after lord haldane's return sir edward grey officially told count metternich that he was highly pleased with the successful issue of lord haldane's mission, and gave him to understand that he thought it unlikely that any difficulties would arise. ( ) a few days later mr. asquith made a statement in the house of commons which amply confirmed the views held by sir edward grey, and which produced a most favourable impression in berlin. ( ) this induced the chancellor to make an equally amicable and hopeful statement to the reichstag. ( ) in spite of this, however, there arose an interval of several weeks, during which neither count metternich nor anybody in berlin received any news from the proper department in london. this silence naturally caused some uneasiness. ( ) count metternich was asked to call at the foreign office, where sir edward grey commenced to raise objections mainly in reference to the navy bill. "i must add in this connexion--as, no doubt, lord haldane has also told you verbally--that on the last day of his stay in berlin an understanding was arrived at between the competent quarters on our side and lord haldane with regard to the building dates of the three battleships. as you will remember, it had been agreed not to discuss the proposed establishment of the third squadron on an active footing and the increase in the number of the crews connected with it, but to look upon these subjects as lying outside the negotiations." quite suddenly and quite unexpectedly we are now faced with a great change in the situation. grey, as i have said before, objects--in terms of the greatest politeness, of course--to the increase in the number of the crews, asks questions as to our intentions with regard to torpedo boats and submarines, and--this is most significant--emphasizes that the haldane mission has at any rate been of great use, even if the negotiations should not lead to any definite result. ( ) the next event was a further interview with count metternich during which it was stated that, according to the calculations of the first lord of the admiralty, the increase in the number of the crews amounted to , men, whilst it had been thought in england that it would be a question of from , to , men at the outset. it appeared that this large increase was looked upon with misgivings, and that it was desired to enter into fresh negotiations which would greatly interfere with the arrangements made by the german competent quarters with regard to the navy. hence metternich replied that, in his opinion, these explanations could only mean that the cabinet did not agree to the arrangements made by lord haldane. grey's answer was full of polite assurances couched in the language of diplomacy, but, translated into plain german, what he meant was: "you are quite right." ballin's letter went on to say that the german navy bill had gradually been reduced to a minimum, and that it was not possible to cut it down any further. we could not, and we would not, give rise to the suspicion that great alterations had been made merely to meet british objections. finally, ballin requested his friend to go to london in order to make inquiries on the spot, and also declared his readiness to go there himself. my report on my conversations with sir ernest cassel, which took place at marseilles on march th and th, is as follows: "our friend arrived about four hours late, but he received me all the same at p.m. on that evening. i told him all about my journey and related to him verbally the contents of ballin's letter. when i described the incident of how grey had raised new objections at his interview with metternich, and when i explained how, after that, the matter had come to a dead stop, so that nothing further was heard of it in germany, our friend interrupted me by saying that since then the british government had presented a memorandum containing the objections raised against the german navy bill. the latter, he suggested, was the only stumbling-block, as could be inferred from a letter which he had received _en route_ from haldane. "when i remarked that ballin, in a postscript to his letter, had expressed an apprehension lest some foreign influence had interfered with the course of events, our friend positively denied this. france, he said, was on good terms with great britain, and had no reason for intriguing against an anglo-german agreement destined, as it was, to promote the cause of peace. "when i then proceeded with my account, drawing his special attention to the reduction of the estimates contained in the navy bill, sir ernest interposed that he was not sufficiently _au courant_ as to the details. he himself, in his statement prepared for the british government, had only referred to the battleships, and he thought he had perhaps given too cursory an account of the other factors of the case. he also threw out some fairly plain hints that haldane had gone too far in berlin, and that he had made statements on a subject with which he was not sufficiently conversant. later on, he continued, the navy bill had been subjected to a careful examination by the british admiralty, and before his departure from cannes he, sir ernest, had received a letter from mr. churchill, the tone of which was very angry. churchill complained that germany had presented such a long list of the wishes with which she wanted great britain to comply, that the least one could hope for was an accommodating spirit in the question of the navy. everything now depended on churchill; if he could be satisfied, all the rest would be plain sailing. he and lloyd george were the greatest friends of the agreement. sir ernest also made it fairly clear that great britain would be content with a postponement of the building dates, or in other words with a 'retardation of the building programme.' the negotiations would be bound to fail, unless ballin could secure such a postponement. it was necessary to strike whilst the iron was hot, and this particular iron had already become rather cool. he quite accepted grey's statement that the haldane mission had not been in vain, as the feeling had doubtless become more friendly since then. some few individual indiscretions, such as churchill's reference to the german navy as an article of luxury, should not be taken too seriously. if the german bill were passed into law in its present shape, the british government would be obliged to introduce one asking for three times as much, but it could not possibly do this and declare at the same time that it had reached an understanding with germany. such a proceeding would be absurd. the argument that it is inconsistent with common sense to conclude an agreement and yet to continue one's armaments, is evidently still maintained in great britain, and is one which, of course, it is impossible to refute. "in the course of our conversation sir ernest produced the letter which he had received from haldane _en route_. this letter stated that the discussions with metternich were then chiefly on the subject of the navy bill, and that the admiralty had prepared a memorandum for the german government dealing with these questions. the letter was dated february th, and its tone was not pessimistic; churchill, however, as stated above, had previously written him a 'very angry' letter. in this connexion it must not be forgotten that the man on whom everything depends is not the amiable negotiator haldane, but churchill." in order to make further inquiries about the state of things and to assist in promoting the good cause, ballin, immediately after my return, proceeded to paris and then to london. he reported to the chancellor upon the impressions he had received in paris. the following is an extract from his report: "owing to the brief time at my disposal when i was in paris, i could only learn the views of the members of the '_haute finance_.' it is well known that in france the attitude taken up by financial circles is always regarded as authoritative. they look upon the present situation as decidedly pacific; they are pleased that the morocco affair is settled, and they feel quite sure that the political sky is unclouded by complications. they would gladly welcome an agreement between germany and great britain. my friends assure me that the government also does not view the idea of such an understanding with displeasure; on the contrary, it looks upon it as an advantage. it is, however, thought unlikely that an agreement will be reached, because it is believed that popular feeling in germany is too much opposed to it. if, notwithstanding these pacific views held by influential and competent sections, the casual visitor to the french capital is impressed by a certain bellicose attitude of the nation as a whole, it is largely due to the propaganda carried on by the _matin_ with the purpose of obtaining voluntary subscriptions for the furtherance of aviation. the french are enthusiastic over this idea, and as it has a strong military bearing, the man in the street likes to connect the french aviation successes with a victorious war." from london ballin sent me some telegrams which i was instructed to pass on to the chancellor. in these messages he stated that his conversations with the german ambassador and with haldane had convinced him that people in london believed that the increase in the number of the crews, if the proposed german navy bill became law, would be greater than the figures given by berlin would make it appear. it would therefore be most desirable to arrange for a meeting of experts to clear up this discrepancy. ballin's impression was that the british cabinet, and also the king, were still favourably disposed to the whole plan, and that the cabinet was unanimous in this view. a conversation with churchill, which lasted several hours, confirmed these impressions. in london the increase in the number of the crews had previously been estimated at half of what it would really be, and alarm was felt about the large number of torpedo boats and submarines demanded; but since the german government had explained that the figures arrived at in london--i.e. those stated in the memorandum which had been addressed to the german government some time before--were not correct, churchill had agreed that both sides should nominate experts who would check the figures and put them right. churchill was anxious to see that the matter was brought to a successful issue, and he was still hoping that a neutrality agreement would induce the german government to make concessions in regard to the navy bill. when ballin had satisfied himself as to this state of things, he immediately returned to berlin, as he did not consider it appropriate that any private person should do anything further for the time being, and as he thought that the conduct of the discussions concerning the neutrality agreement were best left to the ambassador. meanwhile, however, the german government had definitely made up its mind that the navy bill would have to remain as it stood. this was the information ballin received from the kaiser and the chancellor when he returned from london on march th. sir ernest cassel then suggested to the british government that the negotiations concerning the neutrality agreement should be re-opened as soon as the first excitement caused by the navy bill had subsided, which would probably be the case within a few months, and that the interval should be utilized for clearing up the details. in berlin, however, the discussions were looked upon as having been broken off, as may be seen from the following telegram which the kaiser sent to ballin on march th in reply to ballin's information about his last exchange of telegrams with london: "many thanks for letter. the latest proposals arriving here immediately after you had left raised impossible demands and were so offensive in form that they were promptly rejected. further harm was done by churchill's arrogant speech which a large section of the british press justly described as a provocation of germany. the 'agreement' has thus been broken by great britain, and we have done with it. the negotiations must be started afresh on quite a different basis. what apology has there been offered to us for the passage in the speech describing our fleet as an article of luxury? "(_signed_) wilhelm i.r." that the negotiations had actually been broken off was confirmed to ballin by a letter of the chancellor of the same date: "dear mr. ballin, "my cordial thanks for your letter of the th. what your friend told metternich is identical with what he wired you. churchill's speech did not come up to my expectations. he really seems to be a firebrand past praying for. the army and navy bills will probably not go up to the federal council until the st, as the army bill requires some amendments at the eleventh hour. their contents will be published simultaneously. "my opinion is that our labours will now have to be stopped altogether for some time. the problem before us suffers from the defect that, because of its inherent difficulties, it admits of no solution. i shall always remain sincerely grateful to you for your loyal assistance. when you come to berlin next time, please don't forget to call at the wilhelmstrasse. "with kindest regards, "sincerely yours, "(_signed_) bethmann-hollweg." the conviction of the inherent impossibility of solving the problem was shared by many people in germany--chiefly, of course, by those connected with the navy; and some critics went so far as to say that great britain had never honestly meant to arrive at an understanding, or at any rate that haldane--whose honesty and sincerity were beyond doubt--was disowned by his fellow-members in the cabinet. when ballin, in compliance with the wishes of the foreign office, went to london during the critical period before the outbreak of the war in , he wrote a letter from there to a naval officer of high rank with whom he had been on terms of friendship for years. this document is of interest now because it shows what ballin's own standpoint was with regard to the views described in the previous paragraph: "people over here," he wrote, "do not believe that negotiations with great britain on the subject of a naval agreement could possibly be crowned with success, and you yourself contend that it would have been better if such negotiations had never been started. your standpoint is that the failure of any efforts in that direction would merely tend to aggravate the existing situation, a point of view with which i entirely concur. "on the other hand, however, you cannot deny the soundness of the argument that, if the responsible leaders of british naval policy keep expressing their desire to enter into a discussion, the refusal of germany to do so must cause the british to believe that we are pursuing aims far exceeding those we have openly avowed. my somewhat fatigued brain is unable to see whether the german contention is right or wrong. but naturally, i always look upon things from the business man's point of view, and so i always think it better to come to some kind of an agreement with a competitor rather than allow him an unlimited measure of expansion. once, however, i have come to the conclusion that for financial or other reasons this competitor can no longer keep pace with me, his further existence ceases altogether to interest me. "thus the views of the expert on these matters and those of the business man run counter to each other, and i am entitled to dismiss this subject without entering upon a discussion of the interesting and remarkable arguments which winston churchill put before me last night. i cannot, however, refrain from contradicting by a few brief words the contention that the motives which had prompted the haldane mission were not sincere. a conversation with sir edward grey the night before last has strengthened this conviction of mine still further. i regard sir edward as a serious, honest, and clever statesman, and i am sure you will agree with my view that the haldane mission has cleared the atmosphere surrounding anglo-german relations which had become very strained." it may be supposed that history, in the meantime, has proved whose standpoint was the correct one: that of the business man or that of the naval expert. not much need be said about the subsequent development of events up to the outbreak of the war. the above-mentioned opinion which the chancellor held regarding churchill's speech of march th, , was probably arrived at on the strength of the cabled reports only. whoever reads the full original text of the speech must fail to find anything aggressive in it, and there was no harm in admitting that it was a perfectly frank and honest statement concerning the naval rivalry of the two powers. among other things it contained the suggestion that a "naval holiday" should be agreed upon, i.e. both countries should abstain from building new ships for a definite period. we, at any rate, looked upon churchill's speech as a suitable means of making people see what would be the ultimate consequences of the interminable naval armaments. i made a german translation of it which, with the aid of one of the committees for an anglo-german understanding, i spread broadcast all over the country. however, it proved a complete failure, as there were powerful groups in both countries who contended that the efforts to reconcile the two standpoints could not lead to any positive result, and that the old injunction, _si vis pacem, para bellum_, indicated the only right solution. only a master mind could have overcome these difficulties. but herr v. bethmann, as we know, considered that the problem, for inherent reasons, did not admit of any solution at all, and the kaiser's initial enthusiasm had probably been damped by subsequent influences of a different kind. ballin himself, in later years, ascribed the failure of the mission to the circumstance that the kaiser and his chancellor, between themselves only, had attempted to bring the whole matter to a successful issue instead of entrusting this task to the secretary of foreign affairs and to admiral tirpitz, the secretary for the navy. an interesting sidelight on the causes which led to the failure of this last important attempt to reach an understanding is thrown by the rumours which were spread in the german press in march, , to the effect that the secretary of state for foreign affairs, herr v. kiderlen, wished to resign, because he felt that he had been left too much in the dark with regard to the anglo-german negotiations. it was also reported that the chancellor's position had been shaken, and that admiral tirpitz felt dissatisfied, because the navy bill did not go far enough. probably there was some vestige of truth in all these rumours, and this may have been connected with the attitude which the three gentlemen concerned had taken up towards the question of the negotiations with great britain. shortly after the visit of lord haldane ballin received a letter from a personage belonging to the kaiser's entourage in which it was said: "the impression which has taken root with me during the many hours which i spent as an attentive listener is that your broad-minded scheme is being wrecked by our official circles, partly through their clumsiness, and partly through their bureaucratic conceit, and--which is worse--that we have failed to show ourselves worthy of the great opportunity." when it had become certain that the last attempt to reach an understanding had definitely and finally failed, the ambassador in london, count metternich, did not shrink from drawing the only possible conclusion from it. he had always expressed his conviction that a war between germany and a franco-russian coalition would find great britain on the side of germany's opponents, and his resignation--which, as usual, was explained by the state of his health--was really due to a report of his in which he stated it as his opinion that a continuation of german armaments would lead to war with great britain no later than . it is alleged that the kaiser added a very "ungracious" marginal note to this report. consequently, the ambassador, who was a man of very independent character, did the only thing he could consistently do, and resigned his office. in taking this step he may have been influenced by the reception which the failure of the haldane mission met with in conservative circles in great britain, where no stone was left unturned to urge the necessity for continuing the policy of big armaments and to paint german untrustworthiness in the most glaring colours. count metternich's successor was herr v. marschall, a gentleman whose appointment the press and the official circles welcomed with great cordiality, and from whose considerable diplomatic abilities, which were acknowledged on all sides, an improvement of anglo-german relations was confidently expected. it was said that the kaiser had sent "his best man," thus demonstrating how greatly he also desired better relations. but herr v. marschall's activities came to a sudden end through his early death in september, , and in october his place was taken by prince lichnowsky, whose efforts in the direction of an improvement in the relations are familiar to everyone who has read his pamphlet. apart from the work performed by the ambassadors, great credit is also due to the activities displayed by herr v. kühlmann, the then secretary to the legation and subsequent secretary of state. the public did not see a deal of his work, which was conducted with skill and was consistent. his close personal acquaintance with some of the leading british politicians, especially with sir edward grey, enabled him to do much work for the maintenance of good relations and in the interest of european peace, particularly during the time when the post of ambassador was vacant, and also during the balkan war. he had, moreover, a great deal to do with the drafting of the two colonial agreements dealing with the bagdad railway and the african problems respectively, both of which were ready for signature in the summer of . the former especially may be looked upon as a proof not only that a considerable improvement had taken place in anglo-german relations, but also that great britain was not inclined to adjust the guiding lines of her policy in asia minor exclusively in conformity with the wishes of russia. anybody who takes an interest in the then existing possibilities of german expansion with the consent of great britain and on the basis of these colonial draft agreements cannot do better than read the anonymous pamphlet entitled "_deutsche weltpolitik und kein krieg_" ("german world power and no war"), published in by messrs. puttkamer & mühlbrecht, of berlin. the author is dr. plehn, the then representative of the _cologne gazette_ in london, and it partly reflects the views of herr v. kühlmann. in this connexion i should like to refer briefly to an episode which took place towards the close of . the german periodicals have already discussed it, especially the _süddeutsche monatshafte_ in june, , in a review of the reports which count lerchenfeld, the bavarian minister to the court of berlin, had made for the information of his government. in these reports he mentions an event to which the kaiser had already referred in a letter to ballin dated december th, . the kaiser, in commenting on the state of tension then existing between austria and serbia, made some significant remarks concerning the policy of germany towards austria-hungary. when the relations between vienna and petrograd, he wrote, had assumed a dangerous character, because it was recognized that the attitude of serbia was based on her hope of russian support, germany might be faced with the possibility of having to come to the assistance of austria. "the slav subjects of austria," the letter continued, "had become very restless, and could only be brought to reason by the resolute action of the whole dual monarchy against serbia. austria had arrived at the cross roads, and her whole future development hung in the balance. either the german element would retain its ascendancy, in which case she would remain a suitable ally, or the slav element would gain the upper hand, and she would cease to be an ally altogether. if we were compelled to take up arms, we should do so to assist austria not only against russian aggression, but also against the slavs in general, and in her efforts to remain german. that would mean that we should have to face a racial struggle of the germanic element against slav insolence. it is beyond our power to prevent this struggle, because the future of the habsburg monarchy and that of our own country are both at stake. (this was the real meaning of bethmann's very plain speaking.) it is therefore a question on which depends the very existence of the germanic race on the continent of europe. "it was of great importance to us that great britain had so far supported the austro-german standpoint in these matters. now, since a war against russia would automatically imply a war with france as well, it was of interest to us to know whether, in this purely continental case, great britain could and would declare her neutrality in conformity with her proposals of last february. "on december th, haldane, obviously sent by grey, called on lichnowsky and explained to the dumbfounded ambassador in plain words that, assuming germany getting involved in war against russia and france, great britain would _not_ remain neutral, but would at once come to the assistance of france. the reason given for this attitude was that britain could not and would not tolerate at any time that we should acquire a position of continental predominance which might easily lead to the formation of a united continent. great britain could therefore never allow france to be crushed by us. you can imagine the effect of this piece of news on the whole of the wilhelmstrasse. i cannot say that i was taken by surprise, because i, as you know, have always looked upon great britain as an enemy in a military sense. still, this news has decidedly cleared matters up, even if the result is merely of a negative character." ballin did not omit to ask his friend for some details concerning the visit of lord haldane mentioned in the kaiser's letter, and was furnished with the following explanation by lord haldane himself. nothing had been further from his intentions, he said, than to call on prince lichnowsky for the express purpose of making any such declaration; and balkan questions, to the best of his recollection, had not been touched at all. he had spent a very pleasant half-hour with the prince, and in the course of their conversation he had seen fit to repeat the formula which had been discussed during his stay in berlin, and which referred to britain's interest in the preservation of the integrity of france. this, possibly, might have given rise to the misunderstanding. prince lichnowsky himself, in his pamphlet entitled "my london mission," relates the incident as follows: "in my dispatches sent to berlin i pointed out again and again that great britain, being a commercial country, would suffer enormously through any war between the european powers, and would prevent it by every means within her power. at the same time, however, she could never tolerate the weakening or the crushing of france, because it would disturb the balance of power and replace it by the ascendancy of germany. this view had been expressed to me by lord haldane shortly after my arrival, and everybody whose opinion counts for anything told me the same thing." the failure of the negotiations aiming at an understanding led to a continuance of the increase in the british armaments, a concentration of the british battle fleet in the north sea, and to that of the french fleet in the mediterranean. the latter arrangement was looked upon in germany as a menace directed against italy, and produced a sharp semi-official criticism in the _frankfurter zeitung_. in spite of all this, however, friendly messages from london concerning the possibilities of an understanding, the "naval holiday," etc., reached germany from time to time. how closely ballin clung to his favourite idea that the naval experts of both countries should come to an understanding is demonstrated by the circumstance that in , when the british squadron was present during the kiel yachting week, he tried to bring about a meeting and a personal exchange of views between churchill and tirpitz. churchill was by no means disinclined to come to germany for this purpose, but unfortunately the desire was expressed by the german side, and especially by the kaiser, that the british government should make an official inquiry whether his visit would be welcomed. the government, however, was not disposed to do so, and the whole thing fell through, although churchill sent word that, if tirpitz really wanted to see him, he would find means to bring about such a meeting. thus the last attempt at an understanding had resulted in failure, and before any further efforts in the same direction could be made, europe had been overtaken by its fate. chapter ix the kaiser the origin of the friendship between ballin and the kaiser, which has given rise to so much comment and to so many rumours, was traced back by the kaiser himself to the year , when he inspected the express steamer _auguste victoria_, and when he, accompanied by the kaiserin, made a trip on board the newly-built express steamer _fürst bismarck_. ballin, although he received the honour of a decoration and a few gracious words from his majesty, did not think that this meeting had established any special contact between himself and his sovereign. he told me, indeed, that he dated their acquaintance from a memorable meeting which took place in berlin in , and which was concerned with the preparations for the festivities in celebration of the opening of the kiel canal. the kaiser wanted the event to be as magnificent as possible, and his wishes to this effect were fully met by the hamburg civic authorities and by the shipping companies. although ballin had only been a short time in the position he then held, his versatile mind did not overlook the opportunity thus offered for advertising his company. the kaiser was keenly interested in every detail. after some preliminary discussions with the hamburg senate, all the interested parties were invited to send their delegates to berlin, where a general meeting was to be held in the royal castle with the kaiser in the chair. it was arranged that the north german lloyd and the hamburg-amerika linie should provide one steamer each, which was to convey the representatives of the government departments and of the reichstag, as well as the remaining guests, except those who were to be accommodated on board the _hohenzollern_, and that both steamers should follow in the wake of the latter all the way down the elbe from hamburg to the canal. when this item was discussed the kaiser said he had arranged that the _hohenzollern_ should be followed first by the lloyd steamer and then by the hamburg-amerika liner. thereupon ballin asked leave to speak. he explained that, since the journey was to start in hamburg territorial waters, it would perhaps be proper to extend to the hamburg company the honour of the position immediately after the imperial yacht. the kaiser, in a tone which sounded by no means gracious, declared that he did not think this was necessary, and that he had already given a definite promise to the lloyd people. ballin replied that, if the kaiser had pledged his word, the matter, of course, was settled, and that he would withdraw his suggestion, although he considered himself justified in making it. at the close of the meeting count waldersee, who had been one of those present, took ballin's arm and said to him: "as you are now sure to be hanged from the brandenburger tor, let us go to hiller's before it comes off, to have some lunch together." ballin never ceased to be grateful to the count for this sign of kindness, and his friendship with him and his family lasted until his death. the arrangements made by the hamburg-amerika linie for the reception of its guests were carefully prepared and carried out. it is not easy to give an idea to a non-expert of the great many minute details which have to be attended to in order to accommodate a large number of exacting visitors on a steamer in such a manner that nobody finds anything to complain of, especially if, as is but natural on an occasion such as this, an endless variety of questions as to precedence and etiquette have to be taken into account. great pains and much circumspection are necessary to arrange to everybody's satisfaction all matters affecting the reception of the guests, the provision of food and drinks, the conveyance of luggage, etc. thanks to the infinite care, however, with which ballin and his fellow-workers attended to this matter, everything turned out eminently satisfactory. in the evening, when the guests of the hamburg-amerika linie were returning to their steamer at the close of the festivities, the company agreeably surprised them by providing an artistically arranged collation of cold meats, etc., and the news of this spread so quickly that from the other vessels people who felt that the official catering had not taken sufficient account of their appetites, lost no time in availing themselves of this opportunity of a meal. this event, at any rate, helped to establish the reputation of the company's hospitality. it may be presumed that this incident had shown the kaiser--who, although he did not object to being contradicted in private, could not bear it in public--that the hamburg company was animated by a spirit of independence which did not subordinate itself to other influences without a protest, and which jealously guarded its position. it must be stated that the kaiser never bore ballin any ill will on account of his opposition, which may be partly due to the great pains the packetfahrt took in order to make the festivities a success. the event may also have induced the kaiser to watch the progress of the hamburg-amerika linie after that with particular attention. his special interest was centred round the provision for new construction, and in this matter he exerted his influence from an early time in favour of the german yards. the first occasion of the kaiser's pleading in favour of german yards dates from the time previous to his accession to the throne. ballin, in a speech which he delivered when the trial trip of the s.s. _meteor_ took place, stated the facts connected with this intervention as follows: the directors had just started negotiations with british shipbuilding firms for the building of their first express steamer when the prussian minister to the free city of hamburg called to inform them, at the request of prince bismarck, that the latter, acting upon the urgent representations of prince wilhelm, suggested that they should entrust the building of the big vessel to a german yard. the prince was profoundly convinced that germany, for the sake of her own future, must cease to play the part of cinderella among the nations, and that there was no want of engineers among his countrymen who, if given a chance, would prove just as efficient as their fellow-craftsmen in england. the packetfahrt thereupon entrusted the building of the vessel to the stettin vulkan yard. she was the fast steamer _auguste victoria_, and was christened after the young empress. launched in , she immediately won "the blue riband of the atlantic" on her first trip. another and still more practical suggestion of the kaiser was put forward at the time when the company were about to build an excursion steamer. the satisfactory results which their fast steamers had yielded during the dead season in the transatlantic passage business when used for pleasure cruises had induced them to take this step, and when the kaiser's attention was drawn to this project, he, on the strength of the experience he had made with his _hohenzollern_, designed a sketch and composed a memorandum dealing with the equipment of such a steamer. it was ballin's opinion that this imperial memorandum contained some suggestions worth studying, although it was but natural that the monarch could not be expected to be sufficiently acquainted with all the practical considerations which the company had to bear in mind in order to make the innovation pay, and that, therefore, some of his recommendations could not be carried out. if we remember what vivid pleasure the kaiser derived from his own holiday cruises, it cannot surprise us to see that he took such a keen interest in the company's excursion trips. how keen it was may be inferred from an incident which happened early in his reign, and to which ballin, when describing his first experiences on this subject, referred in his above-mentioned speech on the occasion of the trial trip of the _meteor_. ballin said: "even among my most intimate associates people were not wanting who thought that i was not quite right in my mind when, at the head of intrepid travellers, i set out on the first pleasure cruise to the far east in january, . the kaiser had just inspected the vessel, and then bade farewell to the company and myself by saying: 'that's right. make our countrymen feel at home on the open sea, and both your company and the whole nation will reap the benefit.'" in after years the kaiser's interest in the company chiefly centred round those landmarks in its progress which marked the country's expansion in the direction of _weltpolitik_, e.g. its participation in the imperial mail service to the far east, its taking up a share in the african trade, etc. in fact, after , when the kaiser had keenly interested himself in the establishment of the morgan trust and its connexion with german shipping companies, there was scarcely an important event in the history of the company (such as the extension of its services, the addition of a big new steamer, etc.) which he allowed to pass without a few cordial words of congratulation. he also took the liveliest interest in the personal well-being of ballin. he always sent him the compliments of the season at christmas or for the new year, generally in the shape of picture post-cards or photographs from his travels, together with a few gracious words, and he never failed to remember the anniversaries of important events in ballin's life or to inquire after him on recovering from an illness. ballin, in his turn, acquainted the kaiser with anything which he believed might be of interest to his majesty, or might improve his knowledge of the economic conditions existing in his own as well as in foreign countries. he kept him informed about all the more important pool negotiations, e.g. those in connexion with the establishment, in , of the general pool, and those referring to the agreements concluded with other german shipping companies, etc. whenever he noticed on his travels any signs of important developments, chiefly those of a political kind, he furnished his imperial friend with reports on the foreign situation. in the kaiser's interest in ballin took a particularly practical form. ballin had suffered a great deal from neuralgic pains which, in spite of the treatment of various physicians, did not really and permanently diminish until the patient was taken in hand by professor schweninger, the famous medical adviser of no less a man than bismarck. ballin himself testified to the unvaried attention and kindness of dr. schweninger, and to the great success of his treatment. it is to be assumed that schweninger, because of his energetic manner of dealing with his patients, was eminently suited to ballin's disposition, which was not an easy one for his doctor and for those round him to cope with. "as early as january, ," ballin remarks in his notes, "the kaiser had sent a telegram inviting me to attend the _ordensfest_ celebrations in berlin, and during the subsequent levee he favoured me with a lengthy conversation, chiefly because he wanted to tell me how greatly he was alarmed at the state of my health. his physician, professor leuthold, had evidently given him an unfavourable account of it. the kaiser explained that he could no longer allow me to go on without proper assistance or without a substitute who would do my work when i was away for any length of time. this state of things caused him a great deal of anxiety, and, as it was a matter of national interest, he was bound to occupy himself with this problem. he did not wish to expose himself to a repetition of the danger--which he had experienced in the krupp case--that a large concern like ours should at any moment be without a qualified steersman at the helm. he said he knew that of all the gentlemen in his entourage herr v. grumme was the one i liked best, and that i had an excellent opinion of him. he also considered grumme the best man he had ever had round him, and it would be difficult to replace him. nevertheless he would be glad to induce grumme to join the services of the hamburg-amerika linie, if i thought that this would solve the difficulty he had just referred to, and that such a solution would fall in with my own wishes. he was convinced that i should soon be restored to my normal health if i were relieved of some part of my work, and that this would enable me to do much useful service to the nation and himself; so he would be pleased to make the sacrifice. i sincerely thanked his majesty, and assured him that i could not think of any solution that i should like better than the one he had proposed, and that, if he were really prepared to do so much for me, i would beg him to discuss the matter with grumme. that very evening he sent for grumme, who immediately expressed his readiness to enter the services of our company if such was his majesty's pleasure." the lively interest which the kaiser took in the development of our mercantile marine was naturally closely connected with the growth of the imperial navy and with our naval policy in general. the country's maritime interests and the merchant fleet were the real motives that prompted his own naval policy, whereas tirpitz chiefly looked upon them as a valuable asset for propaganda purposes. during the first stage of the naval policy and of the naval propaganda--which at that time were conducted on quite moderate lines--ballin, as he repeatedly told me, played a very active part. it was the time when the well-known periodical _nautikus_, afterwards issued at regular annual intervals, was first published by the ministry for the navy, and when a very active propaganda in favour of the navy and of the country's maritime interests was started. experience has proved how difficult it is to start such a propaganda, especially through the medium of a press so loosely organized as was the german press in those days. but it is still more difficult to stop, or even to lessen, such propaganda once it has been started, because the preliminary condition for any active propaganda work is that a large number of individual persons and organizations should be interested in it. it is next to impossible to induce these people to discontinue their activities when it is no longer thought desirable to keep up the propaganda after its original aim has been achieved. germany's maritime interests remained a favourite subject of press discussions, and the animation with which these were carried on reached a climax whenever a supplementary navy bill was introduced. even when it was intended to widen the kiel canal, as it proved too narrow for the vessels of the "dreadnought" type, the necessity for doing so was explained by reference to the constantly increasing size of the new steamers built for the mercantile marine; although, seeing that the shallow waters of the baltic and of the channels leading into it made it quite impossible to use them for this purpose, nobody ever proposed to send those big ships through the canal. in later years ballin often spoke with great bitterness of those journalists who would never leave off writing about "the daring of our merchant fleet" in terms of unmeasured eulogy, and whom he described as the greatest enemies of the hamburg-amerika linie. but it was not only the propaganda work for the imperial navy to which the kaiser contributed by his own personal efforts: the range of his maritime interests was much wider. he gave his assistance when the problems connected with the troop transports to the far east and to south west africa were under discussion; he studied with keen attention the progress of the german mercantile marine, the vessels of which he frequently met on his travels; he often went on board the german tourist steamers, those in norwegian waters for instance, when he would unfailingly make some complimentary remarks on the management, and he became the lavish patron of the sporting events known as kiel week, the scope of which was extending from year to year. the kiel week, originally started by the yachting clubs of hamburg for the encouragement of their sport, gradually developed into a social event of the first order, and since it became customary for the hamburg-amerika linie to dispatch one of their big steamers to kiel, where it served as a hotel ship for a large number of the visitors. from kiel week was preceded by a visit of the kaiser--and frequently of the kaiserin as well--to hamburg, where their majesties attended the summer races and the yachting regatta on the lower elbe. in the kaiser had the intention of being present at a banquet which the norddeutsche regatta-verein was giving on board the packetfahrt liner _columbia_, and he was only prevented from doing so at the last moment. in the following year the hamburg-amerika linie sent their s.s. _pretoria_ to kiel. on this vessel the well-known "regatta dinner" took place which the kaiser attended, and which, on future occasions, he continued to honour with his presence. ballin received a special invitation to visit the kaiser on board his yacht _hohenzollern_. he could not, however, avail himself of it, because the message only reached him on his way home to hamburg. the year after, the kaiser commanded ballin to sit next to him at the table, and engaged him in a long conversation on the subject of the load-line which he wanted to see adopted by german shipping firms for their vessels. the packetfahrt carried this suggestion into practice shortly afterwards, and in course of time the other companies followed suit. on the occasion of these festivities the kaiser in paid a visit to the new premises of the hamburg-amerika linie. in and in subsequent years he also visited ballin's private home and took lunch with him. the speeches which he made at the regatta dinners given in connexion with the regatta on the lower elbe frequently contained some political references. in , for instance, he said: "although we do not possess such a navy as we ought to have, we have gained a place in the sun. it will now be my duty to see to it that we shall keep this place in the sun against all comers.... i, as the supreme head of the empire, can only rejoice whenever i see a hanseatic citizen--let him be a native of hamburg, or bremen, or lübeck--striking out into the world with his eyes wide open, and trying to find a spot where he can hammer a nail into the wall from which to hang the tools needed to carry on his trade." in he quoted the motto from the lübeck ratskeller: "it is easy to hoist the flag, but it costs a great deal to haul it down with honour." and in , after the launch of the big steamer _bismarck_, he quoted bismarck's saying, slightly altered: "we germans fear god, but nothing and nobody besides." kiel week never passed without a great deal of political discussion. the close personal contact on such occasions between ballin and the kaiser furnished the former with many an opportunity for expressing his views on politics. much has been said about william ii's "irresponsible advisers," who are alleged to have endeavoured to influence him in the interests of certain cliques, and it cannot, of course, be denied that the men who formed the personal entourage of the monarch were very far from representing every shade of public opinion, even if that had been possible. the traditions of the prussian court and of princely education may have contributed their share to this state of things. the result, at any rate, was that in times of crises--as, for instance, during the war--it was impossible to break through the phalanx of men who guarded the kaiser and to withdraw him from their influence. events have shown how strong this influence must have been, and how little it was suited to induce the kaiser to apply any self-criticism to his preconceived ideas. added to this, there was the difficulty of obtaining a private conversation with the kaiser for any length of time--a difficulty which was but rarely overcome even by persons possessing very high credentials. it has already been mentioned that the kaiser did not like to be contradicted in the presence of others, because he considered it derogatory to his sovereign position. ballin repeatedly succeeded in engaging the kaiser in private conversations of some length, especially after his journeys abroad, when the kaiser invited him to lunch with him, and afterwards to accompany him on a walk unattended. ballin's notes more than once refer to such conversations with the kaiser, e.g. on june rd, , when he had been a member of the imperial luncheon party: "after lunch the kaiser asked me to report on my trip to the far east, and he, in his turn, told me some exceedingly interesting pieces of news relating to his stay in england, and to political affairs connected with it." the following passage, referring to the kiel week, is taken from the notes of the same year: "i received many marks of the kaiser's attention, who, on july th, summoned me to kiel once more, as he wished to discuss with the chancellor and me the question of the japanese bank." during his trip to the far east ballin had taken a great deal of trouble to bring about the establishment of a german-japanese bank. the following extracts are taken from the notes of subsequent years: "on december th ( ) i received a wire asking me to see the kaiser at the _neues palais_. to my infinite joy the kaiser had quite recovered the use of his voice. he looked well and fit, and during a stroll through the park i had a long chat with him concerning my trip to america and other matters. in february the kaiser intends to undertake a mediterranean cruise on board the _hohenzollern_ for the benefit of his health. he will probably proceed to genoa on board one of the imperial mail packets, which is to be chartered for him." (april ). "the kaiser had expressed a wish to see me in italy. on my arrival at naples i found a telegram waiting for me in which i was asked to proceed to messina if necessary. owing, however, to the state of our negotiations with the russian government, i did not think it desirable to meet the kaiser just then, and thus i had no opportunity of seeing him until may rd when i was in berlin to attend a meeting of the _disconto-gesellschaft_, and to confer with stübel on the question of some further troop transports to south west africa. i received an invitation to join the imperial luncheon party at which the birthday of the crown prince was to be celebrated in advance, since his majesty would not be in town on may th. the kaiser's health had much improved through his cruise; he had lost some of his stoutness, and the kaiserin, too, was greatly pleased to see him looking so well. we naturally discussed the topics of the day, and the kaiser, as always, was full of kindness and goodwill towards me." "on june st, , the usual imperial regatta took place at cuxhaven, and the usual dinner on board the _blücher_. these events were followed by kiel week, which lasted from june nd to th. we stayed on board the _victoria luise_, and i was thus brought into especially close contact with the kaiser. i accompanied him to eckernförde on board the _meteor_, and we discussed the political situation, particularly in its bearing on the morocco question and on the attitude of great britain." "on june th, , the kaiser, the kaiserin, and some of their sons were staying in hamburg. i dined with them at tschirschky's (the prussian minister in hamburg), and we drove to the races. on june th we proceeded to cuxhaven, where, on board the _deutschland_, i heard the news--which the kaiser had just communicated to kaempff (the captain of the _deutschland_)--that the north german lloyd steamer _kaiser wilhelm ii_, in consequence of her being equipped with larger propellers, had won the speed record. late at night the kaiser asked me to see him on board the _hohenzollern_, where he engaged me in a long discussion on the most varied subjects. on june st the regatta took place at cuxhaven. the kaiser and prince heinrich were amongst the guests who were entertained at dinner on board the _deutschland_. the kaiser was in the best of health and spirits. owing to the circumstance that burgomaster burchard--who generally engages the kaiser in after-dinner conversation--was prevented by his illness from being present, i was enabled to introduce a number of hamburg gentlemen to his majesty. as the kaiser had summoned me to dine with him on board the _hohenzollern_ on the nd, i could not return to hamburg, but had to travel through the kiel canal that same night on board a tug steamer. on the nd i stayed at the club house of the imperial yachting club, whilst at my own house a dinner party was given for persons. on the rd i changed my quarters to the _prinzessin victoria luise_, and the other visitors arrived there about noon. a special feature of kiel week of was the visit of king edward to the kaiser whom he met at kiel. for the accommodation of the ministers of state and of the other visitors whom the kaiser had invited in connexion with the presence of the king, we had placed our s.s. _prinz joachim_ at his disposal, in addition to the _prinzessin victoria luise_. we also supplied, for the first time, a hotel ship, the _graf waldersee_, all the cabins of which were engaged. on june th my wife and i, and a number of other visitors from the _prinzessin victoria luise_, were invited to take afternoon tea with the kaiser and kaiserin on board the _hohenzollern_, and i had a lengthy conversation with king edward." whenever the kaiser granted ballin an interview without the presence of witnesses he cast aside all dignity, and discussed matters with him as friend to friend. neither did he object to his friend's counsel and admonitions, and he was not offended if ballin, on such occasions, subjected his actions or his opinions to severe criticism. on such occasions the kaiser, as ballin repeatedly pointed out, "took it all in without interrupting, looking at me from the depth of his kind and honest eyes." that he did not bear ballin any malice for his frankness is shown by the fact that he took a lively and cordial interest in all the events touching the private life of ballin and his family, his daughter's engagement, for instance--an interest which still continued after ballin's death. in spite of this close friendship between ballin and the kaiser, it would be quite wrong to assume that ballin exercised anything resembling a permanent influence on his majesty. their meetings took place only very occasionally, and were often separated by intervals extending over several months, and it happened only in rare cases that ballin availed himself of the privilege of writing to the kaiser in person. it is true that the latter was always pleased to listen to ballin's explanations of his views, and it is possible that every now and than he did allow himself to be guided by them; but it is quite certain that he never allowed these views to exercise any actual influence on the country's politics. the events narrated in the chapter of this book dealing with politics show that in a concrete case, at any rate, ballin's recommendations and the weight of his arguments were not sufficient to cope successfully with the influence of others who were the permanent advisers of the sovereign, and who had at all times access to his majesty. if thus the effect of ballin's friendship with the kaiser has frequently been greatly overrated in regard to politics, the same holds good--and, indeed, to a still greater extent--in regard to the advantages which the hamburg-amerika linie is supposed to have derived from it. one of ballin's associates on the board of the company was quite right when he said: "ballin's friendship with the kaiser has done more harm than good to the hamburg-amerika linie." indirectly, of course, it raised the prestige of the company both at home and abroad. but there is no doubt that it had also an adverse effect upon it: at any rate, outside of germany. it gave rise to all sorts of rumours, e.g. that the company obtained great advantages from the government; that the latter subsidized it to a considerable extent; that the kaiser was one of the principal shareholders, etc. it is also quite certain that these beliefs were largely instrumental in making the hamburg-amerika linie, as ballin put it, one of the war aims of great britain, and it is even alleged that, at the close of the war, the british government approached some of the country's leading shipping firms with the suggestion that they should buy up the hamburg-amerika linie or the north german lloyd. this was at the time when it became desirable to secure the necessary organization for the intended commercial conquest of the continent. it is quite possible--and, i am inclined to think, quite probable--that this suggestion was put forward because such a step would be in harmony with that frame of mind from which originated such stipulations of the versailles treaty as deal with shipping masters, and with the assumption that german shipping--which was supposed to depend for its continuance mainly on the existence of the german monarchial system--would practically come to an end with the disappearance of the latter. it would, indeed, be difficult to name any historical document which pays less regard to the vital necessities of a nation and which actually ignores them more completely than does the treaty signed at versailles. the allegation that ballin should ever have attempted to make use of his friendship with the kaiser for his own or for his company's benefit is, moreover, diametrically opposed to the established fact that he knew the precise limits of his influence, and that he never endeavoured to overreach himself. his "policy of compromise" was the practical outcome of this trait of his character. the opinion which my close observation of ballin's work during the last ten years of his life enabled me to form was, as far as its political side is concerned, confirmed to me in every detail by no less a person than prince bülow, who, without doubt, is the most competent judge of german affairs in the first decade of the twentieth century. when i asked the prince whether ballin could be accused of ever having abused the friendship between himself and the kaiser for any ulterior ends whatever, he replied with a decided negative. ballin, he said, had never dreamt of doing such a thing. he had always exercised the greatest tact in his relations with the kaiser, and had never made use of them to gain any private advantage. besides, his views had nearly always coincided with those held by the responsible leaders of the country's political destinies. once only a conflict of opinion had arisen between ballin and himself on a political question, and this was at the time when the customs tariffs were under discussion. ballin held that these were detrimental to the country's best interests, and it is a well-known fact that, at that time, there was a widespread feeling as to the impossibility of concluding any commercial treaties so long as those tariffs were in operation. during the most critical period of the existence of the monarchy--i.e. during the war--ballin's influence on the kaiser was but slight. only on a very few occasions was he able to meet the kaiser, and he never had an opportunity of talking to him privately, as in former times. it was the constant aim of the kaiser's entourage to maintain their controlling influence over the kaiser unimpaired. even when they last met--in september, --and when ballin, at the instance of the supreme army command, was asked to explain to the kaiser the situation as it actually was, he was not permitted to see the kaiser without the presence of a witness, so that his influence could not assert itself. the fact that the kaiser was debarred from knowing the truth was the cause of his and of his country's ruin. "the kaiser is only allowed to know the bright side of things," ballin used to say, "and therefore he does not see matters as they really stand." this is all the more regrettable because, as ballin thought, the kaiser was not wanting in either the capacity or the independence of mind which would have enabled him to pursue a policy better than the one in which he actually acquiesced. more than once, ballin said, the kaiser's judgment on a political issue was absolutely sound, but he did not wish to act contrary to the recommendations of his responsible advisers. when, for instance, it was decided that the gunboat _panther_ should be dispatched to agadir, a decision which was arrived at during kiel week of , the kaiser exclaimed, with much show of feeling, that a step of such far-reaching importance could not be taken on the spur of the moment and without consulting the nation, and he only gave his consent with great reluctance. moreover, ballin stated, he was by no means in sympathy with tirpitz, and the latter was not a man after his own heart, but he was content to let him have his way, because he believed that the naval policy of tirpitz was right, so that he was not entitled to jeopardize the interests of his country by dismissing him. the kaiser was not moved by an ambitious desire to build up a powerful navy destined to risk all in a decisive struggle against great britain, and the numerous passages in his public speeches which foreign observers interpreted as implying such a desire, must be regarded as the explosive outbursts of a strong character which was sometimes directed into wrong channels by a certain sense of its own superiority, and which, in seeking to express itself, would occasionally outrun discretion. his inconsistency which made him an easy prey to the influence of his entourage, caused him to be looked upon by foreign critics as vacillating and unstable, and this impression--as was discovered when too late--discredited his country immensely in the eyes of great britain, who, after all, had to be reckoned with as the decisive factor in all questions relative to world policy. such a character could be guided in the right direction only if the right influence could be brought permanently to bear on it. but who was to exercise such influence on the kaiser? certainly his entourage did not include anyone qualified to do so, because it was not representative of all sections of the nation; neither was any of the successive chancellors able to undertake such a task, since none of them succeeded in solving the questions of internal policy in a manner approved by a reliable and solid majority in the reichstag. the kaiserin also was not free from prejudice as to the war and the causes of its outbreak. ballin relates how, on one of the few occasions when he was privileged to see the kaiser during the war, her majesty, with clenched fists, exclaimed: "peace with england? never!" the imperial family considered themselves betrayed by england and the english court. why this should be so is perhaps still more difficult to say now than ballin could understand in those days. arguments, however, were useless in such a case, and could produce nothing but harm. the kaiser did not bear ballin any malice because of the frankness with which he explained his views that day; on the contrary, members of the kaiser's entourage have confirmed that, after ballin had left that evening, he even tried to make the kaiserin see his (ballin's) point of view. putting himself into ballin's position, he said, he could perfectly understand how he felt about it all; but he himself could not help thinking that his english relatives had played him false, so that he was forced to continue the struggle with england tooth and nail. when ballin, during the summer of , gave me a character sketch of the kaiser, of which the account i have endeavoured to present in the preceding paragraphs is an outline, he added: "but what is the good of it? he is, after all, the managing director, and if things turn out wrong he is held responsible exactly as if he were the director of a joint-stock company." this comparison of the german empire and its ruler with a joint-stock company and its board of directors used to form a frequent subject of argument in our inner circle, and even before the war these discussions regularly led to the conclusion that, what with the policy carried on by the government and that carried on by the parties in the reichstag, the hamburg-amerika linie would have gone bankrupt long ago if its affairs had been conducted on such lines as those of the german empire. it was a never-ending cause of surprise to us to learn how completely the european situation was misjudged in the highest quarters, when, for instance, the following incident, which was reported to ballin during the war, became known to us. one day, when the conversation at lunch in the imperial headquarters turned to the subject of england, the kaiser remarked: "i only wish someone had told me beforehand that england would take up arms against us," to which one of those present replied in a quiet whisper: "metternich." it would have been just as proper, ballin added, to have mentioned my own name, because i also warned the kaiser over and over again. on another page in this book reference is made to the well-known fact that the reason why count metternich, the german ambassador at the court of st. james, had to relinquish his post was that he, in one of his reports, predicted that germany would be involved in war with great britain no later than unless she reduced the pace of her naval armaments. this was one of those numerous predictions to which, like so many others, especially during the war, no one wanted to listen. even in the late summer of , when ballin saw the kaiser for the last time, such warnings met with a deaf ear. this meeting, to which ballin consented with reluctance, was the outcome of a friendship which, politically speaking, was devoid of practical results. a detailed account follows. chapter x the war about the middle of the month of july, , ballin, when staying at kissingen for the benefit of his health, received a letter from the foreign secretary, herr v. jagow, which made him put an immediate end to his holiday and proceed to berlin. the letter was dated july th, and its principal contents were as follows: the _berliner tageblatt_, it said, had published some information concerning certain anglo-russian agreements on naval questions. the foreign office did not attach much value to it, because it was at variance with the general assumption that germany's relations with great britain had undergone a change for the better, and also with the apparent reluctance of british statesmen to tie their country to any such agreements. the matter, however, had been followed up all the same, and through very confidential channels it had been ascertained that the rumours in question were by no means devoid of an actual background of fact. grey, too, had not denied them point blank at his interview with lichnowsky. it was quite true that anglo-russian negotiations were proceeding on the subject of a naval agreement, and that the russian government was anxious to secure as much mutual co-operation between the two countries as possible. a definite understanding had not, so far, been reached, notwithstanding the pressure exercised by russia. grey's attitude had become somewhat uncertain; but it was thought that he would ultimately give his consent, and that he would quieten his own conscience by arguing that the negotiations had not really been conducted between the cabinets, but between the respective naval authorities. it was also quite likely that the british, who were adepts at the art of making nice distinctions, would be negotiating with the mental reservation that they would refrain from taking an active part when the critical moment arrived, if it suited them not to do so; and a _casus foederis_ would presumably not be provided for in the agreement. at any rate, the effect of the latter would be enormously to strengthen the aggressive tendencies of russia. if the agreement became perfect, it would be useless for germany to think any longer of coming to a _rapprochement_ with great britain, and therefore it would be a matter of great importance to make a last effort towards counteracting the russian designs. his (v. jagow's) idea was that ballin, who had intimate relations with numerous englishmen in leading positions, should send a note of warning across the north sea. this suggestion was followed up by several hints as to the most suitable form of wording such a note, and the letter concluded with the statement that the matter was one of great urgency. a postscript dated july th added that a further article had been published by the _berliner tageblatt_, according to which the informants of the author also took a serious view of the situation. ballin, in response to the request contained in the letter, did not content himself with sending a written note to his london friends, but he immediately went to berlin for the purpose of gaining additional information on the spot, with special reference to the general political outlook. he learned that austria intended to present a strongly worded note to serbia, and that it was expected that in reply a counter-note dictated by russia would be received. he was also told that the government not only wanted some information regarding the matter which formed the special subject of herr v. jagow's letter, but also regarding the general political situation in london, as it was doubted whether the reports received from the ambassador were sufficiently trustworthy and complete. this was all that ballin was told. since then many facts have become known which throw a light on the way in which political questions were dealt with by the berlin authorities during the critical period preceding the war, and if we, knowing what we know now, read the letter of herr v. jagow, we ask ourselves in amazement what was the object of the proposed action in london? could it be that it was intended to intimidate the british government? this could hardly be thought possible, so that some other result must have been aimed at. we can only say that the whole affair is still surrounded by much mystery, and we can sympathize with ballin's bitter complaints in later days that he thought people had not treated him with as much openness as they should have done, and that they had abused his intimate relations with leading british personages. ballin then left berlin for hamburg. he gave me his impressions of the state of political affairs--which he did not regard as critical--and went to london, ostensibly on business. in london he met grey, haldane, and churchill, and there also he did not look upon the situation as critical--at least, not at first. when, however, the text of the austrian note became known on thursday, july rd, and when its full significance had gradually been realized, the political atmosphere became clouded: people asked what was austria's real object, and began to fear lest the peace might be disturbed. nevertheless, ballin returned from london on july th with the impression that a fairly capable german diplomat might even then succeed in bringing about an understanding with great britain and france which, by preventing russia from striking, would result in preserving the peace. great britain and the leading british politicians, he said, were absolutely in favour of peace, and the french government was so much against war that its representatives in london seemed to him to be rather nervous on the subject. they would, he thought, do anything in their power to prevent war. if, however, france was attacked without any provocation on her part, great britain would be compelled to come to her assistance. britain would never allow that we, as was provided for in the old plan of campaign, should march through belgium. it was quite true that the austrian note had caused grave anxiety in london, but how earnestly the cabinet was trying to preserve peace might be gauged by the fact that churchill, when he took leave of ballin, implored him, almost with tears in his eyes, not to go to war. these impressions of ballin are confirmed by the reports of prince lichnowsky and other members of the german embassy in their observations during the critical days. apart from these politicians and diplomatists on active service there were other persons of political training, though no longer in office, who did not think at that time that there was an immediate danger of war. in this connexion i should like to add a report of a very remarkable conversation with count witte, which took place at bad salzschlirf on july th. the count--whose untimely death was greatly regretted--was without any doubt one of the most capable statesmen of his time--perhaps the only one with a touch of genius europe possessed--and he certainly knew more about the complicated state of things in russia than any living person. for these reasons his views on the events which form the first stage of the fateful conflict are of special interest. i shall reproduce the report of this conversation exactly as we received it at the time, and as we passed it on to berlin. the authenticity of the statements of count witte as given here is beyond question. "yesterday (on july th) i paid a visit to count witte who was staying at bad salzschlirf, and in the course of the day i had several conversations with him, the first of which took place as early as ten o'clock in the morning. after a few words of welcome, and after discussing some matters of general and personal interest, i said to the count: 'i should like to thank you for your welcome letter and for your telegram. the question which you raise in them of a meeting between our two emperors appears of such fundamental importance to me that i may perhaps hope to be favoured with some details by you personally.' "witte replied: 'in the first instance i wish to reaffirm what i have repeatedly told you, both verbally and by letter, viz. that i am not in the least anxious to be nominated russian delegate for the proposed negotiations concerning a commercial treaty between germany and russia. whoever may be appointed from the russian side will gain no laurels. i think a meeting between the kaiser and the tsar some time within the next few weeks would be of very great importance. have you read the french papers? the tone now assumed by jules hedeman is a direct challenge. i know hedeman, and i also know that he only writes what will please sasonov, poincaré and paléologue (the french ambassador in petrograd). now that the peterhof meeting has taken place the language employed by all the french and russian papers will become more arrogant than ever. it is quite certain that the russian diplomatists and their french colleagues will now assume a different tone in their intercourse with the german diplomatists. the _rapprochement_ with great britain is making considerable progress, and whether a naval convention exists or not, great britain will now side with russia and france. if even now a meeting could be arranged between the two emperors, this would be of immense significance. the mischief-makers both in russia and in france would be made to look small, and public opinion would calm down again." "i asked witte: 'do you think, sergei yulyevitch, that the tsar would avail himself of a possible opportunity of meeting the kaiser?' "witte replied: 'i am firmly convinced of it; i may, indeed, state without hesitation that the tsar would be delighted to do so. the personal relations between the tsar and the kaiser are not of an ordinary kind. they converse with each other in terms of intimate friendship, and each time the tsar has had a chat with the kaiser he has been in better spirits. believe me, if this meeting comes off, the impression which the french visit has left on the tsar will be entirely wiped out. the effect of the showy reception of the french visitors which the press agitators have not failed to use for their own ends will be obliterated. such a meeting will express in unambiguous terms that, whatever value the tsar attaches to the franco-russian alliance, he insists on the maintenance of amicable relations with germany. the meeting will have to be arranged without loss of time, in about four or six weeks, because in two months from now the tsar will be leaving for livadia. the army manoeuvres will be held within the next few weeks, and the tsar will then go to the finnish skerries where, in my opinion, the meeting might take place without difficulty.' "i asked witte: 'do you not think that, if the meeting were officially proposed by germany, it might be looked upon as a sign of weakness on her side, especially in view of the now existing tension between the two countries?' "witte replied: 'by no means. one has always to take into account the fact that the relations between the tsar and the kaiser, as i explained before, are in the highest degree friendly and intimate. i do not know how the kaiser would feel on the subject, but i am convinced that he is possessed of the necessary political sagacity to find the way that will lead to a meeting. he might, e.g., write to the tsar quite openly that, as the relations between their two countries had lately been somewhat under a cloud in consequence of the inefficient diplomacy of their respective representatives, he would be particularly happy to meet him at this juncture. or the suggestion might reach the tsar _via_ the grand duke of hesse and his sister, the tsarina. but this is immaterial, because the kaiser is sure to find the right way. i can only repeat that the effect of the meeting would be enormous. the russian press and russian society would change their whole attitude, and the agitation in the french press would receive a severe setback.' "i said to witte: 'i shall communicate the gist of our conversation to mr. ballin. as it is quite possible that he will be ready to endorse this suggestion, i should like to know your answer to one more question, viz., whether, if mr. ballin were to submit the proposal to the proper quarters, you would allow him to refer to you as the originator of the suggestion.' "witte replied: 'certainly. he may say that i look upon this meeting as an event of the utmost importance to both countries at the present moment.' "i said: 'seeing that you will be leaving germany within five days from now, would you be prepared to go to berlin if the kaiser would receive you unofficially?' "witte replied: 'certainly. at any moment.' "when we went for a walk in the afternoon, witte made reference, amongst other things, to various political questions. i shall confine myself to quoting only a few of his remarks. "'practically speaking,' he said, 'i think that there will be no war, although theoretically the air is thick with difficulties which only a war can clear away. but nowadays there is nobody who, like william the first, would put his foot down and say: "now i will not yield another inch!" the spot at ems where this happened is now adorned with a monument. within a few years when the armaments which for the present are on paper only, shall be completed, russia will really be strong. but even then, one has still to reckon with the possibility of internal complications. france, however, need not fear any such difficulties, because countries possessing a constitution acknowledged by all their inhabitants are not liable to revolutionary movements, no matter how often their governments change.' "in speaking of hartwig, witte remarked: 'his death is the severest blow to russian diplomacy. he was unquestionably the most gifted russian diplomatist. when count lammsdorff, who was a great friend of mine, was minister for foreign affairs, he used to do nothing without first asking my advice. hartwig, at that time, was the chief of his departmental staff, and he often came to see me. even in those early days i had an opportunity of admiring his eminent diplomatic gifts.'" the suggestion which formed the principal subject of the above conversations--viz. that a personal meeting of the two emperors should be arranged in order to remove the existing tension--was not followed up, and the proposal would in any case have been doomed to failure, because the politicians who were responsible for the conduct of affairs at that time had done nothing to prevent the kaiser from embarking on his customary cruise in northern waters. the latter end of july was full of excitement for the directors and the staff of the hamburg-amerika linie. we endeavoured to acquaint the vessels that were under way with the critical situation, and we instructed each captain to make for a neutral port in case war should break out. the naval authorities warned us not to allow any ships to put to sea, and we were particularly asked not to permit the sailing of the s.s. _imperator_, which was fixed for july st, because the attitude of great britain was uncertain. at a midnight meeting held at ballin's private residence it was decided to postpone the departure of the vessel "on account of the uncertain political situation." every berth on the steamer was booked, and hundreds of passengers were put to the greatest inconvenience. most of them proceeded to a neutral or to a british port from which they subsequently embarked for the united states. after this, events followed upon each other's heels in swift succession. when war broke out, most of the ships succeeded in reaching neutral ports, so that comparatively few of them were lost in the early part of the war. by august th the cables had been cut. this circumstance made it very difficult to keep up communications with new york, and compelled the majority of our agencies and branches abroad to use their own discretion as to what to do. the place of regular business was taken by the work involved in carrying out the various agreements which the company had entered into during peace time, viz. those for the victualling and bunkering of various units of the imperial navy, for the supply of auxiliary vessels, and for the establishment of an organization which was to purchase the provisions needed by the navy. in the meantime, the ministry of the interior had started to devise measures for provisioning the country as a whole, as far as that was still possible. it is well known that the responsible authorities had done far too little--indeed, hardly anything at all--to cope with this problem, because they had never taken a very serious view of the danger of war. even the arrangements of the military authorities in connexion with the plans of mobilization were utterly deficient in this respect. the first who seriously studied the question as to what would have to be done for the provisioning of the military and civil population if germany had to fight against a coalition of enemies, and if the overseas supplies were stopped, was general count georg waldersee, who became quartermaster general in . in a letter which he wrote to ballin about that time, he gave a very clear description of the probable state of things in such an emergency. he pointed out that the amount of foodstuffs required during a war would probably be larger than the quantities needed in peace time--a contingency which had escaped attention in germany altogether--and that above all there would be an enormous shortage of raw materials. therefore, he said, if it was desired to guard the country against disagreeable surprises, it was imperative to make certain preparations for an economic and a financial mobilization. the military authorities at least had studied this problem theoretically, but the civil authorities would not make any move at all. the general said he thought it desirable that this question should receive more attention in the future, and he asked ballin to let him know his views on the matter, and to give him some practical advice. the anxiety felt in military quarters was largely augmented by the receipt of disquieting rumours about the increase of russian armaments. in reply we furnished count waldersee with a brief memorandum written by myself in which, amongst other items, i referred him to some suggestions put forward by senator possehl, of lübeck, in the course of a lecture delivered about the same time before a selected audience. in view of the fact that germany depended for her food supply and for her raw materials to an increasing extent on foreign sources, there could be no doubt as to the necessity for making economic preparations against the possibility of a war, if a war was considered at all probable. nevertheless, and in spite of the newly awakened interest on the part of the military authorities, these economic preparations had, before the war, made absolutely no progress worth mentioning. the only practical step which, as far as my knowledge goes, had been taken by the civil authorities, was the conclusion of an agreement entered into with a dutch firm dealing with the importation of cereals in case of war. when, in the fateful summer of , this contingency arose, the firm in question had chartered some british steamers, which instead of carrying their cargoes to rotterdam took them to british ports. thus, no serious efforts of any kind had been made to grapple with the problem. on sunday, august nd, geheimrat frisch, who afterwards became the director of the _zentral-einkaufs-gesellschaft_ (central purchasing corporation), came to hamburg, in order to inform ballin, at the request of the ministry for the interior, that the latter felt very anxious in regard to the quantity of food actually to be found in germany, which, it was feared, would be very small, and that it was expected that a great shortage would arise after a very brief period. he therefore asked him to use his best endeavours in order to secure supplies from abroad. a hamburg firm was immediately requested to find out how much food was actually available in the country, and, although the figures obtained were not quite so bad as it was expected, steps were taken at once to remedy the deficiencies by importing food from neutral countries. a great obstacle to the rapid success of these efforts was the absolute want of any preparatory work. the very attempt to raise the necessary funds abounded with difficulties of every kind, because no money had been set aside for such expenditure in connexion with the scheme of mobilization, and the time taken by the attempts made in this direction, as well as the circumstance that communication with the united states could only be maintained _via_ neutral countries, were the causes of a great deal of serious delay. at ballin's suggestion the _reichseinkauf_ (government purchasing organization) was then formed. for this organization the hamburg-amerika linie was to do all the purchasing, and it was arranged that it should put at the disposal of the new body all those members of its staff who were not called up, and who were considered suitable for the work. buyers were sent to every neutral country; but the mobilization then in progress led to a complete stoppage of railway travelling for the civil population, thus causing no end of difficulties to these buyers, and making personal contact with the berlin authorities almost impossible. added to all this, there was the inevitable confusion which the replacement of the civil administration by the army commands brought in its train. it had, in fact, been assumed that this war would resemble its predecessors in every respect, and no one was prepared for a world war. hence, such important matters as the importation of foodstuffs from abroad and the work of supplying political information to neutral countries concerning the german standpoint were sadly neglected; everything had to be provided at a moment's notice, and had to be carried through in the face of a great deal of opposition. funds and energy were largely wasted; the military, naval, and civil organizations were working against one another instead of co-operating; and it took a long time before a little order could be introduced into the chaos. it was also found that the german credits abroad were quite inadequate for such enormous requirements. an attempt to dispose of some treasury bills in new york was only moderately successful, and in consequence of this lack of available funds the supplies obtained from the united states were but small. even the fact that the hamburg-amerika linie immediately succeeded in establishing the necessary connexions with american shippers, and in securing a sufficient amount of neutral tonnage, did not improve matters in the least. to obtain the required funds in berlin, as has been explained before, involved considerable loss of time; and as the months passed the british blockade became more and more effective. thus, as the war continued, large quantities of food could only be procured from european countries. ballin took a large personal share in the actual business transacted by the _reichseinkauf_. he did so, if for no other reason, because he needed some substitute for the work connected with the real shipping business which was rapidly decreasing in extent. the only benefit his company derived from its new work was that it gave employment to part of the members of its staff, thus reducing in some measure the expenses. with the stoppage of the company's real business its principal source of income ran dry in no time, and the small profits made out of the supply of provisions to the navy was only a poor compensation. the world's economic activities in those days presented a picture of utter confusion. all the stock exchanges were closed; all dealings in stocks and shares had ceased, so that no prices could be quoted; several countries had introduced a moratorium, and numerous banks had stopped payment. germany had no longer any direct intercourse with the overseas countries; the british censorship was daily increasing its hold on the traffic proceeding _via_ neutral ports. at first those foreign steamship companies which maintained passenger services to america did splendid business, because europe was full of american tourists and business men who were anxious to secure a berth to get home, and numerous cabin passengers had to be content with steerage accommodation. when this rush was past, however, shipping business, like international commerce, entered upon its period of decline. the freight rates came down, the number of steamers laid up assumed large proportions, and the world's traffic, in fact, was paralysed. after a comparatively brief period it was found too difficult to conduct the _reichseinkauf_ organization with its headquarters at hamburg, because the intercourse with the imperial treasury at berlin, which provided the funds, took up too much time, and also because it seemed highly advisable to purchase the foreign foodstuffs needed by the military as well as the civil population through one and the same organization. the state of things in respect to these matters was simply indescribable; indeed, if it had been purposely intended to encourage the growth of war profiteering, it would have been impossible to find a better method of setting about it. numerous buyers, responsible to different centres, not merely purchased without regard to each other, but even outbid each other, thus causing a rise in prices which the public had to pay. conditions such as these were brought about by the utter unpreparedness of the competent civil authorities and by the fact that the military authorities could dispose of the vast amounts of money placed at their command at the outbreak of the war. these conditions were doubtless the soil from which sprang all the evils which later on developed into the pernicious system we connect with the name of _kriegswirtschaft_, and for which it will be impossible to demand reparation owing to the lost war and to the outbreak of the revolution. in order to facilitate the intercourse with the proper government boards, and to centralize the purchasing business as much as possible, ballin's suggestion that the seat of the organization should be removed to berlin was adopted, and at the same time the whole matter was put on a sounder footing by its conversion into a limited company under the name of _zentral-einkaufs-gesellschaft_ (central purchasing corporation). the history of the z.e.g. is well known in the country, and its work has been subject to a great deal of criticism, largely due to the fact that all the annoyance caused by the many restrictions which the government found it necessary to impose, and which had to be put up with during the war, was directed against this body. generally speaking, this attitude of the population was very unfair, because the principal grievances concerned the distribution of the foodstuffs, and for this part the z.e.g. was not responsible. its only task was to obtain the necessary supplies from abroad. if it is remembered that the transactions of the corporation reached enormous proportions, and that, after all, it was improvised at a time of war, we cannot be surprised to see that some mistakes and even some serious blunders did occur occasionally, and that the right people were not always found in the right places. moreover, some of the really amazing feats accomplished by the z.e.g--e.g. the supply of grain from roumania, which necessitated enormous labour in connexion with the transhipment from rail to steamer and with the conveyance up the danube--were only known to a few people. it is obvious that nothing could be published during the war about these achievements nor about the agreements concluded, after endless negotiations, with neutral countries and thus the management of the z.e.g. was obliged to suffer in silence the criticisms and reproaches hurled at it without being able to defend itself. the volume of the work done by the z.e.g. may be inferred from the fact that the goods handled by the organization during the four years from to represented a value of , million marks, in which connexion it must not be forgotten that at that time the purchasing power of the mark was still nearly the same as before the war. when the roumanian harvest was brought in the daily imports sometimes reached a total of truck-loads. however, the greatest credit, in my opinion, is due to the z.e.g. for putting a stop to the above-mentioned confusion in the methods of buying abroad and for establishing normal conditions. to-day it is scarcely possible to realize how difficult it was and how much time it required to overcome the opposition often met with at home. not much need be said here about the activities of the hamburg-amerika linie during the war. the longer the struggle lasted, and the larger the number of countries involved in the war against germany became, the heavier became the company's losses of tonnage and of other property. all the shore establishments, branch offices, pier accommodation, etc., situated in enemy countries, were confiscated, and the anxiety about the post-war reconstruction grew from month to month. ballin never lost sight of this problem, and it is chiefly due to his efforts that the government and the reichstag passed a bill ( ) providing the means for the rebuilding of the country's mercantile marine. along with this he tried to keep the company financially independent by cutting down expenses, by finding work for the inland offices of the company, by selling tonnage, and by other means. the families and dependents of those employees who had been called to the colours were assisted as far as the funds at the company's disposal permitted. of all these measures the company has already given the necessary information to the public, and i can confine myself to these brief statements. there is only one circumstance which requires special mention. it is universally acknowledged that no german industry has suffered so greatly through the action of the german government as the shipping business. when the discussions as to the rebuilding of the merchant fleet were being carried on, the government frankly admitted this fact. i am not thinking, in this connexion, of those measures which were imposed upon the government by the versailles treaty, such as the surrender of the german mercantile marine, but what i have in mind is the steps taken whilst the war was in actual progress. these have one thing in common with those imposed by the enemy: their originators have, more or less, arrived at the belated conviction that they have sacrificed much valuable property to no purpose. in great britain it is admitted quite openly that the confiscation of the german merchant fleet has very largely contributed to the ensuing collapse of the world's shipping markets, and to the confusion which now prevails on every trade route. the war measures of the german government--or, rather, of the german naval authorities--have sacrificed enormous values merely for the sake of a phantom, thus necessitating the compensation due to the shipowners--a compensation far from sufficient to make good even a moderate fraction of the loss. the vessels that can be built for the sums thrown out for this purpose will not be worth the twentieth part of the old ones, if quality is taken into account as well as quantity. this will become apparent when the compensation money has been spent, and when it will be possible to compare the fleet of german passenger boats then existing with what the country possessed previous to the war. the phantom just referred to was the foolish belief that it would be possible to eliminate all ocean tonnage from the high seas--a belief which was in itself used to justify the submarine war, and which was responsible for the assumption that the withdrawal of german tonnage from the high seas would affect the food and raw material supply of the enemy countries. this mistaken idea was also the reason for prohibiting the sale of the german vessels in neutral ports, and for ordering the destruction of their engines when it became impossible to prevent their confiscation. the latter measure, and in particular the manner in which it was carried out, prove the utter inability of the competent authorities to grasp the very elements of the great problem they were tackling, and in view of such lack of knowledge it is easy to understand the bitterness of tone which characterizes ballin's criticism of these measures as contained in his memorandum to the minister of the interior ( ). he wrote: "when your excellency decided to permit the sale of our vessels in the united states it was too late to do so, because the u.s. government had already seized them. previous to that, when we saw that war would be inevitable, and when we had received an exceedingly favourable purchasing offer from an american group, we had asked permission to sell part of our tonnage laid up in that country. "your excellency, acting on behalf of the chancellor, declined to grant this permission. i am quite aware that neither the chancellor nor your excellency as his representative were responsible for this refusal, but that it was due to a decision of the admiralty staff. however, the competent authority to which the protection and the furtherance of the country's shipping interests are entrusted is the ministry of the interior. with the admiralty staff itself, as i need not remind your excellency, we have no dealings whatever, and we are not even entitled to approach that body directly in such matters. "our company which was the biggest undertaking of its kind in the world, and which previous to the war possessed a fleet aggregating about , , tons, has lost practically all its ships except a very few. the losses are not so much due to capture on the part of the enemy as to the measures taken by our own government. if our government had acted with the same foresight as did the austro-hungarian government with respect to its ships in united states and chinese waters, the german vessels then in italy, portugal, greece, the united states, brazil, and elsewhere, might have been either retained by us or disposed of at their full value. "the austrian ships, with their dismantled engines were, at the instance of the austrian government, sold in such good time that the shipping companies concerned are not only in a position to-day to refrain from asking their government to pass a shipowners' compensation bill, as we are bound to do, but they have even enriched the austrian national wealth by such handsome additions that their capital strength has reached a sum never dreamt of before, and that they are now able to rebuild their fleet by drawing upon their own funds, and to make such further additions to their tonnage that in future we shall not only be compelled to compete with the shipping companies of neutral and enemy countries--which have accumulated phenomenal profits--but with the austrian mercantile marine as well. "from the point of view of our country's economic interests it is greatly to be regretted that the policy of the government has not changed in this respect even now. we have received reliable news from private sources to the effect that the engines of the german vessels now in argentine waters have been destroyed without your excellency having so far informed us of this action, and without your excellency having asked us to take steps to utilize the vessels, if possible, for the benefit of the country's economic interests and for that of the completely decimated german merchant fleet. "moreover, a wire sent by his excellency herr v. jonquières to the competent hamburg and bremen authorities states that the ships in uruguayan waters are also in great jeopardy. the government of that country, according to this report, would prefer to purchase them rather than confiscate them. after what has been done before, we fear that the admiralty staff will either not permit the sale at all, or only grant its permission when it is too late. "your excellency, i am sure, is fully aware of the fact that the methods of the admiralty staff--ignoring, as it does, all other considerations except its own--have caused one country after the other to join the ranks of germany's enemies. in view of the shortage of tonnage which great britain and other of our enemies systematically try to bring about--evidently with the intention of inconveniencing neutral countries as much as possible--these latter feel compelled, for the very reason of this lack of tonnage, to declare war upon us, because the politics of our country are guided by a body of men who, unfortunately, shut their eyes to the economic and political consequences of their decisions. "several months ago, at a time when nobody thought of unrestricted submarine warfare, an opportunity presented itself to us of concluding an agreement with the belgian relief committee by which it would have been possible for us to withdraw our steamers, one after the other, from american ports and, under the flag of that committee, to bring them to rotterdam. at that time, it was again the admiralty staff which prevented the conclusion of this agreement, because, for reasons best known to itself, it would grant permission for only three of these vessels, although great britain had agreed that the whole of our fleet interned in u.s. ports, representing , tons in all, could sail under the terms of the proposed agreement, and although the allies as a whole had signed a written declaration to the effect that they would not interfere with our ships so long as they were used for the provisioning of belgium. i took the liberty of pointing out to captain grashoff, the representative of the admiralty staff, that nothing could have prevented us from letting the ships remain at rotterdam after they had completed their mission, and that afterwards, as has been borne out by later facts, they could have been safely taken to hamburg. "i respectfully ask your excellency whether it is not possible to enter a protest against such unnecessary dismemberment of part of the german national assets.... " ... i must also protest most emphatically against the insinuation--which is sure to be made--that i have no right to criticize any steps which the admiralty staff has regarded as necessary for reasons of our naval strategy. without reservation the german shipowners agree to any measures which are strategically necessary, however greatly they may injure their interests. the criticism which i beg to make on behalf of german shipping--although possessing no formal mandate--concerns itself with those steps which might have been taken without jeopardizing the success of our naval strategy if the vital necessities of german mercantile shipping had been studied with as much consideration as this branch of the economic activities of our country has a right to claim. "what we principally take exception to in this connexion is that no information was sent to us before the decision to destroy the engines of our ships was arrived at, and that we were not assisted in making use of these dismantled vessels in the financial interests of our country. nothing of this kind was done, although it was the most natural thing to do so, and although such action would have deprived many a country of a reason to declare war upon germany." to a man of the type of ballin--who had, throughout his life, been accustomed to perform a huge amount of successful work--a period of enforced inactivity was unbearable. the longer it lasted the more he suffered from its effects, especially because the preparatory work for the post-war reconstruction, the work connected with the war organization of the german shipowners, etc., was only a poor substitute for the productive labour he had been engaged in during more than thirty years of peace. there is no doubt but that the government could have made better use of ballin's gift of organization, but it must be remembered that there was really no effective central government in germany throughout the war. the civil administration was not exactly deposed, but it was subordinated to the military one from the very beginning, and the latter carried on its work along the guiding lines laid down in the scheme of mobilization. the authorities to whose care the economic aspects of the war were entrusted did not often--if at all--avail themselves of ballin's advice; and to offer it unbidden never entered his mind, because he was cherishing the hope that the war would not last long, and because it was his belief that the world would be sensible enough to put an end to the wholesale destruction before long. it was a bitter disappointment to him to find how greatly he was mistaken, and to see that the forces of unreason remained in the ascendancy, especially as he was always convinced that time would be on the side of germany's enemies. the sole aim of his political activities during the war was to bring about peace as early as possible. of all the attempts at mediation known to me, the one which seemed to be most likely to succeed passed through the hands of ballin. to give a detailed account of it must be left to a time which need no longer pay regard to governments and individuals. ballin's share in it was brought about through his former international connexions. through him it reached the kaiser and the chancellor, and owing to his untiring efforts, which lasted for two years, the position in the early part of was such that the establishment of direct contact between the two sides was imminent. then the unrestricted submarine war began, the intended direct contact could not be established, and the carefully woven thread was definitely snapped asunder; because from that time on the allies were certain that the united states would join them, and they felt assured of victory. no other mediation scheme with which i am acquainted has been pursued with so much unselfishness, devotion, and energy as this one. this attempt, however, no more than any other, could have procured for us that kind of peace which public opinion in germany had been led for years to expect, thanks to the over-estimation of the country's strength, fostered by the military censorship and by the military reports. from such exaggerated opinions ballin always held himself aloof. he recognized without reservation the immense achievements of germany in the war, but he was fearful lest the strength of the country could not cope in the long run with the ever-increasing array of enemies, and he therefore maintained that, if it was desired to bring about peace, the government would have to be moderate in its terms. a much discussed article which he contributed to the _frankfürter zeitung_ on january st, , under the heading of "the wet triangle," is not inconsistent with these views of his. in it he pointed out that germany's naval power, in order to make a future blockade impossible, should no longer be content to be shut up in the "wet triangle," i.e. the north sea, but ought to establish itself on the high seas. this statement has been alleged to refer to belgium, and ballin has been wrongly claimed a partisan by those who supported the annexation of that country. what he really meant was that germany should demand a naval base on the atlantic, somewhere in the northern parts of africa, and this idea seemed to be quite realizable if taken in conjunction with the terms of peace he had in view, viz. no annexations, no indemnities, economic advantages, a permanent political and naval understanding with great britain, based on her recognition that a military defeat of germany was impossible. all this would be somewhat on the lines of the article published by the _westminster gazette_, referred to in the eighth chapter and a facsimile of which is given at the end of the book. ballin was firmly convinced that, even if a mere peace of compromise was the outcome, i.e. one which left germany without any territorial gains and without any indemnities, the impression which the german achievements during the war would produce on the rest of the world would be so overwhelming that the country would secure indirectly far greater advantages than could be gained by means of the largest possible indemnity and the most far-reaching annexations. besides, the experiences of former times had proved that germany would be quite unable to absorb such large accessions of territory as certain people had in mind. these views of ballin, of course, were looked upon as those of a "pacificist," and ballin was classified among their number. in a letter which ballin wrote to a friend of his, a naval officer, in april, , he puts up a highly characteristic defence of himself against the accusations implied by describing him as "pacificist" and "pro-english." "if," he wrote, "the fact that i have been privileged to spend a considerable part of my life in close contact with you, entitles me to add a few personal remarks, i should like to say that i have made up my mind to retire from my post after the end of the war altogether. i told you shortly after the outbreak of the war that my life's work was wrecked. to-day i am convinced that it will soon come to life again, but my youth would have to be restored to me before i could ever dream of taking up again that position in international shipping which i held before the war. i cannot imagine that i would ever go to london again and take the chair at the conferences at which the great problems of international shipping would come up for discussion, and nobody, i think, can expect that i should be content to play second fiddle at my age. indeed, i cannot see how i could ever re-enter upon intimate relations with the british, the french, the italians, and especially with the americans. strangely enough, influential circles on our side, and even his majesty himself, look upon me as 'pro-english,' and yet i am the only german who can say with truth that he has been fighting the english for supremacy in the shipping world during the last thirty years. during this long period i have, if i am allowed to make use of so bold a comparison, conquered one british trench after the other, and i have renewed my attacks whenever i could find the means for doing so." it is no secret that during the war many prominent politicians and economists--men of sound political training--viewed the question of the war aims which it was desirable to realize very much in the same light as did ballin, but that the censorship made it impossible for anyone to give public expression to such opinions. ballin's appreciation of the probable gain which germany would derive from a peace by compromise has now been amply confirmed by the undeniable fact that the rest of the world has been tremendously impressed by germany's achievements, an impression which has made foreigners regard her chances of recovery with much more confidence than she has felt herself, stunned as she was by the immensity of her _débâcle_. the following notes, which are largely based on ballin's own diary, are intended to supplement the information given so far as to his political activities during the war. the outbreak of war, as may be inferred from what has already been related, took him completely by surprise, and he did not think that the struggle would last very long. "the necessities of the world's commerce will not stand a long war," was his opinion during the early days. for the rest, he tried to find work for himself which would benefit his country. "what we need to-day," he wrote to a friend, "is work. this will lift us up and keep us going, and will make those of us who are no longer fit to fight feel that we are still of some use after all." but in connexion with this thought another one began to occupy his mind. he anxiously asked: "which of the men now at headquarters will have the strength and the wisdom required to negotiate a successful peace when the time comes?" all his thoughts centred round the one idea of how to secure peace; what advantages his country would derive from it; and how it would be possible to bring about an international grouping of the powers which would be of the greatest benefit to germany. on october st, , he wrote to grand admiral v. tirpitz: " ... i quite agree with what you say in your welcome letter. indeed, you could not view these matters[ ] with graver anxiety than i do myself. i hope i shall soon have the opportunity i desire of discussing these things with you personally. "to win the peace will be hardly less difficult than to win the war. my opinion is that the result of this world war, if it lasts months, will be exactly the same as if it lasts six months. i mean to say that, if we do not succeed in acquiring the guarantees for our compensation demands within a few months, the further progress of events will not appreciably improve our chances in this direction. "what we must aim at is a new grouping of the powers round an alliance between germany, great britain and france. this alliance will become possible as soon as we shall have vanquished france and belgium, and as soon as you shall have made up your mind to bring about an understanding with great britain concerning the naval programme. "i am aware that this idea will find but slight favour with you, but you will never secure a reasonable peace with great britain without a naval agreement. "by a reasonable peace i mean one which will enable both germany and britain to sheathe their swords in honour, and which will not burden either nation with a hatred which would contain within it the germs of future war. "we have had no difficulty in putting up with the french clamour for _revanche_ for a period of years, because in this case we had only to deal with a small group of nationalist firebrands, but a british clamour for revenge would produce an exceedingly adverse effect on the future of our national well-being and of our share in the world's trade and commerce. "for a long time past it has been my conviction that the era of the super-dreadnoughts has passed, and some time ago i asked admiral von müller if it was not possible to consider the question of a naval understanding simply on the basis of an agreement as to the sum of money which either government should be entitled to spend annually on naval construction, leaving it to the discretion of each side how to make use of the money agreed upon for the building of the various types of ships. "great britain is putting up a fight for her existence just as much as we do, if not to an even greater extent. her continuance as a world power depends on the superiority--the numerical superiority at least--of her navy. "i am convinced--always supposing that we shall succeed in conquering france and belgium--that the british terms concerning her naval supremacy will be very moderate, and i cannot help thinking that a fair understanding regarding naval construction is just as important to germany as it is to great britain. "the present state of things is the outcome of a _circulus vitiosus_, and is bound to produce a soreness which will never permit of a sound understanding.... " ... and what about the further course of the war? i sincerely hope that your excellency will not risk the navy. the expression 'the fleet in being' which has never left my memory, and which has lately been heard of again, implies exactly all i mean. "the navy, in my opinion, has never been, and never ought to be, anything but the indispensable reserve of a healthy international policy. just as a conscientious director-general would never dream of reducing the reserve funds of his company, unless compelled to do so by sheer necessity, we ought not to drag the navy into the war, if it could possibly be avoided. "what would it profit you to risk a naval battle on the high seas? not only our own, but british experts as well, believe that our ships, our officers, and our crews are superior to the british, and king edward emphasized at every opportunity that the crews on british warships are not a match to those on german vessels. but what are you going to do? are you going to make them fight against a numerically superior enemy? such a course would be open to great objections, and even, if the battle turned out successfully, the victors would not escape serious damage. "i do not know how your excellency, and their excellencies v. müller and pohl look upon these matters, but since you yourself have asked me to state my views, i hope you will not take it amiss if my zeal causes me to enlarge upon a subject which is not quite within my province. besides, i have another reason for doing so. "it is our duty to prepare ourselves in good time for the peace that is to come. does your excellency believe it would augur well for the future peace if germany succeeded in inflicting a naval victory on the british? i do not think so myself, but i rather fancy that the opposite effect would take place.... if the british should suffer a big naval defeat, they would be forced to fight to the bitter end. that is inherent in the nature of things; even those who can only argue in terms of a continental policy must understand it. "even a partial loss of her naval prestige would spell ruin to great britain. it would imply the defection of the great dominions which now form part of her world empire. the _raison d'être_ for great britain's present position ceases to exist as soon as she has lost her naval supremacy.... " ... and, please, do not lose sight of one further consideration. we must find our compensation by annexing valuable territories beyond the seas; but for the peaceful enjoyment of such overseas gains we shall be dependent on the good will of great britain.... at present, men of german blood occupy leading positions in the economic life of almost every british colony, and the open door has been the means by which we have acquired a great deal of that national wealth of ours which caused the smooth working of our financial mobilization when the war broke out. " ... for all these reasons i consider it a great mistake that the press should be allowed to excite german public opinion against great britain to the extent it is done. i was in berlin during the week, and i was alarmed when i became acquainted with the wild schemes which are entertained not only by the people of berlin, but also by distinguished men from the rhineland and westphalia." apart from the peace problem there was another matter which gave ballin grave cause for anxiety. this was the circumstance that the kaiser, because of his long absences from berlin, lost the necessary touch with the people, and could not, therefore, be kept properly informed of popular feeling. he expressed his fears on this account in a letter to a friend of his amongst the kaiser's entourage in which he wrote: "i hope you will soon be able to induce his majesty to remove his winter quarters to germany. my common sense tells me that, if a war is waged on french and russian soil, the headquarters ought to be situated in germany. from the point of view of security also i consider this very desirable, and i feel a great deal of anxiety concerning his majesty.... whether it is wise to exercise the censorship of the press to the extent it is done, is a question on which more opinions than one are possible.... i have just had a call from a mr. x., a former officer, and an exceedingly reliable and capable man. he complained bitterly of the rigid censorship, and he thought it would be a mistake from which we should have to suffer in days to come. it would certainly be a blessing if such a man who is highly esteemed by the foreign office could be given a chance of explaining his views at headquarters." among the problems of foreign policy with which germany saw herself faced in the early part of the war, those referring to italy and roumania were of special interest to ballin. the question was how to prevent these two countries from joining the ranks of germany's enemies. ballin did all he could to bring about the italian mission of prince bülow. he not only urged the chancellor to select bülow for this task, but he also tried hard to induce the prince to undertake the thankless errand involved. in addition to the political importance of the mission, he laid great stress on its bearing on the food problem. "the question of provisioning the german people," he wrote in a letter to the army headquarters, "is closely connected with the solution of the italian and roumanian difficulties. no pressure is, in my opinion, too strong in order to make it perfectly clear to austria that some sort of an agreement with italy is a _sine qua non_ for the successful termination of this war. if it were argued that italy would come forward with fresh demands as soon as her original claims had been satisfied, i think the german government could combat this objection by insisting upon a written promise on the part of italy to the effect that she would not extend her demands. " ... political and military considerations make it plain beyond any question of doubt that italy, who will be armed to the teeth in march, will not be able to lay down her arms again unless austria arrives at an understanding with her. thus our greatest danger is the uncertainty as to what these neutrals will do, and i hope that the ministerial changes in austria will smooth the way for a reasonable attitude towards this regrettable but unavoidable necessity. our aim should be to prevent the scattering of our forces, for the burden imposed upon ourselves because of the inadequacy of our allies is almost superhuman, and contains the danger of exhaustion." the german mission to italy suffered through the vacillations of austrian politics, and was therefore doomed to failure. austrian feeling concerning a compromise with italy was always dependent on the news from the italian front; if this was favourable, people did not want to hear of it, and in the opposite case they would only discuss such an understanding most unwillingly. the proposed compromise was looked upon as a heavy sacrifice, and people were by no means favourably disposed towards german mediation. prince bülow was accused of having "presented italy with the trentino." disquieting news which ballin received from vienna induced him to report to the chancellor on the state of austrian feeling, and to offer his services if he thought that his old-established relations with vienna could be of any use. his offer was also prompted by his conviction that the german diplomatic representation in vienna was not adapted to austrian mentality. thereupon ballin, early in march, , entered upon a semi-official mission to vienna. he first acquainted himself with the actual state of the austrian mind by calling on his old friend, his excellency v. schulz, the vice-president of the austrian chief court of audits, who was regarded as one of the best informed personages in the capital, and who was one of the regular partners of the old emperor francis joseph for his daily game of tarock. this gentleman told ballin that the people of austria felt a good deal of resentment towards germany, who had stepped in far too early as the "advocate of italy," at a time when austria was still hoping to settle serbia all by herself. this hope, indeed, had proved an illusion; but germany's strategy had also turned out a failure, because she had misjudged the attitude of great britain, and had not finished with france as rapidly as she had expected to do. now austria, confronted by stern necessity, would have to make concessions to italy which every true austrian would view with bitter grief; and, to bring about the active assistance of roumania, count tisza would consider a sacrifice in the bukovina debatable, but never one in transylvania. ballin told his friend that, as far as roumania was concerned, he would have to leave it to austria to settle that question by herself; and that his mission with regard to italy was so difficult that he preferred not to make it more so by trying to solve the roumanian problem as well. ballin's subsequent interviews with the prime minister, count stürgkh, and with the minister v. koerber, as well as those with other influential personages, confirmed these impressions, and he left vienna buoyed up by the hope that the conference between german, austrian, and italian delegates which it was proposed to hold at vienna would lead to a successful result. such, however, was not the case, and it is quite probable that the possibility of arriving at an understanding with italy had passed by that time, or, assuming the most favourable circumstances, that only immediate and far-reaching austrian concessions could have saved the situation; but these were not forthcoming. the next subject which caused much anxiety to ballin was the question as to what roumania would do, a country to whose attitude, considering her importance to germany as a food-producing area, he attached even more value than to that of italy. in his notes dating from that time he said: " ... june st, . the news which i received from x. regarding the political situation in roumania and bulgaria was so serious that i felt bound to send copies of these letters to the chief of the general staff, general v. falkenhayn, and to inform him that, in my opinion, our foreign office had now done all it could possibly do, and that nothing but some forcible military pressure such as he and baron conrad could exercise on count tisza would induce this obstinate gentleman to settle his differences with the balkan states...." " ... on this occasion x. expressed a great deal of contempt at the suggestion that we should draw upon the members of the old diplomacy for additional help. on the whole, he seemed to be very proud of the achievements of the foreign office, whereas i am of opinion that this body has entirely failed, and is of no practical use any longer. things must be in a pretty bad state if herr erzberger, of all people, is looked upon as the last hope of the country. i suggested to the gentlemen that it would do some good if the chancellor were to request the more virulent of the pan-germans to see him, and to ask hindenburg to explain to them the military situation without any camouflage. this suggestion was favourably received, and it is to be passed on to the chancellor.... " ... the chancellor informed me that he was considering whether, if roumania remained neutral, and if the operations against the dardanelles terminated successfully for us, he ought to submit any official proposals for peace to our enemies. i expressed my admiration of the plan, but told the chancellor of my objections to its practical execution. the entente, i feared, would refuse to entertain the proposals, and the german people would regard it as a sign of weakness. the chancellor asked me to refrain from pronouncing a definite opinion for the present, but to think it over until our next meeting." in a letter of july st, , ballin wrote as follows: "i should like to express my heartfelt gratitude to you for sending on to me the report which contains some of the finest observations that have come to my knowledge since the outbreak of the war. " ... the writer lays great stress on the belief prevalent in enemy and neutral countries alike that germany is making a bid for universal supremacy and for supremacy on the high seas--a belief which has spurred on the resistance of the enemy to the utmost, and has caused a good deal of bad feeling amongst the neutrals. i repeatedly brought this fact to the knowledge of the chancellor and i urgently suggested to him that in some way--e.g., by an imperial proclamation on the anniversary of the outbreak of war, or by some other suitable means--we should announce to all and sundry that such hare-brained schemes are not entertained by any responsible person or body of persons in germany. i sincerely trust that some such steps will be taken at an early opportunity, because otherwise i do not see when the war will be over. though not a pessimist i do not believe in taking too rosy a view of things. i envy the british because they have the courage openly to discuss in their press and parliament the reverses as well as the successes they have had. " ... you see i am not taking too cheerful a view of matters. i have nothing but the most enthusiastic admiration for the achievements of the german people, both at the front and at home. although not gifted politically this people could do wonders if led by great statesmen and by great politicians." " ... august th, . this morning i spent an hour with the chancellor, who had requested me to call on him.... we had a long discussion as to the advisability of publishing a statement to the effect that germany would be ready at any moment to discuss an honourable peace. she had achieved great successes in the field, she was in possession of important mortgages, her armies were occupying large tracts of the enemy's country, and she was not carrying on a war of aggression but one of defence: therefore such a step could not be regarded as a sign of weakness. the chancellor, nevertheless, was afraid that such a step might after all be interpreted in that sense. i suggested to him that it might be of some use if the pope could be induced to address a peace message to the rulers of the various countries. "i also called the chancellor's urgent attention to the need for dealing with the food problem during the ensuing winter, especially with relation to the price of meat." " ... august th, . the united states ambassador, mr. gerard, had expressed the desire to discuss with me the question as to the advisability of suggesting that president wilson should mediate between the belligerents. i therefore called on him on tuesday, august th, and advised him to refrain from any official action in that direction, but said that i thought he might ask the president to sound opinion in great britain as to the chances of such peace proposals." in the early part of september, , admiral v. holtzendorff was appointed chief of the admiralty staff. this appointment gave rise to a conflict with grand admiral v. tirpitz, who threatened to resign because, _inter alia_, the kaiser had issued instructions to the effect that the chief of the admiralty staff should no longer be subject to the authority of the secretary for the navy, but that he could communicate with the kaiser and with the chancellor direct. ballin thought a possible resignation of admiral v. tirpitz would be fraught with serious consequences at that moment, as it would produce a bad impression on public opinion and be inimical to the position of the kaiser. these considerations caused ballin to intervene in person with admiral v. tirpitz and with the chief of the naval cabinet, with the result that the grand admiral withdrew his intended resignation. the following extracts are taken from ballin's notes during the next few months: " ... october th, . i am annoyed at the importunity with which some interested parties, such as the central association of german manufacturers and the representatives of agriculture, are pushing forward their views on the peace terms. moreover, my alleged readiness to conclude a 'bad peace' with great britain is being talked about so widely that even his excellency herr v. zimmermann has drawn my attention to the ill effects of such calumnies. all this has prompted me to avail myself of the opportunity presented by the annual meeting of the association of hamburg shipowners of making a speech in which i have explained my views as to the freedom of the seas. "prince bülow will be leaving for lucerne to-day where he intends to stay for some time, and the prussian _chargé d'affaires_, herr v. mutius--of whom it has been alleged that the chancellor appointed him to his post on the death of his predecessor (the excellent herr v. bülow, prussian minister to hamburg) for the reason that he might have a watchful eye on prince bülow and myself--has been promptly transferred to warsaw. evidently the berlin authorities now think the danger has passed, since prince bülow has left." " ... november rd, . hammann[ ] asked me why i did not call on the chancellor, and i told him that i thought the chancellor might feel annoyed with me for my interference in favour of tirpitz, which, however, would not affect me in any way, because i was convinced that i had acted in the best interests of the kaiser, and that it would have been unwise to remove tirpitz from his post so long as the war lasted." " ... the chancellor asked me to see him on wednesday at . p.m., and i spent nearly two hours with him. i urgently advised him to make a frank statement in the reichstag as to our readiness for peace, and to do so in such a form that it could not possibly be looked upon as a sign of weakness." " ... on january th, , i was commanded to dine with their majesties at the _neues palais_. the only other guests apart from myself were the minister of the royal household, count eulenburg, and the minister of agriculture, herr v. schorlemer. none of the suite were present so that the company consisted of five persons only. the kaiser was in high spirits and full of confidence. the after-dinner conversation extended to such a late hour that we did not catch the train by which we intended to return, and we were obliged to leave by the last train that night. "a remark of mine concerning the possibility of an extension of submarine warfare had, as the chancellor had been informed, caused the kaiser to assume that i completely shared the point of view of admirals v. holtzendorff and v. tirpitz, who now recommend a submarine campaign against great britain on a large scale. i therefore, at the chancellor's request, addressed the following letter to the kaiser: "'a few days ago i had occasion to discuss with grand admiral v. tirpitz and admiral v. holtzendorff the question of a resumption of the submarine campaign. "'i was then given confidential information as to the number of submarines at our disposal, and i am bound to say that even if due allowance is made for the activity of the mine-seeking auxiliaries i regard the number of large submarines as insufficient for the purposes of such a finally decisive measure. "'the first attempt at submarine warfare proved unsuccessful on account of the insufficiency of the means employed to carry it through; and it is my humble opinion that a second attempt should only be undertaken if its success were beyond the possibility of a doubt. if this cannot be guaranteed the consequences of such a measure appear to me to be out of all proportion to the risks attached to it. "'i therefore beg to respectfully suggest to your majesty that the work of the mine-laying auxiliaries should be carried on as hitherto, and should even be extended. i also consider that the submarines should be made use of to the fullest extent of their capacity, with the proviso, however, that their employment against passenger steamers should be subject to the restrictions recently laid down by your majesty. "'when the number of the big submarines shall be sufficient effectively to cut off the british food supply, i think the time will have arrived for us to employ this weapon against great britain without paying regard to the so-called neutrals. "'at present about two hundred ocean steamers or more enter british ports every day, and an equal number leave for foreign ports. if we sink a daily average of or we can, indeed, greatly inconvenience england, but we shall assuredly not be able to compel her to sue for peace. "'i humbly apologize to your majesty for thus stating my views on this matter; but i am of opinion that the extreme importance of the proposed steps will be a sufficient excuse for me.'" in the early part of ballin went on a second mission to vienna, and afterwards he prepared a detailed report for the chancellor dealing with the state of public feeling as he found it. this document presents a faithful picture of the precarious conditions in that capital which the german government had constantly to reckon with, and may therefore be of interest even now. the following passages are extracts from it: "if we desire to keep the austrian fighting spirit unimpaired we must avoid at all hazards suggesting the possibility of an understanding with italy. the italian war is popular down to the lowest classes of the people, and the successful stand against italy is a subject of pride and hope to all austrians. "hence the circumstance that prince bülow has temporarily taken up his abode at lucerne has roused a considerable amount of suspicion. even the officials in the various ministerial departments fear that the prince might intend to make unofficial advances to italy when in lucerne, and that these steps might be followed in berlin by a movement in favour of a separate peace with italy by which austria would have to cede the trentino. people were obviously pleased and relieved when i could explain to them that the prince was greatly embarrassed on account of having lost his villa malta, and that the choice of a suitable residence during the winter had been very difficult. they were particularly gratified when i told them--what i had heard from the prince's own lips--that he had had no official mission, and that he had not been engaged upon any negotiations. "people are especially proud of the isonzo battles, but they do not shut their eyes to the uncertain prospects of a successful austrian offensive. they really consider that austria has gained her war aims, and the old emperor described the military situation to frau kathi schratt by saying that the war was in many respects like a game of tarock, in which the winner was not allowed to cease playing because the losers insisted upon him going on with the game so that they might have their revenge. matters at first had been to the advantage of our enemies: the russians had overrun galicia, the serbians had defeated the austrians at belgrade, and the french had looked upon the retreat from the marne as a great success. now, however, the war was all in favour of germany and austria, and therefore our opponents did not want to call a truce just yet. "if this comparison which the venerable old gentleman has borrowed from his favourite game of cards is correct, the war will not be over until one side has nothing further to stake, and the decision will be brought about by that side whose human and financial resources shall last longest. "banking circles, of course, view the financial situation with the utmost gravity, but the general public--in spite of the high prices ruling here, and in spite of the great want of food which is much more noticeable than with us--regard matters a great deal more serenely. this is simply due to the greater optimism so characteristic of the austrians, whose motto is: 'life is so short, and death so very, very long.' they prefer to assign to future generations the worries which would spoil their sublunary existence. "the present cabinet is looked upon as weak and mediocre. the old emperor clings to count stürgkh because of the extensive use to which the latter puts the celebrated paragraph of the constitution, by which parliament is eliminated altogether, and which provides the government with every conceivable liberty of action. the all-powerful tisza gives his support to count stürgkh just because of his weakness. hence the attempt to replace the latter by prince hohenlohe, the present minister of the interior, is beset with much difficulty. the emperor wants to avoid a break with tisza at all costs. this state of things makes people feel very worried. the strain in the relations between austria and hungary has greatly increased since my last visit, whereas the friendly feelings for germany are now more pronounced than ever. "our kaiser everywhere enjoys an unexampled veneration. within the next few days he will be made the subject of great celebrations in his honour. although the tickets of admission are sold at enormous prices, even general v. georgi, the chief of the national defence organization--whom i met last night--did not succeed in obtaining a box, notwithstanding his high connexions. this morning the well-known member of the hofburg theatre, herr georg reimers, read to me two poems dedicated to the kaiser which he is going to recite that night, and i feel bound to say that it can hardly be an unmixed pleasure to the members of the court to witness this act of enthusiastic homage paid to our ruler. "the roumanian question, particularly in its bearing on the food supply, is regarded by people who are able to judge with great anxiety. it is believed that the only thing to do is to send to bucharest experienced men connected with the supply and the distribution of food who must be properly authorized to purchase as much grain as possible for ourselves and for our allies. "the big austro-german _zollverein_--or by whatever other name it is intended to describe the proposed customs union--is looked upon with very mixed feelings. last night baron skoda (the austrian krupp) explained to me after a dinner given at his house, with the lively consent of members of the court and of the big manufacturers, that the austrian interests might indeed profit from such a union with the balkan states, but that it would be better that germany should remain an outsider for a period of fifteen years. this is evidently a case of _timeo danaos, et dona ferentes_, and people feel that austria, owing to her economic exhaustion, would be easily absorbed by germany after the conclusion of the war. the hungarians, naturally, view matters from a different angle, not only because the hungarian farmers would like to sell their grain to germany free of any duty, and because industry counts for very little in their country, but also because they dislike the austrians. " ... i also dined with count tisza. he is a purely magyar politician who regards the international situation from his hungarian point of view, and in conformity with his magyar inclinations. he is evidently a strong if obstinate character, and he does not impress me as a man who will give up his post without a protest. he, too, thinks the real war aims of austria-hungary have been accomplished. serbia is crushed, galicia liberated, and russian supremacy in the balkans--formerly viewed with so much apprehension--is a thing of the past. all that is wanting now is to bring the italian campaign to a successful conclusion and the war may be regarded as over as far as austro-hungarian interests are involved. "both tisza and the austrian society showed strong symptoms of an anglophile leaning. frau schratt, who in such matters simply re-echoes the views of the old emperor, seemed very pro-english, and had something to say about 'german atrocities.' "i mention these facts because i cannot help thinking that, notwithstanding the war, some friendly threads must have been spun across from england to austria." the subject of an unrestricted submarine war, already touched upon by ballin in his above-mentioned letter to the kaiser written in january, , was discussed with much animation in the course of the year, and a powerful propaganda in its favour was started by certain quarters. ballin's attitude towards this question, and particularly towards its bearing on the possible entry of the united states into the war, is described with great clearness in a letter addressed to a friend of his attached to the army headquarters. in this message he wrote: " ... you ask me to tell you something about the political and military situation as i see it, and i shall gladly comply with your wish. "the american danger seems to be averted for the moment at least. a severance of diplomatic relations with the united states would have been nothing short of fatal to germany at the present stage. just because the war may be looked upon as won in a military sense, we were obliged to avoid such a catastrophe at all costs. as far as military exertions are concerned, it is quite correct to say that germany has won the war, because in order to turn the present position into a military defeat our enemies, in the first instance, would have to gain military victories in russia, france, and belgium. these would have to be followed up by our retreat from the occupied countries and by their invasion of ours, and they would have to defeat us at home. every sensible critic must see that neither their human material nor their organizing powers are sufficient for such achievements. the fact is that we have reached the final stage of a progressive war of exhaustion, which nothing but the intervention of the united states could have prolonged. "the accession of italy to the ranks of our opponents has shown what it means if an additional power enters the war against us. from a military point of view the entry of italy did not materially aggravate our position; but the whole aspect of the war, as viewed by our enemies, underwent a complete change, and grey, who shortly before had announced that 'there is nothing between us and germany except belgium,' stated a few weeks subsequent to the italian _volte-face_ that he could not find a suitable basis for peace negotiations anywhere. "the entry of the united states would have been of immeasurably greater effect on the imagination and the obstinacy of our enemies. "the very intelligent gentlemen who even now preach the unrestricted submarine war, especially the leading members of the conservative and national liberal parties, are misinformed about what the submarines can do. they not only regard it as possible, but even as practically certain, that the starvation of great britain could be achieved if the unrestricted submarine war were introduced. i need not tell your excellency that such an assumption fails to estimate things at their true value. great britain will always be able to maintain her connexion with the french channel ports. quite apart from that, she will always succeed in importing the , tons of cereals which she needs every day to feed her population even if the number of our submarines is trebled, because it must not be forgotten that the submarines cannot operate during the night. "hence the whole problem is now, as ever, governed by the axiom to which i have over and over again drawn the attention of the heads of the berlin economic associations, viz. that we can no more force the british into subjection through our submarines than they can hope to wear us out by their starvation blockade. both the submarine war and the blockade are extremely disastrous measures, inflicting heavy losses on either side; but neither of them can determine the fate of the war nor bring about a fundamental improvement in the position of either of the belligerent groups of powers. that, apart from all other considerations, the unrestricted submarine war would have exposed us to the open hostility of the neutral countries, and might even have caused them to join the ranks of our enemies, is an additional contingency which the submarine enthusiasts have found it most convenient to dismiss by a wave of the hand. "if after the war germany remains isolated from the rest of the world, she cannot feed her population, and the doctrine of central european brotherhood promulgated by some of our amiable poets has given rise to a movement which is apt to be of the greatest detriment to the interests of our country when the war is over. "if we had wished to invest large parts of our german national wealth in countries like austria-hungary, bulgaria, and turkey, nothing could have prevented us from realizing such a plan at any time previous to the war, provided we had thought it economically sound. "such a return to a continental policy, i maintain, would be a disaster to germany. our needs and our aspirations have increased to such an extent that we can no longer hope to satisfy them by economic isolation or within the framework of a central european economic league of states. "it is not because i am at the head of the biggest german shipping concern that i tell you these things, but i do so with the disinterestedness of a man who hopes to be allowed to retire into private life when this terrible war is over. no one can perform his life's work more than once, and no one can make a fresh start at the age of sixty. "the war has considerably strengthened the moral fibre of the chancellor; he has learnt to take upon his shoulders responsibilities which, i think, he would formerly have shirked. it is much to be regretted that the conservative party cannot see eye to eye with him in so many questions. he is blamed for the fact that the kaiser is so difficult of access, and that he does not every now and then receive the leaders of our political and economic life, as he should do considering the fateful time through which the empire is passing. "if the chancellor is to succeed in carrying through the huge tasks still before him, it is, in my opinion, imperative that he should not lose touch with conservative circles, and i think there is no reason why the kaiser should not ask men like herr v. wangenheim, count schwerin-löwitz, etc., to visit him from time to time at headquarters, and to acquaint him with their wishes and anxieties. "i cannot help telling you that the whole nation views with profound regret the kaiser's isolation. since the outbreak of the war i have only once had an interview with his excellency v. falkenhayn, and the main purpose of my asking for it was to request him to bring about a change in this state of things by using his influence with the kaiser. his excellency frankly told me that he had some objections to doing this, but he promised me nevertheless that he would exercise his influence in this direction. i am only afraid that, because of the excessive burden of work he has to get through, the matter has slipped his memory...." ballin was not the only one who, as early as , regarded with such alarm the devastating effects of a possible entry of the united states into the war; other men of political training thought so too, although their number was not large. the following passages, taken from two letters which ballin received from a member of the german diplomatic service, show that the feeling was there: "february th, . my chief apprehensions are purely political. although it seems that for the moment our differences with the united states will be smoothed over, there can be no doubt but that at times the tension has been so great that a wrong move at the critical moment would have caused america to take up arms against us. contrary to what most people seem to think, i regard this danger as having by no means passed; in fact i look upon it as always lurking in the background. those who, like myself, have seen that the secret ideal of british policy is an alliance and permanent co-operation with america, will agree with me that such an anglo-american understanding for the period of this war would be of lasting detriment to our whole future. you know england, and you know that the course of events has turned the entente automatically into an alliance, although the british, especially those who look beyond the actual present, have always felt a great deal of aversion towards such a development. the individual frenchman, indeed, is mostly looked upon as a somewhat grotesque and slightly ludicrous character, but all the same there exists some sympathy with the french as a nation, however artificially this may have been brought about; but towards russia the average englishman never felt anything but an icy aloofness and a great deal of antipathy. hence, the so-called allies of the british have never been the cause of unalloyed joy to them. "on the other hand, to establish permanent relations with that part of the anglo-saxon race inhabiting the huge continent across the atlantic has at all times been the aim pursued by every really far-sighted british statesman. by means of such an alliance, it is hoped to consolidate and to strengthen for many generations the foundations on which the venerable but also slightly dilapidated structure of the united kingdom rests. from a purely maritime point of view, such an alliance would be of overwhelming strength. in my opinion it would be perfectly hopeless for our country, constantly menaced as it is by serious continental complications, to gain the trident of neptune in opposition to these two powers. i believe an anglo-american league, whose object it would be to prevent us from becoming a commercial, naval, and continental power, would restrict us once more to a purely continental policy, a policy which we have so successfully discarded since the accession of our present kaiser. "to frustrate such an alliance must be our principal task. to call it into being or even to facilitate its conclusion would be the greatest crime against germany's future which anyone could commit. "let us by all means sink as much enemy tonnage as possible, let us lay mines, and let us proceed with our submarine warfare as hitherto, or even with more energy, but let the people who are at the head of the whole movement be aware of the immense responsibility that rests on their shoulders. if our leading men speak of a war with america just as cheerfully as though san marino or montenegro were involved, i cannot help viewing such an attitude with the utmost apprehension. the british will use all their astuteness and all their energy to exploit any mistakes committed by germany. if they succeed in this, and if, in consequence, our relations with the united states become very strained again or drift towards a rupture, i fear that we shall not be able to bring this war to a successful close, or derive from it any security for our future development. "berlin, february th, . during the two days i have now been here it has greatly depressed me to see a number of fanatics who cannot gauge the consequences of their doings attempting to drive this splendid german people towards a new abyss. alas! delusions and folly are rampant everywhere. if i were you, i should now disregard every other consideration, and explain to the kaiser as a friend that everything is being gambled away: the existence of his empire, his crown, and possibly the fate of the dynasty. it is like living in a madhouse; everyone talks about war with holland, america, denmark and roumania as though a mere picnic were concerned." during the war ballin tried over and over again to make the responsible authorities see the position in the same light as his own observations, and his repeated discussions with unprejudiced and clear-headed men had led him to see it himself. the letter reproduced below contains a description of the general situation at the time of writing (july, ). it was addressed to a friend of his in the diplomatic service who was looking after german interests in one of the countries allied with germany, and who had asked him for some information concerning the situation at home: "i am sorry that i can send you no good news at all. the conduct of the war and its probable outcome are more of a mystery now than ever, and with all that i cannot help feeling that our responsible quarters do not even now realize the profound gravity of the situation. the political and the military leaders are frequently at variance. there is a lack of proper co-operation between berlin and vienna. we imagine ourselves to be the rider, but we are only the horse. the road between berlin and vienna is studded with compromises of doubtful value, and incapable archdukes are given the most important positions. "the military situation was favourable until the austrians thought their day of reckoning with italy had come, and when our own supreme command set out to cover themselves with laurels in france. "both these undertakings turned out to be political and military failures. for hundreds of reasons an early peace is imperative to us. as matters stand at present only great britain and russia can conclude peace, because france and italy must be regarded as mere british vassals. "since the cabinets of london and petrograd remain absolutely deaf to our publicly expressed overtures for peace, we have no choice but to try to utterly defeat the one or the other of these, our principal enemies, either russia or great britain. "we could have finished with great britain if we had had at least first-class submarines, and in that case we might have regarded a war against america with complacency. "however, even if we possessed, as some optimists believe, as many as first-class submarines, we could not strike a mortal blow at great britain and defy the united states as well. therefore, we have only one choice left: we must force russia, our second chief enemy, to her knees. "russia has been badly hit through the loss of the industrial regions of poland. if we had exerted all our strength in that direction, and if we had taken kiev, the economic key to russia, the tsar would have had no alternative but to conclude a separate peace, and this would have settled the roumanian question at the same time. "with less certainty, but also, perhaps, with less exertion, it might have proved possible to make peace _via_ petrograd. but what have we done instead? we have squandered our forces. the eastern theatre of war was denuded of troops, because at first falkenhayn felt sure he could take verdun in a fortnight, then by easter, and finally by whitsuntide. all our forces have been hurled at verdun; rivers of blood have been spilt, and now, in july, we are still outside it. and what does it profit us if we do get it? we shall only find other and more formidable lines behind it. "in the meantime our good austrians have transferred all their reliable officers and men to the tyrol, and have left nothing but the rubbish and their inefficient generals to guard the points of danger. and what are the results? a graceful retirement for salandra and the formation of an anti-german coalition government in italy on the one hand, and a manifestation of austrian superiority on the other, but a failure, nevertheless, because the austrians were not strong enough numerically to get down into the plain. and even if they had compelled the evacuation of venetia nothing would have been gained. the fate of italy, as it happens, does not depend on austria, but on great britain, who will rather watch her starve and perish for want of coal than permit her to sue for peace. "although all this is perfectly plain to everyone, our supreme command seems to be undecided as to whether an offensive with all the means at our disposal should be started on the western front simultaneously with one against russia, or whether it should be directed against russia only. as far back as last year i exerted all my influence--small though it has become--in favour of an energetic and whole-hearted offensive against russia. "well-informed and far-seeing men have justly pointed out that, if fortune so wills it, the kaiser, arm in arm with hindenburg and ludendorff, could risk a 'bad peace' without danger to himself and his dynasty, but it appears beyond doubt that the influence of falkenhayn is all-powerful. " ... if we were to arrive at an understanding with russia to-day, we should be able to go on with the war against great britain for a long time to come, and, by means of unimpeded submarine activity, to carry it to a successful issue. in that case we could also estimate the danger threatening us from america at as low a figure as many who are unacquainted with the position are putting it now. "thus it is my view that it is necessary to abandon definitely the belief that the war can be brought to a successful issue on the western front, and without first defeating russia. it is greatly to be deplored that many observers assert that the western powers will make peace when they have found out that the big offensive now in progress remains without any visible success. only people who do not know great britain can put forward such a proposition, but how many people are there at the wilhelmstrasse who do know great britain? very few indeed, if any.... " ... you said you would rejoice to hear from me, and i can only regret with all my heart that i have not been able to report anything to you in which it would really be possible to rejoice." a still more serious note is struck in the following letter written in september, : "very many thanks for your welcome letter of yesterday's date, with the contents of which i agree in every detail. "i quite share your belief that hindenburg and ludendorff must each feel like a great physician who is only called in when it is too late. two declarations of war within hours were necessary to bring about this change which the german people had been looking forward to for months and months. the chancellor is justly reproached for not having had the courage to insist upon the appointment of these two men and on the resignation of falkenhayn long ago. it is contended that he should have tendered his own resignation if his recommendations were refused, and his neglect to do so makes him principally responsible for the fate that is in store for us. for a long time back i have kept emphasizing the need for transferring our main activities to the eastern theatre of war, and for definitely settling these personal questions. "the chancellor clings to his post because he believes that there is no one better qualified than himself to be at the head of affairs. such an attitude reminds me of the old gentleman who neither wanted to die nor to retire from his post as president of the berlin chamber of commerce, and who bitterly complained to those who came to congratulate him on his ninetieth birthday that he was compelled to stick to his office, in spite of his advanced years, because he could not see a better man to succeed him. "it is very sad that we have arrived at such an _impasse_, and i am convinced that the present internal political situation is untenable. no german chancellor can possibly carry the business of the country to a successful issue if, in the midst of a terrible war, he is obliged to fight against an opposition consisting of the conservatives, the representatives of the heavy industries, and the majority of the national liberals. "as far as i can make out, the chinese wall surrounding the kaiser has not disappeared with the exit of falkenhayn from the scene. no one is granted access to him who knows something about the events that led up to this war, and who, in the interests of his dynasty as well as his own, would tell him the unvarnished truth. we are, after all, a constitutional country. it would doubtless be best to transfer general headquarters to berlin, but, of course, people are not wanting who object to such a proceeding, asserting that it would enable outside influences to acquire a hold on the conduct of affairs. "how badly people are informed with regard to the actual situation was brought home to me when i was in berlin a short while ago, and when x. contended with great emphasis that we should have to attach more value to huge indemnities than to annexations. if it is possible that the men round the kaiser count on heavy indemnities even now, it shows how sadly they misjudge the real state of affairs. "my feeling tells me that the present cabinets, containing as they do men who are compromised by their actions since the outbreak of war, cannot give us peace. how can anyone imagine that men like bethmann, asquith and grey, who have hurled such incredible insults at each other, can ever sit together at the same table? "the question as to who is to succeed them, of course, abounds with difficulties. "i recently met some austrian gentlemen in berlin. they are completely apathetic; they have lost all interest in the future, and they themselves suggest that germany should no longer permit austria to have a voice in the conduct of affairs. her food supply will only last until march st. after that date she will depend on hungary and ourselves for her food. she fears that she is not likely to get much, if anything, from hungary; on the other hand, she feels sure that we are compelled for our own sake to save her from famine. "constantinople, too, has only supplies for a few more weeks. "with us at home the paraffin question is becoming very serious. in country districts it may be possible to tell people to go to bed at curfew time, but the working population of our large cities will never consent to dispense with artificial light. serious riots have already taken place in connexion with the fat shortage. "i am afraid that great britain is trying to bring about such a change in the situation as will enable her shortly to tell the small neutral countries that no one in europe will be permitted any longer to remain neutral, and that they must make up their minds to enter one or the other of the two big syndicates. you see nothing i can write to you has even a semblance of comfort in it. i regard the future with the utmost apprehension." in contrast to such views as were expressed in the foregoing letters, the men who were at the head of affairs at that time maintained that nothing but the application of rigorous force, or, in other words, the unrestricted use of the submarine weapon against great britain, would lead to a successful termination of the world war. the propaganda in favour of that measure is still in everybody's memory. whatever may be said in defence of the authors of this propaganda, there is one reproach from which they cannot escape, viz. that they left no stone unturned to prevent their opponents from stating their views, and this, on account of the strict censorship to which the expression of every independent opinion was subject, was not a difficult matter. their one-sided policy went so far that, when a pamphlet on the question of submarine warfare was written by order of the admiralty staff and circulated among a number of persons, including leading shipping men, ballin was purposely excluded, because it was taken for granted that he would not express himself in favour of the contents. it is not likely, however, that the methods of reasoning put forward in this document--which was much more like an academic dissertation than an unprejudiced criticism of a political and military measure affecting the whole national existence of germany--would have induced ballin to change his views on the submarine war. once only, and then merely for a brief period, was he in doubt as to whether his views on that question were right, but he soon returned to his first opinion when he found that he had been misinformed regarding the number and the effectiveness of submarines available. the inauguration of unrestricted submarine warfare in january, , not only put a sudden end to the peace movement in which ballin, as has been explained on a preceding page, played an important part, but also to the attempt of president wilson to bring the two sides together. the details of the president's endeavours have meanwhile become public property through the revelations of count bernstorff, the german ambassador in washington. in both instances a few weeks would have sufficed to ascertain whether the proposed action was likely to bring about the desired end, and the former attempt had even led to the impending establishment of mutual contact between the belligerents. the inability of the german political leaders to avail themselves of this opportunity, or at least their failure to do so, has doubtless been the greatest misfortune from which germany had to suffer during the whole war. notwithstanding the successful exploits of the submarines, ballin's apprehensions never left him, and they were not allayed by the development of the position at home. the letter published below, which he wrote to the chief of the kaiser's civil cabinet, believing that this gentleman would be most likely to assist him in laying his views before the kaiser, admirably sums up his feelings, and testifies both to his real patriotism and to his presentiment of the fate that was to overtake his country: "your excellency, "_april th, _. the internal conditions of our country fill me with grave alarm, and i therefore venture to approach your excellency privately with this expression of my apprehensions. "i do not doubt for a moment that our competent authorities intend to extract the utmost advantage to ourselves from the situation which is developing in russia. this russian revolution may enable us to bring the war to a close, and to obtain peace terms which, relatively speaking, are not unfavourable. "what germany has achieved in this war is beyond all praise. a glance at the map shows how small she is compared with her opponents in the field; and yet she is bravely struggling against a world in arms in which even the few countries that have remained neutral are not our friends. it is, indeed, one grand epic. but unfortunately the position at home becomes more untenable every day. "if we find ourselves compelled to reduce the bread ration still more, you will, i am sure, agree with me that the bulk of the people will suffer enormously through being underfed. in austria, conditions are said to be worse still, and i am afraid that we shall even have to part with some of our stores to feed her population. "at first sight the chancellor's speech in the prussian house of deputies appeared to be somewhat too comprehensive in its range of vision; but a few days later, when the news of the russian revolution arrived, it almost seemed that his words had been prompted by divine inspiration. after this russian news had become known, it would have been impossible for him to make this speech without giving rise to the suspicion that these events had cast their shadow in advance on the prussian parliament. unfortunately, however, this favourable development was not followed up by the right steps. on the contrary, the chancellor, after his breezy advance in the house of deputies, has now retired from the position he then took up, thus creating the impression that our policy is constantly shaped by all sorts of mutually contradictory views and currents. up to now, although the people have to suffer greatly through the shortage of food and fuel, their patriotism has put up with it because of their faith in the promised electoral reforms. it would have been so simple to reiterate this promise, and at the same time to point out that so many other things claimed precedence during the war, and that so much was at stake, that it would hardly be advisable to introduce this great reform at present, seeing that there was no time to give proper attention to the careful working out of all the details. "if now, however, such bills as those dealing with the entailed property legislation and with the repeal of the polish laws are to be discussed, such a postponement is no longer justifiable. "it almost seems as if the government is unable to read the signs of the times. the fate of the prussian suffrage reform bids fair to resemble that of the sibylline books, of which it was said that the longer one hesitated to buy them the more expensive they became. to-day the people would still be content to agree to plural voting, but when the war is over, and when the socialist leaders are demobilizing their men, inducing tens of thousands of them, decorated with the iron cross, to air their grievances, it will be too late to stop the ball from rolling. it is true that people say revolutions are impossible in the era of the machine-gun. i have no faith in this theory, especially since the events that have happened in petrograd have become known to us. that, in a country like russia, the reigning family could disappear from the scene without any opposition, and without a single grand duke or a single soldier attempting to prevent it, is certainly food for much reflection. "i hope your excellency will pardon me for thus frankly expressing my anxieties, but i considered it my duty to let your excellency know my feelings." in may, , ballin accepted an invitation received from the supreme army command and paid a visit to general headquarters, where he found a great deal of discontent prevailing with the policy of the chancellor. he also met the kaiser, and reports on his visit as follows: "after sharing the kaiser's repast--which was plain and on a war diet--i had several hours' private conversation with his majesty. i found him full of optimism, far more so than i thought was justified. both he and ludendorff seem to put too much faith in the success of the submarines; but they fail to see that this weapon is procuring for us the enmity of the whole world, and that the promise held out by its advocates, viz., that great britain will be brought to her knees within two months, is, to put it mildly, extremely doubtful of realization, unless we can sink the ships which carry ammunition and pit-props to england." in a letter addressed to a gentleman in the kaiser's entourage he gave a further detailed account of his views on the optimism prevailing in high places: "i cannot help thinking of the enthusiastic and at the same time highly optimistic letter which you had the great kindness to show me last night. my opinion is that the gentlemen who form the entourage of his majesty ought not to view matters as that interesting epistle suggests that they do. "you are a believer in the statistics of mr. x. i took the liberty of telling you last night that statistics are a mathematical form of telling a lie, and that, to use the expression of a clever frenchman, a statistical table is like a loose woman who is at the service of anyone who wants her. 'there are different ways of arranging figures,' as they say in england. i do not know mr. x, neither do i know his statistics, but what i have been told about them seemed foolish to me. if we carry on the war, and particularly the unrestricted submarine war, on the basis of statistics such as he and other jugglers with figures have compiled, we are sure to fail in the ends we are aiming at. "as concerns the unrestricted submarine war itself, i still maintain the view i have always held, viz., that we shall never succeed in starving out great britain to such an extent as to force her government to sue for a peace of our dictation. "i have just had a visit from a danish friend whom his majesty also knows quite well, and who, together with a committee of delegates sent by the danish government, will be leaving for england to-night. the two members of this committee who represent the ministry of agriculture have been instructed, _inter alia_, to complain that great britain now imports much less bacon, butter, and other articles from denmark than she had undertaken to do, and that the prices she pays for these imports are much below those originally stipulated. "apart from the cargo carried by two small steamers that have been torpedoed, denmark has been able, notwithstanding our submarines, to supply great britain with all the food required of her. the vessels remain in territorial waters until a wireless message informs them of the spot where they will meet the british convoy which is to take them safely to england. they have to pass through only a small danger zone which, as i have said, has hitherto proved fatal to no more than two vessels. "this fact, to my mind, points to the limits of the success obtainable by our submarines. i have constantly explained, especially to the chief of the admiralty staff, that i can only regard the submarine as a successful weapon if it enables us to cut off the british supplies of ore from spain and sweden, and also those of pit-props, because without the possession of these two necessities, great britain is no longer able to continue the war. i have been assured that our submarines would achieve this task, even if torpedo boats were employed as convoys; but the experiences gained so far do not bear out these predictions. we succeed, indeed, in sinking a few vessels out of many; but suppose there are ten ships in a convoy, it still means that nine of them, with their supplies of ore and pit-props, safely reach their destination. "let me repeat, the starvation of great britain is impossible; because, in addition to her own harvests, she only needs from twelve to fifteen thousand tons of cereals every day, and these she can, if necessary, always obtain at night-time through her channel service, _via_ spain and france. even this necessity will hardly arise, because two medium-sized steamers are sufficient to carry the fifteen thousand tons, and things would have to be very bad, indeed, if these did not succeed in reaching a british port. and if our statistical tricksters juggle with crop failures, please do not forget that new harvests are soon to be expected, and that it will not do always to count on crop failures. "you will be doing a good work if you can persuade people at headquarters to abandon their belief that great britain can be starved to submission. unfortunately their other belief, viz., that we can cut off her supplies of ore and pit-props, will also have to be abandoned. "certainly, the achievements of our submarines have been amazing. at their present rate they will enormously diminish the british tonnage figures, and raise the hatred of everything german to boiling point; but they will not, unfortunately, lead to such an end of the war as our pan-germans desire. it is a thousand pities! "when the submarine problem began to assume practical shape, i pointed out to the chief of the admiralty staff that, to be successful, the submarine war must be brief; that its principal object was not to sink a large number of ships, but to produce such a feeling of alarm in neutral countries as to prevent them from risking their ships ( ) because of the great value of tonnage immediately after the war, ( ) because of the impossibility of finding crews, and ( ) because of the insurance difficulty. these conditions of success were, indeed, realized during the first four weeks; but since that time people, as i had predicted, have got used to the danger. the crews are coming forth again, the insurance companies issue their policies again, and the ships are put to sea again. "if the admiralty staff, who is doubtless in possession of the figures, would submit to you a list of the number of vessels laid up in dutch and scandinavian ports on march st, owing to the submarine danger, and another one showing the position as it is to-day, you would discover that, at a low estimate, at least per cent, of the cargo vessels are running again, and that, after another month or so, the number of those still idle will have dwindled down to per cent, or less. "these are my views on the situation. if we have no other means of finishing the war but the submarine menace, it will go on for years. i should like to protest in anticipation against any suggestion to the effect that i am trying to minimize the achievements of the submarines. on the contrary, i have nothing but the highest admiration for them, and i really find it quite impossible to praise in ordinary prose all that our country has done during this war; the whole achievement is one grand epic. "within the next few months the problem will have to be solved how to put an end to this devastating catastrophe which is ruining the progress of the world. there is no need for me to tell you that the position of germany has grown considerably worse through the active intervention of the united states. the fact that this enormously wealthy country with its one hundred million inhabitants has turned against us is fraught with the most dangerous consequences. now it will no longer be possible for us to continue the war for several more years, and then to enforce a peace on lines such as are laid down by a noisy section of our people, unless we succeed in exploiting the extremely fortunate change in the russian situation in such a way that the vast resources of that country will be at our disposal. "this letter has become longer than it ought to be, but the gravity of the subject with which it deals must be my excuse for going into so many details. perhaps i may avail myself of some future occasion to acquaint you with my hopes and fears on other political matters; because, as i have already explained, the present state of affairs makes it urgently desirable that the gentlemen whose privilege it is to be near his majesty should see things as they really are, and not as they would wish them to be. "compare, if you have a chance, the advertisement pages of an english paper with those of a german one. i have just come across a copy of the _daily telegraph_ which i beg to enclose for this purpose. i have been in the habit of studying these advertisements for many months; they are excellent means of gauging the difference in the effects of the war on the two countries." during the remaining part of , and during the first months of as well, ballin took an active interest in the preparations for the bill dealing with the rebuilding of the german mercantile marine; in other respects, especially with regard to political matters, the course of events condemned him to remain passive. his notes during this period are few. i select the following passages from them: " ... july th, . the erzberger resolution which was chiefly aimed at helfferich and the naval authorities has made the chancellor's position untenable. everybody turned against herr von bethmann, and general von ludendorff informed me by telephone that he would resign if bethmann remained in office. "i then had a lengthy talk with his excellency v. valentini who agreed that it was necessary for the chancellor to retire; but he found it just as difficult as other people to name a suitable successor. vienna had raised strong objections to the appointment of prince bülow, and, acting upon valentini's suggestion, i made up my mind to approach the kaiser with a view to discussing with him the situation which appeared to me fraught with the greatest danger. i therefore asked his excellency von reischach to arrange such a meeting for me, but on thursday night i was rung up from headquarters and informed that hindenburg and ludendorff were already on their way to the kaiser to report to his majesty on this subject. under these circumstances i did not like to interfere, and on friday i withdrew my application for an interview. the kaiser has told the two generals that he had accepted bethmann's resignation the previous evening. he is thus able to save himself from a perplexing situation by contending that he had to give in to the wishes of the supreme army command. " ... july th, . yesterday i called on prince bülow at his flottbek residence, and found him looking better than i had seen him for years. after i had left him i had the feeling that the prince, who regards the whole situation with a great deal of misgiving, would even be willing to accept the post of foreign secretary under michaelis himself, in order to be able to guide our foreign policy along sensible lines once more. contrary to the reserve which he formerly showed, he now condemns bethmann's policy with great bitterness. bethmann, he maintains, by yielding to the demand for universal suffrage, acted like a banker on the day before bankruptcy who would try to save himself from disaster by using his clients' deposits. "the mexico telegram[ ] he treated with a good deal of sarcasm, remarking that it was the maddest prank since the exploits of the captain of köpenick, with which i agreed. if anyone, he said, ever wrote a comedy on the subject, he would scarcely venture to lay the plot in modern times, but would go back to the period when pigtails and wigs were the fashion. " ... july th, . i had several messages over the telephone, as well as a visit, from lieutenant-colonel von voss, the chief of staff with the altona army command, who wanted to consult me as to whether prince bülow should be offered the post of foreign secretary. i am afraid, however, that there is not much chance of his being appointed. the prince shares this opinion, and would not like the press to make any propaganda in his favour. " ... sept. th, . in the meantime, on august th, the kaiser has been to hamburg on a one day's visit. he came from heligoland, and was brimful of optimism. "he pretended to be very well satisfied with his new chancellor, and was very optimistic as to a german victory, an attitude which, i am afraid, is not in the least justified by the situation as it is." in the month of september, , ballin wrote a memorandum for dr. schwander, the newly appointed secretary of state for national economy. apart from politics this document deals with economic matters, and in particular with the legislation concerning these during the period of transition which would succeed the close of the war. ballin gave a great deal of thought to these questions, and i shall refer to them later on. meanwhile i will quote the text of the memorandum: _"september th, ._ "the fall of riga shows once more how far superior our military achievements are to the work performed by our politicians. with the dispatch of the mexico telegram their folly appeared to me to have reached its height; but the descent from that point is but slow. the news recently published by the press to the effect that the federal council is to deal with the question of the constitutional and administrative reforms which are to be granted to alsace-lorraine, makes me fear that some big political blunder is going to be committed again. it is evidently believed that, if alsace-lorraine were to be established as an independent federal state with perhaps some south german prince as its grand duke, such a measure would remove an obstacle to peace. i, however, consider it a great tactical mistake to attempt such a solution of the alsace-lorraine problem before the war is over. we must never lose sight of the fact that each one of the leading actors in the political drama has to play to his own gallery, and that therefore at the conclusion of peace--which in my opinion can only be one of compromise--french diplomacy must be able to show up something which the man in the street can be induced to regard as a _succès d'estime_. no doubt it would be easier and more to our liking to solve the problem in our own way, and at the initiative of our government; but by doing so we would deprive ourselves of another possibility for compromising which we ought to keep in order to enable the french to retire from the struggle with a fair measure of success. "we have a bad habit of spoiling the chances of peace by premature actions intended to help it on and to prepare the way for it. just think of what we did in poland! in the same way we deliberately diminished the great value of the important asset which we possess in the shape of belgium when we set up the council of flanders and introduced the administrative partition of that country. "besides these political matters there are others which were better left alone for the present. i am thinking of the steps taken to regulate our economic restoration after the war. war corporations are springing from the ground like mushrooms after rain, and the preparations made in order to solve the difficult economic post-war problems have an ugly tendency toward establishing too many government-controlled organizations. to my mind the appointment of a 'government commissioner for the period of economic transition' is altogether superfluous. we must refrain from all attempts at interfering by artificial means with the natural development of events. this, however, is precisely what the commissioner would have to do. he would have to act according to instructions received from the bank of germany or from some specially created body dealing with the question of the foreign exchanges and the provision of foreign bills. "my belief is that our foreign exchanges which have so completely got out of order will prove an excellent means of diminishing the hatred against us and of making our enemies less disinclined to resume business with us. the americans who are now able to obtain goods to the value of m . for their dollar, instead of m . , as they used to do, will soon discover their liking for us again. "another point is that the coming peace, even if we derive no other gain from it, will enormously raise german prestige all over the world. prussia became a european power after the seven years' war, in spite of the fact that the peace treaty brought her neither a territorial nor a financial gain, merely confirming the right of frederick the great to the possessions he had defended in the war. prestige, however, means credit, and this circumstance makes me believe that all these anxious discussions of the foreign exchange question and of the need for controlling german payments abroad are just as superfluous as the government control of our economic activities during the period of transition. "the nations now at war will be impoverished after the war, and the state of our exchange and the high prices of raw material will compel us to live from hand to mouth as far as the importation of raw material is concerned. pending the return of normal conditions, no sensible manufacturer will want to import more raw material than he urgently requires. "i therefore think we ought to try to induce the government to desist from its proposed control of trade and industries, and to restore the old conditions. if the government's proposal to carry on under its own management large sections of our import and export trade--in order to make these valuable sources of profit available for the reduction of its debts--were allowed to materialize, our economic doom would be certain, however attractive the plan might be in view of the huge national debt. one must be careful not to ignore the fact that the flourishing state of trade and manufactures is always largely due to the existence of personal relations. "if i think of the lessons of the past forty years--a period during which the freedom of trade, the freedom of industrial enterprise, and the freedom of shipping have led to marvellous successes and to the accumulation of huge wealth--i ask myself: 'how is it possible that a wise statesman could seriously occupy himself with the plan of establishing a government-bound system in place of it?' how, i ask you, can a state-managed industrial organization avail itself of the advantages to be had when trade is booming, or to guard itself against the losses when there is a slump? what will be the attitude of such an organization towards dealings in futures and speculation, both of which are indispensable forms of modern business enterprise? true, it has been suggested that these difficulties could be overcome if some business men were requested to accept appointments under this system, and if so-called 'mixed' concerns worked by the co-operation of public funds and private capital were established. may heaven grant that this will never be done! i am sure you have had even more to do than i with business men who had been promoted to the higher dignity of government officials. most of them have turned out complete failures in their new spheres; they have become more bureaucratic than our bureaucrats themselves; their initiative and their eagerness to take upon themselves responsibilities have never lasted very long. let there always be a fair field and no favour! personal relations and personal efficiency are all that we need for the rebuilding of our national economic system. the 'mixed' concerns are bad because they lack the necessary elasticity, because they disregard the personal equation, and because they impede the indispensable freedom of action. "i am quite prepared for these views of mine to meet with much criticism. people will say: 'all that is very well, but the government's huge indebtedness compels it to take recourse to extraordinary measures.' quite right, but would it not be much wiser to reduce this indebtedness by increasing direct and indirect taxation, instead of depriving those who have proved during the past few decades what they can do of the means that have made them so efficient? "even among the efficient business men, unless they be born geniuses, a distinction must be drawn between those who can make profits and those who can organize. the former kind--who are, moreover, but few and far between--will never submit to the personal restrictions to which they would be subjected in state-managed or 'mixed' concerns. the second kind alone, however, would never make any concern prosper. "another consideration is that the enemy countries would view with much suspicion any such institutions controlled partly or wholly by the government. i remember quite well the scant respect with which the french delegates were treated at the international shipping conferences before the war. everyone knew that the big french shipping companies, owing to the huge government subsidies, had to put up with a great deal of supervision on the part of the government, and that they could often vote neither for nor against the most important proposals with which the conference had to deal, because they had first to obtain the consent of the government commissioner. they were, therefore, simply ignored, as it was clear that they could raise no counter-proposals at their own initiative. "and truly there is every reason for us to use the utmost caution whenever any questions connected with the reconstruction of our country are concerned. the excellent dr. naumann, with his 'berlin--bagdad' slogan, has already smashed a good many window panes which will have to be paid for after the war by the producing classes. the suggestion that an economic union of the central european countries should be established was put forward at a most inopportune moment, and the propaganda in its favour was bound to bring about the retaliatory measures agreed upon by our enemies at the paris economic conference. "the resolutions of this conference were of little practical importance to us until the day when america entered the field against us. if the united states assents to them, it will become possible to enforce them, and for this reason i am watching the further development of the economic question with growing concern. i maintain that peace negotiations should only be started after a previous agreement has been arrived at between the belligerents to the effect that, on the conclusion of peace, the commercial relations formerly existing between them should be restored as far as possible, and that the resolutions passed at the paris economic conference and at the central european conference should be rescinded. such an attitude, however, can only be taken up by our delegates if they agree that the former commercial treaties, no matter whether they are still running or whether they have elapsed, should automatically become valid again for a fairly extensive period of time after the close of the war. the disadvantages which some of these treaties involve for us are easily outbalanced by the advantages secured by the others. "our government cannot be reminded too often that it is necessary to consult experienced men of business in all such questions. since the early days of the war i have vainly tried to convince herr v. bethmann of this necessity. after all, nobody can possibly be an expert in everything. yesterday, when reading the letters of gustav freytag to his publisher, mr. hirzel, i came across the following admirable piece of self-criticism: 'i do not know yet what is to become of my work; but i fear i am doing what others, better qualified than i, ought to be doing, and that i am leaving undone what i ought to do.' every great leader in our political and economic life must have experienced that it is extremely unsatisfactory to waste one's time and energy on work which another man could do just as well as, or even better than, oneself. this the government should remember whenever it attempts to interfere with the big industrial combines, such as trusts, syndicates, etc. wherever a syndicate is necessary in the best interests of any industry, a leader will be forthcoming who will create it; and only in cases where inferior minds, acting for selfish reasons of their own, do not wish to acknowledge the need for combining, the government should be asked to exercise whatever pressure it considers advisable in order to further the great aims that are involved. "i am afraid that after the war we shall lack the funds needed for the solution of the traffic problems with which we shall then be confronted, especially with regard to our inland waterways. at any rate, if we do build the necessary canals immediately after the war, we shall find ourselves compelled to charge such high rates to the vessels using these waterways that their advantages will largely tend to become illusory. even as it is now, our trade and our manufactures are seriously handicapped by the high canal dues existing, by the tugboat monopoly, etc. a really far-sighted policy which would make it its principal object to assist the progress of our foreign trade would have to guard against the mistaken idea that the levying of high rates was the only means of obtaining interest on the capital invested. after all, even the turnpikes had to be abolished in the end. "the agitation in favour of separating from russia the ukraine, finland, and other parts inhabited by alien peoples--an agitation which is becoming noisier every day--troubles me very much. since the early days of the war i have maintained that it must be our main war aim to detach russia from the entente, and that we must endeavour to establish close relations between our own country and russia so that the two of us shall be strong enough to face a possible alliance between great britain, the united states, and france. this should be our aim even now. but if we are going deliberately to dismember the russian empire and to parcel it out into a number of independent units, our political influence after the war will be slight indeed, and the result must necessarily make itself felt to the detriment of our whole economic life." at ballin's suggestion, the members of the reichstag were invited to attend a meeting which was to be held in hamburg during the summer of . large sections of people in the three hanseatic cities viewed with grave concern the plans which the government entertained for the economic development after the war, and the meeting had been called to draw the attention of the visitors to this state of affairs. three principal speeches were delivered, and at the close of the meeting ballin briefly recapitulated the main arguments against too much government interference. much of what he said on that occasion, and much of what he had written in the memorandum quoted above, has been borne out by the events of the recent past, even though the actual terms of the peace imposed on germany were much more unfavourable than he had expected them to be. in addressing himself to the vice president of the reichstag, geheimrat dove, and the large number of the elected representatives of the german people who accepted the invitation, ballin said: "we should be glad if you would see to it that the government does not put a halter round our necks, and that it refrains from the dangerous attempt to employ barrack-room methods where economic questions of national and international importance are at stake. let us have air, and light, and freedom to act; and we, by availing ourselves of our relations with the overseas countries, shall be able to carry out the work that lies before us.... " ... i am convinced that all the measures which are contemplated to stabilize economic conditions during the period of transition from war to peace will do more harm than good. if carried into practice, they will merely prepare the soil for an economic struggle to succeed the present war of arms. we need a peace that is doubly secure! we cannot ask our enemies to give us freedom where we impose compulsion. we cannot fight for the freedom of the seas, and at the same time surround central europe with a barbed wire. "i do not wish to deny that in order to carry out our economic tasks a certain amount of government control will be necessary. that, of course, goes without saying; but anything beyond it is an unmixed evil. if it is said to-day that the measures to be adopted during the period of economic transition are, in some instances, intended to remain in force for three years, and if it is announced semi-officially that the thousand and one war corporations are to be made use of for the purposes of this policy, and that their disappearance is to be very gradual--i can only sound a serious note of warning against any such designs. when the war is over all those who can do efficient work will return to their normal occupations; and those who then prefer to remain attached to the war corporations in one capacity or other are surely to some extent people who have discovered some hidden charms in these institutions, or, if not, they are persons who, fearful of the risks connected with the unfettered interplay of forces, feel that they are better off under the protecting wing of the government. if you are going to entrust the future of our country to such organizations for better or worse, the economic war after the war, as i have said before, will be sure to follow, and you will have to face a war that will last years and years." as regards the closing months of the war--which are also the closing months of ballin's life--it must suffice to refer here to one event only; one, however, which is of dramatic significance. i am speaking of ballin's last meeting with the kaiser. his notes on this subject, roughly sketched though they are, require no further comment. i reproduce them in full: _"hamfelde, august th (sunday), ._ "last tuesday herr deters[ ] rang me up to ask me on behalf of hugo stinnes if i would meet him in berlin on the thursday. lieut.-colonel bauer, one of ludendorff's aides-de-camp, a gentleman largely responsible for the pan-german leanings of the general and for his close association with the interests of the big manufacturers, had been to see stinnes, and on the strength of the information he had received from lieut.-colonel bauer he thought it advisable to have a talk with me. i declined the invitation because i expected that the work they wanted me to do would be anything but pleasant. "next morning herr deters rang me up again and told me that stinnes would call on me in hamburg on friday morning. "i left for hamfelde on wednesday afternoon, but returned to town again on thursday, because stinnes had arranged to call on me as early as . a.m. on friday. "the proposed meeting thus took place on friday, august rd, from . a.m. to . p.m. stinnes, with admirable frankness and directness, started our conversation by stating that the military situation had become much worse. our troops, he said, began to fail us in our task, and the number of deserters had been very large lately (he mentioned, i believe, that their number was , ). ludendorff had told the crown prince the plain truth; but it was still necessary to explain the true state of affairs to the kaiser, and to make it clear to his majesty that hertling, who was completely laid up with sickness, could no longer effectively fill his post. the real work was done by his son, captain v. hertling, and no efforts were being made to come to a cessation of hostilities. in other directions, too, matters were drifting towards a catastrophe. the minister of war, v. stein, lacked the necessary authority. in many instances the men called up did not enlist at all; in silesia large numbers of them had concealed themselves in the woods and forests, and their wives provided them with food, while no energetic steps to check these occurrences were taken by the chief army command. i replied to stinnes that if ludendorff agreed i would be ready to undertake the unpleasant task of informing the kaiser, but that it would first be necessary that ludendorff and myself should come to an understanding as to whom to propose to his majesty for the chancellorship. _"continuation. hamburg, august th, ._ "stinnes said he thought that ludendorff had prince bülow in his mind. i told stinnes that bülow, in my opinion, might perhaps be suitable at the head of a peace delegation, but that it was too late to think of him as a possible chancellor, and that the german people--more particularly the socialists--had not now the requisite confidence in his ability to fill the post of chancellor. neither would he be acceptable to our enemies. it would be difficult to persuade great britain, the united states and france that a prince, especially prince bülow, would seriously carry out the democratization of germany. if, however, we really were to discuss peace at last it would be necessary that the office of chancellor should be vested in a man to whom our enemies could take no possible exception. stinnes perfectly agreed with me in this matter. "we continued to discuss other possible candidates for the post, but we could not agree on anyone. finally stinnes proposed that we should both go to berlin and there continue the discussion together with lieut.-colonel bauer, ludendorff's representative. he would in the meantime report to berlin about our conversation, and he was hopeful that we could see bauer either to-night (monday), or to-morrow (tuesday, august th). "this morning stinnes informed me through deters that he had sent me a wire stating that the proposed meeting could not take place until monday next, september nd, at p.m. he proposed that we should have a preliminary meeting at the hotel continental at p.m. the same evening. i suggested that it would be better to fix this preliminary meeting at . p.m. "i must add that bauer's (that is ludendorff's) suggestion was that i should not see the kaiser by myself, but together with stinnes, duisburg, and krupp v. bohlen. "i replied to stinnes that i considered it very inadvisable for such a deputation to visit the kaiser, who would never tolerate that four gentlemen--two of whom were perfect strangers to him--should speak to him about such matters. it would be better that herr v. bohlen, or, if ludendorff attached special value to it, i myself should call on the kaiser in private, and that either herr v. bohlen or i should then endeavour to induce the kaiser to see the other three gentlemen as well. "stinnes was greatly depressed and took as grave a view of the situation as i did myself." ballin's notes on the berlin meeting are confined to a few jottings, from which it appears that not lieutenant-colonel bauer but major v. harbou in his stead took part in it, and that the question of selecting a suitable candidate for the chancellorship proved impossible of a satisfactory solution. as a last resort, if everything else should fail, ballin thought of proposing stinnes himself, because in his opinion the situation demanded a man of dictatorial character and with the authority of a dictator. concerning his interview with the kaiser, ballin wrote down the following notes: "i arrived at wilhelmshöhe on the morning of september th, and i was asked to 'report' to the kaiser at . p.m. this expression was chosen because the new head of the kaiser's civil cabinet, herr v. berg, evidently wished to invest my visit with an official character which would enable him to be in attendance. after a while, however, the kaiser became impatient and did not wish to wait till the hour appointed for the interview. so i was requested by telephone to hold myself in readiness by o'clock. "i went to the castle at that hour and waited in the room of the aide-de-camp until the kaiser came and asked me to go for a walk with him. however, herr v. berg was also there and accompanied us. consequently the conversation lost much of the directness which would have been highly desirable in the kaiser's own interest, as well as in that of the country. "i found the kaiser very misinformed, as usual, and full of that apparent buoyancy of spirit which he likes to display in the presence of third persons. the facts have been twisted to such an extent that even the serious failure of our offensive--which, at first, had depressed him very much--has been described to him as a success. it is now intended to retire to the old hindenburg line, so that the only result of the offensive has been the loss of several hundreds of thousands of valuable lives. all this, as i have said, is dished up to the poor kaiser in such a fashion that he remains perfectly blind to the catastrophic effect of it. "he now puts his whole trust in herr v. hintze, whom he evidently looks upon as a great light. "i told the kaiser of my grave misgivings and made him clearly understand that i did not think there would be much use in entering into peace negotiations with great britain. i urged that no time should be lost in immediately approaching wilson, who was an idealist and who had no territorial aspirations in europe. if, however, the war should continue much longer wilson would most probably become subject to the influences of a war party, and then we could no longer hope that he would still insist upon a settlement along the lines of his idealist programme. "the kaiser agreed that my views were well founded, but he thought we ought not to enter into peace negotiations before the approach of autumn, by which time we should have returned to the safe position afforded by the hindenburg line. then, he thought, we should avail ourselves of the offer of mediation which had been made by the queen of holland. "whenever i was too frank in my criticisms and suggestions, herr v. berg skilfully interposed. he declared to me when the kaiser had left that it would not do to make his majesty too pessimistic. "i also discussed with the kaiser the question of doing away with the restrictions imposed upon the sale of perishable articles of food, such as butter, eggs, etc.; and i pointed out to him that the fixing of maximum prices and the issuing of regulations dealing with illicit trading merely forced the people to pay exorbitant prices, at the same time helping those engaged in underhand trading to amass huge fortunes. on this subject, too, the kaiser fell in with my own views, and it was decided to release at least the perishable articles, and to allow them to be sold once more through the ordinary channels without restriction. "the kaiser also declared that this war would soon be followed by another, to which he referred as the second carthaginian war. he spoke a great deal of an anglo-american alliance which would, of course, be directed against japan, and the views on political subjects which he expressed in this connexion showed that he is being very badly advised indeed. "herr v. berg is obviously conservative and pan-german in his politics, and it seems that his influence is predominant at court. only on the prussian suffrage question did he agree with my own standpoint, which is that universal suffrage must be granted now that the king has promised it. "since the kaiser and the kaiserin, on account of the latter's illness, were dining alone, i joined the so-called 'court marshal's table,' together with the countesses keller and rantzau, the gentlemen-in-waiting on the kaiser, and the physician-in-ordinary and the chamberlain of the kaiserin. the duty of acting as court marshal fell to general v. gontard, as herr v. reischach had unfortunately fallen seriously ill." in order to illustrate further what has been shown to be ballin's views on the character of the kaiser, i here quote the first part of a letter of his, dated october th, : "in the meantime," he writes, "wilson's reply has been received, and it is certain that compliance with its terms will be equivalent to capitulation. "to my mind wilson's note clearly shows that he and his allies will demand that the hohenzollerns, or at any rate the kaiser and the crown prince, shall relinquish their rights to the throne, and that, in consideration of such an act, they will ease their terms of peace. "each of the men who are at the head of their respective governments has to play to his gallery, and if these men desire to give their audience a convincing proof of the completeness of the success they have achieved, they can do no better than demand condign punishment for the man who has been held responsible for the war, and inflict it upon him. i do not believe that the kaiser would grieve very much if he were given a chance now of retiring into private life without much loss of dignity. the war, which was something absolutely uncongenial to his whole nature, has had such bad effect on his health that it would be desirable in his own interest if he were enabled to retire comfortably into private life. he must see the force of this argument himself, and it is not likely that he would refuse to accept such a chance, as a refusal would prejudice the best interests of his country. the kaiserin, however, may be expected to oppose any such solution with much feeling. if the kaiser's grandson were now appointed his successor, and if a regent were nominated in whom everybody had confidence, the whole german situation would lose much of its seriousness. of course, the abdication of the kaiser would not take place without certain disturbances, but it would be necessary to face these disadvantages with a good grace. no doubt the outlook would be better if they could be avoided, and if the kaiser, without losing his position, could be invested with rights and duties similar to those of the british king, who, broadly speaking, enjoys all the advantages of his dignity without having to take upon himself responsibilities which he is unable to bear. i quite believe that the kaiser never derived much pleasure from his sovereign powers; at any rate, if he did, he has ceased to do so since this unfortunate war has been forced upon him." ballin's last entry in his diary contains the following passage: "stinnes has sent word to me that the socialist and centre parties are of opinion that i ought to be nominated to conduct the peace negotiations. i have told him that i should not shirk it, but that i should be much better pleased if somebody else would do it." this note was written on november nd, . one short week later, on november th, his heart had ceased to beat--a heart which had so warmly responded to the call of his kaiser and country, and which had succumbed to its excessive load of grief and sorrow. chapter xi personal characteristics to present an exhaustive description of albert ballin's life-work within the compass of this volume is an impossible task, and the more the writer entered into the details of his attempt to do so, the more thoroughly did he realize this impossibility. the story of a life comprising thirty-two years of incessant hard work, only interrupted when nature's law or a very imperative behest of his medical adviser made it necessary, and spent at the head of an undertaking which, as a result of this work, developed into one of the greatest that the economic history of the generation just passed has known, cannot be told in full by means of a mere description unless it be accompanied by volumes of statistics which, however, convey no meaning to anyone except the initiated. the author, therefore, had to content himself with delineating a picture of his hero with a background formed by the events which he himself had helped to shape, and which, in many instances, had received their distinguishing stamp through his own genius. the essence of his character, and the importance of his work to his contemporaries, must stand out from this background as the portrait of a painter--as seen by himself--would stand out from a mirror. what the mirror does not show, and cannot show, is the immensity of the mental forces hidden below the surface which alone give expression to the portrait; all the factors which have brought about the final result--the strength, the courage, the daring, and the feeling of responsibility without which it would never have been achieved. still more difficult it is to interpret the very essence of the character of him whose work we see before us, or, indeed, to give a comprehensible account of it to the stranger. the only way of doing justice to a man of such commanding genius as ballin is to try to discover first of all the one essential root principle of his personality. having succeeded in that, we shall find no more difficulty in reconciling the great number of apparently mutually contradictory traits of his character. this principle is the focus where all the rays of light are collected from all directions, and which forms the source of light, warmth, and vital energy. albert ballin was a born business man if ever there was one. to him the noble words of schiller's lines apply: "the treasures which his ships carry across the oceans spell untold blessings to all who receive them." his whole mind was drawn towards the sea; his inborn inclinations and the surroundings amidst which he grew up had destined him to be a shipping man. to the boy ballin the hamburg harbour was the favourite playground; and the seven seas were just large enough to serve as a field of action for the youth and the man. there was his real home, and there he felt at rest. how often, indeed, has he assured us that the sleeplessness to which he fell an unfortunate victim whenever he was ashore left him as soon as he was on board ship, and that a miserable river barge was sufficient to have this effect on him. he was proof against sea-sickness, both bodily and mentally. thus he became a shipping man, because it was his natural vocation; and in this chosen profession of his he became one of the greatest and most brilliantly gifted rulers the world has ever seen. whenever there was a problem to be solved he attacked it in a spirit of boldness, yet tempered by the utmost conscientiousness and caution. no task he encountered was so big that his daring could not tackle it and overcome its difficulties; nothing was so insignificant that he would not attend to it somehow. whatever decision his infallible instinct intuitively recognized as right, and to whatever idea his impulsive nature had given practical shape, had to pass muster during the sleepless hours of the night before the tribunal of his restless mind when, as he used to say, "everything appears wrapt up in a grey mist." at such times his reason began to analyse and to criticize the decisions he had reached during the day. then he would often shudder at his own boldness, and the torments of doubt would be aggravated by the thought of the enormous responsibility which he bore towards his company. for it must be understood that from the day he joined the hamburg-amerika linie his interests and those of the company became parts of an inseparable whole. the company's affairs absorbed all his thoughts at all times; the company's well-being was the object of his constant care; he devoted himself exclusively to the service of the company, and the opinions which he formed in his mind regarding persons and things were instinctively coloured according to their relationship to the company's affairs. the gradual progress during its infancy, the later expansion, and the final greatness of the company, were as the events of his own life to him; when the proud structure which he had raised collapsed his life was ended. his thoughts incessantly converged towards this very centre of his being. all his work, all his words and deeds, were devoted to the furtherance of the company's interests. he identified himself so completely with the company that he actually was the packetfahrt, and the packetfahrt was he. even his love and hatred were rooted in the company. he remained a grateful and lifelong friend to anyone who had been of service to the company or to him as representing it. this highly subjective and indissoluble relationship between himself and the company--which it had been the dream of his life to raise to the highest pinnacle of prosperity--is the key to the fundamental principle which lies at the root of his whole complex personality. but however well-defined his personal individuality stood out, his subjectivity was nevertheless animated by a strong sense of duty. his views, for instance, on the essential principles governing the most perfect organization which modern capitalism has produced--i.e. the joint-stock company--were free from any tinge of personal considerations whatever. he was himself the responsible head of a big joint-stock company, and instinctively this fact exercised such a powerful influence on all his thoughts and feelings that it is quite impossible to arrive at a just appreciation of his character unless this circumstance is borne in mind. his character which appears so complicated to the cursory onlooker, but which is in reality of singular simplicity and consistency, is best illustrated by his reply to a question of one of his friends who had asked him why he did not allow some piece of scathing criticism which he had just expressed in private to be made public. "my dear friend," he said, "you forget that you are not the chairman of the board of directors of a joint-stock company." what he meant to convey was that the enmity which he would incur by expressing those views in public would adversely affect the firm of which he was the head, and that the interests of his company compelled him to impose upon himself restrictions which he could ignore in his private capacity. although he had nothing but scorn for the very suggestion that this company should receive at any time any subsidies from public funds, he made it to the fullest extent subservient to the needs of the public and of the nation at large. he often remarked that such gigantic concerns as, e.g., the hamburg-amerika linie, are no longer private ventures purely and simply. the ties that bind them to the whole economic life of the nation--and, for the matter of that, to the world in general--are so close and so manifold that it would be disastrous to ignore them or to sever them. hundreds of industrial, commercial, and agricultural enterprises were lavishly supplied with work through the orders they received from the hamburg-amerika linie in connexion with the building and the equipment of its steamers and with the needs of its organizations on shore. its hundreds of thousands of passengers and emigrants, and the huge volume of german-made products and manufactured articles carried on board its vessels, spread the german name and german fame throughout the civilized world. hence, to albert ballin the national flag and that of the hapag were two symbols expressive of but one idea. a man who, like ballin, was at the head of the biggest german shipping company and therefore also, by implication, one of the leading spirits in the economic life of germany, could not very well hold himself aloof where high politics were concerned. the more the economic problems gained in importance, the greater became their bearing on the course of the country's politics. ballin, however, would never have become a professional politician from inclination, because he invariably refused to be mixed up with the strife of parties. he never officially belonged to any political party; and although he made friends with members of all the non-socialist parties, his general outlook on politics was mainly coloured by liberal views, and he was a firm believer in free trade. whenever questions dealing with the interests of shipping and trade were involved, he had no difficulty in making the responsible people listen to his claims and to his suggestions, but he never tried to make his influence felt on purely political affairs unless they affected the country's vital international interests. his lengthy and extensive travels to the countries of europe, to the north american continent, and to the far east, had broadened his outlook. his profession as a shipping man not only brought him into frequent contact with the heads of the big shipping companies all the world over, but also with a number of the financial magnates and industrial captains of great britain, the united states, and other countries of economic importance. he took rank with the greatest economic leaders as an equal, and this unchallenged position of commanding authority was reflected by the esteem in which he was held by the principal statesmen and parliamentarians. he was familiar with the essential and vital needs of other nations, and he therefore not only stood up for the national rights whenever they appeared in jeopardy, but he also raised his warning voice against a policy provocative of conflicts whenever he thought it possible to avoid them. whoever is conscious of his strength is also aware of the limitations set to his power. in politics as well as in business he held that "a lean compromise was preferable to a fat lawsuit," as the german proverb puts it. it has been mentioned elsewhere in this volume that ballin was essentially the man of compromise. it is very probable that the experiences of his early life had helped to develop this outstanding feature of his personality. it may be assumed that he, a young man of unknown jewish family, found his path beset with difficulties in a city-state like hamburg, where the influence of the wealthy patriciate of the merchant classes was supreme, and that he was looked upon as an upstart even after he had reached a prominent position himself. the casual observer is far too much inclined to underestimate the conservative character--both politically and socially--of the three hanseatic cities. still, evidence is not wanting that ballin's unusual gifts were occasionally recognized and appreciated even in the days of his early career. an english journalist, for instance, who met him some time about , characterized him by the following words: "he struck me as a great man; otherwise nothing so incongruous as such a type of man at the head of a big steamship line could be imagined." that field-marshal count waldersee honoured him by his friendship at an early period has been mentioned in a different chapter of this volume. and even in patrician hamburg he found an immensely powerful friend and patron shortly after he had entered the services of the packetfahrt. this was no less a man than the shipowner carl laeisz, the most eminent representative of the "house of laeisz." the firm of f. laeisz, which was successfully owned by its founder, ferdinand, his son carl, and his grandson carl ferdinand, has stood sponsor to all the more important shipping companies established in hamburg, and through its great authority helped them all to get over the critical years of their early youth. the sound principles by which the firm was guided might sometimes lead to much disappointment on the part of the shareholders, but they proved to be of unsurpassable benefit to the companies concerned, and nothing illustrates them better than the oft-told episode of the shareholder who went to see carl laeisz, complaining that the hamburg south american s.s. company did not pay any dividend. "the object of the company is to carry on the shipping trade, and not to distribute dividends," was the blunt but characteristic reply. being thoroughly unconventional in his habits, carl laeisz--no less than his singularly gifted son, who was one of those rare men whom it was really impossible to replace--nevertheless did invaluable service in connexion with the establishment of new firms in hamburg, and with the encouragement of existing ones. it was a great compliment to ballin that in , when he had only been associated with the packetfahrt for a couple of years, and when the directors asked for authority to increase the joint-stock capital of the company from to million marks, carl laeisz informed them in advance that, at the general meeting of the shareholders, he would move an increase of instead of millions, and that this motion was unanimously carried. those who have known carl laeisz personally will appreciate what it meant to ballin when, by way of giving him an introduction to the london firm of messrs. j. henry schröder, laeisz scribbled the following note on the back of one of ballin's visiting cards: "it gives me pleasure to introduce to you the bearer of this card, whom i am proud to name my friend, and to recommend him to your protection and to your unfailing kindness. "sincerely yours, "(_signed_) laeisz." as this card was found among the papers and documents which ballin left at the time of his death, it would seem that it was not used for its intended purpose, but that he preferred to keep it as a souvenir of the man whom he always remembered with gratitude and affection, and of whose life he could tell a good number of characteristic anecdotes. the telegram of which the text is given below is also highly typical of carl laeisz. i have not been able to discover what was the occasion of sending it, but i am inclined to think that it must be in some manner connected with the conference held in the berlin royal castle, and referred to on an earlier page, at which ballin first attracted the kaiser's attention. the text is as follows: "persons who give in without a protest are miserable creatures, and being such, they are deserving of nothing but contempt. suggest that you obstinately stick to hamburg point of view, not only from personal conviction, but for other weighty reasons as well. meeting hardly convened simply to induce you to give in." although there is scarcely anyone to whom the name of a hamburg patriot can be applied with greater justice than to ballin, and although there are few people who have done more to promote the well-being and the prosperity of their native city, and who have had a better appreciation of one of the most lovable features of her inhabitants, viz. their dry, unconventional, and kindly humour, it would be wrong to assume that this local patriotism of ballin made him blind to the shortcomings and deficiencies of his native city. on the contrary, his eminent sense of the realities of life made him see most clearly the points of weakness in the position of hamburg, e.g. those connected with the system of her finances. the so-called köhlbrand agreement, which, after a hard struggle, put an end to the long controversy between hamburg and prussia by stipulating that the course of the lower elbe should be regulated without detriment to the interests of the town of harburg, imposed such a vast amount of expenditure upon hamburg, and the prussian local authorities concerned insisted on securing the payment of such large compensations to the owners whose rights were adversely affected by the improvement of the waterway, that it might well be doubted whether hamburg could shoulder these enormous burdens. it speaks volumes for ballin's unprejudiced mind that he frequently maintained nothing would be of greater benefit to hamburg than her renunciation of her sovereignty as a city-state in favour of incorporation with prussia. prussia, he argued, was her natural hinterland, after all; and if she consented to be thus incorporated, she would be such a precious jewel in the crown of prussia that she could secure without an effort all the advantages and privileges which prussia, by pursuing the strictly prussian line in her politics, now actually prevented her from acquiring. in course of time, however, her present isolation would undermine the foundations of her existence, especially if and when the increasing volume of traffic passing through her port should demand a further expansion of the latter, and, consequently, a further rise in the financial burdens. in that case the unnatural position which resulted from the fact that the "elbe delta" belonged to two different states, and which had its origin in the political history of the district, would make itself felt with all its drawbacks, and the ultimate sufferer would be the country as a whole of which hamburg, after all, was the connecting link with the nations beyond the sea. these are the same arguments and considerations which are used when the modern problem of a "greater hamburg" is under discussion, with this difference only, that in ballin's time the only solution which was regarded as possible was that hamburg should cast in her lot with her prussian neighbour. ballin repeatedly vented the full force of his sarcasm against the advocates of an "out-and-out hamburg policy" to whom his own views sounded like heresy, a policy which found perhaps its most comic expression in the speech of a former hamburg burgomaster who referred to the king of prussia as "our illustrious ally." ballin did not recognize the existence of a line of demarcation which, as many lesser minds imagined, separated republican hamburg from the rest of germany. in reality there is no such separation; hamburg, indeed, receives year after year a constant influx of human material and of ideas from her german hinterland, without which she could not exist at all, and in spite of which she has never had a superfluity, but--at times, at least--rather a deficiency of specially gifted citizens. this latter circumstance and the frequent absence of that quality of mental alertness which bismarck, in speaking of the german character in general, used to designate as the missing "dash of champagne in the blood" once made ballin say: "i quite see that what this town wants is , jews. i do not, by any means, shut my eyes to the disagreeable qualities of the jewish character, but still, another , of them would be a decided advantage." this utterance confirms how free from prejudice he was where the jewish question was concerned. although not at all orthodox, but rather indifferent in his religious views, he was far too proud to disavow his origin or his religion, or to change the latter. of someone who had changed his name, he said, in a tone of bitter reproach, that he had insulted his father. ballin's relations with the working classes and his attitude towards the labour question were not such as the socialist papers were fond of alleging, especially at the time when the labour controversy was at its height, and when strikes were constantly occurring or threatening. the first big strike affecting ballin's special sphere of activity was that of the hamburg dock labourers in . it was caused by wages disputes which the packetfahrt tried in vain to settle by raising the wages paid to the men. the interests of the employers in the ensuing struggle were not, however, specially represented by the associations of the shipping firms, but were looked after by the big "association of employers of labour," and therefore the attitude taken up by the employers as a whole was not determined by practical considerations from the point of view of the shipping companies. the packetfahrt, however, seems to have emphasized the necessity of being guided by such practical considerations, as may be inferred from the fact that the packetfahrt was the only one among the large firms of employers which advocated from the outset that certain concessions should be granted in respect of the demands put forward by the workmen. although, as has been remarked, the company succeeded in seeing its recommendation adopted, the strike started on november th, . at first it was restricted to the dockers, but the number of the strikers was soon swelled by the adhesion of the quay-labourers and of several other categories of port-labourers and seamen. when this had occurred, and when the packetfahrt suggested that steps should be taken on the part of the employers with the object of reaching a friendly settlement, these suggestions did not secure a majority in the counsels of the employers, and it was in regard to this that ballin's notes, under date of december th, contain the following entry: "we are continuing our efforts to induce the employers' association and the shipowners' association to give the strikers a chance of an honourable retreat. what we propose in detail is that the men should be asked to resume work of their own accord in consideration of which the employers would promise to submit their grievances to a _bona fide_ examination. all our efforts have failed because of the attitude taken up by the employers' association. we can only hope that the senate will consent to mediate in the conflict." this body, however, was afraid of being accused of prejudice in favour of the employers, and declined to act as mediator. "it is very much against my wish," ballin's notes continue, "that our own interests are represented by the employers' association," and on december rd, he wrote: "meanwhile, the senate, in reply to the resolution passed by the men, has asked them to resume work unconditionally against the promise to look into their grievances, and as far as they appeared to be justified, to redress them after a joint conference had been held between the employers and the strikers. this offer of a compromise was rejected by the workmen." the employers were able to get the most urgent work done by substitute labour, and the strike came to an end in the early days of february. among the subsequent labour troubles those of are of special significance. in that year, after a strike of the dockers and the seamen, all those employers who had occasion to employ any workmen in the port of hamburg founded an organization somewhat on the lines of a labour bureau, called the _hafenbetriebsverein_. the termination of the strike just referred to was brought about by ballin's personal influence, and it was he who conducted the prolonged negotiations with the heads of the labour organization. later on, in , when the _hafenbetriebsverein_ began to conclude agreements with this organization by which the wages for the various categories of dock labourers were fixed--a policy which did not exactly meet with the full approval of large sections of employers, it was again due to ballin's influence that these agreements were generally accepted. it is just possible that a certain event, insignificant in itself, may have strengthened ballin's natural tendency towards a settlement along the lines of a compromise. as has been said before, the year , which, from the business point of view, had been excellent (at least, during the first six months), and during which the above-mentioned strike occurred, was succeeded by a year which brought exceedingly unsatisfactory earnings to the company. ballin did what he had done on a previous occasion, in : he sent a memorandum to all the employees of the firm asking them to cut down expenses to the lowest possible extent, to contribute their share towards a more economical working of every department, and to submit to him any suggestions of their own as to how the necessary retrenchment could be effected. i was instructed to examine the general expenses account with a view to finding out in what way a reduction would be possible, and i drew ballin's attention to the fact that the considerable sums which had to be spent in in consequence of the strike would, of course, not appear again in the balance-sheet for , so that this would lead to an automatic reduction of the working expenses. ballin was surprised to see how large this particular item was, and the whole occurrence proved once more that a lean agreement would have been preferable to a fat lawsuit. as ballin was pre-eminently a man whose mind was bent on practical work and on the production of practical results, it is but natural that he was greatly interested in the practical aspects of social politics, and that he applied its principles to the activities in which he was engaged as far as he thought he was justified in doing so. not in peace times only, but also during the war did he hold these views, and when he was connected with the work of provisioning the civil population, and, later, with that of preparing the economic post-war reconstruction, he was frequently brought into contact with men who occupied prominent positions in the world of labour. his capacity for work was enormous and seemed wellnigh inexhaustible. he made a most lavish use of it, especially in the early part of his life, and the personal assistance he required with his work was of the slightest. his greatest aid, indeed, was his marvellous memory, which almost enabled him to do his work without ever referring to the files of letters and documents. he could always recall to his mind every phase of past events, and every detail of all the ships he had built or purchased, and he was never wavering in the opinion he had formed of anyone who had ever crossed his path, because such opinion was founded on facts. very gradually only did his fellow-members on the board of directors succeed in persuading him to refrain from putting in an appearance at his office on sundays, and to do such sunday work as he wanted to do at home. the telegraph and the telephone always kept him busy, both on weekdays and on sundays. even on his travels and on his holidays he wanted to be informed of all that was going on, and he could be very annoyed when any important news had been withheld from him, or when he believed that this had been the case, so that his secretariat, to be on the safe side, had gone rather far in forwarding on his correspondence when he was away from town. when i first entered upon my duties with him he had just returned from a rest cure at kissingen. he pointed at the huge pile of letters that had been forwarded to him on his so-called holiday, adding, in a tone of bitterness: "you see, every expansion of a business becomes a curse to its leader." sometimes his absences from hamburg would amount to as much as eight months per annum, and it was certainly no easy task always to know what to send on and what to hold over until after his return. to do so one had to be well acquainted with all the details of each transaction and to know what was important, especially what was important to him; and if one wished to see his mind at ease it was necessary never to let him think that anything was kept back from him. any apparent neglect in this respect he was apt to regard as a personal slight. and yet the time which he had at his disposal for attending to current correspondence, both when at the office and when travelling, was but limited. the waiting-room outside his private office was nearly always crowded with intending visitors. the callers were carefully sifted, and all those who were strangers and those who had come without having an appointment were passed on to someone else as far as this was possible. great credit is due to his ever faithful personal attendant at home and on his travels, carl fischer, for the perfect tact which he showed in the performance of this difficult task. in spite of all this sifting, however, the time left for getting through a day's mail was not sufficient. i therefore, shortly after entering the company's services, made it a point to submit to his notice only those letters which i considered of real importance. according to the mood in which he seemed to be i then acquainted him with the contents of as much of the remainder as i thought it wise to do. i believe i gradually succeeded in acquiring a fair amount of skill in reading his mind, and this facility enabled me to avoid more dangerous rocks than one. i tried to proceed along similar lines when he was away from hamburg, especially when he was taking a holiday. on such occasions i forwarded on to him only the important letters, taking great care, however, that he was not kept out of touch with any matter of real consequence, so that he should never feel that he was left in the dark about anything. after some time i had the satisfaction of being told by him when he returned from a holiday that that had been "his first real holiday since he had joined the packetfahrt." once one had learnt to understand his way of reasoning and his individual traits, it was not difficult to know how to treat him. if a mistake had been made, or if some oversight had taken place, the most foolish thing would be not to tell him so at once. to act otherwise would mean the immediate and permanent forfeiture of his confidence, whilst an open admission of the mistake would strengthen his faith enormously. he hated to be shut out from the actual practice of the company's business by a chinese wall of bureaucratic control. whenever such a wall was in process of erection he quickly and inexorably pulled it down, and he always remained in personal contact with every department and with every prominent member of the staff as far as the size of the huge undertaking enabled him to do so. for this reason he but rarely, and only when the pressure of other business was encroaching too much on him, omitted to receive at his private office the captains who came to make their reports to the directors. he knew, of course, every one of them personally, as he had appointed many of them himself years ago. he was no stranger to their various idiosyncrasies, and he knew all their good qualities. he was also personally acquainted with a great many of those unconventional and often somewhat blunt but always good-natured individuals of humble rank who seem to thrive wherever much shipping is going on. he was not too proud to write an appreciative article on the death of one of them, which, since it reflects high credit on his own generosity and kindness of heart, ought not to be allowed to be forgotten altogether. it was published by the _hamburger fremdenblatt_, to the staff of which the subject of his appreciation might, in a sense, be said to have belonged. kuskop. "it was not until my return from england that i learnt, through reading the _fremdenblatt_, the news of the death of karl kuskop--news which made me feel very sad indeed. kuskop ranked high among the few remaining real 'characters' of whom he was a type, and as i was not able to pay my last respects to him i feel a desire to do honour to his memory by a few words of personal recollection, although dr. obst has already done so by means of an excellent article of his own. for i believe i owe a few words of farewell to a man of whom i have heard nothing but what was good and generous throughout the better part of thirty years. "karl kuskop was a 'character' in the best sense of the term. he was as harmless as a big child; and although he could scarcely be said to be prominently gifted for his work, he did, indirectly at least, a great deal of good within his humble sphere. his popularity amongst all sorts and conditions of men connected with shipping was tremendous. my personal acquaintance with him dates back to the early trial trips of our steamers and similar occasions--occasions at which kuskop was present as the 'representative' of the _fremdenblatt_. i still have a vivid recollection of a magnificent summer evening when we, a party of about eighty people, left the passenger reception halls by our saloon-steamer _blankensee_ on our way to brunshausen where we intended to go on board one of our new boats which was ready for her trial trip. kuskop, who was wearing his yachting cap and was armed with a pair of huge binoculars, had taken up a position on deck. he stood out very conspicuously, and a port labourer who was working on board an english steamer as soon as he saw him, raised the cry of _'fremdenblatt_.' this cry was immediately taken up by the people on the quay-sides, on the river-vessels, on the ferry-boats, on the barges, and all other vessels in the neighbourhood, and developed into quite an ovation which was as spontaneous as it was popular. the worthy kuskop appeared to be visibly gaining in importance; he had taken off his cap, and the tears trickled down his kindly face. "he well deserved this popularity. for years and years he unfailingly saw to it that the hamburg steamers, at whatever port of the globe they arrived, found a _fremdenblatt_ waiting for them, thus providing a valuable and much appreciated link between the crews and the old home. i myself have also reaped the benefit of his attentive care. years ago when i was making a trip round the world i found the _fremdenblatt_ waiting for me wherever i went; and after having been so much out of touch with the civilized world for weeks, that even kuskop's genius could not discover my whereabouts, i was agreeably surprised to find on arriving at vancouver all the old copies of the _fremdenblatt_ that had failed to reach me, carefully piled up in one of the sleeping compartments of the saloon carriage which had been placed at my disposal for the railway journey from the pacific to the atlantic seaboard. "at that time i personally experienced the pleasant sensation--of which our captains and the other officers had often spoken to me--which one feels on reading the back copies of old newspapers, calling up, as it does, vivid recollections of home. in company with my wife, and some german officers who were returning from the scene of unrest in china in order to complete their convalescence at home, i greedily devoured the contents of the old papers from beginning to end, thus passing in a delightful way the time taken by travelling the long distance from vancouver to montreal. the idea, which was afterwards made use of by oskar blumenthal in a witty article, occurred to me to edit a paper which would publish the news of the day a week after it had been reported, and even then only as much of it as had proved to be true. such a newspaper would save us a great deal of unnecessary worry, as the contents of this 'periodical for the dissemination of truthful news' would be sifted to a minimum. "but it is time to cut short this digression. when i met my friend kuskop again after my trip, it was at stettin on the occasion of a launch. he happened to be in especially high spirits, and even more communicative than usual. he then told me the tale of his friend senator petersen, and it is such a good story that it would be a pity not to record it here. "it had become customary for the ships' captains and the other ships' officers who could boast his friendship to treat poor kuskop to the wildest canards in return for his supplying them with reading matter from their far-away home. one afternoon, when they were sitting over a bottle of old port in hermann bade's wine restaurant at stubbenhuk and it was getting late, one of them--he always referred to them as 'them young fools'--told him that a river barge loaded with arsenic had just sprung a leak in the harbour, so that it might become necessary to prohibit the use of water for drinking purposes for some time. it was about five o'clock and kuskop, according to his own account, did not even stop to finish his glass of port, but hurried to the offices of 'his' paper which, in its next edition, published it as a fact that a quantity of arsenic had vitiated the water of the elbe. next morning, when kuskop was still soundly asleep, two detectives appeared at the house in which he lived, and escorted him to headquarters, where he was locked up. at ten o'clock he was taken up before mr. livonius--or whoever was the chief of police at that time--who, with much abuse, demanded particulars concerning the arsenic affair. kuskop, seeing at once that one of 'them young fools' had been pulling his leg, refused to supply any information whatever. he was then brought before senator petersen, who, with a great display of persuasion, tried to make him reveal the name of his informant. kuskop, however, remained obstinate, and the senator, changing his methods from persuasion to coercion, had him locked up again. he remained in confinement till five o'clock in the afternoon, and was then taken before senator petersen for the second time, who now peremptorily demanded that he should state his informant's name. kuskop replied: 'herr senator, if you were in my position, you would not give him away yourself.' the senator turned round to the police officials and said: 'mr. kuskop is a gentleman, you see. we shall not get anything out of him. the best thing you can do is to chuck him out,' which suggestion was thereupon promptly and most efficiently carried out by some of those who were present. "another of his adventures he confided to me when a trial trip had taken us right out into the north sea. one of 'them young fools,' he said, whom he regularly met at mutzenbecher's tavern, had told him as the very latest news that captain kier had been taken into custody at rio on the unfounded allegation of having committed theft. kuskop, feeling somewhat sceptical on hearing this intelligence, but not believing himself justified in depriving the readers of the _fremdenblatt_ of such a highly interesting item of news, thought he would be extra careful this time, and so did not mention the captain by name, but merely referred to him as 'a mr. k----, captain of a hamburg steamer.' this happened in the good old times when there were still real winters in hamburg, and when the elbe was sometimes ice-bound for months. the hamburg steamers were then compelled to take up winter quarters at glückstadt--of all places--and kuskop used to establish a 'branch office' at that town on such occasions. as bad luck would have it, he was fated one day to meet captain kier there, who, with some of his friends, was dining at his hotel. a huge tureen of soup with an enormous ladle stood on the table in front of the captain, who was just about to serve the soup when kuskop entered the room. without a moment's hesitation the captain seized the ladle, the tureen, and everything he could lay his hands on, and hurled them at him. he was, as the latter afterwards confessed to me with the most innocent expression, offended by the newspaper report, because, as it happened, he was the only captain k---- on the route from hamburg to rio at that particular time. he subsequently brought an action against kuskop, who had to retire from his business for some weeks in order to get over the consequences of the mistake he had made. "these are only two of the minor adventures from kuskop's ample store of reminiscences. it is a pity that our sea-faring men are so reticent; otherwise they would be able to furnish a volume of material concerning kuskop that would far exceed that relating to kirchhoff, that other well-known hamburg 'character.' i wish someone would collect all the kuskop stories; for i do not believe that we shall ever again come across such a perfect specimen of his kind as he was, and it would be sad to allow such a man to be forgotten. "kuskop, however, was not only a 'character': he was also a 'real good sort,' and he has been of real service to all those who have ever travelled on hamburg vessels. because of that it is certain that he will long be remembered; for it is not to him that the following quotation can be applied: 'may each one of us--whether he works with his hands or with his brain to earn a living wage--always bear in mind that all that is best in him is gradually lost in the process of toil, and that, after he has departed this life, nobody will remember that he ever existed.' "our friend kuskop never lost his good qualities in the process of toil, and he was always a friend and a helpmate to all decent people. i am sure in saying this i have the support of all who knew him, and so with us his memory will always be kept green." ballin very frequently went to new york--which might be called the most prominent outpost of the company--because he recognized the value of being in constant touch with every aspect of the many activities carried on by the packetfahrt, and especially with those persons whose interests it was of importance to the company to cultivate. the numerous pool conferences often took him to london, where he always made a point of keeping on friendly terms with the leading british shipping firms, and, later on, with some of the leading politicians as well. there were few people in germany who could rival him in his knowledge of the psychology of the american or the british mind. this knowledge resulted from his great capacity for rapidly and correctly summing up the character of anyone with whom he had to deal. he had developed to a high degree the art of treating the different types of people he met according to their different individualities. his kindness of heart, his brilliant powers of conversation, his prodigious memory, his quickness of repartee, and his keen sense of humour made him a favourite wherever he cared to be one. one felt his charm as soon as one came into personal contact with him. his wonderfully alert eye, which could express so much kindness, the soothing tones of his melodious voice, and the firm and friendly grip of his hand, made one forget that he was not a handsome man, although his powerfully developed forehead and his head which, in later years, was almost bald, were of classic perfection. albert ballin would never have gained the commanding position he held if the keenness of his intellect and the force of his character had not been supplemented by that pleasing amiability which distinguishes all really good men. to him was given a large measure of that noble courtesy which springs from the heart. he who could be hard and unyielding where the business interests entrusted to his care were at stake, was full of generosity and sympathy towards the members of his family circle and his friends. nothing delighted him more than the happiness of others. those whom he cared for he treated with a tender regard which was deeply touching. he loved to give presents, and did so with the most delicate tact. he never expected any thanks; it was sufficient for him to see the happy face of the recipient. and if he ever met with ingratitude or spitefulness, he ignored it and dismissed it from his mind. personally generous to the limit of extravagance, he never spent a penny of the funds of his company without being convinced that it would be to its benefit. he left nothing undone when he thought he could realize a profit to the company, or cut down expenses. money, to him, was only a means to an end; and the earnings of the company were in the first place intended to be spent on increasing its scope and prosperity wherever possible. those who know what remuneration the heads of other concerns receive may well be surprised to see how little ballin made for himself out of his position, but they would do him a great injustice if they thought he ought to have made more out of it. he even spent the greater part of his income for purposes of representation in the interests of his company. his amiable charm of manner and his brilliant conversational gifts did much towards making the entertainments he provided the successes they invariably were; and even if so much representation, especially that in connexion with kiel week, became somewhat of a burden to him, his company reaped rich benefit from his munificence. but to appreciate to the full the charm of his personality one must have been his guest at his beautiful home in hamburg or at his beloved country seat near hamfelde, and have listened to his conversation while sitting round the fire of an evening, or been his companion on his long walks and rambles through the neighbouring forest of hahnheide. his conversation was always animated, his witty remarks were always to the point, and he was unsurpassed as a raconteur. he was excellent as a speaker at committee meetings, and he always hit upon the right words suitable for a political toast. the skill with which he wielded the pen is proved by numerous newspaper articles, memoranda, and descriptions of his travels, but above all by his voluminous correspondence. he was probably one of the most versatile letter-writers, and yet so conscientious in this as to be almost pedantic. in his early years he had also tried his hand at poetry. his beautiful home, which was adorned with pictures and sculptures by eminent masters, was a source of great pleasure to him. he was very fond of music and congenial company, and he knew how to appreciate the pleasures of a full and daintily arranged table. when i intimated to one of ballin's old friends that i intended to write his life, he told me that this would not be an easy task, and that he hoped i would not forget to depict ballin as the amiable _charmeur_ to which side of his character so many of his successes were due, and which was the secret of much of his great popularity. the number of people who claimed to be his friends, both before and after his death, but especially when they were trying to get some advantage out of the company, was surprisingly large. they were, in fact, so numerous that such a claim, when put forward, was generally--and rightly--looked upon with a great deal of suspicion. very often, when such self-styled friends were announced to him, ballin would reply: "i do not know the man," or "i do not remember him, but i may have met him." ballin may justly be described as a man of world-wide fame, and whenever he went abroad the papers eagerly followed his movements. in new york especially it required all his cunning and resourcefulness to escape from the reporters desiring to interview him. owing to his prominent position before the public he received an abundance of honours during his life. the many distinctions and presents which the kaiser bestowed on him were a source of gratitude and delight to him, and he valued them because they were a symbol of the personal ties that linked him to the kaiser; but the foreign decorations, of which he also received a great many, were of so little interest to him that he did not even trouble to have those of them replaced which once were stolen from him. it was a great disappointment to him, however, not to be able to recover the japanese ornamental swords which were taken on the same occasion, and which he had always carefully treasured because of their high artistic value. they were a present from the marquis ito, whom ballin had once helped to obtain an audience of the kaiser--an audience which, he hoped, would lead to the establishment on a permanent footing of germany's relations with the empire of the mikado. it would appear, indeed, that, if the leaders of germany's political destiny had shown some more circumspection, the same friendly relations might have been brought about between germany and japan as were entered into later on between great britain and the latter country. personal souvenirs, like those just mentioned, were prized so highly by ballin that no persuasion would induce him to part with them, and even professor brinckmann, the director of the hamburg museum for arts and crafts, who was one of the leading authorities on the subject of japanese applied art, and who tried hard to secure possession of them for his museum, met with a flat refusal. every year ballin spent at least six months, and often more, away from hamburg, and during such absences the work he had to accomplish was not less, but rather more than that which he did when in hamburg. conferences followed upon each other in quick succession at all times of the day, and the time that was left was filled up by visits. often the amount of work was so great that he had to get through a whole series of difficult problems in a single day. the number of visits he had arranged was always considerably augmented by numerous others not allowed for in his arrangements for the day; because wherever he went the news of his arrival spread immediately. he could never even think of travelling incognito. it is literally true that he was known to every hotel porter all over the world. he was in the habit of extending his hospitality twice a day to a larger or smaller number of business friends when he was travelling. at first his love of congenial society had prompted him to do this, but in after years he continued it because he wanted to secure some benefit for his company even in his hours of relaxation. still, he was often quite glad when, late at night, he had come to the close of his day's work, and when he could let the happenings of the day pass before his mind's eye in the quiet solitude of his room, or, as he liked to express it, "to draw the balance of the day's account." even before the never-tiring energy of his mind and the excessive strain on his nervous system brought about a practically permanent insomnia which never left him either in hamburg or on his travels. only when he was on the sea, or was staying at his country house, did he obtain any relief; and at such times he could dispense with the drugs to the use of which he had become a victim more and more regularly and extensively as time went on. the fact that this habit did not entirely ruin his nervous system proves that he was possessed of an iron constitution, which only gave way under the huge strain caused by the war. when he saw that his life's work had been broken to fragments, and when he felt that he had not enough strength left for a second attempt of such magnitude, even his immense nerve force collapsed under the blow. the anxieties caused by the war--a war which he knew would be lost--weighed more and more heavily on his mind the longer it lasted. outwardly he bore himself bravely and steadfastly, but his mind was full of dark forebodings, especially when he was by himself. if he had not had the unvarying sympathy of the faithful partner of his life, with whom he shared thirty-five years of mutual happiness, and if he had not always derived fresh consolation from his beloved adopted daughter and from his grandchildren, he would indeed many a time have felt very lonely. in spite of his apprehensions as to the result of the war, he yet remained faithful to the task of his life, and he hoped against hope. his ardent love of his work was constantly struggling with his reason, which foretold him the ruin of the empire and in consequence that of german shipping. this fact explains some apparent contradictions in his views and actions. what was the general public to think of a man who was watching the progress of the war with the greatest pessimism, whilst at the same time bringing all his influence to bear on the passing of a law which was to make possible the reconstruction of germany's merchant fleet, knowing that such reconstruction could only be achieved if the empire which was to set aside the funds were to remain intact. in this matter, as in others, it was the intuition of the born business-man which guided him, or perhaps a sort of instinct which made him discover new ways when the old ones had failed. these forces of his mind had nothing in common with logical reasoning, and they prevented him from drawing the practical inference from the sentiment so often expressed by us during the war: "if the empire falls to pieces, we shall all be ruined; and if the empire becomes bankrupt, we shall be insolvent too." events have shown that this sentiment was not justified by facts. empires and individuals may perish; but the nations, and their trade and commerce which are the outcome of their economic needs and of their geographical position, will outlast them. neither is it likely that the life-work of those men who have left their mark on their epoch will ever be in vain. there are two great achievements which, it appears, will always stand out like two pillars in the wreck of destruction that has fallen upon germany, viz. bismarck's work of political unification, and--a necessary preliminary of it--the powerful economic foundations laid with incessant toil by the great industrial leaders of whom germany had so many during the era of her prosperity. albert ballin was one of the most gifted among their number, and the world-wide fame of his achievements has outlived his death. when, after five years of isolation from the rest of the world, germany appeared once more amongst the nations, she did so with the knowledge that the foundations of the proud structure which ballin had built up were still unshaken, and this knowledge has proved one of her greatest assets when she entered upon the task of reconstruction. if german shipping is to flourish again, and if german steamers are now ploughing the oceans once more, credit is due to albert ballin. his work it is from which new life is emanating, and it is to be hoped that his spirit will continue to animate german shipping both now and in the future. [illustration: extract annotated by william ii] index aden, adler line, aehrenthal, count, agadir incident, agents, emigration, work of, alsace-lorraine, problem of, _america_, _amerika_, , , andersen, mr., and the danish royal family, anglo-american alliance, ballin's opinion of, anglo-german rapprochement, shipping agreement, understanding, , advantage of, ballin as negotiator, failure of, anglo-russian agreement, antwerp, , _aquitania_, asquith, mr. h. h., on lord haldane's mission, speech on navy, atlantic conference, atlantic transport-leyland co., enlargement of, _auguste victoria_, , , , , , _australia_, austria, need of compromise with italy, austria-hungary, strained relations between, austro-german _zollverein_, baden-powell, general, and the german menace, bagdad railway, baker, b. n., american shipping magnate, comes to europe, baker, b. n., discusses terms of community of interest agreement, balkan states, and germany, ballin, albert, adopts lord pirrie's advice, advises peace overtures, after the war problems, agreement with harland and wolff, american appreciation of, an english journalist on, ancestry of, and admiral v. tirpitz, and adolph woermann, and anglo-german rapprochement, and carl laeisz, and count tisza, and count waldersee, and government subsidies, and hamburg-amerika linie, and hugo stinnes, and mr. gerard, and labour questions, and politics, and north german lloyd, and princess marie of denmark, and reichstag, and submarine warfare, , and the russo-japanese war, and union line, and working classes, and world war, anxiety as to roumania, article in _frankfurter zeitung_ on blockade, as anglo-german negotiator, as arbitrator, as general representative of carr line, as head of packetfahrt passenger department, , at constitutional club, at neues palais, at the german front, attempts at mediation during war, boldness of, business principle of, capacity for work of, chairman of pool conference, complains of german official high-handedness, conducts london emigration discussions, , death of, defends himself, dines with danish royal family, disagrees with use of submarines, discusses morgan trust with william ii, early biographical details of, education of, , establishes german-japanese bank, estimates british naval staying-power, far east investigations, favours peace by compromise, forcing the british lines, friendliness of william ii toward, further reports on morgan trust negotiations, - grave warning in , hamfelde, his country home, handling of labour troubles, - his father's death, his life-work, his trip epitomized, his observation of details, his view on evading war, july , , ideal in forming pool, impressions of paris after morocco affair, in london discussing austrian ultimatum, in vienna, , ballin, albert, intense patriotism of, international services of, vii interview with bethmann-hollweg, interview with grey, haldane, and churchill, last diary entry, last meeting with william ii, , letter from william ii, letter to kiderlen-wächter, letters to general v. falkenhayn, made packetfahrt director, meets sir ernest cassel, mental versatility of, mission to vienna, , negotiations with booth line on brazilian trade, notes of conversations with william ii, official thanks to, on agadir incident, on _blücher_, on death of edward vii, on engineering problems, on foreign exchange, on _hohenzollern_, on london in election time, on naval armaments, on neutrals, on peace problems, on sale of confiscated fleet, on sandjak railway, on security of william ii, on serbian situation, on war's failures, _et seq._ opinion of german chancellor, opinion of war's duration, personal characteristics of, pioneer in steerage business, policy of, political views, premier position at twenty-nine, present from marquis ito, prodigious memory of, report on british attitude to germany, report on development of german shipping, reticence of, reviews war position in , ridicules submarine warfare, - stimulating influences of his life, strain of war on health, sturdy honesty of, suggested as negotiator of peace, suggests pool, talks with prince bülow, talks with william ii on submarine war, threatens british traffic, trip round the world, value of wonderful memory, views on character of william ii, visits london in , war problems of foreign policy, william ii discusses politics with, william ii writes to, on navy bill, william ii's personal interest in, wire from leopold de rothschild, with prince henry of prussia on the _hohenzollern_, with william ii at front, with william ii in italy, with william ii on _kaiser wilhelm ii_, work in _reichseinkauf_, writes frank letter on war to william ii, , _et seq._ writes on morgan trust, writes to william ii, april, , bauer, lieut.-col., beck, edward, berg, herr von, _berliner tageblatt_ on anglo-russian naval agreement, bernstorff, count, bethmann-hollweg, von, , , , , , attacked respecting agadir, on british delegation, - telegram to mexico, _bismarck_, launch of, bismarck, prince, blockade, german, futility of, blohm and voss, _blücher_, ballin on trial trip, boer war, european move to stop, lesson of, bohlen, krupp v., bolten, august, british argument against german naval expansion, cabinet and german naval expansion, confiscation of german merchant fleet, convoys, how they outwitted the germans, emigration, comparison with german, excitement over morgan trust, feeling in russo-japanese war, at german attitude, ludendorff's promise to crush, navy, ballin on, opinion on shipping deals, rivalry with germany, shipbuilding, developments in, and hamburg-amerika linie, , shipbuilding, german move against, shipping companies, pierpont morgan and, shipping lines, and emigration, - ; agreement with, ; join the continental pool, ; offered to german companies, supremacy, ballin on, bülow, prince, , , canadian pacific railway, , cargo and steerage shipping, carr, edward, carr line, the, _et seq._ and packetfahrt, cassel, sir ernest, and winston churchill, meets ballin, on anglo-german understanding, on naval problem, on sandjak railway, report of interview with, on navy, work for reduction of naval armaments, _et seq._ cholera, epidemic at hamburg, , christiansand, port of, churchill, mr. winston, at kiel, , complains of germany, sir ernest cassel on, speech on navy, suggests a naval holiday, colombo, _columbia_, , community of interest agreement (_see_ "pool" and "morgan trust") congo, franco-german agreement, coolies, chinese, cunard line, and austrian government, and hungarian government, effect on pool, introduces turbines, new liners, opposition to cabin pool, refuses to join pool, cuxhaven, development of, regatta at, _daily telegraph_, sent to william ii, the william ii interview, dardanelles, the, operations in, de freitas and co., a. c., de freitas line, purchase of, denmark, emigration from, royal family of, their interest in shipping, _deutschland_, , , diesel engine, application to steamship, dreadnoughts, eastern asiatic co., edward vii, and morgan trust, edward vii, chances of anglo-german war, during reign of, death of, policy of, the kiel week, visit to wilhelmshöhe, visits berlin, visits kaiser at friedrichshof, elbe, enlargement of harbour facilities on the, , , ellerman, mr., of leyland line, emden, rise of, emigrants, early accommodation of, , , emigration, anti-british action, ballin's work for, beginnings of pooling, british and german, british rates, business, how controlled, comparisons of carr line and packetfahrt, cost of, danish, hungarian, in the 'seventies, medical control established, on pre-paid basis, _et seq._ rate war begins, statistics of, stopped by hamburg cholera epidemic, emigration law, german, erzberger, herr, esher, lord, and the admiralty, europe, concerted inquiry to germany, situation in september, , falkenhayn, general v., ballin and, finland, forced draught, first vessels under, foreign exchange, ballin on, francis joseph, emperor, and count tisza, frederick the great on experience, viii frisch, geheimrat, furness, sir christopher, and morgan trust, _fürst bismarck_, fürstenkonzern, george v, king, ballin's letter respecting, george, mr. lloyd, speech on agadir incident, visits germany, gerard, mr., and ballin, german-british shipping agreement, german emigration fleet, in , german government, note to british government, german naval bill, german navy, the affair, germany, and belgian relief committee, and the merchant service bill, bad feeling among neutrals to, ballin cries "everything is being gambled away," ballin discusses after-the-war problems, big naval programme, british agitation against, confiscation of merchant fleet, control of trade and industries, failure of political leaders, favourable shipping situation of, feeling towards british, food problem, september, , habit of premature actions, ignorance of british character, internal condition in august, , _et seq._ lack of effective administration during war, mental attitude of, plans to approach president wilson, germany, state in "like living in a madhouse," useless sacrifices of, war condition of, war-hopes in ruins, germany's industrial growth, _gigantic_, goschen, sir ernest, gothenburg, port of, grey, sir edward, on lord haldane's mission, on naval armaments, on the navy, great war (_see_ world war) grumme, capt. v., joins hamburg-amerika linie, with william ii at morgan trust discussion, . hague conference, hahn, dr. diederich, chairman agrarian league, haldane, lord, and british neutrality, cabinet's attitude toward, explains to ballin, german opinion respecting, success of his mission, visits berlin, , william ii's discussions with, _et seq._ hamburg, absorption into prussia, birthplace of ballin, cholera epidemic in, , dock strike, in the nineteenth century, - hamburg-amerika linie, and great britain, and persia, and russo-japanese war, buys foodstuffs for isolated germany, far-reaching alterations, fate of ships when war broke out, financial stability of, fleet of, instructions to ships on eve of war, new premises, sixtieth anniversary, william ii and, hamburg-amerika linie (_see also_ packetfahrt) hamburg-amerikanische packetfahrt-actien-gesellschaft, hamburg regattas, william ii at, hamburg-south american s.s. co., hammann, geheimrat, , _hammonia_, hansa line, taken over by hamburg-amerika linie, hansemann, v., director disconto-gesellschaft, hansen, president, chief of arbitration court pool, harbou, major v., harland and wolff, , henckell-donnersmarck, prince, kaiser's interest in, hintze, herr v., _hohenzollern_, holland-america line, holland, queen of, offers mediation, holtzendorff, admiral v., hongkong, huldermann, bernhard, and count witte on averting war, and navy bill, immco lines, pool name for morgan trust, immigrants, scandinavian trade, _imperator_, , , , international mercantile marine company (_see_ morgan trust) inverclyde, lord, and morgan trust, italia company, the, started, italy, agreement with, necessary to success of war, germany's failure in, jagow, herr v., , jewish ancestry of ballin, jones, sir a., and the morgan trust, jonquières, herr v., _kaiser wilhelm der grösse_, _kaiser wilhelm ii_, _kaiserin_, _kaiserin auguste victoria_, , , kaiserin, the, and the war, opposition to private life, kiautschou, kiel canal, widening the, edward vii at, week, origin of, kirchheim, chief inspector emil f., viii köhlhrand, agreement the, kühlmann, herr v., kunhardt, m., kuskop, karl, laeisz, carl, laeisz, f., laird's, orders to, law, german emigration, of , leuthold, prof., leyland line, acquired by pierpont morgan, liberal cabinet, and naval armaments, liberal government, and anglo-german understanding, lichnowsky, prince, view on haldane's "neutrality" conversation, liners, developments in, _et seq._ lohmann, mr., director-general of lloyd line, ludendorff, and the crown prince, and "to her knees" promise, _lusitania_, , marie, princess, of denmark, marine engineering, ballin's enterprise in, development of, packetfahrt types, progress in, marschall, bieberstein v., _mauretania_, , mediterranean conference, _meteor_, metternich, count, at st. james's, on anglo-german understanding, predicts great war, sees sir edward grey, morgan, pierpont, guest of william ii at kiel, morgan, trust, the, _et seq._ agreement reached, announced to british press, effect of freight slump, final discussions in new york, _et seq._ financial aspect, inception of, international mercantile marine co., formal name of, king edward vii and, outline of draft agreement, pierpont morgan at london conference, pierpont morgan's operations attract public attention, telegram from william ii, terms of agreement, william ii discusses, morris and co., _et seq._ mutius, herr v., nanking, naumann, dr., and "berlin to bagdad," _nautikus_, naval propaganda in, naval armaments, a cause of unrest, ballin's report on, _et seq._ big navy propaganda, reichstag and reduction of, naval bill of , ballin writes to sir ernest cassel on, british alarm at, naval holiday, mr. churchill suggests a, navy, a bigger british, navy league, german, _new york_, new york, emigration to, in the 'eighties, _et seq._ steerage passengers to, statistics, _normannia_, north atlantic steamship lines association, history of, _north german gazette_, north german lloyd, , , , competes with packetfahrt, jubilee of, oertzen, herr v., _olympic_, packetfahrt, the, a founder of, agreement with philadelphia shipping co. and pennsylvania railroad co., and ballin, and carr line, and emigrants, and harland and wolff, and russian coal, and the russo-japanese war, ballin made director of, celebration of jubilee, pool, extension of south american business, improved appointments and accommodation on vessels, increase of capital, letter from chairman of cunard company, more new vessels built, , new york branch established, passenger department created, service to mexico, statistics ( ), (_see also_ hamburg-amerika linie) _panther_, william ii and, paris economic conference, passenger traffic, improvements in, peace negotiations, ballin and, peters, heinrich, central offices of, secretary of pool, _philadelphia_, pirrie, lord, advises ballin, discusses morgan trust, pleasure cruises, inception of, _et seq._ pool accommodation discussions ( ), actuarial basis of, agreement on ( ), agreement with allan line, agreement with italian lines, agreement with lloyd line, ballin's opinions upon, british lines refuse ( ), cardinal principles of, cunard line refuses to join, details of the, heinrich peters, secretary of, its most dramatic episode, more internal troubles, negotiations for a greater, north atlantic steamship lines association, formal name of, proposed by ballin, , special, for mediterranean business, terms definitely made, the general, the transatlantic, tonnage and passenger statistics, u.s.a. railway pool compared, world war's effect upon, port said, _pretoria_, princes' trust, _prinzessin victoria luise_, prussia, prince henry of, rate war, the, , red star line, _reichseinkauf_, the, formation of, reuchlin, mr., of holland-american line, richardson, spence and co., riga, fall of, roumania, anxiety regarding food from, neutrality of, supplies grain during war to germany, rupprecht of bavaria, prince, russia, army of, russian east asiatic s.s. co., russian press, outburst against sandjak railway, russian volunteer fleet, russo-japanese war, coaling problems for russian fleet, ships for, _st. louis_, _st. paul_, sandjak railway, scandia line, scandinavian emigration, schön, herr v., schratt, frau kathi, pro-english sympathies of, schwander, dr., shanghai, shaughnessy, lord, shipping agreement on rates, agreements, enormous range of, british tonnage in , crisis of , imperial government's interest in, some tonnage comparisons, statistics ( - ), transatlantic business, trend of, ships, speed of, in , singapore, skoda, baron, sloman and co., r. m., south african war, south america, development of, southampton, packetfahrt service transferred to, spanish-american war, ships for, steinhöft, hamburg, stettin, vulkan yard, , orders to, stinnes, hugo, storm, director a., viii strasser, mr., of the red star line, stürgkh, count, francis joseph and, submarine warfare, , , amazing achievements, unrestricted, beginning of, thingvalla line, _times, the_, on german neutrality, tirpitz, admiral v., , , and ballin, threatens resignation, tisza, count, and count stürgkh, _titanic_, tokio, trans-andine railway, completion of, tsingtau, , tweedmouth, lord, and the kaiser, ukraine, the, u.s.a., application of monroe doctrine in, cholera and isolation in, devastating effects of entry into war, economic depression of the 'eighties, enters the war, german fears of intervention, immigration from scandinavia, railway pool, railways and shipping co-operation, _vaterland_, versailles treaty, german view of, vienna, conditions in, vulkan yard, stettin, , , waldersee, general count georg, and ballin, on rationing germany, _westminster gazette_ (article in facsimile at end), , white star line, and pierpont morgan, new liners, wiegand, dr. heinrich, and morgan trust, wilding, mr., ballin's friendship for, william ii, and "a place in the sun," and british navy, british feeling aroused, and _daily telegraph_ interview, and nicholas, suggested talk to avert war, and president wilson's note, and the _bismarck_, at hamburg, ballin explains situation in september, , ballin reports to, on navy problem, ballin tells him the ugly truth in , blind to situation, september, , "brimful of optimism," comments on _westminster gazette_ article, designs excursion steamer, discusses morgan trust with ballin, discusses morocco question, facsimile comments on _westminster gazette_ article (_see_ end of book) interest in german shipbuilding, interest in morgan trust, intervenes in shipping struggle, isolation of, last meeting with ballin, letter on british navy, maritime interests of, monarchical discussions, ballin and, on balance of power, on germany's austro-hungarian policy, on the churchill speech, outspoken letter in from ballin, _et seq._ personal interest in ballin, persuaded to retire into private life, sees edward vii at friedrichshof, supports ballin's mission of inquiry to u.s.a., telegram to morgan trust, venerated in austria, visits windsor, wants apology from great britain, writes to ballin on haldane interview, wilson, president, witt, mr. johannes, witte, count, on situation july, , woermann, adolph, character sketch of, world war, the, ballin attempts mediation, ballin describes situation to william ii, ballin favours a compromise, ballin on neutrals, ballin on the blockade, ballin on the crisis, bismarck's prophecy regarding, british censorship in, coal problems during, count witte on situation, july th, , defection of german conscripts, effect on pool, world war, the, entry of u.s.a., effect of, _et seq._ food problems of germany, forced upon william ii, foreign policy and food during, german mistakes in, - germany stunned by _débâcle_, grain from roumania, indemnities, mexico telegram, outbreak of, peace overtures, position in , provisioning germany, shipping profits during, submarine warfare in, the british blockade, tyrol, failure in the, verdun and italian campaigns, political and military failures, world's shipping collapse, cause of, yang-tse-kiang, the, , zentral-einkaufs-gesellschaft, _et seq._ printed in england by cassell & company, limited, london, e. c. . footnotes: [ ] gross registered tonnage. [ ] then british ambassador in berlin. [ ] this refers to the political events in berlin immediately prior to the outbreak of war. [ ] the head of the press department of the foreign office. [ ] the telegram which the foreign office sent to the german minister in mexico, and which was partly responsible for the entry of the united states into the war. [ ] director of the hamburg branch of the firm of hugo stinnes. * * * * * typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber: aded to their fleets=> added to their fleets {pg } in the era on the machine-gun=> in the era of the machine-gun {pg } aready explained=> already explained {pg } proofreaders note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original illustrations. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.net/ / / / / / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.net/ / / / / / -h.zip) this text includes only germany and those parts of austria-hungary noted in the table of contents. part two (volume vi) is available as a separate text in project gutenberg's library. see http://www.gutenberg.net/etext/ seeing europe with famous authors, volume v germany, austria-hungary, and switzerland, part one selected and edited, with introductions, etc., by francis w. halsey editor of "great epochs in american history" associate editor of "the world's famous orations" and of "the best of the world's classics," etc. in ten volumes illustrated [illustration: berlin: panorama from the tower of the town hall] introduction to volumes v and vi germany, austria-hungary and switzerland the tourist's direct route to germany is by ships that go to the two great german ports--bremen and hamburg, whence fast steamer trains proceed to berlin and other interior cities. one may also land at antwerp or rotterdam, and proceed thence by fast train into germany. either of these routes continued takes one to austria. ships by the mediterranean route landing at genoa or trieste, provide another way for reaching either country. in order to reach switzerland, the tourist has many well-worn routes available. as with england and france, so with germany--our earliest information comes from a roman writer, julius caesar; but in the case of germany, this information has been greatly amplified by a later and noble treatise from the pen of tacitus. tacitus paints a splendid picture of the domestic virtues and personal valor of these tribes, holding them up as examples that might well be useful to his countrymen. caesar found many teutonic tribes, not only in the rhine valley, but well established in lands further west and already gallic. by the third century, german tribes had formed themselves into federations--the franks, alemanni, frisians and saxons. the rhine valley, after long subjection to the romans, had acquired houses, temples, fortresses and roads such as the romans always built. caesar had found many evidences of an advanced state of society. antiquarians of our day, exploring german graves, discover signs of it in splendid weapons of war and domestic utensils buried with the dead. monolithic sarcophagi have been found which give eloquent testimony of the absorption by them of roman culture. western germany, in fact, had become, in the third century, a well-ordered and civilized land. christianity was well established there. in general the country compared favorably with roman england, but it was less advanced than roman gaul. centers of that romanized german civilization, that were destined ever afterward to remain important centers of german life, are augsburg, strasburg, worms, speyer, bonn and cologne. it was after the formation of the tribal federations that the great migratory movement from germany set in. this gave to gaul a powerful race in the franks, from whom came clovis and the other merovingians; to gaul also it gave burgundians, and to england perhaps the strongest element in her future stock of men--the saxons. further east soon set in another world-famous migration, which threatened at times to dominate all teutonic people--the goths, huns and vandals of the black and caspian sea regions. thence they prest on to italy and spain, where the goths founded and long maintained new and thriving states on the ruins of the old. surviving these migrations, and serving to restore something like order to central europe, there now rose into power in france, under clovis and charlemagne, and spread their sway far across the rhine, the great merovingian and carlovingian dynasties. charlemagne's empire came to embrace in central europe a region extending east of the rhine as far as hungary, and from north to south from the german ocean to the alps. when charlemagne, in , received from the pope that imperial crown, which was to pass in continuous line to his successors for a thousand years, germany and france were component parts of the same state, a condition never again to exist, except in part, and briefly, under napoleon. the tangled and attenuated thread of german history from charlemagne's time until now can not be unfolded here, but it makes one of the great chronicles in human history, with its conrads and henrys, its maximilian, its barbarossa, its charles v., its thirty years' war, its great frederick of prussia, its struggle with napoleon, its rise through prussia under bismarck, its war of with france, its new empire, different alike in structure and in reality from the one called holy and called roman, and the wonderful commercial and industrial progress of our century. out of charlemagne's empire came the empire of austria. before his time, the history of the austro-hungarian lands is one of early tribal life, followed by conquest under the later roman emperors, and then the migratory movements of its own people and of other people across its territory, between the days of attila and the merovingians. its very name (oesterreich) indicates its origin as a frontier territory, an outpost in the east for the great empire charlemagne had built up. not until the sixteenth century did austria become a power of first rank in europe. hapsburgs had long ruled it, as they still do, and as they have done for more than six centuries, but the greatest of all their additions to power and dominion came through mary of burgundy, who, seeking refuge from louis xi. of france, after her father's death, married maximilian of austria. out of that marriage came, in two generations, possession by austria of the netherlands, through mary's grandson, charles v., holy roman emperor and king of spain. for years afterward, the hapsburgs remained the most illustrious house in europe. the empire's later fortunes are a story of grim struggle with protestants, frederick the great, the ottoman turks, napoleon, the revolutionists of , and prussia. the story of switzerland in its beginnings is not unlike that of other european lands north of italy. the romans civilized the country--built houses, fortresses and roads. roman roads crossed the alps, one of them going, as it still goes, over the great st. bernard. then came the invaders--burgundians, alemanni, ostrogoths and huns. north switzerland became the permanent home of alemanni, or germans, whose descendants still survive there, around zürich. burgundians settled in the western part which still remains french in speech, and a part of it french politically, including chamouni and half of mont blanc. ostrogoths founded homes in the southern parts, and descendants of theirs still remain there, speaking italian, or a sort of surviving latin called romansch. after these immigrations most parts of the country were subdued by the merovingian franks, by whom christianity was introduced and monasteries founded. with the break-up of charlemagne's empire, a part of switzerland was added to a german duchy, and another part to burgundy. its later history is a long and moving record of grim struggles by a brave and valiant people. in our day the swiss have become industrially one of the world's successful races, and their country the one in which wealth is probably more equally distributed than anywhere else in europe, if not in america. f.w.h. contents of volume v germany, austria-hungary, and switzerland--part one i. the rhine valley introduction to vols. v and vi--by the editor in history and romance--by victor hugo from bonn to mayence--by bayard taylor cologne--by victor hugo round about coblenz--by lady blanche murphy bingen and mayence--by victor hugo frankfort-on-main--by bayard taylor heidelberg--by bayard taylor strasburg--by harriet beecher stowe freiburg and the black forest--by bayard taylor ii. nuremberg as a medieval city--by cecil headlam its churches and the citadel--by thomas frognall dibdin nuremberg to-day--by cecil headlarn walls and other fortifications--by cecil headlam albert dÜrer--by cecil headlam iii. other bavarian cities munich--by bayard taylor augsburg--by thomas frognall dibdin ratisbon--by thomas frognall dibdin iv. berlin and elsewhere a look at the german capital--by theophile gautier charlottenburg--by harriet beecher stowe leipzig and dresden--by bayard taylor weimar in goethe's day--by madame de staël ulm--by thomas frognall dibdin aix-la-chapelle and charlemagne's tomb--by victor hugo the hanseatic league--by james howell hamburg--by theophile gautier schleswig--by theophile gautier lÜbeck--by theophile gautier heligoland--by william george black v. vienna first impressions of the capital--by bayard taylor st. stephen's cathedral--by thomas frognall dibdin the belvedere palace--by thomas frognall dibdin schÖnbrunn and the prater--by thomas frognall dibdin vi. hungary a glance at the country--by h. tornai de kövër budapest--by h. tornai de kövër (_hungary continued in vol. vi_) list of illustrations volume v a panorama of berlin from the town hall cologne cathedral cologne cathedral before the spires were completed bingen-on-the rhine nuremberg castle stolzenfels castle on the rhine wiesbaden strasburg cathedral strasburg frauenkirche, munich door of strasburg cathedral strasburg clock goethe's house, weimar schiller's house, weimar berlin: unter den linden berlin: the brandenburg gate berlin: the royal castle and emperor william bridge berlin: the white hall in the royal castle berlin: the national gallery and frederick's bridge berlin: the gendarmenmarkt the column of victory, berlin the mausoleum at charlottenburg the new palace at potsdam the castle of sans souci, potsdam the cathedral of aix-la-chapelle--tomb of charlemagne schÖnbrunn, vienna salzburg, austria [illustration: cologne cathedral] [illustration: cologne cathedral (before the spires were completed, as shown in a photograph taken in )] [illustration: bingen on the rhine] [illustration: nuremberg castle] [illustration: stolzenfels castle on the rhine] [illustration: wiesbaden] [illustration: strassburg cathedral] [illustration: strassburg and the cathedral] [illustration: the frauenkirche, munich] [illustration: the door of strassburg cathedral] [illustration: the strassburg clock] [illustration: goethe's house in weimar] [illustration: schiller's house in weimar] i the rhine valley in history and romance[a] by victor hugo of all rivers, i prefer the rhine. it is now a year, when passing the bridge of boats at kehl, since i first saw it. i remember that i felt a certain respect, a sort of adoration, for this old, this classic stream. i never think of rivers--those great works of nature, which are also great in history--without emotion. i remember the rhone at valserine; i saw it in , in a pleasant excursion to switzerland, which is one of the sweet, happy recollections of my early life. i remember with what noise, with what ferocious bellowing, the rhone precipitated itself into the gulf while the frail bridge upon which i was standing was shaking beneath my feet. ah well! since that time, the rhone brings to my mind the idea of a tiger--the rhine, that of a lion. the evening on which i saw the rhine for the first time, i was imprest with the same idea. for several minutes i stood contemplating this proud and noble river--violent, but not furious; wild, but still majestic. it was swollen, and was magnificent in appearance, and was washing with its yellow mane, or, as boileau says, its "slimy beard," the bridge of boats. its two banks were lost in the twilight, and tho its roaring was loud, still there was tranquillity. the rhine is unique: it combines the qualities of every river. like the rhone, it is rapid; broad like the loire; encased, like the meuse; serpentine, like the seine; limpid and green, like the somme; historical, like the tiber; royal like the danube; mysterious, like the nile; spangled with gold, like an american river; and like a river of asia, abounding with fantoms and fables. from historical records we find that the first people who took possession of the banks of the rhine were the half-savage celts, who were afterward named gauls by the romans. when rome was in its glory, caesar crossed the rhine, and shortly afterward the whole of the river was under the jurisdiction of his empire. when the twenty-second legion returned from the siege of jerusalem, titus sent it to the banks of the rhine, where it continued the work of martius agrippa. after trajan and hadrian came julian, who erected a fortress upon the confluence of the rhine and the moselle; then valentinian, who built a number of castles. thus, in a few centuries, roman colonies, like an immense chain, linked the whole of the rhine. at length the time arrived when rome was to assume another aspect. the incursions of the northern hordes were eventually too frequent and too powerful for rome; so, about the sixth century, the banks of the rhine were strewed with roman ruins, as at present with feudal ones. charlemagne cleared away the rubbish, built fortresses, and opposed the german hordes; but, notwithstanding all that he did, notwithstanding his desire to do more, rome died, and the physiognomy of the rhine was changed. the sixteenth century approached; in the fourteenth the rhine witnessed the invention of artillery; and on its bank, at strassburg, a printing-office was first established. in the famous cannon, fourteen feet in length, was cast at cologne; and in vindelin de spire printed his bible. a new world was making its appearance; and, strange to say, it was upon the banks of the rhine that those two mysterious tools with which god unceasingly works out the civilization of man--the catapult and the book--war and thought--took a new form. the rhine, in the destinies of europe, has a sort of providential signification. it is the great moat which divides the north from the south. the rhine for thirty ages, has seen the forms and reflected the shadows of almost all the warriors who tilled the old continent with that share which they call sword. caesar crossed the rhine in going from the south; attila crossed it when descending from the north. it was here that clovis gained the battle of tolbiac; and that charlemagne and napoleon figured. frederick barbarossa, rudolph of hapsburg, and frederick the first, were great, victorious, and formidable when here. for the thinker, who is conversant with history, two great eagles are perpetually hovering ever the rhine--that of the roman legions, and the eagle of the french regiments. the rhine--that noble flood, which the romans named "superb," bore at one time upon its surface bridges of boats, over which the armies of italy, spain, and france poured into germany, and which, at a later date, were made use of by the hordes of barbarians when rushing into the ancient roman world; at another, on its surface it floated peaceably the fir-trees of murg and of saint gall, the porphyry and the marble of bâle, the salt of karlshall, the leather of stromberg, the quicksilver of lansberg, the wine of johannisberg, the slates of coab, the cloth and earthenware of wallendar, the silks and linens of cologne. it majestically performs its double function of flood of war and flood of peace, having, without interruption, upon the ranges of hills which embank the most notable portion of its course, oak-trees on one side and vine-trees on the other--signifying strength and joy. [footnote a: from "the rhine." translated by d.m. aird.] from bonn to mayence[a] by bayard taylor i was glad when we were really in motion on the swift rhine, and nearing the chain of mountains that rose up before us. we passed godesberg on the right, while on our left was the group of the seven mountains which extend back from the drachenfels to the wolkenberg, or "castle of the clouds." here we begin to enter the enchanted land. the rhine sweeps around the foot of the drachenfels, while, opposite, the precipitous rock of rolandseck, crowned with the castle of the faithful knight, looks down upon the beautiful island of nonnenwerth, the white walls of the convent still gleaming through the trees as they did when the warrior's weary eyes looked upon them for the last time. i shall never forget the enthusiasm with which i saw this scene in the bright, warm sunlight, the rough crags softened in the haze which filled the atmosphere, and the wild mountains springing up in the midst of vineyards and crowned with crumbling towers filled with the memories of a thousand years. after passing andernach we saw in the distance the highlands of the middle rhine--which rise above coblentz, guarding the entrance to its scenery--and the mountains of the moselle. they parted as we approached; from the foot shot up the spires of coblentz, and the battlements of ehrenbreitstein, crowning the mountain opposite, grew larger and broader. the air was slightly hazy, and the clouds seemed laboring among the distant mountains to raise a storm. as we came opposite the mouth of the moselle and under the shadow of the mighty fortress, i gazed up with awe at its massive walls. apart from its magnitude and almost impregnable situation on a perpendicular rock, it is filled with the recollections of history and hallowed by the voice of poetry. the scene went past like a panorama, the bridge of boats opened, the city glided behind us, and we entered the highlands again. above coblentz almost every mountain has a ruin and a legend. one feels everywhere the spirit of the past, and its stirring recollections come back upon the mind with irresistible force. i sat upon the deck the whole afternoon as mountains, towns and castles passed by on either side, watching them with a feeling of the most enthusiastic enjoyment. every place was familiar to me in memory, and they seemed like friends i had long communed with in spirit and now met face to face. the english tourists with whom the deck was covered seemed interested too, but in a different manner. with murray's handbook open in their hands, they sat and read about the very towns and towers they were passing, scarcely lifting their eyes to the real scenes, except now and then to observe that it was "very nice." as we passed boppart, i sought out the inn of the "star," mentioned in "hyperion;" there was a maiden sitting on the steps who might have been paul flemming's fair boat-woman. the clouds which had here gathered among the hills now came over the river, and the rain cleared the deck of its crowd of admiring tourists. as we were approaching lorelei berg, i did not go below, and so enjoyed some of the finest scenery on the rhine alone. the mountains approach each other at this point, and the lorelei rock rises up for four hundred and forty feet from the water. this is the haunt of the water nymph lorelei, whose song charmed the ear of the boatman while his bark was dashed to pieces on the rocks below. it is also celebrated for its remarkable echo. as we passed between the rocks, a guard, who has a little house on the roadside, blew a flourish on his bugle, which was instantly answered by a blast from the rocky battlements of lorelei. the sun came out of the clouds as we passed oberwesel, with its tall round tower, and the light shining through the ruined arches of schonberg castle made broad bars of light and shade in the still misty air. a rainbow sprang up out of the rhine and lay brightly on the mountain-side, coloring vineyard and crag in the most singular beauty, while its second reflection faintly arched like a glory above the high summits in the bed of the river were the seven countesses of schonberg turned into seven rocks for their cruelty and hard-heartedness toward the knights whom their beauty had made captive. in front, at a little distance, was the castle of pfalz, in the middle of the river, and from the heights above caub frowned the crumbling citadel of gutenfels. imagine all this, and tell me if it is not a picture whose memory should last a lifetime. we came at last to bingen, the southern gate of the highlands. here, on an island in the middle of the stream, is the old mouse-tower where bishop hatto of mayence was eaten up by the rats for his wicked deeds. passing rüdesheim and geisenheim--celebrated for their wines--at sunset, we watched the varied shore in the growing darkness, till like a line of stars across the water we saw before us the bridge of mayence. [footnote a: from "views afoot." published by g.p. putnam's sons.] cologne[a] by victor hugo. the sun had set when we reached cologne. i gave my luggage to a porter, with orders to carry it to a hotel at duez, a little town on the opposite side of the rhine; and directed my steps toward the cathedral. rather than ask my way, i wandered up and down the narrow streets, which night had all but obscured. at last i entered a gateway leading to a court, and came out on an open square--dark and deserted. a magnificent spectacle now presented itself. before me, in the fantastic light of a twilight sky, rose, in the midst of a group of low houses, an enormous black mass, studded with pinnacles and belfries. a little farther was another, not quite so broad as the first, but higher; a kind of square fortress, flanked at its angles with four long detached towers, having on its summit something resembling a huge feather. on approaching, i discovered that it was the cathedral of cologne. what appeared like a large feather was a crane, to which sheets of lead were appended, and which, from its workable appearance, indicated to passers-by that this unfinished temple may one day be completed; and that the dream of engelbert de berg, which was realized under conrad de hochsteden, may, in an age or two, be the greatest cathedral in the world. this incomplete iliad sees homers in futurity. the church was shut. i surveyed the steeples, and was startled at their dimensions. what i had taken for towers are the projections of the buttresses. tho only the first story is completed, the building is already nearly as high as the towers of notre dame at paris. should the spire, according to the plan, be placed upon this monstrous trunk, strasburg would be, comparatively speaking, small by its side.[b] it has always struck me that nothing resembles ruin more than an unfinished edifice. briars, saxifrages, and pellitories--indeed, all weeds that root themselves in the crevices and at the base of old buildings--have besieged these venerable walls. man only constructs what nature in time destroys. all was quiet; there was no one near to break the prevailing silence. i approached the façade, as near as the gate would permit me, and heard the countless shrubs gently rustling in the night breeze. a light which appeared at a neighboring window, cast its rays upon a group of exquisite statues--angels and saints, reading or preaching, with a large open book before them. admirable prologue for a church, which is nothing else than the word made marble, brass or stone! swallows have fearlessly taken up their abode here, and their simple yet curious masonry contrasts strangely with the architecture of the building. this was my first visit to the cathedral of cologne. the dome of cologne, when seen by day, appeared to me to have lost a little of its sublimity; it no longer had what i call the twilight grandeur that the evening lends to huge objects; and i must say that the cathedral of beauvais, which is scarcely known, is not inferior, either in size or in detail, to the cathedral of cologne. the hôtel-de-ville, situated near the cathedral, is one of those singular edifices which have been built at different times, and which consist of all styles of architecture seen in ancient buildings. the mode in which these edifices have been built forms rather an interesting study. nothing is regular--no fixt plan has been drawn out--all has been built as necessity required. thus the hôtel-de-ville, which has, probably, some roman cave near its foundation, was, in , only a structure similar to those of our edifices built with pillars. for the convenience of the night-watchman, and in order to sound the alarum, a steeple was required, and in the fourteenth century a tower was built. under maximilian a taste for elegant structures was everywhere spread, and the bishops of cologne, deeming it essential to dress their city-house in new raiment, engaged an italian architect, a pupil, probably, of old michael angelo, and a french sculptor, who adjusted on the blackened façade of the thirteenth century a triumphant and magnificent porch. a few years expired, and they stood sadly in want of a promenade by the side of the registry. a back court was built, and galleries erected, which were sumptuously enlivened by heraldry and bas-reliefs. these i had the pleasure of seeing; but, in a few years, no person will have the same gratification, for, without anything being done to prevent it, they are fast falling into ruins. at last, under charles the fifth, a large room for sales and for the assemblies of the citizens was required, and a tasteful building of stone and brick was added. i went up to the belfry; and under a gloomy sky, which harmonized with the edifice and with my thoughts, i saw at my feet the whole of this admirable town. from thurmchen to bayenthurme, the town, which extends upward of a league on the banks of the river, displays a whole host of windows and façades. in the midst of roofs, turrets and gables, the summits of twenty-four churches strike the eye, all of different styles, and each church, from its grandeur, worthy of the name of cathedral. if we examine the town in detail, all is stir, all is life. the bridge is crowded with passengers and carriages; the river is covered with sails. here and there clumps of trees caress, as it were, the houses blackened by time; and the old stone hotels of the fifteenth century, with their long frieze of sculptured flowers, fruit and leaves, upon which the dove, when tired, rests itself, relieve the monotony of the slate roofs and brick fronts which surround them. round this great town--mercantile from its industry, military from its position, marine from its river--is a vast plain that borders germany, which the rhine crosses at different places, and is crowned on the northeast by historic eminences--that wonderful nest of legends and traditions, called the "seven mountains." thus holland and its commerce, germany and its poetry--like the two great aspects of the human mind, the positive and the ideal--shed their light upon the horizon of cologne; a city of business and of meditation. after descending from the belfry, i stopt in the yard before a handsome porch of the renaissance, the second story of which is formed of a series of small triumphal arches, with inscriptions. the first is dedicated to caesar; the second to augustus; the third to agrippa, the founder of cologne; the fourth to constantine, the christian emperor; the fifth to justinian, the great legislator; and the sixth to maximilian. upon the façade, the poetic sculpture has chased three bas-reliefs, representing the three lion-combatants, milo of crotona, pepin-le-bref, and daniel. at the two extremities he has placed milo of crotona, attacking the lions by strength of body; and daniel subduing the lions by the power of mind. between these is pepin-le-bref, conquering his ferocious antagonist with that mixture of moral and physical strength which distinguishes the soldier. between pure strength and pure thought, is courage; between the athlete and the prophet--the hero. pepin, sword in hand, has plunged his left arm, which is enveloped in his mantle, into the mouth of the lion; the animal stands, with extended claws, in that attitude which in heraldry represents the lion rampant. pepin attacks it bravely and vanquishes. daniel is standing motionless, his arms by his side, and his eyes lifted up to heaven, the lions lovingly rolling at his feet. as for milo of crotona, he defends himself against the lion, which is in the act of devouring him. his blind presumption has put too much faith in muscle, in corporeal strength. these three bas-reliefs contain a world of meaning; the last produces a powerful effect. it is nature avenging herself on the man whose only faith is in brute force.... in the evening, as the stars were shining, i took a walk upon the side of the river opposite to cologne. before me was the whole town, with its innumerable steeples figuring in detail upon the pale western sky. to my left rose, like the giant of cologne, the high spire of st. martin's, with its two towers; and, almost in front, the somber apsed cathedral, with its many sharp-pointed spires, resembling a monstrous hedgehog, the crane forming the tail, and near the base two lights, which appeared like two eyes sparkling with fire. nothing disturbed the stillness of the night but the rustling of the waters at my feet, the heavy tramp of a horse's hoofs upon the bridge, and the sound of a blacksmith's hammer. a long stream of fire that issued from the forge caused the adjoining windows to sparkle; then, as if hastening to its opposite element, disappeared in the water. [footnote a: from "the rhine." translated by d.m. aird.] [footnote b: one of the illustrations that accompany this volume shows the spires in their completed state.] round about coblenz[a] by lady blanche murphy coblenz is the place which many years ago gave me my first associations with the rhine. from a neighboring town we often drove to coblenz, and the wide, calm flow of the river, the low, massive bridge of boats and the commonplace outskirts of a busy city contributed to make up a very different picture from that of the poetic "castled" rhine of german song and english ballad. the old town has, however, many beauties, tho its military character looks out through most of them, and reminds us that the mosel city (for it originally stood only on that river, and then crept up to the rhine), tho a point of union in nature, has been for ages, so far as mankind was concerned, a point of defense and watching. the great fortress, a german gibraltar, hangs over the river and sets its teeth in the face of the opposite shore; all the foreign element in the town is due to the deposits made there by troubles in other countries, revolution and war sending their exiles, émigrés and prisoners. the history of the town is only a long military record, from the days of the archbishops of trèves, to whom it was subject.... there is the old "german house" by the bank of the mosel, a building little altered outwardly since the fourteenth century, now used as a food-magazine for the troops. the church of st. castor commemorates a holy hermit who lived and preached to the heathen in the eighth century, and also covers the grave and monument of the founder of the "mouse" at wellmich, the warlike kuno of falkenstein, archbishop of trèves. the exchange, once a court of justice, has changed less startlingly, and its proportions are much the same as of old; and besides these there are other buildings worth noticing, tho not so old, and rather distinguished by the men who lived and died there, or were born there, such as metternich, than by architectural beauties. such houses there are in every old city. they do not invite you to go in and admire them; every tourist you meet does not ask you how you liked them or whether you saw them. they are homes, and sealed to you as such, but they are the shell of the real life of the country; and they have somehow a charm and a fascination that no public building or show-place can have. goethe, who turned his life-experiences into poetry, has told us something of one such house not far from coblenz, in the village of ehrenbreitstein, beneath the fortress, and which in familiar coblenz parlance goes by the name of "the valley"--the house of sophie de laroche. the village is also clement brentano's birthplace. the oldest of german cities, trèves (or in german trier), is not too far to visit on our way up the mosel valley, whose celtic inhabitants of old gave the roman legions so much trouble. but rome ended by conquering, by means of her civilization as well as by her arms, and augusta trevirorum, tho claiming a far higher antiquity than rome herself, and still bearing an inscription to that effect on the old council-house--now called the red house and used as a hotel--became, as ausonius condescendingly remarked, a second rome, adorned with baths, gardens, temples, theaters and all that went to make up an imperial capital. as in venice everything precious seems to have come from constantinople, so in trier most things worthy of note date from the days of the romans; tho, to tell the truth, few of the actual buildings do, no matter how classic is their look. the style of the empire outlived its sway, and doubtless symbolized to the inhabitants their traditions of a higher standard of civilization. the porta nigra, for instance--called simeon's gate at present--dates really from the days of the first merovingian kings, but it looks like a piece of the colosseum, with its rows of arches in massive red sandstone, the stones held together by iron clamps, and its low, immensely strong double gateway, reminding one of the triumphal arches in the forum at rome. the history of the transformation of this gateway is curious. first a fortified city gate, standing in a correspondingly fortified wall, it became a dilapidated granary and storehouse in the middle ages, when one of the archbishops gave leave to simeon, a wandering hermit from syracuse in sicily, to take up his abode there; and another turned it into a church dedicated to this saint, tho of this change few traces remain. finally, it has become a national museum of antiquities. the amphitheater is a genuine roman work, wonderfully well preserved; and genuine enough were the roman games it has witnessed, for, if we are to believe tradition, a thousand frankish prisoners of war were here given in one day to the wild beasts by the emperor constantine. christian emperors beautified the basilica that stood where the cathedral now is, and the latter itself has some basilica-like points about it, tho, being the work of fifteen centuries, it bears the stamp of successive styles upon its face.... the mosel has but few tributary streams of importance; its own course is as winding, as wild and as romantic as that of the rhine itself. the most interesting part of the very varied scenery of this river is not the castles, the antique towns, the dense woods or the teeming vineyards lining rocks where a chamois could hardly stand--all this it has in common with the rhine--but the volcanic region of the eifel, the lakes in ancient craters, the tossed masses of lava and tufa, the great wastes strewn with dark boulders, the rifts that are called valleys and are like the iceland gorges, the poor, starved villages and the extraordinary rusticity, not to say coarseness, of the inhabitants. this grotesque, interesting country--unique, i believe, on the continent of europe--lies in a small triangle between the mosel, the belgian frontier and the schiefer hills of the lower rhine; it goes by the names of the high eifel, with the high acht, the kellberg and the nurburg; the upper (vorder) eifel, with gerolstein, a ruined castle, and daun, a pretty village; and the snow-eifel (schnee eifel), contracted by the speech of the country into schneifel. the last is the most curious, the most dreary, the least visited. walls of sharp rocks rise up over eight hundred feet high round some of its sunken lakes--one is called the powder lake--and the level above this abyss stretches out in moors and desolate downs, peopled with herds of lean sheep, and marked here and there by sepulchral, gibbet-looking signposts, shaped like a rough t and set in a heap of loose stones. it is a great contrast to turn aside from this landscape and look on the smiling villages and pretty wooded scenery of the valley of the mosel proper; the long lines of handsome, healthy women washing their linen on the banks; the old ferryboats crossing by the help of antique chain-and-rope contrivances; the groves of old trees, with broken walls and rude shrines, reminding one of southern italy and her olives and ilexes; and the picturesque houses, in kochem, in daun, in travbach, in bernkastel, which, however untiring one may be as a sightseer, hardly warrant one as a writer to describe and re-describe their beauties. klüsserath, however, we must mention, because its straggling figure has given rise to a local proverb--"as long as klüsserath;" and neumagen, because of the legend of constantine, who is said to have seen the cross of victory in the heavens at this place, as well as at sinzig on the rhine, and, as the more famous legend tells us, at the pons milvium over the tiber. the last glance we take at the beauties of this neighborhood is from the mouth of the torrent-river eltz as it dashes into the eifel, washing the rock on which stands the castle of eltz. the building and the family are an exception in the history of these lands; both exist to this day, and are prosperous and undaunted, notwithstanding all the efforts of enemies, time and circumstances to the contrary. the strongly-turreted wall runs from the castle till it loses itself in the rock, and the building has a home-like inhabited, complete look; which, in virtue of the quaint irregularity and magnificent natural position of the castle, standing guard over the foaming eltz, does not take from its romantic appearance, as preservation or restoration too often does. not far from coblenz, and past the island of nonnenwerth, is the old tenth-century castle of sayn, which stood until the thirty years' war, and below it, quiet, comfortable, large, but unpretending, lies the new house of the family of sayn-wittgenstein, built in the year . as we push our way down the rhine we soon come to the little peaceful town of neuwied, a sanctuary for persecuted flemings and others of the low countries, gathered here by the local sovereign, count frederick iii. the little brook that gives its name to the village runs softly into the rhine under a rustic bridge and amid murmuring rushes, while beyond it the valley gets narrower, rocks begin to rise over the rhine banks, and we come to andernach. andernach is the rocky gate of the rhine, and if its scenery were not enough, its history, dating from roman times, would make it interesting. however, of its relics we can only mention, in passing, the parish church with its four towers, all of tufa, the dungeons under the council-house, significantly called the "jew's bath," and the old sixteenth-century contrivances for loading rhine boats with the millstones in which the town still drives a fair trade. at the mouth of the brohl we meet the volcanic region again, and farther up the valley through which this stream winds come upon the retired little watering-place of tönnistein, a favorite goal of the dutch, with its steel waters; and wassenach, with what we may well call its dust-baths, stretching for miles inland, up hills full of old craters, and leaving us only at the entrance of the beech-woods that have grown up in these cauldron-like valleys and fringe the blue laachersee, the lake of legends and of fairies. one of these schlegel has versified in the "lay of the sunken castle," with the piteous tale of the spirits imprisoned; and simrock tells us in rhyme of the merman who sits waiting for a mortal bride; while wolfgang müller sings of the "castle under the lake," where at night ghostly torches are lighted and ghostly revels are held, the story of which so fascinates the fisherman's boy who has heard of these doings from his grandmother that as he watches the enchanted waters one night his fancy plays him a cruel trick, and he plunges in to join the revellers and learn the truth. local tradition says that count henry ii. and his wife adelaide, walking here by night, saw the whole lake lighted up from within in uncanny fashion, and founded a monastery in order to counteract the spell. this deserted but scarcely ruined building still exists, and contains the grave of the founder; the twelfth-century decoration, rich and detailed, is almost whole in the oldest part of the monastery. the far-famed german tale of genovefa of brabant is here localized, and henry's son siegfried assigned to the princess as a husband, while the neighboring grotto of hochstein is shown as her place of refuge. on our way back to the rocky gate we pass through the singular little town of niedermendig, an hour's distance from the lake--a place built wholly of dark gray lava, standing in a region where lava-ridges seam the earth like the bones of antediluvian monsters, but are made more profitable by being quarried into millstones. there is something here that brings part of wales to the remembrance of the few who have seen those dreary slate-villages--dark, damp, but naked, for moss and weeds do not thrive on this dampness as they do on the decay of other stones--which dot the moorland of wales. the fences are slate; the gateposts are slate; the stiles are of slate; the very "sticks" up which the climbing roses are trained are of slate; churches, schools, houses, stables are all of one dark iron-blue shade; floors and roofs are alike; hearth-stones and threshold-stones, and grave-stones all of the same material. it is curious and depressing. this volcanic region of the rhine, however, has so many unexpected beauties strewn pell-mell in the midst of stony barrenness that it also bears some likeness to naples and ischia, where beauty of color, and even of vegetation, alternate surprisingly with tracts of parched and rocky wilderness pierced with holes whence gas and steam are always rising. [footnote a: from "down the rhine."] bingen and mayence[a] by victor hugo bingen is an exceedingly pretty place, having at once the somber look of an ancient town, and the cheering aspect of a new one. from the days of consul drusus to those of the emperor charlemagne, from charlemagne to archbishop willigis, from willigis to the merchant montemagno, and from montemagno to the visionary holzhausen, the town gradually increased in the number of its houses, as the dew gathers drop by drop in the cup of a lily. excuse this comparison; for, tho flowery, it has truth to back it, and faithfully illustrates the mode in which a town near the conflux of two rivers is constructed. the irregularity of the houses--in fact everything, tends to make bingen a kind of antithesis, both with respect to buildings and the scenery which surrounds them. the town, bounded on the left by nahe, and by the rhine on the right, develops itself in a triangular form near a gothic church, which is backed by a roman citadel. in this citadel, which bears the date of the first century, and has long been the haunt of bandits, there is a garden; and in the church, which is of the fifteenth century, is the tomb of barthélemy de holzhausen. in the direction of mayence, the famed paradise plain opens upon the ringau; and in that of coblentz, the dark mountains of leyen seem to frown on the surrounding scenery. here nature smiles like a lovely woman extended unadorned on the greensward; there, like a slumbering giant, she excites a feeling of awe. the more we examine this beautiful place, the more the antithesis is multiplied under our looks and thoughts. it assumes a thousand different forms; and as the nahe flows through the arches of the stone bridge, upon the parapet of which the lion of hesse turns its back to the eagle of prussia, the green arm of the rhine seizes suddenly the fair and indolent stream, and plunges it into the bingerloch. to sit down toward the evening on the summit of the klopp--to see the town at its base, with an immense horizon on all sides, the mountains overshadowing all--to see the slated roofs smoking, the shadows lengthening, and the scenery breathing to life the verses of virgil--to respire at once the wind which rustles the leaves, the breeze of the flood, and the gale of the mountain--is an exquisite and inexpressible pleasure, full of secret enjoyment, which is veiled by the grandeur of the spectacle, by the intensity of contemplation. at the windows of huts, young women, their eyes fixt upon their work, are gaily singing; among the weeds that grow round the ruins birds whistle and pair; barks are crossing the river, and the sound of oars splashing in the water, and unfurling of sails, reaches our ears. the washerwomen of the rhine spread their clothes on the bushes; and those of the nahe, their legs and feet naked, beat their linen upon floating rafts, and laugh at some poor artist as he sketches ehrenfels. the sun sets, night comes on, the slated roofs of the houses appear as one, the mountains congregate and take the aspect of an immense dark body; and the washerwomen, with bundles on their heads, return cheerfully to their cabins; the noise subsides, the voices are hushed; a faint light, resembling the reflections of the other world upon the countenance of a dying man, is for a short time observable on the ehrenfels; then all is dark, except the tower of hatto, which, tho scarcely seen in the day, makes its appearance at night, amid a light smoke and the reverberation of the forge.... mayence and frankfort, like versailles and paris, may, at the present time, be called one town. in the middle ages there was a distance of eight leagues between them, which was then considered a long journey; now, an hour and a quarter will suffice to transport you from one to the other. the buildings of frankfort and mayence, like those of liège, have been devastated by modern good taste, and old and venerable edifices are rapidly disappearing, giving place to frightful groups of white houses. i expected to be able to see, at mayence, martinsburg, which, up to the seventeenth century, was the feudal residence of the ecclesiastical electors; but the french made a hospital of it, which was afterward razed to the ground to make room for the porte franc; the merchant's hotel, built in by the famed league, and which was splendidly decorated with the statues of seven electors, and surmounted by two colossal figures, bearing the crown of the empire, also shared the same fate. mayence possesses that which marks its antiquity--a venerable cathedral, which was commenced in , and finished in . part of this superb structure was burned in , and since that period has, from century to century, undergone some change. i explored its interior, and was struck with awe on beholding innumerable tombs, bearing dates as far back as the eighteenth century. under the galleries of the cloister i observed an obscure monument, a bas-relief of the fourteenth century, and tried, in vain, to guess the enigma. on one side are two men in chains, wildness in their looks, and despair in their attitudes; on the other, an emperor, accompanied by a bishop, and surrounded by a number of people, triumphing. is it barbarossa? is it louis of bavaria? does it speak of the revolt of , or of the war between mayence and frankfort in ? i could not tell, and therefore passed by. as i was leaving the galleries, i discovered in the shade a sculptured head, half protruding from the wall, surmounted by a crown of flower-work, similar to that worn by the kings of the eleventh century. i looked at it; it had a mild countenance; yet it possest something of severity in it--a face imprinted with that august beauty which the workings of a great mind give to the countenance of man. the hand of some peasant had chalked the name "frauenlob" above it, and i instantly remembered the tasso of mayence, so calumniated during his life, so venerated after his death. when henry frauenlob died, which was in the year , the females who had insulted him in life carried his coffin to the tomb, which procession is chiseled on the tombstone beneath. i again looked at that noble head. the sculptor had left the eyes open; and thus, in that church of sepulchers--in that cloister of the dead--the poet alone sees; he only is represented standing, and observing all. the market-place, which is by the side of the cathedral, has rather an amusing and pleasing aspect. in the middle is a pretty triangular fountain of the german renaissance, which, besides having scepters, nymphs, angels, dolphins, and mermaids, serves as a pedestal to the virgin mary. this fountain was erected by albert de brandenburg, who reigned in , in commemoration of the capture of francis the first by charles the fifth. mayence, white tho it be, retains its ancient aspect of a beautiful city. the river here is not less crowded with sails, the town not less incumbered with bales, nor more free from bustle, than formerly. people walk, squeak, push, sell, buy, sing, and cry; in fact in all the quarters of the town, in every house, life seems to predominate. at night the buzz and noise cease, and nothing is heard at mayence but the murmurings of the rhine, and the everlasting noise of seventeen water mills, which are fixt to the piles of the bridge of charlemagne. [footnote a: from "the rhine." translated by d.m. aird.] frankfort-am-main[a] by bayard taylor frankfort is a genuine old german city. founded by charlemagne, afterward a rallying-point of the crusaders, and for a long time the capital of the german empire, it has no lack of interesting historical recollections, and, notwithstanding it is fast becoming modernized, one is everywhere reminded of the past. the cathedral, old as the days of peter the hermit, the grotesque street of the jews, the many quaint, antiquated dwellings and the moldering watch-towers on the hills around, give it a more interesting character than any german city i have yet seen. the house we dwell in, on the markt platz, is more than two hundred years old; directly opposite is a great castellated building gloomy with the weight of six centuries, and a few steps to the left brings me to the square of the römerberg, where the emperors were crowned, in a corner of which is a curiously ornamented house formerly the residence of luther. there are legends innumerable connected with all these buildings, and even yet discoveries are frequently made in old houses of secret chambers and staircases. when you add to all this the german love of ghost-stories, and, indeed, their general belief in spirits, the lover of romance could not desire a more agreeable residence. within the walls the greater part of frankfort is built in the old german style, the houses six or seven stories high and every story projecting out over the other; so that those living in the upper part can nearly shake hands out of the windows. at the corners figures of men are often seen holding up the story above on their shoulders and making horrible faces at the weight. when i state that in all these narrow streets, which constitute the greater part of the city, there are no sidewalks, the windows of the lower stories have iron gratings extending a foot or so into the street, which is only wide enough for one cart to pass along, you can have some idea of the facility of walking through them, to say nothing of the piles of wood and market-women with baskets of vegetables which one is continuously stumbling over. even in the wider streets i have always to look before and behind to keep out of the way of the cabs; the people here get so accustomed to it that they leave barely room for them to pass, and the carriages go dashing by at a nearness which sometimes makes me shudder. as i walked across the main and looked down at the swift stream on its way from the distant thuringian forest to join the rhine, i thought of the time when schiller stood there in the days of his early struggles, an exile from his native land, and, looking over the bridge, said in the loneliness of his heart, "that water flows not so deep as my sufferings." from the hills on the darmstadt road i had a view of the country around; the fields were white and bare, and the dark taunus, with the broad patches of snow on his sides, looked grim and shadowy through the dim atmosphere. it was like the landscape of a dream--dark, strange and silent. i have seen the banker rothschild several times driving about the city. this one--anselmo, the most celebrated of the brothers--holds a mortgage on the city of jerusalem. he rides about in style, with officers attending his carriage. he is a little baldheaded man with marked jewish features, and is said not to deceive his looks. at any rate, his reputation is none of the best, either with jews or christians. a caricature was published some time ago in which he is represented as giving a beggar-woman by the wayside a kreutzer--the smallest german coin. she is made to exclaim, "god reward you a thousand fold!" he immediately replies, after reckoning up in his head, "how much have i then? sixteen florins and forty kreutzers!"... the eschernheim tower, at the entrance of one of the city gates, is universally admired by strangers on account of its picturesque appearance, overgrown with ivy and terminated by the little pointed turrets which one sees so often in germany on buildings three or four centuries old. there are five other watch-towers of similar form, which stand on different sides of the city at the distance of a mile or two, and generally upon an eminence overlooking the country. they were erected several centuries ago to discern from afar the approach of an enemy, and protect the caravans of merchants, which at that time traveled from city to city, from the attacks of robbers. the eschernheim tower is interesting from another circumstance which, whether true or not, is universally believed. when frankfort was under the sway of a prince, a swiss hunter, for some civil offense, was condemned to die. he begged his life from the prince, who granted it only on condition that he should fire the figure nine with his rifle through the vane of this tower. he agreed, and did it; and at the present time one can distinguish a rude nine on the vane, as if cut with bullets, while two or three marks at the side appear to be from shots that failed. [footnote a: from "views afoot." published by g.p. putnam's sons.] heidelberg[a] by bayard taylor here in heidelberg at last, and a most glorious town it is. this is our first morning in our new rooms, and the sun streams warmly in the eastern windows as i write, while the old castle rises through the blue vapor on the side of the kaiserstuhl. the neckar rushes on below, and the odenwald, before me, rejoices with its vineyards in the morning light.... there is so much to be seen around this beautiful place that i scarcely know where to begin a description of it. i have been wandering among the wild paths that lead up and down the mountain-side or away into the forests and lonely meadows in the lap of the odenwald. my mind is filled with images of the romantic german scenery, whose real beauty is beginning to displace the imaginary picture which i had painted with the enthusiastic words of howitt. i seem to stand now upon the kaiserstuhl, which rises above heidelberg, with that magnificent landscape around me from the black forest and strassburg to mainz, and from the vosges in france to the hills of spessart in bavaria. what a glorious panorama! and not less rich in associations than in its natural beauty. below me had moved the barbarian hordes of old, the triumphant followers of arminius and the cohorts of rome, and later full many a warlike host bearing the banners of the red cross to the holy land, many a knight returning with his vassals from the field to lay at the feet of his lady-love the scarf he had worn in a hundred battles and claim the reward of his constancy and devotion. but brighter spirits had also toiled below. that plain had witnessed the presence of luther, and a host who strove with him. there had also trodden the master-spirits of german song--the giant twain with their scarcely less harmonious brethren. they, too, had gathered inspiration from those scenes--more fervent worship of nature and a deeper love for their beautiful fatherland.... then there is the wolfsbrunnen, which one reaches by a beautiful walk up the bank of the neckar to a quiet dell in the side of the mountain. through this the roads lead up by rustic mills always in motion, and orchards laden with ripening fruit, to the commencement of the forest, where a quaint stone fountain stands, commemorating the abode of a sorceress of the olden time who was torn in pieces by a wolf. there is a handsome rustic inn here, where every sunday afternoon a band plays in the portico, while hundreds of people are scattered around in the cool shadow of the trees or feeding the splendid trout in the basin formed by a little stream. they generally return to the city by another walk, leading along the mountain-side to the eastern terrace of the castle, where they have fine views of the great rhine plain, terminated by the alsatian hills stretching along the western horizon like the long crested swells on the ocean. we can even see these from the windows of our room on the bank of the neckar, and i often look with interest on one sharp peak, for on its side stands the castle of trifels, where coeur de lion was imprisoned by the duke of austria, and where blondel, his faithful minstrel, sang the ballad which discovered the retreat of the noble captive. from the carl platz, an open square at the upper end of the city, two paths lead directly up to the castle. by the first walk we ascend a flight of steps to the western gate; passing through which, we enter a delightful garden, between the outer walls of the castle and the huge moat which surrounds it. great linden, oak and beech trees shadow the walk, and in secluded nooks little mountain-streams spring from the side of the wall into stone basins. there is a tower over the moat on the south side, next the mountain, where the portcullis still hangs with its sharp teeth as it was last drawn up; on each side stand two grim knights guarding the entrance. in one of the wooded walks is an old tree brought from america in the year . it is of the kind called "arbor vitae," and uncommonly tall and slender for one of this species; yet it does not seem to thrive well in a foreign soil. i noticed that persons had cut many slips off the lower branches, and i would have been tempted to do the same myself if there had been any i could reach. in the curve of the mountain is a handsome pavilion surrounded with beds of flowers and fountains; here all classes meet together in the afternoon to sit with their refreshments in the shade, while frequently a fine band of music gives them their invariable recreation. all this, with the scenery around them, leaves nothing unfinished to their present enjoyment. the germans enjoy life under all circumstances, and in this way they make themselves much happier than we who have far greater means of being so. at the end of the terrace built for the princess elizabeth of england is one of the round towers which was split in twain by the french. half has fallen entirely away, and the other semicircular shell, which joins the terrace and part of the castle-buildings, clings firmly together, altho part of its foundation is gone, so that its outer ends actually hang in the air. some idea of the strength of the castle may be obtained when i state that the walls of this tower are twenty-two feet thick, and that a staircase has been made through them to the top, where one can sit under the lindens growing upon it or look down on the city below with the pleasant consciousness that the great mass upon which he stands is only prevented from crashing down with him by the solidity of its masonry. on one side, joining the garden, the statue of the archduke louis in his breastplate and flowing beard looks out from among the ivy. there is little to be seen about the castle except the walls themselves. the guide conducted us through passages, in which were heaped many of the enormous cannon-balls which it had received in sieges, to some chambers in the foundation. this was the oldest part of the castle, built in the thirteenth century. we also visited the chapel, which is in a tolerable state of preservation. a kind of narrow bridge crosses it, over which we walked, looking down on the empty pulpit and deserted shrines. we then went into the cellar to see the celebrated tun. in a large vault are kept several enormous hogsheads, one of which is three hundred years old, but they are nothing in comparison with the tun, which itself fills a whole vault. it is as high as a common two-story house; on the top is a platform upon which the people used to dance after it was filled, to which one ascends by two flights of steps. i forget exactly how many casks it holds, but i believe eight hundred. it has been empty for fifty years.... opposite my window rises the heiligenberg, on the other side of the neckar. the lower part of it is rich with vineyards, and many cottages stand embosomed in shrubbery among them. sometimes we see groups of maidens standing under the grape-arbors, and every morning the peasant-women go toiling up the steep paths with baskets on their heads, to labor among the vines. on the neckar, below us, the fishermen glide about in their boats, sink their square nets fastened to a long pole, and haul them up with the glittering fish, of which the stream is full. i often lean out of the window late at night, when the mountains above are wrapt in dusky obscurity, and listen to the low, musical ripple of the river. it tells to my excited fancy a knightly legend of the old german time. then comes the bell rung for closing the inns, breaking the spell with its deep clang, which vibrates far away on the night-air till it has roused all the echoes of the odenwald. i then shut the window, turn into the narrow box which the germans call a bed, and in a few minutes am wandering in america. halfway up the heidelberg runs a beautiful walk dividing the vineyards from the forest above. this is called "the philosopher's way," because it was the favorite ramble of the old professors of the university. it can be reached by a toilsome, winding path among the vines, called the snake-way; and when one has ascended to it, he is well rewarded by the lovely view. in the evening, when the sun has got behind the mountain, it is delightful to sit on the stone steps and watch the golden light creeping up the side of the kaiserstuhl, till at last twilight begins to darken in the valley and a mantle of mist gathers above the neckar. we ascended the mountain a few days ago. there is a path which leads up through the forest, but we took the shortest way, directly up the side, tho it was at an angle of nearly fifty degrees. it was hard enough work scrambling through the thick broom and heather and over stumps and stones. in one of the stone-heaps i dislodged a large orange-colored salamander seven or eight inches long. they are sometimes found on these mountains, as well as a very large kind of lizard, called the "eidechse," which the germans say is perfectly harmless, and if one whistles or plays a pipe will come and play around him. the view from the top reminded me of that from catskill mountain house, but is on a smaller scale. the mountains stretch off sideways, confining the view to but half the horizon, and in the middle of the picture the hudson is well represented by the lengthened windings of the "abounding rhine." nestled at the base below us was the little village of handschuhheim, one of the oldest in this part of germany. the castle of its former lords has nearly all fallen down, but the massive solidity of the walls which yet stand proves its antiquity. a few years ago a part of the outer walls which was remarked to have a hollow sound was taken down, when there fell from a deep niche built therein, a skeleton clad in a suit of the old german armor. we followed a road through the woods to the peak on which stands the ruins of st. michael's chapel, which was built in the tenth century and inhabited for a long time by a company of white monks. there is now but a single tower remaining, and all around is grown over with tall bushes and weeds. it had a wild and romantic look, and i sat on a rock and sketched at it till it grew dark, when we got down the mountain the best way we could.... we have just returned from a second visit to frankfort, where the great annual fair filled the streets with noise and bustle. on our way back we stopt at the village of zwingenberg, which lies at the foot of the melibochus, for the purpose of visiting some of the scenery of the odenwald. passing the night at the inn there, we slept with one bed under and two above, and started early in the morning to climb up the side of the melibochus. after a long walk through the forests, which were beginning to change their summer foliage for a brighter garment, we reached the summit and ascended the stone tower which stands upon it. this view gives one a better idea of the odenwald than that from the kaiserstuhl at heidelberg. this is a great collection of rocks, in a wild pine wood, heaped together like pebbles on the seashore and worn and rounded as if by the action of water; so much do they resemble waves that one standing at the bottom and looking up can not resist the idea that they will flow down upon him. it must have been a mighty tide whose receding waves left these masses piled up together. the same formation continues at intervals to the foot of the mountains. it reminded me of a glacier of rocks instead of ice. a little higher up lies a massive block of granite called the giant's column. it is thirty-two feet long and three to four feet in diameter, and still bears the mark of the chisel. when or by whom it was made remains a mystery. some have supposed it was intended to be erected for the worship of the sun by the wild teutonic tribes who inhabited this forest; it is more probably the work of the romans. a project was once started to erect a monument on the battlefield of leipsic, but it was found too difficult to carry into execution. after dining at the little village of reichelsdorf, in the valley below--where the merry landlord charged my friend two kreutzers less than myself because he was not so tall--we visited the castle of schönberg, and joined the bergstrasse again. we walked the rest of the way here. long before we arrived the moon shone down on us over the mountains; and when we turned around the foot of the heiligenberg, the mist descending in the valley of the neckar rested like a light cloud on the church-spires. [footnote a: from "views afoot." published by g.p. putnam's sons.] strassburg[a] by harriet beecher stowe i left the cars with my head full of the cathedral. the first thing i saw, on lifting my eyes, was a brown spire. we climbed the spire; we gained the roof. what a magnificent terrace! a world in itself; a panoramic view sweeping the horizon. here i saw the names of goethe and herder. here they have walked many a time, i suppose. but the inside--a forest-like firmament, glorious in holiness; windows many-hued as the hebrew psalms; a gloom solemn and pathetic as man's mysterious existence; a richness gorgeous and manifold as his wonderful nature. in this gothic architecture we see earnest northern races, whose nature was a composite of influences from pine forest, mountain, and storm, expressing in vast proportions and gigantic masonry those ideas of infinite duration and existence which christianity opened before them. the ethereal eloquence of the greeks could not express the rugged earnestness of souls wrestling with those fearful mysteries of fate, of suffering, of eternal existence, declared equally by nature and revelation. this architecture is hebraistic in spirit, not greek; it well accords with the deep ground-swell of the hebrew prophets. "lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations. before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art god. a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past. and as a watch in the night." the objection to gothic architecture, as compared with greek, is, that it is less finished and elegant. so it is. it symbolizes that state of mind too earnest for mere polish, too deeply excited for laws of exact proportions and architectural refinement. it is alpine architecture--vast, wild, and sublime in its foundations, yet bursting into flowers at every interval. the human soul seems to me an imprisoned essence, striving after somewhat divine. there is a struggle in it, as of suffocated flame; finding vent now through poetry, now in painting, now in music, sculpture, or architecture; various are the crevices and fissures, but the flame is one. moreover, as society grows from barbarism upward, it tends to inflorescence, at certain periods, as do plants and trees; and some races flower later than others. this architecture was the first flowering of the gothic race; they had no homers; the flame found vent not by imaged words and vitalized alphabet; they vitalized stone, and their poets were minster-builders; their epics, cathedrals. this is why one cathedral--like strassburg, or notre dame--has a thousandfold the power of any number of madeleines. the madeleine is simply a building; these are poems. i never look at one of them without feeling that gravitation of soul toward its artist which poetry always excites. often the artist is unknown; here we know him; erwin von steinbach, poet, prophet, priest, in architecture. we visited his house--a house old and quaint, and to me full of suggestions and emotions. ah, if there be, as the apostle vividly suggests, houses not made with hands, strange splendors, of which these are but shadows, that vast religious spirit may have been finding scope for itself where all the forces of nature shall have been made tributary to the great conceptions of the soul. save this cathedral, strassburg has nothing except peaked-roofed houses, dotted with six or seven rows of gable windows. [footnote a: from "sunny memories of foreign lands." mrs. stowe published this work in , after returning from the tour she made soon after achieving great fame with "uncle tom's cabin." during this visit she was received everywhere with distinction--and especially in england.] freiburg and the black forest[a] by bayard taylor the airy basket-work tower of the freiburg minster rises before me over the black roofs of the houses, and behind stand the gloomy pine-covered mountains of the black forest. of our walk to heidelberg over the oft-trodden bergstrasse, i shall say nothing, nor how we climbed the kaiserstuhl again, and danced around on the top of the tower for one hour amid cloud and mist, while there was sunshine below in the valley of the neckar. i left heidelberg yesterday morning in the "stehwagen" for carlsruhe. the engine whistled, the train started, and, altho i kept my eyes steadily fixt on the spire of the hauptkirche, three minutes hid it and all the rest of the city from sight. carlsruhe, the capital of baden--which we reached in an hour and a half--is unanimously pronounced by travelers to be a most dull and tiresome city. from a glance i had through one of the gates, i should think its reputation was not undeserved. even its name in german signifies a place of repose. i stopt at kork, on the branch-road leading to strassburg, to meet a german-american about to return to my home in pennsylvania, where he had lived for some time. i inquired according to the direction he had sent me to frankfort, but he was not there; however, an old man, finding who i was, said herr otto had directed him to go with me to hesselhurst, a village four or five miles off, where he would meet me. so we set off immediately over the plain, and reached the village at dusk.... my friend arrived at three o'clock the next morning, and, after two or three hours' talk about home and the friends whom he expected to see so much sooner than i, a young farmer drove me in his wagon to offenburg, a small city at the foot of the black forest, where i took the cars for freiburg. the scenery between the two places is grand. the broad mountains of the black forest rear their fronts on the east, and the blue lines of the french vosges meet the clouds on the west. the night before, in walking over the plain, i saw distinctly the whole of the strassburg minster, whose spire is the highest in europe, being four hundred and ninety feet, or but twenty-five feet lower than the pyramid of cheops. i visited the minster of freiburg yesterday morning. it is a grand, gloomy old pile, dating back from the eleventh century--one of the few gothic churches in germany that have ever been completed. the tower of beautiful fretwork rises to the height of three hundred and ninety-five feet, and the body of the church, including the choir, is of the same length. the interior is solemn and majestic. windows stained in colors that burn let in a "dim religious light" which accords very well with the dark old pillars and antique shrines. in two of the chapels there are some fine altar-pieces by holbein and one of his scholars, and a very large crucifix of silver and ebony, kept with great care, which is said to have been carried with the crusaders to the holy land.... we went this afternoon to the jägerhaus, on a mountain near, where we had a very fine view of the city and its great black minster, with the plain of the briesgau, broken only by the kaiserstuhl, a long mountain near the rhine, whose golden stream glittered in the distance. on climbing the schlossberg, an eminence near the city, we met the grand duchess stephanie, a natural daughter of napoleon, as i have heard. a chapel on the schönberg, the mountain opposite, was pointed out as the spot where louis xv.--if i mistake not--usually stood while his army besieged freiburg. a german officer having sent a ball to this chapel which struck the wall just above the king's head, the latter sent word that if they did not cease firing he would point his cannons at the minster. the citizens thought it best to spare the monarch and save the cathedral. after two days delightfully spent, we shouldered our knapsacks and left freiburg. the beautiful valley at the mouth of which the city lies runs like an avenue for seven miles directly into the mountains, and presents in its loveliness such a contrast to the horrid defile which follows that it almost deserves the name which has been given to a little inn at its head--the "kingdom of heaven." the mountains of the black forest enclose it on each side like walls, covered to the summit with luxuriant woods, and in some places with those forests of gloomy pine which give this region its name. after traversing its whole length, just before plunging into the mountain-depths the traveler rarely meets with a finer picture than that which, on looking back, he seems framed between the hills at the other end. freiburg looks around the foot of one of the heights, with the spire of her cathedral peeping above the top, while the french vosges grow dim in the far perspective. the road now enters a wild, narrow valley which grows smaller as we proceed. from himmelreich, a large rude inn by the side of the green meadows, we enter the höllenthal--that is, from the "kingdom of heaven" to the "valley of hell." the latter place better deserves its appellation than the former. the road winds between precipices of black rock, above which the thick foliage shuts out the brightness of day and gives a somber hue to the scene. a torrent foams down the chasm, and in one place two mighty pillars interpose to prevent all passage. the stream, however, has worn its way through, and the road is hewn in the rock by its side. this cleft is the only entrance to a valley three or four miles long which lies in the very heart of the mountains. it is inhabited by a few woodmen and their families, and, but for the road which passes through, would be as perfect a solitude as the happy valley of rasselas. at the farther end a winding road called "the ascent" leads up the steep mountain to an elevated region of country thinly settled and covered with herds of cattle. the cherries--which in the rhine-plain below had long gone--were just ripe here. the people spoke a most barbarous dialect; they were social and friendly, for everybody greeted us, and sometimes, as we sat on a bank by the roadside, those who passed by would say "rest thee!" or "thrice rest!" passing by the titi lake, a small body of water which was spread out among the hills like a sheet of ink, so deep was its stygian hue, we commenced ascending a mountain. the highest peak of the schwarzwald, the feldberg, rose not far off, and on arriving at the top of this mountain we saw that a half hour's walk would bring us to its summit. this was too great a temptation for my love of climbing heights; so, with a look at the descending sun to calculate how much time we could spare, we set out. there was no path, but we prest directly up the steep side through bushes and long grass, and in a short time reached the top, breathless from such exertion in the thin atmosphere. the pine-woods shut out the view to the north and east, which is said to be magnificent, as the mountain is about five thousand feet high. the wild black peaks of the black forest were spread below us, and the sun sank through golden mist toward the alsatian hills. afar to the south, through cloud and storm, we could just trace the white outline of the swiss alps. the wind swept through the pines around, and bent the long yellow grass among which we sat, with a strange, mournful sound, well suiting the gloomy and mysterious region. it soon grew cold; the golden clouds settled down toward us, and we made haste to descend to the village of lenzkirch before dark. next morning we set out early, without waiting to see the trial of archery which was to take place among the mountain-youths. their booths and targets, gay with banners, stood on a green meadow beside the town. we walked through the black forest the whole forenoon. it might be owing to the many wild stories whose scenes are laid among these hills, but with me there was a peculiar feeling of solemnity pervading the whole region. the great pine-woods are of the very darkest hue of green, and down their hoary, moss-floored aisles daylight seems never to have shone. the air was pure and clear and the sunshine bright, but it imparted no gayety to the scenery; except the little meadows of living emerald which lay occasionally in the lap of a dell, the landscape wore a solemn and serious air. in a storm it must be sublime. about noon, from the top of the last range of hills, we had a glorious view. the line of the distant alps could be faintly traced high in the clouds, and all the heights between were plainly visible, from the lake of constance to the misty jura, which flanked the vosges on the west. from our lofty station we overlooked half switzerland, and, had the air been a little clearer, we could have seen mont blanc and the mountains of savoy. i could not help envying the feelings of the swiss who, after long absence from their native land, first see the alps from this road. if to the emotions with which i then looked on them were added the passionate love of home and country which a long absence creates, such excess of rapture would be almost too great to be borne. [footnote a: from "views afoot." published by g.p. putnam's sons.] ii nuremberg as a medieval city[a] by cecil headlam in spite of all changes, and in spite of the disfigurements of modern industry, nuremberg is and will remain a medieval city, a city of history and legend, a city of the soul. she is like venice in this, as in not a little of her history, that she exercises an indefinable fascination over our hearts no less than over our intellects. the subtle flavor of medieval towns may be likened to that of those rare old ports which are said to taste of the grave; a flavor indefinable, exquisite. rothenburg has it; and it is with rothenburg, that little gem of medievalism, that nuremberg is likely to be compared in the mind of the modern wanderer in franconia. but tho rothenburg may surpass her greater neighbor in the perfect harmony and in the picturesqueness of her red-tiled houses and well-preserved fortifications, in interest at any rate she must yield to the heroine of this story. for, apart from the beauty which nuremberg owes to the wonderful grouping of her red roofs and ancient castle, her coronet of antique towers, her gothic churches and renaissance buildings or brown riverside houses dipping into the mud-colored pegnitz, she rejoices in treasures of art and architecture and in the possession of a splendid history such as rothenburg can not boast. to those who know something of her story nuremberg brings the subtle charm of association. while appealing to our memories by the grandeur of her historic past, and to our imaginations by the work and tradition of her mighty dead, she appeals also to our senses with the rare magic of her personal beauty, if one may so call it. in that triple appeal lies the fascination of nuremberg.... the facts as to the origin of nuremberg are lost in the dim shadows of tradition. when the little town sprang up amid the forests and swamps which still marked the course of the pegnitz, we know as little as we know the origin of the name nürnberg. it is true that the chronicles of later days are only too ready to furnish us with information; but the information is not always reliable. the chronicles, like our own peerage, are apt to contain too vivid efforts of imaginative fiction. the chroniclers, unharassed by facts or documents, with minds "not by geography prejudiced, or warped by history," can not unfortunately always be believed. it is, for instance, quite possible that attila, king of the huns, passed and plundered nuremberg, as they tell us. but there is no proof, no record of that visitation. again, the inevitable legend of a visit from charlemagne occurs. he, you may be sure, was lost in the woods while hunting near nuremberg, and passed all night alone, unhurt by the wild beasts. as a token of gratitude for god's manifest favor he caused a chapel to be built on the spot. the chapel stands to this day--a twelfth-century building--but no matter! for did not otho i., as our chroniclers tell us, attend mass in st. sebald's church in , tho st. sebald's church can not have been built till a century later? the origin of the very name of nuremberg is hidden in the clouds of obscurity. in the earliest documents we find it spelt with the usual variations of early manuscripts--nourenberg, nuorimperc, niurenberg, nuremberc, etc. the origin of the place, we repeat, is equally obscure. many attempts have been made to find history in the light of the derivations of the name. but when philology turns historian it is apt to play strange tricks. nur ein berg (only a castle), or nero's castle, or norix tower--what matter which is the right derivation, so long as we can base a possible theory on it? the norixberg theory will serve to illustrate the incredible quantity of misplaced ingenuity which both of old times and in the present has been wasted in trying to explain the inexplicable. be that as it may, the history of our town begins in the year . it is most probable that the silence regarding the place--it is not mentioned among the places visited by conrad ii. in this neighborhood--points to the fact that the castle did not exist in , but was built between that year and . that it existed then we know, for henry iii. dated a document from here in , summoning a council of bavarian nobles "to his estate nourinberc." the oldest portion, called in the fifteenth century altnürnberg, consisted of the fünfeckiger thurm--the five-cornered tower--the rooms attached and the otmarkapelle. the latter was burned down in , rebuilt in , and called the walpurgiskapelle. these constituted the burggräfliche burg--the burggraf's castle. the rest of the castle was built on by friedrich der rotbart (barbarossa), and called the kaiserliche burg. the old five-cornered tower and the surrounding ground was the private property of the burggraf, and he was appointed by the emperor as imperial officer of the kaiserliche burg. whether the emperors claimed any rights of personal property over nuremberg or merely treated it, at first, as imperial property, it is difficult to determine. the castle at any rate was probably built to secure whatever rights were claimed, and to serve generally as an imperial stronghold. gradually around the castle grew up the straggling streets of nuremberg. settlers built beneath the shadow of the burg. the very names of the streets suggest the vicinity of a camp or fortress. söldnerstrasse, schmiedstrasse, and so forth, betray the military origin of the present busy commercial town. from one cause or another a mixture of races, of germanic and non-germanic, of slavonic and frankish elements, seems to have occurred among the inhabitants of the growing village, producing a special blend which in dialect, in customs, and in dress was soon noticed by the neighbors as unique, and stamping the art and development of nuremberg with that peculiar character which has never left it. various causes combined to promote the growth of the place. the temporary removal of the mart from fürth to nuremberg under henry iii. doubtless gave a great impetus to the development of the latter town. henry iv., indeed, gave back the rights of mart, customs and coinage to fürth. but it seems probable that these rights were not taken away again from nuremberg. the possession of a mart was, of course, of great importance to a town in those days, promoting industries and arts and settled occupations. the nurembergers were ready to suck out the fullest advantage from their privilege. that mixture of races, to which we have referred, resulted in remarkable business energy--energy which soon found scope in the conduct of the business which the natural position of nuremberg on the south and north, the east and western trade routes, brought to her. it was not very long before she became the center of the vast trade between the levant and western europe, and the chief emporium for the produce of italy--the "handelsmetropole" in fact of south germany. nothing in the middle ages was more conducive to the prosperity of a town than the reputation of having a holy man within its borders, or the possession of the miracle-working relics of a saint. just as st. elizabeth made marburg so st. sebaldus proved a very potent attraction to nuremberg. as early as and we hear of pilgrimages to nuremberg in honor of her patron saint. another factor in the growth of the place was the frequent visits which the emperors began to pay to it. lying as it did on their way from bamberg and forcheim to regensburg, the kaisers readily availed themselves of the security offered by this impregnable fortress, and of the sport provided in the adjacent forest. for there was good hunting to be had in the forest which, seventy-two miles in extent, surrounded nuremberg. and hunting, next to war, was then in most parts of europe the most serious occupation of life. all the forest rights, we may mention, of wood-cutting, hunting, charcoal burning and bee-farming belonged originally to the empire. but these were gradually acquired by the nuremberg council, chiefly by purchase in the fifteenth century. in the castle the visitor may notice a list of all the emperors--some thirty odd, all told--who have stayed there--a list that should now include the reigning emperor. we find that henry iv. frequently honored nuremberg with his presence. this is that henry iv., whose scene at canossa with the pope--kaiser of the holy roman empire waiting three days in the snow to kiss the foot of excommunicative gregory--has imprest itself on all memories. his last visit to nuremberg was a sad one. his son rebelled against him, and the old king stopt at nuremberg to collect his forces. in the war between father and son nuremberg was loyal, and took the part of henry iv. it was no nominal part, for in she had to stand a siege from the young henry. for two months the town was held by the burghers and the castle by the prefect conrad. at the end of that time orders came from the old kaiser that the town was to surrender. he had given up the struggle, and his undutiful son succeeded as henry v. to the holy roman empire, and nuremberg with it. the mention of this siege gives us an indication of the growth of the town. the fact of the siege and the words of the chronicler, "the townsmen (oppidani) gave up the town under treaty," seem to point to the conclusion that nuremberg was now no longer a mere fort (castrum), but that walls had sprung up round the busy mart and the shrine of st. sebald, and that by this time nuremberg had risen to the dignity of a "stadt" or city state. presently, indeed, we find her rejoicing in the title of "civitas" (state). the place, it is clear, was already of considerable military importance or it would not have been worth while to invest it. the growing volume of trade is further illustrated by a charter of henry v. ( ) giving to the citizens of worms customs' immunity in various places subject to him, among which frankfort, goslar and nuremberg are named as royal towns ("oppida regis"). [footnote a: from "the story of nuremberg." published by e.p. dutton & co.] its churches and the citadel[a] by thomas frognall dibdin it may be as well briefly to notice the two churches--st. sebald and st. lawrence. the former was within a stone's throw of our inn. above the door of the western front is a remarkably fine crucifix of wood--placed, however, in too deep a recess--said to be by veit stoss. the head is of a very fine form, and the countenance has an expression of the most acute and intense feeling. a crown of thorns is twisted around the brow. but this figure, as well as the whole of the outside and inside of the church, stands in great need of being repaired. the towers are low, with insignificant turrets; the latter evidently a later erection--probably at the commencement of the sixteenth century. the eastern extremity, as well indeed as the aisles, is surrounded by buttresses; and the sharp-pointed, or lancet, windows, seem to bespeak the fourteenth, if not the thirteenth, century. the great "wonder" of the interior is the shrine of the saint (to whom the church is dedicated), of which the greater part is silver. at the time of my viewing it, it was in a disjointed state--parts of it having been taken to pieces, for repair; but from geisler's exquisite little engraving, i should pronounce it to be second to few specimens of similar art in europe. the figures do not exceed two feet in height, and the extreme elevation of the shrine may be about eight feet. nor has geisler's almost equally exquisite little engraved carving of the richly carved gothic font in this church, less claim upon the admiration of the connoisseur. the mother church, or cathedral of st. lawrence, is much larger, and portions of it may be of the latter end of the thirteenth century. the principal entrance presents us with an elaborate doorway--perhaps of the fourteenth century--with the sculpture divided into several compartments, as at rouen, strassburg, and other earlier edifices. there is a poverty in the two towers, both from their size and the meagerness of the windows; but the slim spires at the summit are, doubtless, nearly of a coeval date with that which supports them. the bottom of the large circular or marigold window is injured in its effect by a gothic balustrade of a later period. the interior of this church has certainly nothing very commanding or striking, on the score of architectural grandeur or beauty; but there are some painted glass windows--especially by volkmar--which are deserving of particular attention. nuremberg has one advantage over many populous towns; its public buildings are not choked up by narrow streets; and i hardly know an edifice of distinction, round which the spectator may not walk with perfect ease, and obtain a view of every portion which he is desirous of examining.... of all edifices, more especially deserving of being visited at nuremberg, the citadel is doubtless the most curious and ancient, as well as the most remarkable. it rises to a considerable height, close upon the outer walls of the town, within about a stone's throw of the end of albrecht dürer strasse--or the street where albert dürer lived--and whose house is not only yet in existence, but still the object of attraction and veneration with every visitor of taste, from whatever part of the world he may chance to come. the street running down is the street called (as before observed) after albert dürer's own name; and the well, seen about the middle of it, is a specimen of those wells--built of stone--which are very common in the streets of nuremberg. the upper part of the house of albert dürer is supposed to have been his study. the interior is so altered from its original disposition as to present little or nothing satisfactory to the antiquary. it would be difficult to say how many coats of whitewash have been bestowed upon the rooms, since the time when they were tenanted by the great character in question. passing through this street, therefore, you may turn to the right, and continue onward up a pretty smart ascent; when the entrance to the citadel, by the side of a low wall--in front of an old tower--presents itself to your attention. it was before breakfast that my companion and self visited this interesting interior, over every part of which we were conducted by a most loquacious cicerone, who spoke the french language very fluently, and who was pleased to express his extreme gratification upon finding that his visitors were englishmen. the tower and the adjoining chapel, may be each of the thirteenth century; but the tombstone of the founder of the monastery, upon the site of which the present citadel was built, bears the date of . this tombstone is very perfect; lying in a loose, unconnected manner, as you enter the chapel; the chapel itself having a crypt-like appearance. this latter is very small. from the suite of apartments in the older parts of the citadel, there is a most extensive and uninterrupted view of the surrounding country, which is rather flat. at the distance of about nine miles, the town of fürth (furta) looks as if it were within an hour's walk; and i should think that the height of the chambers (from which we enjoyed this view) to the level ground of the adjacent meadows could be scarcely less than three hundred feet. in these chambers there is a little world of curiosity for the antiquary; and yet it was but too palpable that very many of its more precious treasures had been transported to munich. in the time of maximilian ii., when nuremberg may be supposed to have been in the very height of its glory, this citadel must have been worth a pilgrimage of many score miles to have visited. the ornaments which remain are chiefly pictures; of which several are exceedingly precious.... in these curious old chambers, it was to be expected that i should see some wohlegemuths--as usual, with backgrounds in a blaze of gold, and figures with tortuous limbs, pinched-in waists, and caricatured countenances. in a room, pretty plentifully encumbered with rubbish, i saw a charming snyders; being a dead stag, suspended from a pole. there is here a portrait of albert dürer, by himself; but said to be a copy. if so, it is a very fine copy. the original is supposed to be at munich. there was nothing else that my visit enabled me to see particularly deserving of being recorded; but, when i was told that it was in this citadel that the ancient emperors of germany used oftentimes to reside, and make carousal, and when i saw, now, scarcely anything but dark passages, unfurnished galleries, naked halls, and untenanted chambers--i own that i could hardly refrain from uttering a sigh over the mutability of earthly fashions, and the transitoriness of worldly grandeur. with a rock for its base, and walls almost of adamant for its support--situated also upon an eminence which may be said to look frowningly down over a vast sweep of country--the citadel of nuremberg should seem to have bid defiance, in former times, to every assault of the most desperate and enterprising foe. it is now visited only by the casual traveler--who is frequently startled at the echo of his own footsteps. while i am on the subject of ancient art--of which so many curious specimens are to be seen in this citadel--it may not be irrelevant to conduct the reader at once to what is called the town hall--a very large structure--of which portions are devoted to the exhibition of old pictures. many of these paintings are in a very suspicious state, from the operations of time and accident; but the great boast of the collection is the "triumphs of maximilian i.," executed by albert dürer--which, however, has by no means escaped injury. i was accompanied in my visit to this interesting collection by mr. boerner, and had particular reason to be pleased by the friendliness of his attentions, and by the intelligence of his observations. a great number of these pictures (as i understood) belonged to a house in which he was a partner; and among them a portrait, by pens, struck me as being singularly admirable and exquisite. the countenance, the dress, the attitude, the drawing and coloring, were as perfect as they well might be. but this collection has also suffered from the transportation of many of its treasures to munich. the rooms, halls, and corridors of this hôtel de ville give you a good notion of municipal grandeur. in the neighborhood of nuremberg--that is to say, scarcely more than an english mile from thence--are the grave and tombstone of albert dürer. the monument is simple and striking. in the churchyard there is a representation of the crucifixion, cut in stone. it was on a fine, calm evening, just after sunset, that i first visited the tombstone of albert dürer; and i shall always remember the sensations, with which that visit was attended, as among the most pleasing and impressive of my life. the silence of the spot--its retirement from the city--the falling shadows of night, and the increasing solemnity of every monument of the dead--together with the mysterious, and even awful, effect produced by the colossal crucifix--but yet, perhaps, more than either, the recollection of the extraordinary talents of the artist, so quietly sleeping beneath my feet--all conspired to produce a train of reflections which may be readily conceived, but not so readily described. if ever a man deserved to be considered as the glory of his age and nation, albert dürer was surely that man. he was, in truth, the shakespeare of his art--for the period. [footnote a: from "a bibliographical, antiquarian and picturesque tour." dibdin's tour was made in .] nuremberg to-day[a] by cecil headlam nuremberg is set upon a series of small slopes in the midst of an undulating, sandy plain, some feet above the sea. here and there on every side fringes and patches of the mighty forest which once covered it are still visible; but for the most part the plain is now freckled with picturesque villages, in which stand old turreted châteaux, with gabled fronts and latticed windows, or it is clothed with carefully cultivated crops or veiled from sight by the smoke which rises from the new-grown forest of factory chimneys. the railway sets us down outside the walls of the city. as we walk from the station toward the frauen thor, and stand beneath the crown of fortified walls three and a half miles in circumference, and gaze at the old gray towers and picturesque confusion of domes, pinnacles and spires, suddenly it seems as if our dream of a feudal city has been realized. there, before us, is one of the main entrances, still between massive gates and beneath archways flanked by stately towers. still to reach it we must cross a moat fifty feet deep and a hundred feet wide. true, the swords of old days have been turned into pruning-hooks; the crenelles and embrasures which once bristled and blazed with cannon are now curtained with brambles and wall-flowers, and festooned with virginia creepers; the galleries are no longer crowded with archers and cross-bowmen; the moat itself has blossomed into a garden, luxuriant with limes and acacias, elders, planes, chestnuts, poplars, walnut, willow and birch trees, or divided into carefully tilled little garden plots. true it is that outside the moat, beneath the smug grin of substantial modern houses, runs that mark of modernity, the electric tram. but let us for the moment forget these gratifying signs of modern prosperity and, turning to the left ere we enter the frauen thor, walk with our eyes on the towers which, with their steep-pitched roofs and myriad shapes and richly colored tiles, mark the intervals in the red-bricked, stone-cased galleries and mighty bastions, till we come to the first beginnings of nuremberg--the castle. there, on the highest eminence of the town, stands that venerable fortress, crowning the red slope of tiles. roofs piled on roofs, their pinnacles, turrets, points and angles heaped one above the other in a splendid confusion, climb the hill which culminates in the varied group of buildings on the castle rock. we have passed the spittler, mohren, haller and neu gates on our way, and we have crossed by the hallerthorbrücke the pegnitz where it flows into the town. before us rise the bold scarps and salient angles of the bastions built by the italian architect, antonio fazuni, called the maltese ( - ). crossing the moat by a wooden bridge which curls round to the right, we enter the town by the thiergärtnerthor. the right-hand corner house opposite us now is albert dürer's house. we turn to the left and go along the obere schmiedgasse till we arrive at the top of a steep hill (burgstrasse). above, on the left, is the castle. we may now either go through the himmels thor to the left, or keeping straight up under the old trees and passing the "mount of olives" on the left, approach the large deep-roofed building between two towers. this is the kaiserstallung, as it is called, the imperial stables, built originally for a granary. the towers are the luginsland (look in the land) on the east, and the fünfeckiger thurm, the five-cornered tower, at the west end (on the left hand as we thus face it). the luginsland was built by the townspeople in the hard winter of . the mortar for building it, tradition says, had to be mixed with salt, so that it might be kept soft and be worked in spite of the severe cold. the chronicles state that one could see right into the burggraf's castle from this tower, and the town was therefore kept informed of any threatening movements on his part. to some extent that was very likely the object in view when the tower was built, but chiefly it must have been intended, as its name indicates, to afford a far look-out into the surrounding country. the granary or kaiserstallung, as it was called later, was erected in , and is referred to by hans behaim as lying between the five-cornered and the luginsland towers. inside the former there is a museum of curiosities (hans sachs' harp) and the famous collection of instruments of torture and the maiden (eiserne jungfrau). the open space adjoining it commands a splendid view to the north. there, too, on the parapet-wall, may be seen the hoof-marks of the horse of the robber-king, ekkelein von gailingen. here for a moment let us pause, consider our position, and endeavor to make out from the conflicting theories of the archeologists something of the original arrangement of the castles and of the significance of the buildings and towers that yet remain. stretching to the east of the rock on which the castle stands is a wide plain, now the scene of busy industrial enterprise, but in old days no doubt a mere district of swamp and forest. westward the rock rises by three shelves to the summit. the entrance to the castle, it is surmised, was originally on the east side, at the foot of the lower plateau and through a tower which no longer exists. opposite this hypothetical gate-way stood the five-cornered tower. the lower part dates, we have seen, from no earlier than the eleventh century. it is referred to as alt-nürnberg (old nuremberg) in the middle ages. the title of "five-cornered" is really somewhat a misnomer, for an examination of the interior of the lower portion of the tower reveals the fact that it is quadrangular. the pentagonal appearance of the exterior is due to the fragment of a smaller tower which once leaned against it, and probably formed the apex of a wing running out from the old castle of the burggrafs. the burggräfliche burg stood below, according to mummenhof, southwest and west of this point. it was burned down in , and the ruined remains of it are supposed to be traceable in the eminence, now overgrown by turf and trees, through which a sort of ravine, closed in on either side by built-up walls, has just brought us from the town to the vestner thor. the burggraf's castle would appear to have been so situated as to protect the approach to the imperial castle (kaiserburg). the exact extent of the former we can not now determine. meisterlin refers to it as a little fort. we may, however, be certain that it reached from the five-cornered tower to the walpurgiskapelle. for this little chapel, east of the open space called the freiung, is repeatedly spoken of as being on the property of the burggrafs. besides their castle proper, which was held at first as a fief of the empire, and afterward came to be regarded as their hereditary, independent property, the burggrafs were also entrusted with the keeping of a tower which commanded the entrance to the castle rock on the country side, perhaps near the site of the present vestner thor. the guard door may have been attached to the tower, the lower portion of which remains to this day, and is called the bailiff's dwelling (burgamtmannswohnung). the exact relationship of the burggraf to the town on the one hand, and to the empire on the other, is somewhat obscure. originally, it would appear, he was merely an imperial officer, administering imperial estates, and looking after imperial interests. in later days he came to possess great power, but this was due not to his position as castellan or castle governor as such, but to the vast private property his position had enabled him to amass and to keep. as the scope and ambitions of the burggrafs increased, and as the smallness of their castle at nuremberg, and the constant friction with the townspeople, who were able to annoy them in many ways, became more irksome, they gave up living at nuremberg, and finally were content to sell their rights and possessions there to the town. beside the guard door of the burggrafs, which together with their castle passed by purchase into the hands of the town ( ), there were various other similar guard towers, such as the one which formerly occupied the present site of the luginsland, or the hasenburg at the so-called himmels thor, or a third which once stood near the deep well on the second plateau of the castle rock. but we do not know how many of these there were, or where they stood, much less at what date they were built. all we do know is that they, as well as the burggrafs' possessions, were purchased in succession by the town, into whose hands by degrees came the whole property of the castle rock. above the ruins of the "little fort" of the burggrafs rises the first plateau of the castle rock. it is surrounded by a wall, strengthened on the south side by a square tower against which leans the walpurgiskapelle. the path to the kaiserburg leads under the wall of the plateau, and is entirely commanded by it and by the quadrangular tower, the lower part of which alone remains and is known by the name of burgamtmannswohnung. the path goes straight to this tower, and at the foot of it is the entrance to the first plateau. then along the edge of this plateau the way winds southward, entirely commanded again by the wall of the second plateau, at the foot of which there probably used to be a trench. over this a bridge led to the gate of the second plateau. the trench has been long since filled in, but the huge round tower which guarded the gate still remains and is the vestner thurm. the vestner thurm of sinwel thurm (sinwel = round), or, as it is called in a charter of the year , the "middle tower," is the only round tower of the burg. it was built in the days of early gothic, with a sloping base, and of roughly flattened stones with a smooth edge. it was partly restored and altered in , when it was made a few feet higher and its round roof was added. it is worth paying the small gratuity required for ascending to the top. the view obtained of the city below is magnificent. the vestner thurm, like the whole imperial castle, passed at length into the care of the town, which kept its tower watch here as early as the fourteenth century. the well which supplied the second plateau with water, the "deep well," as it is called, stands in the center, surrounded by a wall. it is feet deep, hewn out of the solid rock, and is said to have been wrought by the hands of prisoners, and to have been the labor of thirty years. so much we can easily believe as we lean over and count the six seconds that elapse between the time when an object is dropt from the top to the time when it strikes the water beneath. passages lead from the water's edge to the rathaus, by which prisoners came formerly to draw water, and to st. john's churchyard and other points outside the town. the system of underground passages here and in the castle was an important part of the defenses, affording as it did a means of communication with the outer world and as a last extremity, in the case of a siege, a means of escape. meanwhile, leaving the deep well and passing some insignificant modern dwellings, and leaving beneath us on the left the himmelsthor, let us approach the summit of the rock and the buildings of the kaiserburg itself. as we advance to the gateway with the intention of ringing the bell for the castellan, we notice on the left the double chapel, attaching to the heathen tower, the lower part of which is encrusted with what were once supposed to be pagan images. the tower protrudes beyond the face of the third plateau, and its prominence may indicate the width of a trench, now filled in, which was once dug outside the enclosing wall of the summit of the rock. the whole of the south side of this plateau is taken up by the "palast" (the vast hall, two stories high, which, tho it has been repeatedly rebuilt, may in its original structure be traced back as far as the twelfth century), and the "kemnate" or dwelling-rooms which seem to have been without any means of defense. this plateau, like the second, is supplied with a well. but the first object that strikes the eye on entering the court-yard is the ruined limetree, the branches of which once spread their broad and verdant shelter over the whole extent of the quadrangle. on leaving the castle we find ourselves in the burgstrasse, called in the old days unter der veste, which was probably the high street of the old town. off both sides of this street and of the bergstrasse ran narrow crooked little alleys lined with wooden houses of which time and fire have left scarcely any trace. as you wander round the city tracing the line of the old walls, you are struck by the general air of splendor. most of the houses are large and of a massive style of architecture, adorned with fanciful gables and bearing the impress of the period when every inhabitant was a merchant, and every merchant was lodged like a king. the houses of the merchant princes, richly carved both inside and out, tell of the wealth and splendor of nuremberg in her proudest days. but you will also come upon a hundred crooked little streets and narrow alleys, which, tho entrancingly picturesque, tell of yet other days and other conditions. they tell of those early medieval days when the houses were almost all of wood and roofed with straw-thatching or wooden tiles; when the chimneys and bridges alike were built of wood. only here and there a stone house roofed with brick could then be seen. the streets were narrow and crooked, and even in the fifteenth century mostly unpaved. in wet weather they were filled with unfathomable mud, and even tho in the lower part of the town trenches were dug to drain the streets, they remained mere swamps and morasses. in dry weather the dust was even a worse plague than the mud. pig-styes stood in front of the houses; and the streets were covered with heaps of filth and manure and with rotting corpses of animals, over which the pigs wandered at will. street police in fact was practically non-existent. medievalism is undoubtedly better when survived. [footnote a: from "the story of nuremberg." published by e.p. dutton & co.] walls and other fortifications[a] by cecil headlam a glance at the map will show us that nuremberg, as we know it, is divided into two almost equal divisions. they are called after the names of the principal churches, the st. lorenz, and the st. sebald quarter. the original wall included, it will be seen, only a small portion of the northern or st. sebald division. with the growth of the town an extension of the walls and an increase of fortification followed as a matter of course. it became necessary to carry the wall over the pegnitz in order to protect the lorenzkirche and the suburb which was springing up around it. the precise date of this extension of the fortifications can not be fixt. the chronicles attribute it to the twelfth century, in the reign of the first hohenstaufen, konrad iii. no trace of a twelfth-century wall remains; but the chroniclers may, for all that, have been not very wide of the mark. the mud and wood which supplied the material of the wall may have given place to stone in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. however that may be, it will be remembered that the lower part of the white tower, which is the oldest fragment of building we can certainly point to dates from the thirteenth century. all other portions of the second wall clearly indicate the fourteenth century, or later, as the time of their origin.... beyond the white tower the moat was long ago filled up, but the section of it opposite the unschlittplatz remained open for a longer period than the rest, and was called the klettengraben, because of the burdocks which took root there. hereabouts, on a part of the moat, the waizenbräuhaus was built in , which is now the famous freiherrlich von tuchersche brewery. here, too, the unschlitthaus was built at the end of the fifteenth century as a granary. it has since been turned into a school. we have now reached one of the most charming and picturesque bits of nuremberg. once more we have to cross the pegnitz, whose banks are overhung by quaint old houses. their projecting roofs and high gables, their varied chimneys and overhanging balconies from which trail rich masses of creepers, make an entrancing foreground to the towers and the arches of the henkersteg. the wall was carried on arches over the southern arm of the pegnitz to the point of the saumarkt (or trödelmarkt) island which here divides the river, and thence in like manner over the northern arm. the latter portion of it alone survives and comprises a large tower on the north bank called the wasserthurm, which was intended to break the force of the stream; a bridge supported by two arches over the stream, which was the henkersteg, the habitation of the hangman, and on the island itself a smaller tower, which formed the point of support for the original, southern pair of arches, which joined the unschlitthaus, but were so badly damaged in by the high flood that they were demolished and replaced by a wooden, and later by an iron bridge. somewhere in the second half of the fourteenth century, then, in the reign of karl iv., they began to build the outer enceinte, which, altho destroyed at many places and broken through by modern gates and entrances, is still fairly well preserved, and secures to nuremberg the reputation of presenting most faithfully of all the larger german towns the characteristics of a medieval town. the fortifications seem to have been thrown up somewhat carelessly at first, but dread of the hussites soon inspired the citizens to make themselves as secure as possible. in times of war and rumors of war all the peasants within a radius of two miles of the town were called upon to help in the construction of barriers and ramparts. the whole circle of walls, towers, and ditches was practically finished by , when with pardonable pride tucher wrote, "in this year was completed the ditch round the town. it took twenty-six years to build, and it will cost an enemy a good deal of trouble to cross it." part of the ditch had been made and perhaps revetted as early as , but it was not till twenty years later that it began to be dug to the enormous breadth and depth which it boasts to-day. the size of it was always a source of pride to nurembergers, and it was perhaps due to this reason that up till as recently as it was left perfectly intact. on the average it is about feet broad. it was always intended to be a dry ditch, and, so far from there being any arrangements for flooding it, precautions were taken to carry the little fischbach, which formerly entered the town near the modern sternthor, across the ditch in a trough. the construction of the ditch was provided for by an order of the council in , to the effect that all householders, whether male or female, must work at the ditch one day in the year with their children of over twelve years of age, and with all their servants, male or female. those who were not able to work had to pay a substitute. subsequently this order was changed to the effect that every one who could or would not work must pay ten pfennige. there were no exemptions from this liturgy, whether in favor of councillor, official, or lady. the order remained ten years in force, tho the amount of the payment was gradually reduced.... at the time of the construction of these and the other lofty towers it was still thought that the raising of batteries as much as possible would increase their effect. in practise the plunging fire from platforms at the height of some eighty feet above the level of the parapets of the town wall can hardly have been capable of producing any great effect, more especially if the besieging force succeeded in establishing itself on the crest of the counterscarp of the ditches, since from that point the swell of the bastions masked the towers. but there was another use for these lofty towers. the fact is that the nuremberg engineers, at the time that they were built, had not yet adopted a complete system of flank-works, and not having as yet applied with all its consequences the axiom that that which defends should itself be defended, they wanted to see and command their external defenses from within the body of the place, as, a century before, the baron could see from the top of his donjon whatever was going on round the walls of his castle, and send up his support to any point of attack. the great round towers of nuremberg are more properly, in fact, detached keeps than portions of a combined system, rather observatories than effective defenses. the round towers, however, were not the sole defenses of the gates. outside each one of them was a kind of fence of pointed beams after the manner of a chevaux-de-frise, while outside the ditch and close to the bridge stood a barrier, by the side of which was a guard-house. tho it was not till that all the main gates were fitted with drawbridges, the wooden bridges that served before that could doubtless easily be destroyed in cases of emergency. double-folding doors and portcullises protected the gateways themselves. once past there, the enemy was far from being in the town, for the road led through extensive advanced works, presenting, as in the case of the laufer thor outwork, a regular "place d'armes." further, the road was so engineered as not to lead in a straight line from the outer main gates to the inner ones, but rather so as to pursue a circuitous course. thus the enemy in passing through from the one to the other were exposed as long as possible to the shots and projectiles of the defenders, who were stationed all round the walls and towers flanking the advanced tambour. this arrangement may be traced very clearly at the frauen thor to-day. the position of the round tower, it will be observed, was an excellent one for commanding the road from the outer to the inner gate. at intervals of every or feet the interior wall is broken by quadrilateral towers. some eighty-three of these, including the gate towers, can still be traced. what the number was originally we do not know. it is the sort of subject on which chroniclers have no manner of conscience. the hartmann schedel chronicle, for instance, gives nuremberg towers in all. the fact that there are days in the year is of course sufficient proof of this assertion! the towers, which rise two or even three stories above the wall, communicated on both sides with the covered way. they are now used as dwelling-houses. on some of them there can still be seen, projecting near the roof, two little machicoulis turrets, which served as guard-rooms for observing the enemy, and also, by overhanging the base of the tower, enabled the garrison to hurl down on their assailants at the foot of the wall a hurricane of projectiles of every sort. like the wall the towers are built almost entirely of sandstone, but on the side facing the town they are usually faced with brick. the shapes of the roofs vary from flat to pointed, but the towers themselves are simple and almost austere in form in comparison with those generally found in north germany, where fantasy runs riot in red brick. the nuremberg towers were obviously intended in the first place for use rather than for ornament. at the end of our long perambulations of the walls it will be a grateful relief to sit for a while at one of the "restaurations" or restaurants on the walls. there, beneath the shade of acacias in the daytime, or in the evening by the white light of incandescent gas, you may sit and watch the groups of men, women, and children all drinking from their tall glasses of beer, and you may listen to the whirr and ting-tang of the electric cars, where the challenge of sentinels or the cry of the night-watchman was once the most frequent sound. or, if you have grown tired of the horn- and the schloss-zwinger, cross the ditch on the west side of the town and make your way to the rosenau, in the fürtherstrasse. the rosenau is a garden of trees and roses not lacking in chairs and tables, in bowers, benches, and a band. there, too, you will see the good burgher with his family drinking beer, eating sausages, and smoking contentedly. [footnote a: from "the story of nuremberg." published by e.p. dutton & co.] albert dÜrer[a] by cecil headlam among the most treasured of nuremberg's relics is the low-ceilinged, gabled house near the thiergärtnerthor, in which albert dürer lived and died, in the street now called after his name. the works of art which he presented to the town, or with which he adorned its churches, have unfortunately, with but few exceptions, been sold to the stranger. it is in vienna and munich, in dresden and berlin, in florence, in prague, or the british museum, that we find splendid collections of dürer's works. not at nuremberg. but here at any rate we can see the house in which he toiled--no genius ever took more pains--and the surroundings which imprest his mind and influenced his inspiration. if, in the past, nuremberg has been only too anxious to turn his works into cash, to-day she guards albert dürer's house with a care and reverence little short of religious. she has sold, in the days of her poverty and foolishness, the master's pictures and drawings, which are his own best monument; but she has set up a noble monument to his memory (by rauch, ) in the dürer platz, and his house is opened to the public between the hours of a.m. and p.m., and and p.m. on week days. the albert-dürer-haus society has done admirable work in restoring and preserving the house in its original state with the aid of professor wanderer's architectural and antiquarian skill. reproductions of dürer's works are also kept here. the most superficial acquaintance with dürer's drawings will have prepared us for the sight of his simple, unpretentious house and its contents. in his "birth of the virgin" he gives us a picture of the german home of his day, where there were few superfluous knick-knacks, but everything which served for daily use was well and strongly made and of good design. ceilings, windows, doors and door-handles, chests, locks, candlesticks, banisters, waterpots, the very cooking utensils, all betray the fine taste and skilled labor, the personal interest of the man who made them. so in dürer's house, as it is preserved to-day, we can still see and admire the careful simplicity of domestic furniture, which distinguishes that in the "birth of the virgin." the carved coffers, the solid tables, the spacious window-seats, the well-fitting cabinets let into the walls, the carefully wrought metal-work we see there are not luxurious; their merit is quite other than that. in workmanship as in design, how utterly do they put to shame the contents of the ordinary "luxuriously furnished apartments" of the present day! and what manner of man was he who lived in this house that nestles beneath the ancient castle? in the first place a singularly loveable man, a man of sweet and gentle spirit, whose life was one of high ideals and noble endeavor. in the second place an artist who, both for his achievements and for his influence on art, stands in the very front rank of artists, and of german artists is "facile princeps." at whatever point we may study dürer and his works we are never conscious of disappointment. as painter, as author, as engraver, or simple citizen, the more we know of him the more we are morally and intellectually satisfied. fortunately, through his letters and writings, his journals and autobiographical memoirs we know a good deal about his personal history and education. dürer's grandfather came of a farmer race in the village of eytas in hungary. the grandfather turned goldsmith, and his eldest son, albrecht dürer the elder, came to nuremberg in and settled in the burgstrasse (no. ). he became one of the leading goldsmiths of the town; married and had eighteen children, of whom only three, boys, grew up. albrecht, or as we call him albert dürer, was the eldest of these. he was born may , , in his father's house, and anthoni koberger, the printer and bookseller, the stein of those days, stood godfather to him. the maintenance of so large a family involved the father, skilful artist as he was, in unremitting toil. his father, who was delighted with albert's industry, took him from school as soon as he had learned to read and write and apprenticed him to a goldsmith. "but my taste drew me toward painting rather than toward goldsmithry. i explained this to my father, but he was not satisfied, for he regretted the time i had lost." benvenuto cellini has told us how his father, in like fashion, was eager that he should practise the "accurst art" of music. dürer's father, however, soon gave in and in apprenticed the boy to michael wolgemut. that extraordinary beautiful, and, for a boy of that age, marvelously executed portrait of himself at the age of thirteen (now at vienna) must have shown the father something of the power that lay undeveloped in his son. so "it was arranged that i should serve him for three years. during that time god gave me great industry so that i learned many things; but i had to suffer much at the hands of the other apprentices." when in his apprenticeship was completed dürer set out on his wanderjahre, to learn what he could of men and things, and, more especially, of his own trade. martin schongauer was dead, but under that master's brothers dürer studied and helped to support himself by his art at colmar and at bâsle. various wood-blocks executed by him at the latter place are preserved there. whether he also visited venice now or not is a moot point. here or elsewhere, at any rate, he came under the influence of the bellini, of mantegna, and more particularly of jacopo dei barbari--the painter and engraver to whom he owed the incentive to study the proportions of the human body--a study which henceforth became the most absorbing interest of his life. "i was four years absent from nuremberg," he records, "and then my father recalled me. after my return hans frey came to an understanding with my father. he gave me his daughter agnes and with her florins, and we were married." dürer, who writes so lovingly of his parents, never mentions his wife with any affection; a fact which to some extent confirms her reputation as a xantippe. she, too, in her way, it is suggested, practised the art of cross-hatching. pirkheimer, writing after the artist's death, says that by her avariciousness and quarreling nature she brought him to the grave before his day. she was probably a woman of a practical and prosaic turn, to whom the dreamy, poetic, imaginative nature of the artist-student, her husband, was intolerably irritating. yet as we look at his portraits of himself--and no man except rembrandt has painted himself so often--it is difficult to understand how any one could have been angry with albert dürer. never did the face of man bear a more sweet, benign, and trustful expression. in those portraits we see something of the beauty, of the strength, of the weakness of the man so beloved in his generation. his fondness for fine clothes and his legitimate pride in his personal beauty reveal themselves in the rich vestments he wears and the wealth of silken curls, so carefully waved, so wondrously painted, falling proudly over his free neck. [footnote a: from "the story of nuremberg." published by e.p. dutton & co.] iii other bavarian cities munich[a] by bayard taylor art has done everything for munich. it lies on a large flat plain sixteen hundred feet above the sea and continually exposed to the cold winds from the alps. at the beginning of the present century it was but a third-rate city, and was rarely visited by foreigners; since that time its population and limits have been doubled and magnificent edifices in every style of architecture erected, rendering it scarcely secondary in this respect to any capital in europe.[b] every art that wealth or taste could devise seems to have been spent in its decoration. broad, spacious streets and squares have been laid out, churches, halls and colleges erected, and schools of painting and sculpture established which draw artists from all parts of the world. all this was principally brought about by the taste of the present king, ludwig i., who began twenty or thirty years ago, when he was crown-prince, to collect the best german artists around him and form plans for the execution of his grand design. he can boast of having done more for the arts than any other living monarch; and if he had accomplished it all without oppressing his people, he would deserve an immortality of fame.... we went one morning to see the collection of paintings formerly belonging to eugène beauharnais, who was brother-in-law to the present king of bavaria, in the palace of his son, the duke of leuchtenberg. the first hall contains works principally by french artists, among which are two by gérard--a beautiful portrait of josephine, and the blind belisarius carrying his dead companion. the boy's head lies on the old man's shoulder; but for the livid paleness of his limbs, he would seem to be only asleep, while a deep and settled sorrow marks the venerable features of the unfortunate emperor. in the middle of the room are six pieces of statuary, among which canova's world-renowned group of the graces at once attracts the eye. there is also a kneeling magdalen, lovely in her wo, by the same sculptor, and a very touching work of schadow representing a shepherd-boy tenderly binding his sash around a lamb which he has accidentaly wounded with his arrow. we have since seen in the st. michael's church the monument to eugene beauharnais from the chisel of thorwaldsen. the noble, manly figure of the son of josephine is represented in the roman mantle, with his helmet and sword lying on the ground by him. on one side sits history writing on a tablet; on the other stand the two brother-angels death and immortality. they lean lovingly together, with arms around each other, but the sweet countenance of death has a cast of sorrow as he stands with inverted torch and a wreath of poppies among his clustering locks. immortality, crowned with never-fading flowers, looks upward with a smile of triumph, and holds in one hand his blazing torch. it is a beautiful idea, and thorwaldsen has made the marble eloquent with feeling. the inside of the square formed by the arcades and the new residence is filled with noble old trees which in summer make a leafy roof over the pleasant walks. in the middle stands a grotto ornamented with rough pebbles and shells, and only needing a fountain to make it a perfect hall of neptune. passing through the northern arcade, one comes into the magnificent park called the english garden, which extends more than four miles along the bank of the isar, several branches of whose milky current wander through it and form one or two pretty cascades. it is a beautiful alteration of forest and meadow, and has all the richness and garden-like luxuriance of english scenery. winding walks lead along the isar or through the wood of venerable oaks, and sometimes a lawn of half a mile in length, with a picturesque temple at its farther end, comes in sight through the trees. the new residence is not only one of the wonders of munich, but of the world. altho commenced in and carried on constantly since that time by a number of architects, sculptors and painters, it is not yet finished; if art were not inexhaustible, it would be difficult to imagine what more could be added. the north side of the max joseph platz is taken up by its front of four hundred and thirty feet, which was nine years in building, under the direction of the architect klenze. the exterior is copied after the palazzo pitti, in florence. the building is of light-brown sandstone, and combines an elegance, and even splendor, with the most chaste and classic style. the northern front, which faces the royal garden, is now nearly finished. it has the enormous length of eight hundred feet; in the middle is a portico of ten ionic columns. instead of supporting a triangular façade, each pillar stands separate and bears a marble statue from the chisel of schwanthaler. the interior of the building does not disappoint the promise of the outside. it is open every afternoon, in the absence of the king, for the inspection of visitors. we went early to the waiting-hall, where several travelers were already assembled, and at four o'clock were admitted into the newer part of the palace, containing the throne-hall, ball-room, etc. on entering the first hall, designed for the lackeys and royal servants, we were all obliged to thrust our feet into cloth slippers to walk over the polished mosaic floor. the walls are of scagliola marble and the ceilings ornamented brilliantly in fresco. the second hall, also for servants, gives tokens of increasing splendors in the richer decorations of the walls and the more elaborate mosaic of the floor. we next entered the audience chamber, in which the court-marshal receives the guests. the ceiling is of arabesque sculpture profusely painted and gilded.... finally we entered the hall of the throne. here the encaustic decoration so plentifully employed in the other rooms is dropt, and an effect even more brilliant obtained by the united use of marble and gold. picture a long hall with a floor of polished marble, on each side twelve columns of white marble with gilded capitals, between which stand colossal statues of gold. at the other end is the throne of gold and crimson, with gorgeous hangings of crimson velvet. the twelve statues in the hall are called the "wittelsbach ancestors" and represent renowned members of the house of wittelsbach from which the present family of bavaria is descended. they were cast in bronze by stiglmaier after the models of schwanthaler, and then completely covered with a coating of gold; so that they resemble solid golden statues. the value of the precious metal on each one is about three thousand dollars, as they are nine feet in height. we visited yesterday morning the glyptothek, the finest collection of ancient sculpture except that in the british museum i have yet seen, and perhaps elsewhere unsurpassed north of the alps. the building, which was finished by klenze in , has an ionic portico of white marble, with a group of allegorical figures representing sculpture and the kindred arts. on each side of the portico there are three niches in the front, containing on one side pericles, phidias and vulcan; on the other, hadrian, prometheus and daedalus. the whole building forms a hollow square and is lighted entirely from the inner side. there are in all twelve halls, each containing the remains of a particular era in the art, and arranged according to time; so that, beginning with the clumsy productions of the ancient egyptians, one passes through the different stages of grecian art, afterward that of rome, and finally ends with the works of our own times--the almost grecian perfection of thorwaldsen and canova. these halls are worthy to hold such treasures, and what more could be said of them? the floors are of marble mosaic, the sides of green or purple scagliola and the vaulted ceilings covered with raised ornaments on a ground of gold. no two are alike in color and decoration, and yet there is a unity of taste and design in the whole which renders the variety delightful. from the egyptian hall we enter one containing the oldest remains of grecian sculpture, before the artists won power to mold the marble to their conceptions. then follow the celebrated aegina marbles, from the temple of jupiter panhellenius, on the island of aegina. they formerly stood in the two porticoes, the one group representing the fight for the body of laomedon, the other the struggle for the dead patroclus. the parts wanting have been admirably restored by thorwaldsen. they form almost the only existing specimens of the aeginetan school. passing through the apollo hall, we enter the large hall of bacchus, in which the progress of the art is distinctly apparent. a satyr lying asleep on a goatskin which he has thrown over a rock is believed to be the work of praxiteles. the relaxation of the figure and perfect repose of every limb is wonderful. the countenance has traits of individuality which led me to think it might have been a portrait, perhaps of some rude country swain. in the hall of niobe, which follows, is one of the most perfect works that ever grew into life under a sculptor's chisel. mutilated as it is, without head and arms, i never saw a more expressive figure. ilioneus, the son of niobe, is represented as kneeling, apparently in the moment in which apollo raises his arrow, and there is an imploring supplication in his attitude which is touching in the highest degree. his beautiful young limbs seem to shrink involuntarily from the deadly shaft; there is an expression of prayer, almost of agony, in the position of his body. it should be left untouched. no head could be added which would equal that one pictures to himself while gazing upon it. the pinacothek is a magnificent building of yellow sandstone, five hundred and thirty feet long, containing thirteen hundred pictures selected with great care from the whole private collection of the king, which amounts to nine thousand. above the cornice on the southern side stand twenty-five colossal statues of celebrated painters by schwanthaler. as we approached, the tall bronze door was opened by a servant in the bavarian livery, whose size harmonized so well with the giant proportions of the building that until i stood beside him and could mark the contrast i did not notice his enormous frame. i saw then that he must be near eight feet high and stout in proportion. he reminded me of the great "baver of trient," in vienna. the pinacothek contains the most complete collection of works by old german artists anywhere to be found. there are in the hall of the spanish masters half a dozen of murillo's inimitable beggar-groups. it was a relief, after looking upon the distressingly stiff figures of the old german school, to view these fresh, natural countenances. one little black-eyed boy has just cut a slice out of a melon, and turns with a full mouth to his companion, who is busy eating a bunch of grapes. the simple, contented expression on the faces of the beggars is admirable. i thought i detected in a beautiful child with dark curly locks the original of his celebrated infant st. john. i was much interested in two small juvenile works of raphael and his own portrait. the latter was taken, most probably, after he became known as a painter. the calm, serious smile which we see on his portrait as a boy had vanished, and the thin features and sunken eye told of intense mental labor. [footnote a: from "views afoot." published by g.p. putnam's sons.] [footnote b: this was written about . the population of munich is now ( ), , . munich is rated as third in importance among german cities.] augsburg[a] by thomas frognall dibdin in ancient times--that is to say, upward of three centuries ago--the city of augsburg was probably the most populous and consequential in the kingdom of bavaria. it was the principal residence of the noblesse, and the great mart of commerce. dukes, barons, nobles of every rank and degree, became domiciled here. a thousand blue and white flags streamed from the tops of castellated mansions, and fluttered along the then almost impregnable ramparts. it was also not less remarkable for the number and splendor of its religious establishments. here was a cathedral, containing twenty-four chapels; and an abbey or monastery (of saints ulric and afra) which had no rival in bavaria for the size of its structure and the wealth of its possessions. this latter contained a library, both of mss. and printed books, of which the recent work of braun has luckily preserved a record; and which, but for such record, would have been unknown to after ages. the treasures of this library are now entirely dispersed; and munich, the capital of bavaria, is the grand repository of them. augsburg, in the first instance, was enriched by the dilapidations of numerous monasteries; especially upon the suppression of the order of the jesuits. the paintings, books, and relics, of every description, of such monasteries as were in the immediate vicinity of this city, were taken away to adorn the town hall, churches, capitals and libraries. of this collection (of which no inconsiderable portion, both for number and intrinsic value, came from the neighboring monastery of eichstadt), there has of course been a pruning; and many flowers have been transplanted to munich. the principal church, at the end of the maximilian street, is that which once formed the chief ornament of the famous abbey of sts. ulric and afra. i should think that there is no portion of the present building older than the fourteenth century; while it is evident that the upper part of the tower is of the middle of the sixteenth. it has a nearly globular or mosque-shaped termination--so common in the greater number of the bavarian churches. it is frequented by congregations both of the catholic and protestant persuasion; and it was highly gratifying to see, as i saw, human beings assembled under the same roof, equally occupied in their different forms of adoration, in doing homage to their common creator. augsburg was once distinguished for great learning and piety, as well as for political consequence; and she boasts of a very splendid martyrological roll. at the present day, all is comparatively dull and quiet; but you can not fail to be struck with the magnificence of many of the houses, and the air of importance hence given to the streets; while the paintings upon the outer walls add much to the splendid effect of the whole. the population of augsburg is supposed to amount to about thirty thousand. in the time of maximilian and charles v. it was, i make no doubt, twice as numerous.[b] [footnote a: from "a bibliographical, antiquarian and picturesque taur," published in .] [footnote b: augsburg has now ( ) a population of , . woolen and cotton goods and machinery are its manufactured products.] ratisbon[a] by thomas frognall dibdin it was dark when we entered ratisbon, and, having been recommended to the hotel of the agneau blanc, we drove thither, and alighted--close to the very banks of the danube--and heard the roar of its rapid stream, turning several mills, close, as it were, to our very ears. the master of the hotel, whose name is cramer, and who talked french very readily, received us with peculiar courtesy; and, on demanding the best situated room in the house, we were conducted on the second floor, to a chamber which had been occupied, only two or three days before, by the emperor of austria himself, on his way to aix-la-chapelle. the next morning was a morning of wonder to us. our sitting-room, which was a very lantern, from the number of windows, gave us a view of the rushing stream of the danube, of a portion of the bridge over it, of some beautifully undulating and vine-covered hills, in the distance, on the opposite side--and, lower down the stream, of the town walls and water-mills, of which latter we had heard the stunning sounds on our arrival. the whole had a singularly novel and pleasing appearance. the town hall was large and imposing; but the cathedral, surrounded by booths--it being fair-time--was, of course, the great object of my attention. in short, i saw enough within an hour to convince me that i was visiting a large, curious, and well-peopled town; replete with antiquities, and including several of the time of the romans, to whom it was necessarily a very important station. ratisbon is said to contain a population of about , souls.[b] the cathedral can boast of little antiquity. it is almost a building of yesterday; yet it is large, richly ornamented on the outside, especially on the west, between the towers--and is considered one of the noblest structures of the kind in bavaria. the interior wants that decisive effect which simplicity produces. it is too much broken into parts, and covered with monuments of a very heterogeneous description. near it i traced the cloisters of an old convent or monastery of some kind, now demolished, which could not be less than five hundred years old. the streets of ratisbon are generally picturesque, as well from their undulating forms, as from the antiquity of a great number of the houses. the modern parts of the town are handsome, and there is a pleasant intermixture of trees and grass plats in some of these more recent portions. there are some pleasing public walks, after the english fashion; and a public garden, where a colossal sphinx, erected by the late philosopher gleichen, has a very imposing appearance. here is also an obelisk erected to the memory of gleichen himself, the founder of these gardens; and a monument to the memory of kepler, the astronomer; which latter was luckily spared in the assault of this town by the french in . but these are, comparatively, every-day objects. a much more interesting source of observation, to my mind, were the very few existing relics of the once celebrated monastery of st. emmeram--and a great portion of the remains of another old monastery, called st. james--which latter may indeed be designated the college of the jacobites; as the few members who inhabit it were the followers of the house and fortunes of the pretender, james stuart. the monastery or abbey of st. emmeram was one of the most celebrated throughout europe; and i suspect that its library, both of mss. and printed books, was among the principal causes of its celebrity. of all interesting objects of architectural antiquity in ratisbon, none struck me so forcibly--and, indeed, none is in itself so curious and singular--as the monastery of st. james. the front of that portion of it, connected with the church, should seem to be of an extremely remote antiquity. it is the ornaments, or style of architecture, which give it this character of antiquity. the ornaments, which are on each side of the doorway, or porch, are quite extraordinary. [footnote a: from "a bibliographical, antiquarian and picturesque tour," published in .] [footnote b: ratisbon has now ( ) a population of , . its manufactured products consist chiefly of pottery and lead pencils.] iv berlin and elsewhere a look at the german capital[a] by theophile gautier the train spins along across great plains gilded by the setting sun; soon night comes, and with it, sleep. at stations remote from one another, german voices shout german names; i do not recognize them by the sound, and look for them in vain upon the map. magnificent great station buildings are shown up by gaslight in the midst of surrounding darkness, then disappear. we pass hanover and minden; the train keeps on its way; and morning dawns. on either side stretched a peat-moss, upon which the mist was producing a singular mirage. we seemed to be upon a causeway traversing an immense lake whose waves crept up gently, dying in transparent folds along the edge of the embankment. here and there a group of trees or a cottage, emerging like an island, completed the illusion, for such it was. a sheet of bluish mist, floating a little above the ground and curling up along its upper surface under the rays of the sun, caused this aqueous phantasmagoria, resembling the fata morgana of sicily. in vain did my geographical knowledge protest, disconcerted, against this inland sea, which no map of prussia indicates; my eyes would not give it up, and later in the day, when the sun, rising higher, had dried up this imaginary lake, they required the presence of a boat to make them admit that any body of water could be real. suddenly upon the left were massed the trees of a great park; tritons and nereids appeared, dabbling in the basin of a fountain; there was a dome and a circle of columns rising above extensive buildings; and this was potsdam.... a few moments later we were in berlin, and a fiacre set me down at the hotel. one of the keenest pleasures of a traveler is that first drive through a hitherto unknown city, destroying or confirming his preconceived idea of it. all that is peculiar and characteristic seizes upon the yet virgin eye, whose perceptive power is never more clear. my idea of berlin had been drawn in great measure from hoffman's fantastic stories. in spite of myself, a berlin, strange and grotesque, peopled with aulic councillors, sandmen, kreislers, archivist lindursts, and student anselms, had reared itself within my brain, amid a fog of tobacco-smoke; and there before me was a city regularly built, stately, with wide streets, extensive public grounds, and imposing edifices of a style half-english, half-german, and modern to the last degree. as we drove along i glanced down into those cellars, with steps so polished, so slippery, so well-soaped, that one might slide in as into the den of an ant-lion--to see if i might not discover hoffman himself seated on a tun, his feet crossed upon the bowl of his gigantic pipe, and surrounded by a tangle of grotesque chimeras, as he is represented in the vignette of the french translation of his stories; and, to tell the truth, there was nothing of the kind in these subterranean shops whose proprietors were just opening their doors! the cats, of benignant aspect, rolled no phosphorescent eyeballs, like the cat murr in the story, and they seemed quite incapable of writing their memoirs, or of deciphering a score of richard wagner's. these handsome stately houses, which are like palaces, with their columns and pediments and architraves, are built of brick for the most part, for stone seems rare in berlin; but the brick is covered with cement or tinted stucco, to simulate hewn stone; deceitful seams indicate imaginary layers, and the illusion would be complete, were it not that in spots the winter frosts have detached the cement, revealing the red shades of the baked clay. the necessity of painting the whole façade, in order to mask the nature of the material, gives the effect of enormous architectural decorations seen in open air. the salient parts, moldings, cornices, entablatures, consoles, are of wood, bronze, or cast-iron, to which suitable forms have been given; when you do not look too closely the effect is satisfactory. truth is the only thing lacking in all this splendor. the palatial buildings which border regent's park in london present also these porticoes, and these columns with brick cores and plaster-fluting, which, by aid of a coating of oil paint, are expected to pass for stone or marble. why not build in brick frankly, since its water-coloring and capacity for ingeniously varied arrangement furnish so many resources? even in berlin i have seen charming houses of this kind which had the advantage of being truthful. a fictitious material always inspires a certain uneasiness. the hotel is very well located, and i propose to sketch the view seen from its steps. it will give a fair idea of the general character of the city. the foreground is a quay bordering the spree. a few boats with slender masts are sleeping on the brown water. vessels upon a canal or a river, in the heart of a city, have always a charming effect. along the opposite quay stretches a line of houses; a few of them are ancient, and bear the stamp thereof; the king's palace makes the corner. a cupola upon an octagonal tower rises proudly above the other roofs, the square sides of the tower adding grace to the curve of the dome. a bridge spans the river, reminding me, with its white marble groups, of the ponte san angelo at rome. these groups--eight in number, if my memory does not deceive me--are each composed of two figures; one allegorical, winged, representing the country, or glory; the other, a young man, guided through many trials to victory or immortality. these groups, in purely classic taste, are not wanting in merit, and show in some parts good study of the nude; their pedestals are ornamented with medallions, whereon the prussian eagle, half-real, half-heraldic, makes a fine appearance. considered as a decoration, the whole is, in my opinion, somewhat too rich for the simplicity of the bridge, which opens midway to allow the passage of vessels. farther on, through the trees of a public garden of some kind, appears the old museum, a great structure in the greek style, with doric columns relieved against a painted background. at the corners of the roof, bronze horses held by grooms are outlined upon the sky. behind this building, and looking sideways, you perceive the triangular pediment of the new museum. on crossing the bridge, the dark façade of the palace comes in view, with its balustraded terrace; the carvings around the main entrance are in that old, exaggerated german rococo which i have seen before and have admired in the palace in dresden. this kind of barbaric taste has something charming about it, and entertains the eye, satiated with chefs d'oeuvre. it has invention, fancy, originality; and tho i may be censured for the opinion, i confess i prefer this exuberance to the coldness of the greek style imitated with more erudition than success in our modern public buildings. at each side stand great bronze horses pawing the ground, and held by naked grooms. i visited the apartments of the palace; they are rich and elegant, but present nothing interesting to the artist save their ancient recessed ceilings filled with curious figures and arabesques. in the concert-hall there is a musicians' gallery in grotesque carving, silvered; its effect is really charming. silver is not used enough in decorations; it is a relief from the classic gold, and forms admirable combinations with colors. the chapel, whose dome rises above the rest of the building, is well planned and well lighted, comfortable, reasonably decorated. let us cross the square and take a look at the museum, admiring, as we pass, an immense porphyry vase standing on cubes of the same material, in front of the steps which lead up to the portico. this portico is painted in fresco by various hands, under the direction of the celebrated peter cornelius. the paintings form a broad frieze, folding itself back at each end upon the side wall of the portico, and interrupted in the middle to give access to the museum. the portion on the left contains a whole poem of mythologic cosmogony, treated with that philosophy and that erudition which the germans carry into compositions of this kind; the right, purely anthropologie, represents the birth, development, and evolution of humanity. if i were to describe in detail these two immense frescoes, you would certainly be charmed with the ingenious invention, the profound knowledge, and the excellent judgment of the artist. the mysteries of the early creation are penetrated, and everything is faultlessly scientific. also, if i should show you them in the form of those fine german engravings, the lines heightened by delicate shadows, the execution as accurate as that of albrecht dürer, the tone light and harmonious, you would admire the ordering of the composition, balanced with so much art, the groups skilfully united one to another, the ingenious episodes, the wise selection of the attributes, the significance of each separate thing; you might even find grandeur of style, an air of magisterial dignity, fine effects of drapery, proud attitudes, well-marked types, muscular audacities à la michel angelo, and a certain germanic savagery of fine flavor. you would be struck with this free handling of great subjects, this vast conceptive power, this carrying out of an idea, which french painters so often lack; and you would think of cornelius almost as highly as the germans do. but in the presence of the work itself, the impression is completely different. i am well aware that fresco-painting, even in the hands of the italian masters, skilful as they were in the technical details of their art, has not the charm of oil. the eye must become habituated to this rude, lustreless coloring, before we can discern its beauties. many people who never say so--for nothing is more rare than the courage to avow a feeling or an opinion--find the frescoes of the vatican and the sistine frightful; but the great names of michel angelo and raphael impose silence upon them; they murmur vague formulas of enthusiasm, and go off to rhapsodize--this time with sincerity--over some magdalen of guido, or some madonna of carlo dolce. i make large allowance, therefore, for this unattractive aspect which belongs to fresco-painting; but in this case, the execution is by far too repulsive. the mind may be content, but the eye suffers. painting, which is altogether a plastic art, can express its ideal only through forms and colors. to think is not enough; something must be done.... [illustration: berlin: unter den linden] [illustration: berlin: the brandenburg gate] [illustration: berlin: the royal castle and emperor william bridge] [illustration: berlin: the white hall in the royal castle] [illustration: berlin: the national gallery and frederick's bridge] [illustration: berlin: the gendarmenmarkt] [illustration: the column of victory in berlin] [illustration: the mausoleum at charlottenburg] [illustration: the new palace at potsdam] [illustration: the castle of sans souci, potsdam] [illustration: the cathedral of aix-la-chapelle, tomb of charlemagne] [illustration: the royal palace of schÖnbrunn, near vienna (the man on the sidewalk at the left is the emperor francis joseph)] [illustration: salzburg, austria] i shall not now give an inventory of the museum in berlin, which is rich in pictures and statues; to do this would require more space than is at my command. we find represented here, more or less favorably, all the great masters, the pride of royal galleries. but the most remarkable thing in this collection is the very numerous and very complete collection of the primitive painters of all countries and all schools, from the byzantine down to those which immediately precede the renaissance. the old german school, so little known in france, and on many accounts so curious, is to be studied to better advantage here than anywhere else. a rotunda contains tapestries after designs by raphael, of which the original cartoons are now in hampton court. the staircase of the new museum is decorated with those remarkable frescoes by kaulbach, which the art of engraving and the universal exposition have made so well known in france. we all remember the cartoon entitled "the dispersion of races," and all paris has admired, in goupil's window that poetic "defeat of the huns," where the strife begun between the living warriors is carried on amidst the disembodied souls that hover above that battlefield strewn with the dead. "the destruction of jerusalem" is a fine composition, tho somewhat too theatrical. it resembles a "close of the fifth act" much more than beseems the serious character of fresco painting. in the panel which represents hellenic civilization, homer is the central figure; this composition pleased me least of all. other paintings as yet unfinished present the climacteric epochs of humanity. the last of these will be almost contemporary, for when a german begins to paint, universal history comes under review; the great italian painters did not need so much in achieving their master-pieces. but each civilization has its peculiar tendencies, and this encyclopedic painting is a characteristic of the present time. it would seem that, before flinging itself into its new career, the world has felt the necessity of making a synthesis of its past.... this staircase, which is of colossal size, is ornamented with casts from the finest antiques. copies of the metopes of the pantheon and friezes from the temple of theseus are set into its walls, and upon one of the landings stands the pandrosion, with all the strong and tranquil beauty of its caryatides. the effect of the whole is very grand. at the present day there is no longer any visible difference between the people of one country and of another. the uniform domino of civilization is worn everywhere, and no difference in color, no special cut of the garment, notifies you that you are away from home. the men and women whom i met in the street escape description; the flâneurs of the unter den linden are exactly like the flâneurs of the boulevard des italiens. this avenue, bordered by splendid houses, is planted, as its name indicates, with lindens; trees "whose leaf is shaped like a heart," as heinrich heine remarks--a peculiarity which makes unter den linden dear to lovers, and eminently suited for sentimental interviews. at its entrance stands the equestrian statue of frederick the great. like the champs-elysées in paris, this avenue terminates at a triumphal arch, surmounted by a chariot with four bronze horses. passing under the arch, we come out into a park in some degrees resembling the bois de boulogne. along the edge of this park, which is shadowed by great trees having all the intensity of northern verdure, and freshened by a little winding stream, open flower-crowded gardens, in whose depths you can discern summer retreats, which are neither châlets, nor cottages, nor villas, but pompeiian houses with their tetrastylic porticos and panels of antique red. the greek taste is held in high esteem in berlin. on the other hand, they seem to disdain the style of the renaissance, so much in vogue in paris; i saw no edifice of this kind in berlin. night came; and after paying a hasty visit to the zoological garden, where all the animals were asleep, except a dozen long-tailed paroquets and cockatoos, who were screaming from their perches, pluming themselves, and raising their crests, i returned to my hotel to strap my trunk and betake myself to the hamburg railway station, as the train would leave at ten, a circumstance which prevented me from going, as i had intended, to the opera to hear cherubini's "deux journées," and to see louise taglioni dance the sevillana.... for the traveler there are but two ways: the instantaneous proof, or the prolonged study. time failed me for the latter. deign to accept this simple and rapid impression. [footnote a: from "a winter in russia." by permission of, and by arrangement with, the publishers, henry holt & co. copyright, . since gautier wrote, berlin has greatly increased in population and in general importance. what is known as "greater berlin" now embraces about , , souls. many of the quaint two-story houses, which formerly were characteristic of the city, have given way to palatial houses and business blocks. berlin is a thoroughly modern commercial city. it ranks among european cities immediately after london and paris.] charlottenburg[a] by harriet beecher stowe then we drove to charlottenburg to see the mausoleum. i know not when i have been more deeply affected than there; and yet, not so much by the sweet, lifelike statue of the queen as by that of the king, her husband, executed by the same hand.[b] such an expression of long-desired rest, after suffering the toil, is shed over the face--so sweet, so heavenly! there, where he has prayed year after year--hoping, yearning, longing--there, at last, he rests, life's long anguish over! my heart melted as i looked at these two, so long divided--he so long a mourner, she so long mourned--now calmly resting side by side in a sleep so tranquil. we went through the palace. we saw the present king's writing desk and table in his study, just as he left them. his writing establishment is about as plain as yours. men who really mean to do anything do not use fancy tools. his bedroom, also, is in a style of severe simplicity. there were several engravings fastened against the wall; and in the anteroom a bust and medallion of the empress eugenie--a thing which i should not exactly have expected in a born king's palace; but beauty is sacred, and kings can not call it parvenu. then we went into the queen's bed-room, finished in green, and then through the rooms of queen louisa. those marks of her presence, which you saw during the old king's lifetime, are now removed; we saw no traces of her dresses, gloves, or books. in one room, draped in white muslin over pink, we were informed the empress of russia was born. in going out to charlottenburg, we rode through the thiergarten, the tuileries of berlin. in one of the most quiet and sequestered spots is the monument erected by the people of berlin to their old king. the pedestal is carrara marble, sculptured with beautiful scenes called garden pleasures--children in all manner of outdoor sports, and parents fondly looking on. it is graceful, and peculiarly appropriate to those grounds where parents and children are constantly congregating. the whole is surmounted by a statue of the king, in white marble--the finest representation of him i have ever seen. thoughtful, yet benign, the old king seems like a good father keeping a grave and affectionate watch over the pleasures of his children in their garden frolics. there was something about these moss-grown gardens that seemed so rural and pastoral, that i at once preferred them to all i had seen in europe. choice flowers are planted in knots, here and there, in sheltered nooks, as if they had grown by accident: and an air of sweet, natural wildness is left amid the most careful cultivation. the people seemed to be enjoying themselves less demonstratively and with less vivacity than in france, but with a calm inwardness. each nation has its own way of being happy, and the style of life in each bears a certain relation of appropriateness to character. the trim, dressy, animated air of the tuileries suits admirably with the mobile, sprightly vivacity of society there. both, in their way, are beautiful; but this seems less formal, and more according to nature. [footnote a: from "sunny memories of foreign lands."] [footnote b: king frederick william iii. and queen louise are here referred to. since mrs. stowe's visit ( ) the emperor william i. and the empress augusta have been buried in this mausoleum.] leipsic and dresden[a] by bayard taylor i have now been nearly two days in wide-famed leipsic, and the more i see of it, the better i like it. it is a pleasant, friendly town, old enough to be interesting and new enough to be comfortable. there is much active business-life, through which it is fast increasing in size and beauty. its publishing establishments are the largest in the world, and its annual fairs attended by people from all parts of europe. this is much for a city to accomplish situated alone in the middle of a great plain, with no natural charms of scenery or treasures of art to attract strangers. the energy and enterprise of its merchants have accomplished all this, and it now stands in importance among the first cities of europe. on my first walk around the city, yesterday morning, i passed the augustus platz--a broad green lawn on which front the university and several other public buildings. a chain of beautiful promenades encircles the city on the site of its old fortifications. following their course through walks shaded by large trees and bordered with flowering shrubs, i passed a small but chaste monument to sebastian bach, the composer, which was erected almost entirely at the private cost of mendelssohn, and stands opposite the building in which bach once directed the choirs. as i was standing beside it a glorious choral swelled by a hundred voices came through the open windows like a tribute to the genius of the great master. having found my friend, we went together to the sternwarte, or observatory, which gives a fine view of the country around the city, and in particular the battlefield. the castellan who is stationed there is well acquainted with the localities, and pointed out the position of the hostile armies. it was one of the most bloody and hard-fought battles which history records. the army of napoleon stretched like a semicircle around the southern and eastern sides of the city, and the plain beyond was occupied by the allies, whose forces met together here. schwarzenberg, with his austrians, came from dresden; blücher, from halle, with the emperor alexander. their forces amounted to three hundred thousand, while those of napoleon ranked at one hundred and ninety-two thousand men. it must have been a terrific scene. four days raged the battle, and the meeting of half a million of men in deadly conflict was accompanied by the thunder of sixteen hundred cannon. the small rivers which flow through leipsic were swollen with blood, and the vast plain was strewed with more than fifty thousand dead. it is difficult to conceive of such slaughter while looking at the quiet and tranquil landscape below. it seemed more like a legend of past ages, when ignorance and passion led men to murder and destroy, than an event which the last half century witnessed. for the sake of humanity it is to be hoped that the world will never see such another. there are some lovely walks around leipsic. we went yesterday afternoon with a few friends to the rosenthal, a beautiful meadow, bordered by forests of the german oak, very few of whose druid trunks have been left standing. there are swiss cottages embowered in the foliage where every afternoon the social citizens assemble to drink their coffee and enjoy a few hours' escape from the noisy and dusty streets. one can walk for miles along these lovely paths by the side of the velvet meadows or the banks of some shaded stream. we visited the little village of golis, a short distance off, where, in the second story of a little white house, hangs the sign, "schiller's room." some of the leipsic "literati" have built a stone arch over the entrance, with the inscription above: "here dwelt schiller in , and wrote his hymn to joy." everywhere through germany the remembrances of schiller are sacred. in every city where he lived they show his dwelling. they know and reverence the mighty spirit who has been among them. the little room where he conceived that sublime poem is hallowed as if by the presence of unseen spirits. i was anxious to see the spot where poniatowsky fell. we returned over the plain to the city, and passed in at the gate by which the cossacks entered, pursuing the flying french. crossing the lower part, we came to the little river elster, in whose waves the gallant prince sank. the stone bridge by which we crossed was blown up by the french to cut off pursuit. napoleon had given orders that it should not be blown up till the poles had all passed over as the river, tho narrow, is quite deep and the banks are steep. nevertheless, his officers did not wait, and the poles, thus exposed to the fire of the enemy, were obliged to plunge into the stream to join the french army, which had begun retreat toward frankfort. poniatowsky, severely wounded, made his way through a garden near, and escaped on horseback into the water. he became entangled among the fugitives, and sank. by walking a little distance along the road toward frankfort we could see the spot where his body was taken out of the river; it is now marked by a square stone covered with the names of his countrymen who have visited it. we returned through the narrow arched way by which napoleon fled when the battle was lost. another interesting place in leipsic is auerbach's cellar, which, it is said, contains an old manuscript history of faust from which goethe derived the first idea of his poem. he used to frequent this cellar, and one of his scenes in "faust" is laid in it. we looked down the arched passage; not wishing to purchase any wine, we could find no pretense for entering. the streets are full of book-stores, and one-half the business of the inhabitants appears to consist in printing, paper-making and binding. the publishers have a handsome exchange of their own, and during the fairs the amount of business transacted is enormous. at last in this "florence of the elbe," as the saxons have christened it! exclusive of its glorious galleries of art, which are scarcely surpassed by any in europe, dresden charms one by the natural beauty of its environs. it stands in a curve of the elbe, in the midst of green meadows, gardens and fine old woods, with the hills of saxony sweeping around like an amphitheater and the craggy peaks of the highlands looking at it from afar. the domes and spires at a distance give it a rich italian look, which is heightened by the white villas embowered in trees gleaming on the hills around. in the streets there is no bustle of business--nothing of the din and confusion of traffic which mark most cities; it seems like a place for study and quiet enjoyment. the railroad brought us in three hours from leipsic over the eighty miles of plain that intervene. we came from the station through the neustadt, passing the japanese palace and the equestrian statue of augustus the strong. the magnificent bridge over the elbe was so much injured by the late inundation as to be impassable; we were obliged to go some distance up the river-bank and cross on a bridge of boats. next morning my first search was for the picture-gallery. we set off at random, and after passing the church of our lady, with its lofty dome of solid stone, which withstood the heaviest bombs during the war with frederick the great, came to an open square one side of which was occupied by an old brown, red-roofed building which i at once recognized from pictures as the object of our search. i have just taken a last look at the gallery this morning, and left it with real regret; for during the two visits raphael's heavenly picture of the madonna and child had so grown into my love and admiration that it was painful to think i should never see it again. there are many mere which clung so strongly to my imagination, gratifying in the highest degree the love for the beautiful, that i left them with sadness and the thought that i would now only have the memory. i can see the inspired eye and godlike brow of the jesus-child as if i were still standing before the picture, and the sweet, holy countenance of the madonna still looks upon me. yet, tho this picture is a miracle of art, the first glance filled me with disappointment. it has somewhat faded during the three hundred years that have rolled away since the hand of raphael worked on the canvas, and the glass with which it is covered for better preservation injures the effect. after i had gazed on it a while, every thought of this vanished. the figure of the virgin seemed to soar in the air, and it was difficult to think the clouds were not in motion. an aërial lightness clothes her form, and it is perfectly natural for such a figure to stand among the clouds. two divine cherubs look up from below, and in her arms sits the sacred child. those two faces beam from the picture like those of angels. the mild, prophetic eye and lofty brow of the young jesus chain one like a spell. there is something more than mortal in its expression--something in the infant face which indicates a power mightier than the proudest manhood. there is no glory around the head, but the spirit which shines from those features marks its divinity. in the sweet face of the mother there speaks a sorrowful foreboding mixed with its tenderness, as if she knew the world into which the savior was born and foresaw the path in which he was to tread. it is a picture which one can scarce look upon without tears. there are in the same room six pictures by correggio which are said to be among his best works--one of them, his celebrated magdalen. there is also correggio's "holy night," or the virgin with the shepherds in the manger, in which all the light comes from the body of the child. the surprise of the shepherds is most beautifully exprest. in one of the halls there is a picture of van der werff in which the touching story of hagar is told more feelingly than words could do it. the young ishmael is represented full of grief at parting with isaac, who, in childish unconsciousness of what has taken place, draws in sport the corner of his mother's mantle around him and smiles at the tears of his lost playmate. nothing can come nearer real flesh and blood than the two portraits of raphael mengs, painted by himself when quite young. you almost think the artist has in sport crept behind the frame and wishes to make you believe he is a picture. it would be impossible to speak of half the gems of art contained in this unrivalled collection. there are twelve large halls, containing in all nearly two thousand pictures. the plain south of dresden was the scene of the hard-fought battle between napoleon and the allied armies in . on the heights above the little village of räcknitz, moreau was shot on the second day of the battle. we took a footpath through the meadows, shaded by cherry trees in bloom, and reached the spot after an hour's walk. the monument is simple--a square block of granite surmounted by a helmet and sword, with the inscription, "the hero moreau fell here by the side of alexander, august , ," i gathered as a memorial a few leaves of the oak which shades it. by applying an hour before the appointed time, we obtained admission to the royal library. it contains three hundred thousand volumes--among them, the most complete collection of historical works in existence. each hall is devoted to a history of a separate country, and one large room is filled with that of saxony alone. there is a large number of rare and curious manuscripts, among which are old greek works of the seventh and eighth centuries, a koran which once belonged to the sultan bajazet, the handwriting of luther and melanchthon, a manuscript volume with pen-and-ink sketches by albert dürer, and the earliest works after the invention of printing. among these latter was a book published by faust and schaeffer, at mayence, in . there were also mexican manuscripts written on the aloe leaf, and many illuminated monkish volumes of the middle ages. we were fortunate in seeing the grüne gewölbe, or green gallery, a collection of jewels and costly articles unsurpassed in europe. the first hall into which we were ushered contained works in bronze. they were all small, and chosen with regard to their artistical value. some by john of bologna were exceedingly fine, as was also a group in iron cut out of a single block, perhaps the only successful attempt in this branch. the next room contained statues, and vases covered with reliefs in ivory. the most remarkable work was the fall of lucifer and his angels, containing ninety-two figures in all, carved out of a single piece of ivory sixteen inches high. it was the work of an italian monk, and cost him many years of hard labor. there were two tables of mosaic-work that would not be out of place in the fabled halls of the eastern genii, so much did they exceed my former ideas of human skill. the tops were of jasper, and each had a border of fruit and flowers in which every color was represented by some precious stone, all with the utmost delicacy and truth to nature. it is impossible to conceive the splendid effect it produced. besides some fine pictures on gold by raphael mengs, there was a madonna, the largest specimen of enamel-painting in existence. however costly the contents of these halls, they were only an introduction to those which followed. each one exceeded the other in splendor and costliness. the walls were covered to the ceiling with rows of goblets, vases, etc., of polished jasper, agate, and lapis lazuli. splendid mosaic tables stood around with caskets of the most exquisite silver and gold work upon them, and vessels of solid silver, some of them weighing six hundred pounds, were placed at the foot of the columns. we were shown two goblets, each prized at six thousand thalers, made of gold and precious stones; also the great pearl called the "spanish dwarf," nearly as large as a pullet's egg, globes and vases cut entirely out of the mountain-crystal, magnificent nuremberg watches and clocks, and a great number of figures made ingeniously of rough pearls and diamonds. the officer showed me a hen's egg of silver. there was apparently nothing remarkable about it, but by unscrewing it came apart and disclosed the yolk of gold. this again opened, and a golden chicken was seen; by touching a spring a little diamond crown came from the inside, and, the crown being again taken apart, out dropt a valuable diamond ring. the seventh hall contains the coronation-robes of augustus ii. of poland, and many costly specimens of carving in wood. a cherry-stone is shown in a glass case which has one hundred and twenty-five facets, all perfectly finished, carved upon it. the next room we entered sent back a glare of splendor that perfectly dazzled us; it was all gold, diamond, ruby, and sapphire. every case sent out such a glow and glitter that it seemed like a cage of imprisoned lightnings. wherever the eye turned it was met by a blaze of broken rainbows. they were there by hundreds, and every gem was a fortune--whole cases of swords with hilts and scabbards of solid gold studded with gems, the great two-handed coronation sword of the german emperors, daggers covered with brilliants and rubies, diamond buttons, chains, and orders, necklaces and bracelets of pearl and emerald, and the order of the golden fleece made in gems of every kind. we were also shown the largest known onyx, nearly seven inches long and four inches broad. one of the most remarkable works is the throne and court of aurungzebe, the indian king, by dinglinger, a celebrated goldsmith of the last century. it contains one hundred and thirty-two figures, all of enameled gold and each one most perfectly and elaborately finished. it was purchased by prince augustus for fifty-eight thousand thalers,[b] which was not a high sum, considering that the making of it occupied dinglinger and thirteen workmen for seven years. it is almost impossible to estimate the value of the treasures these halls contain. that of the gold and jewels alone must be many millions of dollars, and the amount of labor expended on these toys of royalty is incredible. as monuments of patient and untiring toil they are interesting, but it is sad to think how much labor and skill and energy have been wasted in producing things which are useless to the world and only of secondary importance as works of art. perhaps, however, if men could be diverted by such playthings from more dangerous games, it would be all the better. [footnote a: from "views afoot." published by g.p. putnam's sons.] [footnote b: a prussian or saxon thaler is about seventy cents. author's note--the thaler went out of use in germany in .] weimar in goethe's day[a] by madame de staËl of all the german principalities, there is none that makes us feel so much as weimar the advantages of a small state, of which the sovereign is a man of strong understanding, and who is capable of endeavoring to please all orders of his subjects, without losing anything in their obedience. such a state is as a private society, where all the members are connected together by intimate relations. the duchess louisa of saxe weimar is the true model of a woman destined by nature to the most illustrious rank; without pretension, as without weakness, she inspires in the same degree confidence and respect; and the heroism of the chivalrous ages has entered her soul without taking from it any thing of her sex's softness. the military talents of the duke are universally respected, and his lively and reflective conversation continually brings to our recollection that he was formed by the great frederic. it is by his own and his mother's reputation that the most distinguished men of learning have been attracted to weimar, and by them germany, for the first time, has possest a literary metropolis; but, as this metropolis was at the same time only an inconsiderable town, its ascendency was merely that of superior illumination; for fashion, which imposes uniformity in all things, could not emanate from so narrow a circle. herder was just dead when i arrived at weimar; but wieland, goethe, and schiller were still there. their writings are the perfect resemblances of their character and conversation. this very rare concordance is a proof of sincerity; when the first object in writing is to produce an effect upon others, a man never displays himself to them, such as he is in reality; but when he writes to satisfy an internal inspiration which has obtained possession of the soul, he discovers by his works, even without intending it, the very slightest shades of his manner of thinking and acting. the residence in country towns has always appeared to me very irksome. the understanding of the men is narrowed, the heart of the women frozen there; people live so much in each other's presence that one is opprest by one's equals; it is no longer this distant opinion, the reverberation of which animates you from afar like the report of glory; it is a minute inspection of all the actions of your life, an observation of every detail, which prevents the general character from being comprehended; and the more you have of independence and elevation of mind, the less able you are to breathe amidst so many little impediments. this painful constraint did not exist at weimar; it was rather a large palace than a little town; a select circle of society, which made its interest consist in the discussion of all the novelties of art and science: women, the amiable scholars of some superior men, were constantly speaking of the new literary works, as of the most important public events. they enjoyed the whole universe by reading and study; they freed themselves by the enlargement of the mind from the restraint of circumstances; they forgot the private anecdotes of each individual, in habitually reflecting together on those great questions which influence the destiny common to all alike. and in this society there were none of those provincial wonders, who so easily mistake contempt for grace, and affectation for elegance. [footnote a: from "germany."] ulm[a] by thomas frognall dibdin we were now within about twenty english miles of ulm. nothing particular occurred, either by way of anecdote or of scenery, till within almost the immediate approach or descent to that city--the last in the suabian territories, and which is separated from bavaria by the river danube. i caught the first glance of that celebrated river (here of comparatively trifling width) with no ordinary emotions of delight. it recalled to my memory the battle of blenheim, or of hochstedt; for you know that it was across this very river, and scarcely a score of miles from ulm, that the victorious marlborough chased the flying french and bavarians--at the battle just mentioned. at the same moment, almost, i could not fail to contrast this glorious issue with the miserable surrender of the town before me--then filled by a large and well-disciplined army, and commanded by that nonpareil of generals, j.g. mack!--into the power of bonaparte almost without pulling a trigger on either side--the place itself being considered, at the time, one of the strongest towns in europe. these things, i say, rushed upon my memory, when, on the immediate descent into ulm, i caught the first view of the tower of the minster which quickly put marlborough, and mack, and bonaparte out of my recollection. i had never, since quitting the beach at brighton, beheld such an english-like looking cathedral--as a whole; and particularly the tower. it is broad, bold, and lofty; but, like all edifices, seen from a neighboring and perhaps loftier height, it loses, at first view, very much of the loftiness of its character. however, i looked with admiration, and longed to approach it. this object was accomplished in twenty minutes. we entered ulm about two o'clock: drove to an excellent inn (the white stag--which i strongly recommend to all travelers), and ordered our dinner to be got ready by five; which, as the house was within a stone's cast of the cathedral, gave us every opportunity of visiting it beforehand. the day continued most beautiful: and we sallied forth in high spirits, to gaze at and to admire every object of antiquity which should present itself. the cathedral of ulm is doubtless among the most respectable of those on the continent. it is large and wide, and of a massive and imposing style of architecture. the buttresses are bold, and very much after the english fashion. the tower is the chief exterior beauty. before we mounted it, we begged the guide, who attended us, to conduct us all over the interior. this interior is very noble, and even superior, as a piece of architecture, to that of strasburg. i should think it even longer and wider--for the truth is, that the tower of strasburg cathedral is as much too tall, as that of ulm cathedral is too short, for its nave and choir. not very long ago, they had covered the interior by a whitewash; and thus the mellow tint of probably about five centuries--in a spot where there are few immediately surrounding houses--and in a town of which the manufactories and population are comparatively small--the latter about , --thus, i say, the mellow tint of these five centuries (for i suppose the cathedral to have been finished about the year ) has been cruelly changed for the staring and chilling effects of whiting.[b] the choir is interesting in a high degree. at the extremity of it is an altar--indicative of the lutheran form of worship being carried on within the church--upon which are oil paintings upon wood, emblazoned with gilt backgrounds--of the time of hans burgmair, and of others at the revival of the art of painting in germany. these pictures turn upon hinges, so as to shut up, or be thrown open; and are in the highest state of preservation. their subjects are entirely scriptural; and perhaps old john holbein, the father of the famous hans holbein, might have had a share in some of them. perhaps they may come down to the time of lucas cranach. wherever, or by whomsoever executed, this series of paintings, upon the high altar of the cathedral of ulm, can not be viewed without considerable satisfaction. they were the first choice specimens of early art which i had seen on this side of the rhine; and i, of course, contemplated them with the hungry eye of an antiquary. after a careful survey of the interior, the whole of which had quite the air of english cleanliness and order, we prepared to mount the famous tower. our valet, rohfritsch, led the way; counting the steps as he mounted, and finding them to be about in number. he was succeeded by the guide. mr. lewis and myself followed in a more leisurely manner; peeping through the interstices which presented themselves in the open fretwork of the ornaments, and finding, as we continued to ascend, that the inhabitants and dwelling houses of ulm diminished gradually in size. at length we gained the summit, which is surrounded by a parapet wall of some three or four feet in height. we paused a minute, to recover our breath, and to look at the prospect which surrounded us. the town, at our feet, looked like the metropolis of laputa. yet the high ground, by which we had descended into the town--and upon which bonaparte's army was formerly encamped--seemed to be more lofty than the spot whereon we stood. on the opposite side flowed the danube; not broad, nor, as i learned, very deep; but rapid and in a serpentine direction. upon the whole, the cathedral of ulm is a noble ecclesiastical edifice; uniting simplicity and purity with massiveness of composition. few cathedrals are more uniform in the style of their architecture. it seems to be, to borrow technical language, all of a piece. near it, forming the foreground of the munich print, are a chapel and a house surrounded by trees. the chapel is very small, and, as i learned, not used for religious purposes. the house (so professor veesenmeyer informed me) is supposed to have been the residence and offices of business of john zeiner, the well-known printer, who commenced his typographical labors about the year , and who uniformly printed at ulm; while his brother gunther as uniformly exercised his art in the city whence i am now addressing you. they were both natives of reutlingen, a town of some note between tübingen and ulm. [footnote a: from "a bibliographical, antiquarian and picturesque tour," published in .] [footnote b: ulm has now ( ) a population of , .] aix-la-chapelle and charlemagne's tomb[a] by victor hugo for an invalid, aix-la-chapelle is a mineral fountain--warm, cold, irony, and sulfurous; for the tourist, it is a place for redouts and concerts; for the pilgrim, the place of relics, where the gown of the virgin mary, the blood of jesus, the cloth which enveloped the head of john the baptist after his decapitation, are exhibited every seven years; for the antiquarian, it is a noble abbey of "filles à abbesse," connected with the male convent, which was built by saint gregory, son of nicephore, emperor of the east; for the hunter, it is the ancient valley of the wild boars; for the merchant, it is a "fabrique" of cloth, needles, and pins; and for him who is no merchant, manufacturer, hunter, antiquary, pilgrim, tourist, or invalid, it is the city of charlemagne. charlemagne was born at aix-la-chapelle, and died there. he was born in the old place, of which there now only remains the tower, and he was buried in the church that he founded in , two years after the death of his wife fastrada. leo the third consecrated it in , and tradition says that two bishops of tongres, who were buried at maestricht, arose from their graves, in order to complete, at that ceremony, bishops and archbishops--representing the days of the year. this historical and legendary church, from which the town has taken its name, has undergone, during the last thousand years, many transformations. no sooner had i entered aix than i went to the chapel.... the effect of the great "portail" is not striking; the façade displays the different styles of architecture--roman, gothic, and modern--without order, and consequently, without grandeur; but if, on the contrary, we arrive at the chapel by chevet, the result is otherwise. the high "abside" of the fourteenth century, in all its boldness and beauty, the rich workmanship of its balustrades, the variety of its "gargouilles," the somber hue of the stones, and the large transparent windows--strike the beholder with admiration. here, nevertheless, the aspect of the church--imposing tho it is--will be found far from uniform. between the "abside" and the "portail," in a kind of cavity, the dome of otho iii., built over the tomb of charlemagne in the tenth century, is hid from view. after a few moments' contemplation, a singular awe comes over us when gazing at this extraordinary edifice--an edifice which, like the great work that charlemagne began, remains unfinished; and which, like his empire that spoke all languages, is composed of architecture that represents all styles. to the reflective, there is a strange analogy between that wonderful man and this great building. after having passed the arched roof of the portico, and left behind me the antique bronze doors surmounted with lions' heads, a white rotundo of two stories, in which all the "fantasies" of architecture are displayed, attracted my attention. at casting my eyes upon the ground, i perceived a large block of black marble, with the following inscription in brass letters:-- "carolo magno." nothing is more contemptible than to see, exposed to view, the bastard graces that surround this great carlovingian name; angels resembling distorted cupids, palm-branches like colored feathers, garlands of flowers, and knots of ribbons, are placed under the dome of otho iii., and upon the tomb of charlemagne. the only thing here that evinces respect to the shade of that great man is an immense lamp, twelve feet in diameter, with forty-eight burners; which was presented, in the twelfth century, by barbarossa. it is of brass, gilt with gold, has the form of a crown, and is suspended from the ceiling above the marble stone by an iron chain about seventy feet in length. it is evident that some other monument had been erected to charlemagne. there is nothing to convince us that this marble, bordered with brass, is of antiquity. as to the letters, "carolo magno," they are not of a late date than . charlemagne is no longer under this stone. in frederick barbarossa--whose gift, magnificent tho it was, does by no means compensate for this sacrilege--caused the remains of that great emperor to be untombed. the church claimed the imperial skeleton, and, separating the bones, made each a holy relic. in the adjoining sacristy, a vicar shows the people--for three francs seventy-five centimes--the fixt price--"the arm of charlemagne"--that arm which held for a time the reins of the world. venerable relic! which has the following inscription, written by some scribe of the twelfth century: "arm of the sainted charles the great." after that i saw the skull of charlemagne, that cranium which may be said to have been the mold of europe, and which a beadle had the effrontery to strike with his finger. all were kept in a wooden armory, with a few angels, similar to those i have just mentioned, on the top. such is the tomb of the man whose memory has outlived ten ages, and who, by his greatness, has shed the rays of immortality around his name. "sainted, great," belong to him--two of the most august epithets which this earth could bestow upon a human being. there is one thing astonishing--that is, the largeness of the skull and arm. charlemagne was, in fact, colossal with respect to size of body as well as extraordinary mental endowments. the son of pepin-le-bref was in body, as in mind, gigantic; of great corporeal strength, and of astounding intellect. an inspection of this armory has a strange effect upon the antiquary. besides the skull and arm, it contains the heart of charlemagne; the cross which the emperor had round his neck in his tomb; a handsome ostensorium, of the renaissance, given by charles the fifth, and spoiled, in the last century, by tasteless ornaments; fourteen richly sculptured gold plates, which once ornamented the arm-chair of the emperor; an ostensorium, given by philippe the second; the cord which bound our savior; the sponge that was used upon the cross; the girdle of the holy virgin, and that of the redeemer. in the midst of innumerable ornaments, heaped up in the armory like mountains of gold and precious stones, are two shrines of singular beauty. one, the oldest, which is seldom opened, contains the remaining bones of charlemagne, and the other, of the twelfth century, which frederick barbarossa gave to the church, holds the relics, which are exhibited every seven years. a single exhibition of this shrine, in , attracted , pilgrims, and drew, in ten days , florins. this shrine has only one key, which is in two pieces; the one is in the possession of the chapter, the other in that of the magistrates of the town. sometimes it is opened on extraordinary occasions, such as on the visit of a monarch.... the tomb, before it became the sarcophagus of charlemagne, was, it is said, that of augustus. after mounting a narrow staircase, my guide conducted me to a gallery which is called the hochmünster. in this place is the arm-chair of charlemagne. it is low, exceedingly wide, with a round back; is formed of four pieces of white marble, without ornaments or sculpture, and has for a seat an oak board, covered with a cushion of red velvet. there are six steps up to it, two of which are of granite, the others of marble. on this chair sat--a crown upon his head, a globe in one hand, a scepter in the other, a sword by his side, the imperial mantle over his shoulders, the cross of christ round his neck, and his feet in the sarcophagus of augustus--carolus magnus in his tomb, in which attitude he remained for three hundred and fifty-two years--from to , when frederick barbarossa, coveting the chair for his coronation, entered the tomb. barbarossa was an illustrious prince and a valiant soldier; and it must, therefore, have been a moment singularly strange when this crowned man stood before the crowned corpse of charlemagne--the one in all the majesty of empire, the other in all the majesty of death. the soldier overcame the shades of greatness; the living became the despoliator of inanimate worth. the chapel claimed the skeleton, and barbarossa the marble chair, which afterward became the throne where thirty-six emperors were crowned. ferdinand the first was the last; charles the fifth preceded him. in , when bonaparte became known as napoleon, he visited aix-la-chapelle. josephine, who accompanied him, had the caprice to sit down on this chair; but napoleon, out of respect for charlemagne, took off his hat, and remained for some time standing, and in silence. the following fact is somewhat remarkable, and struck me forcibly. in charlemagne died; a thousand years afterward, most probably about the same hour, napoleon fell. in that fatal year, , the allied sovereigns visited the tomb of the great "carolus." alexander of russia, like napoleon, took off his hat and uniform; frederick william of prussia kept on his "casquette de petite tenue;" francis retained his surtout and round bonnet. the king of prussia stood upon the marble steps, receiving information from the provost of the chapter respecting the coronation of the emperors of germany; the two emperors remained silent. napoleon, josephine, alexander, frederick william, and francis, are now no more. a few minutes afterward i was on my way to the hôtel-de-ville, the supposed birthplace of charlemagne, which, like the chapel, is an edifice made of five or six others. in the middle of the court there is a fountain of great antiquity, with a bronze statue of charlemagne. to the left and right are two others--both surmounted with eagles, their heads half turned toward the grave and tranquil emperor. the evening was approaching. i had passed the whole of the day among these grand and austere "souvenirs;" and, therefore, deemed it essential to take a walk in the open fields, to breathe the fresh air, and to watch the rays of the declining sun. i wandered along some dilapidated walls, entered a field, then some beautiful alleys, in one of which i seated myself. aix-la-chapelle lay extended before me, partly hid by the shades of evening, which were falling around. by degrees the fogs gained the roofs of the houses, and shrouded the town steeples; then nothing was seen but two huge masses--the hôtel-de-ville and the chapel. all the emotions, all the thoughts and visions which flitted across my mind during the day, now crowded upon me. the first of the two dark objects was to me only the birthplace of a child; the second was the resting-place of greatness. at intervals, in the midst of my reverie, i imagined that i saw the shade of this giant, whom we call charlemagne, developing itself between this great cradle and still greater tomb. [footnote a: from "the rhine." translated by d.m. aird.] the hanseatic league[a] by james howell the hans, or hanseatic league, is very ancient, some would derive the word from hand, because they of the society plight their faith by that action; others derive it from hansa, which in the gothic tongue is council; others would have it come from hander see, which signifies near or upon the sea, and this passeth for the best etymology, because their towns are all seated so, or upon some navigable river near the sea. the extent of the old hans was from the nerve in livonia to the rhine, and contained sixty-two great mercantile towns, which were divided into four precincts. the chiefest of the first precinct was lübeck, where the archives of their ancient records and their prime chancery is still, and this town is within that verge; cullen is chief of the second precinct, brunswick of the third, and dantzic of the fourth. the kings of poland and sweden have sued to be their protector, but they refused them, because they were not princes of the empire. they put off also the king of denmark with a compliment, nor would they admit the king of spain when he was most potent in the netherlands, tho afterward, when it was too late, they desired the help of the ragged staff; nor of the duke of anjou, notwithstanding that the world thought he should have married our queen, who interceded for him, and so it was probable that thereby they might recover their privileges in england. so i do not find that they ever had any protector but the great master of prussia; and their want of a protector did do them some prejudice in that famous difference they had with our queen. the old hans had extraordinary immunities given them by our henry the third, because they assisted him in his wars with so many ships, and as they pretend, the king was not only to pay them for the service of the said ships but for the vessels themselves if they miscarried. now it happened that at their return to germany, from serving henry the third, there was a great fleet of them cast away, for which, according to covenant, they demanded reparation. our king in lieu of money, among other facts of grace, gave them a privilege to pay but one per cent., which continued until queen mary's reign, and she by advice of king philip, her husband, as it was conceived, enhanced the one to twenty per cent. the hans not only complained but clamored loudly for breach of their ancient privileges confirmed unto them, time out of mind, by thirteen successive kings of england, which they pretended to have purchased with their money. king philip undertook to accommodate the business, but queen mary dying a little after, and he retiring, there could be nothing done. complaint being made to queen elizabeth, she answered that as she would not innovate anything, so she would maintain them still in the same condition she found them. hereupon their navigation and traffic ceased a while, wherefore the english tried what they could do themselves, and they thrived so well that they took the whole trade into their own hands, and so divided themselves (tho they be now but one), to staplers and merchant-adventurers, the one residing constant in one place, where they kept their magazine of wool, the other stirring and adventuring to divers places abroad with cloth and other manufacturies, which made the hans endeavor to draw upon them all the malignancy they could from all nations. moreover, the hans towns being a body politic incorporated in the empire, complained thereof to the emperor, who sent over persons of great quality to mediate an accommodation, but they could effect nothing. then the queen caused a proclamation to be published that the easterlings or merchants of the hans should be entreated and used as all other strangers were, within her dominations, without any mark of difference in point of commerce. this nettled them more, thereupon they bent their forces more eagerly, and in a diet at ratisbon they procured that the english merchants who had associated themselves into fraternities in emden and other places should be declared monopolists; and so there was a committal edict published against them that they should be exterminated and banished out of all parts of the empire; and this was done by the activity of one sudennan, a great civilian. there was there for the queen, gilpin, as nimble a man as suderman, and he had the chancellor of emden to second and countenance him, but they could not stop the said edict wherein the society of english merchant-adventurers was pronounced to be a monopoly; yet gilpin played his game so well, that he wrought underhand, that the said imperial ban should not be published till after the dissolution of the diet, and that in the interim the emperor should send ambassadors to england to advise the queen of such a ban against her merchants. but this wrought so little impression upon the queen that the said ban grew rather ridiculous than formidable, for the town of emden harbored our merchants notwithstanding and afterward stade, but they not being able to protect them so well from the imperial ban, they settled in the town of hamburg. after this the queen commanded another proclamation to be divulged that the easterlings or hanseatic merchants should be allowed to trade in england upon the same conditions and payment of duties as her own subjects, provided that the english merchants might have interchangeable privilege to reside and trade peaceably in stade or hamburg or anywhere else within the precincts of hans. this incensed them more, thereupon they resolved to cut off stade and hamburg from being members of the hans or of the empire; but they suspended this decision till they saw what success the great spanish fleet should have, which was then preparing in the year eighty-eight, for they had not long before had recourse to the king of spain and made him their own, and he had done them some material good offices; wherefore to this day the spanish consul is taxed of improvidence and imprudence, that there was no use made of the hans towns in that expedition. the queen finding that they of the hans would not be contented with that equality she had offered betwixt them and her own subjects, put out a proclamation that they should carry neither corn, victuals, arms, timber, masts, cables, minerals, nor any other materials, or men to spain or portugal. and after, the queen growing more redoubtable and famous, by the overthrow of the fleet of eighty-eight, the easterlings fell to despair of doing any good. add hereunto another disaster that befell them, the taking of sixty sails of their ships about the mouth of tagus in portugal by the queen's ships that were laden with "ropas de contrabando," viz., goods prohibited by her former proclamation into the dominions of spain. and as these ships were upon point of being discharged, she had intelligence of a great assembly at lübeck, which had met of purpose to consult of means to be revenged of her thereupon she stayed and seized upon the said sixty ships, only two were freed to bring news what became of the rest. hereupon the pope sent an ambassador to her, who spoke in a high tone, but he was answered in a higher. ever since our merchants have beaten a peaceful and free uninterrupted trade into this town and elsewhere within and without the sound, with their manufactures of wool, and found the way also to the white sea to archangel and moscow. insomuch that the premises being well considered, it was a happy thing for england that that clashing fell out betwixt her and the hans, for it may be said to have been the chief ground of that shipping and merchandising, which she is now come to, and wherewith she hath flourished ever since. but one thing is observable, that as that imperial or committal ban, pronounced in the diet at ratisbon against our merchants and manufactures of wool, incited them more to industry. so our proclamation upon alderman cockein's project of transporting no white cloths but dyed, and in their full manufacture, did cause both dutch and germans to turn necessity to a virtue, and made them far more ingenious to find ways, not only to dye but to make cloth, which hath much impaired our markets ever since. for there hath not been the third part of our cloth sold since, either here or in holland. [footnote a: from "familiar letters." "montaigne and 'howell's letters'," says thackeray, in one of the "roundabout papers," "are my bedside books." howell wrote this letter in hamburg in october, .] hamburg[a] by thÉophile gautier to describe a night journey by rail is a difficult matter; you go like an arrow whistling through a cloud; it is traveling in the abstract. you cross provinces, kingdoms even, unawares. from time to time during the night, i saw through the window the comet, rushing down upon the earth, with lowered head and hair streaming far behind; suddenly glares of gaslight dazzled my eyes, sanded with the goldust of sleep; or the pale bluish radiance of the moon gave an air of fairy-land to scenes doubtless poor enough by day. conscientiously, this is all i can say from personal observation; and it would not be particularly amusing if i should transcribe from the railway guide the names of all the stations between berlin and hamburg. it is a.m., and here we are in the good hanse town of hamburg; the city is not yet awake, or at most is rubbing its eyes and yawning. while they are preparing my breakfast, i sally forth at random, as my custom is, without guide or cicerone, in pursuit of the unknown. the hotel, at which i have been set down, is situated on the quay of the alster, a basin as large as the lac d'enghien, which it still further resembles in being peopled with tame swans. on three sides, the alster basin is bordered with hotels and handsome modern houses. an embankment planted with trees and commanded by a wind-mill in profile forms the fourth; beyond extends a great lagoon. from the most frequented of these quays, a café painted green and built on piles, makes out into the water, like that café of the golden horn where i have smoked so many chibouques; watching the sea-birds fly. at the sight of this quay, this basin, these houses, i experienced an inexplicable sensation: i seemed to know them already. confused recollections of them arose in my memory; could i have been in hamburg without being aware of it? assuredly all these objects are not new to me, and yet i am seeing them for the first time. have i preserved the impression made by some picture, some photograph? while i was seeking philosophic explanations for this memory of the unknown, the idea of heinrich heine suddenly presented itself, and all became clear. the great poet had often spoken to me of hamburg, in those plastic words he so well knew how to use--words that were equivalent to realities. in his "reisebilder," he describes the scene--café basin, swans, and townsfolk upon the quays--heaven knows what portraits he makes of them! he returns to it again in his poem, "germania," and there is so much life to the picture, such distinctness, such relief, that sight itself teaches you nothing more. i made the circuit of the basin, graciously accompanied by a snow-white swan, handsome enough to make one think it might be jupiter in disguise, seeking some hamburg leda, and, the better to carry out the deception, snapping at the bread-crumbs offered him by the traveler. on the farther side of the basin, at the right, is a sort of garden or public promenade, having an artificial hillock, like that in the labyrinth in the "jardin des plantes." having gone thus far, i turned and retraced my steps. every city has its fashionable quarter--new, expensive, handsome--of which the citizens are proud, and through which the guide leads you with much complacency. the streets are broad and regular, and cut one another at right angles; there are sidewalks of granite, brick, or bitumen; there are lamp-posts in every direction. the houses are like palaces; their classically modern architecture, their irreproachable paint, their varnished doors and well-scoured brasses, fill with joy the city fathers and every lover of progress. the city is neat, orderly, salubrious, full of light and air, and resembles paris or london. there is the exchange! it is superb--as fine as the bourse in paris! i grant it; and, besides, you can smoke there, which is a point of superiority. farther on you observe the palace of justice, the bank, etc., built in the style you know well, adored by philistines of every land. doubtless that house must have cost enormously; it contains all possible luxury and comfort. you feel that the mollusk of such a shell can be nothing less than a millionaire. permit me, however, to love better the old house with its overhanging stories, its roof of irregular tiles, and all its little characteristic details, telling of former generations. to be interesting, a city must have the air of having lived, and, in a sense, of having received from man a soul. what makes these magnificent streets built yesterday so cold and so tiresome, is that they are not yet impregnated with human vitality. leaving the new quarter, i penetrated by degrees into the chaos of the old streets, and soon i had before my eyes a characteristic, picturesque hamburg; a genuine old city with a medieval stamp which would delight bonington, isabey or william wyld. i walked slowly, stopping at every street-corner that i might lose no detail of the picture; and rarely has any promenade amused me so well. houses, whose gables are denticulated or else curved in volutes, throw out successive overhanging stories, each composed of a row of windows, or, more properly, of one window divided into sections by carved uprights. beneath each house are excavated cellars, subterranean recesses, which the steps leading to the front door bestride like a drawbridge. wood, brick, stone and slate, mingled in a way to content the eye of a colorist, cover what little space the windows leave on the outside of the house. all this is surmounted by a roof of red or violet tiles, or tarred plank, interrupted by openings to give light to the attics, and having an abrupt pitch. these steep roofs look well against the background of a northern sky; the rains run off them in torrents, the snow slips from them; they suit the climate, and do not require to be swept in winter. some houses have doors ornamented with rustic columns, scroll-work, recessed pediments, chubby-cheeked caryatides, little angels and loves, stout rosettes and enormous shells, all glued over with whitewash renewed doubtless every year. the tobacco sellers in hamburg can not be counted. at every third step you behold a bare-chested negro cultivating the precious leaf or a grand seigneur, attired like the theatrical turk, smoking a colossal pipe. boxes of cigars, with their more or less fallacious vignettes and labels, figure, symmetrically disposed, in the ornamentation of the shop-fronts. there must be very little tobacco left at havana, if we can have faith in these displays, so rich in famous brands. as i have said, it was early morning. servant-maids, kneeling on the steps or standing on the window-sills, were going on with the saturday scrubbing. notwithstanding the keen air, they made a display of robust arms bare to the shoulder, tanned and sunburned, red with that astonishing vermilion that we see in some of rubens' paintings, which is the joint result of the biting of the north wind and the action of water upon these blond skins; little girls belonging to the poorer classes, with braided hair, bare arms, and low-necked frocks, were going out to obtain articles of food; i shivered in my paletot, to see them so lightly clad. there is something strange about this; the women of northern countries cut their dresses out in the neck, they go about bare-headed and bare-armed, while the women of the south cover themselves with vests, haicks, pelisses, and warm garments of every description. walking on, still at random, i came to the maritime part of the city, where canals take the place of streets. as yet it was low water, and vessels lay aground in the mud, showing their hulls, and careening over in a way to rejoice a water-color painter. soon the tide came up, and everything began to be in motion. i would suggest hamburg to artists following in the track of canaletto, guardi, or joyant; they will find, at every step, themes as picturesque as and more new than those which they go to venice in search of. this forest of salmon-colored masts, with their maze of cordage and their yellowish-brown sails drying in the sun, these tarred sterns with apple-green decks, these lateen-yards threatening the windows of the neighboring houses, these derricks standing under plank roofs shaped like pagodas, these tackles lifting heavy packages out of vessels and landing them in houses, these bridges opening to give passage to vessels, these clumps of trees, these gables overtopped here and there by spires and belfries; all this bathed in smoke, traversed by sunlight and here and there returning a glitter of polished metal, the far-off distance blue and misty, and the foreground full of vigorous color, produced effects of the most brilliant and piquant novelty. a church-tower, covered with plates of copper, springing from this curious medley of rigging and of houses, recalled to me by its odd green color the tower of galata, at constantinople.... as the hour advanced, the crowd became more numerous, and it was largely composed of women. in hamburg they seem to enjoy great license. very young girls come and go alone without anyone's noticing it, and--a remarkable thing!--children go to school by themselves, little basket on the arm, and slate in hand; in paris, left to their own free will, they will run off to play marbles, tag, or hop-scotch. dogs are muzzled in hamburg all the week, but on sundays they are left at liberty to bite whom they please. they are taxed, and appear to be esteemed; but the cats are sad and unappreciated. recognizing in me a friend, they cast melancholy glances at me, saying in their feline language, to which long use has given me the key: "these philistines, busy with their money-getting, despise us; and yet our eyes are as yellow as their louis d'or. stupid men that they are, they believe us good for nothing but to catch rats; we, the wise, the meditative, the independent, who have slept upon the prophet's sleeve, and lulled his ear with the whir of our mysterious wheel! pass your hand over our backs full of electric sparkles--we allow you this liberty, and say to charles baudelaire that he must write a fine sonnet, deploring our woes." as the lübeck boat was not to leave until the morrow, i went to wilkin's to get my supper. this famous establishment occupies a low-ceiled basement, which is divided into cabinets ornamented with more show than taste. oysters, turtle-soup, a truffled filet, and a bottle of veuve cliquot iced, composed my simple bill of fare. the place was filled, after the hamburg fashion, with edibles of all sorts; things early and things out of season, dainties not yet in existence or having long ceased to exist, for the common crowd. in the kitchen they showed us, in great tanks, huge sea-turtles which lifted their scaly heads above the water, resembling snakes caught between two platters. their little horny eyes looked with uneasiness at the light which was held near them, and their flippers, like oars of some disabled galley, vaguely moved up and down, as seeking some impossible escape. i trust that the personnel of the exhibition changes occasionally. in the morning i went for my breakfast to an english restaurant, a sort of pavilion of glass, whence i had a magnificent panoramic view. the river spread out majestically through a forest of vessels with tall masts, of every build and tonnage. steam-tugs were beating the water, towing sailing-vessels out to sea; others, moving about freely, made their way hither and thither, with that precision which makes a steam-boat seem like a conscious being, endowed by a will of its own, and served by sentient organs. from the elevation the elbe is seen, spreading broadly like all great rivers as they near the sea. its waters, sure of arriving at last, are in no haste; placid as a lake, they flow with an almost invisible motion. the low opposite shore was covered with verdure, and dotted with red houses half-effaced by the smoke from the chimneys. a golden bar of sunshine shot across the plain; it was grand, luminous, superb. [footnote a: from "a winter in russia." by arrangement with, and by permission of, the publishers, henry holt & co. copyright, . hamburg is now the largest seaport on the continent of europe. london and new york are the only ports in the world that are larger. exclusive of its rural territory, it had in a population of , .] schleswig[a] by thÉophile gautier when you are in a foreign country, reduced to the condition of a deaf-mute, you can not but curse the memory of him who conceived the idea of building the tower of babel, and by his pride brought about the confusion of tongues! an omnibus took possession of myself and my trunks, and, with the feeling that it must of necessity take me somewhere, i confidingly allowed myself to be stowed in and carried away. the intelligent omnibus set me down before the best hotel in the town, and there, as circumnavigators say in their journals, "i held a parley with the natives." among them was a waiter who spoke french in a way that was transparent enough to give me an occasional glimpse of his meaning; and who--a much rarer thing!--even sometimes understood what i said to him. my name upon the hotel register was a ray of light. the hostess had been notified of my expected arrival, and i was to be sent for as soon as my appearance should be announced; but it was now late in the evening, and i thought it better to wait till the next day. there was served for supper a "chaud-froid" of partridge--without confiture--and i lay down upon the sofa, hopeless of being able to sleep between the two down-cushions which compose the german and the danish bed.... i explored schleswig, which is a city quite peculiar in its appearance. one wide street runs the length of the town, with which narrow cross streets are connected, like the smaller bones with the dorsal vertebræ of a fish. there are handsome modern houses, which, as usual, have not the slightest character. but the more modest dwellings have a local stamp; they are one-story buildings, very low--not over seven or eight feet in height--capped with a huge roof of fluted red tiles. windows, broader than they are high, occupy the whole of the front; and behind these windows, spread luxuriantly in porcelain or faience or earthen flowerpots, plants of every description; geraniums, verbenas, fuchsias--and this absolutely without exception. the poorest house is as well adorned as the best. sheltered by these perfumed window-blinds, the women sit at work, knitting or sewing, and, out of the corner of their eye, they watch, in the little movable mirror which reflects the streets, the rare passer-by, whose boots resound upon the pavement. the cultivation of flowers seem to be a passion in the north; countries where they grow naturally make but little account of them in comparison. the church in schleswig had in store for me a surprise. protestant churches in general, are not very interesting from an artistic point of view, unless the reformed faith may have installed itself in some catholic sanctuary diverted from its primitive designation. you find, usually, only whitewashed naves, walls destitute of painting or bas-relief, and rows of oaken benches well-polished and shining. it is neat and comfortable, but it is not beautiful. the church at schleswig contains, by a grand, unknown artist, an altar-piece in three parts, of carved wood, representing in a series of bas-reliefs, separated by fine architectural designs, the most important scenes in the drama of the passion. around the church stand sepulchral chapels of fine funereal fancy and excellent decorative effect. a vaulted hall contains the tombs of the ancient dukes of schleswig; massive slabs of stone, blazoned with armorial devices, covered with inscriptions which are not lacking in character. in the neighborhood of schleswig are great saline ponds, communicating with the sea. i paced the high-road, remarking the play of light upon this grayish water, and the surface crisped by the wind; occasionally i extended my walk as far as the chateau metamorphosed into a barrack, and the public gardens, a miniature st. cloud, with its cascade, its dolphins, and its other aquatic monsters all standing idle. a very good sinecure is that of a triton in a louis quinze basin! i should ask nothing better myself. [footnote a: from "a winter in russia." by arrangement with, and by permission of, the publishers, henry holt & co. copyright, .] lÜbeck[a] by thÉophile gautier in the evening the train carried me to lübeck, across magnificent cultivated lands, filled with summer-houses, which lave their feet in the brown water, overhung by spreading willows. this german venice has its canal, the brenta, whose villas, tho not built by sanmichele or palladio, none the less make a fine show against the fresh green of their surroundings. on arriving at lübeck, a special omnibus received me and my luggage, and i was soon set down at the hotel. the city seemed picturesque as i caught a glimpse of it through the darkness by the vague light of lanterns; and in the morning, as i opened my chamber-window, i perceived at once i had not been mistaken. the opposite house had a truly german aspect. it was extremely high and overtopped by an old-fashioned denticulated gable. at each one of the seven stories of the house, iron cross-bars spread themselves out into clusters of iron-work, supporting the building, and serving at once for use and ornament, in accordance with an excellent principle in architecture, at the present day too much neglected. it is not by concealing the framework, but by making it distinct, that we obtain more character. this house was not the only one of its kind, as i was able to convince myself on walking a few steps out of doors. the actual lübeck is still to the eye the lübeck of the middle ages, the old capital of the hanseatic league.[b] all the drama of modern life is enacted in the old theater whose scenery remains the same, its drop-scene even not repainted. what a pleasure it is to be walking thus amid the outward life of the past, and to contemplate the same dwellings which long-vanished generations have inhabited! without doubt, the living man has a right to model his shell in accordance with his own habits, his tastes, and his manners; but it can not be denied that a new city is far less attractive than an old one. when i was a child, i sometimes received for a new year's present one of those nuremberg boxes containing a whole miniature german city. in a hundred different ways i arranged the little houses of painted wood around the church, with its pointed belfry and its red walls, where the seam of the bricks was marked by fine white lines. i set out my two dozen frizzed and painted trees, and saw with delight the charmingly outlandish and wildly festal air which these apple-green, pink, lilac, fawn-colored houses with their window-panes, their retreating gables, and their steep roofs, brilliant with red varnish, assumed, spread out on the carpet. my idea was that houses like these had no existence in reality, but were made by some kind fairy for extremely good little boys. the marvelous exaggeration of childhood gave this little parti-colored city a respectable development, and i walked through its regular streets, tho with the same precautions as did gulliver in liliput. lübeck gave back to me this long-forgotten feeling of my childish days. i seemed to walk in a city of the imagination, taken out of some monstrous toy-box. i believe, considering all the faultlessly correct architecture that i have been forced to see in my traveler's life, that i really deserved that pleasure by way of compensation. a cloister, or at least a gallery, a fragment of an ancient monastery, presented itself to view. this colonnade ran the whole length of the square, at the end of which stood the marienkirche, a brick church of the fourteenth century. continuing my walk, i found myself in a market-place, where awaited me one of those sights which repay the traveler for much fatigue: a public building of a new, unforeseen, original aspect, the old stadthaus in which was formerly the hanse hall, rose suddenly before me. it occupies two sides of the square. imagine, in front of the marienkirche, whose spires and roof of oxydized copper rise above it, a lofty brick façade, blackened by time, bristling with three bell-towers with pointed copper-covered roofs, having two great empty rose-windows, and emblazoned with escutcheons inscribed in the trefoils of its ogives, double-headed black eagles on a gold field, and shields, half gules, half argent, ranged alternately, and executed in the most elaborate fashion of heraldry. to this façade is joined a palazzino of the renaissance, in stone and of an entirely different style, its tint of grayish-white marvelously relieved by the dark-red background of old brick-work. this building, with its three gables, its fluted ionic columns, its caryatides, or rather its atlases (for they are human figures), its semicircular window, its niches curved like a shell, its arcades ornamented with figures, its basement of diamond-shaped stones, produces what i may call an architectural discord that is most unexpected and charming. we meet very few edifices in the north of europe of this style and epoch. in the façade, the old german style prevails: arches of brick, resting upon short granite columns, support a gallery with ogive-windows. a row of blazons, inclined from right to left, bring out their brilliant color against the blackish tint of the wall. it would be difficult to form an idea of the character and richness of this ornamentation. this gallery leads into the main building, a structure than which no scene-painter, seeking a medieval decoration for an opera, ever invented anything more picturesque and singular. five turrets, coiffed with roofs like extinguishers, raise their pointed tops above the main line of the façade with its lofty ogive-windows--unhappily now most of them partially bricked up, in accordance, doubtless, with the exigencies of alterations made within. eight great disks, having gold backgrounds, and representing radiating suns, double-headed eagles, and the shields, gules and argent, the armorial bearings of lübeck, are spread out gorgeously upon this quaint architecture. beneath, arches supported upon short, thick pillars yawn darkly, and from far within there comes the gleam of precious metals, the wares of some goldsmith's shop. turning back toward the square again, i notice, rising above the houses, the green spires of another church, and over the heads of some market-women, who are chaffering over their fish and vegetables, the profile of a little building with brick pillars, which must have been a pillory in its day. this gives a last touch to the purely gothic aspect of the square which is interrupted by no modern edifice. the ingenious idea occurred to me that this splendid stadthaus must have another façade; and so in fact it had; passing under an archway, i found myself in a broad street, and my admiration began anew. five bell-towers, built half into the wall and separated by tall ogive-windows now partly blocked up, repeated, with variations, the façade i have just described. brick rosettes exhibited their curious designs, spreading with square stitches, so to speak, like patterns for worsted work. at the base of the somber edifice a pretty little lodge, of the renaissance, built as an afterthought, gave entrance to an exterior staircase going up along the wall diagonally to a sort of mirador, or overhanging look-out, in exquisite taste. graceful little statues of faith and justice, elegantly draped, decorated the portico. the staircase, resting on arches which widened as it rose higher, was ornamented with grotesque masks and caryatides. the mirador, placed above the arched doorway opening upon the market-place, was crowned with a recessed and voluted pediment, where a figure of themis held in one hand balances, and in the other a sword, not forgetting to give her drapery, at the same time, a coquettish puff. an odd order formed of fluted pilasters fashioned like pedestals and supporting busts, separated the windows of this aërial cage. consoles with fantastic masks completed the elegant ornamentation, over which time had passed his thumb just enough to give to the carved stone that bloom which nothing can imitate.... the marienkirche, which stands, as i have said, behind the stadt-haus, is well worth a visit. its two towers are feet in height; a very elaborate belfry rises from the roof at the point of intersection of the transept. the towers of lübeck have the peculiarity, every one of them, of being out of the perpendicular, leaning perceptibly to the right or left, but without disquieting the eye, like the tower of asinelli at bologna, or the leaning tower of pisa. seen two or three miles away, these towers, drunk and staggering, with their pointed caps that seem to nod at the horizon, present a droll and hilarious silhouette. on entering the church, the first curious object that meets the eye is a copy of the todtentanz, or dance of death, of the cemetery at bâsle. i do not need to describe it in detail. the middle ages were never tired of composing variations upon this dismal theme. the most conspicuous of them are brought together in this lugubrious painting, which covers all the walls of one chapel. from the pope and the emperor to the infant in his cradle, each human being in his turn enters upon the dance with the inevitable terror. but death is not depicted as a skeleton, white, polished, cleaned, articulated with copper wire like the skeleton of an anatomical cabinet: that would be too ornamental for the vulgar crowd. he appears as a dead body in a more or less advanced state of decomposition, with all the horrid secrets of the tomb carefully revealed.... the cathedral, which is called in german the dom, is quite remarkable in its interior. in the middle of the nave, filling one whole arch, is a colossal christ of gothic style, nailed to a cross carved in open-work, and ornamented with arabesques. the foot of this cross rests upon a transverse beam, going from one pillar to another, on which are standing the holy women and other pious personages, in attitudes of grief and adoration; adam and eve, one on either side, are arranging their paradisaic costume as decently as may be; above the cross the keystone of the arch projects, adorned with flowers and leafage, and serves as a standing-place for an angel with long wings. this construction, hanging in mid-air, and evidently light in weight, notwithstanding its magnitude, is of wood, carved with much taste and skill. i can define it in no better way than to call it a carved portcullis, lowered halfway in front of the chancel. it is the first example of such an arrangement that i have ever seen.... the holstenthor, a city gate close by the railway station, is a most curious and picturesque specimen of german medieval architecture. imagine two enormous brick towers united by the main portion of the structure, through which opens an archway, like a basket-handle, and you have a rude sketch of the construction; but you would not easily conceive of the effect produced by the high summit of the edifice, the conical roofs of the towers, the whimsical windows in the walls and in the roofs, the dull red or violet tints of the defaced bricks. it is altogether a new gamut for painters of architecture or of ruins; and i shall send them to lübeck by the next train. i recommend to their notice also, very near the holstenthor, on the left bank of the trave, five or six crimson houses, shouldering each other for mutual support, bulging out in front, pierced with six or seven stories of windows, with denticulated gables, the deep red reflection of them trailing in the water, like some high-colored apron which a servant-maid is washing. what a picture van den heyden would have made of this! following the quay, along which runs a railway, where freight-trains were constantly passing, i enjoyed many amusing and varied scenes. on the other side of the trave were to be seen, amid houses and clumps of trees, vessels in various stages of building. here, a skeleton with ribs of wood, like the carcass of some stranded whale; there, a hull, clad with its planking near which smokes the calker's cauldron, emitting light yellowish clouds. everywhere prevails a cheerful stir of busy life. carpenters are planing and hammering, porters are rolling casks, sailors are scrubbing the decks of vessels, or getting the sails half way up to dry them in the sun. a barque just arriving comes alongside the quay, the other vessels making room for her to pass. the little steamboats are getting up steam or letting it off; and when you turn toward the city, through the rigging of the vessels, you see the church-towers, which incline gracefully, like the masts of clippers. [footnote a: from "a winter in russia." by arrangement with, and by permission of, the publishers, henry holt & co. copyright, .] [footnote b: the decline of lübeck dates from the first quarter of the sixteenth century and was chiefly due to the discovery of america and the consequent diversion of commerce to new directions. other misfortunes came with the thirty years' war. as early as , one of the constant sources of lübeck's wealth had begun to fail her--the herring, which was found to be deserting baltic waters. the discovery by the portuguese of a route to india by the cape of good hope was another cause of lübeck's decline.] heligoland[a] by william george black in heligoland itself there are few trees, no running water, no romantic ruins, but an extraordinary width of sea-view, seen as from the deck of a gigantic ship; and yet the island is so small that one can look around it all, and take the sea-line in one great circle. seen from a distance, as one must first see it, heligoland is little more than a cloud on the horizon; but as the steamer approaches nearer, the island stands up, a red rock in the ocean, without companion or neighbor. a small ledge of white strand to the south is the only spot where boats can land, and on this ledge nestle many white-walled, red-roofed houses; while on the rim of the rock, nearly two hundred feet above, is a sister hamlet, with the church-tower and lighthouse for central ornaments. on the unterland are the principal streets and shops, on the oberland are many of the best hotels and government-house. as there is no harbor, passengers reach the shore in large boats, and get their first glimpse of the hardy, sun-browned natives in the boatmen who, with bright jackets and hats of every picturesque curve that straw is capable of, pull the boat quickly to the steps of the little pier. crowds of visitors line the way, but one gets quickly through, and in a few minutes returns either to familiar quarters in the oberland, or finds an equally clean and moderate home among the lodging-house keepers or seamen. the season is a very short one, only ten weeks out of fifty-two, but the prices are moderate and the comfort unchallengeable.... heligoland is only one mile long from pier to nordkap, and a quarter of a mile wide at its widest--in all it is three-quarters of a square mile in size. there are no horses or carts in heligoland--only six cows, kept always in darkness, and a few sheep and goats tethered on the oberland. the streets are very narrow, but very clean, and the constant repetition in houses and scarves and flags of the national colors gives heligoland a gay aspect; for the national colors are anything but dull. green land, red rocks, white strand--nothing could be better descriptive of the island than these colors. they are easily brought out in domestic architecture, for with a whitewashed cottage and a red-tiled roof the heligolander has only to give his door and window-shutters a coat of bright green paint, and there are the colors of heligoland. in case the unforgettable fact should escape the tourist, the government have worked the colors into the ingenious and pretty island postage-stamp, and many of our german friends wear bathing-pants of the same unobtrusive tints. life is a very delightful thing in summer in this island. on your first visit you feel exhilarated by the novelty of everything as much as by the strong warm sea wind which meets you wherever you go. when you return, the novelty has worn away, but the sense of enjoyment has deepened. as you meet friendly faces and feel the grip of friendly hands, so you also exchange salutations with nature, as if she, too, were an old heligoland friend. you know the view from this point and from that; but, like the converse of a friend, it is always changing, for there is no monotony in the sea. the waves lap the shore gently, or roar tumultuously in the red caverns, and it is all familiar, but none the less welcome and soothing because of that familiarity. it is not a land of lotus-eating delights, but it is a land where there is little sound but what the sea makes, and where every face tells of strong sun and salt waves. no doubt, much of its charm lies in its contrast to the life of towns or country places. whatever comes to heligoland comes from over the sea; there is no railway within many a wide mile; the people are a peculiar people, with their own peculiar language, and an island patriotism which it would be hard to match.... from the little pier one passes up the narrow white street, no broader than a cologne lane, but clean and bright as is no other street in europe, past the cafés with low balconies, and the little shops--into some there are three or four steps to descend, into others there is an ascent of a diminutive ladder--till the small square or garden is reached in front of the conversation house, a spacious building with a good ball-room and reading-room, where a kiosque, always in summer full of the fragrant heligoland roses, detains the passer-by. then another turn or two in the street, and the bottom of the treppe is approached--the great staircase which winds upward to the oberland, in whose crevices grow masses of foliage, and whose easy ascent need not be feared by any one, for the steps are broad and low. the older flight of steps was situated about a hundred paces northward from the present treppe. it was cut out of the red crumbling rock, and at the summit passed through a guard-house. undoubtedly the present treppe should be similarly fortified. it was built by the government in . during the smuggling days, it is said, an englishman rode up to the oberland, and the apparition so shocked an old woman, who had never seen a horse before, that she fell senseless to the ground. from the falm or road skirting the edge of the precipice from the head of the stairs to government house, one of the loveliest views in all the world lies before our eyes. immediately beneath are the winding stairs, with their constant stream of broad-shouldered seamen, or coquettish girls, or brown boys, passing up and down, while at each resting-place some group is sitting on the green-red-white seats gossiping over the day's business. trees and plants nestle in the stair corners, and almost conceal the roadway at the foot. lifting one's eyes away from the little town, the white pier sprawls on the, sea, and countless boats at anchor spot with darkness the shining water. farther away, the düne lies like a bar of silver across the view, ribbed with emerald where the waves roll in over white sand; and all around it, as far as the eye can reach, white sails gleam in the light, until repose is found on the horizon where sea and sky meet in a vapory haze. at night the falm is a favorite resort of the men whose houses are on the oberland. with arms resting on the broad wall, they look down on the twinkling lights of the houses far beneath, listen to the laughter or song which float up from the small tables outside the café, or watch the specks of light on the dark gleam of the north sea. it is a prospect of which one could hardly tire, if it was not that in summer one has in heligoland a surfeit of sea loveliness.... heligoland is conjecturally identified with the ocean island described by tacitus as the place of the sacred rites of the angli and other tribes of the mainland. it was almost certainly sacred to forsete, the son of balder the sun-god--if he be identified, as grimm and all frisian writers identify him, with fosite the frisian god. forsete, a personification to men of the great white god, who dwelt in a shining hall of gold and silver, was among all gods and men the wisest of judges. it is generally supposed that heligoland was first named the holy island from its association with the worship of forsete, and latterly in consequence of the conversion of the frisian inhabitants. hallier has, however, pointed out that the heligolanders do not use this name for their home. they call the island "det lunn"--the land; their language they call "hollunner," and he suggests that the original name was hallig-lunn. a hallig is a sand-island occasionally covered with water. when the düne was connected with the rock there was a large stretch of sand covered by winter floods. hallig-lunn would then mean the island that is more than a hallig; and from the similarity of the words to heligoland a series of etymological errors may have arisen; but hallier's derivation is, after all, only a guess. [footnote a: from "heligoland and the islands of the north sea." heligoland, an island and fortress in the north sea, lies thirty-six miles northwest of the mouth of the elbe--hamburg. it was ceded to germany by great britain in ; and is attached to schleswig holstein. as a fortress, its importance has been greatly increased since the germans recovered possession of the island.] v vienna first impressions of the capital[a] by bayard taylor i have at last seen the thousand wonders of this great capital, this german paris, this connecting-link between the civilization of europe and the barbaric magnificence of the east. it looks familiar to be in a city again whose streets are thronged with people and resound with the din and bustle of business. it reminds me of the never-ending crowds of london or the life and tumult of our scarcely less active new york. the morning of our arrival we sallied out from our lodgings in the leopoldstadt to explore the world before us. entering the broad praterstrasse, we passed down to the little arm of the danube which separates this part of the new city from the old. a row of magnificent coffee-houses occupy the bank, and numbers of persons were taking their breakfasts in the shady porticos. the ferdinand's bridge, which crosses the stream, was filled with people; in the motley crowd we saw the dark-eyed greek, and turks in their turbans and flowing robes. little brown hungarian boys were going around selling bunches of lilies, and italians with baskets of oranges stood by the sidewalk. the throng became greater as we penetrated into the old city. the streets were filled with carts and carriages, and, as there are no side-pavements, it required constant attention to keep out of their way. splendid shops fitted up with great taste occupied the whole of the lower stories, and goods of all kinds hung beneath the canvas awnings in front of them. almost every store or shop was dedicated to some particular person or place, which was represented on a large panel by the door. the number of these paintings added much to the splendor of the scene; i was gratified to find, among the images of kings and dukes, one dedicated "to the american," with an indian chief in full costume. the altstadt, or "old city," which contains about sixty thousand inhabitants, is completely separated from the suburbs, whose population, taking the whole extent within the outer barrier, numbers nearly half a million.[b] it is situated on a small arm of the danube and encompassed by a series of public promenades, gardens and walks, varying from a quarter to half a mile in length, called the "glacis." this formerly belonged to the fortifications of the city, but as the suburbs grew up so rapidly on all sides, it was changed appropriately to a public walk. the city is still surrounded with a massive wall and a deep wide moat, but, since it was taken by napoleon in , the moat has been changed into a garden with a beautiful carriage-road along the bottom around the whole city. it is a beautiful sight to stand on the summit of the wall and look over the broad glacis, with its shady roads branching in every direction and filled with inexhaustible streams of people. the vorstaedte, or new cities, stretch in a circle, around beyond this; all the finest buildings front on the glacis, among which the splendid vienna theater and the church of san carlo borromeo are conspicuous. the mountains of the vienna forest bound the view, with here and there a stately castle on their woody summits. there is no lack of places for pleasure or amusement. besides the numberless walks of the glacis there are the imperial gardens, with their cool shades and flowers and fountains; the augarten, laid out and opened to the public by the emperor joseph; and the prater, the largest and most beautiful of all. it lies on an island formed by the arms of the danube, and is between two and three miles square. from the circle at the end of the praterstrasse broad carriage-ways extend through its forests of oak and silver ash and over its verdant lawns to the principal stream, which bounds it on the north. these roads are lined with stately horse-chestnuts, whose branches unite and form a dense canopy, completely shutting out the sun. every afternoon the beauty and nobility of vienna whirl through the cool groves in their gay equipages, while the sidewalks are thronged with pedestrians, and the numberless tables and seats with which every house of refreshment is surrounded are filled with merry guests. here on sundays and holidays the people repair in thousands. the woods are full of tame deer, which run perfectly free over the whole prater. i saw several in one of the lawns lying down in the grass, with a number of children playing around or sitting beside them. it is delightful to walk there in the cool of the evening, when the paths are crowded and everybody is enjoying the release from the dusty city. it is this free social life which renders vienna so attractive to foreigners and draws yearly thousands of visitors from all parts of europe.... we spent two or three hours delightfully one evening in listening to strauss's band. we went about sunset to the odeon, a new building in the leopoldstadt. it has a refreshment-hall nearly five hundred feet long, with a handsome fresco ceiling and glass doors opening into a garden-walk of the same length. both the hall and garden were filled with tables, where the people seated themselves as they came and conversed sociably over their coffee and wine. the orchestra was placed in a little ornamental temple in the garden, in front of which i stationed myself, for i was anxious to see the world's waltz-king whose magic tones can set the heels of half christendom in motion. after the band had finished tuning their instruments, a middle-sized, handsome man stept forward with long strides, with a violin in one hand and bow in the other, and began waving the latter up and down, like a magician summoning his spirits. as if he had waved the sound out of his bow, the tones leaped forth from the instruments, and, guided by his eye and hand, fell into a merry measure. the accuracy with which every instrument performed its part was truly marvelous. he could not have struck the measure or the harmony more certainly from the keys of his own piano than from that large band. the sounds struggled forth so perfect and distinct that one almost expected to see them embodied, whirling in wild dance around him. sometimes the air was so exquisitely light and bounding the feet could scarcely keep on the earth; then it sank into a mournful lament with a sobbing tremulousness, and died away in a long-breathed sigh. strauss seemed to feel the music in every limb. he would wave his fiddle-bow a while, then commence playing with desperate energy, moving his whole body to the measure, till the sweat rolled from his brow. a book was lying on the stand before him, but he made no use of it. he often glanced around with a kind of half-triumphant smile at the restless crowd, whose feet could scarcely be restrained from bounding to the magic measure. it was the horn of oberon realized. the composition of the music displayed great talent, but its charm consisted more in the exquisite combination of the different instruments, and the perfect, the wonderful, exactness with which each performed its part--a piece of art of the most elaborate and refined character. the company, which consisted of several hundred, appeared to be full of enjoyment. they sat under the trees in the calm, cool twilight with the stars twinkling above, and talked and laughed sociably together between the pauses of the music, or strolled up and down the lighted alleys. we walked up and down with them, and thought how much we should enjoy such a scene at home, where the faces around us would be those of friends and the language our mother-tongue. we went a long way through the suburbs one bright afternoon to a little cemetery about a mile from the city to find the grave of beethoven. on ringing at the gate a girl admitted us into the grounds, in which are many monuments of noble families who have vaults there. i passed up the narrow walk, reading the inscriptions, till i came to the tomb of franz clement, a young composer who died two or three years ago. on turning again my eye fell instantly on the word "beethoven" in golden letters on a tombstone of gray marble. a simple gilded lyre decorated the pedestal, above which was a serpent encircling a butterfly--the emblem of resurrection. here, then, moldered the remains of that restless spirit who seemed to have strayed to earth from another clime, from such a height did he draw his glorious conceptions. the perfection he sought for here in vain he has now attained in a world where the soul is freed from the bars which bind it in this. there were no flowers planted around the tomb by those who revered his genius; only one wreath, withered and dead, lay among the grass, as if left long ago by some solitary pilgrim, and a few wild buttercups hung with their bright blossoms over the slab. it might have been wrong, but i could not resist the temptation to steal one or two while the old gravedigger was busy preparing a new tenement. i thought that other buds would open in a few days, but those i took would be treasured many a year as sacred relics. a few paces off is the grave of schubert, the composer whose beautiful songs are heard all over germany. we visited the imperial library a day or two ago. the hall is two hundred and forty-five feet long, with a magnificent dome in the center, under which stands the statue of charles v., of carrara marble, surrounded by twelve other monarchs of the house of hapsburg. the walls are of variegated marble richly ornamented with gold, and the ceiling and dome are covered with brilliant fresco-paintings. the library numbers three hundred thousand volumes and sixteen thousand manuscripts, which are kept in walnut cases gilded and adorned with medallions. the rich and harmonious effect of the whole can not easily be imagined. it is exceedingly appropriate that a hall of such splendor should be used to hold a library. the pomp of a palace may seem hollow and vain, for it is but the dwelling of a man; but no building can be too magnificent for the hundreds of great and immortal spirits to dwell in who have visited earth during thirty centuries. among other curiosities preserved in the collection, we were shown a brass plate containing one of the records of the roman senate made one hundred and eighty years before christ, greek manuscripts of the fifth and sixth centuries, and a volume of psalms printed on parchment in the year by faust and schoeffer, the inventors of printing. there were also mexican manuscripts presented by cortez, the prayer-book of hildegard, wife of charlemagne, in letters of gold, the signature of san carlo borromeo, and a greek testament of the thirteenth century which had been used by erasmus in making his, translation and contains notes in his own hand. the most interesting article was the "jerusalem delivered" of tasso, in the poet's own hand, with his erasures and corrections. the chapel of st. augustine contains one of the best works of canova--the monument of the grand duchess maria christina of sachsen-teschen. it is a pyramid of gray marble, twenty-eight feet high, with an opening in the side representing the entrance to a sepulcher. a female figure personating virtue bears in an urn to the grave the ashes of the departed, attended by two children with torches. the figure of compassion follows, leading an aged beggar to the tomb of his benefactor, and a little child with its hands folded. on the lower step rests a mourning genius beside a sleeping lion, and a bas-relief on the pyramid above represents an angel carrying christina's image, surrounded with the emblem of eternity, to heaven. a spirit of deep sorrow, which is touchingly portrayed in the countenance of the old man, pervades the whole group. while we looked at it the organ breathed out a slow, mournful strain which harmonized so fully with the expression of the figures that we seemed to be listening to the requiem of the one they mourned. the combined effect of music and sculpture thus united in their deep pathos was such that i could have sat down and wept. it was not from sadness at the death of a benevolent tho unknown individual, but the feeling of grief, of perfect, unmingled sorrow, so powerfully represented, came to the heart like an echo of its own emotion and carried it away with irresistible influence. travelers have described the same feeling while listening to the "miserere" in the sistine chapel at rome. canova could not have chiselled the monument without tears. one of the most interesting objects in vienna is the imperial armory. we were admitted through tickets previously procured from the armory direction; as there was already one large company within, we were told to wait in the court till our turn came. around the wall, on the inside, is suspended the enormous chain which the turks stretched across the danube at buda in the year to obstruct the navigation. it has eight thousand links and is nearly a mile in length. the court is filled with cannon of all shapes and sizes, many of which were conquered from other nations. i saw a great many which were cast during the french revolution, with the words "liberté! egalité!" upon them, and a number of others bearing the simple letter "n.".... the first wing contains banners used in the french revolution, and liberty-trees with the red cap, the armor of rudolph of hapsburg, maximilian, i., the emperor charles v., and the hat, sword and order of marshal schwarzenberg. some of the halls represent a fortification, with walls, ditches and embankments, made of muskets and swords. a long room in the second wing contains an encampment in which twelve or fifteen large tents are formed in like manner. there was also exhibited the armor of a dwarf king of bohemia and hungary who died a gray-headed old man in his twentieth year, the sword of marlborough, the coat of gustavus adolphus, pierced in the breast and back with the bullet which killed him at lützen, the armor of the old bohemian princess libussa, and that of the amazon wlaska, with a steel vizor made to fit the features of her face. the last wing was the most remarkable. here we saw the helm and breastplate of attila, king of the huns, which once glanced at the head of his myriads of wild hordes before the walls of rome; the armor of count stahremberg, who commanded vienna during the turkish siege in , and the holy banner of mohammed, taken at that time from the grand vizier, together with the steel harness of john sobieski of poland, who rescued vienna from the turkish troops under kara mustapha; the hat, sword and breastplate of godfrey of bouillon, the crusader-king of jerusalem, with the banners of the cross the crusaders had borne to palestine and the standard they captured from the turks on the walls of the holy city. i felt all my boyish enthusiasm for the romantic age of the crusaders revive as i looked on the torn and moldering banners which once waved on the hills of judea, or perhaps followed the sword of the lion-heart through the fight on the field of ascalon. what tales could they not tell, those old standards cut and shivered by spear and lance! what brave hands have carried them through the storm of battle, what dying eyes have looked upward to the cross on the folds as the last prayer was breathed for the rescue of the holy sepulcher. [footnote a: from "views afoot." published by g.p. putnam's sons.] [footnote b: the population of vienna, according to the census of , was , , .] st. stephen's cathedral[a] by thomas frognall dibdin of the chief objects of architecture which decorate street scenery in vienna, there are none, to my old-fashioned eyes, more attractive and thoroughly beautiful and interesting--from a thousand associations of ideas than places of worship, and of course, among these, none stands so eminently conspicuous as the mother-church, or the cathedral, which in this place, is dedicated to st. stephen. the spire has been long distinguished for its elegance and height. probably these are the most appropriate, if not the only, epithets of commendation which can be applied to it. after strasburg and ulm, it appears a second-rate edifice. not but what the spire may even vie with that of the former, and the nave may be yet larger than that of the latter; but, as a whole, it is much inferior to either--even allowing for the palpable falling off in the nave of strasburg cathedral. the spire, or tower--for it partakes of both characters--is indeed worthy of general admiration. it is oddly situated, being almost detached--and on the south side of the building. indeed the whole structure has a very strange, and i may add capricious, if not repulsive, appearance, as to its exterior. the western and eastern ends have nothing deserving of distinct notice or commendation. the former has a porch; which is called "the giant's porch;" it should rather be designated as that of the dwarf. it has no pretensions to size or striking character of any description. some of the oldest parts of the cathedral appear to belong to the porch of the eastern end. as you walk round the church, you can not fail to be struck with the great variety of ancient--and to an englishman, whimsical looking mural monuments, in basso and alto relievos. some of these are doubtless both interesting and curious. but the spire is indeed an object deserving of particular admiration. it is next to that of strasburg in height; being feet of vienna measurement. it may be said to begin to taper from the first stage or floor; and is distinguished for its open and sometimes intricate fretwork. about two-thirds of its height, just above the clock, and where the more slender part of the spire commences, there is a gallery or platform, to which the french quickly ascended, on their possession of vienna, to reconnoiter the surrounding country. the very summit of the spire is bent, or inclined to the north; so much so, as to give the notion that the cap or crown will fall in a short time. as to the period of the erection of this spire, it is supposed to have been about the middle, or latter end, of the fifteenth century. it has certainly much in common with the highly ornamental gothic style of building in our own country, about the reign of henry vi. the colored glazed tiles of the roof of the church are very disagreeable and unharmonizing. these colors are chiefly green, red, and blue. indeed the whole roof is exceedingly heavy and tasteless. i will now conduct you to the interior. on entering, from the southeast door, you observe, to the left, a small piece of white marble--which every one touches, with the finger or thumb charged with holy water, on entering or leaving the cathedral. such have been the countless thousands of times that this piece of marble has been so touched, that, purely, from such friction, it has been worn nearly half an inch below the general surrounding surface. i have great doubts, however, if this mysterious piece of masonry be as old as the walls of the church (which may be of the fourteenth century), which they pretend to say it is. the first view of the interior of this cathedral, seen even at the most favorable moment--which is from about three till five o'clock--is far from prepossessing. indeed, after what i had seen at rouen, paris, strassburg, ulm, and munich, it was a palpable disappointment. in the first place, there seems to be no grand leading feature of simplicity; add to which, darkness reigns everywhere. you look up, and discern no roof--not so much from its extreme height, as from the absolute want of windows. everything not only looks dreary, but is dingy and black--from the mere dirt and dust which seem to have covered the great pillars of the nave--and especially the figures and ornaments upon it--for the last four centuries. this is the more to be regretted, as the larger pillars are highly ornamented; having human figures, of the size of life, beneath sharply pointed canopies, running up the shafts. the extreme length of the cathedral is feet of vienna measurement. the extreme width, between the tower and its opposite extremity--or the transepts--is feet. there are comparatively few chapels; only four--but many bethstühle or prie-dieus. of the former, the chapels of savoy and st. eloy are the chief; but the large sacristy is more extensive than either. on my first entrance, while attentively examining the choir, i noticed--what was really a very provoking, but probably not a very uncommon sight--a maid servant deliberately using a long broom in sweeping the pavement of the high altar, at the moment when several very respectable people, of both sexes, were kneeling upon the steps, occupied in prayer. but the devotion of the people is incessant--all the day long--and in all parts of the cathedral. meanwhile, service is going on in all parts of the cathedral. they are singing here; they are praying there; and they are preaching in a third place. but during the whole time, i never heard one single note of the organ. i remember only the other sunday morning--walking out beneath one of the brightest blue skies that ever shone upon man--and entering the cathedral about nine o'clock. a preacher was in the principal pulpit; while a tolerably numerous congregation was gathered around him. he preached, of course, in the german language, and used much action. as he became more and more animated, he necessarily became warmer, and pulled off a black cap--which, till then, he had kept upon his head; the zeal and piety of the congregation at the same time seeming to increase with the accelerated motions of the preacher. in other more retired parts, solitary devotees were seen--silent, and absorbed in prayer. among these, i shall not easily forget the head and the physiognomical expression of one old man--who, having been supported by crutches, which lay by the side of him--appeared to have come for the last time to offer his orisons to heaven. the light shone full upon his bald head and elevated countenance; which latter indicated a genuineness of piety, and benevolence of disposition, not to be soured, even by the most bitter of worldly disappointments! it seemed as if the old man were taking leave of this life, in full confidence of the rewards which await the righteous beyond the grave. so much for the living. a word or two now for the dead. of course this letter alludes to the monuments of the more distinguished characters once resident in and near the metropolis. among these, doubtless the most elaborate is that of the emperor frederick iii.--in the florid gothic style, surmounted by a tablet, filled with coat-armor, or heraldic shields. some of the mural monuments are very curious, and among them are several of the early part of the sixteenth century--which represent the chins and even mouths of females, entirely covered by drapery; such as is even now to be seen and such as we saw on descending from the vosges. but among these monuments--both for absolute and relative antiquity--none will appear to the curious eye of an antiquary so precious as that of the head of the architect of the cathedral, whose name was pilgram. [footnote a: from "a bibliographical, antiquarian and picturesque tour," published in .] the belvedere palace[a] by thomas frognall dibdin to the belvedere palace, therefore, let us go. i visited it with mr. lewis--taking our valet with us, immediately after breakfast--on one of the finest and clearest-skied september mornings that ever shone above the head of man. we had resolved to take the ambras, or the little belvedere, in our way; and to have a good, long, and uninterrupted view of the wonders of art--in a variety of departments. both the little belvedere and the large belvedere rise gradually above the suburbs; and the latter may be about a mile and a half from the ramparts of the city. the ambras contains a quantity of ancient horse- and foot-armor, brought thither from a chateau of that name, near inssbruck, built by the emperor charles v. such a collection of old armor--which had once equally graced and protected the bodies of their wearers, among whom the noblest names of which germany can boast may be enrolled--was infinitely gratifying to me. the sides of the first room were quite embossed with suspended shields, cuirasses, and breast-plates. the floor was almost filled by champions on horseback--yet poising the spear, or holding it in the rest--yet almost shaking their angry plumes, and pricking the fiery sides of their coursers. here rode maximilian--and there halted charles his son. different suits of armor, belonging to the same character, are studiously shown you by the guide; some of these are the foot-, and some the horse-, armor; some were worn in fight--yet giving evidence of the mark of the bullet and battle-ax; others were the holiday suits of armor, with which the knights marched in procession, or tilted at the tournament. the workmanship of the full-dress suits, in which a great deal of highly wrought gold ornament appears, is sometimes really exquisite. the second, or long room, is more particularly appropriated to the foot- or infantry-armor. in this studied display of much that is interesting from antiquity, and splendid from absolute beauty and costliness, i was particularly gratified by the sight of the armor which the emperor maximilian wore as a foot-captain. the lower part, to defend the thighs, consists of a puckered or plated steel petticoat, sticking out at the bottom of the folds, considerably beyond the upper part. it is very simple, and of polished steel. a fine suit of armor--of black and gold--worn by an archbishop of salzburg in the middle of the fifteenth century, had particular claims upon my admiration. it was at once chaste and effective. the mace was by the side of it. this room is also ornamented by trophies taken from the turks; such as bows, spears, battle-axes, and scimitars. in short, the whole is full of interest and splendor. i ought to have seen the arsenal--which i learn is of uncommon magnificence; and, altho not so curious on the score of antiquity, is yet not destitute of relics of the warriors of germany. among these, those which belong to my old bibliomaniacal friend corvinus, king of hungary, cut a conspicuous and very respectable figure. i fear it will be now impracticable to see the arsenal as it ought to be seen. it is now approaching mid-day, and we are walking toward the terrace in front of the great belvidere palace, built by the immortal eugene[b] in the year , as a summer residence. probably no spot could have been selected with better judgment for the residence of a prince--who wished to enjoy, almost at the same moment, the charms of the country with the magnificence of a city view, unclouded by the dense fumes which forever envelop our metropolis. it is in truth a glorious situation. walking along its wide and well-cultivated terraces, you obtain the finest view imaginable of the city of vienna. indeed it may be called a picturesque view. the spire of the cathedral darts directly upward, as it were, to the very heavens. the ground before you, and in the distance, is gently undulating; and the intermediate portion of the suburbs does not present any very offensive protrusions. more in the distance, the windings of the danube are seen; with its various little islands, studded with hamlets and fishing-huts, lighted up by a sun of unusual radiance. indeed the sky, above the whole of this rich and civilized scene, was at the time of our viewing it, almost of a dazzling hue; so deep and vivid a tint we had never before beheld. behind the palace, in the distance, you observe a chain of mountains which extends into hungary. as to the building itself, it is perfectly palatial in its size, form, ornaments, and general effect. among the treasures, which it contains, it is now high time to enter and to look about us. my account is necessarily a mere sketch. rubens, if any artist, seems here to "rule and reign without control!" two large rooms are filled with his productions; besides several other pictures, by the same hand, which are placed in different apartments. here it is that you see verified the truth of sir joshua's remark upon that wonderful artist: namely, that his genius seems to expand with the size of his canvas. his pencil absolutely riots here--in the most luxuriant manner--whether in the majesty of an altarpiece, in the gaiety of a festive scene, or in the sobriety of portrait-painting. his ignatius loyola and st. francis xavier--of the former class--each seventeen feet high, by nearly thirteen wide--are stupendous productions in more senses than one. the latter is, indeed, in my humble judgment, the most marvelous specimen of the powers of the painter which i have ever seen; and you must remember that both england and france are not without some of his celebrated productions, which i have frequently examined. in the old german school, the series is almost countless; and of the greatest possible degree of interest and curiosity. here are to be seen wohlgemuths, albert dürers, both the holbeins, lucas cranachs, ambergaus, and burgmairs of all sizes and degrees of merit. among these ancient specimens--which are placed in curious order, in the very upper suite of apartments, and of which the backgrounds of several, in one solid coat of gilt, lighten up the room like a golden sunset--you must not fail to pay particular attention to a singularly curious old subject--representing the life, miracles, and passion of our savior, in a series of one hundred and fifty-eight pictures--of which the largest is nearly three feet square, and every other about fifteen inches by ten. these subjects are painted upon eighty-six small pieces of wood; of which seventy-two are contained in six folding cabinets, each holding twelve subjects. in regard to teniers, gerard dow, mieris, wouvermann, and cuyp, you must look at home for more exquisite specimens. this collection contains, in the whole, not fewer than fifteen hundred paintings, of which the greater portion consists of pictures of very large dimensions. i could have lived here for a month; but could only move along with the hurried step, and yet more hurrying eye, of an ordinary visitor. [footnote a: from "a bibliographical, antiquarian and picturesque tour," published in .] [footnote b: the celebrated austrian general, who defeated the turks in , and shared with marlborough in the victories of blenheim and malplaquet.] schÖnbrunn and the prater[a] by thomas frognall dibdin about three english miles from the great belvedere--or rather about the same number of miles from vienna, to the right, as you approach the capital--is the famous palace of schönbrunn. this is a sort of summer-residence of the emperor; and it is here that his daughter, the ex-empress of france, and the young bonaparte usually reside.[b] the latter never goes into italy, when his mother, as duchess of parma, pays her annual visit to her principality. at this moment her son is at baden, with the court. it was in the schönbrunn palace that his father, on the conquest of vienna, used to take up his abode, rarely venturing into the city. he was surely safe enough here; as every chamber and every court yard was filled by the élite of his guard--whether as officers or soldiers. it is a most magnificent pile of building; a truly imperial residence--but neither the furniture nor the objects of art, whether connected with sculpture or painting, are deserving of anything in the shape of a catalogue raisonné. i saw the chamber where young bonaparte frequently passes the day; and brandishes his flag staff, and beats upon his drum. he is a soldier (as they tell me) every inch of him; and rides out, through the streets of vienna, in a carriage of state drawn by four or six horses, receiving the homage of the passing multitude. to return to the schönbrunn palace. i have already told you that it is vast, and capable of accommodating the largest retinue of courtiers. it is of the gardens belonging to it, that i would now only wish to say a word. these gardens are really worthy of the residence to which they are attached. for what is called ornamental, formal, gardening--enriched by shrubs of rarity, and trees of magnificence--enlivened by fountains--adorned by sculpture--and diversified by vistas, lawns, and walks--interspersed with grottoes and artificial ruins--you can conceive nothing upon a grander scale than these: while a menagerie in one place (where i saw a large but miserably wasted elephant)--a flower-garden in another--a labyrinth in a third, and a solitude in a fourth place--each, in its turn, equally beguiles the hour and the walk. they are the most spacious gardens i ever witnessed. it was the other sunday evening when i visited the prater, and when--as the weather happened to be very fine--it was considered to be full, but the absence of the court, of the noblesse, necessarily gave a less joyous and splendid aspect to the carriages and their attendant liveries. in your way to this famous place of sabbath evening promenade, you pass a celebrated coffee-house, in the suburbs, called the leopoldstadt, which goes by the name of the greek coffee-house--on account of its being almost entirely frequented by greeks--so numerous at vienna. do not pass it, if you should ever come hither, without entering it--at least once. you would fancy yourself to be in greece, so thoroughly characteristic are the countenances, dresses, and language of everyone within. but yonder commences the procession of horse and foot; of cabriolets, family coaches, german wagons, cars, phaetons and landaulets, all moving in a measured manner, within their prescribed ranks, toward the prater. we must accompany them without loss of time. you now reach the prater. it is an extensive flat, surrounded by branches of the danube, and planted on each side with double rows of horse-chestnut trees. the drive, in one straight line, is probably a league in length. it is divided by two roads, in one of which the company move onward, and in the other they return. consequently, if you happen to find a hillock only a few feet high, you may, from thence, obtain a pretty good view of the interminable procession of the carriages before mentioned: one current of them, as it were, moving forward, and another rolling backward. but, hark! the notes of a harp are heard to the left, in a meadow, where the foot passengers often digress from the more formal tree-lined promenade. a press of ladies and gentlemen is quickly seen. you mingle involuntarily with them; and, looking forward, you observe a small stage erected, upon which a harper sits and two singers stand. the company now lie down upon the grass, or break into standing groups, or sit upon chairs hired for the occasion--to listen to the notes so boldly and so feelingly executed. the clapping of hands, and exclamations of bravo succeed, and the sounds of applause, however warmly bestowed, quickly die away in the open air. the performers bow, receive a few kreutzers, retire, and are well satisfied. the sound of the trumpet is now heard behind you. tilting feats are about to be performed; the coursers snort and are put in motion; their hides are bathed in sweat beneath their ponderous housings; and the blood, which flows freely from the pricks of their riders' spurs, shows you with what earnestness the whole affair is conducted. there, the ring is thrice carried off at the point of the lance. feats of horsemanship follow in a covered building, to the right; and the juggler, conjurer, or magician, displays his dexterous feats, or exercises his potent spells, in a little amphitheater of trees, at a distance beyond. here and there rise more stately edifices, as theaters, from the doors of which a throng of heated spectators is pouring out. in other directions, booths, stalls and tables are fixt; where the hungry eat, the thirsty drink, and the merry-hearted indulge in potent libations. the waiters are in a constant state of locomotion. rhenish wine sparkles here; confectionery glitters there; and fruit looks bright and tempting in a third place. no guest turns round to eye the company; because he is intent upon the luxuries which invite his immediate attention, or he is in close conversation with an intimate friend, or a beloved female. they talk and laugh--and the present seems to be the happiest moment of their lives. all is gaiety and good humor. you return again to the foot-promenade, and look sharply about you, as you move onward, to catch the spark of beauty, or admire the costume of taste, or confess the power of expression. it is an albanian female who walks yonder, wondering, and asking questions, at every thing she sees. the proud jewess, supported by her husband and father, moves in another direction. she is covered with brocade and flaunting ribbons; but she is abstracted from everything around her, because her eyes are cast downward upon her stomacher, or sideways to obtain a glimpse of what may be called her spangled epaulettes. her eye is large and dark; her nose is aquiline; her complexion is of an olive brown; her stature is majestic, her dress is gorgeous, her gait is measured--and her demeanor is grave and composed. "she must be very rich," you say--as she passes on. "she is prodigiously rich," replies the friend, to whom you put the question--for seven virgins, with nosegays of choicest flowers, held up her bridal train; and the like number of youths, with silver-hilted swords, and robes of ermine and satin, graced the same bridal ceremony. her father thinks he can never do enough for her; and her husband, that he can never love her sufficiently. whether she be happy or not, in consequence, we have no time to stop to inquire, for see yonder! three "turbaned turks" make their advances. how gaily, how magnificently they are attired! what finely proportioned limbs--what beautifully formed features! they have been carousing, peradventure, with some young greeks--who have just saluted them, en passant--at the famous coffee-house before mentioned. everything around you is novel and striking; while the verdure of the trees and lawns is yet fresh, and the sun does not seem yet disposed to sink below the horizon. the carriages still move on, and return, in measured procession. those who are within, look earnestly from the windows, to catch a glance of their passing friends. the fair hand is waved here; the curiously-painted fan is shaken there; and the repeated nod is seen in almost every other passing landaulet. not a heart seems sad; not a brow appears to be clouded with care. such--or something like the foregoing--is the scene which usually passes on a sunday evening--perhaps six months out of the twelve--upon the famous prater at vienna; while the tolling bell of st. stephen's tower, about nine o'clock--and the groups of visitors hurrying back, to get home before the gates of the city are shut against them--usually conclude the scene just described. [footnote a: from "a bibliographical, antiquarian and picturesque tour." published in .] [footnote b: marie louise, second wife of napoleon, and their son, the king of rome.] vi hungary a glance at the country[a] by h. tornai de kÖvËr hungary consists of hungary proper, with transylvania (which had independent rule at one time), croatia and slavonia (which have been added), and the town of fiume on the shores of the adriatic sea. the lowlands are exceedingly beautiful in the northeast and west, where the great mountain, peaks rise into the clear blue sky or are hidden by big white clouds, but no beauty can be compared to the young green waving corn or the ripe ears when swaying gently in the breeze. one sees miles and miles of corn, with only a tree here and there to mark the distances, and one can not help comparing the landscape to a green sea, for the wind makes long silky waves, which make the field appear to rise and fall like the ocean. in the heat of midday the mirage, or, as the hungarians call it, "délibáb," appears and shows wonderful rivers, villages, cool green woods--all floating in the air. sometimes one sees hundreds of white oxen and church towers, and, to make the picture still more confusing and wonderful, it is all seen upside down. this, the richest part of the country, is situated between the rivers danube and theiss, and runs right down to the borders of servia. two thirds of hungary consist of mountainous districts, but one third has the richest soil in europe. great rivers run through the heart of the country, giving it the fertility which is its great source of wealth. the great lowlands, or "alföld," as the magyars call them, are surrounded by a chain of mountains whose heights are nearly equal to some alpine districts. there are three principal mountain ranges--the tátra, mátra, and fátra--and four principal rivers--the danube, theiss, drave, and save. hungary is called the land of the three mountains and four rivers, and the emblem of these form the chief feature in the coat-of-arms of the country. the carpathian range of mountains stretches from the northwest along the north and down the east, encircling the lowlands and sending forth rivers and streams to water the plains. these mountains are of a gigantic bulk and breadth; they are covered with fir and pine trees, and in the lower regions with oaks and many other kinds. the peaks of the high tátra are about , feet high, and, of course, are bare of any vegetation, being snow-covered even in summer-time. on the well-sheltered sides of these mountains numerous baths are to be found, and they abound in mineral waters. another curious feature are the deep lakes called "tengerszem" (eyes of the sea). according to folklore they are connected with the sea, and wonderful beings live in them. however, it is so far true that they are really of astonishing depth. the summer up in the northern carpathians is very short, the nights always cold, and there is plenty of rain to water the rich vegetation of the forests. often even in the summer there are snowstorms and a very low temperature. the northeastern carpathians include a range of lower hills running down to the so-called hegyalja, where the wonderful vine which produces the wine of tokay is grown. the southeastern range of the carpathians divides the county of máramaros from erdély (transylvania). the main part of this country is mountainous and rugged, but here also there is wonderful scenery. everything is still very wild in these parts of the land, and tho mineral waters abound everywhere, the bathing-places are very primitive. the only seaport the country possesses is fiume, which was given to hungary by maria theresa, who wanted to give hungary the chance of developing into a commercial nation. besides the deep but small mountain lakes, there are several large ones; among these the most important is the balaton, which, altho narrow, is about fifty miles long. along its borders there are summer bathing-places, considered very healthy for children. very good wine is produced here, as in most parts of hungary which are hilly, but not situated too high up among the mountains. the lake of balaton is renowned for a splendid kind of fresh-water fish, the fogas. it is considered the best fish after trout--some even prefer it--and it grows to a good size. the chief river of hungary is the danube, and the whole of hungary is included in its basin. it runs through the heart of the country, forming many islands; the greatest is called the csallóköz, and has over a hundred villages on it. one of the prettiest and most cultivated of the islands is st. margaret's isle, near budapest, which has latterly been joined to the mainland by a bridge. some years ago only steamers conveyed the visitors to it; these still exist, but now carriages can drive on to the island too. it is a beautiful park, where the people of budapest seek the shade of the splendid old trees. hot sulfur springs are to be found on the island, and there is a bath for the use of visitors. the danube leaves hungary at orsova, and passes through the so-called iron gates. the scenery is very beautiful and wild in that part, and there are many points where it is exceedingly picturesque, especially between vienna and budapest. it is navigable for steamships, and so is the next largest river, the theiss. this river begins its course in the southeastern carpathians, right up among the snow-peaks, amid wild and beautiful scenery, and it eventually empties its waters into the danube at titel. the three largest rivers of hungary feed the danube, and by that means reach the black sea. hungary lies under the so-called temperate zone, but there does not seem much temperance in the climate when we think of the terrible, almost siberian winters that come often enough and the heat waves occasioning frequent droughts in the lowlands. the summer is short in the carpathians; usually in the months of august and september the weather is the most settled. june and july are often rainy--sometimes snowstorms cause the barometer to fall tremendously. in the mountain districts there is a great difference between the temperature of the daytime and that of the night. all those who go to the carpathians do well to take winter and alpine clothing with them. the winter in the mountains is perhaps the most exhilarating, as plenty of winter sport goes on. the air is very cold, but the sun has great strength in sheltered corners, enabling even delicate people to spend the winter there. in the lowlands the summer is exceedingly hot, but frequent storms, which cool the air for some days, make the heat bearable. now and then there have been summers when in some parts of hungary rain has not fallen for many weeks--even months. the winter, too, even in the more temperate parts, is often severe and long, there being often from eight to ten weeks of skating, altho the last few years have been abnormally mild. in the valleys of the carpathians potatoes, barley, oats, and cabbages are grown, while in the warmer south wheat, maize, tobacco, turnips, and the vine are cultivated. down by the adriatic sea the climate is much warmer, but hungary, as already mentioned, has only the town of fiume of her own to boast of. the visitors who look for a temperate winter and want to get away from the raw cold must go to the austrian town of abbazia, which is reached in half an hour by steamboat, and is called the austrian riviera. those who visit hungary should come in spring--about may--and spend some weeks in the capital, the lowlands and hilly districts, and go north to the mountains and bathing-places in the summer months. tokay produces some of the finest wine in the world, and the vintage time in that part of the country is most interesting and picturesque. [footnote a: from "hungary." published by the macmillan co.] budapest[a] by h. tornai de kÖvËr budapest is one of the most beautifully situated cities in europe. nobody can ever forget the wonderful sight of the two sister towns divided by the wide and swiftly flowing danube, with the steamers and barges on her waters. buda, the old stronghold, is on one side with the fantastic "gellért" hill, which is a formidable-looking mass of rocks and caves; farther on is the lovely royal palace with its beautifully kept gardens clinging to the hillside; then the oldest part, called the stronghold, which has been rebuilt exactly in the style matthias corvinus built it, and which was demolished during the turkish invasion. here is the old church of matthias too, but it is so much renovated that it lacks the appearance of age. behind the smaller hills larger ones are to be seen covered with shady woods; these are the villa regions and summer excursion places for the people. along the danube are green and shady islands of which the most beautiful is st. margaret's isle, and on the other side of the waters is the city of "pest," with the majestic houses of parliament, palace of justice, academy of science, and numerous other fine buildings. at the present time four bridges join the two cities together, and a huge tunnel leads through the first hill in buda into another part of the town. one can not say which is the more beautiful sight: to look from pest, which stands on level ground, up to the varying hilly landscape of buda; or to look from the hillside of the latter place on to the fairy-land of pest, with the broad silver danube receding in the distance like a great winding snake, its scales all aglitter in the sunshine. it is beautiful by day, but still more so at night, for myriads of lights twinkle in the water, and the hillsides are dotted as if with flitting fairy-lamps. even those who are used to the sight look at it in speechless rapture and wonder. what must it be like to foreigners! besides her splendid natural situation, budapest has another great treasure, and this is the great quantity of hot sulfur springs which exists on both sides of the danube. the romans made use of these at the time of their colonization, and we can find the ruins of the roman baths in aquincum half an hour from budapest. during the turkish rule many turkish baths were erected in buda. the rudas bath exists to this day, and with its modernized system is one of the most popular. császár bath, st. lukács bath, both in buda, have an old-established reputation for the splendid cures of rheumatism. a new bath is being built in pest where the hot sulfur water oozes up in the middle of the park--the same is to be found in st. margaret's isle. besides the sulfur baths there are the much-known bitter waters in buda called "hunyady" and "franz joseph," as well as salt baths. the city, with the exception of some parts in buda, is quite modern, and has encircling boulevards and wide streets, one of the finest being the andrássy street. the electric car system is one of the most modern, while underground and overground electric railways lead to the most distant suburbs. the city has a gay and new look about it; all along the walks trees are planted, and cafés are to be seen with a screen of shrubs or flowers around them. in the evening the sound of music floats from the houses and cafés. there are plenty of theaters, in which only the hungarian language is used, and a large and beautiful opera-house under government management. there are museums, institutions of art and learning, academies of painting and music, schools, and shops, and life and movement everywhere. at present [ ] the city numbers about , souls, but the more distant suburbs are not reckoned in this number. [footnote a: from "hungary." published by the macmillan co.] seeing europe with famous authors edited by francis w. halsey contents of volume vi germany, austria-hungary and switzerland part two vi. hungary--(_continued_) hungarian baths and resorts--by h. tornai de kövër the gipsies--by h. tornai de kövër vii. austria's adriatic ports trieste and pola--by edward a. freeman spalato--by edward a. freeman ragusa--by harry de windt cattaro--by edward a. freeman viii. other austrian scenes cracow--by mènie muriel dowie on the road to prague--by bayard taylor the cave of adelsberg--by george stillman hillard the monastery of mÖlk--by thomas frognall dibdin through the tyrol--by william cullen bryant in the dolomites--by archibald campbell knowles cortina--by amelia b. edwards ix. alpine resorts the call of the mountains--by frederick harrison interlaken and the jungfrau--by archibald campbell knowles the altdorf of william tell--by w.d. m'crackan lucerne--by victor tissot zurich--by w.d. m'crackan the rigi--by w.d. m'crackan chamouni--an avalanche--by percy bysshe shelley zermatt--by archibald campbell knowles pontresina and st. moritz--by victor tissot geneva--by francis h. gribble the castle of chillon--by harriet beecher stowe by rail up the gorner-grat--by archibald campbell knowles through the st. gothard into italy--by victor tissot x. alpine mountain climbing first attempts half a century ago--by edward whymper first to the top o the matterhorn--by edward whymper the lord francis douglas tragedy--by edward whymper an ascent of monte rosa ( )--by john tyndall mont blanc ascended, huxley going part way--by john tyndall the jungfrau-joch--by sir leslie stephen xi. other alpine topics the great st. bernard hospice--by archibald campbell knowles avalanches--by victor tissot hunting the chamois--by victor tissot the celebrities of geneva--by francis h. gribble list of illustrations volume vi frontispiece the matterhorn kursaal at marienbad marienbad, austria monastery of st. ulric and afra, augsburg monastery of mÖlk on the danube above vienna memorial tablet and road in the iron gate of the danube quay at fiume royal palace in budapest houses of parliament, budapest suspension bridge over the danube at budapest street in budapest cathedral of spalato regusa, dalmatia miramar geneva regatta day on lake geneva vitznau, the lake terminus of the rigi railroad rhine falls near schaffhausen pontresina in the engadine st. moritz in the engadine fribourg berne vivey, lake geneva the turnhalle, zurich interlaken lucerne viaducts on an alpine railway the wolfort viaduct balmat--saussure monument in chamonix roofed wooden bridge at lucerne the castle of chillon cloud effect above interlaken davos in winter [illustration: the kursal at marienbad] [illustration: marienbad, austria] [illustration: the monastery of st. ulric and afra, at augsburg in bavaria] [illustration: the monastery of mÖlk on the danube above vienna] [illustration: memorial tablet and road in the iron gate of the danube] [illustration: the quay of the fiume at the head of the adriatic] [illustration: the royal palace at budapest] [illustration: the houses of parliament at budapest] [illustration: the suspension bridge over the danube at budapest] [illustration: street in budapest] [illustration: the cathedral of spalato burial-place of the emperor diocletian] [illustration: regusa, dalmatia] [illustration: miramar long the home of the ex-empress carlotta of mexico] [illustration: geneva] [illustration: regatta day on lake geneva] [illustration: vitznau, the lake terminus of the rigi railroad] [illustration: the rhine falls near schaffhausen] vi hungary (_continued_) hungarian baths and resorts[ ] by h. tornai de kÖvËr in hungary there are great quantities of unearthed riches, and not only in the form of gold. these riches are the mineral waters that abound in the country and have been the natural medicine of the people for many years. water in itself was always worshiped by the hungarians in the earliest ages, and they have found out through experience for which ailment the different waters may be used. there are numbers of small watering-places in the most primitive state, which are visited by the peasants from far and wide, more especially those that are good for rheumatism. like all people that work much in the open, the hungarian in old age feels the aching of his limbs. the carpathians are full of such baths, some of them quite primitive; others are used more as summer resorts, where the well-to-do town people build their villas; others, again, like tátra füred, tátra lomnicz, csorba, and many others, have every accommodation and are visited by people from all over europe. in former times germans and poles were the chief visitors, but now people come from all parts to look at the wonderful ice-caves (where one can skate in the hottest summer), the waterfalls, and the great pine forests, and make walking, driving, and riding tours right up to the snow-capped mountains, preferring the comparative quiet of this alpine district to that of switzerland. almost every place has some special mineral water, and among the greatest wonders of hungary are the hot mud-baths of pöstyén. this place is situated at the foot of the lesser carpathians, and is easily reached from the main line of the railway. the scenery is lovely and the air healthy, but this is nothing compared to the wondrous waters and hot mire which oozes out of the earth in the vicinity of the river vág. hot sulfuric water, which contains radium, bubbles up in all parts of pöstyén, and even the bed of the cold river is full of steaming hot mud. as far back as we know of the existence of pöstyén as a natural cure, and sir spencer wells, the great english doctor, wrote about these waters in . they are chiefly good for rheumatism, gout, neuralgia, the strengthening of broken bones, strains, and also for scrofula. on the premises there is a quaint museum with crutches and all sort of sticks and invalid chairs left there by their former owners in grateful acknowledgment of the wonderful waters and mire that had healed them. of late there has been much comfort added; great new baths have been built, villas and new hotels added, so that there is accommodation for rich and poor alike. the natural heat of the mire is degrees fahrenheit. plenty of amusements are supplied for those who are not great sufferers--tennis, shooting, fishing, boating, and swimming being all obtainable. the bathing-place and all the adjoining land belongs to count erdödy. another place of the greatest importance is the little bath "parád," hardly three hours from budapest, situated in the heart of the mountains of the "mátra." it is the private property of count kárólyi. the place is primitive and has not even electric light. its waters are a wonderful combination of iron and alkaline, but this is not the most important feature. besides the baths there is a strong spring of arsenic water which, through a fortunate combination, is stronger and more digestible than roncegno and all the other first-rate waters of that kind in the world. not only in northern hungary does one find wondrous cures, it is the same in transylvania. there are healing and splendid mineral waters for common use all over the country lying idle and awaiting the days when its owners will be possest by the spirit of enterprise. borszek, szováta, and many others are all wonders in their way, waters that would bring in millions to their owners if only worked properly. szováta, boasts of a lake containing such an enormous proportion of salt that not even the human body can sink into its depths. in the south there is herkulesfürdö, renowned as much for the beauty of its scenery as for its waters. besides those mentioned there are all the summer pleasure resorts; the best of these are situated along lake balaton. the tepid water, long sandbanks, and splendid air from the forests make them specially healthy for delicate children. but not only have the bathing-places beautiful scenery from north to south and from east to west, in general the country abounds in alpine districts, waterfalls, caves, and other wonders of nature. the most beautiful tour is along the river vág, starting from the most northerly point in hungary near the beautiful old stronghold of Árva in the county of Árva. all those that care to see a country as it really is, and do not mind going out of the usual beaten track of the globe-trotter, should go down the river vág. it can not be done by steamer, or any other comfortable contrivance, one must do it on a raft, as the rapids of the river are not to be passed by any other means. the wood is transported in this way from the mountain regions to the south, and for two days one passes through the most beautiful scenery. fantastic castles loom at the top of mountain peaks, and to each castle is attached a page of the history of the middle ages, when the great noblemen were also the greatest robbers of the land, and the people were miserable serfs, who did all the work and were taxed and robbed by their masters. castles, wild mountain districts, rugged passes, villages, and ruins are passed like a beautiful panorama. the river rushes along, foaming and dashing over sharp rocks. the people are reliable and very clever in handling the raft, which requires great skill, especially when conducted over the falls at low water. sometimes there is only one little spot where the raft can pass, and to conduct it over those rapids requires absolute knowledge of every rock hidden under the shallow falls. if notice is given in time, a rude hut will be built on the raft to give shelter and make it possible to have meals cooked, altho in the simplest way (consisting of baked potatoes and stew), by the slavs who are in charge of the raft. if anything better is wanted it must be ordered by stopping at the larger towns; but to have it done in the simple way is entering into the true spirit of the voyage. the gipsies[ ] by h. tornai de kÖvËr gipsies! music! dancing! these are words of magic to the rich and poor, noblemen and peasant alike, if he be a true hungarian. there are two kinds of gipsies. the wandering thief, who can not be made to take up any occupation. these are a terribly lawless and immoral people, and there seems to be no way of altering their life and habits, altho much has been written on the subject to improve matters; but the government has shown itself to be helpless as yet. these people live here and there, in fact everywhere, leading a wandering life in carts, and camp wherever night overtakes them. after some special evil-doing they will wander into rumania or russia and come back after some years when the deed of crime has been forgotten. their movements are so quick and silent that they outwit the best detectives of the police force. they speak the gipsy language, but often a half-dozen other languages besides, in their peculiar chanting voice. their only occupation is stealing, drinking, smoking, and being a nuisance to the country in every way. the other sort of gipsies consist of those that have squatted down in the villages some hundreds of years ago. they live in a separate part of the village, usually at the end, are dirty and untidy and even an unruly people, but for the most part have taken up some honest occupation. they make the rough, unbaked earth bricks that the peasant cottages are mostly made of, are tinkers and blacksmiths, but they do the lowest kind of work too. besides these, however, there are the talented ones. the musical gipsy begins to handle his fiddle as soon as he can toddle. the hungarians brought their love of music with them from asia. old parchments have been found which denote that they had their songs and war-chants at the time of the "home-making," and church and folk-songs from their earliest christian period. peasant and nobleman are musical alike--it runs in the race. the gipsies that have settled among them caught up the love of music and are now the best interpreters of the hungarian songs. the people have got so used to their "blackies," as they call them, that no lesser or greater fête day can pass without the gipsy band having ample work to do in the form of playing for the people. their instruments are the fiddle, 'cello, viola, clarinet, tárogato (a hungarian specialty), and, above all, the cymbal. the tárogato looks like a grand piano with the top off. it stands on four legs like a table and has wires drawn across it; on these wires the player performs with two little sticks, that are padded at the ends with cotton-wool. the sound is wild and weird, but if well played very beautiful indeed. the gipsies seldom compose music. the songs come into life mostly on the spur of the moment. in the olden days war-songs and long ballads were the most usual form of music. the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were specially rich in the production of songs that live even now. at that time the greatest gipsy musician was a woman: her name was "czinka panna," and she was called the gipsy queen. with the change of times the songs are altered too, and now they are mostly lyric. csárdás is the quick form of music, and tho' of different melodies it must always be kept to the same rhythm. this is not much sung to, but is the music for the national dance. the peasants play on a little wooden flute which is called the "tilinko," or "furulya," and they know hundreds of sad folk-songs and lively csárdás. while living their isolated lives in the great plains they compose many a beautiful song. it is generally from the peasants and the musical country gentry that the gipsy gets his music. he learns the songs after a single hearing, and plays them exactly according to the singer's wish. the hungarian noble when singing with the gipsies is capable of giving the dark-faced boys every penny he has. in this manner many a young nobleman has been ruined, and the gipsies make nothing of it, because they are just like their masters and "spend easily earned money easily," as the saying goes. where there is much music there is much dancing. every sunday afternoon after church the villages are lively with the sound of the gipsy band, and the young peasant boys and girls dance. the slovaks of the north play a kind of bagpipe, which reminds one of the scotch ones; but the songs of the slovak have got very much mixed with the hungarian. the rumanian music is of a distinct type, but the dances all resemble the csárdás, with the difference that the quick figures in the slav and rumanian dances are much more grotesque and verging on acrobatism. vii austria's adriatic ports trieste and pola[ ] by edward a. freeman trieste stands forth as a rival of venice, which has, in a low practical view of things, outstript her. italian zeal naturally cries for the recovery of a great city, once part of the old italian kingdom, and whose speech is largely, perhaps chiefly, italian to this day. but, a cry of "italia irredenta," however far it may go, must not go so far as this. trieste, a cosmopolitan city on a slavonic shore, can not be called italian in the same sense as the lands and towns so near verona which yearn to be as verona is. let trieste be the rival, even the eyesore, of venice, still southern germany must have a mouth. we might, indeed, be better pleased to see trieste a free city, the southern fellow of lübeck, bremen and hamburg; but it must not be forgotten that the archduke of austria and lord of trieste reigns at trieste by a far better right than that by which he reigns at cattaro and spizza. the present people of trieste did not choose him, but the people of trieste five hundred years back did choose the forefather of his great-grandmother. compared with the grounds of which kingdoms, duchies, counties, and lordships, are commonly held in that neighborhood, such a claim as this must be allowed to be respectable indeed. the great haven of trieste may almost at pleasure be quoted as either confirming or contradicting the rule that it is not in the great commercial cities of europe that we are to look for the choicest or the most plentiful remains of antiquity. sometimes the cities themselves are of modern foundation; in other cases the cities themselves, as habitations of men and seats of commerce, are of the hoariest antiquity, but the remains of their early days have perished through their very prosperity. massalia,[ ] with her long history, with her double wreath of freedom, the city which withstood cæsar and which withstood charles of anjou, is bare of monuments of her early days. she has been the victim of her abiding good fortune. we can look down from the height on the phôkaian harbor; but for actual memorials of the men who fled from the persian, of the men who defied the roman and the angevin, we might look as well at liverpool or at havre. genoa, venice herself, are hardly real exceptions; they were indeed commercial cities, but they were ruling cities also, and, as ruling cities, they reared monuments which could hardly pass away. what are we to say to the modern rival of venice, the upstart rebel, one is tempted to say, against the supremacy of the hadriatic queen? trieste, at the head of her gulf, with the hills looking down to her haven, with the snowy mountains which seem to guard the approach from the other side of her inland sea, with her harbor full of the ships of every nation, her streets echoing with every tongue, is she to be reckoned as an example of the rule or an exception to it? no city at first sight seems more thoroughly modern; old town and new, wide streets and narrow, we search them in vain for any of those vestiges of past times which in some cities meet us at every step. compare trieste with ancona;[ ] we miss the arch of trajan on the haven; we miss the cupola of saint cyriacus soaring in triumph above the triumphal monument of the heathen. we pass through the stately streets of the newer town, we thread the steep ascents which lead us to the older town above, and we nowhere light on any of those little scraps of ornamental architecture, a window, a doorway, a column, which meet us at every step in so many of the cities of italy. yet the monumental wealth of trieste is all but equal to the monumental wealth of ancona. at ancona we have the cathedral church and the triumphal arch; so we have at trieste; tho' at trieste we have nothing to set against the grand front of the lower and smaller church of ancona. but at ancona arch and duomo both stand out before all eyes; at trieste both have to be looked for. the church of saint justus at trieste crowns the hill as well as the church of saint cyriacus at ancona; but it does not in the same way proclaim its presence. the castle, with its ugly modern fortifications, rises again above the church; and the duomo of trieste, with its shapeless outline and its low, heavy, unsightly campanile, does not catch the eyes like the greek cross and cupola of ancona. again at trieste the arch could never, in its best days, have been a rival to the arch at ancona; and now either we have to hunt it out by an effort, or else it comes upon us suddenly, standing, as it does, at the head of a mean street on the ascent to the upper town. of a truth it can not compete with ancona or with rimini, with orange[ ] or with aosta. but the duomo, utterly unsightly as it is in a general view, puts on quite a new character when we first see the remains of pagan times imprisoned in the lower stage of the heavy campanile, still more so when we take our first glance of its wonderful interior. at the first glimpse we see that here there is a mystery to be unraveled; and as we gradually find the clue to the marvelous changes which it has undergone, we feel that outside show is not everything, and that, in point both of antiquity and of interest, tho' not of actual beauty, the double basilica of trieste may claim no mean place among buildings of its own type. even after the glories of rome and ravenna, the tergestine church may be studied with no small pleasure and profit, as an example of a kind of transformation of which neither rome nor ravenna can supply another example.... the other ancient relic at trieste is the small triumphal arch. on one side it keeps its corinthian pilasters; on the other they are imbedded in a house. the arch is in a certain sense double; but the two are close together, and touch in the keystone. the roman date of this arch can not be doubted; but legends connect it both with charles the great and with richard of poitou and of england, a prince about whom tergestine fancy has been very busy. the popular name of the arch is arco riccardo. such, beside some fragments in the museum, are all the remains that the antiquary will find in trieste; not much in point of number, but, in the case of the duomo at least, of surpassing interest in their own way. but the true merit of trieste is not in anything that it has itself, its church, its arch, its noble site. placed there at the head of the gulf, on the borders of two great portions of the empire, it leads to the land which produced that line of famous illyrian emperors who for a while checked the advance of our own race in the world's history, and it leads specially to the chosen home of the greatest among them.[ ] the chief glory of trieste, after all, is that it is the way to spalato.... at pola the monuments of pietas julia claim the first place; the basilica, tho' not without a certain special interest, comes long after them. the character of the place is fixt by the first sight of it; we see the present and we see the more distant past; the austrian navy is to be seen, and the amphitheater is to be seen. but intermediate times have little to show; if the duomo strikes the eye at all, it strikes it only by the extreme ugliness of its outside, nor is there anything very taking, nothing like the picturesque castle of pirano, in the works which occupy the site of the colonial capitol. the duomo should not be forgotten; even the church of saint francis is worth a glance; but it is in the remains of the roman colony, in the amphitheater, the arches, the temples, the fragments preserved in that temple which serves, as at nîmes,[ ] for a museum, that the real antiquarian wealth of pola lies.... the known history of pola begins with the roman conquest of istria in b.c. the town became a roman colony and a flourishing seat of commerce. its action on the republican side in the civil war brought on it the vengeance of the second cæsar. but the destroyer became the restorer, and pietas julia, in the height of its greatness, far surpassed the extent either of the elder or the younger pola. like all cities of this region, pola kept up its importance down to the days of the carlovingian empire, the specially flourishing time of the whole district being that of gothic and byzantine dominion at ravenna. a barbarian king, the roxolan rasparasanus, is said to have withdrawn to pola after the submission of his nation to hadrian; and the panegyrists of the flavian house rank pola along with trier and autun among the cities which the princes of that house had adorned or strengthened. but in the history of their dynasty the name of the city chiefly stands out as the chosen place for the execution of princes whom it was convenient to put out of the way. here crispus died at the bidding of constantine, and gallus at the bidding of constantius. under theodoric, pola doubtless shared that general prosperity of the istrian land on which cassiodorus grows eloquent when writing to its inhabitants. in the next generation pola appears in somewhat of the same character which has come back to it in our own times; it was there that belisarius gathered the imperial fleet for his second and less prosperous expedition against the gothic lords of italy. but, after the break up of the frankish empire, the history of medieval pola is but a history of decline. it was, in the geography of dante, the furthest city of italy; but, like most of the other cities of its own neighborhood, its day of greatness had passed away when dante sang. tossed to and fro between the temporal and spiritual lords who claimed to be marquesses of istria, torn by the dissensions of aristocratic and popular parties among its own citizens, pola found rest, the rest of bondage, in submission to the dominion of saint mark in .[ ] since then, till its new birth in our own times, pola has been a failing city. like the other istrian and dalmatian towns, modern revolutions have handed it over from venice to austria, from austria to france, from france to austria again. it is under its newest masters that pola has at last begun to live a fresh life, and the haven whence belisarius[ ] sailed forth has again become a haven in more than name, the cradle of the rising navy of the united austrian and hungarian realm. that haven is indeed a noble one. few sights are more striking than to see the huge mass of the amphitheater at pola seeming to rise at once out of the land-locked sea. as pola is seen now, the amphitheater is the one monument of its older days, which strikes the eye in the general view, and which divides attention with signs that show how heartily the once forsaken city has entered on its new career. but in the old time pola could show all the buildings which befitted its rank as a colony of rome. the amphitheater, of course, stood without the walls; the city itself stood at the foot and on the slope of the hill which was crowned by the capitol of the colony, where the modern fortress rises above the franciscan church. parts of the roman wall still stand; one of its gates is left; another has left a neighbor and a memory.... travelers are sometimes apt to complain, and that not wholly without reason, that all amphitheaters are very like one another. at pola this remark is less true than elsewhere, as the amphitheater there has several marked peculiarities of its own. we do not pretend to expound all its details scientifically; but this we may say, that those who dispute--if the dispute still goes on--about various points as regards the coliseum at rome will do well to go and look for some further light in the amphitheater of pola. the outer range, which is wonderfully perfect, while the inner arrangements are fearfully ruined, consists, on the side toward the town, of two rows of arches, with a third story with square-headed openings above them. but the main peculiarity in the outside is to be found in four tower-like projections, not, as at arles and nîmes, signs of saracenic occupation, but clearly parts of the original design. many conjectures have been made about them; they look as if they were means of approach to the upper part of the building; but it is wisest not to be positive. but the main peculiarity of this amphitheater is that it lies on the slope of a hill, which thus supplied a natural basement for the seats on one side only. but this same position swallowed up the lower arcade on this side, and it hindered the usual works underneath the seats from being carried into this part of the building. spalato[ ] by edward a. freeman the main object and center of all historical and architectural inquiries on the dalmatian coast is, of course, the home of diocletian, the still abiding palace of spalato. from a local point of view, it is the spot which the greatest of the long line of renowned illyrian emperors chose as his resting-place from the toils of warfare and government, and where he reared the vastest and noblest dwelling that ever arose at the bidding of a single man. from an ecumenical point of view, spalato is yet more. if it does not rank with rome, old and new, with ravenna and with trier, it is because it never was, like them, an actual seat of empire. but it not the less marks a stage, and one of the greatest stages, in the history of the empire. on his own dalmatian soil, docles of salone, diocletian of rome, was the man who had won fame for his own land, and who, on the throne of the world, did not forget his provincial birthplace. in the sight of rome and of the world jovius augustus was more than this. alike in the history of politics and in the history of art, he has left his mark on all time that has come after him, and it is on his own spalato that his mark has been most deeply stamped. the polity of rome and the architecture of rome alike received a new life at his hands. in each alike he cast away shams and pretenses, and made the true construction of the fabric stand out before men's eyes. master of the rome world, if not king, yet more than king, he let the true nature of his power be seen, and, first among the cæsars, arrayed himself with the outward pomp of sovereignty. in a smaller man we might have deemed the change a mark of weakness, a sign of childish delight in gewgaws, titles, and trappings. such could hardly have been the motive in the man who, when he deemed that his work was done, could cast away both the form and the substance of power, and could so steadily withstand all temptations to take them up again. it was simply that the change was fully wrought; that the chief magistrate of the commonwealth had gradually changed into the sovereign of the empire; that imperator, cæsar, and augustus, once titles lowlier than that of king, had now become, as they have ever since remained, titles far loftier. the change was wrought, and all that diocletian did was to announce the fact of the change to the world. nor did the organizing hand of jovius confine its sphere to the polity of the empire only. he built himself a house, and, above all builders, he might boast himself of the house that he had builded. fast by his own birthplace--a meaner soul might have chosen some distant spot--diocletian reared the palace which marks a still greater epoch in roman art than his political changes mark in roman polity. on the inmost shore of one of the lake-like inlets of the hadriatic, an inlet guarded almost from sight by the great island of bua at its mouth, lay his own salona, now desolate, then one of the great cities of the roman world. but it was not in the city, it was not close under its walls, that diocletian fixt his home. an isthmus between the bay of salona and the outer sea cuts off a peninsula, which again throws out two horns into the water to form the harbor which has for ages supplanted salona. there, not on any hill-top, but on a level spot by the coast, with the sea in front, with a background of more distant mountains, and with one peaked hill rising between the two seas like a watch-tower, did diocletian build the house to which he withdrew when he deemed that his work of empire was over. and in building that house, he won for himself, or for the nameless genius whom he set at work, a place in the history of art worthy to rank alongside of iktinos of athens and anthemios of byzantium, of william of durham and of hugh of lincoln. and now the birthplace of jovius is forsaken, but his house still abides, and abides in a shape marvelously little shorn of its ancient greatness. the name which it still bears comes straight from the name of the elder home of the cæsars. the fates of the two spots have been in a strange way the converse of one another. by the banks of the tiber the city of romulus became the house of a single man: by the shores of the hadriatic the house of a single man became a city. the palatine hill became the palatium of the cæsars, and palatium was the name which was borne by the house of cæsar by the dalmatian shore. the house became a city; but its name still clave to it, and the house of jovius still, at least in the mouths of its own inhabitants, keeps its name in the slightly altered form of spalato.... we land with the moon lighting up the water, with the stars above us, the northern wain shining on the hadriatic, as if, while diocletian was seeking rest by salona, the star of constantine was rising over york and trier. dimly rising above us we see, disfigured indeed, but not destroyed, the pillared front of the palace, reminding us of the tabularium of rome's own capitol. we pass under gloomy arches, through dark passages and presently we find ourselves in the center of palace and city, between those two renowned rows of arches which mark the greatest of all epochs in the history of the building art. we think how the man who reorganized the empire of rome was also the man who first put harmony and consistency into the architecture of rome. we think that, if it was in truth the crown of diocletian which passed to every cæsar from the first constantius to the last francis, it was no less in the pile which rose into being at his word that the germ was planted which grew into pisa and durham, into westminster and saint ouen. there is light enough to mark the columns put for the first time to their true roman use, and to think how strange was the fate which called up on this spot the happy arrangement which had entered the brain of no earlier artist--the arrangement which, but a few years later, was to be applied to another use in the basilica of the lateran and in saint paul without the walls. yes, it is in the court of the persecutor, the man who boasted that he had wiped out the christian superstition from the world, that we see the noblest forestalling of the long arcades of the christian basilica. it is with thoughts like these, thoughts pressing all the more upon us where every outline is clear and every detail is visible, that we tread for the first time the court of jovius--the columns with their arches on either side of us, the vast bell-tower rising to the sky, as if to mock the art of those whose mightiest works might still seem only to grovel upon earth. nowhere within the compass of the roman world do we find ourselves more distinctly in the presence of one of the great minds of the world's history; we see that, alike in politics and in art, diocletian breathed a living soul into a lifeless body. in the bitter irony of the triumphant faith, his mausoleum has become a church, his temple has become a baptistery, the great bell-tower rises proudly over his own work; his immediate dwelling-place is broken down and crowded with paltry houses; but the sea-front and the golden gate are still there amid all disfigurements, and the great peristyle stands almost unhurt, to remind us of the greatest advance that a single mind ever made in the progress of the building art. at the present time the city into which the house of diocletian has grown is the largest and most growing town of the dalmatian coast. it has had to yield both spiritual and temporal precedence to zara, but, both in actual population and all that forms the life of a city, spalato greatly surpasses zara and all its other neighbors. the youngest dalmatian towns, which could boast neither of any mythical origin nor of any imperial foundation, the city which, as it were, became a city by mere chance, has outstript the colonies of epidauros, of corinth, and of rome. the palace of diocletian had but one occupant; after the founder no emperor had dwelled in it, unless we hold that this was the villa near salona where the deposed emperor nepos was slain, during the patriciate of odoacer. the forsaken palace seems, while still almost new, to have become a cloth factory, where women worked, and which therefore appears in the "notitia" as a gynæcium. but when salona was overthrown, the palace stood ready to afford shelter to those who were driven from their homes. the palace, in the widest sense of the word--for of course its vast circuit took in quarters for soldiers and officials of various kinds, as well as the rooms actually occupied by the emperor--stood ready to become a city. it was a chester ready made, with its four streets, its four gates, all but that toward the sea flanked with octagonal towers, and with four greater square towers at the corners. to this day the circuit of the walls is nearly perfect; and the space contained within them must be as large as that contained within some of the oldest chesters in our own island. the walls, the towers, the gates, are those of a city rather than of a house. two of the gates, tho' their towers are gone, are nearly perfect; the "porta aurea," with its graceful ornaments; the "porta ferrea" in its stern plainness, strangely crowned with its small campanile of later days perched on its top. within the walls, besides the splendid buildings which still remain, besides the broken-down walls and chambers which formed the immediate dwelling-place of the founder, the main streets were lined with massive arcades, large parts of which still remain. diocletian, in short, in building a house, had built a city. in the days of constantine porphyrogenitus it was a "káotpov"--greek and english had by his day alike borrowed the latin name; but it was a "káotpov" which diocletian had built as his own house, and within which was his hall and palace. in his day the city bore the name of aspalathon, which he explains to mean "little palace." when the palace had thus become a common habitation of men, it is not wonderful that all the more private buildings whose use had passed away were broken down, disfigured, and put to mean uses. the work of building over the site must have gone on from that day to this. the view in wheeler shows several parts of the enclosure occupied by ruins which are now covered with houses. the real wonder is that so much has been spared and has survived to our own days. and we are rather surprised to find constantine saying that in his time the greater part had been destroyed. for the parts which must always have been the stateliest remain still. the great open court, the peristyle, with its arcades, have become the public plaza of the town; the mausoleum on one side of it and the temple on the other were preserved and put to christian uses. we say the mausoleum, for we fully accept the suggestion made by professor glavinich, the curator of the museum of spalato, that the present duomo, traditionally called the temple of jupiter, was not a temple, but a mausoleum. these must have been the great public buildings of the palace, and, with the addition of the bell-tower, they remain the chief public buildings of the modern city. but, tho' the ancient square of the palace remains wonderfully perfect, the modern city, with its venetian defenses, its venetian and later buildings, has spread itself far beyond the walls of diocletian. but those walls have made the history of spalato, and it is the great buildings which stand within them that give spalato its special place in the history of architecture. ragusa[ ] by harry de windt viewed from the sea, and at first sight, the place somewhat resembles monte carlo with its white villas, palms, and background of rugged, gray hills. but this is the modern portion of the town, outside the fortifications, erected many centuries ago. within them lies the real ragusa--a wonderful old city which teems with interest, for its time-worn buildings and picturesque streets recall, at every turn, the faded glories of this "south slavonic athens." a bridge across the moat which protects the old city is the link between the present and past. in new ragusa you may sit on the crowded esplanade of a fashionable watering place; but pass through a frowning archway into the old town, and, save in the main street, which has modern shops and other up-to-date surroundings, you might be living in the dark ages. for as far back as in the ninth century ragusa was the capital of dalmatia and an independent republic, and since that period her literary and commercial triumphs, and the tragedies she has survived in the shape of sieges, earthquakes, and pestilence, render the records of this little-known state almost as engrossing as those of ancient rome. until i came here i had pictured a squalid eastern place, devoid of ancient or modern interest; most of my fellow-countrymen probably do likewise, notwithstanding the fact that when london was a small and obscure town ragusa was already an important center of commerce and civilization. the republic was always a peaceful one, and its people excelled in trade and the fine arts. thus, as early as the fourteenth century the ragusan fleet was the envy of the world; its vessels were then known as argusas to british mariners, and the english word "argosy" is probably derived from the name. these tiny ships went far afield--to the levant and northern europe, and even to the indies--a voyage frought, in those days, with much peril. at this epoch ragusa had achieved a mercantile prosperity unequalled throughout europe, but in later years the greater part of the fleet joined and perished with the spanish armada. and this catastrophe was the precursor of a series of national disasters. in the city was laid waste by an earthquake which killed over twenty thousand people, and this was followed by a terrible visitation of the plague, which further decimated the population. ragusa, however, was never a large city, and even at its zenith, in the sixteenth century, it numbered under forty thousand souls, and now contains only about a third of that number. in the vienna congress finally deprived the republic of its independence, and it became (with dalmatia) an austrian possession. trade has not increased here of recent years, as in herzegovina and bosnia. the harbor, at one time one of the most important ports in europe, is too small and shallow for modern shipping, and the oil industry, once the backbone of the place, has sadly dwindled of late years. ragusa itself now having no harbor worthy of the name, the traveler by sea must land at gravosa about a mile north of the old city. gravosa is merely a suburb of warehouses, shipping, and sailor-men, as unattractive as the london docks, and the hotel petko swarmed with mosquitoes and an animal which seems to thrive and flourish throughout the balkan states--the rat. the old custom house is perhaps the most beautiful building in ragusa, and is one of the few which survived the terrible earthquake of . the structure bears the letters "i.h.s." over the principal entrance in commemoration of this fact. its courtyard is a dream of beauty, and the stone galleries around it are surrounded with inscriptions of great age. ragusa is a slav town, but altho' the name of streets appear in slavonic characters, italian is also spoken on every side and the "stradone," with its arcades and narrow precipitous alleys at right angles, is not unlike a street in naples. the houses are built in small blocks, as a protection against earthquakes--the terror of every ragusan (only mention the word and he will cross himself)--and here on a fine sunday morning you may see dalmatians, albanians, and herzegovinians in their gaudiest finery, while here and there a wild-eyed montenegrin, armed to the teeth, surveys the gay scene with a scowl, of shyness rather than ill-humor. outside the café, on the square (where flocks of pigeons whirl around as at st. mark's in venice), every little table is occupied; but here the women are gowned in the latest vienna fashions, and austrian uniforms predominate. and the sun shines as warmly as in june (on this th day of march), and the cathedral bells chime a merry accompaniment to a military band; a sky of the brightest blue gladdens the eye, fragrant flowers the senses, and the traveler sips his bock or mazagran, and thanks his stars he is not spending the winter in cold, foggy england. refreshments are served by a white-aproned garçon, and street boys are selling the "daily mail" and "gil blas," just as they are on the far-away boulevards of paris. cattaro[ ] by edward a. freeman the end of a purely dalmatian pilgrimage will be cattaro. he who goes further along the coast will pass into lands that have a history, past and present, which is wholly distinct from that of the coast which he has hitherto traced from zara--we might say from capo d'istria--onward. we have not reached the end of the old venetian dominion--for that we must carry our voyage to crete and cyprus. but we have reached the end of the nearly continuous venetian dominion--the end of the coast which, save at two small points, was either venetian or regusan--the end of that territory of the two maritime commonwealths which they kept down to their fall in modern times, and in which they have been succeeded by the modern dalmatian kingdom.... the city stands at the end of an inlet of the sea fifteen or twenty miles long, and it has mountains around it so high that it is only in fair summer weather that the sun can be seen; in winter cattaro never enjoys his presence. there certainly is no place where it is harder to believe that the smooth waters of the narrow, lake-like inlet, with mountains on each side which it seems as if one could put out one's hand and touch, are really part of the same sea which dashes against the rocks of ragusa. they end in a meadow-like coast which makes one think of bourget or trasimenus rather than of hadria. the dalmatian voyage is well ended by the sail along the bocche, the loveliest piece of inland sea which can be conceived, and whose shores are as rich in curious bits of political history as they are in scenes of surpassing natural beauty. the general history of the district consists in the usual tossing to and fro between the various powers which have at different times been strong in the neighborhood. cattaro was in the reign of basil the macedonian besieged and taken by saracens, who presently went on unsuccessfully to besiege ragusa. and, as under byzantine rule it was taken by saracens, so under venetian rule it was more than once besieged by turks. in the intermediate stages we get the usual alternations of independence and of subjection to all the neighboring powers in turn, till in cattaro finally became venetian. at the fall of the republic it became part of the austrian share of the spoil. when the spoilers quarreled, it fell to france. when england, russia, and montenegro were allies, the city joined the land of which it naturally forms the head, and cattaro became the montenegrin haven and capital. when france was no longer dangerous, and the powers of europe came together to parcel out other men's goods, austria calmly asked for cattaro back again, and easily got it. in the city of cattaro the orthodox church is still in a minority, but it is a minority not far short of a majority. outside its walls, the orthodox outnumber the catholics. in short, when we reach cattaro, we have very little temptation to fancy ourselves in italy or in any part of western christendom. we not only know, but feel, that we are on the byzantine side of the hadriatic; that we have, in fact, made our way into eastern europe. and east and west, slav and italian, new rome and old, might well struggle for the possession of the land and of the water through which we pass from ragusa to our final goal at cattaro. the strait leads us into a gulf; another narrow strait leads us into an inner gulf; and on an inlet again branching out of that inner gulf lies the furthest of dalmatian cities. the lower city, cattaro itself, seems to lie so quietly, so peacefully, as if in a world of its own from which nothing beyond the shores of its own bocche could enter, that we are tempted to forget, not only that the spot has been the scene of so many revolutions through so many ages, but that it is even now a border city, a city on the marchland of contending powers, creeds, and races.... the city of cattaro itself is small, standing on a narrow ledge between the gulf and the base of the mountain. it carries the features of the dalmatian cities to what any one who has not seen traü will call their extreme point. but, tho' the streets of cattaro are narrow, yet they are civilized and airy-looking compared with those of traü, and the little paved squares, as so often along this coast, suggest the memory of the ruling city. the memory of venice is again called up by the graceful little scraps of its characteristic architecture which catch the eye ever and anon among the houses of cattaro. the landing-place, the marina, the space between the coast and the venetian wall, where we pass for the last time under the winged lion over the gate, has put on the air of a boulevard. but the forms and costume of bocchesi and montenegrins, the men of the gulf, with their arms in their girdles, no less than the men of the black mountain, banish all thought that we are anywhere but where we really are, at one of the border points of christian and civilized europe. if in the sons of the mountains we see the men who have in all ages held out against the invading turk, we see in their brethren of the coast the men who, but a few years back, brought imperial, royal, and apostolic majesty to its knees ... at cattaro the orthodox church is on its own ground, standing side by side on equal terms with its latin rival, pointing to lands where the filioque[ ] is unknown and where the bishop of the old rome has even been deemed an intruder. the building itself is a small byzantine church, less byzantine in fact in its outline than the small churches of the byzantine type at zara, spalato, and traü. the single dome rises, not from the intersection of a greek cross, but from the middle of a single body, and, resting as it does on pointed arches, it suggests the thought of périgueux and angoulême. but this arrangement, which is shared by a neighboring latin church, is well known throughout the east. the latin duomo, which has been minutely described by mr. neale,[ ] is of quite another type, and is by no means dalmatian in its general look. a modern west front with two western towers does not go for much; but it reminds us that a design of the same kind was begun at traü in better times. the inside is quite unlike anything of later italian work. the traveler whose objects are of a more general kind turns away from this border church of christendom as the last stage of a pilgrimage unsurpassed either for natural beauty or for historic interest. and, as he looks up at the mountain which rises almost close above the east end of the duomo of cattaro, and thinks of the land[ ] and the men to which the path over that mountain leads, he feels that, on this frontier at least, the spirit still lives which led english warriors to the side of manuel komnênos, and which steeled the heart of the last constantine to die in the breach for the roman name and the faith of christendom. viii other austrian scenes cracow[ ] by mÉnie muriel dowie cracow, old, tired and dispirited, speaks and thinks only of the ruinous past. when you drive into cracow from the station for the first time, you are breathless, smiling, and tearful all at once; in the great ring-platz--a mass of old buildings--cracow seems to hold out her arms to you--those long sides that open from the corner where the cab drives in. you do not have time to notice separately the row of small trees down on one side, beneath which bright-colored women-figures control their weekly market; you do not notice the sort of court-house in the middle with its red roof, cream-colored galleries and shops beneath; you do not notice the great tall church at one side of brick and stone most perfectly time-reconciled, or the houses, or the crazed paving, or the innocent little groups of cabs--you only see cracow holding out her arms to you, and you may lean down your head and weep from pure instinctive sympathy. suddenly a choir of trumpets breaks out into a chorale from the big church tower; the melancholy of it i shall never forget--the very melody seemed so old and tired, so worn and sweet and patient, like cracow. those trumpet notes have mourned in that tower for hundreds of years. it is the hymn of timeless sorrow that they play, and the key to which they are attuned in cracow's long despair. hush! that is her voice, the old town's voice, high and sad--she is speaking to you. dear cracow! never again it seems to me, shall i come so near to the deathless hidden sentiment of poland as in those first moments. it would be no use to tell her to take heart, that there may be brighter days coming, and so forth. lemberg may feel so, lemberg that has the feelings of any other big new town, the strength and the determination; but cracow's day was in the long ago, as a gay capital, a brilliant university town full of princes, of daring, of culture, of wit. she has outlived her day, and can only mourn over what has been and the times that she has seen; she may be always proud of her character, of the brave blood that has made scarlet her streets, but she can never be happy remodeled as an austrian garrison town, and in the new poland--the poland whose foundation stones are laid in the hearts of her people, and that may yet be built some day--in that new poland there will be no place for aristocratic, high-bred cracow. during my stay in the beautiful butter-colored palace that is now a hotel, i went round the museums, galleries, and universities, most if not all of which are free to the public. it would be unfair to give the idea that cracow has completely fallen to decay. this is not the case. austria has erected some very handsome buildings; and a town with such fine pictures, good museums, and two universities, can not be complained of as moribund. at the same time, i can only record faithfully my impression, and that was that everything new, everything modern, was hopelessly out of tone in cracow; progress, which, tho' desirable, may be a vulgar thing, would not suit her, and does not seem at home in her streets. about the florian's thor, with its round towers of old, sorrel-colored brick, and the czartoryski museum, there is nothing to say that the guide-book would not say better. in the museum, a tattered polish flag of red silk, with the white eagle, a cheerful bird with curled tail, opened mouth, chirping defiantly to the left, imprest me, and a portrait of szopen (chopin) in fine profile when laid out dead. for amusement, there was a paul potter bull beside a paul potter willow, delightfully unconscious of a coming paul potter thunderstorm, and a miniature of shakespeare which did not resemble any of the portraits of him that i am familiar with. any amount of turkish trappings and reminiscences of potocki and kosciuszko, of course. as i had no guide-book, i am quite prepared to learn that i overlooked the most important relics. in the cathedral, away up on the hill of wawel, above the river vistula (wisla) i prowled about among the crypts with a curious specimen of beadledom who ran off long unintelligible histories in atrocious viennese patois about every solemn tomb by which we stood. so far as i was concerned it might just as well have been the functionary who herds small droves of visitors in westminster abbey. i never listen to these people, because (i) i do not care to be informed; and (ii) since i should never remember what they said, it is useless my even letting it in at one ear. the kindly, cobwebby old person who piloted me among those wonderful kings' graves in cracow was personally not uninteresting, indeed a fine study, and his rigmaroles brought up infallibly upon three words which i could not fail to notice: these were "silberner sarg vergoldet" (silver coffin, gilded). it had an odd fascination for me this phrase, as i stood always waiting for it; why, i wondered, should anybody want to gild a good solid silver coffin? at the time of my first visit, the excavation necessary to form the crypt for the resting-place of mickiewicz[ ] was in progress, and i went in among the limey, dusty workmen, with their tallow candles, and looked round. in return for my gulden, the beadle gave me a few immortelles from sobieski's tomb, and some laurel leaves from kosciuszko's; and remembering friends at home of refinedly ghoulish tastes, i determined to preserve those poor moldering fragments for them. most of my days and evenings i spent wandering by the vistula and in and out of the hundred churches. my plan was to sight a spire, and then walk to the root of it, so to speak. in this manner i saw the town very well. the houses were of brick and plaster, the rich carmine-red brick that has made cracow so beautiful. on each was a beautiful façade, and pediments in renaissance, bas-relief work of cupids, and classic figures with ribands and roses tying among them, seeming to speak, somehow, of the dead princes and the mighty aristocracy which had cost cracow so dear. in the jews' quarter that loud lifelong market of theirs was going forward, which required seemingly only some small basinfuls of sour gurken and a few spoonfuls of beans of its stock-in-trade. mingling among the jews were the peasants, of course; the men in tightly fitting trousers of white blanket cloth, rich embroidered on the upper part and down the seams in blue and red; the women wearing pink printed muslin skirts, often with a pale blue muslin apron and a lemon-colored fine wool cloth, spotted in pink, upon the head. they manifested a great appreciation of color, but none of form, and after the free dress of the hucal women, these people, mummied in their red tartan shawls--all hybrid stewarts, they seemed to me--were merely bright bundles in the sunshine. in the shops in cracow, french was nearly always the language of attack, and a good deal was spoken in the hotel. i had occasion to buy a great many things, but, according to my custom, not a photograph was among them; therefore, when i go back, i shall receive perfectly new and fresh impressions of the place, and can cherish no vague memories, encouraged by an album at home, in which the nameless cathedrals of many countries confuse themselves, and only the coliseum at rome stands forth, not to be contradicted or misnamed. but it became necessary to put a period to my wandering, unless i wished to find myself stranded in vienna with "neither cross nor pile." the references to money-matters have been designedly slight throughout these pages. it is not my habit to keep accounts. i have never found that you get any money back by knowing just how you have spent it, and a conscience-pricking record of expenses is very ungrateful reading. so, when a certain beautiful evening came, i felt that i had to look upon it as my last. being too early for the train, i bid the man drive about in the early summer dark for three-quarters of an hour. to such as do not care for precise information and statistics in foreign places, but appreciate rather atmosphere and impression, i can recommend this course. in and out among the pretty garden woods, outside the town, we drove. buildings loomed majestically out of the night; sometimes it was the tower of an unknown church, sometimes it was the house of some forgotten family that sprang suggestively to the eye, and i was grateful that i was left to suppose the indefinite type of austrian bureau, which occupied, in all probability, the first floor. then we came to the river, and later, wawel stood massed out black upon the blue, the glorious gravestone of a fallen power. all the stars were shining, and little red-yellow lights in the castle windows were not much bigger. above the whisper of the willows on its bank came the deep, quiet murmur of the vistula, and every now and then, over the several towers of the solemn old palaces and the spires of the church where poland has laid her kings, and so recently the king of the poets, the stars were dropping from their places, like sudden spiders, letting themselves down into the vast by faint yellow threads that showed a moment after the star itself was gone. later, as i looked from the open gallery of the train that was taking me away, i could not help thinking that, just a hundred years ago, wawel's star was shining with a light bright enough for all europe to see; but even as the stars fell that night and left their places empty, so wawel's star has fallen and poland's star has fallen too. on the road to prague[ ] by bayard taylor i was pleasantly disappointed on entering bohemia. instead of a dull, uninteresting country, as i expected, it is a land full of the most lovely scenery. there is everything which can gratify the eye--high blue mountains, valleys of the sweetest pastoral look and romantic old ruins. the very name of bohemia is associated with wild and wonderful legends of the rude barbaric ages. even the chivalric tales of the feudal times of germany grow tame beside these earlier and darker histories. the fallen fortresses of the rhine or the robber-castles of the odenwald had not for me so exciting an interest as the shapeless ruins cumbering these lonely mountains. the civilized saxon race was left behind; i saw around me the features and heard the language of one of those rude slavonic tribes whose original home was on the vast steppes of central asia. i have rarely enjoyed traveling more than our first two days' journey toward prague. the range of the erzgebirge ran along on our right; the snow still lay in patches upon it, but the valleys between, with their little clusters of white cottages, were green and beautiful. about six miles before reaching teplitz we passed kulm, the great battlefield which in a measure decided the fate of napoleon. he sent vandamme with forty thousand men to attack the allies before they could unite their forces, and thus effect their complete destruction. only the almost despairing bravery of the russian guards under ostermann, who held him in check till the allied troops united, prevented napoleon's design. at the junction of the roads, where the fighting was hottest, the austrians have erected a monument to one of their generals. not far from it is that of prussia, simple and tasteful. a woody hill near, with the little village of kulm at its foot, was the station occupied by vandamme at the commencement of the battle. there is now a beautiful chapel on its summit which can be seen far and wide. a little distance farther the czar of russia has erected a third monument, to the memory of the russians who fell. four lions rest on the base of the pedestal, and on the top of the shaft, forty-five feet high, victory is represented as engraving the date, "aug. , ," on a shield. the dark pine-covered mountains on the right overlook the whole field and the valley of torlitz; napoleon rode along their crests several days after the battle to witness the scene of his defeat. teplitz lies in a lovely valley, several miles wide, bounded by the bohemian mountains on one side and the erzgebirge on the other. one straggling peak near is crowned with a picturesque ruin, at whose foot the spacious bath-buildings lie half hidden in foliage. as we went down the principal street i noticed nearly every house was a hotel; we learned afterward that in summer the usual average of visitors is five thousand.[ ] the waters resemble those of the celebrated carlsbad; they are warm and practically efficacious in rheumatism and diseases of like character. after leaving teplitz the road turned to the east, toward a lofty mountain which we had seen the morning before. the peasants, as they passed by, saluted us with "christ greet you!" we stopt for the night at the foot of the peak called the milleschauer, and must have ascended nearly two thousand feet, for we had a wide view the next morning, altho' the mists and clouds hid the half of it. the weather being so unfavorable, we concluded not to ascend, and descended through green fields and orchards snowy with blossoms to lobositz, on the elbe. here we reached the plains again, where everything wore the luxuriance of summer; it was a pleasant change from the dark and rough scenery we left. the road passed through theresienstadt, the fortress of northern bohemia. the little city is surrounded by a double wall and moat which can be filled with water, rendering it almost impossible to be taken. in the morning we were ferried over the moldau, and after journeying nearly all day across barren, elevated plains saw, late in the afternoon, the sixty-seven spires of prague below. i feel out of the world in this strange, fantastic, yet beautiful, old city. we have been rambling all morning through its winding streets, stopping sometimes at a church to see the dusty tombs and shrines or to hear the fine music which accompanies the morning mass. i have seen no city yet that so forcibly reminds one of the past and makes him forget everything but the associates connected with the scenes around him. the language adds to the illusion. three-fourths of the people in the streets speak bohemian and many of the signs are written in the same tongue. the palace of the bohemian kings still looks down on the city from the western heights, and their tombs stand in the cathedral of st. john. when one has climbed up the stone steps leading to the fortress, there is a glorious prospect before him. prague with its spires and towers lies in the valleys below, through which curves the moldau with its green islands, disappearing among the hills which enclose the city on every side. the fantastic byzantine architecture of many of the churches and towers gives the city a peculiar oriental appearance; it seems to have been transported from the hills of syria.... having found out first a few of the locations, we haunted our way with difficulty through its labyrinths, seeking out every place of note or interest. reaching the bridge at last, we concluded to cross over and ascend to the hradschin, the palace of the bohemian kings. the bridge was commenced in , and was one hundred and fifty years in building. that was the way the old germans did their work, and they made a structure which will last a thousand years longer. every pier is surmounted with groups of saints and martyrs, all so worn and timebeaten that there is little left of their beauty, if they ever had any. the most important of them--at least to bohemians--is that of st. john nepomuk, now considered as the patron-saint of the land. he was a priest many centuries ago [ - ] whom one of the kings threw from the bridge into the moldau because he refused to reveal to him what the queen confest. the legend says the body swam for some time on the river with five stars around its head. ascending the broad flight of steps to the hradschin, i paused a moment to look at the scene below. a slight blue haze hung over the clustering towers, and the city looked dim through it, like a city seen in a dream. it was well that it should so appear, for not less dim and misty are the memories that haunt its walls. there was no need of a magician's wand to bid that light cloud shadow forth the forms of other times. they came uncalled for even by fancy. far, far back in the past i saw the warrior-princess who founded the kingly city--the renowned libussa, whose prowess and talent inspired the women of bohemia to rise at her death and storm the land that their sex might rule where it obeyed before. on the mountain opposite once stood the palace of the bloody wlaska, who reigned with her amazon band for seven years over half bohemia. those streets below had echoed with the fiery words of huss, and the castle of his follower--the blind ziska, who met and defeated the armies of the german empire--molders on the mountains above. many a year of war and tempest has passed over the scene. the hills around have borne the armies of wallenstein and frederick the great; the war-cry of bavaria, sweden and poland has echoed in the valley, and the red glare of the midnight cannon or the flames of burning palaces have often gleamed along the "blood-dyed waters" of the moldau... on the way down again we stept into the st. nicholas church, which was built by the jesuits. the interior has a rich effect, being all of brown and gold. the massive pillars are made to resemble reddish-brown marble, with gilded capitals, and the statues at the base are profusely ornamented in the same style. the music chained me there a long time. there was a grand organ, assisted by a full orchestra and large choir of singers. it was placed above, and at every sound of the priest's bell the flourish of trumpets and deep roll of the drums filled the dome with a burst of quivering sound, while the giant pipes of the organ breathed out their full harmony and the very air shook under the peal. it was like a triumphal strain. the soul became filled with thoughts of power and glory; every sense was changed into one dim, indistinct emotion of rapture which held the spirit as if spellbound. not far from this place is the palace of wallenstein, in the same condition as when he inhabited it. it is a plain, large building having beautiful gardens attached to it, which are open to the public. we went through the courtyard, threaded a passage with a roof of rough stalactitic rock and entered the garden, where a revolving fountain was casting up its glittering arches. the cave of adelsberg[ ] by george stillman hillard the night had been passed at adelsberg, and the morning had been agreeably occupied in exploring the wonders of its celebrated cavern. the entrance is through an opening in the side of a hill. in a few moments, after walking down a gentle descent, a sound of flowing water is heard, and the light of the torches borne by the guides gleams faintly upon a river which runs through these sunless chasms, and revisits the glimpses of day at planina, some ten miles distant. the visitor now finds himself in a vast hall, walled and roofed by impenetrable darkness of the stream, which is crossed by a wooden bridge; and the ascent on the other side is made by a similar flight of steps. the bridge and steps are marked by a double row of lights, which present a most striking appearance as their tremulous luster struggles through the night that broods over them. such a scene recalls milton's sublime pictures of pandemonium, and shows directly to the eye what effects a great imaginative painter may produce with no other colors than light and darkness. here are the "stately height," the "ample spaces," the "arched roof," the rows of "starry lamps and blazing cressets" of satan's hall of council; and by the excited fancy the dim distance is easily peopled with gigantic forms and filled with the "rushing of congregated wings." after this, one is led through a variety of chambers, differing in size and form, but essentially similar in character, and the attention is invited to the innumerable multitude of striking and fantastic objects which have been formed in the lapse of ages, by the mere dropping of water. pendants hang from the roof, stalagmites grow from the floor like petrified stumps, and pillars and buttresses are disposed as oddly as in the architecture of a dream. here, we are told to admire a bell, and there, a throne; here, a pulpit, and there, a butcher's shop; here, "the two hearts," and there, a fountain frozen into alabaster; and in every case we assent to the resemblance in the unquestioning mood of polonius. one of the chambers, or halls, is used every year as a ball-room, for which purpose it has every requisite except an elastic floor, even to a natural dais for the orchestra. here, with the sort of pride with which a book collector shows a mazarin bible or a folio shakespeare, the guides point out a beautiful piece of limestone which hangs from the roof in folds as delicate as a cashmere shawl, to which the resemblance is made more exact by a well-defined border of deeper color than the web. through this translucent curtain the light shines as through a picture in porcelain, and one must be very unimpressible not to bestow the tribute of admiration which is claimed. these are the trivial details which may be remembered and described, but the general effect produced by the darkness, the silence, the vast spaces, the innumerable forms, the vaulted roofs, the pillars and galleries melting away in the gloom like the long-drawn aisles of a cathedral, may be recalled but not communicated. to see all these marvels requires much time, and i remained under ground long enough to have a new sense of the blessing of light. the first glimpse of returning day seen through the distant entrance brought with it an exhilarating sense of release, and the blue sky and cheerful sunshine were welcomed like the faces of long absent friends. a cave like that of adelsberg--for all limestone caves are, doubtless, essentially similar in character--ought by all means to be seen if it comes in one's way, because it leaves impressions upon the mind unlike those derived from any other object. nature stamps upon most of her operations a certain character of gravity and majesty. order and symmetry attend upon her steps, and unity in variety is the law by which her movements are guided. but, beneath the surface of the earth, she seems a frolicsome child, or a sportive undine, who wreaths the unmanageable stone into weird and quaint forms, seemingly from no other motive than pure delight in the exercise of overflowing power. everything is playful, airy, and fantastic; there is no spirit of soberness; no reference to any ulterior end; nothing from which food, fuel, or raiment can be extracted. these chasms have been scooped out, and these pillars have been reared, in the spirit in which the bird sings, or the kitten plays with the falling leaves. from such scenes we may safely infer that the plan of the creator comprehends something more than material utility, that beauty is its own vindictator and interpreter, that sawmills were not the ultimate cause of mountain streams, nor wine-bottles of cork-trees. the monastery of mÖlk[ ] by thomas frognall dibdin we had determined upon dining at mölk the next day. the early morning was somewhat inauspicious; but as the day advanced, it grew bright and cheerful. some delightful glimpses of the danube, to the left, from the more elevated parts of the road, accompanied us the whole way, till we caught the first view, beneath a bright blue sky, of the towering church and monastery of mölk. conceive what you please, and yet you shall not conceive the situation of this monastery. less elevated above the road than chremsminster, but of a more commanding style of architecture, and of considerably greater extent, it strikes you--as the danube winds round and washes its rocky base--as one of the noblest edifices in the world. the wooded heights of the opposite side of the danube crown the view of this magnificent edifice, in a manner hardly to be surpassed. there is also a beautiful play of architectural lines and ornament in the front of the building, indicative of a pure italian taste, and giving to the edifice, if not the air of towering grandeur, at least of dignified splendor.... as usual, i ordered a late dinner, intending to pay my respects to the principal, and obtain permission to inspect the library. my late monastic visits had inspired me with confidence; and i marched up the steep sides of the hill, upon which the monastery is built, quite assured of the success of the visit i was about to pay. you must now accompany the bibliographer to the monastery. in five minutes from entering the outer gate of the first quadrangle--looking toward vienna, and which is the more ancient part of the building--i was in conversation with the vice-principal and librarian, each of us speaking latin. i delivered the letter which i had received at salzburg, and proceeded to the library. the view from this library is really enchanting, and put everything seen from a similar situation at landshut and almost even at chremsminster, out of my recollection. you look down upon the danube, catching a fine sweep of the river, as it widens in its course toward vienna. a man might sit, read, and gaze--in such a situation--till he fancied he had scarcely one earthly want! i now descended a small staircase, which brought me directly into the large library--forming the right wing of the building, looking up the danube toward lintz. i had scarcely uttered three notes of admiration, when the abbé strattman entered; and to my surprise and satisfaction, addrest me by name. we immediately commenced an ardent unintermitting conversation in the french language, which the abbé speaks fluently and correctly. i now took a leisurely survey of the library; which is, beyond all doubt, the finest room of its kind which i have seen upon the continent--not for its size, but for its style of architecture, and the materials of which it is composed. i was told that it was "the imperial library in miniature,"--but with this difference, let me here add, in favor of mölk--that it looks over a magnificently wooded country, with the danube rolling its rapid course at its base. the wainscot and shelves are walnut tree, of different shades, inlaid, or dovetailed, surmounted by gilt ornaments. the pilasters have corinthian capitals of gilt; and the bolder or projecting parts of a gallery, which surrounds the room, are covered with the same metal. everything is in harmony. this library may be about a hundred feet in length, by forty in width. it is sufficiently well furnished with books, of the ordinary useful class, and was once, i suspect, much richer in the bibliographical lore of the fifteenth century. on reaching the last descending step, just before entering the church, the vice-principal bade me look upward and view the corkscrew staircase. i did so; and to view and admire was one and the same operation of the mind. it was the most perfect and extraordinary thing of the kind which i had ever seen--the consummation, as i was told, of that particular species of art. the church is the very perfection of ecclesiastical roman architecture; that of chremsminster, altho' fine, being much inferior to it in loftiness and richness of decoration. the windows are fixt so as to throw their concentrated light beneath a dome, of no ordinary height, and of no ordinary elegance of decoration; but this dome is suffering from damp, and the paintings upon the ceiling will, unless repaired, be effaced in the course of a few years. the church is in the shape of a cross; and at the end of each of the transepts, is a rich altar, with statuary, in the style of art usual about a century ago. the pews--made of dark mahogany or walnut tree, much after the english fashion, but lower and more tasteful--are placed on each side of the nave, or entering; with ample space between them. they are exclusively appropriated to the tenants of the monastery. at the end of the nave, you look to the left, opposite--and observe, placed in a recess--a pulpit, which, from top to bottom, is completely covered with gold. and yet, there is nothing gaudy or tasteless, or glaringly obtrusive, in this extraordinary clerical rostrum. the whole is in the most perfect taste; and perhaps more judgment was required to manage such an ornament, or appendage--consistently with the splendid style of decoration exacted by the founder, for it was expressly the prelate dietmayr's wish that it should be so adorned,--than may on first consideration be supposed. in fact, the whole church is in a blaze of gold; and i was told that the gilding alone cost upward of ninety thousand florins. upon the whole, i understood that the church of this monastery was considered as the most beautiful in austria; and i can easily believe it to be so. through the tyrol[ ] by william cullen bryant i left this most pleasing of the italian cities (venice), and took the road for the tyrol. we passed through a level fertile country, formerly the territory of venice, watered by the piave, which ran blood in one of bonaparte's battles. at evening we arrived at ceneda, where our italian poet da ponte[ ] was born, situated just at the base of the alps, the rocky peaks and irregular spires of which, beautifully green with the showery season, rose in the background. ceneda seems to have something of german cleanliness about it, and the floors of a very comfortable inn at which we stopt were of wood, the first we had seen in italy, tho' common throughout tyrol and the rest of germany. a troop of barelegged boys, just broke loose from school, whooping and swinging their books and slates in the air, passed under my window. on leaving ceneda, we entered a pass in the mountains, the gorge of which was occupied by the ancient town of serravalle, resting on arcades, the architecture of which denoted that it was built during the middle ages. near it i remarked an old castle, which formerly commanded the pass, one of the finest ruins of the kind i had ever seen. it had a considerable extent of battlemented wall in perfect preservation, and both that and its circular tower were so luxuriantly loaded with ivy that they seemed almost to have been cut out of the living verdure. as we proceeded we became aware how worthy this region was to be the birthplace of a poet. a rapid stream, a branch of the piave, tinged of a light and somewhat turbid blue by the soil of the mountains, came tumbling and roaring down the narrow valley; perpendicular precipices rose on each side; and beyond, the gigantic brotherhood of the alps, in two long files of steep pointed summits, divided by deep ravines, stretched away in the sunshine to the northeast. in the face of one of the precipices by the way-side, a marble slab is fixt, informing the traveler that the road was opened by the late emperor of germany in the year of . we followed this romantic valley for a considerable distance, passing several little blue lakes lying in their granite basins, one of which is called the "lago morto" or dead lake, from having no outlet for its waters. at length we began to ascend, by a winding road, the steep sides of the alps--the prospect enlarging as we went, the mountain summits rising to sight around us, one behind another, some of them white with snow, over which the wind blew with a wintry keenness--deep valleys opening below us, and gulfs yawning between rocks over which old bridges were thrown--and solemn fir forests clothing the broad declivities. the farm-houses placed on these heights, instead of being of brick or stone, as in the plains and valleys below, were principally built of wood; the second story, which served for a barn, being encircled by a long gallery, and covered with a projecting roof of plank held down with large stones. we stopt at venas, a wretched place with a wretched inn, the hostess of which showed us a chin swollen with the goitre, and ushered us into dirty comfortless rooms where we passed the night. when we awoke the rain was beating against the windows, and, on looking out, the forest and sides of the neighboring mountains, at a little height above us, appeared hoary with snow. we set out in the rain, but had not proceeded far before we heard the sleet striking against the windows of the carriage, and soon came to where the snow covered the ground to the depth of one or two inches. continuing to ascend, we passed out of italy and entered the tyrol. the storm had ceased before we went through the first tyrolese village, and we could not help being struck with the change in the appearance of the inhabitants--the different costume, the less erect figures, the awkward gait, the lighter complexions, the neatly-kept inhabitations, and the absence of beggars. as we advanced, the clouds began to roll off from the landscape, disclosing here and there, through openings in their broad skirts as they swept along, glimpses of the profound valleys below us, and of the white sides and summits of mountains in the mid-sky above. at length the sun appeared, and revealed a prospect of such wildness, grandeur, and splendor as i have never before seen. lofty peaks of the most fantastic shapes, with deep clefts between, sharp needles of rock, and overhanging crags, infinite in multitude, shot up everywhere around us, glistening in the new-fallen snow, with thin wreaths of mist creeping along their sides. at intervals, swollen torrents, looking at a distance like long trains of foam, came thundering down the mountains, and crossing the road, plunged into the verdant valleys which winded beneath. beside the highway were fields of young grain, prest to the ground with the snow; and in the meadows, ranunculuses of the size of roses, large yellow violets, and a thousand other alpine flowers of the most brilliant hues, were peeping through their white covering. we stopt to breakfast at a place called landro, a solitary inn, in the midst of this grand scenery, with a little chapel beside it. the water from the dissolving snow was dropping merrily from the roof in a bright june sun. we needed not to be told that we were in germany, for we saw it plainly enough in the nicely-washed floor of the apartment into which we were shown, in the neat cupboard with the old prayer-book lying upon it, and in the general appearance of housewifery; to say nothing of the evidence we had in the beer and tobacco-smoke of the travelers' room, and the guttural dialect and quiet tones of the guests. from landro we descended gradually into the beautiful valleys of the tyrol, leaving the snow behind, tho' the white peaks of the mountains were continually in sight. at bruneck, in an inn resplendent with neatness--we had the first specimen of a german bed. it is narrow and short, and made so high at the head, by a number of huge square bolsters and pillows, that you rather sit than lie. the principal covering is a bag of down, very properly denominated the upper bed, and between this and the feather-bed below, the traveler is expected to pass a night. an asthmatic patient on a cold winter night might perhaps find such a couch tolerably comfortable, if he could prevent the narrow covering from slipping off on one side or the other. the next day we were afforded an opportunity of observing more closely the inhabitants of this singular region, by a festival, or holiday of some sort, which brought them into the roads in great numbers, arrayed in their best dresses--the men in short jackets and small-clothes, with broad gay-colored suspenders over their waistcoats, and leathern belts ornamented with gold or silver leaf--the women in short petticoats composed of horizontal bands of different colors--and both sexes, for the most part, wearing broad-brimmed hats with hemispherical crowns, tho' there was a sugar-loaf variety much affected by the men, adorned with a band of lace and sometimes a knot of flowers. they are a robust, healthy-looking race, tho' they have an awkward stoop in the shoulders. but what struck me most forcibly was the devotional habits of the people. the tyrolese might be cited as an illustration of the remark, that mountaineers are more habitually and profoundly religious than others. persons of all sexes, young and old, whom we meet in the road, were repeating their prayers audibly. we passed a troop of old women, all in broad-brimmed hats and short gray petticoats, carrying long staves, one of whom held a bead-roll and gave out the prayers, to which the others made the responses in chorus. they looked at us so solemnly from under their broad brims, and marched along with so grave and deliberate a pace, that i could hardly help fancying that the wicked austrians had caught a dozen elders of the respectable society of friends, and put them in petticoats to punish them for their heresy. we afterward saw persons going to the labors of the day, or returning, telling their rosaries and saying their prayers as they went, as if their devotions had been their favorite amusement. at regular intervals of about half a mile, we saw wooden crucifixes erected by the way-side, covered from the weather with little sheds, bearing the image of the savior, crowned with thorns and frightfully dashed with streaks and drops of red paint, to represent the blood that flowed from his wounds. the outer walls of the better kind of houses were ornamented with paintings in fresco, and the subjects of these were mostly sacred, such as the virgin and child, the crucifixion, and the ascension. the number of houses of worship was surprising; i do not mean spacious or stately churches such as we meet with in italy, but most commonly little chapels dispersed so as best to accommodate the population. of these the smallest neighborhood has one for the morning devotions of its inhabitants, and even the solitary inn has its little consecrated building with its miniature spire, for the convenience of pious wayfarers. at sterzing, a little village beautifully situated at the base of the mountain called the brenner, and containing, as i should judge, not more than two or three thousand inhabitants, we counted seven churches and chapels within the compass of a square mile. the observances of the roman catholic church are nowhere more rigidly complied with than in the tyrol. when we stopt at bruneck on friday evening, i happened to drop a word about a little meat for dinner in a conversation with the spruce-looking landlady, who appeared so shocked that i gave up the point, on the promise of some excellent and remarkably well-flavored trout from the stream that flowed through the village--a promise that was literally fulfilled.... we descended the brenner on the th of june in a snow-storm, the wind whirling the light flakes in the air as it does with us in winter. it changed to rain, however, as we approached the beautiful and picturesque valley watered by the river inn, on the banks of which stands the fine old town of innsbruck, the capital of the tyrol. here we visited the church of the holy cross, in which is the bronze tomb of maxmilian i. and twenty or thirty bronze statues ranged on each side of the nave, representing fierce warrior-chiefs, and gowned prelates, and stately damsels of the middle ages. these are all curious for the costume; the warriors are cased in various kinds of ancient armor, and brandish various ancient weapons, and the robes of the females are flowing and by no means ungraceful. almost every one of the statues has its hands and fingers in some constrained and awkward position; as if the artist knew as little what to do with them as some awkward and bashful people know what to do with their own. such a crowd of figures in that ancient garb, occupying the floor in the midst of the living worshipers of the present day, has an effect which at first is startling. from innsbruck we climbed and crossed another mountain-ridge, scarcely less wild and majestic in its scenery than those we had left behind. on descending, we observed that the crucifixes had disappeared from the roads, and the broad-brimmed and sugar-loaf hats from the heads of the peasantry; the men wore hats contracted in the middle of the crown like an hour-glass, and the women caps edged with a broad band of black fur, the frescoes on the outside of the houses became less frequent; in short it was apparent that we had entered a different region, even if the custom-house and police officers on the frontier had not signified to us that we were now in the kingdom of bavaria. we passed through extensive forests of fir, here and there checkered with farms, and finally came to the broad elevated plain bathed by the isar, in which munich is situated. in the dolomites[ ] by archibald campbell knowles the dolomites are part of the southern tyrol. one portion is italian, one portion is austrian, and the rivalry of the two nations is keen. under a warm summer sun, the quaint little villages seem half asleep, and the inhabitants appear to drift dreamily through life. yet this is more apparent than real for, in many respects, the people here are busy in their own way. crossing this region are many mountain ranges of limestone structure, which by water, weather and other causes have been worn away into the most fantastic fissures and clefts and the most picturesque peaks and pinnacles. a very great charm is their curious coloring, often of great beauty. the region of the dolomites is a great contrast to the rest of the alps. its characteristics do not make the same appeal to all. this is largely not only a matter of individual taste and temperament but also of one's mental or spiritual constitution, for the picture with its setting depends as much upon what it suggests as upon its constituent parts. the dolomites suggest italy in the contour of the country, in the grace of the inhabitants and in the colors which make the scene one of rich magnificence. the great artist titian was born here[ ] and he probably learned much from his observation of his native place. many of the mountain ranges are of the usual gray but such is the atmospheric condition that they seem to reflect the rosy rays of the setting sun or the purplish haze that often is found. the peaks are not great peaks in the sense that we speak of mont blanc, the jungfrau, the matterhorn or monte rosa. they impress one more as pictures with wonderful lights and strange grouping.... if the reader intends some day to visit the dolomites he is advised to enter from the north. salzburg and the salzkammergut, so much frequented by the emperor francis joseph and the austrian nobility, make a good introduction. then by way of innsbruck, one of the gems of the tyrol, toblach is reached, where the driving tour may properly begin. toblach is a lovely place, if one stops long enough to see it and enjoy it! it is not very far to cortina, the center of this beautiful region. the way there is very lovely. and driving is in keeping with the spirit of the place. it almost seems profane to rush through in a motor, as some do, for not only is it impossible to appreciate the scenery, but also it is out of harmony with the peace and quiet which reign. for a while there is traversed a little valley quite embowered in green, but presently this abruptly leads into a wild gorge, with jagged peaks on every side. soon monte cristallo appears. this is the most striking of all the dolomite peaks. at a tiny village, called schluderbach, the road forks, that to the right going directly to cortina, the other to the left proceeding by way of lake misurina. lake misurina is a pretty stretch of water, pale green in color and at an altitude of about , feet. on its shores are two very attractive and well-kept hotels, with charming walks, from which one looks on a splendid panorama, picturesque in extreme. from misurina, the road again ascends, becoming very narrow and very steep. the top is called "passo tre croci," the pass of the three crosses. the outlook is very lovely, with the three serrated peaks monte cristallo, monte piano and monte tofana, standing as guardian sentinels over the little valley of ampezzo far below, where lies cortina sleeping in the sun, while in the distance shine the snow fields of the marmolata. just as steeply as it climbed up one side, the road descends on the other side, to cortina. this place is the capital of the valley and altogether lovely; beautiful in its woods and meadows, beautiful in its mountain views, beautiful in the town itself and beautiful in its people. cortina has much to boast of--an ancient church and some old houses; an industrial school in which the villagers are taught the most delicate and artistic (and withal comparatively cheap) filigree mosaic work; and a community of people, handsome in face and figure and possessing a carriage and refinement superior to any seen elsewhere among the mountaineers or peasantry. in the neighborhood of cortina are many excursions and also extended rock climbs, but those who go there in the summer will be more apt to linger lazily amid the cool shade of the trees than to brave the hot italian sun on the peaks! after a few days' stay at cortina, the drive is continued. there are many ways out. you can return by a new route to toblach and the upper tyrol. or you can go south to belluno and thence to northern italy. or a third way and perhaps the finest tour of all is that over a series of magnificent mountain passes to botzen. this last crosses the ampezzo valley and then begins the ascent of monte tofana, which here is beautifully wooded. steepness seems characteristic of this region! it is hard to imagine a carriage climbing a road any steeper than that one on the slopes of monte tofana! if narrow and steep is the way and hard and toilsome the climb this monte tofana route most certainly repays one when it reaches the falzarego pass ( , feet high) which is certainly an earthly paradise! one can not aptly describe a view like that! it is all a picture; as if every part was purposely what it is, here rocky, here green, here snowy, with summits, valleys, ravines and villages and even a partly ruined castle to form a whole such as an artist or poet would revel in. after a pause on the summit of the pass, again comes a steep descent, as the drive is resumed, which continues to andraz, where déjeuner is taken. one can not live on air or scenery and even the most indefatigable sightseer sometimes turns with longing to luncheon! then one returns with added zest to the feast of eye and soul. and at andraz, as one lingers awhile after luncheon on that high mountain terrace, a lovelier scene than that spread before the eye could scarcely be imagined. indeed it is a "dream-scene," and as seen in the sleepy stillness of the early afternoon, when the shadows are already playing with the lights and gradually overcoming them, it seems like fancy, not reality. again the carriage is taken and soon the road is climbing once more, this time giving fine views of the sella group of peaks and going through a series of picturesque valleys. at arabba ( , feet), a pretty little village, the final ascent to pordoi begins. the scenery undergoes a change. it becomes more wild and barren and the characteristics of the high alps appear. the hour begins to be late and it becomes cold, but the light still lingers as the carriage reaches the summit of the pass and stops at the new hôtel pordoi ( , feet high) facing the weird, fantastic shapes of the rosengarten and the langkofel, on the one side and on the other the snowy marmolata and the summits about cortina.... the following morning the start is made for botzen. the way steadily descends for hours, past the pretty hamlets of canazei, campitello and vigo di fassa, surrounded by an imposing array of dolomite peaks. after crossing the karer pass the scenery becomes much more soft and pastoral. below the pass, most beautifully situated is a little green lake called the karer-see.... at botzen the drive through the dolomites ends. at best it gives but a glimpse of this delightful region! that glimpse leaves a lasting impression, not of snowy summits and glistening glaciers, but of wonderful rocks and more wonderful coloring and of great peaks of fantastic form, set in a garden spot of green. and botzen is a fitting terminus. it dates far back to the middle ages. it boasts of churches, houses and public buildings of artistic merit and architectural beauty and over all there lingers an atmosphere of rest and refinement, refreshing to see, where there might have been the noisy bustle and hopeless vulgarity of so many places similarly situated. there is plenty going on, nevertheless, for botzen is quite a little commercial center in its own way, but with it there is this charm of dignified repose. one wanders through the town under the cool colonnades, strolls into some ancient cloisters, kneels for a moment in some finely carved church and then goes out again to the open, to see far above the little city that beautiful background of the dolomite peaks, dominated by the wonderfully impressive and fantastic rosengarten range, golden red in the western sun. with such a view experience may well lapse into memory, to linger on so long as the mind possesses the power of recalling the past. cortina[ ] by amelia b. edwards situate on the left bank of the boita, which here runs nearly due north and south, with the tre croci pass opening away behind the town to the east, and the tre sassi pass widening before it to the west, cortina lies in a comparatively open space between four great mountains, and is therefore less liable to danger from bergfalls than any other village not only in the val d'ampezo but in the whole adjacent district. for the same reason, it is cooler in summer than either caprile, agordo, primiero, or predazzo; all of which, tho' more central as stopping places, and in many respects more convenient, are yet somewhat too closely hemmed in by surrounding heights. the climate of cortina is temperate throughout the year. ball gives the village an elevation of , feet above the level of the sea; and one of the parish priests--an intelligent old man who has devoted many years of his life to collecting the flora of the ampezzo--assured me that he had never known the thermometer drop so low as fifteen degrees[ ] of frost in even the coldest winters. the soil, for all this, has a bleak and barren look; the maize (here called "grano turco") is cultivated, but does not flourish; and the vine is unknown. but then agriculture is not a specialty of the ampezzo thal, and the wealth of cortina is derived essentially from its pasture-lands and forests. these last, in consequence of the increased and increasing value of timber, have been lavishly cut down of late years by the commune--too probably at the expense of the future interests of cortina. for the present, however, every inn, homestead, and public building bespeaks prosperity. the inhabitants are well-fed and well-drest. their fairs and festivals are the most considerable in all the south eastern tyrol; their principal church is the largest this side of st. ulrich; and their new gothic campanile, feet high, might suitably adorn the piazza of such cities as bergamo or belluno. the village contains about souls, but the population of the commune numbers over , . of these, the greater part, old and young, rich and poor, men, women, and children, are engaged in the timber trade. some cut the wood; some transport it. the wealthy convey it on trucks drawn by fine horses which, however, are cruelly overworked. the poor harness themselves six or eight in a team, men, women, and boys together, and so, under the burning summer sun, drag loads that look as if they might be too much for an elephant.... to ascend the campanile and get the near view over the village, was obviously one of the first duties of a visitor; so, finding the door open and the old bellringer inside, we mounted laboriously to the top--nearly a hundred feet higher than the leaning tower of pisa. standing here upon the outer gallery above the level of the great bells, we had the village and valley at our feet. the panorama, tho' it included little which we had not seen already, was fine all around, and served to impress the mainland marks upon our memory. the ampezzo thal opened away to north and south, and the twin passes of the tre croci and tre sassi intersected it to east and west. when we had fixt in our minds the fact that landro and bruneck lay out to the north, and perarolo to the south; that auronzo was to be found somewhere on the other side of the tre croci; and that to arrive at caprile it was necessary to go over the tre sassi, we had gained something in the way of definite topography. the marmolata and civetta, as we knew by our maps, were on the side of caprile; and the marmarole on the side of auronzo. the pelmo, left behind yesterday, was peeping even now above the ridge of the rochetta; and a group of fantastic rocks, so like the towers and bastions of a ruined castle that we took them at first sight for the remains of some medieval stronghold, marked the summit of the tre sassi to the west. "but what mountain is that far away to the south?" we asked, pointing in the direction of perarolo. "which mountain, signora?" "that one yonder, like a cathedral front with two towers." the old bellringer shaded his eyes with one trembling hand, and peered down the valley. "eh," he said, "it is some mountain on the italian side." "but what is it called?" "eh," he repeated, with a puzzled look, "who knows? i don't know that i ever noticed it before." now it was a very singular mountain--one of the most singular and the most striking that we saw throughout the tour. it was exactly like the front of notre dame, with one slender aiguille, like a flagstaff, shooting up from the top of one of its battlemented towers. it was conspicuous from most points on the left bank of the boita; but the best view, as i soon after discovered, was from the rising ground behind cortina, going up through the fields in the direction of the begontina torrent. to this spot we returned again and again, fascinated as much, perhaps, by the mystery in which it was enveloped, as by the majestic outline of this unknown mountain, to which, for want of a better, we gave the name of notre dame. for the old bellringer was not alone in his ignorance. ask whom we would, we invariably received the same vague reply--it was a mountain "on the italian side." they knew no more; and some, like our friend of the campanile, had evidently "not noticed it before." ix alpine resorts the call of the mountains[ ] by frederic harrison once more--perhaps for the last time--i listen to the unnumbered tinkling of the cow-bells on the slopes--"the sweet bells of the sauntering herd"--to the music of the cicadas in the sunshine, and the shouts of the neat herdlads, echoing back from alp to alp. i hear the bubbling of the mountain rill, i watch the emerald moss of the pastures gleaming in the light, and now and then the soft white mist creeping along the glen, as our poet says, "puts forth an arm and creeps from pine to pine." and see, the wild flowers, even in this waning season of the year, the delicate lilac of the dear autumn crocus, which seems to start up elf-like out of the lush grass, the coral beads of the rowan, and the beech-trees just begun to wear their autumn jewelry of old gold. as i stroll about these hills, more leisurely, more thoughtfully than i used to do of old in my hot mountaineering days, i have tried to think out what it is that makes the alpine landscape so marvelous a tonic to the spirit--what is the special charm of it to those who have once felt all its inexhaustible magic. other lands have rare beauties, wonders of their own, sights to live in the memory for ever. in france, in italy, in spain, in greece and in turkey, i hold in memory many a superb landscape. from boyhood upward i thirsted for all kinds of nature's gifts, whether by sea, or by river, lake, mountain, or forest. for sixty years at least i have roved about the white cliffs, the moors, the riversides, lakes, and pastures of our own islands from penzance to cape wrath, from beachy head to the shetlands. i love them all. but they can not touch me, as do the alps, with the sense at once of inexhaustible loveliness and of a sort of conscious sympathy with every fiber of man's heart and brain. why then is this so? i find it in the immense range of the moods in which nature is seen in the alps, as least by those who have fully absorbed all the forms, sights, sounds, wonders, and adventures they offer. an hour's walk will show them all in profound contrast and yet in exquisite harmony. the alps form a book of nature as wide and as mysterious as life. earth has no scenes of placid fruitfulness more balmy than the banks of one of the larger lakes, crowded with vineyards, orchards, groves and pastures, down to the edge of its watery mirror, wherein, beside a semi-tropical vegetation, we see the image of some medieval castle, of some historic tower, and thence the eye strays up to sunless gorges, swept with avalanches, and steaming with feathery cascades; and higher yet one sees against the skyline ranges of terrific crags, girt with glaciers, and so often wreathed in storm clouds. all that earth has of most sweet, softest, easiest, most suggestive of langor and love, of fertility and abundance--here is seen in one vision beside all that nature has most hard, most cruel, most unkind to man--where life is one long weary battle with a frost bitten soil, and every peasant's hut has been built up stone by stone, and log by log, with sweat and groans, and wrecked hopes. in a few hours one may pass from an enchanted garden, where every sense is satiated, and every flower and leaf and gleam of light is intoxication, up into a wilderness of difficult crags and yawning glaciers, which men can reach only by hard-earned skill, tough muscle and iron nerves.... the alps are international, european, humanitarian. four written languages are spoken in their valleys, and ten times as many local dialects. the alps are not especially swiss--i used to think they were english--they belong equally to four nations of europe; they are the sanatorium and the diversorium of the civilized world, the refuge, the asylum, the second home of men and women famous throughout the centuries for arts, literature, thought, religion. the poet, the philosopher, the dreamer, the patriot, the exile, the bereaved, the reformer, the prophet, the hero--have all found in the alps a haven of rest, a new home where the wicked cease from troubling, where men need neither fear nor suffer. the happy and the thoughtless, the thinker and the sick--are alike at home here. the patriot exile inscribed on his house on lake leman--"every land is fatherland to the brave man." what he might have written is--"this land is fatherland to all men." to young and old, to strong and weak, to wise and foolish alike, the alps are a second fatherland. interlaken and the jungfrau[ ] b.t. archibald campbell knowles it is hard to find a prettier spot than interlaken. situated between two lovely lakes, surrounded by wooded heights, and lying but a few miles from the snowy jungfrau, it is like a jewel richly set. from lucerne over the brunig, from meiringen over the grimsel come the travelers, passing on their way the lake of brienz, with the waterfall of the giessbach, on its southern side. from berne over lake thun, from the rhône valley over the gemmi or through the simmenthal come the tourists, seeing as they come the white peaks of the oberland. and interlaken welcomes them all, and rests them for their closer relations with the high alps by trips to the region of the lauterbrunnen, grindelwald, and mürren, and the great mountain plateaux looking down upon them. interlaken is not a climbing center. consequently mountaineering is little in evidence, conversation about ascents is seldom heard, and ice-axes, ropes, and nailed boots are seen more often in shop windows than in the streets. interlaken is not like some other swiss towns. berne, geneva, zurich, and lucerne are places possessing notable churches, museums, and monuments of the past, having a social life of their own and being distinguished in some special way, as centers of culture and education. interlaken, however, has little life apart from that made by the throngs of visitors who gather here in the summer. there is little to see except a group of old monastic buildings, and in unterseen and elsewhere some fine old carved chalets, but none of these receives much attention. the attraction, on what one may call the natural side, centers in the softly beautiful panorama of woods and meadows, green hills and snow peaks which opens to the eye, and on the social side in the busy little promenade and park of the höheweg, bordered with hotels, shops, and gardens. here is ever a changing picture in the height of the season, in fact, quite kaleidoscopic as railways and steamboats at each end of interlaken send their passengers to mingle in the passing crowd. all "sorts and conditions of men" are here, and representatives of antagonistic nations meet in friendly intercourse. on the hotel terraces and in the little cafés and tea rooms, one hears a babel of voices, every nation of europe seeming to speak in its own native tongue. life goes easily. there is a gaiety in the little town that is infectious. it is a sort of busy idleness. "to trip or not to trip" is the question. if the affirmative, then a rush to the mountain trains and comfortable cabs. if the negative, then a turning to the shops, where pretty things worthy of paris or london are seen side by side with swiss carvings and swiss embroidery and many little superficial souvenirs. as the contents of the shops are exhibited in the windows, so the character of the visitors is shown by the crowds, and the life of the place is seen in the constant ebb and flow of the people on the höheweg. interlaken is undoubtedly a tourist center, for few trips to switzerland overlook or omit this delightful spot. thousands come here, who never go any nearer the high alps. they are quite content to sit on the benches of the höheweg, listening to the music and enjoying the view. there is a casino, most artistically planned, with plashing fountains, shady paths, and wonderful flowerbeds. here many persons pass the day, and, contrary to what one might expect, it is quiet and restful, lounging in that parklike garden. for, notwithstanding "the madding crowd," interlaken is a little gem of a mountain town, with an undertone of repose and nobility, as if the spirit of the alps asserted herself, reigning, as one might say, for all not ruling. and always smiling at the people, as it were, is the majestic jungfrau, ever seeming close at hand, altho' eight miles away.... the pleasures of this little swiss resort are exhaustless. the wooded hills of the rugen give innumerable walks amid beautiful forests, with all their wealth of pine and larch and hardwood, their moss-clad rocks and waving ferns. in that pleasant shade hours may be passed close to nature. the lakes not only offer delightful water trips, but also charming excursions along the wooded shores, sometimes high above the lakes, giving varying views of great beauty. while, ever as with beckoning fingers, the great peaks, snow-capped or rock-summitted, call one across the verdant meadows into the higher valleys of kienthal, lauterbrunnen, grindelwaid, and kandersteg, to the terraced heights above or up amid the great wild passes. interlaken is, above all, a garden of green. perhaps the unusual amount of rain which falls to the lot of this valley accounts for its verdure. in any event, park, woods, meadow, garden, even the mountain sides are green, a vari-colored green, and interspersed with an abundance of flowers. nowhere is the eye offended by anything inartistic or unpicturesque, but, on the contrary, the charm is so comprehensive that the visitor looks from place to place, from this bit to that bit, and ever sees new beauty. to complete all, to accentuate in the minds of some this impression of green, is the majestic jungfrau. other views may be grander and more magnificent, but no view of the jungfrau can compare in loveliness to that from interlaken. a great white glistening mass, far up above green meadows, green forests, and green mountains, rises this peak, a shining summit of white. fitly named the virgin, the jungfrau gives her benediction to interlaken, serenely smiling at the valley and at the town lying so quietly at her feet--the jungfrau crowned with snow, interlaken drest in green! in the golden glory of the sun, in the silver shimmer of the moon, the jungfrau beckons, the jungfrau calls! "come," she seems to say, "come nearer! come up to the heights! come close to the running waters! come." and that invitation falls on no unwilling ears, but in to the grindelwald and to the lauterbrunnen and up to mürren go those who love the majestic jungfrau! what a wonderful trip this is! it may shatter some ideals in being taken to such a height in a railway train, but even against one's convictions as to the proper way of seeing a mountain, when all has been said, the fact remains that this trip is wonderful beyond words. there is a strangeness in taking a train which leaves a garden of green in the early morning and in a few hours later, after valley and pass and tunnel, puts one out on snow fields over , feet above the sea, where are seen vast stretches of white, almost level with the summit of the jungfrau close at hand, and below, stretching for miles, on the one side the great aletsch glacier, and on the other side the green valleys enclosed by the everlasting hills! the route is by way of lauterbrunnen, wengen, and the scheidegg, and after skirting the eiger glacier going by tunnel into the very bowels of the mountain. at eigerwand, rotstock, and eismeer are stations, great galleries blasted out of the rock, with corridors leading to openings from which one has marvelous views.[ ] eismeer looks directly upon the huge sea of snow and ice, with immense masses of dazzling white so close as to make one reel with awe and astonishment. in fact, this view is really oppressive in its wild magnificence, so near and so grand is it. the jungfraujoch is different. one is out in the open, so to speak; one walks over that vast plateau of snow over , feet high in the glorious sunlight, above most of the nearer peaks and looking down at a beautiful panorama. on one side of this plateau is the jungfrau, on the other the mönch, either of which can be climbed from here in about three hours. yet the eye lingers longer in the direction of the aletsch glacier than anywhere else, this frozen river running for miles and turning to the right at the little green basin of water full of pieces of floating ice, called the marjelen lake, or see, at the foot of the eggishorn, which is unique and lovely. long ago it was formed in this corner of the glacier, and its blue waters are really melted snow, over which float icebergs shining in the sun. in such a position the lake underlaps the glacier for quite a distance, forming a low vaulted cavern in the ice. every now and then one of these little bergs overbalances itself and turns over, the upper side then being a deep blue, and the lower side, which was formerly above, being a pure white. again turning toward the green valleys, one with the eye of an artist, who can perceive and differentiate varying shades of color, can not but admit that the bernese oberland is "par excellence" first. even south of the alps the verdure does not excel or even equal that to be seen here. there is something incomparably lovely about the oberland valleys. it is indescribable, indefinable, for when one has exhausted the most extravagant terms of description, he feels that he has failed to picture the scene as he desired. yet if one word should be chosen to convey the impression which the oberland makes, the word would be "color." for whether one regards the snow summits as setting off the valleys, or the green meadows as setting off the peaks, it matters not, for the secret of their beauty lies in the richness and variety of the exquisite coloring wherein many wonderful shades of green predominate. the altdorf of william tell[ ] by w.d. m'crackan let it be said at once that, altho' the name of altdorf is indissolubly linked with that of william tell, the place arouses an interest which does not at all depend upon its associations with the famous archer. from the very first it gives one the impression of possessing a distinct personality, of ringing, as it were, to a note never heard before, and thus challenging attention to its peculiarities. as you approach altdorf from flüelen, on the lake of lucerne, by the long white road, the first houses you reach are large structures of the conventional village type, plain, but evidently the homes of well-to-do people, and some even adorned with family coats-of-arms. in fact, this street is dedicated to the aristocracy, and formerly went by the name of the herrengasse, the "lane of the lords." beyond these fashionable houses is an open square, upon which faces a cosy inn--named, of course, after william tell; and off on one side the large parish church, built in cheap baroco style, but containing a few objects of interest.... there is a good deal of sight-seeing to be done in altdorf, for so small a place. in the town hall are shown the tattered flags carried by the warriors of uri in the early battles of the confederation, the mace and sword of state which are borne by the beadles to the landsgemeinde. in a somewhat inaccessible corner, a few houses off, the beginnings of a museum have been made. here is another portrait of interest--that of the giant püntener, a mercenary whose valor made him the terror of the enemy in the battle of marignano, in ; so that when he was finally killed, they avenged themselves, according to a writing beneath the picture, by using his fat to smear their weapons, and by feeding their horses with oats from his carcass. just outside the village stands the arsenal, whence, they say, old armor was taken and turned into shovels, when the st. gothard railroad was building, so poor and ignorant were the people. if you are of the sterner sex, you can also penetrate into the capuchin monastery, and enter the gardens, where the terraces that rise behind the buildings are almost italian in appearance, festooned with vines and radiant with roses. not that the fame of this institution rests on such trivial matters, however. the brothers boast of two things: theirs is the oldest branch of the order in switzerland, dating from , and they carry on in it the somewhat unappetizing industry of cultivating snails for the gourmands of foreign countries. above the capuchins is the famous bannwald, mentioned by schiller--a tract of forest on the mountain-slope, in which no one is allowed to fell trees, because it protects the village from avalanches and rolling stones. nothing could be fairer than the outskirts of altdorf on a may morning. the valley of the reuss lies bathed from end to end in a flood of golden light, shining through an atmosphere of crystal purity. daisies, cowslips, and buttercups, the flowers of rural well-being, show through the rising grass of the fields; along the hedges and crumbling walls of the lanes peep timid primroses and violets, and in wilder spots the alpine gentian, intensely blue. high up, upon the mountains, glows the indescribable velvet of the slopes, while, higher still, ragged and vanishing patches of snow proclaim the rapid approach of summer. after all, the best part of altdorf, to make an irish bull, lies outside of the village. no adequate idea of this strange little community can be given without referring to the almend, or village common. indeed, as time goes on, one learns to regard this almend as the complete expression and final summing up of all that is best in altdorf, the reconciliation of all its inconsistencies. how fine that great pasture beside the river reus, with its short, juicy, alpine grass, in sight of the snow-capped bristenstock, at one end of the valley, and of the waters of lake lucerne at the other! in may, the full-grown cattle have already departed for the higher summer pastures, leaving only the feeble young behind, who are to follow as soon as they have grown strong enough to bear the fatigues of the journey. at this time, therefore, the almend becomes a sort of vision of youth--of calves, lambs, and foals, guarded by little boys, all gamboling in the exuberance of early life. lucerne[ ] by victor tissot a height crowned with embattled ramparts that bristle with loop-holed turrets; church towers mingling their graceful spires and peaceful crosses with those warlike edifices; dazzling white villas, planted like tents under curtains of verdure; tall houses with old red skylights on the roofs--this is our first glimpse of the catholic and warlike city of lucerne. we seem to be approaching some town of old feudal times that has been left solitary and forgotten on the mountain side, outside of the current of modern life. but when we pass through the station we find ourselves suddenly transported to the side of the lake, where whole flotillas of large and small boats lie moored on the blue waters of a large harbor. and along the banks of this wonderful lake is a whole town of hotels, gay with many colored flags, their terraces and balconies rising tier above tier, like the galleries of a grand theater whose scenery is the mighty alps.... in summer lucerne is the hyde park of switzerland. its quays are thronged by people of every nation. there you meet pale women from the lands of snow, and dark women from the lands of the sun; tall, six-foot english women, and lively, alert, trim parisian women, with the light and graceful carriage of a bird on the bough. at certain hours this promenade on the quays is like a charity fair or a rustic ball--bright colors and airy draperies everywhere. nowhere can the least calm and repose be found but in the old town. there the gabled houses, with wooden galleries hanging over the waters of the reuss, make a charming ancient picture, like a bit of venice set down amid the verdant landscape of the valley. i also discovered on the heights beyond the ramparts a pretty and peaceful convent of capuchins, the way to which winds among wild plants, starry with flowers. it is delicious to go right away, far from the town swarming and running over with londoners, germans, and americans, and to find yourself among fragrant hedges, peopled by warblers whom it has not yet occurred to the hotel-keepers to teach to sing in english. this sweet path leads without fatigue to the convent of the good fathers. in a garden flooded with sunshine and balmy with the fragrance of mignonette and vervain, where broad sunflowers erect their black discs fringed with gold, two brothers with fan-shaped beards, their brass-mounted spectacles astride on their flat noses, and arrayed in green gardening aprons, are plying enormous watering-cans; while, in the green and cool half-twilight under the shadowy trees, big, rubicund brothers walk up and down, reading their red-edged breviaries in black leather bindings. happy monks! not a fraction of a pessimist among them! how well they understand life! a beautiful convent, beautiful nature, good wine and good cheer, neither disturbance nor care; neither wife nor children; and when they leave the world, heaven specially created for them, seraphim waiting for them with harps of gold, and angels with urns of rose-water to wash their feet! lucerne began as a nest of monks, hidden in an orchard like a nest of sparrows. the first house of the town was a monastery, erected by the side of the lake. the nest grew, became a village, then a town, then a city. the monks of murbach, to whom the monastery of st. leger belonged, had got into debt; this sometimes does happen even to monks. they sold to king rudolf all the property they possest at lucerne and in unterwalden; and thus the town passed into the hands of the hapsburgs. when the first cantons, after expelling the austrian bailiffs, had declared their independence, lucerne was still one of austria's advanced posts. but its people were daily brought into contact with the shepherds of the forest cantons, who came into the town to supply themselves with provisions; and they were not long in beginning to ask themselves if there was any reason why they should not be, as well as their neighbors, absolutely free. the position of the partizans of austria soon became so precarious that they found it safe to leave the town.... the opening of the st. gothard railway has given a new impulse to this cosmopolitan city, which has a great future before it. already it has supplanted interlaken in the estimation of the furbelowed, fashionable world--the women who come to switzerland not to see but to be seen. lucerne is now the chief summer station of the twenty-two cantons. and yet it does not possess many objects of interest. there is the old bridge on the reuss, with its ancient paintings; the church of st. leger, with its lateral altars and its campo santo, reminding us of italian cemeteries; the museum at the town hall, with its fine collection of stained glass; the blood-stained standards from the burgundian wars, and the flag in which noble old gundolfingen, after charging his fellow-citizens never to elect their magistrates for more than a year, wrapt himself as in a shroud of glory to die in the fight; finally, there is the lion of lucerne; and that is all. the most wonderful thing of all is that you are allowed to see this lion for nothing; for close beside it you are charged a franc for permission to cast an indifferent glance on some uninteresting excavations, which date, it is said, from the glacial period. we do not care if they do.... the great quay of lucerne is delightful; as good as the seashore at dieppe or trouville. before you, limpid and blue, lies the lake, which from the character of its shores, at once stern and graceful, is the finest in switzerland. in front rises the snow-clad peaks of uri, to the left the rigi, to the right the austere pilatus, almost always wearing his high cap of clouds. this beautiful walk on the quay, long and shady like the avenue of a gentleman's park, is the daily resort, toward four o'clock, of all the foreigners who are crowded in the hotels or packed in the boarding-houses. here are russian and polish counts with long mustaches, and pins set with false brilliants; englishmen with fishes' or horses' heads; englishwomen with the figures of angels or of giraffes; parisian women, daintily attired, sprightly, and coquettish; american women, free in their bearing, and eccentric in their dress, and their men as stiff as the smoke-pipes of steamboats; german women, with languishing voices, drooping and pale like willow branches, fair-haired and blue-eyed, talking in the same breath of goethe and the price of sausages, of the moon and their glass of beer, of stars and black radishes. and here and there are a few little swiss girls, fresh and rosy as wood strawberries, smiling darlings like dresden shepherdesses, dreaming of scenes of platonic love in a great garden adorned with the statue of william tell or general dufour. zurich[ ] by w.d. m'crackan if you arrive in zurich after dark, and pass along the river-front, you will think yourself for a moment in venice. the street lamps glow responsively across the dark limmat, or trail their light from the bridges. in the uncertain darkness, the bare house walls of the farther side put on the dignity of palaces. there are unsuspected architectural glories in the wasserkirche and the rathhaus, as they stand partly in the water of the river. and if, at such times, one of the long, narrow barges of the place passes up stream, the illusion is complete; for, as the boat cuts at intervals through the glare of gaslight it looks for all the world like a gondola.... zurich need not rely upon any fancied resemblance of this sort for a distinct charm of its own. the situation of the city is essentially beautiful, reminding one, in a general way, of that of geneva, lucerne, or thun--at the outlet of a lake, and at the point of issue of a swift river. approaching from the lakeside, the twin towers of the grossmünster loom upon the right, capped by ugly rounded tops, like miters; upon the left, the simple spires of the fraumünster and st. peter's. a conglomeration of roofs denotes the city houses. on the water-front, extensive promenades stretch, crescent shaped, from end to end, cleverly laid out, tho' as yet too new to quite fulfil their mission of beauty. some large white buildings form the front line on the lake--notably the theater, and a few hotels and apartment houses. finally, there where the river limmat leaves the lake, a vista of bridges open into the heart of the city--a succession of arches and lines that invite inspection. like most progressive cities of europe, zurich has outgrown its feudal accouterments within the last fifty years. it has razed its walls, converted its bastions into playgrounds, and, pushing out on every side, has incorporated many neighboring villages, until to-day it contains more than ninety thousand inhabitants.[ ] the pride of modern zurich is the bahnhof-strasse, a long street which leads from the railroad station to the lake. it is planted with trees, and counts as the one and only boulevard of the city. unfortunately, a good view of the distant snow mountains is very rare from the lake promenade, altho' they appear with distinctness upon the photographs sold in the shops. early every saturday the peasant women come trooping in, with their vegetables, fruits, and flowers, to line the bahnhof-strasse with carts and baskets. the ladies and kitchen-maids of the city come to buy; but by noon the market is over. in a jiffy, the street is swept as clean as a kitchen floor, and the women have turned their backs on zurich. but the real center of attraction in zurich will be found by the traveler in that quarter where stands the grossmünster, the church of which zwingli was incumbent for twelve years. it may well be called the wittenberg church of switzerland. the present building dates from the eleventh and twelfth centuries; but tradition has it that the first minster was founded by charlemagne. that ubiquitous emperor certainly manifested great interest in zurich. he has been represented no less than three times in various parts of the building. about midway up one of the towers, his statue appears in a niche, where pigeons strut and prink their feathers, undisturbed. charlemagne is sitting with a mighty two-edged sword upon his knees, and a gilded crown upon his head; but the figure is badly proportioned, and the statue is a good-natured, stumpy affair, that makes one smile rather than admire. the outside of the minster still shows traces of the image breakers of zwingli's time, and yet the crumbling north portal remains beautiful, even in decay. as for the interior, it has an exceedingly bare and stript appearance; for, altho' there is good, solid stonework in the walls, the whole has been washed a foolish, philistine white. the romanesque of the architectural is said to be of particular interest to connoisseurs, and the queer archaic capitals must certainly attract the notice even of ordinary tourists.... it is also worth while to go to the helmhaus, and examine the collection of lake-dwelling remains. in fact, there is a delightful little model of a lake-dwelling itself, and an appliance to show you how those primitive people could make holes in their stone implements, before they knew the use of metals. the ancient guild houses of zurich are worth a special study. take, for instance, that of the "zimmerleute," or carpenter with its supporting arches and little peaked tower; or the so-called "waag," with frescoed front; then the great wainscoated and paneled hall of the "schmieden" (smiths); and the rich renaissance stonework of the "maurer" (masons). these buildings, alas, with the decay of the system which produced them, have been obliged to put up big signs of café restaurant upon their historic façades, like so many vulgar, modern eating-houses. the rathhaus, or town hall, too, is charming. it stands, like the wasserkirche, with one side in the water and the other against the quay. the style is a sort of reposeful italian renaissance, that is florid only in the best artistic sense. nor must you miss the so-called "rüden," nearby, for its sloping roof and painted walls give it a very captivating look of alert picturesqueness, and it contains a large collection of pestalozzi souvenirs. zurich has more than one claim to the world's recognition; but no department of its active life, perhaps, merits such unstinted praise as its educational facilities. first and foremost, the university, with four faculties, modeled upon the german system, but retaining certain distinctive traits that are essentially swiss--for instance, the broad and liberal treatment accorded to women students, who are admitted as freely as men, and receive the same instruction. a great number of russian girls are always to be seen in zurich, as at other swiss universities, working unremittingly to acquire the degrees which they are denied at home. not a few american women also have availed themselves of these facilities, especially for the study of medicine.... zurich is, at the present time, undoubtedly the most important commercial city in switzerland, having distanced both basel and geneva in this direction. the manufacturing of silk, woolen, and linen fabrics has flourished here since the end of the thirteenth century. in modern times, however, cotton and machinery have been added as staple articles of manufacture. much of the actual weaving is still done in outlying parts of the canton, in the very cottages of the peasants, so that the click of the loom is heard from open windows in every village and hamlet. but modern industrial processes are tending continually to drive the weavers from their homes into great centralized factories, and every year this inevitable change becomes more apparent. it is certainly remarkable that zurich should succeed in turning out cheap and good machinery, when we remember that every ton of coal and iron has to be imported, since switzerland possesses not a single mine, either of the one or the other. the rigi[ ] by w.d. m'crackan if you really want to know how the swiss confederation came to be, you can not do better than take the train to the top of the rigi. you might stumble through many a volume, and not learn so thoroughly the essential causes of this national birth. of course, the eye rests first upon the phalanx of snow-crests to the south, then down upon the lake, lying outstretched like some wriggling monster, switching its tail, and finally off to the many places where early swiss history was made. in point of fact, you are looking at quite a large slice of switzerland. victor hugo seized the meaning of this view when he wrote: "it is a serious hour, and full of meditations, when one has switzerland thus under the eyes." ... the physical features of a country have their counterparts in its political institutions. in switzerland the great mountain ranges divide the territory into deep valleys, each of which naturally forms a political unit--the commune. here is a miniature world, concentrated into a small space, and representing the sum total of life to its inhabitants. self-government becomes second nature under these conditions. a sort of patriarchal democracy is evolved: that is, certain men and certain families are apt to maintain themselves at the head of public affairs, but with the consent and cooperation of the whole population. there is hardly a spot associated with the rise of the swiss confederation whose position can not be determined from the rigi. the two tell's chapels; the rütli; the villages of schwiz, altdorf, brunnen, beckenried, stans, and sarnen; the battlefields of morgarten and sempach; and on a clear day the ruined castle of hapsburg itself, lie within a mighty circle at one's feet. it was preordained that the three lands of uri, schwiz, and unterwalden should unite for protection of common interests against the encroachment of a common enemy--the ambitious house of hapsburg. the lake formed at once a bond and a highway between them. on the first day of august, , more than six hundred years ago, a group of unpretentious patriots, ignored by the great world, signed a document which formed these lands into a loose confederation. by this act they laid the foundation upon which the swiss state was afterward reared. in their naïve, but prophetic, faith, the contracting parties called this agreement a perpetual pact; and they set forth, in the latin, legal phraseology of the day, that, seeing the malice of the times, they found it necessary to take an oath to defend one another against outsiders, and to keep order within their boundaries; at the same time carefully stating that the object of the league was to maintain lawfully established conditions. from small beginnings, the confederation of uri, schwiz, and unterwalden grew, by the addition of other communities, until it reached its present proportions, of twenty-two cantons, in . lucerne was the first to join; then came zurich, glarus, zug, bern, etc. the early swiss did not set up a sovereign republic, in our acceptation of the word, either in internal or external policy. the class distinctions of the feudal age continued to exist; and they by no means disputed the supreme rule of the head of the german empire over them, but rather gloried in the protection which this direct dependence afforded them against a multitude of intermediate, preying nobles. chamouni--an avalanche[ ] by percy bysshe shelley from servoz three leagues remain to chamouni--mont blanc was before us--the alps, with their innumerable glaciers on high all around, closing in the complicated windings of the single vale--forests inexpressibly beautiful, but majestic in their beauty--intermingled beech and pine, and oak, overshadowed our road, or receded, while lawns of such verdure as i have never seen before occupied these openings, and gradually became darker in their recesses. mont blanc was before us, but it was covered with cloud; its base, furrowed with dreadful gaps, was seen above. pinnacles of snow intolerably bright, part of the chain connected with mont blanc, shone through the clouds at intervals on high. i never knew--i never imagined--what mountains were before. the immensity of these aerial summits excited, when they suddenly burst upon the sight, a sentiment of ecstatic wonder, not unallied to madness. and, remember, this was all one scene, it all prest home to our regard and our imagination. tho' it embraced a vast extent of space, the snowy pyramids which shot into the bright blue sky seemed to overhang our path; the ravine, clothed with gigantic pines, and black with its depth below, so deep that the very roaring of the untameable arve, which rolled through it, could not be heard above--all was as much our own, as if we had been the creators of such impressions in the minds of others as now occupied our own. nature was the poet, whose harmony held our spirits more breathless than that of the divinest. as we entered the valley of the chamouni (which, in fact, may be considered as a continuation of those which we have followed from bonneville and cluses), clouds hung upon the mountains at the distance perhaps of , feet from the earth, but so as effectually to conceal not only mont blanc, but the other "aiguilles," as they call them here, attached and subordinate to it. we were traveling along the valley, when suddenly we heard a sound as the burst of smothered thunder rolling above; yet there was something in the sound that told us it could not be thunder. our guide hastily pointed out to us a part of the mountain opposite, from whence the sound came. it was an avalanche. we saw the smoke of its path among the rocks, and continued to hear at intervals the bursting of its fall. it fell on the bed of a torrent, which it displaced, and presently we saw its tawny-colored waters also spread themselves over the ravine, which was their couch. we did not, as we intended, visit the glacier des bossons to-day, altho it descends within a few minutes' walk of the road, wishing to survey it at least when unfatigued. we saw this glacier, which comes close to the fertile plain, as we passed. its surface was broken into a thousand unaccountable figures; conical and pyramidical crystallizations, more than fifty feet in height, rise from its surface, and precipices of ice, of dazzling splendor, overhang the woods and meadows of the vale. this glacier winds upward from the valley, until it joins the masses of frost from which it was produced above, winding through its own ravine like a bright belt flung over the black region of pines. there is more in all these scenes than mere magnitude of proportion; there is a majesty of outline; there is an awful grace in the very colors which invest these wonderful shapes--a charm which is peculiar to them, quite distinct even from the reality of their unutterable greatness. zermatt[ ] by archibald campbell knowles those who would reach the very heart of the alps and look upon a scene of unparalleled grandeur must go into the valais to zermatt. [illustration: pontresina in the engadine] [illustration: st. moritz in the engadine] [illustration: fribourg] [illustration: berne] [illustration: vivey on lake geneva] [illustration: the turnhalle in zurich courtesy swiss federal railway] [illustration: interlaken] [illustration: lucerne] [illustration: viaducts on the new lötschberg route to the simplon tunnel] [illustration: wolfort viaduct on the pilatus railroad, switzerland] [illustration: the balmat-saussure monument in chamonix (mont blanc in the distance)] [illustration: roofed wooden bridge at lucerne] [illustration: the castle of chillon] [illustration: cloud effect above interlaken courtesy swiss federal railway] [illustration: davos in winter] the way up the valley is that which follows the river visp. it is a delightful journey. the little stream is never still. it will scarcely keep confined to the banks or within the stone walls which in many places protect the shores. the river dances along as if seeking to be free. for the most part it is a torrent, sweeping swiftly past the solid masonry and descending the steep bed in a series of wild leaps or artificial waterfalls, with wonderful effects of sunlight seen in the showers of spray. fed as it is by many mountain streams, the visp is always full, and the more so, when in summer the melting ice adds to its volume. then it is a sight long remembered, as roaring, rollicking, rushing along it is a brawling mass of waters, often working havoc with banks, road, village, and pastures. if one never saw a mountain, the sight of the visp would more than repay, but, as it is, one's attention is taxed to the uttermost not to miss anything of this little rushing river and at the same time get the charming views of the weisshorn, the breithorn, and the other snow summits which appear over the mountain spurs surrounding the head of the valley. the first impression on reaching the zermatt is one of disappointment. maps and pictures generally lead the traveler to think that from the village he will see the great semicircle of snow peaks which surround the valley, but upon arrival he finds that he must go further up to see them, for all of them are hidden from view except the matterhorn. this mountain, however, is seen in all its grandeur, fierce and frowning, and to an imaginative mind bending forward as if threatening and trying to shake off the little snow that appears here and there on its side. it dominates the whole scene and leaves an indelible impress on the mind, so that one can never picture zermatt without the matterhorn. zermatt as a place is a curious combination; a line of hotels in juxtaposition with a village of chalets, unsophisticated peasants shoulder to shoulder with people of fashion! there are funny little shops, here showing only such simple things as are needed by the dwellers in the valais, there exhibiting really beautiful articles in dress and jewelry to attract the summer visitors, while at convenient spots are the inevitable tea-rooms, where "thé, café, limonade, confiserie" minister to the coming crowds of an afternoon.... guides galore wait in front of all the large hotels; ice-axes, ropes, nailed boots, rucksacks, and all the paraphernalia of the mountains are seen on every side, and a walk along the one main thoroughfare introduces one into the life of a climbing center, interesting to a degree and often very amusing from the miscellaneous collection of people there. perhaps the first thing one cares to see at zermatt is the village church, with the adjoining churchyard. the church, dedicated to saint maurice, a favorite saint in the valais and rhône district, is plain but interesting and in parts is quite old. near it is a little mortuary chapel. in most parts of switzerland, it is the custom, after the bodies of the dead have been buried a certain length of time, to remove the remains to the "charnel house," allowing the graves to be used again and thus not encroaching upon the space reserved and consecrated in the churchyard, but we do not think this custom obtains at zermatt. in the churchyard is a monument to michel auguste croz, the guide, and near by are the graves of the reverend charles hudson and mr. hadow. these three, with lord francis douglas were killed in mr. whymper's first ascent of the matterhorn.[ ] the body of lord francis douglas has never been found. it is probably deep in some crevasse or under the snows which surround the base of the matterhorn.... for the more extended climbs or for excursions in the direction of the schwarzsee, the staffel alp or the trift, zermatt is the starting point. the place abounds in walks, most of them being the first part of the routes to the high mountains, so that those who are fond of tramping but not of climbing can reach high elevations with a little hard work, but no great difficulty. some of these "midway" places may be visited on muleback, and with the railway now up to the gorner-grat there are few persons who may not see this wonderful region of snow peaks. the trip to the schwarzsee is the first stage on the matterhorn route. it leads through the village, past the gorner gorges (which one may visit by a slight détour) and then enters some very pretty woods, from which one issues on to the bare green meadows which clothe the upper part of the steep slope of the mountain. as one mounts this zigzag path, it sometimes seems as if it would never end, and for all the magnificent views which it affords, one is always glad that it is over, as it exactly fulfils the conditions of a "grind." from the schwarzsee ( , feet, where there is an excellent hotel), there is a fine survey of the matterhorn, and also a splendid panorama, on three sides, one view up the glaciers toward the monte rosa, another over the valley to the dent blanche and other great peaks, and still another to the far distant bernese oberland. near the hotel is a little lake and a tiny chapel, where mass is sometimes said. the reflection in the still waters of the lake is very lovely. from the schwarzsee, trips are made to the hörnli (another stage on the way to the matterhorn), to the gandegg hut, across moraine and glacier and to the staffel alp, over the green meadows. the hörnli ( , feet high) is the ridge running out from the matterhorn. it is reached by a stiff climb over rocks and a huge heap of fallen stones and debris. from it the view is similar to that from the schwarzsee, but much finer, the théodule glacier being seen to great advantage. above the hörnli towers the matterhorn, huge, fierce, frowning, threatening. every few moments comes a heavy, muffled sound, as new showers of falling stones come down. this is one of the main dangers in climbing the peak itself, for from base to summit, the matterhorn is really a decaying mountain, the stones rolling away through the action of the storms, the frosts, and the sun. pontrÉsina and st. moritz[ ] by victor tissot the night was falling fine as dust, as a black sifted snow-shower, a snow made of shadow; and the melancholy of the landscape, the grand nocturnal solitude of these lofty, unknown regions, had a charm profound and disquieting. i do not know why i fancied myself no longer in switzerland, but in some country near the pole, in sweden or norway. at the foot of these bare mountains i looked for wild fjords, lit up by the moon. nothing can express the profound somberness of these landscapes at nightfall; the long desert road, gray from the reflections of the starry sky, unrolls in an interminable ribbon along the depth of the valley; the treeless mountains, hollowed out like ancient craters, lift their overhanging precipices; lakes sleeping in the midst of the pastures, behind curtains of pines and larches, glitter like drops of quicksilver; and on the horizon the immense glaciers crowd together and overflow like sheets of foam on a frozen sea. the road ascends. from the distance comes a dull noise, the roaring of a torrent. we cross a little cluster of trees, and on issuing from it the superb amphitheater of glaciers shows itself anew, overlooked by one white point glittering like an opal. on the hill a thousand little lights show me that i am at last at pontrésina. i thought i should never have arrived there; nowhere does night deceive more than in the mountains; in proportion as you advance toward a point, it seems to retreat from you. soon the black fantastic lines of the houses show through the darkness. i enter a narrow street, formed of great gloomy buildings, their fronts like a convent or prison. the hamlet is transformed into a little town of hotels, very comfortable, very elegant, very dear, but very stupid and very vulgar, with their laced porter in an admiral's hat, and their whiskered waiters, who have the air of anglican ministers. oh! how i detest them, and flee them, those hotels where the painter, or the tourist who arrives on foot, knapsack on his back and staff in hand, his trousers tucked into his leggings, his flask slung over his shoulder, and his hat awry, is received with less courtesy than a lackey. besides those hotels, some of which are veritable palaces, and where the ladies are almost bound to change their dress three times a day, there is a hotel of the second and third class; and there is the old inn; the comfortable, hospitable, patriarchal inn, with its gothic signboard.... on leaving the village i was again in the open mountain. in the distance the road penetrated into the valley, rising always. the moon had risen. she stood out sharply cut in a cloudless sky, and stars sparkling everywhere in profusion; not like nails of gold, but sown broadcast like a flying dust, a dust of carbuncles and diamonds. to the right, in the depths of the amphitheater of the mountains, an immense glacier looked like a frozen cascade; and above, a perfectly white peak rose draped in snow, like some legendary king in his mantle of silver. bending under my knapsack, and dragging my feet, i arrive at last at the hotel, where i am received, in the kindest manner in the world, by the two mistresses of the establishment, two sisters of open, benevolent countenance and of sweet expression. and the poor little traveler who arrives, his bag on his back and without bustle, who has sent neither letter nor telegram to announce his arrival, is the object of the kindest and most delicate attentions; his clothes are brushed, he gets water for his refreshment, and is then conducted to a table bountifully spread, in a dining-room fragrant with good cookery and bouquets of flowers.... beyond campfer, its houses surrounding a third little lake, we come suddenly on a scene of extraordinary animation. all the cosmopolitan society of st. moritz is there, sauntering, walking, running, in mountain parties, on afternoon excursions. the favorite one is the walk to the pretty lake of campfer, with its shady margin, its resting places hidden among the branches, its châlet-restaurant, from the terrace of which one overlooks the whole valley; and it would be difficult to find near st. moritz a more interesting spot. we meet at every step parties of english ladies, looking like plantations of umbrellas with their covers on and surmounted by immense straw hats; then there are german ladies, massive as citadels, but not impregnable, asking nothing better than to surrender to the young exquisites, with the figure of cuirassiers, who accompany them; further on, lively italian ladies parade themselves in dresses of the carnival, the colors outrageously striking and dazzling to the eyes; with up-turned skirts they cross the inn on great mossy stones, leaping with the grace of birds, and smiling, to show, into the bargain, the whiteness of their teeth. all this crowd passing in procession before us is composed of men and women of every age and condition; some with the grave face of a waxen saint, others beaming with the satisfied smile of rich people; there are also invalids, who go along hobbling and limping, or who are drawn, in little carriages. soon handsome façades, pierced with hundreds of windows, show themselves in the grand and severe setting of mountains and glaciers. it is st. moritz-les-bains. here every house is a hotel, and, as every hotel is a little palace, we do not alight from the diligence; we go a little farther and a little higher, to st. moritz-le-village, which has a much more beautiful situation. it is at the top of a little hill, whose sides slope down to a pretty lake, fresh and green as a lawn. the eye reaches beyond sils, the whole length of the valley, with its mountains like embattled ramparts, its lakes like a great row of pearls, and its glaciers showing their piles of snowy white against the azure depths of the horizon. st. moritz is the center of the valley of the upper engadine, which extends to the length of eighteen or nineteen leagues, and which scarcely possesses a thousand inhabitants. almost all the men emigrate to work for strangers, like their brothers, the mountaineers of savoy and auvergne, and do not return till they have amassed a sufficient fortune to allow them to build a little white house, with gilded window frames, and to die quietly in the spot where they were born.... historians tell us that the first inhabitants of the upper engadine were etruscans and latins chased from italy by the gauls and carthaginians, and taking refuge in these hidden altitudes. after the fall of the empire, the inhabitants of the engadine fell under the dominion of the franks and lombards, then the dukes of swabia; but the blood never mingled--the type remained italian; black hair, the quick eye, the mobile countenance, the expressive features, and the supple figure. geneva[ ] by francis h. gribble straddling the rhone, where it issues from the bluest lake in the world, looking out upon green meadows and wooded hills, backed by the dark ridge of the salève, with the "great white mountain" visible in the distance, geneva has the advantage of an incomparable site; and it is, from a town surveyor's point of view, well built. it has wide thoroughfares, quays, and bridges; gorgeous public monuments and well-kept public gardens; handsome theaters and museums; long rows of palatial hotels; flourishing suburbs; two railway-stations, and a casino. but all this is merely the façade--all of it quite modern; hardly any of it more than half a century old. the real historical geneva--the little of it that remains--is hidden away in the background, where not every tourist troubles to look for it. it is disappearing fast. italian stonemasons are constantly engaged in driving lines through it. they have rebuilt, for instance, the old corraterie, which is now the regent street of geneva, famous for its confectioners' and booksellers' shops; they have destroyed, and are still destroying, other ancient slums, setting up white buildings of uniform ugliness in place of the picturesque but insanitary dwellings of the past. it is, no doubt, a very necessary reform, tho' one may think that it is being executed in too utilitarian a spirit. the old geneva was malodorous, and its death-rate was high. they had more than one great plague there, and their great fires have always left some of the worst of their slums untouched. these could not be allowed to stand in an age which studies the science and practises the art of hygiene. yet the traveler who wants to know what the old geneva was really like must spend a morning or two rambling among them before they are pulled down. the old geneva, like jerusalem, was set upon a hill, and it is toward the top of the hill that the few buildings of historical interest are to be found. there is the cathedral--a striking object from a distance, tho' the interior is hideously bare. there is the town hall, in which, for the convenience of notables carried in litters, the upper stories were reached by an inclined plane instead of a staircase. there is calvin's old academy, bearing more than a slight resemblance to certain of the smaller colleges at oxford and cambridge. there, too, are to be seen a few mural tablets, indicating the residences of past celebrities. in such a house rousseau was born; in such another house or in an older house, now demolished, on the same site--calvin died. and toward these central points the steep and narrow, mean streets--in many cases streets of stairs--converge. as one plunges into these streets one seems to pass back from the twentieth century to the fifteenth, and need not exercise one's imagination very severely in order to picture the town as it appeared in the old days before the reformation. the present writer may claim permission to borrow his own description from the pages of "lake geneva and its literary landmarks:" "narrow streets predominated, tho' there were also a certain number of open spaces--notably at the markets, and in front of the cathedral, where there was a traffic in those relics and rosaries which geneva was presently to repudiate with virtuous indignation. one can form an idea of the appearance of the narrow streets by imagining the oldest houses that one has seen in switzerland all closely packed together--houses at the most three stories high, with gabled roofs, ground-floors a step or two below the level of the roadway, and huge arched doors studded with great iron nails, and looking strong enough to resist a battering-ram. above the doors, in the case of the better houses, were the painted escutcheons of the residents, and crests were also often blazoned on the window-panes. the shops, too, and more especially the inns, flaunted gaudy signboards with ingenious devices. the good vinegar, the hot knife, the crowned ox, were the names of some of these; their tariff is said to have been fivepence a day for man and beast.".... in the first half of the sixteenth century occurred the two events which shaped the future of geneva; reformation theology was accepted; political independence was achieved. geneva it should be explained, was the fief of the duchy of savoy; or so, at all events, the dukes of savoy maintained, tho' the citizens were of the contrary opinion. their view was that they owed allegiance only to their bishops, who were the viceroys of the holy roman emperor; and even that allegiance was limited by the terms of a charter granted in the holy roman emperor's name by bishop adhémar de fabri. all went fairly well until the bishops began to play into the hands of the dukes; but then there was friction, which rapidly became acute. a revolutionary party--the eidgenossen, or confederates--was formed. there was a declaration of independence and a civil war. so long as the genevans stood alone, the duke was too strong for them. he marched into the town in the style of a conqueror, and wreaked his vengeance on as many of his enemies as he could catch. he cut off the head of philibert berthelier, to whom there stands a memorial on the island in the rhone; he caused jean pecolat to be hung up in an absurd posture in his banqueting-hall, in order that he might mock at his discomfort while he dined; he executed, with or without preliminary torture, several less conspicuous patriots. happily, however, some of the patriots--notably besançon hugues--got safely away, and succeeded in concluding treaties of alliance between geneva and the cantons of berne and fribourg. the men of fribourg marched to geneva, and the duke retired. the citizens passed a resolution that he should never be allowed to enter the town again, seeing that he "never came there without playing the citizens some dirty trick or other;" and, the more effectually to prevent him from coming, they pulled down their suburbs and repaired their ramparts, one member of every household being required to lend a hand for the purpose. presently, owing to religious dissensions, fribourg withdrew from the alliance. berne, however, adhered to it, and, in due course, responded to the appeal for help by setting an army of seven thousand men in motion. the route of the seven thousand lay through the canton of vaud, then a portion of the duke's dominions, governed from the castle of chillon. meeting with no resistance save at yverdon, they annexed the territory, placing governors of their own in its various strongholds. the governor of chillon fled, leaving his garrison to surrender; and in its deepest dungeon was found the famous prisoner of chillon, françois de bonivard. from that time forward geneva was a free republic, owing allegiance to no higher power. the castle of chillon[ ] by harriet beecher stowe here i am, sitting at my window, overlooking lake leman. castle chillon, with its old conical towers, is silently pictured in the still waters. it has been a day of a thousand. we took a boat, with two oarsmen, and passed leisurely along the shores, under the cool, drooping branches of trees, to the castle, which is scarce a stone's throw from the hotel. we rowed along, close under the walls, to the ancient moat and drawbridge. there i picked a bunch of blue bells, "les clochettes," which were hanging their aerial pendants from every crevice--some blue, some white.... we rowed along, almost touching the castle rock, where the wall ascends perpendicularly, and the water is said to be a thousand feet deep. we passed the loopholes that illuminate the dungeon vaults, and an old arch, now walled up, where prisoners, after having been strangled, were thrown into the lake. last evening we walked through the castle. an interesting swiss woman, who has taught herself english for the benefit of her visitors, was our "cicerone." she seemed to have all the old swiss vivacity of attachment for "liberté et patrie." she took us first into the dungeon, with the seven pillars, described by byron. there was the pillar to which, for protecting the liberty of geneva, bonivard was chained. there the duke of savoy kept him for six years, confined by a chain four feet long. he could take only three steps, and the stone floor is deeply worn by the prints of those weary steps. six years is so easily said; but to live them, alone, helpless, a man burning with all the fires of manhood, chained to that pillar of stone, and those three unvarying steps! two thousand one hundred and ninety days rose and set the sun, while seed time and harvest, winter and summer, and the whole living world went on over his grave. for him no sun, no moon, no stars, no business, no friendship, no plans--nothing! the great millstone of life emptily grinding itself away! what a power of vitality was there in bonivard, that he did not sink in lethargy, and forget himself to stone! but he did not; it is said that when the victorious swiss army broke in to liberate him, they cried, "bonivard, you are free!" "and geneva?" "geneva is free also!" you ought to have heard the enthusiasm with which our guide told this story! near by are the relics of the cell of a companion of bonivard, who made an ineffectual attempt to liberate him. on the wall are still seen sketches of saints and inscriptions by his hand. this man one day overcame his jailer, locked him in his cell, ran into the hall above, and threw himself from a window into the lake, struck a rock, and was killed instantly. one of the pillars in this vault is covered with names. i think it is bonivard's pillar. there are the names of byron, hunt, schiller, and many other celebrities. after we left the dungeons we went up into the judgment hall, where prisoners were tried, and then into the torture chamber. here are the pulleys by which limbs are broken; the beam, all scorched with the irons by which feet were burned; the oven where the irons were heated; and there was the stone where they were sometimes laid to be strangled, after the torture. on that stone, our guide told us, two thousand jews, men, women, and children, had been put to death. there was also, high up, a strong beam across, where criminals were hung; and a door, now walled up, by which they were thrown into the lake. i shivered. "'twas cruel," she said; "'twas almost as cruel as your slavery in america."[ ] then she took us into a tower where was the "oubliette." here the unfortunate prisoner was made to kneel before an image of the virgin, while the treacherous floor, falling beneath him, precipitated him into a well forty feet deep, where he was left to die of broken limbs and starvation. below this well was still another pit, filled with knives, into which, when they were disposed to a merciful hastening of the torture, they let him fall. the woman has been herself to the bottom of the first dungeon, and found there bones of victims. the second pit is now walled up.... to-night, after sunset, we rowed to byron's "little isle," the only one in the lake. o, the unutterable beauty of these mountains--great, purple waves, as if they had been dashed up by a mighty tempest, crested with snow-like foam! this purple sky, and crescent moon, and the lake gleaming and shimmering, and twinkling stars, while far off up the sides of a snow-topped mountain a light shines like a star--some mountaineer's candle, i suppose. in the dark stillness we rode again over to chillon, and paused under its walls. the frogs were croaking in the moat, and we lay rocking on the wave, and watching the dusky outlines of the towers and turrets. then the spirit of the scene seemed to wrap me round like a cloak. back to geneva again. this lovely place will ever leave its image on my heart. mountains embrace it. by rail up the gorner-grat[ ] by archibald campbell knowles to see the splendid array of snow peaks and glaciers which makes the sky line above zermatt, one must leave the valley and walk or climb to a higher level. an ideal spot for this is the hôtel riffel alp. both the situation and the hôtel outrival and surpass any similar places in the alps. "far from the madding crowd," on a little plateau bounded by pines and pastures stands the hôtel, some two thousand feet above zermatt and at an altitude of over , feet. the outlook is superb, the air splendid, the quiet most restful. two little churches, the one for roman catholics, the other for members of the church of england minister to the spiritual needs of the visitors and stamp religion upon a situation grand and sublime. those who come here are lovers of the mountains who enjoy the open life. it is a place not so much for "les grands excursions" as for long walks, easy climbs and the beginnings of mountaineering. many persons spend the entire day out, preferring to eat their déjeuner "informally," perched above some safe precipice, or on a glacier-bordered rock or in the shade of the cool woods, but there are always some who linger both morning and afternoon on the terrace with its far expanse of view, with the bright sunshine streaming down upon them. one great charm of the riffel alp is the proximity to the snow. an hour will bring one either to the gorner glacier or to the findelen glacier, while a somewhat longer time will lead to other stretches of snow and ice, where the climber may sit and survey the séracs and crevasses or walk about on the great frozen rivers. this is said to be beneficial to the nervous system as many physicians maintain that the glaciers contain a large amount of radium. before essaying any of the longer or harder trips however, the traveler first of all generally goes to the gorner-grat, the rocky ridge that runs up from zermatt to a point , feet high. many people still walk up, but since the railroad was built, even those who feel it to be a matter of conscience to inveigh against any kind of progress which ministers to the pleasures of the masses, are found among those who prefer to ascend by electricity. the trip up is often made very amusing as among the crowds are always some, who knowing really nothing of the place, feel it incumbent upon themselves to point out all of the peaks, in a way quite discomposing to anybody familiar with the locality or versed in geography! quite a luxurious little hôtel now surmounts the top of the gorner-grat. in it, about it and above it, on the walled terrace assembles a motley crowd every clear day in summer, clad in every variety of costume, conventional and unconventional.... an ordinary scene would be ruined by such a crowd, but not so the gorner-grat. the very majesty and magnificence of the view make one forget the vaporings of mere man, and the glory of god, so overpoweringly revealed in those regions of perpetual snow, drives other impressions away. and if one wishes to be alone, it is easily possible by walking a little further along the ridge where some rock will shut out all sight of man and the wind will drive away the sound of voices. it is doubtful if there is any view comparable with that of the gorner-grat. there is what is called a "near view," and there is also what is known as a "distant view," for completely surrounded by snow peak and glacier, the eye passes from valley to summit, resting on that wonderful stretch of shining white which forms the skyline. to say that one can count dozens of glaciers, that he can see fifty summits, that monte rosa, the lyskamm, the twins, the breithorn, the matterhorn, the dent blanche, the weisshorn, with many other mountains of the valais and oberland form a complete circle of snow peaks, may establish the geography of the place but it does not convey any but the faintest picture of the sublime grandeur of the scene.... an exciting experience for novices is to go with a guide from the gorner-grat to the hohtäligrat and thence down to the findelen glacier. it looks dangerous but it is not really so, if the climber is careful, for altho there is a sheer descent on either side of the arête or ridge which leads from the one point to the other, the way is never narrow and only over easy rocks and snow. the hohtäligrat is almost , feet in altitude and has a splendid survey of the sky line. one looks up at snow, one looks down at snow, one looks around at snow! from the beautiful summits of monte rosa, the eye passes in a complete circle, up and down, seeing in succession the white snow peaks, with their great glistening glaciers below, showing in strong contrast the occasional rock pyramids like the matterhorn and the group around the rothhorn. through the st. gothard into italy[ ] by victor tissot this is geschenen, at the entrance of the great tunnel, the meeting place of the upper gorges of the reuss, the valley of urseren, of the oberalp, and of the furka. geschenen has now the calm tranquility of old age. but during the nine years that it took to bore the great tunnel, what juvenile activity there was here, what feverish eagerness in this village, crowded, inundated, overflowed by workmen from italy, from tessin, from germany and france! one would have thought that out of that dark hole, dug out in the mountain, they were bringing nuggets of gold. on all the roads nothing was to be seen but bands of workmen arriving, with miners' lamps hung to their old soldier's knapsacks. nobody could tell how they were all to be lodged. one double bed was occupied in succession by twenty-four men in twenty-four hours. some of the workmen set up their establishments in barns; in all directions movable canteens sprung up, built all awry and hardly holding together, and in mean sheds, doubtful, bad-looking places, the dishonest merchant hastened to sell his adulterated brandy.... the st. gothard tunnel is about one and two-third miles longer than that of mount cenis, and more than three miles longer than that of arlberg. while the train is passing with a dull rumbling sound under these gloomy vaults, let us explain how the great work of boring the alps was accomplished. the mechanical work of perforation was begun simultaneously on the north and south sides of the mountain, working toward the same point, so as to meet toward the middle of the boring. the waters of the reuss and the tessin supplied the necessary motive power for working the screws attached to machinery for compressing the air. the borers applied to the rock the piston of a cylinder made to rotate with great rapidity by the pressure of air reduced to one-twentieth of its ordinary volume; then when they had made holes sufficiently deep, they withdrew the machines and charged the mines with dynamite. immediately after the explosion, streams of wholesome air were liberated which dissipated the smoke; then the débris was cleared away, and the borers returned to their place. the same work was thus carried on day and night, for nine years. on the geschenen side all went well; but on the other side, on the italian slope, unforseen obstacles and difficulties had to be overcome. instead of having to encounter the solid rock, they found themselves among a moving soil formed by the deposit of glaciers and broken by streams of water. springs burst out, like the jet of a fountain, under the stroke of the pick, flooding and driving away the workmen. for twelve months they seemed to be in the midst of a lake. but nothing could damp the ardor of the contractor, favre. his troubles were greater still when the undertaking had almost been suspended for want of money, when the workmen struck in , and, when, two years later, the village of arola was destroyed by fire. and how many times, again and again, the mason-work of the vaulted roof gave way and fell! certain "bad places," as they were called, cost more than nine hundred pounds per yard. in the interior of the mountain the thermometer marked degrees (fahr.), but so long as the tunnel was still not completely bored, the workmen were sustained by a kind of fever, and made redoubled efforts. discouragement and desertion did not appear among them till the goal was almost reached. the great tunnel passed, we find ourselves fairly in italy. the mulberry trees, with silky white bark and delicate, transparent leaves; the chestnuts, with enormous trunks like cathedral columns; the vine, hanging to high trellises supported by granite pillars, its festoons as capricious as the feats of those who partake too freely of its fruits; the white tufty heads of the maize tossing in the breeze; all that strong and luxuriant vegetation through which waves of moist air are passing; those flowers of rare beauty, of a grace and brilliancy that belong only to privileged zones;--all this indicates a more robust and fertile soil, and a more fervid sky than those of the upper villages which we have just left. x alpine mountain climbing first attempts half a century ago[ ] by edward whymper on the d of july, , i started for my first tour of the alps. at zermatt i wandered in many directions, but the weather was bad and my work was much retarded. one day, after spending a long time in attempts to sketch near the hörnli, and in futile endeavors to seize the forms of the peaks as they for a few seconds peered out from above the dense banks of woolly clouds, i determined not to return to zermatt by the usual path, but to cross the görner glacier to the riffel hotel. after a rapid scramble over the polished rocks and snow-beds which skirt the base of the theodule glacier, and wading through some of the streams which flow from it, at that time much swollen by the late rains, the first difficulty was arrived at, in the shape of a precipice about three hundred feet high. it seemed that there would be no difficulty in crossing the glacier if the cliff could be descended, but higher up and lower down the ice appeared, to my inexperienced eyes, to be impassable for a single person. the general contour of the cliff was nearly perpendicular, but it was a good deal broken up, and there was little difficulty in descending by zigzagging from one mass to another. at length there was a long slab, nearly smooth, fixt at an angle of about forty degrees between two wall-sided pieces of rock; nothing, except the glacier, could be seen below. it was a very awkward place, but being doubtful if return were possible, as i had been dropping from one ledge to another, i passed at length by lying across the slab, putting the shoulder stiffly against one side and the feet against the other, and gradually wriggling down, by first moving the legs and then the back. when the bottom of the slab was gained a friendly crack was seen, into which the point of the bâton could be stuck, and i dropt down to the next piece. it took a long time coming down that little bit of cliff, and for a few seconds it was satisfactory to see the ice close at hand. in another moment a second difficulty presented itself. the glacier swept round an angle of the cliff, and as the ice was not of the nature of treacle or thin putty, it kept away from the little bay on the edge of which i stood. we were not widely separated, but the edge of the ice was higher than the opposite edge of rock; and worse, the rock was covered with loose earth and stones which had fallen from above. all along the side of the cliff, as far as could be seen in both directions, the ice did not touch it, but there was this marginal crevasse seven feet wide and of unknown depth. all this was seen at a glance, and almost at once i concluded that i could not jump the crevass and began to try along the cliff lower down, but without success, for the ice rose higher and higher until at last farther progress was stopt by the cliffs becoming perfectly smooth. with an ax it would have been possible to cut up the side of the ice--without one, i saw there was no alternative but to return and face the jump. it was getting toward evening, and the solemn stillness of the high alps was broken only by the sound of rushing water or of falling rocks. if the jump should be successful, well; if not, i fell into the horrible chasm, to be frozen in, or drowned in that gurgling, rushing water. everything depended on that jump. again i asked myself "can it be done?" it must be. so, finding my stick was useless, i threw it and the sketch-book to the ice, and first retreating as far as possible, ran forward with all my might, took the leap, barely reached the other side, and fell awkwardly on my knees. at the same moment a shower of stones fell on the spot from which i had jumped. the glacier was crossed without further trouble, but the riffel, which was then a very small building, was crammed with tourists, and could not take me in. as the way down was unknown to me, some of the people obligingly suggested getting a man at the chalets, otherwise the path would be certainly lost in the forest. on arriving at the chalets no man could be found, and the lights of zermatt, shining through the trees, seemed to say, "never mind a guide, but come along down; we'll show you the way"; so off i went through the forest, going straight toward them. the path was lost in a moment, and was never recovered. i was tript up by pine roots, i tumbled over rhododendron bushes, i fell over rocks. the night was pitch-dark, and after a time the lights of zermatt became obscure or went out altogether. by a series of slides or falls, or evolutions more or less disagreeable, the descent through the forest was at length accomplished, but torrents of a formidable character had still to be passed before one could arrive at zermatt. i felt my way about for hours, almost hopelessly, by an exhaustive process at last discovering a bridge, and about midnight, covered with dirt and scratches, reentered the inn which i had quitted in the morning.... i descended the valley, diverging from the path at randa to mount the slopes of the dom (the highest of the mischabelhörner), in order to see the weisshorn face to face. the latter mountain is the noblest in switzerland, and from this direction it looks especially magnificent. on its north there is a large snowy plateau that feeds the glacier of which a portion is seen from randa, and which on more than one occasion has destroyed that village. from the direction of the dom--that is, immediately opposite--this bies glacier seems to descend nearly vertically; it does not do so, altho it is very steep. its size is much less than formerly and the lower portion, now divided into three tails, clings in a strange, weird-like manner to the cliffs, to which it seems scarcely possible that it can remain attached. unwillingly i parted from the sight of this glorious mountain, and went down to visp. arriving once more in the rhone valley, i proceeded to viesch, and from thence ascended the aeggischhorn, on which unpleasant eminence i lost my way in a fog, and my temper shortly afterward. then, after crossing the grimsel in a severe thunderstorm, i passed on to brienz, interlachen and berne, and thence to fribourg and morat, neuchâtel, martigny and the st. bernard. the massive walls of the convent were a welcome sight as i waded through the snow-beds near the summit of the pass, and pleasant also was the courteous salutation of the brother who bade me enter. instead of descending to aosta, i turned into the val pelline, in order to obtain views of the dent d'erin. the night had come on before biona was gained, and i had to knock long and loud upon the door of the curé's house before it was opened. an old woman with querulous voice and with a large goître answered the summons, and demanded rather sharply what was wanted, but became pacific, almost good-natured, when a five-franc piece was held in her face and she heard that lodging and supper were required in exchange. my directions asserted that a passage existed from prerayen, at the head of this valley, to breuil, in the val tournanche, and the old woman, now convinced of my respectability, busied herself to find a guide. presently she introduced a native picturesquely attired in high-peaked hat, braided jacket, scarlet waistcoat and indigo pantaloons, who agreed to take me to the village of val tournanche. we set off early on the next morning, and got to the summit of the pass without difficulty. it gave me my first experience of considerable slopes of hard, steep snow, and, like all beginners, i endeavored to prop myself up with my stick, and kept it outside, instead of holding it between myself and the slope, and leaning upon it, as should have been done. the man enlightened me, but he had, properly, a very small opinion of his employer, and it is probably on that account that, a few minutes after we had passed the summit, he said he would not go any farther and would return to biona. all argument was useless; he stood still, and to everything that was said answered nothing but that he would go back. being rather nervous about descending some long snow-slopes which still intervened between us and the head of the valley, i offered more pay, and he went on a little way. presently there were some cliffs, down which we had to scramble. he called to me to stop, then shouted that he would go back, and beckoned to me to come up. on the contrary, i waited for him to come down, but instead of doing so, in a second or two he turned round, clambered deliberately up the cliff and vanished. i supposed it was only a ruse to extort offers of more money, and waited for half an hour, but he did not appear again. this was rather embarrassing, for he carried off my knapsack. the choice of action lay between chasing him and going on to breuil, risking the loss of my knapsack. i chose the latter course, and got to breuil the same evening. the landlord of the inn, suspicious of a person entirely innocent of luggage, was doubtful if he could admit me, and eventually thrust me into a kind of loft, which was already occupied by guides and by hay. in later years we became good friends, and he did not hesitate to give credit and even to advance considerable sums. my sketches from breuil were made under difficulties; my materials had been carried off, nothing better than fine sugar-paper could be obtained, and the pencils seemed to contain more silica than plumbago. however, they were made, and the pass was again crossed, this time alone. by the following evening the old woman of biona again produced the faithless guide. the knapsack was recovered after the lapse of several hours, and then i poured forth all the terms of abuse and reproach of which i was master. the man smiled when i called him a liar, and shrugged his shoulders when referred to as a thief, but drew his knife when spoken of as a pig. the following night was spent at cormayeur, and the day after i crossed the col ferrex to orsières, and on the next the tête noir to chamounix. the emperor napoleon arrived the same day, and access to the mer de glace was refused to tourists; but, by scrambling along the plan des aiguilles, i managed to outwit the guards, and to arrive at the montanvert as the imperial party was leaving, failing to get to the jardin the same afternoon, but very nearly succeeding in breaking a leg by dislodging great rocks on the moraine of the glacier. from chamounix i went to geneva, and thence by the mont cenis to turin and to the vaudois valleys. a long and weary day had ended when paesana was reached. the next morning i passed the little lakes which are the sources of the po, on my way into france. the weather was stormy, and misinterpreting the dialect of some natives--who in reality pointed out the right way--i missed the track, and found myself under the cliffs of monte viso. a gap that was occasionally seen in the ridge connecting it with the mountains to the east tempted me up, and after a battle with a snow-slope of excessive steepness, i reached the summit. the scene was extraordinary, and, in my experience, unique. to the north there was not a particle of mist, and the violent wind coming from that direction blew one back staggering. but on the side of italy the valleys were completely filled with dense masses of cloud to a certain level; and here--where they felt the influence of the wind--they were cut off as level as the top of a table, the ridges appearing above them. i raced down to abries, and went on through the gorge of the guil to mont dauphin. the next day found me at la bessée, at the junction of the val louise with the valley of the durance, in full view of mont pelvoux. the same night i slept at briançon, intending to take the courier on the following day to grenoble, but all places had been secured several days beforehand, so i set out at two p.m. on the next day for a seventy-mile walk. the weather was again bad, and on the summit of the col de lautaret i was forced to seek shelter in the wretched little hospice. it was filled with workmen who were employed on the road, and with noxious vapors which proceeded from them. the inclemency of the weather was preferable to the inhospitality of the interior. outside, it was disagreeable, but grand--inside, it was disagreeable and mean. the walk was continued under a deluge of rain, and i felt the way down, so intense was the darkness, to the village of la grave, where the people of the inn detained me forcibly. it was perhaps fortunate that they did so, for during that night blocks of rock fell at several places from the cliffs on to the road with such force that they made large holes in the macadam, which looked as if there had been explosions of gunpowder. i resumed the walk at half-past five next morning, and proceeded, under steady rain, through bourg d'oysans to grenoble, arriving at the latter place soon after seven p.m., having accomplished the entire distance from briançon in about eighteen hours of actual walking. this was the end of the alpine portion of my tour of , on which i was introduced to the great peaks, and acquired the passion for mountain-scrambling. first to the top of the matterhorn[ ] by edward whymper we started from zermatt on the th of july at half-past five, on a brilliant and perfectly cloudless morning. we were eight in number--croz, old peter and his two sons, lord francis douglas, hadow, hudson and i. to ensure steady motion, one tourist and one native walked together. the youngest taugwalder fell to my share, and the lad marched well, proud to be on the expedition and happy to show his powers. the wine-bags also fell to my lot to carry, and throughout the day, after each drink, i replenished them secretly with water, so that at the next halt they were found fuller than before! this was considered a good omen, and little short of miraculous. on the first day we did not intend to ascend to any great height, and we mounted, accordingly, very leisurely, picked up the things which were left in the chapel at the schwarzsee at : , and proceeded thence along the ridge connecting the hörnli with the matterhorn. at half-past eleven we arrived at the base of the actual peak, then quitted the ridge and clambered round some ledges on to the eastern face. we were now fairly upon the mountain, and were astonished to find that places which from the riffel, or even from the furggengletscher, looked entirely impracticable, were so easy that we could run about. before twelve o'clock we had found a good position for the tent, at a height of eleven thousand feet. croz and young peter went on to see what was above, in order to save time on the following morning. they cut across the heads of the snow-slopes which descended toward the furggengletscher, and disappeared round a corner, but shortly afterward we saw them high up on the face, moving quickly. we others made a solid platform for the tent in a well-protected spot, and then watched eagerly for the return of the men. the stones which they upset told that they were very high, and we supposed that the way must be easy. at length, just before p.m., we saw them coming down, evidently much excited. "what are they saying, peter?" "gentlemen, they say it is no good." but when they came near we heard a different story: "nothing but what was good--not a difficulty, not a single difficulty! we could have gone to the summit and returned to-day easily!" we passed the remaining hours of daylight--some basking in the sunshine, some sketching or collecting--and when the sun went down, giving, as it departed, a glorious promise for the morrow, we returned to the tent to arrange for the night. hudson made tea, i coffee, and we then retired each one to his blanket-bag, the taugwalders, lord francis douglas and myself occupying the tent, the others remaining, by preference, outside. long after dusk the cliffs above echoed with our laughter and with the songs of the guides, for we were happy that night in camp, and feared no evil. we assembled together outside the tent before dawn on the morning of the th, and started directly it was light enough to move. young peter came on with us as a guide, and his brother returned to zermatt. we followed the route which had been taken on the previous day, and in a few minutes turned the rib which had intercepted the view of the eastern face from our tent platform. the whole of this great slope was now revealed, rising for three thousand feet like a huge natural staircase. some parts were more and others were less easy, but we were not once brought to a halt by any serious impediment, for when an obstruction was met in front it could always be turned to the right or to the left. for the greater part of the way there was indeed no occasion for the rope, and sometimes hudson led, sometimes myself. at : we had attained a height of twelve thousand eight hundred feet, and halted for half an hour; we then continued the ascent without a break until : , when we stopt for fifty minutes at a height of fourteen thousand feet. twice we struck the northeastern ridge, and followed it for some little distance--to no advantage, for it was usually more rotten and steep, and always more difficult, than the face. still, we kept near to it, lest stones perchance might fall. we had now arrived at the foot of that part which, from the riffelberg or from zermatt, seems perpendicular or overhanging, and could no longer continue upon the eastern side. for a little distance we ascended by snow upon the arête--that is, the ridge--descending toward zermatt, and then by common consent turned over to the right, or to the northern side. before doing so we made a change in the order of ascent. croz went first, i followed, hudson came third; hadow and old peter were last. "now," said croz as he led off--"now for something altogether different." the work became difficult, and required caution. in some places there was little to hold, and it was desirable that those should be in front who were least likely to slip. the general slope of the mountain at this part was less than forty degrees, and snow had accumulated in, and had filled up, the interstices of the rock-face, leaving only occasional fragments projecting here and there. these were at times covered with a thin film of ice, produced from the melting and refreezing of the snow. it was the counterpart, on a small scale, of the upper seven hundred feet of the pointe des Écrins; only there was this material difference--the face of the Écrins was about, or exceeded, an angle of fifty degrees, and the matterhorn face was less than forty degrees. it was a place over which any fair mountaineers might pass in safety, and mr. hudson ascended this part, and, as far as i know, the entire mountain, without having the slightest assistance rendered to him upon any occasion. sometimes, after i had taken a hand from croz or received a pull, i turned to offer the same to hudson, but he invariably declined, saying it was not necessary. mr. hadow, however, was not accustomed to this kind of work, and required continual assistance. it is only fair to say that the difficulty which he found at this part arose simply and entirely from want of experience. this solitary difficult part was of no great extent. we bore away over it at first nearly horizontally, for a distance of about four hundred feet, then ascended directly toward the summit for about sixty feet, and then doubled back to the ridge which descends toward zermatt. a long stride round a rather awkward corner brought us to snow once more. the last doubt vanished! the matterhorn was ours! nothing but two hundred feet of easy snow remained to be surmounted!.... the summit of the matterhorn was formed of a rudely level ridge, about three hundred and fifty feet long. the day was one of those superlatively calm and clear ones which usually precede bad weather. the atmosphere was perfectly still and free from clouds or vapors. mountains fifty--nay, a hundred--miles off looked sharp and near. all their details--ridge and crag, snow and glacier--stood out with faultless definition. pleasant thoughts of happy days in bygone years came up unbidden as we recognized the old, familiar forms. all were revealed--not one of the principal peaks of the alps was hidden. i see them clearly now--the great inner circles of giants, backed by the ranges, chains and "massifs." first came the dent blanche, hoary and grand; the gabelhorn and pointed rothborn, and then the peerless weisshorn; the towering mischabelhörner flanked by the allaleinhorn, strahlhorn and rimpfischhorn; then monte rosa--with its many spitzen--the lyskamm and the breithorn. behind were the bernese oberland, governed by the finsteraarhorn, the simplon and st. gothard groups, the disgrazia and the orteler. toward the south we looked down to chivasso on the plain of piedmont, and far beyond. the viso--one hundred miles away--seemed close upon us; the maritime alps--one hundred and thirty miles distant--were free from haze. then came into view my first love--the pelvoux; the Écrins and the meije; the clusters of the graians; and lastly, in the west, gorgeous in the full sunlight, rose the monarch of all--mont blanc. ten thousand feet beneath us were the green fields of zermatt, dotted with chalets, from which blue smoke rose lazily. eight thousand feet below, on the other side, were the pastures of breuil. there were forests black and gloomy, and meadows bright and lively; bounding waterfalls and tranquil lakes; fertile lands and savage wastes: sunny plains and frigid plateaux. there were the most rugged forms and the most graceful outlines--bold, perpendicular cliffs and gentle, undulating slopes; rocky mountains and snowy mountains, somber and solemn or glittering and white, with walls, turrets, pinnacles, pyramids, domes, cones and spires! there was every combination that the world can give, and every contrast that the heart could desire. we remained on the summit for one hour-- one crowded hour of glorious life. the lord francis douglas tragedy[ ] by edward whymper we began to prepare for the descent. hudson and i again consulted as to the best and safest arrangement of the party. we agreed that it would be best for croz to go first, and hadow second; hudson, who was almost equal to a guide in sureness of foot, wished to be third; lord francis douglas was placed next, and old peter, the strongest of the remainder, after him. i suggested to hudson that we should attach a rope to the rocks on our arrival at the difficult bit, and hold it as we descended, as an additional protection. he approved the idea, but it was not definitely settled that it should be done. the party was being arranged in the above order while i was sketching the summit, and they had finished, and were waiting for me to be tied in line, when some one remembered that our names had not been left in a bottle. they requested me to write them down, and moved off while it was being done. a few minutes afterward i tied myself to young peter, ran down after the others, and caught them just as they were commencing the descent of the difficult part. great care was being taken. only one man was moving at a time; when he was firmly planted, the next advanced, and so on. they had not, however, attached the additional rope to rocks, and nothing was said about it. the suggestion was not made for my own sake, and i am not sure that it even occurred to me again. for some little distance we followed the others, detached from them, and should have continued so had not lord francis douglas asked me, about p.m., to tie on to old peter, as he feared, he said, that taugwalder would not be able to hold his ground if a slip occurred. a few minutes later a sharp-eyed lad ran into the monte rosa hotel to seiler,[ ] saying that he had seen an avalanche fall from the summit of the matterhorn on to the matterhorngletscher. the boy was reproved for telling such idle stories; he was right, nevertheless, and this was what he saw. michael croz had laid aside his ax, and in order to give mr. hadow greater security was absolutely taking hold of his legs and putting his feet, one by one, into their proper positions. as far as i know, no one was actually descending. i can not speak with certainty, because the two leading men were partially hidden from my sight by an intervening mass of rock, but it is my belief, from the movements of their shoulders, that croz, having done as i have said, was in the act of turning round to go down a step or two himself; at the moment mr. hadow slipt, fell against him and knocked him over. i heard one startled exclamation from croz, then saw him and mr. hadow flying downward; in another moment hudson was dragged from his steps, and lord francis douglas immediately after him. all this was the work of a moment. immediately we heard croz's exclamation, old peter and i planted ourselves as firmly as the rocks would permit; the rope was taut between us, and the jerk came on us both as one man. we held, but the rope broke midway between taugwalder and lord francis douglas. for a few seconds we saw our unfortunate companions sliding downward on their backs, and spreading out their hands, endeavoring to save themselves. they passed from our sight uninjured, disappeared one by one, and fell from precipice to precipice on to the matterhorngletscher below, a distance of nearly four thousand feet in height. from the moment the rope broke it was impossible to help them. so perished our comrades! for the space of half an hour we remained on the spot without moving a single step. the two men, paralyzed by terror, cried like infants, and trembled in such a manner as to threaten us with the fate of the others. old peter rent the air with exclamations of "chamounix!--oh, what will chamounix say?" he meant, who would believe that croz could fall? the young man did nothing but scream or sob, "we are lost! we are lost!" fixt between the two, i could move neither up nor down. i begged young peter to descend, but he dared not. unless he did, we could not advance. old peter became alive to the danger, and swelled the cry, "we are lost! we are lost!" the father's fear was natural--he trembled for his son; the young man's fear was cowardly--he thought of self alone. at last old peter summoned up courage, and changed his position to a rock to which he could fix the rope; the young man then descended, and we all stood together. immediately we did so, i asked for the rope which had given way, and found, to my surprise--indeed, to my horror--that it was the weakest of the three ropes. it was not brought, and should not have been employed, for the purpose for which it was used. it was old rope, and, compared with the others, was feeble. it was intended as a reserve, in case we had to leave much rope behind attached to rocks. i saw at once that a serious question was involved, and made them give me the end. it had broken in mid-air, and it did not appear to have sustained previous injury. for more than two hours afterward i thought almost every moment that the next would be my last, for the taugwalders, utterly unnerved, were not only incapable of giving assistance, but were in such a state that a slip might have been expected from them at any moment. after a time we were able to do that which should have been done at first, and fixt rope to firm rocks, in addition to being tied together. these ropes were cut from time to time, and were left behind. even with their assurance the men were afraid to proceed, and several times old peter turned with ashy face and faltering limbs, and said with terrible emphasis, "i can not!" about p.m. we arrived at the snow upon, the ridge descending toward zermatt, and all peril was over. we frequently looked, but in vain, for traces of our unfortunate companions; we bent over the ridge and cried to them, but no sound returned. convinced at last that they were within neither sight nor hearing, we ceased from our useless efforts, and, too cast down for speech, silently gathered up our things, preparatory to continuing the descent. when lo! a mighty arch appeared, rising above the lyskamm high into the sky. pale, colorless and noiseless, but perfectly sharp and defined, except where it was lost in the clouds, this unearthly apparition seemed like a vision from another world, and almost appalled we watched with amazement the gradual development of two vast crosses, one on either side. if the taugwalders had not been the first to perceive it, i should have doubted my senses. they thought it had some connection with the accident, and i, after a while, that it might bear some relations to ourselves. but our movements had no effect upon it. the spectral forms remained motionless. it was a fearful and wonderful sight, unique in my experience, and impressive beyond description, at such a moment.... night fell, and for an hour the descent was continued in the darkness. at half-past nine a resting-place was found, and upon a wretched slab, barely large enough to hold three, we passed six miserable hours. at daybreak the descent was resumed, and from the hornli ridge we ran down to the chalets of buhl and on to zermatt. seiler met me at his door, and followed in silence to my room: "what is the matter?" "the taugwalders and i have returned." he did not need more, and burst into tears, but lost no time in lamentations, and set to work to arouse the village. ere long a score of men had started to ascend the hohlicht heights, above kalbermatt and z'mutt, which commanded the plateau of the matterhorngletscher. they returned after six hours, and reported that they had seen the bodies lying motionless on the snow. this was on saturday, and they proposed that we should leave on sunday evening, so as to arrive upon the plateau at daybreak on monday. we started at a.m. on sunday, the th, and followed the route that we had taken on the previous thursday as far as the hornli. from thence we went down to the right of the ridge, and mounted through the "séracs" of the matterhorngletscher. by : we had got to the plateau at the top of the glacier, and within sight of the corner in which we knew my companions must be. as we saw one weather-beaten man after another raise the telescope, turn deadly pale and pass it on without a word to the next, we knew that all hope was gone. we approached. they had fallen below as they had fallen above--croz a little in advance, hadow near him, and hudson behind, but of lord francis douglas we could see nothing.[ ] we left them where they fell, buried in snow at the base of the grandest cliff of the most majestic mountain of the alps. an ascent of monte rosa[ ] by john tyndall on monday, the th of august, we reached the riffel, and, by good fortune on the evening of the same day, my guide's brother, the well-known ulrich lauener, also arrived at the hotel on his return from monte rosa. from him we obtained all the information possible respecting the ascent, and he kindly agreed to accompany us a little way the next morning, to put us on the right track. at three a.m. the door of my bedroom opened, and christian lauener announced to me that the weather was sufficiently good to justify an attempt. the stars were shining overhead; but ulrich afterward drew our attention to some heavy clouds which clung to the mountains on the other side of the valley of the visp; remarking that the weather might continue fair throughout the day, but that these clouds were ominous. at four o'clock we were on our way, by which time a gray stratus cloud had drawn itself across the neck of the matterhorn, and soon afterward another of the same nature encircled his waist. we proceeded past the riffelhorn to the ridge above the görner glacier, from which monte rosa was visible from top to bottom, and where an animated conversation in swiss dialect commenced. ulrich described the slopes, passes, and precipices, which were to guide us; and christian demanded explanations, until he was finally able to declare to me that his knowledge was sufficient. we then bade ulrich good-by, and went forward. all was clear about monte rosa, and the yellow morning light shone brightly upon its uppermost snows. beside the queen of the alps was the huge mass of the lyskamm, with a saddle stretching from the one to the other; next to the lyskamm came two white, rounded mounds, smooth and pure, the twins castor and pollux, and further to the right again the broad, brown flank of the breithorn. behind us mont cervin[ ] gathered the clouds more thickly round him, until finally his grand obelisk was totally hidden. we went along the mountain side for a time, and then descended to the glacier. the surface was hard frozen, and the ice crunched loudly under our feet. there was a hollowness and volume in the sound which require explanation; and this, i think, is furnished by the remarks of sir john herschel on those hollow sounds at the solfaterra, near naples, from which travelers have inferred the existence of cavities within the mountain. at the place where these sounds are heard the earth is friable, and, when struck, the concussion is reinforced and lengthened by the partial echoes from the surfaces of the fragments. the conditions for a similar effect exist upon the glacier, for the ice is disintegrated to a certain depth, and from the innumerable places of rupture little reverberations are sent, which give a length and hollowness to the sound produced by the crushing of the fragments on the surface. we looked to the sky at intervals, and once a meteor slid across it, leaving a train of sparks behind. the blue firmament, from which the stars shone down so brightly when we rose, was more and more invaded by clouds, which advanced upon us from our rear, while before us the solemn heights of monte rosa were bathed in rich yellow sunlight. as the day advanced the radiance crept down toward the valleys; but still those stealthy clouds advanced like a besieging army, taking deliberate possession of the summits, one after another, while gray skirmishers moved through the air above us. the play of light and shadow upon monte rosa was at times beautiful, bars of gloom and zones of glory shifting and alternating from top to bottom of the mountain. at five o'clock a gray cloud alighted on the shoulder of the lyskamm, which had hitherto been warmed by the lovely yellow light. soon afterward we reached the foot of monte rosa, and passed from the glacier to a slope of rocks, whose rounded forms and furrowed surfaces showed that the ice of former ages had moved over them; the granite was now coated with lichens, and between the bosses where mold could rest were patches of tender moss. as we ascended a peal to the right announced the descent of an avalanche from the twins; it came heralded by clouds of ice-dust, which resembled the sphered masses of condensed vapor which issue from a locomotive. a gentle snow-slope brought us to the base of a precipice of brown rocks, round which we wound; the snow was in excellent order, and the chasms were so firmly bridged by the frozen mass that no caution was necessary in crossing them. surmounting a weathered cliff to our left, we paused upon the summit to look upon the scene around us. the snow gliding insensibly from the mountains, or discharged in avalanches from the precipices which it overhung, filled the higher valleys with pure white glaciers, which were rifted and broken here and there, exposing chasms and precipices from which gleamed the delicate blue of the half-formed ice. sometimes, however, the "névés" spread over wide spaces without a rupture or wrinkle to break the smoothness of the superficial snow. the sky was now, for the most part, overcast, but through the residual blue spaces the sun at intervals poured light over the rounded bosses of the mountain. at half-past seven o'clock we reached another precipice of rock, to the left of which our route lay, and here lauener proposed to have some refreshment; after which we went on again. the clouds spread more and more, leaving at length mere specks and patches of blue between them. passing some high peaks, formed by the dislocation of the ice, we came to a place where the "névé" was rent by crevasses, on the walls of which the stratification, due to successive snowfalls, was thrown with great beauty and definition. between two of these fissures our way now lay; the wall of one of them was hollowed out longitudinally midway down, thus forming a roof above and a ledge below, and from roof to ledge stretched a railing of cylindrical icicles, as if intended to bolt them together. a cloud now for the first time touched the summit of monte rosa, and sought to cling to it, but in a minute it dispersed in shattered fragments, as if dashed to pieces for its presumption. the mountain remained for a time clear and triumphant, but the triumph was shortlived; like suitors that will not be repelled, the dusky vapors came; repulse after repulse took place, and the sunlight gushed down upon the heights, but it was manifest that the clouds gained ground in the conflict. until about a quarter-past nine o'clock our work was mere child's play, a pleasant morning stroll along the flanks of the mountain; but steeper slopes now rose above us, which called for more energy, and more care in the fixing of the feet. looked at from below, some of these slopes appeared precipitous; but we were too well acquainted with the effect of fore-shortening to let this daunt us. at each step we dug our batons into the deep snow. when first driven in, the batons [ ] "dipt" from us, but were brought, as we walked forward, to the vertical, and finally beyond it at the other side. the snow was thus forced aside, a rubbing of the staff against it, and of the snow-particles against each other, being the consequence. we had thus perpetual rupture and regelation; while the little sounds consequent upon rupture reinforced by the partial echoes from the surfaces of the granules, were blended together to a note resembling the lowing of cows. hitherto i had paused at intervals to make notes, or to take an angle; but these operations now ceased, not from want of time, but from pure dislike; for when the eye has to act the part of a sentinel who feels that at any moment the enemy may be upon him; when the body must be balanced with precision, and legs and arms, besides performing actual labor, must be kept in readiness for possible contingencies; above all, when you feel that your safety depends upon yourself alone, and that, if your footing gives way, there is no strong arm behind ready to be thrown between you and destruction; under such circumstances the relish for writing ceases, and you are willing to hand over your impressions to the safekeeping of memory. prom the vast boss which constitutes the lower portion of monte rosa cliffy edges run upward to the summit. were the snow removed from these we should, i doubt not, see them as toothed or serrated crags, justifying the term "kamm," or "comb," applied to such edges by the germans. our way now lay along such a "kamm," the cliffs of which had, however, caught the snow, and been completely covered by it, forming an edge like the ridge of a house-roof, which sloped steeply upward. on the lyskamm side of the edge there was no footing, and if a human body fell over here, it would probably pass through a vertical space of some thousands of feet, falling or rolling, before coming to rest. on the other side the snow-slope was less steep, but excessively perilous-looking, and intersected by precipices of ice. dense clouds now enveloped us, and made our position far uglier than if it had been fairly illuminated. the valley below us was one vast cauldron, filled with precipitated vapor, which came seething at times up the sides of the mountain. sometimes this fog would clear away, and the light would gleam from the dislocated glaciers. my guide continually admonished me to make my footing sure, and to fix at each step my staff firmly in the consolidated snow. at one place, for a short steep ascent, the slope became hard ice, and our position a very ticklish one. we hewed our steps as we moved upward, but were soon glad to deviate from the ice to a position scarcely less awkward. the wind had so acted upon the snow as to fold it over the edge of the kamm, thus causing it to form a kind of cornice, which overhung the precipice on the lyskamm side of the mountain. this cornice now bore our weight; its snow had become somewhat firm, but it was yielding enough to permit the feet to sink in it a little way, and thus secure us at least against the danger of slipping. here, also, at each step we drove our batons firmly into the snow, availing ourselves of whatever help they could render. once, while thus securing my anchorage, the handle of my hatchet went right through the cornice on which we stood, and, on withdrawing it, i could see through the aperture into the cloud-crammed gulf below. we continued ascending until we reached a rock protruding from the snow, and here we halted for a few minutes. lauener looked upward through the fog. "according to all description," he observed, "this ought to be the last kamm of the mountain; but in this obscurity we can see nothing." snow began to fall, and we recommenced our journey, quitting the rocks and climbing again along the edge. another hour brought us to a crest of cliffs, at which, to our comfort, the kamm appeared to cease, and other climbing qualities were demanded of us. on the lyskamm side, as i have said, rescue would be out of the question, should the climber go over the edge. on the other side of the edge rescue seemed possible, tho' the slope, as stated already, was most dangerously steep. i now asked lauener what he would have done, supposing my footing to have failed on the latter slope. he did not seem to like the question, but said that he should have considered well for a moment and then have sprung after me; but he exhorted me to drive all such thoughts away. i laughed at him, and this did more to set his mind at rest than any formal profession of courage could have done. we were now among rocks; we climbed cliffs and descended them, and advanced sometimes with our feet on narrow ledges, holding tightly on to other ledges by our fingers; sometimes, cautiously balanced, we moved along edges of rock with precipices on both sides. once, in getting round a crag, lauener shook a book from his pocket; it was arrested by a rock about sixty or eighty feet below us. he wished to regain it, but i offered to supply its place, if he thought the descent too dangerous. he said he would make the trial, and parted from me. i thought it useless to remain idle. a cleft was before me, through which i must pass; so pressing my knees and back against its opposite sides, i gradually worked myself to the top. i descended the other face of the rock, and then, through a second ragged fissure, to the summit of another pinnacle. the highest point of the mountain was now at hand, separated from me merely by a short saddle, carved by weathering out the crest of the mountain. i could hear lauener clattering after me, through the rocks behind. i dropt down upon the saddle, crossed it, climbed the opposite cliff, and "die höchste spitze" of monte rosa was won. lauener joined me immediately, and we mutually congratulated each other on the success of the ascent. the residue of the bread and meat was produced, and a bottle of tea was also appealed to. mixed with a little cognac, lauener declared that he had never tasted anything like it. snow fell thickly at intervals, and the obscurity was very great; occasionally this would lighten and permit the sun to shed a ghastly dilute light upon us through the gleaming vapor. i put my boiling-water apparatus in order, and fixt it in a corner behind a ledge; the shelter was, however, insufficient, so i placed my hat above the vessel. the boiling-point was . deg. fahr., the ledge on which the instrument stood being five feet below the highest point of the mountain. the ascent from the riffel hotel occupied us about seven hours, nearly two of which were spent upon the kämm and crest. neither of us felt in the least degree fatigued; i, indeed, felt so fresh, that had another monte rosa been planted on the first, i should have continued the climb without hesitation, and with strong hopes of reaching the top. i experienced no trace of mountain sickness, lassitude, shortness of breath, heart-beat, or headache; nevertheless the summit of monte rosa is , feet high, being less than feet lower than mont blanc. it is, i think, perfectly certain, that the rarefaction of the air at this height is not sufficient of itself to produce the symptoms referred to; physical exertion must be superadded. mont blanc ascended, huxley going part way[ ] by john tyndall the way for a time was excessively rough,[ ] our route being overspread with the fragments of peaks which had once reared themselves to our left, but which frost and lightning had shaken to pieces, and poured in granite avalanches down the mountain. we were sometimes among huge, angular boulders, and sometimes amid lighter shingle, which gave way at every step, thus forcing us to shift our footing incessantly. escaping from these we crossed the succession of secondary glaciers which lie at the feet of the aiguilles, and, having secured firewood, found ourselves, after some hours of hard work, at the pierre l'echelle. here we were furnished with leggings of coarse woolen cloth to keep out the snow; they were tied under the knees and quite tightly again over the insteps, so that the legs were effectually protected. we had some refreshment, possest ourselves of the ladder, and entered upon the glacier. the ice was excessively fissured; we crossed crevasses and crept round slippery ridges, cutting steps in the ice wherever climbing was necessary. this rendered our progress very slow. once, with the intention of lending a helping hand, i stept forward upon a block of granite which happened to be poised like a rocking stone upon the ice, tho' i did not know it; it treacherously turned under me; i fell, but my hands were in instant requisition, and i escaped with a bruise, from which, however, the blood oozed angrily. we found the ladder necessary in crossing some of the chasms, the iron spikes at its end being firmly driven into the ice at one side, while the other end rested on the opposite side of the fissure. the middle portion of the glacier was not difficult. mounds of ice rose beside us right and left, which were sometimes split into high towers and gaunt-looking pyramids, while the space between was unbroken. twenty minutes' walking brought us again to a fissured portion of the glacier, and here our porter left the ladder on the ice behind him. for some time i was not aware of this, but we were soon fronted by a chasm to pass which we were in consequence compelled to make a long and dangerous circuit amid crests of crumbling ice. this accomplished, we hoped that no repetition of the process would occur, but we speedily came to a second fissure, where it was necessary to step from a projecting end of ice to a mass of soft snow which overhung the opposite side. simond could reach this snow with his long-handled ax; he beat it down to give it rigidity, but it was exceedingly tender, and as he worked at it he continued to express his fears that it would not bear us. i was the lightest of the party, and therefore tested the passage first; being partially lifted by simond on the end of his ax, i crossed the fissure, obtained some anchorage at the other side, and helped the others over. we afterward ascended until another chasm, deeper and wider than any we had hitherto encountered, arrested us. we walked alongside of it in search of a snow-bridge, which we at length found, but the keystone of the arch had, unfortunately, given way, leaving projecting eaves of snow at both sides, between which we could look into the gulf, till the gloom of its deeper portions cut the vision short. both sides of the crevasse were sounded, but no sure footing was obtained; the snow was beaten and carefully trodden down as near to the edge as possible, but it finally broke away from the foot and fell into the chasm. one of our porters was short-legged and a bad iceman; the other was a daring fellow, and he now threw the knapsack from his shoulders, came to the edge of the crevasse, looked into it, but drew back again. after a pause he repeated the act, testing the snow with his feet and staff. i looked at the man as he stood beside the chasm manifestly undecided as to whether he should take the step upon which his life would hang, and thought it advisable to put a stop to such perilous play. i accordingly interposed, the man withdrew from the crevasse, and he and simond descended to fetch the ladder. while they were away huxley sat down upon the ice, with an expression of fatigue stamped upon his countenance; the spirit and the muscles were evidently at war, and the resolute will mixed itself strangely with the sense of peril and feeling of exhaustion. he had been only two days with us, and, tho' his strength is great, he had had no opportunity of hardening himself by previous exercise upon the ice for the task which he had undertaken. the ladder now arrived, and we crossed the crevasse. i was intentionally the last of the party, huxley being immediately in front of me. the determination of the man disguised his real condition from everybody but himself, but i saw that the exhausting journey over the boulders and débris had been too much for his london limbs. converting my waterproof haversack into a cushion, i made him sit down upon it at intervals, and by thus breaking the steep ascent into short stages we reached the cabin of the grands mulets together. here i spread a rug on the boards, and, placing my bag for a pillow, he lay down, and after an hour's profound sleep he rose refreshed and well; but still he thought it wise not to attempt the ascent farther. our porters left us; a baton was stretched across the room over the stove, and our wet socks and leggings were thrown across it to dry; our boots were placed around the fire, and we set about preparing our evening meal. a pan was placed upon the fire, and filled with snow, which in due time melted and boiled; i ground some chocolate and placed it in the pan, and afterward ladled the beverage into the vessels we possest, which consisted of two earthen dishes and the metal cases of our brandy flasks. after supper simond went out to inspect the glacier, and was observed by huxley, as twilight fell, in a state of deep contemplation beside a crevasse. gradually the stars appeared, but as yet no moon. before lying down we went out to look at the firmament, and noticed, what i supposed has been observed to some extent by everybody, that the stars near the horizon twinkled busily, while those near the zenith shone with a steady light. one large star, in particular, excited our admiration; it flashed intensely, and changed color incessantly, sometimes blushing like a ruby, and again gleaming like an emerald. a determinate color would sometimes remain constant for a sensible time, but usually the flashes followed each other in very quick succession. three planks were now placed across the room near the stove, and upon these, with their rugs folded round them, huxley and hirst stretched themselves, while i nestled on the boards at the most distant end of the room. we rose at eleven o'clock, renewed the fire and warmed ourselves, after which we lay down again. i, at length, observed a patch of pale light upon the wooden wall of the cabin, which had entered through a hole in the end of the edifice, and rising found that it was past one o'clock. the cloudless moon was shining over the wastes of snow, and the scene outside was at once wild, grand, and beautiful. breakfast was soon prepared, tho' not without difficulty; we had no candles, they had been forgotten; but i fortunately possest a box of wax matches, of which huxley took charge, patiently igniting them in succession, and thus giving us a tolerably continuous light. we had some tea, which had been made at the montanvert,[ ] and carried to the grands mulets in a bottle. my memory of that tea is not pleasant; it had been left a whole night in contact with its leaves, and smacked strongly of tannin. the snow-water, moreover, with which we diluted it was not pure, but left a black residuum at the bottom of the dishes in which the beverage was served. the few provisions deemed necessary being placed in simond's knapsack, at twenty minutes past two o'clock we scrambled down the rocks, leaving huxley behind us. the snow was hardened by the night's frost, and we were cheered by the hope of being able to accomplish the ascent with comparatively little labor. we were environed by an atmosphere of perfect purity; the larger stars hung like gems above us, and the moon, about half full, shone with wondrous radiance in the dark firmament. one star in particular, which lay eastward from the moon, suddenly made its appearance above one of the aiguilles, and burned there with unspeakable splendor. we turned once toward the mulets, and saw huxley's form projected against the sky as he stood upon a pinnacle of rock; he gave us a last wave of the hand and descended, while we receded from him into the solitudes. the evening previous our guide had examined the glacier for some distance, his progress having been arrested by a crevasse. beside this we soon halted: it was spanned at one place by a bridge of snow, which was of too light a structure to permit of simond's testing it alone; we therefore paused while our guide uncoiled a rope and tied us all together. the moment was to me a peculiarly solemn one. our little party seemed so lonely and so small amid the silence and the vastness of the surrounding scene. we were about to try our strength under unknown conditions, and as the various possibilities of the enterprise crowded on the imagination, a sense of responsibility for a moment opprest me. but as i looked aloft and saw the glory of the heavens, my heart lightened, and i remarked cheerily to hirst that nature seemed to smile upon our work. "yes," he replied, in a calm and earnest voice, "and, god willing, we shall accomplish it." a pale light now overspread the eastern sky, which increased, as we ascended, to a daffodil tinge; this afterward heightened to orange, deepening at one extremity into red, and fading at the other into a pure, ethereal hue to which it would be difficult to assign a special name. higher up the sky was violet, and this changed by insensible degrees into the darkling blue of the zenith, which had to thank the light of moon and stars alone for its existence. we wound steadily for a time through valleys of ice, climbed white and slippery slopes, crossed a number of crevasses, and after some time found ourselves beside a chasm of great depth and width, which extended right and left as far as we could see. we turned to the left, and marched along its edge in search of a "pont"; but matters became gradually worse; other crevasses joined on to the first one, and the further we proceeded the more riven and dislocated the ice became. at length we reached a place where further advance was impossible. simond, in his difficulty complained of the want of light, and wished us to wait for the advancing day; i, on the contrary, thought that we had light enough and ought to make use of it. here the thought occurred to me that simond, having been only once before to the top of the mountain, might not be quite clear about the route; the glacier, however, changes within certain limits from year to year, so that a general knowledge was all that could be expected, and we trusted to our own muscles to make good any mistake in the way of guidance. we now turned and retraced our steps along the edges of chasms where the ice was disintegrated and insecure, and succeeded at length in finding a bridge which bore us across the crevasse. this error caused us the loss of an hour, and after walking for this time we could cast a stone from the point we had attained to the place whence we had been compelled to return. our way now lay along the face of a steep incline of snow, which was cut by the fissure we had just passed, in a direction parallel to our route. on the heights to our right, loose ice-crags seemed to totter, and we passed two tracks over which the frozen blocks had rushed some short time previously. we were glad to get out of the range of these terrible projectiles, and still more so to escape the vicinity of that ugly crevasse. to be killed in the open air would be a luxury, compared with having the life squeezed out of one in the horrible gloom of these chasms. the blush of the coming day became more and more intense; still the sun himself did not appear, being hidden from us by the peaks of the aiguille du midi, which were drawn clear and sharp against the brightening sky. right under this aiguille were heaps of snow smoothly rounded and constituting a portion of the sources whence the glacier du géant is fed; these, as the day advanced, bloomed with a rosy light. we reached the petit plateau, which we found covered with the remains of ice avalanches; above us upon the crest of the mountain rose three mighty bastions, divided from each other by deep, vertical rents, with clean smooth walls, across which the lines of annual bedding were drawn like courses of masonry. from these, which incessantly renew themselves, and from the loose and broken ice-crags near them, the boulders amid which we now threaded our way had been discharged. when they fall their descent must be sublime. the snow had been gradually getting deeper, and the ascent more wearisome, but superadded to this at the petit plateau was the uncertainty of the footing between the blocks of ice. in many places the space was merely covered by a thin crust, which, when trod upon, instantly yielded and we sank with a shock sometimes to the hips. our way next lay up a steep incline to the grand plateau, the depth and tenderness of the snow augmenting as we ascended. we had not yet seen the sun, but as we attained the brow which forms the entrance to the grand plateau, he hung his disk upon a spike of rock to our left, and, surrounded by a glory of interference spectra of the most gorgeous colors, blazed down upon us. on the grand plateau we halted and had our frugal refreshment. at some distance to our left was the crevasse into which dr. hamel's three guides were precipitated by an avalanche in ; they are still entombed in the ice, and some future explorer may, perhaps, see them disgorged lower down, fresh and undecayed. they can hardly reach the surface until they pass the snow-line of the glacier, for above this line the quantity of snow that annually falls being in excess of the quantity melted, the tendency would be to make the ice-covering above them thicker. but it is also possible that the waste of the ice underneath may have brought the bodies to the bed of the glacier, where their very bones may have been ground to mud by an agency which the hardest rocks can not withstand. as the sun poured his light upon the plateau the little snow-facets sparkled brilliantly, sometimes with a pure white light, and at others with prismatic colors. contrasted with the white spaces above and around us were the dark mountains on the opposite side of the valley of chamouni, around which fantastic masses of cloud were beginning to build themselves. mont buet, with its cone of snow, looked small, and the brevent altogether mean; the limestone bastions of the fys, however, still presented a front of gloom and grandeur. we traversed the grand plateau, and at length reached the base of an extremely steep incline which stretched upward toward the corridor. here, as if produced by a fault, consequent upon the sinking of the ice in front, rose a vertical precipice, from the coping of which vast stalactites of ice depended. previous to reaching this place i had noticed a haggard expression upon the countenance of our guide, which was now intensified by the prospect of the ascent before him. hitherto he had always been in front, which was certainly the most fatiguing position. i felt that i must now take the lead, so i spoke cheerily to the man and placed him behind me. marking a number of points upon the slope as resting places, i went swiftly from one to the other. the surface of the snow had been partially melted by the sun and then refrozen, thus forming a superficial crust, which bore the weight up to a certain point, and then suddenly gave way, permitting the leg to sink to above the knee. the shock consequent on this, and the subsequent effort necessary to extricate the leg, were extremely fatiguing. my motion was complained of as too quick, and my tracks as imperfect; i moderated the former, and to render my footholes broad and sure, i stamped upon the frozen crust, and twisted my legs in the soft mass underneath,--a terribly exhausting process. i thus led the way to the base of the rochers bouges, up to which the fault already referred to had prolonged itself as a crevasse, which was roofed at one place by a most dangerous-looking snow-bridge. simond came to the front; i drew his attention to the state of the snow, and proposed climbing the rochers rouges; but, with a promptness unusual with him, he replied that this was impossible; the bridge was our only means of passing, and we must try it. we grasped our ropes, and dug our feet firmly into the snow to check the man's descent if the "pont" gave way, but to our astonishment it bore him, and bore us safely after him. the slope which we had now to ascend had the snow swept from its surface, and was therefore firm ice. it was most dangerously steep, and, its termination being the fretted coping of the precipice to which i have referred, if we slid downward we should shoot over this and be dashed to pieces upon the ice below.[ ] simond, who had come to the front to cross the crevasse, was now engaged in cutting steps, which he made deep and large, so that they might serve us on our return. but the listless strokes of his ax proclaimed his exhaustion; so i took the implement out of his hands, and changed places with him. step after step was hewn, but the top of the corridor appeared ever to recede from us. hirst was behind, unoccupied, and could thus turn his thoughts to the peril of our position; he "felt" the angle on which we hung, and saw the edge of the precipice, to which less than a quarter of a minute's slide would carry us, and for the first time during the journey he grew giddy. a cigar which he lighted for the purpose tranquilized him. i hewed sixty steps upon this slope, and each step had cost a minute, by hirst's watch. the mur de la côte was still before us, and on this the guide-books informed us two or three hundred steps were sometimes found necessary. if sixty steps cost an hour, what would be the cost of two hundred? the question was disheartening in the extreme, for the time at which we had calculated on reaching the summit was already passed, while the chief difficulties remained unconquered. having hewn our way along the harder ice we reached snow. i again resorted to stamping to secure a footing, and while thus engaged became, for the first time, aware of the drain of force to which i was subjecting myself. the thought of being absolutely exhausted had never occurred to me, and from first to last i had taken no care to husband my strength. i always calculated that the "will" would serve me even should the muscles fail, but i now found that mechanical laws rule man in the long run; that no effort of will, no power of spirit, can draw beyond a certain limit upon muscular force. the soul, it is true, can stir the body to action, but its function is to excite and apply force, and not to create it. while stamping forward through the frozen crust i was compelled to pause at short intervals; then would set out again apparently fresh, to find, however, in a few minutes, that my strength was gone, and that i required to rest once more. in this way i gained the summit of the corridor, when hirst came to the front, and i felt some relief in stepping slowly after him, making use of the holes into which his feet had sunk. he thus led the way to the base of the mur de la côte, the thought of which had so long cast a gloom upon us; here we left our rope behind us, and while pausing i asked simond whether he did not feel a desire to go to the summit. "surely," was his reply, "but!--" our guide's mind was so constituted that the "but" seemed essential to its peace. i stretched my hands toward him, and said: "simond, we must do it." one thing alone i felt could defeat us: the usual time of the ascent had been more than doubled, the day was already far spent, and if the ascent would throw our subsequent descent into night it could not be contemplated. we now faced the mur, which was by no means so bad as we had expected. driving the iron claws of our boots into the scars made by the ax, and the spikes of our batons into the slope above our feet, we ascended steadily until the summit was attained, and the top of the mountain rose clearly above us. we congratulated ourselves upon this; but simond, probably fearing that our joy might become too full, remarked: "but the summit is still far off!" it was, alas! too true. the snow became soft again, and our weary limbs sank in it as before. our guide went on in front, audibly muttering his doubts as to our ability to reach the top, and at length he threw himself upon the snow, and exclaimed, "i give up!" hirst now undertook the task of rekindling the guide's enthusiasm, after which simond rose, exclaiming: "oh, but this makes my knees ache!" and went forward. two rocks break through the snow between the summit of the mur and the top of the mountain; the first is called the petits mulets, and the highest the derniers rochers. at the former of these we paused to rest, and finished our scanty store of wine and provisions. we had not a bit of bread nor a drop of wine left; our brandy flasks were also nearly exhausted, and thus we had to contemplate the journey to the summit, and the subsequent descent to the grands mulets, with out the slightest prospect of physical refreshment. the almost total loss of two nights' sleep, with two days' toil superadded, made me long for a few minutes' doze, so i stretched myself upon a composite couch of snow and granite, and immediately fell asleep. my friend, however, soon aroused me. "you quite frighten me," he said; "i have listened for some minutes, and have not heard you breathe once." i had, in reality, been taking deep draughts of the mountain air, but so silently as not to be heard. i now filled our empty wine-bottle with snow and placed it in the sunshine, that we might have a little water on our return. we then rose; it was half-past two o'clock; we had been upward of twelve hours climbing, and i calculated that, whether we reached the summit or not, we could at all events work "toward" it for another hour. to the sense of fatigue previously experienced, a new phenomenon was now added--the beating of the heart. we were incessantly pulled up by this, which sometimes became so intense as to suggest danger. i counted the number of paces which we were able to accomplish without resting, and found that at the end of every twenty, sometimes at the end of fifteen, we were compelled to pause. at each pause my heart throbbed audibly, as i leaned upon my staff, and the subsidence of this action was always the signal for further advance. my breathing was quick, but light and unimpeded. i endeavored to ascertain whether the hip-joint, on account of the diminished atmospheric pressure, became loosened, so as to throw the weight of the leg upon the surrounding ligaments, but could not be certain about it. i also sought a little aid and encouragement from philosophy, endeavoring to remember what great things had been done by the accumulation of small quantities, and i urged upon myself that the present was a case in point, and that the summation of distances twenty paces each must finally place us at the top. still the question of time left the matter long in doubt, and until we had passed the derniers rochers we worked on with the stern indifference of men who were doing their duty, and did not look to consequences. here, however, a gleam of hope began to brighten our souls: the summit became visible nearer, simond showed more alacrity; at length success became certain, and at half-past three p.m. my friend and i clasped hands upon the top. the summit of the mountain is an elongated ridge, which has been compared to the back of an ass. it was perfectly manifest that we were dominant over all other mountains; as far as the eye could range mont blanc had no competitor. the summits which had looked down upon us in the morning were now far beneath us. the dôme du goûté, which had held its threatening "séracs" above us so long, was now at our feet. the aiguille du midi, mont blanc du tacul, and the monts maudits, the talèfre, with its surrounding peaks, the grand jorasse, mont mallet, and the aiguille du géant, with our own familiar glaciers, were all below us. and as our eye ranged over the broad shoulders of the mountain, over ice hills and valleys, plateaux and far-stretching slopes of snow, the conception of its magnitude grew upon us, and imprest us more and more. the clouds were very grand--grander, indeed, than anything i had ever before seen. some of them seemed to hold thunder in their breasts, they were so dense and dark; others, with their faces turned sunward, shone with the dazzling whiteness of the mountain snow; while others again built themselves into forms resembling gigantic elm trees, loaded with foliage. toward the horizon the luxury of color added itself to the magnificent alternation of light and shade. clear spaces of amber and ethereal green embraced the red and purple cumuli, and seemed to form the cradle in which they swung. closer at hand squally mists, suddenly engendered, were driven hither and thither by local winds; while the clouds at a distance lay "like angels sleeping on the wing," with scarcely visibly motion. mingling with the clouds, and sometimes rising above them, were the highest mountain heads, and as our eyes wandered from peak to peak, onward to the remote horizon, space itself seemed more vast from the manner in which the objects which it held were distributed.... the day was waning, and, urged by the warnings of our ever-prudent guide, we at length began the descent. gravity was in our favor, but gravity could not entirely spare our wearied limbs, and where we sank in the snow we found our downward progress very trying. i suffered from thirst, but after we had divided the liquefied snow at the petits mulets among us we had nothing to drink. i crammed the clean snow into my mouth, but the process of melting was slow and tantalizing to a parched throat, while the chill was painful to the teeth. the jungfrau-joch[ ] by sir leslie stephen i was once more standing upon the wengern alp, and gazing longingly at the jungfrau-joch. surely the wengern alp must be precisely the loveliest place in this world. to hurry past it, and listen to the roar of the avalanches, is a very unsatisfactory mode of enjoyment; it reminds one too much of letting off crackers in a cathedral. the mountains seem to be accomplices of the people who charge fifty centimes for an echo. but it does one's moral nature good to linger there at sunset or in the early morning, when tourists have ceased from traveling; and the jaded cockney may enjoy a kind of spiritual bath in the soothing calmness of scenery.... we, that is a little party of six englishmen with six oberland guides, who left the inn at a.m. on july , , were not, perhaps, in a specially poetical mood. yet as the sun rose while we were climbing the huge buttress of the mönch, the dullest of us--i refer, of course, to myself--felt something of the spirit of the scenery. the day was cloudless, and a vast inverted cone of dazzling rays suddenly struck upward into the sky through the gap between the mönch and the eiger, which, as some effect of perspective shifted its apparent position, looked like a glory streaming from the very summit of the eiger. it was a good omen, if not in any more remote sense, yet as promising a fine day. after a short climb we descended upon the gugg, glacier, most lamentably unpoetical of names, and mounted by it to the great plateau which lies below the cliffs immediately under the col. we reached this at about seven, and, after a short meal, carefully examined the route above us. half way between us and the col lay a small and apparently level plateau of snow. once upon it we felt confident that we could get to the top.... we plunged at once into the maze of crevasses, finding our passage much facilitated by the previous efforts of our guides. we were constantly walking over ground strewed with crumbling blocks of ice, the recent fall of which was proved by their sharp white fractures, and with a thing like an infirm toad stool twenty feet high, towering above our heads. once we passed under a natural arch of ice, built in evident disregard of all principles of architectural stability. hurrying judiciously at such critical points, and creeping slowly round those where the footing was difficult, we manage to thread the labyrinth safely, whilst rubi appeared to think it rather pleasant than otherwise in such places to have his head fixt in a kind of pillory between two rungs of a ladder, with twelve feet of it sticking out behind and twelve feet before him. we reached the gigantic crevasse at . . we passed along it to a point where its two lips nearly joined, and the side furthest from us was considerably higher than that upon which we stood. fixing the foot of the ladder upon this ledge, we swung the top over, and found that it rested satisfactorily against the opposite bank. almer crept up it, and made the top firmer by driving his ax into the snow underneath the highest step. the rest of us followed, carefully roped, and with the caution to rest our knees on the sides of the ladder, as several of the steps were extremely weak--a remark which was equally applicable to one, at least, of the sides. we crept up the rickety old machine, however, looking down between our legs into the blue depths of the crevasse, and at . the whole party found itself satisfactorily perched on the edge of the nearly level snow plateau, looking up at the long slopes of broken névé that led to the col.... when the man behind was also engaged in hauling himself up by the rope attached to your waist, when the two portions of the rope formed an acute angle, when your footing was confined to the insecure grip of one toe on a slippery bit of ice, and when a great hummock of hard sérac was pressing against the pit of your stomach and reducing you to a position of neutral equilibrium, the result was a feeling of qualified acquiescence in michel or almer's lively suggestion of "vorwärts! vorwärts!" somehow or other we did ascend. the excitement made the time seem short; and after what seemed to me to be half an hour, which was in fact nearly two hours, we had crept, crawled, climbed and wormed our way through various obstacles, till we found ourselves brought up by a huge overhanging wall of blue ice. this wall was no doubt the upper side of a crevasse, the lower part of which had been filled by snow-drift. its face was honeycombed by the usual hemispherical chippings, which somehow always reminds me of the fretted walls of the alhambra; and it was actually hollowed out so that its upper edge overhung our heads at a height of some twenty or thirty feet; the long fringe of icicles which adorned it had made a slippery pathway of ice at two or three feet distance from the foot of the wall by the freezing water which dripped from them; and along this we crept, in hopes that none of the icicles would come down bodily. the wall seemed to thin out and become much lower toward our left, and we moved cautiously toward its lowest point. the edge upon which we walked was itself very narrow, and ran down at a steep angle to the top of a lower icefall which repeated the form of the upper. it almost thinned out at the point where the upper wall was lowest. upon this inclined ledge, however, we fixt the foot of our ladder. the difficulty of doing so conveniently was increased by a transverse crevasse which here intersected the other system. the foot, however, was fixt and rendered tolerably safe by driving in firmly several of our alpenstocks and axes under the lowest step. almer, then, amidst great excitement, went forward to mount it. should we still find an impassable system of crevasses above us, or were we close to the top? a gentle breeze which had been playing along the last ledge gave me hope that we were really not far off. as almer reached the top about twelve o'clock, a loud yodel gave notice to all the party that our prospects were good. i soon followed, and saw, to my great delight, a stretch of smooth, white snow, without a single crevasse, rising in a gentle curve from our feet to the top of the col. the people who had been watching us from the wengern alp had been firing salutes all day, whenever the idea struck them, and whenever we surmounted a difficulty, such as the first great crevasse. we heard the faint sound of two or three guns as we reached the final plateau. we should, properly speaking, have been uproariously triumphant over our victory. to say the truth, our party of that summer was only too apt to break out into undignified explosions of animal spirits, bordering at times upon horseplay.... the top of the jungfrau-joch comes rather like a bathos in poetry. it rises so gently above the steep ice wall, and it is so difficult to determine the precise culminating point, that our enthusiasm oozed out gradually instead of producing a sudden explosion; and that instead of giving three cheers, singing "god save the queen," or observing any of the traditional ceremonial of a simpler generation of travelers, we calmly walked forward as tho' we had been crossing westminster bridge, and on catching sight of a small patch of rocks near the foot of the mönch, rushed precipitately down to it and partook of our third breakfast. which things, like most others, might easily be made into an allegory. the great dramatic moments of life are very apt to fall singularly flat. we manage to discount all their interest beforehand; and are amazed to find that the day to which we have looked forward so long--the day, it may be, of our marriage, or ordination, or election to be lord mayor--finds us curiously unconscious of any sudden transformation and as strongly inclined to prosaic eating and drinking as usual. at a later period we may become conscious of its true significance, and perhaps the satisfactory conquest of this new pass has given us more pleasure in later years than it did at the moment. however that may be, we got under way again after a meal and a chat, our friends messrs. george and moore descending the aletsch glacier to the aeggischhorn, whose summit was already in sight, and deceptively near in appearance. the remainder of the party soon turned off to the left, and ascended the snow slopes to the gap between the mönch and trugberg. as we passed these huge masses, rising in solitary grandeur from the center of one of the noblest snowy wastes of the alps, morgan reluctantly confest for the first time that he knew nothing exactly like it in wales. xi other alpine topics the great st. bernard hospice[ ] by archibald campbell knowles the pass of the great st. bernard was a well-known one long before the hospice was built. before the christian era, the romans used it as a highway across the alps, constantly improving the road as travel over it increased. many lives were lost, however, as no material safeguards could obviate the danger from the elements, and no one will ever know the number of souls who met their end in the blinding snows and chilling blasts of those alpine heights. to bernard de menthon is due the credit of the mountain hospice. he was the originator of the idea and the founder of the institution. he has since been canonized as a saint and he well deserved the honor, if it be a virtue to sacrifice oneself, as we believe, and to try and save the lives of one's fellows! it is no easy existence which st. bernard chose for himself and followers. the very aspect of the pass is grand but gloomy. none of the softness of nature is seen. there is no verdure, no beauty of coloring, nothing but bleak, bare rock, great piles of stones, and occasional patches of fallen snow. it is thoroughly exposed, the winds always moaning mournfully around the buildings.... the trip begins at martigny. first there is a level stretch, then a long, steady climb, after which begins the real road to the pass. the views are very lovely, and while quite different in some ways excel all passes except the famous simplon. the scenery is very varied, the mountains are far enough off to give a good perspective, and the villages are most picturesque. the absence of snow peaks in any great number will be felt by some, but even a lover of such soon forgets the lack in the exceeding beauty and loveliness of the valleys. toward the top of the pass there is quite a transformation. both the road and the scenery change, the first becoming more and more steep and stony, the latter showing more and more of savage grandeur, as the green, smiling valleys are no longer seen, but in their place appear barren and rugged rocks and slopes, with the marks of the ravages wrought by storm, landslide and avalanche. the wind has fuller play and seems to moan in a mournful, dirge-like manner, accentuating the characteristics of bleakness and desolation which obtain at the top of the pass, all the more noticeable if the traveler arrives at dusk, just as the sun has disappeared behind the mountains. in this dreary place stands the hospice. the present buildings are not very old, the hospice only dating from the sixteenth century and the church from the seventeenth century, while the other structures, which have been built for the accommodation of strangers are comparatively new. twelve monks of the augustinian order are regularly in residence here. they come when about twenty years of age; but so severe is the climate, so hard the life and so stern the rule that, after a service of about fifteen years, they generally have to seek a lower altitude, often ruined in health, with their powers completely sapped by the rigors and privations which they have endured. altho the hospice and the adjoining hostelry for the travelers are cheerless in the extreme, there is always a warm welcome from the monks. no one, however poor, is refused bed and board for the night, and there is no "distinction of persons." the hospitality is extended to all, free of charge, this being the invariable rule of the institution, but it is expected, and rightly so, that those who can do so will deposit a liberal offering in the box provided for the purpose. the small receipts, however, show what a great abuse there is of this hospitality, for a large number of those who come in the summer could well afford to give and to give largely. we hear much of the courage and perseverance of hannibal and cæsar in leading their armies over the alps! we see pictures of napoleon and his soldiers as they toiled up the pass, dragging along their frozen guns, and perhaps falling into a fatal sleep about their dying camp fires at night! and we rightly admire such bravery, and thrill with admiration at the tale. yet those armies which crossed the alps failed to equal the heroic self-sacrifice of those soldiers of the cross, the monks of the grand st. bernard, who remain for years at their post, unknown and unsung by the wide, wide world, simply to save and shelter the humble travelers who come to grief in their winter journey across the pass, in search of work. avalanches[ ] by victor tissot beside this dazzling, magnificent snow, covering the chain of lofty peaks like an immaculate altar cloth, what a gloomy, dull look there is in the snow of the plains! one might think it was made of sugar or confectionery, that it was false like all the rest. to know what snow really is--to get quit of this feeling of artificial snow that we have when we see the stunted shrubs in our parisian gardens wrapt, as it were, in silk paper like bits of christmas trees--it must be seen here in these far-off, high valleys of the engandine, that lie for eight months dead under their shroud of snow, and often, even in the height of summer, have to shiver anew under some wintry flakes. it is here that snow is truly beautiful! it shines in the sun with a dazzling whiteness; it sparkles with a thousand fires like diamond dust; it shows gleams like the plumage of a white dove, and it is as firm under the foot as a marble pavement. it is so fine-grained, so compact, that it clings like dust to every crevice and bend, to every projecting edge and point, and follows every outline of the mountain, the form of which it leaves as clearly defined as if it were a covering of thin gauze. it sports in the most charming decorations, carves alabaster facings and cornices on the cliffs, wreathes them in delicate lace, covers them with vast canopies of white satin spangled with stars and fringed with silver. and yet this dry, hard snow is extremely susceptible to the slightest shock, and may be set in motion by a very trifling disturbance of the air. the flight of a bird, the cracking of a whip, the tinkling of bells, even the conversation of persons going along sometimes suffices to shake and loosen it from the vertical face of the cliffs to which it is clinging; and it runs down like grains of sand, growing as it falls, by drawing down with it other beds of snow. it is like a torrent, a snowy waterfall, bursting out suddenly from the side of the mountain; it rushes down with a terrible noise, swollen with the snows that it carries down in its furious course; it breaks against the rocks, divides and joins again like an overflowing stream, and with a wild tempest blast resumes its desolating course, filling the echoes with the deafening thunder of battle. you think for a moment that a storm has begun, but looking at the sky you see it serenely blue, smiling, cloudless. the rush becomes more and more violent; it comes nearer, the ground trembles, the trees bend and break with a sharp crack; enormous stones and blocks of ice are carried away like gravel; and the mighty avalanche, with a crash like a train running off the rails over a precipice, drops to the foot of the mountain, destroying, crushing down everything before it, and covering the ground with a bed of snow from thirty to fifty feet deep. when a stream of water wears a passage for itself under this compact mass, it is sometimes hollowed out into an arched way, and the snow becomes so solid that carriages and horses can go through without danger, even in the middle of summer. but often the water does not find a course by which to flow away; and then, when the snow begins to melt, the water seeps into the fissures, loosens the mass that chokes up the valley, and carries it down, rending its banks as it goes, carrying away bridges, mills, and trees, and overthrowing houses. the avalanche has become an inundation. the mountaineers make a distinction between summer and winter avalanches. the former are solid avalanches, formed of old snow that has almost acquired the consistency of ice. the warm breath of spring softens it, loosens it from the rocks on which it hangs, and it slides down into the valleys. these are called "melting avalanches." they regularly follow certain tracks, and these are embanked, like the course of a river, with wood or bundles of branches. it is in order to protect the alpine roads from these avalanches that those long open galleries have been built on the face of the precipice. the most dreaded and most terrible avalanches, those of dry, powdery snow, occur only in winter, when sudden squalls and hurricanes of snow throw the whole atmosphere into chaos. they come down in sudden whirlwinds, with the violence of a waterspout, and in a few minutes whole villages are buried.... here, in the grisons, the whole village of selva was buried under an avalanche. nothing remained visible but the top of the church steeple, looking like a pole planted in the snow. baron munchausen might have tied his horse there without inventing any lie about it. the val verzasca was covered for several months by an avalanche of nearly , feet in length and in depth. all communication through the valley was stopt; it was impossible to organize help; and the alarm-bell was incessantly sounding over the immense white desolation like a knell for the dead. in the narrow defile in which we now are, there are many remains of avalanches that neither the water of the torrent nor the heat of the sun has had power to melt. the bed of the river is strewn with displaced and broken rocks, and great stones bound together by the snow as if with cement; the surges dash against these rocky obstacles, foaming angrily, with the blind fury of a wild beast. and the moan of the powerless water flows on into the depth of the valley, and is lost far off in a hollow murmur. hunting the chamois[ ] by victor tissot schmidt swept with his cap the snow which covered the stones on which we were to seat ourselves for breakfast, then unpacked the provisions; slices of veal and ham, hard-boiled eggs, wine of the valtelline. his knapsack, covered with a napkin, served for our table. while we sat, we devoured the landscape, the twelve glaciers spreading around us their carpet of swansdown and ermine, sinking into crevasses of a magical transparency, and raising their blocks, shaped into needles, or into gothic steeples with pierced arches. the architecture of the glacier is marvelous. its decorations are the decorations of fairyland. quite near us marks of animals in the snow attracted our attention. schmidt said to us: "chamois have been here this morning; the traces are quite fresh. they must have seen us and made off; the chamois are as distrustful, you see, as the marmots, and as wary. at this season they keep on the glaciers by preference. they live on so little! a few herbs, a few mosses, such as grow on isolated rocks like this. i assure you it is very amusing to see a herd of twenty or thirty chamois cross at a headlong pace a vast field of snow, or glacier, where they bound over the crevasses in play. "one would say they were reindeers in a lapland scene. it is only at night that they come down into the valleys. in the moonlight they come out of the moraines, and go to pasture on the grassy slopes or in the forest adjoining the glaciers. during the day they go up again into the snow, for which they have an extraordinary love, and in which they skip and play, amusing themselves like a band of scholars in play hours. they tease one another, butt with their horns in fun, run off, return, pretend new attacks and new flights with charming agility and frolicsomeness. "while the young ones give themselves up to their sports, an old female, posted as sentinel at some yards distance, watches the valley and scents the air. at the slightest indication of danger, she utters a sharp cry; the games cease instantly, and the whole anxious troop assembles round the guardian, then the whole herd sets off at a gallop and disappears in the twinkling of an eye.... "hunting on the névés and the glaciers is very dangerous. when the snow is fresh it is with difficulty one can advance. the hunters use wooden snowshoes, like those of the esquimaux. "one of my comrades, in hunting on the roseg, disappeared in the bottom of a crevasse. it was over thirty feet deep. imagine two perfectly smooth sides; two walls of crystal. to reascend was impossible. it was certain death, either from cold or hunger; for it was known that when he went chamois-hunting he was often absent for several days. he could not therefore count on help being sent; he must resign himself to death. "one thing, however, astonished him; it was to find so little water in the bottom of the crevasse. could there be then an opening at the bottom of the funnel into which he had fallen? he stooped, examined this grave in which he had been buried alive, discovered that the heat of the sun had caused the base of the glacier to melt. a canal drainage had been formed. laying himself flat, he slid into this dark passage, and after a thousand efforts he arrived at the end of the glacier in the moraine, safe and sound." we had finished breakfast. we wanted something warm, a little coffee. schmidt set up our spirit-lamp behind two great stones that protected it from the wind. and while we waited for the water to boil, he related to us the story of colani, the legendary hunter of the upper engandine. "colani, in forty years, killed two thousand seven hundred chamois. this strange man had carved out for himself a little kingdom in the mountain. he claimed to reign there alone, to be absolute master. when a stranger penetrated into his residence, within the domain of 'his reserved hunting-ground,' as he called the regions of the bernina, he treated him as a poacher, and chased him with a gun.... "colani was feared and dreaded as a diabolical and supernatural being; and indeed he took no pains to undeceive the public, for the superstitious terrors inspired by his person served to keep away all the chamois-hunters from his chamois, which he cared for and managed as a great lord cares for the deer in his forests. round the little house which he had built for himself on the col de bernina, and where he passed the summer and autumn, two hundred chamois, almost tame, might be seen wandering about and browsing. every year he killed about fifty old males." the celebrities of geneva[ ] by francis h. gribble it has been remarked as curious that the age of revolution at geneva was also the golden age--if not of genevan literature, which has never really had any golden age, at least of genevan science, which was of world-wide renown. the period is one in which notable names meet us at every turn. there were exiled genevans, like de lolme, holding their own in foreign political and intellectual circles; there were emigrant genevan pastors holding aloft the lamps of culture and piety in many cities of england, france, russia, germany, and denmark; there were genevans, like françois lefort, holding the highest offices in the service of foreign rulers; and there were numbers of genevans at geneva of whom the cultivated grand tourist wrote in the tone of a disciple writing of his master. one can not glance at the history of the period without lighting upon names of note in almost all departments of endeavor. the period is that of de saussure, bourrit, the de lucs, the two hubers, great authorities respectively on bees and birds; le sage, who was one of gibbon's rivals for the heart of mademoiselle suzanne curchod; senebier, the librarian who wrote the first literary history of geneva; st. ours and arlaud, the painters; charles bonnet, the entomologist; bérenger and picot, the historians; tronchin, the physician; trembley and jallabert, the mathematicians; dentan, minister and alpine explorer; pictet, the editor of the "bibliothèque universelle," still the leading swiss literary review; and odier, who taught geneva the virtue of vaccination. it is obviously impossible to dwell at length upon the careers of all these eminent men. as well might one attempt, in a survey on the same scale of english literature, to discuss in detail the careers of all the celebrities of the age of anne. one can do little more than remark that the list is marvelously strong for a town of some , inhabitants, and that many of the names included in it are not only eminent, but interesting. jean andré de luc, for example, has a double claim upon our attention as the inventor of the hygrometer and as the pioneer of the snow-peaks. he climbed the buet as early as , and wrote an account of his adventures on its summit and its slopes which has the true charm of arcadian simplicity. he came to england, was appointed reader to queen charlotte, and lived in the enjoyment of that office, and in the gratifying knowledge that her majesty kept his presentation hygrometer in her private apartments, to the venerable age of ninety. bourrit is another interesting character--being, in fact, the spiritual ancestor of the modern alpine clubman. by profession he was precentor of the cathedral; but his heart was in the mountains. in the summer he climbed them, and in the winter he wrote books about them. one of his books was translated into english; and the list of subscribers, published with the translation, shows that the public which bourrit addrest included edmund burke, sir joseph banks, bartolozzi, fanny burney, angelica kauffman, david garrick, sir joshua reynolds, george augustus selwyn, jonas hanway and dr. johnson. his writings earned him the honorable title of historian (or historiographer) of the alps. men of science wrote him letters; princes engaged upon the grand tour called to see him; princesses sent him presents as tokens of their admiration and regard for the man who had taught them how the contemplation of mountain scenery might exalt the sentiments of the human mind. tronchin, too, is interesting; he was the first physician who recognized the therapeutic use of fresh air and exercise, hygienic boots, and open windows. so is charle bonnet, who was not afraid to stand up for orthodoxy against voltaire; so is mallet, who traveled as far as lapland; and so is that man of whom his contemporaries always spoke, with the reverence of hero-worshipers, as "the illustrious de saussure."... the name of which the genevans are proudest is probably that of rousseau, who has sometimes been spoken of as "the austere citizen of geneva." but "austere" is a strange epithet to apply to the philosopher who endowed the foundling hospital with five illegitimate children; and geneva can not claim a great share in a citizen who ran away from the town of his boyhood to avoid being thrashed for stealing apples. it was, indeed, at geneva that jean jacques received from his aunt the disciplinary chastisement of which he gives such an exciting account in his "confessions"; and he once returned to the city and received the holy communion there in later life. but that is all. jean jacques was not educated at geneva, but in savoy--at annecy, at turin, and at chambéry; his books were not printed at geneva, tho' one of them was publicly burned there, but in paris and amsterdam; it is not to genevan but to french literature that he belongs. we must visit voltaire at ferney, and madame de staël at coppet. let the patriarch come first. voltaire was sixty years of age when he settled on the shores of the lake, where he was to remain for another four-and-twenty years; and he did not go there for his pleasure. he would have preferred to live in paris, but was afraid of being locked up in the bastille. as the great majority of the men of letters of the reign of louis xv. were, at one time or another, locked up in the bastille, his fears were probably well founded. moreover, notes of warning had reached his ears. "i dare not ask you to dine," a relative said to him, "because you are in bad odor at court." so he betook himself to geneva, as so many frenchmen, illustrious and otherwise, had done before, and acquired various properties--at prangins, at lausanne, at saint-jean (near geneva), at ferney, at tournay, and elsewhere. he was welcomed cordially. dr. tronchin, the eminent physician, cooperated in the legal fictions necessary to enable him to become a landowner in the republic. cramer, the publisher, made a proposal for the issue of a complete and authorized edition of his works. all the best people called. "it is very pleasant," he was able to write, "to live in a country where rulers borrow your carriage to come to dinner with you." voltaire corresponded regularly with at least four reigning sovereigns, to say nothing of men of letters, cardinals, and marshals of france; and he kept open house for travelers of mark from every country in the world. those of the travelers who wrote books never failed to devote a chapter to an account of a visit to ferney; and from the mass of such descriptions we may select for quotation that written, in the stately style of the period, by dr. john moore, author of "zeluco," then making the grand tour as tutor to the duke of hamilton. "the most piercing eyes i ever beheld," the doctor writes, "are those of voltaire, now in his eightieth year. his whole countenance is expressive of genius, observation, and extreme sensibility. in the morning he has a look of anxiety and discontent; but this gradually wears off, and after dinner he seems cheerful; yet an air of irony never entirely forsakes his face, but may always be observed lurking in his features whether he frowns or smiles. composition is his principal amusement. no author who writes for daily bread, no young poet ardent for distinction, is more assiduous with his pen, or more anxious for fresh fame, than the wealthy and applauded seigneur of ferney. he lives in a very hospitable manner, and takes care always to have a good cook. he generally has two or three visitors from paris, who stay with him a month or six weeks at a time. when they go, their places are soon supplied, so that there is a constant rotation of society at ferney. these, with voltaire's own family and his visitors from geneva, compose a company of twelve or fourteen people, who dine daily at his table, whether he appears or not. all who bring recommendations from his friends may depend upon being received, if he be not really indisposed. he often presents himself to the strangers who assemble every afternoon in his ante-chamber, altho they bring no particular recommendation." it might have been added that when an interesting stranger who carried no introduction was passing through the town, voltaire sometimes sent for him; but this experiment was not always a success, and failed most ludicrously in the case of claude gay, the philadelphian quaker, author of some theological works now forgotten, but then of note. the meeting was only arranged with difficulty on the philosopher's undertaking to put a bridle on his tongue, and say nothing flippant about holy things. he tried to keep his promise, but the temptation was too strong for him. after a while he entangled his guest in a controversy concerning the proceedings of the patriarchs and the evidences of christianity, and lost his temper on finding that his sarcasms failed to make their usual impression. the member of the society of friends, however, was not disconcerted. he rose from his place at the dinner-table, and replied: "friend voltaire! perhaps thou mayst come to understand these matters rightly; in the meantime, finding i can do thee no good, i leave thee, and so fare thee well." and so saying, he walked out and walked back to geneva, while voltaire retired in dudgeon to his room, and the company sat expecting something terrible to happen. a word, in conclusion, about coppet! necker[ ] bought the property from his old banking partner, thelusson, for , livres in french money, and retired to live there when the french revolution drove him out of politics. his daughter, madame de staël, inherited it from him, and made it famous. not that she loved switzerland; it would be more true to say that she detested switzerland. swiss scenery meant nothing to her. when she was taken for an excursion to the glaciers, she asked what the crime was that she had to expiate by such a punishment; and she could look out on the blue waters of lake leman, and sigh for "the gutter of the rue du bac." even to this day, the swiss have hardly forgiven her for that, or for speaking of the canton of vaud as the country in which she had been "so intensely bored for such a number of years." what she wanted was to live in paris, to be a leader--or, rather, to be "the" leader--of parisian society, to sit in a salon, the admired of all admirers, and to pull the wires of politics to the advantage of her friends. for a while she succeeded in doing this. it was she who persuaded barras to give talleyrand his political start in life. but whereas barras was willing to act on her advice, napoleon was by no means equally amenable to her influence. almost from the first he regarded her as a mischief-maker; and when a spy brought him an intercepted letter in which madame de staël exprest her hope that none of the old aristocracy of france would condescend to accept appointments in the household of "the bourgeois of corsica," he became her personal enemy, and, refusing her permission to live either in the capital or near it, practically compelled her to take refuge in her country seat. her pleasance in that way became her gilded cage. perhaps she was not quite so unhappy there as she sometimes represented. if she could not go to paris, many distinguished and brilliant parisians came to coppet, and met there many brilliant and distinguished germans, genevans, italians, and danes. the parisian salon, reconstituted, flourished on swiss soil. there visited there, at one time or another, madame récamier and madame krüdner; benjamin constant, who was so long madame de staël's lover; bonstetten, the voltairean philosopher; frederika brun, the danish artist; sismondi, the historian; werner, the german poet; karl ritter, the german geographer; baron de voght; monti, the italian poet: madame vigée le brun; cuvier; and oelenschlaeger. from almost every one of them we have some pen-and-ink sketch of the life there. this, for instance, is the scene as it appeared to madame le brun, who came to paint the hostess's portrait: "i paint her in antique costume. she is not beautiful, but the animation of her visage takes the place of beauty. to aid the expression i wished to give her, i entreated her to recite tragic verses while i painted. she declaimed passages from corneille and racine. i find many persons established at coppet: the beautiful madame récamier, the comte de sabran, a young english woman, benjamin constant, etc. its society is continually renewed. they come to visit the illustrious exile who is pursued by the rancor of the emperor. her two sons are now with her, under the instruction of the german scholar schlegel; her daughter is very beautiful, and has a passionate love of study; she leaves her company free all the morning, but they unite in the evening. it is only after dinner that they can converse with her. she then walks in her salon, holding in her hand a little green branch; and her words have an ardor quite peculiar to her; it is impossible to interrupt her. at these times she produces on one the effect of an improvisation." and here is a still more graphic description, taken from a letter written to madame récamier by baron de voght: "it is to you that i owe my most amiable reception at coppet. it is no doubt to the favorable expectations aroused by your friendship that i owe my intimate acquaintance with this remarkable woman. i might have met her without your assistance--some casual acquaintance would no doubt have introduced me--but i should never have penetrated to the intimacy of this sublime and beautiful soul, and should never have known how much better she is than her reputation. she is an angel sent from heaven to reveal the divine goodness upon earth. to make her irresistible, a pure ray of celestial light embellishes her spirit and makes her amiable from every point of view. "at once profound and light, whether she is discovering a mysterious secret of the soul or grasping the lightest shadow of a sentiment, her genius shines without dazzling, and when the orb of light has disappeared, it leaves a pleasant twilight to follow it.... no doubt a few faults, a few weaknesses, occasionally veil this celestial apparition; even the initiated must sometimes be troubled by these eclipses, which the genevan astronomers in vain endeavor to predict. "my travels so far have been limited to journeys to lausanne and coppet, where i often stay three or four days. the life there suits me perfectly; the company is even more to my taste. i like constant's wit, schlegel's learning, sabran's amiability, sismondi's talent and character, the simple truthful disposition and just intellectual perceptions of auguste,[ ] the wit and sweetness of albertine[ ]--i was forgetting bonstetten, an excellent fellow, full of knowledge of all sorts, ready in wit, adaptable in character--in every way inspiring one's respect and confidence. "your sublime friend looks and gives life to everything. she imparts intelligence to those around her. in every corner of the house some one is engaged in composing a great work.... corinne is writing her delightful letters about germany, which will, no doubt, prove to be the best thing she has ever done. "the 'shunamitish widow,' an oriental melodrama which she has just finished, will be played in october; it is charming. coppet will be flooded with tears. constant and auguste are both composing tragedies; sabran is writing a comic opera, and sismondi a history; schlegel is translating something; bonstetten is busy with philosophy, and i am busy with my letter to juliette." then, a month later: "since my last letter, madame de staël has read us several chapters of her work. everywhere it bears the marks of her talent. i wish i could persuade her to cut out everything in it connected with politics, and all the metaphors which interfere with its clarity, simplicity, and accuracy. what she needs to demonstrate is not her republicanism, but her wisdom. mlle. jenner played in one of werner's tragedies which was given, last friday, before an audience of twenty. she, werner, and schlegel played perfectly.... "the arrival in switzerland of m. cuvier has been a happy distraction for madame de staël; they spent two days together at geneva, and were well pleased with each other. on her return to coppet she found middleton there, and in receiving his confidences forgot her troubles. yesterday she resumed her work. "the poet whose mystical and somber genius has caused us such profound emotions starts, in a few days' time, for italy. "i accompanied corinne to massot's. to alleviate the tedium of the sitting, a mlle. romilly played pleasantly on the harp, and the studio was a veritable temple of the muses.... "bonstetten gave us two readings of a memoir on the northern alps. it began very well, but afterward it bored us. madame de staël resumed her reading, and there was no longer any question of being bored. it is marvelous how much she must have read and thought over to be able to find the opportunity of saying so many good things. one may differ from her, but one can not help delighting in her talent.... "and now here we are at geneva, trying to reproduce coppet at the hôtel des balances. i am delightfully situated with a wide view over the valley of savoy, between the alps and the jura. "yesterday evening the illusion of coppet was complete. i had been with madame de staël to call on madame rilliet, who is so charming at her own fireside. on my return i played chess with sismondi. madame de staël, mlle. randall, and mlle. jenner sat on the sofa chatting with bonstetten and young barante. we were as we had always been--as we were in the days that i shall never cease regretting." other descriptions exist in great abundance, but these suffice to serve our purpose. they show us the coppet salon as it was pleasant, brilliant, unconventional; something like holland house, but more bohemian; something like harley street, but more select; something like gad's hill--which it resembled in the fact that the members of the house-parties were expected to spend their mornings at their desks--but on a higher social plane; a center at once of high thinking and frivolous behavior; of hard work and desperate love-making, which sometimes paved the way to trouble. footnotes: [footnote : from "hungary." published by the macmillan co.] [footnote : from "hungary." published by the macmillan co.] [footnote : from "sketches from the subject and neighbour lands of venice." published by the macmillan co.] [footnote : the modern marseilles.] [footnote : an ancient italian town on the adriatic, founded by syracusans about b.c. and still an important seaport.] [footnote : the city in provence where have survived a beautiful roman arch and a stupendous roman theater in which classical plays are still given each year by actors from the theatre français.] [footnote : diocletian.] [footnote : a reference to the exquisite maison carrée of nîmes.] [footnote : that is, of venice.] [footnote : the famous general of the emperor justinian, reputed to have become blind and been neglected in his old age.] [footnote : from "sketches from the subject and neighbour lands of venice." published by the macmillan co.] [footnote : from "through savage europe." published by j.b. lippincott co.] [footnote : from "sketches from the subject and neighbour lands of venice." published by the macmillan co.] [footnote : that is, lands where the greek church prevails.] [footnote : john mason neale, author of "an introduction to the history of the holy eastern church."] [footnote : montenegro.] [footnote : from "a girl in the karpathians." after publishing this book. miss dowie became the wife of henry norman, the author and traveler.] [footnote : one of poland's greatest poets.] [footnote : from "views afoot." published by g.p. putnam's sons.] [footnote : the population now ( ) is , .] [footnote : from "six months in italy." published by houghton, mifflin co.] [footnote : from "a bibliographical, antiquarian and picturesque tour," published in .] [footnote : from "letters of a traveller." the tyrol and the dolomites being mainly austrian territory, are here included under "other austrian scenes." resorts in the swiss alps, including chamouni (which, however, is in france), will be found further on in this volume.] [footnote : an italian poet ( - ), who, banished from venice, settled in new york and became professor of italian at columbia college.] [footnote : from "adventures in the alps." published by george w. jacobs & co.] [footnote : in the village of cadore--hence the name, titian da cadore.] [footnote : from "untrodden peaks and unfrequented valleys: a midsummer ramble in the dolomites." published by e.p. dutton & co.] [footnote : reaumur.--author's note.] [footnote : from "my alpine jubilee." published in .] [footnote : from "adventures in the alps." published by george w. jacobs company, philadelphia.] [footnote : since the above was written, the railway has been extended up the jungfrau itself.] [footnote : from "teutonic switzerland." by special arrangement with, and by permission of, the publishers, l.c. page & co. copyright, .] [footnote : from "unknown switzerland." published by james pott & co.] [footnote : from "teutonic switzerland." by special arrangement with, and by permission of, the publishers, l.c. page & co. copyright, .] [footnote : the population in had risen to , .] [footnote : from "teutonic switzerland." by special arrangement with, and by permission of, the publishers, l.c. page & co. copyright, .] [footnote : from "the letters of percy bysshe shelley." politically, chamouni is in france, but the aim here has been to bring into one volume all the more popular alpine resorts. articles on the tyrol and the dolomites will also be found in this volume--under "other austrian scenes."] [footnote : from "adventures in the alps." published by george w. jacobs & co.] [footnote : for mr. whymper's own account of this famous ascent, see page of this volume.] [footnote : from "unknown switzerland." published by james pott & co.] [footnote : from "geneva."] [footnote : from "sunny memories of foreign lands."] [footnote : mrs. stowe's "uncle tom's cabin" had been published about a year when this remark was made to her.] [footnote : from "adventures in the alps." published by george w. jacobs & co.] [footnote : from "unknown switzerland." published by james pott & co.] [footnote : from "scrambles amongst the alps." mr. whymper's later achievements in the alps are now integral parts of the written history of notable mountain climbing feats the world over.] [footnote : from "scrambles amongst the alps." mr. whymper's ascent of the matterhorn was made in . it was the first ascent ever made so far as known. whymper died at chamouni in .] [footnote : from "scrambles amongst the alps." the loss of douglas and three other men, as here described, occurred during the descent of the matterhorn following the ascent described by mr. whymper in the preceding article.] [footnote : that is, down in the village of zermatt. seiler was a well-known innkeeper of that time. other seilers still keep inns at zermatt.] [footnote : the body of douglas has never been recovered. it is believed to lie buried deep in some crevasse in one of the great glaciers that emerge from the base of the matterhorn.] [footnote : from "the glaciers of the alps." prof. tyndall made this ascent in . monte rosa stands quite near the matterhorn. each is reached from zermatt by the gorner-grat.] [footnote : another name for the matterhorn.] [footnote : my staff was always the handle of an ax an inch or two longer than an ordinary walking-stick.--author's note.] [footnote : from "the glaciers of the alps."] [footnote : that is, after having ascended the mountain to a point some distance beyond the mer de glace, to which the party had ascended from chamouni, huxley and tyndall were both engaged in a study of the causes of the movement of glaciers, but tyndall gave it most attention. one of tyndall's feats in the alps was to make the first recorded ascent of the weisshorn. it is said that "traces of his influence remain in switzerland to this day."] [footnote : a hotel overlooking the mer de glace and a headquarters for mountaineers now as then.] [footnote : those acquainted with the mountain will at once recognize the grave error here committed. in fact, on starting from the grands mulets we had crossed the glacier too far, and throughout were much too close to the dôme du goûté.--author's note.] [footnote : from "the playground of europe." published by longmans, green & co.] [footnote : from "adventures in the alps." published by the george w. jacob co.] [footnote : from "unknown switzerland." published by james pott & co.] [footnote : from "unknown switzerland." published by james pott & co.] [footnote : from "geneva."] [footnote : the french financier and minister of louis xvi., father of madame de staël.] [footnote : madame de staël's son, who afterward edited the works of madame de staël and madame necker.--author's note.] [footnote : madame de staël's daughter, afterward duchesse de broglie.]